02.02.2018

Trinitonian Serving Trinity University Since 1902

Volume 115 Issue 17

FEBRUARY 02, 2018

Trinity reaches milestone in becoming a National Historic District Campus celebrates the importance of O’Neil Ford’s architecture The Coates University Center is one of 26 buildings designed by architect O’Neil Ford.

Because of Ford’s innovative designs, Trinity is in the process of becoming designated as a National Historic District. photo by CHLOE SONNIER, staff photographer

CATHY TERRACE | NEWS REPORTER cterrace@trinity.edu As Trinity moves forward with the development of the Campus Master Plan, the administration has been seeking designation as a National Historic District.

The university’s application was approved by the Texas Historical Commission, a major step in the process of being placed on the National Registrar, according to Sharon Jones Schweitzer, assistant vice president for university communications.

The news was announced in a campus-wide email from Danny Anderson, president of the university, on Jan. 22.

“I am pleased to announce that our application to designate Trinity University a National Historic District was approved this weekend by the Texas Historical Commission,” Anderson wrote. “The next step is for the Commission to forward our application, along with its approval, to the National Park Service. … This state-level approval marks a major milestone in our journey toward National Historic District designation for our campus.”

According to Schweitzer, the application will now be sent to the National Parks Service before the final designation is granted in mid-June.

Gordon Bohmfalk, director of Campus Planning and Sustainability, described the role of the Texas Historic Commission in the process.

“It’s a federal program. The idea is it recognizes historic places in history. There are several different categories, architecture being one of them, and so it is something that encourages both preservation and reuse of buildings so that they’re not destroyed over time,” Bohmfalk said.

“It’s a program to encourage maintaining those buildings and design ideas for the future.”

Because the Campus Master Plan is designed to layout an architectural plan for Trinity, members of its committee, led by Diane Graves, former assistant vice president for academic affairs and former university librarian, contributed to this process.

Bohmfalk said because the majority of architect O’Neil Ford’s work is on Trinity’s campus it makes sense for the university to apply to the national registrar as a historic place.

“It actually came out in the process of developing our master plan, and I think that

it was of course pretty well ingrained in all of the committee members and our consultants that the work of O’Neil Ford and the Trinity architects, most of his work was done in Texas,” Bohmfalk said.

Katherine O’Rourke, associate professor of art and art history, explains the significance behind receiving such a title.

“I was quite surprised to learn that Trinity was pursuing the designation. Doing so appears to represents a significant shift in the university’s approach to its older buildings,” O’Rourke wrote in an email interview. “When property owners seek the designation, it is taken to mean that they value the historical aspects of their buildings, want them to be recognized as historically significant, and that they intend to be good stewards of them.”

According to Bohmfalk, 26 buildings across campus are a part of this designation. These include residence halls like Bruce Thomas Hall and Camille Lightner Hall, as well as academic buildings, including George Storch Memorial Building and Laurie Auditorium. Buildings that were not designed by Ford, including the Center for the Sciences and Innovation, will be classified as non-contributing buildings in the district.

3-year Admissions streak continues

Student interest in Trinity continues to grow, acceptance rate decreases

JORDAN BRUCE | WEBMASTER jbruce2@trinity.edu Over the past four years, prospective students’ interest in attending Trinity University has risen at a rate not even Eric Maloof, vice president for enrollment management, could have predicted.

“We have seen a major uptick in early decision applications, which is the highest sign of affinity that a student can show for Trinity,” Maloof said. “It’s a student who, if they get in, will scrap their college search and are bound to attend Trinity.”

Justin Doty, director of Admissions, noted that early decisions applications have increased.

“For the first time ever, we are over 100 early decision acceptances, which is more than 40 more [compared to] the same time last year,” Doty said. “You can spend your whole career in Admissions and never see this type of movement.”

Doty isn’t just referring to early decision applications. According to statistics shared by the Admissions office, the number of applications is estimated to reach at least 8,600 this year, including planned admission of 3,000 students. That would result in a 35 percent acceptance rate, the lowest in recent memory.

Maloof also emphasized the strength of recent classes, noting that because Trinity is seeing more applications, the high school statistics of recent classes have improved as well. In our New Student Orientation issue, we highlighted the strength of the incoming class of 2021.

“The average SAT in this admitted student class is a 1380, and the average in the class

of 2021 was a 1330,” Maloof said. “We’re getting more applicants, the right type of applicants, and they’re really interested in Trinity.”

Doty said students and their families are visiting more than they have in the past, as well.

“At this time in the application cycle last year, we had approximately 200 fewer applicant visits, or students who did apply to Trinity. We have also seen about 100 more of our admitted students visit this year, which is a good indicator of their interest.”

Maloof added that visit program attendance has been on the rise as well.

“We’ve broken our own records for a lot of the Trinity in Focus events we’ve held this year,” Maloof said. “We keep shattering our own attendance numbers, especially with those admitted students and their families.” continued on PAGE 4

With the disignation as a National Historic District, the architecture will become more of an increasing focal point for the university.

“Our master plan is a recipe for looking into the future about what we want to do on campus.

It’s about coordinating different uses across the campus, and a historic district I think is something that helps and supports our design guidelines that are part of that master plan,” Bohmfalk said.

“I think that it encourages study of Ford and his way of thinking about architecture, and how architecture affects a university campus.”

O’Rourke also argued that Trinity’s designation will further shift the campus’s attention towards Ford’s influence — something that students have sought to preserve as well.

“The university understands pursuit of the designation as part of the master plan, which, rhetorically at least, aims to reconnect Trinity to principles that shaped the campus when Ford and his colleagues worked here. To do this meaningfully, Trinity must commit to patronizing designs marked by careful, deep engagement with the site and landscape,” O’Rourke wrote. “I hope that the university will commission a landscape master plan to complement the existing master plan.”

spotlighting

ACCESSIBILITY Students share varied experiences with physical disabilities on campus CATHY TERRACE | NEWS REPORTER cterrace@trinity.edu Since its installation in the summer of 2014, the Murchison elevator has been critical in helping students access upper campus. However, the elevator breaks down frequently, making it hard for students with disabilities to navigate the hilly campus.

Student Accessibility Services (SAS) can be an initial starting point for all students with disabilities who are in need of assistance, physical or otherwise. continued on PAGE 5

How voting in primaries will affect your future

Point-Counterpoint: Are award shows important?

Spring sports get back into the swing of things

David Pooley, professor of physics and astronomy, talks the importance of voting.

Two A&E contributors hash out the pros and cons of Holly wood’s favorite season.

From tennis to softball, athletes look forward to winning this season.

PAGE 9 OPINION

PAGE 16 A&E

PAGE 18 SPORTS

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WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 •

NEWS

Previously, on SGA: ‘F’ is for Funding This issue covers the SGA meeting on Jan. 29.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE TU Italian Society requested $3,479.09 for three cooking classes and a sagra Amulya Deva, president, presented on parliamentary procedure in the place festival. The money would cover the costs of ingredients and food from Aramark as of Jacob Sanchez, former chief of staff who stepped down from his position. well as things like plates and napkins. SGA approved the amount for one cooking Deva discussed the importance of using parliamentary procedure to ensure class only — $599.50. efficiency during meetings.

TigerThon requested $4,162.08 for the Trinity University Miracle Network FUNDING REQUESTS Dance Marathon. The money would cover materials needed to host the event, TEDxTrinityUniversity requested $1,472.64 for the “Think Again” event on including decorations, wristbands, banners and a photographer. The full amount Feb. 17, 2018. 100 people are expected to attend the event, and the proposed was approved. budget covers food, gifts for attendees, marketing material and a banner, along Trinity’s Mock Trial Club requested $2,277.76 to attend a regional competition with whiteboards and Sharpies to for attendees to share their experience at the event. SGA agreed to cover the cost of the food, gifts and marketing material, but and to fund its website. The money would cover the costs of registration fees and food, as well as the costs of materials needed to participate in the event. The cost not the whiteboards and Sharpies. $1,278.25 was approved. of the website is $7 per month, and the group requested coverage for a year. SGA Alpha Kappa Psi requested money to cover the cost of a mandatory conference agreed to cover the costs of the registration and materials needed, but did not cover in San Francisco. Four members must attend the event to maintain Trinity’s food and approved only three months of website costs as a trial run. SGA approved chapter. The group requested $2,227.96 for airfare, two hotel rooms for two nights the amount of $1,693.76. and registration fees. SGA agreed only to pay for one hotel room for two nights, The Vietnamese Student Association requested $4,143.65 for food, shirts and along with airfare and registration fees; the amount of $1,969.96 was approved. costumes for the Lunar New Year celebration. The full amount was approved.

Global Health Initiative requested $1,719.81 for a lecture on tropical diseases Campus Publications requested $5,390 to continue to provide free advertisements

by Fareed Kahn. The money would cover the costs of an honorarium for Kahn, transportation, dinner with Kahn and nine students, a hotel room and advertisement to Registered Student Organizations on campus, as well as to create and hire a new printing. SGA suggested looking for a cheaper hotel and did not cover the cost of position on staff. The full amount was approved. the dinner for nine students. $1,498.63 was approved for the event.

Tune in each week for Kathleen Creedon’s SGA summaries. SGA meets at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays in the Waxahachie Room in Coates University Center.

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Corrections In the Jan. 26 issue, a photograph of the former location of Counseling Services and Student Disability Services was printed alongside the article “Spotlighting Accessibility” on page 5.

Counseling Services is now housed in the Halsell Building, and Student Accessibility Services is located in the Tiger Learning Commons in the Coates Library.

Spot a mistake? Let us know at trinitonian@trinity.edu.

STAFF DANIEL CONRAD editor-in-chief JULIA WEIS managing editor GRACE FRYE director of digital presence JONAH NANCE business manager REBECCA DERBY ad director KATHLEEN CREEDON news editor KARA KILLINGER pulse editor NICHOLAS SMETZER a&e editor, circulation director KENDRA DERRIG sports editor SOLEIL GAFFNER opinion editor AMANI CANADA photo editor JORDAN BRUCE webmaster EVAN CHAMBLESS copy chief KATHARINE MARTIN adviser CONTACT INFORMATION EDITORIAL email: trinitonian@trinity.edu ADVERTISING email: trinitonian-adv@trinity.edu ad office: (210) 999-8555

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Campus celebrates third Tuition Stop Day Student Ambassadors and Alumni Relations focus on the importance of small donations CATHY TERRACE | NEWS REPORTER cterrace@trinity.edu Last week, 369 balloons decked the lawn in front of Miller Fountain for the third annual Tuition Stop Day. The event was hosted to promote student philanthropy and make students more aware of how donations affect their education.

Student Ambassadors and Alumni Relations co-sponsored this event to take place on Jan. 24, roughly two-thirds into the academic year and the day that tuition stops paying for students’ educations.

“Tuition only covers about 64 percent of the cost of each student’s education whether receiving a scholarship or not,” wrote Jim Stryker, associate director of annual giving outreach and engagement, in an email interview. “We marked the day by inflating 369 balloons of different colors to represent the almost 10,000 gifts to scholarships since seniors were in their first year at Trinity.”

The balloons present varied in color to represent the different types of donations made. White balloons signified those worth $25 or less, while black balloons indicated gifts made by students themselves.

According to Student Ambassadors, each balloon represented 25 gifts, including 9,239 gifts to scholarships, with 150 white balloons for 3,777 gifts of $25 or less and 38 black balloons for students gifts.

The balloons represented all donations since 2014.

Student Ambassador Cristian Vargas explained the displays’ significance.

“It’s a representation of the fact that today the money that students pay for tuition stops funding their education, essentially,” Vargas said. “From now until May, whenever they graduate, or they’re done for that year, all of that is done through donations. All of that is done to physically demonstrate the impact that donations have on the university;

Junior LAURA HARRIS, left, sophomore SARA HERIDIA, center, and senior BENJAMIN D’AURIZIO, right, speak with junior TREY FOSTER, far right, about Tuition Stop Day. The Student Ambassadors joined Alumni Relations in expressing the importance of all donations, including small ones. Only two-thirds of students’ education is covered by tuition; donations pay for the rest. Tuition Stop Day represents the day students’ tuition money is spent. photo by CHLOE SONNIER, staff photographer

without donations, we would have to raise tuition prices or take fewer students.”

To encourage engagement, students were invited to participate in a competition involving the balloons. Last week, Student Ambassadors announced the results: Nathan Horn, a first-year, guessed within 10 of the right number of balloons.

“I was surprised when I found out that I won the grand prize. … When they told me

I was 10 balloons off I thought, ‘Oh, I’m in the top 10 or 30,’ but I didn’t think that I got number one,” Horn said. “I think that the alumni really care about this school and the students who go here.”

As indicated by its competition, Tuition Stop Day paid closer attention to donations of a smaller size and amount this year.

“We wanted to put more focus on smaller gifts as well to let students know that really

any gift — no matter the size — is important and beneficial to the university,” Stryker wrote. “70 percent of gifts since 2014–2015 — when seniors first came to Trinity — have been $100 and under. All combined, that is about half a million dollars in direct support of students and Trinity.” continued on PAGE 5

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WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 •

NEWS

Trinity implements new program for recyclables ‘Dual stream’ method expected to increase campus recycling rates KENDRA DERRIG | SPORTS EDITOR kderrig@trinity.edu Campus Planning and Sustainability is in the process of transitioning residence hall recycling bins to a ‘dual stream’ recycling program.

Instead of separating paper, cardboard, aluminum and plastic, students will be able to recycle aluminum, plastic and glass in one bin. Paper and cardboard will still have to be separated. The program will also introduce glass recycling into residence halls.

The change comes due to the inefficiencies of the previous method. Only 12.3 percent of all waste was recycled during the fiscal year of 2016–2017. According to Sharon Curry, sustainability coordinator, this number has room for improvement, especially since during the 2016–17 RecycleMania, a campus-wide recycling challenge, 19.6 percent of waste was recycled.

“We are seeking to find the program that is the best fit for our campus. We want a program that is convenient for the community and costeffective for the university, as well as sustainable in our constantly-changing local recycling services market. Additionally, we want to consider sustainable materials management and waste minimization best practices,” Curry wrote in an email interview. “The goal is to transition the entire campus during the spring semester.”

Monica Lampton, sophomore student assistant of Campus Planning and Sustainability, explained why it is important that recyclables are sorted correctly.

“If residents do not sort their recycling properly, there is no secondary sorting. This means that if the recyclables are not sorted properly into the correct bins, then the bin is considered ‘contaminated,’ and will not

Campus Planning and Sustainability has put up new signs in residence halls noting the new dual stream system for recycling. Students may now recycle aluminum, plastic and glass in one bin. photo by AMANI CANADA, photo editor

be counted as recyclable material and will be sent to a landfill,” Lampton said. “It is highly important that students properly sort their recyclable materials.”

The new sorting method does not change what qualifies for recycling.

“Anything organic, like food, is not recyclable and should be placed in the

trash, including recyclable materials that have organic material on them, like pizza boxes and to-go containers that haven’t been cleaned,” Lampton said.

Lampton also provided insight into why recycling is important in the first place.

“A lot of the materials we use are very harmful to the environment to make in the

first place but tend to be necessary,” Lampton said. “In order to reduce the amount of impact we have on the environment, we can recycle all the materials that are allowable.”

Lampton explained how recycling, and knowing what can or cannot be recycled, can positively affect the environment.

“An example of this is paper. In order to make paper, we must cut down trees and turn them into paper materials. This, obviously, kills trees, which in turn negatively affects the environment, as they are essential to environments and also, you know, breathing oxygen,” Lampton said. “A way to reduce the amount of destruction that we do to our own environment, we are able to recycle those papers which, consequently, allows us to cut down fewer trees.”

Lampton elaborated on the long term effects of recycling.

“Recycling helps make our planet sustainable. People, in general, want the world to be habitable for their children or grandchildren, and the best and easiest way to do that is to recycle. Recycling helps make our planet livable for a longer time,” Lampton said.

Katherine Jones, sophomore and president of EcoAllies, a club focused on promoting environmental awareness and activism, expressed her hope that this new system will promote better recycling habits on campus.

“I’ve gotten the sense that some Trinity students don’t recycle as much as they might otherwise would due to confusion about what can be recycled and where, or because they don’t have the time or inclination to try and find the appropriate recycling bin, so hopefully the dual stream recycling system will help address some of those issues,” Jones said.

It is important to note that students should continue to separate their recycling until the signs above the bins have been updated. First-year residence halls will be the last to be updated.

7,255

7,663

8,600

41 %

38 %

35 %

Both Doty and Maloof attribute a lot of the rise in interest to Strategic Communications and Marketing (SCM).

Formerly called University Marketing and Communications, the connection between admissions and SCM was emphasized by all involved, including Michelle Bartonico, director of SCM. “We underwent a restructuring two and a half years ago to strengthen our connection to the Admissions office,” Bartonico said.

“We’ve gotten more bold, not just in our strategies, but in who we are and what we’re doing.”

Maloof attributes Admissions’ success to this reinvigorated push.

“Starting with the class of 2019, we became aggressive with our marketing and recruiting strategies,” Maloof said. “We really think that we are getting Trinity the attention that it deserves to receive.”

Furthermore, Maloof added that Trinity’s recruitment strategy is very targeted.

“Admissions and marketing are working together to identify the right students and communicating with them in very effective and powerful ways that highlight the benefits and merits of a Trinity education,” Maloof said.

Bartonico agreed and shared how the strategy for marketing really focuses less on a shotgun approach to recruitment, instead focusing on getting the right student who will appreciate what Trinity has to offer.

“We want to provide not something for everyone, but something for the right type of student for Trinity,” Bartonico said.

Even though application numbers have been increasing, both Doty and Maloof emphasized that the goal is not to increase incoming class sizes.

“All of this demand is not with the intent of growing the student body,” Maloof said.

“The goal has been 640 students in a firstyear class. The increased demand will not change the fabric of the university — the class sizes, the connections that students form with professors — none of that will change in any noticeable way.”

Another area of focus for Admissions has been on international students. While the number of international students attending Trinity has remained the same, more applications are being received from outside the United States.

“The international applicant pool has grown for each of the last 15 years,” Maloof said. “This year, we’re on pace for close to 1,000 applications from international students. However, we’re following the national trend of fewer international students enrolling, despite admitting close to the same amount.”

Maloof also added that international students certainly are a focus of the admissions process. “We actually have three counselors whose job is to travel to international markets and recruit students to come to Trinity. ... International and globally aware students are certainly a big part of any Trinity class.”

Both Doty and Maloof agree that a Trinity University education is meant for a specific student and that the goal of admissions is to match the right student to the right school.

5,563

continued from FRONT

48 %

Admissions office continues three-year streak

graphic by JORDAN BRUCE, webmaster

NEWS • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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spotlighting ACCESSIBILITY Community members discuss troubles navigating the hilly campus, frequently out-of-service elevators continued from FRONT “Most of the students that register with Accessibility Services here at Trinity are students with invisible disabilities, so that can be anything from a medical condition that creates mobility issues, a learning disability, sensory disability, mental health disability — which is the growing category for why students register for accommodations,” said Catherine MorellNickle, assistant director for SAS. “Accessibility services on campus don’t reside in one office alone; it’s a community issue.”

Physical accommodations are only a small portion of the total amount of accommodations provided, as not all elements surrounding mobility barriers fall within the department, according to Morell-Nickle.

“Access is everyone’s responsibility. Student Accessibility Services is a major piece for students who need equal access on campus, be it in the classroom, the living environment, [or] with curriculum,” Morell-Nickle said.

“The physical accessibility of the campus — my office can work with other departmental offices and facility services in planning, in thinking, in ensuring that things are accessible.”

Facility Services is responsible for maintaining campus infrastructure, including the 39 elevators in academic buildings and dorms. According to Jim Baker, director of Facility Services, some of those elevators are currently undergoing renovation.

“The Thomas elevators are undergoing an upgrade,” Baker said. “The first car, which is the one on the left as you’re facing the elevators, should go back in service this Friday or next Friday. Then we will take the second unit down, and it will take another eight weeks to do that.”

In addition to renovations and replacements, the elevators also occasionally break down or temporarily go out of order.

“The design of the elevator is to put it into safe mode until it can be fixed,” Baker said, “If it’s three or four days ... we’ll just post a notification on the elevator that it is down; if it’s going to be longer than just a few days we’ll contact ResLife to let them know there’s a major issue.”

Sophomore Taylor Volzer, who was on crutches last semester, expressed frustration with the lack of communication about elevator maintenance. “[When] the Murchison elevator was broken — and that’s the only way to get from lower campus to upper campus not taking the stairs — there was literally just a sign posted on the door that said, ‘Out of order,’ and that was it,” Volzer said. “I was really struggling with Accessibility Services to find a

ALYSE GRAY, left, and CATHERINE MORELL-NICKLE, right, are two of the faculty members who are dedicated to helping students with disabilities. Gray and Morell-Nickle both work in the Coates Library’s Tiger Learning Commons. Gray is the student accessibility specialist and Morell-Nickle is the assitant director for Student Accessibility Services. photo by CHLOE SONNIER, staff photographer

ride up the hill, so I was just forced to walk, and again there wasn’t an email sent out or any alternatives posted.”

Baker says it can take Facility Services several days to even be notified that there is an issue with an elevator; not every break is reported. Last year, 172 work orders were filed, and only 11 were not resolved in the same day.

“Whether or not we notify students depends on the situation. We are especially attentive to the Murchison elevator, as it connects lower campus to upper campus,” wrote Stephanie Ackerman, assistant director for housing operations, in an email interview. “[Residential Life] is not always notified of elevator issues, as requests are submitted to facilities services who handle the maintenance and repair. In the past, Facilities has notified us if an elevator is expected to be out for an extended period of time. If, say, Murchison elevator was expected to be out for an extended period, we would likely notify campus.”

In cases where the elevators are not currently working, those encountering mobility barriers must seek other alternatives, not all of which are guaranteed, as noted by junior Osvaldo Veloz, who had been on crutches last semester

due to a fractured ankle. Veloz had trouble obtaining an escort from TUPD. “Someone referred me to the nonemergency TUPD number and said that sometimes they’ll give people rides, so I did that a couple times. ... It was kind of inconsistent,” Veloz said. “I’m not sure if it’s because there’s not a clear policy within TUPD about whether they do it or not, but it kind of just depended on who answered the phone to see what reception I’d get.”

According to Pete Perez Jr., assistant chief, TUPD has no official policy in regards to providing rides to those in need of mobility assistance.

However, escorts are sometimes provided.

Even those who are not students have to navigate Trinity’s campus. Kerri Weathers, a Trinity parent who has multiple sclerosis and is wheelchair-bound, shared her difficulties.

“When we attended freshman orientation, it quickly became apparent that the Trinity campus would be challenging for a person in a wheelchair,” Weathers wrote in an email interview. “I expected the hilly terrain, steps and stairs and some alternate routes. What I didn’t expect was that the challenge would be locating the ramps and elevators, or finding

Ambassadors also plans on hosting a weeklong event called I Heart TU Week, set to take place during National Philanthropy Week. The event has similar goals.

“Throughout the week there will be games and events around campus with opportunities for students to win prizes. … At each event students will be able to fill out signs saying why they love Trinity and ways they can give back that will be hung throughout the week,” Stryker wrote. “The goal is to further educate students on Trinity’s long standing culture and tradition of philanthropy while offering students chances to directly give back.”

For those interested in I Heart TU Week, the event will be held from Feb. 5–9 in various locations across campus, including the Coates University Center, Murchison Tower and Mabee Dining Hall.

369 balloons decorated the lawn in front of Miller Fountain on Jan. 24 in celebration of Tuition Stop Day. The day recognizes that only two-thirds of students’ education at Trinity is covered by tuition and encourages students to give back once they graduate. photo by CHLOE SONNIER, staff photographer

student helpers that knew where they were located. We had to ask three or four volunteers to find someone who knew where they were.”

Jenni Holman, a senior who has fibromyalgia, also shared difficulties in navigating the physical layout of campus.

“I feel there is a deficit of handicapped parking that is available to students,” Holman wrote in an email interview. “This makes it really difficult to find spots that are open for myself as a student with a handicap sticker for my car. The centralization of buildings also means that parking lots frequently are situated pretty far from any building on campus, so even with handicap parking, it takes a lot of walking to get where I need to go.”

For those interested in attending or visiting campus, Admissions attempts to provide accessible tours for the campus. According to Inka Boehm, senior tour guide, the office offers a walking tour, a walking accessibility tour and a golf cart tour for all those interested.

This article is the second of a four-part series addressing campus accessibility. Readers interested in contributing their stories are invited to contact this reporter at cterrace@trinity.edu.

Tuition Stop Day encourages student donations continued from PAGE 3 In total, approximately $10,000 was raised from over 8,000 students, parents and alumni.

Showcasing these numbers on campus is meant to demonstrate the significance of donations, as well as to encourage students to donate as they approach graduation.

“Young alumni are probably the most important group that we can reach out to because it gets them in the habit of philanthropy and giving back to the school that gave them so much, and at the same time stressing the affordability of it,” Vargas said. “All you have to do is make a small gift. … If everyone did that, it would add up so much more quickly than just relying on a few people to make big donations.”

For students who did not have a chance to participate in Tuition Stop Day, Student

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The Office of Academic Affairs, on behalf of Trinity faculty and Vice President Denesse L. Jones, extends our sincere congratulations to these Dean’s List* students:

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Have an opinion? To be featured as a guest columnist, please submit your article to trinitonian@trinity.edu by Sunday at noon to be in Thursday’s issue of the paper.

Opinion

FROM TH E EDITORS’ DESK

Bid Day? Nah, rush Trinitonian This issue of the Trinitonian is dated for Friday: Bid Day. You’ll probably notice the line of people in Coates as they anxiously await their bid cards. If you don’t see them, you’ll almost certainly hear the screaming, multicolored horde around Miller Fountain, excited to welcome home their brand-new members.

Greek life is a huge part of the Trinity community; it encompasses about a quarter of our student body. Whether we like it or not, our seven sororities and six fraternities are prominent parts of campus life.

Greeks play on sports teams, make it to the Dean’s List and are involved in many other on campus clubs. Greeks on Trinitonian staff represent a total of six different freaternities and sororities. Two of them lead the paper.

If you aren’t involved in extracurricular campus life, you’ll still see Greek life in the classroom when members wear their jerseys every Monday. (And, like any other student group, sometimes you’ll see them in Conduct Board or Honor Council hearings.)

At the same time as Trinity Greeks welcome their New Active Classes, chapters

of Greek organizations across the nation face increased scrutiny, suspensions, and outright disbandments. After several Greeks died at universities in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas and Florida as a result of alcohol abuse and hazing rituals last year, USA Today began updating a list of disciplinary actions against Greek life.

Trinity’s Greek life contains those same built-in tendencies and structural features that can lead irresponsible students to make harmful, even fatal, decisions. They’re social clubs intended to facilitate partying culture, instill deep bonds and protect secretive traditions. It practically comes with the territory.

But Trinity’s Greek life is unique, too.

We’re composed entirely of locally founded fraternities and sororities, each with a rich history and unique character. Jeremy Allen, who served as a tax attorney and Teach for America instructor before returning to his alma mater to supervise its Greek system, has introduced a number of valuable procedures and standards for Trinity Greeks, keeping a close eye on what the organizations are up to.

TRINICATS Dit at war

Since it’s almost impossible to ignore Greek life, it’s probably not the best idea to try. Instead, talk to someone involved. Find out what their organization stands for and what they hold dear. Keep up your connections with friends who rush and pledge Greek, and celebrate with them as they run to the fountain to greet their new sisters and brothers.

We won’t ignore them, either. The last few Trinitonian issues have featured coverage on Greek goings-on, and with the onset of the Greek “Orientation” process, we look forward to working together with Allen and Greek Council representatives to cover Greek life, from executive decisions and recruitment data to service events and disciplinary actions.

Last year’s upset over SGA’s rolled-back refusal to fund Greek Council proved more than anything that the Greek community is a powerful force on campus. So don’t avoid the chaos by the fountain. Instead, revel with Greeks as fellow members of our campus community. It’s not hard — their joy is contagious. Just remember to keep an eye out for sorority girls on rollerblades. cartoon by ANDREA NEBHUT, staff illustrator

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Frequently Asked Questions

Are the opinions on these pages held by all of the Trinitonian staffers?

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual writers, not of the whole newspaper staff. The editorial, found in the box marked “From the editors’ desk,” expresses the opinion of the Trinitonian. The section editors, managing editor and director of digital presence work with editor-in-chief Daniel Conrad on it each week.

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When are they due?

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Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less. They are due Sundays at noon. Email your thoughts to trinitonian@trinity.edu and opinion editor Soleil Gaffner at lgaffner@trinity.edu. She or the editor-in-chief will get back to you.

How long should guest columns be? When are they due? Who do I send them to?

A farewell address from the 2017-2018

Greek Council Executive Board CLAIRE POLAND GUEST COLUMNIST cpoland@trinity.edu

Co-signed by Tory Tolar.

As Bid Day quickly approaches, Greek Council has been busy preparing to welcome all the New Active Classes of 2018. This process has allowed us to reflect back on the past year on Greek Council, and for some of us, the past three years in Greek Life. Looking back, we remember the excitement that we felt on Bid Day. CLAIRE POLAND, GAMMA CHI DELTA, OUTGOING GREEK COUNCIL TREASURER: Three years ago, when I picked up my Bid Card from the Witt Center, I truly had no idea of the kind of sisterhood I was being welcomed into. I can still feel the energy that I felt running towards my club on that cold February afternoon.

Little did I know that the group of 23 women standing beside me in the freezing

Miller Fountain water would become my constant sources of joy, comfort and study buddies. They have helped shape every single thing about my Trinity experience. These ladies have pushed me to become the best version of myself, and for that, I will always be in their debt.

What sticks with me the most about that short afternoon in early 2015 is that each person accepting their bid was able to find their home away from home, their people, their pals, and it would not have happened without Trinity seeing value in the Greek system.

TORY TOLAR, CHI BETA EPSILON, OUTGOING GREEK COUNCIL SERVICE CHAIR: I remember feeling a sense of joy and slight nervousness as I waited after my class on Friday to start Bid Day. Even though I had only gone to one third round party and had only “preffed” one organization, I was still not sure if I was actually going to get a bid.

Even if you know, you don’t really “know.”

When I opened the envelope that said “Tory Tolar” on it, I was thrilled to see the organization of my choice had decided to extend me a bid. After signing it, I first

ran to Murchison Lawn to meet the new organization president, and continued up to Miller Fountain to meet a bunch of people I had never met before in my life.

That didn’t really matter though, as we all soon became friends and they are now some of my best friends at Trinity.

Bid Day will always be a turning point for me, as my sorority has continuously pushed me to be a better sister, friend and leader.

When we came into our positions last year on Bid Day we had no idea the growth that we would experience. Through all we have experienced this past year, we have been able to expand our leadership skills, grow as individuals and truly have become the best of pals. When it comes down to it, Greek life bonds us all, regardless of the letters we wear.

For that, we are extremely thankful.

The outgoing 2017-2018 Greek Council wishes everyone the best of luck this Bid Day, and we hope that every student finds their place at Trinity, in the Greek system or not.

Claire Poland is a senior marketing major.

Tory Tolar is a senior history major.

Guest columns should range between 500–700 words in length and are due Sundays at noon. Email your opinions to the opinion editor, Soleil Gaffner, at lgaffner@trinity.edu.

Students, please include your graduating year and declared or intended majors and minors.

Faculty and staff members, please tell us your job title. Alumni, please describe your current occupation and include the year you graduated from Trinity as well as the majors and minors on your degree.

If relevant, please attach photos related to your guest column.

We also have staff illustrators who can create a graphic if you describe one.

Will you edit my guest columns?

The opinion section editor and the copy editors review guest columns for clarity, libel and style, but will not alter your argument.

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OPINION

Learning sport in London JACOB TINGLE GUEST COLUMNIST jtingle@trinity.edu

Over the winter break I spent two weeks in London, during which I attended three football matches and a play in Piccadilly Circus; I also took Blue Badge Tours of Westminster Abbey, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Hampton Court Palace. My time in London, however, was anything but a vacation. While it was an amazing experience, the reason I was in London to was to teach the first two weeks of a Trinity University sport management class.

That course is “Tom Brown’s School Days: A comparative analysis of British and American sport models,” aka Sport in London, which began Dec. 26 and ends on March 28. The time in London was a full sprint. You won’t believe how much we packed in during the two weeks, so I’ll spare you the details, but that fact that we walked nearly 115 miles in 13 days gives you some idea.

Because of the immersive nature of our time in London, there’s no doubt the time back on campus — to reflect and do academic reading — is vitally important to the students’ learning.

While I’ve previously taught this class, there was something enchanting about the festive period in one of the world’s great cities.

The true magic, however, comes in seeing the glint in our students’ eyes as they saw St. Paul’s Cathedral for the first time or their enthusiasm as they walked into a stadium for their first British football game! In a previous Trinitonian article, Hailey Wilson highlighted what our students learned, as such, this articles focus is on what I learned.

In no particular order I offer my big takeaways from my two weeks in London: CAN I TRUST YOU? I have the good fortune to team-teach Sport in London with men’s soccer head coach Paul McGinlay. He’s been at Trinity for 27 years and is wildly successful by any metric you choose, e.g. wins, team GPA, NCAA postgraduate scholarships. I believe the positive results are based on his team development philosophy.

All team members must: (1) Do What’s Right, (2) Do the Best You Can and (3) Show People You Care. I was blown away the first time he shared this philosophy; and it is the cornerstone for Sport in London. In the class, our goal is to develop a team, not simply provide students with a transformational experience.

Affirmative answers to these three questions are key to the team development process: (1) Can I trust you? (2) Are you committed to the team?

(3) Do you care about us?

If students do what’s right, do the best they can and show people they care, the team will be successful.

EVERY MOMENT MATTERS During the closing dinner in London, Shelby DeVore said her biggest lesson from the two weeks was that “every moment matters.” While all of our students shared import take-homes, Shelby’s comment really struck me. As McGinlay says, the most important things in life can be found “in the books you read and the people you meet.”

Something poetic occurs at the intersection of McGinlay and DeVore’s comments. Pay attention to what you read, connect deeply with every person you meet and know that every moment matters. Whether at work, in class or abroad, this is a great worldview.

THE FA CUP IS THE BEST SPORTS CONTEST IN THE WORLD Although my favorite football team lost in round three of the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup), at least I saw the match live. I was gutted by the result, but the fact that a League One team defeated a Championship League team (on the road!) was brilliant.

One day later, Nottingham Forest defeated Arsenal — again on the road. And, in the game of the day, another League One team, Shrewsbury Town, drew with West Ham — at Shrewsbury!

A Premier League team playing a League One team on the road? That simply doesn’t happen in America, but how great would it be if the Montgomery Biscuits played the Texas Rangers in Montgomery — and won!

THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HISTORY AND HERITAGE The final lesson was courtesy of the British historian, Simon Inglis. In preparation for our class, students read selections from “Played in London” and we were treated to an amazing guest lecture on our second full day in London.

While Inglis talked about the Roman era London Amphitheatre, Uppies and Downies and the historical development of the Oxford versus Cambridge rowing contest, the most significant moment in his lecture came when he detailed the difference between history and heritage.

History is the story of what happened: the facts. (I’ll add: as they are remembered or told by the victors). Heritage is what is left that is important to us. So — what is the History of Sport in London II? Ask McGinlay, me or one of the students and we can provide detailed day-byday descriptions, which will give you deep sense of our history.

The heritage? Find one of us in 25 years. We were changed. We were impacted. But, what’s left of the history won’t be known for quite some time. My hope is that during our next eight weeks together, the class will develop a sense of its heritage.

I can’t wait for our class reunion in 2028! It’ll be unbelievable!

Jacob Tingle, ‘95, is the director of Experiential Learning and faculty leader of the Sport in London program.

DAVID SPINDEL, left, JACOB TINGLE, middle, and HAILEY WILSON, right, smile while sitting at Loftus Street, the home stadium of the Queens Park Rangers. photo provided by JACOB TINGLE

OPINION • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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Primary election season: Here’s the rundown MANFRED WENDT OPINION COLUMNIST mwendt@trinity.edu

The spring of every year is marked by two things: the arrival of the Masters and the beginning of primary elections. The primary election is how the members of each party decide who represents their ideas and opinions the best and should, therefore, represent their party in the general election against the other side.

After winning the primary, depending on what state you are in and what percentage of the vote you received, you will either go to a runoff or straight to the general election. In Texas, you must receive more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary or the race goes to a runoff. This year the primary date is March 6, and the runoff is May 22.

For Trinity, the primary and elections, in general, are a snooze-fest. Trinity resides in a +17 Republican district. Lamar Smith has been the congressman since 1992 and has never faced a serious primary or general election challenger.

However, this year it will be different. On Nov. 2, Lamar Smith announced he was retiring. This means for the first time since we were born, Trinity can have an effect on who our congressman is going to be. No, it won’t be a Democrat. We still live in a +17 Republican district.

What this means is that whoever wins the Republican primary will, unless there is another Roy Moore situation, become the next congressman. There are 18 different candidates running for the position — with Texas’ 50 percent primary rule this means that the race will almost inevitably go to a runoff. With 18 candidates, there are plenty of options in every lane of the Republican party.

However, you aren’t restricted to simply participating in the 21st Congressional district race. San Antonio is normally a backwater in terms of politics. This year it’s a little less of a backwater. There are a number of competitive

races in Bexar County that you can help influence by volunteering or interning for different political organizations.

On the Republican side, the Texas House Districts 122 and 121 are having very competitive primaries, in addition to Congressional District 21.

On the Democratic side, the gubernatorial race that will decide who gets to lose to Greg Abbott and the race for who will take on Will Hurd in Congressional District 23 continues to heat up.

The primary elections present Trinity students with the opportunity to work for and support a candidate who they believe represents their values and will help shape the future of the country in the direction that they believe it should go. For the Republican party, this means finding some way to fuse together the moderates, the conservatives and now the Trump supporters into a cohesive political unit.

For the Democratic party, the midterm primary offers their primary voters the opportunity to begin the soul-searching process that parties go through after losing a major election. This is the same process that the Republican party had to go through in 2008 and 2012. The Democratic party will have to make some hard decisions about where to go from 2016, an election that, according to almost all statistical experts, should have been easily won by Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic primary voters have interesting choices to make: Should they charge down Bernie’s road to serfdom in an effort to appease its progressive wing, or attempt to rediscover Bill Clinton’s third way in an attempt to win back the Midwest, the current door to the presidency?

Regardless of what side you are on, whether you believe in communism or a transcendent moral order, you should get involved and participate in the democratic process. While your one vote may not make the difference in an election, volunteering very well could.

Manfred Wendt is a junior political science major.

illustration by YESSENIA LOPEZ, staff illustrator

Voting in the primary will impact your future DAVID POOLEY FACULTY COLUMNIST dpooley@trinity.edu Imagine you only had 16 dollars to spend for the rest of your life. That’s it. That’s all you have.

You will never receive any more income. And you can only spend a dollar every four years, but you cannot save them up. If you do not spend the dollar, you lose it. You would think long and hard about how to spend each one. You would cherish each and every dollar. They would be precious and sacred.

The average lifespan in the U.S. is about 78 years. You can only vote during 60 of those years.

There is a presidential election every 4 years. You will get to vote for a president about 16 times in your life. That is not a lot of times to vote for president.

The presidential vote is the most powerful political capital that we, as citizens, have. The care and thought that you would put into spending each of those 16 precious dollars in the scenario above should be the same care and thought that you put into voting for the president. That’s how all voting should be. It is a serious endeavor, and, as serious, engaged and thoughtful individuals, we should approach it with consideration and respect — even reverence — and openly encourage others to do the same.

When many Trump supporters explained why they voted for him, I read and heard many expressions along the lines of “needing a shake-up,” “the liberals had Obama for eight years and now

it’s our turn” or “successful businessman.” These types of reasons are unthoughtful, vindictive and misguided, respectively. (That last one is a particularly pervasive and damaging shibboleth.

The institution of government, and of academia, incidentally, has fundamentally different goals than those of businesses, and success or perceived success in one has little bearing on performance in the other.)

A vote is a reflection of your morality. A vote indicates how you want to make the world a better place.

The reasons why we now have such a fundamentally unqualified and flawed person as President of the United States are many and complicated and still not fully understood.

Much of the early explanation that too quickly concluded it must be due to the economic anxiety of the white working class, has not stood up to scrutiny, and likely plays a much smaller role than initially thought. However, one important but rarely discussed axis of the multi-dimensional phase space of a presidential election is how much importance an individual places on his or her vote.

Our increasingly digital existence, combined with our finely honed consumer-based society, puts a bewildering number of choices before us

each day. We are asked, implicitly or explicitly, to choose, to judge, to prefer or to indicate desire on a near constant basis every single day of our lives.

While a vote is a choice among options, it is much more than just a statement of preference.

It is not a like. It is not a follow. It is not a swipe to the right. It is not a late-night impulse buy on Amazon.

A vote is a reflection of your morality. A vote indicates how you want to make the world a better place. A vote is a way to put your ideals and your vision of the future into practice.

Feb. 5 is a very important day. It is the last day to register to vote in Texas for the upcoming primaries in March. Because of how badly the Republicans have gerrymandered our state —

check out districts 10, 21 and 25 for some of the most egregious examples — in many districts, the winner of the primary is all but assured to win the general election. Voting in the primary has a huge impact.

And when you vote in the primary, in the upcoming midterm elections and in future national, state and local elections, spend some time to think deeply about the act of voting itself.

To do your duty as a citizen, you must participate.

But to be a truly engaged citizen, you should also have an appreciation of the significance and weight of that act of participating.

David Pooley is an assistant professor in the physics and astronomy department.

illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT, staff illustrator

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OPINION

Videogames recreate moral realities of modern war GABRIEL LEVINE OPINION COLUMNIST glevine@trinity.edu

“This War of Mine” screenshots depicting the repercussions of player decisions during gameplay.

One of the great values of art, film, photography and literature is that they are our only means, outside of direct experience, of grasping and confronting the reality of war, history and ideology.

Videogames are often thought to lack this property by a public for whom “videogame” conjures images of Mario or machine gun fire.

This is understandable, but mistaken — and I like Mario and shooters.

In the hands of skilled and serious developers, videogames can offer immersive and accurate accounts of the depravities of the human condition that, due to their unique inclusion of player choice, can meet or exceed art, film, photography and literature.

For this potential to be realized, though, players must shift their expectations and play games with a mature outlook, taking their choices seriously.

Two games serve as good examples.

First, “This War of Mine,” a survival-strategy game inspired by accounts of the civilian experience of the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. The player controls a small number of civilian characters inside an abandoned house.

Each character has a face, a name and a backstory.

If they are sick or hungry or tired, they will stumble about, sad and unproductive. During the day, sniper fire traps the civilians indoors.

The player can choose what the characters do, but that choice is informed by constant, acute, wrenching scarcity.

Do you use a piece of raw meat to feed one of your starving characters or use it to set a trap for a larger animal and hope that the trap will yield more food soon?

An unforgettable moment occurred in the game for me when, due to a winter chill, all my characters were severely sick and in desperate need of medicine. My only option was to scavenge the house of an elderly couple. Opening the door, the old man begged me not to hurt him or his ailing wife. He didn’t attack when I began pilfering his belongings, merely asked me why plaintively.

When I approached the medicine cabinet, he begged me to leave some medication for his wife.

I needed it for my characters, though, and I took it. Returning to my characters with the medicine, all I felt was a kind of numb revulsion, a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach that stuck with me, a kind of guilt. That’s what player choice and good design can do: make real the brutality of war.

Next, consider “Fallout: New Vegas,” an openworld game set 200 years after a nuclear war in Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert. The player’s character, a courier, stumbles into a conflict between several factions in conflict over the Hoover Dam.

From the west, there is the New California Republic (NCR), a sprawling, bureaucratic government similar to the pre-war United States. The NCR has a standing army and offers protection from raiders but it’s overextended, ignores the desire for independence of the towns it occupies and suffers from crony capitalism.

From the east, there is Caesar’s Legion, a vast army of tribes who have been crushed and unified under Caesar, a man who styles himself on the Roman emperor. The Legion is brutal and socially regressive, but driven and purposeful in a way that the NCR is not.

Alternatively, the city of New Vegas itself is controlled by Mr. House, a pre-war tech genius who has kept himself alive and wants to carve out New Vegas for himself with an army of robots.

He speaks grandiosely of restoring civilization and achieving space travel within 50 years.

That’s what player choice and good design can do: make real the brutality of war.

Alternatively, the player can overthrow all three factions and secure New Vegas for themselves. No faction is perfect; each reflects distinct philosophies and notions of government. Each has substantial flaws and substantial promise, with no clear ability to predict which would lead to a better future.

Above all, though, the factions feel real, not concerned with battles for good and evil but for control of the logistical advantage of Hoover Dam, like real nation-states. The player must choose which faction to side with, expressing and enacting their values in the process.

“Fallout: New Vegas” also has four expansions in which the player is compellingly presented with and must choose how to address problems of human greed, cultural innocence, tribal warfare, unrestrained scientific research, the persistence of history and the power of the individual to shape it and the use of nuclear weapons.

These two games, a small fraction of the examples I could have used, demonstrate the potential of the medium, though that potential is dependent upon the maturity of the players.

To play “This War of Mine” with a mindset of learning the game mechanics well enough to ‘win’ by acquiring abundant resources would miss the point. To play “Fallout: New Vegas” with the mindset of acquiring the biggest guns and the most money would likewise miss the point.

To truly appreciate games, the choices available within them need to be taken seriously.

Gabriel Levine is a senior chemistry major.

HAVE A STORY THAT NEEDS TO BE TOLD? Know a professor or student who embodies what it means to be a Tiger? Email us at trinitonian@trinity.edu to let us know about the people and events that should be covered in an upcoming issue of the Trinitonian.

Pulse

Humanities Day panels offer inspiration Trinity alumni speak about scoring jobs and learning how to think

MAGGIE LUPO | PULSE REPORTER mlupo@trinity.edu “I’ve never read a book that started with the sentence, ‘I did what my mother told me.’ ” These are the words of newspaperman and entrepreneur Robert Rivard, a guest on the second panel of Trinity’s first Humanities Day, held on Jan. 26. Rivard, along with three other panelists, told stories and gave advice to current students during the second panel, titled “Advice for the Present: What I Wish I had Known.” Rivard’s co-panelists were Dilpreet Sidhu, Rachel Fuerst, and Nicholas Shockey.

Humanities Day was carefully organized by the Humanities Collective and the Center for Experiential Learning and Career Success, and made possible through the support of Board of Trustees member and incoming chair, Herb Stumberg. It included two panels, each with four members who were all connected to the humanities in some way, most of whom graduated from Trinity.

The first panel, entitled “Trajectories: Models for the Future” was made up of Trinity graduates Debbi Cohen Roos, Whitney Fournier, Matthew Patty and John Burnam.

Each person spoke about his or her path after Trinity to get to where they are today. Many of these paths were unorthodox, as none of the panelists were doing a job that someone would think “naturally” followed their majors.

Panelist Debbi Roos, who described herself as a proud English major but who now works in business, said that, in her opinion, college is not supposed to prepare each student for a specific job.

“I came to school to get an education and not a training,” Roos said.

This sentiment was echoed by all of the other panelists across both panels. Phrases like “lifelong learner” and “learning how to learn” appeared multiple times, spoken by different people. The clear message of the evening was that humanities majors are valuable in whatever field they choose to pursue because they’re critical thinkers. Multiple panelists also emphasized the value of good writing.

“I came to school to get an education and not a training.”

DEBBI ROOS CLASS OF 1990

Nicholas Shockey, one of the members of the second panel, explained how his ability to write helped him turn an internship into a job after he graduated. “[My boss] could trust my writing and didn’t need to spend time heavily editing my work,” Shockey said.

Rivard also stressed the importance of being able to write well, explaining that this skill is one of the main reasons he loves to hire Trinity graduates. He attributes the ability to write well to Trinity students’ capacity to think logically.

“Good writing starts with good thinking,” Rivard said.

This strong reinforcement of the value of a humanities background was the point that the Humanities Collective hoped to get across to students. Professor Tim O’Sullivan, chair of the classics department and one of the two leaders of the Humanities Collective, said in

DEBBIE ROOS speaks as WHITNEY FOURNIER, MATTHEW PATTY, and JOHN BURNAM listen during Humanities Day panel. photo by STEPHEN SUMRALL-ORSAK, staff photographer

advance of the event that he hoped students would recognize the value of the humanities courses they take, even if they’re not directly related to students’ majors.

“The hope is for students to come away realizing that even their work in classes that aren’t explicitly tied to pre-professional training can have a real impact for them on their post-collegiate lives,” O’Sullivan said.

Professor Ruben Dupertuis of the religion department, the other leader of the Humanities Collective, explained that he hoped that the panelists would be able to provide a perspective that professors can’t.

“It’s harder to talk about the specific skills that you can get out of humanities degrees … because they can look so different for different people. So it’s our hope that, rather than us

going on and on about, ‘look there’s a bunch of skills in the humanities,’ just bringing people to talk about their own experiences, and in different ways, will be helpful to students,” Dupertuis said.

He also expressed hope that students would mingle with panelists and other alumni at the reception after the panels.

“We’re bringing back an extraordinary group of alums, I hope students will get to know them,” Dupertuis said.

Dilpreet Sidhu had perhaps the most honest comment of the evening.

“Having to write papers, as painful as that process is, you’re going to reap the benefits of that for the rest of your life,” Sidhu said.

As all the professors in the room chuckled, the students collectively sighed.

Experiential Learning revamps Tiger Breaks Students given choice between two different locations for traveling and volunteering GABBY GARRIGA | PULSE REPORTER ggarriga@trinity.edu Junior Susan Griffith stood in the frozen food aisle feeling hungry and regretting her decision to vote for lasagna.

After spending all day cleaning up a New Orleans park, Griffith sat in the car for ten hours while one of the group members drove. They were on their way to Walmart so they could buy frozen lasagna for dinner. Now, she stood staring at the box of lasagna in her hand. The box read “takes one to two hours to thaw.” Griffith and the rest of her group walked out of the aisle, craving the crawfish boil their last Trinity alum made for them. Although they were initially disappointed, by the time Griffith walked out of Walmart with her group they were all laughing about their attempted pasta dinner night.

“I really loved the service aspect, but the social aspect was really fun. I was meeting all new people and creating bonds with those people,” Griffith said.

Last year, Griffith and nine other students went on Tiger Break, a community service trip to New Orleans with a focus on environmental justice. Since 2007, Trinity has been providing alternative break trips where students participate in forty hours of community service. Recently, Experiential Learning has begun reinventing these trips to expand the program.

Scott Brown, the assistant director of Experiential Learning, works with the student leaders on the trips to plan each alternative break.

“We redesigned the model of the alternative spring break program at Trinity, so we’ve given it more of an identity and a brand. It is now known as Tiger Breaks. Our vision is to potentially offer these programs or these trips not just over spring break but potentially offer a fall option and winter break option. Last year was our first time implementing this kind of model,” Brown said.

Normally, there is one alternative spring break trip a year. However, last year there was an increased amount of interest in the alternative spring break program, so Brown and Experiential Learning created an additional trip to Oklahoma City focusing on homelessness and poverty.

“Part of it is not just looking at the city but what are the causes that students care about on campus as well. And I know there are students who volunteer with organizations in San Antonio that work with people who are homeless or experiencing poverty, so we are going to use that focus and apply it to our new trip to Oklahoma City,” Brown said.

Every night, students gather together for reflections. Through these conversations, students share how they felt about the service project that day and how they could have improved on the project. The discussions facilitate group bonding and allow students to think of ways they can help with these issues after the Tiger Break ends.

Richard Reed, anthropology and sociology professor, believes that Tiger Breaks give students a chance to not only learn about these issues but also consider how they can facilitate change even after they graduate.

illustration by YESSENIA LOPEZ, staff illustrator

“I think that one of the goals of these programs is to give students an introduction to these kinds of works and these kinds of problems to figure out if they want to go deeper for longer periods of times. I think students have the opportunity to prioritize the social issues they want to work with,” Reed said.

Students are encouraged to engage with issues like environmental justice and homelessness and poverty on campus. One way students can do this is through HOPE hall. Members volunteer weekly at centers that focus on helping the homeless.

Tahlar Rowe, senior political science major, is the community partner coordinator for HOPE hall. She believes that Tiger

Breaks are an effective way to get the student body engaged with the issues of homelessness and poverty.

“I think it’s really cool, especially for people at our school who don’t typically experience the ill of the homelessness that close. To be able to put them in an environment where they’ll be exposed to that, I think that’ll be life-changing for a lot of people who do go on that trip. To be taken out of your comfort zone — to be physically put in that space and live there I think is an experience that even I can’t say I’ve had,” Rowe said.

This year, Tiger Breaks will take place from March 10-17. The trip will cost students a total of $150, which will include transportation, lodging and most meals.

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PULSE

Professors share harrowing tales of trivia

Trinity faculty put their knowledge to the test MAGGIE LUPO | PULSE REPORTER mlupo@trinity.edu

What river is controlled by the Aswan Dam? If you said the Nile, congratulations! You just correctly answered a $32,000 question from an episode of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

But if you didn’t know that answer, you’re in the same boat as John Adduci, friend and former high school quiz-bowl teammate of Dennis Ugolini, physics and astronomy professor. When Adduci was on the quiz show in 2000, he used his phone-a-friend lifeline to call the Trinity professor for help.

Adduci had called Ugolini before the taping to ask if Ugolini would be one of his potential phone-a-friend contacts, and Ugolini agreed. As instructed, the morning of the taping, Ugolini waited by the phone, let it ring exactly three times, and then picked it up. “[In] 2000, by the way, Google was not a thing. So I had a globe in front of me, just in case, but I was fairly confident that I could [answer the question correctly],” Ugolini said.

A producer had warned him that he would immediately be on air once he picked up the phone — when he said,“Hello,” it would be host Regis Philbin on the other end of the line.

“There was no transition whatsoever, you’re immediately on the show,” Ugolini said.

According to Ugolini, that wasn’t even the most nerve-wracking part. After he picked up the phone and heard Philbin’s voice, he noticed a glaring omission from the TV host’s usual introduction.

“The thing that worried me was he didn’t say the money value, which he always does. He just forgot this one time, so it could be $100, it could be $1,000,000,” Ugolini said.

Luckily, Ugolini was confident that the correct answer was the Nile, which he immediately told Adduci. However, Ugolini gave the answer so quickly that there were still 24 seconds left on the

clock. To fill this time, to the bewilderment of Philbin, the two old friends made casual chitchat.

“We hadn’t seen each other since we graduated from high school, nine years before, so he says, ‘Well, how’s it going?’ and we start having a conversation. Regis is just flabbergasted,” Ugolini said.

Adduci ended up winning $125,000, of which Ugolini got $500. Adduci sent him the money as a pre-paid Visa card so that he would have to spend it on something fun. Ugolini used the money to take his international summer research students to baseball games at the Dodger Stadium during his four years at Caltech.

Ugolini caught the game show bug, and has auditioned to be on “Jeopardy” eight times.

Much to his chagrin, he hasn’t been casted.

Ugolini keeps up with trivia in the meantime, though. He started participating in pub trivia in 2010.

“I do [trivia] more just to go out, drink a beer and get out on a Tuesday night. ” BRIAN MICELI MATH PROFESSOR

“It grew from, I suppose, game show frustration,” he said.

The pub trivia organization, called Geeks Who Drink, is both a friendly competition and a social event. Up to six people can be on a team, and there are different categories for each round.

It’s mostly pop culture material, according to Ugolini, but he likes the fast pace.

“What I like about it is [that] there’s a lot of questions. You get 80 questions in the space of two hours, so there’s a lot of play in it,” Ugolini said.

Unfortunately, even a skilled player like Ugolini has his weak subjects.

illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT, staff illustrator

“I’m bad at the music. I can do everything else, but I need the rest of my team to get me through the music,” Ugolini said.

Math professor Brian Miceli agrees with Ugolini’s self-professed knowledge gap.

“He’s really good at show-tunes. He’s pretty good at 70’s and 80’s rock, but if it’s anything modern, or even if it’s grunge stuff, if it’s not a rock band, he has no idea what it is,” Miceli said.

Like any good teammate, Miceli fills in those gaps.

“I’m much better at any rock from the last 20 years,” Miceli said.

Miceli, unlike Ugolini, does not have any serious “Jeopardy” aspirations.

“I do it more just to go out, drink a beer and get out on a Tuesday night,” Miceli said.

Jennifer Steele, associate professor of physics and astronomy, also sees the events more as fun social outings than serious competitions. Though she is currently on leave, she has participated in trivia nights with the other professors in the past.

“It’s just a fun thing to do on a weeknight when you don’t want to cook. The trivia is a challenge, but the questions are spaced so that you can also catch up with your friends. Unlike

at a movie, you can actually chat, but there’s enough entertainment that you don’t feel like you need to talk the whole time,” Steele wrote in an email interview.

Ugolini also participates in an organization called the National Trivia League, a more competitive and knowledge-based trivia platform that incorporates answer-confidence into number of points awarded. In that respect, it is similar to “Jeopardy” in that players bet up to 20 points in the final round, which can make or break their score.

“There’s a lot more variance to it because the last question matters a ton,” Ugolini said.

Ugolini and his team, which does not include any other Trinity professors, have participated in regional and national competitions through the National Trivia League with a high degree of success, placing 28th out of over 200 teams at the national competition.

All three professors emphasized that there are many ways for college students to get involved with trivia. If you’re interested in Geeks Who Drink, National Trivia League or starting a team to compete in college Quiz Bowl tournaments, contact Dennis Ugolini at dugolini@trinity.edu.

You asked. Wellness Services answered.

Brought to you by Katherine Hewitt.

WHAT’S THIS?

Katherine Hewitt, coordinator for Wellness Services, asked students to anonymously submit their questions about sex and sexual health during last October’s Sex Week.

Have any questions or suggestions? Reach out to Katherine Hewitt at khewitt@trinity.edu.

Why does the darker circle around the nipple exist? Why do some people have extra nipples?

Just like with breasts, there’s no one way that nipples are supposed to look. Both nipples and areolas (the circular skin around your nipple) come in different sizes and colors, from light pink to brownish black. The color of your nipples usually relates to your skin color. Nipples may have hair, stick out, be inverted, etc! Some individuals may have two nipples on one areola or may have no nipples at all (athelia)! Your nipples can get hard (erect) and pop out when you’re cold, sexually excited (turned on), nervous or if something or

someone touches them. This depends on the person and it’s up to you to tell your partner your thoughts on the subject.

An extra nipple, known as supernumerary nipples, polymastia or polythelia are usually smaller than normal and vestigial (nonfunctional, without accompanying mammary glands). It is estimated that one in 18 people have an extra nipple. They tend to occur along a roughly curved line that extends from near the armpit, through the center of the normal breast and down to the lower abdomen.

This distribution is very similar to the location of nipples on mammals that have multiple nipples along the underbelly. The good news is supernumerary nipples do not cause problems and do not need to be removed!

Nipples develop while a human embryo is growing in the womb. Normally, the embryo’s milk line tissue stays thick and forms your nipples while the rest of the thickened skin softens up again. But in some cases, parts of the milk line ridges don’t become regular ectoderm tissue again. When this happens, supernumerary nipples can appear where the

milk tissue stayed thick and ridged after birth and development into adulthood.

Do feminine hygiene products that advertise pH balance really work?

With the influx of feminine cleaning aids, it might surprise you to know that vaginas are actually capable of taking care of themselves with minimal assistance. Glands inside your vagina and cervix secrete fluids that help to flush out old cells daily, keeping the vagina clean. This process depends on that proper balance of microorganisms — and it’s why douching is unnecessary and even potentially harmful. Unless you’ve been directed to do so by a medical professional, it’s good to avoid aggressive cleansing and deodorizing with products that have fragrances and dyes, especially because it can lead to allergic reactions.

Here are some tips to avoid irritation or infections: Keep your vulva cool, clean and dry.

Wash the vulva once a day with warm water or mild soap. It’s a good idea to thoroughly rinse off any soap you do use, and to towel

off completely once you’re done bathing or showering. And if you’re menstruating that week, don’t forget to change tampons or pads regularly (at least four to five times a day), plus washing the genital area more often during this time to tone down any unwanted smells.

Still, keep in mind that any sudden changes in vaginal discharge should prompt a visit with a health care provider.

In addition, you might also consider the following prevention strategies: Avoid hot tubs or highly chlorinated pools. Use only white, unscented toilet paper and wiping from front to back. Use cotton-only tampons and menstrual pads. Opt for cotton underwear over synthetic fabrics or silks and satins. Wear loose-fitting clothing when possible. Quickly change out of damp or sweaty clothing. Wash and dry undergarments in a separate load without scented detergents or fabric softeners.

Special thanks to healthline.com and goaskalice.columbia.edu for their assistance in answering these questions.

PULSE • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

Making art and making money Students turn their knack for crafts and crochet into cash KARA KILLINGER | PULSE EDITOR kkilling@trinity.edu Alexandra Parris began crocheting in November of 2016. Her great-uncle had recently passed away, and she was wandering the bright aisles of Walmart late at night, looking for groceries and perhaps something to do on the plane ride to her great-uncle’s funeral.

Parris, now a sophomore, packed her cart full of snacks. Then, a crochet hook and a ball of yarn caught her eye. She figured, why not?

She’d never been much of an art person, but this would be as good a distraction as any on the hour-long flight.

“I think I bought a little ‘how to [crochet]’ book, but I gave up on that. Still pictures are dumb, and it’s the era of YouTube,” Parris said.

Parris struggled with the hook and yarn on the way to the funeral. Crocheting was difficult, but Parris began to think of it as a way to connect with her late uncle, who had loved to make art.

“He was always crafting; he was always into arts and stuff. So [crocheting] was not only busy work but also something he would have loved hearing about me doing,” Parris said.

When she got back to school, she kept working with the yarn and hook. After days of intense practice, her end product was a lumpy scarf, which Parris ended up giving to her mom as a present.

“I remember I stayed up all night trying to figure out how the hell to make it work,” Parris said.

Parris is now a master crocheter. She makes different colored hats inspired by the four Hogwarts houses, as well as hats that make the wearer look like they have cat ears. Of course, Parris still makes scarves too, but they are no longer lumpy.

Parris also wants more people to know about her favorite things to crochet — stuffed animals. Learning to make these little creatures helped her perfect the overall art of crocheting.

The crocheted stuffed animals even have a specific Japanese name, “amigurumi,” a combination of the Japanese words “ami,” meaning crocheted or knitted, and “nuigurumi,” meaning stuffed doll.

“They’re really good study buddies,” Parris said. “Every time someone comes to study in my dorm, they’re like, ‘Can I just hold your octopus while I read?’ ” Once Parris figured out how to crochet them, amigurumi — especially octopi — were all she wanted to make. In addition to selling, Parris now has to refrain from creating too many so that they don’t stack up in her room.

“I don’t have room for 70 octopi. I already have like 70 balls of yarn,” Parris said.

Junior art major Beverly Morabito has also been selling works in order to keep them from piling up. In the last year, about half of the pieces Morabito has sold have been specific commissions or requests, while the other half were old pieces she was trying to purge from the stack in her room.

“When you’ve been painting for forever, you just end up having stacks and stacks of things.

I would rather give something to someone if they’ll enjoy it, because if I have it, it’s just going to sit in my closet,” Morabito said.

Morabito wants to write and illustrate children’s books after she graduates. Whereas Parris only began crocheting her freshman year of college, art has always been a central piece of Morabito’s life.

“I’ve just always loved painting and drawing,” Morabito said. “When I was little, I was always

ALEXANDRA PARRIS crochets a scarf. photo by STEPHEN SUMRALL-ORSAK, staff photographer

against coloring books as an idea, because I thought that was the dumbest thing in the world: Why would you want to color someone else’s picture when you could draw your own?”

Morabito says she can’t pinpoint the exact moment her mini business began, or even the first piece that she sold. Rather, making gifts gradually became selling commissions.

She’s done more than drawing and painting, too. For example, a mom once asked if Morabito would wrap Christmas presents for her, and around homecoming season, Morabito would make mums for her friends.

Morabito primarily paints and draws now, but she doesn’t usually confine herself to any sort of theme or subject.

“I like color, and I like doing my own thing. I’m not the type of person to just sit down, look at an object and paint it,” Morabito said.

However, the art student is not above catering to high demands where she can find them. Morabito recently posted on the popular Facebook group, Overheard at Trinity, that she is willing to make customized Greek-themed signs for $10 each.

“I got that idea because my friend had someone last semester who was in [Alpha Phi Omega] and said, ‘Hey, can you paint something for me? I have to give something to my little, and I have no artistic talent.’ I thought, ‘Oh, OK. I’ll do this,’ ” Morabito said.

Knowing that people are willing to purchase the things she makes has been a major confidence boost for Morabito.

Once, one of Morabito’s paintings was the highest in demand at a charity auction, garnering more bids than any other piece.

She has realized that her art, though by her standards imperfect, nonetheless has the power to make people happy.

“You think, ‘Oh, the things I do aren’t that great.’ And then you slowly start realizing, there’s something here. This is worth something,” Moraito said.

Both Morabito and Parris have considered growing their small art businesses and perhaps setting up shops on Etsy, an e-commerce website. Parris even has a name for her business: Hooked on You Crochet.

However, both endeavors remain based in emails, Instagram posts and Venmo payments for now.

To contact Parris about crocheted creatures and garments, you can email her at aparris@trinity.edu. Morabito takes orders via email as well, at bmorabit@trinity.edu, and can also be contacted through her Instagram, which is @missbeverly18.

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AE &

Nintendo Switch outsells previous console by millions

Hasbro to release “Monopoly” version meant for cheating

A company known for its risk-taking designs, Nintendo gets a deserved “win” after almost a decade of dissapointment.

I hate to break it to you, but if you’ve haven’t been cheating this entire time, you’ve been playing it wrong. Don’t blame me, blame capitalism.

illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT, staff illustrator

What does Net Neutrality’s repeal mean for our connected campus?

Trinity administrators remain cautiously optimistic following last November’s controversial FCC decision BOBBY WATSON A&E CONTRIBUTOR rwatson@trinity.edu Since the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) repealed net neutrality last November, U.S. citizens and business analysts have speculated about how Internet Service Providers (ISPs) might react to the policy reversal. Though none of these companies have yet enacted dramatic changes to their policies, their behavior could drastically alter consumers’ access to the internet — changes that would affect university connections, too.

The FCC instituted net neutrality in 2015 to prevent net traffic discrimination on the part of ISPs. With the repeal of net neutrality, companies like Verizon, Comcast and Spectrum have the capability to speed up or slow down web traffic to and from certain companies’ services.

This means that ISPs could pick and choose to throttle traffic their wires carry from companies like Netflix, Spotify and Hulu

based on, say, preferred business relationships, or whoever pays them the most.

“For the most part, the issue is more of a concern that a large network provider such as AT&T or Comcast, might charge a large content provider such as Netflix or Google to move their traffic,” wrote Jim Bradley, the university’s chief information officer in an email interview. “From the network provider’s point of view, Netflix is selling a service but not including the cost of the infrastructure that allows the data to move across Comcast’s network.”

Some speculate that with the repeal of net neutrality, equal access on the internet will disappear. They say that ISPs will start discriminating against traffic from sites like Netflix, forcing consumers to use the companies’ own products — or products that their parent companies own — unless they pay extra fees.

“One possibility is that ISPs could decide that the traffic coming from Trinity is not high enough priority, so if we had faculty or students working on major research projects for instance that require extensive data it would possible for an ISP to say ‘We’re not making enough money off of you, so let’s go

ahead and move you over to the slow lane, or make you pay a lot more,’ ” said Chris Nolan, director of Coates library.

Though providers aren’t yet charging such punitive fees, some have offered incentives and data waivers to entice customers.

“It is interesting to note that since the 2015 rule changes were undone, some of the major cellular providers now are offering free access to some of the content providers,” Bradley wrote. “For example, T-Mobile now includes Netflix at no charge, AT&T provides free access to its own DirecTV Now streaming service — which predates the change — and Sprint is offering Hulu for free.”

Defenders of the FCC’s decision claim that net neutrality had harmful effects on investment in web infrastructure, preventing a quicker advance toward widespread 5G connections. They say that without net neutrality, ISPs will have the resources to improve internet access for all consumers.

It is worth noting that the majority of ISPs’ customers use some sort of streaming site like HBO GO or Hulu, and if they were to hinder streaming sites’ accessibility there would be major consumer backlash, which could harm ISPs more than benefiting them.

In network administration parlance, Trinity University is known as an Autonomous System, a collection of web routers that determines where web traffic from campus goes — essentially, Trinity is its own ISP. But the university must still communicate and work through other ISPs and their infrastructure in order to have full access to the internet, making the university subject to ISPs’ policies.

Most of Trinity’s internet connection is provided by Spectrum, which is owned by Charter Communications, the second largest cable company in the United States. In reaction to growing concern about the repeal, Charter stated in December that it supports a free internet, won’t throttle or block legal content and has no paid prioritization plans as of now.

But Charter has been growing immensely since its purchase of Time Warner Cable in 2016, growing its consumer base and services offered, and its plans may change in the future. Until then, the administration remains optimistic.

“I would say that right now, it is not likely that we would see any impact for our students and faculty,” Bradley wrote. with reporting by Daniel Conrad

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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Perspectives at the “Mini” GEORGIE RIGGS A&E CONTRIBUTOR griggs@trinity.edu

In Julia Poage’s piece, “The America I’ve Inherited,” one of her three graphic novel-style drawings exhibited in the “Mini,” she defines the phrase the ‘1.5 generation.’ This term generally refers to Holocaust studies, but she applies it to those who were alive when 9/11 happened, but were too young to fully process the violence.

“I’m applying this term to help me figure out what the 1.5 generation of the violent events that shattered 21st-century America can do to work out our collective trauma,” reads a panel in Poage’s mixed-media illustration.

This concept is abundant throughout the “Mini” exhibition, which opened last Thursday in the Michael and Noemi Neidorff Gallery.

Controversy covered in last week’s issue with a point and a counterpoint highlighted that the theme of identity is at the center of Abigail Wharton’s and Ariel del Vecchio’s work, “Constructed Religiosity.”

But I found recurring themes of identity in all of the works featured, which totaled seven works done by nine artists. In Erina Coffey and Dinda Lehrmann’s piece “Color: A Series on Diversity,” digital photography, textiles and paint chips were mixed to produce a work that comments on race. “The focus of this work is to highlight race issues as well as to appreciate the beauty of different skin tones,” Coffey and Lehrmann wrote in their artist’s statement.

The photography of this piece is beautiful and warm, focusing on close-ups of skin, which avoid being tantalizing by focusing on the humanity, rather than the objectivity, of skin. However, I felt the emotional crux of this piece came from the collected pile of skin-colored cloth on the floor. The whole piece certainly emphasizes shared humanity, but there is a celebration of differences in the patchwork cloth, which pours out of the wall in a way that could almost seem accidental or reductive in another work.

Likewise, Elizabeth Day’s work, “Landscapes,” builds a dichotomy between bodies and the world outside them, though this time with literal outdoor landscapes.

In black and white photographs, Day pairs places on the body with those of external places, both familiar but not entirely distinguishable from her photographs. The body parts appear larger than they would be in real life and the landscapes smaller, making a collage of skin and sky that seems to be just one.

Alex Motter and Quinn Bender’s piece tackles the connection between our physical selves and our identities through the lens of fashion, specifically men wearing chokers.

Motter said he was inspired to create this piece after an incident where someone said something homophobic to him while he was wearing a choker. The idea of generations comes up as Motter discusses the different aesthetics in the images, each representing a different time period in history, meant to communicate how gender norms change over time.

The art I viewed all shared a common thread of changing perspectives through art, especially Kristina Reinis’ “What Agonizing Fondness,” which feels like a literal exploration through the effects of grief. “I look at the intrinsic desire to to preserve memories after the death of a loved one,” reads Reinis’ artist statement. The melancholic colors of this piece, created using the pigments of flowers, transform a desk landscape into an expression of grief.

Scattered throughout the gallery, Raquel Belden’s work “Radiator Child” encompasses the juxtaposition I noticed in the other pieces. “‘Radiator Child’ explores the disjuncture between outward presentation and inner sentiment of the individual,” reads Belden’s artist statement.

On their own, these small paper children are an unsettling representation of inner tension and distress. Within the larger context of this year’s exhibit, the radiator children in Belden’s work help to communicate the idea, addressed specifically in other pieces, that there is harmony and dissonance created by the juncture of ourselves and our identity, and both should be explored in art.

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The Stieren Arts Enrichment Series presents

Debbie Millman author, educator, brand strategist and host of Design Matters

Why We Brand, Why We Buy: An Anthropological Look at Why We Love Our Smart Phones

Tuesday, Feb. 6 6 p.m., Chapman Center, Great Hall “Taboo,” a project by ALEX MOTTER and QUINN BENDER. The art installation focueses on how fashion and the restrictions placed around it directly affects how identities are permitted to be expressed. It was inspired by Motter’s own experience with homophobia.

The Stieren Arts Enrichment Series is made possible by an endowment gift from Jane and the late Arthur Stieren

www.trinity.edu

of San Antonio.

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WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 •

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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I’d like to thank the Academy; you should too AUSTIN DAVIDSON A&E CONTRIBUTOR adavids1@trinity.edu

It’s that time of year again. Actors and actresses wear their finest statement pieces, and throngs of film buffs huddle around their screens to see if their picks get picked: It’s awards season. And of all of the awards, the Oscars surely reign as king.

Lately though, the academy’s authority has come into question. Does an academy award add anything to a film, or should they even be considered legitimate? To some, the answer to these questions is that awards don’t matter and that at the end of the day, the individual’s opinion of the film is the most important thing. The same argument can be attributed to movie reviews, art reviews, food reviews and book reviews, and if that’s the case, reviews, according to that

argument, are useless. But, that is disregarding one of the basic tenets of reviews and awards.

The Oscars, like movie and book reviews, are decided by people with decades of experience in the film genres they’re judging. Many Oscar judges are previous Oscar winners themselves, or highly respected figures in their fields. The cinematography award is chosen by a panel of only cinematographers — men and women who have dedicated their entire professional career to capturing magic for the silver screen.

This experience and level of knowledge in their respective field gives them more right to criticize than the average moviegoer.

When the artist receives a golden statue, that crowning achievement, they are then etched into history, immortalized in the clouds with the fellow kings of cinematic art. That award also means that they will get more jobs and continue to spread their art to other films and eventually to the lucky public. The Oscar they work for, and hopefully receive, is a crowning achievement that will cement their place in Hollywood and

the film industry at large. At the end of the day, the opinion of Joe Shmoe who didn’t like the filmmaker’s latest masterpiece because it was “too artsy” isn’t the audience they are making the film for. The artist is making the film so that he or she can create something they are proud of, something they love and something they can be recognized for.

The Oscars can be a starting point for industry breakouts. At the 2011 Oscars, Jennifer Lawrence was recognized for her breakout role in “Winter’s Bone,” a harrowing role where she had to provide for her ailing mother and siblings while searching for her drug addict father. This role and nomination catapulted Jennifer Lawrence into the highest echelon of Hollywood, landing her a four-film contract for “The Hunger Games” and also her Oscar-winning role in “Silver Linings Playbook.” The Oscars got her that spot and because of that, she will be up there with the great actors of the 21st century.

The same can be said for this year’s Oscars.

Timothée Chalamet, a 22-year-old from

Manhattan, has become the youngest male actor since 1939 to be nominated for the best actor.

His breakout role was in “Lady Bird” and was nominated for the role in “Call Me By Your Name” brought him into the international spotlight, earning him multiple nominations for awards like the BAFTA, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and the Oscars. Just by his nomination, his name is now in the books for multiple roles, his future on the screen almost guaranteed and while it’s due vastly in part to his stunning performance, he now can reap the benefits of it with his nomination.

The Oscar nomination opens the door to Hollywood knighthood, garnering new actors places next to the best in the business, helping their career reach unimaginable heights. The Oscar nomination is like the Golden Ticket from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

You’ve made it, you get to see how the candy is made and get to eat it. But if you win the Oscar and walk onto that sweeping stage, you get the keys to the kingdom.

— or any year’s for that matter — will show a lack of recognition of women who work behind the camera and of people of color in general. While Peele and Gerwig might be examples of strides for diversity in the industry, broadly speaking, women of color behind or in front of the camera are still largely ignored by the Academy.

More generally, the list of movies and performances I loved in 2017 that either weren’t nominated or that deserve to win but probably won’t, would probably take up an entire page.

To include those that my friends enjoyed and also to take into account the many disputes they would have with my choices would be near impossible. To further include the people I follow on Twitter and their thoughts would probably result in an inconclusive “Call Me By Your Name” meme featuring Armie Hammer’s dancing and Timothée Chalamet rapping to Cardi B. So, maybe it’s alright that the Academy’s choices don’t always mirror those of the

general public. It’s stating the obvious to say that to narrow down a year of movies into a small handful of nominees and still please everyone is a fool’s errand. But it’s also a subjective judgment that often feels so tied to the stubborn opinions of a few that their glaring omissions are all the more obvious. The beautiful “Florida Project” and the disturbing “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” are two of the most referenced snubs, along with actor Michael Stuhlbarg, who was in three of the nine best picture nominees this year.

All of these highly subjective choices means that the ceremony isn’t usually all that fun to watch unless you have a dog in the race. Take it from someone who has watched a troubling amount of awards shows — and, yeah, the mindless E! red carpet specials preceding them — the Oscars rarely make for good television.

Unlike their boozy, unpredictable cousin, the Golden Globes, the Oscars usually drone on for hours of uncharacteristically boring celebrity speech.

While last week my fellow A&E contributor Austin Davidson bemoaned the Globes for daring to regard comedies as equal to dramas, this lack of self-importance is what makes the Globes worth watching, even if your favorites don’t win. Davidson seems to think that the Globes are the ugly stepsister of the prestigious Oscars, but the Globes succeed where the Oscars never have. Where the Oscars strive for subjectivity masquerading as objectivity, the Globes have seemed to focus on entertainment value, something that should matter at entertainment awards shows.

Every award season leading up to the Oscars is a constant cycle of my love for the films I saw and my frustration with their lack of recognition by the Academy. Instead, this year, I will concede that it doesn’t matter that “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri” will probably win best picture. I am firm in my belief that “Paddington 2” deserves it all, and no voting body has the power to convince me, or the world, otherwise.

Entertainment awards: Not so entertaining GEORGIE RIGGS A&E CONTRIBUTOR griggs@trinity.edu

When this year’s Academy Award nominations were announced last Tuesday, it was hard not to feel excited. Greta Gerwig became the fifth woman to be nominated for best director, Jordan Peele became the fifth black person to be nominated for best director and Sufjan Stevens became the first Sufjan Stevens to be nominated for an Oscar. No matter how long, dreary and self-congratulatory the actual ceremony is liable to be, it’s difficult not to hope that maybe, just maybe, this year will be the year when everyone who deserves to win will actually win.

But there are a few complications. For one, a cursory glance at this year’s nominees

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Lil Pump, big problem A swing and a miso AUSTIN DAVIDSON A&E CONTRIBUTOR adavids1@trinity.edu Lil Pump is a disease within the rap genre.

What started in the 1970s in the streets of New York City has now turned into a 17-year-old kid from Miami, Florida saying “Gucci gang” 54 times in a two-minute song and having it go platinum in less than a year.

Rap has evolved since its earliest days, but the roots of rap, and its ability to carry meaning and purpose, are still alive and well in the industry. Yet artists like Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, XXXTentacion and 6ix9ine don’t have a distinct meaning in their songs.

Their songs actually feed into the very stereotypes that news outlets and the United States government use to try and eradicate rap and hip hop from our culture — the stereotypes that portray rap as propagating a culture of violence, sex and misogyny, and as an anthem for gangs and murderers.

Over the years this stereotype has still been pushed by certain groups, but rap has now gained a widespread and diverse following that, for the most part, is the opposite of past stereotypes. Artists like Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper and J. Cole speak about the death of their friends, the hardships of their respective cities and the lost loves they mourn. Their albums have sold millions of copies and won countless awards; they are symbols of rap that has a message, rap that can speak to larger issues.

One of the best examples is Kendrick Lamar’s album “To Pimp a Butterfly,” a beautiful story of the evolution of a man who is trapped by his fame and fears, but accepts them and becomes

the person he is meant to be. It was so popular that former President Barack Obama told People magazine that Kendrick’s track “How Much a Dollar Cost” was his favorite song that year. That is the peak of rap, when a president of the United States is listening to the music of a generation that, 20 years ago, was being attacked for listening to the same music.

Rap has evolved into a platform for people who feel their voice isn’t heard or their problems aren’t noticed. Chance the Rapper did this with his third album “Coloring Book,” a religiously inspired smash hit that garnered him three Grammy’s and catapulted his career.

Chance discusses death, love and how his city is in deep need of help. He talks about how his safety and that of his family and children was not guaranteed, and how Chicago public schools are in desperate need of refunding and reconstruction. But he doesn’t just talk about it.

Last August, Chance donated 1 million dollars of his own money to the Chicago public school system after the state governor announced cuts to school funding. Artists like Chance and Kendrick are symbols of the best of rap, of how rap can be a symbol of change and good.

Lil Pump talks about having copious sex with women, taking enormous amounts of drugs and buying “lean [that] cost[s] more than your rent.” The less that those lyrics are analyzed and talked about, the better life is for everyone.

Lil Pump represents a regression in rap, a step towards the stereotypes that many artists have worked hard to distance themselves from. Lil Pump and his fellow artists hurt the genre, bringing it down in intellect, message and impact.

But hey, he is making millions, and sadly there is nothing that I can do about it. But artists like Chance and Kendrick keep making art and I can stick to listening to that. I hope everyone else will make the same choice.

NICK SMETZER A&E EDITOR nsmetzer@trinity.edu

Let me level with you: I love me some ramen. Fancy ramen, instant ramen, mediumamount-of-preparation-time ramen, spicy ramen or comically-dressed ramen, I love all kinds. There is only one exception to this brothy love affair: bad ramen.

As I walked into Coates and saw the ramen sign in the revolving restaurant, my heart skipped a beat. I was thrilled to see a ramen line, and threw myself towards it with reckless abandon — the gross amounts of food I had just consumed be damned! I selected my broth (the last of the miso) and my main protein (shiitake mushrooms, baby). I doubled down on chile oil, onions, spinach and various seasoning options.

Mouth watering, I raced back to my corner in Coates and tore into the bowl constructed but moments ago.

It wasn’t great.

Cooking mushrooms is hard. I’ve tried it myself. And, kudos to the chefs, they managed to not make them gross and slimy — but they were tasteless, without any of that lustfully tasty flavor that mushrooms are capable of.

On top of that, they were cold — all of the ingredients clocked in at different temperatures, but none of them were above lukewarm. You know what separates soup from a puddle of food-water? Heat.

Sitting in the food-water were the noodles.

They weren’t bad, but could have been less bland. Perhaps this isn’t a fair criticism, but they were the thick, udon-style variety, which I’ve never been fond of. A good ramen noodle should be first and foremost a conduit for brothy

flavor. When the noodles take up so much space in your mouth, it becomes difficult to appreciate any taste other than noodliness.

I’m not going to bring up the eggs — aside from the fact they still haunt me like a spooky, long haired Japanese girl in a horror movie.

All vitriol aside, here’s the thing: I love the idea of a ramen line at Trinity. In times of sickness, stress and anything else that starts with “s,” nothing soothes the soul better than a steaming bowl of ramen. I should add that the staff were entirely friendly, and helped me parse through all of the options with more patience than I deserved.

If we put good ramen in these folk’s hands, magical things would happen — that, and I’d burn through my Bonus Bucks even faster than I do already.

I have never made a bowl of ramen that didn’t involve a flavor packet; but, that being said, let me offer my gaijin advice on how we can give the ramen line a stellar second chance.

First, let’s heat things up a notch. I’m not sure whether or not the lamps or gas burners were malfunctioning, but it sure seemed like it. Get that broth up to a simmer — I promise, I’ll try not to burn myself — and same goes for all of the toppings.

Next, let’s take the seasonings out of the hands of us plebians. If you’re confident enough to serve us up a bowl of ramen, then be confident enough to season it up ahead of time.

Don’t make me walk the line between blandness and over-seasoned despair, I barely know how to measure out a tablespoon. And don’t worry, if I want it spicy, I’ll let you know.

Also, don’t crowd the mushrooms. If you don’t believe me, at least trust Julia Child. I’ll say no more.

Seriously though, let’s give this experiement another shot. The only thing worse than bad ramen is no ramen at all.

Over 100 pictures were submitted; of these, 8 students took home the the title of Photos of the Year

Briahn Hawkins

Chenyi Wang

Lavanya Hospeti

Shivani Desai

Sports

LET THE GAMES BEGIN:

• Softball @ McMurray (TX), Friday, Feb. 2, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

• Women’s Basketball vs. Texas Lutheran, Friday, Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m.

• Women’s Tennis vs. St. Mary’s (TX), Saturday, Feb. 3, 9 a.m.

Spring athletes swing for the fences

Tiger athletes look to break records and win championships, from the track to the baseball field HAILEY WILSON | SPORTS REPORTER hwilson@trinity.edu

With the start of a new semester comes the start of the spring season. Whether it be track and field, softball, baseball or tennis, many Tigers are gearing up for their first competitions of the semester. Check out a preview of each of our spring sports teams below.

TRACK AND FIELD Tiger track and field kicked off its season on Jan. 12 with the Leonard Hilton Invitational.

The Tigers were led by seniors Britney Sullivan and Nkolika Nweke. Sullivan finished in the top 10 for the long jump and triple jump, while Nweke finished 21st in the 60-meter dash.

Junior Blair Walker also finished in the top 10 in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash.

Sullivan is looking forward to finishing out her last season strong.

“It’s been a long four years and I can’t wait to see how this season goes. Hopefully, we can end things with new records and amazing memories,” Sullivan said.

Nweke is aiming to accomplish all of the goals she’s set for herself.

“I’m most looking forward to working toward the goals I set out for the year and enjoying the little moments this season because it’s my last,” Nweke said.

The men’s team will be led by senior Cody Hall, who has accumulated numerous AllAmerican honors over the last three years. The Tigers will travel to Houston on Feb. 9 for the Howie Ryan Invitational.

TENNIS The men’s tennis team opened up its season on Jan. 26 with a matchup against St. Mary’s University, followed by a matchup against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Tigers will be led by seniors Austin Crist, Kevin Lee, and Clark Rivers.

Crist is looking forward to climbing the national rankings once again.

WILSON LAMBETH, junior, compete in a match vs. Texas A&M at Corpus Christi on Sunday, Jan. 28. photo by ALLISON WOLFF, staff photographer

“I’m looking forward to working with the team and breaking back into the top 10,” Crist said.

Their season will continue on Feb. 10, when they travel to Walla Walla, Washington to take on the University of Redlands and Lewis & Clark College.

The women’s tennis team will open up its season on Feb. 3 with two matches against St. Mary’s University and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The Tigers have two returning seniors, Cheyenne Duncan and Marie Lutz.

Last semester, Lutz and Andrea De Leon, a junior, finished as runners-up in the doubles championships at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s Southwest Region Championships. Duncan placed second in the “A” singles consolation final.

Duncan has extremely high hopes for this season.

“I honestly think this is the strongest team we have had since I have been here and I think we have the potential to go really far this year. Our

team is extremely close and dedicated, which helps because we all have the same goals,” Duncan said.

BASEBALL The Tiger baseball team returns to the diamond on Feb. 9 at University of HoustonVictoria, followed by a game against East Texas Baptist University on Feb. 16.

Although the Tigers fell short in the SCAC championship against Centenary College last season, they are ready to redeem themselves this season. The Tigers are returning several key players, including Michael Davis, Jake Martin, Rafe Chaumette and Kevin Flores, who all earned SCAC accolades last season.

“The majority of our lineup this year will be returning guys and guys who learned how to hit together,” Chaumette said. “This team battled through a lot of adversity last year and I feel like we are poised to capitalize on a great opportunity.”

The Tigers will open up SCAC play on Feb. 23 at Southwestern.

SOFTBALL The softball team will kick off its season on Feb. 2 with a doubleheader against McMurry University. The Tigers are led by seniors Rebecca Berreth, Sara McCarty and Sabrina Nieto. Berreth, a captain, is looking forward to enjoying her last season with some of her best friends. As far as team strengths, she thinks the team cohesiveness is going to play a huge role this season.

“From what I have seen so far, the greater strength that this year’s team seems to have is cohesiveness and camaraderie, both of which make for a fun and enjoyable season no matter the outcome,” Berreth said.

The Tigers open up SCAC play on March 10 at Centenary College, but will begin their preseason this weekend.

Hailey Wilson is a member of the softball team.

New season of intramurals kicks off Soccer, basketball leagues continue long-standing tradition SAUL MALEK | SPORTS REPORTER smalek@trinity.edu Trinity students of all years and concentrations gathered together to kick off the 2018 intramural season earlier this week. According to Kristen Harrison, associate director of sports, Trinity is no stranger to intramural sports.

“Trinity has a long-standing tradition of intramurals starting with the first full-time intramural director Jim Potter in 1967,” Harrison wrote in an email interview.

Intramurals (IMs) are a successful component of athletic life at Trinity because competitive and casual athletes alike can compete at a comfortable level against like-minded opponents. Prior to spring break, Trinity offers basketball and soccer on the intramural menu. After the break, the list will include sand volleyball, flag football and dodgeball.

“We have four different divisions for basketball (men’s, women’s, CoRec and recreational) and three divisions for soccer (men’s, women’s and CoRec),” Harrison wrote.

Intramural soccer started competition this week. photo by ALLISON WOLFF, staff photographer

CoRec is a fun way for guys and girls to compete directly against each other, something that is not possible in organized competition.

“I’m in CoRec because I thought it would be more fun to play with all my friends, not just girls,” said Camila Zapater, first-year.

The format of Trinity intramural soccer is not too demanding, with two 25 minute halves and just one game per week. Intramural soccer provides a fun opportunity for those who have

previously played soccer, but do not play for Trinity’s varsity team.

“I signed up because a lot of my friends were doing IM soccer and I used to play soccer in high school, so I thought it would be fun,” said Claire Carlson, first-year.

In fact, even those with very little soccer experience find happiness in playing intramural soccer. Evan Eisenberg, first-year, has not played soccer since he was three years old, but decided to

join a CoRec soccer team at the request of a group of his friends. The result was not the prettiest for Eisenberg and his team, but the game was not a total loss for the first-year.

“We lost 24-1, but I still had a blast hanging with my friends,” Eisenberg said.

Meanwhile, in the Bell Center, intramural basketball is also underway. Basketball can be a nostalgic game for some participants who want to relive their glory years from middle and high school.

“I love playing basketball and I miss playing organized basketball. I played every year from third to eighth grade,” said Matthew Claybrook, sophomore.

Claybrook is on a team in the recreational league, which is the least competitive men’s league. But, just because the recreational league is more relaxed does not mean that Claybrook and his teammates don’t give it their all every time they step on the court.

“I’m mostly playing IM for fun, but I always want my team to be competitive in games,” Claybrook said.

Playing at your highest level pays off for participants. In addition to the satisfaction that comes with winning an IM league, winners get T-shirts and a gift card to split at Bombay Bicycle Club.

SPORTS • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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Tigers take national athletics conference

Student athletes attend 2018 NCAA conference in Indianapolis HAILEY WILSON | SPORTS REPORTER hwilson@trinity.edu

Three Tiger athletes boarded a plane to Indianapolis on Jan. 17 to attend the National Collegiate Athletic Association Conference, an event aimed at reviewing legislative proposals and allowing students to network with those in their prospective career fields.

Senior Davis King, junior Ivy Claflin and sophomore Maggi Linker represented Trinity at the event, which hosted representatives from Division III schools across the country. The NCAA Division III Strategic Initiative Grant gave the Tigers the opportunity to participate in various activities at the convention, from workshops to volunteer opportunities. All three athletes had to apply to the program. They cited different reasons for wanting to attend.

“I wanted to attend the convention to learn more about how NCAA rules are developed and implemented,” Linker said.

Claflin and King attended because of the extensive networking opportunities.

“I was hoping it would provide me with opportunities to connect with potential employers post-graduation,” Claflin said.

Although the Tigers participated in many different activities while there, all three students shared a favorite part of the convention: working with youth who participate in the Special Olympics, a partner of the Division III Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

MAGGI LINKER, left , IVY CLAFLIN, middle, and DAVIS KING, right, attended a conference in Indiapolis this January. photo provided by DAVIS KING

“One of my favorite parts was getting to play kickball with kids who participate in the Special Olympics,” King said.

Claflin wants to work with children with disabilities when she graduates, so she felt that this experience and connecting with Special Olympics employees was unforgettable.

“The energy was so vibrant and it was such a beautiful experience. The gym was all smiles and everyone was jumping up and down and cheering, whether they were a Special Olympic athlete, a DIII athlete, an NCAA employee or a parent. You never outgrow that kind of thing,” Claflin said.

Each student walked away with one key piece of information that they felt was important in the scope of intercollegiate athletics.

Linker, a psychology major, attended a talk on mental health in college sports, which she found valuable.

“I took away the growing importance of this matter throughout the sports world,” Linker said.

Davis attended a presentation on sports technology. He explained that new changes in sport technology are going to allow coaches to quantify performance, predict

performance, prevent injuries, improve competitive strategy and more.

“After hearing from two speakers on what the future holds, I am excited to see how sports will adapt and change,” King said.

Claflin took a more holistic approach when discussing her key takeaway.

“I learned how much goes into creating the best experience possible for NCAA athletes,” Claflin said.

The 2019 NCAA DIII Conference will be held in Atlanta and will continue the discussion on issues that impact college athletics.

C OM I NG S O ON . . . . . . . . A L E Su m m er Inter nsh ip s !

The Arts, Letters, and Enterprise program’s summer internships will be announced in the coming weeks. They offer a $4,000 stipend, on-campus housing, and the chance to work at leading non-profits in San Antonio’s arts, social services, and environmental worlds.

Want to learn more?

Write us at ale@trinity.edu to get on the mailing list and look out for more updates soon.

INTERESTED?

Attend a mandatory information session held on the following dates: Feb. 5th, 8-8:45, Woodlawn Room Feb. 7th, 8-8:45, Waxahachie Room

20

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • FEBRUARY 02, 2018 •

SPORTS

Ranking the SCAC, without the sports What if schools competed in categories other than athletics?

ELISE HESTER | SPORTS REPORTER ehester@trinity.edu The eight member schools of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) compete officially only in athletics.

How do they stack up in other categories?

AUSTIN COLLEGE SPIRIT: ★★★★★★★★★✩ Both the Gryffindor-esque color scheme and the marsupial mascot of the crimson and gold Kangaroos are quite whimsical in nature, and I love these creative choices.

SMARTS:★★★★★★✩✩✩✩ Austin College, with a 53 percent acceptance rate, 69 percent four-year graduation rate and 13:1 student to faculty ratio, received 6/10 stars.

SOCIAL: ★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ Austin College has 11K likes on its university Facebook page and 1.6K on the athletics Facebook. Meanwhile the university Twitter has 3,452 followers and the athletics 2,167. On Instagram, the university has 3,452 followers and athletics has 802. All those numbers combined are 22K, which when divided by the number of undergrads (1,278) translates to 17 followers per student. 13.3 followers per student are from the numbers of the University pages, while 3.5 per student are from the athletics pages. This is the math I will be applying to the social category.

SPACE: ★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ Austin College was founded in my hometown of Huntsville, Texas, but it relocated early on to the only town more lame — Sherman, Texas. I have yet to confirm whether or not the campus is truly without running water or if the students really have to go to Oklahoma to party, but either way Austin College gets 3/10. While certain parts of the campus are really nice, other parts, particularly the theater and the athletic fields, are pretty outdated, not to mention the dorms — half of which double as tornado shelters.

CENTENARY UNIVERSITY SPIRIT: ★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ Maroon is a classy color, but it’s much too common in the SCAC line up. Besides, Ladies and Gents are the least intimidating nicknames ever, but their beautiful live dog mascot named Skeeter the Catahoula is a plus.

SMARTS: ★★★★★★✩✩✩✩ 8:1 student to faculty ratio, 64 percent acceptance rate, 42 percent four-year graduation rate.

SOCIAL: ★★★★★★★★★★ Centenary has an astounding 24 followers per student on the university pages and 9.3 on their athletics pages, though it only has 481 students.

SPACE: ★★★★★★★★✩✩ Centenary University’s 212-acre campus is located in Shreveport, Louisiana, which, while more culturally significant than Sherman, is still lame. But, the bright and green landscape is home to a rad amphitheater and a weird but rad gym.

Illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT, staff illustrator

COLORADO COLLEGE SPIRIT: ★★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩ Colorado College is one of three SCAC schools with black and gold as the official colors, and one of two SCAC Tigers.

SMARTS:★★★★★★★★★✩ Colorado College is by far the most impressive SCAC school as far as education, with only 16 percent of applicants accepted, and an 82 percent four-year graduation rate.

SOCIAL: ★★★★★★★★✩✩ Athletic pages have 6.8 followers per undergrad, while the pages representing the prestigious university have 16 followers per undergrad.

SPACE: ★★★★★★★★✩✩ A location at the base of Pike’s Peak should be enough to seal the deal, but the campus itself is also beautiful.

UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS SPIRIT: ★★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩ White and royal blue is one of two color schemes not repeated elsewhere in the conference, and possibly the more attractive of the two. However, Crusaders were bad dudes and are not a good name for a mascot.

SMARTS:★★★★★✩✩✩✩✩ The Catholic school in Irving graduates 63 percent in four years, has 11:1 student to faculty ratio and an 80 percent acceptance rate.

SOCIAL: ★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ The Crusaders’ athletics pages have 2.3 fans per undergrad, while their official school pages have 12.8. Three of their last four Instagram posts were pictures of the Pope.

SPACE: ★★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩ Located in the nearby Irving, UD manages to avoid all the bustle of downtown while still being close enough for students to experience Dallas. The campus itself is nothing special.

SCHREINER UNIVERSITY SPIRIT: ★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ Another maroon? Please. The nickname “Mountaineers” only gets lamer when you consider the school is located in the not-somountainous location of Kerrville. Having two mascots, the Mountain Man and Monty the Mountain Lion, doesn’t help, especially since both are specifically male beings.

SMARTS:★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ Schreiner University accepts 91 percent of applicants and graduates 68 percent quickly with a 9:1 ratio.

SOCIAL: ✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ Schreiner has 7.9 followers per student on their University pages and 1.9 on athletics pages.

SPACE: ★★★★★★✩✩✩✩ Yes, Kerville is lame, but Schriener’s campus has a pretty cool green space which almost makes up for its lackluster athletic facilities.

TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY SPIRIT: ★★★★★★★★✩✩ If we’re considering originality, Bulldog is the best SCAC mascot. A live dog named Lucky attends games. He is adorable. Alas, the gold and black look like bumblebees.

Not cool.

SMARTS:★★★★★✩✩✩✩✩ While the 43 percent acceptance is nice, only 30 percent of those who attend graduate in four years.

SOCIAL: ★★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩ TLU has 8.2 followers per student across all platforms on official university pages and 9.2 followers per student on official athletics pages, making the Bulldogs the only school in SCAC whose athletics pages have more fans than the school pages.

SPACE: ★★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩ Seguin gets some points for being near San Antonio, but it’s not that near. The campus is low-key lame.

SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SPIRIT: ★★★★★★✩✩✩✩ While gold and black are common to the conference, the fairly original moniker of Pirates has, like Kangaroos, the perfect mix of whimsy and intimidation.

SMARTS:★★★★★★✩✩✩✩ Southwestern accepts 45 percent of applicants, 65 percent of whom will graduate in four years.

SOCIAL: ★★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩ Southwestern’s University pages have a combined 13.5 fans per 1 undergrad, while their athletics pages have 2.4 per undergrad. Along with Trinity, Southwestern is the only SCAC team to have a verified Twitter account, and the only to have a verified athletics Twitter page.

SPACE: ★★★★★★★★★✩ Georgetown is close enough to Austin to still be fun. Southwestern’s theater facilities are incredibly cool. The campus itself is gorgeous and has yellow bikes lying around that anyone can use.

TRINITY UNIVERSITY SPIRIT: ★★★★★★✩✩✩✩ Maroon Tigers are classy. They are a little odd together, since Tigers are orange. TU loses points due to unoriginality, especially within this conference.

SMARTS: ★★★★★★★★✩✩ With a 41 percent acceptance rate and a 9:1 student faculty ratio, TU graduates 68 percent of us on time.

SOCIAL: ★★★★★★★★✩✩ Trinity’s Twitter is verified and has the most followers of all of SCAC twitters.

Official university pages have 20 followers per undergrad. Athletics pages have 2.4.

SPACE: ★★★★★★★★✩✩ San Antonio is awesome. And what could beat O’Neil Ford’s architecture? The campus is beautiful, but loses points for the nearby train tracks.

“Watching it for the commercials.”

“I’ve never seen the Super Bowl.”

SIDEWALK SYMPOSIUM What’s your favorite Super Bowl tradition?

“My family comes over.”

— Miranda Montoya, first-year biochemistry major

—

Dillon Akins, sophomore history major

— Ryan Eskridge, sophomore Chinese and economics double major