The Sandspur Volume 123 Issue 22

Issue 22, Volume 123 Thursday, April 13, 2017

20 different international college publications

30 projects with social and environmental impact

EcoRollins promotes environmental activism, engagement pages 4-6

Page Page #2 •• SECTION OPINION

Established in 1894 with the following editorial:

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 Designers

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 Micah Bradley ‘17

Thursday, September 11, 2017 2014 Thursday, April 13,

President lauds student engagement in light of recent controversy President Grant Cornwell addresses the recent controversies on campus and encourages students to uphold their commitments to global citizenship and responsible leadership.

Dear Students, The academic integrity of your college has been called into question of late by spurious digital media posts and the social media virus that ensued. I write to share some of what I have learned, and what I would urge you to consider.

I learned that you care deeply about your college, its mission, principles, and values, and that you are not easily duped by media posts lacking journalistic integrity. I could not be more proud of the seriousness of purpose you have shown in your engagement with the issues, evidenced in the Tars Talk on the subject, in the incisive letter to me that came from that discus-

sion and was published in last week’s Sandspur, and in the article written by Jojo Peloquin, also published in last week’s Sandspur.

You knew from the outset that Rollins would never, ever, take disciplinary action against a student for disagreeing with a professor over textual interpretation or ideas. You live the practice of academic freedom every day in your studies, and you know that Rollins invites diversity of thought and the respectful contest of ideas as core tenants of our mission.

A thorough investigation into the claims made in the initial blog post found that none of these claims could be corroborat-

ed. The conclusion of the inquiry is that what was reported simply did not happen in the classroom in the manner portrayed. Unfortunately, many people who came across these claims believed what they read on the face of it, and some good and honest people may have lost faith in the College. This is a wrong we must all work together to correct.

Contrary to our affectionate self-criticism that Rollins is a “bubble,” nothing could be further from the truth. The most basic troubles of our nation, indeed, of global civil society, were thrust upon us with tremendous ferocity. We have seen how ideological stridency can overwhelm reason and respect.

We have seen how passionately held opinions and misinformation can overrun facts, and how a blind desire to drive an agenda can make truth seem irrelevant.

You did not create these rents in the fabric of our society, but I trust you will show positive leadership in mending them. All of this makes your Rollins education keenly important and relevant. Our nation and our world urgently need you, educated as you are, and equipped with the tools of intellect and character necessary for global citizenship and responsible leadership.

It is appropriate and important that Rollins is a campus community where Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and practitioners of all faith traditions, in all of their variety, are encouraged to study and teach here. We could not pursue our mission with integrity without this diversity of thought and belief. We must, however, seek to be a positive model for the world of what a respectful multi-faith community of learners can look like.

Your engagement with these issues is also part of your Rollins education. Your Rollins education is the totality of your academic inquiry and your experience living and learning as members of our campus community. Just as we expect you to think critically and explore different points of view respectfully in your academic study, so too should this approach, which epitomizes our mission, apply to everything you do and think about here.

Finally, I will leave you with this thought. H.G. Wells said that “civilization is a race between education and catastrophe.” Let’s work together to make sure education is the victor in this race, and that as we seek to restore equilibrium, we do so with an ethic of care and respect.

Fiat Lux! President Cornwell

Page 3 • FEATURES

Thursday, April 13, 2017

SGA and Title IX unite to stand against sexual assault April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the Student Government Administration, in coordination with the Office of Title IX, is hosting numerous educational activities.

Jojo Peloquin

Writer

Sexual Assault Awareness Month began in April. For the past two years, this month has kicked off with the Rally Against Violence, or Day of Action, as NSVRC calls it. The Student Government Association president and the Title IX Coordinator come together to educate the student body on ways to be proactive bystanders. Oriana Jimenez, Rollins’ Title IX coordinator, believes that being a proactive bystander means being someone who will step into a situation in order to prevent a person from being sexually assaulted. Other actions promoted by the Day of

Action’s educational activities include discouraging victim-blaming, encouraging people to step up to say or do something when they see inappropriate behavior, and aiding in the education of peers on the importance of having a voice in fraught situations.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month began in the late 1970s in England when women began to protest the violence they had been experiencing on the streets.

As word of this upheaval began to spread, women across the globe, including women in New York City and San Francisco, started taking action. It was only recently in the 2010s when sexual assault awareness began circulating through college cam-

puses here in America.

The focus of these past few years has been on prevention of sexual assault and how to be an advocate for reducing violence against women. This year’s primary concern seems to be making it possible for those who are unsure of how to make change see the oportunities for activism around them. NSVRC put together a toolkit for groups to use and share to make small impacts around them. Conversations targeted Greek communities, faith organizations, coaches, survivors, parents, and the rest of the community members to help become active bystanders. They specifically focused on engaging individuals and sharing facts

online because of social media’s vast influence on everyday life.

Here at Rollins, Title IX works alongside different campus organizations within Greek Life and various faith organizations. Sexual Assault Awareness month is a “lite” version of Title IX training; it allows all students to get basic knowledge about sexual violence and pledge to speak up for victims.

Sexual Assault Awareness month is a reminder that intervening does not always equate to putting oneself in jeopardy, but does require allies to know the signs of sexual violence and how to properly intervene if another is in a dangerous situation. The type of situation determines how

the bystander should intervene.

Sexual Assault Awareness month is not just directed at students, either; there are strict regulations in place to help the administration and faculty at colleges and universities protect students. These include educating students about social norms that facilitate violence and providing opportunities to strengthen and support the voices of victims including women and children.

Preventing sexual assault at Rollins is a campus-wide responsibility because one sexual assault is too many. April should be a reminder of the need for the entire community to take a stand.

Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly share what it means to be a hero Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, spoke at Winter Park Institute’s final event of the season on April 4.

Christina Fuleihan

Staff Writer

Some people are born to become heroes, while others find the title thrust upon them by pure circumstance. Former Senator Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, her husband, have had to look death in the eyes on multiple occasions.

In every sense of the word, they are heroes—both because of the challenges they have overcome and the accomplished lives they have led. On April 4, 2017, Giffords and Kelly spoke to Rollins students and the Winter Park community about their journey; their talk became the latest in this year’s Winter Park Institute lineup.

Besides serving in the military as a naval aviator and then serving his country again as a NASA astronaut, Kelly proudly shared that he has more than 6,000 flight hours and is one of only two astronauts to have visited the International Space Station four times.

But, as Kelly recalled, nothing could have prepared him for the news that his wife had been injured on that fateful day on January 8, 2011. As many Americans will remember, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords suffered a major brain injury as a result of a shooting that occurred during a meeting with her constituents. Giffords sustained a bullet to her brain; several bystanders were killed.

Kelly, who had flown over enemy territory, through clouds painted orange from the sheer amount of fire and bombs being unleashed below; Kelly, who had survived four missions on space shuttles so dangerous that a single mistake could have led to a catastrophic chain of events; Kelly, who had faced challenge after challenge to accomplish his goals, was not “as it turned out. . . the one who nearly lost his life serving his country.” Instead, that would be his wife, Gabrielle Giffords. In a matter of moments, Kelly’s whole life was turned upside down, as he found himself

the primary caregiver to the individual he called on Tuesday his “personal hero and wife.”

Gifford’s story is one of the power of human resilience, the value of a strong spirit, and the possibility of rebounding from tragedy. While media channels as distinguished as CNN and Fox News were pronouncing Giffords dead a few hours after the shooting, she was in the hospital, holding on. At the Winter Park Institute event, Kelly joked, “My wife, Gabby, was not going to get taken out by cable news.”

While Mark Kelly maintained that his wife is still the same person she has always been; Giffords would disagree: “I’m getting better. I am working hard at lots of therapy. But my spirit is as strong as ever, I’m still fighting to make the world a better place, and you can too.

Be a leader. Set an example. Be passionate. Be crazy. Be your best.” Giffords is “fighting to discover a new [Giffords]: a better, stronger, tougher” version of her former self. Although imme-

diate and detailed responses are difficult for people with aphasia, an inability to express thoughts through speech, Giffords was able to answer a few questions posed to her before the event— evidence of the effectiveness of physical and speech therapy.

The amount of work it has taken Giffords to come this far is immense. But, even more amazing than her accomplishments are her optimism and hope.

“Though the things that she used to find easy to do are now almost impossible or very, very hard,” her husband explained, “Gabby doesn’t give up. She reminds me each and every day to deny the acceptance of failure. . . [there isn’t] a dent in her spirit.”

While Giffords’ memory of the shooting is nearly nonexistent, she recalled one thing from January 8, 2011: where she parked her car. Yet, when asked to give a statement to the court, her husband recalls that Giffords looked her attempted assassin squarely in the eyes with recognition of his crime, if not his face.

“Gabby wrote that she would gladly trade her life to bring back any of the [other] individuals who died that day, especially 9-year-old Christina.

“Christina was standing inline to ask Gabby about the recent oil spill, but Gabby never had a chance to meet her before the shooting.”

Six people died by the same gun that critically injured Senator Giffords, and she maintained Tuesday night that she would give her life to save any of those people. Again and again, Giffords exhibits love and compassion to complete strangers; most of us at the forfronts of political debate would do well to follow her lead.

“There are solutions to the problems. . . fight, fight, fight!”

Giffords exclaimed at the end of her speech. Kelly explained, “people doubt their ability to influence what seems like a broken process; [though] politics can be polarizing, every single individual has a lot more power than they realize.”

Page Page #2 NEWS 4 •• SECTION FEATURES

Thursday, September 11, 2014 Thursday, April 13, 2017

Fostering a campus of environmental awareness Christina Fuleihan Staff Writer Over the years there have been many environmentally-oriented campaigns and organizations established at Rollins College. EcoRollins, the Rollins Coalition for Sustainable Investment, and the Sustainability Program are just three different on-campus organizations that often collaborate to encourage a more environmentally-friendly campus and a more environmentally-aware student population.

For instance, just last year, the Rollins Coalition for Sustainable Investment was formed in an effort to launch a campaign encouraging the divestment of fossil fuel investments. While many of our on-campus organizations are special, EcoRollins stands out as being one of the most active and longest-running organizations on campus.

Founded in 1997 by Melodie Malfa, EcoRollins is Rollins’ longest standing student-run environmental engagement organization. The organization strives to advocate environmental activism, promote environmental awareness, and encourage environmental stewardship through learning and the implementation of various enterprises.

Rollins College prides itself on the diversity of student interests and the promotion of a liberal arts culture that encourages students from a widerange of disciplines to pursue their passions. For the incoming freshman class, these clubs allow them to find their anchor and their home on the Rollins campus; for our graduating seniors, the skills they developed and the friendships they formed because of their membership in specific

organizations can become lifelong memories, networks, and lessons that will help them excel in life after college, regardless of their chosen career path. Morgan Laner is one of the many Rollins students who has found her anchor through her participation in one of the many diverse organizations at Rollins. Her participation with EcoRollins has changed the entire trajectory of her college career. “Words cannot describe how much I am happy that I am a part of EcoRollins! Joining this organization has allowed me to find some of my best friends and really embrace and find my voice on campus. I’ve connected even more to my major and my interests and I can’t think of what it would be like going to Rollins and not being part of EcoRollins.”

Laner began attending EcoRollins meetings as a freshman; she would first come to serve as a board member in her sophomore year, and was then elected as President of EcoRollins as a junior. She is also currently an EcoRollins liaison working with the Sustainability Program.

EcoRollins’ mission has inspired many students around campus to make a positive impact in the community and in the world around them. Just last year, an environmental studies major, Courtney Banker, based her thesis on the recycling system in place at Rollins College.

Due to high contamination rates, it was discovered that haulers were discarding all recyclable materials directly into landfills, rather than the proper facilities.

EcoRollins played a large role in addressing the issue of high waste contamination levels by launching several campaigns to educate the campus communi-

ty on the reality of recyclables.

Through the efforts of EcoRollins and the Sustainability Project, the issue has since been addressed.

EcoRollins has continuously promoted proper waste reduction practices across campus, the promotion of to-go containers, and the promotion of environmental education. Upon its founding, one of the first initiatives EcoRollins sponsored was the development of a campus recycling program. Over the decades, EcoRollins has also sponsored the Take Back the Tap initiative, the installation of solar panels on the previous Bush Building, the promotion of off-campus student hiking and camping trips, and litter cleanup events.

Whether it be through the distribution of informative flyers or tabling at various events throughout the year, EcoRollins is felt as a constant presence on campus. According to Laner, EcoRollins hopes to “enrich the appreciation for the environment, we hope to inspire the campus community to gain an understanding of our environment, to care for it, and to identify our active role within it. This organization has continued to grow lately due to our accountability and dedication to collaborative efforts on campus.”

EcoRollins has been so effective in propagating positive change in our community by inspiring more and more students to join in the effort of environmental sustainability. Regardless of one’s commitment to the organization, EcoRollins is constantly seeking out new ways to inspire various facets of the campus to take action. Whether it be through collaborative projects with other clubs or tabling

at large events, EcoRollins continues to make an active effort to makes its presence known and its mission clear.

And, the door is always open: all are always welcome to join and participate in EcoRollins programs. It is especially impressive that the organization’s activity has not dwindled over time, and EcoRollins is still going strong twenty years after its initial founding. Upcoming EcoRollins events include a bioluminescence kayaking trip, “Tubing at Kelly Park,” and other off-campus hiking and camping trips. Throughout the month of April, EcoRollins will be working in collaboration with Pinehurst to run an environmental education service event as a part of the “Sustainable Settings” series.

This speaker series promotes the discussion of local environmental topics, such as solar energy and sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Grant Cornwell, the President of Rollins College, encourages activism of all kinds in keeping with Rollins’ mission of promoting responsible leadership and global citizenship. Sequestered in Winter Park, Florida, Rollins College is a haven where natural beauty and subur-

“

ban life conglomerate. Situated beside Lake Virginia and near the Genius Preserve, open to the lively grandiosity that is the Floridian sky, the college community is very aware of how fortunate we are to enjoy the best that nature has to offer.

According to Dr. Cornwell , “Environment awareness is an essential quality of global citizenship. The central idea here is that we all have an ethical obligation to make sustainable choices in how we live, what we buy, how we manage the waste stream we are responsible for, and how we consume energy. A global citizen thinks beyond the borders of one’s immediate surroundings, recognizing that we each have responsibilities towards all of humanity and the biosphere that sustains us.”

EcoRollins has served as a catalyst for increasing environmental awareness around campus and the neighboring community. Ultimately, whether it be through creating wearable items made out of used plastic bags, recycling torn t-shirts into reusable carriers, or launching campaigns to encourage environmental consciousness, EcoRollins is on a mission to inspire both creativity and sustainability.

EcoRollins is constantly seeking out new ways to inspire various facets of the campus to take action

Page 5 • FEATURES

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Princeton Citizen Scientists aim to renew civic engagement Katie Petersen Writer, The Daily Princetonian By 1 p.m. Monday, March 6, over 500 university affiliates had packed Princeton’s Frist Campus Center.

By the end of the day, 64 teach-ins occurred, 13 university and community organizations promoted their respective causes and nearly 1,500 people participated in the campus-wide Day of Action, according to organizer Sébastien Philippe. A fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in mechanical and aerospace engineering, Philippe is also president and co-founder of Princeton Citizen Scientists, one of the two student groups to host the event.

The group banded together shortly after the November elections, when “it was pretty clear that there was a need for a renewed civic engagement,” Philippe said. The organization was “organic,” Philippe explained, because he and fellow students were looking for ways to process and move forward.

“People kind of came out of this election pretty shaken up,” he said.

Princeton Citizen Scientists is a group of about 40 science, engineering and social science graduate students who aim to address the current political discourse with their expertise.

“We, as scientists, have important contributions to add to the public debate and the public discussion of scientific legislation,” said Michael Hepler, a fourth-year graduate student in mechanical and aerospace engineering and another co-founder of Princeton Citizen Scientists.

In fact, there’s a very long tradition of that kind of contribution at the university. In 1946, the university started an orga-

nization called the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists.

The committee was founded by Albert Einstein and other scientists in the interest of warning the public about the dangers of nuclear weapons.

Today, Princeton Citizen Scientists seeks to raise awareness of those same nuclear security concerns, as well as issues like climate change. To that end, Hepler said their objectives are educating themselves as scientists on how to be better advocates, reaching out to policymakers and finding ways to reach out to the general public.

The Day of Action addressed all three of those goals, with teach-ins on topics like “Science in the Public Sphere: How Can We Increase Non-Expert Engagement with the Knowledge and Values of Science?” and a science communication and education workshop.

“In order to talk about science, we can’t just talk about it in a vacuum,” Hepler said. “We need to connect it to the other social issues that are dividing us as a nation and as an international community.”

Philippe agreed, saying, “We never really take the time to pause our daily activities and engage in meaningful discussions and learning experiences on subjects that are not necessarily the ones that we are most familiar with.”

“Everybody was listening,” said Robert Socolow, professor emeritus of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Socolow gave a talk, along with two other professors, entitled “Making Progress on Climate Change Policy in the Next Four Years.”

He celebrated the day as “sustaining university values in this country, which are under

threat,” describing these values as a “complete search for truth and willingness to correct error, to listen to challenges.”

“I think this was the goal of March 6. We learned a lot from the other disciplines, and that’s really important as we move forward,” Philippe added.

Looking ahead, the scholars plan to travel to the March for Science in Washington, D.C., April 22 to rally for, in part, the importance of evidence-based policy. Prior to that, they will host a teach-in on why scientists

should be engaged in the policy process.

“One of the goals of Princeton Citizen Scientists is to kind of train young scholars and to kind of open paths for them to join government or NGOs,” Philippe said.

Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs, and another of the contributors to the “Making Progress on Climate Change Policy” discussion, emphasized the importance of student involvement.

“Despite the fact that, in some senses, the political atmosphere is grim, and there are indications that are explicit that the administration would like to reverse the environmental progress that’s been made over the last four to eight years, students have the opportunity to have their voices heard,” he said.

“It’s our responsibility as young scholars to rise up and start working, and use our knowledge ... to reach [the public’s] ears,” Philippe said.

Page 6 • FEATURES

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Going Cold: Students investigated unsolved homicides in Pitt club Janine Faust

Writer, The Pitt News

On a Wednesday night in February, Rachel Feil stands at a whiteboard in room 232 of David Lawrence Hall, tapping a red Expo marker on her chin as she studies what she’s scribbled on the surface.

“I don’t know,” she tells the man standing next to her. “I don’t think that works. We need more information.”

Behind her, five groups of four to six University of Pittsburgh students on laptops are laser-focused on their research.

Some skim online news articles while others bounce theories off each other, fingers flying over the keyboard when it seems that somebody’s voiced a thought worth recording.

They’re trying to answer a question —not to an essay prompt or a physics problem, but to a puzzle left unsolved for more than 20 years: Who murdered Stephanie Coyle?

The students, most of whom are planning a career in fields such as law, law enforcement or forensics, are members of Pitt’s Conquering Cold Cases Club.

“Our main focus is trying to help the victims’ loved ones find some answers for the questions they have, so that they can finally have some closure,” sophomore club President Alex Morgan said.

It sounds like the setup for an amateur homicide investigation show, and it might be.

The club has attracted attention since seniors Nicole Coons and Hannah Eisenhart founded it in 2015. A film crew even spent some time in February with the members to see if their work was worthy of a TV show — the club hasn’t heard back yet.

“The club’s still a work in progress, but it’s growing rap-

idly and is way more structured than when we first started it last year,” said Coons, an administration of justice and political science major.

Coons got the idea when she saw a flyer at a country club in her hometown in July 2014 asking for help locating Kortnee Stouffer, who was 21 when she disappeared two years prior.

After talking with an attendant at the club and an old friend of Stouffer’s, she was inspired to enlist Pitt students to help track similar cases.

“Police departments always have a lot going on, and they can’t usually focus on just one specific case,” Coons said.

“I thought that getting a bunch of Pitt students with a passion for criminal justice to hone in on a couple of cases in particular would be a great way to give back to the community and help some people out.”

The club now has roughly 30 members, all of whom skip around between examining the Coyle case, the Stouffer case and the 2005 murder of 94-year-old Beaver County resident Anna Rocknick. Students interested in participating in CCC have to sign a privacy contract and undergo an interview process with club leaders to make prove they’re serious.

“It’s not all about having fun or sharpening their detective skills,” Eisenhart said. “It’s about seeking justice.”

Pennsylvania has one of the highest clearance rates for solving murders and homicides, according to Project Cold Case — a national project aimed at tracking the number of unsolved murders nationwide — but still, more than 20 percent go unsolved.

Stephanie Coyle’s case is one that has gone without justice or

answers for more than two decades, stumping investigators in western Pennsylvania.

Police found the 74-year-old woman on the floor of her bedroom apartment the morning of July 16, 1993, in the small town of Arnold, Pennsylvania. She died from a stab wound to her throat.

A design was carved into her back after death, and her corpse had been sexually assaulted.

CCC has been working on this case since September, after finding it with a Google search for “local cold cases.” The web is full of reports on the unsolved Coyle case — her grisly death rocked the Alle Kiski suburb where she lived. Her long-suffering son has since posted hefty rewards for anyone with information that could crack the case.

This is how CCC typically operates — tracking down information and related names through online news articles, and then using social media to find possible witnesses, family members and involved law enforcement.

This is the one edge they have over the police, said junior Zach Bruce.

“We’re a lot more tech-savvy than them, probably because we’re younger,” Bruce, an economics and business major, said.

“They may have more information than we do, but we’ve got Google and more time.”

CCC has interviewed an EMT who responded to Coyle’s murder, one of her children and the Arnold chief of police.

“It’s pretty chilling,” Feil, an undeclared first-year student, said. “This isn’t CSI. This is real stuff that’s happened to real people.”

The Wednesday after Feil sketched Coyle’s house onto the whiteboard, CCC’s room was devoid of the usual animated

chatter about suspects and speculations. Instead, only Webber’s deep voice echoed as he clicked through a slideshow of evidence and case files.

A graying man with a confident bearing, he rattled off details about the case without glancing at his Power Point, recounting what happened the night of Coyle’s death for the 100th time. The students stared unflinchingly at the screen, even when grisly autopsy pictures slid by.

“The reason I’m showing you this,” Webber told the students, “is because you might see something I don’t. I’d really like to find out who did this, so that I can punch a guy in the face.”

Almost as soon the last slide ends, members started firing off questions.

“Did it look like any article of clothing had been ripped off?”

“Which suspect stands out the most to you?”

“Was there an area where there was a majority of blood, or was it all just drops?”

This is the kind of unbridled access that makes the club one of a kind, members say.

“We toured a medical examiner’s place once in my criminalistics class, but we’ve never done anything like speak with a cop about the details of a case,” said Nihita Manhem, a junior neuroscience major, after Webber’s visit. “We get to see stuff even the media isn’t allowed to see.”

Three weeks later — as March rolls in — the club moves on to its next step in the Coyle case, researching names on a suspect list from Webber. The students go through the usual routine of breaking off into groups, and immediately start combing the internet for contact information.

“I found a guy with that

name in his late 60s who lives in New Jersey as a preacher!”

“Yeah, and I found one with the same name that’s white and proudly German.”

“Dude, this one hasn’t updated his profile since 2012.”

Eisenhart said working with loved ones of victims is the hardest but most rewarding part about trying to solve cold cases. Besides Coyle’s son, Dan, the club has also spoken with the people who had close relationships with the victims in the Stouffer and Rodnick cases.

“It really puts it into perspective. This is what I might be dealing with someday, considering what I want to do,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking, but it’s good to know that the work I’m doing is giving them hope.”

By mid-March, CCC hasn’t solved Coyle’s case, but they’ve gotten some — currently confidential — new leads and plan on sticking with the investigation. Mark Safarik, a former FBI profiler whose job is to psychologically analyze a criminal’s behavior in the hopes of catching them, has even agreed to profile the Coyle case for the club.

Megan Hixon, an undeclared first-year student thinking about going into forensics, is hopeful that Safarik will help CCC members narrow down the information they’ve gathered so far.

With any luck, they might be able to finally bring a sliver of peace to Coyle’s family.

“Who knows, maybe 30some college students are going to be able to spot something new,” she said.

For the full piece, visit thesandspur.org

Page 7 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Greek Life jams out at Lip Sync Cameron Osche

Writer

This year, eight sororities and fraternities gathered in the Alfond Gym to show off their best dance moves for Lip Sync.

While some organizations take the event very seriously, others view it as an inconsequentially fun time to dance in front of the entire Greek population of Rollins. The event also acts as a way for the SGA Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates to spread awareness for their campaigns.

The first sorority to dance was Kappa Delta, whose theme was the Mannequin Challenge.

They danced to songs like “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé and “Whip My Hair” by Willow Smith. One dancer carried around a giant cut-out phone screen to make the dance appear like it was being viewed on a social media platform.

Following KD was X-Club with their theme, “Space Jam.” The 1996 movie featuring the Looney Tunes and Michael Jordan inspired the basketball theme of X-Club’s performance.

Of course, “Get Your Head in the Game” from High School Musical was the perfect song for this act.

Alpha Omicron Pi followed

X-Club with their theme of the seven deadly sins. A large, cloth-covered canvas hung behind the dancers, revealing each combination as another sin. As they were revealed, music would change to reflect each sin: hits like “Gold Digger” by Kanye West (greed) and “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars (sloth) were crowd favorites.

After AOII’s performance, SGA Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, Bidhit ‘20 (President) and Bibhas Pandey ‘20 (Vice President), spoke briefly about their campaign. The main issues they want to address are be revitalizing the Neighborhood system, making it easier for students to obtain internships, and conducting more surveys to understand student interests.

Following the Pandey twins’ campaign, Chi Psi ran wild with their theme, “Eight Ball.” Even SGA Vice-President Deanna Loew admitted she wasn’t sure what their theme referred to.

There were eight dancers in the group, but that was the only apparent connection.

Alpha Delta Pi danced after Chi Psi with the theme “Diamonds.” Telling a story of wealth, ADPi danced, of course, to “Diamonds” and “B*tch Better Have My Money” by Rihanna.

Tau Kappa Epsilon danced next with a “Classic” theme that took the audience back through movie history, moving to songs from iconic movies including Footloose, Napoleon Dynamite, and Dirty Dancing.

The campaign of Mariam Tabrez ‘18 (Vice President) and Lexi Tomkunas ‘18 (President) came after TKE’s dance. The SGA candidates discussed their experience at Rollins, both candidates having been members of SGA since their Rollins careers began. They spoke about their

goals to improve the interfaith space on campus, provide more off-campus meal plan options, and hold more SGA forums and events.

Delta Zeta followed the campaign for Tabrez and Tomkunas with their circus-themed performance. With songs like “Carousel” by Melanie Martinez and “Circus” by Britney Spears, DZ took the audience on a whimsical adventure to the circus.

The last performance was held by Chi Omega with their 1980s throwback to fitness vid-

eos. The neon jumpers and high socks were a nod to the iconic style of fitness videos from the ‘80s and ‘90s. As is always expected in regards to this theme, the group danced to songs like “Let’s Get Physical” by Olivia Newton-John.

After the performances were finished and the judges had made their decisions, the audience waited eagerly to receive the results. The final tally placed Chi Omega in third place, Alpha Omicron Pi in second place, and X-Club in first place.

Photo courtesy of The X-Club Fraternity Facebook page

Playwright speaks on politics, satire Cameron Osche

Writer

One of the speakers at this year’s Comparative Drama Conference at Rollins was playwright Lisa Loomer. Best known around Rollins as the creator of the play Expecting Isabel, which was performed in the Annie Russell during the spring of 2016, Loomer has addressed such controversial topics as adoption, medical treatment, misogyny, the Middle East, abortion, and many others in her anthology. Amy Muse, an Associate Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas, asked Loomer a variety of questions in an engaging conversation held in the same theatre space that hosted her play last year.

The opening question Muse asked Loomer was about how such complicated and layered plays come into existence. Loomer stated that her plays are mostly fashioned from whatever she is “pissed off about” at the time.

Loomer notices issues arising in everyday culture and life and wonders how she could address them in her plays to start conversations about each topic. Many of Loomer’s characters have very strong personalities, a trait that she claims helps to push important questions on the audience.

Muse later asked if Loomer would identify as a political playwright. Loomer responded, “I do consider myself a political playwright. If I’m going to wear a label… I don’t really object to that one.” Loomer believes that there is not enough communication occurring in America regarding heated political topics.

One of the goals Loomer hopes to fulfill through her plays is the promotion of conversation through human stories. “Theatre,” she stated, “has a unique potential to look at what we share… as human beings in a different way.”

Loomer also believes that political theatre is hard to define, especially considering most of

what she has seen from the genre has been written by men and consists of little more substance beyond war. She has no desire to write about these themes, maintaining that relatable stories are the focus of her messages.

The next question Muse brought up was about how humor functions in her plays and the message Loomer is trying to communicate through comedy.

Loomer laughed at the idea of her plays being funny. “I don’t even know it’s funny, I swear to God, until the first preview.”

Loomer stated that the humor comes naturally to her writing, and after previewing her plays she often has to resist the urge to go back and add more comedic parts. She does not view her plays as satirical, however, stating, “satire is humor without compassion.”

Later, Muse asked Loomer about the reception to her most recent play Roe, which covers the infamous Roe v. Wade case of 1971 that granted women the right to

medical privacy and abortion.

Muse wondered about the reactions of audiences to Roe, given the current political climate, and whether Loomer had received mixed reactions.

Loomer said that what was most fascinating to her was how the play changed every day it was performed. The showing of Roe occurred before, during, and after the presidential campaign and election of Donald Trump.

She stated that whatever had been on the news one day affected how the audience would view Roe that night; moments that were meant to be funny would lose their humor; tragic moments would lose their impact.

Inclusion of different voices was incredibly important to Loomer for the creation of Roe. She stated that she didn’t want to feature just one political side; therefore, she presented both liberal and conservative viewpoints in regards to abortion, humanizing both opinions. Loomer was often criticized for showing too

many voices in Roe, to which she said, “You have to tell it the way you see it. I didn’t want to add to the polarization in the country.”

Loomer stressed the importance of listening to political views other than your own. Agreeing to disagree is something that no longer exists, according to Loomer, and by refusing to listen to opposing viewpoints, political arguments have become hostile.

Loomer later stated that she understands being a playwright does not mean she is going to have a profound impact on the world. She only hopes that by starting a conversation within the theatre community, she can create a change or a new perspective in just a few people’s lives.

Theatre is different than film in Loomer’s eyes because the audience is a part of it; they live it and breathe it as it happens, and a play can change in response to that energy. She views this process as surreal—starting conversations with real stories rather than war and sensationalism.

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Thursday, April 13, 2017

Rollins crew teams shine in New Jersey regatta

Rollins crew teams performed skillfully at the Knecht Cup regatta last weekend in West Windsor, New Jersey.

Ellie Rushing

Staff Writer

The Rollins Crew team participated in the Knecht Cup, a prestigious regatta hosted by Princeton, in West Windsor, New Jersey this past weekend, April 8 and 9. It is “one of the largest collegiate rwasattas in the United States” with “70 different universities and colleges from throughout the country” competing, according to the Princeton National Rowing Association. Rollins did more than participate; they made themselves known. Both the Men and Women’s teams surfaced on the leaderboard in a handful of events.

The Men’s team took home the gold in two events. Marc Bremmer ‘17 and Mitchell Laughlin ‘20 secured the 1st place position in the Men’s Varsity Pair event. They raced in conditions colder than what they were used to, at 42 degrees Fahrenheit, yet

they still won by open water, meaning they were more than a boat’s length ahead of their competition.

Bremmer commented on the events of his race. “Our start was strong, allowing us and one other team to pull away from the rest of the pack. The other team kept contact with us until the 1000m mark (half way through the race) where we began to open up a gap. Heading into the final 500m, and the sprint of the race, we kept focusing on making the gap as big as possible between us and the rest of the competition. We knew we would be unchallenged for first place, but we wanted to post as fast a time as we could.”

He added that he and Mitchell work well as a pair and that they were proud of their race.

They agreed their performance was clean due to their relaxed attitudes.

The Men’s Varsity Four team also came in first amongst Divi-

sion II and III teams. They beat schools such as Carnegie Mellon and Bowdoin College. Their team was comprised of Sarah Ankli MBA ‘18, Cameron Boyd ‘20, Nilsen Arias ‘18, Laughlin, and Bremmer.

Bremmer praised their coxswain and seasoned rower, Ankli, for her insightful decisions. “Our start was a bit slow and we were down, playing catch-up for the first 500m of the race. Throughout the next 500m we had teams on either side of us that we were tied with. Sarah responded to the situation well, calling for us to make moves and slowly push away from the competition inch by inch leading the pack into the 1000m mark.”

He adds that later in the race her position became even more vital. “Sarah then called for an increase in our stroke rating, and made split-second adjustments to the race plan we prepared, not only keeping us in first but in-

creasing our lead.” The team was proud of their win, but are eager to practice harder and work on their rhythm and speed.

The Women’s team advanced all the way to the finals in two of their events. They secured 4th in the Women’s Novice 4 event, with teammates Samantha Talucci ‘20, Rhiannon Holland ‘20, Nicole Vitt ‘20, and Grace Wamester ‘20.

In the Women’s Club 8 event, which included Division I and II schools. They recieved 7th place.

Their competition for this event included Florida Tech and the University of Pittsburgh, and teammates included Ankli, Talucci, Holland, Wamester, Lizzy Berry ‘19, Elise Marquette ‘17, Bella Sandoval ‘17, Isabel Seddon ‘17, and Morgan Colley ’17.

Overall, the team succeeded despite the harsh weather.

Though the high winds and cold caused most of Saturday’s scheduled events to be postponed until

Sunday, the teams did not lose their stamina.

The teams’ victory last weekend rode on the coattails of yet another major success. The prior weekend, both the Men and Women’s teams received medals at their Championships during the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association (FIRA) Championships. The Crew team certainly created a winning standard, and has been an exciting team to keep up with. They are bringing some extra attention and pride to the Rollins name.

They will continue their season this weekend in Oak Ridge, Tennessee while competing at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship. The Men’s team will only be competing in the Men’s Varsity 4 event, despite their success in the Paired event due to the regatta’s rules; athletes will only be allowed to be entered in one event.

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