Issue 12

Vol. 4, Issue 12 May 3, 2013 VIEWPOINTS Athletes come out into limelight My Big Fat Gay Column returns with a new writer, a new perspective. page 11

ENTERTAINMENT Student artist feature D.J. Joe Whalen mixes live music with the stage name Bonesaw at parties on & off campus. page 15

THE QUICKIE Club spotlight The Entrepreneurship Club gives members advice and action plans for future business endeavors. page 18

HEALTH & FITNESS Mosquito invasion Unprecedented rainfall brings giant mosquitoes; expected to invade Florida this summer. page 19

SPORTS End-of-the-year awards Check out The Current’s 2013 sports awards selected by the sports team. page 24

photo by Nika Ostby President Eastman in his campus office with dogs Emma, left, and Beau.

Playing the breaks: birdies and bogeys with President Eastman

By Greg Reilly Web Editor

P

resident Donald Eastman and I load our clubs onto a golf cart. Sans the signature bow tie, Eastman is wearing a light blue polo shirt, a white hat with the Vinoy Club logo, white Bermuda shorts with a brown belt and white and brown golf shoes to match.

He wants to hit a few warm-up shots on the range across the road, but Emeritus Professor Ster-

ling Watson and his friend Dean Jollay are about to tee off the first hole and have invited us to join.

Eastman has known Watson since they attended the University of Florida together, where Eastman earned his Ph.D. in English. They play together frequently, which is clear when Watson shows Eastman a drill he’s been working on to help his driving before we tee off, and Eastman comes back with a little trash talk. “Let’s see if it works,” he says to Watson and steps onto the tee box.

One of the great aspects of a small liberal arts col-

lege like Eckerd is that students have the opportunity to develop relationships with their faculty and administrators. At my previous school, the College of Charleston, I only saw the president once, and it was at Convocation on the third day of my freshman year. I don’t even remember his name.

Unlike students at schools such as Charleston, Eckerd students have the opportunity to interact with our president pretty frequently, whether eatSee EASTMAN, page 5

Vent conditions alarm residents in legacy dorms

By Alexandra Roberts Viewpoints Editor

Notice: all areas photographed have been reported to facilities for maintenance.

When Freshmen Matt Sevegny and Elijah Marchese started experiencing symptoms of sore throats, respiratory issues and allergy-like reactions, they suspected mold could be growing in their Gamma Freeman room.

They alerted Facilities April 18, and workmen arrived quickly.

Freeman residential advisor Grace Whitmore, a junior, also came to the room to see the results. “They reached in, they

took out what was in there and they showed us,” said Whitmore.

Though Sevegny and Marchese pointed out dark areas as mold, facilities said otherwise. “They kept saying, ‘it’s just dust, it’s just dust, there’s no way it’s mold—there’s no way for moisture to get into the system,’” said Sevegny. “We might get a filter next year depending on what they do.” Before replacing the vent cover, facilities had it sandblasted.

Doug Ault, director of facilities management, offered in response, “We will be doing a cleaning of all the branch lines into the individual rooms [in Gamma] because our inspection showed that most of the debris was from the over-spray of

photo by Alexandra Roberts Evidence of growth in samples taken from vent in Gamma Freeman 14.

Please Recycle

INDEX:

NEWS 2-8

VIEWPOINTS 9-14

the ceiling finish that was done last year,” said Ault. “We believe this will remove a major portion of the dust and particulates. This work will be accomplished by our inhouse staff as part of the summer cleaning. We will conduct a similar inspection of the other traditional dorms as we do the turnover after graduation and clean as necessary.”

According to Chris Brennan, vice president for business and finance, Ault did not ask an environmental group to take a look at the Freeman findings because the area was dry— meaning the material was just dust.

Facilities offered to vacuum behind the vent cover, but Sevegny and Marchese declined. To vacuum any room, the room needs to be cleared or covered in plastic.

The vacuuming process can release whatever particles from the vents into the air and the room will need another surface clean.

The vacuums can only reach 3-4 feet back into the vent, and only an outside contractor can go farther back into the main feeds. According to Bill McKenna, the director of campus planning and construction, “The ducts were last cleaned by an outside contractor about 5 or 6 years ago and, unless issues are noted during inspections, are done about every 10-years,” said McKenna. Vent covers are wiped down as a part of the surface clean each summer, confirmed Ault.

Sevegny took samples from the

ENTERTAINMENT 15-17 THE QUICKIE

18

vent in Gamma Freeman 14, two rooms down from theirs, to confirm there was no presence of mold.

Associate Professor of Biology and researcher of fungal genetics, Steven Denison, tested the samples.

Before the test, Denison looked at some of the material from the vents under a microscope and saw “what could have possibly been fungus.”

Sevegny responded to Denison’s evaluation of the sample. “Yeah, they described it as insulation, skin, hair—” and before he could respond, Denison interjected, “Ew, gross.”

He made some media used to grow fungi and poured some plates to inoculate with the material. Three plates were inoculated with material from vents.

After four days, one of those plates had very little growth and two had a lot of growth—many small fungal colonies, according to Denison. A plate that was poured at the same time, but not inoculated, had no growth. One plate that was not inoculated but exposed to the air in the lab briefly had a few colonies. Taken altogether, this suggests some—but probably not all—of the growth on the two plates that had a lot of growth was due to fungal material from the site of sample collection, according to Denison.

There seemed to be predominantly two types of colonies on the plates—green and blue/green—indicating two predominant species.

They could be Penicillium or Asper-

gillus species, according to Denison.

“The results suggest that having a company repeat the sampling and identify the fungus might be worthwhile,” said Denison. To draw any conclusive results, Denison would want to repeat the experiment.

Many other students have also reported ill symptoms possibly associated with mold in their air vents. The room above Sevegny and Marchese in Freeman also requested to have their vent cleaned. “My vent is disgusting,” said Freshman Sam Bell. “I’m prone to allergies anyways so I think it’s a bad situation. You can see the mold on my vents and clearly there should not be mold on my vents…unless that’s dust.” Whitmore added, “Even if that isn’t mold, it’s still disgusting that that’s your vent and that’s what you’re breathing in every day.”

The problem is not isolated to Freeman. Beta Benedict RA Travis Tyler reported several issues to maintenance this year. “Benedict had mold growing on the hallway walls, ceiling and bathroom that was removed with bleach at the beginning of the year,” said Senior Tyler.

“Facilities cleaned it because I put a request in. No one confirmed it was mold, except I can only assume it was because they responded to it immediately. I also had residents complain that black and green spots were growing with hair,” said Tyler.

HEALTH & FITNESS 19-20 SPORTS 21-24

See VENTS, page 6 The Current is a free, biweekly student newspaper produced at Eckerd College. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers.

2 News

the current

May 3, 2013

LET’S BE BRIEF

By The News Team

Global

National

NYtimes.com

nbcnews.com

A clothing factory collapsed in Bangladesh April 24 killing at least 362 people in the eight-story building. It is suspected that the death toll will rise as the rubble is cleared. Rescue efforts have already found nine alive amid the building’s remains as of Sunday and fire broke out shortly after that injuring three rescue team members. Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the building, was caught later that week on Sunday at a border crossing to India. The news of the arrest was announced over intercoms at the collapse site and was greeted with cheers from the surviving employees. The collapse has brought a focus to the poor working conditions of the factory.

The workers were reportedly being paid $38 a month making clothes for international brands.

The WWII veteran that is credited with providing the flag that was used in the famous photograph of U.S. soldiers raising the flag in Iwo Jima has passed away at the age of 90. According to his son, Steven Wood, Alan Wood died of natural causes April 18 in his Los Angeles County home. An officer on a landing ship at Iwo Jima in 1945, Wood was 22 when he was asked to grab the biggest flag he could find. The flag would be forever remembered in a picture taken by photographer Joe Rosenthal. Wood is survived by his son and three grandchildren.

Bangladesh factory collapse kills 362

Iwo Jima flag raiser, 90, dies

Annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Huffingtonpost.com

Court denies deposed President Mubarak’s release request AP

Egypt’s state news agency is reporting that a court has denied former President Hosni Mubarak’s request to be released from prison during the ongoing investigation into corruption charges. The Cairo Criminal Court ordered April 29 that Mubarak remain jailed for at least 15 more days while the investigation continues, though he can appeal the court’s decision. He has been in custody for more than two years since being charged with the deaths of more than 900 protesters in the 2011 uprising that ousted him from office. He also faces corruption charges.

The annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner April 27 was filled with jokes and poking fun at the media, especially from President Barack Obama. Obama entered the event to DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win” and proceeded to make jokes about everything from CNN’s recent unreliable reporting to the speculation of his heritage to the Republican party. He ended his speech on a more somber note, noting the recent tragedies in Boston and Texas, praising Americans on their hard work for the public good.

Increase in tank spending doesn’t please military Huffingtonpost.com

Conflict continues along Israel and Gaza border

Huffingtonpost.com April 27, residents of Israel were celebrating the Jewish holiday Lag Baomer when rockets went off in open areas from the Gaza Strip. The explosions did not cause any injuries. In response, Israel sent airstrikes to sites used by the Islamic militant group Hamas thatrules the Palestine territory. Health officials in Gaza have reported that no one was injured. While rocket fire has declined since a military campaign that took place in November, shooting continues between the two areas. Israel has been holding Hamas responsible for all attacks from the Gaza territory. However, no group has claimed responsibility for this recent attack.

Attractive delegates deported from Saudi Arabian festival NYdailynews.com

Politicians on both sides of the aisle are pushing to invest $436 million for production of the famed Abrams tank despite military personnel saying that they don’t need them. “If we had our choice, we would use that money in a different way,” Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army’s chief of staff, told The Associated Press. Over the past two years, nearly half a billion taxpayer dollars have been devoted to improving the 70-ton Abrams. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan represents the district in northern Ohio where the nation’s only tank plant is located, and though he has historically supported cuts in federal spending, he feels it would be a mistake to cut production and the 700 jobs the factory provides. Still, he maintains his position is in the best interest of the nation. “...If it was not in the best interests of the national defense for the United States of America, then you would not see me supporting it like we do,” he said. The Army didn’t plan to purchase new Abrams tanks until 2017.

Mississippi man held without bail in Obama poison letter case

During the Jenadrivah Heritage & Culture Festival in Saudi Arabia, three delegates from the United Arab Emirates were evicted from the festival by conservative police.

They were then deported to the UAE. The reason: authorities believed that these three men were too handsome and feared that women would fall for them. While the men remain nameless, it is believed that one of the men is Dubai resident, Omar Borkan Al Gala.

The actor, photographer and poet has not confirmed if he was one of the three delegates deported. However, he hasn’t done much to throw off the speculation either, attracting the attention of women all over the world with glamour shots and quotes posted online.

AP James Everett Dutschke, the Mississippi man charged with sending ricin-filled letters to President Obama and others, appeared briefly in a federal court April 29. The judge ordered Dutschke to remain jailed until Thursday when a preliminary hearing will take place. He was arrested early April 27 after a week-long investigation revealed law enforcement officials had the wrong man, though his home and former business have since been searched. Dutschke denies any involvement, saying he is a patriot with no grudges against anyone. He is facing life in prison, and has a history of trouble with the law, including child molestation charges with girls under the age of 16.

Local

Campus

Disabled Iraq veteran competes In triathlon

Eckerd Review to release May 8

tampabay.com

Kathy Champion, a disabled Iraqi War veteran, competed in the 30th annual St Anthony’s Triathlon April 28. Champion, 48, ended her 28-year-career in the Army after she sustained severe injuries to her back and shoulder in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) attack.

Champion, who was also blinded by a virus she contracted in Iraq, was assisted during the race by Katie Morrow and her husband Jeff. Champion ran the race tethered to Kathy, who she met at guide dog training, and rode tandem with Jeff for the biking portion of the race.

Texting while driving one step closer to being illegal in Florida baynews9.com

The Senate unanimously voted to pass the texting and driving bill, and has passed it to the House to be approved. However, this law will be a little different than cell phone laws in other states. This bill would make it illegal to text while your car is in motion, but would not prohibit texting at a red light or being on the phone while driving. In addition, texting while driving would be a second offense, meaning police cannot pull you over unless you are seen violating another traffic law. If passed, Florida will join the 39 other states who have put a texting and driving ban in place.

St. Pete police request new equipment, gunshot trauma kits baynews9.com St. Petersburg police await approval for $450,000 worth of safety equipment. Requested items include new surveillance devices, body armor, cameras and computer software.

The police department has also asked for 500 gunshot trauma kits that would include tourniquets and gauze, in light of recent emergency situations like the Boston bombings.

Florida lawmakers approve pay raise For state workers tampabay.com

Florida Senate and House leaders announced an agreement to raise the salaries of state employees Saturday. These automatic increases are the first in seven years for Florida’s 160,000 state workers, and include a $1,400 raise for workers earning under $40,000 per year and a $1,000 raise for those with salaries above $40,000. Additional merit bonuses will also become available under the agreement. Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron said of the salary increases, “Both (the House and Senate) wanted to recognize the fact that our co-workers in state government throughout Florida work hard every day and we appreciate their contribution to state government and their fellow citizens.” The automatic increases are set to begin Oct. 2013.

Eckerd College’s literary magazine, Eckerd Review, is releasing its 2013 issue to the public May 8. The editorial board and staff will hold the annual reading and art party in the Cobb Gallery at 5 p.m. to showcase this issue’s writing and visual art. The Eckerd community is welcomed to join the celebration of the magazine and of the creative arts collegium. The magazines are free of charge and are available to be picked up at the reading and art party.

Residental commencement speaker selected Senior Elizabeth Tomaselli, editor-in-chief of The Current, has been chosen as the residential speaker for the May 19 graduation ceremony. Environmental activist and author, Bill McKibben, has been selected as the commencement speaker. He is the author of more than ten books and has been called “the planet’s best green journalist”

by Time Magazine. McKibben’s book Eaarth is currently a required reading on the senior’s QFM syllabus. As of press time, the PEL speaker had not been determined.

Pet council gets the ball rolling with possible pet park The pet council has started a pet park committee in hopes of bringing a pet park to campus.

Caley Marchesseault, head of the committee, said the park would consist of a 50x50 ft. fenced in area made with eco-friendly, recycled fencing materials. Inside, there would be a watering area where the pets could drink, a shaded area with a bench, a waste bag dispenser and trash can, but the committee is still open to ideas. “The idea for a pet park came about in Pet Council several years ago after we noticed a lot of dogs out on Kappa field without leashes,” said Marchesseault. Several locations are being considered including the grass area between Gamma and Omega, behind the sand courts and the open space north of the soccer field.

Budget breakdown released ECOS posted its budget allocation April 29. The budget allocation was posted in front of the ECOS office and at the Pub. The breakdown is for all clubs that had meetings with ECOS for the 2013-2014 academic year. A large portion of the budget went to ECOS with a total of $135,000 split between the president, exec. vice president and executive VPAA. Palmetto Productions also received a large portion, $105,000, for student activities and events next year. The remaining $8,000 will be allocated in the fall. The budget will be officially approved by the ECOS Senate at its meeting May 5.

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

C

the current

May 3, 2013

News 3

News Former VPFA makes transition to president

Year in review

4

Dean Harrison

7

Bon Appetit

8

After getting a taste of what collegiate level leadership was like, O’Donnell decided to run for vice president of financial affairs for his sophomore year, and won. He was head chair of the financial affairs committee and in charge of allocating money to clubs. This includes all ECOS-sponsored clubs on campus, a number nearing 100.

Former ECOS president, Senior Rhemy Brezin, had this to say about O’Donnell. “Brady has gone above and beyond in his position as vice president of financial affairs…

I have sincerely enjoyed working with Brady in Executive Council.

He brings humor and dedication to every meeting and event that ECOS hosts.”

Concluding a successful term as vice president of financial affairs, O’Donnell chose to run for the highest position of ECOS: Presi-

dent. He said, “With my experience, I felt I was right for the job.”

“I have complete and utter confidence in Brady’s ability to lead the student body and I am so proud of the way he has grown and developed as a leader over this past year,” Brezin said.

Brezin continued, “Having a knowledge of the financial processes behind the operation of ECOS is vital for a president. I would say that over 50 percent of the questions I receive are budget related.”

The newly-elected president was optimistic about his upcoming term. “I’m really excited and honored to have this position,” he said, “I want to do the best for the students and for myself.”

O’Donnell is only the fourth underclassman since 2000 to be elected as President (Dustin Malcolm ‘03-04, Khareem Monteith ‘06-07 and Lauren Delalla ‘09-10), and if he goes on to run again next year, he will only be the second person to accomplish this (Delalla ‘09-10 and ‘10-11).

Brezin took note of this unique opportunity and said that she’s excited O’Donnell is so relatively young going into this, and that she hopes to see him with this leadership role for much time to come.

The new ECOS head had several things already planned for his service starting next year. He hopes to make Triton’s Pub open at noon on weekends so students have a lunch option that is not provided by Bon Appetit at this time. He said he plans to send out monthly surveys to keep an ongoing count of what the students want from him and the organization.

Other plans for the delegation of his time and resources are to improve the pool area with better furniture and speaker options, the addition of student-usable speakers in the G.O. Pavilion, or a renovation of the Nu courtyard. The president wants to improve the campus in a way that all students can use and appreciate.

O’Donnell’s biggest point is that, “We (ECOS) are working on the student’s behalf. What I want to show is that every student is part of ECOS and that ECOS is there for all students.”

ment was deposited in. What does that mean? Where there is a lot of natural energy, like in a raging river, you’ll OHfind O bigger grains, like pebbles. Where there is less energy, like in a lagoon, you’ll find finer grained sediments, like mud. Sand grains O are larger than mud; the beach must HO OH be a higher energy environment due to the waves than offshore. I look around to try and impress some babes, a pinch of sand in one hand and mud in the other, but I’m alone and instead look out at the pink and purple clouds of sunset as night takes the Earth with silent repose. I wash off my hands and my thoughts about sediments invite Mars into my thoughts.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has sent back pictures of conglomerate rock, essentially rounded pebbles embedded into surrounding material. What kind of environment deposits round pebbles? Streams…

rivers…water.

Why are there no Martian streams now? How did they vanish?

I stroll off the beach and look back at the ocean. Will that happen to Earth someday? My eyes widen. It’s Earth Day! Oh, glorious Earth Day, so uncelebrated now compared to the first one in 1970 when millions took to the streets. I pass an old man in the dark.

“Happy Earth Day!” I cheer and he looks at me with a grimace like Mr. Potter from “It’s a Wonderful Life” while the clouds race in on winds moving from high to low pressures in a never-ending dance to equalize the atmospheric pressure of the planet. Reconciling differences to achieve a balance seems to be a theme of nature. Our cells work the same way, constantly adjusting our internal chemistry to keep us at a balance where we can survive. Magnets will induce a new

magnetic current to resist changing from their equilibrium state. Animals that consume at a rate that is not in balance with their environments die off until there are fewer of them. Even the societies of man with all their inequalities seem desperate for an ideal of balance, of something perfect and permanent that has eluded us despite the work of pen and sword. Nothing is permanent, yet that is, itself, a statement of permanence… gah! I’m just a child asking “Why?” but there is no grown-up here to answer. I sit back down at the computer screen but it doesn’t remain blank for long.

It will be the same way for the next science columnist. It has been a real pleasure, but my time here is done and it’s time for some new blood! If you’re interested, please contact The Current. You won’t regret it.

Best, Norris

By Dominick Cuppetilli Asst. Sports Editor The votes have been tallied and oaths have been taken. Sophomore Brady O’Donnell is the new president of ECOS for the 2013-14 school year. This fact came at no surprise to much of the Eckerd community after seeing his name on the ballot for this honored position, as many had seen examples of O’Donnell’s leadership already here at Eckerd.

“I found where I can be most effective on this campus,” said O’Donnell, “I care a lot about the college so I want to give back to it.”

The new ECOS president didn’t wait until he got to Eckerd to start becoming a leader. He served as class representative in both his sophomore and junior years of high school in Highlands Ranch, Colo. before moving on to be Student Body President of his student government.

In his high school years, student government wasn’t O’Donnell’s only leadership roles. He has always been involved in soccer,and was captain of both his school and club soccer teams. He led his high school team to No. 11 in the nation.

Another one of O’Donnell’s passions in high school was tae-kwondo. A black belt in the sport, he was also able to compete in the Junior Olympics for two years, earning both silver and bronze medals in sparing.

With all the experience O’Donnell had wracked up in his positions, he was ready to look on to the next major step: college. As a high schooler, O’Donnell said that he was looking for a college that had a marine science program close to the ocean. Naturally Eckerd jumped off the page. He said that once he visited he knew he liked it because of the community atmosphere, and the fact it was such a beautiful campus.

Since being at Eckerd, he has remained on the marine science path, double majoring in marine geology and environmental studies while minoring in political science. He keeps himself busy by continuing to play soccer and any other sport he

photo by Dom Cuppetilli Brady O’Donnell.

can get a pick up game started with.

He also spends time weight lifting and paddleboarding.

However, student government wasn’t at the front of O’Donnell’s mind when entering Eckerd. “I didn’t come to Eckerd thinking I would be in ECOS,” the new president said, recalling back to freshman year. O’Donnell explained that as time developed, this route is just what happened.

O’Donnell was appointed chief of staff the spring semester of his freshman year by former ECOS president, Stephen Barber.

O’Donnell was selected to fill this roll after an opening in the Executive Council was filled by the former chief of staff. As chief of staff, O’Donnell acted as liaison between the appointed positions of ECOS and the ECOS board.

OH

OH

Science HO

OH

OH

O

OH

HO

O

I sip a lukewarm PBR in front of my blank computer screen. Unlike most cases of writer’s block, this time I don’t struggle from a lack of material. Scientific topics are by nature innumerable, proven every day by the child who asks “why?” and receives an unsatisfactory answer from a cornered parent. Little do we know as children, when asking those questions we tap into a

O

OH

O

By Norris Comer Columnist

O

O

OH

learn responsibly

C

O

OH

HO

drunk on

HO

O

O OH

OH

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HO

horizon as all encompassing as the universe.

I sigh and go for a walk on the beach where I wiggle my toes in the coarse sand and grab a pinch between my fingers. I wade out past the gentle surf and grab a bit of the mucky bottom with the other hand. A fine-grained mud deposit, eh? How did it get here? Fun rule about sedimentology, the sizes of the grains in sediment are directly related to the amount of energy that is in the environment the sedi-

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

INSIDE NEWS

By Brady O’Donnell ECOS President To begin my first article as the new ECOS president elect, I would like to thank everyone who voted in the election. We had great turnout and it is good to know that you all care. Voting is a way for your voices to be heard; however, there are more ways than one. Myself, as well as my other ECOS officers, would like to convey the message that we are here to work for all of you. We may be the representatives, but everyone is a part of the Eckerd College Organization of Students. We want your ideas and opinions and it’s our job to follow through.

I am extremely honored and excited for the upcoming year and I know that my team will make a difference on this campus. We already have plans to improve the campus pool, Bon Appetit, as well as possible renovations for the Nu courtyard. This is not all though, we will take any suggestions and more projects will follow. Alek, James, Henry and myself, want to make sure everyone knows that whenever there is a concern regarding the school, we are more than willing to talk personally or electronically. Don’t hesitate to come in.

Although my focus is on the year of 2013-2014, I want to take some time to reflect on this year.

The Current has been recognized at a national level, Palmetto Productions threw countless amazing events, and the Emergency Response Team has become a valuable part of Eckerd’s well being. Finally, I am thoroughly grateful to have been a part of this year’s ECOS Executive Council. And to the graduating seniors, Eliza and Rhemy, you have all taught me so much and this campus will miss you both. Thank you.

Contact the ECOS president at ecospres@eckerd.edu

4 News

the current

May 3, 2013

Recapping significant events from 2012-13 Rachel Price

James Center

Boston bombing

Sandy Hook

We lost a member of our community this past year. Freshman Rachel Price, 18, passed away with her friend Feb. 28 in a collision with a drunk driver. Jamaree Cook, 19, was a passenger in Price’s car. Price was a promising addition to Eckerd’s Women’s Soccer Team and had been eager to return to the field after recovering from ACL surgery. A memorial had been held in her honor.

The long awaited James Center for Molecular Life and Science opened to students in February. The new center is home to nine teaching labs, two classrooms, four facultystudent research spaces and 14 faculty offices. The facility is also environmentally friendly with reclaimed water systems and features that allow the building to consume 30 percent less energy than other buildings it’s size.

Students all over campus watched in horror as news came in about the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 16.

The blasts injured 140 and three lives were lost. A week later, after a citywide manhunt through Boston, authorities were able to identify the bombers. The first bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had been killed in a shootout with police while the second, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, had been taken into custody.

The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in December kickstarted a conversation about gun control all over the country. The shooting claimed 29 lives, 20 of them being children between 7 and 8 years old. Since then, debates have taken place about stricter gun reform to prevent such an event from happening again, the families of the victims standing on the front lines.

Obama re-elected

Delta lounge

West Lodge

Traffic light

A wave of political conversation seemed to sweep Eckerd College during fall semester as the U.S. geared up for the 2012 election. Students were given opportunities to register as Florida voters and shuttled from campus to the polls. When the polls were closed and the votes counted, it was declared that President Barack Obama had been reelected making him the first African American to not only be elected president, but also re-elected.

Eckerd saw it’s second renovation for residential complexes, updating the Delta Lounge with new furniture and appliances.

The new lounge was opened with a small party and ribbon cutting ceremony Sept.

18. The design of the lounge is similar to that of Zeta lounge that was renovated in 2011. Beta complex has been tapped for the next lounge renovation along with two houses of Epsilon complex. These renovations will be done over the summer.

West Lodge was officially converted to residential housing when a need for more beds arose this year. The reason behind the need for more housing: 570 students moved onto the Eckerd campus, making it the largest incoming class the college has ever had. ELS students were moved from West Lodge to alternative housing at homestays and the Magnuson Hotel, but the continued use of West Lodge as a dorm will depend on future enrollment.

The Eckerd College community was struck hard by the passing of ASPEC member Bob Shepherd after a car accident on the school’s front doorstep. In response to the tragic event, students and faculty alike worked together to fight for a new traffic light in front of the Eckerd campus. After hearings and meetings, the Florida Department of Transportation announced Feb. 13 that the Eckerd community had won its light.

Hurricane Sandy

D2 All-Star game

Student IDs

Keystone XL

Florida is used to dealing with hurricanes, but those who lived in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were not expecting the nature disaster they braced for when Hurricane Sandy blew through the northeast in October. After the storm killed 71 in the Caribbean, Hurricane Sandy would go on to claim 125 American lives and cause $62 billion worth of damage.

This year, Senior Darrien Mack found himself in Louisville, Ky., at the Division II All-Star game after being invited to play as one of their All Stars. There he represented Eckerd College and the class of 2013 as one of the top 20 college basketball players in the nation. Mack was able to stand out of the crowd with 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors found a noticeable change in their identification when they returned for the fall semester.

Over the summer, the identification card system had been updated and with it came new, sleek IDs for all new and returning students. These cards were also missing the date of birth for each student, replacing it with a read bar that says “under 21” when a student is under age. The student can then replace their ID after they have turned 21.

Eckerd students returned to Washington, D.C., for the second year in a row for protests against the Keystone XL Pipeline.

More than 100 Eckerd students stood next to thousands of other protesters in the country’s capital Feb. 17 for the Forward on Climate Rally. The EC to DC movement is made up of members of the Sustainability club.

Illustration by Alex Zielinski Compiled by: Hailey Escobar, Asst. News Editor

Small details responsible for EC experience

By Carolyn Moritz Staff Writer Eckerd’s student body is actively involved in every aspect of campus life. ECOS, Pet Council, Residence Life and EC-SAR are a few well-known examples of student organizations. From Autumn Term to Springtopia, big organizations with full traditions make headlines and enhance student life.

Often, however, there are just as many small groups, locations and resources that are easily overlooked. These all serve to represent unique facets of the Eckerd spirit that permeates the campus.

Yellow bike EMTs It is always a pleasant sight to come across a sunny yellow bicycle parked near a green field or leaning against a palm tree. Sometimes, however, the campus bikes are upside-down, awaiting repair. They appear to be whisked away by fairies in the night, only to return the next morning ready for an early ride.

In fact, the yellow bicycles are continually being repaired throughout the course of the day, and the “fairies in the night” are actually work scholars sent out

by Campus Activities to repair the fallen bikes. They are the Yellow Bike EMTs. EMTs are trained at the beginning of the semester in basic bicycle repair. They work in pairs, going out in shifts to locate broken bikes and have them road-ready in a matter of minutes. An upside-down bike is the campus symbol for “fix me.” However, many bicycles in need of repair are sitting pretty amongst their healthy counterparts.

One of the difficulties of the job is ensuring no loose chain or flat tire goes overlooked.

The EMTs also assist with the Yellow Bike

Rally that students look forward to each semester, helping to release the fleet out into the wilderness. The enthusiasm they drum up around campus illustrates their fondness for the Yellow Bikes, but the private student bicycle is not completely left out in the dark.

Weston Babelay of Campus Activities explains that the EMTs are trained on singlegear bicycles and as such are typically hesitant to work on more complicated student bikes; “We don’t want to mess anything up.”

Instead, the tools used for Yellow Bike repair are available for students to use if they wish to work on their own personal bikes.

Students also occasionally come to Campus Activities to borrow a bicycle pump. Those without their own set of wheels can count on the EMTs to keep Eckerd’s bicycles up and running - or, to be more precise, up and riding.

Art studios It is difficult not to notice artistic influence around campus. There’s the Elliot Gallery in Ransom as well as the newer gallery in Cobb, both regularly home to public exhibits. Anthropomorphic metal sculptures overlook the pond out by Wireman Chapel, and the signs promoting various health or campus campaigns are often the result of student-created projects.

Behind the Ransom art building, a few small buildings house the minds and souls behind many of these displays. There are also a couple studios upstairs in Ransom itself, typically reserved for seniors working on thesis projects. Students who apply for a studio seek a dedicated space to focus on their medium of choice. Often these studios and the artists who inhabit them end up enriching campus life via thesis exhibits in campus galleries or other public displays of their work.

The studios exist for students only, although Visual Arts Coordinator Emily Ayers admits to some leniency for graduating seniors. “There is always a rush to move out [of the dorms], and moving does take a while.”

For many, the studios represent a small aspect of the Eckerd community’s appreciation for creativity and the ways it can be used to benefit the student body as a whole. Campus activities such as the Surreal Film Festival and the current Cobb gallery exhibit “Every Student an Artist” provide another example

photo by Emily Ayers A typical art studio on campus.

of the same philosophy the personal studios stand for: student creativity and artistic merit.

Advanced physics laboratory In a quiet corner at the back of one of the Sheen buildings, a small room has been dominated by a large piece of equipment. The room is typically dark and the door is simply labeled “Advanced Physics Lab.” The machine looks like something out of a science fiction film, with lights and wires and a wide tubelike apparatus or two going into the ceiling.

According to Physics professor Dr. Anne Cox, it is a vacuum system designed to study

clusters (or groups) of atoms. As she describes the process, Dr. Cox explains that the purpose of the vacuum is to isolate the atoms from air and water molecules that would interfere with precise study. With the vacuum system, they are capable of determining the structure of the atomic clusters that they examine.

“The electronics, computer control system, support structure and most of the plumbing was done by students over the years,” Cox adds.

The vacuum system will be in storage for the next year while Sheen undergoes renovations.

When it returns, students will continue to play a vital role in the analyses it makes possible.

“Common ground” Eckerd’s Center for Spiritual Life is home to a diverse range of groups big and small.

Wireman Chapel provides a meeting place for Hillel, Catholic mass, Orthodox Christian Fellowship, meditation groups, and many others. At the beginning of this semester, students Olivia Cook and Jessica Eckbold founded “Common Ground” as a way to bring students and faculty together for dinner, worship and gardening.

Every Sunday evening, those who are interested come together to share a vegan or vegetarian meal and fellowship. They tend a small garden and discuss the environment and how it relates to spirituality, personal wellness and community. The Center for Spiritual Life’s Associate Director Libby Shannon hopes to begin gardening early on in the fall semester.

Shannon explains that the small group began planting late this spring. As most students will be away during the summer, they will not be able to use what they planted this season. She and the students hope to take that learning experience and plant early on so that students can harvest their garden and incorporate it into their dinners.

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the current

May 3, 2013

News 5

Getting to know President Eastman on, off the golf course From PLAYING, page 1 -ing pizza with him in the Delta Lounge, chatting with him while he helps out behind the counter at a late-night breakfast, or casually running into him as he strolls through the academic quad sporting that bow tie. He used to wear long ties, though. “After a while, I would wear the long tie and people would say, what are you wearing a long tie for? It just becomes a thing and people recognize you for it. After graduate school, someone asked me ‘what are you going to do?’ I said I don’t know, but I’m going to get a job where I don’t have to wear a tie, ever. Turns out, the interesting jobs to me are where you have to wear a tie.”

Eastman makes a conscious effort to get to know his students, and this is something that enticed him about Eckerd in 2001 after working at large universities such as the University of Tennessee, Cornell, and, most recently, the University of Georgia.

Still, when Eastman, driving a golf cart a few months earlier, pulls up to me and two of my Eckerd golf teammates on the 14th tee box at St. Petersburg Country Club in October and asks to join us for the last few holes, I can’t help but wonder--how many other college students get to play golf with their college president?

That day I was the one who hopped in his cart. We talked between shots. A few months later, when I returned to the course after a brief hiatus, I asked him to play again. I wanted to know him better -- like how he learned to play, and what it’s like to be the president of a college.

For starters, one thing Eckerd students probably don’t know about their president is that he loves to play golf, and I quickly found out he’s pretty good at it, too. The day of our first formal round together on a shorts-weather February Friday, I spot Eastman waving to me from the parking lot about a 9-iron (100-150 yards) away, carrying his bag over his right shoulder, while I’m putting around the practice green at St. Petersburg Country Club. He’s a member here, and the Eckerd golf teams have playing privileges in the afternoons. St. Petersburg Country Club is just five minutes down the road from Eckerd in the Lakewood Estates neighborhood, so it’s easy to get to.

Teeing off During our first round together as we were approaching the treacherous par-3 7th hole that has two bunkers, a water hazard and a severely sloped green to contend with, Eastman is talking about his decision to come to Eckerd. “I liked what it (Eckerd) did, does well,” he says. “It also allowed me to do what I do well -- plan, raise money, get people working together, get back together. I never had a job that connected me to the students.” His passion for Eckerd students is obvious.

He’ll discuss it again the next time we play, after he’s striped a hybrid to eight feet on the 4th hole. “It’s wonderful to see young people turning into thoughtful adults right in front of your eyes.”

But on this casual Friday, his tee shot starts down the right hand and side and curves back a little left into the hard leftto-right wind, finding the middle of the fairway. He hits his hybrid club all the way up to the green, about 10 feet right of the flag. He rolls the putt in for birdie, while I have to sweat out a five-foot putt just to save par on the hole. We aren’t playing a match or anything, but I am shaking over that putt.

A NCAA golfer making a bogey while the president makes a birdie? Embarrassing.

“Warming up is overrated,” I say to him and walk off the green toward the second tee box.

President Eastman hitting over the water hazard.

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“I guess so,” he laughs.

I’ve seen him play before, so I know he can hit the ball pretty straight, but a birdie out of the gate with no warm up is impressive for any golfer, let alone someone who rushes to the course after talking to the parents council on the Friday of Parents Weekend.

Eastman, like many golfers from previous generations, was introduced to the game by caddying when he was 12 at a 9-hole golf club in Middle Tennessee, where his parents moved his family when he was six.

He caddied for his father, who was the chief of research for the Air Force after World War II before moving the family to Tennessee so he could oversee the world’s largest wind tunnels. His father was an avid golfer who played with the legendary Bobby Jones at East Lake in Atlanta. Jones became Eastman’s favorite golfer through the stories his father told him, and he says he also rooted for Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan.

I asked him how he felt about Tiger Woods, someone every golfer has an opinion on, and he said there is more to being a good person than being a great golfer. “I think it’s a tragedy,” he said about the Tiger Woods sex scandal. “I think if you sacrifice being a decent human being for being a great golfer it’s not worth it. I’m sorry it happened because he was a hero to so many people. America is a pretty forgiving society, but I don’t think it’s enough to just win golf tournaments. He’s got to prove there is more to him than that.”

Eastman played on his high school golf team, and said he would have been about a six-handicapper (could shoot six over par on a good day), but there was no handicap system then. Today he plays to 9.5-handicap, and plays from the gold senior tees, a set in front of the men’s tees, and an advantage he’s earned at 67.

When he was 18, Eastman was set to attend Georgia Tech, his father’s alma mater, on a full scholarship for engineering. Eastman had won medals for science and math in high school, but three weeks before leaving for Georgia Tech, plans changed, he told me during our second round together in midMarch. Ironically, we were both bundled up in windbreakers because it was 55-degrees and the wind was howling.

“My dad said to me, ‘I think you care more about how — about questions of why rather than about questions of how,’” he said. “So I went to Emory and majored in philosophy and never looked back.”

Eastman would end up transferring to the University of Tennessee to save money since he had six younger brothers and sisters. After earning his Ph.D., he planned on teaching English, but he said the economy was bad in the 1970s, and administrative jobs were more available. After beginning his career as a teacher, he worked as the executive director of the Florida National Endowment for the Humanities, executive assistant to the chancellor at the University of Tennessee, assistant vice president of Cornell University and vice president of the University of Georgia.

“I met a lot of people at universities that I admired,” he tells me from the golf cart while I tee off on the ninth hole back in February. “In many ways, it was the only institution in the 70s that I had confidence in. My career began in the middle of the Vietnam War. A lot of people from my generation felt you couldn’t trust anyone. You couldn’t trust the government. You couldn’t trust institutions associated with the government. Universities always seemed to be looking to tell the truth.”

By then, he’d married his wife, Christine, and raised three sons, Zack, Andy and Bryan, who are now in their 30s and working in Georgia. He also has three grandchildren and two miniature poodles—his wife is allergic to dogs that shed— and he is fond of all of them.

He even called me from his cell phone one day to let me know he was going to be late for our March round of golf because he had to pick up the dogs from the vet for his wife.

He sees his family every couple of months, but Zack and Andy visited in March and played three rounds together. Eastman tells me Zack has a good swing, and Andy shot a pair of 75s.

Eastman admits he struggled that weekend, shooting between 80 and 81 all three rounds.

“It’s very frustrating when your goal in life is to break 80,” he says, lighting a cigar before we tee off that cold day in March, showing his competitive side.

Though he’d prefer to hit photo by Greg Reilly the green every time, and wouldn’t we all, he never re-

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veals too much frustration on the course. He will hit a shot over again for practice, but he always keeps score on his first ball. When he hits a good shot, he doesn’t show much of a reaction. Probably because he expects so much of himself.

He leaves his iPhone in his bag and never takes a call or reads an email on the course. Golf is his escape from the pressures associated with running a college. He does all his practice on the course; he can’t stand beating balls on the range.

He’ll often come out to play by himself, smoking a cigar while he plays, since he doesn’t have a regular group because of his irregular schedule.

He does get around, though. He’s played top rated courses such as the Congressional Country Club in Maryland, Augusta National Golf Club, which is the site of the Masters Tournament, and The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton. “I just like getting outside, smelling the grass,” he says while we wait on the 3rd tee box. I guess the president of a college has more important things to worry about than getting worked up over missing short putts.

Eastman is wrapping up his 12th year at Eckerd, which got off to a bit of a stormy start, literally and figuratively. He’d arrived in June 2001, and his wife arrived the middle of August.

He said the house the college provided had been recently repaired, but a tropical storm blew through with winds “about 80 miles per hour” and the house leaked all over. “It was about three days after that we had that storm,” he says. “(Christine) said to me ‘I thought you said they fixed this house?’ I said ‘Well…’”

In the second week of his first semester here, the September 11 terrorist attacks shook the nation, including the Eckerd community. Eastman asked Diplomat in Residence Donna Oglesby to speak to the students to provide an understanding about what was happening. “It was quite an introduction,” he says. “It was an extraordinary time. It wasn’t just what happened. It was, ‘What the hell was going to happen next?’”

The college was also struggling financially when Eastman took over from his predecessor, Peter Armacost. “The financial position was much more trouble than I knew,” he says.

“Chris Brennan (Vice President for Business and Finance) used to come down to my office every two or three days and say, ‘You’re not going to believe this.’”

The biggest problem was related to real estate. The college had invested in two projects, College Harbor and College Landing, and was paying $1 million a year in interest. “The previous administration had borrowed heavily from the endowment,” he tells me. “So we had a budget that was way out of balance. We started off $3.2 million in the hole the first day of the fiscal year. We didn’t have any cash, didn’t have any reserves. They (the board of trustees) had a seven-year plan to fix it and I told the board that by the end of seven years you’ll all hate each other, so let’s fix it this year. We’ll have a second annual fund and ask for trustees to make up half that amount, and we’ll reduce the budget by the other half.”

And his plan worked. At the start of the 2002 fiscal year, the college had a surplus. The college later sold the real estate projects and wiped out $24 million in debt.

After dealing with financial troubles, which even included a probationary warning from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation agency in 2006, Eastman’s job is still not finished. At 67, he plans to be at Eckerd “as long as I can stand up...as long as my health is good, and I enjoy it, and the faculty and the board are happy,” he adds, walking off the sixth green after taking a few practice putts. He is not pleased with the way he is stroking the ball today and asks me for advice.

Looking to the future One of Eastman’s primary goals is improving what he says is an already strong academic reputation for Eckerd. “If we go on to help students and do good things...that’s what’s going to make a good reputation, and it is a good academic reputation,” he says as we walk off the 9th green. He just hit a 30yard sand shot over two ridges to just six feet from the hole, pulling off probably one of the hardest shots in golf.

Looking ahead, Eastman acknowledges the difficulty small liberal arts colleges face in financially supporting students.

“Any small college without enough endowment will struggle,” he says as we drive back to the clubhouse, disappointed he can’t play on. He has a dinner to attend. “And with the economy, you know we need $300 million in our endowment, and that’s six times what we’ve got, in order to do better financial aid and support students. Our prices are high, it makes it tough on people. Our retention rate is 85 percent and, well, it needs to be above 90, and much of that is financial aid.”

Eastman offers me the cart to take to the back nine, but I tell him I’ll stay on the putting green a while before heading off to a meeting of my own. Eastman walks toward his black Lexus sedan and loads his clubs in the trunk. He’s unsure where or when he’ll play next because of his schedule, so takes them with him in case his next round is elsewhere. He’s heading home, he’s told me, to host faculty for dinner. I guess being president of a college is a 24/7 job. But the first break he gets, I’ll know where to find him.

6 News

the current

May 3, 2013

Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Tomaselli thecurrent@eckerd.edu Managing Editor Jeralyn Darling News Editors Aaron Levy Kelly Coston currentnews@eckerd.edu Asst. News Editors Hailey Escobar Taylor Glaws

photo by Alex Zielinski Vent cover in Gamma Freeman 14.

photo by Alex Zielinski Inside a vent in Gamma Freeman 14.

photo by Alex Zielinski Gamma Freeman 12 after vent cover was sandblasted.

photo by Ethan Cooper Floor of upstairs storage closet in Zeta Hubbard.

photo by Alex Zielinski Soapdish in downstairs shower in Gamma Freeman.

Vent cover in Delta Ibsen 25.

photo by Alexandra Roberts Vent sample from downstairs bathroom in Gamma Freeman.

photo by Alexandra Roberts Uninoculated control left uncovered during experiment.

photo by Alexandra Roberts Sample from vent in Gamma Freeman 14.

photo by Alexandra Roberts Uninoculated control left covered during experiment.

Viewpoints Editors Ely Grinfeld Alexandra Roberts currentviews@eckerd.edu Asst. Viewpoints Editor Rose Kraemer-Dahlin Entertainment Editor Ian Lindsay currententertainment@eckerd.edu Asst. Entertainment Editors Hayden Johnson Rose Kraemer-Dahlin Health & Fitness Editor Caroline Campbell currenthealth@eckerd.edu Asst. Health & Fitness Editor Lizzy Brophy

photo by Lauren Thompson

Sports Editor Mike Geibel currentsports@eckerd.edu Asst. Sports Editors Colin Casey Will Creager Dominick Cuppetilli Taylor Glaws Political Consultant Ethan Packey Graphic Design Editor Carver Elliot Lee Photo Editor Alex Zielinski currentphoto@eckerd.edu Asst. Photo Editor Dominick Cuppetilli Web Editor Greg Reilly Asst. Web Editor Hailey Escobar Web Master Vincent Lynch Faculty Adviser Tracy Crow Director of Policy/Communication Cait Duffy Director of Finances Kevin Boyd Director of PR/Advertising Arielle Burger currentads@eckerd.edu

The Current is a free biweekly student newspaper at Eckerd College. Offices are located upstairs in Cobb at 4200 54th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL, 33711. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of EC students, staff, faculty and administration.

The Current welcomes letters to the editor. Submissions should be typed and not exceed 400 words. Writers must include their full name, graduation year and contact number. Faculty and staff should include their title, department and contact number. All submissions are subject to editing for the purposes of clarity, style or length. The Current holds the right to reject any letters deemed inappropriate. Letters can be sent via email to thecurrent@eckerd.edu with subject “Letter to the editor.” _______________________________ The Current will run full-length articles covering any arrests that present a clear danger to the community.

Charges that would be investigated under this policy include robberies, assaults, weapons charges or illicit drug manufacturing, such as methamphetamine. The Current will continue publishing a small police blotter for felony arrests, and misdemeanor charges against student government leaders, Residential Advisors and staff members of The Current. We learn of arrests through searching the police arrest database by entering Eckerd’s address, as well as from tips. Questions and comments can be emailed to thecurrent@eckerd.edu.

Behind the vents

From VENTS, page 1 “Shelly [Partridge] experienced chronic sinusitis from living in Alpha Mill last year that was most likely caused by very old and dirty air ventilation.”

Seven traditional complexes house the majority of students living on campus—housing that was built in the early 60s. Though the A/C systems were updated in the 80s, the 30+ years are reaching their limit.

According to Ault, “The original type of A/C installed was what we call a DX unit—it’s basically just like a big roof mounted window air conditioner. These units only last about 10 years in this type of climate.”

Ault acknowledged the complexity of the situation. “I certainly don’t think it’s ideal,” said Ault.

“I don’t like the internal duct system [either], but we’re stuck with it unless there is a major investment to go replace that duct.”

Traditional housing and its ventilation systems were built when it was custom to have the insulation on the inside of the vents.

As time passes, parts of the insulation become loose and are blown around the system. Loose particles combined with old A/C units create moisture problems in an already humid climate.

McKenna continued, “This insulation is subject breakup and also has a porous surface where molds could adhere if the humidity is al-

lowed to increase to high levels as happens with open windows and doors,” said McKenna. “The planned renovation of the legacy dorms will remove all elements of the old systems including the ducts.

The renovations will switch from using ducted forced air to use a newer more energy efficient technology based on the concept of Variable Flow Refrigerant. This system will have in room fan coils for individual temperature control, and will also include all new smaller ducts to bring in controlled amounts of outside air for use in each room.”

In the last three years, students have watched the remodeling of Zeta and Delta kitchens, the rising of the G.O. Pavilion tent, inclusion of new speed bumps, West Lodge open for housing and the Center for Molecular Sciences open, among other past projects. Construction continues in Sheen, and the entrance to campus is getting a makeover.

Up-to-date academic buildings are important, but the majority of a student’s time is not spent in these facilities. The updated lounges in Zeta and Delta will be frequented as will Beta’s lounge after this summer.

However, being that the majority of students are on a meal plan, kitchens are perhaps not the priority.

Director of Housing Justin Long thinks the ventilation systems should be cleaned annually.

“I don’t think it’s too much to

photo by Alexandra Roberts Prof. Denison examines samples under microscope.

do a routine cleaning,” said Sevegny. “To take part of that tuition cost and put it towards keeping the students healthy in a living situation that they really can’t help themselves with. We have no control over what goes on inside the vents or even what goes on in the air around us—so it should be a part of what they do every year.”

Long, who also acts as a mediator between students and facilities, affirms there have been no cases of mold this year. “It’s really not an issue at all,” said Long.

“I trust the facilities managers to check when they go in there.”

Ault confirms mold hasn’t been a campus-wide issue this year, and Ault and Long urge students to continue reporting issues. “The biggest thing is [students] need to tell people,” said Long. “Anytime they have concerns that get to me they’re addressed right away. Anytime you suspect anything, always let me know or tell your RA. Regardless of the issue, report something and never let it linger. We take it seriously regardless if it’s right or wrong.”

“We can do routine walkthroughs of public buildings, but we won’t know about specific rooms unless students tell us,” said Ault. “We only get two chances a year to be in the rooms unless a student calls with a problem.”

According to Ault, in March alone there were 1,208 demand work requests—requests by students and/or RAs. Of these, 139 are still open and waiting for funding, replacement parts or events to

stop long enough for facilities can get in to do maintenance. Aside from demand work requests there were 292 preventative maintenance work requests, requests scheduled by facilities to ensure proper performance of utilities across campus.

According to Ault, health and safety is the number one priority—including projects with the fire department, electrical companies and roof repair to protect the integrity of the building.

Brennan confirmed. “Air conditioning is a priority and funding is allocated annually for repairs and replacements on campus, including the residence halls. A/C units in Dante, James and Gandhi were replaced within the last year.

The Zeta fan coil units are scheduled to be replaced this summer.”

So far, air quality hasn’t been a safety issue, but students urge routine cleaning. Routine cleaning is not the solution, instead it is to replace the duct work and A/C units, according to Ault.

McKenna listed several improvements. “Reopening and using filtered outside air to blend in with the conditioned inside air uses more energy, but measurably improves the indoor air quality. Cleaning the ducts and the top sides of all the ceiling tiles was another part of that program. No significant duct replacements have occurred, yet.”

“I wish we had enough money to fix it all at once,” said Ault. “I think if everyone’s aware we can make incremental improvements until we get funds for a whole renovation.”

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the current

May 3, 2013

News 7

EC community rallies to support dean, daughter

By Kelly Coston News Editor

W

hen Dean of Faculty Suzan Harrison adopted her daughter from Vietnam in 2003, a friend gave Harrison a plaque with the Vietnamese word for fate, along with this quote: “Sometimes the universe has a way of knowing when two people belong together.”

That could not be more accurate for Harrison and her daughter, Emma.

Harrison graduated from Eckerd in 1978, and went on to get her master’s degree at Florida State University and finally her Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina. She returned to Eckerd in 1989 as assistant professor of rhetoric, and later the chair of the Letters Collegium, and then associate dean of general education, and now, recently, promoted once again to the dean of faculty. “One of the things I have loved about my time at Eckerd is that I’ve had these wonderful opportunities to grow and stretch.”

Aside from all of her academic and professional achievements, she had always longed to be a mother.

She began extensive research into international adoption, but none of this research would matter in the end. “One Saturday morning at the computer I found a website of pictures of children adopted from Vietnam, and that made my decision,” Harrison recalled. “I just fell in love. I didn’t expect that.” Harrison admits she is not one to make a rash decision. “That is not the way I typically go about making decisions. To buy a dishwasher, which I just did, I researched it and looked for reviews. I was trying to do that with the adoption, but it didn’t work.”

Obstacles arose when Vietnam and the U.S. started having disagreements over adoption protocols. Vietnam was about to close adoptions until they got it all worked out.

Because of this, the adoption agency called Harrison and advised she switch to the adoption waiting list for a different country.

Harrison declined and decided to wait and see what happened. “I just felt as though it was right,” she said. Overnight, Harrison went from number 26 on the waiting list for Vietnam to number 2, because everyone else had switched to a different country list.

A referral came by email the day before Thanksgiving in 2002. She opened it to find four photos and a brief medical history of her potential child. “You either look at it and say yes, I’ll take this child or no I’ll wait for the next one. I saw it and immediately said ‘Here she is’, and said yes within ten minutes,” Harrison said. On Valentine’s Day, 2003, Harrison

flew to Vietnam to meet her daughter, and the adoption was finalized three days later.

The three and a half month old Vietnamese baby, formerly known as ‘Nga’ to the caretakers at the orphanage, was now Emma Kathryn Nga Harrison. “That was just a grand adventure,” Harrison said.

A few years later, Emma would once again change Dean Harrison’s life. When she was six-years-old, Emma picked up her violin to practice but told Harrison that it hurt. “I realized that the glands on her neck were like little Ping-Pong balls,” Harrison said.

“August 19, 2009 was the worst day of my life,” Harrison said. “We went to see an infectious disease specialist. The specialist examined her for about 3 minutes, then turned to me and said ‘sit down.’”

After blood work and X-rays, the specialist sent them to the pediatric oncologist.

“I remember bits and pieces of that day so vividly; I remember how absolutely terrifying my first experience of a pediatric oncology waiting room was,” Harrison admitted.

Once the blood results came back, Emma and Harrison did not go home for two weeks. They were put in a hospital room, and immediately started chemo therapy.

Before they even knew the details of the diagnosis they started the treatment because of the kind of cancer Emma had.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia was the diagnosis. Harrison remembers it happening so quickly. By the time Emma was hospitalized, 2/3 of her lung capacity was filled with what they call a liquid tumor, and before the end of the first day she had her first dose of chemo and had bone marrow samples taken, along with lots of blood. The second day they did a spinal tap, where they shot chemotherapy drugs into Emma’s spinal cord.

“I’ll never forget the physician assistant who, after getting the results of Emma’s spinal fluid, ran down the hallway shouting ‘her spinal fluid is clear!’ You just feel as though you have the most incredible team of complete strangers who are now your most important advocates,” Harrison said.

“I knew I loved Eckerd College, but the sense of community we received was overwhelming,” Harrison said. Once she got the news, she called colleagues at Eckerd and explained the situation. “I said, we don’t have anything here and I can’t leave her.” Friends brought them clothes and meals, because neither of them ever went home during the two weeks she was hospitalized. The support from the Eckerd community continued throughout Emma’s battle with leukemia.

“I got a call from President Eastman saying

whatever it takes, get her the best treatment.

He kept saying ‘We’re going to get her through this,’ and he put me in contact with the head of pediatric oncology at the Duke University medical center, who I had long conversations with me on the phone. He assured me that Emma would get the exact same protocol and the best treatment at All Children’s Hospital.

Eastman also remembers the day he got the news about Emma. “I remember thinking that while this was devastating news that with the right medical care, miracles can happen,” Eastman said. “The whole story of Emma, from her adoption on, has been so important and enriching for so many in the Eckerd community.”

Harrison recalls the only place to get coffee in the hospital was downstairs in the cafeteria, but she couldn’t leave Emma’s side, even for five minutes. “Somebody arranged that one of my colleagues would show up every morning at 7:30 with coffee, for which I was so grateful,” she said.

Not only did she feel a sense of community from Eckerd, but also from the people at All Children’s. “I had no idea how important it would be that that place was so close by,” she said. Harrison recalls the endless flow of tears that overcame her on that awful day. “I met a woman who had registered us for X-rays on that first day, and I had said to her ‘do you have any tissues?’” She said yes and handed me a couple. After looking at something on the computer screen that must’ve indicated that we were headed to oncology, she just pulled out the whole box and gave it to me.

Three years later, I saw her and said, ‘you probably don’t remember me,’ but she replied, ‘oh yeah, I gave you the box of tissues.”

Bay Point Elementary, where Emma is now in the fourth grade honors program, was also more than accommodating throughout this whole process. “They were fabulous, she did most of first grade via Skype because she had no immune system due to the medication she was on,” Harrison explained.

“Her teachers and friends from school put together a thing called Emma’s lemonade stand for the whole fall semester and sold lemonade after school to raise money to buy her a laptop so she could Skype to school.”

“Emma and I were sitting on the couch one day when she turned to me and said ‘you know mama, leukemia is really all about friendship.’ She was talking about the fact that our neighborhood, the Eckerd community, her school and All Children’s all rallied around us and it was so amazing,” Harrison said.

“Since the 1950s, pediatric cancer has gone from less than a 10 percent success

courtesy of eckerd.edu Dean of Faculty Suzan Harrison.

rate, to about 80 percent,” Harrison said.

“Those numbers sound wonderful, until you’re the parent of a child with cancer.”

Within three weeks, Emma was in remission. Luckily, Emma’s cancer was caught before it had spread to her central nervous system. After two and a half years of invasive chemotherapy treatments and tons of oral medication, Emma is now free of leukemia.

Emma finished treatment Dec. 7, 2011.

For the first year, she went every month for blood work and physicals. Starting this spring, she has shifted to going every other month. This year was the first time since that horrible Aug. 19, 2009 that Emma did not go to the doctor for a whole month.

“Kids are so resilient. I’d be in the hospital and see kids with all kinds of tubes hanging out of them, hooked up to IVs, and they’d be using the IV pole as a scooter,” Harrison said. “They’re still just kids.”

Today, Emma is healthy and enjoying life as a typical 10-year-old. She likes to roller blade, play with her friends in their neighborhood fort and still enjoys playing the violin. “I still think of the violin as how we discovered this,” Harrison admitted.

“We were doing something one day and I said ‘are you sure you can do this?’

Emma looked at me and said ‘Mama, I beat cancer, of course I can do this.”

Despite her battle with leukemia, Harrison cannot imagine her life without Emma.

“We are so thankful for each other,” Harrison said. “This journey hasn’t changed her resilience at all, she still embraces life wholeheartedly. She is just wonderful.”

photos courtesy of Dean Suzan Harrison Emma photgraphed in the midst of her treatment.

Emma poses during a fashion show fundraiser.

Emma post-treatment.

Sustainability Update: U-Haul program to receive truck for fall semester

By Evan Bollier Columnist

promotional photo U-Haul pickup truck.

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Thanks to all who responded to the survey regarding how well a truck would be used on campus if it were added to the U-Haul Car Share fleet.

A significant number of

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you indicated that you would rent the truck for far more than just moving on and off campus at the beginning and end of the semester. Thus, after several months of negotiations, U-Haul recently announced that starting in the fall, they will add a Ford F-150 to Eckerd’s fleet.

The goal is have the Ford F-150 before Aug. 30. The truck will have a bench seat to accommodate three people and an eight-foot bed to make it easier to transport many items in one trip. Rental rates start at $4.95 an hour plus $0.79 per mile or $11.50 per hour including 180 miles.

To rent it out for a full day including 180 miles will be $82.00.

To reserve a car or join the program, visit www.ucarshare.com and start sharing.

Sign up with promo code ‘Evan’ to join for $15 and receive $20 in driving credits immediately.

8 News

the current

May 3, 2013

Reflecting on Bon Appétit two years after the last review

By Carver Lee Graphic Design Editor

I

t’s been almost two years since Max Martinez published an article in The Current about food services on campus. His findings reported that students were generally unhappy with Bon Appétit and the dining services on campus. In Martinez’s survey, 58 percent of students responding said that they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the food quality.

In a recent survey conducted by The Current with 247 responses, 65.1 percent of students say the same thing.

With the majority of the latest survey responses coming from freshmen, it’s hard to compare these two numbers, as freshmen haven’t been around to see the many recent changes.

But, that doesn’t mean you can ignore the numbers completely.

In three categories of food quality, food variety and food value, more than 50 percent of the freshmen who responded are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

Call it being used to homecooked meals, not knowing what the food was like a few years ago or the general complaints that you’ll find at any college, there’s still no denying that students are unhappy with dining services.

But, behind the scenes, things are improving. Individual students and an ECOS committee have all worked to bring about some changes.

Sophomore Cat Pappas worked tirelessly for four months to get gluten-free options available in the caf. While many survey takers noted that this was a much needed addition, Pappas still feels disap-

food that is healthy and organic.

The problem with organic fruits and vegetables is that they are more More than once a day expensive, sometimes by more than twice the amount of their nonA few times a organic counterparts. Trujillo exweek plained the concept of the “Dirty Dozen,” a study completed by the Environmental Working Group.

The study tested the levels of pesticide residue found on nonorganic fruits and vegetables after washing with water. Because Daily every food has different physical properties, some had no remaining pesticides after washing Bold color = dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with overall on-campus food services while others still had the residue of up to 67 different pesticides.

Light color = satisfied or somewhat satisfied with overall on-campus food services Instead of having to buy all orillustration by Carver Lee ganic fruits and vegetables, the pointed by Bon Appetit. “Most tee has succeeded in getting napkin school can use the results of the of the dishes are still brown rice holders placed on the outside tables study to know when to splurge and based. They now incorporate white at the cafeteria and a smoothie buy the organic version or when to quinoa but those are the least station for weekend breakfasts. save money with the non-organic.

Gathering suggestions via word healthy grains in comparison to red Llovera explained that the budquinoa,” Pappas said in an email. of mouth and Campus Grumble, get for next year includes more For students avoiding gluten for the committee meets with Llo- organic foods and that even more health reasons and not dietary rea- vera and Kathy Mills, Caf Man- small changes are on the way. sons, eating in cafeterias and public ager, once a week to talk about They are currently trying to places can be difficult. An entirely how to improve dining services figure out how to bring the new new set of pots and pans must be and discuss on-going projects. healthier options into the pub, The committee is working on is including gluten-free tortillas for used to make sure there is no crosscontamination of any sort of gluten. stylizing the Caf, adding student the wrap station and organic fruits “It’s hard, but the end re- artwork and reworking the layout. for purchase with flex dollars.

“We want it to make people more sult is worth it,” said GenNext year the student body eral Manager Jaime Llovera. comfortable,” says Senior David will also be introduced to a new The Culinary Relations Com- Trujillo, a member of the Culinary yellow-bike system of silverware. mittee, the official ECOS go- Relations Committee and an intern Llovera explained that he was apbetween for the student body under Llovera. “What we really proached by a group of students and dining services, is mak- want is more student involvement in writing a paper for a class and ing progress in other areas. the committee and getting students now they are taking charge of “They (Bon Appétit) really like involved through art would natu- take-and-return silverware system. hearing input about what kind rally lead to overall improvements.”

In the fall, students will be able While working on more specific to take the reusable cups and metal of food we want, about the variety and quality of the food itself,” projects like stylizing, the com- silverware from the cafeteria at no says Culinary Relations Com- mittee is also constantly work- charge, and then return them durmittee Director Kyle Berghold. ing to achieve some long terms ing their next meal to be cleaned.

Since its inception, the commit- goals, which includes providing They’ll even host an amnesty day

Once a month

Rarely

photo by Alex Zielinski Cut up fruit from the main cafeteria.

during which students can return all their cafeteria cups and silverware and maybe even be entered in a raffle for flex-dollar gift cards.

“It might cost a lot at the beginning, but that way we don’t have to deal with the extra cost of buying plastic cups and filling landfills. It will make us more eco-friendly,” says Llovera.

Llovera stresses that the needs of the students come first. “We are here for them [the students]”, he said, “any need or request, we will try and accommodate as much as we can.”

The hardest thing seems to be trying to meet student expectations while operating on a budget.

Llovera explained that the school does the best it can, but it’s constantly fighting a battle against the coastal environment we love so much.

“We’re right on the water and the salt affects everything. It’s in the air. Look at the lights in the cafe, they’re all rusted; every single brick is affected by it, we have to keep replacing things.”

Where are they now? Life post-graduation

By Cait Duffy & Kelly Coston Director of Communications & News Editor

Stephen Barber (‘12)

Alex Patterson (‘12)

Mackenzie Dawson (‘10)

Alexandra Smith (‘12)

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the current

Viewpoints 9

May 3, 2013

Viewpoints INSIDE VIEWPOINTS Friendly fire

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MBFGC

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Satire

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Companies botch biosphere with products

By Mai Garti-Bar Contributing Writer

photo by Colin Casey A scenic shot of white mangroves at Indian Key taken from a kayak.

Service Learning plants new mangroves Propagules grow outside office to develop tree population

By Colin Casey Asst. Sports Editor I have never been a particular supporter of coastal restoration. While a great idea on paper, the eventual costs and land necessities become so extreme that the restoration work can become impractical.

Even at the small scale, I always felt the eventual costs would make it unreasonable. It was with this opinion that I learned about Service Learning’s year-end project.

If you have passed by the Service Learning window since Easter, you may have noticed the cups taped to the window. Inside each cup is an odd-shaped plant, partly in water. This plant can be found all over campus in its adult form along the sea wall. One look at the window placard next to the cups says it all, Service Learning is growing mangrove propagules.

Propagules are a kind of specialized seed that falls off the plant and immediately begins to grow. Mangroves are one of the only plants that reproduce in this manner, but their uniqueness is not limited to their reproduction: they are the only marine intertidal tree.

This means that they can live right up next to the ocean under the high stress of the pres-

ence of salt water. It is this unique feature among marine plants that causes Eckerd’s own Dr. Jeannine Lessmann and other marine botanists to be excited about studying them.

With regard to their importance to the local area, Lessmann described an integral and important relationship. “Mangroves are what makes coastal South Florida economically, aesthetically and recreationally unique.”

My own skepticism about the project was founded by my own questions about restoration as a whole. I must admit this article was initially going to be me staunchly opposed to this project. But I wanted to be thorough so I decided to meet with the staff of the Service Learning Office in hopes of better understanding the efforts they are undertaking.

I sought out Tessa Wogan and Coleman Shipley, this year’s interns, to better understand the project at hand. I was happy to have most of my questions resolved rather quickly. Wogan was helpful describing how the project went from an idea for a year-ending project to becoming a reality. “We were debating how to approach this final project and someone in the room mentioned mangroves on campus. That was really the starting point.”

Since the genesis of the project, Service Learning has begun working with Pinellas

County at Fort DeSoto Park to find a suitable location to plant. According to Wogan, the ultimate goal is to provide education to the Eckerd Community. In defense of planting the propagules at Fort DeSoto, she argued that there was a sentimental value to planting at Fort DeSoto. “There just aren’t many places we can plant them to take hold on campus.

Fort DeSoto is close to campus and anyone who helped us can go to see their progress over time.”

I was pleased at the organization of the project. I had not been expecting my opinion to change during that interview session and yet it had. Thrilled with this new development, I decided to seek out the scientific perspective to the mangroves.

Eckerd College is lucky enough to have a marine botanist on campus who is well published in the study of mangroves and their habitats. In an effort to better understand mangroves as a plant, I sought out Lessmann to ask her about the prospects of success for these mangrove propagules.

Lessmann earned her Ph.D. studying oceanography and coastal science at Louisiana State University and currently is working in restored wetlands assessing their productivity compared See MANGROVE, page 11

Writer demands action for gun legislation, control

By Hailey Escobar Asst. News Editor

Allow me to begin with a list of 20 important names: Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Ana M. MarquezGreene, Dylan Hockley, Madeleine F. Hsu, Catherine V. Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Jesse Lewis, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Benjamin Wheeler and Allison N. Wyatt.

These names could have been the names of scientists, politicians, revolutionaries, writers and many others. Instead, these are the names of 7 and 8-year-olds that were killed along with six teachers in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in December.

This is not the first shooting of its kind. It fact, it’s just another incident of a long list of high pro-

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file shooting sprees in the United States such as Columbine or the Gabby Giffords shooting in Arizona where another child was also killed.

We even saw the makings of another possible tragedy at the University of Central Florida in March when a student had planned a campus attack before committing suicide. He had two guns, homemade explosives and many rounds of ammunition.

According to the Center for Disease Control, 32,163 people were killed by firearms in 2011 alone.

It is estimated that if the rate of people killed by firearms continues to rise the way it has been, 339,400 people will be killed from 2013 to 2022. According to businessinsider. com, that’s about the size of Tampa.

These incidences leave U.S. citizens scratching our heads and wondering what happened or how did these people get their hands on so much ammunition. Then,

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when we try to pressure the government to do something about it, to make us safer in our homes and communities, they just make it easier for these people who want to do us harm to buy ammunition.

Just look at the Senate’s recent vote on gun reform. The bill would have expanded background checks for gun purchases. However, the bill did not pass with a 54-46 vote despite the fact that 90 percent of Americans supported it. “I think it’s unfortunate that the NRA has that much influence in congress to prevent a common sense bill from passing,” said Sophomore Greg Johnson.

They try to say that they want to protect the right to bare arms, but I don’t understand how this is helping. We should be making the process to get a gun a little harder so we don’t have crazy people running around with high-power firearms.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t be able to own guns. I believe ev-

eryone should be able to protect him or herself and if someone needs a gun to do that, so be it. However, there’s a difference between the right to bear arms and protecting the public just as there’s a difference between self-defense and assault.

This is something that some members of government need to understand. No one is asking to confiscate all of the privately owned guns in the United States.

The public is asking that those who sell guns know to whom they’re selling these dangerous weapons, that military-grade weapons are not sold to people who are not going to war and that people are not able to buy an unlimited amount of ammunition at one time.

We have already lost so much from gun violence. It is about time that we start working together to try and reduce that violence before another mass shooting takes away more innocent lives.

As a student of a liberal arts college, becoming a knowledgeable consumer is almost second nature. We are taught to question what we are presented with in our everyday lives.

But, something the average American does not do much, something I’m guilty of, as well, is being a questioning consumer. Almost no one casually strolls the aisles in a Walmart and before tossing a package of paper towels into his or her shopping cart and thinks: “Do I agree with the viewpoints of the company that made this? Do I even know who really made this?”

And when I say who, I do not mean a laundry list of names of the factory workers whose hands the product passed through before finding its way into mine, I am referring the head(s) of the corporation who most likely owns the company that made this product.

If you’re a liberal-minded person like me and have concern for the state of the environment, you will be unhappy to know that you most likely will not agree with the people who are really behind the manufactures. Georgia-Pacific copy paper for your printer, Brawny® paper towels, Dixie® paper plates and cups, Angel Soft® and Quilted Northern® bath tissue.

Who are these people? Charles and David Koch, heads of Koch Industries—the corporation that bought the paper manufacturer Georgia-Pacific and added it as a subsidiary in 2005. You may find yourself right about now asking “why won’t I agree with them?” This is simply because they have an extraordinary lack of regard for the planet and others; the only thing they have a soft spot for is higher profits.

Koch Industries is number 5 of the “Toxic 100 Air Polluters,” which is a list compiled by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst listing the top 100 American companies that pollute the most. This list is based on “toxic score,” which is, “pounds of toxic air releasers, toxicity, population exposure.” Koch Industries has a toxic score of 3,800,731.

It’s no secret that companies in America expel toxins and pollutants in huge quantities at alarming rates. What the Koch Brothers do that is so infuriatingly deceitful is that Greenpeace estimates they have quietly donated roughly $67,042,064 since 1997 to science denying climate change.

The Koch Brothers have also used the power of the mighty dollar to influence politics and organizational policies: they are the biggest See COMPANIES, page 11

10 Viewpoints

the current

May 3, 2013

Friendly Fire:

First Times The importance of gratitude: in practice

Ethics in Gosnell abortion case

Dr. Kermit Gosnell was a licensed abortion doctor. However, he has been accused of using unlicensed assistants for more than 30 years and routinely ignoring safety and sanitary regulations in the clinic. These problems reportedly caused dozens of deaths, including two mothers. Despite his crimes, Dr. Gosnell’s trial reached the news media a month after his trial began. The Current’s writers debate the meaning of the media coverage of the case.

By Jeralyn Darling Managing Editor Last issue I talked about the importance of gratitude and now, in my final column, 600 words from the future, I can express my own immense gratitude publicly.

First, to my mom and dad, without whom I would not be here. They have funded my education, but more importantly, they have supported me and encouraged me in every venture I took (though I still remind my mom she told me to quit the newspaper my sophomore year). A simple phone conversation with either of them can melt the stress away.

My twin brother Greg, graduating from UConn this year, has supported me from afar. My other half has been there for me literally since the womb and I don’t know what I would do without him.

My fiancé Matt has been more than patient these past five years. He came to Eckerd with me and endured a long distance relationship this year after his graduation last May. A glance at my left ring finger reminds me that he will always be there, no matter what, even if I miss our anniversary for a breaking news story.

This column doesn’t have nearly enough space to thank all of my friends. Suffice it to say they are my sanity when I’m working too hard and my insanity when I need a break.

Omega 104 and our lost boys and girls, Nu 11 and company, my Beecher girls—thank you for simply being you.

I should thank Housing for putting me with Monica Himler, my freshman year roommate, my soul mate, my best friend, my maid of honor, my Roomie. Caesar dressing and parmesan cheese, The Killers, our baby Beech, mer-merp, peep and mourning a fallen Wheat Thin will always hold a special place in my heart.

Thank you Dean Annarelli and President Eastman for doing everything that you do.

I’m a lucky girl for having an administration that cares so deeply for their students.

Professor Watson and Professor Flaherty have supported me as my mentors. Their encouragement over the past four years has not gone unnoticed and they have led me through my creative writing and sociology majors, respectively.

Professor Tracy Crow has been my unofficial mentor, my adviser, my teacher, my confidant, my second mother and my friend. She has taught me more inside and outside of the classroom than any girl could ask for and has been, without a doubt, the best role model I’ve ever met.

An eternal thank you to the staff of The Current, present and past, for making this paper what it is you see before you. With their help we are the best college newspaper in the Southeast. They have been the most driven, hard-working colleagues I could have ever asked for—and they became my friends.

Thank you to Mazzaro’s, whose crowds, food and drink I will sorely miss.

The birds in the sky, the squirrels on the ground and the creatures beyond the sea wall always gave me something to watch from my window or my balcony when my mind wandered.

I’ll even miss the speed bumps, the front gate ID checks, the sparkling glass in the parking lots, the raucous parties that kept me up nights and the newspaper layouts that went straight till my 9 a.m. classes.

Thank you to yellow bikes for re-teaching me how to ride after I, somehow, forgot.

Thank you to South Beach for accepting me at night in the absence of the burning sun, and the waterfront and pool for not noticing my absence.

Thank you, Eckerd, for everything. It’s been one hell of a ride.

There was a complete lack of a national media presence at Gosnell’s trial.

Crimes such as Gosnell’s would usually have a high media presence, especially in a highly populated East Coast city such as Philadelphia. I think the lack of coverage at the trial is the latest episode in a new media trend to move away from the divisive abortion issue and toward other facets of social justice. Even though Gosnell is being charged with murder, the fact that he is an abortion doctor by trade pushes coverage of his trial into the growing media taboo of critiquing abortion.

The issues presented by a story like this could fracture the political landscape. The media has a duty to report the news, but the outlet’s place on the political spectrum determines what’s reported. The two national sources talking about the trial were the conservative news outlet Fox News and an op-ed at USA Today. Nearing an election year, the media delves into ethical issues, such as gay marriage in last year’s election. I’m not insinuating that Fox is only covering this to create an ethical conversation on abortion before a congressional election, the cycle seems to expose a moral issue in the interests of generating interest in the topic on a national scale.

Maybe that is the answer, diversifying choices of media. If you watched CNN during the Boston coverage you would have seen confused reporters left out of the loop as Anderson Cooper tried to make sense of the developing story. It is up to the viewer to be well informed about news sources in order to develop their opinion. The national media has to keep up its end too. It needs to keep to the ethics and codes established for journalists instead of using their First Amendment rights to pander and speculate about the news. It may be a 24-hour news cycle today, but there should always be time to get the story right.

Colin Casey Junior

Ethan Packey Senior

Colin Casey Junior Ethan Packey Senior

Colin Casey Junior

Ethan Packey Senior

I agree, negative abortion coverage is one of the media’s great taboos. Reporters are either throwing around abortion problems to condemn pro-choice positions or ignoring the need for more government oversight, saying that further regulation restricts abortion access. This was how the Washington Post reported on the Virginia Board of Health’s new regulation.

The regulation requires abortion clinics to have the same facilities as outpatient surgical centers and would put most abortion clinics in the state out of business.

In the case of Dr. Gosnell’s clinic, those measures would have helped save lives.

Dr. Gosnell faces a murder charge for a woman who died because it took EMTs 20 minutes to leave the clinic.

Moral conversations are routine in the news media these days. The ideal of an unbiased national news source “reporting the news” is gone. Each news outlet has its opinion. Just as conservatives brought the Gosnell trial to the national media, liberals highlight issues too. Trayvon Martin’s death wouldn’t have reached the national media without ideological reporting. Media observers have to be smart about who they go to for news and know what issues will and will not be vigorously covered. This problem doesn’t have a readily applicable solution, minus news organizations choosing to internally diversify their viewpoints.

That is already happening at the New York Times. Ross Douthat is their self-appointed conservative opinion columnist.

If only we lived in a dream world where government media regulation would actually work and not infringe on the 1st Amendment. Or maybe that other dream world where all the respected national news organizations would see the value of diversifying opinions and reported stories.

But those are fairy tales that would take away the burden off being a prescient reader of the national news media. The most we can hope for is that angry complaints and bad reputations can spur more actions like those undertaken by the New York Times.

In the meantime, there will always be some amount of overlooked ethics in the dogeat-dog world of the national news media.

PerspECtives photos by Rose Kraemer-Dahlin

How do you cope with finals week?

“I try to be outside for a couple hours a day.” - Julia Calder, right, junior “I would say to mark out a good place on campus to study outside. The garden is a good place.” - Shelby Busque, left, junior

“I think that exercise is good to help relieve some stress. I will also go to the library to study for hours.” - Jose Rodrigues, sophomore

“Honestly, eating a lot of sugar and getting a lot of sleep because sugar helps me focus. Getting with my professors when I don’t understand the material, things like that.” - Andy Kardasz, freshman

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the current

May 3, 2013

#Amusing Growing the ‘groves MBFGC: Musings Stepping back on the field

Here is where we immortalize the funniest quotes from EC students and faculty. No names, no shame.

Follow us on twitter: @TheECCurrent Literature Professor Drinking black coffee always makes me feel like a psycho. #GoodMorning

Natural Sciences Professor If you come home from a party and you can hear Spanish Moss breathing, you did something wrong at that party. #PartyHard

Literature Professor Any questions before we jump on the scary-go-round? #TerrorizingStudents

IB Student and Professor I think the ad’s trying to say people who wear Ralph Lauren hang out at resorts, except for people who shop at the outlet.

They hang out in St. Pete. #CollegeBudget

Literature Professor Designed by Nazis, driven by free folk. #VWBeetle

Economics Professor Why would I want yellow dirt? #WhoNeedsGold

Literature Professor Maybe the lesson is you have to sleep your way up the ladder. #GreekMythology

Creative Writing Professor I took it to be the narrator going up to the teacher and saying, “Hey I’m 18 now, so you can tap this.” #RaunchyReading

Literature Professor If you’re interested in fruit flies, and who really isn’t... #HawaiianInsects

Communication Student I’m trapped in here. #ClassOnASunnyDay

IB Professor Whoever invented pop-ups should be killed. #Useless

From MANGROVE, page 9 to natural sites. I felt this expertise would help answer even more of my questions. Lessmann was intrigued by the project. In fact, my interview was the first she had heard of it.

She was happy to see that such an educational effort was underway on campus. She was also happy to hear that Service Learning was receiving assistance from the county on their project especially in the replanting of the propagules. “Oftentimes, a replanted mangrove stands a better chance at survival if the area has a history of mangroves, the county should be of good help to them.”

Both Lessmann and Service Learning highlighted the main benefit of the mangrove project, educating the Eckerd community.

Lessmann was enthusiastic about the prospect of non-science students learning about mangroves and their role on the coast. “I’m preaching to the choir when I talk about mangroves in class.

This [project] can help spread the

knowledge to others who might not take a marine science class.”

The effect on the Service Learning Office has been positive, as well.

Coleman Shipley said, “we had a successful dine and discuss event a few weeks ago about deforestation using mangroves as an example and quite a few prospective students came into the office during Explore Eckerd to ask about it [the project].”

Perhaps then the advantage to this project is not the planting itself, but the overall message it brings. It is about the idea that all efforts have some value, which everyone has; as Lessmann puts it, a “civic responsibility to care.”

I recently kayaked around Indian Key and even I was taken aback by how beautiful these trees can be.

I study them in my Marine and Freshwater Botany class, yet there is something about being next to them in person that can just send chills down my spine. It is times like this that make me wish I did not always jump to conclusions so quickly.

Buy this, not that From COMPANIES, page 9 donors to the congressional committee with oversight of the hazardous Keystone XL oil pipeline, from 1998 to 2008 Koch Industries spent $50 million on lobbying and $8 million in PAC contributions, and if that is not bad enough— among the institutions that they have subsidized are the Institute for Justice, which files lawsuits opposing state and federal regulations; the Institute for Humane Studies, which underwrites libertarian academics; and the Bill of Rights Institute, which promotes a conservative slant on the Constitution.

The mere fact that Koch Industries is the 5th highest contributor to the degradation of our environmental as well as the health of those in the wake of their toxic releases is enough to make me stop purchasing the products of their subsidiaries.

What enraged me enough to want to bring this to a larger audience is that while they hold this undesirable seat on the Toxic 100 while simultaneously silently contributing millions to the science of proving that their practices are indeed not harmful or to policies that allow for

the continuation of their practices due to lax regulations and standards.

This is just utter nonsense, to put it politely. As an 18-year-old girl, I have limited ways of effecting the second largest privately owned corporation in America, but I do buy things and I, as well as everyone, have the ability to be a little smarter about what I decide to spend my money on.

What consumers decide to purchase is essentially the “demand” of the “supply and demand” that rules our capitalist nation; we are so blissfully unaware of how much power we really have as we saunter down the aisles of Publix or Walmart or Whole Foods and make seemingly insignificant decisions on what we’ll be snacking on later, brushing our teeth with that night or what we will be wiping up our spills with. The money that leaves your wallet is going to end up perpetuating the actions of one company over another, so the real task at hand now is to start educating ourselves on who supports the manufacturing our favorite material possessions and whether or not we wish to support their activities.

By Colin Casey Asst. Sports Editor

I never imagined that the first out athlete would play in the National Basketball Association— even after writing two articles about gay athletes.

Monday afternoon, Jason Collins revealed that he was gay in an article for Sports Illustrated. Collins is a 12-year veteran of six NBA teams after being drafted 18th overall by the Houston Rockets. While a senior at Stanford, Collins won the 2001 Pete Newell Big Man Award as the best low post player in college basketball. As a rookie, he helped the resurgent New Jersey Nets return to the NBA Finals, a feat that he would repeat two years later.

As a disclaimer, Collins was not the pro he was expected to be.

He became a journeyman as the Nets began their rebuilding phase in 2008 and saw his production and minutes decline. He is a free agent this offseason. He is, however, something that so far no other sport has had. As the first active openly gay athlete he carries a heavy burden securely on his shoulders.

Despite my previous two articles on LGBT athletes focusing mainly on the NFL, NHL and MLB, I purposefully avoided talking about the NBA. When Kobe Bryant finds himself in hot water using homophobic slurs to describe fans and referees, I had a hard time taking the league seriously.

Furthermore, the NFL and MLB are the quintessential American sports while the NHL is my personal favorite of the four. The NBA is its own locked world for the most part, a magical place where even a benchwarmer can make the average of $2 million a season.

The existing stereotypes made me think that it would be a race to last for an open athlete between the Association and MLB. I am glad to be proven wrong. Collins is an old player, probably only a few

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years from retirement, yet his revelation could open the floodgates.

He has received flourishes of support from Commissioner David Stern, the previously gay slurring Kobe Bryant, Collins’ sponsor Nike and former President Clinton. Perhaps this added support will help other athletes in their decisions to come out.

As beneficial as this admission is to the LGBT community, it is still just a small victory. The tide has exponentially changed in favor of coming out, but questions of circumstances still have to be addressed. In my opinion, this issue will not be solved until a prospect decides that his orientation simply does not matter.

For me, this is a deeply personal issue. When I wrote my initial LGBT athlete piece and dubbed the “Rainbow Barrier” just as daunting an adversary as the color barrier before it, I honestly had little hope.

Having followed the story through the year from Steven Bissiotti’s support of LGBT advocate Brandon Ayanbedejo to boxer Orlando Cruz and Robbie Rogers exiting the closet to the lunacy of questioning NFL prospects in character assessment meetings at the Combine. I can honestly say that whirlwind does not describe the year in advocacy in sports.

Collins is in an unenviable position. The first person to do anything is hardly ever accepted. Yet he stands as resolute as can be about who he is, albeit a bit uncomfortably, according to his Sports Illustrated interview on newsstands this week.

Now discussion will shift toward what sport is next for an out athlete. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. And with Rogers recently contacting the LA Galaxy looking to return to match fitness, one must wonder if he will return from oblivion after his admission and retirement in February.

As the school year ends, I am going back home to Chicago. I already have tickets to a White Sox game.

And I can trust when I return to Comiskey Park that I will see the “your parade our parade” shirts celebrating the Sox’ 2005 World Series I mentioned in September. Though now they will probably be fewer in number, because time keeps moving forward and everything changes.A new day is dawning, and the rainbow barrier is broken. Play ball.

CMLS offers tools for STEM students

By Riley Huff Staff Writer Whenever there’s a change in the Eckerd College landscape, students develop a strong gut reaction. Even though Eckerd is rapidly changing in many ways, it is always odd to see the campus altered.

Sometimes, these changes are truly for the betterment of the school. A new $25 million, 155,000 square-foot building such as the James Center for Molecular and Life Sciences. Inside the complex are nine laboratories, several student areas, two covered courtyards and a greenhouse.

The center was designed to accommodate state-of-the-art equipment, as well as more classrooms and lab space. In addition, the general focus in its design lay on being environmentally friendly. Ecologically efficient innovations include automatic light sensors, waterless urinals and large-scale windows to allow plenty of natural light in the building.

In retrospect, was the construction of this new facility worth the cost and effort? For two Eckerd science students, Sophomores Natasha Tirado and Jackson Hooten, this was a sound investment.

Both students cited the building as a great place for lab work. “We didn’t have any space to use the technology properly [before],” said Hooten.

Tirado, a marine science major, especially likes the new equipment that came with the building’s construction, primarily because it saves time in labs. “We have the equipment [to use] at an efficient rate and we get out of labs quicker,” she

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said. The two students also mentioned the natural light from the windows and the huge student lounge as great benefits.

Does anyone dislike the new building then?

“The most negative thing I’ve heard about the building is that it closes too early,” Tirado said.

The two students noted one other complaint they had heard from their peers. Both Hooten and Tirado acknowledged the building as more of a selling point for new students. “Old students have seen how much Eckerd College has changed and how much it’s trying to change,” said Tirado.

Hooten made the point that the new science center had been built atop a giant field. Some consider the building to be a disturbance in the college’s natural landscape.

Others say it made great use of underemployed land. “I still think they made a good move by putting it here,” the environmental science major said.

The James Center has received much praise from students and visitors alike. Still, with the creation of this building and other unfinished construction projects, students are hoping the campus does not lose what makes it special.

“I hope expansion doesn’t make Eckerd lose its natural balance,” Tirado conveyed. Hooten also found himself in agreement. “It has the perfect balance of landscape and buildings,” Hooten said of the Eckerd campus.

Many are excited about the potential of the James Center for Molecular and Life Sciences. Students have connected to the building as both an academic and social space. As long as the Eckerd campus keeps its natural touch, the community should embrace the James Center wholeheartedly for years to come. Senior Jaclyn New in a CMLS lab.

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

photo by Alex Zielinski

4 12 Viewpoints

the cur

May 3, 2013

years of

The Current

A History of Eckerd Colleg Student Publications

last class of founding editors prepares to graduate

By Tracy Crow Faculty Adviser

F

our years ago, during summer break, three Eckerd student journalists and their new adviser met for dinner to discuss strategies for building a better college newspaper.

They were facing enormous obstacles.

For starters, the student government (ECOS), so frustrated by years of complaints from the student body, faculty and administration over inaccurate reporting and a slew of unethical practices, had slashed the newspaper’s budget from $18,000 to $6,000. Not enough funds to even publish the paper beyond the fall semester. “Nobody’s reading The Triton,” said the VP of financial affairs, “so stop publishing so many copies.”

What’s worse, the writers were all gone, too. And the journalism classes of previous years— a curriculum that had once included travel writing and feature writing—long gone.

The newspaper, known then as The Triton, had become vilified. Among Florida schools with award-winning newspapers and vigorous journalism programs, The Triton had been dismissed as a joke. “No one reads The Triton,” said a professor at a nearby university when he learned his colleague was leaving to advise the Eckerd newspaper.

So there they were, the four of them over dinner that summer, lamenting the challenges ahead, strategizing how to rebuild credibility through a factchecking system and how to recruit a new team of writers, when one of the students blurted, “We just need to blow the mother up.”

What did that mean, exactly—blow the mother up?

“We need to rebrand,” he said. “We need a new name and a whole new look. We need to kill The Triton.”

Was this possible? Change the name of the Eckerd College newspaper? Who did they think they were?

A few faculty questioned the same thing, until the dean of students asked the college librarian for a history of Eckerd’s newspaper. Turns out, The Triton hadn’t always been the name of Eckerd’s newspaper.

During its fifty-two-year lackluster history, Eckerd’s newspaper had experienced a number of transformations, both in name and appearance.

The rest of that summer, the three students and their adviser planned a bold new look with a bold new name, The Current. And the college delivered support, too, by offering journalism classes again in the fall—even approving a minor in journalism.

That first fall class of journalism was a tough one, though. While students showed an interest in journalism and the idea of publishing their work, most still refused any association with their college newspaper. The new name hadn’t fooled them,

they’d say. Whatever the name, it was still Eckerd’s college newspaper, meaning zero credibility.

So the new adviser started recruiting from her creative writing class. And from that class came the future web master who created the first version of The Online Current, which was award-winning in statewide and national competition its first year.

Also from that class emerged a number of excited students who grew from occasional contributing writers to full staff writers to editors to award-winning student journalists. And thanks to a fact-checking policy, The Current’s credibility grew, too.

The Current’s small staff recruited friends, luring them in with promises of chocolate, pizza, camaraderie and tons of post-Eckerd resume material as payment for all the hours each week and the allnight layout sessions that are a tradition among college newspapers. Just ask any college journalist.

Ask Eckerd’s retired Dean of Faculty Lloyd Chapin who remembers working all night on his college newspaper.

The late film critic Roger Ebert, also the former editor-in-chief of The Daily Illini, wrote in his farewell college newspaper editorial, “I think most of us spend our time working on the newspaper because we consider it to be one of the few outlets on campus for real, meaningful activity.”

Fast forward four years, and the rest, as they say, is history. What took a lot of hard work, looks to most like an overnight success.

Today, everybody’s reading Eckerd’s college newspaper. After The Current hits the streets, you’re lucky to find one on campus a few days later.

The Current has a circulation of 1,000, by the way.

And the Online Current has become a daily news format of web exclusives and breaking news stories.

This year, The Current’s Facebook audience more than tripled. One of our editors was in the Cafe shortly after The Current tweeted the name of the new Pope and overheard a student say to another, “I learned about it from The Current.”

In a few weeks, the last of The Current’s founders— Liz Tomaselli, Jeralyn Darling, Cait Duffy, Carver Lee and Ethan Packey—will graduate. They leave, like the Current journalists who graduated before them, an indelible mark on the history of Eckerd College.

So this is their final issue—mine, too.

But this is not a goodbye. With the help and support of previous Current alumni, we have already formed the Eckerd College Newspaper Alumni Network that will serve as a mentoring, networking and fundraising source for generations of Eckerd student journalists.

Hard to believe it was just four years ago when three students and their new adviser met over dinner during summer break to build a better college newspaper.

And build it, we did.

President Donald Eastman boasts publicly about the transformation of the Eckerd newspaper, “Now printed in English.”

1st place - Best (small) College Newspaper (2012)

Society of Professional Journalists (Southeast Region) 1st place - Best (small) College Affiliated Website (2012)

Society of Professional Journalists (Southeast Region) 2nd place - Best College Newspaper (2012)

Florida College Press Association National Finalist for Best College Website (<5000 enrollment) (2012) Association of Collegiate Press

1st place - Best College Newspaper (2011)

Florida College Press Association National Finalist for Best College Website (<5000 enrollment) (2010)

Association of Collegiate Press 1st place - Best College Newspaper (2010)

Florida College Press Association

see www.eckerd.edu/academics/journalism for complete list of awards

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

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Senior editors say far Jeralyn Darling, Managing

Creative Writing, Sociology majors; Journalism, Lite A short and sweet goodbye just won’t do. But my ed The Current has taught me more than any class coul away without a bucket of tears. I have learned more th my years as an editor. I learned that nonfiction, more important discovery for any writer.

I have found, in my adviser, an incredible role mode ships. I have always said that I am paid in chocolate, pi and I have since learned I am allergic to dough, but th pages (and the friends who left the light on for my e lifetime.

Ethan Packey, Political Con

Philosophy major; Political Science minor Four years is finally coming to a close and, well, it cer that I would be an international relations and econom ence and history double major, and finally just a politi and you, my readers, have seen the skills that I develop I added philosophy as a major and political science fe complete humanities guy, see my online goodbye for sors, my friends, my editors and all my readers here at

Carver Lee, Graphic Desig

Geosciences major I have a bunch of things I could say about the histo the lab, the mentor that kept me on track, even whe that helped me create an award-winning student pap in big capital letters and leave you all with that and a just copy and paste the lyrics to “War (what is it good Eckerd deserves its cheesy moments. Too often we s year long, but in reality, Eckerd has become more tha It’s become a place deserving of the respect I have too

Kelly Coston, News Editor

Communications major; Management, Journalism One night during registration, I had one more class with Tracy Crow which happened to meet one night a w semester? Sold.

Little did I know, I would soon be giving up those fou tor. But by then it didn’t matter. I was already hooked.

I’m proud to have been part of such an awesome grateful for the many opportunities that both The Cu given me.

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Viewpoints 13

May 3, 2013

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ory professor that taught me science isn’t just in en all I wanted to do was drop out, and the peers per, but I’d rather not. I’d rather just print “I’m out,” a picture of me dropping a microphone, or maybe for)”; but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that say that we’re Camp Eckerd or on spring break all an just a place I partied my face off for four years. o often tried to deny it.

m minors s to fill when I stumbled upon Intro to Journalism week. No class on Mondays or Fridays for a whole

ur-day weekends when I opted to become an edi. Sneaky recruiting tactic, Tracy. (and award-winning) team, and will be forever urrent, and our adviser/second mom, Tracy, have

1996-2009

Liz Tomaselli, Editor-in-Chief

Political Science major; Journalism concentration; Italian minor My duties as editor-in-chief turned out to be so much more than the three-word title let on. Call me the accountant, the travel agent, the diplomat, the secretary, the mediator, the negotiator, the party planner, the scheduler, the mother hen, or even the cowgirl—because sometimes wrangling the troops isn’t easy. But no college newspaper editor ever had a better team. They’re a quirky combination, a group of extraordinary people with random majors that live off Red Bull and Chinese food in a 200 square-foot room in Cobb, in a constant struggle to develop our role as student journalists. We deliver the news—straight, no chaser. And in those moments when my team is sitting in the newsroom, making fact-checking phone calls with the sheriff’s office or having thoughtful ethical discussions, that’s when I can see what we’ve created. That’s when I know I can walk out the newsroom door at the end of May and leave the lights on, because this paper will go on to continue to serve and protect the Eckerd community, and my job here will be done.

Lizzy Brophy, Asst. Health & Fitness Editor

International Relations major; Spanish, Journalism minors When planning my senior goodbye, I had thought to include how writing for the paper has helped me get over my fear of a blank page. Yet here I am, staring at a blinking cursor. I still haven’t fully comprehended that in two and a half weeks time, I will be a college graduate. This journey feels like it’s taken no time at all, yet memories of even last semester seem like a lifetime ago.

I’m not quite sure what first compelled me to sign up for a journalism class, but I’m glad I did. Although I still love my 25-cent words and the Oxford comma, working with The Current has taught me so much and introduced me to an amazing group of people.

Caroline Campbell, Health & Fitness Editor

Communications major; Creative Writing minor Like any 20-something college student, the other day I was using my time exceptionally well watching “How I Met your Mother” and scrolling through Facebook simultaneously. This is a skill I’ve perfected to place “multi-tasking” as one of my strongest characteristics on my resume. The theme of this episode was “Graduation Goggles.” The phrase sprung from one of the main characters as I scrolled through Facebook statuses of friends stating their feelings about graduation.

I couldn’t help but feel cynical as their nostalgic reminiscences of college rendered them forgetful of the many sleepless, panic-stricken nights we’ve all endured through college. But this is the exact definition of “graduation goggles”: remembering only the good times and forgetting all the bad. However, I’m going to try to wipe the fog out of my graduation goggles while also throwing my cynicism in the garbage.

Cait Duffy, Director of Communications

Creative Writing major; Journalism, Italian minors If there is one overarching lesson I could say I’ve gained from my time at Eckerd, it is to always try and be understanding. Or, to at least approach another person with as much understanding as you would hope to receive from them. From understanding, compassion can arise, and when enough people become compassionate toward each other, our world can change for the better.

I hope that I can find another community that has as much passion and compassion as the one fostered at Eckerd. Though, even if I don’t, the ties I’ve made as a part of this one are too strong to ever be severed. I am proud to forever be tied to the Triton tribe.

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Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

14 Viewpoints

the current

May 3, 2013

In this special edition of Viewpoints, our writers create articles on specific jobs and opportunities that are distinctly “Eckerd.”

all illustrations by Alex Zielinski

Overcoming rejection

By Paige Kesselman Contributing Writer No one likes being told no. Unfortunately, in life, there are going to be times when no is the answer given to us.

There is an abundance of opportunities for students to grab hold of on campus. Mine have included, but have been far from limited to, applying to be an ambassador, working hard to be a teacher’s assistant and applying to be a residential advisor.

All three options look wonderful on a resume, and they all offer any range of leadership and social skills that will benefit anyone involved throughout college and beyond. I was only told yes to two of the three opportunities.

I have already given five tours as an ambassador, I was asked to be a teacher’s assistant for next Autumn Term, but I was not given a position as a residential advisor.

Instead of wallowing in my dorm and seething because I wasn’t offered all of the positions I wanted, I found ways to help me handle the rejection productively.

Being a naturally optimistic person, it wasn’t hard for me to distract myself with movies—mostly of the child/family genre— friends and different plans for next year.

The second that I found out I was not receiving a position that would require me to be on campus all year, I decided I would begin to look into independent studies.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to take part in the Disney College Program. With my change of plans, I’ve refocused myself on getting into the program.

I have since been able to put rejection behind me, and to look for the brighter days ahead of me. And I’m not the only one.

Others around me are also finding positive and constructive ways to deal with rejection. “For a while I’ll indulge in my misery because the long term effects are much greater if I pretend like it hasn’t affected me,” said Sophomore Sarah Richardson. “But then I’ll stand back up again.

I have a Youtube playlist called ‘Things that Make Me Happy’ for this very reason.”

Some students offer coping suggestions to others, especially when the tough gets going. “Always talk to someone,” Freshman Esther Ou said. “Friend or family, and be honest, cry and open up. Remember that rejection doesn’t define you completely; it may just be something you have to constantly deal with, but can learn from. Look for the positives instead of comparing everything you do. Take the time to explore and learn about yourself in new ways. I’d say going to cafes is my personal favorite thing to do, especially if they play good music. I also pray and write letters to help myself come to terms with whatever is bothering me.”

Overcoming a rejected state of mind can be hard, but it’s completely possible. “The way I cheer myself up after rejection is by going to either my room, or somewhere on campus to relax,” said Senior Ian McKenzie.

“It’s best to surround yourself with friends who understand, and just continue to live your life like you normally would. Sure, things will be hard for a day, a week or even longer but you cannot allow yourself to get down in the dumps. Go to the gym, go see a movie with friends, read a good book or do something artistic like draw or write.”

Even when things seem hard to get through, Eckerd students find ways to move on and quickly get back to their normal lives.

“I try to take negative things and turn them into positive things,” says Freshman Alison Poirier. “For example, art. I just take all the negative and push it out of my system through art. I also like talking to my mom if things get bad because she always makes me feel better.”

Everyone has their own methods of turning something degrading or disappointing into something creative, constructive or positive.

Coping and dealing with rejection is all a matter of interpretation, distraction and reaction.

Service learning fellow position altered

By Alex Zielinski Photo Editor

Brian MacHarg, director of service learning, announced the office has not yet received funding from AmeriCorps for next year’s service learning fellow position.

Currently, the Service Learning office has to borrow money from ECOS to pay its part-time workers.

Immediately, some of the service learning interns wanted to point fingers at someone to blame. Others wanted to know if their application then was void, or if they ought to have waited for the funding.

As a service learning intern, I don’t understand how a school that prides itself in service learning couldn’t find funding for the position.

It turns out, Eckerd College doesn’t pay for the position. Instead, the service learning fellow is hired through Eckerd College, but is funded through AmeriCorps—a program of the Corporation

for National and Community Service.

When asked about funding, MacHarg said, “I received noticed that because of the Congressional sequester, they [AmeriCorps] would necessarily be delayed in their ability to pay their volunteers, not just at Eckerd, but across the state.”

After hearing that it was a government issue, there was a shift from blame to what would now happen next year in the office.

With sequester cuts, funds need to be found elsewhere. Dean James Annarelli found a solution. “Now, what I have done this year with the help of ECOS President Brady O’Donnell and the ECOS Exec Council is I’ve created, with ECOS funding, a part-time position that will provide for service learning, a service learning fellow, a bridge so that the fellow can work during Autumn Term and part time through fall until we receive an AmeriCorp VISTA.” It is a relief to me the school is making arrangements while waiting for the vista. Now that a solution has been set up for at least a part-time position, my thoughts turned to how the office would be run in the fellow’s absence.

Would the service learning interns, a program set up by Kate Farley this academic year, play a larger role in the office next fall? What would these responsibilities be? “Perhaps yes, I’ll have to depend on the interns more with a bit of adjustment on their part with the interacting with two part time people, instead of one full time person,” said MacHarg.

To me, this is just more communication with others than anything else. As interns, we communicate with various organizations and offices on campus and around St. Petersburg.

Regardless, this temporary solution looks like it will work in the office’s favor while they wait on word about the AmeriCorp VISTAS.

Parents explore Eckerd

By Carolyn Moritz Staff Writer Note: This is a satirical piece. Its contents are not to be taken literally. All persons and quotations are fabricated.

As the Spring 2013 semester draws to an end, the admissions department can look back on another successful “Explore Eckerd” series.

Explore Eckerd is an engaging weekend for admitted parents, introducing them to the finer details of academic and campus life.

Parents of potential Tritons always benefit greatly from these weekends, and some opt to bring the future students along with them.

This year’s theme focused on promoting interaction between parents and students.

“Some may not realize it, but students are an important part of our Eckerd experience,” explains Mary Sanders, mother of a prospective marine biology major. Sanders was a vocal advocate of the proposed “Keepin’ it Wheel” program that would allow parents to monitor student vehicles.

Available as a cross-platform smartphone application, “Keepin’ it Wheel” would check oil levels on all registered cars and allow parents to send emails reminding students to inflate their tires.

Other parents were eager to jump into the smartphone trend, suggesting the college register for open-source applications such as the “Eat Your Veggies” meal plan quota and “Time’s Up” curfew enforcer.

“More modern residential houses like Iota already require students to swipe their ID cards to get in,” reasons José Martinez, whose daughter Monica hopes to live in Kappa. “‘Time’s Up’ can automatically lock the doors after nine or ten at night.”

Most parents leave Explore Eckerd with enthusiasm, but some still criticize the college for remaining too limited.

“I don’t doubt that Eckerd is using all of its resources to ensure we have a fulfilling four years,” said parent Jackie Cohen. “But when I suspect my son is partying until 4 a.m. or dating girls who may not have his best interest at heart—well, I just have to wonder, are we really doing all we can here?”

RA “activates” Autumn Term

By Alex Zielinski Photo Editor Part of my college search process included looking into the residence life program, as my family thought I would be the most likely of my siblings to become an RA. As RA applications came and went for the 2012-2013 academic year, I decided to apply to be an activator instead.

Living next to an activator during my freshman year was one of the biggest reasons I decided to apply. I filled out the application, interview with Weston Babelay, waited, and then found out I got a position.

My excitement grew throughout the summer as I received more emails from Weston and by the time I gave my two weeks at work, I was itching to get back to Eckerd.

My move-in day was brutal at 100 degrees. That evening, the entire group of activators gathered to get to know each other.

Throughout the week, we got ready for the freshmen while planning everything we had to do during Autumn Term. Our team building activities, which consisted of silly tasks to make us feel comfortable, brought the group of activators together quickly.

The freshmen welcomed me and the other Gamma activators when we showed up to the complex. They even came to expect our “dorm storming” when we tried to get the freshmen to go to the many events that were planned.

Overall, the complex clicked quickly. I loved the fact that we, as activators, didn’t have to make anyone participate. Everyone wanted to.

When all the activators went out for dinner this past August, Dean Annarelli talked with the group to get our opinion about our experience in Autumn Term. He praised us for a job well done during Autumn Term. “Through their [activators] untiring efforts, their incredible hospitality, and their undaunted spirit, they generate enthusiasm among our new freshmen and help to make them feel at ease and at home on campus,” said Annarelli.

Annarelli told the group that the activator program plays a much bigger role at Eckerd than we can imagine. When I asked him why, Annarelli said, “Because of the key role that activators play in the orientation of our students and their integration into the larger Eckerd community, activators are among our most important agents for retention.”

Annarelli also asked if any would be pursuing a different role in Eckerd for the following year, whether it be a teacher’s assistant, or ambassador or residential advisor. I raised my hand. I was already planning on applying to be a residential advi-

sor for the 2013-2014 academic year after not applying to be one this academic year.

I completed my residential advisor application over winter term and scheduled my interview with Jessica Wright and Dan Niebler to be at the end of January. I received an email Feb. 20 inviting me to a second round of interview with all the other applicants. Decisions were placed in the mailboxes March 8, and I ran to them after class.

Congratulations, my letter said. I was selected to be the residential advisor in Gamma Knox. Since receiving the position, I sat down with Annarelli and asked if he thought that having been an activator played any part in preparing for the role of a resident advisor.

He pointed out that both activators and RAs share the same quality for building community. “Like the activators, RAs are cheerleaders so to speak, in the sense of building the kind of enthusiasm for being a part of the Eckerd community that activators so effectively generate.”

Recalling if past activators had also become residential advisors, I remembered that Senior Saige Liparulo was in the same boat as me last year. Wondering if I could incorporate some of my skills from being an activator in my transition to RA, I decided to get her take on the experience from her switch. “ResLife focuses on building community as well and I felt being an activator first helped me understand the obstacles new students have in finding their majors, building a strong group of friends, and getting familiar with professors.”

With the skills and knowledge I had from being an activator, I look forward to participating in Autumn Term once again from yet another perspective, this time as a residential advisor. I hope to welcome the new freshmen in my dorm and introduce them to what Eckerd is all about.

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

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the current

Entertainment 15

May 3, 2013

Entertainment Student D.J. bumps the scene

By Ian Lindsay Entertainmnet Editor Last summer, with the release of Flosstradamus’s mix “Banned” a momentum in electronic music began. It became a pivoting point that marked a new style of musical composition.From the monotonous womps and ebs of dubstep to the iconic snare rolls, horns and pipe flutes that create the trap sound D.J.s and music producers took the style and “ran...the trap.” Eckerd’s own Joe Whalen has made a name for himself, both on and off campus, by mixing the music as a D.J. Whalen is the typical Eckerd student. Sporting low-top black vans, the 1920’s dapper-style haircut and a shirt with beagle on it. As a Kappa resident and environmental studies major, Whalen does the everyday things that most students do. However, instead of just enjoying St. Pete’s nightlife, he has become part of it behind the D.J. booth as an employee of Atmosphere Events.

After seeing Joe Whalen many times and not only listening to his set, but watching the crowd’s energetic reactions on the dancefloor, it is clear that this student has talent.

Residing from Long Island N.Y., Whalen grew up around music.

Artists like Billy Joel and the band Taking Back Sunday have all gotten their start playing tunes from the state with the Latin state motto “excelsior” which translates to “ever upward.” That is exactly what Whalen has been doing with music.“I’ve been playing guitar since I was like twelve,” says Whalen. “I was in Indie hardcore bands in the Long Island hardcore scene.”

Joe Whalen spins with the stage name Bonesaw which has been a

nickname since freshman year. “It started from “Spiderman,” Whalen says. Recently, Whalen has mixed in samples from the movie where movie characters pronounce the name Bonesaw McGraw to get the crowd hyped up before the music starts.

During Whalen’s sophomore year he purchased his first D.J. controller: an Ion Discover DJ. Since then, Whalen has added using Traktor Pro software, Machine micro MK 2 and Traktor S2 controller to help manipulate music live during his sets. “It’s all on the fly,” says Whalen. “I think press play D.J.s ruin what D.J.ing is. You might as well just be in the crowd with your iPod plugged in.” The raw talent behind reading the crowd, having the ear for good music and performing music fluidly is the art behind D.J.ing and Whalen seems have made this his forte.

It all began in 2011, just having fun with his roommates. “We decided to throw a party at Kappa, and it was (the) heaven and hell (theme),” says Whalen. “It was the first time I spun to a crowd. Since that weekend I just wanted to take it as far as I could.” The night was such a success that Kappa’s heaven and hell theme party took place again this year during the fall semester.

His favorite tempo 108 BPM (beats per minute), and Joe Whalen mostly spins moombahton and trap music, which are both different variations in the genre of electronic music, but predicts a synergy will begin to develop within the music scene. “I see it constantly morphing and changing and evolving” says Whalen. “I think the genres like dubstep and trap might die a little bit, but I don’t think EDM is going anywhere.”

One of Bonesaw’s most momen-

tous performances was winning a Red Bull D.J. competition at Suite Six Lounge in downtown St. Pete.

“I won it,” says Whalen. “It was my 21st birthday so it was f---ing amazing.” Along with spinning at Suite Six Whalen has also played at local venues like Sloppy Pelican, Jannus Live and Ruby’s Elixir, but can always be seen playing during the weekends on campus at Kappa or Zeta. “My next goal is to play at The Ritz in Ybor,” says Whalen.

In a world where ego plays a huge role in the D.J. community Whalen has maintained true to why he started spinning. “It’s fun, it’s the easiest way to connect with everybody in a single given moment,” says Whalen.

“I don’t do it for the money, I do it to give back and to supply people with happiness. The fact that I can perform, and party, behind the D.J. table at the same time with my best friends makes it all worth it.”

courtesy of Joe Whalen Joe Whalen lounging on a couch outside his dorm, Kappa.

Three artists to look out for from Texas’s SXSW

By Aaron Levy News Editor The popularity of music festivals among college kids is obvious.

Festivals like Coachella in California and Lollapalooza in Chicago attract tens of thousands of young adults to parks and festival grounds for weekends full of music, sun and debauchery. For some, spending hours waiting to get a good spot in front of certain stages to see big name acts is what the experience is all about.

Other festivals offer a different

experience. Austin’s homegrown South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival is one of those. Taking over not a park, but rather an entire city, the festival is a hotbed of young talent. Since its humble beginnings in 1987, the festival has taken over hundreds of venues from churches to bars, clubs to specially made structures -which house thousands of artists over the course of ten days.

More so a chance for up-andcoming artists to gain exposure than just a platform for established artists to rake in show money and

photo by Alli Fodor Joey Bada$$ and Pro Era with The Underachievers.

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Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

take victory laps, the festival has trampolined many artists from opening shows at hole-in-the-wall spaces to selling millions of records internationally. Before the fame, John Mayer, for example, signed with his first record label after a performance at SXSW 2000.

As an Austin resident, I’ve watched the festival take over my city year after year. Last year, while watching SXSW 2012 from afar, I promised myself that the following year I would buy a wristband and, since I would be 21 and finally of age, enjoy everything the festival had to offer.

This past March, I was fortunate enough to experience the festival firsthand. I saw some relatively established acts, like Los Angeles rapper Kendrick Lamar and legendary hip-hop collective The Pharcyde, but tried to spend the majority of my time seeing artists that will be making their way onto the iPods of Eckerd students by the time SXSW 2014 rolls around next year. Join me in recounting some of this year’s best “under-the-radar” shows and look for these bands to be making noise on blogs and festival lineups near you soon:

photo by Alli Fodor Toro Y Moi during his performance.

Toro Y Moi Toro Y Moi, (aka Chazwick Bundick) has been making noise in the underground alternative music world for a couple years now. His relaxing blend of synth loops, airy vocals and record sampling will make an electronic music fan out of even the most stubborn music snob, like me. His show presence was amazing for an artist who relies so heavily on processed sounds, with a live backup band providing accompaniment on bass, guitar and drums.

See SXSW, page 17

INSIDE ENTERTAINMENT Shwayze

17

Summer fashion

17

Take a snap with new smart phone app

By Conor McKenna Staff Writer Having one of those “weird” nights where everything is funny and you’re helplessly out of control? Then Snapchat is the perfect remedy to your giggling-too-much and staying-up-too-late needs.With Snapchat, you can send humiliating pictures to your friends without the long-term repercussions.

Snapchat is a simple application, developed by four Stanford students, available on any smart phone through an app store. You take a picture and send it to a friend, they can only see this picture for a time limit you choose. It works as a regular camera, but after taking your photo, you choose how long you want your friend or friends to see it. This means your friends can see whatever ridiculous photo you decided to take for a period of time below ten seconds that you chose.

This phone application is a perfect tool for your YOLO rampaging.

Another wondrous feature to Snapchat is that it lets you write or draw on your pictures before you send them. You can draw whatever you want in a selection of colors or just use plain text, giving yourself a mustache or a pointy hat to finally convince your friends you are a wizard thanks to all your new Snapchat photo evidence.

You can take a picture of yourself screaming in your car, or a picture of your face every time you’re about to sneeze. You can use this app whenever you want, however you want. Snapchat can be used for anything, which, among college students, tend to be obscure facial expressions made at the spur of the moment. Snapchat has a video feature, which allows users to take up to ten second videos which can also be drawn on.Though Snapchat photo’s are programmed to disappear after a selected amount of time, some crafty phone owners are still able to take screenshots.

This ruins the purpose of the app and may have you thinking twice before sending a picture of yourself running the gauntlet. You can also save your snapchat photos by screenshoting them, but this can be seen as ruining the idea behind snapchat. The point of Snapchat is being silly and having fun.

I recommend getting the Snapchat app. Though broken, it’s still fun, free and usually won’t leave you a humiliating paper trial. Snapchat is a fun app meant for fooling around with friends. It’s a good way to spend your time reminding you and your friends why you call each other strange.

16 Entertainment

the current

May 3, 2013

ECKERD EVENTS

To have your event added to the Calendar, email currententertainment@eckerd.edu.

FRIDAY

3

SATURDAY

4

First Friday 5 p.m.

Mr. Triton Competition 8 p.m.CPS “No Exit” Swing Dance in the Pub

10

7 p.m.

Kappa Karnival 6 p.m.

Film Aficionados Movie Night

11

4:30 p.m.

Pitchers with Professors

7 p.m.

Kappa Field Fun

MONDAY

5

6

2 p.m.

“No Exit”

7:30 p.m. CPS EC Community Band Concert

1 p.m.

Super Store Shopping Shuttle

8 p.m.

“No Exit”

easter egg hunt

Last Day of Classes

SUNDAY

12

Mother’s Day

11 a.m.

Palmetto Mother’s Day Cards

13

Final Exams

TUESDAY

7

11 a.m.

Palmetto Mother’s Day Cards

WEDNESDAY

8

THURSDAY

9

5 p.m.

NAS Party 10 p.m.

Rock Band in the Pub 8 p.m.

Dance Company Showcase

14

15

16

Final Exams

Final Exams

Final Exams

3 p.m. CPS Annual Spring Concert 5 p.m.

Meditation/Yoga Day

7:30 pm. CPS EC String Orchestra Concert 9 p.m.

Latin Night

The St. Pete Sampler Local fun and fine dining

What better way to celebrate graduation than with a steak dinner? Congratulations and good luck seniors.

Another Harry Potter theme park is confirmed to be built in Los Angeles.

Glee star Cory Monteith checks into rehab for substance abuse.

Jason Segel is currently writing three children’s books.

Ozzy Osbourne relapsed with drug addiction.

B.

A.

Gwyneth Paltrow named People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman.

Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans was arrested for heroin and assault.

France recently legalized same-sex marriage.

Reese Witherspoon arrested for drunken rant.

THE TIPSY TRITON Cocktails & Mixed Drinks Tropical Mimosa -1 part orange juice -1 part pineapple juice -1 part guava juice -Champagne -Orange slice Mix together equal parts of each juice. Fill champagne glass 2/3 full with juice mix. Top with champagne. Garnish with orange.

Note: The beverages and recipes on this page are intended for consumption only by individuals who are 21 or older. The Current does not promote underage drinking. When combining alcoholic beverages with caffeinated beverages, it is important to be aware of the potential side-effects and limit your consumption accordingly. Drink responsibly, our friends.

C.

D.

A. Terra Mar Brazilian Steakhouse 6715 49th St 18 mins for campus Tue.-Wed. Sun. 11 a.m . - 9 p.m.

Thu.-Sat.11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

3 ½ stars $$ Beer & Wine Only

B. Koi Sushi and SteakHouse 7900 4th St N 20 mins from campus Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Mon.-Thu. 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Fri.-Sat. 5 p.m. - 11 p.m.

2 1/2 stars $$ Beer & Wine Only

C. Marchand’s Bar and Grill 501 5th Ave NE 13 mins from campus Mon.-Thu. Sun. 6:30 a.m. - Midnight Fri.-Sat. 6:30 a.m. - 2 a.m.

4 stars Full Bar

D. Parkshore Grill 300 Beach Dr NE 12 mins from campus Mon.-Sat 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Sun. 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

3 ½ stars $$ Full Bar

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

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the current

May 3, 2013

Entertainment 17

Palmetto Productions spring concert delivers Calif. hip-hop artist Shwayze

By Ian Lindsay Entertainment Editor A “buzzin” energy was in the air Friday as California hip-hop artist Shwayze performed at the G.O. Pavilion. The spring concert was delivered by Palmetto Productions as part of the Springtopia festivities. Students Luke Burton (sophomore), Andrew Rose (sophomore) and a Bon Appetit employee with the stage name 2 Die 4 opened for the headliner, and each artist’s performance had the crowd’s hands moving through the air.

Shwayze opened with his hit “Livin’ It Up” and the crowds energy skyrocketed. The rest of the set was dedicated between dropping new singles from his latest album “Shwayzed & Confused,” and the nostalgic classics like “Corona and Lime” and “Lazy Days” that all had the crowd screaming for more. Accompanying Shwayze on stage was drummer Tanner Wayne and D.J. Jason Smith to give even more sound design to the live performance.

Local student talent Andrew

Rose delivered his hit “ECplosion” and Luke Burton dropped his single of his “Carrot Trail EP,” which has the same title. “I was so excited to perform with Shwayze” said Rose, “but none of this would be possible without the people who doubted me, but more importantly to the people who supported me.”

Students were definitely pleased with this year’s choice for the spring concert. “I felt like Shwayze has a lot songs about hanging out on the beach and having fun. I felt like that really connected with the Eckerd vibe,” said Palmetto Director of Concerts Mike Geibel, who doubles as The Current’s sports editor.

Shwayze reaching out to the audience.

photo by Dominick Cuppetilli

courtesy of Wikicommons

Fashion Column: keeping it stylish in the sun

By Jennifer Lincoln Staff Wrtier

Sadly, temperatures are heating up all across the country as the school year is ending. However, the summer season lends an opportunity to wear new styles and trends that have started popping up everywhere.

Because the summer will be so hot, showing more skin and wearing loose clothing is probably your best bet.

For girls, this means bandeau tops, crop tops and loose shirts paired with skirts and shorts. As far as shorts go, the high waist trend has re-appeared recently, which is ideal because it slims everyone’s waist a while showing less skin for those who are uncomfortable baring all.

Another alternative to showing a lot of skin is pairing a crop top or bandeau with a light jean vest or a lace top that has holes in the pattern or is slightly see-through so the clothing underneath shows through. Long maxi skirts will always be “in,” and ones with a slit are a good idea to allow more of a

breeze in the heat of summer.

Mixing and matching patterns is a neat trend that has taken off recently. Mixing patterns is easy to do and shows you have a nonchalant attitude about getting dressed, but it’s important to make sure you balance out the craziness of the patterns with at least one solid or nude colored piece.

A good example would be mixing two patterns of floral on top (such as a floral bandeau as well as a different floral jacket) but balancing it out with jean shorts. Neutral colors are always a good idea in the summer, but try adding a pop of color in the form of a purse or shoes to add excitement to your ensemble.

Luckily for everyone, fashion has taken a turn for the adventurous and almost anything you wear can be acceptable. Try mixing and matching, pair flower headbands with long dresses that flow, and experiment with geometric patterned rompers. Whatever you wear this summer, just make sure you’re comfortable and staying cool, and if you feel good, you’ll look good.

Austin music festival brings out the best new talent: Toro Y Moi, The Underachievers and The Staves from SXSW, page 15 Chaz was clearly a humble, quiet guy, but he came back out for an encore at the small, but loud, crowd’s request. It’s hard to imagine that such a pure, musically inclined individual won’t achieve more success in the next year. If you love the music of Wilco, Bon Iver and Arcade Fire, enjoy the energy and groove of hip hop, but don’t appreciate dubstep or most modern dance music, Toro Y Moi might prove to be your next happy medium. His videos are awesome too.

Notable songs: “Still Sound,” “So Many Details” and “Talamak.”

The Underachievers The Underachievers are a young rap duo that represent a lot more than just themselves. As part of the New York “Beast Coast”

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rap collective that also includes fellow up and comer Joey Bada$$, these guys are bringing lyrics and a hunger back to hip-hop that has been missing since before the rise of the “autotune” phenomenon. Like ASAP Rocky, however, their sound is hard to pinpoint as derivative of a particular era or place. Signed to west-coast producer Flying Lotus’s “Brainfeeder” label, they mesh east coast, gritty boom-bap hip-hop with grooving, west coast, hazy soundscapes. They had the best, most energetic DJ of anyone I saw at SXSW, and they were among the most audible of rappers too, which is very admirable in a live show, meaning I could actually hear the words they were rapping. Very genuine, grimy hip hop.

Download their free mixtape “Indigoism” if you like The Beastie Boys, Nas or even contemporary acts like ASAP Mob. Notable Songs: “Sun Through the Rain,”

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

“Herb Shuttles,” “New New York” and “The Mahdi.”

The Staves The Staves were my introduction to a genre I knew practically nothing about: folk music. I’d been wanting to break into this beautiful form of music for some time, but didn’t know where to start. I knew I didn’t want to listen to pop-music dressed up as something more, so I was relieved when my girlfriend Alli had a suggestion for a good folk show. I learned that it is a craft built on live emotion and pure instrumentation so it really can’t be fully captured in recorded songs. Better still was that I saw this band of sisters in a church - yeah, a church - where the sound quality was amazing. Apparently they opened for Bon Iver on tour at some point, so they’re starting to gain exposure, but I sure hadn’t

heard of them. Beautiful female vocals come from not one, not two, but three sisters from England. Their music was beautiful, mesmerizing, complex and accessible to the average listener all at once. Though hard to compare to anything else, you’ll like The Staves if you’ve ever enjoyed getting lost in thought to music from The Decemberists or Arcade Fire. You want these girls on your playlist for those long car or plane rides.

Notable Songs: “Winter Trees,” “Tongue Behind My Teeth” and “Facing West.”

When Lollapalooza rolls around again, as it does every year, are you going to waste your time clamoring for a front row spot to see some band who was cutting edge five years ago? Shake it up and give some yet-to-blow artists a chance. They might just make a fan of you yet.

the current

May 3, 2013

The quickie The end...for now

Crossword by: Rose Kraemer-Dahlin

Across 1 Timberlake “suit’s” friend 4 Bright tabloid in Midwest (acr.)

7 Speeding bikes thru halls put students in ___’s way 11 Don’t shave over it 15 Chinese ___tree in Seibert quad 16 You ___after the munchies 17 Samoa’s capital 18 Reply to Marco 19 Person in ownership of transferred property 21 They fight drug smugglers with drones and blimps 22 I make it ___ 23 Leather that sharpens 24 Post-workout feeling 25 Old-fashioned fathers 26 Making Bon ____ “bon” 28 EC President’s accessory 31 Rowing device 34 End of fiscal ___ 35 Clinton of State 36 Stretches your ears 38 Cul-de-___ 40 Don’t need a background check for this 41 Atticus’s Harper ___ 42 Logout to change ___ 43 Paint prep 44 E-cig vapor maker 46 Pop 47 Like Alzheimer’s 49 Spirits in photos 53 Anabolic steroid 55 Fired Joe Pa 56 Omega 206 wall mural 57 NFC and ___in NFL 60 Juno’s barf bucket

18

The Quickie

There’s always enough time for a quickie 61 Jan. (Spanish) 62 Greek Competition 63 Gumbo, Jambalaya genre 65 ___ Man in theatres now 68 Top left on keyboard 69 Eifel Tower problem 70 Wasted 73 Nominates campus cuties 74 High ranking Sheikh 75 The Picnic painter 78 So be it 80 Cheshire smile 81 Dialect in Spain 83 Aristotle’s organized body 84 Smidge of a parasite (pun) 85 Changes every year 86 Pet detective 87 Rosy ___ 88 Moody years 89 Japanese mula 90 This moment Down 1 Aids sore throat with honey 2 Misfortunes of society 3 Give off 4 Jungle’s blanket 5 Dry grassy land 6 Golf ball’s first chair 7 Temple of Literature is here 8 Things Fall ___ 9 Wind can ___ roads in half 10 Mother ___ I 11 Spread out on the couch 12 Water Management?

13 “The Greatest” abs 14 ___fire with ‘mallows 20 Epoch 24 i.e. H1N1, virus A 25 3 for a long shot in

Basketball 27 The man with poodles 28 Youngest democracy 29 Root of irascible 30 What leaves the whole world blind 31 Cartoon penguin with a proboscis 32 The Sun ___ Rises 33 Feared 37 They celebrate the 19th 39 French pancake 40 Somersaults in a paradox 43 “Holy” cow 45 Cat Pappas teaches this 48 Student who is leaving us 50 Against the Machine 51 Koch sibs 52 Boy band N harmony 54 Swiss mathematician 57 Bulls**t Ballet attempted to do this 58 EC’s last First___(abbr) 59 Andromeda’s dad 64 Sans concealment 66 Conductor resistance 67 Surface cleans do this 70 Strike hard (with sword) 71 Best for hot climate 72 It’s in your blood 74 15 miles on the___canal 76 Dash 77 Entrepreneur club provided food from ___ Bus 78 WASP that isn’t whites 79 Sound of 43 down 80 Chile to see far away with this in 2020 (abbr) 81 Florida’s Largo, Soldier, Sands, Boca Chita 82 If only Nu were just that

For answers, visit www.theonlinecurrent.com

Club Spotlight: Student Entrepreneurship

By Rose Kraemer-Dahlin Quickie Editor The Entrepreneurship Club is a student run organization with a mission to “be a tool for students seeking knowledge and resources regarding the entrepreneurial lifestyle.”

The club has an opportunity to make big differences on campus, whether it be starting a studentrun cafe or attracting big names of entrepreneurs to come speak at our campus.

Meetings take advantage of these opportunities by hosting guest speakers and, to everyone’s enthusiasm, free Taco Bus. There were at least 30 students at the April 17 meeting, socializing, dressing their tacos and, though slowly, taking their seats. The attention soon turned forward to a friendly introduction from the club president, Jeanine O’Connell The meeting’s guest speaker Erin Maegher is a former Entrepreneurship teacher and current founder and owner of Kelapo Coconut Oil, a national company with distributors such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Homegoods beginning this next fiscal year— Target.

Maegher began by asking us to please interrupt her during the presentation if anyone had a question. She then stressed the importance of asking questions, and with good reason.

“A lot of people don’t get into business because they are afraid of

the unknown” said Maegher.

Maegher had a contact and started her business with capital off the bat. “The business started with $50,000. But I want to tell you this: even if you don’t have the money, you will find the way.”

This is true of many business start-ups, that is, not having the means to implement the service, especially of college graduates with little to no money and true grit to pursue their goals. Crowdsourcing through fundraising websites like Kickstarter or Uinvest are popular tools to make projects happen.

Maegher added “There are always ways to find capital. Family, friends, kick-starter, crowdsourcing or taking out a small business loan from the SBA are all easy ways to collect the money you will need to begin your business.”

Another student Senior Caroline Campbell, also a Current Editor, asked Maegher “How did you know which fair-trade company, country and organization you were going to begin with?”

Maegher said, “I just started doing research. I ended up spending my first eight months working from home, looking online. There is a wealth of fair-trade data from all of these websites for free.”

Many students in the room perked up, as hearing of private companies that are able to accrue wealth while maintaining a sustainable business model is always an encouraging message.

Trademarking was the next top-

ic covered. It wasn’t long before another student had an inquiry.

Junior Vince Lynch, Current Webmaster, asked Maegher “How soon would you want to work on making your website catchy and professional looking?”

Maegher was quick: “Pretty soon. How long do you stay on a website if there isn’t something to catch your eye?” Good point.

After a charming hour of forming a basic and necessary picture of what starting a business looks like, as well as taking notes of the countless words of wisdom from Maegher, the meeting came to a close. From the post-meeting mingling, to the smiles and students waiting in line to speak with Maegher, anyone would agree that the event was a hit.

Luckily, the Entrepreneurship club president O’Connell assured us all that there will be more great events to look forward to next semester. “CPS events, guest speakers, a women’s entrepreneurship special, collaboration projects with USFSP and University of Tampa’s Entrepreneur Clubs and, of course, more free food.”

Even further, O’Connell has an exciting vision for the club’s future. “I plan on doing a lot of outside work and research for it this summer so that by the time fall semester arrives, the club will be a well-oiled machine here at Eckerd.

I want to expand the knowledge of entrepreneurship to students who wouldn’t have normally saw them-

selves in that realm.”

Understanding the ways in which businesses work, especially in our information-age, is a beneficial infrastructure to be learned.

You don’t have to be a prospective entrepreneur to join, and O’Connell agrees. “Entrepreneurship isn’t just for business majors, it’s for anyone who loves creative problem solving, hard work with good results, and being the one in charge.”

The club meets 7 p.m. Wednesdays, in Cobb 103. For more information, email Jeanine O’Connell jmoconne@eckerd.edu.

Right: Guest Speaker Erin Maegher and Club President Jeanine O’Connell smile after a successful club meeting.

Below: Future entrepreneurs enthusiastically take a serving of Taco Bus.

courtesy of Jeanine O’Connell

courtesy of Caroline Campbell

Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

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the current

May 3, 2013

Health & Fitness 19

Health & fitness Giant mosquitoes expected to invade Florida

By Arielle Burger Director of PR & Advertising

eastern half of the United States,” according to the Orlando Sentinel. The Gallinipper thrives in heavily watered areas.

Hurricanes aren’t the only things FloridLast year, residents complained of a greater ians get to worry about this summer. Besides influx of mosquitoes compared to other years. the average, pesky mosquito known to bother Rains from Tropical Storm Debby brought anyone involved in outside activities, there is in a new crop of these large mosquitoes that a new insect in town to keep an eye on. Visi- laid their eggs in the wet environment. These tors and residents in Florida need to watch out blood-sucking bugs could hatch with excessive for giant, quarter-sized mosquitoes that are rain this summer. expected to invade parts of Florida this year.

Reports from CBS news in Illinois state the The mosquito known as the Psorophora Gallinipper has already populated parts of IlliCiliata, or the “Gallinipper,” is “unusually large nois. The insect was brought in by floods along and unusually aggressive, and is native to the the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

The Gallinipper’s eggs can lay inactive for years until flood waters come in and cause the eggs to hatch. In addition, these mosquitoes bite anytime during the day and anytime at night.

The black and white Gallinippers are strong enough to bite through clothing, and they feed on humans, animals, pets and also fish. These insects may be resistant photo by Caroline Campbell to bug repellents because of their size, NBC Chapel Pond could be prospective hatching ground for gallinippers.

news reports. Their bite is painful and reports state that the bite “feels like you’re getting stabbed,” as Anthony Pelaez from Tampa’s Museum of Science and History recounts to Fox News.

Senior Arianna Benfanti said she is spending her summer in Florida. When she first heard about the giant mosquitoes she siad, “I’m utterly terrified. I plan to wear a lot of protection and layers of clothing.”

Junior Dylan Eggers commented about the Gallinipper’s bite and stated that he was displeased. “I’m interested in hearing about the allergic reaction people might get from the mosquito’s bite,” said Eggers.

The good news is that these insects tend to eat the larvae of other mosquitoes, so they have a chance of decreasing their own population.

In addition, these bugs do not carry any diseases such as West Nile, and they are more likely to populate rural settings than urban areas.

Anyone who walks through a wooded area or a wetland has the possibility of getting bit by the Gallinipper.

People should dress in long pants, long shirts and wear DEET repellent to avoid this painful bite.

We will all have to watch out for these large, blood-sucking creatures that will be invading the Sunshine State this summer.

Aaron’s Workout

Still Sound Toro y Moi

Neighborhood #3 Arcade Fire

1 Train

A$AP Rocky

How U Luv That Big K.R.I.T.

Tetris

DJ Dahi

State of Mind French Montana

Cypher Hit Boy

Bud Billiken Kids These Days

Diet Mountain Dew Lana Del Rey

Herb Shuttles

The Underachievers

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From the iPod of Aaron Levy

Get creative with this whole body workout

By Seth Ravid Contributing Writer As a former gym rat, I know how tough it can be to get motivated for the daily grind of lifting. Sometimes, I need a crazy

new move to get fired up. Mixing up your workout can help keep your mind fresh and your muscles working overtime.

Here are three unusual ways to use your body and the equipment in the Fitness Center.

Trying these workouts will probably get you some awe-

struck stares in the weight room, but that’s not the point of these moves.

The point is to challenge your body in new ways and find new results to get excited about. Make sure you use caution when attempting these moves.



1.ThisThemove hanging crunch: 2.GetThefirm,cable glute pull: 3.Well-coordinated The handstand push-up: is an exhilarating take on your traditional toned buns with this rarely used gluteus move. Atworkout warriors with strong shoulders decline abdominal crunch. The hanging crunch requires a trusted partner, preferably one who’s close to your weight and size.

Position a plyometric box or the milk crate under the pullup bar on the cable crossover machine and have your partner stand on it.

Hang from the crossbar at the top of the cable crossover machine while your partner holds your ankles. Lean back until you are fully upside down before beginning your crunch.

Enjoy the terrific range of motion as you fold your body upwards into a tight crunch with your head above the crossbar.

Those with abs of steel can challenge themselves further by holding a plate or dumbbell against their chest or even above their head with their arms fully extended.

Make sure to take great caution when coming down from the crossbar as your muscles will be tired.

tach a swivel handle to one side of the cable crossover machine at the lowest possible height. Next, tie or strap the handle to one of your ankles.

You can take the yellow TRX suspension straps that you’ll find on the floor under the machine and adjust them for whatever your ankle size might be. Alternately, you can tie your ankle to the handle with traditional weight lifting straps, and even a belt will do in a pinch.

Lift your leg straight back and squeeze your glute. Hold for a few seconds then slowly release back down. Don’t forget to switch legs afterward. Keep the weight light, as this is more of a toning move than a bulking move. I like to aim for eight-toten repetitions.

Turn 90 degrees and lift your leg sideways up towards the ear that is on the same side of your body as the ankle tie to work your hip abductor.

Then, turn 90 degrees in the opposite direction and shuffle a step or two away from the base of the machine before swinging your leg across your body towards your opposite ear.

photos by Alex Zielinski Workouts demonstrated by Seth Ravid.

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Visit us online at www.theonlinecurrent.com

and triceps should be able to pull this one off.

Unless you have the strength and balance of a gymnast, you’ll want to use a partner to hold your legs and keep your body vertical as you dip your face down to the ground and then straighten your arms to push yourself back up.

You’ll probably feel most comfortable with your hands spread out wide, but as with normal push-ups, you can experiment with closer hand placements to shift the work from your shoulders to your triceps.

If you don’t have a partner, you can do your handstand against a wall and keep your feet in contact with the wall to help you balance.

This works whether you are facing toward or away from the wall, but it can be a little tricky. Be sure to check that no one is standing behind you before you drop your feet back down to the ground.

20 Health & Fitness

the current

May 3, 2013

Strengthen through yoga

By Cat Pappas Contributing Writer To some, yoga is just a physical practice to help strengthen muscles, but to me, yoga is much more than that.

The name is derived from the Sanskrit language, meaning to unite. Yoga means the unity of mind, body and spirit, and to me it means unity between my students and myself. It binds us in a connection that takes us away from the constraints of our bodies and into the support of our minds.

Yoga creates balance in a turbulent mind through the use of meditation that is done during Savasana (corpse pose).

As college students, we are all familiar with fatigue and exhaustion. We try to cycle through several thoughts at a time, juggling homework assignments and project due dates from various classes. Through meditation, we can eliminate these symptoms.

Each time we sit in meditation and release our mind of thoughts, we are working toward being able to control our minds. We decide what is vital to bring to our awareness to generate a clear solution, which is the common goal

photos by Caroline Campbell Cat Pappas demonstrates yoga poses on campus.

through yoga as well.

When we first practice yoga the key is to focus on the breath or heartbeat until we release all of our thoughts.

According to the Yoga Works community, this provides us with deep relaxation as we transition our brains into Alpha waves, which are the same brain waves as a light sleeping state. With routine practice we start to shift our consciousness being able to invite one thought at a time. Once we have created a solution we can dismiss this thought and shift our mind again to another thought.

With just a few minutes in meditation each day, we enhance our ability to control our mind, freeing up time and space for other activities in our daily lives.

One important aspect of meditation, found more often in authentic Indian tradition, is the use of chanting, called Mantras. The philosophy behind it is that each mantra carries a certain vibration that connects you to a higher power or to the frequency

Sex on the Beach

By Veronica Hunter Contributing Writer

When you’re looking for a love connection, sometimes there’s no better way than using social media to connect. Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat can put an extra spark in any relationship. While all these tools are great, one should always remember the general do’s and don’ts of mixing sex and social media.

Many phone applications exist that will titillate your partner. Take the phone application Snapchat, for example. With Snapchat, users can photo message each other, sending goofy or sexy photos that will expire after a limited amount of time.

of mother nature, to make you more in sync.

Meditation allows for us to run on less sleep and have more energy to complete everything we need to get done. Without the constant race going through our head, we are brought into a freer state to channel our energy accordingly. It allows us not to dismiss all the things that we desire to achieve.

If you need guidance beginning meditation it would be best to learn through guided meditations from the Labyrinth Meditation club or my yoga classes.

Yoga balances the duality between each hemisphere of the brain, as we practice the sequence of poses on each side. It is an empowering practice to people with all body types and is designed to work all of your muscles, even the deeper muscles that you can’t reach by lifting weights or running on the treadmill.

For instance, if you have lower back problems, the main cause of this strain is having tight ham-

This application can be a lot of fun, but remember to exercise caution when you are about to send a smoking hot photo to that cute girl in your biology class. Contrary to popular belief, not all Snapchats will disappear forever. In fact, people can take screenshots of Snapchats and save them.

If the photo you just took was a little risqué, make sure you fully trust the person you are sending it to. Otherwise, it may not disappear like you thought it would.

The Internet can also be a great tool to advertise whether or not you are open to a relationship. Facebook allows users to define their relationship status, and in this way users can let it be known whether they are single, in a relationship, married or a variety of other options.

strings. While people who lift weights are focusing on one area of their body they are shortening the fibers of that muscle, keeping it contracted, unless they do intensive stretching along with it. Yoga is designed to strengthen your muscles and keep them stretched so that they are not constantly contracted.

Yoga balances cardio, muscle growth and stretching all at the same time. It repairs any injuries that one may have by strengthening the adjoining muscles, tendons and ligaments. The way yoga is taught allows all levels to find and honor what levels their bodies are at.

For athletes or those who are injured, taking a restorative or yin based class, where the pace is very slow and uses a lot of props to repair any injuries, would be better than taking an Ashtanga class that highlights alignment and strength building.

There are eight major fields of yoga that are then further broken into specialized fields. If you want to take a class that focuses more on the flow of energy, it would be best to take a Kundalini yoga class. The only requirement is that you stay true to yourself and explore what your body tells you as you work through a sequence.

Cait’s Cookin’: Non-dairy strawberry milkshakes

By Caroline Campbell Health & Fitness Editor Living with Cait, I’ve been able to experience her journey into the Specific Carbohydrates Diet and I’ve adopted a few of her healthy habits.

One of these habits is my new love of Almond Milk. It tastes good in about everything I make, and it has helped me feel more energized and healthy.

In an endeavor to find a sweet, cool dessert to accompany those this summer, who are lactose-free, I decided to try a non-dairy almond-milkshake. You can swap in any different fruity flavors that you enjoy.

To make it thicker, look into purchasing ice creams made out of coconut milk or almond milk and add a scoop to the recipe.

photo by Caroline Campbell

It is good advice to let your partner know before you change your relationship status from single to something else. If you are at the stage in your relationship where you don’t know how to define your relationship, talk about it with your partner before changing your status.

Facebook and Twitter help people showcase their lives, but sometimes people can share too much. Have you ever seen those couples that post pictures of themselves kissing or send kitschy pictures of puppies to each other constantly?

Please, for humanity, don’t be like those people. It’s great to be in a loving relationship and to express that on Facebook, but remember that people are watching. Continually posting statuses about how your “boyfriend just blew your mind” may get a “like” from your boyfriend, but is probably just annoying to everyone else.

Social media is like beer–please enjoy responsibly. Take a second glance at that Snapchat and decide if there’s any chance it might come back to haunt you. If everything seems okay, then have fun.

Ingredients for milkshake.

Ingredients: 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk 4 pitted dates 5-8 strawberries 4 drops of vanilla extract 1 tbsp of organic coconut sugar A few cubes of ice Directions: 1. Chop the pitted dates and the strawberries.

2. Add all ingredients into a blender.

3. Blend.

4. Let stand in refrigerator or freezer for 30 minutes so that it will thicken.

5. Enjoy.

Manage stress levels during finals week

By Megan Coy Coordinator of Health Promotion The last few weeks of the spring semester have arrived.

While the end is in sight, there are exams, papers and presentations that still have to be done, likely causing you some stress.

Here are a few ideas to help you manage stress: Exercise: Whether you try a group fitness class, go for a walk around campus, or workout on

your own, exercise is a great way to relieve stress. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise increases the production of endorphins, what they call “your brain’s feelgood neurotransmitters.” The group fitness class schedule is available on the Eckerd website under Campus Activities.

Aromatherapy: Lavender can help promote relaxation and improve sleep quality. Some Eckerd students have said that putting a lavender bag under their pillow at night has helped them sleep.

You can make your own lavender bag in the Office of Health Promotion.

Make a stress ball: A stress ball is an easy way to relieve stress.

When you squeeze a stress ball, you contract muscles in your hand and arm, so when you release, your muscles relax, allowing tension to leave your arm and hand. The Office of Health Promotion has supplies available for you to make your own stress ball.

Attend a Health Promotion “De-Stress” event: Head over

to the Eckerd College Office of Health Promotion page on Facebook to find out about end of semester events to help you manage your stress.

Remember, when it comes to stress management, you have to figure out what works best for you. We all experience stress differently, and we all manage it differently. For more information about stress and stress management, stop by the Office of Health Promotion, located in the Fitness Center.

photo by Caroline Campbell Strawberry milkshake made with almond milk.

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the current

May 3, 2013

Sports 21

Sports INSIDE SPORTS Winning shots

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Freshman athlete experience

23

Sports awards

Back Cover

Men’s golf competing in postseason for second straight year

By Colin Casey Asst. Sports Editor

photo by Dominick Cuppetilli Harley Clifford in his semifinal run. Clifford took first place at the Wake Games.

Good vibes: your action sports source

By Dominick Cuppetilli Asst. Sports Editor The Orlando Watersports Complex hosted its annual Nautique Wake Games April 25-28. Wake Games are the second WWA event of the year and the first stop of the King of the Wake Tour. The weekend holds events for levels that range from Junior to Pro to Legend, and in both wakeboarding and wakeskating. After ending last years King of the Wake tour on top, Harley Clifford started this season out strong taking first in the Pro men’s division.

The tournament was breaking records before the prelimi-

nary qualifiers were even done.

After breaking through from the junior division to the pro circuit this year, Mike Dowdy landed the first ever switch mute double roll to revert on a G23 boat in competition. Dowdy went on to do well in the rest of the tournament, but he did not make it to podium.

The weekend was full of wakeboarding and full of activities for fans to participate in. There was everything from rider signings, to water jet pack demos, to oxygen bars. And don’t forget about more free swag than you know what to do with. The event was fun for all ages, with kids swimming as they cheered on their favorite rider and older

fans posted up next to their coolers.

In the men’s pro wakeskate division, Noah Flegel dominated all weekend, scoring two perfect scores before scoring a gold medal on top of the podium. Behind him sat Reed Hanson, rocking an excellent moustache, and Grant Roberts finished out the podium in third.

The women’s pro wakeboard division was led by Nicola Butler. According to wakeworld.com, here run was too consistent and sound for other riders to compete with. Riding in the number two spot was Raimi Merritt, and Dallas Friday won the bronze medal.

Clifford sat comfortably in the first spot most of the week-

end in the pro men’s wakeboard, but was followed by fellow-Australian, Dean Smith. Behind him was Shota Tezuka of Japan.

As a surprise ending to the weekend, Polaroid Action presented the Big Air challenge, where riders were sent off the kicker to throw out their biggest trick.

Smith claimed the prize for this, landing a massive backside 720.

The next stop for the King of Wake tour will be at the MasterCraft Pro Tour stop in Acworth, Ga., May 18. So if you are passing through there on your way home after school, make sure to stop by and check it out.

The men’s golf team was recently selected to compete in the NCAA South Regionals. The team was selected based on their season ending rank of number ten in the South Region. The ranking was solidified by their sixth place overall finish at the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.

The highest seven regional finishers will advance to the NCAA National Championship in Hershey, Penn. This marks the fourth time that Eckerd will be represented at the NCAA Regionals.

The announcement came on the heels of an outstanding individual performance by Jeff Evanier.

Evanier carried the team at the SSC Championships ending up in second place. Evanier was also awarded second team All Sunshine State Conference. Such an effort may be required if Eckerd wants to extend their postseason road farther toward Pennsylvania.

Eckerd is set to tee off at regionals 7:30 a.m. May 7.

Local cable park provides year-round refuge for wake riders

By Caroline Campbell Health & Fitness Editor

Summer is quickly approaching, which means it is time to stock up on your SPF 30, dust off your bikinis and boardshorts and, for those staying in Florida, get ready for some relaxation around the water. Every year I’ve eagerly awaited warmer weather and enough time away from school to play in the water everyday. I’m completely enthralled by any activity involving the water including wakeboarding. For the past few weekends I’ve been taking a drive to McCormick’s Cable Park to ride my wakeboard around the four-point cable system, located in Seffner, Florida at exit 10 off of I-4.

Many people don’t know what a cable park is. Picture four large towers standing erect out of the corners of a small man-made lake. Connecting these four towers at the top is a cable system. While the cable system is running during the day the cable moves clockwise around lake with eight carriers holding ropes and handlebars. Wakeboarders and wakeskaters ride everyday of the week during the summer from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. The cable park is open during the winters the hours of operation, however, change.

The cable park is perfect for those looking to try riding behind something other than a boat. There is no wake as boarders ride around the cable and attempt the many obstacles stationed around the lake, including little and big ramps, or kickers, and rails. There is a smaller two point cable system next to the big lake, called The Little Bro, where beginners can learn to ride and receive special attention and coaching.

Sophomore Trent Adamson, has ridden at McCormick’s after hearing about it from a friend. “I really think it is worth the drive to get there if you are passionate about wakeboarding and the sport and want a new experience other than riding behind a boat,” said Adamson. “Cable park riding has a totally different feel than boat riding and McCormicks is a great facility to ride cable, if you are a first time wakeboarder or a pro at the sport. McCormicks and the staff there offer a great facility to learn how to ride, improve your skills, and show off what you already know. It is a lot of fun and a great place to ride

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and I would recommend it to anyone I talk to about riding.” friendly and patient with the desire to teach you how McCormick’s held two events recently attracting people all to ride. The staff is approachable and genuinely inaround the greater Tampa Bay area and Orlando. The Liquid terested in making patrons successful at the sport.”

Force Free for All tours around the United States making a There is also a separate ski lake housing two stop at McCormick’s every year. This event invites both be- nautique ski boats, for those who want to wakeginners and experienced riders to ride for several hours free board, wake skate, slalom or ski behind a boat. of charge as well as using free rental equipment including If the beach gets too crowded and the pool too boring, head boards, helmets and life vests. Liquid Force sponsored profes- out to McCormick’s cable park for all your watersports needs. sional wakeboarders tour with the event and ride around the For more inquiry about the park visit www.skimccormick.com. cable showing off their tricks and help beginners get off the dock. Riders like Amber Wing and Bob Soven from the MTV show “Wake Brothers” patiently helped beginners.

Liquid Force, Spy Optics, and Obscura were just a few of the companies handing out free gear and letting riders compete for special prizes. Such competitions included the best bellyflop and the worst tattoo.

Another recent event, Red Bull Switchboard, sponsored

by Red Bull Tampa hosted University of Tampa, Florida Gulf Coast University, and University of South Florida’s wakeboarding clubs to ride free for several hours. Red Bull girls passed out cans to thirsty riders waiting in line.

Junior Jeanine O’Connell appreciates how inviting McCormick’s is to new riders. “I think what makes McCormick’s special is photo by Caroline Campbell their hands on approach,” Bob Soven (far right) helps young riders at McCormick’s during the Liquid Force Free for All. said O’Connell. “They’re

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22 Sports

the current

May 3, 2013

UPCOMING

SPORTS May 5 BASEBALL

5 p.m. v. Barry University (DH)

May 6 BASEBALL

6 p.m. v. Barry University (Senior Night)

May 7 MEN’S GOLF

All day @ NCAA Golf Championship at Mission Inn Resort

May 8

Sports Briefly Eckerd Thornburg joins volleyball coaching staff The Eckerd College volleyball program has officially announced Jeremy Thornburg as assisstant coach. Thornburg, who has most recently coached at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, will be working with the setters and is assigned as the back row defensive specialist coach.

Women’s sailing lands nationals berth The Eckerd women’s sailing team, currently the tenth-ranked program in the nation, has clinched a spot in the nationals semi-finals following their performance at the SAISA Women’s District Championship. Nationals will take place in Saint Petersburg May 21-22.

National Lightning’s St. Louis wins Art Ross

In a shortened season, Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning made history. His 60 points were enough to win the Art Ross Trophy as the 2013 NHL Scoring Champion. At the age of 37, St. Louis is now the oldest player to win the scoring title. This marks the second time St. Louis has won the scoring title and is his seventh major NHL award.

Lakers swept out of playoffs

After spending all offseason to bring in allstars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard the Los Angeles Lakers crashed out of the NBA Playoffs. After barely squeaking in to the postseason on the last day of the season, the Lakers were swept out by the San Antonio Spurs. After losing Kobe Bryant late in the season, the Lakers Softball swept in last series of the season offense simply could not keep up with the Spurs.

The Eckerd softball team’s season came to an end after getting swept in a three-game series at Broussard unsupportive of gay Collins Barry University April 26-27. They lost the first ESPN analyst Chris Broussard appeared on game of the series by a score of 10-2. They then the network’s Outside the Lines to discuss the lost 10-2 again in the first game of the double- coming out of current Wizard’s center Jason Colheader the following day, before losing 2-0 in their lins. On the program, he stated that he could not final game of the season. The Tritons finished the support him because of his beliefs as a Christian. season with a 19-37 record, including a 4-20 record Controversy seems to follow Broussard as last year in Sunshine State Conference play. Their 19 wins is he broke a story of a trade of Eric Gordon to the tied for the second most wins in a season in school Phoenix Suns that was sourced from an unverihistory, matching the total from 1998 and trailing fied twitter account. ESPN has not commented at press time. only the 21 wins of the 2009 team.

MEN’S GOLF

All day @ NCAA Golf Championship at Mission Inn Resort

SCORE board Baseball 4/27 @ Palm Beach Atlantic University (DH) L 13-8, L 7-1 (EC G1) Spinelle 2-5, 2 HRs, 3 RBI, 2 runs (EC G1) Vavasis 3-5, HR, 3 RBI, run (EC G2) Moreau 1-2, BB, RBI (EC G2) Bishop 2-3, 2B

courtesy of Bill Stickley Freshman Karn Charoenkul breaks a run in the rugby team’s intrasquad “Blatz Bowl” on Kappa Field. The Animal Kingdom defeated the Damsels in Distress five tries to four.

Winning Shots Send your fan photos to currentsports@eckerd.edu for a chance to be featured in upcoming issues of The Current.

Softball 4/27 @ Barry University (DH) L 10-2, L 2-0 (EC G1) Oberer 2-2, BB, RBI, run (EC G1) Duncan 1-3, RBI (EC G2) Bernier 6 IP, ER (EC G2) Mitchell 1-3, 2B

SSC opponents in bold courtesy of Samantha Allyson The Fence Posts show off their intramural champion shirts after winning the ultimate frisbee tournament.

courtesy of eckerdtritons.com

Former EC ace checks in from first Spring Training

By Will Creager Asst. Sports Editor Eckerd College alum Joe Cuda has just completed his first Spring Training and has started his first full season of professional baseball.

Cuda, who graduated from Eckerd last year, was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals organization in the 27th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

He then went 7-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 13 starts for the Batavia Muckdogs, striking out 53 batters while walking just 11 in 60.2 innings.

He’s gotten off to a slow start so far for the Peoria Chiefs this season, going 1-1 with an 8.18 ERA through his first three starts, but he has picked up 11 strikeouts in 11 innings.

Cuda’s focus is mainly on improving himself and his consistency as a player every day. “I think it is important to try to learn something from every outing, good or bad.”

Cuda enjoyed going through his first Spring Training and thought it was helpful for him as both a player and a person. “Spring Training was a great experience,” said Cuda. “I really learned a lot more about the Cardinal organization. The Cardinals really stress the importance of quality character on and off the field. It was also great to be able to observe and learn how the other guys go about their business.”

Throughout his career at Eckerd, Cuda was one of the greatest pitchers in school history. In his junior season, he became the first Triton to ever win Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year after finishing second in the conference in ERA (1.66) and innings pitched (108.2) and third in strikeouts (110).

He followed that up by winning the Male Harley Award, Triton Award and team Most Valuable Player in his senior year, when he went 6-4 with a 2.92 ERA. He also finished fifth in the nation with 114 strikeouts while walking just 14 batter in 86.1 innings pitched.

The 114 strikeouts were the most by an Eckerd pitcher since Jim Mecir set the school record by striking out 118 batters in 1990.

Cuda’s time at Eckerd meant a lot to him. “I would like to thank everyone at Eckerd, the coaching staff, players past and present, for helping me get to where I’m at today. I consider myself very blessed and fortunate for all of the experiences that I’ve had at Eckerd. I wouldn’t trade my four years at Eckerd for anything.”

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the current

Sports 23

May 3, 2013

Looking back on year one Freshman volleyball player reflects on first year as collegiate athlete

By Emily Schadow Contributing Writer

Striking out with the softball team

By Mike Geibel Sports Editor

Two issues out from my intramural softball experience, I found myself back on the diamond for the last installment of Triton of All Trades. This time, it wouldn’t be a fun game of slow pitch softball with nothing on the line. This time it would be a collegiate pitcher throwing between 55-60 m.p.h.

I arrived at the mound after classes, wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt. I had regular tennis shoes on my feet as I stepped into the batter’s box. I dug in and prepared to square off against Sophomore Brittany Mitchell. To reiterate, I still haven’t swung a bat at anything other than a lobbed slow pitch during intramurals in close to ten years. No baseball, no softball, not even a batting cage.

Mitchell warmed up with Sophomore Sabrina Lolo, who decided not to play catcher because she didn’t have any protective gear. We set up a net behind the plate to catch any strikes, and I was sure it would be put to good use.

I found myself comfortable inside the batter’s box, as years of playing baseball will do, but it would not last long.

Mitchell’s first pitch was high and inside, and I ducked out of the way.

Mitchell explained that pitching without a target is a bit more difficult. At that point, Lolo stepped in behind the net to give Mitchell something to aim at.

It seemed to work as Mitchell’s next fastball whizzed by as I stood, watching with the bat on my shoulder.

I decided to start swinging at any pitch close in an effort to speed up the action, and soon found that the distance from the pitcher’s mound to the plate in college softball is not what I’m used to.

The short distance meant my reaction time was limited and I struggled for a few pitches to catch up to the ball. After fouling several off and knocking a few into right field, I was determined to get a solid hit.

I stepped out of the box, wiped my brow on my shirt, and dug back in. Mitchell told me she was going to start throwing other pitches than just fastballs, and I agreed.

I fanned dramatically at the first pitch, a rise ball that looked almost like a screwball. The pitch tricked me completely, and I swung as the ball bounced in the dirt. Lolo let out a chuckle as I settled myself and tossed the ball back from the net to Mitchell.

After a few more strikes, bad ones

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at that, and a few foul balls sent toward Alumni Grove, I decided it was time to get to the final part of my batting experience.

I told Mitchell we would treat the next few pitches as a real at-bat.

Whether I struck out or got a hit, that would be the fate of my column.

She joked with me, “If you hit a homerun, you can’t put it in the article.”

She clearly had the advantage. I was tired, not used to playing softball and had never faced a collegiate pitcher before the day began.

I squinted my eyes, and prepared for the first pitch. Mitchell’s arm whipped around and I saw the flash of the yellow ball coming toward me. I planted my foot, twisted my body and swung hard.

PING! The sound of the ball ringing off the bat told me I hadn’t missed it completely. I looked up for the arc of the yellow sphere but quickly realized I was gazing in the wrong direction. I looked back down to the reddish-brown dirt to see the ball bouncing slowly toward where the third baseman would have been. One pitch, one swing, one out.

I quickly told Mitchell I wanted a redo. One pitch wasn’t satisfying enough to write a column, I said.

I stepped back into the box and readied myself for another mock at-bat.

Mitchell’s arm once again windmilled around and the ball whistled in toward me. I took the pitch, it looked a little high.

“Ball one,” said Lolo from behind the net.

I was ahead in the count. I had some pitches to play with now. At least that’s how the commentators always talk when I watch the Braves.

In reality, I was exactly three pitches away from an embarrassing strike out. I could whiff on the next three balls, no matter if they were in the dirt or over my head.

I readied myself again and Mitchell fired a ball in toward the net. I stepped, swung and blasted a ball into rightcenter field. A gapper. A sure base hit.

I decided it was best to end on a positive note, so I thanked Mitchell and Lolo for their time. I talked a bit about the season and both women told me that they were having a lot of fun playing softball and loved their team. As this year’s Triton of All Trades column came to a close, I walked off the field with a sense of pride at what I had accomplished during the year. I set out to try my hand at every sport on campus and I am satisfied with how it all turned out.

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Freshman year: different home, different school, different life, new food, new friends, new homework... sound familiar? Now add weight lifting every morning, athletic practice every weekday and a tournament every weekend. Sound stressful?

Here’s an idea of an athlete’s daily schedule during autumn term; a freshman’s very first month at college: From 6:30-7:30 a.m., the team lifts weights in the gym. Following that, we do some form of conditioning until about 8:30. A few examples are crossfit, jumping rope or running. The team grabs a quick breakfast at the Main Caf before the freshmen are off to their Autumn Term class from 9-12. After lunch and a nap, there are a few hours of studying on South Beach. Dinner is around 5 p.m. in the Pub, and then we go to practice from 6-9. Hopefully a shower gets squeezed in before it’s off to the library to work on a group project for a few hours. If we’re lucky, bedtime is around 11.

For a handful of the freshmen at Eckerd who are also athletes, this is our chosen lifestyle.

On top of being a college freshmen, we have to adapt to a high level of collegiate athletics in the NCAA Division ll Sunshine State Conference.

Although there are some things athletes miss out on in their college experience, there’s also a whole lot we get to enjoy that typical freshmen don’t.

Softball shortstop Kara Oberer reflects on the advantages she’s gained from being an athlete, “By playing a sport in college, I was forced to learn how to manage my time, and now

I can use that skill in other aspects of life.”

Eddy Juarez, a centerback from Mexico, is all about the team aspect of soccer. “Everything you do as a freshman athlete comes down to gaining the trust and respect of your team, which is the best part of the entire freshman year.”

These freshmen have had to adapt their lifestyles to fulfill the requirements of college athletics. Balancing practice, homework and a social life is a challenge, but it keeps them on track for success. That kind of self-regulation and management is a struggle at first, but it proves to be a valued skill later on in life. I have felt both the pros and cons of being a collegiate athlete. I did miss out on some fun events on campus this year, but I got the chance to compete in a national tournament with a group of girls who are like a family to me.

The sweat, fatigue, and hard work may not sound appealing to some, but to the student athletes at Eckerd, it means everything.

Its the price they pay for the exciting competition, the sweet victories, the national tournaments and the prestigious awards.

A few freshmen rounded up accolades from their first season in the collegiate realm of sports.

Annie Armstrong from women’s basketball was named the SSC Freshman of the Year. Armstrong was also named to the SSC Newcomer Team in basketball, the same award I received for volleyball. Jerrick Stevenson of Men’s Basketball was deemed SSC Freshman of the Year as well.

There are many strong freshman contenders for recognition in spring sports including softball’s Oberer, but their season awards have not been decided yet.

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IMPORTANT Thanksgiving Fall Finals Spring Semester Begins Spring Break Spring Finals

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May 13-16

24

the current

May 3, 2013

Sports

The Current sports awards 2013 Male Athlete of the Year Darrien Mack

courtesy of eckerdtritons.com/Andy Meng

Mack finishes EC career with outstanding season

By Mia Whylly Contributing Writer EC standout basketball player, Darrien Mack, of Panama City, Fla., started playing in elementary school and realized his talent was going to take him places by his junior year at Rutherford High School.

This talented athlete, Mack, to those who know him, did try other sports but explains that he tried to play football in middle school but it was too physical and slow pace. “I didn’t like the idea of someone being told to hit me and me being okay with it. I just couldn’t take it,” Mack admits.

Mack thanks God for his successes, although acknowledges that his coaches and his ever--supportive parents have all encouraged him to play and study hard.

Mack explains that he has been lucky enough to have coaches who have inspired him. “My high school coach, Coach Ross, always told me the “the cream will rise to the top,” and my first AAU coach, Coach Daniels (Father of USF quarterback BJ Daniels) always told me ““when you realize how good you are that’s when you be at your best.”

When the time came to decide on his NCAA options, Mack had a choice of Alabama State, West Florida, and Eckerd. He is thankful for the choice he made because his teammates and the way they have played is what has helped him through four successful years on the EC roster. A glance at this season’s statistics shows Mack leads in almost every category.

Mack loves when the bleachers are full and adds that he always plays better when the gym is filled to capacity. However, that was not always the case. As a youngster, he hated people watching him play, because he felt they only had negative things to say. As his game developed and he realized the support of his family, he learned to embrace the critics. “Everyone is criticized,” he said, “even Lebron and Kobe.”

Student athletes have to balance their time between training and school work. Mack says he believes neither is more important than the other. “It is no different from the students who have a part time job,” he said.

He realizes that in the near future he will be using his degree and his talents on the court, so this balancing act he has had to work with since high school is going to serve him well.

Three times this season Mack was named

SSC Player of the Week, and finished the season leading the conference in scoring and rebounding, and ranked third in steals. EC’s senior forward was also honored as a Daktronics Men’s Basketball First-Team All-Region selection.

Head Coach Thomas Ryan, sums up Mack’s four years at EC. “He has played a major role in the overall success of the men’s basketball program.” Mack was good as a freshman and was able to contribute to our success right away. His hard work over the next 3 years played a major factor in our NCAA appearances the past two years. He has put in the work and has made himself the best player in the sunshine state conference this year.”

Mack’s final collegiate basketball performance at the Division II All- Star game in Louisville, Ky., was certainly a great way to conclude. Mack’s family has been there for him throughout his college career, and their excitement about the All Star game was obvious as they had arranged flights and accommodation before he made his own. His family attended game showing their love and support as he concluded his last collegiate contest, and Mack knew they was no chance they were missing that game.

The top 20 seniors in the nation are represented in East or West in this game. It was the EC Senior’s bucket in the final two seconds that clinched the game for the East and rounded off a great season and collegiate career. Mack adds that, “It’s a great feeling that I am one of the top players in the nation representing the class of 2013 and it is a great opportunity for seniors like myself looking to play at the next level.” Mack tallied 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in this game where the court featured only standouts, an incredible feet.

Mack understands that his teammates are just as much to thank for the Tritons’ great season as his individual efforts. “There wasn’t a single game where “D. Mack” scored all the points or got all the rebounds,” adding that, “it was a collective effort from all the players. Much gratitude goes to them, as well as the coaching staff, without them I would not have been fortunate enough to play in the All Star game.”

Mack says he would love to continue to play at the next level (professionally). If opportunity presents itself, he plans to take it. If not, he will put the business management degree, that he is about to graduate with, to use.

Female Athlete of the Year Morgan Crescent

Sophomore keeper Morgan Crescent led the Sunshine State Conference with 129 saves on the season, finishing ahead of second place by 39. Her average of 6.79 saves per game was also a conference high. Crescent had a season-high 19 saves in a shutout victory during the quarterfinals of the SSC tournament leading the Tritons to the programs first conference tournament win in its history. Crescent surpassed the record for shutouts in a season, talliying seven during the year. Crescent was also awarded second team All-SSC honors.

Freshmen Athletes of the Year Jerrick Stevenson Kara Oberer

Jerrick Stevenson was impressive in his first year of collegiate basketball, and his efforts earned him the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year award. He played in all 28 games for the Tritons, including 16 starts, and was third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.6 points per game and 3.6 rebounds.

His best game was Nov. 24, when he put up 21 points against Clark Atlanta University.

Shortstop Kara Oberer started off the season with a combined 5-9 with three home runs and seven RBI in the season-opening doubleheader against Ave Maria. She led the team with 12 doubles, 12 home runs, 29 walks and 42 runs while finishing second on the team with a .359 batting average and 35 RBI. Oberer also played very well defensively and finished the season with a .917 fielding percentage.

Individual Performances of the Year Jeff Evanier Ali McAlvany

At the SSC Championship tournament Junior Jeff Evanier shot under par in all three rounds finishing at five under par for the tournament. He took second place in the tournament which helped him collect Second Team All-SSC honors.

Sophomore Ali McAlvany tallied 32 kills in five sets against Northwood University for a .382 attack percentage. Her effort was a team high for the season and added to her season total of 407 kills, averaging 3.48 kills per set.

She also added 11 digs during the match.

Team of the Year The Eckerd College women’s soccer team had its first winning season since 2001, finishing 10-7-3. They also won the first conference game since 2006. Most outstanding, the Tritons won their first ever conference tournament game, making it to the semifinal round.

Moment of the Year

Senior third baseman Kristen Schurr capped a comeback with a two-run walkoff home run, giving the Tritons a 15-13 victory over Webber International University April 10. The Tritons were down by seven in the bottom of the sixth inning, but scored three runs to start the comeback.

Eckerd tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run double by Kaycie Duncan and an RBI single by Brittany Mitchell, and ended the game with Schurr’s two-run bomb.

Streak of the Year Coming off a narrow loss to the No. 5 at the time, University of Tampa, the Eckerd volleyball team won a total of ten straight matches. During the streak, the Tritons defeated No. 22 University of West Florida. The streak lasted an entire month from Oct. 13 to Nov. 14 and ended when Tampa defeated the Tritons in another close five set match.

All photos courtesy of eckerdtritons.com

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