The Blue & Gray Press

THE

The University of Mary Washington Student Newspaper

BLUE & GRAY PRESS Serving the community since 1922

VOLUME 94 | ISSUE 7

MARCH 25, 2021

Covering of spirit rock’s anti-racist message sparks fear “There were students that felt rightfully threatened by it.”

DAVID STROBACH Staff Writer

On March 13 the UMW NAACP held an emergency meeting after the spirit rock was painted over with a message that said “the end was nigh,” covering the Social Justice and Leadership Summit Subcommittee message of “Keep the Same Energy.” Some students were afraid that the message was a threat to students of color.

“When the Social Justice and Leadership Summit Subcommittee decided to paint the rock it was exciting because it was like a reminder that people on campus are still caring about the same issues that we were just fighting for last summer and more,” said Irene Andrade, junior psychology major and co-president of the Latino Student Association. “We were literally trying to ‘Keep the Same Energy’ as we had during the summer.

When I saw the message vandalized over my friends’ work it was disrespectful and

After the rock was painted with the phrase “Keep the same energy,” an unknown person spray painted “The end was nigh” on top of it. Abigail Weber / The Blue & Gray Press

on there are not always an attack. My issue stems from the fact that accusations of racism and discrimination seem to be thrown out on instinct, without consideration or attempts at taking a step back and looking at the whole situation,” said Buchholz. “To take every addition to the spirit rock as a charged message further divides the campus because it shuts down any conversation, as students are too afraid to speak-out out of fear of being called racist. There are issues on our campus that need to be addressed. The Spirit Rock is not where those conversations would be most effectively held.

These continuous accusations of racism surrounding new art additions to the Spirit Rock are dividing the campus rather than encouraging healthy, helpful dialogue.”

However, some students When students were sent home due to COVID-19 concerns on strongly believe it was an eerie March 11, 2020, the rock was painted with “The end is nigh.” message and felt threatened

Kate Seltzer / The Blue & Gray Press because of the fact that the disappointing.” message covered the promotion of a Some may say the message is not that meeting that was conducted to promote serious as it was written on the one year the voices of students of color. anniversary of students being sent home “When people started learning about because of the pandemic. the meaning behind that phrase it became “To preface this, I truly respect all much scarier, and there were students the activist groups on campus and fully that felt rightfully threatened by it,” said support the changes they are trying to Andrade. “Other students have expressed bring to our university. I understand how these sorts of repeated actions are that POC on campus feel that they are silencing, and invalidating, Black and not being heard by the university. This students of colors’ voices.” is a problem and should be addressed,” Students felt that the erasure of Black said senior political science major voices was part of pattern of racism at Abigail Buchholz. “The message ‘the UMW, including frequent occurences end [was] nigh’ was painted on the one of stickers from the white supremacist year [anniversary] of the original ‘end is group Patriot Front. nigh’ message when we all got sent home “The timing of the message being from COVID. People have called this painted on the rock is very sudden but painting ‘vandalism’ which makes little depending on who exactly wrote it, is sense when the spirit rock’s purpose is probably intentional what with it being to change, and the previous message was written specifically over the social justice already there 24 hours.” and leadership summit advertisement,” Buchholz is among the students who said Cameron Washington, sophomore believe that putting too much focus on and assistant secretary of the NAACP the spirit rock could take away from the at UMW. “What I also have no doubt community’s discussion of other issues. in being intentional is how there is “The Spirit Rock and the messages somewhat of a pattern with both this, the

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action needs to be enforced in order for the trust of students to be gained. Action needs to be taken against the people that do these things and ultimately they need to ensure the safety of multicultural students.”

Washington stressed his belief on what may have prompted the message.

“I have nothing to say to the specific people who wrote the message or have taken part in the other incidents. But I do have something to say in regards to their ideology, White Supremacy,” he said.

“Aside from my personal contempt for everything representing that ideology, I feel as though what these individuals are doing is disrespectful, but also built on cowardice. They are doing these things as a way of being quiet and covert about their dogma. It is my wish for these individuals to be brought to justice (TRUE justice without being protected) and for the ideology to be purged for

Patriot Front stickers, and other similar occurrences. Overall, I feel it was very disrespectful of whoever wrote the message to have done something like that.”

Once members of the UMW “When people started community caught wind of the message, an emergency meeting was held by the learning about the meaning UMW NAACP. behind that phrase it became “Students expressed their concerns much scarier, and there were by asking UMW administration and students that felt rightfully Chief Hall what they were doing to take threatened by it.” action to further protect Black students and students of color at UMW,” said Andrade. “While part of the concerns -Irene Andrade were about the message on the rock and how it was threatening for students, it good piece by piece.” still circled back to the more major issue Andrade wants students to feel safe of how UMW is still not doing enough to on campus and free to reach out to UMW protect marginalized students and prevent Multicultural Clubs. discriminatory actions perpetrated on “[Multicultural Clubs] are always campus.” here for students and are always willing At the meeting the administration to create spaces where students who are suggested new reforms. feeling that way can come and talk about “The administration and Chief Hall seemed to commit to taking more action and taking more preventative measures like communicating better on topics regarding student safety, implementing more on diversity education, and revising investigative measures. There was also a commitment to continuing this As of publication, the rock is currently painted black and pink with the discussion on what

needs to change and phrase “Hold men accountable.”

Josephine Johnson / The Blue & Gray Press how,” said Andrade.

Some minority it. MLC students commonly do it for students are tired and believe each other. Anyone who might be feeling administration doesn’t always follow that way is always welcome to reach out through on their commitments. for any reason,” said Andrade.

“Usually what would happen is that Since the controversial “the end was we would get an incident, we would have nigh” message, the spirit rock has been that discussion, then about a week to a painted over twice, once for the UMW month later it would fall to the way side Boxing club and once for awareness of until it gets left behind, then rinse and sexual assault. repeat,” said Washington. “We stressed that this cycle needs to end and that

ghost Town

legalize weed

gym athleisure

Aerial view of a vacant campus.

Legalizing recreational marijuana has benefits.

Gym fashion can affect athletic performance.

LIFE | 5

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SPORTS | 8

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BLUE & GRAY PRESS

MISSION The Blue & Gray Press is published every Thursday in the University Apartments Clubhouse for our university community. The goal of The Blue & Gray Press is to produce high quality and accurate news in a manner compliant with the Society of Professional Journalists ethics code. In its coverage, The Blue & Gray Press strives to highlight the community of the University of Mary Washington, as well as deliver fair and accurate coverage on the issues important to our students.

EDITORS-AT-LARGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kate Seltzer

Associate Editors Abigail Buchholz Cosima Pellis

SECTION EDITORS NEWS Jess Kirby Josephine Johnson

Editors: Jess Kirby & Josephine Johnson | blueandgray.news@gmail.com

Task force weighs cost and placement of emergency blue lights on campus Adam cooper Staff Writer

In response to the high cost and important role the call boxes and lights are meant to serve, a blue light task force was established in the last two years to open dialogue, examine data and improve the system on campus.

Around the multiple UMW Campuses, there are 217 emergency call boxes, often referred to as blue lights. These boxes, spread out in places from parking lots to elevators, offer direct and instant communication to campus law enforcement.

According to UMW police Chief Michael Hall, even though these boxes are not cheap to operate— they retain a $25,000 operating cost— it’s hard to put a value on all the benefits the boxes provide for the campus community.

The task force, made up of members of the public safety team, Campus IT, students, staff and professors, looked at the blue lights and call boxes on campus to determine location and necessity.

“What prompted this task force was different schools across the nation were pulling them down, and I’m not in favor of completely abolishing them but at the same time, I looked to the community to tell me how many they need outside of what we normally see and how we could better meet the needs of our community,” said Hall.

“What that task force did was evaluate those areas and say, ‘hey we don’t need six blue lights in the Anderson Center

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LIFE Erin Matuczinski

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ONLINE Samantha Price Bernadette D’Auria

PHOTO Bryanna Lansing

FACULTY ADVISOR Sushma Subramanian

A blue emergency light on the corner of William Street and College Avenue.

Matthew Simmons / The Blue & Gray Press

parking lot, let’s take down two of those and repurpose them at another location where we don’t have any.’ The rule of thumb that I like to use is to be able to see a blue light, if I can see a blue light then I should be good.”

Hall recently sent the final version of the blue light task force report to President Troy Paino.

From 2014 to 2019, the blue lights were used 844 times, according to Hall. Out of those, only nine calls were placed due to a verified emergency situation, while 481 were verified fake calls and others were to test the system.

“You can’t quantify the investment easily in mechanisms like that, cameras on campus, the blue lights on campus, police officers walking the campus,” said Hall. “Is a criminal more likely

A blue emergency light found on the front side of Bushnell Hall.

Matthew Simmons / The Blue & Gray Press

to come to a campus that has a vibrant community interacting and walking with heads up paying attention to what’s going on, with security and police officers patrolling, good lighting, blue light systems properly located? All these factors put together create that atmosphere that says we don’t want crime here. Those are the factors that are hard to measure.“ Despite having the blue lights, the number of sexual assaults on campus has not decreased, according to a recent article from The Blue & Gray Press. From 2017 to 2019, forcible rape remained the third most common crime on campus, only behind drug and alcohol violations. There were 16 counts of forcible rape in 2017, 13 in 2018 and 16 in 2019, according to the 2020 security report. Because most of these crimes happen in residence halls, the blue lights are not accessible to these survivors when they need help.

Even in cases where intimidating situations happen outside, students often use other resources. When the trespassing man approached freshman Grace Sylvia outside of Willard Hall, she opted to call the campus nonemergency police even though she was outside, according to a recent article from The Blue & Gray Press.

While the blue lights aim to deter criminals and offer a sense of security, another resource is immediately available to all members of the campus community. The RAVE Guardian app is something Hall describes as a “blue light right in your hand you can have 24/7.”

In addition to the $25,000 a year spent on blue lights, the university spends about $10,000 on the RAVE Guardian app. However, less than 20 percent of the campus community has the app downloaded. The app functions similarly to the boxes, giving a quick way to contact law enforcement, but it also allows your friends to track you and ensure your safety.

While the blue light task force is working to establish a good number of call boxes in locations that make the most sense, students still have mixed feelings about the necessity and purpose of the system.

Daniel Rozzel, a senior business administration major, questions how useful the boxes would be in an urgent

situation.

“To me, the blue boxes do not provide any extra degree of safety for myself. I feel as though if I was in a dangerous situation hitting the blue light and waiting in that location would be more dangerous if anything,” said Rozzel.

While the boxes range in age from older models featuring only the button and microphone to new models with built-in security cameras, the main function stays the same: to keep students safe and to deter crime.

Many of the boxes are in desolate areas and may look forgotten, but each box is checked for functionality and accessibility every semester to ensure that if it is needed it will function properly, according to Hall.

In addition to a physical check and test of each box to ensure the light can be seen clearly and the area surrounding the box is not overgrown, a system constantly monitors connections to each box. The system issues a notification if a box loses connection or goes offline so it can be repaired quickly.

While Rozzel doesn’t feel as though the boxes would provide immediate aid, he does believe they should stay on campus as an extra means of informing the police a crime has occurred.

“I think that they are still necessary because it is still better to know a situation has occurred. I don’t think they add any level of safety to a situation as it occurs but it can definitely serve as a means of informing police that something has happened,” he said.

Liam Kirkpatrick, a junior art history major, believes there should be more blue lights and call boxes in some places.

“I wish they were even more prominent because there’s definitely some empty spaces in the campus where I notice I go for a while without seeing a box and that’s mostly around the construction area,” said Kirkpatrick. “I’m in the fencing club so I tend to walk home by myself at night and I do have a tendency to kind of walk from one box to another because in the event someone does show up I can press the box.”

CORRECTIONS for THE Week PLEASE REPORT ANY MISTAKES SEEN IN THE BLUE & GRAY PRESS TO Kate Seltzer, blueandgray.eic@gmail.com or Sushma Subramanian, ssubrama@umw.edu

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Thursday, March 25, 2021

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Editor: Abigail Weber | blueandgray.views@gmail.com

Soda dispensers > vending machines JENNIFER GLAZEBROOK Staff Writer

UMW has many vending machines on campus. They are usually found in dorm living spaces, laundry rooms, and nearly all academic buildings. These machines are super convenient, but also polluting. One way to go about tackling this issue is by replacing all bottled drink vending machines with the fountain beverage machines we typically find in restaurants.

Many UMW students carry their own water bottles to and from class, so it would, in theory, be very easy for many to refill their bottles with flavored drinks if desired.

“It would be great to not have so much plastic waste on campus, but then you would run into the issue of cleanliness and trusting people not to make a mess of the machines,” said senior environmental science major Andrew Thomas.

Thomas makes a good point; fountain machines do tend to be messier than vending machines. However the risk of messes may be reduced simply by the method in which they would be paid for.

Currently, vending machines on campus are paid for by students with a credit card or their eagle one card.

The new proposed fountain machines could function similarly in that you pay for the drink using your eagle one card or credit card, but the amount of money goes up in conjunction with the amount of drink you remove from the machine, similar to a gas station meter. That way, the person pays for any mess made, which would incentivise against messes in general.

UMW has made moves in the past to be a more sustainable school. For example, several buildings on campus, including the Jepson Science Center and the HCC are LEED certified by the non-profit US Green Building Council, meaning they were made and used sustainably. But UMW didn’t stop there, as they also have multiple rain gardens throughout campus, and are working on making Mary Washington solar powered in the future.

The moves that this school and it’s students and

faculty have made to be more sustainable and ecofriendly are huge! But there is always more to be done.

Many students already carry reusable water bottles with them around campus, which is a habit that can be taken advantage of for the better. For those without water bottles, it would incentivise them to carry one with them, further encouraging these eco-friendly habits.

UMW has also been known to give out water bottles to incoming students at orientation and other schoolrelated events, meaning that this change wouldn’t be a huge burden on student’s wallets.

Having an incentive to actually use those bottles on campus could help reduce even more plastic waste in the future. In addition, converting vending machines to fountain machines could help the overall health of faculty and students.

Vending machines are often filled with two options: soft drinks or bottled water. And in a university where many students don’t have a car to go off campus to get other options for themselves, this can present a health issue as well. Fountain machines can easily have many different drink options available, from the typical soft drinks to healthier alternatives like flavored water and juices.

Giving students and faculty the option to choose something healthier to drink instead of forcing them to choose between water and soda would potentially bring in more revenue for the school and help the overall health of it’s community. The ‘Health Policy Tracking Service’ of the National Conference of State Legislature stated that “many schools earn as much as $100,000 from vending machine contracts annually.”

And I believe this could be improved upon even more so if students were given the opportunity to choose their beverages.

Changing something as small as a vending machine can go a long way in improving ourselves and our planet. Everything we use can, and does, have better alternatives. It is just a matter of getting enough people to support those changes so that we can limit plastic pollution as much as possible.

Staff Ed: When it comes to combating racism, emails aren’t enough On March 16, a white man murdered eight people in Atlanta, Georgia. Six of them were Asian-American women. Anti-Asian racism and hate crimes have spiked in the wake of COVID-19. In response to this latest tragedy, the university sent out a message from Troy Paino to the entire student body three days later.

“I am saddened by, and we as a community mourn, the mass murder of eight people -- six of whom were Asian-American women -- in Atlanta on Tuesday,” said Paino. “We stand with our APIDA and Asian students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and we stand against the hate, discrimination, and intolerance these murders and other recent acts of violence against these communities represent.”

The problem is not UMW’s need to send out an email after every tragedy. It’s good for the University to explicitly state that it does not support anti-Asian racism. It’s grim that organizations feel the need to clarify this. However, if a mass email full of nice words is all the university has to offer, it’s not doing its job.

According to the university website, 82 percent of UMW students are white. The university needs to do more than just tell their students of color that they aren’t racist in formulaic emails. It needs to actively foster a safe and welcoming environment for Asian-Americans, especially women.

An absence of the desire to be racist should be expected and apparent. The University of Mary Washington has a responsibility to its stakeholders.

Sending out emails declaring that an obvious evil is obviously evil is not enough.

Legalizing marijuana would have many benefits On Feb. 27, the Virginia General Assembly passed a PATRICK BROWN bill that if signed would legalize marijuana in the state of Virginia. Even though legalization is supported by two thirds of Americans nationally, Virginia would be “It’s always been legal for white people. the 16th state to legalize marijuana recreationally.

Marijuana legalization is about a larger trend In 2018, 1,654,282 arrests were made nationally for shaping our drug policy to take the foot off of drug law violations, according to Drugpolicy.org. Of minorities. And there’s always the added bonus those about 27 percent were Black, despite the Black of creating more tax dollars and allowing an population of the United States being about half that. institution, in this case the government, to ensure Hispanics are also twice as likely as whites to be sent that any goods consumed in their jurisdiction are to prison for drug use. The increased incarceration rate safe for the general public.” of Black and Hispanic Americans for drug use does not reflect increased drug use among those groups but rather -Joe Johnson the targeted policing of urban areas. them from getting other work. Whatever crime against The fact is that the War on Drugs has targeted society these people have committed, surely it is not minorities at unequal rates despite white people using worth it to destroy a community and turn people who at the same rate. Nearly 80 percent of those in federal may have been active contributors to the community prison for drug offenses are Black or Latino. Then into criminals. there are the draconian “Rockefeller Laws,” named If that does not convince you that we should not be after Governor Nelson Rockefeller, that pushed harsh sending marijuana users to jail, how about this: a fatal sentences for drug offenders that became the standard, marijuana overdose is almost impossible. Of course and tore families apart by putting drug users away for decades. These cruel sentences are one of the main reasons that the United States has the number one highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. We spend $182 billion dollars every year to keep nearly 1 percent of the adult population behind bars.

Half a million people are locked up for nonviolent drug possession charges; that is, one out of every five people currently in jail. Many jobs automatically bar people convicted of felonies from even applying. So in many cases, people who were not career criminals before being arrested are forced to become so after being released because their record prevents Virginia would be the 16th state to legalize recreational marijuana.

marijuana does have some dangers, but so do alcohol and cigarettes, which are very much legal. Legalizing maijuana also opens the door to regulation, which would make using the drug safer because buyers would know exactly where what they are buying came from and how strong it is.

“It’s always been legal for white people,” said sophomore international affairs major and class president Joe Johnson. “Marijuana legalization is about a larger trend shaping our drug policy to take the foot off of minorities. And there’s always the added bonus of creating more tax dollars and allowing an institution, in this case the government, to ensure that any goods consumed in their jurisdiction are safe for the general public.”

We are also beginning to discover that marjiuana may have health benefits. 36 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the drug for medical use.

Marijuana was demonized for so long that really we do not know that much about the effects of the drug. Full legalization would make it much easier for doctors and scientists to study the effects of the drug and determine in greater detail just how useful it might be for things like pain control or nausea management. Already, the FDA has approved several marijuana based medicines including Epidiolex, a treatment for severe child epilepsy. Little is known about the long term impacts of medical marijuana, but that is actually another argument for its legalization. With marijuana legalized, we can better study and understand its impacts.

One of this country’s founding ideologies is that of liberty, meaning that someone’s way of life should be free from oppressive restriction. It seems to me that the adult population of this country should be able to do whatever they want to themselves, so long as they are fully aware of the consequences. That is exactly how we deal with alcohol and tobacco now, and I see no reason why Americans should not be allowed to treat marjuana the same way.

Rick Proctor (@rickproctor) on Unsplash

Thursday, March 25, 2021

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LIFE

Editor: Erin Matuczinski blueandgray.life@gmail.com

Pandemic protocols on campus have pleased most parents

PRIYA PATEL Staff Writer

Students returned to campus for the first time in September 2020, six months after being sent home. @marywash on Instagram

The restrictions and changes made to campus life because of COVID-19 have not only affected students, but the parents of college students as well.

There is both disappointment in not being able to visit their children and an increase in anxiety. Sending your child to live at a college campus, a highly social environment with people constantly coming and going, is understandably something that could cause many parents to worry. This is only worsened by the knowledge of outbreaks at college campuses across the country.

“I was not convinced that resuming in-person classes was the best choice,” said Brenda Cheney, mother of a senior UMW student. “I was skeptical the university and the students would be able to follow the steps needed to stop the virus transmission and keep everyone safe.”

Cheney was glad that the university made it possible to exclusively take online classes for the last and current semesters.

“My student’s classes were all online in the fall and spring, so they did not return to campus,” Cheney said.

Despite the risk, some parents of UMW students were not worried because the university had a thorough plan to deal with the pandemic and explained it to students and their families through emails and livestreams before the school actually reopened. Although fewer students returned to campus this school year, these information sessions helped convince at least some parents that it would be safe.

“I was comfortable because I felt UMW had COVID protocols in place,”

said Julie Gorski, mother of two UMW students. “I did not consider having them do online classes.”

Patricia Murer, mother of a sophomore UMW student was similarly comforted by the protocols being put in place.

“I was not worried about the school opening because it had done a great job communicating with students and parents about the close work done with the VA Health Department to implement CDC and VDH recommendations like testing, distancing requirements and dedicating isolation and quarantine dorm spaces,” Murer said. “I felt confident that they were going to make a decision that benefited the students the best.”

The small size of UMW was also reassuring to parents who might have otherwise feared an outbreak.

“UMW, being a smaller school, with students having a stronger sense of belonging, allows for less difficult monitoring of COVID cases,” Murer said.

“Besides, the leadership created an environment of inclusion where everyone was responsible for their actions and the health of the community, which I believe is the sense that all individuals in a society need to develop.”

For many parents, the in-person campus experience was worth the risk of reopening.

“I was thrilled that UMW reopened both times,” Murer said. “I believe that young people should be learning around their peers, in person, so they can develop appropriate personal, problem solving and communication skills and become a fulfilled contributor to society. Those skills are sharpened only when studying, living, and working with other people in person.”

The concern level of parents also depends on the health of their child, as well as their trust in their child.

“I never considered having my child not return to school and only take classes online,” Murer said. “Fortunately, she does not have any underlying medical conditions that would suggest she would develop complications if she got infected with COVID. I knew that she understood the importance of wearing masks, washing hands, distancing and reducing time in enclosed areas.”

Parents differ on their opinion of the university reopening, but there is less disagreement that the abnormal semester is still disappointing. They are missing out on being there with their children as they go through college.

There are many restrictions preventing parents from visiting and events where parents are normally invited have had to go virtual. One of the most significant of these is commencement, the plans of which are still being finalized.

Watching your child receive their degree after raising them and supporting them through college is often a bigger deal to the parents than it is to the child.

Many parents are unsure what commencement will look like, but because it is at least known that it will not be everything it used to be, there is a common feeling of disappointment.

“I assume there will not be an in-person event this spring which is understandable, but definitely disappointing for all students, including my child who will be graduating,” Cheney said.

Personal Essay: Online classes made transferring more difficult SHAWN FLEETWOOD Staff Writer

The emergence of COVID last year has only exacerbated many of the difficulties faced by students who find themselves attending new universities. Having gone through this process myself, I can attest that my first year at UMW hasn’t been what I hoped it would be.

Having attended Germanna Community College as a sophomore last year, I was really looking forward to once again getting the feel of being emerged in a real college environment at UMW. For my freshman year I attended Christopher Newport University (CNU) and while I ended up leaving the school for a variety of reasons, one of the things I did like about attending CNU was the campus environment. There’s sort of an unspoken impression that being engaged in the college atmosphere leaves on you, providing you with a “home away from home” sensation.

However, up until this semester, I really haven’t had the opportunity to immerse myself in the UMW atmosphere as much as I had hoped. Even though I’m attending some of my classes on campus this semester, I still feel really disconnected from UMW and don’t have any significant attachment to the school. Part of this may be due to the fact that I’m a commuter student and don’t spend as much time on campus as other students, but I also think it’s largely because this irregular school year has made it impossible for transfer students like myself to get to experience what a normal year at UMW is like.

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Meeting new people has also been pretty difficult throughout the year. Unlike in-person classes, Zoom classes don’t offer the same opportunity to connect with your classmates on a personal level where you get to know them better. Outside of breakout rooms, there’s really no concrete way to get to know your classmates.

Having grown up in Fredericksburg and with a few friends already attending UMW, I was lucky enough to meet a few new people through them.

However, I can only imagine how hard it’s been for other transfer students who didn’t know anybody entering their first year at UMW. Moreover, finding a way to develop relationships with my professors has also been a challenge. Much like trying to meet fellow UMW students, Zoom classes didn’t really offer a way to get to know my professors personally. Especially given that most of my fall semester class sizes ranged from 50-60 students, I felt pretty distant from faculty, which made connecting with them on any kind of personal level a struggle.

I’m happy to report that things have been getting better, however. Since the start of spring semester and several of my classes in-person, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a variety of new people, many of whom are in my major. This is an added bonus since these are some of the people I’m going to be spending the most time with over the next year.

Furthermore, I’ve also been able to meet with and better connect with my professors more so than last semester. Much like my new friends, these are professors in my major, which means that I’ll get to spend the next year forming relationships that will

aid me in pursuing my career and beyond.

The year of COVID has definitely made assimilating into the UMW community difficult to say the least. And while I still don’t feel a strong attachment to the school that a lot of other UMW students may have, I am hopeful that by this time next year, as I’m about to get my diploma, I’ll finally be able to call UMW my home away from home.

Fleetwood is among many recent transfer students that have struggled with immersion.

Shawn Fleetwood

Thursday, March 25, 2021

LIFE

Photo Essay: An eagle eye view of our once vacant campus EMILY WARREN Staff Photographer

These photos were taken on the last day of finals week of fall 2020, right before winter break. Campus was deserted as most students have already left for break, and it’s a surreal experience to not see anyone on the university grounds. Its ambiance was almost like a ghost town because of how bare the campus was.

This spring 2021 semester, UMW’s campus feels like this every single day.

A prospective student who is touring UMW would glance at the campus and no longer get to experience the warm friendly atmosphere that the university has to offer. They would never know that there are hundreds of students sitting in their dorms attending virtual class and learning through their computer screens.

Campus Walk, normally buzzing with students, remains quiet and neglected. Ball Circle, a popular hang out place for students, stays vacant with chairs and tables unoccupied. Lee Hall’s patio is barren and not filled with students enjoying their lunch or studying. The UC is usually packed with students and you can rarely find a table to sit at for lunch, however, now the UC almost looks abandoned with an abundance of seats ready for students to occupy them. The athletic fields remain limited in occupancy with few spectators. Both Double Drive and the bell tower are not crowded with cars. Surprisingly, the Simpson Library’s treehouses that are normally swarming with students, are not available.

I wanted to capture the empty feeling of campus through a series of aerial photographs. I used a DJI Mavic Mini drone and flew it above the UWM campus, revealing that normal operations at these places on campus would never see this kind of vacancy.

Ball Circle lounge chairs that are normally heavily occupied, remain empty.

Soccer field at the Battlefield Complex is freshly mowed but is quiet.

Double Drive is unusually carless.

Battlefield Complex track not being used by student athletes.

The tennis courts with a limited number of players.

The Bell Tower with no students or cars.

Lee Hall’s patio is missing students studying and entering the bookstore.

Softball field without any players.

Thursday, March 25, 2021

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Special topics sociology class leads police forums

kaitlyn hundley staff Writer

This semester UMW introduced a special topics sociology course called Invention of Police: Social Control. Instead of completing traditional classroom activities like papers and assignments, students conduct three public forms about the UMW Police Department and its effects on the UMW community. The forums are tentatively set to address students on April 1, staff on April 5 and alumni on April 14.

Dr. Debra Schleef, associate provost for Institutional Analysis and Effectiveness and professor of sociology,

“As a community, we must acknowledge and recognize that this is a systemic problem that has been embedded throughout our history.”

-Melissa Castillo only teaches every four to five semesters. This semester Schleef decided to teach the special topics sociology course that would give students the opportunity to impact the community by hosting forums.

Although the class is not affiliated with the Community Advisory Panel (CAP) that has been investigating the UMW Police Department, they will be using the data from the CAP fall 2020

surveys that students, alumni, faculty and staff responded to. In response to UMW PD’s involvement in the May 31, 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Fredericksburg, the survey was sent out in Sep. 2020 to examine the UMW community’s perceptions of the UMW police and police in general. The survey also asked about perceived safety on campus and suggestions for reform. However, there is no set date that the CAP results will be released.

The goal of speaking to UMW communities is “to provide the data from the three Campus Advisory Panel UMW Police Surveys to the relevant University communities – students, faculty/staff, and alumni, as well as to give the students an opportunity to engage with the material,” said Schleef.

Schleef came up with the idea to have the students create the syllabus with her. She stated that she “suggested a few things that might take them beyond the typical classroom assignments to action research, public sociology, something that had a far-ranging impact.” The class came to the conclusion that working with the CAP data was everyone’s first choice for what to do with the forum.

The responsibilities of organizing the forums are split up between the students. The students and Schleef talked about the roles that were needed for the forums and divided them up into primary and secondary tasks to start off. For their main

roles, three of the students will be speakers at the forum, and the rest are organizing and advertising the forum, analyzing data for the presentation and working on preliminary written material.

“Everyone has at least one primary and one secondary task,” said Schleef.

The class’ flier showcases the dates of the three forums, where to sign up and where to find the “Students filled preliminary written material.

Photo courtesy of Melissa Castillo out a skills brutality is an important topic to “I think that flexibility was inventory and discuss. a bit too much for me because then I matched people with Castillo will be writing the I am a physical science major tasks, with some negotiation. It short preliminary pieces on and all of my classes have worked out really well in terms the history of policing.

“I want been heavily structured. It of individuals playing to their to focus on the progression of completely put me out of my strengths.” policing, as well as how some comfort zone, but I’m glad I got Melissa Castillo, a senior of the laws and policies put in to experience that process,” said sociology major, and Kaitlyn place during certain eras have Parker.

Parker, a senior biochemistry impacted policing until now,” Although the forum will be major, are both students in the said Castillo. addressing the CAP results of course. Castillo and Parker are The students plan to release the survey from the previous working on written material that the preliminary writing before semester, their goal is also to will be posted to a website for the forums to give people inform the UMW community the UMW community to read a chance to look over them about the impacts of policing before or after the forums. This beforehand. and police brutality in the U.S. written material will expand This course is an in-person and at UMW. the topics to be covered in the discussion-based class.

For “As a community, we must forum. many of the discussions, the acknowledge and recognize that Parker is focusing her time students provide the readings or this is a systemic problem that right now on writing about how materials based on topics that has been embedded throughout police respond to domestic they chose, and they are graded our history,” said Castillo.

“This violence calls and ways to on their contribution to the class will not change unless we move reduce police brutality. bibliography. to change it.”

Castillo said that she had Parker said that this is the never been involved in a most flexible class she has ever forum like this before, but she taken. believes that policing and police

Students question effectiveness of COVID testing selection

Daniel rozzel staff Writer

In order to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on campus, the University implemented randomized COVID prevalence testing on every Monday and Thursday in the Anderson Center.

However, this testing has faced some criticism from the student body.

UMW tests “370 [students] on Monday, 370 on Thursday,” said Dr. Debra Schleef, associate provost for Institutional Analysis and Effectiveness—the department that specializes in data analysis at UMW. “There are others who are called for testing as well, but not randomly. I have a list of all residents, and a sample of that group (278) is drawn each time using a statistical software random number generator. The list of off-campus students is split into MWF classes and TR classes, and 92 are drawn each day from the relevant list in the same fashion.”

Although many students have been selected multiple times, every student that lives on campus has been selected at least once.

“Everyone has been called at least once,” said Schleef. “We’ve been doing 740 a week for several weeks now. It was 700 before that.”

The total number of tests given is

Thursday, March 25, 2021

recorded by Elizabeth Southern, the UMW care coordinator.

“From Feb. 5 to March 15, the total number of prevalence tests is 2,617, we’ve had 7 positive results and two of those were confirmed negative after a PCR follow-up. The rest were all negative,” said Southern.

Because various students have been picked multiple times, even in the same week, some students have voiced concern about the effectiveness of utilizing a random pooling system.

“I have been tested three times, so

“It is concerning that some students are getting tested more frequently than others.”

-Erin Rockwell really not too often, but I have been tested twice in the same week. Two of those were prevalence tests. I do think it’s a little worrying that some students are being tested over and over and some students haven’t been tested since their entrance test, but it’s hard to know if there’s a better method. I’m not a mathematician or know anything about statistics, unfortunately,” said Cosette Veeder-Shave, a junior historic

preservation major.

Other students have similar concerns.

“I was tested twice this semester, once, when we came back and again about two weeks ago. I believe that the school should consider alternative methods for COVID testing,” said Erin Rockwell, a senior historic preservation major. “It is concerning that some students are getting tested more frequently than others (sometimes multiple times a week).”

Rockwell believes that students should be testing all students once per week or implementing a similar procedure.

“Some universities test their students at least once a week, sometimes even multiple times a week,” said Rockwell.

“Doing something like this will ensure that all students would get tested equally.

I also think that this helps to guarantee that the university has a way to ensure that the university is allocating its resources effectively.”

Other students believe that, while randomization is a good method, students with in-person classes should be tested more frequently than those who might only occasionally be on campus.

“My recent test was my second time overall getting selected, but I had a time conflict with my first test so I

couldn’t get it. The randomized testing should be a good way to gauge the student body as a whole, but I have heard of several people getting tested numerous times which isn’t that helpful,” said Matt McNulty, a senior business administration major. “The biggest issue, in my opinion, is that there should be more of a focus on the people on campus consistently, as they have a higher potential of spreading it.”

McNulty’s frustration with the COVID tests comes from personal experience.

“Two of my roommates and I have a COVID test on Monday and two of us don’t take in-person classes,” he said. “I don’t think that they should completely avoid testing people who are on campus less. I just think they should have that higher priority for those who have inperson classes and would be interacting more with others on campus.”

According to the COVID-19 dashboard, the number of cases at UMW has decreased since the start of the semester. As of publication, there have been 50 cumulative cases since the start of the semester, and there are currently 6 active cases. There is less than one new case every day, as the seven-day moving average of new cases per day is 0.86.

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SPORTS

Editor: Victoria R. Percherke | blueandgray.sports@gmail.com

Gym fashion: students weigh in on comfort versus aesthetics PAUL THOMAS Staff Writer

Something that might not be commonly thought about for gym-goers is how their clothing affects the workout experience. There are different ideal types of clothing for workouts per person, but it seems that the key factors in all types of workout clothing are comfort, style and function.

Each person has their own individual ideas on what types of clothing would make the best workout experience. Focusing on fit, some decide to go with tight fitting clothing, such as senior business admin major, Sebastien Bonte. “Personally I like tight things so I can just see my muscles and it just motivates me.” From Bonte’s point of view, being able to see success drives motivation to keep going.

Others however go for looser fitting clothing like Brenna Creamer, a senior geography major. Creamer said, “I try to wear clothes that are looser and give me

either a doctor’s coat or a painters coat. In this study, participants were more attentive wearing the coat and being told it was a doctor’s coat rather than not wearing the coat or being told it was a painter’s coat. This was due to the symbolic meaning of the items.

This can apply to workout clothing as well, according to some students. Zane Burk, a senior communication and digital studies major, says, “I like being well dressed and feeling ready to go -- I like having a decent workout fit, matching clothes and all.” In Burk’s case, his style does play a part in the success of his workout.

Bonte, Burk and Creamer all agreed that comfort is

“I like tight [clothes] so I can just see my muscles and it just motivates me.”

- Sebastien Bonte the space I need to move and get a good workout in.”

Function in clothing is another key aspect. If the apparel is not meant for a certain type of workout, it could be a detriment to the workout. Shape concludes,“What you wear directly affects your performance. You wouldn’t wear the same running shoes on a hike, right?” This is a key, because most people know working out in boots or dress shoes is very different compared to good athletic shoes.

Material is also an important factor to consider, according to Bonte and Creamer. According to Shape, Amber Zipfel poses in her comfortable, breatheable workout clothes this is why many people go with clothing that is flexiPhoto courtesy of Amber Zipfel ble, such as elastic or spandex. These materials are northe most important factor in athletic apparel. mally good for working out because they breathe better Creamer explains “For me, if the workout clothes and have other functions like moisture wicking, as are not comfortable then it’s harder to workout in many UnderArmor apparel items do. These functions them.”

In Creamer’s case, being uncomfortable can can make the workout experience completely different make her workout more difficult which can hurt her as it can be much less efficient if the wearer is too hot experience, and that can discourage her from continuor soaked in their own sweat. ing the workout session.

There have been a few studies that suggest the concept of enclothed cognition. This essentially means that your clothing can aid in determining your emotions.

This is seen in a study done by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, where participants were tested in different aspects wearing a lab coat and not wearing a lab coat, then being told that the coat was

Angelica Gaughran feels happy in a good pair of leggings.

Photo courtesy of Angelica Gaughran

Lily Silva smiling in her printed, bright athlesiure Photo courtesy of Lily Silva

Sebastien Bonte working out in his preferred tight-fitting athlesiure Photo courtesy of Paul Thomas

Kaitlin Smyth prefers loose, simple athleisure.

Photo courtesy of Kaitlin Smyth

Mariana Haugh loves GymShark attire.

Photo courtesy of Mariana Haugh

Marissa Gernon in her favorite tank top and shorts.

Photo courtesy of Marissa Gernon

Thursday, March 25th, 2021

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