Friday, May 19, 2017

GRADUATION

Friday, may 19, 2017

Vol. 127, Issue 59

Hannah mussi | The cavalier daily

WHAT’S INSIDE A Year of Student Activism page 4

Students create Remembrance Garden page 6

Wish Here you were

make flats @ west village your

for fall 2017

The man behind the voice of the Cavaliers page 8

If you were here, we could hang out at the pool, chill out in the courtyard by a nice fire, or squeeze in a great workout in the 24 hour fitness center. we can prep for our test in a quiet study room, then we can watch tv with the roommates in our spacious living room.

There’s so much to do at the flats @ west village. wish you were here. flatsatwestvillage.com • (434) 509-4430 8 5 2 W M a i n S t. C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e , va 2 2 9 0 3

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www.cavalierdaily.com • news

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Reservations filled well ahead of Final Exercises Many businesses say graduation weekend is among busiest times of the year Daniel Hoerauf | Senior Writer Although Final Exercises for the Class of 2017 have yet to begin, many graduates began planning for graduation weekend with their family almost a year ago. Many local hotels open for reservations very shortly after the previous year’s reservation.

For some Charlottesville area hotels, their open reservations do not last long beyond the previous year’s graduation.

Bill Chapman, general manager of the Oakhurst Inn, said they open reservations for the next year the Monday after graduation and are usually completely booked by the end of that day.

“We have a waiting list before [that Monday] — because people are calling us constantly — we just add them to a list of names and we call them all back on the Monday after graduation,” Chapman said. “There’s a lot of voicemails, missed calls and what not back and forth, but it all goes down in a day.”

While not all hotels may be booked so quickly, many still begin to receive reservations around the same time.

“As soon as [the Omni Hotel] opens for reservations people start booking for [graduation weekend],” Megan Dowling, manager at the

Omni Hotel, said. “Maybe January or February is when we’re starting to get really full.”

Some families may have also run into issues with the recent fire in the Excel Inn and Suites, however, the owners of Excel Inn and Suites have helped people who booked their rooms for Final Exercises find accommodations at other hotels.

“Luckily Excel was pretty accommodating with getting us to go over to the Cavalier Inn, so we ended up going to the Cavalier Inn,” fourthyear College student Rachel Boisjolie said. “They had a special discount for people who had been booked with the Excel because they knew it wasn’t under our control.”

There are also several other options for lodging during Final Exercises. Many students are turning to Airbnb, an Internet-based service that allows users to rent out rooms from other users. However, dealing with an individual through Airbnb is much different than dealing with a large hotel, and some students had their accommodations fall through before graduation.

Fourth-year College student Hannah Beaman said she had reservations at an Airbnb until the property’s owner canceled on her and her

family.

“The owner got pregnant, so they had to cancel their trip and they were going to be in their house, so we had to move kind of last minute — maybe three months ago — and now we’re 30 minutes out,” Beaman said. “All the close places were definitely taken.”

The University itself also provides students with another option by opening up the Alderman Road dormitories for families, which can be booked through University Conference Services.

An additional consideration for many during graduation is dining. Many restaurants are also fully booked for graduation weekend.

Farrell Vangelopoulos, the owner and manager of the Ivy Inn Restaurant, said the restaurant normally opens up reservations for graduation Jan. 15 each year and are completely booked by the middle of March. “[Final Exercises] weekend is the busiest of the year — probably twice the amount of business of a normal night,” Vangelopoulos said.

Courtney Jonas, general manager of the Downtown Grille, said the restaurant will be busy throughout the Final Exercises weekend. About 350 people will be going to the Down-

town Grille on Saturday night, with a slightly smaller number of 280 and 260 for Friday and Sunday, respectively.

“This is our busiest weekend by far,” Jonas said. “We’ll have some fall weekends especially depending on

who’s in town for football, or parents weekend is really big for us, the Virginia FIlm Festival is really big for us, but by far Graduation weekend is the busiest of the year.”

Maddie Oxford | The cavalier daily

Many restaurants, including those on the Downtown Mall, are fully booked for graduation weekend.

StudCo leaders to stay in Charlottesville to work on initiatives Summer work focuses on developing student resources, auditing appropriations processes Jenna Wichterman | senior writer Student Council will be keeping busy this summer developing new educational resources for students and working on numerous other initiatives.

Sarah Kenny, a third-year College student and Student Council president, said she will be remaining in Charlottesville over the summer to work on the initiatives, along with Ty Zirkle, a second-year College student and vice president for organizations, Alex Cintron, a second-year College student and vice president for administration and David Birkenthal, a third-year College student and chair of the representative body.

Kenny said she will be focusing on “compiling resources for students on our website to create a space that fills niche gaps for the student body” and reach all corners of the University.

According to Kenny, these resources will mainly target first-year students and are meant to educate students about issues of healthcare, insurance, the Charlottesville civic engagement process, housing and landlord issues and knowing their rights when dealing with Charlottes-

ville and University police.

In addition to developing these resources, Student Council will also conduct an external auditing process of Student Council’s appropriations process, as well as create a strategic diversity plan.

Kenny and Zirkle are the two who will be responsible for instituting an auditing process for the student activities fee allocation process.

Student Council allocates a student activities fee of roughly $1 million to various undergraduate and graduate CIOs that request funds.

This fee comes from student tuition.

Kenny said the funds are appropriated proportional to the amount that each group requests.

Currently, the process is designed so that groups are expected to ask for more money than they need. Proportional cuts are made to their request so they end up with what is supposed to be the actual amount they need.

However, Kenny said sometimes groups that don’t expect these proportional cuts to be made then get short-changed.

“We need to define some more

standard metrics about what utility maximization means in terms of distributing funds,” Kenny said.

Kenny said that, as a result of the current process, 60 percent of the student activities fee funds Student Council is responsible for go to club sports because they know how to effectively request funds.

She said another one of the problems with the current appropriations process is that they don’t have enough information about the impact of where the funds are going.

“We don’t have great metrics on use for a lot of other groups, and we don’t really have an ethic about quality of impact, number of students impacted, areas that are lacking in terms of quality of student life [and] areas that have funding elsewhere,” Kenny said.

Student Council also hosted a Research-a-Thon this past April where students researched “best practices” for diversity at other schools. This summer, Kenny and her team will synthesize this research and issue a report with suggestions about how to improve diversity at the University.

“We want this to be a resource for CIOs who are looking at their application processes and little tips about what they can do there,” Kenny said.

“We want Greek life to be able to use this. We want faculty members who are trying to have conversations about diversity with their students, but don’t know how to, to be able to use this.”

The strategic diversity plan will focus on how to increase diversity at the University in areas such as a new student orientation, admissions, faculty hiring and the Multicultural Student Center.

“The strategic diversity plan is something that Student Council leadership is working on in support [of] other student leaders,” Kenny said. “We definitely saw ourselves more as providing some manpower and behind-the-scenes resources and support to develop this and elevate the voices of students who are leading the charge in the Eliminate the Hate Campaign.”

“This summer is going to be a lot about setting things up to hit the ground running in the fall,” Kenny

said.

Liam Wolf, a third-year Engineering student and Student Council chief of cabinet, will also be in Charlottesville for the beginning of the summer to help out. Wolf said his summer work will be “facilitating the efforts of our committees this summer and ensuring that the cabinet is equipped to begin its work come fall.”

He will also be ensuring that all the chairs of Student Council are up to date, since many of the cabinet chairs will begin implementing projects, including a voter registration initiative and supporting Madison House summer volunteer efforts.

“The entire point of the exercise is to have real, actionable plans for all the things that they do,” Wolf said.

Kenny said in the past, student leaders working on projects over the summer was the norm. But in recent years, an increased pressure for students to get summer internships has decreased the number of student leaders on Grounds over the summer.

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NEWS • www.cavalierdaily.com

Student lead numerous protests, rallies in 2016-17 A look back at moments of student activism jordan bridges, Kara kreiling, maliha jahangiri and robert bork | staff writers From spontaneous protests to carefully coordinated events, a plethora of student and community organizations have worked to make their voices heard through activism efforts on Grounds this year.

Throughout a contentious election season and with the onset of Donald Trump’s presidency, groups of University students have organized protests, rallies and teach-ins — many in opposition to Trump’s administration and policies.

Attiya Latif, a third-year College student and incoming student director of the Multicultural Student Center, said student activism is a resistant force for mobilizing students out of collective apathy.

“It galvanizes students into action and raises administrative awareness so that progress can be made and the student voice can be heard,” Latif said. “Without protest, without action, without a public voice of disapproval or a demand for change, no change can be made.”

The day after the inauguration, a Women’s March was held in Washington D.C., drawing nearly 500,000 people. While many University students attended, some of those involved with the sorority rush process were concerned that the march's conflict with rush events would leave them unable to participate.

The Inter-Sorority Council responded by organizing a subsequent women’s march at the University to ensure all could participate.

As incoming chair of the Minority Rights Coalition, thirdyear Commerce student Evelyn Wang said she sees student activism as being critical to to the future of the University.

“In order to be a student activist at U.Va., one must have enough passion and faith in this institution to believe it's capable of growth and change,” Wang said.

When an executive order barred refugees and those traveling from seven Muslim-majority countries to enter the United States if they were not U.S. citizens, several University students quickly organized a protest on the Lawn, again carrying banners and signs touting messages of a loving community for refugees.

DREAMers on Grounds, the Minority Rights Coalition and other student groups arranged the March for Muslim, Immigrant and International Students' Rights, and messages such as “the

Richard dizon | The Cavalier daily

“We see a lot of activism in election years, and I think this election turned out in ways that people didn’t expect. Any time you have something that’s surprising, students tend to become more active,” Politics Prof. David Leblang said.

people united will never be defeated” and “Hoos against hate” were chanted.

Wang stressed that much of the work is done by student activists behind the scenes.

“Most people are apathetic about issues that don't directly affect them,” Wang said. “However, when these people see local and national problems affecting friends and family, they are usually motivated to act. Thus, minority student leaders and student activists should work to make these issues more real to those in the community who remain apathetic by having oneon-one conversations and bringing the human element.”

Numerous teach-ins meant to educate students on social and political activism have also been held this year.

Hannah Borja, a second-year College student and a member of the DREAMers on Grounds executive board, was one student who helped lead several events and has campaigned for the support of the undocumented and immigrant community in Charlottesville, even interrupting a Board of Visitors meeting this year to express student concerns.

“I think student activism is too often treated as a commodity or a means to social-climb into certain positions or inner circles,” Borja said. “This frustrates me because every minute of manipulating the politics of student activism on Grounds is a minute

not dedicated to helping marginalized populations.”

Professors from various departments also gave presentations as part of these teach-ins, after which students could address the panel in a question and answer session.

Asst. History Prof. Andrew Kahrl, who has been involved with some of the teach-ins, said student leaders were primarily focused on coordinating an event that woulds ensure that their efforts produced involvement that was sustained over time.

“Students really want to continue the work past these pivotal moments,” Kahrl said.

The student leaders wanted to not only voice their views on key issues, but also to keep the momentum going past these singular moments of activism, he said.

“One of the more encouraging signs that I’ve seen here is that you’ve actually seen evidence of student organizations trying to form partnerships with community organizations,” Kahrl said.

He referenced the Garrett town hall protest as an instance in which students and local community members worked together to increase activism and awareness. University Democrats organized the protest, which included a democracy fair that featured various groups from the community as well as University organizations.

“It usually takes a certain kind of moment — whether it be

something that sort of galvanizes the public, or whether it be a prearranged events that students can sort of rally around or in opposition to,” Kahrl said.

Brian Cameron, a second-year College student and treasurer of the Climate Action Society, took part in the protest, along with several other direct actions over the past year.

“As evidenced by the numerous racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic slurs and direct verbal harassment levied by Garrett supporters outside the event, our voices were necessary to call out that this is not normal and that minority students are alway welcome on Grounds,” Cameron said.

Politics Prof. David Leblang said student activism can sometimes make it harder for opposing viewpoints to be realized.

“We should exist, especially on a college campus, in an environment where people can exchange ideas freely and without worry of repercussions,” Leblang said. “I do worry that in the current atmosphere of activism that opposing views were being silenced.”

Leblang gave the example of students who protested Ann Coulter being scheduled to speak at the University of California, Berkeley. Due to the protests, Coulter’s speaking engagement was cancelled.

“I want to hear what Ann Coulter has to say,” Leblang said.

“If we just shut her down or don’t give her an opportunity to speak, then we don't understand how a reasonable segment of the country feels about something.”

Leblang noted that though there was a significant amount of student activism this year, such is usually the case during an election cycle.

“We see a lot of activism in election years, and I think this election turned out in ways that people didn’t expect,” Leblang said. “Any time you have something that's surprising, students tend to become more active.”

Leblang mentioned the response to Rolling Stone’s November 2014 publication of “A Rape On Campus” as a moment when students rallied around a cause following an event that impacted the community.

The now-retracted article detailed an alleged gang rape of a University student named “Jackie,” but a subsequent Charlottesville Police investigation found no evidence to support the article’s claims. The article was later retracted in April 2015.

In the days following the article’s publication, a “Slut Walk” was organized for protesters to make their voices heard by Dean of Students Allen Groves, as well as other administrators, and declare they wanted change for how the University handles sexual assault cases. Faculty also hosted a rally called “Take Back the Party: End Rape Now” where several hundred University members gathered by Beta Bridge to protest.

“It was something shocking, something that people don't expect, and that causes people to join together, to mobilize and to realize that they have things in common that they might not have appreciated prior,” Leblang said.

Kahrl said an integral part of student activism is ensuring the longevity of students’ efforts, which necessitates working closely with the local community going forward.

“I think [that] will be a key toward continuing this organizing and then ultimately mobilizing efforts — to not have organizations here on campus isolated from the surrounding community,” Kahrl said. “Having those collaborative efforts between students and the larger community is essential really to ensuring that you don’t see these efforts peter out.”

Friday, may 19, 2017

www.cavalierdaily.com • NEWS

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Committee proposes changes to Echols Scholars Program Recommendations include having students apply at end of their first year, eliminating specialized housing for scholars Mairead Crotty and Colleen Schinderle | senior writers Multiple changes are being considered for the Echols Scholars Program following a report by a committee that reviewed the program. After documents on the potential changes started circulating among Echols Scholars in recent weeks, the recommendations have been met with concerns from some current scholars in the College’s undergraduate honors program.

The committee — comprised of one current student, five College professors, one representative from the admissions office and an Academic Programs Manager — began meeting in the fall of 2015 to consider how the Echols Scholar Program could be re-envisioned for the 21st century. The committee submitted a report of its review to Rachel Most, Assoc. Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs, in January 2016.

The committee reviewed the program and shared recommendations of a new program, which proposed a possible Echols fellowship program that would select students at the end of their first year through a combined recommendation and application process. The committee’s report said they believe a delayed acceptance would allow Echols Scholars to better explore and share their passions in their first year.

This proposal would not house first-year Echols Scholars in only the Balz-Dobie and Tuttle-Dunnington residence halls.

The report also included a portion on diversifying the class of scholars.

An email was sent to Echols Scholars May 1 containing a letter to Most regarding the report.

Since then, students have also circulated a document with the committee’s full report.

“What have been circulating are the committee’s report to the Dean and a letter reaffirming the general content of the report in light of the faculty’s adoption of the new curriculum that was sent to the Dean and Associate Dean Rachel Most,” Michael Timko, a biology professor and the outgoing director of the Echols Scholars Program, said in an email to The Cavalier Daily.

“Neither were written with the expectation that they would be widely read public documents and therefore have contents and tone that reflect this intent. Both contain a series of recommendations for further consideration.”

Several current scholars have expressed some concerns about

Kate Bellows | The Cavalier Daily

The proposed new program would eliminate Echols Scholars-only housing in Balz-Dobie and Tuttle-Dunnington residence halls.

the shifting focus from selecting Echols out of applicants to the University to selecting them based on performance during the school year. One concern was that the new program would lack the community the current program has brought them.

“One of my favorite things about the Echols program is the instant sense of community you feel with the other Echols students when you first get here,” first-year College student and Echols Scholar Priyashma Joshi said. “Changing the program for the first-years would take away that from that academic community and would make the scholars program feel like just a title to hold.”

Schulhofer said the Council representatives “share the same frustration” and will do their part to ensure the perspectives of current scholars are heard.

Baucom said in an email statement the Echols Program chose to organize a review both as a standard periodic evaluation and as preparation for the possibility of larger curricular reform.

Some of the things taken into account during the review were a “collection of data on Echols

Scholars,” such as admissions statistics, majors, GPAs, demographics, “interviews with constituents,” and “research into the components of other similar or honors programs around the country,” according to the circulating documents.

Diversity was cited as an important reason for the proposed changes. The program review stated that “despite the language on the U.Va. Echols website …

The program is notably lacking in diversity.”

Timko commented on the diversity of the program in an email to The Cavalier Daily.

“There are a multitude of factors that contribute to the ethnic, cultural and socio-economic diversity of the University, College and Echols Scholars program.

There are also multiple mechanisms that have been used, are being used, and have been proposed as possible approaches to assuring that we are doing our best to be broadly representative in all dimensions,” Timko said. “I believe that over the last several years Echols has been actively moving in that direction and we continue to strive for improvement. These documents do not present a complete

accounting of all of the information and data that are available on this important question nor are all possible solutions in practice or in planning fully developed or discussed.”

Classics Prof. Jon Mikalson, former director of the Echols Scholars Program, said he learned about the proposal about six weeks ago when the review was attached to an email calling for nominations for a new director of the Echols Scholars Program. Mikalson said he is concerned about changes to the existing program, including its elimination of first-year Echols housing, and how the changes could impact the program’s role as a recruiting tool for the University.

“This is not a revision of the old program, this is kind of a repeal and restore, because it’s a completely different program,” Mikalson said. “It would eliminate the Echols program as it has existed here since the 60s, and I think a lot would be lost.”

Mikalson sent an email to current Echols Scholars a week ago informing them of the proposal and inviting them to share their opinions about the proposal and the appointment of a new

director of the Echols Scholars Program with administrators.

“I wanted to make sure, that the process is open and it’s not just dropped on everybody,” Mikalson said. “I’m kind of trying to bring the Echols Scholars into it, so their views are considered.”

Baucom said the program will continue to consider the review and will welcome outside opinions.

“There’s a lot more work to do, and we need additional feedback from the community — additional faculty as well as Echols students and alumni,” Baucom said.

Most said students will be able to share their opinions in upcoming focus groups and a series of open Town Hall meetings.

On May 8, the College named Assoc. Astronomy Prof. Kelsey Johnson as the next director of the Echols Scholars Program.

According to an email, Johnson will assume the position at the end of May.

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Remembrance Garden slated for fall completion Architecture student designs space for U.Va. community to mourn, process grief Joslyn Chesson | feature writer

The Student Council’s Buildings and Grounds Committee received funding this past December to construct a Student Remembrance Garden between Clemons Library, Newcomb Hall and the Special Collections Library. The garden is meant to be a space to commemorate the lives of students who have died while attending the University.

Fourth-year Architecture student Daniel McGovern has been working on this project since his first year and served as the chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee. The garden’s main attraction will be a large Remembrance Wall in the middle of the space where students will be able to leave messages in chalk.

“It is designed to be interactive so that people can … leave little messages on a wall because there are things that come along with the process of grieving that you have to plan for; it’s not just an empty space it has to be a little more than that,” McGovern said.

The Remembrance Garden is devoted to no particular individual who has passed away, but rather serves as a communal area where individuals can grieve in their

COURTESY Daniel McGovern

The Remembrance Garden will be located between Clemons Library and Newcomb Hall.

own way. While the amphitheater and other larger spaces have been used to mourn as a community, McGovern said the University lacks a more personal space.

“You also need places where you can go to be by yourself and to reflect and to remember and that requires a much different kind of space,” McGovern said. “You need to feel comforted and secure and safe and for that reason you need something small and more intimate and that’s not something we have on Grounds.”

Though the project first began in a 2004 Architecture course taught by Architecture Lecturer Nancy Takahashi, it has been periodically forgotten and re-started over the past 13 years. In December, however, the Committee received a $700,000 grant from the University to fund construction of the garden.

McGovern says the location of the space and the personalization of the objects make it an expensive project.

“I know it sounds like a lot,

basically … construction is expensive and it’s a lot more expensive than people think it is,” McGovern said. “And in the grand scheme of things this project is miniscule in comparison to the things the school normally deals with.”

After the death of student Hannah Graham, the University community constructed a temporary memorial where people could mourn, but Grounds still lacks a physical space for mourning.

“Part of the backing of this whole project is kind of a resilience space,” McGovern said. “You hope you don’t have to use it, but at least when bad things do happen we don’t have to be scrambling to put things together,” McGovern said.

Graduate Architecture student Caroline Herre has also worked on the project for three years. She said a space where people can gather both formally and informally to remember the lives of their classmates who they have lost is greatly needed on Grounds.

“I think having the space will be a very positive addition to U.Va.,” Herre said. “That was always our goal — to provide support and just anything we could do to help students who have lost a friend or a family member or anything

that’s gone on in their lives [and allow them] to take a deep breath and have a place that isn’t so high stress,” Herre said.

Herre lost two friends while she was an undergraduate student at the University and says that her fond memories of them have kept her motivated to push the project forward.

“I don’t think I would have really jumped on the project if I hadn’t experienced a personal side of it,” Herre said. “I think through those experiences I learned about how people deal with grief and that they deal with grief in a lot of different ways and I saw this as a way that I could give back to the University and leave something behind that wasn’t there when I came.”

The original design for the garden comes from Architecture students, though the ideas have been altered and re-done over the last decade. Through the design process, over 200 students and community members were polled. The construction of the project should be completed by the end of the summer and the garden should be a fully functioning space by next fall.

Building the ‘Things You Must Do Before You Graduate’ list Have you done everything?

Jackie Siegel | Feature writer Have you ever woken up at the crack of dawn to hike Humpback and see the first glimpse of the sunrise peek over the mountains?

Have you ever nabbed the no. 1 ticket at Bodo’s? Seen the Purple Shadows on the Lawn?

Every year, the Fourth Year Trustees generate a “Things You Must Do Before You Graduate” list, a catalyst for fourth-years to capitalize on their remaining time and check off remaining items.

This year, the graduating class has worked to fill the 117 empty boxes lining the list. The number increases each year to coincide with the class’ graduation year, making the adventure unique to them.

2017 Fourth Year Trustees President and Engineering student Patrick Rice said members of the rising Fourth Year Trustees coordinate the list for their class. Though they recycle the popular and fundamental items, such as “Streak

the Lawn,” they can also add new items to the list, satisfying the aspirations unique to each class.

The list becomes available the summer before their final year and Trustees circulate the list at class events. Though students’ levels of involvement and immersion vary, many make an effort to carry out the tradition. Some gather friends together to facilitate activities.

“You could technically do one of the items every other day, [in order to] fill out every box. People have had a good time this year and enjoyed engaging with it,” Rice said.

As the year comes to a close, the fourth-years have wrapped up their college experience and finished checking off their items.

Diane D’Costa, a Batten student and vice president of the Class of 2018 Trustees, said the list for next year’s graduating class is in the process of being developed.

“As the fourth-year council

group, we’re hoping to get people exposed to these experiences, holding events and incentivizing people coming to these things, to ensure that people get as much out of their experience as possible,” D’Costa said.

D’Costa said she hopes it will provide common ground among her classmates, allowing them to enjoy their final year as a collective community embarking on a shared journey.

“It’s a great way to create a common experience among the many different things you can do, so that when you’re reflecting on your time at U.Va., you can reflect on getting up early to go hike Humpback or getting the first Bodo’s ticket,” D’Costa said. “It connects the members of our class and connects the community in general, creating that sense of community and common experience for members of the class.”

Richard dizon | The cavalier daily

One of the 117 items on the list is getting the number one ticket at Bodo’s.

Friday, may 19, 2017

1. Use it for a Halloween costume As children, my siblings and I used our dad’s graduation gown for some of our Halloween costumes. You can transform one of those gowns into almost anything. Our favorite was probably a witch or a wizard from Harry Potter. Add a white scarf and glasses and be Ruth Bader Ginsburg or glue planets on it and hold a jug of milk and be the Milky Way.

2. Make a scarecrow

TH IN G

ST OD OW

If you’ve always wanted to try gardening, now’s the perfect time! You’ll save money on fresh produce and have a new hobby instead of watching Netflix all day. In order to keep crows away, you’ll need to make a scarecrow, and what a coincidence, you happen to have a graduation gown laying around. Your scarecrow will look very sophisticated in his cap and gown, and the billowing fabric will be sure to keep the critters way.

3. Make your own fishing lure If you haven’t seen the bicentennial zipper pulls, they’re kind of huge. What on Earth are you going to do with something big enough to knock someone out if you turn around too fast? Keep it on your gown?

No. Use it as a weight to go fishing with?

Yes. Attach that bad boy to your fishing line and you’ve got your own homemade sinker. You’re a regular MacGyver.

4. Frame it

Just in case someone didn’t know you went to U.Va., you should frame your cap and gown.

Place it on the wall so it’s visible right when you walk in. Go crazy and frame your diploma too. It’s the perfect way to steer the conversation towards all of your ever so humble achievements. “Oh yes I attended U.Va. The classes were hard but not really that hard. I was in the Sigma Beta Chai Tea frat, had the best pledge class ever.”

1 P 0 O T

ITH YO

UR CAP AND GOW

www.cavalierdaily.com • LIFE

8. Use it to fix your apartment

OU Y TER N AF

ashley botkin | feature writer

5. Keep it in the bathroom

“Ashley,” you ask, “Do the cap and gown have any other uses?” Of course! This multifaceted, multitalented piece of fabric can be used for anything you set your heart to. After you step out of the shower, keep it on the floor to act as a bath mat or wrap yourself up in it to stay cozy and warm.

Heck, if you forgot a towel, it could work for that too!

6. Use it as a frisbee

Congratulations! In your newfound adulthood and freedom, you decided to buy a puppy. You have food, a bed and a collar but what about dog toys? Boy, do I have a solution for you! Simply throw your cap around like a frisbee. Your puppy will love it, and the tassel will give you something to hold onto when you try to wrestle it from their mouth.

7. Use it as a casserole cozy

Your cap and gown can even be used in the kitchen! Place your cap upside down and put your round casserole dishes inside. Keep your hot dishes hot, and your cold dishes … well … not as hot. I will admit that it isn’t insulated very well and it’s also kind of small, but it’s great for casseroles for two. Impress your date with your cooking skills and your versatility.

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AD R G

As you’re about to start a new job, you may not be able to afford the nicest of apartments or amenities.

Enter the magical cap and gown.

Lopsided chair? Shove the cap under there. Draft coming from under the door? Put the gown against it. There are endless possibilities for what you could fix with it.

It’s pretty much as useful as duct tape, E though not nearly as T A shiny.

U

9. Self-protection

Like I said earlier, those commemorative zipper pulls could really take someone’s eye out. So why not use that to your advantage? Maybe you haven’t had time to pick up mace or you keep forgetting pepper spray every time you go to the store, but worry not! The bicentennial zipper pull will keep you safe. Attach it to a rope or chain and swing that baby as hard as you can. Robbers be warned!

10. DIY lint roller

It’s common knowledge of all pet owners that fur will stick to everything, but it will especially stick to black fabrics. In order to save yourself from fur, keep your gown out at all times, so the fur will magically gravitate to it instead of your new couch. After a while you won’t be able to remember if the gown was originally black or the color of your pet’s fur.

THE CAVALIER DAILY

8

The man behind the ‘Voice of the Cavaliers’ Dave Koehn’s famous booming voice reaches the Charlottesville community beyond radio waves Anna higgins | feature writer

A group of volunteers stood in the parking lot at the trails of the Ragged Mountain Natural Area on a Saturday morning. Each had a sleepy enthusiasm — everyone had willingly come to trailblaze, but the early hour wore on some volunteers’ energies.

However, one particular member brought a wide grin and booming voice to the group.

Dave Koehn, the director of broadcasting for Virginia Sports Properties, doesn’t just bring his booming voice to everyday activities.

He has also been the radio announcer for Cavalier football and basketball games for the past nine years. Optimism in the face of adversity — even if that adversity was the fatigue of being awake early on a Saturday morning to trail blaze and hear about local politics — and community outreach are what Koehn passionately brings to his job.

The niche field of play-by-play announcing requires a certain natural talent of cadence and comprehension of the flow of the game. A college professor at University of Kansas and a high school teacher both told Koehn that he had a chance of making it in the play-by-play world after hearing him speak for class assignments.

Koehn decided to pursue the career path, following his parents’ advice to work a job he could do for free and to find a “labor of love.”

“It’s the closest you can be to being in the game without being in the game,” Koehn said. “It’s the ultimate reality show because it’s not scripted, it’s putting the human spirit on display — what can you overcome in adversity? — and I’m inherently drawn to that drama.”

Koehn makes his job seem effortless, but the business of running broadcasting for the University’s athletics ranges from daily and weekly broadcasts with coaches to interacting with clients to addressing the changing mediascape. He throws much of himself into play-by-play announcing for the football and basketball teams August through March every academic year.

To prep for calling a game, Koehn relies heavily on spotting boards — laminated sheets of paper with de-

COURTESY Dave Koehn

Though he’s best known as the “Voice of the Cavaliers,” Dave Koehn (left) has made sure to take the time out to give back to the Charlottesville community.

tailed, color-coded facts and stories on every player — to aid him in contextualizing the game. For football, prepping these boards can take up to 20 hours, whereas basketball games require about seven hours of research and preparation.

“I just can’t believe that anybody can be more prepared to do a broadcast than Dave can,” Tony Covington, a football analyst who works alongside Koehn, said. “Because of Dave’s preparation, but also because of his personality and our relationship, we’re able to adjust when things hit that we might not have been anticipating.”

Although the boards are filled with facts, Koehn finds his job to be less reciting his notes and more creating the story of the game in real-time.

“You can’t kill it with too much background,” Koehn said. “The story’s on the field, you’re not there to prove how much you know, but I just

want to have this all at my disposal.”

Among other difficulties is walking the fine line between gimmick and substance. Koehn once “pumped the brakes” when he began using the catchphrase, “are you kidding me?” which he thinks can detract attention from the event and put it on the broadcaster instead.

However, the other side of that fine line is that Koehn’s job requires him to be descriptive and creative in painting the game in the viewer or listener’s mind. He sees his voice and words as more of a supplement to the game rather than the broadcast’s focus. “[Fans are] reacting to the substance of the commentary more than the actual commentary,” Koehn said.

“To vary up your description is one of the real challenges of what you do because you’re seeing — let’s be frank — the same thing over and over, so how do you say it in different ways so

it doesn’t become monotonous.”

The sports Koehn covers today — football and basketball — have admittedly not had the best seasons.

The football team went 2-10 last season, and the basketball team had a good year relative to other teams and their overall records, but not in terms of the past three years.

In the stands, students interact most with the marching band and Hoo Crew, two student groups aiming to hype up the crowd in the face of disappointment.

“We’ve kind of become cheerleaders when the cheerleaders are doing other stunts,” Shaw Driggers, fourth-year Curry student and Cavalier Marching Band’s drum major during the 2016 football season, said.

“A lot of times we amp up the crowd better when we’re not playing music, interestingly enough.”

Dustin Jones, fourth-year Curry student and outgoing president

of Hoo Crew, said the organization loves to get excited and create more enthusiasm for the basketball team in John Paul Jones Arena, even during this past season that left some fans disappointed.

“Our mission as Hoo Crew is to get as many students involved as possible and hype up the crowds,” Jones said. “We try to demonstrate how we want other students to act, but we also give out streamers, we give out big heads and stuff, so there’s a couple things that we do to get students more involved.”

In relaying the energy of a game to an audience not present, Koehn tackles the balancing act of remaining positive for Wahoo fans and maintaining the reality of the game by choosing to address but not dwell on the negative.

“Dave is an optimist, and you try to just paint the picture,” Covington said of Koehn’s attitude toward challenging situations. “It’s a balancing act of just between telling it like it is and then just really speaking optimism in what you see.”

Koehn’s role as a play-by-play announcer has carried over beyond his interactions with listeners and viewers and into a role as a public figure within the University and Charlottesville communities. He is affectionately nicknamed the “Voice of the Cavaliers” and sees himself as an important member within the community.

Although Koehn already plays a significant role in the community through his work, he also chooses to give back in other ways. For the past eight years, Koehn has been a “big brother” through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge, and he currently serves on the organization’s board of directors. On top of this, he still finds other ways to engage in his community, such as volunteering at Ragged Mountain.

“I feel like I’ve got this incredible life and I’ve been given a lot of advantages,” Koehn said. “I got a job where sometimes I’m even surprised they’re paying me to do it, so the least I can do is to help someone else who maybe doesn’t have some of those advantages.”

Friday, May 19, 2017

www.cavalierdaily.com • sports

9

A look at this year’s graduating athletes CD Sports Staff

The Cavalier Daily sports section looks back at six graduating athletes from men’s basketball, women’s swimming, baseball, men’s lacrosse, men’s tennis and football who have left a lasting impact on their teams and the University athletic community.

Richard Dizon | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Men’s basketball: London Perrantes London Perrantes committed a lot of time to the Virginia basketball program at the point guard position — the Los Angeles, Calif. native finished his career as a Cavalier ranking first all-time in minutes played, games and starts. Perrantes also finished second overall in threepoint percentage at 40.9 percent and became the first Virginia player to win a NCAA Tournament game in four-straight tournaments. Virginia will miss Perrantes’ leadership and “Cali-cool” style as the senior prepares for the NBA Draft.

— Mariel Messier, Sports Editor Women’s swimming: Leah Smith Leah Smith is not only the best swimmer Virginia has ever touted, but she is also one of the best athletes to ever grace the Virginia athletics department, period. Winning 10 individual

ACC championships and a Virginia student-athlete record of four individual NCAA championships, Smith has left her mark on the world of collegiate swimming. And if that wasn’t enough, she also represented the United States in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and won both a gold medal and a bronze medal. Smith will be remembered as a dominant swimmer who had a tenacious appetite for improvement and success.

— Ben Tobin, Assistant Managing Editor Baseball: Alec Bettinger Virginia's pitching staff has been riddled with inconsistencies this season, but senior reliever Alec Bettinger has been a model of consistency for the Cavaliers. After struggling as a starter as a junior, the righty has found his niche as a long reliever, showing he can lock down pretty much any opponent when the team needs him. Bettinger

is 7-0 this season, sports a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings and is second on the team with 52 strikeouts.

He currently has 200 strikeouts on his career, and he will likely rack up a few more before the end of the season. Bettinger will be remembered as a versatile pitcher who found ways to thrive in any role coach Brian O'Connor put him in.

— Alec Dougherty, Senior Associate Sports Editor Men’s lacrosse: Zed Williams With 25 goals and a teamhigh 25 assists, attacker Zed Williams flourished on the field this season. After three years at midfield, Williams’ capped off his Cavalier career with an impressive stint at attack. His athleticism, adaptability and soft-spoken strength were invaluable assets to the program — Williams’ will be missed both on and off the field.

— Emily Writer

Caron,

Feature

Men’s tennis: Thai-Son Kwiatkowski As one of the top tennis players in the nation, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski's decision to come to Virginia was met with huge expectations. The former top recruit has done nothing but live up to those expectations the last four years. Kwiatkowski made the All-ACC first team this year and previously the second team twice in addition to winning Virginia's ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award both in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, he also won the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player award. As a potentially three-time NCAA national championship winner, Kwiatkowski will be remembered as one of the marquee players in a golden era of Virginia tennis.

— Rahul Shah, Sports Editor

Football: Taquan Mizzell While Taquan "Smoke" Mizzell may not have had the career he envisioned for himself when he committed to Virginia as a five-star recruit, he had quite the impact on the gridiron for the Cavaliers. Mizzell is the only player in ACC history with over 1,500 yards receiving and rushing, and served as a multi-faceted weapon out of the backfield for Virginia. While the Cavaliers have options at tailback in rising senior Daniel Hamm and rising junior Jordan Ellis, Mizzell will be difficult to replace — although he will only be a short way away after signing a contract with the Baltimore Ravens.

— Jake Blank, Senior Associate Sports Editor

THE CAVALIER DAILY comment of the day “Old swamp, meet new swamp.”

“RandomThoughts” in response to Bobby Doyle’s May 2 column: “Trump will pay a price for bluffing”

LEAD EDITORIAL

Rethinking the Echols Scholars program Proposals recommended by the Echols Review Committee would benefit future scholars

T

he Echols Review Committee recently submitted a report to Rachel Most, Assoc. Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs, recommending multiple changes to the Echols honors program. The committee, comprised of one current student, five College professors, one representative from the admissions office and an Academic Programs Manager, convened last fall semester to consider how the Echols Scholar Program could be re-envisioned for the 21st century. The report included several proposals, such as creating an Echols fellowship program, discontinuing housing first-year Echols Scholars in only the Balz-Dobie and Tuttle-Dunnington residence halls and diversifying the class of scholars. Although this redefining set of proposals is still in its early stages, it presents a

solid groundwork for transforming Echols into a real, modern honors program.

One of the most significant proposals is repealing and replacing the existing selection process with an Echols fellowship program, which would select rising second years through a combined recommendation and application process. While the current program encourages a limited group of potential students to attend the University by offering them exclusive benefits and attention, a delayed acceptance system could prove to be more beneficial for the honors program and the University. Requiring students to attend the University for a full semester before becoming Echols scholars would result in a smaller and more diverse group of passionate students coming together in their quest to

indulge in and shape the College’s undergraduate intellectual life. The resulting Echols community would thus have the potential to be as strong (if not stronger) as previous ones. Although the proposed fellowship program differs significantly from the program’s traditional system, the University community should carefully consider the proposal’s benefits.

The review committee’s report also suggests that Echols scholars should be housed among the general population of students. This struck a chord with current scholars, who state that living in the same building provides them with a strong sense of community. However, living in the same space isn’t the only way to form a sense of community. The shared passion for academic excellence, intellectual leadership and sense of

purpose among scholars will ensure the Echols community remains strong and close-knit. Moreover, Echols housing has previously been criticized for isolating scholars from the rest of their class, and debate on the issue has been plentiful.

Ultimately, the committee’s proposed changes are aimed at improving the current standing and quality of the Echols honors program while diversifying the class of scholars along the way. The program’s nearly 60 year-old system has certainly had its benefits in past and recent years — especially in recruiting.

However, as our University enters its third century, we will be required to re-envision many of our current institutions and programs, including Echols.

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 Mondays and Thursdays in print and daily online at cavalierdaily.com. It is printed on at least 40 percent recycled paper. 2017 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

FOLLOW US @CAVALIERDAILY www.cavalierdaily.com

MANAGING BOARD Editor-in-Chief Mike Reingold Managing Editor Tim Dodson Executive Editor Carlos Lopez Operations Manager Danielle Dacanay Chief Financial Officer Grant Parker EDITORIAL BOARD Jordan Brooks Jake Lichtenstein Carlos Lopez Mike Reingold Noah Zeidman JUNIOR BOARD Assistant Managing Editors Lillian Gaertner Ben Tobin (SA) Evan Davis (SA) Colette Marcellin (SA) Trent Lefkowitz (SA) Alix Nguyen (SA) Grant Oken

News Editors Anna Higgins Hailey Ross (SA) Alexis Gravely Sports Editors Mariel Messier Rahul Shah (SA) Alec Dougherty (SA) Jake Blank Opinion Editors Brendan Novak Lucy Siegel (SA) Carly Mulvihill Humor Editor Brennan Lee Cartoon Editor Miriam Du Plessis Focus Editor Hannah Hall (SA) Ankita Satpathy Life Editors Julie Bond Gracie Kreth Arts & Entertainment Editors Dan Goff Ben Hitchcock (SA) Sam Henson (SA) Darby Delaney (SA) Thomas Roades Health & Science Editors Jessica Chandrasekhar Kate Lewis

Production Editors Sean Cassar Disha Jain Victoria Giron (SA) Rupa Nallamothu (SA) Mark Felice Graphics Editors Sean Cassar Lucas Halse Amber Liu Photography Editors Richard Dizon Hannah Mussi (SA) Anna Hoover Video Editors Rebecca Malaret Sinta Taylor (SA) Avi Pandey Engineer Manager Leo Dominguez Social Media Managers Ashley Botkin Shaelea Carroll Business Manager Kelly Mays Marketing & Business Managers Nate Bolon Carlos Lopez

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Friday, may 19, 2017

www.cavalierdaily.com • opinion

11

Mental health resources are still out of reach U.Va. needs to accommodate students in every capacity

I

spent three years at gunpoint. The bullet was severe anxiety, the gunman was perfectionism and the trigger was coming to college. In the fall of my second year, I finally realized just how dire my situation was, and sought help. I visited Counseling and Psychological Services every week for two months, and pieced together the story of my struggles. My psychiatrist at CAPS diagnosed me with severe anxiety. The sessions were more like detective work than therapy.

We assembled the list of likely culprits: family issues, negative interactions, personality, isolation, etc. The front runner was overwhelmingly academic, social and emotional pressure. If the last bit sounds familiar to you, you’re probably a student at the University.

I have spent eight months trying to repair the damage left in the wake of my anxiety. I have learned that resources for men-

tal health, although present at the University, are painfully slow and difficult to navigate.

It took me three weeks to get

prescribed medication. For the past two months I have been adjusting to the medication.

The adjustment period includes

The process of getting appropriate help at the University is, to say the least, complicated, expensive and time-consuming.

an appointment at CAPS. I was allowed to see CAPS for eight weeks, but then had to go to a private practice due to incoming appointment demand. Luckily, my parents are supportive and have a good insurance plan. I brought my car to school so I could make it to my off-grounds appointments. After two months of therapy I went to another private practice psychiatrist to be

— but is not limited to — sleeping 13 to 14 hours a day while still having a normal academic workload.

However, academic accommodations are available to students affected by mental illness.

The University’s Student Disability Access Center handles mental illness in the same way as physical and cognitive disabilities for students seeking

accommodations. All accommodations require the written diagnosis and recommended treatment by a licensed physician or psychiatrist and a meeting with the SDAC. After eight months of therapy and a threeweek wait for an appointment, I received academic accommodations. The process of getting appropriate help at the University is, to say the least, complicated, expensive and time-consuming.

As I navigated a world of insurance forms, scheduling appointments and picking up prescriptions, I began to reflect on how I had gotten to this point.

When I came to the University, I discovered that plentiful opportunity went hand in hand with toxic competition. I have found that students here hide their struggles far too often. It feels taboo to be anything but both academically successful and hyper-involved. At the University, awards, A’s and internships are

broadcasted, but tutoring sessions, average scores and bad days are swept under the rug.

I do not propose we discontinue the intensity and passion which makes the University so excellent, but to take a moment to realize it is okay to only be in two clubs, it is okay to get a subpar exam grade and it is okay to not be okay. It took me years to realize that my own well-being is more important than my GPA and my laundry list of clubs.

I believe the University could benefit from a recalculation of priorities. This means more funding for on-Grounds mental health resources and lower the cost of failure.

Claire Burke is a second-year College student.

Why form a new department

Faculty from the Engineering School are eager to open the conversation to all

A

s faculty from the Engineering School’s Departments of Systems & Information Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering & Society explore a new partnership, students, alumni and The Cavalier Daily’s editorial board have contributed concerns and excellent questions.

We welcome this participation in the discussion, and we write to share the important reasons why faculty are considering the idea of forming a new department.

Against the backdrop of society’s critical need for knowledge and future leaders in STEM, the University is making historic levels of investment in engineering. Faculty are taking this opportunity to generate new ideas for transforming our School into an institution that is nationally recognized both for educating global engineering leaders and

for pursuit of new knowledge that makes a positive difference in the world.

The faculty dialogue has yielded a vision for a new department chartered with faculty members from Systems & Information and Civil & Environmental Engineering focused on Human-and Socio-Technical Systems Engineering. The vision does not include any changes to student degree programs — students would continue to earn the highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees in Systems Engineering and Civil Engineering, with all of the rigorous curriculum and projects which support their learning specific to their degree programs.

Our vision is to bring even greater value to the degree programs with the innovation and collaboration that will help students keep pace with global trends. The faculty’s analy-

sis has shown that engineers in these departments are well-positioned to team up for a powerful new perspective, because we approach decision and de-

other technologies has changed how systems are born and used in ways that present new and exciting roles for our engineers as practitioners and researchers.

Our vision is to bring even greater value to the degree programs with the innovation and collaboration that will help students keep pace with global trends.

sign challenges mainly from the standpoint of first identifying ways to contribute to human and societal value, and then developing and integrating the technologies that comprise novel solutions to real problems.

Outside the University, the rise of big data, cyber-physical systems, autonomous vehicles and

Employers tell us they need our graduates to be able to lead in this advanced environment. The new partnership would allow us to offer students additional learning experiences and cutting-edge projects in a collaborative academic setting designed to inspire teaching and research excellence among our faculty.

As our dialogue and analysis continue, and as we prepare to make a recommendation to Engineering Dean Craig Benson about whether to pursue the new department, we invite all to read our frequently asked questions document.

Brian L. Smith is the chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University.

Peter A. Beling is the interim chair of the Department of Systems & Information Engineering at the University.

W. Bernard Carlson is the chair of the Department of Engineering and Society at the University.

THE CAVALIER DAILY

In conversation with Nathan Colberg

12

Graduating musical virtuoso shares roots, process, next steps Henry Harris | Senior Writer Months before the graduating students from the Class of 2017 receive their diplomas, many started preparing for the post-college world.

This has come in the form of internships, proactively interviewing with businesses — or, in the case of Nathan Colberg — starting a thriving online music career.

Colberg, a Charlottesville native, is a fourth-year graduating from the Batten School, and music has been a huge part of his life at the University. This passion began with joining the Hullabahoos in his first year and has since escalated to solo projects, including a release of his own EP and becoming a Spotify-official artist.

Most recently, he successfully funded a new album on Kickstarter, which he plans to release later this year. The Arts and Entertainment Section had a chance to sit down with Colberg to talk about his music, how it started and where it’s going.

Arts and Entertainment: Talk a little bit about making your first EP. Nathan Colberg: It was really scrappy. I made it for my family …

This past Christmas. It was all really new to me and songwriting was super new to me, and so it was kind of an intimidating process because I wasn’t sure how my music would be received by my family and also by people that would hear it afterwards.

I would rewrite songs the morning before recording, which is terrible. All in all, it was very ‘shooting from the

hip.’ I would go into the studio and have 45 minutes to get everything done for a song, and I would crank it out.

AE: How has the response and support been from your family and your friends and people at [the University] who have gotten a chance to hear it?

NC: Generally speaking, people are really nice about it — people are really quick to share about how they enjoy it. I’m there are people that don’t like it but they tend to stay quiet. It means a lot too because I wasn’t sure how the music would be received, so it’s fun when someone is like, ‘Oh, I listened to your song the other night with some friends.’ Unless people are lying to me, I think it’s been well-received.

AE: Where do you find most of the inspiration for your music and your lyrics?

NC: What’s funny about my music is that it’s very different than how I interact in person. A lot of times, it’s a dive into some of the more sensitive, personal, emotional and spiritual issues that I’m trying to wrestle with, and trying to make sense of that through music. Music is a great outlet for that. Also I find inspiration through other people that I’ve seen be vulnerable in the public eye. That’s really moving [because] it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s actually okay to put yourself out there.’

AE: Talk a little more about that vulnerability and how it has played a

COURTESY Nathan Colberg

Nathan Colberg, a graduating fourth-year Batten student, recently became a Spotifyofficial artist.

part in this process of sharing a new side of yourself.

NC: Yeah, it kind of sucks to be honest. It’s never fun, and I tell people that I’m really self-conscious about the music ‘cause a lot of times it seems like it’s unmatched to vulnerability and you’re putting yourself out there, and it feels like everyone has a leg up on you when they hear your music. So it’s really difficult, but what I remind myself is that people connect over that — over brokenness, as morbid as that sounds. Everyone has it, but people often times are just very hesitant to share it.

AE: What’s this recent experience been like of trying to crowdfund your next album?

NC: I hate it. I hate asking people for money. It’s a total loss of control

... I cannot do this without other people’s help. That’s one side of it. But the other side of it is that it’s been really moving as well, seeing people get behind it and seeing people support it that I didn’t think would support it.

It also reminds me that my music is bigger than myself. It’s not an individual project — it’s a product of a lot of different people.

AE: So it sounds like making the music has been tough, the vulnerability has been tough and raising the money has been tough. So what’s really driving you through all of this?

NC: I think we’re made to create and that drive to create and share seems to never go away. I also think that I am reminded of the power of music through other people’s music and not necessarily my own, which is

a really odd dynamic. But I trust that in the same way an artist’s music has impacted me, that’s how my music can be felt by someone else — that’s really moving. Music for me is something I have been gifted with and to not step into my gifts and share them is more of a tragedy than anything else.

AE: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?

NC: Usually I just tell them to listen to it, and I know that’s a cop-out answer, but I’m kind of all over the show as a person and I think my music matches that. There will be some upbeat and light-hearted songs, but others might be a little morbid. So it’s tough to stamp a specific genre or artist comparison on it right now. But as my music grows, I expect there to be a more specific sound, a more specific tone that carries through.

AE: What are your future plans, and do you see music being central to those plans?

NC: I would like for music to always have a place, but I actually don’t want it to be the central component of my life. The moment it becomes central, it can lose its value as an outlet. I think it can ironically become less real the more central it gets. It’d be awesome if music could end up funding my life, but I am well aware that that might not happen. That’s tough to plan on. I’m fine with that, as long I’m still finding time to create and share.

Pop music of Class of 2017 A retrospective look at genre’s last four years Jordan Best | Senior writer Bittersweet memories are in heavy order for the graduating Class of 2017, and little else reflects the graduating students’ nostalgia as accurately as the music they listened to for the last four years. The pop hits that surrounded their college years was replete with themes of growing up, letting go and partying the day away.

Teenage stars such as Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande did away with their squeaky clean, child-appropriate personas while established artists such as Beyoncé and Rihanna embraced the downsides of their fame. Now is the time for graduating students to reflect on a sampling of the pop artists’ albums and records that helped define the last four years of the Class of 2017.

As undergraduates filled into their first-year dorms in the fall of 2013, a 16-year-old Lorde was in the midst of releasing her debut album,

“Pure Heroine.” The groundbreaking album contained fears of growing older and losing friends, paired with the pressures on young adults to succeed.

A week later, former Disney Channel princess Miley Cyrus released her album “Bangerz.” With references to drugs, sex toys and house parties with “red cups and sweaty bodies everywhere,” the album proved to be just what Cyrus needed to adopt a controversially carefree image. Though vastly different artists, Lorde and Cyrus both captured the dual spirit of a college student’s first semester — the promise of parties and newfound freedoms, coupled with the fear of starting anew and saying goodbye.

The end of 2013 was celebrated with Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go” — a powerful anthem of freedom that captivated an older crowd of Disney

fans just as much as it did younger kids. 2013 also ended with a surprise self-titled Beyoncé album, filled with marital fears and reflections on the pressures of fame. The album defined Beyoncé as both a fiercely-perfectionist performer and socially-minded artist, and she would continue this newly discovered artistry three years later with “Lemonade” — her most unabashed political album to date.

The next four years saw Taylor Swift shedding her cowgirl boots for a poppier sound with the Grammy-winning “1989,” and artists like Adele returning to the scene and staying true to their traditional sound. Others artists, such as Rihanna, decided to push their career boundaries. Her eighth album “Anti” flitted between introspective balladry and confident club bangers — all underscored with themes of disappointment and breaking free from

expectations.

New artists that dominated with debut albums during this time included Nickelodeon star Ariana Grande, Swedish singer Tove Lo, bass-dropping Meghan Trainor, balladeer Sam Smith and the R&B wallflower Alessia Cara, whose debut album “Know-It-All” mirrors the same introverted perspective that Lorde carefully captured in “Pure Heroine.”

Though self-reflection and selfchange were abundant themes, party songs remained in hot supply throughout the last four years. “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Grande became the definitive “Lady Marmalade” diva mashup of the 2010s, while Justin Bieber silenced his naysayers with a string of hits, such as “Where Are Ü Now” and “Sorry.”

Bruno Mars proved to be a master of revamping ‘70s funk music for the

college crowd, with “Uptown Funk” spending 13 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 — the longest period for any song this decade — and his latest “24K Magic” and “That’s What I Like” hoping to mirror that success.

As the semester ends, a 20-yearold Lorde is preparing to release her second album in June. Her two singles, “Green Light” and “Liability,” embody two different spectrums of young adult life. The former is a high-octane kiss-off to a former flame — an appeal for the freedom to leave behind the past. The latter is a sullen ode to self-deprecation and the sense of loneliness that an uncertain future brings. Together, the two songs may be the perfect metaphor to postgrad life — a soundtrack to saying goodbye, but also an enthusiastic hello to an exciting yet frightening world of unknowns.

Friday, may 19, 2017

13

STEM grads branch out Soon-to-be alumni look forward to a variety of fields, including consulting, business Kate Lewis | health and science editor

STEM grads in fields as diverse as engineering and psychology frequently enter careers or graduate programs in areas outside their undergraduate course of study.

Many STEM students pursue careers in medicine, research or startups. However, according to Christie Julien, assistant director of the Engineering, Science and Technology community for the Career Center, employers in non-science fields — such as business and public service — look for the skills a STEM education provides as well.

“The long and short of it is that STEM students bring a lot to the table not only in terms of mastery of content, but also in terms of analytical, logistical and procedural thinking,” Julien said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “The question is less about what can a student do if they are not pre-med but more about what they want to do and how they want to apply the skills they’ve gained by engaging deeply in a scientific discipline.”

Julia Lapan, director of Engineering Career Development, said engineering students may be more likely to go into a business job than one in engineering. She listed Accenture, IBM, Google, Microsoft and Northrop Grumman as companies that frequently recruit from the engineering school.

“A lot of our engineering students

COURTESY fred smyth, director of undergraduate studies, department of psychology

University STEM graduates will move into fields beyond those that simply parallel their major.

don’t necessarily go to work in engineering,” Lapan said. “So probably one of our biggest industry sectors that our students go into right after graduation is consulting and business services.”

Most psychology students pursue careers in psychology or medicine, but the third most common field of interest reported by 2017 grads was business.

“Analyzing data and understanding behavior is fundamental to business,” said Fred Smyth, lecturer and director of Undergraduate Studies in the Psychology department.

Julien said the role of career services is to help students suit their skills to their career goals, even in different fields.

“The Career Center can lend a hand because we can help an individual student articulate their interests, create [a] plan for how to market their unique experience and coach them on how to effectively network, grow their connections and find the right fit,” Julien said.

Career services can also help students with the mechanics of job searching and accepting offers, especially in the case of on-grounds

interviews.

Engineering and business employers looking to hire engineering students start recruiting as early as fall of their third or fourth year. This can cause a lot of stress for students in the process of a career or internship search, Lapan said.

“On-Grounds interviewing gets pretty hot and heavy in the fall, and I think we need to do a better job of supporting students through that,” Lapan said. “We’ve been just trying to help mitigate some of their challenges by helping them take a deep breath — maybe integrating some relaxation techniques into everything that they’re doing [or] working with the employers to try to just give them some guidelines about not putting undue pressure on students.”

Smyth said he often points psychology students to the Career Center’s Education, Counseling and Youth Development community and tries to provide students with an alumni panel at least once a semester.

“I’ll admit that I’m biased, but [psychology is] just a great liberal arts and sciences major,” Smyth said.

“I think [psychology is] a pretty awesome platform for going all kinds of directions.”

Many engineering students do stay within engineering disciplines.

Civil engineering students, for example, often go into private or public structural or transportation engineering. Lapan also cited software

engineering as a common field for computer science majors to enter.

“We have a lot of our computer science students going into software engineering positions, which exist in just about every company,” Lapan said. “Computer skills are really becoming the way of the future that anybody, regardless of their major, really needs to have some background in.”

Graduating fourth-year Engineering student Jenny Xing is one such example. She will be working as a software engineer for SeatGeek, a large start-up in New York City, after graduating from the Engineering school with her degree in computer science.

“What excites me the most about working at SeatGeek is that there’s really good people there,” Xing said.

“When I was just looking at jobs, sort of like the witty descriptions … I saw all these people that seemed like really cool people.”

Lapan said she encourages students to think of their working environment and their overall happiness when deciding where to go after graduation.

“I want our graduates to go off and not just check a box, like oh, you got a great job at a great company with a great salary, but are you happy, are you satisfied with your career, are you engaged?” Lapan said. “I want the answer to be a resounding yes.”

AgroSpheres to compete in Amsterdam Food sustainability startup founded by U.Va. students grows, competes globally Sarah Yang | Senior Writer The team behind AgroSpheres, a startup that produces engineered bio-particles for agricultural use, will attend the Thought for Food Global Summit — hosted by Thought for Food, an organization that provides resources for agriculture startups — in Amsterdam on May 26 to compete in a 12-week boot camp.

Ameer Shakeel, a current fourthyear Engineering student, and Payam Pourtaheri, then-Engineering student, founded AgroSpheres in 2015, and have since expanded their research and development team to include fourth-year Engineering students Joey Frank and Sepehr Zomorodi and College alumnus Zach Davis.

AgroSpheres produces a bioparticle that degrades pesticides and other harmful chemicals into their natural, nontoxic byproducts in order to make farming and crop consumption safer. The particles are suspended in

a medium so farmers can easily use them as a spray.

“We designed it to be implemented in farmers’ workflow, you just add [the particles] to water,” Pourtaheri said.

No products currently exist to remove pesticides, Davis said.

Pesticides come in different classes — including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides — each with a commonly used chemical. AgroSpheres aims to tackle the variety of pesticides by building “custom” particles that suit unique industry needs by tailoring a spray to each chemical class, Pourtaheri said.

“Pesticides are soluble in water, that’s why they linger,” Pourtaheri said. “[Pesticides] last seven days on crops, and the half life becomes 21 weeks in water, so that’s when it really lingers.”

While pesticides are all biodegradable, farmers currently must

wait an EPA-designated number of days after applying pesticides before the crops can be harvested and sold commercially.

Pourtaheri and Shakeel attended the Hello Tomorrow Challenge in Paris — a global deep-tech entrepreneurial competition — and were selected as one of 10 notable agriculture startups by Thought for Food.

“The mission of Thought for Food is to identify and empower and accelerate young entrepreneurs around the world that are helping to feed nine billion people by the year 2050,” said Jared Yarnall-Schane, program director of Thought for Food.

At the end of the week, AgroSpheres will present their pitch to a panel of judges, with the possibility of winning $26,000 in funding.

“For AgroSpheres specifically, I’m excited to see how their industry connections continue to grow,” Yarnall-Schane said. “I enjoyed working

with them and pushing them to look at the bigger picture technologies.”

“Our goal is agricultural solutions, starting with pesticides,” Pourtaheri

said. “There are various other aspects that need optimization and we hope to be the company that leads that.”

COURTESY joseph frank

AgroSpheres will present their pesticide-removing technology at the Thought for Food Global Summit in Amsterdam later this month.

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