On Wednesday March 8th, 2023 the following Captain’s Log staff members took an eight hour train to New York City to attend the College Media Association (CMA) 2023 Conference: Grace Griles, Editor-in-Chief; Justin Heller, Business Manager; Evelyn Davidson, News Editor; Fiona Sullivan, Arts and Entertainment Editor; and Maggie Gammons, Social Media Manager.
The Captain’s Log staff had the opportunity to
hear from two keynote speakers. The first was Ramon Escobar who is the Vice President of Talent Recruitment and Development for CNN. The second was Marc Lacey, the Managing Editor of the New York Times. Each day of the conference contained a variety of fifty minute break out sessions from 9:00am to 4:30pm. At these breakout sessions The Captain’s Log staff had opportunities to ask questions and hear from current journalists. There
were also tables of journalist graduate programs from Emerson College, Northwestern University, and Quinnipiac University where aspiring graduate students could talk with the faculty of the department. There was also a table form Gray Media encouraging seniors to apply for positions.
Many may be reading this and thinking to themselves what even is The College Media Association? The College Media Association was founded
in 1954 and has been holding conferences ever since (collegemedia.org). According to the College Media Association website Fred and Lucille Keldow who were directors of the Associated Collegiate Press started having informal meetings in 1948, and a few years later they started having official meetings in Washington D.C. It was not until 2015 CMA moved their offices to New York City (collegemedia.org).
CMA has had several
conferences across the country in cities such as Miami, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and many other major cities (collegemedia.org). Now CMA has two annual conferences. One is in the fall and typically held in Washington D.C. and is sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press (collegemedia.org). The other is in the spring and is held in New York City (collegemedia.org).
(continued on page 6)
Editor in Chief
Grace Griles grace.griles.20@cnu.edu
News Editor
Evelyn Davidson evelyn.davidson.20@cnu.edu
A&E Editor
Fiona Sullivan fiona.sullivan.20@cnu.edu
Photography Editor
Savannah Dunn savannah.dunn.21@cnu.edu
Business Manager
Justin Heller justin.heller.21@cnu.edu
Sports Editor
Trey Greenwell trajan.greenwell.21@cnu.edu
Lifestyle Editor
Savannah Dunn savannah.dunn.21@cnu.edu
Head of CNUTV
Allison Silverman allison.silverman.21@cnu.edu
Maggie Gammons has been with The Captain’s Log since fall of 2021. She started as our Social Media Manager in fall of 2022, and has done a terrfic job. Gammons specifically did an amazing job constantly posting about the conference and getting The Captain’s Log Reposted by the CMA Instagram!
Jarrett Connolly has been with The Captain’s Log since fall of 2021. During that time he has written more articles than one can count and does a terrfic job every time. The Captain’s Log will always appreciate Conolly for his hard work and dedication to his writing!
Answers will be posted on our Instagram @cnucaptainslog!
(all past crossword answers are in our Instagram highlights)
Honestly, I never thought I would be such a fan of popular romance books found on TikTok. Romance used to be one of my least favorite genres to dive into growing up, nonetheless, but I am going to share one of my favorite books I have read so far in 2023, “Icebreaker” by Hannah Grace.
Honestly, I do not know where to start. This book only took me about two hours to read which for me is a personal record. We are all used to reading those boring textbooks and most times, there is a big chance that we simply cannot even finish a single textbook in a whole semester. I was pretty surprised when I was able to finish a book that quickly.
Something about this book however, grabbed my attention. Not only is the cover super cute but the content of the book kept me reading and reading. My eyes were glued on my Kindle and I could not put it down.
The two main characters, Nate and Anastasia were fundamentally very different from each other. Anastasia’s character was created to be a complete control freak and a total grump about 70% of the time while Nate was labeled as extremely laid back and had this arrogant, sunshine personality. This made the bickering scenes in this book even more amusing to read.
As a romance book, I would for sure say that this book has one of the best romantic plots compared to any other book I have read. The scenes were so heart-melting that I fell in love with the characters myself. The vibes from both characters were just absolutely swoon worthy and exciting, especially when Nate proves to Anastasia that she is beautiful no matter what.
I also loved how there was no miscommunication trope within the novel like there is in other romance novels. The book being about 500 pages long gives you the best of both worlds; showcasing both points of view. This shows the satisfaction and tension of their relationship throughout the novel.
Lastly, this book was definitely a comforting read. The novel takes place in a college, and is centered around the sports of ice skating and hockey. It feels very sentimental to me considering how much time flies. I feel as if I also relate to the read because I am in college, therefore being able to connect with the book on a more personal level. I also enjoy the Halloween and Christmas scenes that made the book an even more enjoyable read.
Overall, I would rate this book five stars. I don’t think I have ever read a book as quickly as I read this one. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a big fan of romance or anyone who just wants a light, easy, and fun read. You can find this book at Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, and on the Amazon website. I heavily recommend you purchase this book on a Kindle if you have one, it’s a lot cheaper.
“The Captain’s Log is free to write anything it pleases and CNU fully respects the Freedom of the Press.”
CNU Chancellor PAUL TRIBLE
CLAIRE HALL CLAIRE.HALL.22@CNU.EDUScreenshot taken fromVocal Media
It seems that every couple of years, we get a massive influx of zombie apocalypse shows, games, books, and films before it dies down for a while. It seems that right now we’re in one of the longest spans of time for zombie apocalypse media to be so popular. Zombie apocalypse media never goes away but it always fluctuates when it dominates the industry.
This span seems to have started around 2016 when Train to Busan became an international hit and The Walking Dead TV show was in the heat of the Rick vs Negan storyline and more zombie media came out following. In 2019 alone you had Zombieland 2, Little Monsters, and The Dead Don’t Die come out in theaters. The Walking Dead comic book and video games finished up in this time. The Last of Us Part 2 came out to massive praise from the video game world. So hypothetically, once it hit its peak, it was going to slow down a bit. However, one unprecedented thing happened that changed this direction.
March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began and changed our world. For months, a lot of us were on lockdown in our own homes and many of us sought media as an escape. Catharsis is a funny thing. Like how we seek out sad music to feel better about our sorrows. During Covid, a lot of people found their catharsis in watching, reading, and playing things related to the apocalypse. Films and shows like REC, Warm Bodies, and Z Nation began to show up again on regular streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video. But the most notable way to see the spike in interest was how much zombie media has come out since the pandemic has winded down. Netflix’s Army of the Dead saw 75 million homes watching the film in 28 days, the 8th biggest film in the service’s history according to Business Insider. Tons of zombie apocalypse media is expected to hit shelves and airwaves in the next few years
2023’s first big TV hit The Last of Us, based on the game of the same name, features a zombie-like virus and will be getting a second season. Even with The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead ending, three spin offs of the franchise are simultaneously being produced by AMC. Dead Island 2 is finally going to be released on consoles. Those are just a few of the zombie related things coming out soon. It seems the genre is gonna remain on top for a few more years.
So why zombie apocalypse stories? In the history of the genre certain things remain the same. Ordinary people struggling to survive, complete strangers banding together, and the worst in people being brought out in the chips are down. Covid brought out the best and worst in a lot of folks. The actions of people, good and bad, in these stories are no longer as hyperbolic as they were before. The zombie genre, through all its blood and crossbows and moaning zombies, always had one major factor that determined how bad the situations got in their respective stories, and that’s the characters, the people, themselves.
Staff Writer shares their opinion on the constant increase of overall violence in schoolspublic
AMANDA EACHO AMANDA.EACHO.22@CNU.EDUGun violence has been on the rise in America for years now and not just on the streets. Since the Columbine Shooting in 1999, America has seen a turning point in school violence. As of March 8th, 2023, there have been at least 30 incidents of gunfire, with 8 deaths and 23 injuries, on school grounds, according to everytownresearch.org. After the recent shooting of a first grade teacher, Abby Zwerner, by one of her students here in Newport News, the issue of safety in schools has been brought up once again. More specifically, teacher’s safety in schools. As the daughter of an Elementary school teacher, this issue hits close to home for me.
After the pandemic hit, we saw a rise in teachers quitting their jobs along with a rise of bad behavior in students. According to The Wall Street Journal, at least 300,000 public school teachers and other staff left between February 2020 and May 2022. Many cited their reasons as safety concerns, tense public scrutiny, and burnout.
There’s also been more and more reports of students attacking teachers. A study in 2022 from
As of March 8th, 2023, there have been at least 30 incidents of gunfire, with 8 deaths and 23 injuries, on school grounds, according to everytownresearch. org.
the American Psychological Association Classroom Violence Directed Against Teachers Task Force found that 44% percent of teachers reported being physically attacked by students and 75% of them said they’d been verbally harassed by a student during the past year. Yet, many just blow it off as being “a part of the job”.
According to The Wall Street Journal, at least 300,000 public school teachers and other staff left between February 2020 and May 2022. Many cited their reasons as safety concerns, tense public scrutiny, and burnout.
After the Richneck Elementary school shooting, teachers expressed their frustration during a school board meeting. They believe that the shooting could have been prevented if the school administration took the teacher’s concerns seriously. The high school librarian, Nicole Cooke, stated, “Every day in one of our schools, teachers, students and other staff members are being hurt,” she goes on to say, “Every day, they’re hit. They’re bitten. They’re beaten. And they’re allowed to stay so that our numbers look good.”
Later, it was revealed that the administrators had learned before the shooting occured that the child may have had a weapon. Zwerner’s attorney even stated that there had been multiple issues with that particular child that weren’t properly addressed, for example, the boy allegedly slammed her cellphone and broke it two days before the shooting. He was given a one day suspension. The document also alleged that he cursed at staff and teachers, chased other students and attempted to whip them with his belt, and choked a teacher until they couldn’t breathe.
The school board fired superintendent George Parker III, the assistant principal of Richneck Elementary resigned, and metal detectors were put up in the school. Despite these measures would anything change? Teachers across the United States have expressed outrage at being ignored by the administration. Being in high school just last year, I watched teachers I admire growing frustrated and burnt out from the lack of disciplinary actions. Growing up, I was talked out of becoming a teacher by almost every teacher I knew.
A lot of the issue resides with the administration and how they punish bad behavior. It was shown in the Richneck school board meetings that the faculty puts a lot of fault in the board and administration. Ignoring the problem resulted in a severe injury. There’s many different opinions on how to prevent this from happening again. More metal detectors, better security, more cameras, etc. These are all valid ideas, however taking teachers more seriously and attempting to stop the issue when the signs of a problem first occurs would significantly help.
“Every day in one of our schools, teachers, students and other staff members are being hurt,” she goes on to say, “Every day, they’re hit. They’re bitten. They’re beaten. And they’re allowed to stay so that our numbers look good.”
KATHERINE ZICKEL KATHERINE.ZICKEL.22@CNU.EDU
On Monday, Biden approved a project that would allow oil drilling in Alaska, an incredibly controversial decision. On one hand, the Willow Project is expected to create as many as 2,500 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs near the village of Nuiqsut on Alaska’s North Slope, according to ConocoPhillips.
However, there is growing concern about the impacts this will have on the environment and the animals currently living there. The drilling would take place in the National Petroleum Reserve, which is the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the United States, reports Voice of America News.
According to CNN, the Biden administration estimates that the project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year, which is equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads.
Growing concerns of the impacts of what this project could do led to climate activ-
ists starting a petition on Change.org, receiving over 3 million signatures, the hashtag “#stopwillow” spreading all over social media, and over 1 million letters sent by people voicing their concern to The White House.
Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told USA Today that Biden’s actions were appalling, and added, “People and wildlife will suffer, and extracting and burning more fossil fuel will warm the climate even faster…Biden has no excuse for letting this project go forward in any form.”
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is all for the project, releasing a statement saying, “We finally did it, Willow is finally reapproved, and we can almost literally feel Alaska’s future brightening because of it,” adding that more jobs and generating billions of dollars in new revenues would improve the quality of life for many in the state.
The Interior Department, which is responsible for the final decision on whether to approve the Willow Project, has said it has “substantial concerns” about the environmental impacts of the project, including the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being generated, and impacts to local wildlife, according to ABC News. The Interior also announced Sunday that the administration will move to protect 16 million acres of Alaska from future oil and gas developments.
At this year’s conferences one of the journalists The Captain’s Log staff got to hear from was Paul Glader, a former Wall Street Journal Staffer. His breakout session was about how to land journalism internships. He gave some what to do’s and what not to do’s to the room of eager, aspiring journalists. One was to not “make him do extra work” when submitting your writing samples. Glader explained that the best way to submit writing samples was through PDF and not through affiliate links. He also gave thorough advice on cover letters. Glader discouraged regurgitation of what is on one’s resume into the cover letter. Instead he encouraged to show off one’s writing skills and tell the story of why an individual wants to be a journalist.
What keynote speaker Ramon Escobar touched on was his personal journey into the journalism field. At the end of each keynote speaker the students attending were encouraged to ask questions. One student asked about what Escobar thought of people in the industry who pushed against diversity in the workplace. Escobar simply said that he believed if diversity is not implemented an organization will fail.
The Captain’s Log returned to Newport News on Saturday March 10th ready to implement the knowledge they gained from the conference in their newsroom.
November saw the first reports that Iranian schoolgirls were falling ill in mass numbers in the city of Qom. In the past 4 months, the Iranian media has reported that an unspecified number of Iranian girls across the nation have reportedly fallen ill, experiencing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, heartache and dizziness.
The Iranian government began investigating in December, and on March 10, Iranian state media reported that suspects were arrested and aired alleged confessions from the perpe-
trators, confessions that were almost immediately cast into doubt by media outside the nation. The BBC made note that the Iranian government has used torture to get false confessions out of suspects before.
Several theories have been proposed by experts. Psychology Today proposed the “poisonings” are actually a Mass Psychogenic Illness (MPI), otherwise known as mass hysteria.
An anonymous doctor who studies poisonings accused the Iranian government of poisoning the girls as revenge due to the presence of schoolgirls and young women at the Masha Amani protests that have been occurring for months. Some Iranian officials have also said that hardline terrorist groups, who are against the education of women, committed the attacks.
The Iranian government is still investigating the alleged poisonings and looking for possible motives while Western media remains hesitant on taking the government’s word as fact.
Last Week on March 7, the Georgian Parliament began to push along a draft bill that would require all organizations within Georgia that received more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources to register as “foreign agents” or face massive fines. The bill
has been criticized by both domestic opposition and large swaths of the international community who denounced the bill as both a product of Russian meddling and a means of suppressing opposition within the country. Opponents even say that the bill was modeled after a Russian bill used to silence their opposition.
The situation in Georgia is characterized by two features: the Russian Invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the domination of the government by the ‘Georgian Dream’ Party since then, which has been known to preach ‘pragmatic’ foreign policy with the Russian Federation. For a while now, this party has faced accusations of being little more than a proxy to Russian interests within the small country.
Tens of thousands of protestors came out in force over two days, which saw the deployment of the Georgian army and special forces, the disruption of these protests with tear gas and rubber bullets, and the death of at least one of these protestors. Following a second night of intense protests, the Parliament withdrew the controversial bill from consideration, as an attempt to calm tensions.
As these protests occurred, there was a mobilization of Russian Mili-
tary elements to the border, prompting many to compare Georgia’s precarious situation to Ukraine’s.
The official twitter of Russia’s
The head of their police forces said in a news conference that Russian citizens were being promised tens of thousands of dollars as paid protestors - with a specific purpose of organizing “mass disorder.”
In this wave of unrest, organized by the Pro-Russian ‘Shor Party’, four bomb threats were called, US intelligence officials have determined that actors within Russian
Foreign Ministry in Crimea voiced their opinion on the matter: “Protests against ‘foreign agents’ bill, erupted in #Tbilisi, resulting in demands for the resignation of the government. We recommend to the georgian people to recall a similar situation in Ukraine in 2014 and what it finally led to! #ThinkTwice.”
The Prime Minister of the country, also a member of Georgian Dream, would go onto television interviews in the days afterward, saying, “I saw the pictures of several youths, I was left astonished - they were wearing Satanist Uniforms.”
A similar situation has unfolded in Moldova, another small Eastern European country in the grip of Russia, that has also been accusing Russian-backed actors of plotting to cause mass unrest against the pro-western government there.
intelligence are trying to create an insurrection in the country, using these protests.
Moldova’s interior minister, Ana Revenco, said in a facebook post that the protests “aim to shake the democracy and stability” of the country and warned “the traitors of our country that they will soon be brought to justice, no matter how much money and assistance they receive to destroy our country”.
Moldova’s situation is especially dangerous to Russian involvement, due to the breakaway territory of Transnistria - an area occupied by a large contingent of Russian troops since the fall of the Soviet Union and the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine.
“Protests against ‘foreign agents’ bill, erupted in #Tbilisi...”
... an unspecified number of Iranian girls across the nation have reportedly fallen ill...
even say that the bill was modeled after a Russian bill used to silence their opposition
In this wave of unrest, organized by the ProRussian ‘Shor Party,’ four bomb threats were called...Flag of Iran, photo from Unsplash
Last weekend, both the Christopher Newport men’s and women’s basketball teams made history. For the first time in school history, both teams advanced to the Final Four. While their paths were vastly different, they both advanced and will continue their quests for National Championships this upcoming weekend.
After avoiding a potential upset against Farmingdale State College in the First Round, the men’s team recorded two double digit victories against HampdenSydney College and Mary Hardin-Baylor. This allowed them to advance to an Elite Eight matchup against Wheaton College.
In the Elite Eight, the men’s team started off strong. They made their first six shots of the night and built a 24 point lead in the opening half. While Wheaton was able to trim the deficit to 15 before halftime, the Captains were still in the driver’s seat by a sizable amount.
However, this amount began to shrink. Wheaton continued their momentum after the first half and went on a 16-2 run to cut the Captains lead to one point. With just over four minutes left, a trip to the Final Four was up for grabs.
The Captains were able to hold onto the lead thanks to making all six of their free throws in the final two minutes. The final score ended up being a 76-70 Captains victory.
The Captains will play Swathmore on Thursday in Fort Wayne. Wisconsin-Whitewater and Mount Union (OH) will play in the other semifinal on Thursday. The winners of both games will then play for the National Championship on Saturday, March 18th in Fort Wayne.
The women’s team did not have as many roadbumps in their path to the Final Four. They opened the tournament with a 89-52 victory over Brooklyn College followed by
a 65-55 victory over Elizabethtown College. While Wartburg College was able to keep the Sweet Sixteen matchup close, the Captains survived a late run and went on to win 60-51. This set them up for an Elite Eight matchup against Tufts University.
The game was a back and forth contest early on. The Captains and Tufts were trading baskets with not much separating the two teams. At the half, the Captains had a slim 30-25 lead.
After the intermission, the Captains came out swinging. They opened the second half on a 7-0 run and forced a Tufts timeout. A pair of Tufts misses following the timeout allowed the Captains to build a 12 point lead.
However, Tufts went on a 12-0 run to tie the game at 37. A tie-breaking basket from Ju-
nior point guard Gabbi San Diego gave the Captains the lead for good. They went on to build a 51-45 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, it became more of a defensive battle as both sides were playing excellent defense. A made three-pointer from Graduate student Sondra Fan gave the Captains a 6150 lead and put Tufts away for good. A series of made free throws built the lead to the final score of 72-56.
The Captains will travel to the Final Four for the third time in team history and the first time since 2017. They will face Rhode Island College on Saturday, March 18.
These achievements from both the Captains men’s team and the Captain’s women’s team marks the first time two basketball
teams from the same school advanced to the Final Four in the same season since 2016 when Amherst accomplished this. It will be very exciting to see how both teams do in their quests for National Championships.
A few days before the NHL Trade Deadline, the New York Rangers acquired longtime Chicago Blackhawks stalwart Patrick Kane in exchange for a conditional 2023 second-round pick, a 2025 fourth-round pick, and minor league defenseman Cooper Zech.
While the trade did not seem likely in the days prior, the Rangers were able to pull it off due to the Arizona Coyotes retaining 25% of Kane’s salary in the deal and the Blackhawks paying 50% of it. This allowed the Rangers to make the trade as they did not have enough cap space to make the deal initially.
Kane, 34, was selected by the Blackhawks number 1 overall in the 2007 NHL Draft. He helped lead the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013, and 2015. In the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, he scored the series-clinching goal in Game 6. This ended Chicago’s 49-year title drought and marked the beginning of a dynastic era.
Since the final Stanley Cup title, Chicago has been in a tough spot. They were eliminated from the first round in 2016 and 2017, the latter being a 0-4 sweep to the Nashville Predators. Following the pair of early exits, they have gone on to make the playoffs once in the last five years. As a result, several key pieces were dealt this season including top scorer Max Domi. The Blackhawks have put themselves in the best position to get a top three draft pick in what is considered one of the deepest drafts in recent memory.
As for the Rangers, their time is now. Adding Patrick Kane along with Vladimir Tarasenko at the deadline puts them in the best position to compete for a Stanley Cup this season. The more impressive part about what the Rangers did is that they did not have to give up the likes of Kappo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere, or Filip Chytil at the deadline. The Rangers have gone 4-21 since trading for Patrick Kane and they currently sit third in the Metropolitan division with 84 points.
The addition of both forwards gives the Rangers depth at the forward position. This will be necessary against teams such as the Boston Bruins who have excellent goaltending as well as the New Jersey Devils who recently acquired Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks. The race to the playoffs will be difficult for the Rangers but with an elite top six and a solid young core, they could have enough to make a run at the Stanley Cup this year.
“The Rangers have gone 4-2-1 since trading for Patrick Kane and they currently sit third in the Metropolitan division with 84 points.”
Every March, college basketball fans are treated to a series of exciting instant classic games in the NCAA tournament and this year should be no different.
68 teams are included in the March Madness Tournament including the play-in games. However, there are always a couple of teams that find themselves on the outside looking in.
This year, there are a few notable snubs from the Tournament field. The most peculiar one is the preseason Number 1 North Carolina Tar Heels. They are the first preseason number 1 team to be left out of the tournament field since the field expanded to 68 in 1985. They never seemed to put things back together after dropping 4 straight games after beginning the season 5-0.
When second-year Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis was asked if he had a pitch for the tournament committee to include them, he responded “At the end of
the day, we had our chances.”
Another few other notable teams left out of the tournament are the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Clemson Tigers. Both teams had quality wins against very good teams but didn’t have a complete enough resume to be included.
One very interesting thing about the NCAA tournament from year to year is that there will be matchups we would otherwise never see. Each conference has a slight difference in style of play and it makes for fun and interesting match ups.
One such matchup is Duke against Oral Roberts. The Blue Devils are led by Freshman big man Kyle Filipowski who averages 15.4 points per game and 9 rebounds. Duke is on a 9 game win streak and will be hard to take down.
The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles are another tough team to stop, They are 30-4 and led by Senior Guard Max Abmas. Abmas had quite the NCAA tournament in 2021 and helped lead the Golden Eagles to a Sweet Sixteen run.
This is going to be a great game as both teams have bonafide stars and solid support pieces that will aid each of them in their efforts to win.
Another game to watch is Miami against Drake. They have two drastically different styles of play which will make for an interesting game.
capable of shooting the ball at a very high level. If Drake is able to slow the game down, they should be able to stop Miami from getting into their transition offense and beating them.
The Miami Hurricanes play at a blistering pace and are always looking to get up and down the court. Led by a quartet of guard and wing scorers, they play at a fast pace which benefits and compliments the strengths of their stars.
With that being said, the Hurricanes lack paint presence due to their 4 guard starting lineup. As a result, they will need to get into transition. If Miami can outrun the Bulldogs, they will cruise to the next round.
soon in CNU
Sports:
*Games listed are happening at CNU
March 15th
*Men’s Baseball
CNU v. North Carolina
Wesleyan College
Location: Newport News, VA
Time: 3:00 PM
*Women’s Softball
With that being said, the Blue Devils are beatable. At one point in the season they had lost 4 of 8 and were having offensive struggles.
As with any sporting event in 2023, betting will be heavily involved with March Madness. People will also be creating their perfect bracket in the hopes of predicting the correct National Champion. The Houston Cougars are the odds on favorite to win this year’s tournament followed by Alabama and Connecticut.
CNU v. Virginia Wesleyan University
Location: Newport News, VA Time: 3:00 and 5:00 PM
March 16th
Men’s Basketball
CNU v. Swarthmore College
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
Time: 5:30 PM
March 18th
The Drake Bulldogs are a team from the Missouri Valley Conference and have a slow style of play as well as a balanced attack. Their main scorer is Sophomore Tucker DeVries. He is a 6’7’’ wing who is 1) North Kentucky Norse
2) Iona and St. Mary’s Gaels
3) Grand Canyon Antelopes
4) Vermont Catamounts
5) Maryland Terrapins
Women’s Basketball
CNU v. Rhode Island College
Location: Hartford, CT
Time: 5:00 PM
*Women’s Lacrosse
CNU v. Messiah University
Location: Newport News, VA
Time: 12:00 PM
“Each conference has a slight difference in style of play and it makes for fun and interesting match ups .”
The 95th Academy Awards have come and gone. The award show showcased the best in film of 2022 and honored the work of those in the industry. No one got slapped, they just got awards. Who won? Who lost? Who got snubbed?
The ceremony itself was well structured with a variety of talented actors presenting and great musical performances. Jimmy Kimmel’s reputation as a host has always been lukewarm but he seemed to do the job fairly well. He didn’t joke about the slap from last year to excess and picked on everyone and the industry a fair amount. The In Memoriam segment received attention for John Travolta’s tearful tribute to his Grease co-star Olivia Newton John, who died last spring and for the controversial omission of several figures including Anne Heche, Gilbert Gottfried, and Leslie Jordan. The Academy seemed to handle all problems before the show started in order to make this one smooth sailing.
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once was the big winner of the night. Taking home Best Picture, Best Actress (for Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (for Ke Huy Quan), Best Supporting Actress (for Jamie Lee Curtis), Best Director (for THE DANIELS), Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. The ground-
breaking film has now become the most awarded film in film history, winning 264 major awards across multiple organizations. The acceptance speech of Key Huy Quan received a lot of attention once again for his emotional and moving words.
Best Actor went to Brendan Fraser for his powerful performance in The Whale. Best Adapted Screenplay went to Women Talking. All Quiet on the Western Front took home Best International Feature, Best Score, Best Production Design, and Best Cinematography. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinochio faced tough competition but captured Best Animated Feature. Best Documentary went to Navalny, which covered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his imprisonment, Navalny’s wife spoke and praised her husband’s efforts against the Putin regime.
Documentary Short and Animated Short went to The Elephant Whisperers and The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, & The Horse respectively. “Naatu Naatu” from the Indian blockbuster RRR won Best Original Song.
Best Sound went to Top Gun Maverick. Best Visual Effects went to Avatar Way of the Water, Best Makeup went to The Whale, and Best Costume Design went to Black Panther Wakanda Forever
And now, a moment for the unnominated who were snubbed. The Woman King, Till, The Batman, Mia Goth in Pearl, Prey, After Yang, Judd Hirsch and Paul Dano for The Fabelmans, Paul Mescal in Aftersun, NOPE, and The Northman.
The award season is tricky and not always in line with popular opinion. It is great though that for one night everyone can bind together for the love of movies.
Bottom left: Ke Huy Quan
Bottom RIght: Michelle Kwan
Top Right: Brendan Fraser
All photos from People
Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber have been regularly accused of hating each other since 2018, when Justin Bieber and Hailey got married just six months after he and Selena ended their seven year on-again, off-again relationship. Fans speculated that there may have been some overlap. During an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast in September 2022, Hailey addressed the claim that she stole Justin from Selena, saying “I can say, period, point blank, I was never with him when he was in a relationship with anybody — that’s the end of it.” She also states that it’s “all love” between her and Selena.
In October 2022, the two put feud rumors to rest when they publicly posed for pictures together at an event. Rumors of their rivalry sparked up again in February 2023 when Hailey and her friends were branded as “mean girls” after she and Ky-
lie Jenner seemingly made fun of Selena’s eyebrow lamination fail on Jenner’s Instagram story. According to Buzzfeed News, Selena commented on a tiktok insisting that there is no drama between her and Kylie, although the same could not be said for Hailey.
Many Hailey fans have accused Selena of “fueling the situation”, as she was caught commenting on and giving attention to tiktoks that painted Hailey in a bad light. People Magazine reports that Selena left comments in her own tiktoks, telling her fans to “Please, please be kinder and consider others’ mental health. My heart has been heavy and I only want good for everyone. All my love.” Selena took a short break
from social media saying she’s “too old” for “silly gossip.” For the last few weeks, Justin and Hailey’s relationship has been scrutinized online, with several videos of Justin seemingly ignoring and forgetting about Hailey in public resurfacing, according to Buzzfeed.
Old videos and tweets of Hailey fangirling over both Justin and his relationship with Selena have also recirculated, as well as fans compiling receipts of Hailey “copying” Selena over the past few years, People Magazine reports.
Most recently, Stylist Von Ford, who has worked with Hailey in the past, posted an
Instagram story last week that simply read: “I hate Selena Gomez.” Justin, who has publicly humiliated both Selena and Hailey for the last decade, has yet to come to Hailey’s defense. Buzzfeed reports that many fans speculate he is “on Selena’s side” because of this. One fan wrote on Twitter that “he’s silently but also loudly team Jelena.”
Gala taken by Tyrell
Hampton
Fans of the Taylor Jenkins Reid novel, Daisy Jones and The Six finally have the chance to see their favorite characters on screen and listen to songs from their favorite fictional band. Amazon Prime released the first three episodes of the limited series Daisy Jones and The Six on March 3rd, followed by three more episodes the next Friday, March 10th.
The show follows members of a 70s rock band, The Six, as they recount their skyrocket to fame when they add singersongwriter, Daisy Jones (played by Riley Keough) to their band, and their downfall when a conflict between Daisy and The Six’s frontman, Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), causes the band to fall apart. The novel was loosely based on the band Fleetwood Mac and their history.
As with most book to television adaptations, the show is very different from the book in many ways. Many lines from the book were cut, such as Camila Dunne’s (Camilla Monroe) iconic line, “You think there’s a woman alive who is better than what you have?” Camila and Billy’s relationship is also very different from the books. In the show, they have Billy and Daisy kiss, where in the book he
pulls away. They also have Camila, allegedly, have an affair with Billy’s bandmate, Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse). Instead of having Eddie hate Billy just because he doesn’t feel appreciated in the band, now there’s also an added sense of jealousy outside of the band, which gives show Eddie a little more character than book Eddie.
Even the songs on the band’s album, Aurora, were changed. The lyrics were completely altered, which kind of makes sense as they were originally written more similarly to poems then to actual songs. Most of the song titles are different as well. The only songs that kept the original titles were Aurora, Please, Regret Me, and Honeycomb (although it’s now called Look at Us Now (Honeycomb).
Despite the songs being different, fans still fell in love with them. In addition to the album’s 11 songs, the cast recorded 24 original songs for the show. This includes songs from before Daisy joined The Six and songs by Daisy’s friend, Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be). The cast
actually played their own instruments, many of them learning from scratch and recorded them in the studio. Keough and Claflin’s voices work very well together even though neither of them had sung before professionally. Even though she’s the granddaughter to the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, this is the first time Riley Keough has recorded an album and played live.
Despite the differences, there are many similarities to the novel. Daisy’s fiery personality and growing addiction problems, Billy’s heartbreaking struggle with drinking and his struggle to stay true to his wife, the documentary style, and Karen Siko (Suki Waterhouse) and Graham Dunne’s (Will Harrison) tension.
The show brings to life the novel in many different ways, leaving fans excited to see what comes next. The next two episodes will be released March 17th and the final two episodes will come out March 24th. The album Aurora is
also available to listen to on all streaming services and includes many incredible songs to both jam out to and cry to like Regret Me, Let me Down Easy, and Two Against Three. The album has already reached #5 on iTunes and people have continued to share their love for the music on TikTok.
POSTER ON THE RIGHT FROM AMAZON VIDEO AND ALBUM COVER FROM SPOTIFY
ALYSSA TILLMAN
ALYSSA.TILLMAN.22@CNU.EDU
Ellen Pompeo, who has spent nearly two decades leading the ABC medical drama, is saying goodbye to Grey’s Anatomy. Grey’s is TV’s longest running prime-time medical drama series, and Ellen Pompeo has clocked in over 400 episodes as Meredith Grey since the show premiered in 2005. The February 23 episode marked her second-to-last appearance in the season, with her next appearance expected to be the season 19 finale in May. Pompeo will continue to do Meredith’s signature voiceovers for each episode and fill her executive producer roles on the show.
Back in December Pompeo appeared on the Drew Barrymore Show, and explained that she needed to “mix it up a little bit.” She also
told Drew that “19 years, that’s more than people keep their kids in their house, like people keep their kids in their house until they’re 18 and then they send them off to college. So this is like me going away to college.” Entertainment Tonight reports that Pompeo intends to spend more time with her family, and has a Hulu limited series coming soon.
“I’ll Follow the Sun,” written by Krista Vernoff and directed by co-star Debbie Allen, showed Meredith’s friends and co-workers throwing her a goodbye party, after Meredith announced her decision to move to Boston, where she will continue her groundbreaking work on a cure for Alzheimer’s. As
Meredith’s current love interest Nick Marsh struggles with her decision to leave Seattle, she calls back to the speech she once gave Derek in season 2, telling him “I want you in my life if you want to be in my life. But if I have to choose, I’m going to pick me, I pick my kids, and I pick what’s best for us, and I’m not going to beg you to love me.” It’s a far cry from “pick me, choose me, love me.”
The episode ends with three young interns moving into Meredith’s empty home, and Pompeo’s voiceover concluding that “The end of my story is not any kind of ever-after,
because I’m still alive, I’m still here, and the sun still rises on my life.” Fans have mixed opinions on the farewell episode, and many are disappointed.
The episode focuses heavily on storylines involving other characters, and fans have made comparisons to other long-standing cast member’s farewell episodes like Jackson Avery, Christina Yang, and Alex Karev, who all got emotional montages and speeches from other characters, none of which were included in Meredith’s farewell episode.
PopBuzz reports one fan’s reaction on Twitter,
saying “Meredith Grey did not survive a bomb, drowning, a gunman, a plane crash, a burned down house, a dead husband, a dead sister, two dead parents, a bunch of dead friends, for it to end like THAT.” Fans are hopeful that Pompeo will receive a better sendoff in the season 19 finale when she returns.
While Spring Break offers a chance for students to return home to family, to visit exotic locales abroad, or just time away from the usual routine of coursework and campus life; one group - CNU Alternative Breaks - offers CNU students the chance to use the break for a different kind of purpose. For the better part of the week, twenty CNU students volunteered with two locations, James River State Park (VA) and Project Host (Greenville, SC).
Between the two trips, attending students did just about anything the staff at each location needed them to do. At James River State Park, this team assisted park staff in day-to-day park maintenance needs, while also tackling trail restoration and renovations to a scenic overlook. But when the working day was over, there was plenty of time for fun group activities at lodging provided by the park; such as nature walks, stargazing, and bonfires. Maddie Collier, a sophomore with a huge interest in bugs said the following: “My favorite part of the trip was making s’mores! We also used a telescope to look at the moon!”
On the Greenville Trip, volunteers helped the organization with their aims to support and reduce food insecurity in that local community through preparing and serving meals, and all supporting functions to that operation. When there was downtime, there was just as much time to explore the Greenville Zoo and the downtown area during their afternoons and evenings, with a home base of a local church, Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Transport for both trips were provided through CNU bussing, and all meals were provided for through a sizable budget, most of them being prepared by a trip leader. Outside of the work done each day as part of
Before you say no, milk has flavors. There is caramel milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, and other kinds of sweet milks. Cotton Candy Milk, as weird as it sounds, doesn’t taste terrible and can serve as a nice fix for your sweet tooth. It’s just as sweet as strawberry milk and it is easy to make. All you need is a spoon, a glass of milk, and cotton candy and you’re square
Ingredients:
-1 glass of milk
-As much cotton candy as you want (stick to the traditional blue and pink flavors)
Instructions:
1.Pour yourself a glass of milk
2.Place cotton candy inside of the milk
service, or the group activities, there was plenty of downtime for everyone to bond through games of UNO or Netflix watch parties. Of those approached for interview, no one had anything negative to say about the experience as a whole, with a common feeling of gratitude for the opportunity, expressing a desire to attend future trips from the organization. The next trips of this kind will be the upcoming Fall Break next semester, still to be finalized by AltBreaks.
CNU Alternative Breaks, formerly called REACH (Raising Educational Awareness through Compassion and Humanity), does these sorts of service trips every spring and fall break. AltBreaks started in earnest as a component to PLP, but went on to be one of the campus anchor organizations. AltBreaks would grow each year, and before COVID-19 there were anywhere between 4 to 6 trips each spring break to locations across the Commonwealth of Virginia and down in the Carolinas. They pride themselves on pairing service with a positive community from
which lasting friendships can be made.
One final point of clarification is that each trip is organized by CNU Students, every single person attending the trip is a CNU student, except a chaperone - who in most cases is a recent graduate from the University. Each crew has two trip leaders, one in charge of Logistics and the other in charge of training/ reflections.
Allison Burbach, an outgoing senior who has been around plenty to see a complete picture of the organization pre/post COVID-19, was the logistics trip leader for the James River Crew. She spoke about the sheer responsibility of managing a trip of this size: “As someone with a keen attention to detail, I wanted every aspect of the trip to run smoothly, but my greatest leadership takeaway was that I needed to be more flexible when unpredictable external factors arose (weather, meal plan).” She then went on to offer her hopes for the future of the organization, “With two successful trips this spring break, I hope in the following years we can continue to increase the number of trips offered back to pre-pandemic
levels and get more students engaged in an immersive service experience that I believe is truly unique and I want more students to have the opportunity to serve in this way.”
I also had the chance to speak with Paitan Jones, a freshman student who is very involved in the campus, especially relating to service. She spoke about how service with AltBreaks has affected her as a person, “As a volunteer with AltBreaks, I have learned a lot about the community in the Hampton Roads area, as well as outside of it… As a trip leader in the Spring for (the trip to) Greenville, South Carolina, I learned a lot about social justice, poverty, and homelessness. Along with these topics, I learned about empathy, kindness, and service. AltBreaks gives you the opportunity to grow not only as a leader, but as a human too… trip leading is open to everyone and there is an application every year for leading both our Fall and Spring break trips.”
3.Stir quickly as the cotton candy dissolves fast
4.Stir until the milk is gray- ish
5.Enjoy!
Note: If you’re lactose intolerant, it does work with oat milk.
CNU Baking Club is a new addition to campus this semester. Started by Sanai Williams, the club was formed. During orientation, my crew leader was talking about clubs and showing us compass and I was like, ‘Is there a Baking Club’ and he looked it up and there wasn’t ‘he was like, oh, you should make one.’” Williams saw this as a challenge and followed through.
As for joining the club, people don’t need to have any experience in baking.
Joseph Bui, the club treasurer said, “My baking experience is really, really, limited, honestly nothing. I’ve done box baking. I’ve done frozen baking. I’ve done very basic stuff, but genuinely I’m not much of a baker. It’s not that I don’t like baking, I just haven’t experienced it”
Baking is fun, but can also be an outlet for stress. For Nygeria Driver baking was also a stress outlet.
“I guess the only thing that was like that outlet from being stressed from doing online school activities where everyone was virtual. Baking was like an outlet,o I found it nice.” Said Driver Despite being a new club, no one is really feeling any pressure.
“Not at all in the slightest. I’m having a fantastic time. I don’t really feel pressure in these types of situations.” said Bui
Williams is just as confident saying “I like leading. That’s like one of the main things I do and I’m very confident in my abilities to do stuff… this gonna be successful 100%.”
A big goal for the baking club is to get its members to know each other.
LINDSAY DEYTON LINDSAY.DEYTON.22@CNU.EDU
“I really want club members to get to know each other. I want them to be able to build friendships and actually meet people because I just think that’s really important in a club.” said Williams
“I mean, clubs are a great way to meet people. And baking has a lot of down-time,o it’s just a great opportunity to talk to people while you’re baking. So I’m gonna be talking. I believe, our plans are to play games and stuff like, like mafia, for example, which is exciting. I’m excited.” said Bui
As for what baking is, everyone had a different opinion.
“I would say baking is like an extravagant song. Putting together the lyrics and the pieces, the intonation, the sprinkles, the icing, and you make just a beautiful melody of togetherness. It’s pretty fun.” said Williams
“You smash things together and you put it in the oven” said Bui
Abi Sloniker the social media chair says that “It requires heat and then ingredients and love.”
To join the club, someone can come once for no cost and then after that it costs $20 per person to join permanently and then they can just show up to the meetings. The club also has a lot of different fun ideas for things they want to bake. These could be themes like trying to make a cake that looks like pizza as an April Fools Day prank.
The baking club’s first meeting is on March 17, in the Warwick kitchens at 6:00 pm. Their Instagram is @ cnubaking.
Over spring break, I went on a lot of long road trips that had traffic stops and long roads that were straight ahead 67-mile long roads. For long road trips like this, whether it’s spring time or winter time, there needs to be some essentials or suggestions so that your road trip can be more bearable. First off: Restaurants. 9 times out of 10, you wanna grab a quick bite to eat before you get too far ahead in your trip. Here are some suggestions I have:
- Chik fil a: it’s fairly common, so it won’t be hard to find. It’s not for everyone, but it has something for everyone and has good lemonade too. -Next, Cook-out: If you have a lot of people, Cook-out has options everyone will like for cheap prices so you don’t have to spend a fortune.
-Third, Sheetz: Sheetz has so many choices either madeto-order, off the shelves, or hot and ready to go while also giving the opportunity for you to get gas. A two in one, if you will.
-Fourth, Dunkin’ Donuts: Most of the time, driving can make you drowsy and sleepy and you’ll need a caffeine
boost. If you also have a sweet tooth, Dunkin’ is the place for you.
-Last, Wawa: The smoothies at Wawa are refreshing if you’re more of a health nut. They also have made-toorder food for if you’re looking for more of a hardy meal while also providing gas pumps for a quick fuel up. Another thing you want to consider when preparing for a long road trip is good songs. Songs that will keep you thriving will driving.
-First, California Girls by Katy Perry: Everyone knows this song, you know it, everyone in your car will know it, and everyone can jam out. It’s the perfect road trip song.
-Next, Hotel Room Service by Pitbull: This song will get anyone excited for your destination and it’ll create its own party in your car. A must-listen.
-Third, Hotel California by Eagles: After all the modern pop, you’ll need a little throwback sesh for a bit. This song will get you feelin’ those oldie vibes and jammin’ down I-64.
Fourth, Ready or Not by Bridgit Mendler: This mid-
tempo song is one that any road trip would need. Its vibe would set the mood for the destination ahead.
Last, Essentials are of course essential on a road trip. There are five essentials I think every road trip should have.
-First, water: You never wanna be dehydrated when you’re driving in the middle of nowhere. Make sure the bottle has a lot of ounces, too. You always want to have enough.
-Next, a different drink of your choice: gatorade, lemonade, soda, etc. You have to cancel the water out somehow.
-Third, a good snack: You’re gonna have the munchies at some point, so you might as well have a snack handy.
-Fourth, a cozy thing: a blanket, slippers, fuzzy socks, etc. Even if it’s hot outside, you always feel better driving when you have a comfort item nearby.
-Last, charger: Imagine your favorite song plays and your phone dies, or you need directions and your phone checks out. Absolutely always pack a charger.
grace.griles.20@cnu.edu
