vanderbilthustler WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
VOL. 126, ISS. 28
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Yik Yak
Students evaluate anonymous app that has rapidly gained popularity on campus SEE PAGE 10
CAMPUS
The future of Greek life
Faculty Senate Task Force chair and student leaders weigh in on the Greek system’s future
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OPINION
Abortion debate continues Three columnists weigh in on different sides of the issue
SPORTS
Childhood Halloween costumes
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Football players — and Derek Mason — share their favorite childhood Halloween costumes
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campus ORG SPOTLIGHT
Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) works to relieve humanitarian crisis By COLLIER BOWLING News reporter --------------------
Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) is the only organization in the U.S. devoted to the North Korean humanitarian crisis, according to the president of Vanderbilt University’s LiNK chapter, Clara Kim. The organization at Vanderbilt became an active chapter just last year. In order to escape the oppressive regime of North Korea, every year hundreds of North Korean refugees flee their country and cross the border into China, where they go into hiding. If Chinese police catch these refugees, they face deportation back to North Korea. So in order to aid these refugees, LiNK brings the refugees that are in China to safety through an “underground railroad” system to either South Korea or the United States. In addition to helping North Korean refugees, LiNK holds fundraisers to support its activities. “There are a bunch of rescue team chapters throughout the United States, and we are actually the only one in Tennessee,” Kim said. “We fundraise, because it costs about $3,000 to bring one refugee to freedom and to help them settle. Also, since the media only kind of talks about politics, we try to shift the focus to the humanitarian issues that aren’t emphasized enough.” With $3000, refugees have no expenses related to their resettlement. Once the refugees are relocated to the United States or South Korea, LiNK helps them teach them the local language, cultural norms and other knowledge that is useful in their resettlement. LiNK believes that the refugees they help resettle can ultimately help bring about change in North Korea. “We believe the refugees sending media, money and information back to North Korea can create internal change and long-term gradual change in the collapse of the North Korean regime,” Kim said. “We really believe in people over politics.” The organization also holds events to raise awareness about the current situation in North Korea. Recently, the organization held a discussion panel with professors from both Middle Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University about how the United States could help bring about change in North Korea. Previously, the organization has also held documentary screenings and discussions to help raise awareness. “The North Korean situation is very unique in that it’s the most secluded country in the world, and people feel hopeless about the situation because they feel they have to be a leader to make any change,” Kim said. “But there is stuff we can do as Koreans or non-Koreans to help the North Korean people, and that’s through helping refugees and raising awareness.” Those who are interested in finding out more about LiNK can join the Facebook page “LiNK at Vanderbilt” or the organization’s Anchor Link page. Also, emails can be sent to Link.at.vandy@gmail.com. No regular meetings are held, but those who join the organization’s pages on Facebook or Anchor Link will be notified about upcoming events.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY “One of the things that we ought to be doing is embracing the fact that Greek life at Vanderbilt is strong, and therefore Greek life ought to help us lead to a better place instead of to a worse place.” DAVID WEINTRAUB, GREEK LIFE TASK FORCE CHAIR
Future of Greek life under discussion
Faculty Senate Greek Life Task Force points out concerns within the Greek system and opportunities for Greek leaders to impact Vanderbilt culture By ALLIE GROSS Asst. news editor --------------------
The Faculty Senate Greek Life Task Force, which was created to review the Greek system at Vanderbilt and ensure that it “supports the mission of the university,” released an interim report in April. The report summarizes the Task Force’s findings after conversations with university and Greek leaders over the course of the last year. The report identified sexual violence and the lack of diversity in Greek life as its “two most important issues on which to focus.” It also highlighted Greek organizations’ exclusive access to houses and institutional support systems, the possible disruption of Commons communities — caused by new member pledging — and disciplinary actions within Greek life as problems of interest. “The report doesn’t provide any conclusions, because we don’t have any conclusions yet,” said David Weintraub, astronomy professor and chair of the Task Force. “I think we are in agreement that we could be in a better place, but we’re not in agreement on how to get to a better place or even which better place to try to get to.” The Task Force expects to produce a final report by the end of the year, ending its two-year review of Greek life. The final report will make recommendations that the Task Force feels will address the issues it sees as problematic. In the past, recommendations in similar reports have led to drastic changes in Greek life on campus — such as switching to the oncampus Greek Row housing system during the 1950s. Other past recommendations, such as deferring to sophomore pledging urged by reports from both the 1950s and 1990s, however, have been ignored by the administration. Weintraub clarified that the Task Force recognizes that some of the problems identified in the report are not exclusive to Greek life, but feels that the Greek community has a responsibility to take a leadership role in curbing their presence. Greek and non-Greek inequities Weintraub said the Opportunity Vander-
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Professor David Weintraub is serving as the chair of the Faculty Senate Greek Life Task Force. Weintraub also served as chair of the Vanderbilt Faculty Senate from 2011-12. bilt program has allowed students to attend Vanderbilt who wouldn’t have been able to afford it in the past. However, although these students have been given the opportunity to attend Vanderbilt through need-based scholarships, their scholarships do not cover all aspects of university life. He cited Greek life as a part of this socio-economic divide. “They can afford to live here and pay the tuition and eat, but they can’t afford to buy pizza on the weekend,” Weintraub said. “They can’t afford to do a summer internship that’s an unpaid internship, they can’t afford to go on a Manna Project trip or an ASB trip, they can’t afford the fees for a studio art class that’s not a regular class — let alone fraternity or sorority dues.” Director of Greek Life Kristin Torrey said that while Greek life is not as socio-economically or racially diverse as the campus as a whole, its diversity is improving, and she expects it to continue to improve with forthcoming programs. Torrey noted that last year, the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council gave away 53 dues scholarships totaling $23,200. She also said that the Experience Vanderbilt initiative with Vanderbilt
Student Government aiming to subsidize student participation in extracurricular activity, including Greek life, attempts to increase socio-economic diversity within Greek life. “We are probably doing better than some other institutions because of the nature and makeup of our student body,” Torrey said. “Our students come from a wide variety of backgrounds from all over the country, and having a broader view of the world can help improve diversity in the Greek community. I am very proud of the initiatives within our community to enhance our diversity in all areas.” Weintraub added that inequities also exist in terms of leadership, because Greek organizations provide opportunities for positions and training that may not be available to those who are unable to — or choose not to — go Greek, while also benefitting from its own support system within the university provided by the Office of Greek Life. This support and organizational structure, Weintraub said, also allows Greek life to more effectively administer other kinds — continued on PAGE 4
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Greek leaders share perspectives on interim report findings — continued from PAGE 2 of training on campus-wide issues, such as Green Dots. “It’s hard to do that outside the Greek system because you don’t have the same organized structures,” Weintraub said. He added that providing this pre-emptive training seems to imply that the training is needed specifically for Greeks, when in reality the training should be provided to all students. Another inequity addressed by the report is that most Greek organizations have exclusive access to Vanderbiltowned houses, which are paid for by chapter dues. The report says that “non-Greek organizations are at a serious disadvantage, in this respect,” and raises the question of why Greek organizations are granted this privilege over other campus organizations. Torrey pointed out that fraternity and sorority houses are common on campuses across the country, and Weintraub acknowledged the Greek housing system as a “historical artifact” of the university’s infrastructure. “If there literally wasn’t a frat row, and you just had all that space, and you just said, ‘Let’s build some houses for social organizations,’ what houses would we build and put there? Which social organizations ought to get that space?” Weintraub said. “I think it ought to be on the table to ask why (Greek organizations) are there, because it is a historical artifact. And to ask, ‘What are we going to do for these other groups now to allow them to have the same kind of social cohesive strengths that the Greek-lettered organizations have because they’re older because they were here first?’” Weintraub was clear that the intention of the Task Force is not to take away Greek houses, but merely to consider
why Vanderbilt has Greek houses and why the privilege isn’t afforded to other organizations on campus, emphasizing a house as a “powerful social cohesive force.” Other issues Beyond inequities, the report discussed the pledge process’s possibly disrupting the first-year Commons experience, which Weintraub said was corroborated by Faculty Heads of Houses serving on the Task Force. He said moving rush back to the start of the first year or the start of sophomore year, the end of pledging or new member education processes, and limiting the amount of time per week students can spend on new member education were all possible options for the Task Force to consider. Both VSG President Tanner Owen and Torrey acknowledged the value of community and peer accountability that a Greek organization can offer first-year students. Owen has been a Commons house president, resident adviser and head resident of Murray House. “I feel like I ran three different case studies on this in Murray House,” Owen said. “My guys were better-behaved during the pledgeship process and afterwards than they were before … I think fraternity men were very positive influences on them. Being around older guys — I think they gave them a sense of responsibility for something that was bigger than themselves.” Weintraub also said he was interested in exploring other schools’ major recent changes to their Greek systems, like Dartmouth University’s decision to abolish pledging and Wesleyan University’s decision to make Greek organizations
co-ed. “We’re just throwing stuff on the table,” Weintraub said. The report also addressed Greek life’s possible role in addressing problems with alcohol and sexual assault on campus, although Weintraub recognized that these were not issues exclusive to Greek life or Vanderbilt’s campus, but rather issues on which Greek life is well-positioned to take a leadership role. “Drinking problems are not exclusive to Vanderbilt, they’re not exclusive to Greek life at Vanderbilt, they’re not exclusive to universities, they’re not exclusive to the U.S. — but they’re a big part of a culture and they’re a big part of the Vanderbilt culture, and we’re part of that culture and we need to be part of improving the problems that are out there,” Weintraub said. “The same thing with sexual assault and sexual abuse.” Torrey said the issues raised in the report, such as sexual assault and drinking, are issues that fraternities and sororities are also working on at the national level, and agreed that Greek life can play an important leadership role in solving these problems. Leadership role While Weintraub made it clear that Greeks are not exclusively responsible for campus issues like lack of diversity, sexual assault and drinking, he said the prominence of Greek life on campus, along with its organizational structures, enables Greek life to drive campus-wide change. “Greek life is often the punching bag, and it sometimes deserves that, and most of the time doesn’t deserve that. But it’s very publicly prominent, so it gets kicked because
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it’s there to kick,” Weintraub said. “One of the things that we ought to be doing is embracing the fact that Greek life at Vanderbilt is strong, and therefore Greek life ought to help us lead to a better place instead of to a worse place. So if we can help the Greek leadership take us in a positive direction, that would be a really good thing.” IFC President Nick Elder said IFC plans to work with the Task Force to boost education on campus issues not only in Greek life, but for the campus as a whole. “I think our relationship and cooperation with the Faculty Senate on these issues will bring about real change for the better throughout the Greek community and the campus as a whole,” Elder said. Panhellenic Council President Leslye Barth also said conversations with the Task Force last year were a “productive dialogue.” “We had the opportunity to give the Task Force an overview of the Panhellenic community that they might not have had,” Barth said. “At the same time, we were able to really get their perspective on our community from an outsider’s opinion, which is always healthy.” National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) President Jordaan McGill declined to comment on this story. Owen and Torrey agreed with the report’s emphasis on the potential for Greek leadership on internal, campus-wide and societal issues, and said Greek life has already shown initiative in this regard prior to prompting from the Task Force’s interim report or the university administration. “Greek life is a very introspective group of people and acknowledges that it isn’t perfect,” Owen said. “Greek life over the years has identified a lot of its own faults and has taken tangible measures to fix them.” “It’s good for us to have feedback,” Barth said. “At the same time, we’re working on our own too.” VSG recently launched Experience Vanderbilt, and IFC
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Greek life is often the punching bag, and it sometimes deserves that, and most of the time doesn’t deserve that.
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chapters approved the IFC Inclusivity Agreement aiming to increase tolerance and diversity in IFC fraternities. Both initiatives were completely student-led and independent of the Task Force or its interim report. IFC President Nick Elder said the Inclusivity Agreement has been IFC’s proudest achievement to date. “I think it will be a huge factor in promoting and ultimately improving the inclusion of minorities (racial/ethnic, sexual identity, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, etc.) in our community,” Elder said in an email. He said IFC’s partnership to raise money for the Mary Parrish Center through Lights on the Lawn is another example of Greeks taking initiative to address the issue of sexual assault. “The IFC fraternities have come together to put on a large fundraising concert the last two years to benefit the Mary Parrish Center, which combats sexual violence by giving battered women and their children a safe place to go,” Elder said. “That is a partnership we fostered and will continue
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to support because we have realized the impact we can have when we work together to raise awareness and make tangible change.” “I do think when you’re a part of a community that does make up 40 percent of a campus, you are in a position of power in numbers, and I think we see an example with the Mary Parrish Center with Lights on the Lawn,” Barth added. Torrey agreed with the report’s suggestion that Greek students have the opportunity to mobilize change on important campus issues. “I think that we have intelligent and capable amazing young people who attend this institution who can identify issues and create innovative solutions,” Torrey said. On the Inclusivity Agreement, Weintraub said: “That sounds like an example of how the Greeks, because they are so organized, can have a very strong leadership role on campus, and they ought to. And if they do that, they can move the whole campus in a very positive direction. I think in many ways they need to be doing that as, in effect, payment for the privileges that they have.” “Nobody on the Task Force has any intention to remove (Greek life) at Vanderbilt. That’s not part of the equation. That’s never been part of the conversation, and it’s not going to be. That would just be silly. But there’s no doubt that everybody thinks Greek life could be a healthier part of what goes on at Vanderbilt.” —Editor-in-chief Tyler Bishop contributed to this report
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Huffer gains momentum in final weeks of campaign Junior Matthew Huffer reflects on his uphill battle against two-time incumbent Rep. David Alexander as he begins his last week of campaigning for Tennessee state representative By KELLY HALOM News editor --------------------
In less than a week, Tennessee’s District 39 will be voting to elect either incumbent Rep. David Alexander (R) or Vanderbilt junior and first-time candidate Matthew Huffer (D) to the Tennessee State House of Representatives. Voting day comes after months of fundraising and canvassing for Huffer. He has also had to balance his time campaigning with being a full-time student, which he said can be incredibly difficult. “Either way, no matter how it goes, I’m going to be happy on Nov. 4,” Huffer said. But it is clear that Huffer’s months of hard work are paying off. Early on in his campaign, Huffer said that lack of recognition among voters and difficulty fundraising against his incumbent were discouraging. Huffer self-started his campaign after realizing that his district did not offer many opportunities in higher education to its students. Huffer decided that he wanted to represent
his district in the Tennessee General Assembly to change that, soon finding that such a grassroots campaign can be a “very slow road.” But after the Republican primary race in early August, the trajectory of Huffer’s race changed. Before the primary, Huffer had raised $2,000. Afterward, Tea Party candidate Jack Daniel, who lost in the Republican primary to Rep. Alexander, endorsed Huffer and began connecting him to influential donors, increasing Huffer’s fundraising to $12,000. In addition to increases in fundraising, Huffer said that media attention has also played a role in helping him gain credibility with voters. The Tennessean published an article on Huffer during the first week of early voting, and News Channel 5 also reported on his campaign. “Once you have money, it’s a lot easier to get it. But as far as getting the voters to take me seriously, getting the media coverage has been the most important thing,” Huffer said. With fundraising support from Jack Daniel and support from local unions, as well as increased media attention, Huffer has been able to out-raise Alexander two to one in
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Junior Matthew Huffer begins his last week of campaigning for a seat in the Tennessee House. Huffer’s flagship issue is education reform, as he seeks to improve education opportunities for students in his more rural district.
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Once you have money, it’s a lot easier to get it. But as far as getting the voters to take me seriously, getting the media coverage has been the most important thing.
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the last quarter. Huffer said that his change in momentum potentially caught his opponent off-guard. “He (Alexander) really didn’t do any sort of campaigning, because he thought …‘it’s this 20-year-old kid who’s not going to be doing much,’ and instead I went and knocked on 1,000 doors and raised more than he did in the last quarter,” Huffer said. “He just now has sort of gotten the clue that he might be in trouble now, so he’s gone to Governor Haslam, who is going down to help his campaign because they’re somewhat worried now.” Despite gains in momentum, Huffer said that it remains difficult to balance time between being a student and being a candidate. For instance, when his debate against Alexander fell on the same day as two midterms, Huffer said it was difficult to prepare for the debate and feel confident after a day of testing.
CAMPUS “The first topic we talked about was the abortion amendment. After taking an Economic Growth midterm and an Economic History of the U.S. midterm and then going to that, I was just fried,” Huffer said. Huffer’s campaign manager and Vanderbilt senior Erin Lee also acknowledged the difficulty in running a campaign remotely. She has been unable to visit the district with Huffer and must manage most meetings via email. “The biggest challenge has been coordinating everything from Nashville, while Matthew’s district is about an hour and a half away,” Lee said. While Lee said that Huffer has taken on more of the campaign manager duties than is typical, she has “loved being able to follow and support Matthew from the beginning of this campaign.” For the next week, Huffer remains focused on continuing to talk to constituents and meet as many people as possible. This past weekend, students from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) helped him knock on doors in Marion County. In the final upcoming weekend of his campaign, Huffer said the Vanderbilt Dems, Sewanee Dems and UTC Dems will help him canvass in the area around Sewanee, which lies within his district. Though it may have been a difficult start for Huffer, he said that eventually his work paid off as it allowed him to create relationships with people in the district and connect to key political players who ultimately boosted his campaign. “The biggest thing I have learned is you can’t give up. If you put in enough work, things are going to come out for you in the end,” Huffer said.
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WHO'S BEHIND HUFFER These organizations have endorsed Huffer for Tennessee state representative:
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opinion YIK YAK
ROUNDUP: REGISTRATION
QUOTE OF THE DAY “I have not been campaigning nearly as much as I could have. Many of my friends claim to be desirous of laws ensuring safe abortions but have not done anything for the movement.”
HILLARY ROSENJACK
Fundamental values The hypocrisy of anti-abortion extremists
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I registered for classes 3 weeks late over the summer and still got all the classes I wanted, people need to calm down Register for classes early. Don’t listen to the idiots I DIDN’T REALIZE ITS CLASS REGISTRATION PLEASE PRAY FOR ME. I STILL HAVENT SEEN MY ADVISOR AND HABE HOLDS ON MY ACCOUNT MY LIFE IS OVER Half of the senior class is registering, that means 900 people at most are trying to get on. That’s 54 million dollars of tuition, so you think that’d be enough for a functioning website
MOLLY CORN is a senior in the College of Arts and Science and opinion editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler. She can be reached at molly.e.corn@ vanderbilt.edu.
Of course my last experience with YES has it load too slowly and a class fills up. Finished how it started For my last semester at Vanderbilt, all of my classes will be in Cohen or the Commons Center. I think I might have gotten things backwards... Get consent before you try to register. #enthusiasticYES Fact: Temple has faster registration than us Would it really make a difference for me to register for classes off campus? Sounds like it’s time to test that ethernet cable... NO. We don’t want to hear your whining. YES, the world will keep spinning if you have a class before noon. YES? More like NO #amiright
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LIFE EDITOR life@vanderbilthustler.com
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ALLISON MAST
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ecently a comment on Facebook reminded me that restrictions on abortion, even when masquerading as health measures, are actually about values. The comment clearly said: “If you think abortion is right vote no, and if you think abortion is wrong vote yes.” Often, even people who are advocates for choice state that they believe abortion is wrong, or that they would never get one, and in fact pro-choice rhetoric often uses the phrase “safe, legal, rare” when talking about abortion to show that of course no one wants women to have abortions, and of course they’re not a good thing. Despite the fact that no one would call abortion a “good” thing, approximately one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Additionally, the majority of Americans support upholding Roe v. Wade, the precedent-setting case that guarantees women the right to choose to end a pregnancy. According to two Gallup Polls, approximately 20 to 30 percent of Americans would like abortion to be illegal in all cases. While that’s certainly a significant minority, it is just that — a minority. It is this small but vocal minority that supports organizations such as Right to Life that claims all abortion is “murder” because life begins at conception. These “pro-life” organizations fail to acknowledge the fact that before Roe v. Wade, anywhere from 200,000 to 1.2 million illegal abortions per year took place, and that these illegal abortions had a very high mortality rate for mothers. In contrast, today’s legal abortions are one of the “safest procedures in contemporary medical practice,” according to the World Health Organization. The rhetoric of Tennessee’s Amendment 1 claims to be concerned with women’s health on both sides of the board. However, a group of doctors, including obstetrician-gynecologist Deborah Webster-Clair have endorsed voting “no,” while the YES on 1 website boasts endorsements from two doctors, Dr. Ming Wang, an eye surgeon, and Dr. Carol Swain, a political science professor here at Vanderbilt. But quite honestly, the reality that abortion is the right decision for many women will never get through to many of the people who vehemently oppose abortion because if they truly wanted to end abortion, they would support using tactics known for being effective in actu-
The Vanderbilt Hustler Opinion page aims to stimulate discussion in the Vanderbilt community. In that spirit, columnists, guest columnists and authors of letters to the editor are expected to provide logical argument to back their views. Unreasonable arguments, arguments in bad faith or arguments in vain between columnists have no place in The Hustler and will not be published. The Hustler welcomes reader viewpoints and offers three methods of expression: letters to the editor, guest columns and feedback on vanderbilthustler.com. The views expressed in lead editorials reflect the majority of opinion among The Hustler’s editorial board and may be supposed to represent the opinion of The Vanderbilt Hustler at the time of publication. They are not necessarily representative of any individual member. Letters must be submitted either in person by the author to The Hustler office or via email to opinion@vanderbilthustler.com. Letters via email should come from a Vanderbilt email address where the identity of the sender is clear. With rare exception, all letters must be received by 2 p.m. on the Sunday prior to publication. The editor
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So on that note, I’ll bite the bullet and say it: Abortion is right.
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ally lowering abortion rates, such as subsidized birth control and comprehensive sexual education. But that is not what anti-abortion extremists want. Instead they actively try to ban Planned Parenthood from teaching sex education at public schools and claim that birth control pills leave tiny dead fetuses embedded in the womb. It’s clear that the reduction of abortion is not the sole goal of anti-abortion extremists. They want to enforce an entire system of values and beliefs, of which life beginning at conception is just one small part. They want women to live in fear of sexual contact outside of marriage, unless of course they’re able to afford to pay out of pocket for birth control with inflated prices. Of course wealthy people are allowed to control their reproductive destinies because they became rich through their own virtue rather than through their systemic privileges. But in this system, a woman whose education and socio-economic status prevents her from accessing birth control or using it effectively does not deserve to have fulfilling sexual experiences, and in fact ought to be forced to carry a pregnancy to term so she’ll learn to stop having sex. It’s likely that this same woman will be told to stop having welfare babies when she seeks help for the children she knew she wasn’t ready to have. It is clear to me that this entire value system not only fails to correspond to the world as it is, but is also ethically wrong. So on that note, I’ll bite the bullet and say it: Abortion is right. It is right because it is a means of allowing women immediate control over their own bodies and futures. It is right because we no longer live in a world where it is imperative to have children to ensure that humanity itself continues. It is right because every child deserves to be a gift, not an accident. It is right because bodily autonomy is the most basic form of justice.
reserves the right to edit and condense submissions for length as well as clarity. Lengthy letters that focus on an issue affecting students may be considered for a guest column at the editor’s discretion. All submissions become the property of The Hustler and must conform to the legal standards of Vanderbilt Student Communications, of which The Hustler is a division. The Vanderbilt Hustler (ISSN 0042-2517), the official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University, is published every Wednesday during the academic year except during exam periods and vacations. The paper is not printed during summer break. The Vanderbilt Hustler allocates one issue of the newspaper to each student and is available at various points on campus for free. Additional copies are $.50 each. The Vanderbilt Hustler is a division of Vanderbilt Student Communications, Inc. Copyright © 2014 Vanderbilt Student Communications.
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The root of the abortion ‘problem’
Comprehensive sex education can bridge the values gap
I DALTON AUTREY is a senior in the College of Arts and Science. He can be reached at dalton.h.autrey@ vanderbilt.edu.
f in the past few weeks you’ve walked by the Wall, browsed your Facebook feed or picked up last week’s edition of The Hustler, you’ve definitely noticed the debate over Amendment 1. It’s a proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution which states that nothing in the Tennessee Constitution protects the right to an abortion — even in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother — and that, instead, the constituents of the state have the right, through voting, to determine laws governing abortion access or lack thereof in this state. Understandably, this amendment has sparked considerable debate and campaigning across the state and beyond its borders. While this is undoubtedly a very important issue to discuss, both sides — for or against the amendment — are failing to talk about the underlying issue: unwanted pregnancy. In 2008, of all the pregnancies in Tennessee, 56 percent were unintended. Forty percent of these unintended pregnancies later result in abortions. Of those which survived to birth, 71 percent were publicly funded (primarily through Medicaid). Clearly, when more than half of the pregnancies that occur within a population are unintended, it’s a problem — and a costly one at that. In 2008, a combined state and federal $378 million was spent on births from unintended pregnancies. While these statistics aren’t limited to teens, this age group represents a large chunk of it. Tennessee has among the highest teenage pregnancy and abortion rates for myriad complex
reasons, but one of the most influential ones stems from its inept sex education (if you can even call it that). By law, when sex education is provided, it is not necessary to include information about contraception. However, it is required that information is provided on how it is important that sex occur only in marriage. To continue to make things worse, this information is not legally required to even be medically accurate, and it is not barred from being used to promote religious beliefs. Furthermore, it is required that abstinence-only is stressed. A sex education program is abstinence-only if teachers and other educators insist on (or are legally required to) only telling youth that they should not engage in sexual practices outside of wedlock. Such programs deliberately choose to not inform students of the effectiveness, availability and use of various contraceptives that can equip the youth to engage in sexual practices safely. Many conservatives feel that youth should not be informed about these options because this could promote more rampant sex and that in being complicit, they would be tacitly condoning premarital sex.The problem is that studies demonstrate that these programs do not meaningfully deter sexual conduct in youths but instead negatively impacts teenagers — making them less likely to utilize safe sex practices. There is some good news, though: Currently, Tennessee has family planning centers that in 2012 helped avert 31,700 unintended pregnancies which, statistically, would have resulted in 10,800 abortions.
In 2010, these same services helped save the state $74.1 million in Medicaid costs. All of these statistics demonstrate that unintended pregnancies are disturbingly common and very pricey. They also illustrate, though, that much of this issue can be resolved by better educating youth toward safer sexual practices. Such education programs in other states cover a variety of issues that Tennessee’s programs currently are not legally bound to: types, effectiveness and availability of a wide array of contraceptive options (in case you didn’t know, you can get free condoms from a variety of locations on campus including the Student Health Center); discussion of the importance of condoms in preventing the transmission of HIV (not required in Tennessee); and information regarding sexual orientation. There’s certainly no dearth of scientific literature succinctly demonstrating that these programs are often quite helpful in improving the general sexual health of teenagers and preventing many, many unwanted pregnancies. While this debate over whether to amend the Tennessee Constitution sparks dialogue across the campus and in your larger communities, try to take some time to recognize that the legality and availability of abortion in this state is only one piece of the problem. Hopefully both proponents and opponents of Amendment 1 can, regardless of the results, strive to work together to treat the root of the issue — unintended pregnancies — rather than just the symptoms (abortion).
Clarifying misconceptions Why you should vote ‘yes’ on Amendment 1
L HILLARY ROSENJACK is a senior in the College of Arts and Science. She can be reached at hillary.a.rosenjack@ vanderbilt.edu.
ast week, you saw The Vanderbilt Hustler push an agenda against Amendment 1. I have always been impressed with this paper as a forum for discussion on opposing viewpoints, but the decision to monopolize the front cover with that declaration last week was a rather prominent display against that understanding. I will lay out a few misconceptions about the amendment and explain why, as Allison Vargo expressed in her article in The Daily Beacon last week, that a “yes” on One is a yes for all women. I would like to begin my discussion by addressing two common misconceptions about Amendment 1: first, the impending status of abortion in Tennessee and second, abortion exceptions. To the first point: Amendment 1 does not outlaw abortion in any circumstances. Yes, you read that correctly: This is not an amendment that prevents a woman from being able to get an abortion in Tennessee. This amendment takes the inherent right to abortion from the state constitution to permit common-sense laws as the people see fit, as I will soon discuss. Those against Amendment 1 claim that it will put politicians between a woman and her doctor and will allow politicians to outlaw abortion even in the case of saving the life of the mother. This is absolutely not true. Firstly: Tennessee has had an abortion exception for saving the life of the mother since the 1880s. Secondly: We have Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v.
Casey that prevent us from banning abortion in certain circumstances or banning abortion altogether. According to Ballotpedia, Amendment 1 aims to “assert important interests in safeguarding health, in maintaining medical standards” because “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion.” Amendment 1 aims to protect women by following the guidelines presented in Roe v. Wade, which, in the decision, permitted states to have some laws on abortion as its people and legislature deemed appropriate. An important point we are often missing in this debate is that rather than laws on abortion being in the hands of the court, they will now be in the hands of the people of Tennessee. In the year 2000, the Tennessee State Supreme Court ruled that Tennessee’s privacy laws included a guaranteed right to abortion. This is an extremely radical position; not even the Supreme Court of the United States goes that far. Tennessee has allowed, for example, no hospitalization requirements for later-term abortions (after 24 weeks) and no mandatory licensing and inspection of abortion clinics. According to the Women’s Protection Project, carried out by Americans United for Life, tattoo parlors, tanning booths and beauty salons are more regulated than abortion clinics. Amendment 1 seeks to allow the people to decide what laws they would like to see in place. Three ways this amendment could make a meaningful difference through the vote of representa-
tives whom the people of Tennessee elect include informed consent to provide accurate information based on health history; a 24-hour waiting period to avoid abortion-on-demand and coercion; and inspection and regulation of abortion clinics (facilities where more than half of all visits are for abortions) to ensure safe procedures. Any advocate for women’s health should want these basic protections for women. To those who believe that we should vote “yes” on One: I daresay that many of us have not done our part. I have not been campaigning nearly as much as I could have. Many of my friends claim to be desirous of laws ensuring safe abortions but have not done anything for the movement. Just because we are passionate about the issue does not mean anything will get done. This movement deserves our help. If you support this amendment — if you think women and girls have a right to the facts, if you think abortion facilities need to be licensed and inspected and if you think taxpayers should be protected from funding abortions — join me in this last week before the election. We need to be knocking on doors, helping answer questions outside the polls, making calls and acting on our convictions. Help us take abortion regulations out of the hands of the court and into the hands of the people. Life — and the well-being of many of those who conceive those lives — depends on it.
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
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life Yik Yak Eight thousand sixty-five people within a 1.3-mile radius of Vanderbilt have opened Yik Yak in the past month. 59 percent of those are Vanderbilt undergraduates, according to estimates by the app’s developers. Yik Yak, which allows users to anonymously post updates that can be viewed by anyone within a 1.5-mile radius, has become increasingly popular on college campuses across the U.S. since its November 2013 release. The posts, which can be no more than 200 characters, usually relate to topics ranging from lack of sleep and sex to Greek life, GPAs and campus events. Cam Mullen, the lead community developer for Yik Yak and a Vanderbilt graduate from the class of 2014, said the purpose of the app is to provide an open forum where all members of a community can connect with one another. “Yik Yak gives a voice to people who might not have one, and allows everyone to connect on mobile devices in a really easy way,” Mullen said. He added that it has been particularly successful on college campuses because of a high concentration of young people sharing a similar experience. “There’s so much going on at Vanderbilt all at once that it’s hard to keep up on everything, so checking Yik Yak is a good way to kind of get an overview of what people are thinking about,” said sophomore Emma Noyes. Yik Yak began gaining traction on Vanderbilt’s campus last spring. Many students remember the app being used to urge the student body to participate in a bone marrow donor drive hosted by AEPi.
Anonymity controversies One of the most distinguishing — and controversial — features of Yik Yak is user anonymity. Mullen thinks that anonymity on the app is important because the identity of the user doesn’t determine the prominence of the content. “Content is judged on content alone. People have the opportunity to talk to people they would never talk to (in person),” Mullen said. Dr. Leslie Kirby, a senior lecturer in psychology at
Student opinions
8,065 active users in the Vanderbilt area (1.3 miles from center of campus)
2,939
yaks posted each day around Vanderbilt
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estimated proportion of the student body that has used Yik Yak Vanderbilt, explained that anonymity can be dangerous because it removes individual accountability and can result in a “loosening of moral standards.” “So you act in a way that’s not in accordance with the way you typically would,” she said. “They say things that they wouldn’t normally say to someone’s face. The shield of anonymity provides them with ... a sense of bravado.” Many Vanderbilt students agree that the anonymous aspect of the app can be problematic.
special
Students eva and sparked By Maddie
“I don’t like Yik Yak. I think it people to share their negative o ers when they are too afraid to s directly,” said sophomore Jacob Damonta Morgan, also a sop Yak allows for us to create a fict where we can go and say what w consequences.” For some, however, anonymi — as long as users don’t take it t “Some people may read into or to an extreme, but I think tha immature and that most people don’t take it seriously. At least th said junior Corbon Heizer. Yik Yak recognizes that some tive purposes, according to Mul going to be bad apples,” he said He explained that the compa minimize misuse of the app by responsibility through features for users to “downvote” posts th “upvote” ones they do. When a “downvotes,” it is removed from “Rules and Information” section taken, including flagging derog suspending abusive users. These measures set Yik Yak ap anonymous posting forums, su which sparked the “Girl that rat campus last spring. That websit Despite the inevitable proble Kirby agreed that there is some mous nature. “In all levels of society there h anonymously let people know t lem,” she said. “But at the same companies (like Yik Yak) are rea irresponsible not to think abou the dark side. You can’t just say, ‘We made this product with good intentions, and it’s not our fault if people use it
“I think it’s psychologically bad — it’s not good for your mind to say whatever the hell you want without a filter any time, against anybody.” — Jacob Shpilberg, sophomore
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badly,’ because it ultimately is.” More student perspectives For many of those who love it, Yik Yak is nothing more than a source of entertainment. “(Yik Yak) can be taken too far and can go to a place where you’re outing people or saying things that you wouldn’t say in broad daylight, which is never good,” Noyes said. “But as a general rule it’s a source of comedic entertainment to understand people’s responses to what’s going on around campus.” Others, however, acknowledge that the content itself can be problematic. “I think it’s funny but I don’t think it’s positive. One time somebody posted something mean about my friend and she cried. I think the general ones that make fun of fraternities and sororities and stuff are funny, when they are not targeting specific people,” said sophomore Caroline Travis. Those who hate it say that the problems resulting from the anonymity of the app keep them from using it. Sophomore Lizzie McCormick said that she doesn’t use Yik Yak because of the way it often generates humor by attacking others. “Granted, some of the (yaks) are really funny, but usually they’re funny because they are making fun of someone else or something else, especially if it’s something personal — that’s really awful,” McCormick said. Inevitably, there are students who find themselves somewhere in the middle, recognizing that the app has problems but that the measures taken against them are effective. “(Negative) stuff disappears off the feed pretty quickly, so I feel like the fact that people who use it have the power to kind of police what goes on there outweighs the negative potential the app has,” said sophomore Nick Seidell. The features put in place for users to regulate the feed, however, haven’t prevented problems from escalating on other campuses. Threats of violence and other abusive content have been posted to the app at some schools, requiring the police to get involved
to determine their validity and take action against the perpetrators. In extreme cases, the company — which has access to information regarding the location and identity of users — helps identify the user who posted the threat. For instance, a school in New Jersey, Rowan University, is pursuing action against users who posted a sex tape to Yik Yak without the permission of the subject. Outlook In the future, Mullen said Yik Yak hopes to move beyond use on college campuses, and serve as a news source by allowing users to gain real-time information about international events and crises, much like Twitter does. The app currently has a “peek” feature, which allows users to see what people are talking about on other college campuses, but the company wants to open this feature to allow views into an increasing number of communities around the world. “In the future we want users to be able to peek into virtually any place in the world, from the Oscars to Madison Square Garden to sites of natural disasters, to get a live feed and see what (people there) are talking about,” Mullen said. Some students, however, are skeptical of the idea. “I think it’s absurd that anyone would take Yik Yak as a legitimate news source, especially because it’s an anonymous posting board,” said junior Travis Courtney. He added that the prevalence of rumors usually makes it necessary for users to investigate whether the information on the app is true or false. For now, Yik Yak seems to serve primarily as a way for Vanderbilt students to share their observations about life on campus with their peers. Said Mullen, “We’re stoked that Yik Yak gives a voice to people that might not have one. The shy kid in the back of the class can connect with the jock, the frat star, the Blair opera singer. You can see what everyone thinks.” —Alex Montesantos contributed to this report
A brief Yik Yak history Yik Yak was created by two college students at Furman University in South Carolina in November 2013. It has become increasingly popular on college campuses across the U.S. in the year since its release. The app was first launched at schools in the South, and has been moving up the coast through the past year. When it started, the app was limited to a small number of users. To reach more than 500 users within a 5-mile radius, the poster would have to pay $0.99 to share with 1,000 users and up to $5.00 for 10,000 users. Now, the app is completely free. Currently, Yik Yak developers are focusing on bringing the app to the West Coast. Use of the app isn’t limited to college campuses. Over the past year, the company has reported large numbers of users at music festivals like Bonnaroo, and international events visited by American college students, like Oktoberfest.
Yik Yak rules 1. You do not bully or specifically target other yakkers. 2. You DO NOT bully or specifically target other yakkers. 3. Zero-tolerance policy on posting people’s private information.
“I think it is just irrelevant, especially as we are getting older — I don’t think people want to read other people’s anonymous thoughts all the time.” — Mahtub Zare, junior
“It can also be taken too far and can go to a place where you’re outing people or saying things that you wouldn’t say in broad daylight, which is never good. But as a general rule it’s a source of comedic entertainment to understand people’s responses to what’s going on around campus.” — Emma Noyes, sophomore
4. Don’t clutter people’s feeds with useless or offensive yaks. If you see a useless or offensive yak, make sure to do your part by downvoting or reporting it. 5. If your yaks continue to be reported, you will be suspended. 6. Ride the yak.
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
Tricks for treats
LIFE
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Halloween treats are an integral part of celebrating the holiday, but carrying a pumpkin pail down frat row on Friday night might not get you the kind of Snickers you’re looking for. Not to worry – The Hustler has found ways to satisfy even the most wicked sweet tooth with treats you can construct from Munchie Mart ingredients By Claudia Willen, Life reporter
Doughnut Spider
Monster Mouth
Ingredients: Pretzels M&M’S Mini doughnuts Peanut butter (for glue)
Ingredients: Apples Peanut butter Candy corn
1. Cut the rounded corners of the pretzels with a knife or break them by hand to form the spider’s legs. 2. Each doughnut requires 6-8 pretzels. Stick the cut-up fragments evenly into the doughnut’s sides. 3. To put the eyes on, cover the backs of two M&M’S with peanut butter and place them on the front of the doughnut. 4. Voila! You have an unlimited (or as many doughnuts as your meal swipe can get you) amount of creepy, crawling doughnut spiders to get you and your friends into the Halloween spirit.
Eat this, not that Fruit candies: Skittles vs. Sour Patch Sour or sweet used to be the determining factor in picking between Sour Patch Kids and Skittles, but it turns out that there’s a nutritional difference between the two. While the sour gummies may leave your tongue stinging, their 210 calories per bag is slightly better for your waistline than the 230-calorie serving of Skittles.
1. Use a knife to cut a wedge out of the apple. 2. Smother as much or as K AT LER UST HY Y UAN / THE VANDERBILT H little peanut butter as you want in the wedge, but make sure it’s enough to cover the wedge fully. 3. You can explore different options for teeth, but candy corn is a good starting point. If you can get your hands on marshmallows, go crazy. Stick them in the peanut butter facing different directions to look like crooked teeth. 4. Eat up! This treat will fill you up between classes and works as a snack to hold you over for your Hallows’ Eve festivities.
Even college students miss trick or treating, but it’s harder to eat 30 pieces of candy in one night without consequences now than it was as a toddler. Here are some of the tastiest options with the best nutritional value By Anna Butrico, Life reporter
Chocolate: Snickers vs. Reese's Snickers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups both nail the chocolate and peanut flavor combination. But between the chocolate, peanuts and caramel, a Snickers bar’s serving size packs in a filling 250 calories, while peanut butter cups are only 105 each, with a pack coming in at 210.
Mints: York vs. Junior Mints For fans of peppermint, these popular picks can’t be beat, but which will weigh you down? The York Peppermint Pattie is the combination of peppermint and chocolate at its finest, and its patty size only packs in 140 calories. The tiny Junior Mints, on the other hand, belie their unhealthiness. While the packaging says they’re only 170 calories per serving, there are three servings in a standard-sized box.
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Dress up, anchor down Confused freshman
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
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With Halloween around the corner, there’s a time crunch for costumes, but there are a few Vandy-themed getups that you can throw together from your own closet or after raiding a friend’s, modeled by The Hustler’s own Life staffers By Priyanka Aribindi, Life editor
Off-duty football player
Stereotypical Belmont student
-VUFB shirt -Vandy sweatpants -Black backpack -Beats headphones
-Skinny jeans -Glasses -Backpack full of recyclables
Befriend a first-year and borrow their Commons shirt. Proceed to walk around cluelessly asking for directions to Stevenson or complaining about Gen Chem.
Pull off this costume and you’re basically qualified enough to start for the Commodores on Saturday.
Tuck a cigarette behind your ear and talk about “your band” all night for maximum effect. PHOTOS BY BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER
-Class of 2018 Commons shirt -Lanyard and ID holder -Commodore Card
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
sports
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THE BIG STAT Number of strokes by which the women’s golf team won the Rainbow Wahine Invitational last week
SEC POWER RANKINGS: WEEK 9
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Each week, I rank the teams in the SEC 1-14. This week, one Mississippi school remains unscathed, the other does not and there are little things to be excited about if you’re a Vandy fan.
By ANTHONY TRIPODORO Sports reporter --------------------
1. No. 1 Mississippi State The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs got their biggest scare of the season thus far this weekend from — not LSU, Texas A&M or Auburn — but Kentucky. I found myself, for the first time I can remember, rooting for the undefeated No. 1 team in the country NOT to be upset. We live in a world where a non-traditional power is the best team in college football. Enjoy it while it lasts.
2. No. 4 Auburn Auburn proved once again that it does not lose close games in the SEC. South Carolina played maybe its best game of the season and still came up short. Auburn now sits as the only one-loss team in the SEC to lose only to an undefeated opponent.
3. No. 3 Alabama Tennessee fans do not like Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, the former Vols coach who left after one 7-6 season in Knoxville. They hate him so much that Kiffin’s mother said “I’m scared to death for his safety” this weekend visiting Neyland Stadium. Dude showed up with six armed police escorts. Which is why it’s unfortunate that Alabama beat Tennessee comfortably and shut the crowd up because we literally could have seen an Alabama coach go home crying to his mother because people were being mean to him.
4. No. 7 Ole Miss We saw bad Bo Wallace and bad Hugh Freeze on Saturday, as poor decisions from both the quarterback and the coach ultimately doomed the Rebels against LSU. A one-loss team could very well represent the SEC in the College Football Playoff, but it is hard to imagine Ole Miss being that team after what they showed us this week.
5. No. 16 LSU Leonard Fournette had one of the most impressive performances by a back this season, carrying for more than 100 yards against the No. 1-ranked Ole Miss defense. The Tigers defense played its part as well, stifling Bo Wallace. With a signature victory, LSU looks very good on paper at 7-2 with losses to Mississippi State and Auburn.
6. No. 9 Georgia This week, the rest of the Bulldogs got to join their suspended teammate, Todd Gurley, in not playing on Saturday. Even during his suspension, Gurley is proving to be one of the most entertaining players around. He was seen early in the week at a party wearing a shirt that said “FREE GURLEY” and then at bars throughout Athens on Thursday night, a full week before Halloween, dressed up as a pirate, yelling “Free me!” I hope he’s still selling autographs because now I want one. (This story is real, for the record.)
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Soccer team misses SEC Tourney Highlight-heavy season ends with heartbreaking loss to Ole Miss By MAX HERZ Sports reporter --------------------
Entering the team’s final home game Sunday against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt soccer trailed the Rebels by two points in the standings for 10th in the SEC. Only the top 10 teams in the conference make the SEC Tournament, which the Commodores last reached in 2010. A win against Ole Miss on Senior Day would give Vanderbilt control of its postseason fate with one match remaining. An even first half, two early second-half goals and a late questionable call combined to eliminate the Commodores from SEC Tourney contention by a 2-1 score. The Commodores broke the ice early in the second half. Forward Simone Charley took control, stealing the ball and navigating through a swarm of Rebel defenders into the box to score her eighth goal of the season, giving Vandy a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute. The Rebels picked up the next goal to tie the match seven minutes later. The game remained even into the 82nd
minute, when Vanderbilt defender Claire Anderson was called for a soft foul after making incidental contact just outside the box. On top of the questionable call, Anderson was also awarded a yellow card. Jessica Hiskey scored off the resulting free kick from 20 yards out on a shot that hit goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami’s glove. That game-changing call was the first of three that went against Vanderbilt in the final 10 minutes, as the Commodores tried to re-tie the game. “I can’t really say it was just one thing that went wrong for us,” Charley said on the loss. “We gave our best effort and we just happened to fall short, which is definitely disappointing, but we did all we could.” Eliminated from postseason contention, Vanderbilt’s final game is this Thursday at Florida, airing on the SEC Network at 6 p.m. Improvement from last year In 2013, the Commodores finished 4-12-3 overall with a 1-9-1 conference record. With one game remaining, the team currently sits at 7-9-2 with a 2-6-2 SEC mark, a drastic improvement over last season. This year’s team has a goal differential of -3, just a season after being outscored by 13 goals. An overall trend of tighter, lower-scoring games was evident all season after the team posted a record-
breaking offensive season, despite poor results, in 2013. The reason for improvement even after losing leading goal scorer Cheyna Williams, who transferred to Florida State before the season? A truly close group of players translates into a successful soccer team. “This is the most tightly connected team we’ve had here,” said Coach Derek Greene, who has led the Commodores since 2010. Senior defender and co-captain Cherrelle Jarrett agrees with her coach. “This year we’ve definitely been more of a team with a family kind of environment. I love my teammates for sure,” she said. Jarrett’s co-captain, junior midfielder Erin Myers, provided more detail on the team’s family atmosphere. “One of our core values is that we are a united family of one,” Myers said. “I think that this year we are really living that out.” The Commodores will lose just two of 11 starters, and boast a strong underclassman core. This season’s upward trend can be expected to continue. Seniors move on without playoff experience Vanderbilt hasn’t reached the SEC Soccer Tournament since 2010, when this year’s seniors were seniors in high school. Only the top 10 teams in the conference — continued on PAGE 18
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
SEC POWER RANKINGS: WEEK 9 CONTINUED 7. Texas A&M The Aggies posted their best performance of the month of October during their bye week.
8. Arkansas Arkansas offensive lineman Sebastian Tretola channeled former hefty Kentucky gunslinger Jared Lorenzen, aka The Pillsbury Throwboy, and threw a touchdown pass in the Razorbacks’ victory over UAB in a very unique trick play. Around the country, offensive coordinators cursed wildly as they came to the realization that now every one of their offensive linemen is never going to stop asking them to run that play.
9. Missouri Wins are wins, but Maty Mauk and the Tigers have not looked impressive at all in their recent victories. That trend continued this week, and the Commodores almost upset them, with Johnny McCrary passing for more yards than Mauk, something a Vanderbilt quarterback has not done all season.
10. Kentucky Following Kentucky’s near-upset of Mississippi State, Drake texted his friend, John Calipari: Drake: Hey John, that was a great game, even though you lost. Maybe spend some more time practicing onside kicks, but otherwise you did a great job coaching. Go Wildcats! Calipari: I’m not a football coach, Aubrey. Drake: You can be whatever you want to be, John. Calipari: I think you’re missing the point here. Drake: Like last week, I decided I wanted to be a D1 basketball player and, at Midnight Madness, I nailed a three on my first try. Started from the bottom, now we here. Calipari: ... Drake: So you’re coming to my birthday party tomorrow, right??????
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Halloween costume confessional Before the Commodores dress for their game against Old Dominion this weekend, The Hustler asks them to divulge about their favorite childhood Halloween costume By Josh Hamburger, sports reporter
CJ Duncan WR #19 – Zorro “I thought I looked cool. All black. I had the hat, I had the sword. Honestly, that’s probably the only one I can remember, so it’s pretty memorable.”
Adam Butler DL #69 – Hulk “One that I could fit in when I was younger was a Hulk costume. I got too big now. Last year I found one at Target. It was a Superman one. I posted it on Instagram if you want to look at it.”
Stephen Rivers QB #17– Auburn football player “Growing up in Alabama, from like five to ten, I was a big Auburn fan. I had the whole gear on with the eye-black and everything.”
Caleb Scott WR #9 – Pooh Bear “Just because I had a Pooh Bear costume. I wore it like three years straight. I wore it last year actually, to be honest.”
Johnny McCrary QB #2 – Zombie “In third grade, I went as a zombie. I had some fake blood, and I was squirting people with blood, and people thought it was real too.”
Jerron Seymour RB #3 – Dracula “I was probably about six, and I was able to wear the face paint and the Dracula teeth. I just wanted to be a vampire that year. I was coming off watching the vampire movies, and I just wanted to be that. My mom talked me into it, and it was fun to be out and with my friends that night.”
Nathan Marcus TE #83 – Inflatable bull “It had legs kicking out, and I was the guy riding on the bull and went around on it. It was awesome. It was the best costume by far.”
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Jay Woods DL #74 – Power Ranger “It was one of my favorite shows growing up.”
Caleb Azubike OLB #55 – Hulk “Growing up, I had that nickname. People called me the Hulk. I always loved him in the movies. Lou Ferrigno actually is one of my favorite actors. Also, my temper sometimes — whenever I would get that angry, my mom would call me the Hulk and tell me to calm down.”
Andrew Jelks OL #50 – Power Ranger “It was my favorite TV show growing up. I was obsessed with it. So my mom got my brothers and me Power Ranger costumes, and we all dressed up as Power Rangers. That was my favorite.”
Darrius Sims DB/RS #6 – Michael Myers “I grew up watching the Halloween series, and I was scared of him at first. As I got older, I was a big Michael Myers fan, but not when I was young because I was scared of him all the time.”
SPORTS
Stephen Weatherly OLB #45 – “Cereal” Killer “One year in high school, I walked around with a plastic knife and a box of cereal, and I just kept stabbing it. It was last-minute, and my friend asked me to go trick-or-treating. We were old, and we were taking around little siblings, and he was like, ‘You got to be something.’ It was funny, I got a lot of king-sized bars for that one, so it was a fun outing.”
Head Coach Derek Mason – Superman “I dressed up in some red tights with my Superman Underoos and a homemade towel that was turned into a cape. It was cool — I wanted to be Superman. I ran around the house, ran around the block, got some candy, came back and probably slept in that thing for two days.” HEADSHOTS COURTESY OF VUCOMMODORES
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SEC POWER RANKINGS: WEEK 9 CONTINUED 11. South Carolina “Well, we gave it the old college try,” said Steve Spurrier in his postgame press conference. “Not much else you can do. That’s all, folks. See you later.”A reporter then exclaimed, “But coach, aren’t you at all concerned about how your team has disappointed this year, like it seems to every year? You were ranked No. 9 in the country coming into the season!” “Frankly, my dear,” replied the Ol’ Ball Coach, “I don’t give a damn. I’m Steve f**king Spurrier.”
12. Florida Will Muschamp woke up on Sunday morning with a smile on his face. “Nobody told me they hated me yesterday,” he said to his wife. “I didn’t have to answer any questions about my job security because there was no game. I gotta say it was a good day.” He then walked outside to pick up the newspaper. To his dismay, he found a For Sale sign on his front lawn with a note attached: “You’re still going to need this.”
13. Tennessee Is there a chance that UT goes 0-4 the rest of the way and Vandy goes 2-2 to finish with a better record and own the rivalry in 2014? You bet there is!
14. Vanderbilt Vanderbilt showed signs of progress on both sides of the ball Saturday, offering some hope about the team’s chances to gain another win or two this season, as well as its prospects for next season. At this point, they’ve simply dug themselves too deep of a hole to wish for a postseason berth. If the movie “Frozen” has taught us anything, it’s that when it comes to some things, like the 2014 football season, you just have to “Let It Go.” Actually, the more appropriate song to reference from that soundtrack might be “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” — which is a serious question our football players can ask one another this December as they spend their time not preparing for a bowl game.
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SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
Player of the Year: Simone Charley
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— continued from PAGE 14 reach Orange Beach, Alabama, and Vanderbilt cannot finish better than 11th with one match remaining. “It’s just disheartening to have such a phenomenal senior class with great leadership … that went four years without making it to the SEC Tournament,” Charley said. It’s clear that the team’s mission all season long was to reach the conference tournament. “Talk about playing for something outside yourself,” Myers said before the team’s first conference game in September. “We’re playing for our seniors, they deserve to get there. We deserve to get there as a team. That’s hot on our minds.” Jarrett, a senior, reflected upon her class’s unfortunate distinction after the Ole Miss loss Sunday. “As seniors, we know we’ve changed this program. Even though we’re not making Orange Beach this year, (this year was a step) in the right direction and we owe that to every single person on the team. We’re just proud at this time, really upset at the result but we’re just trying to move forward.”
The sophomore two-sport star, Charley’s track and field abilities translate into a display of speed exhibited by few others at this level of soccer. She leads the team with eight goals and three assists heading into the season finale, and began to take games over as the year progressed. Myers knows that Charley’s speed makes every player on the team better. “By her pulling defenders out with her speed, it clears space for someone who might not be as fast to get in that space, and it makes them look like they’re wicked fast to get there,” Myers said. “By sometimes taking it more myself, it opened up opportunities for other plays,” the ever-humble Charley said. “When defenders would commit more numbers, it opens things up. I think it was more changing things up to help other people.” The sophomore forward was Vandy’s top returning scorer, and topped her freshman year tally of five goals. Her developing leadership role on the team is unquestioned.
THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER The true freshman Ogunsami was the Commodores’ starting goalkeeper from opening night through all of conference play, guarding the Vanderbilt net for all but one half of soccer. A year after the team used three keepers and allowed 2.51 goals per game, Ogunsami was a stabilizing force in goal. She will end the season as the only SEC goalie with 100 saves, holding a 20-save lead over her closest rival. Her athletic frame and basketball background led to some acrobatic saves. “She had an amazing season. She just came in, stepped up to the plate and just started off from the beginning making saves and coming up big in times of need,” Charley said. “Given that she’s tall, she’s able to get those high balls, making it look easy.” It’s safe to say that Vanderbilt will avoid goalkeeping issues for the next three seasons.
Rookie of the Year: Christiana Ogunsami I must first say that redshirt freshman Lydia Simmons and true freshmen Colby Ciarrocca and Cristina de Zeeuw all played huge roles this season. However, Christiana Ogunsami was the most impactful player on the roster aside from Charley.
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Story of the Year: Ozzie Returns On Sunday, Coach Greene rewarded all seven of his seniors with starting nods in their final home match including Ashley Oswald, who had not played since Sept. 14 while battling a blood clot. Initially told her senior season was over, Oswald played the game’s first three minutes and received a major round of applause upon exiting the game with a smile on her face. The team trainer “determined she was healthy enough to go out there and run around a little bit,” according to Greene. “She always brings so much energy to the locker room, to the field,” Charley added. “We definitely missed her this season.” Oswald continued attending practices and home games during her treatment. Her final full weekend of games featured a game-winning assist against Lipscomb on Sept. 12 and a goal and two assists against Chattanooga on Sept. 14.
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‘One block away’: details stand in way of first SEC win By BEN WEINRIB Asst. sports editor --------------------
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Quarterback Johnny McCrary (2) celebrates another SEC win last season versus Georgia.
Eight games deep into Head Coach Derek Mason’s first season, Vanderbilt is still searching for its first SEC win. But although their 0-5 conference record wouldn’t indicate it, they’ve come remarkably close several times now with just details to iron out. Everyone’s heard the phrase “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” but for a team in a rebuilding season like Vanderbilt, close very much matters. With the young team now one loss away from being eliminated from bowl eligibility, the focus truly belongs on developing players as a group and securing that first elusive conference win. “We’re so close,” said linebacker Stephen Weatherly after Saturday’s 24-14 loss at Missouri. “It’s just one block away, one tackle away, one good decision away. Hopefully we’ll work on it this week and it all clicks and comes together versus Old Dominion. And then after that we roll into more SEC play, so hopefully we can get it going and ride it out for the rest of the season.” The Commodores still have Florida and Tennessee, two teams they beat last year on the road, along with No. 1 Mississippi State remaining on its schedule, but first they have Old Dominion this weekend. Although the Big Blue is only 3-5 in the weak Conference USA, this upcoming game repre-
sents an opportunity for Vanderbilt to shore up areas that need work. “It’s just the small things,” said linebacker Nigel Bowden on Saturday. “We basically keep beating ourselves. That’s how I feel, and that’s how our whole team feels. The alignment, penalties, missed tackles, just the small things.” “The chemistry is continuing to grow; everybody’s starting to see that. Everybody’s getting on the same page, and once we get our little mistakes out of the way, we’ll be good,” he said. But those small things have been a big problem for Vanderbilt all season. The Commodores haven’t had single game with more takeaways than turnovers, and through seven games, they committed 14 more penalties than their opponents. Furthermore, the Commodores have struggled on third downs, only converting 29 percent for first downs, compared to their opponents, who have converted 41 percent of theirs. Against Missouri, Vanderbilt was only called for five penalties compared to the Tigers’ 14, but missed tackles and untimely penalties became a recurring problem. With three minutes left in the third quarter, Missouri was facing third and 15 on the Vanderbilt 49, and quarterback Maty Mauk picked up 36 yards on a draw play, evading tackles from a blitzing Tre Tarpley and Kyle Woestmann. The next play, Mauk connected with Bud Sasser for a touchdown to extend their lead to 17-7. In the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, Missouri was facing second and 20 on the
Vanderbilt 44 and Mauk ran for 10 yards, but they picked up a first down when Vanderbilt was called for a facemask penalty. Two plays later, Mauk connected with Sasser again to put the game away at 24-14. “It’s not the best times now at Vanderbilt, but I think we have the right tools to be successful,” said quarterback Johnny McCrary. “Games like this are going to happen, but further along on the line, games like this won’t happen because I’ll play a lot better.” Although they came tantalizingly close to getting their first SEC win on the road, Vanderbilt exceeded many people’s expectations Saturday. The betting line before the game was 23 points, and Missouri never had a lead bigger than 10. The running game may not have been very impressive, but Vanderbilt had consistent passing game, which had been missing for most of the year. McCrary was 17-31 for 196 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, with much of that success coming on the two touchdown drives: 8-10 for 113 yards. “I told the team in the locker room (that we’re close),” Mason said. “We’re a growing, hardworking football team that’s going to continue to work forward … This group is coming closer together; they’re playing like family. They just need to continue to understand that.” Vanderbilt has a week to figure out these small, pesky details before SEC play resumes. And if they do by their Nov. 8 matchup against Florida, it could be enough to salvage a tough season.
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