Wednesday 10.30.2013 | MACE & CROWN | A1
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER
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Wednesday 10.30.2013 | MACE & CROWN | A2
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NEWS
EDITOR: JESSICA SCHECK | NEWS@MACEANDCROWN.
Mace & Crown Staff : Derek Allen Page
Editor-in-Chief editorinchief@maceandcrown.com Jessica Scheck News Editor news@maceandcrown.com Dominique Bailey Arts & Entertainment Editor artsandentertainment@maceandcrown.com Brian Jerry Sports Editor sports@maceandcrown.com Ellison Gregg Photography Editor photo@maceandcrown.com Jonathan Kwok Senior Graphic Designer layout@maceandcrown.com
Letter From the Editor By: Derek Allen Page Editor-in-Chief Mace & Crown
Dear readers, The staff is back! The National College Media Convention in New Orleans was a blast and all of us are excited to apply our new insights toward making the Mace & Crown better than ever! Being able to see other student publications – their styles and ways of operating – gave us a good view on what we’re doing right and what we can do to improve. We learned everything from how to report better news, how to promote and manage our website, how to tighten our production cycle and even what our personality types are and how others
perceive them. Among other things, we gained valuable insight into the industry of professional journalism and media. Broadcasters, writers and educators from all over the country shared their stories with us eager students, showing us what it takes to make it in an evermore competitive and demanding field. Albeit weary from our travels, we have returned with renewed ambition. Our first step is recruiting new members. Our small staff makes it difficult to create our ideal product. I may sound like a broken record in these letters, but we desperately need more writers. Come to our meetings in the U-Center, Webb 1051 on Tuesdays at 12:30 p.m. and find out what you can do to become a writer and get published!
This is a great opportunity for all majors; especially English and communications majors who need to develop a portfolio before applying for jobs. Our goal is to have a staff large enough to assign beats, or specific topic areas for coverage. We even hope to pay our writers soon. If this hope comes to fruition, we will be able to have consistent Student Government Association updates, crime reporting, student organization coverage and more! What you may have also noticed is a change in our design. The convention was quite the eye-opener for our gifted graphic designer, Jonathan Kwok, and he is eager to begin experimenting with different styles and techniques to make the Mace & Crown a spectacu-
James Porter II Advertising Director advertising@maceandcrown.com
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“Everyone’s been so accommodating,” Black said. “And anytime something’s going to bring everyone together like this, that’s a positive thing. Most people don’t have that positive force in their life.” Many students came in costume to the occasion to show their support. Combining Halloween with gay pride, two young ladies covered themselves in zombie makeup and wore ripped t-shirts that proudly advertised their support for LGBTQ and “Z” rights. Another student paraded his support by draping a rainbow flag around a shoulder as a poncho, complete with a matching sombrero. ODU Out Treasurer Sean Bussiere said he was impressed with the overall turnout. “When we see strangers at events like this, we understand the campus community is coming to support us, and that’s wonderful,” he said.
Nate Budryk Distribution Manager
Senior Writers: RJay Molina
Staff Writers: Alyse Stanley Jasmine Blackwell Pamula Floyd Mark Fulton Dri MayField Zakeya Murphy Brian Saunders Joshua Stanton Mathew O’Brien
AJ McCafferty Claud Dargan Ari Gould Elliott Fisher
Mace & Crown is a newspaper published by and written for the students of Old Dominion once a week throughout each semester and once in the summer. Originally founded in 1930 as the The High Hat, the paper became the Mace & Crown in 1961. The Mace & Crown is a primarily self-supporting newspaper,maintaining journalistic independance from the university. All views expressed in this collegiate paper are those of the author, not of the University, Mace & Crown, or the editors. Contact Information: Phone: 757-683-3452 Fax: 757-683-3459 Advertising: 757-683-4773
Sincerely, Derek Allen Page
>> PRIDE
Sean Burke Webmaster webmaster@maceandcrown.com
Staff Photographers:
lar experience for our readers. Moreover, New Orleans is a magnificent city with so much to do and see. The people are great and food is even greater! I’m sure all of us have returned heavier than we left. Check out our photo section toward the back of the paper to catch a glimpse of our experience. In the meantime, please continue to support our publication. Your readership is inexplicably appreciated and keeps us moving toward our goals. Encourage others to read and, if you’re persuasive, even write for the Mace & Crown! And, one last thing – Happy Halloween!
Bicyclist Lectures About Health, Climate By: Joshua Stanton Staff Writer Mace & Crown
Dr. Wendy Ring, a public health doctor who won notoriety last year by touring the U.S. on a bicycle publicizing public health threats caused by climate change, spoke at a lecture entitled “Public Health and Climate Change” at Old Dominion University on Oct. 25 in Webb Center. Ring is a family physician who has dedicated her life to “work with those who fall between the gaps of the healthcare system,” she said. She went on to state that everyone is affected by climate change whether they believe it or not.
To support her point, she spoke on the four universal needs that climate change affects – air, water, food, and shelter. She suggested that as temperatures rise, so do ozone levels. These increased ozone levels cause asthma in humans, especially children. Ring also cited West Nile virus and Dengue fever as illnesses made more serious by a rise in temperature due to climate change. Both diseases are carried by mosquitoes. She explained that when the temperature is higher, mosquitoes breed more quickly, consume human blood more frequently and carry a virus that multiplies faster. When talking about a solution to the climate change problem, Ring said government intervention was the answer.
“Why can’t we just tell people to eat right and be active? Because it doesn’t work..[There] needs to be a federal policy,” she said. After the lecture was a discussion panel which included Ring, public health specialists, a student and climate lobbyisst at Eastern Virginia Medical School and ODU. For those interested in learning more about climate change, Safe Coast Virginia, a community action conference on climate change, energy and adaptation, will be held at the Norfolk Botanical Garden on Nov. 16. More information can be found at safecoastva.eventbrite.com.
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MEETINGS EVERY TUESDAY @12:30 IN THE U-CENTER (WEBB 1051)
These 10 People Want to Save Our Planet By: Amanda Kirk Staff Writer Mace & Crown To an outsider, a college road trip to Pittsburgh, Pa., may seem like a perfect opportunity to party in hotels. However, a group of 10 young people from Old Dominion University and the surrounding community piled into cramped cars, battled traffic and slept on couches and floors to attend the Power Shift 2013 climate change conference. These dedicated members missed meals and attended fourteen-hour-long workshops filled with lectures, panels and speeches by featured scientists and professionals from the environmental community. They made these sacrifices so they could better educate students about the threat of environmental devastation and find a way for this generation to conquer it. Erin Fagan Fagan is only one person that can somehow get a grip on her long list of credentials.
At ODU she works in Marine Conservationas the public relations and marketing coordinator of Auxiliary Services. Fagan served as Regional Recruitment Coordinator for Power Shift 2013, head of the planning committee for the Marine Biology Student Association, as the regional recruitment coordinator for Greenpeace, and the environmental project manager for TerraScapes. She also works with Eco Reps, the ODU Women’s Center, Oceana, and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN). While at Power Shift, she attended classes on anti-oppression that were more specific than any she had been to in the past. At Power Shift, she participated in a protest against investment in fossil fuels, primarily focused on fracking and mountaintop removal in Pennsylvania. Tynell Johnson In his senior year with the civil engineering program at ODU, this founder and president of Eco Reps had few expectations of his first Power Shift summit. He hoped
to expand his understanding of the green movement and while there learned about the different ways to engage a large number of people via social media. He also attended lectures about food justice and social justice, which educated about how to break down barriers between people regardless of differences in religion, ethnicity or gender. Johnson did extensive networking while attending Power Shift such as working with student and environmental leaders. After he talked with keynote speaker Kandi Mossett, Johnson said he now understands both sides of the coin. “I understand what the industry wants you to believe …and I understand the downside of fracking once they [industry] leave and the environmental chaos starts. Speaking with her kind of changed my outlook on fracking, and I can say I’m not for it anymore, because I don’t want what happened to her family to happen to my family,” Johnson said.
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER Brit Nicholson During his time at Old Dominion University, Nicholson earned his master’s degree in geological oceanography before doing two years of postgraduate research in physical oceanography. He has previously served as a teacher’s assistant in the oceanography department, but currently holds a teaching assistanceship in the modeling and simulation department, where he is pursuing his PhD. Climate change is his primary area of interest in the environmental movement, though he has decades of experience in environmental activism. During his second Power Shift, Nicholson attended trainings on food justice, United Nations environmental policy, and fracking. These sessions prepared him to become a more prepared movement in local environmental groups. With his extensive experience in geology, Nicholson came to the conference with expert knowledge about coal. “Clean coal isn’t clean. The technology isn’t there. If you want clean energy, you have to stick to the renewables.” When a few advocates for the coal industry accused the 1,000 Power Shift protesters on a bridge over Pittsburgh’s Allegheny River that they were “confused” and “job killers,” Nicholson responded,”Innovation wins. Progress wins. Welcome to the future,” Nicholson said. Maeha Karlow Though her academic pursuits are time consuming this junior psychology major still finds time to volunteer. She is the current vice president of EcoReps. The 2013 trip was Karlow’s first Power Shift. She is already active in pursuit of greater campus sustainability and community gardening around ODU. During Power Shift, Karlow attended focused sessions on food justice, but also branched out into lectures and panels on anti-oppression, divestment, community and self-care and recruitment. Sean Davis As a sophomore in English at ODU, Davis’ academic career may seem distant from environmental concerns. However, Power Shift offered sessions related to liberal arts study. During his time at the summit, Davis learned about indigenous groups living on the front lines of the fight against environmental devastation perpetrated by fossil fuels. Davis was thankful for the opportunity to “hear the voices that are not heard in the mainstream.” Seven protesters not affiliated with ODU were arrested for trespassing during at the Oct. 21 protest. The cohesiveness of the ODU Power Shift group was another motivating force for him to continue in environmental activism. Davis plans to use the perspective he gained from Power Shift in his future writing projects. Miriam Novotna As a senior in accounting and finance, a member of Eco Reps, community service chair for F.O.R.E.I.G.N.E.R.S., and treasurer
for the women’s rugby team, Novotna has a full schedule. Even with all of these responsibilities, Novotna devoted four full days to learning new strategies to better protect our planet. While at Power Shift, she met with people from all over the country as she attended training sessions on fracking, mountain top removal, tar sands, global warming, and social issues such as racism. The environmental justice sessions were especially eye-opening for Novotna. Jerrica Rawls Attending Power Shift inspired Rawls to change her major to environmental science in her senior year. When Rawls agreed to attend the summit, she wanted to get different perspectives on environmental issues, and to get up to date on changes within the movement. During trainings on anti-oppression and environmental justice, Rawls learned how climate change disproportionately affects the poorest members of American society. At Power Shift, Rawls became a part of the newly formed Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, and worked on a committee to set the parameters for the logo. Rawls hopes to implement an ODU chapter of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition. Jon Aldridge Though he is not an ODU student, as a resident of Hampton Roads and a student in University of Maryland University College’s in environmental management program, Aldridge found common ground with the ODU students attending Power Shift. He learned about the effects of fracking, and it troubled him that people on the Fort Berthold reservation “can’t see the stars for the flares (that burn off natural gas during the fracking process) that make it hard to distinguish day from night.” Power Shift motivated Aldridge to continue to educate friends and family members about conservation and the true cost of waste. Robbie Barton Though Barton graduated from UVA in English, his education did not end there. Power Shift taught Barton about the “difficult realities that they’re going to have to deal with if they’re going to make progress.” Barton focused on sessions related to effective leadership strategies in activism. Power Shift taught Barton that “it’s really important not to go into a community and impose change- (educators) have to work locally and expand out.” Carter Nicholson The son of Brit Nicholson, Carter has attended environmental events since he was two years old. At age five, his growing understanding of environmental issues may help him become a leader forthe next generation of activists. Carter also realized his goal of seeing the world’s largest rubber duck while in Pittsburgh.