T h Sp e ec i O a pa ut l S ge do ec s 1 or tio 0- Is n: 11 su e
Sports 23
A&E 15
Campus Pulse 12
Baseball Playoff Preview
50 Shades of Opinions
Goodbye, Jurgens!
As MLB playoffs heat up, sports reporter Aly Mithani gives his offical predictions.
A&E writers Krista Campolo and John Mendiola debate the hit novel’s merits.
The lovable pup headed back to Lackland to start her life as a K-9 crime fighter.
theTrinitonian Volume 110, Issue 8
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www.trinitonian.com
Trinity goes gaga for Gangnam
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Serving Trinity University Since 1902
After the official release of the plan, the Trinity community voices strong opinions NEWS REPORTER
Junior Pola Shim (right) leads students in a flash mob on Wednesday Oct. 3 outside the Coates Unversity Center. Students danced to the viral song “Gangnam Style” by Psy. The song spread like wildfire due in large part to its accompanying video that shows Psy in a blazer and sunglasses dancing in increasingly ludicrous places.
OCTOBER 5, 2012
Strategic plan invites community involvement
by Faith Ozer
photo by Anh-Viet Dinh
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Following its Labor Day debut, many faculty, staff and students are responding with both praise and critiques of the Trinity Tomorrow strategic plan. As the university looks toward the future, its community members are not loosening their hold on what they currently value in higher education. The strategic plan aims to refocus and improve Trinity’s image and its education, better preparing students for entrances into a changing job market and competitive graduate programs. A committee, drawing on faculty, staff and student symposiums, as well as collaboration from trustees, has worked for the past two years to hammer out the details of the plan.
However, according to Aaron Delwiche, associate professor of communication, Trinity may be undervaluing itself when considering change for the future. “I think there was a huge economic crisis in 2008, and in some of the rhetoric surrounding the strategic plan and the curriculum, there’s this sense that admissions numbers are dropping off and that reflects on the institution itself, but I don’t believe that,” Delwiche said. “The admissions numbers dropped off because the economy went off the cliff, and in any conversation we have about Trinity’s future, that doesn’t really make sense as a compelling argument to change for me. Having said that, I fully agree that we can’t just rest on our laurels. I think the strategic plan is an excellent attempt to try and figure out what we can do better.” Delwiche continued to explain that there are often challenges with the idea of experiential learning, one of the main ideas presented in the strategic plan. Problems arise when factoring the vast array of internships into a student’s grade point average and
when defining exactly what “experiential learning” means. Another issue involves the categorization of current students as millennials. The strategic plan assumes that millennials have an extensive understanding of technology and therefore ceases to integrate technology courses into the curriculum. “The single most important thing that we could be doing with our students right now is making sure that as citizens they are empowered to make technological decisions and not just yield decision-making to technocrats,” Delwiche said. “If Trinity had a real commitment to pushing students to not just use technology, but to do so in a really critically self-reflective way, I think that would differentiate us from every institution out there.” As Trinity searches for more ways to distinguish itself from peer universities, it also works on a more communitybased level by approaching the challenges of interdisciplinary education for students and faculty within a liberal arts education.
see STUDENTS Page 4
Former chief economist breaks down candidates’ policies Distinguished lecturer provides insight into the policies of the presidential race by Trinitonian Staff Lawrence H. Summers, former chief economist of the World Bank, former president of Harvard University and member of both the Clinton and Obama administrations, addressed the community at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 4 in Laurie Auditorium, speaking on “Issues Shaping the 2012 Election” as part of the 2012 Distinguished Lecture Series, made possible by an endowment from Mr. and Mrs. Walter F. Brown. Throughout the lecture, Summers focused on similarities between both presidential candidates’ end goal before stating their differences in policy as disparities in value judgments, empirical judgments and views on the workings of the world. First, Summers talked about unemployment as an issue of demand. “We are caught in a trap in which businesses don’t spend
and businesses don’t hire,” Summers said. Summers presented the distinctions in unemployment policy between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney as judgments on the relative risk of unemployment and inflation. Summers used the John F. Kennedy International Airport as an example of the differences between the two candidates. While Obama would view borrowing money to invest in the improvement of what Summers called “the Ellis Island of our century” as a means of confidence in our economy, Romney would view the borrowing and investment as a reason to be less confident in the economy. Second, Summers talked about the national deficit, saying that both candidates understand the importance of reaching long term fiscal solvency. Summers also said that entitlement programs and revenues are the areas in which adjustments can be made. While Obama wants to combine cuts in entitlement programs with increases in taxes for the wealthy, Romney wants to focus on cuts in entitlement programs. Third, Summers discussed the issue of regulation. Summers
sided with Obama on the need to increase both financial and environmental regulation, stating numerous abuses in the financial sector as well as the recent British Petroleum oil spill and Fukushima nuclear disasters as reasons to enact more regulation. In contrast, Romney calls for decreased regulation. Fourth, Summers discussed healthcare, applauding the logic of both Romney and Obama’s respective healthcare programs. and calling for a comprehensive healthcare program at the federal level. Finally, Summers discussed the role of government, especially in relation to research, development and fiscal equality. Summers cited the benefits of government research projects, such as the Internet, to suggest that funding research is a worthwhile endeavor, even if the government does not see returns on most investments. Summers ended his lecture on a unifying statement of the value of education. “Whichever side of the spectrum we come down on,” Summers said. “The work of universities is profoundly important to the country’s future.”
photo by Aidan Kirksey President Dennis Ahlburg smiles while watching former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers speak in Laurie Auditorium on Thursday night.