the
eporter beta issue
How Will Hatters Vote? Page 20
Should Election Day Be a National Holiday? Page 24
Beta Issue 1
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A Letter from the Editor Jason Cruz Reporter Editor-in-Chief Dear Reader, Last year, a task force of students, faculty and staff members assembled a task force to analyze the state of Stetson’s student media. The task force conducted a survey to gather opinions from across campus, researched trends in media at other institutions, and compared all of these findings to what we already did at Stetson. It was decided that a dramatic change was needed to keep student media a relevant and thriving part of the Stetson experience. The magazine you hold in your hand is a part of that change. The Reporter will no longer be a weekly newspaper. Instead, we hope to produce an issue of this magazine monthly, on the high quality paper you are feeling right now. In these pages you will find careful attention paid to campus news, in-depth reporting on what students are thinking and feeling, sports coverage, and articulated opinions contributed by members of the Stetson community. All that you expected from The Reporter, including your beloved Public Safety reports, will still be here. Printing monthly allows us to spend more time with stories, chase leads, work different angles, and contextualize circumstances. We will use this time to raise the quality of our content. At the same time, this content will be available online at hatternetwork.com and the Hatter Network Facebook page. If you already like The Stetson Reporter on Facebook, you are clear to go. Hatter Network is a name we hope you become familiar with going forward. It is the house of Stetson’s student media efforts. The Reporter, Touchstone, WHAT Radio, and our new video
group WHNN Hatter News Network will become one entity, working alongside each other, sharing resources and content to produce the best possible work. All of us remain committed to delivering information useful for students while showcasing the amazing talents Hatters develop during their time at Stetson. Later in this magazine, you will find the first selection of submissions chosen for Ampersand, a new monthly taste of what Touchstone will continue to offer in the spring as an arts journal, just as they have for decades. This change allows more student work to be published during the year. It also means you, Dear Reader, get to enjoy more fiction, poetry, and visual art. I believe these things help solidify our humanity, and am honored that our non-fiction writings will be delivered alongside beautiful student productions. This is a period of transition, with many questions to be answered and discoveries to be made. We will do things which you may not like as much as others, and some of you may think this is a wrong turn for student media or The Reporter itself. We welcome your feedback, but please know that my colleagues and I have already spent incredible amounts of time and energy shifting to our new way of doing things. If you give us a shot, you will find that we made good decisions. I guarantee it. In the meantime, Dear Reader, I hope you sit back in your favorite chair, sip your drink of choice, and enjoy this first step in what should be a delightful journey together.
The Presidential Issue
Hatter Network Staff Nick Saffan, Hatter Network Director Jason Cruz, Editor-In-Chief Gabby Cassidy, Editor-In-Chief Tony Pizzo, WHAT Radio Manager Kitty Geoghan, Creative Director Alissa Pagano, Copy and Content Editor Suzanne English, News Editor Kait Forsythe, Features Editor Madison Akins, Sports Editor Shaylen Vitale, Opinions Editor Shaylen Vitale, Staff Writer Jordan Bennett, Staff Writer John Pitts, Staff Writer Lynn Walsh, Staff Writer Morgan Eiland, Staff Writer Ashley Sullivan, Touchstone Selection Alissa Pagano, Touchstone Selection Eva Martinez, Touchstone Selection Daniel Crasnow, Touchstone Selection Jacob Mauser, Touchstone Selection Jamie Pietrasz, Touchstone Selection Maeve Coughlin, Photographer Raisa Bailon, Photographer Maragarita Parris, Photographer Cat Keve, Photographer Kait Forsythe, Chief Layout Designer Hilario Menendez, Feature Designer Amanda Pierce, Feature Designer Christina Pierce, Feature Designer Mitch Robey, Sports Designer Sami Hartman, Style Designer Colette Cacciola, Analogue Designer Valeria Servigna, Ampersand Designer Cover Design by Kait Forsythe
Features
ON campuS
Values Day at Stetson
Food and The Making of American Jewry
Star Trek 50th Anniversary
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Page 10
An Evening of Sacred Music
Sullivan Series Presents implement for removing foreign bodies
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Page 9
MYSTERY PERSISTS OVER PREVIOUS TENANTS IN NEW RESIDENCE HALLS
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Greek Recruitment 2016
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September Public Safety Incident Report Page 13
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MEDIA REVIEWS: Blonde Page 29
Don't Breathe
POSITIVE NEWS: PANDAS AND MANATEES NO LONGER ENDANGERED Page 4
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Opinions
Sports
Tuesday Voting: An American Tradition?
Women's Soccer ASUN Honors
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Rush Sucks
Football Takes Extreme Ownership of their Season
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Analogue Ampersand by WHAT Radio
by Touchstone
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Cover Story: The Reporter's 2016 Election Poll - Page 20
P sitive News The Endangered Species List Says Goodbye To Two Old Friends
Kitty Geoghan Contributor
and Wildlife Service. A review of the endangered species list has the sea cows reclassified as “threatened,” meaning hile much of the world is all doom that conservation efforts are still widely and gloom lately, we must not considered necessary, but that manatees forget the little guys who often do not face any immediate risk of help us unwind and smile in spite of it extinction. all: cute animals. Specifically, think about Later in the year, the World Wildlife manatees and giant pandas, because Fund announced that its mascot, the both were finally able to produce enough giant panda, has also been reclassified surviving offspring to warrant removal from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on from the endangered species list. the global endangered species list. This As of January 2016, the manatee particular reclassification is a huge population of Florida has increased by step for environmental protectionists, approximately 500 percent in the past given the panda’s status as a symbol two decades, according to the U.S. Fish for conservation efforts worldwide
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(including, as noted, the WWF itself). Even with all the terrible things happening in the world today, it is important to remember that humans are still capable of accomplishing very good things. Organizations such as the WWF are finally starting to see significant results from their commitment to animal and environmental protection and activism. Next time you visit Blue Spring State Park, make sure you keep an eye out for the manatees, and remember that there are still plenty of good things to look forward to in the world.
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Values Day
9/20/2016 Many Voices, One Stetson Kait Forsythe Features Editor
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uesday Sept. 20, Stetson University continued an annual tradition: Values Day. Originally established in the 1990s by former university president Doug Lee, Values Day is held to promote Stetson’s core values: Intellectual Development, Global Citizenship, and Personal Growth. This year, the Values Day Committee invited Kenyan Senator Peter Anyang Nyong’o to give the keynote address and begin the Values Day festivities. Before the senator’s address, Stetson University’s Concert Choir and Men’s Choir stunned the audience with a performance of a Kenyan folk song entitled “Wana Baraka” in honor of the university’s special guest. The translation of this piece into English is as “We have blessings. We have peace. We have joy. We have our wellbeing. As we pray, Alleluia!” The musical offering led by Dr. Timothy Peter, director of university choral activities, was simply magical. The women of Concert Choir were swaying and singing harmonies in the balcony. The Concert Choir men were in the aisles, beaming. Digital arts major Peter Nyong’o, the keynote speaker’s son, fearlessly belted a solo that moved the audience--including his mother and Sen. Nyong’o’s wife, Dorothy Nyong’o. During the song’s climax, she stretched out her arms with joy as if to embrace the sky. During a Q&A after the keynote speech, Sen. Nyong’o was asked about his feelings on the relationship between art and politics. The question seemed appropriate as the senator mentioned his favorite singer is Billie Holiday and he frequently quoted Shakespeare throughout his talk. He answered by commending Ms. Holiday’s songs of suffering.
Peter Nyong'o, Digital Arts student and son of the keynote speaker, passionately singing his solo during "Wana Baraka". Photo Credit:Kait Forsythe
many voices one Stetson
“Artists communicate the suffering of people. Music tells the stories of injustice so the message sinks in,” Dr. Nyong’o asserted. This, of course, was not news to the audience, who had just experienced the power of song. Sen. Nyongo’s modest speech was on the importance of good leadership. “Do not always expect to succeed,” he warned undergrads. “Sometimes failure now can lead to success in the future.” The Kenyan senator ended with an important platitude that echoes all that we are learning at Stetson: “Leave the world a better place than you found it.”
Guests of Honor Sen. Anyang Nyong'o and his wife, Dorothy, at Stetson's Values Day. Photo Credit: Kait Forsythe.
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A Muslim, A Jew, and a Sikh walk into a University
Share a value of your tradition that you Bain’s answer for how Judaism encouraged understand to also be located in another religious pluralism began with a definition religious tradition. How did you discover of Torah as “instruction”. Followers this commonality? of Judaism are instructed to respect Panesar’s answer to this question was differences, while remaining true to their “charity.” In Sikhism, there is great emphasis “own link up to the Divine,” she said. placed on selfless service, or seva. Chaaban said, “all religions are trying to Bain responded with the story of Hillel, say the same thing: the essence of Truth is Kait Forsythe a Talmudic prophet who was asked by a Love.” He assured the room that interfaith Features Editor potential convert to teach him the entirety marriage is mentioned in Islamic scripture of the Torah whilst standing on one leg. To as allowed. He said the message of Islam tetson’s Office of Interfaith Initiatives facilitated an interfaith this Hillel said, “That which is hateful unto is not violence, but love. “Extremism is panel discussion for the campus’ you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the the enemy… It is false practice of Islam.” annual Values Day on Sept. 20. On the whole of the Torah, The rest is commentary.” He ended with a reminder of pluralism as Chaaban answered with “seeking supported by our country’s de facto motto: panel sat Bassem Chaaban, Director knowledge. ” He said this is what followers “E Pluribus Unum” meaning “out of many, of Outreach for the Islamic Society of of many theistic faiths have in common: one.” Central Florida; Riselle Bain, Stetson a desire to know God and the Truth. He What is a difficulty you’ve faced in this alumna and cantor at Temple Israel in continued with a story of how the Prophet work and how have you overcome it? Sebring, Fla.; and Surinder Panesar of Muhammad received the Quran, to illustrate “Israel” means “one who struggles with the Sikh Society of Central Florida. the yearning of a spiritual seeker to know God.” Bain said that followers of Judaism, “This workshop seeks to increase God. Chaaban was careful to identify like other followers of God, experience our awareness of three religious the difference between knowledge and resistance and worldly distractions from communities in the United States: information, an important distinction in any God. Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism,” writes religious context. Chaaban very poignantly commented, Assistant Director of Interfaith Religious pluralism is when diversity is “the hardest part [about this work] is Initiatives and leader of the panel engaged toward positive ends, building convincing people that pluralism is a good discussion, Lindsey Graves. In the strong bonds with others from various thing for society.” wake of recent religious violence and religious backgrounds. How does your Chaaban cited a research study he growing global xenophobia, it seems tradition encourage your participation in recently read on what makes empires only natural that one has questions rise. The study found two key factors to about the teachings of the world’s sacred our pluralistic society? Panesar began with a story of Guru Nanak, the strength of an empire; one, strength faith traditions. This panel’s purpose the first Sikh guru. In Sikh scripture, Guru of unity, and two, acceptance of diversity. was to promote peace, compassion and He went on to say that the “holy war” is a interfaith understanding on our campus. Nanak was sent to Earth by God to help souls return to Him. Someone asked Guru myth. The term jihad actually means “to Throughout the discussion, these three Nanak the name of his God and he said: “My struggle,” or “inner struggle.” In Islam, representatives from the Islamic, Jewish God’s name is Truth.” Panesar explained ego is the “highest jihad,” said Chaaban, and Sikh faiths answered that the Truth and salvation is open to meaning “to struggle with self.” prescribed questions and everyone, not just Sikhs. Guru Nanak’s explained the tenets of message of inclusivity is continued their respective paths. in the Sikh tradition and this is how Sikhism supports socioreligious pluralism.
A Muslim, A Jew, and a Sikh Walk Into a University
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Muslim Bassam Chaaban clarifies misconceptions about Islam for Stetson students. Photo credit: Kait Forsythe
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Sikh Surrinder Panesar answering questions from a Stetson student. Photo credit: Kait Forsythe
My Name Is Not Refugee Lynn Walsh Staff Writer
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lisabeth Poeter, associate professor of German and director of the gender studies program, began the My Name Is Not Refugee presentation by discussing “what the so-called refugee crisis means for Germany.” Poeter, a native of Germany, offered both factual information and her personal perspective based on her various trips to the country. Poeter shared a German phrase with
#Lives: Black, Blue, All Where We Are and How We Move Towards Unity and Justice Lynn Walsh Staff Writer
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r. Rajni Shankar-Brown, Stetson associate professor and the Jessie Ball duPont chair of social justice education, opened the workshop by defining the different #lives movements. Black Lives Matter is an international “social movement, advocating for racial justice,” motivated to end the violence and systemic racism against NonAmerican blacks and African-
the audience, “Wir shaffen das,” which translates to “We can do this.” The audience laughed and attempted to crudely pronounce the German phrase, much to Poeter’s amusement. Poeter explained that this phrase was used by Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, to encourage her country to accept refugees. Following Poeter, Jelena Petrovic, native of Serbia and the assistant professor of communications, explained that Serbia cleverly utilizes words such as “migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers” in order to push refugees into specific political categories and therefore advance Serbia’s own political ideologies. Pamela Cappas-Toro, the assistant professor of world languages and
cultures, closed the workshop section by discussing her home, Puerto Rico, and its relation to the term “refugee.” CappasToro primarily talked about the ironic use of this term to describe Puerto Ricans moving to the mainland United States— specifically Florida—to escape Puerto Rico’s failing economy. These three presentations on refugees spanned across EU and non-EU borders, and discussed the power of the word “refugee” in the media today. This informative Values Day event, delivered by experts and natives of the respective countries discussed, was attended by 25 students and made for a successful and moving Values Day workshop.
Americans. By contrast, #bluelivesmatter began as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement, arguing that the focus on black lives was undermining respect for law enforcement. The final reactionary movement, #alllivesmatter, rejected both former movements to instead affirm that all people’s lives matter. Following Shankar-Brown, Dr. Kimberly Flint-Hamilton, the chair of Stetson University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, showed a YouTube clip of President Obama addressing both the #blacklivesmatter and #bluelivesmatter movements on the national stage. In his speech, Obama said that “there is no contradiction between us supporting law enforcement… and also saying that there are problems across our criminal justice system; there are biases, some conscious and some unconscious, that have to be rooted out.” With Obama’s words on the audience’s mind, Dr. Ranjini Thaver, a Professor of Economics at Stetson, involved the audience with a phone poll. The audience was shown a poster using black children to illustrate “inappropriate poolside behavior,” such as shoving a child into the pool. Thaver asked the audience various
questions relating to bias, racism, and the poster; the poll results showed that while most of the audience found this poster racist, most also thought it older than 10 years. Thaver revealed that, in fact, this poster was released just a few years ago. Following this interactive moment, Sharmaine Jackson, an assistant professor of sociology, discussed the importance of protests and the implications of an increasingly divided United States. Jackson argued passionately that “we are splitting apart as a nation,” citing statistical evidence that hate groups against both white and black communities are on the rise. Jackson concluded by advocating that peaceful protest and civil disobedience are necessary countermeasures against the rise of hate and racism in America. Sven Smith, another assistant professor of sociology, concluded the workshop by asking the audience what the ideal society would look like. If civil disobedience and protests succeed in undermining the current racist system, what system should take its place? What values should this system support? Smith left the audience with a challenging question: “In a perfect society, what values, exactly, are we trying to get at?”
#blacklivesmatter #bluelivesmatter #alllivesmatter
Professor Flint-Hamilton interacting with students during #Lives presentation. Photo credit: Kait Forsythe
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America, Jews, and Food: The Power of a Good Meal to Shape a Cultural Identity Lynn Walsh Staff Writer At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept.13 in the Stetson Room, both faculty and students gathered to hear Diner’s contribution to the annual lecture series. Over 80 people steadily trickled into the Stetson Room, quickly filling the seats. A mix of students, religious studies faculty, and DeLand community members gathered, with President Libby also in attendance. Every year, Stetson’s religious studies department helps organize the Malka Altman Memorial Lecture in Jewish Studies. This lecture series began in memoriam of adjunct professor of religious studies and spiritual leader of Temple Beth-El in Ormond Beach, Malka Altman. Altman is the wife of Stetson’s Rabbi Barry Altman. The religious studies department and Hillel, the Jewish student organization on campus, arranged for visiting scholar Dr. Hasia Diner to present her talk entitled “Eat and Be Satisfied: Food and the Making of American Jewry” for the lecture this year. Diner is a professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies and history at New York University. She is also their Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History, and director of the university’s Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History. After brief introductions, Diner took her place behind the podium. For her research, Diner focuses specifically on Eastern European Jews
who immigrated to the United States in search of a “new, wealthy world.” Diner explained that for these Jewish immigrants, America was empowering. Their past lives in the various countries they called home were often heavily curtailed by both class divisions and kosher rules, or rules for what food is religiously acceptable for people of the Jewish faith to eat. Formerly poor and hungry Jews came to the United States and ate “as if they were upper class every day.” Jewish immigrants could now afford to eat “expensive and extravagant” food that used to be reserved for Sabbath and religious holidays. Diner smiled while explaining that readily “eating food associated with holy times made every day a ‘holy day’” for these Jewish immigrants. Food also underscored the important roles of Jewish women and mothers in America. Diner said that while Jewish mothers still took on traditional, more conservative places in the household, the “mother in the kitchen plays the crucial role as link to the past” for immigrants. Mothers carried the continuity of home to the United States by making traditional meals in their new American kitchens. In this way, Jewish mothers acted as the glue which held these immigrant families together. While continuing to cook holy foods and traditional meals, Jewish mothers also began to “Americanize” their cuisine, reflecting their families’ entrances into a new, more extravagant culture. After a Sunday dinner, Diner happily shared that Jewish mothers would serve ice cream, to the delight of their children and to the shock of some conservative Jewish circles who were unsure if these foods were still kosher. While these new American foods sometimes led to debates over what qualified as “forbidden” and “acceptable” food, the introduction of American cuisine into Jewish immigrants’ lives allowed for families to uniquely enter into the American experience. Food continued to shape the American Jewish experience by expanding cultural boundaries. Diner explained how food introduced Jewish immigrants to new groups of people
in America, including different Jewish communities. Jews immigrated to the United States from various European countries, such as Germany, Lithuania, Ukraine, among others. Diner said this miniature melting pot experience “led to an exchange of different Jewries in America” where food served as a catalyst for learning about these different Jewish experiences. Diner painted a picture of this cultural exchange, describing how Ukrainian Jews would sell pastrami, while Jews from the Ottoman Empire would cook olives, eggplant, and halvas. Diner described this cultural mix as “a kind of Jewish melting pot [that] develops in America…[which] creates an American-Jewish fusion.” These foods would be strange and exotic to other Jewish communities, and they allowed new conversations between different Jewries to occur which ultimately shaped the AmericanJewish experience. This melting pot experience did not only occur between different Jewries in America, but also between Jews and other unique cultures. Often for the first time, Jewish peoples found themselves interacting closely with vastly different peoples in America. Food, of course, served as the catalyst for conversation among these different cultures. Jewish families would eat out at Chinese restaurants and buy meats at nearby Italian markets, Diner explained, which allowed many kosher families to speak with entirely different cultures. Food led people, and specifically the American-Jewish community, to begin “eating beyond the boundary of the community.” Diner closed her talk eloquently, stating that America gave Jewish people “the chance to eat beyond the limitations of life,” expanded cultural boundaries, and shaped a new and unique voice for Jewish immigrants as American citizens. Food indelibly molded the Jewish experience in America, and allowed this unique community to retain their cultural history while carving out their distinctive place in America’s melting pot.
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An Evening of Sacred Music: We Pray for Peace JB Pitts Staff Writer “When we have inner peace, we will have outer peace,” Andy Murphy’s voice rang out across Lee Chapel on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Murphy, the director of the Central Florida Baha’i Choir, was addressing the diverse crowd of over 450 participants that had gathered that night to celebrate the United Nations’ International Day of Peace. The event, “Interfaith Evening of Sacred Music: We Pray for Peace,” was organized by the Interfaith Initiatives branch of Stetson’s Cross Cultural Center, and the university’s first official celebration of the International Day of Peace. Established in 1981, the International Day of Peace is devoted to “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.” In addition to community gatherings around the world like Stetson’s Interfaith Evening, the day is celebrated with concerts, marches, vigils, service projects and even temporary ceasefires. Since its inception, the International Day of Peace has aimed to promote the recognition of peace as vital to the full enjoyment of human rights. The program opened with an adhan, or Islamic call to prayer, which was followed by a peace offering from
The Sikh Society of Central Florida sharing a musical offering called "Maajh, Fith Mehl." Photo Credit: JB Pitts
Lindsey Graves, the Assistant Director of Interfaith Initiatives. the sound of tablas and harmoniums then filled the chapel as the Sikh Society of Central Florida played a shabad hymn. Next, a round of songs was opened by Stetson alum Riselle Bain and a recitation of the Jewish “Tikkun Olam,” followed by Murphy’s Baha’i Faith choir and then the DeLand stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. While the audience was asked to hold any applause until the end of the program, no one was able to adhere to that appeal after several Hindu Pushpanjali dances from students at the Nritya Academy. After the dancers came a hymn from the Greater Union First Baptist Church, then a delivery of the Sufi poem “Would You Think It Odd?” and finally the night was rounded out by a silent meditation and prayer for peace. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “music is the universal language of mankind.” While many current events may suggest that our society is becoming increasingly divisive, for at least one night that was not the
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case. As the Stetson Women’s Chorale spread through the aisles of Lee Chapel to close the program, all in attendance filled the air with the lyrics, “let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.” They did this regardless of their faith, their race, their gender, or any of the other labels we too often use to define and divide other human beings. Brought together by an Evening of Sacred Music, this beautiful gathering of people had struck to the heart of humanity itself and found that underneath all else, there is love.
A pair of dancers from the Nritya Academy after finishing their Pushpanjali dance. Photo Credit: JB Pitts
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diverse environment for viewers to internalize and later apply to real-world issues in their own communities. O’Neill stated that “...Trek teaches us that the impossible is the doable. Trek teaches us we Cat Keve must not merely accept that others believe Contributor or act differently. Tolerance of difference and diversity is not enough. It suggests that only eptember 8, 2016 was the 50th Anniver when we actively seek difference, cherish it, celebrate it, can we move past division. It may sary of the Star Trek series. be where no one has gone before, be the glory On Sept. 7, at 6:00 p.m. in Elizabeth Hall, and hope and power of Trek is that we are all Dr. Megan O’Neill held a lecture on the welcome on that final frontier.” importance Star Trek’s social platform has O’Neill concluded that Star Trek has been, and had on today’s society, as the first session of still is, a source for expanding imagination, a celebratory week for science-fiction series’ technology and art within a science-fiction 50th anniversary. The first episode of Star context. According to the professor, Star Trek Trek aired on CBS Sept. 8 1966, 50 years ago. imagines a universe in which peace across O’Neill serves as the director of the English department’s writing program and is a faculty differences can be achieved. Describing those differences, O’Neill noted “the black, the expert on the franchise. Her lecture provided insight on how the franchise’s casting, plot lines white, the Asian, the gay, the straight, the non-gendered, the machine, the organism, the and subject matter has created a successful,
“Star Trek” 50th Anniversary
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Star Trek and Disability Shaylen Vitale Staff Writer
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n Tuesday, Sept. 13, Dr. Melinda Hall hosted a seminar exploring the portrayal and evolution of disability within Star Trek as a part of Stetson University’s Star Trek week. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, university faculty held seminars devoted to the show each night. Sponsored by the history department and university chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society, presentations were cultural credit events and explored various themes of the science fiction phenomenon. Around 25 students and faculty members attended the event in the faculty lounge of the CUB. Hall, an assistant professor of philosophy at Stetson, specializes in human enhancement and disability theories. She is also an avid Star Trek fan. The presentation compared three competing models of disability as conceived in culture and how they are represented in the popular show. According to Hall, there are three prominent ideas of disability: medical, social and cultural. Simplistically put, they are, respectively, the ideas that disability is an affliction of the the physical body to
be fixed medicinally, of the world around us which is often accommodating to differently abled people, or a combination of the prior two which attempts to recognize the social structures causing disability while also tending to the body as a source of issues one might wish to alleviate. The event focused primarily on the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which aired from 1987-1994, though the original series (hereafter referred to as TOS) was also discussed. TOS, which ran during the years 1966-1969, had a very different understanding of disability, argued Hall. In TOS, “representations of disability are often depicted as debilitating, or worse than death,” Hall said. She referenced the TOS episode, The Menagerie, where Captain Christopher Pike is injured from a mission and is left scarred, mute and paralyzed while dependant on a brain-wave operated wheelchair. His illfated story ends only when Spock risks court-martial to deliver him to a planet where the former captain can continue living in an illusion of perfect health. For Spock, risking death is worth the chance of having Pike live as if he were healthy again. Meanwhile, the “Next Generation had a much more positive outlook on disability and even strived to portray it not as a
space going amoeba, the errant god-like being and the fragile crystalline entity, the Klingon and the Trill. Far more than a message of unity, Trek is a message of harmony. And we certainly still need that today” Asked about the importance of Star Trek for college students today, O’Neill replied “given the current events, it’s entirely too easy to be cynical. Star Trek gives us a message of hope that we desperately need.” Fortunately for O’Neill and those who share her belief in Star Trek’s power for good, the franchise shows no sign of slowing down. Star Trek Beyond, the third film in a reboot series, premiered this summer to positive reviews. Star Trek Discovery will mark the return of of the quinquagenarian universe to television, premiering on CBS and focusing on a young female lieutenant serving in Starfleet 10 years prior to the events of the original series.
limitation.” Hall cited evidence of this, using the example of the Next Generation character Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, who had been blind since birth. La Forge uses an instrument known as a VISOR to perceive his environment. According to Hall, “Geordi is often used as an effective foil against the widely shared assumption that the future would be better without disabled people,” and continued on to say that despite his reliance on assistive technologies, such as his VISOR, the series continuously shows the importance and capability of his character. Also mentioned was the character of Riva, a mediator from the planet Ramatis III, a planet recognized in-show for its ruling family’s trait of hereditary deafness. Appearing in a single Next Generation episode entitled “Loud as a Whisper,” the deaf and mute Riva was able to create peace between two warring sides of a civil war by teaching them sign language. “The series plays with the idea of differences,” Dr. Hall explained. “It suggests that particular disabilities, like Riva’s, provide different materials for success.”
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have not come to develop space traveling capabilities and come into contact with the United Space Federation on their own. In short, no one on Star Trek should surprise “primitive” peoples across the galaxy by revealing themselves or their technology. Nor should they do anything which would alter the natural development the people are experiencing. Smallpage examined two Trek stories which forced characters to grapple with the Prime Directive while doing what they personally believed to be correct. Students watch Star Trek: The Wrath of In the TOS episode “The Apple,” Captain Kirk Khan during Star Trek Week. and his officers Spock and McCoy discover Photo Credit: Margarita Parris a planet where the temperature never fluctuates from 78 degrees, there is always Jason Cruz abundant food, inhabitants are immortal, Editor-in-Chief and no one experiences violent emotions. The only problems on this planet are that even light-years away, no one can the inhabitants have no real knowledge, escape basic political obligations. education, or self-governance because they Or at the very least, no fictional depiction are ruled over by an entity named Vaal, which of advanced civilizations in deep space goes is keeping them in this paradisiacal state. unscrutinized for the political lessons it seems McCoy and Spock argue about what they to teach. Star Trek proves no exception. Dr. should do next. Steven Smallpage, an associate professor of McCoy favors destroying Vaal and disrupting political science, delivered a lecture on the the planet’s established life because believes liberal ideologies of Star Trek’s two most them to be enslaved. McCoy argues that all beloved series, its initial 1960s run now humanoid creatures deserve the right to called The Original Series (TOS) and The unfettered growth, that Vaal constitutes an Next Generation (TNG), which broadcast authoritarian who has enslaved the planet’s 1987-1994. The lecture was the final piece of inhabitants and left them in stagnation. Star Trek Week, and took place on Sep. 13 in Without progress, their existence can hardly Elizabeth Hall’s John E. Johns room. be called life. To McCoy, life means progress Conservative Americans have always found and struggle, not eternal sameness. reasons to dislike Star Trek’s portrayal of a Spock completely disagrees, pointing out that seemingly utopian, left-leaning future where humanoids have the right to choose their people of all races and species coexist in conditions and these people have chosen a society where money is nonexistent and to live in ignorance, health, and worship of interplanetary government ubiquitous. The Vaal. Even if he disagrees with their choice, liberalism Smallpage described however is not he values their self-determination and wants the kind often identified with the Democratic to stick to the Prime Directive’s order not to Party or current culture wars. Smallpage interfere with the situation. described classical political liberalism, the In the end of “The Apple” Kirk tells McCoy ideas which brought about the American and Spock they “owe” the people they have and French revolutions. He identified the discovered to put them back on a course of key tenets of classical liberalism as tolerance, social evolution. They destroy Vaal in order to a divide between public and private lives, a restore the people’s ability to choose their own respect for the rule of law, maintenance of work, creativity, and systems of governance. peace, and continual pushes for progress. Despite directly contradicting the Prime Central to all inceptions of Star Trek is the Directive, Kirk believes he made the right Prime Directive, which Smallpage argued decision because the people whose lives he defines the franchise’s liberalism. The Prime changed irrevocably were not, to him, living Directive commands all members of Star at all. Smallpage argues that the lesson learned Fleet, which includes Trek’s characters, not to from TOS is that tolerance should only be interfere with planets or civilizations which granted to life that closely enough resembles
Diverse Conceptions of Political Liberalism
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the inherent struggle of humanity, no matter how wonderful the material conditions of another people may seem. Smallpage then turned to analyzing “Redemption,” a two part episode of TNG in which Captain Jean-Luc Picard attempts to mediate the Klingon royal succession and seat Gowron. Picard is aware that enemy Romulans are attempting to disrupt the succession by demanding a rival Klingon be given power. Worf, one of Picard’s officers and a Klingon, wants to reveal this information and prevent a potential civil war. This would also allow Worf ’s family, then unjustly marked traitors, to clear their name. Picard, unlike Kirk, decides that the Prime Directive matters more than preventing a war and helping Worf. Since revealing that information would tamper with Klingon politics, Picard upholds the division between his private desires and public duties as a Star Fleet captain. The captain sympathises with Worf, but orders him not to use the information and allow the process to play itself out. Gowron comes into power, but a civil war erupts. With Worf in danger on another starship, Picard leaves the area to uphold the Prime Directive. Eventually Picard does tell Star Fleet about the Romulan intervention and they allow him to aid the Klingon’s, but even then Picard chooses only to blockade the Romulans and enable Klingon forces to fight each other without outsiders. Although the rebellion falters, Smallpage raged against Picard’s “insane holding to the Prime Directive” without regard to his own commitments. Knowing that he could prevent war, help Worf, and advance Star Fleet’s interests, Picard chose not to intervene. His complete separation between private desires and beliefs with public obligation marks a total shift from Kirk’s standpoint in TOS. Smallpage concluded that these two shows represent two takes on classic liberalism. The liberalism of TOS emphasises nondomination, self-governance, and toleration only for what is similar. On TNG, writers upheld non-interference and neutrality alongside a thick division between the public and private domains.
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Life Imitates Art: The Science of Star Trek Lynn Walsh Staff Writer
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tetson’s third event celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek took place at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 12 in Sage 213. Dr. Kevin Riggs, professor and chair of physics, explored “The science of Star Trek” at an intimate gathering of twelve Trekkies and science enthusiasts. Dr. Riggs opened his talk by sharing how Star Trek reruns as a child inspired a “lifelong love of science” in him. Star Trek has been capturing its viewers’ imaginations since 1966, when Star Trek: The Original Series (hereafter referred to as TOS) aired its first episode. The shows and subsequent movies are filled with futuristic technologies, such as warp drive engines and phasers, which have caused trekkies and scientists alike to wonder about the possibility of translating these artistic renderings into scientific realities. Perhaps the most famous line from any Star Trek iteration is from the starship Enterprise’s mission statement: “to explore new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” While this statement inspires Star Trek characters to find new planets, discover alien life, and advance humankind’s knowledge, scientists have been using the starship Enterprise’s goals as launching points into new, unexplored realms of knowledge specifically in physics and astronomy. Dr. Riggs, as both a trekkie and a scientist, spent the evening sharing ways in which scientists have taken Star Trek’s artistic ideas and are translating them into theoretical and actual realities. Riggs began his talk by tackling the question of discovering “new life and new civilizations” in our universe. In 1966, when TOS first captured its audience’s
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Dr. Kevin Riggs discussing antimatter with the audience. Photo Credit: Lynn Walsh
imagination, scientists were not able to view planets outside of our solar system. “We knew that extra-solar planets must exist,” Riggs explained, “but we couldn’t view them or detect them.” However, in 1995, the first planet orbiting a star similar to our sun was discovered. Astronomy continued to advance, and with the launch of the Kepler space telescope in 2009, Dr. Riggs shared that we now have found over 10 billion planets and 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone. These huge scientific leaps in astronomy made it seem as if life is imitating art, as our new understanding of the universe suddenly became filled with billions of “new worlds,” just as in Star Trek’s universe. Unlike in Star Trek, of course, extraterrestrial life has not been discovered. However, this does not mean that “new civilizations” like those in Star Trek cannot exist, at least in theory. Dr. Riggs excitedly explained that Kepler has “found tons of planets in their stars’ habitable zones,” explaining that these planets exist in “the Goldilocks zone, [which is] not too hot, not too cold [for life to exist.]” Theoretically, liquid water could exist on these planets, making life— at least on a microscopic level— a possibility. Star Trek’s exploration of a life-filled universe continues to inspire the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) at the SETI Institute, a privatelyfunded scientific endeavor. Nearing the end of his talk, Dr. Riggs
ventured into the topics most trekkies in the audience were dying to hear about: warp drive and matter-antimatter engines. Walking toward a small speaker in the room, Dr. Riggs slowly turned up its volume. Quick, high-pitched bleeps of sound poured out toward the audience, and Riggs explained these sounds were the presence of anti-matter being detected in the room. As these bleeps continued filling our ears, Riggs shared that, scientifically, warping spacetime and creating anti-matter are both possible. Currently, human technology is not advanced enough to understand the mechanics of bending space-time and creating enough anti-matter to travel as the starship Enterprise did. Star Trek, however, is still inspiring scientists to advance their research and to push the boundaries of physics. The scientific questions that Star Trek brings up in its audience members have been inspiring scientists to imitate and learn from its art in order to make our understanding of both physics and astronomy advance. Ending his talk with the Vulcan salute, Riggs left the audience the only way a trekkie could, saying, “live long and prosper” with a small laugh.
opportunities in the upcoming years. Along with the $7 million dollar Marshall & Vera Lea Rinker Welcome Center and updates to pre-existing residence halls, Stetson introduced the Plymouth Avenue Apartments and the Stetson Oaks. These buildings are apartments that were previously home to non-Stetson, low-income tenants. Jordan Bennett Although the new residence halls were a Staff Writer much needed addition to Stetson’s campus, where the population of each incoming class he incoming freshman class of 2015 has been steadily increasing, I have always was one of the biggest classes to ever grace the Stetson University campus. wondered what happened to those who lived in the apartments before Stetson purchased With this unusually large class came the them. question of space. Where were all of the I decided to start small and ask a few RAs if students going to fit? While most students they knew anything about the new residential were able to snag a space on campus, halls or how they were obtained, but none of there were some who had to be placed in them had any information. I even emailed a surrounding hotels until vacant spots on member of Stetson’s administration, and after campus opened up. waiting weeks have yet to receive a response. With the Three-Year Rule requiring Hatters There are so many questions surrounding the to live on campus for their first three new halls that it seems impossible to ignore academic years unless they have a special any longer. Where did the tenants go? How circumstance and the huge number of new much time were they given before they had students, Stetson faced one of its biggest to leave? Could they stay for the remainder of trials yet. The great housing dilemma of 2015 was a widely debated topic last year and their lease? How were they notified that they would no longer be allowed to stay in their Stetson made plans to ensure more housing homes?
Mystery Persists over Previous Tenants in New Residence Halls
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As a senior, I remember my incoming class being the biggest Stetson had ever seen, at 860 freshmen. Now, that number has continued to increase, with no indication of when it will level off. Along with growth comes the responsibility that we have to the DeLand community that every student, faculty, and staff member becomes a part of when they decide to study and work at Stetson. Is there a way that we can advance without disrupting the lives of those within our community? With Global Citizenship being one of Stetson’s core values, it is interesting and somewhat saddening to see that so little is publicly known of the tenants who previously lived in our newly acquired, renovated residence halls. Whether the tenants had a choice in the matter we may never know, but one thing is for sure: the population and breadth of Stetson University are ever increasing, and with that comes decisions that not only affect the Stetson community, but the DeLand community as well.
Public Safety Highlights
September Public Safety Reports
9/3/1 - A case of theft was reported from Smith Hall, as a student claims their bicycle was stolen. 9/3/16 - Both grand theft and burglary of a residence were reported after a student’s iPhone was stolen. 9/7/16 - A student reported to Health Services after falling off his bicycle. 9/8/16 - A sprinkler triggered the Stetson Oaks Apartments’ fire alarm. 9/8/16 - Alcohol was confiscated from underage students in Emily Hall, Lynn Hall, and Fraternity House C. 9/9/16 - A fire with no determined cause burned at the Delta Sigma Phi house. 9/12/16 - A car was broken into in the University Village Apartments’ parking lot. A laptop was stolen. 9/13/16 - A car was broken into in the University Village Apartments’ parking lot. Loose change and ROTC rankings were stolen. 9/13/16 - A fire alarm sounded in the Stetson Oaks Apartments. The pull station was wet. 9/16/16 - The university Zip Car was towed from the Rinker parking lot. 9/17/16 - A fire extinguisher was found expended with no evidence left behind. 9/19/16 - Students injured themselves falling off of skateboards outside the library and Carson-Hollis Hall 9/21/16 - Damage to property was reported outside Smith Hall after a motorcycle fell into a car. 9/23/16 - Criminal mischief was reported following damage done to a student’s vehicle outside of the Phi Sigma Kappa house. 9/26/16 - A shower set off the fire alarm in Stetson Cove building 2. 9/26/16 - A Public Safety officer accidentally triggered the Hand Art Center’s alarm. 9/27/16 - The library’s fire alarm sounded after being hit by a pressure washer. Students also reported domestic violence, fondling, and a forcible rape. The reports of these incidents are confidential.
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This Year’s Sullivan Series Opens Up With “implement for removing foreign bodies.” JB Pitts Staff Writer
Witek welcoming the audience to the first Sullivan Series presentation. Photo Credit: Dengke Chen
DC: And the way I do animation, we sit down together and see what’s interesting he Tim Sullivan Endowment for and any suggestions for change and we add Writing was established in 1995 that to the video animation. So the whole to emphasize creative writing at Matt Roberts: We made “the circle,” so process is to make works based on our Stetson University. In addition to providing they call it; it’s where you get together and specialty, but we also get suggestions from students with scholarships and awards just show your work, show examples of other people to improve it. for their writing, the endowment also what you’re working on now, and it evolved TW: I think Amandine is so used to sponsors the Sullivan Writers’ Series, which into “hey let’s do a collaborative project.” working with musicians too, who are all brings well-known writers to Stetson’s So it wasn’t originally intended to be a about high group collab, and so she’s really campus to offer public readings and collaborative project. been instrumental in activating different writing workshops. This year, the series parts of it. She and I started doing this kicks off on Thursday, September 22, with The Reporter: How does a large recording stuff together and then she and “implement for removing foreign bodies,” collaboration with so many different Dengke started recording together and it a mixed media collaboration between mediums involved compare to working was a lot of fun to enter those other worlds. Terri Witek, the chair of Stetson’s creative with just one? writing program, and digital arts professors AP: I don’t do art stuff on my own, pretty Dengke Chen, Amandine Pras and Matt MR: We all bring in our own interests, so much never, so I prefer actually working Roberts. for example, Terri and I showed a piece with other people. But what’s new for me in Their performance, a cultural credit event, to the group and were like “oh, we could this project is that I have space for my own was in the CUB faculty lounge at 7:00 use some sound in that,” and Amandine recordings too. I recorded Terri, I recorded p.m. Witek is a poet, Chen specializes was like “oh yeah I can add sound,” or “we Dengke, but I also put up some sounds that in animation, Pras in music production could use some animations” and Dengke I had that I never knew what they were and Roberts in real-time interactive specializes in animations. So it was kind for, I just made them or recorded them media, so the performance promises of organic but we just thought about ways while traveling. So that’s great, but it’s very to be a captivating conglomeration of we could use our strengths and put them new for me, I don’t usually do that kind of many different media forms. I sat down together. thing. with the artists on Values Day to discuss collaboration, the performance and their The Reporter: Is it separated in terms of The Reporter: The posters say this is a work. work or do you ever give suggestions on performance piece, so do you all know something outside of your comfort zone? what to expect from each other or is there a degree of improvisation involved? The Reporter: Matt and Terri just Amandine Pras: We do. We come up with presented their dream garden project an idea and then suggest things such as MR: It’s pretty structured. We pass around in palm court, so the two of you have how something fits the sound, like “you a live camera, so there’s a little bit of obviously worked together, but is this could give it some space.” Also, Matt did improv, but everything else is timed and the first time all four of you have worked some interactive treatments on the sound, structured. together? so it’s coming from my recordings but he actually treats them and then I edit them. TW: I think [they] mostly work in “timeDengke Chen: Yes, for all four of us. So it’s not just like Terri’s writing things based media,” so their way of organizing and Dengke’s doing animation, there’s more it is interesting to me because there’s this Terri Witek: We got a grant from the moving back and forth. time and then this time and then there’s Brown Center for Faculty Innovation this time and I’m not used to thinking and Excellence and the deal was we were about it that way.
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supposed to meet every two weeks for a year, that’s how we started. And of course they’re in the same department.
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MR: It’s kind of like music - you have little segments, little movements, and each movement has a different kind of feel or sound or approach and you just tie them all together. TW: There have been some surprises. One of the things that happened when we were talking about our own work - I was talking about going to these antiquities museums and finding this signage and both Amandine and Dengke started talking about their connections to things in the ancient world. I had no idea Dengke played this beautiful wooden flute, for example, which is one of the parts of the performance that just came out. And of course Amandine had recorded all these sounds in India and Nepal. So there’s something about the past in here, and the past and the present being layered in our work. I think it’s something that’s true of all of us, and of course Matt physically layers images, that’s his trademark signature move. So watching them think about the layering has been really interesting, and to me it has a connection with an antique past.
ing dies
AP: One thing that I was specifically interested in the concept is that it comes from words that Terri had written, but with Matt’s idea of using the microscope to kind of go inside of something with technology, I’d even say very modern technology. So I was like oh that’s interesting because it’s this ancient thing that Terri wrote about, but we also have these super modern concepts and very new world kind of things. That made me think about using that to different extents in the performance. Let’s say the flute - you’re not going to see a real flute performance, but we play with the concept of flute performance in different ways.
The Reporter: *laughing* My next question was on the concept behind “implement…” so you were just thinking ahead. So will this be the only performance of this work or will you present it somewhere else after?
But I’m interested in reconvening. It’s an ephemeral group so this will be our last official thing, but it is tempting to go on. But it’s also tempting to end it too when it’s been a moment of success like this. We’ll see how the performance goes as Dengke says.
MR: We’ve talked about maybe trying to show it somewhere else off-campus, but we The Reporter: There hasn’t been a lot in haven’t solidified any plans as of yet. So I the way of advertising this event, I mean don’t know. the posters just say the title of the piece. So, for the sake of not giving too much away, DC: We’ll see how the performance goes. if you could use one word to describe this performance, what would it be? *all laugh* *nervous laughter* TW: And of course it’s the inaugural event *all stare at each other in silence* for the Sullivan Series this year so for me it was interesting to do a collab rather than AP: One word… a single author reading, which is what we usually have. I think it’s very much in the TW: Look at them, they’re not writers, spirit of what our university is doing and they’re going “oh my god what is he even it’s certainly what we’re interested in. asking?!” The Reporter: More collaborations in the future? AP: Hopefully.
MR: One sound. *more contemplation*
MR: That’s a hard question. Fragments? I MR: Yeah, Amandine and I just helped put don’t know. together a collaboration with an artist from New York, a percussionist. And Dengke is AP: Fragments is good. Yeah. helping Terri with her solo show. MR: Nailed it! Now can we ask you TW: These beautiful things that Dengke’s questions? made that you’ll see in this show are going to be in my solo show in Brazil in May.
TW: Yeah, and I’m not going to read a poem, but there’s language that’s going to happen in different ways, in various parts. AP: We went much further than the question.
Witek performing during "implement for removing foreign bodies." Photo Credit: Dengke Chen
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[implement for removing foreign bodies] an account by alissa pagano Thursday, September 22, 6:55 p.m. It feels like walking in on a secret, something august and hush-hush. The CUB foyer narrows into a hallway to greet a pair of solid double doors, only one of which is propped slightly open. Adults of some authority mill about, near a black linen catering spread, but the faculty lounge itself remains hidden from view right up until you cross the threshold and step inside. It’s a startlingly formal space, turned on its side: the double doors open onto the center of the room and slice it down the middle. On the right, the artists-Amandine Pras and Dengke Chen, Matt Roberts and Terri Witek--and a vacant performance space. Two blank projector screens; two cuboid podiums, smooth and white. On the left, the turnout, an expectant jumble of students and faculty and photographers. With almost every seat filled, attendees crowd together in corners and against walls. The air hums then stills.
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7 p.m. Dr. Lori Snook, English department chair, introduced the event in dedication to the late professor of digital arts, Ethan Greene. Then, each 2016 Sullivan scholar in attendance stood as Snook called their name, and weathered the mandatory applause knowing full well that no one had come to politely applaud their accomplishments. The scholars themselves were restless for the 15 minute ensemble performance to play itself out, to command utmost attention as only it could in this intimate, electrified space. With a few more gracious remarks from Witek, she and Roberts took their places at the center of the room. Pras was on the left, seated at a soundboard, and Chen on the right, awaiting his cue. They had all dressed in dark, semiformal clothing. “Can someone get the lights?� Roberts asked, standing at a MacBook on one of the podiums. The room drops down to darkness. Everyone rustles in the moment before the projectors fire to life. Witek stands illuminated dead center, backlit. In the space of a moment, the faculty lounge is compromised, transformed into a pocket of magical realism, and the performance begins.
A large bulk of its content is created on the spot: Roberts and Witek pass a digital microscope back and forth, throwing up indecipherably detailed images of skin on their hands and arms, strands of hair, a mouth. Original lines of poetry fade over these vague impressions of bodies. It is relatively impossible to tell what’s on the screen without context. A flash of dark pink, something pulsating; every movement of the microscope looks macro, amplified and jerky. The experience unnerves in a visceral way. At one point Witek holds the instrument up to her eye and the words “implement for cauterizing eyelids” routinely, terrifyingly float across her cornea.
From somewhere in all this, Chen has found his cue and steps up to negotiate center stage from Witek. He wields a bamboo flute in one hand, and navigates the microscope over it with his other. Notes trill out into the air, like the sound of birdsong and of rapid wings. It is a welcome reprieve from viscidity and flesh, a moment to breathe in the dark with a melody. His scene comes to a close the same way a stream winds down to a larger body, and then it is Pras’ turn. Digital scraps of paper, long and thin as fortunes, unfold themselves too many times, more than should be possible, on the screen. Scraps of voice, augmented into little more than noises, broken, jagged syllables and breaths, struggle to read the “paper” messages. Like surprises they unfold from one meaning to the next, born as short and choppy clauses and growing into phrases. The front of the room is alone, inhabited by no one, grows quiet. The microscope ventures into the audience, and the audience performs as they are expected to, as they did not expect to. The sounds of children fill the semi-darkness, shouts and rowdiness, and the sudden unease of the audience joins them, a murmuring and tittering.
A beat comes in, an ominous, beautiful Gregorian chanting in the company of bells and cymbals, the microscope at the end of its round and all four artists gathering at the front of the room in a line, as finally a crashing of drums reach out and touch the air as a soundwave and the clamor and the darkness crescendo- The screens go black. Chen, Pras, Roberts and Witek steeped in shadow and silence. Roberts rolls his sleeves up; Witek with her head bowed in solemn dedication to the craft. Each takes a final turn with the microscope, passing it down the line as a rite, lighting up the room with their bodies. One of the final lines of poetry that drifted into being: “splendid disappearance.” The lights come up.
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Hundreds of Stetson students participated in Fall 2016 Greek Recruitment the week of September 13th, 2016. Five established Panhellenic chapters met with potential new members (PNMs) to find their new sisters. In addition, Educational Leadership Consultants from Kappa Alpha Theta met with PNMs for their brand new Stetson chapter. Following formal recruitment, interested women attended interviews with Theta alumnae, and on Sunday, October 2nd, 75 new sisters joined the charter class of 2016. Stetson proudly welcomes its new additions to the Panhellenic family.
Greek Recruitment
photos by Kait Forsythe and Raisa Bailon
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Kappa Alpha Theta Comes to Stetson
family
welcome to the photos by Ernie Castro
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The Reporter’s 2 0 1 6 Presidential Election Poll Poll shows Stetson students are, somewhat unenthusiastically, ready for Hillary
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he Reporter’s 2016 presidential election poll showed former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton with a clear advantage over her opponents among Stetson students. The poll, conducted online from Sept. 14 to Sept. 25, closed with 49 percent of respondents choosing Clinton to be the next President of the United States. Despite her win, many students voting for her are not excited for her potential presidency.
Jason Cruz || Editor-In-Chief The poll shows that Hatters are much cooler than the general public on Trump, but in line with his support among younger Americans. As of writing, Trump holds just 26 percent of votes from Americans aged 18-29. Stetson support for Clinton matches her national estimate among millennials, at 49 percent.
RESULTS Over 95 percent of those polled confirmed that they would be voting in the coming election, which ends on Nov. 8. Only three students said they would not vote, and one of them explained they are ineligible. Five students replied that they remain undecided on whether or not they will cast ballots. Clinton beat her Republican opponent Donald Trump by 22 points. Trump received 27 percent of polled voters. Third party candidates Gary Johnson and Dr. Jill Stein received 13 and 5 percent of voters, respectively. Just 7 percent of those polled, a total of thirteen students, were unsure of which candidate they would support this fall.
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WHY WE VOTE Perhaps more interesting than which candidate students said they would vote for are their motivations. A plurality of students, 38 percent, said they would be voting to elect their chosen candidates, but that means a majority felt compelled by other reasons. Thirty-one percent said they would be voting to fulfill their civic duty, but 27 percent of students hope to prevent a particular candidate from securing the presidency.
female president would help materially affect the lives of women. In addition to the aforementioned voters who described women’s rights as their top priority, respondents noted “closing the wage gap” and “equal pay for equal work” as important causes. More than a third of Clinton’s supporters polled are voting for her to stop another candidate.
CLINTON Most of the students supporting Clinton cited their desire to see progressive change enacted by the next administration as their reason to vote for her. Combating climate change, ending racial and economic inequalities and expanding healthcare coverage were at the forefront of many Clinton supporters’ minds. Generally, a belief in social justice guided voters towards Clinton. One student said the most important issue for the next president is “women’s rights, people of color's rights, people with disabilities’ rights. Minority rights.” Another wrote, “Universal human rights.” One of the more well-formed desires came from a student who stated that they hope the next president “confronts all forms of bigotry through dialogue, policy and economic opportunities.” Students also answered the question with phrases related to social justice including “social rights,” “representation of minorities,” “women’s rights in general” “expand LGBT rights,” “disadvantaged people having a better life,“ “civil injustice,” and “equality.” Education also drove many students towards Clinton. Several students desire “education reform,” even at the kindergarten through high school levels. One student hopes the next president provides “equal educational opportunities for all.” The rising costs of college came up as well, as students seek a president who will bring about “less expensive college” and do something to deal with student debt. While Clinton’s “debt-free” college plan would not affect private institutions such as Stetson, some Hatters remain moved enough by her idea to cast their ballots for her. Some students hope that the candidate they would make the first
Remarkably, only 4 of these students directly cited stopping Trump, the other major party nominee, from reaching the presidency as their most important issue. One Clinton voting student wrote that they are “afraid of the silent majority voting for Trump, an unqualified candidate with absolutely zero political experience.” A separate student put the cause more bluntly: “Trump is trash so we can't let him win.”
TRUMP Many Trump voters cited their motivation as his hardline promises to end undocumented immigration from Mexico and deport the millions of immigrants currently living in the United States. Some simply stated that the most important issue for the next president to address is “wall.” One person wrote, “I hope the next president learns from the failed policies of Angela Merkel [Germany’s current Chancellor] and European countries, and enforces strict immigration laws.” A quarter of Trump voters pointed to immigration and issues related to it as their primary reason to support the Republican nominee. Other issues frequently raised as reasons to vote for Trump include how he might handle national security, the economy and pulling back from the Obama administration’s commitment to U.S. aid abroad. One respondent quoted Trump’s acceptance speech from July’s Republican National Convention, writing “Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo.” The same student also wrote “globalism is cancer” when offered a chance to expound upon their views of the election.
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Only eight Trump voters labeled their votes as preventative, with another stating that they support Trump because “Hillary is a crook and a liar.” Most Trump-voting students felt strongly that he would deliver on his promise to “Make America Great Again.” One respondent said they were voting Trump in order to “save the country.” One person attacked Clinton and her supporters, stating, “Anyone who votes for Hillary Clinton is ignorant. She is a liar in every way. How can we place someone into office knowing that they are a pathological liar?” despite independent sources such as Politifact finding that, empirically, Trump lies significantly more often than Clinton. Another wrote that they “feel that Hillary Clinton should be f urther investigated for her shady actions,” while a different respondent repeated the now infamous refrain from the RNC delegates, “Lock her up!”
PARTING THOUGHTS The final item of the poll, which was optional, read, “If you would like to say more about the election, please do here.” Forty-one students decided to add their thoughts. Responses ranged from disappointment in the major party candidates, to general discussion of the United States, to reflection on how unusual this election cycle has been. Regardless of who they plan to vote for, these students’ comments provide another interesting look into how Hatters view what some pundits call the most consequential presidential election in some time. Students who decided to say more about the election heaped on anger with Clinton and Trump. The sentiment that “at this point it's about the lesser of two evils” came through from several voters. “Trump is a potential disaster for this country and must be stopped. Hillary is no great shakes, either, but I think we can survive four years of her as an intact country,” wrote one unenthused Clinton voter. Another Clinton supporter said “It is sad that these two main candidates are the best we can do.”
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One Trump supporter simply wrote “God help us,” while a pessimistic Johnson voting student mused, “We're doomed.” Those dissatisfied with the Democratic and Republican candidates spread their blame around. One student wrote, “The Trump/Clinton thing is a sad farce perpetrated by the media.” Another said, “I am voting Libertarian because I am disappointed in both the Republicans' and Democrats' corrupt choices.” One of the few undecided participants even took aim at their fellow students: “The way that our generation has viewed this election has further contributed to a partisan outlook. For a generation that purports to be non-judgmental and tolerant, it is ironic when many of us react with hatred against people who do not share our values.” Another person angry with the primary choices said, “Regardless of who wins, I hope the next four years go by quickly and we can elect someone who has more than a 38% approval rating.“ One student morosely claimed “this election cycle is just unfortunate.” Trump took the lion’s share of the abuse. Negative comments towards Trump ranged from eloquent reflections to direct insults. A Clinton voter noted, “As a straight white middle-class dude, Donald Trump winning would not negatively affect me at all and that's terrifying.” One person called Trump “an embarrassment to our country,” while another wrote, “Trump is a lying sociopath and national embarrassment. It is appalling that anyone would ever consider voting for him given the things he has said and done,” and someone simply labeled him “a piece of shit.” The hashtag #AnyoneButTrump also made an appearance among the reponses. One Trump voter explained their vote by writing as follows: “This is a very interesting election, especially with Trump. I'm not a fan of the guy, but as a History major [myself] he is fascinating. Everyone panics whenever he insults someone, but he still gets away with it regardless of coverage. People have underestimated him and I'm not as scared of him as some people claim to be because our Founding Fathers instituted a systems of checks and balances.
“So will he build a wall? No. Will he enforce the border? Yes. I don't think he will be able to deport 11 million illegal immigrants and the fact that members of his own party don't like him is a good thing. I don't like Hillary Clinton and if Trump is able to be elected, this will be remarkable. In terms of America's reputation or image abroad, it will probably be damaged if one of the two candidates are elected so let’s give him a chance.” Here is how one particularly upset Trump supporter sees the situation: “Neither candidate is great, but when our healthcare rates have skyrocketed, our national debt has risen dramatically, and more and more people are sucking the life (and money) out of America by getting handouts and not working, something needs to change. “Obama promised change and he did it. He dramatically lowered overall well being and has created a monster (in terms of riots, mass murders, terrorism, police retaliation, and more). The change has been very bad for this country and it is time to bring back our jobs, unify the country, and stand strong against terrorism. I hope for the best."
METHODOLOGY With 183 respondents, the poll reflects the attitudes of 6 percent of the student body. As a percentage of the total population, this is significantly higher than trusted pollsters such as Gallup and the Public Policy Center. Gallup states that it contacts 500 Americans per daily survey. Of course, the scientific nature of those polls is not in question. They randomly sample wide geographic areas, ensure that background information is tracked for internal numbers and use advanced statistical data to map the public’s feelings. We, on the other hand, used a Google Form which provided instant data analysis and exported into a spreadsheet which allowed for tracking written responses and multiple choice selections. We did not collect any identification information from students. The poll was pushed via Stetson’s daily bulletin service, twice, and shared on The Reporter’s Facebook page twice as well. From there, others shared the link on Facebook of their own accord.
WHAT DOES VOTING MEAN TO YOU? One of the questions in our 2016 Presidential Election Poll was “What does voting mean to you?” The question necessitated a response from each of the 183 students who filled out the survey. Here is a curated selection of the answers, lightly edited for spelling.
“It's the foundation of a democratic society, and is a civic duty of each and every American.” “The singular moment in which we re-affirm our freedom and rights.” “Voting is a means to accomplish change.” “Putting the future in my hands creating a better future for my children” 23
Rush Sucks: A Brother's Perspective Adrian Fonseca Contributor
member chapter joined off of a rush week. Maybe it’s that this rush class bored me to tears and by the 15th Adrian is a senior English major and a business major who really likes hockey member of Lambda Chi Alpha. and the beach, I considered faking an injury with ketchup just so I could o, rush was a thing. Truly. The hide in the kitchen. Whatever the week-long process came to a reason, the dude who joined us this close a small while ago and rush is the tops– a man among men, now that dust has cleared and with strong principles and great hair– most of the fires are going out, let’s so I could not be happier. look back and reflect a bit. Just to be But even though we ended up with upfront, I am a member of Lambda such an amazing guy, I still hate Chi Alpha. The viewpoints expressed the system. Not just because of the here represent neither the opinions aforementioned tepid-as-table-salt of my chapter nor Stetson University. business majors who make up a large That being said, I doubt anyone would portion of every year’s rush class. I get press charges if I claimed rush to be it: they don’t care about joining us, stupid. Which I do. Because it is. and we don’t really want them either. And I’m not saying this because us They know where they fit best, so to Lambs had a bad rush. Sure, 120them I wish good luck and responsible ish guys went through this year, and drinking. even though 80 or so made it to the What really bothers me so much end of the week, we only got one guy. about rush is the speed at which the No problem. Not to brag, but he was potential new members (PNMs) are totally the best guy. I don’t mind that forced through each house. For a lot of we didn’t get more. these guys, this is the first interaction Maybe it’s because I’m a senior and they have ever had with all the Greek I’ve stopped caring, maybe it’s the fact organizations. Sure, there are pre-rush that only eight or so of my thirty-two parties that many of the PNMs attend (and some alleged mid-rush shindigs) which allow the fraternities to preselect freshman, but all this screams confirmation bias to me. A
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prospective seeks out a fraternity with the culture they want and blinders start going up. Using the information gathered pre-rush, PNMs head into formal recruitment with their minds made up. People don’t change their decision about who they want to join until bid night, when they are disappointed by some fraternity rejecting them. That’s the weird thing to me; rush isn’t set up to give guys the best chance to find a community to which they will belong for the rest of their lives. Instead, it’s set up like a fatalistic game of chicken, where PNMs and fraternities jump headlong into potentially horrible decisions, and the crash is apparently just the intended goal. Other schools give a semester for people to shop around, find a place. Maybe that’s worse, I don’t know. I do know that last year the school let us give Greek life presentations before rush: our values, our philanthropy, what sets us apart. That was nice. It was a chance for PNMs to see what each organization claimed to stand for, compare it to how they actually acted. After all, we want these guys to make informed decisions, to understand anti-hazing and anti-sexual assault policies as well as leadership and scholarship opportunities. But maybe I’m the one missing the point. Is rush about giving guys a reason to come back to Stetson as successful alumni and donate? I mean, if we’re supposed to get as many guys affiliated as possible, making them statistically more likely to graduate even if they are then more likely to die, then I guess it’s perfect.
Opin A Lambda Chi Alpha brother during rush. Photo credit: Kait Forsythe
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Tuesday Voting: An American Tradition? Kitty Geoghan Contributor Kitty is a junior Digital Arts major and serves as the Creative Director for Hatter Network.
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he date is Nov. 8, 2016 – the day of the muchanticipated 2016 presidential election. A particular Stetson student is making her way to the polls. It is 5:15 p.m., and she has just left her fourth class of the day. She has been attending classes since 10 that morning, and now she finally has a reprieve of 45 minutes before her final class begins at 6 o’clock. That leaves her 45 minutes to run home, get in the car, drive to the polls, vote, and hopefully grab dinner on her way back to campus. Forty-five minutes – the average wait time at the polls in Florida in 2012 – is the only window she has to perform her civic duty without compromising her academic obligations. That student is me, and there is something wrong with this picture. While my ridiculous nine-hourno-break Tuesday class schedule is by no means typical, here’s what is: Joe Schmo gets to work at 9:00 a.m., breaks for lunch mid-day, and goes back to work until 5:00 p.m., leaving him two hours to get to the polls on the way home. Unless he goes at seven in the morning, in which case he still has only two hours to cast a ballot before he’ll be late for work.
With average wait times at the polls sometimes reaching up to 45 minutes, this is far less likely than it seems. As Americans, we have not only the right, but also the civic duty to participate in elections and make our voices heard. Yet, as students and working people, many of us find that duty increasingly hard to perform. Our day-to-day schedules, especially on weekdays, just aren’t accommodating of the traditional system of American presidential elections. “But wait!” you may be thinking. “We’ve always done it that way! Surely the long-standing tradition of Tuesday voting exists for a reason?” Well, yes, you’re not wrong. Early Americans did choose to hold elections on Tuesdays for a reason. In 1845, when America was largely an agrarian society, Tuesday was the only day in the week that allowed farmers the 3-day time commitment needed to travel to the county seat and vote without missing the Sabbath or market day. That’s it. Back then, it made perfect sense – why would anyone go all that way to vote if doing so would compromise their faith or their job? But today, for many of the exact same reasons, the practice alienates a large portion of America’s working-class citizens. While plenty of students and working Americans do still find time to make it to the polls, it’s not easy for them. Inability to take time away from working, commuting, or studying
contributes in large part to low voter turnouts, especially when long wait times and states’ decisions to reduce the number of polling places make it even more difficult to cast a ballot. There is an easy fix, however, one that has been endorsed by numerous politicians including President Obama: make Election Day a federal holiday. Think about it. If I didn’t have to attend classes on Nov. 8, I wouldn’t have to worry about only having 45 minutes to vote. And if Joe Schmo’s workplace was closed, he would be able to vote at his convenience, any time of day. Everyone thus has an equal opportunity to participate in the democracy that is central to our American identity. The concept of holiday voting is not a new one. The political group Why Tuesday? was founded in 2005 by Americans hoping to raise awareness of low voter turnout in the United States. They have inspired several propositions among federal and state governments, as well as a national movement to reform the election process to better suit our modern society. Low voter turnout continues to be a problem in the United States, but by raising important questions about our electoral system, we can begin to make the first steps toward change for the better.
nions
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Hatter
SPORTS Photo Credit: Stetson Athletic Communications.
Women’s Soccer Sweeps ASUN Weekly Honor Morgan Eiland || Staff Writer
After the Stetson women’s soccer team ended the weekend with a double shutout, two players, Sarah Collins and Emily Plotz, were given Atlantic Sun Honors: ASUN Player and Defensive Player of the Week. The pair were given these honors after a well deserved weekend, beating Campbell University 1-0 in overtime on Friday, Sept. 16, and shutting out Wofford College 4-0 on Sunday, Sept. 18. Sarah Collins, a junior forward, was very happy she could contribute eight points this weekend for her team. Along with her ASUN Player of the Week honor, Collins was named NCAA Division 1 Women’s Player of the Week by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) on Tuesday, Sept. 20. Only one athlete per week is awarded this title out of every Division 1 women’s soccer team in America. “It was recognition that I did not expect but was incredibly glad I received,” said Collins, beaming. “I know, however, that I couldn’t have received it without the team and staff pushing me each and every day to get better. And of course it makes me want to continue to play well and help lead the team to victory in conference.”
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Plotz, a freshman goalkeeper for the Hatters, earned her Defensive Player of the Week honor this week after only being back for a few practices. Following a broken hand in a match against FIU, Plotz sat out five games until she was cleared to start practicing again. This past week were her first two games since her injury, and she definitely made a name for herself. With 14 saves total against Campbell and Wofford, Plotz helped her team shutout both teams, including making a crucial save against Campbell in overtime. “All I was thinking about in overtime was that no one is taking this win from us,” said Plotz, when asked what was going through her head during that moment. “It feels amazing to help my team succeed.” The Hatters were not able tack on a win to their record in the conference opener versus Florida Gulf Coast due to weather. They continued their hunt for a conference win the first weekend in October when they hosted New Jersey Institute of Technology on that Friday and USC Upstate that Sunday, coming out undefeated for the weekend and undefeated in conference play so far. The Hatters now hold the record of 5-42, 2-0-0 as of the game versus USC Upstate.
Taking an “Extreme Ownership” of the Season Madison Akins || Sports Editor
Fullback Mike Yonker dodging a tackle on the way to scoring a touchdown. Photo Credit: Kristi Tyrrell
When asked about the Stetson football team’s identity, fifth year senior Mike Yonker referenced back to the start of season. “In the beginning of fall camp, we read a book called Extreme Ownership, and so we are all trying to take ownership for our actions,” he said. He hopes that the team will stick to the teachings in this book for the rest of the season, no matters the wins or losses. “We are working as a unit,” he explained. “Working to not be as selfish as we have been in the past, and really just trusting the system. I think the book is working; I see a change in people’s attitudes and in how they vocalize, how they are leading on and off the field.” The Stetson Hatters took the field for their fourth season since starting the program back in 2012. This is the first year that the Hatters will not have the full force of leadership from their inaugural class. They graduated over 20 seniors this past spring. However, they are not without strong, dedicated leaders--students who stayed to play their fifth year of eligibility since there was no league competition in 2012. Every player in this program has had to endure some sort of growing pain. When asked about his time here at Stetson, fifth year senior and co-captain, Patrick Fogarty, responded, “I have had a great time in my five years at Stetson. Early on was a struggle, having a whole redshirt year with no games. Then, the first year with games, we were playing teams bigger, faster and more developed than us and that was tough. But it helped shaped me into the player I am now.” Another aspect that these remaining players have had to deal with is the fact that their teammates come and go when the seasons do not go as anticipated. “It becomes frustrating, but you realize who has your back in the long haul and will stick with you until the end,” Fogarty noted. Looking to this season, the first two games both started well for the Hatters, but lacked a surge going into the third quarter. A couple of penalties in the second half of the season opener, the Sacred Heart game on Sept. 3, made it difficult for the Hatters to compete against a 13-play drive that resulted in a touchdown. Redshirt sophomore Gaven DeFilippo made his opening debut as quarterback, completing 22 out of 38 attempts. He got the starting position after junior quarterback, Colin McGovern, injured his hip in practice prior to season games beginning. Recounting his emotions shortly after McGovern’s injury, DeFilippo said, “Obviously my first immediate thought was concern for Colin. I remember gathering the quarterbacks together and saying a prayer and hoping for the best outcome for him. My thoughts then immediately shifted to my teammates. They were all looking for a leader. Someone to step up and take over, and that’s exactly what I intended to do.”
Recounting his emotions shortly after McGovern’s injury, DeFilippo said, “Obviously my first immediate thought was concern for Colin. I remember gathering the quarterbacks together and saying a prayer and hoping for the best outcome for him. My thoughts then immediately shifted to my teammates. They were all looking for a leader. Someone to step up and take over, and that’s exactly what I intended to do.” The team finished their first game trailing Sacred Heart by 4 points with a score of 18-14. In their second game of the season, the Hatters took a tremendous lead, leaving the half up 27-3. While they finished the game on top, 30-15, the second half seemed to reveal some instability in the team. The emerging trend of penalties and turnovers being what holds the Hatters back continued in their first conference game against Jacksonville University. This kept the defense on the field and limited what the offense could do. The team ended up losing to Jacksonville 24-7. “We will be more accountable to one another. These mistakes will get fixed,” Fogarty promised, tying into the idea of owning their roles and their actions. And if the team continues to reference the book as Yonker wishes them to, then the Stetson football team has the potential to tighten up their game, have discipline towards the end of the second half, and tack some more wins onto their 1-2 record as of the Jacksonville game. DeFilippo believes in the veterans and leaders of the team to hold every player accountable in doing so. “This is the most senior leadership this program has ever had and they are setting a great example for our younger guys,” he said. “When things are going well, they are always the first ones there to congratulate their teammates, or to calm the team down when things aren’t going our way. They are a major reason why we are going to be successful this season.”
HatterS @ HOME vs. Marist NOV 5 2pm
vs. Drake NOV 19 1pm
Season starts NOV 11 with a double header vs. Webber WBB @ 5pm
MBB @ 8pm
Hatters begin
the ASUN
versus North Florida NOV 4 @ 7pm at the Hollis Center
by WHAT Radio
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Media Spotlight: Don’t Breathe Lynn Walsh Staff Writer
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ike most recent horror movies of note, the 2016 horror film Don’t Breathe offers the initial enjoyment of jump scares and fake outs before the inevitable unravelment of plot. The film, released this August, was directed by Fede Alvarez and stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang. The plot follows three young adults from Detroit — Rocky, Alex and Money — who are professional burglars. The characters have differing motivations. Rocky wants to take her younger sister away from their drug-abusing mother and move to California; Alex yearns for adventure, an escape from his middle class life; Money, of course, wants money. After staking out a home, they break in by deactivating homeowners’ alarm system, made by the alarm company at which Alex’s father is employed. From the beginning, Don’t Breathe creates a standard, uncomfortable teenage love triangle. Rocky and Money are dating, while Alex loves Rocky but is unable to confess, intimidated by Money’s bull-headedness. This cliché should already tip most viewers off that Don’t Breathe has not ascended the cheesy horror film genre’s established tropes. However, the excellent cinematography and a sudden plot twist keeps viewers strung along a bit longer. Money plans a robbery of a blind veteran’s home. The veteran, simply called “the blind man” throughout the film, lives alone after his daughter was killed in a hit-and-run accident. After settling with the culprit’s family, the veteran keeps the $300,000 settlement somewhere in his home. With money on their minds, our three protagonists make their ways to the oddly abandoned street where the blind man lives. All other houses on the street are dilapidated and abandoned, creating an apocalyptic feel that is eerily reminiscent of a zombie movie. After the robbers enter the blind man’s house, the plot devolves quickly, from intriguing horror film — ignoring the love triangle cliché — into an attempt at philosophical commentary on humanity, God’s existence, guns and Fox News. By a turn of events, the viewer discovers that the blind man has been torturing the woman responsible for his daughter’s death, and has artificially inseminated her in order to have a replacement daughter. Instead of continuing the suspenseful tone that Don’t Breathe had sustained thus far, this disgusting twist repulses the viewer and leaves him or her feeling disgusted, but not scared. Plot aside, the sound effects in Don’t Breathe artistically create
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an environment where the audience is forced to rely on their hearing, just as the blind man does throughout the film. As the blind man walks around his home, straining his ears to find the quiet robbers, the viewer is invited into Don’t Breathe’s terrifyingly dark world. Throughout the film, ear-straining and nerve-wracking moments of intense silence fill the room, only to be broken by small sounds such as a boot scuffing the ground; these breaks in silence caused quite a few jump scares and helped ground the film in its horror formula. In the end, Don’t Breathe does give its audience good jump scares, excellent soundscaping and a great first hour of plot. Even though the storyline arguably loses its horror-factor toward the end, Don’t Breathe is a great watch for a quick scare and a fun night, so long as it isn’t expected to be 2016’s award-winning horror film.
P P Pr r ro o o de d d eo e o et o eV e e tr t V ti e V r at e ie r t i a t et a t e
selected by Touchstone
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A Poem
Poetry Zak Berkel
There has to be Someone like me Who else will mend the dead? The ones who sleep Wake drive repeat And meet in large arrays Tens and more Flood through the doors Numb and stupid and free Unaware there’s dead there Not Him or Her or Me
Cumulus Combatant Poetry Brendan Patrick Dunlop
I wish someone would sit And watch the lightning with me Whether friend, lover, kin, We will whisper ‘tween the claps That are following the rending Of the very air of night And watch the sight of ‘lectric light Burn hotter than the sun Invisible streamers winding down Lead the path for bolts That illuminate the raindrops Crashing upon the grass An upside-down jungle Of cumulus combatant Throws fierce light into the night Piercing dark with jagged edge As we marvel from the ledge The night holds us close And the clouds provide a backdrop For the dance of wicked heat As we sigh and watch complete This array of fireworks That unites the sky to earth.
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Without Us To do what’s right No one will mourn the dead The corpse with bleed Slit up their knees Their necks are slow to bend He wears a noose just like a tie She weaves a mask of sheets And as for I I’ll mix then hide The medicine that was once mine Into a cup We’ll drink as one In the name of god Just one small sip And Down They go Up in a blissful trap The dead will lay The dumb will pray The only way they know
Finally the songs will sing For the dead the dumb will bring Their thoughts and sorrows Wishes dreams but far too late it always seems For they know not how long I’m dead Before My carcass starts to shed It’s only when the times run out Will they hear My screams of shout Of desperate sorrow and the tear The fellow death and all the fear For life is short The dead live longer The lived are dead The dying stronger To take Your life Is a small sigh The last of many screams But it is Us the ones who hear Our death was once a dream -Ember
My Girlfriend Is My Boyfriend The Laced Kayak Poetry Jamie Pietrasz
The stream screamed to the girl in lace, Placed in a never-ending race, Her heart beat defeating the tide As well as the monster inside, Sailing with her peaceful paddle, Propelling her into battle Against the bumps, the scrapes, the waves Only to allow her to brace Herself, pace herself as she sits On the water until she gets Off the edge, edging side-to-side, Searching for where the creature hides, Tracking it, tracking it straighter, Losing ability to turn, Making it seem draftier there, While the laced girl was unprepared
Poetry Nicholas Galvez
My girlfriend is my boyfriend and she catches the rain with umbrellas for hands and when I’m wet, I flood but my girlfriend covers me and we look at the sky and wait for it to clear with rainbows and butterflies. My girlfriend is my boyfriend and she cuts her hair the same as I and when I’m lonely, I’m never lonely. Androgyny is another word for paradise. In the dark where we lie, we laugh and I can feel her body against mine and realize it’s just the same as mine. To say she’s a dream would be unfair to every dream I’ve had. My girlfriend is my boyfriend and she’s as real as horoscopes and butterfly wings and we have permission to paradise where all is calm and I pray to whatever skies that my girlfriend finds in me peace and immortality.
For a full flood of emotions, A flood of part of the ocean Until she was able to roll, Able to learn, able to know To row, to speed, to now just float Until she got closer to shore Where she now stood, heart beating strong, Eating what she feared all along. by Touchstone
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Existential Cavity Photography, Acacia Zack
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Shadows Fine Art, Solstice Backus-Little
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Confidence Fine Art Solstice Backus-Little
Looking at the World Poetry Eva Martinez
I have forever seen With thy eyesight very keen The way the world goes Along with every wind that blows From here to the moon With the sun rising soon To seeing the four seasons That come along for different reasons Looking at the shine of the stars For once thinking they don’t look so far Seeing the growth of a child’s learning To the natural sense of a human’s yearning A laugh filled with all of one’s heart The cry that happens when being torn apart Witnessing a love that’s beautifully bloomed Or witnessing it be horrifically consumed Spectating a soul filled with utmost hate Wondering if that shall be their final fate Living with grief of death Knowing one day it will be alright when taking a breath Then the day comes where we leave this place Whether peace or sorrow remains on our face I have forever seen With thy eyesight very keen The way the world works For all its flaws, tricks, wonders, and quirks
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On the Horizons of Elsewhere Fiction Jamie Pietrasz
A comet falls. It’s too dim outside, but everything changes when it makes its performance. Unbelievably, it falls on our earth, our playground. No one looks up. They’re too distracted by this new invention, the telephone. They’re too amused by its winding cord and too fascinated by the distances they can go and yet still steal dialogue from their friends. Then there’s me, befuddled by the skies hues and how those lights up there flicker on every night. The people who have the curiosity of an astrologer say this is Haley’s comet, a once in a lifetime sight. Look how we’ve become as irremediable as our feline friends, clinging to our nine lives. No one no longer makes a wish upon a shooting star because they think they’ve already won with their near-immortality. It’s depressing really. Somehow, I just felt the earth with my bare feet and saw something some million miles away from it. It’s coming closer and closer, becoming brighter and brighter. The ground is trembling in the presence of the comet. It’s becoming dangerously hot and I want to move, but I can’t become unstricken, my eyes glued to what seemed to be the sun. The next thing I knew, I was awoken by police men investigating a large chunk of rock, which I realized created a shallow hole in the earth. I crept behind it and stole a small piece of the intriguing stone and brought it home with me. I lived alone in a puny hut with just enough space to breath. I went to my minuscule bedroom and pulled out a decorated box my dad meant to give to me on my sixteenth birthday before he died from drowning in the river just outside of town. I put the mysterious rock into the box and locked it with my silver key that hung around my neck on a thin black rope. I set it in a wooden cubby, then put on my long black trench coat. The ground was muddy and the thought of running overwhelmed me so my feet started to scurry. I hastened and hastened, until I felt myself stumble. Everything went dark for a couple of minutes and then everything became astoundingly luminous. My ears tingled at a long neverending beep. It seemed like I was in a dreamland. There were hover cars, transporters, and the like. The people appeared to be human at first glance. However, if you looked closer, their shape and form were completely foreign. Some parts of this fantasy world felt as if they were a nightmare. They were smothered in gloomy, filthy colors like a mucky, grimy green. The strange creatures that resided there looked lost, confused, and malnourished. As soon as I looked away, all I heard were thundering cries for help. The dream suddenly morphed into a place of physical feelings. I was back in reality next to the meteor, the ground still vibrating beneath my feet. I ran in my hut, put the box in my coat pocket, and ran out to the meadow by the river where my father drowned. When I paused to look back, my house became a pile of clutter. My pace quickened. I touched the little box in my pocket and smiled. I took it out, closed my eyes, and threw it in the river. My nightmare was over.
On the Horizons of Elsewhere
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Across the Pond Memoir Tessa Bravata
Courtney and I flashed our ID’s at the bouncer in front of the brightly colored doors of the casino The Hippodrome. She shot me a sly grin and flashed her card at the man. She had just turned eighteen and wouldn’t be allowed into casinos in the States. We handed over our purses and the bouncer let us inside. Courtney’s eyes grew wide as she took in the whirring and bright colors of the slot machines and gambling tables. The floor was velvet purple and bright orbs hung from the ceiling. I gazed around the room, observing the mechanical pings and shimmering signs when I noticed Courtney staring at me. She tossed her head toward the Black Jack table and I nodded. “Go ahead and have fun!” I said. “What happens in London stays in London.” I winked at her and watched her line up behind suited men and starry-eyed women. I walked throughout the casino, making sure to stay near the perimeter of the room. I pulled out my phone and turned on my data. While leaning onto the side of a slot machine and scrolling through Facebook, I noticed a message pop up on the small screen. It was my roommate. She wrote that she had woken up this morning to find out my fish had died. She followed the message with a frowny-face. I stared at the screen in my fingertips. Closed the message. Looked at the flashing neon “Jackpot” button on the machine in front of me. Opened and reread the message. My throat tightened. The breath inside of my stomach escaped like a compressed balloon. I couldn’t gasp for more air, so I just held onto the machine and tried to remember how to breathe. As the world was blurring behind the tears that started to fill my eyes, I saw the neon colored sign of the ladies’ restroom. I made a run towards it, waving my hand at Courtney as I passed to let her know where I was going. I made a beeline past the bathroom couch straight for the nearest stall and locked myself inside. I held my stomach and choked out the sobs that were stifled within my chest. I wanted to heave into the toilet, but I couldn’t let myself be empty. Using the bathroom tissue to clean my face, I came out of the stall to look at myself in the mirror. A woman emerged from another stall parallel to mine and said, “It’s okay, dear. It’s just money. You can win it all back.” All I could do was shake my head at her. It wasn’t money I had lost. I had bought Finn from Walmart my freshman year of college as an attempt to make my first friend. In the two years that followed, he was featured on many of my Snapchat stories, traveled with me on all my road trips home, and was my favorite friend to come home to after a long day at school. When I woke up in the morning, I’d hover over his glass tank with a pinch full of fish food pellets. He would swim up to the top of the tank when he saw my face to eat his breakfast. I had spent countless hours at the pet store looking for fun treasures to hide in his tank for him. I bought him plants and houses and different colors of pebbles and treats. One day in the fish section of Pet Supermarket, I purchased a small leaf that could suction to the side of the glass so that he could lay in it like a hammock. I suctioned the hammock to the side of the tank and waited eagerly for him to begin to use it. He swam around, looked at me, and nestled back into the plant he already had. “Look, Finn. I bought you a hammock,” I cooed. He wiggled around and buried himself deeper into the leaves, as if taunting me. I was only able to lure him into the overpriced fixture twice by wiggling my finger near it. His small, wiggling body cracked me up when I needed a laugh and his sweet face gazing out at me every morning gave me the strength to start my day. Although he was only a small part of my day, he was one of my best friends. After a year had passed, I began to have dreams of him dying. I dreamt one night that his fish tank broke and I had to scoop him up and place him in a glass of milk. I dreamt another night that the water in his tank made him shrink so small that he disappeared. I dreamt once that I put my hand in the bowl to pet him and accidentally squished him. Never had I dreamed that he would get sick while I was 4,000 miles away on a class trip in London. I never dreamed that I wouldn’t be there for his watery burial. I never imagined that I would have to type up his eulogy for my best friend to read over the toilet. After Finn died, I wasn’t sure how to mourn for him in that strange city. The Thames river, dark and foreboding, seemed too eerie to memorialize him. David Bowie’s tribute, which littered the streets of Brixton with piles of cards, wilting flowers, and fraying candles, was not the right place either. Wandering through the streets of London, I couldn’t stop thinking about how far I was from a fish that no one around me even knew of. The streets were unfamiliar, dirty, and didn’t feel like home. Courtney dragged me by my hand into an old book shop, through a thin alley, and past a pub sporting in chalky letters on a blackboard, “Best Fish and Chips around!”
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Across the Pond
I retched onto the sidewalk. Courtney yanked me towards the Underground sign and we descended the long escalator ride into the dark pits underneath the bleak London streets. The air was stiff and the hallways narrow. “Please mind the gap between the train and the platform,” the Tube echoed as we boarded. The aisles were full of Londoners with faces shoved into newspapers and legs crossed. I stood in the only spot I could squeeze into—a small space at the front of the carriage. The passengers wore black suits, black dresses, black coats, black scarves. I looked at the two rows of solemn passengers before me, sitting quietly as if in church pews. I faced the rows of them and began to dab my eyes with my gloved hands. With my eyes closed, I whispered a silent eulogy to Finn. Tears began to fall from my squeezed eyes and I knew the passengers were staring at me. When I looked around the carriage, I saw my grief reflected back at me and realized I was staring into the eyes of the strangers turned mourners. “This station is Temple,” called the conductor, waking me from my imagined memorial. The passengers began to jolt from their seats, as if also awakening from a dream, and departed the train. As they made procession past me towards the door, a lean teenager plucked a half empty bag of Maltesers candy from his pocket and gestured it to me. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, before walking onto the platform and disappearing entirely. An elderly woman passed by on her way out as well. She had two small children gripping onto her coat. She dug deep into the crevices of her purse and pulled out a wad of tissues. She handed them to me and smiled before leading her children off the train. I dabbed my eyes with the tissues as the new wave of passengers came in wearing purple coats and navy handbags. The crowd reshuffled and the aisles were full of people chatting to their children, slouching men sleeping, and women listening to music in their headphones. I grasped the metallic handrail with one hand and held the tissues in my other bare hand. When we arrived at our stop, I walked quietly with Courtney through the chilled night. We didn’t speak. I held the tissues hard in my palm while we emerged from the stairs of Charing Cross station into the sodden streets above. I held them while we trekked through puddles past midnight pubs and the British Library. I held them while we arrived at the front of the hostel and offered our student ID’s to be let back inside after midnight. The guard shined a light in my reddened eyes and looked me over once. He nodded and let us climb up the metal staircase outside the building and back into the chilled hallways of the hostel. I held the tissues as I climbed back into bed and wrapped the thin sheet around myself. In the morning, I woke to find the tissues had slipped out of my fingertips while I was sleeping and had nestled into the pillow beside me. I picked them up, but couldn’t throw them out. They were a symbol of kindness from a stranger: a gift from an unknowing mourner. I placed them in the front zipper of my luggage along with the rest of the candies. Back in Florida, it felt strange coming home to an empty spot on my countertop. My best friend had cleaned the tank out and removed the leaf hammock and plants. She wanted to keep them in her room until I was ready to take them back. I told her I wouldn’t be ready to look at them again for a long time, but the empty counter space was something I couldn’t avoid during each trip to my bedroom. I started staying at my boyfriend’s room. He kept me busy by endlessly talking about videogames he was excited about. “There’s a new one I can’t wait to play,” he said, while walking to the laundry room with me. I was half-listening while looking at the full moon above us. A sliver of a fish-shaped cloud hovered over it. “It’s a game where you can travel through the universe and name planets. Whatever you name the planet stays on the game forever for other people to see.” I flicked my eyes from the moon to his face, trying to understand the seriousness of his tone. “We’re going to find a nice planet with water and plants and name it after Finn.” I looked back at the twinkling stars and nodded silently. We would name a planet Finn.
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