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THE BADFLY
Photo by Elizabeth Dowdy, A’23
“I just feel like I can't even trust the administration anymore! Are we a joke to
them? Standing on the quad cluelessly, hands empty, hips still? Expected to
chat with my fellow peers naturally?”
Where are the Hula Hoops?, pg 13
St. John’s College
Vol. XLII, Issue 01
Annapolis, Maryland
April 30, 2021
�{expose}
Investigation of the Migrating Johnnie Chairs
Rose Zhang
D
ear Mr. Morris,
In my last email, I told you
about the strange phenomenon I’ve
most recently encountered. Students
have repeatedly reported the odd
occurrence in room 305 of Mcdowell
Hall: no matter how they take away
the chairs from that room, 305 always
ends up with more chairs they began
with. There are rumors spreading that
the building is haunted.
So I have begun my research
according to a group of student’s
bequests upon the “migrating chairs”
in Mcdowell Hall. And I’m very
pleased to inform you that I have
made tremendous progress in this
investigation.
While the Johnnie chair has its
unique aesthetic, nevertheless, I find it
unpleasant to sit in for a long period. I
still cannot fathom how each of those
chairs costs around 300$ (although
I’m not certain of this information
since I heard it from a fellow student’s
remark.) I always thought the chairs
had souls in and of themselves, as
they would make noise at the most
inconvenient time in class, or fall
backward. But my apologies, I digress, I
shall refrain myself from expostulating
about the questionable quality of the
chair I find myself sitting in.
After I finished my work, it was past
midnight. As I walked through the
Great Hall, however, I could hear the
sound of a chair, or multiple chairs,
scratching the floor. The sound came
inconsistently. Remembering the
investigation on hand, I went upstairs.
And my intuition was correct, for the
sounds were true, coming from room
305.
2
Yet, when I opened the heavy door,
the clamor immediately ceased. I
promise you, I am not making this
up, Mr. Morris. A chill went down my
spine. The silence was alarming.
There was nothing abnormal
about the classroom. It was perfectly
organized, the blackboard still filled
with the math demonstrations,
nothing more. I closed the door and
decided that I had misheard out of my
fatigue.
As I walked out of the McDowell
hall through the empty quad, I saw the
most unbelievable thing: a Johnnie
chair moving across the field. It was
too far away for me to judge if it was
being carried by a person, floating in
the air, or sliding across the ground.
But it was certainly moving.
For the sake of the time being, I
will save you the pain of all the details
and add them up when we meet in
person. I caught the chair. It moved
in the most disturbing way possible,
like a cockroach. I rather it moved like
a cat or a dog, but no, it slid around
as if a huge wooden cockroach. SO
much that it made me think whether
the chair was possessed by the soul of
a cockroach. (Yes, I am aware bugs do
not have souls for they are unable to
contemplate. Thank goodness it did
not have the form of a chair and a soul
of a cockroach, can you imagine that?)
When I grabbed the handle of the
chair, it screamed at me.
“What do you want?” It yelled
hoarsely at me. It didn’t have a facial
feature, but it was certainly the chair
Isa Kiedrowski
the Cadfly / May 20, 2021
�speaking.
“You’re a walk… I mean crawling
Johnnie chair?”
“Yes, if you have eyes, which you do,
and a sound mind, hopefully, you do,
if you’re a Johnnie, that’s obvious isn’t
it?”
Seemed like the chair wasn’t a
happy chair. I wondered whether it
sat through the Nicomachean Ethics
seminar at all. Or maybe that’s exactly
why it wasn't happy. I questioned why
all the chairs end up in room 305,
and what it was doing on the quad. It
didn’t answer me. I asked why chairs
seem lifeless during the day, why they
can move and speak. It evaded my
question by asking me what I meant
by “chairs,” “what does it mean to be
a Johnnie chair,” and “what defines
life.” Certainly, this particular Johnnie
chair has mastered sophistry better
than the Sophist himself. Seeing that
the chair would not cooperate with
my inquiries. I dragged it down to
the basement of Mellon and tied it up
there.
Indeed, conversation is helpful with
most problems, and that is what we
practice at the college. But sometimes
violence has more efficacy in dealing
with bloviating and obstinate souls
like this one.
If you happen to know anyone who
has a saw or even a candle (those fake
ones work too) please let me know. I’m
determined to figure out the end goal
of these Johnnie chairs. As I’m typing
this email out, this Johnnie chair is
stomping its leg violently behind me.
I need to go and tighten the rope. I’ll
see you soon.
Yours,
M.J.
Car Horns Go Brrrr....
Daniel Nathan
T
he time is perpetual 8:22 a.m
— I know this. A symphony
of infinite car horns will soon blast
off incessantly in the near distance,
redistributing their decibels and
spreading their soundbites evenly
amongst each and every pair of ears
in the greater Annapolis area. This
ill-defined caravan of middle-aged
defiance lurches itself forward, in an
unidentifiable protest procession,
doing slow-moving laps around the
Statehouse, circling the drain.
Awaiting the imminent audio
barrage of bad drivers, I try craning my
neck to check the clock hanging on my
wall, but I’m still too groggy and braintoo-empty to logic my way through
reading anything analog or to wrap my
head around the concept of minute
hands. So just like everyone else these
days, I make the jump and go digital,
scanning for the beacon of my stateof-an-art AM/FM alarm clock radio
that I think might still be plugged in.
It is. Although, showing 8:29 a.m, the
light-up display proves me a liar, with
a neon red glow staring back at me like
the eyes of the Mothman. In exactly
one minute, I know, my alarm will
go off, playing the soothing sounds
of drive-time commuter radio Two
morning shock-jocks fading in and
out of static, relaying lukewarm hottakes and light-hearted verbal jousts,
slinging overeager zingers at one
another. But I won’t be able to hear
the lively back-and-forth on 105.7
The Groove through subwoofers and
bullhorns, blaring “We’re Not Gonna
Take It”, scorching straight into my
window, into my soul.
Consider it waking up au naturael,
as they say, blindingly bright and
blisteringly early. Like how a rooster
is able to wake up on the whims and
wisdom of Mother Nature. Except
in this case, I’m the rooster and my
Mother Nature is “fed-up with Biden’s
radical socialist agenda” and drives
a four-cylinder Honda Odyssey
minivan with dust-plated rims and
the muffler removed. And boy, oh
boy, does she have a bone to pick with
the Maryland State Legislature. All
through my days and night(mare)
s, I await the 109 dB shelling — the
Morning Hate — indignant and selfrighteous bombardement, pumping
my skull full of chaos emitting from
some sort of protest about some
sort of issue, co-opting some sort of
boomer anthem like “Born To Run”
or just about anything by Twisted
Sister. These aimless chest-thumping
car horns, sounding off at-scale at
least a hundred-fold — a metric, by
the way, that I’m sure J.D Power is
not keyed into come awards season—
seep into the rhythms of my deep
unconsciousness.
The sound screeches, the blasts
banshee, the buzzing blurs, the clamor
clangs slouching into sonic silence.
And just like that, starting right on
the dime, at 8:30 a.m, the honking
starts up back again for another shift,
and the horns kill me: an I.V. drip of
an F sharp note needled straight into
whatever’s left of my eardrums.
the Radfly / May 20, 2021
3
�{interview}
Where are the Hula Hoops?
A commentary on Coffee on the Quad
by Linda Bellamy, ‘24
O
n 1 April, students on campus were alerted to a
new social event on campus. “Coffee on the Quad”
was introduced to rekindle the tradition of post-seminar
conversation. The email announcement for the event
advertised hot coffee and, in an unexpected win for
enthusiasts of aerobics and Polynesian culture, free hula
hoops.
As crowds of students gathered on the quad to participate
in the hula hooping, they were horrified to discover the
toys absent — missing, non-existence, unbelievably
not there! Wye Knee-Man (A’23) expressed his ire with
the catastrophe: “I just feel like I can't even trust the
administration anymore! Are we a joke to them? Standing
on the quad cluelessly, hands empty, hips still? Expected to
chat with my fellow peers naturally?”
Now, students flock regularly on Monday and Thursday
nights in hopes of one day being surprised by the presence
of the beloved plastic rings. “It's the nostalgia for me. As
children, my friends and I did nothing but hula hoop and
sip Capris Suns,” Peter Pansyndrome (A’21) said. “I mean
there was no need to socially distance and I didn’t have to
wear a mask. But still the sentiment remains.”
Students have decided to take action, and organizer
Audrey Fox (A’24) is mounting a campaign to Boston-TeaParty the quad. “The gist is to make your cup of coffee, take
a few sips (it's not not bad), and then dump it all out,” Fox
said. “Give me hula hoops or give me death.”
If the hoops are ever actually offered for student use,
some foresee a bright future for the toys’ inclusion in the
Intramurals program. Some Polity-members see them
becoming the next big Covid-safe sport on campus. “I
honestly think this could replace Stringfellow Ball,” Oscar
Gonzales (A’24) said.
{short story}
Fabella Oculāris: Monitum ad
Caulātōrēs
Joseph Richard
Olim, invidō sub aspectū hominum divōmque voluptāte; in mediīs
partibus vitiūm meūm; paulō ante futurās rēs, talpulam invēnī canēntem aviās
hās Milesiās:
“Ἐν ἀρχῇ, in principio?” inquit talpula mea, “saltem ab initio monstra
complura notissima nocte tē visum venerunt; triangulī, orbia, coni omniō
assilentēs undique, salientes, cacābant, cacābant, cacābant quasi pullī infernō
raptī sine pullāriō.”
“Ecce, mī puer,” ea narratitat, aspiciēns vultum meum, “oculī tuī quibus
tibi vidērī possum; geōmetricīs in verbīs, ‘circlī’--” hīc rīdēns, “dīcuntur.” Tum,
parvissimīs eī manibus, amōre et mollītiā, rēpente contractāvit vulsitque
oculōs meōs ut haec dēmōnstret. Talpula, torquēns intrā oculā digītā ei,
clāmāverat sīc:
“Oculī! Lūmina animī; deūm cor; horreum gāzārum.” Deorsum,
sūrsum oculōs torquēns meōs. Statim, statim complānāvit meōs oculōs!
Sannā malā, dixerat:
“Timeō geometricōs, et vim ferentes; et sic, tibi oportet Π. et Ψ.
Λοσοφῳ.”
4
the Badfly / May 20, 2021
Timothy Treadwell
Looking like a lasagna
Had integrity...
Bridget Mace
�{interview}
At the Speed of Fast
Speed Reading At St. John's Takes On New Meaning
by Daniel Nathan, ‘24
W
ith a tuft of blondeapproaching grey hair; eyes
with a glint like a tire fire, refusing
to adhere to any commonly known
conception of a color wheel; and the
moxie and gusto of a boulder, history
has been made. Freshman-turnedalumnus, Lurk “Junk” Grok (A21) has
recently reached new heights of brain
function, shattering the school record
for the fastest speed-run through the
entire catalog of the St. John’s College
program. Some say he reminds them of
Heinrich Himmler, some say a meanspirited Tom Petty, and some say he’s
the human embodiment of a Chrysler
PT Cruiser — the reality likely exists
somewhere in the intermediate.
The previously held record
of 8 months and 21 days, set in
1953 by a student named Alfred
Existentialisman (A53), was, until
now, thought unbreakable: an
insurmountable Triumph of the Will,
the spirit, and body. But this Lurk
Grok is fast — blink-and-you’ll-misshim fast. From the Iliad to Phaedrus
through to Genesis and Tempest on
to Don Quixote and War and Peace
culminating finally back around again
to Phaedrus, his journey through the
arc of the Western canon took him a
mind-bending, God-destroying time
of just 22 hours and 42 seconds to
complete.
Noticeably exhausted after being
put through the nearly day-long
ringer, Grok remained even-keeled
as classmates (or colleagues, as he’d
refer to them) popped bottles of
$8.99 champagne, spraying and
soaking the celebration in boozy foam
residue. Reigning in all plausible hints
of emotion and/or sentience, the
speed-demon spoke of his seemingly
inhuman feat with stoic restraint,
flashing his trademark dead-eyed
charm/smarm.“I am not illiterate,
therefore I read. Please leave me
alone.” he said, spittle flying from his
mouth as he spoke, watering the grass
and saving the planet, doing his part to
stay ever environmentally conscious.
To shave precious milliseconds
off his time during the speed-run,
Gork methodically paced his already
shallow breathing, and held his
bladder (successfully) throughout the
trial’s entire duration, as best he knew
how. Electing to eat only Adderalls
and whatever leftover bits of food
were stuck in his teeth from previous
meals, the speedster was able to remain
dialed in and undisturbed by anything
besides speed and his utter need for
it. Maybe even more astonishing, the
longest break Grok allowed himself
was a sneeze while reading Aristotle’s
Metaphysics, which lasted .4 seconds,
through which he kept his eyes open,
defying biological notions and baffling
a panel of medical experts.
The newly-minted graduate let it
slip that he found Marx’s Capital,
which he read in 12 seconds flat, to
be the text that he most thoroughly
enjoyed reading during the run,
referring to it as “a wonderfully fun
and inane little parody of political
thought” and “Satanic dribble.” The
runner-up for his favorite texts would
have to be The Decline Of The West by
Oswald Spengler, an elective reading
for Seniors, which he called “fucking
electric,” followed closely behind by
One Hundred Years of Solitude and
The Disappointment.
In the meantime, the school now
expects an influx of underprepared,
starry-eyed new students to try their
own luck speeding through the Great
Books in time-trials, though there are
doubts as to whether this new record
will be broken any time soon. Scoffing
when questioned about the longevity
of his status atop the leaderboard, Grok
sure doesn’t think his spot will be going
anywhere. “What’s Next for Lurk
‘The Junkman’ Grok?” seems to be the
question now occupying everyone’s
minds. When asked what he had in
store for himself, as a champion and
now a graduate, moving forward after
his towering triumph, the wunderkind
replied, “First Disneyland, then the
World.”
Isa Kiedrowski
the Crapfly / May 20, 2021
5
�ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
THE STUDENT
NEWSPAPER
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
OF
ST. JOHN’S
COLLEGE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
For more information,
contact us via email at
sjca .g adfly@gmail.com
“
Every field that you think exists as a
separate task in the world is actually
made up of everything that we study,
it's made up of all of the components
of a liberal education”
- Rachel Gordon
“
I feel like St John’s has empowered
me. Every single tutor is like, “why
would you think that you're not
capable? It doesn't make any sense”
Ms. Brann told me sophomore year
‘We don't need more assertive people
in the world, you're fine the way that
you are’”
- Elsa Ordahl
W
e wish our seniors the very best
in their future endeavors, and
will miss their presence on campus.
Submissions sent to the
Gadfly should either be in
Microsoft Word or JPEG
format. The deadline for
submissions is the Friday prior to publication.
Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of
the author(s). The Gadfly
reserves the right to accept,
reject, and edit submissions
in any way necessary to
publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking
newsmagazine.
Founded in 1980, the Gadfly
is the student newsmagazine
distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumna of the Annapolis campus.
ST. JOHN’S
COLLEGE
Submissions sent to the
Gadfly should either be in
Microsoft Word or JPEG
format. The deadline for
submissions is the Friday prior to publication.
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
OF
THE STUDENT
NEWSPAPER
the Gadfly / May 20, 2021
Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of
the author(s). The Gadfly
reserves the right to accept,
reject, and edit submissions
in any way necessary to
publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking
newsmagazine.
For more information,
contact us via email at
sjca .g adfly@gmail.com
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
6
Founded in 1980, the Gadfly
is the student newsmagazine
distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumna of the Annapolis campus.
�
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Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.
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The Gadfly, Vol. XLII, Issue 04 [The Badfly]
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Badfly Vol XLII Issue 04
Gadfly
Student publication
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THE GADFLY
Photo by Lysithia Page, A’23
“And to let every word every chapter speak for itself has been one of the biggest
ways I've changed with patience, kindness, and openness.”
What is a St. John's Education?, pg 4
St. John’s College
Vol. XLII, Issue 04
Annapolis, Maryland
May 20, 2021
�From the Editor’s Desk:
CONTENTS
Logos
As the year crawls to a close, changes abound. Seniors graduated last
Sunday, and this is the final day of classes for freshmen.
Art with a Heart
What is a St. John's Education?
3
4
Symposiun
How Personal is Too Personal?
6
Polis
Polity Poetry
Forks
The Song of Class Unity
Badfly
Where are the Hula Hoops?
Fabella Oculāris
At the Speed of Fast
Migrating Johnnie Chairs
Car Horns Go Brrr....
7
8
10
12
12
13
14
15
The first part of this issue is a regular Gadfly. We pondered the
passage of time with graduating seniors, and reported on Mitchell
Gallery happenings. There is, of course, the usual motley of opinion,
poetry, and musings.
Notably, within the second half of the issue, we have printed the
Badfly. Lovingly crafted just once a year, the Badfly is the only satire
publication of St. John’s. Some advice: if you count yourself a sensitive soul, proceed with caution. Like that one person in seminar, we
don’t hold back.
Our multitude contains multitudes. In these pages, members of the
Polity rejoice, lampoon, and reflect. As in the Athens of Pericles’
funeral oration, there’s something for everyone.
Sincerely,
Lysithia Page
P.S. Everytime a Polity member submits something to sjca.gadfly@
gmail.com, a gadfly sprouts its wings. So do that!
THE STAFF
THE STRUCTURE
Logos holds news reports and narratives of
immediate relevance to the Polity. The purpose
here is to develop a shared reservoir of information relating to campus life and the community.
Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to thoughtfully consider contrasting opinions regarding a particular topic.
Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices
in our community. Here we find letters to the
editor, columns, cartoons, and submitted pieces.
The Badfly is a satirical reflection of the regular Gadfly operations, providing members of
the staff and Polity with an outlet for comedic
expression.
2
the Gadfly / May 20, 2021
EDITORS
Lysithia Page
Elizabeth Dowdy
Alayna Raymond
LAYOUT BOARD
Cooper Ussery
Nathan Martin
Diana Villegas
GADFLY STAFF
Linda Bellamy
Britt Lamson
Isabella Kiedrowski
Daniel Nathan
Dagny Kulkarni
Joseph Padgett
INTERESTED IN WRITING
FOR THE GADFLY?
EMAIL ALAYNA
RAYMOND AT
AKRAYMOND@SJC.EDU
�{community}
Art with a Heart
Johnnies hold community art exhibition
by Jonah Donis, ‘23
T
he end of spring semester brings
many milestones in its wake:
graduation, Don Rags, fair weather,
and community art. For the past
31 years (barring pandemics), the
Mitchell Gallery has showcased the
artistic endeavors of the community
by showcasing Polity art on the walls
of the gallery. All artistic mediums
are welcome and this year there was
a dynamic range of artwork, ranging
from resin statues to painted rocks,
black-and-white photography to oil
paint on canvas. Particularly exciting
is what the seniors submit, not only
concluding their time on campus,
but also vying for the Charles Vernon
Moran Prize.
Since opening The St. John’s
College Community art exhibition
31 years ago, the Charles Moran Prize
has been a highlight of the exhibit.
The award goes to the senior who
“exhibits a mastery of technique and
original thought.” There were many
contenders for this year's prize from
Adam Schulman’s painted sketches of
his animated work, Virginia Deaver’s
loose painted canvas titled Armor,
Sera Johnson’s Bedford landscape, and
Sophia Cote’s ceramics and drawings.
The prize was awarded to Sophia
Cote’s Tea Set, a 7-piece ceramic tea
set made with found wood, wire, and
of course, clay. Although there can be
only one winner, every senior deserves
a round of applause for the work and
dedication they put into art. Looking
forward, the new academic year will
no doubt bring many new student
creations through the plethora of
resources available in the dark room,
pottery, and art studio.
Sofe Cote (A21)
Tea Set, 2021
Ceramic, found wood, wire
the Gadfly / λόγος / May 20, 2021
3
�{senior perspective}
What is a St. John's Education?
On making free adults
by Alayna Raymond, ‘23
Isa Kiedrowski
W
hen a senior at any institution
looks back on their education,
they may reflect on things like classes,
grades, social life, or job prospects.
While it is certain that St John’s seniors
do partake in these sorts of thoughts,
there is an aspect to their reflection
that takes on the spirit of inquiry
fostered at the College — What is the
Program? What does it do for us after
4 years? The straightforward response
may be “a liberal arts degree,” but the
seniors with whom I spoke did not
once provide this answer. Instead,
what ensued was a conversation that,
by virtue of its existence, encapsulates
what the Program does for people who
have finished it.
by emotionally-packed laughter. Of
course, they had more to share.
Gordon spoke to the general change
she experienced over the four years: “It
was a transition from thinking about
the world and how all of these books
may be applied to the world or applied
to outside situations. And then by
the end of senior year, I think about
myself and my identity and who I
am, and the books, they guide me in
understanding that. And I think about
myself in relation to others, rather than
just myself in relation to the world.”
“I think for me, it's like a long
instruction in openness and letting
things penetrate into you, and how to
completely open up to other people
and other people's ideas and the books
first spoke with Rachel Gordon that you're reading, and letting it just
(A’21) and Elsa Ordahl (A’21). They become part of you,” Ordahl added.
came onto the call teary-eyed following
their final Sicut Sing and last day of
his sort of openness was also
tutorials. Funnily enough, the first
mentioned in my discussion with
response to the question “How would Rediet Worku (A’21), who spoke
you define a St John’s question” was about it in relation to approaching the
“one long therapy session” followed texts. “I remember ferociously taking
I
4
T
the Gadfly / λόγος / May 20, 2021
notes in freshman seminar, but now
I just allow myself to completely be
immersed with the text, and not judge
the text be it positively or negatively
before I encounter it,” Worku said.
“And to let every word every chapter
speak for itself has been one of
the biggest ways I've changed with
patience, kindness, and openness.”
The final senior I spoke to
mentioned this openness anecdotally.
“I've learned to be less demanding of
others. One thing that happened in
a freshman seminar, this was not my
seminar, but what I heard was that
someone brought up Percy Jackson,
during the Illiad seminar or the
Odyssey seminar. And you know,
if you heard that as a freshman or
sophomore, you would say, ‘Oh, that's
ridiculous, why would you do that?’
But then you start to consider it, well,
maybe this, that is the only thing they
know, at the time. That's how they
want to join the conversation,” said
Bao Le (A’21)
T
his cultivation of character did
not come without its challenges.
Worku spoke to her own personal
growth extensively in our conversation:
“There is in no way anything that
makes me similar to the person who
walked in at convocation. And I think
we all know this at St. John's. But I
didn't maybe understand that at some
points, because change, right, like in
physics, when you're turning direction,
you face inertia. And that resistance,
when I felt that within, I thought ‘No,
perhaps I'm not really meant for the
Program.’ But that resistance has been
key in interacting with things I never
thought I'd be capable of interacting
with.”
�Le also reflected on the change he
perceives in himself.“ The point is to be
challenged in things you're not ready
to be challenged by,” Le said. “I was
not ready to be a student of philosophy
or liberal arts. When I joined I was
a STEM kid through and through,
but somehow I've managed to write a
senior essay on Plotinus.”
Senior essays are a culmination of
thoughts and experiences accumulated
over the four years students spend
with the Program. Gordon expressed
that the senior essay offers students the
opportunity to develop an intimate
awareness of their own thoughts, or,
in other words, to know themselves.“
I feel like writing gives you such an
interesting metric for where your mind
is in relation to what you're learning or
what you're reading about,” Gordon
said. “ I think it's just so interesting
the way we all came to our senior essay
topics. It's an expression of who we are
as people.”
A
s this chapter closes in the lives of
our graduating seniors, I wanted
to know what wisdom they could
impart upon both their past selves and
Johnnies going through the process.
“
Don't rely on the program to
change, I think that would be a
good thing to say to my younger self,
that I definitely did change me, don't
get me wrong, but you can't go in here
expecting that you'll come out, you
know, the perfect human being that
you want yourself to be. That's not
what the Program does. The Program
is here to force you to change yourself.
That you have to look within and see
that you're missing things. That you
thought you knew everything, but you
don't.”
- Bao Le
“
So the first thing is, do not take the
resistance to mean something is
wrong, embrace it, be uncomfortable
every single way. Because that shows
you're changing, right? Someone
was telling me that when a child is
coming to like some big step, they're
in distress for some time, and they
don't know how to express it so they're
always crying. And I think mentally
we experienced that at the College,
because you're continuously in
positions that challenge you. So truly,
allow yourself to be uncomfortable.
There isn't anything wrong with you,
there isn’t anything wrong with your
interaction with the program. Give it
time, sit with it. And that will transmit
itself to the joy part as well.”
- Rediet Worku
continued on page 11
the Gadfly / λόγος / May 20, 2021
5
�How Personal
is
Silas Pillsbury
Too Personal?
I
’ve often struggled with this problem at St. John’s: When
first reading a text, I can’t help but relate the book to
my own experience. I don’t know how to read something
without somehow making it about me. However, I don’t
think this inclination disqualifies my philosophical inquiry
— I have a vivid memory of walking into the Barr-Buchanan
Center and seeing a plaque on the wall stating that all great
books are about the readers. I would like to essay as to what
this plaque’s message means, and how I can make use of such a concept in my studies at St. John’s.
Montaigne seems like a good place to start in answering this question. A writer who believes in highly personalized
essays, Montaigne has much to say about the value of experience. In his essay On Experience, he says, “There is no
desire more natural than that of knowledge. We try all ways that can lead us to it; where reason is wanting, we therein
employ experience, which is a means much more weak and cheap; but truth is so great a thing that we ought not
to disdain any mediation that will guide us to it.” If experience is so lacking, books must teach us something about
ourselves that would otherwise take an entire lifetime to learn through activity. Socrates says that he neither knows
nor supposes that he knows, and thus will not foolishly assume himself to be making a just decision when he really
is not. Thus he is better off than those who know nothing and think they know something. This seems true to me,
but arriving at this conclusion would take an entire lifetime — I can’t imagine culling such an idea from only a few
experiences. Learning the extent of my ignorance would take very many failures.
Now when it comes to failures, I often hear my classmates complain that their seminars fail by venturing ‘too
far from the text.’ I appreciate what they are saying, and indeed sometimes an entire seminar goes off the rails into
the muck of petty arguments, but I believe this not a great danger. There is danger, I think, when we treat a text as
something greater than the reader. When we regard it as something written not by mortals but by untouchable idols,
we turn its wisdom into rhetoric. Words themselves become less tied to experience, opinion, or past knowledge, and
rather more so to other words. We can foolishly think we understand what we mean while circular definitions will and
must abound, and semantics, instead of being genuine attempts at meaning-gathering, become pointless. In short, we
must put the text level with our own experience, lest we turn the text into sophistical trickery instead of real wisdom. I
don’t mean to say by this that personal experience is an equal source to the texts at St. John’s, but rather I find it helpful
to imagine how I myself could have discovered what is being written, and thank God I did not have to on my own.
Thus my final question: if great books are about us readers, how much of the books should we try to remember?
Often when writing an essay for an assignment, I find I’ve misremembered large portions of the text or interpreted
sections with faulty logic. With time, the passages seem to reveal themselves, whereas some words fade back into
obscurity. What at first seemed the most important paragraph in the whole book may lose significance, and instead
my concentration may bend towards other portions. I may read one of Achilles’ speeches, thinking the weight of the
whole book rests on it; upon rereading it, I find my entire perspective isn’t consistent through the text, and I have
to start again. I often find that as soon as I learn a single plotpoint, I find myself having to rework or even forget an
entire point of view. Sometimes the text will recommend a better point of view, but more often than not, I am left
more confused than I was before. And I don’t mean to say I can’t articulate my previous opinions, but rather I can’t
remember what it was like to believe them. In the midst of this, I am forced to adopt new opinions, and make the
book be more about me, but not the version of me that is a vessel for muddled, stuck opinions, but rather the mode of
personality that is deeply invested in interpretation and growth; when the text will not explain itself, I choose how to
explain it, and I learn the consequences of my reasoning whenever I return to the text.
In this way of thought-challenging and reason-tempering, great books that change minds aren’t about our beliefs,
opinions, or sense of identity — they are about the soul that expounds and lives out these ideals. Personal anecdotes
are ineffective in class discussions not because they’re too personal — they’re not personal enough! Personhood is not
reducible to anecdotes or opinions, and if we focus on the specific units of identity, we may forget the self that does
the living. Instead, we should be ever striving to understand the part of self that creates ideals, instead of assuming our
opinions are us. We are challenged to forget our short-sighted perceptions of self, and instead cultivate a more holistic
and free identity.
6
the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / May 20, 2021
�{poetry}
{poetry}
Passings
Doorman
Louis Petrich
George Kalandadze
Expect this not, to live for long.
Less some, more others, never one.
You translated our quantities,
not meant to be right known by race
of men Prometheus much loved.
Fire evens odds with hope that way.
My hopes partake of seeing you
brace black that knocks out being there;
although his lithe dumb plunging tongue
roots mounds behind come due—so long
forfended dipping climb!--we few
will savor every taste fortuned!
Pray next our passage free beget
surpassing new, us promise-paid:
as always, beggars, woman-bathed.
In this brief stay, O darlings, stood
you all my love, near licked, fell bent-but wonderful--upright again!
Fine word, again. Necessary,
by physics gaming finitude.
Once more the bell rings on,
The street sound shuffles through the door,
They come and go, hats, umbrellas, heels and brooches.
Swinging doors create the storm,
Of wind, of perfume, of rainy floor.
And there he stands with posture strong,
And smiles to all who come so close.
But in his mind, there are no smiles,
No sun is shining, nobody’s crying.
The time now strikes past quarter eight,
The king abandons his good faith.
The yokes of clothes in suit and ties,
Are left behind in dungeon dark.
Up the stairs, into his room
Where sorrow dwells beneath the tombs.
He enters, puts the mask aside,
No smile is needed, when there’s no eyes.
And drifts as if the steam of tea,
Into the homely malady.
--Louis Petrich, May, 2021
{poetry}
το του παιδος σπηλαιον
Avery Laur
i cast shadows on these dimly
lit walls so that my
youth and innocence may only
know safety and comfort with
the world i give them
the Gadfly / πόλις / May 20, 2021
7
�{elements of etiquette}
Forks
Isa Kiedrowski
So…which fork do I use?
“I don’t need to learn about etiquette; after all, it’s just about which fork to use, and stuff like that.” This phrase could
probably be found on the list of “50 Signs That Point Towards Civilization’s Inevitable Decline,” right up there with
“What decline of civilization?”
I will say this but once: etiquette is not merely about which fork to use. However, knowing which fork to use is part of
table manners. Which in turn is part of etiquette. So there.
And let me be clear: you do not need to know which fork to use. Very rarely will you find yourself in a life-or-death
situation and think, “Sink me! I wish I knew which fork to use!” Fortunately, the Spanish Inquisition is over,1 so your
chances of being brutally murdered for not knowing how to use cutlery are markedly lower.
But I will point out: St. John’s produces a high volume of PhDs. And should you find yourself venturing into academia,
you will inevitably have to deal with faculty dinners, or at least a few functions at which you will be faced with forks plural.
And while you’re staring at the blinding array of silverware before you, your rival for tenure has smoothly picked up his fish
fork and is tucking in to the slightly overcooked trout with lemon sauce. And you know who appreciates good manners?
The department chair. Now, I’m not saying tenures have been lost over this, but I’m not saying they haven’t.2
Having suitably terrified you with professional suicide by fish fork, let’s examine the dizzying array of cutlery which
awaits you in the real world. Observe the diagram below, presenting your worst-case-scenario: the 12-course dinner,
numbered for your convenience.
1. Escargot Fork—two long, pointed tines aid in
dragging the hapless gastropod from its garlicky, buttery
lair. The shell is clamped in tongs (not pictured), while you
wrestle with your appetizer. The snail’s revenge comes when
you spill garlic butter all over yourself.
2. Fish Fork—used, as one might expect, for the fish
course in conjunction with the fish knife (opposite side of
plate, fourth from the left). Contains four inward curving
tines.
3. Lobster Fork—it’s your third fish-related fork, but
don’t despair. Not to be confused with a buttonhook, it will
help you get all every morsel of lobster or crab out of those
claws. Theoretically, a medium-sized buttonhook could
perform the same job.
4. Entrée Fork—four equal tines, used to spear one’s
entrée (whatever it happens to be) before delivering it to
the mouth.
5. Meat Fork—the Main Fork. The Fork of Forks, if you
8
the Gadfly / πόλις / May 20, 2021
will. It’s the fork we all know, and the one you’ll be spending
the most time with during your meal.
6. Salad Fork—has a cutting edge to allow larger pieces
of salad to be broken down on the plate, rather than in the
mouth, where the process unfortunately resembles cudchewing. Not to be confused with the Lettuce Fork (see
below).
7. Ice Cream Fork—a delightful spoon/fork combination,
for the express purpose of eating ice cream. Let us never call
them “sporks” again.
8. Dessert Fork—Salad Fork’s dainty, prettier cousin.
Also comes with a cutting edge, this time for breaking cake
into attractive, bite-sized morsels.
9. Oyster Fork—a small, thin fork with three sharp
tines. Traditionally for eating oysters on the shell (although
slurping is considered by some to be more fun), it is also
used for other types of shellfish, at which point it becomes
a Seafood Fork.
�Isa Kiedrowski
The rule of thumb for what order to use the forks is from the outside in, ie. left to right. The order in which you would
use the above service is a bit more complicated, beginning with the mother-of-pearl caviar spoon on the far right, and then
moving through forks 1, 9, 2, 3, 4, 7, 5, 6, 8.
Some honorable mentions—oddly specific forks.
Terrapin Fork—like an ice cream fork, but for turtles’ insides.
Toast Fork—a wide, flat fork for the express purpose of serving toast.
Butter pick (honorable mention)—not a true fork, since it consists of one narwhal-horn-shaped tine. Used to impale
and transport butter pats.
Strawberry Fork—three very long, very sharp, very deadly tines pierce strawberries to be dipped in the topping of
choice. Whipped cream is a personal favorite.
Fruit Fork—two tines, used for the cheese and fruit course of those meals where one does under no circumstances
whatsoever touch one’s food. It will be used to spear individual grapes, the occasional piece of melon (which, incidentally,
has its own fork), or possibly hold a peach in place while one painstakingly skins it.
Pastry Fork—the manufacturers sneakily alternate between calling this a Pastry Fork one year, and a Pie Fork the next.
You only need one set, and could comfortably use a Dessert Fork instead—after all, who serves cake and pie at the same
dinner?
Pickle Fork—specifically designed for getting pickles out of jars. What won’t the good people at Oneida think of next?
Melon Fork—this ingenious implement comes with its own built-in knife, useful if you’ve got to decimate an entire
melon one-handed.
And would you believe me if I told you that we’ve barely disturbed the surface? There’s knives, and plates, and
fingerbowls, and crystal, and napkins…one gets dizzy at the very thought. We’ll be back next year, with all the stemware
the world has to offer.
the Gadfly / πόλις / May 20, 2021
9
�{politics}
The Song of Class Unity
Max Mersmann-Jones
T
he Great Depression of the 1930s brought about
Roosevelt’s New Deal. The Great Recession of 2008
has had no such wake. In the former, the working class
seized this country’s largest financial crisis and used it to
radically restructure both economic and social policy for
decades and perhaps centuries to come. The latter has rung
in an era of party infighting, identity politics, and desperate
attempts to return to the status quo that caused this crisis.
Past success and present failure in moving forward from
collapse rest on the same change: the disappearance of
unity and mobilization of the working class.
Our contemporary political arena has no place for class
politics. Labor unions which once played a fundamental
part in pressing for the New Deal are at their weakest
point since the industrial revolution. We take for granted
a system of two parties unchecked at the helm, but the last
few decades are the first time in history that the Republican
and Democratic parties have existed without labor exerting
significant force. In the absence of union presence, the
torch of class politics hasn’t been taken up by either party.
Instead, political boundaries are now drawn almost entirely
on social policy. With Democrats on the social left and
Republicans on the right, fiscal policies are, more than
ever, nonpartisan. Look no further than last November’s
election results. Joe Biden won the working-class (income
under $50,000) vote by 11% - half of what Obama won by
and less than the margin of any other modern Democratic
president. Economics are no longer a key predictor of party
affiliation. Instead, both the left and right broadcast images
of rising up against the (insert opposing political party)
elites to win a victory for the little guy. For the left, that’s
beating evil corporations and sleazy Republican billionaires
for its intersectional and underprivileged voters, while for
the right, it’s toppling coastal elites and scoring a victory
for small-town hard-working America. Neither side is
particularly wrong in this messaging — class politics are
a muddled and confusing mess with wealthy elites at the
top of both parties. When political engagement is largely
limited to checking off Democrat or Republican, the lack
of a party that truly represents class interests is felt hard.
Proponents of current party lines will argue that this
system trades class alignment for parties mobilized and
ready to take action on important social issues. That’s not
the case. Take race for example — a party system divided
10
the Gadfly / πόλις / May 20, 2021
economically would mix in Trump’s base of low-education
white rural voters with higher-education multiracial
metropolitan demographics. Our current structure aligned
on social issues may at first seem better equipped to tackle
issues of race, but without class unity it doesn’t matter. As
the way we discuss racial issues progresses, we evolve from
debating individual acts of racism (which are increasingly
widely criticized) and move towards critical analysis of
the racial power structures baked into the class system of
society.
Systemic racism is an imbalance in power, and power is
money. Structurally ignoring class politics created a socially
left party that can do little more than scold. It is incapable
of meaningfully taking on systemic racism because it is
ruled by the same power structures that set up the system in
question. It is as tactless as it is torn, a party for the protesters
and brunch getters to waste their ballots on alike. The same
process applies neatly to other social issues; injustice is
power imbalance, power imbalance is wealth imbalance,
and when both parties are ruled by the wealthy, they are
both ruled by the privileged and incapable of making real
change.
Throughout his career Joe Biden has always loved to reach
across the aisle, finding allies in fellow wealthy and powerful
Republicans.
It
took
workers
engaging in largescale equivalents of
that same process,
in the form of
labor unions, to
push for the New
Deal. The rich and
powerful
know
how to practice
class solidarity, and
until the working
class learns to do
the same, we are
helpless to reclaim
our political voice.
Isa Kiedrowski
�ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
THE STUDENT
NEWSPAPER
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
OF
ST. JOHN’S
COLLEGE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
For more information,
contact us via email at
sjca .g adfly@gmail.com
“
Every field that you think exists as a
separate task in the world is actually
made up of everything that we study,
it's made up of all of the components
of a liberal education”
- Rachel Gordon
“
I feel like St John’s has empowered
me. Every single tutor is like, “why
would you think that you're not
capable? It doesn't make any sense”
Ms. Brann told me sophomore year
‘We don't need more assertive people
in the world, you're fine the way that
you are’”
- Elsa Ordahl
W
e wish our seniors the very best
in their future endeavors, and
will miss their presence on campus.
Founded in 1980, the Gadfly
is the student newsmagazine
distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumna of the Annapolis campus.
Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of
the author(s). The Gadfly
reserves the right to accept,
reject, and edit submissions
in any way necessary to
publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking
newsmagazine.
Submissions sent to the
Gadfly should either be in
Microsoft Word or JPEG
format. The deadline for
submissions is the Friday prior to publication.
For more information,
contact us via email at
sjca .g adfly@gmail.com
Submissions sent to the
Gadfly should either be in
Microsoft Word or JPEG
format. The deadline for
submissions is the Friday prior to publication.
Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of
the author(s). The Gadfly
reserves the right to accept,
reject, and edit submissions
in any way necessary to
publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking
newsmagazine.
Founded in 1980, the Gadfly
is the student newsmagazine
distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumna of the Annapolis campus.
ST. JOHN’S
COLLEGE
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
OF
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
the Gadfly / May 20, 2021
11
THE STUDENT
NEWSPAPER
�
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The Gadfly, Vol. XLII, Issue 04
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Gadfly Vol XLII Issue 04
Gadfly
Student publication
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PDF Text
Text
THE GADFLY
Photo by Elizabeth Dowdy, A’23
“What if being really smart, and knowing a lot of books, and having all this
classical knowledge didn’t make you a better person?”
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Page 3
St. John’s College
Vol. XLII, Issue 03
Annapolis, Maryland
April 30, 2021
�From the Editor’s Desk:
CONTENTS
Logos
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?
Hodson Boathouse Reopens
The Sicut Sing Saga
Symposiun
Dueling Systems
Machiavelli on Religion and the
Duty of the Citizen in a Republic
Polis
Socrates and the City
Water Warring
On Music
Elements of Etiquette
3
4
5
The command to know oneself is a tall order. Like Odysseus, we are
πολύτροποι — many-sided, full of twists and turns, complex. If we’re
all players acting out our many parts in our respective times, how are
we to perceive ourselves upon the stage? Discerning the being that
lies beneath our changeable qualities seems a formidable challenge.
6
7
Books and conversation help. By butting up against other minds, we
map the outskirts of our own. Despite its inherent discomfort, the
undertaking is necessary and worthwhile. In this issue, our Symposium writers examined the relationship between the individual and
the state. I encourage you to see feelingly their reflections on the
subject. Consider this request an invocation to muse.
8
9
10
12
The namesake of this publication garnered a reputation for asking
difficult questions. So too do we commit ourselves to stirring contemplation in our city. From time to time, our writers may press your
buttons. This is a reminder that you, reader, are wholly welcome to
reciprocate. May mutual loving critique deliver self-knowledge for
us all. Our eyes and ears are but an email away at sjca.gadfly@gmail.
com.
THE STRUCTURE
Logos holds news reports and narratives of
immediate relevance to the Polity. The purpose
here is to develop a shared reservoir of information relating to campus life and the community.
Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to thoughtfully consider contrasting opinions regarding a particular topic.
Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices
in our community. Here we find letters to the
editor, columns, cartoons, and submitted pieces.
CORRECTIONS
In a report on the removal of campus ashtrays
(page 24, March 2021), we included a quotation in
which the speaker expresses that a crane was used
to carry out the removal. This phrase, however,
was hyperbolic. No cranes were used to remove the
ashtrays.
THE COVER
Pictured: James Siranovich (A’22) and Rebecca
MacLeay (A’24) from the KWP production
of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2
the Gadfly / Apr 30, 2021
Sincerely,
Lysithia Page
Editor-in-Chief
THE STAFF
EDITORS
Lysithia Page
Elizabeth Dowdy
Alayna Raymond
LAYOUT BOARD
Cooper Ussery
Nathan Martin
Diana Villegas
GADFLY STAFF
Linda Bellamy
Britt Lamson
Isabella Kiedrowski
Daniel Nathan
Dagny Kulkarni
Joseph Padgett
INTERESTED IN WRITING
FOR THE GADFLY?
EMAIL ALAYNA
RAYMOND AT
AKRAYMOND@SJC.EDU
�WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
BERRETTINI
DEAVER
PETERSON
DENNIS-SIRANOVICH POWERS
MACLEAY
TORRES
T
onight at 8 p.m., the King
William Players (KWP) will
perform Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid
of Virginia Woolf ? The play follows a
night of cocktail-imbibing and riotous
conversation between two sets of
couples — washed-up, middle-aged
George and Martha, and the younger
Nick and Honey. The crackling
dialogue considers the slings and
arrows of married life.
Due to present health concerns
regarding the COVID-19 pandemic,
the KWP have decided to stage the
show virtually via Zoom live-stream.
Using Delegate Council funding, the
theater troupe rented an Airbnb house
in downtown Annapolis to serve as
the set. Moreover, the cast and crew
received increased Covid testing and
self-isolated so that they could work
safely together in close quarters. I
talked with some of them about the
quirks of pandemic-era theater, as well
as this particular production.
On the Play
“My general thought is that the
question of the play is like, ‘What if
being really smart, and knowing a lot
of books, and having all this classical
knowledge didn’t make you a better
person? What if these things gave
you more ability to hurt the people
around you?’” -Berrettini
“The way I see it, [the play] asks,
‘What happens when the person you
hate the most is also the person you
love the most?’” -Powers
“There’s always something under the
surface, like a wolverine claw that
comes up.” -Siranovich
Cast
Martha – Virginia Deaver (A’21)
George – James Dennis-Siranovich
(A’22)
Nick – Adam Powers (A’24)
Honey – Rebecca MacLeay (A’24)
On the Zoom Production
“I knew that I wanted it to happen
at some point. And I realized that
it’s now or never, essentially. And
then when we did get back, it was
a question of how it was going to
work with COVID. We’re lucky
enough that conditions are improved
just enough that we can stream it
and have the actors all in the room
together with proper precautions.”
-Berrettini
On the Set
“I want it to look like a tutor’s house,
where you have the accumulation of
all this knowledge. You’ve got all these
books.” -Berrettini
“I did bring in a lot of my books
because George is a history nut, I’m
a history nut. George has a trained
voice, I have a trained voice. But I’m
very, very happily married to a man,
and he’s very, very unhappily married
to a woman.” -Siranovich
Crew
Director – Sam Berrettini (A’21)
Assistant Director – Jessica Peterson
Photos and Article by Lysithia Page, ‘23
(A’21)
Tech Director – Ciel Torres (A’21)
the Gadfly / λόγος / Apr 30, 2021
3
�{athletics update}
Hodson Boathouse Reopens
New opportunities for aquatic recreation on campus
by Cooper Ussery, ‘23
N
orth of the tennis court and
west of the suburbs, there stands
a building on the banks of College
Creek. Straddling the sloping terrain
that leads to the lower field and nestled
in the furthest corner of back campus,
this building is the Beneficial-Hodson
Boathouse. The building was originally
constructed in 1934 following the
College’s commitment to diversify
campus activities and expand the
athletic program. This initiative was
part of a larger effort to attract more
students after the College found itself
in dire financial straits due to the stock
market crash of 1929. The boathouse
is an intriguing structure, with wood
shingle cladding and asphalt roofing,
setting it apart from other buildings
on campus. For many students, the
boathouse can seem forbidding and
uninviting, as the “front door” appears
almost hidden behind surrounding
trees and vegetation and the other
obvious entrances are accessible only
by traversing an intimidating wooden
ramp.
In reality, however, the boathouse
is a welcoming place for all Johnnies to
learn about and experience the wonders
of the waters. The two-story building
is broadly separated into two parts: the
first story is a boat room with racks for
canoes and kayaks lining the walls and
workbenches for maintenance built
into the wide bays’ central divider.
The second story is a banquet room
consisting of a large space with wooden
floorboards and several seating areas
surrounded by huge windows and
comfortable porches. Historically,
this room has hosted crew banquets,
scholarship luncheons, and a number
of other events, but like the rest of the
boathouse, it hasn’t seen much activity
4
in the wake of pandemic restrictions.
In more typical times, the Hodson
Boathouse is a hub of activity for
several different groups of people,
serving as home base for the crew and
sailing teams and opening its doors
for the Polity to use any of the kayaks,
canoes, sailboats, and paddleboards
during the warmer months. Students
working for the College in the
boathouse usually assist with this
process, but these students — known
as Boathouse Stewards — do more
than just clip on life vests and put
people in boats. “There were two main
stages of working in the boathouse,”
said Kasparas Adomaitis (A’23), an
RA who worked as a steward last year.
“During the season when you can
actually take boats out and use them,
you have a lot of people coming in,
and they usually require attention. We
have to get them ready, do all the safety
precautions, carry the boats out to the
water, and sometimes teach them the
basics. Then there’s the crew team, and
one steward last year would be there
at the boathouse at 6 in the morning
preparing everything.”
Stewards are also required to
the Gadfly / λόγος / Apr 30, 2021
procure boating licenses in order to
operate motor boats around College
Creek and the adjoining Severn River.
During the winter months, stewards
spend the time restoring old crew
boats, dinghies, and sailboats. “It could
get a little tedious sometimes, filing
old boat shells. It can [also] be very
physically demanding… but having
that physical outlet helps clear the
mind. Being so focused on books and
reading, and then having this physical,
manual labor is definitely beneficial,”
Adomaitis said.
“[Working at the boathouse] felt
special. It’s one of those jobs where
you actually end up working, not just
sitting there. I ended up learning quite
a bit, and the boathouse really felt
like being part of a small community,”
Adomaitis enthused. During the
Fall 2020 semester, the boathouse
was available for recreational use
by appointment from August to
November; since then only the second
story has been available for use.
However, services resumed on April
25, and students interested in working
as Boathouse Stewards should contact
Athletics Director Chris Krueger.
Photo courtesy of Maryland Historical Trust
�{johnnie lore}
The Sicut Sing Saga
Tracing the history of a returning tradition
by Dagny Kulkarni, ‘24
D
ue to high demand, Sicut Sing
has returned. After a year of
online singing, the Polity buzzes with
excitement at the rekindling of this ageold tradition. Senior Jessica Peterson,
current organizer and conductor of
Sicut Sing, recounted the enthusiasm
of her peers: “The number of people
that asked me about it was really
surprising...it was really nice to see
that it was something that was missed
by a large chunk of the community,”
she said. Unable to take music classes
as a senior, Peterson communicated
the desire to integrate music into
her experience in some way. “It’s all
about getting that well-rounded,
stereotypical liberal arts education,”
she said. “You want to be able to keep
seeing the music in everything you do.”
“I
t’s all about coming together
for the sake of beauty,” said Eric
Fricke, founder of Sicut Sing. As a
student at St. John’s from 2010-2014,
Fricke enjoyed singing Sicut Cervus in
freshman and sophomore music, and
pitied the long faces of the juniors and
seniors walking by. During his junior
year, he decided to incorporate casual
community singing into campus life.
Fricke and his classmates especially
missed Sicut Cervus, and after dance
parties in McDowell, they would
gather in the quad to sing it. Fricke
recounted how previous President
Chris Nelson asked the students to sing
Sicut Cervus, without prior notice,
at a Convocation ceremony. Tutor
Eric Stoltzfus also recalled President
Nelson creating the tradition by which
returning students sing Sicut Cervus to
welcome freshmen. “[Nelson] liked to
tell Sicut stories in his speeches about
what makes St. John’s unlike any other
College,” Stoltzfus remembered. The
ease and enthusiasm with which it was
performed inspired Fricke: “That was
when I knew we had an opportunity.
I guess that experience kind of shaped
everything, and I knew that we could
make it happen.” Fricke thus founded
the weekly event he dubbed ‘Sicut
Cervus Sing.’
Fricke chose the Pendulum Pit as the
setting for its acoustics and convenient
location. Funnily enough, after
questioning faculty members, he came
to the realization that no one knew
who was in charge of the Pendulum
Pit. He went ahead and hung up his
flyers, displaying his catchphrase:
“It only takes 5 minutes!” On the
following Wednesday afternoon, many
students and tutors came, excited at
the prospect of singing as a community
outside of class. “It celebrates the
uniqueness of St. John’s. I can’t really
think of any place in the world that
could do this,” said Fricke.
W
hile we recount the origins of
this quintessential tradition,
the question ‘Why Sicut Cervus?’
springs to mind. Retired tutor Tom
May first introduced this piece into
the Program during the academic year
1994-1995. Having led Freshman
Chorus several times in the ‘80s, May
was approached by former Dean Eva
Brann and Tutor Peter Kalkavage, and
asked to revive the class, which was
languishing. At the time, Sicut Cervus
was not part of the Freshman Chorus
repertoire.
May explained how he chose music
for the Program: “My principal of
selection was two-fold: sing pieces as
great as the works we read and study
in the other parts of the program,
and find the best examples possible in
accord with the study of the elements
of music in sophomore year.” The
discovery of Sicut Cervus was like
finding a gold mine. May recounted
his students’ excitement: “I will never
forget the student, one of our first
undergraduates from the People’s
Republic of China, who, with a look of
awe on his face, came up to me after we
had sung all 4 parts of Sicut together,
and asked, ‘“Mr. May, who was this
Palestrina?!”’. After serving as Associate
Dean for the Graduate Institute, May
resumed teaching Chorus in 2002. By
then, singing Sicut Cervus at various
events was a well-established tradition,
and had become one of the pieces that
was sung at the Senior Dinner before
Commencement.
continued on page 13
Isa Kiedrowski
the Gadfly / λόγος / Apr 30, 2021
5
�DUELING SYSTEMS
A
ccording to anthropologist Robert Dunbar, humans
can maintain stable relationships with up to 150
people. Within that group, it is reasonable to know the
characteristics of each person and value of their word. But,
as societies grow, we are faced with a modern problem: by
what means can we come to know the trustworthiness of
a stranger? Of course, should we calculate incorrectly, we
each have recourse to the legal system. However, in the time
it takes to engage the law, we lose money, time, and other
intangible goods. So then, how might we, fellow citizens
and the government alike, create standards to communally
monitor trustworthiness?
One option is to build systems based on values, and watch
to see whether any of those stated principles are violated.
If the community of Wethersfield, Connecticut values
honesty among its 26,000 residents for example, there is a
likelihood that if someone were to lie, cheat, or steal, such
labels would be attributed to that person’s name. However,
in an era characterized by mobility, a more commonly
accessible record of a person’s actions is necessary.
The U.S. and China are home to diverging systems
of this type. While the U.S. relies on Credit Risk Scores
(CRS) assigned to each citizen, China is in the multiyear
process of unveiling its newly minted Social Credit Score
system. Both systems aim to log the actions of individuals
as a means of measuring their ability to adhere to a set of
values; however, the values around which they organize and
intended beneficiaries of the system vary greatly across each
country.
WHAT WAS THE GENESIS OF EACH SYSTEM?
hat is the genesis of each system? The U.S. credit
risk system is one with roots deep in private
entrepreneurship. In 1899, Equifax, one of the “Big Three”
credit bureaus widely known today, was founded by two
brothers who compiled lists of patrons who frequented
their grocery store. They compiled the list of customers
whom they considered to be worthy of credit based on
transaction and repayment history. Other merchants
bought this information in order to mitigate the inherent
risk in extending credit to relative strangers.. Nearly 60
years later, the Fair Isaac Company, launched a credit
scoring system numerically analyzed the credit reports sold
by credit bureaus like themselves and Equifax. As a result,
financial histories were used to tabulate what is now known
as a FICO score, or a Fair Isaac Company score.
Across the globe in the early 2000s, China’s foray into
credit systems was spurred on by public demands, rather
W
6
the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Apr 30, 2021
How Chinese and American Credit Scores Highlight the Relationships We have to Our Governments and Each Other
By Diana Villegas GI ‘22
than private ones. At the time, China was engaged in talks
to join the World Trade Organization; however, despite
being poised to grow after admission to the organization,
the country’s economy was stifled by rampant fraud,
corruption, and intellectual property law infringement.
In response, China made the rehabilitation of trust in the
market economy, identified the creation of a credit system
as a matter of national security, and charged the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences with the task of finding a
solution. The result was a report that lauded the U.S. credit
risk system that would act as a basis for the Chinese Social
Credit System now in use today.
WHAT IS BEING MEASURED?
part from the diverging origins of the two national
systems, one born from private interest and the other
from public, the inputs and means employed are equally
dissimilar. Prior to the U.S. FICO Score, private citizens met
with representatives of banks who determined worthiness
to obtain credit based on an imprecise and unregulated
character assessment. Following the expansion of the
newly-invented FICO system, credit scores were based on
a number of numerical factors including payment history,
length of credit history, amount owed, and newly opened
lines of credit. Notably, the factors from which we derive
scores consist entirely of empirical numbers, which are
based on values gleaned from transaction records. Ideology,
criminality, and other social factors are not taken into
account. Further, the score is updated via a computational
algorithm and is beyond the discretion of any public or
private entities.
This system, once again, stands in stark contrast to
the Chinese Social Credit System, which is composed
of records from 44 government agencies; if put in terms
relative to U.S. agencies, the compilation of information
would equate to the sum of the “IRS, FBI, EPA, USDA,
FDA, HHS, HUD, Department of Energy, Department of
Education, and every courthouse, police station, and state
agency.”1 Rather than finding a basis of measurement in
individual consumer transactions, the Chinese system is
based on the reports of government agencies. As such, the
Social Credit System is based on adherence to policies set at
the discretion of the party. Similarly, select infractions can
be pursued at the discretion of individuals within a given
agency, rather than a computer system that automatically
tabulates transactions.
Continued on Page 13
A
�W
hat duty do individual citizens
owe to their republic, that is,
a government in which citizens rely
in part or wholly on majorities of
themselves for their governance? By
what necessity are citizens obligated
to their republic? According to
Machiavelli, the republic provides
security for the common good and
the freedom of its citizens to prosper.
The fact of freedom and prosperity,
however, do not ensure a sense of
duty to one’s country, as to love
freedom and prosperity is not so
much to love their sources, but the
things they perceive to be sources. It
is easy, especially in a nation of any
great size, for citizens to attribute
their security to themselves, and to
ignore the more distant government
which is responsible for their freedom
and security on a grander scale than
directly concerns their particular life.
Yet, among the ancients, prosperity
and freedom were closely associated
with their republic, and also to their
religion, as Machiavelli points out
in Book II of his Discourses on Livy.
Religion being an understanding
of the cosmos and humans in it, it
would follow that religion would
demonstrate the proper relation of a
citizen to their republic, since religion
offers an account of what is good and
how it can be obtained. Since a republic
offers security, which is good because
it allows its citizens the freedom to
have possessions and prosper, religion
provides a larger model in which the
relationship of citizen to republic is
analogous to that of a human to the
cosmos. How good comes to a human
through the cosmos will inform how
they view good to come through their
republic.
to the ancient mode of religion, and
contrasts that strength of duty amongst
ancient citizens with the weakness
of the citizens of his contemporary
republics. According to Machiavelli,
much violence and slavery in Italy
resulted from the apathy of fellow
Christian citizens in their political
duty. Machiavelli observes Christian
doctrine to encourage humility and to
bear hardship. As a religion focused on
matters of the next world, Machiavelli
criticises its followers on neglect of
their current world, where to his view
they let bad people get away with
crimes. Machiavelli’s claim is that the
republic is the highest good in the
can appease those laws which provide
security and allow freedom. Sacrifice is
variously done through rituals, moral
codes, or the sciences, whereby an
individual gives up particular activities
and resources, like time, to influencing
outcomes. The ancients sacrificed
animals to win the favour of their gods,
so that they could succeed in their wars
and other endeavours, and modern
people sacrifice money on medicine,
thinking it will be good for them. In
both cases alike, the religion consists
of giving up something of value for
something else of value: cattle for a
victory in war, or money for a long
and healthy life. This understanding
of the cosmos as an exchange of cause
for effect aligns with Machiavelli’s
description of the republic. The
republic, by providing security for
its citizens and allowing them the
freedom to enjoy their families and the
prosperity they labour for, demands
sacrifice to ensure its preservation. For
Machiavelli, this sacrifice is most called
for in and by war. The strength of the
ancient religion was that it accustomed
men to giving blood to obtain what
they wanted, so that the transition
from animals in their appeals to the
gods to their own blood on the fields
world, and to use religion to ignore of battle was simple and natural. And
the obligations of one’s republic is though Machiavelli saw military duty
absurd. What is the nature of ancient as the primary arena of duty to one’s
religion, that it obliges its practitioners state, it would seem generally that
to their republic? Why is Christianity acting towards the benefit of one’s
different? What of modern religion, republic ensures the benefits republics
which disdains the appellage God, and confer; security and freedom to enjoy
is called atheism?
the fruits of one’s labours.
R
eligion is the individual’s
understanding of the cosmos.
There are two sorts of understandings:
the first sees and acts on the postulate
that humans can take advantage of
achiavelli praises the strength the laws governing the cosmos, and
of the duty felt by the citizens the second is Christianity, which
of the ancient republics which denies this postulate. In other words,
resisted the Roman empire, which he all religions save Christianity persist
attributes the strength of their duty in the ancient belief that sacrifices
M
W
hat sets Christianity apart
from this sort of religion, and
muddles this reasoning of citizens
being bound to do good for the
republic because the republic is good,
is that Christianity is not a religion of
exchange, but rather one of forgiveness.
Continued on Page 14
the Gadfly / συμπόσιον / Apr 30, 2021
7
�{johnnie life}
socrate
s
an d
t he
Sophia Webster
ci
ty
W
alking around Annapolis, it is all too easy to tell Johnnies apart from their Townie or Middie counter-parts. The
contrast — with the Townies’ “Simply Southern” long T-Shirts, Middies in full uniform, and Johnnies in eccentric
dress — is almost comedic. Polity style nearly defies categorization. Here are students’ reflections on the subject:
Photo by Elizabeth Dowdy, ‘23
What exactly is
Johnnie fashion?
“Not a thing. Catholic/Dude/ArtBoy, and you can’t tell them apart.”
Mohab Syounis (A’22)
“Unique, but in pretty much the same
way.”
Avery Lehr (A’24)
“Edgy.”’
Nalini Venugopal (A’24)
“Discount Camus or a little too close
to Woody Allen.”
Lukas Wieland (A’24)
“WASP.”
Jack
[Annelise Ivanescu A'24]
[Kelly Kane A'24]
“Johnnie fashion must have started
with whatever Diogenes dropped off
at Goodwill.”
Noah Zaleman (A’25)
Photo by Elizabeth Dowdy, ‘23
[Liz Dowdy A'23]
[Avery Lehr A'24]
“All SJC fashion is androgynous,
preppy, or altogether confusing.”
Chris Musick (A’22)
“Rich kids shopping at Goodwill to
look working class.”
Clare Collins (A’22)
“Everyone dresses exactly like their
soul and everyone’s soul is different.”
Carrie Cecci (A’24)
“Eclectic.”
Kate Kennedy (A’24)
Photo by Elizabeth Dowdy, ‘23
8
the Gadfly / πόλις / Apr 30, 2021
Photo by Elizabeth Dowdy, ‘23
�{poetry}
Water Warring
Daniel Nathan
Bottle of water, my dullard potion—
left too much water for not enough ocean;
a liquid world in ordinate squalor,
all for one, for corporate conquer.
Financial markets flex in flux, and flow
to reflex back to status quo;
They boom and bust, then bust to bust
Stock bubbles burst and fatten up the family trusts.
But water is life, which is stored in plastics,
produced by Dow Chemical, and padded
with government grants & relaxed taxes;
With help from the Deregulators of the state of Decay,
the fines handed down by the courts in class-action suits
have been hush-money paid
or were “clerical errored” away.
So they say , thank God for toxic sludge
and God damn the EPA
Pay no mind to the industrial fog;
a healthy life requires a healthy dose of smog.
Instead think of the views as the waves crest & crash;
the golden-glow glittering, splintering as the sea & sky scratch.
The unending blue—the breathtaking bruise of absence so vast,
gazing out at the horizon
from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
And when Nēstlē is forced to ration out its supply of unlimited water,
throes of thirst will divide the merely Poor
from the dried-out gasps of the pauper.
and so Sacred is life, so bless-ed be our water;
let us pray for our low-price, single-use bottles:
the vessel of “life” that keep it contained.
It’s never all for one,
if you’re just one of the others;
Well if water is life,
then don’t you miss when life was sponsored?
the Gadfly / πόλις / Apr 30, 2021
9
�Isa Kiedrowski
{on music}
Blasts from the Past and
Present Perambulations
Britt Lamson
“You are about to enter another
dimension. A dimension not only of
sight and sound, but of mind. A journey
into a wondrous land of imagination.
Next stop — The Twilight Zone.”
– Rod Serling
...And all music is much the same.
Music, playing forward in time but
existing from the past to be played
again in recording, is both within
and without time. Music is caught in
an indefinite realm between light and
shadow, art that carries our minds and
hearts beyond ourselves into other
worlds of our imaginations.
Blast from the Past
~
An Album Anniversary
Dave Clark
Dave Clark’s Time - The Album
Released: April 9, 1986 (35th
Anniversary)
Dave Clark’s Time is a concept
album and musical detailing a
narrative about humanity’s progress
in the eyes of the larger universe with
a featured medley of several talented
musicians and their characters. The
cast includes the likes of veteran actors
and voices Laurence Olivier and Cliff
Richards, to the inimitable likes of
Freddie Mercury, Leo Sayer, Steve
Wonder, and Dionne Warwick. The
concept behind the whole album sees
fictitious rock musician Chris Wilder
and his band transported to the High
Court of the Universe, located in
another civilization in the Andromeda
10
Galaxy. Earth’s early efforts at space
exploration have been noticed by the
High Court, and the musicians have
been chosen to represent and defend
Earth before the court and the Time
Lord Melchisedic (whose character
is inspired by the titular character
and civilization of the same name in
Doctor Who).
This whole project was orchestrated
by Dave Clark of the British Invasion
group The Dave Clark Five and David
Soames, with music and songs by Jeff
Daniels (not the actor) and David
Pomeranz. A wild ride of rock-opera
madness, theatrical magnificence,
the Gadfly / πόλις / Apr 30, 2021
layered harmonies, reflective speeches
and bombastic performances, I
recommend this album to anyone and
everyone for all of those aspects and
reasons.
�Present Perambulations
~
A Recent Album
clear and so evenly balanced that the
album — dare I say — shines brighter
than the most polished of metals.
The entire album is a danceable popLady Gaga
sensible parade with a variety of
Chromatica
influences—from 1990’s club music,
Released: May 29, 2020
electronica, pop of all eras and aspects
of musical theatre liking backing
A return to the musical stylings orchestration for a rich textural sound
of her early career, Lady Gaga’s to a simple four-on-the-flour beat.
Chromatica is a smash hit that takes Gaga contemplates what it means to
from past club and house music exist in a celebrity-idolizing world
culture, adding her signature catchy and how to achieve happiness through
vocal melodies and harmonies with healing and growth. This album is
her strong but warm lower register. highly recommended for anyone who
The mixing and parts are so clean, so has enjoyed Lady Gaga’s previous
career works and for anyone who
fancies a thumping, danceable time
or a good sit-down listen with lyrical
themes of introspection.
If you have any album
recommendations of recent releases or
upcoming anniversaries that you want
to spread the word about, please send
them to: sjca.gadfly@gmail.com
Who knows — one may even end
up in a future issue! Enjoy, and may
the music take you on astounding
journeys, from the innermost depths
of your soul to the farthest reaches of
space.
the Gadfly / πόλις / Apr 30, 2021
11
�{elements of etiquette}
On Masks
Isa Kiedrowski
E
lements of Etiquette is a column dedicated to etiquette
beyond “what fork to use.” Etiquette isn’t about rules—
it’s about knowing how to make others feel at ease, with the
idea that if everyone tries a little harder, we’ll all be much
happier and more comfortable. It isn’t only for the English
royal family, and it certainly isn’t snobbish. With that in
mind, we’ll be examining etiquette in all its forms, vintage,
modern, or medieval—whatever Miss Kiedrowski happens to
be interested in that week.
If there’s one thing to take away from this, it’s that etiquette
is for everyone. You can take or leave what you want from it,
from business cards to greeting diplomats to learning how to
write the perfect thank you note (that one isn’t optional, by the
way. Everyone should know how to write a thank you note).
And yes, we will eventually cover which fork to use.
On Masks
COVID-19—or as we were formally introduced to it,
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2—
has drastically (and, one hopes, temporarily) altered the
manner in which we interact with the world. It used to be
so simple: make introductions (gentlemen to ladies, then
ladies to gentlemen, and then only if the lady accepted the
acquaintance), shake hands, kiss cheeks if one found oneself
in certain regions of the Continent, and leave with one’s
circle of acquaintances slightly enlarged.
But in these days of physical distancing (the author insists
on the word “physical,” because although we find ourselves
in unprecedented circumstances, we are still remarkably
social creatures), etiquette has taken on a different flavor. As
shaking hands is unsafe—and quite frankly impossible from
six feet away—and kissing—on the cheeks or elsewhere—
tantamount to signing one’s own death warrant, the idea
of “good manners” has now expanded to include avoiding
people entirely, keeping them at more than arm’s length,
and of course mask wearing.
12
the Gadfly / πόλις / Apr 30, 2021
Mask wearing is currently the highest form of good
manners available to us. As wearing a cloth mask serves to
protect those around the wearer more so than the wearer
themselves, doing so signals to everyone in the immediate
vicinity (and there shouldn’t be too many), that the wearer
cares about them and their safety. And since etiquette, at
the end of the day, is more about putting those around
us at ease, rather than following an iron-clad set of rules
with kamikaze-like dedication (mind, however, that there
are still some rules the author considers iron-clad), maskwearing is a constant display of good manners.
Masks come with their own etiquette, as well. Not
wearing a mask makes one appear rather selfish (and yes,
while appearances aren’t everything, one has to admit an
awful lot gets assumed based off of them)—see above for
what wearing a mask does make you look like. One step up
from not wearing one at all is the half-hearted wearer, or
the “just for appearances.” This is the individual who either
wears their mask under their nose or chin most of the
time, yanking it up whenever someone approaches them.
While slightly less offensive than not wearing a mask at all,
the author has to admit that it still sends a message of not
taking things seriously. Since the total death toll for the
United States now exceeds that of the Second World War,
and is approaching that of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic,
it’s probably time to take things seriously, in the interest of
avoiding a death toll similar to that of the Civil War. The
author will allow herself a small slip when she says, “Just
wear the damn mask. Properly, please.”
Besides, wearing a mask does come with its own set of
advantages. Those who formerly had trouble schooling
their faces into acceptable expressions will rejoice at the
notion that this is no longer a necessity. While smiling is
nice, a mere crinkling of the eyes will suffice in getting the
message across, as one hastily crosses the street to avoid an
oncoming mask-less individual.
�continued from page 5
Stoltzfus further emphasized the
significance of Sicut Cervus as an
established tradition in recounting
the 2002 Palestrina Choir (resident
choir of St. Mary’s Cathedral in
Dublin) performance in the Great
Hall. The performers were amazed at
the attendance; students filled the hall
and leaned over the balcony to listen.
At the end of the performance, Sicut
Cervus was requested and the Choir
was more than happy to oblige. What
they weren’t expecting was for the
entire Great Hall to join in. “Loud was
the cheering and ovation at the end,”
Stoltzfus remembered. “As one amazed
Renaissance singer told me afterwards,
‘“I thought I was a rock star!”’
Fricke further commented on the
significance of Sicut Cervus as a song.
He noted that it is unaccompanied,
allowing it to be sung at any point,
given that you have the right amount of
people. However, he also emphasized
the difficulty of singing a four-part
polyphony: “It takes a right amount
of engagement and focus to be able to
do it...you have to be attentive to your
part and the parts around you.” He
also noted how the song impacts the
dynamic in a group of singers. “I think
it has a way of bringing people together,
not just because of the popularity of it,
but because when you’re experiencing
it, the parts move independently, but
in respect to each other, so that the
harmony lines up. When it doesn’t line
up, it creates this beautiful dissonance
that is also very compelling,” Fricke
explained. Additionally, the brevity of
the piece is suited to the casual singing
setting. “You show up, you sing for a
couple minutes, you feel great, and you
leave,” Fricke said.
FINAL
THOUGHTS
Articles continued from
earlier in the issue
continued from page 6
LOCKE Vs. HOBBES: What then
is to be made of these dueling systems?
To better understand the question,
it is helpful to view the dichotomy
through the lens of two competing
political theorists, John Locke, author
of the Second Treatise of Government,
and Thomas Hobbes, author of
the Leviathan. According to the
Lockean conception of government,
communities are only formed when
men give their free consent to form
ties with one another and divest
themselves of their natural liberty
so that they may live comfortably
amongst one another. Central to this
theory is the notion that government
is formed from the bonds between
men and for the sake of facilitating
those relationships. In the view put
forth by Hobbes, governments are
formed by individual consent given to
the sovereign for the sake assuring their
physical security. Thus, the relational
chain, rather than giving primacy
to peers’ relationships as seen in the
Lockean formulation, is formed by
an individuated relationship between
the sovereign and the citizen who
legitimizes him. Once the government
is established, all values and actions
necessary to maintaining the security
of the nation are subsumed by the
sovereign.
In the U.S. and Chinese credit
systems, these parallels persist. The U.S.
Credit Risk Score system, born from
entrepreneurship of private citizens,
seeks to increase trustworthiness
between citizens for ease of commerce.
The horizontal, Lockean relationship
is one between peers who consent to a
system amongst each other. As a result,
individuals with low credit scores
retain the liberty to take loans from
persons willing to issue financing.
Following the Hobbesian archetype,
the Chinese Social Credit system is
one instituted by the government out
of concerns stemming from national
security. As such, it is erected between
private citizens and their government.
Thus, while the U.S. system primarily
concerns individual spenders and
private lenders, the Chinese system
considers individuals as citizens in
relationship to their government.
Financial habits constitute a portion
of the behaviors tracked that include
any non-financial private activity
deemed relevant to national policy;
for example delinquency, traffic
violations, disorderly public conduct
are all data points included in the
score. Will the Lockean system and its
inability to account for non-financial
actions prove to be less agile and a
missed opportunity for government
enforcement of domestic policies?
Will the Hobbesian system prove
too restrictive on personal freedoms?
The result is to be played out over
time as the dueling systems renew the
familiar Hobbes-Locke debate on the
battlefield of credit scores.
1) Schaefer, Kendra. “China’s
Corporate Social Credit System.”
Trivium China, 16 Nov. 2020.
the Gadfly / πόλις / Apr 30, 2021
13
�continued from page 7
For the Christian, the republic
can not offer security and freedom
because rather than being subject to
the Christian’s control, it is subject to
God’s control. What then is the duty of
such a citizen, who owes no obligation
to the state directly? Machiavelli insists
that this sense of duty exists, nor am I
inclined to disagree. Indeed, it would
seem that in the case of the republic,
a citizen who made no demands of
his republic would be superior to the
one who, viewing their republic as a
tool for freedom, submitted to that
republic only out of desire for personal
gain.
Machiavelli describes the republic
as aimed at the common good,
since it is ruled by a majority which
suppresses the minority so that all
may enjoy their freedom more fully
than under a tyranny. In this latter
form of government, a minority
oppresses a majority and a smaller
number of citizens (the tyrant and
his supporters) enjoy security and
freedom. It is also the case in a republic
that the greed of its citizens (which
Machiavelli sees as applying equally
to all, regardless of religion) increases
the security and prosperity of the
republic. But contrary to Machiavelli’s
view, the Christian citizen is less
mindlessly pursuant of material
wealth or having a family, and more
so preoccupied with contemplation of
God. Machiavelli criticises Christian
apathy toward politics as incomplete
contemplation of God, especially
if that contemplation is to take the
form of deeds. In the vein of Calvin
or James, every Christian is obliged
to know God through action in every
part of life, and Machiavelli recognises
that politics is a part of life. Therefore
it would be remiss of them not to
glorify God through action. Examples
of such active duty might range from
paying their taxes to serving in the
14
the Gadfly / Apr 30, 2021
FINAL
THOUGHTS
military as their republic called it
forth, since in all of these activities the
Christian recognises that by rendering
to the republic what it claims from
them, they are actually in that way
serving God. Contemplating God
through action in this manner also
distinguishes the two aforementioned
sorts of religion, while reconciling
Machiavelli’s virtue with Christ’s
command. The non-Christian citizen
of the republic acts according to the
commands of his republic insofar as he
trusts his republic will provide security
and freedom to him; meanwhile, the
Christian citizen is called to act in
accord with the republic, by either
conforming to its laws or by breaking
them and suffering the punishment
decreed.
The duty of either citizen, the
one with a religion of exchange or a
religion of gratitude, does not vary
externally; both are to act with the
interest of their republic in mind, since
that interest is one which contains
their common good. The difference
between the two lies internally, where
the citizen with a non-Christian
religion has loyalty when the republic
benefits him. This occurs most of the
time, since the majority-based system
of a republic tends to favour most of
its systems. By contrast, the Christian
citizen finds their own good in doing
good for others, which broadens the
question of common good into a
more Thomistic than Machiavellian
sense. The Christian asks “How can
I love everyone?” rather than the
Machiavellian question: “What is the
minimum of love needed to secure my
personal good?”
�What is the
Polity Reading?
Freshmen:
Euripides, The
Bacchae
Juniors:
Kant, Foundations of Metaphysics of Morals
THE STUDENT
NEWSPAPER
Sophomores:
Calvin, Institutes
of the Christian
Religion
OF
ST. JOHN’S
COLLEGE
Seniors:
De Beauvoir, The
Second Sex
Philosophy and
Politics and
Theology:
Society:
Kierkegard,
Marx, The GerPhilosophical
man Ideology
Fragments
Tocqueville,
Nietzsche, BeDemocracy in
yond Good and
America
Evil
Preceptorials:
Joyce, Ulysses
Beowulf
Arendt, Life of the Mind
Dostoevsky, The Idiot
Aristotle, On the Soul
Founded in 1980, the Gadfly
is the student newsmagazine
distributed to over 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumna of the Annapolis campus.
Continuing the
Conversation:
Below are questions based on the
preceding articles to take with
you into the community:
1. Boathouse Reopens: Where
do you go to think?
2. Dueling Systems: What
would a Hobbesian-like Credit
System look like in the U.S.?
3. Machiavelli on Religion: If
two citizens act in the republic’s
advantage, is either citizen better, if one acts out of selfishness
and the other in service of
God? How can citizens fail to
place the republic as the highest
good in their lives and still be
called good?
Opinions expressed within are the responsibility of
the author(s). The Gadfly
reserves the right to accept,
reject, and edit submissions
in any way necessary to
publish a professional, informative, and thought provoking
newsmagazine.
Submissions sent to the
Gadfly should either be in
Microsoft Word or JPEG
format. The deadline for
submissions is the Friday prior to publication.
For more information,
contact us via email at
sjca .g adfly@gmail.com
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
the Gadfly / Apr 30, 2021
15
�ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
16
the Gadfly / Apr 30, 2021
�
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<em>The Gadfly</em>
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Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.
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The Gadfly, Vol. XLII, Issue 03
Description
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Volume XLII, Issue 03 of The Gadfly. Published April 30, 2021.
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Page, Lysithia (Editor-in-Chief)
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St. John's College
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College students--United States--Conduct of life
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Gadfly Vol XLII Issue 03
Gadfly
Student publication
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20848ef762e13b8b7fe3d591cef0ebdc
PDF Text
Text
Photo by Rose Pelham
�The BAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaadfly
02
The Dreams of Drumpland
I began compiling other
people’s dreams in late 2019, as the
slide into the historical era we have just
exited was becoming inevitable due to
the discovery––by certain politicians––
that even things which are blatantly
true can be contested, if only one bands
together with enough fellow deniers of
reality. With this discovery, it became
possible to justify eliminating the ultimate check against the abuse of power,
by transforming a trial into a political
contest. Consequently, the only check
that remained was that of the following
election, which was to have its integrity
defended by an entirely depopulated
Federal Election Commission, and
utterly no protection against hacking to
speak of, since this, too, proved politically inconvenient. What necessarily
followed could be easily guessed at
by any careful observer of the times,
but nonetheless looked too much like
something out of dystopian fiction for
us to believe what we were seeing.
I compiled dreams until 2023,
when I had to flee the country. With
the recent collapse of the regime, I have
finally been able to publish my collection to be read in its country of origin,
where it should appear early next year.
The following is a set of dreams excerpted from The Dreams of Drumpfland in chronological order, which my
publisher, AK Press, hopes will stimulate interest in my book.
--
The dream of a conscripted
soldier:
I was in the conference room
[of the army base] and “the Miller” ––as
we called him––had come from the
WH to give a very important lecture. A
fellow private leaned over and said to
me: “I’m very shy, but could you ask for
me how many wives does he have?”
Incredulous and a little nervous, I repeated, “How many wives?”
“Yes, that’s the right question.”
At this point, “the Miller,”
carefully feeding wheat into the left ear
of a soldier, which was excreted as a
white powder from the right, overheard
us, and turned to address me, saying, “I
have twelve wives to protect against the
threat of replacement! Do you not have
twelve wives!?”
“I have no wives,” I said,
feeling the snickering gaze of the other
conscripts upon me, as if I alone were
ignorant of some essential fact.
To this he replied: “you are
supposed to have as many wives as
possible! Everyone knows we must be
able to out reproduce our enemies!
It is the destiny of our nation that we
emerge from the deep mines with the
largest population so we may conquer
the Earth!! If you don’t have enough
wives, I can’t guarantee you a place in
the mineshaft when the war comes!
Don’t you want us to out reproduce
our enemies!? DO YOU STAND BETWEEN US AND OUR NATIONAL
DESTINY!?”
At this point, I woke up, terrified I may have shouted in my sleep.
--
A college student’s nightmare:
I was about to take my final
exam, which would decide whether
or not I graduated. I was certain I was
ready for it.
After the customary anti-cheating precautions/rituals (including all manner of searches and warnings against even so much as using your
own watch or seeing with the aid of
your own, non-standard testing-center
issued, glasses) we were told that the
test would begin. But first, we each had
to swear allegiance to the flag, individually, to make sure we were loyal citizens.
One by one, each of my classmates pledged allegiance to the flag,
our leader’s twelve fertile wives, and the
great, heterosexual Marlon Bundo––but
when the proctor reached me, I couldn’t
speak. Gasping, she shouted: “WE
FOUND THE WITCH!”
The testing room was full of
security guards, who each immediately
pledged allegiance to our national trinity, lest they be suspected of my heresy.
I was then taken down the hall
to another room, sat down in a chair,
and given a test on my knowledge of alternative facts. The first question asked:
“which is truer: a) 2 + 2 = 4, or b) 1 + 1
+ 1 = 3?”
--
An office worker’s dream:
The desert militiamen wore nothing but
leather and red hats and drove around
in spiky dune buggies that kicked up
clouds of dust. I could hear them shouting “PEACE ON EARTH! PURTY OF
ESSENCE!” in the distance. It was their
purpose to guard the nationally important deep mineshafts from boarder
infiltration.
All along the way to the
mineshafts, I left bottles of water on the
trail behind me, so I could find my way
back by the spaces they were no longer
in once other people took them. It was
very important to leave bottles of water
on the trail, but I could not remember
why, until I was stopped and interrogated by a block of very cold salt. Then I
remembered and used the warm water
to dissolve the salt and run away.
But the militiamen saw me, for the salt
signaled my location to them in the
agony of its dissolution.
But just then, I caught sight
of my friends, who would help me
escape! (How did I know they were my
friends?!)
I was on the cusp of reaching
them when the militiamen in leather
and red hats caught me.
I was taken down into the
mineshafts to be interrogated. A strange
machine with many wires was attached
to my head, so they could see what
I was thinking. They saw that I was
dreaming, and that in my dream I was
being interrogated by them with just
this machine. They said that was good,
and that I could wake up now, but I
kept on dreaming, which they said was
bad, because I meant I was disobedient.
Then I woke up.
�20
The BaRdfly
largest
New report concludes Johnnies to be
TAM O’SHANTER,
ts
ha
er
pp
da
STAFF REPORTER
consumer of
The results are in – a new report by the
Annapolis Headgear Society concludes
that Johnnies form the core consumer
group for dapper hats. Local hat vendors
described a significant increase in sales
directly proportional to the tuition drop.
As one student noted, “less debt, more
hats.”
Economics aside, however, hat enthusiasts have described an almost spiritual
connection to the cranial attire of the
community.
brimless, felt cap worn in Illyria, Etruria,
Ancient Greece, Pannonia and surrounding
regions.
“Welcome to the only place on Earth where
nineteen year-olds know that,” sophomore
Ray Goolar-Guy said. “Also, I’ve stopped
keeping count of the fedoras.”
Both students and administrators remarked
that hats are at the core of the campus culture. “We really celebrate diversity,” director
Jess Sayin said. “There are pork pies, bowlers, berets, tricorns and even a coonskin or
two.”
“I saw someone walk around wearing
basketball shorts and a Greek helmet,”
This point of pride even holds significance
local hat historian Costard Coverage
in the playful competition between students
said. “I knew I had found home.” Dr. Cov- at St. John’s and the Naval Academy. “A miderage is the author of The Phenomenology of Cephalic Apparel, to be released
by Harvard University Press in Fall 2020.
“We’re intellectuals,” sophomore Prett
Enshis said. “What more is there to say?”
Enshis then launched into a ten minute
oration on the virtues of the pileus, a
Gadfly Publishes News
Article for Once
Spector Cockroach
FINALLY
Graduates!!!
Clad in top hat and festive scarf, Freshman Leo Brooks ponders the
epistemological meaning of Book 1 of Euclid’s Elements whilst smoking a
cigarette.
�Johnnies Anger Gods After Not Pouring Libations From Last Mint Pod On Campus
52
Tutor Spends Entire Class Defending Lifestyle as
Straussian
The BangFly
�The BOOMfly
00
This Actor Had Their Shirt On Wrong the Whole Play! Here Are 10 Other Mishaps You Missed in The
Shape of Things.
sks
Johnnie chairs to be dethroned by standing de
Students vying for a seat at the table
need not fret– soon there won’t be
any to covet. Citing budget cuts and
health concerns about sedentary
lifestyles, college administrators
have decided to do away with the
time-honored Johnnie chair in favor
of…nothing. Or rather, as the marketing team has begun to advertise
the substitution, ‘standing desks’.
Johnnie Air.”
The Student Committee on Instruction has scheduled a meeting to discuss possible uses for the repurposed
chair materials. According to several
students, there is a movement to
indulge the Annapolis Ghost Tour
employees by building a big bonfire
and dancing around it while singing
“Sicut Cervus.”
ASS PERCH,
STAFF REPORTER
“More likely, we’ll probably just save
the wood for a rainy day – or the next
time a dorm burns down,” administrator Sitzfleisch Holder said. “As
for the wicker, an underwater basket-weaving preceptorial could be in
the works.”
“It’s likely we’ll raise the tables to
standing height by stacking old
books from the library underneath
the legs,” financial aid advisor Penny
Cheep-Skeight said.
Proponents of the move to repurpose Johnnie chairs have also referred to Program readings.
“This is what joining the tradition
of questioning tradition looks like,”
freshman Angus T. Yoothe said. “It’s
been on my mind ever since we read
The Upright Posture in Lab.”
Even a few tutors have publicly endorsed the standing desks.
“I mean, Socrates said it first: ‘The
children now love luxury.’ ” Tutor
O’Kay Boomer said. “And what
screams luxury more than a curved
back chair carved from aged cherry
wood?”
Regardless of the widespread approval of the decision, it is clear that
removal of the Johnnie chairs will
have significant cultural impact.
“We’re brainstorming what to rename the student blog,” junior Ba
Tumzup said. “A current favorite is the
Students and the administration are in communication over how to repurpose wood from Johnnie
chairs. According to several students, there is a movement to indulge the Annapolis Ghost Tour
employees by building a big bonfire and dancing around it while singing “Sicut Cervus.”
�The Bastardfly
---
Johnnie Bubble Ruptured
After City of Annapolis Realizes It Exists
“Hey, is anyone reading this?”
“I didn’t know it would end like this”: Don
Rags as Leading Cause of Death at the End of
the Semester
Me
mb
er o
Exp
e
f
r
i
m
Clu
ent
b
al
It’s that time of year! The weather is
crisp, the chocolate is hot, and the
christmas carols mingle beautifully with
the sobs coming from Mellon.
CONTINUED ON PG. 24
Phi
lo
sop
Someone Played
hy
archon was spotted hurriedWhat’s New Pussy- This
ly shutting locking the doors of
McDowell on Saturday mid-party.
cat 10 Times at
Sources say that flashing green lights
and the heavy coat of fog were acnicely affected by the mellow
the Reality Event! tually
mellow tones of Tom Jones. In fact,
some people found that they wantArchons Have
ed to attend a reality party for the
first time. A member of the delegate
was overheard saying, “ FiPlaced the Party council
nally, the school’s money is going to
into Severe Lock- something fucking worthwhile”.
CONTINUED ON PG. 31
down
�The BoopboOp
1
Which Johnnie Aesthetic Are You?
All Johnnies fit into one of four categories. Take the quiz and find out which Johnnie you are. This is about as
accurate as the Myers-Briggs Test.
1.
Do you come to class?
a. In your pajamas 30 minutes late?
b. In your lace cravat 30 minutes early?
c. Drunk/High
d. Only if I have my Fjall-Raven Kanken on hand
2.
How do you meet people?
a. On the quad
b. During class
c. In the coffee shop at 3am
d. On Tumblr
3.
When do you cry?
a. After every tutorial.
b. Once in the middle of seminar
c. Twice coming down from ketamine
d. Watching 500 Days of Summer
4.
Which Book describes you most?
a. The Stranger by Albert Camus
b. The Bible
c. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
d. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
5.
Which Item describes you most?
a. Chipped black nail-polish
b. Chastity ring
c. My Custom Dab Rig
d. Polaroid camera
6.
Thoughts on a higher power?
a. God is dead
b. I teach Sunday School
c. I thought I saw God on a trip
d. I don’t know if there is one, but the closest I have is Jonathan Van Ness
If you got...
1.
mostly A’s, you’re ~edgy~ as heck
2.
mostly B’s, you probably know how to waltz and you came to St. John’s because of the
sophomore reading list
3.
mostly C’s, congratulations we’ll be seeing you on Paca-quad!
4.
mostly D’s, your VSCO feed is excellent, and you probably own too many
plants
�The BAaAAaa
://
Prospies Accept Offer of Admission under Assumption that
Great Books Program Refers to YA
Novels
SCI Forums
Start Servin
g Alcohol
in Bid to Inc
rease Attend
a
nce
The meeting last Wednesday got heated when one student (two Natty Bo’s
in, started yelling at the Committee members about how “We Shouldn’t read
Plato! We Shouln’t READ PLATO! WE SHOULD NOT READ---”
ra,
u
c
s
b
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r
e
m
a
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CONTINUED ON PG. 4
“Well, I just wanted to see if I could see the Forms as Plato talked about them,” said the student. “I
guess the universe just wanted to punish my hubris”. Keep an eye out for this bandaged student, and
try to help out your fellow egotistical johnnie! CONTINUED ON PG. 209
DID YOU FIND THE SECRET MESSAGE? HERE’S
A HINT:KEEP AN EYE ON ALL THE CAPITAL
LETTERS IN THIS ISSUE! THE FIRST PERSON
TO FIND THE MESSAGE WILL WIN A PRIZE.
SEND THE COMPLETED MESSAGE THRU
CAMPUS MAIL TO THE ONE OF THE EDITORS
TO CLAIM YOUR SPECIAL PRESSENT!
�
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Title
A name given to the resource
<em>The Gadfly</em>
Description
An account of the resource
Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
St. John's College Greenfield Library
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
thegadfly
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The Gadfly, December 2019 [The Badfly]
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December 2019 issue of The Gadfly. Special issue: The Badfly.
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Page, Lysithia (Editor-in-Chief)
Berreles-Luna, Athena (Editor-in-Chief)
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St. John's College
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Annapolis, MD
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2019-12
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St. John's College owns the rights to this publication.
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College students--United States--Conduct of life
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English
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Gadfly Winter 2019 Badfly
Gadfly
Student publication
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PDF Text
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THE GADFLY
St. John’s College
Vol. XLII, Issue 01
Annapolis, Maryland
March 18th, 2021
�In Memory of
Those Lives
Lost and Impacted
by the
COVID-19 Pandemic
CONTENTS
Logos
Celebrating Differences................................3
A Tutor’s Perspective....................................4
Administrators Speak...................................5
Invasion of the Mids.......................................6
Drunk Poet’s Society ....................................8
Keeping the Conversation Alive..................9
Summer Petitions.........................................10
D&I Task Force...............................................11
Classics and Liberation...............................12
Silver Linings..................................................15
Symposium
The Art of the Zoom Screen....................16
COVID’s Parallel Lives..............................18
Ctrl + Alt.....................................................20
Writing on the Soul.................................22
Polis
Smoke Without Mirrors............................24
A Look at the Fox..........................................25
Passing Time in a Time of Waiting...........26
Sports with Bryce Jacobsen......................28
How to Name a Boat....................................29
Malcolm and Marie Review........................30
Poetry and Art by Daryl Locke...................31
A Guide to Perfect Communication...........32
Pandemic Ponderings..................................34
COVID-19 TIMELINE:
In the following pages,
we chronicle the timeline of
events related to the Coronavirus
Pandemic as they occurred around
the world (above) and at St. John’s
(below).
2
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
From the Editor’s Desk:
The past year has touched us all. It is difficult to grasp the scale of
what we lost — livelihoods, long-term plans and chance encounters,
time with loved ones. As a school, we were scattered across the globe.
Already, we are beginning to ask ourselves questions which will press
future generations: How do we make sense of such tumult? How do
we heal as a community? How did 2020 change us?
Accordingly, this publication has found a new purpose and
resolve. For posterity’s sake, we have collected narratives from the
past year. For our own sake, we seek the solace of sharing stories.
Through this edition of the Gadfly, as well as subsequent ones, we
aim to build a beacon of conversation.
But no two discussions at the College are alike. The love of learning
that pulses through our ranks is manifest in the myriad subjects of
our chatter — cones, sonnets, time, God — you get the idea. Any
effort to distill Johnnie life must celebrate our dissimilitude. This
publication is thus split into the following three sections:
Logos holds news reports and narratives of immediate
relevance to the Polity. We wish to develop a shared
reservoir of information pertinent to our community.
Symposium offers the opportunity for our readers to
thoughtfully consider contrasting, nuanced opinions
regarding a question or prompt. Like friends who chat
through the night at a drinking party, our object here is
joyful shared inquiry.
Polis serves as a platform for elevating voices. This section
is the freewheelin’ home of columns, cartoons, satire, and
submissions. If you want something published, send it to
us at sjca.gadfly@gmail.com.
In our devotion to the gathering and sharing of words, we welcome
any comments, questions, or respectful dissent. If you’re struck by
something you read in these pages, I invite you to pen a letter. Let us
wander in thought together.
Sincerely,
Lysithia Page
Jan 9
WHO announces mysterious new coronavirus in Wuhan
�{community}
Celebrating Differences
The mission of Johnnies of Color
by Alayna Raymond, ‘23
J
ohnnies of Color is a student
club located in both Santa Fe and
Annapolis. I talked with Annapolis
archon Misgana Sharew (AN22)
about the events of the past year,
including panels she organized: ‘What
to Me Are Your Great Books?’ and ‘A
Panel on White Supremacy.’
Johnnies of Color was in
development prior to June 2020,
but the club solidified after Sharew
organized the panel discussion ‘What
to Me Are Your Great Books?’ She
described how she was motivated by
people’s responses to the political
moment. “I was looking at how, over
the summer, there was an influx of
people learning about what it means
to be a person of color in America,
and trying to educate other people,
but also at the same time trying to be
like white saviors. It felt like, finally,
people were starting to recognize our
problems, but they wouldn’t let us talk
about it. Or listen to us.”
Sharew was frustrated with the way
people were reiterating statements she
and other students had been saying
from the get-go. She saw the necessity
for a space in which students of color
may speak for themselves and share
their experiences. “Our goal is to
empower, educate and celebrate our
differences. Because you can’t only
care for people when you feel sorry
for them. And I personally didn’t
want people to feel sorry for me. And
the people that I founded the club
with also felt the same. We had the
conversation that being Black isn’t just
about, you know, all these horrible
things we can talk about,” Sharew said.
“We have experiences, and we bring
something to the table.”
D
conversations about race are important
considerations for everyone. She
emphasized that all students, not just
students of color, ought to introduce
these topics in discussions.
“I think if there’s anything we
should have learned by now it’s that
racism is a two way street. It’s not just
me, it also concerns you. And this goes
for anything that we talk about–we
have the opportunity, because of the
way we read and the way we’re told to
read books here, to look at bigotry not
as an abstract thing, but just to explore
it because it needs to be explored,”
Sharew said. “And to not do it is
wasteful.”
uring the panel, students
discussed the conversations
that arise around particular books
on the Program. When themes of
racism come up, like in Shakespeare’s
Othello, Sharew said she feels as
though the burden of addressing them
falls to her. Furthermore, she expressed
dissatisfaction with the conversations
themselves. “For Iago in Othello, no
one wanted to say Iago was racist–and
there’s more to that [than] he’s racist.
harew recounted how, during the
Okay, why? What does that mean?
‘Panel on White Supremacy,’ a
What is that kind of prejudice like? tutor said they have been instructed to
What is it rooted in? And where does give impartial treatment to students in
it come from? The conversation need the classroom. She pointed out flaws
not end there.” Sharew added that
continued on page 14
S
Jan 21
CDC confirms first COVID-19 case in US
Jan 23
Three men kill 25yo Ahmaud Arbery while he
is on a neighborhood jog
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
3
�{tutor interview}
A Tutor’s Perspective on Virtual Learning
An interview with George Russell
by Liz Dowdy, ‘23
How did you feel when you found out we were going
plenty of distractions... and so as we just experienced,
online last March?
some toddler can decide they’re just going to walk in
I think I felt disoriented. At first I was pleasantly
on your conversation and it can be very hard for you to
surprised, I thought, “Oh, this is not so bad and
withstand those distractions.
unsuitable as I thought it would be.” But then that first
impression faded, and after time, I thought that some of
my fears about the unsuitable character about doing this *At this point in our Zoom call, the door behind Mr. Russell
online were realized.
opens to a child standing in the doorway.
What fears are those?
Well, all of these technological conversations–and in my Do you personally feel more distracted?
mind ‘conversations’ is in scare quotes–there’s something
I may make a great effort not to let myself be distracted,
lacking when you compare them to just ordinary
but are distractions there for me? Yes. I mean I’m sitting
encounters with human beings, face to face encounters
in a room full of books and every time I look over there
with human beings. I mean, you can have an intimate
I see a book. And yeah, sometimes there are thoughts
relationship with someone, and I’m just using this as
triggered by associations that are made and so on, so sure.
an example, and be with that person, then you can have
an intimate relationship with that person and be with Is it more difficult being a tutor right now than in
them on the telephone. And ask yourself, is being on previous years?
the telephone the same as being with that person? And
I think there’s definitely a greater degree of difficulty, as
I suppose these online classes are closer to being on the
far as the learning enterprise is concerned; yes, because
telephone than [they are] to being with someone. And
I think I know less about what’s going on with students
I think it has to do with a number of issues that people
than I think I did when I was in the class. And I’m not
have talked about; in the fact that here on the computer
completely sanguine about what I know about what’s
I can’t really look at you. I mean, I can ‘see’ this image
going with students when I am in the classroom; but
on my screen and look at it and you can be looking at
now I’m not, so I know even less. I mean it’s very difficult
the image on the screen and ‘see’ me–once again in scare
to know what students are learning. I can’t see inside
quotes–but the fact is that our eyes are not meeting, and
their souls, but when I’m with them I have a better sense
there’s a way in which they just can’t in this venue…
of their engagement, and so on, than I do in the online
thing.
But along with that, and probably more important, is
what happens in the [online] learning attempt… Because, Do you expect or hope that some of the problems with
after a while, it can be hard for people to attend to a online classes will be alleviated by having hybrid classes?
conversation going on on their computer, even if they
Well, I really don’t know what to expect… I mean I think
begin by being involved in the conversation.* After a
that because we all agree that being in a room together
time they may find themselves distracted; and you know
is better than being online, we’re making this attempt to
as well as I do that when you are in your home there are
get people into a room. And I’m sure that the hope is
Feb 3
US declares public health emergency
4
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
Feb 9
Parasite wins Best Picture
�that if it goes well enough, and of course, if the plague
begins to die out, more students will be encouraged to
come to classrooms.
My closing question is about books, and I was wondering
if there has been a specific book, I guess probably a
program book, that you have found to be helpful or
relatable over the past year?
Well, I have sort of thought a lot about the Thebans and
the plagues that visited them and their reactions to the
plagues that visited them. Of course, they thought that
the gods were angry with them and that was why they
were being visited with plagues; because they were doing
things they shouldn’t be doing, like not burying the dead
or something, or not being able to answer the riddle of
the Sphinx, or whatever it was that they were doing. Then
of course, you can’t help thinking about Athens and the
plague that struck Athens, that Thucydides writes about
and that Lucretius writes about, but I don’t know just in
terms of those things being helpful. We don’t care about
gods; we just want an effective vaccine.
Maybe ‘insightful’ is the better word?
I just live with books all the time; we all do, I mean the
tutors do, all the time, all their lives; and the students, at
least for the time that they’re here just living with books.
There’s a way in which a very great part of the significance
to my life has to do with books and whatever I get out of
them. It’s always to me a hard question to answer: Were
somebody to ask, “Russell, why do you insist on reading
these books? What are you getting there?” Or somebody
comes upon me reading some book, “You’re pouring over
this book, what do you want to get out of it? What do you
think that book is going to do for you?” And I suppose,
particularly, I might be able to say something, but on
the whole that’s a very real question, and very complex,
and the answer to it is going to be somewhat complex,
I think. I know it’s not a great answer, Ms. Dowdy, but,
in any case as far as the plague is concerned, I just want
it to be over. I want to be able to just be in a building
where people are walking back and forth to classes, and
in between classes, and being with one another talking
about the books that we read in peace. May it happen.
Administrators Speak
Quotes collected by Lysithia Page, ‘23
In the Beginning
[At the beginning of spring break] I was at the board
meeting in Santa Fe, and a board member refused
to shake my hand, and I thought, ‘That’s odd. Is
that what we’re doing now?
-Macfarland
I think one of the problems we had was that it took
a while to learn how to respond. So, in those first
weeks, I remember having conversations with Ms.
Lico, like, ‘What will the health protocols be, will
you have to wear a mask, washing hands,’ and a lot
of the things we do now were not really imaginable
at that time.
-Macfarland
I was really concerned because so much of the life
of the college involves being together — singing,
playing croquet, having Rachelle Munsey take
people to the museums, that sort of thing. And I
thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, how there’s a whole sort of
piece of student life that they’re not going to get.’
-Waters
On Technology
We told IT, we want to do senior orals online in five
days. And they did it. They got video conferencing
equipment. They set up all the technology, they set
up all the meetings, they trained up all the tutors.
And it happened. I didn’t think the college could
pivot that quickly, and do something it had never
done before - senior orals online, that fast, and, I
think, with relatively few problems. I give a lot of
credit to IT and to the tutors and students that
made that adjustment.
-Macfarland
continued on page 14
Mar 11
WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic
Mar 5
Governor Hogan issues statewide
Declaration of Emergency
Mar 6
SJC presidents send email to both
campuses suspending classes until Mar 30
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
5
�{behind enemy lines}
Invasion of the Mids
Naval students occupy campus over fall
by Linda Bellamy, ‘24
Brennig noted, however, that the themselves with removing dorm
naval’s presence was nonetheless furniture, including doors, and placing
palpable. They chalked it up to their them on the quad.
(Middies) distinct way-of-life.
However, our Naval Academy
“You’re listening to [the Middies] guests weren’t the only ones getting
do their drills as you’re trying to read into mischief. In early September,
or study, and that was very distracting. graffiti consisting of phrases such
Now I think it’s more quiet, and people as “Beware Waldo” and “Waldo has
are more willing to make room because Covid” could be found in and around
they understand [that students are Mellon. The joke referenced how
trying to do their readings.]”
Middies dress the same and are easily
As the Middies’ stay progressed, spotted for that reason. Clare Collins
Johnnies
witnessed phenomena which expressed that she found it humorous:
Joseph Cunningham
rarely occur on campus. “They have “I mean, it looks like Waldo is going
Navy forces take the bell tower
a tradition of dropping a printer in to come for you. Like there is this
nlike many other institutions Bancroft Hall, which is one of their monster waiting for you under your
of higher education, St. John’s buildings. They did the exact same bed...that’s what it looks like to me.” As
housed students on campus during thing in Mcdowell,” Sam Detwiler someone who has friends in the Naval
the fall semester; they just weren’t our (A23) said. Middies also busied Academy, Collins felt that there are
own. The Midshipmen arrived during
the last weekend of August. Johnnies
who lived near campus throughout
the fall were able to frequent most
facilities besides Mcdowell Hall, the
coffee shop, and dormitories. Some
students expressed dismay at the loss of
Mcdowell, a place where Johnnies have
traditionally gathered for freshman
chorus, and met to study.
“[Mcdowell] is kind of the heart of
campus,” Joe Cunningham (A23) said.
“It was a hard trade to make.”
Fall freshman Maya Brennig (A24)
stated that because they had never
experienced “normal Johnnie life,” they
were less sensitive to the abnormality Midshipman posing next to a dor- Midshipmen laying on a dormitory
of the Middies’ newfound residence.
bunk bed on the quad
mitory door on the quad
Mar 13
Police shoot and kill 26yo Breonna Taylor in
Mar 19
her apartment
California first state to issue stay-at-home order
U
Mar 18
President Pano Kanelos announces St. John’s will be moving online for the rest of the semester
6
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
�no hard feelings regarding the graffiti.
“Honestly, I feel like the Mids didn’t
notice or didn’t care. I don’t think that
it was out of any genuine ‘Get off our
campus,’ ” she said.
Still, there were some instances in
which Johnnies felt intimidated by
the Middies’ presence. Sarah Fairchild
(A23) recounted how she and her
partner were strolling through campus
one night when a Middie accosted
them, and told them to leave. “I didn’t
want to start an altercation with
him, but I thought that that was the
strangest thing,” Fairchild said. “The
one interaction I had with a Middie
was him telling me, a Johnnie, that
I couldn’t be on my campus because
they were there.”
“Beware Waldo” graffiti on a stone
bench
Isa Kiedrowski
Apr 2
COVID-19 cases worldwide surpass 1 million
Apr 1
Pano and Mr. Haflidson perform Plato’s Glaucon
for the polity via Teams
Apr 30
Armed protesters enter Michigan state capitol
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
7
�{club chatter}
Drunk Poet’s Society
How a poetry instagram account inspired a booming business
by Alayna Raymond, ‘23
R
ecently I Zoom’d with Sophomore Daryl Locke (A’23)
to learn the story of his business Drunk Poete and
his recently chartered club Drunk Poet’s Society. Here are
some insights:
You can view Daryl’s work
@drunkpoete on Instagram
and drunkpoete.com
art. And I was just like, ‘I wonder if there’s other people
at school like me and her’. Because like no one ever talked
to me about art before, so, in my head, I’m thinking that
only me and her are the art people here, and it’s weird.
So, I talked to Ms. Waters about it, and she said, “Maybe
you should start a club.” And I was lonely at the time. I
just wanted more people to talk to. So, I made a club for
anyone who was artful on our campus so that they could
have a place to come express themselves, and be around
people like them.
So how did the drunk poete business come to be?
[Drunk poete] all started ninth grade of high school.
I’ve always followed little poetry Instagrams, and in
ninth grade we did poetry with Shakespeare. It inspired
me to actually start writing poetry. By junior year I had a
couple of years of just posting poetry on Instagram. But it
wasn’t until the summer that I was just like, ‘drunk poete Has your perspective changed since starting the club? In
is going nowhere’. I saw all these other poetry accounts terms of feeling like you didn’t belong?
where all they do is post poetry and go to sleep after, but
Ironically, I feel like I did not fulfill my mission with
I did not want that for drunk poete. I wanted to make
opening the club. I remember the first big gathering that
money off of my poetry. So, over the summer I started
I had for the Drunk Poet’s Society last year and I realized
working on a website. And so I got the website done and
they were just not my people. I thought that was actually
the next thing you know, drunk poete as a business was
very good, because it’s the first time where I stepped out
in full action.
of the world, the little bubble of DC, and I got to meet
different types of people. And it was so beautiful to see
What do you love about poetry? Why do you gravitate
people of different art genres, and get to know them,
toward it?
and see what their experiences in the art world are like.
I hate to be cliché about this, but it just makes me feel
I remember I used to look at these pictures of Frank
better after I write something. I always say that my mind
O’Hara when I was younger, and how he would have
is like a war, and to get some of that war out of my mind
social gatherings of poets, novelists, painters, singers.
feels so good. And I like to capture it through words.
And I was like, “This is what Drunk Poets society should
It’s just a good feeling honestly. I don’t always feel 100%
be.” It should not be just about trying to bond with
better, but I always feel at least 1.5% better.
people because you’re alone, but instead should be about
different types of people coming together to learn about
How did the club begin? What inspired you to start the
different things.
club?
Around the time I first got here as a freshman, I honestly What’s your reflection on the art world in the past year
thought there’s no one here like me. I thought that it was and how it has changed?
very odd because back at home in DC, there’s Daryls, not
I feel like a lot of people have added rules to their art.
everywhere, but they’re not hard to find. But at St John’s,
I’ve noticed this whenever it comes to people publishing
I just did not fit in, really. And then I met someone who
things. I feel like decades ago, art was like, ‘anything could
was the first person at the school I related to in terms of
be an art.’ But now it’s more like ‘everything has to be a
May 25
Police kill 46yo George Floyd
May 10
Commencement is held virtually
8
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
Jun 6
Half a million people protest in 550 cities across the US
�certain way,’ or the standard of what
people think art is. People have
placed a boundary on their art. For
example, there’s one poetry account
that I used to follow. And they put
something on their story about how
people should stop posting poems
about things like racial justice, and
sex, and queer love — that’s the
reason I unfollowed them, because
saying that is adding a rule to art,
like saying you can’t paint this, or
you can’t use the color red, or you
can’t express.
Self Portrait, 2021
What is your ideal art space/
mindset?
I would say, timing, carelessness,
and selfishness. Every artist should
take those three things and run
with them. Timing because you
need the time to yourself, to get to
know yourself to express yourself.
With carelessness, just don’t give a
fuck what people say about what
art should be, what it should not
be. Just do with your heart and
brain and fingers, whatever the hell
they desire to do. Only accept your
own criticism. And your selfishness,
literally just make yourself number
one. You can take on the world
honestly. And I don’t take my own
advice 24/7, but I think every artist
should try to.
{club chatter}
Keeping the conversation alive
How Johnnies were still able to converse through Zoom
by Linda Bellamy, ‘24
O
ver the past year, members of the
Polity worked to preserve the
Johnnie community in spite of the
obstacles posed by virtual learning.
Santa Fe junior Misgana Sharew
collaborated with Annapolis tutor
Anna Sitzmann to hold a cross-campus
study group on Black literature. “I’m
not sure that I would say that the
virtual environment particularly aided
any other aspect of our conversions
then the mere fact of our being able
to be together, which is huge, because
without that the cross-campus
seminar that wouldn’t be able to take
place,” Sitzmann said. Although the
community was dispersed, Johnnies
continued to seek conversation. The
virtual environment allowed for
Annapolis and Santa Fe students to
casually engage with one another,
which is historic for the College.
Rarely do members of both campuses
come together in a shared space.
Additionally,
Zoom
enabled
students in Annapolis to replicate
the usual post-seminar chatter.
Sophomore Ella Barron established
Symposium club (a “Covid original,”
as she called it.), a bi-weekly Zoom
room where Johnnies can socialize
outside class. Barron fondly recalled
the quirky croquet emails from last
year, and wanted incoming students
to experience the same. “They were
absolutely maddening, and I loved
reading them,” Barron said.
In the absence of the quad,
Symposium has served as a platform
for interaction between upperclassmen
and underclassmen. The topics of
conversation tend to be wide ranging
— “anything under the sun,” as Barron
put it. Her motivation for starting the
club: connecting Johnnies. “Really
no one who is outside the Program
understands what we’re talking about.
I need someone to tell me I’m not
crazy when reading Ptolemy,” Barron
said.
Barron felt that an external social
outlet was necessary. So, she made
a deal with her mom to buy a Zoom
account, and the rest is history. “No
one else asked me to do this, I just did
it. And I feel like even if it’s only been
particularly useful for 30 people, that
much is better than it not existing
at all in my opinion,” Barron said.
“It’s sort of like in class, if you ask a
question, nine times out of ten people
were thinking of that same question.”
Job Conversing with His Friends
1547, Sebald Beham
Jul 9
WHO announces COVID-19 may linger in the air indoors
Jul 1
Pano announces plans to return to campus in August
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
9
�{student politics}
Summer petitions sought policy changes
Students and alumni teamed up to promote reform
by Lysithia Page, ‘23
Isa Kiedrowski
I
n early June of 2020, students and
alumni wrote petitions calling for a
variety of changes — efforts to recruit
and retain more students of color,
higher wages for employees, and a
more diverse reading list.
After having attended several Black
Lives Matter protests, Keaton Jahn
(A22) was wondering how he could
support activism in the St. John’s
community. He finally penned a letter
urging the inclusion of more texts by
authors of color and women. “I don’t
perceive what I did as speaking for
POC students,” Jahn said. “I wouldn’t
want to do that. I was speaking from
my own perspective, you know, which
was like, ‘Hey, look, I think we need to
add these works to the
Program.’ ”
Initially, Jahn meant
to create and submit
the letter by himself.
But he decided early
on to collaborate with
other Johnnies, an
effort which brought
him into contact with
the Santa Fe Black
Student Union. By
Jahn’s estimate, 95%
of the letter in its
current form consists
of suggestions from
alumni and other
students.
A member of the
Polity shared Jahn’s letter in the “All
Work No Play Makes Johnnies Dull”
Facebook group. Zachary Gold
(A17) saw the post and decided
to draft a similar document, albeit
with the intention to galvanize more
alumni. In addition, Gold wanted to
pursue what he described as “more
actionable items” relating to campus
culture. He joined forces with Lauren
Bouchereau (SF), and with the help
of students and alumni, the petition
became a group effort. Their requests
included the establishment of a
panel on Diversity and Inclusion, a
committee to investigate complaints
of discrimination, and a paid student
advocacy position to assist in talks
between individual students and
administration or faculty members.
With information from the
2017 Senior Prank archons, Gold
conducted an analysis of graduation
rates for students from different racial
backgrounds. In his year, the retention
rate for white students was 71.17%,
which exceeded the total retention rate
— 65.69%. By contrast, for American
non-white students, that number
was 41.67%. Though the particulars
fluctuate from year to year, the rate of
attrition for students of color remains
disproportionate.
The disparity in matriculation
between white and non-white students
is not lost on the administration. “If you
do look at the graduation rates, then it
seems to me not wrong to surmise that
some students don’t feel comfortable,”
Dean Joseph Macfarland said. “And
so I think it’s worth trying to figure
out what those reasons are, and worth
trying to do something about it.”
On Aug. 8, Presidents Mark
Roosevelt and Panayiotis Kanelos
announced new initiatives which,
in the language of their email, are “...
aimed at increasing diversity, equity,
and inclusion on both campuses and
in our academic life and readings.” The
initiatives listed in the email include
the following: a program that matches
Pell grants offered to low-income
students, training for implicit bias and
cultural literacy, and the formation of
Aug 9
Mass protests against new authoritarian leaderhsip occur in Belarus
Jul 31
Plans to return to campus are cancelled
10
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
Aug 24
St. John’s announces that the USNA will be
using our dorms for Middies
�two task forces to address inclusion
and historical awareness.
Since its inception in 1937, the
Program has undergone substantial
change. About fifty works have been
discarded from the reading list; no
longer do students read Bonaventure
or the Volsunga Saga. Likewise, about
thirty books have been added since
that time. According to Macfarland,
the Instruction Committee has given
much thought in recent years to the
contents of senior seminar. “One of
the observations that is made — and I
wouldn’t say this is universally held —
is, at the time that the New Program
was founded, the Program came up to
the present, and it doesn’t do so now,”
Macfarland said.
The most recent substitution was
the replacement of a text by Henry
James with Simone de Beauvoir’s
The Second Sex. But Macfarland
emphasized that such decisions
result from a thoughtful, years-long
process. Faculty members form study
groups, and present suggestions to
the Instruction Committee. Students,
meanwhile, take preceptorials, and
hold forums in the Student Committee
on Instruction. The two committees
meet 1-2 times per year to share their
perspectives. Change comes to the
Program gradually, as each text has its
advocates.
“In some respects, the reading
list works on the lifeboat principle,”
Macfarland said. “If you pull someone
out of the water and put them in the
boat, and there are only so many seats
in the boat, somebody’s got to go back
in the water.”
{investigation}
Diversity and Inclusion Task Force
Improving an institution through inclusion
by Alayna Raymond, ‘23
T
he Diversity and Inclusion Task
Force (D&I) is a group founded
by the St. John’s Board of Visitors and
Governors. The Task Force, according
to the St. John’s website, aims to
examine “whether there is more we
can do as an institution to ensure that
the college is a welcoming place for all,
while preserving the uniqueness of a
St. John’s education.”
The Task Force is split into multiple
subcommittees. First, the survey
committee developed the survey that
was sent out to students, faculty, and
alumni earlier this year. An executive
summary of the survey results is
expected to be released in the first
week of April. “[The Task Force]
put together a survey that we hoped
would not only allow us to address
race, but address all the other things
that intersect with race, and that have
come up as comments over the years,”
said Dr. Leslie Kay, leader of the Task
Force. Once the survey committee
dissolved, members moved into other
subcommittees.
O
ne of the subcommittees
concerns
policies
and
procedures. Director of Student
Services Taylor Waters, a member
of this group, is researching other
schools’ methods for strengthening a
culture of inclusion, and promoting
access to resources for students. Kay
expanded on the committee’s duties:
“See, if somebody has an issue, what
happens? Who do they talk to about
what happened? How are departments
in the administration run? And how
do they intersect with students? So
really getting a bird’s eye view through
lots and lots of interviews with people
on both campuses.”
There is also the recruitment
subcommittee, which is crafting
recommendations regarding the
development of a more diverse Polity.
Dr. Anika Prather (AGI ‘09) says she
is analyzing “how we can make the
student body, the tutor body, look
more colorful, or have more people
that at least believe in being more
colorful.” “I’m not a person trying
to deny that there is systemic racism.
Okay, I am just as militant as you want
to be. My role is to say to you, ‘You’ve
got to try this place. It’s not what you
think.’ And to also share thoughts on
how I can help St. John’s communicate
that to the public.”
Once all of the subcommittees
have finished their work, the Task
continued on page 14
CONTACT
Contact the D&I Task Force at
taskforces@sjc.edu
If you want to be anonymous in
your feedback, fill out a form on
sjc.edu under the ‘Task Forces’
tab of the Board of Visitors and
Governors page.
Oct 2
President, First Lady test positive for COVID-19
Aug 28
The formation of a “Diversity and Inclusion
Task Force” is announced
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
11
�{Questions & Answers}
Classics and Liberation
Q&A with Dr. Anika Prather (AGI ’09)
by Alayna Raymond, ‘23
I
n September, Dr. Anika Prather gave a lecture titled ‘A
Discussion on Black Lives Matter and the Role Classics
Played in the Fight for Equality.’ A few months later, I met
with Dr. Prather to further discuss her academic journey,
what liberation means to her, and how her work has
culminated in The Living Water School, which she founded
in 2015.
Dr. Prather earned her B.A. from Howard University
in elementary education. She also has an M.A in education
from New York University and Howard University. She has
a Masters in liberal arts from St. John’s College and a PhD in
English, Theater and Literacy Education from the University
of Maryland. She founded the Living Water School, which
uses Classical Education and the Sudbury Model, which
allows children to experience an independent and thoughtful
education through autonomous learning.
story connected to it just as much as anybody else’s. And
so I found that my students were able to see the same
thing without me telling them. They’re shocked and say,
“Oh, this is like about me. I can really relate to this for
my own self.” They didn’t see in the books — especially
those from the ancient times — they didn’t see the racial
problems that we have. It didn’t feel like white supremacy
or racism, it felt like he’s just talking about the human
life experience. So this experience made me say, “I wish I
could sit under someone who has done this longer than
I have.” And I literally just put in a search for teacher
training and great books. The whole field was completely
foreign to me. I had no idea what I was looking for. And
then the Great Books Foundation popped up. And from
the Great Books Foundation, I found St. John’s.
I was working on my doctorate, focusing on researching
great books in the Black community of classics, and in
the summers, I would do St John’s. And then I would
design my curriculum for the high school, around
whatever I read at St. John’s, so I could keep practicing
what I was learning. And then I would write notes, make
observations, and do research, and I just did that for four
years. So every essay [for my doctorate], every paper,
every class, I was writing about St. John’s, or great books
and Black people, and the history of Black classics.
How did you get involved in the classics?
I just finished my Master’s in theater education, and
was really looking towards how to use the arts to
educate — that’s where I thought my destiny was. I’m
really passionate about performing arts, performance
and visual, but my degrees are in theater and music,
education. But what happened was, I had to go into one
of the great books classes to help a high school teacher How did you use your experience in academia to found
make it more engaging for the students. I used music and the Living Waters School?
drama to help them connect to it. And that’s what got
Howard was the first and only HBCU with a classics
me into reading classics, because I had to read them to
department when it was founded just after the Civil War.
plan the lessons and it was a totally organic process. Well,
It was founded by a man who fought for the union. And
after one year of doing that, I became really addicted to
he was head of something called the Freedmen’s Bureau.
classics, and great books, and all of that whole body of
His name was General Howard, and it’s named after him–
knowledge. And I know it’s controversial. But when I
Howard University. He had a real heart for the African
read them, I didn’t read them as if they were white books,
American people. He started Howard University. And
or books that were just about white people. I really
he started with a classics department. Howard, and the
found the human narrative in it. And I found that my
Freedmen’s Bureau, was an organization mainly of white
Dec 11-17
Multiple COVID-19 vaccines receive emergency FDA approval
Nov 19
Pano announces plans to reopen for spring
12
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
�people who felt like they wanted to help Black people
who had been set free be educated. And the philosophy
they used for the schools they set up throughout the
United States was classical, every single school — so
Howard University, St. Augustine’s college, a lot of our
HBCUs that were founded under that.
A lot of people look at the story of the Freedmen’s
Bureau, and the story of classical education in the Black
community, as an effort to make us assimilate and/or to
deny our Black heritage. And in some cases, that is true.
There are a number of Black people that did use classical
education as a way to escape their heritage — to deny
themselves. I mean, you hear stories of [people getting]
this classical education, and then [they] call their own
people derogatory names—look down at them. I
don’t want to act like that did not happen. Sadly, that
happening has made people fail to see something else
happened as a result of classical education, which is very
important. So these people also got a classical education,
like Thurgood Marshall. Our classics department is
kind of like a monument to that. It’s just very global, it
believes in studying classics of belief, but you learn how
it connects to your history as a Black person, not just
‘that’s their stuff,’ and not in a way to deny your heritage.
And so, when we think about those who came out of our
university, who had that classically inspired education,
you find people that gain some logic skills, rhetoric
skills, and humanistic understanding to make change
in our society. And so I take that, and that’s interwoven
in my school, that mentality of St. John’s, and Howard
University, kind of stirred in a pot together to create the
Living Water School.
What do you think makes Classics liberating for African
Americans?
I think the best example is Frederick Douglass because
he teaches himself to read. The book he mainly read as
a child was The Columbian Orator, which was the main
textbook used back then. When he got the book, he was
still a slave. So there were no schools for Black people.
But it was a main textbook for white students. So like,
Jan 6
Trump supporters storm US Capitol
Dec 15
Spring semester health restrictions, including
restricted smoking areas, are announced
it’s the same, like Harriet Beecher Stowe read it as a child.
Somehow he got his hands on it. He had already taught
himself how to read. He was about 12-13 years old. In it,
he read this dialogue between a master and a slave. And
he studied the logic of the slave convincing his master
to set him free. And when he read it, a couple of things
happened. One of them was that he was like, ‘This slave
is a human being. This slave is a slave like me. This slave
was able to convince his own master to set him free.’
So what Douglas became encouraged about was, ‘I’m
human, even though the world and society says I’m not,
even though I am a slave in my mind, I have set myself
free, I am a human being. And somehow I’m going to
get free. And I’m going to do what that slave did, I’m
going to convince white people to let enslaved people
go.’ Then you have Huey P. Newton, who was inspired
to start the Black Panther [Party] as a result of reading
Plato’s Republic. So, you know, anything can be misused,
people misuse the Bible, and people have misused classics
to say we’re not smart, we’re inferior, that this body of
knowledge, you know, reflects how much smarter they
are than anybody else. But then you got people who
were steeped in the classical tradition. They read those
texts, and the texts had a very different effect on them.
Those are the ones we want to focus on. Because if we
don’t focus on them, we’ll allow this negative side to
make us discount what the books can do, what the body
of knowledge can do. And there are just too many Black
people and white people, all types of people who have
read these texts, and have done amazing, powerful,
meaningful things for our country. And that’s where we
need to place the focus.
W
hile our conversation delved into many facets of her
career, I was not able to cover them all in this article.
I encourage readers to re-watch Dr. Prather’s lecture and
her other work on Youtube to learn more about her journey
with the classics.
Jan 13
Donald Trump is impeached for the second time
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
13
�continued from page 11
Force will come together to formulate
recommendations based on their
findings. Kay expressed the possibility
of some rapid changes, while others
may take place over a long-term
timeline. “For instance, if we were
to say, okay, we want to have a more
diverse faculty, well, we can’t just hire
a bunch of new people, right? Because
we don’t have that many positions to
hire, there aren’t that many positions,”
Kay said.
The necessity for patience seems to
be a shared sentiment among members
of the task force. Prather believes that
among the five institutions of higher
education she has attended, St. John’s is
conducting the most concerted effort
to address concerns and make change.
“It’s going to take time, and my prayer
and my hope is that everyone will
be patient with that process, and be
willing to work through that process,
and that people won’t take the journey
personally, or that people won’t take
the fact that there even has to be a
journey personally,” Prather said.
continued from page 5
On Virtual Classes
I’m immensely proud of the
students who stuck with it. I did
teach a preceptorial in the fall,
and got at least a small taste of
what it was like to do the classes.
It didn’t have the natural feeling
that it did when we were around
a table, but I felt like we were
taking the work seriously, and
I meet with the Instruction we were doing the work of the
Committee - you know, tutors - college in this less than ideal
every week during the year. But medium. And the persistence and
we don’t meet over the summer. the dedication, I think it made
And we met almost every single not just me, but all the tutors
week over the summer discussing who observed it, feel good about
how classes would be conducted, the college. So long as it’s only for
a time only.
what the conditions would be,
-Macfarland
and learning about the proposed
health protocols, thinking about
On Health
how we could conduct classes
safely. There’s never been a “Health-wise, smoking might go
away,” Dugan said.
group of tutors that has worked
that hard in that way, over that “Well, diminish,” Macfarland
interjected.
period.
-Macfarland
On Figuring It out
A lot of what I’m doing is reading
the most up-to-date information,
and making decisions based on
that information. Knowing that,
by the time we communicate that
decision, the information will
have likely changed.
-Lico
14
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
in this statement: “Yeah, it works. But
you also have to acknowledge when
we step out of that room, you and
me don’t have the same privileges or
the same opportunities or the same
experiences. And I think it’s unrealistic
to sit there and pretend like we do. Yes,
in an ideal world, that would be nice.
But not acknowledging the difference
is not going to get us anywhere.”
In the final leg of the interview, I
always ask my interviewees what they
want students to know. Sharew went
on to discuss a misconception related
to Johnnies of Color:
“I wanted people to understand,
especially during the summer, like
with all these petitions and everything.
When people were talking for us, it felt
like all we wanted was like anarchy, like
we wanted to tear the school down.
And none of us personally wanted to
do that. At least everyone that I know.
And everyone that was on that panel
was involved in writing, not a petition,
but just a letter to the administration,
and signed it from all of us. Everyone
that worked on that didn’t want to tear
the school down.
Sharew referenced a line from
an essay by James Baldwin: “I love
America more than any other country
in the world, and exactly for this
reason, I insist on the right to criticize
her perpetually.”
“I like the school. I think all of us
do. That’s why we’re here,” Sharew said.
“It’s not that we hate the school, but
asking me to sit there and just say how
great it is isn’t going to solve anything
and isn’t going to help me or you.”
Feb 15
Winter storms cause widespread power outage
across Texas
Jan 20
Joe Biden takes the Oath of Office
Jan 31
Virtual Convocation is held
continued from page 3
Feb 4
Spring semester begins
Feb 10-11
Students begin moving in on
campus
�{Community Check-in}
Silver Linings
Benefits of online learning
by Dagny Kulkarni, ‘24
Z
oom, Microsoft Teams, isolation,
endless boredom, masks, nasal
swabs, the end of the world as we
know it: all things we associate with
online learning. But, just as behind
every pandemic is a vaccine, behind
every cloud is a silver lining. Our
community has been brought together
through a distanced, but shared
experience. We have learned how to
navigate the online world, created
new ideas and solutions for remote
learning, and been able to experience
the advantages of learning from home.
The freshman class, having started
Johnnie life online, has been able to
transition more easily into a unique
curriculum.
W
e share the memory of being
thrown into the new, alarming
territory of online learning, not
realizing that our last day of spring
break was, in actuality, our last day
in-person of the school year. For
some, this collective experience has
apparently eased the transition to oncampus life.
Freshman Allyson Brink reflected
on her experience of her first inperson classes at a college with such
a close-knit community: “I’m really
glad I’m going to St. John’s online,
and not another college online,
because I think our classes have been
able to transition much more easily
than any other school probably has,”
Brink said, further explaining how
the camaraderie between Johnnies has
eased the transition from online to inperson.
However, there is one factor that,
at least for some students, made the
transition from home to campus
somewhat difficult: the comfort we
became accustomed to when taking
classes from home. Rolling out of bed
ten minutes before the start of class
and logging into Zoom while rocking a
pair of pajamas is a luxury one can only
relish in with online classes. Freshman
James Dormer reveled in said luxury:
“It was a special kind of fantastic to be
able to just toss on a hoodie and go to
class.”
Tutor Robert Druecker commented
further on the convenience of remote
learning: “I found it easier to schedule
paper conferences and seminar orals…
it’s very easy and the students have
been much more available and willing
to meet on almost any day,” Druecker
said.
Furthermore, for many freshmen,
beginning college in an online format
has proved useful in allowing them
to better understand the curriculum
without feeling the pressure of inperson classes. Dormer provided
further insight into this, stating that
“It did provide a nice ramp-up period.
Not knowing what I was missing,
never having had an in-person St.
John’s class, it meant that I was able to
Mar 1
Pano announces he will not seek an extension
of his contract as president
figure out what the workload was and
how classes worked from the comfort
of my own home, which took a lot of
the pressure off,” Dormer said.
The students who transitioned from
in-person to online halfway through
the year experienced the initial
process of navigating the online world.
According to Junior Kyla Murphy,
who offered an insight into this,
maneuvering through the uncharted
territory of Zoom and Teams “leveled
the playing field” and left the tutors
just as confused as the students. “For
some tutors, this confusion inspired
childlike wonder, and we were able to
dive into the class with no resistance
to any creative accommodations we
might need to put in place, because, at
least in one sense, we were all coming
from the same place,” Murphy said,
describing how the class dynamic
allowed for really engaging discussions.
Druecker commented on how
being online can reduce the levels of
stress and anxiety that students tend
to experience in person, explaining
that his students seem more relaxed
during orals or don rags over Zoom
because of the impersonal aspect that
being online provides. “I think that’s a
positive thing because the less anxiety
and nervousness you feel, the more
freely your mind works and new, fresh
ideas pop up,” Druecker said.
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
15
�The Art of the
Zoom Screen
Sophia Webster, ‘24
Who we are in the classroom has changed over the past year. It is difficult to hold steady when one’s
personality and temperament are at stake the moment the unmute button is hit.
You may ask, “What’s new?” Insecurity runs rampant in the young adult mind, even more so in
academic circles. Some texts we read, like the Phaedo, can lead to existential anxiety. Particularly at
schools with an intense academic setting, such as St. John’s, it is difficult to avoid comparing oneself to
others. Students hyper-fixate on aspects of their appearance and speech that go unnoticed to anyone
other than ourselves. Social media is a known toxic place that only makes this cycle worse. These qualities
are consistent with the Gen-Z stereotype. We are a collective of anxious adolescents — the products of
recessions, new technological dependency, and national terror. It is surprising to come across a young
person who holds a healthy relationship with themselves.
With the advent of virtual learning, adolescent insecurity has evolved into an artful monster. It is all
the more difficult to cultivate confidence. Some people become obsessed with their literal self-image. For
example, the touch up my appearance option introduces a new standard for clear skin. Mild blemishes
enlarged in the Zoom screen become eye sores. “Johnnies are always vain… it’s just giving us more of an
excuse,” Noah Gorman (A23) said.
We now know exactly what we look like when we’re thinking, speaking, and breathing. We make
gestures to elucidate points, and make pointed attempts to curate ourselves. I find myself meticulously
composing my thinking face to make it seem like I have a thought more valuable than the one actually
in mind. I must make my thought process be a Pollock painting of eye-movements, nods, and sighs. My
lighting must lend me a radiant glow, my background must make me seem likeable and cool, my clothing
and hair must fulfill my expectations.
Zoom transforms candid expressions into meticulous portraits. As a result, students miss valuable
points by focusing on the fatigue under their eyes, over-exposed lighting from the afternoon sun, stray
hairs, and disturbances in the background. Sharing ideas becomes laborious, even if you were passionate
about the reading beforehand. “Zoom has made me overtly aware of my appearance and how others
perceive me … I feel less like my organic self,” Ranna Kiswanni (A24) said.
Though Zoom can impede good conversation, at least it’s a known evil. I’m immensely scared and
excited for the necessary adjustments of in-person classes — no longer will I control my thinking face.
We’ve all become so accustomed to online classes, even the psychological toll of seeing ourselves for
several hours per day. In the absence of our portraits, how will our conversations change? When you
enter those sterile hazmat tents for in-person class, will you mourn the loss of your reflection?
16
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
�Art by Erin Allen
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
17
�I
could not help but ask. I wanted to
know what he really thought. The
five-minute interview for a substitute
teaching job, with the imposingly tall
and warm assistant principal of the
high school, was running its course,
and I was curious—I’m always curious,
and I like striking a personal note if I
can:
“How do you feel about where this is
all going?”
“Honestly?” he said, “I’m scared.”
The twenty-five-year veteran
of education had just led me through
three floors of hallways so sanitized
they sparkled like teeth in a toothpaste
commercial. He greeted every student
we happened to pass (there weren’t
many) with warmth. He knew all their
names. We came to a vacant classroom
and sat down six feet apart.
COVID’s
The January snow fell quietly outside.
“You know, we’ve never
seen anything like this. We’ve never
had to do anything like this. Things
had already changed, what with the
implementing of Google Classroom
and such, but now? School is not the
same. And I don’t know if it will ever
be.”
He told me he fears for his
students’ development. He did admit
that, in fact, some students seemed
to be doing just as well as they were
before, and some maybe were even
getting ahead, and that even further,
with Google Classroom and the
digitization of learning, the kids
almost run the show themselves now,
they’re so savvy. But he was afraid
still, for all of the kids, for schools as
we’ve known them. He felt that their
social development—like hallways,
hands, and everything else—has been
sanitized too, and that this was not
18
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
“How do you feel
about where this
is all going?”
good, even for the kids who seemed to
maintain themselves academically, let
alone the kids who have actually taken
a turn for the worst.
And I felt for him. We
seemed to share something in
common. I could see myself in him,
in his position. I could imagine, for
someone so extroverted as himself,
who has managed to carve a noble,
honest life out of the raw blocks of his
character—an enthusiasm, and that
peculiar warmth productive of growth
known as charisma—that this whole
situation would be the proverbial
rug from under the feet. Enforced
space. Obscured faces. Mazes of taped
arrows. Hallways emptied. Once full
Parallel
of energy, now not.
Feeling follows personality.
It made sense that he should feel that
way, considering the way he was. Meet
people where they’re at. I lost my job
when the pandemic first hit in March—
furloughed—but I felt relieved. I was
working in coffee, at a great company,
but I wanted something else. I wasn’t
in the right place. I had been lost in
food service jobs in the years after my
undergraduate. They were easy to get.
But what was easy to get then became
hard to get out of. Time grinded. I
always felt myself to be somewhere else.
The lockdown freed me up, halting the
rolling stone. I felt a chance. That’s
how I found myself dressed business
casual, interviewing to sub.
“Honestly?” he
said, “I’m scared.”
Though we shared some
element—because I genuinely sensed
him, understood him—I was unlike
him in that he had already carved
himself out when this whole thing hit,
while I was still being carved out. And
I didn’t like that I was, but that’s how
I was. That’s where I was at. Maybe
this isn’t just personality, maybe it’s
disposition, or rather position, but the
personality is where we read the event,
how we interpret it.
For what it’s worth, if you
want to get paid to do your St. John’s
reading, start subbing. I had zero
students the other day. Someone
maybe caught COVID (the secretary
wasn’t even sure), so everyone in
contact with this English class was
quarantining. Every hour with the bell
I lifted my eyes from Plato’s Republic
to the empty classroom so I could mark
everyone absent. Meanwhile, Socrates
was asking Glaucon if he realized
Lives
Alexander Andreosatos, GI’22
that the four or five types of political
constitutions were just the crystallized
personalities of the people themselves.
Whichever personality predominates
“tips the scales,” and the others are
dragged kicking and screaming.
It’s a shame when the
personality becomes the event, when
the personality is the event. No one
understands each other. The introverts
think the extroverts are dangerous
because they aren’t kissing the floor
of their apartment like they are, like
someone lost at sea, sticky with salt,
who finally and unexpectedly makes
land. And the extroverts think the
introverts are crazy for finding solace
somewhere more private than the
grind of nine-to-five. Everyone just
wants their life.
�Don’t you give
someone
their
parallel life when
you
understand
them?
The snow kept
falling outside
the classroom.
So slow, so constant,
so quiet. A giant wet
blanket. One thing
covering everything.
Winter is only fair
because we have
summer. But I love
the winter. I love
the snow. I love the
deep air that follows
it. And above all, the
intense winter blue.
Lycurgus blanketed
his city with new
laws. What happens
to people when
something so new,
so singular, happens
to them, and it
changes
them?
New laws make
new people. Who
will be the new
people made from
these new things
that have befallen
us, from these new
things that we’ve
had to do? Will we
understand
each
other? Will we feel
each other? Will we
give each other our
parallel lives?
Digital Art by Elizabeth Dowdy, ’23
“Lex” is a noun in Latin, taking on the nominative
singular form. When translated to English, it means “law.”
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
19
�T
he Republic warns us to take care, for we often do not 250150 possible moves. Like the Breakout code, AlphaGo
know where our laughter leads. Nearly one year ago, was programmed with a singular objective, win. However,
the threat of death became all the more present in our minds in Game Two on the 37th turn, AlphaGo far exceeded the
and in the air and, in response, we rushed into our homes simple objective of winning and instead played a highly
and away from a world where a distinct lack of control stylized move, one calculated to have a 1:10,000 chance of
asked from us was a price too high to pay. There, we found being played by a human. At first, the move was thought
ourselves opposite screens, ranging from person sized to to be a mistake. Only over time, was the move understood
quarter sized, each offering refuge in a digital world where to be a part of a complex strategy. Sedol, when reflecting
our need to interact could be sated without us relinquishing on the game, remarked, “surely AlphaGo is creative. (2)”
control of our immediate environments. Zoom satisfied the Once again, the “innovative” move displayed the emerging
need for space to meet our neighbor, Netflix became the creative capacity of AI algorithms (3).
local theater, and Amazon reopened the corner market. But
To continue this conversation, it is incumbent upon me
why stop there? When we come to the agora in code, why to offer a definition of creativity. I believe creativity occurs
not reap the benefits?
in the making of something that is innovative, in that it is
To its hundreds of millions of customers, Zoom offers new, and meaningful, in that it is either important or useful.
the mute and stop video buttons, which allow us to choose According to this definition, a child’s drawing may not be
the parts of ourselves we desire to transmit. Meanwhile, creative to a stranger who finds it along a road. However,
on Netflix, we continue to form
to a parent who pours meaning
relationships with characters who
into the work, the “newness” of the
DIANA VILLEGAS GI‘22
will never leave the stage to reenter
drawing, in that it has never before
our world and where they might
existed, coupled with the meaning
even invite us to utter our own lines.
imbued upon it, in that it is deemed
In Amazon’s online market, we
to be of sentimental importance
run no risks of unwanted personal
or of decorative use, satisfies the
encounters. In this world where
conditions that make the drawing an
pixels are proxies, each new feature
artifact of creativity.
commodifies control by bringing new
Arguments critical of a computer’s
comforts to the market. But what
ability to be creative commonly take
occurs when the desire for control
AI and Our Impulse to Control one of two forms. On one hand, it is
extends into the human relationship
said that a computer executing code
Creativity
with creativity?
is not creative: by merely executing
In the spring of 2015, research
predetermined instructions it fails
scientists from Google’s DeepMind project unveiled an AI to be responsible for the output. Instead, the coder is said
algorithm capable of besting professional human play in to be creative in the literal act of writing new code and in
Atari’s beloved 1970s game, Breakout. The algorithm was embarking on the project, thereby implicitly deeming it to
given the objective of increasing its point total to win the be of use or import. On the other hand, it is commonly said
game, but not relayed any instructions relating to the game’s that if an algorithm were to generate outputs at random,
mechanics. After 240 minutes of gameplay, the algorithm making it more closely involved with the formation of
not only was able to play and beat the game, but it created a something new, the mass of outputs would lack meaning in
winning strategy that was unknown to the very developers the absence of a human or computer’s ability to label them
who crafted the code (1).
useful or important.
One year and one month later in South Korea,
owever, according to this definition that bases
DeepMind chose to test its AI algorithm, AlphaGo, in a
creativity on newness and meaning, both the Atari
live match against eighteen time world champion Lee Sedol Breakout and AlphaGo algorithms are indeed creative.
in a best-of-five round match of Go. Often heralded as the In the former case, the algorithm, through reinforced
hardest board game, the game of Go is played on a grid learning, taught itself the rules of the game and developed
where stones of two opposing colors, each representing an a new strategy that was unknown to the developers and
opponent, are laid in a battle for territory. The game has the game itself at the time of the code’s initial execution.
Ctrl +
Alt:
H
20
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
�The algorithm then, without the intervention of humans,
ascribed meaning to the code by identifying its usefulness,
denoted by its decision to employ the strategy it deemed
valuable in each successive game.
In the latter case, AlphaGo played a novel move that
befuddled expert commentators who were ready to label it
an outright error. The algorithm ascribed meaning to this
move in choosing the single play out of a constellation of
options, deeming it useful in achieving its objective.
Even if my argument that AI is already indeed creative
fails to persuade, technology companies are nonetheless
pursuing AI algorithms capable of authoring their own
creative acts. Thus, we are left with a situation akin to
Pascal’s wager, which creates a betting matrix between
positive or negative human action and a not yet knowable
outcome that may lead to infinite rewards or endless
drawbacks. In the case of AI and creativity, if AI algorithms
prove capable of creative acts we can either expect to see
innumerable benefits or unthinkable losses both stemming
from this desire to remove creativity from the human realm
to the digital where it can be controlled. If technology is
never able to achieve such a decoupling, then we will have
engaged in a futile thought problem at no cost or benefit
to ourselves. Thus, we must consider the possibility of AI
delinking creativity from humans, if only to be a bit over
prepared.
The looming creativity of AI offers humans control
of a relationship never before subject to our wills. For
all of history, mankind was held captive to the caprice of
creativity. With no promised timeline and no set formula,
inventions were the result of happenstance and the state of
men’s souls. Just as aristocracies were more likely to produce
great thinkers who took advantage of the leisure afforded
to them by their stations, societies capable of meeting the
existential needs of their citizenry were able to allow those
citizens to turn their excess energies towards creation.
However, AI offers a divergent path to creativity, one that
makes no demands on a society’s standards of living, and a
path that need no longer linger in uncertainty and hope for
the next creation.
The divorce between creativity and the environment in
which it is born stems from a desire for control. Civilizations
may not have to wait for the next great invention to arrive
with societal shifts, the labors of men, or the careful
cultivation of their minds. Rather, AI offers ownership over
code that is ignorant of the regime it serves and does not
require that physical or mental needs be met. In a potential
devaluation of societal conditions, ever-fewer needs of an
AI can more easily be catered to by a disordered system that
values output over process. In the worst case, a society may
no longer see freedom of thought as a necessary condition
for creative outputs, as AI algorithms meet the economic
demand for creativity without making such demands of
their own. As we entertain ourselves on Zoom, Netflix and
Amazon, and reap the benefits of creative AIs, let Plato’s
words serve as a reminder to heed where our laughter leads.
footnotes
(1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y. 2:45
(2) Ibid., 52:27
(3) “The Google DeepMind Challenge Match”
Deepmind, deepmind.com/alphago-korea.
Isa Kiedrowski
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
21
�Writing on
the Soul
By Joseph Padgett, ‘23
T
he soul, in addition to being
the highest part of the human,
is the most eternal; for it is not our
bodies that Jesus will judge, but souls.
Since this is the case, the activities of
the body should be understood as
coming from the soul, and as essential
to the soul, as fruit is essential to a tree.
Now Paul says that works will
not save us; our natural human activity
occurs during time, and is therefore
finite, but finite things come from the
infinite (as a segment comes from a
line, or creation from its Creator). So,
when praising or disparaging some
human action, we implicitly recognise
the source of that action. Even when
we see no connection between the
source (the person) and their activity,
the question we ask about that person
is “how could they do such a thing?”
In this way we recognise something
infinite from which we act, which I am
calling the soul.
Over the course of our lives,
we act, and the source of these actions
is an overflowing of the soul. My soul,
for example, overflowing with the
source of music, drives me to sing, to
play, to listen, and to compose. We
might call this property “musicality,”
since the result of this overflowing, this
abundance in me, is music. The soul is
not however of one type of activity,
so accounting for all the abundances
which manifest our activity is difficult.
What abundances, what overflowings,
result in me reading my seminar book?
An abundance of time, maybe, and
abundance of love for the college, for
22
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
my fellow seminarians, for my tutors,
for Dante, when we were reading his
Comedy, and so forth. The soul is
therefore both manifold and unified;
the soul always acts at once, and mixes
whatever is in it into one course of
action.
This is nice and well when
people act decently and kindly, but
when they act horribly, out of character
as one might say, what is the account?
How can someone who, at all other
times seems good, act badly?
The soul is like a vessel, since
it is acted on from the outside through
the body, and the soul modifies its
constitution around the external acts
it undergoes. Thus there is evil in all of
us, since we all have undergone or been
affected by evil.
Now it is a bit of a leap to
claim that by mere exposure to evil,
we ourselves are evil; yet it can not
be ignored that however autonomous
we might wish to see ourselves, we
can not alter anything that is past. We
may only act because of the time that
came before us, since every object we
interact with and every thought we
think has its precursor in the past. I
could not live my childhood in poverty,
because my parents were moderately
wealthy, and likewise I grew up in the
singular set of conditions that I grew
up in; I cannot escape the fact of these
conditions, and if any evil was among
them, then I was raised upon this evil,
and my soul has received it. It is not
within my power to think as if I were
poor, or Norwegian, or grew up on a
farm, and likewise I must pursue God
blind to all those things which I am
cut off from. Likewise my life involves
my acting proudly, and my responses
to my pride; I cannot live as if I were
never proud, since the current state of
my soul has its source in my response
to my pride, and in my pride.
How can the soul become
faithful then, if pride and its ilk are
still within the soul? I would first
clarify what I said earlier, that the soul
will be judged for faith. Judgement is
over what is good, but since human
activity is an over-pouring of what is
within, and evil is within the soul, it
is impossible for the soul to become
good without changing what is within
the soul. Furthermore, since the evil
within the soul is a source of human
activity, it is essential, so it cannot be
removed by internal means. Rather, it
often is the case that people who start
doing evil end up even more evil, as if
they somehow increase the evil within
themselves by pouring it out.
In this case then, the soul
must seek something external to itself,
if it is to pour forth good things; the
source of good in human activity must
come from somewhere else, so that
the source has its own source. What
is good in the soul comes not from
the soul then, but from something
greater, which is God, and the process
by which it comes is faith. The faithful
soul therefore is one that recognises
itself, as containing evil and unable to
remove it, but also one seeks goodness,
through the death of Jesus, who took
upon his soul all the evils in our own
soul, that our souls might instead be
filled with good, which we might pour
out abundantly in all of our activity.
“How can you speak good,
when you are evil? For out of the
abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaks. The good person out of his
good treasure brings forth good, and
the evil person out of his evil treasure
brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day
of judgment people will give account
for every careless word they speak, for
by your words you will be justified, and
by your words you will be condemned.”
(Matthew, 12:34-37)
�“How can you speak good,
when you are evil?
For out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaks.
The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good,
and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
I tell you,
on the day of judgment people will give account
for every careless word they speak,
for by your words you will be justified,
and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matthew, 12:34-37
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
23
�{johnnie life}
Smoke Without Mirrors
Burning one down when everything is already burning down around us
by Daniel Nathan, ‘24
Frantic, psych-ward white, snowjets flurry to the ground, burying
beneath them the once grassy patch of
mud behind the Campbell parking
lot. It’s not quite blizzarding outside
—to be honest, it’s not even close—but
the sheer volume and intensity of the
snow squall is impressive to one such as
myself, accustomed to the mild winters
in Georgia.
Gazing out a third floor window, I
count five people smoking—semi-circled
up together, shivering and chatting—
all braving the onslaught. The cigarette
smoke floats, softly drifting and sinking,
carried along by biting, billowing
winds, as the clouds of smoke bloom and
then eventually disperse. I recoil at the
thought of stepping outside, headlong
into the cold-shouldered embrace, to
join in for a cig. I imagine with a wince,
having to get all bundled up, beyond
any reasonable conclusion, just for the
momentary, ephemeral pleasure of
puffing on poison. . . .
. . . I then immediately go and join
them. What else was one to do?
P
rior to arriving in Annapolis, I’d
heard chatter about the recent
removal of the ashtrays that were once
scattered around campus. For some,
the ashtrays were a St. John’s staple,
and their absence was felt, but for
those working at the school the process
seemed to be a cumbersome and laborintensive undertaking, not to mention
being just one more precautionary
expense, in a long line of others. The
implications tangled up in the policy
change-up sent a signal, lighting the
proverbial smokestack and blowing
the horn. This confirmed, for many, a
24
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
shifting tide of opinion and attitude
within the administration’s outlook
toward tobacco use on campus,
conjuring up images of a drab, smokedeprived campus, tinted grey in our
post-pandemic future.
“We had to get rid of those ashtrays
this summer. I couldn’t lift them
myself and nearly broke my back,
heavy as hell,” one maintenance
worker recounted to me, with a wry
half-smile. “They turned out to be too
much for just two or three guys to get
out, so eventually we had to bring in
a crane and rip them up out of there,”
he said, somewhat sympathetically, his
voice tinged with an air of mourning,
as I lit a fresh cig, standing under a
bevy of ghoulish storm clouds, dusted
by sleet.
At first, I didn’t think much of
smokers being confined to just one
relatively open, if not inviting, area to
go. I reasoned that it could be worse, at
least it’s not one of those shoddy and
crudely put together sections that are
usually just tucked away somewhere,
shamefully. As far as smoking sections
go, they fairly reasonably tend to be
designated in some grime-infested
back alley, often with broken glass
and unidentifiable, if not scientifically
intriguing, smells. The Campbell lot’s
grass/ice/mud patch would surely
do. But the longer I’ve been here, the
more reliably often I would hear gripes
and groans about the new restrictions,
mostly from returning students not
expecting the change in smoking
policy. This new cordoned off smoking
zone seemed, by many accounts, to
reflect a sea-change: sure, a minorly
inconsequential shift that would
probably prove to be, at most, a mere
inconvenience. Still though, there felt
Joseph Cunningham
a shift in the school’s thinking all the
same.
Now to head down a different vein,
shouldn’t the school’s current social
distancing measures already be enough
to allow all pedestrians on campus, at
a given time, plenty of space to keep
6 feet apart from any potentially
unmasked smoker? And plainly, yes,
burning one down, a stoge or bogey
or a dart: this smoking of a cigarette
inherently requires one to remove
their face covering and had the school
retained its laissez-faire attitude on the
issue, others would’ve been put at an
unacceptable and unnecessarily high
risk. In my own verbiage, I see the
campus Health and Safety measures
as put in place and enforced, not as
a balancing act between the scales of
convenience and safety with a dash of
donor appeasement, but rather as to
provide--for both students and staff-the greatest extent of safety, security,
and well-being, as well as the lowest
risk of COVID infection, and most
consequentially, to make appropriate
use of every tool available to prevent
unmitigated spread.
Yet still, the specific timing of this
policy change-up does, however, spark
up some level of curiosity and might
�even raise valid notes of skepticism.
For instance, during these hellscapeplague times, wouldn’t constricting
the area where people are allowed to
smoke, in effect only serve to corral
people and promote concentrated
gatherings?
One possible approach that might
help smooth the sometimes rocky
transition back to campus life would
be to simply designate multiple areas as
smoking sections, spread out across our
own 36 acres. This prospect also found
near unanimous support among those
student-smokers that I spoke to on
this topic. Implementing this strategy
would not only deter unnecessary,
unsafe gatherings and congestion, but
could also work to cut down on the
more social type of smoking, as well
as, saving time for those who live or
may be coming from far-flung corners
of campus.
Within the polity though,
some opinions differ, spanning the
entire spectrum—but mostly from
ambivalent to unaware. On the new
smoking section, January Freshman
Avery Lehr told me, handling an
American Spirit, “It’s pretty annoying
but I guess it makes sense . . . wait
a second, no it doesn’t—whatever.”
This sentiment seems to sum up
much of what I’ve heard amongst
the smoking population at St. John’s:
an unholy concoction of wishywashy feelings and general confusion
about what anything so subject to
upheaval is supposed to mean. The
mainlined disruption of this past year
has relegated smokers-rights issues
to the bottom of the laundry-list of
concerns—a sentiment I agree with.
The questioning, the poking and
prodding, should still carry on, but
the widespread upheaval of 2020 (and
now 2021) rerouted priorities; a good,
safe education still places high on
the leaderboard; the whereabouts of
cigarette consumption just might not.
{close encounters}
A Look at the Fox
Noah Hale
A
round midnight, walking down
a snow-shoveled Gloucester
Avenue on my way back from campus,
I see a four-legged spot trot across
the road. Cat—dog—neither—but a
red fox, glowing orange in the dark.
And only moments after it slips away,
another one runs across the road.
If you’re skeptical, be up and about
around dusk or dawn—chances are
you’ll encounter one either on or off
campus. Foxes usually live in packs
(called “skulks” or “leashes”), and if
you see one, you can try to look for
more. You can also leave your window
open late at night and try to listen out
for their sharp gekkering. A native
species to Maryland, they aren’t a new
company. However, more recently, red
foxes have adapted to living in urban
areas. The garbage-piles lined along
the streets of Annapolis have been a
boon to the scavengers, and because
of the lockdown they probably moved
in closer to the downtown where there
was once more foot-traffic. They’ve
become minor symbols to the area—
the namesake of Old Fox Books, a
bibliophile’s sanctuary, and Fox’s Den,
a delicious addition to Main Street.
But they’ve also now become an urban
myth.
There have been numerous
sightings of foxes on our campus,
especially on the back lot by our side
of College Creek—unsurprisingly,
since foxes burrow their dens—and
there’s plenty of wide-open, unused
ground back there now—but they’re
always unexpected, always disguised
among a thousand squirrels and birds
and tourists and Johnnies. They’re
characteristically pointy triangularears and bushy tails would stand out
among the rest of the wildlife if they
weren’t nocturnal.
Stereotypically, the fox we know
is sly, villainous—a trickster-god-infurs—and maybe it’s true. Perhaps
soon they will outright outnumber
our tiny polity—perhaps they already
do. Perhaps it’s inevitable that they will
soon run across campus as bold as they
do across the empty traffic lanes now,
biting their way through our cliques,
swallowing the freshmen whole. For
now though, try and look for them—
or maybe let them look for you.
Sofe Cote
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
25
�{album anniversaries}
Passing Time in a Time of Waiting
Britt Lamson
I
n times of uncertainty, we find
reprieve in things we find beautiful.
Music is one such source of beauty,
and so I present to you a few pieces
that have significant anniversaries this
year:
Perry & Kingsley
The In Sound from Way Out!
Released 1966
55th Anniversary
Esperanza Spalding
Emily’s D+Evolution
Released 2016
5th Anniversary
Esperanza Spalding
Emily’s D+Evolution
The 5th album of acclaimed modern musician Esperanza
Spalding, Emily’s D+Evolution is a funk-fusion jazz
concept album about the thoughts and ideas of Spalding’s
alter-ego character, Emily (taken from her middle name).
Heavily inspired by the psychedelic funk rock of groups
like Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s, the album
brings the style forward into the present with soulful,
impassioned vocals, soft harmonies, and emphasis on
piano and the upright bass, all with current studio
production techniques. Highly recommended for anyone
who wants a thoughtful album that also grooves.
26
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
Perry & Kingsley
The In Sound from Way Out!
An early piece in the development of electronic music, The
In Sound from Way Out! was a project made during the
fruitful but short-lived partnership of Jean-Jacques Perrey
and Gershon Kingsley, both of whom were each influential
to electronic instrumentation and studio techniques. This
early piece showcases a lively inventiveness and playfulness
with original compositions and reinterpretations of older
classical pieces. This collection follows early electronic
music’s space-age inclinations as from Delia Derbyshire’s
creation of the Doctor Who theme’s electronic arrangement,
and hints at the style and success to come with later albums
such as Wendy Carlos’ Switched-On Bach. It is highly
recommended for anyone who wants a fun, poppy listen.
I
hope that you have
found or recognized
something that you
love here and that joy,
comfort and beauty
come to your heart in
listening to these pieces
of music.
�Andrew Lloyd Webber
The Phantom of the Opera
A performance that remains popular to this day,
Andrew Lloyed Webber’s musical adaptation of the
classic The Phantom of the Opera hit the stage in
1986. Utilizing many of Webber’s signature stylistic
choices, the soundtrack is a bombast of clear pop
sensibility: big orchestral backing and synthesizer
organs, the clear, soaring voices of the cast , in
addition to elements of opera as the source material
alludes. A fantastic listen for anyone who wants
to hear a great story, and to be swept away in rock
opera grandeur.
Frank Sinatra
The Voice of Frank Sinatra
The very first album released in the long and storied
career of Frank Sinatra, The Voice of Frank Sinatra
is an early showcase of Sinatra’s vocal chops before
he would hit his career’s stride a few years later.
This album was released before the adoption of the
standard 12” format by record companies for LPs,
and thus contains only eight songs in its original
release, though other recordings have been added
on subsequent re-releases. Highly recommended
for anyone who fancies a crooning voice over a
good swinging tune, this album is a showcase of
standards sung by a youthful singer maturing into
an identifiable icon.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
The Phantom of the Opera
Debuted 1986
35th Anniversary
The Allman Brothers Band
At Fillmore East (Live)
Capturing the vibrancy and spontaneity of a live recording,
At Fillmore East captures a tight-knit band at the peak of
their youth in a live outing wherein they let the reigns of
improvisation take over—jamming with soaring, swinging
solos and rearrangements of pieces. Tragically, later that
year, Duane Allman—group leader of the band—passed
away in a motorcycle accident. The band became popular
and continued to record and play, but this release is the
only live recording from that period. Available in multiple
editions, this album’s original release was a double LP
with seven extended songs selected from the two nights
that they played full concerts at the Fillmore. Re-releases
and expanded editions include more of the full concerts.
I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a soulful
experience with a variety of musical moods, from rollicking
to relaxing.
Frank Sinatra
The Voice of Frank Sinatra
Released 1946
75th Anniversary
The Allman Brothers
Band
At Fillmore East
Recorded 1971
50th Anniversary
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
27
�{sports by bryce jacobsen}
Freshman Bodies and Freshman Souls
Submitted by Chris Krueger
{the following list is reprinted from a 1982 issue of the Gadfly}
The reasons, both physical and metaphysical, why everyone ought to become involved in our sports program are many.
I list a few:
1. We have the best athletic program of any college in
the country.
2. Exercise is good for the body... unless you sprain an
ankle, or something like that.
3. Most of us feel better, are more alert, and can get
more work done if our bodies are healthy and our souls
relaxed.
4. Friendly competition is one of the really fun things in
life. It is good for your soul.
5. Your circle of acquaintances will be greatly enlarged.
This is good for the soul, provided you can separate the
wheat from the chaff.
6. You will learn to accept, and bear with, thousands of
split-second decisions from the officials, a few of which
are wrong. This is very good for the soul.
7. Do you like to strive for, and achieve, specific goals?
If so, consider our College Blazers. They are much
sought after, and the pathway is clearly laid out. Striving
for goals is good for your soul.
8. It is probably true that more pure fun occurs in the
athletic program than in any other area of the college.
Fun is good for your soul.
9. If you get involved in team sports, and become a
“good team player”, you have realized that there are
things in the Universe that are more important than
your ego. That is good for your soul.
10. The benefits of exercise and friendly competition,
learned while one is young, should be maintained for
the rest of your life... i.e., they should become habitual.
For virtue, as the Philosopher said, is a habit.
11. You will get to know numerous Alumni, Tutors, and
Staff members who participate in the program. This is
good for your soul, or ought to be... provided that they
are the proper sort of role models.
12. Our showers are the best at the college; always
plenty of hot water.
13. Are you bothered by, or worried by, tobacco fumes
in the air? Come to the gym. The whole building is a
nicotine-free zone.
14. If you perform some sort of heroic deed on the
athletic field, your name will be mentioned in our
weekly column. Heroes are always acclaimed. But do
not be carried away by this. Remember that “the paths
of glory lead but to the grave”.
15. A high percentage of our best students are active
participants in our program.
16. Those who play, stay.
17. The gym is not particularly well-equipped, as gyms
go. But it has washers and dryers, and a coke-machine...
and I will explain to you, if you ask me, how you can
get yourself in tip-top physical shape, without any
equipment at all.
18. You can sit in an old-time barber’s chair in my
office... you can pump yourself up or down, and adjust
the slope high or low. Where else can you do that?
19. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.
20. It is better to light a candle, than to curse the
darkness.
So there you have it... twenty good reasons why you should participate in our athletic program. If you are not convinced
by all this, come and talk with me... I can probably think of some more good reasons. Or better yet, talk with the
upperclassmen. They will tell you all sorts of strange, interesting and wondrous things.
Bryce Jacobsen
Director of Athletics
The Gadfly - September 9, 1982
28
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
�{dialogue}
How to Name a Boat
Joseph Padgett
Kudanonaus: My friend, I’ve gotten
myself into a bit of a predicament; I
bought myself a beautiful ship, but I
don’t know what to name it!
Diokaisthetes: And a worthy ship
ought to have a worthy name?
Kudanonaus: I do, but I don’t see how
a ship could ever be worthy enough to
Diokaisthetes: You finally got one bear a virtuous name, something like
now? Hmm…didn’t you make a list of Illustrious. How could it be known
noble names to choose from, that you to be illustrious, before it was named
sent to me?
that?
Diokaisthetes: So you want a name
which that Elean stranger might say
describes the ship “in its very being?”
Kudanonaus: That would be perfect, if
it were possible!
Diokaisthetes: Shall we commence the
categorising?
Kudanonaus: Diokaisthetes, friend, I Diokaisthetes: Are you saying that
did, but now I’m not so sure whether such a name is deceptive?
they’re any good.
Kudanonaus: Most likely; it would
Diokaisthetes: Shall we go through be better to give such a name after the
them one by one then, just to be ship was illustrious, rather than before
sure? Adventurous, Alacritous, Auda- when it was unproven.
cious…?
Diokaisthetes: So you can call your
Kudanonaus: Stop! You’ll take forever, ship illustrious later, when she has
and besides, I don’t like any of them shown you something, but for now,
anymore, as I said.
what will you call her?
Kudanonaus: But that would take
forever! And also it would be difficult, and long. Where would you even
start?
Diokaisthetes: So what’s wrong with Kudanonaus: Something would be fitthem, that you liked them before, but ting?
don’t now?
Diokaisthetes: How about Unproven?
Kudanonaus: They aren’t fitting, Diokaisthetes.
Kudanonaus: Very funny. But surely
you won’t deny that I ought to give it
Diokaisthetes: They’re not? They one name for convenience’s sake? I call
would all be fitting qualities in a per- my cloak “cloak,” regardless of whether
son.
it keeps me dry or not. I’m not going
to start calling it Unfaithful after that
Kudanonaus: It’s not a person I drenching I got on Sunday.
bought, but a boat!
Diokaisthetes: True, true. Say, doesn’t
Diokaisthetes: But didn’t you say earli- your ship have a name already, after a
er it was a ship?
fashion?
Kudanonaus: Imagine if someone suggests a silly name?
Kudanonaus: Well I guess I misspoke, Kudanonaus: Does it?
calling it a boat, but all the same; a ship
and a person are not the same, and Diokaisthetes: Surely it has a builder,
naming a ship after a virtue seems like and with that a number?
lying, or asking for trouble at least.
Kudanonaus: Are you suggesting I call
Diokaisthetes: But you do think your it Naucrates Five?
ship (or any ship) is still worth naming.
Diokaisthetes: Was it not Naucrates’
fifth ship?
Kudanonaus: Yes.
Kudanonaus: But it’s my ship too.
Kudanonaus: I’ll think about it a bit
more Diokaisthetes, there must be
something I can call it, but I’m not
sure right now.
Diokaisthetes: Well if you don’t like
that, we could just ask around.
Kudanonaus: That seems like the
worst idea yet!
Diokaisthetes: Why? Pray tell.
Diokaisthetes: Well, what does it matter if someone suggests a ridiculous
name?
Kudanonaus: I don’t like the idea of
a ship having a ridiculous name, Diokaisthetes. Ships are dignified objects.
Diokaisthetes: Well unless you’re going to name it Earl, or some person’s
name, which you won’t even do, since
your ship is less than a person; I don’t
see what you can do.
Isa Kiedrowski
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
29
�{movie review}
Malcolm and Marie Review
Hope Taglich
Title
Malcolm and Marie
MPAA Rating
R
Director
Sam Levinson
Starring
John David Washington,
Zendaya
Runtime
1 hr 46 mins
ASHLEY:
What’d she say?
SAM:
Well, she says John David and Zendaya
are great.
come across as pretentious and poorly
written. Pretentious and poorly
written, my ass. I know you know who
Ida Lupino is. You know who probably
doesn’t? The fucking white girl from
The Gadfly, man.
ASHLEY:
That’s true.
ASHLEY:
She’s never liked your work, though.
SAM:
What’s next….she says she likes the
soundtrack…..oh! That’s it. She says
that it’s emotionally hollow. She says
that it’s “Dollar Tree John Cassavetes.”
Now, why is it that she has to compare
me to John Cassavetes? Is it because
I’m white? Tell me, why not the next
Kathleen Collins? I doubt she even
knows who Kathleen Collins is.
SAM:
I don’t give a fuck. Netflix paid me 30
million dollars for this shit.
What It Is:
Sam Levinson’s black-and-white
drama stars John David Washington
and Zendaya in the title roles. He’s
a filmmaker who relentlessly spars
with his failed actress-turned-model
girlfriend after forgetting to thank
her in a speech at the premiere of his
seminal film (which is partially based
on her life). Meditations on race,
artistry, authenticity, love, and abuse ASHLEY:
ensue.
I don’t know who Haile Gerima is.
What We Think:
(The scene is in black-and-white. SAM
LEVINSON is aggressively eating
Kraft mac and cheese, reading some
of the reviews for his latest film on his
phone. Suddenly, he sees something
that displeases him. He calls out to his
wife. According to Google, her name
is Ashley).
SAM:
Ashley!
SAM:
Now, she’s saying that the arguments
feel contrived after a while. But isn’t all
of cinema contrived? Cinema doesn’t
have to be real. It’s about what you do
with reality.
ASHLEY:
Right.
SAM:
And she’s saying that Malcolm’s
(ASHLEY slinks into the room in a monologues went on for too long?
Yves Saint Laurent dress).
Isn’t that the point of cinema, too? To
stretch the meaning of time? Time is
ASHLEY:
essentially fluid in film, baby. I hate
What is it, Sam?
these dumb-ass critics trying to flex
their college degrees by saying that
SAM:
they know who Ida Lupino is, and
The white girl from The Gadfly wrote therefore Malcolm’s monologues
this dumb-ass review of my movie.
name-dropping different filmmakers
30
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
(ASHLEY smiles and sighs with
affectionate exasperation. Slow fadeout as Sam Cooke’s “Soothe Me”
plays).
My Grade:
C-, I really wanted to like this movie. I
counted the days down until its release
on Netflix. I am an ardent fan of the
“couple yelling at each other” genre,
and I had heard that Sam Levinson’s
newest piece begged comparison to
John Cassavetes.
Cassavetes, sweetie, I’m so sorry.
It is well-acted and handsome but
has the emotional depth of an “Am
I the Asshole” shitpost on Reddit.
Both characters are markedly
unsympathetic, despite the actors’ best
efforts. Despite their lack of likability,
they are not human enough to be
antiheroes. This is a fake movie about
fake people with fake emotions. It is an
effective showcase for Zendaya–as well
as for Washington, my future husband,
for whom I will make a decidedly less
dry plate of mac and cheese someday.
However, it is not an Oscar-caliber
auteur piece; it just plays one on TV.
�{art}
Poetry and Art by Daryl Locke
Daryl Locke
Patron
Devil in my head
Please take a seat in
the garden of slumbers
I need to leave you like deadbeats
And go to the next hole in the satin
I must not grow how tulips do in pipes
And hear sad jazz only when one is being martyred
---
I must think in silence
Shoo devil, shoo
Symposium Seminar, 2020
--FAITH
What am I without you? A name without its first letter? I can not possibly see myself as
godlessness. The word itself is an illustrious conviction. The meaning itself - trust,
loyalty, and belief - Is reliable. I am one of piety. The letters themselves - faith - stick
together Please be with me forever. You are what makes me temperate. You are the cause
of my dreams.
--continued on page 33
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
31
�{satire}
A Guide to Perfect Distant Communication
During Covid-19
Rose Zhang
C
ommunication is essential. As the etymology suggests, communication
comes from the word “communicare”–the Latin root which means “to
share.” We share our lives, knowledge, and feelings to build up relationships and
communities. Especially in our current state of physical distancing due to the
pandemic, we are reminded of the significance of communication since it limits
our socializing life to distant communications such as texting, emailing, or video
calls. However, with the growing use of distant communication, people disregard
the fundamentals of communication, some have even taken horrible approaches
towards it, nullifying its purpose and causing unamendable detriments to
significant relationships. So we shall briefly cover a few but very important
guidelines in distant communications for maintaining and strengthening
relationships.
One.
Take your time.
Although
the
growing
industrialization praises accelerated
lifestyle, “the faster the better” is a
misconception. In the well-known
Aesop’s fable — the tortoise and the
rabbit — slow and steady wins the
race. Replying hastily can result in
typos, miscommunication from empty
words, and incoherent thoughts. To
avoid these, we must take enough
time to read and analyze the message
32
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
and deliberate the response cautiously
and meticulously. Consider ignoring
the messages completely to enhance
the outcome. While this may come
off as rude, it is nevertheless the apt
action to take when we aren’t sure how
to respond or there isn’t any time on
hand because we’re baking bread or
preoccupied with contemplations.
And with the time we have been
granted, we should learn how to utilize
it to the best extent. Therefore, take
your time when responding.
Two.
Decline calls.
Since texting is extremely time
consuming, people often resort to
calling instead. However, this is the
most common mistake we make.
Calls are obscure, we never know the
recipient’s body language nor their
facial expression. With the absence
of these significant indicators in
communication, miscommunications
and misunderstandings result, things
we want to avoid greatly during this
time of the pandemic. Calling reduces
the quality of communication, as
the idiom says: quality over quantity.
We must remember frequent calling
does not equate to firm relationships.
So decline calls, or more specifically,
either forget or bail out on meetings
when it’s possible to maintain quality
communication with people.
Three.
Patience.
In both waiting for a response,
whether that may be a text or a call,
and reaching out, we need patience.
We must have patience in waiting for a
response, understanding the responder
is merely trying to optimize the
communication experience by waiting
for the perfect timing to respond. For
example, when your “What’s up text”
is left unreplied. Fret not. They are
waiting for an exciting event to happen
that they could respond entertainingly.
Also, we need to have patience in
reaching out, only reach out when
there’s a need. Initiating conversations
over the internet can easily incite an
endless cycle of overthinking and
anxiety. Additionally, we reach out for
frivolous talks, which should be saved
�for future face to face conversations.
While it could make the recipient
less lonely by reaching out, we must
remember that most are enjoying
this rare isolation and we should
all minimize interruptions of their
enjoyment. By having patience the
recipient will know surely we are
getting in touch because they are
useful. And people enjoy being helpful
and useful to others, as it bestows
upon them a sense of purpose. It also
helps us; as we reduce the frequency of
reaching out, it mitigates our anxiety.
Most importantly, having patience
ensures us to give enough personal
space for our loved ones. Thus, have
patience.
Last but not least,
Confidence is the key.
Confidence is the key to success,
no exception in communication.
One fatal mistake people often
make is excessive apologizing. While
the main objective for apologies
is to remedy mistakes, sometimes
people apologize beforehand to
indicate their uncertainty of their
action. Uncertainty is the enemy
of confidence, and all indication of
uncertainty must be avoided at all cost.
So do not apologize, but rather act like
it never happened when confronted
with the accusation of declining calls
or ignoring text messages. There’s no
need to mention all the late replies
and missed calls. For mentioning
them distracts people from the
actual conversation and reduces our
confidence in choosing the healthy
decision for communication. We do
not need to start the conversation
apologizing or asking for a convenient
communication time. Simply hang
up the call at your own convenience,
or leave your recipient on read
at any time. People are drawn to
confidence, and therefore despite
most of the socializing being virtual,
this confidence will strengthen the
relationships and draw people closer
to us over the screens.
Other than these rules, one last
important thing to remember during
COVID-19, no to socializing, yes to
distancing. I hope we all stay safe and
best wishes as you apply these tips to
your distant communication.
continued from page 31
Self Portrait, 2021
--Picture of Griffin
Picture me
Dandyish
I am sweet
Poems
In the afternoon Under a setting sun
Interrupting
Chaos silences when I’m near
War
If not blooms
I make the
Lilies cry
Love
And I make the sadness
Die.
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
33
�Isa Kiedrowski
{music}
Pandemic Ponderings: Music Listeners, Artists and
the Industry
Britt Lamson
T
he pandemic has affected
everything, and the arts are no
exception. This era will continue
to influence multiple facets of the
recording industry for years to come:
how artists create music, how it is shared
through avenues of performance and
within the music industry, and how
the listeners interact with pieces.
Like many aspects of life right
now, it is hard to determine what
exactly has happened and describe
it in speech; nevertheless, we can
attempt to pinpoint some aspects with
observation and reflection.
Although
recordings are a
relatively recent innovation, they are
ingrained in the ways we understand
and interact with music. Being able
to capture and listen back to music
has changed dramatically over the
years, from the humble beginnings of
the wax cylinders to their adoption
for recording music; through the
development of shellac records to
vinyl; magnetic tapes to cassettes; and
34
compact discs into modern, digital
audio compression on computers. And
that’s just considering all of the ways to
obtain and own pieces of music, and
most of them are physical!
Nowadays, we deal in the aether of
streaming. No longer need one hope
that a song comes on the radio or
overhead speaker at a grocery mart,
or arduously search for a copy to buy,
or hang around with a friend who
has it just to give it a listen. There are
exceptions, of course, as some pieces
have yet to enter the digital realm.
But oh, do I digress! It’s so easy to get
caught up in the fascinating historical
details that one forgets our broader
inquiry — to examine past and present
trends in recorded music.
Now, to listeners’ great luck,
streaming services have become
popular and convenient over the past
decade. For the most part, our ability to
access new and old pieces alike remains
unchanged. The availability of pieces
in particular formats, however, varies
by medium. For example, because CD
sales are declining in the United States,
it is difficult to find pandemic-era
albums in that format. On the other
hand, vinyl records remain steady and
albums have continued to be issued,
though most sales have been through
websites directly from the artists and
their labels.
The process by which artists
collaborate to create, record and
produce music is changing. Most live
performances have ceased since the
onset of the pandemic. Some, however,
Isa Kiedrowski
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
�are resuming as safety restrictions ease
up. In this drought of live shows, many
artists have released recordings of old
concerts as albums and videos online,
and streamed performances from
home. Many recent symphonies have
been presented via live-stream, for
example.
For many artists, production
has transferred from the industry
studio’s designed sound-space to the
basement office’s natural acoustics.
Collaborators
and
bandmates
continue to brainstorm ideas, create,
record, produce and share music by
e-mailing, messaging, and calling one
another to piece everything together.
These new communication methods
preserve the creative process.
Album sales, both physical and
digital, have decreased, while streaming
has skyrocketed. The greatest current
challenge for the industry is the
waiting — no one likes to sit on their
laurels, but the least commotion
breeds the least trouble. For the most
part, the industry has been quietly
shifting its efforts to online promotion
of new releases. Albums continue to
drop, albeit more slowly, with fewer
new releases per week.
But I am only an amateur listener
— I am no music industry veteran and
I am not a professional recording artist
or performer with a home studio. If
anyone here at St. John’s has more
experience with these matters, I would
love to interview you to hear more
about your personal experiences and
thoughts going forward on music, or
thoughts on recent pieces (you might
even appear in a future article!)
For now, while people are cooped
up during this crazy pandemic, the
music plays on. It sustains us—listeners
and musicians, all music lovers alike—
through all times. While popular
practices of music production and
listening change, our passion remains.
To close, I leave you with a quote from
a song:
“Everything changes, it all stays the same”
– Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead,
from “Love Me Forever” off of the
album 1916
Cory Henry performs an NPR Tiny Desk Concert from home with drummer TaRon Lockett for the
winter holidays, 2020.
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
35
�THE STAFF
MANAGING EDITOR
Alayna Raymond
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Lysithia Page
LAYOUT BOARD
Cooper Ussery
Nathan Martin
Diana Villegas
STAFF REPORTERS
Alexander Andreosatos
Britt Lamson
Linda Bellamy
Daniel Nathan
Elizabeth Dowdy
Joseph Padgett
Isabella Kiedrowski
Sophia Webster
Dagny Kulkarny
CONTRIBUTORS
Erin Allen
Daryl Locke
Sofe Cote
Hope Taglich
Noah Hale
Rose Zhang
THE STUDENT
NEWSPAPER OF
ST. JOHN’S
COLLEGE
Founded in 1980, the
Gadfly is the student
news-magazine distributed
to over 600 students,
faculty, staff, and alumna
of the Annapolis campus.
Opinions expressed within
are the responsibility of
the author(s). The Gadfly
reserves the right to accept,
reject, and edit submissions
in any way necessary to
publish a professional,
informative, and thoughtprovoking newsmagazine.
Submissions sent to the
Gadfly should either be in
Microsoft Word or JPEG
format. The deadline for
submissions is the Friday
prior to publication.
For more information,
contact us via email at
spca.gadfly@gmail.com
6 0 COLLEGE AVENUE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
21401
Isa Kiedrowski
36
the Gadfly / Mar 18, 2021
�
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<em>The Gadfly</em>
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Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection.
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thegadfly
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pdf
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36 pages
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The Gadfly, Vol. XLII, Issue 1
Description
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Volume XLII, Issue 1 of The Gadfly. Published March 18, 2021.
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Page, Lysithia (Editor-in-Chief)
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St. John's College
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Annapolis, MD
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2021-03-18
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College students--United States--Conduct of life
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English
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Gadfly Vol XLII Issue 1 03-18-2021
Gadfly
Student publication
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