Davidsonian 10.25

The

Davidsonian

Independent Student Journalism Since 1914

inside

davidsonian.news

Bella Andjelkovic ‘26 looks into a former plantation owened by Davidson

Volume I22, Issue 05

October 25, 2023

2

4

Students and community anonymously offer insights on IsraelPalestine conflict

Belle Staley ‘26 recounts the fashion trends from the 2023 Fall Fling

6

The Yowl: Global Warming is a good thing

8

Davidson Grapples with Conflict in Israel and Gaza STELLA MACKLER ‘26 (SHE/HER) CO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

T

he Davidson College community, like all college campuses, is grappling with the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, a conflict with more than 80 years of history has taken up a larger space in the campus conversation. At the time of publishing, according to the Associated Press, almost 6,000 Palestinians have been killed, over two hundred Israelis and foreign nationals have been taken hostage and altogether over 1.4 million people have been displaced. However, numbers only tell part of the story.

In light of the growing campus discussion, College President Doug Hicks ‘90 has attempted, and received “over one hundred responses” in doing so, to create a space for all students to share their stories and experiences.

“I take moments like this seriously, and also have my own perspective, which is that we try to create a culture and a context where all perspectives are welcome, given that people are willing to accept certain community norms, like non hateful speech, like non violent speech. There have to be certain norms of mutual respect that create a context for then people to share.”

Many students have not felt supported or understood by the administration.

“There have also been strong opinions from different perspectives, wishing that we might have said some [of] this or that more, this point or that point more strongly,” President Hicks said. “It’s a heated issue. It’s more than emotionally disturbing. It’s viscerally disturbing to everyone what’s going on in the violence.”

It is particularly disturbing, however, for those who are personally affected by the violence in Israel and Gaza. Dr. Jonathan Berkey is the James B. Duke Professor of History at the College and his expertise is in the Middle East and the Islamic World. He touched on the complexity of the conflict.

“What calls for explanation often are things that are shocking, things that are out of the ordinary,” Dr. Berkey said. “It is often the case that in the real world, the complicated nuanced world in which we live in, there is no black or white, only shades of gray.”

Within these shades of gray lie the actual lived experiences of Jewish students and Isrealis, of Palestinian-American students

The Gaza Strip is a narrow piece of land that borders Israel to the east and north. Photo from Business Insider and Palestinians. Within these shades of gray lie the stories of people who have lost loved homes and loved ones.

Zayna Abuhakema ‘24 is Co-President of the Middle East and North African Student’s Association (MENASA). She is PalestinianAmerican and has family in the West Bank.

She explained that the events of the past month have only perpetuated a fear she has carried with her throughout her entire life.

“This conflict has been going on for so many years, this is nothing new,” Abuhakema said. “It’s just the scale of it, and that’s why people are paying attention to it, because it is so bad now. But my family has been living there since the beginning.”

Abuhakema spoke to the isolation she often feels, and the overwhelming sense of helplessness.

“It is so hard to put into words, because I think part of the reason why it hits so close to home is number one, I’ve grown up around this, I’ve grown up being afraid for my family.

Number two, there’s not many of us left.

Those few that are still fighting, how much longer until they’re completely gone? It’s that kind of feeling of knowing that one day like, it’s going to be gone. And there’s nothing I can do about it.”

She emphasized a kind of cognitive dissonance, with having “half of her heart” in Palestine.

“Why should I get to go sit in Union and have dinner with my friends and laugh when my family hasn’t left their houses or gone to work?”

Lior, who cannot give her last name for security reasons, is an Israeli citizen who works for the Jewish Agency for Israel and is currently living in Atlanta. She was celebrating Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, when she found out about the attacks.

“On Friday night, we had Shabbat dinner with friends in Atlanta,” Lior said. “And when we got back home, we saw there’s missiles starting in Israel. And unfortunately, it’s something that feels routine. So we went to sleep and we thought we [will] wake up in the morning and everything will be fine.”

The next morning, however, everything was not fine.

“We woke up to a nightmare,” Lior said.

“And seeing the terrorists who breached the fence and the terrorists are running in kibbutzim, and people all over are [calling] for rescue and help. It was just a shock. I was just shocked. I never imagined something like this could happen in Israel.”

Like Abuhakema, Lior is struggling to be so far from home.

“It’s really hard to be far,” Lior said. “The community [in Atlanta] is amazing, but you don’t have your personal support system. I couldn’t go to the funeral or the shiva. I feel

like I am working here, but I feel like I am in a shiva here, all the time.”

Shiva, which means seven in Hebrew, is a Jewish tradition that consists of a week of mourning for family members. Lior lost two of her former students in the attack by Hamas, a Palestinian political and military organization that operates in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and is considered a terrorist organization by multiple countries, including the United States, Israel, and the European Union.

“I found out pretty soon that two of my students were missing. One of my students from when I did a year of community service, she was missing from the Nova music festival.

One of my students from last year was missing.

His father got murdered in a kibbutz, and we knew he was seriously injured. We were just waiting for a message from him, we didn’t know what was going on with him. During the week I found out that they found both of their bodies.”

She described an overall sense of shifting attitudes across Israel since the attacks.

“It was really scary. I mean, people got murdered, or kidnapped from their own home, their kibbutz, the place that felt sacred to them. Communities, people don’t know if their parents are still alive or kidnapped, the feeling is just different.”

Ilana Rapaport ‘25 is a Jewish student who has also spent her days living in fear for her friends and family. She began the fall semester studying abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She left Israel right before Hamas’s attack across the border, and has been unable to return to school.

“Every Jew that I know knows people who are in Israel,” Rapaport said. “I live in fear every day now from our friends and family that are there [in Israel], especially those in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and those being held hostage in Gaza. One of my best friends since elementary school is fighting in the IDF right now, she is a combat soldier. I have family members who are actually going over to help fight.”

Rapaport is safe outside Israel, but she is not worried about herself. Her thoughts, like Abuhakema and Lior, remain constantly with her friends and her family.

“I’m in constant fear. I keep checking my phone to hear from my friends. Also, it’s been pretty frustrating, I’ve been on social media a

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Pullitzer Prize Winning Sociologist Matthew Desmond Speaks at Davidson AIDAN MARKS ‘27 (HE/HIM) STAFF WRITER

S

ociologist Matthew Desmond presented Davidson College’s 2023 Racial Justice lecture on Monday, October 16. Titled after his new book “Poverty, By America,” the lecture discussed the deeply-rooted and destructive nature of poverty in the United States.

It was followed by a Q&A session moderated by Dr. Joseph Ewoodzie, Vann

Professor of Racial Justice and Associate Professor of Sociology.

For many, the topic feels undercovered.

“I think poverty in the United States, the magnitude of it, is not really truly felt at Davidson and other higher education institutions, and I think it’s a more prominent issue than it’s made out to be,” Anthony Toumazatos ‘25, who attended the lecture, said, “At times, it could feel so disconnected at Davidson with actual real life.”

Zoe Moseley ‘26, who also attended, said

Desmond’s lecture is the first step to change this disconnect.

“I think not a lot of people say what [Desmond] says in this environment. It’s the first time that I had heard of people talk about poverty that transparently at Davidson. I feel like it’s something we kind of tiptoe around and so it was very refreshing.”

While Desmond’s book focuses heavily on the state of poverty today, he also presents a compelling argument on how to end it.

“It’s an aspiration, but…he’s very clear that

A) it can be ended, B) that there [are] actual steps to which we can end it,” said Ewoodzie.

“I think the new insight that he adds is that people who are doing well are actually complicit in [poverty].”

Though often politically coded, Desmond makes clear that resistance to anti-poverty policies is shared across party lines–a rare example of bipartisanship.

“I found it very uncomfortable and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

News

Investigating History Behind a College Owned Property

BELLA ANDJELKOVIC ‘26 (SHE/HER) SENIOR STAFF WRITER

L

ess than three miles from campus lies the Beaver Dam Property, a plantation house with an obscure history Davidson College is hoping to uncover.

According to the college, the house, which was built in 1829, “entangles important history and urgent responsibility for the college.” The land on which the house sits was inhabited by the Catawba people and for decades, people were enslaved on the plantation and little is known about their lives. The house is also where, in 1835, members of the Concord Presbytery gathered to discuss land acquisition to found Davidson.

Before the plantation was sold to Davidson College in 1997, a man lived in the “Master’s House” on the property.

“It had been the home of Chalmers Davidson who had worked in the college library and was the first college archivist,” said Dr. Hilary Green, Africana Studies professor. Dr. Green is Davidson’s “public historian” and will eventually work alongside hired program and site managers to complete the project.

“When the lease ended at the end of last year, the college decided to learn more about the enslaved people who worked on the property as well as the Catawba people who had inhabited the land,” Dr. Green said.

“For many in the current campus community, Beaver Dam was not viewed as belonging to the college. It was shocking for some to learn

that the college had a former plantation.”

Dr. Green further details the college’s current goals for turning the property into “an education and museum-esque space.”

“We want to conduct research… and fully contextualize the history of the property and house for future visitors when the site reopens.

It will serve as an educational resource where current Davidson students will have the opportunity to develop real world experiences with historic preservation, archaeology, and public history.”

The first step to making this a reality is by hiring a site manager, which Dr. Green states will create “a more permanent presence on the site.”

Jay Pfeifer, Davidson’s director of media relations, outlines the requirements for the job. “[The job requires] reporting directly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and working closely with campus collaborators, including E.H. Little Library’s Archives, Special Collections, & Community team, the James B. Duke Professor of Africana Studies, and other colleagues,” Pfeifer said.

“The Program and Site Manager will lead and implement a program for the management and preservation of the historic Beaver Dam Plantation house and grounds, and will help educate the public on its history, including the history of enslavement at the site and in the region.”

This aligns directly with Davidson’s goal for the project, which is to have the site reach a larger audience.

“The college’s commitment to truth and a

deep understanding of our history extends to the greater Davidson community. Beaver Dam has been intertwined in our shared history for over 150 years; we will share what we learn with the public in an effort to build a more full understanding of the events that have shaped the community,” Pfeifer said.

The anthropology department is also looking for a new faculty member, specifically an archaeologist, who will work alongside the site manager to lead excavations on the property.

Anthropology professor Dr. Helen Cho is on the search committee and discussed the difficulties of finding a perfect candidate who meets all of the criteria for the position.

“Challenges are not unique to anthropology and the hiring of an archaeologist but in all searches for professors, it’s time consuming,” she said.

For example, one of the key aspects according to the Davidson Human Resources page is the importance of this prospective archaeologist incorporating students into their work.

However, Anthropology major Eva Carter ‘24 who is studying the site, has concerns about the level of student involvement this project is seeking.

“I find this plan to be rather disturbing as there is clear evidence of an enslaved peoples’ cemetery on the site, and students from a Predominantly White Institution should not be digging that up,” they said.

Carter finds the Beaver Dam project as a whole quite questionable.

2

“There is definitely something in the air here,” they said. “Why is the College as an institution being so vague about what is going to happen with this property? Why is it so hard to find information about the history of Beaver Dam?” “This lack of communication is definitely notable,” they added.

Carter has their own thoughts on qualities the site manager should have “It is my opinion that this person should be scholarly or personally versed in indigenous history and issues, should work within the framework of black feminism, harbor a great care for the land, hear the concerns of students and Catawba people and apply them to their work, and commit to involving descendent communities in the process of analysis, excavating, and reckoning with this site” While there is currently no set deadline for the conclusion of the project, which Pfeifer states should be determined once a site manager is hired, the college eventually plans to open up the property to the public.

Conflict Impacts Davidson Students and Beyond

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

lot. Women, children, the elderly are being murdered, mutilated, rapes, dragged through the streets. And instead of mourning, like this loss of life, I’ve been seeing a lot of contextualizing and justification. That’s really scary, especially when you know people who are going through that.”

Rapaport emphasized her hope and the importance she sees in the Jewish community coming together to support one another in these moments.

“As Jews, our existence is a privilege given all that we’ve been through with the Holocaust and other historical events. I think it’s just so important that, despite our different beliefs, we come together to hang on to the ideals of hope and peace, and tikkun olam, repairing the world.”

Mohamed Mustafa ‘26 is the Vice President of the Muslim Students Association on campus. He is originally from Egypt and has family living in Jenin, a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. Like Rapaport, he has also been looking to his religious community on campus for support.

“The sad reality is that [at] Davidson, you have no one other than your fellow Muslim students who have the same beliefs and have the same ideas and perspective of the conflict,” Mustafa said. “I think that has kind of been the only major support system.”

However, Abuhakema emphasizes that this is not a religious issue.

“This is not a religious thing, it’s not Jewish versus Muslim,” Abuhakema said. “This is an Israeli/Palestinian conflict. There are Palestinian Muslims. I’m one of them. And there are Palestinian Jews, not as many, but they’re there. So to say that this is the Jews versus the Muslims, and a lot of people think that, is completely untrue.”

Mustafa described how the imagery that is being distributed, both on social media and other news sources, is hard to unsee.

“When you see these pictures and when you see these videos it is very disturbing, and it’s not like one video,” Mustafa said.

“People say more than two thousand kids have been killed over the past two weeks. Sometimes it seems it’s just numbers.

We’re kind of desensitized, because we take them as numbers, not as each one of those two thousand people. They have their lives, they have their dreams, they have their stories.”

According to Al-Jazeera, children make up over 40% of those who have died in Gaza, a fact which Abukahema also drew attention to.

“I​​t’s being called a war, but this is an attack on civilians on both sides,” Abuhakema said. “And also an attack not only on civilians, but it’s been majority children, who have no part in this whatsoever. They don’t even understand what’s happening.

I think that’s something to talk about, too. Is that it’s kids, and it’s mothers, and it’s now schools and hospitals.”

Mustafa is constantly thinking about and imagining what it would be like to be in the place of his family. This helps him from letting the numbers overwhelm him.

“I have some small family that currently lives in one of the refugee camps in Palestine,” Mustafa said. “What if they were in the place of the video I just watched? This is, at least for me, it brings back humanity to the numbers. I imagine, what if one of those were my distant cousins who lives in Jenin, in one of the camps.”

Ahmad Abu Safieh is a Gazan immigrant who has been living in Boulder, CO since 2018, when he traveled to America and was unable to return home due to the border closing. Almost all of his family still lives in Gaza, and they remain on his mind “every second.”

“I wake up every night really worried and just jump on my phone to see if there’s any call, messages or just to check when was the last time they were online,” Safieh said. “It’s stressful and unfair.”

He has been struggling to stay in contact with his family since Israel began bombing Gaza in response to Hamas’s attack.

“My family had to evacuate three times,” Safieh said. “The first was from our house in the north area to the Gaza City center at my uncle’s house, then to the United Nations Relief Works Agency clinic as Israel bombed a lot of houses around them, then again to the south of Gaza with hundreds of thousands of people to run for their lives.”

Safieh’s family has been split up, making it even harder for him to communicate with them and remain up to date on their health and safety.

“My whole family was all together so I needed to hear one voice, one message, any thing from any one of them that they were still alive,” Safieh said. “Now they are in three groups in different locations and now I need three messages to hear that they are all still alive. I don’t know if my house is still standing there or if it’s a pile of concrete on the ground. Many questions are running through my family’s minds about will we be able to go back to our lovely little house or is it gone? That’s of course if they will be alive after what’s happening now in Gaza.”

Eliad Eliyahu Ben Shushan is a Jewish Federation representative in Israel. He lives in the northern city of Akko and is a father of six. His children, and their experience during this crisis, is constantly at the forefront of his mind.

“We had sirens here in Akko,” Shushan said. “For around 40 minutes, we were not allowed to go outside the shelter. In the middle, we receive another message that we need to close the lights all over the home. It scared me to death. I was scared, I couldn’t even hide it. If I’m scared, I’m sure that my kids are scared. You try to put on some music and some games, snacks and chocolate. But the kids feel everything.”

Hamas’s attacks have infiltrated all aspects of Shushan’s life, including his religious observance. On October 7, he was

celebrating Shabbat, and the holiday of Simchat Torah, which marks the completion of reading the Torah.

“During the day when it all started, it was Simchat Torah, a holiday, it was Shabbat. And suddenly someone came to me and tells me quietly ‘A war started in the south,’ so I thought it’s rockets, and they say ‘No, it was something horrible, people were kidnapped from their home, people were killed.”

Shushan’s family is Shabbat observant, which means from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, they do not drive or use electricity, among other traditions.

“We walked home [from the synagogue] and we ate very fast and just prayed, everyone prayed,” Shushan said. “My sisterin-law works at the hospital. Suddenly the phone rang, and if a phone rings on Shabbat you don’t answer unless you’re in the position that you need to pick up the phone. So they called her from the hospital and told her that she needs to prepare herself because maybe this is the worst Saturday in all Israel.”

Shushan described how Hamas has incited fear across Israel and the Jewish diaspora.

“This is something that it’s not only related to Israelis, but also related to all Jews, because people see Israel as the state of all the Jewish people,” Sushan said. “I think that this is the most horrible situation of people, no matter where they are, is the fear.”

Over 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, according to the Associated Press.

“Now we have 1,400,” Shushan said. “The generation before it was six million.”

Israel is a home for many Jewish people, but a people are not defined by their leaders.

“It’s not one color,” Shushan said. “There are so many diverse opinions and controversial topics in Israel, about Israel, from Israel about how we lead this conflict. And this is very important because when someone sees a Jew, they say a Jew is Israel, Israel is how the leaders of Israel lead. It’s not true.”

The personal stories of this conflict are often left out of mainstream media discussions, but Safieh emphasized the place they hold in giving a sense of humanity to those whose lives are lost and homes destroyed.

“We are human, we have the same human rights as any other human on this planet,” Safieh said. “This madness must stop, killing is not the solution. And for the American people, please, at least try to listen to both sides of the story, don’t be blind and judge without even thinking and reading. We need to spread awareness, love and work together to find a solution.

Stella Mackler is Jewish and a member of the Jewish Student Union. For an educational perspective on the conflict, come to the event on Wednesday, October 25th, at 5:30 pm in the Lilly Gallery.

Features

3

Trick-or-Treat: Freshmen Explore Senior Apartments

SAVANNAH SORAGHAN ‘27 (SHE/HERS) STAFF WRITER

R

LO will host a trick-or-treating trail at the Martin Court Apartments on October 31st from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Upperclass students will hand out candy to freshman trick-or-treaters while the Davidson College Health Advisors pass out information regarding safe substance consumption to students.

RLO’s Area Coordinators J’ai-La Aponte and Nic Capano planned the event. Aponte oversees the “first-year experience” while Capano oversees the “upper-class experience”.

“Each AC [Area Coordinator] has to do a large-scale social program for the class they oversee, and Nic and I saw it as an opportunity to team up and make the trick-or-treat event RLO-based to make it a bigger and better event for everyone,” Aponte said.

RLO, Hall Counselors, Martin Court Resident Advisors, and Area F have all collaborated to design the trail. This Halloween it will begin outside the RLO offices and end at the Martin Court Senior apartments. “[We want] to bring two communities together that may not get the chance to interact as much,” Aponte said.

Outside of class, freshmen and seniors do not socialize much, especially in the first semester. “[The trail] is a cool way to have the freshman and the seniors interact because I don’t think they do often, there’s not a lot of overlap,” said Laegan Smith ’24, who has signed up to hand out candy.

The Third Eye Coffee truck will also serve coffee to students. Seniors who have agreed to hand out candy have been given vouchers for free coffee.

“Their coffee truck is mystical and eccentric

and is that way year-round, not only for Halloween,” Aponte said. “They have been great and a breeze to work with, so we saw another opportunity that fit the event theme and college students’ need for caffeine.”

Students can text “THIRDEYE” to 844-9183667 to gain access to secret weekly favors, weekend schedules, and a menu of their baked goods to try on Halloween.

In addition to candy and coffee, Heath Advisors will be stationed along the halloween trail.

“Our Health Advisers will have a stop on the trail around alcohol and other drug consumption and use to help students make safer decisions around substance use while celebrating Halloween,” Aponte said Hall Counselors and Resident Advisors will similarly have stops along the way dedicated to the Teal Pumpkin Project—a project that promotes the safety and inclusion of those with food allergies on Halloween. Students can collect non-food treats at these stops.

“A lot of people aren’t aware of this initiative, and this seemed like another opportunity to both educate students, but also to do our best to be inclusive and mindful of students with different needs,” Aponte said.

Elizabeth DePalma ‘24 is another senior who has agreed to hand out candy. She was unable to trick-or-treat her freshman year due to COVID-19.

“I’m excited I get to do it now- even if I’m on the other side of it. I was definitely sad to miss out but it’s nice to see things come full circle.”

Currently, 24 senior apartments have signed up to be a part of the trail and plenty of freshmen plan to attend as well. Both classes are encouraged to dress up in Halloween costumes, though it is not required to participate.

Halloween decorations outside of Hart Apartment. Photo by Anika Banerjee ‘24 “I plan on being Snow White and getting a full tote bag of candy,” said Junah Jeong ‘27. “I might even go door to door at Belk afterwards because I want more candy.”

Like Jeong, freshman Anta Lo and Finny Roach, who learned about the event via flyers placed in their dorms, plan on attending the spooky event as well.

“Me and some of my friends are going and I’m probably going to rewear an old costume from last year. I hope they have king size candy,” Lo said.

The Halloween trail tradition brings together multiple different campus organizations and clubs together, along with bridging the gap

between first-years and seniors. “It brings me so much joy to see their [first-year and seniors] desire to participate and engage with the community,” Aponte said.

More information on this event is available on Wildcat Sync. Additionally, students can email Aponte at jaaponte@davidson.edu or Capano at nicapano@davidson.edu.

Desmond Introduces New Book Poverty by America CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 enlightening that even people who I would consider very liberal and socially aware were still against affordable housing in their neighborhoods,” Moseley said.

To Toumazatos, resistance to affordable housing and other measures that enhance quality of life are particularly impactful.

“At the end of the day, it’s the tangible effects of your life that you live through every day. Like, you live what you eat, you live where you live, you live where you work, you live how you do those things.”

Flipping through Desmond’s book, Ewoodzie quoted a string of descriptors.

“Poverty is physical pain. Poverty is traumatic. Poverty is instability. Poverty is constant fear. Poverty is loss of liberty.

Poverty is feeling that your government is against you. Poverty is embarrassing. Poverty is diminished life and personhood.”

Identifying how poverty impacts people provides motivation to fight against it.

“I think once we frame poverty as these things, as these

emotions, if we give it these humanistic characteristics, then if poverty is the loss of liberty, I think it provides us with a little extra oomph to fight for liberty because that’s what we’re all about,” Ewoodzie said.

Toumazatos puts it concisely.

“Its ensuring that everyone has a sense of place in the U.S.” But the true consequences of systemic poverty transcend personal experiences and even national ideals.

“Desmond would say our national morality is at stake. He would say it’s about: we can’t say we are who we are, and live with this. We can’t say we are the kind of country we say we are and live with this,” Ewoodzie said.

With all that on the line, Desmond calls for individuals to become “poverty abolitionists.” He leaves the specifics of that work up to individual interpretation.

To Moseley, it could mean being a conscious consumer.

“I think just keeping track of where your money’s going to [and] who you’re supporting can really benefit workers. I think that’s a good first step [for] people of our age, who maybe can’t donate to a lot of funds or feel as though they don’t have a lot

of time to directly support poverty abolition.”

Lizbeth Velasco ‘25, a student who attended Demond’s lecture and intends on using his work in her thesis, encourages people to engage in dialogue.

“If we have more conversations about disparities in the United States, even if it’s not in a formal setting, just you know, two friends or two professors, I think that can go a long way in terms of creating awareness about the problem that people don’t often want to address.”

Though he contends that only legislation will create meaningful reform, to Ewoodzie, “poverty abolitionist” means fulfilling an individual obligation to defy and deconstruct systems of oppression.

“I think we have to put our privileges to the best use, because I just don’t like that I exist in the system that ensures my well being precisely at the expense of somebody else’s.”

Perspectives Eating Bombs

4 Our name, Safwan

ANONYMOUS I choke on your dinner’s emptiness, while my esophagus endures the blow of every passing moment.

Your crunch subdues far away cries, as a lead weight settles in my stomach.

The smoked aroma cascades, replacing memory with dollar bills drenched in metallic broth.

Once again, I observe you roll up your sleeves and knead destinies with precision; a grand design that protects your omnivorous appetite, while I am force-fed fumes.

I know the taste of your bombs by heart, indigestion turning into nausea as you dispose of me.

Projectiles of vomit accompany my perpetual vertigo, my eyes desperately seeking stable reference– my view undulates, every passing thought flickering, then fading.

ANONYMOUS Safwan is an uncommon name.

I never met another Safwan until a day in 1982 when I saw a list of incoming freshmen on a big announcement board at my engineering university in Karachi.

Safwan was one of 2 Palestinians who had gained admission through some program. I was thrilled. Couldn’t wait.

The day classes started I began asking people about this other Safwan.

I wanted to meet him. He hadn’t arrived, I was told.

A giveaway university branded notebook with his name and a small flag of his country was on a table. He wasn’t.

A week later, on the same big board I saw his name and smiling picture. He had died in the Sabra-Shatila bombing by Israel with a few thousand others.

I learned to suppress consciousness to roam and survive among you.

Engulfed by a landscape now starkly visible, my fragmented, tortured body plummets– This body that I do not own flails and clings to a pain engendered by an ashen delicacy prepared with whatever is left of me.

When Moral Confusion Becomes a Sign of Moral Health EPHRAIM LIGHT ‘25 (HE/HIM)

T

his week—the hours of dragging myself through this maze of suffering—I feel overwhelmed. All week, my heart has been slapped around. I feel disoriented by the painful stories and images I keep seeing. I’m whiplashed by each testimony that dislodges my moral certainty. I feel hurt by the friends who have rushed to hateful narratives. I feel as though we have ventured so deep into the huge wilderness of hatred that love appears to be extinct. Who can lead us out again? I do not know if the path back to moral clarity has been paved, let alone marked.

Some nights ago, I could see the vision clearly. Drunk with hope, I could almost touch the words that would serve as the grounds for lasting peace. But this week, every time the blur of bloodshed clears, there’s another story, another rocket barrage, another death, and another and another. I am lost. I don’t mean that I don’t know where I am—I recognize the deep pit we have fallen into. I am lost, by which I mean that I no longer know if there is a way out.

On Saturday, the immensity of it takes hours to set in. I text my friends that I’m thinking of them. What I mean to ask is Are you alive? but I can’t stomach it. I can’t admit to myself that today we are talking about death, not just trauma and fear. I can’t admit to myself the very real possibility that one of my Smolanim—my left-wing Israeli friends—decided to attend a Peace Rave in the south, that one of my friends was on duty near Gaza, that one of them was visiting their extended family for Simchat Torah in a southern Kibbutz. In the minutes before they respond, I Google flights to Ben Gurion.

In those moments, as the first images and stories emerged from Israel, as my friends’ lives hung in limbo, my anger flamed. I told

myself, at all costs. At all costs Israel must defend itself against this evil, knowing well what all costs might mean for the people of Gaza.

I share this, here, not because I’m proud of it. It is this moment of knee-jerk reaction that scares me the most. Blinded by the great love I have for my people, blinded by the raging anger I have for the terrorists, I lost sight of right and wrong. In that moment, I valued the life of a Jew over the lives of everyone else.

I know that I am not alone in my reaction.

When we see our people die, we turn to revenge. I know that this week many of you have had reactions of the same sort.

I could see that my moral instincts—driven by fear—were wrong. But as I emerged from these filthy and faulty moral certainties, I found myself deeply vulnerable—newly naked. Everyone, it seemed, had made up their mind. I was uncertain. The comfort of that simple narrative of revenge was tempting. But I am writing, here, in the midst of my moral confusion.

So many of us are utterly confused and too afraid to admit it. The people who call Hamas’s attack a “justified resistance.” The people who weep for Palestinian deaths but not for Jewish deaths. The people who grieve and cry out for the lives of Israelis but don’t bat an eye at the death of Gazans. Those who call this a “genocide” and conveniently edit out the origins of Israel’s retaliatory attacks: the massacre, abduction, and rape of thousands of innocent Israelis. Those who call for the annihilation of Palestinians—who have met dehumanization with even uglier dehumanization. Those who have forgotten the hundreds of Israelis held hostage by Hamas, whose days are numbered. Those who read the caption beneath an image before feeling because they are so afraid of what it might mean to acknowledge someone else’s pain. The people who mistake fear,

grief, and emotion for right and wrong. This week, we have all been these people.

Somewhere in this mess, we have lost the things that were supposed to keep us. We have lost our moral foundation. I no longer know the way forward. I fear, most of all, that loss will be the last word.

All I have is a jumbled mess of pixels and no matter how hard I squint no image emerges. Here is what I know. I know that Israel must exist. After Hamas’s attack, Israel has a moral duty to defend itself and rescue the hostages. I know that lives will be lost.

I mourn my country’s situation which all but mandates it to defend itself in a forceful way. I know that revenge helps no one. I know that killing innocent Gazans is wrong.

I know that the terror of an Israeli bombing campaign is life-destroying if not deathdealing. I know that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Israeli settlement project are immoral and unjust. For my country to exist—for the Jewish people to have a homeland—it must deal a severe blow to Hamas. I know that this retaliatory blow will not solve our most urgent problem—the problem of Jew-hatred deeply rooted in our world. I know that pacifism and compassion are the only ways to end this cycle of death.

Each of us has our own set of scattered pixels. Unless you have already hardened your heart to the pain of others, yours—like mine—will not add up to a clear narrative.

It will include even the truths that are inconvenient to your politics. My moral truths tell me that I need Israel to invade Gaza and not to invade—to be the big man and the bigger man. And so, I am left without a way forward. There is no slogan I can post.

There is no flag I can wave. There is no policy that could satisfy the array of things I hold as moral truths.

If all this feels like weak, mealy, noncommittal both-sides-isms, read again.

This moral confusion—the feeling of being overwhelmed in the face of one of the largest moral questions of our time—is the only fair human reaction to this moment. The strongest moral stance we can have right now is one that holds the pain of Israelis and Palestinians, hand in hand. We should be skeptical of anyone who claims to know for certain that Israel’s retaliation is just or unjust. To arrive at that certainty means they have delegitimized someone’s pain along the way.

This week, I’ve read too many of the wrong words—callous words that fail to recognize the pain of my people, bitter words that fail to uphold the dignity of all people. Who can write the words we so desperately need?

Who??? Who can forge a path through this moral wasteland by embracing compassion and complexity? Who can prove to us that all is not lost? It is this unanswered question that scares me the most—as a Jew, as a Zionist, as a liberal, as a boy who eats Hope three meals a day, as a young man trying to survive on a diet of Instagram stories, as a Jew with dear friends in Israel, as a person who has always believed in a universal moral duty that extends beyond the borders of our friendships & ideological allegiances, and as a believer who urgently needs renewed faith. I pray that someone will find better words and broadcast them through all of our entrenchments. I pray that someone can light the path out of our moral failure and prove that there is still a way out.

Sports

5

Davidson ‘Cats Stats Recap of ‘22-23 MBB A-10 Campaign Ahead of ‘23-24 Season

Davidson ‘Cats Stats Blog Reveals Insight from ‘23 ahead Davidson Men’s Basketball new season FRANK HOWDEN ‘26 (HE/HIM) SPORTS WRITER

contests. VCU would go on a 6-0 run to start the game, but Davidson would respond to tie the game up at 6 apiece with 14 minutes left in the first. From that point, VCU would extend their lead slowly, but Davidson had some solid performances from the freshman big men. Reed Bailey dropped 6 points in the first and Sean Logan had 2 blocks. Davidson shot only four threes and made none, and finished the first half shooting 11 for 27. VCU took a lead into the half, 37-28. In the second half, VCU defense suffocated Davidson, and the rams built their lead up to 12, 51-39, going into the under 12 timeout. And Davidson could not figure things out after the timeout; a Davidson turnover after the timeout led to a VCU three. And VCU would carry a similar-sized lead, 63-50, going into the final media timeout. Despite Davidson’s efforts to foul and claw back into the game, VCU took care of the ‘Cats 71-53.

The Rams would later go on to defeat Saint Louis 90-78 and Dayton 68-56 to win the conference tournament. With the automatic bid, VCU earned a 12 seed spot in the NCAA Tournament and played the 5 seed Saint Mary’s, losing 51-63. VCU would be the conference’s only bid. The last time the conference recieved only one bid to the NCAA Tournament was 2005.

Player of the Game: Grant Huffman. Huffman scored 10 points, earned another 5-assist game on the season, and grabbed 3 rebounds.

Stats of Note: Davidson out-rebounded VCU 33-29 and had 10 offensive rebounds against the Rams. Davidson had another 10-plus assists game, 13 overall. Davidson had 5 players that scored 8-plus points, David Skogman (10), Grant Huffman (10), Sam Mennenga (9), Reed Bailey (9), and Foster Loyer (8). Sean Logan had a 2-block game for the second time this season.

The A-10 tournament went much like the previous season for the ‘Cats. They went 1-1 in Brooklyn and finished the season 16-16. The ‘Cats finished the season winning 5 out of 7. 5thyear senior point guard Foster Loyer finished with 974 points in his two years at Davidson and Davidson’s highest all-time free-throw percentage of 92.8% (246 for 265). His 92.3% career free-throw percentage (includes time at Michigan State) will slide him into third all-time in the NCAA, per Sports Reference. It was a year of growth for the Wildcats, as both Desmond Watson and Grant Huffman took big leaps from last year in their minutes and points production. Matt McKillop’s first season as the Wildcats head coach was an up and down one, but there’s a lot of good things to look forward to for this year.

The ‘Cats head into this season with a bit of a different roster as Loyer, Watson and Mennenga have all moved on from the program. Men’s basketball kicks off their season on November 6th when they take on Washington Lee in Belk Arena. They then head to play in the Ahseville Invitational on November 10th and 12th.

D

avidson Wildcats traveled in the Spring to Brooklyn, New York for the A-10 Tournament in hopes of earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the A-10. Davidson, 15-15 overall and 8-10 in the conference, earned the 8 seed, which allowed them to skip the first round of the tournament. Davidson’s first opponent was against the number 9 seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies. The two teams met earlier this season with Davidson winning comfortably, 74-61. The winner would get a date with the number 1 seed, VCU. Round of 16 (3/8): St. Bonaventure Game Summary: The Wildcats and the Bonnies played in a tight contest for the majority of the first half. Davidson shot only 2 for 11 from three in the half but shot well from within the three-point line, going 8 for 13. David Skogman scored 5 points including a clutch and-one dunk that sent a message to the Bonnies: the big men for the ‘Cats were here. Foster Loyer hit a deep two to end the half, putting his first half total to nine points and the Wildcats lead to 31-26. In the second half, Davidson went out on a 7-0 run to get a comfortable 10-point lead. Desmond Watson heated up in the second half, dropping 11 points and pushing the Bonnies away from Davidson’s lead. Even though Davidson shot cold from three in the second half, going 2 for 11 once again, they sank all their free throws and forced six turnovers. The ‘Cats cruised to victory, 65-54.

Stats of Note: The difference in this game was the amount of free throws Davidson took compared to the Bonnies. Davidson took 15 free throws and made 13 (86.7%), while the Bonnies took 6 and made 3 (50%). Davidson played well inside the paint, which contributed to their overall success inside the arc, shooting 20 for 38 (52.6%). Davidson also dished out 15 assists for the game. Defensively, Davidson forced 12 turnovers, out-rebounded the Bonnies 37-34, and only gave up 8 fouls. Individually, Desmond Watson showed why he is having a sophomore bloom. Watson stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points (team high), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. Grant Huffman continues his consistent play with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers. Sam Mennenga dominated the paint with 12 points and 8 rebounds (4 offensive and 4 defensive).

Quarterfinals (3/9): VCU Game Summary: Davidson and VCU played each other twice this season and VCU won both

Davidson Women’s Field Hockey Photo Gallery ‘Cats finish their Season on Senior Day October 29th at Richardson Stadium:

‘Cats Celebrate Goal (Left) and Bella Worthington ‘25 fights for ball (Right) Photo Credit: Tim Cowie/DavidsonPhotos.Com

A-10 Men’s Soccer Conference Standings

Standings Update

Team Davidson St. Louis VCU UMass Loyola Chicago Fordham Duquesne Dayton St. Bonaventure George Mason St. Joesph’s

W

L

T

CPCT

5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2

2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 4 4 4

0 2 2 1 3 2 4 1 1 1 1

15

14 14 13 12 11 11 10 7 7 7

Davidson Volleyball Senior Spotlight Video

Arts and Entertainment 6 Homecoming of Alumni Artists: Exhibit for 30 Years of the VAC TIFFANY WEN ‘27 SHE/HER

E

very inch of the Van Every and Smith Galleries is now filled with various pieces of artwork: sweeping canvases of pastel greens and blues mingle with tactile, three-dimensional cotton coated in metallic paint.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Katherine and Tom Belk Visual Arts Center, the Van Every and Smith Galleries feature work of Davidson alumni in a celebratory exhibition called Homecoming: Alumni Art Exhibition.

The gallery features works by Malu Alvarez ’02, Annie Broderick ’05, Claire Chambless ’12, Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo ’16, Lucy Corwin ’05, Elijah Gowin ’90, Susan Norman McAlister ’85, Stuart Robertson ’15, and Taylor O. Thomas ’12. The exhibition will be on view between October 12 to December 7.

While formulating the thematic connections of the exhibit, the Director and Curator of the Art Gallery Lia Newman explained that she worked with each individual artist to find the pattern connecting the distinct art pieces. For this Homecoming exhibition, Newman said that each work featured has “textural, small patterning,” and that throughout the work, “each artist’s hand [is very] visible.”

Something else that Newman needed to focus on was the arrangement of each artwork and the adjustment of space that each piece called for. She noted that for McAlister’s piece, she had to consider where it should be placed, given that it was a very bright piece amidst the darker works of other art featured in the exhibit. Typically, to determine the placement of artwork, Newman said that she would place the pieces into a digitized model of the galleries, input the art to be displayed, and let the software run its course. However, this doesn’t always work out, as she went on to explain, “once you’re in the three dimensional, space changes. We ended up switching stuff [because] sometimes you’re trying to make a connection aesthetically.” Overall, Newman explained, “In this kind of a show [where everything is] so diverse and everything is textured, we try to make some kind of transition from one work to the next but also give [every piece of art] its own space” in the gallery.

Another aspect of the gallery that Newman had to keep in mind was the creation of each individual label. To do so, she enlisted the help of Art Gallery Interns Isabel Smith ’24 and

Gaby Sanclimenti ’25. Newman noted a particular challenge the interns faced while writing the labels: the “process had been given to [them] half-done.” Given that Newman selected each specific artwork, the interns had to interpret each piece of work with little context. Smith explained that when writing a label, “you just have to look. You [really have to look] at it and just [write] down every single little thing you see, if it even feels meaningless to write down the smallest detail.” She

Three-dimentional view of the multi-media instillation Photo credit: Van Every and Smith Galleries website elaborated, “I could never do what any of these artists are doing, but especially with the [Thomas] autonomous works, you can really see [how] she talks about being fully in her body…Her works [are] a return to the body, so [to write the label,] I was thinking about physically holding a brush or graphite in my hand and physically making those gestures just…[to] embody that.”

While writing the labels for each piece, Sanclimenti and Smith noted that it was difficult to grasp the full visual components of the artwork due to the digitized version not only being a miniature version of the full piece, but also because the dimensional aspects of the artwork became lost on a computer screen. As an example, Sanclimenti explained how in Broderick’s piece, Driving Force, she enjoyed reading about Broderick’s experience as an artist. Broderick had developed a sudden interest in Olympic weight style, and Sanclimenti explained how she appreciated how that interest was represented in the artwork as well. Sanclimenti said, “When [I was] looking

at [the piece] and writing about it, [being able to stumble] upon the deeper meaning and having…everything click” was incredibly special. And once that happened, Sanclimenti continued, “[Broderick’s] work started to make more sense to me, and [it] was a very gratifying kind of feeling.”

In reflection on this exhibit, Sanclimenti said that the entire experience, from contemplating a specific art piece to writing their labels, “was very fun. I enjoy looking at [artwork] and seeing how much I can draw from it the more I look at it and the more I think about it.” Smith added that she enjoyed the process, saying that because “you have to spend so much time with the work, you really build a relationship with it, which is so fun because when you see [the work] in person” the perception towards an artwork changes with the space and proportions.

When visiting the galleries and observing the artwork, Newman recommended that students “don’t read the labels first. We do want you to look and think about the work, and then see what you can bring to it also, because [the label] could be our [interpretation], and you have your own experiences and interpret the work differently, and that’s okay, too.”

For an opportunity to meet all nine alumni artists and hear them talk about their work, Newman encourages students to attend the Gallery Talk on Wednesday, November 1 from 4:30pm to 5:30pm in the Van Every/Smith Galleries. The official Friends of the Arts Gallery reception and open house are on Thursday, November 2 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. “It’s really fun to get to know the artists and their practices,” Newman expressed, “Davidson has such a nice alumni network. It’s great to bring the artists here and [let current students] engage with them.

There’s so much variety [in the artwork and] there’s so much interesting detail that really does require [students] to get up close and be more engaged.” This Homecoming Exhibition is not only thought-provoking, but it also provides current Davidson students an opportunity to connect with alumni in the visual arts field. So in the words of Newman, “get up close” and take the opportunity to view these alumni’s stunning pieces.

Tiffany Wen/2027 (she/her) is an intended history major from Pennington, New Jersey. She can be reached for comment at tiwen@davidson.edu.

Fall Fling Fashion - An Exploration of Student Style BELLE STALEY ‘26

O

n October 14th at 10pm (but 10:30pm for those who had prefatory events which demanded their appearance) Fall Fling erupted from the lawn of the old tennis courts. The lights beckoned the migration of students to heft themselves out of their sweatpants, their athleisure, their X-L baggy thrifted jorts, and dress for a night of festivities.

“I can’t breathe in this dress, but it looks so good with my Docs. Honestly, I don’t know why I spent so long trying to squeeze into this because I’m going to go grab my F shoes in a few minutes. And then I’ll go ahead and change into something else then, too,” explained one sophomore attendee of the Fall Fling.

Others had a different take.

“I’m wearing not-Birkenstocks. I’ve gone all out. I’m here for the good times.” explains one Brother.

And some, on the opposite side of the spectrum, adorned in sparkles, appeared at Fall Fling having spent all of their energy on dressing up: “I had commons at 5pm. Friends came over at 6pm. Then we listened to musicals, did our makeup, did our hair, [hung out], and now we are here. I think we’ll leave soon. I have to study tomorrow,” explained the spokeswoman for a gaggle of girls standing on the edge of the dance floor.

As the crowd of students continued to grow, some wearing the Union Board-provided masks for the “masquerade theme” and others having already lost them to the dance floor, clothing proved to be a powerful indicator for the types of students romping about the tent. DUFF members stalked the snack tables in sunglasses, and rarely spotted VAC-rats made a captivating appearance, wearing a handmade-one-off-thrifted-original-dress, only to disappear seconds later. However, while the

dressing habits of Davidson students told entire stories alone, it proved far more valuable to ask the motley crew of partygoers how they were actually doing underneath the grand masquerade of it all.

“Rose: not doing my poetry homework. Thorn: having to leave my room to come here. Bud: going back to my dorm,” explains one weary English major after being asked her “rose, bud, thorn” of the night.

“Bombastic. Windy. Garfield,” one student explained mid mac-n-cheese bite when asked to describe her night in three words.

Unhindered by the gravity of Davidson academia, another student described their night as “Silly, antsy, allured.”

However, not all three words carried such animated senti-

dance.”

As the evening continued, the party began to trickle out into the night. Some pursued more dancing and some kicked off their heels and called it a night.

“It was exactly like I expected it would be-,” explained one student on her way back to Chidsey.

While her fulfilled expectation will remain a mystery (she soon recognized a drove of her peers in the lobby and clambered after them) one can only hope that she was satisfied with her night.

Fall Fling was nothing without its masquerade-going students. It was shown up for and it was wandered upon. It was enjoyed thoroughly and haphazardly viewed. It was beloved and it was tiring. While Fall Fling was advertised as two words, it was experienced as three. And in the end, no matter the free snacks or grand playlists, the dress code or the lack of one, or even the windy weather, the experience each student had at Fall Fling was as multifaceted as the types of style roaming around that big tent under the stars.

Belle Staley/2026 (she/her) is a Biology and Classical Language major from Rochester, New York. She can be reached for comment at bestaley@davidson.edu.

The crowded dance floor during Fall Fling Photo credit: Union Board ments. As one youth– sitting shivering on a couch–explained his night: “hungry [and] tired.”

Maybe had he shoved his way into the sweaty dancers jaunting about or if he had just taken a few pictures, the energy might fill him. Just as one girl in the middle of the herd, breathless but exhilarated, explained her night: “Instagram, dance,

Living Davidson

Crossword Hidden Apparitions

7

Crosswords by Victor Fleming ‘73

Across 1 Catch rays 5 “Wheel of Fortune” action 9 One played for a fool 14 Boy or girl leader?

15 Decline gradually 16 “It follows that ...”

17 Kate Beaton, author of “Ducks” or James Spooner, author of “The High Desert” 20 Writing implements with thick, opaque ink 21 Kind of poetic foot 22 “Cast Away” locale 23 “Let us know,” on an invitation 25 Alternative to Sony or JVC 28 Aliens, for short 29 “Don’t ___ me!” (“Be honest!”)

31 “Crazy” bird 32 Comfortable with 34 Unfamiliar with 35 Eat hurriedly, as Halloween candy, say 38 Bread or dough 39 Mock court activities for a certain student association 40 They may be wild 41 Asocial sort 42 Boxer’s punch 45 Israelite judge 46 Romances 47 Cede the occupancy of 50 ‘50s late-night host Jack 52 Exiles 53 Be tricked by more trick-or-treaters than anyone else on Halloween Night, perhaps 57 “Coming attractions” ad 58 Impersonate an owl 59 Not polluted 60 “Am not!” comeback 61 “___ ... I Did It Again!” (Britney Spears album) 62 Snow glider

Down 1 Small plastic container 2 Not moving 3 Suddenly stops, as an engine 4 Word in several campus group names 5 Con man 6 D.C. fundraisers 7 Davidson Village ___ 8 Opposite of paleo9 “Talk is ___” 10 Captain’s place 11 Long lines over eyes 12 Banquet hosts, informally 13 Apartment no-no, often 18 “The Little Red ___” 19 In ___ (occurring naturally) 23 Kickoff runbacks 24 Inexpensive cigar 26 Paint layer 27 “A Bug’s Life” character 30 “Ditto!”

31 Bucolic expanses 32 All-purpose vehicles, briefly 33 Bashful 34 Org. for Bears and Eagles 35 Ambition 36 Way to move stealthily 37 Crop-gathering times 38 Associate of Larry and Curly 41 Accumulated traditions 42 Quantity of jam, say 43 Clothes 44 Beaten 46 “Whoopee!”

48 Martin Court unit, for short 49 Confines, with “up” 51 24-hr. bank conveniences 52 A ___ in the bucket 53 4.0 or 3.5, e.g.

54 Miscalculate 55 Dr. Seuss’s Cindy Lou ___ 56 Tic-tac-toe winner

SPREAD THE 63 ACROSS KEY ( 0 0 $ & + , / , ( 6 7 + / ( ' , 1 6 7 5 2 ) 2 , / . 2 2 3 / 2 1 ( : 2 / 9 ( 6 $ & 0 ( $ 0 , 1 8 6 $ ' 6 * 1 2 0 ( 7 6 . 7 6 .

2 3 6 + 2 ( ' 2 : 1 6 * $ < / ( $ & ( % $ % ( 2 1 ( : $ < 6 / $ ; ( & 2 5 $ 1 . 6 3 / $ < $ 1 1 % 0 , 0 ( ( 7 & 8 7 ( : + $ 7 6 5 $ . , 6 + , 0 2 . & 3 8 : 2 ( , 6 , / , 1 ( : 2 5 . ( 5 , 0 $ 1 8 & 2 1 1 1 ( : 6 / $ 5 .

6 ( 1 6 ( $ 6 6 7 ' 5 < 6

The Famous (Stuffed French) Toastery

W

SAM GREENBERG ‘27 (HE/HIM)

alking in, you may think to yourself, “Did I really just sign up to pay $20 for a meal at a glorified IHOP?” However, try their food and the appeal of the Famous Toastery will become clear. The menu offers anything from a traditional two eggs on toast to their breakfast pizza (what even is that?). Out of all the options, I opted for their nutella and banana stuffed french toast, a side of bacon, and an espresso.

Roughly 15 minutes after ordering, I am presented with three sets of french toast, each with two pieces of toast sandwiching nutella and bananas.

More bananas and chocolate chips decorate the top in a very appetizing manner. Digging in, the french toast cuts easily and are cooked perfectly: not soggy but not stale. Upon my first bite, I learned that they do not cut you short on the amount of nutella inside the french toast.

The three pieces of french toast

will not only keep you full for hours but will be present in your dreams for days (trust me, it’s a real thing).

Despite the exquisite french toast, the Famous Toastery had one major shortcoming: the burnt bacon. Granted,bacon can be tricky to cook correctly, but there is no excuse for burnt bacon at a breakfast establishment where bacon is practically guaranteed to be ordered at any table.

Although I would opt for a different side in the future, the bacon mishap is thoroughly overshadowed by the ethereal nutella and banana french toast.

I would strongly recommend taking a stroll down Main Street to visit this dining premise if you are looking to start a day off right. 8/10.

The

Yowl

Irreverent student journalism since 2004. Castigat Ridendo Mores.

inside

yowl.com/onionplsreconsider

H

Unresolved Family Trauma Bursts the Davidson Bubble Page Pop!

Grandpappy Points Out All the Places on Campus He Committed Hate Crimes Back in the Day Page Nostalgia

Students Can Now Filter By “Rich DILF” on Handshake, Davidson Connect for Jobs Page Sugar Daddy

Global Warming Perspective: “I’m honestly for it”

900 Condoms at 9, Davidson PPGA spends entire budget on Trojan Skyn: Feel Everything Extra Smallz Page Let’s Be Real

Couldn’t Make it to BDSM? Try Rocky Horror Live Thursday Page Sexual Awakening

How Fraternities Benefit Society ere at the Yowl, we’re very concerned about cli- really messing with property values. I can see it being hard

mate change. As we see increasing magnitudes of natural disasters around the world, species going extinct, and our favorite beach vacation towns going underwater, we’ve started feeling a bit worried. With climate change being a major topic in the political and scientific discussions of today, we’ve decided to go around Davidson and ask students for their perspectives on the climate crisis. We received varied responses.

One of our best Yowl reporters first came across Sally Attinseeker ‘25, who we thought would have a lot to say about the climate crisis, considering her Nalgene water bottle covered in Patagonia stickers, but we were very surprised by her response.

“Am I concerned about global warming? I wouldn’t say so. I’m honestly for it.”

The Yowl reporter was so shocked by her answer that he asked for elaboration, something we often don’t do when we conduct interviews.

“Well, I mean, I love warm weather, and these long summers and warm winters a great. I can do my homework outside even in February and go on hikes in December. It really lets me continue my lifestyle all year round.” Attinseeker’s hobbies include posting videos of her jumping into the lake every morning on her Instagram story while everyone’s in class and buying thrifted clothing just to tell people she thrifted it. Pointing to her water bottle, the Yowl reporter asked her how she felt about Patagonia’s new move to fight the climate crisis.

“I didn’t even know about that. I just liked the mountains on the sticker, haha,” she told us before leaving to join her friends to take photos of themselves doing homework on Chambers Lawn.

The Yowl reporter next stopped a blonde guy wearing a Billabong backpack with a Sex Wax patch on it.

“Global warming? Oh yeah man, the sea levels are rising. Yes they are. The swells are gonna be craaazzzzyyyyy in a few years. The waves are gonna be wild.” He didn’t say anything else and just longboarded away.

The Yowl reporter also talked to Will Nomorals ‘24 about how he felt.

“Oh yeah, coastal real estate is not something to be investing in right now. You’ve just got to be smart about what properties you’re buying. And the wildfires too, they’re

T

The Not So Niche Issue

October 25, 2023

to invest in any property in those regions in the near future.”

However, he said he wasn’t very worried about the wildlife, because he “hates pests,” and wasn’t too sad about the loss of many natural areas because “we’ve got so many photos of nature we can just hang them up in our homes and offices and feel like it’s still there.” He was wearing a Patagonia vest, so we asked what he thought of the company’s move. He thought it was a good marketing move.

Still disappointed in the responses, our reporter wandered around the back of Chambers, hoping to find someone with a different view. Lily Existcrisis ‘27 was leaving Metaphysics class when our Yowl reporter spotted her Earth tattoo, so he asked for her perspective.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like we have free will. It was going to happen all along. It’s all just part of the simulation. We really have no choice about what happens.”

The Yowl reporter was headed home when he came across Sophie Daddysmoney ‘26, who was getting out of her Jeep Grand Cherokee that gets 9 miles per gallon as she drives it around Davidson with a $6 styrofoam coffee cup in hand.

“Oh it’s just terrible! I’m glad I got to visit the Great Barrier Reef before it disappears. We stayed on this incredible sailboat where they made us breakfast every day and went snorkeling. Incredible.”

She seemed especially concerned about the warming of cold regions, as her family goes skiing in Austria every year, and she’s noticed the snow gets slushy earlier in the year than it used to.

Excited to find someone concerned about the crisis, the Yowl reporter asked how she felt about deforestation in different parts of the world.

“Oh, it’s just terrible. One time, I visited somewhere in South America–I don’t actually remember which country, they’re all pretty much the same though–on a mission trip to build a school, and we went ziplining one day.

It was so beautiful. I’ve heard now that the zipline company has closed because they’re cutting down the trees! So so sad.”

After an exhausting day, our Yowl reporter was happy to report that there are some students on campus who are still worried about climate change.

1. Fraternities help improve our immune systems. Part of being healthy is the ability to fight off diseases. What better way to get practice than spending a month feeling like shit after kissing a copy and paste frat boy or coughing up your lungs for a week after spending 15 minutes in a sweaty F apartment. Herpes? No problem. Been there; done that.

2. They keep the ABC stores around us open.

3. They also keep cheap motels open when they rent them out for formals.

4. Frats provide a minimum viable product for testing the consumer market for underage alcohol consumption supply chains.

5. They work to keep populations under control.

6. They supply lots of sitting opportunities, with all their extra couches—get your mind out of the gutter.

7. Frats give absolutely insufferable men friends they would never otherwise be able to make 8. They keep the crime log interesting.

9. They fill the otherwise unfilled intramural team spots.

10. Fraternities hire chefs who make 1,000 jello shots for parents weekend. They benefit the economy and make everything a little less awkward for all of us.

11. They open their homes for people to make out and grind on each other in.

12. Frat boys donate their parents’ money to charity.

13. They also provide extra toilet real estate on campus by giving drunk students more places to piss.

14. They won’t let you forget the lyrics to “No Hands” by Waka Flocka Flame.

New Studies Show that Social Media Is Good and Actually Improves Mental Health

here’s been a lot of talk about social media these days. People are worried about the impacts on young people’s confidence and body image, exposure to triggering content, and how you all now have ADHD. Despite the widespread concern, recent studies have found that maybe we shouldn’t be all that worried about social media, and the three hours you waste away every day scrolling through six minute videos of mediocre people dancing instead of doing anything productive that contributes to your self growth or the world is actually a good use of your time, and you should continue to do this.

If it weren’t for social media, how would we gain any confidence? A recent sur-

The

Yowl

vey has found that girls feel much better about themselves when they post pictures in bikinis on Instagram. Responses included that “the comments and likes really showed that people actually thought I looked good,” and “what really is the point in looking good if no one knows about it?” You really have two options: post the picture and get compliments, or don’t post the picture.

Despite confidence boosts, some are worried about addiction, as the algorithms used to contribute to cell phone addiction are no joke these days. However, getting dopamine rushes from watching TikTok videos seems to be a safe outlet these days. A renowned scientist told us that “It’s much better that teens are getting their dopamine from so-

WRITERS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Malicious Editor

“I can’t go to the career fair, I’m dressed like a slut.”

cial media than other things, like drugs. Honestly, social media has probably prevented a lot of drug addiciton. It’s better to be addicted to watching cat videos than Heroin.” If it weren’t for social media, we’d probably all be doing meth, so we should really thank the creators of these platforms for helping us out.

Speaking of the large wide network of platforms, social media has been instrumental in creating a whole new sector of jobs: influencers. The Yowl was able to speak to Tonya Zroom (@zroomfamilyofsixteen), a 40 year old mother of fourteen who lives with her husband, Broom Zroom, in a VW Beetle and travels across the country with her family. During the pandemic, the couple decided to quit their six figure Wall Street investment

— Student desperately in need of a job

banking jobs, sell their multimillion dollar Long Island home, and make a more humble living as Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube influencers. Their channel regularly features their children, ten of whom are newborns adopted from Third World countries, all of whose adoptions coincidentally coincide with downturns in their viewership. Without the power and economic possibilities of social media, the Zroom family might be living on a tricycle.

Even though technology moguls like Bill Gates have spoken out against the adverse effects of social media, the Yowl’s deep reporting and brief Google searching clearly reveals the opposite. Social media is good and improves one’s mental health.

Predicting this year’s sluttiest Halloween outfits: - Birthday suit - Doug Hicks (with oversized ping pong paddle) - A man wear 5 inch seams - Sexy campo officer - Sandy Helfgott

Note: The Yowl is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian.

Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth.