News: Residence Life wracked by RA shortage Page 4
Opinion: Filibustering clogs up legislative progress Page 9
Sports: Wake Forest unveils new sports facilities Page 11
Life: Lizzo lights up lives with lively live show Page 17
Old Gold&Black
WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 106, NO. 4
T H U R S DAY, S E P T E M B E R 19 , 2 019 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”
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Threatening emails alarm Wake Forest A series of inflammatory emails were sent to a number of departments at WFU BY LILLIAN JOHNSON Editor-In-Chief johnlg@wfu.edu
city in all its glory. “New Orleans is a blessed city,” he said, “It’s a wonderful place and it’s got great bones. But the city wasn’t great the night before Katrina hit.” As his team began rebuilding, they had been going through a lot of work on their race and equity agenda, ultimately coming to the realization that the city should not be rebuilt the way it had been. “Instead,” Landrieu said, “it ought to be built back the way it should have been, had it been done right in the first place.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Wake Forest campus community was notified that several faculty and staff members received threatening emails from an unknown source on Sept. 10 and 11. “The emails were intentionally inflammatory, using racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and discriminatory language,” the email notification, sent on behalf of University Police, stated. “The wording of the emails was intentionally intimidating and threatening, though no direct and specific threat was made.” The emails were sent to individual and offices inboxes associated with two academic departments — the Department of Sociology and the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies — and three offices on campus — the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the LGBTQ+ Center and the Intercultural Center. According to the email notification, there were 12 original emails. There are no reports of any students receiving similar emails and no further emails have been reported. In response, University Police has undertaken an investigation, coordinating with Information Systems, local authorities and state and federal agencies. Faculty and staff were informed by University Police of the investigation on Sept. 11. In addition, Wake Forest has increased the police and security presence around buildings with the affected offices, the email notification said.
See Landrieu, Page 6
See Email, Page 5
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest News
Wake Forest’s Voices of Our Time series features a variety of guest speakers who come to campus to talk about important issues. Mitch Landrieu was featured on Tuesday in Brendle Recital Hall.
Landrieu speaks on racism Former Lt. Gov. of Louisiana and Mayor of New Orleans addressed institutional racism BY LIAT KLOPOUH Staff Writer klopla18@wfu.edu
Former Louisiana Lt. Gov. and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu spoke at Wake Forest this past Tuesday, as part of the university’s Voices of Our Time series. Audience members nodded along in admiration as Landrieu recounted his personal experiences with race and discussed the broader history of slavery, race relations and institutional
inequalities that continue to plague America. Landrieu’s story began with Hurricane Katrina and its damaging impact on New Orleans in 2005. The aftermath called for a great deal of reconstruction, both in terms of reviving infrastructure and redefining the city’s morals. “When I had the great joy of taking over the city,” Landrieu said, “I started thinking about how the city should be rebuilt. Are we going to bring it back to the way it was? Or are we going to build something new?” Having lived in New Orleans all his life, Landrieu knew the
OGB
“ Students should participate in activism This column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board.
A year ago, led by Swedish schoolgirl and climate activist Greta Thunberg, young people around the world began "school striking for climate" — walking out of school for a few hours each Friday in order to demand action against the climate change that darkens their future. Tomorrow, Sept. 20, three days ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City, millions of young people and adults around the world will join a Global Climate Strike. At 3 p.m. in front of Wait Chapel, students will have the opportunity to walk out of class and join the climate
Climate change will seriously impact our futures, and ... when it comes to solving the climate crisis, we could all do something to send a message ..."
strike. It is the opinion of the Editorial Board that students should take advantage of the opportunity to participate in an activist movement. It will not be the first time that Demon Deacons have left class to protest some of the most pressing issues of the day. Indeed, in Oct. 2018, students walked out of class to protest the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court and express support for survivors of
Old Gold &Black
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSIT Y SINCE 1916 LILLIAN JOHNSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF johnlg16@wfu.edu
REN SCHMITT PRINT MANAGING EDITOR schmwm16@wfu.edu
>> NEWS Will May, mayws16@wfu.edu Assistant: Caroline Walker, walkct18@ wfu.edu
>> SPORTS Rafael Lima, limara17@wfu. edu
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sexual violence. In Nov. 2017, students also held a walkout in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Clearly, students have stood up for important issues before, and climate change should be no different. Scientists estimate that humans have approximately a dozen years to stave off of the worst effects of climate change, but unfortunately, our elected officials have demonstrated nowhere near the sense of urgency that befits the situation. Perhaps a reason is that our legislative bodies skew far older than the general population. The vast majori-
ty of our senators and representatives will not be around when the most serious impacts of climate change come to bear — but we will. Climate change will seriously impact our futures, and even though Wake Forest is only a drop in the bucket when it comes to solving the climate crisis, we could all do something to send a message to our elders that we care. Though our voices may seem quiet individually, the collective noise of millions worldwide will be heard. Students have the power to generate change, and in the case of climate change, our urgency and persistence is more necessary than ever.
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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 WILL MAY News Editor mayws16@wfu.edu
Thursday, September 19, 2019 | Page 3
Deacon Profile: Dylan King
Dylan King is a senior majoring in mathematics and computer science and minoring in chemistry. He grew up in Walnut Cove, N.C. He was named a 2018 Barry S. Goldwater Scholar during his sophomore year before going on to work for the government during the subsequent summer. He also studied mathematics in Budapest, Hungary, during the 2018-2019 academic year. After he graduates, he plans to attend graduate school for mathematics. Tell me a little about your home life.
I am from Walnut Cove, N.C., a very rural southern town. Outside of their day jobs, my parents run a small farm. We have about 30 sheep, a llama, a couple of dogs, about 30 chickens and five geese. What are your parents' day jobs? My parents are chemists and teach in the chemistry department here at Wake Forest. Have you always liked math? Yes, but it was a gradual process. I always thought it was okay, but senior year of high school was when I decided that I really liked it. I first noticed it when we covered Euler’s Method in calculus. It was phenomenal, and my teacher said that I should read about it on Wikipedia. I was sure that I was not smart enough to do that, but I tried anyway, and discovered that I could, and I fell in love from there.
Will May/Old Gold & Black
Wake Forest senior Dylan King's adoration for graph theory was the inspiration for his first — ever tattoo: the Petersen Graph on his right shoulder. Any favorite rappers you’ve listened to recently? do anything about it. I wish I was better at math Yes, to Dr. Gemmer and Dr. Raynor from the innately, but I’m not. So, the solution is that you math department I owe very much. They helped have to work really hard and put the hours in. It’s Denzel Curry. He brought Rick Ross back for introduce me to my favorite subject, analysis, en- like going to the gym, but for academics. You will “BIRDZ,” and it’s incredible. couraged me to pursue it further and pushed me to get stronger. That’s an interesting tattoo. What is it? learn. They always give great advice. Are there any teachers (other than your parents) who have been especially impactful to your life?
I understand you’ve seen some success — the Goldwater Scholarship in 2018, for example. Do you have any advice for young math professionals trying to make their way in the world? Nothing special. Just work really hard, which is obvious. At the end of the day, you can only control how hard you work. Talent is irrelevant; you can’t
That’s very inspirational. What do you like to do when you’re not doing math? Well I guess the most consistent thing I do is my Wake Radio show. It’s been going since the spring of 2017, although I did take a one-year hiatus while I was in Hungary. I just love listening to rap music, and I don’t know why.
It’s the Petersen Graph. I was in Hungary studying graph theory, and someone suggested that I get a Petersen Graph tattoo. I immediately thought, ‘This is a wonderful idea!’ I was loving graph theory, and the Petersen Graph is very nice. I love math, but I’m a little cautious about getting some sort of equation tattoo. The Petersen Graph is nice and geometric, so it’s elegant on its own, even without the wonderful math behind it.
both subjects refused treatment in Dogwood. Report filed at 6 a.m. on Sept. 14.
• Unknown male yelled at victim and it made her feel unsafe in Poteat. Report filed at 2:46 p.m. on Sept. 14.
POLICE BEAT Larceny • Suspect stole $45 of donation money in Reynolda Gardens. Report filed at 12:44 p.m. on Sept. 9. • Unknown subject(s) entered victim's room and removed two Xbox controllers in Bostwick. Report filed at 2:55 p.m. on Sept. 9. • A bicycle was taken from the racks outside Reynolds Gym. Security Officer found a bicycle in the bushes behind North Campus Apt. 10 on Sept. 15. The bicycle matched the description of the stolen bicycle in report 1900952. Report filed at 8:40 p.m. on Sept. 11. Underage Consumption/Drunkenness • Intoxicated student was transported to Student Health from Dogwood. Report filed 2:46 a.m. on Sept. 14. • Offenders were intoxicated after leaving Ewing Street. Wake Forest EMTs responded to scene and
Harrassment • Suspicious male made a threatening gesture towards the victim as she drove to her home. Area was searched, unable to locate anyone matching the description given in Wake Place Court Report filed at 9:08 p.m. on Sept. 10. • Unknown person was approaching females on Manchester Plaza asking for phone and social media information. Report filed at 10:27 p.m. on Sept. 11. • Unknown person continues to send unwanted messages via social media to a student in South. Report filed at 4:05 p.m. on Sept. 12. • Victim advised that two unknown males walked by her and made hate comments toward her dog near Magnolia. Report filed at 9:58 p.m. on Sept. 13.
Miscellaneous • Offender's found property was turned over to UPO. Upon inspection, fake California drivers license was recovered. Offender was charged with fake ID in UPO. Report filed at 3:47 p.m. on Sept. 9. • Unknown subject(s) entered victim's unsecured vehicle. Nothing was missing and no damage to the vehicle. 2007 Jeep vehicle not able to lock on North Campus. Report filed at 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 9. • Two students disclosed a freshman friend was sexually assaulted by a male subject, who is a junior in South. No names were disclosed. Report filed at 12:29 a.m. on Sept. 15. • Loud noise coming from RA Lounge in NCA building. Report filed at 12:55 a.m. on Sept. 15.
Page 4 |Thursday, September 19, 2019
Old Gold & Black | News
Freshman dorms have RA vacancies Wake Forest resident adviser applications are still open for the Fall 2019 semester BY JOANNA WU Contributing Writer wuh19@wfu.edu
The Wake Forest Office of Residence Life and Housing is still hiring resident advisers, or RAs, for the fall 2019 semester. “Shortage is a strong word,” said Stephanie Carter, a staff member for the office, “but we have a few vacant positions that we are actively recruiting for.” There are four vacancies in total, two in Collins, one in Babcock and one in Bostwick. “We have a dynamic group of RAs this year who are helping out and filling the gaps on their teams,” Carter said. Kirsten Fernando, a junior secondyear RA on the first floor of Collins, said that the RAs on the first and second floors have to take turns filling in. “We try not to leave any resident unattended, but it can be a little bit hard because we can’t be there all the time,” she said. This situation means more work and more of a time commitment for the current RAs, especially with the new 24-hour duty. “It really depends on the person, but to me, being an RA was always something I wanted to do,” Fernando said. “I love spending time with freshmen because of the energy that they have, and I love being the ‘someone’ who can help them with their college transition.” She also mentioned that working with the other RAs has developed her people skills and helped her find a sense of community. But, being an RA is still not easy. “There is definitely a lot of time that you have to put into, especially in the
freshman halls,” said junior Yixin Zhang, a second-year RA. “Though you get a single room without having to pay for your housing, it definitely gets lonely sometimes, since all of your friends live on North Campus. You can’t exactly look to freshmen for support at times of need.” The differing hall situations also contributed to the differences in RA experiences. “My hall from last year was really sweet,” Fernando said, “I love getting to know every individual in my hall.” “It’s almost like babysitting,” said former RA senior Donovan Martin, “but you do get to know a lot of freshmen, so that kind of makes up for it.” According to Fernando, the most direct reason for the shortage of RAs is the reopening of Bostwick. “They weren’t planning to use Bostwick as a freshman residence this year,” she said. “But as more students committed than they had expected, they decided to reopen Bostwick.
Some of the RAs who are initially assigned to other residential halls were then reassigned to Bostwick.” The RAs also shed light on some other possible reasons for students’ lack of enthusiasm for becoming RAs. “It might be attributed to the fact that it’s kind of draining, especially with school work and other activities,” Zhang said. He also expressed his view that the job isn’t as flexible and fun as before. “In the past, the activities can be organized on short notice, but now they have to be reported and go through more levels of verification before taking place, which take some fun out of the job,” he said. Also, since adding the 24-hourduty, the RAs were required to work for longer hours. “The return for the work didn’t really increase that much, so maybe that’s why people aren’t that enthusiastic to be RAs anymore,” Martin said. Also, the diminishing enthusiasm
for becoming RAs might also be due to the fact that some of the RAs feel like they are not being heard. “I did hear some people talking about this issue,” Martin said. “But I do see the Office of Residence Life and Housing trying their best to work out solutions with the RAs.” Although there are vacant positions within the RA system, the Office of Residence Life and Housing has taken measures to secure professional presence within residence halls. According to Carter, Community Directors were recruited for this year. “These are master’s level individuals who are here to provide supervision of staff, to support students and to help our office create an unrivaled residential experience,” Carter said. “The Community Directors work in partnership with their assigned Graduate Hall Director. This pairing works to support the RAs and residents in their community. It’s a new partnership that we are very, very excited about.”
Will May/ Old Gold & Black
Collins Residence Hall is one of three buildings that has vacant resident adviser positions. They have two vacancies, and other RAs in the building have stepped in to help.
WAKE IN A WEEK: HOMECOMING Secrest Series: Take 6 Time: Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Location: Scales Fine Arts Center Take 6 is widely regarded as one of the best a cappella groups performing today. They will perform a wide range of music, including gospel and pop. Admission to their show is free with a WFU I.D.
WFU Women’s Soccer vs. Virginia Time: Friday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. Location: Spry Stadium This Friday, the WFU women’s soccer team takes on the undefeated Virginia Cavaliers. Make your way straight over to Spry Stadium to support the Demon Deacons.
Service of Remembrance Time: Saturday, Sept. 21 at 9 a.m. Location: Wait Chapel A memorial service will be hosted to commemorate the faculty, alumni and students that passed over this past year. Come to Wait Chapel at 9 a.m. on Saturday to pay your respects.
WFU Football vs. Elon Time: Saturday, Sept. 21 at 12 p.m. Location: BB&T Field Make sure to support the undefeated Demon Deacons against the Elon Phoenixes this Saturday for our Homecoming game. The Deacs need our support to continue this winning streak.
WFU Men’s Soccer vs. Syracuse Time: Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Location: Spry Stadium The Wake Forest Men’s Soccer team is playing the Syracuse Orange on Saturday. Wear black and support the Demon Deacons as they attempt to juice the orange.
Festival on the Quad Time: Saturday, Sept. 21 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Location: Hearn Plaza A festival, complete with music, food and games, will be hosted on Hearn Plaza on Saturday. Students, alumni and families are invited to join in the festivities.
2019 President’s Ball Time: Friday, Sept. 2 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Location: The Coliseum This Friday, the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Colisuem will be hosting the eighth Biennial President’s Ball. Students, alumni and faculty are invited.
South Campus Trivia Night Time: Saturday, Sept. 21 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Location: Babcock Residence Hall Lounge Babcock Lounge will be hosting a South Campus trivia night. Teams will be made at the event. The top three teams will receive a pizza prize.
Party So Dear Time: Friday, Sept. 20 at 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Location: Manchester Plaza Tickets to this event can be picked up at the Homecoming Welcome Center. Students, alumni and faculty are invited to attend.
News | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, September 19, 2019 |Page 5
Shots fired at university-owned house Among other crime alerts, one focuses on a bullet fired into the residence of graduate students BY WILL MAY News Editor mayws16@wfu.edu
On the evening of Sept. 16, Wake Forest graduate students living on Polo Road discovered an intruder had entered their home: a bullet. The rest of the student body was alerted when the university sent out a crime alert email. “A bullet was fired into a universityowned house on Polo Road. None of the house’s occupants, all graduate students, were injured,” the email said. “Police believe the shot was fired at approximately 7:15 p.m. It was nearly an hour later before the residents of the Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University Police Department house realized what had happened and The Wake Forest University Police Department had a hectic week, dealing with three crime incidents, including contacted police.” a shot fired at a house on Polo Road, a hate email sent to faculty and staff and a rape in Angelou Residence Hall. The Old Gold & Black reached out A third crime alert, sent on Wednes- those concerned refer to the safety tims’ rights laws. However, they did to University Police’s Executive Officer Blake Blakley for comment, but he was day, reported a rape of a student that is tips offered on the University Police comment on their relationship with unable to do so in time for publication. alleged to have occurred on Sept. 14, in website. The penetrated domicile on Wake Forest University Police: “They are outstanding in their This week has been quite busy for the Angelou. This notice included numer- Polo Road is among these 30 houses. Hope Jordan, portfolio manager assistance to us,” said Sgt. D. Batous phone numbers and emails for difUniversity Police department. On Tuesfor the organization, said that their tjes of the traffic enforcement unit. ferent organizations that students could day, another crime alert was sent to the properties’ security falls under the “They are an excellent resource for use for support, including the Counstudent body regarding an inflammaauspices of University Police. events off campus and on campus seling Center and the Title IX Office. tory series of emails utilizing offensive, “We review security practices on as well, and they get our assistance racist language that were sent on Sept. The emails indicate that the university 10 and 11 to numerous on-campus or- administration is working to help their a regular basis, as well as after spe- at football and basketball games, ganizations and individuals. These in- students heal from these incidents as cific incidents,” she said. “Changes for example. I would not change a clude the Department of Sociology, the well as prevent new ones; yet the fre- in security practices are adjusted as thing.” Although many students, especialDepartment of Women, Gender and quency and intensity of recent events deemed appropriate.” The Winston-Salem Police Depart- ly those living off-campus, may be Sexuality Studies, the Office of Diversi- have raised questions about their safety ment also responded to the victims’ unsettled by recent events, they can ty and Inclusion, the LGBTQ+ Center, and security in university housing. Wake Forest Properties, the residen- call. When asked, they stated that be assured that University Police and and the Intercultural Center. The email also said that campus police’s presence tial organization that offers a section they were not at liberty to comment the local department are doing evon campus was increased around the af- of housing exclusively established for on any particulars of the case, cit- erything they can to minimize incifected organizations’ on-campus spaces. graduate students, recommends that ing the legal barriers created by vic- dents and to ensure students’ safety.
Email: Messages cause fear and unease Continued from Page 1
“After consulting with state and federal authorities, Wake Forest did not cancel classes or issue an alert to students requiring any change to daily activity,” the email notification said. Regina Lawson, chief of police for University Police, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Old Gold & Black obtained screenshots of an email sent out by Joseph Soares, professor in and chair of the Department of Sociology, to students in the sociology department. Soares went into further detail of the content of the threatening email that faculty and staff received. “[The] hate email praised the white male founding fathers, dismissed our undergraduates with ugly vile language and called for our land to be “purged” of people of color and
members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Soares wrote. “We take this hate email as being not just racist, homophobic and misogynistic but also as a threat of violence. The call to “purge” categories of persons is a white supremacist call for genocide.” According to Soares’ email, the sociology department has cancelled classes for the rest of the week in order to allow the department to “fully organize [their] security.” Soares did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The following administrative staff in charge of the offices affected by the threatening emails did not respond immediately respond to requests for comment: Simone Caron, chair of the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Angela Mazaris, director of the LGBTQ+ Center; and Jonathan McElderry, executive director of the Intercultural Center.
Screenshot courtesy of Will May
WFU University Police informed the student body about the incident in an email on Tuesday. Many of the affected departments cancelled classes. Jose Villalba, vice president for Diversity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer, acknowledged the strength and resolve of his colleagues, after having been affected by the threatening email. “In the midst of a challenging and taxing moment in our collective lived experience, [my colleagues in the Office of Diversity and Inclu-
sion] steadied themselves as they lifted each other up, while making space and providing counsel to our students, staff, faculty and families,” Villalba said. “We will continue to champion programs, policies, and protocols based on the promotion of inclusive practices, as we continue to teach when we can and learn when we must.”
Old Gold & Black | News
Page 6 | Thursday, September 19, 2019
Landrieu: Speaker discusses racial problems Continued from Page 1
As his team began rebuilding, they had been going through a lot of work on their race and equity agenda, ultimately coming to the realization that the city should not be rebuilt the way it had been. “Instead,” Landrieu said, “it ought to be built back the way it should have been, had it been done right in the first place.” He was referring to the parts of New Orleans that made the city an inhospitable place for AfricanAmericans and other minorities — namely, the four infamous monuments commemorating the Lost Cause and the Confederacy. After a conversation with his close friend, Wynton Marsalis, who asked Landrieu to think about the statues from the perspective of African Americans, and to “put himself in somebody else’s shoes,” Landrieu realized that these statues reflected an unrealistic view of the history of New Orleans.
“Robert E. Lee never came to our city, nor did his vision represent us. We were never really a Confederate town,” Landrieu said. Landrieu eventually came to the conclusion that if New Orleans was going to be truthful to itself in a full capacity — a place that values diversity and a place of rich and deep culture — then the monuments ought to be taken down and the space be used to reflect “the city’s full soul and full breadth.” After numerous court cases, judges, death threats and other obstacles, the four monuments finally came down. Landrieu, however, hoped his message would reach beyond the city’s walls. He hoped to convey the idea that America as a whole should live up to the ideals that it has set for itself. “We hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equal,” he said. “Well, when that was written, that was a lie. If that’s who we say we are, we have to ask
ourselves: have we walked that walk? Have we talked the talk?” Landrieu connected this point to his discussion on institutional racism, in which he explained that many systems in our society have been designed to produce negative consequences for people of color, typically invisible to those who do not have to experience them. “I’d like to think that if we had a house or a car that was misdesigned, we would go back and design it the right way,” Landrieu said. In the same way, institutional racism imposes a responsibility on us to go back and redesign racially-flawed systems the right way. “Build it back the way it should have been, had we gotten it correct the first time,” he said. How exactly can we redesign the system? Through conversation and empathy, according to Landrieu. He felt passionately that people will never understand each other until they break through the bar-
rier of ignorance and surround themselves with those who are not like them. “It’s skin-to-skin, hand-to-hand, conversation-to-conversation,” he said. “If people are honest and open and get to know each other, we are going to find out that as different as we are, we all have the same basic human values, the same basic needs and the same human rights.” His view was not shared by everyone, however. “It was really interesting to hear him speak about his amazing accomplishments in the past,” said sophomore Olivia Thonson. “He had good intentions, but I feel as though the way he spoke about confronting racism oversimplified it. Confronting racism is much more complicated than an ‘I am sorry’ and an ‘I forgive you.’” Regardless of differing opinions, Landrieu’s captivating discussion received a standing ovation.
THE MORE YOU KNOW
LETTER FROM COACH DAVE CLAWSON Wake Forest students, Thank you! The energy you have brought for the first two home football games has been incredible. You made a difference in both games as we had to make defensive stops on the last possession of the game. You were in your seats early, you wore black, and you were loud when we were on defense! We appreciate your support and look forward to singing the alma mater with you postgame on Saturday after the Elon game. Enjoy the Homecoming week festivities! Thank you and Go Deacs! Dave Clawson and Captains Essang Bassey, Cade Carney, Jack Freudenthal, Justin Herron and Justin Strnad
News | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, September 19, 2019 |Page 7
Peru’s past affects the world’s future A variety of factors in Peru’s forests clash with implications for the world BY SOPHIA MASCIARELLI Contributing Writer mascas18@wfu.edu
Walking through the dense tropical forest undergrowth in the thick Amazonian heat, the first thing you notice is the sheer richness of life teeming from every nook and corner around you. One looks from the trees in the canopy, to the insects on the ground to the birds whose songs fill the air. But, there is so much more than meets the eye to this lush landscape. Just below the surface, all of this is rooted in a darker history, plagued with corruption and abuses to human life and the land which they occupy. And this past is putting the future in jeopardy, too. Not just of Peru and upper Amazonia, but of the world as a whole. The Amazon rainforest provides more than 20% of oxygen to the globe, as well as functioning as a habitat for more than half of the world’s total species, despite occupying just 2% of total surface area. “Amazonian forests are much more than just trees,” said biology professor Miles Silman. He also explained how most of the processes that govern these landscapes remain vastly understudied and vastly misunderstood. Silman has been making research trips throughout upper Amazonia, specifically in Peru, for more than thirty years. From his studies focused on the tropical forest ecology and ecosystem dynamics of birds, trees and other organisms, he says he can notice a marked difference between when he first began and now. These changes, originating from the hands of human greed in the form of the expanding mining and logging industries, have effects that expand far past the borders of the Amazon. A Broken System As mining and logging, both legal and illegal, continue to devastate the landscape and the people who rely on it for their existence, attention is turned to the government, which has sat idly by for decades as these atrocities are committed. Peru’s history is so complexly interwoven with layers of corruption that it has essentially become part of the fabric of the nation’s identity, dating all the way back to original Spanish conquests in the 1500’s. The election of the new president, Martín Vizcarra, following the res-
ignation of scandal-hit Pablo Kuczynski, marks a new era of promised change. A shift from serving the corrupt political class to the working class Peruvian population, a new era of environmental referendum and justice for those who have been overlooked for decades now. But will these promised changes actually have a lasting effect? Some of the most intensely affected by these corrupt rulers and poor policies are poor populations and indigenous groups — and there is often large overlap between the two. Indigenous groups have a special interest in preserving and protecting wild areas of Amazonia and are especially effective at doing so. First, they have been living with the land, rather than on it, for hundreds of years, long before the Spanish stepped foot on the continent and forever changed it. They also recognize the way outside pressures permanently change every aspect of the land, from mining and deforestation, to oil exploitation, to the drug production and human trafficking that often follow these aforementioned activities. “Imagine it like old American wild west movies, only without the horses,” shares translator Marianne van Vlaardingen from Quertehauri. Environmental disruptions and destruction to human life go hand and hand here more often than not, which only further complicates the state of matters. Although worthwhile legislation is written, it is rarely, if ever, enforced. And if it is, it often causes a barrage of cascading conflicts.
Sophia Masciarelli/Old Gold & Black
The headwaters depicted here will eventually flow into greater Amazonian waterways, bringing extra collected water with it.
More than just a forest As the integrity of these tropical forests continues to fragment and diminish — at an estimated rate of 100,000 acres per day (United Nations) — there is so much more at stake than humans can even begin to quantify. Change is not a concept new to Amazonia. But the type of changes being observed — contamination and destruction at this scope — are entirely unprecedented. Almost every aspect of our lives is supported by a resource originating from this ecosystem. More than 25% of ingredients in Western pharmaceuticals are derived from the rainforest. At least 80% of the world’s total developed food originates from the tropics. But these are just some surface level statistics. The real effects of unrestrained use are much greater. The earth operates in a system of vast interconnectedness, with the exact
Sophia Masciarelli/Old Gold & Black
The entire swath of land beyond the border depicted in this photo had been extensively logged, all the way down to the grasses.
driving mechanisms of complex processes still remaining largely unexplained. According to biologist John Kricher, the rainforest functions essentially as a “global thermostat,” absorbing minor changes in climate and keeping the rest of the system in balance: a global climatic anchor. This anchor is of even higher importance, as emissions continue to increase around the world every year; acting as a primary carbon reservoir,
storing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses and producing a large percent of the world’s oxygen. Beyond the inherent value of the richness of biodiversity of plant and animal species, everyday life would look very much different in a world without tropical rainforests. Who knows what it will look like if the system gets pushed past the threshold of balance? Will the Earth plunge past a point of no return?
OPINION
T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 9
PAG E 8
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OLD GOLD & BLACK
The views expressed in all opinion columns represent those of the article’s author, not the opinions of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board
“ Banksy’s new work subverts the American ethos Political Artistry
By disrupting American narratives of inclusion, Banksy incites a crucial dialogue
Jack Portman
Staff Columnist porttjt17@wfu.edu The anonymous British artist Banksy, in their characteristic stenciled graffitinoir style, adorned the canal side of a Venetian building with the image of a refugee child. Ostensibly a subversive and illicit effort at participation in (or more likely a disruption — even an appropriation of ) the ongoing Venice Biennale, the piece is bitingly satirical and expertly manipulative. It condemns the West — and most obviously (for reasons to be explained momentarily) the United States — for its lackadaisically amoral effort at accepting (much less protecting, nourishing, and enabling) refugees and migrants flowing from Northern Africa, the Middle East and South America.
Whereas the statue hoists a torch in her right hand, the child raises a purple flare, a signal for help.” The image of the refugee child draws its form from a crucial piece of American symbology: the iconic Statue of Liberty, whose raised torch and rigid posture announced America’s commitment to the immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, and on whose plaque is famously inscribed Emma Lazarus’ sonnet “New Colossus,” reading: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The child’s posture matches that of the statue almost precisely. Whereas the statue hoists a torch in her right hand, the child raises a purple flare, a signal for help. The purple flare flows wildly behind the monochrome child. (I fully advise that you Google this image and compare its silhouette to that of the Statue of Liberty for full effect). Banksy’s placement of the image is perfect. The plaster parge it adorns is crumbling away to expose underlying
brick, giving the piece an aesthetic tonality which evokes the precarious, fragile position of the child refugee. The painting is directly adjacent to a canal door, reflecting the liminal positionality of refugees as they await entrance into Western countries and Western culture. My sense is that the refugee is literally waiting outside in hopes that someone will open the door. And whereas the Statue’s enormity imbues it with authority and power, the painting’s small stature reminds of the child’s humanity and powerlessness. One of the work’s most effective elements, however, seems to be its location on a canal, rather than a street. Whereas an art gallery visitor or an interested onlooker of street art or graffiti might stop and examine a piece for minutes (or even hours), intently mulling the form, content and quality of a given piece, most viewers of Banksy’s image can do no such thing. Most viewers will see the image as they float idly past on a gondola (the choice means of transit for
Venetian tourists). In this sense, the image comes into view, becomes momentarily present and quickly slips away (stopping a gondola in the canal would be akin to stopping your car in the middle of the road). The image is rendered fleetingly ephemeral in this way. Genius. Just as the images and stories of migrants in the news (such as the disturbing photograph of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter, drowned in the Rio Grande) flicker in and out of the political and social discourse, Bansky’s mural passes into and out of the viewer’s perspective. The intolerable conditions facing migrants, as well as the traumas they experience, are difficult subjects to attend to at length. It is unpleasant to consider the decisions migrants make when they leave home, the dangers they face resultantly and the unknowable futures they face for any extended period. And so migrant issues fade into and out of our consciousness, like the pleading child waiting outside the Venetian door as the viewer passes by.
ing thoughts about them, and releasing a unique, personal breath back into the air. But the alchemical process of intake and output is predicated upon one thing: reflection, deep, contradictory provocation that necessarily forges a new stream of thought. Trouble emerges when we truncate this fruitful process, or abandon it altogether in unthinking assimilation and adoption. Not only does this make one an easy, ideological mark, able to be snowed by demagogues or charlatans, but eventually, if less overtly, it forms a completelycollaged identity. It’s less sinister than numbly reciting the credo of malignant groups, but can be just as deadly, because we become an innocuous projection of our passions. The insidious nature of this identity formation, more so than the straightforward idea of evaluating opinions before offering them, is that it comes about through our passions. Blinded by our natural proclivities, we can unconsciously elect our interests as our identity, without consideration, without even deliberate thought. I was told recently that I adopted some of Marc Maron’s cadences: his gruff, flippant quips and sardonic solicitations pair naturally with my own curt and caustic sense of humor. His style unconsciously grafted
onto my personality, but it made me ponder what other assimilations led me to a similarly unthinking adoption. I admire Maron’s wit and intellect to the point of personal abdication, and that unsettles me. Is all this kvetching about a “pure” identity just a naïve complaint? Maybe, but if nothing else, an added amount of filtration, although it may not resist trait-taking in toto (and it shouldn’t; I am not unrealistic), it could refine the process. How else are tales told, people formed, other than by those who nurture them? It’s inevitable, but I think we can be cautious and selective, diligent about leaking into too-high a percentage of ourselves relinquished to the lives of others. What habits do I maintain that are mostly self-generated? It’s a difficult question to answer. What is authentic about us? Is everything a kind of skewed reflection of others’, projected into the world? I think it’s okay to gravitate, to identify, even to idolize, but to feel like a piecemealed person becomes a delusional existence. It can transcend genuine likening and become a pernicious transformation. Life as an unconscious act, interpersonal kleptomania fueling our own estrangement.
“ estrange identity from the self We unwittingly Self Help
Through the incorporation of our passions into our identity, we obfuscate ourselves
Kyle Ferrer
Staff Columnist ferrka16@wfu.edu
I’ve talked before about the abstraction of identity through corporate brands. That scary, scentless iteration of the self, provided instead of created, in the hope of attaining a more perfect posture in the world around us. Others’ perception, as well as our own, becomes shaped by characteristic offerings, including the self in a changing constellation of pre-digested traits. Instead of ceding to organic contradictions and developments, we become commercial portraits that reflect the zeitgeist instead of contribute to it. But, in a different way, how do we amass an identity based on other people’s uniqueness? Not corporations, but idols. How do we absorb the things we find ad-
Blinded by our natural proclivities, we can unconsciously elect our interests as our identity.” mirable and pawn them off, in slightly off-kilter form, as our own personal emanation? We repudiate corporate integration for a more personal, organicseeming identification, but is there a tipping point to even this, where opinions and mannerisms are borrowed so heavily that they form an iconography of dispositions, where we pluck and put on our heroes would-be responses instead of our own? Is there a point where we filter our own instincts only through the instincts of another? It can become a dizzying whirl of expected behavior and curated reactions. Spontaneity, even, can become one-degree considered, swiftly responsive but drained of pure, original instinct. Culture persists through a barter system. As interesting information flows between us, culture mutates and evolves, and the pleasure we take in others informs not only our dialogue but our self. It’s how we sustain an investment in the world around us, through the intake of interests — digesting them, form-
Opinion | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, September 19, 2019 | Page 9
The filibuster“has morphed into a dilatory strategy The Legislature
The Senate's arcane mechanism designed to spur negotiation has become a mode of resistance
Amanda Wilcox Staff Columnist wilcaf16@wfu.edu
Even if Democrats regain unified control of the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2020 (the biggest of “ifs”), the fate of their sweeping legislative agenda will rest on one fundamental question: Do they try and end the Senate filibuster? Those who have seen the classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington are familiar with the arcane U.S. Senate rule, which allows senators to end debate only with a threefifths majority vote, a device known as “cloture.” Thereby, 60 of the 100 senators must generally support legislation for it to pass. This supermajority requirement helps to empower the minority party, but it also makes ambitious changes much more difficult to enact. Whether or not to preserve it is a tough question for Democrats to answer. To be sure, without the legislative filibuster to constrain them, Republicans would have repealed the Politics Affordable Care Presidential Act, and, if Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had not obliterated the
If the legislative fillibuster remains in its current state, it will doubtlessly stymie any Democratic agenda." judicial filibuster, Democrats might have kept Donald Trump’s most objectionable court picks off of the federal bench, the Supreme Court included. Even so, if the legislative filibuster remains in its current state, it will undoubtedly be used by Republicans to stymie any Democratic agenda post-2020, just as Democrats have used it to put the brakes on the subset of Trump’s initiatives that have required legislative action. Our current field of primary contenders is by no means short on big ideas, but none of their policy proposals, from Elizabeth Warren’s Ultra-Millionaire Tax to Beto O’Rourke’s AR-15 buyback program, have a prayer of becoming law if the Senate rule requiring 60 votes to break a filibuster remains in place. For most fronts on which Democratic voters yearn for change — immigration, gun control, the climate, inequality — expecting bipartisan support from Republicans is delusional. Period. Thus, the question for Democrats becomes, “Are we going to get anything done or not?” Such considerations prompted Harry Reid, a former U.S. senator from Nevada who led the Senate’s Democratic Conference from 2005
to 2017 and served as Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015, to urge Democrats in a New York Times oped to eliminate the filibuster when they regain control of the upper chamber. “In bygone eras, the filibuster was a symbol of the Senate’s famed role as the cooling saucer for legislation and ideas from the more hot-tempered House of Representatives,” he wrote. “The Senate was known as ‘the world’s greatest deliberative body’ … and the 60-vote threshold reflected those sentiments. Sadly, we are not living in the same legislative world anymore.” To be sure, while the Senate may have once been a place where cooperation and compromise held sway and issues could be discussed rationally, it is now more gridlocked and polarized than ever, and it cannot adequately serve the American people as an unworkable legislative graveyard. The filibuster has certainly contributed a great deal writ large to this dysfunction. While defenders of the procedure have portrayed it as a mechanism that forces the majority party to negotiate with the minority party, in today’s Washington, both parties have found it difficult to attract support from the other for their legislative initiatives under any circumstances. As a result, the filibuster has become simply a means for the minority to block the majority, rather than a stimulus to compromise.
Want to write for the Opinion section for the OGB?
Contact Kyle Ferrer ferrka16@wfu.edu
Furthermore, there is absolutely nothing sacred about the filibuster. It is a myth that the filibuster was part of the Framers’ Constitutional vision for the Senate; while the upper chamber was designed to be a slow-moving, deliberative body that cherished minority rights, the supermajority cloture rule was not adopted until 1917. “If a pertinacious minority can control the opinion of a majority,” wrote Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 22, then “the majority, in order that something may be done, must conform to the views of the minority.” This dynamic would “give a tone to the national proceedings,” resulting in “tedious delays; continual negotiation and intrigue; contemptible compromises of the public good.” Fundamentally, the Senate was built to govern, not to flounder in endless deliberation, and debate was supposed to inform and enrich the legislative process, not throw sand in the gears of lawmaking and bring it to a grinding halt. If Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker and their fellow senators in the race — all of whom know intimately the gridlock that the filibuster has caused — are serious about their ideas, their only choice is to abandon this dysfunctional procedure and lead their party to a firm consensus against a rule that the Framers never envisioned. It’s time for the Senate to get back to work.
Thursday, September 19, 2019 | Page 10
Opinion | Old Gold & Black
“ manifesto proves prophetic The Unabomber's Clairvoyance
The Unabomber's manifesto touched on the dangers of technology's increased importance
John Manos
Staff Columnist fielor17@wfu.edu On this date (September 19), 24 years ago, the Washington Post, following the FBI’s advice, printed one of the most controversial newspaper issues of all time. Its contents included your typical, day-to-day sports articles, a few movie reviews and an entire manifesto written by Ted Kaczynski a.k.a the Unabomber. For what purpose? It was dual-faceted, really. Reason number one: the FBI, per the advice of forensic linguist Jim Fitzgerald, thought that getting the manifesto out into the public might cause somebody who knew Kaczynski to recognize it and call in a tip. Reason number two: Kaczynski told them to. He sent in an ultimatum saying that if a credible news source didn’t publish his manifesto, he’d plant a bomb in the mail. We don’t negotiate with terrorists? Looks like everything just changed. So, who is this Unabomber? Well, meet Ted Kaczynski. Kaczynski, born in Chicago, had an IQ of 167. So, he’s what we call a genius (considering Stephen Hawking had an IQ of 160). In middle school, he was so smart that he skipped two grades and then at-
The main point: the prevalence of technology in this world has reached a catastrophic level." tended college at just 16 (that college was Harvard). Once he graduated from Harvard, he then went to Michigan for graduate school and attained his PhD. What is he known for? Essentially, he was a hermit who lived in the woods of Montana — most famous for sending 16 highly advanced bombs through the mail, killing three people and injuring over 20. But what is his legacy? Primarily, it was his manifesto entitled “Industrial Society and its Future.” What is Kaczynski’s message in that manifesto? Since most people aren’t going to drop what they're doing to read the over 25,000-word document, I’m going to explain it. Mainly, because he made some points worth our contemplation. The main point: the prevalence of technology in this world has reached a catastrophic level. “The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race,” he wrote. What Kaczynski is saying here is that ever since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has learned to rely on technology. We’ve become dependent. As it used to be something to provide us with assistance, technology now provides us with the necessities of life. Without it, we would face a great catastrophe. Since we have grown such a tolerance to the modern-day industry, to take it away
from us would be disastrous. However, Kaczynski makes the point that there is one thing worse than if we were to lose all technology today. That would be if we lost it further down the line. He claims that every year, we become more and more reliant on technology. The longer we wait for it to (possibly) crash, the larger the effects will be. He wrote, “If the system breaks down, the consequences will still be very painful. But the bigger the system grows, the more disastrous the results of its breakdown will be, so if it is to break down it had best break down sooner rather than later." When did he make this realization of our overtechnologizing nature? The documentary series Manhunt: Unabomber puts it best in the scene where Kaczynski is talking about the mockingbird to his convicting officer, James Fitzgerald. In urban Chicago, Kaczynski was outside one day and heard a mockingbird singing its song, except it wasn’t singing its usual ballad; instead, it was crying out an all too familiar tone: a car alarm. The mockingbird was mimicking a car alarm. This (apparently) is when Kaczynski decided that industrial society had made its detriment. Going to live in a 12-foot-by-ten-foot cabin in the woods of Montana and mailing bombs across the country isn’t exactly my idea of sanity. However, Kaczynski had a point in his manifesto. His analysis on leftists and conservatives was spot-on, in that the former’s ideology is based on guilt and internal doubt, and the latter’s is an oxymoron
of economic advancement and tradition that cannot coexist. His assessment of our goals (survival, procreation, happiness) versus our surrogate goals (hobbies to fill in the open time) was groundbreaking. His rejection of modern-day culture, contrary to popular belief, was amazingly advanced. Kaczynski hated the present day, and while his hatred was mostly irrational, his point still remains: if everybody chose to live like him, in perfect simplicity, there would be no war, no famine, no mass murder, no corruption. Nature would be allowed to run its course. Kaczynski was spot on about our technological reliance. His problem, however, is that he thought that we needed a revolution to address it. He believed that sending bombs through the mail was his only avenue to gain publicity. He was wrong, dead wrong, and because of this irrational mistake, three people lost their lives, and many others were critically injured. In order to save his ideas, he refused to plead for insanity, and instead, admitted to his crimes. Because of this, he is now serving life in solitary confinement at a maximumsecurity prison in Colorado. What he wrote isn’t to be discarded, however. His points hold too much validity. It is hard for me to look myself in the mirror and say that society is headed in the most positive direction. All it takes is a spark. One spark to provoke any one of us. One spark, and we will see the true nature of human animosity.
While Chapelle and other modern comedians no longer face legal action for their jokes, they face the court of public opinion. Recently, it appears that the court of public opinion has been functioning less as a jury of peers and more as an autocratic judge, dolling out punishments without due process. If a vocal group views a performer’s routine as offensive, that performer is condemned without allowing the artist a chance to explain the intent behind a performance or commentary. Often, there is no malintent behind a comedian’s witticisms or comments, and they are simply delivered for the sole purpose of comedy. These inflammatory quips may not even reflect the actual views of the performer, but instead, are used for comedic impact and social commentary. In his Netflix special Dark, Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss elucidates the divide between artistic intent and audience perception. Sloss speaks about the hypocrisy of audience outrage stating, “[T]hat’s how people get offended, isn't it? [They say,] ‘I love that joke, that was hilarious, 'cause I've never experienced that, but my uncle had that disease, so you're a d**k’.” While every audience member is entitled to their own opinions on jokes, they should not determine the delineation between what comedy is acceptable and what is intolerable based on their own views and opinions. In short, either every controversial topic
should be fair game as fodder for comedians or none should be explored. The modern champion of egalitarian comedy is the television show South Park. South Park, created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, has been airing since 1997 and over its 22year run, it has explored nearly every topic imaginable. From the seemingly banal, like video games, to the highly controversial, such as Caitlyn Jenner, Stone and Parker appear to be able to address any topic with impunity. The reason for such liberty, Parker states, is that “[their] ethos has always been: if it’s funny, it’s funny . . . everything should be made fun of if you do it in the right way.” South Park has always functioned under a flag of non-discriminatory lampooning and, as such, has operated with freedom and without much controversy. Finally, to quote Sloss again, “[A]rt is subjective, and art is open to interpretation, but just because you interpret an artist’s art in one way does not necessarily mean that that was the way they intended it to be interpreted.” Comedy has often served as a much-needed reflection of society, displaying a culture with its warts and all. If a line is drawn between what topics can be covered and what topics cannot, any reflection loses its clarity and import, the First Amendment takes a direct hit and, ironically, then the joke is on all of us.
“ The importance of maintaining egalitarian comedy Equal Art
Comedy should be able to operate with a degree of autonomy in order to maintain its reflective nature
Ellis Schmitt
Staff Writer schmeh18@wfu.edu Currently, comedian Dave Chapelle’s new Netflix special, Sticks & Stones, has a critic score of 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, marking the lowest score the comedian has ever received on the site for a comedy special. Chapelle has received severe backlash with many outlets, including The Atlantic, referring to the special as “hostile” or offensive for his jokes regarding the LGBTQ community and the #MeToo movement. Although Chapelle has built his career off of inflammatory, and oftentimes, incisive language, his most recent special failed to resonate with many critics. While an in-depth review of Chapelle’s special is warranted, that is not the purpose of this article. Chapelle, along many other comedians, has argued that modern audiences are far more sensitive and prone to outrage than audiences of the past. Concurrently, with the increasing
This shift in public perception begs the question — should comedians have complete freedom in their performances?" influence of social media, such outrage can have devastating effects on a comedian’s career. Such a change in the public ethos can be witnessed in the almost daily social media campaigns to “cancel” a celebrity for his or her comments or jokes. This shift in public perception begs the question — should comedians have complete freedom in their performances? Comedians coming under fire for their bits is not a new concept. In the 1950s, comedian Lenny Bruce began to lay the foundation for modern stand-up comedy. Bruce’s comedy was revolutionary, as it moved away from day-today observational humor and toward biting social and political satire. With gems such as, “take away the right to say ‘f**k,’ and you take away the right to say ‘f**k the government.'” Bruce was not afraid to tackle any topic. However, he was not able to do so with impunity. During his career, Bruce was arrested several times for his use of obscene language, or blue comedy, and was constantly maligned by social groups. Despite this, Bruce persisted with his ribaldry and became an idol for many, including the legendary George Carlin and Richard Pryor.
SPORTS
T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 9
PAG E 11
Online at: www.wfuogb.com Twitter: @sports_ogb Editor: Rafael Lima, limara17@wfu.edu
OLD GOLD & BLACK
Wake Forest unveils new athletics facilities Commitments by Ben Sutton and Mit Shah make possible expansion of sports facilities BY RAFAEL LIMA Sports Editor limara17@wfu.edu On Friday, Sept. 13, Wake Forest officially opened the Sutton Sports Performance Center and the Shah Basketball Complex as the two newest additions to the school’s athletics facilities. The more than 110,000 square feet of new facilities are at the heart of Wake Forest’s efforts to compete at the highest level of collegiate sports by providing worldclass facilities for its student-athletes. “Our responsibility here is to continue to find ways to arm our incredible worldclass educators and coaches across this entire campus: on our courts, on our fields, in our biology department, in our business school and in our physics labs with world-class, transformational resources and facilities,” Mit Shah said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The journey that has gotten [Shah and Ben Sutton here] was one that was simply born, by the love, the compassion and the embrace of all that is Wake Forest University.”
Shah has donated $5 million for the construction of the 24,000-square-foot Shah Basketball Complex, which is connected to the Sutton Sports Performance Center and provides dedicated practice courts for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Prior to the opening of the basketball complex, basketball practices were held off-campus at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (LJVM). Ben Sutton was the main benefactor of the Sutton Sports Performance Center by donating $15 million to the construction of the four-level, 87,000 square-foot building, which includes 10,000 square feet of strength and conditioning area for the football team. The Sutton Sports Performance Center also has a strength and training area dedicated to Olympic sports. “Wake Forest changed my life. My parents went to Wake Forest, and that’s where they met. Then, I came here, and it really is a place where I learned a lot about leadership, about collaboration and building team. You know, I was able to kind of build a great business from my years as being an apprentice, basically, in the Athletics Department,” Sutton said. “I don’t think there’s any amount of money I could give to this institution that would be too much.”
Both buildings will also provide advanced sports science technology that will help coaches analyze and provide feedback to student-athletes through video camera recordings of everything, from a practice session to an athlete’s individual workout series. Student-
athletes will also have the Christian McCreary Nutrition Center, which will provide them with pre and postworkout snacks based on their individual needs.
See Facilities, Page 14
Rafael Lima / Old Gold & Black
On Friday, Wake Forest held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the Sutton Sports Perfromance Center and Shah Basketball Complex.
Deacs fend off the Tar Heels to remain undefeated Wake Forest picked up its third win of the season with a 24-18 victory against UNC Chapel Hill BY RAFAEL LIMA Sports Editor limara17@wfu.edu The fact that it was not an official ACC game did not matter at all once the whistle blew to renew the storied in-state rivalry between Wake Forest and UNC on Friday night at BB&T Field. With both programs on the rise after starting 2-0, this game was seen as an opportunity to assert themselves and send a message to the rest of the ACC, which has no clear No. 2 team behind Clemson. In some ways, the game did send a message, but rather on how far each team is on its rebuilding processes. Wake Forest, in its sixth year under Head Coach Dave Clawson, showed the maturity and discipline of a program that has built a well-defined culture of sustained winning after three consecutive bowl victories. This was evident on the field by the intensity and physicality with which Wake Forest handled UNC over the first 45 minutes of the game. Wake Forest suffocated UNC during its first 11 possessions, forcing nine punts and two fumbles by the Tar Heels. The key to the Demon Deacons’ defensive dominance was in creating a lot of pressure inside the pocket and keeping true freshman sensation, quarterback Sam Howell, uncomfortable. “I think our defensive front played well. We won some one-on-one matchups, and I thought our third down pressure package was effective. When you have a young quarterback like [Howell], you want to get him in third downs and bring different looks and different pressures,” Clawson said after the game. “When [Howell] pre-snap knows where he can go with the football, he is really, really good. He is going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC very quickly. A lot of the reason why we were
good on third down is because we held him on a lot of third-and-longs.” Wake Forest held UNC for 2-16 on third-down conversions during the whole game. The Deacs also sacked Howell six times and registered four quarterback hits. The defensive dominance allowed the Wake Forest offense and quarterback Jamie Newman to jump up seamlessly to a 21-point lead. Newman continued his superb quarterback play during the first half. He threw for 170 yards on 10 for 17 with three total touchdowns (two rushing touchdowns). “Our motto all week was ‘go fast and go score a lot of points early,’ and you know, our defense did a great job in shutting them out during the first half,” Newman said. However, during the second half, Wake Forest had some difficulties replicating the same explosiveness both offensively and defensively. The play-calling started to get a little more conservative. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Wake Forest rushed the ball four straight times with running back Kenneth Walker III in a drive that ultimately resulted in a punt by Dom Maggio. “When we had a three-score lead in the fourth quarter we purposefully slowed it down. We were up 18, there were 15 minutes left and we tried to slow it down,” Clawson said. “Then when they scored, scored again and got [the two-point conversion], then we had to play again, and that’s hard. When you’ve been going slow and trying to drain clock, all of a sudden you [are] ‘hey let’s go fast again,’ and I thought our guys did a heck of a job [given the circumstances].” A lot of credit should be given to UNC, whose fourth quarter comeback magic over the first two games almost worked again against Wake Forest. Despite not generating any offensive threat for the whole first half, the Tar Heels finished the game scoring on three out of its last four drives. If it was not for a poor clock management and running back Michael Carter lack of clock awareness at the end of the game, the Tar Heels might have been four-for-four and winners at the final whistle.
The national excitement of UNC’s first two wins was well deserved, but so was the downfall of its first loss under Brown’s second tenure at Chapel Hill. Lack of urgency to start the game and poor decisions during the final drive are clear signs of a rebuilding team that had only two games under its new head coach. “[Wake Forest] outplayed us so much in the first half, and we got in a huge hole, and that's credit to them. I didn't think we were as ready to go as we needed to, and then at halftime, the guys had to make a decision,” said UNC Head Coach Mack Brown after the loss. “I learned that we weren't mature enough and our coaches and I didn't do a good enough job getting through the first two games and getting over the Miami game and preparing well for this one emotionally.” UNC saw in Wake Forest, and its solid foundation under Clawson, what they aspire to build under Brown: a disciplined team that can capitalize on its talent. In the first battle between these two high-upside teams, the Deacs came out on top. Fortunately, we will not have to wait four more years to see the next chapter of this rivalry.
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
Sage Surratt was named ACC receiver of the week with 169 yards and a touchdown.
Page 12 | Thursday, September 19, 2019
Old Gold & Black | Sports
Volleyball team breezes past Furman Wake Forest then faced its first real challenge of the Pittsburgh, the first place team in the ACC with 10 After wins against Furman and Elon, Deseason against Elon, 4-5 (0-0), which had won its pre- wins, until Nov. 1. mon Deacons start the season 7-1, three In the meantime, Wake Forest travels to Fairfax, Va. vious two matches. Elon stormed out of the game to away from their 2018 win total this weekend to play in the George Mason Tournatake the first two games by a combined score of 50-35. BY NICK LALLI Staff Writer lalldp18@wfu.edu
This past offseason contained some controversy for Wake Forest’s women’s volleyball team, as former Head Coach Bill Ferguson resigned due to his alleged involvement in the “Varsity Blues” scandal. In his stead, Interim Head Coach Randi Smart has led the team to a scorching 7-1 start, nearly matching the 10 total wins the team accumulated last year. Wake Forest 7-1 (0-0) played a struggling Furman 0-8 (0-0) team this past Saturday, delivering a dominant three set victory by a score of 25-20, 25-17, 2518. Senior middle blocker Caitlyn Della led the charge for the Demon Deacons, recording 13 kills and five blocks in a match that seemed one-sided from the start. Freshman outside hitter Peyton Suess contributed her second double double of the season with 10 kills and 14 digs, and junior setter Madeline Holt posted 36 assists. Junior outside hitter Nicole Mack and senior outside hitter Gabby Howard led Furman with seven kills apiece.
The Phoenixes combined for 32 kills and a 42% hit- ment. There, they will face off against George Mason, ting rate in the first two games compared to a minis- William & Mary and Seton Hall. Wake Forest’s first game of the tournament will be Friday night against cule four errors. George Mason at 7 p.m. The Deacons roared back in the third and fourth sets behind Suess’s and junior outside hitter Caroline Kuhn’s strong play at the net, as they helped Wake Forest lead to a 32% hitting rate across the two sets. More importantly, Wake Forest forced Elon to commit 13 errors. The Phoenixes rallied in the fifth set to win a tight one 15-13. Sophomore outside hitter Leah Daniel had a huge game for Elon, pacing the team with 20 kills. For the Deacons, Suess and Kuhn combined for 35 kills, and Holt added a season-best 45 assists. With only one loss, Wake Forest comes in at second place in the ACC early in the season. The ACC figures to be tough again this season, but it appears that the Deacons will not reprise their underwhelming performance of last year, when they finished 13th in the conference with an 8-19 (5-13) record. Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications The Deacons will begin ACC play on Sept. 27 After a turbulent offseason, the Wake Forest against Miami. Wake Forest will not be able to play volleyball team shows early improvements.
Wake Forest falls to James Madison on the road by 1-0 The No. 1 men's soccer team suffers its The second and final goal of the night for the The Wake Forest offense had many close opporfirst loss of the season against the Dukes Demon Deacons came in the 53rd minute. Junior tunities, but it was a career day for Bush, who finMachop Chol had the ball on the left side of the ished the evening with seven saves. JMU outshot on Tuesday night box and then dribbled through multiple defenders the Deacs 12-10, and both sides had seven shots BY JB BLOOD Staff Writer bloojj18@wfu.edu
The ACC is widely considered to be the best soccer conference in the country. With three top-10 teams and seven top-25 teams in the U.S. Soccer Coaches Poll, it is difficult to argue against the consensus. The ACC is the type of league where every win counts and a few mistakes can ruin a team’s season. In their opening ACC matchup on Friday night, the No. 1 Wake Forest men's soccer team dominated the University of Pittsburgh for a 2-0 victory. A few days later however, Wake Forest would slip up for the first time in 2019 and lose to James Madison University 1-0 in a non-conference matchup. In the game against Pitt, longtime Wake Forest fans recognized a familiar face on the opposing sidelines. Pitt’s Head Coach Jay Vidovich was the Wake Forest head coach from 1994-2014. While at Wake Forest, Vidovich compiled a 272-121-50 record while winning five ACC titles and a national championship in 2007. Additionally, current Wake Forest Head Coach Bobby Muuss was an assistant under Vidovich from 2001-2007. Needless to say, the two sides knew each other well and the collective history made for a more interesting matchup. On Friday night, the Demon Deacons headed to Pitt’s Ambrose Urbane Field for their first road game of the regular season. Wake Forest defender Michael Deshields opened up the scoring in the 34th minute. Sophomore midfielder Isaiah Parente was on the upper left corner of the 18-yard box and crossed a high ball to Deshields a few yards in front of the net. Deshields then brilliantly headed the ball into the right corner of the goal to give Wake Forest the 1-0 lead.
before firing off a hard shot past the goalie to give on target. Wake Forest the 2-0 lead an eventual victory. With the loss, Wake Forest is likely to lose its The Deacs outshot Pitt 12 to 9 on the night but No. 1 ranking in the polls. Luckily for the Denine of Wake Forest’s shots were in the first half mon Deacons, the loss was in a non-conference and Pitt held a 6-3 advantage on shots during the matchup, so it has no bearing on ACC standings. second half. Both sides had four shots on goal. Wake Forest’s next game and home ACC opener is Wake Forest had 10 corner kicks in the game, five against Syracuse on Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Spry in each half, while Pitt had nine in total, eight of Stadium. which were in the second half. Additionally, Wake Forest goalie Andrew Pannenberg ended the night with four saves. On Tuesday, Wake Forest took on James Madison University on the road and lost 1-0 to break their five-game winning streak . The first half featured a few close chances for the Demon Deacons but they were ultimately unable to see it through. Wake Forest’s first shot of the game came in the 12th minute from Parente. He fired the ball with his left foot, but the diving JMU goalie stopped the ball. The Wake Forest defense played well in the first half, giving up four shots, only one of which was on goal. JMU pulled ahead early in the second half. In the 52nd minute senior midfielder Manuel Ferriol scored on a free kick from 19 yards out. The ball went a little over the Wake Forest wall and found the left side of the goal just out of goalie Pannenberg’s reach. Just 10 minutes later, it looked like the Demon Deacons would fall into a 2-0 hole when JMU was awarded a penalty kick. Manuel Ferriol fired a shot to the left side of the net, but Pannenberg dove and blocked the ball out of bounds to keep the score at 1-0. Wake Forest’s best scoring opportunity of the night came in the 76th minute. The Deacs were awarded a penalty kick, but Bruno Lapa’s shot was saved by the James Madison goalie TJ Bush. JMU Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications was then able to run the clock down and walk away Despite saving a penalty kick, goalie Andrew Panwith a 1-0 victory. nenberg could not avoid the Wake Forest loss.
Sports | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, September 19, 2019 | Page 13
Spotlight: Nthabi Maine BY LUCY NELSON Staff Writer nelsld16@wfu.edu
The Demon Deacon field hockey team gained a tough and experienced player this season: Nthabi Maine from Durban, South Africa, is playing her last eligible year for the Deacs while she studies Documentary Film and Sports Media and Storytelling in the graduate program. She has competed all over the world, starting her college career in South Africa before she was recruited by the University of the Pacific in California. An injury left her on the sidelines for the first three games of this season, but the strong defender hopes to get back on the field as soon as possible to help the team excel in the ACC this year.
LN: As your first year as a Demon Deacon, what do you hope to bring to the team on the defensive end? NM: I hope to bring, I’d say, a physical aspect. I mean, I’ve been injured the past couple of games, and I think that’s one thing that, watching, I think we can definitely use a lot more of. For example, we played Northwestern this weekend, and if the Northwestern girls were to push us over people would complain, whereas I’m the type of player who will push back, you know, like nothing crazy, but I just stand my ground, and I think that’s something that I’m definitely looking forward to bringing to the team.
Lucy Nelson: If you could be any athlete, who would you be and why? Nthabi Maine: Hmm ... I think I’d have to go with Megan Rapinoe on the soccer team. I think, on top of being an amazing athlete, she just stands up so strong for what she believes in, and I respect that so much. I think it’s tough for women especially today to stand up for something and not get backlash, and she doesn’t really care about the backlash; she just says and does what she believes is right. Mad respect to her. LN: Did you notice a general difference in the style of play or strategy in America compared to in South Africa? NM: The one thing I do notice most is, well, there’s a lot more resources put into it here [in America] which makes sense since South Africa is a third-world country. But also the team spends a lot more time together in the United States Your teammates are your best friends, which I love so much. Also, conditioning-wise, there’s a much bigger focus on that here. Like if you just look at the U.S. Women’s National team, those chicks are ripped. Our assistant coach used to play on the national team, and even if you look at her and compare her to any South African player, you can just see the difference — it’s crazy.
NM: The main differences that I’ve really noticed have more to do with the coaching style. I feel like my previous coach was more … I guess I could say tactical, whereas the coach here has a balance of tactics, as well as motivation and mind-set and overall wellbeing. She wants to make sure that we’re in the right place mentally, which I think is super important as well. And then the team has been super welcoming. I mean, I already love my teammates, and I’ve only been with them for two-or-so months. So yeah, everything’s honestly been great, and I wouldn’t change a thing. LN: Have the tough losses against Princeton and Northwestern motivated the team? NM: Oh, absolutely. There’s an element of frustration there, but I think as these games keep coming up and the frustration starts to build, we’re trying to channel all that energy into practice and into turning it around into positive energy, which this week is going to be a huge focus. We’re just trying to take everything that we’ve done wrong and fix it, because I
mean, we all feel the same way. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same team, and we don’t want to feel that way, so we’re really fired up to have a good weekend.
LN: How has it been adjusting to the team so far, and have you noticed any main differences in this team from your prior one in California?
LN: How are you guys preparing to use your strengths against Boston College and Liberty University this weekend? NM: We haven’t really dealt that much into analysis this week yet, but we’ve played Liberty before and we kind of have a sense of their style of play — they’re pretty quick and aggressive, I’d say, which will definitely up the match. So, I think the coaches are definitely making sure that we’re prepared physically as well as tactically. We want to make sure that we cover every single corner when we’re
Personal Profile Hometown: Durban, South Africa Class: Graduate Student Accomplishments: -2014 Named to the South African U18 National Team -2016 South African U21 Junior World Cup Team -2017 American East All-
Rookie
- 2018 National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-West Region Team
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
preparing for this weekend.
Photo courtesy of Kathy Balogh
Deac Notes Wake Forest volleyball’s undefeated record halts after match against Elon
Rachel Kuehn makes program history in women’s golf
Wake Forest’s undefeated record (7-0) came to an end after a close defeat to Elon University. With a slow offensive start, Wake gave up the first two sets, but battled back to tie it up 2-2. Despite valiant efforts, Elon outlasted the Deacs in the last set, 15-13 to win the match, 3-2. Madeline Holt added a season-best 45 assists, setting up freshman Peyton Suess to crush 18 kills and putting Caroline Kuhn at 17.
The women’s golf team finessed a rough Minnesota course with ease yesterday. Freshman Rachel Kuehn finished the tournament at 13-under, making her the first player in program history to win a collegiate individual title. She and Wake Forest Hall of Famer Brenda Corrie Kuehn (‘86) are now the first mother-daughter pair to have each received medalist honors at a collegiate event.
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
Old Gold & Black | Sports
Page 14 | Thursday, September 19, 2019
Facilities : university opens new buildings
Continued from Page 11
“We took a group of folks to all of the very best, we thought, of the college facilities, but most specifically on the NBA side, and we said that ‘technology, analytics and biometrics, they are driving [the sports]. How do you take someone that is good and turn them into great?’” Shah said. “So, much of it is in kind of how [athletes] grow, their bodies [develop] and all of these things that are happening at the very next level.” The addition of the Sutton Sports Performance Center and the Shah Basketball Complex are only the latest in a series of investments in athletics facilities that have been ongoing on campus, including the opening of the McCreary Field House (2016), renovation of the Reynolds Gym (2017) and new video boards for both the LJVM Coliseum and Spry Stadium (20172018). “We have a number of projects, and this is my first year, so I’m evaluating all of our needs and looking at a master plan of sorts. There are some short-term needs we have in the Miller Center, which is now 20 years old, to upgrade our basketball rooms and our academic support service for student athletes,” said Wake Forest Director of Athletics John Currie. “We need to look more closely at [the LJVM] in the future, of how we will renovate and upgrade it and then some other things. But, generally speaking, Wake Forest is in great shape from an athletics facility-standpoint.”
Sutton seems to share the view of Currie, and less than a few minutes into the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he already promised another round of athletics advancements for the near future. “We still have work to do, but this [the addition of the newest building on campus] brings us up to the top of the ACC or the SEC. I’m excited for our stu-
dent athletes mostly, but for our coaches to have facilities that are on par with Alabama’s, Florida’s, Texas’ or Tennessee’s, to really kind of be one of the benchmark programs in the country now really is a game changer for Wake [Forest],” Sutton said. “But there are other great projects on the drawing board. So, look for lots of announcements over the next two to five years.”
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletic Communications
The new sports facilities will provide personalized nutrition plans for student-athletes as well as dedicated strength and training areas for football and men’s and women’s basketball.
Cover three: Saints finds themselves in NFL purgatory After losing Drew Brees for at least six weeks, the Saints have serious questions for their title aspirations BY LUKE MARTIN Staff Writer martl19@wfu.edu
Rams 27, Saints 9 — This game had all the makings of an NFC Championship preview. That was until Drew Brees went down early in the first quarter with an injury to his throwing hand. Predicted to spend the next six or so weeks recovering, Brees will have to hope the offense can find an identity around backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. If they can keep their heads above water and win some games, a playoff run could still be in the cards. Based on the way the Rams defense was playing and Jared Goff’s connections with his receivers, the Rams will be waiting on the Saints if they make it. Seahawks 28, Steelers 26 — In a weekend that turned out to be reminiscent of a Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding for NFL quarterbacks, the Steelers saw Ben Roethlisberger be claimed as one of the victims. The team was still able to show up stronger than they did in Week 1 against the Patriots, but the Mason Rudolph-led offense was unable to capitalize on a two-point conversion to tie the game in what turned out to be their last possession. Big Ben is out for the season, and the Steelers recently traded third-string quarterback, Josh Dobbs. The pressure is on for Mason Rudolph. Meanwhile, the Seahawks keep finding ways to win, on the way to their first 2-0 start since their 2013 Super Bowl season. 49ers 41, Bengals 17 — Matt Breida and Jimmy Garoppolo seem like quite the formidable backfield after a lackluster performance in a Week 1 win over the Bucs. Their defense, full of big names and high
draft picks and anchored so far by second-year middle linebacker Fred Warner, has given the team the consistency they’ve needed to win two games in a row. That’s a feat they only accomplished once last year, and even then they waited until the tail end of the season to accomplish that. If the Week 2 49ers offense can stay as consistent as their defense, this will be a team that can be competitive with just about anyone. Week 3 Preview Ravens at Chiefs, Sunday at 1 p.m. — Aside from their defense giving up 275 yards on an 88% completion rate to cultural icon Gardner Minshew II, the Chiefs have looked like championship contenders on both sides of the ball this year. As for the Ravens, this is the chance to prove they can compete with any-
one and that the hype around Lamar Jackson and the team as a whole isn’t just a fluke. Viewers should expect to see some very well-executed offense, but don’t be shocked if the defenses show up big in the critical moments. This one is a must-see. Falcons at Colts, Sunday at 1 p.m. — So far in 2019, the Luck-less Colts have been anything but unlucky. They stayed within arm’s reach of a talented Chargers team Week 1, and they picked up a valuable division win against the Titans in Week 2. The Falcons followed a Week 1 dud against the Vikings by beating Carson Wentz and the Eagles behind twin 100-yard receiving games from Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. The Falcons defense has only given up 320 yards passing this season, meaning the Colts rushing attack is going to have to help Jacoby Brissett if the Colts want to have any success. Both teams are still looking to prove themselves, so this should be a fun one to watch. Saints at Seahawks, Sunday at 4:25 p.m. — The Seahawks should be confident after their 2-0 start, but they should also feel very fortunate. They squeaked past the Bengals by a point after giving up 418 passing yards to Andy Dalton. They beat the Steelers by two points after Ben Roethlisberger left the game after throwing just fifteen passes. They’ll benefit from two Week 2 quarterback injuries, as Drew Brees will no longer be available to put up video-game numbers against them after suffering a hand injury on Sunday. If backup Teddy Bridgewater has a good week of practice, Head Coach Sean Payton and Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael can put him in a position to succeed. On the defensive side, if the Saints can play as well as they have in short bursts for a full 60 minutes of football, this could be a good game. The Saints need to win games without Drew Brees to poWally Skalij / Los Angeles Times/TNS sition themselves for the playoffs, and the Seahawks With Brees sidelined for six weeks the Saints are out to prove their 2-0 start isn’t a fluke. Expect a hopes will hinge on backup QB Teddy Bridgwater. hard-fought, emotional game.
Thursday, September 19, 2019 |Page 15
Old Gold & Black | Sports
NBA 2019-20 Power Rankings After a chaotic offseason, the 2019-20 NBA season looks to be one of the most competitve in recent memory BY CONNOR MCNEELY Contributing Writer mcnecb19@wfu.edu The NBA is back. Superstars have claimed their respective cities. The Clippers and the Lakers both vie for Los Angeles, the Warriors reload with DeAngelo Russell and the Hornets sink into the squalor of the NBA’s basement. Here’s how things are shaping up for each team: 30. Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland is focused on a productive season of experience for rookie guard Darius Garland and sophomore Colin Sexton. The hope here is that Cedi Osman will take a leap. 29. New York Knicks It’s hard to make sense of what happened to the Knicks during this offseason. Solid players won’t help them; the only bright spot in the Garden is rookie RJ Barrett. 28. Charlotte Hornets The Hornets have been officially removed from mediocrity. “Star” Terry Rozier will be given a chance to prove if his massive $58 million contract is woth it. 27. Washington Wizards 26. Phoenix Suns 25. Oklahoma City Thunder The Thunder will be forced to take a step back after the departures of superstars Rusell Westbrook and Paul George. However, there’s no reason why Chris Paul and company cannot remain competitive. 24. Memphis Grizzlies Guard Ja Morant provides legitimate star power for Memphis. With a solid centerpiece in Jaren Jackson Jr., the Grizzlies’ future looks promising. 23. Minnesota Timberwolves 22. Chicago Bulls The Bulls have an attractive young core in Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen, but a lack of veteran leadership should keep them from the thick of the playoff race in a competitive East.
21. Orlando Magic The Magic’s season will hinge on guard play. Markelle Fultz has not looked promising so far but deserves another opportunity. 20. Atlanta Hawks The Acquisitions of Reddish, Parker and Hunter should heat things up for the duo of Trae Young and John Collins. 19. Sacramento Kings 18. Detroit Pistons 17. New Orleans Pelicans With the leading candidate for the 2019 Rookie of the Year award in Zion Williamson, the Pelicans look toward a bright future. 16. Dallas Mavericks The Mavericks have their blockbuster European duo in Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic. Do not expect them to get too far in the ultra competitive West. 15. Miami Heat The Heat and Jimmy Butler were made for each other. Young gem Tyler Herro will show out in his debut season. 14. Indiana Pacers 13. San Antonio Spurs 12. Toronto Raptors The Raptors don’t have a title-contending roster, but things are still looking good for them in a crowded East. 11. Utah Jazz Utah is one of the more complete defensive teams in the NBA with defensive genius Quin Snyder and 2018 Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Goebert. The addition of Conley and Bogdanovic should open things up for Donovan Mitchell offensively. 10. Portland Trail Blazers Whiteside should help things out defensively for the Blazers. Look for them to compete for a spot in the Finals in the West. 9. Golden State Warriors The Warriors dynasty isn’t over yet. After a damaging year their core remains intact with the arrival of Russell. 8. Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan should push these young Nets quite a bit. They’ll be more competitive than most will expect. 7. Boston Celtics 6. Denver Nuggets The pickup of Jerami Grant was the underrated move of the offseason, which put the Nuggets near the top of the West.
5. Philadelphia 76ers The 76ers should take a step forward with the maturation of Embiid and Simmons’ improved shooting. 4. Houston Rockets The Rockets are gambling with the pair of Westbrook and Harden. The upside is very high. 3. Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James is out for revenge, and he’s got one of the best teams in years to come for the crown. 2. Milwaukee Bucks The Bucks remain top dogs in the East after a depletion of their bench. Giannis and Middleton will be the difference makers here. 1. Los Angeles Clippers The Clippers are the favorites to win the title. They have the most dynamic team in the league that will draw considerable offensive planning for any opponent. The playoff version of Kawhi Leonard hasn’t been stopped yet.
John Kuntz/cleveland.com/TNS
Despite years of success together, the Wall-Beal backcourt might have seen its last moments in 2018.
Meet the next NFL rookie sensation As a sixth round pick, rookie Gardner Minshew was not expected to start any games in 2019 BY LUKE MARTIN Staff Writer martl19@wfu.edu Making his first ever NFL start, Gardner Minshew II turned more heads than one would expect for a sixth round pick of the less-than-storied Jacksonville Jaguars. Minshew followed up his stunning 22-for-25, 275 yard passing performance in relief of the injured Nick Foles in Week 1 with a solid effort in a grinding defensive battle against divisional foe Houston. Fans of Minshew from his college days probably weren’t surprised when they heard his name again. He’s used to turning heads, both for big numbers on the field and an even bigger personality off the field. At first glance, a faded photograph of Minshew would be enough to convince some that he is a mid-80s quarterback that even their dad has forgotten about. With his, for lack of a better word, robust mustache, he resembles a real-life depiction of a successful Uncle Rico of Napoleon Dynamite. Except real-life doesn’t do him justice. From his American flag headband to his shiny shirt that serves the purpose of chrome accents on the Cadillac that is Minshew’s chest hair, this man is larger than life. Gardner Minshew II is such an enigma, not even his name can be taken for surface value. Gardner Minshew II’s father is not Gardner Minshew I. Neither is his grandfather, or any other male family member for that matter. No, Flint Minshew simply decided he wanted his son to be a Second, and he liked the name Gardner. It almost got more complicated than that. Minshew’s grandfather made
a strong push for the baby boy to be named Beowulf. Yes, we were one questionable decision away from the Jacksonville Jaguars being quarterbacked by the mustachioed Beowulf Minshew II. We will just have to settle for Minshew. Unless Uncle Rico was misleading us all, Minshew differs from him in more ways than just having capitalized on his football dreams. Minshew is actually a pretty smart guy, having scored the second-highest score of all quarterbacks entering the NFL draft this year on the Wonderlic test, an exam designed to gauge the mental abilities of NFL prospects. The Jaguars recently added Josh Dobbs, an aerospace engineering graduate, to their quarterback room. When reporters commented to Minshew that, based on Dobbs’s degree and his Wonderlic score, the Jaguars must have quite the intelligent group of quarterbacks. Minshew responded, “I’ve got a communications degree. I know all y’all know about it. I belong in this [media] room more than that one.” Add humility to the list of lovable Minshew qualities. Gardner’s personality is one that should be appreciated in the moment. After all, we almost never got to see him in the spotlight of an NFL quarterback. As a journeyman college quarterback, Minshew had several options when leaving his third stop, East Carolina University, as a graduate transfer. He narrowed it down to backup quarterback roles at two schools: Washington State and perennial power Alabama. The draws of ‘Bama were clear: learn under one of, if not the greatest college football coach of all time, accept a graduate assistantship there and use connections to enter into a coaching career. Washington State was a less obvious choice — no national championship hopes, not the same coaching prestige. However, WSU’s quirky head coach Mike Leach proposed one point to Minshew that would seal the deal in the end: be a backup at Alabama or be a part of the nation’s leading passing offense. In other words, put up comical stats and have a lot of fun. What decision did you think Minshew would make?
Minshew’s choice paid off. He came off the board in the sixth round to the Jaguars, with plans to learn behind new starting quarterback Nick Foles. That was very unlikely to happen had Minshew spent last season as Tua Tagovaila’s backup at Alabama. A sixth-round pick is not one that comes with high career expectations, but one other quarterback drafted in the sixth round comes to mind: potential greatest of all time, Tom Brady. I am by no means suggesting they will have comparable careers in any way, but a world in which we get to enjoy Gardner “Beowulf ” Minshew II for 20 seasons is exactly the type of world I want to live in.
Bob Self/Florida Times-Union/TNS
After losing Foles in Week 1, the Jaguars found a lifeline to playoff contention in Minshew.
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OLD GOLD & BLACK
Book adaptation is vacuous Oscar bait The Goldfinch adapts Donna Tartt's novel into a flavorless narrative that fails to provide the riches of a celebrated text BY KYLE FERRER Staff Writer ferrka16@wfu.edu Literary film-adaptions always prove to be a set of complex accommodations, for devoted readers and untutored cinephiles both. Any deviation from the novel readers see as perfidy, while others might view it as a welcome departure from the idiosyncratic pleasures readers derive from minute loyalties to the text. Adaptations are supposedly their own artifacts and, at their best, perform a kind of alchemical transfer from one medium to the other, through subtle re-imaginings of the novel’s style that remain faithful to its conceit but crucial to its success as a film. The problem with cinematizing Donna Tartt’s 771page, Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel The Goldfinch, is that the hordes of detail and pages of extravagant description, both of exterior settings and first-person interiority, inevitably get truncated when transferred to the screen. Visual language can capture in seconds the gestalt of lush, itemized scenes that the author describes for pages-on-end in rewarding, Flaubertian detail. The pleasure of the text, a kind of rhythm of sight and sound developed by its language, gets compressed into the pleasure of the image, where, though the camera can linger, it can never swoon over its settings quite the same way an author can; nor can it dither into precision when it comes to expressing a protagonist’s emotion. Or rather, it can do all these things, just through different mechanisms. Tartt’s novel is, in part, defined by its intense atmospheric conditioning, by her character’s unique personal rejection or reflection of each new space. In the film, the spaces themselves are ripe enough, but something about the swiftness of their materialization hampers characters’ ability to aerate them. Instead, the rate of changing settings and events manifests as a tight, rote progres-
Photo courtesy of imdb.com
Photo courtesy of imdb.com
sion. In John Crowley’s film, the actors try to vitalize their environments, but a sort of acquiescent plunge is required of viewers, and the result is a film without narrative drive, rife with confounding sequences. As a viewer who had read Tartt’s astounding novel (and re-read it in anticipation of the film’s release), Crowley’s film was as loyal as it could be to the novel’s structure, ripping almost all its dialogue from the book (a discomfiting portion of which sounded stilted and, well, novelistic on screen.) This is, to an extent, a mutable aspect of the text that could’ve been fixed. Although with a novel as beloved as this one, any change would’ve stung readers. But the question is not blind or partial loyalty, it is what contributes to the success of an entirely different art form. This is ultimately the undecided, middle-ground the film lands on, and that gets it into trouble. The central issue with the film adaptation of The Goldfinch is its unflinching loyalty to its source material. The entire time, as I was hunting for moments of perfidy, I simultaneously wondered what a viewer who hadn’t read the novel thought of the moments on screen. Too often, my hypothesis was that they must’ve have been bored or baffled, unable to grasp the narrative import of a boy named Theo (Ansel Elgort), whose mother dies in a bombing and who then steals a priceless work of art that becomes the centerpiece of the film and his life. It all probably seemed aimless and ill-conceived: why does he care so much about this painting? (The answer, in the novel, has to do with a work of art’s immortality as it outlives the mortals it touches). This pictorial fact becomes so objectively nonsensical to viewers who had not read the novel, and so awkwardly realized to those who did, that the result was a morass of mixed opinion. John Crowley, whose previous work includes the vividly-observed Brooklyn, shows us the darkened-wood interiors and winking porcelain of New York high-society, as well as the gusting flatness and extraterrestrial beauty of the Las Vegas desert with visual committment but diminishing narrative effect. We become less interested (and more confused) as the film progresses, not because of how it looks, but because what the characters say and do matters little. Crowley’s sensitive touch seemed able to deftly situate Theo in a mise en scene, but could never quite awaken him (or others) to in-
volve us in the same dense beauty present in the novel. The film has so much ground to cover that friction can hardly ever build, and we zoom through time without much textured instance. Roger Deakins, at times, presents stunningly beautiful cinematography, and it’s all captured well enough, but the result seems like a bunch of lavishly lit rooms in which characters scarcely develop, or else come already so developed as to seem unreasonable. Somewhere in the process of making this film, the complexity of Tartt’s novel, paired with the arithmetic game of piecing it onto the screen, became too much. The tipping point arrives quickly, and the emotional substance of the novel vanishes, making the film a trite chronology, and a darting mess. Amidst the general confusion, though, there are some great performances, namely Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Barbour, the frosty upper-West Side socialite busied by parties and personalities, who takes the orphaned Theo into her home. Kidman plays her with impeccable restraint, chill as iced wine, while still eeking out the latent emotion Mrs. Barbour becomes so lovable for later in the film. Jeffrey Wright as James Hobart is admirable, although not quite hulking enough to sufficiently impress Elgort’s Theo. Luke Wilson and Sarah Paulson do well to portray the drunken, gambling time bombs they both are, yet Boris, played as a child, convincingly, by Finn Wolfhard and as an adult, not as much so, by Aneurin Barnard, seems a bit too disparate from the cable-knitted young Theo (Oakes Fegley). But to elucidate every actor’s individual performance is another alarm bell sounding. The acting does not much matter if the film fails to grip us. The characters are like ideas floating in an empty narrative. For great writers, “the power of language sets them apart … their story, not their ideas, [is] supreme, and for an idea to find houseroom it need[s] embodiment in a narrative or it [is] worthless,” William J. Kennedy said. All the character’s roving around The Goldfinch have ideas of who they are (they’re actors filling up with the qualities of their role), and even the director’s team has an idea of look and feel, but not pace, or coherence, or perhaps creative license to alter Tartt’s book for the screen. The film, to work, may have had to be three-plus hours, but as it stands, its breakneck progression only promises to fade what little import it had to start.
Thursday, September 19, 2019 | Page 17
Life | Old Gold & Black
Concert Review | Lizzo
THE HOT Lizzo inspires fans with music LIST Lizzo’s recent performance in Raleigh incorporated themes of self-love BY CAROLINE KLEIN Staff Writer kleicd16@wfu.edu Did you see the full moon this weekend? That’s right, the Friday the 13th full moon was indeed overshadowed by a star that shined much brighter: Lizzo. Her concert this past Friday in Raleigh was an experience like no other. Lizzo is not only an immensely talented singer, but she is also a gifted flautist, dancer, comedian and motivational speaker. With a full dance crew behind her, Lizzo performed music from her first and second albums (Coconut Oil and Cuz I Love You). She weaved through her setlist in unusual form, starting songs in the middle, interrupting them with remixes and flute solos, then returning to the song’s beginning to satisfy the audience’s full cravings. Her transitions between songs featured twerking battles, audience-interactive games and speeches encouraging self-love. With such a spectacle, it was hard to look away from the stage. However, part of the beauty of this event came from offstage. Looking around the full amphitheater, it was hard not to notice the diversity of the crowd. Often, when you go to a concert, you expect a cer-
tain type of person to be there, or at least a theme of dress. Going to see Ke$ha when I was in middle school was like entering a cult of teenage girls, where the uniform required neon fishnet tights, tribal print, and feathers woven into hair. At Lizzo, there were people of all ages, races and genders, and there was no one style of clothing. I saw everything from old men wearing pajamas to toddlers wearing tutus, and everything in between. This shouldn’t be surprising, because Lizzo herself doesn’t want to be categorized. Pitchfork’s review of Cuz I Love You critiques the album for its lack of commitment to any genre. We go from R&B to rock & roll, from 80s pop to hip-hop, from funk to soul. Her inspiration draws from
Prince (compare the opening of “When Doves Cry” to “Tempo”), Rihanna (“Love On The Brain” versus “Jerome”) and even Phantom of the Opera (does the chord progression of “Cuz I Love You” sound familiar?). So yes, Pitchfork is right, there is no specific genre that Lizzo fits into. But the variety that she produces is one of the strongest features of her music. Lizzo refuses to be put in a box, and she even advocates for the destruction of social norms that neatly wrap people into their own boxes. As the reigning leader of the Body Positivity Movement, her concert felt like a rally for self-love. She, along with her dancers, known as the “Big Girls,” together celebrated their plus-size bodies and attitudes, a monumental step forward for positive representation of body shapes that defy beauty norms. As she sings in “Better In Color,” body shapes, sizes and color “don’t matter to me, ‘cause I like everything.” Her audience was a direct reflection of Lizzo’s love of variety. She commented on this from her onstage perspective, remarking that being a Lizzo fan doesn’t carry any physical requirement. Instead, she explained that being a Lizzo fan means loving yourself and striving to leave the world a better place than you found it. If you weren’t a true Lizzo fan when you got there, it was impossible to not have fallen Photo courtesy of StarTribune in love with her by the end. Her last piece Lizzo captivated her audience of advice: “If you can love alllllll of this … with her diverse performance. You can love yourself.”
Top 10 Collective Animal Names By Amanda Wilcox
Have you ever wanted to have a group of fun pets? Here’s what to call them.
1.
A prickle of hedgehogs
3.
A cupboard of pandas A conspiracy of lemurs
5.
A maelstrom of salamanders
A business of ferrets
7.
A celebration of polar bears A parliament of owls
9.
Cartoon
A congregation of alligators
A fever of stingrays A smack of jellyfish
DRINK OF THE WEEK Cookies and Cream Is this a rip-off of a juice shop smootie? Maybe... Hot Chocolate • 2 cups milk • 1/2 cup hot chocolate mix • 6 Oreo cookies
Heat the milk and crush the Oreos. In a pitcher or a blender add hot milk, Oreos and hot chocolate mix. Mix well and serve with optional whipped cream and crushed Oreos. Cartoon by Ryan King
Scholarly Email Tip Number 12: Keep emails concise, but make sure you don’t overdo it. If you email like my mom texts, your recipient may get the wrong idea, and then you’ll be in a boatload of trouble.
Courtesy of Mommy’s Kitchen
Page 18 | Thursday, September 19, 2019
Old Gold & Black | Life
Album Review | Hollywood’s Bleeding
Album features many guest artists New Post Malone album explores the solemn aftermath of life in Hollywood BY CONNOR MCNEELY Contributing Writer mcnecb19@wfu.edu When the hit single “White Iverson” was first released and rocketed to the top of the charts across the United States, many watched the cornrowed Post Malone stumbling around in the desert and wrote him off as a one-hit wonder, a tattooed amateur, a “culture vulture” who in all likelihood didn’t know what he was doing. Yet here he remains four years later, a pop musician in the truest sense of the phrase, who has consistently dominated the American music industry for months at a time. Hollywood’s Bleeding is Post Malone’s third studio album, a record that follows the tsunami of commercial success that was Beerbongs & Bentleys. While his sophomore album was overlaid with thick and syrupy themes of impassivity, stocked full of veritable party anthems, this project is a melancholy and somewhat solemn look at the aftermath of life and the symbolic “party” of Hollywood, which can be a double-edged sword, according to our beleaguered narrator Post Malone. Truthfully, Hollywood’s Bleeding is a mixed bag. The brooding tone of the album is readily apparent from the get-go.
Post reflects and bemoans the consequences of Hollywood when he sings, “Everyone’s gone but no one’s leavin’,” building up the pervasive concept of severe emotional detachment in the America’s most famous town. “Circles” stands out as one indie sounding single on the record. It has a mellow, catchy beat and an indelible melody. However, it suffers from vague, run-of-the-mill pop lyrics that lack a creativity fans know Post possesses. Brighter spots can be seen in “Enemies.” Post dazzles with a million dollar hook and DaBaby destroys his verse. “Take What You Want From Me” adds possibly the most brilliantly creative feature choice in Ozzy Osbourne’s fresh vocal performance and ethereal guitar solo. “Die For Me” remains with the record’s bog of melodrama, yet still shines with an aggressive Halsey cameo and an energetic Future verse and chorus. Although the virtues of his musical talent and decisions shine in multiple hits, the vast majority of the album seems to be constituted of a confusing allegiance to pseudo indie-rock influences as well as to the larger dominion of hip hop culture. Post’s musical ambiguity can both be an advantage and a detriment to the critical success of the album. The advantages can be seen in the fantastic range of guests on the project; almost every single feature is dynamic and brings something engaging to the table, but some do disappoint to
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Post Malone’s new album, Hollywood’s Bleeding, was released on Sept. 6 and is characterized as melancholy and solemn. produce categorically dumb songs, which sound so painfully targeted that they could be handed in as demos. Songs like “Internet” and “Staring at the Sun” overcrowd the dominant sulking tone and overcompensate, even with SZA’s compelling feature. In “Saint Tropez,” Post mounts a swaggering defense of his clout, flexing in a
music video set in the French Riviera. Accompanied by the lyrics in “A Thousand Bad Times,” it makes one wonder if Post has really escaped the desolation and dark lure of Hollywood. His proclivity for fame and the riches that come with it — which is almost impossible to shed for anyone — seems to remain, and the desire to be hurt accompanies it.
TV Show Review | The Bachelorette
Hannah Brown chooses wrong man Season 15 of The Bachelorette is filled with drama and controversy
BY CAITLIN SHAW Contributing Writer shawcm18@wfu.edu Whether you were dragged into watching by your friends, you are a Bachelor Nation fanatic or you don’t even know what this show is, you are a Wake Forest student, so you had a reason to care about Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette. That reason is Tyler Cameron, a former Wake Forest quarterback. My sole motivation in continuing to watch this show was Cameron. Each week I looked forward to seeing how far he made it and made predictions with my friends about the show’s finale. But, the season did not end how many people expected or hoped — including Brown herself. Though I disliked Brown on Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor, she began to grow on me during her season … a little bit. On The Bachelor, she caused unnecessary drama with fellow contestant Caelynn Miller-Keyes, put Colton through a lot of stress and aimed the spotlight on herself. On this season of The Bachelorette, she strived to be as authentic as possible. I appreciated her quirkiness
and down-to-earth demeanor, but I think she made some detrimental decisions over the course of the season. In my opinion, she had one of the best groups of guys in Bachelorette history. Not only did she have Cameron, who is genuine, chivalrous and (of course) beautiful, but she was lucky to have Peter Weber, Mike Johnson, Dylan Barbour, John Paul Jones and Connor Saeli as well. Many of the men on her season had so much to offer her: stability, love, kindness, spunk, humor and truthfulness. Yet, she paid most attention to and ultimately fell for my least favorite men: Luke Parker and Jed Wyatt. Why Brown kept giving Parker a rose week after week baffles me. He lied to her, manipulated the other men on the show, refused to be vulnerable and even “slutshamed” Brown. Parker was possessive, controlling and narcissistic throughout the show — so narcissistic that he refused to go home on multiple occasions and convinced Brown into letting him stay. Each week that Parker returned, I questioned Brown’s judgment for choosing a man like him. My biggest problem with Parker was that he used religion as a vehicle for judging people’s characters and condescendingly justified these accusations with the Bible. Knowing Brown shared the same faith as him, he capitalized on this advantage whenever it was convenient. Thankfully, Brown finally came to her
senses and saw through his lies during the fantasy suites round after he told her he could not have sex with her if she had been with other men. Brown called him out on his belittling accusations, stood up for herself and told him that her husband would never say what Parker just had. Finally, she ended with this quote which is now all over the internet, “I have had sex, and Jesus still loves me.” This moment was satisfying and empowering to watch because Brown refused to allow Parker to minimize or control her. After this moment, Brown finally appeared to have clear perceptions, but then, she sent Weber home. While saying goodbye to America’s favorite pilot, Brown told him that their relationship had been “perfect” and “easy” and said that Weber was “the dream guy.” So what was the catch? In the following episode, as Cameron is nearly on one knee with a ring in hand, Brown tells him that she chose Wyatt. Cameron had done everything right, but she still felt stronger about Wyatt. If I was in Brown’s shoes, I never would have made the decision she made, but people can’t change the way they feel. Shortly after their engagement, the media released photos of Wyatt and his girlfriend back home, who had been waiting for him during the entirety of the show’s filming. As frustrating as it was to watch Brown make these mistakes and go for men like Parker and Wyatt when she had
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Brown’s season contains empowering messages for many women. so many other amazing options, hindsight is always clearer than foresight. In the end, it is truly sad that Brown went through two seasons of reality TV dating and still did not find her person.
Life | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, September 19, 2019 | Page 19
TV Show Review | Euphoria
Euphoria speaks to many Millennials
Zendaya expertly plays the character Rue in the new hit HBO series Euphoria BY ROBIN RODRIGUEZ Contributing Writer rodrrs18@wfu.edu Imagine this: you’re in high school again, yet now all your friends do Molly, police investigations are more prominent than pep rallies and you have an intense drug addiction. That is the world of the new HBO hit Euphoria, starring Zendaya. While this may seem like the craziest show you’ve ever heard of, because it is, it’s also really good, while also touching on some very important issues. So what is Euphoria? This show premiered on June 16 after a plethora of commercials, including songs from Labyrinth and Instagram posts from Zendaya, which created an aura of hype around the premiere. Euphoria follows a junior in high school named Rue, who spent the summer in rehab. Along with Rue’s main story, the show breaks up into several other smaller stories following the other characters within the show. Each character proves to be more interesting than the last, each having a riveting and suspenseful backstory. The show surrounds these characters and their lives in and out of
school, exaggerating their high school experiences, yet still relating to many viewers. Since the show’s premiere, it has received praise from several different sectors of human existence. The main praise of the show is from those who adore cinematography. Euphoria is filled with bright colors, lights and elaborate moving scenes. Doniella Davy, head of the makeup department, has gained a mass following since the show’s premiere, all due to the insane makeup looks on several of the show’s characters. Makeup artists all around the globe are recreating her looks and spreading them wider. Along with makeup enthusiasts, Millennials also love Euphoria. This show was basically made for them, in the era of being a teenager in high school when technology is booming and tensions are high. Then, there is the LGBTQ+ representation throughout much of the show. Mainly through one of the main characters, Jules, as we watch her flourish and attempt to crush femininity, all while transitioning. This show intensely, at times explicitly, represents many teenagers today, which only increases its popularity. The most well-known actress within this show is Zendaya, with several of the other actors not being very well-known, unless you notice that the actor that plays Nate was in the Kissing Booth. Yet, due to this
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Euphoria explores the trials and tribulations of teenagers as they transition into adulthood. The show features the LGBTQ+ community and addiction. show, they have all received mass followings and praise from fans, and all is well deserved. These actors had to act according to their characters lives and the revelations that they had throughout the show. For example, Barbie Ferreira, who plays Kat, is a relatively new actress. She depicts her character’s sexual awakening and increase in confidence with grace, making you love Kat. This goes for every actor in
this show, even the smaller, supporting characters. Euphoria can be defined as a state of intense happiness and self-confidence. This relates to the whole theme of the show, as you watch Rue struggle with her drug addiction and her desire to feel “happy.” While watching this show, you may feel happy, sad, disgusted, scared, surprised and so much more, all in one episode. All I can say is, watch it.
Album Review | III
Lumineers’ album III radiates pain, heartbreak Captivating new album III joins the Lumineers’ discography BY AMANDA WILCOX Online Managing Editor wilcaf16@wfu.edu True fans of the Lumineers know that the folk rock/Americana band is far more complex than its smiley, footstomping smash hit “Ho Hey,” which reached the top of the charts in 2012, might lead one to believe. Four years after their debut, the Lumineers returned with a weary, disillusioned sophomore album, Cleopatra. Over the summer, after three long years, writers and lead vocals Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites delivered III, their most deeply personal and raw album to date. In stark relief to the playful, flirtatious college-bar feel of the Lumineers’ earlier discography, such as in “Big Parade,” “Classy Girls” and “Submarines,” many songs in III radiate pain and heartbreak. However, III is still the Lumineers that we know and love: simple yet deeply deliberative in sound, genuine and emotive in lyrics and tone. The album did not follow the release template most typical in the music industry. Rather than releasing a few singles in advance of a formal launch, the Lumineers divided the tracks into three
small EPs or “chapters,” which were released over the span of four months. The third dropped on Sept. 13, completing the album along with a handful of bonus tracks. (Don’t skip the bonus tracks; the excellent cover of “Democracy” by Leonard Cohen adds a spot of brightness to a brooding and melancholy album.) Those three chapters create a narrative tracing the devastating impact of drug addiction, alcoholism and abuse on three generations of one family — the first chronicles a mother, Gloria, and the subsequent two follow her son and grandson, Jimmy and Junior. Each song is accompanied by a music video, and together, they comprise a breathtakingly powerful 10-part short film, which has been accepted into the Toronto International Film Festival. It is a narrative that Schultz and Fraites both know intimately. Schultz has a homeless relative who has battled mental illness and addiction, and Fraites’ brother, who was also Schultz’s best friend, passed away after a heroin overdose. “With drug addiction or alcoholism it really affects the individual and then it has a sort of fallout effect — similar to the effects of a radiation bomb — over time and over years and years, it continually tends to affect people’s loved ones,” Fraites said in an interview with NPR. Overall, the Lumineers profoundly capture the sentiment that it is possible
for members of a family to be ripped apart by dysfunction, yet still continue to love one another. The first EP and series of videos, which focus on Gloria, a family matriarch who begins a cycle of domestic and substance abuse, convey the feelings of helplessness often brought on by the terrible disease of addiction: “Gloria, will you just decide? / Gloria, there’s easier ways to die / Gloria, have you had enough?” In the second EP and series of videos, we see Gloria’s grandson, Junior, grapple with the normal growing pains of teenagerhood, as well as the damage that two generations of alcoholism inflicted upon him. While “It Wasn’t Easy to be Happy For You” recounts the raw emotion of a first heartbreak, which many can relate to, it becomes clear that Junior’s pain cuts far deeper than a normal teenage boy post-breakup with the lines, “It wasn’t easy to be happy for you / I took the poison, praying you’d feel it too.” Further, in “Leader of the Landslide,” he comes to terms with the fact that his family were not people whom he could or should look up to: “She left, she left, she left, the writing’s on the wall / Please believe me, I smell the alcohol / The only thing I know is that we’re in too deep / And maybe when she’s dead and gone I’ll get some sleep.” The last chapter explores Jimmy, Gloria’s son and Junior’s father. It is a despondent ending to the album, evoking
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Lumineers’ new album is broken into three seperate EP series. a father’s desperation to save his sick son from his own demons. Although “Salt and the Sea” suggests a moment of hope — “I’ll be your friend in the daylight again / There we will be, like an old enemy / Like the salt and the sea” — it ultimately recognizes the overwhelming darkness of addiction and the extreme difficulty of breaking a generations-long cycle.
Page 20 | Thursday, September 19, 2019
Old Gold & Black | Life
Wild Blue offers more options The third iteration of the Asian Food restaurant in the Benson food court appeared over this past summer. Here’s an honest review of what they have to offer. BY LILLIAN JOHNSON Editor-in-Chief johnlg16@wfu.edu
Hissho Sushi. In this case, you truly get what you pay for. While I won’t be having Wild Blue’s sushi again in the near future, I think at some point I’ll have
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Sushi Wild Blue’s sushi was one of my first meals back at Wake Forest this semester. The POD in Benson was one of the only places open, when the dining halls had weird hours at the beginning of the year. I went for the safestlooking option — a California roll with brown rice. Not being a fan of regular brown rice, I didn’t have very high expectations of brown rice sushi. Even without high expectations (how much can you really expect from pre-packaged sushi?), I was sorely disappointed in my California roll. There was only one word to describe what I ate, and that word is wet. That’s not exactly a description one wants to hear in reference to sushi. Maybe it was the brown rice, maybe it was just that particular roll having a bad day. The sushi in the POD, which is the same ones offered by Wild Blue at their station, was on the whole about a dollar and a half cheaper than
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I’ll admit it: I’ve never liked change. So when I returned to campus this fall and saw yet another new Asian place in the Benson food court, I was very skeptical. As a senior, I’ve seen four restaurants in what I can only now describe consistently as the “place next to Chick-fil-A.” The line of succession has been: Boar’s Head (rest in peace, unknown date - summer 2017), Take Two AsianAmerican Fusion (fall 2017 - summer 2018), Hissho Sushi (fall 2018 - summer 2019), and now, Wild Blue (fall 2019 - we’ll see). Having had strong feelings about the cyclical replacement of the “place next to Chick-fil-A,” I knew I had to give Wild Blue a proper chance, so I’ve done my best in the past few weeks to try a sampling of their offerings.
rice, chow mein noodles, vegetable spring rolls and fried pork dumplings. One entree is $7.49, whereas two entrees are $7.99, so I’d say spring for it and spend the extra 50 cents to get double the options. One friend — who has already tried a range of t h e
to jump on the hipster bandwagon and try their poke bowls. Poke bowls are new to Wake Forest, and I think this exciting new addition gives Wild Blue serious contention as a good, modern Asian place on campus. Entrees So far, I’ve been too wary to actually try any of the entrees. I’ve had several friends try them, and so my review here is based entirely on what they’ve told me. Wild Blue offers an arrangement of typical Asian foods: sesame chicken, beef and broccoli, mapo tofu, white rice, fried
new entrees, from chicken to beef — told me that, unlike the Asian place two years ago (Take Two Asian American Fusion), it is something he would actually go back and eat. To those who don’t remember the weird soggy noodles and overly salted chicken of Take Two, this is a ringing endorsement for Wild Blue. Another friend had fried rice and tofu. According to her, the fried rice was fine, noting that it wasn’t much different than it had been last year. Her only real point of contention was that, while the tofu was fine, the sauce was a little too sugary for her liking.
The takeaway here seems to be that Wild Blue’s entrees are good. Nobody’s calling them great, but it’s definitely food that people seem willing to eat again, and that’s a good sign. Ramen Having ramen — real ramen, not the stuff you can buy in a package or warm up in a cup — seems like a delicacy on a college campus. The ramen isn’t also a one-size-fits-all sort of deal; it’s customizable. You get a choice of broth — miso, spicy miso, and tonkotsu. Options for meat are chicken char siu and pork chae siu. There are a multitude of veggie options, of which you can choose four: baby bok choy, bamboo shoots, broccoli, cabbage, cilantro, corn, fried onion, green onion, mushrooms and nori. The noodles are standard across all ramen bowls, and sure, they do sort of look like the packaged ones. And they all come with half a boiled egg. I chose miso broth, pork, bamboo shoots, broccoli, mushrooms and green onions. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by this dish. The flavors of real ramen were there; the miso actually tasted like miso. It definitely tasted like it was meant to be onthe-go, but that’s what should be expected. Overall, the question isn’t so much a question of quality, but a question of worth. At $10, it’s not something everyone on the standard meal plan can afford to eat all the time. Ramen was a worthy meal, relatively well-rounded and a decent, filling size. Maybe not totally worth $10, but definitely worth $10 every once in a while. All in all, it seems like Wild Blue, with its usual standards and two new exciting options, is an improvement on the past Asian places in Benson. And luckily, it can only continue to get better from here.