The Blue & Gray Press

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THE

BLUE &GRAY

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON STUDENT NEWSPAPER

UMW’s first commercial gives rise to criticism

PRESS

OCTOBER 8, 2015

VOLUME 89 | ISSUE 5 SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE

1922

ESTER SALGUERO Assistant News Editor

The new commercial that debuted on Friday, Oct. 2 attracted both positive and negative attention from a good majority of the student population. A group of eight students received emails in the spring of 2015 to apply for a chance to become a Mary Washington Model. After the application process, the students were briefly interviewed, then asked to shoot the piece during the summer of 2015. The filming process took place in the Digital Auditorium of the Hurley Convergence Center. Positive feedback has mainly come from people who participated in the ad and their family members, who have expressed pride in seeing their son or daughter in a commercial. Students who described this attempt at recognition as ‘selling out’ or as an act of desperation gave negative responses which were stated on the grounds that the school has begun to regress to a lower level status. Abigail Barnett, a sophomore biology major, took a different stance in expressing her opinions of the commercial. For her, she did not see Mary Washington when she saw the video. She described it as a list of majors that did not portray the university’s most valued characteristics. “It should show hard work [taking place] in the classroom while also showing our tight knit community,” Barnett said. [Others have cited additional decisions the university has made in what they believe is a tactic to make money. One speculation is that the university has raised its acceptance rate to garner more students.] However, Mary Washington’s acceptance rate has not increased as dramatically as some people have decided. According to Princeton Review, Mary Washington has an acceptance rate of 77 percent which is nearest to George Mason University’s acceptance rate situated at 67 percent. Sarah Roche, a sophomore biology major, believes the high acceptance rate speculation detracts from seeing the UMW community in a positive light. “It saddens [me how] people [reacted] in such a way because it insinuates that somehow increasing [the] acceptance rate is an indication that the student body is less talented, dedicated, intelligent and assumes this sense of superiority,” Roche said. Larger universities also have a greater amount of overall applicants. Therefore, their acceptance rates are

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Caroline Trabucco/ Blue & Gray Press

Bicycle policy strengthens as foot traffic increases the use of the handrails,” Lovelace said. “It is a significant hazard and obstacle for handicap pedestrians as well, as these pedestrians rely on the handrail and cannot have any obstacle or distractions that would cause them issues entering or exiting the buildings.” Existing policy requires that all bikes on the UMW campus be locked properly to bike racks, stored in the specified areas and registered with the University

poundment, as the university police have no way of contacting a bikes’ owner or knowing if a bike in question is Stemming from recent UMW Police the property of a university student. and departmental concerns on the lack Registering a bike takes approximately of attention to the University’s existing five minutes to complete. policies in the student handbook, stuIn order to register, a student must dents of the University of Mary Washtake their bike to the UMW Police ington received an email on Wednesday Department, which is located in Brent Sept. 18, from assistant director of ResHouse, down the hill from the Bell idence Life Colin Coleman reminding Tower. students A stuof the dent must Bicycle then ask Policies for a bike and Proregistracedures in tion form place. from the R u t h front desk. • Registering a bike: Bikes are registered on Brent House Lovelace, T h e and only takes approximately 5 minutes. director of form conEmergentains the cy Manbasic in• ID Sticker: Registered bikes get an identification sticker agement formation from UMW Police and emergency assistance if the bike and Safeon the bike ty, stated itself and is lost or stolen. that this student bike policontact incy has al• Impounding: If a student’s bike is impounded, students formation. ready been The stushould go to Brent House for its retrieval. in place dent then for some receives a time, but sticker to as more students ride bikes at UMW, a Police. place on the bottom of their bike. It is greater challenge enforcing the policy Registration offers students with this form of identification that ensures has risen. bikes emergency assistance if their bike the bike in fact belongs to a UMW stuDue to the hazards that an improperbecomes lost or stolen. dent and gives authorities an easy way ly chained bike could cause, UMW PoBike registration also allows Camto contact the bike’s owner. lice, Emergency Management and Safepus Police to obtain important inforIf a bike is impounded, the owner ty and Residence Life are taking greater mation such as serial numbers and bike may go to Brent House and speak with steps to make the policy a reality. descriptions. the UMW Police Department to have “The chaining of bicycles impedes Students who remain unregistered •BIKE |10 the ingress and egress of buildings and now face the possibility of bike im-

IZZY BRIONES Staff Writer

Fast Facts: UMW BIKE POLICY

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