davidsonian.com
February 8, 2023
Volume 121,
Issue 13
Hugh Perry ‘25, reviews a film which was based on The Last of Us video game
The Yowl found that the spy baloon tracks student activity at SPE
3 5 6 8
Over the past several years, Davidson has been working to address its ties to slavery and move toward racial equity. This mission inspired a monument acknowledging the contributions of enslaved individuals. In 2017, then-president Carol Quillen began the Commission on Race and Slavery, which examined the college’s complex past and provided guidance for greater justice. The commission hopes to honor the enslaved individuals who built and maintained Davidson’s campus, and they believe that the monument will help them accomplish their goal. While the monument will not be completed until 2025, it will be formally announced at President Doug Hicks’ ‘90 upcoming inauguration. The monument’s artist will also be revealed at Hicks’ inauguration.
The project has been led by the Special Committee on Commemoration (SCC), a group of faculty members, alumni, and trustees; however, members of the committee also emphasized their commitment to honoring Black individuals and the Davidson community throughout the planning process. For instance, the committee searched for Black artists to design the monument. The committee also met with Black students, Black alumni, and representatives from Black churches in Davidson. As Professor Cort Savage, the Chair of the Art Department and a consulting faculty member of the SCC, explained, the committee was dedicated to “keeping critical voices in the conversation.”
Lia Newman, director and curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries and a consulting member of the SCC, had similar comments. “We sought a lot of input and advice from
others, specifically community members whose families were impacted by the college’s past actions,” Newman said over email.
Much of Davidson’s campus was built and maintained by enslaved people, and the monument is meant to address this history and honor their legacy.
“One of our goals with this memorial project is to hold on to those individuals who played a large role in the creation of the campus but weren’t recognized,” Savage said. “It’s to acknowledge our institution’s past connections to enslavement.”
Savage also emphasized the monument’s gravity—since the memorial reflects such important work, “we couldn’t possibly give it too much real estate.”
However, Savage emphasized the optimism woven within the monument. He commented that the committee “wanted something that would be forward-looking and positive” about the progress that the college has made. He also hoped that the monument would “build a stronger relationship with the Black community in Davidson because many of those people are family members.”
Similarly, Hilary Green, Professor of Africana Studies and another consulting faculty member of the SCC, views the monument as an opportunity for recovery.
“I see the installation as doing some of the healing work that needs to be done within the college community, as well as the wider Black community,” Green said.
Green also believes that the monument will encourage other smaller colleges to acknowledge their ties to enslavement. As she explained, many large universities, like the University of Virginia, have publicly addressed their pasts; however, most smaller schools have failed to do so.
“It tends to be the big institutions who’ve been doing this work and there are very few
small liberal arts colleges like Davidson that have done it,” Green said. “[Davidson’s monument] will be part of a growing conversation [about] how campuses can use their history to create art for [social justice] purposes.”
Green intends for the monument to encourage students to reflect on internalized narratives and systemic racism.
“[The memorial will inspire students to examine] what memory and history silence, what history is hidden in plain sight, and how those suppressed histories allow for certain myths to persist,” Green said. “It will be a site of reflection, a site of contemplation, but also a site for students to realize that [a racist] system is here too.”
Virgil Fludd ‘80, a member of the Board
of Trustees and the Chair of the Special Committee on Commemoration, wants the Davidson community to use the monument as a space for contemplation. He believes that the monument will act as a “catalyst for ongoing dialogue about race relations,” an important step towards justice.
While Green, Fludd, Newman, and Savage believe that the monument is a positive step, they also feel that the Davidson community must keep acknowledging its problematic history and questioning dominant narratives. “Visual acknowledgment or commemoration is just one part of reckoning with our past,” Newman commented.
After placing an order, a college student can be satisfied with the knowledge that in mere minutes a collection of dishes- from egg rolls to lo mein- will arrive and be thoughtlessly consumed. While more culturally diverse than a velveeta cup, the dorm-style-Asian meal is a far cry from the Feast prepared for the Lunar New Year hosted at Davidson this year.
“There really isn’t good Chinese food around here,” states Raven Guo ‘24, President of the Chinese Culture Club. “We have Panda Express which is not really Chinese food but it’s good in some ways. This year, I cooked half of the food at the celebration. But that’s only one of the reasons we do the traditional New Year celebration.”
While eating traditional food—from dumplings to Longevity noodles—is always a draw to the celebration, the Lunar New Year is much more than just ‘eating’ food. While Common’s
eggrolls simply represent fuel for a night of studying, the Lunar New Year dishes represent a means for a memorable experience for the community and a nod to cultural history. In China, as Gou explains, “my family spends the entire day cooking, talking, and telling stories.” While the Lunar New Year celebration at Davidson did not allow students to cook with their aunts, uncles, and cousins, the festivities still created means for food-based connection.
“I got the chance to make dumplings with a couple of friends this Lunar New Year,” explains Pan Asian Student Association (PASA) President, Audrey Meigs ‘23. “I forgot how something so simple can be such a bonding experience. The first way to have people understand a different person’s culture is through food. In the past, it’s been difficult when Davidson students just come for the food and then leave during the cultural performances. But soon, we are going to have a space on campus. We’re hoping to do some cooking events where we share not just food, which is easy— but also the techniques and the ways
we prepare it.”
Despite increasing access to culturally significant food, the societal ripples of hate against the Asian community still affect Davidson students daily. The Monterey Park Shooting during Lunar New Year 2022, was a sobering reminder of the hate, targeting, and racism still experienced in the Asian community today.
“The Monterey Park shooting is something that really shocked me because I got the notification on the morning of Lunar New Year,” explains Meigs. “I had been so excited because I had friends who had been planning to come over to my apartment— we were going to make a hot pot. But reading that notification just made me stop for a second because Lunar New Year is a day to celebrate Asian communities and Asian joy. Not only was [the shooting] a terrible tragedy, but it just brought up a lot of memories of the beginning of the pandemic when Asian communities were targeted, and they were experiencing a lot of hate crimes.”
Some students find it hard to discuss Asian hate with their friends. As Adele Zhang ‘25, an international student from China, explains, when she talks about certain events with her friends “All they can say is ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. That’s so sad.’ because they just aren’t experiencing it.”
The difference between ‘empathy’ and ‘apathy’ can be seen all around campus, particularly with the planning of Union Board’s Winterfest on Lunar New Year, leaving those who observe unable to celebrate on campus.
“It’s easy to become jaded at Davidson, especially as a woman of color. I remember when the Atlanta shootings happened, the spring of 2021 and the very next day students were protesting the closing of Nummit.” said Meigs. “There wasn’t a word about the actual shooting around campus, but people were protesting the fact that Nummit was closing in reference to the event. The insensitivity to
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what the Asian community was going through at that time, like from the white students on campus was really disheartening. It truly is difficult to not feel frustrated sometimes.”
Due to Winterfest being held on the actual Lunar New Year, Davidson’s official celebration was pushed to February 9.
To be a Chinese student at Davidson can be “very difficult,” as described by Zhang. In this way, Lunar New Year holds even more gravity as a community-based event.
“Celebrations like Lunar New Year are a time where you can kind of put away the hate for a little while,” said Meigs. “You just really appreciate the community that you have.
While the celebration welcomes the entire Davidson community, it really is something we do so our Asian students feel like they are more at home here.”
For the average Davidson first year, going to college begins a difficult journey towards self-discovery. However, international students, along with the journey of socially and emotionally ‘finding themselves,’ must, as Zhang delineates, embark upon a physical journey away from their home culture, tradition, and other those who have an “understanding of the experience. For Zhang, the Lunar New Year offers an ability to remember “how charming her culture is” and remember her “culture is not absent at Davidson.”
“Being Chinese—it’s my identity, and it’s a part of me,” states Zhang. “Lunar New Year
reminds me of how the Chinese part of me here is still really vivacious. Yes, I’m hungry. The celebration just connects me to who I am here and who I am back home. I’ve been feeling I have changed too much. I’ve been trying hard to make that make sense. But Chinese New Year is a thread that connects both parts of me—my culture is not absent here. I can find it and people are accepting of it too.”
Despite Winterfest, students managed to celebrate Lunar New Year on their own in an attempt to replicate experiences with their familes.
“Four or five years ago, in China, during the New Year, you would not hear a single second of silence at night,” shares Zhang. “There were fireworks all the time. It is a time when kids are all downstairs from the apartment
buildings and looking up and it is just pure, happiness and, and reunion. Last year, in Davidson, during a South Asian Indian festival event, they bought a lot of fireworks. I was about to cry just seeing those people standing there and watching. Like it’s just childhood. Although it was not my festival, it was beautiful. It was the Lunar New Year kind of feeling and it was beautiful.”
This act of coming togetheris not just an act of celebration. Rather, for both PASA and the Chinese Culture Club, building community is a necessity to everyday life.
“Home is a very difficult thing to carve out at Davidson,” states Meigs. “But the Asian community at Davidson, while we know we’re small in number, we are strong.”
VIOLET CALKIN ‘26(SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER
The search for a new member of Davidson’s Environmental Studies department is over. An expert on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) modeling, climate scientist Dr. Risper Nyairo is set to join the faculty in the fall. She’ll bring both a unique specialization and passion for marrying the environmental, social and economic aspects of climate change into an interdisciplinary study.
Dr. Nyairo graduated from high school in Limuru, Kenya before studying at the University of Nairobi and University of Osaka, where she earned a doctorate degree in environmental engineering. She has worked with the Africa Waste and Environment Management Center and World Bank in Kenya, and is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Wisconsin Platteville.
Dr. Nyairo will teach a course on weather, climate, and ocean environments in the fall. In the spring, her classes will focus on climate systems and paleoclimatology. In educating students, Dr. Nyairo aims to rectify misconceptions about climate change and illuminate potential productive responses.
“The climate subject has been introduced to people in a very abstract manner,” Dr. Nyairo said. “My work is to break down this subject and unpack it very simply in a way that my students will realize for themselves that actions potentially have negative impacts on the environment, so that they can start making conscious decisions to help reduce our contribution to emissions.”
Dr. Nyairo’s research integrates the social sciences into her field. At the University of Nairobi, she studied how differences in climatic variables affect the livelihoods of communities. Her doctoral work focused on how ecological, environmental, social, and climatic factors affected use of Kenya’s trees and assessed the vulnerability of East African communities to climate change. This multidisciplinary approach to climate science is part of what appealed to Davidson’s Environmental Studies Department, according to Professor and Chair Annie Merrill.
“She works on climate change, but a lot of her work connects to socioeconomic and sociological issues, and that’s very specifically what we were looking for,” Merrill said. “We were looking for a climate scientist, but also somebody who could talk about the human dimensions of climate change. She brings this wonderfully international perspective and definitely has the expertise that we’re looking for.”
In addition to her specialization, Dr. Nyairo will contribute skills in GIS modeling to Davidson.
“The beauty of it is that models are just decision support
tools. They help us as resource managers — the landowner, and any other person who’s responsible for stewarding the land — in making better decisions for the future,” Nyairo said. “My passion comes from the fact that the work I do is
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helping decision makers choose better paths for development pathways.”
Dr. Nyairo plans to seek funding for her proposed research, building a station to monitor how gas fluxes from various environments contribute to climate change. Ultimately, she hopes to constructively engage with the Davidson community.
“I want the community to appreciate the fact that our climate is changing, and to know that I’m there to provide any answers to any questions that they may have. I know a lot about the subject but I don’t know everything. I’m open to new experiences and new perspectives,” Dr. Nyairo said. “I’m looking forward to an exciting time at Davidson.”
For SGA’s first meeting of the semester, they discussed a wealth of information. Starting out with the Community Committee, there were updates about a potential new art project on campus. Next, the Accessibility Committee gave an update on their recent activity. The Golf Cart program now has an established budget, with over $200 dollars allocated for each student who requires the service. Director of Student Activities Mike Good was insistent that everything over $200 dollars not be covered. The Transparency committee discussed their new newsletter. Following the committee updates, ATC had a couple of monetary decisions to discuss. First, the new concert budget for the union board was increased by $30,000. Second, Debate was also given more funding in order to attend international competition. Finally, the committee approved the charter of the climbing club. Going forward, there will be stricter attendance policies for the SGA. Last, freshmen representatives who have served a term are now allowed to run for both Vice-President and President positions.
1. Committee Updates
2. ATC Updates
3. Bylaw Changes
4. Announcements and Adjourn
In recent years, this incendiary catchphrase has animated and divided American politics and public debate.
Supporters see it as a revolutionary but justified response to widespread police brutality against Black Americans. Opponents frame it as unrealistic and radical––and oftentimes advocate for even more police spending. Lost in the debate is an unacknowledged truth. Defunding the police is a fundamentally conservative idea.
Before Republicans became a reactionary party that used its platform to spread lies and promote hate, Republican politicians sometimes held principles—some today still claim to hold principles. One of these is the fundamental idea of fiscal conservatism, which argues that the government should prioritize balanced budgets, low government spending, and low taxes. If a public service is expensive and ineffective, the government should not spend taxpayer dollars on it. In the past, these arguments have been levied at allegedly underperforming social programs but rarely turned on defense or law enforcement programs.
Police departments across America deserve scrutiny from fiscal conservatives. Police are ineffective and, in many cases, counterproductive to public safety. There’s little conclusive evidence to show that increased police means improved public safety. One study found that an additional officer decreased a given city’s homicide rate by 0.06 to 0.1 points––however, for many American cities with majority Black populations, no decrease occurred, and arrests for petty crimes increased. Other studies find more police officers have no effect on violent crime and only result in more misdemeanor arrests. Despite this absence of evidence, 91 out of 109 city police departments increased police spending by 2% from 2019 to 2022. Cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco have pumped tens of millions of dollars into their police budgets– yet have seen little positive change as crime rates remain high. Contrary to common perception, there is no substantive proof that increased police spending makes cities safer.
Despite this, police budgets in America remain astronomically high and are growing even larger. The combined spending on all American police departments of $115 billion is greater than the budget of every country’s military besides China. New York Police Department’s budget of $10.9 billion is alone greater than the GDP of many nations. Surprisingly, only $5.3 billion of that spending goes toward policing. The remaining $5.7 billion covers pensions,
Let me begin with what my intention in this short piece is not. It is not to say that solidarity is undesirable. The human condition, whenever and wherever it is in distress, requires unity of action; to improve things or honor age-old progress, we wish for a touch of warmth and appreciation. We need a force to move, and much of that force is provided by the people around us, the society that we think cares for us. This is what makes us human.
Much of human nature is instinctive. What I mean by human nature is not some deep psychological mind game. It is what comes to mind the instant you read the phrase itself. I mean those common human reactions to the changes in the environment: a child crying when upset, you going for lunch in Vail Commons when your stomach starts to grumble, a group of people protesting social inaction. Don’t think too far. It is simply that.
We like to think that we share too much. Any sort of similarity between us convinces us that we must respond to the conditions of others in the way they expect of us. We hope that when we become sick, the first person across the road who hears about it, even though they do not know us, will feel something for us–empathy, sympathy, whatever we prefer to call these feelings.
While this view is a possibility in most circumstances, we will be mistaken if we take it as the sole criteria to assess character. In truth, human nature can be predictable. But make no assumption that this is the rule everyone always conforms to. When you meet
healthcare, and other benefits. NYPD is also notorious for consistently overrunning its overtime budget by hundreds of millions of dollars. This year, the NYPD is on track to overrun its overtime budget by more than $400 million. Some officers receive more than a full year’s salary in overtime pay on top of their annual pay.
NYPD officers are known for abusing the overtime system, by, for example, randomly arresting someone at the end of their shift to clock in more hours. Officers are incentivized to rack up overtime, as it then increases their pension payout. This leads to taxpayers subsidizing artificially-bloated pensions for tens of thousands of retired police officers— and ultimately, the situation where taxpayers have to foot an extra $5.7 billion in yearly costs to the NYPD. Overtime budget overruns are not unique to New York, as many other departments experience similar excess spending. It’s no wonder that astronomical police budgets don’t translate to public safety when all they’re doing is ensuring comfortable retirements for officers who have left the force.
If police departments were any other public service––say, food stamps or welfare––fiscal conservatives would immediately call for budget cuts. However, police spending, like tax cuts and military spending, is seemingly immune to fiscal conservative criticism.
Some may argue that being fiscally conservative doesn’t mean supporting “Defund,” as public safety is more important than prudent spending. This is a fair objection––however, as there is no proof that more spending brings about greater public safety, the point is moot. One can support all three of these ideas: greater public safety, wiser public spending, and less police funding.
Another argument may be that we should not defund the police but rather reform and fund the police differently. This argument acknowledges that current police spending is too high and doesn’t bring about greater public safety but sees rearranging funding rather than defunding as the solution. People may call for more community policing, more police
someone for the first time, do not rush to the conclusion that they share your sentiments. The environments we come from are different. And even if we come from the same borough in New York or uptown Mooresville, we may never quite grasp what the other is like.
Now, some have concerns that fewer people want to befriend them because they lack some “desirable” qualities. Others have decidedly refrained from contributing to academic spaces or participating in social events. Reason: others think their views “lack a moral angle.” Where to start the conversation? Davidson values “human instincts,” “deep sincerity,” and “intellectual bravery.” I believe that these ideals make Davidson’s experience a “truth” richer like no other. Therefore they must mean that every student here has a space. Everyone is welcome. Personally, I see Davidson as a club where freedom is served to whoever wants it. Since our academic growth and professional curiosity mostly depend on this freedom, the only reasonable thing to do is take vast advantage of it whenever you can.
Now, we must not assume that everyone lives solely by Davidson’s ideals. People have personal values, which, if not reflected in another person, tend to undermine compatibility. We should not squeeze ourselves into relationships in which we are not welcome. And perhaps we should not always be too comfortable with the idea that the other person is always going to be who we want them to be. Friendship is a territory built upon trust, and sometimes that means seeing the other for who they really are without really trying
training, and reforms to qualified immunity.
Specific police reforms are undoubtedly necessary––such as ending qualified immunity, a longstanding doctrine that enables police brutality and violates citizens’ rights. Other reforms, like community policing and more police training, still don’t increase public safety. For example, after Minnesota police murdered Philando Castile in 2016, the state invested $12 million in police training, requiring officers to complete 1,000 hours of training. This did not prevent police there from murdering George Floyd in 2020 and again killing Daunte Wright in 2021. Community policing, an approach that emphasizes the police’s connection to a neighborhood and its residents, also has been proven not to build trust or reduce crime. Merely shifting police budgets around runs into the same issues as before: inconclusive evidence that such programs reduce crime and failure to address the astronomical budgets of police departments.
The real reason fiscal conservatives don’t support defunding the police is simple: politics. Any association with the “Defund the Police” slogan is politically radioactive. Such weaponization of the term renders any sensible discussion about police reform impossible. Further, fiscal conservatives do not actually exist in any consistent bloc. Fiscal conservatives are conservative when it comes to spending on social programs like welfare, food stamps, housing vouchers, and social security––but when it comes to defense spending, police spending, and tax cuts, they’re as wasteful as the liberals they criticize.
Clyde Dwywer ‘25 (he/him) is a Philosophy, Politics and Economics major from Brookyln, New York. He works at his family’s bakery in Queens, New York. He can be reached at cldwyer@davidson.edu.
so hard to convert or convince them. Maybe give them space; they will decide whether to accommodate our beliefs by simply spending time with us. That, a change of beliefs, is entirely up to them. It is their prerogative.
College is a labyrinth of possibilities and growth. Certainly, not everyone will leave this place with the same beliefs they brought with them. We come with reservations, we get molded, we agree to what we can, and maybe, just maybe, we even leave without anything about us changing. The capacity to be in the other’s shoes is a matter of choice, one that derives heavily from years of hard-earned individual experience and independent thought.
As much as we desire that unity of action and con- gruity of spirit, we must also remember that each of us has an individual side of affairs. Aside from our human similarity, we have identities that are only, and only, for us. It is a breach of human dignity to think that we can easily soothe others into what we think is right or wrong.
Frank Edong’a ‘25 (he/him) is a Philosophy major from Turkana, Kenya. He can be reached at fredonga@davidson.edu.
Brigid McCarthy ‘25, Katie Stewart ‘23
Georgia Hall ‘25
Nada Shoreibah‘23
Gray Eisler ‘24, Bilal Razzak ‘25
David Sowinski ‘25
Campbell Walker ‘25
Andrew ElKadi ‘23, Varun Maheshwari ‘23
Nora Klein ‘24
Josie Hovis ‘23, Skylar Linker
Bailey Maierson ‘25
Ben Gordon-Sniffen ‘23
Sahana Athreya ‘25
Sierra Brown ‘25
Isabelle Easter ‘25, Bailey Maierson ‘25
Anaya Patel ‘25
CLYDE DWYER ‘25 (HE/HIM)
“It’s no wonder that astronomical police budgets don’t translate to public safety when all they’re doing is ensuring comfortable retirements for officers who have left the force.”
The vast majority of competitive athletes see their varsity careers come to an end after high school. However, at Davidson, there is no shortage of options for the 75% of the student body not participating in Division I sports. Those who want to remain involved in their sport–or even those who have not played in a long time–often turn to club teams, which practice regularly and also face off against other schools’ counterparts.
Club Baseball returned to Davidson in Fall of 2021 following a COVID-19-induced hiatus the previous academic year. Then a sophomore, Michael Callahan ’24, the club’s president and de facto head coach, felt a void in his Davidson lifestyle. “After playing competitive baseball my entire life, I realized that not having the sport be involved in my college experience was a complete disservice to myself,” he explained. Getting the club off the ground was no small task. Between limited interest and limited field availability, simply practicing once
a week was an ambitious goal that did not come to fruition.
This school year, participation has skyrocketed. For firstyears new to the club, it is difficult to imagine struggling to even field a full roster. Practices occur every Wednesday, and despite the uncanny tendency for Tuesday night rain to muddy the IMACs, the team saw a consistent turnout of around 15 players during the fall campaign. As the weather begins to warm and the ’Cats near the start of their intercollegiate game schedule, that turnout should grow even further.
Callahan and his fellow upperclassmen have fostered a motivated yet welcoming culture that has incentivized involvement among Davidson’s newest students hoping to continue their careers without pause. “After my high school career ended, I wasn’t sure what my baseball-playing future would hold,” said Thomas Kade ’26, one of many first-years who quickly found a solution to that uncertainty. “I think my main draw towards club baseball was finding a group of guys who loved baseball but wanted to enjoy their time playing instead of having a strict schedule,” added Aaron Argo ’26.
Ben Hale ’26 cited a desire to “keep the competitive feel
of sports that I had in high school” as a primary reason for joining the team and has not been disappointed: “Practice is something I look forward to every week […] I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone on the team better and more laughs and good times.” The youth movement is not lost on Callahan, who takes comfort in knowing that “after my time at Davidson is over, the team will be left in great hands.” While the camaraderie built through practices is more than satisfactory for the players, the prospect of the first games in the club’s history this semester only adds to the excitement. The Cats’ schedule is headlined by a trip to Appalachian State University, whose ballpark is complemented by a beautiful mountain backdrop. Naturally, on-field success is a priority, but no matter the win-loss record, this year has indisputably been a key step in the development of a program poised to prosper for years to come. Callahan summarizes this sentiment well: “Considering everything this team has accomplished in the last couple years, I expect us to be able to compete and give every game our all, regardless of the outcome.”
Davidson Wrestling has undergone a dramatic transformation between last year and this year, but the ‘Cats have competed well and notched two victories so far this year. Things are looking up for the wrestling program which has been yearning for success for the past couple of years.
Nate Carr Jr. was named as the fourth wrestling coach in Davidson history this August. Carr was a former NJCAA All-American and a two year starter at Iowa State, and was previously the assisant coach at Lock Haven University. Carr
said in his introductory statement that he was “truly excited to build an elite atmosphere at Davidson on and off the mat”, and it looks like he is beginning to try and make that the case.
The team has shown no fear in wrestling high quality opponents, taking on Michigan State at home to open the year, as well as having a showdown with Top-25 Appalachian State to finish the season. However, their brightest spot of the year was when the team took home back to back victories against Queens and SoCon foe Presbyterian to win two times in a day. They wrestled Queens at 5 PM, with the ‘Cats dominating in a 42-4 rout, then beat Presbyterian 26-7 to cap off one of the better weekends for the team in years.
Individually, Davidson has had consistently good performances from wrestlers this year. Gavin Henry ‘23 has posted
a 15-11 record so far in extensive action, and Bryce Sanderlin ‘24 is 15-6 in tournament and dual play. However, the team’s most consistent achiever has been Tanner Peake ‘26, posting a 10-2 record and wrestling in some big matches this year. Peake and the rest of the freshmen have been solid contributors to the team, sparking hope for growth and development in the future.
Davidson Wrestling is a program on the up, and despite a 2-9 record, the team has hope to look forward to in the future. A new, passionate coach, as well as a solid young core, bodes well for the team’s future success.
Davidson Wrestling has two more events before the Southern Conference Tournament: February 18th at Gardner-Webb University and February 19th at Appalachian State University.
The Last of Us is a new hit show on HBO based on a PlayStation video game that takes place 20 years after a zombie apocalypse. Despite video game adaptations rarely being high quality, The Last of Us has completely changed the way in which we view video games and storytelling. Four episodes have aired, with the first two nearly identical to the original game and story. The small changes include the zombie-inducing infection being a fungus instead of a virus, but one can even take side-by-side shots from the game and show, and the dialogue and scene look the exact same. However, this changes in episode three. It begins with our protagonists carefully traversing to their friend Bill’s house. Bill, in the video game, is a nihilist doomsday prepper that lives on his own with traps protecting his house from zombies. The protagonists meet Bill and he helps them get parts to get a car working and fight through hordes of zombies. In the show, this never happens. The show gives us the opportunity to go back in time and experience how Bill handled the apocalypse. As others flee the town for quarantine zones, Bill continues to live in his house, grows and cooks his own food, and steals from abandoned businesses for anything else he may need. So far, this all lines up with what is known about Bill in the game.
The story deviates when Bill meets another
HUGH PERRY ‘25 (HE/HIS)
man, Frank. Frank fell into one of Bill’s traps outside of his house. Frank, starving and exhausted, is the last person alive in a party going to a Boston quarantine zone. Seeing the desperation on Frank’s face, Bill lets him into his house, lets him take a shower, and makes Frank a meal. Bill’s meal of rabbit, glazed carrots, and a bottle of wine that beautifully pairs with it shows that Bill has another side that isn’t as rough and nihilistic. When Bill says that he himself looks like someone who doesn’t know his wine, Frank says that actually, Bill does. They share a longing look before finishing their meals which shows that Frank can really see Bill. Afterward, Frank
acknowledges that he should go on his way, but first, he spots Bill’s piano that he must play before he leaves. Frank picks out the song “Long, Long Time,” by Linda Rodstadt, and plays it haphazardly with pitchy vocals. Bill cuts him off before playing the song himself, the correct way. He plays the song at a much slower pace with soft and vulnerable vocals. Bill ends with the lyrics, “Cause I’ve done everything I know to try and make you mine. And I think I’m gonna love you for a long long time.” Afterward, Frank embraces Bill and they speak vulnerably and openly. For Bill, this is the first time he has shared his homosexuality with someone, and they share a longing kiss. After being alone and repelling others for so long, Bill finally allows himself to be open and is willing to share his life and who he is with someone. Bill and Frank now live together in Bill’s protected house and neighborhood. One moment that shows their relationship perfectly is when Frank sells one of Bill’s guns. Initially furious, Bill then shuts up as Frank holds a strawberry from seeds that he traded for the gun. Bill takes one bite and giggles with childish joy. Their life together is joyful and works. They are there for each other through emotional and violent moments. However, with time, Frank loses his physical ability and cannot walk or eat on his own without proper medicine and treatment. Bill does his best to make Frank’s life the best it can be, but Frank gets to a point where he
wakes up and decides that it is his last day. All he wants is to go to the courthouse and get married to Bill, have one last meal of Bill’s, and then have Bill crush pills into his wine so that he can die in his sleep. Heartbroken, Bill abides and they have one last great day together. When they have their wine together, Bill announces that he put the medicine in the whole bottle. Bill and Frank die together because, for Bill, life began when he met Frank. They fall asleep together, for the last time.
In the video game, The Last of Us, the protagonists actually get to meet Bill. Bill has been living his rugged life and the main dialogue about Frank comes when they come across Frank’s hung body. Frank leaves a suicide note saying he was disgusted with Bill and couldn’t live like that anymore. Bill has gay porn in his house and describes Frank as a partner and friend, but the game never states outwardly they were lovers nor does it ever state his sexuality. The show changes this narrative, and in a show about an apocalypse, HBO stops to tell us a love story. HBO did not need to make this change, but instead, we were gifted with a beautiful story about human’s ability to find something worth fighting
for. Hugh Perry ‘25 is a physics and educational studies major from Raleigh, North Carolina and can be reached for comment at huperry@ davidson.edu CAMPBELL WALKER ‘25 (SHE/HER) Gaudy Mountains - oil on panel. 2022 Who’s There? - oil on panel. 2022 Burn - oil on panel. 2022 Teagan Crye ‘25 (She/Her) is a psychology and studio art major from Atlanta, Georgia. She can be reached for comment at tecrye@davidson. edu. More of Crye’ s artwork can be found on Instagram @ teaganspaintings. March Along - oil on panel. 202348 “Oh ___!” (cry of surprise)
49 Give the cold shoulder to
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Last week was the start of the Year of the Rabbit, which was an expected moment for mirth, reunion, comfort, family, and companionship. Originating in China thousands of years ago, Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival is notable for its traditions and increasing popularity over time. Chinese people take seven days to spend time with their families and loved ones. They usually eat dumplings and watch the CCTV New Year’s Gala. The convention differs by region. Where the climate is colder and drier, in Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces, people stay inside for warmth and play board games, chat, and watch festive TV programs. In southern regions such as Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, people go outside to view lanterns and parterre designed for the celebration. Another favorite tradition is setting off firecrackers, which were forbidden by governmental regulations for improving the air quality and avoiding damages brought by the fire. This year the policies have largely changed to allow the colorful and loud firecrackers thanks to effective air quality progress, safety prevention, and people’s growing wishes to create festivity. What children and teenagers love most is the red pocket with money they could receive from seniors in the family. They develop tactics to hide the money in case their parents take it, such as keeping it in a secret box with a lock and putting it under the bed.
The Chinese New Year also attracted worldwide attention and celebration. There were performances such as Ribbon
Twirling and Lion Dance held in NYC. The Tokyo Tower in Japan was put on red lights. People performed Dragon Dance in South Africa. Chinese communities in the Philippines also gathered together to perform similarly with fireworks and red lanterns.
Let’s take a look at what celebration took place at Davidson. On January 21, which was Chinese New Year’s Eve, the Chinese Culture Club (CCC) prepared a successful dinner event for the college community with delicious Chinese cuisine, traditional calligraphy activities, and playback of this year’s CCTV Gala. We then introduced the main dish made by CCC personally, Mala Fry Hot Pot. This dish is from Sichuan, China, which is renowned for its spicy taste, attractive look, and a variety of ingredients such as fish tofu, beef meatballs, cilantro, and soybean sprouts. Another important part of the to-do list of the New Year is that people put on the character Fu and antithetical couplets on the door as a charm of good luck. The character and couplets are usually hand-written or printed with written calligraphy. This celebration was also welcomed by the activity of writing this character on red paper with brushes and ink. It was evident that students were particularly interested in experiencing this type of writing and by the end of the event, many of them left with a piece of satisfactory calligraphy work.
This is the second Chinese New Year I spent at Davidson with friends, and we endeavor to preserve as many activities as possible in order to create a safe and pleasant space for
BY LISA MENG ‘24everyone to gather together and share our felicity. Numerous Chinese students all over the world had their own ways of spending this holiday and remembering traditions. This allows the essence of the New Year to be brought out, which is the conduction of conventional habits at special moments, and the spread of cultural heritage from the global perspective. Chinese New Year is increasing its influence through displays of a variety of rituals and wishful thinking. In recent Covid years of turbulence and depression, the spirit of this festival is exactly what people need to feel relaxed and encouraged.
This year, a shooting took place in California during the holiday. This New Year is not only about the formal reunion, but also care and emotional support. What makes this Chinese New Year different is that people are reaching out to others and healing from the trauma of the shooting together. This unity is a central quality of the festival. For those particularly interested in the formation of traditions during the Chinese New Year, they may realize that behind almost each one of them, there is a story of how ancestors overcame challenges by turning forceful events into opportunities for unity. They grant each other and themselves the sincerest blessings about life. After thousands of years these stories tend to be forgotten, but the purpose behind them lives on. In this sense, when there are hard times, characteristics emerge from their cultural legacy to guide them toward resolutions.
yowl.com/rushyowl Post Placement Issue
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BREAKING: Chinese Spy Balloon Saw You Leave SPE Apartment in Previous Day’s Clothes
After the American military shot down a Chinese spy balloon last week, many thought the tension with the communist nation had been resolved. However, the keen eyes of a student in Dr. Kristen Thompson’s astronomy class caught a glimpse of a second balloon flying over the IMACs yesterday while completing their telescope homework. NASA offered the student who spotted the balloon a job as chief astronomer. This offer comes on the merit that it was, according to Bill Nelson, the 14th NASA administrator “the first piece of useful astronomy in modern history”.
While the aim of the Chinese government’s plan is unclear, what we can be certain of is that they definitely saw you leave the SPE apartment, and it’s totally embarrassing. Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China, was unavailable for a comment, but we were able to sit down with Dong Jingwei, the vice minister of the Chinese Ministry of State Security. He informed us that the footage of you leaving SPE has been broadcast to each of China’s 1.42 billion citizens, and the whole country knows exactly what you did on Saturday night.
It remains a point of contention amongst the nation’s leaders as to whether or not this balloon ought to be shot down. Those on both sides of the aisle recognize that allowing a spy balloon to be flown in our airspace is unacceptable. Despite this bipartisan sentiment, calls to leave the balloon in the air are certainly growing. Pennsylvania representative John Fetterman had this to say- “While we need to make sure this does not become a larger issue; the
balloon has obvious benefits. Seeing you leave F in shame was honestly the funniest thing I’ve seen in months, so the balloon should stay.” Even celebrities like Tom Hanks have expressed that they would like the keep the balloon up. “So embarrassing- I live for seeing people at their lowest,” stated the Forest Gump star.
Some other notable events caught by the balloon’s surveillance equipment:
• You dropping an empty cup at commons.
• Your honest reaction the moment you got your third eating house choice.
• Information regarding the Duke Energy nuclear plant, including override passcodes, giving the Chinese government access to sound the alarm whenever they please.
• You stepping into the raw sewage puddle behind Nummit in sandals.
• You secretly pouring out half your bourg behind F at noon.
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An iconic day at Davidson College, Placement Day celebrates being drunk from 6 am until 2 am, as first years get sorted into what Davidson claims are not sororities despite them having almost every aspect of a sorority. The Yowl sent out one of our best reporters on a mission to get the scoop.
I started at the Warner pregame at 5:15 am, where I interviewed the president as she sipped on a mimosa. “Like they say, it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere, but today it literally is 5 o’clock here. Just forget about the AM and PM part.” She giggled before slurping down a jello shot. “I’m just so excited for our baby weebs!” Despite further research, we have been unable to determine what a Weeb actually is.
After downing 2 mimosas I left the pregame to brave the 28 degree weather, where glittered up girls in mini skirts and tank tops shivered their way to other pregames. I made my way to Belk, where the screaming and banging began at 7 am. I stopped a confused and sleepy male as he made his way out of the bathroom. “I was just sleeping when I heard all this ruckus, so I went out in the hall to see what all the commotion was about. Suddenly, I saw a girl dressed as Hannah Montana running through the hall, yelling at people’s doors. I thought I was dreaming–I’ve always had Miley Cyrus fantasies–but turns out it was real, and Hannah Montana continued banging on doors for another 15 minutes.” He rubbed his eyes before returning to his room.
tire social life. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else; I know these are MY people. I just didn’t think I’d fit with any of the other houses.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that a computer algorithm determined who her “people” were. I moved onto the SAE house, where a group of men stood on the porch, watching the chaos. I stopped a senior to ask him why he was up so early.
“This is my fourth Placement Day. I’ve gotta say, Warner’s theme really won this year. There’s nothing better than colorful bodysuits. I’m just here to watch the action.” He insisted that it wasn’t creepy at all, and even stated that he is just here to “support women having fun.”
Placement day always leads back to Commons, where the members of the houses (that are not sororities, I must reiterate) yelled their house chants across the dining hall. I spotted a junior in the corner, sipping on something colorful from a Deer Park water bottle. “Placement Day is just another excuse to drink, like pretty much any other Davidson social event. I’m not actually in an eating house anymore. The required house meetings could have been an email and the service requirements were just too much for me. Like seriously, I could have just donated directly to the organization; my dad’s got plenty of money.”
I made my way back outside, where the first years went running to their houses as the upperclassmen cheered. I stopped a first year on her way to Connor. “I’m so glad I got my first choice. I mean, your eating house pretty much determines your en -
The student body spent their afternoon at F, embarrassing themselves as usual, just in broad daylight this time. The sun was shining, drinks were spilling, and ping pong balls were bouncing through the legs of bystanders while frat men frantically chased them around. Toward the end of the day, I realized I needed to actually get some more perspectives, because that was the entire reason I was there, to make fun of, and not to have fun.
The lead-up to Placement Day means the singular time women and gender minorities check WildcatSync through their four years in order to submit their clusters and preferences for their favorite eating house. Despite being trained to question everything with meaningless philosophical questions in our classes (“what really is the environment?”
ENV majors whisper to the trees), everyone blindly accepts that a computer algorithm places everyone into their eating houses. Some say that being in one of four eating houses is like joining the four Acapella groups on campus: you’re assigned one by pure fate, it takes no effort to be in for three years, and
yet every member still adopts it as an important personality trait despite outsiders not caring. Here at the Yowl, we decided to figure out what really goes into determining which of the four houses someone is placed into.
Turner. This was the easiest of the eating houses to investigate by far. The Yowl investigative team discovered that one’s WildcatSync profile was linked to one’s T&I profile. If you searched up phrases such as “oat milk near me,” and “vintage deadstock avant garde clothing no one else understands,” on any device with Duo installed, WildcatSync flagged you as gay— uh, whoops, we mean “Turner Ap-
propriate.”
Connor. Studies have found that Connor was instrumental in bringing together the Davidson College Police Department and the Center for Student Health & Wellbeing. Those found to be engaged in “suspicious” activity, accidentally leaving small little white trails wherever they travel, by campo were immediately reported to the Center for Student Health & Wellbeing as students of concern. The Yowl found going on this list in turn also guaranteed them a spot in Connor.
Warner. If you have previously expressed anti-Cutler sentiments for his historic theft of the “W”
“I’ve wanted a new challenge, that’s why I’ve decided to come back to coach the new Softball team.”
- Bob McKillopletter, have googled “how to fix window with brick sized hole” or “how to find stolen credit card,” then you were automatically shipped to the top of the Warner list for placement. The fact that you already have this hard-hitting shared bond means you will forever be united with the most sorority-like anti-sorority girls. Wapa Hapa.
Rusk. Remember when you read that one Buzzfeed advice list going into your first year of college and it told you to become involved as possible as if you hadn’t spent the last four years grinding as the president of twenty-seven different clubs just to get into college in
In an attempt to get back at China, the U.S. has sent its own spy balloon to spy on China, but unpredicted winds resulted in the Balloon getting off course and hovering over Spain instead, where it has been capturing footage of your ex-boyfriend having a great time on his abroad program. He does not seem remotely upset about the break-up, and the warm climate has left him looking tan and better than ever. The Chinese government has noted the contrastclaiming the recent weather over this “muddy shithole” has left you looking pale and sickly. Note: The
the first place so flash forward and now you’re signed up for every single club in WildcatSync and are constantly bombarded with emails every second of the day? Well, if one of those clubs were even remotely religious, congratulations, you were placed in Rusk! (Bonus points if you also think North Carolina is part of the South and own a pair of cowboy boots). In order to maintain your place in this house you may be forced to learn the “Hoedown Throwdown,” a totally real dance that people in this part of western Carolina definitely do.
is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth.
