the vanderbilt hustler 8-26-2015

vanderbilthustlerWWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 VOL. 127, ISS. 17

THEFIRST-YEAR DEANNew Commons dean, Vanessa Beasley, reflects on how far Vanderbilt has come and how far it can go

Words of wisdom for first yearsOPINION

Upperclassmen offer advice to incoming ‘Dores, from making friends to balancing academic pressures and personal growth

PAGE 8Where are the Vandy Boys now?SPORTS

Checking in on the Vanderbilt baseball stars from last season’s National Championship runners-up PAGE 16

The Hustler sat down with summer interns to find out what it’s really like to live and work in the Big Apple

PAGE 10

Interning in New York CityLIFE

PAGE 2

2 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

Dean of The Ingram Commons Vanessa Beasley couldn’t sleep the night before first-year Move In Day.

“It felt like Christmas Eve,” she said.On Aug. 22, Beasley welcomed 1,600 new

neighbors to the first-year campus, kicking off her five-year term as Dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons. She will pick up where the inaugural dean, Frank Wcislo, left off.

Beasley grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and came to Vanderbilt as an undergradu-ate in 1984. She received her B.A. in speech communications and theater arts before receiving both her masters and Ph.D. from University of Texas at Austin in Communica-

tions Studies. She has worked as an associ-ate professor of communication studies at Vanderbilt since 2007.

Beasley said Vanderbilt has changed a lot since she was an undergraduate.

“We had not just a fairly limited sense of racial and ethnic diversity when I was in school here, but we also had to my mind a sense of limited socioeconomic diversity, and I was somebody who really struggled with some feelings that I didn’t have the wealth and the resources that many other students around me had or at least that I perceived they had,” she said.

While Beasley acknowledges that the university still has work to do in terms of inclusion and diversity, she says the differ-ences she has seen are significant.

“When I came back to interview in the spring of 2007, immediately, in the first

couple steps on campus, I thought ‘Wow,’ it’s no longer that every Vanderbilt student looks the same way,” Beasley said.

Beasley met her now husband while at an orientation weekend the summer before her first year at Vanderbilt. According to Beasley, she and her husband were just friends for most of their time at Vanderbilt. He was the WRVU manager, and she was a DJ.

“Then towards the end of our Vanderbilt career, a very large group of our friends was going to go out, I think for bowling,” Beasley said. “... and all of a sudden people were canceling left and right but we were among the people who said ‘well we will still go!’”

When Beasley and her husband got to the bowling alley, they were the only two there “and all of a sudden it felt a little bit more like a date,” according to Beasley.

“I met him when I was 17 years old,” she

continued. “Pretty crazy.”Beasley was also struck, both during her

time as an undergraduate and as a staff member, by the level of faculty engagement at Vanderbilt.

“Vanderbilt was a place where I learned that I wanted to be a scholar even though I wasn’t really sure what that would mean,” Beasley said. “It was a place where the ideas and the intellectual discipline that I am now a part of were first introduced to me. So I had very engaged faculty at the time helping me to imagine that path.”

According to Beasley’s experience as a stu-dent, the integration of world class research faculty and undergraduates was present, but the university does an even better job now.

“Most places sort of treat it as the idea that the teaching side and the research side are not just oppositional, but they detract

Beasley finds new home on Commons Dean Vanessa Beasley shares her vision and goals for first-year students

news

vanderbilthustlerSTAFF ZACH BERKOWITZ

JORDAN BICKHAMASHLEY KATZENSTEINSHARON SIHAN DEWAN

DESIGNERS

ALLIE GROSSEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

KATHY YUANCOPY EDITORS

ZOE SHANCER — NEWS EDITORKARA SHERRER — LIFE EDITOR QUEEN STEVENSON — OPINION EDITORBEN WEINRIB — SPORTS EDITOR

JOSH HAMBURGER — MANAGING EDITORBOSLEY JARRETT — DESIGN DIRECTORANNA BUTRICO — WEB EDITORZIYI LIU — PHOTO DIRECTORWESLEY LIN — CHIEF COPY EDITORCOLLIN ZIMMERMAN — CHIEF WEB DEVELOPERMATT LIEBERSON — FEATURES EDITOR PRIYANKA ARIBINDI — AUDIENCE STRATEGISTKATHY YUAN —ASST. PHOTO DIRECTOR

By AADITI NAIK AND ZOE SHANCERNews reporter, News editor

--------------------

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 3

from each other, and I’m really proud of the commitment that Vanderbilt has to keep those things in balance and that we want undergraduates to be in classrooms with researchers and with people who are leaders in their fields,” Beasley said.

Drawing from her background in race, gender and diversity in U.S. political rhetoric, Beasley has formulated some ideas about how to help The Commons become an even more welcoming and diverse community.

“We have an obligation to do a better job precisely because universities are some of the last places in the public sphere of the United States where we both value diversity and we say we are going to put diverse people together so they can learn,” Beasley said.

Beasley stated that sociology tells us that people tend to live with people who are just like them, or at least more similar to them than different. That’s where the living-learning experience of The Com-mons comes in.

“So what we are doing when we are saying we intentionally want a diverse community is asking people to do some-thing they probably don’t have a lot of ex-perience with,” Beasley said. “One of the things we are going to have to recognize is that we are all going to have to want to try to do something we are not good at, and we are all going to have to understand the value that it brings.”

According to Beasley, it is important to stop and listen to one another because everybody at Vanderbilt has something to say and everybody has the ability to say it well.

“Because I study communication, I know a lot of the literature about social persuasion and interpersonal persuasion and I think sometimes we see discussions about diversity and inclusion as almost like a battle metaphor where somebody is gonna win and somebody’s going to lose,” Beasley said. “So something that we have to learn is that that’s not all that produc-tive of a metaphor.”

Beasley plans to begin by building trust — what she calls “the most precious element of a diverse community.”

“You have to build (trust), you have to nurture it, and the first step is just show-ing up, just really being there and being present,” Beasley said.

One of the ways in which she will ac-complish this is by making it a priority to attend a different house’s signature event every week, especially during the first semester. In this way, Beasley also hopes to show the university the importance of the unique culture of each house and to show her support for the faculty heads of house.

Beasley also wants to ensure that the opportunities offered on The Commons for relationship building are offered to all students, and not just the ones who sign

up for events like Dinner at the Dean’s or participate in the House Advisory Coun-cils. Beasley is interested in “putting the student experience first.”

“As a culture, we are asking a lot of you guys, and I want to make sure that we are always as an institution providing both the safety net and the challenge,” Beasley said.

Beasley’s vision is that Vanderbilt con-tinues to teach students the importance of other perspectives.

“This idea of having a welcoming and diverse community, I know that some-times it sounds like it’s a bumper sticker, but actually it’s the most important job we have,” Beasley said.

As the new dean of The Commons spoke to VUceptors during training last week, she was asked how she keeps doing what she does when faced with the weight of all the issues facing society today. With a laugh, Beasley answered that it is her belief in the students that continues to inspire her.

“It’s because I have hope that your gen-eration can solve some of the problems that my generation has left unsolved,” Beasley said. “I truly believe that’s the goal of the kind of education we are offering at Vanderbilt. And that means we have an obligation to make sure that every single student is able to live up to their capacity here.”

AROUND CAMPUS

“She really makes you think critically about the world around you, which is a great quality to have as a dean.”

— JACQUELINE SCOTT, VUCEPTOR

“She seems to want to be very hands-on as dean of The Commons, particularly in her first year, to get a gauge on the first year experience to inform her vision for the future of The Commons.”

— BRADLEY FASKOWITZ, COMMONS RA

“She is full of energy, hope and intellect, and she views The Commons as a community that can confront the hard issues. She is bringing a fresh perspective to The Commons, and I have full confidence that The Commons will continue to grow and evolve under her leadership.”

— KATIE REYNOLDS, VUCEPTOR


Student body president Lizzy Shahnasarian knows many students aren’t thrilled with their student government.

“It’s something that we saw last year, especially with the election, that students aren’t happy with the level of transparency,” Shahnasarian said. “... and students aren’t happy with the way VSG is spending their money.”

That’s why Shahnasarian wants to let student needs and opinions inform her plans for the up-coming school year. As a result, budget changes have been made and plans to better inform stu-dents of Vanderbilt Student Government (VSG) actions are underway. Additionally, Shahnasarian is leading plans for the creation of new campaigns and initiatives that she hopes will encourage communication among the student body and provide new educational opportunities.

BUDGET CHANGESIn response to budget concerns, VSG has

increased funds for their committees — which include Academic Affairs; Campus Life; Com-munity, Outreach and Diversity; Residential and Environmental affairs; and Student Health and Wellness — from 8.4 to 11 percent, according to

Shahnasarian. This new budget plan is pending the approval of VSG Senate.

“The reason we increased funding is that the committees directly impact students and the student experience, whether that’s getting a free Chick-fil-A sandwich before game day or picking up a ticket or taking a Vandy Van,” Shahnasarian said. “I think that students are really impacted by the work of the committees, we just don’t realize it on a day to day basis.”

The Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness committee, which is currently a temporary com-mittee, has been added to the budget and funded. Shahnasarian is pushing for this committee to become a standing committee, also pending ap-proval by the Senate.

VSG co-sponsorships have also been increased by about $5,000 because Shahnasarian wants other organizations to feel empowered by VSG. Shahnasarian plans to provide financial incen-tives for campus organizations to engage with one another.

VSG has created a new Collaboration and In-novation Fund, which will be $12,000 specifically meant to foster collaborative programs between different student organizations.

“If you are collaborating with another organiza-tion you will get more money, and I think that that ultimately is going to result in a more cohesive

student body and hopefully better relationships all around and more creative and more worth-while programming,” Shahnasarian said.

NEW CAMPAIGNS AND INITIATIVESTo further increase communication and

conversation among students on Vanderbilt’s campus, Shahnasarian is planning a school-wide

By ZOE SHANCER News editor--------------------

Vanderbilt Student Government: The year ahead

VSG will have a Commons Interest Meeting on Sept. 6 from 6-8p.m. in Commons MPR and an Upperclassmen Interest Meeting on Sept. 8 at 7p.m. in Kissam C210 and 9 p.m. in Sarratt 325/327.

ZIYI LIU / PHOTO DIRECTOR

In response to student complaints during last year’s election, VSG hopes to better serve the student body


campaign called “Own it.” Shahnasarian says that students are “often made fun of or ostracized for their differences,” and that this campaign will com-bat this practice by celebrating differences among students.

Another area which Shahnasarian would like to improve is career development. VSG will be partnering with the Center for Student Professional Development to offer an “externship” program for students, which will allow students to shadow or take an outside class for a couple of days to test out various careers.

“I think one of the great things (about Vanderbilt) is that we are a liberal arts school so we have a very balanced undergraduate experience,” Shahnasar-ian said. “But we also don’t have that many adver-tising classes or classes that are really geared at a specific profession, so it’s a chance to kind of try a profession. That’s going to be aimed more towards freshmen and sophomores who are trying to figure out what they want to go into.”

Other initiatives include moving the Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and Disability Services (EAD) office to a more accessible loca-tion for students as well as spearheading several mental health initiatives, including working on ways to destigmatize the Psychological Counseling Center (PCC) and bringing PCC services directly to residence halls.

TRANSPARENCYVSG hopes to increase transparency this year,

according to Shahnasarian, so that students know what VSG is doing and can contribute to it when they want to.

Members of VSG will hold office hours in the dining halls at nights, so as to be visible to students who have problems or ideas to discuss. Shahnasar-ian hopes this will encourage students to be more

interactive with VSG.“We need to be (saying), ‘Here’s our door. Please

come talk to us,’ instead of, ‘You can talk to us if you want’,” Shahnasarian said.

NEW WEBSITETo further increase transparency, Phil Hawkins,

Director of Technology for VSG, has recently launched a new website for VSG, which can be found at vandystudentgov.squarespace.com.

“The look is different, there are a lot more fea-tures, and it’s more about being able to get in touch with VSG and updates on what VSG is doing at any time,” Hawkins said.

According to Hawkins, the new website features a video presentation about how VSG works, de-scribing the various branches and positions. There is also a new page called “projects and initiatives” that lists the projects different leaders are working on and allows students to contact those leaders.

“If you aren’t explicitly part of VSG you can still get involved with an initiative that you are passion-ate about and this website allows you to do that,” Hawkins said. “So I think I’m hoping that it will empower people to get involved with the organiza-tion.”

Another useful tool is the WTF (“What to Fix”) section, which is an open submission form for students to tell VSG what problems they see on campus and what they would like them to address.

“I would just encourage (students) to at least look at it,” Hawkins said. “There are a lot of new things, and I think that if you just spend a little time on it you’ll see how much VSG is trying to do and how much we are willing to look into new things on behalf of the student body.”

All first-years to complete sexual assault prevention training

For the first time, all first-year students at Vanderbilt will take part in a mandatory sexual assault prevention seminar on Aug. 30.

The seminar, titled “The Commons Ad-dresses Sexual Violence,” is one that new dean of The Ingram Commons Vanessa Beasley thinks is vital for first-years as they enter a col-lege campus for the first time.

“We received positive feedback to the HAVEN Module, the new sexual assault online module that we used this summer, but there’s a difference between doing that in your home and doing that when you get to campus,” Beasley said. “We want to get students talking to each other. It’s our responsibility throughout higher education … to make sure that this is an ongoing conversation.”

The seminar, while not full Green Dot training, seeks to provide strategies for avoid-ing situations involving sexual assault. The program will stress the creation of a campus dialogue among groups of students who are likely to be going out together, such as people

on the same floor in a dorm.“I didn’t want just an hour of talking heads,”

Beasley stressed. “I was grateful that G.L. Black and Cara Tuttle Bell had a program that has been effective in the past with other campus leaders, so we knew that we have a way to do this.”

Beasley hopes this seminar is the first step in the conversation about sexual assault on campus.

“One thing we want to convey is that one message isn’t enough,” Beasley said. Beasley wanted to be sure the seminar gives the kind of information that makes clear where the resources are on campus.

While Beasley knows how much information is given to first-years in their first few weeks at Vanderbilt, she emphasized how important this particular seminar is. Beasley underscored that now that first-years are getting to know each other, this seminar is vital.

“It’s important to do this now,” Beasley said. “We know that they get so much information when they arrive, but maybe we need to think about the information they get being the infor-mation they need. This, though, is information they need. This is a priority.”

By MATT LIEBERSONFeatures editor--------------------

Dean Beasley: ‘This is information they need’

8 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

opinion

vanderbilthustlerThe Vanderbilt Hustler Opinion page aims to stimulate discussion in

the Vanderbilt community. In that spirit, columnists, guest columnists and authors of letters to the editor are expected to provide logical argument to back their views. Unreasonable arguments, arguments in bad faith or arguments in vain between columnists have no place in The Hustler and will not be published. The Hustler welcomes reader viewpoints and o� ers three methods of expression: letters to the editor, guest columns and feedback on vanderbilthustler.com.

The views expressed in lead editorials refl ect the majority of opinion among The Hustler’s editorial board and may be supposed to represent the opinion of The Vanderbilt Hustler at the time of publication. They are not necessarily representative of any individual member.

Letters must be submitted either in person by the author to The Hustler o� ce or via email to [email protected]. Letters via email should come from a Vanderbilt email address where the identity of the sender is clear. With rare exception, all letters must be received by 2 p.m. on the Sunday prior to publication. The editor

reserves the right to edit and condense submissions for length as well as clarity.

Lengthy letters that focus on an issue a� ecting students may be considered for a guest column at the editor’s discretion.

All submissions become the property of The Hustler and must conform to the legal standards of Vanderbilt Student Communications, of which The Hustler is a division.

The Vanderbilt Hustler (ISSN 0042-2517), the o� cial student newspaper of Vanderbilt University, is published every Wednesday during the academic year except during exam periods and vacations. The paper is not printed during summer break.

The Vanderbilt Hustler allocates one issue of the newspaper to each student and is available at various points on campus for free. Additional copies are $.50 each.

The Vanderbilt Hustler is a division of Vanderbilt Student Communications, Inc. Copyright © 2014 Vanderbilt Student Communications.

Congratulations is a significant word — it means a person has done something worthy of recognition. You have prob-

ably heard it quite a lot lately: “Congrats” for graduating high school! “Congrats” for making it into Vanderbilt! We upperclassmen laud you as well: “Congratulations! We are so glad you are here.”

As you arrive, you’ll begin to wonder some-thing many of us still wonder: What, exactly, are we being congratulated for? Are we worthy of this praise? We all worked hard to get here, but if we continue with the performance-based standard, true success will remain elusive. Fortunately, there is a better way — success at Vanderbilt should be measured not by acco-lades, but by character.

While we tend to think that our personal character and external accomplishments are two separate entities, in an interesting way, the former actually informs the latter. While we Vanderbilt students have undoubtedly worked hard to get here, sometimes things that were challenging to others naturally came easily to us. We have always been called “gifted” and were herded into advanced classes. We studied for tests the night before — or even ten minutes before — and aced them.

By the time we arrived at Vanderbilt, we had been conditioned to think that the important thing — the thing that made us deserving of praise — was our academic and extracurricu-lar accomplishments. However, while you can collect good grades and leadership positions, you can’t as easily collect diligence, respect or kindness, and these are the qualities that pro-duce long-term results in both community and

career.At some point during your time at Vanderbilt,

you will realize that only being smart isn’t going to cut it — you will learn to ask for help, plan a schedule, and actually care about the material. The commonality in all of this is people — you’ll get help from an upperclassman tutor, cultivate time management with a study skills advisor, and connect with your professors on subjects that move you.

It would be reckless of us to base our char-acter solely on what we objectively accomplish by ourselves, because we all need help. In turn, we stop and help a friend because, after all, isn’t the whole point of a good score so that we would be able to help people? When we choose to prioritize positive associations and contribu-tions as much as we do individual accomplish-ments, we become free to define ourselves by

who we are and how we connect rather than what we do academically.

We escape the fluctuating nature of grades and the constant snare of having to compete with others, because when you have done your best, another person’s outcome doesn’t make yours any more or less valuable.

When we operate out of our genuine selves, we have more positive influence. Society tends to presume that a successful person is the one with the highest grades and the most lucra-tive job, but we forget that the most successful person is actually the one who helps others. The person who takes a break from studying be-cause his friend needs to talk, or who pauses to thank a professor for their help, or even the one who plans ahead so as to make time to attend a mentee’s special performance or presentation.

The reality is that you can have the best resume in the world and never have helped a single person. Acing exams and leading organi-zations — these feats are insignificant by them-selves. If all we do is acquire achievements with no concern for who we are inwardly, we will be little more than automatons traipsing through a four-year journey of campus domination. But if we learn what it is to be good and to do good, we leave something a lot more meaningful behind. Here at Vanderbilt, character is a more valuable currency than qualifications, and, with that knowledge in mind, you’re bound to spend wisely all four years here.

Don’t only focus on doing well — do good

Qualifi cations fail in the face of character

QUOTE OF THE DAY“You’re going to learn a lot of names (and forget most of them). And you’re going to fi nd

that searching for your new best friends is going to require a lot of trial and error.”

YOKO KANAI

RYAN KENIGSBERGis a sophomore in the School of Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected].

ALLIE GROSS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF [email protected]

EDITORIAL BOARD

ZOE SCHANCERNEWS EDITOR

[email protected]

QUEEN STEVENSONOPINION EDITOR

[email protected]

KARA SHERRERLIFE EDITOR

[email protected]

BEN WEINRIB SPORTS EDITOR

[email protected]

The reality is that you can have the best resume in the world and never have helped a single person.

“

’’

WORDS OF WELCOME: UPPERCLASSMEN ON WHAT THEY WISH THEY HAD KNOWN AS FIRST YEARS

College is one of the most exciting times of your life. For many of you, having limited fi nancial commitments and very little

parental oversight gives you a sense of autonomy and independence. This freedom will allot you the opportunity to discover who you truly are. You will debate your lifelong personal and political beliefs as well as meet people who are nothing like you. You are bound to mess up, fail and make mistakes — this is what makes us human. However, some choices, choices that were also made by students who came before you, are wholly harmful to others and completely and totally avoidable.

Some people make the horrid choice to rob a home; this is a choice that can be avoided. Power-based violence against women is a form of robbery. The damage done to the property being robbed is both staggering and unnecessary. Likewise, the trauma forced upon the victims of sexual assault is untolled and avoidable. (I hate to use this analogy, which, in essence compares women to an inani-mate object. But, for many perpetrators or poten-tial perpetrators who have or may show a misan-thropic attitude towards the opposite gender, this is an acceptable alternative).

So often, society blames the victim for the ac-tions of the transgressor. If that logic were kept consistent across violent activity, then one should blame the victims of the Charleston massacre for their own deaths. Until very recently, VU PETSA was in line with the societal inclination to indict the victim for their own incursion. The arraign-ment should be left for solely the attacker. The tendency to blame the victim can also lead to as-sumptions of false accusations. This victim-blam-ing, which is steeped in rape culture, is common throughout the world, despite the fact that less than 10 percent of reported rapes are false.

While the percentage of potential perpetrators among the class of 2019 is likely to be low and mostly male, the damage that could be propagated by their hands is overwhelming. Due to the laxity displayed, in the past and the present, by both this university’s administration and the college administrators across the country, sexual assault is an epidemic on college campuses.

While violence against women is already occur-ring around the world at an alarming rate, the rate increases when a woman enters college. 1 in 4 of women attending college will, at some point, will

be sexually assaulted. While the trauma, from both attempted and completed assault, affecting the survivor is alarming. For the rest of her life, she will be subject to post-traumatic stress disorder and potential self-harm.

The choice to not assault a woman is simple — don’t do it. Attempting to coerce a human being to do something that they refuse is unsought, bar-barous and uncivilized. The intentional causation of harm on another one of your fellow students resembles behavior deplorable to even the lowest of brutes.

Furthermore, victim-blaming is not only unhelp-ful, but hurtful. Wearing attractive clothing, or, in the words of others, “provocative clothing,” does not hand over the authority of a woman’s body. It does not release her from self-jurisdiction. “No” ac-tually and defi nitively means no — period. It does not invite an opportunity to convince otherwise.

If you or someone you know is contemplating the choice to perform power-based violence on another human being, please consult Project Safe, located near the KC Potter Center.

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 9

Don’t fall into the anxiety trap and rush socialization

YOKO KANAIis a junior in the School of Engineering. She can be reached at [email protected].

On forging friendships the fi rst year

ERIN LOGANis a junior in the College of Arts and Science. She can be reached at [email protected].

First years, remember that consent is keyAvoiding power-based violence is paramount to ensuring a healthy and positive experience for all students

You’ve trekked to Nashville, survived move-in and said goodbye to your parents. You might have even had the

celebratory dinner at Puckett’s or Loveless. You got your key, welcome packet and your shiny new Commodore Card — you’re officially a ‘Dore, and let’s admit it: You’re a bundle of nervous excitement.

And then you realize that you don’t know any-body. Like, maybe you’ve gotten in touch with your roommate, or know a random dude from your high school. It’s like you got so pumped for college that you forgot to pack your entire sup-port system. And that realization is frustrating at best and paralyzingly terrifying at worst.

But you know what the truth is? You’re not go-ing to find your best friend on Day 1. Okay, some people find an instant eternal soulmate in their roommate, but it’s rare. Luckily, the entire fresh-man class spends the first two months frantically trying to meet as many people as possible. You’re going to learn a lot of names (and forget most of them). And you’re going to find that searching for your new best friends is going to require a lot of trial and error.

Strangely enough, it’s something that no one really told me before coming to college. And

honestly, I struggled a lot. Living 24/7 in an ag-gressively social environment meant that I felt like I had to spend every meal with a friend and every weekend with a crew. When I stopped by hallmates’ rooms to chat a little, I often won-dered if I was intruding. More than once, I called my best friends from home while crying because, as much as I already loved Vandy, I still felt lonely.

Making friends is a slow process. You meet someone you know absolutely nothing about, and slowly get to know them inside and out. You learn their passions and their values, what gets them excited and what makes them tick. And, for better or worse, this is a process that has no shortcut, and trying to fast-track it will only make it feel stressful and unenjoyable. Anyway, how well can you get to know anyone while speed-dating your way through the freshman class?

But the best part of meeting so many people? The sheer diversity of humanity that you will encounter. I know it’s a little cliche, but col-lege is an incredible time to expose yourself to backgrounds, cultures, and opinions other than your own. What better time to do that than when everyone else is doing the same? Enjoy the time

you spend doing icebreakers and making small talk; you don’t necessarily have to find your new best friends for the experience to be worthwhile.

I’m a junior now, and I have the best friends ever. They’re funny, caring, opinionated, ambi-tious and absolutely ridiculous. But, I didn’t get to know a lot of them until my second year. Cultivating close relationships takes time, and although I do wish I met them sooner, I don’t re-gret the time I spent playing friendship musical-chairs. I’ve met so many incredible people who have taught me a lot about who I am and where I come from, and just because they’re not the first ones I text on a Friday night doesn’t mean that the time I spent with them was wasted.

My advice? Do the freshman thing. Meet too many people, learn too many names, spend too much time in your floor common room. Join or-ganizations that you’re passionate about, or try a new one. And don’t forget about upperclassmen; we don’t bite. Ask someone new to lunch — but forgive yourself if you don’t spend every single meal with someone else. And most of all, remem-ber that you’re in no hurry. You have four years at the happiest college in the country to find your friends — and you will. All in due time.


From the bright lights of Times Square to the enchanting landscape of Central Park, there is no denying the attrac-tive pull of one of the most sought after cities in the world. More than eight million people pour into New York City every day, hoping to fulfill their dreams in Manhattan.

During the summer, thousands of students from schools all over the country — including Vanderbilt — joined those eight million people already living and working in NYC. New York City is one of the most popular summer intern-ship destinations for college students, due to the sheer number of companies with offices there, as well as the thriving social and entertainment scene.

During the summer of 2015, Vanderbilt students worked at a variety of companies across a range of industries, including Goldman Sachs, Viacom MTV Networks, Bloom-berg Business, Citi Bank and many others. We caught up with a number of Vanderbilt interns to find out what’s it’s really like to intern in the city that never sleeps.

Vanderbilt’s reputation for academic prestige attracts very ambitious students, so it’s no surprise that profes-sional work opportunities were one of the major reasons students said they were drawn to intern in the city this summer.

“The thing that is most unique about New York is that no

matter what you want to do, across any spectrum, in any industry, there are a bunch of other people here who want to do something along the same lines as you,” says Domi-nic Plageman, a summer intern at Entrust Capital. “Any-one you strike up a conversation with could end up being someone that is able to help you out.”

“You will always have peers to help you gain experience and knowledge in the area that you want to conquer, but you will still have the opportunity to differentiate your-self with your own unique vision,” he says. “It’s all on you to make the most of your own career, but New York is the

By Mackenzie Smith, Life reporter

Getting a professional

taste of the Big Apple

special feature: Interning in New York City

l fe

‘‘’’

It’s all on you to make the most of your own career, but New York is the best place in the world to find other people to help you do that.

l fe

three things changed.”John Voestch, a member of the Vanderbilt Men’s Golf

team who worked with Cantor Fitzgerald and Morgan Stanley, says that he was drawn to the competitive atmo-sphere of NYC as a student-athlete. Voestch believes that the two most unique things about NYC are its people and the amount of opportunities.

“There are so many people in NYC and all of them are incredibly unique in their own ways,” he says. “Second, the amount of opportunities is incredible. Whether it’s work opportunities, eating opportunities, or entertain-ment, NYC offers something for everyone. There is always something to do every single day, and that is what makes this city so special.”

After having a firsthand experience of the city, it is clear that the Vanderbilt title is well received. Many students leave realizing just how great of a weight the Vanderbilt name carries as students continuously prove to be success-ful. Having interned in NYC themselves, they realize how daunting the process can be, and have advice for those considering interning in New York City in the near future (or even moving there permanently after graduation).

Annie Vreeland, a member of the Vanderbilt Women’s la-crosse team who interned with American Express, says that when it comes to living situations, students should “pick somewhere to live with a good location. I was right in the middle of the scene I wanted to be into.

She also recommends that students compile a bucket list — hers included walking the Brooklyn bridge and getting artichoke pizza. “You can get Netflix at school,” she said. She could also check off attending comedy shows of Sarah Silverman and Ray Romano.

Voestch recommends finding friends to live with in order to split the rent and also have a more social, fun experience. He also suggests trying out events beyond your usual interests: “NYC offers so much in almost every genre of entertainment...I believe that branching out and seeing it all will always be fun, and may introduce you to a new passion.”

New York is the city that never sleeps, the city that just about anyone can find a place in, the city of endless op-portunity, and the city that is so renowned that even Jay-Z and Frank Sinatra can’t help but sing about it. No wonder Vanderbilt students are constantly finding chances to work in NYC — and find those opportunities hard to turn down.

There’s no denying that the experience of interning in NYC is valuable, even if students choose not to move there permanently after graduation. One thing is for sure: Vanderbilt has a strong presence in New York City, and New York City leaves an impression on every Commodore who spends even a few weeks in the Big Apple.


best place in the world to find other people to help you do that.”

However, Vanderbilt students’ motivations to intern in NYC weren’t all work and no play. Other interns cited a variety of different reasons for choosing the city, including the hustle and bustle of the streets, the iconic food scene and the city’s infamous reputation as one of the most fa-mous cities in America.

Tori Mahon, a senior who spent her summer working to develop fragrances for several of Estee Lauder’s major brands, says that she felt like she should really experience what life was like in NYC while she was in college.

When asked to pick her favorite thing about Manhattan, she said “I loved that in the crazy busy streets of Manhat-tan you can still quite literally run into a friend in the middle of the street. In the busiest of cities you can still feel comfortable knowing you’re surrounded by people looking out for you. I did not expect to have so many small world stories in such a big city.”

Mahon also says that living in the city didn’t fulfill her expectations, but in a good way: “I expected the hustle and bustle of the city to overwhelm me, I expected to feel really small in such a big city, and I expected for 10 weeks to be about the maximum amount of time I could handle...those

Photo courtesy of Annie Vreeland

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

special feature: Interning in New York City

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

’

‘‘

’’

In the busiest of cities you can still feel comfortable knowing you’re surrounded by people look-ing out for you. I did not expect to have so many small world stories in such a big city.


KATHY YUAN / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Whether it’s a concert at Bridgestone, a Predators game or a country music awards show, there are endless reasons for the traffi c that regularly plagues downtown Nashville. While it’s sometimes debatable whether or not the event is worth the hassle (looking at you, Titans fans) there’s one music festival that’s defi nitely worth braving the crowds for — Live On The Green.

Live On The Green (LOTG) is a free series of con-certs that takes places in September and October right in the heart of downtown Nashville in Public Square Park. Tens of thousands attend each concert, so grab a cab or Uber to avoid the traffi c and exorbi-tant parking fees downtown.

Attendees are allowed to bring small picnic blankets or beach towels and collapsible chairs into

Live On The Green brings free music to Public Square ParkSponsored by Lightning 100, the Nashville music festival kicked off its seventh annual season last week By Kara Sherrer, Life editor

the park. However, these can become hard to man-age later in the night, once there’s standing room only for the headliners. Applying bug spray before you leave is also a good idea if you’re susceptible to mosquitoes.

There are food trucks near the entrance to the festival and drink tents in the park itself, so bring cash if you don’t want to eat beforehand. ATMs are also available on site. For those of you who are of age, beer is also available for purchase with a valid photo ID.

Sponsored by independent local radio station Lightning 100 (among others), LOTG kicked off its seventh annual season last Thursday with opening performances by Elliot Root and Shakey Graves and headliner Lord Huron.

The concert series continues tomorrow, and the three bands will each showcase a different strain of rock music. Indie blues rock band Cold War Kids will headline, while Americana folk rock band Hound-mouth and southern rock band J Roddy Walston and the Business will open in that order.

A confl ict may arise for students next week as Vanderbilt football kicks off its season with the opening home game against Western Kentucky on Thursday, Sept. 3. However, students should be able

to attend the fi rst half of the game and then take an Uber to Public Square Park in time to catch headlin-ing jam band Moon Taxi play its set at 9:30 p.m.

The week after that, LOTG wraps up this year’s season with a three -day concerts series that spans Sept. 10 -12. Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela will headline Thursday, indietronica “band” Passion Pit will perform Friday and singer songwriter and pianist Ben Folds will close the Festival on Saturday.

During the three day festival, music begins much earlier than LOTG’s usual start time of 6 p.m., espe-cially that Saturday, with performers taking the stage just after lunch. However, if students wish to attend the second home football game against Georgia at 2:30 p.m. that Saturday, the blowout (er, game) should be done in plenty of time to make it to Ben Folds and even some of the later openers.

From rock to folk to acoustic tango music, Live On The Green brings artists of all genres to the residents of Nashville, and students are sure to fi nd at least one headliner this season that appeals to their tastes. And even if you don’t recognize any of the artists, LOTG is a great way to discover new music — for free.

BOSLEY jARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

MINUTE

DRILL2sports THE BIG STAT

Vanderbilt’s rank out of 293 Division I schools in the Directors’ Cup, an award which determines which college has the most success in athletics each academic year 51


Xavier Turner19th round draft pickTexas RangersSigning bonus not disclosed

Turner was recently promoted from the Rangers’ rookie ball team to their Single-A a� liate Hickory Crawdads. Between the two levels, he is hitting .283 with a .342 on base percentage and a pair of home runs and fi ve steals. He has been shut down, though, after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Dansby SwansonFirst overall draft pickArizona Diamondbacks$6.5 million signing bonus

Swanson signed his fi rst professional deal, the sixth largest in draft history, right at the July 17 deadline and got another unfortunate delay to his professional career. In his fi rst day at extended spring training, he was hit by a fastball in the face during a simulated game; he su� ered a mild concussion and needed 14 stitches. Swanson is now playing for the Low- A Hillsboro Hops, wearing a helmet with a guard to protect his jaw, and is hitting very well with a .289 batting average and a .578 slugging percentage.

Carson FulmerEighth overall draft pickChicago White Sox$3.47 million signing bonus

The White Sox are known for being aggressive about promoting their young players, and Fulmer is no exception. After one appearance in rookie ball, he was called up to High -A Winston Salem, where he has pitched very well. In seven starts — none more than three innings — he has a 2.65 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Walker Buehler24th overall draft pickLos Angeles Dodgers$1.78 million signing bonus

Like Swanson, Buehler also waited until the deadline to sign his deal, although his was for an unfortunate reason. The Dodgers signed him to a below -slot deal because of concerns over his physical, and ultimately he underwent Tommy John surgery. He should begin his professional career some time around next July with an expected recovery time of one year.

Philip PfeiferThird round draft pickLos Angeles Dodgers$222,500 signing bonus

Pfeifer has only made one appearance this season for the Dodgers’ rookie ball team, going 1 2/3 innings without surrendering a run and striking out two. He has been shut down temporarily with elbow soreness.

Rhett WisemanThird round draft pickWashington Nationals$554,100 signing bonus

Wiseman is playing in the New York Penn League for the Low -A Auburn Doubledays, and he has been playing well in right fi eld. He’s hitting .256 with a .322 on base percentage, four home runs and six steals in 41 games.

Tyler FergusonSixth round draft pickTexas Rangers$200,000 signing bonus

Ferguson has pitched in relief for the Rangers’ rookie ball team with mixed results. He hasn’t pitched for more than an inning in any appearance and has a 13.50 ERA, but his fi ve strikeouts on 4 2/3 innings is encouraging.

Zander Wiel12th round draft pickMinnesota TwinsSigning bonus not disclosed

Wiel is playing for the Twins’ rookie ball team and is o� to a slow start. Although he hit a home run in his second game, he is only hitting .133 with a .263 on base percentage.

Catching up with the Vandy Boys

Vanderbilt’s baseball season ended with a bit of disappointment in June when the Commodores lost the National Champion-ship fi nals, but eight former Vandy Boys have continued their baseball careers in Minor League Baseball this summer.

The eight players were drafted in June’s MLB First Year Player Draft but didn’t sign until after the College World Series – with the exception of suspended third baseman Xavier Turner. They collec-tively signed for over $12 million in signing bonuses.

Although most of their seasons won’t end for a few more weeks, here’s a brief check in on how their seasons are going.

By Ben Weinrib, Sports editor

Catching up with the Vandy BoysCatching up with the Vandy BoysCatching up with the

Vanderbilt’s baseball season ended with a bit of disappointment in June when the Commodores lost the National Champion-ship fi nals, but eight former Vandy Boys have continued their baseball careers in Minor League Baseball

The eight players were drafted in June’s MLB First Year Player Draft but didn’t sign until after the College World Series – with the exception of suspended third baseman Xavier Turner. They collec-tively signed for over $12 million in

Although most of their seasons won’t end for a few more weeks, here’s a brief check in on how their seasons are going.

Sports editor

ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Since the day Darren Ambrose was hired as Vanderbilt’s new soccer coach in February, he has stressed a defense-fi rst mentality, emphasizing accountability in all areas of the fi eld. As the Commodores prepared for their fi rst two matches last week, the team’s makeshift back line of three converted midfi elders and a transfer making her Vanderbilt debut posed the biggest question mark for the club’s opening weekend against Miami (Ohio) and Cincinnati.

After falling 4-3 in an exhibition match to Alabama a week prior, it was reasonable for Ambrose and his team to expect some high scoring tallies early in the season, and that the goals would certainly come for a Commodore team whose most pressing concern was defense.

Through two matches, both 1-0 losses, the opposite issue has emerged. Vandy remains without a goal through its fi rst two contests, but held Miami and Cincinnati to just one goal apiece as the team bought in to Ambrose’s ideals of defensive accountability.

Led by third-year captain Erin Myers, starting at center back for the fi rst time as a college player, the Commodores limited Miami to just eight shots on Friday and dominated possession on their home fi eld.

In the eighth minute, forward Simone Charley broke in one-on-one and beat Miami goalkeeper Vic Maniachi but hit the post as the game stayed scoreless. Twenty minutes in, Charley headed down a corner kick towards Claire Anderson who nearly forced the ball over the goal line before it was swept away by a Redhawk defender. With 10 minutes left in the fi rst half, Charley set up Lina Granados with a clean look on goal, but her shot was, once again, cleared o� the goal line by a Miami player.

Despite outshooting Miami 16-4 through 45 minutes, the Dores went into halftime without a goal. A tired group of Commodores had trouble generating as many chances in the second half, surrendered an 80th minute goal, and fell 1-0 on opening night in a game they had every right to win.

“For a team that’s trying to gain confi dence and belief in what they’re doing, the result doesn’t suggest the way they played,” Ambrose said after the loss. “I thought we were good, and it sucks that we were on the wrong end of the score line tonight.”

Sunday’s match at Cincinnati served as an extension of Friday’s second half. The Commodores struggled to gain traction on o� ense, slowed down in the second half while being outshot 12-1, and allowed a late goal o� a loose ball, once again losing 1-0.

“We’re tired; our legs are heavy because we lack depth on the team,” Ambrose said Sunday. “We’ve got a lot of kids playing a lot of minutes in the second game of the weekend who played a lot of minutes in the fi rst game because, frankly, we don’t have the depth.”

The team’s depth was further tested on opening weekend due to the absence of senior defender Kelsey Tillman, who missed both games with a hip fl exor and could return next weekend. As the minutes wore on, the frequency and quality of scoring chances waned, and the energy present in the fi rst half at home on Friday quickly disappeared.

For more, read the full story at vanderbilthustler.com.

Soccer struggles through opening weekend

By MAX HERZSports reporter--------------------

51 THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 17

20 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

Move-in weekend in photos

Photos by Ziyi Liu, Kathy Yuan and Bosley Jarrett

For more move-in coverage, visit vanderbilthustler.com

the vanderbilt hustler 8-26-2015

Documents