11/14/19 Full Edition

News: Inside Wake Forest’s power systems Page 7

Opinion: Bloomberg should not run Sports: Women’s basketball begins season for president Page 12 Page 9

Life: Disney+’s debut delivers and delights Page 17

Old Gold&Black

WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 106, NO. 11

T H U R S DAY, N OV E M B E R 14 , 2 019

wfuogb.com

“Cover s the campus like the magnolias”

Judge must decide if sorority should be dropped from lawsuit The lawsuit filed by Jemel Ali Dixon, mother of murdered WSSU student Najee Ali Baker, seeks restitution from sorority

BY LILLIAN JOHNSON Editor-in-Chief johnlg16@wfu.edu

On Monday night, however, Wake Forest students and members of the Winston-Salem public were offered a rare glimpse inside the heads of the Intelligence Committee’s two most senior members: Sens.

Richard Burr (R-NC) and Mark Warner (D-VA), the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively.

The senators addressed an audience of 400 in Broyhill Auditorium, analyzing bipartisan cooperation, foreign threats and impeachment in a discussion moderated by Kami Chavis, a professor and director of the Criminal Justice Program at the School of Law. Both senators have long-standing connections to the university. Burr graduated from Wake Forest in 1978, and in 2018, he designated Wake Forest as the repository for all official records and documents associated with his two-decade career in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Warner delivered the university’s commencement address in 2006 and was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree.

A federal judge must decide if a Wake Forest sorority should be dropped from the wrongful-death lawsuit in which it is named as a party responsible for the fatal shooting of Najee Ali Baker, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

Wake Forest’s chapter of Delta Sigma Theta hosted an event at the Barn on Jan. 19, 2018. A fight broke out at the party, according to WinstonSalem police, and guests moved outside the Barn.

Around 1 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2018, Baker, then a student at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) who had been attending the party, was shot and killed.

Jakier Shanique Austin, now 22, was charged with murder, and Malik Patience Smith, now 18, faces two gun possession charges and a charge of assault by pointing a gun at the crowds. Neither Smith nor Austin were students at Wake Forest or WSSU. Malik was arrested in January 2018 and released from jail in April of this year. Austin was arrested and charged with Baker’s murder in April 2018.

In May, Baker’s mother Jemel Ali Dixon filed a wrongfuldeath lawsuit in the Middle District of North Carolina court. The lawsuit names Wake Photo Courtesy of Winston-Salem Journal Forest, the university’s chap- Najee Ali Baker ter of Delta Sigma Theta and Rhino Sports & Entertainment Services LLC, which provided private security for the party, as defendants, and seeks at least $75,000 in damages.

See Senators, Page 6

See Lawsuit, Page 7

U.S. Senators featured in bipartisan conversation

Graphic by Emily Beauchamp/Old Gold & Black

Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Mark Warner (D-VA) visited Wake Forest on Monday to discuss their work in Congress

BY AMANDA WILCOX Online Managing Editor wilcaf16@wfu.edu As public impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump begin this week in the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, the House Intelligence Committee has increasingly commanded the country’s attention.

Its counterpart in the upper chamber — the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — has largely remained out of the spotlight, despite the fact that it has spent the past three years conducting a highoctane, bipartisan investigation into the extent of the Russian state’s interference in the 2016 election cycle.

Wake Forest celebrates international science in the 35th Perspectives in Biology Symposium Yadvinder Malhi, Nicole Dubilier and Paul Turner made two presentations, each on their research in their fields of interest

BY CHRISTIAN GREEN Staff Writer greecm15@wfu.edu This past weekend, three of the most influential scientists in their respective fields came together with Wake Forest faculty, students and biologists from five nearby states to learn from one another over a two-day period.

The Perspectives in Biology Symposium has been a yearly tradition at Wake Forest for the past 34 years. It serves primarily to connect biologists from surrounding states, many of them teaching at nonresearch-oriented institutions, with one another and with world-class speakers in a casual environment at an affordable rate. In that time, faculty from over 100 schools have attended, and for many event regulars it has become a homecoming of sorts to see old friends while learning new perspectives that can be brought back to their own institutions.

Yadvinder Malhi, professor of ecosystem science at the University of Oxford; Nicole Dubilier, professor for microbial symbiosis at the University of Bremen and director at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology; and Paul Turner, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University each presented two lectures over the two days, the first a more general overview of their research and the second a more detailed presentation exploring a particular technique.

See Biology, Page 4

OGB

“ should be standardized Grading scales This column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board.

At this point in the semester, many Wake Forest students are starting to feel the stress of exams and final grades. In an environment as academically oriented and motivated at Wake Forest, many Demon Deacons place a lot of importance on high grades.

However, as university regulations currently stand, exactly how students' numeric grades are translated into letter grades is largely up to the professor, and such decisions can vary widely. For example, one member of the Editorial Board has taken classes within the same department

... disparities between grading scales should be eliminated and ... grading scales should be standardized." in which the minimum overall grade required to earn an A has ranged from 92.5% to 95%. Another member of the Editorial Board has taken a class wherein students only earned an A if they scored 97% or above.

The staff of the Old Gold & Black feels that such disparities between grading scales should be eliminated and that grading scales should be standardized, at least by department.

Old Gold &Black

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSIT Y SINCE 1916 LILLIAN JOHNSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF johnlg16@wfu.edu

REN SCHMITT PRINT MANAGING EDITOR schmwm16@wfu.edu

>> NEWS

Will May, mayws16@wfu.edu Assistant: Caroline Walker, walkct18@ wfu.edu

>> SPORTS

Rafael Lima, limara17@wfu. edu Assistant: Lucy Nelson, nelsld16@wfu. edu

>> OPINION

Kyle Ferrer, ferrka16@wfu.edu

>> LIFE

Emily Beauchamp, beauea17@ wfu.edu

>> DIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR Mary-Hallet Culbreth, culbmh16@wfu.edu

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GRACIE FIRESTONE

BUSINESS MANAGER

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AMANDA WILCOX ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR wilcaf16@wfu.edu

>> POLICIES

The Old Gold & Black is published Thursdays during the school year, except during examinations, summer and holiday periods, by Triangle Printing of Durham. © 2014 WFU Media Board. All rights reserved. The views expressed in all editorials and advertisements contained within this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the OGB. As part of our commitment to reporting news fairly and accurately, we will not remove any previously published content. If an error in either our online or print content is brought to our attention, we will revise the originally published article with an appended correction. In order to facilitate thoughtful and appropriate debate, profane, vulgar, or inflammatory comments on our website are not allowed and will be deleted. For more information on our commenting policy, please see our website. We reserve the right to reject advertisements deemed inappropriate. Our full policy, and how to advertise with the OGB, can be found on our website.

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The OGB welcomes submissions in the form of story tips, columns and letters to the editor. Letters to the editor should be fewer than 500 words, and columns should be around 500 words. Send yours via e-mail to johnlg16@wfu.edu the Monday before publication. We reserve the right to edit all letters for length and clarity. No anonymous letters will be printed.

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There may be a significant difference in quality between class performance that earns a 92.5% and that which earns a 94.99% — but by the grading standards of some real-life Wake Forest classes, the former could earn an A while the latter could earn an A-. The Editorial Board recognizes that standardizing grading may be impractical across the entire university due to the divergent nature of many different classes, but professors within departments should operate according to the same procedures.

In addition, grade standardization could help potential employers and

graduate school admissions committees — who must heavily rely upon grades to see a snapshot of a student's academic career — to better understand what the letters on a student's transcript actually mean. Indeed, employers and graduate schools would not have reason to know that a student earned a lower or higher grade due in part to a particular professor's grading standards, which could influence students' future prospects.

With the current inconsistency in grading scale, no one can decipher with certainty what a particular letter grade actually represents.

News | Old Gold & Black

BY CAROLINE WALKER Asst. News Editor walkct18@wfu.edu

Thursday, November 14, 2019 | Page 3

Deacon Profile: Cara Levicoff

Though she intends to major in history, a study of the past, sophomore Cara Levicoff is shaping the future of Wake Forest’s community through her various roles in diversity and inclusion. From her work within the LGBTQ+ Center to create an identity space called “Lavender Menace” to her informal work to promote diversity and inclusion as a gay member in the Greek system, Levicoff has become a particularly active agent of change on campus.

How did you get involved with issues of sexuality in the LGBTQ+ Center?

I am gay, so that is sort of how I got involved.

I didn't start out in the LGBTQ+ Center, but I was in the LGBTQ+ advising group. I knew about the LGBTQ+ Center but didn't know exactly what they were doing. Then, they sent out an application for something that they call the Change Agents cohort, which is where they take a group of students to a conference called “Creating Change.”

It’s a really cool conference. They have all these sessions talking about queer life and queer history.

How have you implemented what you learned at this conference into your life here on campus?

I have just been doing activism for a lot of my life. A lot of my friends are activists to begin with, and I just try to support them. The Change Agents program at the time was just to build an extracurricular program or whatever you wanted. So, I came up with the “Lavender Menace,” which is an identity space. We have a couple of them in the LGBTQ+ Center, and they’re supposed to service people with particular identities. There’s “Bi the Way” for bi-plus people, and there’s “Tea Time” for trans individuals on campus. "Lavender Menace" is the same thing, basically — it's a space for queer women to talk about their identities. It's a place to hang out and build community.

Photo courtesy of Cara Levicoff

How do you see that community growing in the next few years?

How do you view your position as a gay person in Greek life?

We've had a huge growth from one meeting to the next. I think it’s important just keeping it going and keeping it implemented. Having a strong sense of community among queer women helps when sending the queer women out into Greek life through activism and knowing that they have a base to come and talk to and just knowing that they can learn something from us. Each meeting, they can share something about their identities and learn something more about themselves. As we continue our activism we should also focus on our identities and our community.

As queer people in Greek life, we are in a position in which we are able to bring our experiences to something where there are a lot of people who might not know queer or gay people. For me, one of my biggest things is getting people to understand other people’s experiences. It is important to get people to understand that my experience is very different from theirs and also that being in Greek life is not the same as it is for straight people. That, to me, will increase the necessity for diversity in Greek life so that Greek people understand that there are things that need to change because it’s not a system that was made for me, but we can possibly make it into something that is inclusive for straight people, gay people and people of color.

What would you say are the most important impacts that "Lavender Menace" and your work had on campus?

Do you have any other ways in which you are trying to integrate LGBTQ+ members more into the community here at Wake Forest?

I think it's just building a community of women to begin with, which is important for queer women especially. I didn't know many queer people my first semester of college, so I felt very alone, and it was a very isolating experience. So, one of the most important things for me is to build a community, especially this semester for freshmen and for more queer women. I've met maybe 10 queer women who have come to Lavender Menace who I didn't know before, even being involved in the LGBTQ+ Center last year. It's really cool to see that, and it has been really impactful for me.

It's hard to change institutions that have been around for such a long time, but a lot of my friends are working with the broader community, especially the Anti-Racism Coalition. For me, with diversity, I've been focused on increasing the awareness that we not only need to be diverse, but also inclusive in Greek life. These are two different things that people often don’t understand are different. Diversity and inclusion means that you have to increase the diversity, but you also have to make it inclusive and hospitable to people who do not meet the hegemonic standards of Greek life.

Is there a piece of advice that you would give to people about changing views of sexuality?

Change and understanding take time and emotional labor. But, it is important to think about who is doing the emotional labor and who is making the changes. Are you helping with the changes or are you adding to a gay person’s emotional labor? I think my advice, really, is to learn how to support and how to understand better — and really, to have conversations that may feel uncomfortable to you. That’s the only way to start to change your mind and your outlook.

WAKE IN A WEEK Peace Corps Information Session Time: Nov. 14 at 3 p.m.

Location: Pugh Auditorium, Benson The Peace Corps will be holding an information session this afternoon as part of International Education Week to answer applicants' questions about volunteer experiences and the organization's application process.

START Gallery Opening Reception: 3x4x7 Time: Nov. 14 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Location: START Gallery in Reynolda Village This reception shall exhibit the works of student artists who are exploring traditional and revolutionary styles of oil painting involving digital tools. The class was taught by Professor Page Laughlin.

Ocean and Marine Conservation Club Screening Time: Nov. 19 from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

Location: Pugh Auditorium, Benson This event is a screening of Sonic Sea, a documentary on the effects of noise pollution on our oceans, followed by a Q&A with a cast member, a formal general counsel of the U.S. Navy. It will feature whales and Krispy Kreme.

Daffodil Project Planting Ceremony Time: Nov. 14 at 4 p.m.

Location: Daffodil Garden, Porter Byrum Welcome Center Wake Forest community members will plant 100 daffodil bulbs with the university landscaping team to commemorate the lives tragically lost in the Holocaust. This is a part of the world-wide initiative The Daffodil Project.

Gruesome Playground Injuries Time: Nov. 14-16 at 7:30 p.m.

Location: Ring Theatre, Scales Fine Arts Center This play, an examination of calamities, is written by Ravij Joseph and will be presented on three consecutive nights by the Anthony Aston Players, a student theatre organization. It is directed by junior Cassidy Noble.

Breakfast with Associate Dean for MBA Programs Time: Nov. 20 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Location: Midtown Cafe & Dessertery Students who are considering an MBA from the Wake Forest School of Business should attend this breakfast with the Associate Dean for MBA Programs, Tim Janke, and Executive Director Kevin Bender to learn more.

Page 4 |Thursday, November 14, 2019

Old Gold & Black | News

Biology: 35th annual symposium held Continued from Page 1

Dubilier began the symposium with her opening lecture “The Art of Harnessing Dark Energy: Symbioses Between Marine Invertebrates and Chemosynthetic Bacteria.” She detailed her research into understanding some of the most difficult ecosystems to explore: those found around geothermal vents, in complete darkness, miles below the surface of the ocean.

In these ecosystems, where zero sunlight means zero photosynthesis and zero plants, organisms rely instead on chemical compounds released from within the earth to sustain themselves. She reminded us that we take knowledge of these ecosystems for granted today, but that they were completely unknown and even considered impossible to exist until just over 40 years ago.

“These ecosystems,” she said, “were the last major discovery on earth that we knew nothing about.”

Dubilier continued on to explain that, despite their apparent remoteness, these deep-sea ecosystems have a cumulative biomass rivaling that of a tropical rainforest, meaning that developing a better understanding of how they are able create energy and thrive is not insignificant.

Shifting from alien biomes deep beneath the sea to the ecosystems that exists within our own bodies, Paul Turner’s research focuses on viruses and their ability to evolve and adapt to changes around them.

His talks focused on how his lab tests the “evolution-in-action” of viruses in controlled lab settings in order to compare the results to theoretical predictions of how scientists believe evolution should work. This allows his lab to probe at foundational questions related not only to virus prevention in humans, but also to harnessing virus evolution to create new ways that we might attack cancer or increasingly important antibioticresistant infections.

The keynote of the event, though, came on Friday night when Malhi delivered his presentation, entitled “The Metabolism of Planet Earth.” He reframed the global climate conversation by first illustrating just how dynamic natural ecosystem metabolism is over time and then equating humanity’s input throughout our cultural development.

One of his most striking models displayed a forest’s carbon input/output over the period of 24 hours. Trees, like all living organisms, constantly produce CO2 as a product of metabolism. Malhi’s data illustrated how trees function as carbon sinks during daylight hours due to photosynthesis, but in the absence of light or in months without leaves, they exhale CO2. Repeating this daily cycle year after year showed what Malhi described as “the breath of an ecosystem.”

He then went on to equate human metabolism over time to this natural energy demand. Each human, he explained, is constantly requiring about the same amount of energy as it takes to power two traditional light bulbs. With that simple understanding, he walked the audience through mathematical models demonstrating exactly when in human history our “industrial metabolism” of farming and factories overtook our “biological metabolism.”

Malhi then plotted a graph showing different organisms and their metabolic outputs. A straight increasing line connected small animals, like mice, which require very little energy, to the largest animals, like elephants, which require much more. Humans at different points in our history were then plotted over this line.

“Hunter-gatherers only output the energy of those two lightbulbs,” Malhi explained. “But with the development of agriculture, even before the industrial revolution each human was outputting the energy equivalent of a rhino.”

Malhi paused, then continued, “Based on this trendline, today, each human is the energy equivalent of a 15-ton primate.”

Malhi’s extensive work in tropical biosystems closely aligns with work done by Wake Forest professor and PIB coordinator Miles Silman.

Regarding Wake Forest’s ability to continually draw in world-leading scientists, Silman said, “Really, it’s indicative of the level of researchers we have here at Wake Forest. These scientists are leaders in science, but they are also our peers.”

He added, “It also shows something about the altruism in the scientific community when you bring together people who want to learn from each other.”

Dubilier, when asked about PIB, said, “Its wonderful what Wake Forest achieves with this. I don’t know of another symposium like it.”

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Biology Department

Nicole Dubilier, professor for microbial symbiosis at the University of Bremen, spoke about her research on marine invertabrates and bacteria.

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Biology Department

Paul Turner also spoke at the symposium. He detailed his research on viruses and their ability to adapt to changes in the environment.

Photos Courtesy of Wake Forest Biology Department

Yadvinder Malhi spoke at the symposium on the Earth’s ecosystem metabolism and its dynamic nature in response to humanity’s rise.

News | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, November 14, 2019 |Page 5

Moving On: Part 2 — The Symptoms

Many would consider a Parkinson's disease diagnosis to be a death sentence, but the truth is considerably more complicated

BY CHRISTIAN GREEN Staff Writer greecm15@wfu.edu

This is the second part in a series entitled "Moving On." The Old Gold & Black will be publishing subsequent sections throughout the remainder of the semester, which can also be found on our website.

What Lawson’s neurologist said is true, and it’s often repeated in the Parkinson’s community.

Parkinson’s does not kill you, not directly at least.

But the disease will make the rest of your life much more difficult.

Parkinson’s presents itself in many ways. Years before the disease is ever diagnosed, it often robs patients of their sense of smell — scientists still aren’t sure why. Parkinson’s can also lead to a form of dementia called Mild Cognitive Impairment.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation website says that as many as 30% of those diagnosed with Parkinson’s exhibit this form of dementia, which can lead to forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating and trouble performing mentally taxing jobs.

Parkinson’s most impactful symptoms, though, are related to movement. The disease has two trademark motor symptoms: resting tremors and difficulty performing everyday movements.

Tremors often begin as a small quake in the hands or a twitch in the finger. They are called resting tremors because they usually occur only when the body part is not active. The most common tremor is often called “pill rolling," where the index finger touches the thumb and moves in small circles uncontrollably. Given time, tremors can grow to encompass the head and much of the body, though they often occur only on one side of the body. This is because each half of one's brain is responsible for the movement in the opposite half of the body, so a tremor will usually originate on one side of the body and that half will continue to be more affected throughout the disease.

Since tremors tend to only appear when that part of the body is at rest, they may be extremely annoying, but they aren’t necessarily debilitating.

Photo Courtesy of bioethicsobservatory.org

The most common characteristics of Parkinson's disease are labelled above.

Photo Courtesy of Neurosciencenews.com

The relationship between a Parkinson's patient and their physician is crucial to the patient's health. Lawson likens his visits to his neurologist to "getting an oil change."

The most detrimental symptoms of Parkinson’s are ones which prevent fluid, coordinated movement.

These symptoms can be lumped together under the term "bradykinesia," meaning “slow movement” in Greek. Parkinson’s stiffens muscles and disrupts motions. This might begin innocuously as decreased blinking rate or smaller handwriting, but eventually those with the disease lose their balance, full control of their face and their ability to walk without shuffling their feet. Parkinson’s might not kill you, but it does turn everyday tasks into difficult undertakings and robs you of your independence.

Those are the sort of symptoms someone newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s needs to be prepared for. The diagnosis will alter every aspect of the rest of a patient’s life. It is news that ought to be delivered with care.

But in a study headed by Anette Shrag for the European Parkinson’s Disease Association, only half of more than a thousand people surveyed reported that their Parkinson’s diagnosis had been handled sensitively.

“I’d like them to remember to ask the patient how he feels and to listen to the patient. I’d like them to be more aware that each patient is an individual,” one participant stated.

“It felt like speed dating; he’s got his information, thank you very much, next,” said another participant. “He [my doctor] no doubt deals with people with Parkinson’s all the time. But as far as I’m concerned, the only person that matters in the whole world at that moment is me.”

Lawson likens his own neurologist visits more to an auto-shop.

“It’s like getting an oil change. They get you in and get you out and that’s it,” he said.

Evidence shows that the quality of a diagnosis has a lasting impact on Parkinson’s patients. In multiple studies, researchers have found that a satisfying and thoughtful diagnosis sets the stage for a higher quality of life years down the road.

A poor diagnosis experience can also leave lasting negative effects for years.

But a satisfying diagnosis is no easy thing. It's like hoping for a pleasant car wreck. Things can go from very poorly to relatively alright, but the experience is never to be remembered fondly.

The difficulty is compounded by the individuality of each patient and their needs. Some patients report feeling overwhelmed when their doctors dive into the science behind the disease; others wanted more detailed information than they were given.

Many wished for more time with their provider to ask questions immediately after being told — others wanted to be left alone to compose themselves and return with their questions later.

“The number one things physicians need to be doing is asking better questions,” said Mollie Canzona, a professor of communications at Wake Forest University who specializes in patient/provider communication. “A lot of patient suffering is done in silence, and a good practitioner can do a lot to ease that just by asking the right questions.”

There is no set script for a diagnosis. Different clinics set different guidelines for what should be communicated to patients, and the wide range of experiences that patients report tells us that doctors approach diagnosis in many different ways.

“Asking 'What kind of information would you like to hear from me today?' might be the very best question a doctor could ask,” says Canzona. “And follow it up with ‘We don’t have to get through everything right now. I can provide you with what you want today, and we can go from there.'”

Parkinson’s disease, like all neurodegenerative diseases, varies with each individual. Each person’s symptoms might look slightly different, and they will progress at different rates. That poses problems for a medical industry entrenched in its transactional relationship between patient and provider. As America continues to age, the number of diagnoses will rise, and the need for more practitioners and more time with patients continues to increase. For now, studies like the survey by Schrag paint a picture of the current state of diagnoses. And they paint an image riddled with cracks. Chasms large enough for thousands of patients to fall through.

Old Gold & Black | News

Page 6 | Thursday, November 14, 2019

Senators: Burr and Warner talk bipartisanship Continued from Page 1

The discussion marked the inaugural event presented by Wake Forest’s nascent Burr Center for Legislative Studies. According to a university press release circulated when Burr agreed to donate his congressional papers to Wake Forest, early plans for the Burr Center include attracting global leaders to the university for speaking engagements and interaction with students, enabling scholars to use the Burr papers for research and exploring ways for students and alumni to take advantage of the Wake Washington Center in Washington, D.C. Although the senators hail from opposite ends of the political spectrum, their discussion repeatedly emphasized the importance of setting party affiliation aside in order to try to get things done in government. Burr and Warner both take pride in their bipartisan approach to running the Senate Intelligence Committee, especially in contrast to its counterpart in the House of Representatives, where Democratic chairman Rep. Adam Schiff is managing the impeachment inquiry. Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican, has deprecated the process as being “a bit like watching a cult.”

“What you see on the national media is not indicative of the relationships we have in Washington,” Burr said. “Now, Mark and I have a good relationship, but you would believe that 98 other people don’t … and the truth is, if that was the case, we would get nothing done, because the Senate rules allow one person to stop anything at any time. Twenty years from now, somebody will look at how we conducted the intelligence committee … and they will look at the precedent we set, and hopefully they will follow us.”

Warner interjected: “The bar’s been set pretty low.”

Senior Walter Jackson, a President’s Aide who was staffing the event, said that he valued the importance the senators had placed on their cooperation across party lines.

“I appreciated it when the senators emphasized the importance for ideologically opposed folks to work together when possible, even if it is on something small,” he said. “Past generations have usually had one or two big problems to deal with at a time. For example, for the baby boomers, it was the Cold War. My generation, however, has three or four big problems: climate change, automation and artificial intelligence, to name a few. Working together with those we disagree with, or compromise, will be a necessity if we are to address these challenges.”

Similarly, junior Jack Beyrer said, “Burr and Warner’s rapport was obvious, and it made for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation. This kind of civil conversation across difference is undoubtedly something the Wake Forest community can learn from and apply to our own political culture.”

At the same time, Chavis challenged the confidence that Burr and Warner expressed about how their committee functions when she asked both senators to contend with the U.S. Congress’ 20% approval rating among the American public (measured in a recent Gallup poll).

“You all have painted a rosy picture of Washington,” she said. “You’ve said Washington is not broken, but those statistics suggest otherwise.”

Herein was an instance in which the senators’ pushed back against one another. Burr largely chalked up the negative public perception of Congress to the fact that “the majority of America just gets the news as an alert on their phone” and took a jab at the press, noting the proliferation of anonymous sources in journalism. In contrast, Warner acknowledged some of Congress’ responsibility for its unfavorable reputation.

“Some of those statistics, in terms of Congress’ approval, we’ve earned it,” he said. “It’s easy to hate Congress but love your congressman. When you don’t legislate most of the year and you wait for these great big hairy balls of mess that

Photo courtesy of Riley Herriman

The senators discussed the benefits of their friendly relationship, saying that bipartisan compromise is essential to legislative progress. happen at the end of the year, whether it’s budget-wise, appropriations-wise or tax policy-wise, that is not a rational way to do business for the largest institution in the world.”

In view of the fact that public hearings begin this week in the House of Representatives to investigate Trump’s alleged actions to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate a company linked to the son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Chavis turned the conversation to the subject of impeachment. Burr, who as a congressman voted in 1998 to impeach President Bill Clinton for lying under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinksy, expressed his distaste for the process.

“I’ve been through impeachment,” he said. “Nobody wins. Period. End of sentence. No party wins. The American people don’t win.”

He identified an episode during the 2016 presidential campaign wherein audio recording surfaced of Trump talking about touching women inappropriately and trying to have sex with them.

“That did not rise to a threshold that people thought he was unqualified to be president,” Burr said.

He also cited frequent turnover among the United Kingdom’s prime ministers, arguing that it is impossible to do the work of government with frequent leadership changes.

He declined to speculate on possible outcomes of the inquiry due to the fact that he and Warner may one day serve as jurors in the case. (The House of Representatives votes on articles of impeachment and the Senate holds a trial.)

Warner said that the inquiry will force both members of Congress and the U.S. public to make judgments.

He added that he was upset that elected officials on both sides of the aisle had already appeared to make up their minds about the president’s guilt or lack thereof.

“We need to take a deep breath and step back and recognize that this is as serious as it gets in our form of government,” he said. “We should be doing this with a sense of sobriety and seriousness.”

Other topics addressed by the senators included technological threats to the safety of U.S. elections, ways in which both parties can be more responsive to the needs of racial minorities and foreign threats to national security, particularly from Russia and China.

Reflecting on the Russian state’s interference in the 2016 election, Burr said, “I would say we’re blessed with the fact that they targeted elections and not the economy.”

As murmurs of disapproval spread around the crowd, Warner grinned and joked, “We’re not invited back much.”

POLICE BEAT Larceny • Unknown subject(s) entered victim’s unlocked car and took computer at baseball stadium. Report filed at 11:45 a.m. on Nov. 4.

• Unknown subject(s) entered victim’s vehicle on Student Drive and took PlayStation. Report filed at 11:25 a.m. on Nov. 5.

• Unknown subject(s) entered victim’s vehicle on Student Drive and ransacked the glove box.

Report filed at 3:39 p.m. on Nov. 5.

• Unknown subject(s) took victim’s bike from bike rack in front of Martin Hall. Report filed at 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 6.

• Unknown subject(s) entered victim’s unlocked car in Lot T1 and took $30 from the trunk.

Report filed at 8:28 p.m. on Nov. 7.

• Unknown subject(s) entered victim’s vehicle in Lot Z and ransacked the glove box, taking wallet and $17. Report filed at 12:09 p.m. on Nov. 8.

• Unknown subject(s) stole unlocked bike from outside Reynolda. Bike was later recovered at Dogwood. Report filed at 2:25 p.m. on Nov. 8.

Underage Consumption/Drunkenness • Offender consumed alcohol underage and was transported to WFUBMC from Johnson. Report filed at 1:57 a.m. on Nov. 9.

• Offender consumed alcohol underage at offcampus party. Transported to WFUBMC from Jasper Memory Lane. Report filed at 1:39 a.m. on Nov. 10.

Miscellaneous • Offender pepper-sprayed victims over issues with males using the female restroom/showers in Bostwick. Report filed at 11:19 p.m. on Nov. 7.

• Assisted WSPD with ongoing problem in the area of students walking through neighbor’s yard and damaging property on Kress Drive. Report filed at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 9.

• Offender entered the victim’s room in Babcock and urinated on some property. Report filed at 11:04 a.m. on Nov. 9.

• WSPD arrested student for possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana on Ranch Drive. Report filed at 11:44 p.m. on Nov. 10.

News | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, November 14, 2019 |Page 7

Lawsuit: No trial date has been set yet

Continued from Page 1

The university’s chapter of Delta Sigma Theta filed a motion Sept. 24 to have the lawsuit dismissed against the sorority. Jeffrey D. Keister, the attorney representing the sorority, argued that they did not have any duty of care for Baker, had no ability to predict that a shooting would occur and had no control over how Wake Forest handles large events.

“The question before the Court essentially boils down to whether the Chapter could have foreseen the intentional, criminal act of Austin and Smith,” Keister said in court papers, the Journal reported. “The answer is, both legally and factually, negative. Austin and Smith’s act, in shooting Mr. Baker, was unforeseen, intervening, superseding, and insulating cause that was simply unforeseeable to the Chapter and its members.”

Keister did not immediately return request for comment.

According to the Journal, Jonathan Fazzola, the attorney representing Dixon, filed a response to Keister’s motion on Nov. 5.

He argued that the chapter of Delta Sigma Theta was responsible for determining the amount of security needed for the party and the people who were allowed to attend.

“The Sorority expressly agreed to be responsible for managing and overseeing the Event, including monitoring who was allowed into the event and assessing the need for adequate security,” Fazzola said in court papers, the Journal reported. “The Sorority also agreed to undertake significant responsibilities in providing security and event management at the Event, when it knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, that the provision of reasonable and adequate security at the Event was necessary to ensure the safety

Photo courtesy of Parents and Families Wake Forest Website

The Barn was the site of the party in which Najee Ali Baker was killed. Baker's mother's attorney alleges that the sorority should have been aware of past incidents at the venue. of and well-being of the attendees, including to protect them from criminal acts of third parties.”

According to the Journal, Fazzola said that the sorority should have been aware of past incidents at the Barn. The lawsuit cites an external audit of Wake Forest police from 2014, which came after complaints that they were racist in their handling of parties hosted by minority students; the resulting report from this audit recommended the university increase security at large

events. The lawsuit alleges that the university ignored these signs of previous incidents and still allowed students to be in charge of event management.

Fazzola did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wake Forest filed a motion to dismiss in early July, a move which was denied by U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Eagles in September. Wake Forest has since denied the allegations. No trial date has been set yet.

Wake Forest aims to reduce emissions A look at the mechanisms that power Wake Forest's heating, cooling and water systems

BY NICOLE MACKEY Contributing Writer mackan18@wfu.edu The heating and chilled-water plants are essential to providing about 75 buildings on the main campus of Wake Forest with three of the four central utilities: heating, cooling and water.

Students usually only think about these components when something isn’t working properly. In reality, running a university is equivalent to running a small city, which takes a large amount of energy and manpower. Supplying each building with the proper resources has a significant impact on not only campus sustainability and energy costs, but on the environment, too.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gases (GHG) from human activities are the most significant driver of observed climate change since the mid-20th century. On a global scale, 25% of greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity and heat production.

“Our overall goal is to reduce carbon emissions by generating the heating and chilled water plants more efficiently,” said Michael Draughn, the director of Maintenance & Utilities Services.

The university purchases electricity, the other main utility, from Duke Energy, which accounts for 60% of the total carbon output on campus. About 21% of this electricity goes toward chilled water.

There are two active chilled-water plants on North and South Campus that generate cold water for cooling. The water leaves the plant on a campus loop distribution at 42 degrees and is recycled back to the plant at 52 degrees.

There is an overlaying optimization control sequence which monitors and controls the chilled water systems on campus. In other words, it sends the water out through campus in a way that maximizes efficiency.

The central heating plant houses four boilers that use natural gas to generate steam. The steam is then distributed across campus to heat the buildings and water used for sinks, showers, cooking and cleaning. There is also a plant on the northeast edge of campus with smaller steam boilers. The total connected campus capacity adds up to about 130,000 pounds of steam per hour, which sufficiently heats most of the buildings on campus.

“The plants are more efficient and much cleaner for the environment compared to using coal or oil,” said Tony Schallert, a facilities infrastructure engineer.

The central heating plant was the first place to be built on campus at Wake Forest. The boilers started out using coal as an energy source and then converted to

natural gas about 30 years ago. Two new boilers have also been put in recently, and they are 10% more efficient than the old ones.

“There are two ways to save energy,” Draughn said. “Make it cheaper and use less of it.”

There has been a 30% reduction in GHG impacts at Wake Forest since 2007, according to Draughn. During this time, building space has grown by 44% — meaning the university has almost doubled the amount of energy being put out while also reducing its carbon emissions. Decreases in energy use per square foot have helped offset energy use from added space.

With the installation of the Sutton Sports Performance Center and Shah Basketball Complex, a new section of pipes had to be added to the underground system.

For the 2018-2019 school year, Wake Forest spent $8.76 million on utilities.

When you divide that by the number of undergraduate students [5,225], each one allocated about $1,700 of their $55,540 tuition.

“One of the main things we are trying to do in raise awareness because we would like students to know more about how the buildings operate,” said Doug Ecklund, building systems manager.

Every call for Facilities & Maintenance gets sent to the operations room at the heating plant, where someone is always working 24/7 to make sure everything is functioning smoothly.

Nicole Mackey/Old Gold & Black

These pipes supply heat and cooling in the Shah Basketball Complex.

The Building Performance Improvement Initiative (BPI2) was created to help with campus engagement. Student tours of the heating plant are given when a professor reaches out and wants a class to come and see it. Students are shown informational slides, given a tour of the plant and taken into the underground tunnels that stretch across three miles of campus.

“Students can contribute to energy reduction by closing windows, turning off the lights when they leave rooms and learning how to correctly use a thermostat,” Schallert said.

“I would advise students not to crank their thermostats,” said Jimmy Nifong, manager of Utilities Operations. “Find a comfortable temperature and leave it there.”

OPINION

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The views expressed in all opinion columns represent those of the article’s author, not the opinions of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board

“ Good art explains mystery through manners Atelier Atrocities

Superficial art forfeits aesthetic layers for an explicit attention to medium or context

Jack Portman

Staff Columnist porttjt17@wfu.edu Art should function to induce some form of self-interrogation. It should focus on the unknown and the unknowable, the uncertain and the liminal, and by exploring these spaces, force viewers to consider that which they otherwise would rather not. Art should not tell you everything; rather, its inherent ambiguity should afford the viewer an immense freedom to interpret and experience the work within the context of their own critical framework. Essentially, things shouldn’t be clear, at least not immediately, and the artist’s “purpose,” if such thing must exist, should not be self-evident or immediately revealed. Art that is accordingly basal in its conveyance of any idea should be regarded with skepticism.

Art shold be difficult to some extent; an effort should be made to engage with art to understand its value.”

When I think of artists who leave no room for thought, who tell rather than propose or hint, I think of the poet Rupi Kaur. Kaur leaves no ambiguities for her audience to chew on: she provides an obvious and self-evident answer to the burning question “what does this mean?”

Kaur’s poetry, if one can call it poetry, is purely aesthetic. Her reliance on lowercase letters, lazy line breaks and simplistic illustrations fosters a transcendent and blissfully spiritual ambiance. However, the imbecilic simplicity of her verse invites no questions.

It possesses no nuance to speak of and explores no ambiguity. Kaur’s readers can come away from a poem having fully understood her intent by simply having read the poem like any other piece of text in everyday life. Kaur requires no critical thought on the reader’s part, no significant engagement with the text.

One simply must be literate and have a vague understanding of the metaphor as a

literary device to deduce Kaur’s intended meaning in a given poem. Her reader is not initially perplexed and thus not forced to consider the stylistic elements of her work (fortunate, because Kaur employs few to no stylistic elements in her poems).

Such is why Kaur’s poetry is popular: it is so accessible as to require no critical thought at all.

The blatant and self-evident nature of Kaur’s poetry is extremely restrictive: it demonstrates how art that is produced to appeal to massive groups of people essentially revokes the critical freedom of the viewer. When critics approach a work of art, they should be free to engage with the piece fully, to wrestle with its various components and formulate a reasoned and compelling response to the work. Kaur provides no such opportunity. Her poetry either requires no response or is its own response entirely.

The profundity and depth of Kaur’s poetry is essentially illusory. She grapples with intense and important themes, but does so without the linguistic and aesthetic tools of a good poet. Consequently, her work cannot evolve beyond a certain surface-level parameter. The full complexity and profound implications of Kaur’s thematic interest are deserving of

a rigorous consideration, however, Kaur is seemingly disinterested in rigor, both creatively and critically.

I think a fairly analogous occurrence of mainstream art pseudo-profundity may be Donna Tartt’s 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Goldfinch.

The 784-page tome claims to be a comingof-age story and an exploration of art and philosophy, however, as The New Yorker book critic James Wood writes, “its tone, language, and story belong to children’s literature.” The narrative structure of The Goldfinch consistently falters, and Tartt’s prose recalls Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Expectedly, The Goldfinch doesn’t ask a question or leave the reader with anything to unpack (or at least anything worth unpacking). Rather, it presents itself unequivocally, in the same way Kaur’s poetry expresses itself wholly after a single read.

Art should be difficult to some extent; an effort should be made to engage with a piece of art to understand its value. Kaur’s work denies the possibility of such an effort by telling rather than alluding. While its accessibility may be said to increase the public’s exposure to poetry, its dearth of linguistic nuance renders Kaur’s work almost a facsimile of poetic imitation.

Newport advises a technological cleanse, lasting around one month, that extracts the mind from the compulsion of the social ocean and resituates it in a reflective space.

It is meant to revitalize, slowly, through restorative boredom, the reflective parts of ourselves, so that our return to technology integrates a tempered, critical approach. I decided to try this, and then forewent the return. The results were initially as expected — manufactured anxiety as I created exclusive, social utopias I was no longer a part of, baffled looks from those steeped in meme culture or Twitter when I didn’t add to the dialogue and smirks conveying degrees of “that guy” aspersions that mix the condescension of a parent to a naïve child and the wonder of a younger sibling at their elder’s self-possession. The parades of polished people floated by in my mind’s eye with sinister invitations, and I could do very little to assuage my crippled sense of self, false as it was.

Eventually, though, the banal pain and suffering burned away to reveal something far richer than basic social security. My move away from social media defogged my brain, and revitalized dormant energies — those clearer, connective and critical thoughts embarrassed by my social habits.

Social media splayed my corpus of thought creation, creating a thin undercurrent of

thought insecurity. I felt I could not hold on to, or even remember, complex arguments or slow-revealing, aesthetic phenomena. The speeding, backward glances urged by an uncontrollable, scrolling-andclicking progression disallowed for substantive reflection or creation. I wrote as if constantly inhabiting a hangover brain, dulled by waves of unassimilable information and desultory images. It was writing as frustrated forms of blockage, tiny turns of the intellect that eventually pivot in a stunted circle, saying nothing, while trying to recall all.

My thoughts have no doubt become clearer and my memory more far-reaching.

The various quotes from various writers I could not remember previously flash in my mind, unsolicited, with the appropriate stimuli from class, life or work. Though writing can never be finished, or absolute, my cognition has returned to more controlled state of flow and recall, instead of thin and antic darting. It is this development that I find most vital (and interesting). The psychological contrivances and patronizing quips fade away and are only the superficial (though beneficial) rewards to social media extraction. The riches of cognitive depth are what truly release the mind from experience enslaved by mediation.

“ Digital minimalism can return us to lucidity Young and Thoughtless Persons

Social media has psychological effects, but also prevents thought from achieving complexity

Kyle Ferrer

Staff Columnist ferrka16@wfu.edu

We have all read countless laments about social media’s psychological fallout: depression, anxiety, loneliness. The platforms meant for perpetual connection isolate us in silos of comparative torture. Mediated experience becomes the diluted, smoothedout version of embodied frictions, and the cute, minute squirms and performative patterns of in-person experience are vaporized by the electric perfection of the image. This notion of human diminishment is similar to the effect of job interviews over Skype. One loses physical dimensions, so telling in their tics, and therefore loses an integral portion of the person. Crude perception becomes necessary and glazes over natural imprecisions — eye contact, fidgeting, a whole constellation of body

Social media conflates the iPhone’s original utility with its own manipulative conception of app-based companionship.” language lost. All our embodied improvisations lose potency and therefore detract from a holistic picture. The screen smooths out the richest human qualities into textureless tricks of facsimile and unwittingly abstracts individual action into archetypal gesture.

But to reiterate the negative effects of disembodied experience makes me another Luddite yelling at my peers to get off my lawn. I relinquished my social media about six months ago after listening to Cal Newport chat up Brian Koppelman about digital minimalism. Newport tells us that Steve Jobs never intended the iPhone as an ersatz friend, but as a utility with maps, music and weather. Social media conflates the iPhone’s original utility with its own manipulative conception of app-based companionship. Facebook has no palpable utility, Newport says, at least not the kind Jobs had in mind, only the constructed social value of likes and dislikes, which infests Jobs’ neutral platform with socio-cultural contest.

Opinion | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, November 14, 2019 | Page 9

Bloomberg's“ presidential bid is a mistake Political Action

The decision of Michael Bloomberg to run for president is illconceived and miscalculated

Amanda Wilcox Staff Columnist wilcaf16@wfu.edu

A year ago, Democrats likely would not have paid much attention if former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had thrown his hat in the ring as a presidential candidate, slogged through the debates, hit the campaign trail and done what any candidate must generally do to win the presidency (the current occupant of the White House aside): earned it. More than likely, he would have been viewed similarly to the likes of long shots Rep. Tim Ryan, Gov. Jay Inslee or fellow New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio — as a blip on the radar.

But now, after almost a year of campaigning and four debates, when the news came that Bloomberg had moved to join the race, my eyes rolled back in my head so far that they probably rotated 360 degrees. In this era’s Democratic Party, which is increasingly fueled by young, diverse and progressive voices, evidently,

If a candidate isn't debating or campaigning in early states, it's difficult to see how they could have any future at all." exactly what we need is a white male septuagenarian billionaire. Thank God for Michael Bloomberg!

I jest, but Bloomberg 2020 is a really bad idea. What, possibly, is missing from the primary that Bloomberg thinks he could contribute? The primary is competitive and crowded, and in head-tohead matchups, multiple candidates have been projected to beat President Donald Trump handily. Democrats already have multiple advocates for stricter gun safety regulation (Sens. Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, former Housing & Urban Development secretary Julian Castro) and the Green New Deal (Warren, Booker, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris), which are Bloomberg’s top issues. If, for some mysterious reason, what voters really want is another septuagenarian in office, we already have three to choose from (Warren, Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden). There are also three current or past mayors (Castro, Booker, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg). Neither does the field lack a billionaire (Tom Steyer), nor several millionaires.

And non-multimillionaire-donor Democrats don’t want or need a Bloomberg

candidacy — they are, on average, historically happy with their field of choices.

In July, the Pew Research Center found that 65% of Democrats had an “excellent” or “good” impression of the candidates. Only 5% had a “poor” impression.

In 2015, just 51% of Democrats had an unambiguously positive view of the field.

Democrats are about as happy now as they were in 2007, when Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards led the primary.

Further, most primary polls that include Bloomberg have calculated his support to be somewhere between zero and two percent — essentially, the margin of error. And he looks to be kneecapping his own candidacy from the start. First of all, due to the nature of filing deadlines, some have suggested that Bloomberg skip the early primary and caucus states and instead spend immense amounts of money campaigning the Super Tuesday states.

He also has expressed that he plans to self-fund his campaign, but if he doesn’t seek small donors, he won’t be eligible for debates. If a candidate isn’t debating or campaigning in early states, it’s difficult to see how they could have any future at all.

As much as I question the advisability of Bloomberg’s likely presidential campaign, I believe that his dedication to causes such as reducing gun violence and reversing climate change is probably sin-

cere. If that is in fact the case, there are many ways in which Bloomberg could use his vast wealth to restore democracy and protect the country from racist con men — ways that would be far more effective than a shot-in-the-dark, vanityrun for president.

He could buy Fox News (I’m serious).

It’s a toxic dumpster fire that scarcely deserves to be called “journalism,” and it’s fanned the flames of xenophobia and insulated a manifestly unfit president from scrutiny. Imagine fact-based cable TV news that adhered stridently to the facts and clearly labeled its conservative bent as opinion.

He could donate billions to efforts to fix our broken democracy — automatic and same-day voter registration, objective bipartisan electoral redistricting and fighting racist voter ID laws come to mind as worthy causes. More straightforwardly, he could spend a few of his $52 billion supporting one of the many worthy presidential candidates in our current field or down-ballot races against Republican incumbents.

At this point, it appears likely that a nascent Bloomberg candidacy will flame out quickly (if it even gets off the ground).

Current Democratic contenders should stay the course and keep focused on beating the other billionaire New Yorker in the race. Michael Bloomberg can take a hike.

off enemies that threaten our livelihood and values, environmental regulations prevent the risk of exposure to harmful toxins and pollutants that are ultimately threatening our lives, too. Trump’s presidency is overcast with financial goals, and environmental regulations are inhibiting them from being accomplished in his administration's eyes.

Trump’s ultimate decision for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement alone was a blatant act against cooperation with our allies. It may not seem as something as extreme as leaving NATO, but this will also have lasting consequences for decades.

In addition, for when a later president or administration would like to get serious about the issue and rejoin the Paris Agreement, there might be resistance from exist-

ing members to trust our sentiments toward fixing environmental problems. Brazil has been under the microscope for its lack of protection of the Amazon rainforest with deforestation and purposeful forest fires to create land for cattle grazing. While much of the world was outraged at President Jair Bolsonaro for his disregard of such a prominent global carbon resource, the United States could very well also be blamed for future removals of regulations and for being an example of a rich, large country without environmental responsibility that other countries’ might follow to compete with us financially. While I would discourage complete removal from office due to these changes in ecological policy, there should be some threshold of to what extent the president and administration can lift these rules.

“ Environmental irresponsibility requires checks and balances Hot Water

Trump's financial agenda indicates an engregious disregard for the environment

Kate Federer

Staff Columnist fedek18@wfu.edu According to Article 2, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, “The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Most of the past impeachment inquiries sound like blatant crimes, but what if a president or his/ her administration is doing something that is perfectly legal, but detrimental to the lives of citizens? I wrote an article in the past about how both the Republicans and Democrats must see the repeal of various environmental regulations, laws and the exit of the United States from the Paris Agreement as an offense.

Removing regulations from companies regarding environmental concerns is not like any other deregulation process. With the current predictions of the consequences of the climate crisis, our country and the world can not afford to put ourselves at any more risk than it is already experiencing. Some examples of the actions of Trump administration include creating stronger restrictions on which waterways are protected under the Clean Water Act, halt-

Issues like the environment should be considered with the same regard as national security." ing compliance with 2015 Steam Electric Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) Rule that attempts to lessen toxic water pollution from coal plants and eliminating guidelines of the Clean Power Plan, which develops energy solutions alternative to fossil fuels. These are only some of the cases that illustrate this administration’s favor of the business malpractices that are harming the Earth. These may solve shortterm issues of corporations, leading them to support Trump’s current term, campaign and future re-election, but the future concerns of this presidency are about the short term, and backing your campaign with “Make America Great Again” is only contradictory when companies can dump waste as they please and cleaner energy options are not encouraged. In the long run, we’ll look at this administration as one that only facilitated the harm that the baby boomers and even the generations before them inflicted upon the United States and the planet. I think the country was hardly “great” when people could barely breathe from pollution once the country became more industrialized, or when not enough Americans have clean water to drink in a nation that is supposed to be overdeveloped.

Issues like the environment should be considered with the same regard as national security.

Just as the military is responsible for fighting

Photo courtesy of MCTCampus

Thursday, Novemeber 14, 2019 | Page 10

Opinion | Old Gold & Black

“ equates to being an active human Being political Ethos

Politics constitutes moral and existential awareness, not a designed personality type

Olivia Field

Staff Writer fielor17@wfu.edu Recently, someone told one of my best friends that they were surprised we were so close. After a reportedly awkward silence, my friend asked why and received the response: “Oh, because Olivia is so political!”

When this interaction was relayed back to me, I admittedly couldn’t stop laughing. From my perspective, it was easy to find the comedy in this: my friend is actually quite knowledgeable about current politics (she would shoutout Michael Barbaro’s The Daily podcast here), and I also don’t consider myself to be extremely public with my political opinions (unless you follow my Twitter or bring up the Democratic presidential primary after I’ve had a few drinks).

So, it was not only a weird thing for someone to so blatantly state, but it was also pretty much wrong.

After the giggles subsided, I started to feel a bit more uncomfortable with what this person said. Now, this isn’t resulting from the fact that they questioned my friendship — people with

When you zoom out from day-today life, government, society and politics are a part of everyone's existence in some capacity." extremely different interests can definitely still be friends, so on that level their statement is pretty much void — but because of their use of the phrase “so political.”

I began to think, what does it mean to be “political”? If I am a cookie-cutter example of the term, then it includes studying politics, generally enjoying the subject outside of the classroom and feeling passionate about issues in our government and society. However, this definitely is not, and should not, be the way that we think about the quality of being political — it should equate to a necessary social awareness that all humans are capable of, rather than some sort of niche, intellectual activity.

As to not get too deep into any of the specifics, all I will say here is that literally everyone in America knows how polarized our country’s politics are right now. You could probably ask a toddler about Donald Trump and get somewhat of a cogent response. So, one would think that this universal awareness would lead to some form of opinion-making from all citizens.

However, this is not the present case, which is why I am always disgustingly unsettled when people say they “don’t care about politics.” Or, as that person was insinuating, it is a special personality trait to be “political.”

To be clear, I am not offended that these self-proclaimed neutrals never took Introduc-

tion to American Government or don’t have CNN notifications on their phone. On the other hand, I am frustrated that a connection cannot be made between politics and one’s everyday life. When so many parts of our lives are intertwined, how can people find it so easy to separate the everyday from the moral, and the moral from the political? In some ways I understand the disconnect. Spending every second of every day thinking about the current state of domestic and global politics is bound to give anyone a heart attack. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t engage with the world around you. When you zoom out just a little bit from day-to-day life, government, society and politics are a part of everyone’s existence in some capacity.

The late James Baldwin wrote that “it is the innocence which constitutes the crime.” It is not only necessary to be aware of current

events, but to internalize them and produce a point of view. This cannot happen without effort, but that is not to say that it requires some sort of special background. It is in our nature to value certain things and to only make judgements based on those values. Politics does not exist in the bubble of Washington, D.C. It is everywhere, a pervasive force that defines almost every aspect of our life in society. So, being “political” ultimately just means being aware of, and internalizing, one’s own socially-bound existence.

Sorry to break it to you, but you are definitely just as “political” as I am. The only thing to do is take charge of this reality, and embrace that it is an inextricable part of the human experience.

Read a book. Watch the news. Figure out who your representative is. Talk to a neighbor. Do it all. Or don’t. Just promise me that you will care, because not doing so is the ultimate failure to both yourself and your society.

Photo courtesy of MCTCampus

“ policies are quixotic impossibilities Democratic tax The Tax Man

While tax hikes are ambitious, the reality is that they will never come to be

Connor McNeely Staff Columnist mcnecb16@wfu.edu

The political landscape of the United States is on a collision course with billionaires and their multinationals. Although the federal government and those drivers of the economy have always been conjoined together in a rather grotesque manner, a certain disparity in their wishes has become increasingly apparent within the movement of the presidential election narrative.

What is the United States without its bustling marketplace of corporations and profligate top class? What would the country come to be without the safeguarded excess of those inherently powerful business owners? The perennial American corporations of today’s economy are the pulsating organs of the nation’s inconceivably healthy body; they unquestionably precipitate both domestic and foreign policy, perhaps even more so than the actual lawmakers of the federal government themselves. Lobbying spending has skyrocketed in recent years, hitting $3.4 billion in 2018, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Top spenders were listed as the United States Cham-

The durability of their tax plans against corporations and investors they rely on is something voters should legitimately question." ber of Commerce and PhRMA; with colossus companies like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson heading up efforts to sway public policy.

But the federal government might attempt to bite back, or at least try in a false pretense to grab issue voters. Sens Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — both Democratic presidential candidates — represent the ambitious extremes of tax increase plans for the fiscally liberal. Warren’s strategy has explicitly appeared to be the upending of offshore tax havens at which principal American investors vacation. Bernie Sanders takes the issue further, implementing what some term a “sin tax,” or the “Income Inequality Tax,” on corporations with significant pay disparities.

It doesn’t end there. Former Vice President Joe Biden promises a trio of tax hikes in personal income, capital gains and corporate income.

It’s easy to vault over into the bandwagon for revenge on the supposedly “sinful” CEOs and tyrannical billionaires, but the question of these candidates' loyalty to this cause still lingers. Both Warren and Sanders rake in millions per year.

Joe “Middle Class” Biden’s tax returns show $15 million in income after 2016. The durability of their tax plans against the corporations and investors they rely on is something the voters should legitimately question. No one would even notice the issue slip from the stage as the Democratic preliminaries grind to a close.

The disposition of billionaires and wealthy CEOs — even ex-CEOs like Bill Gates — is something that should be taken into account.

Gates warns of the potential barriers that these tax increases could impose on innovation and attractive capital formation. Jamie Dimon whines about Warren and her “harsh words” towards the affluent few of America. But do these perturbed plutocrats have any weight in their comments?

The United States will most likely remain an economic leader, regardless of these proposed barriers. The U.S. economy is in the middle of its largest expansion, even as third quarter growth has hit a 1.6% road bump. Corporate tax havens — with attractive networks of bilateral tax treaties and base erosion and profit shifting tools — will present the biggest chal-

lenge to any candidate with the agency to go through with an increased corporate tax rate.

High levels of OECD compliance prevent national regulatory oversight while the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — passed in 2017— exempts foreign profits from domestic taxation.

There are endless roadblocks on the horizon for these upstart reformers.

In all likelihood, the ugly truth is that a significant change in the status quo and ambiguous injunctions of the U.S. economy will not be achieved. Although a substantial amount of the American public stands behind such a movement, they fail to realize that their elected proponents of “change” are already bought and paid for, and that there have been barcodes on their heads all along. Kudos for trying, though.

Photo courtesy of MCTCampus

SPORTS

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Online at: www.wfuogb.com Twitter: @sports_ogb Editor: Rafael Lima, limara17@wfu.edu Assistant Editor: Lucy Nelson, nelsld16@wfu.edu

OLD GOLD & BLACK

Deacs advance to ACC semifinals but fall to UVA Wake Forest survived a double-overtime affair against Virginia Tech, but lost the following match against UVA 1-0 JB BLOOD Staff Writer bloojj18@wfu.edu Playoffs can cause teams to experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. In their two ACC tournament matches, the Wake Forest men’s soccer team felt this dichotomy firsthand by beating Virginia Tech in a dramatic fashion before losing a close match in the semifinals to the University of Virginia.

In the quarterfinal matchup with Virginia Tech, Wake Forest’s dreams of advancing rested on the shoulders of goalie Dominic Peters.

After regular time ended in a 2-2 draw, neither side scored in overtime, which sent the match to penalty kicks.

The Deacs shot first and missed their opening penalty kick.

Both sides then traded goals, and the shootout was tied at four apiece when Virginia Tech’s Kristo Strickler came up to the penalty mark. If he scored, Virginia Tech would advance to the semifinals.

Strickler kicked a low hard shot towards the right side of the goal. Peters then dove to stop the ball in its tracks. With the season on the line, Dominic Peters stepped up and gave the Deacs a chance to win.

Wake Forest and Virginia Tech scored their next penalty kicks. Then, Machop Chol scored to put the Deacs up 6-5 in the shootout. On Virginia Tech’s ensuing penalty kick, the shot was hit towards the right center of the net. Peters moved

towards the ball and batted it down away from the net to win the game for Wake Forest.

“I did all my best to get inside the player’s head,” Peters said when asked about the game-winning save. “Then it’s just a numbers game, can you read him well enough, can you guess the right side, and I was lucky enough to do so.”

Peters, a redshirt sophomore from Santa Clara, Calif., did not start the game in the goal for Wake Forest and only came in for starter Andrew Pannenberg for penalty kicks.

“Dom [Peters] was incredible in training,” said Head Coach Bobby Muuss. “[His] energy, his confidence was the reason we made a decision.”

The score at the end of regulation was tied 2-2. Wake Forest’s Joey Dezart scored the first goal of the night in the 60th minute off a corner kick. Isaiah Parente took the corner kick and passed the ball towards the top of the box. After a few hops, Dezart one-touched the ball and hit a beautiful shot that curved into the upper left corner of the box.

Sixteen minutes later, the Deacs had their second goal after a brilliant display of passing in the box. Hernandez was at the top of the box and passed the ball to Calvin Harris who was making a run from the top corner towards the goal. Harris then deftly passed it by the goalie to the right where Kyle Holcomb was uncovered. Holcomb kicked the ball straight into the net to put Wake Forest up 2-0.

It seemed that the Deacs would win comfortably, but Virginia Tech mounted a comeback in the closing minutes. In the 78th minute, Virginia Tech’s James Kasak scored after his shot deflected off a Wake Forest defender into the net. Then four minutes later, Virginia Tech’s Daniel Perrera scored off a free kick that was two yards outside the box to even the game up and send it to overtime.

On Wednesday’s semifinal match against UVA, Wake Forest’s playoff run came to an end. It was a close match, but UVA’s early goal was all they needed in a 1-0 victory.

UVA’s goal came in the 25th minute and was scored by junior forward Nathaniel Crofts who was assisted by Robin Afamefuna and Daniel Steedman. Afamefuna was on the left side of the field between the 18 yard box and the sideline. He then crossed the ball into the box where it was deflected by Steedman toward Crofts. Off a bounce, Crofts fired the ball into the net.

Wake Forest was outshot 9-5 by UVA and only had one shot on target compared to UVA’s four.

Wake Forest’s next match will now wait for their NCAA Tournament seeding. The final will be played in Cary, N.C. , this year, where the Deacs won the 2007 National Championship.

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications

Freshman Calvin Harris impressed once again against Virginia Tech with an assist to Kyle Holcomb.

Wake Forest loses at Virginia Tech 36-17 The Demon Deacons are handed their second loss of the season against an ascending Virginia Tech squad

BY RAFAEL LIMA Sports Editor limara17@wfu.edu The No. 19 Demon Deacons (7-1) entered Lane Stadium on Saturday afternoon as one of the ACC’s premier teams and the only legitimate threat to Clemson in a weird season in the ACC Atlantic.

The goal was straightforward: win against a 5-3 Virginia Tech squad, as predicted by most sports outlets, and the Deacs would control their destiny regarding their Orange Bowl odds.

However, as seen time and time again, things rarely go according to plan and narratives are ever-changing in the one-week game that is football. In front of a loud crowd of 65,632 people, by far the largest attendance Wake Forest football has faced in any away game this season, the Deacs struggled to match the Hokies' energy in the second half and suffered their second loss of the season.

In the absence of receiver Scotty Washington (ankle), the usually high-powered Wake Forest offense led by quarterback Jamie Newman had problems establishing any kind of rhythm offensively. The Hokies stacked the box and played a lot of zero coverage for much of the game, daring Newman to make plays in the passing game.

As a result, the Deacs registered their lowest rushing number of the season with only 63 yards in 29 carries for an average of only 2.2 yards per carry.

Newman had plenty of one-on-one situations with Sage Surratt and Kendall Hinton throughout the game, but in many instances, the Deacs were not able to exploit

the mismatches that usually go in their favor in the passing game.

“We didn't have the numbers to run it and all year we've had that type of box count and we've thrown the ball for 300-400 yards and Sage, Scotty and Kendall have had huge games and in that game, credit to Virginia Tech, they covered us. We didn't get the separation that we've gotten most games,” said Head Coach Dave Clawson. “I don't think our response to that as an offense was as good as it needed to be. We had some things open in the passing game that we missed. Kendall three or four times was wide open across the middle and those are plays that we usually hit in our sleep and whether Jamie overthrew it or underthrew it or Kendall dropped it or the angle of the route wasn't like we've practiced, we were off.”

The Hokies also applied consistent pressure on the Wake Forest backfield, registering three sacks, seven TFLs and seven QB hurries. Newman’s two interceptions of the game came in pressure situations. On both occasions, Newman was hit as he threw the ball, making it lose all of its spin and forward momentum and becoming an easy interception for the Virginia Tech linemen. Newman completed only 16 out of 35 of his passes for 238 yards two touchdowns and two picks.

The bad news continued to pile up for the Deacs against Virginia Tech. Early in the fourth quarter, after securing a third-down conversion down the middle of the field, Surratt came down with a shoulder injury and was ruled out of the game. Clawson confirmed on Tuesday that Surratt will miss the remainder of the 2019 season. Surratt leads all ACC receivers in both yards (1,001) and touchdowns (11) and was en route to an All-American type of season.

His absence will be strongly felt by the Deacs in their upcoming matchup against Clemson on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., as Washington is also ruled out of the clash against the Tigers. Surratt and Washington formed one of the best receiving duos in the nation this season with a combined

1,608 yards and 18 touchdowns. As the Deacs prepare to visit Death Valley, their absence could have not come at a worse time. “[Receivers] Waydale Jones, Steven Claude, A.T. Perry, there is a reason we recruited these guys. They are talented and this is their chance to step up and we have confidence they will,” Clawson said. “We need to play a little bit better on the O-line, the running backs will need to play better, the tight ends will need to play better and [Newman] is going to need to be really sharp.”

A week ago, the Deacs seemed like the ACC darlings, frontrunners for the Orange Bowl bid and capable of making things interesting against ACC juggernaut Clemson. Now, plagued by injuries at wide receiver after a poor offensive performance at Virginia Tech, the Deacs are looking at possibly going to a tier-1 bowl game, and an upset against Clemson never seemed so out of reach.

Narratives do change quickly in football.

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications

Kendall Hinton was one of the few constants for the Deacs on Saturday, hauling in eight receptions for 162 yards.

Page 12 | Thursday, November 14, 2019

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Women's basketball aims to flip the script The Demon Deacons look to have a much stronger season than last, hitting the court with two wins in three games

BY BEN CONROY Staff Writer conrbd19@wfu.edu For the women’s basketball team, the 2018-19 season was a grueling campaign plagued by adversity at every stage. The squad was battered by a barrage of injuries, and often found themselves struggling to find enough healthy bodies to contend with the constant grind of an ACC schedule. Their record reflected these hardships, as the Deacs finished at 10-20, winning just one game during the entirety of ACC play.

This year, however, the Deacs look to rewrite their story. The offseason gave the squad a chance to heal, recharge and prepare for a reinvigorated 2019-2020 campaign. There’s no doubt the Deacs will play with chips on their shoulders, looking to erase the bitter memories from the past season.

“The team really has a new energy about themselves,” said Assistant Coach Dane Sparrow. “They have turned the page on last season and have really worked hard all summer long in preparation for this season.”

The Deacs’ roster is loaded with experience, as they graduated just two seniors following last year’s campaign. The plethora of returning players has resulted in a heightened sense of chemistry and camaraderie, a vital aspect in the success of any team.

“Team chemistry has been great,” Sparrow said.“I

think they bonded a bit over the summer in the weight room. I think the girls like each other a lot, which is important in team dynamics.”

The Deacs will look to seniors Ona Udoh, Alex Sharp and Raegyn Branch, along with junior Gina Conti, for leadership. All four have tallied impressive careers to this point; Sharp was the team’s rebounding leader last season (9.3 RPG), while Conti was a wire-to-wire starter and dished out 147 assists to lead the squad. Udoh finished the 2018-2019 season shooting an impressive 59% from the field, while Branch appeared in 18 games and scored efficiently throughout the year, averaging 13.6 PPG. The roster also features a number of impressive young players who have drawn the attention of the coaching staff.

“I believe we have a great group of kids … and a set of freshmen that are very talented and have raised everyone’s level,” Sparrow said.

The Deacs will seek to utilize this intriguing mix of veteran leaders and young talent to make their presence felt against a talented slate of ACC opponents such as Louisville, Miami and NC State. While the difficulty of the schedule is undeniable, the rigorous collection of in-conference matchups will give the Deacs the opportunity to turn heads throughout the ACC. The squad is off to a solid start this season, winning two of their first three matchups, including an eye-popping 106-50 home victory against Charleston in which Udoh logged 23 points on 10-13 shooting in just 19 minutes of play. The Deacs hit the hardwood again this Friday night at home against UNC-Charlotte, where they’ll attempt to bounce back from a heartbreaking twoPhoto courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications point loss to UNC-Wilmington. ACC play begins Freshman Anaia Hoard swooshed a 3-pointer on Dec. 29, when the Deacs venture southward to help the Deacs beat UNC-Wilmington. to lock horns with the Miami Hurricanes.

Men's basketball off to unimpressive start Coach Danny Manning is still trying to piece together the best lineups to give the team their best shot this season

BY CHRISTIAN ODJAKJIAN Staff Writer odjact18@wfu.edu Well, it looks like Demon Deacon fans could be in for another long season. The Deacs returned 77% of their scoring production from last season, yet the team does not appear to look any better.

To begin the 2019-20 campaign, Wake Forest fell 77-70 on the road to ACC foe Boston College 77 on Wednesday, making Head Coach Danny Manning 5-41 overall in ACC road games. The Deacs then barely pulled out a 65-63 victory over an underwhelming Columbia on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Boston College jumped out of the gates, taking control with an 18-point lead near the end of the first half. Wake Forest looked better in the second half, but never was able to cut the deficit to fewer than seven. Turnovers were a huge area of concern, as the Deacs gave it away 17 times, and were outscored 18-2 in points off turnovers.

“They put us in some tough situations as far as taking care of the basketball," Manning said. "The points that they were able to score off our turnovers were a huge difference for us.”

Duke transfer Derryck Thornton made a promising debut for his new team, leading the Eagles to the win with his career-high 23 points.

Brandon Childress led the way for Wake Forest with 24 points and seven assists, a very impressive line considering he didn’t make a single field goal in the first half. Isaiah Mucius started his sophomore year with a strong performance, scoring 18 points on an efficient 8-13 shooting. Freshman Ody Oguama was a standout

in his debut, scoring 10 points to go along with seven rebounds in 21 minutes of play. Columbia, predicted to come in sixth place in the Ivy League, had no business in going into an ACC team’s arena and stealing a win. The Deacs were very lucky to pull this one out, facing a four-point deficit with under a minute left.

Chaundee Brown hit the free throw after an and-one layup to cut the deficit to one. After an offensive foul on Columbia, Brown got back to the line, hitting the first and missing the second, which went out of bounds off the Lions. Childress got the ball at the top of the key, took his man left, spun middle and elevated to shoot a fadeaway in the middle of the paint. After a bit of bouncing and rolling on the rim, the ball dropped through the net, giving Wake Forest a two point cushion with just over a second left.

Brown put up 20 points in the home opener, and Childress added 11.

The Lions, although inferior in terms of talent, arguably played a better game than the Deacs, but couldn't finish. Two crucial winning factors for Wake Forest were the +8 offensive rebounding margin and the fact that they attempted 20 more free throws than the opposing Lions.

“A win is a win. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win,” Childress said. "We can’t dwell on the past; we’ve got to keep moving forward.”

Manning’s rotation went 12 deep in both games, as he is really experimenting with what he has. The substitution patterns he used in the two games seemed choppy, random and inconsistent, but hopefully he can start to figure out the best way to use his talent. It will be interesting to see if freshmen Oguama, Jahcobi Neath and Ismael Massoud are able to carve out significant roles for themselves early in this season. Frontcourt depth also looks like it is going to be a big issue, as junior forward Sunday Okeke joined freshman forward Tariq Ingraham in the out-for-the-season-with-atorn-Achilles club.

If there was any glimmer of hope that Manning could find success at Wake Forest in his seventh season, this uninspiring start has all but dulled that thought.

Attendance was under 4,500, an unfortunately low number for a school with the basketball pedigree of Wake Forest, which speaks to the lack of any sort of hope around the program.

After hosting UNC-Asheville, the Deacs travel to play graduate transfer Andrien White’s former team, UNC-Charlotte, on Sunday night.

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications

Freshman Jahcobi Neath looks to be a promising player for the Deacs in breaking their struggle.

Sports | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, November 14, 2019 | Page 13

Deacon Spotlight: Stan Cotten

BY RAFAEL LIMA Sports Editor limara17@wfu.edu If you have listened to a Wake Forest football or basketball game on the radio over the past 24 years, then you’ve definitely heard Stan Cotten, the “Voice of the Deacons.”

Having received a lot of recruiting attention during his time as a high school quarterback, play-by-play broadcasting was not necessarily the first profession Cotten envisioned for himself. One football injury and a tape recorder later, his football stardom dream was over, but his iconic broadcasting career was just beginning.

The Old Gold & Black sat down with one of the most emblematic, Twitter-account-inspiring figures in Wake Forest sports to discuss what it feels to be the voice of Wake Forest sports, Cotten’s favorite moments around the Deacs and his relationship with players and coaches.

Rafael Lima: You’ve been working with sports broadcasting for 40 years as a play-by-play announcer. How exactly does someone get into the career of play-by-play radio broadcasting?

Stan Cotten: Honestly, I fell into it. All I ever wanted to be was a [football] player. I was a high school quarterback and was pretty heavily recruited. So, I, probably like a lot of 17-year-olds, thought I would be able to play football forever. [Laughs.] But, that was my goal, and then I got hurt; I torqued my knee really badly. I will save you all the gruesome details. My football career came to a screeching halt.

There was a radio station that was carrying our games and they gave me a tape recorder. They said, “Interview some of your teammates. You know them better than anyone else.

Have some fun with it. Be creative, and if we like it, we’ll use it on the broadcast.” They did and that led them to offer me a part-time job at the radio station.

I went to school at the University of Tennessee. My high school football coach then moved on to the college ranks at [Carson-Newman University]. He said, “Look, you’ve been playing around with this radio, working part-time at the radio station. How would you like to announce our games on the radio?” So, I did that! As a student at UT, I started calling the [Carson-Newman] football games on the radio. I did my first game, and I just absolutely fell in love with it. I have been doing it ever since. That was 40 years ago. I went from Carson-Newman to Marshall [University] and from Marshall to Wake [Forest] and this is year 24 at Wake Forest. So, it really wasn’t something that I thought I wanted to do. But, once I did that first game broadcast, I was hooked.

RL: What’s your favorite memory calling a game?

SC: You know, I’m asked that a lot. My memories are more so of the people and not the games. There are plenty of games that I remember, but it’s the people that kind of made those games happen. The other day Jim Caldwell, Wake Forest’s [former head football] coach, opened the gate at the football game. I remembered all the great times I had with him and his teams. I think the older you get, your perspective turns a little bit more toward people than ball games.

But, with regards to games: in football, probably the game [I remember the most] was the ACC title game that led to the Orange Bowl in 2006. It was the first ACC Championship game since 1970 that Wake Forest was in. That was certainly historic. Just watching Muhammad Ali and Arnold Palmer representing each school out on the field and

seeing an estimated guess of about 40,000 Wake Forest fans at that game was incredible. In basketball, my first year was Tim Duncan’s senior year. Then, Skip Prosser was here. He was such a unique human being. I remember so fondly my friendship with him [and] also some of the special teams that he had. I remember a game at Chapel Hill. I think it was his first go-around against the Tar Heels, and it was a triple-overtime game. I think it was 119-114. That’s a game I’ll never forget, with just how happy Prosser was after that game. I think that win helped him believe that he really did belong in the ACC, even though we all knew.

RL: What about tough moments for Wake Forest sports?

SC: Well, the day Skip Prosser died was the toughest of my career. For any of us who were around, that was just a horrible, horrible day. Forget the fact that he such a great basketball coach. He was just a great human being, and the fact that we lost him way too early was so sad. In a lot of ways, I think our basketball program hasn’t completely recovered from that, and I’m not sure how you can. That was certainly a dark moment.

RL: What’s it like to be the “Voice of the Deacs” for so long — the voice that people associate with happy sports moments, but also the voice that people remember through bad moments?

SC: I take that very seriously, because growing up as a kid I was a big Tennessee football and basketball fan. I can remember listening to those games on the radio. I think the radio announcer at the time in Tennessee was John Ward, and he did the games forever. All of us grew up listening to him. People ask me “Did you get into broadcasting because of John Ward?”

My answer is, “He didn’t make me want to be an announcer. He made me want to play!” He was so good at what he did that I wanted to be one of the guys he was talking about, playing the game.

Then, once that dream of playing football went away, I started thinking about “man, he had such an impact in my life. That has to be a cool thing to do.” Then I got hooked. You do it for a long

time and then you start to meet people that say, “I grew up listening to you.” That’s something I never really thought about. But now that I’ve been here a while and I’ve met so many people who said that, it’s humbling. It’s more humbling than anything else — to be that voice that so many people connect with. You are the one bringing them closer to the school that they love, their football team, their basketball team or whatnot.

RL: You definitely have a very close relationship with Wake Forest. How do you keep some impartiality as you call some of its games?

SC: I think my job is not like that of someone, say, at ESPN or CBS. They are supposed to be impartial. I don’t think I am. My job is to really tell the Wake Forest story, to try and put Wake Forest football and basketball in as positive a light as I can. That doesn’t mean that, as you describe the game, you don’t reflect accurately what’s happening on the field or on the court. Your job is to paint the picture of the game win or lose, whether Wake Forest is playing well or not. But, at the same time, you do it from a perspective of a Wake Forest fan. For instance, when people listen to the game, hopefully they can tell that I want Wake Forest to win the game. If I were at ESPN or CBS, that would get me in trouble. You’re supposed to be impartial, 50-50, right down the middle. But, when you’re the “voice of the school,” you’re not supposed to be that way. I want people to know that I want Wake Forest [to win], but, at the same time, I want to reflect accurately what’s happening on the field. When the game is over, I want someone who wasn’t there to feel like they were there.

That’s my job and that’s my role. I’m more of a storyteller, telling the Wake Forest story.

DEAC NOTES Wake Forest men’s golfer Parker Gillam wins White Sands Intercollegiate Tournament

Wake Forest women’s tennis impresses at the ITA National Fall Championship

Junior golfer Parker Gillam won the individual portion of the White Sands Intercollegiate after posting a three-shot victory and finish 17-under in the tournament. As a team, Wake Forest finished in fourth place with a 21-under record and 9-under on the last round on Sunday. The Demon Deacons will now prepare for the All-American Intercollegiate in Houston that will occur in mid-February.

Junior Eliza Omirou (pictured) and redshirt senior MC Meredith advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA National Fall Championship in the doubles category, after wins against UCLA and Tennessee. Sophomore Carolyn Campana also had a strong showing after winning three constests in consolation play in the singles category. The Deacs have finished the fall schedule and will return in January.

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Page 14 | Thursday, November 14, 2019

Cover three: Falcons upset Saints on the road In a weekend of upsets, Falcons, Dolphins and Jets won and the Seahawks dethroned the last unbeaten team

BY LUKE MARTIN Staff Writer martl19@wfu.edu In a week where the Falcons, Dolphins, and Jets all doubled their win totals, you know some strange things must have happened. Upsets were plentiful this week, meaning little clarity was gained in any playoff race. One note from the action: if the Dolphins are tanking, like so many said they are, they’re sure doing a bad job.

Week 10 Recap Falcons 26, Saints 9 New Orleans likely thought Atlanta would offer a smooth transition for Drew Brees to get back into the swing of things with his offense. Atlanta’s defense had not been impressive of late. In fact, you’d have to look back to September to find a game in which they held their opponents to fewer than 30 points. Well, apparently nobody told the Falcons they were supposed to roll over for the Saints offense. Six sacks on the day was more than enough to keep New Orleans out of the end zone. There was little pressure on Matt Ryan, and the Falcons offense made enough plays to pull off a huge upset.

Titans 35, Chiefs 32 I will be the first to admit that I didn’t think Marcus Mariota was the problem with the Titans woeful offense earlier this year. But, week after week, Ryan Tannehill is proving me and many others wrong. Tannehill has been making smart, timely decisions throwing the ball and has shown an effective burst on the ground when he needs to.

That, along with an easy 188 yards and two touchdowns on the ground from Derrick Henry, allowed the Titans

to survive the visiting Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes came up Patriots at Eagles, Sunday 4:25 p.m. huge in his return with 446 yards passing, but Tennessee A general rule: if you can avoid playing the Patriots after made stops defensively when it mattered the most. their first loss of the year, a blowout loss, or their bye week, Seahawks 27, 49ers 24 you should do so. It is especially not advisable to play them Down 10-0 in the first quarter, you would’ve been hard when more than one of those conditions are met, let alone pressed to find anyone on the Seahawks’ sideline that didn’t all three. Yet, that’s exactly the task the Eagles face when believe they were going to come back and win. Late in this they host New England on Sunday afternoon. This is likegame, both teams seemed to play the game not to lose. ly Tom Brady’s last visit to Philadelphia, a city in which he That is never a recipe to win a game; however, the 49ers is undefeated. Weather shouldn’t be an issue in this one, could not capitalize on a Russell Wilson overtime intercep- which is good because the Eagles have been unpredictable tion. This allowed the Seahawks to get into position to kick enough on their own this year — they certainly don’t need a game winning field goal as time expired to give the 49ers a snowstorm to add to that. their first loss of the year.

Week 11 Preview Steelers at Browns, Thursday 8:20 p.m.

Baker Mayfield was displeased with the noise produced by the home crowd in Cleveland last week. Not that they weren’t loud enough, but they were actually loud at the wrong times. Mayfield’s plea with the crowd to be quiet on crucial downs for the team’s offense may not take effect until after the Steelers come to town on Thursday night. This is a heated rivalry and both teams are showing progress as of late. If this is a competitive game due to both teams’ competencies rather than their flaws, I think it’s fair to say the fans in Cleveland should get a little slack from their QB about being loud.

Texans at Ravens, Sunday 1 p.m.

So far this year, the Texans have mostly gone as far as Deshaun Watson goes. If he’s throwing touchdowns instead of picks, the Texans usually win. If he does the opposite, they can lose to overall lesser teams. It wasn’t long ago that Watson was being regarded in the same way that Lamar Jackson is now. Both are incredible talents that will be the future of the NFL if they stay healthy, and both revel in the Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images/TNS opportunity to compete against another great QB. However, the defenses in this one aren’t scout teams. This should The Falcons’ balanced offense was led by running be an incredible game with all units making big plays. back Brian Hall who had 61 yards and a receiving TD.

CFB Roundup: Golden Gophers stay perfect Minnesota and LSU proved they are real title contenders with wins against Penn State and Alabama, respectively

BY BEN CONROY Staff Writer conrbd19@wfu.edu No. 4 Penn State 26, No. 17 Minnesota 31 The college football world waited with bated breath as two Big Ten unbeatens squared off in Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon. Certainly, the viewers were not disappointed; the two squads traded blows for the entirety of the contest until the Gophers (9-0) delivered the knockout punch with a game-sealing interception late in the fourth. Any Minnesota doubters were promptly silenced, as the Gophers continued their magical season with a crucial victory against a loaded Penn State squad. Minnesota receiver Rashod Bateman sliced through the Nittany Lions (8-1) secondary in every way imaginable, logging 203 yards through the air and opening the game’s scoring on a high note with a 66yard touchdown snag. Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan helped to cement his squad’s position among the Big Ten’s title contenders, stuffing the stat sheet for 339 passing yards and a trio of touchdowns along the way. With the victory, Minnesota rests comfortably atop the Big Ten West while Penn State returns to a not-so-Happy Valley having surrendered their share of the lead in the Big Ten East.

No. 2 LSU 46, No. 3 Alabama 41 The tension was palpable in Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon as the Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1) were set to battle the redhot LSU Tigers (9-0). Both teams had their eyes set on the No. 1 spot in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, but it was LSU who emerged victorious in yet another of its seemingly endless string of top-10 matchups. The Tigers held a 33-13 lead at the half, but the Tide stormed back and cut the deficit to five, before the Tigers slammed the door shut once and for all with a touchdown from standout half-

back Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the game’s final two minutes. Edwards-Helaire was magnificent for all four quarters, totaling 103 rushing yards and three crucial touchdowns. Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow’s draft stock climbed higher still after a stellar performance that included 339 passing yards and three touchdowns; Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa performed admirably in the loss, notching 418 passing yards and four passing scores of his own. With the victory, LSU solidifies itself as the SEC’s top dog, while Alabama will aim to earn its way back into the CFP committee’s good graces in its three remaining regular-season games.

No. 18 Iowa 22, No. 13 Wisconsin 24 The atmosphere was electric in Camp Randall on Saturday afternoon as the Badgers (7-2) geared up for another top-20, in-conference showdown. The visiting Hawkeyes (6-3) gave them all they could handle, hanging around until

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/TNS

Joe Burrow was carried off the field after leading the Tigers to their first win against Alabama since 2011.

the bitter end. Iowa had a chance to tie the game on a twopoint conversion in the final four minutes of the game, but were stuffed at the goal line by the staunch Badger defense.

The offensive fireworks were few and far between in this low scoring contest; the lone offensive surge came from Badgers halfback Johnathan Taylor, who ran circles around the Iowa defense, exploding for 250 yards on the ground. Quarterback Nate Stanley threw for two touchdowns for the Hawkeyes, but failed to lead his squad across the goal line in the game’s closing stages. Wisconsin ekes out an important conference win as they continue to nip at Minnesota’s heels for the lead in the Big Ten East division, while the Hawkeyes are forced to endure their second loss in the past four games.

Iowa State 41, No. 9 Oklahoma 42 The Oklahoma Sooners (8-1) hosted the unranked Iowa State Cyclones (5-4) in Norman Saturday night. In what should’ve been a routine bounce-back game after a disastrous defeat last week, the Sooners struggled again and were nearly toppled on their home turf. The Sooner defense failed to execute, allowing a discouraging five passing touchdowns and nearly 500 yards of total offense. The Cyclones erased a 21-point second half deficit, cutting the lead to one thanks to quarterback Brock Purdy’s fifth touchdown of the day. The Cyclones elected to pursue a regulation victory, attempting a two-point conversion instead of tying the game with the PAT. They were thwarted at the goal line, their pass intercepted and their hopes of a wild road victory crushed in the process. With the victory, the Sooners maintain their grip on the second spot in the Big 12 and avoid a disastrous second loss.

Week 12 Preview No. 4 Georgia @ No. 12 Auburn The Bulldogs look to maintain their lead in the SEC East and pick up a resumé-boosting win in the process. The Tigers attempt to claw their way out of third place in the SEC West in a high-intensity matchup.

No. 8 Minnesota @ No. 20 Iowa The Hawkeyes aim to avenge last week’s loss by ending the Gophers’ perfect season; Minnesota must find a way to survive a hostile crowd and take another concrete step toward a Big Ten Championship appearance.

Thursday, November 14, 2019 |Page 15

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Sounders conquer MLS in 3-1 win at home The Seattle Sounders won their second MLS title in 10 years with a 3-1 win over Toronto FC at home

BY WILL ZIMMERMAN Contributing Writer zimmwj19@wfu.edu CenturyLink Field, the home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, had its attendance record broken this past weekend. The record-breaking event, however, did not include Russell Wilson, or the Seahawks, or any NFL player at all. The crowd of nearly 70,000 who packed the stadium came to cheer on their soccer team, the 2019 MLS Cup Champions — the Seattle Sounders.

The Sounders netted three goals in their win over Toronto FC, claiming their second MLS Cup in franchise history. Despite outplaying the Sounders through the first half of the game, Toronto was unable to score. In the second half, the Sounders scored the first goal of the game right before the one-hour mark when defender Kelvin Leerdam’s shot deflected off two Toronto defenders and found the back of the net. Sounders fans, donning the club’s blue and green jerseys, erupted following the tiebreaker.

Toronto Head Coach Greg Vanney subbed in U.S. National Team player Jozy Altidore in search of an equalizer, but the next goal of the game came from the Sounders’ own sub, Victor Rodriguez. In the 76th minute, Rodriguez curled a shot in from the top of the box, doubling the Sounders lead. In the 90th minute, the Sounders scored a third goal, and in stoppage time Altidore netted Toronto a consolation goal. The final score of the championship game was 3-1.

The jam-packed crowd exploded with the Sounders’ victory. The championship was the second for the club in the past four years, with the last in 2016. The Sounders’ starting goalkeeper, Stefan Frei, described the effect the hometown crowd had on his team.

“Since the beginning, it was overwhelming. I got teary eyes when I walked out,” Frei said.

Seattle’s coach, Brian Schmetzer added, “And most importantly, the players and the fans deserve this. The players persevered … and they never quit, and the fans never stopped believing. So I’m very very happy and proud for the city and the fans.”

In 34 matches this season, the Sounders won a total of 16 games, losing 10 and drawing in 8. Their 56 total points were good enough to place them into second place in the Western conference. To make it to the championship game, the Sounders beat seventh-place FC Dallas 4-3, third-place Real Salt Lake 2-0 and the first-place team, LAFC, 3-1.

Evidence of Seattle’s love for their soccer club stretches farther than the historic crowd that gathered to see the game. Dave Clark, a writer for the Sounders, described how the city has rallied behind the team: “20 years ago I was the dorky soccer dude at a sports radio station that got mocked. And now, the sports radio stations, the morning TV, they’re forced to cover the Sounders because it’s that big of a cultural moment. The green that’s been on buildings and ferries and bridges, not just in Seattle but throughout the region, it’s been impressive the Sounders are pop culture in Seattle.”

On Nov. 11, the Sounders paraded through Seattle for yet another tremendous number of fans. According to Statista, the Seattle Sounders had the second highest average attendance of all MLS teams in 2019, coming in at just about 40,000 fans per game. This number comes sec-

ond to only Atlanta United FC, who average more than 52,000 fans per game. Atlanta United won the MLS Cup in 2018.

The Sounders hope that their historic season will bolster attendance for their 2020 season as they fight to defend their title. The task is not impossible, but it will not be an easy one. Since 1996, teams defending their championship title have won it again the following season only twice. But that’s a worry for next season. For now, Seattle and their die-hard fan base can revel in victory.

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

The Sounders hoisted the MLS Cup trophy for the second time in team history in front of a record-setting crowd.

Celtics’ defense propels them to early season success The Celtics defense is carrying them early in the season, but can they sustain it deep into the playoffs?

BY NIKO KOLEV Staff Writer kolens18@wfu.edu With the Celtics’ 140-133 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, they are 9-1 in the season, making them the current No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. It’s a strange sight to see Kyrie Irving’s Nets as the No. 8 seed in the East considering how hyped his move to Brooklyn was.

I think many NBA fans expected the Celtics to be a relatively good team without Irving thanks to new addition Kemba Walker. Though, it was expected that the Celtics would be still worse off since they lost both Al Horford and Irving.

And yet, here we are with the Celtics playing fantastically in spite of it all. Yesterday’s game showcased some of the many strengths that are helping the Celtics produce so many wins. It can’t be overstated how deadly the Celtics’ pick-and-roll game with Walker is. Against the Wizards, there were countless times when Walker exploited their defense for easy passes and shots inside. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are also playing considerably well, given their new roles as the scoring leaders of the team. It’s a good thing that the scoring is not being left to one person, with points coming from Brown, Tatum and Walker.

A worry with the acquisition of Walker was that his size would be a hindrance on defense. But surprisingly, the Celtics’ defense has been very solid so far, with rookies and role players not only contributing consistently, but also in big ways. Clearly Brad Stevens’ coaching is also playing its part as it shows in the Celtics No. 2 offensive rating and No. 8 defensive rating in the NBA.

Looking at the playoff picture, it’s unlikely that the Celtics continue at this high level of play for the rest of the season. The Bucks will most likely overtake them atop the East in the next couple of months. Although, considering the quality and flexibility of Stevens’ coaching, that day could be getting farther away. It’s usually at the start of the season when teams that are typically poor find their hot streaks. This happened last year with the Orlando Magic when Aaron Gordon was scoring a ton of points each game. By the time December rolled around, the “magic” had cooled down.

There is no question regarding whether Boston will make the playoffs or not; the only question is how deep they can go in the playoffs. The team just does not have the experienced players that are needed to mount a deep run in the playoffs, as Eastern Conference juggernauts like the 76ers would make quick work of this Boston squad. Walker has never made it past the first round of the playoffs, and Brown and Tatum are still very raw players. If the playoffs were to happen right now, despite their early success, the Celtics likely would go down in the second round.

John Kuntz/cleveland.com

Guard Marcus Smart has been one of the reasons why the Celtics have been able to be so good defensively.

His ability to switch 1-4 on defense (as seen in the picture) has allowed the Celtics to play more small ball.

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OLD GOLD & BLACK

Motherless Brooklyn balances history with invention Edward Norton’s film, Motherless Brooklyn, integrates its cinematic influences with a probing, authentic style

BY KYLE FERRER Opinion Editor ferrka16@wfu.edu Motherless Brooklyn, written for the screen and directed by Edward Norton, is a rare treat that blends canon with creativity. Based on Jonathan Lethem’s eponymous novel, the film instantiates itself in a noir tradition while embracing its own aesthetic departures from the films that preceded it. Lethem’s source material makes the film more garrulous than any of the consummate cool contained in an Elmore Leonard-Raymond Chandler affair, while its aesthetics still draw skillfully upon the canonical noir films of yore. Motherless Brooklyn feels and looks like a version of L.A. Confidential, but darker and sharper, as if written by Tarantino the tempered novelist, less concerned with overt pastiche than with understated sprawl. The film’s snappiness flavors its artistic depth, and the restraint it shows allows its brio more pucker, its spurts of emotion a sturdier clench.

Great artists make old stories seem new, and that’s exactly what Lethem, and now Norton, did with their respective projects. The film is acutely aware of its place in film history and is unavoidably haunted by ancestral energy, but it views precedent as a box of mutable tropes ripe for re-presentation. Though it’s possible to trace its visual and thematic progenitors, Motherless Brooklyn resists any trite, genealogical dissection in favor of more complicated absorption, what the late Harold Bloom would have called cinematic agon, the strong film-maker’s awareness, capitulation and eventual absorption of their predecessor’s great complexities into their own sui generis creation.

Norton’s film (and it is indeed his, distinctive and fiercely ambitious) follows Lionel Essrog (Norton), a gumshoe detective with Tourette’s (before the affliction’s trenchant symbolism was clinically caged by the medical term) in 1950s Brooklyn. His boss and friend, Frank Minna (Bruce Willis), dies within the opening minutes, leaving a complex web of government corruption and family drama to be unraveled as Essrog searches for his killers. With the (limited) help of the agency Minna ran, now under the auspices of Tony Vermonte (Bobby

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

Canavale, underhanded and dubious), Essrog ventures into smoke-filled rooms and airless, echoing fiefdoms to piece together the vast plot.

The morass centers around Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin), a Nietzschean urban planner who spins slum clearance as Promethean culture-creation, disguising his hegemony as ostensible beneficence. At one point, Moses’ disaffected brother, Paul (Willem Dafoe, ubiquitous gift that he’s become), says, quoting Emerson, that an institution is the length and shadow of one man, and his elder brother’s shadow keeps growing. Leading the resistance is Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, whose sensitive and sensual presence has gravitational pull), a city employee who unwittingly entangles herself in a dangerous drama with Essrog and others.

Essrog slips between miasmic night clubs and government galas, searching for the linchpin his late friend had found. Though not directly played for contemporary socio-political pressure-points, the film will no doubt be interpreted as an analogy for our fraught political present. While those themes are endemic to both the film and novel, both resist a symptomatic reading through aesthetic and intellectual innovation, forcing us to perceptualize the fuzzier notions floating above the shadowy exteriors.

Lethem’s novel imbued Essrog with twitchy brilliance, his uncontrollable outbursts flashing on the page with a perceptual madness that bordered on prophetic observation. That can’t work for Norton, or the film, because words on a page can believably drag on longer than human speech. Norton realizes this, and plays Essrog as a detective whose tics are less profound than distracting or crass, distracting others from his latent smarts rather than subconsciously building them up. His honest verbal gunfire strikes as either a sympathetic malady or cognitive limitation. This happens in Lethem’s novel, too, but the flicks of language were more drawn-out — brutal, observational, aphoristic — with a kind of David Foster Wallace-esque penchant for length and insight. I was curious how Norton would embody Essrog, and he does so with sincere intelligence. The tics are less to-the-bone and more ornamental for Norton’s character, which, when blended with the actor’s wry logic, makes Essrog sparkle with compassion.

But we must come around to Norton’s initially questionable Essrog. In a knockout scene at King Rooster, the oft-visited jazz club, Essrog and Laura slow-dance to jazz. At first, the prospect of controlled motion worries Norton, as does the immediate musical stimuli. He’s shy and volatile, ready to burst, but Mbatha-Raw, through gestures of subtle affection, slips him into an emotional channel. As they spin, the camera languidly circles, and Essrog’s mind, so often dismissed as defective, appears as a universe of patterned chaos: as jazz. For portions of the film, his mind mirrors the score — discordant, trickling, darting — but in this scene, we receive a different kind of musical comparison. The mind becomes playful, trumpeting improvisational language that’s felt instead of pre-meditatively thought. (The aesthetic register of this scene is itself worth the price of admission).

Essrog later snags the scene’s antisocial beauty when he says to the trumpet man (Michael Kenneth Williams, smoldering with cool), “I twist and shout, at least you’ve got a horn to push it through.” It’s a sly, sad recognition that condenses the aesthetic experience into an unsatisfactory sentence, but the film’s continual ability to shrink and expand with epigrammatic grace peppers its heavier sections with wonderfully articulate energy.

And yet, the club scene not only contains a kind of daemonic interiority, but also a sensual intensity that twines physicality with philosophy. The gliding bodies, and Mbatha-Raw’s petting, foregrounds a more embodied symbiosis. Apart from Essrog’s mental-musical likeness, he and Laura’s communion reminds us of a dreamlike quote from Louise Erdrich, who says “the angels in our body make us foreign to ourselves when touching.” Both characters, in this thawing embrace, in a scene of musical metonymy, visual envelopment and physical sensitivity, lose themselves in the song of the other. The film, here, becomes transcendent, something purely cinematic and aesthetic, altering perception and transferring a kind of inarticulate, human wisdom.

It’s touching (literally), and perfectly choreographed in a long-take of honeyed bliss. The sequence is jawdroppingly beautiful, simultaneously raw and artificial, constructed so perfectly through gestural harmony that — I’ll say it again — it alone is worth the price of admission.

Thursday, November 14, 2019 | Page 17

Life | Old Gold & Black

Lifestyle Column | Disney+

THE HOT Disney+ evokes nostalgia LIST The new streaming service includes content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars

BY EMILY BEAUCHAMP Life Editor beauea17@wfu.edu I don’t know about you, but I love Disney, so when I heard that Disney was going to offer a streaming service that contains all of the Disney classics, Pixar movies, Marvel movies and Star Wars films, I was ecstatic.

The streaming site officially launched Nov. 12, and I purchased it almost immediately. For only $6.99 a month, you have access to all of the Disney Channel shows of our childhood, most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films and even some new, never-before-seen Disney+ originals.

I’m planning to spend the entirety of my winter break watching as much of the content on Disney+ as I possibly can. Needless to say, I’m pretty happy with my purchase.

Many people have debated back and forth on whether to get the service.

The argument stems from the concern that Disney+’s success will result in more networks starting their own streaming services. Over the past few years we’ve already seen an increase in

this trend. Both The Office and Friends are being moved from Netflix and over to their network’s own streaming service, and all Disney-owned shows and movies will be removed soon as well.

Many people are concerned their subscription services are getting to be too expensive and there’s been some discussion on just switching back over to OnDemand. I see what they’re say-

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

People are excited for The Mandalorian, a new Disney+ original show.

ing, too. Netflix was one thing; shows from a variety of networks could be found in one location for a relatively low price. Hulu and Amazon Prime Video came around, and they both operated on a similar structure. Many networks have started to create their own streaming services, and yes, it’s starting to make me wonder if it’s all worth it.

On the other hand, I love Disney and am more than happy to pay a relatively small price for the ability to relive my childhood; but in regard to other streaming services, I’m hesitant.

Another thing that is bringing people toward the Disney+ streaming service is the new Disney+ original show The Mandalorian. This is a Star Wars story and revolves around a lone gunfighter as they navigate the galaxy after the Empire falls. If you’re a Star Wars fan, I would recommend going ahead and buying the streaming service. I haven’t started the show, but episode one has been released, and I’ve heard good things.

Personally I’m most excited to watch some of my childhood favorites such as Kim Possible and I’m looking forward to watching some shows I’ve never seen before, like The Ultimate Spiderman. I do think this streaming service is worth the price, especially if you want to feel a bit of nostalgia in the heat of upcoming final exams.

Album Review | Woptober II

Gucci Mane releases new album Woptober II gets straight to the point by eliminating filler lyrics

BY NIKO KOLEV Staff Writer kolens18@wfu.edu Rap icon Gucci Mane has released his 15th rap album Woptober II, and world is so much better for it. Woptober II is positively bursting with charisma and wit. Almost every song has an iconic line coming from Mane himself or one of the many great feature artists on this album.

It’s undeniable that Mane’s bombastic personality and lyrical wit are one of the aspects that elevate this album to great heights. Mane’s content is somewhat varied, but in general, Mane’s eyes are pointed toward threatening his enemies, flexing his wealth and lack of fear. Mane portrays himself as a man that loves to party, but also not a man to be messed with. The production for these songs reflects this duality in Mane’s personality. Tracks like “Opps and Adversaries” have a more lowkey beat and have only Mane in the spotlight. On this track he tells a story of multiple attempts on his life and the haters that stand in opposition to his existence. But in spite of all the hate, Mane is the last man standing.

Truly an impressive feat.

The first quarter of Wop II is chock full Woptober II is an easy 9/10. There are so of party hits like “Big Booty” (feat. Me- many intangible positive aspects of this gan Thee Stallion) and “Richer than Er- album that just can’t be put into words. rybody” (feat. Young Boy Never Broke Considering this is Mane’s 15th until Again and Dababy). The boosted bass his next album. The best tracks on this on those tracks and the amazing flow project are “Time to Move,” “Richer that everyone has is quite an entertain- than Errybody,” “Big Booty,” “Opps ing listen. Part of the reason why these and Adversaries,” “Came from Scratch” tracks work so well is that they don’t get (feat. Quavo) and “Break Bread.” bogged down with boring filler lyrics.

It’s very clear from the 36-minute run time of this project that Mane is unaffected by the recent trends of having overly lengthy albums just to gain more Spotify streams.

Mane is also keenly aware of his legend status in the southern rap and gangster culture, and we are just along for the ride. It is so refreshing to hear an artist that really seems to care about the music they are making, and it is no coincidence that three of the biggest new rappers, Megan Thee Stallion, Young Boy Never Broke Again and Dababy, make guest appearances on the album.

If there were a complaint to be made about this project, it would be that some of the songs, like “Time to Move” and “Break Bread,” can sometimes blend together. But generally, each song has its own voice and unique style. Every effort seems to have been made to always keep the listener engaged and attentive to Photo courtesy of Jason Persse whomever is rapping at the moment. As a first time introduction to Mane’s work, Woptober II’s 36-minute run gives a this album is a shining star of quality. reprieve from other lengthy albums.

Top 10 Exciting Things About Disney+

By Emily Beauchamp

Disney+ was just released, and there are several things that I am very excited for.

1.

3.

5.

It’s only $6.99 a month All of the Disney classics Kim Possible The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wizards of Waverly Place

The Mandalorian

7.

9.

Hannah Montana The Simpsons All of the Pixar movies Everything that’s to come

DRINK OF THE WEEK Traditional Float Is this a rip-off of a juice shop smootie? Maybe...

• Root beer, Coke or soda of choice • Vanilla ice cream Scoop the vanilla ice cream into a glass then fill the glass with your soda of choice. Add some whipped cream if you’d like and enjoy.

Courtesy of Emily Beauchamp

Page 18 | Thursday, November 14, 2019

Old Gold & Black | Life

Abroad Column | Worrell House London

Worrell House is underappreciated Worrell House London abroad program has way more to offer than meets the eye

BY CATHERINE REGEN Staff Writer regecl17@wfu.edu I found that when I was deciding what program to choose for study abroad, no one encouraged the one I actually chose.

I also never encountered anyone who had actually done it. That might simply be a result of running in the wrong circles, but I wish someone had told me about the gem that is the Worrell House in London. Let me tell you that the website truly doesn’t do it justice.

The Wake Forest House programs seem like a gamble, but I truly can’t imagine a better experience. Try to convince me that any London program is better than living in a mansion on a quiet street in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the city and yet just a 15-minute tube ride from central London.

The house itself is incredible: built in 1875, it is a historical landmark of the Victorian era. Close your eyes and imagine sitting in an overstuffed leather armchair reading a book with a hot mug of tea in what we affectionately refer to as the “Churchill Room.” Or if you, like me, are a chef in the making, whip up a delicious dinner in the state-of-the-art kitchen. It used to be an artist’s studio

and still has a massive skylight and high ceilings with traditional wooden beams.

My fellow students and I spent our fleeting summer nights grilling on the patio and doing yoga in the yard. Now that it’s cold, we snuggle up with steaming mugs of Cadbury hot cocoa and watch movies on the massive projector.

I was worried about living and working in the same space, but there is a certain pleasure in simply having to walk downstairs for class every morning.

Which brings me to the classes: they really undersell the incredible staff at Worrell House. Not only do we have the privilege of taking classes with an esteemed member of Wake Forest’s own faculty, who accompanies the group (and lives in the apartment downstairs), but there are also three local professors that come to the house to teach three London-centered classes. Greg Rosen is the history professor and in his free time manages Brexit as an advisor to the Labour party. Rachel Barnes is the art history professor and also a former art critic for The Guardian (you can find her book on Gustav Klimt in the Worrell House basement). Zanna Beswick teaches a course on London theatrical arts and was the youngest female editor at the BBC. The local professors are just half of the team; the other side is the house manager Fiona and head housekeeper Jackie, both of whom never miss a chance to recommend an art exhibit downtown or spill the gossip on our

Amanda Wilcox/Old Gold & Black

The Worrell House itself has a lot to offer; however, the center of London is only a 16-minute tube ride away if you’re feeling stir-crazy. neighbors. Pro tip: give Jackie pumpkin bread, and she’ll love you forever.

It would be remiss if this journalist didn’t mention the amazing benefit of living with your classmates. Mine have become my closest confidants, travel companions and sous chefs. Sharing your living and learning space with 14 people isn’t easy; inevitably there are issues with dirty dishes in the sink

or a persistent mansplaining problem (shocking with a 2:12 male to female ratio). But at the end of the day my fellow Worrellites (can we retire this nickname?) are some of the people whose company I will seek out most next semester when I’m back on campus. Worrell House is the best house, and more students should appreciate the privilege that it is to live here.

Concert Review | Louis The Child

Louis The Child captivates crowd in Asheville Louis The Child performed transformational fresh blends of EDM music

BY LUCY NELSON Asst. Sports Editor nelsld16@wfu.edu Louis The Child’s “Here For Now” Tour made its pit stop in North Carolina last Thursday. The Chicago-based DJ and production duo, 22-year-old Robby Hauldren and 21-year-old Frederic Kennett, is best known for their electronic pop hit singles “Better Not,” “It’s Strange,” “Love is Alive” and “Fire.” The talented young musicians brought their A-game to a diverse crowd at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville for their third show of the 2019 tour.

In an array of lights and trippy nature visuals flashing across the back screen, the producers took the stage with high energy, which was echoed by the enthusiastic crowd of mostly college-aged people and a few older couples scattered near the back. By starting off with one of their lesser-known songs and jamming on mirrored keyboard and xylophone sets, it felt like we were getting a sneak-peak into one of their bromance jam-sessions.

Their energy never slowed, nor did that

of the young crowd, many of whom were dressed in Coachella-like apparel.

The tall and lanky Hauldren, sporting an oversized white t-shirt and baseball cap, inspired a care-free vibe, with fluid and sporadic dance moves, that was emulated by all ages in the audience, including a group of 30-or-so Wake Forest seniors.

“It was incredible. Hauldren and Kennett just seemed so happy to be there and

it made me happy too,” said senior Lauren Healy.

Mixed into the expected popular beats were some new electronic variations, including a mix-in of Chance the Rapper’s hit “All Night” accompanied by floral and jellyfish projections. At one point a quote

by Jim Morrison, vocalist of the 70s rock band The Doors, popped up on screen that read: “I guess in four or five years,

the new uh generations music. It might rely uh heavily on um electronics. I can kind of envision maybe like, one person with a lot of machines.” Concert-goers seemed to love this goofy mix-in, with at least five people being lifted onto shoulders as the quote flashed up.

Most of their songs encompass a smooth yet edgy EDM tone, but one of their intense future bass remixes of Ty$’s hip-hop anthem “Blasé” was definitely the main hit of the night, unleashing the stadium into a frenzy of fervor. A few favorites from their 2018 album “Kids At Play EP” were performed as well, including the edgy “Dear Sense” and quirky and bouncy mashup with Quinn XCII, “The City.” The captivating show was concluded with an encore that urged a repeat of their most recent popular hit, “Better Not,” a feel-good, clever blend of electronic beats.

The duo definitely impressed this weekend and proved that they are not burned out in their continued mixing of new unique material since their start in 2017 when Kennett was still in high school. They’ll be playing 18 more shows around the Midwest, East Coast and Canada, wrapping up in early December. If you have the chance, these inspirLucy Nelson/Old Gold & Black ing and fresh EDM artists know how to Artists Robby Hauldren and Frederic Kennett met at a Madeon concert put on a show that is definitely worth through mutual friends and have been producing music together ever since. the $30 ticket.

Life | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, November 14, 2019 | Page 19

Humor Column | Get Rid of Wyoming

Humor: Wyoming brings no value

Wyoming’s land could be used more effectively in other areas of the United States

BY EVAN DAANE Contributing Writer daanep19@wfu.edu When glancing at a map of the United States, you may notice that about the 90° W longitude line, there is a distinct change in the borders of the states. The most eastern states are divided into irregular shapes that follow rivers, lakes and property stakes that predate the country, whereas when you go further west, the states become made of hard lines and sharp corners. This is where we encounter the problem of Wyoming. Unless you are from Wyoming, chances are you rarely think of Wyoming or its 578,000 or so inhabitants that reside within its 97,914 square miles of land, which is home to many state parks and lots of open plains.

From the inside, it seems like it’s doing well enough and would be fine left alone.

The issue comes when looking from the outside, where it is obviously apparent that it has little to no reason to exist. I’ll be attacking Wyoming’s legitimacy from two angles, one of unbiased logic which includes laws and regulations, and one of aesthetics, both creating a definitive and unassailable argument for the disassociation of the state of Wyoming.

Wyoming is a broken state. Its lax regulations on oil and gas companies have allowed towns to have more air pollution than that of most, if not all, major cities due to high ozone production. Wyoming also has little to no care about the animals

sion that every living thing in Wyoming would be doing much better in Colorado, which is my solution to the whole matter.

I propose that we get rid of Wyoming and add that territory to Colorado.

Now that we’ve addressed the solution, let’s look at it from an aesthetic angle.

Wyoming is boring. It’s a square with no standout features. This is a problem I have with Colorado as well. When we merge the states, it will give the new Colorado a fun, memorable new shape that gives it more personality than just a boring old square. On the proposed boundary map I created, you may notice the top of new Colorado, that it’s all squiggly. Well, I was looking at it, and it just made sense to continue Montana’s wavy border just a little further instead of its normal sharp and abrupt collision with what was once Wyoming. I made sure to avoid more populated counties so that the children there would be included within the new Evan Daane/Old Gold & Black Colorado school system and not let them Above is a graphic that shows the proposed changes to the map after getting rot in Montana’s comparably worse edurid of Wyoming. Utah gets their corner back and Colorado’s land mass increases. cation system. If you look at the map, I also gave Utah its corner back, since it living within it, trailing behind every state check them and their far-too-generous made the state feel incomplete. There was but two in animal abuse laws (which al- footprint of environmental destruction. little reason other than aesthetic for that, Since Wyoming has so few people liv- but if you need more, there are 5.5 times low the abuser to get away in almost if not every situation of abuse), and its con- ing in it, its largest city is comprised as many people in Utah than Wyoming, servation laws fare little better, leading to only of 60,000 people, and only tak- making it 5.5 times more valid. imbalances in species populations of cer- ing up .00029% of the total landmass, Now there isn’t anything necessarily evil tain predator-prey relationships, such as its wilderness could use a bit more pro- or wrong about Wyoming, it’s just that its wolves and sheep. The corporations that tection than it’s being given currently. land would be better off as part of other inhabit the state don’t help either, and at This is where Colorado comes in. It has states. With Montana and Utah getting one point oil and gas companies almost much tighter conservation and preserva- the extra bits, the majority of the land killed the entire population of sage grous- tion laws. Even life within the Wyoming would go on to be better utilized as a part es, a major player in the Wyoming ecosys- cities pales in comparison to its neighbor of Colorado. This all may sound a little tem. These oil and gas companies have a Colorado, which boasts a better public drastic, but these are drastic times. The large influence over the laws in Wyoming, school system and standard of living (as world is in chaos, and the only way to and rarely for the better, slowly undoing given by the U.S. News state rankings). restore it is to get rid of Wyoming comanything that has been put in place to Because of this, I’ve come to the conclu- pletely.

Podcast Review | Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie entertains listeners

Crime Junkie’s host discusses real life crime cases both solved and unsolved

BY KATE TENDER Staff Writer tendke18@wfu.edu For all the true crime lovers out there, I’d highly recommend listening to the podcast Crime Junkie. The series is hosted by Ashley Flowers and her childhood best friend, Brit Prawat. The setup is Flowers telling Prawat a crime she’s researched and Prawat will ask clarifying questions or add her opinion, having never heard the story before. Starting Dec. 17, 2017, the show now has more than 100 episodes and they release new episodes every Monday.

While the episodes are dark, they include a wide range of crimes, including murders, missing people, serial killers and infamous murders. Not all of the crimes they share are solved, and the series can help bring awareness to un-

solved missing or murdered people. It can be frustrating when they include unsolved cases, but this forces the listeners to face the reality that not all crimes are solved. Flowers includes updates when relevant, especially about the more recent cases that still have ongoing investigations. They always tell their viewers that if they or anyone they know has any information, to contact their local police department or crime stoppers. In addition, for some serial killers, they have included two-part episodes to encapsulate the full story.

One noteworthy thing is that Flowers focuses most on the victims. Instead of memorializing the humans who could commit such atrocities, they try to portray who the victims were and any relevant details about their personalities and life. This creates a connection to the victims rather than to their murderers. However, Flowers also researches the people who commit the crimes and includes details about their upbringing and their states when they committed the murders. These tend to be more objective recounts of their lives that allow

the listener to contemplate why they did the things they did.

One feature of the show is their rules that they follow and advise their listeners to follow as well. An example is their rule “it’s never a mannequin.”

This applies if someone sees a dead body anywhere in their life. They think is a mannequin, but it’s almost always a dead body. However, it is natural to rationalize every possible explanation first, such as the figure being a mannequin. Another tip from Crime Junkie is to have all your information such as passwords to your bank account, social media and cell phone in one place so they are easily accessible for the worstcase scenario that you are missing. This way, police don’t have to wait to get warrants to obtain that information and waste precious time to find someone.

For me, the appeal of a podcast comes from the content, but also the likability and voice of the hosts. Flowers is a natural storyteller and her dialogue is always coherent, but doesn’t feel scripted. It feels like a natural conver-

Logo courtesy of Crime Junkie

Each 30-minute episode hooks listeners by discussing the victim’s life. sation between her and Prawat. I got into this podcast on my 30-minute commute to work over the summer, and I was hooked instantly. It’s convenient because you can listen to it while doing other things, unlike a movie or TV show, but it is still enthralling and thoroughly entertaining. If you are at all a fan of true crime, this is definitely the podcast for you.

Page 20 | Thursday, November 14, 2019

Old Gold & Black | Life

How to: clean and organize your dorm

BY EMILY BEAUCHAMP Life Editor beauea17@wfu.edu

It’s almost winter break again, and you know what that means — inspections. Do you know what else that means? A month away from your dorm. If you’re anything like me, you like to power clean my dorm before winter break for two reasons: 1. I don’t want to be fined during inspections and 2. I like to return to a nice clean home when January rolls around.

Here are five tips for reorganizing and cleaning up your dorm for this holiday season.

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Purge

There are two different types of purging: donation and trashing. Donation is when you go through the things that have some semblance of value to you, and you decide what you no longer need. Maybe you bought a shirt three years ago, but you’ve never worn it. Well, now’s the time to stop moving it back and forth — donate it.

Trashing, on the other hand, is going through all of the miscellaneous items you may have picked up from the involvement fair back in September or going through the box in the corner that contains all of the broken things that you keep meaning to fix but never have time to and throwing them away. It’s time. I promise, if you haven’t needed it yet, you probably will never need it.

Declutter Your Surfaces

I’m very bad at this. I tend to come home put down my stuff on any clear surface I can find and then that item will reside there until I need it again. It just takes so much effort to put it back where it belongs when all I want to do is lie in bed after a long day of school. However, one of the first steps to cleaning is decluttering. Make sure everything you own has a home and try to remember to return it to that location after you use it. You know what they say: an organized room leads to an organized life.

Get Cleaning Supplies

Think really hard: when was the last time you used a Clorox wipe on your doorknob, or when was the last time you swept the floor? If you can’t remember, then please go and ask your RA if you can check out some cleaning supplies. It’s flu season, and the last thing we need is more germs and dust to worry about. Wipe down every surface with a Clorox wipe, sweep the dirt off the floor and then mop it. I promise you’ll feel a lot better when you surround yourself with clean surfaces.

Do Your Laundry

Is your laundry basket overflowing? When’s the last time you washed your sheets?

Wash your clothes if you haven’t in awhile. I know it may be tempting to just wait it out and say “I’ll just wash them when I get back home,” but honestly, that just makes packing more difficult. Block off a Thursday afternoon or a Saturday morning and wash your clothes and sheets. There’s no better feeling than climbing into bed with fresh sheets, and your suitcase will thank you if you do wash your clothes ahead of time.

Sit Back and Admire Your Work

You’ve worked hard this semester, and you’ve worked hard on organizing your space.

Classes are almost over, and you’re already stressed about final exams, projects and papers. Take a little bit of time to appreciate all of your hard work. Step out of your room, close the door, count to three and walk back into your organized, clean room.

You’ll hopefully feel a sense of relief flood over you, and you’ll be able to lie down on your clean sheets, turn on your favorite show and take a nap.

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