The Sandspur Volume 123 Issue 18

Issue 18, Volume 123 Thursday, March 9, 2017

Proposal requires three-year on-campus housing page 4

Page Page #2 •• SECTION OPINIONS

Thursday, September 2014 Thursday, March11, 9, 2017

Letter to the Editor

Established in 1894 with the following editorial:

Former president of Rollins’ Florida Beta chapter of Phi Delta Theta, Will Graves, offers his perspective on the recent suspension of fraternity life at Rollins.

EXECUTIVE STAFF Lauren Waymire Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Mariano Managing Editor Micah Bradley Production Manager

CONTENT STAFF Amanda Grace Head Copy Editor Minoska Hernandez Morgan McConnell Rebecca Candage Copy Editors Eric Hilton Kalli Joslin Section Editors Christina Fuleihan Ellie Rushing Staff Writer Kalli Joslin Nolan Brewer Web Editors

DESIGN DEPARTMENT Shaayann Khalid Head Designer Victoria Villavicencio Zoe Kim Maliha Qureshi Designer

BUSINESS & FACULTY Greg Golden

General Manager of Student Media

Dr. Bill Boles Faculty Advisor David Neitzel Business Manager Jose Araneta Student Media Graduate Assistant Kennedy Butler Student Media Intern

ADVERTISING

Contact: advertising@thesandspur.org

Cover Art Designed By Kayla Powers ‘17

Will Graves

Writer

In the early nineties, I was winging my way to Los Angeles while reading an airline flight magazine feature on Earl G. Graves, Publisher of Black Enterprise magazine. I was en route to meet with a number of automotive manufacturing C.E.O.s.

I’d been warned that one of my ports of call would include an intentionally unmarked building housing the top secret “Channel Two” Mazda project. My thoughts went to Dave Power, who had given me my start by adding me as a member of his J.D. Power SuperDealer Roundtable. My obsession with the quality methods of Philip B. Crosby (former Rollins professor, trustee, and parent) opened a lot of doors for me leading to my being chosen to run the first Philip Crosby Associates automotive practice worldwide created for me with a reference from the founder himself.

I finished the Earl Graves feature and thought to myself how Crosby’s quality management methods could wring costs out of Earl Graves’ operations while teaching his employees to “do it right the first time.” Better still, my last name would be a great door-opener!

A month later, Earl Graves shook hands with me in his office and apologized about having to take an important phone call. Moments later, Earl acknowledged that the call had been from The White House and that one of the reasons he’d agreed to meet with me was that we shared a last name! Hardly a candidate for a confession delivered from a coffin. But, that’s exactly what Earl Graves did as a student at Yale in a local fraternity, Skull and Bones, almost as old as I.K.A., the Trinity College local fraternity that included my proud father as a member.

The fact is that drinking, hazing, etc. have absolutely nothing to do with the founding principles of any of these national and international fraternities.

And the only reason that these organizations maintain secrets (handshake, password, etc.) is that people would not respect them otherwise. I was repeatedly

asked to spill my Phi Delta Theta secrets after serving as president of Rollins’ Florida Beta chapter of Phi Delta Theta. I never did.

My father never gave up the secrets behind Delta Phi. He was eventually appointed Executive Secretary for Delta Phi. What instills that kind of loyalty?

Quality. I received four bids to join Kappa Alpha Order, Sig-

“

All of us in the Rollins community need to come to grips with the fact that some of the wrong people slipped through our admissions processes.

ma Phi Epsilon, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Phi Delta Theta. Friends of mine marveled at how a shy high school student (I got over it!) blossomed immeasurably at tiny Rollins College while attracting so many bids. I was very friendly and helpful. I volunteered for everything. I studied hard. I had a blast without having to overindulge. Ever. With small classes and mentoring that could put Stanford to shame, how could I not succeed with six job offers in six tries and a starting income out of Crummer that rivaled what Harvard M.B.A.s were earning. My back was erect as I walked around the campus.

I knew where I was headed and looked as if I knew where I was headed. With far fewer rules and regulations, Rollins professors C. LaRue Boyd, Wilbur Dorsett, Ross Evans, Ed Granberry, Crew Coach Jim Lyden, and others

mentored me. Past Rollins presidents, Jack Critchfield and Thaddeus Seymour, agreed to be my career references. I knocked on doors. I taught a new Electrolux recruit how to get in doors in 24 below zero weather rather than the 35 below temperature of the night before. I didn’t take shortcuts. I became a reliable brand.

You can, too.

But not if you’re binge drinking to excess, hazing recruits, or gang beating people! The six suspended Rollins fraternities have an admissions component. All national and international fraternities have one. Over many decades, I’ve attracted countless prospects to Rollins by following Dave Erdmann’s (former Rollins Dean of Admission and Enrollment) immortal words...We’re looking for prospects who can do the work and contribute to the college.

All of us in the Rollins community need to come to grips with the fact that some of the wrong people have slipped through our admission processes. Rollins has NEVER...I repeat...NEVER been known for gang beatings. In fact, both East Winter Park and Rollins have both suffered gang beatings just recently. The Winter Park student was actually beaten TO DEATH. I cannot stress enough that fraternities have an admissions process. When I was president of Phi Delt, we actually relied on oral references before choosing new recruits. We were considered the top fraternity at Rollins at that time. Obviously, all six fraternities are woefully deficient in this area in 2017. And that includes mine.

Finally, these infractions are learned behaviors that should have been corrected years before these students entered college.

No one starts beating people for the first time because they walked through the front door of a fraternity. As I tell my Business Ethics students, “This course should have been taught to you by your parents when you were young children.”

If you think that the presidential oaths taken by President Obama or President Bush were jokes, then you won’t understand what a fraternity initiation is about. There’s no need for

these national and international fraternities to change their founding principles. What’s needed is for Rollins fraternity presidents to make certain that their chapters are following their fraternities’ founding principles.

The organizational chart for a fraternity allows members to learn how to lead, build consensus, plan events, collect dues, etc.

You’re welcome to contact the founder of Dropbox who swears he learned how he did what he did by reading business books on the roof of his M.I,T. Phi Delta Theta fraternity house. One of the greatest days of my life never would have happened had Tessie Swope ‘08 decided not to ask for funds at the Rollins Phi Delta Theta fraternity meeting I attended. I surprised Tessie Swope and her V.P. Rebeca Montaner with $52,700 in one night at my Annie Russell Five Stones Project benefit in 2008. Tessie was honored as Winter Park’s youngest ever “Key To The City” recipient. Did I mention that Tessie woke up screaming into her dorm phone when Paul Newman dropped $10,000 on her? You can do these things too! Tessie was an independent. I was the Chapter Advisory Board Chairman for the Florida Beta chapter of Phi Delta Theta and a former president of the Rollins Phi Delt chapter as a student. That combination led to magic! As Oprah likes to say, “Preparation meeting opportunity.” Are you prepared?

Will Graves ‘77 ‘78 is Chairman Emeritus of Graves’ Quality Chrysler in the Washington, D.C. metro area where he was a board member at Children’s National Medical Center.

(Named one of the top 100 boards in America per Worth magazine.) He is a 43-year Rollins volunteer.

This piece was written in response to The Sandspur’s coverage of the fraternity suspension, featured in Issue 17. The publication always welcomes the voice of the community. To read previous coverage, visit the thesandspur.org

The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect those of The Sandspur, its staff, or Rollins College.

Page 3 • FEATURES

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Olin removes Brushing extends books from submission deadline Due a delay in the initial call for submissions, Language the on-campus literary journal Brushing has extended its submission deadline. and Literature

The Olin Library is undergoing a review of its current book catalogue in order to keep it up to date with students needs and interests.

Maura Leaden

Writer

If you’ve been in the library recently, you may have noticed the sea of green tags popping out of the tops of some books. This paper ocean may have been a bit alarming to you, since it is especially dense in some areas. Each green slip reads “THIS BOOK IS TO BE REMOVED.” However, after talking with the Library Director, Dr. Jonathan Miller, the potential of losing all of the tagged books does not seem as threatening.

Every five years, the library collection goes through an extensive review. This is designed to keep the books in line with the curriculum and with student use. There are very specific criteria directing the review and removal processes and these operations are completely transparent to students. Decisions made concerning any book are subject to change if interest in the book is expressed by a library guest.

The books being reviewed this semester come from the Language and Literature section (the “P” section) located on the third and fourth floors of the library.

It is simply their turn in the continuous cycle of the collection review policy, which completes a full review of every call number range housed in the library every five years.

As one may intuit, this is not just a purge of old books. Books are initially tagged for one of five clearly-defined reasons: the book was added to the collection prior to January 1, 1996; the book has not been circulated or used in-house since January 1, 1996; there are more than twenty-five library holdings in the US of the same edition of the book on WorldCat, a global database housing the world’s largest li-

brary catalog; the book is not a Choice Outstanding Academic Title, which is determined by Choice magazine, a standard academic review source; the book is not about Florida.

Using this method of review, faculty in the relevant departments this semester (English, Communication, Modern Languages, Theatre, and Classics) are asked to review the stacks and remove or add tags as they see fit. Furthermore, students are invited to remove tags as well. Each tag reads, “If you believe that it should be retained, please remove this flag,” and provides contact information for further inquiries. As Dr. Miller explained, “this is designed to be transparent and open to everyone.”

After April 1, the books that are still tagged will be transported to new locations. “Any titles that are unique in Florida will be sent to the FLARE (Florida Academic Repository) collection in Gainesville,” Dr. Miller informed. This way, the title can still be borrowed should someone need it. The other books will be sent to Better World Books, an organization with an ethical goal of donating books and funding literacy initiatives worldwide.

They collect and sell books online for this purpose. For more information on this organization, you can visit https://www.betterworldbooks.com/.

Dr. Miller concluded, “this continuous collection review process is designed to make room for newer titles and to maintain the most appropriate books on the shelves for students and faculty to find.” Clearly, the green-slip ocean is evidence of an efficient and responsible system designed to support a consistently evolving curriculum.

Sianna Boschetti

Writer

After a late start this semester, Rollins’ annual literary journal Brushing has extended its deadline from March 1 to March 10. The publication opened its initial call for submissions on December 19 via a campus-wide e-mail. In previous years, the journal has sent out e-mails for submissions starting late in the fall semester, with the deadline generally falling around the start of winter break.

Carter Richard ’17, Editor-in-Chief of Brushing, discussed this year’s deadline extension in light of the initial date of the call for submissions. “This was admittedly later than the planned date to open submissions, due to my own error in obtaining access permissions to the Brushing organizational e-mail account,” he said. “Because of the CICI policy instituted last year on campus-wide e-mails,

students are not allowed to send such e-mails from their personal accounts, and are required to access their organizational accounts. Thankfully, the Rollins IT department was very responsive and helpful in resolving the issue.”

The journal extended the deadline in order to give writers and artists more opportunities to submit their work, Richard said, though the academic calendar was also taken into consideration when deciding upon a new deadline. He added, “It also felt appropriate given the current academic calendar to end submissions just before spring break, rather than on the first of the month.”

Despite the late start this spring, the journal expects this year’s issue to hit shelves around the same time as originally planned. “Although we must allot a few weeks for print time, the publication will be sent to print ‘when it’s done’,” Richard

said.

As for how he will make up for lost time, Richard stresses the importance of the quality of the content the journal delivers. “My priority as the E.I.C. is to ensure that we are working with our submissions’ authors to deliver a quality publication that is worthy of their talent,” Richard said.

This year’s edition is expected to be released around mid-to-late April.

According to its website, Brushing publishes “a unique blend of traditional and experimental creative forms of both art and literature.” Each year, the journal has a theme for the issue, with this year’s theme being “Windows.” Short stories, fiction, poems, nonfiction, photographs, and other forms of visual art from Rollins students and people in the Central Florida area may be submitted with a cover letter via e-mail to brushing@rollins.edu.

Page Page #2 NEWS 4 •• SECTION FEATURES

Thursday, September Thursday, March11, 9, 2014 2017

Cornwell aims to increase percent of on-campus students With statistics showing that students who live on-campus are have higher GPAs and more campus involvement, President Cornwell and the Board of Trustees are working to increase the on-campus living requirement from two years to three.

Ellie Rushing Staff Writer On Tuesday, February 28, President Cornwell held a faculty debriefing concerning the recent Board of Trustees meeting.

Although the meeting covered an abundance of important information, one specific agenda point included the discussion of implementing a three-year on-campus living requirement for undergraduates.

Currently, undergraduate students are required to live on

campus during their first two years at Rollins. The two-year on-campus living requirement was only set in place around 2007, and before that the requirement was only one year. However, multiple studies within Rollins have shown students living on campus tend to have higher GPAs, are more engaged within the Rollins community, and have a higher retention rate compared to their off-campus counterparts.

This positive correlation association between on-campus housing and overall collegiate success

has prompted Rollins faculty to consider this new requirement.

Although this plan to implement a three-year living requirement may be breaking news to the students, it is old news to the faculty and staff. Former college President Lewis M. Duncan sparked the idea between the years of 2005 and 2006, as he felt increasing the number of undergraduates on campus was essential to students receiving the most out of their liberal arts degree experience. As soon as President Cornwell joined Rollins, he made it clear that having 80% of undergraduates on campus was one of his top priorities as well.

Senior Director of Residential Life and Explorations Leon Hayner said, “Currently, about 35% of Rollins students are not living on campus. If about 1/3 of our student body is absent during campus events, then what does that mean for all of the other students’ experiences?”

Student engagement is the top priority for all faculty and staff at Rollins, specifically members of Residential Life and Explorations. The growth and development of students—a tenet of Rollins’ mission statement—correlates with their involvement on campus; therefore, if some students’ experiences are negatively affected by off-campus living, then the college hopes to step in and resolve that issue.

However, this plan will not be an immediate implementation within the Rollins living community. Ideally, the proposed plan would become policy within the next 3-5 years, but there are many other actions that must occur before Rollins can hold 80% of the student body on campus.

Currently, the Rollins residential halls hold about 1300 beds— 80% of student body on campus would require around 1600 beds.

Clearly, there is not enough space at the moment; however, the school plans to build another residential hall to accommodate those extra bodies in the future.

When discussing the plan with current Rollins students, many expressed opposition to

the 3-year requirement.

“Part of college is preparing yourself for the real world. Part of that preparation is living in your own home and the responsibilities that come with it, such as cooking, cleaning, and paying bills on time. The three-year requirement would take away that

“

If I were an incoming freshman, living on campus for three years would definitely impact my decision to come to Rollins.

valuable life experience. Also, if students are forced to live in campus for three years, then they might just saw, ‘Screw it,’ and live all four,” said sophomore Ben Grant ‘19.

The possibility of students wanting to live on campus for all four years is definitely a factor members of Residential Life are using to weigh in on both the practicality of the implementation and the time span in which it is brought to campus.

“One challenge concerns the culture of the campus changing.

Going from the current preference of off-campus living, to a culture where all students, including seniors, want to live on campus. We would need the flexibility and the room to hold all students, because we cannot

just tell seniors ‘Sorry time to live off campus now’ after we required them to live on campus all three years before that,” said Leon Hayner.

Many students are concerned about the cost of living on campus, since many off-campus options prove to be cheaper. “I have been looking into living off campus for next year, and rent prices for a year lease are notably less than the eight months we spend living in residential housing,” said sophomore Jeanne Amend ‘19. “If I were an incoming freshman, living on campus for three years would definitely impact my decision to come to Rollins.”

Residential Life and Exploration members are well aware of the financial stresses living on campus causes for students.

With that, they are planning to modify meal plan prices to provide more flexibility for students who choose to live on-campus.

For example, they are currently working to eliminate the $300 overhead fee applied to meal plans each semester, which go towards maintenance and repairs. This fee would instead be spread out across the college with other fees and make meal plans nearly $600 cheaper.

Obviously, there are still many aspects to the plan the college must continue to revisit. From modified meal plans to more privatized living situations, the future of Rollins’ housing structure may change dramatically. However, Leon Hayner wants to ensure the student body, “Nothing is finalized until it happens.”

It is important to remember this plan is still only a proposal. The group working on creating the campus masterplan must go through a long process of proposals, paperwork, and planning. These sequential documents may be signed quickly, but most likely they will take a lot of time to organize and correlate with the rest of the campus. Current students should not have to worry about their living arrangements changing anytime soon, certainly not within their undergraduate time at Rollins.

Page 5 • FEATURES

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Farhana Yunus discusses women’s role in Islam

Guest speaker Farhana Yunus was invited to Rollins to speak on women & Islam. Her talk covered a variety of topics including logistics of Islam and Sharia Law. Nilly Kohzad Writer On February 28, our college had the honor of hosting Doctor Farhana Yunus as a guest speaker tackling the topic of Islam and women. The typical American does not have sufficient knowledge about what Islam entails or its stance on women’s rights, and this talk was a great way for students to gain a more accurate perspective on the religion.

The turnout was very good, and it could be seen from the faces of the audience that they were eager and willing to learn more about the world’s second-largest monotheistic religion. Dr. Yunus began her talk by discussing the term “Islamophobia.” This term has been thrown around a lot in the media and it denotes a negative viewpoint towards the religion of Islam and its followers.

Where does Islamophobia come from and why is there such deep hatred directed at a religion that revolves around peace and love?

Hatred stems from a lack of education. Dr. Yunus suggested that lack of education is the leading factor of negative perceptions—which are only heightened by spirituality’s sensitive nature—of differing religions.

That lack of knowledge can easi-

Rebecca Candage

ly snowball into fear and hate, as is reflected in several recent incidents where individuals have publically burned Qurans or attacked mosques. When we fear or hate something, our feelings are most likely due to our lack of knowledge and familiarity with the subject. The best tactic to resolve these disparities is simple education. A good place to start is to actually read the Quran— you’ll find it differs from its portrayal on sensationalized social media.

After Dr. Yunus touched on education’s ability to reduce Islamophobia, she then discussed major logistics of the religion.

First and foremost, there are 1.7 billion Muslims in the world and they come from all different walks of life. From Bosnia in Eastern Europe to Tajikistan in Central Asia, Islam is extremely widespread and full of diversity, although most sects share certain things in common. The scripture all Muslims follow is referred to as the Holy Quran, which is the word of God. In addition, Muslims believe in the same prophets as Jews and Christians. They pray five times a day and are mandated to be loud advocates for social justice. In fact, the main directive of the religion is to promote peace, do good and treat

others with respect and sincerity.

A Muslim’s main duties include taking care of the less fortunate, respecting their neighbors, and elevating the community they live in. All of these aspects were pointed out by Dr. Yunus in order to clear up misinformation spread about the purpose of Islam.

She then focused on the female role in Islam. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the supposed “objectification” of women in this religion. Dr. Yunus shed some light on the issue. The Quran states that women and men are created equal and are both responsible to worship God. Many people complaining about the oppression of Muslim women may not know that 1400 years ago, in various predominantly Muslim countries, women were already receiving equal pay, which is something the US is still struggling with today.

At this point, several audience members spoke up to ask about the hijab and why only women had to cover themselves.

Dr. Yunus first defined the hijab as a means of “being modest.”

In her point of view, the hijab symbolizes more than a scarf wrapped around her head—it is a symbol in which she feels empowered. Dr. Yunus told attend-

ees that her hijab allows society to see beyond her external self, instead looking deeper inside to the person she is, seeing the knowledge and substance she comprises. She continued by noting that men are not off the hook in terms of the hijab; it is necessary for men to wear, as Dr. Yunus stated, an “internal hijab.”

Besides having to dress modestly to a certain degree, men needed to be cautious of their internal actions. Islam states that men need to respect women, be kind, and reciprocate the same amount of modesty as women do, just through different means.

Rather than objectifying or belittling women as our modern society does, it is essential to treat a woman with dignity and respect since women have always been welcomed with open arms in Islam.

Towards the end of the talk, Dr. Yunus wanted to dip her toe into Sharia Law. Sharia Law is a set of guidelines that all Muslims need to live by and it consists of 5 parts. Those 5 parts include preservation of religion, life, family, property, and knowledge. It can be seen as a moral code that Muslims must follow in order to live according to the religion.

There have been many criticisms of Sharia Law directed from var-

ious politicians and historians throughout time; Dr. Yunus did not choose to highlight those critics.

So, how has our society today changed in terms of understanding Islam? Dr. Yunus has had numerous encounters with individuals who have been very positive and eager to understand her religion. This is a very big social leap in comparison to post-9/11, when people would blatantly bash her because of her dress and tell her to “go back to her country.” Dr. Yunus stated, “People have recognized that there are a lot more similarities than differences between the three dominant religions, and everyone is coming to have more of an open mind.”

At the end of the talk, everyone left with a clearer conception of Islam. For those who knew nothing about the religion, the lecture was a good introduction, and for those who were curious to know more, it was a great way to enhancing their knowledge.

Overall, Dr. Yunus’ visit spread knowledge about a religion that has been extremely stereotyped and misinterpreted. At the end of the day, the hope is to come out of these experiences as enriched individuals on the path to becoming globally aware citizens.

no. Gareeboo said part of their friendship and the concept of the event was sparked when they studied abroad in France together. “[We] learned a bit about the relationship between France and its colonies in northern Africa.

Since northern Africa does not technically fall under the area of ‘the Middle East’ but does have a lot of cultural take-aways due to the Arab population and Islamic religion, I thought it would be interesting to talk about how Western, Eastern, and African cultures have mixed in this part of the world,” stated Gareeboo. “[T]here are a decent amount of francophone populations left over from colonial rule. They, just like Middle Easterners, face

dilemmas over identity and finding the balance between tradition and modernization,” said Mariano. She hoped that, similar to the gatherings of the past, each meeting “leads to a deeper understanding of our own lives… and of the world we’re living in.” Gareeboo agreed, looking toward “the higher goal of broadening horizons.”

Served at the first meeting were Gareeboo’s homemade macaroons, which were “a huge draw-in for those who were tentative about coming,” according to Mariano. Pim’s and other treats complimented them nicely. The duo hopes to bring fresh tea to future meetings as well.

Those who did attend shared

not only delicious snacks, but delightful conversation as well.

There was no set topic—possibly to keep the first meeting relaxed—which allowed conversation to flow naturally. Attendees soon focused on transportation, fixating upon airport and metro variations between countries.

“From there, it became a discussion of profiling, multinational identity, and appreciating the rare TSA agents who still have their humor,” said Mariano.

Overall, everyone seemed to savor the cookies, chuckles, and conversation. Mariano reflected, “I enjoyed it a lot. It definitely gave me a chance to connect with different students on campus in a new, more in-depth way.”

“Granted, going into the next meeting, I will plan to have a lot more advertising for the next one after spring break,” remarked Gareeboo, “but the people who were there did seem very receptive to the concept of ‘le salon.’”

Through this collaboration, both Presidents also hope to foster interest in French Club and MECCA, as well as their respective cultures.

Any interested student is encouraged to stop by Chase Hall’s Think Tank on Wednesday’s at 12 p.m. to enjoy tea and treats while cultivating a better understanding of francophone countries around the world and French influence in our own nation.

French Club and MECCA collaborate on Le Cultural

Copy Editor On Wednesday, March 1, Rollins’ French Club and Middle Eastern Cultural and Cuisine Association (MECCA) teamed up to create a new event: “Le Cultural,” a weekly convening of students interested in Middle Eastern and French affairs.

Lead by French Club President Alex Mariano ’17 and MECCA President Iman Gareeboo ’17, the weekly event was inspired by seventeenth-century French social functions. “Aristocratic women would host these gatherings in their homes, welcoming artists and philosophers and poets,” explained Maria-

Page 6 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, March 9, 2017

What ‘The West Wing’ can teach us about today’s politics In an age of political inundation, writer Nick D’Alessandro evaluates which television shows have handled this delicate and volatile subject matter the most skillfully.

Nicholas D’Alessandro

Writer

You don’t need me to tell you that we are living inundated with more political activism than our generation has ever faced before. All eyes are on Washington D.C., and while popular culture can often provide an escape during these troubling times, some seek to find their reality presented in a different light. Politics make for fascinating stories, and it’s impossible to contain political dialogue in any single genre. Politics seep into our popular culture so often that there was even a political plot thread on Arrow—though I wouldn’t exactly use the term “entertaining” in describing that storyline. Some shows handle political discourse better than others.

House of Cards is probably the first to come to most minds when it comes to political storylines on television. This show has been dark from day one, but has certainly delved into more

terrifying and brutal drama over its four seasons. You can’t help but root for Frank Underwood a bit; this show is simply grim sometimes but terrifyingly good always.

Then, there is ABC’s Scandal, which has turned from a fascinating and fun show about conspiracy and publicity to a psychotic fan-fiction parody of itself. Was it ever really about politics in the first place?

On HBO, you can watch the most frustrating show on television, Veep. I say frustrating because Veep is a show where no one wins. The

“

exhausted staff of Vice President Selina Meyer have spent five seasons scrambling for success and right when you think things are moving upward, the show tricks you again.

This stagnation strikes at something we are dealing with too often in reality—look here for wonderful comedy, but not too much escapism.

So where is there hope for escapism blended with reality? Certainly not Designated Survivor, right? Or those other House of Cards network copycats?

If you’re looking at shows

Politics make for fascinating stories, and it’s hard to lock the topic into one genre.

Politics seep into our pop culture so often that there was even a politics storyline on Arrow.

on the air, you’re looking in the wrong place. In 1999, fresh off of launching his first television show, Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin launched a second show called The West Wing. It took the country by storm. It ran for seven seasons and followed the staffers in the White House under President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet, a Catholic Democrat from New England with a PhD in Economics who spends his free time spouting useless facts to his staff. Basically, this show is spectacular.

The staff is comprised of brilliantly intelligent women and men, all talented, skillful, and eager to change the world.

From Press Secretary, to Director of Communications, to Chief of Staff, each character is relatable.

Yet what makes this show so engaging is how “behind-thescenes” it feels. There’s a sense of urgency in the work being done; all of the issues discussed and rallied around are ones that are relevant, maybe even more relevant now, eighteen years later. For those frightened of being

immersed in Hollywood’s interpretation of issues, be not afraid.

This show covers all bases, does it logically, and doesn’t wait for you to catch up.

That said, The West Wing is about more than politics. On top of everything, there’s a sense of patriotism amongst the struggle.

Every character is angry with how much they want to get done but how much they are pushed back by bad publicity, a selfish Congress or just inane rules.

Nevertheless, they persist. Each character has a drive and a fire in them that doesn’t dampen when they hit a wall. They don’t rest or wallow. They take obstacles head-on and keep moving.

In short, The West Wing is the perfect show for you to watch right now. You learn a little something, get a little inspired, and have a blast every episode, but are still left with a critical lesson: hope can be found in the struggle.

All seven seasons of The West Wing are currently available on Netflix streaming.

Why ‘Moonlight’ deserves attention —and why it does not After the Academy Award for Best Picture was mistakenly awarded to La La Land before it was corrected to Moonlight, both films received some unfortunately popular attention.

Sianna Boschetti

Writer

The only thing that could have possibly overshadowed Suicide Squad’s win for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 2017 Academy Awards was a shocking mix-up in the Best Picture category. When Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty prepared to read the winner of the Best Picture Oscar, something seemed off—Beatty took just a little too long to announce the winner, and Dunaway didn’t appear to understand whatever confused cues he was trying to communicate to her. The awkwardness

that ensued shortly afterward would become the highlight of this year’s ceremony and the unfortunately most memorable aspect of Moonlight’s extremely important Best Picture win.

Dunaway and Beatty announced La La Land as the winners of Best Picture, but soon after the cast and crew arrived onstage to accept the award, security also arrived to convey some bad news—the presenters had been handed the wrong envelope, and Moonlight was the real winner of Best Picture. The La La Land crew handled the mistake well, with producer Jordan Horowitz announcing that a

mistake had been made and that Moonlight was the real winner, and the Moonlight group came onstage to accept the award.

Meanwhile, host Jimmy Kimmel cracked a few uncomfortable jokes in an attempt to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

Last year, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite criticized the Academy Awards for having nominated only white actors and actresses for the lead and supporting acting categories for two consecutive years. For Moonlight—a film primarily featuring both people of color and an LGBTQ+ protagonist—to have won Best Picture is a huge step

in the right direction for the Oscars. That Dunaway and Beatty’s mistake is bringing so much notoriety to its win, however, is somewhat alarming; if the correct envelope had been given to them and La La Land had never been mistakenly handed an Oscar, would Moonlight’s win have received half the attention it is currently receiving?

Sadly, I don’t think it would have. Moonlight is still sharing its win with La La Land— which, by the way, is a film where a white protagonist is somehow the only remaining lover of jazz—a genre pioneered and sustained by people of color—in Los Ange-

les. Jokes about letting the La La Land crew keep the award may ease tension in the moment, but they also skirt an uncomfortable truth—no matter how gracefully the Moonlight team handled their eventual win, the moment of true congratulation and celebration was stolen from them. Moonlight’s win is still a step forward towards making the Academy Awards more inclusive of people of color and LGBTQ+ people, but the its acceptance will always be remembered by an envelope error and the following onslaught of memes, not by the groundbreaking moment it was or the recognition it should have been.

Page 7 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Narrated Bach Festival performance offers a new, historically-informed dimension

This week’s Bach Festival performance inculded narration, a projection and slide show, and a remarkable musical performanc that honored Bach’s life and music.

Esteban Meneses

Writer

With the touring production “J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation,” the Canadian ensemble Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra adds an extra dimension to its historically informed performances.

The multimedia production came to Rollins College on Monday evening and treated a sold-out house at Tiedtke Hall to two hours of music by J.S. Bach. The concert closed the 82nd annual namesake festival. Intermingled with an elaborate narrative that takes off from the mythos of Apollo and Mercury, the program featured an assortment of short movements and excerpts from Bach’s vast catalogue.

F o u n d e d in 1979, the Toronto-based Tafelmusik (“music for the feast”) claims world recognition for its excellence in period performance: the 15-piece ensemble plays baroque music in the performance style of the early 18th century, using the kinds of instruments that were available at the time. Clad in black, most of the musicians play from memory and on their feet, which enables them to move around and take center stage in prominent parts for their respective instruments.

A large screen was mounted on stage left, though secured with inelegant sandbags. The projections and slide show were synchronized to a semi-theatrical

“

live narration by Blair Williams, scripted by double bass player Alison Mackay. Mackay’s carefully researched script takes us from the messenger god Mercury, who makes a musical instrument from the shell of a tortoise, and fast-forw a r d s to 1720s Leipzig, w h e r e Bach was appointed cantor at St. Thomas Church.

A l o n g the way, we learn about the pre-19th century papermaking c r a f t , where every sheet was made by hand; about J. C. Hoffmann’s string instrument trade (the strings w e r e m a d e f r o m d r i e d sheep intestines); and about Café Zimmermann, where Bach’s light chamber music was played as accompaniment for café patrons.

The narration pays tribute not only to Bach himself but to the craftspeople who manufactured the instruments and materials that made performances possible.

The story feels quaint, yet charming; through music and narration, the show weaves together an amusing historical narrative. In several instances, though, it teeters around the trap

At times bucolic and at times courtly, but always fresh and vigorous, Tafelmusik approached Bach as the high-end result of a polished group effort, but more as if to entertain through music history, and storytelling, rather than to venerate the composer.

of turning into a music history lesson: “he used a simple bass line for creating themes, variations, and fugues,” the narrator said at one point, promptly demonstrated by harpsichordist James Johnstone, who played excerpts from the Goldberg variations.

There was much to savor in the way of music performance.

Remarkable group interplay illuminated the concert throughout.

Freed from the apparent constraints of onstage sheet music, the ensemble—two oboes and one bassoon (no flutes) complemented strings and harpsichord—fully embodied the ethos of Bach. Some highlights were the overture, bourrée and forlane from the Orchestral Suite No. 1 (BWV 1066); the Sinfonia

in g minor for solo harpsichord (BWV 797); the sarabande from the Suite No. 3 for cello (BWV 1009), performed over a montage of luthiers making string instruments; and the second movement from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 (BWV 1048), which was spectacularly well-projected by the ensemble.

At times bucolic and at times courtly, but always fresh and vigorous, Tafelmusik approached Bach as the high-end result of a polished group effort, but more as if to entertain through music, history, and storytelling, rather than to venerate the composer.

And this was in spite of the narration’s tendency to deify Bach (a social and historical phenomenon): projected on the screen, for instance, E.G. Hauss-

mann’s famous portrait of Bach bookended the show; when it appeared in the end, it was followed by the narrator reflecting on the “exhilaration of exploring the work of a great genius.”

An excerpt from the cantata “Praise the Lord in his riches” (BWV 11), which depicts the Ascension of Jesus, came soon after that—Mackay and Tafelmusik seemed to be equating Bach with the Lord through the juxtaposition. And for a few minutes, over the duration of the hearty applause that followed, they were probably right.

To learn more about the Bach Festival, visit bachfestivalflorida. org. Rollins students, faculty, and staff are welcome to concerts for free with their Rollins ID, ticket availability allowing.

Page 8 • SPORTS

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Tars fall to Panthers in postseason

Ellie Rushing

Staff Writer

With an overall record of 20—6 and 14—4 in conference play, the Rollins Women’s Basketball team hosted Florida Tech to begin the first round of postseason play. Overall, the Panthers have a season record of 13—13, with a losing record in conference play, playing Rollins as the higher seed entering the game.

The Lady Tars are currently on a twelve-game winning streak after coming out on top against conference rival Saint Leo. The Saint Leo game was also senior day, where three seniors were featured; Tanaya Jones ‘17, Brittany Betts ‘17, and Marie Gilbert ‘17 played their last regular season game in the Alfond Stadium.

The Tars captured the lead with 6 minutes and 57 seconds left in the third quarter and never looked back, extending their lead to 13 points to victoriously end the game.

The Tars hoped to use that “never look back” mantra to propel them through the off season, but the SSC quarterfinals did not

seem to go their way.

The game itself featured six ties and ten different lead changes, but in the end the Tars lost the hard-fought battle 70 – 73. Gilbert led the way for the Tars scoring 19 points and 7 rebounds, with Julia Ingler ‘18 close behind with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

Within the first quarter, Rollins jumped out on top. The team showed energy, strength, and confidence in each other as they led the Panthers 13—4 with a 9-0 run. With five minutes left, the Panther’s coach called a timeout, which seemed to change Florida Tech’s attitude and pushed them to go on their own 10-0 run. The Panthers managed to end the first quarter with a 19—18 lead.

The second quarter seemed to particularly emphasize Rollins’ defensive skills. While blocking multiple shots and placing massive amounts of pressure on the offense, the Panthers went 0-5 consecutive shots.

The game continued to go back and forth between each team taking the lead, but the score remained in favor of the Panthers entering the final quarter, 52—51.

The last quarter was incredibly suspenseful. The seniors on the court wore their hearts on their sleeves and fought until the end to catch up. The scores were tied not once but twice, with three separate lead changes. However, with less than five minutes left, the Panthers took the lead. Rollins could not seem to catch up from there; the game ended 73—70.

Rollins’ shooting seemed to be the weak link throughout the game—the Tars shot for 40%, compared to Florida Tech’s 50%, and when it came to 3-point shots, Rollins only made 25% compared to the Panther’s 50%. However, Rollins remains far ahead of Florida Tech, 52—23, in their all-time matchup record.

Fortunately, this is not the end of the road for the Tars in postseason play. Rollins remains the number-three seed as they hope to receive a bid for play in the NCAA South Regional Tournament coming up. The selection show will be hosted on Sunday, March 5 at 10 p.m. Stay tuned for updates on the Rollins Women’s basketball team through NCAA.

Courtesy of Jim Hogue Photos

Tennis defeats Saint Leo

Ellie Rushing

Staff Writer

Ranked 38th nationally, the Rollins Women’s Tennis team played an unbelievable match on Wednesday, March 2 to upset top-ranked Number 4, Saint Leo University. The Tars propelled past their 3—3 overall record to move past the .500 mark and become 2—1 in the Sunshine State Conference.

Right out of the gate, Rollins swept through the doubles matches 3—0. Number-one-slotted Fabiana Vitanza ’18 and Carlye Goldman ’18 defeated Marine Beugre-Guyot and Maja Pindelska. Their continuous effort and team camaraderie throughout the match showed in their 9—7 victory.

Second-slotted Shannon Etten ’18 and Alexandra Borg ‘20, along with third-slotted sophomores Savanna Fuller ‘19 and Teresa Kaiser ‘19 earned the win with a score of 8—6. These triumphs were essential in the Tars’ overall victory over the Lions.

However, the Lions did not bow their heads and instead continued to rally throughout the match. Saint Leo won many of the singles matches, leaving the fifth and sixth singles up for grabs. Thankfully, Kaiser gracefully defeated her opponent with a three-set victory. Fuller also fought through a long rally to win the set on an opponent’s fault into the net.

Rollins Tars are set to visit Ft. Lauderdale on March 4 to face Number 15, Nova Southeastern, at 10:30 a.m. The underdog mentality Rollins took into the Saint Leo match should hopefully propel the Women’s team forward through the season to beat more highly-ranked teams, including Nova.

Rollins Tars are set to visit Ft. Lauderdale on March 4 to face number 15 Nova Southeastern at 10:30 a.m. The underdog mentality Rollins took into the Saint Leo match should hopefully propel them forward through the season to beat more highly-ranked teams, such as Nova.