10.06.2017

Volume 115 Issue 08

Trinitonian Serving Trinity University Since 1902

October 06, 2017

The Body Project returns to campus TU volleyball

rises to No. 3 in the country

Program promotes positive self-image CATHY TERRACE

NEWS REPORTER This year, members of Trinity sororities will partake in the Body Project, a group initiative that promotes healthy body image on campus. Last year, there were roughly 50 workshop attendants and 15 peer leaders; Wellness Services expects similar numbers this year.

“The Body Project is a body image intervention that has more research support behind it than any other body image intervention in the world — when I say volume of research support, I mean it’s not just one group that’s found that the Body Project actually improves body image and associated factors, but many research groups around the world have found that it improves [body image],” said Carolyn Becker, professor of psychology. “Originally developed by Dr. Eric Stice, who is currently at Oregon Research Institute, the project was created because he wanted to prevent eating disorders, so it was originally created as an eating disorders prevention program, and it does in fact prevent the onset of some eating disorders.”

As many campuses no longer use it as a tool targeting eating disorders, Trinity deploys it to address body image issues that tend to be prevalent among target populations.

“The idea behind the Body Project was that, if you can disrupt this sort of first-risk

Coach and athletes discuss making Trinity history in athletics JULIA WEIS

SPORTS EDITOR

From left to right: Trainees SHARON DEREJE, EMILY GARRETT and SARAH VAN ALSTEN participate in one of the Body Project training sessions. photo by CHLOE SONNIER

factor of thin ideal internalization, then you could break up the cascade to issues like eating disorders,” Becker said. “The Body Project leverages cognitive dissonance, and it assumes that you, to some degree, have internalized the appearance standards of our culture and that you on some level have bought into what our society says is the ideal woman in terms of appearance. If we can have you speak and act against those appearance standards, then your actions will now be different than your beliefs, and then your

beliefs will come in line with your actions.”

First introduced to Trinity in 2001, the Body Project has made Trinity students an essential part of the psychological research that has taken place as part of the program. Such data is usually collected during a pair of two-hourlong sessions that occur during the spring.

However, as of 2016, Wellness Services is running the Body Project at Trinity in an attempt to make the initiative accessible to more students. continued on PAGE 5

Tiger volleyball has been destroying their opponents for the last few tournaments, earning them the No. 3 rank in the country.

While the Tigers fell to No. 2-ranked Colorado College this past weekend, they crushed other opponents, including Austin College, University of Dallas and Centenary College, making them 16-3 in their season, and 4-0 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

“They’re doing really well; I’m really proud of them. It’s a fun group, a really athletic and a relatively young group, so that’s exciting,” said Julie Jenkins, volleyball coach. “Every weekend we’re either playing a ranked team outside of our conference or a ranked team in our conference, so there’s no weekend where they can relax. And that kind of makes it fun, our players know you have to really push hard throughout the week to get ready for that weekend.” continued on PAGE 20

SOS: Senior leads opioid OD response initiative Jonah Wendt’s policies will be presented to SGA senators on Oct. 9 DANIEL CONRAD

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Students for Opioid Solutions (SOS), a startup nonprofit co-founded by Trinity senior Jonah Wendt, aims to eliminate opioid overdoses on college campuses nationwide. As executive director of SOS, Wendt will encourage universities to enact proactive policies intended to reduce rates of student overdoses on opioid painkillers.

Wendt, best known for his leadership positions in the conservative student group Tigers for Liberty, co-founded the organization after meeting Gerald Fraas, a junior at the University of Alabama, through the College Republican National Committee.

“SOS started on Sept. 11, 2017, when one of my friends that I met while interning at Capitol Hill gave me a call and pitched me this idea for an organization dedicated to changing opioid policies on college campuses,” Wendt said. “The past year, once of his friends had actually died at the University of Alabama of an opioid overdose, so this was his way of trying to make a difference and save lives.”

Opioids, a class of poppy-derived synthetic drugs that includes heroin as well as more common medications like Vicodin and OxyContin, are prescribed as powerful painkillers. They are sometimes misused for the euphoric effects they stimulate; the National Institute on Drug Abuse warns that they are highly addictive because our brains build a tolerance to their effects, which makes overdosing all the more likely for those who use the medications recreationally.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 15,000 Americans died from prescription opioid overdoses alone in 2015. In an August phone interview with the Rivard Report, San Antonio mayor and Trinity alumnus Ron Nirenberg called opioids the city’s top municipal concern.

“We decided to start a grassroots student movement focused on changing opioid policies on college campuses, starting with passing SGA [Student Government Association] legislation to force administrations to change their policies,” Wendt said.

Larry Cox, community awareness resource officer for TUPD, told the Trinitonian that opioid misuse is not currently a problem at Trinity. Wendt explained that the policies SOS that recommends universities to adopt are primarily preventative, rather than reactive, in nature. continued on PAGE 6

JONAH WENDT speaks to NBC News 4 SA reporter ASHLEI KING in a segment that aired the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 4. photo provided by MANFRED WENDT

Having difficult conversations with Danny Anderson

McNair scholars thrive in and out of class

Cashmere Cat falls flat at Welcome Week Concert

The university president encourages students to face uncomfortable questions about racial injustice.

First generation students travel to the North East to promote research.

Austin Davidson diagnoses the sources of the rescheduled event’s shortcomings.

PAGE 8 OPINION

PAGE 11 PULSE

PAGE 16 A&E

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•

OCTOBER 06, 2017

• NEWS

Previously, on SGA: Funds and Fire Alarms CAMPUS CLIMATE CHECK money covers two days of workshops, travel, lodging and registration Senator Sam Afshari, junior, raised concerns that the Welcome fees. The total amount was approved.

Week concert this year may affect the funding decisions of future first-year senators next year, whose only experience will be of this At Sept. 29 meeting, the department of human communication and year’s disappointing performance. theatre presented a funding request for Theatre for Social Change. The request was denied, and the department was asked to return with more Senator Ty Tinker, sophomore, followed up on his concern last week information. The group did not re-present the request. about fire alarms going off in Prassel Hall. Tinker got into contact with Jim Baker, director of Facilities Services, who gave a detailed explanation. CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW The senate discussed changes to the SGA Constitution.

• Article 8 Section 2 subsection F, which publicizes the senators’ “The first several alarms were caused by a fluctuation in water pressure votes, was approved. supplied by the city,” Baker wrote in an email. Monday morning was • Article 8 Section 5 subsection C, which states that amendments a false trip in the fire pump motor control center mercury switch. The to the constitution must be approved by a two-thirds majority, switch was reset and operation verified. While it may be setting off the was approved. alarms under a no-fire condition the fire alarm panel is performing as it • Article 9 Section 3, which concerns senate vacancies, was approved. was designed.”

• Article 10, which describes the structure of student activity fee distribution, was approved.

FUNDING REQUESTS • The previous sections 3–5 of Article 10 were relocated to the The Trinity Society of Women Engineers requested $3,150 to attend SGA bylaws. the Society of Women Engineers National Conference in Austin. The Tune in each week for Kathleen Creedon’s SGA summaries . SGA meets at 6 p.m. on Mondays in the Waxahachie Room in Coates University Center.

Staff

CLASSIFIEDS

editor-in-chief: Daniel Conrad managing editor: Alexandra Uri director of digital presence: Grace Frye business manager: Shivali Kansagra ad director: Rebecca Derby news editor: Kathleen Creedon pulse editor: Madelyn Gaharan arts & entertainment editor: Nicholas Smetzer sports editor: Julia Weis opinion editor: Julia Poage photo editor: Amani Canada graphics editor: Tyler Herron circulation director: Nicholas Smetzer reporters: Kendra Derrig, Meredith Goshell, Elise Hester, Kaylie King, Cathy Terrace, Dominic Walsh, Hailey Wilson

contributors: Austin Davidson, Abigail Wharton columnists: Soleil Gaffner, Micaela Hoffman, Gabriel Levine, Manfred Wendt copy editors: Evan Chambless, Cristina Kodadek illustrators: Yessenia Lopez, Andrea Nebhut photographers: Chloe Sonnier, Allison Wolff, Stephen Sumrall-Orsak business staff: Sarah McIntyre, Tam Nguyen advertising staff: Jenna Flexner, Yusuf Khan, Benjamin Milliet, Jonah Nance, Regis Noubiab, Isla Stewart adviser: Katharine Martin

Corrections •

In last week’s issue, the photo on Page 13 of the Top Naach dance crew was misattributed. The photo was taken by Savannah Clarke.

• In the Sept. 15 issue, “Residential Life dispels rumors” was misattributed. The story was written by Cathy Terrace, news reporter.

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

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Parking Lot H

Oct. 1, 2017 3:02 a.m.

McLean Hall

Sept. 29, 2017 3:48 p.m.

Prassel Hall

Oct. 1, 2017 2:41 p.m.

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Compiled by KATHLEEN CREEDON

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3

BSU attends dean of students’ annual dinner David Tuttle continues dialogue with members KAYLIE KING

NEWS REPORTER David Tuttle, dean of students, held a dinner for Trinity’s Black Student Union (BSU) at his house on Sept. 26.

Tuttle has been holding annual dinners for BSU for the past few years. Tuttle elaborated on the importance of holding administrative dinners such as these.

“It’s a good population to touch base with as an administrator and as the dean of students, to find out about their experience at Trinity,” Tuttle said. “A lot of times you’ll see a pattern on a campus where an incident happens, and then there’s this reaction, and then there’s a program. Having communication channels when there is not a prominent incident is important. Sometimes it’s humbling, and sometimes it’s not stuff I necessarily want to hear, but that’s why you do it. These are very real thoughts, real feelings and real issues that the students are facing.”

Tuttle feels that progress has been made after past dinners with BSU and other student groups.

“Last year with TULA [Trinity University Latino Association], they raised the issue that many of them had parents who didn’t speak English, so coming to orientation didn’t feel welcoming to them,” Tuttle said. “So that spawned the idea that we should do a special luncheon during orientation for our Latino students and their families and include Spanish-speaking faculty and staff, including our own president. So once you start down that road, we decided we should do the same thing for our African-American students and their families.”

Stacy Davidson, faculty advisor for BSU, explained the importance of this dinner from her perspective.

“I believe it is important for these dinners to take place so administrators can hear firsthand about the experiences of AfricanAmerican students on Trinity’s

campus,” Davidson wrote in an email interview. “They were able to communicate what that experience is like for them, help him to understand what is unique about that experience. I enjoyed listening to the students share their experiences and express themselves with someone who can have a positive impact on their experiences as students.”

Khaniya Russell, sophomore history major, attended Tuttle’s BSU dinner for the first time this year.

“At dinner we discussed how members of BSU felt as AfricanAmerican students on Trinity’s campus,” Russell wrote in an email interview. “The discussion encompassed professor-student relationships, the relationship we hope to develop with dean Tuttle, and a more widespread form of outreach on our organization’s part. In the past, we have felt a disproportionate lack of support from administration when things that affect our community occur.

Dean Tuttle graciously listened to our grievances and provided us with realistic, tangible goals of his to fill that void and provide us with a more consistent source of support.”

Russell expressed her hope and belief that Tuttle was receptive to hearing about times administration has failed in the past.

“I learned that dean Tuttle is willing to be a valuable ally to our organization now that we have discussed ways in which he can serve as a partner to us in our endeavors both as a cultural organization and as students of color attending a PWI [predominantly white institution],” Russell wrote.

“After the dinner, I truly believe we, on both sides, seek to develop and strengthen the relationship between administration and students of color on campus.”

Tuttle discussed the possibility of starting some kind of dialogue about racial and social justice issues.

“We will probably try to do [this] as time permits, probably as a series and probably starting sometime this fall,” Tuttle said.

“I think that one of the things that our students crave is not just having speakers come in

DAVID TUTTLE, dean of students, welcomed Trinity’s Black Student Union to his house for dinner. The annual event allows the dean to get closer to BSU members and to discuss the campus climate with them. photos by CHLOE SONNIER

and telling them what to think, and not just having facultyfacilitated discussions. They want student-to-student conversations.”

Tuttle also mentioned other ideas that would allow future progress to be made on campus.

“Not just myself, but others have had interest in creating a multicultural lounge on campus,

so we’re looking at that and hoping that next year we’ll have a space in the Coates center that is really a safe haven for people to go into and will hopefully be adjacent to wherever our new director of diversity and inclusion is,” Tuttle said. “We have to open our eyes to the experience of our students and their families, and if

we express diversity as a value we have to do tangible things to show that we’re going to help the best that we can to make that happen.”

More information about Trinity University Black Student Union can be found on the group’s Facebook page. BSU can be reached at trinitybsu1@gmail.com.

“Organizing a TEDx event on this campus would allow this community to connect with the Global TED community of ideas and engage in a mutually beneficial back and forth of ideas. The ideas in TED talks have really changed my life and continue to do so. I want to see their transformative power with my community, and see it change for the better,” Walawalkar wrote in an email interview.

Walawalkar wrote of his plan for the for TEDxTrinityUniversity.

He wants to focus on connecting Trinity to a global community through the speakers brought to campus through TEDx. continued on PAGE 5

Students who attended the initiative’s first meeting learned about the program and how it would affect Trinity’s campus. photo by CHLOE SONNIER

Students hope to bring TEDx to campus New organization plans appearance of globally recognized speaking event

KENDRA DERRIG

NEWS REPORTER Sophomore Rohan Walawalker convened the TEDxTrinityUniversity Student Programming Committee’s first-ever meeting on Sept. 25.

He hopes to coordinate a TEDx conference at Trinity University.

TED is a international media organization known chiefly for ‘TED

Talks,’ lectures by acclaimed speakers published online for free distribution. The main TED conference is held annually in Vancouver, British Columbia, but ‘TEDx’ events can be organized by anyone as long as they agree to follow certain principles, including the absence of a religious, political or commercial agenda. Attendance at TEDxTrinityUniversity events will also be limited to 100 people, per TED guidelines.

Walawalkar described his plan for TEDxTrinityUniversity to the Trinitonian. He wants to focus on connecting Trinity to a global community by bringing speakers to campus via TEDx.

4

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NEWS • OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

5

The Body Project promotes healthy self-image

continued from FRONT

However, as of 2016, Wellness Services is running the Body Project at Trinity in an attempt to make the initiative accessible to more students.

“When the Body Project transferred from the psychology department to the wellness office, we tried to make it more open,” said Katherine Hewitt, coordinator of Wellness Services. “We break it into two main groups: Our peer leader group is typically out upper-class students — sophomore and above — and our participant group is mostly first-years, with a couple of exceptions to those main groups. For peer leaders, most are done through the Greek system, but we don’t exclude anyone for not being Greek.”

However, while the project is open to all students, most recruits are involved in Greek life.

“I think it started out of the support from sororities on campus, and the sororities identified a need, and we were able to partner with Dr. Becker in psychology and talk about this vehicle for conversation and changes in a community that had 25 percent of women on campus involved,” said Jeremy Allen, assistant director for fraternity and sorority life. “Greek life was the initial audience because it was a convenient way to involve students both from a leadership perspective and a participant perspective. It was a pipeline that you knew you’d have. Every year, there’s 200 new sorority girls, and the project was infused as a part of orientation.”

Sorority members have traditionally been the main focus on this project.

However, two years ago, fraternity members were also included.

“The fraternities were really excited and on board to be a part of the Body Project. ...

I think it gave an interesting dynamic to the project to say that these aren’t just issues for women but are also issues for men,” Allen said.

“I think it was a really cool pilot program, and in the future it might be interesting to try and look at how we might involve men, whether it be men-only groups, or mixedgender groups. It’s valuable to have men involved, but I just think that has to be directed and strategic.”

Fraternity involvement only lasted a year, but it was still a part of the psychology research that Becker had been conducting, which was aimed at looking at the viability and effectiveness of expanding the program. Data received from members who participated indicated the mixed-gender groups did not yield the same results as the female-only groups.

“I think it gave an interesting dynamic to the project to say that these aren’t just issues for women but are also issues for men.”

JEREMY ALLEN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE

“Because it’s an evidence-based program, lots of research has gone into implementing the program and figuring out who has better

KATHERINE HEWITT, coordinator of wellness services, leads a training session for the Body Project. photo by CHLOE SONNIER

pre- and post-improvements in terms of body satisfaction and confidence,” Hewitt said. “It turns out that females have a higher need in this area than their male counterparts do, as there has been mixed-gender groups as well, but female-only groups are our best bet and will share more information.”

The Body Project will be on campus this spring, as an all-female group. Hewitt has also established a wellness practicum class, which consists of six students who will end up running the practicum.

This group met for a public training session on Friday, Sept. 29. Students involved look forward to the opportunity to lead the program.

“Training was good, the only people that were there were people in the wellness practicum class, but it was nice to have a team who all had the same common goals of being

at this event,” wrote Oumoul Setamou, junior anthropology major, in an email interview.

“I’ve always been really interested and socially conscious of my own body and gender and race, and I think this project is so so important in terms of bringing awareness to so many different facets of body issues and gender dynamics that college women face. It’s a welcoming space to come and chat or just listen about commonalities and differences we have as college women and I’m happy to be a part of it. Our coordinator, Katherine, has worked so hard to put this together, and I hope more women decide to participate in this program.”

Training sessions will continue in the fall, and members encourage women across campus to get involved. For any questions about the Body Project, email Hewitt at khewitt@trinity.edu.

New student organization plans TEDx event continued from PAGE 3

“I aim to hold a TEDx event at least every year at the beginning of the school year, and some smaller-scale events through the rest of the year. Just how many events we can hold will depend on university resources and student availability. Though we’re dreaming big right now, event frequency will be based on the availability of the students helping organize these events,” Walawalkar wrote.

Thus far, the project has been spearheaded entirely by students, but Walawalkar wants to involve the entire campus.

“I really want this organization to be a campus-wide effort, and I think it already is.

We are currently in the process of training officers and setting up the foundation of the organization, but already, everyone is really excited for the organization’s potential. We hope that this organization can enhance the Trinity University experience and have a true positive impact on our student body,” Walawalkar wrote.

Walawalkar’s team shares his excitement for the project. First-year Andrea Cruz is one of the students planning on taking a role in the committee.

“I want to be involved with TEDxTrinityUniversity because I’m interested in the knowledge that speakers for TEDx events have to offer,” Cruz wrote in an email interview. “TEDx events have themes to abide by which doesn’t allow for a speaker to cater to a specific topic or subject.

Because of this, the holistic messages that are taught through talks, I think, have always been of massive interest because of their applicability to life, school and otherwise.

To be a part of TEDxTrinityUniversity would not only be a huge opportunity but a huge honor as well.”

Cruz says that students should be excited about TED on campus.

“Students should be excited to have geniuses on campus giving talks that are more than likely to apply to their own life.

Whether it be for pure entertainment or to learn something new, TEDx events and TED talks in general have a lot to offer as long as students are willing to listen,” Cruz wrote.

First-year Yian Xu is also involved, hoping to take a role in the organization as a speaker coordinator.

“As a college student, we focus a lot on classes and spend bunch of time on campus, which gives us very few opportunities to meet with people from the real world and learn from them,” Xu wrote in an email interview. “However, as TEDxTrinity is established, we want to bring in speakers from all kinds of fields — not just about academy but also about real life. Therefore, TEDxTrinity will give everyone a great chance to know about people, learn from their talks and probably communicate with them in person.”

Walawalkar wants to encourage students to be involved in TEDxTrinityUniversity through joining the programming committee or through attending or volunteering at their events.

“I am ecstatic that TEDxTrinityUniversity has received the support that it has in its current stage of development. The response so far has been very positive. Students, faculty and staff that I have spoken to seem excited at the opportunity of connecting with the global community through a TEDx event,” Walawalkar wrote. “We will be announcing the date for our first event very soon.”

For any questions about the initiative, email Walawalkar at rwalawal@trinity.edu.

ROHAN WALAWALKAR has led the initiative to bring TEDx to Trinity and spoke at the first meeting on Sept. 25. photo by CHLOE SONNIER

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NEWS

Senior co-founds SOS Reserved parking spots

continued from FRONT

In a press release sent to the Trinitonian, SOS detailed five ways that student government representatives can respond to the opioid drug crisis. The organization urges school administrators to train residential life and campus police officers in the recognition of opioid overdosage and in the administration of Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, an emergency treatment for reversing the effects of opioid overdoses.

“Narcan is the antidote to opioid overdose, and reverses the effects,” Wendt said. “And if you are not experiencing an opioid overdose, there is no effect.”

The group also asks that schools report the number of opioid overdoses and deaths in annual drug and alcohol reports, guarantee amnesty for students who report overdoses and institute ‘good Samaritan’ policies that protect students who attempt to aid someone suffering from an opioid overdose.

As of Oct. 4, SOS has established contact points in the student representative bodies of 23 campuses in 15 states. Among those contacts is his own twin brother, Manfred Wendt, a senator in Trinity’s own Student Government Association (SGA).

Among those contacts is his own twin brother, Manfred Wendt, a senator in

Students for Opioid Solutions, a national nonprofit co-founded by Trinity senior JONAH WENDT, aims to eliminate opioid overdoses on college campuses. graphic provided by MANFRED WENDT

SGA. Manfred has submitted a resolution detailing these policy recommendations to the SGA senate and intends to discuss them at Monday’s meeting.

SOS has registered as a non-profit corporation in Alabama and is filing to become an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In the meantime, Wendt has enlisted junior and economics major Luke Ayers, president of Tigers for Liberty and Tigers for Life and vice-president of the Catholic Student Group, as the legislative director for SOS. “Once we establish those contacts with student government representatives, once the resolution is actually passed, [I make] sure we’re following up to make sure the policies are actually changed by the school, and that we don’t have a statement of support of these policies and then nothing happens,” Ayers said.

In Ayers’ view, the opioid crisis needs to be addressed in both societal attitudes toward addiction and drug use, as well as in administrative policies.

“I think changing the discussion and changing the cultural attitude towards that approach, for other substances and not just alcohol, is really important,” Ayers said. “At the very least, we need to make sure that people aren’t losing their lives to these addictions. If they want help, they’re able to seek it.”

Ayers recognizes that opioid misuse hasn’t presented itself as a problem at Trinity, but still hopes to institute proactive policies to curb any chance of the crisis affecting campus.

“As far as I know there hasn’t been any deaths on Trinity’s campus on opioid overdoses,” Ayers said. “But just because there hasn’t been any now … doesn’t mean it’s not a big issue in other places. I think that the more we can be aware that this is happening, and aware of solutions to it, the better off we’ll all be.”

A growing advocacy group, SOS is seeking interns to aid its efforts in a variety of ways. For more information, visit opioidsolutions.org or email Jonah Wendt at cwendt@trinity.edu.

Students can also listen to Manfred Wendt present SOS policies to the student senate during the public SGA meeting on Monday, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. in the Waxahachie Room of Coates University Center.

cause student frustration TUPD enforces strict LEED requirements with tickets, fines KENDRA DERRIG

NEWS REPORTER The parking spots reserved for lowemitting and fuel-efficient vehicles in front of Murchison Hall have recently become a source of frustration for some Trinity students. Though the spots have been reserved since 2010, the rules concerning the spots are confusing to students living in the nearby dorms.

To park in the reserved spots, students must acquire a sticker for their car, attainable when they fill out the parking pass forms at the beginning of the semester. The sticker is free of charge, and available for vehicles that are qualified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, an international certification system that incentivizes green behaviors. Parking in the reserved spaces without the sticker will result in a ticket.

Sharon Curry, the university sustainability coordinator, elaborated on the history of the program at Trinity.

“The first spaces were added as part of the LEED certification of Miller Residence Hall, awarded in August 2010,” Curry said. “Subsequent spaces were added in conjunction with the LEED certifications of Calvert Residence Hall and Witt-Winn Residence Hall. The intent of the LEED credit we were seeking by adding the spaces is to reduce pollution and land development impacts from automobile use.”

Curry also spoke about the vehicles that qualify.

“Only vehicles on the list of LEEDqualified cars are given the stickers because they have met the criteria for the preferred parking. It is possible for a vehicle to be fuelefficient, but not meet the criteria specified

To meet LEED requirements, residence halls must provide preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles. photo by CHLOE SONNIER

by LEED,” Curry said.

In order for Trinity residence halls to be considered LEED-certified, preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles must be provided for three percent of residents. The number of spots is a source of contention among Trinity students.

“There’s too many,” said Amanda Roche, a sophomore resident of Murchison Hall who drives a car that does not qualify for a sticker.

“There’s already not a lot of parking, so it just limits the parking for everyone.”

Monica Lampton, sophomore and student assistant for Campus Planning and Sustainability, supports the program.

“I think the reserved parking spaces are a good idea because it is an incentive to live in a more sustainable way,” Lampton said.

“Hopefully more students will want to live more sustainably and help the campus and the environment.”

When asked about the future of the program, Curry said her office is open to student input.

“There are also other strategies we might choose to pursue in addition to or in lieu of providing preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles. If students are interested in seeing additional preferred parking spaces, please let us know,” Curry said.

For any questions, students can reach Curry at scurry1@trinity.edu.

NEWS • OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

7

Geosciences department plans semester of trips Faculty members highlight value of experiential learning in the field

CATHY TERRACE

NEWS REPORTER This semester, the geosciences department will offer a variety of experiential learning opportunities for students interested in the field.

“We try to have field trips in virtually every class we teach. It’s not 100 percent, but it’s close, and typically, more advanced courses have longer and more advanced field trips in them, so most of our introductory courses have oneday trips,” said Glenn Kroeger, associate professor of geosciences.

“For example, we teach a course called Earth’s Environmental Systems, and that course does a one-day field trip that’s really focused on understanding the geography, hydrology and geology of the Edwards Aquifer system.”

While most introductory classes are not overnight, one course — Oceanography — usually has had an overnight trip. However, this semester the trip will most likely be a day-trip due to damage sustained in the area after Hurricane Harvey hit.

Upper-division classes, however, tend to either have longer day trips, or feature overnight classes.

“In my paleontology course in a couple weeks, we’ll do an overnight field trip up to the Hill Country area and Brownwood, and so we’ll look at the different fossil assemblages in the rocks and study them for their biologic composition and what kind of ecosystems they represent,” said Daniel Lehrmann, professor of geosciences.

While most courses are open to all students, the department hosts a yearly week-long trip every semester, usually only open to sophomore and junior students; no prerequisites are required.

“The major’s field trip is a oneweek long trip, and it happens after

A group of students in the geosciences department learn about water wells and how to monitor and maintain them at a well near Cave Without a Name. photo provided by ASMARA LEHRMANN

spring semester is over, usually in mid- to late May, and it goes to different places all over the country,” Lehrmann said. “This year it’s going to go to the Grand Canyon area, and in previous years, we’ve had it in West Texas, in the Guadalupe areas and also Big Bend area. We’ve also had it up in Wisconsin and Minnesota.”

This trip focuses more on learning field techniques, such as mapping and identifying the origins of rocks, while others are more based on rock collection.

For students who want to learn additional skills, workshops outside of Trinity also provide great opportunities.

“The trip from earlier this semester was the hydro-geo workshop, and so that’s not actually a trip that our department sponsored, instead it was the Edwards Aquifer Authority,” Lehrmann said. “We had 10 students who went there and did overnight camping. That’s

a program that has a bunch of different workshops that involve hands-on work with different environmental techniques, like drilling wells and monitoring wells and using dye tracers to understand where water flows and infrared photography to find springs.”

While most of the field trips in the department occur either in Texas or the surrounding states, the geosciences department also offers study abroad options.

“The study abroad trips include the Iceland trip, which is coming up this spring and is a course that meets during the spring, and then at the beginning of the summer session,” Lehrmann said. “There’s also my study abroad course to South China, called Field Geology in China, and that went last summer for three weeks.”

With so many options available for the department, many professors stress their

importance, both to the faculty and the students who are able to participate.

“We study the earth, and it’s out there; you can’t bring this into the lab,” Kroeger said. “I sometimes tell students studying rocks in a lab is similar to studying animals in a zoo — you can learn some things, but if you really want to understand them, then you have to go experience them where they live, because oftentimes it’s the geometry, and how the rocks come in contact with each other, that tell a part of that story — you can’t see that in a room or in a building.”

Beyond educational benefits, the field trips also foster stronger relationships for their participants.

“The students and the department are really well integrated,” Lehrmann said.

“Especially for the major’s trip, it really gives the students a chance to interact and develop close

relationships with their professors, which is really important.”

Students who have gone on these trips value both the experiences and memories trips enable them to have. Elliot Blake, junior geosciences major, recently traveled on the Field Geology in China trip, and agrees that these field trips are worth the travel.

“There’s just so many field trips because the geosciences department is so small; we get so many opportunities to go out into the field and really observe the natural phenomenon. This summer we went out into the field in China, and we worked really closely with the students from a university over there,” Blake said.

“My favorite part of these field trips is how close how all the students in the class can get to each other.”

More information about the geosciences department can be found at gotu.us/9eysn.

Opinion

LET’S HEAR YOUR VOICE.

...

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

FROM TH E EDITOR’S DESK

TU conservatives are beating our liberals at politics Political and moral opinions should be taken seriously. They’re opinions about the sorts of things that demand passionate belief and deserve fervent defense. If you’re not committed to your political beliefs, why hold them? And if you’re not going to act on them, are you really committed?

Ever get a ‘common sense’ intuition that most here lean liberal? Yeah, us too. And the conservative student group Tigers for Liberty (TFL) gets away with painting the student body as a horde of progressives. Are they right?

Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell. The predominance of progressivism seems to be a sleepy one, one without much passion or fervor, and distributed among many smaller initiatives rather than headed by a unified front.

Student activism has been historically marked by agitation and rabble-rousing.

On Feb. 13, 2003, Trinity students, faculty and staff joined roughly 1,500 San Antonians in a march against thenPresident George W. Bush’s intentions to invade Iraq. Numerous demonstrations followed, including picketing on the Coates Esplanade.

In November of 2011, the Trinity Progressives — which had just rebranded from their former title of College Democrats — sat in an Occupy Trinity tent at that year’s Student Activism Fair. (As far as we can tell, that was Trinity’s only such fair to date.) This, just after they held a rally to protest former President Barack Obama’s unwillingness to implement EPA recommendations against smog emissions.

Spirits seem to have simmered down as of late. Monthly meetings and Coates tabling events make up the majority of what we’re seeing from left-leaning students.

Meanwhile, many public political acts have been performed either by campus conservatives or in service of their causes.

TFL has held a monopoly on what ought to be bipartisan topics: TFL planted 2,977 small U.S. flags in the lawn near Miller Fountain in honor of the victims of 9/11 this year. They occasionally roll an oversized ‘free speech’ beach ball around campus, inviting students to write anything on it they’d like.

Further, their leadership has successfully raised thousands of dollars in order to bring firebrand knuckleheads like Milo Yiannopoulos and Dinesh D’Souza to

Greatness through productivity

campus over the years. We’re not saying these two represent an advancement of the conservative cause, but at least it’s something.

The campus Republicans have it figured out, and they’re good at what they do. They work with outside organizations and Texas conservative leaders, attend conventions in D.C. to learn how to advance conservative goals on campus and reach out to media outlets outside of San Antonio.

TFL is on a PR roll. Heck, one of them is on Trinitonian payroll. Yet few bother to respond to Manfred Wendt’s outwardly conservative opinion columns.

If you disagree with his outlook and can’t be bothered to overcome it with better arguments, that should worry you. It’s an application of an ageless adage: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. But you probably disagree. So see if you can beat ’em.

Where’s the left’s rejoinder? Who’s the bleeding-heart liberal chomping at the bit to apply for our opinion columnist vacancy?

And why aren’t students demonstrating on campus, perhaps by boycotting Aramark for allegedly violating human rights at the privatized prisons it serves?

We’re putting the point too strongly, and on purpose. It’s not like Trinity Progressives and the oodles of other student organizations with generic-but-liberal-ish intentions like sustainability and environmentalism don’t do anything at all.

Case in point: People get pretty fired up about immigration politics here, and it’s good to see a vibrant dialogue on the issue. But for every student-organized SB4 Teach-In, there’s a Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Lecture, a Reading TUgether selection and a Maverick Lecture.

Our guess is that liberal-leaning students are growing complacent because the university itself will pay for a regular schedule of sedatives in the form of lecturers and events that satisfy most progressives’ mild itch for political involvement.

Is simply knowing that the university is going to play the activism role enough?

What about the value of being the one who mobilizes peers and organizes rallies yourself?

What we’re saying is, your opposition keeps on winning. So prove that your opinions aren’t a matter of mere fashion, show them you’re not willfully ignorant, and awaken from that dogmatic liberal slumber.

We need to have a difficult conversation DANNY J. ANDERSON GUEST COLUMNIST

illustration by YESSENIA LOPEZ

DAVID RANDO FACULTY COLUMNIST

I suspect that each of us carries some best thing around inside, some thing that we want to develop not for glory or riches but because it would mean ripening to fruit the finest thing that we feel capable of growing. If we could only bring it to the surface, we sense that this thing would fulfill us in ways that other things cannot. Last semester I diagnosed why it is difficult to accomplish the things we really burn to do when we are young, in part because, bursting with health and arrogance, we don’t admit to ourselves how short our lives are. I quoted a Buddhist proverb that says we are like fish swimming in ever less water. It’s almost impossible to see the water level dropping from day to day, but our little fishbowls will run dry. I

also quoted Nietzsche, who compared the dying philosopher or artist who had truly put the best of himself into his work to the owner of a safe that is being robbed: he smiles because he knows that his treasures have already been moved to safety. We race to get the best part of ourselves out into the world before the water runs dry, before time, the invincible cat burglar, cracks us like a safe.

So last semester I posed the problem, and here I hope to suggest a practical solution. And it is just this: when you identify that best potentiality within yourself, whether it is directed toward art, science, music, business or whatever else, and no matter what else any given day demands, do something (anything) each day — even for 10 or 20 minutes to begin with — to help develop it.

Do this because your dreams are perfectly happy to wait ahead for you, off in the distance, forever.

They are too innocent to know how finite your time is. They will never budge an inch closer to you on their own. continued on PAGE 9

“People who bring light into the world wrench it out of darkness and contend openly with darkness all of their days.” I shared this quotation with faculty and staff during opening Faculty Assembly only days before fall classes began. It comes from a book by Krista Tippett, American journalist and host for the “Speaking of Faith” and “On Being” podcasts.

Just a few weeks earlier, the violent, racially motivated protests on the campus of University of Virginia in Charlottesville had occurred.

Our students would soon return to Trinity with concerns about the issues of race in our country and whether these types of protests will visit our campus. I selected Tippett’s words to provide some inspiration as we prepared to welcome students to campus for the start of the new academic year.

While America is split among polarized opinions about many topics, Trinity remains united in the commitment to promote genuine dialogue and critical thinking. We accomplish this by facilitating challenging conversations within our community. Through conversation we shine a light on the topics that we must examine to live up to our values. Through inclusive conversation we can combat polarization.

Civil conversations start with active listening.

I am proud to hear faculty and staff talk with each other about the social issues that affect our country, even if the topics feel awkward. Some suggest ways we can raise issues with students that put race front and center in constructive dialogue.

Deneese Jones, vice president of academic affairs, has organized workshops for department chairs to

understand how implicit bias can influence hiring.

A faculty group is developing a new generation of ‘Difficult Dialogues’ for our campus. Planned for spring 2018, this program includes curricular initiatives and workshops designed to create a culture of inclusion and respect for diverse, even conflicting points of view. These examples, and many others, are important, yet they are not enough. Later this week I will meet with students exploring ways to strengthen our conversations and make Trinity more inclusive. These conversations all seek to make a difference on our campus and in our world. I welcome them. We need more of them.

At times it is hard to for me to believe that in 2017, symbols of racism and intimidation are even relevant today. Sadly, they remain powerful.

I strive to read books that stretch my perspective.

I respectfully raise uncomfortable questions with friends from all racial and ethnic groups, striving to build a personal map for my understanding. I seek ways to actively welcome and include others.

Last week I heard a father talk about his pain when his son came home from kindergarten with questions about a racial slur that the son had encountered. In describing the moment, the father said, “Racial and ethnic slurs are lethal.

They kill our ability to empathize. They kill our ability to see a whole person and respect them in their full humanity.” I seek to understand and carry with me the pain that father shared as his words echo in my head.

Challenge and discomfort are essential in an academic institution. It is why we exist. It is what we do best. Challenge and discomfort are essential for all of us on our journeys to become fully human, on our journeys to develop true respect for all our fellow human beings. We all share the responsibility to “wrench light out of the darkness.”

Danny J. Anderson is the university president.

OPINION• OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

9

Productivity My Trinity family tree continued from PAGE 7

Time is a villain when you are unproductive. It slurps a little water from your fishbowl and leaves nothing in return. But when you make and meet small, concrete goals every day you make an ally rather than an enemy of time. You are harnessing a tiny bit of the earth’s massive power of periodicity and you experience the accretive effect of adding piece to piece over time. And after a while it is not just the charms of addition that you experience, but also, strangely, the power of compounding. That is, your work does not just add up, but it also grows richer over time, very slowly at first, but more exponentially as weeks and months stretch into years and decades.

This is because you are gaining the mastery of your subject that comes from years of consistent practice. If you have a long time horizon, and you do, then you can make a lot out of a little.

But perhaps we avoid working toward our passions because the stakes seem too high. We would rather put off that special thing than to begin working on it and discover that we have no talent for it. How disappointing that would be! But I think that working a little bit every day lowers the stakes dramatically. You don’t have to achieve perfection; you only need to demand from yourself a little bit of work. Nobody ever has to see all of the crappy stuff you come up with at first. You’re also allowed to have a lot of crappy days. At the end of the year you can write them off like a tax deduction; by then you will also have had a lot of good days, too, and you’ll have gotten better at what, at first, you had dreaded being bad at it.

One night in when I was in grad school there were several students around somebody’s table. A clock ticked in the hallway of a duplex on Buffalo Street in Ithaca, New York. I forget what else was said but I’m sure that we were doing the thing that graduate students

Tune into our social media, or come to Wake Up & Smell The Copy, every Friday from 10—12:30 in Coates, to learn how to win Mala Luna tickets!

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raise to a fine art: complaining.

Politics, dissertation directors, other graduate students, even the pure, driven snow: we must have made it through all the typical topics of grievance before one of them said, “I know what makes me happy. It’s getting my work done.”

It was so succinct. And it turns out that a dissertation is a good analogy for the kind of thing I’m talking about. You cannot write it all at once in a fit of inspiration.

Nobody else really cares whether you finish it or not, but it matters tremendously to you. Nobody is there to set deadlines for yourself, so you must do it.

Happily, it’s enough to start by making small steps. In our postromantic age, we are learning to calculate the formula for achievement not in the number of fading coals blown red by the winds of inspiration (Shelley), nor by the rate at which powerful feeling spontaneously overflows us (Wordsworth), but rather in quantifiable hours, days and years of passionate practice. Malcolm Gladwell estimates that whether you are Jordan, Jobs, John Lennon or just the average Joe, it takes about 10 years of daily craft to have an outside chance of becoming great at anything.

I understand this to mean that worthy accomplishments are made not in one fell swoop, but rather through meeting modest goals with brazen regularity.

Try this: tomorrow, get up early and do something little that works toward your big dream.

Start a notebook or a journal. Set a few realizable goals. Be kind to yourself. If you meet one of these goals before breakfast, then the rest of the day, whatever it brings, might feel like a bonus rather than a reproach for what you are failing to do. You are probably tired of hearing that little voice of reproach by now, anyway. I doubt you’ll miss it.

David Rando is an associate professor in the English department.

illustration by YESSENIA LOPEZ

MICAELA HOFFMAN OPINION COLUMNIST

It’s family weekend, which means a lot of parents are on campus — upperclassmen flee while first-years welcome Mom and Dad into the dorms hesitantly, shoving piles of dirty clothes into the corners of their closets.

Mabee overflows with families clad in maroon and white. It can be weird to see parents after being surrounded by teen and twenty-something students for so long.

I know many students look forward to leaving home for the first time, but I was different. It was a challenge for me to leave the comfort of my home, going to a place I wasn’t sure about, surrounded by other young people.

The thought freaked me out.

For so long in high school I was not ‘cool,’ and didn’t have a group of really close friends. I was a bit of a roamer, hopping from friend group to friend group without really sticking anywhere — but for me, college is different in that regard. Now, my friend groups

represent everyone I know, everyone I see daily, and my ‘new’ family.

But I didn’t initially know if I would ever really find family outside of my home. My mom was definitely my best friend — no shame in saying she still is. Coming home from class every day without having her advice, guidance and delicious food — was obviously terrifying.

All that dissolved after the first few weeks. It took me some time to appreciate the joy of complete autonomy, but there is something exhilarating about doing what you want. Finally, you get to make all of those stupid decisions your parents told you not to make: sneaking out late at night to be with friends, impulsively spending money on going out and partying (a little). It didn’t take me very long to realize how grateful I was for certain rules, namely in regards to sleep. I realized how lucky I was to have parents whose values taught me how to live a good life. Even though I have changed in other ways during college, the fundamental daughter I was before starting at Trinity hasn’t changed.

Our resident mentors are a huge part of creating hall cohesiveness — they take students on trips around San Antonio and lead group activities

during the first year at Trinity. It was like the most fun summer camp I had never been to, full of interesting new things to do, classes to take and people to meet. My first year hall was always together. We would meet in Mabee all the time to eat together, play soccer late at night and play ping pong in the lounge. It was a unique group, and now that I live off-campus, I miss the community that develops in the residence halls at Trinity. I wish it was still as easy as walking a few feet and knocking on a door to see my friends.

I hope by now the first-years are settling into the pace and life at Trinity, and their phone calls home are short and full of “Mom, I love college!” If communication between you and your child changes, know that it’s probably because they are going to hike on the weekends with OREC, checking on a beehive with the Trinity Bee Alliance, learning to cook with the Italian Club, or partying — responsibly, of course — on the weekend. And hey, who knows, they might even be studying. Scratch that, they are definitely studying. This is Trinity, after all!

Micaela Hoffman is a senior business analytics and technology and urban studies double major.

10

WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • OCTOBER 06, 2017 •

OPINION

Absorbing experience, modern distraction GABRIEL LEVINE OPINION COLUMNIST

Illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT

THE FALL

MEMBERSHIP

In his book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” acclaimed Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari asserts that the agricultural revolution didn’t so much give humans mastery of plants as much as those plants gained mastery over humans. The process of cultivating corn, for example, required continual effort from human workers, while all the corn had to do was grow.

In a certain sense, the current technological revolution has created a similar problem. Consider our omnipresent smartphones. As amazing as they are, they require constant attention to their battery life. That little percentage is the first thing I check before leaving the house in the morning.

Throughout the day, it occupies space in my mind.

Alongside battery life, there are app notifications, emails and other tempting microdiversions. The mind habituates itself to these demands and forgets how to focus for long periods. This mental habit is pernicious because it eliminates the ability to get lost in the immediacy of experience.

Immediacy of experience is that strange phenomenon of being so thoroughly absorbed in the moment that all the other stray thoughts and murmurings of the mind are quieted. Like a good night’s sleep, this sensation is something that is easily forgotten until it is experienced again.

I rediscovered this sensation near the end of last semester when I visited the McNay Art Museum and observed one of Monet’s water lily paintings.

In the painting, the lilies and leaves floating on the water were clearly distinct objects, but at the same time, each aspect of the composition

OCTOBER 6TH JO IN.KRTU.O RG

ST U D E N T MEMBER LE V E L

$25

Gabriel Levine is a senior chemistry major.

Political families MANFRED WENDT OPINION COLUMNIST

DRIVE S TA R T S

seemed to oscillate from individual component to indiscernible whole. I spent 15 minutes lost in the act of observation, trying to get a sense of the work, and when the friend I accompanying got up to move on, I followed her, feeling as if I’d emerged from a dream or reverie.

That’s the power of getting lost in the immediate experience. There are many other areas where that feeling manifests. In the midst of an expertly filmed movie, 100 pages into a book that you haven’t put down since the first page, gazing at a waterfall, engaging in an hourslong conversation with a friend or in the midst of complex abstract math problem. After each of these, your memories are crisp and clear because the brain wasn’t focused on anything else in the process of forming them.

I think that this sense of getting lost in experience is necessary for effective self-reflection.

The self isn’t formed through 10-minute bursts of hundreds of tweets or through careful monitoring of a battery percentage. The self is formed by the deep experiences that endure in memory, though we were lost in the moment of their formation.

Without these new, deep experiences each period of self-reflection has only yesterday’s selfreflection to build upon alongside a few more transient, distracted memories. This feels like a reflection caught between two mirrors, where the initial substance is unchangingly reflected back and forth forever to dark oblivion.

As psychoanalyst Carl Jung said, “The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” This light comes from the memories we form after losing ourselves in experience, not from the staccato, sporadic interjections of technological demands for attention.

Many families have the same worries when they go to visit their first-year student — that their child has been brainwashed by the progressive professors, students and environment. They fear that their child has rejected the path on which they have been raised on and instead have turned from God and are debating on whether to be a Trotskyist or a Stalinist, or that their student is on the local Anti-Fascist chapter hit list.

While this is a valid fear to have at some colleges, for the most part this stereotype comes from the Californian public university system. Trinity works a little differently than those schools.

Trinity is located in a very liberal environment — probably one of the most liberal in the state.

Hillary Clinton won our precinct with 78 percent of the vote. However, it is still a very tolerant campus for the most part. In the midst of the left’s current doctrinal split over free speech and how free it should be, most of our professors are open to hearing different viewpoints, contrasting with the surreal quiet of the echo chamber of other liberal campuses. Trinity professors pride themselves ensuring that both sides of the story are heard, allowing debate on contentious issues.

This cuts both ways: Liberal students are not required to take up conservative dogma and conservatives are not required to adopt liberal dogma. You are free to be yourself and choose what to believe — the way college should ideally be.

Trinity left-wingers, for the most part, are still more left of center than far left. Most people on this campus are open-minded when it comes to

many different topics — of course, there is still the occasional person who has difficulty listening to ideas they don’t agree with.

Personally, as the standard-bearer of conservative values on this campus, I have had a mixed bag when it comes to being tolerated on campus. However, what I have experienced is nothing compared to the doxxing, threats and physical violence that conservatives on other college campuses have experienced and endured due to their ideas and beliefs. My professors, at least, have tolerated me and oftentimes embraced having more than one kind of ideas in the classroom.

Occasionally there have been messages left on my brother’s door that could be considered unsettling. A sticky note with the phrase “Down with the capitalist dogs” was left on his door in our first year by a wannabe Marxist. Other times, people decided to return fliers that were passed out informing people of Dinesh D’Souza’s upcoming appearance on campus. The Trinity administration replied admirably to the D’Souza situation. Most colleges would have responded by demanding to know why the students didn’t return all of the fliers instead of just some of them. Instead, the administration checked in on us and made sure we were doing all right.

Yes, sending your child away to college can be a very scary experience. However, please rest assured that nothing too bad will happen at Trinity because of students’ political beliefs. Yes, some people will chose to not be friends with your child because they don’t agree with their political stances, but if someone won’t be friends with you because of your political beliefs, then you probably don’t want them as friends anyway.

The professors will respect your child and you have very little to fear here. Trinity, as you will come to learn, is a little different from the rest.

Manfred Wendt is a junior political science major.

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

Pulse

McNair Scholars thrive in and out of class Students travel to the Northeast to present research John Hopkins University and NYU

DOMINIC WALSH PULSE REPORTER

Over the weekend of Sept. 23, a group of McNair Scholars from Trinity University attended the 24th annual McNair Research Conference at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Over the weekend, they also visited Johns Hopkins University, and some of the group visited New York University.

The McNair Scholars Program is a national, federally funded program that assists underprivileged, first-generation college students in preparing to apply and attend graduate school. Throughout the year, McNair Scholars participate in summer research, graduate school visits and research conferences across the United States.

Janett Muñoz, biochemistry and molecular biology double major and senior member of the McNair Scholars Program, spent the summer managing a mammogram bus, attending health fairs, using her bilingual abilities to help set up free mammogram appointments for Spanish speakers and participating in other community outreach for the nonprofit Martinez Street Women’s Center, which is located in eastern San Antonio.

“I was able to learn a lot of interesting things about the East Side. If you’ve been there, you know that it’s very different from the rest of San Antonio — there aren’t that many banks, there aren’t that many grocery stores, there aren’t as many jobs,” Muñoz said.

Muñoz explained why health services need to be provided to working-class neighborhoods in San Antonio.

“If you don’t have health insurance, you can’t even provide for your basic needs if you get sick.

Firstly, you probably don’t want to miss work because you probably don’t have the luxury,” Muñoz said. “They can’t think about that because they’re more concerned about paying the bills and providing for their family. That takes precedence over their mental health.”

Muñoz conducted research relating to poor mental health, which is often an unaddressed issue on the East Side.

As part of her research, she introduced yoga into the Girls’ Zone program at the Martinez Street Women’s Center. Muñoz gave participants surveys before and after yoga sessions and found a significant improvement in happiness and calmness.

At the conference, McNair Scholars presented research like Muñoz’s, in projects such as neuroscience, immigration and a variety of other fields.

“Our students are all across the board, from the humanities to particle physics,” said Kelly Lyons, associate professor of biology and director of the Trinity McNair Scholars Program.

Faith Deckard, a senior biology major, presented research relating to discrimination in the criminal justice system stemming from the lack of data on capital trial sentencing. Her research found that in 2005, black men were vastly overrepresented in murder cases involving male victims, while white men were overrepresented in murder cases involving female victims. This research was done in the absence of a national archive about capital murder trials, which Deckard says contributes to the discriminatory practices evident in her study.

The weekend provided opportunities that Deckard usually doesn’t get.

“These conferences and trips like this give us a brief taste of a different lifestyle. They ‘wine and dine’ us, all expenses are paid, and for once, we don’t have to refuse eating a certain item or attending a certain event simply because we lack

graphic by TYLER HERRON

Senior JANETT MUNOZ talks passionately about the McNair Program. photo by AMANI CANADA

the funds,” Deckard wrote in an email interview.

“Instead, if we don’t participate, it’s because we didn’t want to. We had a choice.”

The group attended several social events with McNair Scholars from other universities.

“It was great to see a lot of minorities in a group that wanted to go into higher education, especially coming from Trinity, where minorities are slim. I really felt the family environment, which I really enjoyed,” Muñoz said.

Brandon Guzman, junior McNair Scholar, also enjoyed the sense of community.

“It was really cool seeing so many people with such passion for their research,” Guzman said.

After their time in Baltimore, Guzman and two other McNair Scholars from Trinity travelled to New York City, where they visited the NYU graduate school. Guzman gained a better understanding of the many different aspects of graduate school, such as the application process and student life.

Muñoz appreciates McNair forallowing her to focus on a career she is interested in.

“When I was in high school, I knew I needed to go to college because that’s what I came to America for, but I never thought about graduate school. I never thought about doing research.

I was very much focused on going to school to get some knowledge to get a good job that provides for my family,” Muñoz said. “I didn’t think that these career options were open to me.

I just thought, ‘I need a job.’ But through my experience my focus has shifted from a job to a career. There’s a difference between a job and a career — my parents have jobs, but I have the luxury to pick a career; I have a luxury to go into whatever I want to go into, and I’m not going to take that lightly.”

Guzman said that the McNair program has been the most valuable experience since at Trinity.Guzman says he is truly thankful for it.

“If it wasn’t for the McNair Program, I would never have the chance to take a trip like this. I can’t wait to go back next year,” Guzman said.

Until then, the McNair Scholars will stay busy in the lab and in the classroom.

Campus celebrates LeeRoy’s 64th birthday Festivities mark anniversary of the tiger’s first visit KAYLIE KING

NEWS REPORTER Trinity recently celebrated LeeRoy the Tiger’s 64th birthday by getting signatures for his birthday card and presenting that card to the mascot at the home football game on Sept. 23. The celebration of LeeRoy’s birthday was put on by Student Ambassadors and the Alumni Relations office.

Though Trinity adopted the name “Tigers” in 1916, LeeRoy’s birthday celebration is in honor of the live tiger that used to be brought out to Trinity football games.

“The day we usually pick is within two weeks of the actual date of LeeRoy coming to campus,” said Jim Stryker, associate director of annual giving outreach and engagement.

“He was flown into San Antonio and came to the first football game in 1964. He stayed at the San Antonio Zoo and was brought out for football games on a big tractor trailer.”

Davis King, senior business administration and finance double major and co-chair of Student Ambassadors, explained the way in which LeeRoy’s birthday ties into student giving.

Leeroy stands surrounded on the field by the Student Ambassadors for his birthday.

Photo by Tess Cody Andres

“Student philanthropy is a huge part of our job for student ambassadors, to get people in the habit of giving so hopefully they’ll do that post-graduation,” King said. “We try to get as many seniors as possible to donate so that during senior week they get to sign a brick as they climb up the tower.”

“We do ask students for gifts, but a lot of it is just the first involvement thing that student ambassadors and alumni relations do at the beginning of the year,” Stryker said. “It’s kind of fun to celebrate LeeRoy to start the year, especially since he came about the time that we celebrate his birthday. We just want to do

something fun with the community. This is the third year we’ve done it. We normally have about 250 or 300 signatures for [the card].”

During the football game, the card is presented to LeeRoy and there is a celebration with cupcakes afterwards.

“On Saturday at halftime during the football game is when they present him the card, so they try to make it a big deal,” Stryker said. “We had eight to 10 ambassadors who went out on the field, and Dr. Anderson goes out there and they present him the card.”

Cameron Carlin, a sophomore communication major and member of Student Ambassadors, was dressed as LeeRoy on the day of the football game.

“I got the feeling of love and support of the Trinity Community,” Carlin said.

Carlin shared nothing but positive memories from Leeroy’s special day. She appreciates that Trinity recognizes the importance of Leeroy’s birthday.

“It was awesome being able to share that experience with my fellow student ambassadors present at the event,” Carlin wrote in an email interview. “We got to see all of our hard work during the week come into fruition. I love that Trinity recognizes the true importance of LeeRoy’s birthday, instead of just another way to publicize the mascot. His birthday is a way to celebrate all of the history and adventures that Trinity has experience in the past,”Carlin said

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WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM • OCTOBER 06, 2017 •

PULSE

Newly Formed Humanities Collective promotes interdisciplinary learning

Modeled after the Center for the Sciences and Innovation group hopes to showcase the multiple departments MEREDITH GOSHELL PULSE REPORTER

In the spring of last year, faculty members from various humanities disciplines got together and created the Humanities Collective. The Collective was created as an attempt to highlight and promote events and lectures surrounding the humanities within Trinity and the larger San Antonio community. A combination of interdisciplinary learning, a national trend of skepticism toward the arts and a need for one place to house the humanities and its merits led to this organization being formed.

“The Collective came together in an attempt to think more broadly about the role of the humanities at Trinity,” said Tim O’Sullivan, chair of the classical studies department and co-president of the Collective. “We all enjoy the work we do in our individual departments, but we also get great value from talking with our colleagues in related disciplines. A few of us from various humanities departments regularly met to brainstorm about larger projects that would benefit from coordination between humanities departments. Eventually we made a proposal to the administration to make the arrangement somewhat more formal, and they agreed to do so, and the Humanities Collective was born.”

An example of collaboration on Trinity’s campus is the Center for the Sciences and Innovation and its success in encouraging interdisciplinary learning.

“The Humanities Collective was conceived of as an analogue to CSI,” said Claudia Stokes, professor and chair of the English department.

“So, CSI provides an opportunity for science departments to collaborate. They share lab spaces, they share staff and their students are able to easily move among science disciplines.

So, we wanted to create a similar structure that would create opportunities for humanities faculty and students to collaborate.”

Another large contributor to the formation of the Humanities Collective was the budding emphasis being placed on the STEM fields and their importance. Humanities were viewed with skepticism and as lesser fields, especially when compared to science and mathematics.

“Following 2008 and the Great Recession, university enrollment began to change,” Stokes said. “Nationally, from Obama, we saw a national push to promote science. That, in tandem with a growing economic anxiety, contributed to widespread national skepticism about the value of humanities and the liberal arts. Originally, faculty began talking about ways in which we could promote the humanities to Trinity students and to parents of prospective students.”

A part of the mission of the Humanities Collective is to unify the existing humanities programming. The aim is to put an umbrella over the research, lectures and other events surrounding the humanities and encouraging campus-wide engagement with these fields.

Upcoming Events October 2017

Scott Cantrell

“The State of Arts Criticism in America” Ruth Taylor Recital Hall Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m.

Virginia Grise

Latinx Heritage Month William Knox Holt Center Dining Room Oct. 12, 5:30 p.m.

To Be Honest

A play about Islam and religious diversity in San Antonio Stieren Theatre Oct. 15, 2 p.m.

graphic by TYLER HERRON

Now, the English department is the second largest humanities department on campus, following only modern languages, and will play a central role in the Humanities Collective.

“We really want to highlight all of the great things that the humanities are doing on campus,” said Ruben Dupertuis, professor of religion and co-president of the Humanities Collective. “For example, we have the Lennox Lectures, which is bringing in a lot of great scholars. We also have the Stieren Arts Series.

We have several different research programs and it’s just a great way to highlight all of these amazing things we’re doing.”

On campus, they have assisted in coordinating

the Lennox Lecture Series, the Mellon Research Initiative and events for faculty and staff to engage with one another.

“One of my favorite events so far was a series of lunchtime conversations we hosted last spring where faculty from different arts and humanities departments got together and discussed their current research and pedagogical projects in an informal setting,” O’Sullivan said.

The Humanities Collective has many events coming up throughout the Semester. For more information about how to get involved in the events or find access to resources, like the Collective on Facebook or Instagram or reach out to a professor of the Humanities.

Hard-Corps stuff

Ex-Trinity Peace Corps members come to campus to encourage future engagement

DOMINIC WALSH PULSE REPORTER A representative from the Peace Corps visited campus on Wednesday, Sept. 27, to host an information session for prospective Peace Corps volunteers at Trinity.

“The mission of the Peace Corps is to promote global peace and friendship,” said Brendan Cavanagh, the Peace Corps representative who presented to about 10 students that day. A former Peace Corps volunteer himself, Cavanagh served the Ivory Coast for three years.

Peace Corps volunteers serve with three goals in mind, all of which are tied to the mission of global peace and friendship: to bring technical assistance to the community being served, to give the community a better understanding of Americans and, upon completion of the service, to give the U.S. a better understanding of the community and country where the volunteer served.

After making it through a highly competitive selection process, Peace Corps vol-

unteers serve for two years in their assigned country. The first three months of this time is devoted to pre service training.

“We’re not just going to throw you out there and expect you to know how to get by in a foreign country. You spend your first three months learning the local language. Maybe you already speak Spanish or French — you’re going to certainly become fluent, and probably learn a local language as well. You’re going to learn about the culture so that you know how to carry yourself and be comfortable in that community without standing out or offending anyone,” Cavanagh said.

Once the training is complete, volunteers are sent to their respective communities, where they begin fulfilling the first of the Peace Corps’ three main goals: bringing technical assistance to the community.

Cavanagh shared low and high points of his two-year experience bringing reliable potable water to the village he served in.

“It was difficult to adjust to living without water and electricity, and getting used to a different lifestyle. For the first month, I questioned whether or not I should stay,” Cavanagh said. continued on PAGE 14

graphic by TYLER HERRON

ADVERTISEMENT • OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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From left to right: ANNA POLANCO-RAMOS, GRANT ELLIS, and HAYLEY SAYRS, head up the lecture discussing the diversity in the field of science on Sept. 25. photo by ANDREA NEBHUT

Biology lecture explains versatility within the major Bio Club invited guests from various backgrounds make sure students know their options after graduation MEREDITH GOSHELL PULSE REPORTER

The Biology department hosted an event titled “Biology Department Seminar: Diverse Career Paths in Biology,” on Monday, Sept. 25. In academic settings, biology students are often exposed to careers that represent only a small selection of potential careers for their degree “Being a chemistry major, there

are a lot of jobs for you within pharmaceuticals or whatever,” said Adam Zeb, a senior biology major and co-president of the Biology Club. “With a business major, that can be applied in so many settings.

However, when you get a biology degree, what can you do besides go to graduate school or go to medical school? This event was just really helpful to watch people with biology degrees go out and apply that major in so many different professions and fields.”

Visiting biology professor Rebecca Hazen and STEM career advisor Laura Kalb organized a panel with people who have used their biology degree in unique ways over a wide range of careers. The panel was meant to bring together a

diverse group of people who have all applied their biology background to pursuits outside of academia.

“We really wanted to give students in the STEM fields, in particular biology, a complete understanding of some of the other options that you can pursue so they can be more informed about their choices,” Kalb said. “We see a lot of students go on to do research assistant positions, or research associate positions but it can really be a scenario where the world is your oyster with a biology degree. It can really depend so we try to focus on the individual and what their goals are to guide them along that unique path.”

Trinity’s science departments have been making a conscious effort to expose their students to

paths outside of graduate school or medical school.

“I don’t know about in the past, but now I think Trinity is getting better about exposing us to professions in the STEM fields,” Zeb said. “With the seminar, I think it’s helping people open up and I think the professors are really good. I know a lot of people who have gotten lab tech jobs in San Antonio just from connections with professors. When you get to your senior year, there are only about 50 or 60 biology majors left, and if you ask for help from a professor, they’ll help you get a job.”

One of the panelists, Hayley Sayrs, works in community awareness surrounding gardens and the environment, especially

at local community centers and Gardopia Gardens.

“I plan to go to dental school, but I learned that there are other careers that you can do with a biology background from Trinity that isn’t medical school or health professions” said Lauren Cuda, a senior biology major.

The panelists included Grant Ellis, natural resource manager at the San Antonio Parks and Recreation department; Alicia Richarte, senior research and clinical technician at Hyperion Biotechnology; Hayley Sayrs, director of the Pollinator Education Action Sustainability Program; Anna Polanco-Ramos, San Antonio Water System environmental laboratory manager.

Peace Corps engagement continued from PAGE 12

OFFER VALID UNTIL APRIL 30, 2018

“After the first month, I got some projects started and got more comfortable in the community.

That turned out to be the most rewarding part, that I was able to live there after doubting that I was going to be able to, knowing that there’s a lot I can do if I decide to.”

Peace Corps volunteers are paid a stipend equivalent to a local salary, given vacation time and offered free medical care at Peace Corps offices, which are located in every country with a Peace Corps presence.

Additionally and upon completion of their service, Peace Corps volunteers are placed on the short list for most jobs in the federal government, enjoy an extensive network of other former volunteers and are eligible for large scholarships towards graduate studies at an extensive number of universities.

The network of former volunteers includes a large number of Trinity

alumni. A Peace Corps spokesperson told the Trinitonian that 172 Tigers have served since the organization’s founding in 1961.

One of these Tigers is David Young, class of 2006, who served in Boudenib, Morocco. Young was featured in the summer 2016 edition of Trinity Magazine.

“People in the Peace Corps have to be very creative, because you are never sure of what is going to happen.

In this tiny desert town, I drew on the firm foundation Trinity gave me as an independent researcher and I figured out solutions to some hard, abstract problems,” Young said in an interview with Trinity Magazine.

In addition to applying prior knowledge to improve lives, Peace Corps volunteers gain valuable experience over the course of their service.

“You learn skills like leadership and resourcefulness and team building, which are applicable and valuable to any career that you go

into. Peace Corps is something really unique that will stand out on a resume,” Cavanagh said.

Gaby McKay, who graduated with a degree in communication and Spanish in 2013 and a Master of Arts in Teaching in 2016, served in La Lucha, Costa Rica, and invites everyone to look into Peace Corps service.

“I would encourage anybody to join the Peace Corps because you learn about different cultures in a more in-depth way than study abroad or even an extended vacation. I lived and worked in a community where people had an open door for me at all times,” McKay said in an interview with Trinity Magazine.

The Peace Corps accepts applications throughout the year for positions in over 60 countries.

You can find more information at peacecorps.gov or email Brendan Cavanagh at bencavanagh2@peacecorps.gov.

PULSE • OCTOBER, 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

Sidewalk Symposium “WHAT DOES YOUR HELL WEEK LOOK LIKE?”

Daniel Bomer: Senior

Computer Science and Geoscience “It’s basically just working all the time — all day, everyday, including the weekends. All the time. So, I barely have time to sleep or eat or any of that.”

Emery Armentrout: First Year English “I guess this week I’ve had at least three essays due, which has been pretty bad, but I don’t know if I’ve had anything you would call ‘hell’ yet.”

Jack Leifer Associate professor of engineering science “This semester, I’m teaching first-year design and senior design. I also serve as an expert witness for attorneys and often appear in court to talk about the relationship between force and damage in automobile collisions. So, my idea of a hell week is one in which I have three trials scheduled simultaneously that also conflict with classes.”

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AE &

“Bob’s Burgers” film projected for 2020 release

Rock musician Tom Petty dies of cardiac arrest

Known for its off-beat humor and lovable characters, the upcoming film will launch the animated sitcom to the silver screen.

The legendary frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Petty’s iconic songs and indomitable attitude have left their mark on the world of rock ’n’ roll.

Cashmere Cat falls flat Long-awaited “Welcome Week” concert finally arrives, only to be met by a lackluster crowd AUSTIN DAVIDSON A&E CONTRIBUTOR

Before I begin explaining why I didn’t enjoy the Welcome Week Concert, I will say that in no way is my dissatisfaction due to the Student Planning Board’s efforts. They did a fine job in coordinating a concert for the pure purpose of giving Trinity students a free concert and they should be rightfully commended for that. I will also say I generally don’t listen to the blend of music that Cashmere Cat is known for, so I will not claim to be an expert or a refined critic of his music. What I will say is that the two hours I spent on Prassel Lawn were not the most enjoyable for several reasons.

While logistically I could understand how Prassel Lawn seems like the most sensible place for the concert, I don’t think it’s the best. The acoustics of the area aren’t incredible for a concert venue, and I believe that in the future, hosting concerts on the Jim Potter Intramural Field or maybe on the baseball field would lead to more space, better accessibility and maybe a better atmosphere.

SPB has also taken some criticisms for the concert headliner — Cashmere Cat. They made their choice based on a number of factors, including budget, logistics and realistic expectations. Anyone who has voiced that they “have no idea who Cashmere Cat is” or they “don’t like EDM and would much rather have X, Y or Z artists” are totally within their bounds to say those things.

What you should do with your disagreement about their choice of artist is to join the SPB. Instead of merely complaining, work to get an artist that covers the music tastes of more than 2,600 students.

Maybe the reason the concert wasn’t as ‘lit’ or ‘exciting’ as it could’ve been is because not a lot of people came to the

event — it feels as though an unfortunate amount of Trinity students don’t attend these kinds of events in general. People are busy with the all-encompassing reality of college, life, friends, significant others, family, sports and leisure time, and sometimes events like these slip through the cracks.

I am a firm believer that the quality of a concert or an event is more reliant on the crowd than the performer. I have been to concerts of artists I have never heard or knew existed, but when 700 people are screaming and dancing like the world is on fire, it doesn’t matter — the pure energy of the crowd makes the music and the experience fun.

Sadly, I don’t think more than 300 people showed up to this concert. The

lack of people created a rather tired and lackadaisical atmosphere that wasn’t all that enjoyable to be a part of. Without energy or passion, it felt less like music and more like loud, random noise being blasted at me.

However, I did see people having fun, not caring about the size of the crowd or who was playing and just enjoying the night and music. A main group of people were gathered around the mainstage and people around the edges continued to dance to every song with the same energy.

Cashmere Cat himself had some songs I did enjoy, from the varying beats to the interesting beginnings, but for the most part I can’t say he changed how much I like EDM as a whole. Like what I think is common with most EDM artists, he

CASHMERE CAT performing on the Prassel lawn. The EDM artist’s long-awaited concert was delayed by Hurricane Harvey, which may party explain the lackluster turn out of the event. photos by CHLOE SONNIER

was mainly focusing on his table, swaying around as he changed some dials for the majority of his hour-long performance.

Music aside, I was mainly looking at the people in the crowd, looking to see how people were enjoying themselves. The overall quality of the concert seemed fine, and coupled with nice weather and some free t-shirts, it’s really all anyone could hope for. Truthfully, I just wish more people had come to the concert and had been active participants in the audience.

The more people like that, the more fun everyone would’ve had.

This problem can be tied to a great portion of Trinity’s events. The problem is that people generally don’t go to events. I personally go to the soccer games because I have friends on the team and I go to the theatre events for the same reason, but I always see the same faces at those. While I haven’t memorized every single person who goes to these events, the problem of people not being involved in things beyond their scope is evident.

I am very much also a part of this problem.

I haven’t been to a softball, basketball, football or volleyball game, all of which are filled with hardworking and dedicated people who deserve the entire student body’s pride and support. Trinity students should do their best to try and support their fellow classmates who all work hard in their individual niches, be they lectures, athletics or musical events. A part of what makes the school as unique and enjoyable for me is the unique and passionate student body, filled with a kaleidoscope of different people and activities.

If we, as a student body, tried our best to attend more events, whether they be sports or concerts or events or talks, it would make each of them a better experience for ourselves and the campus as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely great that the concert occurred at all, after its initial cancellation last month. But the Cashmere Cat concert didn’t have to crash, and if our student body was more willing to take the effort to participate in events around campus, I don’t think it would have.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT • OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

“mother!” polarizes audience Ambitious horror film leaves Trinity students divided on director’s success and movie’s cinematic quality NOELLE BARRERA A&E INTERN

It’s a situation that’s been explored before in many cinematic and literary works: a gifted man whose wife works in the shadows, unacknowledged, yet is constantly expected to make sacrifices for his happiness. But the subject matter has never been handled like this.

The director of “mother!”, Darren Aronofsky, who also received acclaim for 2013’s “Black Swan,” is known for esoteric films that usually contain some psychological and surreal aspects. His newest film is no different. The main couple is never named. Instead, the characters’ official monikers, ‘Mother’ (played wonderfully by Jennifer Lawrence) and ‘Him’ (played by the imposing Javier Bardem) suggest a universality of the story with archetypes that represent a creation myth of the universe.

The story has many mythical elements. While the plot begins as a domestic drama centering around a poorly made decision to invite a guest inside who shows up at the pair’s doorstep one night, it soon becomes clear that elements of surrealism and magic are at play. The glass ball in His study seems to have a special significance, Mother drinks a mysterious potion accompanied by a trilling sound effect, and — most ominously of all — a human heart pumps away inside the walls of the house that Mother meticulously decorates.

What does it all mean? Curious readers will have to go to the theaters to find out, but the mystery eventually builds to an intense conclusion.

I enjoyed this film. Jennifer Lawrence’s performance was stunning, and the story has a lot of metaphorical richness. Viewers who’ve taken classes in film studies or enjoy close readings of media will also find a lot to love about “mother!”. The character of Mother is alternately reminiscent of Mother Earth, Jesus’ mother Mary and humanity itself becoming estranged from its creator.

However, due to its metaphorical implications and the increasingly graphic and gruesome content in the latter half of the film, “mother!” has incurred a lot of controversy from film critics.

Brian Tallerico of the popular reviewing website RogerEbert.com found it “at times horrifying, at times riveting, at times baffling and at times like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” indicating that something about this film is worth watching. On the other hand, Rex Reed, reviewer for the New York Observer, wrote of it, “I hesitate to label it the ‘Worst movie of the year’ when ‘Worst movie of the century’ fits it even better.”

It seems that the mixed response to “mother!” holds true for Trinity’s campus as well. I spoke to first-year Rachel Indest, who felt that the shocking content’s inclusion was justified.

“Every time there was a shocking scene I saw a wave of people walk out ... and I think it just wasn’t fair, because I think the imagery helped to portray what the movie really was,” Indest said.

Callie Izquierdo, a first-year student, had an interesting take on the genre.

“There are a lot of aspects of sort of a situational comedy, like how situations escalate so quickly,” Izquierdo said.

The mixed reactions also stretched into the faculty’s opinions about the film.

“I left disgusted rather than discomfited.

Other Aronofsky films have struck me as more effective in raising urgent questions about the culture’s tendency to unsupportable habits. ... ‘mother!’, to be honest, I wish I hadn’t watched at all,” said Benjamin Stevens, visiting assistant professor of classical studies.

While “comedy” isn’t the word most audience members would think of, there are surreal and absurd elements of this film. One thing is certain: it’s definitely not boring.

illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Stieren Arts Enrichment series brings content creators Graphic novelist has already visited campus, music critic to come speak for Trinity’s lecture circuit ABIGAIL WHARTON A&E CONTRIBUTOR

October is a notoriously busy time for Trinity students, but two upcoming guest speakers are definitely worth making time for this month. Graphic novelist Dylan Meconis and music critic Scott Cantrell have been scheduled to give free public lectures on campus through the Stieren Arts Enrichment Series, with the former having already spoken on Oct. 4.

Meconis started out in the fields of history and communication and has since made a name for herself in writing, design and cartooning. Her graphic novels titled “Outfoxed” and “Family Man” have won and been nominated for the Eisner Award and the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award, respectively. She is also a member of Helioscope, the biggest comic book studio collective in North America.

Meconis has created graphic works for publishers like Dark Horse Comics, Random House and Image Comics and notable institutions such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Amazon Web Services.

Her graphic novels are sci-fi and fantasy adventures full of humor and historical drama for readers of all ages. Almost all of

her work can be read for free on her website.

Meconis’ latest publication is a collaboration for Image Comics, “Bitch Planet Triple Feature #3,” a feminist series that riffs off the women-in-prison movies prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s.

In these comics, ‘non-compliant’ women are sent to an off-planet prison. Readers of the anthology view their arrest stories and life in the all-female prison.

Also in the vein of art and communication, Scott Cantrell will give a talk titled “The State of Arts Criticism in America” on Oct. 10 in the Ruth Taylor Recital Hall from 7:30–9 p.m.

“There will be something for you in the Stieren Arts Enrichment Series.”

Cantrell was on staff with The Dallas Morning News from 1999–2015 as a classical music critic and has continued as a freelancer since. His publication credits include work in The New York Times, The Kansas City Star, Encyclopedia Britannica and BBC Music. Cantrell has won many writing awards, most notably a Pulitzer Prize in 2016.

A musician and historian himself, Cantrell has traveled both across the states and abroad writing about music, art, architecture and all the many connections between.

Together these communication and media-savvy speakers will engage the Trinity community in conversation during the month of October. Whether your interest lies in art, music, communication, writing or hybrids of them all, there will be something for you in the Stieren Arts Enrichment Series.

graphic by TYLER HERRON

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT • OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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Theatre for Social Change: An artistic look at domestic abuse AUSTIN DAVIDSON A&E CONTRIBUTOR

While I was walking to the Ruth Taylor Theatre building to see “Theatre for Social Change: On Domestic Abuse,” I was nervous.

While I knew the production had a purpose and a message that was important, I was worried it would be too depressing and too emotional to enjoy and that it would drag due to its content.

Turns out that I was very happily wrong.

Due to the wonderful cast’s performance, with each of them capturing a different aspect of the many types of people involved in domestic violence, the production flowed well and was a fantastic learning experience.

Director Roberto Prestigiacomo did a great job of putting the right people in the right roles, with each of the leads providing strong, grounded performances. While not everyone had as many lines as the leads, supporting actors did a good job of adding to the scenes.

The production itself was split up into two episodes, and each had three parts. The first part of an episode was a monologue — a long speech that explained the background of the upcoming scene. Then the scene was played out, which depicted the grim reality of domestic violence and its depressing repercussions. When the scene was over, the director would then talk to the audience, giving them a role in the production.

The third part is what made this production unique. The audience had the opportunity to intervene into the scene as it was played

out again by replacing one of the characters, besides the two leads, and then trying to fix the situation. At first the audience was hesitant, not knowing when to butt in or to interject.

But, after the first audience member attempted separating the couple, everyone wanted to jump in and change the dynamic.

This type of show, one where the audience is active and engaged in the actual show, is meant to teach the audience. Theatre for Social Change is meant to bring change and awareness to difficult topic, and in this case it was focused on domestic violence. The incredible thing the cast and crew did here was to create a unique environment to learn how to intervene, to try different techniques and to become aware of the problem. By allowing the audience to become a part of the show, they are teaching in hopes that this new knowledge is applied in real world situations.

While I was working on the show “Good Kids” last year, the cast and I did similar exercises to learn about rape culture and different methods of dealing with it. We mainly focused on how to help someone who had been raped, how to help them get the right help and to try and be as supportive and as patient as possible. It was a great, albeit very brutal experience and it definitely made me and the cast of “Good Kids” more aware of the show’s purpose.

The cast of “Theatre for Social Change: On Domestic Abuse” had the difficult task of producing a realistic depiction of domestic violence, from the oppressor to the victim to the bystanders. Each had to believe in the role they had and give a truthful rendition.

While the victim is a difficult role to portray, the role of the oppressor has to make the audience believe things they themselves they

Nightmare at the McNay Sets from the beloved film exhibited at the McNay museum ABIGAIL WHARTON A&E CONTRIBUTOR

This holiday season, the McNay Art Museum gives us all a chance to take a turn down memory lane with an immersive installation of original sets, character puppets and sculpture pieces used in the production of Tim Burton’s cult classic stop-motion animation film, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

In the 1993 film, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, tries to bring Christmas spirit to his gothic world only to mash up the holidays with comically evil consequences.

Voices for the main characters were lent by famous actors like Chris Sarandon, better known as Prince Humperdinck from “The Princess Bride,” and Catherine O’Hara from the “Home Alone” franchise. An iconic musical score was composed by Danny Elfman, the man behind the theme to “The Simpsons” and many more Tim Burton projects.

Every stop-motion film is a labor of love that often takes years to produce, with 24 film stills inside each second of animation and hundreds of puppets with removable heads for each character’s range of expressions. Even supporting characters like Sally, or the evil triplets Lock, Stock and Barrel, had up to 10 faces with 11 iterations of facial expressions.

The results are nothing short of breathtaking and Burton’s work epitomizes the tradition with nearly 110,000

painstakingly detailed film stills going into the beloved animation.

The sets themselves speak to artistic movements, as Halloween Town is based in German expressionism. Christmas Town pulls almost directly from the absurd, and Dr. Seussian inspiration. The ‘real’ world is minimalist, orderly and simplified.

The detail in the art form is not lost on its viewers.

“I think the physical aspect of the animation type really adds a different feel and flow of creation for the artist, in terms of being able to touch and mold the clay as opposed to digital software or even traditional art,” said Rachel Lopez, sophomore biochemistry and molecular biology major. “It’s good stuff that’s hard to do well. Respectable, but dying out.”

Some see stop-motion as a more cuttingedge storytelling medium.

“I honestly l’ve and cherish stop motion as an art form,” said Ariel del Vecchio, a sophomore art and art history major. “Wes Anderson is about to drop “Isle of Dogs” and I am so excited. It’s good art. It’s pretty. It makes people happy.”

Stop-motion has long been lauded as an art form, but the film has just as many long-time fans that fell in love with the production at a young age.

“I first watched it in sixth grade, but got really into it in eighth grade. I adored the music that Danny Elfman composed for the film. I even handmade a Jack Skellington jacket,” said David Clark, a mathematics and French double major.

The McNay’s exhibition opened Sept.

28 and will run through the month of December in the Tobin Collection for Theatre Arts. Art and movie fans alike are invited to go behind the scenes and see the interworking of the stop-motion animation process, while getting up close and personal with an iconic children’s film.

Director of the play ROBERTO PRESTIGIACOMO. The unique, forum-style technique of the piece lends itself to educating the audience on a specific issue: in this case, domestic abuse. photo by CHLOE SONNIER

don’t believe. Each cast member did a great job, showcasing the new and old talent that Trinity’s theatre department has to offer.

Watching and being a part of this show was an unforgettable experience. While I did enjoy watching some of my fellow audience members do their best to add as much comedy to the scene as possible, I also was moved to see people jump in and try to help the victim and protect them from the oppressor. As the cast said when I interviewed them a couple weeks

ago, the purpose of the show is to give people the chance to intervene in the hopes that they will do the same in real life. The show did just that, and I hope that more people will go and learn from the show as much this audience did.

Do not be dissuaded by the subject matter; “Theatre for Social Change: On Domestic Abuse” is an enjoyable experience that you will come out of having learned how to be a better person. Who can ask for a better night than that?

Account for

Yourself Can you manage $200,000?

Campus Publications is hiring a business manager for 2018.

For job description and salary: kmartin1@trinity.edu

Great experience for Class of 2019 accounting major.

Sports

LET THE GAMES BEGIN: • Football vs. Rhodes College, Oct. 7, 6 p.m.

• Volleyball at the SCAC Divisional Tournament, Oct. 13 and 14 • Women’s Soccer vs. Texas Lutheran University, Oct. 13, 6 p.m.

Tiger volleyball rises to No. 3 ranking

From left to right: Junior SARAH MULLENS, first-year ANNIE ROSE LEGGETT, and senior KIRBY SMITH help their team. photo by ALLISON WOLFF continued from FRONT

Tiger volleyball faces a new challenge this year that’s different from before: For the first time in NCAA history, the SCAC has multiple teams that are ranked in the top five in the nation. These other SCAC teams include Southwestern University and Colorado College, which are ranked No. 5 and No. 2, respectively.

“It’s historical to have three conference teams in the top five in the nation,” Jenkins said.

The volleyball players are looking forward to continuing their wave of success.

“I’m very excited about how successful this season has been for us, especially since this is my senior year. It’s awesome how every single team member contributes to our success in a huge way. I look forward to every game, but I’m especially looking forward to the conference tournament, where we will hopefully win another conference championship,” said Kirby Smith, senior outside hitter.

Smith was just awarded SCAC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week, as she helped lead her team to success this past weekend at the SCAC Cross-Divisional Tournament.

The Tigers enjoy the close bond they have as teammates.

“Day in and day out, I honestly just look forward to playing the sport I love next to the people I love. I am thrilled about everything we’ve achieved so far, we are getting better each day and plan to reach even greater success deeper in the season,” said Amelia Roden, junior setter.

Jenkins was also awarded last week for becoming the first coach in any sport to win her 300th SCAC match. After 33 years of coaching volleyball at Trinity, Jenkins credits these wins to talented players.

“The number one reason I do this is because I love coaching student athletes and seeing their confidence grow from their

freshman year to their senior year. That’s what’s so much fun, the personalities of your team are different every year. And obviously I’m super competitive and getting to play a tough schedule not only in our conference but outside of our conference,” Jenkins said.

The players appreciate Jenkins’ support to guide them towards success.

“I think it’s amazing that coach got this award. It made me feel even luckier to have her has my coach and I definitely think she deserves it. I’m really happy that our team is so successful this season and I’m excited to see what we can do in the next half of the season, because our success motivates us to work even harder,” said Sarah Mullens, junior defensive setter.

As Alumni Weekend approaches, the team expects a challenging weekend full of tournaments. In addition, the players and coach will get the chance to reunite with former players.

“I’ve seen a lot of great players over the years, so it makes me smile thinking about it. That’s why you coach, you love the relationships you build with your players.

Alumni Weekend, we’ve got a big volleyball social planned for our volleyball alumni. It’ll be great seeing a lot of those players who contributed to those 300 wins,” Jenkins said.

The Tigers mentioned that they always appreciate the support of the Trinity student body and hope to see more familiar faces in the stands.

“The Trinity community should know that we love representing them and appreciate their support at our home games,” Smith said.

The Tiger volleyball team wants Trinity’s support at their upcoming home tournaments: Alumni Weekend, Oct. 13–14, as well as the Trinity Texas Classic tournament on Oct. 27–28.

Head down to the Calgaard Gymnasium and watch your nationally ranked Tigers!

Trinity athletes react to Kaepernick conflict

Taking a knee: Protest within sports and how it applies to Trinity players today HAILEY WILSON

and has not been picked up by any team in the NFL, even though he averaged 187 yards per game in his final season with the San Francisco 49ers. Tingle thinks Kaepernick was fully aware that this ostracization might occur.

SPORTS REPORTER If you have consumed any sort of media this past week or two, chances are you have seen and heard all about the national anthem protests that are sweeping across the nation. Athletes from the NFL, MLB, WNBA and more have been ‘taking a knee’ during the national anthem, which has sparked controversy from league owners, fans and players alike.

Players and fans have taken many different stances on the issue, but most of the controversy stems from two issues: Why are the players kneeling in the first place, and are sports events an appropriate place to protest?

Some believe kneeling is disrespectful towards the military and those who serve our country to protect our flag, and others say they are kneeling for reasons much greater than that. Some believe sports aren’t the right platform to speak out against injustice; for others, sports are one of the best places to bring these issues to light.

“Historically, sport has been a site where protest has occurred, and for no small reason.

If an athlete is part of a group that’s been historically marginalized, being famous or having a name due to being good in a sport has given them a platform that they would not otherwise have,” said Jacob Tingle, director of Experiential Learning and sport management chair.

“Historically, sport has

been a site where protest has occurred, and for no small reason.”

JACOB TINGLE SPORTS MANAGEMENT CHAIR

Kneeling during the national anthem is a controversial form of protest. photo by ALLISON WOLFF

Protest within sports has been happening for hundreds of years; some of the most prominent examples are NFL Hall of Famer Paul Robeson, the first African American MLB player Jackie Robinson and gender equality advocate and tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King. Perhaps one of the most famous instances occurred in the 1968 Olympics,

where Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists to salute the Black Panthers during their medal ceremony.

As of late, Colin Kaepernick has been at the forefront of this narrative.

In September of 2016, Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem for the first time.

Since then, he has been ridiculed, ostracized

“Craig Hodges is a huge example. He played with Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls and in advance to one of their team visits to the White House wrote a letter to George Bush talking about social justice issues, and if you look at Craig Hodges compared to Colin Kaepernick ... he was also ostracized from the NBA and never played again,” Tingle said.

At the time, Hodges was one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA and had just won a championship. continued on PAGE 23

SPORTS • OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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Women’s frisbee team kicks it up a notch

The women of the ultimate team share a close bond and look forward to recruits HAILEY WILSON

SPORTS REPORTER Altitude, the women’s ultimate frisbee team, is already making its mark on Trinity’s campus, despite only being a few years old.

Four years ago, a couple of women came together and founded the club sport, one of the first of its kind.

“Prior to the creation of the team, women were technically allowed to play with the men. However, as far as I understand, there were very few women and they didn’t get to play as much, so the sport really didn’t generate a lot of interest to female students,” said Caitlin ‘Cat’ O’Shei, senior history major and Altitude’s co-captain. O’Shei was part of the team at its founding. Since her first year, the team has continued to grow and become more successful.

“When I became captain my sophomore year, my biggest goal was to establish a sustainable program for female players, and I think we have been fairly successful in that endeavor,” O’Shei said.

O’Shei was elected as captain at the end of her first year on the team and has been re-elected every year since. Because the team doesn’t have much outside coaching, O’Shei’s duties extend to coaching. Her other duties include teaching new players, running practices and coaching at tournaments.

Caitlyn Turner, a sophomore, was voted as co-captain this year.

“I’m really excited to show her the ropes,” O’Shei said.

Along with the captains, the team is under the leadership of Sydney Kuhn and Maddy Walshak, the president and vice president, respectively.

Kuhn and Walshak take care of the logistical side of the team. O’Shei feels as if her team is family.

Senior CAT O’SHEI and junior MIA LOSEFF jump in the air. photo provided by MADDY WALSHAK

“For me, and I think a lot of the other girls, the team gave me a sense of purpose and belonging that I needed when I first came to Trinity,” O’Shei said.

All of the women are positive, and the team is filled with deep respect for one another.

“Ultimate frisbee has developed into a culture, allowing all sorts of backgrounds

and levels to come together for an extremely fun game,” said Francis Hurtado, a senior economics major. Players also use the sport as a way to de-stress from school.

“Playing a club sport, specifically frisbee, is an amazing way to get stress relief,” said Katherine Donovan, a sophomore geosciences, Spanish and entrepreneurship triple major.

Abby Dennis, a sophomore biology major, feels the same way.

“I like being able to have two hours twice a week when I can drop everything — homework, stress, whatever else is going on — and just focus on doing something I love with some of my favorite people in the world,” Dennis said.

Playing the sport also helps students stay in shape without having to try to block out time to make trips to the gym.

O’Shei is incredibly passionate about ultimate frisbee and emphasizes all of the skill, teamwork, endurance and strategy that the sport requires.

“A lot of people who don’t play don’t really understand the commitment and athleticism that this sport requires,” O’Shei said. “You’re never going to get famous or rich from being an ultimate player, so when players leave their blood and swweat on the field, it’s because they love the sport and their team.”

“It’s a mental workout as well. ... You get to learn the tactics behind every play, and you put in extra time to make sure you know every play,” Hurtado said.

Altitude’s competitive season doesn’t begin until the spring, but they are currently practicing and preparing to play in some offseason tournaments.

No previous experience is required, so the team is always looking for new players.

“Some girls who have never even touched a disc before their first practice become really great players by the end of the season,” O’Shei said.

If you are interested in playing, you should contact Caitlin O’Shei at coshei@trinity.edu Students can also just show up to a practice; the team practices on Tuesdays from 8–10 p.m. and Thursdays from 8:30–10:30 p.m. on the Jim Potter Intramural Field.

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SPORTS

Hester’s thoughts: Are we the bad guys?

Reporter comments on conference rivalries and discusses where Trinity lies in the SCAC ELISE HESTER

SPORTS REPORTER If you’ve never watched a sports movie, well, first I suggest you go and watch a sports movie.

If you’ve never watched a sports movie, one of the common tropes in these said movies is the underdog. Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky in “Rocky,” Emma Stone’s Billy Jean in the just-released “Battle of the Sexes” and Sean Austin’s Rudy in “Rudy” all are characters that were expected to lose against their bigger, badder opponents.

In the most iconic sports movie of all time, “High School Musical,” we celebrate the victory of underdogs Troy and Gabriella, newcomers to the world of theater who literally stumbled into the lead roles, dethroning Sharpay and Ryan.

Sharpay and Ryan had trained and worked their whole lives in the field in which they were passionate.

So yeah, it’s a little weird that they are the villains for basically being ticked that someone can just stroll in and take their place.

That’s like if I was taking assistant women’s soccer coach Chelsea Frye’s soccer class — which I did and would recommend — and in that class Chelsea was like, “Wow Hester, you’re so good at soccer. Let’s have a shootout between you and Julia Camp and the winner gets to be on the team.” Imagine I won and took Julia’s spot. That would be wild, but also impossible.

Anyway, the point is that Julia Camp would have every right to hate me, but I’m not actually sure she is capable of hate.

Where I’m trying — and failing — to go here is that the underdogs in movies are the good guys.

The dominant powerhouse is the bad guys. The cocky team that always wins is demonized for winning. Winning is the point, though, which makes this a little stupid. Why does winning make you the bad guys? It’s all in perspective.

illustration by ANDREA NEBHUT

So my question of the day is something I have asked for years now. Actually I have only been saying, not asking, this since the start of the semester, but still. It’s a pretty good point.

If Division III soccer was a movie, would Trinity be the bad guys?

Honestly, yeah. If SCAC was a movie, Trinity would, for sure, be the bad guys. We would be the Russians in whatever dumb “Miracle” spinoff that features the plucky underdogs of the

University of Dallas beating the odds. Which, if that game is secretly part of this whole movie, in my mind titled “Miracle at McGinlay” or “The Crusader’s Countdown,” would explain why it came down to the last minute — for suspense purposes.

It’s not just soccer, though. Maybe we’re the bad guys in all the sports. Last year we won SCAC conference championships in 11 out of 18 of our varsity sports, which explains

why more people at Trinity own a SCAC championship t-shirt than own the Tower Climb t-shirt of any specific year. I didn’t really check the math on that, but just trust me.

Anyway, we’re, like, really good. So maybe they hate cause they ain’t us. Turns out that these stats, along with our long history of just generally kicking butt and taking names, has made us notorious in the world of SCAC sports.

The other day, due to a rained-out tennis match, I had the opportunity to talk to some Austin College tennis players. I did not get anyone’s number.

(I wanted to prove that I could for kicks, but apparently I can’t ’cause I have no game, since I don’t play the game. This is sad. Not the time, Elise.)

But I did get some cool quotes. I asked the players what their impression of Trinity is.

“Y’all are just known for being really good,” said one player.

“But are we the bad guys?” I said.

“I mean, when I think of Trinity, I think crap, we’re screwed,” the player said.

“Yeah,” said another. “It’s basically the dominant powerhouse of the conference.”

When pressed, they did admit that we can come off a little arrogant, but for the most part they seemed to just want to make me smile by telling how great my school is.

I’m not an athlete at Trinity — I am of course the most dominant athlete that has ever lived, I just don’t play currently — but I still get really happy when people tell me how great Trinity is at sports.

Trinity athletes play for Trinity and as part of Trinity, and I’m really proud that when they play for my school, they do so with excellence.

In conclusion, I will be a big fan of Julia Camp forever and a Tiger until I die.

SPORTS • OCTOBER 06, 2017 • WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM

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Are we complacent with excellence?

Column: A review of fall sports and analysis of the recent successes of Trinity women’s soccer ELISE HESTER

striving to do better than the game before.

Throughout the week, we work on putting those new things into practice to improve our play.”

SPORTS REPORTER If you read my other article this week, you will have realized something, something you maybe, probably already know. Trinity is really good. Trinity is really good at being a school and at having good dorms. People complain about Trinity stuff, but just going on a few college visits with my sister — or visiting a friend who is in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M — shows me just how nice our dorms are. That aside, we’re also really good at sports. Sure, not every team wins every game, but a lot of teams win a lot of games.

When it comes to fall sports, there are five sports. First is cross-country, and they are doing pretty hot. (I was going to make a joke about hot chile peppers and Chile Pepper Festival but I don’t know where that joke would go. Honestly I’d probably just be running around — ah, get it?)

Second is football. We’ve had a pretty rough couple years with football, at least by Trinity standards. However, as their mildly confusing t-shirts indicate, Trinity? football is ready to SFFS (start first, finish strong) and “Be the standard.”

So yeah, maybe SCAC wasn’t their place to shine, but so far they are undefeated in their new conference. There’s a lot of promise here.

Third is volleyball. Coach Julie Jenkins just won her 300th game. The lady is a living legend.

Also, the volleyball team just started a Twitter account, which followed me. So yes, I’m a fan.

The team is currently No. 3 in the nation, which is crazy good.

Fourth is soccer. I guess fourth and fifth are men’s and women’s soccer. They are two very different teams with different playing styles and different personalities, but they are both very good. Crazy good even. This is the main crux of this article.

Is Trinity soccer so good that we just don’t even care anymore?

I am going to focus on the women’s soccer team, not because they are my favorite of all Trinity teams — sorry baseball, they are — but because their winning margins are more spectacular. The women’s soccer teams within

“I think there’s a big difference between us and the people we’re playing.”

KRISTEN CANEPA SOPHOMORE DEFENDER

First-year defender LINDSEY PENG shoots the ball across the field. photo by ALLISON WOLFF

SCAC offer little to no competition. The fact that Centenary College scored one goal to Trinity’s 10 is a rarity. In the entirety of the season, the Tigers have allowed three goals and have scored so many that I think I’m going to have to use a calculator.

Hold on a second … SIXTY THREE. That’s right, so far the Trinity Tigers have scored one shy of 60 goals in 10 games. I don’t need a calculator to tell you that’s an average of almost six goals per game.

“In college sport, I’d say it’s pretty rare,” said Kristen Canepa, sophomore defender. “I mean considering who we play, it’s not …”

“Who even scores six?” said Johnny Kasias, business administration major, overhearing our conversation. “That sounds like a baseball score.”

“OK,” Canepa said. “It’s pretty rare, especially in collegiate sports.”

Kaepernick reactions continued from PAGE 20

“I think Hodges knew what he was doing and knew what he was giving up. I would like to think that if Kaepernick didn’t know that at the time, he has come to realize that it’s OK if he never plays again,” Tingle said.

The Trinitonian asked some Trinity athletes and staff to get their opinions on the protest.

Some Trinity athletes believe that using other forms of protest, outside of the game itself, would be a more viable option.

“I don’t think it’s the best outlet for it, but maybe you could say something during an interview, but just not during a game,” said junior basketball player Kelsi Ballard.

Tingle thinks otherwise.

“Athletes that have this platform and a voice have to use it, because we might not listen to them in other ways. It’s easier for us to tune out a press conference, and it’s easy for us to not read an op-ed, but when the protest is done in the arena, we have to address it,” Tingle said.

Joel Holmes, a junior football player, believes the media has twisted the narrative of the protests into something it was never meant to be.

“People in the media have tried to shift the agenda and make this about Kaepernick being unpatriotic, although several veterans have spoken up in support of his protest,” Holmes said.

Jillian Cready, a sophomore basketball player, believes sports serve as the perfect platform for issues to be addressed.

“Sport is a reflection of our society, so if no one protests, we’re basically saying that we’re okay with what’s going on,” Cready said.

Despite the arguments that grow from the protests, Cready believes it’s good to bring these topics to light.

“It sometimes does make a divided nation, but if you want change, you’re going to have to do something to make those conversations happen,” Cready said.

Holmes agrees that it is the responsibility of people with a voice to step up.

“I believe that as long as injustice is present in American society, athletes, celebrities and anyone with the ability should use their platform to enlighten the masses and bring attention to issues until there is change,” Holmes said.

When looking at all of the protests going on in sports right now, Tingle thinks we need to understand the history of the United States.

“It seems trite, but if people don’t understand the history of the United States and how complicated it is, it’s going to be really hard for you to understand why Colin Kaepernick is protesting social justice and equity and equality in the judicial system in the United States,” Tingle said.

Although these types protests, debates and discussions might make us feel uncomfortable, it is crucial to have these sorts of conversations.

“For the students at Trinity, it’s completely okay to feel uncomfortable, but at those moments of disjuncture and discomfort is where growth can happen,” Tingle said.

While 6-0 is the most common score for the women this season, it is not the most impressive.

There has also been 9-0, 10-1 and 13-0, in addition to pre-season scores of 2-1, 2-0 and of course their singular loss of 0-1. In conference play, however, the score has been 6-0 or higher.

In fact, within the conference, every game as of this week has had a score of at least 4-0.

This is partly due to the weaknesses within the conference.

“I think people understand that we score a lot but I don’t think they realize that type of scoring doesn’t happen much with the rest of the conference,” said Julia Camp, senior forward.

“The more we score, the harder we work.

We all strive to play our best game and put our best foot forward,” said Halleanne Dure, junior forward. “I believe that we go into every game

Let me lay something else down. This is not how soccer works. The beautiful game is not famous for a lot of scoring. Games with high scores are outliers. Take the famous final game of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which is the most-watched soccer game in American history. It ended with a score of 5-2 with the US beating Japan.

Statista charts the average number of goals scored per game at the FIFA World Cup from 1930 to 2014, which shows an average of 3 goals per game.

So we’re twice as good, you might say.

However the amount of effort that goes into scoring each goal in soccer cannot be overlooked.

Scoring is hard.

“Trinity women’s soccer traditionally wins,” Dure said. “I believe our student population expects us to beat our competitors.”

Despite winning a bunch, it is still exciting to watch people score.

“I think there’s a big difference between us and the people we’re playing,” Canepa said. “Usually the goals are good goals so that’s exciting.”

Games with lots of goals are exciting, but so are games with close scores.

“I think score is fun but if it’s 0-0 it’s also more intense and fun in a different way,” said senior forward Colleen Markey.

Trinity women’s soccer team makes it look easy, but it is not at all easy to score. That is just how good they are.

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