Volume 116 Issue 12
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OPINION
Trinitonian Serving Trinity University Since 1902
Guest column: Discovering my asexuality in college
17 Sorority hosts fundraiser for PULSE victims of domestic violence
NOVEMBER 09, 2018
22 Women’s soccer takes SCAC SPORTS title for 10th consecutive year
Midterm election results make waves
Students react to flip of the House, reelection of Cruz
GABBY GARRIGA | NEWS REPORTER ggarriga@trinity.edu After months of registering voters, block walking for candidates and driving friends to the polls, Trinity students gathered to watch the final, nerve-wracking moments of the midterm elections. This year’s midterm elections ended with a Republican majority Senate, a Democratic majority House of Representatives, Ted Cruz as senator and Greg Abbott as Texas governor. On the local level, Will Hurd won in Texas House District 23 and Chip Roy won in Texas House District 21. Additionally, San Antonio Proposition A failed, while Propositions B and C passed. This year’s midterm elections have seen unusually large voter turnout across Texas counties, reaching percentages expected for presidential elections. Junior Simone Washington, vice president of Trinity
Students watch the election results roll in at a watch party hosted by Trinity Progressives and the Trinity University Forensics Society. The mood of the room slowly became more somber as Republican candidate Ted Cruz took a lead over Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the Senate race. photo by ELIZABETH NELSON
Progressives (T-Prog), is excited about this increase and sees it as a reaction to the current political structure. “A lot of people talk about the blue wave as being something that’s so pervasive that it brings millennials
into voting booths across the country. I think in response to Trump’s election, this is a time for first-time voters to express their disdain, I suppose, with how elections or how our government is shaped right now.
I think that’s why we probably saw a huge uptake in millennial voters this year,” Washington said. T-Prog and the Trinity University Forensics Society held a watch party in Richardson Communication
Center and catered Raising Cane’s for attendees. For two hours, members watched excitedly as the results came in. continued on PAGE 5
Architect hired for Chapman, Tuttle steps away Halsell interior renovations from the Coalition New building to be added north of Halsell Center
Sheryl Tynes will facilitate increased student interest, update programming
KENDRA DERRIG | NEWS EDITOR kderrig@trinity.edu
BEN GONZALEZ | OPIN. COLUMNIST bgonzale@trinity.edu Students in the humanities, business and economics can expect to see changes to their learning environment as major renovations to Chapman Center and Halsell Center are slated to break ground in late 2019. The project — estimated to cost 75 million dollars — will primarily include interior renovations of the two buildings as well as the construction of a new building to the north of Halsell, which will contain additional classrooms and study space. “The primary motivation [of the renovations] is to address older buildings but also to address space needs for various departments,” said Ruben Dupertuis, associate professor of religion and co-chair of the faculty committee on the project. “There have also been shifts in pedagogy and how we teach. We hope to provide the learning environment that is optimal for the students.” Michael Bacon, vice president for Alumni Relations and Development, led the fundraising for the renovation and saw a need for updates to Halsell and Chapman
illustration by JULIA POAGE after the success of the Center for the Sciences and Innovation (CSI). “After CSI was built, I think a lot of our professors thought, ‘Let’s elevate the classroom spaces in the Chapman Center where most of our humanities courses are taught as well,’ ” Bacon said. “I think the contrast right now is so dramatic between those two buildings that it heightened everyone’s awareness
of the need to update Chapman.” Last December, Trinity University hired Kerry Phillips — project architect at Lake Flato architecture firm — to help design the renovations. Phillips emphasized that the renovations are meant to adapt to the evolving teaching styles at Trinity. continued on PAGE 5
Sheryl Tynes, vice president for Student Life, is set to take the helm of the Coalition for Respect, replacing David Tuttle, dean of students. The sexual assault awareness group has been on hiatus this semester as they reevaluate their strategy following a lack of student engagement. “I came to this decision [to step away from the Coalition] when I saw the positive momentum being generated by students. I have been close to this for some time and think there is interest in new ideas and fresh perspectives, and I embrace that,” Tuttle wrote in an email interview. At the inception of the Coalition, Tynes and Tuttle worked together, with Tuttle focusing on policies and procedures surrounding sexual assault on campus, and Tynes focusing on education and prevention. In the last couple of year, Tynes stepped away from the Coalition in order to focus on other aspects of her job. “[Tuttle is] still going to be doing his work with regard to policies and procedures. I think what he sensed is that the student interest seems to be in the education and prevention. The other piece of it is that he really took the lead for the past couple of years — I just haven’t really had the
time or the bandwidth to do a lot with it, and I’ve missed doing it. So we’re just kind of going to switch a little bit,” Tynes said. Cecelia Turkewitz, sophomore and member of the Coalition, is hopeful that more voices will come to the table with the restructured leadership. “I appreciate all the things dean Tuttle has done and the time he has put in to the coalition this year and all previous years. I believe [Tuttle] stepping down will allow others to step up and bring new ideas to the table. There are lots of faculty and students with fantastic ideas and I am excited to help enact them in any way I can,” Turkewitz said. Megan Allen, senior and member of the Coalition, expressed more doubt. “[Tuttle’s] defensive responses to criticism about university practices do not aid in creating change on campus and effectively invalidate the student experience,” Allen wrote in an email interview. “We want someone with administrative authority to listen to our ideas and complaints and understand student perceptions. Will [Tynes] be this person? I don’t know, but someone needs to start listening to our feedback and taking it seriously.” continued on PAGE 3
graphic by ALEXANDRA PARRIS
Previously, on SGA: thank you, next The following covers the SGA meeting on Nov. 7. RSO FUNDING REQUESTS The International Engagement Office requested $2,368.84 to fund the “Taste of Culture at Trinity” event, previously called “Fight Culture Shock Day.” The event, which will be Nov. 16, 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Fiesta Room, is meant to educate students on different cultures through food. The funds would cover the food and supplies. SGA approved the full amount. The Trinity University Forensic Society requested $6,076.65 to send three two-person teams to the National Debate Tournament. SGA approved the full amount. The Black Student Union requested $5,675.50 to fund programming throughout February for Black History Month. The events include a club event at Lush Rooftop,
a spoken-word poetry event, a karaoke party and a showcase event that hosts performances from outside organizations, such as the Sam Houston High School marching band. The funding request included covering the cost of food at multiple events, compensation for performers and the cost of renting Lush Rooftop. SGA approved the full amount. The Vietnamese Student Association, Chinese Language and Culture Association, Japanese Culture Club and Filipino Student Association requested $5,517.61 to fund the Lunar New Year Celebration in Laurie Auditorium on Feb. 8. The event, which has been incorporated into programming for Trinity’s 150th anniversary, will feature 13 performances. Asian dishes will be served following the performances. SGA approved the amount of $5,067.61, deciding to fund only half the cost of t-shirts for performers.
Meetings are held every Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Waxahachie Room. coverage by KENDRA DERRIG
STAFF JULIA WEIS editor-in-chief JORDAN BRUCE executive digital editor KATHLEEN CREEDON executive print editor JONAH NANCE business manager REBECCA DERBY ad director KENDRA DERRIG news editor THERESA HO pulse editor GEORGIE RIGGS a&e editor AUSTIN DAVIDSON sports editor SOLEIL GAFFNER opinion editor CATHY TERRACE special sections editor HENRY PRATT visual editor PABLO TRAVERSARI web editor SHUBHANKAR SINGH webmaster KATHARINE MARTIN adviser
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REPORTERS Noelle Barrera, Rafaela Brenner, Evan Brown, Jolie Francis, Kaylie King, Gabby Garriga, Calliope Izquierdo, Mathilde Le Tacon, Wolf Robinson, Maria Zaharatos, Megan Flores COLUMNISTS Evan Chambless, Maddie D’Iorio, Ben Gonzalez, Kara Killinger, Kayla Padilla, Natalia Salas, Thomas Harvell-DeGolier COPY EDITORS Corrin McCullough, Addie Coldiron, Sofia Gonzalez Gonzalez ILLUSTRATORS Kaitlyn Curry, Andrea Nebhut, Julia Poage GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alexandra Parris DIGITAL CONTENT CREATORS Thomas Van Zandt Johnson, Dominic Anthony PHOTOGRAPHERS Matthew Claybrook, Elizabeth Nelson, Genevieve Humphreys BUSINESS STAFF Victor Stummvoll, Elizabeth Popov ADVERTISING STAFF Jordan Askew, Isaac Bartolomei, Jacob Hurrell-Zitelman, Regis Noubiap, Kailey DeLuca, Abigail Lipe
CORRECTIONS • In the Nov. 2 issue, in the SGA briefs on page 2, we wrote that “Tynes refused to comment” and “Tuttle criticized.” Our diction was editorialized.
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CLASSIFIEDS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Saturday, Nov. 17, 9:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Texas Transportation Museum near Airport. 11731 Wetmore Road. Ride a 1924 Steam Locomotive. INTERNS ALSO WANTED! Contact John Worsham, class of ‘59, at jworsham@trinity.edu
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TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
NEWS
Students propose African-American Student Affinity Hall for next year New living learning community intended to create a residential space for minority groups KAYLIE KING | NEWS REPORTER kking1@trinity.edu Students on campus proposed a new living learning community, the African-American Student Affinity Hall, that would serve as a residential space intended for black students on campus. The students involved in planning the hall have met with the office of Residential Life for feedback and hope that the hall will be introduced next fall. Jess Jennings, junior, explained that the idea for the hall was discussed at the Black Student Union’s (BSU) dinner with the dean earlier this semester. “Basically the conversation has really been centered around creating a community for black students on campus to feel like they have as a default,” Jennings said. “We talked a lot about how in a campus where you are very much a minority, like three percent of the student population has the same identification as you, it can be nice to have a place to retreat.” On Oct. 15, Jennings and others who are involved in planning the hall had an initial meeting with Residential Life. “We had our initial meeting with people from the office of Residential Life, the director included, and they responded really positively,” said Khaniya Russell, senior and president of BSU. “They gave us the task to go back and think of the philosophy behind it, what we are hoping to gain
Senior KHANIYA RUSSELL, president of BSU, is one of the students attempting to introduce a new living learning community for minority students, modeled after similar halls at other universities. photo by GENEVIEVE HUMPHREYS
from this experience. And when we can articulate to them what we want, we’re going to go back to the director of Residential Life and she’s going to start to operationalize and get the logistics and everything down and see how plausible it is to get this started fall of next year. That’s our hope right now.” The hall will function as a living learning community, which means that there will be some sort of educational component attached to it.
“Usually there’s some kind of theme related to the living learning community, and it could be based on students’ identities or it could be based on a specific topic,” said Alli Roman, director for Diversity and Inclusion. “I think a lot of our living-learning communities here on campus are related to specific topics or a specific lifestyle, like the substance-free housing. That’s the living part, but the learning part is having some kind of one-credit class
or a seminar or something that really ties in.” The details of the learning component of the hall have not yet been solidified, but could include events like guest lectures and dialogues around films that relate to the African-American student experience. The African-American Student Affinity Hall will be Trinity’s first living learning community that is based on an identity, but there are similar halls at other universities.
“From my understanding, a lot of other institutions, usually larger institutions, they have living learning communities that are based around identity or even social justice,” Roman said. “But there’s definitely models at other institutions that have various housing opportunities for students who want to depend their understanding of their own identity and the identity of others.” Although the hall will be based on an identity, students who are not black will also be able to live in the hall. “It’s not a segregated hall for black students only, it’s just an opportunity for black students to have that community,” Russell said. “Anybody else who’s not African-American is also welcome to join, just with the understanding that it’s going to be predominantly African-American students.” The size of the hall and whether it will be first-years-only will depend on student interest. “I personally would love for it to be opened up because I think that there could be a lot for both upper division students and also firstyear students to live amongst each other,” Jennings said. “We’d love to have questions. We’d love to hear comments or things that people might want to input into the hall as we get the ball rolling on it.” Students who are interested in the hall can contact Jennings, Russell or Roman via email.
Coalition for Respect restructures continued from FRONT
The Coalition has struggled with student involvement in the last few years, but “Pre-Coalition” meetings this semester have shown renewed student interest in preserving the group. Tynes explained that they plan to expand programming from its current heavy focus on first-years during New Student Orientation (NSO). “Students told us, ‘Rather than load it all on [NSO], here are the touchpoints during the year that would be helpful.’ Because here’s the thing with [NSO]: it’s just first-years and RAs. There’s no sophomores, juniors or seniors,” Tynes said. Turkewitz explained that while first-years should be the primary focus, upperclassmen should be involved in the programming. “I do think it is vital that sophomores, juniors and seniors are the ones facilitating and implementing programs because it is them who have experienced Trinity’s environment and know the dangers related to Trinity’s campus,” Turkewitz said. Tynes also wants to break up the Coalition into subcommittees focused on specific topics. She highlighted that the majority of continued programming will take the student voice heavily into account.
NEWS
“This was students telling us when the times where they needed [that reminder]. Students told us Halloween is a time when a lot of students get in trouble. You guys are dressed up, you’re out and about. We talked about some passive programming through an email blast. We partner with the Chocolate Festival. Students told us Spring Break is a bad time, so we put some [programming] in here,” Tynes said. Tynes also wants to expand the conversation to be more inclusive of male students through something she calls the “Men’s Project,” which will also work outside of the Coalition to improve male four-year graduation rates and student conduct issues. “There is a lot of toxic masculinity in our culture, and I think if you think about pornography and some of the images of non-consensual sex that are out there and held up as okay, I think that that’s a problem,” Tynes said. “I think that we need to help people humanize and realize that these are real human beings with feeling and hopes and dreams and they are not something that you should be abusing.” Gemma Smith, sophomore and member of the Coalition, agreed that encouraging more men to participate in dialogues about sexual assault will be beneficial. “We need to end the problematic mindset that many people, men
• NOVEMBER 09, 2018 • TRINITONIAN.COM
DAVID TUTTLE, dean of students, has been involved in the Coalition for Respect since its beginning, focusing on the policies and procedures surrounding sexual assault on campus. Tuttle will step away from the Coalition. FILE PHOTO
but also women, fall into with this issue, where they believe that if they themselves will never be a perpetrator of sexual assault, it does not concern them, and they do not have anything to contribute to the conversation surrounding it and the movement against it,” Smith said. Allen also hopes to change the image surrounding the Coalition.
“The Coalition was poorly publicized in the past, and that’s something we definitely want to change moving forward,” Allen said. “We don’t want there to be a question of what it is, what it does or how to get involved. The more students involved representing groups on campus, the more effective the Coalition can be. The
first step to making that happen is expressing to everyone that we are here and we care about improving campus climate surrounding sexual assault and violence. We care about improving the process of reporting. We care.” The first official Coalition meeting of the semester will be Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. in CSI 437.
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Student Government Association Elections Here are your candidates for the 2019 administration. Their statements can be found online at trinitonian.com/SGA2019. Students can vote online between Nov. 12–16.
photos by MATTHEW CLAYBROOK graphic by ALEXANDRA PARRIS
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TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
NEWS
Community reacts to midterms TU hires continued from FRONT
“I think this election is important to the psyche of America because this was our first major election since Donald Trump was elected, and I think that was very alarming for a lot of people because most people thought that Hilary would win. The election of Donald Trump really shook everyone. I just think this is the closest we can get to opposing that with this election with [O’Rourke] and Cruz,” Ashby said. Ultimately, Cruz was projected as the winner of the Senate race. Sophomore Carson Bolding, public relations officer of T-Prog, shared her reaction on O’Rourke’s loss to Cruz. “I’m disappointed, but I kind of had expected it. Texas is definitely more of a non-voting state than a red state, but there’s still a lot of voter suppression happening in Texas. There’s a lot of down-ballot races that are super important, too, like Colin Allred just won in District 32, which is exciting. I think that how close it was is a good projection for what things are going to look like in the future as well,” Bolding said. On the other side of the political spectrum, members of the Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT), formerly known as Tigers for Liberty, attended Chip Roy’s campaign watch party in New Braunfels. About 20 members drove down with other campaign volunteers to watch the results come in and meet Roy. Isaiah Mitchell, chairman of YCT attended and was proud of the work members had done for Roy. “We looked up the margin of victory for Chip Roy, the number of votes it was, and we had knocked on way more doors than even that margin of victory and so there are people in that campaign who credited our chapter here with Chip Roy’s victory,” Mitchell said. Mitchell was encouraged by Cruz’s victory and was not surprised to see Democrats gain control of the House. “I’m taking it mainly as a victory because having Texas turn blue would have had, in my opinion, terrible ramifications over the course of the next few political generations. There were, of course, rumblings that that was imminent, and so I was happy to see that stopped. As for the House, I’m fine with political clash at the national level. I think that’s expected, and that’s kind of how our system was designed to be, so it’s not really a surprise, and you might even argue it’s beneficial,” Mitchell said.
Diane Fournier, first-year YCT member, was satisfied with the results of the election. “I was very pleased with the election results, especially because my main issues are actually pro-life issues, so having candidates in there to advance pro-life legislation was what was most important to me. I think [O’Rourke] voted against a 20-week ban on abortion, and that was something I could not accept,” Fournier said. Fournier prioritized her pro-life position when voting. “It was a very conflicted election for me because many candidates support some of my issues and are against many of my issues. I’m anti-death penalty, and Cruz is not, but again I had to prioritize. So while it was a tough election, and I had to make some hard choices, I’m really glad with the results,” Fournier said. David Crockett, chair of the Department of Political Science, believes the split party control of the House and Senate could make it difficult for president Donald Trump to pass legislature. “Any agenda the president wants to prosecute through the lawmaking process will run through the buzz saw. The Democrats control the House. They’re not going to pass
anything. They have every interest in making Trump look ineffective between now and 2020. What he won’t get are budgets that he wants, he’s not going to get the House to fund ‘The Wall’ unless he decides to cut deals in some way,” Crockett said. Crockett believes that compromise between the president and the Democratic Party is unlikely. “The ground has been so poisoned between the president and the opposition party that I’m not sure I see a whole lot of opportunity for deal making. I think what this does is tee up the presidential election for 2020,” Crockett said. Though Crockett does not believe the elections brought a blue wave to Texas, he does think that close win between Cruz and O’Rourke is concerning for Republicans. “When you see that Ted Cruz won by 16 percentage points six years ago and he won by I think less than three points last night, that’s a pretty significant difference, and so going forward, Republicans need to take that into account when they look at candidate choice for statewide races. Nothing stays the same forever in politics,” Crockett said.
Students at the watch party hosted by T-Prog and TUFS watch intently as midterm ballots were counted. T-Prog members left the night disappointed as Beto O’Rourke was unable to usurp Ted Cruz from his senate seat. Meanwhile, at the official watch party for Chip Roy, candidate for Texas House District 21, members of the Young Conservatives of Texas, formerly Tigers for Liberty, celebrated their candidate’s victory. photos by ELIZABETH NELSON
NEWS
• NOVEMBER 09, 2018 • TRINITONIAN.COM
architect continued from FRONT
“A big part of the goal of the renovation is to create classrooms that function for the way that professors want to teach and students want to learn,” Phillips said. “This includes creating more access to whiteboards for collaborative work.” In May 2018, Trinity University was designated a Historic District by the National Parks Service in recognition of architect O’Neil Ford’s contribution to the design of the campus. Because Halsell and Chapman were part of Ford’s design, their historic status limits the kinds of changes that can be made to the exterior design of the buildings. “The challenge moving forward will be working with the Texas Historical Commission to determine how we can transform the existing classrooms from the 1960s into spaces that students can use today while still preserving the original quality of an O’Neil Ford building,” Phillips said. “[The commission] is looking for the iconic features of the building, such as wood-carved doors or beautiful wooden paneling, in order to preserve the original identity while also meeting the pedagogical needs of the school.” Beyond preserving O’Neil Ford’s design, adhering to the Texas Historical Commission’s restrictions also qualifies the project for historic tax credits to help fund the construction costs. This financial benefit supplements Bacon’s efforts to raise money for the 75 million dollar budget. According to Bacon, half of this budget has been designated for the renovations through a five-year savings process by the university. Donations from major donors and the Board of Trustees will fund the remaining budget. “Over a period of two to three years, we will be trying to raise money starting from the biggest donors first,” Bacon said. “This is a process where you build a relationship with donors and learn what their interests are. Donors are less concerned with how the building looks, and more concerned with what will be happening inside the building and how teaching will be better or different.” But the project is not only limited to updating older buildings. The area north of Halsell will feature a brand-new building, which has yet to be named. This addition to campus will feature eight state-of-theart classrooms with increased space, a screening room designed for showing films and a lecture hall for larger classes and presentations. Additionally, the faculty committee hopes to use the new space as a common area for students to use outside of classes. “To me, the most exciting part of this is having places for students to work near faculty in their departments,” Dupertuis said. “In a way, CSI already has this, so being able to get that for the humanities departments here is very important.” This increased student activity is part of something that Dupertuis likes to call the “academic spine” of the campus, which is a flow of out-of-classroom activity that runs from the Storch Memorial Building through Marrs McLean and ends at the north end of CSI. Dupertuis hopes this project will connect Halsell and Chapman to the rest of campus through the academic spine. “Right now, the student energy sort of stops when it hits Chapman. [This project] really integrates the Chapman-Halsell complex with the learning and activities along this academic spine,” Dupertuis said. “It’s a real opportunity for the university to show a commitment to the liberal arts.”
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FROM THE EDITORS’ DESK
Reflecting on the end of midterms Midterms are done and over with, and not the ones your professors are assigning. It’s election week, which means Trinity’s campus is torn apart. Whether you’re celebrating a win, mourning a loss or couldn’t care less (start caring), there’s no denying this Midterm season stood out from previous years. Vox estimates that the voter turnout for this year’s midterms shattered previous midterm records, with early estimates coming in at about 114 million voters (compared to 81 million in the 2014 midterms). Along with this election came several significant changes to both local and national governments. Much to the dismay of Texan Democrats, Beto O’Rourke lost to incumbent Ted Cruz. While many hopeful progressives may be disappointed with the loss, the race represents a shift from previous years, bringing a larger democratic voter base with more young people and people of color voting than ever before. That, surely, is worth celebrating. Texan Republicans will be happy to celebrate the return of Ted Cruz, as well as nearby congressional wins such as Chip Roy and Will Hurd. On a broader
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scale, we’ve seen some national shifts in Congress. Republicans held onto majority power in the Senate with 51 to 44 seats while Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, leading with 222 to 196 seats at press time. This shift to a democratic House majority indicates a national desire to provide more checks and balances on the Trump administration. Apart from the Democratic shift, this midterm election came with several firsts, which are exciting no matter what side you’re on. According to NPR, record numbers of Native Americans, Muslims and women, particularly women of color, ran for office this year. Here were some noteworthy wins: Jared Polis, Colorado Democrat, became the first openly gay man elected governor; Democrats Sharice Davids of Kansas and Debra Haaland of New Mexico became the first Native American congresswomen; Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan were elected as the first Muslim congresswomen; several states saw their first female governors and senators, both Republican and Democrat. These noteworthy wins will go down in history.
On the local scale, San Antonio saw some significant changes in city legislation. Proposition A failed, while propositions B and C passed. Proposition B passed in a landslide, which is set to cap tenure and compensation for future city managers. Proposition C also passed, but at a much slimmer margin, giving the firefighters’ union the sole authority to decide when contract negotiations become binding arbitration. Proposition A, the only one that failed, was aimed to expand the referendum process. The next year will be interesting to watch how these propositions affect our city. No matter what your thoughts are on this week’s election, we hope that you take them and make something productive of them. Civic duty doesn’t stop after Nov. 6. There is still plenty of ways to use your passion productively and remain an active, outspoken citizen who fights for their city, state and country. We hope that you remember that your voice still matters, and the last thing you should do is become complacent or demoralized.
Lost without a party: Voting while Catholic LUKE AYERS GUEST COLUMNIST layers@trinity.edu
guest columns Can’t keep it to a few hundred words? Pen a guest column and let your views be known. Please keep it between 500 and 700 words, and give us time to prepare. Submit by Sunday at noon to be in the Friday edition of the paper. Email it to opinion editor Soleil Gaffner at LGaffner@trinity.edu.
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 Friday’s issue of the paper.
ANDREW KINNEY GUEST COLUMNIST akinney@trinity.edu
This is a jointly-written article from two writers who have, shall we say, slightly differing political leanings. One of us used to be president of Tigers for Liberty and espouses traditionalist conservative views. The other sees American capitalism as predicated on intrinsically unjust principles and perpetuates both economic disparity and moral degradation. Despite our disagreement in politics, we are in full agreement in a far more important area. We both place our Catholic faith first in our lives and do our best to conform to our Catholic faith — never conforming our faith to our own views. That last bit makes it difficult to determine who to vote for. The general public presents our elections as a binary: one candidate is seen as the No Good Very Bad One, and the other, The Only True American. But this dichotomy falls short of providing anyone with a morally cohesive way to judge candidates independent of party lines. Our church does provide us with this, but as it turns out, there are few, if any, candidates who Catholics can vote for without reservation. The church identifies some acts as “intrinsically evil” in her moral theology. These are actions which are never acceptable,
regardless of context. In the American political sphere, many are what you might expect: abortion, racism, torture and treating workers as mere means to an end. But these are not the only issues which Catholics are obligated to consider when voting — there are also evils that are not intrinsic: positive goods that ought to be brought about and the complication of determining which policies will best bring about these goals.
So, for instance, while Catholics must always oppose abortion in the private and public spheres, we are also required to oppose unjust immigration laws and support just healthcare and responsible climate policies. The United States bishops warn against making no distinctions between various evils — as surely some are more serious than others — but also against using the opposition of one evil to justify the continuation of others. So, for instance, while Catholics must always oppose abortion in the private and public spheres, we are also required to oppose unjust immigration laws and support just healthcare and responsible climate policies. Both of us agree that the goals of ensuring access to quality healthcare, a sustainable
environment, protection for the unborn, just compensation for workers, just treatment of workers and just treatment of immigrants are issues of paramount importance that cannot be ignored. There is, however, a wide range of legitimate debate to be had about the best way of bringing about each of these goals. The church has condemned both socialism and classical liberalism, but there is no morally authoritative guidance on the optimal corporate tax rates. Our own prudent judgement has to take some role. Yet still worse, even accounting for differences in prudent judgement, we have also found that neither party seems to espouse all of these goals and decry all the intrinsically evil acts. To vote at all means to compromise on matters of the utmost importance. This makes voting as a Catholic rather difficult. We cannot rest comfortably behind a party line. Nor do we always agree with each other about which policies or private practices constitute a violation of “just compensation for workers” in the first place. Thankfully, we can at least look to the church to guide our thought in what is and is not moral in the first place, and from there engage in fruitful dialogue about the best way to bring those moral goods about. As we mentioned at the beginning, we both strive to form our consciences to the teaching of the church. Part of that is the church’s social teaching. If you want to learn more about Catholic social teaching and why Catholics seem politically homeless, join us on Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Tehuacana Room for a discussion with John Burke of the Department of Political Science about Catholic social teaching and the obligations we have to those around us. Luke Ayers is a senior economics and political science double major. He is also the president of the Catholic Student Group. Andrew Kinney is a junior philosophy major.
TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018
In defense of my existence: Continuing the debate:
We belong and will be heard Capitalism, communism, Mao IAN DILL GUEST COLUMNIST idill@trinity.edu
OLIVIA ROYBAL GUEST COLUMNIST oroybal@trinity.edu
Sophomore KAYLA PADILLA is a student assistant in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and is also a member of their Student Advisory Board. photo by GENEVIEVE HUMPHREYS
KAYLA PADILLA OPINION COLUMNIST kpadill1@trinity.edu It has been brought to my attention that I am quite … controversial. In my natural, outspoken state, it seems my mere voice has incensed quite a number of people. Evidently, sharing my experiences as a person of color has appalled white people to the point where they refuse to accept my truth, which is why I will continue to speak out. It all began the day I was born, really — a natural clown, I’ve always shared my radical thoughts through humor. Since I was a child, I’ve expressed my frustrations through written jokes, and in recent years, I’ve had the misfortune of being able to share them on Twitter. To those who don’t know me or about me, this column may seem strange. Perhaps your perception of me is that I’m just another silly writer sharing her scattered thoughts — and in that, you’d be correct. I’m also a lesbian, Mexican woman who has expressed her frustrated feelings online. In my experience, it has become apparent that people of color cannot voice their anger without repercussions. We are not allowed to be anything but civil. For years, I’ve hurt my own head attempting to sympathize with the people who threaten my human rights. I’ve tried being peaceful, I’ve tried being kind — and quite frankly, it solves nothing. While I am not advocating for war or violence, I am advocating for civil disobedience and yelling and screaming. I’m advocating for discomfort. The truth is that my voice was ignored until I began being provocative. It wasn’t until I began tweeting my ridiculous jokes and expressing my angry thoughts that my voice became amplified. To be heard in a nation that still upholds white supremacist values, we must be outrageous and we must be unapologetic. No more will we be silenced, and no more will anyone threaten our voices without facing the consequence that is our loudness, our strength and our desire for justice.
The fact that my mere existence has caused controversy is a sign of the ongoing suppression of our voices. Conservatives get to speak with such confidence and boldness, so why can’t we? When my human rights are threatened, it is free speech; when I respond, it is troublesome and unkind of me. In my short life, countless attempts have been made to intimidate me and to silence me, but I am not of the belief that we have to fight quietly and politely when the very thing we are fighting for is our right to live. I, as a suffering human being, do not have to behave when I have every right to misbehave.
I, as a suffering human being, do not have to behave when I have every right to misbehave. I do, however, believe in kindness towards ourselves and towards our friends. In our fight for social justice, our greatest gift to ourselves is the preservation of our heart and mental health. If you’re tired of fighting, know that in your exhaustion, you are not alone and in your exhaustion you have every right to dwell. While you rest, I am fighting; when I rest, someone else is fighting. That is how it works until the day we die and new people take over. No matter how alone we may feel, there is always someone there. We are, after all, under the same moon. I also believe that one day — perhaps not in my lifetime — we will realize that deciding someone like me shouldn’t have a right to live is not a valid political opinion. I suppose, after all the controversy, people would expect that I would make my Twitter private. In that belief, they are wrong. If you want good content, outspokenness and boldness, follow my twitter @kaylaannpadilla. Kayla Padilla is a sophomore English and anthropology major.
OPINION • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 • TRINITONIAN.COM
The recent article published by Maddie D’Iorio in defense of Tigers for Liberty’s “Commie Cookies” display is worth reading. It clearly establishes that Tigers for Liberty (TFL) is concerned with shock value, not activism or substantive debates. Instead of responding to the extensive investigation of the historical context for Maoism in China, D’Iorio elected to dedicate the entire article to doubling down on their racist display, leveraging all the classic justifications for racism to boot. Her article comes out of the gate with the “but I have a Chinese friend” argument. Going even further, she claims that the personal experience of this Chinese TFL member somehow warrants the other racist tropes in the display. Interestingly, the experience cited is with the One Child Policy, which was instituted under Deng Xiaoping, not Mao. Their defense of fortune cookies was even more suspect. D’Iorio gets as far as admitting that fortune cookies are a caricature of Chinese culture, yet somehow still manages to conclude that it is acceptable. On the issue of the display illustrations, if D’Iorio is right and these were based on Maoist propaganda, we would challenge them to produce an example which contains analogous drawing of Mao and lettering in English. Anytime you want to show us these posters, feel free to find us around campus. We are, after all, also Trinity students who work in the library, eat at Mabee and go to class. The goal of our last article was to prompt TFL to engage in a nuanced debate and informed activism in response to communism. Instead, they attempt to flip the script by claiming, “Is it not more upsetting to remember the fact that 60 million people died at the hands of this leader?” It is simply baffling that TFL would imply that the choice is between their racist tabling and a return to Maoism. As we made very clear in our first article, TFL should criticize Mao without racist caricatures. In the name of continuing the nuanced debate occurring outside of Tigers
for Liberty’s purview, we would like to build off our last article as well as Noelle Barrera’s recent piece. To begin, we agree with Barrera’s claim that we need “major change in the way our society is structured” in order to avert mass chaos brought about by environmental and economic crisis. Beyond identifying an awareness of a need for change, we would like to begin looking forward to possible solutions that are adequate for the scale of the problem at hand. One alternative — which appears most consistent with the democratic socialist values identified by Barrera as well as with the preference for communism or socialism feared by TFL — is a Guardian State. This solution recognizes that the state is the only body capable of overcoming market forces, which lock in an unsustainable and violent form of social relations. For instance, a strong regulatory state may be the only way to challenge the control industrial agribusiness has over global food production. A Guardian State would reconfigure the major sectors of the economy, creating communal systems of agriculture and local production of essential goods. Instead of suspending civil rights, the state exists to actualize a strong set of positive economic rights — like universal basic income, healthcare and education. Against potential objections, we would argue that bringing a powerful state to bear against the overwhelming power of capital in today’s economy is a necessity. Economic growth is coupled with environmental degradation. A capitalist system will always fail to change consumption habits and address the exploitative relationship between production and the environment. We hope that this solution prompts engagement from readers on all sides of the political spectrum. Contrary to the message sent by D’Iorio, we do think the public forum is the best place to discuss our political ideologies. D’Iorio’s alternative to public discourse seems to be relegating the entire debate to an email or short conversation in Mabee. It is contradictory to take issue with a response in the public forum to a demonstration intending to raise public awareness. A public response is the most “adult” way to handle this issue, as it avoids singling out individuals for the actions of many members of a club. Echoing our last article, we hope TFL drops their defense of racism and instead engages with the substance of the debate they claimed is so important to have. Ian Dill is a junior economics and environmental studies double major. Olivia Roybal is a senior environmental studies and political science double major.
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Learning to embrace my asexuality NATASHA SAHU GUEST COLUMNIST nsahu@trinity.edu
This past February, the Trinitonian published Elise Hester’s open letter about her asexuality. From then up until this point, I’ve been on my own journey to figuring out my sexuality — or possibly the lack thereof. I guess it all began similarly to Elise when I was telling a friend about how I couldn’t seem to like anyone back, and she suggested the possibility of being asexual. I knew what asexuality was, but I had never actually considered myself in that category. I immediately texted the classic High School BFFs™ group chat everyone had their freshman year of high school to disclose my newfound sexuality. “I think there are too many labels these days. Maybe you just haven’t found someone yet,” was a response, followed by a “like” react (the bane of my existence). So I shut up for a year. Maybe I WAS confused. Maybe I was supposed to wait for the “perfect person” to sweep me off my feet, and I’ll get married and have 2.5 kids and live in a master-planned suburb of Houston. So I waited and let my doubts bubble up inside me.
Before I came to college, I thought I had a vague understanding of my sexuality. I could tell you if I thought someone was good looking, if their face was structured perfectly enough to be considered conventionally attractive. And yet, my feelings of attraction towards a person could not go farther than that. I could find people attractive, but I could never be attracted to them. I started to consider the fact that maybe I thought I liked all genders, because I didn’t care about liking … any of them.
How could I both romanticize romance but also not want anything to do with it? Growing up in a liberal Indian community, I had more freedom to explore my sexuality than some of my friends. However, no one told me what to do when there was nothing to explore. My friends around me would date, break up and find new people, and I couldn’t even figure out how they were able to hold their attraction to a person long enough to commit to anything. Any time I even thought someone liked me, I would feel disgusted. By what? Myself? Them?
The feeling of being liked? I couldn’t get further than kissing someone without wanting to ghost immediately or run to take a shower. The idea of being in a sexual relationship with anyone turned me off. But at the same time, I was also very confused. I lap up romance novels, I’m a hoe for rom-coms, and I inhale sappy Bollywood movies. Any of my friends would tell you that I have my big, fat Indian wedding already planned. I always imagined I would meet the person of my dreams one day, we would get married and live happily ever after. Sometimes I believe I still do. What about the guy I was basically in love with all of my first year? Did I not like him? Was I fraud for still loving someone or for dreaming of eventually get married and still claiming I was asexual? How could I both romanticize romance but also not want anything to do with it? I tell myself I don’t want a relationship while also contemplating how lonely I feel. Every step forward in discovering who I am takes me two steps back with doubts about how I do not belong in the asexual community. Because of this constant internal struggle, I catch myself deleting and redownloading Tinder, hoping that the future love of my life is out there, within a 100-mile radius, never getting far enough into a conversation to even agree to meet someone.
Many of these small episodes of questioning my identity end with me wondering if I’ll ever be able to find love. Would that be possible if I never experience sexual desire? As the year starts closing in, I still search for who I am. I guess my friend in that group chat was right, there shouldn’t be labels. Asexuality is a spectrum, not a category, and I catch myself sliding along that spectrum on a daily basis. Maybe I’ll slide enough in a direction to open myself up for love and relationship. Maybe one day, I’ll learn how to cope with my loneliness and lack of sexual desire and be happy with who I am. Maybe I’ll find companionship in someone who accepts that as who I am. So this is me, barely describing in words the journey I am still taking to figure out my sexuality. Maybe I would have figured myself out a lot earlier if there was more conversation about asexuality in the bubble I lived in, but there wasn’t. I hope this ends up reaching out to more people questioning their asexuality, and I want to shoutout Elise Hester for sparking this conversation within myself. If anyone wants to discuss this further, please begin by Tmailing me your favorite meme. Natasha Sahu is a junior psychology major.
Exploring the universality of the Catholic faith MADDIE D’IORIO OPINION COLUMNIST mdiorio@trinity.edu
This October marked one full year since I returned to the religion I grew up in but left for many years: the Catholic Church. It has been a year full of learning, growing and experiencing Catholicism in ways that I never expected. The large neighborhood parish I grew up in was familiar and comforting but never really allowed me to see the wide berth of of culture which exists in Catholicism. Nearly all the families who went there were either white or Hispanic, and masses were offered only in English or Spanish. Behind the altar stood a European-style mural and simple felt banners aligning with the liturgical season were hung from the ceiling.
These were all people who practiced the exact same faith as I did in a completely different — yet still utterly beautiful —way. Going to Mass at Trinity was much of the same, and it filled me with a feeling of familiarity that I had missed for many years. However, I have quickly come to realize that
my American taste of Western Catholicism was only a small drop in a mammoth ocean filled with cultures far beyond those typically thought of as Catholic. I experienced it this weekend as my boyfriend and I attended the Lebanese Food Festival, hosted at St. George Maronite Church in San Antonio. We walked around, ate za’atar man’oushe (a Lebanese dish of flatbread with herbs and spices), watched young men and women perform traditional Middle Eastern dances and conversed with a woman advertising classes she was teaching in Arabic. This was all Catholic and all a fundraiser for the parish. Beyond being a fun evening spent eating delicious food and listening to great music, going to the Lebanese Food Festival also opened my eyes to yet another branch of culture in a Church I felt familiar in. These were all people who practiced the exact same faith as I did in a completely different — yet still utterly beautiful — way. I also felt this when I began attending services at a Byzantine Catholic community, which my boyfriend had been attending for the year prior. This led me to spending most of my summer at home going to Divine Liturgy at another Byzantine church, as I desired to learn more. The church I went to was immediately different from anything else I had ever experienced, as it was covered in rich icons of biblical figures and saints, many with names I had never heard before. Incense filled the small sanctuary, and many of the women wore headscarves, similar to a Muslim woman’s hijab. These scarves were only worn during Divine Liturgy and are the Eastern equivalent to the traditional chapel veil of the West. These examples are neither rare nor difficult to find here in the United States. A Syro-Malabar church is within walking distance from my home in Dallas, which is attended by hundreds
graphic by ALEXANDRA PARRIS
of Indian Americans who go to liturgical services in their native tongue of Malayalam. San Antonio is also filled with many of these churches, with small communities of believers all sharing in their own diverse cultures. This is exactly why it isn’t uncommon to see renditions of the Virgin Mary and Jesus as a multitude of races. Italian or German paintings may show them as fair-skinned and light-haired, but Koreans will often depict them as Koreans and Africans as African. It is the reason why the Marian apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe was a native woman, and John Paul II canonized a Native American woman (Kateri Tekakwitha) as a saint. It is the reason why the Catholic Church is growing
at the fastest rate in Africa and many in the Vatican see the African people as the new generation of Catholics. It is because Catholicism is not just for one race or one culture. It is a church meant for all — exactly what Christ meant when he said to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). The word “catholic,” after all, simply comes from the Greek word katholikos, or “universal.” As members of this universal church, I believe we owe it to ourselves to experience the vast cultures that all profess our same creed but live it out in their own unique and beautiful ways. Maddie D’Iorio is a sophomore economics major.
Check us out on the web! EVAN CHAMBLESS on preparing to study abroad your senior year
THOMAS HARVELL-DEGOLIER on feminism and witchcraft
trinitonian.com/opinion
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TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
OPINION
NOVEMBER 09, 2018 • TRINITONIAN.COM
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How to know it’s time to go home When leaving the party is definitely the right call MATHILDE LE TACON | PULSE REPORTER mletacon@trinity.edu It’s Friday or Saturday night; you’ve gotten your work done, and now you want to go out and celebrate with no particular end time in mind. There’s nothing wrong with going with the flow of the night, but sometimes it’s best not to stay out until 4 a.m. and risk a bad morning the next day. Whether it’s a club night or a frat party, look out for some tell-tale signs that it might be time to leave — and know that it’s always okay to put yourself first and get that ride home. YOU’RE BORED It happens. Even if you’re surrounded by friends and feel like you have no reason to be down, it’s okay to find that you’re just bored and want an out from the party. If you feel like you’re forcing yourself to stay to see if your mood will improve, try something else instead — like an Uber or Lyft to Pizza Classics or an early night in with a movie playing. There will be good parties and there will be bad parties during your time in college, and it’s not your responsibility to try and make every night an amazing one. Self-care beats boredom, so don’t hesitate to call it a night if you find yourself wishing you were anywhere but at that party. “AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE?” It’s never not awkward to walk into a party only to find that there’s barely anyone else there. Sometimes more people come, sometimes they don’t. This often leaves you feeling bad for taking off as well and leaving the party even worse off or uncomfortable because you have
nobody to talk to and an atmosphere that you feel like you don’t fit in. The truth is that if you expected a party with a lot more people and aren’t going to feel comfortable staying there otherwise, you’re well within your rights to leave. You don’t owe anyone anything!
YOU’RE TOO DRUNK It’s a double-edged sword, seeing as it’s easy to think you’re less intoxicated than you really are, but there are warning signs that you may have pushed your luck with drinking. If you start to feel bloated, nauseous or are throwing up repeatedly, those are all things you’d much rather be doing at home than in the back of a fraternity house while people are pummeling knocks on the bathroom door. If you’re at all sick, grab some water, a ride home and tuck yourself into bed — you’ll thank yourself for it in the morning. Your own personal space provides a comfort that the bushes outside of a fraternity house just don’t. SOMEONE ELSE IS TOO DRUNK It’s good to go home if you feel like you might be too drunk or if others have expressed concern about your well-being. Just as important is making sure you know when your friends have had too much to drink. You may notice a friend who doesn’t look like they’re well, is near ready to pass out on the couch for the rest of the night or has had one too many cups pass through their hands. Do them the favor of caring enough to take them home. Find a designated driver that can get them home safe. Better yet — head back with them. In the same vein of care, never let them get into an Uber alone. If your friend is too drunk, they may not have the capacity to get home safe when the Uber lets them out, no matter how short you think the distance is. Be there for someone just as you’d want them to be there for you after one too many drinks.
illustration by KAITLYN CURRY
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TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
FOOD, DRINK AND NIGHTLIFE
Are fraternity parties inherently predatory? A critical look at party culture, themes and the social expectations NATALIA SALAS | OPINION COLUMNIST nsalas@trinity.edu We all know that a big part of college is the nightlife, especially when it comes to frat parties and clubbing. There are, however, aspects of this party culture that are problematic to say the least, yet we all choose to ignore it. First, a lot of times only girls are let into parties. Yeah, sure, guys want their fraternities to be exclusive to only the brotherhood or whatever, but please don’t tell me you don’t see something predatory in only letting women into your party. It was at the very least off-putting when I saw my guy friends turned away at the door just for a large group of girls to be let in instead. It seemed as if the whole reason guys only wanted girls in the parties was so they could have a better chance at claiming them for themselves. I’m also not the first to say this: I’ve heard from many of my friends that they find it creepy and unsettling that only they are let into parties. I could go on about how women aren’t men’s property or objects, but that’s usually not taken too seriously anyway, and the people who need to be taught that probably stopped reading by now. So instead, I’ll move on. Party themes are another questionable aspect of college nightlife, which are often blatantly degrading towards women. It seems
as if these themes are just ways to objectify women in whatever way possible, adding “and hoes” to the end of it when they feel like really putting us in our place. Here would be another great opportunity to remind everyone that women aren’t property and are — in fact — human beings, but I won’t bore you with that futile argument. Most of the time, it’s first-year girls being herded into these parties and preyed on. In no way am I saying that girls shouldn’t go out to parties — I’m saying that we should be allowed to do whatever we want without being devalued in the process. Even if parties are for having fun and no one really cares about who is let in or what the themes are, it’s important to note that this isn’t an exaggeration. A lot more seemingly insignificant aspects of our daily lives contribute to rape culture than we like to admit. I won’t say it all starts with the objectification of women because it starts way before that, but small things — like only letting us in to your parties, or referring to us as “hoes” in the theme — most certainly aren’t helping. I make this point about college parties in general, not necessarily just Trinity. In fact, Trinity has great resources in order to combat some of the problematic aspects of nightlife, including the Coalition for Respect and the Safer Parties Initiative, but most students don’t even know about them or don’t care enough to take them seriously. In other words, we have resources available at Trinity — we just have to start taking advantage of them. Either way, whether we have the necessary resources or not, there’s a problem that needs to be fixed on our campus and on every college campus, and I know it’ll take a lot more than just me shouting into the void.
FOOD, DRINK AND NIGHTLIFE
• NOVEMBER 09, 2018 • TRINITONIAN.COM
illustration by JULIA POAGE
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Achieve the Optimal Buzz: Trinity cocktails A simple selection of custom mixes inspired by Trinity GEORGIE RIGGS A&E EDITOR griggs@trinity.edu
TIGER’S DEN & TONIC 2 oz. gin, 4 oz. Topo Chico, splash of lime juice from Freshii
THE PHALLIC TOWER 4 oz. Everclear, water from the Murchison fountain, male privilege, Frisco sauce from Steak ‘n’ Shake
MURCHISON MULE 2 oz. vodka, ginger ale from fountain in Commons
TRINITONIAN 2 oz. bourbon, 2 oz. black cherry soda from commons fountain, 2 oz. cane cola from commons fountain
illustrations by JULIA POAGE
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MAROON FRIDAY RUSSIAN 2 oz. vodka, 6 oz. vanilla latte from Einstein’s
OPTIMAL BUZZ 2 oz. tequila, 2 oz. lime juice from Freshii limes, 2 oz. Orange San Pellegrino from the Commons
TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
THOMAS ICED TEA 1 oz. rum, 1 oz. vodka, 1 oz. triple sec, 1 oz. gin, 2 oz. Dr. Pepper from Thomas vending machine
FOOD, DRINK AND NIGHTLIFE
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Jordan’s Declassified Weekend Survival Guide Having a fun weekend doesn’t require partying
JORDAN BRUCE | EXEC. DIGITAL EDITOR jbruce2@trinity.edu There’s no right way to have fun on campus, despite what movies or television shows may depict. I’ve never enjoyed the party scene, so over the past two-and-a-half semesters I’ve come up with some other enjoyable activities that don’t involve parties. CLEAN It may seem boring initially, but getting stuff done around your room can be one of the best ways to spend your night. Cleaning your room serves not only as a great way to procrastinate that pesky paper for your English class, but also to improve productivity. Studies show that removing clutter can actually make you more focused on the task at hand. So why not cleanse your pencil cup one evening? Maybe you’ll finish that math assignment on time. PARK If the rest of your hall is out having a fun night off-campus, you know what becomes available in spades? Parking spots. Seize this prime opportunity to get that perfect spot right next to the door and you’ll be much happier the next time it rains but you need to get formal clothes from Goodwill for an event starting in two hours — trust me, I’ve been there. LEARN Not all learning has to happen in the classroom; some of the most relevant skills in today’s world can be accessed right from your computer or phone. For an educational Friday night, try logging into lynda.trinity.edu. You can watch video courses on web design, statistics and everything in between — all for free (with a $60,000 yearly purchase, of course). These are practical and valuable skills that would cost hundreds of dollars to get later, and let’s face it — would you really do actual homework in that time? WATCH Speaking of Trinity-provided services, Philo is another great option for a relaxing night in. Make an account at trinity.philo.com and set
illustration by ANDREA NEHBUT
your favorite shows to record the next time they air. You’ll have a great backlog of things to watch just a few days later. And the best part? No ads. Just skip them in your recording, and you can compress more content into less time. My personal favorites: “Survivor” (CBS),
“Madam Secretary” (CBS), “This is Us” (NBC) and “The Good Doctor” (ABC). In short, you’ve got options. So one weekend, give it a shot — maybe you’ll discover a new passion for programming
in Python or a previously-suppressed need for cleanliness. Whatever it may be, try a weekend without the stereotypical definition of college fun. I’ve always felt more productive after a good hard weekend of cleaning and procrastination.
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TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
FOOD, DRINK AND NIGHTLIFE
Oh coffee, how do I love thee? Reviewing some of San Antonio’s coffee CIARA MCDANIEL GUEST COLUMNIST cmcdani1@trinity.edu
ROSELLA Great date spot, especially if you decide to go to the San Antonio Museum of Art! Not our favorite coffee, but certainly a welcoming and quirky environment.
makes Summer Moon’s lattes so beautifully rich. Just don’t go on Sunday mornings to study if you need silence, as you will be sharing the space with members of the Trinity Baptist Church after their worship service. Pro Tip: Moon milk can also be made without dairy!
ELYSE ANDREWS GUEST COLUMNIST eandrews@trinity.edu
SUMMERMOON A classic. With such close proximity to campus, it would be a shame not to experience the sweet, sweet “moon milk� that
MILA Don’t be discouraged by the exterior — while Mila Coffee operates out of a food truck, it has what we believe to be some of the highestquality coffee in town. What makes Mila stand out the most is its smooth, yet strong espresso and heavenly vanilla syrup. Of all the vanilla lattes we’ve tried, nothing quite compares to the velvety, rich flavor of Mila’s. LOCAL Local receives a lot of hype, and with a lot of hype comes mixed reviews. Reviews that might look something like this: Elyse: Expensive and overrated, don’t waste your money. Ciara: Nom nom here’s $7, I love crushed ice more than myself!! Regardless, Local is always a safe go-to for quality espresso and is a cozy spot for off-campus studying.
What does coffee mean to you? For some, coffee is but a vehicle for caffeine. For others, coffee is an enjoyable part of their morning routine. But for us, coffee is a lifestyle. As self-proclaimed connoisseurs of the uplifting beverage, Elyse Andrews and I have searched far and wide throughout San Antonio to find the perfect cup of joe. In no particular order, here are our reviews of some local favorites. Reviews are based on Ciara’s standard drink — iced soy vanilla latte — in addition to the wild card drink of Elyse’s choice. BROWN Aside from the condescending “Do you know about our policy on milk� question you’ll get every time you walk in the door, Brown is a top notch spot to get coffee in San Antonio. It is only a Bird scooter ride away, and we have truly never felt more caffeinated in our entire lives. And if you weren’t convinced, Alton Brown has also called this the “best cup of coffee I’ve had in my life.�
If you ever want to feel like you’re in the back of a Paris garden cafe, go to Commonwealth. Time truly feels slower there.
ESTATE This is some of our favorite coffee in San Antonio. What makes Estate so unique is its specialty drink menu, which includes refreshing drinks such as the Cold Brew Shandy (cold brew, lemonade, topo chico) and the Frotus (cold brew, topo chico, maraschino cherry).
PRESS Press is definitely worth checking out, as they just opened their new location a mile from campus. Part of what makes Press so appealing is its environment — the open glass windows from floor to ceiling and different vertical levels of seating make the cafe feel very inviting. Their coffee is very bold, however, and the flavors not quite balanced. You may need a little simple syrup, but Press is overall a solid choice for coffee nearby.
illustration by ELYSE ANDREWS
COMMONWEALTH You don’t need to like croissants to visit Commonwealth; this homey cafe offers a solid latte with balanced flavors and espresso that is strong and smooth.
There you have it — Ciara and Elyse’s guide to our favorite (this is a very reduced list of our twenty-some excursions) coffee in SA. We wish you the best of luck in your coffee endeavors as you wait for Starbucks in the library to receive their shipments of ‌ everything. Get sipping!
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Betas fundraise for victims of domestic violence
Chi Beta Epsilon, Trinity community honor the memory of Cayley Mandadi at vigil
MARIA ZAHARATOS | PULSE REPORTER mzaharat@trinity.edu The Chi Beta Epsilon sorority and its members held a Rooftop Balloon Vigil last Friday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. on the roof of Verna McLean Residence Hall. The event was open to all members of the Trinity community. The goal of this gathering was to raise funds for and bring awareness to domestic abuse and to honor the memory of Cayley Mandadi — a Trinity student and Beta sorority member who died last year. According to Joann Hamer, sophomore and current term president of Chi Beta Epsilon, the San Antonio Rape Crisis Center is the sorority's primary philanthropic cause. The center has been their philanthropic focus for more than four years. All donations of money and materials, such as toiletries, were collected to provide support for survivors and victims of domestic abuse. In exchange for their donations, attendees were given biodegradable balloons to be released during the ceremony. "On the balloons, they can write a message to someone who they know has been affected by domestic violence. We are trying to pay memorial to Cayley, but we're also trying to raise awareness for how common domestic violence is on college campuses," Hamer said. At the vigil, various members of the Trinity community gathered — from alumni to current faculty and students. Both those who did and did not know Mandadi came to pay their respects.
"Others who are here knew her personally and loved her. I wasn't fortunate enough to know her, but I'm here to show respect to these students and to her," said Deborah Tyson, director of Residential Life, during the event. The first part of the vigil consisted of collecting resources and toiletry supplies, which also gave attendees the opportunity to converse with one another. The event provided refreshments and Cayley's favorite food according to the Betas: mozzarella sticks. This was followed by a brief yet poignant speech by a few of the event organizers. They thanked the community's donations and support and addressed the importance of raising awareness of domestic abuse. Attendees were then asked to participate in a moment of silence. Then, on the count of three, attendees released their balloons — annotated with personal messages — into the night sky. "[This event places] emphasis on the community and support we have here. Whenever there's a crisis, it's just a reminder that you can reach out to anyone, to Trinity students," said sophomore Sam Gustafsson. "[It's about] trying to ensure you have a safe space to be who you are." With this month marking a year since Cayley's death, many students were overcome with emotion as they attended the vigil and remembered her. As several attendees highlighted, the vigil also served to show solidarity in the community. For students who were unable to attend the vigil or show their support for the cause,
Students, faculty and staff who attended the Chi Beta Epsilon's vigil for Cayley Mandadi — Trinity student and Beta sorority member who died last year —participated in a moment of silence and balloon release on the roof of Verna McLean Residence Hall. photo by GENEVIEVE HUMPHREYS
Hamer added that everyone is welcome to join Chi Beta Epsilon and their brother fraternity — the Bengal Lancers — for their annual chili
cook-off on Friday, Nov. 9. It will also support the Rape Crisis Center, and one of the center's representatives will be present to give a speech.
Transgender student support group offers safe space
Trans students, nonbinary students and LGBTQ+ allies offer support and resources NOELLE BARRERA | PULSE REPORTER nbarrera@trinity.edu The fall semester of 2018 marks the fourth year of Trinity's transgender student support group, which meets every other Wednesday. Originally co-facilitated by Richard Reams, associate director of Counseling Services, and Amy Stone, associate professor of sociology and anthropology, this group offers a space for trans and nonbinary students to share their experiences. "About four years ago, I [became] aware that finally at Trinity there was a substantial number of trans and nonbinary students. I thought, 'Let's provide an opportunity for students to get together and talk about their gender journeys, challenges that they've faced, give them the opportunity to share their stories and support each other and see if there's enough interest,' " Reams said. During the group's meetings, students discuss a variety of topics. "Sometimes a student will bring a question to the group. Maybe it's about hormone therapy or voice training, and what kinds of resources there are, or what experiences people have had with something," Reams said. "We've also talked about things like housing at Trinity and experiences in housing." Reams said that meeting attendance typically varies from three to eight students, but 11 individual students have participated this semester. One of the group's newer members shared how they found out about the group and how it helped them accept their nonbinary identity.
TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018
"I have a friend who is part of [the support group], and I had opened up to them months ago about the questioning I'd been going through. In August or September ... they encouraged me to email Dr. Reams to see if I could attend," a student, who asked not to be named and has not come out as nonbinary yet, said. The student was surprised by the group's welcoming atmosphere. "I was really apprehensive about going to the first meeting, because at the time I was using the pronouns I was given at birth, and I still don't plan on changing my name or my [gender] presentation," the student said. "But [the members] were really supportive and kind ... I've continued growing and exploring other parts of myself since then, and they've supported me all the way." According to Reams, the opportunity to bond with understanding peers makes this group important for students. "It's meaningful for people to have a supportive environment with others who really understand what it is to live as a person who's not cisgender and [who] may not experience gender as being binary, to experience understanding, empathy and support," Reams said. Reams spoke about the current presidential administration's recently proposed national policies, which — if put into place — would define sex and gender as immutable at birth and have serious implications for how Title IX is interpreted and enforced. "The assault on trans rights and equality is truly appalling and distressing," Reams said. However, Reams has faith that these policies will not affect Trinity.
ELIZABETH RAHILLY, visiting professor of sociology, will co-facilitate and support the transgender student support group next semester. She has a background in sociology that is focused on the normative expectations for sex, gender, identity and the body. photo by MATTHEW CLAYBROOK
"I would call your attention to the recently launched transgender policies and resources web page that I have been working with others on developing for a year and a half and that affirms that Trinity will continue to be an inclusive and equitable place," Reams said. Stone, who co-facilitated the group with Reams for the first three years, is on academic leave; Wendy Apfel — instructional support manager of Information Technology
Services — currently co-facilitates the group, and Elizabeth Rahilly — visiting professor of sociology — will co-facilitate the group next semester. Rahilly has not facilitated a trans support group before but is committed to supporting trans groups on campus. Rahilly's academic work centers largely around gender. continued on PAGE 18
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Getting to know trustee April Ancira
Trinity’s youngest Board of Trustees member and Trinity alumna talks about college experience KRISTIAN ADAMS | PULSE INTERN kadams@trinity.edu The newest member of Trinity University’s Board of Trustees is April Ancira, who graduated Trinity University in 2002. Ancira received her Bachelor of Science in marketing and finance with a minor in economics; she is also a member of the Business Advisory Council. “She has a strong commitment and dedication to the School of Business and Trinity University and is a respected leader in the San Antonio non-profit community,” Bob Scherer, dean of the School of Business wrote in an email. “As a Trinity student, I made all the college mistakes,” Ancira wrote in an email. Ancira added that some of these college mistakes included boys, making decisions due to peer pressure and putting academics in the backseat. But she also added these mistakes did not shape her entire college experience. Ancira emphasized how significant the relationships that she created with Trinity professors were to her — such as with Colleen Grissom, professor in the Department of
English, and Charlene Davis, professor in the Department of Business Administration. “I met the most amazing professors who truly cared how my education was proceeding and, as I have grown, they have become good friends,” Ancira wrote. Ancira attributed a substantial amount of her current success in interacting and engaging with people in any field to the liberal arts component of Trinity University. She also did not expect to find friendships in a sorority in her first year at Trinity. “Funny enough, I didn’t want to ‘buy’ my friends as a freshman, so I chose not to rush a sorority,” Ancira wrote. However, Ancira had a change of heart during her sophomore year of college. “As a sophomore, I suppose I needed to buy some friends. Ha, kidding, I think. It was actually quite organic, I rushed Chi Beta Epsilon and became a part of [pledge class] ‘02,” Ancira wrote. Ancira added that her sorority had a huge impact on her at Trinity and said when she got married in 2008, all her bridesmaids — except her biological sister — were Betas. Ancira also said that she would not trade any of the bad experiences she had as an undergrad.
“I am 100 percent the person I am today because of the growth I experienced in college. Some pretty awful stuff happened, and some pretty amazing stuff happened,” Ancira wrote. Her advice to Trinity students is to make those mistakes and learn from them. “Even the most egregious experiences have meaning and can be used to help someone else or hundreds more in the future. Growth is life, and life is growth,” Ancira wrote. During her time on the Board of Trustees, Ancira has met many members who she considers intelligent, talented people who care for Trinity and its students. “When asked to join though, I jumped at the chance, honored and excited. I will certainly give everything I have got and consider this another amazing opportunity to learn and grow from the best,” Ancira wrote. “April Ancira is an energetic community leader who uses her marketing skills not only for the advantage of her business but also to support others in her community, and we are delighted she has joined our Board of Trustees,” said Danny Anderson, current president of Trinity University.
APRIL ANCIRA, youngest Board of Trustees member and Trinity alumna, graduated in 2002. She reminisced over her Trinity college experience. photo provided by APRIL ANCIRA
Transgender support group continued from PAGE 17 "My entire background in sociology is invested fundamentally in unpacking normative expectations for sex, gender, identity and the body," Rahilly said. "Shaking the foundations of normative gender binary ideology is at the root of my own scholarship and in turn my approach to students, teaching and course material." Rahilly spoke about her role as cofacilitator of the group. "I'm there to be an informed facilitator of the issues that they need to talk about because I think that these groups are an important source of community and empowerment," Rahilly said. "I would never presume myself to be an expert: I think it's always about deferring to the person's own experience and identity and awareness, and that's very much the approach I will take."
Rahilly will help co-facilitate a Trinity PRIDE meeting on Nov. 14, which is focused on the experiences of trans and nonbinary students. "We originally envisioned [the meeting] as a space for self-care, [as a way] for trans and nonbinary students to learn how to channel some of the frustration that they are experiencing in this difficult time into productive and healthy behaviors and how to address transphobia when they experience it on a national and micro-level," Chiara Pride, junior and president of PRIDE, said. "I hope that it is a safe space where people can feel comfortable to express their concerns and have those concerns heard and responded to with kindness and education." Students who have questions about the transgender support group and/or would like to attend a meeting can email rreams@trinity.edu or wapfel@trinity.edu.
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TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
PULSE
Love, Patience, Pain
You’re a bad reboot, Mr. Grinch
Ariana Grande released new single thirty minutes before latest “SNL” episode. Peter Davidson whomst’ve?
Benedict Cumberbatch, go back to the UK, we don’t need another Grinch movie or to hear your American accent again
AE &
Cheers to TUPS’s “Betrayal” Closer look into the play directed by senior Mindy Tran NOELLE BARRERA PULSE REPORTER nbarrera@trinity.edu “We’re not there anymore, and we haven’t been there for years,” Jerry tells his former lover Emma in the first scene of last weekend’s Trinity University Players (TUPS) show, “Betrayal.” In this show, however, time is not so simple. The play, adapted from a script by playwright Harold Pinter and directed by senior and TUPS president Mindy Tran, moves backwards in time from 1977 to 1968, chronicling the turbulent relationship between Jerry, played by sophomore Michael Fain; Emma,
played by sophomore Kathleen Arbogast, and Robert — Emma’s husband and Jerry’s best friend — played by junior Alex Bradley. When I watched “Betrayal” last Saturday, some part of me was expecting a basic and perhaps melodramatic play about a heterosexual love triangle. However, I emerged impressed by how the play subverts audience expectations to examine what it means to “betray” one another — and by how four theatre students in Texas were able to perform moderately convincing British accents for two hours. I was fascinated by how the play goes beyond the literal “betrayal” of Emma and Jerry’s affair to explore the more mundane, yet also more tragic betrayal that occurs when you realize that a cherished memory didn’t occur how you thought that it did or that a trusted person in your life isn’t who you thought they were. The scenes of the play, while scattered across different
time periods, are united by the presence of memories. Characters frequently find that their memories of events contradict each other, or that their loved one doesn’t remember a memory the way that they did. Alcohol— tea and grape juice were substituted for liquor and champagne in real life — also shows up frequently as a way for characters to bond and as something that reveals what they really think. After the show ended, the four actors remained behind to answer students’ questions about the play and the rehearsal process. Tran had prepared to direct “Betrayal” last semester, with a very different cast. Sam Gabelmann, played the waiter but was not on the original cast from last semester. Instead, Bradley was originally set to play the waiter, and two other actors were playing Jerry and Emma.
to that of Aguirre-Sacasa’s “Riverdale” on the CW network. As you’d expect, comparisons to 1996s “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” sitcom will almost immediately spring up in viewers’ minds, typically along the lines of why is this Salem the cat mute, and why must we be deprived of his snark? I can empathize: these types of reactions might come naturally to the Sabrina-familiar. While the Netflix series certainly has an edge to it, there’s still room for a lot of fun in this fresh adaptation, whether or not viewers are acquainted with previous takes on the characters. Familiar teen faces — including Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina Spellman and Ross Lynch as Harvey Kinkle — ground the show in a healthy dose of high school drama, following in “Riverdale’s” footsteps. But the more out-there supporting characters — such as Sabrina’s witch aunts Zelda and Hilda Spellman, portrayed by Miranda Otto and Lucy Davis respectively, and Chance Perdomo’s portrayal of warlock cousin Ambrose Spellman — truly bring the supernatural fun in to the show. From the first episode onwards, Michelle
Gomez’s Ms. Wardwell is absolutely bonkers, but in every way you’d hope an eccentric antagonist to be. The show is a gold mine (pardon my mention of such a place, Harvey Kinkle) of old-school horror references, including obvious nods to classics such as “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Fly.” Also, teen girl protagonist fights the monster-of-the-week? It’s almost as if I asked, and Netflix delivered: I’m definitely not the only viewer to notice that the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” vibes are strong with this show. A rare serialized Netflix series, “Sabrina” digs up the campy, cathartic high-school-as-hell motif from its TV grave and puts it to good use in the episodes of the first season. While the show’s more serialized installments deliver threatening and enjoyable episodic mysteries for “Sabrina,” viewers beware: similar to “Buffy” and other shows in the supernatural genre, a larger season arc looms with big-bads for Sabrina to face. Her clashes with the witch community in Greendale — headed by High Priest Faustus Blackwood, played by Richard Coyle — raise questions of agency and patriarchal control for Sabrina as a
continued on PAGE 21
Sophomores MICHAEL FAIN, left, and KATHLEEN ARBOGAST, right, perform as two parts of a love triangle in “Betrayal.” photo by GENEVIEVE HUMPHREYS
Witching hour: “Sabrina” brews up a fun TV potion The Archie Television Universe continues on new Netflix show RAFAELA BRENNER A&E REPORTER rbrenner@trinity.edu Now that Halloween is past, we’ve all hopefully made it through the spooky season unscathed. My wish is that you’ll be able to say the same about the first season of Netflix’s recently released “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” which I’ve discovered to be full of TV tricks and treats. Camp and style abound in the show, which follows teenager Sabrina Spellman as she treads the line between her dual nature of halfwitch, half-mortal to combat demonic control in the small town of Greendale. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s darker take on the “Sabrina” story is adapted from the Archie Comics title of the same name, and Sabrina takes on an atmospheric, eerie tone similar
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Lady Macbeth Stieren Theatre, 8 p.m.
Luminaria Hemisfair, 7 p.m.
Chief Keef Paper Tiger, 8 p.m.
TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018
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Stream something on Filmstruck before it leaves us ):
illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT
young female protagonist. As a genre show, I’ve found that Sabrina does a mostly successful job of tackling these issues with some quotable, empowering moments — even if only by invoking them on a surface level as campy horror takes center stage. Though there’s not much focus on realistic depth in a given episode of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”
11/13 TPR Worth Repeating Brick at Blue Star 7 p.m.
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(nary a reference to Sabrina and Harvey’s next Calc exam?), the show doesn’t need this. This “Sabrina” story does what it wants to do deliciously well, which is bring a timeless, fun and frightening world to life. Be afraid, be very afraid: it’s almost scary how quickly “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” can hook you in, if you’re not careful.
TPR Cinema: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” Santikos Silverado, 7:30 p.m.
11/15 Napoleon Dynamite w/ Q&A Tobin Center, 8 p.m.
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COME ONE
COME ALL
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Shall I compare thee to on stage a Hippo Campus show? Betrayal continued from PAGE 19
“I wasn’t expecting things to be the same as last semester, just because we had two new people and their insights on their characters were different,� Tran said. “It was interesting because this was the first full-length play that I directed, so I was just going to do what I did last semester, but I realized that that wouldn’t have been a good directorial choice, because our cast and crew were different ... Honestly, it was a completely different experience from last semester.� The conversation eventually moved to how the actors learned their British accents. “I had done a show in high school with a British accent. I used a CD to learn it then, and then I more or less remembered it,� Fain said. “I’d never done [a British accent] before, which you could probably all tell, so I just started watching Doctor Who — that’s not a joke,� Bradley said. Holly Gabelmann, senior and technical coordinator of TUPS, spoke about how “Betrayal� differs tonally from other plays that TUPS has performed. “[In TUPS,] you see a lot of experimental work, a lot of new work, a lot of stuff that’s students have written — but this [play] is classic. It’s an absurdist piece, it’s a very well-known piece of theatre, so it’s really nice to see something that’s a little different than what we’ve put on recently,� Gabelmann said. Audience members enjoyed the play’s unique use of language. “I really liked this play. Seeing it the second time on Saturday, I understood a little bit more about the underlying implications of each of the words,� said senior Kendall Walshak. “I think my favorite example of that was the scene in the restaurant where Jerry and Robert are talking about playing squash, and Robert already knows about everything that’s going on, and Jerry doesn’t realize it, so ‘squash’ means something much deeper than just squash.�
Minnesota-natives break Election Day fog with summery bops at Paper Tiger
GEORGIE RIGGS A&E EDITOR griggs@trinity.edu
Every song Hippo Campus has released sounds like the perfect summer that I’ve never had. Playing at Paper Tiger this past Tuesday, Nov. 6, Hippo Campus brought their four years of rapidly increasing profile to a packed house. The mix of tracks played spanned from their recently released album “Bambi,� to their breakout 2017 album “Landmark,� and all the way back to their first EP “Bashful Creatures.� I first heard about Hippo Campus a few years ago from their song “Suicide Saturday.� It was 2016, Vampire Weekend hadn’t released new music in two years, and I was in desperate need of a group of inoffensive white men singing bops over the familiar sound of indie pop guitars. Their first two EPs “Creatures� and “South� provided all that and more. What Hippo Campus may lack in originality with their sound, they more than make up for in their contagious — dare I say “Boyish?� — energy. They fill their songs with a mix of irrelevant verses, catchy choruses and rhythms ready-made to forget your problems to. They’re basically the indie pop boy band for the post-One Direction generation. Maybe that’s why half the crowd looked like they were attending a homecoming after party. The crowds at Paper Tiger never really make
Hippo Campus performs on the large stage at Paper Tiger on Tuesday Nov. 6. The band played a mix of songs from their discography, including fan favorites “Suicide Saturday,� “Bambi� and “South.� photo by GEORGIE RIGGS
much sense to me, from frat guys at a Kero Kero Bonito show watching NBA games to a Kimbra show full of tall men who refused to dance. But this crowd specifically felt out of place for the venue. When I arrived a little past 8 p.m. for the show, I was surprised to see a line snaking from the entrance all the way down the street reaching Burger Boy. Of all the times I’d been to Paper Tiger, I never had to wait in line to get in. It was worth it, though. I hadn’t really connected with their latest album as much as I had with last year’s “Landmarks,� but I was happy to see how many of their back catalog they decided to play. Their bigger hits “Suicide Saturday� and “South� were cathartic experiences to hear live, as they are the types of songs with infectious energies that make you never want to leave the dance floor. I’m not usually a jumping up and down at a show type of person because, you know, expending energy, but this was a jumping show. The thing with Hippo Campus songs is that I don’t really know what they’re saying for most of it, even
the ones I’ve listened to hundreds of times. Like Vampire Weekend, they revel in crafting wordy verses filled with non-sequiturs and multisyllabic words. So, without having done my RapGenius lyric research beforehand, I was left enthusiastically mumbling sounds most of the show. But from the lyrics I did know, the show provided an escape from the light-deficient, post-Daylight Savings Time, midterms haze. “Blueberry knees feeling just fine / Break up, down in the backyard / This simple season is all ours,� they sing on the song aptly titled “Simple Season.� This song synthesizes the Hippo Campus vibe, recalling with nostalgia a time that probably never existed in your life. The show embodied that feeling of a time before “futures where our nights are lost to condensation,� as they sing of in their song “Vines� — my personal favorite that they daringly chose not to perform. Even without my favorite song, Hippo Campus didn’t disappoint. The last song they performed before the encore felt crafted to fit
the post-election results mood in the room. “That’s the way it goes / There’s no point in crying� is a good thing to yell when you feel a bit lost. But Hippo Campus gave us something better to yell after they left the stage and found out the senate results. “F— Ted Cruz,� lead singer Jake Luppen chanted as he entered the stage, in response to the crowd’s plea for one more song. With the same enthusiasm as we had sang the chorus to “Suicide Saturday,� the crowd joined in, chanting with what felt like a song’s worth of the phrase, until we were ready to forget our problems again. “American eyes, cherry cheeks and blood-shot eyes / American eyes see peace on earth and truth in lies / Violet, trying to start your riot / Trying to get up and then go / So the world will always know,� Hippo Campus sang, ending the night with “Violet,� telling of yet another familiar time of joy before the fall of realization. Those times only seem to exist in memories, but maybe the perfect summer is always alive at a Hippo Campus show.
WORK FOR US.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 • TRINITONIAN.COM
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Sports
THE TIGERS KEEP TROTTING:
• Men’s Basketball vs. The University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m. • Football vs. Berry College, Saturday, Nov. 10, 1 p.m. • Women’s Basketball vs. Concordia University, Monday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m.
Women’s Soccer wins 10th conference The team recounts the two shut-out victories that propelled them to decisively win the SCAC title MEGAN FLORES | SPORTS REPORTER mflores8@trinity.edu The women’s soccer team enjoyed a successful weekend in which they won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) title. Because they earned the No. 1 seed, play for the team began on Saturday. The Tigers were given the opportunity to compete at home at the Paul McGinlay Field, where they excelled in front of a supportive crowd. The team captured their first win of the tournament with a decisive 5–0 shutout victory against Schreiner University. During this game, senior Chelsea Cole and sophomore Abby Blackwood scored twice, while senior Halleanne Dure scored once. Sophomore goalkeeper Paige Wallace recorded a notable save in the second half to maintain Trinity’s clean sheet game. Wallace notes that the team’s preparation for the game put them in the right mindset to compete. “Leading up to the weekend, we had a great week of practice with a lot of intense sessions that had us shooting on goal. The Friday night before our game, we got together and had a team dinner that was provided by our coaches. The experience really helped us stay focused on the weekend ahead of us,” Wallace said. Following their semifinal victory, Trinity faced Southwestern University in the championship match. In the game’s 25th minute, Chelsea Cole scored the game-winning goal after a corner kick from sophomore Lindsey Peng. Going into the kick, Peng had full confidence in her teammates.
“In the moment, I just really wanted someone to put the ball in the net. We have scored a decent amount off of set pieces this year, so I knew we were capable of doing it again. I knew I needed to my job and put a good ball in, and I had faith in my teammates that they would do their jobs, too. I was hoping someone would finish it, and Chelsea did,” Peng said. Chelsea Cole recognized the importance of the moment and capitalized on her opportunity. “We had a few chances before that but didn’t put any of them away. Games are often decided on set pieces, so I knew I needed to take advantage of the corner. A few of my teammates made runs ahead of me, which allowed the ball to go over the heads of the defenders and throw off the keeper a bit. I made the back post run and was able to get a good angle on the ball to direct it into the goal,” Cole said. Despite strong offensive pushes by both teams, neither was able to score in the second half, resulting in the Tigers capturing the championship with a 1–0 victory. The tournament victory marked the 10th consecutive SCAC title for the women’s soccer team. For their outstanding performances over the weekend, Cole was named the SCAC Tournament Offensive Most Valuable Player and Peng was named the SCAC Tournament Defensive Most Valuable Player. These awards are in addition to Cole’s five SCAC Women’s Offensive Player of the Week titles and Peng’s SCAC Women’s Defensive Player of the Week title from regular season play. Cole gives the credit of these awards to her teammates.
Trinity Women’s Soccer celebrates their regular season with a decisive SCAC tournament victory. They end their regular season and head into the postseason ranked 13th. photo provided by CHELSEA COLE
“Honestly, I believe those awards are team awards. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do and score goals without the rest of my teammates. Everyone works hard all over the field, and my job is to finish on the opportunities that come from that hard work. I love being able to do that, but it is really a reflection of all the hard work going on around me,” Cole said. For the rest of the postseason, the Tigers are looking to extend Trinity’s current 15-game win streak even further. “Our team takes every chance to play very seriously, so we spend each week of practice pushing each other to be the best we can. Our mindset of constantly motivating each other is a big factor in our winning streak. We’re just going to keep training hard at practice everyday. The pressure of knowing that any of these games
could be our last is really going to push us to work as hard as possible,” Wallace said. The Tigers are also hoping to use the momentum from their conference victory to stay fired up in their next game. “Using some of the energy we generated this weekend will keep us excited for what is next. Playing for something when a lot is on the line is stressful, but it also makes for a lot of good soccer and quite a bit of fun. We have had a good season thus far, and I think we know we are good enough and will be prepared enough to take on whoever comes next,” Peng said. On Saturday, Nov. 10, the Trinity women’s soccer team will compete against Occidental College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship at Hardin-Simmons University.
Has America’s pastime changed? WOMEN’S SOCCER The Tigers defeated Schreiner University 5–0 last Saturday in the SCAC semifinals and on Sunday defeated Southwestern University 1–0 to win the SCAC Conference. They hold a 16–1–1 record. MEN’S SOCCER The Tigers defeated Texas Lutheran University 2–1 on Saturday to advance to the SCAC semifinals and on Sunday defeated Southwestern University 4–2 on penalties to win the SCAC Conference. They hold a 15–1–3 record. VOLLEYBALL The Tigers lost to Southwestern University 3–1 on Saturday. Then on Sunday, they defeated University of Dallas 3–0. They hold a 25–6 record. FOOTBALL The Tigers defeated Austin College 14–0 on Saturday. They hold a 6–3 record.
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Opinion: Unpackaging the idea of how baseball became America’s pastime and if it still is AUSTIN DAVIDSON SPORTS EDITOR adavids1@trinity.edu
When I was younger, I thought of baseball as the quintessential American sport. The image of going to a ball park, ordering a hot dog and then watching a game that could last from two to seven hours was more American to me than a donut hamburger. But that perception changed. The idea of baseball being the American pastime comes from the 1850s, when the explosion of the game in New York City saw the papers there herald it as the “nation’s pastime” or “America’s game.” I believe this idea of baseball being the nation’s pastime has, however, changed since those days. But what does it mean to be a nation’s pastime? For baseball, it was achieved because the game took over New York then spread throughout the country. In a more defined sense, it was the most popular and widely played sport in the country. If that is what gained baseball its success and widespread popularity, can it lose its
title as the nation’s pastime to the current most popular sport? Going by that question, football would be the nation’s pastime. The NFL had the highest average attendance during the 2017 season drawing an average of 67,405 people per game. The other top sport leagues — the MLS, the NHL, the MLB and the NBA — all pale in comparison to this number. Only the MLB, whose highest turnout in 2017 was 47,042 by the LA Dodgers, comes close. You would have to triple nearly all of the NBAs, the MLBs, the NHLs and the MLSs average attendances to get on the level of the NFL. By those numbers and the methods through which baseball attained its title, football is now the national pastime So if the national pastime is transferable and not a permanent title, does that mean any sport can attain it? This is the question I am most interested in, as I think the answer to this is more complicated than a simple yes. I believe the American pastime is what an individual makes of it. Football and baseball aren’t the sports that all 325 million Americans identify as their pastime. For me and my family, our pastime is soccer. For my friend Sean, his pastime is rock-climbing. For the dedicated members of my indoor soccer rec league, they see a sport completely different from the most popular one as their pastime. Football has, however, dipped in popularity in the past five years due to a myriad of reasons — and while football has dipped, others sports have flourished.
Soccer in America has exploded, taking over cities and communities. The MLS has a higher average attendance than both the NBA and the NHL, rivaling the MLB. But again, this growth of choice, of America becoming even more of a melting pot of variation, further proves the point that the idea of there only being one national past time is antiquated and doesn’t take into account how diverse America is now. Being the most popular sport in America doesn’t make it mine or anyone else’s pastime just because we live in America. We can choose to love that sport and maybe say it’s our national pastime, but that decision is up to the individual and not some antiquated idea. I would believe that all sports have now become America’s pastime. There are many more sports compared to when baseball and football became widely popular. A person can play sports from the comfort of their own bed. Esports have taken over in the world; even have an Esports team at Trinity. More than ever, the variety of sports at kids’ fingertips shows that the idea that our country is symbolized by only one sport is wrong. America is a nation of individuals, and we all represent it. It’s not represented by one sport or by one person. Our collective individuality is what makes up the massive conglomerate of ideals called America.
TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018
Walking the line of being a fan and a journalist Discussing the difficulty of being a friend and a supporter of a team while also objectively reporting about it
ELISE HESTER | SPORTS REPORTER ehester@trinity.edu
My name is Elise Hester. I was a Trinitonian sport reporter for two years. Then, for a few months, I was not. Now I am again. I have written over 75 articles, some of which were even good. A few even won awards. I have learned a lot about sports, about people, about journalism and about why it is so important. To vastly oversimplify, the role of journalism is to educate the public and to monitor those in power. Journalism should be unbiased but truthful, even when the truth favors one group or the other. Journalists must cite sources and qualify certain statements with terms like “allegedly” and “claims” to avoid libel. The article you are currently reading does not follow these rules because it is not a news piece; it is an opinion column. It took me a couple years to understand that even though I report on the athletics department, I do not report to the athletics department. At Trinity, we are fortunate to have a Campus Publications charter that ensures freedom of press, something not afforded to students at all private institutions. Coaches, players and administrators have no right or authority over what is written about them in the paper. They may not always like this. When off-the-court shortcomings are presented in print, players have every right to refuse interviews and ignore emails due to retribution by coaches or of their own volition, though I wish they would not. At worst, they are stifling free press, which is their prerogative. Additionally, they are preventing their team from receiving good press. Despite all I just said,
I have never had to write anything truly negative about a team. All the feathers I have ruffled were due to misunderstandings regarding the concept of satire. The vast majority of sports pieces make our teams look pretty good. It does not hurt that our teams on average are pretty good. And I want to celebrate that because I love the athletes so much. I want to tell stories of our incredible athletes. I want to highlight their hard work and their well-earned victories. I love the Tigers, but when you love something, you hold them to a higher standard because you know what they are capable of. I want Trinity athletes to live up to their full potential, athletically and ethically. Usually they do, but when they do not, do not be surprised when we write about it. I like to joke about being an “award winning sports journalist,” but at the end of the day, I really am an award-winning sports journalist. The article for which I have garnered the most acclaim — reporting on men’s soccer loss to the University of Dallas — illustrates the ways in which the role as a reporter intersects with other loyalties and parts of oneself. I spent the first half of the match against University of Dallas on the bench. I was teaching a new Tiger Network camera operator the ropes. As the first goal went in, I could hear the commentary of Kellen Reid to his teammates. Around halftime, I left the game to finish homework. It was nearly 10 p.m. when I was heading to party and heard James Hill announcing the end of a first overtime and a tied score. I rushed to the field and standing behind Dallas’ women’s team, I watched a 17-year home winning streak end in a single goal from a “pacey forward,”
illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT
as Blake Lieberman would later describe him in an interview. I also interviewed Daylon Gordon and Jacob Hallenberger in a similarly professional manner. The same week I wrote this article, I was also shooting player profiles for men’s soccer and parlayed this into an opportunity for an impromptu interview with Brady Johnston as we waited for some of his teammates. After the game ended, I walked to a nearby party, passing Coach McGinlay on the sidewalk and tried not to make eye contact. At the party, I met a newly hired Trinitonian A&E writer who remembered me from his first Story Idea Meeting. We talked about the
game. He lived with some of the players and his emotional investment in the players became clear. Today, he is my sports editor. The relationship between reporter and subject for the Trinitonian sports section is rarely clean cut. We write about our friends and our classmates. I have written about my employers. It’s a hard line to walk. So athletes and coaches: we don’t work for you, but we love you. We want you to love us, but you don’t have to and sometimes you won’t. But remember, when we are writing things you wish we wouldn’t, we are just doing our jobs. We are holding you to what we know you can be and what you usually are. Go Tigers.
Men’s Soccer battles to win seventh-straight SCAC
The Tigers defeated TLU in the semifinals and then Southwestern University in the finals to cap a solid season MEGAN FLORES | SPORTS REPORTER mflores8@trinity.edu In an exciting weekend of lengthy games, the Trinity men’s soccer team successfully defended their Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) title. The team entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed due to their outstanding play in the regular season. Given their seeding, the Tiger teams were awarded a first round bye and began play on Saturday at Southwestern University. In the tournament semifinal round, the Tigers were faced with a challenging matchup against the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs(TLU). The last time these teams met was in the regularseason where Trinity won in overtime after a goal by sophomore Jacob Hallenberger. Going into the conference game, junior goalkeeper Blake Lieberman recognized the difficulty of the task ahead. “Due to our recent history against TLU, we knew we had a tough but certainly winnable game ahead of us. We expected them to be pretty fired up, so our team went into the game with a great energy level,” Lieberman said. History was repeated in the conference game, in which the Tigers won in overtime again. First-year Fraser Burns scored the winning goal after a clean pass from sophomore Andrea Codispoti. “It was really late into the second overtime. We had just won the ball back and were pushing up the field when I saw Fraser in the middle. I wanted to play the best ball I could, and he ended up finishing with a really difficult shot,” Codispoti said. Burns attributes much of the credit back to Codispoti. “Andrea has the ability to play any pass, so I made the run and my job was made easy in the end because of him. The feeling of scoring any goal is unbeatable, but what was important was our progression to the next round. Although I happened to be the one who scored the winning goal, the credit goes to the full squad for their efforts over the entire game,” Burns said.
SPORTS
With their victory against the Bulldogs, the Trinity team earned a spot in the conference final, where they faced the tournament host. Despite a distracting Southwestern crowd, Brady Johnston was able to convert his penalty shot in the 25th minute to bring the Tigers to a 1–0 lead. Trinity held that score until the end of the second half when Southwestern converted a penalty kick with just over a minute of regulation play remaining. Both the Trinity and Southwestern teams had multiple shots during the overtime period, but all were saved. The resulting consequence was a penalty kick shootout in which Lieberman excelled at his position. “The first kick-taker was Southwestern’s captain. I was standing on the line while he was staring at me, and I just stared back. After a bit, I started to smile because I felt ready. It was a crazy feeling, and I even joked with the referee about it,” Lieberman said. Lieberman was certainly ready, as he made a crucial block to deny Southwestern the first shot. The momentum continued in Trinity’s favor after Quentin Van Der Lee was successful in his penalty kick attempt. On the second play, Southwestern missed after hitting the crossbar of the goal while Andrea Codispoti landed one in the back of the net to give Trinity a 2–0 lead. “We were pretty confident going into [penalty kicks] because we have been practicing them for a while. Although there was a lot of pressure to perform, we knew how to do our jobs. Going second took some of the pressure off me because Blake had already saved two of Southwestern’s kicks,” Codispoti said. Although Lieberman was passed on the third and fourth kicks, Sophomore Diego Gonzalez and Junior Brady Johnston were able to convert theirs to bring Trinity to a 4–2 win in the shootout. After Johnston’s impressive game-winner, the team stormed the field to celebrate together. “When Brady scored the last penalty kick, we had a huge adrenaline rush. We went
• NOVEMBER 09, 2018 • TRINITONIAN.COM
The team gathers around their trophy as they celebrate their thrilling 4–2 penalty shootout victory over the tournament hosts Southwestern University. photo provided by ANDREA CODISPOTI
straight to the fans and celebrated. It was just a huge relief for the whole team, because winning the semifinal game in overtime and winning the final in penalty kicks was definitely stressful,” Lieberman said. Johnston explained that this victory stood out to him even amongst his previous experiences in conference tournaments. “Winning the game was an incredible feeling. We have won the tournament each of the three years I have been at Trinity, and somehow the feeling just keeps on getting better and better. It was amazing to see the team storming the field with complete excitement after such a nerve racking game,” Johnston said. Johnston’s performance in the conference tournament earned him the title of SCAC Tournament Offensive Most Valuable Player. Earlier in the week, Johnston was
also named SCAC Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Year. “Individual accolades are obviously a pleasure to receive, but I would switch these accolades for a national championship in a heartbeat,” Johnston said. Trinity’s conference victory is their seventh straight SCAC title. This win also grants them a direct spot in the Division III NCAA National Tournament, in which the Tigers will play their first round against Chapman University at home on Saturday, Nov. 10. Lieberman is eager to rise to the occasion in the team’s first round game, but is also excited to compete at home again. “I think we definitely have the best fanbase in the SCAC, if not the state. Our home crowd always has great energy, and I’m looking forward to seeing our fan turnout this weekend,” Lieberman said.
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Help Us Make History!
President Danny Anderson has graciously offered to grant every Trinity student FREE ADMISSION (with Student ID) to the NCAA Soccer Tournament this weekend to cheer on our Trinity men’s soccer team. Please help us make history, as we try to break the attendance record of 1200 set back in 2003! Go Tigers!
Saturday 5:00 PM: Trinity vs Chapman 7:30 PM: Southwestern vs Mary Hardin-Baylor
Sunday 7:00 PM: NCAA Regional Championship
#TIGERPRIDE 24
TRINITONIAN.COM • NOVEMBER 09, 2018 •
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