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NBA to Louisville: Who Knows?

Jordan Hancock

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January 30, 2017

The state of Kentucky has been abuzz the last few weeks over the rumors swirling regarding a possible National Basketball Association (NBA) expansion franchise coming to the commonwealth’s largest city of Louisville. Rumors they may be, the excitement especially in the Derby City is certainly palpable.

Of course, professional basketball would not be an original concept for the state, as the Kentucky Colonels was one of the most successful franchises, in terms of both revenue and on-court product, in the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA). Winning the ABA championship in 1975, the Colonels were one of the remaining six ABA teams to avoid folding before the ABA-NBA merger in 1976; however, only four ABA franchises joined the NBA, Louisville not among them, leaving the city without professional basketball for the first time in nearly a decade. The 1975 championship banner still hangs in the rafters of historic Freedom Hall.

The rumors of a rebirth for professional basketball in Louisville began with a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NBA’s players and owners which was thought to include provisions called expansion escalators that would make the prospects of adding franchises more ideal for the league. Although such language was not included in the final draft of the CBA, reports of impending expansion continue to flow. The excitement has persisted for several reasons.

Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, maintains that expansion at some point in the next several years is not off the table. Additonally, Louisville City Councilman Dan Johnson tweeted on January 18: “I have been working on getting the nba in Louisville this week!”

I reached out to the councilman, who had this to say about the situation: “It will help our state to have the Kentucky Colonels back. I want to be able to go to an [professional] game as I did as a child with my dad. I have worked on this for 20 years. It looks like it may be real, even though there are doubters.”

When asked about the timeframe for such expansion, Councilman Johnson said things could come to fruition in 2018-19.

However, Councilman Johnson has not released his source for much of this information, and hence the Louisville Metro Council refuses to file a permanent resolution indicating official support of NBA expansion to Louisville.

Proponents of the NBA’s potential expansion to Louisville cite the city’s lack of any “big four” professional teams, the revenues generated by college basketball in the state, the former success of the ABA Colonels, and the KFC Yum! Center being an NBA-ready facility as reasons the city deserves a franchise. In fact, the Yum! Center would be among the largest arenas used by any NBA team. However, it would be impossible for the NBA to play there under current circumstances, as University of Louisville athletics currently have scheduling priority.

So, all things considered, could the NBA be coming to Louisville? Ask again in several months.

Transy students are responsible for serious scholarship. Here’s why they should publish it.

Tristan Reynolds

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January 30, 2017

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Transy students are responsible for serious scholarship. Here’s why they should publish it.

This is Part 1 of a 2-Part series arguing that Transy should charter its own undergraduate research journal. Read Part 2 here.

Transy students do a lot of writing. This school is notorious for a writing-intensive curriculum that turns just about every student into a miniature essayist for four years or so. Whether they’re writing for classes, outside projects, or just sheer irrepressible linguistic creativity, the printers on campus always seem to be running low.

Without putting a hard and fast percentage on it, it’s fair to say that a pretty high percentage of that student writing is done for various classes. Some percentage of that class writing, further, is fairly high-level research writing for upper-level classes (though First Year Seminar also leads to some very high-quality work). As of now, most of those papers are turned in to professors, graded, and then returned to the student writers.

That’s all well and good, but this situation represents a squandered opportunity. One of the twin pillars of modern academia is publishing (the other pillar is teaching—see this column on how Transy could further support teaching). Publishing original research papers is the best way for both an individual to propel their academic or professional career forward, and the best way for a sponsoring institution to raise its profile among the academic community. This is often summed up in a pithy saying common among academics: to survive in academia, you have to “publish or perish.”

Right now, Transy faculty regularly publishes a wide variety of research in an even wider variety of publications; this is, to be blunt, a good thing. However, simply looking at the publishing rate of Transy faculty obscures an important truth: there’s a lot of fascinating and original scholarship being written every year by Transy students, for various classes, that’s never being exposed to a wider audience. While Transy students are regularly writing high-level, high-quality research papers, the vast majority of those papers will never see the light of day beyond a particular professor’s classroom. This is a wasted opportunity for Transy students. In short, Transy students have the opportunity to publish their original scholarship while still getting their Transy undergraduate degree. There are serious advantages to doing so, even if those advantages aren’t always articulated very well. So let’s look at some of those advantages.

Many Transy students will go on to pursue advanced degrees in myriad fields; one of the major differences between undergraduate and advanced degrees is the expectation that graduate students will pursue their own research. So for Transy students who will go on to further education, already having some experience with the process of submitting and revising scholarly articles for publication will allow those students to thrive in grad schools. In addition, the mere fact of having published academically rigorous work while in undergrad is likely to make Transy students’ applications to grad schools that much more attractive to grad schools themselves. Publishing in undergrad, in other words, would give Transy students a leg up in grad schools. Further, the experience of publishing an academic article may prompt many students who may otherwise have never considered an academic career to consider it (though whether this is actually a good thing is a matter for another column).

But the advantages to publishing academic works aren’t only limited to the budding academics among the student population. The revision process for publishing academic articles can improve just about any student’s writing, strengthening one of the most important skills someone can have in today’s economy. The revision process may also be useful in strengthening and sharpening students’ reasoning skills. There’s a practical reason to for students publish, in other words.

Transy students could see massive personal benefits, in both their academic and professional lives, from publishing while here at Transy. Transy’s unique curriculum and atmosphere are conducive high-quality student scholarship that offers Transy students the opportunity to create high-quality scholarship that can and should be published. Next time we’ll take a look at how Transy can encourage students to publish their own work.

Life at Transylvania: Music Technology program teaches students ‘to achieve new types of artistic expression’

Aaron Martin

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January 30, 2017

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Life at Transylvania: Music Technology program teaches students ‘to achieve new types of artistic expression’

What does it mean to be a Transylvania Pioneer? This is a question that The Rambler is going to explore and attempt to answer through looking at specific and unique aspects of Transylvania life and explain what they are and what they mean to the campus. This will not only explain the campus culture for audiences outside of Transy but also capture campus life in this specific moment in Transy history.

When choosing colleges, many prospective students will often see what majors and minors a school has to offer. Fortunately, Transylvania has many unique major and minor programs that set it apart from surrounding colleges, attract incoming students, and truly embrace the liberal arts.

One of these unique majors is the Music Technology program. If you enjoy music, read about Graham Slee HiFi and how they can help you transform your Hi-Fi for the ultimate listening experience.

Senior Drew Raleigh is a Music Technology major and describes the program as “sort of a hybrid between the other music majors.”

Raleigh discovered early on that he wanted to pursue music technology and the the advancement of music, hopefully work in a studio. Since not many colleges have a Music Technology major, Raleigh was drawn to Transy for that reason alone.

“The entire reason I came to Transy was because there was a Music Tech major here,” said Raleigh.

The major allows students to not only learn music theory and performance but to experience the work of recording, editing, and producing music through technological means.

“Music Tech takes the basic outline of any other music major, like Music Theory, Music History, Music Lessons, and adds on top of that Music Technology and elements of computer science,” said Raleigh. “So you have to do less music stuff than the other music majors, but you have to do other things that most music majors wouldn’t have to do.” Timothy Polashek, Music Technology professor, explains that the computer science component is what really makes Transy’s program stand out from other colleges.

“First of all, most colleges don’t have a Music Technology major, and if they do, they don’t have this computer science component where students actually get this ability to not be limited by existing tools, but now they have the ability to create new tools to achieve new types of artistic expression,” said Polashek. The integration of computer science has given many students the opportunity to collaborate with non-music tech students. An alumnus Music Technology and Computer Science double major collaborated with other Computer Science majors to create a video game where he primarily composed the music.

As Raleigh explained, the Music Technology major is one that is fairly easy to pair with other majors and minors. Raleigh himself is double minoring in Digital Arts and Multimedia and Communications.

The major also gives students many opportunities to work together either formally through ensembles to be performed in concerts or casually while working in the lab.

Students prepare for their ensemble piece using cell phones

Actually, one of Raleigh’s favorite things about the program is this collaborative opportunity.

“My freshman and sophomore year, I really enjoyed being in the lab at the same time as other people are in the lab working on their projects,” said Raleigh. “People start talking, and it ends up in a collaboration: collaborating with other people and seeing their recording techniques and what they’re doing and learning from that.”

In terms of opportunities after graduating, the program offers wide variety. Alumni have gone on to become freelance composers, arrangers, and performers as well as teachers and workers in IT, production coordinating, and studio recording.

Although the program has proven to be successful and beneficial for students, both Raleigh and Polashek hope the program continues to grow and change.

According to Polashek, the entire music program is actually being reviewed to see how the university could make it even better.

“One thing we’re doing is trying to find a way music technology majors can have a little bit more theory, and we’re also taking the traditional majors, such as Performance and Education, and trying to find ways for them to take more technology,” explained Polashek.

For Raleigh, the addition of at least two more core classes would be beneficial to the program to expand upon various techniques. However, due to Polashek being the only professor, he understands why that is not achievable at the moment and hopes that it will change. In the time he has been a student at Transy, Raleigh has seen interest in the major grow, and he hopes that, as a result, Transy “can see the potential for growth in the Music Tech program.”

What I learned from Parks & Recreation

Judy Brumley

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January 30, 2017

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Parks and Recreation may be a lighthearted television show meant to make you laugh, but it is also jam-packed with important life lessons. Here’s five important things I learned from it!

Hold on to your dreams

Just like Andy never gives up on his dream of being a rock star and Leslie works until she wins her campaign to serve on city council, the cast of Parks and Recreation encourages viewers to follow their dreams and never give up. Failure is inevitable, but characters like Andy and Leslie teach us to push through the failures in order to come out stronger on the other side.

Indulge every once in a while

Everyone has their guilty pleasures when it comes to food, and, according to Parks and Recreation, it’s completely fine to indulge occasionally. Leslie Knope loves waffles and whipped cream. Ron Swanson loves red meat and breakfast foods. Their preferences may seem silly, but they remind viewers that no one is perfect and that everyone has their weak moments – whether they be chocolate bars or a pile of waffles topped with whipped cream.

Love what you do

Is life worth living if we aren’t having fun and enjoying ourselves? The cast of Parks and Recreation would say absolutely not! Leslie Knope is the perfect example of someone who loves what they do. She truly gets pleasure out of doing her job, which shows us that you can do something you love for a living. Furthermore, Tom Haverford also loves what he does. He is always extremely passionate about his endeavors, such as Rent-a-Swag, which shows us that enjoying what you’re doing makes you more likely to be successful.

Family comes first

This lesson is a little more difficult to spot, but the show actually does a good job at representing the importance of family. Jerry provides the perfect example of an idyllic family. He is happily married with several daughters, but there are also other examples of family being essential to happiness. Leslie and her mom don’t always get along, but they always come back to each other when they need each other the most. Furthermore, when Leslie and Ben get engaged they work extremely hard to make their respective parents like each other because a strong, supportive family is important to them.

The value of friendship

One of the most obvious lessons Parks and Recreation has to offer is that friendship is a valuable asset to one’s life. Anne and Leslie’s friendship is a constant throughout the show. They teach us that friends should stick together through thick and thin. Furthermore, all of the guys who work together in the office seem to be great friends. As the show progresses, they begin spending more time together and show us how

Senior swimmers celebrate final home meet

Lexi Lucas

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January 30, 2017

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Senior swimmers celebrate final home meet

On Saturday, Jan. 14, swimmers Morgan Cyrus, Elisabeth Davis, Julia Johnson, Katelyn Meng and Fernando Zarate were recognized for their dedication to the Swimming and Diving Team as seniors in a ceremony before their meet against Lindsey Wilson College.

When asked what it was like to swim for the final time at Transy, Morgan Cyrus said, “As a senior, it was such an honor to experience getting recognized for completing four years of hard work and dedication to a sport that has [had a] significant impact on our lives. I feel very proud to have represented this program and have created such wonderful memories with some amazing teammates over the years.” One of these memories being her performance that night, for which she earned second place for both the women’s 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke, in addition to second place in the 200-yard medley relay with junior Kiali Jelinek, sophomore Maci Quisenberry and freshman Sarah Haerle. Elisabeth Davis earned third place in the 100-yard butterfly and second place alongside fellow senior Julia Johnson, sophomore Brittany Alley and freshman Mattie Fogle in the 200-yard freestyle relay. With this, Julia Johnson also earned first place in the 100-yard butterfly. Fernando Zarate placed second in the Men’s 100-yard backstroke. The team will spend the rest of the month’s meets on the road before the February 16th Ohio Athletic Conference championships in Akron, OH.

As for the season, Morgan Cyrus said that “The season has gone very well for the team, and we’re very excited for our upcoming conference meet in February. We are hoping to see great performances at our final meet.” Good luck to the team in their final meets of the season, and congratulations to the seniors on a successful season and college career.

“Legacy”

Isaac Batts

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January 30, 2017

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My legacy does not control my future.

My future is its own master;
It will not bow to my past.
I will not bow to my past.

I am bigger than anything
I have faced thus far.
I have won all the battles
I have fought, even if I was
Torn to shreds in the process.

My legacy does not define my future.

Past is not an indicator of
How my future will present itself.
I will not bow to my past.

I control where I’m going,
Even if I don’t know where that is.
The future is always changing,
But no matter where I go,
I know I am undefeated.

A Look Inside UK’s Art Museum

Emily Dent

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January 25, 2017

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Currently on display at the University of Kentucky’s Art Museum in its Permanent Collection Installations are seven different exhibits positioned throughout the museum’s top floor. Each installation is part of UK’s Permanent Collection of nearly 5,000 pieces of art. Visitors can take a look at the displayed artwork Tuesday-Thursday 10 a.m. thru 5 p.m, Fridays 10 a.m. thru 8 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday noon thru 5 p.m.

Below is a brief look into the seven installations the art museum currently has to offer:

Cityscapes

Walking up the stairs into the gallery, visitors are met with depictions of buzzing city life. A carved wood painting portrays the busy street of Times Square in artist Yvonne Jacquette’s piece “Motion Picture” while an untitled sculpture created by Michael Goodlett before the events of 9/11 shows the scene of a plane crashing into a burning cityscape. Other pieces of art in the “Cityscapes” installation include sketches and black and white photos of stark skylines and city views.

Michael Goodlett’s untitled sculpture depicting a plane crashing into a burning city.

New Acquisitions: Photography

To the left of the “Cityscapes” installation is a wall of black-and-white photographs by photographers Judi Linn, Nicholas Nixon, and Gordon Parks. Each photograph depicts intimate and quiet moments of life: two senior citizens in a nursing home sharing a serene moment, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and musician Patti Smith leaning against each other topless and facing the camera, a young black man standing in a man hole along a street. Each photo depicts a still or quiet aspect of human life despite the oftentimes provocative content.

Gordon Parks’ “The Invisible Man, Harlem, New York”

Embodied

Farther into the gallery, past the “Cityscapes” installment, is a conglomeration of artworks depicting human bodies. There are women lounging in various stages of undress, photographs and oil paintings of bodies in water, and a sculpture of a woman balancing on a ball along with other pieces which depicts each artist’s interpretation of the body. Varying in shapes, sizes, and texture, each body on display gives viewers a unique perspective.

Best Friends

This installation features a variety of black and white photos captured by Andrea Modica. Each photo shows a view into the lives of high school best friends in America and Italy. The subjects show very intimate moments of holding hands and crying on shoulders to less intimate moments like the backs of two girls showing a striking height difference. Despite differences in friendship, each image showcases the peculiarities and strengths of teenage friendships.

Still Lifes

Across from Modica’s “Best Friends” is a mix of still life portraits showing the intricacies of simple, everyday objects. Oftentimes apples, irons, tables and brooms are overlooked as plain and lacking of beauty, however these portraits show the beauty in each of these objects we see everyday, changing them from tools to art.

Chess Sets

To the left of “Still Lifes” is a collection of intricate chess sets. The popular game which originated in India has spanned across many continents and cultures, which led to it taking many different shapes and sizes. The chess sets presented in the museum are each unique and diverse pieces of art created in many different countries, showing the popularity and also universality of the game.

A close-up of the intricate details in this French chess set.

The Gaines Challenge Fund

In the back corner of the museum is a set of artwork taken from a group of 74 painting and works on paper that were purchased with the generous $250,000 grant from John Gaines, UK’s most generous benefactor. These pieces feature work from famous artists including Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s sculpture “La Négresse”.

Point Guard Theobald achieves HCAC and NCAA DIII records

Logan Fogle

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January 23, 2017

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Point Guard Theobald achieves HCAC and NCAA DIII records

Watching someone shoot a free-throw could be compared to watching a bunt in baseball, a field goal in football, or seeing someone roll a spare when bowling, or just watching bowling in general. While the free-throw may not be the most exciting play in basketball, purists of the game understand the magnitude and importance of the freebie shots from the charity stripe. How many times after a game have we heard the commentator talk about missed free-throws being the cause for a team’s loss?

Although free-throws may be an underrated stat, if we take a look back at many of the greatest basketball players of all time, the greatest scorers almost all had high free-throw percentages (excluding Shaq, of course). If you are a basketball fan, you know how absolutely, gut-wrenchingly, maddeningly frustrating it can be when your team is playing a close game down the stretch and they continuously miss shots from the free-throw line. It is probably one of the most sure-fire ways to get any sports fan off the couch and yelling at their television. When it’s your team shooting free-throws in crunch time, there is nothing more riveting than the ball leaving the player’s hands, gliding through the air in slow motion for what feels like an eternity, and sinking through the hoop.

On the seventh of this month, Transy’s own sophomore guard Cooper Theobald broke two NCAA Division III free-throw records, and one NCAA free-throw record. Transylvania was playing Defiance College and attempting to extend their win streak, which began on the 20^th of December, to six games. The game went into two overtimes to decide, but the Pioneers came out on top, 111 to 102.

For any other game, the headline would easily have been the double overtime battle royale that had just taken place. However, for this game, Cooper took the cake (and the headline). Cooper attempted 32 free-throws and sunk 29 of them, a free-throw percentage of 90%. Theobald credited his performance to an unwavering confidence in own his ability to perform under pressure. “I didn’t realize I had shot that many during the game, but I was just happy I kept getting fouled because I had a lot of confidence, especially in the two overtime periods,” he said, “I knew I was going to make them and help get a key road win.”

Cooper broke the NCAA Division III records for free-throw makes and attempts in a single game. He also broke the overall NCAA record for free-throw attempts in a game (31), last set by “Pistol” Pete Maravich at LSU in 1969. For reference, Maravich is now in the Basketball Hall of Fame and is considered one of the greatest point guards of all time. When asked how it felt to be mentioned in the same breath as Pete Maravich, Cooper laughed, “Breaking the record is cool since it’s such a weird record, and to be mentioned in the likes on Pistol Pete is something I never thought would happen. Honestly, I’m just glad we got the win.” Cooper fell one free-throw short of Maravich in free-throws made in a single game as Maravich sunk 30 of 31 all the way back in 1969.

While Transy’s win streak is now up to eight games, the team continues to ride their hot streak. Cooper is averaging almost 17 points per game and can now call himself an NCAA record holder. Move over, Pistol. There’s a new sheriff in town.

Interview Podcast: sophomore Brittany Alley on faith, identity

Uncategorized

Tristan Reynolds

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January 23, 2017

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Interview Podcast: sophomore Brittany Alley on faith, identity

In out first episode of Series 2 (Winter Term 2017), Tristan Reynolds interviews Transy student Brittany Alley about faith, family, and identity.

http://soundcloud.com/user-700281148/interview-podcast-brittany-alley

Recorded in November 2016

Weekly SGA Update: January 18, 2017

SGA
Update

Student Government Association

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January 23, 2017

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This week SGA held special elections for three new senators. Due to a tie we ended up electing four new senators. Congratulations to Nadine Abul-Khoudoud, Isaac Settle, McKenzie Miller and Hunter Overstreet. We also held elections for a new Student Affairs chair and a new Constitutions Chair; congratulations to Mark Sirianno and Christopher Perez.

Due to the fact that it is the beginning of the semester, our senators are working on getting back on track and have multiple meetings scheduled with faculty and staff. Some of the projects that we are currently working on include scheduling a Greek Forum that could potentially be held by the end of February. Senator Clair Gardner and Elizabeth Deaton are working on an alumni appreciation program. Senators on the Academic Affairs committee are still working the grading scales, but our project with the May Term Savings plan will be in effect next semester!

The RamblerTransylvania University

The RamblerTransylvania University

NBA to Louisville: Who Knows?

Transy students are responsible for serious scholarship. Here’s why they should publish it.

Life at Transylvania: Music Technology program teaches students ‘to achieve new types of artistic expression’

What I learned from Parks & Recreation

Senior swimmers celebrate final home meet

“Legacy”

A Look Inside UK’s Art Museum

Point Guard Theobald achieves HCAC and NCAA DIII records

Interview Podcast: sophomore Brittany Alley on faith, identity

Weekly SGA Update: January 18, 2017

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