Thursday, September 11, 2014

The

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Thursday, September 11, 2014

Vol. 125, Issue 6

2013-2014 ELECTRONIC 4.7 MILLION USES $5.1 MILLION SPENT ON MATERIALS

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Library System planS Alderman Renovation Jenna Dickerson Senior Writer

Alderman Library, the heart of the University library system, houses approximately 2.5 million volumes — valued together at $104 million — and serves as a major study space for students. The library is beginning to show signs of age, however, and renovation planning

HOROWITZ: COURTING DEATH, SORT OF PAGE 5

is already underway.

“Alderman is a building that is well-loved, but well-used, so we really want to make it more serviceable, more beautiful,” Library Director of Communications Charlotte Morford said. “The building has good bones — it is very elegant and beautiful — but it needs some love.”

Well-loved is an apt term for the building which receives about 3,575

UNIVERSITY REMAINS NO. 2 PUBLIC UNIVERSITY PAGE 4

156,774 print materials checked out $2.2 million spent on materials

visitors per day during exams and more than 700,000 visits per year.

Kate Meyer, senior project manager for Facilities Management’s department of Planning and Construction, said since the library was built in 1938 there have been no major renovations of the space, despite a large 1967 addition.

“The building was built to older codes — it’s not just that the building is getting run down, it’s not up

WILL VIRGINIA FOOTBALL BRING HOME ANOTHER WIN? PAGE 7

to modern code either, so it’s in need of updating,” Meyer said.

Not only have building codes changed, but the technology available to students has as well. And increasingly, students are expecting this technology in their study spaces.

University Librarian Karin Wittenborg said during almost every phase of the library’s history, renovations have been long overdue.

WHISNANT: THE FALL OF THE PROGRESSIVES PAGE 10

“The original part of the library opened in 1938, and I would say it was completely out of date by 1960,” Wittenborg said. “The addition was built in the 1960s, and it was probably out of date in 20 years.”

Planning for the renovations requires more than simply looking at

see LIBRARY, page 6 CITYSCAPE EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS ENVIRONMENT PAGE 14

N news

The Cavalier Daily

Board establishes diversity committee “I’ve been quietly urging this for a couple of years...diversity in the student body helps your education,” Sullivan says Maddy Weingast Associate Editor

Corrections In the Sept. 9 issue of The Cavalier Daily, a photo on page 3 was incorrectly attributed. The photo was taken by Porter Dickie.

The University Board of Visitors will convene a new committee later this week: the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.

For the past several years, the Board has run a Special Committee on Diversity, which will now become a standing committee. The committee will be co-chaired by Board members Frank Conner and Allison DiNardo.

The official language of the committee’s establishment is listed in the docket for this week’s Board meeting.

“The Committee on Diversity and Inclusion shall encourage and support an atmosphere at the University that ensures that diverse members of the University of Virginia and Charlottesville communities are treated equally and fairly,” the docket reads.

“The accomplishment of this mission is essential to creating an educational experience for students to prepare them for productive and responsible citizenship in the world beyond the University Community.”

With the creation of the permanent committee, Rector George Martin said the Board is making an effort to keep the topic of diversity on the top of its agenda.

“As a public institution, we want all to feel welcome at the University of Virginia,” Martin said in an email.

“By establishing this standing committee we will reiterate the message that the University is a welcoming environment for students, faculty and staff of all different backgrounds.”

University President Teresa Sullivan said she is pleased to see the committee made permanent, and looks forward to seeing efforts to develop a more diverse student and

“From my personal perspective, these changes are a reflection of the critical importance of continuing to support diversity in every aspect of

Kelsey Grant | The Cavalier Daily

University President Teresa Sullivan, above, discussed the Board of Visitor’s new Committee on Diversity earlier this week. Frank Conner and Allison DiNardo will co-chair the committee.

faculty. ""I've been quietly urging this for a couple of years," Sullivan said. "Diversity is one of the core values of the University.”

In the docket’s statement outlining the creation of the new committee, the term diversity is given a concrete definition: race and ethnicity, age, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, religious and national origin, socioeconomic status and other aspects of individual experience and identity.

the University's life and of the BOV's commitment to that priority,” Conner said in an email.

Fourth-year College student Blakeley Calhoun, an executive member of the Minority Rights Coalition, said she was pleased with the Board’s action.

“We're thrilled that the BOV is taking such an intentional step in the direction of a more fair and equitable University for staff, faculty, and students,” she said in an email. “We stand in support with their efforts

and look forward to the progress that will come.”

Today and in the past, student groups have played an active role in promoting discussion about diversity on Grounds.

“When I was a student [at the University] I was the co-founder and co-director of a student group called INTERCOM whose primary purpose was to promote diversity and dialogue about issues related to inclusion,” Martin said. “The University has made tremendous progress since my time as a student. However we still have work to do. Diversity is a priority for [University] President [Teresa] Sullivan and through this committee the Board will support her efforts.”

The committee's diversity efforts will help to enrich the student experience at the University, Sullivan said.

"I think that diversity in the student body helps your education," she said. "For all of you to go to a school with people who are just like you, you lose a lot of learning that you could have had."

The committee released the agenda for its first meeting, which is to take place this Friday. The meeting is planned to focus on the results of the Faculty Salary Study Report, which found that female faculty members are paid less than their male coworkers.

“In this global economy, diversity is not a goal, it is a reality,” Martin said. “Our students will compete in a global economy and we will better equip them to do so if they have a more diverse experience at the University.”

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NEWS

Thursday, September 11, 2014

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Mayer finds Coursera security weaknesses Team identified vulnerabilities, Saeta says, University takes additional online learning precautions, says no cause for alarm

Caelainn Carney, Helen Broad and Tyrone Cadogan News Writers

Stanford doctoral candidate Jonathan Mayer claims to have found several security weaknesses in the online course platform Coursera.

Mayer, who is set to teach a Coursera class this October for Stanford, posted on his blog last week that the weaknesses could allow an unauthorized third-party access to student information. He said Coursera’s privacy protecting user IDs are not effective enough.

The University has hosted many courses of Coursera and plans to launch more this fall.

“Any teacher can dump the entire user database, including over 9 million names and email addresses,” Mayer said. “If you

are logged into your Coursera account, any website that you visit can list your course enrollments.”

Mayer also said that in light of these recent developments, Coursera has responded quickly and is making moves to fix these issues.

Coursera Information Security Officer Brennan Saeta apologized Friday for the security weaknesses in an online statement.

“Our team responded immediately to Dr. Mayer’s report, and has now closed off the vulnerabilities that were uncovered,” Saeta said. “We continue to monitor and improve our platform to provide the best and safest experience to all learners.”

Kristin Palmer, University director of online learning programs, said the University takes extra security precautions beyond those taken by Coursera, making it far less likely that a security issue would arise for University stu-

dents. She said all students must use their Netbadge logins to access their Coursera courses.

“It is closed only to U.Va. students,” Palmer said. “It has additional security features. We wanted to make sure that we protect

11 Coursera courses listed on the website, only five of which have specific start dates.

“We definitely look at things and we want to make sure that U.Va. student data is secure,” Palmer said. “We have such a

Courtesy Coursera

our students’ data.”

Palmer said the fact that Mayer found such security weaknesses links largely to the fact that he teaches courses on data security.

“This particular professor specializes in security risks in data,” Palmer said.

Currently, the University has

small implementation that it is really inconsequential.”

Still, students who obtain Coursera instruction from the University’s professors but are not registered students at the University do not have access to extra security measures the University put in place for its students.

Darden Prof. Michael Lenox, who will teach “Foundations of Business Strategy” on Coursera this October, said the students who receive his instruction through Coursera access the material directly through the Coursera platform.

“The Coursera platform is a whole separate set of students that are coming from around the world to consume the content,” Lenox said. “We have had over 300,000 students register for the course. Over 200 countries have been represented.”

The University has offered courses through Coursera since 2012, and Palmer said the University is still researching the benefits to online education of using an online platform like Coursera.

“We are definitely still experimenting with what [these courses] mean at U.Va.” Palmer said.

McAuliffe announces more modest Medicaid proposal Controversial health coverage expansion to reach new, currently-eligible Virginia residents, cover additional mental health patients Rachel Goretsky, Nicholas Porter, and Savannah Simplson News Writers

Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed a new plan to expand health care coverage to more than 25,000 Virginians this Monday, putting forth a more modest proposal than previously presented by the Affordable Care Act. Though many Democrats have said they believe McAuliffe will be able to carry out the plan using executive powers alone, Republicans have said the Republican-controlled legislature should and must be involved.

The new 10-point proposal aims to boost coverage to those who already qualify for assistance while also expanding coverage to 20,000 Virginians with mental illness and 5,000 children of state employees.

This plan is a marked reduction from McAuliffe’s previous attempts to expand coverage to more than 400,000 Virginians by way of Medicaid expansion through Affordable Care Act. The budget passed by the Republicancontrolled state legislature in June did not include the expansion.

Nearly 15 percent of Virginians between 19 and 65 are uninsured, amounting to 995,000 residents without coverage, according to data compiled by the Virginia

Health Care Foundation. In addition, roughly 42 percent of uninsured Virginians live at or below the federal poverty line.

McAuliffe's plan would impact a wide variety of groups. Pregnant women would see increased dental benefits and Virginia Family Access to Medical Insurance Security would be expanded to the children of low-income state workers.

The plan also creates a task force to combat prescription drug and heroin abuse to address rising overdose deaths in Virginia, as was called for in a joint letter written by 12 members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation in June.

“Following conversations I’ve had with local leaders, law enforcement, and employers, it’s clear that drug abuse is a serious epidemic that is having a devastating impact on Virginia communities and our workforce,” Sen. Tim Kaine said in a statement. “I hope to see continued coordination between public health officials and law enforcement, as well as leaders at the state and federal levels as we work to reduce the number of drug-related deaths in Virginia.”

Increasing enrollment in existing programs is a major focus of the program, with current enrollment in Medicaid, FAMIS and the federal marketplace all below the national average. The plan would also create a new Cover Virginia website to be launched Nov. 15,

which would include relevant health care information to increase awareness about resources available.

The largest challenge the plan is likely to face will be approval from the Virginia General Assembly in a special session on Sept. 18. Republican House spokesperson Matthew Moran said the governor could not pursue expansion unilaterally.

“The speaker considers it good news that the governor did not push the envelope on a unilateral expansion of Medicaid,” Moran said. “Everyone knows that appropriating dollars is the legislative branch's responsibility, which is why we say it will need General Assembly approval to be made permanent.”

Republicans say they are willing to support changes in health care, but with a caveat.

“A number of House Republicans are working on plans to improve access to care and expand the safety net, but that only comes after a fair debate,” Moran said.

A number of Democrats, meanwhile, have said they feel differently. Christina Nuckols, Health and Human Resources spokesperson, said the governor can carry out the plan within his current authority. “[Democrats are] hoping that the General Assembly will be supportive of his goals,” Nuckols said.

Jenna Truong | The Cavalier Daily

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, above, announced a plan earlier this week to expand health care coverage under his current authority. Republicans contend McAuliffe needs legislative approval.

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NEWS

The Cavalier Daily

Students United hold initial interest meeting Group wants AccessUVa to reinstate no-loan policy for lowest income students, hopes to explore University’s low minority enrollment Katie Grimesey Senior Writer

U.Va. Students United, an onGrounds student coalition dedicated to student activism, had its first interest meeting of the semester Tuesday to discuss issues ranging from AccessUVa funding to minority student

representation at the University.

Claire Wyatt, a 2013 graduate of the College, opened the meeting by explaining the group’s general mission and reasons for forming.

“We started last spring,” Wyatt said. “Lots of immediate issues had arisen, such as AccessUVa.” She noted tuition at the University has doubled in the past 10 years and

Porter Dickie | The Cavalier Daily

Members of U.Va. Students United, above, met Tuesday to discuss AccessUVa and diversity issues at the University. The group plans to hold regular meetings for the forseeeable future.

there has been a major decline in the presence of minority students at the University. She also said the group is concerned with living wages for University service employees.

Fourth-year College Student Rosa Waters spoke specifically about the U.Va. Students United’s desire to reverse the changes made a year ago to AccessUVa which eliminated all-grant aid packages, previously offered to students in the lowest income bracket.

“Our primary goal concerning AccessUVa is to see the University reinstate its commitment to the noloan policy by the end of this year,” Waters said. “Donors shouldn’t be running the University, students should.”

She said Board of Visitors member John Griffin’s $4 million challenge grant for AccessUVa is positive, but said there is still work to be done.

“This is a step in the right direction,” said Waters. “But we are working towards full institutional support of AccessUVa’s no-loan policy.”

Fourth-year College student Tina Mensa-Kwao and fourth-year Education student Ryland Richardson

spearheaded a discussion on race at the meeting.

“U.Va. started with slaves at the University, and when those slaves were released from slavery, they still worked for U.Va. and lived in Charlottesville,” Richardson said. “A lot of those people still worked service jobs at the University, they just got paid for it. So the history of service workers being primarily African-American has been kind of an institution at U.Va., and has continued for a very long time.”

Mensa-Kwao said she wants the group to explore the reasons behind low minority enrollment at the University, particularly for AfricanAmerican students.

“Racial discrepancies that are found in Charlottesville are also found at U.Va.,” she said.

The group also expressed a desire to address issues of stratification between University students and members of the Charlottesville community. Fourth-year Education student Ashley Blackwell raised this concern with a discussion about new off-Grounds housing developments for students.

“Off-Grounds student housing projects limits affordable housing that Charlottesville can provide to residents,” Blackwell said. “This housing pushes out lower income, predominantly African-American, residents.”

Blackwell said new University buildings in Charlottesville are contributing to the gentrification of the community at large, as well as to the idea that the town itself is separate from the University.

“We always hear the term ‘townie’ used in a derogatory way by students,” Blackwell said. She said students are not doing their part as members of the larger community of Charlottesville.

The group announced they will be meeting outside of the Special Collections Library on Friday at 12:45 p.m. to attend the Board of Visitors meeting.

Wyatt urged everyone in attendance to spread the word about the meeting and U.Va. Students United’s mission and goals for the University in the coming year.

The group will meet every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Alderman 423.

U.Va. holds number two ranking University’s economic diversity remains low compared to top 25, public peers Alia Shariff Associate Editor

For the 11th year in a row, U.S. News & World Report has ranked the University as the No. 2 public university in the nation. This year, the University is tied for the spot with the University of California, Los Angeles.

The University received the No. 23 ranking overall, continuing a long tradition of ranking in the top 25 of national universities.

“The University thinks that the rankings from U.S. News, the Princeton Review, Forbes and other sources are a good resource,” University spokesperson McGregor McCance said. “[We hope these rankings] will continue to raise awareness of the quality of U.Va. and give students a reason to look at U.Va.” The ranking system is based on a host of quantitative measurements.

“The formula uses quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality, and it's based on our researched view of what matters in education,” the U.S. News website reads.

The University ranks relatively high in terms of reputation and perception among high school guidance counselors.

Factors in the rankings include

student-teacher ratio, freshmen retention rate and four-year graduation rate. The rankings only gauge undergraduate programs in nonprofessional schools.

The undergraduate Commerce and Engineering School programs were also ranked, earning the No. 6 and No. 31 spots, respectively.

Despite the high overall ranking, the University ranks only 59th in terms of financial resources.

McCance said this was because of trends in state legislature support.

“Generally speaking, the financial resources measure is a reference to the level of support received from the state,” he said. “Public universities in Virginia are having less financial resources coming to them from the state.”

Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently told state universities to cut their 2014-15 budgets by five percent because of an unexpected budget shortfall, and told universities to expect to cut seven percent next year.

U.S. News also reported the economic diversity of the top 25 ranked schools based on the percent of undergraduates who received Pell Grants through financial aid, examining the population of students from low-income families at each school.

University of California, Los Angeles topped all other universities in the top 25 with 39 percent of undergraduates obtaining Pell Grants.

“Economic diversity has received growing attention in higher education, particularly at elite topranked schools that haven't traditionally enrolled large numbers of low-income students or students from low-income families,” the U.S. News website reads.

University Dean of Admission Greg Roberts said the University's commitment to diversity and needbased financial aid is extremely important to prospective students and families.

"The size and composition of the aid awards play significant roles in student decisions on college,” Roberts said. “The support the University provides low-income and firstgeneration college and minority students is also critical to students considering where to apply and enroll.”

Only 13 percent of undergraduates at the University receive Pell Grants through financial aid. The recent change in the University’s need-based financial aid program, AccessUVa, may affect the percentage reported in future surveys with the elimination of all grant-based aid packages previously available to students in the lowest income bracket.

UCLA spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez said socioeconomic diversity plays an important role in the university’s community. He said the department of undergraduate ad-

Thomas Bynum | The Cavalier Daily

The University retained its ranking as the number two public school in the U.S. News and World Reports ranking. It holds the number 23 ranking overall.

missions strives to admit students based on merit, working to overcome financial barriers.

“As a public institution, part of UCLA’s mission is to enroll wellqualified students regardless of their income,” Vazquez said. “We value diversity in all its forms, including the socioeconomic diversity that large numbers of [Pell Grant recipients] bring to campus. By enrolling

large numbers of low-income and first-generation college students, UCLA and its sister campuses in the UC system remain primary engines of social mobility in California."

The information used to develop U.S. News rankings comes mostly from the colleges and universities themselves. U.S. News reached out to 1,365 schools, achieving a 91.5 percent response rate.

L life

In the past three months, I have started blushing. You’ve probably heard of it — it’s that thing stuffy old women did during the 17th century, except back then they could just faint to hide their shame, have their manservant Gregory bring over their smelling salts and blame it on their weak feminine constitution.

Life would have been so much easier without Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Betty Friedan. Setting higher standards for our gender has been exhausting in the long run.

Now, I’m forced to own this disgraceful tendency — much like

Thursday, September 11, 2014

5

Courting death, sort of Trials, tribulations of a hypochondriac with Google I’m forced to own my water-dam- which seem to provoke blushing aged iPhone because I include: excessively have yet to successfully happy; moderately trick the Genius Bar happy; sad; sad, but representatives into not sad enough to listaking it back (Every ten to sentimental Ed conversation — Them: Sheeran; sad enough “You did this, ma’am.” to listen to sentimental Me: “Moi? Whatever Ed Sheeran; the feeling do you mean?” Them: when someone has an “Ma’am, you don’t intervention for you speak French.” Me: because of all the Ed “Dammit.”).

Sheeran; excited; exJULIA HOROWITZ And it’s not an cited, but trying to play Assistant Managing Editor adorable rosy hue it cool; angry, and not which occasionally trying to play it cool; graces the apples of my no registered emotion cheeks, re: the cheerleader love in- whatsoever. It has been incessant. terest in a film from the 1960s. No. I think it may be leprosy.

It’s an infectious red blooming on Bold and also an abrupt tone my chest, creeping up my neck and change, I know, but I stand by it. slowly burning my face.

When facing a medical enigma, And it doesn’t just happen I’ve found it’s always safest to start when I’m embarrassed. Emotions with leprosy. It’s the “Honey, I’m late this month…” of infectious diseases — start out with a scare, and “I don’t want your mom to come to Thanksgiving” is a breeze.

Not to mention a quick search for leprosy on WebMD yields a relatively short list of symptoms: disfiguring skin sores, lumps or bumps which do not go away after several weeks or months. So,

like…maybe?

The thing is, I’m a bit of a hypochondriac.

I know this. Ninety percent of the time, I don’t really think I have necrotizing fasciitis. But I would also be lying if I pretended I have never Googled “can you get necrotizing fasciitis by doing literally nothing or no?”

Maybe that should be something I lie about. Is there a medical condition where instead of being a pathological liar, you are a pathological truther? Looking it up. Do you think they treat that?

It’s a tired game I play.

Typically, I can talk myself down from the “death is looming / whatever I have contracted will surely end me / I don’t care what you do with the dog but don’t dare to read my diary” mindset relatively quickly. The Internet is as effective in assuaging medical fears as it is in inciting them, and a quick search usually confirms my wildest fears are not only absurd, but also logistically impossible. The problem then becomes self-diagnosis.

Doctors do not like being told you know what you have. They like being doctors, an occupation in which people study for upwards of 15 years to earn a monopoly on

telling you what you have. You can see where conflict — I’ve already cross-referenced a few medical imaging sites, they are “licensed professionals and would I please stop doing that” — could arise.

The thing is, I’m usually right.

When I contracted an ambiguous rash after spending 16 hours on a sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing, I quickly confirmed it was the relatively benign pityriasis rosea. I went to the doctor, who for 10 minutes questioned me about whether or not I had been eating mutton. I had not. She asked again.

Throughout the duration of our conversation, I had not consumed any mutton, so my answer was still no. She then told me it was pityriasis rosea.

Such incidents do little to inspire my faith in the medical community and have contributed to my decision to solve the blushing situation via a more informal route, re: my favorite search engines and a guest appearance by Ask Jeeves.

After all — it could be anything. It could also be nothing, but that’s just so boring.

Julia’s column runs biweekly Thursdays. She can be reached at j.horowitz@cavalierdaily.com.

The Cavalier Daily

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focus

Kelsey Grant | The Cavalier Daily

Renovations to Alderman Library will likely reduce collection space and increase student and classroom space. “We don’t want this building to look like it could be an office building or a computer lab,” University Librarian Karin Wittenborg said.

LIBRARY Renovations dependent on pending state funds Continued from page 1 the needs of current students, Morford said.

“The overall approach is to equip the library to serve not only the current generation of students, but the next 50 years of students as well,” Morford said. “There’s so much change that we have to think about the present and the future at the same time, without knowing what the future holds.”

What are students looking for?

“One thing I’ve learned from working with students is that there is no unanimity on what spaces they want,” Wittenborg said. “They want different kinds of spaces for different kinds of activities, so if they are working alone, studying for an exam, or writing a paper, they may want one kind of space, but if they are working on a group project, they want a different kind of space.”

Fourth-year College student Jane Richards said she values a balance between public meeting space and electronic resources, as well as quieter areas.

“I think it's really important to have the top floor of the library be a good group meeting space — a place to interact with a lot of people with good internet access, lots of outlets for chargers and stuff like

that,” Richards said. “But having quiet spaces to go to is really important, too.”

First-year College student Holly Stevens said she would like to see the creation of more open seating through the renovations. “[Alderman] is one of my favorite libraries because they have lots of cool chairs — it’s a very fun environment,” Stevens said. “I would take out some of the stacks in favor of more open seating, because I think that students value the open seating more than the closed area.”

Student planning involvement The library system has developed a strategy for reaching out to the University community to ensure the renovation makes the best use of space and resources, Meyer said.

“We will do a series of different types of engagements, investigations and some one-on-one interviews with key administrators, like the head librarian,” Meyer said. “We also plan to have outreach with general faculty, students and staff, and that may take the form of workshops or questionnaires.”

In some ways, outreach has already begun.

Last year, an undergraduate study was conducted by the Office of the Provost which received about 1,400 responses, Morford said. “[The responses] strongly in-

dicated that quiet spaces to study are most important to students, so we're using that information to inform both our immediate plans and the upcoming planning for the Alderman renewal,” Morford said.

“We use the feedback from the survey to add to decisions about collections, spaces, hours, and the website as well.”

Stalled renovations Unsurprisingly, the largest roadblock to beginning renovations is a lack of funding.

“It has been on our request list to the state for money for several years now, but it generally does take time to get money for a project of this size,” Meyer said. “We can’t start until the state gives us money, so we are held hostage by that.”

The Library renovation request for $120 million is listed as the University’s second priority for state funding among academic division proposals, Meyer said, after the Gilmer Hall-Chemistry Building request.

A lack of funds, however, has not totally impeded progress toward renovation.

The library system is currently working with an architectural firm which will assess the building’s components and map out options, Morford said.

Meyer assures veteran visitors that when renovations do begin,

they will likely proceed in phases, and the library will not be entirely shuttered.

“We can do it in phases, but inevitably, that makes it take longer,” Meyer said. “With New Cabell, we were able to do two two-and-a-half year phases, but we have to figure out what length phase would work best in the library.”

Morford agrees specifics are, right now, ambiguous.

“The timeline is going to be determined by a complex planning and funding process, so I can’t definitively say when it will happen,” Morford said. “The final design will be a very strong collaboration between the Office of the Provost, the Office of the University Architect, Facilities Management, and the library.”

A library's role: print vs. electronic media Questions central to renovation discussions include the expanding role electronic media plays in the future of higher education and the unclear place of physical materials.

Contrary to popular conception, many students still do check out volumes from the library. This past fiscal year, 156,774 print materials were checked out, Morford said.

But that figure is much smaller than the 4.7 million uses of electronic resources during the same period.

Second-year College student Niki Shumaker said she has checked out books from the stacks a couple times, but turns to online resources more often.

“I’ve used them few times as sources for research papers, but I generally use more resources from online,” Shumaker said. “The books are helpful, but I don’t use them often.”

Morford said faculty often request that the library purchase certain materials, through both interlibrary loans and the online request form. This past fiscal year, the library received 4,500 requests from faculty to obtain physical media, totaling approximately $237,000 worth of materials.

The relative frequency of electronic resource use compared to the use of print materials is reflected in library spending practices. The library spent $5.1 million on electronic materials in the last fiscal year, while spending only $2.2 million on printed materials.

But beyond the informational value of print materials, there is a certain intrinsic value associated with the books in libraries, Wittenborg said.

“The students and faculty tell us that having books around them gives an aura of gravitas to being there,” Wittenborg said. “We don’t want this building to look like it could be an office building or a computer lab.”

S

sports Jack Totty Staff Writer

A week after picking up a 45-13 win against in-state opponent Richmond, the Virginia football team heads back into action Saturday against No. 21 Louisville in the last of three straight home games to open the season.

The Cavaliers’ (1-1, 0-0 ACC) victory against the Spiders snapped a 10-game losing streak, dating back to Sept. 21 of last year when VMI was downed 49-0. Virginia’s offense and defense were both on display last Saturday as the team held Richmond to just one touchdown while putting six on the board, including one off of a fumble recovery.

The team expects the win to be the first of many this season, adopting a “win every week” mentality, refusing to count itself out of any game until the final whistle blows. Last year, Virginia opened with a thrilling win against BYU, only to secure a single additional win — against VMI — for the remainder of the season. Players said they developed a negative attitude as the season progressed last year, and they would like to prevent that from happening this time around.

“This year, every week we expect to win,” junior defensive end Eli Harold said. “I believe that’s important in order to [allow] you to attack the week — Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs-

Thursday, September 11, 2014

7

Cavs to face No. 21 Cards in ACC opener

Football seeks second win in last of three-game homestand, looking to stay strong against conference newcomer Louisville day and Friday practices. It allows us to execute better on the field because you have that confidence that you’re going to win on Saturday.”

The competition will step up this weekend as the Cardinals (2-0, 1-0 ACC) come to town. The ACC’s newest member, Louisville handled Miami 31-13 two weeks ago in the season opener and then romped to a 66-21 win against Murray State this past weekend.

Despite losing coach Charlie Strong to Texas and starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the NFL, the Cardinals have not slowed down following last season's 12-1 finish. Louisville hired Bobby Petrino away from Western Kentucky to head the team. Petrino, who formerly coached at the school from 2003 to 2006 before departing for the Atlanta Falcons, boasts a high-powered offense — led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Will Gardner and senior running back Dominique Brown — which is already putting up gaudy numbers, averaging more than 200 rushing and passing yards a game through two weeks.

The Cavalier defense — the highlight of the team in each of the first two games — will look to put a damper on the Cardinals’ attack.

Veterans, such as Harold, have been quick to help out the many talented newcomers, including freshman safety Quin Blanding — and it has certainly paid off.

“They help me out a lot, tremendously — during practice, in the film room — so, I mean, they sit down with me and they just tell me if I

Porter Dickie | The Cavalier Daily

Freshman safety Quin Blanding, a five-star recruit coming out of high school, posted his first interception at Virginia last weekend against Richmond.

made a mistake or what I could do to fix it,” Blanding said. “I thank them for that. It just feels good to be out there with them.”

Blanding also nabbed the first interception of his college career against Richmond to go with his seven tackles and two pass break ups, and he’ll look to add to his stat line this weekend against Louisville.

Questions still linger for Virginia at other positions, though — particularly on who the starting quarterback will be. Against the Spiders, coach Mike London decided to start sophomore quarterback Greyson Lambert, who completed 13 of 15 passes for

102 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Matt Johns also saw action on multiple series, however, going 4-for-7 on passes for 65 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Whoever starts under center for the Cavaliers Saturday will need to come ready to play if they plan on pulling the upset against the visiting Cardinals. Virginia relied on its rushing attack last season to carry the team — and because Louisville currently ranks sixth in fewest rushing yards given up per game this season, allowing only a combined 111 yards to their first two opponents, Lambert

or Johns will need to go to the air to beat the Cardinals’ defense. “[Louisville is] as fast as UCLA in terms of their linebackers and skill positions, so we’re going to have to come up with a game-plan to hang onto the ball, play great defensively again, [establish] field position with our special teams and then be efficient with our offense,” London said.

If Virginia manages to come out ahead, fans will witness the team's first ACC win since 2012 — and a win would say a lot about how the season will turn out for the Cavaliers.

Kick-off is set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Scott Stadium.

The tragedy of Gaël Monfils Before all else, my tennis fan- if sometimes detrimental, distincdom can be described as fiercely tion. Whether such players possess nationalistic. But as Chanhong an unusual playing style or a pecunoted last week, long liar personal quality, it gone are the days when is those who can effortAmerican men were lessly blend personal serious contenders at flair with feats on the major tournaments. court who capture my While personal manadmiration. crush Mardy Fish Janko Tipsarevic, appeared to be for a for example — unfew fleeting years, a fortunately under genuine, technicallythe shadow of fellow balanced complement Serb Djokovic — has to the ace-happy Andy twice reached the U.S. NIK SAMARAS Roddick, I now have Open quarterfinals Sports Columnist only who can be deand peaked as world scribed as Roddick-lite No. 8. But he also en— John Isner — to receive my tele- joyed a casual DJ career under the pathic support. moniker “DJ Tipsy” and sported a My fandom, however, is not so simultaneously puzzling and mamuch about appreciating top-five jestic Oakley-headband combo, talent as it is about recognizing ef- regardless of weather conditions. fective outsiders who have “done it The greatest possible thrill in tentheir own way.” I lend my emotion- nis is seeing these types topple the al devotion to competitive players greats and mute their critics. not named Roger, Andy, Rafael or Enter our hero: Gaël Monfils, Novak, who achieve genuine suc- 28-year-old frenchman of Caribcess while maintaining a unique, bean decent, current world No. 18.

While arguably the most dazzlingly athletic player to ever grace the ATP Tour, Gaël — or “La Monf ” as he is affectionately known — has never quite reached the pinnacle of his potential. A penchant for risky shots, a continual swaggeroverload and a plague of injuries — a result of his jaw-dropping on-court maneuvers — have kept the former youth track champion from consistent success at the Slams.

That is, until last Friday — when at the U.S. Open Quarters, Gaël’s long-awaited breakthrough seemed imminent. After not dropping a single set all tournament, Gaël cruised ahead to take a twoset lead against the now 33-yearold Roger Federer, who ousted him from the 2008 French Open Semis.

Yelling angrily in French between points and projecting a menacing glare toward anyone who dared make eye-contact, Gaël inspired full confidence that this time, he wouldn’t disappoint.

“FINISH HIM GAËL,” I tweet-

ed, sure of sweet, elusive victory.

After dropping the third set, Gaël finally held a double-match point in the fourth; two opportunities to put his demons behind him — to prove he is more than a freak of nature with far above-average hand-eye coordination. Even Roger thought the game was over.

"Down two match points I wasn't feeling so great anymore," Federer told ESPN. "I thought 'This is it, last point man, just go down fighting.'”

But both chances came and went for La Monf. TWO CONSECUTIVE MATCH POINTS... evaporated.

I complacently forgot that the most successful male tennis player of all time stood across the court — and so, apparently, did Gaël.

After that crucial juncture, Roger and Gaël slowly began to reverse not only their quality of play, but also their on-court mannerisms. After conceding consecutive double-faults in the following game, Monfils’ fiery shouts faded

to silent, frustrated submission in the fifth set. Roger, normally reserved, displayed the glares, hollers and fist-pumps often flaunted by his opponent. This identity crisis was perhaps more perplexing than the actual result.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so emotionally invested in a player who was drinking Coke during changeovers, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t add to his mystique.

By the beginning of the fifth set, the fate of the match seemed as good as written. A deflated, rundown Monfils, feeling the weight of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity passing by, seemed little more than a practice partner for a now red-hot and smooth-serving Fed. Turning off the TV before the match’s conclusion to avoid crying the actual tears of a dream dashed, I wondered what Gaël would do.

An avid fan of R&B, I settled upon “Cruisin” by D’Angelo — an ode to what could have been, and yet still could be.

8

SPORTS

The Cavalier Daily

Men’s soccer battles Hokies in Commonwealth Clash After splitting games last weekend, No. 15 Virginia hopes to overcome major injuries, earn victory against upset-minded Virginia Tech Addy Kaushki Staff Writer

Coming off a 2-1 neutral site victory against University of Alabama-Birmingham, the No. 15 Virginia men’s soccer team will host in-state rival Virginia Tech in its ACC opener Friday night.

The Cavaliers (2-1-0) dropped 12 spots in the NCAA rankings after a 1-0, double-overtime loss in the first of two games of the Hurricane Classic against host Tulsa Friday. The team recovered from the setback, the first out-of-conference loss since last season’s opener, with the 2-1 come-from-behind victory against the then-No. 18 Blazers two days later.

“We’re feeling pretty good,” junior midfielder Scott Thomsen said. “The first game didn’t go as we planned, but we fought really hard.”

Virginia Tech (2-2-0) comes to Charlottesville after a 4-1 win against Longwood, snapping a two game losing streak for the Hokies.

Virginia Tech opened the year with a 1-0 overtime triumph on the road against SIU-Edwardsville, the goal coming from junior defender Brad Vorv 97 minutes in. But the Hokies were only able to muster one goal in the next two games while allowing six — first in a 3-1 loss against St. Louis, then in a 3-0 defeat against West Virginia.

Virginia Tech has surprised in recent years at the start of conference play, going 3-1-1 in ACC openers in the last five seasons, the sole loss coming in 2012 against then-No. 1 North Carolina.

Virginia will look to avoid the upset, but a number of early-season injuries — including junior forward Darius Madison and senior

midfielder Eric Bird, who injured his back against Tulsa — do not bode well for the Cavaliers.

“I think [Madison’s] probably not 100 percent,” coach George Gelnovatch said. “If he can put in a good week of training, we’ll consider him for Friday for the ACC opener.”

With multiple major contributors missing, the younger players on the team have had to step up — and they have certainly impressed so far.

“I have to say, they’ve done really, really well,” Gelnovatch said.

“I think we’re playing with five redshirt freshmen in our starting lineup, so we’re pretty young and did very, very well.”

The Cavaliers know rankings mean nothing come game time — especially when they’re playing Virginia Tech. The last four matches between the two teams were all decided by one goal or less — two ties and two one-point wins for Virginia. Although the Cavaliers have not lost to the Hokies since 2005, they know not to take this game lightly.

“I think the last three times we’ve played them it went to overtime, regardless of their record,” Gelnovatch said. “The good news is, we’re at home — that always helps. We just have to be ready for it.”

Everyone on the team has echoed this attitude and the group prepares for a hard-fought battle on Friday night.

“We know it’s a rivalry game,” Thomsen said. “No matter who is on the stat sheet, no matter who is on the team sheet, we know it’s going to be a tough game.”

The Cavaliers have used the unusual 3-5-2 formation to success this season — three defenders, five midfielders and two attackers. Still,

Gelnovatch is not completely sold on the progress.

“As we play, I’ll keep an eye on… the formation,” Gelnovatch said.

“The team has done well in the formation, in particular those three guys [senior defender Kyler Sullivan and redshirt freshman defenders Sheldon Sullivan and Wesley Suggs] in the back. But it’s still new and we haven’t played a game in the conference.”

Who will consistently start in goal — freshman Jeff Caldwell or senior Calle Brown — appears to still be up in the air. Although in a losing effort, Brown notched a

career-high nine saves against Tulsa on Saturday and has earned the start for Friday’s tilt.

“As it stands now, if Calle [Brown] is healthy, he’ll start that game,” Gelnovatch said. “He had a very good weekend.”

During halftime, Virginia will honor the 1989 national championship team — the first title-winning squad in program history. Gelnovatch, who played for the Cavaliers from 1983-86, was an assistant on the 1989 coaching staff.

“Having been a part of it — coaching staff and a lot of those guys, including coach [Bruce]

Arena, being back in town — that will make it a special weekend,” Gelnovatch said. “I’ll see guys that I haven’t seen in a long time that I played with as well.”

The history of the Virginia men’s soccer team has not been lost on its current players.

“With the ’89 team coming in, it’s really something special,” Thomsen said. “They set the standard for us, so we’re trying to add on to that and add some more history ourselves.”

The opening kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at Klöckner Stadium.

Junior midfielder Scott Thomsen played a total of 165 minutes in Virginia’s two games last weekend against Tulsa and UAB, anchoring a Cavalier lineup weakened by injuries to key players Eric Bird and Darius Madison.

Ryan O’Connor | The Cavalier Daily

Women’s basketball releases schedule

Akash Khungar | The Cavalier Daily

Named the 2014 ACC Sixth Player of the Year, junior guard Faith Randolph will lead the Cavaliers into a schedule featuring five teams which were ranked at the end of the 2013-14 season. Virginia will face Louisville, which finished the year at No. 5, and Virginia Tech both at home and away.

The Virginia women’s basketball team released its 2014-15 schedule Tuesday. The Cavaliers hope to improve on their 14-17 record from a year ago, during which they failed to make the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia’s schedule features 17 home games, eight of which will be against ACC opponents. The Cavaliers will also play in eight conference away games, the only overlap between home and away contests coming with Virginia Tech and Louisville.

The Cavaliers’ non-conference

schedule is highlighted by the Dec. 3 matchup against Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Last year, the Cavaliers faced Michigan in the same game and fell 73-53.

Also in non-conference competition, Virginia will host the annual Cavalier Classic in late December.

Davidson, Drexel, and Miami (Ohio) will travel to Charlottesville to compete in the tournament.

Virginia opens the season Nov. 14 when Ohio State travels to John Paul Jones Arena. Tip-off for the season is set for 7 p.m.

— Compiled by Ryan Taylor

Thursday, September 11, 2014

O

9

LEAD EDITORIAL

Forgive, don’t forget

opinion

Student debt forgiveness programs should collaborate more with universities

Comment of the day “I respect what this girl is doing and how she is standing up for what she believes in and is making an effort to make a difference and isn’t letting men treat her the way she sees them treat other girls. It takes a lot of courage for what this girl is doing and making sure everyone knows that everyone is equal and shouldn’t be treated different based on their sex.”

“Kyndell” responding to Victoria Moran’s Sept 8 column, “Treading water.”

The New America Foundation recently released a report which concluded student debt forgiveness programs encourage students to borrow more money, in comparison with an incomebased repayment program.

The study focused on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgave debt after 10 years for students working in the non-profit sector. Such a program could be beneficial in that it would attract students to non-profit work, and would make low- or middle-income students more likely to attend college. However, given the conclusion that debt forgiveness encourages students to borrow more, the negative effect of such a program is that it will decrease a college’s economic incentive to keep tuition costs down. If a student knows his debt will be forgiven within 10 years, he is less likely to consider tuition cost and grant aid programs when choos-

ing a school. If students are not weighing these factors, colleges can effectively charge whatever they please and have no incentive to reduce costs or offer more need-based grant aid packages.

This does not mean that we should eliminate debt forgiveness programs altogether. As previously stated, they can be helpful at a time when the economy is being weighed down by the growing amount of cumulative student debt, and they keep options open for low-income students, because colleges can theoretically keep thriving on the dollars of wealthy students with no consideration for those in other income brackets. And there are other economic factors besides demand that influence tuition costs and the scope of programs like AccessUVa, such as state funding and competitive market salaries for professors.

The solution is that there has to be more coordination between

debt forgiveness programs and colleges. In our previous editorial we suggested states motivate colleges to recruit and aid lowincome students by correlating the public funds colleges receive with the number of low-income students they have enrolled. In a similar fashion, debt forgiveness programs could form partnerships with universities that keep their tuition as low as possible, offer more grant aid to lowincome students and limit the amount of debt students graduate with.

Such a partnership may look like this: a loan forgiveness program could help low-income friendly colleges with recruitment and with career services, departments that are especially relevant to the missions of both parties. With this assistance, the universities could then reallocate some funds to grant programs which would further enhance their own economic di-

versity. This partnership would attract more students to the colleges that graduate their students in better financial situations, so other colleges would be forced to change their practices to win back those students. The partnership itself is also a valuable commodity which colleges could only access by changing practices.

The goal of debt-forgiveness programs is to alleviate a financial burden that too many students struggle with. But to approach the issue only retroactively does not entirely solve the problem. After all, there are some students who never even make it to college because of the fear of student debt, and these students need assistance, too. Colleges also need to be motivated to make permanent changes so we can reach an ideal state of higher education — a state in which these debt forgiveness programs are not needed at all.

The comforts of home The University should follow the lead of its peer institutions and adopt gender-neutral housing policies Opinion Columnist

Last year, I argued that the University needs gender-neutral housing options. With about 140 other colleges — including George Washington University, New York University and the University of Maryland — offering such options, the University lags far behind others in these inclusive policies. It’s now one year later, and we still lack the option. The recent controversy over whether women’s colleges should admit male-to-female transgender applicants (people born into the male sex but who identify with the female gender) underscores the growing presence of transgender persons in college communities. We need to accommodate such University students, and a gender-neutral housing option is one of the best ways to do so.

LGBTQ Americans have seen enormous legal and cultural gains over the past several years. Still, transgender rights have lagged behind those of gay and lesbian Americans. The University has only a handful of students who are openly

transgender—and despite events like Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20), they remain a largely invisible group.

Last Tuesday, Mount Holyoke College, a women’s college in Massachusetts, announced a new admission policy: they will admit transgender women (again, applicants who identify with the female gender but were born with male genetalia).

Women’s colleges have long admitted women and graduated men (the policy traditionally stipulates that legal documentation must identify students as female at the time of matriculation), but Mount Holyoke College — which is one of the prestigious “Seven Sisters” schools — prompts a new level of conversation on this controversial topic.

The Holyoke decision encourages us to think more deeply about how to accommodate transgender students here at the University. Perhaps the most powerful way to improve the daily life of these students is to allow for mixed-gender housing options. Transgender students — who often face discrimination and harassment over their personal appearance, behaviors, or other forms of self-expression — might

have a more difficult time express- suitable. And of course, this would ing their identity in same-sex hous- remain an opt-in process, so no stuing. In fact, these arguments are of- dent who desires a traditional sameten used in favor of gay and lesbian sex living space would be assigned students (who constitute a much the gender-neutral option. larger category). For example, after Some students in residence life the high-profile suicide of Rutgers whom I have spoken to worry that University student Tyler Clementi, gender-neutral areas might become the school found that subsequent targets of anti-gay attitudes and gender-neutral housing helped cre- marginalization. I do not find this ate a more inclusive environment.

Given the dorm’s central role in first year social life, University policies that ignore the housing needs and “Such policy changes, which harm no one, would preferences of LGBTQ students are mean a great deal to the University’s small but not only neglectprominent LGBTQ community.” ful but potentially discriminatory.

So how would gender-neutral convincing. Even at our Southern, housing look on Grounds? Most relatively traditional school, attidorms would remain exactly the tudes toward the LGBTQ commusame, with each floor or suite desig- nity reflect those of the nation (i.e. nated to only one sex. The gender- increasing tolerance, particularly neutral option need not involve among young people). In fact, the entire buildings — a simple floor or Day of Silence (where students absuite could accommodate interested stain from speech for one day in individuals. Gooch-Dillard, with its protest of the bullying faced by LGsuite style rooms, seems particularly BTQ individuals) was initially start-

“

George Knaysi

ed by University students back in 1996 before it turned into a national movement.

Higher education contains too many thriving case studies (for both limited and universal gender-neutral housing) to disregard these options with simple hypotheticals. I do not ask our university to be radical but merely to adopt the more open and democratic policies of so many of its fellow educational institutions.

Taking other American colleges as case studies, it’s clear that student action is the typical catalyst for gender-neutral housing. “Where is the University of Virginia’s gender-neutral housing movement?” I asked in my column last November. I repeat it here with a hope that the recent attention to transgender people might encourage University students to take action. Such policy changes, which harm no one, would mean a great deal to the University’s small but prominent LGBTQ community.

George Knaysi’s columns run Tuesdays He can be reached at g.knaysi@cavalierdaily.com.

10

OPINION

The Cavalier Daily

Carbon clarity The environmental movement should be careful to stick to the facts on global warming Opinion Columnist

Over the summer, Cavalier Daily Columnist Ben Rudgley wrote, “the biggest public policy challenge facing our generation is climate change.”

Fair enough — this is an opinion that many on the both sides of the political aisle share. In particular, the environmental faction within the political left is gaining momentum, both ideologically and financially: Tom Steyer, a San Francisco hedge fund mogul who topped the list of individual donors in the 2013-2014 election cyacle by more than $10 million, gave largely to a slate of environmentally-conscious Democrats. Recently, he has been hard at work getting other wealthy Democrats to join his crusade.

Human beings can undoubtedly wreak havoc on the environment. Dumping toxic chemicals into streams and rivers is bad for our planet, and indiscriminately chopping down South American rain forests is detrimental to our environmental health. Moreover, an international climate treaty — maybe not the Kyoto Protocol, but certainly

a deal that includes the United States, China, India, Brazil, and other bigtime polluters — would go a long way towards solving our generation’s environmental woes.

But I am nevertheless wary of some facets of the movement to legislate our environmental activity,

ment tends to label certain events or trends as products of man-made global warming, when in fact there is no evidence to suggest this is so. For instance, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson gleefully attributed the storm to global warming.

The kicker: Robinson even acknowledged the obvious point that, in his words, “no single weather event can definitively be attributed to global warming.” His response?

The movement tends to label certain events or “If something looks, walks, and quacks like trends as products of man-made global warming, a duck, it’s a duck.” Unwhen in fact there is no evidence to suggest this. fortunately for Robinson, this is not how science works. Hard-core particularly on national, state and lo- environmentalists would probably cal levels (essentially, anything except gain much more credence if they international treaties). I do not hesi- stopped shouting, “global warming tate, as I stated earlier, to accept that caused this!” at every opportunity. polluting our environment is undeEven more egregious than comsirable, but I am hesitant to accept mentators such as Robinson are the all of the policy recommendations of global warming projections that are the climate change movement. the bible of the environmental left.

I am hesitant to do so because the It’s easy to look back and state facts in logic of some environmental activists retrospect (along the lines of stating is fundamentally flawed. The move- facts, maybe it is worth mentioning

“

John Connolly

that global temperatures have been essentially flat over the last 15 years), but it is impossible — and irresponsible — to look expectantly into the future and declare with certainty that something is going to happen. The mid-troposphere has warmed at a rate of 0.7 degrees Celsius per 100 years since 1978, according to instruments aboard NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association satellites. In the same time, an average of 102 climate change “projections” gives a rate of 2.1 degrees Celsius, a 200 percent overstatement. Should we take climate change models seriously? In spite of their inaccuracy, we probably should, as a precaution. But should we really take these models as given fact, and use them to justify sweeping public policy changes and regulations that would harm the livelihoods of millions of Americans? I would hesitate to say yes.

For argument’s sake, let’s say Congress and the President decide, in light of practically apocalyptic environmental projections, to pass a bill banning coal excavation in the United States. What happens? Aside from throwing Appalachia into abject poverty (albeit, parts of it are

already there) and devastating the larger American economy, nothing happens. In just 5 years (2005-2009), China added “the equivalent of the entire U.S. fleet of coal-fired power plants.” That’s not to mention rapid industrialization in India and Brazil and unhealthy energy consumption in Russia. While we pat ourselves on the back, the rest of the world drives ahead undeterred.

This is simply to say that true environmental action will only come on an international scale. In that sense, it is the defining public policy challenge of our generation, for it requires international cooperation on a level rarely seen in today’s turbulent and divided world. Is global warming real? I’m not sure — to quote Charles Krauthammer, I’m an agnostic. I’m not opposed to a healthy amount of environmental regulation. But before we throw everything else aside to regulate our use of the environment, let’s be sure to stick to the facts.

John Connolly’s columns run Thursdays. He can be reached at j.connolly@cavalierdaily.com.

Tides are turning Recent national and local events suggest that the progressive movement is retuning to its core values Opinion Columnist

With President Obama delaying executive action on a watered down version of an already compromised immigration bill, the paralysis of national progressive politics seems fully complete. There’s no denying the past few years have been crushing for the left, but amid the rubble of the Great Recession, there are hopeful signs the left is arriving at a day of reckoning with the Third Way policies that left the progressive movement intellectually, morally and economically bankrupt. From Chicago to Charlottesville, American liberalism is slowly getting back in touch with its soul away from the glare of DC cameras.

New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo might be the natural conclusion of the Democratic Party’s thirty years of selling out. While hiding behind a commitment to social issues like gun control, Cuomo shut down many of New York Mayor Bill De Blasio’s progressive reform projects, refused to allow New York City to set its own minimum wage, slashed spending for children and the disabled and proposed cutting estate, property and corporate taxes. He is, as journalist Eric Alterman states, the “perfect symbol of the transition of American

liberalism from an ideology focused on the standing of working people to one based on issues of social and cultural freedom that do not interfere with anyone’s ability to make money hand over fist without paying too much of it in taxes.” Cuomo is being challenged in the Democratic primary, however, by the extraordinarily named law professor Zephyr Teachout. Where Cuomo seeks to provide a slightly diluted version of conservative ideology, Teachout supports public financing for elections, a “democratic economy,” and unwavering support for immigrant rights. It is unlikely that Teachout will succeed in her bid to defeat the well-funded incumbent, but any support will help derail Cuomo’s ambitions of national office and register backlash to Cuomo’s agenda. In losing, Teachout may still score a win for a progressive movement finally ridding itself of right-wing Trojan horses.

Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel is Cuomo’s ideological bedfellow but finds himself in a more dire predicament. Despite the liberal veneer of working in the Obama White House, Emanuel has implemented a raft of conservative policies, most controversially a program of mass closings for 50 public schools. After years of this aggressive agenda, Emanuel holds a 35 percent job approval rat-

ing and would be very vulnerable to decline with inflation. On the local a primary challenge from Chicago level, municipalities like Seattle are Teachers Union President Karen leading the way on setting baselines Lewis. An unabashed champion of as high as $15. After almost forty public school funding, Lewis is a con- years of de-industrialization and outtroversial figure in Chicago, but the sourcing, the vast majority remaindegree of Democratic primary vot- ing American jobs are unlikely to be ers considering her suggests that the outsourced. Most crucially, these new many Windy City progressives are ready to get back to their roots as champions of working class and poor communities.

Most encouraging of all is the bold grassroots action of From Chicago to Charlottesville, American the “Fight for $15” fast food strikes. Tired of liberalism is slowly getting back in touch with working on or near its soul away from the glare of DC cameras. minimum wage with little to no benefits, employees at McDonald’s and other fast food chains are living wage laws have the potential to demanding decent compensation for be down-payments on a new demothe value they provide. In what the cratic economy.

New York Times called “the biggest This new righteous progressivwave of job actions in the history of ism is taking hold in Charlottesville the [industry],” victories are begin- as well. After decades of aggressive ning to accumulate. Thirteen states “law and order” politics and an inhave raised their minimum wages cessant drive to expand the country’s since the beginning of 2014, and de- penitentiaries, the tide finally seems spite the doomsaying of neoliberal to be turning against slash and burn economists, these states have actually “tough on crime” rhetoric. Led by experienced faster job growth than the Black Student Alliance, a group those states let their minimum wages of students marched on the Lawn

“

Gray Whisnant

last Friday to protest police brutality and the perverse ideology that underpins and enables it. In a sharp break with the insular debates about political correctness and identity politics that have defined much of mainstream campus liberalism since the 1990s, the protesters demanded real accountability and justice in law enforcement operations. Based on the wide coalition assembled and the tangible passion of the demonstrators, there is every reason to hope this could herald a new era for broader University political action.

To be sure, rose-tinted glasses aren’t warranted for examining a progressive movement that has spent the better part of forty years on the defensive. That said, coalitions of average working people are leading the mainstream left away from caring solely about the diversity of corporate boardrooms to instead focusing on the struggles of real people left behind by an often-brutal economy.

National politics may stay mired in malaise and gridlock for a while yet, but in our states and cities, the American left is being reshaped from the ground up.

Gray Whisnant’s columns run Wednesdays. He can be reached at g.whisnant@cavalierdaily.com.

OPINION

Thursday, September 11, 2014

11

The personal odyssey Special experiences, while isolating, can lead to growth and personal exploration Opinion Columnist

At the end of the 1997 film adaptation of Carl Sagan’s science fiction novel “Contact,” the main character — played by Jodie Foster — sits overlooking a grandiose canyon and the vast expanse of the night sky. After experiencing a journey through the galaxy and an encounter with an advanced alien civilization, she is unable to relate to humanity. She is left isolated in her experience and in her knowledge.

As social beings, we process our experiences in relation to those of our peers and the people around us. But what happens when we encounter an opportunity that is beyond what any of our peers have experienced (or are likely to ever experience)? These so-called “special experiences” can be defined as experiences in our lives that most people will never have.

The “Contact” example is a dramatization of a phenomenon observed by a University professor in a recent study about the effects of special experiences on happiness and successful social interactions.

The study concluded, “the benefits of being blessed with extraordinary opportunities do not match the so-

cial costs.” In other words, special experiences can lead to isolation and alienation from our peers, who may experience envy or resentment. The authors argue that special experiences, such as climbing Mt. Everest, meeting the president of the United States or competing in the Olympic

a sand dune in Merzouga, Morocco.

After six weeks abroad, I returned home with a camera roll full of pictures, ten University credits, and recollections of cities and countrysides fantastically different than any place I had ever visited. I spent the summer days learning a new language, tasting exotic foods and relishing in the discomfort that comes from spending extended amounts of time away from my home country.

Despite various experiences of culture shock, Although special experiences can be wandering the streets of potentially socially taxing, they give meaning Chefchaouen — where buildings and streets are and purpose to our lives, and inspire our painted mediterranean action, and thus are worthwhile. blue — is an experience that I would not trade for anything. I Games, while they are exhilarating also have never felt this experience at first, can be detrimental to long- set me apart from my peers in a detterm happiness (in that they put our rimental way. Rather, I have enjoyed position in our community of peers sharing what I learned while abroad, into question). and my stories have been met with Although the evidence in this genuine interest rather than apathy study suggests special experiences or resentment. can be socially taxing, they give An exploration of the “downside meaning and purpose to our lives of privilege” is interesting because and inspire our action. Thus, they it presents a side of the privilege are worthwhile. dynamic that is rarely examined This summer, I watched the sun- or discussed. I was not surprised rise over the Sahara from the top of that the psychologists concluded

“

Mary Russo

privilege can lead to feelings of social exclusion. I would be interested to see what would happen if the experiment were flipped, and the under-privileged or normal side of the situation was examined.

I would imagine that those in an under-privileged position would also cite feelings of exclusion if surrounded by people more privileged than themselves. However, I do not think the findings of this study should prompt people to pursue a more “run-of-the-mill” life. I think most of my friends and peers who have had special experiences such as studying abroad or receiving an award would agree that feelings of isolation (which may or may not occur in real-world situations) pale in comparison to the excitement felt during these experiences.

The word privilege has become an especially charged buzzword: it has appeared in debates about affirmative action, income inequality and access to leadership positions in society. Institutions that support systematic inequality should be questioned, challenged and reimagined.

However, those who find themselves in privileged situations should not shirk away from the opportunities they encounter. For example, if you have the financial flexibility to study in a foreign country, this experience

can be formative and consequential in your life.

In “Contact,” the protagonist took advantage of the opportunity that came her way: to be the first human to encounter extraterrestrial life. She never questioned how she would relate to others who would never have a similar experience. Rather, she had an “out of this world” experience that was meaningful to her in a way that could not be communicated to others. When asked to withdraw her testimony, she refused and described the awe and humility she felt at seeing some of the universe’s most fascinating phenomena.

Special experiences should be met with reflection. Awards and accolades should be met with gratitude. Study abroad experiences should be met with appreciation and perspective rather than entitlement.

To quote Voltaire (and subsequently Spiderman’s Uncle Ben): “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Privilege (in this case in the form of special experiences), despite its negative connotation, can (and should) be a platform for meaningful action.

Mary Russo’s columns run Thursdays. She can be reached at m.russo@ cavalierdaily.com.

Save the schools Higher education should be exempt from budget cuts in Virginia Conor Kelly Opinion Columnist

Due to an unexpected revenue shortfall, the state of Virginia now needs an additional $881 million in budget cuts. Despite previous indications that higher education would be spared across-the-board cuts, it is now clear that the budget cuts announced earlier for state agencies will apply to all institutions of higher education in Virginia, though state funding for student financial aid will remain. The University likely faces a five percent cut in state funding in the next fiscal year and a seven percent cut the year after. For the moment, the impact of these cuts remains unclear as the University considers its options.

Subject to a minimum of two additional years of crippling budget cuts, public higher education faces a distressing future. Though there is a general consensus among political and business leaders on the necessity of improving the state’s education system, the state governance of education has been characterized by a distinct lack of consistency.

Within the past few years alone, the state government has observed the emergence of radical new measures for the financing of public education. Driven by turbulent economic conditions, these changes have generated what appears to be a crisis of leadership in state government. In such a challenging and frequently developing environment, states have struggled to articulate a new vision for public education, one that not only respects its importance but also seeks to preserve its integrity through protective economic policies. In the face of economic difficulty and with insufficient time to develop a long-term vision for education, states have slashed appropriations to public colleges at a record pace. Next year, the University is projected to receive below 5.8 percent of its total revenue from state appropriations, the lowest percentage since 1992.

Despite this consistent cutback in funding, the state administration remains an outspoken advocate of higher education. Indeed, since his campaign Governor McAuliffe has articulated a strong vision for the role of the state in promoting educa-

tion. He has rightly recognized that the influence and leadership unique to the governor’s office places him in a position to promulgate an ideal vision for public education. Indeed, producing an educated citizenry is arguably a state’s — and therefore a governor’s — most serious public obligation.

Though the administration’s rhetoric indicates staunch support for higher education, the state budget fails to adequately reflect that position. Admittedly, the governor’s influence over state policy that reflects his priorities is relatively limited, as the General Assembly possesses the final say on budget measures. At such a critical juncture, however, it seems that more could have been done to include important safeguards for higher education. Moreover, the earlier suggestions given by the administration that higher education would be spared from state budget cuts seem to have been misleading at best.

Across-the-board budget cuts will now apply to all public colleges in the state. Given the gravity of the state’s obligation to produce an educated citizenry, it should seek to pre-

serve its vision for higher education in times of hardship. Making university education a higher priority during budget negotiations would be a significant step in recognizing the economic importance of public education and the state’s role as its steward.

Admittedly, exempting higher education from state budget cuts may not be economically feasible.

For one, the added impact that such a policy would exact on state employees and other agencies would be considerable. The core problem with across-the-board budget cuts, however, is that they fail to recognize that all state programs or agencies are not of equal value; education is critically important.

Furthermore, to make progress in renewing state investment in higher education, the state must consider options for new sources of revenue.

Last year in Minnesota, lawmakers used a combination of tax reforms, including the creation of a new tax bracket, to prevent considerable budget cuts and re-invest substantial resources in higher education.

Continued inaction on Medicaid expansion also prevents the state

from receiving an ample amount of federal tax dollars which would free state funds that could be used for education. Though the method of generating income is a politically contentious topic, procuring the revenue is clearly not impossible.

Education is arguably the most salient domestic policy issue of our time. In an increasingly competitive economy that is now based essentially on knowledge, a college education is a critical gateway to future opportunity; it is a necessary prerequisite for having meaningful career prospects and social mobility. Given this outlook, the state should make a more concerted effort to explore new revenue streams. If the state administration wishes to promulgate a message that stresses higher education’s critical contribution to the state’s prosperity, it should urge the legislature to explore new methods of generating revenue.

Conor Kelly’s columns run Tuesdays. He can be reached at c.kelly@ cavalierdaily.com.

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OPINION

HU MOR

Just for wits.

True facts about my dad Charlotte Raskovich Humor Editor

My dad is 6’9’’. Do you understand how tall that is? Let me give you a hint: I don’t fear death.

My dad has black and grey beard. He doesn’t have a jolly look in his eyes. He has a sleep apnea machine that looks like a vaguely planned and poorly constructed bomb. Every time we go to the airport, he gets randomly selected.

When he was in high school, he was captain of the chess team When he was in high school he made a movie called “Zap of the Zombie” on Super 8 film. He used the free turkey giblets from the grocery store for special effects.

When he was in college, he once pretended to be the professor and no one questioned it.

When he was in college, he ran for class president and the school

board wouldn’t let him use the campaign name “Mad Dog” because they knew he would become too powerful for them to control.

For his campaign, he was granted a blank billboard, which he used to display a dystopian style piece of art. Bozo the Clown is in the foreground, hiding from a pursuing mob in the distance. He is looking at his arm and saying “Me… A Machine!” The arm has wires coming out of it, so you know it’s a robot arm.

My dad could have gone to Harvard Law School on the recommendation of his philosophy professor, but procrastinated on applying.

Now he’s an e c onom ist and tells me how all the lawyers at his work wear lame ties and all the economists wear fun ties. I told my former editor Denise this story and she got upset.

He used to help me write my essays, which was invariably a disaster. This man has been writing economics essays for twenty plus years and was keenly aware of how poorly structured my report on eels was.

When I was a baby, I vomited directly into his shirt at a grocery store. My mom couldn’t see the vomit because it was all under the shirt and she did not know what was up. This one is more about me but the dad fact is that he maintained relative composure.

When I was a kid, we went to one of those mountain resorts that artificially makes its own snow.

My dad’s feet are too big for the skis and my mom is bad at skiing so it was my job to look after my younger brother. We took what we thought was a short cut to the bunny slope but was in actuality the lift to the black diamond slope.

My dad thought I did it on purpose. My fourth grade communication skills couldn’t convince him otherwise. Dad, are you reading this? I did not go up the black diamond slope on purpose. That would be a death wish! I was putting together an overnight survival plan up there when the mountain ranger guy came by and gave us a ride down.

When I was a kid, my mom was in the hospital on Valentine’s

Day, and we brought her pink carnations. In retrospect, this was so gauche. Carnations? Your wife’s in the hospital, man. Spring for half a dozen roses.

He likes The Cranberries.

He likes Larry David. Sometimes we’ll watch Curb Your Enthusiasm together and I’ll notice him acting extra fed up with the world afterwards.

He doesn’t tell dad-jokes.

He loves me and my brother equally, which really means he loves me more. My brother can multiply two digit numbers in his head and I spent grades 6 -12 mouthing off and hiding my progress reports.

He used to show me he loved me by sending me boxes of vitamins and supplements that he would buy on the internet. I didn’t take most of them and now he doesn’t send them any more. I know I probably ruined our relationship with my negligence but you need to understand how big and gross a multivitamin actually is.

Those little pink ones you buy at the grocery store aren’t the real deal. The real deal is the size of something you’d give a horse with a urinary tract infection. I don’t like the way

they smell. I’m sorry, dad.

Charlotte Raskovich can be reached at c.raskovich@cavalierdaily.com.

HAHA HAHA HAHAHAH A HAHA HAHA HA HA

Photos courtesy Google Images

You’ve got nothing to fear Nick Shahbaz Humor Writer

You’ve probably been afraid at some point. I don’t claim to know you, but going on statistics, you probably have the part of the human brain that experiences fear, and it’s probably been active before. The part of the brain that when you're hooked up to an MRI machine and they show you a picture of a skull or a big weird rat lights up, telling you “that’s some scary stuff, dude.” It’s hard to avoid feeling that about a lot of things. All things considered, we’re pretty fragile creatures. Even Vin Die-

sel would probably be pretty badly injured if he were hit by a car or a falling piece of cement.

Probably.

For a moment, consider a mountain. The Blue Ridge range isn’t too far from here, so you’ve probably either been there or at least seen it. Looks pretty tall, right? Well it’s actually a pretty short mountain in the grand scope of things. Mountains like McKinley or Rainier, or the real heavy-hitters like Everest and Kilimanjaro would dwarf those little blue foothills. But if you’ve ever been on top of any mountain, you know that it looks pretty tall when you're a little human looking down. You’ve

probably also been to the ocean.

The ocean is so deep that there are mountains down there taller than Everest that we can’t see because it’s so deep. There’s so much in that immense volume that could really easily kill you.

So it seems pretty rational to be afraid of a mountain or the ocean, and a lot of people are.

My point is that the list of things that can and someday will kill you is so long that it’s incomprehensible. So you’ve got nothing to fear from a mountain or an ocean — no more than you do from driving your car or any of the other things we consider necessary risks. Why not take the next step? Why be afraid of

the infinite void? Space is unfathomably large and full of stuff that could vaporize the whole solar system and there isn’t anything anyone can do about it.

Why worry about that? Why be afraid of impermanence, of ego death, of insignificance? Embrace it the way you do a camping trip or a nice vacation to the beach.

It might be difficult, especially for college kids like us. We’re conditioned to think that everything we do matters a ton and affects everyone everywhere.

And to some extent, that is true.

Every action has consequences.

But most of the time, and I'm talking like 99 percent of the

time, those consequences are too small to really notice all that much. We do shape the world around us, but it shapes us also.

The lines between my actions and yours, my consequences and yours, are very thin, if even there at all. Part of owning up to your actions is admitting when they're pretty much insignificant. This shouldn’t scare you, it should liberate you. If nothing matters, create something that you think does. Learn to love your insignificance. Love the insignificance of others. It’s all we have.

Nick Shahbaz is a Humor Columnist for The Cavalier Daily.

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A&E

14

Fifth record puts group in the red

arts & entertainment

New material from pop-rock juggernauts is lazy, predictable

Vondrae McCoy Senior Writer

After listening to Maroon 5’s latest studio album “V,” listeners may find themselves in an Adam Levine-induced daze.

For some strange reason, Levine is still able to make us delight in his falsetto and his band’s funky tunes. There isn’t anything particularly special about the album — it’s just another album filled with undeniably catchy poprock choruses and melodies.

Many of these songs will probably follow the same path as the album’s lead single “Maps” and chart in the top 10 of the Billboard 100.

The album will most likely sell well, and we will all hear these songs on the radio, in commercials and in the local grocery store.

This rather formulaic process is a sad indictment of a band that once offered an exciting and fresh vibe to

the pop-rock scene. But the successful Maroon 5 singles in the past seven years have been lifeless; they lack a soul.

“It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” from 2007 is the most cohesive Maroon 5 album to date and showcases some of the group's best work — offering tracks that are fun to listen to and impeccably well written.

In 2010, the group introduced “Moves Like Jagger” — a fun-enough song that we all knew the chorus to, but was it actually about anything?

In 2012, the band offered us “Payphone” and “One More Night” to the world's delight. They had fun music videos and the band’s live performance didn’t suffer after almost a decade. Sadly, the songs from “Overexposed” seemed plastic and slightly out of focus. This album also gave us “Daylight” and “Love Somebody” as singles, both which attempted to be meaningful mid-tempo

ballads, but flailed lifelessly in the sea of pop music.

With “V” I braced myself for the worst, mainly because of the most boring and lazy album title ever. I’m still not even sure how to refer to it.

Is it pronounced “five” (like the number) or “V” (like the letter)? The world may never know. This is almost as bad as when Ed Sheeran released an album entitled “+”.

The tracks on “V” completely lived up to my expectations. There are so many that are fun to listen to without saying anything worthwhile. “My Heart is Open” — featuring a duet between Levine and Gwen Stefani — sounds amazing, but lyrically the song is dead on arrival. The chorus is beyond heinous: “If you don’t ever say yeah/Let me hear you say yeah/Wanna hear you say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah/Until my heart is open.”

I shudder. The chorus of the song is more meaningless than every Icona Pop song

to-date.

The song “Sugar” is another track with lazy production efforts. The song strongly resembles Katy Perry’s “Birthday” and is simply unbearable to listen to. The two songs are almost identical. Of course Maroon 5 knew this, and it’s shameful to think that they thought they might actually be able to get away with it.

“Unkiss Me” should’ve been sung by OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder and “Feelings” sounds like a Pharrell song that never quite happened.

Overall, “V” is a solid pop record, with songs that are undeniably funky. The surface of the album’s music is well-polished; Maroon 5 is very confident in their ability to make us sing and dance along. Maybe one day we will see a glimpse of substantive Maroon 5 from 2007. One can only hope.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Courtesy Bing

Top Songs: 1. “Maps” 2. “It Was Always You” 3. “Feelings”

CitySpace arts installation marries environmental issues, creative muscle A&E looks inside the OpenGround Art and Environmental Action Student Scholar’s Exhibit Flo Overfelt Associate Editor

Light pencil etchings of weeds hang midway down a bulletin board.

Insects chirp from behind a quiet “glub, glub, glub” of air bubbles.

These are some of the exhibits on display at CitySpace in downtown Charlottesville — part of the OpenGrounds Art and Environmental Action Student Scholar’s Exhibit, which opened last Friday and will remain on display through Sept. 29.

The three-project exhibit features a collection of four students’ art — though not all of the students are University undergraduates — and is funded by the Jefferson Trust. The experience raises awareness for environmental issues.

“All of these projects have material that is rooted in the environment in some way,” said Arts & Sciences Graduate Erik DeLuca, who created the exhibit “A trace (of my fieldnotes).”

DeLuca’s work consists of a soundboard where viewers can push different buttons and hear sounds from animals and areas within Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park.

“There’s so many different layers and facets to the story that I’m trying to organize all the material to present a complete picture of the situation,” DeLuca said.

Ultimately, however, his exhibit represents just a portion of Isle Royale’s story and highlights some of the events unfolding there through sound.

On the opposite end of both the

exhibition hall and artistic spectrum, Arts & Sciences Graduate student Jon Bellona presents his work: “#Carbonfeed.”

“The objective of #Carbonfeed is to educate its users about the physical infrastructure that supports our online virtual behavior,” Bellona said. “Every time you tweet, every time you post something on Facebook, there’s an actual carbon metric. You are actually generating carbon — from the energy of the device to the energy that the servers use.”

Bellona has placed tubes filled with water in three libraries across Grounds — Music, Clemons and Fine Arts. If somebody tweets “#Carbonfeed,” a puff of air bubbles up through the water to represent the amount of carbon produced by that one tweet. Soft music comple-

ments this intersection of art and technology. “[A] common thread that ties in is trying to make something that is not seen, seen,” Bellona said.

More traditional artwork fills the center of CitySpace: a series of drawings by Architecture Graduate students Gwen McGinn and Rae Vassar aim to illuminate the important and unique ecosystems which surround abandoned human infrastructures like highways and railways. “[Highways and railways] provide habitat [and] species diversity," McGinn said. "[These areas] actually [make up] an amazing biological community that’s often thought of as just weeds, waste or forgotten space.

We found it important to just document it as it is [and] to also express the beauty we see.”

The drawings examine three different plant species surrounding an abandoned railway near Virginia Beach. The plant species are colored differently and stand out against the other flora and fauna displayed to hopefully make sense of the complex biological community in these peculiar locations.

“Our drawings are just meant to … make order out of the chaos on the site,” McGinn said.

The artists hope their exhibits will raise awareness in a distinctive way and help them understand the environment around them, DeLuca said.

“We are [all] trying to make sense of something," he said. "We are trying to make sense of issues that are going on in the world.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, September 11, 2014

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goes out in a whimper Fourth, final season of FX series fails to satisfy Courtesy IMPA Awards

Noah Zeidman Staff Writer

Warning: This review contains spoilers of the show's final season.

The final season of “Wilfred” was said to contain the long awaited answer to the show’s central mystery: Why does Ryan (played

by Elijah Wood) see his neighbor Jenna’s (played by Fiona Gubelmann) dog as an Australian man in a dog suit (played by Jason Gann)?

The season got off to a shaky start.

From its outset, “Wilfred” tended to overuse the “it was all a dream/hallucination” plot device, and the season four premiere is a telling example of this. When a show’s events are consistently re-

vealed to be dream sequences, it’s difficult to become emotionally invested.

In the second episode, however, the mystery begins to unravel.

Ryan and Wilfred explore the site of the illusive “Flock of the Grey Shepard,” a defunct cult somehow linked to Ryan’s late father that may hold the answers he seeks.

This storyline includes some welcome developments in the show’s romantic subplot. Ryan is accompanied by Jenna’s husband Drew, a friendly yet infuriatingly naïve buffoon. In the course of his journey, Ryan inadvertently brings an end to Jenna's and Drew’s relationship. Given Ryan’s perpetual status as the romantic underdog, always longing for a woman he cannot have, this was an altogether satisfying plot twist.

Alas, season four suffers from

a terrible loss of momentum. The entirety of the third episode turns out to be yet another hallucination sequence. The episodes that follow do very little to answer any questions or advance the show’s overall plot. Crude long-running gags, particularly Wilfred’s perverse relationship with a giant stuffed bear, feel stale. Ryan, always a rather spineless character, becomes a caricature. At times the show is hard to watch, as Ryan’s sheer patheticness becomes too cringe-inducing.

The final three episodes are a mixed bag. Wilfred is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given less than a week to live. This genuinely shocking turn of events is, mercifully, not a hallucination.

Jenna rages at Ryan for initially withholding Wilfred’s prognosis, then sleeps with him. Given the

show’s generally complex, compelling supporting characters — Ryan’s mother and sister, ex-girlfriend, and former roommate — it is disappointing and uncharacteristic for Jenna to end up so lacking in agency and reason.

Ryan's and Jenna’s union is fleeting. The manner in which Ryan allows his relationship to crumble is painful. Fortunately, it also sets up an incredibly poignant climax as Wilfred rails against Ryan for jeopardizing his new happiness. As he releases years of pent-up frustration at Ryan’s passive behavior, Wilfred overexerts, has a seizure and falls dead. This sudden death is shocking and profoundly emotional, and the relationship between Ryan and Wilfred ends with no closure.

Jenna, unable to think due to emotional distress, returns to

Drew. Though an obnoxiously predictable turn of events, this allows Ryan to finally take a stand and tell off the woman he has so long idolized. He takes Wilfred’s dying advice and grows a spine, and the exchange is satisfying, if not a bit too little, too late.

The final episode of “Wilfred” lives up to its promise of answering the show’s big mysteries. Some questions — why Ryan sees Wilfred as a man — are given complex, relatively believable answers.

Others are left more open, but this seems appropriate for a show with so profoundly deranged a protagonist as Ryan. In the end it remains as amusing, disturbing and ambiguous as ever — an appropriate send-off for Ryan and his (imaginary) best friend in spite of a season fraught with ups and downs.

Diarrhea Planet brings garage-rock to Tea Bazaar Twisted Branch welcomes punk-minded group for riotous Wednesday show Noah Zeidman Staff Writer

It is around 11 p.m. at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, and anticipation is building. The walls have only just stopped shaking from two thunderous opening bands: Ya’ll, and Left and Right.

Bodies are crammed shoulder to shoulder in the performance area, an unbelievably small space for a hard rock performance.

On stage, only two feet from the front of the audience, stand Diarrhea Planet. These Nashville rockers, in spite of — or perhaps thanks to — their eyebrow-raising name, have experienced a tremendous rise in prominence in the past 18 months, including appearances at SXSW and Bonnaroo. In this far more intimate space, audience members, nearly standing on top of the monitors, are instantly immersed in the band’s energy.

Before the show begins, singer and guitarist Jordan Smith’s ef-

fects board experiences technical difficulties. The rest of the band takes the opportunity to play with the audience, noodling around on “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” and “Semi-Charmed Life” while the sound equipment is fixed. The band has an incredible ability to engage a crowd. Soon, drumsticks and gleaming guitars in hand, they ready themselves.

“I can already tell you guys are going to be rowdy,” Smith laughs, requesting that open beverages stay away from the front where they might damage the electronics. The audience complies, drummer Casey Weissbuch counts off a song — and thus begins 75 nearly-uninterrupted minutes of musical madness.

The magic of Diarrhea Planet, or at least part of it, is their four-guitar approach to riff-filled, hook-driven songs.

On their records, it is not always entirely apparent why the group needs such a large band. Live, one

sees firsthand the technical marvel of four people playing intense moving parts over a complicated

bass line, all propelled by the wildly fast drumming of Weissbuch. The joyous cacophony of four guitarists simultaneously

fret-tapping must be heard to be believed.

From the moment the first song begins, the front half of the crowd erupts into pandemonium. This is the true spirit of a hard rock show: bodies crammed in a tiny space, moshing and crowd surfing to deafeningly loud music.

Members of the opening bands headbang alongside everyone else as DiarCourtesy cmj.com rhea Planet unleashes song after blistering song.

The set is fairly diverse, ranging from early “Aloha!”-era cuts like “Ghost With a Boner” to

fan favorites “Separations” and “Kids” to the brand new “Platinum Girls.” Every member of the band appears to be having a blast.

By the concert’s midpoint, guitarist Evan Bird is standing high atop a stack of amplifiers, as the three members in front play and sing directly into the screaming crowd. Each song bursts with explosive power, both technically tight and mind-blowingly loud.

As the show draws to a close, the band takes a moment to remind the crowd to follow their dreams — if dropping out of college and forming a rock band is what that means, so be it. Another instance of Diarrhea Planet’s outstanding crowd interaction, the advice is warmly received in a room full of undergraduate and graduate students.

Diarrhea Planet is truly an experience. The live performance goes above and beyond their excellent records, and any chance to see them — particularly in such an intimate venue — should not be missed.

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