Photo by Markus Spiske via Uplash.

As the National Basketball Association slowly approaches the end of the regular season, a cataclysm has turned the world of American basketball upside down. Like every year, the winter transfer period brought its share of surprises. However, the controversy arose at the very beginning of February when the trade of Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers was announced. So controversial was this trade that it is already considered by many to be the biggest trade in modern NBA history. 

But why is the fate of two superstars so controversial? Well, the context in which the transaction took place and what it implies for both teams is simply huge. For those who don’t follow the NBA, this trade would be comparable to a transfer in the premier league between Virgil Van Dijk and Cole Palmer, or in  football terms,  like trading Jalen Hurts for Travis Kelce: two legends of their sport but with a significant age gap. As the world of the NBA is slowly recovering from this year’s chaotic trade season, what are some implications of the Doncic-Davis trade for the players, the franchises as well as the NBA as a whole.

The deal of the century for the Lakers? 

First of all, let’s break down the ins and outs of this trade, which appears to be nothing less than the steal of the century for the Lakers. Indeed, the 25-year-old guard was traded along with Maxi Kleber and Markiff Morris in exchange for 31-year-old center Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick. While on the surface this transaction appears to be a fair and equitable swap of two superstars, it is a very profitable deal for the Los Angeles Lakers. Lebron James, one of the most accomplished player in the league, recently announced that he would be retiring within the next few seasons, which means one thing and one thing only for the Lakers: they’ve just acquired the new face of their franchise. 

This trade makes perfect sense for the California franchise, which is in the process of restructuring its team around Luka Doncic. The Dallas Mavericks on the other hand seem to be at a disadvantage by replacing the superstar who had taken them to the NBA Finals just a few months earlier. Sure, Anthony Davis is a terrific player, but he’s turning 32 in less than two weeks and is no longer in his prime. This trade is seen by many Dallas fans as outrageous, not least because no sports manager in his right mind would validate such an exchange. So how did this trade come about?

NBA: a cruel market?

Luka Doncic is a 25-year-old player originally from Slovenia who has been in the league for over 6 years and is rightly regarded by many basketball fans as a generational talent and MVP caliber player. No one had imagined the possibility of such a trade, and his superstar status seemed to give him a kind of immunity. Top players usually control their own destiny and have a voice in potential trade discussions. Unfortunately, this reasoning is not true in today’s NBA. The NBA has become a global brand and, like other major sports leagues, it tends to behave like a big business that seeks profit and publicity above all else. 

The organization’s revenues have increased enormously, as have the salaries of NBA players, which have quadrupled in around 25 years, reaching an average of 8.2 million dollars a year by 2021-2022. Some fans even argue that this exchange highlights the NBA’s effort to fuel a storyline that would make the game entertaining. However, in doing so, the players no longer seem to be what matters most. Although denied by Patrick Dumont, owner of the Mavericks, the rumor that the Dallas basketball franchise will soon be transferred to Las Vegas is still widespread and only adds to fans’ feelings about the true motivations of NBA owners. Something has gone fundamentally wrong  in the way the league is run.

Should the NBA change the rules?

The Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis swap has reignited a lively debate on the NBA’s rules governing player movements, raising some rather alarming questions about the league’s priorities. In a system where stability is rare, franchises can hardly build coherent teams. What makes this exchange even more troubling is that it is said to have taken place behind closed doors, with neither player apparently aware of the negotiations until the deal was finalized. 

Currently, only two NBA players have an official no-trade clause (Lebron James and Bradley Beal), leaving most athletes vulnerable to sudden moves. Some critics have even compared the NBA’s trade system to “modern-day slavery,” as Dennis Schröder once controversially described it. While it’s problematic to compare NBA trades to slavery, perhaps it’s time for the league to reconsider its policies and adopt a model similar to European soccer, where players have more control over their careers. Until then, transactions like these will continue to reshape the league, often at the expense of the players, indispensable to the league’s success. 

Photo by Markus Spiske via Uplash.

It’s been almost two months since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, and the United States has already experienced drastic changes. From pulling out of the World Health Organization to changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name, America’s new president has made interesting modifications to the country as a whole. However, one of the most notable of these orders is the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. 

The European Bank defines the Paris Climate Agreement as an international treaty that aims to “hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” Trump’s abandonment of this agreement was predicted during his first presidency in 2017 when he stated that the U.S. would eventually leave the treaty. However, even though this decision was viewed as a foreseen circumstance, there are still concerns about what this means for Americans battling climate change. 

An article published by The New York Times, “Yes, There Has Been Progress on Climate. No, It’s Not Nearly Enough,” says that scientists believe that more drastic action is needed to keep global temperature at a safer increased limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius. In the same article, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, stated “we really don’t have much time left to shift course.” By most scientific accounts, the world is reaching the  point of no return regarding the global climate, but is it an active emergency? Many climate activists and scientific experts say yes. 

CEO of the European Climate Foundation, Laurence Tubiana, says, “The impacts of the climate crisis are also worsening.” He follows this by discussing the wildfires sweeping across Los Angeles and how America withdrawing from the exchange was unfortunate. However, he also says not to worry because the effort to slow climate change “is stronger than any country’s politics and policies.” 

While this might sound scary to Americans, solutions are still being explored to help the country slow climate change. In his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, former CEO and chairman of Microsoft Bill Gates writes that the best way forward is to lower the Green Premiums. Green Premiums refer to the difference in cost between carbon-emitting products and non-carbon-emitting products. Therefore, if America wants to see a difference in its carbon emissions, it must focus on lowering prices and adopting healthier, greener technology. 

Pulling out of the Paris Climate Exchange has been criticized by both sides of the political spectrum. However, President Trump stands behind his actions as he did back in 2017 when he stated, “The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries…” With this statement and the country’s leadership, it’s up to the American people to decide if they are up against a climate challenge or a crisis. 

The Hilltop Monitor thanks Dr. Gary Armstrong for providing insight and sources to help further the exploration of the topic at hand.

Production photo from “Terra Nova” at William Jewell College, photo courtesy of Jewell Theatre Co.

Cal Perkins is a senior theatre major at WIlliam Jewell College, having made his directorial debut with his 2025 production of “Terra Nova.” Written and published by Ted Tally in 1980, the play follows Robert Falcon Scott’s fatal expedition to the South Pole in 1911. In an interview with The Hilltop Monitor, Perkins shared his thoughts about the play’s significance and modern relevance.

Firstly, thank you for taking some time to answer some questions about your production. It was a real privilege to experience it first-hand.

Thank you so much for this opportunity! It’s so relieving and affirming to have someone so affected by my production. 

What did your responsibilities entail regarding the production of “Terra Nova” at William Jewell College?

Well, when it came to responsibilities, I had my plate full from the start. With the announcement of no (zero) budget for the Theatre Department in August of 2024, I had to make some split-second decisions. How was I going to put on the show I wrote (“Animal Farm”), when it was budgeted for $300 in the planning stages? I decided to do my backup project, “Terra Nova.”

When it came to a method for finding how to pay for the rights, I was relieved whenever [Professor] Wyman approached me and informed me that I had an anonymous sponsor for my capstone. From there, the responsibilities took off. For auditions, it was up to me to set the date and time, along with cutting sides or pages from the script for the auditioning actors to read. After, I did the same for callbacks. Immediately following callbacks, my production team went to the PLC to discuss the actors and which roles would fit who. It took around 2 hours total to get the final cast list, to which we announced immediately. 

Rehearsals mostly fell to my team, as they accumulated things for me to remember and things to do. But I made the creative decisions to make the concessions for the show fit the theme, the blocking, full directing and rehearsal schedules. I had to manage the program and design it, look into designing/hiring my friend to finalize the poster and so much more. Pretty much everything that came out of the final look of the show was between me and my crew. 

How old were you when you first encountered “Terra Nova” and what impression did it leave on you at the time?

Funnily enough, I saw “Terra Nova” as a One-Act Competition piece in 2019. I was a Junior in high school in Sand Springs, OK at the time – around 17 years old. 

When I first watched the show begin, I was interested in the least amount, to be honest. It was a chopped up amalgamation of scenes to fit in the key points of the show in thirty minutes, so it was a burst of information in such little time. However, Evans’ death scene was what spoke to me more than anything. We thought the actor for Evans was having a seizure on stage. Genuinely. He was so engrossed in his role and from there the rest of the deaths would happen between Oates and the final three of the Polar Party. 

I’m very interested in uncanny or depressing historical events, as painful as it is, and this one spoke to me deeply. It only spoke deeper as I read the play itself. Ted Tally is a true writer, which you can see in his poetical stage directions and descriptions. If you enjoyed the show, I cannot stress enough how much I encourage experiencing a full read of the script. It is a masterpiece on a horrific scale. 

Nonetheless, after looking up the actual events, it haunted me. It just stuck itself as the number one play of all time in my mind and there it still stays!

In your director’s notes, you presented a compelling interpretation of “Terra Nova” as a critique of nationalism. Based on your understanding of the playwright’s intent and the production’s historical context, do you believe this theme was deliberately embedded in the work? Additionally, do you think audiences at the time of its original production resonated with this message, whether intentional or not?

Nationalism, if stated so or not, was certainly a major theme in Ted Tally’s original view. At least, that’s what I believe. What really solidifies this for me is the scene with Amundsen and Scott in Act I. They go into a verbal spat about which way to get to the pole. Amundsen says something along the lines of, “You, a gentleman, and I a barbarian. A killer of dogs.” To which Scott declines, [and] Amundsen replies, “A foreigner, then. It’s the same thing to you.” 

This is what instantly set the theme in my mind. That and the constant use of derogatory language toward those of other nationalities. In a scene which I unfortunately had to cut for time purposes, the crew hallucinates an enormous dinner banquet with Amundsen as their server. This scene has a barrage of slurs toward other nations and countries. 

I feel that many people don’t see this, at least not clearly. That’s why I decided to make my author’s note more of a caution toward nationalistic perspectives. When I first saw the show, I didn’t get it. But it is the core and the key message of the show, one that is very important in these current times. 

How do you see the themes of “Terra Nova” reflected in today’s geopolitical climate? In what ways do you think the play remains relevant to contemporary international relations?

Right off the bat, after the effects of January 20th, there is importance to this message. From what I see President Trump doing, he appears to try and alienate the United States from the rest of the world. Whether it be through media, fearmongering and other uses. Same thing goes for Russia, as Nationalism is an enormous topic over there in a consistent pattern. 

Extreme nationalism is bad. That’s a given. Most people understand this. But a majority of Americans may be blinded by patriotism that may leak into nationalism. A nationalistic eye blinds others from the outside world, its influence and other cultures. If Scott studied with the Inuits, such as Amundsen did, perhaps he’d have a better chance. But the British always colonized and never adapted. 

Today, it’s a message that many people are not speaking about, but it is a vital element to keeping our history intact and growing. If we close ourselves off and foster this pride for ourselves and ourselves only, we only step further back in time and limit ourselves as a result. 

The production featured some incredibly intense and emotionally charged moments, brought to life through powerful performances by the cast. As a director, what was it like navigating these darker elements of the play? Was there ever a struggle with “taking the play home with you” between yourself, the cast, or the crew? 

As I mentioned before, darkness is kinda where I thrive. Not to be edgy. I just find such life in the trauma and darkness of some stories. The arc of action and consequence is something I just thrive in, especially regarding theatre or fictional stories. 

I had no problem taking home that darkness. However, with my cast, we wanted to keep things lighthearted and we wanted to make sure it stayed in the theater. Emma Kelly led decompressions at the end of rehearsals, where we laid on the ground and meditated for around ten minutes. It was very productive, especially what I’ve heard from my cast. 

Aside from that, we kept it pretty fun in rehearsals. While balancing the weight and the true events of the show, we encouraged deep character research and ways to really thrive and merge with that character in a healthy, productive way. By the end, I felt like everyone knew that we would leave the death on the ice and would come back into it only in rehearsals. Everyone did such a great job helping one another. It was just such a relief to have a healthy, communicative production. 

Looking ahead, what are your plans for your future in theatre? Do you see yourself directing “Terra Nova” again at some point, or perhaps auditioning for a role in another director’s adaptation?

For my future plans, I’m currently looking into being a Professor of Theatre. But that’s kind of changing at the moment. I really found a huge passion in directing, so I’m potentially considering a future as a creative director of some sort. Not too sure! 

As for “Terra Nova,” I’d love nothing more than performing the full-length show someday – and stepping into that tundra myself. Evans is certainly a dream role of mine, so I’d love to take a chance to play him. 

This show will certainly never leave me. This entire experience was so fulfilling, especially after my Duke Colloquium presentation last year. I’m just so elated that I had this opportunity with such a talented cast and crew. 

The Hilltop Monitor thanks Cal Perkins for his insights into a complex and important story—one told with passion and care on our campus. We look forward to seeing where his passion and skills take him next!

“Terra Nova” 2025 production poster, illustrated by Cal Perkins.

Photo by Ilan Dov via Uplash.

When your morning alarm jolts you awake, the most effortless response is to roll over, retrieve your smartphone and begin what my partner refers to as doomscrolling. Apparently, this term has become so popular that it has claimed its own entry in the Merriam Webster Dictionary—defined as spending “excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.” Sound familiar?

Last fall, I published an article to the Hilltop Monitor exploring the benefits of a digital detox. In that article, I noted some of the benefits I have taken from stepping away from my smartphone and relocating my time elsewhere. This has most notably changed my morning routine and my night routine, which previously revolved around the aforementioned habit of scrolling deeper into anxiety! Since writing my initial article, I have begun reading at night and running through a basic self-care routine each morning. In this article, I’ll be sharing the new habits I’ve formed and how they’ve improved my life.

Gratitude List

After making the choice to step further away from my smartphone, I have started each morning by creating a mental gratitude list. I aim to think of three unique things that I’m thankful for. This can be as simple as appreciating the nice weather when I see through the window that icy roads won’t affect my drive to school. Implementing this exercise has significantly improved my mood by shifting my attention towards positive thoughts that make me eager to navigate the day! 

Self-Love List

In a similar vein of positivity, I follow up my gratitude list with a compilation of three things I love about myself. I am to include one recent thought I’ve had, emotion I’ve felt and choice I’ve made. My therapist suggested this template after noticing I focus on skills, abilities and interests rather than intrinsic qualities when discussing what I love about myself. Taking this new approach to self-love has improved my self-esteem by not only highlighting my positive qualities, but encouraging me to reflect on what I don’t love and replacing it with something that I do. This has led to less insecurity and more confidence in my day-to-day life.

Thought-Reframing (CBT)

As a full-time student with a full-time job and a maxed out calendar, I tend to get overwhelmed. This can lead to burnout and feelings of discouragement or self-doubt. One approach I’ve taken is to start my morning by considering one dreaded task I’ll need to complete that day, then practicing thought-reframing to reflect on a more helpful way to view my situation. For example, “Today, I have to waste time going to the bank to deposit cash even though I barely have time to eat,” can be rephrased as “Today, I will choose to go to the bank to deposit money as an act of responsibility and independence.” This approach reminds me that I do not need to loathe my daily routine because I have the power to shape it. 

Pray (In Your Own Way)

Regardless of your religious affiliation (or lack thereof), the practice of prayer falls under a broad scope and can be implemented in a number of ways. I believe it can improve the life of anyone seeking change. Each morning, I recite prayers commonly highlighted in recovery programs, focusing on the importance of surrendering control—something I struggle with as someone who tries to anticipate every possible outcome and avoid the unwanted and unexpected. Doing so has helped relieve my anxiety by reminding myself that I am never truly in control. Instead, I should spend my energy focusing on what I can change without stressing myself out over things that I can’t.

Early Start on Daily Tasks

By the time I’ve completed the previous tasks, I’m now awake enough to achieve my first wins of the day! If you’re anything like me, your morning is completely loaded and you don’t have time to solve world peace before lunch time. This is why I aim to make my first wins of the day small and attainable. This includes making my bed, maintaining or improving the state of my room (even if it’s in a small way) and filling up my 64 oz. water bottle to ensure proper hydration throughout the day! 

Conclusion

Each of these practices allow me to better myself in ways that are meaningful but realistic—and as someone with far too much on my plate to keep it all in my brain, apps like Finch helped me stay organized and build these exercises into long term habits. I now have my morning routine memorized and can start my days with optimism and positivity without even needing the reminder! 

Starting each morning with a positive outlook has been a complete game-changer for my health and productivity. If nothing else, I hope these examples give you a few ideas of how you can gift your time back to yourself and practice self-care.