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Blasts from the past
This week in 1957, three new students joined the Honor Code Defense Council, or as it is known now, the Honor Commission. They were Carol Dingfelter, Ken Anderson, and Donald Holland. The Honor Commission sought three basic qualities in the students who were chosen: leadership, character and scholarship. Chairman Bob Gladney stated that the Honor Commission could only work because of the students who are involved, making it a hard decision every time. This tradition of the Honor Code still is a vital aspect of anyone’s Gettysburg College experience and it still has many of the same principles as it did 60 years ago. This week in 1987, a new special interest house was introduced to the campus on the front cover of The Gettysburgian– the Corner Cottage. The Corner Cottage, which housed ten students during its first year, was the biology special interests house. Dr. Kay Etheridge was the faculty advisor at the time. The students in Corner Cottage, along with Beta Beta Beta, helped tutor students in the science departments. They also had a softball team, which placed second that year in the intramural sports program, and were planning a service project. One student at the time, Sandy Amass, stated that Corner Cottage had a “relaxed atmosphere” for biology students to unwind from their studies. Today, this house exists as the Sustainability House (Farmhouse). This month in 2002, an English professor from the University of Virginia and eLincoln Prize Winner, Professor Stephen Railton, spoke to the college about his work pertaining to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The Gettysburgian reported that he had created a website to contain all the information about Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the stories surrounding it and slavery in America. The site has information in different medias, such as videos, plays, songs, essays, etc. This site, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities, was continuously updated by Railton, up until 2009, as the study of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a massive endeavor. One interesting aspect of the site is the “Tom Show,” in which different portrayals of the story exist, mainly in plays. The play adaptions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin were the way many people heard about the book when it came out, and often plays had different dances and songs associated with the performances. All of Railton’s research can still be found on the website. These archived “blasts from the past” were compiled by contributing writer Shannon Zeltmann thanks to Special Collections in Musselman Library.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Thursday, October 5, 2017
FREE
Gettysburg responds to new Y e a r o f H e a l t h DOE “Dear Colleague” letter o n l i f e s u p p o r t
B y B enjamin P ontz M anaging N ews E ditor Weeks after Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced her intention to roll back enhanced federal regulations surrounding campus sexual assault reporting and investigation procedures, the Department of Education (DOE) released a new “Dear Colleague” letter to that effect Friday. DOE also released a document containing questions and answers explaining colleges’ obligations under Title IX. Acting Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Candice Jackson wrote, “The Department remains committed to enforcing these critical [Title IX] protections and intends to do so consistent with its mission under Title IX to protect fair and equitable access to education.” However, DOE has eliminated the requirement for colleges
to use the controversial “preponderance of the evidence” standard in sexual assault investigations, permitting a return to the “clear and convincing evidence” standard if colleges so choose. This permits colleges to establish appeal procedures that restrict that right to the accused and eliminates the Obama era requirement that investigations conclude within 60 days of a complaint. Gettysburg College, whose procedures comply with previous DOE guidance, does not plan to change its policy despite the loosening of restrictions. “I think it is fair to say that the college will continue its legal and procedural review of changes permitted or mandated by the Department of Education,” said Julie Ramsey, Vice President of College Life and Dean of Students, in an email. “[W]e have no
immediate plans to alter our approach. We will continue to monitor the DOE process and outcome.” DOE plans to conduct a formal review of Obama era guidelines and potentially issue new regulations in the coming months after allowing for public comment. Jennifer McCary, Associate Dean for Violence Prevention and Resolution and Title IX Coordinator, told The Gettysburgian earlier this month that she believes in the institutional adjudication model, but hopes that institutions will have more options for resolution in the future. “[T]here are flaws to the current structure that the Department of Education has outlined. More can be done in order for the process to support survivors and provide fundamental fairness to the accused,” McCary said. “Here at Gettysburg College, we strive to -Continued on next page-
B y B rendan S alyards S taff W riter After year one of the Gettysburg Cycle gave the campus a hefty helping of food, year two, which is to focus on health, appears to be on life-support. The Gettysburg Cycle, which aims to engage broad policy themes on a local, national, and global level, had a strong first act last year with a wide-ranging program that included a constant stream of wellpromoted events, First-Year Seminars designed around the topic of food, a first annual International Food Festival, and a first-year common reading program partially connected to the topic of food. The college hosted a number of events during the “World Hunger Week,” and a lecture series that culminated with a presentation by renowned food activist Bryant Terry. It seemed likely that this year’s “Year of Health” would solidify the Gettysburg Cycle’s place as
part of the calendar of events on campus. Yet, a number of factors have combined to make the “Year of Health” a less visible program than its predecessor. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that the program’s champion, Dr. Caroline Hartzell, Professor of Political Science, is on sabbatical for the year and therefore less able to tend to her brainchild. She advocated strongly in the months leading up to the start of the 2016-2017 academic year for faculty to include elements of the “Year of Food” in their classes, and she lobbied the Office of Residential and First-Year Programs to make “Year of Food” events part of the Charting Your Course (CYC) extended orientation. Hartzell’s position as director of the Center of the Study of Global Issues, also allowed her to easily access funding for the “Year of Food,” and a -Continued on next page-
One month in, students adjusting to lack of campus cable television
Students watch television in the Musselman Hall common room (Photo Claire Bickers / The Gettysburgian) B y J eremy P orter N e t f l i x , a n d [ m y use it,” said D’Mello. suitemates and I] recently S a r a h S taff W riter T h i s s e m e s t e r u p g r a d e d s o t h a t f o u r Kirkpatrick, a sophomore resident of Writing m a r k s t h e s t a r t o f people can watch at reduced cable television t h e s a m e t i m e , ” s a y s House, concurs. availability at Gettysburg senior Sabrina D’Mello, “ S t u d e n t s … College. The decision, w h o l i v e s i n a Q u a r r y i n t h e W r i t i n g H o u s e occasionally watch made last year, was part of suite. an effort spearheaded by S o p h o m o r e s television in the common the college’s Information Ben Rhine and Jackson room, but for the most Technology department Guyton, who both live part, people like to watch to increase the internet i n C o l l e g e H o u s e s , d o N e t f l i x i n t h e i r r o o m s b a n d w i d t h o n c a m p u s . t h e s a m e , t h e l a t t e r instead,” she said. Jennifer Johnson, While students could commenting that he p r e v i o u s l y h o o k u p t o watches “television with a first-year student living cable television in their N e t f l i x a n d A m a z o n in Paul Hall, explains that sometimes her floormates rooms on campus, cable Prime on the computer.” While common “watch movies in the access is now restricted t o c o m m o n r o o m s , t h e r o o m s s e r v e a s o n e o f common room,” but that Jaeger Center, and the the few sources of cable ultimately, the common Attic (the Bullet Hole is t e l e v i s i o n o n c a m p u s , r o o m “ i s m o r e l i k e a also part of the plan, but it appears that they are conference room, so [the the temporary building not often used for this television] is rarely used, does not have televisions). purpose, perhaps because though some people do N a t u r a l l y , students prefer watching it.” Some students, many students have had their favorite shows in t o c h a n g e t h e i r m e d i a private and would rather however, are not satisfied consumption habits and use the common room as with streaming. a study or meeting space. “This year, I have routines. “ I s a w p e o p l e a single and was hoping Netflix and other streaming services seem using the common room to get into the routine to be a popular alternative o n e d a y e a r l y i n t h e of watching my favorite semester, but other than s h o w s f r o m h o m e o n to cable television. “ I o n l y u s e that I haven’t seen anyone cable each week at its
Inside This Issue
Volume CXX, No. 4
♦
Senate spends 22 percent of budget, pg. 2
Gettysburg to revamp nonADA complaint website, pg. 3
Explaining fat loss, pgs. 5 & 6
air time. Because of the policy change, I do not feel comfortable doing this as I feel it is unfair to claim communal TV privileges at certain times each week in my house,” says Kirkpatrick. Senior Harmony House resident Luke Gaylor echoes a similar sentiment. “I love watching Saturday Night Live,” he said, “but without cable I can’t watch it until the episode is posted on Sunday, and I have to hope I don’t see any spoilers. Additionally, livestreaming for NBC isn’t even available in the Adams County area, and you have to pay for streaming services.” While the decision has been met with mixed reactions among students, the administration insists that it was a necessary and responsible move. “The increase in [internet] traffic is beyond the internet capacity we had finishing the spring semester…. If we had not increased the internet bandwidth over the summer, the campus network would have experienced significant impairments this fall,” says Vice President of Information Technology Rod Tosten. Additionally, the Campus TV FAQ page on the Information Technology department website states that “the demand and usage of the campus TV system has declined in recent years,” and the college is simply “right-sizing the campus TV system to
Senior Research Spotlight: Jenna DeCurzio, pg. 8
match demand.” It further explains that the switch will not put a financial strain on the college, because while “the increased internet bandwidth in and out of the campus will cost more, IT is using savings from the restructured campus TV system to cover the increased costs.” Gaylor believes that this is not the issue. “I understand that cable television use is declining and that the decision will not cost the college extra money,” he explained. “It just seems like there are better ways they could have done this. For instance, students could indicate at the start of the year whether they will use cable television, and the college could keep or remove each student’s individual room access accordingly. Or, the college could provide students with an account to a streaming service.” However, Tosten made it clear that it was imperative to increase the internet bandwidth by the fall, and doing so with as balanced a budget as possible is of utmost importance to the college. For now, no change seems likely with respect to cable access in students’ rooms, but discontent among some students remains palpable. Gaylor lamented, “You can’t take away cable access from students’ rooms when many theme houses and motels don’t have common rooms.”
The right to take a knee, pg. 9
Football earns first victory, pg. 10