Trinitonian First-ever Sex Week
Glass Animals release album
Double Trouble
Members of health services hold open discussions and events this week about different topics including dating, sexuality, and diseases
“How to be a Human Being” is Glass Animals’s second full length album, analyzing the human condition with electronic grooves.
Identical twins, Zoé and Mary Kaffen add some personality to this year’s tennis team. PAGE 13 A&E
PAGE 9 PULSE
Volume 114 Issue 6
Hand, foot and mouth disease
Viral infection is highly contagious BY ALEXANDRA URI
NEWS EDITOR
On Wednesday, Sharon Schweitzer, assistant vice president for external relations, sent an email to the Trinity community regarding a recent outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). “Trinity Health Services and the University’s Athletic Trainer have identified eight cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) among students,” Schweitzer said in the email. According to the CDC website, the disease normally affects infants and children under the age of 5. However, the disease can occasionally occur in adults. According to the same website, symptoms “usually [start] with a fever, reduced appetite, sore throat and a feeling of being unwell (malaise). One or two days after the fever starts, painful sores can develop in the mouth (herpangina). They begin, often in the back of the mouth, as small red spots that blister and can become ulcers. A skin rash with red spots, and sometimes with blisters, may also develop over one or two days on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet; it may also appear on the knees, elbows, buttocks or genital area.” The virus can be spread through person-to-person contact or through contact with contaminated surfaces. Schweitzer provided tips for reducing the spread of the disease in her email. “To avoid the spread of the disease and reduce the risk of infection, thorough and frequent hand washing, especially after using the bathroom and before eating, is recommended. Further, it is recommended that you frequently clean or disinfect commonly touched surfaces in rooms, such as the sink, counter tops, toilet handles, faucet handles, door knobs, light switches and furniture surfaces, as well as laundering clothing and linens,” Schweitzer said. The email also suggested that individuals should stay at home if they start showing symptoms. “Students with HFMD should stay in their residence hall room or in off-campus housing as long as they have fever or rash. The virus may remain in the body for several weeks, so hygiene is critical in preventing the spread,” Schweitzer said. Continued on page 3
Serving Trinity University Since 1902
PAGE 15 SPORTS
September 23, 2016
Trinity preparing Spain program BY JEFFREY SULLIVAN
IN-DEPTH REPORTER
Trinity students who want to study abroad in Spain will be offered an opportunity with the university’s first faculty-led study abroad program to Madrid beginning fall of 2017. The developing model is a semester-long extension of the previously offered Madrid Summer Program. The development is a collaborative effort involving the “Trinity Tomorrow” plan, the Center for International Engagement, the study abroad department and Bladimir Ruiz, the head of the Madrid Summer Program. “A few years ago, the faculty and administration created a set of strategic plans involving professionalization, experiential learning and internationalization,” said Katsuo Nishikawa, director of the Center for International Engagement and associate professor of political science. “Part of that strategic plan was to kind of give a sense of integration and cohesion to all our study abroad programming.” News of the program surprised students that sought applications to study abroad in Spain because the Trinity program will have precedence over other available third-party program providers. “My initial goal was to study in Seville this spring,” said Kevin Moss, junior mathematical finance and theoretical economics major. “I went in to discuss potential programs with my study abroad advisor and was essentially told that I could try to go if I wanted to, but that Trinity was putting in place their own study abroad program in Spain.” Trinity’s program attempts to address issues with the study abroad experience students that were noticed by the university. “We’ve cared that these programs are safe and give some sort of exposure,” Nishikawa said. “We have very little control over the
curriculum. Many people who have gone on study abroad programs will attest to the fact that it’s easier abroad than here. We want to design programs that fit into our curriculum. The connection from the curriculum to experience to back to school is very undesigned. There’s no intention in how that experience is given and how you take it. ” Mark Brodl, the associate vice president for budget and research, addressed financial aid loopholes the program seeks to close. “What we wanted to get away from were situations where students were looking for inexpensive programs in locations that weren’t probably going to be the most challenging academically,” Brodl said. “Students would have a fairly good amount of aid and what ended up happening was that they were basically getting a financial aid check to go and study abroad and then spending money on top of that. Spending the rest of the summer tooling around Europe or wherever they were. That’s not the intention of the KATSUO NISHIKAWA, director of center for international engagement speaks to students at fall study abroad fair. financial aid dollars.” The price of the program is photo by CLAUDIA GARCIA to be determined for students based on the Home School to study in Spain, there are still some The appeal necessitates Tuition Policy, another tenet of possibilities for enrollment in other students to provide a short essay, “Trinity Tomorrow’s” third objective study abroad programs. no more than 1,000 words, — Enhance Students’ International “Giving priority to our own describing the factors that make it Engagement and Awareness. program is understandable,” said necessary to study in Spain, a letter “The idea is that Trinity University Nancy Ericksen, assistant director of support from a faculty advisor, a will be charging whatever it is that for study abroad. “We have set a letter of support from the department you pay to go to Trinity University. policy that if you want to study for chair for the most relevant major or That will be the cost of going abroad,” a semester in Spain, you will study minor and an additional letter of Brodl said. “All of the financial aid with the Trinity program. If you support from another Trinity faculty that you have transfers with you along have an urgent need to study in the or staff if he or she can speak directly with all of the support structures.” spring then there’s a process where to a special need not addressed by While it is now university policy students are given the opportunity to your advisor or chair — for instance, that the Madrid semester is the first articulate their need and then that’s a coach for athletes. Continued on page 3 consideration for students wishing reviewed by the director.”
Bell challenges students to start talking BY GRACE FRYE
MANAGING EDITOR BY JULIA ELMORE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Awkward conversations are never easy to have. They’re not fun, they’re not exciting and we usually avoid them rather than diving in head first. However, as college students, awkward conversations are a part of our education and at times, prove necessary. Monday night,
we held these truths in mind as we approached comedian W. Kamau Bell with a proposition. “How would you like to spend an hour talking about race with two white girls?” Bell was almost two hours over his contractual obligations and our professor had asked us not to ask approach him with our proposal. We didn’t expect a positive reaction, but to our surprise, he accepted — as long as it involved good Mexican food.
It was 10:30 at night and Tacos El Regio wouldn’t open for another 30 minutes, so we opted for a San Antonio staple: 24-hour cafe and bakery, Mi Tierra. We had seen his stand up comedy meets lecture presentation earlier that night and were excited to discuss the topics we had heard in a more personal setting with Trinity in mind. At first, the hostess seated us in a small booth in the back of the restaurant, but we quickly realized
that a nearby table was better suited for his 6 foot 4 inch frame. After a few minutes of small talk and perusing the menu, we were ready to start our first awkward conversation about how to start awkward conversations. As two white women who go to a majority white university, we had never really been challenged to talk about racism, so we weren’t even sure how to start. Continued on page 2