Thursday, March 29, 2018

The Cavalier Daily Vol. 128, Issue 25

Thursday, March 29, 2018

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Davis talks diversity, equality page 4

City seeks new names for parks page 6

CHRISTINA ANTON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Determination on the water page 11 RIVANNA ROMP | THE CAVALIER DAILY

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NEWS

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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This week in-brief Maggie Servais | News Editor

Keiara Price elected Black Student Alliance president

Second-year College student Keiara Price was elected Sunday to serve as the next president of the Black Student Alliance. She will succeed fourth-year College student Wes Gobar in the role.

BSA members also elected the organization’s executive board — second-year College student Latrell Lee was selected to be secretary, first-year College student Rachel Jeffers as chief financial officer, first-year College student Jalon Daniels as political action advisor, third-year College student Jasmine Moore-Mangone as political action advisor vice chair and second-year College student Allen Williams as leadership development chair.

Additionally, second-year College student Alvin Barnes was elected leadership development vice chair, first-year College student JaVori Warren elected membership vice chair, third-year Commerce student Ciara Blackston was elected social cultural chair and second-year College student Kourtney Bugg as academic and career development chair.

Over 100 members voted in this year’s elections — four times the amount from last year. The upswing is likely due in part to an extended online voting period, as well as increased electioneering by several contenders.

Price said the purpose of BSA is not exclusively addressing diversity at the University. Rather, she said BSA encourages diversity to ensure the administration addresses black students’ needs.

“We actually want to tap into what our community wants, and that means black faculty, black

staff, black students, the black Charlottesville community,” Price said.

At the start of this school year, BSA led the March to Reclaim Our Grounds following the white nationalist rallies of Aug. 11 and 12. Alongside the march, BSA issued 10 demands to the University.

Several have been fulfilled, including the removal of plaques honoring graduates who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War and banning open flames on the Lawn. Others, like required education for all University students on Charlottesville’s history of white supremacy, colonization and slavery, have not been recognized by the University, though numerous student groups have endorsed the list.

Price said she wants BSA to continue to influence policy at the University.

“I want people to know that BSA is an organization that has the power to do a lot,” Price said. “We can create dialogue, we can create cultural understanding and we can create effective, lasting policy change.”

However, the incoming president doesn’t want to limit BSA to being a political advocacy group — Price said she wants to emphasize the social and cultural sides of the organization that are sometimes swept to the side.

The newly-elected executive board takes over in fall 2018, with the next several months as a leadership transition.

Thousands join March for Our Lives movement in downtown Charlottesville rally Thousands of people filled the Charlottesville Downtown Mall Saturday in support of the “March for Our Lives” movement, joining the efforts of demonstrators across the country marching in solidarity against gun violence.

Prompted by the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. which resulted in 17 deaths, as well as many other instances of gun violence across the nation, the March for Our Lives event has evolved into an international movement that seeks increased gun reform with the end goal of effectively stopping school shootings.

The Charlottesville chapter of this movement was organized by Indivisible Charlottesville, the Charlottesville Clergy Collective, Women of the Fifth, Together Cville, the Minority Rights Coalition at the University and several other local organizations.

A crowd of all ages gathered at the Sprint Pavilion in Charlottesville to hear guest speakers address the crowd before the march itself began. Many people held signs that protested gun violence, with written messages such as “Enough is Enough,” “Protect Kids Not Guns” and “#NeverAgain.” Shouts of encouragement and cheers were heard as each speaker on stage shared their thoughts and experiences.

The speakers prior to the march included children, teachers, local residents, professors and a member of the Black Lives Matter movement. After a spoken-word poem was performed by A.D. Carson, assistant professor of Hip Hop and the Global South at the University, the march began.

Making one circuit around the entirety of the Downtown Mall, citizens raised their signs and their voices as they marched against gun violence. With chants of “Not One More” and “Never Again,” many passersby stopped to watch or film the march as it took place.

Prior to the march, Desiree Sinclair, a 12-year-old student from Tandem Friends School, was the first to present.

“We are your future,” she said. “We children need you, the grownups, to protect us kids. We need to look, to rally, and to make our voices heard with yours. We need you to make our schools safe again.”

Rashaa Langston, a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University, also gave a speech and emphasized the need to get involved in politics and vote for candidates that will represent the reform people want.

“[We need to be] really looking into who these candidates are and what they stand for … emailing, writing letters, calling, doing everything to get the word out that we want change,” Langston said. “We want these laws, or else they do not get to represent us any more.”

People both native to Charlottesville and from out of town participated in the march.

Xavier Jones, from Harrisonburg, spoke about why he was motivated to travel to attend the march.

“Because enough is enough,” Jones said. “It should have been enough at Newtown. It should have been enough at Columbine.”

NAVYA ANNAPAREDDY | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Thousands came to the Charlottesville March for Our Lives to join events all over the country.

Medical student Ory Streeter named as next Honor Committee chair The University Honor Committee named Medical student Ory Streeter as the chair of its executive committee for the upcoming term following a closed session of incoming members during the Committee’s annual retreat this weekend.

Streeter is currently a Committee representative for the School of Medicine and will be succeeding fourth-year College student Devin Rossin as chair. The Committee’s current term comes to an end April 1.

In addition to Streeter, second-year College student Derrick Wang was selected as vice chair for community relations. Third-year Engineering student Peyton Sandroni was selected as vice chair for investigations, third-year Engineering student Julia Batts was selected as vice chair for education and third-year College student Ankita Satpathy was selected as vice chair for hearings. All executive committee members, with the exception of Streeter, served in the support officer pool prior to being elected to the executive committee.

The members of the newly selected executive committee told The Cavalier Daily they look forward to building on the work of the outgoing committee, specifically within the realm of outreach.

“I think we’re really looking at building on the great work that the previous committee has done with respect to outreach and especially community relations,” Wang said.

Batts said she wishes to continue the work of Lucie Oken, a fourth-year Batten student and current acting vice chair for education, on effectively reaching and communicating with the student body through the usage of social media.

“I think Lucie’s been doing a fantastic job of making Honor and all of our education and outreach efforts be much more visible through our use of social media,” Batts said.

Satpathy said she hopes to work with other committee members to continue the outgoing committee’s work in more effectively reaching students in the system affected by mental health issues.

“I’d certainly like to see our Committee pick up where they left off and start thinking about some of the ways we can make that process more fair to students and better consider the mental health of students in our process,” Satpathy said.

Sandroni said another primary focus of the incoming committee would be working to smoothly implement a reform to the Informed Retraction process that the current committee passed in February. Informed Retractions allow students who are reported to the Committee for an Honor violation to admit their offense and serve a two-semester leave of absence from the University after being reported by another member of the University community. The reform will permit students to combine multiple singular offenses under a single IR as long as they are reported with specificity, even if the offenses are unrelated or occurred in different contexts.

Streeter said he is looking forward to the upcoming term and spoke highly of the incoming executive committee members.

“I’m excited for a wonderful year,” Streeter said. “We have a fantastic executive board who are astoundingly qualified, compassionate leaders and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them in the service of the University.”

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THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

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Virginia GOP senatorial candidates visit U.Va. for debate The event was hosted by the College Republicans in Garrett Hall Joseph French | Staff Writer

CASSANDRA PLEMONS | THE CAVALIER DAILY

From left, Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper), Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, and Pastor E.W. Jackson are seeking the GOP nomination for the upcoming U.S. Senate race.

The University College Republicans hosted a debate Tuesday for three candidates seeking the Republican Party of Virginia’s nomination in the upcoming U.S. Senate race. Batten Dean Allan C. Stam and Andrew Pennock, assistant professor of public policy, moderated the debate at Garrett Hall, which touched on several issues, including the role of Congress in infrastructure reform and climate change.

Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper), Pastor E.W. Jackson and Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors were the three candidates who participated in the debate. The three candidates will be included on the ballot in the GOP primaries June 12, and the candidate with the most primary votes will appear on the ballot Nov. 6. The Republican primary victor will face off against Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine in the general election.

Adam Kimelman, a third-year College student and chair of the College Republicans, said the idea for hosting the debate was originally conceived by the College Republicans in September 2017. According to Kimelman, the organization then reached out to the Batten School about the possibility of co-hosting the debate, an idea which he said the school was immediately receptive to.

Representatives from the College Republicans were directly

responsible for reaching out to each of the three campaigns — who Kimelman said were all enthusiastic about the opportunity to debate at the University — to organize the debate itself.

The debate was structured so that each question was asked to an individual candidate, who was given 90 seconds to answer the question. Afterwards, the two other candidates were each given 60 seconds to respond to their opponent or answer the question themselves.

While all questions were curated by the debate moderators, they were mixed from different sources. The audience of 180 people was encouraged to ask the candidates questions. The College Republicans also provided an online link for their social media event so that those unable to attend the event were able to submit questions as well.

The debate began with opening statements by all three candidates limited to two minutes each. The candidates directed their statements at the University community in particular.

“I’m not here to reaffirm the propaganda given to you by professors,” Stewart said. “The Constitution is under threat … When you leave [college] you come back with beliefs that are antithetical to the constitution …What happens when it’s your speech that somebody else finds offensive?”

Freitas said the current political climate in the United States

is a time to consider how American politics will progress in the future.

“I’m tired of politics in this country dissolving,” Freitas said.

“We’re at a crossroads to determine where we go for the next generation.”

Jackson said that the United States is a unique political system in the modern world which deserves protection.

“The constitutional republic that we've been given is different than anything on the face of the earth,” Jackson said. “I fight for the future of those who come after you.”

During the debate portion, each candidate was asked various questions on a wide range of topics — particularly on whether or not they agreed with choices and policies passed by Congress.

A question concerning Congress’s decision to allocate over half a billion dollars to the Washington, D.C. metro system allowed the candidates to voice their opinions about President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to stimulate $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending over the next decade.

“The federal government does have some responsibility to build some interstate infrastructure system,” Stewart said. “The fact of the matter is that I-81 in particular is stressed… it’s not just a Virginia responsibility… I will be supporting Trump’s bill to repair I-81 and I-95.”

Jackson said Trump’s unconventional rhetoric as displayed through his Twitter usage should not overshadow the president’s potential efforts to fund infrastructure development.

“Don’t pay attention to his tweets, pay attention to his actions,” Jackson said. “Our road systems are a part of interstate commerce ... The federal government has a responsibility … to make sure we have interstate commerce functioning properly.”

Many of the audience members and those who submitted questions online asked about where the candidates stood on issues of climate change and rising sea levels.

Stewart challenged the established scientific consensus that man-made climate change is actively affecting the earth.

“I believe that the theory of man-made climate change is a hoax,” Stewart said. “The Paris Agreement would have limited the growth of our economy, I agree with President Trump … the only way we can get to the truth is free speech.”

Freitas agreed with Stewart and said the scientists conducting climate change research should not be in charge of policy development.

“Scientists immediately go into a policy discussion,” Freitas said. “They are not qualified as experts in respect to public policy.”

Each of the candidates also had strong opinions on the recent omnibus spending bill passed by Congress. An omnibus spending bill is one that packages smaller appropriations bills into one larger one that can be passed with only one vote from each house.

“It was horrible,” Jackson said.

“I’m sorry the president signed it… I’m tired of being betrayed by people in the U.S. government who say they’re Republican.”

Stewart said the bill was largely in favor of traditionally Democratic policies.

“It was really the [Democratic Sen.] Chuck Schumer bill,” Stewart said. “It funded Planned Parenthood, sanctuary cities … and not a single dime for the construction of a wall.”

Kimelman said there were two main takeaways attendees of the debate should have.

“I think that the takeaway should be one, to be involved, and two, if you’re a Republican, start thinking how our party can start reaching back to young voters,” Kimelman said.

Kimelman also encouraged all students to register to vote in the primary elections which will be held June 12 and the general election Nov. 6.

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Civil rights activist Angela Davis speaks at the Paramount Davis’s talk touched on issues such as diversity and justice, women’s rights Kara Peters | Senior Writer Angela Davis, a women’s and civil rights activist and author of several books such as “Women, Culture and Politics,” spoke about diversity, equality and justice at the Paramount Theater in downtown Charlottesville Tuesday as a part of the ongoing Excellence Through Diversity Distinguished Learning Series hosted by the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Attendance at the event filled the capacity of the theater, a total of 1,041 seats, and included students from Albemarle High School, the University and the Charlottesville community.

According to Thomas Pilnik, program coordinator for the Office of Diversity and Engagement, general admission tickets for the event were sold out in two minutes after they were made available Friday morning.

Pilnik added that such an occurrence was unheard of for any speaker in the series thus far.

“I spoke with the Paramount recently about it, and they called it unprecedented,” Pilnik said. “And they actually haven’t seen anything like this before from a lecture, rather than a concert. That just shows the impact that Angela Davis has on the United States and also how deep this series has now affected the community.”

Davis based the majority of her talk on the activist power of women in America and the crucial role of women in various historical and ongoing civil rights struggles, such as the labor movement to advocate for fair and equal wages.

“I think it is important to acknowledge that women have always been the

backbone of the labor movement, even when they were excluded from paid labor,” Davis said. “In fact, women have been the backbone of all movements.”

In addition to the role of women in social activism both past and present, Davis said they are taking a stand for civil rights and equality now more than ever before. For example, more than 500,000 protesters marched in Washington in January 2017 as part of the Women’s March advocating for women’s and civil rights.

“What’s really exciting about this period is that we are witnessing the rise of women,” Davis said. “And everybody should be happy about that. Men especially should feel overjoyed … that they can take feminist positions as well.”

Davis also addressed the relationship between diversity and justice in the United States. Davis said that diversity and justice must work hand in hand together to combat structural inequality in American society.

“Diversity without changing the structure, without calling for structural formation, simply brings those who were previously excluded into a process that continues to be as racist, as misogynist as it was before,” Davis said After the event, guests were able to ask Davis questions on a range of issues, but many focused on potential ways to promote justice and equality in their everyday lives. Davis discussed multiple solutions, including the consistent need for organizational work such as political reform and activism.

“The real work is organizing work,” Davis said. “It’s work that often isn’t

recognized … Now is the time to do that.”

Another solution Davis suggested was the recognition of connections between various social and political issues in modern America — to observe the ways in which activists advocating for different causes are united in the pursuit of equality.

In particular, Davis identified the use of marches and protests by both the “Dream Defenders” in Florida, which formed after the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch captain and works to stop mass incarceration, and students protesting gun violence after 17 individuals were killed in a shooting last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Don Gathers, a local community activist and former chair of the Charlottesville Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces, said after Davis’s speech that he is excited to see this new wave of women empowerment throughout their long time struggle for equality and civil rights.

“I am excited and I am very much looking forward to it,” Gathers said.

“Wherever I can fall in line, is where I can fit in. I grew up in a strong household with both mother and grandmother, and I understand the importance of women in today’s society.

And realizing the role they can play … it is what’s right and so long overdue.”

First-year College student Annie Heath said one of her main takeaways were from Davis’s talk was under-

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Angela Davis addressed the audience of over 1,000 Tuesday night with a speech about female activism in America.

standing the importance of recognizing the connections between American social and political issues and the responsibility Heath said she has as a first-year to promote awareness and change.

“I think as first-years, we need to have our eyes open … and understand that we can actually implement the change as well,” Heath stated. “Like she [Davis] was saying, it’s young people who should be doing this so just understanding that you can do that [is important].”

The next and final installment of the Distinguished Learning Series will feature a conversation with former

NFL player and LGBTQ actvist Michael Sam and will be hosted in McLeod Hall on April 12.

John Fitzgerald Gates, associate dean for Diversity and Inclusion at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, developed the series in 2016 in an effort to promote inclusivity and diversity at the University through various high-status speakers.

Past speakers in the series have included Ana Navarro, a political strategist and CNN commentator, and Michelle Alexander, a civil rights lawyer and advocate.

Brown College grants $1,800 budget for Renaissance Fair Medieval Studies Department seeks to raise interest in their undergraduate program Isabel Dixon and John Hendricks | Staff Writers Brown College recently passed a $1,800 budget proposal for a Renaissance Fair April 14 on Monroe Hill. Due to low enrollment in the Medieval Studies major, the fair aims to increase student interest in medievalism and the related program offered at the University. The fair will be free for attendees and feature local performances from the Virginia Renaissance Faire, a photo booth and a Medieval costume contest. Booths will also be set up and run by professors that represent the different courses offered in the Medieval Studies Program.

Currently, only five undergraduates have declared Medieval Studies as their major — two of which are graduating this year. Students in the department study history, literature and art, and are required to compose a senior thesis.

Travis From, a current fourth-

year thesis student in the Medieval Studies program and one of the performers for the event, was an active voice in leading Brown College to obtain funding for the fair. From is the undergraduate representative chair for College Council for the Medieval Studies Degree Program and a resident of Brown College.

Some of the other Medieval Studies majors also live in Brown College, which further encouraged Brown College to sponsor the event.

From planned the event with the hope that University students will learn more about the program and the opportunities of the major in an exciting and interactive way.

“I want people to see what Brown, and specifically the Medieval Studies major, have to offer,” From said. “I want people to come and learn and see how great our school can actually be and I hope

that this was a good way of doing it.”

The Medieval Studies Department has scheduled two additional events in the days leading up to the

fair. Marisa Galvez — an associate professor at Stanford and specialist in Medieval literature — will deliver a lecture April 12. A screening of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” will be presented April 13 and the Renaissance Fair will follow the next day.

Though the fair has not yet occurred, Eric Ramirez-Weaver, director of the Medieval Studies Department, has already found a growing interest among students in Medieval Studies.

“Compared to the current graduating class of two, we are already growing,” Ramirez-Weaver said.

“Second-years are registering now.

We already have more people in-

quiring about and signing up for Medieval Studies than in recent years.”

Ramirez-Weaver said he attributes the events of Aug. 11 and 12 — when white nationalists marched on the Lawn and held the fatal United the Right rally the following day — to some of this new interest.

Students in the program said they find that examining Western society’s past prejudices explains and illuminates the intolerance seen in society today.

“One material reason for the new enthusiasm has been our response to the events of last August,” Ramirez-Weaver said. “Our colloquium and major gateway course, MSP 3801, Medieval Identities: Cultures and Conflicts, has had fifteen active participants exploring how medieval art, politics and culture

supply a meaningful lens for a reexamination of contemporary bias, intolerance and social injustice.”

According to Ramirez-Weaver, white supremacy is a warped version of Medieval cultural belief systems. By taking MSP 3801, students have found a connection between ancient cultural beliefs and the racist ideologies of today.

With the upcoming Renaissance Fair and the recent commitment of second-year students to the Medieval Studies Major, Ramirez-Weaver said he is optimistic for the program’s future despite the low enrollment in recent years.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of Medieval Studies at U.Va. where history and culture inform intelligent citizenship,” Ramirez-Weaver said.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

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A look back at the 2017-18 Honor Committee Highlighting the Committee’s largest initiatives Caroline Stoerker | Associate Editor The 2017-18 Honor Committee undertook major initiatives during its term in hopes of making the system more fair and inclusive.

Presented below are brief descriptions of some of the Committee’s largest initiatives — improving the Contributory Mental Disorder Process, holding a single-sanction debate with the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, moving towards collecting self-reported student demographic data, reforming the Informed Retraction process and releasing a report from the Honor Audit Commission.

The 27-member Committee was chaired by fourth-year College student Devin Rossin. The committee was vice-chaired by four fourthyears — Batten student Lucie Oken as Vice Chair for Education, Engineering student Brandt Welch as Vice Chair for Community Relations, College student Sarah Killian as Vice Chair for Investigations and College student Jeffrey Warren as Vice Chair for Hearings. In addition to implementing reforms intended to increase fairness and transparency in the Honor process, this cohort oversaw the successful passage in March of a University-wide referenda calling for integration of gender-neutral language in the Honor Committee constitution.

The 2018-2019 Committee will be chaired Medical student Ory Streeter.

Contributory Mental Disorder Process Warren introduced possible changes to the Contributory Mental Disorder process in October.

The CMD process required students to admit to an Honor offense prior to requesting a psychological evaluation to determine if a mental disorder contributed to the commission of the Honor offense.

Warren stated that changes would allow students to request a psychological evaluation prior to admission of an Honor offense to determine if the mental disorder was the direct cause of a committed Honor offense.

Rossin told The Cavalier Daily in March the process surrounding the proposed changes to the CMD process was lengthy and required substantial background research, and that the incoming Committee would be responsible for implementing the majority of changes.

Ankita Satpathy, third-year College student and incoming vice chair for hearings, told The Cavalier Daily in March that one of her goals for the upcoming term was to continue the Committee’s efforts to reform the CMD process.

“I think last year’s Committee

did a great job with the beginning to think about how we might reform our contributory mental disorder process,” Satpathy said.

“I’d certainly like to see our Committee pick up where they left off and start thinking about some of the ways we can make that process more fair to students and better consider the mental health of students in our process.”

Single-Sanction debate with Jefferson Literary and Debating Society The Honor Committee co-hosted a live-streamed debate with the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society in October. The debate focused on Honor’s single-sanction system, a process unique at the University to Honor.

The single-sanction system — Honor’s mandate that if a student is found guilty of an Honor offense at trial, they will be expelled from the University — is a controversial topic among the University student body.

Honor’s participants in the debate were Warren and outgoing Law representative Owen Gallogly.

Gallogly defended the single-sanction system and Warren argued against the single-sanction system during the debate.

Rossin told The Cavalier Daily after October’s debate the purpose of it was to facilitate educated conversation on the single-sanction system among the student body.

“I think something like this, where students can hear deep and nuanced concerns from two people who have a large degree of familiarity with the system on two different sides of the aisle, would lead to hopefully a more substantive understanding of the process,” Rossin said.

In March, Rossin told The Cavalier Daily that the debate was beneficial in pushing conversation among the Committee about reforming Informed Retraction process and that he personally believed it was an enjoyable event.

“I think that was an amazing event that we put on,” Rossin said. I really, really enjoyed it.”

Collecting self-reported student demographic data Rossin introduced a plan in January that would automatically aggregate self-reported demographic data — including ethnicity, gender and athletic status — for students involved in Honor system processes.

Rossin stated that the plan would make Honor a more transparent system by allowing the Committee to track trends over time and determine if students with certain demographic qualities are over-reported to the system.

RICHARD DIZON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Devin Rossin, a fourth-year College student and the outgoing Honor Committee chair, advocated for the approved reform to the Informed Retraction process.

“The purpose behind it is kind of two-fold … one, an issue of transparency and two is trying to make sure the system is as fair and [equitable] as possible,” Rossin told The Cavalier Daily in January. “I think it’s going to be really important in the future and a pretty big accountability measure for us.”

The demographic data will be collected from students who are reported to Honor by members of the University community — such situations would include students who take informed retractions, students whose Honor cases are picked up or dropped by the Investigative Panel and students who got through the trial process.

Informed Retraction reform Rossin formally introduced a proposal in February that would allow for the Informed Retraction process to be reformed.

In the IR process, a student who has been reported to the Committee for a potential Honor violation is permitted to admit to their offense and take a two-semester leave of absence from the University. The proposal allowed students to combine multiple offenses — even if the offenses occurred at different times or under different contexts — under a single IR, so as long as students reported the offenses with specificity.

Christopher Benos, a fourthyear College student and outgoing College representative, told The Cavalier Daily in February that the intent behind the proposal was to

help cultivate a fair and transparent process for students moving through the Honor system.

“I think the Committee has a consensus that the intent behind this proposal is positive and looks to make the system simpler and fairer,” Benos said.

The reform was passed in March with an 18-5 vote.

Peyton Sandroni, a third-year Engineering student and incoming vice chair for investigations, told The Cavalier Daily in March that ensuring the success and smooth implementation of the reform would be a primary focus for the incoming committee.

“I think one of the main changes is going to be the [Informed Retraction] reform that recent committee just passed, and I think we’re going to have long discussions about exactly how we plan to implement it and what that means for the system in the upcoming year,” Sandroni said.

Honor Audit Commission Report The Honor Audit Commission was formed by the 2015-16 Committee to evaluate the Honor system and bridge existing gaps between Honor and the University student body. The Commission released its evaluative report in March.

Led by Law and Darden student Phoebe Willis, the 16-member Commission worked for 12 months in order to compile the report. The report consists of three primary components — a section compar-

ing student self-governance and the honor system at the University to 24 peer institutions with similar practices, data from a faculty survey and the results of a student survey.

The report additionally highlights the process of selecting Honor support officers as well as the criteria, scope and process of a case making its way through the Honor system.

The report clearly identified an overlap of students who feel the Committee represents student opinions but does not effectively represents the diversity of the student body. Through surveys of representative samples of both University students and University faculty, the Commission also found that a majority of student and faculty respondents support an Honor penalty which varies depending on the severity of the offense.

In the report, the Commission also implemented recommendations for the Committee on how to continue to grow as a system and remedy identified problem areas.

Willis told The Cavalier Daily in March that the Committee is not required to address the observations and recommendations the Commission made in its report.

Rather, the report includes suggestions to inform the future work of the Committee.

“It is up to Honor to decide if and how they will address those areas,” Willis said.

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FOCUS The City of Charlottesville has again moved to rename Emancipation and Justice Park, formerly Lee and Jackson Park, by turning its ears to the people. The Council launched a new online survey March 6 that allows people to vote on a variety of proposed park names as well as to write-in their own suggestions. invites publicThis move to rename the parks comes after the Council’s controversial decision last June to change the names of Lee Park and Jackson Park to Emancipation Park and Justice Park. The Council’s initial verdict sparked an initiative from the Unity Coalition, a local nonpartisan group, to push the Council to revisit their decision, arguing that the particular choice “Emancipation Park” didn’t undergo the same public process as the other names chosen and deliberated by a community panel.

The poll includes 17 name options for Emancipation Park and 23 for Justice Park. Emancipation, Lee and Jackson Park are not among the names listed on the survey. Residents could take the survey online or over the phone, or they could have filled out a ballot in City Hall, up until the survey closed March 28.

Initial steps and ensuing controversy Following an extensive period of deliberation and controversy, the Council unanimously voted to rename Lee Park and Jackson Park, in reference to Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, last June. Its decision to change the names to Emancipation Park and Justice Park was met with some objection from local residents. Of particular controversy was the choice “Emancipation” Park — a selection not among a community panel’s list of recommended names, that was unexpectedly proposed and chosen during the Council’s considerations.

The Council deemed appropriate seven suggestions for Lee Park this past summer — Monacan Park, Sally Hemings Park, Vinegar Hill Park, Unity Park, Freedom Park, Library Park and Market Street Park. On the other hand, Court Square/Courthouse Park, Sally Hemings Park, 13th Amendment Park, Freedom Park, McKee Park, Unity Park and Justice Park were suggested for Jackson Park.

“When you read the process of how [the Council] got to the name, it is a clear indication that [there is] an issue with process in this city … and it’s a process of not listening to the citizens. The citizens weighed in, the City Council then ignored what the citizens wanted and picked their own name out of a hat,” said Walt Heinecke, associate professor in the Curry School, during a City Council hearing this past February. “And so the issue again is about process, it’s about

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Addressing Charlottesville’s history City Council invites public participation in renaming Emancipation Park and Justice Park Ali Sullivan | Staff Writer listening to the public, and it’s about figuring out how to engage the public in much more authentic ways.”

During the same hearing, city residents noted that they believe the Confederate war general parading on horseback through the center of a public space emblazoned with “Emancipation” exudes an offensive irony.

“You can’t have ‘emancipation’ on there with a Confederate statue,” said Mary Carey, a longtime Charlottesville resident. “It doesn’t mix. It’s like oil and water.”

Carey was also instrumental in circulating the Unity Coalition’s petition, calling on the city to retract the name Emancipation Park and change it to something that more adequately reflected the sentiments of the community. After amassing over 800 signatures both in print and online, the petition was sent in to the Council two months after its October 2017 inception. The Coalition’s efforts evidently set City Council in motion, successfully motivating the city to open itself to citizen participation in its public spaces.

Following its February hearing, the Council gathered all the names that it had previously deemed appropriate — including suggestions from the Historic Resources Committee, the now-defunct Blue Ribbon Commission and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board — and crafted its long list of new options. Suggestions range from the names of historical African American heroes like Sally Hemings Park and Harriet Tubman Park to names more geographical in nature like Market Street Park and Courthouse Park.

Telling a more complete story In renaming the parks, the Council hopes to tell an honest narrative about Charlottesville’s checkered past in regard to civil rights and slavery.

“The goal of Charlottesville City Council last year and also this year has been to tell a more complete story about our history with respect to race and white supremacy, especially after August 12,” said Brian Wheeler, the city’s director of communications.

“Both councils have said renaming the parks is one step we can take.”

Despite the Council’s goal, renaming the parks generally has been met with backlash from the other side of the spectrum – those who see stepping away from Virginia’s Confederate past as a form of historical negationism.

Such reluctance towards changing park names was demonstrated by the response to a similar poll released by the Council prior to renaming the parks last June – 2,200 of the 2,600 response suggestions included “Lee” and “Jackson.”

“It’s political pressure in a Southern town. There are just people who are tied to their history here, and they

see [the renaming] as a threat to their identity and their history,” Heinecke said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily. “They’re still seeing it as history rather than as an issue of race and racial discrimination. They’re ignoring the Jim Crow part of the history.”

Although Charlottesville is still recovering from the consequences of the Jim Crow era, Heinecke said the renaming initiative is a step in the right direction. By providing survey-takers with a wide variety of name options as well as a write-in option, Heinicke said that members of the city hope to convey the true nature of the parks without lending credence to the Lost Cause narrative, allowing citizens to decide how they want to recall — or neutralize — the city’s past.

Suggested names in reference to historical figures bear varying degrees of relevance to Virginia history. Particularly pertinent suggestions include Sally Hemings Park and Julian Bond Park, both of whom possess deep Charlottesville connections. An enslaved woman on Thomas Jefferson’s estate, Hemings is believed to have born six children in a controversial, seemingly coercive relationship with the University’s founder. Meanwhile, Bond served as an icon and leader in the Civil Rights movement before coming to the University as a professor emeritus of history.

“Julian Bond, he was on the faculty here and lived here, he was actually my next door neighbor for eight years while he was teaching,” said George Gilliam, lecturer on Virginia history in the Corcoran Department of History.

“He’s not a Virginian, but he’s somebody who has deep Charlottesville connections.”

However, other suggestions address broader themes of healing in light of the effects of slavery, Jim Crow and the Civil War. Names like Liberation Park, Unity Park and Liberty Park are meant to signify progress but avoid directly referencing historical figures. Gilliam later added that, in light of the presence of the Confederate war monuments, citizens might find it less discordant to select a fairly neutral name that doesn’t harken to broader themes – name options such as Market Street Park, Court Square Park and Library Park allude more to each park’s geographical location.

“For some, it’s easier to think about geography — let’s call it the park in the center of our city, let’s call it the park next to the courthouse. Because for some people, those things are deemed less controversial or requiring less thought,” Wheeler said. “So what I think that is reflected in this long list … what you see is a mix of both of those types of suggestions.”

The obstacle of statues While calling on the citizens in renaming the parks represents a

step forward for Charlottesville, the bronze-sculpted statue of Robert E. Lee towering 26-feet above the park’s manicured hedges challenges the Council’s efforts.

Still, due to a 1904 state law banning city removal or alteration of public war memorials, along with pending litigation, there are questions over whether the city government has the authority to remove the statues from the park — even with a 5-0 City Council vote last September. The Council installed tarps to cover the statues in August following the deadly event at the Unite the Right rally, which were unlawfully removed and replaced various times before a Charlottesville Circuit Court judge decided to permanently remove the tarps in February. The fate of Lee and Jackson instead lies in the Charlottesville Circuit Court, which could take until the end of this year to reach a ruling on Charlottesville’s control over the statues. With this uncertain future in mind, the Council has drafted a twophase action plan for addressing the presence — or lack thereof — of the Confederate monuments.

“The first phase would be assuming that the statues are still there and what changes would we make. We’d be open to ideas from consultants that would sign up for this work and [to ideas] from the community reacting to it,” Wheeler said. “And then phase two would be assuming that Charlottesville City Council’s wish is enacted — that the statues are removed — what then would we do in the parks?”

Wheeler said that both phases concentrate on telling the history of Charlottesville in a more comprehensive way — shifting the theme of the parks from one that some believe memorializes the Confederacy to one that the Council hopes will challenge the historically ethnocentric narrative surrounding race in the United States while communicating — not celebrating — Lee and Jackson’s roles in American history.

“A lot of people think that, assuming Lee and Jackson stay there, there will be ... some way to communicate what a lot of people think about Lee — that he is a controversial figure, that he led troops in a treasonous effort to secede from the country, was defeated in war,” Gilliam said. “There is a need to sort of flesh all that stuff out.”

Although the future of the statues is out of the city’s hands, Wheeler said the city is committed to effect change in the one thing it can control – the name of its parks. While the renaming of Emancipation and Justice Park might seem to be a nominal action in an contrastingly tumultuous moment for race relations in the United States, Wheeler said the renaming initiative marks a step towards reconciliation with the events of Charlottesville’s past — aiming to recognize them not just as static facets of history, but as defining features of the present.

“Our City Council wants to help the parks be part of the healing process,” Wheeler said. “To them, that’s how we move the community forward.”

CHRISTINA ANTON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

City Council sought citizen input on the parks’ new names with a survey from March 6 through March 28.

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

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Former death row inmate speaks to class Joe Giarratano finds a place at U.Va.’s Innocence Project after they help him with his case

LIFE

Faith Schweikert | Staff Writer

In 1979, then-21-year-old scallop boat worker Joe Giarratano was sentenced to death for a double murder and rape he says he never committed. After nearly 40 years of fighting the system from the inside, he was released on parole last December. Lecturer Franziska Oertle’s Tibetan Buddhism course spent March 19’s class hearing his story.“In Buddhism, we talk about what we call the six perfections and one of the perfections is about being patient,” Oertle said. “It’s much more of an attitude about not getting upset, not getting angry in the face of hardship. I found out about [Giarratano] a couple months ago. My friend said … he practices Tibetan Buddhism and this is what kept him alive in prison.”

Oertle said she realized immediately she wanted Giarratano to talk to her students.

Since Giarratano was taken off the many drugs the state had placed him under in 1983, his case has garnered attention from new outlets, lawyers, citizens, legal organizations and celebri-

ties like actor Jack Lemmon and conservative newspaper columnist James J. Kilpatrick.

When Giarratano was first convicted of the crime, he was using heavily and the state insisted he be put under the influence of thorazine, an antipsychotic. It seemed there was not much hope for Giarratano the first few years after his arrest — heavily drugged and barely conscious at his trial, he actually chose to drop his appeals in 1981 and was told he was unfit to be executed.

It was throughout 1982 and 1983, years after his conviction and after receiving so much public attention, that Giarratano realized the evidence discovered at the crime scene, including bloody footprints, semen and fingerprints, did not match his own and that he had been sentenced to death after a half-day trial that had included circumstantial evidence. A few years after the trial, he was contacted

by Richard Bonnie, a lawyer working at the University at the time. Bonnie recruited Ward

Silk, a local attorney with only a few years of experience who was already handling multiple death row cases. Still, Bonnie and Silk took Giarratano’s case. They eventually brought in Marie Deans, founder of the Virginia Coalition on Jails and Prisons, to help.

“Marie basically shoved a law book in my face and said you need to start studying this, this is how you fight these people,” Giarratano said. “From that point on I began studying the law.”

Because of this newfound dedication to learning the law, he helped change conditions for death row inmates, brought a case to the Supreme Court that gave death row inmates access to attorneys and helped convince the courts that a fellow death row inmate, Earl Washington, Jr., was innocent of his alleged crimes. He also created a law library, facilitated peaceful resolution courses and brought awareness to the public about the greater need for attorneys to work these cases.

“Resentment is hard, it’s what I was telling the Tibetan Buddhism class, there was a lot of anger for a long time and [it] was destroying me,” Giarratano said. “I got to a point where I had to realize prior to all of this I was a criminal. It’s what I grew up in, it’s what I knew and I got away with a lot of stuff. And it hit me one day, the universe, it couldn’t get me for all the other stuff I did but to get my attention it put me through this.”

Oertle said this is exactly the reason she was so keen to have him speak to her class, despite him not explicitly describing himself as Buddhist. She felt he embodied the practices of Buddhism and the positive benefits they could have even in the most difficult of situations.

“He stopped blaming outer conditions and unfair justice systems and guards who were giving him a hard time,” Oertle said. “He stopped asking, ‘What can the world do for me?’ and started asking, ‘What can I do for the world?’ This is an unbelievable change.”

He claims that serious meditation saved his life during his eight years in solitary confinement and helps him keep track of his purpose even today.

“It got to the point where I would lose touch with reality, I would hallucinate and I really had to focus on my meditation practice to keep my sanity,” Giarratano said. “And focusing like that has a way of focusing your attention, clearing the air and making you be real with yourself. And I came to realize that if I did that [committed suicide] it was probably the most self-centered thing I could do because it was really all about me, and not considering the impact on it would have on all my supporters, all my friends.”

Though the case has still not been closed, Giarratano is now on parole and lives in Charlottesville. He is working with the University’s Law School’s Innocence Project, helping research and evaluate other cases as they did for him, in the hopes that he’s leaving a positive impact on the world.

Why do we become too tired to fall asleep?

Lessons from staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night Tom Pollard | Column Writer You’re exhausted, it’s 3 a.m. and you have a midterm tomorrow. So why hasn’t your stupid body fallen asleep yet?

If your brain has hopped on this infuriating train of thought before, then — like me — you know about the paradoxical state of being too tired to be tired. If you haven’t had the experience, then let me say that the feeling of your mind refusing to shut down no matter how much you try to relax is a stressful one. You toss and turn, shift your pillow around in search of a cold spot, but nothing works. The more you think about it, the worse it gets.

To top it all off, your brain also decides that now is a good time to replay embarrassing moments from your life seven years ago.

In short, it’s an experience that I could really pass on.

After pulling a few all-nighters in my struggles against essays, I’ve started to have more and more trouble falling asleep. Despite being so tired I can barely move, I’m struggling to shut my

mind down when I close my eyes.

The question that’s been on my mind, therefore, is why? Why would such an absurd incongruity ever occur? What evolutionary fluke makes our brains so freaking dumb?

At the risk of sounding like low-effort online clickbait, the answers might shock you.

From a medical standpoint, what happens to our bodies when we’re too tired to fall asleep is pretty freaky. The brain experiences abnormal, hyperactive brain waves. The heart rate also increases to a rapid pulse and the body temperature spikes. Scientists have even measured minor abnormalities in basic hormone production.

So, yeah. Pretty shocking.

Keep reading.

The main culprit behind this spooky occurrence is actually not that surprising. In fact, it’s probably the first thing you thought of when I mentioned sleeplessness. Yep, good ol’ stress. Even though everyone experiences

different levels, worrying about all the work you still have to get done can cause sleepless nights in anyone. So, even though I was exhausted from writing essays last week, I still had trouble sleeping because the stress of the next thing I had to do was already upon me.

“So, stress is going to be an impossible thing to remove from my life,” I remember thinking to myself as I was doing my research. “Still, maybe I could cut out the second biggest cause of insomnia—” It’s phones.

“F—k.”

Weird as it might sound, blue light — a very real and very unusual kind of light our phones and computers project a lot of in the form of short wavelengths — tricks our weird lizard brains into thinking it's daylight. Exposure to blue light isn’t really a problem during the day, but when your eyes are scanning latenight texts, your brain literally becomes convinced it’s looking at

the sun and it should be getting out of bed because its morning already. By throwing off cycles called the circadian rhythms, our phones are helping to cause all the weird medical malarkey mentioned above.

So, how do we fix this? Beyond taking the more difficult path of cutting down on stress and phones out of our lives, there are a surprising number of easier solutions. One way to help cut down on restless nights is to try and sleep whenever you’re tired.

It might seem obvious, but often even though we might feel more exhausted at three in the afternoon than three at night, we refuse to take a nap because it feels like slacking off. Well science says that’s dumb. Take a warrior’s power nap, and you’ll be happier for it.

Another surprising solution — strange though it may seem — is trying to spend less time in bed. Not everybody actually needs eight hours of sleep a night and forcing yourself to lie awake

thinking about all the mistakes that led you to this moment isn’t helping anybody. Of course, you shouldn’t skip out on sleep entirely, but experimenting with going to bed later or waking up earlier can help with sleep patterns. Our weird circadian rhythms can also become misaligned if you spend a lot of time in bed when you aren’t trying to sleep.

Over the past few days, I’ve been trying some of these strategies. Some have worked, some haven’t. If you’ve had trouble with being too tired to fall asleep, I’d recommend trying them out.

They might seem weird, but sleep is weird. Phones are weird. Stress is weird. College is weird. It all comes down to what works, and, more importantly, what saves us from staring at the ceiling thinking about that one moment in eighth grade when you did something lame.

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The Flat: The Downtown Mall’s hidden gem Takeaway creperie offers a delightful taste of France amidst the bustle of the Downtown Mall Hildy Maxwell | Food Columnist Nestled in a tiny storefront just outside the Downtown Mall, The Flat is easy to miss. Best described as a ‘hole in the wall’ — yes, The Flat is literally a window in the side of a brick building — eating here is a refreshing change from your typical sit-down style restaurant.

I first discovered The Flat when parking in the lot directly across the street. Even though I had driven by countless times before, I had failed to notice The Flat. Upon first glance, I decided I just had to try it. As a lover of French cuisine, I was thrilled to have discovered a creperie so reminiscent of a Paris sidewalk café.

The Flat’s brick exterior, crawling with ivy and strung with colored lights, lends a cozy and inviting atmosphere to the outdoor seating area. Although there is limited seating — only two or three tables — I have been able to find a seat both times I have visited.

My first time visiting The Flat, my friend and I were in need of a pickme-up and decided crepes were just the answer to our afternoon slump.

We walked up to the window and ordered a “Temptation of Adam” and a “Crepes According to Anna” — both made with apples and brie, with the

addition of homemade jam of the day in the latter. The crepes were ready within five minutes of ordering, steaming hot and jam-packed with apples and melted cheese. If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that it is hard to find something better than melted brie cheese. But ladies and gentlemen, I believe I’ve found it — melted brie smothered in homemade blackberry rhubarb jam. Stuff that all into a flakey, light crepe with some sliced Granny Smiths, and you’ve got the “Crepes According to Anna.”

It’s safe to say that my first visit to The Flat had me so hooked that I felt the overwhelming urge to go again and this time bring more friends with me — sharing new food discoveries is one of the best friendship perks.

The second time going to The Flat, it was a Sunday morning, prime-time for brunch in Charlottesville. While most other restaurants are heaving at brunch time, with wait times sometimes exceeding an hour, The Flat was relatively quiet with only two other groups waiting for food.

Any of their fillings can be mixed and matched to make your own creation. This time I decided to try something more savory, so I built my own

crepe with an egg, ham, avocado and cheese inside. It was like a French spin on the American bacon, egg and cheese. The cheese melted amazingly into the hunks of ham and avocado — however, the fillings could have been more evenly spread throughout the crepe. Since they serve the crepes upright, the solid fillings tend to sink down to the bottom.

My friend ordered the “Mama’s Apple Pie” off of the sweet side of the menu. The apple pie crepe tasted exactly like classic apple pie and was — in the words of my friend — “exponentially satisfying.” The apples were tender, cinnamony and not overly sweet.

Another great thing about The Flat’s crepes is how you can eat them either sitting down or wandering around downtown Charlottesville.

Each crepe is wrapped tightly and covered in plenty of wax paper and napkins, so even as your apples are falling out everywhere and the cheese just will not stay inside, you will most likely avoid a mess — but definitely still grab a few forks and napkins just in case.

The Flat offers a crepe for every mood, whether you’re feeling some-

HILDY MAXWELL | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The Flat’s brick exterior, crawling with ivy and strung with colored lights, lends a cozy and inviting atmosphere to the outdoor seating area.

thing sweet, savory or somewhere in between. The portion sizes are perfect, not too big that you feel stuffed afterwards but definitely satisfying enough to be their own meal. Their prices are decent, maybe a little bit on the high side — most of their menu falls in the $6 to $10 range. On my next visit to The Flat I will be trying one of their dessert style crepes, something like the “Chocolate Chip Cookie” or the “Chocolate Delights” — both of which cost around $6 and offer a chocolatey take on their crêpes.

You can find The Flat behind The Jefferson Theater at 111 East Water Street — just look out for their bright blue sign. They are open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p. m. Fridays, 9 a. m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sundays. These hours can vary sometimes, which is one downside to this otherwise charming spot. So next time you’re in need of a unique dessert, or you just don’t feel like waiting in line for a table for brunch, give The Flat a try — you won’t be disappointed.

The Bebedero: Upscale-casual, with a twist Mexican restaurant with Tex-Mex influences comes to Charlottesville Tucker Wilson | Food Columnist The word “bebedero” is tough to define. In most parts of the Spanish-speaking world, it is either the word for a drinking bowl or a water fountain. Other translations amount to, “the watering hole.” But in the Andes region of South America, a bebedero is an establishment that sells alcoholic drinks, otherwise known as a bar. It’s a word in business conversation, evoking class and sharpness — as expected with a word this fancy. However, Charlottesville’s namesake bar and restaurant, The Bebedero on the Downtown Mall, is not just a business bar — it’s a warm, authentic and friendly bebedero that brings authentic cuisine to the people of Cville.

The Bebedero is a newcomer in the city’s Mexican food offerings. After opening near Paradox Pastry in March 2016, The Bebedero moved to the Mall last March, directly above another of owner Will Richey’s restaurants, The Whiskey Jar. However, you can’t count out a newcomer, as the chefs in The Bebedero cook like they’ve been here for decades.

The Bebedero’s kitchen pulls heavily from authentic Mexican

influence, as chefs Cesar Perez and Yuliana Perez Vasquez hail from Puebla and Veracruz, respectively.

Influence from Veracruz, a coastal region on the Southern Gulf of Mexico, is especially prominent at The Bebedero, as its menu is filled with offerings of seafood of all shapes and sizes — shrimp, oysters, scallops and fish. The Bebedero’s menus are filled with coastal classics — smoky paella with roasted jalapeño peppers and indulgent white wine sauce broth, or citrusy ceviche with grapefruit and orange juice.

However, The Bebedero’s offerings don’t stop at the traditional.

Parts of their menu have a distinct Tex-Mex flair, like nachos in cheese sauce and a southwest style burger. The nachos are some of the best I’ve had — a perfect combination of classic ingredients like cheesy queso sauce and hot and sour pickled jalapeños and classier entries like cotija cheese crumbles sprinkled on top.

The burger, nicknamed the Chicana burger after the Spanish word for an American child of Mexican immigrant parents, is an appropriately tongue-in-cheek Americanized

Mexican offering. Topped with a savory smorgasbord of guac, roasted poblanos, ham, bacon, mayo, pickled vegetables and Chihuahua cheese — the Chicana is a sinfully spicy, smoky and fatty burger that’s to die for.

And some meals blend the traditional and the new. My personal favorite, the Camarones Poblanos, shrimps served over rice with chipotle cream sauce, is part risotto, part paella and part shrimp and grits. It packs a taste of classic Mexican spice, but the white wine sauce and sauteed cremini mushrooms make it sweet and mellow. It’s rich, creamy, cheesy, oh so decadent and its mixed influences and ingredients are a perfect representation of The Bebedero’s menu.

Inside, The Bebedero is fun and family-friendly. The space is upscale enough to enjoy cocktails at the bar but relaxed enough to share nachos with a group of friends. Classic Mexican-style decor — exposed brick walls, paintings of sugar skulls and strings of colorful papel picados hanging on the walls — are easily recognizable features. But the walls

TUCKER WILSON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The Bebedero showcases the work of local artists, local chefs and influences from around the world.

of The Bebedero also feature works of local artists. The walls display disparate works, from traditional paintings of skeletal figures and Mexican sunsets over the Gulf, to a striking mural of co-owner River Hawkins’ wife plastering an entire wall or the work of Spanish immigrant and artist Chicho Lorenzo of IX Art Park fame.

Even as a newcomer, The Bebede-

ro is making its mark on Charlottesville. It blends authentic roots and Tex-Mex interpretations and has a relaxed atmosphere with upscale offerings. It showcases local artists, local chefs and influences from around the world. The Bebedero is fun, friendly and sophisticated and it will keep me coming back for more.

www.cavalierdaily.com • LIFE

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

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Top 10 things to do on the Lawn during spring Spend time in our backyard

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An Easter egg hunt Easter is a highly-underrated holiday. It brings nothing but joy and candy into our lives. Who couldn’t use more of those things? In my house, Easter was a very big deal growing up and we had a hunt every year.

I was very competitive — my brother didn’t stand a chance. This sounds a bit like a fairytale and in truth it was. The annual Easter egg hunt is now happily painted in my memory as the most important victory of my young life.

I would like to carry this victory into my adult life, which is why I propose an Easter egg hunt on the Lawn. Sure, it’s pretty flat terrain with very few hiding places, but I have high hopes that the students of the University can accomplish this. Perhaps the A-school and E-school can team up and make it a challenge like no Easter egg hunter has yet to face. I for one was always disappointed that I didn’t get invited to the Easter egg hunt at the White House. It’s our time to top the White House. Let the games begin.

Play Frisbee Playing Frisbee or any other classic, laid-back game — hacky sack being the most prominent of this niche game genre — is a nice way to live in the delusion that you’re a relaxed person for a little while.

I mean we all know you’re not, but sometimes it’s fun to pretend. It’s kind of like going to the beach without the three-hour drive. Speaking of the beach, cornhole is also an option — though I don’t know a single college student with cornhole equipment at the ready.

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Study It was very little fun to write that word, but it is the sad reality of our life as students. At least on the Lawn you can watch other people play Frisbee and pretend you’re as relaxed as they are. Studying includes reading, and that’s always a good time — at least it isn’t as crazy as typing on your laptop at two in the morning.

Enjoy the Pavilion Gardens The gardens are rarely enjoyed due to the erratic weather that hinders most outdoor activity, but now that spring has arrived, perhaps the time has come to remove ourselves from the hibernation of winter and rejoin the outside world once more. Though I always feel a bit like I’m in someone else’s backyard when I go to the gardens, they’re incredibly idyllic. If you can avoid the bugs and feelings of trespassing, you’ll be golden.

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Sit on the steps of the Rotunda As I often trudge across Grounds with my backpack that I swear is gaining weight, I pass by Tundie, remember where I am, smile for a moment and trudge off again. Being on the Lawn, in Tundie’s shadow, can bring you back from all the worries of the future and the thoughts of all the work this university has cursed you with and remind you why you’re here in the first place. Besides, I’ve always thought the Rotunda looks a bit like a monopoly piece, so that could be fun to ponder over.

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Grace Breiner | Top 10 Writer

Eat some dumplings I always forget that the dumpling cart exists until someone reminds me, and I wonder how I’ve been so silly as to pass over such a food gem. Eating them in the amphitheater is the classic move, but now that more and more tour groups are rolling through, it might be nice to find your own little spot on the Lawn where you can enjoy your fried rice. Watching the tours go by is also a fun way to entertain yourself while you eat. It makes even me, a first year, feel much older and more important to watch high schoolers struggle through the decision I had to make exactly a year ago.

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GRACE CODELLA | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Pet the dogs My friend and I were downtown this Saturday, and we saw the smallest dog I have even seen.

It was a four-month-old Pomeranian and, even though it was 50 percent fur, it was still smaller than an average Hunter boot. If these dogs exist in the world, it’s important that we keep a vigilant watch for them because they are such a delight.

Honestly, dogs of all shapes and sizes are such a treat. I would spend all my time on the Lawn waiting for dogs if I could. My only wish is that people would also bring their cats to the Lawn. I can see obvious reasons why they shouldn’t, but I can also see a couple reasons why they should.

Picnic I used to be obsessed with picnics when I was younger — I loved the whole idea of cute little baskets with the folding tops and picnic blankets with a red and white checkered pattern. I even dragged my family on a picnic once to a park — sandwiches in tow. Though I now have neither the basket nor the blanket, I think a makeshift picnic would be just as fun. Especially if it included a Bodo’s bagel.

AKHILA DANAM | THE CAVALIER DAILY

MADDY SITA | THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Meet up with friends Usually on the weekends most people tend to be in the general vicinity of the Lawn. The concentration of student population tightens way down to include the Corner, the Lawn, the libraries and the frat houses.

This makes it much easier to get in touch with people who seem to have exact opposite class schedules as you. What better place to meet up with them than the hub of central Grounds?

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People watch

Speaking of the hub of central Grounds, the Lawn is a great place to get a vibe for what’s going on around Grounds. Last time I was sitting on the Lawn, there was a huge gathering of well-dressed people congregating around one of the pavilion houses. I don’t know what it is — it could absolutely have been a completely average event — but I remain convinced that a secret society had a hand in it. There are also weddings going on at the chapel sometimes, and the wedding party may stop by the Lawn to snap some photos which is always fun to watch. There are families, students, adults, teachers and pets all gathered in the same place at least for a little while. Enjoy a slow weekend on the Lawn, and soak up the feeling and the sun.

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New CIO focuses on conservation and recreation The Virginia Woodsmen hope to inspire the University community to conserve but also to participate in recreational timbersports Madison Masloff | Feature Writer The Virginia Woodsmen — a newly approved Contracted Independent Organization — is working towards promoting conservation and timbersports. Some may think the idea of conserving forests and making a sport out of timber-related activities seems counterintuitive, but that is not the case to its members.

“That’s the thing about conservation,” second-year College student Tobias Addis said. “It is not about complete protection, it is the safe and calculated harvesting and protection.”

Although the use of trees for sporting events may seem like a waste of natural resources, in some cases, the removal of trees can actually promote the overall flourishing of other trees. Addis compares tree removal to hunting in the sense that a certain number of deer must be harvested each year in order to prevent overpopulation and depletion of natural resources.

Addis and co-founder Ethan Crocket decided to form the club with a group of outdoor-minded friends they met in their first-year dorms. The founders realized they all agreed on the importance of nature, how much they enjoyed spending time in the woods and that they

wanted to make sure conservation was recognized in the community.

They also enjoyed watching timbersports on television, which is why they incorporated that aspect into their organization.

Technically Addis is the sole remaining founder and Virginia Woodsmen Captain, as Crocket has decided to step down and become a standing member of the organization. Addis and Crocket are joined by Vice President Berkley Toufas who is responsible for landing sponsorships and stepping in for Addis whenever necessary.

Sponsorships are important to the group, especially since the Virginia Woodsmen was accepted as a CIO late in the school year, and consequently missed funding deadlines and will not able to receive funding until next year. They said these sponsorships are necessary to buy different types of saws, safety gear and other equipment required for both the sports and service aspects of the organization.

There are currently 19 members on the Virginia Woodsmen’s roster but Addis said he hopes their status as a CIO will give them more exposure, ultimately attracting enough members and funds to be able to

compete in timbersports at the collegiate level in the spring of 2019.

“I grew to like the ax and chopping up the wood,” second-year College student Jackson Kosmacki said in an email. “So when I heard about Woodsmen, I was intrigued by the prospect of chopping up some more wood and in a competitive spirit.”

As a child, Kosmacki was the family member tasked with chopping up wood from fallen branches and axing trees that needed to be cut down.

The group is currently getting by with donated and personal power tools to aid the parks around Virginia. However, they will need more specific models to compete in the STIHL Timberwood Series.

The STIHL Timberwood series is a nationwide professional and collegiate lumberjack competition sponsored by STIHL, a German based chainsaw company. At the collegiate level, athletes use saws and axes to participate in four different disciplines — the Underhand Chop, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck and Stock Saw. “As far as the importance of official CIO status goes,” second-year College student Berkley Toufas said in an email. “It gives our organization legitimacy so that if we were to try to

March 29 & 30 @ 8pm April 3 – 6 @ 8pm April 7 @ 2pm Director: Robert Chapel Culbreth Theatre

COURTESY JOE NELSON

Tobi Addis, president of The Virginia Woodsmen Team, works on improving local forests.

partner with a state or local park [...], we would have credentials to show that we are not a for-profit group.”

Toufas values the group’s status as a CIO because aside from it giving them legitimacy when partnering with local and state parks, it makes potential sponsors more willing to trust them. Eventually, the Virginia Woodsmen would like to obtain adequate equipment to be able compete in the Timberwood series, however, the CIO’s current focus is service and conservation.

The Virginia Woodsmen has reached out to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and sent a letter to all state parks close enough to be serviced by the Woodsmen. The group has also partnered with Holiday Lake

State Park, and the James River State Park has requested their assistance in clearing trails to prepare for an upcoming triathlon in April. The Virginia Woodsmen is a nonprofit group which requires that all service work they do is strictly voluntary.

“Not only is service important to us, but when we serve we want to let people know why we are going to these parks and serving,” Addis said.

The Virginia Woodsmen is working to expand by having open meetings where group members are encouraged to bring friends. The organization hopes to inform and educate about the importance of forestry conservation and sustainability by having a “conservation minute” at the end of every meeting.

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SPORTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

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Unity, heart power Virginia rowing’s success A look at the little things that have allowed the Cavaliers to become an ACC powerhouse Emma D’Arpino | Senior Associate Editor

In University Hall, there's a space known as “The Cage.” It's been there for years, and the worn down appearance of it certainly doesn't hide that fact. It gets cold in the winter, and stifling hot in the warmer days. There's nothing fancy about the gritty space, and it’s not exactly where you would expect one of the most successful Division I programs to train. But, before most people are awake, that's where the Virginia rowing team can be found as rowers set up their ergs and roll out a large speaker, getting ready for their first grueling workout of the day.

Ergs — which are indoor rowing machines — are how the team does a majority of their difficult workouts. They'll do anything on those machines from all out 2k tests to a long, steady, 20,000-meter piece. Physically, it engages various muscles and is a hybrid of cardio and strength.

But if you ask almost any rower, the intense physical demands don't even compare to the mental battle.

Attached to the erg is a small monitor that tells you your splits, stroke rate, time and other relevant numbers. With all this information in front of you, you’re able to clearly see when you’re headed for a new personal record. However, that also means you’re able to clearly see when your pace starts to slow down.

It takes an incredible amount of discipline, focus and willpower to not let a few bad strokes or a slower 500 meters become losing total control of the piece.

As if that isn’t enough of a challenge, the individualization of the rowing machine — which starkly contrasts how team-oriented the sport of rowing is — makes the workouts that much more trying.

But, Virginia never lets those those push-you-to-your-limit erg workouts become an isolating experience.

“Some teams will erg with everyone having individual headphones and I think that’s a really isolating practice,” said senior Anna Fairs, one of the team’s co-captains.

Rather than follow that custom, the Cavaliers all listen to music that blares from the same speaker, which is a small way that the team unifies the experience.

They also add unity to erg workouts by interacting with each other when they can.

“We all sit next to each other in rows, so I can look at the girl next to me to help me get to a certain goal,” Fairs said. “So it’s

COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

Graduate student Ali Zwicker, a co-captain of the team, embodies the spirit that has spured Virginia rowing to so much success over the years.

like ‘you get to the 3000-meter mark,’ or ‘you get me there and I’ll get you to the next one.’ It’s that little bit of tradeoff and that little bit of speech that I think is really helpful.”

They’ll also shout out each other’s names during workouts as part of a ‘give energy, get energy’ theme that the team is framed by.

“For me it’s kind of yelling out to someone else, because it’s like if they’re going, then I’ll go. And other people might need the encouragement to hear their name,” said graduate student Ali Zwicker, the other captain for the season.

Both Fairs and Zwicker know the value of team unity, and as captains, they do everything they can to emphasize that.

“We wanted to create a culture where we were approachable and also where we were checking in on people everyday,” Zwicker said. “It’s not just the people going to NCAA’s that matters — it’s everybody.”

The Cavaliers try to incorporate teamwork into absolutely everything because it doesn’t just make everyone’s experience on the team more enjoyable — it also makes them a more successful team. And with 17 ACC Championships and two team National Championships, the

program knows a thing or two about success. The program also has had nine individual boats win National Championships, and 24 players have earned First-Team All-American honors at least once in their career as a Cavalier.

The 17 ACC Championships in the conference’s 18-year history is just about as dominant as it gets.

But Virginia doesn’t let that success lead to complacency.

At the boathouse where the team goes when they’re practicing on the water, there's a sign that reads: “Nothing given, everything earned.” This sign doesn’t just serve as a reminder of an important mindset, it is something that is embodied in how the Cavaliers approach their training and their season.

“We don’t ever want to get complacent and have it be like because you have the V sabre on your chest, you’re going to win,” Fairs said.

This is especially important for Virginia because not only does complacency threaten improvement, but it also becomes problematic when many other schools are focused on finishing specifically ahead of Virginia.

“We have a target on our backs and in other team’s locker rooms, there are chalk boards

with ‘what are your season’s goals?’ and they’ll have in bold ‘beat Virginia’ and I think that’s something that motivates us,” Fairs said. “We welcome the competition and we want close races because that helps prepare us for NCAAs. We don’t want to win every race by three boat lengths, that doesn’t help us.”

This year, that work ethic will go into the pursuit of putting together another successful season. However, it’s not just about winning ‘X’ amount of races or walking away with another conference championship that the Cavaliers focus on.

“We spoke as a team, and we talked about what we want our goals to be,” Zwicker said. “And they aren’t necessarily just win ACCs and come in this place for NCAAs. While those are all great things, we talked a lot about enjoying the process.”

Of course, they will always set those competitive goals that are rooted in results. But, by focusing on the process, the Cavaliers are focusing on the aspects of competition that are up to them to dictate.

“You can control the internal factors,” Fairs said. “You can be as good as you can possibly be so that when you sit on that startway, you know that there is abso-

lutely nothing I could’ve done to prepare myself better.”

“It’s basically having no regrets,” Zwicker added. “And if we give it our all and don’t make the A-final, it’s hard to be disappointed knowing we gave everything. So that’s why we’re more focused internally as opposed to we just want to get three boats in the A-Final. Yes, that’s a goal, but it’s also how are we getting there?”

Virginia has already begun the process of getting there with racing this season underway. They put together a solid performance at the Oak Ridge Invite and also added experience under their belts with a scrimmage against Duke. The Cavaliers will now continue to build off of those performances as they set their sites on bigger goals, and, as always, they’ll do so as a team.

“We have a very strong team in the fact that everyone is very strong-willed,” Fairs said. “And if they try something, they put their whole heart into it and I think that’s really key. You can have great ergs, and you can have great speed on the water, great technique and all of that, but if you don’t put your whole heart in it and jump in with two feet, then that doesn’t mean anything.”

12

SPORTS • www.cavalierdaily.com

THE CAVALIER DAILY

Commerce lecturer tries to mend men’s basketball heartbreak Sherri Moore’s extra credit opportunity encourages students to show their support for the team John Garza | Staff Writer After a season-ending defeat to University of Maryland, Baltimore County earlier this March, Virginia fans could do little but watch on as senior forward Isaiah Wilkins sat on the bench with his head in his hands after fouling out against the Retrievers. The players, fans and sports world were shocked at the historic upset.

“I told the guys, this is life,” Virginia Coach Tony Bennett in the press conference following the game. “It can’t define you. You enjoyed the good times and you gotta be able to take the bad times.”

Students who had the chance to witness an incredible season — including a historic win at Cameron Indoor Stadium and clinching both the ACC regular season and championship titles — didn’t know how to respond to such a devastating turn of events.

“I went to bed hoping it was just a terrible nightmare and woke up in a different sort of reality,” second-year College student Sam Bachman.

Rather than reacting negatively to the loss, Commerce lecturer Sherri Moore saw it as an opportu-

nity to both teach her students an important lesson in having a positive attitude and to demonstrate to the basketball team that they have the unconditional support of the students. With these goals in mind, Moore gave her Commercial Law I class an extra credit opportunity to write letters of encouragement and positivity to the players.

“I’m always talking to my students about the power of a positive attitude and finding the positives in the obstacles in life,” Moore said. “I thought, ‘Wouldn't it be nice if they had the support of the students?’ …

The goal of this is for them to think about the season and say, ‘We’re still proud of how we played and who we are on top of that.’”

Moore is also a lifetime fan of the Cavaliers, having attended different sporting events since she was a child and when she attended the University — having the opportunity to cheer for No. 1 Virginia back in 1982.

“I love U.Va. Basketball,” Moore said. “My father went here, so as a child, we used to come up for all the football and basketball games.

When I came to school here, we had

Ralph Samson and we had a great team that was on fire, just like this one. I think that they’re amazing with what they’ve accomplished this year, so it was easy to want to say thank you for what you’ve done and to keep your chin up.”

The Cavaliers, who have had recent success in the regular season and ACC tournament, have had difficulties in making a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

Despite this, Moore said that students should think first about all of the excitement that the team has brought to grounds.

“I hope that students have been able to learn something from our basketball program this year,” Moore said. “They’re very energized by them and its one huge positive thing that we have here. We’ve had some dark moments at the beginning of the school year, and I know that not only the students but also the community are so proud of these boys all the way through.

They're good citizens, students, and they make us proud that we all go to U.Va.” To Moore, having a positive attitude and a group of people who

CALLIE COLLINS | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Commerce lecturer Sherri Moore offered students extra credit for writing letters of support to the Men’s basketball team after their historic loss to UMBC in the NCAA Tournament.

support you are key to overcoming all of the unforeseen obstacles that life can throw at you.

“Things like this are disappointing, but it's one small obstacle in life that you can overcome,” Moore

said. “And the best way to overcome it is to know that there are other people out there who love you, support you, and are ready for you to get back at it next year and keep going.”

THE MEANING OF HUSTLE What Virginia men’s lacrosse lost with Ryan Conrad’s Injury The first lacrosse game I ever watched was at Klöckner Stadium in 2010, where I witnessed Virginia take on Johns Hopkins.

The Cavaliers won in dominant fashion, 15-6. I didn’t realize at the time that this was one of college lacrosse’s most heated rivalries, with the Doyle Smith Cup at stake. I didn’t realize that I was watching arguably

the best lacrosse team in the nation, a team that went 17-2 that year, falling to Duke in the Final Four. I didn’t realize that I would eventually cover Virginia men’s lacrosse.

I did realize, however, how exciting it was to watch lacrosse. I loved watching the miraculous saves, agile doding, and incredible goals. The fluidity and high-paced nature of the

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Virginia has missed junior midfielder Ryan Conrad’s presence since his injury in the Cavaliers’ game March 4 against Syracuse.

game reminded me of basketball. Additionally, the calm possession, incisive passing and gritty defense reminded me of soccer.

But lacrosse is truly a game of its own, with unique attributes and a distinct heritage. It is deeply embedded in America, having roots earlier than the country’s founding in the Iroquois Confederacy. The free-flowing, highpaced game embraced by its founders is exactly what Virginia Coach Lars Tiffany preaches in the Cavaliers’ style of play.

In 2010, the part of the game I cherished most were the amazing saves and jaw-dropping shots. I loved watching the attackmen tear up the field and put the ball into the goal.

I’ve learned a lot about this game since my first experience with it in 2010. Over the course of the season covering Virginia, I’ve come to realize that there’s a lot more to lacrosse than flashy play from attackmen and jaw-dropping stick saves from goalies.

In fact, I’ve come to appreciate other parts of the game perhaps even more than the plays that reach the highlight reels.

As a sports fan and player, the single quality I value most is hustle. Some players are gifted with athleticism,

with unteachable skill. But nobody is gifted with hustle. Hustle is focused commitment and hard work that is the backbone of any great sports team.

Hustle is selfless.

As in any sport, hustle is critical in lacrosse. The part of the game in which hustle is most evident is in winning ground balls. Ground balls win games.

They can make runs happen. They can stop momentum.

After over a month covering Virginia men’s lacrosse, winning ground balls is the part of the game that I appreciate the most.

The grit of the midfield position, combined with skill in transition, impresses me in particular. Junior captain Ryan Conrad caught my eye early on in the season by exemplifying the tenacity, but also deft skill of the midfield position.

No non-defensive player or specialist fielded more ground balls in Division I than Conrad last year, who was also a third-team USILA All-American.

Conrad had picked up right where he left off this year, picking up 23 ground balls along with four goals and three assists. He had also offered important leadership for a young team.

The Cavaliers lost Conrad for

the season on March 4, in their ACC opener at home against Syracuse. In Conrad, they lost perhaps their most key player, in his versatility, motor and leadership.

Virginia went on to lose against Syracuse, their first loss of the year, despite a great comeback from down 11-5. Since then, their play has been up and down, picking up four solid non-conference victories, but dropping their other ACC contest against Notre Dame.

Conrad’s grit, athleticism and leadership will be impossible to completely replace in the Cavaliers’ bid to return to the postseason. Particularly, the edge their captain provided in winning ground balls will be missed.

If Virginia wants to turn this good season into a great one, they will have to embrace this edge and hustle.

ZACH ZAMOFF is a Sports senior associate editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at z.zamoff@cavalierdaily. com

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

O

13

LEAD EDITORIAL

Transfer Brandon Avenue to U.Va.

OPINION

Both the City and the University would benefit if City Council gifted Brandon Avenue

As part of the 2008 Grounds Plan, the University identified Brandon Avenue as an opportunity to further the commitment “to offer superior environments for future learning and research endeavors.” The Brandon Avenue Master Plan, developed by the Office of the Architect in November 2016, plans to transform the area into “a vibrant, mixed-use, sustainable district that links the Health System to Central Grounds.” Included in the renovations is an updated Student Health Center, new student housing and green spaces. Redeveloping the area is an important step in the process of unifying distinct areas of Grounds — the increased pedestrian and green spaces will help members of the University community see the Health System and Central Grounds as a single entity.

To fully realize this unification, the University has requested that the City

of Charlottesville transfer ownership of Brandon Avenue. Although the City could retain full title to the property while the plan continues, considering the master plan includes redevelopment of the street itself, the transformation would be much smoother if the University owned the land.

The Charlottesville City Council seems open to the transfer, but Mayor Nikuyah Walker has requested a valuation of the property’s worth to see if it would make financial sense to have the University purchase the property, as opposed to having the city gift it. At face value, such a purchase may seem reasonable because of the land’s value to the City as an asset. When factors are taken into account such as Brandon Avenue’s operation costs and the benefits the City would receive as a result of the redevelopment, it becomes clear selling the land is an unnecessary bur-

den on the University. Council should instead transfer the property in light of the redevelopment plan’s financial and communal benefits to Charlottesville.

Transferring ownership of the area to the University would lift a budgetary restriction from the City, freeing the Council to better pursue its mission of providing services that promote equity and an excellent quality of life in Charlottesville. Currently, the City pays for maintenance of the street, which typically includes crack sealing and asphalt paving. The City also has to maintain the underground utilities in the area, such as gas lines and electricity, to ensure the area has access to necessary resources. Upon transfer, the City would no longer have to concern itself with street maintenance, and instead the University would be financially responsible for the upkeep.

In a recent Council meeting, Walk-

er bolstered her case for selling the property by providing an analogy to the City of Houston, where the city sold streets and utility easements to a Valero refinery for $2 million. The oil company already owned much of the land surrounding the streets, similar to the University’s ownership of many of the buildings around Brandon Avenue, and the transfer allowed Valero to build a new warehouse and security building. In Walker’s eyes, a similar transfer could take place in Charlottesville, whereby the University would benefit from ownership and the City would generate increased revenue.

The analogy, however, falls apart when the University’s current contributions to the City are taken into account. According to City Manager Maurice Jones, the University has made a commitment to provide assistance in the West Main Streetscape project, a

$31 million redesign currently underway. In addition, the University is the top employer in the Charlottesville area, providing income and stability to many members of the community.

When combined with benefits of the Brandon Avenue revitalization, such as increased on-Grounds housing, which takes students out of the local housing market and makes housing more accessible to local residents, the University’s contribution to the City is clear. Walker’s analogy to Houston may hold water in that the transfer should somehow benefit the City; however, forcing a purchase instead of gifting the land would ignore the University’s existing and future contributions to the community. The City should gift the property to the University in light of its contributions to the City, financial and otherwise.

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

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MANAGING BOARD Editor-in-Chief Tim Dodson Managing Editor Ben Tobin Executive Editor Jake Lichtenstein Operations Manager Avishek Pandey Chief Financial Officer Nate Bolon EDITORIAL BOARD Jake Lichtenstein Tim Dodson Jacob Asch Niki Hendi Katherine Smith JUNIOR BOARD Assistant Managing Editors Alexis Gravely Gracie Kreth (SA) Bridget Curley (SA) Alec Husted (SA) Alix Nguyen (SA) Aaron Rose (SA) Anne Whitney

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OPINION • www.cavalierdaily.com

MAINTAIN THE PURPOSE OF ALDERMAN LIBRARY Alderman Library renovations should not sacrifice the books the space holds

T

he University plans to undertake a massive renovation of Alderman Library beginning in 2020. The library, which was opened to the public in 1938, needs these renovations because its plumbing and heating technologies are outdated. The University hopes to also upgrade Alderman to be a more accessible and environmentally friendly facility. These upgrades are needed and will be useful for students and professors who spend extended periods of time in the building, but they may come at the expense of the library’s true purpose.

The library is a hub for students but it is also a place for research and reading. Currently, the Alderman renovation plan includes the possible removal of a significant amount of shelf space, which would be detrimental to students. Particularly for those who rely on humanities research, the books in Alderman Library are an educational tool that cannot be compromised. For this reason, the University should maintain current shelf space in its remodel of Alderman Library.

Though many argue that paper

books are becoming obsolete, the current set-up of Alderman Library is ideal for student and faculty researchers. As a student in a humanities major, I frequently checkout books for research papers and projects, and if the construction project ultimately caused there to be fewer books in the library, researchers like me would be left with fewer accessible resources. In an online letter and petition protesting the removal of stack space, retired professor of environmental sciences and politics Vivian Thomson wrote, “I cannot count the number of times I have come across unexpected, valuable finds by browsing in Alderman’s stacks. I have always encouraged my students to do the same.”

I have also benefited from Alderman’s stacks in a similar manner.

Frequently, when researching for class assignments, I arrive at Alderman looking for a single book and leave with nine. Since the stacks are so well-organized, it is easy to search for a topical piece of writing and find other useful books in similar subjects. If a large portion of stack space was removed from Alderman,

students and professors who use the library for research would be stuck in an intellectual environment less conducive to efficient research and study. The research process would be significantly hindered by the proposed changes to stack space.

Future students, who would never know Alderman Library as it currently exists, would be left with a

remain there after the renovation is completed. Students and professors often stop at Alderman between classes to quickly check out needed titles. If a large portion of the books in Alderman were moved to an outside location, students and professors would have to request book delivery and wait several days for the titles to become available. This

The library is a hub for students but it is also a place for research and reading.

subpar research environment and not even know it. The library renovation should not hinder the education process of future students, but as it stands now, the plan does.

The remodeling process should also maintain Alderman’s stack space so that books remain available on student and professor demand. Though books will be moved to the Ivy Stacks for construction, under the current plan, many could

change would undoubtedly slow the educational process for students who need immediate access to resources.

Also, as impractical as it sounds, the current Alderman Library allows students and professors the simple pleasure of being amongst books in an academic space. I could not personally imagine stepping into an Alderman Library that had more large rooms and fewer books.

Studying in a world-class library is something that many students at the University will likely only experience during their four years in Charlottesville and that experience should not be compromised by the renovation project.

A library is — at its heart — a collection of books and other information sources to be used for the broadening of knowledge. Alderman Library is undeniably in need of an update of its most vital structures, but this update should not result in a loss of on-demand research materials. Though supporters of the plan are correct in saying students need more study space, the space should not come at the expense of research capabilities. Alderman Library is a crucial resource for students and professors and its stack space should not be reduced.

CARLY MULVIHILL is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at c.mulvihill@cavalierdaily.com.

PROMOTE STUDENT DIVERSITY While there may have been modest gains in student diversity, it is imperative that the administration actively work to make the University open and inclusive

L

ast year, Student Council organized Diversity Week to celebrate the diversity present throughout the University. While it is nice to acknowledge diversity at the University, we should be focusing more on expanding it. The Council should consider having a Diversity Week which is refocused on not only celebrating diversity, but raising awareness about the lack thereof. The University is lacking in diversity relative to the diverse world in which we live. While the University has taken steps to try and increase diversity, more action is necessary.

The University became involved in a program called QuestBridge eight years ago to increase the racial and socioeconomic diversity on Grounds. The chosen finalists receive generous amounts of financial aid from the college or university with whom they are matched.

QuestBridge finalists demonstrate a diverse makeup of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The program helps universities find academically gifted students who would otherwise be unable to attend a four-year university due to their financial circumstances.

In addition, the University is one of only two public universities in the country to have need-blind admissions in conjunction with a

policy that meets full demonstrated financial need. This admission process helps to draw students to apply to the University, who are in financial need and from different racial backgrounds. The need-blind admission process, and becoming partners with the QuestBridge program, are steps in the right direction. The University must not stop here, but also look into advancing new programs to foster more diversity on Grounds.

These programs and policies are not enough. UVA Today published an article last November celebrating the growth of diversity at the

years.

Although the total number of African-Americans enrolled as undergraduates has increased, the University’s Diversity Dashboard shows a decrease in the share of African-Americans among undergraduate students from 8.39 percent in 2009 to 6.54 percent in 2017. Hopefully, as the statistics for regular decisions come out soon we will see more growth in diversity among the incoming class. The article also highlights programs such as the University’s “Hispanic-Latinx Peer Mentoring Program and Peer Advising Family Network [that]

While it is nice to acknowledge diversity at the University, we should be focusing more on expanding it.

University. The article claims, “African-American enrollment of firstyear students has increased by 41.5 percent,” and then proceeds to tout that the amount of enrolled students who claim two or more races, one of those being African-American, has increased “7.1 percent in 2012 to 9.1 percent in 2017” a whole two percent in the span of five

provide peer-to-peer mentoring opportunities to students who identify as Hispanic and Asian.”

While these programs are very helpful for minority students to become part of a close community at the University, they do not promote interracial interactions on Grounds. In addition to these programs, the University should be

implementing interracial programs that help undergraduates integrate themselves among peers who do not share their racial background.

In addition, the University should look into programs like No Barriers, implemented at the University of Chicago. The program waives the application fee for students applying for financial aid.

The program also provides students who have demonstrated financial need with grants instead of loans, and provides them with internships and career-advisors. Programs like the No Barriers program, make the daunting feat of applying to a primarily white school seem more inviting.

Additionally, a new program has just emerged called Hoos First Look. The program was founded by students Brandon Kim and Marrissa Jones. Hoos First Look is an all-expense paid program that hopes to fly in 20 socioeconomically disadvantaged rising high school juniors to Grounds for a two-night, three-day stay at the University.

During their visit, they will be provided with a first hand look at life on Grounds, and they will become more competitive applicants in the admission process. This program will be placed into effect this year due to help from the Office of Undergraduate Admission, the Jeffer-

son Trust and the Parents Fund.

Programs like Hoos First Look must be encouraged to expand beyond 20 students and must receive funds and support from the University.

I am hopeful as Student Council welcomes its incoming president Alex Cintron, who is Latinx. Over the coming year, I hope to see Cintron create a more inclusive atmosphere on Grounds. Additionally, as a Latinx student at the University, I feel both proud to be a minority student, and frustrated that our University does not seem to be promoting the scale of diversity necessary to provide an equal opportunity for minorities at a historically-white institution. In a way, the University is trapped in a state of complacency after experiencing a small increase in diversity. The University must continue implementing programs to make Grounds more diverse, and to make the University more welcoming to minority students and those in need of financial assistance.

IZABELLA FORERO is a Viewpoint writer for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.

H

HUMOR Graduation is in less than two months, so I can’t help but be nostalgic about my time on Grounds. I have loved studying at the University. Hearing my friends from Tech complain about our elegant lingo and nationally renowned academic programs has taught me how to embrace superiority.

Taking physics classes where the class average on exams was a 50 percent but rounded up to a B built my faith. And now, having slowly withered away and accumulated debt to earn a liberal arts degree that still leaves me unqualified for the majority of entry level positions gives me humility.

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

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FLOUNDERING FORWARD But as influential as these past four years have been, this upcoming transition seems even more important.

My past 21 years of existence have been spent studying and eating dark chocolate, so looking to the future is equal parts exciting and confusing. I mean, I’m sure I’ll still be eating dark chocolate, but I’m not sure how I’ll be affording it yet. This semester, I finally stuck my pinky toe into the murky pool of career possibilities, and I immediately identified with the elephant from Tarzan who shrieks “Are you sure this water’s sanitary? It looks questionable to me!” True dat baby elephant — it does look pretty questionable.

To jump-start my job search, I attended the University Career Fair this spring. I shyly ducked into Newcomb holding seven copies of my re-

sume. After quietly wandering around for 30 minutes avoiding eye-contact with everyone except the chocolate bars sitting on Hershey’s recruitment stand, I finally found myself drawn to a table. “Make a difference for today’s youth — Engage, create, support and mentor!” These buzzwords made my snowflake millennial heart flutter, so I approached the table and made excellent small talk for half an hour. Proud of my schmoozing success, I finally inquired about compensation, and that’s when I realized they were advertising glorified babysitting positions that paid nine dollars an hour. *Insert upside down smile emoji and/or face palm emoji here* Since then, I’ve applied to a handful of jobs found on Indeed, LinkedIn, and SugarDaddiezLooking4Babiez,

so we’ll see what turns out. For now, when old people miss my social cues indicating a preference not to talk about the future with them, I simply tell them, “I already beat teenage pregnancy, so I can die happy.”

But, there are two sides to every coin — unless it’s a trick coin and then that’s obviously not the prototype I’m referring to, so don’t be such a buzz kill. Just like the paranoid baby elephant, I have been feeling anxious amidst the ambiguity, but there are also reasons to celebrate. This stage of life is full of opportunities, and while some are a little ratchet like glorified babysitting or an early retirement in my parent’s basement, others are incredible. Heck, 27 middle-aged men have propositioned to buy me a red Mini-Cooper and a mansion to fulfill

my MASH prophecy. And even more importantly, I am privileged enough to have lots of notifications on LinkedIn and two and a half more weeks of my free premium trial left.

So yes, I relate to that little elephant because I can be whiny and doubtful and anxious and I have larger than normal ears, but the main reason I relate to him — standing right next to the body of scary, murky water — is that we both will jump in. #HoosDontLose #JustDoIt #ClassOf2018

KIRSTEN STILLER is a Humor Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com.

WHAT I LEANRED WHILE CHURNING MY OWN BUTTER There are five species of Viscacha —the rabbit-sized rodent that lives in South America — but there is only one that matters, and that is the Peruvian viscacha. Last Thursday, I realized how important the Peruvian viscacha is during one of the most mundane parts of my week.

Like most Americans, I churn my own butter on a weekly basis. I know that there is no better taste than that of home-churned butter. It’s part of the movement away from the mass-produced butter corporations that steal so much from America’s homeless. If you are one of the few people who still doesn’t churn their own butter, take my word for it, once you churn you will never return. And you might just come to your own realization about the Peruvian viscacha.

My epiphany regarding this species happened last Thursday. It was 2:30 a.m., prime time to churn butter on the East Coast. My butter

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churning partner joined me a couple minutes late, apologizing as she sat down and put on her butter churning gloves.

I began to push up and down on the sweet cream, churning it until it got thicker and thicker. As the butter got thicker, it got harder to churn.

This was nothing new to me. After all, I’ve been churning butter for years, but there was something about this time that felt different. In fact, I felt different. I had been wanting a deeper understanding in life for a while, and no matter how long I microwaved it for, I simply could not find the answer in my oatmeal. Last Thursday, I realized the answer was in my home-churned butter. As I churned the sweet cream into butter, I finally reached the level of understanding I was searching for. I finally understood the Peruvian viscacha population. I had solved the greatest enigma of the modern era.

The Peruvian viscacha are wellknown to the Western world for being the only rodent population in the world with a tendency towards regime-based leadership. This was first revealed to the world in 1932 when CNN investigators discovered the strict regime-like structure of the Peruvian viscacha population. They discovered a leader, nicknamed “el Marrón,” or “the brown one” which was an extremely misleading name, since almost all of the Peruvian viscachas are brown. El marrón has served as a very cruel dictator. She keeps to herself all of the food her fellow viscacha collect and only give the main population a small percentage of it.

Additionally, every 10 years she is known to starve them until only a few survive. Today, el Marrón still leads the Peruvian viscacha, despite the viscacha having an average lifespan of only 7 hours.

Ever since this discovery, scientists

and other news organizations have pondered why the Peruvian viscacha lean so much towards this regime-style hierarchy. No other rodent population has the same hierarchical style. In fact, a majority of rodents, especially those in South America, tend to be democratic-socialists.

Regime-like hierarchies are much more common among birds and eight-legged insects. As a result, many theories have been suggested. Until this past week, the most commonly held belief was that Soviet communists trained the viscacha to become a communist dictatorship, but it is unclear as to how they have kept this up since the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991. The Peruvian viscacha governmental system remained a mystery, that is, until last Thursday.

As I continued to churn the butter, all of this information flashed before my eyes. Suddenly, I realized the answer. The Peruvian viscacha

March Sadness Mira du Plessis | Cartoonist

are the same as my home-churned butter. They start out weak, but as they rise and fall every ten years, they get thicker. My home-churned butter is the same way - it gets thicker as I churn it, just like the Peruvian viscacha. It all made sense to me.

Perhaps the Peruvian viscacha have found the best way to manipulate evolution. Perhaps they have figured out the secret of life. Probably not. They’re probably just a really weird freak of nature. However, in my opinion, the freaks of nature often lead the happiest lives and the thickest butter often tastes the thickest.

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

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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WEEKLY CROSSWORD PUZZLE Dan Goff | Arts and Entertainment Editor

PUZZLES

Across 1. Smaller group within a religion

EVENTS

Thursday 3/29 Women’s Tennis vs. William and Mary, 3:30 pm, Snyder Tennis Courts Friday 3/30 Softball vs. North Carolina, 6 pm, The Park Amuse Bouche Presents: Fiends, 7 pm, Wilson 402 UPC Presents: March Movies, 7:30 pm, Amphitheater Saturday 3/31 Women’s Tennis vs. Florida State, 10 am, Snyder Tennis Courts Women’s Lacrosse vs. Boston College, 12 pm, Klockner Stadium Softball vs. North Carolina, 3 pm, The Park Men’s Lacrosse vs. Richmond, 3 pm, Klockner Stadium Softball vs. North Carolina, 3 pm, The Park UVA Figure Skating Spring Showcase, 4 pm, Main Street Arena Monday 4/2 UPC Presents: Teeny Tiny Zoo, 3 pm - 5 pm, Amphitheater Tuesday 4/3 Baseball vs. Old Dominion, 5 pm, Davenport Field Softball vs. Radford, 6 pm, The Park Wednesday 4/4 VFF Presents ‘America Inside Out with Katie Couric,’ 3 pm, Culbreth Theater

15

10. Asserted, confessed openly

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13. Pacific War battle location codenamed "Operation Iceberg"

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15. Spanish for "money"

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3

4

10

5. "Thou ___" — you will

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20. Move quickly, as a cloud 21. Stagger 23. ___-coin — cryptocurrency that is somehow similar to Bitcoin (don't ask me to explain the difference) 24. "Don't ask, don't ___" 25. C.S. Lewis work "___ Christianity"

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8

9

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18 21

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25 27

28

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17. Places (into) 19. The job titles many of us may have this summer

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16. Falter, blunder

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26 30

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46

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42

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48 52

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57 58

39 45

49 53

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26. Famous deceased salesman Billy ___

Down

22. Did not allow

27. Stalks of plants

1. Someone who derives pleasure from inflicting pain

28. Type of degree that Darden offers — abbreviated

2. Reveals the presence of something

29. Of or relating to a North African country

30. With "s," band known for "Mountain at My Gate" and "My Number" 32. Landlocked East African country 34. These sorts of festivities occur on Thanksgiving and during Mardi Gras 37. Abbreviation meaning bro or sis 40. Trigonometric function of an angle 41. Bitter, high-alcohol beers 43. Prefix meaning original or primitive 46. Cattle ___ — device commonly used to get cows moving 47. Low point of something, or Abed's last name on "Community" 49. Door handle, maybe 50. A tool that loosens or tightens bolts or nuts

ADVERTISEMENT

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52. Make a new supply of something, often a publication 54. Existing within an organization — two words 55. Loud noises 56. 44-down events typically start in the Newcomb ___ 57. Declaration or assurance that something will occur 58. I'm the ___ and Entertainment Editor 59. Smallest bill values

3. Seek information or advice from someone

31. Speech defect that affects "s" sounds

4. The first part of the names of idiotic twins in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

33. One who tells a story

5. Edward Norton played one in "American History X"

35. A further

34. What type of fish Darla says she is in "Finding Nemo" 36. British soldier, especially during the Revolutionary War

6. Abbreviation meaning the study of past events

38. Irritating, annoying

7. Saint ___ of Canterbury

39. Ornamental trees or shrubs

8. Supreme worship allowed to God alone — Roman Catholic term

40. Small spar on a sailboat

9. According to a recent Cav Daily article, ___-six-point-five is this year's admissions acceptance rate

42. Archaic spelling of Aunt Jemima's liquid

11. Make a mistake

44. Admitted students take ___ of grounds

12. Spring event for admitted students — abbreviated

45. Grossly overweight

13. Fifteenth letter of Greek alphabet

48. Abbreviation meaning copy, especially of furniture

14. Large recesses in churches where altars are contained

51. Small, primitive dwellings 53. Word that can precede Man or Mwwaiden

18. Amount resulting from addition

*THIS IS THE SOLUTION TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE F I C H U

A C T O R

N A T H A N

A M H A R I C

A D O R N E D

R I P I E N O

C O A L T A R

R U C K

T O L A L T T E D S H T A S

E S A U P R O C E T S E S N P A O N O T L S

A B S T A I N

A L E W I F T E S A S P E E V S N E E T E R N W I T E Y

D E S P I T E

K I C K S T A R T

H A Z E

N O M I N A L

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T I R E D

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

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‘Silicon Valley’ returns as strong as ever Season five promises new twists, same excellent humor

ARTS &

ENTERTAINMENT

Thomas Roades | Arts and Entertainment Editor

“Yes — Erlich Bachman is dead,” Jian Yang (Jimmy Yang) tells Pied Piper’s company attorney in the fifth season premiere of “Silicon Valley” on HBO. When viewers last saw Bachman (T.J. Miller) at the end of the previous season, he was alive and well on an extended vacation in Tibet, but that doesn’t matter to the shrewdly scheming Jian Yang. For several seasons, he’s been a minor character, but now appears to be planning to take over Bachman’s position as the hilarious odd man out among the startup’s core group.

Yang’s rise to prominence is just one of the promising changes “Silicon Valley” offered in its newest episode, “Grow Fast or Die Slow,” which aired Sunday night. The show, now in its fifth season, has always been a clever satire of the Silicon Valley culture, calling out the eccentricities and hypocrisies of the tech world with a sharp wit. Based on the recent premiere, the fifth season will be no exception.

For the uninitiated, the show follows Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), the genius CEO of Pied Piper, and his loyal cowork-

ers — Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani), Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) and Jared (Zach Woods). They have a revolutionary, earth-shaking compression algorithm that could reshape the entire internet — if they could just get funding and stop tripping over themselves long enough to get it on the market.

This season is the most promising yet for the Pied Piper crew.

They’ve finally secured millions in funding from a reliable venture capitalist firm, have a plan to use their algorithm to create a new, decentralized internet and finally have their nemesis, tech billionaire Gavin Belson (Matt Ross), on the defensive. Yet success, as Richard learns, comes with its own challenges — he ends the episode vomiting from anxiety after trying unsuccessfully to make a welcome speech to his newly enlarged staff of coders.

This new role reversal — in which Richard and Pied Piper actually show promise and Belson fears he’ll be made obsolete — promises a fresh dynamic for the fifth season.

Part of the show’s charm has always been the David vs. Goliath struggle, with the tiny Pied Piper trying to unseat Belson and the massive Hoo-

li — the show’s stand-in for massive tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook. But the show’s writers have done an excellent job of keeping the plot moving despite Pied Piper’s many missteps, and it’s exhilarating to finally see the company moving in the right direction.

The show has always been known for its spot-on accuracy in critiquing the eccentricities and excesses of large tech companies and the obscenely rich leaders behind them, with Belson being the perfect example. Last season, he went on a Sabbatical to reconsider his work at Hooli and his future.

“I toured the wonders of the world, seeking inspiration from mankind’s greatest achievements,” Belson explains at a ceremony for the Innovation Hall of Fame. His epiphany? “What I have built is a far greater achievement than any of the ancient world,” he concludes.

But even beyond the show’s biting satire of the real Silicon Valley, it’s built such a cast of bizarre, hilarious characters that it’s impossible not to enjoy. Yang, now in the spotlight, offers a bafflingly hilarious plan to ship a white man’s body back from Asia to serve as Erlich’s

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The fifth season of HBO comedy “Silicon Valley” is off to a promising start.

cadaver, in his signature deadpan.

Dinesh’s response: “Not one word of that made sense.”

This sort of quirky, niche humor is exactly what fans have come to expect, and it shines through in the new premiere as much as in any previous season — Jared continues to share disturbingly funny details of his childhood, and the company hires a staff of three aggressively average-looking coders who they continually refer to as “stallions, each more magnificent than the last.”

It’s impressive to see a show so surprising yet so consistent. Even after four seasons, the comedy hasn’t

stagnated — the writers continue to bring fresh twists without ever deviating from the oddly specific, inexplicably hilarious style for which the show is so beloved by so many.

It’s true to life in its satire of the tech world, yet outrageously farfetched at the same time. It’s comfortable and familiar in its cast of characters, yet always unexpected in its surprising twists and turns. If the premiere is any indication, “Silicon Valley’s” fifth season will surely meet the high standard the show put forward with its first four.

Writing the complete American story Distinguished authors share perspectives at Virginia Festival of the Book Robin Schwartzkopf | Senior Writer “I was going to start with a big and grand and complicated question, but I’m going to do something else instead,” moderator Rita Dove said at the beginning of “Writing the American Story’s” Q&A session. She began with a seemingly simple query — what made the panelists hopeful?

Hope in the future was a commanding theme at Sunday’s program, titled “Writing the American Story: Diverse Voices in Distinguished Books.” The event — which took place at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and was the concluding event of the 2018 Virginia Festival of the Book — featured a panel of celebrated authors of poetry, fiction and nonfiction in a discussion concerning race, culture and representative writing.

Moderated by Commonwealth English Prof. Rita Dove, former poet laureate of the United States from 1993-1995, the panel also featured three of the five authors recognized at last year’s Anis-

field-Wolf Book Awards, which recognizes books that confront racism and celebrate diversity.

Poet Tyehimba Jess, novelist Peter Ho Davies and nonfiction author Margot Lee Shetterly joined Dove to share readings from their award-winning books as well as their thoughts on how literature can expand the American story.

After introducing the guests, Dove began the program by reading her poem “The Bellringer,” which she noted she also read at the recent University Bicentennial Celebration. Jess then selected a poem from his book “Olio” about the burning of black churches throughout the Jim Crow and Civil Rights Movement eras. Both Jess and Dove’s powerful delivery and rich language elevated an already compelling and emotional history — one filled with important characters, symbolism and themes long overlooked.

This refrain remained in the air throughout the event as the panelists continued their read-

ings. Davies chose a selection from his novel “The Fortunes” about Asian-American early Hollywood film star Anna May Wong and her dreams of becoming an actress. Shetterly shared a passage from her book “Hidden Figures” which highlighted the painful reality of segregation and “massive resistance” in Virginia while black female mathematicians helped put a man on the moon.

Before beginning her reading, Shetterly remarked that she found herself attracted to the story because it “collapsed my experience with that of my parents and my grandparents,” helping her to understand the importance of telling a complete history. All of the panelists returned to this sentiment at one point during the discussion, placing emphasis on using history and literature in conjunction to, as Davies said, “[create] more empathy in the world.”

The discussion commenced with 30 minutes of questions

initiated by Dove, followed by another half hour of questions solicited from the crowd. Topics spanned from the representation in literature and social justice to the writing process and each author’s approach to finding new stories.

Around midway through the audience Q&A period, a woman from the crowd inquired how to best introduce topics of inequality and diversity to children. All three authors agreed in educating youth through a number of institutions — family, school and church — and also literature itself. Shetterly emphasized this point, articulating the value of “having books speak to [a child] as an intelligent being,” because books assume an understanding in the reader that “perhaps we don’t always give [kids] credit for.”

Throughout the program, the panelists emphasized the use of history in creating hope for the future. They also discussed what drives them, as individuals, to-

wards the creation of literary art. Dove described the feeling of hunger and exhilaration that comes with discovering and telling new stories, while Davies offered that he remains “drawn to inconsistencies” and wants to “find a deeper logic” in half-told stories, or those forgotten almost entirely. Shetterly highlighted her goal of being able to think of history “as one thing that includes everybody” instead of a vehicle for categorical exclusion, and Jess shared his sense of urgency that propels him to write poetry.

To conclude the event, the panelists endeavored to describe how they wound up making truly great art. Their final comments also illustrated a critical message to future artists and creators — to claim time for their art, to look where previous history has cast a shadow and to understand why the story should be told in the first place.

THE CAVALIER DAILY

H&S HEALTH & SCIENCE

Modern Healthcare’s 2018 list of “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare” recognized the University’s own Pamela Sutton-Wallace. For the past three years, serving as chief executive officer of the University Health System, Sutton-Wallace has directed efforts to create a health system that effectively and efficiently treats patients, employs a staff that reflects the diverse demographics of Charlottesville and promotes the overall well-being of the community.

“She had great expertise as an operator, but also was socially conscious,” said Dr. Richard P. Shannon, executive vice president for health affairs. “Since she came to Charlottesville, she has, working with all of us, helped completely transform the care delivery model.”

Sutton-Wallace did not always envision having a career in healthcare. Her background is in political science — she received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and African/Afro-American Studies from Washington University at St. Louis and completed graduate courses in political science at Duke University.

An interest in paths other than research and teaching brought Sutton-Wallace into the world of healthcare insurance. The change ultimately led her to pursue a Masters in Public Health from Yale University, a program that Sutton-Wallace credits with her valuable foundation in public health.

“The reason the public health background has been so helpful is that I’m seen as more than just a finance person or business person,” Sutton-Wallace said. “I can understand when physicians talk about their patients … I understand caring for populations of people. That’s by definition what public health and epidemiology are. It has been hugely beneficial.”

Within a few years, Sutton-Wallace returned to Duke University, this time as a fellow in a post-graduate program geared towards training healthcare administrators. She then worked for the Duke University Health System in a variety of positions, such as the head of the bone marrow and stem cell transplant center, strategic services associate for the integration of Duke University’s three hospitals into one health system, chief operating officer of ambulatory services and, finally, senior vice president of hospital operations.

“I was particularly proud that when I left the organization I was

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Sutton-Wallace focuses on ‘what’s right’ Health System CEO recognized in Modern Healthcare’s 2018 list of ‘Top 25 Minuroty Executives in Healthcare’ Cecily Wolfe | Senior Writer

COURTESY ERIC SWENSEN

Pamela Sutton-Wallace was recognized in Modern Healthcare’s 2018 list of “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare.”

the senior vice president of hospital operations,” Sutton-Wallace said. “To me that was like the culmination job because all the people doing the things I had ever done were now reporting to me.

It was a great experience, and I learned everything I know about healthcare there.”

After 17 years at Duke University, in 2014, Sutton-Wallace accepted the offer to be the CEO of the University Medical Center with the hopes of helping the University become a health system known for its excellence.

“I felt like coming to U.Va. was such a rare opportunity, to come to a place where I felt like I could make a difference, that I thought my skills were needed, but I also thought I could still learn a lot,” Sutton-Wallace said. “I felt like it was a real opportunity to put U.Va. Medical Center and U.Va. Health System on the map, and let everyone know what great work we are doing here. That was exciting to me, and I think we’ve done that.”

Though her time at the University so far has been brief, Sutton-Wallace has already earned the respect of her colleagues and the healthcare community as a

whole, according to Shannon.

When naming Sutton-Wallace’s unique qualities, Shannon cited her humble attitude and her focus on “what’s right, not who’s right.”

“Not many people in major organizations have that sense of humility, and yet can solve really significant problems, which is what people really want you to do,” Shannon said. “I think her recognition by Modern Healthcare is only the beginning of what’s going to be more and more people looking to her as a mentor.”

In Sutton-Wallace’s nomination in Modern Healthcare, the magazine praised her for aiding in the introduction of a new care delivery model that emphasizes the patient experience during recovery and the reduction of C. difficile infections by 35 percent in the past year. Most notably, the article commended the University Health System’s rapid and holistic response to the events of Aug. 11 and 12.

“She has created great affinity with the community in the wake of August 12th,” Shannon said. “She was actively engaged in reaching out to the community to see what beyond medical care we could help provide … She is an

icon in the Charlottesville community in a way that I think few previous CEOs have been.”

Sutton-Wallace commented on the extensive preparation that preceded the white supremacist rallies and the hospital’s heightened awareness of potential signs of danger. Staff members monitored social media for almost a month in advance of the protests, while clinicians cleared their operating schedules. The leadership team hired additional clinicians and security personnel and increased communication with other hospitals in the area.

“Our team was ready,” Sutton-Wallace said. “They mobilized. It wasn’t a fire drill. It was well-prepared, well-orchestrated … It was seamless, and I think that kind of planning, that kind of constant readiness, is what we are here to do, and I must say that we do it exceptionally well.”

Beyond responding to community crises effectively, Sutton-Wallace said there is the opportunity to turn the University Health System into a nationally-acclaimed healthcare provider.

“What I hope for as a healthcare organization is to continue to raise the level of excellence here,

and to really enhance the U.Va. brand and to be the top-notch provider of choice for all those in the Commonwealth, if not nationally,” Sutton-Wallace said.

However, Sutton-Wallace also identified the need to diversify the hospital workforce in order to achieve such a status. A proponent of incorporating people of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds into hospital operations, Sutton-Wallace herself has been recognized multiple times for her leadership as a minority executive in healthcare, including in Modern Healthcare’s 2016 “10 Minority Executives to Watch” list. When asked about her overarching goals for the University Health System, Sutton-Wallace stressed the importance of diversifying the hospital workforce.

“Regarding diversity inclusion, [the goal is] really to see that as an extension of that same excellence,” Sutton-Wallace said. “I think that people somehow think that diversity inclusion is an obligation or a duty, when in fact it actually achieves excellence.”

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

www.cavalierdaily.com • HEALTH & SCIENCE

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Free menstrual hygiene products placed in Newcomb Student Council and the ISC provided free pads and tampons in women’s restrooms for two-week event Caitlin Abramson | Staff Writer In an effort to empower women, create equality and join a national movement, the University’s Student Council and Inter-Sorority Council provided free feminine hygiene products in five Newcomb Hall bathrooms from March 12 to March 23. The event coordinators hope to inspire the University administration to make their unprecedented, short-term project into the norm for public women’s restrooms on Grounds.

The event was first developed within the Council’s Safety and Wellness Committee at the start of the Spring 2018 semester.

Alex Cintron, third-year College student and 2018 Council President-elect, helped to draw attention to the event’s significance during his campaign.

Once Zoe Denenberg, thirdyear College student and president of the ISC, heard about the Council’s plans, she asked to join forces by providing monetary and advertising support. She said this event could impact all 2,600 female members of the ISC. “First and foremost, I hope

that this event eases the stress and financial burden of finding menstrual hygiene products,” Denenberg said. “Secondly, I hope this event shows the U.Va. community and the administration the importance of supplying basic necessities for free on Grounds.”

A Facebook event, “Free Menstrual Hygiene Products,” advertises and discusses the importance of the “access to basic necessities on Grounds.” However, out of 10 students asked, only 3 had previously heard of the event.

Members of the University’s student body is not the first to suggest free female hygiene. For over ten years, the University of Minnesota supplied free tampons in each public building on their campus. In 2016, Brown University sparked a national conversation when students and their Council convinced their undergraduate student finance board to provide free tampons in all bathrooms, men and women’s, in order to be gender inclusive.

Since then, over 40 Universities have attempted similar policies. Some Universities have suc-

ceeded with their programs, while others, like Columbia University, have found mixed results and interest within their student body, possibly because of the program’s lack of accessibility and advertising.

Student Council and ISC used a $400 budget to distribute over 900 pads and 750 tampons within five of the women’s restrooms in Newcomb. Neither of the student-run committees had the funding to sustain the event for more than two weeks. Thus, this event served as a short-term research effort to scientifically and systematically demonstrate a need within the student body to the University administration.

“I think it’s a long time coming honestly,” second-year College student Caetlin McFadden said.

“The same way you can get free condoms just about anywhere on grounds, a girl should be able to get a free tampon.”

Free condoms are provided by the University’s Elson Student Health Center — they can be obtained from resident advisors in on-Grounds housing, from

tabling events on holidays such as Valentine’s Day and any floor within the Student Health. McFadden said the free condoms set an example for how the University should treat female hygiene products.

Shiann Gardner, a fourth-year College student, said this program would be particularly helpful on the days when she forgot to pack extra tampons with her.

Megan Leimkuhler, a second-year College student, said she believes the University would be able to provide significant financial aid and send a powerful message if they followed the Council’s lead.

“Tampons are expensive,” Leimkuhler said. “This is just a step in the direction of female empowerment. Treating us like equals who have actual bodily needs.”

Prior to the start of the event, Denenberg and Overton said they would measure its success based on how many products were taken each day, and they would consider it a great success if supplies ran out before March 23.

“With that being said, even if

this event only helps one individual by providing menstrual hygiene products, we view that as a success, “ Overton said.

After the event finished, the University administration and the Council were asked about the results and their opinions of data and the event, but neither have commented at this time.

However, Alexandra Dimas, a second-year College student, said she appreciated the event because, during those two weeks, she did not have to worry about carrying extra hygiene products with her in case of emergencies.

“This time, no awkward exchanges, no having to ask a stranger”, Dimas said. “For the first time, I was able to make a common issue and hassle into an easy situation.”

Currently, there are not any definitive plans for the future of this event. However, the incoming Safety and Wellness Chair and Committee can vote if they’d like to continue or advance this initiative when new Council leaders take office later this month.

Student Health changes affect transgender care, STI tests Updates and addition of new personnel, services were enacted over the past two years Navya Annapareddy | Staff Writer Numerous changes in healthcare policy have been enacted at the University’s Student Health Center over the past two years, including in the areas of transgender patient care, head injuries and concussions, travel medicine and care for sexually transmitted infections. Additionally, new physicians, nurse practitioners and a Care Manager have been appointed.

Located off Brandon Avenue, the Elson Student Health Center offers medical care — ranging from psychological counseling to allergy injections — at no or reduced cost to students. Student health also includes an on-site pharmacy and laboratory.

Dr. Jessica Simmons, associate director of General Medicine at the Elson Student Health Center, affirmed that numerous policy changes were made.

Online appointment scheduling was initiated in August 2016, and since then about 35 percent of students have scheduled general medicine appointments via the

online HealthyHoos portal. The portal also allows students and guardians to fill out necessary medical forms.

“Most students who schedule online keep their appointments, which points to the flexibility that this gives students who are trying to schedule appointments in the midst of busy days with many moving parts,” Simmons said.

The transgender health care team is composed of staff from numerous specialties, including psychological services and care managers to address insurance or financial concerns.

Prior to August 2016, Student Health had medical providers individually seeing patients but had not had staff trainings on providing a transgender-friendly clinic or formed a specialized care team.

“In June 2017, we formed a [transgender care] team and in August 2017 started initiating hormone therapies,” Simmons said. “We have given several talks

to the LGBTQ Center and are giving a talk to [peer health educators] next week.”

Elke Zschaebitz and Nancy Lutz, general medicine nurse practitioners at Elson, won the V. Shamim Sisson Ally Award in November 2016 for expanding transgender healthcare services at Student Health.

Simmons noted that as the number of patients with head injuries or concussions increase, including approximately 550 patients since last August, emphasis has been placed to provide the most current, evidence-based care.

“Dr. [Beth] Robinson and I developed protocols for how to care for students with head injuries, including standardized histories, screening tools, and physical exam techniques,” Simmons said.

Additionally, in September 2016, the travel medicine clinic at Elson phased out group-based travel clinic appointments. Now, individual appointments are scheduled following completion

of an online travel educational module.

The director of the Travel Medicine Clinic, Dr. Anjali Silva, noted that the previous method was inflexible and time consuming.

“Before, we used to give a group presentation to a maximum of eight students at a time, and then did their individual travel appointment,” Silva said.

“I think students prefer having the convenience of taking the module on their own time and having more flexibility with their appointments.”

Simmons stated that testing for sexually-transmitted infections is now offered at a reduced cost, and new tests have been made available to students.

Gonorrhea testing was previously $218.00 and now is $18.00.

Testing for Syphilis is $17.00 but was previously $143.00 while Chlamydia was previously $218.00 and is now $18.00.

First-year College student Priya Talwar praised the price

decrease.

“STI testing being reduced in cost allows students of different socioeconomic statuses to take advantage of the services at Student Health,” Talwar said. “It’s not free but it is a lot more accessible.”

Additionally, numerous staff physicians and nurse practitioners, many of them alumni, were added to the Student Health staff. Dr. Simmons herself is a former Jefferson Scholar at the University.

Registered Nurse Melissa Surguine-Smith was appointed as the General Medicine care manager in November 2017.

“She will help coordinate care and resources for students with chronic or complicated medical conditions, also any public health concerns,” Simmons said.

“Students should definitely reach out to her.”

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