The Weekly Ringer

The University of Mary Washington Student Newspaper Serving the community since 1922

The

Ringer

Weekly

VOLUME 95 | ISSUE 22

APRIL 7, 2022

Two-hour Banner outage impacts UMW Red Cross Club hosts registration for rising seniors blood drives

ABIGAIL SLAUGHTER Copy Editor

On March 29, Self-Service Banner, a software that provides students the ability to register online for courses, experienced a two-hour outage during course registration.

This period of downtime was the first of its kind in 2022, impacting some students’ ability to register for their fall 2022 semester classes.

“The Banner problems that occurred March 29 were not specific to registration. There was an overall system problem that affected all Banner processes,” said Ben Kjar, associate director of Enterprise Application Services, which helps manage Banner and its interfaces. “Banner is typically a stable system and the problem on March 29 was the first of its kind to occur in 2022.”

Many of the students affected were rising seniors, who were locked out of Banner and could not register for the classes they needed to graduate.

“Students, faculty and staff began experiencing problems accessing Banner between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.,” said Hall Cheshire, the chief information officer who is responsible for the strategy, implementation and management of technology at UMW. “The downtime affected any student with earned hours between 60 - 89.99.”

Emily Gurney, a junior math major, tried to register for classes at 8 a.m. to no avail. It took her a total of three hours to complete course registration.

“At first, I was able to put in all my classes and it looked like it was going to work,” said Gurney. After first attempting to register, her screen went blank and did not allow her to continue.

Gurney had an 8 a.m. class that day, which she missed in

Harriet king Staff Writer

Students register for the next semester’s classes at varying times on Banner, a self-service software.

John Schnobrich / Unsplash

order to figure out how to get all of the classes and resolve the technical difficulties preventing her from doing so. She repeatedly tried logging out and logging back into Banner, having the same outcome.

Although Gurney’s screen simply went blank, other students affected by the shutdown received this error message: “A server call failed with error code ‘SyntaxError: Unexpected token u in JSON at position 0’. You may need to reload the page to continue.”

“I just started to log out for a few minutes and just wait patiently,” said Gurney. She completed registration at 11 a.m. that same day.

Many UMW students were not sure why the site was not allowing them to complete the registration process, with some thinking that the outage was caused by high volumes of traffic on Banner and others wondering if their hold had been lifted off of their account.

SEE BANNER PAGE 2

Mason Hall changed to upperclassmen dorm for better student accessibility

NYAH Hizer & Helena Nichols Staff Writers

At the beginning of next semester, Mason Hall will stop being a freshman-only dorm and will be open to upperclassmen. In its place, Westmoreland Hall will be designated as a freshman-only dorm.

Assistant Dean for Residential Life and Housing David Fleming confirmed the change through email.

“This particular change occurred because it was important for us to offer accessible housing on that side of campus for upper-class students,” he said. “For the last several years, the only accessible buildings for upper-class students were Arrington and Eagle Landing. By switching Mason Hall to upper-class, there are now more options for our students who have different mobility needs. Westmoreland was an ideal building to switch to for first-year students based on its size and location on campus.”

Associate Director of the Office of Disability Resources Alex Ecklund

INSIDE THE

RINGER

News | 2

The Bookmobile adds a second van vehicle.

Mason Hall is on the east side of campus and is connected to The Link and Randolph Hall.

Kenya Carter / The Weekly Ringer

said that anyone who needs housing accommodation should reach out to the Office of Disability Resources.

“If there is a legitimate barrier to equal access which has been identified through our interactive process of determining accommodations – then we would ensure that any student receives the necessary accommodation,” he said.

Fleming also said that the changing of who lives in what residence hall helps

to “ensure we have the right number of beds for the expected population.”

The change of who lives in these specific halls will have “no impact to the housing selection process,” said Fleming. “You will see Mason Hall rooms as an option instead.” Housing registration for same building sign-up began on March 22, and the 4-3-2-1 process for housing selection began on

Opinion | 3 Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill targets LGBTQ+ youth.

SEE HALL PAGE 7

Life | 4

The UMW Red Cross Club will be hosting a blood drive on April 13.

Naomi Jones / The Weekly Ringer

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the UMW Red Cross Club has hosted monthly drives to collect blood for local hospitals affected by the national blood crisis.

Senior computer science major Meghan Cooke, who donated at a March 30 blood drive on the UMW campus, described the donation process as being fairly hassle-free. Cooke donates every six weeks.

“There was a while where like, the needles were like a little more blunt than usual and that was kind of painful; I just remember the whole time it was kind of uncomfortable, but it was okay, they’re all awesome there,” said Cooke.

This year, the Red Cross Club has hosted monthly blood drives, but in recent years they have hosted other events, such as CPR certification training and packaging care boxes for homeless veterans.

Club president and senior biochemistry major Nyah Hizer will be graduating this spring, relinquishing not only her role as president but also the multiple other positions she held within the club.

“As president, you are basically the blood drive coordinator; you’re setting up where the blood drives are happening and how they’re run,” said Hizer. “They usually happen at HCC, and you have to submit forms to have that event in the digital auditorium. … I am also in contact with the members of the Red Cross Club, as well as those in the Pre-Health Society to coordinate volunteers and donor sign-ups.”

Hizer hopes that the open leadership positions for the Red Cross Club will soon be

UMW a capella goes to competition at CNU.

SEE BLOOD PAGE 7

Sports | 8

Caitlyn Burch is named pitcher of the week.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

The

Weekly Ringer Editorial Staff Editor-in-Chief Jess Kirby

News

Page 2

Bookmobile Fredericksburg adds second vehicle to expand service area

JEAN MONDORO Senior Writer

helped out here and there, and then one day Hollis asked if I wanted to be weeklyringer.eic@gmail.com more involved with Bookmobile as in After eight months in operation, making more executive decisions, giving Bookmobile Fredericksburg has added opinions, etc., and I was so excited to a new van to broaden the reach of Business Editor get more involved in a project that I was its mobile library. This decision was Erin Matuczinski so passionate about!” said Cobb. “Hollis made with the intention of providing and I ran the organization for a few weeklyringer.business@gmail.com opportunities for people further from months and then took on some more the city to utilize the Bookmobile’s people to expand our Executive Board.” services.

Now, with the addition of the new Associate Editors “We wanted to launch a smaller van, Bookmobile Fredericksburg is vehicle that we can do what in my head Bernadette D’Auria looking to further expand their outreach I’ve been referring to as an ice cream truck Cosima Pellis to others in the surrounding area. model where we can have a mapped out weeklyringer.associate@gmail.com “Our short term goal right now route in more rural areas and we can do The Bookmobile hosted an event where anyone could paint the is to provide more opportunities for @bookmobile.fxbg / Instagram quick stops, allow people to get some new van. volunteers to work with us,” Cobb said. uniform, permanent design to the van. books and move on,” said junior English “There are so many things we want to do, Copy Editor “The intent with painting was that major in the secondary education program but one of our biggest limitations is, we’re Hollis Cobb, the founder of Bookmobile everyone has been so supportive and has Abigail Slaughter college students.” had such a hand in where we’ve gotten, Fredericksburg. weeklyringer.copy@gmail.com As one of the students who contributed Cobb said that while the Bookmobile why don’t we literally allow them to touch to the painting of the van, Spencer has been very active and successful in and put their mark on our next community recommends that others volunteer as well.

Fredericksburg, the mission would reach endeavor?” said Cobb.

News Editors “They are a great group of students Over the past eight months, Bookmobile more people in the larger community. The Josephine Johnson who are passionate about what they do, smaller vehicle will be able to travel to areas Fredericksburg has consistently grown in and I think it’s incredible that they are Scotti Mullen such as southern Spotsylvania, Caroline participation and outreach efforts. spreading one of our society’s greatest “It’s been amazing to see how fast our weeklyringer.news@gmail.com County and King George County. treasures: books!”

Spencer said.

“Making According to junior philosophy major organization has not only grown, but also see and Associate Director of Bookmobile how fast it was accepted in the community them available for free is an incredible Fredericksburg Kate McDaid, the vehicle of Fredericksburg/UMW and beyond,” said opportunity to service underprivileged Opinion Editor was found on Facebook Marketplace, and McDaid. “We have grown from just Hollis people, too!”

Norah Walsh Moving forward, Bookmobile Cobb and McDaid considered it to be the and a 1989 ambulance to a staff of 5 (plus weeklyringer.opinion@gmail.com Fredericksburg plans to engage more with a constant part-time volunteer), being a best option. the community.

Some of these efforts “He [Cobb] initially found the van and partner with Community Outreach and include the plan for a storytelling booth at actually traveled through snow to get it!” Resources (COAR), having up to 5 events Life Editor the downtown farmer’s market, which is said McDaid. “It was a great investment and in one week with these events ranging from set to launch before the end of the semester.

Josephine Good there have already been benefits even before UMW campus all the way to Arlington! It’s crazy to think that the Bookmobile has only As financial support is also necessary, the its fully launched.” weeklyringer.life@gmail.com Although the van was purchased back been in operation for just over 8 months organization utilizes social media and their in January, last month featured an event and has accomplished so much with so website to request donations.

The team is currently garnering that invited members of the community to many more opportunities on their way to Sports Editor donations through a naming fundraiser for participate in celebrating the additional becoming a reality.”

Victoria R. Percherke the new vehicle.

Anyone who votes on a Back in the summer of 2021, Cobb started resource. On March 24 and 26, the weeklyringer.sports@gmail.com Bookmobile team welcomed anyone to join the Bookmobile as a “passion project” and name must make a donation, and the name in painting and decorating the new van. The was not expecting the growth that has with the highest votes and donations will first event took place downtown at Freddy occurred since August. Over time, the team be chosen. They plan to decide on the name on April 16.

Online Editors Donuts, and the second happened on the and the mission expanded.

Beyond fundraising, the team is already “The Bookmobile started on a bit of UMW campus.

Maggie Mae Young looking to the future.

“Painting the van was super fun!” said a whim,” Cobb said. “It was kind of the Cameron Delean “Long term, I’m looking forward to junior environmental science major Ava perfect storm of I had some extra time, weeklyringer.online@gmail.com Spencer. “In all honesty, with the end of the some extra money, and I needed something hopefully putting together a larger fleet,” year stress starting to hit everyone, it was to do with my summer. And then, kind of said Cobb. “I’d like to think that a mobile exactly what I needed to get some stress by accident, I created something a lot bigger workspace and tutoring center is in our future, if we can get our hands on a bus Photography Editor out. I loved feeling like I was a part of the than I meant to.”

When asked about the early days of the or a larger vehicle like that. Our core is Bookmobile ‘community.’”

Emily Warren The public event used temporary paint, Bookmobile, McDaid recalled first getting distributing books, but there’s a lot more weeklyringer.photos@gmail.com things we can do to promote literacy and and the team is planning to add a more involved.

“I then helped with launch day and education in the community.”

Faculty Advisor Sushma Subramanian ssubrama@umw.edu

Advertisement

Banner outage impacts class registration FROM BANNER PAGE 1

At 8 a.m., Enterprise Application Services was alerted that there was a problem with class registration through Banner.

Please direct all advertising “The IT Department immediately contacted Ellucian, the inquiries to Erin Matuczinski at company that hosts Banner, to work together to troubleshoot and weeklyringer.business@gmail.com. resolve the problem,” said Cheshire.

Julian Burke, a junior biomedical science major, tried to register for classes at 8 a.m. as well. After waiting for approximately 10 minutes for the time ticket to go away, he selected all of his classes but ran into problems.

“The classes I chose were not processing,” said Burke. Banner would not complete the registration process, leaving him with a The Weekly Ringer strives for loading screen that would not go away. accuracy and will correct any After attempting to log into Banner again during his 10 a.m. class, inaccurate information Burke discovered the function had been restored to Banner, so he printed in the newspaper. Please logged back in to try and register again. report any corrections to Jess Kirby at “I was able to get all the classes I needed within seconds,” he weeklyringer.eic@gmail.com or Sushma Subramanian at ssubrama@umw.edu. said.

Although this particular instance of downtime is the first of its kind, Banner has experienced technical difficulties in the past.

Bell tower logo designed by To date, the Banner page on the UMW website still advises site Bernadette D’Auria ‘22

Corrections

visitors to clear their cache and quit their browser before logging into Banner from when the old Banner hyperlink broke earlier in the spring semester.

At 9:52 a.m. that day, Edward Gray, Co-Manager of IT Support Services at UMW, sent out an email to students and faculty saying that they were aware of Banner’s unresponsiveness.

“They should have the system back up and stable shortly. Once the system comes back up, you may need to clear your browser history to resolve any residual issues,” said Gray in the March 29 email.

Gray sent an update at 11:26 a.m., stating that Banner should be functional again and telling students to try clearing their browser history prior to contacting the Help Desk.

Course registration is no longer separated into hourly time slots, which previously consisted of smaller groups of students registering for class. Currently, fewer time slots are utilized, forcing larger groups of students to register at the same time.

After the issue was resolved, rising seniors were able to register.

“In the math major, there’s a number theory class, and I tried to take it last fall and it filled up,” said Gurney. “[The class] did end up filling up later on Tuesday, so I’m really grateful I ended up getting it.”

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Opinion

Page 3

Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill creates an unwelcome precedent and negative learning environment for LGBTQ+ youth

JENN MCCULLOCH Staff Writer On March 8, 2022, the Don’t Say Gay bill was passed in Florida. This means that anything LGBTQ+ related will be taken out of the classrooms and not talked about. It also requires the schools to notify the parents if their child has any significant changes in their gender or emotional wellbeing. The bill is problematic, especially for queer kids in public schools. Instead of supporting the kids, the bill is harming them. It makes LGBTQ+ kids feel like they’re not accepted for who they are, which is detrimental for their mental health.

Young queer students need support. Almost every queer kid in the United States faces rejection from their family or bullying in school just for being who they are. Because of this, there is a higher rate of mental health issues among LGBTQ+ kids. It is important that queer youth have support so they can feel accepted and live a healthier life.

“Statistically speaking the suicide rate for queer children is reduced when they are told that being themselves is something to be proud of,” said Matias Esquivel, a sophomore undecided major.

The name of the bill itself is harmful and problematic. The name “Don’t Say Gay” can make queer kids feel like their identity is a taboo subject. It can also lead to dire consequences such as an increased negative sense of self and a decline in mental health.

It also empowers parents to sue the school and teachers if they violate the guidelines the bill establishes.

When I saw the pride flag sitting on my teacher’s desk in high school, I immediately felt comfortable talking to them about my identity and the questions I had about it.

Unfortunately, school systems lack a good support system for young queer kids. A study shows that if queer kids got the same support that straight kids get in school then their performance would go up and disparities in school connectedness would lessen by 90 to 100 percent.

Keona May, a senior English major who is also in the education program, agrees that schools should be a safe place for kids. “Schools should be a place where children are allowed to express themselves, learn more about themselves, and where they can see themselves in learning,” said May.

Seacobeck Hall houses the College of Education where UMW’s future teachers take classes.

Emily Warren / The Weekly Ringer

Glenn Youngkin just passed a bill to pass a policy on sexually explicit material for elementary and secondary school. For example, some queer books have been banned from the school library because they are too sexually explicit. Banned books are nothing new, but it’s upsetting to see queer books as the main targets. Representation matters for every kid, and removing things that represent them is harmful to their own self-image.

“I would still talk about queer things. Not talking about it seems more negative to me,” said Naomi Jones, a senior English major and aspiring teacher. “I’m not sure about Youngkin passing a bill on it, [but] I can understand why he would on sexual acts at school because it is a learning place. School should be seen as a safe space for everyone, although I’m not sure how the bill is going to go over at schools.

Putting a bill or restoring on the queer community would be a step back.”

Kyra Breslow, a senior English major who is getting her master’s in secondary education, aspires to be a teacher and hopes that Youngkin would never pass a bill like the Don’t Say Gay bill in Virginia.

“I’m actually queer myself so having a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill would directly affect me, too,” Breslow said. “However, I’d be far more concerned about my students … People dislike what they don’t understand, so not educating students on the LGBT+ community will just increase [the] danger that the LGBT+ are already in.”

If a similar bill were passed in Virginia, it would harm future generations of students. Without proper information and access to representation, young students may not be able to develop their identities and sense of self. Furthermore, without representation, queer youth will feel even more alone in the world, further detrimenting their mental health.

Submit your questions about sex for Cosmy to answer in her column!

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https://tinyurl.com/2d9apddm Past columns: The Talk with Cosmy Pellis: Embracing awkwardness in sex The Talk with Cosmy Pellis: Assessing age gap relationships The Talk with Cosmy Pellis: Safe sex is more nuanced than just condoms and bananas

Life

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Page 4

Theatre presents “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”

josephine good Life Editor UMW Theatre is performing “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a musical that follows the turmoil of students and teachers participating in their county spelling bee. The show, directed by Gregg Stull, emphasizes the pressure that parents put on their children to succeed.

“It talks about a lot of challenging issues that most everyone goes through at some point in their life in a way that makes it feel less intimidating,” said senior theatre major and stage manager Erin Schoff.

I attended the show on April 2 and was astonished by the actors’ dedication to their characters. Something that differentiates this show from others is the use of the audience as onstage volunteers. Even with the audience members on stage, the actors remained perfectly in character, engaging with them and directing them during

Taryn Snyder plays Rona Lisa Peretti, a teacher hosting the spelling bee.

UMW Theatre

the performance. This aspect added an extra level of intimacy between the audience and the performers and really brings the two together.

I, myself, got to be one of the spellers. Turns out, I can’t spell petrichor, but the experience was memorable nonetheless.

Senior theatre major Riley Salazar, who plays Olive Ostrovsky, discussed the level of improvisation that had to go into the show.

“Bringing the audience volunteers on stage adds an element of the unexpected that is so cool and fun, and it keeps us all on our toes,” said Salazar. “The show is different every single night and I really enjoy that.”

Many characters brought their personal experiences to the stage, making for a relatable cast of characters. While it was not a requirement for the actors to have been in a spelling bee before, a few actors had participated in one.

“I participated in a few [spelling bees] when I was in elementary school,” said Salazar. “My mom actually brought a trophy from one when she came to see the show.”

The show also features alumna Taryn Snyder, a 2015 graduate from the UMW theatre program. She described her character, Rona Lisa Peretti, who is a school teacher helping run the spelling bee, as “a reminder that joy prevails and that every moment should be relished. She loves the Bee, and, most importantly, she loves the kids in the Bee. She sees the good in each of them, appreciates what makes them unique and celebrates each of their victories.”

The show faced a couple of challenges during its development. Since they started rehearsing in November,

The show follows the struggles and interactions of students at a county spelling bee.

UMW Theatre

the original timeline had the show going up in February, but COVID-19 caused them to move the date.

“Due to the threat of the omicron variant, our department made the challenging decision to postpone the show until April with the hope that the world would be a safer place for our work,” said Snyder.

Now that the restrictions and mandates are being lifted, the show is able to run without such an intense fear of spreading COVID-19.

“Now, here we are in April, mandates have been lifted, things are feeling a bit more normal and we’re able to have performances for audiences and bring a few on stage to join in on the fun,” said Snyder.

The show will continue April 7-9 at 7:30 p.m., April 10 and 16 at 2 p.m. and April 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. in Klein Theater. Students can reserve tickets ahead of time on the UMW Theatre website.

The One Note Stand competes in a capella competition haley schnitzer Staff Writer On Sunday, March 27, UMW a capella group The One Note Stand competed in the Blue Tie Affair Invitational hosted by Christopher Newport University. Although the group did not place in the competition, this was The One Note Stand’s first off-campus competition since the start of the pandemic, making it the first off-campus competition for many of the One Note Stand singers.

This event, organized by Christopher Newport’s Extreme Measures, brought together seven a capella groups from universities across Virginia. Competing against UMW’s The One Note Stand was Virginia Tech’s TechNotes, James Madison University’s Overtones, George Mason University’s Mason Some Noise, Christopher Newport’s Newport Pearls, William & Mary University’s DoubleTake and William & Mary’s Cleftomaniacs.

Kendall Wilkinson, president of The One Note Stand and a junior psychology major in the education program, discussed COVID’s impact on a capella at UMW. “Only three of our group members were [One Note Stand members] before COVID and got to experience a capella competitions outside of Mary Washington, so it definitely impacted our group to have had the majority of our members never having had this sort of experience before,” said Wilkinson.

Leading up to the competition, Wilkinson reported “feeling a little bit nervous, but definitely excited. In the last few rehearsals leading up to it, we could notice our group sounding better and better, and that everyone became more confident with the songs, which boosted morale and helped everyone feel prepared.”

The One Note Stand meets three times a week in order to perfect their songs and arrangements in preparation for events. A consistent meeting schedule helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page, as a capella requires great cohesion between singers.

The One Note Stand opted to perform an eclectic assortment of songs: Nathan Sykes’ “Good Things Come to Those Who Wait,” Andrea di Giovanni’s “Shame Resurrection” and Imagine Dragons’ “Warriors.”

Soloists included Libby York, Emma Manger and Alexi Woodward.

“It was so nerve-wracking being on stage soloing in front of all of those people, but it

Devil & Goat

Illustrated by D.K.

was the encouragement from the group that gave me the confidence boost to go out there and do it!” said Manger, a sophomore music major and the business director of The One Note Stand.

Sophomore sociology major and One Note singer Quincy DuBois referred to this competition as “a great learning experience.” DuBois, who joined The One Note Stand amid the pandemic, added that joining the group has helped to facilitate “growth as a singer alongside some of the coolest people I know.”

Although COVID prevented The One Note Stand from entering any competitions off-campus, they have been able to participate in on-campus events. Back in October, The One Note Stand competed and placed first in Night of The Singing Dead, an a capella competition held on UMW’s campus for the various a capella groups of Mary Washington.

Grayson Jones, a sophomore computer science major and The One Note Stand singer, described being a member of the group as “incredibly rewarding. It feels great to sing with a group of people who are just as passionate and fun-loving as you are.”

Speaking on the group’s performance, Wilkinson said, “Although we didn’t place at the competition, I think all of us were really happy our group members got to experience what it’s like to go to an a capella competition, to hear other groups and meet other people.”

The One Note Stand’s Assistant Music Director, Cassie Atkinson, a junior political science and communication and digital studies major, is looking forward to future competitions.

“Now that we’ve all shared that experience together, I’m looking forward to see what we can achieve next,” said Atkinson. “I really think we can only go up from here.”

There will be many opportunities in both the near and distant future to see The One Note Stand at UMW. The One Note Stand will be hosting a spring concert in Dodd Auditorium on Friday, April 22 at 5:30 p.m. For this concert, Jones said that The One Note Stand plans to “rework the songs [performed at CNU] to perfect them along with a few other songs we’re excited to perform for the first time.”

Plus, if their slogan holds any truth, “the walk of shame never sounded so good!”

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Life

Photo essay: Scenic trees of the Mary Wash campus

Page 5

Naomi jones Staff Photographer No matter what season it is, Mary Washington is a beautiful campus because of its collection of magnificent trees. Throughout the course of attending UMW, my favorite pastime has been enjoying the nature we are surrounded by each day. Nature is something people are constantly around, but its beauty often goes unrecognized due to more pressing matters, like classes and work.

Some trees on campus are known for their unique forms, beautiful leaves, tall stature and picturesque scenes. There are many well-known trees on campus that students, like myself, enjoy visiting and relaxing under that are popular for a variety of reasons.

The images below start at Russell Hall and end on Sunken Road, where there is a cluster of trees looming above the sidewalk. Here is a compiled list of popular trees students hang around on campus.

The “Red Blossom Tree” is located next to Virginia Hall. It is a popular spot where many students have picnics and study during warmer weather. It is scientifically known as the Red Maple Sapindaceae, or Acer Rubrum.

Naomi Jones / The Weekly Ringer

The Russell Hall “Shoe Tree” is located right outside Russell Hall.

As an act of celebration for graduating students, former Russell residents hang their old shoes on the tree.

Naomi Jones / The Weekly Ringer

The “Zen Butt Tree” is located behind James Farmer Hall and is near the Zen garden. This tree is scientifically known as the River Birch Betulaceae, or Betula Nigra.

Naomi Jones / The Weekly Ringer

The “Mini Whomping Willow Tree” is located near Mason Hall. It looks like a smaller version of the Whomping Willow from “Harry Potter” and is scientifically known as the Mulberry Moraceae, or Morus Alba.

Naomi Jones / The Weekly Ringer

The “Comfort Tree” is located next to Monroe Hall. It is a tree where one can easily hide and feel calm under the tree’s large branches. It is scientifically known as the Southern Magnolia Magnoliaceae, or Magnolia grandiflora.

Naomi Jones / The Weekly Ringer

The “Big Ball Circle Tree” is located near Madison Hall. It is a popular spot to take photos, and many students hang around it when activities are happening on Ball Circle.

Naomi Jones/ The Weekly Ringer

The “Stag Tree” is located in front of Brent Hall and gives off a glorified healing presence.

Naomi Jones / The Weekly Ringer

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Life

Page 6

Personal essay: How DJing became my escape

jonathan mack Staff Writer Getting into DJing as a serious hobby was something I had wanted to do for a long time, but I never thought it would happen this way.

I’ve had a passion for music since the day I was born. My parents are on the older side and are huge fans of classic rock. My mom even went to Woodstock. Yes, THE Woodstock (sorry, Mom, for revealing your age). They made it their mission to raise me on classic rock. While your parents may have exclaimed, “here comes the airplane” to coax you to eat, my mom would sing me “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. On the way to preschool every morning, Dad would pop in cassettes of The Doors and The Clash, and when I was five he took me to see The Rolling Stones as my first concert. We’d blast Bruce Springsteen in the car and scream to “Born to Run.” And don’t even get me started on The Beatles; I probably knew every lyric by age 10.

It wasn’t until fourth grade, however, that I truly fell in love with electronic music. I heard Daft Punk for the first time and I was totally mystified.

These drums sound completely different! Where are the guitars? How do they perform live while only having two members?

These questions and many others revolved around my head and did not stop. My love for classic rock will never die, but I have fallen down the rabbit hole of electronic music.

I listened to the whole discography of Daft Punk and started listening to artists like Justice and Deadmau5 nonstop. As the years went by, I found more artists like David Guetta, Knife Party, Pendulum, Calvin Harris and Avicii. I was absolutely hooked, but I didn’t fully process what live DJing was until high school.

I found a video of David Guetta vs. Nicky Romero vs. Afrojack at Tomorrowland 2013, and I was crazy about it. The video of thousands of people jumping and dancing to loud electronic music blew my mind; it was so unifying, so magical. It became my dream to be a DJ. I was listening to electronic music nonstop, discovering new songs and artists all the time through YouTube or satellite radio and driving my parents crazy in the car.

I watched festival sets of my favorite DJs, listening intently to the song selection and transitions. I marveled at how everything flawlessly fit together, like an hour-long musical puzzle and unlike a rock set, which felt choppy. I even bought a DJing app and made three-song mashups on my iPad. But nothing I made came close to the artistry of a festival set, and I was hungry for more.

During my sophomore year at Mary Washington, I got the physical mixer I still use today: a Pioneer DDJ-RB (a standard two-channel mixer that is good to start on). After years of studying sets and watching tutorials, I slowly and meticulously planned little sets. I would jam by myself in my room, DJing for nobody but me. I worked up to my first hour-long set and felt so proud.

Once I got a knack for it, DJing felt freeing; I would spend hours and hours playing around, finding different ways to mix various songs together. It felt boring doing it by myself though. Nobody liked electronic music like I did, and I yearned for an audience.

But then, in an instant, everything changed.

Around the end of my sophomore year, my dad had some stomach problems and went to the hospital for a big surgery. After the surgery, things were fine for about a week until more problems came back, which sent Dad to the hospital for a month. They found malignant cells in his abdominal lining and diagnosed him with cancer. I stopped DJing to help Mom out over the summer and left my mixer at home when I went back for junior year.

A year and two months post-diagnosis, after a hard-fought battle, Murray Mack, my biggest musical influence, passed away. I took the fall semester off from my fourth year to grieve and be at home to support my mom. Being away from school felt like both a blessing and a curse. While it felt nice to have a break from work while I was healing, I felt terribly lonely without my friends, whom I was used to living with and seeing every day. I tried to find ways to occupy myself when I wasn’t helping Mom and, ultimately, I picked up DJing again.

Once again, however, I felt the loneliness of DJing by myself. As the beginning of the pandemic raged on, there were no festivals, so DJs started doing live sets on websites like Twitch. While coping with the loneliness from the death of Dad and my friends being an hour away, I decided to try it out too. I wanted to be heard, to show everyone that I was still here, both creative and strong.

Everyone I knew tuned in to my streams, showing me the love and support I needed.

My mom was proud that I had found a unique way to heal through electronic music.

Friends and family members poured into the stream to listen to me DJ and watch me dance around with endless energy. My college friends and Club Tennis teammates, despite not being into electronic music, would get together to throw watch parties, and I would get Snapchats of all my friends dancing and watching me on TVs, phones, laptops and even projectors.

Suddenly, I wasn’t alone—everyone had rallied to show how much they cared about me, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

I would stream once a month while I was home and the support kept rolling in.

I decided that winter that I was ready to go back to school in the spring, and I took my mixer with me. Since then, I haven’t stopped the streams. I keep finding ways to challenge myself, like DJing different styles of electronic music, and I even started DJing parties. Part of me always wishes I had started streaming my sets while Dad was still alive so he could see the growth I’ve made in my passion or see his home office that I’ve transformed into a music studio. But wherever he is now, I know he’s proud.

News

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Crime Column JOSEPHINE JOHNSON & sCOTTI MULLEN News Editors

Petit Larceny On March 24 at 5 p.m. there was a case of petit larceny at the UMW Apartments.

This case is pending.

On April 4 at 12:20 p.m., there was a case of petit larceny at the UMW Apartments.

This case is pending.

Possession Of Marijuana On March 30 at 1:07 a.m., there was a case of possession of marijuana at Ball Hall.

This case is pending.

Page 7

Westmoreland Hall to become a freshmen dorm starting next school year FROM HALL PAGE 1

began on March 29.

“If students living in Mason indicated a desire to participate in Same Building Sign-Up, they would be doing so this week,” said Fleming. “Otherwise, they will select during the 4-3-2-1 process coming up. Westmoreland Hall students will have the option to select a space in any of our available upper-class residence halls.”

Westmoreland residents do not have the option to live there again.

“Having freshman living connected to an upperclassman dorm could also feel intimidating and some students might not feel comfortable with doing that as they are making a drastic change to their everyday life by attending college.”

- Ryan Vanderhoof Junior communication and digital studies major Ryan Vanderhoof does not think the change is necessary.

“As a student who has lived in both Westmoreland and Mason Hall, I think the change is silly,” said Vanderhoof. “Westmoreland is an old and outdated dorm in desperate need of a remodel. It’s not very appealing to live in besides the location on campus. As a freshman, one of the most important things to me was having a nice place to live, and Mason was an exceedingly nice place to stay.”

Jesse Frye, a junior American studies major and current resident of Westmoreland Hall, is also not in favor of the change because Mason and Randolph Hall are connected by the Link.

“I think it’s irresponsible and shows the lack of communication between the administration and us students,” said Frye. “I am concerned about the intermingling between upperclassmen and incoming freshmen.”

Vanderhoof is also concerned by having connected freshman and upperclass dorms.

“Not having a nice place to stay during their first year will deter a lot of students from returning, not to mention that Randolph is remaining a freshman dorm and the two halls are connected to one another,” said Vanderhoof. “Having freshman living connected to an upperclassman dorm could also feel intimidating and some students might not feel comfortable with doing that as they are making a drastic change to their everyday life by attending college.”

Frye has fond memories of living in Westmoreland.

“Westmoreland feels like home,” said Frye. “It goes unnoticed but Westmoreland is a very old building here on campus, and its front entrance—now blocked by construction—proudly displays its New Deal heritage. Westmoreland has a great amount of history to it and just a relaxed atmosphere.”

The front lawn of Westmoreland Hall is also being affected by steam tunnel construction.

“Some of the pipes we are replacing have been changed over the years from failures but most of the pipes are original and in bad

Steam line construction is occurring on the lawn in front of Westmoreland Hall.

Kenya Carter / The Weekly Ringer

condition,” said Jay Sullivan, Mary Washington’s Capital Outlay Project Manager.

Sophomore Dayton Keffer is double majoring in psychology and communication and digital studies and currently lives in Westmoreland. Keffer said that she wasn’t extremely bothered by the construction moving outside of her dorm, but she wished there was more of a notice.

“We didn’t know it was going to be moved to Westmoreland,

“It goes unnoticed but Westmoreland is a very old building here on campus, and its front entrance—now blocked by construction—proudly displays its New Deal heritage. Westmoreland has a great amount of history to it and just a relaxed atmosphere.”

- Jesse Frye we just knew that construction would be done in Ball Circle by spring break,” said Keffer. “Once they finished, they told us it was going to be moved to Westmoreland which was a shock and within a couple days they put up the fences.”

The additional phases of construction across Mary Washington have moved along as well. The school has already completed extensive steam work at Woodard Hall and through Ball Circle.

Currently, new sanitary sewer lines are being placed from Melchers Hall to Simpson Library. This project is supposed to finish by March 2022.

Red Cross Club works help the national blood shortage affecting hospitals

FROM BLOOD PAGE 1

Threats to Extort On April 1 at noon, there was a case of threats to extort at Brent House.

This case is pending.

filled and that next year there will be more opportunities for a wider variety of events, bringing in more UMW students and raising awareness about the importance of blood donation.

“We’re thinking about this every single day. …

We have a patient blood management group that has implemented a number of measures to ensure that we’re not transfusing unnecessarily.”

- James Gorham In a statement released on Jan. 11, 2022, the American Red Cross declared the most severe blood shortage crisis in over a decade, an issue that directly impacts patients and

healthcare workers nationwide.

The Red Cross supplies 40% of the blood used in hospitals across the U.S., their website says. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, there has been a 10% decline in overall donations. The Red Cross relies entirely on its volunteer donors for their blood supply, as blood cannot easily or effectively be manufactured in a lab.

In the last several weeks there has been less than a day’s blood supply, limiting the Red Cross’ ability to distribute to hospitals in need. Hospitals have reported receiving 25% less blood than the usual supply needed.

This shortage has had a local impact as well. The Charlottesville News First CBS19 News channel did a spotlight on the impacts of the blood shortage at University of Virginia Hospital.

“In my career at Red Cross, I haven’t seen it like this,” said Kristopher Dumschat, Red Cross regional manager of communications.

He cited multiple causes of the critical

situation, including “weather events, staffing shortages, the pandemic playing in, health factors, increase in hospital demand you name it. It’s really put us in the position we’re in.”

UVA Hospital Blood Bank director James Gorham said, “We’re thinking about this every single day. … We have a patient blood management group that has implemented a number of measures to ensure that we’re not transfusing unnecessarily.” Gorham went on to describe the tension this adds to already overworked healthcare providers.

Mary Washington Healthcare has implemented a similar system of blood management to minimize use. Lisa Henry, vice president in marketing for Mary Washington Healthcare, said in a release that the hospital has not yet had to cancel any surgeries or procedures due to lack of available blood. However, the knowledge that the Red Cross may not be able to restock their vital supply remains in the minds of those working at the hospital.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Sports

Softball drops doubleheader at Shenandoah

Ally tingen The University of Mary Washington softball “We struggled in stringing together hits and Staff Writer team faced a tough overall loss to Shenandoah with limiting the number of hits the other team University in a doubleheader got,” said Folkner. on Friday, April 1. The team The Hornets kept their dropped the first game by a scoring streak in game two, single point with a score of leading 4-0 by the bottom of 4-5. The second game came the second inning. The Eagles out to a score of 2-8, putting scored their first two points the Eagles at a season record of the game at the top of the of 16-15. fifth after freshman biology “I think we worked and pre-veterinary major together well and had great Nya Lloyd hit a double. This defense. We were doing our allowed sophomore math and best to string together hits secondary education major and score runs,” said pitcher Emma Schieda to score. After and junior international advancing to third, Lloyd then relations major Stephanie scored on a wild pitch.

Folkner.

Shenandoah scored four The Eagles started the first runs in the fifth inning, game strong, leading with initiated by Whipple doubling the first score of the game at to center field. By the seventh the top of the third inning. inning, the Hornets prevailed Photo courtesy of Logan Gibson with a score of 2-8.

Freshman mathematics The softball team huddling in between innings. and education major Hannah Steele hit a single while sophomore “Our team has been working on being more selfless on the field, business major Emma Dickson advanced to second. This gave so when we put down many bunts to move the runner it boosted our freshman business major Brigid Ward a chance to score. At the top esteem and put runners in scoring position,” said James. of the fourth, Dickson hit a double that allowed Ward to score yet Despite the loss to Shenandoah, the team is gearing up to make again. their mark going into conference play.

But UMW’s streak didn’t stop Shenandoah from making a “Every game has been a battle and presented its own challenges comeback. The Hornets tied the score 2-2 by the bottom of the sixth that we’ve had to try and overcome,” said infielder Maggie Mrowka, inning, with Hannah Maltos and Lily Richichi scoring back to back. a senior marketing business administration major.

“Our team often struggles once we put a lead on, so once we put The first step to preparing for the beginning of the end of their some runs on the board we get a little lackadaisical. So if we made an season is practice. error, it may cause two from people checking out,” said sophomore “Our final goals are to continue working together efficiently, elementary education major and pitcher, Brooklynne James. string together more hits and perform at the high level we know The Eagles took the lead again at the start of the seventh with a we’re capable of,” Folkner said. “We’re working towards these goals hit by senior business administration major Caroline Bird that put every day at practice.”

Dickson in a place to score. By the bottom of the inning, Shenandoah The team has ambitious sights set for the end of their season. evened out the score yet again with a play from Aleisha Whipple.

“Our goal is to win the conference championship and get a bid to After another score by UMW’s freshman nursing major Rayna the NCAA tournament, basically try and play as long as possible into Lloyd with a hit by junior marketing major Grace Drury at the start the summer,” said Mrowka. of the eighth inning, Shenandoah pulled through with more runs from Whipple and Richichi, ending the game with a score of 5-4.

Caitlyn Burch: C2C Pitcher of the Week

nyah hizer Caitlyn Burch, a sophomore business the field. She cares so deeply for this team and Staff Writer administration major and pitcher for the UMW it really shines through in her time on the field,” Softball team, was named softball pitcher said Gilbert. of the week by the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Second baseman Maggie Mrowka, a senior Conference for the seventh week of the softball business administration and marketing major, season. said, “Earning any awards or wins is a tough “It’s pretty cool being named C2C pitcher of feat in the C2C conference, considering two of the week, especially considering I’m going up our in-conference competitors are ranked No. against other players in our conference who are 1 and 2 in the country.” Christopher Newport very good,” said Burch.

University and Salisbury University are the top Burch, who has played softball since she teams in the country at the moment. was a child, plays both softball and volleyball “Caitlyn continuously battles with the top at UMW. Burch wanted to thrive and be competition,” Mrowka continued. “I think an amazing college softball player, so she Caitlyn’s performance against Gettysburg, continuously pushed herself to see how high striking out 11 in the first game and five more she could go. in the second game, speaks for itself in why she “I really fell in love with playing softball earned the title of pitcher of the week.” in high school and then decided I wanted to Tasaka said that during the Gettysburg pursue it in college. I also wanted to push game, “She hit her spots well and moved the ball myself to see how good I could potentially be to keep the batters off balance.” by playing college softball and competing at a Caitlyn Burch pitching at a doubleheader.

When her game against Gettysburg came to

UMW Athletics higher level,” said Burch. a close, Burch had no idea she had just thrown Burch said her teammates and coaches are supportive. “They are a no-hitter until her teammates came up to her after the game. both so encouraging and really push me to excel on the field and in “I didn’t have any idea which was funny to me,” said Burch. “After the classroom.”

I realized that I did, it was a pretty great feeling to have my first Last season, Burch received second team Coast-to-Coast all- collegiate no-hitter.” conference and Coast-to-Coast all-tournament team honors. She had Burch continued, “I did well pitching but it wouldn’t have been a 2.73 earned run average in 107.2 innings pitched and 79 strikeouts. possible if I didn’t have my defense behind me, so I have them to Currently, Burch has an ERA of 1.24 in 96 innings and 104 strikeouts thank as well.” with her most recent accomplishment being a no-hitter against Her defense always aims to support her. “We must make sure Gettysburg. She has been named Coast-to-Coast pitcher of the that our pitchers can trust the defense to back them up, so they feel week three times, as well as National Fastpitch Coaches Association comfortable when they are pitching,” said Mrowka.

Division III pitcher of the week.

To avoid jinxing a no-hitter, players don’t talk about it during the “Caitlyn has worked hard, and she well deserves this honor,” said game. “Throwing a no-hitter is never easy,” said Gilbert. “When we UMW Pitching Coach Keith Tasaka. “Caitlyn is a strong pitcher, and got the last out it was so exciting to see the realization really hit all student of the game, she moves the ball in and out and can work all of the girls and Caitlyn.” four corners of the plate.”

When the semester ends, the softball season will still be ongoing.

First baseman Morgan Gilbert, a senior history major in the Tasaka has high hopes for the rest of the season and the Coast-tosecondary education program, agrees that Burch’s recognition is Coast Tournament. “We keep pushing forward; everything we are well-deserved. doing is to get the team ready for the conference playoffs,” said “Caitlyn consistently performs on the mound and deserves high Tasaka. praise and recognition for all of her hard work and dedication on

Page 8

University of Mary Washington

Spring Sports Schedule

Victoria R. Percherke Sports Editor

Track & Field

April 2 vs. Battleground Relays April 9 @ Christopher Newport Invitational April 23 @ Johns Hopkins Invitational

Men’s Lacrosse (7-5)

April 2 W vs. Messiah (19-7) April 9 vs. Stockton April 13 @ Southern Virginia April 16 vs. St. Mary’s (Md.)

Women’s Lacrosse (6-6) April 2 L vs. Salisbury (15-7) April 6 L vs. Catholic (10-9) April 9 vs. Albright April 13 @ Moravian

Men’s Tennis (9-3)

April 1 W vs. Christopher Newport (9-0) April 2 W vs. Carnegie Mellon (8-1) April 8 @ Haverford

Women’s Tennis (8-4)

April 2 L vs. Carnegie Mellon (7-2) April 3 W @ Washington and Lee (6-3) April 9 @ Swarthmore April 14 vs. Christopher Newport

Baseball (15-13)

April 2 L vs. Christopher Newport (2-9) & (2-15) April 6 W vs. Mary Baldwin (8-7) April 9 @ Salisbury

Softball (18-17)

April 1 L @ Shenandoah (4-5) (2-8) April 3 L @ Lynchburg (2-4) (5-7) April 5 @ Stevenson April 9 @ Salisbury

Games are available to watch via livestream on the UMW Athletics webpage Full schedule not listed above.

Most recent games included.

Bold indicates home game.