The Vanderbilt Hustler 12-9-15

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VOL. 127, ISS. 31

THE POLITICAL

VU

Exploring the results of the campus political landscape survey PAGE 8 NEWS

2016 groups form on campus Vandy for Rubio and Students for Hillary seek to promote student involvement in campaigns

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LIFE

Tips for surviving finals week PAGE 6 Advice from the PCC and where you can find study break snacks from Campus Dining

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SPORTS

Freshman runner shines

Caroline Pietryzk leads cross country team with Vanderbilt record for NCAA championship finish

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ILLUSTRATION BY VIVIAN SAXON/ THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

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news Environmental sociology major launched New major focuses on the intersection of humans and the environment to promote study of environmental conservation.

By LINDSAY WILLIAMS News reporter --------------------

For the first time, the College of Arts and Sciences is offering a major in environmental sociology, a course of study directly focused on the interactions of humans and the environment. This major is unique compared to its more science-based counterparts such as earth and environmental science and environmental engineering in that it draws from not only natural science disciplines but also social science disciplines.

“Environmental sociology is the study of the relationship between modern societies and the environment at a variety of scales, from households to global relations,” said David Hess, director of undergraduate studies for sociology.

The environmental sociology major is intended for students with an interest in environmental and conservation issues, but who do not want to pursue an environmental science degree, according to Hess.

“Vanderbilt has a range of offerings in the sciences and engineering, but to date, for students with an interest in humanities and social sciences, the only option other than an independent major was the minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies,” Hess said. “The major in environmental sociology provides a new option for students who want to focus on the social sciences.”

According to Hess, environmental sociology is a very flexible major, with possible career fields such as environmental law, environmental policy, non governmental organizations and a wide range of other areas.

“There are also options to combine environmental sociology with other majors and minors,” Hess said. “For example, students with an interest in green business or the nonprofit sector can combine the major with one of the managerial studies minors.”

CAMPUS UPDATE Chabad, Hillel and the Office of the University Chaplain are partnering to host Vanderbilt’s first menorah lighting at Kirkland Hall on Dec. 10 at 4:30 p.m., featuring a 6-foot menorah, latkes and donuts.

2016 presidential campaign groups assemble More candidate-specific groups, Vandy for Rubio and Students for Hillary, organize in preparation for primary

By JESS MAHONEY and NATHAN KIKER News reporters --------------------

With the upcoming election in 2016 and an early primary in Tennessee on March 1, political groups have begun to mobilize on campus. Student organization Vanderbilt for Bernie Sanders, which came to campus in August, was joined by Vandy for Rubio in late September and Students for Hillary in November.

VANDY FOR RUBIO

After working for a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. over the summer, senior Chelsea Scism decided to start a political campaign organization in support of Marco Rubio called Vandy for Rubio. The group has about 50 members so far.

Scism volunteered for Rubio’s team at an event in South Carolina called Take Back America and left with a desire to continue to supporting him.

The group had two official meetings and created a short video to send to the national Students for Rubio group, which is compiling clips from campuses around the country for a recruitment video.

In addition, the group has paired with College Republicans and the Rubio state team to participate in debate watch parties.

For the second watch party, Rubio’s state team invited Scism and her group to the Standard Hotel downtown to watch the debate in the exclusive upstairs area.

“It was cool to have our members and other activists in the Republican party in Tennessee in the same room,” Scism said. “There were a lot of Rubio supporters there.”

While the group’s major effort was helping out with phone calls to Iowan voters, Scism said that “next semester it’s really going to pick up.” The team is planning on asking members to travel to states with early primaries to volunteer.

Scism supports Rubio because of his experience with foreign policy and his understanding of college students’ needs.

“Marco Rubio is the single best candidate running for president,” Scism said. “He is conservative, yet electable in the general election, young with fresh ideas, yet experienced enough to lead our nation, an inspiring speaker, yet has the facts

vanderbilthustler STAFF

ALLIE GROSS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PHOTO COURTESY OF MCTCAMPUS

Marco Rubio, Republican senator from Florida, and Hillary Clinton, Democratic former Secretary of State, are both candidates for the 2016 presidential election. to support his rhetoric. He understands what Americans — young Americans included — want and need, and he has the capacity to deliver that. His foreign policy experience in particular sets him apart from all other candidates and will serve to make America a global leader once again. Finally, he is the only GOP candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton and is the only one who will bring the Republican party into the future.”

STUDENTS FOR HILLARY

Students for Hillary, which has 35 members so far, formed under the leadership of junior Lauren Egan, who is studying political science and has political campaigning experience.

“My mom jokes that the first time I was campaigning was when she was pregnant with me, and my uncle was running for state delegate,” Egan said. “My first big campaign experience was for Obama in 2012 when I was in high school … I made hundreds of phone calls a week and thought it was the most incredible thing in the world. Knowing you own a piece of history on election night is an incredible feeling.”

The creation of the organization was partially motivated by the Vanderbilt for Bernie Sanders group that was started this summer.

“I wanted to start mobilizing our students to really push into our primary,” Egan said.

One goal of Students for Hillary is to change the political climate in Tennessee.

“Do I think Tennessee could vote blue? Com-

pletely. It just comes down to voter mobilization,” Egan said.

She continued that the organization will likely travel to states that hold early primaries in the Democratic nomination, such as Iowa and South Carolina.

“Trips like that are exciting,” Egan said. “They give you a chance to know your fellow classmates better, and you get the opportunity to meet students from other parts of the country that are united in this passion and belief and vision for the country.”

The head of the Davidson Democratic party has also encouraged Vanderbilt students to become involved with a coalition for Hillary, which will allow them to work with party officials and the county, Egan said.

Egan noted that while she likes other candidates such as Sanders, she supports Clinton because of her electability and experience at the national level.

“I like Bernie a lot … I respect his positions, but the reality is he can’t win in a general election,” Egan said. “I am fully committed to keeping a Democrat in the White House. There will be a number of nominations to the Supreme Court and a Republican in the White House could be a terrifying thing, so we have to keep a Democrat in the White House. I also think Hillary is a more qualified and better candidate. I just don’t think there is anyone right now that can better deal with the issues than her.”

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LGBTQI goals post-marriage equality LGBTQI individuals tell students how to be active allies to their community

By SARAH FRIEDMAN Assistant news editor --------------------

Even after the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality this summer, LGBTQI individuals still face struggles. Trans individuals didn’t gain anything from marriage equality, and according to campus leaders in the LGBTQI community, LGBTQI individuals still face exclusion and discomfort on campus every day. They said they are still pushing for gender-neutral housing, inclusion of pronouns, the creation of “queer spaces” that aren’t bars or clubs, and many more. Five members of the Vanderbilt LGBTQI community talked to the Hustler about how a priority for LGBTQI activism is promoting allyship, and what they want supporters of the queer community to do to change their thinking and actions to help LGBTQI individuals achieve their goals, including maximum comfort and inclusivity on campus.

What does it mean to be an ally?

Kait Spear

Clare McDaniel

Shawn Reilly

Will Harrington

Quinton Turner

She, her, hers

She, her, hers

They, them, theirs

He, him, his

He, him, his

“Ally” isn’t an identity that you can really dawn for yourself. It’s an action. It’s a series of actions — repetitive actions — that a person takes to assist a community and meeting at schools.

You can say that you’re an ally because you’ve never punched a trans person in the face. But just because you haven’t done something bad doesn’t mean that you’re actually trying to do good, or that you’re actively trying to do good.

I think it’s a really human tendency to compose within yourself this idea of what humanity looks like ... I think allowing people the space to be different and realizing that what somebody else does, unless it’s hurting someone, (in that case, by all means, jump right in, because that’s being an ally) but if somebody’s doing something and it hurts no one, mind your own business. And if you see something happening, say something about it. Stand up, speak out. Complacency, I think, is where violence is bred.

So I would say that ally is a verb and not a noun. I don’t think is necessarily something you can call yourself. I think it’s something that that community labels you as. It’s something that you have to consistently work for and if you’re not actively trying, you’re not an ally. And I think there’s this really interesting concept that’s coming up like the idea of accomplice versus ally. It’s like an ally could be there and stand up and cheer you on. But an accomplice will fight with you through the battle.

I think one of the more important components of being an ally is actually standing up and speaking out. It’s not enough to just say “oh you know, I support gay marriage, I support LGBTQI rights and I have friends who are gay.” That’s awesome. I love that you feel that way and I love that you’re accepting, but I would call that just being a basic human being, and being a tolerable human being and being a respectable human being. But being an ally is using your voice and using your perspective to speak up for those who are not being heard.

I would definitely say the foundation is start out as a listener, be open-minded and be willing to initiate in the discussions we have, and don’t be afraid because it’s queer. Don’t retract from it. Just because people are talking about queer things does not mean that you can’t participate, it doesn’t mean that these things don’t apply to you.

WHY IS MARRIAGE EQUALITY NOT THE END GOAL FOR THE LGBTQI COMMUNITY?

McDaniel: People die because they “don’t look right” in the eyes of someone who takes it into their own hands and assumes the responsibility of vigilante and exercises vigilante justice ... So while I love that we can get married, if you want to be an ally to the LGBT community specifically, start looking for ways to help us get killed less ... One issue that’s really close to my heart that I think does not get enough attention is that I want to see more spaces that aren’t centered around getting wasted ... We need to think about the LGBTQIA people that are younger than 21— younger than 18, even ... And then beyond that, I think we need to talk about making spaces for people who are of faith and who also identify as queer.

WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES ABOUT QUEER ISSUES AND CONCERNS?

Spear: Having people show up to our events is probably the basic building block of what people can do. Obviously we would like more than attendance at our events. But the fact of the matter is we see mostly the same faces at our events, and a lot of their faces are part of the community, which is great ... But we are also here to educate allies on how they can

help us out. And we can’t educate allies if they are not present to listen. So we have a plethora of programs that people can show up to. You don’t have to have come to any programs beforehand to know what we’re talking about. You just have to be willing to show up and willing to listen to what we are talking about. So being present is really something that you can’t underestimate as a tool of allyship.

WHAT SHOULD ALLIES KEEP IN MIND WHEN EDUCATING THEMSELVES?

Turner: We want your participation. We want you to share ideas. But I think that also comes with the responsibility to be mindful of what you say in that space and know that you can be called out, but it is being called out in love and on the foundation of education ... A lot of times people will call you out on things they might let go in public because you are in a queer-oriented space and you have come into this space as a guest and to learn ... but please don’t take that as we don’t want you here, because we want you to learn, but to learn sometimes you have to be corrected.

WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE CONSIDER WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT THE QUEER COMMUNITY? Harrington: I think a lot of people don’t realize that when you’re walking to class, there are people around you who can

hear your conversations. And while not necessarily directed at me, the amount of times I’ve been walking behind a group of stereotypical frat brothers and just hear guys that they don’t like or somebody who did something bad at a chapter meeting being called faggots, or using the word gay just thrown around as if it’s something bad just hurts. That stings.

And I know that most of the people just use that because that’s just the word that we’ve used for forever. But I am not a bad person. I am not a bad individual. I’m not less because of my identity. In fact I’m really freaking cool. So please don’t use my label as something that is derogatory.

WHAT SORTS OF EVERYDAY STRUGGLES DO TRANS PEOPLE FACE IN PARTICULAR?

Reilly: I’m always thinking about my gender. I’m always thinking about it specifically in relation to safety and security.

Like am I safe to use this bathroom right now? Am I safe to be in this space? Are there people here that outwardly don’t like trans people? ... I think dysphoria, which is this idea of discomfort with your body based on your trans identity, is a big thing that a lot of trans people face. Just everyday comments that people don’t mean anything by, like calling me ma’am in the line at Vanderbilt dining. They don’t mean it, they don’t know any better. But it causes dysphoria a lot.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

opinion

The impact of our programs will not be significant if the only people who attend them are the people who planned them. If you are a student on this campus, then the concerns of your neighbor are your concerns as well.

KAIT SPEAR, SENIOR

Silenced voices

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Stifling different perspectives does not make for a mutually supportive environment I want to be clear, O white students who want to be part of the effort are afraid to speak up and to join this conversation for fear of being called racists, worried that their views and experiences will I want to stand and immediately be dismissed help my friends, but based on the color of their because people see my skin. whiteness, my help could be misinterpreted.

is a senior in the College of Arts and Science. He can be reached at daniel.r.weitz@ vanderbilt.edu.

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DANIEL WEITZ

ver the past month, I have watched university after university descend into chaos due to student protests, sit-ins and general grievances that have sat undiscussed and unchanged for too long.

I have read about university officials and administrators who have lost their jobs due to students’ issues with what they have said or ways they have acted. And here I sit, very torn on what to think about what looks to me like students having trouble confronting a world that does not always agree with their views.

Now, I want to be clear that I am not referring to the protest sponsored by Hidden Dores a couple of weeks ago. I have a lot of respect for the mature way the students used their power to actively create change in ways they felt necessary. I also applaud the university for quickly taking action and implementing some of the ideas expressed by the students making Vanderbilt more inclusive.

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But these new resources and tools that promote equity and inclusion on campus can only do so if we continue the conversation as students and ensure that we are actively striving for a better university, not just throwing away valuable viewpoints of students based on assumptions about them.

To begin, many aspects of one’s heritage can give one a minority status. As a Jew, I have felt the marginalization of others who did not think I belonged and wished to see me go. I have been subjugated to acts of

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anti-Semitism, have had pennies thrown at me and had friends physically assaulted for having the audacity to wear a Star of David in public. But I worry that because I look a certain way, and can blend in with a certain group, that my voice and experiences will immediately be discouraged.

I want to stand and help my friends, but because people see my whiteness, my help could be misinterpreted.

Please understand, I’m not trying to turn this into a contest on who is more marginalized, but I do think we need to understand that our assumptions can negatively affect our friends and create a toxic environment for everyone on campus. As students, we should want what is best for Vanderbilt, and not try to turn everything into a battle that will only make everyone angry.

I’ve written here before about our need to hear all sides when discussing and advocating for causes we believe in, and I want to repeat that call for our discussions on sensitive topics such as the recent events that have befallen campus. I worry that we have students who are starting to look and sound like students at other universities who wish to bring change, but end up stifling others’ opinions. I worry that we have students who feel like every single act is an act of aggression against them. From a misunderstanding over the feces at the BCC that blew up over social media, to the issues many students expressed regarding VSG’s statement last week in solidarity with diversity efforts, certain students on campus seem to take everything personally.

I want to be clear, white students who want to be part of the effort are afraid to speak up and to join this conversation for fear of being called racists, worried that their views and experiences will immediately be dismissed based on the color of their skin. We are supposed to come to Vanderbilt for an education, and a great one at that. I have met tons of incredible people, some that I find I agree with on many things, and others where we have to agree to disagree. My most valuable conversations have been those where I have been forced to argue my opinions and been exposed to other viewpoints.

Vanderbilt has provided me with an incredibly rich

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The views expressed in lead editorials reflect the majority of opinion among The Hustler’s editorial board and may be supposed to represent the opinion of The Vanderbilt Hustler at the time of publication. They are not necessarily representative of any individual member.

Letters must be submitted either in person by the author to The Hustler office or via email to opinion@vanderbilthustler.com. Letters via email should come from a Vanderbilt email address where the identity of the sender is clear. With rare exception, all letters must be received by 2 p.m. on the Sunday prior to publication. The editor

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experience here, and opened up my worldview immensely, far wider than I imagined college would. But I worry that as we begin to have these conversations about necessary solutions for inherent institutional problems to better reflect the student body, we need to remember all viewpoints are valid. Each of us has had incredibly different life experiences, and those are shown consistently from the myriad voices coloring The Hustler, but the fact I have had friends express worry that they cannot voice their opinions because they are white, or even male, is disappointing.

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Events, education and empathy

Forgoing programming can result in a dangerous lack of awareness

T

KAIT SPEAR is a senior in the College of Arts and Science. She can be reached at kaitlin.p.spear@ vanderbilt.edu.

he detriment to our community if we fail to consider the struggles of our peers is great and is sometimes revealed in unexpected places. For example, I recently put out a survey for my Introduction to Women’s Health course, not anticipating any trends of note. My survey simply endeavored to collect responses for the questions “What do you believe is the biggest health concern for women on Vanderbilt’s campus?” and “What do you believe is the biggest health concern for men on Vanderbilt’s campus?”

Everyone in the class dealt with these prompts, but my specific perspective aimed to evaluate the data on two separate measures: (1) The differences between the responses of straight and queer students, and (2) The differences among the responses from men, women, and otherwise-identified students. I did my

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Many trends concerned me in this survey, chief among them that despite sexual assault being the highest rated health concern for women, not a single straight man identified it as a risk for women. More straight men said that the flu, colds, or mono was the biggest health concern for women.

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best not to “other” individuals based on sexuality or gender, but there’s only so much you can do with a rigidly binary prompt. For anyone interested in combating binaries in your schoolwork, consider making demographic questions free response and taking the time to code them later.

All of the survey’s questions were free response, so although the answers were incredibly varied, I did not offer any choices that could have swayed the results, and the data were ultimately easy to code. For example, “alcohol poisoning” fit into the “binge drinking” category, “rape” fit into the “sexual assault” category,

and “body image” fit into “Social Gender Pressures.”

Fifty-five people filled out the survey and only one entered data that couldn’t be used. Every respondent answered both questions - “What do you believe is the biggest health concern for women on Vanderbilt’s campus?” and “What do you believe is the biggest health concern for men on Vanderbilt’s campus?”

For women, the results were varied, with a high distribution across many factors. The three highest rated categories for concerns for women were Sexual Assault, STIs/Sexual Health, and Mental Health/ Stress. For men in general, the results were incredibly focused compared to the swath of issues deemed important to women; every category aside from the top three garnered fewer than five votes. The most frequently indicated categories were STIs/Sexual Health, Mental Health/Stress, and Binge Drinking/Reckless Injury (which were paired because of the frequency of their pairing in responses).

Many trends concerned me in this survey, chief among them that despite sexual assault being the highest rated health concern for women, not a single straight man identified it as a risk for women. More straight men said that the flu, colds, or mono was the biggest health concern for women, which I suppose is not a difficult feat when the object of comparison is a flat zero. Men were also more likely to “declare equality” – record the same response for men and women. Only one straight male-identified respondent identified different concerns for women and men on campus.

Many critiques can also be made of this project.

The survey was not approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) — 55 respondents is no breathtakingly thorough representation of the student body at Vanderbilt University, and just because an individual authored a free response that varied from the free responses of others does not mean that they would discount a concern if it were presented to them. However, to have so many other free responses compensate so dramatically for what a singular demographic excluded is noteworthy. It is noteworthy because it indicates a disparity that pervades our campus despite the collective efforts of many student organizations and VSG’s Sexual Assault Prevention Committee.

The singular most pervasive complaint against student-driven initiatives is “over-programming.”

Despite countless administrative and student hours poured into solving the conundrum of reducing overprogramming, we still constantly field complaints that there are too many events going on: How can anyone be expected to attend every event that matters when we have to attend classes, do our homework, study, go to work, and still have time to breathe? How can we perform this seemingly impossible task, especially when student organizers like me are telling everyone else that there are at least three events every day that truly, emphatically matter?

One option is to listen. Listen to the communities that are hurting here on campus. We wouldn’t have to offer hundreds of programs a year if attendance at those events were better, and we wouldn’t have to repeatedly offer those events if the impact were greater.

The impact of our programs will not be significant if

SPEAR'S STUDENT SURVEY

3 most common answers for concerns for women's health: 1. Sexual Assault 2. STIs/Sexual Health 3. Mental Health/Stress 3 most common answers for concerns for men's health: 1. STIs/Sexual Health 2. Mental Health/Stress 3. Binge Drinking/Reckless Injury 55 respondents total: 10 heterosexual men 18 heterosexual women 7 queer-identifying men 15 queer-identifying women 5 other-gendered individuals Note: These are the results Spear reported from her survey for her Women’s Health course. the only people who attend them are the people who planned them. If you are a student on this campus, then the concerns of your neighbor are your concerns as well. If you are white, you have a responsibility to attend programs led by BSA, NAACP, AASA, Hidden Dores, and the MLC. If you’re Christian, you have a responsibility to chat with the MSA. If you’re straight, go ahead and hang out at the K.C. Potter Center.

There are many, many different ways that we can be condemned to view difference as a narrow, distorted narrative, and we cannot allow suffering to continue because we were too “over-programmed” to go to one event led by the Disabilities Awareness Partnership. If we have no exposure to diversity, we must seek it out.

You might be tired of sexual assault awareness campaigns, and you might feel over-programmed, but unless everyone – including a population that is overwhelmingly at risk of perpetrating assault – recognizes the prominence of sexual assault as a mental and physical health concern for all of us, especially women, the programs must go on. So if you will not attend programs for the sake of the content, attend for the sake of reducing programming. Because given the results of this survey, I can assure you that there will be many more awareness programs yet to come.

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THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM Situated in the middle of redder-than-red Tennessee, many have always perceived Vanderbilt to be a conservative university. But according to a joint survey by the Vanderbilt Hustler and the Vanderbilt Political Review of 816 undergraduates, nowadays the average Vanderbilt student is liberal, approves of the Obama presidency and supports both abortion rights and Obamacare. As primary election season heats up across the country, here’s a look at the results and analysis of our poll of the campus political landscape.

A LIBERAL STUDENT BODY

CAMPUS POLITICAL SURVEY

Analyzing the results of The Hustler/Vanderbilt Political Review poll of 816 students -------------------By ANNA BUTRICO AND GABRIELLE TIMM Web editor and News reporter --------------------

When given a 7-point scale (1 being most liberal and 7 being most conservative), 57.2 percent of Vanderbilt students self-identified as liberal, whereas less than a third identified as conservative. This is compared to the 50.4 percent of students who identified as liberal in 2012.

Political science professor Marc Hetherington was surprised at this year’s large liberal result.

“The one thing that I was surprised by was how liberal the campus scores on these items,” Hethering said. “My experience with teaching here, although again I do think the campus has been moving slightly left over time, is that the mix of people who are conservative and liberal is pretty even.

Liberals came out so much higher.”

Professor Bruce Oppenheimer, also of the political science department, agreed.

“Based on my own classes, I would think that there would be more Republicans and more conservatives, although I don’t know whether those classes are typical,” Oppenheimer said.

Students seemed somewhat split on whether they were surprised. Some, such as junior Lane Underdahl, didn’t expect that the poll results would show a student body that leans liberal.

“I guess I would have thought that Vanderbilt is probably more conservative than some other highly-ranked universities,” Underdahl said.

Several freshmen and transfers in their first semester felt that Vanderbilt was conservative-leaning. Sophomore Cole Smith, a transfer from Davidson University, felt that like Davidson, Vanderbilt is a conservative institution.

“This is my first semester. Generally, from my own experience, it’s a little conservative-leaning,” Smith said.

However, others, such as sophomore Austin Channel, thought that the survey accurately reflected Vanderbilt’s political climate.

“It’s probably about what I thought it was,” Channel said.

“Especially as you get into more and more competitive universities, they tend to lean more to the left.”

Sophomore Eli Byerly-Duke was also unsurprised that the university was left-leaning, but thought the low number of moderates was notable.

“I think it’s interesting that we have such a small group of people who call themselves moderates. I think that’s more honest,” Byerly-Duke said.

Vanderbilt has historically been known as a conservative campus, but professors and students alike have noticed Vanderbilt’s political ideology slowly shifting to the left over the years.

“I’ve been here 20 years, and when I first started teaching here the student body was probably 60-40 Republican. I don’t have any data for that, but that’s a ballpark,” said John Geer, political science professor and co-director of the Vanderbilt Poll, a separate survey analyzing public opinion for the state of Tennessee and the city of Nashville.

Professor Vereen Bell, who has been teaching in the English department for 40 years, reports that the changing demographics of the university have elicited this change.

“It was mainly identified as a southern, white university that people were collectively unembarrassed to think of themselves as conservative Republicans,” Bell said. “That changed over that period of time. I’m sure that Vietnam had something to do with it. I’m sure that the diversification of the student body had to do with it. What had a whole lot to do

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THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM with it was that people are coming here from different parts of the country.”

Tennessee is a red state, and while Vanderbilt has historically attracted southern, conservative students it is increasingly receiving applications from students from all corners of the U.S. and the world.

Hetherington says the increased liberal presence on campus stems from Vanderbilt’s changing demographics. He said liberal students score highly in the personality characteristic “open to experience,” while conservatives score higher in conscientiousness. This openness to experience corresponds to where students have grown up. As Vanderbilt has drawn in more students from the east and west coasts and inner cities, the university has attracted a more liberal demographic.

“Those places, especially cities, where at least the parents are more likely to have high openness to experience [because] they are around the urbanness of what goes on in city life.

When the school was more of a southern school with more of a regional bent to it, more students would have been high in conscientiousness, coming from communities that take the preservation of traditions and values particularly seriously,” Hetherington said.

Geer said that Vanderbilt’s political ideology could have changed because a Democratic president is in power. While the Gore-Bush and Kerry-Bush election splits were pretty even, he witnessed a large shift in campus political ideology when Obama ran for president.

“There was a big tilt. But that was a reflection of the changing demographics of the student body, but because also young people liked Obama,” Geer said.

The Vanderbilt Poll of Tennesseans, released last week, reported that 36 percent of their sample approved of Obama.

In our similar survey of the student body, Vanderbilt’s approval was nearly double that of the state, ranking in at a 63.4 percent approval rate.

Hetherington said that undergraduate students have been socialized growing up to lean more to the left.

“My sense is that we’ve seen, as the profile of Vanderbilt students has changed over time to be a more national university, that has been in the thing in combination to Obama’s relative success and Bush’s lack of success, has created a set of this distribution of political orientations,” Hetherington said.

FRIEND GROUPS HAVE SIMILAR IDEOLOGIES

Participants were asked to rate their friends’ ideologies. To measure the degree of shared ideology, the ratings of friends’ ideologies was subtracted from people’s self-identified ideologies. The majority of responses (and subtractions) equated to 0, indicating most participants said that they shared similar ideologies with their friends.

“We find that in real life a lot,” Oppenheimer said. “People tend to be friendly, tend to marry people with the same political values themselves. They tend to live near people who have similar political preferences. We do tend to cluster, but then again that can be partly based on associations. What else do you do? There may be other reasons for your friendship which may be related to clubs you’re on, religious groups you’re in, activities, where you are from, or it can be your political preferences directly.”

Hetherington said that these similarities in political ideologies all stem from shared personality characteristics. People tend to conglomerate with those whose personalities are similar to theirs. Those who value tradition often group together, and those who want to challenge order and predictability aggregate together.

“Back when the dominant debate in politics was how big the government ought to be, personality didn’t have a lot to do with it,” Hetherington continued. “But now that the political divide is about things like gay and transgender rights, racial attitudes, immigration, which of course has difference as far as ethnicity is concerned at its core, what has developed out of that is a politics where our personalities are so much more important to our political identities.”

Political ideologies of Vanderbilt students

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

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Whatever divides us politically, these days, from left to right is really really powerful. It’s even structuring our decisions about student government elections.

’’

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY CORRELATES WITH VSG PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

Left of center - 57.2% Political moderates - 10.2% Right of center - 32.6%

89% of participants’ best friends fall within two steps of their political ideology

Although VSG presidential elections are entirely nonpartisan, the survey showed that the more conservative you were, the more likely you were to vote for the current president and vice president, Lizzy Shahnasarian and Jay King. Conversely, the more liberal you were, the more likely you were to vote for the runners-up in the election, Katherine Nash and Safiah Hassan. The survey found that 3/4 of participants who identified as very conservative voted for Lizzy and Jay, and 3/4 of people who were very liberal voted for Katherine and Safiah.

Shahnasarian and Nash declined to comment, and professors weren’t familiar enough with the campaigns to offer explanations for the correlation.

“The bottom line being that even though this decision has nothing to do with national politics, it appears to have everything to do with national politics,” Hetherington said. “Which brings up — whatever divides us politically, these days, from left to right is really really powerful. It’s even structuring our decisions about student government elections.”

Vanderbilt College Democrats President Jacob Graham said that he thought the candidates’ differing emphasis on diversity influenced which demographic vote they attained.

“I think that Katherine and Safiah’s campaign was really focused on diversity as kind of the number one priority,” Graham said. “Lizzy and Jay were certainly focused on diversity as well … but it was kind of a diversity among other things.

I think that sends a hidden partisan message, partisan is the wrong word, there but that’s a demographic that is going to respond to that message differently.”

GREEK MALES MOST CONSERVATIVE

The survey revealed Greek affiliation often corresponds with conservative political ideology. Greek men are the most conservative, and non-Greek women are the most liberal.

“That makes sense. In the public, women are more Democratic. They’re more liberal. That’s true broadly, and that’s being reflected here as well,” Geer said.

Hetherington said the Greek vs. non-Greek affiliation, and its connection to political views, has to do with personality characteristics.

— Continued on page 10

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

2015 VSG election votes by political ideology

Political ideology by gender Women

Men

3.46

Greek Non-Greek

3.10

3.91 3.32

Self-reported ideology When asked about political ideologies, participants were given a 7-point scale (1 being the most liberal, 7 being the most conservative.)

“A lot of divide in American politics being about tradition, and one’s orientation towards traditional affiliations and things along those lines, and I think that would be an extension of that. The Greek system is a traditional set of affiliations, and those who value those types of traditions, and those things that go along with it more, will on average tend to be a little more conservative than those who want to challenge those venerable traditions will be less likely to be Greek,” Hetherington said.

PROFESSORS’ IDEOLOGIES, AND THEIR EFFECTS ON STUDENTS

Students were asked to rate their professors’ ideologies on the same 1-7 scale. 39.6 percent of participants placed their Vanderbilt professors as a 3, slightly left of center.

Geer shook his head when he saw these statistics.

“They think the faculty are more conservative than students,” Geer laughed. “That’s just not true!”

Hetherington agreed with that sentiment.

“I’m surprised that the placement of the average professor isn’t even further to the left than it is, because at least in the social sciences and the humanities, the professor is overwhelmingly liberal. That’s the fact,” Hetherington said.

Junior Andrea Concaildi said that she perceived many of her professors to be liberal.

“Most of my professors who have stated their beliefs have tried to try to sway towards liberalism. I tend to go towards liberalism anyway. So it’s interesting. And now I’m like, ‘Are those my beliefs?’ I never really hear (advocacy) from the other side of the story. And I’m sure both deserve equal presence,” she said.

As Concaildi suggested, Hetherington said faculty ideologies can affect students’ views.

“Is it possible? Yeah. But it’s important to keep in mind that faculty are not writing on a blank slate. Most students come to college with some ideas about politics already. It’s not like we’re providing information in a vacuum. So while I think that it’s definitely possible for faculty members to effect the opinions of the students, I think the effect is unlikely to be particularly large,” Hetherington said.

Geer agreed, and said assumptions that faculty are indoctrinating their students are untrue.

“It underestimates the intelligence of the students. I’m suddenly going to convince you to be a liberal, when you’re conservative? And vice versa? No way! You’ve thought about this a little bit, you have your opinions. You’re among the best students in the country. You’re here. It overestimates the influence of the faculty and underestimates the ability of the students,” Geer said.

’’

Lizzy & Jay

Self-reported ideology Katherine & Safiah Don’t remember

Back when the dominant debate in politics was how big the government ought to be, personality didn’t have a lot to do with it.

But now ... the political divide is about things like gay and transgender rights, racial attitudes and immigration.

’’

RELIGION AND POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

The survey results showed self-identified Christians tended to be more conservative, while Jewish, Muslim and other faiths tended to lean more liberal. Mark Forrester, the University Chaplain, questioned these results, saying that it is hard to speak for an entire religion.

“Any religious group is very diverse within the definition of that religion, meaning that no particular religion is monolithic,” Forrester said.

Forrester believes that political ideologies within a group vary by the issue discussed.

“For instance, I find a lot of Christian groups as well as our Jewish groups, and our fastest growing religious minority on campus, our Muslim students, I find that there is a whole lot of social engagement that to me indicates a progressivist understanding of what they need to do in the world to make it a better place. If you talk to them about other facets of their political and ideological outlooks, they may have a fairly conservative economic [philosophy],” he said.

OWNING THE WORD “LIBERAL”

Self-identified liberal Vanderbilt students were more likely to say they were “very” liberal, while conservatives were more likely to call themselves “moderately” conservative.

“To say they are ‘very’ something, such as liberal or conservative, is to endorse the positive association with that label,” Hetherington said. “If you’re only willing to say you’re moderately conservative, you’re really not embracing the label in the same way as liberals seem to be embracing it when they say ‘very liberal.’ And that does make sense to me insofar as younger people, in an essentially affluent campus, tend to be more liberal, especially on the social and lifestyle issues that are more important to young people.”

Both Hetherington and Bell were surprised the extent to which students owned the label “liberal.” Bell said that historically, “liberal” has been branded with negative connotations.

“Calling your opponent a liberal is like calling them a pedophile or something. It’s not a good classification of terms attached to the political opposition,” Bell said.

Claire Deaver, president of College Republicans, said

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Breakdown of student ideology Left of center Political moderates Right of center

Number of Vanderbilt students

’’

Self-reported ideology

If you’re only willing to say you’re moderately conservative, you’re really not embracing the label in the same way as liberals seem to be embracing it when they say ‘very liberal.’

’’

that the word “conservative” often gets a bad rap now. Because so many students claim to be liberal, others are not as quick to own a conservative identity.

“When people [ask], ‘Are you liberal?’ or, ‘Are you conservative?’ people are very proud to say, ‘I’m very liberal’ because that’s what a lot of other people are, or at least perceived to be,” Deaver said. “So if you’re going to be conservative, you have to, at least you figure, to be moderate conservative because otherwise people label you as, you know, ‘you’re a bigot, you’re a racist, you’re homophobic’ all of this stuff that’s not true.”

Deaver said she has witnessed liberal biases especially with

public debates on Facebook, where her peers are overwhelmingly liberal. Deaver says the common proliferation of these liberal ideas has caused the campus to shift further left.

“I think that’s the problem with our campus, that there’s a silent majority, or at least a silent half of conservatives, who are conservatives that don’t want to say anything about their views. I see so many liberal posts on Facebook all the time…

I would say everyone is liberal based on the posts. If I didn’t have political views, I’d [think that] everyone’s liberal, [and that] they must be right,” she said.

Sophomore Erin Euliano said she has observed that liberals tend to be very vocal at Vanderbilt.

“I would say that people who are most vocal are left-leaning. I only hear from the people who speak up, so I don’t know how many people don’t speak up because they disagree,” she said.

EMBRACING POLITICAL DIFFERENCES

The VPR poll elucidated the overall trends in the university’s political landscape. Though students were generally regarded as liberal, there was notably lots of diversity within the tested population.

“The survey says that you tend to have friends with the same ideology, but it also shows that people have plenty of friends that aren’t the same ideology,” Graham said. “And I think that’s the beauty of the college campus. In college you get rid of that uniformity, you get rid of that homogeneity.

The College Democrats always like working with the College Republicans. It’s fun.”

Forrester acknowledges that students engage in political discourse on campus, but wondered about the extent to which these discussions manifested themselves in action.

“Students are more than happy to state their beliefs, but I don’t think there is a very high level of political engagement, participating in elections for instance. I would encourage students to back up their words with their behavior,” Forrester said. He also wondered if engagement on campus will turn into engagement beyond college.

“My larger curiosity is that whether that will translate into sustained behavior of activism as citizens when students leave campus. I’m still not sure whether the activism we see here on

a local level will translate into a lifestyle afterwards,” Forrester continued.

Hetherington said that students need to look past these political gaps and differences to change the nation in the future.

“Making students, empowering students to realize that no matter if students are liberal or conservative that they can make a difference, and that they need to make a difference,” he said. “Or else we will continue to have the politics we have [now] in the future. And the politics that we have right now are problematic. It’s going to take a generational change. Your generation is going to have to do better than my generation.” ­­— Features editor Matt Lieberson contributed to this report

SURVEY METHODOLOGY The 31-question survey of 816 Vanderbilt undergraduates was included in the e-mail digests of Vanderbilt Student Government and The Hustler, which are sent to all undergraduates. Almost all survey questions originated from the American National Election Survey, Pew Research Center or Gallup. Only students with Vanderbilt e-mails were permitted to participate, and duplicate responses were prohibited. The survey was also sent to specific schools, campus groups and departments to reflect the demographics of the university. Under consultation with Professor Joshua Clinton, an expert in survey research, we performed post-survey stratification weights to correct for differences between our sample and the population in racial, religious and Greek composition.

The weights did not materially affect the results. The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percent.

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

life

GO DO

THIS

Music City Winterfest Centennial Park; Saturday, Dec. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Replace the finals week dreariness with a bit of holiday cheer, and check out Music City Winterfest. The festival — which is right across from campus — will feature food trucks, a beer garden, performances from local musicians and a holiday craft music. The event even promises a visit from Santa, just in case all you want for Christmas is an A in Gen-chem.

Finals Survival Guide

While finals can seem overwhelming, there are several concrete steps students can take to make it through (relatively) unscathed. The Hustler asked Samantha KW Brzozowski, an academic counselor from the PCC, about her best tips for successfully surviving finals By Natalie Brown, Life reporter



DO PLAN OUT YOUR WORK.

Brzozowski recommends having a planning session to create a structured schedule of all of your commitments. She said planning gives you permission not to worry about anything other than the one thing you made the plan to work on at that time. Remember to include enough time to complete each assignment, spreading work out into multiple days.

“Cramming is neither learning nor studying. It’s a harm-reduction approach, at best,” Brzozowski explained.



DO MOVE AROUND.

Trying to choose one place to study for the whole day only wastes your time and energy. Instead, have a few different places where you like to study, but don’t get too attached to one specific table in case it isn’t available. In terms of company, studying in a group is beneficial because others will likely know something you don’t and hold you accountable for studying. Plus, talking through what you’ve learned keeps you more engaged.

But beware if you don’t study well in groups or often misjudge your knowledge of material.

“Don’t expect group study to replace self-testing,” Brzozowski said.



DO USE STRESS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE.



DON'T SKIMP ON FOOD, SLEEP OR EXERCISE.

Brzozowski also reminds students to eat a balanced diet and to prioritize sleeping and working out. “Even a 20 minute brisk walk before studying will increase your focus and attention for the next couple of hours,” she said.

She also warns against replacing sleep with caffeine, a popular study drug, because sleep helps your brain consolidate the information you’ve learned.



DON'T MULTITASK OR PULL ALL-NIGHTERS.

While both of these are popular studying strategies among Vanderbilt students, staying up all night or browsing the internet as you study detract from your ability to learn.

Brzozowski identifies multitasking as the number one study-myth: “Anytime you’re trying to learn, that should be the brain’s primary activity.” Once again, Brzozowski also emphasizes the importance of sleep, and says that students should avoid all-nighters. “Nothing you ‘learn’ by giving up sleep is going to do you any good on a test the next day,” she said.



DON'T FORGET THE MANY RESOURCES YOU HAVE.

Brzozowski reminds students of the vast amount resources available to them. Campus With stress, try to find your “sweet offices include The Writing Studio, A&S Tutorspot” stress level that is both motivating and encouraging. “Too little and we find it difficult ing, Student Health and the PCC itself. Students should also look to friends, family, and colto engage and take work seriously, too much and we’re too busy worrying to do the work,” leagues for support. Finally, Brzozowski wants Brzozowski said. When you’re feeling complete- students to remember: “You’ve got this.” ly overwhelmed, she recommends the 4-7-8 breath technique (inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven, and exhale for eight).

GET YOUR FOOD FIX Every year, Vanderbilt dining offers surprise treats for students to help them fend off low blood sugar and take a quick study break. Check out all the goodies for next week below:

Kissam Commons

Rand

MONDAY 12-14 Hot chocolate bar* Warm Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Warm Pretzels *Also at the Athletics dining facility and McTyeire

TUESDAY 12-15 Sundae bar Decorate your own cupcake Decorate your own cupcake

WEDNESDAY 12-16 Pretzel bar Popcorn Popcorn

THURSDAY 12-17 Warm cookie giveaway Hot chocolate bar Hot chocolate bar

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How to find laughs in Nashville

Check out these places to discover the local comedy scene

By Claudia Willen, Senior life reporter

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

13

Nashville may be known as “Music City,” but squeezed amongst the karaoke bars and concert venues are numerous comedy clubs that Nashvillians both know and love. If you’re looking to laugh along rather than sing along to a live performance, the Nashville comedy scene offers everything from cozy bars to large venues.

Room hosts a show featuring local comedians performing extended sets plus a monthly sketch set. The bar and open setting creates a casual, calming vibe. Fun fact: The world record for the longest standup comedy show (more than 184 hours featuring various comics) took place on the East Room stage in April 2015.

ZANIES

NASHVILLE STANDUP

For an authentic Nashvillian comedy club, look no further than Zanies. Located on 8th Avenue South, Music City’s premier comedy club features a classic setup, with a large stage in the front and two levels of seating with tables for dining. With visiting comedians ranging from America’s Got Talent’s Drew Lynch to HBO’s Sommore, professionals consistently fill the house with howling laughter. Check the event calendar to keep track of which comedians are coming. Luckily, Zanies is open seven days a week to cure even your mopey Monday blues. While you should purchase general admission tickets beforehand, seating is still first come first serve, so get there at least 45 minutes early. Bear in mind that there is also a minimum of two orders of drinks (or food).

To keep track of all the upcoming comedy in Nashville, check out the Nashville StandUp website, an online tool that rounds up all the comedy events in Music City. Nashville StandUp is the central hub of comedy. Its mission is to promote and aid the comedy scene in middle Tennessee. The website serves as the news source and center of all things funny in Music City and covers events from open mics at restaurants to small events at local event venues.

MUSIC CITY IMPROV

As Nashville’s premier improv and sketch company, Music City Improv maintains quite the following. With a nine person cast, the team constantly creates new material in the form of both long and short improv sketches. The Music City Improv group hosts shows (which it says are appropriate for a PG-13 audience) on the third Friday of every month, performing in the intimate East Nashville theatre setting. The shows often sell out, and tickets are usually $10 in advance and $12 at the door. The group also occasionally performs at other festivals or venues around town. If you like what you see and want to try your hand at the mic, Music City Improv also offers classes for beginners and advanced jokesters.

EAST ROOM

Located on Gallatin Avenue, the East Room is a multi-purpose venue that hosts both musicians and bands. Every Sunday, East

PHOTO COURTESY OF MUSIC CITY IMPROV

Members of the Music City Improv company perform shows on the third Friday of every month. They also offer comedy workshops for local Nashvillians.

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

sports

THE BIG STAT The number of Vanderbilt football players to be named first-team All-SEC by coaches this decade.

Linebacker Zack Cunninghan earned the honor after finishing fifth in the SEC this season with 102 tackles.

2

Pietrzyk leads XC DRILL team in first season

8

MINUTE

The freshman wrapped up an impressive This week in with two prestigious honors, top Commodore sports season 40 championship finish

By MAX HERZ Sports reporter --------------------

NO. 21 MEN’S BASKETBALL (6-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. Dayton Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m.

Memorial Gym A visit from Dayton marks Vanderbilt’s toughest non-conference home opponent of the season and the second of three chances at a resume-building win this December. In the first of those three opportunities, Sunday at Baylor, the Commodores fell 69-67 while committing a season high of 17 turnovers and allowing Baylor’s Taurean Prince to score 30 points.

Flyers guard Charles Cooke is a similar threat to Prince and Kansas’ Wayne Selden, who hurt the Commodores in their first loss of the season and will be a challenge for Matthew Fisher-Davis, Nolan Cressler and Riley LaChance to contain.

Though unranked, Dayton received votes in both polls this week, and the Commodores fell from No. 19 to No. 21 in the AP Poll and from No. 13 to No. 16 in the Coaches Poll.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (7-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. Troy Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

Memorial Gym The Commodores have won six straight games after starting the season 1-2, including the team’s first road win of the year against Drexel last Thursday. Vandy hosts Troy before breaking for finals, and head coach Melanie Balcomb needs one more win to reach 300 victories at Vanderbilt. Sophomore Rachel Bell has averaged 20 points over her last three games, including consecutive 24-point effort against and Drexel.

By JOSH HAMBURGER Managing editor --------------------

As Caroline Pietrzyk approached the 2,000 meter mark at the cross country NCAA Championship on Nov. 21, she found herself in a modest 92nd place out of 254 runners. While head coach Steve Keith felt worried about this placing, the SEC Freshman of the Year catapulted up 60 spots over the last 4,000 meters to finish in 32nd place, a Vanderbilt school record.

She remembers the moment vividly. Pietrzyk remembers telling herself, “‘You can’t give up now and just make this where you are going to be the rest of the race. So you have to try to work hard to move up if you can.’”

“So I felt like I could, and I did,” she said.

Although 92nd place still would have been the team’s best finish, it wasn’t the result that Pietrzyk or Keith were expecting, considering her remarkable performances in the prior six races.

While the freshman may not have initially known a goal finishing place for the championship, Keith helped provide context for a standard to measure against. Throughout the season, her times had consistently matched up against two top runners from Tennessee and Arkansas, both of whom finished well in past championships.

“She had been racing them head-to-head so we did have a little bit of a gauge of, ‘hey if you translate it into this environment, you could be top 30, top 40,’ and that was kind of our goal going in,” Keith said.

Yet prior to the season, Pietrzyk’s goal was simply to finish among one of the “scorers” on the team. She never expected to set records and earn top honors in just her first semester of college.

“Really my only concrete goal coming into college was to perform well enough to be on the travel squad, so make the top seven or eight so I could travel with the team to the bigger meets,” Pietrzyk said.

Pietrzyk reached far beyond this goal in her first collegiate cross country season, after spending just four years beforehand as a runner.

She didn’t start running until high school, having swam competitively instead from 4th through 12th grade.

“I didn’t have the largest running background like many people do,” Pietrzyk said. “I really just found that I like to run. I mean it’s something that I obviously love doing. It’s just amazing. So as I enjoyed it more and as I got more into competing, it fit better for me than swimming did.”

When Pietrzyk placed first for Vanderbilt and second overall at the Belmont Opener, the first race of the season, Keith wasn’t entirely sure that she would continue to lead the team. Historically, his top performers have come from more seasoned juniors and seniors, but he thought that the anomaly could help provide a boost to other Vanderbilt runners and the national team ranking.

“We saw some performance levels that were very good,” Keith said.

“If she stayed at our number one, I felt like if our team could try to catch up to her, and we would be a very good team. There was never really any pressure on her to do that, it’s just that’s where she was.”

But then Pietrzyk placed first for Vanderbilt in the next race and every meet after that. Her performance wasn’t a fluke — she was the team’s most dominant runner.

“It’s basically you’ve got a very talented freshman,” Keith said frankly.

While Pietrzyk ended the season with impressive finishes and times, she never fathomed the honors and awards she could rack up when the season began. Her aim wasn’t necessarily to seek such impressive individual success, but rather be able to garner experience and help her

DANIEL DUBOIS / VU STAFF

Pietrzyk runs for Vanderbilt in the Commodore Classic in September. team score lower in meets.

“I mean I knew about All American, but I had no idea that the SEC Freshman of the Year was even an award that they gave out,” Pietrzyk said. “It’s just such an honor to know that my hard work has paid off and to be representing my school, my team, and my coaches like that.”

With the cross country season wrapped up, the indoor track season kicked off this past Saturday, although without their new freshman star.

Keith decided to keep out members of the team who ran at the NCAA Championship, which included Pietrzyk, in order to provide them wellneeded rest.

“We’re going to take the winter to recharge,” Keith said. “The season can really drain you.”

Keith noted the need for Pietrzyk to focus on rest, training and conditioning during the winter season so that she can prepare for the outdoor races later in the year. Her ability to transition seasons is currently unknown as a freshman without the year-long experience in the past.

“She’s never run indoors,” Keith noted. “She’s never run three seasons, so we’ll have to be real careful there.”

Pietrzyk understands that her first campaign was unprecedented from the perspective of her and Keith. However, that isn’t stopping her from looking ahead to see in what other races she may soon find herself competing.

“All I really know about the track season is that I’m going to do longer distances, like the 5K and 10K in the outdoor season,” Pietrzyk said.

Keith has coached NCAA champions and Olympians in the past, and he finds a common connection between Pietrzyk and many of these other highly decorated runners.

“She has what I call, a championship mentality, and she manages the stress of the situation very well and keeps a level head on her shoulders and just really handles the whole environment really well,” Keith said.

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The ‘Dores you know

going pro

Vanderbilt Basketball has seen some talented players come through Memorial Gym, from the olden days of Will Perdue to the modern marvel in Damian Jones, a projected NBA Draft lottery pick. Here are some more recent Commodore alums and how their careers have progressed.

By Cutler Klein, Sports reporter

FESTUS EZELI, CENTER, 2008-2012 Ezeli has perhaps seen the most success out of any alum in the past few years. Following his time with the Commodores, he was selected 30th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. From there, he went on to become a big contributor off the bench for the team. He faced some setbacks due to injury, and missed the entire 2013-14 season with a right knee ailment. Ezeli was able to rebound, however, and the Nigerian big man was an integral part of the Warriors’ run to an NBA Finals win last season. This season, he’s part of the best team in the NBA, winners of an unprecedented 22 straight games to start the season, and he has started half the team’s game to date. Just this September, Ezeli triumphantly returned to Vanderbilt with his NBA Finals trophy and took part in the festivities surrounding the Vanderbilt-Georgia football game.

MATT FREIJE, POWER FOWARD, 2000-2004 This forward from North Dakota is perhaps most famous in Commodore lore for his role in Vanderbilt’s run to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Freije helped lead the comeback to stun No. 3 seed NC State in the second round of that tournament. From there, Freije would get drafted in the late 2nd round of the NBA Draft by the Miami Heat. He never ended up playing for Miami, instead finding a roster spot with the Charlotte Hornets, before moving on to the Atlanta Hawks, where he appeared in 42 games before being let go. He bounced around between teams around the world, and played in many different countries, including China, Puerto Rico, Lebanon and Uruguay. Freije last played in 2013 for Amchit Club in Lebanon, where he has heritage.

JOHN JENKINS, SHOOTING GUARD, 2009-2012 The local boy Jenkins was a wonder from beyond the arc with the Commodores and took the team to new heights with Ezeli and Jeffery Taylor back in 2012. Along with those two, he was drafted in 2012 in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks, where he played on and off until this season, when he was signed by the Dallas Mavericks. With Dallas, Jenkins has seen his role expand. On Oct. 29, he started a game against the Los Angeles Clippers, and scored 17 points while putting up 6 rebounds and three assists in a losing effort.

His minutes fluctuate with the injury status of the team, but when he gets time on the court, he takes advantage of it. It looks like Jenkins has found a team to stay with in Dallas.

DERRICK BYARS, SMALL FOWARD/SHOOTING GUARD, 2005-2007 After transferring from Virginia, Byars was a standout with the Commodores and, along with Shan Foster, led the team to another Sweet Sixteen berth in 2007.

They would end up losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Georgetown Hoyas in that game (always remember #JeffGreenTraveled). That would be Byars’ last season with Vanderbilt, as he was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers before being immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

However, his NBA career would never really take off. The Sixers waived him before he even saw the court for a regular season game. He bounced around between NBA Summer League teams before making his way over to Europe. Byars would try a brief comeback in the NBA, signing with both the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs in 2011 and 2012, but he never stuck in either place. He’s still playing basketball, however; Byars is currently under contract with Maccabi Rishon LeZion in Israel.

Dansby traded to Braves

By Ben Weinrib, Sports editor

On Tuesday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks traded former Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson to the Atlanta Braves just six months after being selecting him first overall in the MLB First-Year Player draft and giving him a $6.5 million bonus.

The Diamondbacks acquired All-Star right-handed pitcher Shelby Miller for Swanson, outfielder Ender Inciarte, and right-handed pitcher Aaron Blair.

Swanson enjoyed a successful first minor league season with the Class-A Short Season Hillsboro Hops, hitting .289 and slugging .482 with as many walks (14) as strikeouts. At the end of the season, MLB.com rated him as the 10th-best prospect in baseball.

Swanson starred at Vanderbilt for parts of three seasons, where he was named Most Outstanding Player at the 2014 College World Series and was named a Golden Spikes Award Finalist in 2015. In his junior season, he led the team in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, triples, doubles, hits, runs and walks.

A Marrietta, Georgia native, Swanson has a chance to be the shortstop of the future for his hometown Braves, who recently traded star shortstop Andrelton Simmons earlier this off-season.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

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PLAYER RANKINGS

Throughout the season, the Vanderbilt Hustler will keep an updated top 10 list of Commodore men’s basketball players. This is based off their performance this season, not how good we think they are or how good they will be.

By BEN WEINRIB Sports editor --------------------

1. Wade Baldwin IV Baldwin has started taking more shots without sacrificing his efficiency, elevating his stock to a likely first-round NBA draft pick.

2. Damian Jones Although foul trouble has limiting his minutes, Jones is rebounding at a higher rate per minute (11.4 per 40 minutes compared to 8.9).

3. Luke Kornet Coach Stallings’ self-proclaimed best defender, Kornet has struggled shooting from three (3-22) but is averaging 2.8 blocks per game.

4. Riley LaChance LaChance’s last-second shot against Baylor left much to be desired, but his efficiency this season has gone up as he shoots less.

5. Jeff Roberson Roberson is adjusting well to playing the 4 more, pulling in 5.4 rebounds per game, while still shooting 50.0 percent from 3.

6. Matthew Fisher-Davis Fisher-Davis continues a shooting trend from last season: incredible outside (45.7 percent) and terrible inside (31.2 percent).

7. Nolan Cressler Cressler has been a strong addition to the second unit, as he is fourth in assists and third in assists per 40 minutes (3.6).

8. Camron Justice Justice may be the best shooter on the team — Stallings thinks so — but a groin injury will keep him out for an extended amount of time.

9. Josh Henderson Not only has Henderson been serviceable while Jones or Kornet faces foul trouble, but he even hit the first 3-pointer of his career.

10. Joe Toye Toye has played well (6.2 ppg in 8.5 mpg), but Stallings hasn’t trusted him enough to play him against either ranked opponent.

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THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

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