april 13, 2012

Why are all the jocks sitting together in the Bon?

BY ANTHONY RUIZ
Staff Writer

The Pioneer Log Sports

15

Perhaps I am not the best person to write this story. Perhaps being off-campus last fall left me ignorant to the current state of student affairs. Perhaps the mere discussion of a potential student division perpetuates social cleavages by reinforcing them. Or maybe, in a short article, a description of the relationship between Lewis & Clark student-athletes and those who do not play a varsity sport can be discussed, critiqued and once again revisited. Who are my friends? Where do I sit in the Bon? Whose parties should I attend? We face these questions daily. I think most of us remember the old silverware set-up in the Bon where we had to make a decision on which social group to choose every time we needed cutlery. If you went to the left, you were usually athleticor at least your friends were. A move to the right? Hipster, hippie or anyone in between. But what causes these divisions? Are they exaggerated? Depends who you ask. Some argue there is a decent divide between athletes and non-athletes at LC, more socially than politically. Others say theres a divide and both sides perpetuate it. Some suggest it has gotten better over the past four years. These social differences are pervasive to many places, and not just Palatine Hill. Maybe the differences are noticeable, but in reality, they are not of much concern in that the consequences are trivial at best. No matter your view, if we are honest with ourselves, it is clear that there is a division between athletes and non-student athletes. Not convinced? Just look at todays ASLC race for president. The substance of the issue lies not in how, but why these differences exist.Athletes do tend to hang around with other athletes and non-athletes do the same with non-athletes. Of course these dissimilarities exist, but show me a social environment in which people dont, at a minimum, have predefined social

Baseball

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA SARVET

NWC

ALL

preferences centered around similar interests. Show me a strong division among students, and I will show you exceptions like students Matt Derosa (14) and Danial Afzal (12) who buck the trends. The faculty and staff cannot do anything to change the culture at Lewis & Clark, DeRosa argues. [Change] comes from RAs telling their residents to go support their hall mates in choirs and on the basketball teams. Afzal says, I dont think there is any divide between people who play sports and people who do other activities, and gives advice for non-athletes: One thing our students need to realize is that these athletes wake up early in the morning to go for practice and work their asses off to create a challenging game for the opponents. It is these practices, games and meetings that create bonds, but are they also causing athletes to exclude their friends who do not play varsity sports? So if there are students who want change, why isnt homogeneity happening faster? One senior says, the best thing we can do is correct the negative impressions that we hear about either side of this divide. Should you really change your daily habits and friends

for the sake of a cohesive campus? Is it really worth taking extraordinary efforts just to potentially decrease the so-called social divide? The truth is, you, the students, will decide how big or small this so-called gap is. By choosing to stay within your social group, whether justified or not, you are perpetuating division. Want to be the change? Walk down to Griswold Stadium for your first time to see the undefeated football team battle for the Wagon Wheel. I dont want to hear excuses like you dont like sports. Its not about sports, its about being a Pioneer. Tired of people saying you only hang out with athletes? Make a trip to a Once Upon a Weekend or a Fire Arts show. Attend at least one out-of-comfort-zone event before the semester ends and you just might find that your differences arent so big. In the end, there are no athletes or nonathletes at this school; there are only the students of Lewis & Clark College. There are no jocks or hipsters; there are only the Pioneers. We might have our differences, but they are only as big as we want to make them. With a little effort, our College will continue to grow and adapt to changing demographics and social structures.

Pacific (Ore.) 13-2 16-10 Whitworth 11-4 18-11-1 Linfield 15-6 19-8 Pacific Lutheran 10-5 18-10 George Fox 11-7 15-6 Willamette 5-10 9-18 Whitman 4-14 4-26 Puget Sound 3-12 7-22-1 Lewis & Clark 3-15 6-28

Softball
NWC ALL Linfield 22-2 32-2 Pacific Lutheran 20-4 30-10 Willamette 17-6 18-10 George Fox 11-10 16-17 Whitworth 10-14 17-19 Pacific (Ore.) 8-14 10-20 Puget Sound 3-20 3-26 Lewis & Clark 1-22 3-30

Mens Tennis
NWC ALL Whitman 11-0 18-3 Pacific (Ore.) 9-1 11-5 George Fox 8-3 9-7 Whitworth 7-3 10-7 Pacific Lutheran 4-6 6-9 Willamette 3-8 3-12 Lewis & Clark 2-8 3-9 Linfield 2-8 2-15 Puget Sound 1-10 1-14

ILLUSTRATION BY FIONA CORNER

Ask an athlete
Pregame/match ritual Now playing on my ipod If not my sport I would play Dream job My hero After practice/game/match I relax by

Parker Dane
2012 Baseball

PHOTO COURTESY OF PARKER DANE

Rebecca Langer
2012 Golf

PHOTO COURTESY OF REBECCA LANGER

Tape my wrists, put my sunglasses on, then clear my head Melatonin Magik by Canibus

Always coffee and oatmeal Volta Bureau Tennis Foreign Service Officer My dad

Womens Tennis
NWC ALL Linfield 11-0 11-4 Whitman 8-2 13-4 Whitworth 7-3 11-5 Puget Sound 6-5 8-8 Pacific (Ore.) 5-6 6-10 Willamette 4-6 6-8 Lewis & Clark 3-7 3-8 George Fox 2-7 7-9 Pacific Lutheran 0-10 1-15

Basketball Professional computer hacker Chipper Jones

Watching TV and playing video games

Talking to my teammates about our rounds