The term “progressive” has been on the comeback for the last couple of years. Unsurprisingly, with a Democrat in the White House, there’s been a lot of discussion of whether he’s a progressive. Many people who call themselves Progressives refuse to designate Obama as one of their own. However, what the Leftists’ critique shows is that they don’t understand the ambiguity of the original (post-Reconstruction and pre-World War II) meaning of their self-designation.
America should turn to the past to understand the future of Obama’s administration of “hope” and “change.”
Every few days in April, there is a new headline on the Wesleyan athletics softball site touting a new accomplishment by a familiar player. This player, of course, is Karla Hargrave ’08, who pitched spectacularly over the second half of the softball season. The highlights of this run included a three-game win streak, two four-hitters, a school-record 15-strikeout game, and the first recorded no-hitter on Wesleyan University grounds.
Like almost every game the Cardinal softball team has played this season, its finale against Bates on Sunday was decided in the final inning.
Molly Gaebe ’07 is used to high-pressure situations. Whether playing on the softball field or doing improvisational comedy or theater on the stage, she is used to having to think on her feet. The pitcher, who earned first team All-NESCAC and third team All-New England honors last year, is also a member of the campus improv group New Teen Force. She also majors in Theater and American Studies.
Fueled by their previous week’s tough losses, the Cardinals came in to this weekend’s double-header against Middlebury ready to play with the same resilience they had displayed earlier in this season. Despite losses in both games, the women showed a lot of toughness and came away having performed admirably against their strong opponents.
In the Cards’ Sunday doubleheader losses to Middlebury (5-1 and 8-2), Jeff Maier ’06 played the way he always does—as hard as he can. By the third inning of the second game, Maier had tied the Cardinals’ all-time hits record, with 168 for his collegiate career.
As Dana Yorks ’07 walked toward the batter’s box, she knew that her at-bat had the chance to make history in an east coast rivalry. The Wesleyan softball team was in Orange, California playing a Tufts squad that it had not defeated in 11 years, and the score was tied 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning. The bases were loaded for Yorks, and she knew that a walk or base hit could put the Cardinals over the Jumbos for the first time in over a decade.
The golf team has been quietly plugging away for years, but this season, the Cardinals hope to make some noise. With seven returning letterwinners, the Cardinals hope to build upon a solid fall and gain momentum throughout the months of March and April. The Cardinal season will then come to a climax when Wesleyan hosts the Little Three Golf Championships, to be held at the Lyman Orchards golf course.
The men’s swim team’s exciting season came to a fitting end this weekend, as the Cardinals took fourth out of 10 teams at the NESCAC Championship, held at Williams College. Leading the Cardinals throughout the weekend was Ben Byers ’07, who had three All-NESCAC performances in the long-distance freestyle events.
With the season quickly coming to a close for the men’s swim team, the Cardinals look to Ben Byers ’08 to lead them to a strong performance at the New England Small College Athletic Championships, being held this weekend at Williams College.
This weekend the women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Bowdoin to compete in the NESCAC Championships. Not only was the team competition intense, the individual competition was as well. Coming into the meet, the conference’s eleven teams could collectively claim nation-leading marks in three events and twelve national top-five marks.
Today is the first day of the New England Small College Athletic Conference championships, at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. The 11 NESCAC schools have descended upon the 16 lanes of Greason Pool for the weekend. By Sunday night, the conference’s strongest women’s swim team will be definitively determined.
Facing off against the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London on Saturday, the women’s swimming and diving team defeated the Bears 193-99 in its final meet of the regular season, while the men fell short by a small margin.
The past three weeks have been quite successful for the swimming and diving team, as the men have posted a 7-2 record and the women claimed victory in six of the past 11 contests since the New Year. The team’s success improves the records of the men’s and women’s teams to 12-3 and 11-6 respectively.
Over the past few weeks, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving kicked off their competitive season after a fall of serious training. In their first three competitions, both teams have gone 1-1 in dual meets and both won the Cardinal Invitational against Bentley, Brandeis and MIT.
The 2005-2006 season looks to be an exciting one for the Wesleyan University Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams. The Men’s team is looking ready for a breakout season and will be led by Ben Byers ’07, who set school records last year in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle events.
Despite a hard fight against the top-ranked Colby Mules, the women’s volleyball team lost in the first round of the New England Volleyball Division III Tournament. Excitement was in the air as the players traveled north to Colby this weekend. The women had concluded their regular season with a strong 16-11 record.
It had all the makings of a great weekend for the Wesleyan volleyball team. The Cardinals were ready for two intense matches against rivals Amherst and Tufts. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost to both of their in-conference foes. But there is still plenty for the team to be happy about despite the defeats, as the Cardinals celebrated one player’s accomplishments and now prepare for their opening post-season match.
Although the volleyball team left their Saturday round robin at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London with one victory and one loss, it was certainly an encouraging couple of matches for the Cardinals. The ladies were able to defeat an 18-6 Roger Williams University team, and also take a game from Coast Guard Academy.
The women’s volleyball team battled through an up and down series of matches this week, emerging with a 2-2 record in their past four games, bringing them to an overall record of 15 wins and 8 losses. The team’s week began with an easy victory at home on Wednesday, Oct. 12 against Western Connecticut University.