vanderbilthustler WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
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VOL. 127, ISS. 21
STEPHEN WEATHERLY From dreams of NASA to the SEC
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LIFE
Bring a friend and a mug to Tea Time How two students opened their doors for a study break freshman year and started a weekly campus tradition
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NEWS
Shipping container offers portal to Mexico OPINION
A gold shipping container on Commons allows students to videochat with people in Mexico City
Connecting with ‘the clock kid’ Guest columnist Shadman Islam reflects on being Muslim in his post-9/11 childhood and at Vanderbilt
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The Portal uses audio and visual technology to let students communicate with people in Mexico City. The portal will be on campus until Oct. 12, and the last five days will connect students to Honduras.
By PATRICK ZINCK News reporter --------------------
The mysterious gilded box first arrived on campus last Wednesday. Several students stared with curiosity as workers installed the golden shipping container on the Martha Rivers Ingram Commons lawn. Inside this box is the Vanderbilt Portal to Mexico City. The Portal — an interactive art installation by a New York based group dedicated to bringing people together — uses audio and video technology to let its users experience realistic face-to-face conversations with people thousands of miles away. Students who step into the Vanderbilt Portal talk for 20 minutes with another person standing in a similar container in Mexico City. Conversations are private and are not recorded, allowing users to talk freely about whatever they please. If needed, volunteers from the Center for Latin American Studies can provide translation. The Portal, which officially opened on Friday, will be on campus through Oct. 12. During the last five days, the
Portal will be connected with Honduras. Vanessa Beasley, dean of The Commons, said that several faculty approached her regarding the idea of the Portal months ago. Beasley welcomed the idea, hoping to give students a unique experience and possibly push them a little beyond their comfort zone. “I think sometimes, particularly in our community of achievers here at Vanderbilt, we just need to have an experience that’s a little bit different and talk to somebody that we might not get to talk to otherwise,” Beasley said. “It requires a kind of openness. For people who are high achievers, like most of us at Vanderbilt, it’s not always easy to be that spontaneous and open to a new experience.” Although Shared Studios has Portals located around the world, Beasley said she pushed for a location in Latin America. In meetings the group discussed Portal locations in the Middle East and South America, but Beasley said Latin or Central America was her first choice. Part of the reason, according to Beasley, was the connections to the freshman summer reading, “The Madonnas of Echo Park.” Figuring out the logistics of bringing the
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ALLIE GROSS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Portal to campus was not an easy task. Beasley said they had to navigate financial implications, security concerns and scheduling conflicts. “It’s a weird thing because it’s such a simple concept and then every day (there’s) some kind of new problem or wrinkle, which is just how these things go,” she said, laughing. “It’s like ‘well I guess we’ll just have to wait until it gets here to see how it works’.” This was seen when a soft launch of the Portal that took place on Thursday afternoon was riddled with technical difficulties. The issues were the result of a storm in Mexico City that had knocked down a satellite. After a short delay, the connection was reestablished and the launch was ultimately a success. The Portal’s two maiden voyagers were Shellese Shemwell, a second year grad student, and Samuel Hoskins, a senior in Peabody. “It’s really cool,” Hoskins said as he exited the Portal. “It’s very similar to FaceTime and Skype and things like that, but you’re in this big portal and it’s almost like you’re walking into a space together where you can talk to each other, so that was really cool.”
ZOE SHANCER — NEWS EDITOR KARA SHERRER — LIFE EDITOR QUEEN STEVENSON — OPINION EDITOR BEN WEINRIB — SPORTS EDITOR JOSH HAMBURGER — MANAGING EDITOR BOSLEY JARRETT — DESIGN DIRECTOR ANNA BUTRICO — WEB EDITOR
Shemwell had a similar response when exiting the Portal. “It just seemed very natural,” Shemwell said. “It seemed like I could touch him. It seemed like someone was walking by and I was just like ‘Oh hey how are you’ like ‘How was your day’ type of thing. It didn’t seem like you were on a screen a thousand of miles away in another country.” “[We talked] about the construction of the box,” Shemwell added. “And just how cool of an experience it was.” When asked if they would recommend the Portal to their fellow students, both Hoskins and Shemwell enthusiastically agreed. “Oh definitely, yes,” Shemwell said with a smile. On the other end of the Portal, users in Mexico City were equally excited to converse with students in Nashville. “[The Portal] is something really beautiful,” said Francisco Garcia, an art student in Mexico City. “It really represents the ultimate cultural exchange.” (Quote was translated from Spanish by Haleema Cheek)
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
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Vanderbilt eirself xyr vis ey zirs works to e nemverselsf vziisrsxeelf nirs irs nir better include ze hirs xemself e trans community m vis ne
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Amid controversy about gender neutral pronouns at the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt makes strides to accommodate transgender students By MORGAN MARQUEZ News reporter --------------------
A few weeks ago, the University of Tennessee received backlash after its website contained a post offering “ze” and “xyr” as gender neutral pronouns to address transgender students. Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey described it as an example of “political correctness run amok,” and threatened to take legal action to issue repercussions to the department that made the post. According to G.L. Black, Associate Dean of Students, Vanderbilt does not have a specific policy on pronouns for students but it does include “they/them” in the student handbook as possible third person pronouns. LGBTQI Life Director Chris Purcell offered help to students regarding how to approach the use of pronouns. “One of the tips we continuously give is to not assume the gender or orientation of the student, to not make assumptions that the legal name they were given is the one they want to use and to not assume their preferred pronoun,” Purcell said. The Office of LGBTQI Life offers programs to educate people about the correct use of gender neutral pronouns and about gender and sexuality. From a three-hour training called Safe Zone where students can learn about different pronouns and the LGBTQI community to a presentation called Straight Facts that takes an hour to teach students the basics to just hanging
out at the K.C. Potter Center, students and faculty have different venues where they can learn more. “You’d be surprised by just how much you learn sitting downstairs on our couches in between classes and just listening to students who come here (the K.C. Potter Center) a lot no matter how they identify talk about issues,” Purcell said. The university is taking steps to make it easier for transgender students to belong to the Vanderbilt community after the Vanderbilt Student Government passed a resolution March 2014 to convert 16 single-use bathrooms to all-gender restrooms. “Bathroom situations are really tough because I have a lot of classes in the Commons and the Commons Center itself doesn’t have any all-gender bathrooms. So I basically don’t go to the bathroom all day. It’s just really stressful because that’s unhealthy and we shouldn’t have to do that,” said Julian Sun, a junior who identifies as transgender and nonbinary. Last year, VSG and the Multicultural Leadership Council also passed a resolution that recommended gender neutral housing options, which awaits administrative response. The school has worked on a program for a preferred name policy where transgender students can use their preferred name as opposed to their legal names in some university programs, but not all. For instance, students still have to use their legal name on their Commodore Cards. “I can see a lot of need for a professional support staff, in the psychological counseling center, in student health, more people in this building (the K.C. Potter Center) and we do really need a move on this housing process and we need more progressive measures for name changes and pronoun indicators in our system,” said Kaitlin Spear, a senior and president for Lambda, the student organization for LGBTQI life. Some of the first-year houses include student surveys that ask students their preferred pronoun among other questions, and McGill Hall has students’ preferred pronouns posted on their dorms, all in an effort to make students more comfortable as they
adjust to Vanderbilt life. “Every training I give, we all and our staff use pronouns when you introduce yourself,” Purcell said. “You say your name and where you’re from and your spirit animal and your pronoun. We try to make it part of a very natural thing.” While scenarios like this occur at the K.C. Potter Center, classes aren’t required to ask students about their preferred pronoun and many don’t. “Some professors will say, ‘Hey, what’s a fun fact about you?’ and some students will actually take that opportunity instead of saying a fun fact about their personality, or their background, or their hopes and dreams and aspirations, they’ll say ‘my pronouns are these’ so they can get it right and make sure that someone gets that information and that it’s out there … these students have to repeatedly sacrifice what’s unique about them as individuals in an attempt to get someone to respect their identity,” Spear said. But even though the school has programs to try making it easier for transgender students to feel included in the Vanderbilt community, trans students can still face difficulty explaining their pronouns to their peers. Sun, who uses the pronoun “they/them” instead of “he” or “she”, faces challenges getting people to address them correctly. “It just gets exhausting after a while,” Sun said. “I don’t mind doing it once and being like, ‘If somebody still knows me by my legal name, I actually go by Julian now.’ I go by they/them now but it still takes so much energy and bravery to prepare myself to do that because it’s basically like ‘Hey, please. respect me.’” Shawn Reilly, a junior and a transgender student who uses “they/them,” feels the same way. “I wish more allies would step in and correct people when they see them being mispronounced, with the person’s permission, of course, but sometimes transgender people are so powerless in that situation it’s difficult to stand up for themselves,” Reilly said. Professor Cynthia Wasick is a Senior Lec-
turer in the Spanish and Portuguese department and is a linguistics expert. She said the issue with gender neutral pronouns gaining steam is that there isn’t one set of pronouns that the general public is supposed to use. “Since 1789 there have been 13 different proposals of gender neutral pronouns ranging from xi to per … everyone has a slightly different set of pronouns that is being used, so how do we come to agree on a standardized set?” Wasick said. Some students think the solution to integrating gender neutral pronouns lies in creating more programs about the transgender community. “I think it would be better if (education about transgender issues) was incorporated into Visions or part of the institution other than the work of the K.C. Potter Center and of students,” Sun said. Other than relying solely on information sessions from the K.C. Potter Center or on other school programs, they said students could also take to different venues to learn more. “Don’t go up to a trans person and be like ‘Hey! teach me about your gender!’” Sun said. “There’s a lot of stuff online now and also do your own research, do your own learning, make sure you understand that you’re not going to be perfect the first day but also that when you do make mistakes, it has consequences on real people.”
STUDENT HANDBOOK Updated August 3, 2015: “Vanderbilt University is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.” An extension of this commitment is creating a community that is welcoming and inclusive to individuals of all gender identities and expressions. One measure of this extension is using a third-person plural personal pronoun to refer to a single individual. To this end, the Student Handbook standard for thirdperson personal pronouns—when their use cannot be eliminated entirely—is to state he/she/they, his/her/ their, or him/her/them (as required by the context) where formerly he or she, or, his or her, etc., were used.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
opinion
“Why was showcasing of culture limited to food and dance — why weren’t language, beliefs and religions discussed also?”
NAEHA HARIDASA
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DISCRIMINATION, MARGINALIZATION AND DIVERSITY
Seeing myself in Ahmed and his clock When xenophobic realities threaten to induce self-hatred
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SHADMAN ISLAM is a junior in the College of Arts and Science. He can be reached at shadman.islam@ vanderbilt.edu.
y now most of you have heard the sad tale of Ahmed Mohamed and his fantastic clock at a backward Texas high school. Before I share my opinion on the matter, I think I should provide some of my background as a Muslim. I remember leaving school early on Sept. 11 in first grade, excited to come home to play video games and see my family in our quaint house in East Meadow, Long Island. Yet when I returned, I was met instead with shock and disappointment on my parents’ faces at the images on the screen: Muslims crashing planes into the Twin Towers with no regard for life or the true peaceful nature of Islam. On that day, my life, and the life of every Muslim, was forever changed in the United States. I moved to Kentucky a few months later, and I grew up in innocence for most of my childhood, not yet grasping the true connotations of my identity as a Muslim. I went to mosque and celebrated Eid in bliss, not knowing what the true attitudes of many Americans were towards me, or Islam. This changed in middle school when I was harassed every day in small-town Eastern Kentucky for simply being Muslim. I remember sitting in my English class as one of the boys pulled a hood over his head to mimic a hijab. The entire class burst out in laughter as he mocked Muslim culture and attire. I remember kids who called me a terrorist in the hallway and told me not to bring a bomb out of my backpack, all within earshot of teachers who stood in silence. As a small, nerdy, innocuous seventh grader, I could not conceptualize why the kids in my grade held such bigotry and hate in their hearts, or why the teachers did nothing to stop it. I began to resent myself and wish I weren’t a Muslim. Things were different when I moved back to New
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KARA SHERRER
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LIFE EDITOR life@vanderbilthustler.com
QUEEN STEVENSON
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SPORTS EDITOR sports@vanderbilthustler.com
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On that day, my life, and the life of every Muslim, was forever changed in the United States.
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York. With a sizable Muslim population and a diverse student body, I finally felt at home, and I wasn’t stigmatized or made to feel like an outcast or pariah. Unfortunately, as I would soon learn, ignorance and hate know no geographic bounds. When the Hillside Islamic Center (housed in a predominately white neighborhood) wanted to construct a new building, there was vehement opposition from the residents. Posters were put up opposing construction, and residents did everything they could to stop the developers from advancing the plans. My friends told me stories of people in the adjacent houses who blasted music so loudly during prayer at the mosque that those praying could barely concentrate. I watched a nearly identical response play out in the wider New York City metro area, when people cried out in outrage as construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center was set to commence. I walked into my high school as two cafeteria workers, who had always been very friendly and cordial
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
to me, expressed their disgust that those behind the construction of the mosque lacked “respect” for those who died in 9/11, unaware of the fact that I could hear everything they said. Coming to Vanderbilt, I was yet again thrust into a predominately white environment, except this time I was among peers who were much more educated and tolerant compared to many of my classmates in Kentucky. At Vanderbilt, I’ve been fortunate not to experience much outright religious discrimination, but that certainly does not mean it is not present. Take Carol Swain for example — who would ever think that a tenured professor, at a nationally ranked top 15 university, would publicly and proudly make such Islamophobic comments? Yet to entertain Carol Swain is to give validity to a demagogue who simply seeks to appeal to the Islamophobic demographic, the same way Donald Trump seeks to capture the hearts of the anti-Hispanic, xenophobic electorate and the same way Hitler brought the German masses to a fervor with his virulent antiSemitism. I am not a danger to society the same way Hispanics are not a danger to America and Jews were not a danger to Germany. Carol Swain advocating for the police and government to watch over me and my Muslim Student Association brothers and sisters only sends a dangerous message of racism and hatred. Since an early age, I’ve been taught by society that my brown skin, last name and religious identity signify “terrorist.” Perhaps that’s why when I heard about Ahmed’s experience, it resonated with me so powerfully. A Muslim child in this country shouldn’t be punished for his ingenuity and creativity. We must inform the ignorant masses who label Muslims as dangers to society that it is they who terrorize us with their racist rhetoric, and not the other way around.
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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An incomplete approach to diversity Our cultures are more than food and music — dig deeper
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ften, the most common questions I get at home about life at Vanderbilt are inquiries about diversity on campus, specifically cultural diversity. “What’s it like being in the South?” is often a euphemism for “What is it like being in a place that’s not as culturally diverse as us?” I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the preeminent “melting pots” of cultural diversity in the United States. The general idea is that few places compare in terms of NAEHA diversity — we Californians are very proud of our culHARIDASA is a sophomore in the tural variety. The freshman me had the impression that College of Arts and moving to a new region of the country meant adjustScience. She can be ing to a new environment and adjustment to the new reached at naeha. standards of difference. haridasa@vanderbilt. Within the first week, I was pleasantly surprised (and edu. relieved) to know that I would never have to make that transition and abandon my norms. Cultural diversity isn’t a scarce commodity at Vanderbilt; in fact, it is something very apparent in our student body and established organizations. There are a plethora of clubs and events that cater to a wide variety of cultural interests. Moreover, these organizations are equally welcoming and accepting of individuals who aren’t from the same background. But a recurring element in these events kept bothering me; why was showcasing of culture limited to food and dance — why weren’t language, beliefs and religions discussed also? I have begun to seriously question the approach that we take to cultural diversity since I became more involved in the South Asian Cultural Exchange
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Why was showcasing of culture limited to food and dance — why weren’t language, beliefs and religions discussed also?
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(SACE), an organization that reflects my own cultural background. A huge part of SACE’s mission, as well as other cultural organizations’, is to reflect cultural diversity through events and general body meetings and enhance cultural awareness. However, I often wonder how much of that diversity truly gets communicated through the typical events like cuisine sampling, dance tutorials and music shows. While these are all fun and popular expressions of colorful traditions, there is a level of depth to cultural diversity and awareness that we ought to focus on more. This brand of diversity requires a more critical analysis
of our different ideologies, lifestyles and cultural standards. It means engaging members and participants in dialogue about difference and discussing ways in which stereotypes misrepresent our beliefs. It means not just showcasing diversity through food, music and dance, but also “doing” diversity through dialogue about our cultures’ more abstract elements. All of this having been said, these discussions are difficult — they aren’t easy to organize or facilitate. It can be nerve-wracking and even uncomfortable at times to publicly discuss beliefs and stereotypes. But in order to get anywhere further with campus understanding of diversity, we have to open ourselves up to these conversations. When we as organizations encourage these deeper discussions, we actively engage in eliminating the fear and discomfort posed by difference — the discomfort of not fully understanding what it means to be a firstgeneration American, to have limited knowledge on non-English language barriers or to fail to understand correct terminology when discussing beliefs. Instead of hiding behind these cultural barriers, we should be encouraging individuals to dig deeper into the meaning behind our perspectives, traditions and lifestyles. We should be conveying the message that our diversity is richer than just our tangible elements. We should be broadening this to include deeper roots and strengthening our pride in who we are and where we come from. With these efforts, we can effectively transition from merely showcasing diversity to genuinely including it in our Vanderbilt way of life.
The wrong way to disagree
Don’t invalidate or erase someone’s human experience
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arlier this semester, I wrote a manifesto of sorts for my inaugural column as new editor of the most contested section of The Hustler. In it I called for the campus to take ownership of this outlet students have so vehemently denigrated. I praised columnists and guest writers, who plan and prepare their thoughts and frame their experiences and revelations in a broader Vanderbilt context, but was even more so QUEEN impressed by authors of Letters to the Editor, students STEVENSON who feel so deeply about things that they turn to my is a junior in the section as an affirming outlet, a listening ear. College of Arts and If you didn’t know, Letters to the Editor are funScience and the damentally different expressions of opinion than Opinion Editor of The planned columns. Letters are often emotionally Vanderbilt Hustler. She can be reached at charged because they are responses to already pubqueen.o.stevenson@ lished content or, in this case, criticism of a campus or vanderbilt.edu. community establishment. Most times, letters do not follow or strictly adhere to rules of formal copy because of this presence of emotionalism, and as an editor, I am grateful for this particular form of journalistic expression because it is usually liberating for the author, and almost always controversial for the readership. I published one such letter last Friday, written by a Black student who charged the administration to put some backbone behind the diversity and inclusion initiatives that have been announced. It wasn’t a new or undiscovered account of the Black student experience; many columns have been published recounting the frustrations of Black students and other students
of color at Vanderbilt. But it was heartbreaking just the same, especially to read about the author’s friends being called “nigger” on campus as they walked home — in 2015. I felt that the letter provided a relevant counter to the current positive sentiment held by most in the mainstream Vanderbilt community about the new initiatives. As students, we have a duty to question supposed progress, new policy implementation and committee restructuring, because an academic institution grows and matures when it chooses to buck both tradition and monetary donation, changing shape to reflect the needs of its most marginalized students. We should never be in a place where we’re told that we’ve asked for enough. I thought the letter succeeded in conveying this message. So imagine my surprise when someone told me that the letter was “shitty,” that the “entire piece was flawed” and that it failed to target “the right audience.” I was absolutely astounded and, frankly, incoherent. I could understand if someone disagreed with the actual opinion or the tone or the approach of what was written — at least, from that point, we could foster a productive, healthy debate. But I could not stomach that this person immediately and nonchalantly discounted, invalidated and erased someone’s actual experience, comparing it to excrement. As this person shakily elaborated on what they presumed was some sort of authoritative godsend of
two cents-sharing, I mentally highlighted a particularly problematic snippet: This person said, “if you removed the word ‘Black’ and replaced it with ‘Asian’ or ‘Latino,’ it wouldn’t make sense. As a ___ student, I couldn’t understand it.” Let me say this: The Black experience shouldn’t have to be transferrable in order for it to be granted legitimacy and validation. This misguided line of thinking came to mind during the summer, when the most recent uproars over various removals of the Confederate battle flag were taking place across the South. I remember seeing memes and comments responding, “The Confederate flag is to Blacks what the swastika is to Jews.” While the intent of this parallel is positive, it’s incredibly problematic that the removal of a symbol that participated in terrorizing and brutalizing millions of African Americans is validated only when compared to a genocidal uprooting that occurred in Germany. The Black experience — and any human experience — should not have to be dispensable in order for it to be accepted, and we don’t need to be involuntarily entered into verbal oppression Olympics with other minority groups in order to merit justification. As Opinion Editor, I welcome and encourage disagreement. But there is a clear distinction between disagreeing with someone’s opinion on a subject and denying and rendering invisible another person’s unique and valid human experience. That’s not productive — it’s downright disrespectful.
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sports SEC POWER RANKINGS: WEEK 3
Each week, I rank the teams in the SEC 1-14. This week, we pray that Leonard Fournette doesn’t turn into Marcus Lattimore, try to relive Vanderbilt’s last win at Knoxville and remember Kenny Trill. By BEN WEINRIB Sports editor --------------------
1. No. 3 Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0 SEC) The Rebels have never won consecutive games against the Crimson Tide and haven’t won a game at Tuscaloosa since 1988. 1988 doesn’t seem so long ago, but back then Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley was number four on the Billboard Hot 100. That’s right, I just Rick Rolled the power rankings. 2. No. 8 LSU (2-0, 2-0) The Bayou Tigers just beat two ranked SEC teams in no uncertain terms. We may look back at their beatdown of Auburn in a lesser light when they inevitably end the season 8-4 or 7-5, but for now let’s just enjoy the beast that is Leonard Fournette. 3. No. 7 Georgia (3-0, 2-0) Georgia linebacker Jake Ganus proposed to his girlfriend after their win at South Carolina, which is a beautiful thing. I just wonder why he didn’t wait for a more impressive win than the worst team in the SEC. (That’s right, Vandy made it out of the basement!!!!) 4. No. 12 Alabama (2-1, 0-1) Alabama isn’t quite out of the College Football Playoff picture, but they’ll most likely have to beat Georgia and Texas A&M on the road, Auburn and LSU on the road, and the SEC East champion to get there. Then again, Nick Saban has sold his soul for less than that. 5. No. 14 Texas A&M (3-0, 0-0) Texas A&M continues to put up points and beat up bad non-conference opponents, and after they play Arkansas this Saturday, we’ll know if they can put up points and beat up bad SEC opponents. 6. Mississippi State (2-1, 0-1) The Bulldogs’ 62-13 win over Northwestern State doesn’t tell us much about Mississippi State because the Demons were quarterbacked by Stephen Rivers. Yes, that Stephen Rivers. He of the 38.5 percent completion rate last year at Vandy.
VANDERBILT FOOTBALL’S
RENAISSANCE MAN
Now one of Vanderbilt’s best defenders, Stephen Weatherly entered high school hoping to build robots for NASA By BEN WEINRIB Sports editor --------------------
Junior Stephen Weatherly currently patrols Vanderbilt’s defense as one of its most feared defenders. But before he came to Nashville, Weatherly did not plan on college football. He wanted to build robots for NASA. In his ninth grade year, when he started at defensive end at North Atlanta High School, his coaches asked all the players if they wanted to play college football after graduating. Weatherly did not raise his hand. The next year, Weatherly raised his hand hesitantly when asked the same question but still couldn’t decide if he wanted to play at the next level. Finally during his junior year, he knew this would be his path. “My high school coach was just like, ‘You have a gift; I don’t know if you realize it.’” Weatherly said. “You make it look so easy. If you stick with me, I can have you picking from any school you want.’”
GROWING UP
Weatherly has always been interested in math and science and other club activities. He started playing chess in second grade and still plays to this day, whether it’s teaching friends or playing online. With his elementary school across the street from Georgia Tech, he spent a lot of time on campus, with school field trips to the student life center, chess tournaments and his elementary school graduation, helping to feed his early interest in engineering. “Growing up, I was always that kid taking apart things to see how they worked,” Weatherly said. “I joined robot team in high school, and knew that this is something I really wanted to do.” As an only child, his mother, Carla Johnson-Weatherly, made an effort to stay self-employed so that she could take him to every extracurricular activity possible. Sometimes that meant picking him up after a Pop Warner football game and driving him 30 minutes to play Little League baseball, and sometimes that meant taking him to music lessons for one of the seven instruments he can play. By the time he reached his freshman year of high school, he was a lanky 6-foot-2, but his speed and natural athleticism allowed him to earn a starting job right off the bat, playing all over the field at defensive end, wide receiver, and even some linebacker
and safety. “Every year Stephen always got better,” said his high school football coach Brian Montgomery. “Every year he continued to grow, he grew taller, got 5-10 pounds heavier, and I knew going into his junior year that he definitely was going to be a Division-I college football player. As far as SEC-ACC guys, when you get one, you know you have one because the impact on the field is pretty amazing.” It wasn’t just his athleticism that made him a special player. It was his intellect, too. Coaches praised Weatherly for his ability to take advice without arguing back and the time he spent looking over game film. “He could anticipate plays, and he listened to everything we talked about during film,” Montgomery said. “If a guy’s hand is light, he’s probably going to pass, if a guy’s hand is heavy, you know he’s going to run. From what he saw on film, he could anticipate what was going to happen.” “I remember one time he intercepted a ball going to a back out of the backfield. He was supposed to keep containment because their quarterback was a running quarterback from film, but he could tell by formation and where the ball was aligned that there was a high percentage chance that he was going to throw that little bubble screen, and he intercepted it and went to the end zone with it.”
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SEC POWER RANKINGS: WEEK 3 7. No. 25 Missouri (3-0, 0-0) Sure, Mizzou only edged out UConn because the Huskies tried a fake field goal instead of tying the game at 9 late in the fourth quarter, but they’re still on pace to start 6-0, and anyone who cares about stats other than wins is a NERD! 8. Auburn (2-1, 0-1) Go do yourself a favor and look up “Auburn sucks” on YouTube and click on the Squidbillies video with T-Pain. I promise it’s worth your time. Go on, I’ll wait for you. *twiddles thumbs* No, really, I’ll wait for you. *twiddles thumbs some more* See, I told you it was worth it. 9. Tennessee (2-1, 0-0) Sure, Tennessee is higher in the SEC Football Power Rankings, but they didn’t even crack D1Baseball.com’s Top 100 baseball programs. And who do you think is the number one program?
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TRANSITIONING TO VANDERBILT
By his junior season, when it was clear he could play at the next level and Weatherly wanted to pursue that option, Vanderbilt was one of the first schools he looked at. At the recommendation of Montgomery, Weatherly and his mom went to a camp at Vanderbilt because the Commodores’ area recruiter Desmond Kitchings had shown interest in him. When they visited campus, Weatherly fell in love, and the following summer he got his first offer from then-coach Bobby Johnson. “It’s an amazing education, it’s a free education, and I get to play in the SEC,” Weatherly said of his choice to pick Vanderbilt. “My main thing is I wanted to help build something, not be a part of something that’s already established, so Vandy it was.” Carla knew Weatherly would grow big ever since he was born 23 inches and 8 lbs. 9 oz. However, since he had decided to play college football so late, he was undersized entering
college at 6-foot-4, 195 lbs. But Weatherly had time to adjust with head coach James Franklin redshirting him along with 17 of the other 21 freshmen in his class. This allowed him to adjust to his college schedule, which required him to pursue a degree in sociology rather than engineering because he had to focus on football. He also added weight through rigorous weight regimens and around 9,000 calories per day to build up to his current 6-foot-5, 260-pound frame. Weatherly was solid in his first season as a reserve, coming in fourth on the team with 3.5 sacks, but he did not truly start to blossom until Derek Mason came in with his 3-4 defense last year. Transitioning to a different position – defensive end to outside linebacker – may be difficult for some players, but Weatherly transitioned seamlessly after playing in a 3-4 defense in high school and being a true student of the game.
WEATHERLY BY THE NUMBERS
4.5 10.5
Last season, he led the team in sacks with 4.5 and took fourth in tackles, and three games into this season, he is fourth in tackles and second in tackles for loss. Weatherly truly came into form at the end of last season, combining for 10.5 tackles for a loss in the last five games of the 2014 season, including five in the final game.
“He’s definitely a smart player, if anybody, he can handle it,” said linebacker Darreon Herring. “I think he’s doing a real good job outside as far as he wasn’t a coverage player two years ago, but now he’s dropping into coverage more. I think he’s doing a real outstanding job, he’s a real physical guy.”
CONTINUING CURIOSITY
But beyond the sacks, the athleticism, and the intellect, Weatherly is perhaps appreciated most for his outgoing personality and somewhat quirky nature. A “jack of all trades,” he can also cook, solve a Rubik’s cube and skateboard. “He’s real open, he’s real cool,” Herring said. “He’s humorous, he just likes to play around and joke a lot, but he knows when to be serious and turn it on and turn it off.” Beneath that 6-foot-5, 260 hulking frame is still that ninth grader who wanted to build robots for NASA, even if he’s tackling SEC quarterbacks in the process. “I always walk through Featheringill to see what’s going on there in the engineering building,” Weatherly said. “Really anything else that interests me, I try to pick up. I think I might pick up crotchet or knitting just because. I’ve seen a lot of videos of it; I want to make something cool for my family. I try to get involved with any little thing I can just try to experience as much as I can while I’m here.”
10. Florida (3-0, 1-0) Quarterback Will Grier did not have a single passing yard in the first quarter of Florida’s game against Kentucky. It may just be me, but I’m starting to think that his absurd passing numbers at a tiny Charlotte, N.C., high school might be deceiving. 11. Kentucky (2-1, 1-1) Quarterback Patrick Towles was 8-for-24 with a pair of interceptions and still finished with a QBR of 15.4. I would have thought that if QBR could go negative, it would be this case. 12. Arkansas (1-2, 0-0) Bret Bielema is now 11-19 at Arkansas and lost consecutive non-conference games. Might be time to realize that his Big Ten mentality just isn’t going to fly in this conference. S-E-C! S-E-C! Ess-Eee-Cee! 13. Vanderbilt (1-2, 0-1) Trent Sherfield looked amazing last week, picking up a Commodore record 240 receiving yards. I do feel bad for the guy, though, because if he picks up 70 yards, everybody is going to be massively disappointed. And that would be really good against a tough Ole Miss defense. 14. South Carolina (1-2, 0-2) I don’t even have to come up with some B.S. reason to get Vandy out of the cellar; South Carolina lost to Georgia 52-20, and Vanderbilt only lost 31-14. Anchor Down! Deep Water! Anchor Down in Deep Water!
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
SPORTS
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3 MATCHUPS TO WATCH: OLE MISS
ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER
By EVAN MERCER Sports reporter --------------------
TRENT SHERFIELD VS. OLE MISS’ SECONDARY
This matchup will prove vital in the game, depending on whether Johnny McCrary’s new favorite target can get open for Vanderbilt to score. Austin Peay’s weak secondary will not be on the field this time granting Sherfield permission to break the school record of 240 receiving yards. This time, he will face the likes of cornerbacks Mike Hilton and Trae Elston who kept No. 2 Alabama down last week. If the Rebels lock down Sherfield, and it looks like they aim to take him out of the equation, then McCrary could be in for a long night.
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JOHNNY McCRARY AND RALPH WEBB VS. OLE MISS’ FRONT SEVEN
The game of inches will certainly be emphasized as Ralph Webb and McCrary (and a dash of Dallas Rivers) try to move the ball down the field with their legs. Both have proven their capability to carry the ball well, but they have not yet met the challenging Ole Miss front seven and their leader, defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche. This formidable group decimated UT-Martin and Fresno State and managed to prevent the terrifying Alabama running back duo of Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake from taking charge. Hopefully, McCrary and Webb get a good leg workout this week.
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CHAD KELLY VS. ENTIRE VANDY DEFENSE
Whether he throws a beautiful pass over Vanderbilt cornerbacks into receiver Laquon Treadwell’s hands or jukes around defenders to score a touchdown, Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly finds ways to rack up the points for his team. There were questions about his strength when the team played Fresno State and UT-Martin, but he erased any doubts with his performance against Alabama. It will take everything Vanderbilt has to contain Kelly, and even that might not be enough. And it will take the best efforts of linebackers Darreon Herring and Stephen Weatherly and safety Oren Burks to lock down Kelly’s arsenal of receivers and moves.
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life
Come for the
tea, stay for the times For three years, Tea Time has brought people together for treats and conversation
GO DO
THIS
Novelist Jonathan Franzen speaks on campus Ingram Hall, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 6 p.m. American essayist and novelist Jonathan Franzen is coming to speak at Vanderbilt this evening. His 2001 novel “The Corrections” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and TIME magazine declared him a “Great American Novelist” when his later novel “Freedom” was published in 2010. Discounted student tickets are just $5, while tickets for the general public are $33.50, which includes a copy of the book.
By MEREDITH VITALE Life reporter --------------------
Every Tuesday at 10 p.m., seniors Kristin Davis and Katie Zimmerman open the door of Zimmerman’s three-person Morgan suite for Tea Time, no invitation necessary. Each week, students fill the Morgan suite with laughter and chatter, lining up for tea and favorite homemade treats like red velvet Oreo brownies or Nutella chocolate chip cookies. While Davis and Zimmerman provide the treats, tea bags and hot water, they do ask that people bring their own mug (and a friend) to Tea Time. When Davis and Zimmerman first invited friends over to their Hank double for an impromptu tea time their freshman year in 2012, they didn’t expect to find a distinct space in Vandy subculture. But Tea Time hasn’t missed a single Tuesday since its incarnation in the 2012 fall semester. “I had a friend over — this was the first Tuesday of freshman year — and Kristin started making tea,” Zimmerman recalled. Her friend went to get a mug and grab her roommate, while Zimmerman knocked on the neighbor’s door and texted another friend. And thus, Tea Time was born. “Everyone brought a few friends, and before we knew it, we had fifteen or twenty girls in the room,” says Zimmerman. When Tea Time first began in Hank, Zimmerman and Davis saved desserts from Commons in Tupperware containers throughout the week to serve with tea on Tuesdays. Since their sophomore year, Davis and Zimmerman have lived on the ninth floor of Morgan house, where they have a kitchen to bake their tea time treats. The operation has grown to include Davis and Zimmerman’s other roommates and friends, Taylor Smith, ____Brianna Gaboriault and Bethel Moges. Kristin and Taylor do the baking each week, while Katie, Brianna and Bethel set up the room and help with clean-up afterwards. Last year, Tea Time regular and RA Nick Blair suggested that Reslife would love to work with them, and Morgan Tea Time became sponsored by Reslife. Davis sends Reslife a list of the baking ingredients she needs for the week, and
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Members of Highland Quad gather for treats, tea and conversation in Morgan 904 every week for Tea Time. Attendees can mark their hometowns on a map and wind down after a long day of class. one of the RAs purchases the supplies and brings it to her. The day before classes started this year, the invitation to Tea Time was sent out to all Highland residents by the area coordinator. People with no connection to Davis or Zimmerman showed up that Tuesday, and the two founders could not have been happier. While many regulars have attended Tea Time for weeks or years, they are always ready to welcome newcomers to their suite. Although tea time is centered around drinks and snacks, it’s not the ultimate draw for most. J.C. Elmore, now a Tea Time veteran, didn’t even drink tea until he started attending. “When I lived on Highland, I could easily come, and after doing that [for a year] I became attached,” he said. “Even after I lived in Towers, I had to keep coming.” “I’ve been coming since second semester freshman year, and it’s [been] cool to see it grow through word of mouth,” said senior Mary Nobles Hancock. “Being at Vanderbilt, everything is structured, so it is nice to do something social every week. Vanderbilt is full of really cool people, and it’s great to meet everyone.” To represent the hundreds of different people who have left their mark on Tea Time over the past three years, Davis and Zimmerman ask all the newcomers to add a sticker with their initials to their home town on a U.S. map. Their goal is to get all fifty states and every continent represented, and Australia is the only continent without a sticker right now. “We had one boy who came the first week this year, who hadn’t been since
freshman year. He was super excited that his dot was still on the map,” Zimmerman said. Tea Timers are proud of their contribution to the map, and regular Lauren Heyano joked: “I’m an important member of tea time because I put Alaska on the map.” The number of people at Tea Time varies from week to week, sometimes as few as ten and sometimes as many as forty. Along with the group of attendees, Tea Time activities vary from week to week, and they often put puzzles together or play games like charades in between sips. Themed Tea Times have included Festivus (complete with an aluminum pole and the airing of grievances), and Thanksgiving, when tea timers made hand turkeys and put them on the wall. “It’s very rare to see someone pull out their phone or not be engaged,” Zimmerman said. Now that Zimmerman and Davis are seniors, the future of Tea Time at Vanderbilt is uncertain. “We’re looking for a successor to take it on,” Davis explained. “I hope it continues.” Tea Time’s continued success is proof that it fulfills students’ simple yet important need for a social, low-stress study break. “People don’t really get it until they come, and then they get it,” Davis said. “A lot of social interactions at Vandy can be high stress — our lives can be kind of high stress — and Tea Time is an opportunity to totally de-stress. Sip tea, get to know new people. There’s no expectations.”
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New Franklin music festival brings big artists to small town historic farm By ADRIENNE ALDERMAN Senior life reporter --------------------
If you thought Lollapalooza marked the end of festival season, think again. Pilgrimage Music Festival debuts in Franklin this weekend from Sept. 26-27, proving that even though the days are getting shorter, fall doesn’t mean the headlines are any less impressive. For such a new event, Vanderbilt students and Nashvillians alike are impressed by the lineup. The headliners include names that music fans of all eras will enjoy, such as Willie Nelson, The Decemberists, Wilco and Weezer. These and the other early bands help to create a rich mix of genres. Kevin Griffin, one of the Pilgrimage cofounders, has extensive experience in the music industry: he’s a producer and talent manager as well as the lead singer for alternative rock trio Better Than Ezra. Griffin said he and the other festival coordinators “knew the artists that we wanted and had a wish list of names to draw from.” Griffin admits getting artists to sign was challenging at first, given the festival’s newness. However, they managed to book Willie Nelson first, and after that other artists were willing to perform. “After arguably the coolest living performer signed up, bands were ready to join in,” Griffin said. Each day’s lineup builds in terms of artist popularity, but even the lesser-known artists are truly talented. With Nashville natives such as Elel, Will Hoge, Chris Stapleton and many others set to take the stage, the hometown pride is strong. Additionally, the acts come from from all around the nation, with Lucius from Brooklyn, New York; Saint Motel from Los Angeles; and Trampled by Turtles from Duluth, Minnesota just to name a few. Griffin says that he and his co-founders were inspired to start the festival after attending New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which is also multi-genre like Pilgrimage. “There will be jazz, blues, country, folk, rock, indie and more,” he said. “We realized that Music City, USA, was lacking a festival that showcased a rich musical mix, so we strived to create it.” In addition to countless diverse music acts, the festival has numerous cultural experiences to offer. From a large yoga session each day to live gastronomic demon-
AUTUMN DE WILDE
THE DECEMBERISTS, SEPT. 27 5:35 PM
WILCO, SEPT. 26 6:15 PM strations at the “Kitch N’ Tell” to children’s concerts that are free for those under ten, the many activities will keep people busy between sets. Festivalgoers can wander through the Bazaar to take advantage of local food, beverages and goods. The festival brings both big and local names to the food offerings as well. Some of the top drink sponsors include Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Sugarland’s Shine and Charles Smith Wines. For food vendors, there are plenty of Nashville staples, including Frothy Monkey, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, The Grilled Cheeserie and Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant. Attendees looking to drop some cash can find all sorts of products from local vendors, such as southern themed “Brotie” bowties, Eno Hammocks, Master Artisan Guitar Picks, Nashville-themed art and much more. Pilgrimage Music Festival will take place at The Park at Harlinsdale, which was previously a historic horse farm. The former farm retains its rural roots, providing visitors with lots of space and paths to roam between sets. The venue, a half-hour drive from Vanderbilt, is located in Franklin, Tennessee, which exudes Americana with its southern dining options and charming downtown area.
ZORAN ORLIC
While the festival’s lineup doesn’t appear to cater to a particular demographic, many of its features will appeal to college students. The venue offers charging stations to snap, tweet, insta and text without fear of being stranded and unable to call an Uber. If the price of tickets is too much for a college budget, the festival offers several options to earn a two-day pass by volunteering, but beware that you may have to miss class for some of these options. The festival is a daytime affair, lasting from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., allowing concertgoers to enjoy the warmth of daylight with high quality ambiance of hit artists. If you want to enjoy never before seen mash-ups crossing over rock, indie, jazz and bluegrass, this event is a perfect way to spend the weekend. Griffin closed the interview by saying, “We would love to see as many Vanderbilt students out there as possible.” The discounted student tickets certainly seem to prove that: For general admission, the price is $92 per day, but the student tickets available online only run $65 per day. With Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza ticket prices going for $300 and beyond, Pilgrimage is a less expensive and more Nashville-based way to get your festival fix this fall.
EMILY SHUR
WEEZER, SEPT. 26 5:15 PM
DAVID MCCLISTER
WILLIE NELSON, SEPT. 27 6:30 PM
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