‘Who owns the power?’: Richmond workers protest on Labor Day
MOLLY MANNING News Editor
HECIEL NIEVES BONILLA
Assistant News Editor
Roughly 2,000 people turned out to Monroe Park on Labor Day for a “Workers Over Billionaires” rally and march to call for class solidarity and greater worker power in the face of attacks by the Trump administration.
The protest was organized by 50501 Virginia, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and other local partners centered around stopping the “billionaire takeover” and President Donald Trump’s “anti-worker” agenda. 50501 — the group responsible for over 10,000 people marching on the state Capitol in June — held 19 Labor Day protests across the Commonwealth and thousands nationwide.
A series of community leaders and organizers spoke to the crowd in front of a banner that read “workers first, eat the rich,” including American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer. Bauer said in a speech that the Trump administration has an end goal of
autocracy, and his recent deployment of the National Guard in Washington is dangerous and unwarranted.
“This administration’s actions serve one primary goal, to scare people into silence,” Bauer said. “But look around, we’re not silent.”
Election 2025: Weed is on the ballot this November
YENNI JIMENEZ ACOSTA Contributing Writer
Over half of all Virginians have used marijuana, but there is currently no way to obtain the drug recreationally in the Commonwealth — but the General Assembly is considering the introduction of a legal market, and its approval hinges on the 2025 gubernatorial race.
A bipartisan commission convened at the Capitol on Aug. 20 for a second time to hear testimonies on the potential benefits
of establishing a cannabis retail market in Virginia.
The commission, created through House Joint Resolution 497, was created to “oversee the transition of the Commonwealth into a retail cannabis market” and can operate until Jul. 1, 2028.
Although cannabis was decriminalized in 2020 and legalized in 2021, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed proposals year after year to advance a retail market. Currently, marijuana is classified as a schedule 1 drug — which have high
potential for abuse and no accepted medical use — along with heroin and LSD, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Virginia was one of the first southern states to adopt recreational marijuana legislation, however the policies in place are very restrictive, according to VCU associate professor of criminal justice Christinia Mancini.
Virginia law permits “adult sharing” for those 21 years and older — private transfer of one ounce or less of cannabis, but does not allow for the purchase of marijuana in any form without a medical card, Mancini stated.
Police departments for different counties also have different enforcement policies, according to Mancini. Some residents find the law to be confusing to understand.
“I feel like legislators can simplify the legislation a bit, ‘cause it can be a bit difficult to understand what exactly I can and cannot do,” second-year graphic design student Alyse Few said. “Honestly, it’s kind of one of those things where people will find a way to do it if they really want to.”
Former 7th District Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for governor, supports the creation of a legal retail market, citing the prospective revenue as an opportunity to invest in communities.
WEED Continued on page 3
Throughout a march down Broad Street, protestors echoed chants such as “the people united will never be defeated” and “this is what a democracy looks like,” while carrying signs with phrases like “why is
PROTEST Continued on page 2
New inpatient tower would relieve crowded hospitals, MCV workers say
VCU has submitted a proposal for a new inpatient care building on the corner of Leigh Street and North 12 Street. The tower would provide over 500 hospital beds as major hospital systems in the region cope with crowding and increasing populations.
VCU Medical Center often operates at 90% capacity or greater, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
HOSPITALS Continued on page 3
HECIEL NIEVES BONILLA Assistant News Editor
The entrance of the VCU Medical Center Main Hospital.
Display window of a Richmond vape shop. Photo by Cameron Powell.
Photo by Jonda Stephens.
PROTEST Continued from front page there no maximum wage?” and “tax the rich” along with upside down American flags.
Protester and VCU alum Lynda Perry showed up because she was concerned for the government and the country, she said. Perry is angry with VCU for complying with the Trump administration. The university ended its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in March following a Trump order and threats to their federal funding.
Henrico and Goochland Democrats, Democratic Socialists of America, RVA Indivisible and the National Domestic Workers Alliance all tabled around the park, with one table dedicated to providing voter information for statewide elections taking place this November. The offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and members of the House of Delegates are on the ballot.
Speakers decried cuts to Medicare and Medicaid as attacks on the working class and their families. Trump’s passed budget made significant cuts and is expected to shift billions of dollars away from hospitals in Virginia, according to VPM News. Rural hospitals are particularly vulnerable and could face closure.
Several speakers called the Trump administration an oligarchy or autocracy, or even drew comparisons between the president and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Jewel Gatling organizes with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which represents 50,000 nannies, in-home care providers and house cleaners in Virginia, and over 2 million nationally.
“They deserve respect, recognition, wage protection and everything to make sure they have a chance for peace with themselves and their families,” Gatling said. Gatling used the protest to connect with domestic workers. Her table was covered in signs written in English and Spanish, as she noted many domestic workers — often immigrants — do not know what rights they have.
Stories of the week
national: A federal judge in California said Trump broke the law in deploying Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles during immigration protests this June.
international: An earthquake rocked Afghanistan on Sunday, Aug. 31, killing at least 1,400 people and injuring over 3,000 more.
Multiple unions, such as the Richmond chapter of the Service Employees International Union, showed up to the protest. Chapter secretary Cathy Bruce said they want to give a voice to Richmond city employees. She urged citizens to scrutinize the Trump government’s actions, and accused corporations of complying and eroding worker benefits behind the scenes.
“Where have these lies gotten us?”
Bruce said. “Prices are going up steadily, new jobs are fading, the few programs that help people get a leg up have been treated like a fish being gutted by someone going through detox.”
Attendee and “disappointed constituent”
Sharon Williams-Davis organizes a protest every Saturday on the overpass of Arthur Ashe Boulevard near Byrd Park, one of several weekly protest sites in Richmond, she said. Williams-Davis is taking a break from her career to fight for democracy. Her goal is to get the community out and protesting at more regular locations around the city.
Starbucks Workers United union member Jonathan Mueller noted the participation of many VCU and other college students in the unionized Starbucks branches in the area. Mueller and other organizers have found it necessary to build a “strike fund” and educate uninformed workers after years of negotiations with the company.
“We don’t learn a lot about unions and the history thereof in school, so by the time you become working age and
someone tries to convince you to strike, without information beforehand you can be blindsided,” Mueller said.
DSA Richmond member Jonny Fuller said “Workers over Billionaires” is about who has the power in America, and returning that power to voters.
“Is it the billionaire class that gets to control and decide how the democracy goes?” Fuller said. “There’s more workers than there are billionaires, right? So who owns the power? Who’s driving this country?”
The protest dispersed at roughly 7 p.m. after demonstrators marched back to Monroe Park.
VCU professor uncovers fossils of undiscovered human ancestor
SKYE HATHAWAY
Contributing Writer
VCU associate professor of anthropology
Amy Rector and her team of scientists discovered a new species of prehistoric human in Ethiopia, according to VCU.
The discovery began in 2018 when Rector and her team found nine fossilized teeth at a site in Ethiopia called Lady Guareu, she said. They assumed the fossils belonged to a prehistoric human of the genus Australopithecus, a known species of hominin.
Rector and her team analyzed the fossils and concluded that the teeth did not belong to any known species of human ancestor, she said.
“Over years of analysis, what we found is that the individual, that species, is not consistent with any other species,” Rector said. “So it is something new. It's a member of a genus that came before us, but it is something new.”
The team published a paper with the results of their findings two weeks ago.
Rector said she was shocked people wanted them to name the species once they published the study. She wants to find more fossils belonging to the species before giving it a name.
“We found nine teeth from one individual, and that's awesome and amazing, and you know, that's even unique to find that many teeth from one individual,” Rector said. “But we like to have a little bit more of an individual before we want to give it a name.”
After screening for further fossils, the team brought in teeth expert Lucas Delezene, associate professor and vice chair of anthropology at the University of Arkansas.
Delezene said he contrasted the new fossils with preexisting ones to identify which species they belonged to.
“We went trait by trait comparing the fossils from Lady Guareu to other fossils that have been published in museums around Africa,” Delezene said. “So literally going lump and bump and groove on a tooth, comparing one tooth to another.”
Delezene said when he put the teeth together, they belonged to the same prehistoric human.
“If you imagine a tooth like the outline of a kind of oval, as you get older, that oval becomes less ovoid and it’s kind of squared
off where it touches the tooth in front of it. But what that does is it allows you to literally fit the teeth back together to see that they literally match,” Delezene said.
Brian Villmoare, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Las Vegas, began writing the fossil descriptions
rewrite. Then we send it back out again and then they return it again,” Villmoare said. “So after the second revisions they said ‘yes that’s enough adjustments to publish.’” Villmoare said that teams often wait to publish their findings, but his group releases them as soon as possible.
once the team identified that they belonged to a new species.
The team began writing the paper in 2022, but it was not published until two weeks ago.
Villmoare said the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ethiopia delayed the paper’s release.
“It takes a long time to pore over it. We get it back, then we rewrite and rewrite and
“We prefer to get things out quickly,” Villmoare said. “There are groups that sit on fossils for decades and we are determined not to be like that.”
Photos by Burke Loftus.
Prehistoric teeth uncovered by VCU associate professor of anthropology Amy Rector and her team.
Photo courtesy of Amy Rector.
The research team in Lady Guareu. Photo courtesy of Amy Rector.
Continued from front page
“As the next governor of Virginia, I look forward to working with our General Assembly to find a path forward to creating a legalized retail market for cannabis that both prioritizes public safety and grows Virginia’s economy,” Spanberger stated to CBS 6.
Republican gubernatorial nominee and current Lieutenant Gov. Winsome EarleSears is staunchly opposed to legalizing marijuana. She fired one of her employees for marijuana use and considers it a gateway drug.
“I had to let somebody go who worked for me, found out he was on marijuana, ‘you can’t work for me, you’re gonna destroy somebody’s home, you’re gonna crash, it’s gonna decimate us, because marijuana is a gateway drug … There is no hope in that, there is no future.’” Earle-Sears said at an Abingdon rally.
Chelsea Higgs Wise is the co-founder and executive director of Marijuana Justice, a nonprofit created in 2019 to fight for legalization while repairing the damage of the War on Drugs. She said that it is important to not only legalize marijuana, but do it the right way.
Agencies and statutes like the Drug Enforcement Administration and Controlled Substances Act were created to divest in, incarcerate and target specific populations, not to protect citizens from the harm of drugs, Wise said.
“These have always been laws that have basically been the new Jim Crow, the new Black Laws, the new Black Codes,” Wise said.
Should a retail market be introduced, Wise calls for the opposition of cannabis industry monopolies and a regulated market with smaller local farmers or suppliers and beneficiaries within the communities that have suffered under prohibition.
She also said it is important to provide relief for young people charged with marijuana-related crimes, as 18 to 24-year-old males have been the most targeted group.
“This is a business that Virginia is going to be running, and we have to make it competitive,” Wise said. “The biggest public safety piece that we can do is to drive the demand to the legal market. We’re not going to arrest our way out of this.”
This is a business that Virginia is going to be running, and we have to make it competitive,” Wise said. “The biggest public safety piece that we can do is to drive the demand to the legal market. We’re not going to arrest our way out of this.”
Chelsea Higgs Wise, cofounder and executive director of Marijuana Justice
News Editor Molly Manning contributed to this story.
Virginia Health Board votes to ban transgender women from women’s sports
Continued from front page
The project is a “long-term investment in the health of our communities,” VCU Health spokesperson Danielle Pierce stated.
VCU Health currently lists 820 beds in the hospital, which help handle around 42,000 inpatient discharges and over 110,000 emergency visits in the 2023 fiscal year. The expansion would increase the total number of beds by 72%.
Extra beds are a way to reduce overcrowding in inpatient hospitals. Over 90% of U.S. emergency departments routinely report crowded conditions, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.
John Heard, a nurse practitioner working in the Intensive Care Unit at VCU, thinks a new facility could help get patients out of the ICU or emergency room and into a bed.
“Sometimes there’s a traffic jam to get
out of ICU, and patients have nowhere to go,” Heard said.
Sevval Ercan, a second-year VCU medical student, thinks crowding puts an extra burden on physicians in emergency departments in particular, and that the funding should go towards patient care instead, the core of medical practice.
“Not only is it why we are doctors, to do patient care, but I think it makes the job of medical students and physicians a lot easier when we have more resources towards patient care,” Ercan said.
Ercan also listed more staff and medical tools with greater ease-of-use as worthy investments for the hospital.
VCU’s proposed $1.5 billion complex would be built in two phases of vertical construction, eventually hosting 576 beds, with construction starting in July 2027.
The Virginia Board of Health voted on Aug. 18 to approve plans that would prohibit transgender women from playing on women's sports teams across the state — thought the policy may take years to implement.
The vote followed a petition by three women’s collegiate swimmers who argued they have faced harm from competing against transgender women.
The petitioners are Lily Mullens, former swimmer at Roanoke College, Carter Satterfield, current swimmer at Roanoke and Réka György, former swimmer, Olympian and director of operations of the swim team at Virginia Tech.
The petition outlined that “the public health of Virginians, particularly of women and girls, demands that the Department of Health take action to prevent further harm, both physical and psychological, from males claiming or pretending to be females and gaining access to female-only athletic competitions and private spaces.”
The Board of Health has not previously focused on athletics, making it unclear how the ban will be carried out, according to Axios.
This decision will have devastating consequences for transgender athletes in Virginia, according to Sharon McKay, executive director of queer advocacy group He She Ze and We.
“Being on a sports team provides valuable learning, not only about competition, but also the unique experiences of teamwork, being able to take constructive criticism, engaging in team spirit, cooperation and the physical and mental health benefits that every young person deserves,” McKay stated. “Excluding trans athletes sends a message that they are not valid, not welcome and not equal. For many, this will mean increased isolation.”
HSZ & W is firmly opposed to the ban, which they described as another hateful attack on the transgender community, according to McKay.
“These agencies that are making these decisions need more education to understand the true lived experiences of transgender youth, especially trans girls,” McKay stated. “If the decision-makers actually knew these young people and spent time with them, they would understand trans girls are not a threat to the fairness of girls’ sports competition.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February revoking all funds to educational programs that permit transgender women to compete on women’s teams.
The Trump and Youngkin administrations have made numerous moves rolling back protections for transgender people. VCU Health announced in July it would stop providing gender-affirming care at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond to patients under the age of 19, according to a previous report by The CT.
The Virginia High School League responded to Trump’s February order by banning transgender students from competing in girls’ sports. The Health Board’s vote is the first action on the collegiate level.
VCU Athletics adheres to all laws and policies set forth by the NCAA and the Commonwealth of Virginia, according to Evan Nicely, assistant athletic director for women’s basketball external affairs.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to the well-being of all of our studentathletes,” Nicely stated.
The Supreme Court announced in July that it will be hearing two cases challenging bans on transgender athletes from competing in local and collegiate sports in the fall, according to the ACLU. The court’s revisits make the future of transgender rights in the U.S. unclear.
Display window of a Richmond vape shop. Photo by Cameron Powell.
HOSPITALS
SAL ORLANDO Contributing Writer
Photo illustration by Quinn Lysek.
Sports
Stat of the week
Women's soccer third-year forward Jensyn Lins scored one and assisted another in the 2-0 win over Loyola University Maryland.
The CT sports staff selects:
NFL Predictions
YENNI
JIMENEZ ACOSTA
Contributing Writer
Regular Season MVP: The MVP this season will be Baltimore Raven’s Lamar Jackson, due to his 2024 performance and his two MVP awards. Jackson is also ESPN’s pick over previous MVP quarterback Josh Allen, and his supporting cast has only improved since last season.
Super Bowl Champion: I think the Baltimore Ravens will win their first Super Bowl in the Lamar Jackson era. Last year, the Ravens had the best offense and a top 10 defense. With the returning pieces and new additions, the Ravens will finally get past the AFC championship and win the Super Bowl.
Breakout Team: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a team to look out for. The Buccaneers are already a contender, having risen from No. 9 to No. 7 in the NFL power rankings. Tampa Bay has only grown since then, assembling one of the best draft classes in the recent offseason, according to NFL writer Eric Edholm.
DANIEL POINTER
Contributing Writer
Regular Season MVP: Last season, Lamar Jackson combined for 5,087 yards and 45 touchdowns, while only throwing four interceptions all season, according to ESPN. He also led the league in passing yards per attempt and posted the highest quarterback rating. If the Ravens’ offensive weapons can stay healthy, Jackson’s efficiency could win him his third MVP award.
Super Bowl Champion: Each year, the Baltimore Ravens inch closer and closer towards overcoming the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC. With an electric offense led by Jackson and running back Derrick Henry, as well as a stout defense, it can be hard to identify weakness in the Ravens roster. The additions of rookie safety Malachi Starks and cornerback Jaire Alexander could be the missing pieces that help the Ravens take the final step towards a Super Bowl victory.
Breakout Team: The Atlanta Falcons bolstered their struggling defense in the draft, using both their first round picks on linebackers Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr.. If quarterback Michael Penix Jr. can prove he developed as a backup in his first year and utilize his offensive weapons, the Falcons may surprise fans with their success.
DEVYNN ALSTON
Contributing Writer
Regular Season MVP: This year, Lamar Jackson has something to prove. Because of his last few years not being a playoff riser, this season is going to be a revenge tour. He will want to show people he can truly lead a team.
Super Bowl Champion: The Ravens will follow their QB and look to prove people wrong after their 2024 playoffs performance.
Breakout Team: The Cleveland Browns’ roster this year is better than what people are giving them credit for. If they can mesh well within the first month of the season, they will truly shock the rest of the league.
BENNEY KOCH Contributing Writer
Regular Season MVP: Jalen Hurts is entering his fifth season with the Philadelphia Eagles. Hurts fills the quarterback role in its truest form as a leader and team captain, elevating his teammates and taking control when it is most needed. Hurts led the Eagles to two Super Bowls, most recently becoming victorious and being recognized as Super Bowl MVP. Hurts has gotten better every year, and I expect a respected MVP-caliber season from him and long overdue respect from NFL fans.
Super Bowl Champion: I anticipate the Eagles going back-to-back and winning the Super Bowl again this year. Hurts has put an emphasis on not letting the win get to the team’s head and having them solely focus on re-creating that moment in February instead. The 2024 Eagles were widely considered a super team — though they lost valuable defensive assets in the offseason, they have also picked up new big pieces like Willie Lampkin and Jakorian Bennett. I predict the Eagles facing off against the Baltimore Ravens in a longawaited “Bird Bowl,” with Philadelphia coming out victorious after a tight game.
Breakout Team: The Las Vegas Raiders have not had a playoff appearance since 2021, and I anticipate a breakout year in this upcoming season. The Raiders made some major changes by hiring head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek, and got some good pickups that
will shape them to be an unexpected threat. The Raiders will break their streak of not making the playoffs, and might play the Bills, Ravens or Chiefs in the Divisional Round.
HAYDEN BRAUN Contributing Writer
Regular Season MVP: Joe Burrow will finally win his first MVP this season. The explosive offense with weapons like wide receivers Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown should help Burrow to his best season yet. The Bengals will need Burrow to be perfect this season, with their bottom-tier defense not improving in the offseason.
Super Bowl Champion: I think Super Bowl 60 will be a matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Green Bay Packers, with the Ravens ultimately winning. The Ravens have one of the most dominant all-around rosters in football, and I think this is a Super Bowl or bust year with this current roster.
Breakout Team: The Raiders are my pick for this year’s breakout team. With moves like trading for Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith, drafting running back Ashton Jeanty and hiring Super Bowl-winning head coach Pete Carroll, the Raiders may be back in the bubble to compete again, according to ESPN.
Countdown to tip-off: Men's basketball nonconference schedule preview
With less than two months until the Siegel Center is packed with fans, VCU men's basketball officially released its nonconference schedule.
The Rams are embarking on a new era under new head coach Phil Martelli Jr. and nine new players.
Here are the non-conference matchups that will dictate the rest of VCU’s season:
Field hockey falls short against Northwestern in Labor Day beatdown
JENNY ALLEN Staff Writer
SAANVI VOOTLA
Contributing
Writer
Northwestern University traveled to Cary Street Field on Sept. 1 to take on VCU field hockey in their home opener. The Rams went on to lose 3-0.
Northwestern started the game with a leading pass towards VCU’s goal. Both teams’ defenses were strong in the beginning, with no attempts on goal from either team.
VCU redshirt second-year goalie Emma Clements and the back line stopped a shot on goal from Northwestern thirdyear midfielder Ilse Tromp, halting their offensive momentum early.
Redshirt third-year Aerin Krys passed to graduate forward Grace Schulze, allowing her to break through VCU’s defense and score the opening goal, putting them up 1-0.
Northwestern kept the pressure on VCU to close the first quarter, keeping the ball in its half for the majority of the game.
Northwestern started the second period with an overhead pass down the field, giving Sessa a shot on goal to keep the energy high for the Wildcats.
Northwestern kept its momentum and prevented VCU from attempting any shots on goal early into the second quarter.
The Wildcats continued to push through with their offense, raising tensions for the Rams as fouls piled up.
“I think the biggest enemy is not the other team, but ourselves,” Clements said in a post-game interview.
In spite of VCU’s minimal chances to attack, they managed to move the ball down the field when given the opportunity.
Northwestern brought the ball back to VCU’s half, attacking the goal within the last two minutes. Tromp attempted to end the first half with a goal, however, Clements made the stop, ending the half 1-0.
VCU started the second half with its first penalty corner, leading to its first shot on goal by second-year forward Ana Afonso Osorio.
“When you defend all the time, sometimes it's hard like to stay focused and attack, but I feel like we have the patience also to attack with each other,” Osorio said.
Northwestern had a chance to double its lead with a penalty corner shot; however, the goal was overturned when the ball illegally hit a player.
The Wildcats quickly made up for the error though. Third-year back defender Maja Zivojnovic scored a goal, assisted by Sessa and Krys, finally doubling their lead 2-0.
Northwestern started the final quarter with a strong lead, keeping VCU’s defense on its toes while continuing its attack.
“You know, they're the No. 1 team in the country for a reason,” VCU field hockey coach Stacey Bean said. “They’re probably one of the best pressing teams in the country.”
Although the Wildcats’ shots accumulated, Clements and her ability to block shots shined. A penalty corner from Northwestern with two minutes remaining in the third put Clements in a challenging position, but she made multiple striking saves.
“This feels like a win in my heart,” Clements said.
Northwestern third-year midfielder Ella Kokinis gave third-year forward Olivia Bent-Cole her first shot on goal, unable to be stopped by Clements — putting the Wildcats up 3-0 halfway through the fourth.
Northwestern continued to storm with shots on goal in the remaining minutes, but Clements held it down with 12 saves.
The Wildcats proved their No. 1 ranking, totaling 23 shots and 15 corner penalties, but VCU will be able to use the experience as preparation for the rest of the season.
“There’s always area to improve and there’s always areas that you have to recognize that ‘yes, you did well in those phases of the game but some of the other phases we just need to sharpen up,’” Bean said.
NOVEMBER 7
VCU vs. Utah State University
Fort Worth, Texas, will host the matchup between VCU and Utah State. It has been five years since these teams faced each other, with VCU taking the win 85-69. The Aggies finished their season 26-8, making the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid as a No. 10 seed. This is their third consecutive appearance following their invitation to the tournament as a No. 8 seed in 2024 and a No. 10 seed in 2023. Utah State is known for winning matchups at any scale.
NOVEMBER 17
VCU at North Carolina State University
VCU will hit the road to Raleigh, North Carolina, to face American Coast Conference opponent N.C. State for the first time in school history. N.C. State is led by former VCU coach Will Wade, who joined the Wolfpack following a challenging season. The team previously finished 12-19 overall and missed the NCAA tournament, despite an impressive run to the Final Four in 2024. Winning the game could help VCU advance to the NCAA tournament.
NOVEMBER 26
VCU vs. University of South Florida
The two teams will meet at Nassau, Bahamas, in the Battle 4 Atlantis. If VCU wins, they will face either Vanderbilt or Western Kentucky, as well as another team that has not been determined. The Bulls had a rocky season where they ended with a 13-19 record and missed out on the NCAA tournament. This matchup is familiar territory for VCU, as t hey have won two of the last three games, according to VCU Athletics.
DECEMBER 10
VCU at North VCU vs. New Mexico University
VCU will have home court advantage when they take on midmajor powerhouse New Mexico. The Lobos are coming off a strong season, ending with a 27-8 overall and 17-3 conference record, according to New Mexico Athletics. New Mexico advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament after defeating seventh-seeded Marquette. The Lobos are under new leadership with head coach Eric Olen. The Rams’ non-conference schedule is packed with chances to boost their NCAA resume. These four matches will be crucial to building their at-large chances.
ALEXIS WASHINGTON Assistant Sports Editor
VCU second-year forward Ana Afonso Osorio maintains possession of the ball during a game against Northwestern University on Sept. 1. Photos by Kieran Stevens.
Sports
PRESS BOX: Frat culture’s takeover of sports is dangerous
KYLER GILLIAM Staff Writer
The dangerous rise of online conservatism, specifically among Generation Z men, has been evident in many spaces where young men usually congregate. Sports are no different.
With the downfall of traditional television in the modern age and online spaces constantly growing, the online sports community is becoming a legitimate part of the sports ecosystem.
However, that space has been heavily influenced by the growing fraternity culture that the Republican Party has used to capture the attention of young men during President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Young men are flocking to spaces that are inherently conservative, which is filled with casual racism, homophobia and xenophobia.
This creates a harmful environment in the growing ecosystem of the online sports network.
Modern fraternity culture acts as a constant reminder of the “glory days” of a non-politically correct society, which makes these companies more appealing to high school and college-aged men.
Their entertainment comes at the expense of others and has dangerous pitfalls, such as the promotion of alcohol and gambling, which pushes young men into dangerous rhetoric and habits.
This community thrives on being offensive to those without a large foothold in sports, and calling out this behavior can lead to scrutiny.
Since the audience does not usually belong to the communities they are being offensive to, they cannot be truly boycotted.
This allows for offensive jokes to go unchecked and lets prejudice spread in the online sports space.
During the 2024 presidential election, these increasingly right-leaning spaces and communities were integral to raising Trump’s profile among young men.
In 2016, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy endorsed Trump in a blog post voicing his disappointment in the state of politics at the time.
I am voting for Donald Trump. I don’t care if he’s a joke. I don’t care if he’s racist. I don’t care if he’s sexist. I hope he stays in the race and I hope he wins. Why? Because I love the fact that he is making other politicians squirm.”
Dave Portnoy, Barstool founder
“I am voting for Donald Trump. I don’t care if he’s a joke. I don’t care if he’s racist. I don’t care if he’s sexist,” Portnoy stated. “I hope he stays in the race and I hope he
wins. Why? Because I love the fact that he is making other politicians squirm.”
This led him to an interview with Trump during his 2020 campaign, and started the president’s use of podcasts to engage with young men.
Trump’s interview with the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, hosted by former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan, reached over 480,000 views on YouTube.
The online sports community supported Trump during his campaign, and when he returned to office, traditional television networks such as ESPN began to open up to the online sports space.
On Aug. 28, ESPN announced Lewan and Compton would appear on the morning show “Get Up,” starting on Sept. 4. They will be brought on to discuss college football, according to an ESPN press release.
This comes two years after the network brought “The Pat McAfee Show” to its network, a show that perfectly embodies the growing frat culture in sports.
Hosted by former All-Pro punter Pat McAfee, the show has been a platform for current Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, to spread anti-vaccine propaganda on national television with little to no pushback.
ESPN is expected to follow the trend of the frat-coded sports podcast space due to its growing popularity, and I expect to see its conservatism creep into legacy media with it.
Until the political left makes a worthwhile attempt to engage in the online sports space, we all should expect our sports to get a lot more conservative.
Illustration By M Moreira.
Spectrum
Virginia’s sole design museum hopes to ‘shift perspectives’
CORA PERKINS Assistant Spectrum Editor
The Branch Museum of Design, the only design museum in Virginia, aims to change the perspective of those who enter. It is inside the Branch family home, a TudorRevival style house built in 1919.
The museum has a new catchphrase: “shifting your perspective,” according to museum marketing director Katie Hoak.
“It’s the idea of shifting perspectives and moving things forward that you know, both in the city of Richmond, but just like in their social spheres as well,” Hoak said.
Museums connect people to art and to artists, and we connect people to creativity, but that's not the end goal for me. I think when we do that consistently and well, we create community, and we try to encourage togetherness in a world that increasingly feels like it's on fire.”
The Branch charges $10 for admission, a decision made in June after federal cuts to keep the museum in order, according to Emily King, the museum’s marketing and developmental manager.
“We are sort of looking to supplement grants lost or potential grants lost that we can't apply to any longer with other costs and other admission fees, unfortunately,” King said. “We don't love that that has become like a barrier for some people, but we try to be as inclusive as possible.”
One way the museum fundraises to keep the museum in order is through year-round events, including the “Mad Hatter Auction” and “Live at the Branch.”
The “Mad Hatter Auction” is an art auction and party that gathers art from local and national artists, according to Hoak. Attendees are encouraged to wear their most creative hats while bidding in silent and live auctions. The proceeds help restore the home.
“The really fun aspect of it, taking a cue from the mad hatter, is we invite all of the guests to create their most over-the-top, creative zany hats to wear,” Hoak said. “And it's really amazing the creativity that people have in their bodies.”
“Live at the Branch” is a mini concert series where musicians perform at a bay window in the home.
“It's done in our main gallery, which was literally built to host parties for the Branch family back in their day,” Hoak said.
The museum was also home to the “Ruined” and “Refined: The Design of Vespa” exhibitions up until Aug. 31. “The Ruined” exhibition was curated by John Ryland, owner of Classified Moto, a custom motorcycle shop. It focused on different builds from the motorcycle shop, including a motorcycle designed for “The Walking Dead,” according to Hoak.
“I really love that we have the ability to allow people to sit on ‘The Walking Dead’ bike and take a photo,” Hoak said. “Like, how often do you actually get to touch something that's in a museum and be a part of it in that way?”
Starting Sept. 10, the museum will show its new exhibition, “Confluence.” Only showing work from artist Kenny Nguyen, the exhibition will feature a new form of tapestries, according to the Branch’s executive director, Kristen Cavallo.
“Kenny's work is a new take on tapestries in a way; it's also a sculpture, and it's also a deconstructed painting,” Cavallo said. “And I love the fact that it can not be easily contained by any one descriptor.”
Nguyen will also create pieces specifically for the exhibition, according to Cavallo.
“I'm so happy that he's chosen to bring that work to the Branch, and he's even doing some bespoke pieces just for us inspired by the architecture of our building and the experience of the Branch family,” Cavallo said.
Cavallo said she hopes visitors leave inspired, curious and proud.
“Museums connect people to art and to artists, and we connect people to creativity, but that's not the end goal for me,” Cavallo said. “I think when we do that consistently and well, we create community, and we try to encourage togetherness in a world that increasingly feels like it's on fire.”
On This Day
On this day, Sept. 3, 1894, Labor Day was celebrated for the first time as a national holiday.
Kristen Cavallo, Branch Museum executive director
Vespas from the ‛Refined’ exhibition at the The Branch Museum.
Photo by Bri Stevens.
The Branch Museum, located inside a Tudor-Revival style house built in 1919.
Photo by Bri Stevens.
The Branch Family Home was converted into the Branch Museum of Design in 2003 by The Virginia Foundation for Architecture. Photo by Bri Stevens.
There’s a ‘HEIST!’ afoot: Local sketch team presents new comedy show
SAANVI VOOTLA Contributing Writer
Legs Akimbo, a sketch team at the Coalition Theater, performed their comedy routine ‘Heist!’ on Aug. 28 and 30. The team created a false backstory of stealing another team’s sketch and was considered “disgraced” by the theater director. Nonetheless, fueled by the director’s fictitious disappointment, they planned the biggest heist of their lives.
Adrienne Thompson, assistant coach and cast member, auditioned to join Legs Akimbo in late 2023 and officially became part of the team in 2024.
“I have been involved in theater my whole life, and got back into it when I started taking sketch classes here at the Coalition Theater while studying at William and Mary,” Thompson said.
After the fictional disbanding at the beginning of the sketch, the team reunited to steal the most valuable prize there is: “the power of friendship,” through an intense heist at the “Five Seasons Hotel and Casino.” The team used their creation of a holographic model of the casino, successfully stealing the diamond, or the “power of friendship.”
The show was sarcastic and light-hearted, emphasizing the importance of friendship and teamwork.
Late-night meetings, casual chats and ideas thrown around helped shape the show, and they perform what everyone agrees upon, according to Thompson. Time was split between writing, creating the props and rehearsing.
“We would make cuts from the scripts based on the whole shape of the show, the energy and pacing,” Thompson said.
Co-artistic director Josh Blubaugh has been doing sketch comedy since high school. He found it hard to get support for sketch comedy at the theater, he stated. He enjoys his role as director, as he gets to support upcoming performers.
“Sketch at the theater was very sparse, and it was hard to get a budget or support,” Blubaugh stated. “As an artistic director, I get to mentor new talent and help people develop their silliest ideas.”
Organizing the shows with Blubaugh was a smooth and stress-free process, artistic director Kimberly Nario stated in an email.
Writing a show set in a fictional space provided Legs Akimbo with a way to express their creativity, according to Preston Bradsher, the team’s coach.
“I'm a firm believer in the magic of scrappy theater, and I think we’ve been able to do some really special things with very limited resources,” Bradsher stated in an email. “I couldn’t be more grateful for this incredibly dedicated team; they work so hard to put on the silliest shows.”
Legs Akimbo will perform their final show in November, according to Bradsher. Tickets are available on Coalition Theater’s website.
I'm a firm believer in the magic of scrappy theater, and I think we've been able to do some really special things with very limited resources. I couldn’t be more grateful for this incredibly dedicated team; they work so hard to put on the silliest shows.”
Preston Bradsher, Legs Akimbo coach
New baby porcupines bring cuteness to Richmond
DAIJAH HINMON Staff Writer
The Robins Nature Center announced the addition of a species known as “porcupettes” to Maymont on Friday, July 25, according to a press release.
“Porcupettes” is the official name for baby porcupines, according to their website. The center has two female porcupettes — one named Sandy, and the other’s name will be announced on Sept. 6, based on a community vote.
Maymont introduced a special behind-the-scenes series on Aug. 1 called “Porcupettes Up Close,” which allows small groups inside the nursery for a more immersive learning experience.
Both porcupines were born in Michigan during May and needed a new home because they cannot survive in the wild on their own, according to their press release. They will move to a new outdoor habitat built for them along the Virginia Wildlife Trail in the upcoming year.
The Robins Nature Center has seen a surge in attendance since the porcupettes exhibit opened, according to communications manager Melissa Abernathy.
“Since we introduced the porcupettes back in July, we’ve had double the regular attendance average,” Abernathy said.
The porcupettes are very active, keeping visitors entertained as they climb branches and forage, as well as occasionally nap in their cubby holes.
Porcupines used to be native to Virginia, according to Maymont animal ambassador specialist Diana Wickersham. The species was wiped out in the 1800s after losing their habitat due to fragmentation and hunting.
Locals have been excited about the exhibit since many Virginians have not seen porcupines in the wild, Wickersham said. The exhibit provides the opportunity to educate people, give a wider understanding of what Virginia’s ecosystem used to be and how humans have shaped it.
“People are really shocked because they’ve never been face-to-face with a porcupine before,” Wickersham said.
“And obviously, baby animals are one of everybody’s favorite common experiences among people.”
Maymont offers many opportunities to learn about a variety of species and the environment, according to visitor Megan Wiebe.
“They’re really cute,” Wiebe said. “It’s fun to see them, and the kids really enjoyed the exhibit.”
Legs Akimbo, a sketch comedy troupe, performing their newest show, ‘Heist!’ At the Coalition Theater. Photo by Lena Dao.
Porcupette at Robins Nature Center in Maymont Park. Photo by Jose Segovia.
A guide to Richmond’s most eccentric local markets
Richmond is home to a multitude of markets, from clothing, to art to produce. Many events are happening in the city over the next several months, giving students the opportunity to check them out.
17th Street Market
Richmond Makers Market
Richmond Makers Market is a place for artists to tell you about their work, and the market has created a safe space for queer people, holding a queer weekend during Pride month. They are also small-business friendly, with over 70 local businesses and organizations participating. The market is interactive and entertaining, with a strong sense of community, according to their website.
Swap Meet RVA
Swap Meet RVA aims to be more than just a market, as it is a vibrant hub where local entrepreneurs, artists and thrifters are all in one place, according to their website. It was founded and organized by locals who wanted to provide a platform for small businesses, artisans and food vendors. The market aims to celebrate creativity, diversity and sustainability. The next six events will run from Sept. 14 until Nov. 16, according to their Instagram. Swap Meet RVA meets every other Sunday, primarily at Main Street Station.
The 17th Street Market is one of the oldest public markets in America, and possibly Richmond’s longest-running continuous farmers’ market. The market has been the center for commerce and connection for over 200 years, and hosts a plethora of different markets, including its regular biweekly market. It is considered a vibrant part of Shockoe Bottom and serves as a community resource, according to RVA. GOV website.
BirdhHouse Market
The Birdhouse Market is a hub for healthy food-related community activities that look to strengthen Richmond’s local food system and improve the health and well-being of the community, according to their website. Dedicated to providing fresh produce to Richmond, they offer online shopping with curbside pickup, a service helpful for those with disabilities or those who just do not have time to make it to the store.
The Richmond Moon Market promotes curated crafts and focuses on wellness. It brings together Virginia’s weirdest, wildest and most wonderful artists, according to their website. The market features diverse vendors like fortune tellers, crystals, magical supplies, vintage gear and more, and often sets up booths on VCU’s campus. Moon Market frequently meets at Stone Brewing Company, but will be operating a market at Gallery 5 on Sept. 5 for First Friday.
Richmond Night Market
The Richmond Night Market is one of many markets on the 17th Street venue. It is held every second Saturday, from April to December, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The market highlights independent artists, creates an environment where the youth can play and dance to live music and for attendees to use their makerspace, according to their website.
Richmond Moon Market
Photo by Kieran Stevens. Illustrations by Lauryn Baynes.
DEVYNN ALSTON Contributing Writer
RVA Spotlight
Features
RamBikes is here to help How Richmondʼs DIY bike community puts people first
ANDREW KERLEY Executive Editor
There is a cozy little nook on Broad Street that feels like an oasis in the middle of one of the busiest, loudest roads in Richmond — a place where the VCU community can receive a service like no other.
RamBikes is the university’s one-stop shop for bike rental and repair, and it is completely free for students, faculty and staff.
People who walk into RamBikes are greeted by a lived-in atmosphere full of distractions. Their quaint coffee table is littered with zines and free spoke cards to stick in bike wheels. The fluorescent lights are blocked out by drapes clad with forest designs only seen otherwise in elementary school science classrooms.
The history book “Lesbian and Gay Richmond” sits on a cabinet, just next to their GRTC bus map and “PROTECT TRANS KIDS” posters. On their bulletin board is a community fridge map and volunteer information for Food Not Bombs. A standout trinket is the RamBikes croaking frog güiro, a wooden instrument that blends seamlessly with the clicks and ticks that come out of the workshop.
Sera Erickson, the sustainable transportation manager for VCU, mans the front desk. She dons a friendly face and a pair of wrench earrings throughout the day as her employees work through bike after bike.
RamBikes mechanics are known among students for not only fixing customers’ problems, but also discovering long lists of additional issues they would have never noticed. Customers who do not take care of their bikes may be met with gentle scoldings akin to concerned parents. Greasing your chain, keeping your tires full of air and using a rain cover are absolute musts.
Third-year biology student Thomas Karikari used RamBikes for the first time this semester. He came in to fix a flat tire, but
the good folk at RamBikes found problems with his bike’s gear shifting and brake.
“They were chill about everything, y’know? I walked in, they helped me, even showed me how to pump a bike tire, which was really nice. They even cleaned the bike cause it was really dusty,” Karikari said. “They get stuff done right away too, you don’t gotta wait a whole week.”
RamBikes repaired roughly 704 bikes in the shop last academic year, as well as 22 bikes while tabling around campus, according to Erickson. They also rented bikes 788 times and held 16 workshops for 96 total attendees.
ROOTED IN SERVICE
Erickson has been with RamBikes since 2017, but before that she was a VCU undergraduate student in the late 2000s she said. Erickson studied sociology. Both her parents were social workers, which instilled a drive within her at a young age to better society.
While in school, Erickson was active in Students for a Democratic Society, a student activist organization that has waxed and waned out of the American limelight for decades with anti-war protests.
VCU SDS members joined tens of thousands in Washington to protest the Iraq War in 2007, according to The Commonwealth Times archives. They also protested the closure of a VCU resource center for victims of sexual abuse.
Erickson worked in the nonprofit world after graduating but eventually had to leave because she found the work grueling, as many nonprofits end up running themselves like businesses rather than services, she said.
Erickson later took a role at Rag & Bones — a bicycle cooperative that provides all sorts of services to Richmonders such as bike repairs, earn-a-bike programs and summer camps for kids. The collective is
more akin to “mutual aid,” she said.
“Charity is like, ‘oh, you’re worse off than me, I’m just gonna keep giving you stuff.’ It’s like a pipeline that only goes one way, but mutual aid is more like a circular thing,” Erickson said. “Usually when you teach something to somebody, they teach it to somebody else.”
Rag & Bones is still a nonprofit. Erickson is technically their director, though she prefers not to be referred to as such because hierarchy is not their style.
“Trying to have a little bit more of a collective decision-making process, or discussions that value everyone’s opinion at a similar level, usually produces better things, ideas, experiences,” Erickson said.
BRANCHING OUT
Erickson requires every RamBikes employee to carry a similar dedication to public service. Many shop mechanics are work-study students majoring in fields that funnel them right back into the Richmond community.
“I think that, through this opportunity to work on bikes like this, and not through a retail shop, people can see the value and the effect that it has on folks to teach them something about a bike,” Erickson said.
Just about every bike store, service and organization in the city has been touched by a former RamBikes employee. Brantley Tyndall, RamBikes’ founder, is the director of the prominent organization Bike Walk RVA.
Current RamBikes manager Taylor Welch used to operate a program by Opportunity,
Alliance & Reentry of Richmond to provide formerly incarcerated people with bikes, locks and helmets — a means of transportation for the underserved.
Former RamBikes employee Alexa Santisteban is now the manager of Bellemeade Community Bike Shop, where elementary schoolers learn to ride, build and repair their bikes.
Former RamBikes mechanics Arin Larsen and Masha Timina — who preferred to be referred to by their first names — now work at Outpost Richmond, a bicycle shop in Forest Hill, where they still carry the sentiments of RamBikes.
The pair got into biking through necessity rather than leisure — a means of getting to and from work every day, but evolved into something more.
Masha and Arin used to bus themselves to work. They recalled a sense of class
The Richmond "cone man" has gone viral for dancing around VCU campus in social media videos.
RamBikes managers Sera Erickson and Taylor Welch repair a bike. Photos by Andrew Kerley.
solidarity on their morning commutes, recognizing daily characters on the bus who were also just getting to their day jobs.
Masha was eventually gifted a cheap bike, which not only helped them ride home after a long day at work, but also overcome deep, personal struggles.
“After a long day, overstimulated, I would just be seeing people living their lives, like on the porch with their dogs, with their children running around,” Masha said. “The trees swinging in the wind, the birds chirping — it was my first experience of being in my body and feeling real, truthfully. It was like therapy for a while. It still is.”
Getting into biking again allowed Masha to reconnect with their childhood, they said. Masha grew up in Ukraine, where biking and public transportation are a way of life.
Masha’s newfound autonomy in their travel inspired them to check out Recess Forever, a community ride for trans women, intersex people and other gender non-conforming riders in Richmond. They first met Erickson there, who insisted on fixing Masha’s flat through a ride with pouring rain
“I saw Sera change a flat tire in five minutes maybe, and something clicked in my brain that changed my life for sure,” Masha said.
Both Masha and Arin have worked with Camp Spokes, a week-long day camp in the summer for girls and gender nonconforming youth.
Camp Spokes, collaboratively run by Bellemeade and Rag & Bones, offers kids a bike to rebuild, ride and take home at the end of the week. It was born out of a disparity in outdoor education opportunities, especially for Black and brown youth.
Campers ride in the city and on trails, as well as engage in other hands-on activities like screen printing, gardening and building with power tools. Camp Spokes has sessions for middle and high schoolers, and some high schoolers return to help out with the younger classes. Masha called it a tender, delicate job.
“It’s already an environment where things can be brought up that you wouldn’t expect to hear and know how to do something about,” Masha said. “But it’s like Arin said, like with a lot of bicycle parts, it’s hard to break them unless you’re just not gentle with it and taking your time.”
Erickson and Welch said bike culture — and society as a whole — has dramatically changed in recent years. What used to be gatekept by the tough and vulgar is now a home for young, alternative and queer people. Camp Spokes is a reaction to the culture of old.
“That’s who we were, and we wanted to do something,” Erickson said. “Something maybe we wish existed when we were kids.”
ONE BIG CIRCLE
There is a community bike ride for just about everyone in Richmond. Aside from Recess Forever, Spokes Serenity is a substance-free, beginner-friendly ride for cyclists in recovery. Some rides end in pool parties or hangouts along the James River, others culminate in a big victory dinner at Waffle House. And of course, there is Broad Street Bullies, the ride famous for shutting down entire intersections and angering impatient drivers.
A poster hanging in the RamBikes workshop details everyone they have worked with over the years. On the list is Richmond Safe Routes to Schools, the Mary and Frances Youth Center, Connecting Partners, Communities in Schools, the Mayor’s Youth Academy and the VCU School of Social Work.
Through those organizations, RamBikes has advocated for public infrastructure improvements, taught kids how to ride, provided youth with gear through grants, hosted camps and classes and refurbished abandoned bikes for rental use.
Erickson tagged and cut 45 bikes from VCU’s campus over the summer, which are refurbished and donated to efforts like Camp Spokes and Rag & Bones.
The VCU Bike Club, which shares plenty DNA with RamBikes, held an “Alley Rat Race” in May to raise money for Southside Releaf and their efforts to install green spaces to cool down Southside Richmond.
“It’s sort of like all these people right in the city that have met each other, and have this passion for sharing knowledge — like finding each other and doing projects together,” Erickson said.
MORE WORK TO DO
The DIY bike community is not perfect, according to Arin and Masha. While its members are progressive, they still suffer from the same faults other spaces do, such as gatekeeping, not always holding people accountable and the same tinge of ongoing racism found across America.
Arin has been bullied on rides, he said. People of color do not always receive the same community opportunities as their white peers and may be treated differently during events. Queer white people still have more to learn when it comes to tailoring events for queer people of color.
“There is the same thing that happens in other communities, where people are just protecting their friends,” Arin said. “I feel like they use leftist language to hide the fact that they don’t treat everyone fairly.”
Some rides built for queer people might turn people away for the sake of creating an inclusive, like-minded environment — but that sentiment is muddied through exclusion, according to Arin and Masha.
“By closing the doors to anybody that doesn’t actively and expressively identify as trans or whatever under the queer umbrella, you are effectively ‘othering’ people who may not know if they are or aren’t [trans] in their head, and they just can’t physically, fully express it,” Masha said.
The DIY bike community has work to do, as individuals and as a collective, according to Masha. Arin said the answer is not clear, but people should at least work to develop a “hiking culture” in which they carry themselves with the same unwarranted friendliness they do on the trail.
“I like waving to random people when I’m biking just to be like ‘I see you,’” Arin said. “‘We’re both on a bike. I don’t care that you’re like 30 years older than me and I literally don’t know you. ’Sup man!’”
Photos by Andrew Kerley.
a Former RamBikes mechanics Arin Larsen (left) and Masha Timina (right) — now employees at Outpost Richmond — pose in their workshop. Photos by Andrew Kerley.
Quote of the week
“In dreams begin responsibilities.”
— Haruki Murakami
A student’s guide to selling your soul
KATIE MEEKER
Opinions and Humor Editor
If you are college-aged and have spent any time online, I am sure you have come across a post joking about “defense engineers” before. Each joke runs along the same line — the seemingly inevitable fate of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed engineering graduates to make Lockheed Martin weapons for $150K a year.
There seems to be an “evil” career route for almost every college major, not just engineering, though a vocation building weapons of mass destruction seems to take the cake. Real estate majors becoming landlords, criminal justice majors chasing to be cops, political science majors turning into lobbyists. This list goes on.
By majoring in English, I figured I would be so far away from any hope of a profitable career and never have to worry about hearing the siren songs of blood money. Generative AI, however, has created careers that have even my most progressive peers leaping overboard to their watery dooms.
The newly emerging field of prompt engineering involves optimizing generative AI responses by providing it with refined and deliberate inputs. According to an article from Forbes, companies such as Anthropic are offering salaries over 300K.
When comparing these big, beautiful and damning numbers to an English major’s median wage, an estimated $60,000 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I understand the appeal.
Not only does the training and operation of generative AI models need an enormous amount of energy, but it also involves deforestation, mining rare earth elements and producing significant amounts of electronic waste. AI also requires considerable amounts of water during construction and for cooling electrical components — so much so that one report estimates global AI-related infrastructure may soon consume over six billion cubic meters, which is more than Denmark’s total annual water withdrawal.
The issues regarding generative AI’s horrendous environmental impact are just the tip of the iceberg. I have not even discussed how AI is slowly sucking the human aspect out of the creative arts. By working with AI, I would essentially become a cog in the very machine taking away jobs from my fellow fine arts majors. I would be stable and happy with a six-figure salary, but I would also become part of the problem.
I do not want to sell my soul at the all-American altar of profitability. I do not want to train AI models to write so they can produce more colorless content, while destroying the environment in the process. When I see that average salary statistic, though, I cannot deny that my resolve starts to weaken.
The never-ending quest for financial security we all go through should not rely upon the concession of morality — yet, sometimes, it does. That is just the world we find ourselves living in.
It is up to every individual to decide on exactly how much they are willing to surrender in the name of capital. Some may be willing to overlook their ethical concerns and some may not.
I am not going to tell you what to do with your life. I will leave you with one thought, though — if you are prepared to disregard your sense of morality for profit, then you have put a price tag on your soul.
Illustration by Niranjana Rathinam.
The death of detail: Modern design is headed in the wrong direction
KYLIE GRUNSFELD
Contributing Writer
While driving on Belvidere Street last week, some friends and I pulled up next to a car that looked both familiar and completely alien. It was, I would soon learn, Volkswagen’s new ID. Buzz — an all-electric “new generation” of their beloved VW Type Two, colloquially known as “the hippie van.”
I was struck by how much duller the ID. Buzz looked in comparison to the original hippie van. Bulky, boring and lacking the charm of the original, it is like a Tesla Cybertruck with rounded edges. In their attempt to achieve a sleek, retro-modern look, VW has effectively stripped the van of the intricacies that made it iconic in the first place. It would be one thing if the van’s visual rebranding was an isolated incident, but it is part of a larger, unfortunate design trend.
In the past few years, we have seen an increasing number
of brands redesign their logos for seemingly no reason, stripping down their existing designs by muting colors, simplifying fonts and sometimes eliminating iconic visuals. This transition to minimalism has been made by brands such as Cracker Barrel, Yves Saint Laurent and Apple.
The result? A brand logo that is less distinguishable from others than it was to begin with.
More than anywhere else in the world, we have seen a gravitation toward minimalism in architecture. It is hard not to notice how uninteresting modern buildings are, especially in comparison to older buildings like what we have here in the city.
Any Richmond lover will rave about how much they enjoy walking through the Fan, observing houses on either side of the street with stained glass windows, Grecian columns and pointed turrets. You could stare for hours at a single house and find hundreds of design details, something you cannot do with the majority of modern architecture. It seems that as time goes on, more
emphasis is placed on the items inside a building than the building itself.
Companies value efficiency above all else, and maximizing efficiency often means sacrificing imagination. Looking back at the death of the hippie van; by creating a minimalistic, futuristic vehicle, Volkswagen is only doing the same as other companies. Still, it is disappointing to think that these companies believe our future should look like a bunch of soulless metal boxes flying down the street as we travel from one bland, blank building to another.
It is no secret that as culture changes, so does art, it is how we respond to the world, and how we respond to the past is going to differ from how we respond in the 2020s.
I am not suggesting we should only follow design trends of the past, but rather take inspiration from how previous designers and architects put care and imagination into their work — such as those who created the hippie van. Not everything needs to be sleek. Frankly, sleek is getting boring.
Superman continues to be the universal symbol of hope in 2025
JALYN THOMAS
Contributing Writer
The newest movie installment in the DC universe, “Superman,” solidified the hero’s known position as the universal symbol of hope.
From saving a squirrel to the citizens of the fictional country of Jarhanpur, director James Gunn brought the character back to the corny heroic persona that we all know and love, showing his humanity because he is not, in fact, a god — unlike Zach Snyder’s depiction of Superman.
While the movie follows many of the story beats typical of other films in the genre — an evil scientist supervillain, multidimensional world-eating wormholes, a plethora of cringeworthy quips — it also establishes real-world relevance through parts of the plot that serve as commentary on current events, including topics such as immigration, police brutality, and war. It is these moments of relevance that solidify Superman as a universal symbol of hope.
One of these instances is the Boravia and Jarhanpur conflict, which viewers casual and critical alike have noted possesses similarities to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Gunn has noticed these conversations about the similarities between the movie and the real-world conflict. He stated in a Variety article that he wrote the script prior to Oct. 7, 2023, and claims the connection was not intentional.
In the same article, political internet personality Hasan Piker claimed that “Superman” is obviously about the genocide in Gaza, and that “anyone involved in the film would be ‘lying’ if they told you it wasn’t an analogy for Israel and
Palestine,” when talking about conservative pundit Ben Shapiro’s review of the film.
On the right wing of the political spectrum, Shapiro said the movie does not align with the facts, repeatedly mentioning the “left-wing brain” when discussing the movie’s politics.
One political aspect the public and Gunn agree on is that “Superman” is about immigration. In an interview, Gunn said Superman is an immigrant, which is how the infamous term “superwoke” came to air on Fox News.
Despite seeing the reviews online, when I finally got to watch the film, I was unprepared for how in-your-face the politics would be. In my opinion, it is refreshing to see. While Gunn claims it is not an analogy for the genocide happening in Gaza, it is hard to ignore the similarities.
“Superman” is one of the most talked-about movies of this year, and thus has generated a lot of controversy over its political messaging. Whether you hated or loved the movie, you cannot ignore its politics and what it means to be so vocal.
“Superman,” which is doing amazing at the box office and is being continuously talked about months after release proves that sugarcoating politics is never the answer. Minimizing the movie to a “left-wing brain,” as Shapiro claims it to be, erases the impact it has on those who are affected by these political topics everyday.
It is important to keep talking about these issues, because they are not going away. Nobody can really hide from them — even in movies as big as “Superman.”
Illustration by Luis Espinosa.
Illustration by Taylor Hiestand.
America
Dies Every Time You Say “FOB”
SHINY CHANDRAVEL
Contributing writer
Your stomach churns from anxiety and seasickness. Amongst muddled foreign accents, only one thing remains coherent — beyond the Statue of Liberty lies opportunity. After enduring brutal physical and mental tests to get to America, you face one more unexpected hurdle: a kid in a VCU sweatshirt, pointing and laughing at you, shouting “FOB.”
FOB stands for “Fresh off the Boat,” and refers to immigrants new to America. The term gained traction during East Asian immigration in the 1970s, and has grown in popularity since. While the term can be used lightheartedly to describe those unfamiliar to American culture, even becoming the title of a popular ABC sitcom, it has since evolved into a divisive label within immigrant communities.
Today, FOB is a casual insult for anyone seen as less “American.” Those who wear thicker accents, dress in cultural attire, or eat ethnic foods are accused of acting “fobby.”
The accusers? Immigrants themselves.
The irony of immigrant-on-immigrant insults may seem trivial, but it reflects a larger historical picture — each
generation faces hostility from their predecessors.
American sentiment on immigration fluctuates like a pendulum, swinging from hostility to apathy. As the pendulum swings, each new group becomes a scapegoat, accused of “stealing from real Americans.” From the Irish of Ellis Island to the South Asian influx of today, the pendulum never stops swinging — simply shifting its target. Today, it may be you, but tomorrow you will be sure to make it someone else.
That is how this game is played. Each immigrant compares assimilation in petty battle, disputing their heavy accents, pop culture fluency and years on U.S. soil. Someone whose parents came in the 90s will make snide remarks about immigrants from the 2000s, who then mock those from the 2010s and so on and so forth.
This is not just some online trend or niche semantic. The word FOB is alive and well at VCU. When I hear my South Asian peers snickering “FOB” at international students or mimicking accents they hear in class, I cringe.
Because all I can think of is my own dad.
Twenty years ago, he was the international student at VCU who barely knew English, who left his family behind, drowning in a foreign culture while unsure how to pay for his next semester.
It is not just my dad who was once the “FOB.” It is every parent, grandparent and relative within our communities. They were all fresh off the boat at some point. It is how we are where we are today.
Now that I am at VCU, I wonder what would have happened if my dad immigrated now. Despite muttering “FOB” under their breath, are those second generation students willing to support new immigrants? Or do our own communities turn up their noses at those they deem not as “American” as themselves?
When we call people FOB, we are complicit in xenophobia — glorifying heritage on American soil as a measure of value. When you feel a sense of superiority that your parents were born here, you are no better than those touting the fact that their heritage goes back to Jamestown colonizers.
Your engagement in the “real American” rhetoric only feeds into a culture that will one day put a target on your back. Every time you point FOB at an international student, you are deluded by your own pride, forgetting that many still see you as foreign, too.
The joke, in the end, is on all of us.
When one group is not welcome in the United States, no one is.
Illustration by Marielle Taylor.
GET THE BALL ROLLING
By Amie Walker & Wendy L. Brandes
126 Susan of “The Partridge Family”
Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzle
“Fire
GET THE BALL ROLLING
Edited by Patti Varol
By Amie Walker & Wendy L. Brandes
1 Slices and dices 2 “The Library Book” writer Susan 3 With 70-Down, “Never would’ve predicted this scenario,” and what can be said about the first word of the answer to each starred clue?
2 “The Library Book” writer Susan 3 With 70-Down, “Never would’ve predicted this scenario,” and what can be said about the first word of the answer to each starred clue?
4 *Request for greater detail
Captain Obvious?”
Cozy lodging
Georgia airport code
Rx regulator 12 *“C’mon, quit pretending to be confused!”
Early app edition 7 Lead by __ 8 Field where accidents are common?
Afternoon snooze
105 Conditional release
107 “Good 4 U” singer Rodrigo
Pros who try to stay balanced?
9 *“Really, Captain Obvious?”
Abbey space
Cozy lodging
110 Culinary school dough?
112 Orgs. that may serve as alternatives to hostels
Goes bad 19 Buys for, as a birthday dinner
Ace
Rx regulator 12 *“C’mon, quit pretending to be confused!”
Romance 29 Nancy Drew’s boyfriend
113 Recurring theme
114 Ring around a lagoon
116 Rapace of “Prometheus”
Afternoon snooze
Pros who try to stay balanced?
“Un __ Loco”: “Coco” song
Abbey space
Shadow 34 Try to hit, as a cat might a laser beam
118 First words of many an alphabet book
119 Central Asian mountain range
120 “No __!”
Goes bad 19 Buys for, as a
Exquisite
Groggy state
Drew’s
Citi Field predecessor 42 Follower of Jah
121 React to a bad joke
122 Vaccine molecule 123 “It’s Gonna Be Me” band 124 Ramona, per Beezus
