October 27th

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The

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Independent Student Journalism Since 1914

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This week in Perspectives, the Davidsonian Staff wishes you a very happy Halloween

Volume 120, Issue 5

October 27, 2021

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Student-hosted sports podcast attracts listeners nationwide

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Municipal elections are coming up. Check out our election guide to learn more about Town Commissioner candidates

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Still need a costume idea? The Yowl has you covered

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Greenhouse To Be Completed in 2022 Research space will expand botanical study opportunities

ANIKA BANERJEE ‘24 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER

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ometime during 2022, the E. Craig Wall Jr. Academic Center (Wall) will unveil a state of the art greenhouse. With fans, heat vents, and the ability to control temperature and other conditions, this space will revolutionize Davidson’s biology department, specifically its focus on botany. When Wall was under construction in 2015, there were plans for a rooftop greenhouse. However, due to a lack of funding it was cut from the building for the initial opening. When the Baker-Watt Science Complex was completed in 1999, its plan also included a greenhouse, but the same budgetary issues cut it from the plan. Currently, a shortage of construction workers, a global supply shortage of steel, and shipping delays are setting back the construction timeline; but soon, Wall will be adorned with the addition of an avant-garde greenhouse. This greenhouse will be dedicated to Dr. Patricia (Pat) Peroni (1956-2019), a former professor in the biology department, and has been named the Pat Peroni Memorial Greenhouse. Peroni was disappointed to see plans for a greenhouse stripped from both Watson and Wall, and unfortunately passed away of lung cancer in 2019 before she could see this new greenhouse come to fruition. Upon the greenhouse will be a plaque that displays her name to commemorate the work she put towards Davidson’s biology and environmental science programs, along with her love for botany. Dr. Chris Paradise, the Chair of the Biology Department, spoke to how the department garnered the resources necessary in order to pursue the project now. Because of the pandemic, lab courses did not need the funds that they were allotted from the restricted accounts that are meant for research. Additionally, the biology department did not use as much of their annual operating budget as they typically do. In combination with those savings,

Dr. Susana Wadgymar, an assistant professor in the biology department specializing in the adaptive evolution of plant systems, was able to put some of her research money towards the project as well. Another campus greenhouse, which stood by the soccer field, was going to be refurbished until “David Holthouser, who’s the Director of Facilities said, ‘I really want to see this greenhouse on the roof,’ because it’s more convenient for the biology department,” said Dr. Paradise. “He said, ‘Well, let me check with the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Philip Jefferson, and the Chief Financial Officer, Ann McCorvey. They were very supportive in the mission to get this on the roof,” stated Dr. Paradise. “So Holthouser found additional funding from a variety of different accounts, not all of which I know. But he was able to get the rest of the funds that we needed to get it up on the roof.” In addition, some of the funding came from donations made to Davidson in Dr. Peroni’s name. The true vision of this greenhouse is to expand upon the botany opportunities for Davidson. Dr. Wadgymar outlined the significance of this addition to Wall. “I currently have plants stashed anywhere in Wall that they will let me grow them. In fact, I’ve grown plants in the basement and the old animal care facility in the basement of Watson, which is rather void of light— so we have thrown grow lights down there and tried to make them happy, and it didn’t work so well,” she said. Dr. Wadgymar identified that the limiting factor in her students’ ability to properly conduct experiments is their lack of space, and the greenhouse will provide them with ample room to grow plants. In this space, Dr. Wadgymar and her students hope to study “how genes and the environment both influence plant performance, or how they might even interact to influence plant performance. So that usually involves

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Work being done on the exterior (above) and interior (below) of the forthcoming Wall greenhouse. Photo by Sydney Schertz ‘24.

Dean Rusk Program Director Zimmerman Steps Down

BRIGID MCCARTHY ‘25 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER

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ane Zimmerman stepped down as the John and Ruth McGee Director of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program on September 3rd amid the continued global health crisis in order to prioritize, on a micro-level, her health. “The pandemic just reordered my priorities, particularly my personal priorities,” she said. “As a result of the pandemic, I just started to read things like my priorities in terms of particularly health care. I began to realize that if my husband got sick, I didn’t want to be 400 miles away. And if I got sick, I didn’t want to be 400 miles away from the health care providers I’d had for over a decade.”

Professor emeritus of the biology department Dr. Verna Case took over as interim director upon Zimmerman’s decision. She explained that although the search committee hopes to hire a permanent director in this role by the beginning of the new year, “it will depend on the outcome of the search and when a new director will be available to begin the position.” Despite the pandemic, the demand to go abroad has never been greater. As Zimmerman prepares to settle closer to home in Arlington, Virginia, Davidson students continue to seek international opportunities, just as they have been for decades. Parallel Growth: Davidson and Charlotte Before Zimmerman, Dr. Chris Alexander served as director of Dean Rusk for over fif-

teen years, arriving at Davidson in summer 2002 and leaving the position in fall 2019 to work instead in the College Relations office. With an academic background in political science, he explained how his hire “marked a kind of a novel experiment.” “My two predecessors had both been retired ambassadors, they had been State Department professionals. And the college… they were interested in seeing what it would be like to have an academic direct the program,” he said. According to Dr. Alexander, the desire for increased global reach at Davidson College began in the 1970s with President Sam Spencer ‘40, a leader who championed international education among many bold college changes, including coeducation. Dean Rusk opened its doors in the mid-1980s, during a crucial

time period not only for Davidson but for Charlotte. Dr. Alexander discussed how Davidson’s development into a globally-minded institution paralleled Charlotte’s growth as a globally-minded city. “The Dean Rusk program began at the same time that UNC Charlotte, Queens University and the leadership in the city of Charlotte… all of them were talking about the need for Charlotte to be a more globally-engaged community,” he said. “The first director of the Dean Rusk program was…Jack Perry. Jack had been the US ambassador to Bulgaria. Jack became part of … this handful of people in the Charlotte area who really led Charlotte’s

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