Spring 2018 News Magazine

M&C SPRING 2018

MAKING MONEY

THROUGH APPS

YOUR NEW FAVORITE BAND:

JUDAH AND THE LION

PARKING AT ODU:

A LOVE/HATE STORY

SPRING OLD 2018

DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT MAGAZINE - EST. 1930

Mace & Crown is a student-run magazine written and published for the students of ODU. Originally founded in 1930 as The High Hat, the paper became The Mace and Crown in 1961. Mace & Crown is primarily a selfsupporting magazine, maintaining journalistic independence from the university. All views expressed in this collegiate magazine are those of the author, not of the university, Mace & Crown or the editors.

EDITORIAL BOARD

GRADUATING SENIORS OF THE MACE 2018 Alex Scruggs News Editor

Audra Reigle

Technology Editor

Brittany Reigelsperger Sports Editor

EDITOR-IN- CHIEF

SPORTS EDITOR

JULIANNA WAGNER

BRIT TANY REIGEL SPERGER

editorinchief@maceandcrown.com

sports@maceandcrown.com

COPY EDITOR

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

BRIEL FELTON

GUILLERMO RIVER A- HERNANDEZ

bfelt004@odu.edu

grive006@odu.edu

NEWS EDITOR

GR APHIC DESIGNER

ALE X SCRUGGS

BR ANDON HARRELL

news@maceandcrown.com

bharr003@odu.edu

A&E EDITOR

SOCIAL MEDIA DIREC TOR

LINDSE Y L ANHAM

EMILY ROGERS

artsandentertainment@maceandcrown.com

social@maceandcrown.com

PHOTOGR APHY EDITOR

CREATIVE ENCL AVE

TAYL A MALLORY

BRIEL FELTON & PATRICIA REESE

photo@maceandcrown.com

bfelt004@odu.edu prees001@odu.edu

TECHNOLOGY EDITOR AUDR A REIGLE

ADVERTISING & BUSINESS MANAGER BE VERLY MOODY

technology@maceandcrown.com

advertising@maceandcrown.com

SENIOR WRITER ADAM FLORES

STAFF WRITERS JA Z ZMYN BR ADLE Y JAMES FINNE Y

IN THIS ISSUE SPRING 2018

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT 4

Strawberry Fields

6

World of Reptiles

10

Judah and the Lion

14

Local Heroes

16

Deep Water, Hot Fire

SPORTS 18

The Ultimate Athlexec

19

Football’s New Season

NEWS 20

Parking at ODU

22

Pride of Lions

CREATIVE ENCLAVE 26

Coffee With a Stranger, Pt. 2

28

Small Deaths

29

Rosy Apple

30

Air Force One

32

Eden

33

Plucked from the Earth

BROOKE NICHOL SON

TECHNOLOGY

FATIMA RIVER A

STAFF PHOTOGR APHER K AELEN WILLIAMS

facebook.com/ maceandcrown

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twitter.com/ maceandcrown

SPRING 2018

linkedin.com/in/ maceandcrown

instagram.com/ maceandcrown

maceandcrown

34

Making Money through Apps

36

Fake News in Social Media

37

Competitive Gaming

39

‘The Evil Within 2’

Courtesy Strawberry Fields

‘STRAWBERRY T

he coolest thing about Strawberry Fields isn’t just the gelato, but also its ode to The Beatles. Located on 1510 Colley Ave., the independent business named after the 1967 record, “Strawberry Fields Forever,” specializes in homemade gelato, fresh fruit smoothies, juices and acai bowls.

hazelnut butter, pistachio butter, all of the mix-ins, the cobbler toppings, everything is made from scratch. It’s an all-natural product and we use a couple different sugars because some absorbs water better, and some sugar is sweeter.

It’s whole milk, heavy cream, sugar and then a lot of deliciousness on top.”

Strawberry Fields may be tiny in size, but definitely not in flavor. The gelato is made with 100 percent fresh ingredients and you can taste the love in every bite.

The owner Heather Wynn takes pride in the use of all-natural ingredients, spending the time to make sure each fruit and vegetable are perfectly ripe to make a wonderful and delicious product.

The flavors are always changing at Strawberry Fields and Wynn says that’s what makes it fun. With different flavors like strawberry cobbler, ooey gooey cake, lemon meringue pie, banana pudding and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it’s hard to just pick one. Which might explain why there’s a pick-two option.

When asked about the process for the handmade gelato Wynn said, “It starts with really great ingredients. We have a stone nut grinder, we make our own

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Wynn and her husband plan on expanding the business in the future. “My husband is a business major, he never really pictured having one tiny shop on Colley Avenue. We’ve looked at a couple

different places, nothing has been the right fit yet.”

While the search is definitely in motion, Wynn said “I love having this tiny little shop and just kind of cranking out as much gelato as I possibly can from this tiny little space. That’s kind of why we renovated last year. I was like ‘well if we just got a couple inches here, a couple inches there we could make this much more gelato. Put another freezer in, but I think we’re maxed out now. We have not found the spot yet but we’re definitely thinking about it, and we have a mobile unit now so we can do some pop-ups.”

Though the business is small, it’s heart is gargantuan. “We keep a small staff,” Wynn said. “We’re like family, it’s nice.

I think that everyone that comes in appreciates that feeling of like, ‘this is a truly small business.’ I’m always in here with my children, and [the size] is one of my favorite things about it.” Strawberry

MACEANDCROWN.COM

FIELDS FOREVER’ Darryan Miller

Fields maintains a home-y and fresh atmosphere that caters to all ages.

When asked how Strawberry Fields lures customers in during the colder months, Wynn mentions that they started serving hot chocolate but attributes the success to having an amazing product. “If you’re serving something that people legitimately can’t get enough of then they’re going to come out even when it’s snowing. I mean, when we had that foot of snow we were closed a couple days, I think when the snow hit it was like a Wednesday or Thursday, and by Saturday I was like ‘I’m kind of bored and I bet everyone else is too, we’re kind of like a neighborhood situation, let’s just open and see.’ There were enough people to be worth being open and people were happy we were here. So, I think it’s just a testament to how good the gelato is,” she said.

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As mentioned before, the name of the shop is dedicated to the Beatles. A painting of the band singing while holding up an ice cream cone on a psychedelic bus in a field of strawberries hangs on a wall.

“My husband and I are big music fans and Strawberry Fields was a way for us to nod to our love of music, but obviously it’s suitable for a smoothie and gelato shop as well. We had this painting done for our fifth anniversary last year, we have this illustrator and she does such an awesome job. My husband was like ‘let’s just do it. Let’s put them on the wall. It’s so obvious.’ Everybody always asks ‘is it a Beatles thing?’ And we’re like, yeah it’s definitely a Beatles thing,” Wynn said.

thing for me is that things taste good.”

She also notes that gelato is half the fat of ice crewm, “Ice cream is like 20 percent fat and gelato is six to nine percent fat. So, it’s not the worst thing in the world. If you want to treat yourself, it’s natural, it’s delicious and it is a frozen treat at the end of the day, but if you’re talking about half the fat of something else it’s kind of good.”

There’s something for everyone at Strawberry Fields. Whether you want to indulge in the creamy deliciousness that is the house-made gelato or have a quick refresher with their smoothies, your sweet tooth will definitely thank you.

While gelato is healthier than ice cream, Wynn says that Strawberry Fields is taste first. “We happen to have healthy items that taste good but the most important

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There’s a snake on the ground.

WELCOME TO VIRGINIA ZOO’S

WORLD OF REPTILES (AND FRIENDS)

Lindsey Lanham

It sits about two feet tall and 67 feet long. Its brightly colored scales shine Wn the sunlight. It’s in parts, not yet all screwed together and Greg Bockheim stands at its head, smiling.

Thankfully, it’s just a sculpture.

“Yeah, we’re crazy excited about it,” Bockheim, the executive director of the Virginia Zoo, says, referring to the massive snake. “There’s only one other snake this large in the country.”

Once fully assembled, the fake rhinoceros viper will sit under an oak tree next to the house in the plaza area. It will be there to admire and to take pictures with. Children will be able to climb on it and play. Then, once they’re done, they can go see the real thing inside Virginia Zoo’s newest attraction, World of Reptiles (and Friends).

the reptile house. There’s even a multipurpose room and a frog lab for guests to see more behind the scenes action.

“I think when I counted there will be over 100,” Dennis McNamara, lead reptile keeper, says, talking about how many species of animals there will be in the new house. He sent Bockheim a file with around 90 species that he wanted in the new building. McNamara expected to get about 30 but ended up with over 60.

All of the current residents of the reptile house are in quarantine, waiting to be moved over to their new homes.

but durable, and this particular tree is designed for geckos.

“I’m making a tree,” Vandyke explains, gesturing towards the figure covered in gray cement. “So this is going to be for leaf tail geckos. There’s going to be vines that they can hang off of too.”

“The cool thing is, depending on what the animal is, that you’re putting all of these different textures in like logs and artificial and real trees, you’re increasing the animals paths in their habitat. You’re creating the most natural environment by embedding all these things,” Bockheim says.

Each new exhibit is specially built to reflect the animal’s needs and wants and the environment that the species originates from. It’s equipped with special terrain and every exhibit has a heat lamp set to a specific temperature for the animal. Each exhibit will have artificial vines and trees to help simulate a home for the animals living in them.

“We try to plan according to what they need,” McNamara says. He opens a display that will soon house Hermann’s Tortoises. These animals are used to living in areas where they can burrow. “It’s going to be somewhat realistic,” McNamara explains how he has an exhibit designed for the

“Oh, here’s some action,” Bockheim jokes, gesturing towards someone painting.

tortoise to sit and hide under a rock, but so that visitors can still see the tortoise.

The project has taken about two years to plan and build and over 2.6 million dollars to complete. Now, opening day is scheduled for the first week of June, just in time for the summer holiday.

The original reptile exhibit was constructed in 1974, and now the new renovation expands the building to 13,000 square feet. The expansion will also allow the zoo to double the number of animals that were housed in the original exhibits.

All photo by Maggie Giordano

Most of the work is just renovation.

Bockheim explains that the original building was structurally sound, which worked in their favor. Most of the work was gutting the old building and remodeling it.

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Now the space is more open and inviting for guests, featuring more space for events to be held and a plaza with a restaurant for visitors to eat and hang out. More features include new areas for kids to play on and giant statues of some of the animals that will be located inside

MACEANDCROWN.COM

SPRING 2018

Angie Vandyke, a volunteer at the zoo, is caught painting cement on styrofoam. She’s recreating some trees that the zoo had ordered that were too big. The decoration is lightweight

McNamara also has each exhibit to be hand-misted every day. “I like hand-misting because you have to look at the animal to do it,” McNamara explains.

“You can hand fix things as you go, on the spot. It takes a little bit more time, but in the long run, you actually know what the

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As visitors walk further down the hallway, where the floor is now covered in sawdust but will soon be cleaned to show a nice chocolate color, they will encounter many different species of frogs, snakes and even tarantulas.

Dennis McNamara stands next to a future exhibit.

heck is going on.” This also helps animals who need a more moist climate to live comfortably.

Each exhibit is designed with change in mind. Nothing is put in permanently, in case the species going in the display changes or if the team doesn’t like the way it looks. This allows the team leeway in deciding which animal is going where.

At the very beginning of the house will be the King Cobra. The snake is what visitors will first see when they walk in.

From there, the house goes down a long hallway filled with windows on either side that allow visitors to see each animal in their individual exhibit.

All photos by Maggie Giordano

The hallway leads visitors to more exhibits in an open area. There are two separate exhibits built for animals like turtles who need space with water and land. The animals are given space to enjoy water and rocks to climb up on when they’d rather be on land.

and projects hands on. The windows are low enough so kids and people in wheelchairs can see the animals as well.

“There’s way more education opportunities now, too. With all the signage and the different ways to interact with the keepers, it gives people more of a chance to see what’s going on behind the scenes. I think that’s going to be a really cool aspect that people are going to be able to interact with,” says Ashley Mars, marketing manager of the Virginia Zoo.

One of the bigger exhibits that sits behind the new turtle areas, is a seethrough room for Siamese crocodiles.

There’s a new holding room that one crocodile will be trained to enter when it’s feeding time. The room has a window so visitors will still be able to see the crocodile, even when separated from the other.

Not only is the house attractive, but it is home to conservation efforts as well.

Bockheim explains that the zoo will be continuing their breeding programs and also a turtle conservation program, helping breed a local species of turtle. The zoo often works with the Elizabeth River Project to teach people about the local species.

“Bog turtles are little turtles that are highly endangered. We are one of two zoos that’s bred them in the country, but they need to be exposed to the natural climate and conditions because they are from here. They are very small, so we’ll

The hallway continues to lead past new exhibits, some built for more snakes, some built for monitor lizards. It leads outside to an open area that will eventually be converted to a greenhouse area.

Vines will eventually run across the ceilings for sloths.

As visitors walk on, they will find the monkey exhibits. The different monkey species will have exhibits inside that lead to the outside through a small opening in the wall. In the past, once the temperature dropped low enough, the monkeys were forced to come inside. Now, they will be able to choose where they want to be.

It’ll take around three weeks for all of the animals, new and old, to be moved into the World of Reptiles when it’s finished, but McNamara is thrilled for the new house.

“I’d have to make a list,” McNamara laughs when asked what new species he’s most excited for. “Basically, I would say that I’m excited for all of them.”

The new additions range from frogs to crocodile monitor lizards. A new species of toad, the Suriname toad, gives birth from its back. “Those are one of the most exciting to me so far,” McNamara says.

“When I pulled them out of the box I thought, ‘Wow, these things are crazy.’”

Each new addition to World of Reptiles will make the Virginia Zoo shine even more. The layout and design of the reptile house will appeal to visitors of all ages. Even those who don’t particularly enjoy the “creepy and crawly” will be intrigued by the exhibits that will be put on display. Not to mention, the reptiles will be pretty happy with their new homes as well.

There will also be some new venomous snake additions including the rhino viper and mangshan viper. “They’re just bigger and newer,” McNamara says.

One of the attractions that come along with World of Reptiles is the new “defining moments” feature. This allows keepers to directly interact with the visitors, giving attendees the opportunity to learn more about the different species

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have them in troughs. It’ll be hard to see them, but we’ll have graphics that explain everything,” Bockheim says, looking at an area that leads outside. It’s a new exhibit, designed for the bog turtles.

Don’t miss World of Reptiles (and Friends) when it opens in June 2018.

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Future Siamese crocodile exhibit.

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T

YOUR NEW FAVORITE BAND:

JUDAH AND THE LION

Lindsey Lanham

he floor is sticky with alcohol as the crowd jumps up and down.

All 1,500 bodies are tightly packed, exchanging body heat, blinded by the lights flashing on them. The couple on the balcony that has been making out the entire show has stopped, attention now directed towards the band on stage.

Judah Akers has sweat dripping off his chin. His hair is messy and sweatdamp. He looks like he just ran a marathon, but he’s only been on stage for about an hour now. The band keeps playing behind Akers as he steps up to the microphone, smiling, and sings, “How am I supposed to slow it down so I can figure out who I am?”

The sold out crowd at The NorVa cheers loudly, making it sound as if there were even more people in the room.

Akers smiles as he continues singing. He has his band backing him up and the crowd dancing with him, and after seven years of being together, they finally are getting the attention they deserve.

Originating from Nashville, Tn., Judah and the Lion met at Belmont University. The group is made up of lead vocalist Akers, Brian Macdonald on mandolin and Nate Zuercher who plays the banjo. The band started off as a Christian band and their first release “First Fruits” was an EP of six Christian praise songs.

“When we first got started, we released a worship music EP that Judah had written,” Zuercher said in an interview before the show. Since then, Judah and the Lion have matured and

evolved, now creating music that appeals to a broader audience. “We just didn’t want to get stuck in the Christian music bubble. We wanted to make music that’s more ourselves.”

“We’re able to talk about all other aspects of our lives too, the good, the bad, the ugly,” Zuercher said. “But we’re always bringing it back to the idea of hope, that everything that can work out will work out.”

Akers is jumping around on stage wearing a “Belmont Mom” t-shirt over another long sleeve shirt. Zuercher is on his left in a baseball cap and a white shirt with matching white track pants.

Macdonald is on the other side of Akers in a bright orange striped shirt and black pants with white splotches.

Judah and the Lion don’t look the least bit intimidated by the sold out crowd and their happiness is evident by their smiles every time they look into the crowd. They’re finishing up the song “Hold On,” an older track that the audience still adores if their cheering is anything to go by.

The release of “Kids These Days” in 2014 is when the band really started to build their current fanbase. The album hit No. 2 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” chart and No. 4 on the Folk Albums chart. It marked the beginning of a new era for Judah and the Lion, one of bending genres and finding their voice as a band.

In 2016 Judah and the Lion released “Folk Hop N’ Roll,” along with the single “Take It All Back.” The single was certified gold and signaled the onset of the band’s rise to fame.

The album proved that Judah and the Lion understood music in a different way. The group managed to find a balance between rock, hip hop and folk music. Hit single “Take It All Back,” is a sort of conglomerate of these genres, giving listeners the opportunity to hear what exactly “folk hop n’ roll” is.

A little over a year after “Folk Hop N’ Roll,” the group released a deluxe version of the album which included four new tracks two of those being “Suit and Jacket” and “Take It All Back 2.0,” a new version of the song off “Folk Hop N’ Roll.”

Judah and the Lion have been touring in support of “Folk Hop N’ Roll” for a while now, going from opening for bands like Twenty One Pilots to headlining their own shows. Zuercher explains that’s been surreal going from playing in front of a couple hundred people to over a thousand every night.

Judah and the Lion’s hard work at genre-bending and layering are paying off in more than just venue size and attendance.

Judah and the Lion were nominated for Best New Artist and Alternative Rock Artist of the Year at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards and won Best New Rock/Alternative Rock Artist. “Can’t really believe it,” Zuercher said, laughing. “I don’t know how we got here.”

“It’s our first real big award,” Zuercher continues. “We’re still sort of breathing in that reality. It’s pretty incredible.”

In front of the crowd, Akers takes a few minutes, sweat-drenched and

Akers performing during “Going to Mars.”

Photo by Maggie Giordano.

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panting to address the crowd. He speaks of unity and hope, telling the crowd they can do whatever they want with their lives. “Go out. Pursue your dreams,” he tells them. “That’s why we’re on this tour and that’s why we wrote this song,” he finishes, letting the opening notes of “Going to Mars” ring loudly in the theatre.

The song is a new favorite, littered on every alternative radio station in the area. It’s their second single off of “Folk Hop N’ Roll (Deluxe),” and was an instant crowd pleaser. The front row all hold up signs that read the same thing: “Thank You” in capital letters, with the planet Mars taking place of the “o” in “you.”

“Going to Mars” is a song about being able to do what you want, no matter what people say. The banjo complements the mandolin as Akers sings an anthemic “Cause we can do anything we want / We can do anything, it’s who we are.”

Towards the end of the song, Akers makes his way to the center of the audience. He has a stool that he stands on, only putting him about a foot above the crowd. As he stands in the middle of the crowd, singing with the audience, there is no longer a barrier between band and fans. For a minute, it was just everyone singing the same words.

“Tonight’s one of those nights I never want to end,” Akers, now back on stage, tells the crowd, who cheer encouragingly. The show’s coming to

an end and everyone knows it. Akers leads his band to start their final song of the night, “Water.”

Before the song fully starts, Akers takes a minute to give three rules to the audience. The first being to eat more chocolate, the second to be kind to people and the third “please listen to more Judah and the Lion,” Akers says, smiling.

Years after starting as that quiet band from Belmont University, Judah and the Lion can now confidently enjoy their success. The group has managed to sell out venues like The NorVa and 9:30 Club and now everyone is waiting to see what the trio is going to do next.

“Yeah trying to find rest is always a challenge,” Zuercher laughs, addressing their tour schedule. “After we get off this tour we’re going to be able to put a lot of time and energy into a record without having to be on the road.”

“We’ve had a nutty tour cycle over the last couple of years, on the road all the time. But we’re going to put a lot of thought, time and energy into this next record,” Zuercher said.

It’s quiet now in The NorVa. The crowd has left with the exception of few who are still finishing up their night. Empty cups once filled with beer litter the ground. It’s a strange parallel to the music and dancing that overtook the theatre only hours ago.

But the crowd left that night with a new experience, a new thought that maybe this little band from Nashville does roar after all.

Zuercher performing.

Photo by Maggie Giordano.

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“The first time was so crazy that it was wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder. The second time we did a ticketing process where the ticket was free but you still had to sign up to get a ticket. It gives us an idea of what to expect,” Thompson said.

On top of “Ladies Night,” Free Comic Day and Black Friday sales are other major events that help increase store sales and bring new customers who have an interest in the different genres “Local Heroes” provide. They also host an annual Halloween party where people show up for costumes and show off the work they put into them. They also have sales on certain days throughout the year.

YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD

COMIC BOOK SHOP

With the rise in production of superhero movies since 2008, an assumption is made that the success of the movies would also help increase the sales of their respective comics.

A

t the Historic District of Ghent, squished between Cogan’s and Cafe Stella is a small store where different worlds collide and colors bounce off from every corner as soon as the door opens.

Their identity? Local Heroes.

Established in December of 2008, Portsmouth native Greg Thompson returned to the Hampton Roads area after attending Virginia Tech and living in Wilmington, NC. Thompson’s interest for comics first began with the 1986 sitcom “ALF,” where he grew to love the show and found a love for the books.

Hanging in his office is the cover of an “ALF” comic book, as well as a “Wolverine #1” cover right next to it.

“I was hooked from then. I’ve been a die-hard fan since I was 10 years old,” Thompson said.

While the walls of the store are lined with comics from many different presses, Funko Pop! figures and collectible items are placed throughout the store, giving customers an incentive to walk to

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the back and explore the graphic novels from horror to “based on a true story.” poster boxes and racks of plush toys from popular shows and books.

With a full-time manager and a good part-time staff interacting with customers, Thompson’s responsibilities are more behind the scenes involving bookkeeping, inventory and stocks for the store. When it comes to ordering more books, he has to be precise in the numbers, due to comics being sold on a non-refundable basis. On the rare occasion, the numbers do get messed up, which leads to him selling the surplus at events like Free Comic Book Day or Black Friday sales.

Before knowing what to order, Thompson has to weed through 400 titles a month and single traditional comics, where he determines what his current and potential customers like and what would be able to sell.

The average demographic for the store is between 22 to 50-year-old males with

the occasional child coming in with their parent. However, Thompson said that there has been an increase of female customers in the past five years.

Because of this, the store pushes to be more inclusive and make them feel more comfortable in a comic book store. An event that the store hosts in an effort for diversity is “Ladies Night.”

“I feel like women read more than men. Women are readers so there’s no reason they’re not going to be comic book readers. So I’m trying to get the word out like ‘hey this is a safe space for women, for gays, for lesbians for anyone that feels they don’t feel served by the comic book store doors that they’ve been through before,’” Thompson said.

“Ladies Night” takes place two to three times a year at the store. It consists of ladies drinking wine or beer and talking about comics among each other. No men are allowed at any of the events in order to give a more comfortable feeling with not just fellow attendees but with the store itself. A close estimate of 100 or more women shows up to each event.

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However, that is not the case. As those flourish, and new content on streaming platforms like Netflix bring out their take on the genre, Thompson said there is a disconnect between the two. When the release of “Black Panther” reached the billion mark for the box office, only one or two people would come out and show interest in the comics. The things that increase interests are the things no one has heard before like “Scott Pilgrim” or “Saga,” which had customers continuously buy issues for.

As more genres come out and catch the interests of many people. Local Heroes will continue to provide the books and other miscellaneous items to every customer. They also have their own press and publish comics that can be found in stores and online on their website.

All photos by Fatima Rivera

FATIMA R IVERA

“There’s comic fans and they’re not going away. We tend to want to create more comic fans and there’s books that do that,” Thompson said.

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luck, it put Li exactly where he needed to be to pursue his passion.

“Eventually I got the chance to follow a few very good artists, masters. I just learned from them, and it was pretty solid training,” Li says.

These artists were mostly from the city as well. They were high school art teachers and known painters who found themselves in the same spot as Li and his family.

After five years of life in the country, Li’s father sought permission to move back to the city, and that permission was granted. Li was now living in the city of Shijiazhuang, not too far away from Beijing. However, things in the city weren’t much better than in the countryside.

There was little access to work in Chinese cities. The economy was in tatters, courtesy of Mao Zedong’s “Great Leap Forward” in the 1950’s, an unrealistic economic catchup movement designed

by Mao in the late 50’s that ended up failing in spectacular fashion, and the current Cultural Revolution that put most economic activities to a standstill.

Courtesy Shaomin Li

DEEP WATER, HOT FIRE: SHAOMIN LI’S JOURNEY FROM ARMY PAINTER TO ODU PROFESSOR JAMES FINNEY

S

haomin Li was 12-years-old when Mao’s government moved his family from Beijing to the countryside. It was punishment for his father, an outspoken intellectual and part of the Chinese government.

It was 1969, and things were changing in China. Mao Zedong, the leader of the communist party of China, was trying to transform the land and minds of the people. He was starting a revolution. A revolution that, in his opinion, would be carried by the will of Chinese farmers and workers.

Dissenting opinions had no place in Mao’s vision and neither did education.

Li was only in third grade when he was taken out of school.

“It was the time of the Cultural Revolution,” Li says, in between sips of coffee.

“Mao just said, ‘you all have to leave Beijing and go to the countryside.’”

For his part in the revolution, Li found himself on a poultry farm, feeding veg-

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The Chinese economy was at its bottom in the ‘70s, and young people had very few working opportunities at their disposal. etables out of a bamboo basin to ducks and chickens. Every day he found himself working in damp and dirty duck huts, a ripe target for the critters and dangers that lived in the countryside.

“I would see these black clouds headed towards me, mosquitoes. They would land on my arms, and that’s when I learned that if you tensed up, they couldn’t pull their needles out of you.

So I would just smash tons of them.”

Things were bleak, but life in the country wouldn’t stop Li from pursuing his passions.

“I basically did three things: fight mosquitoes, try to read a little bit and paint,” Li says.

While his experience as a veteran mosquito fighter hasn’t quite paid off yet, Li’s early persistence in those days certainly has. Today, Li is sitting in his office in Constant Hall on campus, where awards for teaching and business research hang off the walls by his window.

On the other end of the room, a lithograph done by Li hangs on the wall, next to a cozy leather chair covered in blankets. The print depicts a huddle of Tibetan children hanging out by a window, staring out at him.

The inspiration for the piece came to Li on a trip to visit the Dalai Lama of all people. He found himself in a Tibetan Children’s Village in India, a village for Tibetans orphans sent to live outside of their homeland and away from the oppression of the Chinese government.

“I visited them and they rushed to the window to see me. I said, ‘Look at those children. They have a bright future if they get a chance.’ They were just like me,” Li says.

Li had learned lithograph printing from another professor at ODU, but he had been painting since he was two years old. It’s been a passion of his from the start. And while his family’s sentencing to the countryside had a put an early end to his formal education, in a stroke of

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One of the better choices was joining the army.

“Joining the army was the best thing young people could do for themselves.

At least you would have food. You might even have a career. However it was also pretty competitive,” Li says.

The path to joining the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was shrouded in nepotism. Recruits would have to make use of whatever resources , connections and skills they could to find themselves a place in the PLA. Li, however, had something the army needed. He was a skilled artist.

“The PLA needed a lot of artists to praise Mao and do propaganda work.

So, when they went recruiting, they had quotas for artists,” Li says.

Three individual army units reached out to try and enlist Li. He chose the unit stationed at Shijiazhuang so that he could stay where he was.

In the army, Li was provided with a place to sleep, food and a certain amount

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of comfort. As an artist, his barracks even provided him with more room than the average soldier got.

Despite having been forced to move to the countryside as a child, despite the shortages of food across the country and even in spite of his own demotion in the army for having “bourgeois tendencies,” Li firmly believed in Mao Zedong and the communist party at the time.

Li takes another sip of his coffee. He squints his eyes, reflecting on his life in China, “It’s a truly Orwellian society.

The distortion of history and truth. They were doctoring and changing photos before Photoshop existed.”

Things started to change after Mao Zedong’s death, however. Mao died on Sep. 9, 1976, when Li was 19. Within a week, the PLA commissioned Li to paint a massive portrait of Mao in black and white.

The entire country was thrust into mourning, but Mao’s death would soon grant Li an opportunity. Free of Mao’s influence, the communist party began to reinstitute certain practices that Mao was never very fond of, like education for starters.

The army was looking for people to send to college, and Li was planning to be at the top of that list.

“I would have loved to go to an art college, but I was in the army. They said they had to approve what college I could go to. There was no art. I could only apply for econ at Peking University. That was the best. They taught history at another university, Chinese and then medicine at another,” Li says.

Li took to his studies with aplomb, teaching himself four years of high school in mere months. He got first pickings when it came time to be sent off to school, and Li chose to study economics.

The Marxist doctrine was part of Li’s curriculum at Peking University, and while he was there, he discovered that he hated it.

In 1985, Li was studying in America.

He was pursuing a masters degree, and slowly but surely, his relationship with the China he knew had started to deteriorate.

By 1989, Li had earned a doctorate in business and had begun publishing

articles criticizing the communist party of China.

Mere months before the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Li produced a piece for the Wall Street Journal called, “Taiwan was Right Along.” The piece lambasted the Chinese government for its abuse of human rights and the poor conditions that many of its people were forced to live in.

Li was taking a stand for what he believed was right. He didn’t realize it then, but his body of work was beginning to catch stares.

By 2001 Li was an American citizen, teaching in Hong Kong, but he hadn’t escaped China’s radar.

Li can’t help but laugh about it now, “It was 12 years after I had published the article. They came to tell me it was me who was wrong.”

The government simply picked up Li at a border-patrol station one day and kept him under arrest for six months.

There was an outcry. The Wall Street Journal started to reproduce Li’s articles in protest. Li’s daughter wrote a letter that eventually its way to President George W. Busch and the House of Congress demanded Li’s release. The New York Times as even covering him.

China was under a lot of pressure from a lot of different angles. So, they let eventually let Li go.

Li’s willingness to speak out against injustice made him a target, but it’s also what saved him in the end. Had he not made a name out of fighting for what was right, no one might have ever heard of him.

Today, Li teaches at ODU, a ways away from the dangers of his earlier life. However, his trials still fuel his desire not only to pursue his passions but to teach, profess and pass on his experiences.

“I think it’s good for our students to have some inspiration. If I can overcome that much, they can overcome whatever it is they’re facing,” Li says. “Don’t underestimate your own potential. Ever.”

If you are interested in seeing some of Shaomin Li’s work, collections of work from his time in the Chinese Army are available for viewing at the Chrysler Museum of Art until June 24.

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The founder and chairman at BodyArmor, a sports drink brand that Bryant provided capital for back in 2014 once stated, “Text at 3 in the morning and he responds a minute later, that’s when I realized he was psychotic and invested in the business as I was.” If Bryant can take his work ethic that allowed him to succeed in the NBA to boardrooms and executive offices, it is safe to say he will become a force in any industry.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant walks down the court during the first half of Bryant’s last NBA basketball game, against the Utah Jazz, Wednesday, April 13, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Express Web Desk (Indiana Express) Now to highlight Bryants sport accomplishments. Kobe Bryant began establishing records within his first couple of years in the league. In 1998 at the age of 19 he became the youngest starting AllStar in NBA history. He was immersed in a starting lineup with legends such

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MONARCHS SPRING INTO THE NEW SEASON

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the ultimate athlexec how kobe bryant is taking the business world by storm

Jazzmyn bradley

as; Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, and the sharpshooting Reggie Miller. Kobe was fortunate enough to be selected to 14 All-NBA teams, 10 of which are FirstTeam and 12 All-Defensive Team with 9 of those being All-Defensive-First-Team.

This stat proves he was one of the best overall competitors being able to be successful on both sides of the ball is a rarity in the glorification of offense in today’s league. He is also impressively the third all-time in points scored in the history of the league. The most significant accomplishment of all in sports is championships of course.

Kobe Bryant steam-rolled his way to five title wins. He completed a 3-peat championship run alongside Shaquille O’Neal one of the most dominant centers in the last 20 years of the league. Kobe proved he could succeed without Shaq when he captured his final two rings 08’-10’ with a slew of critical role players while earning Finals MVP in both title games.

Mamba(Bryant) hung up his basketball shoes one last time in Hollywood movie-like fashion on April 13, 2016, with hopes of conquering the business world. Bryant was determined to turn BodyArmor into a strong competitor for Gatorade and Powerade; he points out that sales are slowing for both products. Therefore, this is the perfect time to

emerge as an alternative to those market leaders in Gatorade and Powerade. He is now the creative director of BodyArmor’s ad campaign and advocates in various stores globally to carry their product. In 2013 Bryant along with Jeff Stibel established a firm; Bryant Stibel to provide strategic, financial, and operational support to businesses with focuses on technology, media, and data companies.

Three years later the duo announced a $100 million media, tech, and data fund.

Since then they have invested in 13 companies, including The Players’ Tribune, LegalZoom, and Scopely. The purpose of their venture capital fund is to emphasize startup teams that will hopefully turn into successful companies to advance the media, tech, and data industries.

Oscar award winning Kobe Bryant is the perfect example of the lengths athletes can go when they use their platform and earnings strategically to become successful in other industries.

It is interesting how he revealed this other persona once he retired. Now he is a well respected business consultant and entrepreneur. Bryant’s legacy continues to inspire other athletes to rise above stereotypes to become groundbreaking and innovative individuals.

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pring training for the ODU football team, kicked off with a bang, with the Monarchs hoping to set the record straight in 2018. Last season saw a string of losses as the team unsuccessfully took on some of the biggest names in town, losing in a big way to the likes of UNC and Virginia Tech. The training, which began on March 13th and will run all the way until the first Spring Game on April 14th, will see the return of 18 starters from last year’s squad, and the addition of some news faces.

Josh Castro

One of the biggest highlights from last season was Bobby Wilder’s decision to start then freshman quarterback Steven Williams, who for the most part gave better than he got and made the best out of ODU’s situation, one which saw a series of big time players plagued with injuries and forced to the sidelines. Williams, who did not have a single turnover in his last four games of the 2017 season, is back for 2018 and hopefully, with all the experience he gained from last season, better than ever.

Speaking with local tidewater channel News 3, Head Coach Bobby Wilder sounded optimistic about the forthcoming season. “I feel really good about where we are right now,” He said during the interview. “Number one: because of how they’re handling the elements. They’ve come out with a great attitude every day, working to get better. This is a veteran team with 22 seniors so we can practice hard.”

No one has a better reason to keep a positive attitude than Jonathan Durhart, one of ODU’s star receivers who battled injuries last season, and looks to make 2018 one of his, and hopefully ODU’s best years yet. Without him, Wilder’s offense saw a significant drop in action, where receivers averaged only 20.7 points and 332.3 yards per game, which put them as the 11th ranked team in C-USA. He spoke exclusively to the Mace & Crown about how he feels wrapping up spring training alongside his team. “It feels good! I haven’t played in a few months so I’m still trying to get back in the flow of it, but it’s good.”

It may be hard to put the shame of last year behind them, but so far the Monarchs are looking golden for this 2018 season, and with a fresh lineup, there’s no telling what they are capable of.

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Photo by Poppy’s Pix

After their playing days are over athletes, need to find another athlete to dedicate their time too. Kobe Bryant is still up all hours of the night these days, but instead of working on his turnaround jumper, he is chatting with companies that he invests his earnings in. Bryant has transferred his Mamba Mentality from the court to the boardroom as he strives to be the best businessman he can be.

Courtesy Bryant Stibel

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or decades, there has been a longstanding belief that majority of professional athletes end up under financial stress shortly after their careers end. Although documentaries such as the ESPN “30 for 30” film Broke depicts this message about athletes truthfully, several former stars have assimilated into the business world successfully. They have achieved this by investing in startups, pursuing entrepreneurial ventures, merely becoming business professionals in their own right or even electing to partake in team front office positions. Some athletes have even risked large sums of their earnings by purchasing professional teams as well.

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flooding could occur. All this being done while suffering a significant financial loss.

PARKING AT ODU: A LOVE/HATE STORY Erik Billings

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t’s raining. You’re stuck in traffic with a test starting in about 10 minutes.

The coffee has gone cold by now and for all you know, the garage is full and the parking spaces closest to your class are taken. What do you do? There are many scenarios that begin to play out and none of the endings are in your favor. However, did it cross your mind to check the ODU parking app? Or reach out to ODU parking through Twitter? Or use the information given to you when you got your parking pass? Chances are you have not. But, don’t worry you’re not alone in this dilemma that is parking at ODU.

TPS is an unrecognized yet vital part of what makes ODU great. However, their services come with some high costs.

They’ve been operating in a deficit, yet continuously strive to provide everyone with the best, even if it does not appear

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Photo by Erik Billings

Megan Gribble, Transportation Planner for ODU Transportation and Parking Services. Photo by Erik Billings “Since I came into my position a year ago, we’ve done so much to revise the website with new information, implement new technologies that make parking easier,” Megan Gribble said, transportation planner for ODU Transportation and Parking Services. Gribble’s title includes running the TPS Twitter account, working with the marketing team and running the website. Gribble is a former ODU student who, during her time as an undergrad, commuted to campus. She believes that her experiences as a student can aid her in making transportation better. Gribble is a passionate woman whose knowledge and love of transportation was something one would not expect from someone so young.

Photo by Erik Billings

When speaking to the student body about the pros and cons from their point of view, they were eager to share their feelings on the parking we have at the university.

Megan Gribble, Transportation Planner for ODU Transportation and Parking Services.

so, Gribble said. Evidence of this can be seen in the Parking Services section of the ODU mobile app giving real-time updates of the lots so anyone can see if a lot is full or open. They are also adopting new devices which will help parkers know when

“Finding parking at ODU is more difficult than a T-Rex to open a pickle jar,” ODU senior Carrie Kuzio jokingly said.

Eric Patton, another senior, joined in, “A pickle jar would be easy for a T-Rex to open. It would just smash it.” Patton added “But could a T-Rex even find a spot at ODU?” Gribble acknowledged that this was one of the top concerns among students.

Over Twitter, she has received many complaints from people unable to find a spot. Gribble happily said that these are often resolved, and end with an increase in followers.

She spoke about a student who reached out to TPS through Twitter, distressed about missing a class because they couldn’t find a spot. Gribble informed them quickly of ways to resolve this issue and not have this problem again. The student replied, “I didn’t know that,” and followed the TPS Twitter account. “A win,” Gribble proudly stated.

TPS offers a few different ways to help students find a spot. One is the distribution of pamphlets around campus. They lay out prime times in which the parking lots are generally less-full. Gribble added, “keep these in your car, keep them in the glovebox for quick use.”Another is the ODU mobile app which keeps a live update of open and full parking; it utilizes new technology they hope to implement everywhere.

When asked about parking permits and how many were sold per spot, Gribble responded “we don’t have that physical number. You could break it down, but that would be a lot of math.” Currently, there are 26 parking lots on campus. 16 of these are allocated for student use, and nine for faculty and staff.

To understand how many of permits were sold Gribble sent over a copy of the 2017 TPS annual report which detailed the number of passes purchased each semester. Fall: 7,840, spring: 7,254 and summer: 2,255. She also added, “these numbers do not include students which

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opted to buy their permits per semester.”

Alongside the conversation about finding a parking spot, Latees Pittman, an ODU Junior, added another common issue students face when parking: flooding.

“I’ve known so many people who’ve not been able to find parking because of flooding in the lots, and them being blocked off. Or, if they do park in those lots (with known flooding issues), they find it underwater.” Pittman said these issues are the reason she does not drive and park on campus any longer. “I’ve had my car flooded.” Patton added “with no signs or indication of flooding.”

On flooding, Gribble said, “We’ve tried a few different things to let students knew when certain lots are at a risk of flooding,” such as tape-off the at-risk areas.

“However, the tape gets blown away or they continue to park in. But we’ve worked on something that can hopefully prevent these mishaps.” Gribble is alluding to TPS installing a new system of identifying markers that will not be washed or blown away, or simply ignored, when flooding occurs. More information will be available in the upcoming semesters as this project is in the works.

“Don’t they make a fortune?” One student asked, overhearing the conversation and joining in.

“We pay so much to park, then get ticketed on top of paying tuition, fees and other things that come up,” Chantel Harris, future ODU student said. “How can we afford all this?”

“Student loans,” Patton answered.

“I don’t even go to school here and I got a ticket.” Harris crossed her arms “For forgetting to add time. Because I was at a meeting. Now where is all the money going? Building a new football stadium?”

For those like Harris who have to use a paid spot, or metered parking, TPS offers a way of paying for time without having to get out and run across campus: an app called Whoosh!®. TPS also offers people the ability to appeal and possibly waive or lower parking fees.

“Unless it’s a handicap parking violation,” Gribble warned, “those are not waived. So don’t park there. Not with your blinkers on or even for a second. You can and will be fined, and it’s the most expensive of all tickets.” Gribble also added that if you want to appeal the citation, it’s best

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Courtesy TPS

Transportation and Parking Services expenses for 2017.

to use the website. Appeals sent by email are receive a response directing inquiries to the website.

When asked if he could change anything and what would it be, he responded with a smile and stated, “the cost of staff and faculty parking.”

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TPS offers three different parking permits for staff. The Annual Permit, Carpool Permit and the Reserved Permit which offers a 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. reservation or a 24/7 reservation. Costs associated with each can be found in the 2017-2018 permit graphic.

espite popular belief, TPS does not posess the funds they are believed to have. TPS is spending more capital than they have, ensuring the students and faculty have the best quality when it comes to parking, said Gribble.

Gribble noted that TPS’ income does not equate their $6,461,732 in expenses. To maintain the quality of parking, they are having to spend outside of their budget. Otherwise, TPS risks making some cuts.

“I appreciate that staff parking is offered,” Dr. Jay Morris, a computer science professor, said. Dr. Morris remarked that he appreciated how the cost of passes is based on salary and offered to be taken out at intervals and not all at once.

“But other campuses offer their staff free parking, including Tidewater Community College,” Dr. Morris said.

Gribble said that staff members have to pay due to the fact that we are a urban campus and have limited space. The city of Norfolk limits the amount of free spaces. If ODU was to offer free parking, the garages would not have the necessary funding, the TPS budget would plummet and finding a parking spot would be even more difficult as anyone who wanted to could come and go as they please.

“There is sufficient amount of parking around campus,” said ODU English Professor Peter Adams. “I’ve never had an issue finding a spot. And overall I think that it’s very convenient.”

Each permit offered to the staff is broken down into four groups based on salary. “This is done to encourage staff to travel together. For the cost and to keep parking spots available,” Gribble said. To help aid in the cost associated with parking, TPS offers full-time faculty and staff a payroll deduction in lieu of paying the cost upfront.

Parking has its issues, it will never be perfect, but Gribble and the team at TPS are working to try and educate everyone at ODU all while continuously bettering what they offer. “I want to teach people,” Gribble passionately said. “I want them to know; I want them to learn because I understand. I was there in your shoes.

I was an ODU student and was a commuter. I know the struggles.”

When asked what TPS has in store for parking at ODU, Gribble had this to say: “What we have planned is exciting.”

Gribble teased the new programs which TPS is going to be implementing soon though she hid behind a beautiful smile.

She promised these new things would be worth the wait and information would be available in the semesters to come.

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F

STANDS TALL

BERNADETTE MURPHY

It took an incredible amount of drive and determination to get ODU where it is today. The school was first established in 1930 as “The Norfolk Division of William and Mary,” often simply called, “The Division.” The school was not a new building. According to the ODU Alumni Magazine, the former Larchmont School building was used for the new division.

When the school first opened its doors, only 206 students registered for classes.

The seal in the center of Kaufman Mall

While a satellite campus, the student life was still very important to the school.

All athletic teams were referred to as The Norfolk Division Braves, a spinoff of the mascot of the parent school, The College of William and Mary Indians. Eventually, the enrollment of students at The Division soon began to surpass that of its parent school. Faculty and staff decided that it no longer made sense that the school did not have its own mascot that wasn’t linked to another school.

After thirty one years as “The Braves,” A committee put together by Professor John Foster West came to decide on the name the Monarchs in 1961. They chose the regal name in order to “link the traditions of the past to the realities of the future,” quoted from West in ODU Alumni Magazine. The following year, the school joined the Mason-Dixon conference as its sixteenth member.

Another giant step for the school happened in 1962 as The Norfolk Division was dissolved, and the school became Old Dominion College. Finally, the school became a four-year accredited university in 1969.

Clockwise from top left: 1970s Athletics logo, basketball logo, 1980s logo, ODU Institutional mark, 1988-1997, current logo.

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The name of university itself as well as the name of the mascot are both important in recognizing the history of Virginia. Virginia was one of the only states to remain loyal to the crown in the midst of the English Civil War. King Charles II was the first to use the phrase “Old Dominion” when referencing the colony of Virginia for its pride and loyalty to

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mored to cause students to not graduate in four years.

“Stepping on the seal means no graduation, no graduation means no job, no job means no money, and no money means no fancy yacht you promised yourself freshman year. So no, I don’t step on the seal,” ODU junior Tyler French said.

The Monarch, as used by Old Dominion today, is depicted as a royal crown on

Courtesy of Sharon Roberson Bourdreau

A PRIDE OF LIONS

the crown. Additionally, William III and Mary II, the namesakes of The College of W&M, ruled England for a time as joint monarchs. As Old Dominion University branched from the college of W&M, the name of the mascot is an important tribute to the monarchs who set off the events that brought Old Dominion into fruition.

Courtesy of Sharon Roberson Bourdreau

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS,

rom the satellite division of another school, to a two-year college and finally to its own four-year accredited university, the history of Old Dominion is rich and meaningful. Along with the history of the school comes the chronicle of how Old Dominion University’s community came to be known as The Monarchs.

is also an important tribute to ODU’s parent school. It effectively combines the history and the future of the monarchs.

A large shield divided into four quadrants is guarded by the Coat of Arms that is attributed with the College of William and Mary. Students make an extreme effort to not step on the seal as it is ru-

a lion’s head. The exact illustrations have changed over the years, but the point remains the same: a historic past and a strong future. The lion is an extremely important part of the logo, the mascot and the atmosphere of the school. At its core, it represents the strength of an incredibly powerful animal, the regality

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of being top of the food chain and the loyalty that comes with staying with a pack. These themes resonate with the students.

“The Monarch being represented as a lion is a perfect fit because I’m proud to be a monarch. I enjoy telling people where I go to school. Being a monarch means pride and unity,” Sophomore ODU student Grayson Mckinney said.

“Being a monarch means taking pride in what you do and always striving for excellence,” Junior ODU student Austin Kopp said.

T

“The Monarch Marching Band is also known as ‘The Pride of Old Dominion,’ and I feel nothing but pride when I put on that uniform…I am extremely proud to represent the band I call family and the university I call home,” said Junior

trumpet section leader and sousaphone player Dillon Wilbert.

A lesser known fact of the growth of the monarchs comes from the origination of the school’s football team. When the athletic teams were still called “The Norfolk Division Braves,” there was a football team from 1930-1941. Due to a ruling in 1941 that stated no freshmen enrolled in a two-year university were eligible to play, the team was forced the dissolve. It wasn’t until 2009 when ODU football was finally able to take the field once again. This time, as the Old Dominion University Monarchs.

The mascot of Old Dominion goes far past just the logo on paper and appar-

Courtesy of the Ted Constant Convocation Center

he central theme that comes with being a monarch is pride. This theme

resonates not only with the students, but in the organizations. The Monarch Marching Band is a crucial addition to the atmosphere of football gamedays.

The more official name of the organization is “The Pride of Old Dominion.”

The group takes the field each week in support of the football team, and the name is spoken over the loudspeaker each game to remind fans that the band is an important part to the games as well as the school.

do it with fellow monarchs.

On Founders’ Day in 1997, a now important figure on campus was revealed in Kaufman mall. According to ODU Alumni Magazine, this majestic lion statue/fountain was designed by 1985 alumnus and adjunct faculty member, Kevin Gallup. The statue stands at 6-feet high and weighs approximately 1,000 pounds. It stands prominently in Kaufman mall and directly in front of The Webb Center, a main hub of activity on campus.

“Idea Fusion encapsulates the heart and soul of Old dominion...many facets of ODU fuse together to create knowl-

In June of 2012, it was announced that Big Blue would be getting his own statue placed in the Webb Center. The 7-foot-tall bronze statue stands in the middle of the Webb Center smiling, with his finger in the air, forever placed in a “We’re number one” pose. While the statue in Kaufman Mall conveys the pride and seriousness that comes with being a monarch, it is important for people to “see the spirited, fun, engaged part of Old Dominion, too,” and the Big Blue Statues shows that, ODU SEES member Joshua Darr said to News @ ODU in 2012. An important tradition stands today on ODU’s campus. Every semester, during midterms and finals, the statue of Big Blue is likely to have his belly rubbed multiple times a day by students seeking good luck.

Aside from the vibrant mascot, Old Dominion students and staff take part in many important traditions. At every basketball and football game, Big Blue and the cheerleaders lead the crowd in a moving rendition of the song, “Ice Cream and Cake.” The crowd is always extremely involved, and no one is worried about embarrassment.

There’s pride that comes with knowing the song and dance and being able to

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In addition to the mascot, the colors and the motto of the university were chosen to align with the themes of the Monarchs. The school’s main colors are dark/royal blue and silver. Both colors are linked to royalty and regality. The light blue and white accent colors were chosen to lighten the overall feel of the school, according to News @ ODU in 2009. The university adopted the motto, “Portal to New Worlds” in 1986. President John R. Broderick released the new school motto in 2009.

edge, solutions, understanding and, ultimately, a better world,” Broderick said to News @ ODU. Everything from Big Blue all the way down to the colors of the school play a part in what makes a monarch. Every day since the day the doors opened in 1930, students and staff alike have worked to shape the school into what it is today.

The Monarchs of Old Dominion have a rich history. Beginning with only 260 students, ODU now has approximately 124,000 alumni in all fifty states and seventy six countries. While the alumni is global, they still share one important attribute with all current ODU students: they are monarchs.

Courtesy of ODU History and Archives

Courtesy of ODU Archives, from The Virginian-Pilot

1935 Norfolk Division Braves football team

el. As the university has grown to have almost 25,000 students each year, the school spirit among the students, faculty and alumni has grown as well. The embodiment of the mascot, Big Blue, has become an integral part of the school.

Big Blue, a smiling lion donning his own crown, makes his presence known at countless athletic events as well as various events on campus. As a lion with immense pride for his school and teams and a personality as big as his crown, he undoubtedly embodies Old Dominion University and its values.

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by Ann Garcia

She took a look around. The popularity of the shop’s Delight-infused coffees certainly paid off, and Kim had invested quite a sum into its aesthetics. After much deliberation, Kim had decided to go antique with decor of the 2020s. She’d set up small wooden tables, enough for two or three to sit around. Dim lights hung from the ceiling and illuminated art hung on brick walls. A long strip of chalkboard behind the cash register listed the drinks of the day, as well as a couple scones and muffins they sold.

It wasn’t an exact replication of coffee shops in the 2020s, but it was close.

Remembering herself, Elissa reverted back to sales mode.

“So do you know what you’d like to order?”

“Uh…” The woman hesitated, turning her attention back to Elissa. “No, I need a second. Sorry, I’ve never been here before, my friend recommended this place to me.”

Her grin was wide, exposing her gums slightly. Elissa returned the smile, feeling quite comfortable with the woman’s presence.

“No problem, take your time.”

Elissa turned away to give the woman time to peruse the menu. She took a cloth from her apron and began wiping down the counter, as if she hadn’t already done that three times in the past hour. Stealing glances, she took in the sight of her, admiring the perfect curve of her nose, the roundness of her cheeks, the fullness of her lips. God himself had sculpted this face, and he had been very kind.

After a few more moments’ contemplation, she was ready to order. She chose a classic caramel macchiato with an extra

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dose of Delight.

“Does the Delight really work?” She asked as she twiddled with a tassel on her purse.

She took another sip. Elissa could tell the Delight was kicking in because her hair went from a pale yellow to a very bright, neon yellow. When she spoke again, her voice was a little higher than before.

Elissa nodded. Mustering her strength, she hit the machine to get it started.

Problems with running an antique coffee shop: nothing worked.

“Would you want to, maybe, sit down with me? I know you’re working, but seeing as there’s nobody in here right now, I thought-”

“Oh yeah, definitely. Though to tell you the truth, I’m not a big fan of it. It tastes great, but the smell’s just awful.”

“Sure.”

The woman wrinkled her nose.

“Ugh, really? I hate bad smells.”

“Yeah, like the smell of dirty dishes when you’ve left them in the sink too long because you didn’t want to wash them?”

“Exactly!” She laughed, a loud laugh that might annoy someone who wasn’t Elissa.

“I hate washing dishes.”

Soon enough, the drink was made. Elissa pulled out her marker, quickly scribbled on the paper cup, and handed it to the woman.

“One caramel macchiato with an extra dose of Delight.”

“Thank you!”

Elissa set her arms on the counter and leaned forward. The woman took a sip, shutting her eyes momentarily as if to appreciate the flavor more.

“How is it?”

“Fantastic! This is… probably the best coffee I’ve ever had.”

Courtesy Unsplash

COFFEE WITH A STRANGER, PT. 2

Elissa untied her apron and set it on the counter. They sat by the window, the woman drinking her coffee and Elissa pretending to look outside at the rain. It was then that Elissa realized how sweaty her hands were, and how dry her throat had become. After all this time, you’d think she’d stop being so nervous.

“So are you Kim?” Elissa’s brows furrowed. “I’m sorry?”

“Are you Kim?” The woman repeated.

“You know, this place is called Kim’s. I just assumed because you’re the only one here-” “Oh no, I’m not Kim. My name’s Elissa, I just work here as a barista.”

“Oh okay. Well my name’s Maggie, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.”

“I was gonna sit here and read my book, but I’m in a pretty chatty mood. I’m sorry in advance for unleashing all of this on you.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m a great listener.

Chat away.”

They both laughed. “Come on, it’s okay.”

“No, really! I mean it, it’s really good.

Look at my hair!”

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Courtesy Unsplash

Courtesy Unsplash

ROSY APPLE

by Pettie Perkins

SMALL DEATHS

by Fey Redda

Death, who dealt us these hands, also whispered in Vincent’s ear.

there is art in not giving up.

It is simple to break a mold, like a bedframe in a starry night.

and we remember −

Cracks in our lips filled with gold, and pressed together,

within any stone slab is a masterpiece to be found

to each other we are tethered, and revel in mutual fear.

as in a matchbox there is fire,

As Rodin patiently tore through stones, ever the thinker, we carry pebbles that are boulders as we carry terrors up mountains.

Tears burn down cheeks, eyes all a-mist, from a pitcher, we pour our fears over cliffs.

This is an offering to death.

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These fears belong now to sloshing waters below.

Inhaling ecstasy in the smoke, we light the vigil.

Listening to the splashing on rocks, we drink in the sound

and in shoestrings; a lyre

They say an apple a day should keep the doctor away. They didn’t say what kind. Green or red? Rosy or marbled? MacIntosh, Granny Smith, Fiji, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Braeburn, Northern Spy, Wolf River, Stayman? Never mind which kind. Just eat one. But, what if you can’t stop at one? Will it be okay? Can you eat too many?

What if you skip a day? Must you double up the next? What if they’re overripe? Do you mash them? Do you boil them? Can you bake or fry them? Since it’s red, does it count as rosy or since the color wheel is so complex that it has to be the perfect shade of rose? Roses are so many colors.

Which one

in our fingertips; static and in small deaths, big lives.

Our silhouettes dance against each other in candlight.

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by Caitlin Helveston

But was appreciated for sure

The love you had for everyone

The love you showed created a safe space

Spread through the empty space and filled the void

And the comfort of a loving home

When I hugged you with a warm embrace

Because a grandparent’s love is special and strong

Please let it be known in your castle above

All the barking and laughing

And showed through the rough hands you held,

At the eccentricity of your wife and dogs

That marked the care and toughness of who you were

Made the home quite memorable

I miss you and I love you

Captain of the flying ships you were

And a place to relax and nap

And I’m sorry I was not around

Up in your tower

Pop Pop, a name I was supposed to called you

I should have been there by your side

And she wanted to be called Bammy

To show you off as my Grandfather

Until Nathan was born

And just how proud you made me

That you meant so much to us; to me

Directing the flying ships on their way Your clever and hard dedication Reigned at your funeral and the fold of the flag Your stubbornness was at its best When you got a year’s leave from the Air Force,

You were still Grammy and Grandpy to me And then these nicknames appeared,

I remember the rides on your grand steed, That was parked in its barn until the need, You were crafty and grand and stubbornly proud,

I hope your castle above has the love As much as the Flagg’s down here

Bammy and Pop Pop you became

I see you watching from above and,

The sunlight in the darkness

Know that you are always near

The love and support of loved ones

Your golden throne will hold you forever,

With the love, comfort, and good guy money in hand

The two who lived on a farm

but your love is always here

The money did not mean as much

And always had love in their arms

For working so hard to provide for the clan But that didn’t stop you from being there

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Courtesy Unsplash

AIR FORCE ONE

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Courtesy Unsplash

PLUCKED FROM THE EARTH

by Josh Whitener When you start it’s from the bottom and you stay there not ever really leaving, but things take you places you can take yourself away from yourself you don’t see it because it all happens too fast and you certainly don’t feel it

most because you’re not overtly afraid, just incapable of faith

because you certainly don’t want to

Time is a concept it’s time that makes time and time for other times When nanoseconds and neurons course a pathway a pathogen

EDEN

airborne and freeform

by Dustin Hurt

makes smokes signals in the sky I was chillin’ in the Garden, you know, where the Serpent deceived Eve but Eve was sick of Adam so Eve retrieved me.

She handed me a Dutch and few of the Tree’s leaves, told me to roll it up, and the Tree’s leaves we breathed. Hell yeah, we were high. She turned, looked in my eyes.

Whispered, “I love Adam, please believe me.” Then she pulled out her double D’s and told me to “squeeze these.” The she opened up her legs so she could receive me. I said, “fuck it,” and that’s exactly what I did. I ate her Forbidden Fruit until she was graspin’ on my head. Gaspin’ while she begged. She layed there, knees weak, and all I could think about is how I smashed in Adam’s bed.

trailblazing a chart of isolation where no one is home for you and no home for you awaits reaching out, touching the abyss hugging into it in the night because what you have doesn’t sleep it’s a conjoined twin of fear

rooted and grounded in conviction and procedure they tried to tug and pull you with siren screams of shame and heathen until it became so tiring you believed it saw yourself become it not it’s the label you’ve bought into when it ends it ends right away and there’s no middle ground other things like murder have no middle ground just their same start and same end and the remedy is worse than the sickness

Courtesy Unsplash

Time is nothing

and They all told you fear is the root of it all or for you

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Courtesy Unsplash

earning money

through app$ AUDRA REIGLE

College students are generally broke. We’ve got bills to pay, food to eat and things to buy (even if we don’t necessarily need them). But there are some apps out there that can help you get some money back into your pockets from the purchases you make. All apps are available for Android and iOS users.

CheckPoints

Ibotta

As soon as you sign up for CheckPoints, you start accumulating points to be redeemed for gift cards. While you can go to stores to earn points for checking in and scanning items, you can also take advantage of earning points from the comfort of your own home. You can take surveys, watch videos or refer your friends to earn some points. Once you’ve racked up enough points, they can be exchanged for gift cards to stores, or they can be exchanged for PayPal cash.

This app can be used at a number of locations for in store and online purchases. It can be used at grocery stores and department stores, among others. If you’re shopping at a store that has a loyalty card (like Kroger or Harris Teeter, for example), then you may be able to link your card with your account, but you’ll have to add the items you intend to buy before you check out in order to earn cash back for your purchase. You’ll have to scan your receipt too, so make sure you have that before you leave the store. If you’re not the one going to the store, you can still use the receipt as there are some rebates that allow you to get money back for any item, regardless of brand. You’ll be able to refer your friends for some extra money, and there are bonuses that can be earned as well. The only con is unless it’s an any item offer, it only accepts certain items, but you’ll be able to scan items before purchasing to make sure you’ve picked up the right item.

Once you earn at least $20, you can turn the money into gift cards to a variety of stores or deposit it into a PayPal or Venmo account.

Shopkick

Checkout 51

This app lets you earn points, which are called kicks, for walking into stores, scanning items and redeeming items purchased from your receipt. When you first join, you’re asked to select a reward to work towards, but you can change it at any time. Even if you go into a store without the intent to buy anything, you can earn points just for walking in and browsing. It’ll also tell you where you can earn kicks from places near your current location and how to earn them from online retailers. You’ll be able to redeem your kicks for gift cards to a variety of retailers.

This app accepts a wider variety of items than Ibotta, but you’re only able to use it at grocery stores. You still have to buy specific products to use it, but there are more rebates for just buying any item, regardless of brand. You’ll have to scan items as you go through the store to check out, so if you’re the kind of person who just wants to grab items and go, this may not be the app for you. You’ll still need your receipt at the end regardless though, so they can verify that you actually purchased the items you scanned. Checkout 51 doesn’t allow you to turn your cash back into gift cards though. Instead, you can request to have a check sent to you when you earn at least $20.

For this app, you simply scan your receipts, and it’ll process them to give you points for eligible items on your receipt. You’re able to add offers to a shopping list, so you can select items ahead of time to create a list of what to buy ahead of time for some guaranteed points. It takes a little bit of time for the receipt to process, and if you don’t take pictures of the receipts as the app wants you do, you won’t get your points and you’ll have to take another picture of the receipt.

Once you do earn points, you’ll be able to redeem them for a variety of gift cards to several retailers, which have been separated into eighteen categories to make it a little easier for you to choose what kind of gift card you’re looking for.

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If you’re looking to earn a little bit of money back on the purchases you make, one of these apps might be for you. A little extra cash in your pocket in the form of a gift card never hurts, even if it takes a little bit of time to earn them. Happy shopping, Monarchs!

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Courtesy Respective Apps

Fetch Rewards

A NEW CHALLENGER

ARISES

THE RESURGENCE OF COMPETITIVE GAMING

SLOWING THE SPREAD OF

C

FAKE NEWS

THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA Audra Reigle

F

ake news is a term we hear on a regular basis these days. Sometimes it’s used as a joke among friends, and other times, it’s not meant as a joke. Social media outlets have been working to prevent the spread of fake news, but how are they doing it?

Our biases can keep us from spotting fake news right off the bat, according to the New York Times. We can be skeptic of online news, but because we have biases, we have the possibility of bypassing any filters we may have when it comes to news.

Echo chambers can allow fake news and rumors to gain circulation. Online, it is easier to find those with similar beliefs as you and surround yourself with those who share them.

“Fake news often contains opinionated, misleading and inflammatory language, sensational or fake images to provoke anger or other emotional response of people,” Wu He, associate professor of Information Technology, said via email.

Even if you aren’t in an echo chamber, you can still be exposed to fake news. “Pizzagate,” in which Hillary Clinton was supposedly running

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a child sex ring from a pizza parlor, didn’t spread because it was dependent on an echo chamber of people with similar beliefs. It spread because it went viral. People share stories just because they have an interesting headline without actually reading the story. The information spreads so quickly that fact checkers can’t even check it before millions are exposed to the fake news.

Repetition also helps the spread of fake news. The more it’s seen, the more people tend to believe it. Seeing something shared by a friend can also help the believability of it because if your friends like it, you’re more likely to like it too.

So how can social media outlets stop the spread of fake news?

He suggests “applying data mining related algorithms to identify and classify fake news and using external sources to fact check claims in news content.”

But algorithms aren’t perfect. Following the Las Vegas shooting, YouTube videos claiming the shooting was a hoax were promoted and the hashtag #LasVagasShooting was pushed on Twitter, according to Mashable. Algorithms were respon-

sible for both of these incidents.

Facebook has actively tried to stop the spread of fake news. In December 2016, a flagging system was launched in which users could flag items that they believed to be fake, according to Engadget. Flagged items were sent to external fact checking organizations, and if two considered the item to be fake, the post would get an icon on it to show that it was being disputed. The system was considered a failure a year after its launch. In August 2017, Facebook announced that pages that posted hoax stories would be banned from advertising on their platform.

“Fake news detection on social media is still in the early age of development, and there are still many challenging issues that need further investigation. But I am confident that the data mining related algorithms will slow down the spread of fake news as the algorithms become increasingly mature and accurate,” He said.

In the meantime, he suggests using “wisdom of crowds” in the fight against fake news. That means actually reading the stories you share on Facebook and Twitter before actually sharing them to ensure that the content in them is truthful instead of just reading a headline, thinking it’s catchy and sharing it.

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ompetitive video games are experiencing a kind renaissance at the moment. Competitive, team-based games such as “Overwatch,” “League of Legends” (LoL), “Rainbow Six: Siege,” “Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds” (PUBG), “Fortnite” and games of the like have been racking up millions of logins a week on their servers and have been generating billions of dollars in revenue.

It’s staggering.

As early as fall 2017, “Overwatch’s” player count reached over 35 million players. That’s a $60 game, generating over $2.1 billion in sales, and that’s before you take any microtransactions into consideration.

Free to play games like “Fortnite” or “League of Legends?” Well, they’re not far behind. By February 2018, “Fortnite” was generating over $126 million a month, and PUBG had been stabling generating similar numbers for months.

So the question is, what is it that these games are doing right?

Games design is no easy task, and inevitably a good game is the result of hundreds of tiny, but well-executed ideas by an entire team of creative and dedicated people. That being said, three of the most important factors that make these games in particular fun are flow, tension and counterplay.

Courtesy Audra Reigle

Courtesy Pexels

James Finney

Competitive video games are in the category of games that closely relates to real-life sports. There is often a strict set of rules determining how each game plays out, but the rules aren’t so tight

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One of the ways that games create dynamic experiences is through controlling player movement, or in the case of “Fortnite,” opening up player movements.

“Fortnite” is unique as far as competitive games go because they provide players with the near god-like ability to move around however they want to.

When a player in “Fortnite” needs to get somewhere, they can create a practical staircase to heaven out of the wood that they just hacked off of a picket fence from the nearest neighborhood.

Similarly in “Overwatch,” most characters are unable to run, but they are each given some kind of unique movement ability like teleportation, flight or the wall-climbing that allows them to interact with the levels of each game in an interesting manner.

What this does for the game is give players an enhanced feeling of freedom and provides them with a wider set of options when combating other players.

These unique movement features allow you to move around an enemy’s flank in interesting ways, or it allows you to create your own cover when there seems to be none in sight.

Courtesy Audra Reigle

This bird-like freedom is a far sight away from the older and more strictly designed competitive games like “Counter-Strike” and “Halo,” but that doesn’t mean that these veteran games don’t still have an impact in modern gaming.

One of the other games on list, “Rainbow Six: Siege” (RSS), uses tightly controlled

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maps and limited player movement to create a sense of tension that sticks with players throughout the entire game.

Players in RSS are given thirty seconds of prep time before each round begins. That’s thirty seconds to rush your RC drone through a building to find the objective if you’re an attacker. And if you’re a defender, it could mean sweatily running through some stranger’s house, placing barbed wire on the staircase and steel reinforcements on the walls, praying that you finish in time so that you can scramble down to the kitchen and seek cover behind a refrigerator.

In RSS, you’re delicate, and you’re on the clock. Not only do you move slowly in the game, but you move loudly and your character can’t take very many shots.

What this means for players in RSS is that you’re paranoid from the start. You could be shot at from any angle if you’re not careful. If you make a misstep over some broken glass, it could mean you just let the entire enemy team know where you are.

This kind of tension does exist in the other games, but it’s done differently. In “Fortnite,” while you have the ability to generate your own terrain if you have the resources, the natural map itself is incredibly exposing.

There are massive fields of green and open towns all across the map in “Fortnite.” If you’re not paying attention, someone could easily take you out from a mile away with a sniper rifle. Or, if you’re the one with the sniper rifle, someone could just as easily sneak up behind you

Courtesy Bethesda/ Tango Gameworks

that gameplay becomes boring and repetitive.

and take you out with a shotgun if you’re not keeping your ears open.

What this creates is counterplay, and it’s probably the most fundamentally important idea of making these games competitive. The tension and the flow of a game falls apart if it feels like one of the players has an unfair advantage. And that’s why, for all the freedom and asymmetric design of these games, there’s a counter for everything.

If a pesky player in “Overwatch” is flying around in a robot suit and shooting rockets at you from up high? There’s a sniper character available who’ll clip her wings.

If there’s a explosives expert in RSS who can fire grenades into a room without exposing himself, there’s an engineering character in the game who can destroy grenades before they detonate.

Modern competitive video games have a lot going for them. They’re fun to play and often equally fun to watch. They bring together a lot of good elements, including great character/world design, good gameplay and a host of other supporting features that are slowly starting to become standard in contemporary game design.

The explanations given above were only a small selection of the many different reasons for why competitive games today are stellar, but it’s important to acknowledge what these game designers are doing right, and hopefully soon, even more game designers will start following in their example.

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“THE EVIL WITHIN 2” BRINGS MORE SCARES Brooke Nicholson Assistant A&E Editor

system as its main core.

he first “The Evil Within,” developed

by Tango Gameworks and published

by Bethesda, brought players a new experience in the horror survival genre back in October 2014. It’s extremely graphic, brutal gameplay and sometimes confusing storyline gave players a renovated version of some of the more classic survival games they were used to. After the first game received mostly positive reviews for its merciless battles and unique story, Bethesda brings players another chance to step back into STEM and experience the horrid world once again in “The Evil Within 2.”

One of the most notable features within the second game that players will notice right away is the upgraded, smoother gameplay and mechanics. The graphics contain better, more realistic colors that make it easier on the eyes and gives players a better chance at spotting monsters.

With the added feature of a more open environment in the world of STEM, an everyday town the Mobius employees lived in called Union, make it easier for players to use more tactics wisely, such as sneak kills and shakes up the genre more than simply running through dim hallways all the time (although there’s still plenty of that as well). The game forces you to grind and take on monsters that you might’ve run away from in the past simply to grab those extra pieces of loot for better upgrades to your weapons.

After we learn that there has been a dreadful fire at the main protagonist from the first game’s house, detective Sebastian Castellanos is visited by one of his old partners and is told that his daughter that he believed perished in the fire is still alive. He agrees to be hooked back up to STEM, a mind-connecting machine managed by the shadowy organization, Mobius, to find his daughter, Lily, after learning that Mobius has her running the entire STEM

While “The Evil Within 2” does fill in some missing story from the first game and gives players some answers, the game could have benefitted from bringing back the villain from the first game, Ruvik, that everyone loved, and to this day doesn’t exactly know what happened to him. Players found themselves feeling disappointed from the lack of character development from the second main boss, having doubts that these villains (yes, there are two main villains) never quite

This article may contain spoilers of “The Evil Within” franchise.

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live up to the hype of the Ruvik from the first game. Even though this game is set three years after the events of the first, Sebastian’s dialogue is still quite dull, while interacting with other characters seemed almost awkward and boring.

The gameplay and interactions with monsters can still bring quite a challenge, some players found boss fights to be a little easy and a bit too over the top. One of the main differences between this game and the last is the fact that players are not able to change to a higher difficulty once you have lowered it, even if you start a new game plus. This is important to note as players have found it frustrating and when they are not able to change back to a higher difficulty, although Bethesda believes this combats players from cheating.

“The Evil Within 2” still provides players with a significant rush, brutal gameplay that will leave you throwing your controller at the wall and leaves you on the edge of your seat.

“The Evil Within 2” is now available on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

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