May 4, 2017 by The DC

VOLUME 102 • ISSUE 32

ampus

MAY 4, 2017

FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS

Weekly CELEBRATING 100 YEARS 1915 - 2015

THE UPHILL BATTLE

Navigating SMU campus can be hard for physically disabled

NEWS TEASER 1

FASHION TEASER 2

OPINION TEASER 3

Students Story Tag against Boulevard rules

MET StoryGala Tag trends didn’t dissappoint

Editor student newspaper Storyassesses Tag

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PAGE 7 LOCATION

PAGE 10 LOCATION

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NEWS

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Navigating campus can be challenging for physically disabled KYLIE MADRY Interactive Editor kmadry@smu.edu SMU Perkins School of Theology graduate student Phil Carlson says he was awakened to life at SMU with a disability after seeing his wife’s experiences on campus as an undergraduate. Over the course of a semester, Carlson’s wife Christy used a wheelchair and crutches after a series of knee surgeries. “At one point, because an elevator was broken in the Fondren Science building, my wife had to drag herself up and down stair steps in order to get to and from a class,” Carlson said in an e-mail. When the couple complained to the Disability Accommodations and Success Strategies (DASS) office, Carlson says he was told his wife should have reported her disability well before the semester began, so her classroom could have been moved to the first floor. “Yet for those who have medical challenges, they cannot always know what things will look like for them physically months into the future,” Carlson said. English professor Martha Satz says the elevator in Dallas Hall was frequently out of order. Satz uses a walker, and her office is on the second floor of the building. “I can, in a pinch, go up and down stairs,” she said. “But the elevator fails less often than it used to,” Satz said. These stories are not uncommon. At SMU, some buildings remain inaccessible to people with physical disabilities, according to DASS. “DASS continues to remove architectural barriers to students with disabilities on Southern Methodist University's campus; however, some historic buildings remain inaccessible,” the site reads. Multiple school officials would not answer how many or which of those buildings were inaccessible. “I can’t tell you how many are completely accessible,” said Philip Jabour, associate vice president and university architect for facilities planning and management. Denton Bricker, head of the President’s Commission on the Needs of Persons with Disabilities at SMU (PCNPD), said in an e-mail that the website’s usage of the word “inaccessible” was used “broadly,” and then directed back to facilities. Alexa Taylor, senior associate director of DASS, also diverted the question to facilities. None of the officials clarified what “inaccessible” meant. The site adds that DASS can relocate classes from inaccessible classrooms to accessible ones, or add or remove tables, chairs or desks as needed. When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990, it required employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities as well as requirements on public accommodations. SMU falls under these “public accommodations” of the ADA. Similar to the ADA, which is federal law, SMU also falls under the Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS). Jabour explained that the ADA has no enforcement process unless an affected person sues the facility. However, the Texas

Photo by Lisa Salinas

Stairs outside SMU’s Laura Lee Blanton Building

Stairs outside SMU’s Caruth Hall

Accessibility Standards require a visit by a Registered Accessibility Specialist (RAS) during renovations and new construction. When a specialist visits the location, he or she makes sure the construction is compliant and provides recommendations and needed changes, Jabour said. While all new construction must be compliant with these standards, even buildings constructed prior to the ADA’s passage, like many on SMU’s campus, have some obligations. Under the act, “failure to remove” architectural barriers can be deemed as a form of discrimination. However, the removal of these barriers must be found to be “readily achievable,” meaning “easily accomplished without much difficulty.” For SMU, removing some of these barriers has not been “readily achievable.” Jabour said this “readily achievable” test can vary on a case-by-case basis. In some instances, the removal of barriers can be too costly, or can conflict with other statutes. He provided an example, saying that in one renovation, compliance with ADA would have required the construction team to break plumbing code in a bathroom in Expressway Tower. In this case, the school was able to appeal and prioritize plumbing code over disabilities code. The school’s policy under the Office of Institutional Access and Equity echoes the ADA’s “readily achievable” sentiment. The policy states the university will provide “reasonable accommodations” to people with disabilities unless the accommodation would require significant cost or change to a program. These accommodations apply not only to students and faculty, but also to visitors. James Neathery was invited to a lecture at SMU’s law school in Storey Hall. Neathery, a member of the Dallas Council on Foreign Relations and an adviser to the Institute for Public Policy and Good Governance, has a progressive neurological disease that requires him to use a walker. His experience at SMU left him so frustrated, however,

that he wrote a letter to the editor of The Dallas Morning News. Neathery detailed his multiple attempts to access Karcher Auditorium once he got inside the 66-year-old building. “I was told that I could get close, but I'd have to walk up steps. A staff member showed me a vintage elevator,” he wrote. “On first try, I landed on a floor that required keys to enter the main hallway. Then, someone suggested going to a neighboring building to cut across, but that still required taking stairs,” he said. “The third attempt required keys to unlock an office to exit the elevator. The door was quickly locked again, which would make a quick exit in case of fire impossible.” Neathery goes on. “I looked for a restroom near the venue,” he wrote. “No restroom on that floor. My patience was spent and I asked to be let out of the building.” While Neathery argued SMU must do better, many on campus said SMU does what it can. One way the school seeks to address the unique issues people with disabilities face is through the PCNPD, which Denton Bricker leads. On the PCNPD’s website, its mission statement says the commission was created to study the unique needs of the disabled, how to make the campus more aware of these needs and how to make facilities more accessible. Each year, it compiles a report of recommendations to President R. Gerald Turner. Bricker would not share a report, but said recent solutions that were identified in reports included renovations to walkways around Dallas Hall and the main quad. According to disability accommodations lead Alexa Taylor, the commission also ordered 10 wheelchair-accessible tables for students approximately two years ago. Perkins theology student Matt Burroughs has worked closely with the school to make the campus more accessible. Burroughs has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. Continued on page 4

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NEWS He is also the president of Perkins Student Association and has teamed up with the disabilities office and facilities to address accessibility issues. Of the three universities that Burroughs has attended over the course of his academic career, he said SMU is the most accessible. “They’ve done pretty well,” Burroughs said. “The DASS office tries to provide accommodations. But SMU’s an older campus. A lot of those infrastructure decisions were made prior to anyone even thinking about people with disabilities or people with mobility needs even being on campus.” Just like any historic university, “things wear out over time,” Burroughs said. Burroughs pointed to specifics, one of them being bricks. “Unfortunately, bricks are beautiful, but over time they wear out,” he said, “and that makes mobility extremely hard.”

SMU Campus Weekly

After bricks wear out, Burroughs said, they become costly to replace. Another issue for Burroughs: the wheelchair ramps. “Some of the ramps are probably not under the best code, especially when you’re crossing the Boulevard,” Burroughs said. “In the middle area, some of those ramps are very very steep, so you have to decide whether you’re going around the Boulevard or some other way instead of cutting across just because the steepness.” Overall, SMU’s not doing “too bad,” he said. Burroughs understands that accessibility projects can be costly, but wants to “keep the ball rolling.” “There constantly needs to be a voice that says, ‘Let’s see what we can do to make an improvement,’” Burroughs said. “There’s always places to improve. If we stop talking about it, it stops becoming a priority.”

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SMU students disagree with proposed Boulevard regulations CYNTHIA MCLAUGHLIN Assoc. A&L Editor cdmclaughlin@smu.edu No more free alcohol. No beer in the fraternity tents. Drinking limited to a segregated area. These are a few of the new rules that can be expected this fall if SMU administration’s proposed Boulevard changes are passed. “SMU is moving toward having alcohol sales in the Boulevard section that can be used by all student organizations,” said Kent Best Executive Director of News and Communications. “We have been meeting with students to discuss this issue, their concerns and will continue to do so.” Booking a tent on the Boulevard would rise from $4,000 to $6,000 — a cost not including alcohol or salty foods. The $4,000 cost currently includes students’ option to serve alcohol. “Our IFC representative told our fraternity that the tent rental would increase from $4,000 to $6,000 if the proposed changes go through,” said Kappa Alpha Order member Michael Jacks. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) fraternities collectively decided that this money could be put to use elsewhere. They plan on boycotting the Boulevard entirely if these new rules passed. Kappa Alpha Order president Andy Cook hopes that it doesn’t come to boycotting, but is prepared to do so. “We’ve already started to look into possible things we can do to host some kind of off-campus tailgate on game days in case the school continues to be unreasonable with the IFC and the rest of the student body is unhappy

Photo by Mollie Mayfield

SMU’s Boulevard

Photo by Mollie Mayfield

SMU’s Boulevard

with the new rules and the process by which the administration came up with them,” Cook said. IFC fraternity leaders are considering sending a plan of action to the administration by the end of this week. Sigma Phi Epsilon president Zach Thomas said they are waiting to see how the university responds to their boycott. “We see these proposed rule changes as an opportunity for all members of IFC to come together as a group to fight to keep the Boulevard a fun experience for all members of the SMU community,” Thomas said. Newly elected SMU Student Body President David Shirzad is also seeking a solution that will please everyone. Shirzad was

unaware of the new rules when they were proposed, but is now working diligently to meet the needs of all parties. “Now that we have been made aware of the proposed changes to the Boulevard, I will continue to work closely with (interim Vice President of Student Affairs Joanne) Vogel and (SMU Athletic Director) Rick Hart to find a solution that meets the needs of both the administration and students so that we can continue to have an enjoyable and safe time on the Boulevard and at football games,” Shirzad said. The new rules bring safety concerns to campus as well. Junior Lindsey Wilson is concerned about the safety of her friends if the new rules are passed. “[These measures] promote

binge drinking because students will pregame more now due to limited alcohol,” Wilson said. Other students expressed these proposed rules are an attack on IFC organizations. “This is to discourage people from going to hang out at the fraternity tents,” junior Mackenzie Hutchinson said. SMU alumnus Harrison Montgomery sees both sides of the argument. “As an alum, I think it’s a bad idea. As a businessman, I see how this could be a good thing for vendors — allowing SMU to bring someone in to handle everything and make some money on the Boulevard. Not like they need it anyway though,” Montgomery said.

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NEWS

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Enrollment brings mixed reviews of SMU pre-major advising CAROLINE SHERIDAN Contributing Writer csheridan@smu.edu What could you do with $35,000? One SMU student had no choice: the money went toward a semester of college that may not have even been necessary. Julia Christen, an SMU junior majoring in advertising with a double minor in French and corporate communications and public affairs, said she could have graduated at least a semester early without the unnecessary classes she was advised to take her freshman year. She was told she could not apply to the advertising school until sophomore year, but since she had completed the prerequisites as a freshman, she said she could have started earlier. With tuition and fees now totaling over $70,000 per year, errors like these are costly. “There are people in my track who are sophomores now and can graduate a year early, and I could have done the same thing,” Christen said. Josh Mumford, on the other hand, has had a great experience with pre-major advising. The freshman came to college knowing he wanted to study finance, but was unsure about his minors. He said his adviser always comes prepared and has helped him get on the right track. “She has always made sure we both fully understood what was going on and I really appreciate that,” Mumford said. Pre-major advising at SMU gets mixed reviews from students. Ultimately, the role of SMU advisers at

all levels is to lead students along a course of study and help them understand the necessary requirements for graduation. However, it seems that some students get better direction than others. “I kind of think of us as guides,” said pre-major adviser Joshua Beaty. “We’re there to provide information. We’re there to help students make informed decisions.” Beaty said he understands students are sometimes frustrated with the advising system at SMU. He attributed the dissatisfaction to heightened student expectations about the role of their pre-major advisers. Beaty said some students come in thinking their adviser will be able to solve every problem, which is simply not their responsibility. Not every student knows what they want to study when they arrive at SMU. According to an SMU Campus Weekly survey of 60 students, only 48.33 percent knew exactly what they wanted to study. The same survey also revealed 68.33 percent of students did not feel their advisers helped them decide their majors and minors. Beaty said his role is to help students find classes that interest them and to get them on the right track, but students must choose their own academic path. “Ultimately, I want students to be responsible for their own choices, and I don’t want to have to make those choices for them. I just want to give students the tools to make those choices,” Beaty said. According to the SMU course catalog, students are responsible for initiating and preparing

Survey results

for advising meetings. It is the adviser’s role to help a student navigate the degree progress and stay on track to graduation. Beaty said pre-major advisers help students most when they first arrive at SMU, but students need less help as they figure things out for themselves. “When first-years are first starting here, it’s going to be a bit more hands-on, there’s going to be a lot more information to convey, and then hopefully, as the relationship continues, my role becomes less and less,” Beaty said. Transfer students also have unique experiences with premajor advising. Ellie Zogg, a sophomore tennis player who transferred from the University of South Carolina, said her athletic adviser and pre-major adviser were helpful through the confusing process. “I decided to transfer in May and I wanted to play tennis here,” Zogg said. “I had to hear back from the coaches, so I didn’t really fully commit to SMU until late May and I had a really late enrollment. I don’t think I enrolled until late June, maybe even July.” At the University of South Carolina, Zogg wanted to study international business. Upon arriving at SMU, she

decided to study marketing, but found that not all her credits transferred, meaning she is not yet able to enter Cox. Despite this setback, she said she is mostly pleased with her pre-major advising experience at SMU. “Honestly, they were pretty helpful overall, but I think, as for most students, sometimes getting into the classes you really want to get

Surveys by Caroline Sheridan

in was hard,” Zogg said. Satisfaction with premajor advising varies based on individual experiences. While most of the surveyed students believed their experience was about what they expected it to be, students like Christen

wish they had a more positive experience. “They could at least pretend to know what is going on. Just be more informed. If you don’t have all the answers, just recommend that I talk to somebody else,” Christen said.

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FASHION

smudailycampus.com/style

@SMUCW_Fashion

Tammy Theis is Dallas’ ultimate fashion veteran From magazines to models, Theis continues to take local industry by storm GABRIELLA BRADLEY Style Editor gjbradley@smu.edu In the era of Instagram-made models, followers carry more clout than ability, turning social media stars into runway staples. Tammy Theis, however, knows being a model is about more than likes and comments. “I know when I see a model,” Theis said. “I can just feel it in my gut.” As Theis sits down in the egg-shaped chair, the sun beams through the window. On one side of the room is an exposed brick wall lined with photographs of Wallflower Management’s collection of models; mirroring it is a crisp white wall perfect for serving as a backdrop for impromptu Polaroid head shots. Tucked in the side streets of Deep Ellum, the office is like a New York City hipster’s dream, complete with stainless steel piping that leads visitors upstairs to a loft naturally lit by skylight. The office aesthetic plays perfectly into the Wallflower brand, which is carefully curated by Theis, from the color swatches down to the very last typeface. Theis always knew she wanted to work in the fashion realm. After spending her childhood glued to the glossy pages of fashion magazines, she went to the University of North Texas determined to one day land a job in which she could create the lustworthy pages that entranced her. Upon arriving in Dallas, Theis quickly became a devout follower of The Dallas Morning News’ weekly Fashion Dallas section, deciding that the closer she got to the action, the closer she came to landing her dream job. “I kind of stalked them,” Theis said. “I would even go to the hair and makeup stylists that they used and have them cut my hair and all that.” Her obsession soon paid off. One day, her hairstylist told her of the impending exit of one of the section’s staff writers. “This is your chance,” he encouraged Theis. “This is your opportunity if you want to work for Fashion Dallas.” During her 21 years at Fashion Dallas, Theis found her passion: styling. “I realized that this was what I loved to do,” Theis said. “It felt fully natural and was what got

Tammy Theis

Instagram

my endorphins going.” Around the time that her oldest son started his senior year of high school, Theis left the magazine to pursue a creative career path that allowed her to focus more on the work she loved. She landed at Page Parkes Management, where she met Brenda Gomez. The two quickly bonded over the fact that they had both been hired by the agency to implement change, to which the veteran employees seemed to be resistant. After leaving Page Parkes, Theis and Gomez started talking about creating their own modeling agency, drawing from their experience with fashion, model management and styling. In 2009, their talks became a reality and Wallflower Management was born. Wallflower looked to fill the void the two women believed existed in the Dallas modeling management market. “We started out with the concept of being a boutique agency and focused on really strong imaging, which hadn’t really been done before,” Theis said. She chose the name because it perfectly described the unique look of models, which translates into the world of high fashion, but not always the halls of high school. “They’re not the pretty ones,” Theis said. “They are usually skinny and tall and awkward in high school, and they are always taller than the boys, so they often don’t get asked to dances.”

Approaching nine years old in July, the gamble has certainly paid off. The agency’s unique-looking Texas natives are breaking out of the Lone Star State and taking on the big leagues. With models featured in the pages of Vogue and dominating international Prada and Calvin Klein campaigns, Wallflower has found its niche in the market and continues to dominate the competitive landscape. While the agency and Theis continue to earn a reputation among top agencies and high-fashion clients, it is impossible to match the amount of respect that Theis has earned from colleagues in the Dallas market. “Tammy is the ultimate veteran,” PaperCity Magazine’s editor-in-chief Christina Geyer said. “She is one of the few people in this business that understands all aspects of modeling, pulling clothes and styling.” Those who work with her and constantly see her in action know that Theis is a force to be reckoned with. “Tammy really likes pushing the limits for our models and the way that she images them,” Wallflower model manager Meghan Malanio said. “We are going to stand out and she is proud of that. We all are.” It is not just her seasoned expertise that makes Theis thrive in the market, but also the way she mothers her burgeoning talent. “She cares about the models,” Geyer says. “She cares about fostering careers. It is not just about the big agency.”

Abby Williamson in Dior Couture 2016.

Instagram

“She is kind of like a mom,” Malanio said. “She is willing to go above and beyond to help these people become successful and get to where they want to be in the cutthroat model world.” For some employees, Theis’ influence goes beyond work ethic. “Since working for Tammy, I’ve become more confident and believe more in myself,” Wallflower creative assistant Courtney Laddimore said. “I think that is something that she not only teaches all of her staff, but teaches all of the models too – the idea that you can be cool in your own skin.” Despite the success Theis has found, she refuses to get caught up in a world that thrives on the superficial. She still finds time to indulge in her guilty pleasures – namely Trader Joe’s French vanilla bean ice cream – and attributes much of her success to her high school honors English teacher, Mrs. Reem, for giving her the confidence in her writing that led her to Fashion Dallas and her career. When she is not dominating the model management world, you can find her curled up on her couch with her “pitbull something” rescue dog Carl and reading up on the latest in the industry that never sleeps.

Instagram

Sara Grace Wallerstrat on the cover of Vogue Italia

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FASHION

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MET Gala’s outrageous fashion does not dissappoint MERRIT STAHLE Fashion Columnist mstahle@smu.edu The Metropolitan Museum of Art Annual Costume Institute Exhibition and Gala, arguably the year’s biggest night in fashion took place May 1. The theme for the 2017 exhibit was Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons. Kawakubo is one of only two living designers to be the subject of the exhibit. This honor was also bestowed upon Yves Saint Laurent in 1983. The distinction is more than notable in the fashion world – it is monumental. The influential Japanese fashion designer is known for her outrageous avant-garde works of art. Her fashion is not to be worn as much as it is to be studied and admired. Runway shows are something akin to a living art exhibit. Models’ “clothing” reveal

the designer’s thoughts on life: past and present. The designer has developed collections based on ideas of broken marriages, historical references and modern-day problems. Monday’s festivities were co-chaired by Vogue editorin-chief Anna Wintour, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, pop star Katy Perry and music producer Pharrell Williams. Each co-chair is considered to be an out-of-the-box fashion influencer. Extraordinary red carpet fashion is the norm for the Met Gala and the show did not disappoint. Rihanna wore an outrageous work of art by Comme des Garçons paired with amazing red lace-up DSquared sandals. It is unclear how the singer was transported to the event in the enormous outfit, but fashion

and art lovers everywhere were appreciative of the effort. Kendall Jenner was beyond stunning in her sheer gown by La Perla. Models Behati Prinsloo, Candace Swanepoel and Joan Smalls surprised onlookers with their beautiful custom designs by TopShop. Co-chair Katy Perry appeared to be a red alien princess in her custom John Galliano creation. Overall, the designs were not as outrageous as most fashion lovers had hoped. The celebrities and donors created their own sense of the unexpected walking in gowns that were different than what they might usually wear. Kawakubo has been inspiring the artists of the fashion world for more than 20 years. If the world is inspired to think differently or dress differently for even one night, then she has been successful.

Kendall Jenner

Instagram

Rihanna

Instagram

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DJ Sober is the life of the party IDARA AKPAN Contributing Writer iakpan@smu.edu Arms up in the air, hips swaying perfectly to the beat, heads vigorously bop in line with the switch of the beat tempo. The transition from song to song is absolutely seamless. Here is a community of music lovers and seekers of good times. Everyone — and I mean everyone — is dancing. “Oooooh, this is my song,” a girl’s eyes widen as she turns to her friends. In unison they point to each other as if the lyrics of Usher’s “U Don’t Have to Call” were right in front of them. She points to the DJ

as if he had just known that she had not heard this song since she was in high school. He gives a shy, small smile and nods. In the left corner, a small group of friends circle around who might be Dallas’ best dancer. Some watch intensely, inspired by his moves to Future’s “Where Ya At?” Others pull out their Snapchat and yell “Aye!” at every move. Their friends will wish they didn’t stay in tonight. The whole bar is completely on one track. You won’t find any heels or the newest pairs of Jays, but instead souls attached to the music, the environment and

experience. It’s everyone’s dance floor. It’s only 11 p.m. on a Thursday and already DJ Sober is the life of the party. He enters Beauty Bar, a nightclub on Henderson Avenue and methodically sets up his equipment. He opens up his Mac, humbly decorated with just two stickers and tests out his controller. A bright sign right above his head that flashes “No requests please” in red, purple, blue and green. He introduces himself as Will Rhoten. He doesn’t show up wearing the blackest of shades or the flashiest of jewelry, or with young college girls styled in uncomfortable high heels,

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with their arms around his neck, or even with a posse. Just him, his equipment, and most important, the music. “He’s like a human encyclopedia when it comes to feels,” said coproducer of Booty Fade, a Dallas-based DJ duo, PICNICTYME. “I learned a lot about music genres that I never Facebook, DJ Sober was aware of. He does DJ Sober, a resident DJ at Beauty Bar a good job of bringing that whenever we’re in from different people,” taste in my mouth. I felt like the studio.” Sober said. a lot of people weren’t there PICNIC met Sober in At 16, Sober went to for the reasons I was there. 2007 at Sober’s set, The a friend’s house party And that’s fine, but I was so Party at Zubar, one of his and found himself glued much about the music that monthly parties in Dallas. to watching the DJ the kinda bummed me out that A natural outgrowth of entire night. He fell in love people couldn’t have fun PICNIC and Sober’s work and decided he needed without getting messed up. as producers and DJs for turntables immediately. As time went on, I didn’t the group Ad.D, they found After calling around care more and more to try themselves creating their skating rinks and bowling that stuff,” Sober said. own beats and flips as a alleys, hoping to find old For the past five years, duo, Booty Fade. or unused turntables, his he has held The Big Bang “That was on Sober connection at a club hooked every Thursday at Beauty man, that was the genius him up with equipment. Bar as a resident DJ. of him. It’s a play off After he expanded his Whether he thinks the haircut, the Booty collection of records and he’s just going with the Fade,” says PICNIC as learned the technicality flow, Sober is extremely he chuckles. of the craft, his passion specific with his choices of “Sober plays a very was sealed. when and how to drop the vital part. He’s like the “I never even went into next track. connector, if you will,” said it thinking I was gonna do “He’s aware. He’s not Terrence Spectacle, an up- this in front of people. It like other DJs who drink and-coming Dallas rapper. was just something that was and just up there and not “He’s probably one of the a passion because I love really aware. He’s literally most well-known DJs in music and wanted to learn Sober,” PICNIC said. the metroplex.” music and how to DJ, even At the peak of the night, From a young age, he’s if it was for myself. It was he knows this is what the always been about the art. never about the spotlight or crowd wants to hear. He In fifth grade, he listened anything. It was something smoothly transitions to to mixes on different radio I really wanted to do for Migos’ “Bad & Boujee.” shows and recorded them myself,” Sober said. Immediately, every pair on tape, just so he could One of his older friends, of feet in the club is off listen to them later and fond of the underground the floor -- bouncing and further study the music. His DJ scene in Dallas, snuck jumping to the beat of the ear started to notice certain him into clubs when he was heavy bass. Still his eyes songs and certain artists underage. There, he found are glued to his laptop. that people liked. inspiration for his name. One hand placed on his “I was into all types of “I saw a lot of crazy right headphone, he nods music. I absorb things from stuff happen. A lot of in agreement with either different people, different people doing drugs. A lot the beat of the song or the crowds I hung out with. I’d of people doing everything vibe he’s created. Either absorb different knowledge in excess. It kinda put a bad way, everything feels right.

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SMU Campus Weekly

ARTS & LIFE

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Funk artist Ronnie Heart talks influences, art and being ‘Smoovie King’ KELLY KOLFF Assoc. A&L Editor kkolff@smu.edu Local artist Ronnie Gierhart decided to forge his own path when he left electropop group Neon Indian to start a solo funk career under the name “Ronnie Heart.” At this past weekend’s Fortress Festival, SMU Campus Weekly had the opportunity to talk with him at the Modern Art Museum about his music, influences and the art of smoothie making. Campus Weekly: We know you’ve been at the festival even though you got canceled. How have you liked it so far? Ronnie Heart: It’s been good. CW: What have been your favorite artists to see? RH: I would say the Flying Lotus performance was really good. That was fun. I kind of didn’t get to see many people yesterday. I came here, since I didn’t have to perform, I went straight to the Green Room and took pictures with the photographer upstairs and ate a bunch, you know I kinda stayed up there accidentally for a long time. I think Flying Lotus was pretty much the only person I saw. CW: Have you ever seen him before? RH: Never. It was a treat. CW: It is a pretty cool performance. So, what made you want to start getting into music? RH: I was dancing when I was younger and I never ever thought of music. I don’t have family who are musicians, so I grew up in Houston loving dancing and that’s what I wanted to professionally be. Up until moving to Colorado when I was 16, where there weren’t a lot of, or any music schools in public Colorado and I guess

instead I started something else up that wasn’t a sport and ended up just playing guitar. So, I was 16 and I’ve been playing guitar ever since, so little by little accumulating other skills. CW: What made you take the leap from Neon Indian to what you do now? RH: I guess there was a point in time where I had vigor to create my own music. I wanted to be a singer. CW: So why the change in genres? What made you want to get into the funk genre that you do now? RH: I just like it. I listen to a lot of funk and discoinspired stuff. Whatever the album sounds like, however I preform, it’s very inspired by that era of music. CW: What are some of your biggest inspirations? RH: I would just say just to keep it general. I listen to a lot of jazz music. I’ve been listening to hip hop a lot, I think because of the dancing. But my Latin roots — my dad’s from Columbia and my mom’s from El Salvador — and all the Latin music, all the Latino music I listen to at home definitely has something to do with it. I think dancing in general has something to do with why and how I make music. I keep the live performance in mind while creating songs. CW: When you are performing live, do you incorporate some sort of dance? RH: I dance a lot. So if you haven’t seen me play live, I’m basically moving the entire time. So, you know, here and there learning how to control when I should be moving or when it’s more, I guess not necessarily appropriate, because you don’t wanna see someone being all over the place the entire time. CW: Has it been hard to balance that?

Photo by Kylie Madry

Ronnie Heart chats with editor Kelly Kolff.

Ronnie Heart at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art

RH: No, I think from just seeing videos of the performances. And sometimes it feels awkward to be dancing super hard and then realizing, okay, I could save this, I could have a more dramatic, still, statuesque kind of feel to the whole performance and all of a sudden burst into something. It just has the anticipation and the build up. CW: So you play more in the DFW area, what is the funk scene there like? RH: I don’t know if there’s too much of it. I know Quaker City Knight Hawks are sort of the southern blues-y rock band. There’s a lot of that which, let’s say the guitarist who play in the classic popular funk groups definitely have blues and some kind of jazz influence in their playing. So I think that that’s been incorporated into the whole thing for years since the genre came to be. I would say there’s a lot of R&B acts in Dallas. But Fort Worth, and I live here in Fort Worth, seems to have not

behind them doing it. CW: Tell us about some of your favorite songs from your recent EP. RH: Oh man, that’s a hard one because there’s only five songs. So, I worked really hard on all those. Let’s see, there’s this one that’s really wild, it’s called “Real Bad Spider Monkey.” I like that one because it has so many different emotions to it. When I first wrote it, I woke up hungover at a friend’s place. He had to go to work, so I just stayed on his couch. So, I grabbed his guitar and I’m there babysitting his cat, and just playing some little easy riff. That came about and then when I was taking a shower, I started singing a melody about spider monkeys. And so the whole thing sounds weird and it’s wild. And then there’s some heartfelt emotions from when I was a kid in there, which I won’t necessarily go into detail, I’ll just have you listen to it. That one and “Groovitate.”

too many. CW: So you’re stationed here in Fort Worth? RH: Yeah I live, here we’re at the Modern Art Museum, I live 10 minutes away at most from here. CW: So do you come here a lot? RH: I love this place, yeah. I am super influenced, it’s kind of like a brain massage, it’s therapeutic to come to come to a museum with a lot of space and huge art. Especially if it’s contemporary. CW: Is contemporary your favorite kind of art? RH: Yeah, if you were gonna blanket it, yeah. It’s just all the modern art museums that I’ve gone to like the contemporary collection in Houston. I love the surreal painters. CW: Does art ever influence your music then? RH: I think it just influences my mind instead of a therapist or maybe just any other thing I’d rather engage in, it’s just to look at something that someone created that has a passion

“Groovitate” is another one that just has a really jazzy bass riff. The whole thing has jazz chords, but the beat is what makes it a dance song. I think both of those songs are really close to me for sure. CW: I will say, your titles are very interesting. We were listening to your stuff on the way over here and we were wondering about “Smoovie.” What does that mean? RH: Okay so whenever I’m initially saving the file when I’m working on a song, I have to have some title to save it under. And I don’t like to put just “Song .00” to catalog them. So I just phonetically say something and “Smoovie” just kind of felt right. And it stayed. And ever since then I’ve been drinking more smoothies, and you know it just sounds smooth. I don’t know, I didn’t want it to be a real word when I saved it, but it just kind of stayed like that. To read the full story, visit smudailycampus.com.

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OPINION

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I have been the opinion editor of SMU Campus Weekly for two years, which perhaps you have noticed – or maybe this is your first time picking up the paper. Either way, before I assumed this position I put some thought into what a student newspaper should be and what I should focus on covering during my time as Opinion editor. The first and foremost focus would be on covering events relevant to campus – anyone can pick up a major paper with coverage of national events, but the campus newspaper should be focused on events around campus. This extends to the opinion page through discussion topics and issues relevant to SMU’s student body. The second focus would be on tackling current events to engage in worthwhile discussions and hopefully to produce worthwhile content and foster important discussion. All of this was with the hope that the opinion page would grow into a place of engagement, focusing on submitted articles. However, this did not happen exactly how I planned it. Perhaps a good portion of this is my own fault – I could have been more active in seeking out articles and perhaps my choice of coverage was not as engaging or skillfully done as it could have been. But some of the lack of engagement comes from the way our society has changed. There have been several instances where people have not wanted

STAFF COLUMN

NOAH BARTOS Opinion Editor nbartos@smu.edu

their name put on an article that they have written, and I am sure there are many more times where people have decided not to write something because they are afraid that they will be judged for what they say. This is certainly a sad criticism of the state of free speech in our nation today, what the campus environment is like in society today and the state of free discussion – which I believe is largely nonexistent. Those who are active tend to suffer from the polarization and niche audiences that social media and our culture create. Many skilled, active students on this campus are more qualified to do this job than I am, but they are involved in their respective political organizations or in writing articles for websites that match their opinions more closely, rather than in an open campus forum. While that is fine and perhaps more beneficial to them, it is sad that the most qualified people on this campus end up having discussions with people of similar opinions and engagements, rather than stepping out into an open campus environment. Overall, I would say that journalism in general is at a crossroads. It has shifted over to reporting on social

media and has had extreme difficulty in getting people to pay for coverage. I do not think that papers have handled the transition to digital and the modern age well, but social pressures exist as well that news organizations cannot control. Whoever takes over this position will have their own corner of the journalism world to influence. I will return to the engineering world, becoming a mere observer of journalism

once again. Hopefully the coverage I have presented has been enjoyable to any regular readers. If not, then I hope that the next editor has more success and that those reading this column will choose to engage in discussions on campus, consider submitting articles, and be an important part in civil life and discussion in America, which is in desperate need of active, reasonable people.

Humans of SMU

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“We were celebrating the day gay marriage was legalized. Unfortunately, I got sick, and while he was taking care of me, he looked at me and asked me to be his girlfriend. He got me while I was down, and now we’ve been dating for two years.” – Autumn Garrett, junior markets and culture major from Denton, TX Want to nominate someone for this space? Email allisonk@smu.edu

Thursday, May 4, 2017 | 11

SMU Campus Weekly

SPORTS

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CHILDCARE Reliable babysitter needed 6AMweekdays to bring 7year old to school 1.5 miles from SMU. Additional hours available afterschool and holidays if interested. Email stephaniekrup@hotmail.com

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Former SMU safety Darrion Millines (left) and cornerback Horace Richardson (9) will have the chance to play in the NFL.

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PATRICK ENGEL Assoc. Sports Editor pengel@smu.edu Three SMU football players will have the chance to play in the NFL. Two seniors from last year’s team have signed with teams as undrafted free agents, and another earned a mini-camp invitation. Cornerback Horace Richardson signed with the Minnesota Vikings and offensive lineman Chauncey Briggs signed with the Oakland Raiders, while safety Darrion Millines earned a mini-camp tryout with the San Francisco 49ers. Richardson and Millines were first-team All-American Athletic Conference selections in

2016. Richardson, an Everman, Texas, native, led the AAC with six interceptions and was No. 3 in the conference with 14 passes defended. He started all 12 games in 2016 and made 25 starts over the course of his SMU career. Millines, from Boynton Beach, Florida, finished No. 2 in the conference with five interceptions and No. 3 at SMU with 64 tackles. Millines made 34 starts in his final three seasons at SMU. Briggs, from West Bloomfield, Michigan, started 10 games at right tackle and one at left tackle in 2016. He made 33 starts in four years at three different positions along the offensive line. No SMU player has

been selected in the NFL draft since 2014. Wide receiver Courtland Sutton, considered SMU’s best NFL prospect, chose in January to return to school for the 2017 season. Sutton is seen as a potential first-round draft pick in the 2018 draft. An NFL team’s rookie minicamp usually has 40 to 60 players, including draft picks, undrafted free agents and camp invitees. Minicamp tryout players are not offered contracts until after the camp, and not every player who tries out gets offered a contract. Millines will participate in the 49ers minicamp May 5-7, 2017. In the NFL, undrafted free agents sign three-year contracts immediately and are part of the 90-man offseason roster.

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