Shot in the Dark

Lefties on Columbia's campus are associated with rallies and protests, but Columbia's got another breed of lefty.

Left-handed people make up 12 to 15 percent of the world's population, according to the British company Anything Left-Handed, and they get a bad rap. Etymologically speaking, the German word for lefty is "links," which means "to stray." The Irish word for lefty, "ciotog," means "strange person," while in Latin, the root word is "sinistra."

Most common, everyday objects such as knives, scissors, and computer mice are not well-designed for lefties. "Another pain in the ass is notebooks: the spirally part kind of gets in your way," lefty Jeffrey Julian, CC '08, said. Julian also complained about the lack of lefty desks, especially in his contemporary civilizations classroom.

Some facilities do not seem to be designed with lefties in mind.

Andrew Russeth, CC '07 and Columbia College Student Council vice president of communications, denounced the turnstiles in Lerner: "Sometimes I'll try to swipe and miss and catch it right at your groin."

Students say that left-handedness sets them at a disadvantage in physical education classes. Leslie Skalak, BC '09, said she had to take a grip test for her wellness class. When Barnard physical education instructor Tavius Cheatham handed Leslie the machine in her right hand, he was dissatisfied with her results. When she used her left hand, the result was much higher.

"He's standing there pondering, seemingly genuinely confused as to how my left hand could possibly be stronger, and I say, 'Well, I'm left-handed,'" she said. "It honestly never occurred to him that I would be left-handed."

David Chait, CC '07 and senior class president, is a self-proclaimed "lefty enthusiast" who is "proud to be different." He claimed that people who do anything with their right hands-throw balls, play tennis, write-are "not real lefties."

But the tennis court isn't the only place where southpaws dominate.

"You can't date right-handed. It's difficult in bed," Russeth said. "The wavelengths are off. Lefties are better in bed."