Issue 1 - Volume 135

THE VERMONT

CYNIC Issue 1 - Vol. 135

vtcynic.com

Nurses strike

Best of UVM

UVM Medical Center nurses protest for better wages and safer working conditions. Negotiations are ongoing.

Need some help finding stuff to do on campus? Our Culture staff picks the best UVM has to offer.

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Progressive politics 4 / Best of Burlington 5 / Gap year 7

President plans to step down

welcome Class of

2022

Sawyer Loftus swloftus@uvm.edu

ALEK FLEURY/The Vermont Cynic

(Top) The class of 2022 raises their candles on the Waterman green to signify the beginning of their first year at UVM Aug. 26.

(Left) First-year students light candles before reciting the induction ceremony pledge. (Right) Two first-year students pose for a photo during a speech by President Tom Sullivan.

New cats light up campus ■ The newest class is the highestachieving in UVM’s history, with record high average SAT and ACT scores Sawyer Loftus swloftus@uvm.edu

The members of the class of 2022 gathered to ring in a new academic year and begin their journeys as Catamounts at convocation.

First-years gathered Aug. 26 in the Patrick Gym to hear

speeches from UVM officials.

The class of 2022 is made up of approximately 2,500 students hailing from 43 states and 22 countries, according to an Aug. 23 UVM press release.

About 12 percent of the class identifies as students of color, and 22 percent are Vermonters. The class has the highest

average SAT score for any UVM class with an average of 1264 and the highest average ACT score of 28.1, according to the release.

President Sullivan addressed the crowd of students in Patrick Gym, reminding the new class that they have to be “fully engaged” to make the most of their time at UVM. “Ultimately, this is about you selecting the path for success,” he said.

First-year Izzy duPont said she enjoyed the well wishes from UVM top officials.

“I loved listening to all the different speeches, I really liked

the president’s,” she said. “I liked the message, everything’s there and you just got to reach out and take it.”

First Year Karina Bladon said she thought convocation was “pretty cool,” but her favorite part was the Alma Mater, the school song sung at Convocation and Graduation.

On the eve of his last convocation before ending his term as President, Sullivan said he was feeling excited for the start of a new academic year.

“I’m really excited for tonight, it’s always fun and the best part of starting a new year is convocation,” he said.

University President Tom Sullivan will step down next summer. In the spring of 2018, protesters called for his resignation during demonstrations on campus.

David Daigle, chair of the UVM board of trustees, said he didn’t think there was a link between Sullivan’s resignation and the student demands from earlier this year.

Sullivan will be taking a research leave to write a book on the subject of free speech on campus before joining the UVM faculty full-time, according to an Aug. 6 email to students.

“Tom has kept the board informed along the way appropriately,” Daigle said. “So the board was not surprised when he made that decision and it’s not a part of what happened on campus earlier this year.”

Daigle said it’s a “bittersweet” moment to see Sullivan depart from the presidency.

“I think Tom is a great president — I think he has an incredible level of integrity and dignity and passion for students,” he said.

When Sullivan was selected by the board in 2012 as the 26th president, he made it clear he only wished to stay on for seven to eight years, Daigle said.

“I think that it was time for him to go and now we can get new ideas and new action towards goals that student groups want,” junior Kayla Morrison said.

Though there is no official profile of a future candidate, Daigle said Sullivan’s commitment to students is a must-have characteristic in the 27th president.

“He always puts the student interest first and always thinks about managing the University for the benefit of the student,” Daigle said. “I think that’s something we’ll look for in the next president as well.”

Daigle said that the committee tasked with replacing Sullivan will include students.

“I am curious to see how University politics will evolve during his transition from office and what university values will be capitalized in the search for a new candidate,” sophomore Wilhelmina Howell said.

The Cynic reached out to members of NoNames for Justice, a student activist group that called for Sullivan’s resignation, but did not hear back at time of publication.

NEWS

2

The Vermont Cynic

Aug. 28, 2018

Nurses protest over contract disputes Sawyer Loftus swloftus@uvm.edu

For the past four months, nurses at the University of Vermont Medical Center have been in a constant back-and-forth with hospital administrators over new contracts.

The nurses’ union, the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, represents around 1,800 nurses and other medical staff that work at UVMMC. The union has asked for a 23-percent salary increase over the next three years and an end to “chronic understaffing” inside UVMMC. Most recently, the union declined an Aug. 18 offer in which the hospital proposed a 15-percent raise.

Previous attempts had been made by the union to raise support including picketing and rallying outside Burlington City Hall Aug. 15.

The union has been working on contract disputes since May, attracting attention from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who rallied with them May 12.

The rally was meant to be fun for nurses and to show the UVMMC administration that the nurses will not tolerate their current conditions, union Vice President Deb Snell said.

The union has repeatedly pointed to chronic understaffing and low wages as initial issues that need to be fixed, she said.

At the rally, Sanders spoke of solidarity with the nurses.

“I am here today to tell you that I stand with you … and to make sure the nurses in this state and across this country

Sawyer Loftus/THE VERMONT CYNIC

Picketing nurses protest on Church Street after multiple failed negotiation sessions with the University of Vermont Medical Center administrators Aug. 24. receive the wages and benefits they are entitled to,” he said.

At the time of the rally, the union had hoped to conclude negotiations by June 1; however, as the nurses’ deadline drew closer, it was clear that UVMMC would not meet the union’s demands.

At the June 1 community meeting held just outside UVMMC, lead union negotiator Julie MacMillan announced that no deal had been reached despite numerous negotiation sessions.

The union also announced

the submission of 20 unfair labor complaints against UVMMC to the National Labor Relations Board. The complaints to be heard by the NLRB include refusal to bargain, bad faith bargaining and coercive surveillance acts, according to initial filing documents.

After multiple failed negotiation sessions, the union held a vote to strike June 12. Nearly 73 percent of the union turned out for the vote and 94 percent voted in favor of a strike, MacMillan said at a June 13 press con-

Longtime CALS dean announces exit Lee Hughes Lee.Hughes@uvm.edu

Thomas Vogelmann will step down as dean of the UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the summer of 2019, according to an Aug. 3 email to students.

Some of Vogelmann’s most recognizable achievements listed in the email include the construction of Jeffords Hall and the return of the Dairy Bar. Vogelmann took the position in 2009 after serving as interim dean since 2008.

Previously, he worked in the plant biology department in CALS as both a professor and chair.

His research has spanned from photosythesis to plant adaptations to the enivronment.

He has also done work with photobiology, according to the UVM plant biology department website.

Before starting at UVM, Vogelmann had worked for 18 years at the University of Wyoming where he recieved three

seperate awards for his research, inlcuding the school’s College of Arts and Scrience Award, according to the Vermont Journal of Enivronmental Law. Upon being hired he had already published over 80 scientific papers in journals and books.

“Tom’s leadership of CALS has been exceptional,” President Tom Sullivan stated in the email. “His contributions to the college and the University have been transformative and will be long-lasting.”

During Vogelmann’s tenure, CALS added a transdisciplinary food systems major and expanded research opportunities for students, the email stated.

CALS enrollment grew nearly 50 percent under Vogelmann’s leadership, according to the email. The college grew from 1,061 in spring 2008 to 1,544 students enrolled in fall 2017, according to Catamount Data Center statistics.

“Tom has set the bar high for his successor and we will

deeply miss his common-sense approach to life with a touch of wit,” said Kate Finley-Woodruff, the associate dean for academic programs and student services in CALS. Vogelmann is the fourth-longest running dean in UVM’s history, she said.

“I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Tom during his tenure,” Finley-Woodruff said. “We have seen incredible growth under his leadership, in large part due to his commitment to excellence in academic programming and research.”

Plans are in the works for a recognition of Vogelmann’s work at UVM in the spring of 2019, according to the email.

Details for the committee to find a replacement went out to faculty on Aug. 27, said Robin Smith, the assistant to the dean.

ference.

At the time UVMMC saw the threat of a strike as very serious, UVMMC spokesperson Michael Carrese said.

The medical center was confident that progress could be made with a mediator, he said.

MacMillan pointed to nurses within the UVM Health Network just across the lake in Plattsburgh, New York as a reference point for higher wages.

The nurses at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital make at least $2 more an hour, MacMil-

lan said.

Carrese described the UVM Health Network as a loose affiliation.

“Each one of those hospitals, including the one in Plattsburgh, is its own independent entity with its own board of directors and leadership and they make their own decisions,” he said. “There is no common contract and salary across the network.”

Read the rest online at vtcynic.com/nurses

The Vermont Cynic

Aug. 28, 2018

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Staff Editorial

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his summer, nurses from the UVM Medical Center went on strike to protest unfair wages and insufficient staffing.

The issue may feel localized — there are red “patients before profits” posters dotting the neighborhoods and the nurses picketed on Colchester avenue right by campus — but this is a problem in hospitals nationwide.

In nearby Rhode Island for example, a nurses’ union held a strike for the same reasons as UVM’s nurses.

Although pay increases are among the demands for both UVM and Rhode Island nurses, here, safe staffing, a term that refers to having enough nurses to comfortably meet the needs of each patient, is a chief concern of nurses.

For the administration, this would mean supplying the money to hire more nurses in order to accommodate the volume of care needed.

While having relatively few nurses and pushing the limits of the nurse-to-patient ratio may be attractive from a financial point of view, it is ultimately an unsafe practice.

There are several constantly fluctuating factors in a hospital that make it impossible to decide on an ideal patient-nurse ratio across the board. These include the volume of admissions, intensity of patient needs

Social Media Peter Hibbeler socialcyniceditor@gmail.com Illustrations Holly Coughlan illustrations@vtcynic.com Layout Kyra Chevalier layout@vtcynic.com Photo Alek Fleury photo@vtcynic.com Assistant Editors Henry Mitchell (Opinion), Addie Beach (Culture), Sophia Knappertz (Copy), David Cabrera (Podcasts), Nickie Morris (Sports), Sawyer Loftus (News), Lee Hughes (News), Kian Deshler (Features)

ADVISING Faculty Adviser Chris Evans crevans@uvm.edu

and available resources, according to the Vermont Department of Health.

When deciding on a safe ratio, the administration cannot ignore the judgement of the nurses, who understand the patients’ needs more intimately than anyone else in the building.

Reaching an agreement on a maximum patient-to-staff ratio is not unreasonable or unprecedented.

In most states, daycares

have a legal maximum childstaff ratio in order to ensure safe and effective care for the children, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Because a hospital’s priority is the health and safety of patients, this ratio is of utmost importance.

Some might say this strike puts the health of hospital patients at risk. However, at the core of the issue, these nurses know the hospital better

Henry Mitchell hdmitche@uvm.edu

Video Ruby Bates video@vtcynic.com Web Connor Allan web@vtcynic.com

HOLLY COUGHLAN than anyone else. And they care about their patients. If they’re on strike, there is a very valid reason for it.

Staff editorials officially reflect the views of the Vermont Cynic. Signed opinion pieces and columns do not necessarily do so.

The Cynic accepts letters in response to anything you see printed as well as any issues of interest in the community. Please limit letters to 350 words. The Cynic reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammar. Please send letters to opinion@vtcynic.com.

Progressive politics for the liberal agenda

Sports Sabrina Hood sports@vtcynic.com

Copy Editors Sophia Knappertz

Aug. 28, 2018

UVM nurses ought to be heard

VERMO

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The Vermont Cynic

L

et me introduce our brand-new invention: Progressivism Lite!

Progressivism Lite is compatible with any Democratic candidate and requires minimal set-up.

Call out Trump, choose between being pro-LGBT or standing up for people of color and you’re good to go.

Everyone will instantly jump on board the second you declare your support for one specific minority group.

Now you might still be worried that people will choose a more genuine, I mean more outlandish, candidate for your seat.

It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at your problems, voters can always screw you over with their right to free elections.

For that, Vermont has found an ingenious solution; dilute progressivism with lukewarm Democratic party values.

Just take it from this August 2016 Seven Days article: “Progressives increasing-

HOLLY COUGHLAN ly rely on a fusion strategy to get elected. No progressive has ever reached an office higher than the House without running in a Democratic primary.”

Now you can weed out any potential troublemakers before overwhelmingly defeating any other party in general elections.

It’s even better if they eventually try to break off from the party as the phrase “pick a party and stick with it” will haunt them for the rest of their ca-

reer.

Fusion politics works wonders for instilling discipline into voters’ hearts, but you have to make sure you are always serving the people.

Remind voters that third-party progressives running in general elections are splitting the vote.

Point out that young progressives are naive and can’t possibly handle the responsibility of running for office.

If a progressive somehow

wins an election, be sure to offer nothing but praise in the beginning, but only give them the spotlight when you need to prove a point.

We can’t let them prevent progress by holding office — that’s our job!

Of course you can’t let your guard drop once in office either.

Voters are always picky and will complain about anything you do, so refrain from telling them anything (unless it involves education funding, people always fall for that one).

You could always try to discourage people from voting by changing their voting district as often as possible, to the point where they have no idea who their representative is or what district they’re in.

If they’re unable to keep up with any of these changes, the sight of your familiar name will surely sway them to your side.

Once they’ve voted for you, it’s basically impossible they’ll vote for anyone else ever again.

Partisanship and familiarity bias for the win!

Henry Mitchell is a sophomore political science major. He has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2017.

The Vermont Cynic

CULTURE

Aug. 28, 2018

5

Best of

Burlington

ALEK FLEURY and ALLIE O’CONNOR/The Vermont Cynic

(Left) The Burlington Bay Cafe, located at the intersection of College and Battery Streets, is famous for its Maple Creemee. (Center) Radio Bean, a bar, restaurant and live music venue, recently celebrated 17 years in business. (Right) American Flatbread on St. Paul Street has an indoor wood-fire oven where all its pizzas are baked to perfection.

Phoenix Books Every book-lover can find heaven in any one of Burlington’s local book shops, but Phoenix Books is particularly special. As a business that thrives in a sometimes-struggling industry, they pride themselves on remaining as environmentally responsible as possible with their strategic store design and emphasis on sustainability literature. Among its diverse selections, Phoenix highlights local writers and has an entire section dedicated to autographed editions of books by authors who have visited the shop. Don’t forget to browse the books in the “bargain basement” before you leave.

Radio Bean This self-described “bohemian utopia” features live music from both local and touring bands, as well as the best hot cider around. It is situated next to its sister venues Light Club Lamp Shop, a cozy vintage lamp lounge that hosts weekly poetry open-mics, and ¡Duino! (Duende), an international street food restaurant. Radio Bean satisfies every Burlington resident’s need for good music, good drinks and good company.

American Flatbread One of the biggest perks of having your family come to visit is escaping dining hall food for a day. Take your family to American Flatbread on St. Paul Street for pizza that isn’t frozen. The first American Flatbread was built in 1990 on Lareau Farm in Waitsfield, Vermont, a small ski town at the base of Sugarbush. Flatbread boasts an indoor wood-fire oven where all pizzas, and the apple pie, are perfectly baked.

Every pizza is a taste of Vermont, made with local organic ingredients. Be sure to order the Cheese and Herb pizza.

You won’t be disappointed.

Best Breakfast

If you’re hanging around downtown, a classic spot to catch one of Burlington’s iconic sunsets is the Waterfront Park near the ECHO Center.

Along with bike paths and a dog park, the Waterfront has access to docks which provide a perfect sunset spectacle overlooking Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains.

Best Grab & Go

The wood-paneled walls and hanging plants will make you feel like you’re sitting in a tree house when you visit this Main Street coffee shop.

The raspberry hot chocolate is perfect for cold, blustery afternoons and the cookie jars at the counter are always full. If you look carefully, you’ll find folded-up notes left by previous visitors in wall panels and picture frames.

Bring a book along and settle in — you won’t want to leave anytime soon.

Waterfront Park

Best Place to See Art

Muddy Waters

Best Sunset

When the sun is out, there is no better place in Burlington to grab a maple creemee than Burlington Bay Cafe, located at the intersection of College and Battery Streets. Take a seat anywhere from a balcony overlooking Lake Champlain to a grassy hill leading down to Waterfront Park. Even in the dead of winter, the cafe is an excellent spot for a hot sandwich with fresh ingredients.

Best Music Venue

Burlington Bay

Best Meal with Family

Best Bookstore

Best Coffee Shop

Best Creemee

M

oving to a new city can be overwhelming, and with Burlington there are so many unique places to explore. To get you started, the Culture staff rounded up nine of our favorite spots.

Henry’s Diner Start your day right with over 10 different kinds of milkshakes, including chocolate mint, mocha and, of course, Vermont maple. Slouch in a corner booth with some loaded home fries if you’re in the mood for some comfort food. Or, if you’re looking for something a bit healthier, treat yourself to a spinach and cheddar omelet.

City Market The City Market hot bar is perfect for a warm meal or a make-yourown salad. There is almost always hot soup and vegan options. Serve yourself as little or as much as you’d like and pay by weight. For a quick snack, grab a scoop of chocolate-covered pretzels, dried mangos or granola in the bulk section. Take it all to-go in compostable containers.

Burlington City Arts The BCA Center is a contemporary gallery space tucked between Church Street and City Hall Park. Stop in while taking a stroll — it’s always free. With three floors of exhibits, there is always something new to explore. The gallery space features both nationally recognized and local creators. The Vermont Metro Gallery is completely devoted to Vermont-based artists. BCA also hosts a variety of classes in photography, painting, ceramics, printmaking and jewelry making for $100-250.

CULTURE

6

The Vermont Cynic

Aug. 28, 2018

Best of

UVM

ALEK FLEURY and ANNIE HUTCHINGS/The Vermont Cynic

(Left) The largest greenhouse on campus is located behind the Aiken Center and is open regularly to the public. (Middle) UVM is home to The Fleming Museum, Vermont’s leading arts and culture museum. “Self-Confessed!,” an exhibit by Alison Bechdel, was featured in the museum from January to May. (Right) Henderson’s Cafe serves Vermont Artisan coffee and offers books for customers to borrow.

T

Fourth Floor, Williams Williams Hall, which houses the art and anthropology departments, is hands-down the best building on campus. Every single one of its bathrooms has character — and the fourth floor bathroom is no exception. You can enjoy a great view of Central campus while you wash your hands in a sink with two faucets, and search for art-student doodles in every stall (or add your own).

Canoe Battleship In this fast-paced sport, hurling bucketfuls of water at your enemies while trying to stay afloat is just another day. Fight to be the last boat standing in the canoe battleship tournament, a Campus Rec hit. Work with your team to sink the other three canoes in the pool before they can sink you, using a bucket, a shield and your wits. The two teams that last the longest in the 15-minute heat move on to the next round, while their enemies sink to the chlorinated depths.

Living Well Providing everything from yoga to free condoms, Living Well is UVM’s center for self-care and relaxation.

Stop in for a free massage, mindfulness session or the room of relaxation, a pleasant space complete with calming music and a wonderful massage chair. Living Well also hosts sexual health programs and de-stress events, like arts and crafts.

Best Hidden Spot

The Fleming Museum is Vermont’s leading art and culture museum, and chances are it’s only steps away from your residence hall. Admission is free for all students. With over 20,000 works of art and artifacts in its collection, there is always something new to see. The featured galleries change each semester. The museum hosts several events per semester, everything from artist talks, to tours, to the Painted Word Poetry Series, a poetry reading series held in the museum’s atrium.

Best Coffee

The Skinny Pancake is the perfect place to treat yourself. Stop in to try their new chocolate spread, an eco-friendly alternative to Nutella which is available in their Choco Nutty crepe. If you get a crepe with an egg before 11:00 a.m. you get a special deal on a cup of coffee. Their classic poutine is perfect for a late-night snack with friends. It might cost you nine to 12 points, but this place is worth it.

The Fleming Museum

Best Free Stuff

The Skinny Pancake

Best Place to See Art

Located in Simpson Hall, Redstone Unlimited Dining offers several different comfort foods, grilled favorites and vegetarian options, as well as the Food On Demand system, where students order their meal at a kiosk and are notified when their food is ready for pickup via a paging system. The fries are hot, the ice cream is great, there are plenty of booths and comfortable seats and no one there will judge you if you have cereal for dinner for the fourth night in a row.

Best Rec Sport

Redstone Unlimited

Best Self-Care Spot

Best Bathroom

Best Retail Points Spot

Best Dining Hall

he Culture staff curated a list of places we wish we knew about during our first few weeks at UVM. Take time to wander campus and check them all out.

The Greenhouse The UVM greenhouse is located behind the Marsh Life Science building and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. The greenhouse features plants for sale most of the year. Browse for an autumnal mum or a springtime bloom.

Come winter, if you find yourself with some dreary cabin fever, go walk up and down its luscious green aisles.

Henderson’s Cafe Conveniently located on the third floor of the Davis Center and attached to the UVM Bookstore, Henderson’s provides an array of coffee and espresso drinks. The Maple Madness, a latte with a shot of local maple syrup, is delicious hot or iced. The chairs around the fireplace are cozy to study in all afternoon. If you are running between the library and class, Henderson’s is the perfect place to stop for a pick-meup.

Brennan’s Popcorn While Brennan’s has a menu full of tasty options, one of their best offers doesn’t cost a cent. Whether you’re rewarding yourself after a long day of classes or craving a mid-afternoon snack, Brennan’s salty, buttery popcorn always hits the spot. At any point of the day,walk just inside Brennan’s doors, grab a bag, fill it up and crunch away.

The Vermont Cynic

FEATURE

Aug. 28, 2018

7

Learning to embrace a city as a home Kian Deshler kdeshler@uvm.edu

F

og nestled into the foothills of the Olympic Mountains. The wind whispered over the bay, causing the slightest of ripples. Conifer trees colored the landscape a deep green. My family and I paddled across the bay near my cabin.

At that moment, there was nowhere else I would rather be.

About a year ago, I returned from seven months of traveling independently, hitting 13 countries along the way. I felt inclined to take a gap year as a way to challenge myself and make the expansive globe feel a little bit more approachable.

I bounced around, staying in some places for two months and others for only a couple of days. I visited Southeast Asia, West Africa, East Africa and Europe.

Landscapes varied dramatically, and the lack of permanency and expectations allowed me to fall in love with places all over the world with an open heart and little hesitation.

When I returned home from my travels, I was naive to believe that I was suddenly able to handle major changes. I found that my perception

of home was comprised of my community, but my sense of community is a product of the beautiful place I grew up in.

Just this past winter, I transferred to UVM from a school in sunny Los Angeles.

My perception of Vermont was defined by the unpredictable weather while my sense of belonging was still nestled in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

My summer was filled with many other memorable moments, but as I paddled on the bay, it was the first time I realized the profound effect that natural scenery has on me. The sheets of fog, the slightest drizzle, the surrounding water and tall mountains almost acted as a cloak of comfort.

As this summer wound down, the time spent paddling across the bay to collect blackberries and traversing back to dig clams and mussels felt sentimental. It occurred to me that my next two years would be spent primarily in Vermont rather than the Pacific Northwest region that has so profoundly influenced me.

Only a few weeks ago I moved into my apartment and for the first time, Vermont felt strangely permanent; less transitory and more like I was being pushed to accept Burlington as a home. While unpack-

HOLLY COUGHLAN

ing, I felt a certain amount of resistance to letting myself sink in to this new place before I really knew it.

Arriving for my first Burlington summer, I realized that I am embarking not only on my first fall semester at this school, but also in this part of the world.

As I stepped on the University green for the first time this

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summer, the deep red color of the brick buildings complimented by the vibrancy of the foliage felt familiar, with just the right amount of challenge to what I know.

Walking down College Street, admiring Lake Champlain at the bottom of the hill, it occurred to me that beauty and home are going to be redefined as I learn that falling in

love with another place doesn’t mean I have to let go of the one I hold dearest to my heart.

Kian Deshler is an avid traveler and a junior majoring in Community and International Development .

He has been writing for the Cynic since Spring 2018.

SPORTS

8

The Vermont Cynic

Aug. 28, 2018

Rare two-way players upgrade roster Nickie Morris Nicole.R.Morris@ uvm.edu

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any players try to go from pitching to hitting because of injuries, but never has true stardom been found in both positions since Babe Ruth.

Ruth retired in 1948, and since then two-way players have rarely seen MLB success.

There have been some converted players who have attempted to go from pitching to hitting such as Rick Ankiel, from the St. Louis Cardinals, in the early 2000s. Recently, he has considered a comeback to pitching for the 2019 season.

This season, it all changed with Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels after a legendary two-way star career in Japan as one of the most famous atheletes there.

The world wondered all winter whether Ohtani would switch to just pitching in L.A. in order to avoid potential injuries from playing the outfield, or if his reign of terror around the diamond would continue in America.

He insisted to the Angels that he could both hit and pitch. This season, he’s been

a designated hitter on days where he was not the starting pitcher.

Early on, he saw success incomparable to any other rookie, excelling as both a pitcher and hitter until a mid-season elbow injury sidelined him for several weeks.

When he recovered from his injury, his success and value as a designated hitter and pitcher caused speculation about more two-way players in the future.

Position players are sometimes described by scouts as having “cannons for arms,” throwing as hard as a pitcher from farther away and with more urgency to complete a play.

These players are extremely athletic. They pitched as children, and in later years, were talked out of it to focus on hitting. But a player does not have to follow this one-dimensional tradition.

Utility is key in a league where just 25 people make a team’s roster, creating a constant need for creativity and balance in playing time while trying not to wear out the pitcher’s fragile arms.

Creating more two-way players instead of insisting that younger baseball players focus their attention on one skill or position would benefit the en-

VALENTINA CZOCHANSKI tire league.

Teams would save money and roster spots by having more useful all-around players.

Players would also get more attention from scouts for their

more useful wide skill sets instead of narrower and more hit-or-miss talents.

In the past 20 years, there has been a revolution in the ever-evolving ways to raise a

baseball player.

Nickie Morris is a sophomore mathematics major.

She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2017.