VOLUME 103, NUMBER 15 WWW.DAVIDSONIAN.COM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012 Hackenson wins 2012 SGA Presidential Election The Davidsonian gets a closer look at the next big man on campus SARAH WELTY budget during his term. News Editor “To my knowledge the SGA budget right now is $30-32,000, and I would at- On Tuesday, it was announced that Billy tempt to cut that down almost to half,” he Hackenson ’13 will be the next SGA Presi- said. “We’re looking at $15-16,000. ZipCar dent. The Category II elections, held Mon- would not be included in that [cut], because day, were the culmination of a whirlwind that’s a new organization that I think would week of campaigning and debate between eventually pay for itself. In terms of where Hackenson and his opponent, Elyas Munye we’re going to cut, I think we can move a lot ’13. of programming funding over to the Union Last Thursday’s Presidential Debate Board activities, and really become more of gave the candidates the opportunity present a policy administration.” their platforms to a student audience for the Later, the Davidsonian sat down with fi rst time. Hackenson to hear him expand on the ideas “The SGA functions best when you he had explored in the debate. understand it as your organization” said Despite the ambition of his budget- President Quillen, who opened the debate slashing promise, Hackenson’s real passion proceedings. “I hope that you’ll take the op- is Davidson’s social culture. portunity to make the SGA your representa- “Social culture is the real reason why tive organization without the kind of cyni- I’m running,” he said. “That’s where we cism that can accompany how many of us have a problem. Our academics are great. now think about politics.” We have a great volunteer record. People Where Hackenson’s platform included are involved in activities. But where people various practical applications of his policy really need to improve is in that social cul- ideas, Munye’s rhetoric was more abstract. ture. I’m not going to get up there and say, “Unity,” Munye said. “That’s why I’m ‘students, no more black-out drinking,’ but here. There’s a gap between what people are we have to start engaging in the tough con- passionate about and in what we debate in versations.” the SGA. My goal is to bring us all together. Hackenson fi rst became interested in Unity, that’s the most important thing.” policy surrounding social culture when he Perhaps the most astonishing develop- served on the Campus Committee on Reli- ment of the debate was Hackenson’s claim Billy Hackenson ’13 and President Quillen share a look during the the SGA presidential that, if elected, he would halve the SGA See SGA, page 4 election. Photo by Tripp Bartholomew Ambitious sophomore gains attention for DJ work LIANA CORWIN school and music, using his free time away Staff Writer from academics to focus on creating remixes and new songs. With such rapidly increasing Michael Brun, a sophomore from Haiti, exposure, Brun has been receiving commis- has made a career out of his “free time.” sions from major labels (which he is unable We’ve all seen him DJ either on the week- to disclose at this time). Next week, Brun ends or during Live Thursdays, but what travels to NYC to meet with labels and dif- some people may not know is that his career ferent management groups, as well as to play has recently started to take the pre-med stu- a gig on Friday. With so much buzz surround- dent way outside of the Davidson bubble. ing Brun and his music, he expects to spend At 16, Brun became interested in being a DJ quite a few weekends away from Davidson through friends who were working as DJs at this semester. the time. He credits his musical background Although being a DJ is his passion, Brun in piano and guitar as being helpful when he is also dedicated to pursuing his pre-med aca- started producing. demic track. Wherever his career takes him, Back when he was fi rst began his DJ he is committed to continuing his studies in career, Brun’s songs, which he uploaded to this area. When asked how he plans to make multiple sharing sites that host music online, time for not one, but two demanding careers, were receiving around 50 plays a month. As Brun replied that he would “probably [DJ] a testament to how far he has come in such a for a few years and see how it goes, and then short time, Brun’s new song that he posted a continue with pre-med after.” week ago has already had 12,000 listens. To clarify for those who are unclear about Michael Brun ’14 performs at Live Thursday. Photo by Mark Sehnert At the moment, Brun is juggling both the difference between DJ and producing The Aquila Theatre The men’s basketball team’s Davidson has offered its production of The Importance game against Wichita State semester in India program of Being Earnest graced the drew national attention. The continuously since 1981. Duke Family Performance women’s basketball team Last semester, the theme Hall this weekend with a is well on their way to the of the trip was ecology and single Saturday performance. SoCon championship The environmental studies. It was The show was part of swim team performed at their the fi rst time that the program this year’s Artist Series, conference meet and had a has been offered at Davidson. sponsored by the Union great showing. Board. see ARTS, page 5 see SPORTS see NEWS, page 3 NEWS PAGE 2 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012 New Davidson website enters first phase of ‘revamp’ ERIC SAWYER The project to overhaul the Davidson News Editor homepage began in November. To assist with the redesign, the College hired the A new Davidson homepage was marketing firm BarkleyREI, which has launched on Feb. 14, the first phase in an assisted North Carolina State University, ongoing project to revamp the Davidson Queens University of Charlotte and other website. The project aims to give visitors a higher education institutions in the state sense of what Davidson as a community is and nationwide with their websites. about by incorporating digital multimedia “We’re working with an outside firm and social media into the site, as well as that will allow us to elevate the website to making it more navigable and user friendly. meet the expectation of the campus com- As the website overhaul continues, expect munity and prospective students,” Minor to see improvements in the lower-level said. pages similar to the homepage as well as a Those involved in the web redesign redesign of InsideDavidson. project aim to launch a new website that The existing Davidson website was represents the beauty of the campus and launched in Jan. 2006. The changes are showcases the Davidson community on responses to user feedback that, besides the homepage. The new website should, as not capture the essence of Davidson as a Minor said, “showcase the institution” for community, the site has some technical prospective students, faculty and staff, and issues such as the search bar and missing or alumni. outdated pages. The homepage is also a step toward Both the Davidson website and Insid- integrating social media, including the @ eDavidson, the campus intranet dedicated DavidsonCollege Twitter account, with the to internal affairs, are in the process of be- Davidson website. When the new website ing redone from scratch. The new homep- is ready, including the new homepage, age that launched last week is a temporary social media and other information about placeholder, addressing the strategic goals the college will be more accessible than at of the developers in the short term until the present. The buttons on the main page, such full website launches. as “Academics” and “Student Life” will be “For both InsideDavidson and the turned into dropdown menus with links to public website we’re essentially starting major points of interest. over,” said Doug Minor, Director of Digital Together, these changes aim to make Communications for the College. “We’re the website more accessible and to bet- developing strategies for both sites, looking ter communicate the qualities that make at a new information architecture, … new Davidson as an institution stand out. design, new features, and so forth. That project will be taking place over this year.” Faculty Spotlight By Lyla Halsted - Senior Staff Writer Dr. Thomas Pegelow Kaplan Associate Professor of History Thomas Pegelow Kaplan, Associate Professor of History, teaches courses in European history including a seminar on the Holocaust. This semester, Pegelow Kaplan is also teaching in the Humanities Program for the first time. “It is very exciting that there is such a focus on interdisciplinary cooperation at Davidson. It is not only encouraged, but expected,” he said. Pegelow Kaplan studies modern German history, genocide and the Holocaust. He completed his undergraduate studies in Germany but received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His current research involves American studies in the sixties, and he is in the process of writing a volume for the Holo- caust Museum in Washington. After attending small universities in Germany that would be con- sidered very large by American standards, Pegelow Kaplan prefers Davidson’s small size. He is glad to have time for research and to be able to work with small groups of students. When asked about his favorite aspect of Davidson, he replied, “I greatly appreciate the much-needed effort on part of the adminis- tration to further diversify the college’s student body and faculty.” As for his time outside of the classroom, Dr.