12.02.16

Volume 114 Issue 14

Trinitonian Serving Trinity University Since 1902

December 02, 2016

2016 IN REVIEW A look at the Trinity community, the U.S. and beyond Trinity remembers professors lost Denese Jones joins Trinity community

Over the course of the year, Trinity has lost two faculty members. On July 30, chemistry adjunct professor, Matthew “Matt” Rowan, passed away in a tragic accident. He had been working with Trinity students since 2013 teaching Organic Chemistry Lab sections.

Over the summer, physics and astronomy professor, Daniel Spiegel, passed away suddenly. He is survived by his parents, ex-wife and son. He taught at Trinity from 1991 to 2016, and was admired for his passion for undergraduate research.

IA

IA

UD LA

RC GA

This year, Deneese Jones was :C selected as the new vice president for by o ot Academic Affairs. Jones expressed excitement Ph for what she hopes to contribute to Trinity. She told Trinitonian staff members about the message of inclusivity she plans to spread and the importance of visible inclusiveness. “I’m passionate about that visibility; if it’s in your face, you can’t ignore it. We all have different strengths Orlando shooting that can be helpful when used together. shakes Trinity If we’re not inclusive, if we’re not July 12 commemorates intentionally inclusive, we miss the tragic Pulse nightclub those opportunities. To me, shooting in Orlando, Florida. This that is the educational attack was the deadliest act of violence process,” Jones said. against the LGBT community the U.S. has

Britain makes an exit

ever experienced.

“When something like that happens, the whole community feels it,” said Abigail Wharton, the secretary of Trinity’s LGBT organization, PRIDE. “As an officer in the PRIDE group, I can tell you that we’re about to make some big moves in the spring involving community engagement. I do it as much for my friends and family in the LGBT community as I do it for those who don’t have a chance to anymore.”

Photo provided by: ASMARA LEHRMANN

Trinity housing bubble pops Residential Life released a select number of juniors to live off campus this year through a lottery system, due to a large incoming class of first years and increased demand for on-campus housing from seniors. While some students welcomed the change, others felt it was an inconvenience. Paige Perez, Election day junior communication major, was one of the students November who rejected the lottery because of the short notice marked the end given to juniors. “I feel like if this is a problem of the 58th U.S. every year they should maybe give us that presidential election with option a little earlier,” Perez said. the victory of Presidentelect Donald Trump. American reactions ranged from both extremes, resulting in the voicing of concerns of many unheard Americans as well as protests nationwide.

“It shattered the American psyche ... I think each side was tone deaf to the issues on the other side, and that the buzzwords that each side used to attack the other side didn’t really connect with the opposing ideologies,” said Cole Murray, Ph junior urban studies and political ot o science double major. b y:

On June 24, it was announced that 51.9 percent of U.K. voters had decided to leave the E.U. This vote resulted in a drastic change of the U.K.’s political atmosphere, and led to the 48.1 percent of citizens who voted to remain in the E.U. wondering about their country’s future.

“I was heartbroken, because I’m proudly English but proudly European at the same time, and I didn’t want to lose the benefits of the E.U., so I was fully in the ‘remain’ camp. It was a real show of how little the pollsters really understood people’s feelings in the country at the time,” said Callum Squires, a senior German studies major.

The Cubs rise again After 108 years, the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series in November of this year. Junior Kendall Hayes, a Chicago native, said that the win means the world to her and other fans. “Nobody can argue that the Cubbies don’t deserve this. For 108 years they were the lovable losers, everyone would laugh at Cubs fans for having hope. It’s hard to put into words how deeply this is felt throughout Chicago,” Hayes said.

HE

NR YP

RA TT

Celebrities that are gone but not forgotten This year saw the passing of several famous faces. Names include David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Nancy Reagan, Prince, Mohamed Ali, Eli Wiesel, Leonard Cohen, Gene Wilder, Arnold Palmer, Florence Henderson and Fidel Castro. Their influence on cinema, literature, music, sports and world affairs will never be forgotten.

Photo by: JOSEPH KHALAF Compiled by: Soleil Gaffner, Alexandra Uri, Julia Poage, and Julia Weis

2

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016

Big changes for Greek life with new Council officers Student leaders plan to focus on risk management and campus outreach throughout the next academic year

• NEWS

BRIEFS TUPD 11.29.2016 8:41 a.m.

Location: Storch Memorial Building Fire Alarm

SGA This was the final meeting for SGA this semester.

Duane Coltharp, associate vice president for Academic Affairs, met with SGA to go over scheduling conf licts.

SGA also voted on changes to the constitution. The officers also gave their last reports of the semester.

Those interested in applying for next year’s SGA cabinet should apply by December 4. The cabinet will consist of chief of staff, treasurer, communications director, legislative relations coordinator and secretary. graphic by TYLER HERRON

BY CHRISTIANA ZGOURIDES

NEWS REPORTER

A new group of student leaders have been elected to help run and organize Greek life at Trinity. New council members are selected by a simple majority vote; current Greek Council members as well as two representatives from each organization vote in each race.

The new Greek Council will officially take office on bid day next semester.

One of the Greek Council projects in 2016 was the Safer Parties Initiative (SPIn), which may bring changes to the structure of the council in the future.

Allen explained, for example, that there is now more overlap between judicial and risk management chairs than in previous years.

“So in the past, for example, risk management would just be a lot of registering events and doing paperwork to make sure that we have a record of everything that’s happening,” Allen said.

He explained that under the SPIn, parties no longer need to be registered. The risk management chair now occupies more of a consulting role that assists organizations in complying with the SPIn recommendations.

One such recommendation is for members of Greek life to attend alcohol-safety training programs.

“It’s about how to serve alcohol, how to look for over intoxication, how to properly ensure the safety of your guests at a party. And so they’re tangible things that our groups can take back and start to implement in a new way,” Allen said.

The SPIn has also changed the nature of the judicial chair position.

“And judicial, we have a lot less cases than we’ve had in the past, and we’ve created the judicial committee that’s new, again that every organization is a part of,” Allen said.

This committee allows members from every organization, rather than only those on Greek Council executive board, to be represented in hearing judicial cases.

Because the SPIn has led to more overlap between the work of the risk management and judicial chairs, those positions might be combined to make room for a new diversity chair as the 10th position.

“We are going to vote on it as soon as we get back in spring, at the Greek Council general meeting,” Allen said. “And if it passes, we’ll elect a new diversity chair for the rest of the calendar year. So for the next year we might have 11 members on [the] Greek Council [executive board], and then in that following year, 2017 to 2018, we would combine judicial and risk

management, have that diversity chair going forward, so we’re at the ten-member level.”

Members of the incoming Greek Council executive board plan to build on the work of last year’s group.

“In my speech for the elections I was talking a lot about how I am active in the social scene so I can see what’s working what’s not working, and I think that I can improve the Safer Parties Initiative to make it work with Trinity students, and to make it more effective,” said Sophia Spurlock, newly elected risk management chair. “So I’ve seen things that have been working but I also know that we still have problems on this campus. I talked in my speech about drunk driving, I think it’s still a big problem, even though we have Uber, people still drive. That’s something that I want to work on specifically.”

She sees the potential merit in combining judicial and risk management positions, but also understands why they might be kept separate.

“If you have them separate you could have one person working at how to reduce risks at parties, and then you have another person who deal with the incidents that happen. And of course there’s a lot of overlap between them, so I can see why combining them makes sense,” Spurlock said.

Yvette Peña, newly elected women’s co-chair, is the only returning member of the Greek Council executive board.

“I really loved being on Greek Council — a lot of people just do it for one year, but I knew I wasn’t ready to stop being involved. And I think that recruitment is really trying to think about the bigger picture, about what we want our Greek life community to look like, not only now but in the future. So I thought that cochair tied nicely to that idea,” Peña said.

Peña is interested in promoting campus outreach and Greek unity as women’s co-chair. “It’s basically like having clubs reach out to one another more, involve each other more and just break the boundaries of being in a club, and make it more being in Greek life in general,” Peña said of Greek Unity.

She also believes that having a diversity chair is a good idea to promote campus outreach.

“Diversity looks like people involved that may have never seen themselves in Greek life. Or getting our community involved in events that we may have never seen ourselves going to,” Peña said. “I know that a lot of sororities have diversity chairs and they promote oncampus events that a lot of us never would have gone to if somebody wouldn’t have pointed it out to us. And so I just think it promotes more community involvement or awareness of what’s going on on campus.”

Corrections

Compiled by Alex Uri

CLASSIFIEDS Want to take out an ad?

Classified Ads are free for Trinity students. For nonstudents each ad is $25.

Send your ads to: trinitonian-adv@trinity.edu

Staff editor-in-chief: Julia Elmore managing editor: Grace Frye business manager: Dzung Vu ad directors: Lauren Harris & Christina Moore news editor: Alexandra Uri pulse editor: Emily Elliott arts & entertainment editor: Dylan Wagner sports editor: Markham Sigler opinion editor: Daniel Conrad photo editor: Miguel Webber graphic editor: Tyler Herron layout editor: Katie Groke web editor: Abi Birdsell circulation director: Maddie Kennedy reporters: Kathleen Creedon, Chris Garcia, Elise Hester, Courtney Justus, Haley McFadden, Alexander

Contact Us Editorial

Advertising

Emai l . . ..............trin iton ian@trin it y.edu Newsroom. . ......210 -999-8558 Editors.............210 -999-8557 Fax.. ..................210 -999-7034

Emai l . . ..............trin iton ian-adv@trin it y.edu Ad Off ice.........210 -999-8555 Fax.. ..................210 -999-7034

Onl ine: trin iton ian.com

The photo on the cover of the November 28 issue was incorrectly attributed to Claudia Garcia. Miguel Webber was the photographer.

Spot a mistake? Email us at trinitonian@trinity.edu and we will happily run a correction in the following issue.

Opinions expressed in the Trinitonian are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Trinity University, its students, faculty, staff or the Trinitonian. Editorials represent the opinions of the Trinitonian Editorial Board. The first copy of the Trinitonian is free; additional copies are 50 cents each. ©2016. All rights reserved.

Motter, Jeffrey Sullivan, Christiana Zgourides columnists: Alejandro Cardona, Max Freeman, Mia Garza, Sarah Haley, Joy Lazarus, Gabriel Levine, Alexander Perkowski, Emily Peter, Callum Squires, Nabeeha Virani copy editors: Soleil Gaffner, Julia Poage, Julia Weis cartoonist: Michael Miller photographers: Noah Davidson, Claudia Garcia, Henry Pratt, Osvaldo Veloz business staff: Sarah McIntyre, Krushi Patel advertising staff: Melissa Chura, Rebecca Derby adviser: Katharine Martin

Facebook: The Trin iton ian

Twitter:@trin iton ian

Identification The Trin iton ian [ USPS 640460] [issn 1067-7291] is publ ished week ly during the academic year, except hol idays and f inal exams, by Trin it y Un iversit y, One Trin it y Place, San A nton io, T X 78212-720 0. Subscript ion price is $35 per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at San A nton io, T X. POST M AST ER: Send address changes to the Trin iton ian, One Trin it y Place, #62 , San A nton io, T X 78212-720 0.

NEWS • DECEMBER 02, 2016 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

3

Christmas spirit brings Trinity together Oakmont opens its doors for the 60th year to ring in the holiday season

BY AUBREY PARKE

NEWS INTERN

Oakmont Street is preparing for the 60th year of Trinity University’s most beloved tradition, Christmas on Oakmont. On Sunday, Dec. 4, Trinity’s combined choir will sing a Vespers Service in Parker Chapel.

After the service, faculty members, including President Danny Anderson, Dean of Students David Tuttle and all of the vice presidents will open their homes to students.

“The street is alive with people,” said Charles White, vice president of Information Resources, Marketing and Communications, who has been part of Christmas on Oakmont for 18 years. “There is a handbell choir, a choir that goes around caroling and luminarias all over so the whole street looks lit up.”

Each house will serve a different kind of seasonal food, ranging from tamales to hot chocolate to gingerbread. White estimates that half of the student body attends Christmas on Oakmont each year, along with faculty members, alumni, students’ families and neighbors.

Christmas on Oakmont is a unique tradition because it is based

out of school administrators’ homes, as vice presidents are required to live in university-owned houses near campus.

“Decades ago, President Calgaard believed it was important for the administration to be actively engaged in the daily life of the campus,” said David Tuttle, dean of students. “It makes sense for a small school like ours and gives it a very intimate feel.”

Yvette Peña, senior, said that it shows how much the university cares about its community.

“It reminds us how fortunate we are to go to a school where administrations invite us into their homes with open arms,” Peña said.

Although administrators spend hours preparing for the event, they say along with students that Christmas on Oakmont is their favorite Trinity tradition.

“All the vice presidents to a person love doing this,” White said. “We’ve got a couple of newbies this year, like Sheryl Tynes and our V.P. for Academic Affairs. So there’s a chance to pull some Christmas tricks on them. It’s not a tradition yet, but it’s one I’d like to start.”

The Vespers Service directly before Christmas on Oakmont is an even older tradition. Trinity choirs perform choral anthems and readings. In between, audience members sing Christmas carols along with the choir.

“It’s a service as opposed to a performance, so there is definitely

congregational singing,” said Gary Seighman, director of choral activities.

Towards the end of the service, the choir moves the chapel by singing “Silent Night” while holding candles.

The stream of people leaving Parker Chapel join with students waiting for houses on Oakmont to open and the celebration begins.

“The best part is the spirit of it,” Tuttle said. “Everyone is really joyous, kind and grateful. My family often comments on the diversity of the student body, so I love that international students get to see this tradition.”

Both Vespers and Christmas on Oakmont are designed to bring people together.

“Things that build community integrate with each other, let us get to know each other, make us feel part of a community,” White said.

“Those kinds of traditions define the experience of being at Trinity.”

Seighman believes that caroling at Vespers also brings students together.

“Group singing is so embedded in human culture, and to be able to tell that Christmas story that way I think makes it especially powerful, both on an emotional and a spiritual level,” Seighman said.

Veterans of Christmas on Oakmont have a few tips for students who want to get the most out of the celebration.

“Go to all the houses because you get more variety,” White said.

“Introduce yourself to the people

graphic by TYLER HERRON

you don’t know who you’re standing in line with while you’re waiting.

Ask ‘Hey, what’s your story? What year are you?’ There’s an opportunity to get to know people you didn’t already in an environment like this.”

Peña recommends that people stay for the handbell concert, a unique aspect of the event.

“At some point during the night the handbell ensemble plays a really cool show outside of the houses and it’s great to watch,” Peña said. “It’s a wellneeded change of pace before finals.”

Seighman encourages students who want to see the Vespers service to arrive early.

“It fills up very quickly,” Seighman said. “We even have to bring in extra chairs because the pews fill up.”

Tuttle said that Vespers and Christmas on Oakmont events show, not only the holiday spirit, but the general spirit of the members of Trinity’s community.

“This is a tremendous way to showcase and revel in our campus community. For me, it signals the start of the Christmas season, and hopefully good presents,” Tuttle said.

The Vespers will begin at 6 p.m. on Sunday and the houses on Oakmont will open when soon after the concert ends.

Communication department looking to hire new faculty Students in the major help with the search for professors to fill vacancies

BY JULIA WEIS

COPY EDITOR

As Bill Christ, a professor of communication, enters his last year of phased retirement, the department of communication is seeking faculty to fill the gap that he will leave behind.

“In communication, we only have eight full-time tenure-track faculty members, so anytime we hire a person for one of those positions, we’re really talking about changing the dynamics of the department a little bit. It’s hard for us because we don’t want to see Dr. Christ go, but it is always substantial at a school like Trinity,” said Jennifer Henderson, head of the department of communication.

Throughout the hiring process of the new faculty member, the search committee has asked students who are communication majors or otherwise involved in the department to get to know some of the candidates for the position and provide their thoughts on them.

“We try to get students involved every time we do a hire in our department and there are two key ways that they’re involved. One is that we always have visiting faculty candidates teach a class in front of

students, and then we ask students to give their feedback about that teaching process,” Henderson said.

Paige Perez, Lavanya Hospeti and Michael Carroll were students who had the opportunity to interact with the potential hires.

“I spent about an hour talking to the potential faculty members about their past academic experiences, but also tried to just get to know who they were as a person. We didn’t just talk about school, but also some common interests like travel, food, exploring San Antonio and other stuff like that,” said Perez, who is a TigerTV student manager.

Hospeti, a TigerTV manager and sociology major, met with the potential candidate and enjoyed contributing to the process.

“I really enjoyed being a part of the process! I think that Trinity has done an amazing job in all departments of involving students with the process of selecting faculty. This really shows that they value the student body’s opinions of the school.I contributed my opinion of the candidate and how I thought she would fit in with the school,” Hospeti said.

Carroll was able to participate by being in one of the classes that the candidates taught.

“I was a student in Dr. Huesca’s Media Audiences class. The possible new faculty members each gave a lecture on their own day during class. They were all really good. They each had a friendly and intelligent attitude about their

topic or lecture that welcomed discussion,” Carroll said.

Students thought the potential hires would fit well at Trinity.

“They were all very bright, but some were more approachable than others. When the conversation really flows between you and a candidate, you know that they would be a great fit for the department. We don’t just want someone who can teach students — we also need someone who can talk to, adapt to and learn from the students,” Perez said.

According to professors within the department of communication, the hiring process has been successful so far. The top four candidates have already been interviewed on campus and have interacted with students, and now the committee can move closer to hiring someone. Current faculty hope to reach a decision soon, since Christ leaves a large gap to be filled. However, faculty and students are sad to see Christ go.

“It is difficult to imagine the department of communication without Dr. Christ. He is a stellar scholar, a committed teacher and a mentor to whom I regularly turn for advice,” said Aaron Delwiche, professor of communication.

“He was one of the very first communication educators to recognize that the accelerating pace of technological change requires a flexible, holistic curriculum. He was also instrumental in building a culture that values the integration of theory and practice.”

Take a Paws

from studying for finals and come spend time with some therapy pets!

Come by the Coates Library lobby on Thursday, December 8th from 4-6pm for some fun finals stress relief and play time!

4

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

New class schedule grid being proposed for future

Proposed plan would change the block schedule from the traditional Monday-WednesdayFriday and Tuesday-Thursday

BY KATHLEEN CREEDON

NEWS REPORTER

During the 2014-2015 academic year, the University Curriculum Council (UCC) created a committee to survey the possibility of revising Trinity’s class scheduling grid. This proposition was discussed to resolve two key issues in the schedule: the preference of Tuesday-Thursday (TR) time slots to Monday-Wednesday-Friday (MWF) time slots and the overscheduled nature of the current system.

To fix the first problem, the committee suggested the option of 75-minute time slots on Monday-Wednesday (MW) or Wednesday-Friday (WF). Because so many professors prefer the longer periods, offering more extended periods would allow more flexibility for both students and faculty.

“The availability of more 75-minute time slots would enable some faculty members to shift their classes from TR to MW or WF, thus easing the pressure on the TR schedule,” said Duane Coltharp, associate vice president for Academic Affairs.

Because students and faculty are so over-booked, the committee decided to revise the schedule by adding a “common time,” which would allow for the scheduling of lectures, committee meetings or department meetings. In the current proposal, it is MWF 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. However, these changes are still in the proposal stage.

“It’s not a done deal by any means. I’m in the process of meeting with various department chairs so that we can think through the possible consequences of these changes. I’ve discussed the

proposal with the University Curriculum Council, and I plan to meet with the Faculty Senate in the near future,” Coltharp said.

The proposal intends to lighten the load of both Trinity professors and students by allowing an uninterrupted time for both groups. The changes will address the hard-working culture of Trinity by providing a few moments throughout the week that allow a break.

“The committee I’ve been working with has given a lot of thought to the atmosphere on campus. We’ve noticed that everyone seems to be busy all the time. We think a ‘common time’ could help to address the culture of busyness, if you will, by providing a few moments during the week when everyone could stop, take a breath and do something that’s not totally taskoriented,” Coltharp said.

Some students agree that this proposal would help them manage their time better. The option of having classes on MW and WF offers a greater range of flexibility for students.

“I already take an engineering class that’s like that, and it’s pretty helpful,” said Christian Oakes, junior.

Having MW or WF classes relieves the pressure of TR classes.

However, some disagree with the “common time” part of the proposal as it may interrupt their focus.

“For the clubs I’m involved in, later meetings are better.

Once I’m in class mode, I’m in class mode,” said Parker Cormack, junior.

Whether or not students are in favor of this proposal, many agree too many classes were scheduled on TR this semester, which makes it harder for students to be flexible with the courses they want and need to take.

“It seems, for this coming semester, a lot of the classes are Tuesday-Thursday. More Monday-Wednesday would help balance out schedules,” said Ella Lutz, first year.

These changes are still in a proposal stage. Before they can take effect, they must be approved by the UCC and the Academic Faculty Assembly. Coltharp met with the Student Government Association to discuss the proposed changes.

Anderson lecture attracts strong emotions from campus

photo by CLAUDIA GARCIA

Sophomore Dalton Flood asks visiting lecturer Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation a question on how artificial insemination fits into arguments he made on same-sex relationships. Anderson’s lecture was sponsored by Tigers for Liberty (TFL) on November 17th and spoke on defining marriage and religious liberty.

A 30-minute Q&A followed the lecture where members and allies of Trinity’s LGBTQ community asked Anderson critical questions on positions he had taken in his arguments. Before the first question, Manfred Wendt, president of TFL, thanked the audience for respectfully listening to Anderson despite visible ideological differences.

In response to the lecture a “Gay Sit-In” was hosted by sophomore Frances Stone and PRIDE hosted a lecture with Amy Stone, associate professor of anthropology and sociology, and Reverend Layton Williams about how to deal with and counter antiLGBTQ sentiments.

NEWS

Kudos program recognizes staff Initiative returns to campus this semester to reward faculty members who go beyond their stated responsibilities

BY LUTFI SUN

NEWS INTERN

Kudos is a program designed to recognize a Trinity staff member for their extra efforts. A group of volunteer staff members under the TSEC (Trinity University Staff Engagement Committee) started Kudos in June 2012. In May 2014, TSEC suspended the program because the last chair of the Kudos left the campus, and there was no volunteer leader to continue at that time. This semester, a subcommittee under the TSEC started the program back up.

“We are a subcommittee under the Trinity Staff Engagement Committee. There are elected officer positions, but for the subcommittee Kudos, no. It is all volunteer” said Dena Warneke, the current chair of the Kudos Program.

The Kudos program gives the entire campus community the opportunity to nominate staff members in six categories: good citizenship, collaboration and helping, bright idea, above and beyond, make it happen and unsung hero. Sometimes, Kudos Committee gets nominations for people who are not actually staff.

Then, they pass those complements into their appropriate services and departments.

“We have been working on it all summer to get it back,” said Sharon Curry, one of the six volunteers in the subcommittee.

Kudos plays a big role in Trinity community, according to Curry.

“We wanted staff to have a way to show appreciation and to get appreciation from people. Because not only Trinity has an amazing faculty it also has an amazing staff who support the faculty,” Curry said.

The subcommittee sends out notifications at the beginning of every month and shares a link to google form through LeeRoy in the middle of the month. Based on the weekly nominations, the voluntary staff members in the subcommittee deliver kudos to the winners.

“When we get a nomination we print out a certificate of nomination and type up a letter that explains what happened and why they are nominated. Then, we hand deliver that along with a Kudos candy bar,” Curry said. “It is not like a big official reward. It is more kind of a nice little congratulations and pat on the back.”

The TSEC committee gets a list of all the weekly nominations and what they are nominated for. Then, they vote for the monthly Kudos winner.

“We give them more recognition and a gift card as well. We have a newsletter that includes the monthly winners with their photos,” Warneke said.

“The really cool part of being in the committee is to hear about what people are doing across the campus,” Curry said. “I get to hear about some amazing things staff members are doing.”

For instance, the TUPD chief Paul Chapa was the August 2016 winner. He was nominated in the category “Make It Happen — Relentlessly resourceful and productive.” Chapa’s “visionary leadership” is especially emphasized in the nomination.

Chapa has implemented various programs to improve campus safety such as the CART (Community Awareness and Resource Team), Community Appreciation Days and the Alcohol Awareness Days. “[Receiving the Kudos] felt great! It reassured me that we as an organization were on the right track,” Chapa said.

Richard Martinez from the Facilities Services was the Kudos winner of September 2016. He was nominated in the category “Good Citizenship — Promoting positive morale through actions of good spirit.” The nomination for Martinez highlighted his willingness to help his co-workers when they needed an extra hand. His positive attitude in completing his own duties, as well as in helping others, and his ever-smiling manner was noted by the person who nominated him.

Warneke said what Kudos winners do is not a requirement.“They have gone above and beyond their work,” Warneke said.

The Kudos winners do not know about their nomination until they receive the award.

“It is really cool to just come up and brighten someone’s day,” Curry said. “Sometimes when we deliver the Kudos, everybody claps. This makes it so special. It is always nice to know that other people appreciate your work.”

Curry enjoys being a volunteer in the Kudos program.

“It is one of my favorite things to do. Not only I get to make someone else’s day brighter but also just being able to do that make my day brighter too,” Curry said.

Chapa has also been involved in the Kudos program before by giving Kudos to staff members.

“What a simple pat on the back and a candy bar can do to human spirit is incredible,” Chapa said.

...

COMMENTARY Have an opinion? Want others to hear it? For a chance to be featured as a guest columnist, please submit your article to trinitonian@trinity.edu by Monday night to be in Thursday’s issue of the paper.

Opinion

EDITORIAL

Awkward Indeed December is a time for reflection. A time to look back, discuss and review how much we’ve changed in just 365 days. Earlier this semester we made a campus-wide call to make and keep awkward conversations. And, looking back, what an awkward semester we have had. From campus-wide discussions about religious liberties, to admin-led “trauma therapy” sessions in response to the election and even to the infamous Ryan Lochte-Brazilian police fiasco.

While sometimes we wish this semester was just a fever dream fueled by Steve Harvey’s “Miss Universe” blunder, we cannot. We need to stand up, realize what has happened and face it head on. But that’s a lot easier said than done (believe us — it’s our job). This semester has shown us that we are not always in the majority. It has shown us that we need to take responsibility for our actions and mistakes. It has shown us how much practice and patience is required when it comes to controversial topics. But what it has shown us the most, is how easy it is to not engage when things get awkward.

We as a staff learned this first hand during an interview this summer. Vice president of Academic Affairs, Deneese Jones, mentioned how her identity as a black woman has shaped many of the experiences and interactions that

led her to where she is today. And we left it at that. No push, no questions, we dropped the ball. But we learned one of the most valuable lessons of the semester early: take every opportunity to ask why.

Next, we had the opportunity to talk to socialpolitical comedian W. Kamau Bell. As two white girls learning from a black man whose comedy is heavily based on his experiences with racism, we got our second chance to make it awkward by asking why. Similar to Jones, Bell challenged us to think about how our privilege clouds our experiences and the best way to learn how to overcome it is to ask those awkward questions.

Just one week later, Trinity’s theatre department performed “Good Kids,” which brought light to the issue of sexual assault on high school and college campuses. It also opened a discussion surrounding representation of disabilities in the theatre. A rousing backand-forth took place about the decision to cast an able-bodied actress to play a disabled character and the representation of disabled actors in general. It was exciting to see members of our community voice their opinions about these issues.

Perhaps the biggest, most awkward event of the semester was the presidential campaign and election. From the laughable awkwardness, like

Jeb!’s “please clap,” to Jill Stein’s live-streamed input during the debates to the serious issues regarding feelings of discrimination and fear, the election cycle was full of cringe-worthy conversations and concerning comments.

Amid this, Trinity faced our own stream of awkwardness. From chants to “Build the Wall” to safety concerns to admin-led therapy, the Trinity community has proved how constructive a campus dialogue is and how many more we need.

Most recently a lecture by Ryan Anderson hosted by the student organization, Tigers For Liberty, sparked debate across campus regarding marriage equality, the definition of marriage and religious liberties tied to these topics. In a move that showed the range of differing ideologies on campus present at the lecture, the auditorium was filled with students donned in rainbow attire to show support for the community. Once again, Trinity’s community faced an awkward conversation that is not always easy to talk about.

As the semester comes to a close and we reflect on the conversations started on campus and outside our Trinity bubble, we look forward as a publication to what the next semester and the new year holds. We stand with our students and their right to start awkward conversations.

We are proud to keep it awkward.

Letter: On the Anderson talk ROBERT HUESCA

GUEST COLUMNIST I think it’s great for student organizations to invite provocative speakers to campus (Dr. Ryan Anderson lecture, Nov. 17).

But why did the Tigers for Liberty bring someone who was obsessed with controlling people’s genitalia? Anderson’s bizarre and relentless exploration of how and why men and women penetrate one another was made all the more perverted by his pedantic delivery and convoluted adoption of scientific, philosophical and religious discourse.

The lecture was inconsistent with the aspirations of higher education as it obfuscated and confused the barely lingering political controversy over same-sex marriage.

The evening’s presentation laid down a challenge, however, to critical thinking for everyone trying to understand the significance of the event.

For me, the big takeaway was that homophobia cloaked in logic, reason and footnotes is more pernicious and dangerous than the slurs and attacks of blatant bigotry.

I hope the lecture’s “lesson” was not lost on the audience.

Robert Huesca is a professor of communication.

‘Religious liberty’ and the Constitution On closer examination, appeals to ‘religious liberty’ contradict the separation of church and state CARL TEEGERSTROM

GUEST COLUMNIST

Religious liberty is commonly cited as the reasoning behind the opinions of pro-lifers and anti-LGBTQ groups. The idea is that the constitution guarantees the freedom to express one’s religion. Abortions and LGBTQ couples are essentially sinful, thus laws protecting these are infringing on religious expression, therefore laws protecting said practices are unconstitutional. But what does “religious freedom” really entail? The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The amendment is to prevent two things: a state-backed religion and religious discrimination. However, the manner in which the religious freedom argument is invoked contradicts the First Amendment.

Religion seems to be primarily concerned with two things: making metaphysical claims and prescribing ethical codes based on said claims. The goal is that, if the ethical codes are followed on earth, then there will be a utopia and a good afterlife. The First Amendment appears to be relating to the second concern as the ethical systems affect people’s lives. The First Amendment thus guarantees that one can follow the ethical systems of their religion and that the state will not endorse the ethical system of any specific religion.

The religious freedom argument first and foremost asserts that other people follow the ethical systems of one’s religion. For a Christian baker to deny a wedding cake to the a gay couple enforces an interpretation of the Christian ethical system onto the couple, implying that if the couple were to abandon their “sinful”

practice then they would be served. The same is true for abortion. The essential point of the religious freedom argument is a demand that others comply with the ethical system of religion, and the demand is often constituted as denied service, gay-conversion camps, attacking planned parenthood, etc. For the state to choose this “religious freedom” would be for the state to endorse the ethical systems of a single religion, giving authority of practitioners to force others to comply, and in essence, creating a statesponsored religion, contradicting the First Amendment. Sure, LGBTQ couples can get a different wedding cake, but the harm allowed by “religious freedom” can be significant in gay conversion, and the laws restricting parenthood and reproductive rights explicitly force women to comply with an ethical system they may not believe in.

The religious freedom argument seems to force others to comply with one specific religion’s ethical system. Such an idea can lead to an unconstitutional practice. But isn’t the point of an ethical system to make others act ethically? Though ethical systems make such recommendations, legislation should be free of religion entirely.

To tie together legislation and religion makes laws above criticism because they come from a God, which can be compromising for democracy, and makes laws subject to the widely varied interpretations of hundreds or thousands of years old second-hand accounts, which is a vacuous and contentious base for legislation.

option for some. Dietary restrictions, economic means and geographic location are all factors that go into the feasibility of adopting a vegan lifestyle.

Unless you are an able-bodied urbanite with time to devote to this lifestyle, foregoing all animal products is likely to cause some serious problems.

My little brother is an example of such a person — he doesn’t live in a city, and thus there are few options around him that cater to the vegan niche.

Even if there were, due to a particularly rebellious colon affliction, there are a great many types of plants that he simply cannot digest. Were he to adopt a vegan diet and abandon animal products altogether, his meals would consist of lentils, rice and handfuls of supplemental pills. Would it be possible? Yes, but certainly not practical, economical or fulfilling.

Even vegans without these limitations often encounter unique health problems, such as deficiencies of vitamin B12 and certain amino acids. While these problems can usually be fixed

by either importation of particular foods or by the use of supplementations, they are more easily solved by a reasonable inclusion of meat.

I tend to agree with vegans and vegetarians that, as a society, we eat much more meat each day than we need to; but that being said, I think it is unnecessary to abandon meat altogether.

The meat industry as it operates today is both an ethical and environmental nightmare, but there does exist more ethically sound ways of getting meat.

Hunting for meat, while seemingly less and less popular, is a method of acquiring meat that is both incredibly efficient and one that avoids the moral pitfalls of slaughterhouses and kill cages. A single deer can last a family of four for months at a time, and I would wager that food acquired in this manner is much more carbon-neutral than relying on imports or supplements to fill the nutritional gaps left by a pure vegan diet. If you choose not to hunt yourself, then purchasing

meat from local sources has many of the same benefits. While this seems expensive, keep in mind that it is not necessary to consume a great deal of meat in order to receive the benefits of animal protein. A few portions a week in conjunction with a well-balanced diet will more than satisfy the body’s need for nutrients.

Eating locally, sustainably and according to your own body’s needs is the best way to eat both ethically and healthily, and in my opinion takes precedence over any other dietary trend or doctrine.

If you can keep these tenets in mind and keep to a vegan diet, more power to you. But I wouldn’t say it’s the only way.

Besides, how are you supposed to absorb a creature’s strength and courage without eating a raw bleeding heart every once and awhile?

Carl Teegerstrom is a sophomore philosophy major with a minor in mathematics.

Veganism isn’t all it’s chalked up to be NICK SMETZER

GUEST COLUMNIST I’ll be the first to admit that vegans get more flak than they deserve. Yes, there are some vegans who mistake having a dietary preference for having a personality; but what I’ve found even more annoying than them are the kinds of people who never shut up about how annoying vegans are. Maybe it’s just me, but if I hear one more person say “salad isn’t food, it’s what food eats,” I’ll have no choice but to write an even longer and more meandering intro to an opinion article.

What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think veganism is bad. In fact, I think it’s a lifestyle that could potentially have many significant benefits, both for one’s health and for the environment.

However, I do take issue with the ideas that veganism is entirely without problems of its own.

Let’s get the most obvious point out of the way first: a truly vegan lifestyle simply isn’t a realistic

Nick Smetzer is an undeclared first year. He’s also an intern for the Trinitonian’s copy editors.

6

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

OPINION

What’s the harm? Looking back at Dr. Ryan Anderson

Some views are so sinister that simply expressing them can be harmful. Anderson’s were of this kind BRENDAN KENNEDY

GUEST COLUMNIST

A few weeks ago, before Ryan Anderson spoke in a lecture sponsored by Tigers for Liberty, my sister and I wrote a column about his invitation to campus. While the event was promoted as a discussion of religious liberty, we expressed concerns that Anderson’s extreme views on LGBTQ identity could present themselves in a harmful way. In response, we received both support and criticism (and a whole lot of confusion about why the political science department’s name kept showing up in promos).

Now that the lecture is over, I want to look back and explain why we still feel justified in raising our initial concerns. We were not concerned about Anderson because he is a conservative, or because we disagree with him or because we were “offended.” We were concerned because we knew too well that his moral condemnations of queer identity could have troubling consequences.

Revisiting what Anderson said and what he left unsaid, I feel those concerns were valid.

There are several issues with Anderson’s arguments and how he employed them, which were discussed by Amy Stone, professor of sociology and anthropology, in a followup event on campus as well as many others.

To boil it down, Anderson mischaracterized the marriage equality movement, the history and reality of marriage and the validity of the social science he touted on parenting. But these are areas for debate and disagreement, and they are not why we raised concerns about Anderson’s invitation.

To highlight our concerns, I want to explore two themes of Anderson’s lecture:

A team of 15 faculty and staff has been assembled to lead the development of Trinity’s Quality Enhancement Plan (Q.E.P.), which will focus on enhancing first-year students’ learning through strategic changes to teaching, advising and support services.

The Q.E.P. is a part of Trinity’s

that marriage equality will eventually lead to the breakdown of marriage as an institution, and that same-sex parents cannot provide a complete parenting experience to their children. According to these arguments, queer people harm others and society as a whole by marrying and raising children.

Though he was careful to not explicitly say so, his message was obvious: Anderson feels that those actions are wrong.

What these ideas touched on was a broader belief about queerness that Anderson has repeatedly upheld in his work. He has argued that homosexuality can cause mental illness, that same-sex attraction is a vice akin to alcoholism, that LGBTQ people ought to remain chaste and that homosexuality can and should be “cured.” His consistent belief is that LGBTQ people are morally obligated to reject their identity for the good of themselves, their children and society.

In response to our initial article, my sister and I heard from many people who didn’t see the harm in simply considering Anderson’s ideas. One of Anderson’s arguments was that it is wrong for queer people to marry and raise children, part of his broader belief that queerness itself is wrong. Let’s look at the consequences of considering these views.

The LGBTQ community is in a uniquely vulnerable position in regards to identity and social stigma. Sexuality is already a confusing thing for many people, and that confusion can grow when people live in environments that never affirm who they are. Many LGBTQ people only grow up hearing that their identity is wrong, dangerous or a matter of choice. They often internalize those ideas and develop a crippling self-hatred that can manifest itself in self-harm.

reaffirmation of accreditation, which is required every ten years to maintain our status as an accredited institution.

“They had a number of open forums and ideas workshops for people to come together and talk about areas that they thought might be good for a Quality

Enhancement Plan,” said Diane Saphire, Associate Vice President for Institutional Research and Director of Institutional Research.

“Out of that process there were a number of proposals that came forward, there was a number of rounds of vetting events and presentations to the whole campus.”

Give your parents a gift that will last all spring

Trinitonian Serving Trinity University Since 1902

Bulk mail subscriptions: $20 First class subscriptions: $35 cpstore.trinity.edu to pay with a credit card or send a check & address to: Box 62 Campus Mail A team of 15 faculty and staff has been assembled to lead the development of Trinity’s Quality Enhancement Plan (Q.E.P.), which will focus on enhancing first-year students’ learning through strategic changes to teaching, advising and support services.

The Q.E.P. is a part of Trinity’s reaffirmation of accreditation, which is required every ten years to maintain our status as an

accredited institution.

“They had a number of open forums and ideas workshops for people to come together and talk about areas that they thought might be good for a Quality Enhancement Plan,” said Diane Saphire, Associate Vice President for Institutional Research and Director of Institutional Research.

“Out of that process there were a number of proposals that came

forward, there was a number of rounds of vetting events and presentations to the whole campus.”

The selection of the “Starting Strong” proposal was driven in part by institutional research, which showed that Trinity lags behind peer institutions in firstyear advising.

“On a lot of these questions, these questions like how many

and support your campus newspaper at the same time.

For many LGBTQ people, just like anyone else, marriage and parenting are fundamental parts of who they are. To tell an LGBTQ person that it is wrong or dangerous to do those things, as Anderson did, is to tell them that it is wrong to be who they are. The other views held by Anderson, urging LGBTQ people to reject their “vices” through chastity or conversion therapy, echo that thought.

One of Anderson’s consistent beliefs is that it is dangerous and immoral for LGBTQ people to accept who they are.

What’s the harm in considering those ideas? That question ignores the fact that saying that queerness is wrong continues to expose LGBTQ people to very real harm. It ignores how many people on campus have seen friends who were harassed, rejected, sent to “therapy,” kicked out of their homes, condemned by their loved ones and driven to self-harm by those ideas. It ignores how many people on campus have faced those struggles themselves. It ignores how many people on campus want any justification to say that their disdain for LGBTQ people is a legitimate view rather than discrimination.

It ignores how many people on campus may struggle with their sexuality, for whom Anderson’s points on marriage and parenting will reinforce that internalized idea that they are wrong for being who they are. To present this as simply people being “offended,” as one rebuttal to our article stated, is shameful.

Anderson only delivered criticisms of marriage equality and same-sex parenting.

Those criticisms argued that it was wrong for LGBTQ people to fully embrace their identity, which raises these troubling issues.

And what Anderson didn’t say — his beliefs about conversion therapy, mental illness,

chastity and others — would have magnified those consequences.

And since the lecture was presented as a simple, policy-based look at religious liberty and marriage law, it’s worth asking why Ryan Anderson was the person who was chosen to speak. His degrading views on queerness are well-documented and well-known, and there are surely many other conservative speakers available who don’t promote those views.

These problems should have been foreseen and could have been avoided. But whether through malice or simple ignorance about Anderson’s work, Tigers for Liberty invited a speaker on “religious liberty” who just so happened to also morally condemn queer people who marry and start a family.

I am all for welcoming disagreement. Our concerns with Anderson were never about an unwillingness to discuss religious liberty, or federalism on the issue of marriage or antidiscrimination ordinances. Rather, we felt based on experience that it was dangerous to ask LGBTQ people, a uniquely vulnerable group, to “consider” the morality of their personal identity. Mercifully, Anderson skirted his most questionable beliefs, but the condemnations of queerness he did present were troubling and bring real consequences.

Advocates for Anderson were far too unconcerned about that risk. In the future, I would hope that sponsoring groups for controversial speakers would take the time to engage with others on campus and consider speakers with a discerning eye. That would help to distinguish what is merely “offensive” from what is legitimately harmful.

Brendan Kennedy is a senior political science and Spanish double major.

The left and right are at fault CONOR YOUNG

GUEST COLUMNIST The election, am I right? I’m not writing this to advocate for one position or the other. It’s approaching that wonderful time of year, so this is a general airing of grievances. Whether or not you joined the Trump Train, listen up!

To conservatives: No, campuses are not turning into oversized daycares. No, liberals are not crying because their candidate lost. I know what “upset because your team lost” looks like.

I’m a San Diego Chargers fan. They’re not upset because your candidate won. They’re scared because your candidate won. That emotion you see — that you mock — is fear.

I could talk about all the things that Trump said or did to inspire such fear, but you know very well what I’m talking about. You hedged against the negative, and voted for him anyway.

Instead, I’ll tell you a quick story. The morning after the election, I came into class and saw one of my friends in tears. She calmed down long enough to tell me what was happening. You see, her mother grew up in Paraguay, under the rule of the fascist dictator Alfredo Stroessner.

His three greatest hits: ordering the wholesale genocide of the native Aché people, torturing dissidents and then mailing tapes of their recorded screams to those dissidents’ family members and listening on the telephone while the other end was held to the execution of a major communist political opponent. Oh, yes, and this man was executed with a chainsaw! My friend’s mom saw enough similarity between Alfredo Stroessner and Donald Trump that she called her daughter the morning after the election, and told her everything she did to survive the Stroessner regime. This woman lived through a fascist dictatorship. She knows what they look like more than most people.

And she felt echoes of that man in the very same person we elected president.

Liberals. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you. You call Trump supporters racist. They fire back

by insisting that they voted for the man in spite of all the exhibited bigotry. Did you ever stop and think what could compel people to vote for a man in spite of that? This was an outcry from an oft-overlooked, systematically disenfranchised group of Americans: rural, white Americans. These are people that live with crushing poverty, a heroin epidemic and a suicide rate nearly double that of citydwellers. They felt the economic floor drop out from under them, then felt a slow to non-existent recovery. They represent one of pop culture’s last acceptable stereotypes. Go ahead and think of a movie or TV show that doesn’t portray country folks as the punchline in a fish-out-of-water or a bunch of inbred, murder-crazed yokels. Find one piece of popular culture where the protagonist doesn’t wish to escape a rural lifestyle.

So, your punchline felt so marginalized by the system that they overwhelmingly voted for a man that violently bucked systematic convention. That’s right, my blue-andgreen friends. You elected Donald Trump.

You ignored the concerns of white rural Americans for so long and with such gusto that they felt they had had no choice but to, as author Jason Pargin puts it, “throw a brick through the window.” Whenever a white person raised concerns, no time was spent assessing the validity of the concern. Instead, the common response was to immediately shut them down with accusations that they could never know real hardship because they still possessed the favored skin color. Yes, systemic, institutionalized discrimination against people of color, LGBTQ people and other equallyimportant marginalized groups still very much exists. I’m not attempting to compare magnitude of hardship between identity groups. I’m saying both happen, and you could have addressed both. You didn’t have to dismiss the plight of rural America. Now fix it and do both. Sympathy is not a zero-sum game. You tried to play it that way, and you lost.

OPINION • DECEMBER 02, 2016 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

7

Welcome to our automated future Imminent technological developments threaten economic crises, but hope is not yet lost — as long as we’re proactive MARK LEWIS

FACULTY COLUMNIST I’ve written a number of pieces now detailing how progress in technology is impacting our lives.

The bottom line is that remarkable strides in recent years have made current realities out of things that would have fallen into the category of science fiction not that long ago.

Many of these developments will wind up having a direct impact on employment and the work force.

This isn’t a new phenomenon. That is what technology does. As long as there has been technology, it has altered the workforce.

The challenges posed by this became clear in the industrial revolution. The term “Luddite Fallacy” in economics refers to the belief that technology always creates more jobs than it destroys. The name comes from a movement of English textile workers who went around smashing machines that were used to create textiles, which were taking over the types of jobs those particular textile workers had been paid to do. I would argue that the Luddite Fallacy must become a fallacy itself at some point in technological advancement. If one simply imagines sufficiently advanced technology that can do everything

a human can do but cheaper, there is clearly no point in employing humans anymore. So at some point, technological advance will destroy more jobs than it creates. The question is, have we crossed that point?

Or are we nearing it, and, if so, what should be done about it?

There is some evidence that we have already crossed some type of tipping point. A standard piece of evidence for this comes from plotting productivity and compensation over time. For decades, these two values rose together. Recently, they split. Exactly when they split depends on exactly what values you use for compensation, but no matter what values you use, they diverge somewhere between the mid-1970s and 2000. Strongly correlated to this is the fact that labor costs as a percentage of GDP have been in decline since the 1980s. One argument for why this is happening is that in the age of computing, it is increasingly beneficial to put more money into upgrading machines instead of paying humans to do things.

Thanks to the new capabilities of AI and large-scale data analysis, more and more areas are becoming automatable. It is important to realize that automation isn’t just about machines doing the same things

that humans could do for cheaper.

It is about opening new possibilities that aren’t options with human workers. An example of this that I have seen is a robotic construction worker. It might not be any better than a human at putting the structure together, but unlike a human, the location of every 2x4, nail, pipe and electrical conduit can be precisely cataloged. This means that with recent advances in virtual reality and augmented reality, the homeowners can look around five years later and see where those things are in the wall so that they know where it is safe to put in a nail to hang something.

Of course, by many metrics, the rise of automation doesn’t seem to be a problem because the economy is great. Unemployment is roughly 5 percent, which is generally considered full employment. The stock market is at all-time highs. We have nearly 80 consecutive months of private sector job growth.

However, not everyone is feeling the benefits equally, a fact that likely played a role in the most recent presidential election. We see this in other statistics, like the flat median income and the fact that the labor force participation rate is under 63 percent, more than 13 percent below the value in January 2007.

The economy is strong for those who have skills that are in demand, skills that make them hard to outsource or replace by machines at this time, but not for many others.

This fact is visible in wages and unemployment levels broken down by levels of education.

While the non-uniform economic recovery likely played a significant role in the election, that doesn’t mean that any of the proposals offered by any of the candidates will actually help. Shutting borders and reducing trade isn’t going to bring jobs back to the U.S., and nothing is going to stop the march of technological progress. Machines are going to replace more jobs, and the new jobs that are created are going to require higher level skills and likely more education than the ones that are removed.

So what can we do? If we have passed or are nearing a tipping point where technology destroys more jobs than it creates, this poses a real problem for our current economic system. We are a consumption-driven economy, and you can only consume if you have income. That income currently comes from having a job.

As the percentage of the population that isn’t able to participate in the workforce grows, it cre-

Welcoming Castro’s allAmerican successor Now is a good time to examine the apparent parallels between Cuba’s recently deceased dictator and our emerging one.

Ay caramba!

F i d e l Castro, el Comandante, es muerte.

Or, as our Dear Orange Leader-Elect GABRIEL LEVINE said in allOPINION COLUMNIST A m e r i c a n English on Twitter, “Fidel Castro is dead!” 2016 really has been a rough year for celebrity deaths. We lost Muhammad Ali, Leonard Cohen, Elie Wiesel and now Castro. Soon liberals like me will be out of popular-culture heroes.

Noam Chomsky ain’t gonna be around forever.

But, to take a page out of Trump’s energy policy, let’s forget about the future and focus on the past. What was Fidel Castro’s legacy? He was, in many ways, a visionary. For example, he knew that the beard and military garb combo looked good decades before GQ caught on.

Despite his strict dedication to socialism, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to work across the aisle on issues important to him. He had a reputation for smoking cigars and was a rebel icon. That must’ve matched nicely with the American tobacco industry’s attempts to resist the authoritarian boot of government regulation and health awareness.

The main point of El Jefe Maximo’s legacy, however, seems to be one of sticking it to the elites. Interestingly enough, our Short-Fingered Vulgarian-Elect ran a campaign on much the same principle. Castro led a populist revolution against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, a man who had left Cuba for Florida before returning to stage a coup.

Similarly, Trump, courageous against claims of racism, spoke out against our faux-American president, who was really from Kenya.

Batista had ignored the working class and instead aligned with the wealthy landowning elite of Cuban society. Trump vanquished the wealthy, globalist Jewish elites of American society who had concentrated themselves in coffee shops and universities and forgotten about the real America that had been decimated by global trade.

Castro, too, was no fan of trade.

Otherwise, why would he have provoked the U.S. embargo? (One might say that the U.S. imposed the embargo, but if the presidentelect can say nonsense without factchecking, so can I).

Castro was not without genuine accomplishments.

Cuba has exceptionally high literacy rates and a truly excellent healthcare system.

Of course, it also has chronic food shortages, grinding poverty, last

century’s technology and a chronic lack of free speech. But hey, that’s the price of autocracy. Given Trump’s tendencies and policies, I’m sure he’d agree.

Perhaps it was Castro’s tendency to murder and imprison thousands of political opponents while suppressing the free press that led hundreds of thousands of wealthy, educated Cubans to brave the perilous journey to Florida. Who needed those elites anyways? Ironically, many of them voted for Trump, who has promised and encouraged similar crackdowns.

But hey, something’s got to be done about political correctness and identity politics. Good riddance to the Hollywood elites planning to move to Canada. I hear the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is a big fan of Castro.

Castro left a mixed legacy. In some cases, he fought against dictatorship and promoted social justice, even fighting apartheid. It was ironic, then, that he became a dictator himself. His rule was violent, undemocratic and left Cuba stuck in the last century. Even more ironically, many Cubans still revere Castro and were distraught at his death. One is reminded of the propaganda promoting Kim Jong-un in North Korea.

Trump seems to be in a similar vein. The man thrives on public

adoration like a narcissistic leech and rode to power on a cult of personality built on a foundation of lies. Many of his campaign promises and statements directly contradict constitutional law and democratic norms. That he is already using his position to promote his business with foreign governments while his policies will gut the livelihoods of the poor suggest a kleptocracy similar to that of Batista and Castro himself, who was frequently well off while his country was in poverty. A ladrón for every generation and every country, truly.

With the death of Castro comes an opportunity to learn from the past and look for parallels.

It is perhaps not surprising that many Americans did not take that opportunity considering that Mike Pence, the vice presidentelect, has social views straight from the 1950s. That guy would be considered old-fashioned on the set of “Mad Men.” In all seriousness, though, now is the time to be vigilant. An oliveclad dictator in Cuba may have died, but it is now up to all us to ensure that an orange-haired one does not rise in America.

Gabriel Levine is a junior chemistry major.

ates a headwind on consumption which will have a negative impact on the economy, even for those who have the skills that are in demand.

So how do we deal with this?

The solution that I prefer is a Universal Basic Income, or UBI. The idea is to pay every adult U.S. citizen a modest amount every month. Unlike current welfare programs, a UBI isn’t degrading, because everyone gets it. Also unlike current welfare programs, the UBI doesn’t strongly discourage work because it doesn’t scale down when you get a job.

How big should it be and how do you pay for it? Those are more challenging questions, but it is worth noting that it can start off small and grow over time, and there are multiple models for how you would pay for it that go beyond the word limit of this piece.

The key message that I want readers to take away is that we aren’t going to recreate the economy of the past no matter what we do.

Instead, we need to look for ways to make the economy of the future one that works for everyone.

Mark Lewis is a professor of computer science. He’s also an avid rollerskater.

8

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

OPINION

Acknowledging grievance and hate in the election Alumnus responds to Melissa Flowers’ piece on her mother, Patricia Pinchback, who supported Trump CRAIG MILLS

GUEST COLUMNIST Donald Trump’s election lay bare some discomforting truths about our country.

Recently, I recalled a conversation I had with an acquaintance a few years ago. He said to me, an African American, effectively, “I know it wasn’t so great for black people, but postwar America was the best time in this country.” Was this the period to which Trump referred in his campaign slogan, I wondered. If so, he was indeed correct about the plight of blacks. My grandfather served in World War II but did not enjoy the access to education, jobs and housing white soldiers did when he returned from the war.

Most people were okay with that.

The election results signal to me that nearly half of the voting public is willing to look the other way as Trump seeks to dismantle the progress of the past 50 years generally, and the past eight specifically. This election seemed riven with racism, sexism, grievance and other “isms” that plague our national discourse.

I cannot comment on Ms. Pinchback’s personal motivations for supporting Trump.I can discuss, however, what I think

when someone lists a myriad of reasons for why Trump supporters do not ascribe to the negative themes that permeated his campaign so viscerally. Specifically, I think about the: •

•

•

politics; it was, in fact, deplorable.

Strident post-election behavior of white nationalists (who we should never refer to as the euphemized “alt-right,” because it sanitizes their ideology).

Spike in hate crimes by people who feel emboldened by Trump’s win.

Trump surrounds himself with known racists, I think one may not have committed any of these transgressions personally, but they signal approval for such behavior by electing someone who campaigned explicitly on such pledges.

Space does not permit me to discuss the policy detail-bereft campaign Trump ran, the embarrassing ignorance he displayed for the separation of powers and the limits of executive powers. Nor can I discuss his appalling lack of integrity that so many supposed “values voters” overlooked, the vengeance and pettiness he revels in or the numerous lies he repeated. Still, people voted for him.

Finally, that Melissa Flowers should have to provide information on where to seek support in the event of violence and intimidation after a U.S. election is an indication of how dangerous Trump’s ascent is. The bigotry he has inspired should give us all pause. I hope it forces deeper conversations about what our priorities are if we intend to be a more perfect union indeed.

Teachers, immigrant students and/or their parents I listened to on numerous NPR programs after the election consumed with fear of being deported.

Muslims, blacks and women who called in to the same shows with similar anxiety and senses of betrayal.

Numerous fall weekends I spent in suburban Rust Belt, Pennsylvania volunteering for Clinton. There, I saw numerous “Hillary for Prison” signs in front yards and language painted on a truck in another front yard proclaiming “Democrats are terrorists.”

I experienced drivers who yelled expletives at me about Clinton or shot me the finger out their windows.

Extensive campaign footage I saw from Trump rallies with shouts of “F*** that n*****” in reference to President Barack Obama, “Lock her up” in reference to Hillary Clinton and “Build the wall.”

It was hatred that seemed to transcend

I am disturbed by the noxious broad brush Trump painted of black life in America, his repeated sexist attacks on women, his rapist accusations against Mexicans and his proposed religious ban against an entire group. I am further disturbed by the hordes of supporters who lustily cheered his every insult. I am pained that nearly half of the electorate could overlook this because they were not his demographic target derision.

The abovementioned does little to assuage my concerns that many Trump voters did not act on an “ism.” Then, I think of those who enjoyed freedom from guilt for injustices that blacks suffered during Jim Crow by claiming they personally did not hang anyone from a tree, run them out of their house or town, deprive them of due process, dehumanize them and effectively relegate them to second-class status. As

When I was little, I made decisions about my appearance based on how it affected my ability to play. I cut my long hair off because it got in my face when I was wrestling with my brother, I wore mostly MIA GARZA OPINION COLUMNIST t-shirts because they didn’t stick to my skin when I got sweaty from running around and I never wore dresses because what if I wanted to hang upside down from something or climb a tree?

So when I heard Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad speak about having to hide her voluminous, curly hair in a hijab since the age of seven and having to stay inside while her brother played freely in the river and rode his bike, I was shocked, outraged and incredibly saddened. As an adult, she protested the unjust law that women must wear hijabs and was thrown in jail. She started a social media campaign called “My Stealthy Freedom” encouraging girls and women to post photos of themselves without their hijab on their social media profiles. She now lives in the U.S.

in political exile from her home country of Iran. She said that she missed her country and her family, but not the unjust government.

Alinejad was one of a handful of inspiring women who spoke at an event called Women in the World which took place at the Pearl Stable earlier this week. The event, which was in association with the New York Times, brought together women from around the world to discuss women’s rights, breaking social norms and share their unique and inspiring stories. I was sent to cover this event for my internship. When my supervisor said “You’re going to really like it,” that was an understatement.

As the lights dimmed, the first topic that came up was the one of obvious relevance — the recent election. Whether it was because she was a woman or not, the news that Hillary Clinton did not shatter the “highest and hardest glass ceiling,” as she called it, by becoming the first female president of the U.S., was discouraging to girls everywhere.

But as Clinton said, “Some day someone will [become president] and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.”

Knowing that, as a woman, I might be held to different standards than the men I compete

against professionally, as Clinton was, made me feel discouraged. Witnessing Clinton work so hard over the course of her entire career to be defeated by a man less qualified than her was disheartening.

But listening to these incredible women tell stories about how they broke the glass boxes in which they were put inside, was encouraging and inspiring. Seeing these women on stage reminded me how glad I am to be born a female and how much I value the other females in my life that inspire me.

My mother, of course, was the one who instilled in me such pride to be a girl. I might not have been girly in any way at all but I sure took pride in my identity as a girl. I knew that that identity wasn’t defined by general all-encompassing norms for girls but by my individual norms. My mother inspires me not only in her words but in her actions, as she works and runs a family without error among a thousand other things.

Everyday I am inspired by my female friends. My fellow opinion columnist Sarah Haley is one of the most fearless girls I have ever met. She sticks up for what she believes in and is unabashedly herself, no matter what. My dear friend Anne Ferguson has so

much passion for good and walks this world with incredibly rare humility. My roommate and one of my best friends Bailee Manzer is independent and strong. She takes on life with an open mind and unbreakable spirit.

With each minute I spend with these girls and other strong women I am inspired and made stronger myself.

Women in the World also featured Patricia Cornwell, one of the world’s top best-selling crime authors; Lorena Chambers, CEO of Chambers Lopez Strategies LLC; Emily Ramshaw, editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune; Sandra Uwiringiyimana, activist, college student and author of “How Dare the Sun Rise,” a memoir on surviving the infamous Gatumba war massacre in Burundi and navigating America as a refugee; Randi Gavell, a retired Army Staff Sergeant; Sarah Rudder, a Marine Lance Corporal who became the most decorated athlete at the Invictus games; and Sarah Evans, Founder and Executive Director of Well Aware.

COURTNEY JUSTUS

What frustrates me equally, or perhaps more, is that it can be so hard to talk about discrimination and racism, whether you’ve experienced it yourself or not. But I recently had a few conversations with members of Trinity’s Muslim Student Association that shed some light on new perspectives. While these are still heavy topics, I now feel like I have a better understanding of how we should discuss them on college campuses.

A few of the conclusions I came to from these conversations are that it is essential to listen to others and learn to accept perspectives that are different from our own, even if we don’t fully agree with them. Just because someone has different worship practices, dresses differently or has a diet that varies radically from yours, that doesn’t make them a bad person. It can be so easy to come to false conclusions about a person simply based on their appearance and that happens with people of all cultural backgrounds.

I too am guilty of having judged people as being one way or another even when I barely knew anything about them. The real shift came when

I started gathering knowledge before I made judgments about anything or anyone.

Education plays a huge role in this process because it gives people knowledge about cultures different from their own and helps them develop the cognitive skills needed in order to think critically about tough situations and complex works. I knew hardly anything about Islam before I starting taking The Qur’an this semester with Dr. Simran Jeet Singh. Even though we talked about Islamophobia early on in the class, it still took me several weeks to realize how people can spread false narratives about Islam and other religions so easily, especially if they know little to nothing about them. We need to question where we are getting our information from and who is giving it to us. Asking questions is a crucial part of this process as well.

Remember that not everyone is going to approach problems like discrimination and racism in the same way that you do. Keep in mind that everyone has been through some kind of struggle, no matter how much it seems like they haven’t. I am guilty of having once thought

that I’d had a lot more struggles growing up than most other people and that my suffering somehow made me better than them. But then I did a Privilege Walk during training for my first year on Trinity’s Orientation Team and realized just how wrong I had been. People talked openly about their struggles, but without anger, pride or shame. We had all been through so much, yet made it to the same team, surpassing our various difficult circumstances.

So before you make all these assumptions about another person based on their religion, habits, skin color or really anything about their appearance, stop and ask yourself if your judgements are really sound. Think about how it would feel if people made all these snap judgements about you without thinking about what they were doing.

We say that we want to stop hatred and violence, but do our thought patterns say otherwise? Just think before you speak and do some investigating before you judge anyone.

• •

•

Craig Mills ‘85 is a political science alumnus. He teaches at NYU and writes freelance for the Daily Beast.

Females are fearless and strong as hell

Mia Garza is a senior communication and business double major with a minor in creative writing. Find her on Twitter @lbutter95

It’s time to have a conversation

STAFF WRITER

Over the past few months, particularly after this year’s presidential election, there has been a lot of talk about hate crimes arising and what people are and aren’t doing about them.

I’ve found it somewhat difficult to join in on the conversation. For the most part, I’m surrounded by a lot of positive people and mostly favorable circumstances, so it can be hard to see when these crimes actually occur.

It’s also easy to forget about how innocent people are being discriminated against every day and we are not doing enough to stop it.

Recently some of my friends shared a Facebook post from an acquaintance of mine who I’ve only ever talked to a couple of times. He was recently harassed at a club because of his skin color and his life was put in danger. Just the thought that something like that could happen so close to Trinity and to someone who did absolutely nothing wrong makes me sick.

Courtney Justus is a junior English major.

She’s also a Pulse reporter.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT “My advice for our students as they go into their finals is to review and sleep.”

Ruth Jungman, professor of computer science

Pulse

Rosalind Phillips Competition honors namesake The vocal contest celebrates the memory of a music professor who passed away in 2009

BY EMILY ELLIOTT

PULSE EDITOR

A handful of performers bounce around in dress shoes as they fight the backstage jitters that creep down their bodies. The harmonious voice of a performer singing along to a piano onstage soothes them as they prepare for their turn to sing to a panel of distinguished judges in an esteemed contest.

The annual Rosalind Phillips Vocal Competition occurred on Nov. 20; five students, selected from a preliminary audition comprised of eight contestants, competed against each other to win scholarship and performance prizes. The singing competition was formed to memorialize its namesake, a longtime professor of music at Trinity before she passed away.

Amy Gwinn-Becker, an alum from the class of 1999, was inspired by the devotion of Phillips to organize this event.

“I was one of her final students before she retired,” Gwinn-Becker said. “She inspired me in every possible way; musical, professionally and personally. She was devoted to the complete musical expression from what you sang to how you pronounced it to how you delivered it, from the spirit of the piece all the way to your stage presence and the colors of you shoes and dress.”

Shane Bono, Mary Kelly, Mariana Lopez Levi, Matthew Reynolds and Hui Ting Wu were the five students who competed; Reynolds took home the second place prize, while Levi was awarded the first place

award. Each of the five participants dedicated ample time to prepare their pieces.

“At the beginning of this semester, my voice teacher and I chose three songs to use as my competition set.

Since early September, we’ve been working pretty exclusively on these three pieces in my voice lessons. That, on top of lots of individual outside practice, made me feel very prepared for Sunday’s final competition,” said Reynolds, a senior music and urban studies major.

Reynolds has already planned how he’ll use his award.

“The runner-up gets $300 applied to financial aid. My semester’s paid off, so I’ll actually get that as a refund check and I’ll use it to help pay for my New York trip I’m taking over winter break,” Reynolds said.

The Rosalind Phillips Vocal Competition maintains a sense of great esteem in the music department; though anyone can audition to compete, the faculty members of the department emphasize its significance early on.

“I remember attending this competition as a freshman. This is a familiar annual competition within the music department, so the opportunity to participate meant a lot to me. I didn’t take it for granted. While Rosalind is certainly not the be-all and end-all of a voice student’s career at Trinity, it is held with high esteem,” said Mary Kelly, a junior music and political science double major. “Regardless of the final outcome, participating in Rosalind is a learning experience in performance, preparation, artistry, and character development.”

The participants made sure to support each other and help when necessary during the high-pressure vocal competition.

“I have a background in theater, but even after years of being on stage I still get some stage fright.

I was terrified I was going to flub

MARIANA LOPEZ LEVI poses in one of the private practice rooms she used to prepare for her award-winning performance at the annual singing competition. Her prize includes a monetary reward and the opportunity to sing with the Trinity symphony orchestra. photo by CLAUDIA GARCIA

my French words; in French and Italian songs it can be confusing to sing similar things repeatedly but changing them slightly each time,” said Bono, a junior business analytics and technology major.

Bono couldn’t avoid stage fright at the major competition.

“I had a moment of panic when I almost forgot a word, but shoved it

out just in the nick of time. I was thrilled with my performance, but I was most giddy after returning back stage and dancing ridiculously with the other singers, celebrating the completion of our sets,” Bono said.

Gwinn-Becker’s efforts to organize this event, in addition to the impressive performances of the contestants each year, have

guaranteed Phillips’s influence at Trinity will be memorialized.

“I was just devoted to her as a student and she was my mentor and my friend. She never married or had children, so I think she was able to devote her energy to her students because of that, so I wanted to give back to her,” Gwinn-Becker said.

Swing Bums finalize plans for yearly holiday dance The Yule Ball will take place for the fourth time since its introduction

BY COURTNEY JUSTUS

PULSE REPORTER

The Yule Ball, which has been hosted every December at Trinity since 2013, has brought countless students together for dancing in celebration of the end of the semester. Its name comes from the Yule Ball in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” and it has been a tradition to play “The Potter Waltz” every year at the ball.

“The preparations have been hectic, but exciting and fun to be a part of. It helps to have a really great

group of people to work with who care about the Ball as well,” said Kathryn Langemeier, a first year and one of the advertisement chairs for Yule Ball.

Langemeier created the poster for the event and has been advertising the Yule Ball through social media.

“I really enjoyed creating the poster, partly because I like graphic design, but I also like knowing that I am contributing to something that might make a difference in our community,” Langemeier said.

Yule Ball will be hosted by Swing Bums and co-hosted by Latin Dance Society and Mu Phi Epsilon.

The event will feature musical performances by the Trinitones, AcaBellas and Jazz Combo.

“The times that I’ve gone, the event has been a lot of fun. You get to dress up if you want and listen to music and relax for a bit before worrying

about finals. It’s a great place to hang out and talk with friends and listen to music,” said Allyssa Butemeyer, a junior theatre major and committee chair for this year’s Yule Ball.

It was in part because of Yule Ball that Butemeyer decided to join Swing Bums. She acted as advertising/marketing chair last year before being appointed committee chair this year.

Preparations have been fun but hectic,” Butemeyer said. “I have a wonderful team who have done amazing jobs at pulling this event together. Each of them have gone above and beyond in their respective jobs. I couldn’t have done this without them. They are what has made planning this a blast.”

Attendees will also have the opportunity to donate to San Antonio Youth Literacy. They can pay in either Tiger Bucks or cash.

“Dancing is encouraged and if people don’t know the steps to a certain dance, all of the Swing Bums and Latin Dance Society members are nice and wonderful teachers,” Butemeyer said.

Swing Bums and Latin Dance Society will also be hosting free waltz and latin dances on Dec. 3 from 3 to 5 p.m. in Lightner Tea Room.

“Partners are not required either, and dancing with people you’ve never met before can lead to some amazing new friendships,” Butemeyer said.

In addition to these, there will be a swing dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 in the CSI Atrium, right before the ball starts.

“Yule Ball is not just for swing dancers, it’s for everyone. I encourage people to come even if they don’t know how to dance, we’ll have plenty of people ready to teach

if you want to learn,” said Emily Magness, a junior biology major and the food coordinator for Yule Ball.

As food coordinator, Magness’s main job is to organize the catering.

“I have previous experience organizing and catering events, but nothing this big. It’s been fun trying to make a festive menu that goes along with the mood,” Magness said.

Committee members have all been working hard to make their visions a reality. They have enjoyed collaborating with one another in preparation for this festive event.

“Each person brings a different energy to the project that gets me excited to share all our hard work with the rest of the campus,” Butemeyer said.

Trinity University’s fourth annual Yule Ball will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 6 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the CSI Atrium; it is free for everyone.

10

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

PULSE

Sheryl Tynes uses position to inspire kindness, community on campus

The vice president of Student Life has frequently used her role to assist those in need

BY ALEXANDER MOTTER

PULSE REPORTER

Sheryl Tynes represents a little piece of every part of Trinity’s campus. She understands firsthand the struggles of first-generation students, advocates for students in her position as a faculty administrator and serves as a faculty member teaching an FYE class along with the class The Sociology of Sex Roles.

Tynes was a first-generation, low-income student who put herself through college, and her family were mostly unable to contribute due to their socioeconomic status.

“My parents didn’t panic when I told them I was going to be a sociologist because they didn’t know what that was,” Tynes said.

Tynes began working at Trinity in 1988 and enjoyed her position as a professor until a position opened up for vice president. As a mother with young children, Tynes worried about the constraints that a 60 to 70 hour work week would have on attending games and recitals. However, in 2003 she decided to assume a bigger role and became the vice president of Student Academics, the role currently filled by Timothy O’Sullivan.

“To me, the best ideas for change have come from Trinity students. Whether it may be the Academic Honor Code, whether it may be Women and Gender Studies, Environmental Studies,” Tynes said.

Teaching on campus has helped Tynes stay connected with her youthful spirit while also understanding her own family better.

“In my 20s, I had no interests in having kids. I had other things to do. Having kids was one of, if not the best thing, I have ever done. It flipped my psychology to think that

‘you’re somebody’s baby,’ even if that’s a 90 or 100-year-old.” Tynes said.

After several years working at Trinity, Tynes hit a wall and began to feel a certain guilt about her life so far. Tynes had an epiphany and realized that the best thing for her to do was utilize these gifts to inspire others and to teach students that the most difficult moments in life are oftentimes those in which we learn the most.

“I love our students — you all are inspiring, and it’s a blessing to be in a place where I get to watch you guys in the course of two years.

The longer a faculty member is here, I get to hear back from people who are in Tanzania, China, Mexico and all over the planet doing amazing things. I have a wonderful life, but I live vicariously through all of you,” she said.

Julia Torres had the pleasure of taking a class with Tynes, and despite having only met her once on an unrelated issue, anticipated the opportunity to get to know her better.

One of the areas which Torres particularly admires Tynes is through her work with First Generation Underrepresented Students (FGUS).

“Knowing there’s an outlet for students from these backgrounds, headed by a faculty member who makes sure that students are able to succeed in school and later on in life, is incredible,” Torres said.

Torres also looked forward to the class because of Tynes’ favorable reputation amongst former students and people who knew one of her other various roles on campus.

“One of my friends has called Dr. Tynes her fairy godmother and after meeting her I’d have to say I agree,” Torres said.

Other students may agree with Torres; Tynes was one of the first people on Trinity’s campus sophomore Frances Stone met; Stone was able to move in early because of a summer program and she had the opportunity to meet Tynes.

“She taught the other section of my FYE. I never actually had her as a teacher, but if you’ve ever met Dr. Tynes you can just tell she’s

SHERYL TYNES poses with GRAYAM SAILOR-TYNES, son, GARY SAILOR, husband and TESS SAILOR-TYNES, daughter, on a family vacation; one of Tynes’ favorite fun facts is that her children were named after students. photo provided by SHERYL TYNES

an important lady. She holds herself in a way that is so distinguished and commanding of respect,” Stone said.

One of her most memorable encounters with Tynes came on the last day of finals as Stone loaded up her car and began the journey home.

“As I was driving to get gas, I noticed my car was running really hot and asked some man who said it’s my coolant so I bought more coolant. I got back on 35 but noticed my car was running hot and pulled into a gas station, at which point I locked my keys in my car.”

Stone enlisted the help of some men at the gas station, got more coolant, and headed back onto the road, to find her car running hotter than ever before. She contacted AAA who, unfortunately, happened to closed for the evening.

“I kept calling Dr. Tynes’ cell and she wasn’t picking up, so I called her home phone and her husband picks up. I said, ‘Hi, you don’t know me, but I’m one of Dr. Tynes’ students.’”

The Tynes family opened their home to Stone, took her out to a nice meal and made the frightening experience a happy memory.

Even after staying the night, the family continued to help Stone, as Tynes’ husband negotiated down the prices the dealership gave her to fix the car.

“It’s been a really great experience because I get to be in a classroom setting with her, a little bit higher than a student,” Stone said.“There are people here who care about your well-being. Don’t ever hesitate to make appointments with any of them; they will fix your life.”

Conservatives reflect on ability to speak out

that if you didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton, and even moreso if you voted for Trump, that your opinions aren’t valued or that you are inferior in some way,” Ayers said.

Isaiah Mitchell, a first-year classical languages and French double major, was unable to vote in the presidential election because he turned 18 on Nov. 11, thus making him ineligible.

“If I was hypothetically eligible to vote, I still don’t know if I would have voted for Trump.

I’m a very conservative guy, and so naturally I didn’t ever support Clinton. However, I didn’t ever support Trump either, because he’s not conservative,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s feelings on his ability to voice his political beliefs fall more into a gray area.

“In some sense, I do feel I have the same power to voice my opinion as liberal students; however, that’s because I don’t consider widespread disagreement with my own views to be any kind of hindrance to my ability to speak,” Mitchell said. “However, there is an atmosphere of anger towards conservatives and right-wing students on campus. While I have the same power as liberals to voice my opinion, I do not have the luxury of being listened to or taken seriously.”

For many conservative students, they want to have a peaceful dialogue to talk about the results and why they voted how they did.

“It’s important to argue about facts and not make ad hominem attacks.”

Open discussions are encouraged at Trinity for students to express the opinions, frustrations and concerns on a variety of issues.

Students voice concern about political dialogue

BY MIRIAM CONE

PULSE INTERN

With the aftershocks of the results of the presidential election still moving through campus, many politically liberal students have been voicing their opposition clearly. Less clear, however, are the reactions of politically conservative students and Trump supporters.

As a conservative student, Brittney Bowman feels like she does not have the same power to voice her opinion as liberal students do. Bowman, a senior accounting and entrepreneurship double major, considers herself politically conservative, but did not vote in the election.

“Personally, I feel like I don’t have the same ability because I feel like I’m going to be attacked. I feel like a lot of liberals want to tell me why I’m wrong versus sitting down with me and understanding what my views are, what my background is and why I think the way I do,” Bowman said.

Luke Ayers, a sophomore economics major, is also politically conservative and, like Bowman, feels that the voices are uneven.

“On the faculty side of things, I haven’t encountered any faculty that divert the topic or tell me to be quiet. But among other students, and I don’t think it’s a conscious thing, but there definitely is this kind of unspoken feeling

PULSE • DECEMBER 02, 2016 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

11

Loon-E Crew busts a move preparing their first show The student dance troupe perfects their choreography for their inaugural concert

BY ALEXANDER MOTTER

PULSE REPORTER

Over the past few months, Loon-E Crew, one of Trinity’s many dance groups, has been collaborating with other dance groups on campus in preparation for their upcoming show on December 3rd. Rehearsals have been taking place Wednesdays and Sundays, as well as at additional times for a few of the dances.

“With spending so much time together, we become a crazy little family unit, making dancing together even more fun,” said Kylie Moden, a senior computer science major and member of Loon-E Crew.

The show will also feature performances from other groups and performers, such as Top Naach, Prowlers, Bhangra and the Filipino Student Association.

“I love that we incorporate the other dance groups into our show, because it just gives everyone the chance to be seen by the student body,” said Destiny Hopkins, a junior sociology and education major and member of Loon-E Crew.

Dancing allows the members of these different groups to escape from the stresses of academics and other activities for a few hours a week and come together to support one another in their mutual love for dance.

“The most fun thing about being in the crew would have to be how light-hearted and sincere everyone is. Besides my love for dance,

ELIZABETH MCENRUE, VICTORIA ABAD, TRISTAIN SUAYAN, KYLIE MODEN, IVAN SILVERIO AND CONNOR LENIHAN rehearse one of the numbers they’ll perform in their Loon-E Crew show. photo by HENRY PRATT

I always look forward to practice because it’s my little escape from reality. We all have something in common, and that allows us to learn from one another,” Hopkins said.

Every student has been working hard to make the most of rehearsals with their own dance group and others.

“The practices themselves are the best part for me. When we start out learning multiple choreographies and some of us struggle with it; it can definitely be frustrating. There’s a challenge in that but I can tell that as a crew we love it. So for me, it’s so fun and rewarding to see the progress of the whole crew,” said

Ivan Silverio, a junior marketing major and co-captain of Loon-E Crew.

Many of the students participating are involved in multiple organizations at Trinity, so all the choreographers kept this in mind when coming up with the lineup for the show and choreographies for the different dances.

“We’re always ambitious with the number of dances we want to choreograph, but as every Trinity student knows, we have a lot on our plate, so we make sure to choreograph a reasonable number of dances for a polished and great show,” Silverio said.

Several of the members of Loon-E Crew did not make it onto the team the first time they tried out. Those now on the team encourage everyone interested in auditioning to do so, even if they didn’t make the team their first time trying out.

“Even if you don’t make it, you should definitely try again and maybe even participate in the dances for other shows to get some more performing experience. Many of our own members actually didn’t make it on their first time or even second time, so don’t stress and come try out. We’d like to see your moves,” Silverio said.

Loon-E Crew members encourage everyone to come to the show and watch these different groups perform.

“Tell all your friends about the show. Invite everyone. Our wonderful captains Ivan Silverio and Briahna Yarberry have done an awesome job leading us this year, and we have a great line up that incorporates different styles of dance,” Hopkins said.

The show will take place Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in Laurie Auditorium. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend for a night of entertainment.

The screen goes black for TigerTV special show A 20 hour episode planned to celebrate 20th anniversary has been rescheduled

BY KERRY MADDEN

PULSE INTERN

Three shows, one and a half hours, one week.

One show, 20 hours, one day. This is not your typical TigerTV programming. To celebrate the station’s 20th year, the managers, faculty, cast and crew of TigerTV have been working on an anniversary special that will run for a full 20 hours, something the station has never done before.

However, originally scheduled to happen the week prior to thanksgiving break, the 20th anniversary special was postponed. “[Producing a show on this scale], that’s going to be challenging, but it’ll be a lot of fun and I think that’s something that we want to really try and tackle next year,” Benjamin Gomez, senior marketing management and entertainment business major and TigerTV station manager, said.

The idea for the anniversary special was conceived around this year’s alumni weekend, inspired by the landmark celebrations of KRTU’s 40th and TigerTV’s 20th year that founders of the programs attended.

Because the timeline from conception of the idea to when the station was originally planning to air the show was roughly a month, it was decided that the special would instead air next semester so that it could have more time for preparation.

“We looked back at it and looked at what we had and we made a big run down of 20 hours

of content that we thought we would do,” Gomez said. “We had a lot of ideas on paper, a lot of nice spit-balling, what can we do, what organizations can we bring in, how big can we make this thing. But at the end of the day we realized we felt really pressed for time.”

Postponing the special, as agreed upon by the station managers, was a matter of time as well as a matter of quality.

“In the long run it felt like something that would be better done next semester,” Mackenzie Hill, junior communication major and TigerTV’s marketing and promotions manager, said. “The final product would probably be less chaotic if it was postponed.”

Nevertheless, the station has taken the preliminary steps in the process of making the special a reality.

“I’m looking to incorporate various clubs and organizations on campus in order to raise awareness of TigerTV and its capabilities as well as to integrate it more fully into campus life,” Elizabeth McEnrue, senior communication major and TigerTV’s special projects manager, said.

“It will be a TigerTV special, but really more of a conglomeration of Trinity student organizations coming together to produce something a little bold,” Hill said.

After midterm and finals season has concluded and a break to continue its progress over, the TigerTV 20th Anniversary Special will air next semester, culminating the steps taken in efforts to make it all happen.

“I’m most looking forward to creating a special high in production quality to showcase what all TigerTV can do, as well as to interacting with and highlighting the diverse groups on campus,” McEnrue said.

For more TigerTV to tide you over until the special, check out the station’s website for current show schedules.

12

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

ADVERTISEMENT

The Christmas Vespers

A Worship Service of Scripture, Carols, and Candlelight Margarite B. Parker Chapel Sunday, December 4, 2016 at 6 p.m. followed by

Christmas on Oakmont At the homes of: Dr. and Mrs. Anderson Dr. and Mr. Jones Dr. Tynes and Mr. Sailor Dr. and Mrs. White Mr. and Mrs. Bacon Mr. & Mrs. Tuttle Mr. & Mrs. Logan Center for Entrepreneurship Conferences and Special Programs

AE &

Fidel Castro Kicks the Bucket

“Rogue One” Looks Amazing Whatever else you may think about this year — bad, terrible, or somewhere in between — the new “Star Wars” movie looks like it could make or break the franchise, and the trailer points to “make.”

He was an oppressive dictator and a communist liberator, a hypocrite and an incredibly resilient statesman. Many will be cheering as well as weeping, but regime changes in Cuba and America will surely change relations soon enough.

Memes almost redeem terrible 2016 Whenever disaster strikes, the Internet finds the silver lining with online comedy gold Memes are one continuous and novel source of c o m e d y.

They give NABEEHA VIRANI us topics A&E WRITER to talk about in awkward silences and allow us to connect with strangers online.

Despite some terrible events that occurred this past year, I figured that it was time to look back on some of the most popular memes that made us laugh, cringe and groan throughout 2016.

Exploding Kid is one of the earliest memes of 2016. This picture of Michael McGee blew up one day on Twitter, originally captioned as, “Trying to hold a fart next to a cute girl in class.” Since then, this picture has been subject to a multitude of captions, with, “When you’re vegan and haven’t told anyone in 5 minutes” being my personal favorite.

Crying Jordan became very popular earlier this year. Michael Jordan’s crying face started popping up on every athlete’s face when they lost a game. Most recently, President Obama talked about it himself while presenting Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying Jordan was “more than an Internet meme.” We can all agree that Jordan was the best NBA player

graphic by TYLER HERRON

of all time, but there’s something about this meme we just can’t quit.

After the Crying Jordan craze, I believe we were introduced to Petty Skai Jackson. Jackson is a child star, known for her acting career on Disney Channel’s “Jessie” and her infamous Twitter beef with Azealia Banks. A picture Jackson tweeted of herself sitting backstage at “Fox 5” became an instant hit and was used to describe extremely petty but relatable, situations.

Around this time, the Presidential Primaries were taking place.

Politicians were debating and

campaigning to represent their respective parties. Ted Cruz was constantly compared to Kevin Malone from “The Office” and the notorious Zodiac Killer because of their scarily similar appearance.

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were the top two contenders for the Democratic nominee, and the emergence of “Bernie vs. Hillary” memes on issues was common and consequently hilarious.

Next came the controversial Harambe memes, with the death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo. People reacted in

different ways, with some saying Harambe was more than a gorilla and others going to extremes with the hashtag #DicksOutForHarambe.

Spongebob memes became popular around this time as well. We got “Confused Mr. Krabs” earlier this year, but “Primitive Spongebob” rejuvenated the Spongebob theme. From what I understand, these memes are different but can be interchangeable in certain situations. For instance, you would use “Primitive Spongebob” in situations where you’re thrown off, and “Confused Mr. Krabs” when

you’re unsure about what’s going on.

Famous ones include a picture of Mr. Krabs with the caption, “When you ain’t been to class in a week and everyone’s got blue books” and a picture of “Primitive Spongebob” with the appropriate caption, “When you’re at a house party and someone yells ‘COPS.’” Continuing the theme of old cartoons we watched growing up, “Arthur” memes became pretty popular over the summer. We got Arthur’s fist, D.W. standing outside a fence looking in and other characters’ memes with personal twists. Arthur’s fist is the most famous, and shows just a clenched fist, referring to a mood in which you’re ready to fight. My favorite is, “When you offer someone food and they say yeah.”

After the results of the Presidential Election were announced, Twitter exploded with President Obama and V.P. Biden memes. There were pictures of both talking and interacting with each other with hilarious captions referring to President-elect Trump.

The last meme that blew up in 2016 is “Evil Kermit.” This meme is relatable because it seems to be attacking you at your weakest points. It’s a picture of Kermit the Frog staring at his evil doppelganger who is encouraging him to bring out his darker, lazier and more terrible side. This is one of my favorites.

Perhaps the most relatable would be “Me: I’ve done nothing productive today. Plus, I have two exams to study for. / Me to me: Get some rest, you deserve it.”

There’s a chance these memes won’t make it to 2017, but the beauty of memes is that we’ll always have something to look back at when we need it the most.

Civilization VI: An exciting journey across the $60 game you can’t afford MAX FREEMAN A&E WRITER

I bought Sid Meier’s n e w empire simulator last week to see if it lives up to the hype.

“Civilization VI” and decided to play one game in order to see how it compares to all the hype that it has been receiving. When I finally decide to play as Gorgo, the Queen of Sparta, Sean Bean’s medieval voice suddenly starts talking to me, setting the expectations for my success in the game rather high.

Brimming with confidence, I found my first city on the coast and begin using my only unit, a primitive warrior, to explore the surrounding area. Sparta grows and I research new technologies and experiment

with different civic policies as the game progresses.

The Greek Empire is thriving now, but as I move into the Classical era, I realize I am trapped on an island half-covered in snow and tundra and there is no other city-state or any civilization to trade with. Soon my people will starve unless I venture a settler across the shallow seas to some unforeseen promise land where I can develop a second city.

My plan turns to action and I found Athens on the coast of a neighboring continent, unexplored and therefore dangerous to an unprotected, fledgling city. I must train military units to fend off the roaming barbarians and any world leaders that I meet and may be thirsty for conquest. An archer and a hoplite, the Greek special unit, make it into the Athens the same turn I am introduced to a scout from the French civilization.

The French are led by Queen Catherine de Medici, and as we discuss our relationship in the world, I can tell there will be issues later down the road because of her agenda to develop espionage operations and spread Catholicism around the globe. Religious victory is not the way I plan to win the game, though it is possible to switch this early in the game. Still, I make sure Athens is fortified and secure since it is on the same landmass as Paris, Catherine’s founding city.

I roll quickly through the Medieval Age thanks to my scientific focus turning new technologies over in short intervals. By the time the Renaissance period arrives, Catherine and I are on unfriendly terms with one another. War is imminent, but I am prepared. I have established multiple trade routes with city-states outside of Catherine’s domain, so I have a secure income to

support my military’s maintenance costs. My home island now hosts another, smaller city, Pharsalos, and is located close to China and Scythia, two civilizations who share my detestment toward the French.

Catherine is the one to make the first move, declaring formal war for the world to witness. She sends bombards and knights to attack Athens, pillaging some of my farms and managing to destroy my encampment district, in which I train units. If I want to survive the war I need the district back and rebuilt. I retaliate with pikeman, who have the advantage against the knights, and crossbowmen to attack from afar as they sit upon hills to gain the upper ground.

Driving out the French from Athens was the beginning of the end for the French-Greek war because Catherine had sent her full forces against me, exhausting her military

and leaving nothing on the defensive.

As a result, I successful counterattack and lay siege to Paris over the course of the rest of the Renaissance and through the Industrial era.

Victory over France gives me the lead in global competition of science and military dominance, allowing me to continue my expansion into the untouched regions of the world.

The other civilizations bow to me in trade deals and cannot challenge my vast empire, most likely out of fear for what would happen if they did not appease me. Though domination could have been a quick and easy victory for me, I decide to play the long game and aspire to win scientifically so that I can revel in my glorious power over the peaceful Modern Age and Information Era. Plus, building the Apollo program and making it to Mars will ensure that the Greek Empire’s peace bringing reaches the Red Planet too.

14

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

HBO GO: How to use it correctly and binge shows until reading days are complete I recently walked in on one of my roommates committing a heinous act. He was sitting alone, on our living room couch, with the lights turned off, staring ALEJANDRO CARDONA at our living-room television screen. He A&E WRITER was using his HBO GO subscription to watch “Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice.” With some of the best shows and movies at his fingertips, he chose a film with 27% on Rotten Tomatoes?The worst part is that he agreed how bad it was, and kept watching. I was absolutely disgusted, and found myself unable to look him in the eyes for the few following days, until I realized that he made this awful mistake not from bad taste, but out of laziness. Even though all Trinity students have an HBO GO subscription, it can be hard to know what to watch on the platform. After all, its default sorting is alphabetical order. Seriously? You can do better, HBO.

So, in preparation of winter break (it’s real close, so hold on tight,) here’s a run-down with a few shows to enjoy on the popular HBO streaming platform.

Game of Thrones Gotta get it out of the way: Blah blah blah, it’s so good, blah blah, best show on television in the past decade, blah blah – you’ve heard it all before. I get it: it’s a ton of commitment.

At six seasons, with 60 hourlong episodes, the show is a behemoth. But here’s a thought: the two final seasons are coming soon, and with them come the watch parties. Think of the fun you could have when you’re finally not the weirdo who just came to hang out. You don’t want to be that person.

Westworld You have probably already been nagged by someone about Westworld, so I won’t mention how it’s an amazingly well-crafted, genrebending, escapist sci-fi bundle of fun. All I will say is that it’s a great time to jump on the bandwagon. With the series finale coming this weekend, you’ll be able to watch the whole series in a gulp and spend winter break

San Antonio band, Levees releases “Another Medicine” NICK SMETZER

COPY EDITOR INTERN Levees is a San Antonio-based band that, above all else, certainly strives to be unique.

They describe themselves on their Facebook page as “desert voodoo blues rock,” which strikes me as a bit too flowery; a standard “indie rock” label, while much less glamorous sounding, is more than sufficient to describe the sound of “Another Medicine.”

I’ll admit, I was rather dismissive of this EP at first. The first track, “Little Lion,” while by no means terrible, begins without any real surprises. Bombastic guitar riffs, metaphorical lyrics, the usual trappings of alt-rock. Nothing disappointing, but nothing particularly noteworthy — that is, until halfway through the song, when it suddenly transforms from a usual alt-rock number to a dreamy, bass-led groove. This is the sound that Levees excels at; the mellow, intricate guitar work, a driving bass and more subdued vocals briefly turned the song from average to exceptional. This section lasted for but a moment, and soon I

was thrown right back into the fast-paced ditty that I had escaped from.

This pattern occurs throughout the album. It seems that every song on “Another Medicine” is composed of two parts: the standard aggressive-fare, and a brief departure into fascinating, dreamy grooves. The exception to this little rule is the final track, the somewhat ironically titled “Uninspired,” which devotes itself almost entirely to the dreamy, spacey sound before successfully building into the fantastic, dynamic tone that Levees so often attempts to achieve.

Despite a relatively lackluster opening, Levees went on to exceed my expectations and finish strong, which might sound harsher than I intened. Kyle Anderson, a member of the band and a Trinity alumnus, sent us this album to review, and I hope he sends us their next one too. I look forward to seeing where Levees takes their sound next.

-------------------------------------------------Nick Smetzer is an undeclared first year

pretending that you were hip to it all along.

Silicon Valley Come on. You gotta watch Silicon Valley.

It’s entertaining, it’s funny, it’s an easy watch, and it’s easily one of the best sitcoms of the past couple of years. The show follows a group of tech nerds as their app takes them into the money-driven, socially-inept world of big tech.

At 23 minutes per-episode, it is the height of bingeability, so you’ve got no excuse.

Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Saving Private Ryan I’m bundling these two series and movie together because they are three of a kind – a sort of trilogy on the American effort in World War II. After collaborating on “Saving Private Ryan” in 1998, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks went on to co-Executive Produce “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” The resulting bundle covers operations like D-Day to the taking of the Eagle’s Nest and the oftenoverlooked Pacific theater of operations. Good if you’re looking for a (very pro-American) crash-course in World War II, or if you just want to enjoy some proper storytelling.

The Wire & The Sopranos If you truly want to go old school, and watch two of the shows that begun the so-called “Golden Age of Television,” look no further than these two. “The Sopranos” tells the story of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, and his family. The show became an instant sensation, and the finale is among the most-viewed broadcasts in television history.

The Wire is one of the most ambitious series ever made, insofar its core is not about a group of characters or a singular story, but a city: Baltimore. The show’s seasons center around different aspects of the city’s culture, such as police and criminal life, the school system, and the political arena. Creator David Simon spent years embedded with police units and sitting at ghetto street corners, and made HBO shoot the show in Baltimore, with mostly local actors.

The Wire is ethnography-turned-drama.

Hopefully this run-down helps you stay away from Adam Sandler movies, and prompts you to take advantage of the service the Trinity gods have given us. During this winter solstice, let’s all join in worship at the altar of Good TV.

Banks releases new album to some praise Banks’ new album, “The Altar,” is generally vulnerable, both in terms of lyrical content as well as the composition of the sound. That being said, the description EMILY PETER “vulnerable” is not A&E WRITER interchangeable with “weak” in any sense. The singer-songwriter is many times associated with a style reflecting the personal nature of the songs.

However, it is especially clear throughout her newest album that she is not ashamed of her displays of emotion and is fearlessly grappling with social restrictions imposed on women and individuality with a new and improved artistic nature.

In one track off of “The Altar,” Banks vocalizes her frustrations with suffocating expectations women face in society, with the song “Mother Earth.” She paints the image of a woman who stays strong and supportive, despite feeling consumed by the societal pressures of beauty that are placed on women at a young age.

She equates the heavy feeling of social pressure to being underwater, while creating a sense of community among the women who experience this same feeling, all within the first line: “Underwater, consuming all my kind.”

The song expresses the rejection of a socially acceptable standard of beauty as she sings that she will not “cover up the freckles on her face.” This lyrical phrase is conveyed over an arrangement that is largely focused on the organic sounds of her acoustic guitar, in contrast to her typically electronic sound.

The sparse nature of the music allows the listener to connect with the music, only interjecting lyrics to gear the musical message.

“Gemini Feed,” is an anthem of self reliance, in which Banks confronts her realization of individual strength. The title of the song relating to her own zodiac sign reflect the song’s association to a personal identity. She references “Gemini,” a sign represented by twins, to show how the commonality in a relationship hindered individual expression.

Her confident and smooth voice slices through the comparatively fast-paced track itself, reflecting the straight forward nature of her

words as she sings, “If you would’ve let me grow, you could’ve kept my love.” The ambient sounds that grace the background of the music are juxtaposed with a driving electronic beat, while Banks sings of being held back from finding herself while being in a relationship and own individual strength to rebuild. This song represents her own journey to discovering how her relationship, and significant other specifically, was the biggest things holding her back from her individuality.

“Weaker Girl,” is a modern allusion to Beyonce’s “Run The World.” The song is about every woman’s realization of her own independence. The song begins with her signature, whimsical sound on a minimally manipulated track, as it portrays the image of a relationship that is slowly fading away. When the beat drops the song into the chorus, she shamelessly opens up to a significant other about the fact that she has outgrown them.

Unapologetically, she explains that if they can’t appreciate her strength and personal growth, they should search for a weaker girl that they can keep up with. Bank’s word choice refers to the perpetuated idea that a woman needs a man to be complete or strong.

She rejects this notion by urging her former partner to “tell them you were mad about the way I grew strong.” Her syntax and lyrical expressiveness help to carry her strong message forward and stays consistent throughout most of the album.

The message of “The Altar” is of strength in vulnerability which directly relates to not only her own journey, but also many people who are discovering themselves. I believe this album successfully conveyed the importance of self reliance, as well as the power of femininity, through an anecdotal account of her own continued maturation.

It’s difficult to throw Banks into a single genre, as she continues to push the boundaries of her previous musical explorations. Her music shows the path of someone in fear of their individuality to that of a confident and expressive individual.

“The Altar” not only pushes stylistic boundaries, but also pushes the boundaries that society creates. I’m sure I’m not the only who is looking forward to the artistic innovations that Banks will bring us with her next conceptually inventive album.

ADVERTISEMENTS • DECEMBER 02, 2016 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

15

We, the undersigned, declare our support to any member of the Trinity University community who feels negatively affected by the results of our national election. In keeping with the University mission to embrace “supportive mentoring relationships,” we will have an open door policy for students, faculty and staff who would like to converse about our socio-political climate and strategies of resistance and survival.

Rosana Blanco-Cano

Jennifer Mathews

Carolyn Becker

Coleen Grissom

Norma Cantú

Rita E. Urquijo-Ruiz

Anene Ejikeme

Victoria Aarons

Michael Soto

Sussan Siavoshi

Kimberley Phillips

David Pooley

Alfred Montoya

Jennifer Rowe

Bianca Lopez

Luis Martinez

Jorge Colazo

Thomas Jenkins

Wilson Terrell Jr.

Rosa Aloisi

Cabral Balreira

Aaron Pratt

Paula Hertel

Jack Leifer

Ana María Mutis

Mario Gonzalez-Fuentes

Carol Yoder

Kevin McIntyre

Rocio Delgado

David Spener

Ginna Ann Tam

Michele Johnson

Trish Simonite

Keesha Middlemass

Bill Ellison

David Ribble

Debra J. Ochoa

Andrew Kraebel

Stephen Field

Frank Healy

Katsuo Nishikawa

Duane Coltharp

Carlos Natividad Licón

Mark Brodl

Heather Sullivan

Willis Salomon

Judith Norman

Rebecca Hazen

Dante Suarez

Tahir Naqvi

Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Jimmy Roberts

Kelly Lyons

Andrew Porter

Angela Tarango

Shana McDermott

Nanette LeCoat

Kathleen Denny

Curtis Swope

Ruben Dupertuis

Claudia Stokes

Sarah Beth Kaufman

Dania Abreu-Torres

Sports

SportsCenter and Retrospection DEC.

2

This week, SportsCenter paid homage to the first anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 2015 announcement — an announcement in which he stated his intention to retire at the end of the season. Such awkward retrospection has become something of a hallmark for SportsCenter. A televised reflection on a televised announcement that foretold a retirement which, while sad, probably did not need its own press conference in the first place. Recently, however this is the direction SportsCenter has headed. A direction marked by misplaced nostalgia and overly emotional side tracks. How this will affect their already dwindling audience remains to be seen.

In the photo on the left, forward MEREDITH LICITA controls the ball as she’s pressured by a member of Penn St. Berk. Licita and her team defeated Penn St. Berk 2-0 in the Sweet 16, before losing to Washington University in the Elite 8. Pictured in the above right photo is junior forward COLLEEN MARKEY during the Penn St. Berk game. In the bottom right photo, first-year JONATHAN REYES dribbles up the sideline. Reyes and the men’s team lost in the Sweet 16 to Kenyon College. photos by OSVALDO VELOZ

Both soccer teams unable to reach goal Men shutout in Sweet 16 by No. 5 Kenyon College, and women fall to Washington University in Elite 8

BY HALEY McFADDEN

SPORTS REPORTER

The men’s and women’s soccer teams have just wrapped up their 2016 fall seasons. The men exited the playoffs with a 4-0 loss against Kenyon College in the Sweet 16 at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, while the girls finished with a 1-0 loss against Washington University, St. Louis in the Elite 8.

Going into the first round of NCAA playoffs the men were ranked No. 3 in the nation. The first round went very smoothly for the Tigers, as they took home a 3-0 win against Whitworth. First-year Brady Johnson scored the first goal against Whitworth, followed by a goal from sophomore Ryan Hunter in the second half. The last shot was put away with only four minutes left by senior Todd Edwards, securing the game and a spot in the second round.

The boys flew through the second round with a 2-0 win against Chapman University. The game started with a scoreless first half as the Tigers struggled to score against the Chapman goalie. In the second half, the game-winning goal was scored by junior Daniel Ruano in the 48th minute. Sophomore Austin Michaelis followed close behind, scoring the second goal. This marked Michaelis’s 11th goal of the season, a team best. This match also marked the boy’s 14th shutout of the season.

The boys ran into trouble in the next round, where they were eliminated by No. 5 Kenyon College in a 4-0 upset. They ended the season with a 22-2-0 record. Their trip to the NCAA playoffs is still significant, as it marks their 15th consecutive appearance, which remains the longest streak in the NCAA. Despite not becoming national champs, the men had a strong season and worked hard to improve themselves as individuals and as a unit. Despite the loss, the team remains close.

“The Trinity men’s soccer team is a family, that’s the easiest way to put it. While there are several moving parts, when one teammate puts their arm around another and works hard for their success, the attitude is contagious. Luckily, we have a group of guys that are willing to fight for eachother, pick each other up when we’re down, and fight for each other. When everyone on the team acts like this, the group cohesiveness comes naturally,” said senior defender Zac Treu.

The women’s soccer team also had a very successful season.

They too took home a conference championship, a major aspiration of theirs, and remained undefeated throughout the regular and conference season.

“Being undefeated was a major goal of ours this year and every year, especially since we played so many good teams, that should give us a lot of focus and confidence going forward,” said junior forward Julia Camp.

The women’s soccer team proceeded into the NCAA tournament ranked at No. 2. They flew threw the first two rounds with a 2-1 win against Mount Union University in the first round, and a 3-1 win against Hanover University to win the second round, progressing to the Round of 16.

The girls blanked Pennsylvania St. Berk 2-0 in the Sweet 16, pushing them to the Elite 8. Unfortunately, the girls were stopped there by No. 8 Washington University. With a close 1-0 loss, the girls concluded their season. Despite the loss, they could feel proud of being entirely undefeated up until that point, and finishing the season with a 23-1-0 record.

“Our major goals were to win conference and work hard every week to improve. We took one game at a time and accomplished those goals. We didn’t quite get as far in the NCAA tournament as we had hoped, but we had great success otherwise,” said senior midfielder Yasmeen Farra. “Being on this team was an amazing way to go through college. It’s allowed me to create friendships that will last much longer than four years and has provided me with impactful people to look up to. I’ve learned an incredible amount from my teammates and coaches.”

The girls finished the season with plenty of individual successes as well. Four of their players, Yasmeen Farra, Julia Camp, Julia Kelly and Collen Markey were chosen for the All-Region team.

All four of those girls also made the All-Conference team.

SPORTS • DECEMBER 02, 2016 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

17

Swimmers tread water at Tiger Invitational

Lindsay Hagmann wins three indiviual freestyle events, men’s team places 5th, and women finish 2nd

Left, junior NATE BORCHERS reacts to his time following his finish. On the right, senior JAKE SPITZ (on the far right) prepares to race . The men’s swim team placed 5th at the Tiger Invitational. photos by HENRY PRATT

BY ELISE HESTER

SPORTS REPORTER Trinity swimming and diving hosted the Tiger Invitational at Palo Alto College Aquatic Center over the weekend of Nov. 18-20.

Trinity men and women faced off against competition from both inside and outside the SCAC. Among the seven teams present were two NCAA Division II schools, University of Texas-Permian Basin and Henderson State University, the latter cinching the victory in both the men and women’s competitions with times equivalent to many Division I teams. In swimming and diving competitions, individual races, relays and dives receive points (based on place) which contribute to a final, cumulative team score.

“The diving team really put us ahead in points,” said sophomore Ivy Claflin. “They always do and they’re pretty reliable.”

Trinity standout Lindsay Hagmann won the women’s freestyle in 50m, 100m and 200m.

Hagmann was also part of the second place women’s 400 free relay along with Lauren Cuda, Abbie Jones and Star Rosales.

“I am happy with my times,” Hagmann said.

“All of my times from this meet are faster than they were last year at the same time, so I am excited to see what kind of times I can put up at conference.”

Jacob Hurrell-Zitelman broke a Trinity record with a 15:48.96 time, beating the Henderson State swimmer by 13 seconds, to win the men’s 1650 free. Both Hagmann and Hurrell-Zitelman, along with Trinity diver Christene Peterson, who qualified for the NCAA championship with her second place three-meter performance and low board victory, were named SCAC swimmers and diver of the week.

Despite holding a lead for most of the threeday meet, the women of Trinity swimming and diving came in second to the Henderson State Reddies. The Division II team ended the competition only 19 points ahead of Trinity, with 756.5 points to Trinity’s 737.5. In contrast, the final results of the men’s meet saw Henderson State University with 985 points, as compared to second place UT-Permian Basin’s 481.5. Trinity men’s swimming and diving came in at fifth place below fourth place

Southwestern University. The Southwestern Pirates have proven to be some of Trinity swimming’s toughest competition over past years, yet the Tigers have held on to the men’s SCAC title for the past five seasons.

“Southwestern beat us this year, but last year at [the Tiger Invitational] they beat us by a lot more, but we ended up still beating them at conference,” said sophomore Cole Rezsofi.

Many teams allow swimmers a prolonged taper, or period of rest from training, before the Tiger Invitational. Trinity does not. The swimmers, especially the men, were tired and beaten down going into the meet, explained Colton Smith.

“We don’t rest into this meet like other schools do. We train a lot better before it so we’re all tired,” said swimmer David Smith.

“We definitely finished stronger than we thought we would.”

Despite the exhaustion experienced by many of the swimmers, Hagmann managed to put forth an excellent performance, which she contributes to her mindset during races.

“I always try to keep the mindset that I can swim fast no matter how tired my body is,”

Hagmann said. “If you let the pressure of the meet or the exhaustion take over, then it’s hard to swim a good race.”

While swimmers compete to win at each meet, the purpose of fall meets is to measure times and improve before winter training, after which the swimmers will rest before hopefully pulling out their best times for conference, securing another SCAC title for the Tigers.

“We’re climbing this mountain the entire first semester and through winter training,” Rezsofi said. “Once we get to conference then it’s not as taxing and then we can start rest and once we get to the bottom of the mountain we’re fast.”

The swimmers see this part of the season as a journey and not a destination.

“We’re definitely building up to something,” sophomore Colton Smith said. “We’re not turning in the times that we know we are capable of right now.”

Trinity fans will have to wait until spring for the arrival of the SCAC championship, to see if the long months of strenuous training have ensured another conference championship for the Tigers.

Call for Submissions Trinity University’s Coates Library is pleased to sponsor the 8th annual

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

Where thoughts fuel stories ...

... and stories fuel thought.

Deadline: February 3, 2017 This program recognizes undergraduate students who exhibit outstanding achievement in the use of library and information resources and demonstrate information-literate research behaviors and skills.

Join the campus discussion and get heard.

The Trinitonian is seeking opinion writers who are passionate about bringing fresh perspectives to current events around campus, in San Antonio, and across the globe.

Awards One award of $1000 Two awards of $500 Two awards of $100

Contact us at trinitonian@trinity.edu for more.

For more information visit the library website, go to http://lib.trinity.edu/lib2/usra.php, or contact bharris@trinity.edu.

18

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

SPORTS

Runner gets top time Football Spotlight in school’s XC history with Luke Packard

BY JULIA WEIS

COPY EDITOR

Strong gusts of wind blew across the sixkilometer-long course, making the Kentucky morning feel brisker than usual. A mixture of red, orange and yellow foliage decorated the sidelines from tall, watchful trees. Underneath them, the crazed fans were jam-packed against one another to keep warm. Their screams of encouragement created a wall of sound for the runners to throw themselves into. It was on this crisp Saturday morning in Louisville that Molly McCullough ran the best race of her life.

The sophomore cross country runner placed 65th at the Division III National Championship race two weeks ago, making her the most successful sophomore runner in Trinity history. She was also the only Trinity cross country runner to qualify for nationals this year. This impressive feat took McCullough years of preparation and training, fueled by her passion. While most of this motivation comes from within the athlete herself, it also comes from her mother, Liz McCollough — a lifelong runner herself.

“It was always her dream that I would run cross country,” McCullough said.

With the encouragement of her mom, McCullough joined the cross country team right before starting high school — one of the best decisions of her life, she said. Throughout her extensive training, McCullough’s mother has been her constant support system and inspiration. She recalls fond memories of the two of them going to professional track meets together, “nerding out” about running things and even screaming at the TV together during the Olympics.

“It’s really cool that I get to follow in her footsteps, but since my mom never ran in college, I’m sort of blazing my own trail too,” McCullough said.

In addition to having social support, being a successful runner also requires relentless dedication to the sport. McCullough has not gone a single day without training for the championship race since this past May, which was the end of last year’s track season.

These past six months have been nothing but hard work for McCullough. Summer training meant waking up at 4 a.m. to run before going to work, and putting in countless hours every week during the semester to get the proper strength training, sleep and nutrition. Because

Division III schools emphasize the “student” part of “student athlete,” it’s no surprise that McCullough keeps busy when off the track — she’s an engineering student, member of the Society of Women Engineers, involved in research in the department of physics and is a TU tour guide. Despite the fact that her schedule only gets busier each year, McCullough is looking ahead to next fall.

“I’m looking forward to next cross country season. I have some goals already,” she said.

While she enjoys the other shorter events that she’s able to run during the spring track season, McCullough considers cross country her first love.

Part of what makes her so excited for next cross country season is the unique, tightknit team that she gets to run with.

“These are the people who I want to hang with. These are the people who I think are my people,” she said.

McCullough recalls that the closeness of the team was one of the main reasons she decided to join cross country in the first place. Now that she’s running at the Division III level, she gets to continue having a small team at Trinity.

Running and training with teammates is a very integral part of cross country, though running is considered an individual sport.

McCullough discussed some of the difficulties that occur when teammates get injured and training becomes more individual. Because her training partner got injured towards the end of the season, McCullough had to do a lot of the training leading up to the championship by herself.

“It was kind of tough to be a little bit on my own for a while,” she admitted.

Nevertheless, the team bonds are stronger than ever — all of Molly’s teammates congratulated her on her achievement and many came out to welcome when she returned back to campus.

Molly certainly needs and deserves these next two weeks off before starting up training for track season, but it’s apparent she’s already aching to get back on the trail.

With her passion, surely the goals she has for next season will be crushed -— and maybe even some records too.

“For a long time, I thought I would never be able to reach [a record-breaking] level, but after this season, I’m thinking, ‘Maybe I can.’ I’m one step closer; it’s actually within grasp,” she said.

A personal interview with the nation’s sack leader

BY ELISE HESTER

SPORTS REPORTER Senior defensive end Luke Packard grew up in Dallas, Texas as one of seven children. Packard and his six siblings were reared by disciplined and goal-oriented parents who would prefer their son to make the Dean’s List instead of being chosen an All-American. Packard started playing tackle football in the fourth grade, but says he will not let his kids play until seventh grade. From sophomore year of high school on, he played both varsity basketball and varsity football, the latter as safety. At 6 feet 3 inches tall and 185 pounds, the high-school athlete was a basketball player first. It was the mentorship of his high school football coach that lead the Trinity record holder for both single season and career sacks to pursue college football instead of basketball.

Packard walked back on a commitment to play for Tulane University when he gained a sense that he would not have full autonomy over his intended major or graduation date at the Division I institution. It was a desire to play football without the sport dominating his life that Packard came to another university with the same initials. The economics and business administration double major hopes to work in healthcare law and plans to attend law school after two years of working in the healthcare field.

The student athlete started his Trinity career playing on special teams. He played nine games his first year, and all 10 in the following three seasons. He began starting his sophomore year, but only on rotation. It was his junior year, when he began playing full games, that Packard really figured out his role. This past year, he lead Division III football in sacks.

What was the top challenge of your career?

“My shoulder injury sophomore year. I’ve never had a significant injury I had to miss a game for. It was a lingering injury that persisted through my junior year and this season so it was never something I had to directly deal with. But, I guess it was more of a mental thing of telling myself I could still do it. I couldn’t physically move like I wanted to and I couldn’t move people like I wanted to before I had hurt it, so I had to mentally get over it.”

What has Trinity football taught you?

“I learned a lot about football in general, but a lot of it was life lessons like time management and being able to focus all of your attention on one thing when it’s that set time. For practice, for those two and half, three hours in the morning you got to focus on only that and it’s hard to keep out school and other worries — like, I have a project or a presentation that day. One thing I got really good at is planning my weeks ahead and then just focusing on what I have to do in that specific moment, and honestly, that’s more of what football has taught me here than anything that has to do with actually playing football.”

What will you remember most?

“There’s a saying from our old head coach: you’ll always remember your first game and you’ll always remember your last game.

Honestly it’ll be the last game I’ll remember, probably the last play which was sort of a meaningless play. We just took a knee but I got to go on offense and just be there, just line up, they snapped the ball and we took a knee and that was it, but I’ll always remember that last game with everyone on the team.”

Describe each member of TUF senior class in one word.

Joshua Cook. Cool.

Cody Sandman. Old. Robert Molina. Strategist.

Adam Saunders. Buckets.

Austin Grauer. Big-hearted.

Cole Brewer. Nuts.

Bo Black. Amiable.

Brad Hood. Machine.

Julian Turner. Goofball.

Joseph Staggs. Good.

Zachary Allen. Crazy.

Brandon Greer. Absurd.

Ryan Bernal. Dedicated.

“We came in with a group of over 50 guys and we ended up with 13 seniors and so we’ve been through a lot of stuff together.

It’s really an experience to be a football player in college because it ends up being year round, so it’s tough, but you get some lifelong bonds with these guys.”

A Trinity Tradition: Participate in the San Antonio MLK Jr. March Monday, January 16, 2017, meet at the Bell Center at 8:30 a.m. to board buses.

Free shirts will be given to the first 200 people.

Help Trinity maintain its reputation as having the largest university/college representation at the march! Bring cash for food and wear comfortable shoes.

Visit gotu.us/mlkjr for more information.

CALLING ALL...

CONCERT FANATICS THEATER BUFFS FILM LOVERS

Get paid to write about the things you love! A&E is looking for people with a passion for culture.

Contact us at trinitonian@trinity.edu.

SPORTS • DECEMBER 02, 2016 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

19

The top sports photos of the semester

Top left photo by CLAUDIA GARCIA (pictured: Colby Doyal, junior kicker), top right photo by HENRY PRATT, bottom left by NOAH DAVIDSON (pictured: LAURENCE PYKE, junior midfielder), bottom center by OSVALDO VELOZ (pictured: ABBY HOLAND, first-year forward), bottom right by NOAH DAVIDSON (pictured: Jordan Dumea, junior defender).

trinitonian-adv@trinity.edu p: (210) 999-8555 f: (210) 999-7034

ruopdovaD idaH yb detaerC tcejorP nuoN eht morf

Created by Hadi Davodpour from the Noun Project

YOUR AD HERE!

THE RICHARDS GR

TRG JOB #: SBU-16-0050 CLIENT: SMU

TITLE: Master’s Colle

COX. CONNECTED.

PUB: Trinity Univers Trinitonian

INSERTION: November 20

A Year Of Investment.

A Lifetime Of Returns.

TRIM: 6" x 8"

COLOR: CMYK LINE SCREEN:

Earn A One-Year Master’s Degree.

SNAP/85

FOR QUESTION CALL: Kathleen Pend 214.891. 2918

Management Maximize your market value with a solid business foundation.

Business Analytics Launch your career in big data, marketing or consulting.

Finance Attain success in corporate finance, investment management and consulting.

KEEP YOUR FINGER ON THE PULSE.

Accounting Enhance your skills, prep for the CPA exam and jump-start your career at a top global accounting firm.

Paid positions open at the Trinitonian.

Sport Management Join the only sport management master’s program in DFW, the #5 sports market.

Contact trinitonian@ trinity.edu for info.

Hone your professional skills. Access 40,000 alumni in 80 countries. Jump-start your career.

Learn more at coxmasters.com.

SMU does not discriminate in any program or activity on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

SBU160050 Mstrs_Trnty_Trntn 6x8.indd 1

11/7/16 3:01 PM

20

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • DECEMBER 02, 2016 •

SPORTS

Athletes or role models? NFL Thursday has issues

BY HALEY McFADDEN

SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR

Recently the intercollegiate world has been rocked by several scandals. The Harvard men’s soccer team had a premature termination of their season after they were found to be making lewd and degrading comments about female athletes. About a week and a half later, the Columbia men’s wrestling team found themselves in deep water when texts they had sent using racist, sexist and homophobic language were leaked.

The issue is not in whether these actions were wrong. It seems obvious that the Harvard soccer team’s derogatory comments about women were disgusting. And you would be hard-pressed to defend the racism, homophobia and promotion of sexual assault found in the text messages sent between the Columbia men’s wrestling team. The issue isn’t even if these boys should have been suspended or punished in some way. That decision has to be left to their respective schools. The most pressing issue, rather, rests in whether or not those who play sports at a high level have a responsibility to the rest of us to be role models. When you sign up to be an athlete at a major university, or at the professional level, are you also signing to be a model citizen?

In an ideal world, the answer would be yes.

Ideally, everyone in the public eye would be a role model for kids and adults alike. And it is true that when a player decides to go pro, people are naturally going to look up to them.

However, at the end of the day, these people are athletes. They are football, soccer, softball and baseball players. These people are paid not to be great citizens, but rather to hit balls further, run faster and jump higher than any regular

person can — to provide entertainment for the working man, resting from a day in the real world.

It’s undeniable that we as humans are always looking for something, or someone, great.

Athletics are a pervasive part of our culture, and sports are a force that can bring us together. For that reason, we expect athletes to be someone we want to look up to, someone who is essentially perfect. We want the football player who never drops a ball, is in a dedicated marriage, hugs his kids after every game and donates a large portion of his salary to charity because he does not care about material possessions. We are not looking for an athlete, we are looking for a superman.

The problem is he does not exist. It is impossible for anyone to be perfect, and so time and time again we find ourselves disappointed by our heros being human, oftentimes going as far to then define them by their failures. Lance Armstrong, for example, went from being a hero to being just a cheat. Armstrong’s charity has raised over $500 million dollars to help in the fight against cancer, an undeniably good thing, but still so many see him as nothing but the guy who doped to bike faster.

I’m not saying we should give up searching for this amazing, upstanding man, and by no means am I saying that we should not hold ourselves and our fellow citizens to high moral standards. Rather, I am saying that a person’s personal life does not affect their ability to make baskets or score touchdowns.

Instead of looking to sports for our role models, we should be looking around us, holding each other and ourselves up to these high standards we give to athletes.

BY CHRIS GARCIA

SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR “On any given Sunday.” Not only is that a fantastic football movie starring Al Pacino and L.L. Cool J, but it is also a saying that rings true for NFL football each week. The pure uncertainty that comes with each Sunday is what makes this league great and is what makes football the most popular sport in America right now. Whether you’re setting your fantasy lineup, placing a bet, or cheering on your favorite team, Sunday is a day for football. But it was not always like that: Sunday used to be a day for rest and religion for millions. Don’t get me wrong — it still is for some, but now it seems that the NFL has taken over Sunday in many people’s lives. If this is to be the case, then why do they need Thursday too?

As Thanksgiving break has come to a close, so has the slate of Thanksgiving games. These Thursday night games are games that have clear cut value, as watching these games on Turkey Day have become a family tradition for many. Historically, people love watching the Cowboys and the Detroit Lions on this day, but this day is an exception. There are not going to be a lot of people who have a problem with Thanksgiving Thursday games, but every other Thursday night game? Many NFL analysts and TV personalities are calling for the abolishment of the weekly Thursday night game, and they have a legitimate gripe.

The reason for these Thursday night games are to promote the game, give the people the entertainment that they want, and of course, to make as much money as possible. But what about the players? How do these short weeks where a team plays a Sunday game and has

to come back and play 4 days late affect the team’s success and a player’s health? These are the considerations that people need take.

These teams fly across the country, play in the most brutal contact sport there is, yet they are expected to be in top-notch physical shape with only a short amount of recovery time.

There has been plenty of debate about how to deal with the scheduling of these games. Do they cut the number of games and only allow them to be played at the end of the season when college football is over and catching that viewership is easier to do? Possibly, but there is a prevailing opinion among analysts that Thursday games at the beginning of the season can only be detrimental to player health and team development. These Thursday night games at the beginning of the season are being played when the physicality of the game is at its highest and the chemistry of the team is at its lowest. How do these games bode well for anybody but the fans and the NFL executives?

Sure, promotions may help, and they have certainly tried their hand at spicing the game up by adding “color rush” uniforms, but in all reality, these efforts have failed. The league has seen a substantial drop in rating during the 2016 season. Only time will tell if the NFL will do away with Thursday Night Football. According to a few sources, the NFL is considering ending or limiting Thursday Night Football by 2018. The NFL has denied those allegation, citing their commitment to Thursday Night Football. As players and coaches continue to speak out against Thursday night games, the pressure on the league to consider players safety and integrity of the game will mount. It will be interesting to see if either side budges any time soon.

A Trinity Tradition: Participate in the San Antonio MLK Jr. March Monday, January 16, 2017, meet at the Bell Center at 8:30 a.m. to board buses.

Free shirts will be given to the first 200 people.

Help Trinity maintain its reputation as having the largest university/college representation at the march! Bring cash for food and wear comfortable shoes.

Visit gotu.us/mlkjr for more information.