November 8, 2016
Tyler Lega ’18 talks with Transylvania history professor Ken Slepyan about his new textbook (co-written with Karen Petrone, University of Kentucky), The Soviet Union and Russia, 1939-2015: A History in Documents. To listen, click here.
On Friday, the sisters of Tri Delta held their annual Water Wars philanthropy event, an event that provided an opportunity to foster Transy’s Panhellenic community while raising money for charity.
All of the fraternities and sororities on campus gathered together representatives from each of their chapters to compete in one of seven different competitions: biggest splash, smallest splash, best dive, belly flop, traditional relay, floatie relay, or t-shirt relay. The scores that each Greek member received for their respective events went toward the chapter’s overall score, which helped to determine the overall winner.
The men of Phi Tau ended up taking away the award of the overall winner, while the women of Chi Omega were awarded best spirit throughout the event.
But it was not just about fun and games; all of the money raised through tickets, t-shirt sales, and raffles went towards St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, which is Tri Delta’s philanthropy, as well as the Collin Cancer Fund for Children.
Junior Haley Winkler is Tri Delta’s current philanthropy chair and was in charge of heading up all of the planning for this year’s Water Wars. After about eight years of holding the event to support St. Jude’s and Collin’s Cancer Fund, Winkler noted how “rewarding” working closely with these various organizations has been for her since accepting the position as philanthropy chair.
“My sisters believed that this position suited me well, and they saw something in me that I didn’t necessarily know I had,” said Winkler.
As far as the event’s effect on Transy’s community, the night gave all of the fraternities and sororities the chance to spend some time as a whole unit while they supported and cheered on their individual chapters. Even though there was an obvious element of competitiveness, there was a sense of camaraderie in the room, as well, as friends cheered on friends — not solely the people who wore the same letters as them.
At first glance, the pencils framed in the Morlan Gallery look just like pencils: short and stubby, worn from use and varying in color. However, upon closer inspection one can see that these are no ordinary pencils. Each pencil holds an intricate design within its lead. The pencils, which are the work of artist Dalton Ghetti, are a wonder to the human eye, each piece of work is unbelievably small and detailed.
Ghetti visited campus this past Thursday to give a talk in The Morlan Gallery about his life and his work. During his talk, Ghetti recalled how when he was a young kid in school, each student would keep a small pocket knife or razor blade in their desk to sharpen their pencils while taking notes.
“You could sharpen your pencils without making any noise,” Ghetti noted about the noisy pencil sharpeners schools now have.
To this day, Ghetti still uses little to no technology. In order to create his micro-sculptures, the artist primarily uses a needle and a razor blade, sticking to the basics in order to create his small masterpieces.
Ghetti’s inspiration for his micro-sculptures came from the idea of nano technology that started to emerge in the 80’s. As the technology began to grow smaller, Ghetti asked himself how small of art he can create.
A friend of Ghetti’s who is a schoolteacher once collected her students’ used pencils that had been discarded to the floor after they were too small to be used. She then gifted Ghetti the bag full of pencils knowing he could use them. At first Ghetti was unsure on what he could do with all the leftover pencil nubs.
“She gave me as a gift, this bag full of tiny little stubs,” Ghetti said about the gift he received.
Eventually Ghetti found a use of the stubs. Ghetti marveled at how the children used the pencils until they were just big enough to hold in the childrens’ small hands. And with these tiny pencils he created “The Alphabet,” one of his more famous works: a set of 26 pencils each with a letter of the alphabet carved in its lead. Ghetti said each letter took him about a month to create, except for “S” which broke during the process, taking him an extra month to complete that letter. In order to create each letter, Ghetti explained that he used his needle to carve in the lead the shape of each letter and then continuously “scratched away” at it until the letters were formed.
When Ghetti first started his sculptures in 1986, he did not have to use a magnifying glass or any other device to assist him while he worked, however today he is sad to have to use both glasses and a magnifying glass. Ghetti said, “You’ll understand as you get older.”
Ghetti receives no payments for his art. He considers himself a handyman and does work that allows him to use his hands like carpentry and construction, a slight contrast to his tiny sculptures.
“This here, it’s hard to explain because it comes from here” Ghetti said while pointing to his heart. “There’s nothing to do about money with this stuff. I do this stuff because I want to create and I can, I just want to do it as much as I can.”
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.
Transylvania does not have a homecoming week, but we make up for it with Raf week. Similarly, where Transy does not have a homecoming dance or get-together, we have Crimson Affair.
As senior Alex Cesar explains, Crimson Affair is “a night for people to just dance and enjoy themselves without having to go very far. It is a really cool way to hang out with your friends and hang out in a space.”
Crimson Affair is one of two annual dances hosted by the Student Activities Board (SAB), the other being Spring Fling. Each year the event has a different theme and this year’s will be Starry Night. Decorations of Van Gogh’s paintings, lights to give a feeling of a night sky, and even a geofilter made by sophomore Josh Porter all will contribute to making the theme, and the event, come together.
Contributing to the theme through decorating is actually Cesar’s favorite part of the event.
“My favorite part about Crimson Affair is the decorating,” said Cesar. “It is really satisfying for me to put in the effort to craft and create a space where people can enjoy themselves, and how it looks.”
One reason for the event’s popularity is it is one of few times when all students can attend a dance.
“It brings Transy together as more of a community especially since everyone is invited, not just this sorority or that frat, every student no matter their Greek affiliation can come and have a ball,” said alumnus Regan Buckler.
Buckler attended the event as a student her first two years at Transy and then contributed to making it happen as a member of SAB her last two years. Her favorite part was always picking out the food since the event usually has a wide array of great food selections. This usually includes various dips (spinach artichoke, buffalo ranch, salsa) and assorted desserts. The event this year will actually have chicken tenders from Raising Cane’s, a popular restaurant amongst Transy students.
Senior Allison Sanders has served as the photographer of the event for the past two years. The event always has an area with a backdrop where students can go and have their photo taken by Sanders for free. The students can then access the photos afterwards via Student Activities Board’s Facebook page.
Sanders sees Crimson Affair as an opportunity for students to celebrate the university together.
“I think it’s important for people on campus because even though we may not have a huge football team, we have a lot of spirit,” said Sanders. “This dance is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate being Pioneers together.”
Buckler wishes that the Crimson Affair tradition continues so as “to keep the connectivity alive. Without Crimson Affair and Spring Fling the only fun themed dance parties would be Greek related, unless some other club or organization besides SAB puts one on, and that’s no fun.”
Not only does the event provide a space for all students to have fun together, but it also works as a destressing event in the midst of a busy semester.
“Crimson Affair is that one night in the fall term where people can forego their responsibilities for just one night and have fun with their friends and the rest of the campus community,” said Cesar.
The event is also unique in its purpose to just simply provide a space for students to have fun and celebrate together.
As Sanders describes, “Crimson Affair is a somewhat selfless event, in that its purpose is not for anything other than celebrating the students and our school pride.”
Another essential piece of the event is the Crimson Court. Every year, two members from the first-year, sophomore, and junior class along with four seniors are voted by their classmates as the Crimson Court. The night of the event, students can vote between the seniors for the top two winners.
“Because it is such a small school, the people nominated for [Crimson Court] are well known and are chosen because they are positive leaders on campus and represent Transy well,” said Sanders.
This year’s Crimson Affair will be held Saturday, Nov. 5 from 9 p.m.-12 a.m. Students are encouraged to RSVP but not required. However, any students that are bringing non-Transy students must RSVP. The Crimson Court will also be announced the night of the event and students can vote for the court via SAB’s Facebook page.
Whether students attend for a chance to mingle with students they do not normally see, destress from large amounts of classwork, or to go and see their friends be crowned Pioneer Royalty, the event usually brings a large crowd and as Buckler says, “It’s fun. I love it. Everyone loves it.”
A new financial policy was instituted that will affect the class of 2019 and the classes following. This policy includes changes to how much money will be available from a student’s Transylvania financial aid package, which will affect how study abroad financing will happen.
Director of Study Abroad Kathy Simon explained that before the changes were put into place, students who were accepted to study abroad for a semester through Transylvania were given between $4,000 and $5,000 from the school, depending on their current financial aid package.
“The financial aid package for students was really just a discount at Transy. No money was changing hands,” Simon said. “Transy was paying money to the study abroad programs, but students weren’t paying any money to Transy.”
The financial aspect was a big reason for the changes, but Simon added that it “makes sense.” Transy is also moving towards the trend seen among private institutions to charge students what is referred to as a home school fee; “64% of private institutions” follow this policy.
Simon said, “Students who study abroad are still Transy students. They’re getting a Transy degree, getting Transy credit, and have access to all Transy resources and faculty.” Therefore, the policy change will now charge students Transy tuition and fees.
Students who study abroad are still Transy students. They’re getting a Transy degree, getting Transy credit, and have access to all Transy resources and faculty.
Also, instead of the $4,000-$5,000 range of a student’s financial aid package being available for study abroad, the new policy will allow 50% of a student’s Transy award money for a semester to be used. However, there is a limit as to how much the school will pay. According to the study abroad website, Transy will contribute “a maximum of $12,000 for tuition…[and] a maximum of $3,000 for room and board.” If the program that a student chooses is more expensive than this, then they will be responsible for paying the difference.
Simon is currently working on compiling a “list of preferred programs that fall into the $15,000 or less range” in order to find the most financially accessible programs for students. She explained that the new policy may have to be tweaked, but everything will depend on how things go with the new policy.
Even with the changes, students studying abroad for a semester will still be able to use all of their federal and state student aid money, such as KEES or FAFSA money, and there are also still scholarships that students can apply for directly with the program that they are using. Some students may decide to move to that country on a permanent basis after they have completed their studies. If this is the case then it is important to thoroughly research what you need to know before leaving. For example if you are thinking about moving to Montenegro, then you may want to take a look at Montenegro Guides to find everything you need to know.
The numbers for semester study abroad have dropped, with the number of students dropping from 36 to 17 within the past three years. The number went back up to 23 this year, but Simon said that there are multiple reasons that could be contributing to a decrease in semester study abroad numbers for Transy.
Some of the possible reasons mentioned include world events, such as terrorist attacks, and their news coverage that could be a concern for some parents, students wanting to spend their time taking an internship, an increase in students who are double or even triple majoring who do not have the time in their class requirements to take a whole semester to study abroad, and students changing their minds about their intended major.
However, a lot of students choose to study abroad over the summer, which will not be affected by the new policy changes. Simon noted that summer study abroad opportunities are “very affordable,” with the cost ranging from $3,400 to $5,200. There are scholarships available for these programs that can cover up to one third of the costs, and students can earn up to two units of credit for their major or minor at Transy.
“I’m hoping that more students will see the advantages to studying abroad. It is a practical thing to do, and not just something for language majors,” said Simon.
She also added, “I am greatly appreciative of the financial support from the university, as well as the faculty and administration being so supportive of study abroad.”
Emerging through a two-fold process, Unlearn Fear + Hate originated as a response to two conversations concerning race relations; one at the national level and one at the local level. The national conversation circulated around the 2015 terrorist shooting that took place at a predominantly-black Charleston, South Carolina church. As the nation responded to the massacre, Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova, co-founders of Unlearn Fear + Hate, gained greater insight into the issues that racial violence posed onto members of society.
“By no means was an increase happening in occurrence of the acts. It was just increased visibility due to social media and citizen journalism and different ways to share,” said Gohde.
Because the duo had completed three tattoo projects in various cities, they “were Facebook friends with a lot of the participants, and [the participants] lived in different cities,” allowing them to see the influence of race violence from many perspectives, shared Gohde.
The local conversation grew after the event when, “a lot of confederate statues were questioned,” said Gohde, including two in Lexington. The controversial pieces continue to stand in the Cheapside area of downtown, historically recognized for being the largest slave trade location in Kentucky. When the Lexington community was invited to share their opinions regarding the removal of works, it was obvious the fear and hate that their opinions were founded on.
“Unlearn Fear + Hate came out of that… awareness that people could not see each others’ humanity at all,” said Todorova. “Our intention was… to use art to invite people to see each others’ humanity, not to point fingers, but to ask people to recognize ways in which we are all fearful of each other and maybe ways in which we cause fear in others, and try to refuse to be passive. We realized that this artwork shouldn’t just be about race and race relations, that our fears are many and have to do with many different issues; a lot of them are identity issues.”
Making their way into communities throughout Lexington, Todorova emphasizes the importance of the stencils stimulating individual growth, sharing, “We hope that being involved in the artwork leads to personal change, inner change, which also leads to social change.”
Gohde points out how such social change is being interpreted by the community.
“What has become interesting is how many people think of it as a movement, and it’s not connected to individuals, which is really fantastic,” said Gohde, “That [the idea of Unlearn Fear + Hate being a movement] is something that also allows people to respond to it,” said Gohde.
The power of social media is evident in how Unlearn Fear + Hate has made its way into communities outside of Lexington, showing up in places like Austrailia and South Africa.
“One of the ways in which people engage is by being photographed in front of this sculpture so that it becomes like a halo around them with the words ‘Unlearn Fear + Hate’ right around their face,” said Todorova. “We see that being photographed as engagement with the artwork. So at the very least you have to consider are you fearful, or are you hateful in some ways?”
The circulation of these photographs, often by social media, makes for a quick spread of the ideas attached to Unlearn Fear + Hate.
“Part of our Facebook web, of people we are connected with, includes quite a few parents of first-year students, that only really became involved because the students were there,” said Gohde, noting how the August Term event that took place on Bourbon Street led to Unlearn Fear + Hate making a direct line back to students’ families.
Gohde and Todorova vocalized their appreciation for Transy’s administration to make Unlearn Fear + Hate a central theme of academics, but Todorova explained they also wanted to make sure it would not “just become another slogan.” To prevent this, they make an effort to present a lesson with each art project, in which they share with students the need for such a theme in our curriculum.
While reaching the Transy community through larger campus events has been successful, Unlearn Fear + Hate has entered classrooms in more explicit ways. According to Todorova, many faculty members have contacted her and Gohde about wanting more information about the theme, in order to make it a part of their own courses. While Todorova wants to get more faculty and students on board, she does not want to threaten academic freedom.
“Academic freedom is a good thing. No one could have said, ‘Here’s this theme. Can you teach it in your classes?” said Todorova.
The duo co-teaches a May Term course, called Community Engagement with the Arts, that has evolved to focus on ideas associated with Unlearn Fear + Hate. This year, the course will consist of Transy students creating flowers, made from plastic bottles, with school aged children from surrounding schools. Children will learn about the history of Cheapside and learn about sustainability. The number of flowers placed in the Cheapside area will be historically and mathematically based on the number of slaves sold in the area.
“There might be one flower for the number of children that were sold while it was an active slave auction,” said Gohde.
Students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to join in Unlearn Fear + Hate’s next big on-campus event, which will take place on Thursday, Nov. 10 from 8-10 p.m. in the Campus Center. The event is being hosted by Chi Omega and Order of Omega. Chi Omega Vice President Dakota Porter initiated the event with a goal of promoting conversation “about Unlearn Fear + Hate.”
“This event isn’t about cross-stitching, necessarily. It’s about learning about one another and how we can, as a community, participate in this narrative and do our part for Lexington and the world,” says Porter. The event is open to everyone, both in the Transy community and in the greater Lexington community. Kurt and Kremena will provide participants with a demonstration of cross-stitching. Porter stated, “whenever you’re cross-stitching, it’s easy to be doing it and just sit around and talk,” explaining why cross-stitching as an art form is beneficial to stimulating discussion and awareness of Unlearn Fear + Hate. “Whenever you’re with someone and creating something actively, I think that that creates a bond and also bridges these walls that we have built up for ourselves, between individuals,” says Porter, voicing her perspective on the ideas of social art projects.
Porter and Kurt and Kremena encourage all who are interested to join the Facebook group for the event and/or email them for more information.
Each Wednesday, Taylor Felts and Jacob Broyles will tackle two sides of a contentious issue facing the Transy community. This week, we ask the question “Does Transy’s current foreign language program requirement do enough to encourage practical fluency in students who don’t already speak a second language?” Due to some unusual circumstances this week— both Mr. Broyles and Ms. Felts largely agree— an opposing opinion will be provided by Opinion Editor Tristan Reynolds.
Read Jacob Broyles and Taylor Felts arguing against here and here.
We live in a world of 7 billion people. The number of people within that population who speak English is only 1.5 billion. A little simple arithmetic tells us that the vast majority of the world does not, in fact, speak English at all. It follows that, if you want to speak to one of the 5.5 billion people who don’t speak English, you have to learn another language to do it. (While it’s true that you’d have to learn half a dozen languages to talk to most of the world—you can talk to just about anyone if you speak English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Hindi—picking up any one of those will significantly increase your ability to speak to people around the globe). Given these realities, any program of higher education should include for its students a real bilingual fluency and literacy requirement as a matter of course.
Transy’s current foreign language requirements extend to 2—3 semesters of basic foreign language instruction. While this is undoubtedly enough for anyone to learn how to ask someone’s name and profession, and how to get to the American Embassy, it seems unlikely that 2.5 hours a week for 3 semesters, (with breaks in between each semester) will allow most students to develop real fluency and literacy. In short, Transy has an obligation to its students to give them a real chance to develop fluency in a second language, and Transy is currently not doing so.
Let’s look at some numbers. We’ll use Spanish as an example language, because Spanish is classed by the US Foreign Service Institute as a relatively easy language for Americans to learn; basic fluency is classed as being a 2 on a 5-point mastery scale defined by the Foreign Service Institute. The FSI estimates that an English speaker can learn basic Spanish in only 480 total hours of study. That’s only 48 days!— if you study intently for 10 hours a day. Study for 5 hours a day and you double the time required to 96 days. If you study for only 5 hours a week—in other words, if you spend an equal amount of time studying outside of your Transy classes as you do in the classes themselves—then it would take 96 weeks to learn Spanish. Let’s assume, however, that you are a particularly devoted and motivated student: triple the time you spend outside of class studying, for a total of 10 hours a week (2.5 hours in class and 7.5 hours outside of class), and you will spend 48 weeks studying to achieve fluency. A semester lasts 14 weeks; three semesters is 42 weeks. Even with the generous assumptions made here, the motivated student still needs to spend an additional 6 weeks outside of Transy classes—at the assumed rate of 10 hours of study a week—to get to the 48 weeks required to achieve basic Spanish fluency. And remember, Spanish is a relatively straightforward language; it shares an alphabet and a Latin root with English. A language like Mandarin or Arabic will take significantly longer.
Of course, all this figuring doesn’t take into account the individual’s work ethic—one student could study much more intently than another—or their natural ear for languages. There is certainly plenty of individual variation. But simply by looking at a few numbers, we can see that Transy’s current requirements simply do not give most students the time opportunity to learn a second language.
Fortunately, a significant improvement in Transy’s curriculum appears to be relatively simple. If Transy were to add another semester of required foreign language classes, the number of weeks a student would be in a foreign language class would jump to 56—well over the 48 weeks we assumed above. This fix would allow the motivated student who spends 10 hours a week studying their language a real shot a basic fluency. Is this fix perfect? No; it assumes a motivated student and a relatively easy language. There are also questions of cost to consider—to both the student and the university. However, increasing Transy’s foreign language requirement to 4 semesters would offer a significant improvement to the motivated student’s fluency over the long term. Doing so will help both students to achieve basic fluency in a second language, and allow Transy to better fulfill its mission to develop educated, whole citizens of the world.
Each Wednesday, Taylor Felts and Jacob Broyles will tackle two sides of a contentious issue facing the Transy community. This week, we ask the question “Does Transy’s current foreign language program requirement do enough to encourage practical fluency in students who don’t already speak a second language?” Due to some unusual circumstances this week— both Mr. Broyles and Ms. Felts largely agree— an opposing opinion will be provided by Opinion Editor Tristan Reynolds.
Read Jacob Broyles concurring here. Read Tristan Reynolds against here.
For most students studying a foreign language at Transylvania, their class meets three times a week for fifty minutes. If the goal of taking these courses is to ultimately achieve perfect fluency, it doesn’t matter how engaged the professor is with their students, the student is only within an environment to practice the language for one hundred and fifty minutes a week—this is nothing. Unfortunately, without a specific immersion program for the language, there is only so much that can be done by the professor for their students within the confines of such a small teaching window. Under these conditions, it is ultimately up to the student to study and review on their own, and to take it upon themselves to further their foreign language. The professor can (and frequently does) provide extensive online resources for students to utilize, be they links to documentaries to watch, or online articles to read. The professor can invite students to study abroad or to attend local events where they might practice their language, but in the end, the reality is that the student is only totally immersed in the study of their language for 2.5 hours a week. Only so much is going to be accomplished, lest the student themselves is incentivized. The real fault lies within the standard curriculum for foreign language, and not with the professor.
What’s more, countless studies have shown that the single best means for successful acquisition of a new language is not countless hours spent in study, but actually speaking the language. So, even though study is without a doubt an effective tool for speaking a language better, actually using the language is going to do more for the student than pouring over conjugation exercises. To this end, the professor is obviously available through office hours if the student wants extra practice speaking, but what students don’t realize is that by far the best resource they have is each other. Even in smaller programs of language study within Transy, like German and Chinese, there are still other students learning the language alongside one another. Students have the ability to converse with one another and so advance their practical language proficiency this way, but most just do not take advantage of the fact that they are within a community of foreign language learners like themselves.
The foreign language program at Transy is standard as far as university curricula go, and unfortunately, without a true immersion program, the greatest professor in the world is not going to be able to impart unto their students all the complexities and nuances of another language. However, if the professor is good, and if the student takes it upon themselves to work outside of the classroom to make up for all the other days without language study, it is feasible for the student to do very well, and to pick up the language in great part. Ultimately, time spent abroad utilizing the language everyday is the only real means to fully acquire fluency, but the Transylvania University program is not incapable of taking a student very far. In the end it is up to the student to take advantage of their foreign language department, to realize the shortcomings of a standard university foreign language curriculum, and to surpass these through dedicated study, and creative practice of the language; be that within the university community or outside of it.
As an English and Spanish double major, I find myself writing a lot of papers. However, if you don’t write essays often, then written assignments may seem a little overwhelming. There are options for you to try that may be constructive for your writing, for example, you may want to hire a personal tutor to guide you or look into Custom Essay writing from sites like essaywritingserviceuk.co.uk, there are many possibilities. In the meantime, here are five tips to help you when writing an essay for your classes this semester!
Coming off one of the most exciting seasons in NBA history with the Golden State Warriors earning the all-time best regular season record and subsequently blowing a 3-1 lead in the finals to a LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers, the 2016-17 season looks to be filled with just as much action.
Among the many offseason transactions, absolutely the most shocking was former MVP Kevin Durant’s signing with Golden State, arguably the world’s best scorer joining the league’s most efficient offense. That is not to say there are not several storylines of which the Association’s followers should remain aware of this season. I asked David Bandy (contributor to local sports podcast, The Four Point Play) what his favorite question marks of the season are:
“There are several plots I am excited for. Are the [Minnesota] Timberwolves actually good? What is the combo of Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo going to look like, especially in terms of combined points per game? Will the new, younger Spurs consistently provide a challenge for the Warriors? It’s going to be a fun season.”
And the question we’re all wondering: where will my team finish out the season, as a 1 seed or a lottery club?
Out west, it looks like reigning MVP Stephen Curry’s Warriors are the heavy, even coprulent favorite. No one is expecting another Western Conference team to beat them in the playoffs, but it is possible for the Spurs to do so; after all, they still have head coach Gregg Popovich calling the shots. In addition, the LA Clippers are a sleeper to come out of the west, but it all depends on whether or not Blake Griffin can improve upon his already stellar performance.
It is hard to say who will round out the rest of the playoff spots, but the Rockets will probably survive the regular season. After all, James Harden is still one of the league’s best players, and he’ll be running the offense this season. The Trail Blazers, led by an excellent frontcourt in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, could make a splash. Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant’s old stomping grounds, also have a chip on their shoulder, and it is clear that Russell Westbrook is motivated. The Utah Jazz should be in the west’s top 8, led by an exciting young core that can play both ways, and the Minnesota Timberwolves should not be far behind, although they lack experience. Memphis and Dallas will also be in the mix, while the LA Lakers, Denver, Sacramento, Phoenix, and New Orleans aren’t looking all that great.
In the Eastern Conference, there is also a heavy favorite: the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James has been to the finals six years in a row, and the Cavs will look to make that seven.
However, the East will be stronger this year than in the past, with the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors seeming primed to win about 50 games apiece. The Pacers are also a team that has improved, with Paul George in the prime of his career and the acquisition of point guard Jeff Teague. The Pistons, jettisoned by prodigy center Andre Drummond, are solid.
After that, the East is a parade of question marks. The Bulls, having signed former hometown hero and Heat star Dwyane Wade, could make some noise, as well as the Knicks, who picked up former Bulls point guard Derrick Rose. Atlanta managed to acquire Dwight Howard. The Bucks will be fun to watch with 6’11” playmaker Giannis Antetekounmpo running the point. These teams along with the Wizards, Hornets, Heat, and Magic will be fighting for playoff spots, and it is really impossible to see how it will turn out. On a tier lower are the 76ers and Nets.
I ran a Twitter poll asking fans who they thought would win the title, and the results are not so shocking: out of 106 votes, 37% voted Warriors, 27% Cavaliers, 9% Spurs, and 27% other.
All that being said, let’s play ball!
Welcome to The Rambler! We’ve been Transylvania University’s only student-run newspaper since 1915, “breaking the bubble” between our small campus and the Lexington community. We aim to create a place for students to be creative and have a voice, hoping to be an outlet for the passions and opinions of the Transy student body. We’re always excited to hear new ideas, so send us a message if you have suggestions, opinions, or want to write an article yourself; there is always room on our staff for new writers and creatives! Thanks for reading The Rambler :) Print’s not dead!
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