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The Review TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 VOLUME 141, ISSUE 22
Baltimore protests hit home for some students BY MATT BUTLER AND JAY PANANDIKER Managing News Editor and Managing News Editor
WHAT’S INSIDE
A day that began in peaceful mourning ended with looting and arson. Protests in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray turned violent Monday leading to a city wide curfew and state of emergency. The protests began over the weekend and were largely peaceful, but looting and destruction spread across parts of West Baltimore. Gray died after a week-long coma, which he fell into after his neck was broken while in police custody. At the university, 14 students gathered in a vigil on the steps of Memorial Hall on Monday night, praying for the situation and discussing the societal problems that surround Freddie Gray’s death and subsequent protests. Sophomore Andrea Miller and Alex Palting, a junior, are both from the Baltimore area and said the protests have a personal tinge for them. Palting said she planned the vigil spontaneously while watching news reports and seeing social media explode about the rioting. “It’s so close to children and residential areas,” Palting said. “People aren’t acting rationally in a lot of ways, even though there are a lot of people who are protesting peacefully.” The riots led to looting of several stores and the arrests of more than a dozen. Fifteen Baltimore police officers were also seriously injured and have been hospitalized. The protests have also led to the closure of Baltimore City Schools on Tuesday and the cancellation of the Orioles game. “Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs, who in a very senseless way are trying to tear down what so many have fought for,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Rawlings-Blake said at a press conference. With Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declaring a state of emergency, national guard troops will flow into the city overnight in order to handle protests tomorrow. About 1,500 troops are needed to restore order, but over 5,000 troops are being made available. Lalu John, a junior, said the problem is larger than any one man or city, and that the angry reaction to systemic issues within the justice system nationwide are manifesting themselves in the form of the riots. “Where madness breeds, it is going to come out,” John said. “It’s not just for black people, it goes for any human. If someone was killing your own people or your family, it would cause a reaction.”
TIM CALOTTA/ THE REVIEW Thomas Wartzack, color blind since birth, is now able to see color thanks to Enchroma glasses.
‘Total sensory overload’
Video of student seeing color for first time goes viral NICOLE SULLIVAN Senior Reporter Freshman Thomas Wartzack had never seen the warm orange glow of a setting sun or the inviting pinks and purples of blossoming spring flowers. But on a beautiful afternoon last week, Wartzack put on the most important pair of sunglasses he would ever own and opened his eyes to colors he once struggled to imagine. Developed by the company EnChroma, the sunglasses use high-tech optics to filter out the region of the color spectrum where red and green overlap, “enhancing color before it reaches the eye” and completely transforming the lives of those with a redgreen vision deficiency. After discovering the EnChroma Cx sunglasses on a colorblind subreddit page this past December, Wartzack was initially skeptical, unwilling to believe such a simple product could potentially fix his lifelong color deficiency. But after reading numerous positive product reviews and
comments, he finally decided to purchase the nearly $400 sunglasses. They arrived in the mail last Tuesday. “It’s hard to describe what I felt when I put them on,” Wartzack says. “To experience my color deficiency for 19 years and know it’s incorrect but never [see] the correct vision—and then suddenly see what everyone’s been talking about—it was just really intense. I don’t think I talked for a while.” Willing to authentically document his experience, Wartzack asked his friend Sarah Bush to help film his first trial on the Center for the Arts Green. Bush says she was honored to be part of such a monumental moment in her friend’s life. “It was magical,” Bush says. “To share a moment like that with someone—it’s pretty intimate and special, so it was really sweet.” In the video, Wartzack is seen putting on the glasses and taking in his surroundings, noticing the stark contrast between nearby red brick and green
grass for the first time. It was a moment he describes as “total sensory overload.” “I knew a camera was going and people were going to see this, but I just kind of shut everything out,” he says. “Not intentionally— but everything was kind of suddenly so different.” Wartzack posted the video to his Facebook page, anticipating a handful of likes and comments from close
friends and family members. Within hours, however, the video had gained unexpected attention from friends and acquaintances, as well as total strangers. One week later, the video currently has more than 17,500 views, 600 likes and 200 shares.
See WARTZACK page 12
COURTESY OF THOMAS WARTZACK Friend Sarah Bush filmed Wartzack seeing color for first time. The video has been viewed of 17,500 times.
EMILY MOORE/THE REVIEW and KIRK SMITH/THE REVIEW Students gather on steps of Memorial for Baltimore vigil (left). Baltimore protests follow last semester’s rallies (right) surrounding race relations.
SGA senator petitions for election reform An SGA senator has proposed changes to increase presidential eligibility, reform the election and campaign process and increase student engagement. Article page 4 Editorial page 7
Ag Day held on South Campus this weekend Guests were welcome to meet the university’s farm animals and learn about local agriculture at this year’s farm-totable themed event. Mosaic page 1
New Newark Natural Foods location features community space, café The co-op’s new Newark Shopping center location is double the size of the old space. Mosaic page 1