The Commonwealth Times; April 3, 2017

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April 3, 2017 • Vol. 58, No. 23

The independent press of Virginia Commonwealth University

NEWS Dominion lawsuit • 3

SPORTS Colonial Relays • 6

SPECTRUM “Jews and Booze” • 9

OPINION Painting Dept. Critique • 10

April is sexual assault awareness month Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. women and 1 in 71 men have experienced rape or attempted rape. An estimated...

32.3 percent of multiracial women 27.5 percent of American Indian women 21.2 percent of non-Hispanic black women 20.5 percent of non-Hispanic white women 13.6 percent of Hispanic women

...are raped in their lifetimes.

Nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men have experienced sexual violence victimization other than rape.

SURVIVORS OFTEN KNOW THE PERSON WHO SEXUALLY ASSAULTED THEM.

Resources VCU Police’s “You Have Options” program: The survivor can control certain aspects of a sexual assault investigation. Under the “You Have Options” program, student survivors can choose between engaging in a complete investigation, filing an “information only” report or engaging in a partial investigation that includes gathering evidence but not necessarily pressing charges.

Seeking medical attention: Evidence collection, also called a PERK (Physical Evidence Recovery Kit) exam, is free and does not require a commitment to report or press charges. PERK exams should be completed within 120 hours (the sooner the better) and are available at:

Preserving physical evidence: You don’t have to make any decisions immediately, but if there is any chance you might press charges, it is important to preserve evidence. Please do not change clothes or shower. If you do remove clothing, place within a paper (not plastic) bag. If oral contact took place, try not to eat, drink, smoke or brush your teeth.

PHOTO BY FRANCESCO BASTI

Carytown’s Byrd Theatre has been hosting the festival since 1993.

Information: VCU Police, VCU Division of Student Affairs, Sexual Assault Resources & VCU Equity and Access Services

SIONA PETEROUS Spectrum Editor Richmond’s streets were filled with the presence of French flags, celebrities and filmmakers as the annual French Film Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary from Monday March 27 through Sunday April 2. The Festival was founded by husband-wife duo Peter and Françoise Kirkpatrick in 1993 and is the largest festival of French film outside of the European country itself. This years festival featured a 78-member delegation, 14 feature-films, 11 short-films and 14 symposiums. Every year, VCUarts Cinema students are heavily involved in filming the festival. While in previous years VCU students were solely responsible for filming interviews with the filmmakers, for the 25th anniversary they put in a bit more work. In addition to the interviews, the crew of about 25 students filmed all the symposiums, Q&A sessions following all of the films, awards and closing ceremonies and a handful of “special events” throughout the weekend. This year’s festival was divided into two parts: Monday through —see “FILM” page 8

Spectrum

Female ink on the rise in RVA EMMA SUE SIMS Contributing Writer For many women the fight for equality extends to how their tattoos reflect upon their place at work — but in Richmond, some women have found an oasis from judgement. For Dana Carlson, an apprentice at Lucky 13 tattoo shop on Broad St., her time in Richmond as a tattooed woman and artist has been a positive experience. “I think Richmond is one of the few places where you can be a heavily tattooed woman and it’s not considered strange or novelty,” Carlson said. “But I know I can go two hours south to Norfolk and if I’m walking

around in shorts and a tee-shirt in summer time, I get blatantly stared at. I get cat-called way more.” Beverly Yuen Thompson explained in her 2015 book “Covered in Ink: Tattoos, Women, and the Politics of the Body” that visible tattoos on women is more likely to encourage unwanted behaviors like touching — or a more difficult time in the word place. “Men are considered more autonomous people,” Thompson told the Huffington Post in a 2015 interview. “When women (...) collect tattoos, especially when they become heavily tattooed and go outside the boundaries of ‘feminine’ tattooing, they begin to face social sanctions that remind them that they are not

Contact The Well at (804) 828-9355 or MyOptions@ vcu.edu to speak with an advocate and/or schedule an appointment. You may also call VCU Police and ask to be connected with a 24-hour, on-call VCU Counseling Services therapist at (804) 828-1234.

VCU Health’s Forensic Nursing Office, (804) 628-0623 St. Mary’s Hospital Forensic Nursing Office, (804) 281-8574

French Film Festival celebrates 25 years in RVA

To connect with nonjudgemental advocates for support and assistance:

acting appropriately as a woman.” Carlson said part of the reason she thinks tattoos are more welcome in the River City is because there are more than 30 shops within the Richmond’s city limits. “I definitely think some areas are more tolerant,” Carlson said. “The cities that have more (tattoo) shops per capita and have more of an art based economy, I think, are the more open-minded and flexible ones.” There are also scientific findings indicating that tattooed women may have higher self-esteem. The caveat, though, is that they may also be more depressed. —see “TATTOO” page 9

Unfunded federal mandates cost VCU millions SARAROSE MARTIN Staff Writer Virginia Commonwealth University estimates it spends about $13 million annually to comply with more than 200 federal regulations, according to a fiscal report Congress asked all Virginia public universities to submit as part of a review of unfunded mandates. According to the report, VCU spends $800,000 to comply with Title IX, $1.84 million for safety, security and environmental mandates and $2.08 million for student programs. VCU spokesman Mike Porter said the increase in unfunded federal mandates did not have an impact on tuition. “From where I sit, the regulations are there as a form of checks and balances,” said University Chief Integrity and Compliance Officer Jacqueline Kniska, whose —see “REGULATIONS” page 2

News

PHOTO BY ERIC MARQUEZ

ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL SEXUAL VIOLENCE RESOURCE CENTER:

News

Stoney’s first budget as mayor discusses the need for a clean-up, including leaf and trash collection.

Mayor proposes spring cleaning for the City Hall JIM THOMMA Staff Writer As folks begin clearing out attics, reorganizing kitchens and hoisting battered sofas to the curb in the time-honored tradition of spring cleaning, Richmond’s new mayor is hoping to do something similar inside City Hall. Mayor Levar Stoney submitted a budget proposal earlier this month with policy goals that range from improving bulk trash pickup services and alley repair, to renovating fire stations and repairing aging utility infrastructure. The proposal also

seeks to clean up the city’s finances and includes a list of best practices for increasing departmental accountability, raising tax collection rates and pinpointing new sources of revenue. “This budget continues to invest in the path to becoming a Triple-A bond rated city,” Stoney said in a letter to City Council, which is now tasked with debating and amending the budget ahead of a May vote. Achieving a Triple-A bond rating, the highest attainable credit rating, would lower costs to borrow money and increase funds available for capital investment, or projects

requiring the expenditure of public funds for the purchase, construction, enhancement or replacement of physical infrastructure/assets. In his address to City Council, Stoney said upgrading the city’s bond rating would be an important step in addressing the spending excesses of the previous administration. On the campaign trail, Stoney frequently criticized then-Mayor Dwight Jones for investing heavily in large economic development projects at the expense of core services. —see “STONEY” page 4

Sports

Baseball falls to Cavaliars, bests Colonials Page 7


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