Thursday, January 17th, 2019

Vol. 129, Issue 15

Thursday, January 17, 2019

In the dark , a neon presence grows Page 4

Riley Walsh | The Cavalier Daily

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Winter Break In Brief

NEWS

CD News Staff

100 Bird e-scooters soar into Charlottesville Bird, a California-based electric vehicle company, is bringing 100 of its scooters to the City of Charlottesville, the City announced in a press release Jan. 10.

Charlottesville City officials approved Lime, another California-based electric scooter company, to bring the first dockless scooters to operate in the City Dec. 7. Although Lime initially planned to implement 100 e-scooters and 100 electric bicycles, there are currently 200 scooters and 50 bikes placed around Charlottesville.

The City received a business license application for dockless bikes and scooters in August and a pilot program was presented to Charlottesville City coun-

cilors at the Nov. 5 City Council Meeting. To participate, companies must pay a $500 permit fee.

The pilot program, which councilors say will help City officials determine whether these types of rideshare programs will help the City in reaching its transportation goals, is slated to end in July, though the City Manager is authorized to extend the program or terminate it.

For Lime, unlocking a vehicle costs $1 and then an additional 15 cents per minute through the mobile app. Bird scooters are marginally more expensive, costing $1 to unlock and 20 cents per minute to use.

Scooters are GPS- and 3G-enabled, which allows riders to locate the scooters on their smartphone.

COURTESY CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

Bird e-scooters landed alongside Lime’s offerings in Charlottesville Jan. 10.

Utility area near Carr’s Hill catches fire, extinguished quickly The Charlottesville Fire Department responded Jan. 14 evening to a fire in a below-ground utility space near the traditional home of the University president on Carr’s Hill. The fire was quickly extinguished.

At approximately 4:29 p.m., an alert was sent to the University community, stating that fire department personnel had been dispatched to a fire in the area of Carr’s Hill and urged those nearby to avoid the area. By 4:52 p.m., a follow-up message stated that the fire had been extinguished and added that there were no injuries reported. At 5:00 p.m., a final message was sent saying the incident had been cleared.

Emily Pelliccia, a deputy CFD fire chief, said the fire was more challenging than most due to its below-ground location and recent snowfall — approximately four inches near the University.

University Spokesman Anthony de Bruyn said while the fire occurred in a utility space on Carr’s Hill, it was not located near the University president’s house, which is currently under renovation and is expected to be completed by this summer. University President Jim Ryan currently resides in Pavilion VIII on the Lawn.

GEREMIA DI MARO | THE CAVALIER DAILY

A utility space near Carr’s Hill caught fire early in the evening Jan. 14.

Judge awards $501 million in damages to Warmbier family in lawsuit against North Korea North Korea must pay $500 million in damages to the family of the late University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, a federal judge ruled Dec. 24. Warmbier died following 17 months of imprisonment in the country, which led his parents to file a lawsuit last April against the rogue nation for the “hostage taking, illegal detention, torture and killing” of their son.

“North Korea is liable for the torture, hostage taking, and extrajudicial killing of Otto Warmbier, and the injuries to his mother and father, Fred and Cindy Warmbier,” Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S.

District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a ruling.

Otto Warmbier was arrested in North Korea in January 2016 during a tour of the country. Warmbier — who at the time of his imprisonment was a thirdyear Commerce student from Wyoming, Ohio — was accused of attempting to steal a political banner from his tour group’s hotel and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016.

COURTESY KYODO KYODO / REUTERS

Otto Warmbier was accused of attempting to steal a political banner in North Korea.

Report finds former Rep. Garrett used staffers for personal benefit

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Former Rep. Tom Garrett did not seek reelection in 2018.

The U.S. House Committee on Ethics published a report Jan. 2 that detailed allegations against former Republican Virginia Fifth Congressional District Representative Tom Garrett, whose two-year term ended Jan. 3. The investigation began in June and concluded that Garrett violated House regulations and federal law by using his employees for unofficial work and personal errands.

Garrett announced in May he would not seek reelection, citing alcoholism and the need to recover and spend time with his family. Republican candidate Denver Riggleman was elected to replace Garrett and began his term in the 116th Congress Jan. 3.

According to the report, Garrett's staff responded to the orders of both Garrett and his wife. The required tasks which did not connect directly to official activity included dog-sitting outside of work hours, watching the Garretts’ children and unloading groceries at the Garretts’ apartment.

Due to Garrett’s retirement, the House committee lost its jurisdiction over his activities. Otherwise, the report may have been read to Congress, and Garrett may have been required to reimburse the government for his abuse of employee time.

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Student petition calls for creation of music minor program The program would be an 18-credit curriculum of already-existing courses Riley Walsh | Staff Writer Students in the Miller Arts Scholars program have created a petition asking the University to introduce a music minor program.

The petition, which was released to the public on Jan. 2, had garnered 250 signatures as of Thursday.

“We believe that instituting a music minor will provide more options for students to engage with the Music Department at UVa, thus attracting more students to the arts,” Adam Cooper, a second-year College student and Miller Arts Scholar, wrote in a message to The Cavalier Daily.

The Music Department is open to discussing a new program, with any action taking place in the upcoming Spring semester, Fred Maus, an associate music professor and Music Department Director of Undergraduate Programs, said in an email provided to The Cavalier Daily.

“I think the Music Department would be very interested in any suggestions that students offer about our programs, Arts Scholars or anyone else,” Maus said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “Of course any change would require assessment of practical implication, for instance the number of additional students in courses in relation to the size of our faculty.”

The Scholars’ petition proposes an 18-credit curriculum of music department courses designed to accommodate students who are not able to pursue the Music major program, according to the petition document. The petition also cites the outreach potential of allowing students from other disciplines to officially enroll in the Music Department.

The McIntire Department of Music currently only offers a 31-credit Music major program,

along with a distinguished major program and a performance concentration.

For a new program to be created, the curriculum needs to be approved by the College’s faculty before going to the Provost for approval, according to Dean Mark Hadley, administrative chair of the College’s Committee on Educational Policy and Curriculum.

“Changes approved by CEPC, then go to the College of Arts and Sciences faculty for a vote,” Hadley said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “A new minor requires additional approvals beyond the College faculty. The Faculty Senate and the Provost must also review and approve the proposal, so the process may take a while. Sometimes this process is completed within a semester and sometimes it takes longer.”

The petition was started be-

MARSHALL BRONFIN | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Music students are hoping the department will create a minor in the spring semester.

tween semesters so it would gain traction before classes start, Cooper said.

“The only reason we are starting this petition now is because we thought it would be easier to get it ‘off the ground’ when everyone is not as busy,” Cooper said in an

email. “Frankly, once the semester gets going, there seems to be no time for anything, so getting attention early will ensure that this conversation continues once the semester begins.”

Latinx sorority files federal lawsuit against U.Va. After suspension, Sigma Lambda Upsilon claims U.Va. unlawfully identified a study requirement as hazing Nik Popli | Staff Writer The Latinx sorority Sigma Lambda Upsilon has filed a federal lawsuit against U.Va. alleging the University violated its constitutional rights by suspending the Greek chapter over hazing violations in March 2018.

Sigma Lambda Upsilon filed the lawsuit Sept. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, which claims the University violated “SLU’s freedom to associate on campus” by suspending the sorority for violating U.Va. hazing policy by requiring rushing members to study for 25 hours every week.

An amended complaint filed

by SLU Jan. 2 also names the entire Board of Visitors, Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer Pat Lampkin, Associate Dean of Students J. Marshall Pattie, Asst. Dean and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Hal Turner, FSL Program Coordina-

tor Caroline Ott and 10 unnamed defendants.

The lawsuit said the University violated SLU’s First Amendment rights by denying the group the right to free speech and association on U.Va. property. The lawsuit also contends the University violated SLU’s Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights by suspending SLU and not other similarly situated cultural-fraternal organizations.

The amended complaint also alleges the individual defendants engaged in a conspiracy to deprive SLU of its civil rights.

According to the complaint filed by SLU, the University “does not impose a less-than-25-studyhour rule on any other ethnic group” but holds student-athletes to a similar study policy.

The lawsuit claims the University “made its hazing finding despite never providing SLU or

any other fraternal organization notice of a general prohibition against studying 25 hours per week.” Angie Aramayo, a fourthyear College student and president of SLU, did not respond to a request for comment.

Under University policy, hazing is defined as an action taken or situation created by a student organization or athletic team toward members or prospective members occuring on University-owned or leased property or at University-sponsored functions that “is designed to produce or does produce mental or physical harassment, humiliation, fatigue, degradation, ridicule, shock, or injury.” Hazing is a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia.

“The University does not condone hazing in any form,” University spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily. “Hazing is

prohibited under the State statute on hazing ... as well as by University policy and the University’s Standards of Conduct.”

The University began investigating SLU for hazing violations around Feb. 14 after a member allegedly complained to a professor about the burden of being a first-year student and pledging for a sorority, according to the complaint. The member did not tell the professor she was being hazed, abused, assaulted or otherwise mistreated by the sorority — characteristics of hazing as defined by the University The lawsuit also claims the University’s decision to suspend SLU was “racially discriminatory” since non-Latinx fraternal organizations have been allowed to continue operating in instances where “more serious” hazing incidents occurred.

Several other fraternal organi-

zations were fined or sanctioned by the University in the past year for failing to comply with recruitment standards, including the Sigma Phi Society — which was briefly suspended in Spring 2017 for failing to comply with alcohol and new member education standards.

SLU seeks monetary damages against the University, including attorney fees and costs, and a ruling from the court indicating U.Va.’s practices violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments and Title IX rules.

The University declined to comment on pending legal proceedings as a matter of policy, but court documents indicate U.Va. has requested the case be dismissed on grounds of sovereign immunity — a legal doctrine that shields the government or government entities from legal action.

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Ambassadors program adds posts, bumps up start times U.Va. community members, officials consider further changes to the system following indicident, data review Kate Bellows | Senior Associate News Editor In light of a sexual assault that reportedly took place before the start of Ambassador patrol one September evening, a data analysis initiated by the Office of Safety and Emergency Preparedness and feedback from Student Council, the Ambassadors program has recently undergone several changes — but some students argue there is more work to be done.

Coverage start times for two posts have been moved up and five posts have been added. The first change was implemented immediately following an alleged sexual assault at 14th Street and Grady Avenue Sept. 19.

According to an alert sent to the University community the evening of the incident, a female University student reported that an unknown man physically attacked her around 9:30 p.m. that evening near the streets’ intersection. According to the alert, the suspect also sexually assaulted the victim, took her wallet and fled the scene.

In an update sent the next day, Charlottesville Police announced that a suspect, Jowell Travis Legendre, was in custody. Legendre is charged with object sexual penetration, forcible sodomy, robbery, grand larceny and credit card larceny, and is scheduled for a hearing in Charlottesville General District Court Jan. 24.

The incident took place more than an hour before Ambassadors’ 11 p.m. shift began. University spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn confirmed that stationary coverage of 14th Street and Grady Avenue was adjusted to start at 4 p.m. each evening instead of 11 p.m. The shift ends at 7 a.m.

Five stationary posts have been added, including Chancellor Street near the railroad fence-line, 14th Street at the “S” curve, 14th Street between Wertland Street and Sadler Street, Madison Lane between University Avenue and Chancellor Street and 15th Street NW between Sadler Street and Virginia Avenue.

All five will be staffed from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. each evening.

“While these are stationary posts, there may be occasions when an Ambassador needs to relocate due to a developing situation,” de Bruyn said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “Like most employees, Ambassadors are entitled to periodic breaks. And there may be occasional times when an unexpected absence results in a post not being staffed.”

According to Gloria Graham, the University’s associate vice president of safety and security, Ambassador bike patrol of the Jefferson Park Avenue corridor between Em-

met Street and the Jefferson Scholars Foundation has been adjusted to start at 7 p.m. each evening instead of 11 p.m. The shift ends at 3 a.m.

Graham said the changes — not including the immediate 14th Street and Grady Avenue adjustment — resulted from a data analysis of the Ambassadors system spearheaded by the Office of Safety and Emergency Preparedness in September, as well as feedback from Student Council President Alex Cintron, a fourth-year College student. “[The analysis] looked at the activity of Ambassadors by time of day, day of week, and month,” de Bruyn said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “We identified certain times of day that could benefit from additional coverage.”

Cintron did not respond to a request for comment.

“To my knowledge we did not have direct say in that process, but we are updated on those kinds of decisions [Ambassadors shift changes] once a month at the University-wide general Safety and Security meetings, which myself and the Buildings and Grounds vice chair attend as representatives of Student Council,” said Katie Kirk, a second-year College student and Student Council Safety and Wellness Committee chair, in an interview with The Cavalier Daily.

Inside the Ambassadors system The University contracted with security services company G4S to establish the Ambassadors system in 2015. In 2016, another security company — RMC Events — took over the contract from G4S. According to Gloria Graham, the University’s associate vice president of safety and security, the program is funded by the University Police Department’s operating budget.

Ambassadors patrol onGrounds locations, including the Lawn and vicinity of first-year residence halls, and off-Grounds areas, including Jefferson Park Avenue, the Corner and 14th Street, among other highly student-populated areas. In total, there are 18 posts, covered by foot, car, bike and stationary patrol.

According to a coverage map on the Ambassadors website, foot, car and bike patrol extends from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. each day throughout Grounds and surrounding areas, the exception being Jefferson Park Avenue, which is covered from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. According to the map, foot coverage of the Lawn is 24 hours a day, and foot coverage of University Avenue is from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. Stationary patrol is spread throughout the surrounding off-Grounds areas.

Shawn Jacobson — the Western Virginia regional director for RMC

Events — said no one location receiving Ambassador coverage has dealt with more criminal or deviant behavior than another.

“The posts near the corner on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings after 12:00 a.m. tend to have the most activity in terms of medical calls for service, escorts, and police assistance requests,” Jacobson said in an email to The Cavalier Daily.

According to their website, Ambassadors provide information and directions to passersby, identify people in distress and escort individuals. They can alert law enforcement officials of crimes and concerning behaviors, but do not have law enforcement power themselves.

“They can file a police report as a victim or witness, like any other community member,” Jacobson said.

Graham reported that Ambassadors made 1,108 calls for police assistance, provided 1,579 escorts and issued 827 requests for medical assistance in 2017. Safety officials at the University are in the process of compiling Ambassadors data for 2018.

Student leaders analyze system, call for changes Alongside third-year College student Priscilla Opoku-Yeboah, Kirk co-chairs the newly-minted Police Advisory Board, a Student Council initiative intended to increase communications between students and safety officials and provide input to UPD. Students are invited to express concerns about police and Ambassadors through a survey Cintron sent out with board applications.

The board, which consists of 19 undergraduate and graduate students, met for the first time Nov. 28. Graham and University Police Chief Tommye Sutton attended the meeting as well.

Opoku-Yeboah, a member of the Minority Rights Coalition’s Community Affairs committee, said she came into the role with concerns about the Ambassadors system’s efficacy.

“I live in the Corner area, so normally when you see Ambassadors, they’re just kind of standing around, interacting with the people who work on the Corner, etc.,” Opoku-Yeboah said. “You don’t really know what their purpose is, but I think that having the conversation with the police chief and the people that were there gave me a more concrete explanation as to their effectiveness.”

Opoku-Yeboah said she and other board members hope UPD releases more data and statistics about Ambassadors’ involvement around Grounds.

“That’s something the student Police Advisory Board talked a lot about — making sure information about things like the Ambassadors program were available,” she said.

Additionally, Kirk said the board discussed further development of the program. “[Graham and Sutton] were really open to looking to how they would expand in the future,” Kirk said. “I believe that’s something we’ll be discussing in our future meetings.”

The board will meet for the second time early spring semester, Kirk said.

Zoe Denenberg, a fourth-year College student and outgoing Inter-Sorority Council president, spearheaded a different data analysis, soliciting feedback on the Ambassadors system and other safety measures from sorority members.

Sent via email Oct. 14, the ISC’s Off-Grounds Student Safety Survey yielded 665 responses in one week. In a letter sent to Graham and Dean of Students Allen Groves Jan. 1 alongside the report, the ISC said many members reported feeling unsafe walking at night.

According to the report, 73 percent of respondents said they believe the University does not provide enough resources to support student safety off-Grounds.

The letter and the report were released to the public Jan. 3, posted on the ISC’s website and Facebook page.

The ISC called on the University to increase the Ambassadors presence along Jefferson Park Avenue and West Main Street, and in areas near the Corner. The ISC also recommended UPD post more information about Ambassadors selection, training and vetting on their website.

Additionally, the ISC urged that the University work with the City of Charlottesville Department of Neighborhood Planning Services to evaluate lighting in areas around the Corner and Jefferson Park Avenue.

Graham and Groves responded to the letter Jan. 4 with their own letter addressed to Denenberg.

“Future adjustments to the coverage areas will be made consistent with our routine review of activity data and as necessary in our continuous efforts to enhance safety,” Graham and Groves wrote.

Student concerns One day after the 14th Street and Grady Avenue sexual assault, third-year College student Meaghan O’Reilly emailed several University safety officials, asking why there was not an Ambassador stationed at 14th Street and Grady Av-

enue that evening. O’Reilly noted the area was covered by the Ambassadors, according to their website.

“My email was asking what was being done to address the seeming lapses in Ambassador coverage or how they weren’t really helping or deterring these things from happening,” O’Reilly said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily. “I wanted the administration to give a list of proactive things that they were doing, not just saying, ‘this occurred and now we’re looking into it,’ but what are they doing to stop these things from happening in the first place and be very communicative about the steps that they were taking.”

O’Reilly said Graham responded directly to her email Sept. 21, saying that Ambassadors did patrol 14th Street and Grady Avenue that evening, but not until 11 p.m.

But, Graham told O’Reilly, the start time for that post had been pushed forward to 4 p.m. “[My email] was a day after this occurred, so it was a pretty immediate shift,” O’Reilly said. “[Graham] said police and Ambassadors have been briefed on the incident and were going to be conducting extra patrols throughout the area, and that there had coincidentally already been a meeting set for the next week to discuss the deployment of Ambassadors and assess the need for additional stationary posts.”

Kirk has been fielding feedback this semester. Some students, Kirk said, have expressed concerns that coverage of Jefferson Park Avenue, 14th Street and 16th Street between Grady Avenue and Gordon Avenue is insufficient. She estimated she has received at least 30 comments this semester regarding Ambassadors and police.

“People approach me in all different ways, means, forms,” Kirk said. “I’ve gotten emails, I’ve gotten people who’ve just come up to me on Grounds to talk to me, there’s a more formal setting at the StudCo general body meetings … It’s pretty regular that I hear concerns.”

Eventually, Kirk said she hopes to see the program expand, such that students feel a heavier presence of Ambassadors while walking in the dark.

“I think just expanding the program to make sure that there is enough coverage so that people can be walking home and see at least one Ambassador on their way home [would be good],” Kirk said. “I think that represents a lot of the community concerns we’ve heard thus far this year — the lack of coverage that students feel.”

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ISC recommends increased security off-Grounds 73 percent of respondents to an ISC survey believe current safety systems are inadequate, report shows Zach Rosenthal and Kate Bellows | Staff Writer and Senior Associate News Editor The Inter-Sorority Council recently released the results of an October survey that asked ISC sorority members to describe their sense of safety off-Grounds and ultimately bring safety-related recommendations to the Office of the Dean of Students.

In a letter released alongside the report, the ISC implored University Police to install better lighting and increase the Ambassadors presence in off-Grounds student housing areas near the Corner and along Jefferson Park Avenue and West Main Street.

Both the letter and the report were sent to University officials Jan. 1.

The survey, conducted between Oct. 14-21, included 12 safety-related questions and received 665 responses — 24.6 percent of the ISC’s 2700 members, according to their website.

39.1 percent of respondents reported feeling either “unsafe” or “very unsafe” in off-Grounds areas at night on weekends, with the percentage increasing to 43 percent on weekdays.

73 percent of respondents, when asked if the University provided adequate resources to ensure student safety in off-Grounds housing areas, answered no.

A majority of respondents reported that University-provided resources — including the bluelight system, the Ambassadors program and Safe Ride — either had a neutral or ineffective impact on making them feel safe in off-Grounds areas.

90.8 percent of respondents stated that they would like to see increased lighting in off-Grounds student housing areas, and 66.2 percent of respondents said they would like to see more stationary Ambassadors in off-Grounds housing areas.

According to the letter, in 2016, the City of Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services released a Pedestrian Lighting Study in which two pedestrian areas were studied, the Corner and the Downtown Mall. Of the 10 streets that the City’s survey identified for lighting improvements, nine were in the Corner area.

The ISC recommended that the City of Charlottesville Department of Neighborhood Development Services work with the University and University Police to reevaluate lighting. Areas that the ISC recommended for evaluation included Wertland Street, Rugby Road, other areas around the Corner and Jefferson Park Avenue.

JAKE GOLD | THE CAVALIER DAILY

In its letter, the Inter-Sorority Council encouraged University Police to increase the Ambassdors presence in off-Grounds student housing areas.

The ISC also recommended that UPD increase Ambassador patrols in off-Grounds housing areas — including Jefferson Park Avenue, West Main Street and areas near the Corner — and publish more information on the selection, training and vetting process of Ambassadors on the Ambassadors website.

Dean of Students Allen Groves, and Gloria Graham, associate vice president for Safety and Security, responded to the ISC’s letter Jan. 4. Their letter — addressed to Zoe Denenberg, outgoing ISC president and fourth-year College student — thanked the ISC for their research and recommendations.

Denenberg did not respond to a request for comment about Groves and Graham’s response to the letter.

“We appreciate the thoughtful approach of the Inter-Sorority Council in conducting this survey, and are also grateful to Student Council and other members of the University community for their feedback,” Groves and Graham wrote. “Such input resembles the partnership and collaboration our offices wish to continue with the community as safety is a shared responsibility for all of us.”

“With regard to lighting, the University’s Safety Committee partners with various stakeholders and conducts a bi-annual

Lighting and Safety Walk around Grounds to assess lighting conditions and identify areas where lighting can be enhanced,” Groves and Graham stated in their letter.

Furthermore, Groves and Graham said the University does not have control over lighting improvements to property it does not own, but does work with the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County to address safety and security concerns offGrounds.

“We will treat your safety letter as just such a community request and will work with our colleagues in the City to see what may be possible,” Groves and Graham wrote.

In an email statement sent to The Cavalier Daily, Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney stated that the police’s goal is to provide for the safety of everyone in the Charlottesville community, including University students.

“Based on the recommendations published by the Inter-Sorority Council, we look forward to partnering with UVA, the University Police Department, our Neighborhood Development Services Department, and the ISC to address their concerns and to identify other off-grounds safety measures,” Brackney stated.

In an email statement to The

Cavalier Daily, Tony Edwards, the Development Services Manager at the City of Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services, stated that “materials used in developing future projects” will take into considerations the letter’s contents.

“We continue to work with the University on multiple projects that will include new pedestrian lighting facilities and safety improvements,” Edwards wrote.

Some improvements have been made as recently as last year.

According to Groves and Graham, in fall 2018, five different Ambassador patrols were added — including areas on Chancellor Street near the railroad fenceline, 14th Street, Wertland Street and Virginia Avenue. Additionally, Ambassador coverage of Jefferson Park Avenue between Emmet Street the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Building was pushed up to start at 7 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.

“Future adjustments to the coverage areas will be made consistent with our routine review of activity data and as necessary in our continuous efforts to enhance safety,” Groves and Graham wrote.

The Office of Safety and Security, Groves and Graham noted, regularly reviews Ambassador coverage locations and makes

changes as needed.

Groves and Graham also shared data about the Ambassadors’ work around Grounds. In 2017, they made 1,108 calls for police assistance, filed 827 requests for medical assistance and conducted over 1,579 escorts.

“We are currently compiling summary data for 2018 and will share that information once it becomes available,” Groves and Graham wrote.

In its conclusion, the ISC’s letter noted that they were excited by recent progress, including the release of an updated Ambassadors Zone Map which features key information about Ambassador Patrols and Blue Light Phones.

However, the ISC wrote, there is more progress to be made.

“The Inter-Sorority Council hopes that the Off-Grounds Student Safety Climate Survey and Report demonstrates need for additional action and provides helpful and feasible recommendations to prioritize in the coming year,” the letter concluded.

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Evaluating the RA compensation plan Even after recent increase, some believe RAs still aren’t receiving adequate compensation Karina Atkins | Staff Writer

MADDY SITA | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Although many fear that the current meal plan is not sufficient, this year’s plan grants 30 more meal swipes per semester than have been given in recent years.

While Housing and Residence Life cites Resident Advisors as being integral to “the development of a residence community that fosters personal and academic growth and, in the case of first year and transfer students, eases the adjustment to University life,” some RAs have expressed that the rent-free bedroom and limited meal plan HRL compensates them with is not enough.

“Being a RA is a 24-hour job and the financial compensation

that a RA expects in their SIS account is really nowhere near the equivalent of what they work for or what they deserve,” said Melissa Angell, a 2018 College graduate who served as a Resident Advisor from August 2016 to May 2018.

Many RAs say they are driven by a desire to serve the University community rather than for the compensation the position gives them. However, some have voiced particular concern that their lim-

ited meal plans may not provide enough benefits for them to adequately nourish themselves.

Currently, RAs are compensated with a meal plan of 80 meal swipes and 130 plus dollars per semester. Meal swipes can be used to eat at the University’s three all-you-care-to-eat dining halls –– Newcomb, O’Hill and Runk –– and plus dollars can be used to purchase food items at any dining facility run by the University. This includes the din-

ing halls, cafés like Rising Roll and convenience stores like 1819 Supply.

Although many fear that the current meal plan is not sufficient, this year’s plan grants 30 more meal swipes per semester than have been given in recent years. From the 2013-2014 academic year to the 2017-2018 academic year, the RA meal plan gave 50 meal swipes and 130 plus dollars per semester. Prior to the 2013-2014 academic year RAs

were given 50 meal swipes, but no plus dollars.

Despite these increases, some former RAs say that the compensation package is not extensive enough to ease the difficulty they have historically faced providing meals for themselves, especially with limited access to kitchens.

Compensation tailored to encourage relationships According to HRL, the rationale behind each component of the RA compensation package

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019 is to foster bonds between RAs and their residents.

“RAs are provided with a rent-free room so that they can live within the residential community that they lead,” Associate Dean of Students Andy Petters said. “The Resident Staff Meal Plan is provided so that RAs can further enhance their strong relationships with their residents over meals in the residential dining halls.”

RAs are given a room right next to their residents and access to the on-Grounds dining facilities –– for which their first year residents are required to purchase a meal plan that offers unlimited meal swipes. Many of their other residents also choose to have a meal plan ––– HRL says it aims to create an environment where the lives of RAs can be closely interconnected with the lives of the residents they serve.

According to 2018 College graduate Maeve Curtin, who served as an RA from August 2015 to May 2017 and is currently at the Batten School pursuing her a Master of Public Policy, these methods of compensation are at least partially accomplishing their intended purpose.

“One of the huge benefits to having a meal plan was the interaction it facilitated with my residents,” Curtin said. “Without the meal swipes to go have meals with my hall or even other RAs, I would have certainly missed out on some of that critical bonding and those memorable conversations shared over meals.”

Debate over the compensation’s adequacy Rebecca Soistmann, a fourthyear in the College who served as an RA from August 2016 to May 2018, echoed Curtin’s sentiments about the importance of giving RAs a meal plan as a means to connect with their residents.

However, she said that the plan she was provided did not allow her to do so adequately. With only 50 meal swipes and 130 plus dollars per semester, she had to rely on her residents to get many meals.

“I planned all of my one-onone meetings, roommate contract meetings, and hall dinners in the dining hall,” Soistmann said. “Then, whenever we went I would say [to my residents], ‘Hey

friend, wanna swipe me in?’ So, I got myself a good 20 to 30 free meals each semester.”

Angell, who had the same meal plan as Soistmann, reported similarly relying on her residents to swipe her into the dinning hall while under the same meal plan.

Current RAs were unable to comment on this year’s addition of 30 more meal swipes, as their contract with HRL does not allow them to speak with the press.

However, with approximately 108 days in the fall 2018 semester excluding breaks, 80 meal swipes do not allow RAs to have one meal in the dining halls per day. Without meal swipes, eating at the on-Grounds all-you-careto-eat dining halls costs $8.75 for breakfast, $10.85 for lunch, and $11 for dinner –– totaling to $30.60 for a day’s meals. The 130 plus dollar allowance would only allow RAs to purchase between 11 and 14 additional meals at the dining halls. This totals to a maximum of 94 meals per semester.

Some RAs attest that while their meal plan is not robust enough to fuel them on a daily basis, their living spaces also do not have the amenities they need to be able to make food. The on-Grounds buildings that RAs are required to live in only have communal kitchens and have restrictions on the types of food preparation machines residents can have in their rooms.

“I had to cook, and it was very difficult because my third year I had a kitchen, but it was quite a hike from my personal dorm to the communal kitchen,” Angell said. “It was also very difficult not having a car on Grounds because I had to utilize different resources to obtain groceries, lug my groceries home and then cook. My fourth year was [also] very difficult because my kitchen did not have a stove. I found myself being pushed toward eating either on the Corner or just out in general, which was frustrating given the additional expenses dining out incurs.”

While it is widely believed that the expansion of the meal plan is a step in the right direction, some past RAs feel that HRL still is not fully addressing the needs of RAs. HRL requires that first year students living on-Grounds pur-

chase either the Ultimate Access meal plan — which gives unlimited meal swipes and 300 plus dollars per semester — or the All Access 7 meal plan that offers unlimited meal swipes and 150 plus dollars per semester. Meanwhile, they give RAs 80 meal swipes and 130 plus dollars.

“I think that the start is the meal plan that they started with this year,” Angell added. “I think that they should continue expanding that. I do believe that RAs should have the All Access [7] meal plan, just because it is difficult living in dorms when you don’t have a kitchen. It is very difficult to provide for and feed yourself full-balanced meals in that situation.”

If HRL believes unlimited meal swipes are necessary for first years to live comfortably on Grounds, some past RAs do not see why HRL would not deem unlimited meal swipes necessary for RAs as well.

“You’re requiring all the first years to have an unlimited meal plan so that they are fed no matter what,” Soistmann said. “But, then you are telling RAs, who aren’t first years but still live in the same area with the same resources, ‘Oh, guess what? We are only going to feed you three times a week and give you eight plus dollars a week. So, good luck. Have fun!’ It’s not enough.”

Comparisons between other state schools Other universities employ different models for RA compensation.

At William & Mary and Virginia Tech, RAs are also provided with a rent-free bedroom and, instead of getting a meal plan, are given a bimonthly stipend.

Past RAs at the University have shown curiosity about employing a similar stipend system at the University.

“It might be cool if they did a smaller stipend and maybe some meal swipes,” said Soistmann, who was attracted to the ability to spend a stipend on commodities beyond on-Grounds dining services but still liked the mealtime bonding that meal swipes foster.

Regardless of whether or not receiving a stipend is a favored system of compensation, the stipend that William & Mary and

Virginia Tech’s RAs receive is of greater monetary value than the meal plan that the University’s RAs receive.

The stipend paid by William & Mary totals to a $3,000 yearly earning for RAs and the stipend paid by Virginia Tech totals to a $2,700 yearly earning.

Although the RA meal plan is not offered to the larger student body and thus does not have a published price, HRL reports that the plan costs them $960 per RA each semester. This totals to a yearly expense of $1,920 per RA, which is less than the stipend that both William & Mary and Virginia Tech’s RAs receive.

The total monetary value of the RA compensation packages between the University, William & Mary and Virginia Tech is not equalized by money saved from rent-free housing. For the 20182019 academic year, a single bedroom on Grounds costs between $6,590 and $7,580 for the year depending on the location. Meanwhile, at William & Mary a single on main campus costs $7,858 to $8,718 for the year, and at Virginia Tech it can range from $7,790 to $10,516 for the year depending on the location.

Adding the stipend and cost of housing, the total monetary value of the RA compensation package at William & Mary for the 2018-2019 academic year is between $10,858 and $11,718, while at Virginia Tech it is between $10,490 and $13,216. Meanwhile, at the University, the compensation package is valued between $8,160 and $9,500 when the cost of housing and the meal plan are considered together.

Method of compensation aside, these calculations suggest that, monetarily speaking, University RAs are being given less than their peers at other Virginia universities.

Not the main motivator but an important factor However, many of the University’s RAs do not take the position for the financial benefits offered, but rather because they are passionate about giving back to and improving the on-Grounds housing communities.

“I think the main motivating factor for me to become an RA was that I personally had such a great first year experience, and I

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wanted to help replicate that for other incoming first years,” Angell said.

Both Soistmann and Curtin also said that they were motivated to become RAs because of the positive upperclassmen mentors they had their first years and their desire to help first years navigate the ups and downs of college life.

“I loved my experience as an RA and it was undoubtedly one of the most meaningful things I ever did at U.Va,” Curtin said. “I always saw my role as an RA as a service to the U.Va. community and my residents. I never approached the job thinking about what I could get out of it; it was always about what I could give.”

These motivations to take the RA position as a favor to the community are somewhat aligned with HRL’s reasoning for providing a meal plan rather than a stipend like William & Mary and Virginia Tech provide. HRL says it provides RAs their compensation so that they can use it as a means to serve.

“Every institution has a different way that they choose to compensate their RAs,” Petters said. “We have determined that RAs can connect with residents through sharing meals.”

However, past RAs are raising the concern that the current meal plan provided to RAs is not expansive enough to allow this ideal to flourish.

“If [giving RAs the ability to share meals with their residents] is the goal of Housing and Residence Life [when] providing a meal plan rather than a salary, then I think that they should provide a complete meal plan that covers three meals a day,” Angell said. “I think that the expansion of the RA meal plan was a good start, but it is certainly no more than the tip of the iceberg, in my opinion,” she later added.

It may be some time until the “iceberg” is fully addressed. After this year’s increase in the meal plan, Petters said that he does not foresee HRL making any changes to either the monetary value of RA compensation packages or methods of compensation in the upcoming school year.

L

LIFE New Year’s resolutions — everyone’s favorite way to reinvent their lives and convince themselves that this year they will stop binging those Goldfish at 1 a.m. and go to the gym every day. Whether your New Year’s resolutions last two days or a lifetime, we can all at least tell ourselves it is the effort that counts.

In terms of food and diet, there are hundreds of ways that all of us can be more mindful of what we put in our bodies, how it affects ourselves and how it affects our environment.

While many of the resolutions I’ve included involve eating healthier, this is not a list of ways to “diet.” I think many of us go wrong with making our New Year’s resolution far too drastic of a change that ultimately leads to forfeiture within the first week of January. Instead of proposing that we should all go completely vegan or alter our diets on a large scale, here are some small tips and changes that are easy to make in the new year.

I will start off with the thing we all try to nix from our lives in our New Year’s resolutions — desserts.

While it is well known that added sugar is literally the root of all evils, we also all know that sweets are amazing. With everything from Nutella-filled donuts to cookie dough served in an ice cream cone, there is not a lack of options for all of us sugar addicts out there. Cutting out all

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Resolutions to eat more mindfully

Instead of a lofty commitment, try these small changes in your diet to feel happier and healthier Maggie Trundle | Food Columnist sweets and missing out on trying a Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie does not sound like the best solution to me, but there are changes in your everyday relationship with sweets that are easy to make.

The best way to kick the sweet tooth craving without downing thousands of calories and grams of sugar?

Dark chocolate. I mean the real kind — we’re talking about 100 percent cocoa here. One of my favorites is Montezuma’s Absolute Black Dark Chocolate with zero grams of sugar!

It’s definitely bitter, so if it doesn’t do the trick for you, then there are tons of other dark chocolates that have a little bit more sugar in them.

Dark chocolate has a ton of powerful antioxidants and other health benefits and is a simple substitute for that late-night scoop of ice cream you’re sneaking.

Moving on from dessert, when shopping for food — particularly produce and meat — a great resolution is to be a more environmentally-aware consumer. Whenever possible, shopping for produce and meat at local farmers markets, such as the Charlottesville City Market, is such a fantastic way to help out the environment and support local business.

The processing of red meat harms the environment in many ways from pollution to deforestation. If cutting red meat out of your diet seems too difficult, eating chicken, tofu, fish or other alternatives whenever possible

MAGGIE TRUNDLE | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Opting for tea instead of another cup of coffee has health benefits while still giving you some caffeine.

is a great way to start.

When it comes to what we drink, there are tons of ways to be better to your body and ultimately feel happier and healthier. For all you coffee drinkers out there — you are not alone.

Personally, I love coffee, and not only due to the fact that I am completely addicted to caffeine. There is something about sitting at my desk with a cup of coffee in a favorite mug that is so comforting and a staple routine in my day to day life.

While coffee also has certain

health benefits, if you are someone who is prone to drinking more than one or two cups a day, switching out those additional trips to Starbucks with a cup of tea is always a good call. Green tea –– specifically matcha green tea –– has loads of health benefits and still retains some of the caffeine that we all need! If you need a little more of a boost, go for a black tea which is still better than overloading your body with coffee. Different herbal teas have a variety of effects such as ginger supporting the diges-

tive system, chamomile protecting the skin with its anti-inflammatory qualities and peppermint or lavender for stress relief.

Your body is your best friend, so what you put in it is so important and can have numerous extended effects on your mind, skin, mood and more.

While all of these tips are important to eating mindfully, never forget that it’s okay to indulge in that cookie dough in a cone every once in a while.

Littlejohn’s New York Deli is still one of the best options Even after 42 years, the favorite sandwich shop draws a crowd Lindsay Smith | Food Columnist In 1976, John Crafaik Jr. saw a gap in the Charlottesville food community. There was no one offering easy, deli-style food to University students, so “Little John” decided to open his Delicatessen, which has since become one of the most reliably delicious spots on the Corner.

Accessibility Sandwiched right between Finch and CVS, Littlejohn’s is easily accessible on foot for all University students — although Charlottesville locals don’t seem to have forgotten the road to such quality sandwiches either.

A parking lot with a low hourly rate right near the Deli means visiting parents and townspeople alike can easily enjoy the restaurant.

It is important to note that while they are no longer a 24/7 operation, Littlejohn’s still caters to student hours. Doors open at 8 a.m. every day and don’t close until 3 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday, making it a favorite for both late-night drunk food and

morning on-the-go sandwiches. The restaurant closes at 10 p.m. other days of the week. All types of students can benefit from the restaurant’s choice of operating hours.

Atmosphere The atmosphere inside is busy and warm, very much like a real New York deli. The chairs and tables are a little too close together for comfort — their cramped placement sometimes makes it hard to maneuver around other customers — but they provide plenty of seating for anyone interested in resting their feet. The order-and-seatyourself style is on the whole very laid back, and the wall decor really makes you feel like you are grubbing in a big city sandwich shop.

Affordability Perhaps the most delicious aspect of Littlejohn’s success is its pricing.

The subs, flatbreads and sandwiches are super affordable, ranging between $3.75 and $8.50 (with most larger sandwiches costing around $7). Their serv-

ings are relatively large for the price, although for all those long-standing Littlejohn’s consumers like me who have been patronizing the store since before it was featured in a Cav Daily article, it is important to note that they no longer serve chips on the side.

Appeal As for the food itself, there is nowhere better to get a hearty sub on the Corner — or really anywhere throughout the Shenandoah Valley. Littlejohn’s offers originals, basics, interesting flavor mixes and even a kiddie menu, so no matter what mood you are in they have a ‘wich to match it. But while each and every item stands out for its own reasons, I will recommend my three favorite sandwiches.

The Meatball Sub is perfect for cheat day — which for me may or may not be every day — because the bread is soft but still crisp on the outside, and the cheese is perfectly melted and gooey. I will say that the presentation

makes it more difficult to eat; the meatballs are not sliced, making me worry with every bite that I’ll lose part of the sub to gravity. My stance at this point in time is definitely against spilled sandwiches, so I always catch any spillage by eating the sub directly over the box it comes in.

The flavor balance between the meat, sauce, cheese and bread is very good, although the bread does become a little soggy if the sandwich isn’t eaten soon after it is ordered. This sub is definitely on the heavy side, but more than worth it. I hate to pick favorites, but out of all the options on the board this one has proven itself to be consistently worthwhile.

The Reuben is also a classic, perfect for busy days when ordering a creative sandwich is just too stressful. I have been pleased to find that the dressing is tart but not overly sour — it’s sweeter than many of the other 1,000 island dressings I have tried — and is topped with so much meat it should be illegal.

They definitely took a page from Arby’s to make this one.

The Wild Turkey is a little more out there than the first two choices, but is nonetheless a family favorite — in fact, it has been the number one choice in my own family since the early 1980s. This sandwich boasts understated bacon, a subtle herb mayo — which is just as classy as it sounds — and a mouthwatering flavor palate of turkey, tomato and muenster.

All in all, Littlejohn’s is easily accessible to students and offers the perfect sandwich for everyone. It has been one of my favorite places since well before I chose to attend the University, and I honestly believe it will remain one of my favorite places well after I am gone. In all honesty, I will probably be shipping their sandwiches across the country by air mail as soon as I move out of driving range.

www.cavalierdaily.com • LIFE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019

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Top 10 achievable goals to reach this semester Because academic expectations are high enough Paige Waterhouse | Top 10 Writer

1 Find a new study space

As a first-year student with absolutely zero sense of direction, I still find myself getting occasionally lost around Grounds. The bright side is, my terrible navigation skills often lead me to stumble upon new and unique study spots. Where are these hidden nooks of solitude, you ask? Simply give away the coordinates to my secret silent spots? I don’t think so. Instead, I send you forth on a quest to discover your own alcove to occupy. May it be quiet, cozy and remote enough that no one can see those tears of frustration that will flow as second semester studying begins.

2

Shake up your playlist

Music — along with coffee — is one of the most crucial components of my daily routine. For me, walking to class, working out at the gym and relaxing before bed all require listening to the familiar notes of my favorite songs that help me get through the day. However, a new semester calls for a break from the traditional routine.

Switching up your tunes is one of the easiest ways to shake up your daily cycle, as new genres with great music to be heard are only a click a away. I guess this means that I will have to sample some country every now and then … yikes.

4 Exercise

“Next semester, I’m making a commitment to go to the gym every week,” you said during finals week last December as you raided the ice cream section at Croads to feed your cramming-induced cravings. Well friend, it’s January now, and the new year is well under way — how’s that exercise plan coming? Don’t worry, I am not here to judge. Classes, clubs and homework all make it difficult to keep up with the ridiculously high expectations we University students set for ourselves.

According to my sources — thanks mom — just 30 minutes of exercise a day can help improve your mood, sleep quality and productivity. So, consider this a friendly reminder from a peer who could also use some motivation herself to get out there and crank out some cardio.

6

Try some new food

As you most likely have already discovered, Charlottesville is overflowing with good restaurants.

It’s time to get out of the dining hall and head towards the Downtown Mall, the Corner or basically any other main road where there are signs that indicate “food.”

Growing up in a relatively touristy town, quality restaurant food was hard to come by and good local places were few and far between. Thus, I wholeheartedly appreciate the diverse selection of cuisine available so close to Grounds. I encourage you to put aside your meal swipes for one night, and try an eatery that is new to you. And of course, as a fellow food lover, please send me your reviews!

Read ... for fun!

5

Attend a new event

8

Start taking notes now

This one may give you flashbacks to library time in elementary school, but bear with me. If you have not noticed already, college involves a lot of reading.

This is fantastic if you — like myself — enjoy reading.

However, if you do not, I feel terribly sorry for you.

Bookworm or not, make it one of your semester goals to pick up a leisure book. Give your eyes a break from tiny textbook font and scribbled, highlighted notebooks. Indulge in an interesting biography about your hero of history, enjoy an advanced text on a physics concept that sparked your interest or simply immerse yourself in the fictional world of a fantasy novel. Whatever your preferred genre, get reading!

One of the great aspects about the University is that there is always so much going on. With over 700 clubs and organizations, and a multitude of sports teams — both D1 and intramural — there is no excuse to be bored on a weekend night. Try out for a team or join a unique club to interact with a whole new group of people. Not up for commitment? Try going to one sporting event you’ve never seen before or attending an open club function that supports a cause that interests you. Be open to meeting new people and finding new ways to integrate yourself in the University community. Sure, you may be the only fan or member who shows up, but at least you’re trying new things, right?

7

Volunteer

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Call someone

With the beginning of the new semester, focus on self often becomes a top priority. Self-care is a necessity in order to stay healthy, be happy and succeed at reaching our goals. However, excessive self-focus can lead to thinking that causes stress and anxiety. This is why getting involved in volunteer work is a great goal to have this semester. Willingly setting aside a portion of your day to serve those who need it gives you an escape from pressures of college life. Not only does volunteering benefit the community, but it also benefits you, as being a helpful presence for others boosts your self esteem. Find a service that best works with your schedule and allows you to share your unique talents with others so that you can simultaneously give and receive joy.

Calling is quite honestly the most underrated form of communication. Texting? Spellcheck is faulty.

FaceTime? Umm, I haven’t showered yet today. Email?

Much too slow. Calling? I can have a regular conversation with you, but without the commitment of actually meeting in person? Yes, please. Calling someone on the phone is bold, classy and ultimately shows that you care. So switch it up this semester and give someone a ring — but you should probably stick to email for your professors.

MADDY SITA AND TYRA KREHBIEL | THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Type A people, you can probably skip this one, but for those of you readers that struggle to keep your notes in line with lectures — this one's for you. A couple missed slides, a skipped class and a few minutes of zoning out can lead to more than a couple blank notebook pages. If this is already you in the first week of second semester, please pull yourself together. Save yourself from midterm stress and catch up on what you missed. Those notes are not going to color code themselves.

10 Smile

Cliché? Maybe, but honestly it is a second semester essential. Spring break is a long way away, so you are going to be around Grounds for a while. So get comfortable and find some people, activities and places around you that bring you joy. Share a smile and spread some happiness — it’s a brand new semester, let’s kill it with kindness.

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LIFE • www.cavalierdaily.com

Parking attendant Jada Howard says goodbye After 25 years of working at Central Grounds Garage, New ParkMobile machines force Howard to retire Alexis Gravely | Assistant Managing Editor On the final day of fall semester exams, students leaving the Central Grounds Parking Garage would find a woman in the payment booth wearing holiday-themed reindeer antlers, smiling and waving cheerfully to those handing her their white parking slips and crisp dollar bills. The woman’s name is Jada Howard, and this was one of the last times she would be doing this.

After 25 years in the booth of University parking garages, her last day as an attendant was Jan. 4. She was retiring. It wasn’t entirely her choice.

When the University decided to automate payment for parking in the Central Grounds Garage beginning this month, there was no longer a need for attendants to staff the booth throughout the day and evening. While machines replacing humans may sound like a plot point in a science-fiction novel, this is a difficult reality for Howard and the seven other attendants who worked at the garage.

Rebecca White, director of Parking and Transportation, said in an email that employees were notified in October and November that their positions would be eliminated. She said University Human Resources met with each employee to discuss their options consistent with University policy.

“Due to age and years of service, some of the employees were eligible for retirement,” White said.

“In addition to exploring other placement options at the University, UHR arranged meetings with benefits counselors to help each employee fully explore severance or retirement.”

Howard said she was offered the opportunity to work elsewhere at U.Va. She was told she could stay within Parking and Transportation and drive a bus, but she would first have to pass a test. She also said they had discussed a potential position as a cashier within University Dining Services, but it wasn’t a job she wanted to do.

“My retirement for me was my only option because I got frightened because I didn’t know where they would put me,” Howard said.

“They frightened me into retirement.”

Now, she’s left with no medical insurance and a retirement that isn’t enough to pay her living expenses. She has two sons, ages 16 and 18.

“Those are things that scare me,”

ALEXIS GRAVELY | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Jada Howard has been working as an attendant at parking garages on Grounds for the past 25 years.

Howard said. “What if something happens? My retirement is not even enough money to pay my rent. It’s just me and my boys.”

Born and raised in Charlottesville, Howard didn’t plan to start working in the Central Grounds Garage. She wanted to be a writer.

“I was going to be the next Toni Morrison,” Howard laughed.

However, when she learned about the opportunity as an attendant, she applied and was offered the job. She accepted, and though she didn’t plan to stay as long as she did, once she started working in the garage, she discovered that she loved it too much to leave.

“The people I met at Central Grounds, they became my doctors, my lawyers, my psychiatrists, my friends,” Howard said. “While they may have thought my smiling face affected them, it doubled for me.

They gave me a totally different outlook on life. I just wanted to tell the students, faculty and staff thank you. Thank you for making my experience the best ever.”

Howard’s youngest son has Asperger’s syndrome. She said if it had not been for the people she met in the garage who worked and studied at the Curry School of Education, she might not have even known he had it.

“I didn’t know anything about Asperger’s,” Howard said. “He wasn’t as perceptive as my other son, and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. They directed me to where I needed to go to get a better understanding of my son.

If these people hadn’t told me anything about that, I would’ve never known.”

Howard often expresses gratitude for what all of the years at the Central Grounds Garage have brought her. But the people she’s met have not just made an impact on her — she’s also made an impact on them. Two different people both described Howard as a “ray of sunshine.”

One of these people was Molly Foukal, a 2017 alumna of the University who currently practices clinical psychology in Cape Cod, Mass. During her third and fourth years of graduate school, Foukal lived off Grounds, so she drove to class and parked in the Central Grounds Garage. She saw Howard most mornings and afternoons, and they would talk.

“Her smiling face and energetic personality always cheered me up when I'd be leaving after a long day of graduate school,” Foukal said in an email. “I would ALWAYS notice when someone else was working,

as I missed her friendly face on my way out of the garage.”

Foukal recalled the morning she was due to defend her dissertation, and the feelings of nervousness she had. As she was walking out of the garage, she said Howard smiled at her and wished her good luck.

“In that moment it felt like she was my greatest cheerleader and had so much faith in me, which helped me regain a sense of calm and confidence in myself,” Foukal said. “When I returned after a successful defense I was so excited to share the good news with her (and she was so genuinely happy for me, it warmed my heart so much!).”

This thought was shared by Millie Lindsay who, like Howard, is also retiring after 33 years with Parking and Transportation, the last four of which were spent in the Central Grounds Garage. She said she never imagined she’d be put in this position — she’ll have to find other work to receive medical insurance and to supplement the money from her retirement, which is also not enough for her to survive.

“This has been a long, bitter, bittersweet divorce,” Lindsay said.

“Some of it was so bitter it ripped a part of me away.”

Through it all, she said, Howard has been there with her.

“We got to be extremely close and we leaned on each other,” Lindsay said. “Even when I was down, I could always count on Jada to do something to make me start laughing and make me forget about the bad times. That girl got me through wwa lot. I love her.”

White said that those in the department were appreciative of the ways in which Howard interacted with customers.

“Whether it was someone she would see repeatedly or a visitor she met only one time, visitors could connect with Jada's smile and personality,” White said.

It’s this — the loss of human interaction and personalized service — that Howard regrets most about the implementation of the parking machines. She said that for new people visiting the University, she was often the first and last person they would see. She would give them directions, advise them about places to eat and welcome them to Grounds — things that a machine will never be able to do.

“It’s just that personal interaction that won’t come from the machines,” Howard said. “They’ll never get another Jada over there.”

A& E ARTS AND

ENTERTAINMENT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019

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‘Urgency of lived experience’ Leslie Jamison’s “The Recovering” is a vital work for addicts and artists alike Dan Goff | Arts and Entertainment Editor

As titles go, “The Recovering” is a bit of a misnomer. Make no mistake — Leslie Jamison was several years sober at the time of her memoir’s publication in April 2018 — but the work is just as concerned with the author’s fall as it is her rise. Aside from chronicling her own alcoholism, Jamison also brings her analytical, deeply personal eye to other stories of addiction and to the history of addiction itself.

Readers looking for the standard dependence-to-recovery timeline might be disoriented, but as Jamison says in “The Recovering,” “Nothing about recovery had been singular … recovery had been about immersion in the lives of others.”

Jamison, an author boasting degrees from Harvard and Yale, is no stranger to intensive research projects.

In fact, a research project is how “The Recovering” was born. Jamison was working towards a doctoral degree at Yale when she began working on a “dissertation about the relationship between addiction and narrative … as well as the relationship between recovery and narrative,” as she put it in an interview with Arts and Entertainment. The conversation took place in advance of her Jan. 18 reading of

“The Recovering” at New Dominion Bookshop.

Jamison explained that, in the world of creative writing, addiction often seemed synonymous with creative genius, while the stories of newly sober artists were much harder to come by.

It’s a problem that had haunted her for years — as though she needed further accolades, Jamison is also an alumna of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a master’s program renowned for its notable alumni but notorious for its pervasive drinking culture. The two went hand-in-hand, as Jamison writes early in “The Recovering.” “The myths of Iowa City drinking ran like subterranean rivers beneath the drinking we were doing.” Raymond Carver, John Cheever, John Berryman, Denis Johnson — they all attended the program, and they all drank heavily. “I was into the drinking,” Jamison writes of her time in the Writers’ Workshop, “but I was also into the mythology.”

Years later, as a doctoral student, Jamison wasn’t into either — and she was searching for proof that she didn’t have to be. “I felt like sobriety could look like a wasteland,” she said.

“I wanted to believe that wasn’t true.”

So she began revisiting the lives of those mythic, drunk authors to ques-

tion whether their addictions were really quite as romantic as they had been depicted. Aside from researching Iowa’s alumni, Jamison broadened the scope of her project to include addicts from varying backgrounds, and addictions of varying kinds. The main question of her project — “Does recovery kill great writing?” — is followed by tangential ones. Why are some people more predisposed to addiction? What changes when the addict in question is a person of color, or a woman, or both?

Jamison’s intersectional approach to addiction leads to a historical one, as she dives into America’s complicated history with substances and those citizens who can’t stop using them.

Seemingly every major event and notable addict is covered, from Prohibition to the War on Drugs, from Amy Winehouse to the all-but-forgotten author George Cain. These stories and histories are interlaid with Jamison’s main narrative of her alcoholism, supporting her idea that “nothing is singular” about her experience.

Jamison said that “The Recovering” wouldn’t have worked so well in another form. “Eventually I realized the most honest book I could write would be one that approaches these questions from multiple angles,” she

ARTS PRESIDENT’S SPEAKER FOR THE

In partnership with UVA’s 2019 Community MLK Celebration

Leslie Odom, Jr. Tony Award-winner for Best Leading Actor in Hamilton

Saturday, January 19 at 3pm John Paul Jones Arena• Clear Bag Policy

FREE WITH TICKET • Details:

arts.virginia.edu/odom Newcomb, JPJ, ticketmaster.com, UVA Arts Box Office

Supported by the offices of the President and Provost, the Vice Provost for the Arts, the offices for Diversity & Equity and Equal Opportunity & Civil Rights, and The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. Media Sponsors are WTJU 91.1 FM, Charlottesville Radio Group (CRG), and C-VILLE Weekly.

said, listing “personal narrative, literary criticism, cultural history” and “reportage” all as necessary components of her work.

The style is sometimes a jarring one — it’s hard to shift from an upsettingly intimate account of Jamison caring for her dying grandmother and getting wasted, alone and in secret, every night, to an analytical approach to Nixon’s racial biases — but these transitions also mirror Jamison’s own, tumultuous experience with alcohol.

In “The Recovering,” she realizes she has a problem, gets sober, starts attending AA meetings and relapses.

She gets sober again, but alcohol beckons on the horizon, the “shimmering alternate world.” Recovery is not an absolute, Jamison acknowledges. The substance and its original hold are never forgotten.

For Jamison, the original hold was during her time as an undergrad at Harvard. At Iowa, her alcoholism compounded itself with literary ambition, but it was at Harvard that Jamison had her first blackout, when she first realized that “drinking felt like the opposite of restriction. It was freedom.” When asked about the fact that she would be reading to a crowd at least partially composed of college

students, Jamison said that resonance “isn’t necessarily about sharing a situation with the narrator or character on the page,” arguing that it “leaps across categories” and “surprises you.” “I guess I’m saying — anything might resonate with college students. I believe that.”

However, Jamison also admitted that college was an anxious, upsetting time of isolation for her, and that these ideas might make their way into the reading. She described feeling “young and insecure and hungry for experience” and emphasized the “delusion of feeling that I was singular in my loneliness … when in truth I shared those feelings with most of the people around me.”

One of Jamison’s most vital points, and one that continually appears both in her writing and her conversation, is that no one — whether an addict or just “young and insecure and hungry for experience” — is truly alone in what she experiences. “I used to believe everyone else was happy behind their lit windows,” she said. “Now I understand that the lives behind those lit windows were more complicated and fraught than I once assumed.”

Jamison will read from “The Recovering” Friday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. at New Dominion Bookshop.

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SPORTS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019

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Taking a look at winter sports CD Sports beat writers recap the outlook for their sports as the seasons progress CD Sports Staff

Though many University students have been able to go home and relax over break, several athletes have been grinding throughout the winter. The Cavalier Daily Sports staff takes a look at how winter sports have performed as the season continues.

Men’s basketball Record: 16-0, 4-0 ACC After the sudden end to its NCAA tournament last season, Virginia men’s basketball faced a wall of critics and doubters. Instead of regressing, however, the Cavaliers are once again national contenders, boasting an undefeated record and an offense and defense both ranked in the top 10 nationally (per KenPom). Junior guard Kyle Guy has become an explosive offensive threat, averaging around 15.3 points per game on 47.2% shooting — both career highs. Guy has been especially lethal as of late, including a 30-point barrage against Marshall (10-6, 3-0 C-USA) and 21 points against No. 11 Florida State (13-4, 1-3 ACC). In addition to Guy, junior forward Braxton Key has been critical to the Cavaliers’ success. Following the departures of starters Devon Hall and

Isaiah Wilkins, the transfer from Alabama combines versatile defending and scoring to add much-needed depth to the Virginia roster. Key’s 20-point effort against Florida State demonstrated what he can do when given the opportunity. After navigating non-conference play and the beginning of their ACC schedule successfully, the Cavaliers are set for a dynamic road duel at No. 1 Duke (14-2, 3-1 ACC).

Women’s basketball Record: 7-10, 1-3 ACC Virginia women’s basketball has struggled in the first half of the season thus far, but is making progress.

The Cavaliers ended 2018 with a 6-7 record against non-conference opponents. In the new year, Virginia began the two-month stretch of ACC play with two consecutive losses to Florida State and Clemson. They are beginning to turn things around, however, picking up a critical win against rivals Virginia Tech, coming back from a 19-point second half deficit. Most recently, they lost to No. 8 N.C. State, but put up a good fight. Despite key injuries to players like junior center Felicia Aiyeotan, the consistent play from the two

junior guards, Jocelyn Willoughby and Dominique Toussaint, provide hope for the remainder of the season. Willoughby leads the team in rebounds and is third in the ACC and eighth in the nation in threepoint shooting, with a 48.4 field goal percentage. She consistently scores in double figures and has generated two twenty-point performances in the last seven games. Toussaint has scored in double figures in four of the last five games and leads the team in assists. With the toughest portion of the Cavalier’s schedule ahead, other players must step up in order to string together a few wins.

Next up, the Cavaliers are set to travel Thursday to face No. 4 Louisville (15-1, 3-1 ACC), one of the nation’s best teams.

Wrestling Record: 9-6, 0-0 ACC Virginia wrestling ended 2018 on a positive note, winning three of four at the South Beach Duals competition in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. With a pair of convincing wins sandwiching Virginia’s lone victory of the season over a ranked opponent, the Cavaliers hope to carry this momentum into 2019, especially with conference

play right around the corner. While Virginia features several nationally-ranked wrestlers, two who have been and will continue to be important are redshirt sophomore Jay Aiello and junior Jack Mueller. Aiello — the seventh-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds — has posted a 13-4 record this year and has been one of the Cavaliers’ best wrestlers this season. While Aiello has had a fantastic year so far, no Virginia wrestler can match Mueller’s impressive undefeated record. Since coming off of a redshirt in December, Mueller has posted five bonus-point wins in five duals. As the fifth-ranked wrestler in the country at 125 pounds, Mueller gives the Cavaliers another powerhouse to lean on as they move forward with their season. Unfortunately for Virginia, the road ahead is anything but easy, as the Cavaliers are set to face at least five opponents who are currently ranked before the end of the regular season.

Virginia will need every bit of effort from Aiello, Mueller and company to successfully navigate the rigorous schedule.

Men’s squash/women’s squash Record: 5-4 (Men); 6-5 (Women)

No. 13 Virginia men’s squash have started off the year strong, posting statement wins against No. 9 Princeton (3-3), and No. 16 Cornell (1-3). This winning record is in part due to the efforts by freshman Patrick McElroy who, after winning a bronze medal with Team USA at the Junior Pan American Games in 2017, has stepped into a crucial No. 1 role for the team. McElroy and the Cavaliers hope to continue this success against No. 21 Williams College (4-5) in Annapolis on Jan. 19.

No. 11 Virginia women’s squash, through hallmark wins against then-No. 8 Cornell (1-2) and No. 32 Georgetown (6-4), entered the new year in dominant fashion. After graduating co-captain and number one Carey Danforth last year, Canadian freshman Emma Jinks has filled Danforth’s shoes with individual wins against Cornell and then-No. 9 Drexel. The Virginia women aim to carry this momentum into their next match, against No. 13 Williams College (4-6), also in Annapolis on Jan. 19.

A DYNAMIC TRIO Injuries have forced Tinsley, Jones, Jablonowski into larger role Virginia women’s basketball struggled in non-conference play this season under new coach Tina Thompson.

The Cavaliers were defeated by mid-majors such as Radford, Central Michigan, and Saint Louis, as well as some ugly defeats against top 25 teams No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 16 Kentucky, and No. 23 Michigan State. Virginia was the only ACC team to finish their non-conference schedule with a losing record, and still sits in last place in the conference.

Virginia struggled offensively at times last season under coach Joanne Boyle. That trend continued into this season under Thompson, especially during a midseason fourgame stretch against Coppin State, American, Radford and Alabama, in which the Cavaliers failed to score over 60 points in any game.

While Virginia beat Coppin State handily, the Cavaliers needed a 13-point comeback to beat American and lost by double digits to both Radford and Alabama.

On top of this, the squad has been hit with major injuries to redshirt freshman point guard Amandine Toi and junior center Felicia

Aiyeotan. After missing all of last season with a left knee injury, Toi will be out for this entire season with a right knee injury. Aiyeotan hurt her knee against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 20 and was expected to be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. In addition, sophomore forward Dani Lawson, a transfer from Purdue, was not granted a hardship waiver, rendering her ineligible to play this year.

Without Toi, Aiyeotan, and Lawson, the Cavaliers have spent much of the season with only eight healthy players available.

Sophomore point guard Khyasia Caldwell was initially inserted into the starting five to replace Toi, but struggled with turnovers against Mississippi State and Kentucky and was replaced by fellow sophomore Brianna Tinsley. Junior forward Shakyna Payne was Thompson’s first choice to replace Aiyeotan, but was soon supplanted by junior forward Lisa Jablonowski.

It has taken time for Tinsley, Jablonowski and senior forward Moné Jones to thrive in their expanded roles, but they have finally come into their own in recent games.

While this team will almost certainly not be returning to the NCAA Tournament this season, the Cavaliers have at least been competitive in their first two ACC games, including narrow losses against No. 22 Florida State and Clemson, in which Tinsley, Jones and Jablonowski have excelled in the starting lineup.

Against Coppin State, American, Radford and Alabama, Tinsley, Jones and Jablonowski only combined for two double-digit scoring performances, as Tinsley scored 11 points against Alabama, while Jablonowski dropped 11 on Radford.

However, their scoring has picked up dramatically since then.

In the non-conference finale against Charlotte, Jablonowski scored a career-high 17 points, following that up with 8 and 10 points in the first two conference games. Over the course of those three games, Tinsley scored 12, a career-high 19 and 9 points, and Jones scored 8, a career-high 12 and 10.

In addition, the trio’s struggles in the loss to No. 8 North Carolina State underscored their importance to the Cavalier offense. In that game, Jones scored only 7 points,

while Tinsley and Jablonowski failed to score any.

Aiyeotan has recently returned, and likely will push Jablonowski back to the bench once she returns to full health.

Since Jablonowski contributes more on offense than Aiyeotan does, she can be the consistent reserve scorer that the Cavaliers have lacked at times this year.

Jablonowski will also be able to provide some much needed versatility to Thompson, playing as a power forward in a big lineup or as a center in a small one.

Though the Cavaliers had a nightmarish first half of the season, partially due to injuries, the absences of Toi and Aiyeotan have provided opportunities for Tinsley, Jones and Jablonowski to develop and hopefully maintain their contributions to keep Virginia competitive in ACC play.

RICHARD DIZON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

COLIN CANTWELL is an incoming Sports Editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at cpc3ba@virginia.edu.

Junior forward Lisa Jablonowski has played a pivotal role on Virginia’s team this year.

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THE CAVALIER DAILY

SPORTS • www.cavalierdaily.com

PLAYERS TO WATCH

KEYS TO THE GAME

Virginia sophomore forward De’Andre Hunter

Keep calm, have faith in the packline

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The packline defense is known as a staple for Virginia men’s basketball.

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Hunter can drive the Virginia offense if he stays out of foul trouble.

De’Andre Hunter, the premier NBA prospect for Virginia, has the ability to be a gamechanger for the Cavaliers on both sides of the ball. While national media have paid significant attention to the jaw-dropping dunks of Zion Williamson and the length of R.J. Barrett, Virginia’s athleticism also merits attention. The Cavaliers may be known for their calm, cerebral style of play, but that doesn’t mean they don’t also possess great athleticism. Hunter epitomizes the largely underrated athleticism of the No. 4 team in the nation, with his 7-foot-2 wingspan and ability to guard multiple positions. Whether matched up with Barrett or Williamson, Hunter will have a lot on his hands defensively Saturday. But he is ready to meet the challenge. His length, wide base and mastery of the packline will make it difficult for Duke to penetrate, which they have done so effortlessly.

The key is for Hunter to stay out of foul trouble. Besides players like junior transfer guard Braxton Key, who currently has the best defensive rating in all of college basketball, the Cavaliers don’t have a lot of wing depth to match up with Duke’s best. In addition to maintaining his defensive prowess, Hunter must stay aggressive on offense. Particularly in moments when Virginia needs to reverse momentum, he is the man to come up with 1-on-1 offense. He did it last year at Cameron Indoor, and must step up again this year.

Virginia junior forward Mamadi Diakite

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Diakite had 18 points against Boston College on Jan. 9.

This season, much like last year, Virginia’s offense has largely come from their guards with Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome all putting up an average of double figures. All three of them have also proved they can handle the intensity of playing in Cameron Indoor. In last year’s matchup Guy had 17 points, Jerome had 13 points — including that clutch 3 pointer with 39 seconds left that put Virginia ahead by 5 — and Hunter had 12 points.

While the Cavaliers will need all of them to step up to the plate again, against the No.1 team in the country Virginia will need another factor to diversify their offense. Junior forward Mamadi Diakite can be that option. He’s athletic and dynamic, and he has proved he’s capable of generating scoring with his 18 points against Boston College on 9-for12 shooting. Perhaps more importantly than giving Virginia some points, Diakite will also have to stay disciplined on defense. Staying out of foul trouble and keeping Duke from picking up easy buckets inside the paint are going to be crucial for Virginia to get a win against the Blue Devils.

THE KEYS TO BASKETBALL

Virginia vs.

Duke — a breakdown

Virginia’s defense is feared nationwide. The last eight years — including this year so far — the Cavaliers have finished in the top five nationally in points allowed per game. Their renowned packline defense has stopped the best scorers in the country in the past.

Saturday’s game, however, presents a unique challenge, with a Blue Devils team coming in averaging 90.2 points per game. The size of Duke’s three freshman wing/forwards (Barrett, Williamson and Cam Reddish) is difficult to stop, and the Blue Devils get a lot of points by taking undersized opponents to the rim.

This, however, is the strength of the packline — stopping attackers from getting to the basket by collapsing towards the middle. The primary weakness of Duke’s offense is three-point shooting — they are currently in the bottom third in the nation in three-point field goal percentage — and it typically takes good threepoint shooting to beat the packline. Maryland, the only team to score over 70 points against Virginia, shot 41.2 percent from three-point range against the Cavaliers. Therefore, if Virginia’s wings can stay out of foul trouble and play the fundamental, patient packline, the Cavaliers should emerge victorious.

CD Sports Staff After a decisive 81-59 win against No. 9 Virginia Tech (14-2, 3-1 ACC), the No. 4 Virginia men’s basketball team (16-0, 4-0 ACC) is set to play No. 1 Duke (15-1, 4-1 ACC) Saturday. All eyes will be on the most anticipated college basketball clash of the season between two ACC powerhouses. ESPN’s CollegeGameday is making the trip to Durham, N.C., where thousands of Blue Devil faithful will be camping out to get into Cameron Indoor Stadium. It is a matchup between two of college basketball’s greatest coaches — Tony Bennett and Mike Krzyzewski. Bennett’s lethally consistent packline defense and mover-blocker offense is pitted against the winningest coach in college basketball history, with perhaps the best freshman class in college basketball history. Freshman forwards R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson, both averaging over 20 points per game, are set to face the supremely talented Cavaliers’ big three junior guards Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome and redshirt sophomore forward De’Andre Hunter. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from Cameron Indoor.

Control turnovers

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Virginia committed nine turnovers against Virginia Tech on Jan. 15.

While the Blue Devils have a very talented group of freshmen, at times their inexperience shows, and the play can get sloppy. This is particularly true in regards to turnovers. They’ve had turnovers in double figures in a majority of their games, including 14 against Florida State, 17 against Wake Forest and 19 against Texas Tech. Controlling the turnover game can be a crucial way for Virginia to win this game. Considering the Blue Devils have struggled against lesser defenses than Virginia, the opportunity to force and score off turnovers will definitely be there for Virginia to capitalize on. The Cavaliers will also have to minimize their own turnovers, They’re currently averaging around nine turnovers a game, and not going above that number by playing clean, precise basketball is going to be key for them.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019

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End censorship of student media The New Voices bill proposes limits on administrative censorship

OPINION

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ournalists have consistently faced the threat of censorship — a danger that has only become more evident in the last several years. The recent murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Saudi Arabian government demonstrates the challenges facing journalists worldwide. While this is a particularly gruesome example, censorship at the university level is pervasive and underlooked. At many universities, student newspapers receive funding from their administrations, which gives those administrators control over the papers’ editorial content. This relationship often conflicts with papers’ responsibility to critically analyze all relevant aspects of their stories — a task that can reveal distasteful aspects of all universities involved. To preserve the historical record created through student journalism and in support of the continued wellbeing of higher

education communities, the Virginia General Assembly must prohibit universities’ ability to censor student media.

Proposed by Del. Chris Hurst (D-Montgomery), House Bill 2382, also known as a “New Voices Bill,” states that student journalists in both public K-12 and public higher education have the right to uncensored free speech, except in certain libelous or illegal cases, regardless of the newspaper’s financial relationship with its institution.

For newspapers that rely on their schools and universities for financial support, the enactment of this bill would bring safety to their currently volatile situations. Also, this sort of law would give student journalists the confidence to pursue stories that would otherwise lead to editorial or financial sanctions.

Bills similar to Hurst’s have become law in 14 U.S. states, according to the Student Press Law Center. California first passed its own New Voices law

in 1977, and while it applies only to high school newspapers, the sentiments contained therein are similar to those contained in Hurst’s bill. Since California’s passing, laws of similar nature have passed around the country, and thus precedence exists for Hurst’s bill to come into law.

With the financial difficulties that currently plague print media, many student newspapers could not survive without funding from their universities.

Unfortunately, this relationship can lead to editorial oversight by university administrators. For Virginia school media organizations that cannot exist without their institutions, the New Voices bill provides an avenue for the continued performance of students’ journalism responsibilities and administrative support of those efforts.

Although The Cavalier Daily has operated independent of the University administration since the late 1970s, administrative censorship is an ingrained

aspect of its history. Following the paper’s standoff with University administration over an onGrounds media oversight board — exactly the censorship targeted by the New Voices bill — The Cavalier Daily ceased to receive any funding from the University itself and has since remained financially and editorially independent. If the paper had accepted the oversight, groundbreaking journalism regarding the University community could have been quashed by the University administration. Student newspapers around the U.S. have experienced similar oversight issues, and it is vital that protections be put in place to prevent such censorship.

Student journalists make valuable contributions to the historic record of their university communities. In fact, many professional journalists rely on students for potential stories.

In light of the vital role of student journalism, both within the higher education and national

news environments, the Virginia General Assembly must take action to pass Hurst’s New Voices bill into law.

The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board is composed of the executive editor, the editor in chief and three at-large members of the paper. The board can be reached at eb@cavalierdaily.com.

THE CAVALIER DAILY THE CAVALIER DAILY The Cavalier Daily is a financially and editorially independent news organization staffed and managed entirely by students of the University of Virginia.

The opinions expressed in The Cavalier Daily are not necessarily those of the students, faculty, staff or administration of the University of Virginia. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board. Cartoons and columns represent the views of the authors. The managing board of The Cavalier Daily has sole authority over and responsibility for all content.

No part of The Cavalier Daily or The Cavalier Daily online edition may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the editor-in-chief.

The Cavalier Daily is published Thursdays in print and daily online at cavalierdaily. com. It is printed on at least 40 percent recycled paper. 2016 The Cavalier Daily Inc.

HAVE AN OPINION? The Cavalier Daily welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns. Writers must provide full name, telephone number and University affiliation, if appropriate. Letters should not exceed 250 words in length and columns should not exceed 700. The Cavalier Daily does not guarantee publication of submissions and may edit all material for content and grammar. Submit to opinion@cavalierdaily.com or P.O. Box 400703, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4703

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS To better serve readers, The Cavalier Daily has a public editor to respond to questions and concerns regarding its practices. The public editor writes a column published every week on the opinion pages based on reader feedback and his independent observations. He also welcomes queries pertaining to journalism and the newspaper industry in general. The public editor is available at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com.

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MANAGING BOARD Editor-in-Chief Tim Dodson Managing Editor Ben Tobin Executive Editor Jake Lichtenstein Operations Manager Sonia Gupta Chief Financial Officer Nate Bolon EDITORIAL BOARD Jake Lichtenstein Tim Dodson Audrey Fahlberg Tom Ferguson Katherine Smith

JUNIOR BOARD Assistant Managing Editors Alexis Gravely Gracie Kreth (SA) Alec Husted (SA) Alix Nguyen (SA) Aaron Rose (SA) Anne Whitney (SA) Hannah Boehlert

News Editors Jake Gold Maggie Servais (SA) Kate Bellows (SA) Geremia Di Maro Sports Editors Alec Dougherty Jake Blank (SA) Emma D’arpino (SA) Zach Zamoff Life Editors Julie Bond Natalie Seo Arts & Entertainment Editors Dan Goff Thomas Roades (SA) Darby Delaney (SA) Ben Hitchcock Health & Science Editors Tina Chai Ruhee Shah Focus Editor Abby Clukey Opinion Editors Brendan Novak Jacob Asch (SA) Gavin Scott Humor Editor Veronica Sirotic (SA) Ben Miller Cartoon Editor Mira du Plessis (SA) Gabby Fuller

Production Editors Mark Felice Zach Beim Elizabeth Lee Print Graphics Editor Aisha Singh Photography Editors Christina Anton Andrew Walsh (SA) Chandler Collins Video Editor Raymundo Mora Engineering Manager Leo Dominguez Social Media Managers Ashley Botkin Libby Scully Translation Editors Yuqi Cheng Natalia Chavez (SA) Felipe Buitrago Marketing & Advertising Managers Avantika Mehra Sales Representivies Lydia Kim Abhi Opesh Business Manager Kelly Mays

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OPINION • www.cavalierdaily.com

INCREASE PUBLIC HIGHER-EDUCATION FUNDING States must restore public funding that was slashed after the Great Recession

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lmost a decade ago, the Great Recession devastated the United States economy, greatly reducing state budgets among a host negative externalities. In response to these revenue shortfalls, many states began to cut funding for public services including higher education.

This decline in funding for higher education is understandable in tough economic times. However, after previous recessions, colleges eventually regained the lost money — that did not happen this time around.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Overall state funding for public two- and four-year colleges in the school year ending in 2018 was more than $7 billion below its 2008 level, after adjusting for inflation.” This trend has continued despite states increasing funding for other programs in their states. Some have even described higher-education as a “piggy-bank” for lawmakers to raid, with the knowledge that they can recover that money by charging students higher tuition rates. This is illustrated by the fact that tuition and fees increased by 9.5 percent at public four-year institutions right after the Great Recession and then continued increasing in the years following.

This story rings true in Virginia, where state spending on education still dwindles below pre-recession levels. The CBPP calculated that be-

tween 2008-2018, Virginia’s percent change in higher-education funding was -16.5 percent. According to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in 2017, students, are paying for 53 percent of the cost of

recently passed federal tax reform.

In Virginia, revenue collections as a whole were up by 6.3 percent this year. This new revenue presents an opportunity for the state to increase funding for higher-education and

Given these clear issues, it is appalling that our government has not endeavored to lower the cost of higher education and reduced tuition rates for all students.

higher-education through tuition and fees, which is far above the 2004 target of 33 percent. SCHEV suggests that in order to return to that goal, Virginia would have to increase higher-education spending by a whopping $660 million.

Tuition increases have shown no sign of abating, with college tuition in the Commonwealth to increase across the board by 5 percent this academic year. In addition, the University's Board of Visitors has already voted to increase its tuition for in-and out-of-state students for the 2019-20 academic year.

However, while tuitions have continued to rise this year, states have received an influx of revenue due to the strength of the economy and the

eventually decrease tuitions at public universities.

Fortunately, some increases in state funding did materialize with Gov. Ralph Northam’s recent budget proposals, though the policies did not go nearly far enough. In these proposals, Northam wants to commit $15.5 million for financial aid and increasing state funding for the Tuition Assistance Grant Program by $5.2 million. This is welcome news to be sure, and if these policies become law, they will likely help many who are struggling with the cost of higher education. These proposals, however, are below what SCHEV estimates is necessary and seems to only help students cope with the high cost of public education instead of addressing

the root of the problem.

Moreover, states forcing students to shoulder the brunt of the cost of public higher-education isn’t effective policy and is already having detrimental effects on society. According to some estimates collective student debt in the United States has reached $1.5 trillion. This huge amount of debt can adversely impact young people in many ways, such as decreasing recent graduates’ probability of entering into public interest jobs and reducing the number of young people who own their own homes. In addition, student debt is in part to blame for reducing consumer spending. Given these clear issues, it is appalling that our government has not endeavored to lower the cost of higher education and reduced tuition rates for all students.

This inaction is particularly obscene, given the fact that Virginia has given Amazon almost $600 million dollars in incentives to locate part of their second headquarters to Virginia, which is close the amount SCHEV estimates we need to increase our higher-education spending by.

However, it is important to note Virginia didn’t offer Amazon the most lucrative tax incentives in its bid.What was instrumental in helping Virginia land HQ2 was Virginia’s well educated workforce, the prowess of its colleges and universities and a promise to undertake a large invest-

ment in tech higher-education. This reality clearly demonstrates the importance of creating a skilled workforce by investing in higher education to make it financially accessible to all.

As it stands now, Virginia and states across the country are failing their young people. Offering an education at an affordable price to students is not only good policy, but giving young people a chance at the American dream, without condemning them to a life of crippling debt is morally the right thing to do. Universities can attempt to address these problems in some ways, like President Jim Ryan’s recent announcement that students coming from families making less than $80,000 would be able to attend the University tuition free.

However, despite all the good this proposal will do, it does not change that college tuitions as a whole are still too high. It is up to states, Virginia included, to step up and dramatically increase funding for public education in order to eventually reduce tuition for all students and truly make higher education accessible and affordable.

JACOB ASCH is an Opinion Editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at j.asch@cavalierdaily.com.

U.VA. MUST PROVIDE PROGRAMMING ON ITS PAST The University’s double life between its shiny myths and its underlying darkness should be examined by all students

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he University recently began construction of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, a monument near Brooks Hall that will recognize the nearly 5,000 enslaved laborers who first constructed the early academical village. The memorial will also serve as a pedagogical tool, allowing people to gather and reflect on the University’s oppressive history.

Building on these efforts to grapple with its past, the University should educate its student more fully about its legacy of oppression by developing a module on its history of racism and require all incoming first-years to take it.

The University’s history is entwined with racial oppression. Enslaved laborers laid the bricks of the Lawn and constructed the pillars of the Rotunda. Between 125 and 200 enslaved individuals worked and lived at the University, residing in gardens with serpentine walls tall enough to keep out the gaze of the outside world. Beatings and sexual violence were a common occurrence, including when two students mercilessly beat a 10-year-old enslaved boy named Fielding in 1838.

In the 20th Century, the Univer-

sity continued this legacy through Jim Crow segregation and discrimination. A student named Gregory Swanson applied to the Law School for an advanced degree in 1949, but his application was denied due to his race. Only the threat of a lawsuit by Swanson led to his admission — he entered the school to extreme hostility from white students. Throughout the ‘60s, undergraduate students like Robert Bland, Leroy Willis and Wesley Harris would pave the way for African-American students at the University, and a subsequent generation of African-Americans activists would lead the charge to hire more black faculty and create the African-American and African Studies department.

But too few University students are familiar with people like Swanson, Bland or Fielding. This is a grave problem, one that should be fixed with a pre-orientation module on the history of racism and oppression at the University. Such a module is needed for a few reasons.

First, the victims of the University’s oppression are deprived of agency as long as the vast majority of the University go unaware of their stories. Students should not float

through four years at the University without acknowledging the voices that have been silenced for years.

more students become aware of this history, they will better recognize its impact on our present.

All students should engage with these programs to reckon with U.Va.’s foundational basis in oppression.

Further, such a widespread education on the University’s oppressive history encourages students to focus on its more recent past and present.

While the University is hailed as a beacon of “illimitable freedom of the human mind,” its ties to white supremacy — receiving $1,000 from the Ku Klux Klan in 1921 and fostering the study of eugenics — still reverberate today. It was not accidental that the Unite the Right targeted Charlottesville or the University’s Grounds — it was as a direct consequence of an inability to grapple with the racist legacy of Confederate monuments. Lurking under the University’s founding myths lies a long history of racial oppression and white supremacy; when

Finally, acknowledging the University’s history of oppression allows us to more critically examine exploitative practices that continue today.

The University has failed to create material plans for a living wage and thus has a tenuous relationship with the surrounding community. The University has long led a double life between shiny myths and its underlying darkness — when we leave the wrongdoings of the University unexamined, we cannot properly create full inclusivity or resist the problems that continue today.

A series of remarkable classes, initiatives and organizations dedicated to disseminating this history currently exist. The President’s Commission

on Slavery and the University has done much to publicize and honor the University’s early enslaved individuals, and the President’s Commission on the University in the Age of Segregation will perform important work in uncovering the stories of oppression at the University. All students should engage with these programs to reckon with U.Va.’s foundational basis in oppression. However, if one chooses to avoid confronting the University’s history, it is all too easy to do so, making the need for required modules clear. Of course, our University’s deep history of oppression will not be solved by a renewed focus on history alone. But in order to move forward, more students have to look back at our history with a critical eye — and the University should ensure that happens.

JACK WILKINS is an Opinion Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily. com.

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HUMOR Dear 2019, We can’t even explain how excited we are for you. Father Time gets a twinkle in his eye when he talks about you, and Mother Earth is looking quite round. Even though we knew it was a mathematical inevitability, it’s still so hard to believe that you’re here. We have a lot of high hopes for you — no pressure though! (But we’re really counting on you.) As your older siblings, we decided that we would welcome you into the world by reflecting on everything we’ve learned and giving you our best advice, compiled here in no particular order. Here’s looking at you, kid, and don’t forget that there’s a lot riding on you! (But really no pressure. Just please don’t blow it.)

Love, your siblings, The Aughts & 2010s Hi 2019! I guess I just want you to remember to always be very, very careful. With everything, always.

Things might seem great — like, so great — and you might want to, I

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The last 18 years give advice to 2019 don’t know, issue loans to people who have no chance of paying them back until they amass hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. And then maybe one little thing goes wrong and then you really mess things up for 2008 and 2009 and most of your younger siblings. Just don’t do that, okay? I know, I’m a worrywart. I’m sure student loans are totally different.

— 2007 The only thing I’ll say is you GOTTA hang out with the Mayans. Super old, I know, but they helped me pull the SICKEST prank. So many people were scared lol. Hope you do something epic bro.

— 2012 Heyo! 2010s, am I right? I started us off, and now you’re about to finish it! Wow, time files. Just leave me a good legacy, please. As long as you maintain the basics, you’ll be fine.

I’m a little stressed, but I’m being positive — it’s not like you’re going to arrive and the whole government will stop operating or something.

With your help, I know that we can still be the best decade of this millennium. We’re already ahead — I gave us a way better start than 2000.

— 2010

Computers are fine. Tell people that computers are fine. The world will NOT end because of computers.

Seriously. You don’t want another Y2K — computers are trustworthy.

You should be fine though. I’m sure in your time computers won’t be causing any more misinformation, paranoia or fear.

— 2000 You might not be memorable.

— 2009 Try to keep up with technology.

In my time, global protests really shook things up, and Twitter helped make it happen by connecting people from all over the world. Isn’t that exciting? I have a great feeling that social media will be influencing politics for years to come. :) — 2011 I’m so pumped for you! Being a year is probably the best thing ever. You get to bring so much joy to people! Things that people thought would never happen can happen, and YOU get to be the year when it does! You should have seen the look on people’s faces when Obama won. Now that’s change we can believe in!

— 2008

I’m so, so scared. For you, for me … for all of us. Being a year can be the worst thing you can imagine. You can bring people so much anguish … so much despair. Things that people thought would never happen can happen. And it’s all your fault.

You should have seen the looks on people’s faces … Please change. Give us something to believe in.

— 2016 Okay, look. You’re going to hear a lot about me. Most of it bad. And most of it true. Although some of it fake. (My bad — hard to tell the difference between those two things now.) People will say I was the worst year in a while, or even just The Worst. They’ve already thank u next’d me (they’re welcome for that song, by the way), and now you’re up and you gotta do better. Not to be dramatic, but a lot of people are saying we’re on the brink of the collapse of pretty much everything.

Slow down climate change. Give Robert Mueller an extra leap day or something. Delete your social media. Turn your phone screen to black and white, or maybe just black. Do something. Anything.

Save us.

— 2018

Syllabus Week Gabby Fuller | Cartoonist

Good luck, Charlie! Haha. Life’s good.

— 2013

ZACH SCHAUFFLER is a Humor Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com.

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PUZZLES Across 1. Next Monday is an observance of his birthday 6. Angry look, or an effect of the sun 11. Childish term for bully 12. Ebert and Rabbit are famous examples 13. Enormous 15. Rather than later 16. Also known as doping agents 17. Domed roofs 19. Small herring 20. Someone who does day labor or menial work 22. Fun-sized 23. Attempted 25. Three feet 26. Megadeth track "How the Story ___" 27. Fancy, probably arrogant walk 29. Puts a shirt back in the closet 31. Obliterate 33. A type of owl is named for this noise 36. ___ Douglas — American gymnast with a Lifetime biopic to her name 40. Monetary units of Italy, replaced by the euro 41. More serious than want 43. Baggy, colorful type of pants 45. "The Adventures of Milo and ___" — charming animal buddy-comedy 46. Karenina of Tolstoy fame 47. Synonym for 31-across — alternate spelling 48. Type of decades-old style 50. They form colonies — stereotypically, on French beaches 53. Machines with moving parts to convert power into motion — think Thomas 54. José González track evoking Christian imagery 55. In "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," King Arthur does this to the Black Knight's limbs

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56. Popular Christian holi13 14 15 day, on April 21 this year 16 17 18 57. What a seamstress does 20 21 22 19 58. Open, grassy areas 25 26 23 24 Down 1. "The Glass 27 28 29 30 Castle" and "Eat, Pray, Love" are 31 32 famous examples 2. Quality of 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 streets at night 3. One who han40 41 42 43 44 dles dough 4. Intelligent 46 47 45 spirit in Arabian and Muslim mythology 50 51 52 48 49 5. Sleep 54 53 6. With "Day," a holiday that 55 56 takes place 12 days before 40down 57 58 7. A Vine plays on a ___ 8. Term signify38. Alloys of copper and zinc 51. Mountain range in western ing an honorary title for citiRussia zens of ancient Rome 39. Prefix added to "day" — or "year," if you're fancy 52. Amount of medicine 9. A hard blow can leave you ___ 40. A Feb. holiday popular with 10. Chores outside of the house couples is dedicated to this emotion / concept 11. In the ___ — in the middle of 42. "Just ___ / Gonna be okay" 14. Catch sight of 44. Marie Kondo loves it 15. One who wins points 49. Start ___ — turn over a new 18. Unpopular alternative to leaf, say Lou's List * SOLUTION FROM LAST ISSUE 21. Made of or evoking dirt S L E E P D U C E S 24. Type of ranch P H A L L I O P A R T 28. Classic My Chemical RoL O V A B L E N O R M A N mance track O N T I M E A N I S E E D 30. Native Indian housemaid D U E T A N E W N E S T H I V A N K H G E N T 32. "___ from an Italian RestauN I P H E I R E S S rant" — Billy Joel track A R I A D N E 33. Types of protest where M U D I N N G A S P S demonstrators refuse to leave a space T U N A M O D S D E L H I A R Y L Q U I N R E S T 34. Flinches A L B U M I N A S H A M E D 35. Unable to keep still, maybe V A R I A T E P L O S I V E due to boredom or impatience Z I N G E R S I D E C A R 37. Starbucks employee T E L Y E S E S

H&S HEALTH & SCIENCE

On Nov. 26, 2018, Chinese doctor He Jiankui claimed that he genetically modified the embryos of twin girls born earlier that same month. As the first person to genetically alter human babies, He’s announcement caught many scientists — including those at the University — by surprise.

“I was a bit shocked that someone actually did it,” said Mazhar Adli, associate professor of molecular biology and genetics. “Technically we know it is doable, but we were not expecting someone was going to do it now.”

During his presentation at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong, He briefly detailed his research with expectant couples where at least one parent suffered from HIV. Through in vitro fertilization techniques and directed CRISPR-Cas9 deletions in the gene CCR5 — which codes for surface proteins that the HIV can exploit to gain entry to white blood cells — he made the embryos immune to the HIV. CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing tool that can cause targeted deletions in DNA sequences, enabling the removal of harmful mutations or portions of the genome that code for certain proteins.

Despite his assertions, He has not released any data from or documentation of his experiment — a reason for concern for many in the scientific community, including Anindya Dutta, professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the University.

“I would like to see the actual data, to see if what he is claiming is true,” Dutta said. “Unless you look at the data, it is hard to decide whether or not the claims are accurate.”

According to Dutta, he was surprised someone had conducted such an experiment when there are still questions in the scientific communities about the ethics and safety of such procedures.

Shenzhen Harmonicare, the hospital from which He allegedly received approval for the experiment, and Southern University, the school with which He is affiliated, stated that his research was not in keeping with their professional, academic and ethical principles.

“I feel very uncomfortable about someone going off on his or her own without lengthy deliberations about the wisdom of this or the lack thereof,” Biology Prof.

George Bloom said. “As far as the biology is concerned, I think if you can make a case for anything, the genetic engineering this Chinese

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U.Va. researchers respond to CRISPR babies Chinese scientist claims to have used CRISPR technology to genetically edit embryos Cecily Wolfe | Senior Writer scientist engaged in should be used for genetic diseases and even that should undergo very cautious scrutiny.”

Furthermore, He did not adhere to certain widespread ethical and scientific guidelines. He edited the germline of the twins — meaning that the changes in their genome will be passed onto future generations. Until now, gene editing in humans have been confined to somatic, or bodily cells, and in many countries — the United States among them — have prohibited genetically editing human embryos.

While China has passed no such law, many Chinese scientists refuse to edit human embryos, and when He unveiled his experiment, 122 Chinese scientists denounced his actions, a sentiment Adli shares.

“This is not medically justified,” Adli said. “He performed these experiments on human embryos and human bodies, and these traits will be passed onto future generations forever; we cannot change them, and now these babies will be in a different position socially … What he has done is a wreckless experiment on human embryos and the human body.”

Questions about the efficacy of CRISPR-Cas9 raised moral and scientific issues as well. Though the use of CRISPR has become more routine in laboratories in the past decade, there are still issues regarding its efficiency. Firstly, according to an article in The New York Times, there is still the possibility that CRISPR-Cas9 could cause unwanted mutations in other areas of the genome.

Secondly, since the CRISPR-Cas9 complex functions independently on each of the cells in the embryo, there is the possibility that copies of the target gene — in this case CCR5 — can remain intact rather than undergo deletion.

He said that CRISPR-Cas9 edited both copies of the CCR5 gene in only one twin; the other twin is a mosaic — meaning her cells contained an untouched copy of CCR5. In other words, the latter twin is still vulnerable to HIV. In fact, Dutta mentioned that for the twin that is a mosaic, He may have actually caused harm by exposing her to CRISPR-Cas9 unnecessarily.

“He did not help the patient and actually made things worse by exposing her to something that could be dangerous, the results of which might only be manifest 30 years later,” Dutta said. “The CRISPR-Cas9 editing system has a bad habit of making breaks in the genome, and some of those

TYRA KREHBIEL | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Despite his assertions, He has not released any data from or documentation of his experiment.

breaks could lead to things like cancer down the road.”

However, all concerns about technology aside, many members of the scientific community challenge the very premise of He’s experiment. While other researchers continue to investigate germline editing in order to combat genetic diseases with no other known cure, there are relatively reliable drugs available to treat HIV. “He is justifying his efforts, saying that these babies will be at least somewhat protected from HIV,” Adli said. “That is true, but in a few years, we will develop a new drug for HIV that will completely cure HIV AIDS, but these girls are genetically modified now.

If there are any side effects, who is going to tell these people that they did these things on them, but all of their peers are now able to survive without the side effects and without having been genetically modified.”

In addition, since treating HIV does not require altering the genome, He’s work could be considered as genetically enhancing the twins. However, according to Adli, much of the scientific and medical

communities have ardently advised against conducting such types of research, and many countries have banned the use of genetic modification technologies for enhancing human traits.

“This is under the category of enhancement… [but] medical treatment versus enhancement is a very gray area,” Adli said. “What is enhancement and what is normal, and what is normal anyway?... I think in the future, humans and society will use these tools to enhance certain traits, and whether it is ethical or not is the discussion we should be having.”

Since late November, researchers have begun to consider the implications of He’s announcement.

“I definitely do not want a huge outcry in the general public that will shut down all genome editing experiments, including somatic genome editing experiments,” Dutta said. “They are much safer…

Somatic genome editing should be looked at as something very different from germline editing.”

Some scientists, including Bloom and Adli, hope that this will spark more conversations about biotechnology and that the

public will become more informed about new advancements in the future.

“There needs to be a lot of interplay between scientists and the general public,” Bloom said. “It’s not just something a scientist or a physician should be able to do on his or her own.”

Adli also cited the need for citizens and policy makers to be involved in the regulations accompanying genome editing moving forward.

“There is one silver lining, which is that there is now more public engagement in this discussion, which I think is very critical,” Adli said. “These issues should be discussed not only by scientists, but also by the general public, by physicians, by law and policy makers. Everyone needs to get involved in the discussion, and so I think that this has been a good first step.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019

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One professor to teach all organic chemistry sections Organic chemistry professor, department head discuss active learning approach to course in 2019 spring semester Mahima Reddy | Senior Associate Editor During the 2019 spring academic semester, all organic chemistry sections in the College — a common prerequisite for chemistry majors and medical schools — will be taught by Alicia Frantz, a lecturer in the chemistry department. Spring 2019 is the first semester in several years that the department will rely on one professor to teach all sections of the undergraduate College course.

According to Walter Harman, professor and chair of the chemistry department, this change is a result of an unexpected retirement of Prof. Glenn McGarvey and Prof. Cassandra Fraser being on leave. Harman said that he expects to have two to three professors teaching at least three sections total in fall 2019 and beyond.

Frantz researches and specializes in chemistry education. She will be teaching nearly 650 students next semester in the course.

“We do national searches for our instructors as opposed to just [within] our research faculty,” Harman said. “At this type of university, it’s very unusual to do a national search just for someone who’s going to be a professional lecturer.”

Whereas general research faculty attend scientific conferences, Frantz attends conferences that discuss education techniques. Her promotion to full professorship will be based on whether or not her work and impact in education is recognized by educators around the nation.

Frantz’s spring course is only one of the sixteen total organic chemistry courses offered by the University. For example, in addition to the CHEM 2410/2420 series typically taken by students in the College, University students may take the accelerated honors version, the nursing version or the postbaccalaureate version.

However, the undergraduate-specific 2410/2420 courses stand out for their hybrid of traditional lecture and active learning. The chemistry department at the University aims to bring alternative teaching approaches that

help students retain information longer to all of its courses — from general to physical chemistry — for application beyond the classroom or exams.

“In the past with the more traditional lecture approach, you get the information in class and then do the practice on your own, so your questions never really get answered or you don’t even know you had those questions until you’re at home and nobody's really there to answer them for you,” Frantz said.

During the 2018 fall academic semester, both Frantz and Asst.

Chemistry Prof. Ku-Lung Hsu taught organic chemistry and incorporated active learning in their classrooms to emphasize teamwork and application skills instead of mass memorization of information. These active learning methods — which will be used in the coming spring semester — also help counteract the effects of a large class size.

For example, Frantz hired high-performing students from the previous year to serve as undergraduate teaching assistants, or UAs. Each UA was responsible for guiding a section of about forty students — called “learning communities” — during the active learning portion of class. UAs also monitored their own Collab page where students could post and answer questions. Additionally, both Frantz and the UAs were available for a short period after class to answer individual student questions.

“Failing is an important part of the learning process, and that’s why in our class, we have places where you can make mistakes, and it will not affect your final grade,” Frantz said. “I want you to practice trying new things and not be afraid of not getting the right answer right away because once you leave this place, your job is solve problems that don’t have answers yet.”

Another component of Frantz’s hybrid classroom is Top Hat — a centralized platform that includes the online textbook used for the class but is controversial

for students.

“I liked how the lecture slides, the homework and everything was in one area,” said Nicole Chomicki, a second-year Biomedical Engineering student, who took Frantz’s Organic Chemistry I in the fall of 2018.

“But I’m more of a paper person, so I wasn’t too much of a fan of having everything on a screen.”

Chomicki’s concern with the digitized course material is not unfounded. According to a 2016 study published in The Journal of Experimental Education, students demonstrated a more detailed understanding of the main point when engaged with print rather than digital texts.

For Hsu’s students who used David Klein's Organic Chemistry textbook in the fall and are transitioning to Frantz’s class in the spring, Top Hat may be a financial obstacle.

“If our class has to pay for Top Hat, I will be disappointed in the chemistry department,” Victoria Hinchberger, a thirdyear Biomedical Engineering student and Hsu’s former student, said in an email. “This course is one of the most expensive courses I have taken … and I fear that some people won't want to take the course because of the financial commitments you have to make.”

For students concerned with the price of the online Top Hat textbook used next semester, Frantz strongly encourages them to talk to her about alternatives.

She also encourages students to talk with her or the UAs about their experiences or concerns to help adjust to her teaching style.

“My advice would just be to give it a try,” Frantz said. “It won’t feel comfortable at first, and I recognize that. But I encourage all of my students to come talk to me if they’re having difficulties with the switch to an active learning classroom, so we can figure out exactly what is the roadblock.”

According to Harman, the American Association of Universities to which the University belongs has encouraged its members

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Alicia Frantz researches and specializes in chemistry education.

to adopt practices characteristic of primarily undergraduate institutions, which only offer undergraduate programs and are smaller in size than research-oriented universities like the University.

“The AAU is promoting strongly that all research universities move towards active learning because there are so many studies now that show that this is a much more effective learning environment that the traditional lectures that we used to offer,” Harman said.

The ongoing renovations to the Chemistry Building will add three active learning classrooms similar to those found in Wilson, Maury, Thornton and McLeod.

These classrooms will have group tables to facilitate student discussion as opposed to the tradition-

al lecture hall filled with rows of seats.

The chemistry department is distinguished by having the greatest number of general faculty lecturers — currently four — in all of the science departments, but Frantz holds a unique position as the only current organic chemistry lecturer.

“As a STEM major, I have had very few female professors,” Hinchberger said. “It really inspires me and makes me optimistic for the future of STEM faculty to see her flourishing.”

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Chill.

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