Find Us on Facebook
Follow Us @MaceandCrown
WEDNESDAY | 4.24.2013 | MaceandCROWN.COM | Vol. 55, Issue 24
BELLIGERENT ODU STUDENT GRANTED BOND By: Derek Page Editor-in-Chief Mace & Crown Old Dominion University student Tyler Bergeron, 20, of Herndon, Va. was the “calm, stereotypical pothead playing acoustic guitar,” something seemingly antithetical to recent charges brought against him. According to a friend, whom wished to remain anonymous, Bergeron had a good heart and always meant well. “He just loved making music and making new friends,” the friend said in a Facebook message. “He was always kind of weird but always a super nice dude. It’s hard for me to imagine him how the police describe him.” Police charged Bergeron with a single felony count of conspiring to commit an act of terrorism on April 10. He was granted a $50,000 bond last Wednesday, April 17. A conviction on the felony charge has a punishment of 20 years to life in prison. Police searched Bergeron’s apartment and found his journal in which he proclaimed himself a “domestic terrorist,” according to the warrant. An affidavit for the search warrant stated Bergeron asked his roommate, a firearms instructor, to get him a concealed weapons permit and assist him with shooting better, the Virginian-Pilot reported. The roommate did not comply. Bergeron’s attorney, William Taliaferro, told the court he was diagnosed with a mental illness and was no longer taking his medications. By his own volition, Bergeron checked himself into the hospital and turned himself into the police. General District Judge Bruce Wilcox ordered Bergeron to live under the close supervision of his parents in Northern Virginia, submit to drug tests and take his prescribed medicine. Bergeron was also banned from ODU campus and from possessing any firearms or weapons. “We chilled everyday since January. He never once brought up shooting anyone. He
WHATSINSIDE NEWS G.I. BROKE FOLLOW UP DOMINION BOOKSTORE Physicians for Peace
A&E TROY LAWSON PROFILE CAMPUS CHAOS NIGHT OF THE IGUANA
SPORTS NBA PLAYOFFS BASKETBALL RECONSTRUCTION was all about peace and love and music,” the friend said. “He would even say a Rastafarian prayer to Jah every time before he would smoke.” Nearing the end of March, he began to dress and act uncharacteristically and told his roommate via the internet he was “gonna start shooting [people] at school” according to a search warrant. Bergeron and his roommates weren’t friends and didn’t speak to each other much, said the friend. “He was just some kid who stayed in his room and played video games all the time and never really talked to Bergeron,” the friend said of Bergeron’s roommate. The friend said Bergeron came over the day before his arrest, behaving strangely and saying he hadn’t slept in days after taking DMT at a Slightly Stoopid concert on March 24. He had cut his hair, shaved his
beard, had writing and symbols on his arms and didn’t look well. He was also frantic and extremely upset over the death of his dog. “He came over and was acting weirder than I’d ever seen him act,” the friend said. Bergeron wasn’t acting violent but showed signs of depression and mania. His friend said he was “laying on my bed bawling then suddenly laughing real hard. I’ve never seen him act like that.” “He just did way too many drugs and believed too much… orbital celestial outer space [stuff]. Dude’s like on a permanent trip,” the friend said. Bergeron’s Facebook displays a cover photo with he and Alex Gray, an American artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art and a practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism. Many of Bergeron’s other Facebook images have psychedelic and Rastafarian themes.
Bergeron also lists on his Facebook having worked as a “warrior” for “The Kingdom of God” and a “minstrel” of the “multiverse,” the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise everything that does and can exist. His religious views say, “Love is my religion.” The friend said the arrest came as a surprise considering how much time they spent together. He figured, in that time, disturbing characteristics would become visible. “[He was] always smiling and preaching universal love and peace and music,” the friend said. “I feel like he was on a bad trip and saying nonsense and the wrong person heard and told the police or something.” Bergeron is no longer an ODU student.
Confucius Institute Opening By: Josh Bray Staff Writer Mace & Crown Old Dominion University, in partnership with the Minzu University of China, held the opening celebration for ODU’s new Confucius Institute at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on April 19, 2013. Old Dominion University is one of only 70 American universities to be a designated Confucius Institute. The new institute will act as a local cultural hub with the main objective of bridging the gap between the two allied countries through joint educational programs that focus on language, learning, and teaching. “We have the capacity to bring the distance of the Chinese and American people closer,” said Old Dominion’s President Broderick. “The greater will be
our common ground and understanding.” The celebration opened with the world premier of “Fantasy on Chinese Melodies” by Old Dominion’s Dr. Adolphus Hailstork, who created the instrumental piece specifically for the opening of the Confucius Institute. Students from the Minzu University of China performed several themed folk dances and other students from the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports in Beijing gave a martial arts performance. “I have had this position for 20 months,” said Professor Fang Maotian, Minister Counselor of the Office of Educational Affairs Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States. “Out of all the institutes I have seen, Old Dominion’s is most impressive.”
Albert Ochagavia’s WNBA DRAFT
OPINIONS EPICURIOUS EATS BIOSHOCK REVIEW ADVICE COLUMN CROWN JEWELS
DINING OUT FOR LIFE
Dining Out For Life is an annual fundraising event supporting Access AIDS Care, a Hampton Roads based HIV/AIDS support and prevention service. This year marks the event’s 10th anniversary and is scheduled for Thursday, April 25. It will involve 80 local restaurants with 20 to 25 percent of the patron’s bill being donated to helping those affected with HIV/AIDS in Hampton Roads. Almost $90,000 was raised from 79 restaurants during last year’s event. ODU OUT will be supporting the effort at Pelon’s Baja Grill on W 22 Street in Norfolk starting at 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.