The Commonwealth Times; February 5, 2018

BEST SMALL, NON-DAILY —2017 Virginia Press Association The independent press of Virginia Commonwealth University

February 5, 2018 • Vol. 59, No. 3

VCU stakes claim in opioid fight

ILLUSTRATION BY LIZZY COX

SAFFEYA AHMED Contributing Writer As Virginia lawmakers continue efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, VCU is asserting its role in fighting one of the deadliest epidemics in American history.

In his State of the University address Jan. 25, Pres. Michael Rao said the university is fighting the ongoing epidemic through treatment, education and research.

Working alongside legislative actors, the university is implementing initiatives to educate the public and fund research.

Mishka Terplan, professor in the School of Medicine, said VCU implemented multiple addiction treatment programs — the most recent one called MOTIVATE, which began last April, is an outpatient clinic where a majority of patients admitted have an opioid use disorder.

“We are integrating addiction and opioid misuse assessment across inpatient and outpatient settings,” Terplan said.

Terplan said people suffering from addiction and substance abuse often face discrimination in healthcare settings. A setback in the healthcare world, he said, is an issue that must be addressed.

University researchers are also developing safer alternatives for pain relief to replace opioids in the current drug market. Terplan said addiction-related research is active throughout all research levels at VCU. “We have to continue to grow speciality addiction services, and integrate addiction assessment and maintenance treatment across all domains of healthcare — but especially in primary care,” Terplan said, “We need more physicians.”

Terplan’s suggestions for expansion of opioid treatment services have their share of support from Virginia citizens. A majority of Virginians support strategies for battling the opioid crisis, according to a Wilder School poll.

Eighty-two percent of Virginia adults are in favor of expanding treatment centers in their communities. Seventy-one percent favor providing housing for people in recovery from opioid addiction.

The findings were part of the school’s Winter Public Policy Poll.

The poll also found 48 percent of participants were in support of providing clean needles to opioid users to reduce the risk and spread of infection.

Robyn McDougle, director of the Office of Public Policy Outreach in the Wilder School, said the Wilder School’s findings help

VCU grad draws Google Doodle

ILLUSTRATION BY SHANNON WRIGHT

FADEL ALLASSAN Managing Editor Shannon Wright, a 2016 VCUarts graduate and former CT illustrations editor, was the artist of the Feb. 1 Google Doodle — the first of Black History Month.

The illustration celebrates Carter G. Woodson, a scholar, author and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson was one of the first to study Black American history and has been called “the father of Black History.” continued on page 8

policymakers craft legislature by providing necessary policy opinion polling.

Opioid overdoses remain the leading cause of death for Americans over 50 years old. With nearly 64,000 overdose fatalities in 2016, a 22 percent increase from the previous year, the epidemic is on the rise. Deaths from prescription opiates have quadrupled since 1999, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Virginia, fatal drug overdoses became the leading cause of unnatural death in 2013, surpassing car accidents and gun-related violence.

Fatal overdoses in 2016 increased almost 40 percent from the previous year, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Opioids are drugs used to relieve pain by slowing down the body’s nervous system. These pain relievers are highly addictive substances — as few as eight days of daily use can lead to addiction.

The epidemic in the U.S. encompasses legal drugs such as fentanyl, morphine and codeine, as well as illegal drugs like heroin. The rapidly expanding opioid market has garnered response from actors across Virginia.

In 2016, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency in the state of Virginia. McAuliffe proposed $76 million to fighting the epidemic in the 2019-2020 state budget. The proposed budget allocates funds towards opioid programs and services and the expansion of drug courts.

Before the most recent bills, the General Assembly funded the Medicaid Addiction and Recovery Treatment Services (ARTS) program. The program increased treatment capacity in the Commonwealth. Lauryn Walker, doctoral student in the Department of Health Behavior and Policy at VCU, said the ARTS program offers addiction treatment and management services to Medicaid members with substance use disorders, fully covered by Medicaid.

“As Medicaid policy evolves, we need to maintain a focus on increasing access to high-evidence care,” Walker said.

This session, the General Assembly is considering legislation to expand Department of Corrections employees ability to administer Naloxone, a medication used to reverse opioid overdose.

The Wilder School also plays a role in the university’s work in educating the public on the current crisis. VCU’s Wilder School will host a panel on the national opioid epidemic Tues., Feb. 6.

NEWS Stolen credentials • 2 SPORTS Men’s basketball • 5 SPECTRUM Heavy metal • 8 OPINIONS Tuition reform • 9

news

The Commonwealth Times

CNS BRIEFS

Herring Joins 11 State Attorneys General in Opposing Offshore Drilling

Akbarali leads groundbreaking opioid research, guides new generation of scientists

GEORGE COPELAND, JR. Twelve attorneys general including Virginia’s Mark Herring called on the federal government Thursday to halt its plans for gas and oil drilling off their coasts.

Year After Ruling, 1 in 6 Drivers Still Has Suspended License More than 15 percent of Virginia drivers have their driver’s licenses suspended due to court debt, according to a report released last week by the Legal Aid Justice Center – despite the fact that the Virginia Supreme Court issued a ruling a year ago to address the problem.

Panel Won’t Remove Sales Tax on Gun Safes TIANNA MOSBY A legislative subcommittee Friday killed a bill to remove the sales tax on safes where gun owners can store their firearms – a measure the sponsor said would promote gun safety.

Virginia House Democratic Delegates Promote Criminal Justice Reform Initiatives BRANDON CELENTANO Democratic members of the Virginia House called on their colleagues Thursday to raise the threshold for grand larceny and allow more professionals to administer medication to someone who has overdosed on drugs.

Groups Team Up to Count Richmond Area’s Homeless GEORGE COPELAND JR. As part of a statewide assessment, a nonprofit group is taking its annual census of the city’s homeless, aiding and aided by a coalition of outreach programs.

Proposal Would Boost Suicide Prevention Efforts in Schools

PHOTO BY MILES FRANCISCO

SOPHIA BELLETTI

Hamid Akbarali leads VCU program training underrepresented students for success in science.

SARAROSE MARTIN News Editor If you’re asking award-winning mentor Hamid Akbarali, the secret to success in any field is critical thinking. That’s what the VCU pharmacology and toxicology professor tells every student who dreams of going into the sciences.

“Developing the skills to be able to critically think is an important goal that I have,” Akbarali said.

“I’m working with them to the point that they have a fire in their belly and it really doesn’t matter what they do they could be doing different fields of science.”

Akbarali is the director of the VCU Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), which trains and mentors underrepresented students in the biomedical sciences.

“There is an increase in population that goes to college, so they’re getting into the undergraduate component but then we have a lack of minority students in the STEM field anyway,” Akbarali said. “The number that actually get into graduate school diminishes and the ones that actually end up in academic positions even further into research and STEM fields.”

Sarah Golding, director of the

undergraduate IMSD program, said prior the start of IMSD in 2010, there was no record of African-American students entering a PhD program in the sciences from VCU. Since 2010, 60 undergrads have joined the program and VCU experienced a huge increase in underrepresented students pursuing graduate education in the sciences as well as students in general, Golding said.

“We want our future professors to be representative of our population and not just coming from elite schools, from affluent backgrounds,” Golding said. “We need the most complicated questions of

our world to be answered by people who look like our world.”

IMSD recently received three more years of funding through a division of the National Institute of Health. The program is just one of many VCU offers to help students of all backgrounds achieve goals in the sciences. Golding said Akbarali is exactly what students need — he leads by example.

“What he brings is years of experience and training students and knowing what they need to succeed, but also a very gentle fatherly approach to helping the students reach their goals,” Golding said.

“And he’s a really accomplished scientist so he can stand in front of them and say, ‘I did this, I know what it takes.’”

If there is anyone who knows what it takes, it’s probably Akbarali.

He was born in Pakistan and went to elementary school in Kenya. His father died when he was young, but his mother wasn’t going to let anything hinder her son receiving the best education possible. So, Akbarali traveled to the University of London for undergraduate studies, where he discovered his passion for pharmacology. And then he attended the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada for his PhD. He went on to teach at Harvard University.

Akbarali arrived at VCU in 2005 and is the director of Graduate Training and Postdoctoral Training as well as director of the Pharmacology Department. He serves as a guide to every graduate student in the program in addition to the students in his own lab.

Since then, he was named professor of the year by students in

the department in 2011. In 2013, he was named teacher of the year in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and in 2015, he won the Distinguished Mentor Award for the School of Medicine.

Akbarali is a top researcher.

And with the Harvey B. Haag professorship, he is able to study the role of gut bacteria in mediating opioid tolerance.

“One of the reasons that people overdose is that they haven’t become tolerant to the respiratory depressant effects but they’ve become tolerant to the euphoric effects,” Akbarali said. “People will take more and because they’re not tolerant they’ll still respond and they’ll have respiratory depression and that’s how they overdose and die.”

Akbarali’s research discovered chronic opioids alter the microbiome of the gut, which may be an important factor in tolerance production.

“So the tolerance we get to these pain-relieving effects, it may be linked to the microbiome itself.

We’re changing something in the gut and it’s affecting what we think is normally the brain,” Akbarali said. “We are at the process where we just identified changes in the gut microbiome. We have a long ways to go in actually identifying which particular bacterial species that were talking about.”

Akbarali’s passion for science is most evident as he describes the questions he has yet to answer. That’s why Akbarali pushes his mentees to not solve problems, but instead find ways to develop problem-solving skills. This way, he knows the fire in their belly will outlast his mentorship.

$1.4 billion of stolen credentials uncovered by university SCOTT MALONE Contributing Writer During a security sweep, the University of Richmond’s information security staff discovered a website containing a list of stolen account credentials – a list with approximately 1.4 billion pieces of private account information such as email addresses and passwords.

“From what we’re able to tell, it’s very, very deep within the web,” Cynthia Price, the university’s director of media and public relations, said of the recent discovery. “It’s a concealed website.”

To put the list’s enormity into perspective, the largest internetera data breach occurred in 2013 when 3 billion Yahoo users were affected by a hack, according to CSO Online, a technology news website. The next biggest was in 2014 when eBay asked 145 million

users to reset their passwords after hackers accessed accounts through stolen information.

According to the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, a breach is defined as the “unauthorized acquisition of computerized data that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information.”

The list on the website discovered by the University of Richmond may be related to previous data breaches.

In an email to students and staff on Friday, the university wrote that the list was “compiled from several data breaches that have occurred over the past several years, such as LinkedIn®, Adobe®, Yahoo®, and other domains,” and that “included in the list were credentials associated with approximately 3,000 richmond.edu email accounts.”

After university emails had been

discovered on the list, UR sent its message to inform students and staff about the incident so they could check their accounts. Also attached was a video on creating strong passwords.

UR’s information security staff confirmed that the website acquired the information from emails tied to external sites and made it clear that the school’s information system had not been compromised.

“There is no breaching of our system whatsoever,” Price said, “but because (the website’s list) still contained emails linked to us, we wanted to make sure we alerted people to check their accounts.”

This doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be concerned. The individuals who collected this information likely did so with ill intent.

As Price explained, “unscrupulous people will collect that data and hold it in hopes that they can

PHOTO BY JULIE TRIPP

2

University of Richmond uncovers second biggest data breach. somehow use it elsewhere.”

With more than 1.4 billion credentials to sift through, the extent of the list’s information isn’t yet fully known. Attempts

were made to contact the Virginia Attorney General’s office for comment on whether an investigation was underway, but the office has not responded.

VCU ranked No. 1 diverse employer in Virginia

CAITLIN BARBIERI

ILLUSTRATION BY ALLISON VERJINSKI

While campaigning door to door, Del. Danica Roem met a constituent who had lost her only child to suicide. The mother had one request – make suicide prevention training available to all school employees.

research company which surveyed 30,000 employers last year. The survey addressed diversity, gender, VCU is the best employer for ethnicity, sexual orientation, age diversity in the state and among and disability. Eight other Virginia the best in the country, according companies made the list. to Forbes.

Diverse employment is part of The list, published Jan. 23, the university’s Diversity and Inranked the university at No. 40 clusion Strategic Action Plan, acout of 250 in the country, making cording to Kevin Allison, the inVCU the highest ranked in Vir- terim vice president of the Division ginia and the fourth-highest uni- for Inclusive Excellence. VCU is versity in the country. the largest employer in Richmond, The business magazine used re- with more than 20,000 employees, search from Statista, a marketing including the health system.

NIA TARIQ Contriubting Writer

These stories are courtesy of VCU’s Capital News Service. The full stories can be found at vcucns.com.

The university aims to improve diverse representation by providing professional development, leadership opportunities and support for career progression for traditionally underrepresented employees, according to the action plan.

“One of the plan’s goals is to intentionally attract and retain a diverse faculty, staff and student body,” Allison said. “The themes of the plan also ensure that members of the university community create and maintain a living, learning and working environment where

everyone feels respected, supported and valued.”

Cathleen Burke, assistant vice president for human resources, said prospective employees are attracted to VCU because of the university’s reputation for diversity and inclusion.

“It is a central part of our mission and everyday work,” Burke said. “We also provide hiring managers with tools to help conduct inclusive employee searches and interviews that demonstrate cultural awareness and respect for

those from all backgrounds.”

Some of VCU’s diversityoriented programs and funding include the Building Inclusive Communities initiative, the Presidential Awards for Community Multicultural Enrichment, the Inclusive Curriculum Development Awards and the Social Justice Fund. All are aimed towards supporting and fostering a diverse university environment.

www.commonwealthtimes.org

Monday, February 5, 2018

PHOTO COURTESY OF GERMANNA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

House Republicans pass sexual harassment policy

Sexual consent remains optional topic for family life education

tention is to continue to take this issue very seriously, as we always have. Especially in this day and age, After weeks of dispute over when we see women feel safe to talk how to reform the General As- about instances where they have sembly’s sexual harassment policy, been harassed, or manipulated, or the House of Delegates passed a bill Thursday that establishes new training requirements.

The bill by Del. Roxann Robinson (R - Chesterfield) would require anti-sexual harassment training to be completed every two years The bill specifies

by General Assembly members and training, but it has full-time legislative staff.

A bill by Del. Vivian Watts (D no guidelines for - Fairfax) that would have included what should be part all forms of workplace harassment of it. Republicans say was killed in committee Friday.

Watts’ HB 1053 also called for new to trust the system. mechanisms for victims of harass- Trusting the system ment to file complaints, aiming to make the process more streamlined. got us where we are HB 371 passed 88-10. Watts today. and nine other Democrats voted in opposition; two House mem- Del. Vivian Watts bers did not vote.

(D - Fairfax) “I see both sides of the aisle trying to get to the same place, just through different vehicles,” Del. C. harmed, we want to continue to enTodd Gilbert, (R - Shenandoah) courage them to come forward.” said on the House floor. “Our inWatts, the longest-serving

woman in the House, said in a telephone conference call with reporters later that the bill doesn’t go far enough.

“The bill specifies training, but it has no guidelines for what should be part of it,” she said.

“Republicans say to trust the system. Trusting the system got us where we are today.”

In debate on Wednesday, Robinson defended the legislation’s details.

“It took me about 45 minutes to read through it,” Robinson said, referring to the training course.

“And every one of the sections includes what needs to be done if there’s a problem.”

Gilbert said Republicans are committed to addressing the issue.

“We are going to continue to develop this program, if this bill passes … and demand a level of accountability that we would all expect,” Gilbert said.

A similar bill by Sen. Glen Sturtevant, (R - Richmond) – SB 796 – has been referred to the Senate Rules committee.

Watts told reporters that the accounts of sexual misconduct survivors speaking out during the

#MeToo movement of the last few months as well as the growing number of women in politics have represented a major shift.

“We never had more than 19 women serving at any one time,” Watts said. “Now we have 28. #MeToo speaks to decades of women getting around situations, trying to preserve their professional career as well as their own moral integrity. It’s time to have a full and open discussion of protections that are needed to make sure these instances are properly handed and allow due process for all individuals involved.”

Watts said the General Assembly’s history with sexual harassment is “not without a major blemish,” referring to former Speaker of the House Vance Wilkins Jr. The Republican resigned his position in 2002 after allegations of sexually harassing two women and paying one of them a settlement of $100,000 to remain silent.

“This is not only a moral issue, but a policy in law,” Watts said.

“We must use our power for good to be sure that whoever is doing this stops immediately.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF EILEEN FILLER-CORN

Del. Vivian Watts (D - Fairfax) is the longest-serving woman in the Virginia House of Delegates.

DEANNA DAVISON Contributing Writer

3

Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D - Fairfax Station) IRENA SCHUNN Contributing Writer A House subcommittee rejected a bill Friday that would have required high schools to include a discussion about sexual consent in their sex education curriculum.

A subcommittee of the House Education Committee deadlocked 5-5 on a motion to advance House Bill 44. As a result, the motion failed.

Last year, the General Assembly passed legislation that gave public schools permission to include consent as part of a family life curriculum. This year’s bill would have altered that law to make consent education a requirement, not an option.

“The difference here is negligible because family life education is already permissive,” said Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, (D - Fairfax Station), chief sponsor of the bill.

If the bill had passed, it would not have guaranteed that Virginia public schools would teach students that consent is required before sexual activity. Though Virginia has laws that define sex education curriculum requirements, family life classes are not mandated by law.

However, several localities voluntarily provide the sex education curriculum described by the Board of Education’s family life education guidelines. School districts that choose to include family life education must first obtain permission from parents.

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia mandate that public schools provide comprehensive sex education; Virginia does not. Virginia is one of three states that require parental consent in order to participate in sex education.

The five subcommittee members who voted in favor of HB 44 were Republican Del. Roxann Robinson of Chesterfield County and Democratic Dels. Jeffrey Bourne of Richmond, Jennifer Boysko of Fairfax, Chris Hurst of Blacksburg and Cheryl Turpin of Virginia Beach.

Republican Dels. Glen Davis of Virginia Beach, David LaRock of Loudoun County, Jay Leftwich of Chesapeake, John McGuire of Henrico County and Brenda Pogge of James City County voted against the bill.

I’m sure if the shoe was on the other foot, Puerto Ricans would be giving us that same opportunity.

Del. Paul Krizek (D - Fairfax) “The House Appropriations Committee didn’t feel like there was enough money to be able to grant in-state tuition to Puerto Rican students over Virginian students,” Krizek’s legislative aide said.

“But we think everybody was sympathetic to the cause.”

Y CO L IZ Z N BY AT IO

• Three Democrats opposed killing the bill: Dels. Luke Torian of Prince William County, Betsy Carr of Richmond and Cliff Hayes of Suffolk.

Despite the final vote, Krizek’s office indicated that the subcommittee gave the matter due diligence and that opponents of the bill were concerned about its costs.

STR

A House subcommittee has killed a bill that would have made residents of any U.S. territory hit by a major disaster – like Puerto Rico – eligible for in-state tuition at Virginia’s public colleges and universities.

The Higher Education Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee took the action Monday by rejecting HB 46, proposed

by Del. Paul Krizek (D - Fairfax).

Krizek urged the subcommittee to envision the devastation still evident in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria in September. It was one of the strongest storms ever to hit the island.

“Our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico prepare for hurricanes every year,” Krizek said. “Five months after (Maria), the island is still struggling. The infrastructure damage is unimaginable.”

He said that 38 percent of homes on the island still do not have electricity. As a result, many Puerto Rican college students have had their educational plans disrupted.

President Donald Trump issued a Declaration of Major Disaster for the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sept. 7 and for the Commonwealth of PuertoRico on Sept. 21.

Krizek’s bill would have made “Any resident of a United States territory for which a major disaster has been declared by the President of the United States in 2017” eligible for in-state tuition at Virginia’s public institutions of higher education. The proposal would have given such citizens a

four-year window to apply for the adjusted tuition opportunity.

“I’m sure these struggling students have good academic credentials and will seek to come here for educational opportunities. We can give them this helping hand up,” Krizek said. “Let’s support them in this time of need by allowing them – for the next four years – to apply as in-state students.”

He added, “I’m sure if the shoe was on the other foot, Puerto Ricans would be giving us that same opportunity.”

Anita Nadal, a U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent and Virginia resident for more than 17 years, spoke in support of the bill at Monday’ssubcommittee meeting.

Nadal is an assistant professor in the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“Education is an investment in our future,” Nadal said. “Many young (Puerto Rican) people are very eager to continue their education, and I know they would be more than happy to come to Virginia Commonwealth. The universities here would be a wonderful way to help our fellow citizens that are living a human crisis at this time.”

The vote to have the Krizek’s bill “passed by indefinitely,” effectively killing it for the legislative session, split along party lines: • Five Republicans voted in favor of killing the measure: Dels.

Nick Rush of Montgomery County, Steven Landes of Augusta County, Charles Poindexter of Franklin County, Christopher Stolle of Virginia Beach and Roxann Robinson of Chesterfield County.

IL L U

ZACH JOACHIM Sports Editor

X

Panel kills bill giving Puerto Ricans in-state college tuition Violent crime decreased in Richmond last year “Folks just can’t seem to settle disagreements without resorting to violence here in our city,” Durham While homicides and non-fatal said. “Social media, especially with shootings increased in Richmond our young people, is what precipilast year, Richmond had a 2 percent tates a lot of this violence.” decrease in violent crime, according Jeanine Guidry a VCU public to the Richmond Police Department. relations professor who studies Police Chief Alfred Durham social media and health commuoutlined crime trends in a news nication, said social media can conference Jan. 25. He highlighted contribute both to violence and the drop in violent crime including increased awareness. murder, robbery, rape and aggra“Social media like any form of vated assault. technology can be used in a variety “There will have to come a time of ways, some of those are harmful, whereby a murder in the city of and some of them are beneficial,” Richmond will not be the norm, Guidry said. “It can provide a vebut an anomaly,” Durham said at hicle for bullying, for example, but the news conference. it also can provide a way for people Arguments turned violent ac- to speak out on sexual violence.” counted for 30 percent of last year’s The reduction in violent crime is murders, according to the data. largely due to a decline in reported Durham points a finger at social rapes. There were 52 reports of rape media as the instigating factor for in 2016 and 38 reports of rape last the violence. year. In addition, business robberMATTHEW BARRETT Contributing Writer

ies reduced by 22 percent.

Last year’s positive trend follows a 17 percent increase in violent crime in 2016. The overall crime rate in Richmond is higher than it was five or even 10 years ago.

In 2017, the number of people shot in aggravated assaults grew 16 percent and there was a 20 percent increase in shootings during robberies. Richmond also had an 8 percent increase in murder than in 2016.

“The level of violence that is occurring has to stop,” said Durham.

“The police can’t do it alone.”

At the news conference, Durham announced initiatives the police department has to combat crime trends. One of the initiatives laid out by Durham concerned the online crime statistics page. This year, the public will be able to access a crime page that is updated every Monday.

4

Monday, February 5, 2018

The Commonwealth Times

1500 WE’RE ADDING

ADDITIONAL BEDS

TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR

HOME ON CAMPUS.

VISIT HOUSING.VCU.EDU TO APPLY. The Housing Application closes Feb. 9.

sports

www.commonwealthtimes.org

Monday, February 5, 2018

5

Stat of the Week

Fifth-year transfer Khris Lane was named the Virginia Lottery Athlete of the Week after his 25 point performance against GMU.

Out-Rammed: Senior-laden URI Women’s basketball battles tough muscles past Black and Gold The Rams hosted a highly touted opponent Friday night at the Stu — No. 22 University of Rhode Island, AKA the ‘other’ Rams. A 47-31 rebounding advantage and 26-6 second chance point tally in favor of URI were the deciding factors in a 81-68 VCU loss.

Rhode Island came to town as the first top 25 team to come to the Stu this season, since the University of Virginia and University of Texas were unranked at the time. Rhode Island was riding a 13 game win streak and looked to remain undefeated in A-10 conference play. URI coach Dan Hurley said it was a welcome change of pace to bring a veteran team into Richmond and out-experience VCU after being on the other end of this scenario numerous times on Broad Street.

Freshman wing Sean Mobley made his fourth start of the season and came out hot with an and-1 early on in the action. Senior forward Justin Tillman was ready to play from the opening tip-off, hitting a three on his first shot of the game.

Rhode Island senior wing E.C Matthews excelled at creating space for himself all night — Matthews finished with 18 points on 5-13 shooting from the field.

Tillman — who ended up being the game’s leading scorer with 22 points and six rebounds — did most of his damage in the first half from the free throw line, as URI swarmed the preseason all-A-10 selection in the post from the word go. Despite a successful statline, Tillman struggled to find a rhythm against URI’s superior size down low.

VCU finally closed the small gap between the teams and tied the game at 27 with just above seven minutes to play in the first half. Rhodey called a timeout after VCU tied the game.

Out of the timeout, Rhode Island went a 9-0 run giving them the biggest lead of the game.

Mobley, who led all scores in the first half with 15, knocked down back-to-back threes, closing Rhode Island’s lead to just three.

A scary moment for the Black and Gold with a minute left in the first half momentarily sent the Stu into a hush. Senior guard Johnny Williams went down with

a sprained ankle and was taken to the locker room. Williams did, however, return in the second half despite the scare, and coach Mike Rhoades said his senior point guard shook off the turned ankle just fine.

“I believe Johnny will be fine,” Rhoades said. “He’s a tough kid and he’s a senior.”

Rhode Island went into halftime with a slim 41-38 lead over the Rams — Tillman and Mobley scored 27 of VCU’s 38 points in the first half.

Rhodey’s leading scorer at the half was Jared Terrell with 12 points. Rhode Island tied their biggest lead of the game to open the second half, breaking the game open by extending their lead to 54-45.

The turnover bug followed the Rams into the second half and Rhode Island capitalized.

“Veteran teams like Rhode Island take advantage of your mistakes,” Rhoades said.

VCU was unable to put a dent in the URI lead throughout the second half, as the other Rams held the Black and Gold at a 9-10 point arms length the rest of the way.

conference stretch

Rhode Island freshman forward Cyril Langevine led the game on the glass with a massive 18 rebounds.

“That’s what I do,” Langevine said of his rebounding prowess after the game.

“If we didn’t give up offensive rebounds, we would’ve won the game,” Tillman said.

Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley complimented the young Rams after the game.

“I believe VCU will get better and finish as a top four team in this conference,” Hurley said.

Rhoades and his young Rams must regroup with all haste, as they stare down the barrel of a week of grudge matches. The Black and Gold have a date with the University of Richmond Wednesday night on the other side of town. After defeating UofR six consecutive times over the course of the past three seasons, the Rams were embarrassed by the Spiders earlier this campaign at the Stu by a final of 67-52. VCU will then welcome the University of Dayton Flyers to the Stu Saturday afternoon. Dayton trounced the Rams earlier this season in Ohio 106-79.

PHOTO BY SHAYLA BAILEY

NILE MCNAIR Contributing Writer

Freshman guard Taya Robinson averages 7 points per game.

ZACH JOACHIM Sports Editor

PHOTO BY ERIN EDGERTON

Women’s basketball split a pair of conference games last week to move to 5-17 overall, 2-8 in A-10 play. The Black and Gold toppled Saint Joseph’s University 56-54 Wednesday night before falling to Dayton University 74-64 Sunday afternoon.

Senior guard Johnny Williams went down with an ankle injury in the first half but coach Mike Rhoades said he’s good to go.

Sparks joined Robinson in double figures with 13 and 10, respectively.

SAINT JOSEPH

The Black and Gold pulled out a back and forth affair by a final of 56-54 Wednesday night at the Siegel Center against SJU. VCU came out on top after a whopping thirteen lead changes.

Freshman guard Tera Reed was named Co-A10 Rookie of DAYTON the Week after her 18 point, 5 reVCU trailed by as many as 11 bound performance led the Rams in the first quarter, and fought an to victory. uphill battle the rest of the way St. Joseph’s led by as many as against the Flyers of Dayton. The nine in the second quarter, and lead ballooned to 20 heading into the Rams led by as much as eight halftime, as the Black and Gold in the third. Runs dictated the found themselves in a 40-20 hole flow of the game throughout the going into the locker room. first three quarters -- St. Joseph’s Dayton pushed the lead to as closed to third on a 7-0 run to cut many as 23 in the third quarter to VCU’s lead to just one heading effectively put VCU away for good. into the final frame.

The Rams outscored the Flyers 28Conversely, neither side was 15 in the final period despite the able to create much separation in insurmountable deficit. the fourth, as the lead changed Freshman guard Taya Robinson hands eight times. A Reed jumpled VCU with 14 points on 5-14 er with 1:26 to go gave the Black shooting from the field. Sopho- and Gold the lead for good at 54more center Danielle Hammond 53, and her free throws down the and freshman guard Delphynia stretch sealed the deal.

PHOTO BY MICHEL MAULDING

Tennis falls to Monarchs, downs Mountaineers and Panthers

Freshman Melissa Ifidzhen of Moscow, Russia, along with her partner Anna Rasmussen, lead the Rams this season in doubles with eight recorded wins.

The Black and Gold got off to a quick start against the Mountaineers. Junior Anna Rasmussen After a tough home loss to Old and freshman Melissa Ifidzhen Dominion University early in the continued their string of great play week, women’s tennis bounced in doubles competition, winning back to win consecutive road the match 6-0. Rasmussen and Ifmatches against West Virginia idzhen lead the Rams in doubles’ University and the University of wins on the season with eight.

Pittsburgh, moving them to 4-2 Freshmen Marina Alcaide and on the young season.

Sofia Sualehe clinched a doubles point for the Rams, giving VCU WEST VIRGINIA an early 1-0 lead. Rasmussen and The Rams won their second con- freshmen Paola Delgado extended secutive road match Sunday after- the Rams’ lead 3-0, giving the noon by a final of 4-2.

Black and Gold a commanding lead.

RODNEY ROBINSON Contributing Writer

However, the Mountaineer staged a comeback, bringing the lead 3-2.

Sophomore Noumea Witmus was the hero on the day. After a tough tie-breaker in the first set, the underclassmen dominated the second, winning 6-0, and clinched a road win for the Rams.

the Rams in their first away match of the dual season.

Rasmussen and Ifidzhen got another double’s victory Saturday. It was a tough match as they were able to edge Pittsburgh’s Luisa Varon and Claudia Bartolome 6-4, adding to their team-leading seventh doubles victory.

PITTSBURGH Sualehe and sophomore Kanako The Rams won by a score of Yano secured the doubles point for 4-2 on the road against Pitts- the Rams by winning in convincing burgh on Saturday. fashion, 6-1. Freshman Paola ExThe Rams bounced back after posito Diaz Delgado and Rasmusa tough loss to ODU at home on sen extended the lead to 3-1.

Tuesday. This was a tough battle for Delgado won in straight sets,

outlasting a tiebreak in the first.

Rasmussen overcame a tiebreak in the second set to win in straight sets. Witmus sealed the victory for the Rams by winning a three-set nailbiter, 7-5,3-6, 6-3.

OLD DOMINION The Monarchs downed VCU in a non-conference matchup.

After a dominant performance against Campbell College, the Rams were unable to get a point on the board Tuesday. ODU won two out of the three doubles matches and never looked back.

Rasmussen and Ifidzgen came away with a win in doubles’ competition, tallying their team-best sixth doubles victory of the season. In singles, Rasmussen won the first set on court one. The score was knotted at five in the second set before the match was called. The Monarchs won in straight sets on court two, court three and court five to close out the match.

The Rams will look to carry the momentum from the two road victories as they host Temple University Saturday, Feb. 10.

6

The Commonwealth Times

Sean Mobley

PHOTO BY ERIN EDGERTON

RAM IN ACTION:

sports

Freshman wing Sean Mobley recorded a season high 15 points on 4-for-4 shooting from three. belt, Mobley has been a bright spot in a down year for men’s basketball.

Mobley made four threes in the first Freshman forward Sean Mo- half Friday night against URI. bley was rated a four-star recruit

by ESPN.com before making his What has the season been like for way to VCU. The 6’8 former star you so far? at Montverde Academy in Florida led his high school team to a This season has been a new expe26-2 record and the semifinals of rience coming in from high school the Dicks Sporting Goods High to college. We have had our ups and School Nationals as a junior. downs but I think we are on the Now wearing the Black and Gold, right path now.

Mobley has started in four conference games and played in 23 games so far this season. With a total of 94 points scored and six steals under his

JESSICA WETZLER Staff Writer

How would you describe that transition from high school to college?

What do you consider your strengths on the court?

Definitely the tempo — it’s faster and the coaches are on you to learn stuff quicker.

I think my basketball IQ is defiVirginia was definitely a tough nitely one of my strengths, along team, and Seton Hall is very good. with my passing and shooting.

Why did you pick VCU? And your weaknesses?

Just because of the winning culture and the basketball culture and Probably my athletic ability, I the community is definitely somehave to work on that. My foot- thing special. work, quickness like first step moves and vertical jump jumping, Why basketball in general? stuff like that.

It is just something I remember doing for as long as I can remember, it was my first love.

How would you describe your game play on the court?

I would think I am the good guy on the team. I do all the small stuff right and limit my mistakes and do what the coaches tell me to do.

What is your biggest competition, team wise, for the season?

With you being in the freshman class, did you find that your class merged well together with the sophomores and seniors?

In the beginning I think we had little boundaries and stuff but everyone is getting along well.

Any goals for the rest of the season?

For you personally and the team?

For me personally, I just want to become more aggressive on the court and for the team, win the A-10 tournament.

Track and field dominates Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational

PHOTO COURTESY OF VCU ATHLETICS

ADAM CHEEK Contributing Writer

Both VCU teams placed second in the 4x60 shuttle hurdle events this past weekend.

VCU track and field earned themselves a solid weekend at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational, with the performance by the Black and Gold featuring several dominating performances and consistent finishes among the athletes.

On Saturday, seniors Kareem Payne and Marcus Finnie both dominated the men’s sprinting.

Payne placed first in the 60-meter dash, setting a new school record with 6.76 seconds — a feat not accomplished since 2008.

Finnie advanced to the finals as well, clocking in the 60-meters at 6.98 seconds. Both runners also added third and fourth place finishes in the 200-meter dash to their day’s resume. Junior Austin Conway made his mark on the day, finishing third with a personal best time in the 1,000-meter and freshADVERTISEMENT

man Jordan Fountain placed fifth in the same event.

Sophomore Ian Davis captured fourth place in the 60-meter hurdle with an 8.20 time, and freshman Ebenezer Belayneh added a personal best for the day, with a 14.99 in shot put.

The women’s track and field team performed in nearly identical fashion, as senior Taylor McCormick proved to be the star of the day. McCormick finished first in the triple jump, setting a new VCU record of 12.33 meters. Junior Ashley Greenlee placed first out of 17 athletes in the 500-meter, clocking in at a 1:15.52 time.

Junior Latrice Morris added a fourth place in the 60-meter finals with a 7.65 time and sophomore Alexis Willis placed eighth.

Sophomore Kayla Smith brought home a second-place finish in the 400-meter with a 55.50 time and senior Courtney Holleran recorded

a personal best time of 10:32.81 in the 3,000-meter.

Makayla McGowan claimed fourth in shot put, with the sophomore recording a 14.10 mark. Additionally, the Black and Gold’s 4x400-meter relay team placed third overall with a time of 3:50.83.

Friday’s opening events featured the weight throw and distance medley. Seniors Latasha Williams and Ashleigh Banks tied for 13th in the weight throw, each recording a distance of 15.88 meters. Freshman Jacob Greenless also placed for the men’s team, finishing ninth with a 15.16 distance. The women’s distance medley brought home a 12:11.24 time, not only a season best, but fast enough for fifth place.

Both VCU teams placed second in the 4x60 shuttle hurdle events.

VCU’s next event will be the Atlantic 10 Track & Field Indoor Championships Feb. 17 and 18, in Kingston, Rhode Island.

spectrum

www.commonwealthtimes.org

Monday, February 5, 2018

7

On this day

The first west coast newspaper, the Oregon Spectator was published in 1846.

GEORGIA GEEN Spectrum Editor Before teaching her first weaving workshop in June of 2017, The Little Black Sheep Studio owner Kate Koconis didn’t think many people were interested in the craft.

Fast forward seven months and almost every spot was filled for her four classes taught from Jan. 27 to Feb. 4 at Quirk Gallery.

“I had never really thought of being a teacher,” Koconis said, “now I just want to keep doing it as long as people are interested.”

Koconis, based out of Charles City, started The Little Black Sheep, an online shop where she sells handmade woven products, in 2008 and started focusing more on the shop about three years ago.

Koconis said she has practiced weaving for most of her life and grew up surrounded by fiber arts, but became serious about the craft about 10 years ago.

I work very hard to get to a point where I’m always doing something I really enjoy.

That’s what [weaving] is for me and that’s what the farm is for me.

Kate Koconis, Little Black Sheep Owner

“Working with the materials is very meditative since I’ve been doing it for so long now,” Koconis said. “I’ll just go and get in a zone.”

During the workshop, Koconis went between each table helping attendees with the process. Pages of instructional weaving diagrams were also included in each “kit.”

Koconis said that in weaving, if a mistake is made and “you think think it looks okay, then it’s okay.”

Participants made wall hangings, decorative pieces made with wool of varying textures and long fringe. Wall hangings and other decorations make up the majority of products for sale on Koconis’s website, littleblacksheepstudio.com.

Working with her hands is an integral part of most of what Koconis does — in addition to creating woven products for The Little Black Sheep, she works on a farm.

“I work very hard to get to a point where I’m always doing something I really enjoy. That’s what [weaving] is for me and that’s what the farm is for me,” Koconis said. “I’m a really tactile person, doing stuff with my hands is my main drive. It’s a very comforting, warming, cozy thing.”

Koconis enjoys giving workshops because she hopes participants are able to relax while weaving. You can make a lot by weaving, she said, but over the years, fiber arts products have been increasingly mechanized.

Products, like the wall hangings Koconis creates, can be purchased cheaper at chain stores.

Fiber arts artists are hurt by this trend, Koconis said, because many consumers don’t understand the value of a handmade good once they can purchase a mass-produced product.

Koconis works between 50 to 60 hours a week for The Little Black Sheep in the winter and said she’s close to being able to turn it into a full-time job. Her summer hours are shorter because she spends more

PHOTOS BY CASEY COLE

Weaving workshops show value of handmade goods

Koconis provided weaving "kits" for workshop participants, including frame looms, wool and other materials. time doing farm work. She thinks consumers can “get a little bit more” from handmade products.

“It’s hard to put into words, it’s more of a feeling kind of thing, having something that was hand-

The three-hour workshops had spots for 15 participants.

made by somebody in your home,” Koconis said. “[A mass-produced product] won’t fill you with as much warmth and joy as something you really thought about and considered.”

Koconis likes to fill her house with things important to her and those objects provide her with positive memories and feelings.

“My hope is that when someone purchases one of my handmade

things that those kind of memories and good feelings travel with it into their home,” Koconis said.

Koconis guided participants in creating woven wall hangings.

SAM’S TAKE

A better movie remains hidden within “Winchester” SAMUEL GOODRICH Staff Writer

IL L U

STR

AT I

ON

BY

I A IN

DUF

F US

Horror film “Winchester” begins with an intriguing premise, sparking the imagination of any viewer looking for a scare. While the writer/director duo The Spierig Brothers flirt with the possibilities, they fail to summon a fully compelling movie.

A house with more than 100 rooms built with no rhyme or reason rests in San Jose, California.

Owned by the widow of the Winchester gun manufacturer, the mansion is said to be one of the most haunted places i n

America, with the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle residing within the maze-like halls.

The film takes place in 1906 and follows Eric Price, a psychiatrist dealing with his own personal demons brought about by drug use.

He is hired by the Winchester arms manufacturer to evaluate the sanity of Sarah Winchester, the founder’s widow and current head shareholder of the company. She believes spirits killed by Winchester rifles communicate with her in an attempt to move on.

“Winchester,” throughout its hour and a half runtime, attempts to tell a story about death, grief and the effects of holding onto loved ones. Spirits tell Sarah Winchester to build rooms that resemble the place they died, so they may reside in them and find peace.

Helen Mirren, who plays Sarah, doesn’t phone in her performance, helping to sell the larger ideas of

the film and make them come together. Sadly, it seems like she might have been the only one committed to the film.

Most of “Winchester” is spent squandering potential. Instead of exploring the 100 rooms of restless spirits, the film takes place in a few rooms and tight corridors. Eric investigates strange noises, only to be spooked by tired and predictable jump scares from uninspired ghost designs.

Herein lies the film’s main issue: there is an interesting story at the heart of “Winchester,” but it’s bogged down by the established tropes of the “haunted house” genre.

Despite the boring attempts at horror, I still wanted to like this movie. The final 20 minutes are more exciting, as an antagonistic ghost is revealed and things start to get more intense. The jump scares are cut down in favor of direct confrontations and genuine tension.

When watching these final moments, I realized “Winchester” truly is a missed opportunity. We never visit more than a few rooms, despite the mansion being known for its confusing structure and abundance of bizzare spaces. The characters feel underdeveloped, with Eric in particular having nothing to do except be skeptical of ghosts that the audience discovers early on are real.

That is truly a shame, because a fascinating and effective horror/ drama exists within the confused halls of this movie. The concept of building rooms to help the dead pass on is interesting, but is barely explored. The themes, plot and characters have the potential to be intriguing, but don’t mix with the tired carnival ride scares.

I love what “Winchester” could be, but I can’t recommend what it ultimately is.

8

spectrum

The Commonwealth Times

Killthrax shows thrash still has a bright future Killthrax’s Jan. 28 performance at The National in Richmond proved thrash isn’t leaving the metal scene anytime soon.

The Killthrax namesake comes from an amalgamation of the names of the co-headlining bands, Anthrax and Killswitch Engage.

The two metal bands first toured together under the Killthrax tour moniker in the spring of 2017 with Ohio metalcore outfit The Devil Wears Prada opening the show, whose crowd response was less than stellar.

Havok kicked off the show with a bang and played a blistering set of old and new songs. Songs from Havok’s latest offering, 2017’s “Conformicide,” were particu-

larly well received with the crowd.

Bassist Nick Schendzielos, also a bassist for Job For A Cowboy and Cephalic Carnage, showcased his ability to switch between breakneck thrash riffs and funk driven slap-bass lines with equal precision and style.

Havok vocalist/guitarist David Sanchez said he sees thriving opportunity for the future of thrash.

As older bands like Slayer start to throw in the towel, it leaves the door open for new-school thrash bands like Havok to carry the torch. If Havok continues to make uncompromising records like “Conformicide,” I see a bright future for the thrash genre as well.

Since their first demo in 1999, Killswitch Engage has been churning out a Massachusetts blend of hardcore, thrash and me-

lodic death metal to fans across the globe. Killswitch has a unique ability to turn the crowd into a mosh frenzy one minute and the next have the entire room singing along in unison. Killswitch never let the energy down on stage and every member gave 110 percent throughout their blitzkrieg set.

Anthrax only sprinkled in a few new songs, which came as a surprise considering they are about to wrap up the album cycle for 2016’s “For All Kings.” Nevertheless, Anthrax classics like “Caught in a Mosh,” “Indians” and “Madhouse” sounded just as fresh and heavy as ever.

The band has been around since 1982, proving they’ve not only stood the test of time, but they also aren’t going anywhere. While other bands from their era are slowing down or calling it quits, Anthrax

PHOTO COURTESY BY SARAH SCHULTZ-TAYLOR

LUKE BURKET Contributing Writer

Open studio spaces showcase M.F.A. works

Wright depicted Carter G. Woodson for the Feb. 1 Google Doodle.

VCU grad drew Black History Google Doodle —continued from page 1

PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH HUMPHREYS

“Discovering the legacy of Dr. Woodson had to be equally, if not more rewarding, than doing the doodle itself,” Wright said.

In her final year at the CT, Wright was awarded the firstplace prize for illustration by the Virginia Press Association. She was among a team of designers

and illustrators to win the secondplace prize for front page design, awarded by the same organization. She was also a second-place winner in the editorial cartooning, awarded by the Society of Professional Journalists.

The 24-year-old has been published in TIME Magazine, The Guardian and BBC News among other outlets.

ADVERTISEMENT

MADELINE WHEELER Contributing Writer VCUarts graduate students showcased their photography, sculpture and kinetic imaging, and other forms of art, on Feb. 2.

The event was split between the Pollak Building, which housed photography, film, graphic design, interior design and fashion; and the Fine Arts Building, which held sculpture, extended media, kinetic imaging, craft, and painting and printmaking.

The open studios event occurs once or twice a year. Most of the artists stayed in their studios to explain their pieces to attendees.

Sandy Williams, a first-year VCUarts graduate sculpture student, participated in the open studios event for the first time. Williams attended the University of Virginia for undergraduate school and pursued a degree in biology before discovering his passion for art.

“My art professors were more invested in me as a person than my science professors were,” Williams said.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in studio art before beginning his M.F.A. at VCU last fall. \Williams’ main piece was a hat

stand — reminiscent of a Christmas tree — covered in hats he created. They were reminiscent of the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” baseball caps, but with different phrases.

One said, “Do you know Same?” in off-centered script.

I mean, for me, I make [art] so that hopefully it will make people happy and they will enjoy what they’re looking at.

Carl Patow, VCUarts M.F.A. Student He said his hats are “garments to protect against suspicions of being a foreigner” due to the challenges faced by immigrants in the face of the current political climate.

“Any red hat with white lettering kinda just blends in,” Williams

said. “I think making art is a political gesture, like, in itself.”

Carl Patow, a first-year kinetic imaging graduate student, has remained a practicing surgeon throughout his recent formal art education. He said he was always passionate about art and pursued it continuously throughout his career. He showed several pieces for the open studios event, including two translucent spheres with abstract, brilliantly colored images projected through them.

“Some people say they look like eyeballs,” Patow said. “The images are very relaxing to look at and then some of them are very energized.”

The spheres were made from plastic wrap and packing tape, formed into hollowed out spheres.

Patow’s second piece was a found object: a car headlight.

“It kinda looks like a fish,” Patow said. “It’s very sculptural and quite beautiful.”

Two years ago, Patow began taking undergraduate kinetic imaging classes before applying to the graduate program.

“I mean, for me, I make [art] so that hopefully it will make people happy and they will enjoy what they’re looking at,” Patow said.

The open studios event was split between the Pollak and Fine Arts buildings.

ADVERTISEMENT

VCUarts M.F.A. students remained in their studios to explain their work during the event.

Some of her most recent work involves illustrations in children’s books, including “Betty Before X,” co-authored by Malcolm X’s daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz. Another one of her projects will be published with Arthur A. Levine Books, the imprint of Scholastic Press that published Harry Potter books in the U.S.

www.commonwealthtimes.org

opinions

Monday, February 5, 2018

Quote of the week

“Students from all backgrounds should be able to see their culture represented in literature.” — Sierra Ayonnie

ILLUSTRATION BY ALAN GARDNER

The problem with representation in literature

SIERRA AYONNIE Contributing Writer According to NPR, in 2016 minority literature only accounted for about 22 percent of all published children’s books. In 2009, it was as low as 9 percent.

A lack of diversity among authors leads to a lack of representation of characters in books. This leads to few stories students of color can relate to which makes it hard to motivate them to read.

The Washington Post published “The Long, Steady Decline of Literary Reading,” which found in 2015, 50 percent of White people

were likely to read compared to 29 percent of Black people and 27 percent Hispanic people. The biggest driving factor to motivate reading among either race not only deals with education, but also empathy.

Can people empathize with what is happening throughout a given text regardless of culture?

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a speech at the Ted Global convention in 2009 titled “The Danger of a Single Story” where she addressed how one novel presents people of color poorly becomes the narrative of an entire culture.

Adichie uses her Nigerian culture to explain the media, including

books, has a way of making society believe “authentic African” happens to be one who is starving and does not have middle class privileges.

This perpetuates stereotypes and makes it hard for writers of color to be published.

Society has made small changes since Adichie gave her speech.

We’ve seen people advocate for diversity in the media — specifically movies, TV and music — and finally, there has been some push for diversity in literature.

For example, VCU offers several English courses that promote diversity and educating students on cultures outside of their own, such as African-

American Women Writers, African Literature, Queer Literature and Caribbean Literature. These all help to diversify the English department in order to welcome students from all backgrounds.

Writers should remember writing novels is more than just grabbing the reader’s attention and telling a story to entertain — novels are tools to discuss the political and social climate.

Elif Shafak, Turkey’s most famous female writer as of October 2017, has published multiple award winning novels and editorials with themes revolving around life in Istanbul, mysticism, feminism and freedom of speech.

Shafak appeared in a TED Talk convention in 2010 where she gave a speech titled “The Politics of Fiction,” where she highlights empathy towards others and comments on the power of fiction.

“When we are reading a novel, we leave our small, cozy homes behind and meet people we have never met before and perhaps have been biased against,” she said.

Students from all backgrounds should be able to see their culture represented in literature. Great fiction allows readers to experience cultures outside of their own, but this isn’t possible without a more diverse range of authors.

Guest column

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF SENATOR DESTEPH

Senator Bill DeSteph: Virginia needs tuition reform now

Senator Bill DeSteph (R-Virginia Beach) is a state senator representing the 8th District in Virginia’s General Assembly.

Last year, almost two dozen colleagues from both sides of the aisle and both Houses of the General Assembly came together to support the radical idea that a degree from one of Virginia’s public colleges or universities shouldn’t come with a virtual lifetime of student debt.

We also called for more accountability and openness with respect to tuition decisions, and said it wouldn’t be out of order to listen to what Virginia’s students and their parents thought about the spiraling cost of a degree.

It didn’t take long for our statefunded colleges and their lobbyists to rush to Richmond to paint yet another rosy picture, offer promises to contain costs and do better, and suggest yet another study.

A year later, the paint has peeled, promises have been broken, and another study is collecting legislative dust.

Along the way, Virginia families and bright kids who want and deserve an affordable education are being priced out of the academic marketplace we fund with our tax dollars. Multiple studies conclude the high-tuition, high-aid model actually hurts low-income students Now a “business group,” which serves as a front for the same public colleges and universities, is headed back to Richmond to lobby the General Assembly to loosen the reins and reject requirements for financial accountability. Yes, really.

Administrators and Boards of Visitors have become dangerously

9

focused on expanding the budgets of the universities they run, often at the expense of the students they are meant to serve. Examples abound, but here are two.

Last month, the University of Virginia’s board of visitors voted unanimously to raise tuition for nursing students by almost 18 percent. That decision comes at precisely a time when there will soon be a shortage of nursing professionals as demands on the health care industry increase.

And given the resources at that university’s disposal, that makes absolutely no sense.

Over 15 years, tuition and fees at the College of William and Mary have increased 344 percent, while the consumer price index went up only 35 percent. There’s something predatory about the costs of a degree rising at such an astronomical rate.

It’s been said that our colleges and universities are among Virginia’s greatest resources, and we would never dispute the need to invest in their futures. At the same time, we have a greater obligation to ensure that Virginia’s children can actually afford to use them as pathways to brighter futures.

This year, we are not alone.

During the recent gubernatorial election, both candidates made clear their concerns about the escalating cost of a college degree, and our next governor has already committed to holding tuition steady for Virginia’s full-time, instate students who attend a fouryear school.

That’s an important first step, if he follows through, but we need to do more for the 252,000 students who attend Virginia’s community colleges. They are people of all ages and all walks of life who are just as motivated as their four-year brethren.

Community college tuition can be just as daunting a challenge that stands between a two-year degree or a certificate attesting to training and a skill. Depending on the school, tuition has increased from 246 to 349 percent over the last 15 years.

And as we seek to re-energize our economy and create broadlybased opportunities and jobs, community college and four-year degrees should be financial realities for all Virginians. That’s why I introduced three senate bills (SB) to address tuition affordability. The

bills essentially prohibit any percentage increase in in-state tuition that exceeds the annual percentage increase of the Average Consumer Price Index (SB 373), median household income in the Commonwealth (SB 377), and national average wage index (SB 577).

We need you, the students of Virginia’s public colleges and universities, to speak out and get loud.

Please call your state senators and delegates to express your desire for tuition reform. As we’ve seen over the past year, when citizens organize and mobilize they can be powerful drivers of change.

It is simply wrong for Virginia’s students and their families to continue bearing the burden of unconscionable tuition increases — at precisely a time when college affordability should be a basic economic imperative. The General Assembly has a clear and obvious responsibility to meet these concerns.

This year, we can do better. And must.

comics

10 The Commonwealth Times

W. Grace St by Madison Hall

THE CT STAFF Executive Editor

Sophia Belletti bellettisr@commonwealthtimes.org

Managing Editor

Fadel Allassan allassanfg@commonwealthtimes.org

Creative Director

Desiree Choe choeda@commonwealthtimes.org

Copy Editor

Jesse Adcock adcockj@commonwealthtimes.org

News Editor

SaraRose Martin martinsr@commonwealthtimes.org

Sports Editor

Zachary Joachim joachimz@commonwealthtimes.org

Spectrum Editor

Georgia Geen geengr@commonwealthtimes.org

Opinions Editor

Katie Bashista bashistakp@commonwealthtimes.org

Illustrations Editor

Iain Duffus duffusim@commonwealthtimes.org

Photgraphy Editor

Erin Edgerton edgertonee@commonwealthtimes.org

Staff Writers

Siona Peterous peterous@commonwealthtimes.org Sam Goodrich goodrichs@commonwealthtimes.org Jessica Wetzler wetzlerjg@vcu.edu

Staff Photographers

Ali Jones jonesa@commonwealthtimes.org Casey Cole colecl5@vcu.edu

Staff Columnists

Shaun Jackson jacksonsk@commonwealthtimes.org

Staff Illustrators Steck Von huangw2@vcu.edu Yewei Wang wangy52@vcu.edu Allison Verjinski verjinskiaf@vcu.edu

Outreach and Marketing Intern Dina Alemu alemudd@commonwealthtimes.org

ABOUT THE CT The Commonwealth Times is the awardwinning 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.

The CT’s Operations Budget is a reflection of independent advertising revenue accumulated throughout the previous academic year(s). Operations expenses include salaries, phone and internet, postage, professional memberships, award submissions and banquets, FOIA requests, programming costs and travel.

Each spring, the CT staff elects the next year’s Executive and Managing Editors, who then hire the remaining staff.

ADD YOUR VOICE The opinion pages of The CT are a forum open to the public. Contributions are welcome by email to Katie Bashista, 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.

Snail Race by Bobby Miller

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

VCU STUDENT MEDIA CENTER Graphic Designers

Desiree Choe Eric Ngo Mai-Phuong Bui Kim Peters Ryan Rich designers@vcustudentmedia.com

Advertising Representatives Cristian Castiglia Kayleigh Crandell Morgan Mckenny Adriel Velaquez advertising@vcustudentmedia.com 804-828-6629

Director

Allison Dyche abdyche@vcu.edu 804-827-1975

Creative Media Manager Mark Jeffries mjeffries@vcu.edu

Business Manager Jacob McFadden mcfaddenjc@vcu.edu

Assistant Business Manager

Mikaela Reinard smc_assistant@vcustudentmedia.com