jPaper, the student newspaper for jCamp at Virginia Tech
Sun sets on jCamp at VT BY JOSH WALLACE | Chantilly H.S.
Hokies ...........2 Profiles ..........3 jCamp moves 4 Food ..............6 Opinions........7 Photo ............8
july 19, 2012 blacksburg, va.
HARRIS LaTEEF / LANGLEY H.S.
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the summer of 2013, jCamp will be moving to the campus of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., and the cost per camper will be greatly reduced. In recent years, the fee for jCamp has risen. This year, the regular registration was $545. If a student registered after the June 1 deadline, the price rose to $595 plus a $15 convenience fee. “We are looking at trying to keep the price point (in) the mid range of the $300s well below $400,” design
instructor Chris Waugaman said. “The $500 mark is what we felt like is too difficult for students to maintain.” Waugaman is the director of the Virginia Association of Journalism Teachers and Advisers. He wants to make the the association’s jCamp affordable for every student. “It will also help other staffs if they want to offset some of the costs for more people,” Waugaman said. “So let’s say if a staff only pays $100 per person, that’s a much more substantial chunk out of $350
or $375 than $500.” “I think it would definitely be an easier pull for someone who has to pay out of their own pocket,” junior Cameron Wood said. “I think $150 is a lot. Especially if it’s the same thing in four days.” Wood and many other students would benefit greatly from a reduced cost. Although this year’s dorms at Virginia Tech are outfitted with air conditioning, new appliances, and flat screen TVs in the common rooms, a cheaper price at Washington and Lee
would still benefit the students. Waugaman has been with the camp since its genesis and is very connected with Virginia Tech. However, he knows that this move will be a smart one for the camp. “I’m going to be sad to leave, and we’ve talked to Kelly Wolff (Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, Inc. general manager) about possibly bringing it back to and possibly revisiting see MOVING / page four
Counselor overcomes disability, enjoys life at Tech SAMUEL SMITH huntington high school “One day at daycare, I laid down for a nap, and 40 minutes later, I woke up and couldn’t walk.” Since he was three years old, Justin Graves has lived with a rare viral infection known as Transverse Myelitis, a paralysis of the spinal cord. The Virginia Tech masters’ student is more than average. He was the president of the Hokie Ambassadors, the campus tour guide group and First Lady Michelle Obama gave him a shoutout during her 2012 Commencement address.
Graves’s physical disability hasn’t stopped him from achieving anything. He even thinks the wheelchair jump-started his social life. Previously, he was the shyest person he knew. Now, Graves is an outgoing member of the Tech community and an extremely proud Hokie. Graves said his disability has allowed him to take the “road less traveled” as he has been able to see the world from a different perspective for the majority of his 21 years. “A lot of people don’t see much more than the wheelchair,” Graves said. “But it’s when people notice that I’m just like them, just Justin, that they’re able to see me like everyone
else.” Graves’ love for Tech and Blacksburg has extended past the traditional four years. He recently graduated with a degree in Sociology, but is switching his focus to a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration, striving to become the president of a university. Although some might see being wheelchair-bound as a disadvantage, Graves has never slowed down. He has a girlfriend and even a new roommate, his beagle Charlotte. “Yeah, it’s annoying sometimes,” he said, “but my mom always said, ‘You can do anything, just a little differently than the others.’” COURTESY JUSTIN GRAVES