News: Commencement speaker announced Page 4
Opinion: Pete Buttigieg shows hope as a presidential candidate Page 9
Sports: Football hosts annual spring game Page 11
Life: Pet Sematary lacks intrigue as a book-turned-movie Page 18
Old Gold&Black
WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 105, NO. 12
T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 11 , 2 019 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”
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New VP of Enrollment announced Eric Maguire was named as the first Vice President for Enrollment in a statement from President Hatch BY LILLIAN JOHNSON Editor-in-Chief johnlg16@wfu.edu Eric Maguire has been named Wake Forest’s first Vice President for Enrollment, President Hatch announced in a statement on Monday. Maguire currently serves as the vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., and has served in that role since 2015. The position at Wake Forest will take effect July 1 of this year. “[He is] is known for his success in recruiting highly talented undergraduates, prioritizing academic excellence and increasing socioeconomic, racial and ethnic diversity,” read the statement. The vice president for enrollment position will encompass the dean of admissions position, overseeing both the offices of admissions and financial aid.
See VP, Page 4 Photo courtesy of Associated Press Photo
When senior Jennifer Kupcho graduates, she will leave as one of the most decorated golfers to attend Wake Forest. On April 6, Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Kupcho wins Augusta National Senior Jennifer Kupcho placed first in the inaugural tournament that was held in Augusta, Ga. BY SAM WEXLER Sports Editor wexlsn17@wfu.edu On Saturday, April 6, senior Jennifer Kupcho became the first champion of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Just a few days prior, Kupcho hit the ceremonial first shot in the tournament as well. Kupcho, the ACC co-player of the month for March, is currently the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world and in the running for best athlete to ever come through Wake Forest. She currently has nine career wins — the school record is ten — and has three events left in her senior season. It is highly likely that Kupcho will leave Winston-Salem as the most decorated golfer to ever come through Wake Forest,
a high honor given to names like Arnold Palmer and Bill Haas in the program. The inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur hosted 72 of the top female amateurs in the world in golf-crazed Augusta, Ga. Rounds one and two were held at the Champions Retreat Golf Club. The field shrunk in size after each round, culminating in the final round on Saturday, April 6, at Augusta National. Ironically enough, Kupcho originally turned down the invitation to the event, given that the Wake Forest women’s golf team was supposed to have a tournament over the same weekend. After the tournament was canceled, a quick call to the tournament director got her back in the field, and look what it led to. After day one, Kupcho sat at 4-under 68. She was tied for the lead after the first round of the event with Zoe Campos and was the only player in the field of 72 to play the first round without a bogey. On day two, Kupcho continued her strong play, leading the
field after 36 holes. She shot a 1-under 71 during the second round to finish the day at 5-under, holding a one-shot lead. She entered the final round at Augusta National Golf Club with a one-shot lead over Maria Fassi, who sat at 4-under. On the final day, Kupcho posted a final round 67 to finish the historic tournament at 10-under par and became the first woman to win at Augusta National Golf Club. Her final six-hole stretch was arguably her best ever, playing holes Nos. 13 through 18 at 5-under par to erase a two-shot deficit. Kupcho played the best back nine the course has seen since 1986, when Jack Nicklaus finished played on the same six holes at 5-under par. Even more incredible is the fact that she did this while battling a bad migraine that impaired her vision for a handful of holes. Both her first tee shot and her eventual victory was a milestone for golf, for women and for young golfers everywhere looking for a role model.
See Deacons, Page 11
Faculty resolutions addressed The university administration presented multiple initiatives at the April faculty meeting BY OLIVIA FIELD News Editor fielor17@wfu.edu At the April 8 faculty meeting, the administration presented their response to the four anti-racism resolutions that were introduced by Wake Forward, a group of self-described progressive faculty. They were initially passed at the March 18 meeting. President Nathan Hatch, Dean Michelle Gillespie and Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Jose Villalba informed the faculty of four initiatives, including a “community conversation” with students, Dean of Admissions Martha Allman and Associate Dean of Admissions Kevin Pittard that will be held on April 17 at 5:30 p.m. in the ZSR Auditorium. In an email to the Old Gold & Black, Villalba explained that the forum is still being planned.
See Initiatives, Page 6
OGB
“ to Wake Forest's admitted students An open letter This column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board.
We also hope that every member of the Class of 2023 finds a niche on campus that speaks to them and helps them find a sense of belonging."
Last week, the Wake Forest Office of Admissions sent decision letters to applicants to the Class of 2023. To all admitted students, congratulations! Admission to a highly competitive institution such as Wake Forest is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. Prospective students have until May 1 to make a decision, so the Class of 2023 will soon be solidified. The Editorial Board of Old Gold & Black is hopeful that every new Demon Deacon will add richness to life at Wake Forest in a variety of ways. The cohort of admitted students is diverse — 33 percent are students of color, and they hail from 48 states.
6 percent are international students. The Editorial Board hopes that students from all backgrounds will bring a variety of cultural backgrounds and perspectives to the Wake Forest community dialogue. Furthermore, we encourage students who choose to come to Wake Forest to engage with the greater Winston-Salem community and pop the "Wake Forest bubble." Wake Forest has a number of campus groups and activities such as Campus Kitch-
Old Gold &Black
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSIT Y SINCE 1916 LILLIAN JOHNSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF johnlg16@wfu.edu
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en, Student Association for the Advancement of Refugees (SAFAR) and Every Campus a Refuge that allow students to interact with a variety of people in the Winston-Salem community. We also hope that every member of the Class of 2023 finds a niche on campus that speaks to them and helps them find a sense of belonging. Wake Forest is home to dozens of campus organizations for every interest, from club sports to community service to Greek life and everything in between. Try lots at the beginning, and see what sticks. It behooves the Editoral Board to be honest: the next four years will not be
easy. You will work hard, and sometimes your grades will disappoint you. All of you were very successful high school students, so challenges in college could be frustrating. But every experience will be formative, and you will learn more in the next four years, in and out of the classroom, than you ever had before. You will also have many wonderful professors who inspire you to do your very best work and could help you find your future life path. The challenges and frustrations alongside success will make you a better learner and citizen of the world. And you will love it — you have so much to look forward to.
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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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News | Old Gold & Black
BY CAROLINE WALKER Asst. News Editor walkct18@wfu.edu
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | Page 3
Deacon Profile: Libby Morris
Senior Libby Morris is the director of the Lilting Banshees, which is Wake Forest’s only sketch comedy troupe. It was founded in 1993 and provides comedic entertainment to Wake Forest's campus through shows held twice each semester during the school year. As director, Morris is in charge of overseeing the preparations for each comedy show and ensuring that the all of the skits run smoothly. This year, Morris accomplished her goal of increasing the popularity of the Lilting Banshees and selling out all of the comedy troupe's shows this year. As her most recent and final achievement during her time as director, Morris organized and planned the Lilting Banshees' last show of the 2019 spring semester on April 10. Why did you decide to become the director of the Lilting Banshees?
I was elected as director by the rest of the troupe. We elect every position through a democratic process. This troupe has been such a huge part of my life at Wake Forest, and being director this year has really rounded out my experience here.
Photo courtesy of Lilting Banshees
Pictured fifth from the left on the bottom row, senior Libby Morris is the director of the Lilting Banshees, Wake Forest's comedy group. They held a performance on Wednesday, April 10.
ing them. So by the end of the semester, we have about 70 sketches to choose from to put in the show. We then have a day about two weeks before the show called "War Room" where we decide what 12-15 sketches we want in our show. We then rehearse every As director, how did you view your leadership single day leading up to the show. Inspiration-wise, role and what goals did you envision for this year? I honestly couldn't tell you where some of the ideas come from. People just think of the most random things, and we figure out the best way to make funny My leadership role is basically to oversee everything sketches about them. and make sure operations were running smoothly. My goal was to sell out every show I directed this What do you believe is the most important asyear, and we achieved that. pect of the Lilting Banshees' contribution to camWhat is involved in preparing for the shows and where do you find inspiration for the skits?
pus life at Wake Forest?
What is your favorite part of working with the Lilting Banshees, and can you describe a particularly memorable moment or skit? My favorite part is honestly being up there on stage with some of my best friends at Wake Forest. The performances are such a rush, and they will remain some of my fondest memories from college. One of my favorite sketches I've ever been in was a spinoff of the traditional Adam and Eve story. I got to play Eve and my character ended up making this huge comment on women's rights. I love touching on political commentary in comedy.
What piece of advice would you give to the next I think the most important aspect we bring to cam- director? pus is that sense of relief from everyday life. When we We have three writing sessions a week, during get together, it's always fun and we're able to forget To the next director, I just say have fun with it! which troupe members pitch ideas. The assistant di- about schoolwork or other life stressors for the time There were plenty of times that I was really stressed rector and I will decide what sketches we write, and being. Hopefully, when people come to our shows, and forgot the whole reason why we make jokes — it's to have fun. we spend about 50 minutes in groups of three writ- they feel that too.
POLICE BEAT Miscellaneous
Larceny
• Offender removed unsecured items from the women's locker room • Victim reported being targeted by an email scam. The report was in Manchester Athletic Center. The report was filed on April 1 at 7:15 filed on April 1 at 3:35 p.m. • Melted container of chicken tenders caused a fire in Collins, and p.m. • Offender removed a gold chain from the women's locker room in the fire extinguisher was used to put the fire out. The report was filed Manchester Athletic Center. The report was filed on April 5 at 10:00 on April 4 at 3:15 a.m. a.m. • Offender removed a gold necklace and watch from the women's Underage Consumption/Intoxication locker room in Manchester Athletic Center. The report was filed on April 5 at 10:00 a.m. • Underage freshman was found intoxicated at an off-campus bar • Offender removed Apple earphones from the women's locker room and transported to WFUBMC for treatment. The report was filed on in Manchester Athletic Center. The report was filed on April 5 at April 5 at 12:18 a.m. 10:00 a.m.
Page 4 |Thursday, April 11, 2019
Old Gold & Black | News
VP: New administrative position created Continued from Page 1
“Hatch created the new … position to enhance the university’s ability to attract the best students by strategically aligning undergraduate admissions and financial aid functions,” the statement read. “In this role, Maguire will have broad responsibility for recruiting, admitting and enrolling undergraduate students.” As it was announced that Dean of Admissions Martha Allman would be transitioning into a new role in the Office of the Provost, a search committee for her replacement formed last fall. This committee launched the search for the vice president of enrollment and recommended Maguire for the role, said Cheryl Walker, director of Wake Forest News and Communications. The 12-member committee, co-chaired by Hatch and Provost Rogan Kersh, included Erica Still, associate dean for faculty recruitment and English professor; Jose Villalba, vice president for diversity and inclusion; and Penny Rue, vice president for campus life. Maguire said that he believes his previous experience as a vice president respon-
sible for admissions and financial aid will be useful in helping set the precedent for the position and what it represents here at Wake Forest. “By serving as a [vice president], the topic of enrollment will have a greater voice among the president’s cabinet, which could yield new insights and opportunities to further shape our student profile,” Maguire said in an email to the Old Gold & Black. “And while I suspect the offices of admission and financial aid work in a coordinated fashion, the unification of these offices under one division should enhance those intersections.” Maguire went on to note that when prospective students and families are looking for the “right fit” in the college search, the school doesn’t need to only be the right fit academically, extracurricularly and geographically, but also needs to be the right fit financially. Further aligning these offices will help to communicate the financial fit and help the university gain the necessary resources for a need-blind admission process, he said. “[Maguire] takes an innovative, student-centric and data-driven approach to admissions, which we are confident will
build upon our success in attracting outstanding students to Wake Forest,” said Hatch in the statement. “We fully expect he will bring an even greater diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, talents and experiences to our campus community.” The statement further speaks to Maguire’s past successes at both Franklin & Marshall and Ithaca College, where he served as the vice president of the office of enrollment and communication from 2009 to 2015. Prior to 2009, he had been at Franklin & Marshall in a variety of roles. According to the statement, under Maguire’s leadership, Franklin & Marshall achieved new goals for Pell and first-generation enrollment in addition to records for average SAT, international diversity and student of color representation. Under his leadership at Ithaca, the college increased the number of applications by more than 40 percent and the representation of first-year students from underrepresented applicant groups. This announcement and new position comes at a time when Wake Forest has been grappling with serious social issues, some particularly related to admissions. This includes calls for increased diversity, calls for the university to reckon with in-
stitutional racism and specific incidents of racism on campus and the alleged involvement of the volleyball coach in a national admissions scandal. Maguire said that these are notable and distinct challenges, but he feels that these are indicative that Wake Forest is ready for change. “The incidents of racial insensitivity and racism speak to the need for growth and greater understanding,” he said. “I have seen such growth as I worked to enhance diversity and support underrepresented students at both Ithaca and Franklin & Marshall Colleges. Neither campus is perfect in its maturation, but both have made important strides toward greater inclusivity and richness of perspective. It appears that Wake Forest is poised for such change, and I hope to contribute in meaningful ways to that effort.” He also said that once he arrives on campus, he will work with the incoming athletic director John Currie to continue the internal review regarding the admission scandal. “For all of Wake Forest’s notable success, I see an institution teeming with opportunity,” Maguire said to the Old Gold & Black. “It is that opportunity, combined with some incredible colleagues, that I am most looking forward to.”
2019 Commencement speaker announced
Fred J. Ryan Jr., publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, will be the 2019 commencement speaker BY LIAT KLOPOUH Staff Writer klopla18@wfu.edu
The university announced that Fred J. Ryan, Jr., publisher and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Washington Post, will deliver Wake Forest’s commencement address on Monday, May 20. The commencement ceremony will take place on Hearn Plaza at 9 a.m. During his time at The Washington Post, the newspaper has been recognized for excellence in journalism with multiple Pulitzer Prizes and was twice named by Fast Company Magazine as the “World’s Most Innovative Media Company.” Until August 2014, he served as president and CEO of Politico, which he cofounded in 2007. Before his career in journalism, Ryan served on the White House staff from 1982 until 1989. He was also assistant to the President of the United States, one of the youngest people ever to serve in such a position. He further served on the 1984 Reagan/Bush re-election team. Ryan also served as director of the White
House Private Sector Initiatives program, where he was the President’s liaison to the American and international business communities. Senior Robyn Adelkopf commented on the information that can be gained from his speech. “As we get ready to move out into the real world, I think he will have a lot of great insight, not only because of his current position with The Washington Post, but also from his previous experiences in the White House,” Adelkopf said. President Nathan Hatch also highlighted Ryan’s character in a press release announcing the speaker. “A major innovator in digital communications both at Politico and The Washington Post, Ryan is an outspoken advocate for the free press both at home and abroad.” Hatch said. “In the aftermath of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, he has repeatedly challenged world leaders to recognize that threats against journalists are threats against freedom. We are honored to have him deliver our commencement address.” Senior Chloe Ring echoed a similar excitement to Adelkopf. “I am looking forward to hearing him speak and give the senior class insight on how to apply our education at Wake Forest to our next stage of life,” Ring said.
Ryan is the editor of Ronald Reagan: The Wisdom and Humor of The Great Communicator and Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator. He was executive producer of the highly acclaimed video of the Reagan presidency, entitled “The Reagan Years.” “I have not heard much about him [but] as I looked into more information on him, I found he has a lot of experience in a variety of different areas. I am excited to see how he integrates that into the commencement speech,” said senior Trenor Philibin. Also joining Wake Forest for the commencement weekend will be baccalaureate speaker Gary Haugen, CEO and founder of International Justice Mission (IJM) — a global organization that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world. Haugen has been recognized by the U.S. State Department as a Trafficking in Persons “Hero” — the highest honor given by the U.S. government for anti-slavery leadership. His work to protect the poor from violence has been featured by Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, the New Yorker, The Times of India, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, the Guardian and National Public Radio, among many other outlets. “Haugen’s fight against human trafficking is based on his conviction that
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University
Fred Ryan is the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post. compassion can alleviate the suffering of the world’s poorest people,” said Hatch in the press release. “As our graduates prepare to go out into the world, his work offers an inspiring example of Pro Humanitate in action. We look forward to hearing his baccalaureate address to the graduates.” He is the author of several books, including Good News About Injustice and, most recently, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence.
News | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 11, 2019 |Page 5
Class of 2023 admitted to Wake Forest
The Office of Admissions just released admissions decisions to 12,500 applicants to the potential Class of 2023. As the admitted class takes shape, here is a look back at historical admissions statistics. BY AMANDA WILCOX Online Managing Editor wilcaf16@wfu.edu
Admissions, First-Time Freshmen, Fall 2008-2017
First-Year Freshmen Ethnic Enrollment, Fall 2017
Amanda Wilcox/Old Gold & Black
Amanda Wilcox/Old Gold & Black
According to Dean of Admissions Martha Allman, 29 percent of applicants were admitted for a target class size of 1,373. 44 percent were admitted early decision and 33 percent are students of color. These numbers are consistent with previous years’ cohorts. High School Rank of Entering Freshmen, 2013-2017
Admissions from North Carolina & Other States, Fall 2013-2017
Amanda Wilcox/Old Gold & Black
Amanda Wilcox/Old Gold & Black
Wake Forest traditionally draws large numbers of high-performing students, including many from North Carolina. The admitted class also represents 48 states, with the exceptions of Montana and North Dakota. Six percent of the admitted class are international students.
OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE
Astronomers capture first-ever European Union agree to de- Parents face new charges in image of a black hole in space lay Brexit until October 2019 the college admissions scandal
On Wednesday, astronomers announced that they captured a picture of a black hole, one of the most mysterious entities in space. The hole is so deep and dense that not even light can escape it. According to the Event Horizon Telescope Team, a black hole weighs 6.5 billion times more than the sun weighs. Black holes were previously thought to be invisible and certainly not able to be captured by modern photography. The hole is located in the heart of the galaxy Messier 78, some 55 million light years away from Earth. The clarity of the photo confirmed the disturbing reality that black holes do exist and supports Albert Einstein’s theories of general relativity.
After two years of Brexit negotiations, the United Kingdom was set to have to leave the EU on March 29. However, after Parliament failed to back the deal, the government asked for a short delay until April 12 in order to get support for an alternative Brexit strategy. The failed attempt to gain support has resulted in a delay until Oct. 31. However, if Britain is able to overcome the internal difference in opinion on this issue, Brexit may happen before Oct. 31. Just two days before Britain was due to leave the EU, its leaders spent a long dinner meeting debating over the issue. A disorderly Brexit would hurt EU nations, as well as Britain.
Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli are two of 16 parents charged for money laundering in the college admissions scandal. Loughlin and Giannulli were also indicted on a count of conspiracy to commit fraud. These charges raise the legal stakes for parents who have not yet said whether or not they will plead guilty in the case. The question still remains of whether or not the parents will serve jail time. It is almost certain that William Singer, the engineer of the operation who has already pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges, will serve time in prison. However, federal prosecutors say that intense publicity around the case could create pressure for judges to give prison time to those accused.
Old Gold & Black | News
Page 6 | Thursday, April 11, 2019
Initiatives: Wake Forward resolutions addressed
Continued from Page 1
“This community conversation is salient for a few reasons. First, it will serve as a chance to reflect on a semester that has been challenging on many fronts to various members of our community,” Villalba said. “Second, it is intended to center the concerns and requests of those students most impacted by racial, cultural and socioeconomic disparities on our campus. And, third, it will provide students and administrators a space for shared dialogue around the plans for next year … to address our challenges in fostering a more inclusive campus community and experience.” According to an email sent to Wake Forward members, Hatch and Villalba also introduced three long-term plans for addressing the requests included in the resolutions. While outlining their support for the Anti-Racism Coalition’s demands, the second resolution called attention to the bias-reporting system’s lack of transparency. In response, one of the initiatives Hatch introduced is a committee that will review the bias report system and investigate the ability for a “zero-tolerance for white supremacy” policy to be adopted. Headed by Matthew Clifford, interim
dean of Residence Life and Housing, and Tanya Jachimiak, Title IX coordinator, the committee is still developing in terms of “scope and goals,” according to Clifford. “While we have not finalized the composition of the committee, it is critically important that students and faculty are well-represented on the group,” Clifford said. Another goal set by Hatch during the meeting is the delegation of more resources to the Provost Office’s Histories of Wake Forest initiative, which aims to address and investigate enslaved labor connected to the university. Hatch also mentioned that the initiative will consider the renaming of campus buildings, as first requested by the Anti-Racism Coalition. The final plan introduced was the establishment of a President’s Commission on Inclusion. The group will begin meeting next year and discuss “the issue of diversity action plans,” according to the Wake Forward email. Villalba explained that the body will be based off of the other two President’s Commissions, the LGBTQ Affairs Commission from 2013 and the First Year Experience Commission from 2018.
“Logistics around the charge, membership, and aim of the Commission are currently underway,” Villalba said. “Right now it is difficult to say what it will look like; however, students, faculty, staff and members of our internal and external community will have an opportunity to participate.” In emails to the Old Gold & Black, multiple faculty members who worked to craft the four resolutions shared their responses to the initiatives proposed by the administration. “Monday’s meeting shows that student and faculty anti-racism efforts have grabbed the attention of the university’s leaders, and there may be some initial signs of movement on what we have been calling for,” said T.H.M Gellar-Goad, a member of Wake Forward and an assistant professor in the department of classics. “Anti-racist faculty members of Wake Forward have contacted university leaders to request that we be part of the various commissions and task forces and committees charged with addressing different components of the situation, and we will continue our advocacy and our organizing efforts through the spring and into the summer and fall.” Gellar-Goad also emphasized his desire for the university to provide more details
and specific information regarding their plans, and the need for the university to centralize the “perspectives ... of student and faculty anti-racists.” Michaelle Browers, a member of Wake Forward and professor in the department of politics and international affairs, also called on the university to clarify the role of these initiatives. “Two things I hope the administrators at the faculty meeting heard are: first, the need to make the administration’s work more transparent and better publicized and, second, the desire of so many faculty to play a more substantive role in the work yet to be done,” Browers said. Kristina Gupta, a member of Wake Forward and assistant professor in the department of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, highlighted the incongruities between the resolution’s requests and the administration’s response. “I was disappointed by the administration’s decision to use the language of ‘inclusion’ as opposed to ‘truth and reconciliation’,” Gupta said. “The language of ‘inclusion,’ as well as the language of ‘diversity,’ suggests that we simply need to accommodate individual and group ‘differences,’ when in fact what we need to do is address historical and present configurations of systemic injustice, including white supremacy.”
Smithsonian hosts four unique WFU exhibits Universities showcase innovative projects and programs as part of second annual ACCelerate Festival BY ELIZABETH MALINE Asst. News Editor malied17@wfu.edu The second “ACCelerate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Innovation Festival” featured four unique exhibitions presented by Wake Forest students and faculty. Wake Forest was just one of 15 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member schools represented, which gave students and faculty the opportunity to present their work to the other ACC member institutions and to the public. The festival was held on April 5-7 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. It was sponsored by the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. The three-day festival provided visitors the opportunity to engage with state-ofthe-art technologies that use art, science and the humanities to address global challenges. Saving the Planet, One Tropical Ecosystem at a Time One of the four exhibitions showcased a summer study abroad experience Wake Forest offers in Peru. Biology professor Miles Silman and journalism professor Justin Catanoso teamed up to teach a four-week course titled “Tropical Biodiversity and Science Writing,” which focuses on environmental conservation in the Peruvian Amazon.
Every Campus A Refuge The third exhibit featured Wake Forest’s Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR) chapter. Professors Michaelle Browers and Alessandra Von Burg co-founded the chapter in 2017 after learning about the Guilford College chapter. Every couple of months, the university chooses a new refugee family to live in the ECAR house off-campus. Wake Forest students then volunteer to help the families adjust to their new living situation. “We decided to apply to the festival not only to showcase the work we do, but also to persuade other universities to do it too,” said Von Burg. The two professors were joined in WashPhoto courtesy of Wake Forest News ington by five students from the Student Members of the Gamelan Giri Murti percussion and dance Association for the Advancement of Refuensemble sit beside instruments native to Indonesian culture. gees (SAFAR). “We debated on many topics, ranging Silman and Catanoso were joined in “It was great to see how engaged and Washington by four students who attend- from whether we should all be vegetarian how passionate the students are,” Von ed the program. to save the environment to whether voting “It was wonderful to have tens of thou- should be mandatory,” said Debate Team Burg said. The exhibition featured several interacsands of people from the public come member and sophomore Ruby Klein. tive tools so visitors could see the path refthrough the exhibit and actually care to Four undergraduate debaters participat- ugees took to get to the United States and hear about our story,” junior Ellie Bruged, as well as three graduate students, who gen said. what obstacles they faced. Visitors were also serve as Wake Debate coaches. The exhibit focused on conveying the Klein said that the opportunity to rep- also able to fill suitcases with messages for importance of environmental protection, the refugee families. global warming and tropical forests to the resent Wake Forest at the ACC Festival “It felt great to be able to stand there public. was “truly a privilege.” and say as Wake forest University, we wel“I think that we provided a unique While many of the other exhibitions come refugees,” said Von Burg. window into creativity and innovation at present science-based projects, this one Wake Forest,” she said. shared the team’s love for dialogue and Gamelan Giri Murti Performance public speaking. Spontaneous Debates The Wake Forest Balinese percussion “The trip was certainly a highlight for The highly successful Wake Forest Deand dance ensemble also performed at the bate Team debated each other and the me on Wake Debate; it is rare that we get festival. They played the gamelan, a tradito share our esoteric activity with people public in brief five-minute sessions, distional Indonesian instrument, along with outside of it, and the ACC Festival was a cussing the nuances of various topics, from the Smithsonian’s opening to its wonderful opportunity to showcase what gongs, keyed percussion instruments, closing. it is that we love about debate,” Klein said. drums and flutes.
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"Sawstainability" in action at Wake Forest A sustainable wood initiative on campus is saving both trees and money BY BENNY BAGNELL Contributing Writer bagnbt14@wfu.edu Wake Forest, by the very nature of its name, has a certain arboreal identity. Trees are becoming more of a revered commodity both within and beyond Wake Forest’s ivied walls, so finding innovative ways to maximize the value of tree-based products on campus is increasingly important. “That tree that came down, it’s going to stand a long time, just in a different form,” said Frank Shelton, director of housing in the Office of Residence Life & Housing. A joint effort between Shelton’s office and Facilities & Campus Services to repurpose and reuse old furniture and reclaimed wood on campus, cleverly nicknamed the “Sawstainability” initiative, has been a point of pride for both departments. Since 2012, around 2,100 wooden bed frames have been removed and replaced in residence halls across campus. Of those, nearly 40 percent have been kept and repurposed, while the remaining 60 percent have gone to foundations like Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity. “We have yet to put the first piece of wood [from old furniture] into a landfill,” said Shelton. Landfills have typically been a common grave for wood materials of all
kinds. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that landfills received around 11.1 million tons of wood in 2015, which was about 8 percent of all material solid waste sent to landfills that year. Manufacturers, consumers, companies and schools across the country are committing to “upcycling” efforts to keep reusable materials out of landfills. Designer William McDonough played an integral role in popularizing the idea of upcycling with his 2002 book “Cradle to Cradle.” Upcycling involves recycling and reusing components of a product, giving them a new purpose and effectively reducing waste. Saving the old wood from rotting away in landfills is not just a sustainability play. By donating much of the wood that the construction team cannot repurpose, the school saves a sizeable chunk of change in transportation costs and assorted dumping fees. “It costs about $37 per ton to dump anything in a landfill,” said Shelton, “and it’s even more to move it out of a building, put it in a truck and haul it away to dispose of it. Through partnerships with some local non-profits, we let them take it away so the school doesn’t have to pay for anything.” A case study conducted by the two departments determined that the upcycling efforts have saved about $145,000 for the university since 2012. So what becomes of the furniture that can be repurposed? J.L. Bolt, the university’s general construction superintendent, is the mastermind behind transforming old bed frames into something entirely new. “He’s sort of a wood guru,” said Zach Blackmon, assistant director of Opera-
tions in Residence Life & Housing. “He and his team take all the materials and turn them into some really cool things.” The “Sawstainability” plan was born from a need to get rid of a growing pile of old bed frames stacked idly in a warehouse, as well as to find a use for numerous trees that were removed from campus when construction began on Dogwood and Magnolia residence halls in 2012. Fortunately, a lot of students were falling out of their beds. “We had a lot of requests for guardrails for lofted beds, but they cost $75 apiece,” said Shelton. “We had the carpenters take some of the old wood and have a go at it, and they ended up making them for about $12.” Encouraged by the sustainable and fiscal benefits that the guardrails bore, they began making wooden frames for white boards, mirrors, cork boards and sandwich boards for event listings in residence halls and classrooms across campus. Bolt and his team finished these jobs then began crafting benches, chairs, desks and tables that can be found scattered across campus. “You can always tell by that lighter color you see in some wood furniture outdoors,” said Blackmon. Shelton is quick to point out that his office isn’t a one-trick pony when it comes to sustainability efforts. Beyond repurposing old furniture, his office has overseen a number of sustainabilitydriven changes to residence halls both old and new. Among these initiatives are upgrading lighting systems to motionsensing LED lighting and replacing wasteful C-fold paper towels with rolled paper towel dispensers.
Wake Forest students appear to be generally aware of these more high-profile improvements, but many don’t consider the source of the wood they sit on, let alone the significance of its journey to its current form. “I guess it’s neat that they give things a second life,” said junior Monnica Rodriguez as she relaxed on an upcycled-material bench near Scales Fine Arts Center. "But how much of a difference does it really make?” “Part of our mission is not only to provide housing, but to educate and we do that through ways that aren’t always intentional or obvious, but they’re there," said Shelton. Since 2012, Wake Forest has purchased about 1 million pounds of wood. Shelton recognizes that figure is imposing, but reaffirms his commitment to squeezing every ounce of value out of the lumber on campus. “We have all this wood,” he said. “What else are we going to do with it?”
Benny Bagnell/Old Gold & Black
An upcycled bench found on campus, created entirely from reused wood.
CRISPR technology grows despite concerns
Learn about the increasing use of CRISPR — and its ethical ramifications BY EMMA RICKARD Staff Writer rickee18@wfu.edu
Genetics has been a rapidly advancing field since 2003, when the Human Genome Project was completed. It has grown into one of the most well-funded and well-researched areas of science in recent years due to its widespread application in the fields of medicine, agriculture, environmental conservation and more. These advancements led to the discovery of an astounding biotechnology, CRISPR-Cas9, which has provided molecular biologists with a new tool for gene editing that can be applied to the genome of nearly every organism, including humans. CRISPR-Cas9 was discovered in bacteria as a defense against viruses. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced
Palindromic Repeats. When a virus attacks an organism, it hijacks cells and forces them to create viruses until the cells burst, and then those viruses repeat the process until the organism kills the virus. When studying bacteria, scientists found strange repeats in most bacteria’s DNA and discovered that they were pieces of DNA incorporated into the bacteria’s genome from viruses that had attacked the bacteria previously. The CRISPR repeats help bacteria recognize viruses. If the virus attacks again, the bacteria provides an endonuclease, a cutting enzyme known as Cas9, with an RNA template from their DNA of what the virus genome looks like. The Cas9 enzyme then moves throughout the nucleus until it finds the virus matching the template. The Cas9 endonuclease then cuts the virus genome which protects the organism. However, scientists saw a different potential for the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Molecular biologists quickly recognized the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 to be used
as a genetic editing tool in the genome of any organism. By creating a piece of RNA matching a gene to guide the Cas9, it could easily be sent to remove any undesirable gene from an organism’s genome with little error. In fact, it does not just remove genes, it can also replace them with desirable genes. Gene editing before the discovery of CRISPR was much less precise and required a deactivated virus to be a vessel for carrying desirable genes. This is the process used to create genetically modified crops (GMOs) and used in gene therapy treatments. However, since CRISPR technology doesn’t have to use a pathogen as a vessel to edit genes, it does not have to be labeled as a GMO and can be a much more effective form of gene therapy. A growing number of foods are utilizing CRISPR in order to be cheaper and healthier, and if CRISPR can be used to delete genetic mutations in humans effectively, gene therapy will become a much more effective and common treatment of genetic disease.
Despite excitement in the scientific community regarding the potential advantages of CRISPR, there is also hesitation. Editing genes raises a plethora of concerns. Should we try to save species on the verge of extinction? What consequences could eradicating certain diseases cause? When is it ethical to alter a human’s genome? CRISPR provides a way to edit human genes, which gives scientists the ability to alter embryos. In 2018, a Chinese scientist claimed that he had created the first CRISPR gene-edited babies. He was met with global backlash, and the situation caused many countries to ban use of CRISPR on embryos. However, the ordeal made the ethical concerns of gene editing a reality and has forced scientists to face the facts regarding just how much power they now have over genomes. Regardless of the concerns, for the most part, CRISPR-Cas9 is viewed as a modern miracle of science. CRISPR-Cas9 technology has provided amazing advancements in agriculture and medicine and is an exciting new discovery.
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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
“ Literature remains the highest form of art Artistic Experience
The unique expressive medium of literature cements its artistic longevity and memorial value
Kyle Ferrer
Staff Columnist ferrka16@wfu.edu I’ve long thought, yet never tried to explain in depth, why I think literature, meaning the words on the page, constructed and organized at some length, is the highest form of art. There are, of course, many forms of art: film, music, painting, podcasts. The category continues to expand. And although nearly every writer ever has proclaimed that writing aspires to the qualities of music (and I would tend to agree), words themselves have a certain quality that plants them in a deeper part of my mind than even the most memorable tune. They tend to simply exist in another memorial dimension. Tolstoy said “music is the shorthand of emotion,” and he is right. Music exists outside language. It skips the degrees-removed germane
The instantaneous emotional resonance of a song will always supercede the eventual emotional reaction to words composed in its likeness.” to linguistic or imagistic articulation. The instantaneous emotional resonance of a song will always supersede the eventual emotional reaction to words composed in its likeness. Yet I would argue that cogitation itself, the interpretive move made between the words and the spirit, sears the verbal-notational structure more completely. If a song immediately grabs our bushel of nerves and sets them all on fire, literature slowly lights the extremities, eventually ending in a blaze perhaps not as momentous, but more memorable because of its upbuilding instances along the way. The meander of a sentence — chopped by a series, linked through commas, butting up against semi-colons — draws out the emotional payoff through a unique tracking. As each word constructs a fuller picture, a sensational gestalt emerges, and although the same could be said for a crescendo, the granularity of words themselves, which individually contain a universe of potentialities, causes the mind to
process their import at a slower rate. The bane of literature is the banality imposed by articulation; yet this banality itself, and the writer’s ability to transcend it, generates a distinctly memorable impression. It is the impression of rhythm enhanced by the feat of animate language. The achievement of literature comes from its beating back of language’s limitations to produce musical feeling, in an effort to forge a non-native sentiment, to make of worldly invention otherworldly feeling. The apprehension of the artist’s endeavor, the making fluid of something rigid, manifests in the reader as assiduous attention and detailed memory. This in no way diminishes the work done by musicians, painters, etc. Van Gogh, a tuning fork for eternity, defies this world, transcends almost everything known to man and cannot be escaped. But since the human mode is defined by its parameters, one of them being the limitation of speech, literature serves as an existentially referential and intimately human degree of expression. Maybe it is not so much literature’s innate qualities as it is our human predictability that something using language, our own invention, appeals so deeply to us. Literature may simply be the highest form of flattery, not art — the injec-
tion of language with a musical heart, the created used to manipulate the creator. Yet the difficulty of accomplishing such a feat classifies it as something above the mundane, defying the fundamental matrix of human experience. It is inextricably bound to our ancient, desperate attempt to concretize our instinct, and therefore its achievement adheres, in perhaps the most detail, inside the mind. In using the human to transcend it, literature assumes a sort of divinity. Literature, precisely because of its artifice, reaches; music, existing in nature, older than humans themselves, does not have to slog through the rigid structure of language. It exists purely in the realm of the spirit. Music is more inextricable than language from the human experience. It pre-dated it. So, music remains closer to our emotional switchboard. It is capable of whispering in our ears as a slave whispers into the ear of his emperor, reminding him of his mortality and the power of the gods. Music dictates our emotional fate. But, as we have discovered, we can kill our gods, and literature, through its distinctly human discourse, shows us how. It enters freely into the beast that wrought it, breaking things and re-building them. But the difference, sometimes, is that it never leaves.
Tote bags, coffee mugs, textbooks and posters will never cease reproducing famous artworks and probably will never begin a practice of accompanying such reproductions with context or language about the art at hand. Insofar as an engagement with art requires a certain vocabulary or knowledge of art history — which many would justly argue it does not — those enculturated to associate the word “art” with the word “Picasso” will be left without an understanding of what the two words have to do with each other or why one became synonymous with the other. Such a phenomenon of artistic decontextualization reinforces the “what does it mean” framework of artistic examination which many instinctually employ in art galleries. Asking such a question of a painting all to often results in a defeated “I don’t get it.” Art is not a puzzle to be solved, nor are there rigidly coded guidelines for what makes some art worth wall-space in the Louvre and some art worth wall-space at a local coffee shop. However, experience with artistic modes of thought can advantage a museum-goer and enrich their experience. Knowing that a response as simple as “the first thing I
think of is the whirls on a fingerprint” is a strong engagement with van Gogh’s “Starry Night” enables a museum goer to personally experience art in a self-validating way. From such an observation, context such as “post-impressionism” and biographic detail can inform a more detailed analysis of the works context in the narrative of art history and the significance of its fame. The ahistorical, decontextualized mass-reproductions of certain artworks that ubiquitizes European masterpieces likewise obscures the qualities which make art meaningful and undermines one’s capacity to construct a meaningful dialogue about the experience of viewing art. Perhaps expanding — rather than diminishing — funding for the arts in early education would enable students to create informed, personal connections to the likes of van Gogh and da Vinci and allow people to extend their growing art vocabulary to other pieces. Dampening the obsessive reproduction of some ubiquitous masterworks might not be feasable, but at least including context or critical reception wherever possible would facilitate an engagement deeper than surface level.
“ of masterworks limits the viewer Mass reproductions Social Praxis
A lack of context or knowledge associated with art reproduction dimishes experience
Jack Portman
Staff Columnist porttjt17@wfu.edu There are a variety of artistic images which are so ubiquitously reproduced, reimagined and reconstituted that they form a vernacular of artistic recognition among the droves of Americans who otherwise know little about art. Pieces such as Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Michelangelo’s David and Edvard Munich’s “The Scream” are such masterpieces, so frequently mass-produced in textbooks, clothing, paraphernalia and media that the imagery permeates collective understandings of art and subsequently comes to define it. That these images are encoded as pinnacles of art, masterpieces which stand for the whole swath of creative mediums, reflects a Eurocentric, patriarchal art establishment. Ad-
Experience with artistic modes of thought can advantage a museum-goer and enrich their experience.” ditionally, the process of enculturation which sees to the pervasiveness of these masterpieces too often fails to include the necessary political, cultural and biographical context in which the art is situated. As a result, the art is surmised to be mysterious and undecipherable. Without the advantage of a background in art history, the value of “Starry Night” is unclear, and the significance of “Mona Lisa” is unintelligibly comical. The commonly vacuous understandings of these pieces lends a mysticism to the entirety of art. If art’s figureheads are apparently shrouded in misunderstanding, many will be disinclined to pursue the intersubjective dialogues and cultural criticisms art offers. Seemingly, the intense mass-reproduction of a small selection of masterpieces decontextualizes art from the language and context which enables artistic engagement; however, imagery, given the nature of its medium, seems doomed to this sort of dissociative propagation.
Opinion | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | Page 9
“ potential as presidential hopeful Buttigieg shows 2020
In a crowded Democratic field, Pete Buttigieg is making sensible noise out of nowhere
Amanda Wilcox Staff Columnist wilcaf16@wfu.edu
An early straw poll of liberal voters conducted by the progressive political action committee MoveOn in December showed a decisive front-runner in the 2020 Democratic presidential contest: “someone else.” A plurality of respondents — 29 percent — either said they did not yet know whom they would support or wanted someone else not listed among the group's more than 30 potential candidate choices. Lately, I have grown increasingly intrigued that one certain candidate could become that “someone else.” His name is Pete Buttigieg, and he is the 37-year-old, openly gay mayor of South Bend, Ind. Sounds like a long shot, I know, but we would all be well-advised to practice pronouncing his name (“Boot-edgeedge,” say it fast!). Over the course of a few months, he has undergone a metamorphosis from underdog to serious challenger. There’s one big question Buttigieg’s campaign will have to answer again and again in the coming months. Why is the young mayor of a mid-sized Midwestern city running for
When Democrats vote next year, they will choose a policy alternative to Trump, but they will also make a statement about what kind of country they want the United States to be." president? Admittedly, South Bend is not a traditional launching pad to the Oval Office, but don’t sell his credentials short. Elected at the ripe old age of 29, he has eight years of elected executive experience under his belt — more than Donald Trump, obviously, and more than Vice President and former Indiana Governor Mike Pence. He is also a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve and took seven months leave from his mayoral term to perform counterterrorism work in Afghanistan. When he left office, Barack Obama named him one of four Democrats who best represented the future of the party. Along with longer-than-long-shot Rep. Tim Ryan, he is one of just two candidates so far hailing from the six Midwestern states won by Obama but lost by Hillary Clinton: Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. So, not surprisingly, the concept that someone from the industrial Midwest could address the Democratic Party’s failures to connect with voters from that part of the United States is central to Buttigieg’s candidacy. In a 2016 Medium post entitled “A letter from flyover country,” he noted that he won 80 percent of the vote in a Rust Belt city in a county that would later split its vote evenly between Clinton and Trump. That was immediately after he publicly came out as gay in an op-ed to the South Bend Tribune in a deep-red
state largely supportive of Pence’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And as the mayor of a city that suffered and declined steeply in the aftermath of deindustrialization (the departure of defunct car manufacturer Studebaker), Buttigieg is exceptionally attuned to a segment of the country that still feels forgotten. At the same time, he doesn’t dwell on the stagnation of today’s Midwest by yearning nostalgically for yesteryear. “At home, I ran and won, twice, by telling my blue-collar community that Studebaker was never going to come back and make cars in our city, and that it was all right, because there is a way forward,” he said in “A letter from flyover country.” “Now Democrats need to absorb the fact that winning the popular vote is not enough, see that the future trends of the electoral map alone will not save us, and know that it’s all right, because there is a way forward.” His policies also check all the right boxes as a liberal Democrat — he supports the Green New Deal, single-payer healthcare, statehood for Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, abolition of the Electoral College and restructuring of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Buttigieg campaign is currently still in its exploratory stages, but after he launches his formal campaign, we can expect to see more in the way of hashed-out, wonky policy descriptions. It’s evident that Buttigieg has connected with some sectors of the Democratic electorate. In a recent poll of likely voters in the Iowa caucus, the first primary contest in an unforgivingly long campaign cycle, Buttigieg surged to third place, eclipsing heavyweight candidates such as
Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California. He has raised $7 million since January, obliterating grassroots donation thresholds to qualify for the first Democratic primary debate in June. And his memoir, Shortest Way Home, has leapt to 25th place on The New York Times’ bestseller list. (Side note: I have been waiting to check out Shortest Way Home from the ZSR Library for many days. If it is in your possession, I implore you to return it with expediency, and for the ZSR to acquire more copies.) When Democrats vote next year, they certainly will choose a policy alternative to Trump, but they will also make a statement about what kind of country they want the United States to be. As a voter, I know the harm the Trump administration has inflicted upon our country will require years of damage control. It might be tempting to fight fire with fire and elect an angry revolutionary, but in all likelihood, a fire-and-brimstone candidate that gets us riled up at rallies would not have the policy chops and technocratic skills necessary to make real, tangible progress. Buttigieg seems like he stands a real chance of both connecting with the electorate and succeeding at the hard, thankless work of policymaking and governing. It’s Day 812 of the Trump administration. I’m sick and tired of the melodrama, flagrant lies, media circus and vicious rhetorical war. All Buttigieg represents — intelligence, insight, self-effacing modesty — is the antithesis of Trump. I’m ready to give him a chance to earn my vote.
in the world economy. We’ve been a predatorial power for years, starting with southern cotton exports in the 1800s. This is just another classic case of Republicans taking the side of corporations to make America seem wealthy from the outside. “Made in America” means nothing. What means something is our peaceful cooperation with nations like China. Even if we did decide to set a tariff, the World Trade Organization wouldn’t let it happen. They would impose sanctions on the United States and other nations would tariff American imports, crippling our producers. If we want to beat China, we should find our own comparative advantages and use them. This is much more effective than just asking China to pump the breaks. Trump’s tariffs won’t help anything, except for his ego. Okay, now time to be conservative: There is a trade war. A big one, and we’re losing it. China has been subsidizing their manufacturers for decades making it monumentally cheap for them to produce goods like plastic, steel, textiles, etc. Why does this matter? Because when your production cost drops beneath the world cost you can export merchandise at an ungodly low expense, forcing international producers to buy your products. This allows them to take serious advantage of their biggest trade partners, aka the United States. That’s right. If we charge 100% of China’s tax on our imports is this a tariff? Or is it simply leveling out the competition? They’ve been abusing us for a long time. As Americans, we should look after only one kind of producer: the American producer.
The fact that the WTO allows China to exploit us and drop the international price is an example of fantastic neglect and corruption. We’re not asking for a hegemonic advantage on the world, no. We’re asking for equal competition. American producers run our economy and therefore deserve priority from our government. All Trump is doing with these tariffs is putting the American economy first — something that our last three presidents haven’t done. I say we take it to the WTO and propose that we be allowed to do the same thing to China as they do to us. This means taxing their imports and thus reducing the burden on our producers. This should continue until China steps up and stops cheating. Since our capitalist values prevent us from owning and entrapping our businesses (unlike China), we’re forced to compete in the world market in an honest manner. Instead of cheating like China does (or letting them bully us), we should continue to compete honestly and pressure China to do the same. Right now, we don’t charge nearly as much on Chinese imports as they do on American imports. This is the nature of the trade war., the war that we’re losing so terribly. These are the two basic viewpoints on the issue. If you would like to develop a more in-depth understanding of it, I suggest that you perform some well rounded research. Read Fox News and CNN, then read something more moderate. Conquer both sides. We need to be informed on this dilemma because it’s economic — in other words, it actually matters. I gave you my two cents. Now create your own.
“ arguments on tariffs both make sense Liberal and conservative Economic Policy
The economic consequences of tariff imposition are important to consider from both sides
John Manos
Staff Columnist manojd18@wfu.edu Why won’t President Trump shut up about China? What is a tariff? Are we in a trade war? In the light of the upcoming election, these questions carry a lot of weight. In order to answer them on the most elementary level, I will put on two masks: one of an extremely leftist Democrat and one of a very conservative capitalist. You can decide who makes the better argument. First of all, for those with a surface-level understanding, a tariff is essentially a tax on imported goods. The purpose of it is to encourage domestic production, which gives business to American firms. Sounds great right? However, this can increase the prices of goods domestic consumers buy. So, as a politician, how do you make sure that your producers are well-off, but not smothering your consumers? It’s really a balance, and there’s no perfect solution. However, it is no secret that the United States is in a trade dilemma with China (among others) that is hurting our producers. Tariffs seem to be Trump’s solution. In 2004, George Bush proposed Japanese steel tariffs to increase producer surplus among industrial
So, as a politician, how do you make sure that your producers are well-off, but not smothering your consumers?" states like Ohio and Pennsylvania (which gathered him a lot of support). The World Trade Organization (WTO) promised to punish America for this. However, once Bush received his votes and won the election, he canceled the tariff imposition. As a sneaky political strategy, we must not forget the negotiating power that import taxes also hold. Now let me be a leftist: We aren’t in a trade war … yet. If Trump keeps antagonizing China with his oversized confidence and taunting about their “abuse” of our producers, he will spark a conflict that we cannot win. Some nations have something called a comparative advantage, where it is cheaper to produce a certain good for one country than most others. China has this advantage in almost everything. Instead of accepting our true economic responsibility, we Americans get offended when anybody does anything better than us. By imposing a tariff on China, Trump won’t help America. He’ll just make it easier for big businesses to abuse American buyers by forcing them to buy their goods. It’s not like American businesses don’t already bully American buyers. Ever heard of Walmart? Or Best Buy? Or any fast food chain on the planet (almost all are American). It’s absurd to act like America is the victim
Opinion | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | Page 10
“ Martha Allman is part of a systemic issue but can help solve it Letter to the Editor
Some have expressed concern that Martha Allman is being unfairly targeted by anti-racist efforts. This concern has some validity — white supremacy is a system and no one individual bears or should be made to bear the responsibility for that system. According to critical race scholar David Gillborn, white supremacy is a “political, economic and cultural system in which whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources, conscious and unconscious ideas of white superiority and entitlement are widespread and relations of white dominance and non-white subordination are daily reenacted across a broad array of institutions and social settings.” At Wake Forest, white supremacy is a part of our history and present. In the past, Wake Forest benefited from enslaved labor and from the sale of enslaved persons. The university resisted racial integration until 1962. In her letter to the Old Gold & Black editor,
Addressing white supremacy requires an institutional commitment, which is what the March faculty resolutions called for." Katy Harriger describes the anti-black racism that she observed when she came to Wake Forest in 1985. Notable is the fact that Kappa Alpha Order displays of the Confederate flag were done in intentional defiance of the newly created office of minority affairs. In the present, we face white supremacy “across a broad array of institutions and social settings:” buildings are named in honor of Confederate leaders; the Wake Forest KA chapter lists on its website under “distinguished alumni” author Thomas Dixon Jr. (a man who helped reinvigorate the KKK in the 20th century); only 6.6 percent of students are black (and this percentage has not changed significantly over time); the student-athlete system arguably ex-
ploits the labor of young men of color; only 4 percent of full-time faculty are black; there are few upper-level administrators of color; students are able to complete their degrees without learning about social injustice; the legacy system provides an unearned advantage disproportionately to white students; the university relies on low-wage contract laborers (the majority of whom are people of color) to perform custodial and service work; and more. Addressing white supremacy requires an institutional commitment, which is what the March faculty resolutions called for. This includes a systemic process to reckon with our past — perhaps through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process similar to those used at other universities — and a systemic process to transform our institution, perhaps through a universitywide diversity action plan. If Martha Allman is indeed the person described by Dr. Harriger, then
she should be willing to participate in a TRC process and should be championing the creation of a university-wide diversity plan. A genuine TRC process isn’t about holding one person responsible for a systemic problem, but does encourage individuals to take responsibility for their role in upholding unjust systems. A genuine TRC process also is not a single event, but is an ongoing series of public meetings involving many people. It should, in fact, involve all members of the Wake Forest community, past and present, who have played a role in sustaining white supremacy. It should, indeed, be a “very crowded stage.” By undertaking a genuine TRC process, we believe that Wake Forest will be using the yearbook photo revelations as an opportunity to genuinely take responsibility for its past and to put in place a concrete plan for the future.
main characters suggests that involvement in politics and change is corrupting and damaging, suggesting that the ideal way to live one’s life is to use simple ideas and values as a guiding light. That would be a fine set of principles if everyone was as pure and kind as Forrest, but, as we all know, real life is not like the movies. If there exists someone as impossibly flawless as Forrest, I’d love to meet them. By creating its eponymous, impossible everyman, Forrest Gump disavows political activism and even participation, elevating its viewers to an unrealistic standard, where one’s personal uninformed moral compass
is the sole metric that person uses to determine right from wrong. It denies the fact that change is the only constant, instead asserting that nothing about the world changes, and thus an individual’s political engagement is pointless and self-destructive. In 2019, that is a very dangerous idea. America needs informed political engagement now more than ever. The film is not without good messages: treat others the way you want to be treated, do the right thing, be patient, etc. But some of its underlying implications are dangerous and paint an ultimately unrealistic portrait of the American past and the future.
Faculty Ad Hoc Committee of Wake Forward
“ a dangerous vision of political activism Forrest Gump offers The Annals of Film
Robert Zemeckis' classic offers a blanded-out ideal of moral and civic engagement Will May
Staff Columnist mayws16@wfu.edu
I suppose an article about Forrest Gump does not seem particularly timely. Robert Zemeckis’ beloved movie, starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, will reach the ripe old age of 25 in July. The film was nominated for six Oscars when it was released and is still considered by many to be a beloved classic. I fervently shared their admiration until I saw it again a few days ago. During this re-watch, I noticed a few things that unnerved me as a 2019 viewer. It’s not hard to see why Americans love Forrest Gump. The film is excellently directed, expertly edited and exquisitely acted. Nostalgia is critical to this adoration. The story spans decades of American history, restaging numerous time periods and historical events that span from the 1950s to the 1990s. This evokes intense nostalgic feelings in the generation of Americans who grew up in those times and creates a kind of faux-nostalgia for younger viewers like me, who remember such events from history class. Through Forrest’s layman eyes, the film paints a distinct portrait of history, one that has
It denies the fact that change is the only constant, instead of asserting that nothing about the world changes..." implications for and effects on moviegoers of all ages. It is important for us to remember that this historical portrait is not a mirror; the movie distorts and warps its representation of history, like most movies do. Forrest Gump uses its titular protagonist as the means of representing these distortions. Throughout the film, Forrest unintentionally acts as a pivotal part of American history, an example being the scene when he unwittingly inspires Elvis’ dance moves or when he accidentally exposes the Watergate scandal. Throughout the film, he expresses little to no understanding of his political impact, instead simply clinging to basic values and beliefs, exemplified by his famous line: “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.” That line, while nice, is also dangerous.The film idolizes Forrest, presenting him as a wholly good and benevolent soul. Lines like these argue that his simplicity is what makes him so good, as he is untainted by the vileness inherent in the actions of “smart men.” Jenny, on the other hand, is a happy participant in history and is destroyed by it. She becomes a hippie, gets slapped around by her abusive hippie boyfriend, becomes a drug addict, contemplates suicide and eventually dies before the film is completed. This manipulative dichotomy between the two
Photo courtesy of MCTCampus
SPORTS
T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 9
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Online at: www.wfuogb.com Twitter: @sports_ogb Editor: Samantha Wexler, wexlsn17@wfu.edu Asst. Editor: Rafael Lima, limara17@wfu.edu
OLD GOLD & BLACK
DEACONS: Kupcho makes history in Augusta Continued from Page 1
“I think, first of all, for me to hit the first tee shot of the tournament, just to open it up, it was a great honor to be able to do that,” Kupcho said. "And then to be able to hit the last putt and to win, it's just amazing.” Kupcho was paired with University of Arkansas senior Maria Fassi in the final pairing, and the two exuded a joyous energy and sportsmanship that many have described as uncharacteristic given the competitive nature of the event. For Kupcho and Fassi, that is how the game should be played. Interestingly enough, Kupcho and Fassi were the only two players to have deferred their LPGA cards until after completing their senior seasons of golf at their universities. “Coming out with Maria in the final group with me, I think both of us just wanted to send the message that golf is about having friends [and to be out there with her] we were cheering each other on, and that’s kind of how golf is supposed to be,” Kupcho said. “And to make it look fun; it is fun. So to make it look that way for everyone watching, I hope it encourages people to pick up a club and go play.”
On April 8, both Kupcho and Fassi traveled to New York City to discuss their experience at the historic event. The duo took to the Today Show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about things ranging from Kupcho’s historic win even though she had a migraine that caused vision loss to Fassi accidentally taking her teammates' clubs on the trip with her. “We had a lot of fun out there, and I hope everyone saw that,” Kupcho said on the Today Show Monday. “Golf is a fun game and that is how it’s supposed to be played.” After a full day in New York on Monday, Kupcho traveled back to WinstonSalem to begin a full day of classes and interviews at the Arnold Palmer Golf Complex on campus. She was overwhelmed with love from friends, teammates and Wake Forest golf alumni over text, Instagram, phone calls and more. The most surprising celebration, however, was her Introduction to Western Music professor, Dan Locklair, throwing her a celebration in class on Tuesday. “Out of nowhere he showed the picture in class and started talking about me, and I was about half asleep, but I looked up, and that’s me on the screen,” Kupcho said to local press Tuesday on campus. “At the end of the class, he had
bought donuts from Krispy Kreme and we kind of had a party, so it was amazing.” Next up for Kupcho and the Demon Deacons is the ACC Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro in a week, followed by the NCAA
Championship circuit. One more win in the ACC Championships, NCAA Regionals or NCAA Championship would tie Kupcho for the most wins in school history. Two wins, though, would cement her place as the best player in school history.
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
After playing some of the best rounds of golf in her life, Kupcho acknowledged that going on The Tonight Show was the most nervewracking of all.
Football team hosts annual spring game The annual Spring Game on Saturday, April 6 was a first glimpse at the Demon Deacon roster this year BY RAFAEL LIMA Asst. Sports Editor limara17@wfu.edu
The marching band started its traditional five-tap cue to the fight song, the gates burst open to the sound of the Demon Deacon’s motorcycle and shiny helmets flowed through BB&T Field for the first time since November. The Wake Forest spring football game was finally upon us. Unlike previous games, in which the Deacons would split into two different teams by color, Head Coach Dave Clawson decided to split the roster between offensive and defensive units this year. To make things even, the defense would be awarded points in situations like turnovers, drive stops and forced fumbles. The offense got out to a great start in the first half, which saw them take a commanding 47-13 lead into halftime. Rising junior QB Jamie Newman had a great day, completing 15 out of 18 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Newman’s strong showing during the spring game will probably give him a little edge over rising sophomore QB Sam Hartman who had more discrete numbers, connecting on eight of 11 passes for 47 yards. However, do not expect Clawson to decide on his starting quarterback in 2019 anytime soon. Both players proved last season that they can be successful in leading the offense. “I feel like I’m a better quarterback and I feel like Sam [Hartman] is a better quarterback as well,” said Newman after the game. “We both got a couple of games under our
belt, so now that things are starting to slow down, [we're] starting to add different dimensions to your game.” The defense bounced back in the second half with a sequence of stops and an interception by redshirt freshman CB Kenneth Dicks III. Linebackers Chase Monroe and Ja’Cquez Williams led the team with seven tackles apiece. Depth at linebacker was a problem last year, and the development of players like Monroe and Williams can go a long way into establishing more of a constant presence alongside starter Justin Strnad. True freshman defensive end Shamar McCollum showed that he is ready to make immediate contributions this upcoming season. He led all defenders with three tackles for loss and established himself as the potential starter opposite defensive end Carlos Basham, Jr., who finished the game with a sack. “If I’m a quarterback and Shamar [McCollum] is on my blindside, I’m maybe a little bit quicker getting rid of [the ball],” said Clawson. Despite their efforts, the defense fell short in what ended up being a 55-45 win by the offense. Yet, Clawson believes that just the fact of having a close score is a positive reflection of the strong balance between the two units in 2019. “I think in the six years here, this will be the most competitive the offense and defense will be with each other. I think we had three years in which the defense was significantly ahead. Then the last two years, the offense was significantly ahead,” said Clawson. “I think next year the team has the opportunity to have the smallest gap between the two units.” The Deacs also announced their five captains for the 2019 season. The group is composed of running back Cade Carney, offensive lineman Justin Herron, linebacker Justin Strnad, tight end Jack Freudenthal and cornerback Essang Bassey. Besides Carney, all the other players
are being elected captain for the first time. Wake Forest Football will now take a break for the summer and resume activities with fall camp in early August. Stay tuned for future updates ahead of the Deacs' season opener against Utah State on August 30.
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
Upcoming redshirt sophomore Christian Beal-Smith and the offense won this year's Spring Football Game.
Page 12 | Thursday, April 11, 2019
Old Gold & Black | Sports
Looking back at this year's Final Four This NCAA season officially came a close as Virginia cut down the net on Monday evening in the game against Texas Tech BY CHRISTIAN ODJAKJIAN Staff Writer odjact18@wfu.edu
An electrifying season in college basketball came to a close on Monday night as No. 1-seeded University of Virginia cut down the nets in Minneapolis after a 85-77 win in OT over No. 3 Texas Tech. The ACC regular season champion avenged their historic loss to No.16-seeded UMBC in last year’s tournament. The run appeared to be one of destiny, as the Cavaliers were trailing with 15 seconds of regulation in each of their last three games of the tournament, but continually found ways to emerge victorious. Following Mamadi Diakite’s late-game heroics in the Elite Eight to help Virginia take down No. 3 Purdue, the Hoos squeezed out another tough late victory over No. 5 Auburn in the first National Semifinal game on Saturday night. The stout defense and slow offense of Virginia encountered a polar opposite squad in the high paced, offensiveminded Auburn Tigers. Auburn entered the tournament scorching hot, having not lost a game in the month of March. After narrowly escaping an upset bid by the New Mexico State Aggies in the first round, Auburn went on to defeat three blue-blood programs in Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky on their way to Minneapolis. Auburn trailed by 10 with just five minutes remaining, but a 14-0 run featuring two 3-pointers from Bryce Brown gave the Tigers a four-point lead with 16 seconds remaining. After UVA’s Kyle Guy got a contested 3-pointer to fall, a make and a miss
from Auburn’s Jared Harper gave the Hoos the ball back down two with seven seconds left on the clock. Virginia’s Ty Jerome lost the ball trying to dribble behind his back bringing it up the court and blatantly double dribbled as he picked it up, but no call was made by the officials. Guy was fouled in the corner with 0.6 seconds remaining shooting a three, a call that caused much outrage, but clear contact to the body was made by Auburn’s Samir Doughty. He went on to hit all three free throws to give UVA a 63-62 lead, which was the final score. No. 3 Texas Tech defeated the Duke killer, No. 2 Michigan State, 61-51 in the second semifinal game on Saturday night. South Dakota graduate transfer Matt Mooney led the Red Raiders with 22 points, and Tech’s stifling defense held Michigan State to their lowest scoring output of the season. The much-anticipated championship game on Sunday night was predicted to be one of the lowestscoring finals ever, as the over/under was set at 120. Texas Tech had the top defense in college basketball this season, and the consistent defensive juggernaut that is Virginia boasted the fifth best. The game started off very slow, and the prominent defenses took center stage. At halftime, Virginia led 32-29. Texas Tech’s best player, Jarrett Culver, missed his first eight shots of the game. UVA stretched their lead to 10 points with about a quarter of the game remaining, but Texas Tech staged a run that tied the game up at 59 apiece with three minutes left to go. Down one with under a minute remaining Culver took ACC defensive player of the year Deandre Hunter to the basket, spinning down the lane and finishing with his left hand, giving the Red Raiders a one point lead. After a Jerome miss, Tech’s Norense Odiase knocked down two free throws to stretch their lead to three. In another last second comeback effort, Jerome
drove into the lane, and as the defense collapsed, found a wide open Hunter who knocked down a three from the corner to tie the game at 68. Culver missed a questionable pull up three with five seconds remaining, and the game headed to overtime. UVA pulled away in the final minute of the extra period, securing the championship trophy. Twenty-four points in the final as well as clutch shot making in the semifinal awarded Guy with being the Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Hunter scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half and overtime, also adding nine rebounds Jerome added 16 points and eight assists, none more important than his kick out to Hunter. Head Coach Tony Bennett and his Cavaliers rejoiced as the confetti fell in Minneapolis, redeeming themselves to the ultimate extent after last season’s disaster.
Jerry Holt/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS
Auburn's run in the NCAA Tournament was cut short by Virginia, the eventual champions.
MVP Race: “Greek Freak” or “The Beard”? Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and James Harden emerge as favorites in the NBA MVP race BY RENTING CAI Staff Writer cair17@wfu.edu
The 2018-19 NBA regular season is closing up within a week, but the winner of Most Valuable Player (MVP) this year remains debatable. According to the NBA’s MVP ladder of week 25, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was on top of the chart, and James Harden of the Houston Rockets was second. Giannis and Harden both had quality game performances throughout the season, and both of them have strong reasons for winning the MVP. The Bucks, the top seed of the Eastern Conference, went head-to-head against the third-seeded 76ers last week. The score remained close between the two teams, but Giannis singlehandedly led the team to victory by scoring 45 points on 22 attempts along with 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks. Giannis’ performance mirrored his efforts throughout the season. Nobody was able to stop him when he drove into the paint, and he is still developing his mid-range and 3-point shots to improve his offensive
play. Moreover, his 6'11" height and 7'3" wingspan allowed him to guard any position on the court — in the game against the 76ers, Giannis blocked 76ers’ All-Star center Joel Embiid four times. Up to week 25, Giannis averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks, and he led the Bucks to achieve the best record in the league. His all-around performance and the team record allowed him to remain on top on the MVP ladder near the end of the season. Giannis would have clinched the MVP title already if there was no Harden. The defending MVP has broken so many records this season, averaging an astonishing 36.5 points, 7.5 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals. In the game against the Kings on March 30, Harden led the team to victory with 50 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. How many times has he scored at least 50 points this season? Finding it hard to count is the reason why he also deserves the MVP award. For the eighth time this season, Harden scored 50 plus points to win the game. He has proven that scoring was not hard for him, and he kept proving that leading the team to win games was not hard either. The Rockets struggled in the first half of the season, but Harden carried the team to the third spot in Western Conference. In the last three games against the Knicks, Clippers and Kings, the Rockets scored at least 120 points and
won by at least 25 points. With various Rockets’ players coming back from injuries, Harden didn’t need to score 50 points every game to win. Besides Harden’s offense, he averaged 2.1 steals this season, ranked No. 2 among all the players. During the early stages of his career, he was criticized for a lack of concentration in the defensive end, but now he is a qualified defender on court. His assist ability was on top of the league and was another reason for him to be a competitive MVP candidate.
Ryan Michalesko/Dallas Morning News/TNS
James Harden's shooting and leadership capabilities are the main reasons for his MVP case.
Sports | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | Page 13
Spotlight: Zach Murphy BY SAMANTHA WEXLER Sports Editor wexlsn17@wfu.edu
While most of the fame goes to the quarterbacks, wide receivers or running backs who score touchdowns, kickers play a vital role on the field in consistently performing for points after touchdowns (PATs) and field goals. Sophomore Zach Murphy is in an even more overlooked position — that of the backup kicker and probable kickoff specialist. In high school at Ravenscroft in Raleigh, N.C., Murphy was the team captain and still holds the Ravenscroft School record with a 50-yard field goal. As a junior and senior, he was named All-Big East and he was named to the NCISAA all-state team in 2016. Over his high school career handling both kickoffs and place kicking, he converted 13 career field goals, 94 PATs and had 27 touchbacks on kickoffs as a senior. In 2015, Murphy helped Ravenscroft to the 2015 NCISAA Division Two state championship. Now, going into his redshirt sophomore season with openings on the kickoff squad, Murphy looks to provide the consistency the Deacons need from their specialists and give the Deacons great field position to allow the highpowered offense to go to work. Samantha Wexler: As a specialist, your training and practices must look different than the offense and defense. What does a typical practice look like for the group? Zach Murphy: Our practice is definitely not as intense as the offensive or defensive players, but we are always working. Most people don’t realize the importance of the chemistry of the specialists. The specialists are a cohesive unit that has to be confident in our skill area, but also trust the other guys. We are consistently working individually on our set skills, but also as a group to perfect the rhythm and timing. For specialists, our individual practice is a lot like a golfer going to the driving range to work on specific parts of their game. It really is about muscle memory, so we don’t have to think about it in practice or in a game. During practice, we typi-
cally have a field goal period and then we have a couple periods working on other special teams units — kickoff coverage and return and punt coverage and return. When the specialists aren’t needed for a certain practice period, we are usually with Chris Jones (strength coach) working on flexibility and mobility, or this is when we will be working on skill training by ourselves. SW: How has spring practice gone so far and what are you looking forward to as the season progresses? ZM: Spring practice has gone well so far. It actually goes by quickly, and I believe that we have made good progress as a team in working for the upcoming season. Some guys are learning new positions, and there are always competitions, which makes us stronger as team. I am really looking forward to the success that we continue to build on. I think this team has the chance to do something special in the fall and make history again. SW: There has been a very high standard of play under this coaching staff, having won three straight bowls. What in particular do they bring to the program to continue to compete in the ACC? ZM: Coach Clawson and all of the other coaches are
constantly seeking players who love the sport. Wake Forest is a hard academic school and the coaches are looking for players who will appreciate the Wake Forest education combined with the ability to play Power-5 football. The coaches hold us accountable and do a good job of making sure we are prepared to perform at a high level. SW: All of the football facilities are definitely top notch and still growing. How will those help with both the future and the present of Wake Forest football? ZM: The new weight room, the indoor practice facility, the sports medicine facility and the Sutton Sports Performance Center are all essential to our continued success. These facilities are definitely among the best in the country, and it’s really exciting to experience all the new improvements daily as the team trains. It’s important for recruits to see the commitment that Wake Forest is making to football. The quality of the facilities will only help the future of the program, as it gives us the necessary tools required to be competitive in the ACC. SW: What’s your favorite Wake Forest football memory so far? ZM: Narrowing down to just one favorite memory is hard, but it would be between scoring my first collegiate point against Rice, the Belk Bowl and Birmingham Bowl wins and definitely beating NC State twice — especially at NC State this past season.
Personal Profile Hometown: Raleigh, N.C. Class: Rising Redshirt Sophomore Accomplishments - Holds the Ravenscroft school record with a 50-yard field goal - Named All-Big East as a junior and senior - NCISAA all-state team in 2016 - Raised over $3,800 for pediatric cancer research through an organization called Kick-It during his senior season
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
Photo Courtesy of Jaylynn Nash LLC
Deac Notes Graduate student Darren Ford named to the Hampshire Society
Cameron Young leads the men’s golf team to the win at Augusta Haskins
The award recognizes those who have achieved a 3.2 grade point average or higher and have been starters or significant contributors throughout the most recent football season. Ford was Wake Forest’s starter as the team’s kickoff specialist and maintained both an undergraduate and graduate GPA over a 3.6. He is studying sustainability in his master’s program at Wake Forest.
The Wake Forest men’s golf team posted its fourth win in its last five starts by completing a victory at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational on Sunday. The Deacs shot 7-under during the final round at Forest Hills Golf Club to finish at 36-under, the fourth-lowest 54-hole total in program history. Cameron Young got his fourth career win, taking the individual crown at 19-under after a final-round 69.
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
Page 14 | Thursday, April 11, 2019
Old Gold & Black | Sports
NHL: Playoff outlook and predictions The NHL Playoffs are officially in full swing. Here is a look at the matchups and predictions BY BEN REMIS Staff Writer remibm18@wfu.edu
The NHL regular season is officially over. The playoffs began yesterday, as four of the firstround battles had their opening game. In case you haven’t been following along, here’s a quick preview of each of the matchups as we begin the quest for the Stanley Cup. Tampa Bay Lightning (1) vs Columbus Blue Jackets (WC 2) The Lightning come in not only as the Presidents’ Trophy winners (most points in the league) but also with the incredible forward Nikita Kucherov, who led the NHL with 128 points this year. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets barely slid into the playoffs as the last wildcard. The Lightning have shown their strength all season and it looks like they will continue to dominate in the first round. Prediction: Lightning in fourgames Game 2: Friday @ 7 p.m.
Boston Bruins (2) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (3) The Maple Leafs made the biggest move of the offseason when they signed All-Star John Tavares, but they have struggled in the playoffs in recent history and have a losing record in their last 14 games. On the flip side, the Bruins tied for the second-most points in the league this season and are experienced playoff winners. One of the most exciting matchups of the first round, both teams boast talented sides that could swing the series in either direction. Prediction: Bruins in seven games Game 1: Thursday @ 7 p.m.
New York Islanders (2) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (3) Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are back in the playoffs — what a surprise. The Islanders, however, have overachieved after losing John Taveras in free agency. Both squads have talented depth and playoff experience. The Islanders will rely on their top-ranked defense to try to shut down Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the alwaysthreatening Penguins offense, who will attempt the difficult task of stealing a win in front of the raucous New York crowd. Prediction: Penguins in seven games Game 2: Friday @ 7:30 p.m.
Washington Capitals (1) vs Carolina Hurricanes (WC 1) The defending champion Capitals, with star player Alexander Ovechkin, are once again a favorite to make a deep run in the playoffs. They come up against a surprising Carolina Hurricanes team that is in the postseason for the first time since 2009. The Hurricanes are young and hungry, but the Capitals won each of their four regular season matchups. While the Canes might challenge them, the Caps will be hard to stop as they look to repeat their celebration from last season. Prediction: Capitals in five games Game 1: Thursday @ 7:30 PM
Nashville Predators (1) vs Dallas Stars (WC 1) The Predators are once again the top seed in the Central Division, and, with a strong finish to the regular season, they look like one of the favorites to advance out of a strong Western Conference. Opposing them is a Dallas Stars squad that has won with strong defense and goaltending. This series looks like one where scoring will be hard to come by — the play of All-Stars like Tyler Seguin of the Stars and Filip Forsberg of the Predators might be the difference. Prediction: Predators in five games Game 2: Saturday @ 6:30 p.m.
Ben Remis/ Old Gold and Black
Winnipeg Jets (2) vs St. Louis Blues (3) The Jets were preseason favorites to make a dominant run in the playoffs, but since the All-Star break, they have really struggled. The Blues, on the other hand, were in last place in the NHL in January before going on a run that gave them the best record in the league over the last three months. This matchup will be an exciting back and forth between two incredibly talented teams, each looking to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Prediction: Blues in six games Game 2: Friday @ 9:30 p.m. Calgary Flames (1) vs Colorado Avalanche (WC 2) The Flames have the best record in the Western Conference despite missing the playoffs last season. The Avalanche, on the other hand, clinched their playoff berth on the very last day of the regular season. The Avalanche have the star power, but the Flames have much stronger depth. This series will be fast-paced and high-scoring, and, it will come down to which team’s goalie steps up the most. Prediction: Avalanche in seven games Game 1: Thursday @ 10 p.m. San Jose Sharks (2) vs Vegas Golden Knights (3) The Golden Knights made a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Finals last year in their inaugural season in the NHL. Now, they look to complete their mission and win the whole thing. The Sharks have had one of the league’s best offenses this season, however, and hold the home-ice advantage. The battle of the Karlssons (no relation) might determine this matchup — “Wild” William for the Knights leads a potent offense, and Erik is one of the top defensemen for the Sharks. These two teams are practically equals, and this series will almost definitely go seven games. Prediction: Sharks in seven games Game 2: Friday @ 10:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 11, 2019 |Page 15
Old Gold & Black | Sports
Chris Sale’s struggles raise serious concern After a dominant 2018, The Red Sox’s Chris Sale has not found any success to start the 2019 season BY REN SCHMITT Print Managing Editor schmwm16@wfu.edu
The reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox entered the 2019 season with lofty expectations and with good reason. All the key pieces from their juggernaut 2018 offense returned for this season, and Boston believes the talents of 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts challenge those of preeminent superstar Mike Trout. On the pitching side, their ace Chris Sale figured to be among the best arms in the game. So this offseason, Boston signed Sale to a five-year, $145 million contract that most considered money well spent. In his first three 2019 starts, though, Sale has been abysmal, and, ignoring the small sample size disclaimer, there are legitimate reasons for concern. Through his first three starts, Sale’s average fastball velocity plummeted from his 2018 figure. His fourseam fastball devastated hitters last season, coming in at an average speed of 95.2 mph. This season, his four-seamer has averaged an alarmingly-slow 91.1 mph. Pitchers tend to gain a tick or two as the season progresses and they reach peak pitching shape, but a velocity drop of more than four miles per hour points to a more serious issue of some kind. Perhaps something is awry mechanically, but a velocity loss of this severity definitely merits injury concerns.
With his loss of velocity has naturally come a loss of effectiveness. Through three starts, Sale has only pitched 13 innings and carries a 9.00 ERA. Bad luck does not seem to be the logical explanation either, as the .279 BABIP hitters have against him is actually below his career average of .291. His xwOBA against — which uses exit velocity, launch angle and other batted-ball data to determine the expected result of balls in play — currently stands at .371. For context, the Astros’ Alex Bregman had a .377 xwOBA in 2018, and Bregman finished fifth in AL MVP voting. In short, Sale is getting knocked around. Sale is not fooling any hitters, so his strikeout rate has fallen to less than half of his 2018 total. In 2018 Sale led all starting pitchers (minimum 150 IP) with a 13.50 K/9, but in 2018 he has only managed eight strikeouts, good for a 5.54 K/9. All of his struggles seem to start with his fastball, which hitters currently are hitting .500 against with a stunning 1.286 slugging percentage. In 2018, hitters swung and missed at 28.7 percent of his fastballs, and this season hitters have whiffed on just 3.7 percent. After his most recent start on Tuesday against the Blue Jays, Sale recognized his early troubles, per MassLive.com: “I don’t know if I’ve ever pitched like this in my life,” Sale said. If the Red Sox want to become the first team to repeat as World Series winners since the “three-peat” Yankees of 1998-2000, Sale needs to find his old form quickly. With their rival Yankees and the sneaky-talented Tampa Bay Rays both in position to finish atop the AL East in 2019, the Red Sox cannot afford to concede early-season wins for much longer.
If Chris Sale’s difficulties prove to be a minor hiccup, Boston should be around in October, but if Sale goes down with an injury or never finds answers on the mound, the Red Sox could find themselves in real trouble.
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS
Chris Sale headlined Boston’s rotation during their 2018 World Series-winning season.
From worst to first: The Virginia Cavaliers After losing in the first round to No. 16-ranked UMBC last year, Virginia went on a mission to take it all — and they did. BY DAN PACHINO Senior Writer pachdb15@wfu.edu
From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. From crushing, shocking defeat to the mountaintop of collegiate sports. To fully comprehend Virginia’s national championship and the path they took to get here, one must venture back more thar a year. This story begins on March 16, 2018. The Virginia Cavaliers entered the 2018 NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. On that Friday night a year ago, the Cavaliers played the No. 16 University of MarylandBaltimore County Retrievers. Until that March night, no 16-seed had ever defeated a 1-seed in the 33 years since the NCAA expanded the tournament to 64 teams in 1985. But that night changed everything. UMBC not only beat UVA, but they crushed them, winning 74-54, outscoring Virginia by 20 points in the second half after going into halftime tied. UMBC played exactly how a team must play to defeat UVA — they poured 3-pointers over Virginia’s pack-line defense, controlled the tempo of the game and got out to a lead that Virginia’s latent pace was unable to overcome. The loss was crushing, shocking and embarrassing for Virginia, a school whose basketball program had been as dominant as any in the regular season over the past half-decade but had failed to achieve tournament success during head coach Tony Bennett’s tenure. After a number of crushing defeats in prior tournaments, this was the cherry on top for critics of Virginia and its style of play. This loss to UMBC solidified in people’s minds that Virginia’s slow pace, its defensive focus and its inability to overcome large deficits due to its slow pace
and lack of offensive fire-power would make it impossible for them to achieve tournament success. But this loss was not the end of Virginia’s story and instead was just the beginning of where its fairy-tale story began. A loss of this magnitude easily could have been the end of UVA’s run of success under Bennett. It wouldn’t have been surprising if players transferred or left for the NBA, but instead, every eligible player from last year’s team returned. Virginia was fantastic again all season. They entered ACC play undefeated and only suffered two regular season losses — both to Duke — and did not lose their third game until the ACC Tournament to Florida State — their final loss of the season.
Aaron Lavinsky/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett led one of the largest turnarounds ever seen in NCAA Basketball.
After their regular season came the NCAA Tournament, in which they hoped to avenge their historically early exit from a year prior. But their unbelievable run did not come without scares and luck. In the opening round, Virginia fell behind by 14 to No. 16 GardnerWebb in the first half. Yet, when they could have crumbled again, they came back and won by 15. Their Elite Eight game against Purdue was one of the tournament’s best, as UVA’s Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome went back and forth with Purdue’s Carsen Edwards who had 42 points. On the brink of defeat, trailing by two following a Jerome-missed free throw in the final seconds, the Cavs got an offensive board that resulted in a buzzer-beating floater by Mamadi Diakite to force overtime, where the Cavaliers wound up winning to advance to their first Final Four since 1984. In its Final Four game against Auburn, Virginia narrowly escaped defeat yet again. They led by 10 points with five minutes remaining, but Jerome picked up his fourth foul, which led to a five-minute scoring drought for UVA, and Auburn took a 61-57 lead with 17 seconds left. But they refused to crumble again. Guy drilled a three with seven seconds left to cut it to one. Then he was fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining and hit all three free throws to send UVA to the championship against Texas Tech. The championship game was a continuous back-andforth between the nation’s top two defenses. The Cavaliers led for much of the second half, but Tech continued to creep back into it and eventually forced OT, where UVA went on an 11-0 run to win the school’s first national championship 85-77. Virginia’s championship run was a truly storybook ending. A year after the biggest upset in NCAA history, a team that could have crumbled at any moment escaped defeat on countless occasions and proved to be the nation’s toughest team. They emerged from the lowest of lows a year ago to the highest of highs in 2019. It’s the stories like these that make sports so great.
LIFE
T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 9
PAG E 16
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OLD GOLD & BLACK
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Gloria Bell is a triumph of the spirit Sebastian Lelio’s new film presents a picture of divorced life that resists the tempation to go silently into the good night.
BY KYLE FERRER Opinion Editor ferrka16@wfu.edu
Death is beginning to creep in at the edges for Gloria Bell (Julianne Moore), the fifty-something divorcée whose life co-writer and director Sebastian Lelio’s eponymous film follows. At home, a hairless cat appears periodically as a gangly omen, and on street corners, performer’s gimmicks consist of puckish skeletons bouncing on strings, to whom Gloria feels she must donate a tear-streaked dollar. Her sixth sense, less an overtly ghoulish vision than a cavalcade of morbid reminders, takes on the dimensions of real-life mundanity, goings-on that constantly dredge up a vibrant past amid a wistful present. Yet Gloria combats what could be crippling sadness with dance. Invigorated by the groovy beats of Earth, Wind & Fire and quintessential ‘80s tunes like “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” melancholy dissipates into movement. Her mindset seems like it could come from a Nicole Holofcener script, especially since her brief interpersonal joys come from comments like “have you had work done?” to which Gloria responds with a hearty “No!” (It is Julianne Moore, after all). She is buffeted by her two children, Peter (Michael Cera), a benign but dismissive sort, and Fiona (Jeanne Triplehorn), a yoga-teacher involved with a Swedish big-wave surfer. Receiving a call from his wholly absent wife (she’s on a soul-searching trip in the desert), wondering if her infant son is asking after her, Peter explodes with “No, he’s not asking about you, he doesn’t speak!” He is tracking nicely. Fiona is only slightly more attentive to her mother’s condition, re-packing death in the whimsical, radiant notions of youth. As she shows her cringing mother videos of her Scandinavian shredder shearing down a monster wave, she assuages Gloria’s safety concerns by telling her “we all die eventually!” Right, then.
Photo courtesy of imdb.com
During a night of low-fi clubbing, Gloria meets Arnold (John Tuturro), who appears as an ingenuous divorcee fresh from the courthouse, tethered to his family but ready to mingle. Arnold is an exMarine, a gun-enthusiast and the owner of a paintball park who, by all accounts, is actually a nervous wreck and a timid softie. They develop a freshening relationship, using their inherent qualities as gentlyloosening foils. Arnold shows Gloria how to fire a paintball gun; Gloria shows him intimacy he would never otherwise initiate. But the perpetual limitation of the couple remains, unsurprisingly, each’s past — a cantankerous triad of a wife and two daughters, financially slavering and emotionally exploitative, for Arnold and a too-amicable distance between Gloria and her ex-husband Dustin (Brad Garrett, playing down his accordion-voice theatrics to become an attractive but combustible stereotype). There is a dinner party, about halfway through Gloria Bell, where Gloria and Arnold spend an evening with Dustin and his new wife Anne to celebrate Peter’s birthday. The awkward social banter, buttressed by eye-darting silences, is expertly orchestrated for maximum grip. As we progress from tepid introductions, through channels of drink, Gloria and Dustin merge memories and delve into an old family album. The two remember their family’s salad days, and Arnold fades right on out the door, literally. Of course, Dustin eventually detonates, lamenting his perpetual absence during his and Gloria’s marriage, revealing the cracks that always existed between them. But Arnold is long gone before any of that happens, embittered by the whole exchange and hurt by Gloria’s ready abandonment for the past. The trickiest, deftest note Gloria Bell strikes is that of the sheer volume of history and memory smoldering in the background of every divorce. The deep sadness and yearning for youth comes not only as a physical longing for pert-er times, but for formative blocks of time. Relationships, unlike appearances, sear themselves into the spirit, which
Photo courtesy of imdb.com
organizes itself in a multi-variate matrix of speech, action and gesture. When healed or wounded, it has an elephantine memory, sensitive to more than just the accoutrements of the body. There is something inextricable about the people who herded us from instinct to intellect, from cries to words, from words to sentences. For both the guider and the guided, these periods of development remain an ineffable, influential thread of their soul. Not only does Gloria deal with the existential twinges of a lost partner, but also fights to keep a spot in the world of her children, who were no doubt damaged by the split. The damage, though, does not surface through monstrous qualities. There is no vicious addiction or dramatic bottoming-out. But the painfully palpable cynicism, spawned by separation’s pre-mature mode of self-care, manifests in the present as Gloria’s quiet dismissal. Her kids, by the fault of no one in particular, have figured out how to live alone, without the perceived nuisance of belated parenting or burden of mom’s real strife. Arnold’s deleterious relationship with his children exists, in part, because he claims they never saw him as a person, just a caretaker. Gloria’s family sees her as more than that, but only slightly. She is a loving gnat, a not-needed mother in her kid’s grown-up world of people. Hurt by a score often incommensurate with its scene, Gloria Bell could have had no music other than the various hits Gloria dances to. These are the only times when she finds release from despair, that pervasive human tendency which is, as Søren Kierkegaard says, a sickness unto death. But the rhythm of dance, for Gloria, acts as a spiritual diffusion of these existential tensions. She embodies the film’s kind message, that despite our increasingly humiliating existence, there exist spaces where we become secondary, moved by occult forces and present only as shimmering clouds of energy, pulsing to the drum of another. The mystery of life is replaced by the inarticulate urge of the beat. Enjoy it while it blasts.
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | Page 17
Life | Old Gold & Black
TV Show Review | The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Netflix’s Sabrina is back with a vengence Part 2 is a darker critique of time, gender roles and religion than Part 1 BY CATHERINE REGEN Asst. Life Editor regecl17@wfu.edu This past fall when the first half of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (CAOS) premiered, I reviewed it and was left with a few stylistic qualms. However, when Netflix announced the release of Part 2 for this past Friday, I found myself eagerly anticipating the next installment. I was not disappointed; the new episodes are darker, witty-er and sexier. After establishing itself in the canon of teen melodramatic occult horror, Part 2 slips deeper into the witchy underside of Greendale. Rentrée a newly single (and platinum!) Sabrina, played by Kiernan Shipka, leaving the innocent, mortal side of herself behind. Like the titular character, the show takes the premises of Part 1 and amplifies its effects through character and plot development. While this version of Sabrina takes a newly dark and modern turn, it still pays homage to the original. The show’s soundtrack is an eclectic combination of modern pop songs and retro rock, highlighting the fluidity between generations. The show finds itself in a time warp of conflicting ideas. A major plotline of Part 2 is the transition of Theo Putnam, a trans boy who was still going by his given name of Susie in Part 1. One
would think, with such a contemporary narrative, there would be scenes of characters texting back and forth. However, there are no cell phones, or Internet, for that matter. As it turns out, witches prefer to communicate by astral projection. The premise enters a conflated time period, stuck somewhere between the current era of political correctness and simple passivity of yesteryear. The juxtaposition of time is further personified in the differences between the male characters of the show. There is the archaic Father Blackwood, High Priest to the coven of witches at the Church of Night, who favors antiquated ideas of gender roles. His beliefs are exacerbated by his treatment of both his daughter and his fiancée; the latter of when he places under a spell of submissiveness. Sabrina’s ex-boyfriend Harvey Kinkle is better, but consistently falls into traps of chivalry. As Sabrina’s powers develop and she becomes more physically intimidating than he, Harvey visibly recoils from her. Their tension comes to a head in Part 2 when Harvey comes to rescue Sabrina from witch hunters and finds her levitating with power. His regressive tendencies don’t seem to bother Sabrina, though, as she seems to be self-righteous enough for the both of them.
Photo courtesy of imdb.com
Sabrina’s new love interest for Part 2 is the most progressive of them all. Nicholas Scratch is the bad-boy warlock at the Academy of Unseen Arts, played by the devilishly handsome Gavin Leatherwood. Billed as the darker, dangerous option to Harvey’s patented good-boy character, Nicholas’ undeniably gentlemanly side is first displayed in the last episode of Part 1. As Part 2 progresses, Nick reveals himself to be truly good-hearted, constantly putting Sabrina’s desires before his own. In episode 1 of Part 2, Sabrina challenges Nick for Top Boy, a position at their school, for which he is the first to encourage her. That is only the first act of his unending support for Sabrina, whom he continues to support even when her ideas challenge his own. This new sensitive, evolving, self-sacrificing male character, in a teen drama to boot, lends itself to the modern tones of the show, and I can’t wait to see how his character develops over the next season in contrast to the static nature of both Father Blackwood and Harvey. Overall, the addition of Part 2 to the preexisting episodes served to complete the arching storyline, building upon the foundational set ups of Part 1, while delving deeper into the world of Satan-worshiping witches. The premise is deeply rooted within the critique of religion, and Part 2 takes the biblical inspiration of Part 1 and exaggerates it tenfold. Expanding on its original critique of gender roles within the Bible, specifically between Lilith and Lucifer, CAOS challenges our preconceived notions of the relationships between men and women.
Artist Review | Lil Uzi
Lil Uzi Vert finally returns to drop new music After months of wondering, fans are estatic at the news of Lil Uzi’s return BY ANDY KILLEBREW Asst. Life Editor killae17@wfu.edu Despite his Jan. 11 announcement about quitting music, Lil Uzi Vert is back. This prior announcement whipped his considerable fanbase into a frenzy, leaving his fans in a panic over the future of the beloved rapper. Would he drop his promised album? Would he drop out of the public eye completely? Was he really deleting his entire library of music? On Monday, the Philadelphia-born rapper silenced the questions by dropping a pair of singles, “Sanguine Paradise” and “That’s A Rack,” breaking his short-lived retirement. Released through Atlantic Records/Generation Now, the tracks are presumably off of his upcoming album, Eternal Atake. This project has been rife with controversy thus far. While Uzi claims that his record label (specifically DJ Drama) are preventing the record from being released, Drama has publicly denied this sentiment. This beef inspired the earlier throwaway “Free Uzi,” which has since been deleted. Nonetheless, the songs are out on major streaming services, and they’re both bona fide hits.
“That’s A Rack” will feel familiar to any previous fans of Lil Uzi Vert’s music. The instrumental is spare — there are some light and airy piano melodies in the background, with Uzi filling out with typical bravado and flare — allowing Uzi to carry the majority of the track. He sounds relaxed and confident, rapping about his wealth and women, occasionally stopping to comment on some of the trappings of fame. These more somber lines such as “got addictive personality, I turned into a fiend” carry the song’s limited emotional range, though Uzi soon grows bored of these semi-reflective bars and returns to his normal boasts. It’s likely not the sort of track that will reach the mainstream heights of “XO TOUR Llif3” or “The Way Life Goes,” but it is still a pleasant listen and will help assuage the demands of his supporters for new material. “Sanguine Paradise” is an absolute triumph. First, the beat on the track (produced by Oogie Mane and Brandon Finesse) is a masterpiece on its own. It’s immensely ambitious in its scope, with triumphant horns, booming 808s, captivating snares, entrancing piano riffs and plenty of filler sounds to further flesh out the instrumentation. The beat would be worth a listen on its own. Somehow, Uzi still manages to deliver a virtuosic vocal performance that bursts out of the frenzy of the instrumental to immediately vault the song to among the artist’s best. His flows and range are
unmatched in the song, with his melodies and traditional rap bars perfectly complimenting each other. It’s both approachable for newcomers and nuanced for the committed fan, offering up a worthwhile experience for any listener. Lil Uzi Vert’s thesis on these tracks is perhaps best captured by his line: “In reality I’m 5’4”, stand on my money now I’m 6’6” in Sanguine Paradise.” Despite his diminutive stature, the rapper looms larger than life in his tracks and in the public eye. Uzi is back and it would be a shame to not catch these songs and whatever comes next.
THE HOT LIST Top 10 Coffee Receptacles to use in the Pit By Amanda Wilcox In light of the mugs’ recent departure from the Pit, Wake Forest students must get creative.
1. 3.
A weird, slanted pasta bowl The Demon Deacon’s top hat A rinsed-out cup from Chick-fil-A A Cyclebar water bottle
5.
Red solo cups
A Hydroflask
7.
A sorority fanny pack A Moe’s chip bag
9. Your cupped hands
Directly into your mouth
DRINK OF THE WEEK
• 1 Pineapple (chopped) • 2 Lemons (juiced) • 1 Cup of ice Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until it has a smooth consistency. Note: can add honey to sweeten.
Courtesy of knowyourproduce.com Photo courtesy of amazon.com
Lil Uzi released two new singles to mark his return to the music scene.
Page 18 | Thursday, April 11, 2019
Old Gold & Black | Life
Movie Review | Pet Sematary
The Pet Sematary plot is slow, muddled Pet Sematary should remain a novel, as the various movie adaptations have been unsuccessful
BY MADISON ZEHMER Staff Writer zehmml16@wfu.edu Most people can agree that the 1989 cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Pet Sematary is pretty abysmal. The second adaptation of the film, which was widely released last Friday, is better than the first film, but that’s not saying much. Although the cinematography is adequate and the acting is mostly impressive, Pet Sematary (2019) is a disappointment that proves, as many critics have joked, that sometimes dead really is better. Pet Sematary follows the Creed family as they move from Boston to a beautiful, barn-style house in Maine that comes with several unpleasant features, including the dangerously-placed highway adjacent to their property and the pet cemetery (misspelled as “sematary’ by the local kids) behind their house. When the Creeds’ beloved cat, Church, is killed by a truck, their neighbor Jud encourages Louis, the father, to bury the cat in the swamp beyond the cemetery. As readers and viewers can suspect, Church doesn’t come back from the dead as the same sweet, docile cat from Photo courtesy of imdb.com before. When tragedy strikes the Creed family, Louis There is no need to spend money on the film, as makes a decision to go back to the land beyond the the entire plot is revealed in the movie trailer. cemetery, with terrible consequences. Although this may seem like a spoiler-laden sum- trailers for the film. In fact, the second trailer for the mary, all of this information can be gleaned from the film reveals a significant change from the novel, which
I won’t give away here. Although the reasoning behind the decision to move away from the novel makes sense, the trailers are too revealing and essentially give away the whole movie. Though, in all honesty, there’s not that much to give away. The pacing is muddled and so is the plot. The third act is especially ridiculous, although it showcases some of the best acting in the movie. I rarely say this, but Pet Sematary could have benefited from 20 or 30 more minutes distributed throughout the film, for several reasons. The viewers aren’t made to care that much about the Creeds because of the subpar opening two-thirds of the film, and the horror of their situation is never fully realized because the ending is so rushed. The viewer is distracted from the legitimately intriguing themes of grief and trauma that the film attempts to address by the excessive gore and jumpscares. Tension isn’t steadily sustained throughout the film, so Pet Sematary never becomes a truly successful horror movie. I was mostly impressed by the acting. In particular, Amy Seimetz, who played the mom, and Jeté Laurence, who played 9-year-old Ellie, were excellent. Without giving too much away, it’s important to acknowledge that Laurence’s performance would be challenging for even the most seasoned actors. Unfortunately, Laurence’s and Seimetz’s performances are not enough to make Pet Sematary a good movie. Pet Sematary suffers from messy pacing and plot, an over-reliance on horror movie tropes and a lack of true tension. Although it’s not an awful movie, it’s not very good either. Ultimately, both versions of Pet Sematary make the case that maybe some books are just not made to be adapted to the screen.
Cartoon
Cartoon by David Ajamy
According to recent research conducted by the National Academy of Dreams, dreams are not just renditions of memories. Oftentimes they reflect various complex explorative thoughts and the internal wishes of the dreamer. The image above proves the conclusion of the study.
Life | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | Page 19
Crossword: Wake Forest Traditions Whether or not you’re a current student, an incoming student or an alumni, everyone should know the answers to these general Wake Forest facts.
BY EMILY BEAUCHAMP Life Editor beauea17@wfu.edu
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Across
6. The place to go for lunch, it’s a Pit swipe but a nicer setting 7. The year Wake Forest was founded (written out) 8. This semi-annual event hosted by Student Union, features a late night of food and fun 10. The bi-annual formal dance in honor of President Hatch 13. Not only is this the best organization on campus, they are also the school’s official colors 15. Wake Forest students do this activity after every big athletic win, or just when something awesome happens 16. A day-long relay race in honor of Brian Piccolo to raise money for cancer research 17. A comedy group on campus, they host two shows every semester that always sell out quickly 18. This event is happening TOMORROW and it’s a huge dance on Magnolia Quad that happens every spring 19. The real name of the Fresh Food Company in Reynolda
Down
1. President Hatch’s nickname among students 2. The school’s mascot, he is never seen without his bow tie and top hat 3. The place in Reynolda that RUF has laid claim to 4. The annual event to celebrate the winter season that features singing, hot cocoa and cookies 5. Wake Forest’s motto that is translated to “For Humanity” 9. A 12-hour dance marathon that helps raise money for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund 10. Annual event that brings 1400 students from the community on to campus to trick-or-treat 11. A Moravian tradition that features a “feast” of sweetened coffee and buns 12. The day-long event the Pit hosts every Thursday before Thanksgiving break 14. The not so inside joke all Wake Forest students have about the amount of work they do
Page 20 | Thursday, April 11, 2019
Old Gold & Black | Life
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