The Commonwealth Times; Nov. 28, 2018

THE INDEPENDENT PRESS OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY 2ⁿ place, weekly newspaper of the year — 2018 Pinnacle Awards

COMMONWEALTHTIMES.ORG @theCT

VOL. 60, NO. 14 | NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Closing time

Redshirt-junior guard Marcus Evans knocked down the game winning shot with 28 seconds left in overtime as the Rams defeated Hofstra 69-67. Photo by Erin Edgerton

Evans’ late heroics lift Rams to 5-1 FADEL ALLASSAN Special Projects Director

M

en’s Basketball coach Mike Rhoades said VCU’s 69-67 win against Hofstra University Saturday might not have been a cakewalk, but it showed the Rams have a new trait this year — the ability to dig deep and win close games.

“This time last year we wouldn’t have won the game, period,” Rhoades said afterward.

“And, the last two timeouts, I thought our guys just were in a good place in the huddle, talking to each other, clear minds, sort of a next-play mentality.”

Freshman forward Vince Williams leads all VCU freshman in scoring this season with 4.2 points per game. Photo by Erin Edgerton

See MEN’S BASKETBALL on page 7

Redshirt-junior forward Isaac Vann poured in a career-high 30 points Nov. 20 against St. John’s. Photo by Erin Edgerton

VCU to help advance West African pharmaceutical production Story on page 3 The College of Engineering’s Medicines for All Institute will train Ivory Coast researchers to improve drug manufacturing capabilities. Photo courtesy of VCU College of Engineering

NEWS Title IX 2

SPORTS Equipment room 6

SPECTRUM Hardcore farewell 9

OPINIONS Selective activism 13

2 The Commonwealth Times

Stories of the week

national: American officials tear gassed men, women and children traveling in the migrant caravan after an attempt to forcibly cross the Mexican-American border at Tijuana Tuesday. international: Russian coast guard ships fired on three Ukrainian naval ships Sunday in the Kerch Strait, a waterway between mainland Russia and the Crimean peninsula.

VCU says it is too early to comment on pending Title IX changes LOGAN REARDON Staff Writer VCU Equity and Access Services said it is too early to make changes to VCU’s Title IX policy in response to proposed federal changes that would create more protections for those accused of sexual assault, according to a mass email sent out Nov. 16.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally-funded education programs. The law requires these education programs to combat gender-based violence and harassment as well as accommodate survivors of sexual assault to ensure all students have equal access to education.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED), led by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, released its proposed Title IX changes Nov. 16. Under the proposal, students accused of sexual misconduct will gain greater protections and universities investigating complaints could have less liability.

DeVos said in a statement Nov. 16 the proposed changes’ focus is to ensure “due process” in sexual assault cases, “ensuring that every student can learn in a safe and nurturing environment.”

“Every survivor of sexual violence must be taken seriously, and every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined,” DeVos said in the statement. “We can, and must, condemn sexual violence and punish those who perpetrate it, while ensuring a fair grievance process. Those are

Illustration by Steck Von

not mutually exclusive ideas. They are the very essence of how Americans understand justice to function.”

Specifics of the proposed changes include giving a person accused of sexual misconduct the right to cross-examine

the accuser and limiting a university’s responsibility to cases with formal complaints, as well as incidents that happen only on campus or within an educational program or activity.

VCU said it would not comment on

pending legislation but, in the mass email, Equity Director and Title IX Coordinator Laura Rugless said the university will “continue to monitor developments through the federal process and evaluate any potential impact to the university’s Sexual Misconduct/Violence and Sex/Gender Discrimination Policy.” The email specified the federal proposal could still be modified, and they “will make policy changes in the future, if necessary, to comply with the law.”

The ED’s proposal also gives colleges the option of using a higher standard of proof — essentially making victims provide more concrete evidence against the accused. This would also allow colleges to apply a “clear and convincing evidence” standard, meaning undeniable evidence will need to be presented against the accused.

This is opposed to the Obama-era Title IX guidelines, which forced colleges to adopt a “preponderance” of evidence standard, which allowed misconduct cases to be ruled based on “more likely than not” scenarios.

The organization Students Active for Ending Rape also issued a statement Nov. 16 calling the ED’s proposed changes “irresponsible and unacceptable.”

“Rather than work to protect our nation’s college students from the epidemic of sexual assault and misconduct, the policy changes announced today by Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration take a giant step backwards,” said Rachel Greenburg, board chair for SAFER. “Their irresponsible effort to roll back the clock in the fight to combat campus-based sexual assault will put college students at even greater risk and is an insult to every sexual assault survivor.”

VCU plans expansion to East End with focus on improving public health Future site of VCU Health Hub Monroe Park Bro

ad

VCU Health Hub

Str e

et

e Road

VCU School of Medicine et

Nine Mil Str e

A health education and wellness center aiming to improve public health in Richmond’s East End will open in March, according to a VCU Public Affairs press release.

Working alongside VCU Health, East End community leaders and residents, former health official Natalie Pennywell will coordinate health and wellness programs as director of VCU Health Hub at 25th.

“Our vision for VCU Health Hub is to become a trusted resource for preventative care and wellness in the greater East End community,” Pennywell said in the press release.

“VCU Health Hub is built around listening and adapting to community needs, so our services will evolve as the needs of the community change.”

The center aims to provide health education and care for preventable diseases — including health screenings, nutrition counseling, behavioral health support, chronic disease management and health education.

“This is an amazing opportunity to build a supportive, sustainable and impactful community health model that incorporates community, university and health system voices at every level,” said Pennywell, who previously worked for the Virginia Department of Health.

VCU Health Hub — which will open at the intersection of Nine Mile Road and North 25th Street — is a part of a larger redevelopment, which includes apartments and “The Market @ 25th” grocery store. Also opening in March 2019, the grocery store will work in collaboration with the health center to encourage patients to select healthy food.

Pennywell said the health center’s work will only prove successful if VCU “effectively [matches its] available tools and resources with the East End area’s health priorities and educational needs.”

“Unfortunately, there are still too many East End residents dying too early and too often from preventable or treatable health conditions,” said Richmond Councilwoman Cynthia Newbille in the press release.

“Such tragic outcomes will be significantly reduced, with many lives improved and saved as a result of VCU establishing the VCU Health Hub at 25th in the heart of the East End community.”

In conjunction with the university’s Center for Urban Communities and Office of Health Innovation, VCU Health Hub not only hopes to provide health services, but also a valuable space for the East End community. The plan forecasts 5,600 square feet of student and faculty areas, health education spaces and consultation rooms.

“According to the county health rankings

25 th

HANNAH EASON Contributing Writer

Bro

ad

Str e

et

Infographic by Ryan Rich

model, clinical care is only responsible for 20 percent of health outcomes,” said Sheryl Garland, chief of health impact at VCU Health, in the press release. “Working alongside our community partners, the Health Hub will play a significant role in increasing education and awareness around many of the health conditions that are prevalent in residents in the East End, and how we can prevent them.”

Riqia Taylor, VCU senior and member of the City of Richmond Human Rights Commission, said that, as an involved member of

the community, she would like to know what students can look forward to as far as being more educated about the Health Hub. “I look forward to learning more about what it is about and how it will impact the community,” Taylor said. “I have questions about who it will engage and who it will be accessible to, so I hope the university plans on having those conversations — and pulling VCU students and the community into the conversation so that we can be in the loop.”

Wed. November 28, 2018 3

VCUarts hosts student dialogue session after profiling incident SARAH ELSON Contributing writer In response to the racial profiling incident that occurred Oct. 27, when a professor called campus security on a black colleague while she was working in a graduate lounge, VCUarts held a dialogue discussion for the Department of Painting and Printmaking Nov. 16.

Concerned students in attendance inquired about the investigation conducted

by VCU Equity and Access Services into the incident, which occurred between black visiting professor Caitlin Cherry and associate professor Javier Tapia, Painting and Printmaking students set up a display in support of Caitlin Cherry at the Fine Arts Building. who is Hispanic and white. Photo by Erin Edgerton Hispanic and Latino are ethnicities that encompass people of any with one student shouting from the audiAs soon as the discussion began, Peter race with Latin American heritage. Tapia ence that administrators “are asking us for Skudlarek, a sophomore in the sculpture dedid not respond to requests for comment. transparency when y’all are offering none.” partment, asked about a discussion adminThe office declined to disclose any inforArchana Pathak, senior faculty specialist istration conducted with Cherry’s graduate mation about the results of the investigation, in the Division for Inclusive Excellence and class. Skudlarek continued to ask about the but said both professors were contacted and university professor, led the discussion. Art demands the graduates made and the list of aware of the process and results.

Education professor Courtnie Wolfgang issues the class presented.

At the forum, administrators requested took notes during the conference, while othThe student demands include VCU students keep their thoughts and opinions er faculty members — School of the Arts publicly acknowledging the incident; the honest. The choice not to disclose the results Dean Shawn Brixey, professor Holly Alford creation of a mandated training to combat of the equity office’s investigation, however, and Vice President for Inclusive Excellence systems of oppression; the addition of two was met with anger from the student body, Aashir Nasim — attended as well. full-time faculty members of color to the

painting and printmaking department in fall 2020; the university recognizing that the incident is not unique and strengthening the process to file claims of discrimination.

Art students from Tapia’s class expressed concerns during the discussion.

“I don’t want to be in a classroom where my classmates are uncomfortable,” said Abby Treece, a sophomore in painting and printmaking. “I don’t want my education to be in jeopardy.”

Some students asked if special consideration would be made for those in Tapia’s class who now feel uncomfortable being around the professor due to his allegedly racist behavior. Administrators responded that they will do everything they can for students in Tapia’s class and will update the students who attended the discussion in another meeting, the date of which is to be determined.

Additionally, students created a petition that asks for Javier Tapia to be formally disciplined and for the administration to hold a campus-wide session in the spring, ensuring that the time and location is accessible to the student body and adjunct staff.

VCU, Ivory Coast partner to improve pharmaceutical industry WALTER CHIDOZIE ANYANWU Contributing Writer A partnership between VCU officials and representatives of the Ivorian government is underway in an effort to equip researchers from the West African country with the skills to establish world-class pharmaceutical practices.

VCU’s Medicines for All Institute — part of the College of Engineering and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — is directly involved in this partnership. The institute works to better accessibility and availability of lifesaving drugs for a myriad of diseases.

Barbara Boyan, dean of the College of Engineering, said one of the goals of the College of Engineering is to improve global health through the Medicines for All Institute.

“If technologies can be developed to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals, we would be able to reach this goal,” Boyan said. “The pharmaceuticals would be manufactured in the countries where they will be used. This reduces transportation and manufacturing costs.”

Boyan said in a statement that “students will come from Ivory Coast to our school and learn the techniques ... and take them back to Africa to improve the production of these drugs in a place where they really are needed.”

The three-year arrangement with the Ivorian government will see the university working closely with scientists from the country, helping them boost their expertise in producing these drugs in their home country.

The partnership will aim to help West African countries with pharmaceutical production.

Photo courtesy of VCU School of Engineering “It’s important for VCU to be able to expand its outreach to students from all over the world,” said John Froitzheim, an instructor in the department of political science who specializes in Africa and other subjects. “And one of the great problems that [Africa] has is its limit in terms of resources for higher education. There’s a lot of talent there that doesn’t get nurtured and developed.”

Froitzheim also pointed out the human capital factor. Students who come over

from the Ivory Coast take back valuable skills and abilities; this could then follow them back home, allowing them to grow pharmaceutical technologies.

VCU will also assist with research and planning expertise to aid the Ivorian government in developing a research institute at the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny in the Ivory Coast, in addition to consultation for a new drug facility.

Pictured: Ivory Coast. Graphic courtesy of NordNordWest

4 The Commonwealth Times

Local farm works to put food on tables for residents experiencing food-insecurity OWEN FITZGERALD Contributing Writer A local organization is providing homegrown produce to families that can’t procure it on their own, a significant population in Richmond where one in four residents could be living below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Founded in 2008 by United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond, Shalom Farms serves as a regional produce provider and volunteer training project.

UMUMR’s mission of healthy living and community service was inspired by the need for sustainable food production, as many Richmond-area families lack access to fresh and healthy food options — which are typically more expensive than unhealthy, processed foods.

Hannah Wittwer, the volunteer manager at the farm, said working with people of all ages and backgrounds is rewarding.

“I think it’s great to see people come together to support the common goal of alleviating food insecurity and supporting healthier communities,” Wittwer said.

“It’s comforting to know that so many people are aware of it and feel motivated to help address and fix it.”

Volunteers make up a significant portion of the Shalom Farms workforce, investing more than 17,000 hours at the farm in 2017. One local group that has provided Shalom Farm with volunteers is UKirk at VCU, a Presbyterian campus ministry. Students help at the farm as part of their service-centered mission. VCU alumna Victoria Gimmi described her

Shalom Farms is located on 12 acres of land west of Route 288 in Midlothian. Photo by Owen FitzGerald experience volunteering as almost surreal.

“If you have ever tried to grow your own fruits and veggies at home,” Gimmi said, “you know just how rewarding it is to finally pick the fresh produce that you’ve been watching grow for weeks. It’s like that, but you get to feed hungry people healthy meals at the end of the day.”

UKirk Campus Minister Alex Fischer said service is at the heart of the ministry.

“For me, as a pastor, I want to encourage

a holistic life of discipleship,” Fischer said.

“Part of that life of discipleship is being a part of local mission and service opportunities.”

Currently, Shalom Farms occupies a 12-acre farm in Midlothian. In 2017, the farm hosted nearly 1,400 educational visits while growing and distributing more than 500,000 servings to those in need. The organization also recently began work on a new 5-acre farm in Richmond’s northside.

In a flash fundraiser, Shalom Farms raised $70,442 from Nov. 14 to Nov. 15 by matching every donation up to $25,000 — exceeding its yearly goal of $70,000.

The money fundraised allows the farm to teach more classes, grow more produce and provide more meals.

Information about volunteering at Shalom Farms can be found at shalomfarms.org.

Shalom Farms hosted over one thousand educational visits and provided one-half million servings of food to the community in 2017. Photo by Owen FitzGerald

Group holds potlucks for Richmonders experiencing homelessness EMMA NORTH Contributing Writer KATHERINE BOLLER Contributing Writer What originated as a personal volunteer project to provide food and supplies to those experiencing homelessness has turned into a weekly event that serves between 75 and 100 people each weekend.

Potluck for the Homeless is held every Saturday at two locations — the Lowe’s parking lot on West Broad Street and Abner Clay Park.

Cheryl Costello Landrum created the event along with an initiative called “Potluck for the Homeless — Danny’s Hope” three years ago. According to a

memo she wrote, she never expected the event to become as popular as it is now.

She posted event schedules on Facebook and received more responses each time.

“We knew that the Potluck for the Homeless was not just a one-time event ... but we had no idea how [many more events there would be],” Landrum said.

“Here we are almost three years into this adventure and the potluck is not just existing, it is thriving.”

Landrum’s memo describes the story behind the group’s name. “Danny’s Hope” was inspired by her older brother, Danny, who had schizophrenia and lost contact with his family. His experience inspired Landrum to begin feeding projects for people who are homeless.

Every Saturday, volunteers bring home-

made food and set up tables with meals, fresh fruit, water bottles and snacks. Potluck for the Homeless also provides donated winter clothing and sleeping bags.

Even on the coldest days, many different stations filled with foods and other supplies are set up adjacent to Lowe’s.

Kisha — a woman experiencing homelessness who declined to provide her last name — and two other men ate and waited for supplies to be distributed during one of the weekend events.

“It makes a difference and helps a lot of people,” Kisha said. “I am waiting on the sleeping bags and coats and shoes.”

The larger portion of the event takes place at Abner Clay Park. After Monroe Park closed down, people experiencing homelessness and organizations that aid

them transitioned to Jackson Ward. Organizations including Food Not Bombs also feed those affected by homelessness on the weekends at Abner Clay Park.

Vanessa George, a Potluck for the Homeless volunteer, serves food at a table typically filled with a variety of food and drinks, including casseroles, beef stew, crackers, apples and bottles of water.

“When you have an event like this it’s kind of like you recognize you are a person and we see you,” George said. “I just know they are a human being and this is just a transition. [They] are often invisible to us as we live our daily lives and today they are visible and we recognize them.”

The next Potluck for the Homeless will be held Dec 1.

Wed. November 28, 2018 5

Online services provide abortion pills, contraceptives in the US JESSICA CRUZ Contributing Writer Online service Aid Access provides abortion pills through the mail to women in the U.S., helping hundreds since its initiation seven months ago.

Founder of Aid Access Rebecca Gomperts originally developed a website called Women on Waves in 2005 to help women who do not have steady access to abortion services in their home countries. After years of not shipping to the U.S., Gomperts created Aid Access as a separate entity to protect Women on Waves from getting shut down by the U.S. A number of companies have already established services for patients to order birth control online, including HeyDoctor, Nurx, Pandia Health and Planned Parenthood Care.

Aid Access allows women to have at-home abortions after an online consultation. Gomperts then prescribes women the pill and sends the prescription to a trusted pharmacy in India, from which the pills are shipped to the patients.

“For her to think that the most appropriate way to extend this service to women in the U.S. is to create a whole new company, I think that says a lot about the U.S. government in itself,” said VCU sophomore Serena Feghali. “The current people in office are very passionate about having as little government intervention as possible.

However, when it comes to things that they don’t agree with, all of a sudden government intervention becomes important to them.”

The service costs $95. However, the website states that the group tries to help cover the cost if

the patient does not have the means to pay for the drug. Regardless, the cost is less than the price of an abortion within the U.S., which can reach up to about $900 depending on factors which include how far along the pregnancy is, whether a patient has insurance that covers abortions and where the patient lives.

“I think $95 is a lot more affordable and can be beneficial for people who cannot afford to take off a day from work for the procedure…[or] travel [and pay for] childcare or hotel rooms,” said Malena Llanos, president of Planned Parenthood Generation Action at VCU. “As long as there are not any strings attached and they end up getting stuck paying more later. If the pills don’t work or put a damper on someone’s health, who pays for that? It could be a cycle.”

In an interview with The Atlantic, Gomperts said the Food and Drug Administration lets people bring medicines from foreign manufacturers for personal use. The pills sent to patients are misoprostol and mifepristone, the same drugs prescribed to women seeking medical abortions in the U.S. Misoprostol instigates contractions, while mifepristone blocks progesterone — a hormone needed to carry out a pregnancy.

“On paper it sounds like a great idea,” Llanos said. “Especially with how [technology] is making things more accessible like deleting the whole cost of going to a doctor in person.”

More information, including an extensive Q&A section addressing a variety of topics from general inquiries to post-abortion care, can be found at aidaccess.org.

Aid Access provides abortion and birth control pills in the mail. Photo by Erin Edgerton

Broken heart syndrome: VCU researchers publish review on stress cardiomyopathy

NAOMI GHAHRAI Contributing Writer A team of VCU researchers recently highlighted a series of risk factors, evidence-based treatment and diagnosis related to broken heart syndrome in a clinical review published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Discovered in 1990 by Dr. Hikaru Sato of Hiroshima City Hospital and once considered rare, broken heart syndrome — also known as stress cardiomyopathy or takotsubo cardiomyopathy — is a condition of severe heart muscle weakness associated with intense emotional or physical stress, resembling a heart attack. One in every 20 cases of possible heart attacks are stress cardiomyopathies.

“This condition usually lasts from a few days to a few weeks and can cause people

failure, arrhythmia or stroke. Recurrences of stress cardiomyopathy are also common with a two to four percent annual risk of recurrence. The in-hospital mortality of this disease is approximately five percent.

“The rates of death in the hospital between stress cardiomyopathy [which mimics a heart attack] and more ‘traditional’ heart attacks are similar,” said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Compared with people who had experienced a ‘typical’ heart attack, patients with stress cardiomyopathy are almost twice as likely to have a neurological or psychiatric disorder.”

The optimal treatment for broken heart syndrome is still unknown. Currently, the management for stress cardiomyopathy patients is “supportive care to sustain life and to minimize complications until full recovery,” according to the review. Therefore, additional trials are necessary to determine proper treatment.

“I hope the publication of this research can increase awareness and educate providers on management strategies for complications unique to this condition,” Abbate said. “Currently, we at VCU are conducting further research on how the brain and heart interact in this complex syndrome. Stay tuned.”

ADVERTISEMENT

MAKE YOUR HOME ADADVERTISEMENT

Dr. Antonio Abbate. Photo courtesy of University Public Affairs

to die,” said Dr. Antonio Abbate, co-author of “Stress Cardiomyopathy Diagnosis and Treatment” and VCU School of Medicine cardiology professor. “There may be some long-lasting consequences like tiredness and shortness of breath which are still poorly understood.”

The clinical review — completed by Abbate and several other VCU psychiatry and cardiology professionals — links the functions of the brain and heart to define the mechanism of stress cardiomyopathy.

In certain phases of the disease, there is a blood flow increase to areas of the brain.

However, the exact mechanism behind this disease is still unknown.

The review also highlighted certain risk factors and triggers of the disease while discussing possible challenges and unresolved questions surrounding the condition.

The most common physical stressors associated with broken heart syndrome are trauma, surgery and drug intoxication or withdrawal. The most common emotional stressors — although not easily identifiable — are the loss of a loved one, great financial loss, natural disasters and assault. Some risk factors include cannabis use disorder, asthma attacks and diabetes. Moreover, stress cardiomyopathy occurs more frequently in postmenopausal women.

The prevalence of this disease is increasing with 15 to 30 cases per 100,000 every year.

However, the condition is underdiagnosed as its mechanism is not completely understood.

The review discussed the probabilities of broken heart syndrome complications and recurrences. Although stress cardiomyopathy is reversible within a few weeks, one in every 20 patients with stress cardiomyopathy experiences a complication such as severe heart

ON CAMPUS

AND BE STEPS AWAY FROM your study group . __________________ VISIT HOUSING.VCU.EDU TO APPLY. The Housing Application opens Jan. 18—Feb. 8.

6 The Commonwealth Times

Stat of the week

Redshirt-junior forward Isaac Vann was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Nov. 26. Vann scored a career-high 30 points against St. John’s on Nov. 20.

The team behind the team

EQUIPMENT MANAGER The equipment room receives 30-80 boxes a day during the summer months when equipment manager Kris Kullman is preparing for the upcoming year. Photo by Erin Edgerton NOAH FLEISCHMAN Staff Writer Tucked away from the bright lights and noise of the Siegel Center crowd is a room packed floor-to-ceiling with Nike products and equipment. That little room is equipment manager Kris Kullman’s playground.

Kullman arrived to Richmond about six months ago from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, where he was the head football equipment manager at Division II Shippensburg University. His responsibilities at VCU include outfitting all 15 sports teams from head-to-toe, ordering new gear and doing laundry, among other tasks. “[My favorite part] is definitely all the Nike check marks, for sure,” Kullman said, pointing to the wall of orange Nike shoe

boxes. “I’m a little bit of a gear snob now that I’m around Nike stuff all the time. But I love that part, coming in knowing what our student-athletes are going to be wearing.

When the season rolls around, I take pride in seeing them look good.”

Summer and early fall are both particularly busy times in the equipment room — or, as Kullman called it, “Christmas every day.”

“It’s definitely the busiest times for us just because we are getting shipments everyday — between 30 and 80 boxes a day,” Kullman said. “You never know what you’re going to get, so if you ever come into this room in the summer, you’ll find us hidden somewhere. It’s stacked to the ceiling and you get a one-foot walkway.”

The fall season proves to be a hectic time in the equipment room because a bulk of

Kullman is in charge of setting up locker rooms and washing uniforms after each game.

Photo by Erin Edgerton

the Black and Gold teams are in season.

“Fall is pretty hectic with both soccer teams, field hockey, volleyball and cross country. So we are pretty busy,” Kullman said. “Every time I get space in here, we always get a new shipment and then we are stuck in it again for a little while.”

VCU hosted the Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championships Nov. 16-18 and Kullman had a little more work and laundry added to his normal workload on a typical weekend. He remained on-site for all three days of the tournament, changing the towels on the benches, stocking the locker rooms and doing laundry for the Rams and one of the visiting teams.

Kullman attends every Men’s Basketball game, but much of his job is done before tipoff.

“We are always on staff for basketball on game day,” Kullman said. “We set up the locker rooms, make sure the visiting team is taken care of, and the officials. We stage all of our uniforms up, roll them down on a hanger rack. We get our guys ready to go with their game loops with all their undershirts, along with their shooting shirts, warm-up jackets and uniforms.”

Once the uniforms are washed and dried, they are put on hangers. This allows Kullman to easily set up the locker room on gameday with one of the steps already done in advance — he said the setup process takes about 20-30 minutes.

Another duty Kullman takes on as collegiate equipment manager is designing uniforms, which he did for the first time with the Rams this year.

“We just designed a new gold baseball jersey a couple months ago and I’m looking forward to that,” Kullman said. “That was the first one since I’ve been here that I had a big hand in.”

Kullman’s favorite jersey was a fan fa-

vorite a year ago on the court at the Siegel Center, which made a return to the floor this season after receiving the A-10 patch on its collar. The Men’s Basketball team wore the gold alternate jerseys Nov. 24 against Hofstra for the first time this season.

You never know what you’re going to get, so if you ever come into this room in the summer, you’ll find us hidden somewhere. It’s stacked to the ceiling and you get a one-foot walkway.”

Kris Kullman, equipment manager “I love the throwback look,” Kullman said.

“It’s definitely my favorite, I think we have a ton of great uniforms, but if I had to pick that would be it.”

This season, Men’s Basketball will wear four different uniforms — the home white; away black; gold jerseys and the newest addition to the lineup, an all-gray outfit with the Ram logo on the chest.

The job is not for everyone, but Kullman enjoys it even if it means handling sweaty clothes after a game in the laundry room across the hallway from his office at the Siegel Center.

“It’s a dirty job. Not everybody wants to get their hands in the sweaty uniforms after a game. It’s difficult, but it’s also rewarding whenever we win,” Kullman said.

“I wouldn’t do this unless it helped our team win games and championships.”

Wed. November 28, 2018 7

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Men’s Basketball edges Hofstra in overtime nail-biter Continued from front page

A 10-0 run during the second period saw the Pride The Rams looked to take their first lead since be running away with the early in the game with just game at the Siegel Center under 10 minutes to play. after commanding a comHofstra extended its lead to fortable lead at halftime, as much as 6 points before a but Hofstra came out of 9-0 run by VCU kept it close the gates rocking in the as the clock wound down. second half. A run after the A Wright-Foreman play break helped the Pride take saw Hofstra take the lead the game to the scruff of with 1:33 to go, but Vann the Rams’ necks throughtied the game with a layup. out the second period. The Wright-Foreman then home team ultimately premissed a fadeaway jump vailed to take its record to shot to take the lead with 5-1, but only after a tense the last possession of regusecond half and clutch plays lation time. in overtime from the likes Evans cemented his repof redshirt-juniors Marcus utation as a go-to crunchEvans and Issac Vann. time player for the Rams in An aggressive, highovertime. The Rice transcharged defense has been fer’s game-winning drive a recurring theme for VCU made scoring overtop two this season, and last Saturdefenders look easy, as he day was no different. The gave the Rams the lead Rams turned Hofstra over with less than 30 seconds 19 times, one more than the left for Hofstra to answer. team’s season average. SatBut Vann had different urday’s performance may ideas — the forward stole have continued to foster back possession for VCU the growing feeling of a Redshirt-junior guard Marcus Evans (left) logged 13 points and five assists in the overtime win over Hofstra. Evans and was fouled to see out return of the Rams’ notori- recorded a season-high 21 points in the win against Temple Nov. 19. Photo by Erin Edgerton the resilient Pride. ous “Havoc” defense under The game was the second Rhoades’ second year as head coach.

The Rams struggled early in the first second half. A comeback by the Pride straight game to head to overtime for the As in previous games this season, the half. Then, an Evans layup, followed by a was largely engineered off the strength of Rams, after an 86-87 loss to St. John’s earRams consistently spread the ball on of- 3-pointer and an alley-oop from sophomore a game-high 27 points from guard Justin lier last week. This time, the team dug deep fense, racking up 15 assists. Evans led the forward Sean Mobley to redshirt-senior Wright-Foreman. The senior came into the and managed to secure a win. team with five. But ball movement, which at forward Michael Gilmore gave the Rams game as the fourth-highest scorer in the “I saw something there,” Rhoades said. times appeared a strength for the Black and a 22-13 lead. Sophomore guard De’Riante country, averaging 28 points per game be- “I’m just really proud of them.”

Gold, occasionally proved a thorn in the Jenkins then netted four 3-pointers in a row fore heading to Richmond. Like his team, team’s side. In some stretches throughout to end the half, including a buzzer-beating Wright-Foreman was largely subdued on VCU is away at in-state rival Old Dominion the game, the Rams struggled to take care long three off the bank to take the Rams to offense in the first half — 23 of his points Nov. 28. In addition to a game against Iona of the basketball. They turned possession a 36-23 halftime lead. Jenkins led the team came after the break. Junior guard Eli Pem- next week, the Rams will play high-profile over 13 times. The timing of those turnovers in scoring with 19 points, 15 from beyond berton also racked up 17 points for the Pride, matches at Virginia Dec. 9 after facing off particularly hurt the team as several came the arc in the first while Hofstra’s senior forward Jacquil Taylor against former VCU coach Shaka Smart at during the Pride’s second-half resurgence.

Hofstra looked a different team in the led both teams in rebounding with 17.

Texas Dec. 5.

Women’s Basketball goes 1-1 at UTSA Thanksgiving Classic DANIEL PURYEAR Contributing Writer In the four-team, two-game UTSA Thanksgiving Classic, Women’s Basketball finished with a dominant 64-36 win against Weber State and a heartbreaking 63-61 loss to IUPUI. IUPUI After VCU grabbed the largest lead of the contest at 17-7 in the first quarter, the game remained tight until the fourth quarter. The Rams held the lead for eight minutes in the fourth until Jaguars freshman forward Macee Williams made a layup, putting IUPUI up 53-52 with less than two minutes left in the game.

Rams junior guard Nyra Williams attempted a layup that would have given the Black and Gold a late lead, but missed.

Intentional fouling began for VCU at the 30-second mark after a layup from sophomore guard Tera Reed brought the Rams within two.

Junior center Danielle Hammond — the backup to sophomore center Sofya Pashigoreva — lost a turnover at a key point, allowing the Jaguars to maintain their lead in the final seconds. An IUPUI foul on a

3-point jumper by Reed WEBER STATE brought the Rams back within three with only sevVCU began the UTSA en seconds to go.

Thanksgiving Classic in a Intentional fouling and match against the Weber another Reed layup brought State Wildcats. The Rams the game back within one routed the Wildcats in a possession but IUPUI was 64-36 win. able to run the clock out.

Reed dominated for the Despite shooting nearly Rams with 20 points on 53 50 percent from the paint, percent shooting. With the VCU fell short to IUPUI. large VCU lead, every Ram The Rams struggled from got playing time.

3-point range where they VCU went on a 4-0 run shot 1-7, while the Jaguars right off the tip and never shot 10-21 from beyond let up on the Wildcats. The the arc.

Rams had twice or more Sophomore forward Sydof the opposing score for a nei Archie and Reed commajority of the game. bined for 29 points. PashigWeber State went stagoreva led the team with nine nant at the end of the third rebounds in 19 minutes. quarter and into the final The game remained close quarter as the Wildcats only for the entire 40 minutes, Sophomore guard Olga Petrova (5) has scored 20 points this season. made a couple jump shots. featuring 10 lead changes Photo by Teresa Bricker Senior guard Jaiamoni — VCU’s last lead was at Welch-Coleman and soph52-51 with a minute left. redshirt-freshman guard Madison Hat- omore forward Kayla Watkins combined Jaguars junior guard Holly Hooping- tix-Covington scored six and three points re- for 22 of the Wildcat’s points. arner led her team with 23 points on 75 spectively, both below their season averages. percent shooting from the field.

Women’s Basketball heads back to RichSophomore guard Taya Robinson and mond to face UNC-Wilmington Nov. 28.

8 The Commonwealth Times

Press Box

Proposed “Super League” clouds future of European Football ZACH JOACHIM Executive Editor The future of European football is in limbo after a Nov. 2 report by the German publication Der Spiegel detailed a secretive plan among a handful of the continent’s most powerful clubs to establish a “Super League.”

Unbeknownst to the typical American sports fan, European club football is, collectively, the most powerful and extensive sporting community in the world. According to the report, in 2016, football garnered more than $16.7 billion from global TV rights, more than twice as much as American football, which was second on the list.

The revelations in Der Spiegel’s article, an international conspiracy befitting a “House of Cards” script, blew the top off the footballing community.

With Leicester City’s famous 201516 English Premier League Championship standing as an extreme outlier, small clubs don’t stand a chance in Europe’s major domestic leagues. The Premier League, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga are dominated by the major clubs year-in and year-out.

Without Real Madrid and Barcelona, La Liga’s ratings would plummet. Sans Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, nobody would watch the Bundesliga. God forbid Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain leave Serie A and Ligue 1, respectively.

Power in the Premier League is slightly more distributed among a traditional “top

Illustration by Ash Stothard

6,” but still relies heavily on the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal — who were named in Der Spiegel’s report — to carry its ratings.

All these European giants are prospective members of the “Super League.”

Under the proposal, the major European clubs would terminate all competition in their domestic leagues.

It must be said — the idea is immensely intriguing from an entertainment perspective. Watching PSG beat up on the rest of Ligue 1 gets old after awhile. On the other hand, seeing the Parisians clash with Real, Juve or Bayern on a regular basis would be wonderfully engaging theater. Why watch my Gunners rout Fulham 5-1 at cute little Craven Cottage when they could grapple

with Barca at the raucous snakepit that is the Camp Nou? But the “Super League” would rip asunder the fabric of European football.

Its conception is indicative of how rampant corruption has become the norm for major clubs across the pond. The leagues do not control the footballing landscape — the foundational clubs do. And this has resulted in a major imbalance of power that threatens to throw the sport into a dark age of elitism and corruption. Many would tell you this train has already left the station.

The whistleblower in Der Spiegel’s report released troves of confidential documents on his infamous platform, Football Leaks. The site, now a thorn in the sides

of billionaires across Europe, details inner financial workings and other sensitive information, such as racism and gambling allegations, of major clubs across Europe.

John, which is not his real name, told Der Spiegel he hopes to help reinstate transparency in the football community.

“The people who truly love football and who constantly pay for it have a right to know how it really works. Football has spun completely out of control,” John said. “The Super League plans clearly show who has the say in the sport — rich investors and a few top clubs are bullying everyone else.”

The secretive push for a “Super League” is representative of a growing corruptive paradigm in European football. Domestic leagues and local fans no longer control or are even privy to the inner workings of the most prominent clubs. Everything is done under the table and behind closed doors — John said this culture has him terrified for the future of his beloved sport.

“Honestly, I don’t care if there is a Super League or not. What bothers me is the kind of secret deals that super clubs are making,” John said. “Everything happens in secret, there’s hardly any oversight, and there is no transparency — and that is the breeding ground for criminal activity.”

A “Super League” would be a helluva time. Perhaps it’s even viable if the major clubs can work out a relegation protocol and remain a part of their domestic leagues. But the backroom planning process revealed by Der Spiegel and John illustrates a tempestuous culture of elitism that will tear the football world asunder if it is allowed to fester.

Ram in Action: Rafael Andrade Santos ADAM CHEEK Staff Writer Responsible for six of the Rams’ 12 game-winning goals as a senior in 2017, midfielder Rafael Andrade Santos is headed to play at the professional level after a three-year career with the Black and Gold, earning numerous accolades over the course of his career.

Those titles include Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year and two Offensive Player of the Week awards in 2017. Santos was named to the Men’s Soccer 40th Anniversary All-25 team and racked up 20 goals, 49 points and 53 shots on goal over the course of his career.

“It was really special,” Santos said. “I think I did a lot of good things, and I think I could always do more … I was named with a lot of guys that played for a long time.”

D.C. United drafted Santos in the fourth round, 74th overall, but he was released. Despite being released, Santos does plan to play professionally once the next season begins, but declined to reveal details.

“I had an injury in November that took me out of the A-10 final,” Santos said. “I went home and went back for the draft and the combine, not feeling 100 percent, but I was still feeling [pretty good about] the draft.”

Although Santos had some issues with his knees, he was still happy to be drafted.

Previously projected to be drafted in the top 15 of the first round, that November injury hurt Santos’ status. His senior season was his best for the Black and Gold.

“Coming into senior year, it naturally

happened,” Santos said. “I scored a lot of goals and we went to the tournament for the fourth time in four years.”

Santos netted a goal from 30 yards out as one of a pair during a game against Maryland, helping VCU claim a 3-0 victory against the top-15 Terps.

“That was one of the best goals I’ve ever scored,” Santos said of the strike.

Teammates played a factor in Santos’ career as well, specifically forward Jorge Herranz and midfielder Francesco Amorosino. Santos was roommates with Herranz and Amorosino for three and two years, respectively.

“It created a really cool bond [between us] and we had an amazing season too,” Santos said. “Steven Dal Molin was behind us, so it was cool being teammates to them.”

Santos isn’t sure what he wants to do beyond soccer, as he has chosen to focus on playing professionally for now while finishing up a major in business and a minor in media studies at VCU. However, after his playing career has concluded, he still wants to be involved with soccer, hoping to still be around the sport in any capacity.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Santos joined a company that brings players to the U.S., attended a soccer school in Aberdeen, Florida and traveled to Europe during a spring break before making the decision to attend VCU. “It’s one of the best decisions I ever made.

Coach [Dave] Giffard was like a dad to me,” Santos said. “As soon as I came here he gave me the full support to be myself and to succeed.”

Senior Rafael Andrade Santos was named to VCU’s Men’s Soccer 40th Anniversary All25 team. Photo by Erin Edgerton Santos received NCAA All-America honors in 2017, which he said humbled him. As he prepares to graduate, Santos is hopeful that his former teammates will keep perseverance in mind, despite losing in this season’s A-10 championship game.

“With guys that make big plays and have

their roles, the team is going to go far,” Santos said. “Just if they have the desire and the heart to outwork the other team at the end of the day, that’s what matters. We should take our chances out there and be impactful, make big plays and go to another final.”

Wed. November 28, 2018 9

On this day

“Hamilton” set a new record for most money earned in a week on Broadway with $3.3 million on Nov. 28,

A hardcore farewell to Strange Matter ADA ROMANO Contributing Writer

S

trange Matter’s last hardcore show Nov. 17 marked an end to the venue’s nearly 10-year run as a staple of the Richmond music scene as the facility’s closure date nears.

Since the genre was formed in the late 1970s, hardcore has been an outlet for people looking to let loose either through screaming lyrics or jumping off stage into the crowd. Strange Matter, located at 929 W. Grace St., played a significant role in Richmond’s hardcore music scene in recent years. Its last hardcore show featured Blind Justice, Take Offense and Cruel Hand as well as Virginia natives Red Vision, Watchdogs and Outsider.

Ace Stallings is a promoter, the vocalist for the band Break Away and, with 10 years of experience as a promoter, a key figure in the Richmond hardcore music scene. He was responsible for organizing the show.

“I think there could have been a lot more fun times to be had at Strange Matter but them closing down will not slow down the Richmond hardcore punk scene.”

Blind Justice, Take Offense, Cruel Hand, Red Vision, Watch Dogs and Outsider performed at the last hardcore show at Strange Matter.

Photo by Jon Mirador

“The Cro-Mags show I did last year was pretty crazy because I had never seen them in a spot that small,” Stallings said.

“Three bands needed a tour date: Blind With the artwork, arcade and vegan Justice, Take Offense and Cruel Hand. A food options, Strange Matter stands out couple of bands from here had new records from other venues in the area. Richmond and they wanted to use that as an event is home to a large straight edge communito release those records,” Stallings said. “It ty, which is a movement that emphasizes just so happened that the venue was clos- sobriety and a clean lifestyle. Stallings said ing as well so it wasn’t planned to be the Strange Matter is “easy to do stuff at,” for last hardcore show at Strange Matter, it just this subset of Richmond. ended up happening that this is the last “Venues want people to buy stuff at scheduled one.” the bar because they make more or an Some prominent hardcore shows hosted equal amount in bar sales as they do in

by Strange Matter since its 2009 opening ticket sales,” Stallings said. “With a lot include the return of one of Richmond’s of stuff I do there, they are under the original hardcore bands, Fire & Ice and understanding that they won’t do as well a show starring the iconic crossover band at the bar as they normally would with Cro-Mags. alcohol sales and they never really cared Taylor Berry, local hardcore enthusiast

that much.”

Stallings does not believe that the venue’s closing will decrease the impact of the hardcore community in Richmond. He pointed out that venues are constantly changing and moving, and the community still continues to thrive — hardcore music fans are dedicated and will find a way to see bands they support whether at a big venue or someone’s basement.

Local hardcore enthusiast Taylor Berry has been attending shows since he moved to Richmond. He remembers his first Strange Matter show in 2013 and laughed at the fact that he got a black eye from participating in the mosh pit.

“Since moving to Richmond, Strange Matter has always been my ideal venue compared to other spots,” Berry said. “It’s

close to home, no security, no barricade and a semi-low stage to sing along with bands and stage dive off of.”

Berry shares Stallings’ sentiment in regard to the closure of the venue — he doesn’t think it will affect the city’s hardcore community.

“I think there could have been a lot more fun times to be had at Strange Matter but them closing down will not slow down the Richmond hardcore punk scene,” Berry said. “Maybe a new venue will pop up soon. If not, more house shows and shows at the warehouse [will] keep things rolling.”

A schedule of the venue’s last events is available at strangematterrva.com.

The venue is scheduled to close by mid-December.

The hardcore community is hopeful its presence won’t fade because of the venue’s closing. Strange matter’s semi-low stage and security made it an ideal venue for hardcore shows.

Photos by Jon Mirador

10 The Commonwealth Times

Left: Austin’s “Screen for Cello” is made from speaker cloth and epoxy. Protruding from the wall, it can be rediscovered at every angle. Right: The ceramic from Ruiz is engraved with a half-moon shape and a sundial, referencing the artist’s struggle with insomnia and ancient methods of timekeeping. Photos by Valia DeYoung

“I Throw My Body on This Hot Pile”:

Gallery showcases abstract work from many artists ANDREW RINGLE Contributing Writer Eleven artists assembled to explore humanity, time and space in the exhibit “I Throw My Body on This Hot Pile,” offering a unique selection of artistic voices and mediums through lucid storytelling, collecting odd stories and obscure visual concepts. The exhibit is well worth making the climb to the top floor of the Anderson Gallery.

Curated by Patrick Harkin, the exhibit included work from Stephanie DeMer, Ricardo Vicente Jose Ruiz, Yue Nakayama and David Moré, with mediums including digital photography, video and ceramics.

Upon crossing the threshold and entering the room, “I Throw My Body on This Hot Pile” introduces itself with a single-channel video created by Nakayama. Titled “Nobody was Born on September,” the montage presents several nonsensical stories told by eerie computer-generated voices. It is a confusing introduction to the gallery,

but it readies visitors for a complicated discussion of life, death and purpose.

Neighboring Nakayama’s video is Austin’s “Screen for Cello.” It’s a misshapen cut of speaker cloth pulled tightly across an underlying shape. Protruding from the wall and coated with epoxy, the black mass is ambiguous and menacing. The work can be rediscovered at every angle depending on where the viewer stands.

Another sculpture joins the exhibit with a small ceramic created by Ruiz, titled “I cannot afford bleached eggs, my sleep is interrupted by people I do not know, I will not finish the food in my cupboard.” The lengthy title is appropriate for a piece that confronts many themes in such a small amount of physical space.

“The piece is about a body of work I want to complete about how we as a society register the passing of time,” Ruiz said.

“The form is referential to sundials and ancient tableaux while I have adopted a moon-like figure as the manifested form of my insomnia.”

Ruiz sculpted the clay fire during his fellowship at The Oxbow School in Napa, California. It has a rich brown color, adorned with strange runes depicting a half-moon shape and a small sundial.

Ruiz said he wishes to engage in a conversation that organizes measurements of time — excluding clocks and calendars — as “means to adopt a lifestyle changing alongside ecology.”

In the farthest corner from the entryway, DeMer includes an excerpt from her larger project “Casus.” The work explores a plot of 28,000 acres just west of Phoenix, Arizona purchased in 2017 by Cascade Investment LLC. The American investment company is controlled by Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates, and the land is the supposed site of a future city to be designed

by Gates. “‘Casus is a living interrogation of worlding at the convergence of land ownership, idealism and ecological phenomenon,” DeMer said.

The excerpt found in the Anderson in-

cludes photographs of the land and a strata of shredded deeds from the county tax records of the sale. They are cradled within a web of hot pink survey tape that comes to a point around a candle made from unfiltered beeswax.

Before leaving the gallery, there sits a small arrangement of fluorescent lights wrapped around some elbow pipes sprouting from the wall. They are shining onto a plastic figurine in the likeness of a cartoon snowman. There is a solar panel on its base, and as it absorbs the lamplight, the snowman does a little dance, moving its head and arms back and forth in an endless cycle.

The installation from Moré is almost out of place in such an abstract gallery — a plain-looking toy in the presence of mature, abstract mediums. But as it wobbles back and forth and its painted smile glares in the purple light, it hints at a deeper meaning and grins back at those who seek to discern it.

The gallery opened Nov. 15 and will remain open until Dec. 4

Colorful corner bar Flora closes its doors after two years KATIE BASHISTA Spectrum Editor After two years of DJ sets, album release parties, open mics and ABBA nights, Flora closed Nov. 17.

The Mexican restaurant located on Lombardy Street opened in March 2017 after taking over the spot from Balliceaux, an upscale restaurant and bar. Flora caught locals’ eyes with its colorful, floral design painted on the side of the building.

The space had a sitting area where patrons primarily dined, with a bar in the same vicinity. A set of stairs guided guests down into a back room, complete with a second bar, a few booths, stage and large dancing area. Vibrant, colored lights and decor lit the restaurant.

In a Facebook post, the owners said they were proud of their staff and their ability to adjust to Flora’s ever-changing concepts. They held their last Emo Night in mid-November and thanked patrons for their support.

“Thanks to everyone who has supported us and danced their asses off in the back

room,” they said in the post.

Flora held its second annual ABBA night Nov. 1, where attendees dressed in ‘70s garb and competed in a costume contest. Filled with flare pants, metallic attire and platform shoes, Richmonders danced to the infamous “Mamma Mia” tunes in the back room.

Flora was popular for its theme nights and inclusive atmosphere. The environment made people feel comfortable to let loose and have a good time, which is sometimes hard to come by in a city like Richmond, where some patrons at other establishments have felt profiled by things like dress code regulations.

Shy Lennox is a local musician that frequented Flora and held his Sept. 7 album release party there.

“I like when spaces are able to attract different types of people,” Lennox said. “[Flora] is really accepting of queer people, too, which is really really important for me.”

He felt the space would fit his ensemble, including three background singers, a keyboardist, bassist, drummer and saxophonist.

“Overall, it was a dope space,” Lennox

Flora was opened in early 2017 by Michele Jones, Jay Bayer and Jason Alley.

Photo by Erin Edgerton said. “I’d seen other shows there, gotten drinks there and I always felt comfortable, always felt like it was OK for me to be there and I wasn’t imposing on anyon..”

The show’s turn out was so large that people were eventually turned away from entering the back-room because it was too crowded.

“I felt like that was a transcendent, pivotal moment in my emerging career as an

artist and I’m really glad for that opportunity,” Lennox said.

Michele Jones, Jay Bayer and Jason Alley co-owned the spot and they own other restaurants in Richmond, too. On Nov. 2, they opened Bingo Beer CO. in Scott’s Addition. The spot brews beer and offers several games for customers to play including skeeball, Donkey Kong and ping pong.

Wed. November 28, 2018 11 SAM’S TAKE

“Creed II”: close to a TKO SAMUEL GOODRICH Staff Writer

“Creed” was a surprise critical and audience darling in 2015. Not only did it succeed on its own as an enthralling boxing and underdog story, it also expertly continued the “Rocky” storyline while remaining true to its roots. “Creed” is a powerhouse film with drama just as impactful as the fight scenes.

The same can be said for the boxing matches that are competently shot, but nowhere near as gut-wrenching or cringe-inducing as the first film. While I still felt emotional during these highly-anticipated moments, I couldn’t help but notice how my reactions to these fights were not as spirited as in the first film, which I half-watched while baking for Thanksgiving a few days before.”

Samuel Goodrich, staff writer Three years later, previous director Ryan Coogler stepped away to let Steven Caple Jr. take over for the sequel.

Soon after taking the heavyweight world championship, Adonis is challenged

by Viktor Drago, son of Ivan Drago, the boxer who killed Creed’s father during a boxing match three decades earlier. With not only his family’s pride on the line, Creed must decide if his newly-formed family matters more to him than avenging a past wrong.

The loss of Coogler in the director’s chair is felt immediately in the film’s lack of style. While there are beautiful and memorable shots here and there, the film lacks the gritty, passionate feelings of the first. This makes the sequel feel inconsequential overall.

This is also the issue with a sequel of this nature. Creed is no longer an underdog — he’s not fighting to gain a title, but to defend it. The story is inherently less interesting and heartfelt, with the best moments of “Creed II” spent with the characters outside the ring.

Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson once again give great performances and develop the relationship between Adonis and Bianca in interesting ways. Introducing marriage and a baby into the mix adds more stakes to the final match. Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky adds more to the film, just like in the first iteration. His plot never interferes with the main one, but his emotional development and experience is felt in every line and action.

The scenes between these three characters — Adonis, Rocky and Bianca — are also more comedic and goofy, which is not necessarily a bad thing; it adds momentum to what could have been painfully dull moments. Despite the added momentum, these scenes feel too conventional. While the last film navigated conventional spaces in a unique manner, this sequel stays within the lines.

The same can be said for the boxing matches that are competently shot, but nowhere near as gut-wrenching or cringe-in-

Illustration by Lindsay Hart

ducing as the first film. While I still felt emotional during these highly-anticipated moments, I couldn’t help but notice how my reactions to these fights were not as spirited as in the first film, which I half-watched while baking for Thanksgiving a few days before.

One of the most underappreciated aspects of the film is the Drago storyline, which follows Ivan’s fall from grace in his country and his attempts to mold Viktor into a champion. There is a true melancholy sadness to these scenes, and I wish we could see more of the father-son dynamic.

If “Creed” was about living up to expectations, ‘Creed II” is about maintaining them, specifically when it comes to relation-

ships between fathers and sons. The best moments of the film are when the men interact with each other in candid, emotional ways. Rocky with Adonis, Ivan with Viktor, and Adonis with his dead father and his newborn child.

These themes, individual moments and general quality of the film keep it from becoming a disappointing sequel. “Creed II” understands what it is — it has the experience of the previous seven “Rocky” movies to be confident in retreading the formula.

While it’s nowhere near as much of a knockout as its predecessor, this is still a particularly enjoyable film that can easily stand with the other “Rocky” films at the top of the Philly Art Museum steps.

Experimental band finds niche in Richmond WALTER CHIDOZIE ANYANWU Contributing Writer Earlier this year at his home on Parkwood Avenue, Matt Lee — also known as Stretch Beats — decided to blend his creative talents with fellow artists and friends to set up an art collective.

With members from different walks of life, Parkwood Ave. boasts a mix of dissimilar musicians and visual artists. Having an in-house visual arts unit makes it unnecessary to outsource for things like video direction and production.

We want to bring our own sound, our own flavor, our own style to the game. We want to try a different route and I guess that’s what we mean when we talk about disruption.”

Josh Harris, band member Their goal is to disrupt the monotony of the creative industry by building a multi-faceted platform comprised of fine art, music and everything in between. But

their work is centered mostly around music other better by challenging ourselves.”

Parkwood isn’t trying to emulate anyone. at this point.

In November, the collective released “I think that we’re kind of a reflection of “We want to bring our own sound, our the bouncy single “Spooky Season,” which Richmond. The grunginess, the hipster-ish own flavor, our own style to the game,” features Drew, J-Cass and Kaesar. Another vibe that Richmond has, I think we’re an acsaid Josh Harris, known to the collective as obvious departure from the mainstream rap curate representation of that,” Cassell said.

Scoob. “We want to try a different route and styles sweeping the country, reminiscent of “A lot of the underground hip-hop scene I guess that’s what we mean when we talk groups such as Brockhampton and Flatbush here has pockets like either a trap section about disruption.”

Zombies, which John Cassell, also called or a backpacking section. We’re a [melting With production from Lee, vocal input J-Cass, said they hear a lot. pot] of all of that. With the visual aspect from Harris and Hazelgrove, and the versaHe added that it might be because those and the music, I think it’s on track to being tile rap stylings of John Cassel ( J-Cass) and groups, much like theirs, have an authentici- something big.”

Kevin Maxwell (KaeSar), Parkwood Ave. ty to them that make them stand out — but has been able to put together a debut album in the months since it formed.

The eponymous Parkwood Ave. debuted on streaming services in September and picked up a steady but scant following.

However, with listeners from the Richmond area and other parts of Virginia, it is not too premature to expect that Parkwood Ave. will be carving out a niche for themselves in Richmond.

Their versatility is extremely pronounced, with songs ranging from the delicate and dramatic sounding “Let Me Live” to the more raw and pulsating “Thirsty Thursday.” Each song is almost a dynamic opposite to the next, making the project sound less like an album and more like a bold-spirited mixtape.

“It’s crazy to think about where we were and where we’ve gotten to. It might not mean that much to anyone right now because they don’t realize how much we’ve Parkwood Ave. formed earlier this year and released music on streaming services in progressed,” Harris said. “We make each September. Photo courtesy of Drew Hazelgrove

12 The Commonwealth Times

Bizarre Market offers unique, handmade holiday gifts

UPCOMING EVENTS See something

FRI. 11/30 Ice Cream Social: A Family Affair

Join Ice Cream Support Group, a creative platform for QTPOC, in a night filled with music and dancing. There will be five performances including two DJs from Baltimore, DJ Abdu Ali and Trillnatured; Richmond DJs Baby Momo and DJ Des. DJ Archangel, formerly known as Jafar Flowers and co-founder of Ice Cream Support Group will do a set with Sofia Lakis, curator of FORMULA RVA. 8 p.m., donations suggested, Gallery5 (200 W. Marshall St.)

ALEXANDRA ZERNIK Contributing Writer In a small upstairs room of Chop Suey Books in Carytown, a vast collection of handmade products lines the walls for the annual Bizarre Market — a holiday season pop-up event held from Nov. 23 to Dec. 24. “[The motivation behind the event is] to showcase the genius of the Richmond maker community and to encourage people to shop locally and support artists in their endeavors,” said Bird Cox, coordinator of the event and executive director of Richmond Young Writers.

About 60 vendors showcase a variety of different products. From bath salts to cooking salt, the room is filled to the brim with art, candles, toys, accessories, toiletries, food, decor and more.

“As vendors drop off their goods and the elves set things up, the upstairs gallery at Chop Suey transforms into a magical mini-wonderland,” Cox said.

Another element of the event is the “Tiny Auction.” Vendors donated one-ofa-kind, 5-by-5 inch or smaller pieces. Customers can bid on these miniature items —

MON. 12/3 The Bizarre Market is filled with handmade products and features a “Tiny Auction” of creations made by kids ages 9 to 17. Photo by Alexandra Zernik through Dec. 9 — to raise money for the Richmond Young Writers scholarship fund.

Richmond Young Writers is a creative writing organization that offers classes, workshops and camps to kids ages 9 to 17.

“It’s a really great organization where kids are able to express themselves and create in a really safe space,” said Kayla Runion, a teacher at Richmond Young Writers and one of the vendors at the Bizarre Market.

The organization contributes picture book projects to the market created through a collaboration between the program’s students and local artists.

“It’s a chance for the kids to have their story illustrated by an established artist in Richmond and the artists are donating their time and skills,” Runion said. “It’s a really

beautiful collaboration when that happens.”

Runion referred to the market as a “web of creators,” given the means to showcase their work and see the reaction from the community in a relaxed yet “bizarre” environment.

Runion said many shoppers in Carytown are drawn to the market by an alluring aroma of soaps, candles and other products.

“I think 70 percent of what draws people in here is the smell,” Runion said.

The market has been held for 14 years and will continue annually in the future.

Besides this holiday segment, the market is also featured at other locations throughout the year for day-long or weekend events.

A new Jackson Ward social cafe — named after rhythm and blues artist Maxwell’s first album “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite” — opened at the end of last month, joining the ranks of a number of social spaces in Richmond.

Entrepreneur Kelli Lemon, founder of Urban Hang Suite, had thought about opening a social cafe since attending the University of Virginia. After working at bars and restaurants, Lemon realized those were the two types of establishments she did not want to open, but rather something in between.

“If you believe that everything happens for a reason, then this was already placed in my path,” Lemon said. “I just had to execute it.”

The profits during the opening of Urban Hang Suite tripled Lemon’s original estimates. It took Lemon exactly a year from signing the lease of Urban Hang Suite to opening its doors to the public. Lemon, a Hampton native, said it is entirely possible that she will open an Urban Hang Suite in the Hampton Roads area and other cities in Virginia.

Lemon’s podcast “Coffee with Strangers” helped shape the idea of Urban Hang Suite. In her podcast, Lemon meets up with different people at coffee shops and talks to them about living in Richmond.

“I wanted it be an urban environment,” Lemon said. “A place where people could hang out as long as they wanted to.”

The layout of the social cafe begins with the front half, where customers sit down to eat or drink. The back half, which has dimmer lighting, is the “hang suite” where people can socialize by playing live music on

stage, watch television, play board games or just lounge on the couch.

“This is not that quiet spot like the third floor of the library, this is where people can hangout, work and be creative,” Lemon said.

“Think of this as the Commons, but doper.”

Lemon wants the social cafe to be as mature as possible and welcomes the VCU community. She is also looking to hire students.

VCU alumna Shikena Ruffin described the cafe’s atmosphere as chill and comfortable.

“I felt welcomed as if I’d been there before,” Ruffin said.

She found out about the opening of Urban Hang Suite through Lemon’s Instagram. Ruffin has attended events hosted by Lemon and Richmond DJ Lonnie

Enjoy a screening of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” at the Byrd Theatre.

7:15 p.m., $5, The Byrd (2908 W. Cary St.)

Do something

THURS. 11/29 Free HIV Testing for Students

The Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention, Health Brigade and the The Wellness Resource Center are sponsoring free HIV testing for VCU students.

Students can get information about STIs and testing, get tested and receive their results quickly.

11 a.m.-3 p.m., University Student Commons, Virginia Rooms

SAT. 12/1 15th Annual Ginter Park Show

New cozy cafe opens in Jackson Ward ALIVIAH JONES Contributing Writer

Holiday Season Movie Screenings

B, which includes the “Art of Noise” party that the duo has hosted for five years with two other DJs. Quinna Adams, a graduate student at VCU, said the cafe looks “cute and quiet” at first glance.

“But once you open the door you hear the music pumping and people chatting and see cool artwork on the walls,” Adams said.

A mix of R&B and rap music was playing when Adams visited the space, which she said was packed, but the amount of music and people mixed well.

Urban Hang Suite is located at 304 E. Broad St. and open every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Hosted by Bad Girl Art and Diana Vicenti, this show features local artists and craftspeople showing and selling their creations. Support local artists and businesses and shop local for holiday gifts.

10 a.m.- 5 p.m., 3421 Hawthorne Ave.

SAT. 12/1 35th Annual Dominion Energy Christmas Parade

The parade will depart from the Science Museum of Virginia and go east to 7th street. The parade attracts more than 100,000 peopleTO every yearEDITOR and will be LETTER THE televised.

10 a.m., Broad Street

Learn something

THURS. 11/29 Demystifying the Muslim Dress Code: Identity Negotiations and Resistance Among Muslim Women

This event will feature presentations by students in the Women in Islam course taught by Samaneh Oladi Ghadikolaei and a talk by emerging rapper, artist and activist Mona Hayder.

4 p.m., University Student Commons, Richmond Salons I and II

FRI. 11/30 VCU 50: Commemorating History Symposium

This day-long symposium will examine VCU’s connection to the legacies of MCV and Richmond Professional Institute (RPI), and explore how the institution has evolved across five decades.

Presentations will be given by historians and members of the VCU community, including Eugene Trani, Beverly Warren and Edward Ayers. To attend, register at go.vcu.edu/vcu50.

8 a.m.-6 p.m., Student Commons

Urban Hang Suite provides a relaxing space for students and members of the Richmond community to hang out. Photo by Aliviah Jones

Wed. November 28, 2018 13

Quote of the week

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

— Martin Luther King, Jr

A call to action over commencement, a lack of action over racism BRIANNA SCOTT Staff Writer I find myself less and less proud to be a Ram, and it has more to do with the actions of some members of the student body rather than our school administration. When the university announced in October that the school-wide May commencement would be canceled, I thought it’d be a bump the road quickly glossed over. But the outcry from hundreds of students and parents proved so powerful that VCU magically found a venue to hold graduation despite having stating “none were available” a few days prior.

Students created a petition signed by hundreds.

Disappointed parents reached out to administration and angered May graduates put together a small protest.

These actions garnered the administration’s attention and it reinstated the spring 2019 commencement.

I’ll be the first to say I didn’t care about commencement. I graduate in the spring, and I plan on only attending my departmental ceremony because it is more intimate. That being said, I still stood by my peers and signed the petition because I recognized their concerns were valid.

My frustrations lie, however, in the fact that students seem to care more about a two-hour ceremony that won’t be remembered versus deep-rooted issues that affect the university’s population.

Many students still don’t know about the

racial incident that took place Oct. 27 within VCUarts, when a white-Hispanic tenured professor called campus security on a black visiting professor. This racist incident parallels countless reported cases of white people calling the police on black people for simply existing. When that happens, black people fear being killed. This isn’t a hyperbole — it’s a fear many black people, myself included, have. Some students didn’t care about the VCUarts incident because they see the issue as isolated, or simply a misunderstanding.

But even within the university, this incident is symptomatic of a larger problem.

Mobilization around trying to bring these incidents to light is tough. When I see many fellow Rams coming out to protest things like tuition hikes, gentrification,

Now, there are countless students on campus who care about these issues, and I am not discrediting them or generalizing the entire student body. I acknowledge that as an institution, VCU is our main target and we should hold it accountable when its core values aren’t upheld. Nevertheless, we can’t do that if students ignore issues simply because they don’t affect them personally. It’s human nature to care about issues that specifically affect us — but why would you want to live on a campus where racism is tolerated? Where your peers feel unsafe because of their identities?

I love this school. I love the friends I have made, and I care deeply about my peers Illustration by Ash Stothard — I give campus tours beanti-choice demonstrators and VCU expan- cause I love talking about VCU and encoursion, I wonder why they can’t show up for aging people to attend. But it’s getting diffiblack and brown community members who cult to talk about my school with admiration are fighting for their right to unapologetical- when individual, institutional and systemic ly exist on campus. This issue extends to the bias is upheld and swept under the rug.

LGBTQ+ community, those who are disMy call to action to my fellow Rams is abled, immigrants and other marginalized to note that just because bias may not affect groups whose issues often get overlooked. you, doesn’t mean isn’t affecting your friends, You can care about multiple issues with- classmates and professors. We should all out ignoring the others. It’s not a game of want our university to be a more accepting “oppression Olympics,” because all the issues place for everyone. Whether people are proI listed are legitimate. But the lack of genu- testing or just spreading information around, ine care for black and brown bodies on this the things that go on around our school campus is real. matter — every single incident, big or small.

Our school loves to tout the “diversity” I’m not trying to pull a “Mean Girls” and and “inclusion” badges, yet they tokenize tell everyone to “just get along,” but I want the minorities they bring in. When we get people to fight with passion and ferocity so here, we aren’t safe or accepted. we can change the institution inside and out.

— a bubble waiting to burst.

And so it does. Every time I lock my phone and look up from my screen, I am reminded that the world, in fact, has no mute, unfollow or block button. The world has real problems, and people disagree on how to solve them.

So I retire back to my virtual reality where everything is easier. Why put up with a conservative in person when I can talk to a progressive online who will make me feel more comfortable?

On the other side of the isle, the same thing is happening. Republicans and conservatives follow other Republicans and conservatives, indulging in a simulation of what they wish the world looked like,

debates about Real and Not-Real that infect cyberspace with regards to identity, relationship, gender, discourse, and community.”

We prefer to live in a simulation where our politics are moral truth and we never have to disagree with anyone. But in the end, this simulation is just that — a simulation. It is not real, but it has real-life effects.

As we condition ourselves to prefer our timelines over the messy politics of the real world, we forget how to tolerate opinions different from our own. Worse even, we perpetuate this intolerance within our groups online and we chastise the other side without seeking to understand it first.

Our pursuit of what Hermosillo called a “desire to invest the simulacrum with the weight of reality” instead plunges us deeper and deeper into the extreme ends of the political spectrum. Instead of finding common ground with our opponents, we are becoming more polarized and further divided.

We are losing sight of what makes this country great — compromise.

We yearn for the good old days of bipartisanship in this country, but how can our representatives see eye to eye in Congress when we can’t even see eye to eye on Twitter?

Days before her death, Hermosillo deleted her online profiles, as if to suggest her presence online and in this world were one and the same. Instead of trying to separate our timelines from our real lives, maybe we should let them more accurately represent the world we live in.

Social media utopia fuels real life polarity ALAN RODRIGUEZ ESPINOZA Contributing Writer Many of us praise Twitter and Facebook for connecting us with people of similar political opinions. We see social media’s ability to foster political communities as something that leads our country in the right direction.

We’re wrong. Instead of encouraging discourse, our timelines are tearing us apart.

One criticism of social media is that it allows the user to regulate their self-image and micromanage how others perceive them. I post everything good about my life for the world to see, and I hide the negative.

This is true of social media; but it works both ways. Not only does social media allow me to alter how I look to others — it also lets me to dictate how the world looks to me. Any opinion I disagree with can be gone with just the click of a mute, unfollow or block button.

The result is a timeline tailored just for me, with all the unpleasantry erased and no need for confrontation. It is the world, represented on my phone in the perfect, ideal way I wish it looked. It is a virtual utopia

Illustration by Ricardo Rodriguez Espinoza

searching to validate their beliefs and morals among themselves in the same way we do on the left.

This phenomenon is nothing new. Back in the ‘90s, when the closest thing we had to Twitter and Instagram was forums and discussion boards, symptoms of these web-induced delusions were already arising. In her 1994 essay “Pandora’s Vox,” writer Carmen Hermosillo explored this concept.

“Western society has a problem with appearance and reality,” Hermosillo wrote under her pseudonym, humdog. “It keeps wanting to split them off from each other, make one more real than the other, invest one with more meaning than it does the other… it is this tension that informs all the

14 The Commonwealth Times

Unpresidented disrespect: Trump vs. the media MARGARETTA SACKOR Contributing Writer Journalism is my passion. However, it is not the most popular field. In my career, I am prepared to experience resistance and resentment from those in positions of power because my job is to tell the truth — and ultimately be an enemy of “the man.”

What I can’t tolerate is having a president who openly wants to suppress the freedom of the press. As an up-andcoming immigrant journalist in America, I’m scared for my safety under the Trump administration.

Journalists have been shamed and treated like disobedient children for criticizing anything President Donald Trump does.

Reporters aren’t allowed to question him on his apparent racist behavior. If they dare, false statistics are rubbed in their faces.

Illustration by Karly Andersen

[Trump’s] blunt abuse of his power doesn’t stop at female journalists.

No. He attacks males too. He attacks anyone and everyone who disagrees with him.”

Our country’s leader looks for every opportunity to bash journalists — including what he calls “Failing New York Times,” which actually gained 308,000 new digital subscribers in the quarter immediately following the 2016 presidential election.

Trump is constantly attacking the media and calling it “fake news,” but he is using those “fake news” outlets to further his agenda. He claims to have a 36 perMargaretta Sackor, cent popularity among African-Americans, contributing writer but his approval rate is only 8 percent acPast presidents recognized the import- cording to a Quinnipiac University poll. ant role journalists play. Former President During a press conference, White House Barack Obama spoke on the significance of press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders free press and how democracy cannot run claimed Trump tripled the number of jobs without it. The press is the one thing that for African-Americans than the Obama holds government officials accountable and administration did. motivates Americans to act on issues.

However, the U.S. Bureau of Labor StaWithout a free press, democracy is lost. tistics reported that Obama recreated 300

million jobs for African-Americans and decreased unemployment from 12.7 to 7.8 percent. There is so much anti-media propaganda for every credible news outlet that dares to criticize President Trump. Unless you are Fox News, you can bet he will call you a “liar” and deem your reporting “fake news.”

Trump also openly targets female journalists in order to feel superior as a male in power, telling them to “sit down” and treating them as if they’re not smart enough. During a September press conference, he refused to call on any woman journalist until CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta asked him to — and even then, he interrupted the female journalist constantly.

His blunt abuse of his power doesn’t stop at female journalists. No. He attacks males

too. He attacks anyone and everyone who disagrees with him.

Take the recent press conference after the mid-elections when Trump accused PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor of asking a “racist question” and continued to bash her when she asked about his self-professed nationalist status. Trump also went back and forth with Acosta in another press conference, sparking a heated exchange about his immigration policies and his take on the migrant caravan.

Following this conference, the White House revoked Acosta’s press pass. This is one instance of the war being waged against journalists for simply doing their job — it’s as if Trump is trying to take away the freedom of the press and dismantle the very constitution which America claims to live by.

An Ode to Self Care says “I’m only attracted to white guys,” or “I would never date an Indian guy?”

Recommended listening while reading:

“HANDLE ME” Robyn

SHAUN JACKSON Staff Columnist Trying to get back out on dating apps after a two-year relationship. I was talking to my friend about sexual discrimination and they don’t think it’s a thing. How do I explain to her it is racist when someone

Wow, bless your friend’s heart, she sounds like she’s had the privilege of never being on the other side of these dating apps. Most people just like to think of it as a “preference.” But when you say you won’t date this person because of their skin color, that kinda falls in line with the definition of racism. The point here is that unfortunately, we do think of race when thinking of desire and that is detrimental to a lot of groups of people on these apps. If she still doesn’t believe you, log her into Grindr, and show her how many profiles have something like “No Fats/No Fems/No Blacks” plastered across them. For most people, seeing is believing.

Any advice for a shit-out-of-luck, confused, almost 21-year-old girl who is still trying to figure out her own beliefs, ideologies and life in general?

Do you. I know I say that all the time but seriously, you are so young with so much life to live and so much to figure out about yourself — where you’re going

and how you’re gonna get there, and the person you will be at the end of all of that.

Trust me when I say there will be a ton more quarter-life crises before you even reach 25. Don’t let anybody mess with you — spiritually, mentally, physically or emotionally. Whether it’s religion, ideology or shame, don’t let anybody put something inside of you without thinking about it and making up your mind first.

I’m dating a guy who is a selfish asshole 60 percent of the time and a genuinely enjoyable person 40 percent of the time.

I’m not sure if I’m dating him because I like the 40 percent so much or because I’m scared of the turmoil dumping him will bring to my life.

Firstly, you’re not dating anyone. If you really wanted to call that dynamic a relationship you could, but it’s not a healthy one, and you know that. What’s the best thing someone being held emotionally hostage by a selfish toxic man with mood swings can do? Break free.

Thankfully, it sounds as though you guys are just casually dating and you aren’t intertwined in another way that could make

Illustration by Alex Hwee

this situation messier, like say if you lived together. Break him off (and maybe give him a LOUD piece of your mind while you’re at it), and fear no human being — especially not a pathetically vindictive excuse for a man.

Wed. November 28, 2018 15 THE CT STAFF EXECUTIVE EDITOR Zach Joachim joachimz@commonwealthtimes.org MANAGING EDITOR Georgia Geen geengr@commonwealthtimes.org NEWS EDITOR Nia Tariq news@commonwealthtimes.org

Friendsgiving fail by Erin Joo

SPORTS EDITOR Jessica Wetzler sports@commonwealthtimes.org SPECTRUM EDITOR Katie Bashista spectrum@commonwealthtimes.org OPINIONS EDITOR Caitlin Barbieri opinions@commonwealthtimes.org COPY EDITOR Saffeya Ahmed ahmeds@commonwealthtimes.org MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR Erin Edgerton photography@commonwealthtimes.org ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR Steck Von illustrations@commonwealthtimes.org SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR Fadel Allassan allassanfg@commonwealthtimes.org STAFF WRITERS Logan Reardon, News reardonlj@vcu.edu Adam Cheek, Sports cheekan@vcu.edu Noah Fleischman, Sports nrfleischman@gmail.com Sam Goodrich, Spectrum goodrichs@commonwealthtimes.org Brianna Scott, Opinions scottbn@vcu.edu

Holiday preparations by Ellie Erhart

STAFF COLUMNISTS Shaun Jackson, Opinions jacksonsk@commonwealthtimes.org STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Shayla Bailey baileysl4@vcu.edu STAFF ILLUSTRATORS Summer McClure mccluresl@vcu.edu Sammy Newman ymmas97@gmail.com

VCU STUDENT MEDIA CENTER GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Ryan Rich Mai-Phuong Bui Jeffrey Pohanka Andy Caress designers@vcustudentmedia.com ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Gabbi Bernardo Dana Cantor Miles S. Hicks advertising@vcustudentmedia.com (804) 828-6629 WEBMASTER Chrislin Hearn webmaster@vcustudentmedia.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Caroline Banchoff distribution@vcustudentmedia.com DIRECTOR Allison Bennett Dyche abdyche@vcu.edu (804) 827-1975

Thanksgiving roast by Madeline De Michele

CREATIVE MEDIA MANAGER Mark Jeffries mjeffries@vcu.edu BUSINESS MANAGER Jacob McFadden mcfaddenjc@vcu.edu ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER Andrew Salsbury smc_assistant@vcustudentmedia.com

ABOUT THE CT The Commonwealth Times is the award-winning independent student newspaper at VCU, since 1969. The CT staff maintains all editorial and operations discretion. There is absolutely no prior review by the public, university or VCU Student Media Center administration or staff. The Executive Editor writes and manages the Operations Budget.

ADD YOUR VOICE The opinions pages of the CT are a forum open to the public. Contributions are welcome by email to Caitlin Barbieri, by mail or in-person at 817 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23220. Opinions expressed are those of individual columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Commonwealth Times.

Unsigned editorials represent the collective opinion of The CT staff.

The Commonwealth Times strives for accuracy in gathering news. If you think we have made an error, please email the appropriate section editor.

Corrections will appear on the news pages and/or online. One CT per person. Additional copies can be purchased at the Student Media Center for $1 each.

16 The Commonwealth Times

For answers to this week’s puzzles, check commonwealthtimes.org/puzzles every Friday at Noon.

Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzle FOR-GONE CONCLUSIONS

Sponsored by

L o s A n g e l e s Ti me s Sun d a y C ro s s w o rd P u z z l e

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

By Gail Grabowski

2 “Rhyme Pays” 63 “We’re driving 57 Used Charmin for ACROSS rapper around in circles”? shenanigans, for 1 Minor dustup 3 Pet peeve?

68 Anna’s “The short 5 Ladder danger 4 Period, to British Accountant” co-star 59 Sea cell 9 Jeff who started an

By Gail Grabowski grammarians 69 Red Guard member 60 Bi- equivalent online bookstore in 5 “Hurry it up!”

72 Lanai neighbor 64 What diviners 1994 6 Bypass 73 Tour guides, e.g.2 “Rhyme interpretfor 14 Give form to 63 “We’re driving Pays” 57 Used Charmin ACROSS 7 Hemsworth of “Theshenanigans, 77 in Enemy of Mr. Bill, rapper 65 FormerforSwedish 19dustup Free speech org. around circles”?

1 Minor Hunger Games” short imports in old “SNL” skits3 Pet peeve?

20 danger New Balance 68 Anna’s “The 5 Ladder 8 Common 78 Start co-star a course 4 Period, to British camp59 Sea66 Accountant” cellBolshoi outfit 9 Jeff whocompetitor started an site “Once Is Not 67 Part of 1/2 21bookstore Put on, asinpressure grammarians 69 Red79 Guard member 60 Bi- equivalent online Enough” author 5 “Hurry9 itPub 69diviners Passé PC system up!”game with 64 What 72 Lanai neighbor 199422 Development units Nicki e.g.

Minaj genre6 Bypass balls 70 “Off with her head!”

React 73 Tour82 guides, interpret 14 Give23 form to to too much 10 Whizof “The 83 Unkind remark 7 Hemsworth sun, perhaps owner 77 Enemy of Mr. Bill, 65 Former head Swedish 19 Free speech org.

11 Youngest 84“SNL” Ticketskits selling for a Hunger Overcharge 71 Star that’s a draw Games” Marx in old imports 20 New24 Balance brother major golf event?8 Common 25 “Silas Marner” girl 74 USCG camp 78 Start a course 66 Bolshoi outfit rank competitor 87 IsPuff 75 It’s often merit79 “Once Notpastry cheese site 12 Mythical hunter67 Part of 1/2 21 Put 26 on, Penetrating as pressure winds Team 88 Publisher 27 Horses’ feeding based game withbacker? 69 Passé PC Enough” author Adolph9 Pub13 system 22 Development units 14 Skeptic’s demand Iconic 60-Across balls number you 82 Nicki90Minaj genre 70 “Off 76 withTicket her head!”

23 React toperiod? too much boss Nightly don’t want to see 10 Whiz15 Droopy-shaped head owner 83 Unkind remark sun,29 perhaps purse 91selling Consider newscaster’s 84 Ticket 79 City near Pisa 11 Youngest Marx for awith care 71 Star that’s a draw 24 Overcharge 92golf Around the corner brother preparation?

80 rank Blood bank 16 Bow-toting god 74 USCG major event?

25 “Silas Marner” girl Predetermined 31 Burpee product87 Puff93 quantity 12 Mythical hunterin a way 17 Cheat, pastry cheese 75 It’s often merit26 Penetrating winds steps 32 It has strings 88 Publisher 81 Arcade giant 13 Team 18backer?

Serious extreme? based Adolph 27 Horses’ feeding 9560-Across Historic caravel 85 number Bard’s bedtime 14 Skeptic’s demand 28 Garlic relative 76 Ticket 90 Iconic you period? attached 33 Fed. financial gp. boss96 Took in the sights 86 Competition in 15 Droopy-shaped 30 Agony don’t want to see 29 Nightly 97 Escape 34 Sight in an lanes 32 Without peer 79 City near 91 Consider with care Pisa newscaster’s purse 98 Something unfinished attic 92 Around 87bank Challenging golf 34 Info-gathering the corner in the 80 Blood preparation?

16 Bow-toting god air 37 Southwest mission 93 Predetermined quantityhole starting points 31 Burpee product worker 17 Cheat, in a way 100 98-Across, often18 Serious 39 strings “You may say I’m steps 89 Blow 35 Quarters 81 Arcade giant the budget 32 It has extreme?

101 Severe 92 Center 36relative What may 85 Bard’s bedtime caravel dip in 28 Garlic attacheda __”: Lennon’s 95 Historic during “Imagine” 94 Hunginin there 96 Took in contributions the sights 86 Competition 33 Fed. financial gp.

30 Agony accompany hunger room read 95 “The Merchant of 97 Escape a telethon? lanes 34 Sight43in Waiting an 32 Withoutpangs? peer 104 Hurricane 44 Where Venice” 37 Bud on a drive 87 Challenging in the tracker golfheroine unfinished atticdos are 98 Something 34 Info-gathering closeup? done Somepoints exposed 38 First name in ’70s hole96 air starting 37 Southwest worker mission 109 Case place 45 Dire prophecy100 98-Across, homes often 89 Blow thebeam budget 39 “You may say I’m 35 Quarterstennis 110 Italy’s “Supreme 47 Hang open 101 Severe 98 Actress De La 39may Slip into dip in 92 Center a __”: Lennon’s 36 What Poet” during 48 House with layers contributions 40 Result of a faulty 94 Hung inGarza there “Imagine” accompany hunger 111 Twitter’s bird, e.g. pangs? tab setting?

49 Easter feast, say? a telethon?

Scientific 95 “The99 Merchant ofdept.

43 Waiting room read 112 Belgian capital 37 Bud41 52 dos Oneare in a workout 100 Blocks gear Venice” 104 Hurricane tracker heroineoften 44 Where on Pentathlon a drive 113 Scorch slightly 38 First name in ’70s disassembled and 42 Provide more room closeup?

96 Some exposeddone count 114place Actress MacDowelltennis for growth Unexpected 109 Case reassembled beam homes 45 Dire53 prophecy 115 Aviation pioneer39 Slip 44 54open River to South 110 Italy’s “Supreme 101 Trevi 98 Actress De Latoss-in 47 Hang intoWhile Carolina’s Winyah 102 Polly, to Tom 45 of Salvage Poet” Sikorsky Garza 48 House with layers 40 Result a faultycrew 116 Bond was kicked tab setting?

Bay say? 111 Twitter’s bird, e.g.

103 Sistine member 99 Scientific dept. Chapel 49 Easter feast, of it ceiling figure 46 Upright 112 Belgian out capital 100 Blocks often 52 One55 in aGenesis workoutmatriarch 41 Pentathlon gear 117 slightly Entered into a deal 56 “Megastructures” 104 Bulldogand supporters 49 Pommes frites 113 Scorch disassembled count 42 Provide more room 118 Cross with channel, familiarly 105 Discipline with condiment 114 Actress MacDowell reassembled 53 Unexpected for growth 119 Fresh answers 44 While 58toTennis poses 50 How-to lesson101 Trevi toss-in pioneer 54 River South surprise115 Aviation 120 Number with words 60 Govt. agents 106toLot purchase 51 Maker Sikorsky 102 Polly, Tom Carolina’s Winyah 45 Salvage crew of Wayfarer 107 Chapel Resolve, with “out” 116 Bond was kicked Bay61 Document preparer membersunglasses 103 Sistine 62 Museum posting: out of it DOWN 108 figure Dull, maybe 54 Turn a Monopoly ceiling 55 Genesis matriarch 46 Upright 1 Brewpub array 2 49 3 Pommes 4 Abbr.

109 J.E.B. Stuart’s side Level corner 117 Entered into a1deal 104 Bulldog supporters 56 “Megastructures” frites 118 Cross with 105 Discipline with channel, familiarly condiment 119 Fresh answers poses 58 Tennis surprise 50 How-to lesson 120 Number with words 60 Govt. agents 51 Maker of Wayfarer 106 Lot purchase 107 Resolve, with “out” 61 Document preparer sunglasses DOWN 108 Dull, maybe 62 Museum posting: 54 Turn a Monopoly 1 Brewpub array 109 J.E.B. Stuart’s side Abbr. corner

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

Winter break plans? Kayak the Everglades or Lo s A with n g eOAP! l e srecsports.vcu.edu Ti me s climb in Mexico

FOR-GONE CONCLUSIONS

Sunda y C ro s s w o rd P u z z l e Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

For-Gone Conclusions by Gail Grabowski

ADVERTISEMENT

Sudoku

Sudoku

By The Mepham Group

By The Mepham Group Level 1 2 3 4

DIFFICULTY LEVEL 2

3

4

Complete the grid so each row, column, and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) containsSolution to Monday’s puzzle every digit, 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk

11/13/18 Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit

ADVERTISEMENT

1

sudoku.org.uk

Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

© 2018 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

11/25/18

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Quickness RVA -Since 2010Order Online Now! @ quicknessrva.comSudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk.

Sponsored by

© 2018 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

Join WVCW on Saturday, December 1, 2018 as we bring you live coverage of the 35th Annual Dominion Energy Christmas Parade.

Listen live on the WVCW Radio app and online at wvcw.org starting at 9:00 AM with the parade pre-show and stick around to hear the WVCW play-by-play of the parade starting at 10:00 AM. Be sure to be a part our live tweet of the parade with #wvcwparade!

You can also join us in person on W. Broad Street to say hello and for one of your last chances of the year to get WVCW swag.