The Blue & Gray Press

Page 1

THE

BLUE &GRAY

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON STUDENT NEWSPAPER

April 14, 2016

VOLUME 89 | ISSUE 22

PRESS

SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE

1922

World Record attempt falls short

Low-Five

SARAH GRAMMER & EMILY HOLLINGSWORTH News Editors

The University of Mary Washington’s students, staff, faculty and community members came together to attempt breaking a world record to honor retiring President Hurley. The goal, which was to beat the 432 pairs who hold the record for most simultaneous jumping high-fives, fell short with only 198 pairs participating. Guiness World Records was present at the event to make it an official attempt. The doors opened at 2 p.m. in the Anderson Center, police standing guard at the entrance checking bags. Participants were arranged in rows in the Ron Rosner Arena to wait for the moment of the record breaking attempt to take place. Many who attended were chil-

dren who could be seen practicing their jumping high-fives while they waited. At 3 p.m., emcees Cedric Rucker, dean of student life and Mikey Barnes, junior communication and digital studies major, took the stand. Rucker and Barnes entertained the early arrivals with trivia questions and prizes while late-arriving participants trickled in all the way until the official attempt at 4 p.m. Stewards, who were required to be unaffiliated with the school, were present to judge whether or not everyone’s high-fives were successful, removing those individuals who left before the end from the final numbers and calculating the final score.

•HURLEY | 11

MOVE brings prospective students JACOB ATKINSON Staff Writer

Sarah Grammer /The Blue & Gray Press

Ecology club travels to West Virginia, learns dangers of coal mining KELLY EMMRICH Assistant Life Editor

Former employee of Massey Energy, Junior Walk spoke out about the harrowing effects of the coal companies on his friends, family and his mountains. Massey Energy is a coal company that was bought out by Alpha Natural Resources after Massey Energy was involved with several scandals. Walk was born and raised in Eunice, West Virginia. He’s lived his life on Coal River and been surrounded by mountains, wildlife and Appalachian culture. He has been working with Coal River Mountain Watch, an organization that works to stop the destruction of communities and environment by mountaintop removal mining, for the past four years. Part of his job is also hosting student groups and educating them about Coal River Mountain Top. University of Mary Washington’s Ecology club traveled to Naoma, West

IN THIS

ISSUE

Virginia over spring break to learn about mountaintop removal and the harrowing effects that the coal companies have on the lives of the residents. The students spent the days hiking, picking up trash and hearing stories from locals. “It was an incredibly moving experience to go on this trip. I didn’t realize that people lived like this in America,” said sophomore sociology major Rose Frechette. According to Walk, the good parts of his childhood were when he was able to go back into the woods to hike and camp. The negative parts were how he had no clean water to drink, and his family lived below the poverty line. “I’d be gone for days, and no one had to worry about me they knew where I was at,” Walk said, reflecting on his childhood. “My family knew I was okay, just getting to enjoy nature like

•COAL | 10

The University of Mary Washington housed prospective students from Friday, April 8 to Saturday, April 9 as a part of its MOVE (Multicultural Overnight Visit Experience) initiative. The program focuses on broadening the diversity on campus and pairs a visiting student with an enrolled student. The visiting student stayed the night with the enrolled student in their residence hall as well as attended classes and campus activities with them for the majority of the day. By attending classes with current students, prospective students got a legitimate experience as to what a college course is like; sitting in helps them transition from high school because they have a better idea of how the classes run before they arrive for their first college course. By living with an active student, the visitors also get to make their first real connections and memories on campus. A big part of the MOVE initiative

for the visiting students was seeing many parts of campus and experiencing conversations and events that they might not be able to experience on a standard one-day tour. Freshman Matt Candy spoke about the initiative as he housed a prospective student. He mentioned his thoughts on how the program was a well-rounded way for the prospective students to gather their true opinions of the campus and school, based on more than a simple one-day visit. It gave them a deeper, more significant experience with the members of our community. “Personally, I believe that it was a unique program that explains a little more about college than a simple tour does. It was effective enough to show prospective students what classes are like, dorm life, and campus activities that occur weekly like Reel Deels and other events like the Multicultural Fair,” Candy said. The MOVE initiative was scheduled in tandem with the 26th annual

•MOVE | 11

Emily Hollingsworth/ The Blue & Gray Press

Provost Jonathan Levin speaks to prospective students last Friday in Lee Hall as part of MOVE.

CURTAIN CALL

RAMPED UP

OPPORTUNITY LOST

Klein Theatre shows Tartuffe as last play of year

Disability access on campus questioned

Women’s rugby loses bid to DIII tourney on home pitch

LIFE | 6

VIEWPOINTS | 5

SPORTS | 3


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