Thurs, Sept.11, 2014

KICK START

Our editors go out to OutFox gym with senior C.J. Huguley for a private kickboxing session SEE PAGE 7

The Marlin ChroniCle THURSDAY 9.11.14

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE

VWC.EDU/CHRONICLE

Hotel proves popular Students and resident assistants living at the hotel seem to be pleased with the cushy accomodations: some even prefer it over living on campus.

BY VANESSA SMITH vlsmith@vwc.edu

Students across the nation are schlepping their box fans and mattress pads into their dorms in the last week of August, but some VWC students were toting their possessions through a hotel lobby. Off and on for the past 12 years, VWC has made some students unpack their belongings down the road at the Lake Wright Hotel. This year, however, the college moved some students even farther down the road, to the Comfort Inn Hotel. The number of students living in the hotels is up 40 percent from last year.

In the past, the majority of the students housed at the hotel were freshmen who didn’t make their down payments in time to get on-campus housing. The current situation is unprecedented: almost half of the students at the hotels are upperclassmen.

Several of them requested to be housed there.

“I prefer the hotel over living on campus,” said junior Chris Worrell. “I spend most of my time on campus hanging out with friends. However, I could see myself spending all of my time at the hotel if I wasn’t active. It’s nice to come back from campus and have the privileges of a hotel room over a dorm room. I would not recommend the hotel to any sophomores or freshmen seeing as it might be harder to make friends throughout [their] college life.”

According to Ethan Fields, the community coordinator at the Comfort Inn, the hotel has many benefits.

“The facility that houses the Northampton community is excellent. In my opinion, the accommodations are fantastic, and the rooms are well taken care of. The breakfast is delicious, there’s 24-hour coffee, tea and hot chocolate in the lobby, a

SEE HOTEL Pg. 2

Thomas Mills/Marlin Chronicle

Junior Austin VonVille, left, and senior Philip Smith, right, react to the referee’ s call at the game against Cristopher Newport University on Sept. 7, 2014. The Marlins would go on to lose 2-0.

High hopes turn sour Men’s Soccer begins with a 1-2-1 start on the season despite being ranked No.1 in the ODAC poll.

BY KELLIE LAGOY & GABE HIGGINS kalagoy@vwc.ed gghiggins@vwc.edu

Fall sports are in full swing, and Virginia Wesleyan’s men’s soccer team has been working hard to find their stride this season. They have visions of another championship caliber season, but so far there has been nothing impressive to show. The Marlins want to reign as champions, but they need to work harder to get there.

Last fall, the team won its tenth ODAC championship trophy. The team went on the road to Randolph College and brought home the title by winning the game 2-1 in an exciting overtime that included a penalty kick. They hope to repeat that same success this year.

The goals for this years team are pretty clear. “On the field we want to play our best and get as many wins as we can, and off the field we want to bond as a team.

We want to win ODAC’s again. We won last year, so we know what the standard is. We also want to go far in the NCAA tournament as well,” said freshman Alex Bukoski. The team is well aware of what it takes to win an ODAC championship, since this years team returned the majority of last years championship players.

Men’s soccer has completed four games so far. The first two games of the year were against nationally ranked soccer programs. They came out with a double overtime tie against York College, and they walked away with a 2-0 loss against Rutgers-Camden.The men’s team earned its first win of the year 1-0 against Southern Virginia University .

Most recently the Marlins faced off against their Hampton Roads rival, Christopher Newport University. The start of the game showed a valiant effort from the strong Marlins team, but they couldn’t keep up with the lightning quick Captains to finish strong. The Captains soccer team

ran circles around the Marlins every step of the way. As the time clock dwindled down the Marlins couldn’t seem to find the right passes or control the ball. The game ended in a 2-0 loss for the Marlins with CNU scoring two late goals.

“They have been challenging games,” said senior captain Phil Smith, “Three of the first four have been against nationally ranked opponents, and they made me realize we can compete with the best teams in the nation. We have a lot to look forward to, and a lot to improve on.”

The Marlins currently post a 1-2-1 record, with 14 games left to be played.

Their expectations are high this year, and there is a lot of hope as well. Keeping games close against ranked opponents has gotten the team excited for what is to come. This year’s men’s soccer team believes they can repeat their success and go further.

Third VP in four months After the departure of two Vice Presidents over the summer, SGA finally announces their new position holder, one that will hopefully be staying for good.

BY MOLLY FANNEY mbfanney@vwc.edu

Thomas Mills/Marlin Chronicle

Owen James’ position as Vice President was announced at the first SGA meeting of the year on Sept. 4 2014.

1Front.indd 1

The Student Government Association at Virginia Wesleyan has had a great deal of movement in its cabinet prior to the new school year’s even beginning. Near the start of summer 2014, Kara Schmiek left her position as elected vice president alongside current president Imani West, reportedly because of a desire to improve academic grades. Shortly after, West chose Kevin Wolfe, a junior and political science major, as Schmiek’s replacement. Wolfe had many impressive dreams for the student body, the vehicle for that being a stronger student government. Wolfe was concerned at the time, though, that his position was being threatened by reactions to a song that he wrote and produced outside of school. Before summer

ended, Wolfe did in fact lose his position as vice president of SGA. Owen James, senior and political science major, is the newest individual to hold the position. His appointment was announced on Sept. 4 at the first SGA meeting of this school year.

Who knew finding a student government vice president could be so cumbersome? Wolfe had earlier produced a song and posted it on the Internet that contained the name of a female student, allegedly in a negative fashion. This student complained to the school, sparking an investigation into Wolfe’s academic and artistic career. At one point, Wolfe faced punishment, but in the end was found innocent of the charges the school had brought against him. However, he was removed from his SGA position

by Dean of Students and SGA Advisor Keith

SEE SGA Pg. 2 9/9/2014 10:55:27 PM

PAGE 2

THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 2014

NEWS

WORLD CONNECTION

Israel and Gaza: Conflict in the Media MOLLY FANNEY

is communications and international politics major.

Near the beginning of this past summer, the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenage boys marked the beginning of a period of intense conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The teenagers had been backpacking from Bethlehem to the city of Hebron, located in the West Bank of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government blamed the Palestinian group Hamas for the deaths.

The Israeli military launched Operation Brother’s Keeper to locate the missing boys, and Israeli special forces officers arrested hundreds of Palestinians. In the process, a Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Two other Palestinian deaths were reported in the following days. Palestinian militants in Gaza fired five rockets into Israel. Israel fired back with a barrage of missiles, killing two more Palestinians who, it was claimed, were involved in the deaths of the three Israeli teenagers. By the end of June, the bodies of the teens were found in a field north of Hebron. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that “Hamas will pay” for its actions against Israel.

Since June, the Palestinian death toll stands at more than 2,000, with close to 10,000 injuries, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. This includes nearly 500 children who have been killed in the midst of the conflict. The United Nations has repeatedly expressed concern over the growing number of deaths in Gaza. Three Israeli civilians and 64 Israeli soldiers have died since the fighting began more than a month ago.

In 1948, Israel expelled over 700,000 Palestinians to Gaza. Seventy percent of Palestinians are refugees. Israel does not technically occupy Gaza, but the activities of the Palestinian people are often limited by the close boundary with Israel.

“Palestine is not a state,” said Dr. Eric Mazur, professor of Judaic studies at VWC, explaining the history of the conflict. “It is territory that was part of the British Mandate, territory under the control of the British (who took possession from the Ottoman Empire after World War I).

Just after World War II, the British turned it over to the U.N., who divided the territory between Jewish and Muslim control to turn over to the residents of the areas. In 1948, just after gerrymandered Israel declared its independence, its Arab neighbors declared war, a state that still exists between Israel and most of them. In the ensuing war, Israel expanded its territorial holdings. In 1967, after being attacked by its Arab neighbors, Israel expanded its territories further, taking control of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights. It ultimately returned the Sinai Peninsula, via a peace treaty, to Egypt, but for military reasons annexed the Golan Heights from Syria. It has never annexed either the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, leaving them under military occupation, with at least one reason being the possible eventual return to the countries from which they were taken.”

Israeli forces control Gaza’s border with Egypt, its airspace and its surrounding sea.

“All of this plays into the conflict, of course,” Mazur said.

“The Palestinians have been horribly mistreated by their Arab neighbors, and have been kept marginal by the Israelis who are keeping them from Israeli annexation for use in future peace negotiations with nations who either don’t want the Palestinians or don’t want to negotiate with Israel.”

In a Tehran Times interview, Judaism professor IIan Pappe claimed that this conflict is an underhanded way to delegitimize Hamas, which ,earlier this year, became part of Palestine’s newly-formed unity government. This political move was met with a great deal of disapproval by the United States, among other nations, since the U.S. government considers Hamas to be a terrorist group. Although most people

FERGUSON

MrDevlar/Flickr.com A map showing where the conflict between Israel and Gaza is taking place. find it difficult to decide who is the culprit in this current conflict, however, it cannot be ignored because it has been going on for centuries.

“The situation in Gaza is one where a conflict that has long been brewing between these two rival countries is now endangering hundreds of thousands of innocent lives,” said Jibreel Salaam, a Virginia Wesleyan alumnus who majored in business management. He is also Muslim. “I believe that the Israeli occupation of Gaza is not justified, considering the fact that peaceful negotiations have not been used with the attempt to resolve the solution.

The citizens of Gaza are suffering from a

feud that has been escalated throughout the years.”

Mainstream media tends to condense information in a way that makes properly informing the consumers quite difficult.

An issue of this complexity and with this much nuance is often misrepresented for convenience and possible bias. Examples of these difficulties in reporting include claims that broadcasters such as Fox News and CBS support the Israeli cause whereas The New York Times and CNN have been criticized for being unsympathetic toward coverage favoring Hamas over Israel.

SEE ISRAEL/GAZA Pg. 2

Pg. 7

Anthony Dellamura/Marlin Chronicle The Comfort Inn and Suites houses dozens of students and resident assistants.

HOTEL CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Twitter: @VWCMinistries Facebook: Marlin Ministries

Marlin

Ministries Office located in the Batten Center. Open to all.

2News.indd 1

small indoor pool, a large activity/conference room, a small fitness center, and a warm building staff that care about the VWC students just as they do any other guest that may stay there.”

Being a Resident Assistant at the hotel has its perks as well. Senior Nathan Johnson was asked about the differences between being an R.A. on campus and being an R.A. at the hotel.

“Being an R.A. is different because you have a mix of students,” said Johnson.

“Most R.A.’s have just boys or just girls on a floor, but at the hotel we have both on each floor, making it our job to find ways in which they connect and bond as a community. The students have to become very independent much faster than most freshmen, with finding their way to campus when they miss the shuttle and planning accordingly. It’s still similar, as in we have duty nights and certain tasks during the week to complete. On a much more positive note, the hotel seems to feel like a getaway from school life. Having the different amenities and hotel services makes the stay that much more enjoyable. Also, we are literally four minutes’ walking distance from different places like Starbucks, Sakura, Krispy Kreme, Jersey Mike’s and more.”

A shuttle bus runs between the hotel and campus from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. It makes trips approximately every 15 to 30 minutes.

Sophomore Collette Vauthier said, “[The shuttle service was] accommodating when I had to work at the Batten Center at 6:30 a.m., and because I am a sophomore I was

able to find rides from friends back to the hotel in the evenings. I have seen people wait half an hour for a shuttle, or want a shuttle on the weekends for a shuttle to take them to campus, and it is not available.”

The shuttle service is also now offering Walmart runs for students every Sunday at 1 p.m.

Living at the hotel has some negatives, however. Sophomore Kendric Washington does not enjoy having to drive back and forth between the hotel and campus every day, nor does he enjoy paying to do his laundry. For now, the hotel is merely a place to stay until more campus housing opens up.

The dilemma of having to house students at the hotel is in the process of being solved, since the number of residents has greatly increased over the past four years, confirms David Buckingham, vice president for students affairs and dean of enrollment.

“There are four options underway in discussion: continuing housing students at the hotel when rooms on campus run out; looking at the number of freshman residents and reserve that number of beds for incoming freshman and the rest for upperclassmen; make an incentive for residents who live in the area and could commute; or lastly, add onto Village 4 and make all houses six-person instead of four-, making room for 72 more students,” said Buckingham. “Over 25 percent of residents each year for the past four years live in the Hampton Roads area and have a possibility to commute, but most of those students would argue they want the college experience of residing on campus. Of course, these are all just ideas being explored and nothing is set in stone for the future of housing here at VWC.”

9/10/2014 9:33:53 AM

NEWS

THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 2014

PAGE 3

Alumni leave legacies

BY JESSICA MACKEY jlmackey@vwc.edu

After graduation, most students go on to find careers in their given fields, follow their passions, dreams and ambitions, even start families. For some students, though, their careers and passions revolve around their alma maters, and they return to colleges to work. This year’s Alumni Awards during the Fall Convocation recognized a few graduates that did just that, as well as some others.

Each year, the college recognizes graduates who have demonstrated the ideals of service and dedication to the community, while receiving distinctions within their careers. This year’s recipients included Teresa Annas ’76, Howard D. Bartner ’82, Courtney Beth Dickerson Atwater—honorary alumna and Anthony Stile—honorary alumnus.

Dr. Thomas R. Fanney, a former professor of the college, was also recognized during the Alumni Awards. The late Dr. Fanney was director of the mathematics department and was the first alumnus to return to Virginia Wesleyan to teach. His daughter, a current Virginia Wesleyan student, was on hand to receive the award. For her, the recognition of her father was extremely emotional, mostly because much of her childhood took place here at VWC. “I have been coming to this college since before I was born; my mother was actually pregnant with me when she attended the college,” said junior Molly Fanney. “I grew up here, coming constantly with my father. Being in his office, riding my bike around campus, getting grilled cheese from the cafeteria, are all significant memories from my childhood.”

“My dad made such a huge impact at this school,” Fanney said. “He knew that if he expected kids to come to class and be excited about math, he had to be excited about what the students were passionate about. He played racquetball with students, taught a course on jazz and blues, formed the Tidewater Zen meditation group, was director of the PORTfolio program, and worked with the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom with Campus Kaleidoscope. Students even came over to my house for barbecues. He was such a special individual, a true Renaissance man, and it means the absolute world to me to know that his lasting impact is still being remembered and honored.”

The recognition of her father sparks a re-ignited flame in Fanney’s choice of Virginia Wesleyan for her undergraduate career.

“My father is the reason I am a Marlin,” said Fanney. “I work hard because I want to continue his legacy and make him proud. Having him recognized at the Alumni Awards just solidified all of this for me. When you are a double major with a minor and involved in so many organizations, you get tired—you question why you’re doing all this extra work. Having my father honored brought me back down to earth and reminded me why I do everything that I do. My two uncles, Chris and Brit Fanney, also came with me, and I know it was important to them as well that my father was recognized.”

Jason Seward, dean of freshmen and director of the Jane P. Batten Student Center, received the Graduate of the Last Decade Award. It’s an honor Seward is still trying to process.

“To be called a Graduate of the Last Decade, it’s an incredible honor,” said Seward. “I’m so fortunate to be able to work here at VWC and give back to a place that I absolutely love and gave me so much as a student, helped me find who I was, helped me become a young professional, and then allows me to continue to grow professionally. That’s huge. There were so many people involved, just for in my life to where I am now, the list you wouldn’t be able to print in the newspaper for I have so many people to thank. I see being able to receive this award as an opportunity to honor all of those people who have helped me throughout life. This award…I’m accepting on behalf of them.”

Being recognized at an event like the Alumni Awards is prestigious and impressive. However, some would argue that the honor of being called a Virginia Wesleyan graduate is a greater recognition. It’s the reason why alumni of the college continually give back to the school, academically and financially.

“I think that the experiences we had as students, they shaped us—the people, the faculty and staff we interacted with,” said Seward. “It’s the people who believe in this place. And the reason so many alums feel that connection is because they gained so much from VWC. We want others to be able to enjoy as much as we do. We still do.”

3News.indd 1

9/9/2014 11:03:26 PM

PAGE 4

COMMUNITY

THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 2014

***Bob

Marlin wants you***

Virginia Wesleyan’s voter registration is still underway for the upcoming election.

Registration ends on October 14th.

BY KACI PARKER klparker@vwc.edu

As Marlins, we are actively looking for a way to become involved within the community and to prove that we are adults.

By registering to vote, students throughout campus may now place their trust in a candidate who shares their political viewpoints and opinions on controversial subjects. Therefore, a team of passionate students has decided to take matters into its own hands and spread the word through setting up voter registration drives.

“I just talk to them and let them know why voting is important, as it helps shape the future for them and their families. Being part of the team to register students has allowed me to spread the knowledge of voting and all that pertains to it, to the next generation of voters,” said senior Owen James.

A handful of students are highly dedicated to spreading the word throughout our community. They feel it is of great importance and that it makes our campus unique.

“I believe that one of the qualities that separates our campus from the others is how civically engaged our students are.

Voting in local, state and national elections is just one way our students can get involved on an individual basis,” said senior Jessica Mackey.

All of the students have a drive within them that makes helping run the tables a great experience for all involved. It motivates them to educate their fellow peers about a topic they are passionate about.

“I am passionate, because with so much happening in our country and around the world, it is imperative that we exercise our right to vote. In 2008, I didn’t vote, and I was not able to take part in the history-making event that election year. I’m making up for it now, and spreading the word is just part of making amends,” said James.

As part of spreading the word, members sitting behind the voter registration tables are very approachable and proactive in

sharing their knowledge of the process with students across campus.

“I will encourage all students to register to vote. Voting is a right we are given as Americans, and it’s a right we shouldn’t take for granted when hundreds of thousands of people across the world are fighting for their right to vote every day,” said Mackey.

When students approach their table, the members of this team ensure them they are making the right decision and help to guide them through the appropriate steps. They express the importance of voting and what it has meant to them.

“To me, voting is the most important job we as Americans have, as we pick who our leaders are. It is a sacred job that we must not take lightly,” said James.

Students have multiple opportunities to register to vote during campus events, such as the freshman festival and the club fair.

The process of registering has been simplified by having all the materials the students need easily at their disposal.

“I think by providing an easily acceptable solution for registering to vote, greatly enhances a student’s willingness to register.

They did not have to go anywhere. It was as simple as filling out a form and copying an I.D.,” said Mackey.

So far, the tables they have set up at campus events have greatly benefited students.

“We registered over 40 students in less than two and a half hours,” said James.

It is still not too late to register.

“Students, faculty and staff are more than welcome to come by the Community Service Office and fill out an application. We will be doing walk-ins. However, due to state election laws that mandate that you must be registered 30 days before election, time is of the essence. Please don’t wait to register,” said James.

Have your voice heard. Register to vote

by Oct. 14 and participate in the next election on Nov. 4.

PROFESSIONALISM & BRANDING September 24, 4:00 p.m. in Batten 239

DRESS FOR SUCCESS October 21, 4:00 p.m. in Pearce Hospitality Suite

BUSINESS/SOCIAL ETIQUETTE DINNER November 17, 6:00 p.m. in Shafer Room, Boyd

Follow us on Twitter— @CareerVWC Find us on Facebook— facebook.com/CSC.VWC Connect with Career15 on Linkedin— http://tinyurl.com/mhnkvz7

Thomas Mills /Marlin Chronicle

Career Services Center

Batten Student Center, Suite 220 Career_services@vwc.edu / 757.455.3337 4Community.indd 1

From the top down: 1. A Virginia Wesleyan student registers to vote.

2. Senior Mindy Bertram, explains the registration process.

3. Junior Ryan Helms poses for the camera during the event.

4. Senior Owen James, vice-president of SGA goofs around with buttons.

9/9/2014 10:44:52 PM

COMMUNITY

CAMPUS countdown Mud Games 2014 Date: Sept. 19 Time: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Location: Behind Village II

PAGE 5

THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 2014

Renovations and repairs New campus wide renovations are affecting every class year. From Blocker to Village II the variety of changes has changed people’s opinions of study and classroom spaces.

BY RAYVEN DAVIS & KAYLA BROWN rdavis@vwc.edu kabrown2@vwc.edu

One Love Festival

How do you feel about the new Blocker Auditorium renovations?

Date: Sept. 20 Time: 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Location: Campus-wide

Gearing Up for Graduate School

Date: Sept. 25 Time: 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

Location: Batten 239

Marlin Spirit Day

“The chairs are convenient, since you already have a desk near you. I didn’t have chairs like that in high school...I went to the auditorium for the Alcohol Prevention Program, which was held for all freshman.”

“I liked it the way was before homey [and] comfy feeling. My Friends used to pull down the screen and watch movies.

We had a lot of great movies in there.” ~Taylor Hannon, sophomore

~Nadia Frazier, freshman

Date: Sept. 26 Time: All day Location: Campus-wide

Homecoming and Parent’s Weekend Dates: Oct. 3-5 Times: Various Location: Campus-wide

Virginia Wesleyan alumni, students, parents and friends are invited for a fun-filled weekend “Under the Sea.” The weekend will be packed with Marlin spirit and fun, including the Homecoming parade; Marlin Tailgate; alumni games and reunions; the annual Homecoming 5K; a glassblowing demonstration by the Chrysler Museum of Art; and the fall Theatre production, “The 39 Steps.”

The revamped Village II spaces have been used for multiple occasions, some that have affected new students as well as returning students.

The new curfew time to access other dorms is now 11 p.m., has it affected you?

“We are meeting up in there with another Honors FYE group, we usually meet up in Batten.” ~Rebecca Davis, freshman

“It angers me that security didn’t inform us about the key card changes. Now it’s an inconvenience.” ~Olivia Luque, senior

The Lens of Time

“The spinning chairs are great! I focus more while I’m occupied and tapping on a table annoys people. The spinning chairs spin and don’t make noise. I like them.”

Date: Oct. 6 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Hofheimer Theater The Virginia Wesleyan Chorale and Wesleyan Singers present “The Lens of Time.” The student choirs will perform choral music spanning the millennia, from chant through the 21st century.

Led by VWC Director of Choral Music Michael John Trotta with piano accompaniment by George Stone. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Michael Trotta at 757.455.3282 or mtrotta@vwc. edu.

Jewels of the Boutique Date: Oct. 13 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Hofheimer Theater Virginia Symphony Orchestra musicians: Sherie Aguirre, oboe, and Jorge Aguirre, violin, with Lee Jordan-Anders, piano, and Jeffrey Phelps, cello. Public ticket prices range from $5-$10; free to the campus community. For more information or to make reservations, call 757.455.2101.

5Community.indd 1

Have you been in Clarke, with the renovated chairs?

~Rachel Stein, freshmen

Sudoku Puzzle Answers to last issue’s puzzle, ‘Get Involved (on and off campus): Across: 1. Cloud9 7. KOBE 8. HRT 10. MarlinMinistries Down: 1. ChixsBeach 2. PembrokeMall 3. RecXEvents 4. WACEvents 5. StudentGovernment 6. Norva 9. Tides

9/9/2014 10:46:42 PM

PAGE 6

OPINIONS

THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 2014

Richard Cremin/Marlin Chronicle

Sex-ucation for the 21st century

Back in my day, it was Brown that killed Ferguson, not the other way around.

Following up with Ferguson

BY DOUG HARDMAN ddhardman@vwc.edu

Many of us were not around in the ’60s, surely. But we have our grandparents who were, or we at least know someone from that generation. Just imagine the horror on their faces when they turn on their TVs or read a newspaper and start having flashbacks. One of the most terrifying comments to come out of the Ferguson protests was a tweet from an individual whose grandmother compared the events to what was happening to the black population in the 60’s.

As most of America’s population already knows, Mike Brown, an unarmed black youth, was shot by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, after Brown was suspected of burglarizing a convenience store. As the story goes, Brown held his hands up and said, “Don’t shoot,” before, what police are calling, a “struggle” broke out and Brown ended up dead.

It just goes without saying: Brown was innocent. Why was he targeted? He was stereotyped as a thug simply because he was a black youth in a hoodie. This says a lot about racism and how it’s alive and well even in the year 2014. But not only that, it also gives reality to the comment from above: we are reliving the 60’s. We live in a world where young POC (people of color) can be shot on the streets simply because they look a certain way. If that’s not racial discrimination in your view, then you are blind.

One of the most interesting things to come from the Ferguson situation was the Twitter worldwide trend #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. This hashtag was used to demonstrate the racial discrimination involving deaths of POC in the media, because the media gave justification for Brown’s death. Twitter users would post two pictures of themselves: one in which they would be stereotyped as “black” or “a thug” and one in which they look the opposite of their stereotype (i.e., successful and educated).

Then, they attached the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, and said, “Which picture would they use?”

Of course, POC can’t have things all to themselves.

Eventually, the Twitter trend was used by white people in the same exact way. However, the problem with this is that the media does not justify the deaths of white peo-

ple the police’s hands. We live in a society where white people don’t have to come up with hashtags like #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, because if a white person were killed by the police, the police would actually be held responsible. That, my friends, is white supremacy and racism.

Mike Brown’s untimely and cruel death sparked outrage, clearly. Shortly after his death, a silent protest was held in Ferguson. But that was quickly shut down by…?

You guessed it: the police. Protesters were assaulted with tear gas, and the SWAT team was also called in. “Why would they do that? It was a silent and peaceful protest,” you ask. Well, you see, children, the police officer responsible was justified for killing Mike Brown because he was a “thug.” So, since the protestors were defending Brown instead of the police, they might also have been labelled “thugs.” But we (the police) can’t kill any more POC; we’ve, for some reason, caused outrage with an unjustifiable murder. So we will silence them with fear.

Living in a police state is horrifying. Fear is a means to keep the people obedient. But we should not sit back so idly. Protests have been spawned, not just in Ferguson, but also in New York and D.C., with protesters of all colors marching for justice, holding signs that say, “Don’t Shoot,” or just holding their hands up peacefully, as Mike Brown did. They can’t arrest us all.

The media will silence our words, and the police will silence our freedom. But when we, as a society, let injustice reign, we’ve given up our humanity, our compassion.

Is there none left? I, as a white, middle-class male, apologize for the injustice that POC face, past and present. I apologize for any special privilege I receive because I am white. I apologize that people like Joan Rivers, who spoke about the positive aspects of genocide, are praised after death simply because they were famous and white.

(A slightly unrelated thought: death should not be glorified in any manner.)

History has repeated itself with the Ferguson shooting and protests. POC are being targeted simply due to the color of their skin. And then, when people got upset about it, they were shut down and assaulted. Is this the world we want to live in? ’Cause right now, it’s a white man’s world. “Land of the free?” Don’t even get me started.

BY CONNOR PETERSON ctpeterson@vwc.edu

Sexuality and sex. I’m going to be very blunt and say that these are two very popular concepts in our culture currently. There’s nothing wrong with the rise in popularity, but there are some things that need to be said.

We as humans are smart enough to build and understand a rocket that can fly out of the atmosphere. We can evaluate animal fossils that we’ve never even seen before that are most likely millions of years old. But the idea of a man kissing another man still does not receive the mature response that it should. Even the thought of a woman being romantically and sexually involved with both a man and a woman is beyond the understanding of some people.

It boggles my mind how a millennium-old book can convince society that two women shouldn’t sleep together, that women shouldn’t lie with multiple partners before marriage, or that it is wrong for people to not want to have any premarital sexual relationships. It confuses me how the best answers I get when I ask people about the legality of gay marriage are “Because the Bible says so,” or one of my favorites: “Because that’s what I was raised on.”

The thing is, heterosexuality is not the only sexuality that exists. Most people know of homosexuality and bisexuality, but there are countless other sexualities. Humans are sexual beings, and it is okay to embrace that. The problem is that as social beings, we have created a social construct that puts a negative connotation on sexual freedom, especially in women. We should be trying to break out of that idea. Diverse sexualities and ways to have sex are subjects that people should explore freely.

To be fair, I have found that some people try to look at the positive sides of sex rather than the negative sides. Instead of scaring teenagers in sex education about STDs, painful, scary experiences and pregnancy, our youth is being educated on contraception and avoiding sexual violence.

Our society should be educating themselves on their bodies and its sexual capabilities. If half of the world knew how much of a stress reliever and sleeping pill sex was, they would not look down upon it so much.

I understand that all of us come from unique backgrounds, and that is perfectly fine, but sex is universal and has evolved in ways even I would not have imagined. Sex has gone far beyond missionary, but gay sex and lesbian sex are as common to our generation as lamps and HD television. We are all different. We just have to work together to make sexuality and sex a more explorative subject rather than a punishment.

“Get to the Plot” Double trouble II. It is never the U.S.A. & always the Y.O.U.

BY SHAY MILLS sdmills@vwc.edu

Am I right, or am I right when I say the school bully always had the most defensive parents that stood by them despite the fact that they knew their child was malicious?

Those who make the worst decisions seem to have justifications for them and that, to me, is the U.S government in a nutshell.

Our judicial system is so stubborn and pressed to come off as perfect that they firmly stand by bad decisions and ‘justify’ them by ruling them as constitutional. George Zimmerman not being prosecuted was justified by making Trayvon Martin, the victim, look like a stereotype, thus making it constitutional to kill him.

The same goes for Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Granted both incidents involved violence, however, neither end should have been justified the way they were. Our judicial system should have been straightforward and admitted that they did not sentence Zimmerman and Wilson to anything but bad publicity. Both are Caucasian and model U.S citizens, so they would rather defy what is truly just rather than ruin their reputation. Feel free to label me as blatantly rude. Am I trying to start an argument on racism in the 21st century? Absolutely not. That takes too long. However, I am saying that our idea of a fair and just court system is irresponsible.

Just recently there was an article on CNN about a case in 1996 in which Jeff Mizanskey was sentenced to life in prison for possession of only seven pounds of marijuana.

Mind you, there are states that allow citizens to have more than that amount. According to LifeForPot.org, there are 25 other non-violent offenders serving the exact same sentence as Mizanskey, while hundreds of violent offenders are doing less time. This case ended 20 years ago and since then, there have been petitions generated to support the release of Mizanskey that required at least 122,909 subscribers and ended up getting 377,091. Even Jeff Middlhouser, the man who originally prosecuted Mizanskey, realizes how much of a misjudgment his sentencing was and is now sending letters to the Missouri court system stating that it is “time to let him go”.

The general public, the prosecutors and everyone else besides the court system is willing to admit and repair their own judicial mistakes. What does this say about the government we label as ideal? The truth of the matter is we cannot, or at least I cannot trust a government that does not admit when they are wrong.

BY TAYLOR BOYD tpboyd@vwc.edu

There is a strange phenomenon going about campus. Copies of former and current students are coming into our school from the freshman class and from transfers. Is this some sort of sign of the apocalypse? Or maybe some government or alien plan to replace Virginia Wesleyan students with beings that may be more advanced than us?

All I know is that it’s a very awkward experience to walk up to a person you assume is your friend and give them a big hug, only to discover that the person you are embracing has no idea who you are. They look at you with confused yet concerned faces, and explain that they had no idea you existed in their universe until this encounter.

In old folk stories a doppelganger is a double, or mirror image, of a living person. Within these different myths and tales, they are said to be mystic beings that bring misfortune or bad luck, which personally concerns me. Now I am not saying that this is the case for us; however, I find it particularly odd that all of the people who have told me that they have actually seen their doppelgangers have not interacted with them. Maybe it’s from fear of being replaced, but I do not know this for sure.

You always want to feel that you are unique, that you are an original and that you are the only you in the entire world.

But seeing these copies makes me ask the question, how original are we? Yes, there are some other things to take into account, like genetics and how some genes may be more similar than others, forming similarities in both appearance and personality between people, but I feel that this phenomenon is even more complicated than our DNA. Fellow students, I ask: what do you think about this wonder of “double vision,” so to speak? I, too, have been asked if I were in someone’s business or art class, being mistaken for someone else. I must say that I am very curious about what my doppelgänger is like. At the same time, I am concerned that my doppelgänger may not have the same manners that I have. For example, imagine if you were to try to walk into a party and got stopped at the door because you apparently trashed the last one you attended. However, you soon realize that the troublemaker wasn’t you, but someone else who looked like you. How will we function in a world where everyone is a clone of someone else?

Prepare yourselves for the inevitable conquest that walks among us. But hey, who am I to judge? I am sure that these doppelgängers are very pleasant people and mean us no harm.

CURIOUS ABOUT THE REALITIES OF CHANGING YOUR MAJOR? CHECK OUT AN EXTRA OPINIONS ARTICLE ONLINE GO TO www.vwc.edu/chronicle/ 6Opinions.indd 1

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NEWS

PAGE 7

THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 2014

The

MARLIN CHRONICLE

KICK START

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

BY KELLIE LAGOY kalagoy@vwc.edu

Editor-in-Chief Thomas Mills tcmills@vwc.edu Managing Editor Aoife Branco acbranco@vwc.edu News Editors

Molly Fanney mbfanney@vwc.edu Jessica Mackey jlmackey@vwc.edu

Community Editors Rayven Davis rdavis@vwc.edu Kaci Parker klparker@vwc.edu Opinions Editors Shakira Mills sdmills@vwc.edu Doug Hardman ddhardman@vwc.edu The Weekender

Elizabeth Sims ecsims@vwc.edu Sports Editors Kellie Lagoy kalagoy@vwc.edu

While other student-athletes are slipping on sneakers and cleats, Virginia Wesleyan senior, CJ Huguley is slipping his shoes off before stepping on the mat at OutFox Gym in Virginia Beach.

Instead of playing in traditional athletics at Virginia Wesleyan, Huguley is involved in a plethora of fighting styles. He participates in Muay Thai, MMA, kickboxing, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, all which are offered at OutFox Gym. Huguley competes in tournaments for most of the fighting that he trains for. He is 2-0 in kickboxing and he was the overall winner in the 2012 Naga Grappling Tournament. He’s had much success even though he only began when he was eighteen.

Huguley used to participate in other sports in high school before he found his love for MMA. At Osbourn High School in Manassas, Virginia, he played football, lacrosse and wrestled. He said he misses them occasionally, but he does enjoy fighting more rigorously than he was.

Not only is he an avid learner, and also a coach. He teaches classes with age ranges from youth to adult.

“It’s gratifying to teach kids and watch them earn their new belts,” said Huguley. He teaches kids kick booking and jiu-jitsu. He also teaches adult Muay Thai and kickboxing classes. Huguley sticks close to his roots by teaching wrestling classes at his gym.

He used to look towards the future and see fighting in his future, but now he second guesses that. Huguley broke his nose last year, and had to have surgery to fix the injury. Now he is facing yet another setback. He recently broke his nose a second time while sparring with one of his teammates. His doctors told him he’s looking at having another surgery.

“It’s not worth sacrificing my body,” said Huguley.

During an exclusive kick boxing lesson, Aoife Branco and I had the pleasure of peering into Huguley’s rigorous world toexperience a small piece of what he is so passionate about.

Kerri Taylor ktaylor@vwc.edu

Emily Joy/Marlin Chronicle

Aoife Branco and Kellie Lagoy recieve private kickboxing lessons from Cj Huguley, a second year senior, at the OutFox Gym.

Photo Editors Anthony Dellamura aadellamura@vwc.edu Kayla Skeete krskeete@vwc.edu Illustrations Editor Richard Cremin rjcremin@vwc.edu Online Editor Maurice Reed mreed@vwc.edu Online Photo Editor Emily Joy emjoy@vwc.edu Copy Editor Courtney Jones cajones1@vwc.edu Advertising Representative Kayla Brown kabrown2@vwc.edu Courtney Herrick clherrick@vwc.edu Advisor

Dr. Lisa Lyon Payne lpayne@vwc.edu

The Marlin Chronicle is the official student newspaper of Virginia Wesleyan College. Staff meetings are held every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Batten 217. Signed submissions are welcome, but subject to the discretion of the editor. Letters are not edited for content, but may be edited for length. The views and opinions expressed in this newspaper may not necessarily reflect the views of the entire staff of The Marlin Chronicle or Virginia Wesleyan College.

The Marlin Chronicle Virginia Wesleyan College 1584 Wesleyan Drive Norfolk, VA 23502 757.455.3311

“Virginia Wesleyan College proudly supports the editorial independence and press freedom of student-edited publications. We believe that student editors have the authority to make all content decisions and bear the responsibility for the decisions that they make.”

--William T. Greer Jr. President

7News.indd 1

Emily Joy/Marlin Chronicle

Kellie Lagoy squares up with Cj Huguley to practice how to throw punches in a kickboxing match during their private lesson.

SGA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 Moore.

Before summer ended, Wolfe did in fact lose his position as vice president of SGA. Owen James, senior and political science major, is the newest individual to hold the position. His appointment was announced on Sept. 4 at the first SGA meeting of this school year. Who knew finding a student government vice president could be so cumbersome?

It is part of the tradition of Wesleyan’s SGA for the president to appoint replacements for any executive board positions that become vacant, including the vice presidency. West chose each of the former position holders for different reasons, believing that each individual would bring something vital to the organization. Owen James is no exception. Already a member of many organizations on campus and an army veteran, James is a promising addition to SGA. “What makes me the best choice is that I’m humble,” said James.

“This appointment speaks volumes of my character, intelligence and willingness to be a team player. I am one of many in the SGA who are more than capable to bring a change to VWC. I also think my time in the Army and the academic knowledge I have retained here at Wesleyan has also prepared me for this position. In the Army we worked as a team and supported our leaders. I hope to bring that attitude here in support of this college and Imani who is our president. I also think I bring a ‘Never accept defeat’ and ‘Never quit’ mentality that can help us usher in a new day at Wesleyan.”

Although James has no actual experience in a Student Government position, Dean Moore believes he will contribute something that most of the other executive members cannot.

“It is so important to have fresh perspectives in an organization like Student Government,” said Moore. “So many positions were filled with people who have been in SGA for several years. I think it’s easy for people to get stuck in a kind of rut when it comes to progression or innovation in the organization. It’s exciting to see what new ideas Owen is able to bring to the table.”

James was chosen after careful deliberation. Many Wesleyan faculty and staff recommended him to West. After consultations with Dean Moore, West formally asked James if he was interested in filling the position. After James agreed, West appointed him to the position, making an election unnecessary.

Dean Moore, James, and West all declined to comment about the situation involving Wolfe. Wolfe wishes to move past the situation and is focusing on his academic career and playing for the VWC golf team.

James has a hopeful message for the student body.

“It is my sincere hope and desire that all Marlins, which include students, faculty and staff, support SGA and each other throughout our time here. I say this to the students specifically: This is your school.

You live and learn here. Help your SGA reps make it better. Tell us your concerns or issues and do not play the sidelines just complaining.

We are your voice to the school administration, but if you remain silent what can we do? Marlins one and all, just bring a spark!”

ISRAEL/GAZA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

The U.S. government currently supports the Israeli military with sophisticated weapons and funds used for military purposes, including the current conflict with Gaza. This year, President Obama stated that he plans to negotiate extending the annual military subsidy to Israel, making the military relationship between the U.S. and Israel stronger than ever.

The U.S. has provided more than $1.2 billion in aid to the Israeli military since the state was founded, which subsidized close to 25 percent of the American defense budget during recent years. President Obama has announced plans to further the United States’ economic involvement in the Israel, particularly focusing on recent discoveries of large stores of natural gas there.

Aid to Israel is not just a matter of the U.S. giving charity to a developing nation, and the alliance is not just a humanitarian burden on the annual U.S. foreign aid bundle. Israel is one of the only remaining allies that the United States has in the Middle East and is therefore very important to American interests geopolitically . Even so, many interest groups that have lobbied for cuts in U.S. aid to Israel believe that it would actually be beneficial to the tumultuous nation-state to have a lessened dependence on money from the U.S., instead developing relationships much like Israel currently has with Australia, the U.K and Canada.

Israel has a GDP close to $300 billion and is on its way to creating a sovereign wealth fund that will generate revenue from its natural gas stores. Many experts believe that such a country should not be receiving aid from any nation.

The battle is still ongoing and people are still being killed by missiles and rockets shot between the nation-states. A possible bias in Western media may affect Americans’ view of a world issue and it is important to analyze the political and military motivations of the United States when using American news sources to learn about a conflict in a very different part of the world.

“No side is at fault more than another; assignment of blame will almost inevitably depend on one’s politico-religious ideology, and would be both naive and biased,” Mazur said. He does not take a side, despite his profession.

Salaam advocates the ceasing of the violence. “Too many innocent families are being crushed by rubble or blown away by bullets. Yet, the news want to report every time that a few soldiers lose their lives. A fair fight is when two countries that have the same military capabilities are able to negotiate a way to not have to proceed to violence because each country knows the sizable effect that war could bring. But because Israel has the upper hand, they see no need to negotiate because they have the upper hand. For example, if I were to get in a fight with a man that is defenseless and I have a sword and he has a stick. Why would I negotiate if I know I would win?”

9/9/2014 11:04:59 PM

THe

weekender

SePTeMBer 11, 2014

OUT & ABOUT On the Verge: Best of the 757 Locals

Head to the Norva to check some great local musicians, showcased during a one night event.

Sept. 18, 7pm

Brad Paisley, Leah Turner & Charlie Worsham Country music star will be headlining at the Farm Bureau Live Ampitheatre for the end of their Summer Series.

Sept. 26, 8pm

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Head to the Harrison Opera House for a night of thrills while watching this classic musical horror experience.

C itizen ’ s A rrest Locking up the excess of superheros in the movies

BY ROBIN PETERSON rapeterson@vwc.edu Know what a tesseract is? Shed a tear when Rachel Dawes died? Confused with how Loki is still alive after two deaths?

Chances are you’ve seen one of the many superhero movies that have been flying into the theatres in recent years. With five movies out this year, all of them blockbuster successes, Marvel Studios and its affiliated franchises are making incredible amounts of money off of the use of our favorite characters.

Although often thought to be a rival of the Marvel Comics, fans of all comic book heros will be delighted to know that many other movies are currently in the works.

For example, Warner Bros Entertainment has brought to life many of the DC Com-

ics favorites by producing new movies and even some sequels to enhance the movie franchise.

As of this week, the latest box office totals for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” is $281 million, with $17 million just this weekend, making it the highest earner over the Labor Day holiday. By comparison, recent releases “The Giver,” and “The Expendables 3,” have only grossed together about an average of $67.3 million worldwide.

The other top earner for the Labor Day weekend is “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” which is also loosely based on a popular Marvel Comic book title. Comic book franchises are consistently at the top of box office lists as compared to other big blockbusters. Can these numbers remain constant in the coming years without the fans becoming ultimately bored with the

Richard Cremin/Marlin Chronicle

Sept. 13, 6pm

genre?

Studios Warner Brothers and Marvel have quite strategically announced tentative movie release dates. DC Comics released nine dates for next year and Marvel has released 10 through 2021. With the release of several superhero movies over the next few years, a total of 48 movies are scheduled for theaters.

It is easy for a movie-going audience to get bored or feel overstimulated by a franchise that continues to generate movies at a monumental pace. It will be very hard for the producers, writers, actors and directors behind these movies to keep a satisfying and generate interest in these movies for years to come.

“I personally still enjoy them even though there are so many,” said junior Liz Kayser.

“They send a good message to the viewers”

EDITOR’S CHOICE: SUSHI KING

Sept. 27, 12pm

The All-American Virginia Bacon Festival

Head to the Scope Plaza for an all day event dedicated to bacon and all its glories.

Sept. 27, 1pm

Gordon Biersch Arts and Drafts Craft Beer Event

A great way to spend an afternoon if you’re 21 or older. You can head to Sandler Center of the Arts to sample some local, regional and nation craft beers.

8Weekender.indd 1

Emily Joy/Marlin Chronicle

Sushi King offers a variety of tasty rolls, like the Orchard Roll, above, that feature spicy mayo, wasabi sauce and tuna.

BY ELIZABETH SIMS ecsims@vwc.edu Walking into this heart-of-Norfolk restaurant, you are almost overwhelmed by an eatery that defies everything you think a sushi buffet should be like. The music is modern but tasteful, the décor is Asian but not tacky or goofy and the staff is multi-racial and converses comfortably with all of the patrons. However, the best part is the huge selection of sushi, appetizers, sashimi and entrees you can

get, as much as you want for $15.99.

With no limits or restrictions, this chain of restaurants is not for the faint of heart or small of stomach.

If you’re unfamiliar with how Sushi King handles its buffet-style kitchen here’s a quick lesson: once you are seated you are given a menu and the host or hostess takes your drink order while you peruse the menu. Once the staff comes back with your beverage they ask you what you’d like and you order from anything on the menu. Do you want crab Rangoon and

miso soup to get you ready for the main course (or courses in this case)? Order it.

If you want to jump right in and order five rolls at once (you better eat it all or they’ll charge you for wasting food) then go right ahead. There’s no judgment here.

If you want to head there, take a group of friends and enjoy a couple hours of quality time. We recommend the crab Rangoon, the Orchard Roll (a fried spicy tuna roll with a spicy mayo and wasabi sauce) or the chicken teriyaki if sushi makes you squirm.

9/10/2014 9:35:44 AM

9Ad.indd 1

9/9/2014 10:34:00 PM

SPORTS

PAGE 10

THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 2014

What are you made of?

RecXFit classes bring efficient and effective workouts to campus

K

ellie’s orner

Rising to the occasion?

KELLIE LAGOY is a junior majoring in communications

Casey Sullivan/Courtesy

Left: Vincent L Greer II flips a tire during an outdoor workout. Right: Mike Moran and David Pintor Jr. partner up to perform squats.

BY KERRI-LEANNE TAYLOR

ktaylor@vwc.edu

Walking through the Batten Center, you may have peered into the CMAC and noticed people leaping, walking on their hands, or even bearcrawling across the gym floor. What are they doing? What kind of workout is that? Are these people crazy? No. Well, maybe yes. But these intense workouts are extremely popular, and produce amazing results. So maybe it’s a good thing to be a little crazy.

RecXFit is hitting campus, and it is hard, heavy and one heck of a workout. The college has newly employed two coaches, Tim Walsh and Casey Sullivan, who create and lead daily, functional-fitness-style workouts open to all members of the campus community.

Both Walsh and Sullivan combine to bring over 8 years of experience from personal training and CrossFit backgrounds. They specifically design workouts so that members of the VWC community can reap the greatest health, strength and skill benefits in the most efficient way during the allocated one-hour classes.

“RecXFit is a program designed and used to venture into every domain of fitness,” Walsh said. “It involves gymnastics, weightlifting, running, jumping, Olympic lifting and anything else to take someone out of their comfort zone. You have to attack weaknesses to be a well-rounded athlete.”

The workouts consist of exercises intended to increase participants’ strength, speed and skill.

Both athletes and non-athletes are encouraged to attend. Classes are offered at multiple times on a daily basis to fit into students’ schedules.

“I feel the biggest benefit of joining the RecXFit movement is having the ability to find out who you really are and what you’re made of. It’s sad that most people will go through life never knowing their true potential,” Sullivan said.

Athletes have already reaped the benefits of RecXFit. Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams frequently participate in the classes, and the results are showing on the field.

“I can already tell I’m getting stronger, and I’m also getting a lot better at pushing through tough lacrosse workouts, which definitely comes from doing the RecXFit classes,” senior women’s lacrosse defender Amari Agee said.

“I think CrossFit style workouts, like RecXFit, are the best off-season workouts for NCAA lacrosse players,” Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach J.P Stewart said.

Non-athletes also enjoy taking the classes.

Participants have noticed health benefits such as weight loss, lower cholesterol and increased well-being overall.

“I noticed that my good cholesterol levels increased and my bad cholesterol levels decreased significantly after attending the RecXFit classes. And I love the workouts,” Stewart said “The classes have definitely elevated my mood, improved my flexibility, strength and endurance. And they have also helped me fall asleep faster and stay asleep,” senior Katie Smith said.

Some students may be reluctant to attempt the RecXFit workouts. Walsh himself had been put off by the stigma associated with that specific style of workout, but he now realizes the huge advantages that functional fitness training offers.

“I thought CrossFit style training was stupid for a long time, and that it was for a bunch of losers who couldn’t lift heavy weight. I was soon shown my thoughts were wrong and I fell in love with every aspect of CrossFit and what it stands for,” Walsh said.

“RecXFit is truly beneficial to everyone who participates. It will get you into a physical fitness realm you’ve never ventured. It will make you mentally and physically stronger. Our bodies are a beautiful mixture of strength and grace. Most people don’t know how far their bodies can go, but we push people to their limits.”

Sullivan believes RecXFit translates not only in the athletic realm, but into all areas of daily life.

“Life is a series of obstacles, and if you don’t know yourself then these obstacles will crush you. RecXFit is designed to put you in unknowable, unforeseen circumstances and making you work through them effectively and efficiently with the hope that you are a stronger person on the other side. We don’t just build strength. We don’t just enhance conditioning.

We really want to build character. We want to build mental toughness. We want to develop you as a whole person,” said Sullivan.

RecXFit Class Schedule Mondays:

8am - 9am 11am - 12pm 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Tuesdays:

11am - 12pm 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Wednesdays:

8am - 9am 11am - 12pm 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Thursdays:

8am - 9am 9am - 10am 10am - 11am 4.30pm - 5.30pm

Fridays:

8am - 9am 9am - 10am 10am - 11am 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Meet the Coaches

Tim Walsh

Casey Sullivan

Soccer’s rise and fall Women’s soccer produces mixed results as they begin regular season play

BY ALEXIS PLATT amplatt@vwc.edu The night before the big day, ice baths are taken, jerseys are hung up next to lockers and athletes are eager for the opening games of their season. And even though no one’s popping champagne, Athletic Director JoAnne Renn compares the excitement of the night before a new season opener to that of the excitement that surrounds the start of a new year.

“August 25th, Sunday night, is like New Year’s Eve to me. It’s always the night before classes, and the excitement level for fall sports is off the courts,” said Renn. “My August calendar is my January for the start of a new year.”

Women’s Soccer has had a mixed start to their 2014 campaign. The ladies began regular season play defeating DeSales

10Sports.indd 1

University’s very aggressive team from Pennsylvania.

Although they fell short to Emory, a team from Georgia ranked 11th in the nation, they played with great work ethic and passion.

They then lost to the College of New Jersey and Kean University, before turning things around and gaining a victory against Averett University.

“I as an individual help lead my team through our motto, which includes grace, humility and servant leadership, as well as training and practicing my hardest every day to become the best player I can be in order to help my team be the best we can be as a unit,” said junior Kerry Knauss.

“We have worked together well as a team to start the season. We are communicating better than we ever have before. The communication on the field is what helps us to connect passes and

get the ball in the back of the net.

In each of the games, we also recovered for one another and helped out each other in the field to win 50/50 balls,” junior Kristen Cherry said.

Unfortunately, right now the ladies are missing a few key players that play a huge role on this team.

“We try and focus on who is playing now and not about the things that are out of our control,” Cherry said. “Missing Jasmine Dao and Kaitlyn Clunan this season is obviously something that is extremely unfortunate, but we as a team are going to strive throughout this whole season to be positive.”

This season, Women’s Soccer Head Coach Jeff Bowers has switched up a few things to help the ladies go on a run for an ODAC championship.

“Coach Bowers is an amazing coach. We are currently playing

in a new formation, but these past three weeks he has done everything to make sure that we are comfortable with our new roles. His tough-love approach is something that we as a team like and know everything he does is only to makes us better on and off the field. He has dedicated so much time into this program, and now we have to reward him by winning games,” Cherry said.

Cherry let it be known that last season was a learning season for the team. “We were an extremely young team and needed to grow not only as a team, but as individuals as well. We weren’t able to accomplish everything that we intended to but it helped us learn and experience adversity,” Cherry added.

“Our team goals are focusing on each individual’s game but all working up to the same goal as winning an ODAC championship,” said Knauss.

What exactly does it mean to be a student-athlete at Virginia Wesleyan? Athletes know what it takes to compete on the field, but what is expected of them academically? Before the fall season began no one really had a clue what needed to happen in the classroom. Now there are new standards in place for the entire athletic department listed in the Student-Athlete Handbook.

Before the start of the fall season it was up to the discretion of the coaches to determine the academic standards they wanted for their players. Now every team has to meet the not so rigorous standards put in place by athletic director, Joanne Renn, and a board of other school officials and coaches.

The minimum GPA requirement of an athlete his or her first two semesters is a 1.8, and after that all that is required for the remainder of a student’s eligibility is a 2.0. The low standards shows a lack of faith in the athlete’s academic abilities and motivation.

Having such standards makes it look like the athletic department is scared of losing too many star athletes because they don’t excel in the classroom. This obviously isn’t true for all student-athletes, because teams like field hockey have higher academic standards than the set 2.0. Field hockey head coach, Christina Restivo, expects a 2.5 average.

The athletic department should have a mindset like Restivo and her coaching staff. The higher the coaches raise the bar, the harder the athletes will be forced to work. No athletic department wants to have students who aren’t striving for the best they can academically. Setting a low standard means that athletes aren’t being forced to strive to do better than just the bare minimum.

The one redeeming quality about this new system is the credit hour count that every athlete has to follow. By the end of an athlete’s first semester they need to have a minimum of twelve credit hours, and that number jumps to 28 by the end of his or hers second semester. This system keeps athletes on track to graduate on time.

The standards may be lower than they should be, but at least the athletic department is finally enforcing an overall standard on the athletes. Having an enforceable standard helps remind athletes that they are here to get an education above playing their respective sport. Being a part of the athletic department is a privilege, and it’s important for the athletes to understand that they must earn the right to wear a uniform.

Even with low standards, Renn plans on enforcing the rules no matter who the player is or how important they are to their team.

“Academic responsibility comes first,” said Renn.

The athletes will be suspended from their team if they fall even a grade point below what is expected of them. Though it will be surprising if they can’t keep up with the bottom of the barrel standards.

The same goes for falling below the credit hour requirement. If the athletes can stay up to par with the expectations then they will be temporarily suspended from participating.

Academic success should be the most important part of any athlete’s life because of two reasons.

The first being that they came to Virginia Wesleyan with the purpose of obtaining a degree. The second reason is that they will more than likely not move past the collegiate level for their sport.

At any Division III institution no player is paid to participate in athletics, and that means that playing a sport is an extracurricular event.

#MCSports 9/9/2014 10:02:31 PM