March 11, 2014

The Denisonian

Established in 1857

Tuesday, MARCH 11, 2014

Cameras installed on East Quad JEWELL PORTER News Editor Something’s different about East Quad. Late last week, the administration had cameras installed surrounding some of the residential buildings, such as behind Shepardson Hall and in front of Sawyer Hall.

Director of Safety, Security and Risk Management Garret Moore said, “There was a formal request for funding for cameras on the exterior main residential quads several years ago. There became a greater need after several unusual incidents, such as the Beaver Hall Arson by the Wingless Angels and other serious violations.”

Some students have expressed concern that these cameras will infringe upon privacy rights of students. Moore said that this is not the purpose of the cameras as they will only be outside of residence halls. In addition, he said, “the cameras will likely not be monitored but reviewed when we have a report of a violation that might help with an investigation.

He said that the purpose of the cameras will only be used to investigate “serious violations.”

This would include crimes like pulling the fire alarm, arson and physical assault. Moore said the purpose of the cameras is not to

DENISON UNIVERSITY GRANVILLE, OHIO 43023

Volume 162, No. 6

DENISON UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION CURTIS EDMONDS Editor-in Chief

Nelson Dow/ The Denisonian

Pictured above are one of the several cameras that were recently installed on East Quad. Cameras were also installed behin Shep Hall, behind Beaver, and behind Sawyer Hall.

get students in trouble for activities like drinking. “We’re not concerned with things like that,” he said.

Members of the Security Committee said they were not involved in the deciding if and when cameras would be installed. Moore said, “this was decided before the Security Committee had been convened.”

The decision was, instead, made solely by the administration.

Students are concerned with

the fact that the administration began putting up cameras without even telling the students. Tempestt Battle ’15 from Orange, New Jersey, said, “it seems inconsiderate to not address the student body about the cameras.”

Moore said that they were planning to wait until after spring break, when the installation of the cameras will be complete, to tell the student body.

“The process seems sketchy to

me,” said Imani Abernathy ’16 from Chicago, Illinois.

The administration plans to also put cameras up on West Quad, but not North Quad, South quad and around the senior apartments. Abernathy said, “it doesn’t make sense to only put them on east and west quad if they are going to install them.”

The cameras will be up-andrunning when students arrive on campus after spring break.

The Denisonian has received documents alleging that Denison “is not providing equal opportunities for female college students to play sports” under Title IX requirements. A complaint filed with the Cleveland Office of Civil Rights said that there was a “participation gap” between the percentage of women on campus and their participation in Division III sports.

These documents were sent to The Denisonian from an email account attributed to Mark Rossmiller, who has filed similar complaints against Texas and South Carolina high schools, according to The Columbian and .

The complainant, whose name was excluded from the document, cited statistics from the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis, which showed that in 2011, 2012 and 2013, the college had a 14 percent, 16.10 percent and 15.71 percent female participation gap, respectively.

The complainant alleges that if Denison did provide women with equal athletic opportunities, there would be “an addiSee DCGA, page 3

Kal Penn livens up Herrick Hall IFC CALLS FOR CHANGES

TO HAZING PROCEDURES

KRISTIAN GARCIA Staff Writer The Denison Democrats hosted An Evening with Kal Penn in Herrick Auditorium) where actor, political activist and former staff member to President Obama staff member discussed his time in the White House as well as his journey into acting and the challenges that followed through both sides of the court.

A graduate of UCLA who double majored in film and sociology, Penn initiated the lecture by addressing gender and race issues during his early career as a radio station intern.

When he was viewing job applicants, his boss told him to See KAL PENN, page 2

NICK DIIORIO Assistant News Editor

Nelson Dow/ The Denisonian

Kal Penn said during his speech, “I didn’t have a traditional path.” He then went on to explain how his career path transformed.

The Interfraternity Council (IFC) at Denison is currently in the process of implementing a By-Law sanctioned Standards Board composed of fraternity men to ensure the fair representation of its organizations during allegations of misconduct. While the proposal is still awaiting full administrative approval, significant progress has been made in determining the board’s ideal roles and membership characteristics.

The Standards Board, through its intricate involvement in the conduct review process, hopes to have three main functions within the Denison Greek com-

munity. First, the Board would represent the interests of students regarding fraternity life by creating an unbiased jury of their peers to assess charges of conduct violations. Second, this institution would facilitate better cooperation between Greeks and the administration in all interactions. Finally, the Board would afford IFC the accountability to legitimize its actions when providing recommendations for the handling of misconduct investigations.

IFC believes that the realization of these functions will allow a harmonious environment to flourish where Greeks can have a significant student voice in See IFC, page 3

IN THIS ISSUE

FORUM

FEATURES

ARTS & LIFE

SPORTS

10

teams came to Denison for the NCAC Track and Field Championships over the weekend.

Body Image Post Naked Week See page 5

Students Stealing from DiningHalls See page 6

Rico Suave See page 8

Boys Lacrosse See page 11

NEWS

Page 2

Women’s History Month

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

‘Distinguished’ seniors honored in Knobel Hall

Facts Of The Week Queen Elizabeth I She was queen of England as the country was going through tremendous political and economic change. She was the woman who made the country fully Protestant and witnessed the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Marie Curie She was the first woman to recieve a Nobel Prize. She ended up winning two awards in her lifetime: one in her research in radioactivity and the second in chemistry. She also helped develop the first X-Ray machines.

Off the Hill

LOCAL Denison seeks tax credit for renovations of Granville Inn Newark-Advocate Denison University, which acquired the 89 year-old Granville Inn last fall, has applied to the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program seeking $2 million in rebates for renovations.

NATIONAL

Army General sexual assault trial to proceed CBS News On Monday, a military judge declined to dismiss charges of sexual assault against Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair. The General’s proposed plea deal, which would have alleviated him of the sexual assault allegations, was rejected by the court and the case will proceed to a trial.

INTERNATIONAL

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 still Missing CNN After an extensive 3 day search conducted by over 70 ships and aircraft, there is still no trace of the Boeing 777 from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, nor the 239 people on board. The search area has been refocused to Andaman Sea near Thailand’s border, as there has been some indication the plane may have reversed course back to Kuala Lumpur.

Corrections - The article “Denison Hearts the Arts” incorrectly identified Joyce Lindsey ‘14 as the head coordinator for that event; the head coordinators are Hunter Hughes ‘14 and Clara LangEzekiel ‘14.

- The article “Denison partners with 13 other schools for Koru” said that Denison was a co-founder. Denison is a partner.

Ruth Orevba/ The Denisonian

DLA winners: Tabytha Arthur, Ryan Culligan, Karla Mitchell Dix, Janie Frandsen, Cait Ghiloni, Josh Goldman, Michaela Grenier, Ashley Holland, Andrea Karl, Joyce Lindsey, Carlos Maciel, Ana Morales, Saniel Persia, Kiara Sims, Tom Snee, Liesje Steenkiste, Lauren Tyger, Laura Venzke and Jaime Zito. Not pictured: Ruby Montes de Oca.

SHALEEN SHARAN Staff Writer The applause from Knobel Hall for the winners of the Distinguished Leadership Awards (DLA) could be heard throughout Burton Morgan. Twenty students were selected from a list of 92 applicants to receive the DLA award.

Laurel Kennedy said that every year, Denison gives these awards to graduating seniors who have made “some sort of transformative impact, [made] some sort of change in the campus that will last after [they] have graduated.” The ceremony was short, as Dr. Kennedy delivered a speech and then called each student to receive their award, citing their accomplishments.

When asked about how students were chosen to receive these awards, Dr. Kennedy said that during the application process, they are “looking for evidence of a transformative impact upon the campus through their leadership. We ask students and recommenders to talk about that.”

She also said that the way students wrote about their experiences was also taken into consideration. “We want students to be reflective about their experiences, but we also think that when students have engaged in thoughtful reflection and are able to draw some conclusion about what the lessons of certain challenges are, for example, they are more likely to continue to be leaders.”

Michaela Grenier ’14 of Downers Grove, Ill., an international studies and women’s studies major, talked about how surreal it felt to have won the award. “I remember looking up to people before who have won and just…it feels very strange to be in that position.” She also wished there was a way to honor everybody else as well. “There are so many people who aren’t up here today who really deserve it. There are so many leaders at Denison that I wish there was some way to award all those people.”

Jaime Zito ’14 of Phoenix, Arizona, a religion major, shared Michaela’s view. “I feel very honored to have it, but like [Dr.

Kennedy] said, 92 people applied, so it makes me sad because we have so many leaders on our campus that I wonder if there’s a way everyone can be awarded for their exceptional leadership.” Regarding how she felt when she got the award, she said she felt mostly surprised. “You don’t do things to get awards. When you’re doing things, like being involved in UPC and throwing events, I wasn’t thinking that I was doing this for some awarded, so to see other people award for doing things because you wanted to do them, it’s kind of a surprising and interesting feeling.”

Carlos Maciel ’14 of Recife, Brazil, an economics and international studies major, said he “felt really good” when he won the award. “I’ve done lots of work here, but I know a lot of other people who got nominated and I don’t know if I deserve it more than they do. I think it’s a great honor.” Regarding the award, he said, “I think its great recognition for the people who do good for this school. I think it’s necessary to recognize them.”

KAL PENN Continued from page 1

discard all the female applicants. Kal Penn was infuriated by his boss’ ignorant and misogynist management.

Although Penn was annoyed by stereotypes, he was pursuing a film career and would accept important supporting character roles based on stereotypes in movies like National Lampoon’s Van Wilder that won him notoriety.

Penn never considered being a political activist, but had a change of perspective in the 2007 and 2008 presidential campaign for Barack Obama. He became an advocate and got further involved with the Democratic Party.

Penn was later offered a position for Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, which he accepted and responded to the audience by saying: “I couldn’t say no to working with the President.”

Penn discussed the impact of this opportunity because he had to stop his recurring role in House and end his acting career for some time. Penn quickly understood the sacrifice by realizing that he dramatically changed roles from actor to advocate.

This time he was creating a different impact by reaching out to the arts com-

Nelson Dow/ The Denisonian

Back: Yusuf Ahmed, Liam McElroy, Kal Penn, Alex Bookout, Chris Hoye, David Allen, Rob Tate and Kristian Garcia. Front: Chelsea Eastman, Ana Morales and Amanda Eastman. The event took place on March 6 in Herrick Hall.

munity and schools to implement “arts education” programs which tend to have a positive outlook on youth. Penn also serves as a liaison for the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities.

One of Penn’s highlights about working under Obama’s staff is that “Presidents will do things to help the community that you will never hear about

because it never gets coverage. That’s the best thing.”

Kal Penn closed the conference by sharing some words of advice. In order to make a good first impression, one has “to shave and dress appropriately” for any type of job opportunity and to have something crazy to inspire you and move you forward.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

NEWS

Page 3

How DCGA wants to spend 500,000 dollars CURTIS EDMONDS Editor-in Chief DCGA began a little differently Tuesday. During her presidential report about the Campus Affairs Committee, DCGA President Ana Morales diverted to give a short statement about her hopes for the night’s vote on the reserve fund proposals.

She called for respectful dialogue and recognized that whatever decision DCGA made “a long-lasting impact on Denison students.”

DCGA continued with an open debate forum where non-voting members could participate in discussion about the proposals (the Roost Renovation, the Externship Endowment fund, the La Fuerza Latina space, the event monitors in Slayter and the social spaces proposal) along with senators.

After the Senate voted to indefinitely table last week’s amendments, Senator Steven Hix ‘16 introduced an amendment that would change the La Fuerza Latina space name to the “Community and Cultural Center” and give the organization $35,000, while funding the Chamberlin bar (a part of the social spaces proposal) $155,000 and the Roost Renovation more than a quarter of a million dollars.

“I do like this proposal [...] but my biggest concern is with the bar,” said Aaron Robertson ‘16. He said that North Quad, where Chamberlin is located, would include more freshman dormitories in the 2013-14 school year. “Do we want to continue this focus on alcohol by putting this bar where it is?” asked Robertson.

Other senators voiced concerns about how this amendment came to be. “I question the process [behind the amendment],” said Finance Chair Kiara Sims ‘14, who said that Career Exploration & Development, which proposed the Externship Endowment, was not included in the meetings, and excluded from Hix’s amendment. She later would call the process “unethical.”

Senator Ashley Bartreau ‘16 supported Hix’s amendment, but amended Hix’s amendment to deduct $10,000 from the Chamberlin bar and move it to a renovation from Crawford lounge,

IFC

Continued from page 1 conduct matters without subverting the administration’s authority.

According to the IFC proposal, the Board’s membership would consist of one person from each individual chapter as well as a chairman appointed by the Executive Committee. Although any member of a chapter is eligible to apply to sit on the Board, IFC suggests the representative to be the Risk Management Officer, in order to assign some accountability to that position.

Additionally, the Vice President of Standards would participate in discussion and oversee proceedings as an ExOfficio member, but would only cast a vote in the event of a tie. These participant confinements will help to verify the transparency of the Board’s motives and determinations while setting clear expectations for interested applicants.

When allegations against member organizations arise, they will be fully reported to the Standards Board for thorough review and analysis. A recommendation report based on the Board’s findings will then be forwarded to the Campus Leadership and Involvement Center (CLIC) office for consideration.

IFC Vice President of Standards Chris Hoye ‘16, of Lambda Chi Alpha, be-

Allie Vergrunic/ The Denisonian

DCGA representatives voting on an amendment regarding the reserve fund. DCGA’s final vote was to combine three of the five proposals presented to them by the Finance Committee. This took place last Tuesday on March 4.

which passed in under two minutes, with 25 voting for, and 12 voting against.

Former DCGA President Drew Johnson ‘14 defended the bar, saying that other freshmen dorms, while not close to a bar, are “close to the Sunnies,” senior apartments where parties occur.

“This bar would be open to everyone,” said Johnson, and he argued that “the bar would be safer than the Sunnies” because the bar would have to check ID before serving students.

“To spend $145,000 on a proposal that is five sentences long doesn’t seem right to me,” Raghav Daswani ‘15 said of the bar.

“We don’t necessarily have [the details] for the other proposals either,” responded Senator Kate Ellicott ‘15.

“We’ve trusted the people who wrote the proposals,” she said.

But President Morales and Vice President of Student Development Laurel Kennedy voiced that the Chamberlin space where the bar would go is cur-

rently an unfinished basement and that the space should be renovated.

Hix’s amendment passed, with 30 senators voting for it and 9 voting against.

The amendment funded three of the five proposals, leaving out the event monitors and the Externship Endowment Fund.

Finance Chair Sims again announced her disapproval of Hix’s amendment and after a five minute recess asked for representatives of the five proposals to explain the nature of their meetings with Hix outside of DCGA - Career Exploration & Development, who, according to Sims, said they were never contacted, left DCGA before the recess.

“It felt last minute,” said Nancy Aguilar ‘14 of her meeting with Senator Hix. Aguilar, who wrote the event monitors proposal said, “I walked away from the conversation feeling unsure about exactly where my proposal stood in regards to the other proposals that were talked about the most.”

Finance Chair Sims said that the process took place “without taking into consideration multiple individuals” and that “It makes DCGA look bad as a whole.”

Hix responded, saying that the process of his amendment was “the nature of compromise.”

The Senate voted in an overwhelming majority to make Hix’s amendment the final vote and the official reserve fund plan for DCGA, which would house a La Fuerza Latina space under a different name in the Social Spaces proposal.

“This is a recommendation the Senate has passed, to be passed on to the administration,” said President Morales after the vote to clarify that the passed proposals were not set in stone.

“DCGA has been in charge of the student activity fees for almost sixty years,” said Vice President of Finance Seth Patton. He said it was “unusual” and that “[the administration] will look at the proposal and get back to you.”

lieves that having the evidence analyzed by members of the Greek community “would establish accurate context and understanding of a situation, which would prevent excessive punishment of an organization when unneccessary.”

The two primary responsibilities that can potentially be granted to the Board are outlined in Section II Article XV of the IFC By-Laws as follows: 1) “The Standards Board shall hear all cases as referred by the Executive Board in which the integrity or safety of the chapters, its members or the fraternal system at large are placed in jeopardy by a member of the Fraternity/Sorority Community.” 2) “The Standards Board shall have authority to make final decisions on responsibilities and sanctions in such cases.

The allocation of all or most of these duties to the Standards Board would represent a substantial legacy of forward progress and increased membership involvement for the current IFC Executive Committee. The Board’s enactment would provide a number of new leadership opportunities for chapter members that would be especially attractive to students interested in legal studies or political science. However, there would be a thorough application, screening, and training process for potential Board representatives to ensure that bias is absent from all deliberation.

TITLE IX

start a sport end up quitting,” says Collyear. According to her, at least ten women quit the basketball team just last year, and those women might not be included in the EADA’s statistics.

Title IX states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Continued from page 1 tional 84, 94 and 90 women respectively, for those school years, would have been able to play intercollegiate sports.”

According to EADA data, in 2013, there were 968 men at Denison, 33.98 percent (or 329) of which played intercollegiate sports. In that same year, 1,336 women attended Denison, 18% (or 241) of which played a sport, producing that 15.71 percent participation gap.

Vice President of Student Development Laurel Kennedy received the complaint at 3:00 p.m. last Friday. Via email, she said, “I’m very surprised by the complaint as we have paid very close attention to equity in Athletics.”

The second document is a letter from Cleveland OCR stating that the office “will investigate whether the University effectively accommodates the interests and abilities of members of both sexes to the extent necessary to provide equal athletic opportunity.”

Ju’Quay Collyear ‘17 of Indianapolis, Ind. plays women’s basketball at Denison. She says she disagrees with the complaint: “I feel like in every sport we have, besides football, there is a men’s and women’s team.” Collyear says that she’s also unsure about the statistics the complainant cites. “A lot of the women who

THE DENISONIAN

NEWS

ALL THE NEWS THAT MATTERS

Have news?

Email: porter_j4@denison.edu Visit: www.denisonian.com

EDITORIAL

Page 4

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

OUR VOICE >>

Editor’s Corner >>

Staff Editorial

Campus communities and unity Title IX allegations a waste of time

GOLZAR MEAMAR ‘16 Managing Editor As students of Denison, midterms are all we can think about right now. Oral interviews for language classes, exams worth 30 percent of our grades, papers worth a great deal more. But at the same time, we reach an area of contestation in our extracurriculars.

There are students on this campus who take on everything they possibly can. There are only 24 hours in a day, and seven days in a week, but Denison students manage to fit many different activities and way more hours into that time period. No one can criticize us for having an apathetic student body or a student body that does not take advantage of the many ideas and communities offered us. But they could blame us of fragmentation and a lack of focus.

Students on campus are involved in many different clubs and organizations, which is not unheard of, since there are so many of them. Last year, the CLIC office tried to consolidate different organizations into umbrella categories, to streamline involvement and to create larger support groups for clubs with less of a following.

The initiative was a fantastic idea, one designed, at least in my opinion, to bring the campus together more and to make sure that organizations were receiving the support they needed and were unified.

As an editor of a student publication, I see the need for unity in our different communities. The Denison Community Association is an umbrella organization for different service groups like Girl Scouts, Homelessness and Hunger, and Big Brothers Big Sisters all fall under this umbrella.

Signing up for DCA events means signing

up for notifications from different service organizations that may appeal to anything you might want to do. Because they are all service organizations, they are unified in support and funding from one umbrella organization titled for service, which helps gain support and following.

To speak specifically to the disbanded community of the many writers and editors across campus, there is a need for a unified front. While we all focus on different topics and focuses, there is still a need for all to come together to support each other, especially in times of publication and our futures as print publications. Exile, Articulate, the Bullsheet, and The Denisonian are all examples of different student publications that print, publish, and put forth work into the Denison community.

There has recently been a turn away from print, as some would say, in terms of publications around the globe, but on campus, there is still a need for print, especially since most of these publications do not have websites, and especially because not everyone will go out of their Buzzfeed quizzes and automated Facebook homepages to look at campus news, satire, or literary work.

An article The Denisonian published last week, “Juicebox gets the squeeze,” emphasized a new student publication being cut from DCGA funding for reasons untold. As a student publication on this campus, The Denisonian feels that Juicebox is a student publication worth funding and worth investing time in, so we have chosen to partner with their publication, in the attempt to create a unified publication community and add to the voices we see in print across campus.

While many of our members are involved in many different organizations on campus, I see myself as a member of The Denisonian and Kappa Kappa Gamma, two things that I have boiled myself down to and two things that I can fully invest my time into. I am a member of our publication community and Greek life and I can truly say that I believe that my involvement in the Denison community is working towards ending fragmentation of the communities presented to us.

The Denisonian Denison University‘s Oldest Student Organization - Established 1857 Curtis Edmonds

Editor-in-Chief

Carole Burkett

Editor-in-Chief

Golzar Meamar

Managing Editor

Jewell Porter Nick DiIorio Clarice Pranger Matthew Pennekamp Cecilia Salomone Elaine Cashy Christina Napoli Kathleen Barenholz David Allen Julian Howell Laura Carr Katie Jenko Shivani Mithbaokar Nelson Dow Ali Miller Hannah Goldman Charlotte Underhill Evan Stoler Khari Saffo Kevin Torres Allie Vugrincic Camilo McConnell

News Editor Asst. News Editor Forum Editor Forum Editor Arts & Life Editor Asst. Arts & Life Editor Features Editor Features Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Web Editor Photo Editor Photo Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Cartoonist Business Manager Social Media Specialist Video Editor

We think that the investigation against the school on the basis of a Title IX violation is a waste of time.

We don’t see how the university could possibly be at fault for the low amount of female participation in sports.

If more female students want to get involved with athletic activities, then they have the opportunity to do that.

With the exception of football, which is only offered for men, and the exception of field hockey and volleyball, which are only offered for women, every other sport is offered for both women and men. Additionally, there are 12 total varsity women’s sports on campus compared to 11 varsity men’s sports.

Participation in sports is not about

forcing people to do so. If more women wish to participate in sports, they can do so. Moreover, Denison does a really good job recruiting women for their teams, and they do a good job filling the roster for both the women and men’s sports teams.

As a result of Denison’s recruiting for women’s teams, their teams usually do better than the men’s teams. For example, the women’s track and field team places second at conference this weekend and the men’s placed seventh.

Even though the women’s teams as a whole may have fewer people actually participating, they still end up doing a lot better, and we’d take quality over quantity any day.

Staff Editorial

We don’t need surveillance With constant reports of vandalism, alcohol-related medical transports, sexual assault and trespass, it should come as no surprise that the administration has decided to install cameras on residential quads. The problem is the process by which this was decided.

Where was the student input?

As a campus, we spent the last few weeks in DCGA debating about how to spend $500,000, but we had no voice in something that is priceless: our privacy and our respect.

We are adults on this campus, and we should absolutely be held accountable for our actions, especially if we are

breaking the law or hurting others, ourselves, or the community. But shouldn’t we get to have a say in how we are surveilled? Shouldn’t we have a say in the installation of cameras on our dormitories, places where we retreat for comfort, privacy, and familiarity?

More cameras will be installed over spring break, and we should demand from administrators an explanation and a community debate—which should have happened in the first place. We should ask our administrators why our voices weren’t heard and why our opinions were not solicited.

Staff Editorial

Ain’t even done with the night The all-nighter. That infamous bane of any college undergraduate’s existence. To resort to pulling one is the ultimate admission: the work was too much, the stress too heavy, and the pressure too consuming. But here’s a curveball – not too many people think of the positives associated with this supposed blight.

Margaret Thatcher was famous (or perhaps infamous, depending on either your political leanings or relationship with the Sandman) for governing her nation for eleven years with about four hours of sleep a night. Similarly, for those who can easily bounce back the next morning (with morning being

a relative term) after a night of insomniac daze have a plethora of opportunities at their disposal.

The moment you decide to pull the trigger and declare to yourself, “Yeah…I’m not going to bed tonight…”, there are suddenly eight hours of liberated time at your disposal! You can watch aimless videos on YouTube for hours on end.

You can bond with your fellow narcoleptically-challenged friends. You can even test out coffee varieties as though you’re paid for it. And before you know it…your work is still not done…

The opinions expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those of Denison University, nor any of its constituents. Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board, consisting of the Editor-in-Chief, section editors and assistants.

Columns, letters and Forum pieces represent the views of their authors. Letters to the editor of reasonable length will be accepted prior to 5 p.m. the Sunday before publishing. Letters may be edited for length or content. The Editor-inChief reserves the right to refuse the printing of submissions.

Remaining dates of publication: 4/1 4/8

4/22 4/29

108 Knapp • Denison University • Granville, Ohio 43023

denisonian@denison.edu www.denisonian.com

Courtesy of Khari Saffo

FORUM

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

YOUR VOICE >> Op-Ed

Page 5

Op-Ed

Denison’s real body image issue In defense of the Chamber

CECELIA SALOMONE ‘15 Arts and Life Editor Empowered. Free. Proud. These are just three of the words that are used every year by Naked Week participants to describe how they feel after running nude with a group of people clothed in no more than their birthday suits. The aim is to promote healthy body image and acceptance. However, we as Denisonians need to ask ourselves: why do we only talk about body acceptance one week out of the year?

It’s easy to preach body image when most of the student body (pun intended) looks the same. While Denison is more diverse than it was twenty years ago, I think we can all agree that there still exists a “typical” Denison student image in everyone’s minds. This student is probably white, upper-middle class, and may be involved in Greek life.

They’re also probably “conventionally attractive,” meaning they’re thin and in great shape, which can be tied to one’s economic background as well (healthy food = pricier food, in America).

So if there’s lots of “hot” people, does this mean that everyone here is comfortable with their appearance? Not necessarily. In fact, I think it adds to the already-present stress many people have about their bodies. Furthermore, we tend to view body image as exclusively a women’s issue, which would be unfair.

Girls and women are expected to be “pretty,” thin, sans any body hair or acne, made-up, and have neat hair; it’s pure hyper-femininity. By the same

token, boys and men are often told to be hyper-masculine: they’re expected to be muscular, “manly-looking,” and athletic.

The messages are entirely scattered when it comes to clothing too.

Women should be modest but sexy, men shouldn’t care about clothes but they shouldn’t schlep it. Also, the issues about body image and appearance faced by those who are transgender/sexual are abundantly complex. Really, how we view our physical appearance is impacted by the outside world no matter what we call ourselves.

I think that on an image-conscious campus like Denison’s, we all have our looks a lot more on our minds than is probably necessary. Before coming here two years ago, I had been told college was a place where people wore pajama pants all the time. Instead, I found a wealth of khakis, and I learned what Patagonia is.

Here’s the thing: in the real world, people look a thousand different ways – and all the better. Ever hear that expression “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?” It’s true. Does your life feel anything like what you see on TV or in magazines? Odds are, probably not.

So why would you expect to look like you’re straight out of Cosmopolitan or Men’s Fitness? You shouldn’t, and no one else should expect you to.

I’m not claiming to be an expert, nor am I trying to say I’ve never worried about how I look, but just because you feel like you’re surrounded by “pretty people” doesn’t mean you need to consider yourself inferior in some way. If Naked Week helps our campus move toward happier, healthier self-image, that’s awesome. But we as a community need to keep those positive ideals in mind year-round, not just for one frigid February week.

Cecilia Salomone is an English major, communication minor from Bainbridge, Ohio.

KRISTOF OLTVAI ‘15 Editor Abroad If there’s one thing you can smell from 4,500 miles away, it’s controversy on the Hill. Indeed, it’s been easy to imagine the dialogue swirling around the DCGA’s recent debate - and now decision - on use of its Reserve Fund. Reading last week’s issue, however, I can firmly say I am glad to hear that my representatives voted to give a student bar in Chamberlain significant support.

Last week, my friend Bryan LeBlanc wrote in this paper that if DCGA “[does] vote against...giving La Fuerza their own stress-free space, I hope it is because [they] have a better idea for addressing the stress in our constituents’ lives.”

First of all, I was happy to read that DCGA did not vote down the La Fuerza proposal. While frustrated by Senator Hix’s castration of the space’s purpose by renaming it the nonsensical “Community and Culture Center” (which I hope will be rechristened soon), I think the committed $35,000 is a good beginning.

But second, and more importantly, I would like directly tackle Mr. LeBlanc’s point. I do think funding “the Chamber” bar is indeed a better idea for addressing the stress in our constituents’ lives.

This is because I do not think that racial tensions on this campus are the largest encapsulating problem at Denison. Rather, I think racial tensions are a symptom of a more general issue: that a certain articulation still lords over student culture at Denison. This creates the “stress” Mr. LeBlanc mentions: stress that affects not only racial minorities but also women, the

LGBT community, and the poor.

The elite exercise their hegemony at Denison mainly through social spaces.

This is why, for example, the question “are you going out?” at Denison translates to “are you going to attend a dance party hosted by a mostly-white, all-male group?”

But to say La Fuerza needs a stress-free space above and beyond other disadvantaged groups, is not seeing the forest for the trees. Denisonians as a whole need spaces where they feel comfortable; places where they can socialize without knowing the doorman.

Therefore “The Chamber” would be a great addition to places that serve as the social crossroads of all student groups – places like the Bandersnatch and the Homestead.

As for alcohol—alcohol is an element of human culture, and its responsible consumption in a social setting should be celebrated. Denison’s drinking problems do not stem from the readily available nature of alcohol on campus per se, but rather from a “pregame culture” which demands students be utterly wasted by the time they arrive at crowded dorm parties.

“The Chamber,” if properly executed, would be a great addition to the social life of this school. It would create an inviting atmosphere where all students could grab a few beers and socialize. Its location in a dorm hall would create casualness and ease in direct contrast with the stifling formality of the Roost.

The La Fuerza space will be beneficial mainly for La Fuerza members, but “the Chamber” deserved more funding because of its universal character. I hope “the Chamber” transcends physicality and becomes a tradition all Denisonians can share. Building the most inclusive community possible is what the liberal arts ethos is all about.

Kristof Oltvai is a philosophy and creative writing double major from Pittsburgh, Penn.

Op-Ed

The economic consequences of the high cost of a diploma

NICHOLAS DILORIO ‘15 Assistant News Editor According to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the 3.6 percent average increase in tuition costs for 2013-14 was the lowest growth rate since the early 1970s. While this realization is clearly a step in the right direction, it is only a drop in the bucket when considering the macro-level trends in tuition costs over the past quarter century and their potentially catastrophic consequences.

The impending surge in the price of tuition for the 2014-15 academic year at

Denison University, is rumored to be 4 percent above the already astronomical $42,990 it charged students this year.

While it is a fact that a university education is not suitable for everyone, the necessity of a college degree for many careers has placed constraints on the affordability of higher education. The issue of affordability is by no means Denison-specific and has the potential to drastically affect the lives of past, present and future alumni.

In sum, the true value of a college education can be most accurately measured by the return-on-investment it produces for the students. However, the ever-increasing costs associated with obtaining a degree possess a real threat to the very notion of receiving a returnon-investment.

This has led most students to seek additional funding through loans to support their family’s contribution. This has resulted in roughly 60 percent of graduates incurring student loan debt to the average total amount of $26,500 for 2011-12, which places serious re-

payment responsibilities on young professionals entering a very difficult job market.

The combination of roughly $10 billion of borrowed funds to pay tuition costs and an unfavorable economic climate that is making it difficult for many students to repay their post-graduation debts has the potential to develop into a devastating crisis. The abnormally high rates of default on student loan debts share a number of intriguing parallels with the sub-prime mortgage debacle that preceded the Great Recession.

The root cause of these concerning statistics surrounding student loan debt can be traced back to the obtrusively high tuition costs charged by universities – private institutions in particular.

In America, high education costs account for a greater percentage of family consumption spending than in most other developed countries, which can be partially justified by the popularity of collegiate America. T here is, however, no justification for the undue punishment being consis-

tently doled out to future generations in the form of incomprehensible debts and poor employment prospects for recent graduates. While it is admirable to attempt to tackle some of our society’s most disputed issues: immigration, abortion and gay marriage, fixing the problem of higher education financing should be the supreme collective aspiration of our generation because of the immense positive dividends that could result from a solution.

Therefore, it is imperative that we recognize the potentially dire consequences of continuous increases in university tuition costs for both current and future consumers, lest we come to terms with facing a further financial crisis of debt and despair.

This is an issue of paramount importance to every member of our nation and should be tackled head-on with comprehensive, pragmatic solutions that will mitigate rather than aggravate.

Nicholas DiIorio is a political science major, economics minor from Cleveland, Ohio.

Page 6 Student Organization Spotlight

FEATURES

Sustainability Fellows: Always thinking in the 'green mindset' RACHEL MOBIE A Special to the Denisonian

As the snow falls and the cold Ohio weather continues to drag us down, the Sustainability Fellows here at Denison are always thinking in the ‘green’ mindset. The Sustainability Fellows are constantly working on various projects to keep our campus and community eco-friendly.

Ludwig Icevski ’15 highlights some of the macro-level projects that they are working on. He notes that along with projects such as Party with Consent, which urges social sustainability on campus, the Fellows engage in the I <3 Granville campaign to promote environmental sustainability in the Granville community.

Across campus, there is not a lot of support for the environmental groups on campus. The Sustainability Fellows are trying to support collaboration between the various groups, along with instituting lasting relationships with the school (such as the food service provider, Bon Appetit).

Fellow Francesca Gentile ’16 filled us in on some facts about Denison’s sustainability, “Many Denison students aren’t aware of the behindthe-scenes sustainability in our dining halls. In fact, all leftover food in

“Many students aren't aware of the behind-thescenes sustainability.”

-Francesca Gentile '16

Nelson Dow /The Denisonian

Members of the Sustainability Fellows organization. Left to right: Daniel Fiorentini '15, Drew Sorenson '14, Ludwig Icevski '15, John Brachna '14, Mia Manfredi '14, Grace Finkbiner '16, Allyson Clark '16. Not pictured: Megan Hart '15, Francesca Gentile '16, Olivia Snow '16, Nelson Dow '16 Huffman gets taken to shelters, and every Friday, local farmers visit the dining halls to talk to and inform students.”

Along with the current projects that

they are working on, the Fellows are starting to plan campus-wide events for Earth Week, which is April 1727. This is a very important week for the Sustainability Fellows, who hope

it will be a fun week of conservation and environmental awareness.

Looking for ways to be more sustainable in your everyday lives on the Hill? Both Ludwig and Francesca emphasized that just by cutting shower times by a couple minutes each day, you will drastically save water, and by taking the stairs over the elevator, massive amounts of energy are conserved.

By simply making small changes, you can both conserve the Earth’s resources and support the Sustainability Fellows, a very prominent group of powerful students on campus.

Student Organization Spotlight

Closeted no more: LGBT students speak on their experiences CURTIS EDMONDS Editor-in-Chief

Amanda Peiffer ‘16 remembers the day at her Richfield, Ohio high school when a teacher ripped down paper cut outs displaying both heterosexual and homosexual couples and threw them in the garbage in front of her class.

Peiffer was a dedicated member of her high school’s gay-straight alliance club, and was shocked by her teacher’s reaction to the decorations. “She said, ‘we don’t need this up here,’” said Peiffer. “I couldn’t believe that could happen at a public school.”

Peiffer, a mathematics major, has moved on from the incident and is now president of Denison’s Outlook, an LGBT-focused group on campus.

The daughter of Roman Catholic, Republican parents, Peiffer is straight.

She says that her passion for Outlook and the LGBT community is because “I’ve watched friends go through [expletive] hell. [The LGBT community] is something people are still really ignorant about.”

Outlook has a full executive board, with a vice president, a social chair, a treasurer, a secretary and two representatives in the student senate. According to Peiffer, meetings usually draw 25-30 students per week.

Meetings take place in a conference room on the fourth floor of the student union each Thursday, and a box of Goldfish – rainbow edition of course – greets the members. Outlook is indeed a family, with students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight.

Six freshmen members are referred to as “the rainbow babies.” Smiling, Peiffer says, “We need to come up with a better name.”

Seeing Outlook as a family is especially important for those students who didn’t have support from their relatives after disclosing their sexual orientation. “When I told [my par-

Outlook celebrates at their annual Red Party, which seeks to raise awareness about HIV/AIDs. ents] I was gay, they didn’t react very well,” says De’Garrica Elliot ‘15 from Memphis, Tenn. and a psychology and women’s studies double major. She continues, “They told me I was going to be a pedophile, that I was not going to graduate or be successful.”

While family can be one obstacle for students that identify as LGBT, Denison itself can be a maze. A small college of 2,150 students in rural Ohio, seventy percent of Denison's student body is white, 50 percent identify as Christian, and 57 percent hail from a household income of $100,000 or more, according to the college’s Center for Women and Gender Action.

Bryan LeBlanc ’15, a psychology major from Bedford, Mass. says, “Denison isn’t homophobic, it’s very heteronormative, very conservative.”

Karen Caballero ‘17 from Chicago

FEATURES

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

and a psychology major says that Denison’s heteronormativity has made her journey with sexuality more difficult: “It’s really hard to discover [your] sexuality because of the labels.

Friends ask me ‘are you gay or are you bi? Pick one.’”

For Jeremy Kleven ‘14 from Columbus, Ohio, an economics and French double major, his concern is with students who remain “in the closet” about their sexuality. “I want to tell them it doesn’t have to be this way,” Kleven says. De’Garrica Elliot '15, who “came out” to her parents just two years ago, says, “It’s hard for me to see people struggle with who they are.”

Students aren’t the only members of the Denison community who have had struggles with being LGBT. Professor Robin Bartlett, who doubles as the JP Morgan Chase endowed professor of

Courtesy of Outlook

the economics department and the director of the queer studies concentration arrived at Denison in 1974, originally with a male partner. But by 1981, she was romantically involved with a woman, Marci McCaulay, who is the current director of Denison’s Center for Women and Gender Action.

Bartlett says in the early seventies, she was “the only female economics professor, and there were five female professors on campus total.” In addition to sexist jokes in the workplace, she recalls, “I would hear senior faculty talking about getting the gays out.”

The pressure of being “a woman in a male profession” combined with identifying as queer, Bartlett thought about leaving Denison. At one point though, she thought to herself, “Where would you go? Where would it be better?”

Continued on page 7

Student Life

Page 7

Put down that cookie: Students taking food from dining halls DEBBIE GILLUM News Editor Emiritus Have you ever taken something from the dining hall? A cookie? A bagel? Well, that’s actually a violation of Denison’s policy.

The policy set by Denison and enforced

by Bon Appetit is that “nothing can leave the dining hall,” said Jennifer McGann, general manager for dining services.

If every student took food, Bon Appetit would lose a significant amount of money.

McGann doesn’t think food theft is an “epidemic,” but she did warn that if things get out of control, meal plan prices could increase.

Students are not allowed to bring in their own containers such as ziploc bags or tupperware containers.

McGann said they try to be respectful of students by letting them bring their bags and backpacks into the dining hall and hope they reciprocate that respect by not carrying off dozens of apples.

“We want to be gracious enough to avoid putting anyone in an awkward situation. We don’t like to step in... but if someone is removing items they shouldn’t, we will have to ask them not to do so,” said Julie Mulisano, the dining hall manager at Curtis.

Mulisano said that students feel at home in Denison’s dining halls, and that

Shivani Mithbaokar /The Denisonian

Students eating lunch in Curtis dining hall. Students have taken a whole loaf of bread, ice cream, and produce to make multiple sandwiches. contributes to the number of students taking food outside. “The familiarity of the dining halls breaks down some of the typical barriers students have about taking things,” she said.

Another problem in the dining halls is that some students sneak in during busy periods such as lunch and dinner.

“If we see this happen, we will politely ask to see their student ID and then make a photocopy of it. If they are uncooperative, then we will call security, especially if they are repeat offenders,” said McGann.

Bon Appetit works closely with Denison

security, and have recently asked them to better monitor the cameras in Slayter.

“We’ve noticed a lot of items missing when we do inventory. We’re watching it a lot more closely,” said McGann. She said that Bon Appetit loses more money when students take pre-packaged items from Slayter than produce from the dining halls.

To try to make Slayter less troublesome, Bon Appetit managers have talked about putting up mirrors, having security guards, or rearranging the food in Slayter because the problem “seems to have got-

ten worse in the winter,” said McGann.

Students have gotten quite creative with taking items from the dining hall.

“I’ve noticed two or three times that somebody brings a blender in and fills it with 8 scoops of ice cream and milk and they take it back to their room,” recalled Mulisano. She said she was waiting until the student was alone and then would carefully confront them.

Another student took a whole loaf of bread and made multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“Students often take the decor, such as a red pepper or cucumber. But I’ll see people with five vegetables. We wish students would not grocery shop in the dining hall,” said Mulisano. The produce that is used for decor around the dining hall is used for later cooking and is not wasted.

Cora McHugh ‘14, from Dexter, Mich., said she has seen students put food in their bags or in containers they have brought. She admits that she also occasionally takes out food, but only small things.

“It’s mostly fruit or a cookie. I sometimes used to make a little baggie out of a napkin and take some cereal,” said McHugh.

Overall, McGann thinks that Denison students are very polite, respectful and behave like adults.

Continued from page 6 By the early 1990s, a cultural tide began to shift at Denison. According to Bartlett, she worked with thenPresident Michele T. Myers to establish benefits for domestic partners.

The next year, in 1992, Bartlett taught Denison’s first queer studies class, and by the new millennium Denison became one of the first colleges in the U.S. to have a full queer studies program. But the roadblocks hadn’t been completely cleared. Up until a few years ago, the class known as “Introduction to Queer Studies” was called “Politics & Partnership.”

“The registrar at the time didn’t want the word ‘queer’ on students’ transcripts,” Bartlett said.

Stories like these upset Pieffer, who says, “Policy-wise we’re not where we need to be.”

Outlook’s current goal is to move Denison to gender-neutral housing “so everyone can be comfortable,” says Peiffer. In the fall of 2012, Denison allowed men and women to live together in senior apartments. In the fall of 2013, Beaver and Sawyer halls, originally sex-segregated, became coed. But the members of Outlook say its time for all dormitories on the 100 percent residential campus to become gender-neutral.

Gabe Murray ‘17 from Sandusky, Ohio and a theater major, says his problem with the current housing system is that “it distinguishes people by gender and not as people.”

Bryan LeBlanc, the Outlook senator, agrees that there needs to be policy changes in place in regards to gender neutral housing, but he says that “the administration is very liberal and the student body […] varies widely.”

Robin Bartlett would agree. She says that unlike a larger college, “there aren’t many levels between the administration and I.” Because of this, she says it was easier for Denison to be “way ahead in terms of black studies, women’s studies, queer studies.”

But Pieffer says there is still work to be done. According to her, Outlook

Courtesy of Outlook

ABOVE: Students in Outlook at a typical meeting, which, according to President Amanda Peiffer, pulls in 20-30 students.

BELOW: An Outlook art project encouraging acceptance, one of the group's main goals. is planning a peace march in the future with the Black Student Union, Denison Feminists, and La Fuerza Latina “to show that we are here and we all want to be treated equally.”

When you go...

Outlook Meetings Thursdays 6:30 University Room 4th Floor of Slayter

ARTS & LIFE

Page 8

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Student Life

Rico Suave pageant raises money for pediatric cancer HANNAH KUBBINS Staff Writer

On Mar. 8, the ladies of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc. presented a competition of “smoothness” between a group of young Denison men. The Rico Suave pageant was held in the Roost at 7 p.m., and an after party for the event followed at 11 p.m.

Sigma Lambda Gamma member Jill Hadley ‘16 of Westerville, Ohio commented on what it takes be Rico Suave 2014 when she stated, “It takes enthusiasm, talent, and a hint of smoothness to be a true Rico Suave.”

The Rico Suave pageant has happened annually at Denison since the sorority’s founding in 2009, and raises money for Latino children battling cancer. This year, ten Denison men had the opportunity to display why they deserved to be Rico Suave 2014 through several rounds of competition.

Before the pageant commenced, the men overwhelmingly believed Giancarlo Vita ’17 of Chicago, Ill., would be crowned Rico Suave 2014. The event began with introductions of the men by hosts and Sigma Lambda Gamma members Malissa Vasquez ’14 from Chicago, Ill., and Nicole Burns ’14 from Sunbury, Ohio.

After introductions of the contestants, the swimsuit competition of the pageant took place. The contestants modeled a variety of swimwear, ranging from lifeguard attire to those daring enough to sport a speedo.

When asked why he was willing to compete, Kevin Torres ’16 of Irvine, Calif., simply replied, “Girls participate in pageants all the time, so why shouldn’t guys compete?”

When the swimwear section had ended the participants showed off their unique talents. Some took to the piano, and some serenaded lucky ladies in the audience. Before the judges deliberated the audience received a more personal look at the contenders with the question and answer section.

All candidates had to answer why they deserved to be Rico Suave 2014, and all had very unique answers. However the men all brought up the point that this competition is about more than just a beauty pageant: Rico Suave is a fun way to raise money for a great cause.

Ben Hsiung ’16 of Huntingdon, Penn., was given the honor of Rico Suave 2014.

After Hsiung was crowned, audience members had the opportunity to bid on the men for a romantic date in Slayter the following evening.

All of the money raised during bidding goes to the charity Sigma Lambda Gamma has chosen each year. The past two years all of the proceeds have gone to Padres Contra el Cáncer.

“Rico Suave is an event specific to Sigma Lambda Gamma, and it is a fantastic fundraiser that no other organization on campus does,” stated Cece McGee ’15 of Chicago, Ill. Audience member Kalyn Dunkins ‘17 from Birmingham, Ala., gave her opinion on Hsuing’s victory. “Over time it was pretty obvious Ben was going to win the pageant. He was very talented, funny, and dedicated to the competition.”

When Hsiung was asked why he participated in the pageant, Hsiung replied, “I support the cause a lot, but I am also a member of the Multicultural Greek Council and I think it’s important to support one another as a family.”

Nelson Dow The Denisonian

Above: Rico Suave 2014 contestants show off their “Wobble” skills during the pageant.

Below: Ben Hsiung ‘16 assumes the title of Rico Suave 2014, presented by Sigma Lambda Gamma member Nicole Burns ‘14

Nelson Dow The Denisonian

Review

Malvolio Project puts new spin on Shakespeare CHELSEA WINEBRENER Special to the Denisonian

Set 20 years after the events of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, The Malvolio Project, written by playwrightin-residence Betty Shamieh, focuses on the eponymous former steward on whom the characters of the original Shakespeare played a cruel jape.

Although Malvolio (Jack Caudle ‘17) swore revenge at the end of the original play and remains bitter toward those who deceived him, he rises through the ranks of the Illyrian army to become a general and a war hero.

Now that he has made a name for himself, he plans to enact his revenge.

A surprise, however, comes in the form of Volina (Heather Grimm ‘17), the daughter of Duke Orsino (Katy King ‘17) and Duchess Viola (Dyamone Hopkins ‘16) who falls madly in love with him after she joins the army in her mother’s disguise dressed as a boy.

Still bitter about the prank pulled on him many years before, Malvolio thinks she is mocking him. Hilarity ensues in the form of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, and a surprise twist at the end that is all reminiscent of true Shakespeare writing. “I thought it was fantastic!” said President Adam Weinberg. “It’s fun to see our students do a world premiere, and they did it justice.”

The dialogue itself is not in iambic pentameter verse (sorry Shakespeare nerds), but in a more modern speech style that flows more easily. This, I think, allowed for the comedic elements to be more easily understood, and there were definitely lots of laughs.

Sprinkled throughout were also references to Twelfth Night, as well as other Shakespeare plays like Hamlet, Othel-

Allie Vugrincic/ The Denisonian

Above: Will Hamilton ‘17 and Heather Grimm ‘17 perform as Prince Furtado and Volina, original characters in the Shakespeare-influenced Malvolio Project in the Ace Morgan Theater.

lo, and Titus Andronicus, which got plenty of laughs from audience members.

One element of the show that I was surprised didn’t detract from the story or comedy was the songs that were included, which gave a chance to show off the actors’ incredible singing voices as well. Feste (Nick Van Atta ‘17) in particular, deserves praise for his high clear tenor.

As Malvolio and Volina, Caudle and Grimm gave dramatic performances that fit well with how they used monologues and asides directed at the audience. The addition of new characters,

including Volina, King Chadlio (Guram Saqvarelidze ‘14), and Prince Furtado (Will Hamilton ‘17) were integrated very well with the original characters.

The relationship between Chadlio and Furtado was probably my favorite comedic dynamic in the play; they reminded me of the Freys from HBO’s Game of Thrones, though much less sinister.

Toby (Dominic Pfister ‘17) and Maria (Katie Scott ‘17) entertained the audience just before the beginning of the second act with a ukulele serenade.

The second act introduced the audience to the fabulous Sebastian (Merlin

Bell ‘15), but no single character monopolized the show and everyone contributed equally to the comedy.

The set was reminiscent of last year’s Tartuffe in its simplicity and sparseness of furniture. The slanting stage might have alluded to classic Greek and Roman theatre, which was often performed on slanting stages.

The make-up had a Cirque du Soleilesque quality that added to the surrealism of the show, with the Elizabethan costumes the only point of reference for the time period. Surprisingly, this all integrated in a unique way that somehow worked very well.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

ARTS & LIFE

Page 9

Review

Denison gets groovy for annual jazz guitar festival CECILIA SALOMONE Arts & Life Editor

Burke Recital Hall was filled to the brim on March 8 for the opening night of Denison’s 17th Annual Jazz Guitar Festival. According to Tom Carroll, guitar instructor and coordinator of jazz studies at Denison, the festival is the longest-running event of its kind in the United States.

Prior to the evening’s performances, clinics were held with jazz guitarists for anyone interested in working on their skills or just jamming. This year, the festival opened with a set from Bob Ferrazza, the director of jazz studies at Oberlin College, and featured jazz guitar legend Jack Wilkins.

The crowd, while large, was noticeably short on Denison students.

It appeared there were less than ten students present, with most of the attendees from the greater Granville community. The concert’s location may have caused the low student representation: were it held “up on the Hill” in Swasey Chapel (and not on South Quad), I feel there would have been much greater student attendance.

Carroll spoke before the performances, thanking the community and the support of the music department. He hid no excitement as he announced, “welcome to my really cool job; I get to do this for a living!” Carroll then introduced Ferrazza, who performed with bassist Doug Fritcheson and percussionist Seth Rogers.

Ferrazza’s guitar work whet the jazz appetite, with a bluesy cover of Duke Ellington’s “Things Ain’t What They

Payton Hoang/ The Denisonian

Above: Jack Wilkins (left) performs with clinicians during the festival’s grand finale

Used To Be” that alternated between laid-back smoothness and fast-paced funk.

The second song “Green Bean Girl” was an original by Ferrazza, inspired by a cat he had who “played fetch” with green beans. It was slow-opening, but upbeat and melodic enough to pass for a Christmas carol.

Ferrazza’s final song, “Just In Time,” was the most classically “jazzy” of the bunch, with speedy bass work from Fritcheson and a fierce, pounding solo from Rogers at the end.

Fritcheson and Rogers also performed with headliner Wilkins, who Carroll described as “one of my guitar heroes.” He discovered Wilkins’ work when he was “transitioning from the dark side of blues, rock, and jazz” nearly thirty years ago.

Wilkins began his show with “The Things We Did Last Summer,” which was sweetly fluid and upbeat. Wilkins’ playing style, in contrast with other jazz guitarists I had seen, seemed almost more like old blues, with Wilkins leaning over the guitar and strumming more than plucking.

“Tranquitism” was a speedy, upand-down climb for the trio, with rockabilly-esque riffs throughout and happy foot-tapping from Wilkins and audience members alike. A poppy rendition of the theme from Arthur followed, sounding almost beachy with its characteristic Burt Bacharach melody.

Wilkins also covered two songs by composer Henry Mancini, who he described as “one of the best.” “Two for the Road” and “Moon River” were sol-

emn but peaceful; if nighttime had a sound, it might resemble Wilkins’ soft, fluid playing.

Like Ferrazza, Wilkins was also inspired by an animal for his song “Kiwi Bird,” written about a New Zealand tour and a bird given to him there.

The title was fitting, with floaty guitar work from Wilkins and an incredibly rapid solo from Rogers. “For David” showed Wilkins reaching into danceable territory, with a salsa-like beat and short quick stops.

The show finished off with accompaniment from Tim Cummiskey, jazz studies instructor at the Ohio State University School of Music. Teaming up for “Invitation,” Cummiskey and Wilkins brought a rumbling but fluid dual guitar sound. The fun continued the next night, with all performers joining together for a performance with Rick Peckham, assistant chair of the guitar department at Berklee College of Music.

March is set to be full of jazz for Denison, with a Jazz Weekend coming up at the end of the month featuring special guest Rob Parton, along with instructors Carroll and Pete Mills.

When you go...

Jazz Weekend March 29: Rob Parton 7 p.m.

March 30: Tom Carroll and the Jazz Combo 4 p.m.

Both in Burke Recital Hall

Review

House of Cards fails to meet expectations in second season KRISTOF OLTVAI Editor Abroad On a beautiful Prague afternoon some time shortly after Valentine’s Day, I had a choice: enjoy a semispringtime walk around the city, or binge-watch the second season of House of Cards. I chose the latter, but really the show could’ve waited.

This is not to say that Kevin Spacey’s Machiavellian return to computer screens around the world is uninteresting. Indeed, the stakes are as high as ever. Spacey’s Frank Underwood assumes Vice Presidency in the first episode, and it’s not hard to imagine where his ship is sailing. The plot quickly takes on international dimensions as Chinese magnate-per-

verts enter the scene, and old enemies abound everywhere, from nubile reporter Zoe Barnes to the imperious Raymond Tusk.

The exciting setup dissipates quickly, however. Telling is Frank’s grisly metro-station murder of Zoe in the first episode, after which the writers find difficulty conjuring up good foils to the Underwoods’ slow-moving phalanx of vengeance. This is problematic considering the pantheon to choose from, but even big fish like President Walker, his Chief of Staff Linda, and newly elected House Whip Jackie Sharp fall for Frank’s Southern-drawl-drenched bullshit as quickly as I became exhausted with endless montages of one-sided negotiations.

And how endless it is! What is prob-

ably this season’s biggest failure is the bitter war – undoubtedly intended to be climactic – between Frank and Tusk that is drawn out for nine episodes (I counted). I lost my interest halfway through despite sentimental interludes about Frank’s Confederate ancestors or barbecue-man Freddy’s struggles in the hood.

What also hurts is that Frank’s confessions directly to the viewer, which draw in the audience and serve to embroil us in his schemes, are greatly reduced, if not in their frequency, then in their importance.

Whereas previously they explained the logic of Frank’s endless backstabbing and thus raised tension, in this season most asides have been subdued to brief philosophical quips

about how stupid his enemies really are. While amusing, they’ve lost their key narrative function.

This is why the final punches comes a little out of the blue, and why Frank’s operatic victory seems somewhat hollow. There is much of the immorality, but little of the ragefilled pathos, that characterized the first season. Early on, Frank destroys a lamp in outrage, but that’s pretty much his emotional apogee this time around. For someone who found a decent amount of guilty pleasure, and maybe even a sprinkling of sympathy, in watching a slighted underdog undo his rivals one by one, the Underwood charm is quickly vanishing. You won’t find me begging for season three.

Tae Kwon Do Club packs a punch at the self-defense seminar ELAINE CASHY Assistant Arts & Life Editor On March 8, students had the chance to try out their self-defense skills and attend a seminar sponsored by the Tae Kwon Do club. Although few students took advantage of this opportunity, the ones who did seemed to have fun and learned how to throw an effective punch.

Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality taught many how to S.I.N.G., but not every attack requires a strike to the solar plexus, instep, nose, and groin. One of the more valuable pieces of information shared at the club taught how to prevent an attack before it happens.

The most effective way to prevent an attack is simply to be aware. This means no texting and walking, making eye contact,

and paying attention to surroundings. Instructor of the Tae Kwon Do Club Jordan Slomovitz claims, “Someone is picked as a target because they aren’t paying attention to their surroundings.”

Another way the seminar taught to prevent an attack is to use your voice. Yell at people before they get close enough to hurt you. Many instructors have taught for people to scream “fire,” but Slomovitz encourages “Back off” because that brings all the attention to you. When people yell fire, the first thing bystander look for is smoke, and they do not focus on the victim.

Although these tips can help prevent attacks, they can still happen. The seminar taught small, effective moves to fight off an attacker. The average attack lasts 23 seconds, and moves such as the palm

strike are used to quickly hinder the attacker long enough to make an escape.

Tae Kwon Do President and Black Belt Alice Heider ’14 says in reference to defense techniques “Everyone’s favorite is the pressure points.”

After an escaped attack, the victim must find help, either going to the police or security to report the incident. Slomovitz instructs, “always contact the police” and get someone involved.

The Denison Tae Kwon Do Club will host another seminar in April, the date to be determined. For anyone who wants to learn more about the club or self-defense, contact Heider at heider_a1@denison.edu or Slomovitz at slomz@gmail.com. The club practices every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 in the Mitchell Multi Purpose Room, and Sundays at 2:30.

Grace Putnam/ The Denisonian

Tae Kwon Do Club President Alice Heider ‘14 shows off her kicks at the seminar.

ARTS & LIFE

Page 10

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

ALFORD CENTER WEEKLY UPDATE

ERIN WORDEN Alford Center Contributor The Alford Center for Service Learning is challenging students staying on campus for spring break to participate in the first annual StayCation.

This is a service-learning program designed to foster support and goodwill within the greater Granville and Newark communities.

Events will take place Monday, March 17 through Friday, March 21 from 12 to 4pm.

Local non-profits involved with Denison’s StayCation include the Salvation Army, Sparta Restaurant, Smiling Hope Bakery, and St. Vincent DePaul among others.

Transportation will be provided.

If you would like to be a StayCation participant, please contact Associate Director Susie Kalinoski at kalinoskis@denison.edu to register. Spots are limited.

Nelson Dow/ The Denisonian

Above: Jacob Betts ‘15, Matt Harmon ‘16, Kate Ramsdell ‘16, Jill Weeks ‘15, Phoebe Thatcher ‘16, and Nia D’Emilio ‘16 bring the laughs during the Burpee’s Seedy Theatrical Company’s show on Mar. 5 in the Huffman lounge.

“We Too Are Denison” SHAKIA ASAMOAH & RUBY MONTES DE OCA Staff Writer & Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Jane Elliott, who created the Blue Eyed/ Brown Eyed experiment, once said that the two greatest rights that privilege affords are the right to be ignorant and the right to deny this ignorance. This statement rings true of many minority experiences on this campus. We are expected to constantly deal with ignorant comments and actions without much of an opportunity to respond.

Often, our frustration is met with the excuse of “I did not know any better, I did not grow up with exposure to minorities” or something to that effect. Any efforts to address these microaggressions are read as anger or whining and brushed aside.

It is time for that to change. We must no longer accept ignorance as an excuse for micro (and sometimes macro) aggression.

Minorities on this campus contribute too much to the Denison community to continue to live in silence about our issues.

We decided to create the We Too Are Denison project as a step towards ending this silence. It is simply a platform for students to be heard and recognized as important members of our community.

We were inspired by the ITooAmHarvard photograph campaign that highlighted the faces and voices of black students at Harvard College. The photograph

campaign was inspired by a play “I, Too, Am Harvard” that premiered this past weekend. The photographs were an added avenue for them to claim the campus and have their voices heard, which they expressed feeling that their voices are devalued.

We decided to recreate the photograph campaign on our campus because we noticed that we deal with similar issues on The Hill. However, with our campaign we decided to extend the opportunity to all the marginalized voices on campus. The Denison community is currently at a point where we have many issues bubbling just below the surface, constantly threatening to boil over.

This gives us a unique opportunity to take an honest look at ourselves and begin to create a better community for all of our members. This project will serve as a reflection of the marginalized experiences on this campus and as a step towards a better Denison.

We are currently taking pictures of any Denison student that identifies as a racial, religious, ethnic and sexual minority, as well as first generation college students.

Join our Facebook group for updates on when/where we will take pictures. We also have a Facebook page where pictures will initially be published. https://www.facebook.com/WeTooAreDenison

Photo courtesy of Shakia Asamoah

Above: Cathy Lagunas ‘17 is featured in the “We Too Are Denison” campaign, which seeks to lend voice to marginalized groups on campus.

Oscar Fashion from Aubrey Cook TRISHNA DESAI Fashion Columnist Whether or not you have seen the 2014 Oscar Award Show, chances are you have at least seen or heard of the stunning, and in some instances, crazy, celebrity styles that the stars adorned. Either way, it seems that the lasting memories in everyone’s mind was not that Frozen might have won the Oscar for Best Animated Film, but rather that Pharrell sported a hideous suit and short combination that should have never seen the light of day.

With fashion as the real star of this year’s Oscars, we talk to Aubrey Cook ‘17 of Norwalk, Ohio to find out her Oscar favorites. To describe Cate Blanchett’s ensemble, Cook says “that sheer golden dress makes me want to dive into a champagne bottle - bubbles galore! It’s no wonder you won best actress - that little golden man is a great complement to your wardrobe I’d say!”

Cook was also a fan of the suit worn by Matthew McConaughey. She gushes that “only a true cowboy can mix and match a suit like that. Black and white - you devilishly handsome man, you.”

And finally, commenting on the Internet’s favorite celebrity, Cook declares, “Jennifer Lawrence - no wonder you always fall down at award shows, but hey, that red, slim, Dior peplum dress is fierce!

You give red a good name, but those Brian Atwood pumps failed to catch your fall.”

As for her own style, Audrey says simply that “my fashion style changes upon my mood! My motto is that you have to dress well to feel well!”

Jenn Deering Davis/Wikimedia Commons

Student recipe: Shaleen Sharan Paella was one of the first recipes I made which I had never had before. My mother lets me cook once a week and my father insisted that I try to make something substantial that could be a whole meal. I had saved the Paella recipe decided to give it a try because it had everything my family loved: meat, rice and a small amount of vegetables.

The original recipe called for a lot of spices, but I found that it can work just as well with a few. You can use whatever meat you like, but I prefer smokey sausage because it gives a wonderful flavor.

Recipe (makes enough for 4): 2 cups rice, uncooked and washed 4 cups chicken broth 1 package sausages, chopped (I used chillicheese ones, you can add more if you like) 2 tsp garlic paste 1 tsp red chilli flakes (add this to your taste) 1 tbsp pasta seasoning (again, add to taste) 1 cup tomatoes, diced salt and black pepper (to taste) 2-3 tbsp oil 1/2 cup green peppers, chopped Any other meat you’d like to add Instructions: Take a pot and heat up the oil in it. Add the

garlic and spices when it’s hot enough.

Add the uncooked rice and mix until it’s coated with the spices and oil.

Add the chicken broth and tomatoes and bring it to a boil before simmering.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is gone and the rice is just right. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Be careful not to stir too much or the rice will become like a paste.

While the rice is cooking, In a separate frying pan, saute the meat with the green peppers until done. Set aside.

To serve, spoon the rice on a plate and then top with the meat and green peppers. Serve hot.

SPORTS

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

WEEKLY ROUND-UP Bringing you the box scores from the past week in Big Red athletics.

For game recaps, visit: www.denisonbigred.com

D

MEN’S LACROSSE 3/9 Denison Postponed Wooster WOMEN’S LACROSSE 3/9 Denison 14 Sewanee

7 WOMEN’S LACROSSE 3/8 Denison Adrian

23 12

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD 3/8 NCAC Championship 7th place WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD 3/8 NCAC Championship 2nd place MEN’S LACROSSE 3/7 Denison Hope

24 2

WOMEN AND MEN’S TRACK & FIELD 3/7 NCAC Championship 3rd place

Page 11

Men’s lacrosse dominates and impresses with early season success JULIAN HOWELL Sports Editor The Denison Big Red men’s lacrosse team made a huge statement by starting the season 3-0 with wins against Mt. St. Joseph’s, #14 Washington & Lee and #13 Roanoke.

Much of this early season success can be attributed to goalie Chris Thomas ’16, who has stepped up this season.

“It’s obviously a good start for us, winning our first three games,” Thomas said. “The win against Roanoke was especially big because we played Washington and Lee on a Saturday and had to make a quick adjustment for that Wednesday.”

Thomas was recognized for his strong play by the NCAC (North Coast Athletic Conference) after the 11-9 win against Washington & Lee by being named Player of the Week.

“It’s definitely an honor to be recognized by the conference for my play on the field.It’s all about the team but at the same time I really appreciate this honor.”

Thomas does not let the pressure of being goalie phase him.

“Being a goalie, you have to embrace the idea of being under pressure. It’s always great to succeed under pressure, like making a big save in the fourth quarter of a close game.”

Nine days after the 12-4 victory over Roanoke, the Big Red was slated for a two game weekend against Hope College on Friday night at home and a road game against conference rival Wooster on Sunday afternoon.

Becuase the Hope College Flying Dutchmen are relatively new to collegiate lacrosse, the Big Red were not fa-

Courtesy of PRD Photography

Chapin Speidel ‘14 (pictured) above scored three goals in the blowout victory against the Hope College Flying Dutchmen. Speidel has scored seven goals in Denison’s first four games of the season.

miliar with the team prior to the game.

“We honestly don’t know a whole lot about Hope College due the fact that they are only in their second year as a collegiate lacrosse program,” Thomas said. “But we go into every game expecting that the opposition will play hard and competitively.”

The inexperience of the Flying Dutchmen was evident on Friday night as the Big Red defeated them, 24-2.

The Big Red scored five goals in the first quarter, three of which were made in the first three minutes of the game.

Denison scored 15 out of their 24 goals heading into half time.

Thomas started the first half at goalie, posting one save while facing five shots.

Goalie Clark Bullington ’16 played in the third quarter and Will Nabors ‘17 took over in the fourth quarter. Both

Bullington and Nabors posted a save while they were in action.

Chapin Speidel ’14 led Denison in goals with three followed by Benjie Colberg ’15, James Meager ’16, Liam Rooney ‘17 and Alex Paulus ’17 who each scored two goals a piece.

The Denison Big Red was supposed to face the Wooster Fighting Scots on Sunday but the game was postponed to March 26 due to poor weather conditions. The last time Denison played Wooster was last year when they beat the Fighting Scots 10-7 at home.

“The Wooster game will be a tough conference match-up for us as we will travel to their place,” Thomas said. “I remember last year we had a really close win. We expect that this year’s game will be similar to last year’s against them.”

WOMEN’S LACROSSE KICKS OFF SEASON WITH A PAIR OF WINS NEIL RILEY Staff Writer For first-year Coach Amanda Daniels and her squad, March means only one thing: lacrosse season. This past weekend, the Big Red opened their season with a two-game weekend in Sewannee, Tenn. against the Adrian Bulldogs and the Sewanee Tigers.

Only six upperclassmen will occupy the helm, leading a roster that includes a whopping 18 underclassmen. Despite relative inexperience, the ladies have no shortage of star power. Molly Chapman ’15 and Whitney Powel ’15 will both return this season after each garnering first-team All-Region and firstteam All-NCAC honors for their efforts in the 2013 season.

The Big Red attack will look for strong seasons from Carol Allen ’16 (2013 second-team All-Region) and Erin Keller ’15 (2013 second-team AllRegion and All-NCAC) who will both be working with Coach Daniels to mold the five freshmen attackers that were added to the team in 2014. Rounding out a strong Denison defense will be Rachel Pregel ’16, who earned firstteam All-Region and second-team AllNCAC laurels in last year’s campaign.

No doubt this year will see a marked contrast in playing style from previous Big Red teams. Daniels and her newly hired assistant Maddie Coleman will look to shake things up both on offense and defense, a change which the team will welcome after two fruitless NCAA Division III tournament appearances in the last three years. “[Denison] didn’t necessarily have

the season they wanted to have last year,” Daniels said. “They do have an established, winning culture, but we want to take it to the next level, not just getting to the NCAA tournament, but really winning some games in the NCAA tournament.”

Last season, a confident Big Red team entered the tournament after a one-loss regular season, only to cede the first and the last of their three games to the Ladies of Kenyon, despite strong performances from Allen and Chapman.

Notwithstanding their 2013 postseason showing, Daniels is excited to be inheriting what looks to be a strong squad. “We started out right away talking about our goals for the year and where they wanted to see the team going,” Daniels said. “[That day] they were also coming in and meeting the freshmen for the first time. They were excited; there was a lot of energy in the room. They bring that kind of energy every day; it has been a lot of fun so far.”

Denison certainly looked energetic on Saturday and Sunday, kicking off the season with two solid wins against non-conference opponents.

Against the Bulldogs of Adrian College, the Big Red relied heavily, but not solely, on the more experienced ladies on the field. Chapman finished with two goals (one early in the first and the other early in the second half) and four assists, while Claire Ludlow ’17 stepped up with an impressive four goals on only five shot attempts.

Erin Keller ’15 showed flashes of dominance early in the match with a pair of goals to put DU on top 4-1, but

Nelson Dow/The Denisonian

Five lacrosse athletes support their team who have started the season with two wins.

Adrian came roaring back, scoring three goals in three minutes to cut the established lead to 6-5. Three Big Red goals and a Bulldog buzzer-beater left the halftime score at 10-6 with Denison in charge.

After this point, Adrian continued to slip, allowing the Big Red to string together several goals at a time between every single Bulldog score on their way to a 13-point second half. Adrian scratched across only six scores, thanks in part to the three save effort of DU goalie Laura Van Horn ‘16, as they fell to a 1-1 record in their 23-12 loss.

Sunday’s match against Sewanee was a much less high scoring affair and a closer game altogether. The Tigers struck first with a 2-0 lead, but the Big Red answered with two quick goals by Chapman and Lauren Adams ’14. Af-

ter two more Sewanee scores, the rest of the game was defined by a series of advantageous opportunities embraced by the Big Red squad in response to Sewanee penalties. Heading into halftime, the Big Red was sitting comfortably with a 9-4 lead over the home team.

To start off the second half, Keller capped off an 8-0 DU run that was broken only after five more minutes of play. The Big Red momentum was enough to carry the team past any possible Tiger rallies and, after an impressive defensive performance, DU came back to campus after a 14-7 win and a 2-0 opening weekend.

Daniels has every reason to be proud of her ladies as they head into their third match next weekend against Vassar in Colorado Springs, Colo.

SPORTS

Page 12

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Outdoor club brings out athleticism and fun all year ‘round

BY STEPHANIE ANTONETTI Staff Writer Denison University’s Outdoor Club was designed to provide students with a unique opportunity to participate in outdoor activities away from school.

The club, which originally started out as the schools Ski and Snowboard Club, normally runs events throughout the fall and spring.

These events include, but are not limited to, mountain biking, backpacking, rock climbing, caving, skydiving, hiking, kayaking, rafting, downhill skiing, and canoeing.

The Outdoor Club’s main activity though is rock climbing. Every Wednesday and Sunday the club goes climbing in their very own converted grain silo, which the club uses as their climbing gym.

“We affectionately dub it, ‘The Shady Shack in the woods,” club President Lin Teng ‘16 and Treasurer Ryan Liedke ‘16 said.

Besides rock climbing, the team prides themselves in all the activities that they take their participants on.

“During the fall we took several trips out to Hocking Hills to hike and explore the state park. In February, we took two ski trips out to Mad River Mountain.”

“Due to popular demand, more ski trips will be planned for the next year. We are also looking to take a ski trip to Pennsylvania to Seven Springs. The club has also taken advantage of Fall break to go climbing, rafting and hiking in West Virginia.

Occasionally, we take a weekend and drive down to Kentucky to hike the forests and mountains as well as get some outdoor climbing in,” Teng and Liedke expressed.

One of the best parts of the Outdoor Club, that Teng and Liedke shared, is that anyone who wants to can participate in the club. The club loves getting a wide range of students and sharing new experiences with them.

“Definitely one of my best memories with the Outdoor Club was the fall break

trip to The New River Gorge in West Virginia. We got to climb on 100 foot rock walls, raft in the New River and hike through the mountains.”

“Even without all the activities, just sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows under a full sky of stars is pretty amazing. I never thought I’d have the chance to do all of these activities.”

“The reason why I enjoy being in the Outdoor Club is because it opens up opportunities to new places and new activities that are otherwise difficult to experience,” Teng shared enthusiastically.

If anyone is interested in getting involved with the Big Red Outdoors Adventure Club, all they need to do is send an email to outing@denison.edu. The team hosts dinners on Wednesday nights at 6:15 p.m. in Curtis Café for current members and individuals who are interested in joining the club.

“The club dinners are a great way to meet people who also share a love for the outdoors,” Teng and Liedke said. “[Later], if you’re not too busy, a great way to work

Courtesy of Ryan Liedke Pictured, the Outdoor club’s trip to Hocking Hills last fall.

off that Wednesday dinner is by climbing with the club right afterwards!”

Bertram coaches four athletes to the national championships LAURA CARR Assistant Sports Editor Diving coach Russ Bertram stands besides the diving well, inspecting the competition, while his Jack Russell terrier, Hairy, sits at his feet. Hairy lets out a loud bark as one dive makes a particularly large splash. Bertram calls his divers over before they prepare to begin warming up. “Don’t think too much about the dives, just land on your head,” he says.

“You’ve done these dives so many times, and your body will faithfully recreate the last image you see of your dive.”

Bertram is in his first year as the head men’s and women’s diving coach at Denison. A 35-year veteran of diving, the coach recently added another item to his impressive list of accomplishments. Four of his male divers, Max Levy ’17, Connor Dignan ’15, Ben Lewis ’16 and Brian Allen ’17, qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championship at the NCAA Division III Diving Regional held at Trumbull Aquatics Center from Feb. 28 to March 1.

One of the most notable things about Bertram is his Jack Russell terrier and service dog, Hairy. Bertram was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes twelve years ago, and had always wanted a Jack Russell. Five years ago, Bertram went to a breeder to get a puppy.

“I played with a few of the puppies who were ping pong balls, bouncing all over the place, that’s a normal Jack Russell.

And then I saw in the breeder’s arms, he was holding a little girl who was real timid. I held her for 20 seconds and she started licking my neck and I said ‘that’s over’, so I took her home the next day.”

Bertram said that Hairy is “atypical for a full-blooded Jack Russell in that she’s much more calm.” At the age of six months, Hairy was evaluated so that she could become a service dog to monitor his diabetes. “She is a unique situation, very unusual, and she has grown up in the public so she’s comfortable with large crowds. It’s a match made in heaven.”

Hairy and Bertram have spent so much time together that Hairy is now able to tell the difference between a good dive and a bad dive. “She’ll sit beside me at events and she just watches them walk

y allen_d2 y howell_j2

down the board and follows the dive and for some reason I can’t explain, if they go straight in and it’s a good entrance, there’s no response from her, but if she watches a dive and they’re way off and they make a large splash, she gets very upset and barks.”

Big Red divers said that Bertram and Hairy are an excellent coaching team.

“Hairy is the sweetest dog I’ve ever met and she’s so smart,” Morgan Christman ’17 said. “She knows before a bad dive happens that it’s going to be a bad dive so as soon as you’re walking down the board she starts barking.” Carrie Bookheimer ’17 added, “It’s good because it teaches you how to dive even if there’s a distraction, which can happen in a meet.”

Bertram has been all over the spectrum when it comes to diving: he has been a competitive diver, coach, judge, referee and administrator. “Over this many years, I’ve accumulated a lot of good information and tricks to help divers progress as much as possible in the sport. I’m not sure if it was a curse or a blessing to have such diverse and different experiences, versus one very long established career, so I just take what I have and what I went through and use those experiences and that knowledge to be as good of a coach as I can.”

Bertram began coaching for the Big Red in Sept. 2013. “I’ve never really administrated or coached in the Division III level so it was very novel,” Bertram said. “The day I came out and interviewed with everyone, I fell in love with the school and the approach of the program.”

Bertram began his diving career at age ten but did not become very dedicated until high school. He walked onto the swimming and diving team at Division I Indiana University. He made the United States National team after graduating in 1989. Bertram got his start in coaching at Ohio State University in 1990, where he served a year as a graduate assistant diving coach for a team that included six Olympians and 10 U.S. National Champions.

Bertram moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to train, supporting himself by coaching in between workouts. As a competitive diver, he won five U.S. div-

Nelson Dow/The Denisonian

Pictured above is Coach Russ Bertram and his lovable Jack Russell terrier, Hairy. Hairy helps monitors Bertram’s glucose levels by sensing when the levels drop too low.

ing national championships in the 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform. He competed for another ten years and retired at the age of 31. After his retirement, Bertram spent a year as the head men’s and women’s diving coach at Florida State University and then moved to Mission Viejo, Calif. to coach the Mission Viejo Nadadores dive club from 1999-2002. While coaching in Mission Viejo, Bertram led the club to consecutive national team titles, along with 13 individual titles.

“I wanted to learn what it was like to run a full contingent, a true club, from beginning lessons to Olympic level athletes and that provided that opportunity,” Bertram said.

Bertram retired from coaching in 2002 and served as the national events director for United States Diving until 2005.

Prior to that, he served five months as the U.S. Olympic Committee Athlete Services Coordinator for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

He moved to Tucson, Ariz. in 2006 after hearing about a coaching position that opened up at the University of Arizona.

THE DENISONIAN | SPORTS THE INDISPENSABLE COLLEGIATE LIFE FERVOR

However, the coach, Michele Mitchell, decided not to resign, so Bertram served as Aquatics Director instead, a position he held for seven years before coming to Denison.

In 2010, Bertram was presented with the Phil Boggs Award from USA Diving for lifetime commitment to the sport.

Bertram has also been recognized by FINA, the sport’s international governing body.

The coach said that his most interesting experience in diving was when he was featured on the cover of Life magazine for a black and white photo shoot that he posed for in the nude. The issue also featured Olympic greats like Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

“A few days before the 1996 Olympic Trials, my parents showed up at the pool. My dad was carrying this magazine that he had just picked up, smiling from ear to ear, beaming, and that moment meant more to me than anything,” Bertram said. “I call that my ‘true fifteen minutes of fame’; I made the cover of Life magazine buck naked.”

D