Red and Black Ball

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John Syme

John Syme graduated from Davidson College with a bachelor of arts degree in French in 1985. He worked as a general-assignment reporter at The Winston-Salem Journal, where he later wrote freelance travel stories during his first solo cross-country road trip in the summer of 1989. He worked as a copywriter at a Charlotte advertising agency, as a research translator at a French nutrition center outside Paris, and as a politics and education newspaper reporter in Charlotte. He returned in 2001 to Davidson, where he is senior writer, alumni editor and instigator of the "Road Trip 2009" blog, which evolved into his current blog, "Daybook Davidson."

World AIDS Day is this Saturday, Dec. 1, so I checked in with Tasha Samborski ’14, a "translational sciences" major through Davidson's Center for Interdisciplinary Studies I met for a story last semester on Davidson students’ online Youth AIDS Diary.

One can think of the "translational" paradigm as the next step beyond interdisciplinary, Samborski said, and HIV/AIDS is a compelling case study in thinking both broadly and deeply.

"There's no way to approach it from just one aspect," Samborski said then. Now, she continues researching drug cytotoxicity in independent study with the biology and chemistry departments. She’s also taking French, Economic Statistics, Global Health Ethics and Imagining American Religion. Now that’s a well-rounded liberal arts semester!

And yet, a scant two weeks before exams, a big part of Samborski’s attention is focused on this Saturday night’s Red and Black Ball, an annual event sponsored by Warner Hall. This year’s ball will feature “The Professor Band,” the Delilahs, and Green Eggs and Jam, as well as a dessert and cash bar.

“We really want to try to boost attendance by the community this year, as well as by students and faculty,” Samborski said.

The event will be held in the Lilly Family Gallery from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets range from $15 to $25. For more information, visit the Red and Black Ball Web site. (http://warnerhall.wix.com/redandblackball)

Co-service chairs Roxana Boyd ’13 and Lauren Nelson ’13 and the young women of Warner Hall have already organized several local fundraisers in recent weeks, at Kadi Fit in Cornelius, Summit Coffee & Tea in Davidson, and Brixx Pizza at Birkdale. This week, Qdoba at Birkdale is donating 10 percent of profits from patrons who mention Red and Black at the register.

All Red and Black Ball profits will be split 50-50 between the local Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN) and Mwandi Christian Mission Hospital in Zambia, where Davidson pre-medical students travel every summer. Leading up to the ball, this week’s activities on campus include a “Day Without Art” shrouding of art works Thursday in the Sculpture Garden between Chambers Building and the Library and a vigil Thursday at 7 p.m. at the flagpole at the north end of Chambers Building.

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