vanderbilthustler WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
VOL. 128, ISS. 6
Who is our best player?
Will it be Kendall, Reynolds or Toffey?
Meet the lineup
New year, new faces for the Commodores
How to replace Dansby at shortstop
The case for three freshmen who can fill his shoes
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news
CAMPUS UPDATE Dance Marathon’s “Big Event” will take place Saturday, Feb. 20 to raise funds for Monroe Carell Jr. Hospital at Vanderbilt. The event will be held from 11 a.m. Saturday until 12:15 a.m. Sunday in the SLC.
Engineering student to host Mariah Carey ‘senior recital’ Zach Elliott’s last hurrah before he becomes a transportation engineer By MADELINE STEWART News reporter --------------------
Senior Zach Elliott first heard Mariah Carey’s album “The Emancipation of Mimi” when he was in the fifth grade, and life was never the same. From then on, his passion for music, and Mariah, followed him throughout childhood and all the way through his time at Vanderbilt. “I know she’s not super in vogue anymore, and people are like ‘Oh she lost her voice, she’s irrelevant,’ but I think people are wrong,” Elliott said. “She has such an extensive catalogue, a lot of music that people don’t realize they like ... I guess her different songs have been with me at different points growing up. I have sort of a special emotional value with them.” To pay tribute to the influence Mariah’s music has had on his life, Elliott has been planning a “senior recital” style show which will feature Mariah’s songs. The performance will take place on April 14 at 8 p.m. and April 17 at 2 p.m. in Sarratt Cinema. Tickets will soon be available to students through Sarratt Box Office. In the meantime, the show’s Facebook page has more information. Elliott will be singing in each song, and he will be joined by several performing groups such as Harmonic Notion, Tongue ‘n’ Cheek, Voce, Vida, Commodore Orchestra and Vibe. He will also be backed up by a seven-person band including instrumentalists and three backup vocalists. While Elliott has never received any formal musical training, he began performing with his church choir when he was three and has participated in various school music groups, including Harmonic Notion, a Vanderbilt a capella group. Elliott has also been trying to get Mariah to come to campus for the performance using the hashtag #zachbringsmariah, based on the name of the performance, Zach Sings Mariah. He made a promotional video using the hashtag last summer. One of the songs that will be featured in the recital that means the most to Elliott is Mariah’s song “Outside,” which documents her experience being biracial and not fitting into either racial group perfectly. Elliott related to the song through his own attempts to find his place in friend groups and student organizations and explore his sexual identity. “As cutesy and fun as the promo has been… at the root there is some real meat there,” Elliott said. “My goal is for it to be a really meaningful show for people. My college experiences, coming out or getting rejected from different groups, and feeling ostracized on campus and different things, just sort of different feelings I’ve had throughout my Vanderbilt experience, both good and bad, and sort of how Mariah’s music played into those ... the songs that I chose are very specific for that reason.” Elliott also writes original songs, five of which he debuted a couple weeks ago for a mini concert in the Rand lounge. The songs, which Elliott calls the Five Originals, were inspired by his experience in Brazil this past summer. He will debut one original song at the concert in April.
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ALLIE GROSS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNIE CARFORO
Senior Zach Eliott will host a “senior recital” style show featuring songs by Mariah Carey on April 14 at 8 p.m. and April 17 at 2 p.m. “After each song, people were coming up to me and saying that it really struck a chord with them, or that it just made them want to dance, and that really meant a lot to me,” Elliott said. Travel plays an important role in Elliott’s creative process, he said, as it gives him the opportunity to process his thoughts. In addition to his trip to Brazil, Elliott visited Dubai two summers ago through a scholarship from the Clinton Foundation to take classes related to his field of study, civil engineering. Because Elliott came to Vanderbilt with over 52 AP credits, he decided to take on a 3+1 Bachelor’s/Master’s program in civil engineering, as well as a double undergraduate major with public policy studies. He has taken 18 credit hours every semester at Vanderbilt, and is currently enrolled in 21 hours as a secondsemester senior. Elliott hopes to ground his engineering career in the transport industry, which piqued his interest when he participated in the Amp Yes! coalition in 2013, a program supporting a rapid transit system that would operate on West End Avenue. Elliott’s master’s research focuses on comparing the Nashville transportation infrastructure to those of the international cities he has visited, which are in similar stages of development. “My biggest project right now is looking critically at Nashville’s regional transportation plan,” Elliott said. “I’m fascinated by how similar [Florianopolis, Brazil and Dubai, India] are to cities in
the United States. Like Nashville, they’re trying to develop their systems for transportation, so I’ve been taking a closer look at how they do that.” Elliott hopes to stay in Nashville when he graduates next year to work in the field of transportation engineering, and he may also pursue a career in music. “I’ve spent most of my life that I can remember doing a lot of different things at once and being on a lot of different wavelengths, and I’ll probably continue to be on a lot of wavelengths,” Elliott said. “I just really like to keep myself occupied and be involved in a lot of diverse things. It’s both to my benefit and detriment.” Elliott identified his creative spirit as the nexus of all his seemingly eclectic interests. “All of those things, at their root is creativity,” he said. “So engineering, yes you are given constraints you have to fit in, like dimensions for a building or the right kind of pebble size for a road, but there is still just so much creative potential there ... Same thing with travel. When you explore different cultures, and learn about them and engage them, it sort of opens all of these new creative windows ... and then music is of course all creativity and all making these artistic ideas, channeling them into notes and words. —Asst. news editor Sarah Friedman contributed to this report
JOSH HAMBURGER — MANAGING EDITOR BOSLEY JARRETT — DESIGN DIRECTOR ZOE SHANCER — NEWS EDITOR ANNA BUTRICO — WEB EDITOR KARA SHERRER — LIFE EDITOR ZIYI LIU — PHOTO DIRECTOR QUEEN STEVENSON — OPINION EDITOR KATHY YUAN — CHIEF COPY EDITOR COLLIN ZIMMERMAN — CHIEF WEB DEVELOPER BEN WEINRIB — SPORTS EDITOR MATT LIEBERSON — FEATURES EDITOR PRIYANKA ARIBINDI — AUDIENCE STRATEGIST KATHY YUAN —ASST. PHOTO DIRECTOR
SHARON SI — ASST. DESIGN DIRECTOR JACK SENTELL — ASST. LIFE EDITOR SARAH FRIEDMAN — ASST. NEWS EDITOR PRIYANKA KADARI — ASST. OPINION EDITOR ROBBIE WEINSTEIN — ASST. SPORTS EDITOR DESIGNERS COPY EDITORS ZACH BERKOWITZ ALAN WILMS YUNHUA ZHAO KAREN CHAN
ABBY HINKSON
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
Vanderbilt’s Vaccine Center fights Zika outbreak
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Researchers to develop preliminary Zika virus drugs within two months By ZOE SHANCER News editor --------------------
At any one time, scientists in the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center are working on projects relating to 50 different target viruses. When an outbreak of a virus hits, the vaccine center researchers ramp up their efforts, as in the case of Ebola last year and Zika virus over the last few months. Zika has received increased attention recently since the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in response to an outbreak in the Americas. According to James Crowe, Director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, the lab has been researching the Zika virus for about a year now in hopes of creating an antibody treatment. “[Zika virus] wasn’t highest on our list because it just wasn’t very common,” Crowe said. “We have ongoing large projects that are particularly current and then a lot of little [projects] percolating. This is one we were already starting to work on, and that’s how we got on to such a good start.”
BACKGROUND ON ZIKA
According to Crowe, Zika virus was first discovered in Africa in 1947. The mosquitoborne virus is spread by a type of mosquito called Aedes aegypti. Four out of five people infected with Zika virus experience no symptoms at all, Crowe said. The 20 percent who do experience symptoms report fever, rash, joint pain, swelling, red eyes (conjunctivitis) and flu-like symptoms. “That usually only lasts for a few days, so it’s usually a mild illness, and very few people die of it,” Crowe said. Zika’s more serious symptoms are found in pregnant women. In the areas where Zika virus has been present, especially in Brazil, doctors noticed an increase in microcephaly, a condition where babies are born with small heads, in addition to more cases of Guillan-Barre, a brain condition that affects unborn babies. “It’s not fully proven, but it’s suspected that infection with the virus is occasionally associated with these two things, and these are the severe things people are worried about,” Crowe said. As far as we know, according to Crowe, if one does not have microcephaly or Guillan-Barre, it is not clear that there are any long-term effects from the Zika virus. “But those two conditions can be debili-
tating, and, of course, microcephaly, those kids may never walk or talk,” Crowe said. “They really have very big challenges.” Evidence shows that the virus lasts about a week before one’s body clears it. If a person is previously infected with Zika virus and later becomes pregnant, no harm will be done to the baby, as far as scientists can tell right now.
ZIKA RESEARCH AT VANDERBILT
Crowe’s laboratory can take the blood of people who are infected with Zika virus and pull out virus-specific antibody cells. Crowe’s lab already had immune donor cells prior to the recent outbreak, which put them in a good position to accelerate their Zika research. “Once we have those individual cells, we can use the genes from those cells to make that antibody protein,” Crowe said. “It turns into a drug basically and we can make unlimited amounts of it. So they are naturally occurring drugs based on your normal immune system, but we get them from immune donors.” These antibodies can be administered to another person and provide a temporary prevention strategy. “So if you were a traveler and you went, say, to the Olympics, you would take this sort of drug and it would cover you for the several weeks that you were there,” Crowe said. “If you are living in an [affected] area, you would need to take the drug again about every three or four weeks.” These antibodies can also be used for treatment, particularly for pregnant women or women of childbearing age who are infected. Crowe’s lab is collaborating closely with the lab of Michael Diamond at Washington University in St. Louis. “He is a world expert on mosquito-borne viruses and animal models, so he is working on mouse models of Zika virus infection in pregnancy,” Crowe said. Crowe anticipates having drug candidates within about two months, at which point a lot of work will need to be done to show that the drugs are safe and effective. In the best case scenario, Crowe says the lab’s treatment could enter clinical trials in about a year’s time. There are two routes these drugs might take in becoming available to the public. One of these routes is compassionate use, in which the drug is offered to people while warning them that it has not yet been proven safe or effective, but it is reasonable to think it might be. “Generally we want to do trials to see if
ANNE RAYNER/ VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
James Crowe, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, watches graduate student Andrew Flyak prepare antibody-producing cells in a 2014 study aimed at generating “neutralizing” antibodies capable of killing the Ebola virus. Similar methods are used to produce “neutralizing” antibodies against a wide range of viruses. [the treatment] actually is safe and works, but [during outbreaks], there is very intense pressure on those who have these sort of drugs to make them available for compassionate use,” Crowe said. The other route is that of four-phase clinical trials to show that the drug is safe and effective. “That could happen very rapidly if you have a very brisk outbreak and you go in and treat everyone in the city with an antibody or a placebo, and you see a major effect in hundreds or thousands of people, then you’re done,” Crowe said. “But often this can take years. It just depends on how well the team executes.” According to Crowe, the traditional clinical trial route is preferred because it allows for data gathering. In compassionate use settings, not enough numbers are gathered to determine whether the treatment was effective, so little progress is made.
TRAVELING TO AFFECTED AREAS
The principle concern regarding Zika virus, according to Crowe, is for those who are pregnant or could become pregnant and are going to exposed areas. “So either the strategy would be to avoid pregnancy, or the CDC has recommended that women who are pregnant not travel to
these areas,” Crowe said. The other thing one can do to reduce risk is to avoid mosquito bites by wearing proper clothing and good insecticides, particularly those that contain DEET. In regard to traveling to affected areas, Crowe noted that over a million people travel from the U.S. to the Caribbean every year, and that traveling to these areas is a personal choice. “Given that for most people, even if they are infected, it is asymptomatic, and those who do get infected, it’s a brief mild acute illness, I think you just have to just consider that risk for yourself,” Crowe said. According to Crowe, Zika virus is not the only virus exposure people should be thinking about. Chikungunya, which has been another subject of research in Crowe’s lab, has caused large outbreaks in some of the same areas in the last year. Another mosquito-borne illness, called dengue, is also prevalent in these areas. “So rather than just worrying about Zika, you want to avoid mosquitos because of all these other things,” Crowe said. “The other viruses are still going on, and they are important, they are just not in the news right now. It does raise consciousness about avoiding mosquito bites in these areas.”
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
QUOTE OF THE DAY
opinion
“Electing Clinton simply because she is a woman could do more harm to the feminist movement than good.”
THOMAS SHANNAN, JUNIOR
Politics aside, Scalia will be missed
’’
Vandy law student weighs in on Scalia’s death We may not T BEN RAKER
is a JD candidate at the Vanderbilt University School of Law. He can be reached at benjamin.d.raker@ vanderbilt.edu.
he death of Antonin Scalia was a powerful moment for every American. Broadcasts were interrupted and friends were texted. “What happens when a supreme court justice passes away” quickly rose to one of the most searched phrases on Google. Perhaps it was powerful because the Supreme Court has become such a visible institution in recent years. Marriage equality, fights over Obamacare, changes in campaign finance — some of the most important political issues of our lifetime — have all been dealt with primarily in the highest court. Perhaps it was the timing: We are currently in the midst of one of the most contentious political elections of my lifetime, and an empty seat on the Supreme Court serves to further highlight the stakes. Perhaps in an era of social media, cable news and bitter partisanship, any news event takes on a deep significance. For law students, however, Justice Scalia’s death was powerful for none of these reasons –– it was powerful because it was personal, and in a way that largely transcended political disagreement. Scalia was with us in virtually every class. He is perhaps the most prolific writer on the bench, and, though some of us may not be happy about it, he has left no area of the law untouched. In Criminal Law we read Montana v. Egelhoff. In Civil Procedure we read Burnham v. Superior Court of California early in the semester, when learning the fundamentals of jurisdiction, and Walmart v. Dukes at the end, learning the fundamentals of class actions. In our introductory administrative law course — the Regulatory State — he was a constant companion, with a characteristically strong dissent in Babbitt v. Sweet Home and a surprisingly thoughtful majority opinion in MCI. Even as we branched out and took electives, he stayed with us. In Environmental Law he surprised us with a
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KARA SHERRER
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love where he stood on the law (or the facts) but it is almost impossible not to cultivate a certain admiration for his writing.
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win for the environmentalists in City of Chicago v. Environmental Defense Fund, only to return later, toeing the line in Michigan v. EPA. In Criminal Procedure we read his opinion in Whren v. United States authorizing pretextual stops, and in Federal Courts we essentially began the class with Scalia’s majority opinion in Bennett
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
v. Spear (he came only after Marbury v. Madison). When we did research for our first appellate brief, he made an appearance with his concurring opinion in Harris v. Forklift Systems. After our second round of finals, when we thought we were finally done with the infamously challenging First Year of Law School, many of us competed to get on a legal journal —– which involved writing an essay on one of the most famous decisions of recent decades, District of Columbia v. Heller, written by Scalia. These are a small sampling of the Scalia opinions almost any law student would encounter. And they don’t even include many of his innumerable dissents. In those dissents, like in all of his writing, he is extremely colorful, and “colorful” is not a term that law students readily use when referring to their assigned reading. It may be this fact, that Scalia’s prose is a bright, readable, even enjoyable ray of sunshine in an otherwise dreary world of case law and commentary, that made Scalia the ultimate frenemy of the left-leaning law student. We may not love where he stood on the law (or the facts) but it is almost impossible not to cultivate a certain admiration for his writing. He was the harsh teacher in high school whom you only later realize was great; he was the friend and constant debate partner whose tricks you knew so well, but who nevertheless continued to impress you. Or he was your benevolent captor —– the good cop in a time when there were many, many bad cops. In addition to his colorful writing, his jurisprudence is easily comprehended — at least from a certain distance. Anything in law school that is easily comprehended is held onto dearly. Textualism, the school of thought most commonly associated with Scalia, is relatively simple. Words mean what they mean, and it is not a judge’s job to figure out the intent of the legislature that wrote them. The
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.
legal, philosophical and epistemological justifications that undergird textualism are much more complex. They implicate the notion of separation of power, the institutional competency of the judiciary and even postmodern understandings of language construction. But the basic force of Scalia’s textualist crusade is easily ascertained, and, like I said, law students learn to love anything that comes easy. He was like the parent who nags you for the same thing, over and over, but at least you appreciate the persistence. Or he was your strawman — the justice you always knew you could disagree with, and why. Like many people you come to know, my feelings for Justice Scalia have changed over time. Before law school I knew Scalia only as the conservative bulldog, the unflinching advocate of the Republican right. As I read his opinions I began to acquire a taste for his principled approach. I began to respect his resolve. This is a man who stuck to his guns. But then I would have my doubts. Is it coincidence that his principled resolve just so happens to favor the conservative cause so often? Is his “colorful” writing simply the voice of a bitter conservative? Is his wit really the whine of a losing ideologue? Even now, perhaps especially now, I do not know my own answer to these questions. What I do know is an odd sort of defensiveness that crops up when these charges are
leveled against Scalia. He may have his flaws, but those criticisms are ours to make. He was the friend who is constantly in trouble. He may not have been the nicest guy, but you had to get to know him first. Several of my friends from law school had the same reaction when we first spoke about his death: “I feel weirdly sad.” To a degree, I think that is a testament to the profession I have chosen. For all the derisive jokes, lawyers are surprisingly capable of putting down the pen and shaking hands. Respect and disagreement are, almost by necessity, not mutually exclusive in the legal profession. But that bewildered grief is also a testament to how well we have come to know “Nino.” There are many who disagree vehemently with virtually every judicial decision Scalia has made. There are many who believe he was one of the greatest defenders of the Constitution the Court has ever seen. I admittedly lean much more towards the former than the latter, but my experience with Scalia in law school has left me considering his passing in entirely different terms. The playground has lost its flamboyant bully, the classroom has lost its constant contrarian and the casebook has lost a great contributor. Like it or not, as a prolific writer and thinker, he will be missed.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
5
The playground has lost its flamboyant bully, the classroom has lost its constant contrarian and the casebook has lost a great contributor.
’’ Why a man can be the best feminist candidate ’’
Conflicted feminists at Vanderbilt don’t owe Hillary their votes
I
THOMAS SHANNAN is a junior in the Peabody College of Education and Human Development. He can be reached at thomas.g.shannan @vanderbilt.edu.
f you asked me a month ago whether I supported Hillary Clinton’s version of feminism, I would have unquestioningly answered yes. As the only realistic female candidate this election season, Clinton stood as a successful and influential model for those who wished to break the glass ceiling. However, after following the election events over the past two weeks, I can no longer fully support the former First Lady’s version of feminism, and neither should the large number of feminists on this campus. We should, instead, be weary of the likelihood that Clinton could be elected, and recognize that she might not be the most empowering symbol for the feminist movement. Two prominent female leaders spoke out in support of Clinton at the beginning of this month. Madeline Albright, who made history as the first female secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, remarked at a Clinton rally (while Clinton herself laughed and nodded in agreement) that there lies “a special place in hell for women who do not support each other.” This came just hours after Gloria Steinem, renowned feminist icon, commented in a television interview that young women aren’t thinking about activism; instead, they’re thinking, “Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.” And while both of these women have since publicly acknowledged the inaccuracies of their comments (but never with a true apology), the damage and the hurt behind their words cannot be forgotten or overlooked. Instead of correcting for these statements, Clinton seems to have endorsed them. Her immediate response to the outrage surrounding the controversy was mockery more than sympathy: “Good grief, we’re getting offended at everything these days!” It is obvious from her reaction to these comments that Clinton’s version of “feminism” is flawed, not only because it is heteronormative and insensitive, but because it works solely to empower women rather than to promote inclusive gender equality. It is this
narrow-minded version of feminism that gives true feminists, those working toward intersectional goals, a bad reputation. Implying that women will go to hell if they vote for a man is not feminism. Alleging that all young women are simply “boy-crazy” rather than politically-minded is not feminism. And supporting either of these aforementioned statements is, most certainly, not feminism. As a feminist, I look forward to the day when this country elects a woman as the Commander in Chief. However, we must be careful not to be too impatient. While many of us are eager to see a woman in the Oval Office, electing Clinton simply because she is a woman could do more harm to the feminist movement than good. In electing someone to the presidency, we must take into account more than gender. Characteristics such as intersectionality, consistency and experience play just as vital a role in moving our country forward and becoming a truly progressive nation. Clinton’s opponent, Bernie Sanders, makes more sense as a choice for the feminist movement. Sanders’ track record speaks for itself. Much like Clinton, Sanders believes in the importance of early childhood education, paid family leave and reproductive healthcare. And while he has been a pivotal force in the fight for women’s rights, he has also been a champion for the LGBT community as well as an activist during the Civil Rights Movement, with consistent support and activism going back nearly 50 years. This is in contrast to Clinton, who has flipflopped on many issues, including same-sex marriage and immigration reform. The important aspect of Sanders’ campaign is that he doesn’t expect votes from any demographic. He aims to show that he will earn those votes by fighting for equal rights for everyone, not equal rights for some. Isn’t that what feminism really is? Isn’t that what feminism really is? Fighting to ensure that equal rights extend not only to white women, but to black
Implying that women will go to hell if they vote for a man is not feminism.
’’
women, Hispanic women, lesbian women and every demographic in between. To the feminists on campus who are conflicted about whom to vote for this election season, remember this: voting for Sanders is not a vote against feminist ideals. Even though Sanders’ skin color, gender and sexuality are representative of the traditional establishment, his beliefs and actions are anything but.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
life
Band of Poets
GO DO
THIS
What’s your weirdest tour guide story? We asked eight tour guides to share their most memorable experiences
Bobby’s Idle Hour; Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m – 11 p.m. Once a month, the stage at the Music Row bar Bobby’s Idle Hour takes on the identity of a New York coffee shop with the Band of Poets literary reading. This month’s event features poets Eric Shonkwiler, Anna Silverstein, Harmonie Lee Thomas and fiction writer Maria Anderson. Beers are only $2.50 each for the event, and live music will precede and follow the reading.
MORGAN FRANKLIN, SENIOR:
“
There was a little 5- or 6-year-old with the tour, and his brother was a prospective student. At the end of the tour I was giving away my business cards and I was talking to the older brother, and the little brother came up behind me and slapped me on the butt. The brother just looked at me and said ‘Oh, I’m sorry, he does that often.’
”
By DALLAS SHATEL and JONATHAN VAN LINDEN Life reporters --------------------
LEE SCHMIDT, SOPHOMORE:
“
The story that comes to mind is definitely when I was leaving the library with a tour group and we passed a hawk that was devouring a squirrel. Like, absolutely disemboweling it. And I made some half-hearted crack about ‘Nature, right?’ and kept walking, but when I turned around a few feet away, they had all stopped to take photos of this gladiator spectacle. It was pretty alarming. I guess I just had a very macabre group that day.
”
HALLE BEST, JUNIOR:
“
A lot of prospective students will pick up the Slant and think it’s the school newspaper. I’ve caught a lot of moms holding a copy of the Slant and been like ‘Oh, why don’t you consider something else?’ I’m like ‘Oh this is funny because it’s not true, here’s a copy of the [Vanderbilt] Hustler, this is true.
All photos courtesy of Vanderbilt University
”
SIHAM MOUAHID, SENIOR:
“
We had something last year called the ‘tournado’. There was a tornado warning in the middle of the tour and I think there was four of us who were giving tours, and two of us got stuck in the Commons Center and one person got stuck in Central, and I think another person was stuck in Buttrick. You try not to look at your phone… I didn’t even get the tornado watch alert. As we’re talking there’s a really strong wind and one of the doors in the Commons Center flies open, and when it flies open we hear the tornado sirens. At one point there was a tornado warning in the Commons Center so they asked us all to go to the basement.
” “
ANDREW BRODSKY, SOPHOMORE:
I was talking about the food in Commons, and one of the prospective students’ younger brother (who was like eight) just grilled me with questions for a solid five minutes on every detail possible about the meal plan. He was really concerned about what snacks counted as sides and which didn’t, and how late everything was open if he wanted to get a late night snack. It was so much but it was adorable and the group loved it. I also love that almost every time I give a tour one of my friends will come up and tell me happy birthday, making the whole tour think it’s my day when I was actually born in July.
”
MICHAELA ROYER, SOPHOMORE:
“
The strangest experience I’ve ever had on a tour was one Saturday in the fall. It was a game day so I had a pretty large group, like 20 people, and I was at the stop where I show them a sample dorm room in Hank. While we were standing in the hallway of Hank this dude stumbled out of one of the bathrooms completely naked! He stumbled through my tour group and across the hallway back to his room without even acknowledging that there were like 20 people there. I decided to just pretend like it wasn’t happening and continued to talk about the laundry facilities on Commons without missing a beat.
”
JEREMY MANI, SOPHOMORE:
“
During this one tour this mom was super invested and was in the front asking me questions… and her son was just hanging in the back with this look of embarrassment. She would be awkwardly touchy and like put her hand on my arm or ‘bump into me’ a lot, etc. She also happened to mention that it was just her and her son at home. At the end of my tour, she asked if she could also have my number if she had any questions or if they were back in Nashville and wanted to grab a meal sometime. She emailed me all her contact info when I said that wasn’t really my policy. I never did respond.
”
KATHERINE SENTELL, SENIOR:
“
When we give the tours we always talk about the fact that Vandy has the 3-to1 squirrel-to-student ratio. So after telling a group about that fact, people are always looking for squirrels all over campus. We were coming back from Commons and I tripped over a poor, dead, decapitated squirrel that was lying dead on the sidewalk and my whole group walked straight over it, and I guess that’s one fewer for the ratio.
”
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I BELIEVE IN
12 SOUTH Find crafts, cronuts and more in this artsy area By Claudia Willen, Senior life reporter
A strip of artsy shops, trendy man buns and delicious food, the real Nashville vibes reside in the 12 South neighborhood next to Melrose and Belmont. About a mile away from Vanderbilt’s campus, 12 South is a popular spot for nights on the town or relaxed strolls during the day. The street attracts a ton of young families and young professionals due to the mix between upscale urban joints and fun Nashville flair. The homes right off of 12 South are cozy and close together, creating a community feel and allowing the residents to walk from home to all the neighborhood has to offer. Plus, 12 South is the home of the famous red, white and blue “I Believe in Nashville” wall that every tourist (and freshman) Instagrams at least once during their time at Vanderbilt. As any hip area should, 12 South knows how to do brunch. Take advantage of 12 South Taproom’s all day happy hour on Sundays with $3 mimosas and manmosas, which swap the champagne for vodka or beer, and find some of Nashville’s hottest brunch spots at one-of-a-kind joints like Urban Grub and Josephine. The key to 12 South is understanding that the vibes and environment are equally as important as the food itself. So when you order your eggs Benedict or huevos rancheros enchiladas (highly recommended) from Urban Grub, know that you’re also paying for the naturally-lit setting and adorable little breakfast biscuits they set on the table. Or delve into Josephine’s cinnamon sugar donuts, everyone’s favorite. Either way, no two brunch restaurants are the same on 12 South, which makes it hard to get tired of the neighborhood. The best way to tackle 12 South is just to roam around a bit and see where the street takes you. For a glimpse into Nashville’s thriving art scene and the chance to get in on the fun, check out Art & Soul, a studio designed for beginner and advanced artists looking to enhance their skills in a collaborative, creative environment. You can schedule an appointment to paint or create art with friends or on your own. Or, make your way to Craft South to gather high quality goodies to make art at home. If you prefer looking like art instead of painting it, check out boutiques like Funky Moda, Reese Witherspoon’s preppy Draper James and celebrity interior designer Claudia Robertson Fowler’s refined yet trendy Hero. To find authentic alternative Nashville clothes (and finally fit in with the hipsters at 12 South), hit up Imogene and Willie, started by two Nashvillians who had a dream to create more than just a clothing store. Their pieces are simple with an edge, perfect for the fashionably evolving Music City and the perfect place to round out the 12 South neighborhood.
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COURTESY OF FIVE DAUGHTERS
Five Daughters says of the 100 Layer Donut: “It’s like America and France made slow sweet love and had a pastry baby.” If you’re going to explore dinner options at 12 South, definitely have a decision maker in the group, as the nacho tater tots at The Flipside, quinoa and black bean Marathon Burgers at Burger Up, and mini tacos at Bartaco make the choice somewhat impossible. (As you’re eating, make sure to keep your eyes open for celebrities: 12 South is a hot spot for them, especially if they’re Nashville natives. Recently, Reese Witherspoon was spotted chatting with customers at Draper James, and Connie Britton and Jessie James Decker were each dining with friends at Bartaco on the same night.) Top off dinner with desserts like Las Paletas gourmet popsicles, Jeni’s ice cream, Five Daughters Bakery or Sprinkles cupcakes. Everyone hypes up the cupcakes at Sprinkles, but don’t discount their other desserts like cookies and brownies, both underratedly delicious options. If Sprinkles doesn’t do it for you, try the 100 Layer Donut from Five Daughters. This Nashville cronut actually takes three whole days to create (but under one minute to consume). In short, to temporarily get away from the Vanderbilt bubble and feel like you’re in Nashville’s own hip version of Soho, immerse yourself in the quirks of 12 South. Just find a new wall to take pictures in front of if you want to act like a true hipster during your visit.
Proper Bagel un-‘lox’ its doors
New restaurant offers NY-inspired deli classics with a hip Nashville twist By MAX BERNSTEIN Life reporter --------------------
Every day, new restaurant Proper Bagel makes its own bagels in-house and flies in freshly smoked salmon from Brooklyn. A year in the making, the authentic eatery finally soft opened its doors last month across the street from Belmont — just a 15-minute walk from Commons. Word has spread like wildfire about this modern take on the classic New York deli, so the Hustler decided to check it out for ourselves. Proper Bagel’s space, which seems to be a converted house on Belmont Blvd., is simple and elegant, with clean lines and white tiles. The market display, laden with deli salads, showcases a wide array of savory and sweet cream cheeses, from scallion dill to Nutella peanut butter. Besides the lox and the coffee from Barista Parlor, an artisanal coffee shop
JULIA ORDOG / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER
Proper Bagel offers a variety of breakfast and lunch sandwiches. in East Nashville, everything else they serve is made in house. Proper Bagel offers quite the range of choices on their menu, mostly breakfast and
lunch sandwiches (served on bagels) and toasts galore. For the traditionalists, there are a variety of freshly-made bagels to be paired with a wide array of cream cheeses. As if those options weren’t enough, there are even a few soups and salads on the menu. The friendly staff will help you sift through the options to pick out what you want and even offer samples of the many types of cream cheeses if you can’t make up your mind. I ordered the menu’s “Rachel” sandwich (hot pastrami, house-made caraway sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing) on an everything bagel and the smoked turkey BLTA (bacon, smoked turkey, romaine, seared tomato, avocado and a balsamic drizzle) on a spinach bagel. Each came with a choice of side, so we paired the sandwiches with a microgreens salad and glazed sweet potatoes. The everything bagel had just the right amount of, well, everything. Not too seedy
or overpowering, it complemented the juicy and flavorful pastrami. The bagel, toasted to the perfect crunch, was deliciously dense without being chewy. The sauerkraut — homemade, of course — was nice and tangy. As for the smoked turkey BLTA, the spinach bagel (certainly a departure from your normal bagel varieties) was moist and full-flavored, melding well with the succulent smoked turkey, crispy bacon and smooth avocado. If you want to try these sandwiches for yourself, hours are currently 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. The store hasn’t established much of a web presence (properbagel.com is just a single page with an email and address), but a little more info is available on their Instagram account (@properbagel), which already has over 2,300 followers. The hype is real. Check out the 2011 Belmont Blvd. location to try a proper bagel of your own.
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sports
MAKE YOUR CASE: VANDERBILT BASE RF
JEREN KENDALL
CF
BY BEN WEINRIB, SPORTS EDITOR
Commodores
BY ROBBIE ASST. SPOR
Commodores
JEREN KENDALL
BRYAN REYNOLDS
RF JEREN KENDALL 3
CF BRYAN REYNOLDS 20
CLASS: SOPHOMORE HOMETOWN: HOLMEN, WIS. BATS: LEFT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 5-FOOT-11; WEIGHT: 180
CLASS: JUNIOR HOMETOWN: BRENTWOOD, TENN. BATS: SWITCH; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT-2; WEIGHT: 210
Jeren Kendall showed flashes last year that he’s an all-around player. He has some power, hitting 8 home runs last season. He can get on base, with a .392 OBP in 2015. He can run, stealing 19 bases to lead the team. He can field, playing a solid left and center field. And after a season under his belt, Kendall should improve coming into 2016. If Kendall makes strides, he’ll be a force in the Commodore lineup to help fill the voids left by Dansby Swanson, Rhett Wiseman and more.
Lauded by head coach Tim Corbin as a “young man who has many skill sets,” Bryan Reynolds has established himself as a key player of the Commodore outfield. His play during the 2015 postseason tournaments earned him SEC All-Tournament and Nashville NCAA Regional All-Tournament honors. His .318 batting average and stellar outfield play have put him on the Golden Spikes watchlist, an award for the nation’s best amateur player. Already having notched a career total of 109 runs and 186 hits, Reynolds will help lead the Commodores to another successful year.
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With the loss of three junior starters who each hit 15 home runs last season, Vanderbilt baseball’s offense will undergo major changes. With much less power and far more speed in the lineup, runs will come from different avenues. And no player represents this shift in offensive persona more than Jeren Kendall. The sophomore outfielder is by far the most well-rounded player on the team and makes a strong case to be the best player on the team by season’s end. Kendall’s skillset is as diverse as anyone’s in college baseball. In high school, he ran a 6.49 second 60-yard dash – MLB all-time steals leader Rickey Henderson ran a 6.4 60 – which also allows him to be a plus defender, and his bat is no joke. He’s the only true five-tool player on roster. “He can hit a line drive from down the line this way or he can hit the engineering building,” associate head coach Travis Jewett said. “He’s a dangerous guy because he can hit a lot of different balls and use the whole field, and the speed element is a big part too. He’s just older, he’s stronger, he’s just more comfortable.” Kendall didn’t earn consistent playing time last season until after the second weekend, but since then he can stake a claim as the top returning hitter from last season. His eight home runs, .530 slugging percentage, 19 steals and six triples lead returning players and his .394 on-base percentage ranks second.
BRYAN
Although he certainly has the skillset to play center field — and did play some at the position last season — Bryan Reynolds won’t be moving anywhere because of his excellent defense. Instead, Kendall will slide over from left field to a more challenging right field, which will allow him to show off his powerful arm that can reportedly hit up to 93 mph. “There’s obviously a lot more space in right field for me, which will be exciting,” Kendall said. “I think I’ll get more balls over this year, I know Rhett got quite a few last year. It’ll be good for my arm; I’ll get a little bit more space to let it loose. I think I like it in right because I feel like more of a center fielder. I get more space over there.” Along with playing a tougher position, Kendall will also move up in the lineup from the No. 6 and 7 hole towards the top of the lineup. But given how quickly he improved last season, it should be expected that he plays even better this season against tougher competition. It’s a widely-held belief that players from the North develop more slowly than players in the South because they play less in high school. Kendall, a Wisconsin native, only played 18 to 22 games each year in high school, far less than the 60 or so games his Southern counterparts played. If he improved this quickly from high school ball to the SEC, what’s to say he won’t take the next leap as his elite tools translate to production as Vanderbilt’s best player?
Mired in a deep slump through late April and early May, Bryan Reynolds represented the missing piece for the Commodores’ lineup as the team missed out on a national seed despite a preseason No. 1 ranking. An 0-4, three-strikeout performance in an excruciating 9-7 loss to Florida on May 9 served as a sharp reminder of the threat in the middle of the lineup they lacked with their 2014 Freshman All-American at less than his best. Reynolds’ eventual resurgence helped power Vanderbilt to its second straight College World Series appearance as the Commodores’ center fielder caught fire at the plate during the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Vanderbilt rode Reynolds’ smoking hot .472 average in the team’s first eight NCAA Tournament games to the CWS Finals, and his 2-3 effort in a 5-1 win over Virginia in Game 1 of the CWS Championship Series brought the Dores to the brink of back-to-back titles. Everything fell apart, however, in the final two games as Reynolds combined to go 1-for-7 in 3-0 and 4-2 losses as VU settled for second. Few players’ production correlated stronger with team success than that of Reynolds; Vanderbilt rarely lost when its center fielder produced on offense. For as much as Jeren Kendall and Will Toffey should contribute this season, the Commodores will go as far as Bryan Reynolds takes them. Reynolds finished second among a loaded starting lineup last season with his .318 batting average and 17 stolen bases despite the prolonged slump. The junior center
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EBALL’S BEST PLAYER
N REYNOLDS
3B
WEINSTEIN, RTS EDITOR
WILL TOFFEY BY JOSH HAMBURGER, MANAGING EDITOR
Commodores
WILL TOFFEY
3B WILL TOFFEY 9 CLASS: SOPHOMORE HOMETOWN: BARNSTABLE, MASS. BATS: LEFT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT-2; WEIGHT: 195
Toffey started 67 of 72 games at third base as a freshman in 2015 and will be counted on even more in the middle of the lineup as a sophomore. After producing a .294/.380/.420 slash line last season, Toffey didn’t change much with his approach at the plate over the winter, and will remain a line drive hitter with gap power. The biggest change in Toffey’s game from last spring to now is his number. He’ll wear number 9 this year, making a move into the single digits after sporting 10 on his back in 2015.
fielder’s .388 on-base percentage and 18 doubles further emphasize how indispensable the Brentwood native and his wellrounded skillset are. Coaxing more walks while striking out less could help Reynolds add even more value at the plate, but he does not plan to make many changes to his strategy at the plate. “I’m just trying to stay inside the ball, stay inside and not do too much,” Reynolds said. “I don’t really think I’ve changed too much of (my approach).” Defensively, Reynolds posted the highest fielding percentage of Vanderbilt’s three starting outfielders while chipping in five outfield assists and exhibiting impressive range in the field. His speed and ability to make difficult diving catches look easy paid dividends for the Commodores throughout the 2015 season. One of the team’s most experienced players, Reynolds will be looked at this season for production and leadership as the Commodores hope to reload after losing seven starters to the MLB Draft. Additionally, the Commodore star’s role in mentoring young outfielders Walker Grisanti and Stephen Scott will have serious implications regarding the program’s future. Between filling the production of departed starters and serving as one of Corbin’s most trusted leader’s, Reynolds faces massive expectations coming into this season. Reynolds is Vanderbilt’s biggest star, and if last year is any indication, the Commodores need him to play like it in order to advance deep in the NCAA Tournament once again.
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On opening day last season, third baseman Will Toffey took the field in the first inning as the only Commodore freshman starter. He would finish the year with 67 starts and 71 games played, more than any other freshman on the team, playing in all but one game during the whole season. His success over his first season ultimately earned him Freshman All-American and Freshman All-SEC honors. The Commodores greatly needed a solid third baseman after Xavier Turner’s yearlong suspension, and Tyler Campbell’s move to second base left a gap at the position. Toffey outperformed Turner in nearly every offensive category and in the field from the year before, erasing any doubt at that corner of the infield. Once SEC play came around, Toffey started putting together a historic freshman season, leading the team with a .348 average in conference games. It’s much of the reason why Baseball America tabbed him to the preseason second team All-American list alongside outfielder Bryan Reynolds. Since conference games make up a majority of the season, Toffey’s production during this time surely earns him consideration for most valuable player. The early part of the season consists of non-conference games, and last season having been his freshman year, there surely was some early adjustment. “His mental stability is just great,” outfielder Jeren Kendall said about Toffey. “He knows what to do up at the plate, and
he’s very consistent. Mentally and physically I think he knows how to get through slumps.” During SEC play, Toffey was nearly unstoppable on a daily basis. He hit safely in 28 straight SEC games that spanned over two months from March 15 until May 21. His success continued through the SEC tournament, where he earned All-Tournament honors with a .300 batting average over five games. He also added four runs and three RBIs during that span, in which Vanderbilt reached the championship, falling to Florida. For the season, Vanderbilt went 20-10 in SEC games, a three-game improvement from 2014, with his help. Toffey should be able to perform better right from the start this year, already having a full season under his belt. This experience should certainly help him boost his offensive numbers, as his stats should remain more consistent during the entire course of the year. Only former first overall pick Dansby Swanson doubled more than Toffey, who stroked 20 over the course of the season. In total, he accumulated 75 hits for a .294 batting average. In addition, he demonstrated a good eye at the plate, drawing 34 walks, tied most for any returning player. The consistency throughout the toughest stretch of the regular season ultimately provides Toffey with the strongest case for his value to the team. No other player matched his daily production efficiency, and he was a crucial part to the Commodores’ run back into the College World Series.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
BASEBALL PREVIEW 2016 Shuffl ing the lineup After graduating three middle-of-the-order hitters and the entire weekend rotation, the preseason No. 3 Vanderbilt Commodores will look to move forward with a combination of familiar faces and new names By The Vanderbilt Hustler sports staff: Ben Weinrib, Robbie Weinstein, Isabel Futral, Torben Ginsburg, Josh Hamburger, Max Herz, Cutler Klein, Matt Lieberson, Callie Meisel, Evan Mercer and Karim Oliver RHP KYLE WRIGHT 44
RHP
LHP JOHN KILICHOWSKI 21
CLASS: SOPHOMORE HOMETOWN: HUNTSVILLE, ALA. BATS: RIGHT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT-4; WEIGHT: 200
CLASS: JUNIOR HOMETOWN: TAMPA, FLA. BATS: LEFT; THROWS: LEFT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT-5; WEIGHT: 210
In his second season with the Commodores, right-handed pitcher Kyle Wright will transition from an integral member of the bullpen to a weekend starter. As a freshman last year, he took on the role of closer in the postseason when Hayden Stone was injured. He nabbed a win in a comeback against Fullerton and a save against TCU in the playoffs and finished the season with four saves to go with a 6-1 record. He posted a 1.32 ERA along with 62 strikeouts. He was named to the All-American second team for the 2016 preseason by Louisville Slugger, along with three teammates.
2016 will be a major transition year for the Vanderbilt pitching staff, but the experience of hurlers like John Kilichowski ensures that the Commodores’ weekend rotation is in good hands. Kilichowski was selected in the 39th round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Cubs as a draft-eligible sophomore, but he made clear both before and after his selection that he wasn’t leaving Vandy. He’ll slot in nicely between Kyle Wright and Jordan Sheffield on weekends, giving the Commodores nice righty and lefty balance come conference play. Kilichowski added a slider to his fastball, curveball, changeup mix this off-season and will be a leader on this staff.
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Commodores
JORDAN SHEFFIELD
KYLE WRIGHT
RHP JORDAN SHEFFIELD 24
LHP
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JOHN KILICHOWSKI
LHP
LHP BEN BOWDEN 35
CLASS: RS SOPHOMORE HOMETOWN: TULLAHOMA, TENN. BATS: RIGHT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT; WEIGHT: 185
CLASS: JUNIOR HOMETOWN: LYNN, MASS. BATS: LEFT; THROWS: LEFT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT-4; WEIGHT: 225
Perhaps Vanderbilt’s biggest question mark going into this season is the pitching staff. Will a staff of mostly freshmen and sophomores be able to recover from losing Carson Fulmer and Walker Buehler to the MLB Draft? If they are going to do just that, the leader has to be Jordan Sheffield. The redshirt sophomore worked mostly out of the bullpen last season but could take on a starting role this season on an inexperienced staff. The end of last season was crucial for Sheffield, as he pitched in key situations in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Regionals. If Sheffield can be a reliable five- or six-inning pitcher and a leader on this staff, this team is going to be just fine.
Ben Bowden became one of Vanderbilt’s most dominant relievers last season, and he will expand his role to the rotation this season – at least as long as injuries remain in the rotation. The big left-hander held a 2.89 ERA with 49 strikeouts over 37.1 innings last season and was even more dominant in the Cape Cod league over the summer, where he was named MVP with a 0.30 ERA and 43 strikeouts over 30 innings. With a powerful fastball and two promising off-speed pitches, Bowden is a projected first-round pick in the upcoming 2016 MLB Draft.
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BEN BOWDEN
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C KARL ELLISON 25
C
Commodores
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
KARL ELLISON
1B
CLASS: SENIOR HOMETOWN: OLD HICKORY, TENN. BATS: RIGHT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT-4; WEIGHT: 220
For the third consecutive season, Karl Ellison will be splitting time with Jason Delay at catcher. A stellar defensive player, Ellison will look to be a leader on this team in his junior season. Head coach Tim Corbin said of Ellison: “He is a very talented defensive player who receives and blocks like very few we have had at that position.” At the plate last season, Ellison batted .215, driving in 15 RBI and finishing with 2 home runs on the season. With two years of experience behind him, Ellison’s pitchcalling skills will be better than ever, and he will look to help lead the Commodores back to the College World Series in 2016.
Kyle Smith is back for his final season at Vanderbilt. With National Championship and National Championship Runner-Up titles under his belt, Smith is an experienced player who will be an asset to this year’s team. In 2014, Smith was a versatile player, stepping in at outfield and as a pinch hitter. He set personal career game highs in the game against Illinois-Chicago, when he had three hits and four runs. Last season, Smith did not get to see much of the field between his own struggles and the team’s stacked lineup. Now, as one of two seniors on the team, Smith has the opportunity to take his game to the next level and to lead the Vandy Boys to success again.
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KYLE SMITH
SS
CLASS: FRESHMAN HOMETOWN: OVERLAND PARK, KAN. BATS: RIGHT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT-4; WEIGHT: 185
After playing hero during the 2014 College World Series, Tyler Campbell grabbed the starting spot at second base for most of the season last year, having been vacated by Dansby Swanson’s shift over to shortstop. Although he only batted .229 in 2015, his fielding percentage of .987 was tied for best on the team for everyday starters and was higher than Swanson’s the year prior at the same position. He’s a plus defensive fielder, which is where the Commodores’ derive much of their value from him. Campbell is just one of two seniors on the team and should be able to add value through his prior experience.
Fans will see a pair of new faces at shortstop as the Commodores turn to a pair of freshmen to take over for Dansby Swanson with Connor Kaiser likely to receive the majority of playing time ahead of Ethan Paul. Kaiser brings elite size to the position with his 6-foot-4, 185-pound frame, and is thought to be the best defender among Vanderbilt’s group of young middle infielders. The Overland Park, Kansas native will need to improve upon his .166 batting average from this past fall’s Black and Gold Series, but his physical tools illustrate the type of potential the 2015 Perfect Game All-American possesses both at the plate and in the field.
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TYLER CAMPBELL
LF RO COLEMAN 1 CLASS: JUNIOR HOMETOWN: CHICAGO, ILL. BATS: SWITCH; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 5-FOOT-5; WEIGHT: 150 Coming off of a stellar season, in which he hit .295, scored 52 runs and was one of four Commodores with an on-base percentage above .400, Ro Coleman will look to have an even bigger impact this season. Though Coleman has spent the vast majority of his career as a designated hitter, he is expected to see some time in the outfield this season. Coleman doesn’t run as aggressively as many leadoff hitters with his speed, only picking up 5 steals last year from 10 attempts, but he may have more pop with two home runs (including a grand slam) in last fall’s Black and Gold Series.
RO COLEMAN
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SS CONNOR KAISER 12
CLASS: SENIOR HOMETOWN: PORTLAND, ORE. BATS: RIGHT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 5-FOOT-11; WEIGHT: 170
Commodores
1B KYLE SMITH 39
CLASS: JUNIOR HOMETOWN: NAPLES, FLA. BATS: RIGHT; THROWS: RIGHT HEIGHT: 6-FOOT; WEIGHT: 210
2B TYLER CAMPBELL 2
LF
11
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CONNOR KAISER
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
Replacing Dansby Talented trio of freshmen have big shoes to fill at shortstop By MAX HERZ Sports reporter --------------------
Dansby Swanson took college baseball by storm and made himself the first overall pick in the MLB Draft in 2015. As Vanderbilt baseball’s cornerstone player moves on, it must now replace the irreplaceable. Head coach Tim Corbin will fill the shortstop void — like many other positions — with younger players. The three Commodores most likely to succeed Swanson are freshmen, though Connor Kaiser, Ethan Paul and Alonzo Jones Jr. have already proven themselves capable of contributing. “We have more younger kids than normal,” Corbin said, “Knowing that, at some point, they’re going to play, [the goal] is just getting them involved and trying to get them to grow at the same time. Whether we’ll need to rely on them right away, I’m not sure.” Most of the 14 freshmen on the roster won’t see playing time immediately. But Vanderbilt’s opening day shortstop will be a freshman facing college pitching for the first time. Vanderbilt’s three options at shortstop display the wide variety of skills that make this year’s class unique. There’s one righty, one lefty, and one switch-hitter. Each third of the trio stands out through offense, defense or speed.
CONNOR KAISER
The favorite to get the first crack at playing time is right-handed hitting Connor Kaiser, who stands a lanky 6-foot-4 in his 185 pound frame. Corbin and his staff love his build and see him as a natural middle infielder and the strongest fielder of the three. “He’s got good reach,” Corbin said. “He handles his height and length pretty well. For a young kid, he moves around really well. The only kid that I can compare him to with size is [Ryan] Flaherty. Ryan was about that size too.” For Kaiser, comparisons to a major league infielder and one of Corbin’s favorite former Commodores demand attention, especially from a coach who is typically hesitant to compare the present with the past. “They’re a little bit different in how they play,” Corbin said. “But Connor is a unique kid because he really throws the ball well, he moves well, things come easy to him. He’s a neat kid, he’s very positive and I like the way he plays the shortstop position.”
ETHAN PAUL
Ethan Paul is the left-handed hitting, more offensive part of the possible freshman platoon. He’s half a foot shorter than Kaiser and was the star of October’s Black and Gold intrasquad series. Paul hit .526 (10 for 19) in
the five-game series, driving in six runs and collecting two game-winning hits in a week of intense scrutiny from the coaching staff. “You can go into the cage and flip it underhand,” associate head coach Travis Jewett said. “But to be able to take those swings and bring it out into a game where there’s velocity and movement, he’s done a good job. He’s got a good strike zone. He’s strong enough to hit a ball over somebody’s head, he can split a gap, he can do a lot of stuff.” Corbin values the Black and Gold series for giving freshmen their first taste of game action, and Paul’s first performance wasn’t taken lightly. Senior first baseman Kyle Smith, the captain of the victorious Gold team, reflected on his decision to draft Paul as his shortstop. “It’s very rare you see a young kid with the slow heartbeat for the game that he has,” Smith said. “You hear people say it looks like he’s playing the game in slow motion almost, and I think that’s a compliment.” Paul will certainly get some starts against right-handed pitching early on in hopes of forming a Pacific Northwestern double play duo with senior Tyler Campbell. While Paul brings plus speed, the fastest player in the entire 2015 MLB draft class comes to Vandy as a shortstop and is a player Corbin needs in his starting nine. However, shortstop might not be the launching point for the electrifying Alonzo Jones Jr.
ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER
ALONZO JONES JR.
Jones did not sign with the Chicago Cubs after they selected him in the 36th round of the MLB Draft, and would’ve been picked much earlier if his college commitment wasn’t so strong. Jones played shortstop in high school, but will likely serve as the Commodores’ designated hitter or even play a little first base as a freshman. “I think he can play the infield. Where it’s gonna be, I’m not so sure,” Jewett said. “Between Kaiser, Paul and Jones, that’s a nice three-headed monster of young kids that can really play all over the field. I’m happy with the progress of Alonzo and how he’s coming. He played short the other day, and it looked like he could start for you no problem. The bat is what’s really coming around.” Jones can smack line drives, drive the ball in the gaps or beat out a bunt for a hit as a switch-hitter, and is a perfect fit for Coach Corbin’s play fast mentality. With Zander Wiel, Rhett Wiseman and Swanson gone, the 2016 Commodores need some way to score runs other than power, and all signs point to team speed as the club’s new primary threat. “We’re gonna have a lot of burners out there,” outfielder Bryan Reynolds said. “We obviously lost some bats, but I think we’ll be just fine, be even faster, and pretty dynamic.”
BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER
Above: Dansby Swanson at Vanderbilt Stadium before the Commodores took on Texas A&M in November. Below: Swanson, during his freshman year, fields a line drive at Hawkins Field.
THE VERDICT
No one man can replicate what Dansby Swanson brought to Vanderbilt the past two seasons, but three promising freshmen can combine their strengths to fill that hole, and the shortstop position, together. “I think they’re all gonna get a chance,
especially early,” Jewett said. “We want to be making sure that we’re playing our best lineup at the end [of the season] and playing our best baseball at the end, and I think the youthfulness of this team, those three guys in particular, I think you’re going to see them filtered in and out of the lineup.”
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John Meacham and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander join Chancellor Zeppos for a discussion of Meacham's book, a biography of President George H.W. Bush. The talk took place on Monday in Langford Auditorium.