nova fortnightly jan. 25 2010
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Volume 45 Issue 1TRANSCRIPT
<< Virginia’s Caverns Just a short drive away from Northern Virginia, these caves are sure to amaze.
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What’s Going On?Check out the Fortnightly calendar for a com-plete list of events at all six campuses and in the community during the next two weeks.
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Who are they? Let’s Focus On. Featuring members in the NOVA community who you may know or get to know.
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NOVA Basketball Roundup >>An overview of the ups and downs of NOVA’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
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Six Campuses,One Community,Every 14 Days.
Jan 25 2010
Vol. 45 Issue 1
The World of Money Laundering
Terracotta InvasionBy Arch ScurlockStaff [email protected]
The latest news is always at NOVAFortnightly.com
Terracotta warriors are invading a National Geographic Society Museum exhibit in Washington. “Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor,” features not only the warriors but artifacts
A standing-room only crowd at the Manassas campus of Northern Virginia Community College got schooled about the ins and outs of international money laundering Jan. 20. It wasn’t a class for credit but a lecture given by FBI Special Agent Debra LaPrevotte and organized by the Lifelong Learning Institute.
By KJ MushungManaging [email protected]
NOVA sponsored its first annual Day of Ser-vice this Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 18. The event coincides with the National Day of Service which always takes place on the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. This NOVA Day of Service included two on-campus and two off-campus events. Both on-campus events, a free vehicle maintenance program and a school sup-ply drive, took place on the Alexandria campus.
The car maintenance service event was per-formed by students of the Drive to Employ-ment, an automotive technology program. They provided free vehicle maintenance services for unemployed and low income clients of three Al-exandria social action agencies including Fairfax Area Christian Emergency Transitional Servic-es, Homestretch and Northern Virginia Family
Students Honor The Dream
Services.The school supply drive collected school sup-
plies and assembled school kits for U.S. troops to distribute to children in Iraq and Afghani-stan through Operation International Children. These supplied items consisted of blunt-edged scissors, 12-inch rulers, pencils, erasers, small pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, notebook pa-per composition books, pocket folders and zip-pered pencil bags.
Acting Dean of Students Dr. Frances Villa-gran-Glover coordinated all of the volunteers as they entered the hallway in front of Parking Services in the Bisdorf Building. She opened up introductions once all of the volunteers signed in and introduced Milan Hayward who regis-tered the volunteers in advance.
Hayward is the Special Assistant for Career and Technical Education and the head of the Drive to Employment Program. He expressed
regrets that there was not enough time to coor-dinate an event for the victims of the Haiti earth-quake. In the spirit of NOVA’s Day of Service, he encouraged attendants to donate to reputable organizations that they felt comfortable with. Then he introduced the new Alexandria campus Provost, Dr. Peter Maphumulo, and invited him to share a few words with the group.
Maphumulo began by thanking the U.S. troops stationed abroad, their families, and the military servicemen and women who volun-teered at the event. Next, he thanked the volun-teers for “giving up time from this sunny day.” Maphumulo said that NOVA is about improv-ing others’ lives and giving hope, and that the event is in keeping with those values.
Looking around the room, one could not help but feel inspired and hopeful. Many from various ages, races and faiths, students and non-students alike, worked side by side as they handed sup-
Photo by Komron Babakhanzoda
By Annie RyanOperations [email protected]
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Volunteers at NOVA’s Day of Service outside the Bisdorf Building in Alexandria.
2 [calendar]
What’s going on this fortnight? Jan 25 – Feb 8
AL - Alexandria AN - AnnandaleLO - Loudoun
MA - ManassasMED - Medical Ed. WO - Woodbridge
Campus Abbreviations
[ Social ]
LO - NOVA DayMeet Loudoun’s clubs and inteerst groups at the NOVA Day festival.Student Lounge Tuesday, Jan. 26th, 12-2pm
LO - Game ShowTuesday, Jan. 26th, 3-4pm student lounge.
AL - NOVA DayCome meet the clubs and interest groups of Alexandria. Wednesday, Jan. 27th, 12:30-2:30pm in the cafeteria.
MA - NOVA DayThe clubs and interest groups of Manassas.
Wednesday, Jan. 27th, Noon-2:30pm at Howsman Hall Cafeteria.
AN - NOVA Day: Real Deal Crazy Game ShowAnswer the trivia questions and if you don’t answer the question correctly participate in a crazy stunt to stay. Prizes include cash. To participate just shwo up.Thursday, Jan. 28th, starts at 12:30pm in the CF cafeteria.
AN - Black Light DanceWelcome back 2010 dance sponsored by the Student Government Association.Friday, Jan. 29th, 8pm-Midnight at the Annandale CF Cafeteria.
[ Movies ]
AL - “Born Into Brothels”
Sponsored by the Women’s Center and the Red Flag Campaign.Jan. 27th at 5pm in Bisdorf 158.
AN - “Law Abiding Citizen”2009 thriller starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. Tells the story of man who tries to exact justice on those who killed his family and the justice system.Friday, Jan 29th 7-9pm at CM 332.
[ Job Events ]
AN - DC Army National GuardWednesday, Jan 27th, 11:30am-2:30pm at CM 327.
[Home Games]
Men’s Basketball vs. Anne Arundel Community CollegeAnnandale. Jan. 25th at 7pm.
NOVA Hockey vs. George Mason UniversityReston Skatequest. Jan. 29th at 11:20pm.
January 25, 2010
Email us about your events at: [email protected]
January 25, 2010 3[news]
Photo courtesy of Kiva
“There’s no line of demarcation between us and the world,” Professor Joseph E. Windham said in his introduction to a video presentation from the founder of Kiva, an international aid organization. Members of Northern Virginia Community College and Phi Theta Kappa gathered on a Saturday afternoon to learn about the impact of microfinancing on developing
countries, particularly through the organization Kiva.
Kiva connects the haves with the have-nots, enabling the privileged to lend to entrepreneurs who otherwise would not have access to capital. For instance a loan of $1,200 could enable an impoverished woman in Cambodia to buy the food needed to open a grocery store. Dozens of middle class lenders donate small amounts of money to form a loan for this entrepreneur. As the business starts to earn money the loan is repaid to
Microfinancing: Teaching a Man To Fishthe donors.
Kiva was founded in November 2005 by Jessica Jackley who says she was inspired by both economics and compassion. As a child in Sunday School, the words of Jesus stuck with her, “When you look out for the least of these, you do it for me.” But she didn’t just want to give a fish to the poor. She wanted to teach them how to fish. So with the inspiration of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Muhammad
Lucinda Alonzo has used loans from Kiva to start a fishing business in the Philippines.
By Joshua [email protected]
Continued on Page 5
FBI Agent Talks About Money Laundeering
FBI Special Agent Debra LaPrevotte speaks at the Manassas campus of NOVA on Jan. 20 about international money laundering.
activities.”The blog of the Supreme Court
of the United States discussed the meaning as being a method to disguise illegally-obtained money by making it appear legitimate -- in
essence, to make “dirty money” look “clean.”
LaPrevotte, an FBI agent for 14 years, spent over an hour telling the Colgan Theater crowd about corrupt foreign leaders and the various methods they have used to smuggle and hide huge sums of money. One of the most common methods used, according to the lecture, involves a country’s leader telling corporations that they cannot do business in their country unless a relative of the leader (usually the spouse or grown child) receives a portion of the profits – sometimes a staggering 30 percent. Billions can be made this way.
Kickbacks and the threat of economic harm, which LaPrevotte said amounts to extortion, are common money laundering schemes. Casinos are also used to launder money, making it appear to be gambling winnings.
Some people will buy the bank in order to make it easier to hide and move illegally-gained funds. That’s what former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavel Lazarenko did, and he received a nine-year prison term for it.
LaPrevotte listed the top
Photo KJ Mushung
Money laundering is defined by YourDictionary.com as: “Making money that is generated through criminal activities appear as if it was earned through legitimate business
money laundering leader as Mohammed Suharto, former president of Indonesia, who the FBI says laundered $15 billion to $35 billion. Suharto died in 2008.
LaPrevotte only had a short time to touch on many aspects of money laundering, so she gave brief examples of different cases. One such case involved El Salvadorian drug runners she had tailed. The FBI followed the suspects to a store and noticed that they were buying lots of lemonade and tea. When they tried to leave the country, a search of their luggage at Dulles International Airport revealed that $40,000 cash was hidden in lemonade and tea bins. According to the agent, the suspects were hoping that the smell of the lemonade and tea would prevent drug-sniffing dogs from smelling the cocaine that may have gotten on the cash.
“We’ll get you,” said LaPrevotte about anyone who might consider using the U.S. to smuggle or hide money.
Your ad could be here, in front of 5,000 eyes.
For more information about our affordable
rates email:[email protected]
Continued from front page
4 [news]January 25, 2010
Terracotta Soldiers Invade DC Museum
from the reign of that first emperor and other terracotta figures. A movie called “The Real Dragon Emperor” was shown at limited times, depicting the life of the first emperor.
The large underground pit containing the terracotta warriors was first discovered in 1974 by a farmer probing for water, 22 miles from the present city of Xi’an. Since that time other pits, not just including warriors, have been discovered around the large burial hill of the first emperor, but the tomb itself has not been excavated.
The exhibit is divided into two parts. The first part has artifacts and descriptions from the time of the first emperor, including weapons, armor, coins, building materials, a wooden model of the imperial palace, and terra cotta figures from the other pits, including palace officials, a menagerie and west stable figures, acrobats, armor, bronze birds, and imperial stable
figures.The second part gives the story
of the famous terracotta warriors, found in three pits, and includes eight full sized figures, as well as exact copies of two bronze chariots found in a burial pit.
The central figure was the first emperor. He was born in 259 BC as Ying Zheng. He became king of Qin (pronounced as “Chin”), the northwestern-most Chinese kingdom, when the death of his father occurred at the age of 13. Although he was young, his mother and a prime minister took control until Zheng ascended to the throne in 238 BC.
Zheng had grand plans for his kingdom and for himself. With a purported army of one million, he systematically began to conquer the other six Chinese kingdoms, completing the task in 222 BC, thus establishing the empire of China which was to exist until 1911. On becoming the first emperor, Zheng immodestly chose
the name Qin Shihuang Di, the First August Sovereign. Qin’s reign boasted many accomplishments in establishing the foundations for the long-lasting empire, but was also notorious for several acts. Large projects were undertaken, including not only his funerary garden but the ten years spent on building the nucleus of the Great Wall.
Qin also had plans for himself, and increased the scope of his funerary garden, begun as the custom on his becoming king. It was estimated that he had about 700,000 slaves working on the project at one time, while he was seeking to recreate the world. This funerary garden was located several miles from the imperial capital of Xianyang, on what grew to be 22 acres.
Qin was also searching for personal immortality in this world, and had projects and expeditions looking for an elixir guaranteeing continued life. Failing that, he was setting up his extravagant funerary
garden to at least continue his life in the afterworld. On a trip around the empire, supposedly accompanied by an army of 60,000, he died, perhaps accidentally, in 210 BC, at the relatively age of around 49.
Unfortunately for Qin, perhaps not expecting such an early death, he had not set up a strong line of succession nor prepared for the empire’s future in his absence, and rebellions soon broke out on the previous six kingdoms. The Qin Empire lasted only until 207 BC, after which the Han Empire was established.
The terracotta warriors were first found in a huge underground pit measuring 250 yards by 70 yards, with the figures arranged in eleven rows separated by dirt walls. The figures included archers, crossbowmen, infantry, and horses and chariots. Later two additional smaller pits were found along with an empty pit. It is believed that 1,000 artisans working in 87 groups fabricated the warriors. The figures were made of clay, assembled in stages, and then painted.
About 1,000 warriors have been reconstructed, and another 150 are in process. It is believed that there are another 6,000 undiscovered warriors still buried.
The featured part of the exhibit on the terracotta warriors includes depictions of the making and assembling of the slightly larger than life size figures and chariot horses, and then eight actual warriors. Especially interesting were a charioteer decked out in so much armor that he seemed to resemble a tank and a high ranking general, decked out in ribbons and having a stout figure.
Another highlight of this area was the meticulous copies of two half size bronze chariots led by four horses, each inlaid with gold and silver. The emperor was going in style in the afterlife.
No photography is allowed in the
exhibition, so visitors are finally able to bring out the camera at the exit of the exhibit, where a lone copy of a warrior that you can photograph yourself with.
The exhibit wanders through a number of rooms which contained descriptions on the wall and separate brief descriptions of the artifacts, sometimes in cases and sometimes in the open. The artifact descriptions are limited, but this helps not to overwhelm the visitor with details.
The terracotta exhibit continues until March 31st. Regular hours from 10a.m.-6p.m every day, with extended hours to 9p.m. on Wednesdays. Ticket prices are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and $8 for 10 or more groups. It is $5 for an audio guide. Two hundred free tickets for Wednesday nights are distributed starting at 5:30 pm of that day, though expecting that would require a lengthy stay in line.
Online tickets, staged for one-half hour entrances and more information are available at www.warriorsDC.org. The movie, “The Real Dragon Emperor”, is free and viewed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and Saturdays at noon and 2 pm only on 1/30, 2/27, and 3/27 in the adjacent auditorium.
Photo courtesy of National Geographic
A standing archer is among the many different terracotta figures on display at the National Geographic Society Museum.
Continued from front page
5[news] January 25, 2010
NOVA’s Day of ServiceContinued from Page 1
Photo by Komron Babakhanzoda
Volunteers help to pack school supplies during NOVA’s Day of Service at the Alexandria campus.
Yunus’ work on economics and microcredit, she started Kiva.
Besides empowering the poor, Kiva is at the forefront of a new type of organization. Kiva relies on buzzwords like crowdsourcing, open source, and Web 2.0, the ideas behind web sites like Wikipedia and YouTube. What this means is Kiva is people powered, not just with their monetary loans, but with people who donate their time to make Kiva operationally better.
Volunteers have created iPhone apps, desktop widgets and third-party web sites that integrate with Kiva. Volunteers also help to translate progress reports, saving Kiva the money of hiring translators.
The crowdsource ethos plugs into what Jackley founded Kiva for, to connect people. Donors don’t just invest money. They are personally invested. They choose which entrepreneurs to invest in based on the goals of that business, various disadvantages of the entrepreneur, such as being female in a male-dominated country or a person with an amputated limb. The entrepreneur provides regular reports, letting donors know how the business is doing.
After the film, Windham moderated a lively discussion in which students and faculty asked questions and discussed the film. One man wanted to know how Kiva
prevents fraud, particularly a large group of con artists subverting the system. Another participant replied that all lending systems have fraud, as was just recently witnessed with the economic collapse of 2008.
However, Kiva is not without controversy. Its veneer of truly connecting people has come into question because of its loan practices. There are third-party organizations that actually distribute the money to borrowers. An entrepreneur will come to such an organization, which will approve the loan and then upload that person’s profile to the Kiva web site. In other words, the money that lenders give is actually going to a loan organization, not an individual. Kiva even admits as much on its web site saying they enable their partners “to do more of what they do.”
There were also questions on how this affects individuals, NOVA and the entire community. The obvious but unanswered solution was that if people know of a better way to empower the poor we should do so. Loaning to those in developing countries “rewards the pleasure centers” of the brain as one participant said, but many wanted to know how to help in their community. The group, as well as Jackley, seemed at loss for how to apply such a model in America. Participants seemed genuinely interested in helping the “least of these,” however discussions soon went to just donating money and goods to the various non-profit partners of the Tau Nau chapter of Phi Theta Kappa.
More information about Kiva can be found online at www.kiva.org.
KIVA
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plies in an assembly line to assemble school supply kits. It was wonderful to see them all gathered in a place of learning to care for our neighbors in the Middle East in the name of one of the greatest justice seekers and peacemakers of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The volunteers were reminded of King’s dream in a power point pre-sentation before they were dispatched to their volunteer stations. The first slide stated, “We have an opportunity to make our nation better.”
Then that iconic gospel-rhythmic voice rang out, “I have a dream.” Pictures of American children jux-taposed to pictures of children from Iraq and Afghanistan were shown. Worlds apart, the children were pho-tographed in classrooms not so very different from one another.
Then the Operation International Children photos were presented. Gary Senise, who played Lt. Dan in the movie Forrest Gump, partici-pated in a distribution event in 2004. There were also photos that the me-dia does not portray, a child touch-ing a military man’s hand and photos of children’s faces when they receive their school supply kits. There were looks of understanding that Ameri-can hands can heal and love even in a time of war. American servicemen’s faces seemed to show that Iraqi and Afghani students have so much to offer the world. The presentation was enough to inspire and move volun-teers into action.
One NOVA student volunteer, Liberal Arts major Kimberly Kirtz said she was inspired to give of her day. “Volunteering is worth it, be-cause even though you don’t actu-ally get anything, you do because you know you helped.” The school supply
drive was a perfect fit for her since she plans to major in education when she transfers to a four year education program once she graduates from NOVA.
Brett Oye, History major and Honors Program student, represent-ed three Alexandria campus clubs at the event, the Student Government Association, Students for Social Ac-tion Awareness and United Students for Social Reform. Oye was inspired to participate because, “This is my campus. I want to be a teacher, so this event holds a particular importance to me.” He had support from some-one special too, his girlfriend.
Students who volunteered were sometimes from Alexandria elemen-tary schools and they brought their parents. Among these was the vol-unteer registrar Hayward’s own son. However, community members and NOVA faculty and administrators were an important demographic of the participants.
Arnie Malin of the Annandale Human Resources Department at-tended. Malin normally purchases
food for the Culinary Department at the Annandale Campus, but was pleased to help out with the service opportunities. The school supply drive happened to be the only pro-gram with openings left. The Day of Service came to his attention through his NOVA email account.
Malin plans to volunteer again next year and said, “Everybody ought to volunteer. Everybody should par-ticipate in the spirit of volunteering.” The hallway filled with enthusiastic volunteers, within the first 20 min-utes of the event.
When asked what he thought Martin Luther King Jr. would say about the activities done in his name on that day, looking around, Malin replied, “Bravo!”
The next MLK Day of Service will take place on Jan. 17th, 2011. For more information, you may contact Milan Hayward at 703-323-2263 or [email protected].
idly and, without a health insurance system, people can save money.
The health insurance system should be eliminated because not everyone in the U.S. can afford to pay for insurance in order to get medical treatment with a discount. Moreover, health insurance does not make quality medical treatment equally available to all of the people. In the past, all people were equal when they had to pay for doctor’s advice or medicine. Now, however, people are forced to buy an insur-ance plan and pay about $11,000 per year for a family of four and only then do they get the discount for doctor’s skill and prescription for medicine.
Here is what happened to a per-son who could not buy such a dis-count: a Florida Hospital in Or-lando, Fla., charged an uninsured patient $35,200 for an appendec-tomy. A typical insurer would have paid the hospital $7,000 for the same procedure. Medicare would have paid $6,200. For the uninsured Florida patient, the bill represented a 403 percent premium over the price an insured patient would have been charged, and 468 percent over Medicare.
It looks like hospitals raise prices for uninsured on purpose, so that uninsured people will hurry to buy insurance as fast as possible. The worst thing is that hospitals claim they do not overcharge uninsured.
In 2004, a hospital association of-ficial told the Miami Herald: “They [the uninsured] don’t pay higher rates. It’s that they don’t get dis-counts. That’s the whole concept of group purchasing. You negotiate a deal. Individuals don’t get the deal. This is not rocket science, and it is not new to economics.”
As noted before, medicine is a business and doctors are salesman. It does not seem like doctors want to help ill people but take an advantage of them and make money by way of overcharging patients. Moreover, medical special interests convinced
6 [thoughts]January 25, 2010
Americans Don’t Need a Health Insurance System
The high cost of health insur-ance cost is a real problem in the United States of America. Before the mid-19th century, the relation-ship between doctors and patients was simple: the patient paid money in exchange for the doctor’s advice, skill and medicines. In order to win acceptance as professionals and be perceived as something more than commercial businessmen, doctors needed to persuade the public that they were acting out of knowledge rather than self-interest and profit. Organized medicine built a sys-tem of formal education, licensing, health insurance, examinations and professional discipline, all meant to assure that doctors’ recommenda-tions were based on medical science and helped needed patients, but it was not meant to be profit seeking. It took the growth of health insur-ance to create a system in which a doctor really did not need to think about patients’ financial income in weighing their clinical needs, so long as the patient was insured. However, in practice, medicine stayed as a business, and doctors were more like salesman. In present days, not every-one can afford health insurance.
According to professors David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhan-dler, “Because these individuals can-not pay for it, they do not get needed care, and many die as a consequence. The most credible estimate of the number of people in the United States who have died because of a lack of medical care was provided… They concluded that almost 100,000 people die in the United States each year because of lack of needed care — three times the number of people who died of AIDS.”
Here are three main reasons why the health insurance system should be eliminated: not everyone in the U.S. can afford it, the number of un-insured Americans is growing rap-
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January 25th, 2010Volume 45, No. 1
Advisor Dr. Jimmie R. McClellan
Editor-in-Chief Joshua E. Davis
Managing EditorKJ Mushung
Operations Manager Annie Ryan
Training DirectorKJ MushungWeb Editor
Joshua DavisOff Campus Editor
Alex SchamisThoughts Editor
Emily PfisterCopy Editors
Tamika TaylorDesign Director
Lori MilaniDesigners
Joseph DurrelRuben Tipparach
Staff Reporters Grecia Balboa
Hunter ForteJamal Jones
Arch Scurlock Tamika Taylor
Maria SiocoStaff Photographers
Komron BabakhanzodaNudrat Siddiqui
Lucy Tobultok
Northern Virginia Community College does not control the content of this publication.The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent those of NVCC, its faculty, s taf f or students. The editorial policy and content of this publication are solely those of the organization and not of the college.
© 2010 NOVA Fortnightly
politicians to shut down free clinics for the poor years ago. Rather than allow them to reopen, socialized medicine advocates claim that the high cost of health care is the fault of people who refuse to buy insur-ance and who run to an emergency room instead every time they have a problem. The health insurance system makes things even worst for both the insured and uninsured in a way as the insured have to pay thou-sands of dollars even when they do not require medical treatment and the uninsured do not have any access to a “normal” treatment. The ones who benefit from the insurance sys-tem are doctors and clinics because in 2002 Health Care Authority overcharged uninsured Americans by $2.1 billion, which is horrifying. Health insurance has nothing to do with taking care of people’s health; it is a money-making strategy for medical structure. If there was no health insurance, people would re-ceive equal medical treatment and charge for medical service.
The health insurance system should be eliminated because it be-comes more expensive and unafford-able day by day. According to Robert J. Mills and Snaiesh Bhandari, “The share of the population without health insurance rose in 2002, the second consecutive annual increase. An estimated 15.2 percent of the population or 43.6 million people were without health insurance cov-erage during the entire year in 2002, up from 14.6 percent in 2001, an in-
crease of 2.4 million people.” Even hardworking people cannot
afford it because of its cost. Unin-sured people risk losing their sav-ings and assets when they suddenly become ill and undergo major sur-gery or face long term hospital care. Those fears can lead to depression. People with low income and even the middle class might face the di-lemma of choosing between health care and their children’s future edu-cation or retirement savings.
Middle class families, which are a cornerstone of the American econ-omy, become vulnerable facing new challenges to have access to one of the best health care systems in the world. Poor and retired people who are eligible for Medicare or Medic-aid have access to a limited number of healthcare facilities and doctors who provide low-quality healthcare. Even those people have sort of free healthcare: the money come from middle class tax payers and insured patients. It looks like health care can afford lower and upper classes skip-ping middle class. The Lower Class is eligible for many of the govern-ment’s assisting healthcare programs and the upper class have no problem paying for health insurance. Govern-ment spending on security and mili-tary programs has increased dramat-ically but spending on healthcare of their own citizens has not changed. Safety and Global security are very important, but in the 21st century people from middle class should and must have full access to advanced
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7[thoughts] January 25, 2010
2000. Average out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-payments for medications and co-insurance for physician and hospital visits rose 115 percent during the same period.”
American citizens do not need ascending prices for health care but affordable access to it. Instead of lowering prices for medical care and giving the ability to citizens to save more money, the authority behind the health insurance system multi-plies it. Then, there are such state-ments in news papers like this one, “The number of uninsured or under-insured people in the United States is estimated to be about 46 million... they sit on the edge of catastrophe.”
It is not people’s fault that they cannot afford it but an imitation of catastrophe exposed by the health insurance system. People could save money and put them into assets in-stead of overpaying for health insur-ance.
Health insurance has created many problems since it was brought into the society. Many people have to make a decision between death and huge debt when they get in-jured. Average Americans, new citizens or permanent residents have to think twice in case of an injury about whether they want to save their lives or get into an insane debt due to the lack of money to pay for the insurance. Health insurance pol-icy may be charged with violation of Constitution and human rights. In the Constitution it says that all men are created equal. By creating health insurance, the government says that not all men are equal since not all can afford to receive equal medi-cal care. The people who worked all their lives cannot afford to enjoy retirement because they wasted too many thousands of dollars on health insurance that they might have not even used. The government should closely examine the effects of health insurance on the nation in order to follow one of the major rules written in Constitution and allow people to afford fulfillment of their basic need – medical care.
medical care. Therefore, statistics are against that statement and more and more uninsured middle class fami-lies in the U.S. Healthcare insurance should be eliminated because it is leaving hard-working citizens who are building America day after day without affordable health care.
The health insurance system should be eliminated in order to give American citizens their right to save more money. Carla Howell said, “In-dividuals and families that invest the money they would otherwise spend on medical insurance can build a nest egg worth over $100,000 in just five years. In 10 years it could grow to over $250,000 –- enough to cover a major health care catastrophe. If they continue to enjoy good health, they can retire as millionaires.”
The health insurance system works out only for the medical struc-ture which increases prices on medi-cal care. People spend tons of money on health insurance instead of other more important necessities such as their children’s education. Most par-ents in the United States start sav-ing for their child’s education from the time the child is born but what should non-American parents do? For example, if somebody moved to the U.S. from France or Italy he is required to get health insurance for his family in order to make sure that if something happens, he at least has a chance to pay for his or his family member’s recovery but what happens to the children’s education? Also, retirement suffers from it. If an American citizen who earns an average salary has health insurance that he might not even use, he will not have enough money for retire-ment and will not be able to enjoy it after working for so many years. Other countries such as Canada and Russia do not require health insur-ance, and people are satisfied.
According to the National Coali-tion on Health Care, “The average employee contribution to company-provided health insurance has in-creased more than 143 percent since
HEALTHCARE Anime Culture
Anime: randomness, perversion and unexpected. One word: kawaii! Here’s a brief education on what it is for non-otaku (“otaku” meaning people who are obsessed with an-ime, video games, etc.) One defini-tion of anime from AllWords.com was “an artistic style used in Japa-nese animation that has also been adopted by some artists in America and other countries.” Shows created by manga artists, are spoken in English or Japanese. However, it depends on whether the U.S. dis-tributor could dub over the original language or insert subtitles for the show. I remember my first anime was Sailor Moon. It was about Usagi (Serena) Tsukino, a young Japanese school girl, who uncovered that she wasn’t an average high
school student but a super hero as well. She transforms Sailor Moon, leader of all the Sailor scouts: Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus. Along with the scouts, there’s a mystery man in a mask called Tuxedo Mask who was also known as Darien “Mamoru” Chiba on Earth. They must “right wrongs and triumph over evil” and protect the city of Tokyo from vil-lains who want to enslave the Earth and entire universe. It’s comical, romantic and dramatic which was what drew me to this show until the show ended the series on a heartwarming note.
Every day after school around 3:30 p.m., I would run upstairs to my mother’s room, turn the TV to the Cartoon Network and bounce around to the opening theme song… Well, not really “bounce around,” but you get the idea. I always compared myself to Serena
and how she was so clumsy and a cry baby. Anyone who watched the show could remember those days where they had a “Serena moment.”
Sailor Moon soon transitioned to Pokemon, and I had my own col-lection of Pokemon cards. In high school, I was an avid lover for the Japanese arts and still am today. I’ve gone to conventions like Katsucon and out of the state to Hartford, Conn., to go to Connecticon in the past several years. I own wall scrolls, over 50 mangas – which are modern Japanese-style comic books -- magazines, a few DVDs, and the list goes on.
Besides myself, there are others who love it.
NOVA student Kat Kimes started watching Sailor Moon when she was about 10 years old. She’s partially blind but is able to read and enjoy colored mangas. As a huge fan, Kimes admired their drawing style.
“I don’t watch other things besides anime, mostly documenta-ries,” Kimes said. She also said that she loves fantasy more than anime but doesn’t appreciate how Sci-Fi and Fantasy are put together. When people think “fantasy”, Kimes stat-ed, “They prefer to fantasy as sci-fi, not as its own genre.” Clarabelle Rosales, another fanatic, started out with Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z at age 7. In Sailor Moon, she liked Sailor Mercury’s uniqueness and how she stood out, unlike the other scouts, as well as her powers.
“There are some anime I like and others I don’t,” she said. Rosales loves anime and is among those who are partially obsessed with it. She said that she watches it at least twice a day. At conventions, known as “cons,” there are many events that take place. There are musical performances from Japanese pop or rock singers. There have been celebrities like Ellen Muth from Dead Like Me who attended a panel to talk about her show at Connecticon 2007. There’s a shop-
By Tamika TaylorStaff [email protected]
Photo by KJ Mushung
Japanese costume designer Yaya Han poses at Katsucon 15 in full anime regalia that she made herself.
Continued on Page 11
8 [thoughts]January 25, 2010
Reiki Is a Healing Hobby for NOVA StudentPhoto by Lucy Tobultok
Emily Pfister demonstrates Reiki on a patient.
Got an opinion? Share it, and maybe we
can publish it in our thoughts section.
By Emily PfisterThoughts [email protected]
I regularly volunteer to lay hands on or over people lying on a massage table to help them relieve stress, deal with cancer treatments or handle other issues in their lives. This NOVA student has made Reiki her favorite hobby. Believe it or not, there is nothing more involved in the treatment beyond focusing your attention on someone. I use symbols and mantras to focus and channel energy to them so they can heal from just about anything. Like Japanese food, learning about Reiki just doesn’t appeal to everyone or and may not be something that just anyone finds easy to swallow.
Reiki, (pronounced ray-key) a system of spiritual and physical healing, was created in Japan in the time between 1910 and 1920 by Mikao Usui. Usui was a Tendai Buddhist. According to Browen
and Frans Steine, he came from a Samurai family and was dedicated to religious service at birth. Moribei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido martial arts, was said to be a close acquaintance of Usui.
There is something romantic about these men. They were both noblemen from Samurai families and devoted to improving the bodies and minds of men through developing rituals that elevate their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. In their book, Reiki Fire, Frank Arjava Pettzer and Chettna M. Kohashi translated part of an inscription on the memorial stone at Usui’s Tokyo grave to say: “If Reiki can be spread throughout the world it will touch the human heart and the morals of society. It will be helpful for many people, and will not only heal disease, but the Earth as a whole.”
I guess it would be great if I could say that this rich history of the rituals drew me to Reiki, but I didn’t learn any of that until I had received
many, many treatments. I didn’t even know what the word meant. I guess what got me interested in working with cancer patients in the hospital and with a Reiki Center was my own forays experimenting with different therapies to relieve stress and cure a toothache that wouldn’t go away. My narrative isn’t as romantic or impressive as the Tale of the Discovery of Reiki. Usui supposedly fasted on a mountain for 21 days before a great sphere of light appeared to him and gave him the ability to heal with his hands, eyes and mind. I just had a toothache!
Reiki is actually a combination of two Japanese words. Rei means spirit or spiritual and Ki is translated to mean energy of life in Japanese. The true meaning of this ‘spiritual energy’ system was always meant to be revealed over time to the practitioners by seasoned practitioners called Reiki Masters. Today, Reiki students understand that the system is passed down
through direct apprenticeship to a Reiki Master and that they become part of a ‘lineage’ or a spiritual line of practitioners that can be directly traced to Usui. Lineage charts can be found in all Reiki training centers, and students understand that they must go to a Reiki Master or trainer to receive a special series of attunements or reiju. The Steine’s explain that Usui based his reiju on a Buddhist ceremony called (in English) Dharma for protecting the body.
To be a Reiki practitioner, you have to go through a series of reiju and learn different techniques to sense the energy field that naturally surrounds people. There are three attunements set up to instruct people in the art of Mastership of Reiki. I had to go through rituals which caused me to see colors, people, places and aspects of my own psyche. The details surrounding the reiju are only made available to students of Reiki. Laying on of hands in stationary positions over my torso was involved. As soon as I underwent my first attunement, I would touch my head and feel what I can only describe as liquid heat come out of my hands to comfort me. One time I treated a drunken friend, who later told me that the treatment was a total buzz kill!
Amy Rowland, an American author who was attuned by professional psychic Reverend Beth Grey, says in her book Intuitive Reiki for our Times that “Reiki enhances intuition just as it enhances the natural ability that we all have to bring healing through touch.” Whether it is sobering up drunk people, experiencing comforting ‘heat’ or just visualizing the answers to tough problems, Reiki enhances our natural ability to be healthy and complete people. A person can get addicted working with Reiki, though. What would be better than
volunteering to hold your hands over people and feel comforting sensations that make you feel good about yourself? I have seen people recover from headaches, joint pain and the negative effects of cancer treatment. It’s a rush. As far as hobbies go, this is one of my all-time favorites. And I definitely love working with students, especially when mid-terms and finals come around.
According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, 1.2 million American adults had used Reiki or another alternative energy healing therapy. There is no professional license for Reiki practitioners as of yet, and it is not covered by insurance. The reason I practice Reiki is because it makes me feel that I am really tapping into a spiritual force to help people heal. More and more hospitals are incorporating Reiki therapy into cancer and AIDS treatment programs. And, one day, working as a massage therapist, a nurse or a doctor, I will get to live my dream and incorporate my Reiki skills into my work at a hospital or clinic.
9[downtime] January 25, 2010
“No writing is really real.” — Prof. Raymond Orkwis
“My dreams are a very active part of my life,” Annandale English instructor Raymond Orkwis said, right after stressing the importance of strict realism in life-planning essays. Orkwis’ outlet for those dreams is poetry, occasionally published, sometimes heard in coffee-houses, and usually, as he says, “surreal.”
“No writing is really real, is it?” said Orkwis. “Fiction is basically a lie. Do you try to portray a picture of the world that fits with the world’s rules?”
His opinion of poetic fantasy notwithstanding, Orkwis does place a high value on rules and order. He follows grammatical prescriptivism, and even in casual conversation, he does his part to keep the more obscure words in the English language alive.
Orkwis said he assigned his Developmental English students “an encomium.” Before composing
what we could enjoy.Why does it matter? Distracted
by other theorists, Orkwis never got a chance to comment on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which links language with the transmission of culture.
That what scholars call “modern English” has changed since it first became “modern” around 600 years
this essay in praise of their heroes, he said they had to dig the word out of the dictionary and breathe life into it.
Without Orkwis’ contribution and that of other English teachers, the living English language – the commonly used, existing, widely understood English language with all its underlying concepts – might shrink like a messy grape popsicle in the summer sun. We might waste
ago goes without saying. Orkwis said he identifies with William Safire when it comes to the meaning of words themselves. Safire, said Orkwis, had an idea of language which “was not prescriptive, but descriptive. [According to Safire] a word means what people believe it to mean.”
Why the seeming contradiction between the conservation of old
rules and the acceptance of new meanings?
“I have to teach [students] not the rules, so much, but the logic,” said Orkwis. “Words go in the sentence with a certain amount of power. My students see it as random. The more you use the tools [for understanding sentence construction], the more of a critical thinker you become. This
Teacher keeps English’s aspects alive
Professor Raymond Orkwis speaks about the English language in his office.
will help them as teachers tell them they need to vary their sentences.”
If students see this teacher’s opinions as unimportant in the wider world, they may lose one of their best sources of influence and success. Students may also become less adept at spotting eloquent lies, or seeing the warping of truth in advertising and politics.
“When I was in grad school, Foucault was the darling of the social revolution,” Orkwis said. “It had become a social matter rather than intellectual. The idea of power was more that if you controlled the discourse, you controlled the actions of people who lived under that discourse.”
Though he links knowledge and use of grammar rules to ordered, logical and abstract thinking, Orkwis is capable of embracing many writers who have defenestrated the rules for a reason.
“Susan Howe, a favorite writer of mine, is constantly stretching the rules,” Orkwis said. “Heather McHugh also[is a favorite],” he added, noting McHugh’s clever play with polysemy.
Orkwis also said he admired “how Cummings and Dickinson played with punctuation – with the sound and feel of it. Dickinson had blips of ideas that don’t connect seamlessly.”
Surprises – the diametric opposite of clichés – especially please him. The Naming of Parts, by World War II-era poet Henry Reed, struck him because Reed “compared a drill sergeant telling soldiers how to load their rifles with spring.”
“When I use a phrase that’s commonly used, I do so to undercut it – probably not as much as I want to,” Orkwis said. “If you don’t put yourself out there, what’s the point? You have to be who you are to the point where you couldn’t be anyone else, nor could anyone else be you.”
Students unafraid of the public
viewing their best work – their non-generic, personal work – have a chance at publication. Orkwis, who has taught at NOVA since 1999, is a managing editor of the literary magazine at the Annandale campus, Calliope. This publication, which accepts submissions only from students taking classes at NOVA Annandale, is highly selective according to Orkwis, making it a nice challenge to submit, an honor to be published and hopefully a joy to read for those who haven’t yet picked up a copy.
With English, there is always something to learn, even subconsciously. There is always something to aspire to, and a person can become a better writer by reading. “When the light goes on,” Orkwis said, speaking of his Developmental English students, “it never goes off.”
Photo by Victor Salcedo
More news is online atnovafortnightly.com
By Christine BoyceSpecial to the NOVA Fortnightly
10 [downtime]January 25, 2010
Milos Crvic, In Love With Dancing
Milos Crvic is an international student at NOVA’s Woodbridge campus. He was born in Belgrade, the capitol of Serbia, in 1989. He started dancing at the age of 10 while attending elementary school. The only reason for dancing, at that time, was to get to know a girl he liked. After a few years, the girl and most of the new friends left the dance school, giving Crvic an opportunity to think of the real reason for attending the school. At some point he wanted to quit but then realized that his love for dancing would not let him do it. Over the years passion for dancing grew, and he continued learning new techniques.
Crvic came to the United States in 2007 as a foreign exchange student to complete his senior year at Woodbridge Senior High School. There, he was involved in dancing section at the Center for Performing Arts, where he performed twice during that his senior year. After graduation he went to Serbia for a summer break but came back to the U.S. as an international student majoring in business administration.
Since 2007 until present time, he has been a member of Capitol Movement Project and Woodbridge Academy of Dance. He has performed in both of the companies and has also been volunteering and teaching at WAD since 2007.
Crvic’s friends set up a workshop for him when he visited his home country for the second time, during the summer of 2009. There were about 35 to 40 people at the workshop, which was “a bigger turnout than expected,” Crvic said.
Woodbridge Academy of Dance is a dance school that offers different styles of dance to people of all ages. In 2008, the Prince William Chamber
of Commerce has recognized the Woodbridge Dance Company as the “best cultural and arts organization of the year,” According to the WAD web site. It won a lot of competitions over the last few years, and there is an upcoming competition in Pennsylvania where WAD will participate.
Teachers at WAD are highly trained. Lucetta Furr, the artistic director, is a Julliard alumna who has been teaching at WAD for seven
years. Woodbridge Academy of Dance is a home of the Woodbridge Dance Company, a nonprofit organization that organizes two recitals, one in December and one in June, every year. Though Crvic is volunteering and teaching at WAD and dancing in most of the performances, his GPA is 4.0. He should be given a round of applause for being able to take on that much responsibility and succeed.
Crvic is planning to get his B.S.
in business and M.B.A. in dancing. He already applied and got accepted in business and dance programs at G.M.U., Missouri State University and Shenandoah University. But he decided to finish NOVA first and then reapply.
After he is done with studying, Crvic may go back to Serbia and open his own dance company or stay in the U.S. to work in the financial field and, at the same time, teach dance and perform.
He said, “As long as you have a goal and somebody is supporting you in reaching it, if you give your all, nothing can stop you. Life is short – live it to the fullest.”
More information about the Woodbridge Dance Company can be found at www.woodbridgedancecompany.com.
Photo by Vadym Guliuk
Woodbridge Academy of Dance performing at the Lake Ridge community event around Halloween. Left to right: Kelly Ludwig, Ravyn Tynes, Milos Crvic, and Michelle Purdy.
By Vadym GuliukPhotography [email protected]
11[downtime]
A Centreville-based band is set to hit the airwaves and the local music clubs this spring. Their music, a fusion of piano and violin instrumentals set to an electronica backdrop, challenges its audience to redefine rock music.
The Black Cat is filled with admiring fans, and the two-member ensemble with a flair for the theatrics captured their hearts and pulled in their attention to the musical spectacle. Alex Gioeli, 19, has always dreamed for this scene to come to fruition. Turn a pedestrian gaze at Gioeli and see nothing out of the seemingly mundane college sophomore. Open an inquiring eye and see a passionate and ambitious musician looking to make it big one day.
When he’s not studying at Northern Virginia Community College, Gioeli is a musician in his band, Glass I, with girlfriend Erin Lindgren.
“Our music is modern emotional music using classical instruments,” he said, excitement sparkling in his eyes.
Inspired by the likes of Radiohead, Amanda Palmer and Incubus, Gioeli writes songs as naturally as he breathes air. He uses computer programming to record electronic beats, to which he adds piano and drums to the mix. Lindgren plays the violin and is the co-lead vocals of the band.
“She has an incredible voice,” Gioeli said of his bandmate’s soulful crooning.
Glass I is nothing short of a creative and theoretical approach to rock music. The band is not afraid of blazing a new trail and creating a sub-genre of its own.
“It’s very different from the normal rock band line-up of guitar, drum, bass and vocals, but that doesn’t mean we don’t make music that you can rock out to. We’re doing a lot
of experimentation with different vocal techniques, and both of us are learning a lot about what our instruments can do with every new song that we write,” Lindgren added.
The musical chemistry between the Gioeli and Lindgren can be attributed to their relationship outside the band. Having met two years ago at a mutual
January 25, 2010
Through the Looking Glass
friend’s concert, their love for music drew them together.
Lindgren was classically trained vocally and has been playing the violin for eight years. Gioeli, on the other hand, learned the piano by himself. He started playing with the instrument first when he was in the second grade, but it was only last year
when he took the initiative to learn it.
Upon driving home with Amanda Palmer playing on the airwaves, he was suddenly struck with the inspiration to learn the piano. According to Gioeli, Palmer wasn’t trained, nor could she read music notes, but was determined to learn it by herself. Gioeli took this as his cue to learn the piano and create his own music.
Lindgren recalls that Gioeli spent five hours just learning how to play. “He is still teaching himself piano and doesn’t know how to read music, but that doesn’t stop him at all,” she stated.
When asked to paint a picture of his future, Gioeli said that he would want to be touring or writing for his second or third album in five years. If music doesn’t work out, he plans to work for a music magazine in New York to buy time until he can tour.”
Music is the only option for Gioeli, and he is working hard to get to where he wants to be. He wants to be able to connect with his fans through his music, and be able to reach out to them in a way that language alone can’t.
“I want them to be able to say that my music saved their [lives],” he said adamantly, his eyes full of promise.
The band already played in Jaxx Nightclub in Springfield last October. They’re looking to score more gigs this year, specifically hoping to play in Jammin’ Java in Vienna and the Black Cat in D.C.
The local music clubs should make way, and people should start taking notice. Glass I started recording this winter. The band has songs available on their MySpace page at myspace.com/glassi, and is set to create new songs that will hopefully find their way to local airwaves.
Alex Gioeli and Erin Lindgren perform together in the band Glass I.
If you would like NOVA Fortnightly to focus on your favorite teacher, student or NOVA employee, please email us: [email protected]
Photo by Lucy Tobultok
ping area for mangas, anime, costumes, bags, wall scrolls and pretty much whatever you can imagine. At cons, raves are held from around 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. People dress up in costumes, some handmade, and weapons while making random outbursts -- one of my favorite being “you lose the game.”
Many people role-play char-acters from Bleach and Naruto, while others were Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Joker from The Dark Knight or Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. Every year at a “con,” people have topped duplications of characters and have succeeded well. Anime conventions are places for gamers to go where they have any game system available and competitions like Dance Dance Revolution.
Personally, I hope to see a Guitar Hero competition be-cause I would definitely sign-up.
For all those gamers out there, I’ve seen two people become Master Chief from Halo and Link from Zelda.
Anime culture has ways of making people feel like they are a particular or favorite anime character (how?) or can just be themselves. Non-fanatics could see anime as something childish, but doesn’t everyone have some-thing they love so much that they would go to extremes to be that person or fictional char-acter? It is like an underworld for otaku everywhere. They can be whoever they want, and reactions would be either hugs or getting their photos taken. Going to cons is like attending an annual family reunion except there’s a good amount of people who keep in contact with one another when it’s over. Anime is not just reading and watching Japanese cartoons and comics, it is about having a piece of Japan in our own country.
ANIMEContinued from page 7
By Maria SiocoStaff Reportermsioco@novafor tnight ly.com
12 [downtime]January 25, 2010
Actor Talks About American Indians and Hollywood in the 21st Century
Tatanka Means, actor, stuntman, boxer and artist, was recently a guest speaker in the Ernst Cultural Center at the Annandale campus. Tatanka is the son of Russell Means, the 1970’s American Indian Movement activist and actor, known for his roles in such movies as Last of the Mohicans (1992), Natural Born Killers (1994), and Pathfinder (2007). Tatanka’s mother is a Navajo educator on the Navajo
Reservation in Chinle, AZ. In spite of his approaching
wedding, merely three days away, Tatanka Means took time out of his busy schedule to share with a full audience how he got into show business. His first role was as a lead stunt double in Black Cloud in 2004. “After working as a stunt man, I decided I wanted to be an actor,” Tatanka said to his rapt listeners. So four months later he
got an agent in Albuquerque, NM. When Tatanka is not acting or
boxing, he performs as a stand-up comedian. His acts are geared toward American Indian humor, which he described as “fun and crazy. It’s just purely addicting.” He proved that his statement was valid when the NOVA crowd at the ECC picked up on all his punch lines.
Tatanka’s comedy act spoke to the changing role of American Indians in Hollywood and addressed the John Wayne movie stereotypes of yesteryear. Unfortunately, images do die hard. Indians are usually portrayed as dirty, “not wearing Nikes,” and stuck in the 17th Century. There are a lot of American Indians in Hollywood who are forging new stories and roles for themselves. This groundbreaking work includes Smoke Signals (1998), Skins (2002) and The Burrowers (2008).
While American Indian stereotypes are inaccurate and problematic, there are current significant challenges that exist on reservations are even worse. Having the same technological advantages as many public schools around the country does not stop heinous crimes from taking place there, many of which go unsolved. Abuse of various sorts are rampant, child, sexual, alcohol and the list goes on. Bad behavior breeds bad behavior.
Many of the elders on the reservation were victims themselves in the government- imposed white boarding schools of the 1920s through 1960s. Many students were beaten, raped and even murdered. Their hair was cut, and their language was forbidden. These seemingly simple acts of conformation to the whites were devastating identity-destroyers to the students who have become today’s elders.
Many of the elders have also suffered from the post-traumatic stress of the wars that our Native
people have repeatedly stepped up and served in, holding relevant positions, such as that of the Navajo Code Talkers. These wars could not have been won without them. Nonetheless, the aftermath of the war left many elders who would be leaders and role models for their communities addicted to drugs and alcohol. And since they are unavailable as healthy examples to their children and grandchildren, the cycle of abuse and pain continues.
While some reservations have unemployment rates as high as a 99 percent, certain casino tribes are trying to alleviate economic problems by partially funding American Indian independent movies. The Sundance Institute also supports film endeavors through its Native American and Indigenous Program which makes fellowships and mentorships available to emerging Native American filmmakers.
However, the greatest obstacle, is that “the arts aren’t really supported on the reservation.” according to Means. “Reservation kids are shy. They don’t want to talk.” That has not stopped the 24 year-old from stepping up as a mentor on his own reservation though. The actor is putting together a documentary with various performing artists of Native American heritage to inspire kids to engage in the arts. “Indians are very visual.” If kids see a documentary showing them that they can do something, then they begin to have faith in their capabilities Means told NOVA students.
The fact that a lot of people don’t have the traditions and teachings of their grandparents.today is not isolated to American Indians. Many feel that cultural identities are being transferred, muted and sometimes lost to a certain extent in the growing global community where finances, education and
Tatanka Means speaks to NOVA students.
Photo by Vadym Guliiukculture are increasingly being exchanged and interwoven.
The stereotype that Indians never smile is false, Tatanka told his audience. “They’re always laughing, joking. People will always pay to see comedy,” despite their financial constraints. Likewise when we “invest in the happiness and well being” of our neighbors unconditionally, in the words of C.F. Volney in his book The Ruins: Or, Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires: And the Law of Nature, surely we will not be short of joy and security ourselves.
Find out more about Tatanka Means and his work at www.
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[downtime] January 25, 2010
Beat the Winter Blues in Virginia’s Caverns
Winter is here, and that often means taking refuge from the cold weather by hanging out in the cafeteria or student lounges while trying to study. It’s too cold to hit the beach, but the weather changes too much to ice skate. Skiing is expensive, and the last thing you want to do is join a gaggle of tourists at some district museum you’ve probably already been to.
So what can you do when campus cabin fever hits? Go underground.
Less than two hours west of Washington, D.C., are several vast underground caverns that leave visitors in awe of their spectacular geological formations. The closest one is Skyline Caverns in Front Royal. The largest is Luray Caverns near Skyline Drive. And then there’s the newly-renovated resort at Endless Caverns off of Interstate 81 in New Market.
So, fuel up your car and bring your camera and a large memory card because you’re going to want to take a lot of pictures. Then head westbound on I-66 to Front Royal. Wear closed-toe shoes and pack a jacket as well because, no matter what the weather is like outside, the temperature in the caverns is a constant 54 degrees Fahrenheit.
Located near the entrance to Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Caverns is the only place in North America where one can find unique ceiling formations known as anthodites, which look like thorny crystals but are made of white limestone. Skyline Caverns also has three underground streams and a 37-foot waterfall known as Rainbow Waterfall, highlighted by colorful lights shining on and around it.
Outside the caves, visitors can get lost in the new dragon mirror
maze while searching for a glowing dragon egg.
From there, driving south on Skyline Drive, then west on U.S. 211 will lead to a U.S. Natural Landmark with enormous columns of stalactites and stalagmites, drapes of flowstone and pools of water so clear they reflect the ceiling formations perfectly, making it look as if it were earth and not water.
Luray Caverns boasts cathedral-sized rooms with some ceilings as high as 10 stories. It also contains the world’s largest musical instrument,
majestic set of caves located beneath the beautiful Shenandoah Mountains, which is itself a worthy day-trip destination. Endless Caverns has recently been reengineered into a campground resort with extras like a swimming pool that has water bubblers and a basketball net, a sandy volleyball court and a catch-and-release fishing pond.
Tours of the caverns can last from 45 to 90 minutes, depending on which one you visit. Tickets can cost $16 to $21 per adult. But for something out of the ordinary, it’s
worth it. After all, what else are you going to do? Go antiquing? Maybe when you’re 50.
For more information, visit SkylineCaverns.com, LurayCaverns.com or EndlessCaverns.com.
named the Great Stalacpipe Organ, which makes music from the surrounding stalactite formations.
Above the surface, there’s a garden maze where over 1,500 evergreen shrubs, eight feet tall and four feet wide each, create a half-mile twisting pathway of hedges enhanced with a misting fog that lead past fountains and into a cave.
To get to Endless Caverns from Luray, continue driving west on U.S. 211, then take I-81 south for a couple of miles.
Endless Caverns is another
The stalactites and stalagmites of Endless Caverns formed slowly over millions of years.
A stalagmite shimmers in artificial light approximately 160 feet below the surface in Luray Caverns. Geologic formations are white in color if the calcium carbonate is pure in form.
Photos by KJ Mushung
13
By KJ MushungManaging Editork mushung@novafor tnight ly.com
14 [sports]January 25, 2010
Men’s Basketball Fighting for Winning Year
The 2009-2010 NOVA men’s basketball team under coach Mike Fitzmaurice began play on November 4 with a roster of 16 players, including four holdovers from the previous year.
The first game was against the Germantown campus of Montgomery College, ranked as #14 in the National Junior College Division III preseason poll. A six point NOVA halftime advantage didn’t hold up as NOVA succumbed 92-84.
NOVA won its next three games to go to 3-1 before losing to perennial Junior College Division II power Cecil College, ranked as #8 in the preseason poll.
Still, NOVA won its first January game before traveling to arch rival Southside Virginia Community College where it lost 103-92. A rematch at home against the College of Southern Maryland, which NOVA earlier had defeated by 11 points, saw NOVA held to its lowest point total of the year as it lost 80-68, dropping its record to an even 8-8 for the season.
Its home game on January 17 against Virginia Community College System foe Thomas Nelson Community College saw NOVA hang on for an 81-76 win. NOVA led at the half by 41-35 after being behind by as much as 22-29.
NOVA held leads of as much as 13 points in the second half and led by 79-69 with two minutes to go. Thomas Nelson then mounted a furious comeback and trailed by
Three wins at the end of the month gave NOVA a 6-2 record for November.
NOVA split its first two games of December to go to 7-3 before playing in a Baltimore City community college tournament in which it dropped three close games, ending 2009 at 7-6. NOVA’s fast-paced offense was averaging 92 points per game, and NOVA scored over 100 points three times. Cordero Holt was the leading scoring at about 19 points per game.
For the second semester, NOVA lost several players, mainly for academic/graduation reasons, including leading scorer Holt, as the roster decreased to ten players.
only 79-76 with less than a minute to go. Only a missed Thomas Nelson tap-in kept the lead at three, and then NOVA, after missing two free throws, finally converted two to win 81-76. NOVA went above .500 for the year to 9-8, with a 4-1 record in the VCCS league.
Joe Scorah led NOVA with 20 points, with Jamal Jones adding 19, Brandon Allen 14, and Jemal Fair 13. Jermaine Wright had 4 before suffering a sprained ankle, Dion Romero had 2, and Gerald Smith and Chris Barlow were scoreless.
A. Kemp paced Nelson with 21, followed by B. Lyons with 15. Nelson’s record dropped to 3-3.
NOVA’s schedule continues with eight more games, including six VCCS contests. The season ends with a VCCS conference tournament in Roanoke, March 11 to 14.
The 2009-2010 NOVA women’s basketball team has continued its winning ways from last year under new head coach Wayne Vincent. Its roster of ten players includes five from last year’s team.
NOVA lost a big early lead in its first game against Hagerstown CC before losing 73-69, but then won its two games in a North Carolina tournament. It then lost a lopsided game to Baltimore City Community College to go 2-2 for the year. However, it finished up November with four straight wins to finish at 6-2 for the month.
Its most exciting win was a game at the College of Southern Maryland, where NOVA trailed by 35-26 at the half. Led by Karla Cortes, Julia Terrell, Stella Hollaway, and Dana
Women’s Basketball’s Strong Year Continues
Carlstrom, NOVA stormed back in the second half for a convincing 78-56 win.
December saw NOVA journey to the Charm City Classic in Baltimore to first play troublesome Baltimore City Community College again. NOVA trailed by only two at halftime, but finally had to settle for a 60-50 defeat, though giving BCCC its toughest game of the year. NOVA then won its other two games in the tournament, including beating the College of Southern Maryland again.
NOVA played two more games in December, winning both, to finish at 10-3 for the fall semester.
NOVA started off 2010 by losing to the Community College of Philadelphia, 68-55. The College
of Southern Maryland then opted out of a possible third defeat to NOVA, leaving NOVA to next play Virginia Community College System member Thomas Nelson Community College from Hampton on January 17.
Playing a bit shorthanded in that game with only seven players, NOVA stormed out to a 9-2 lead before Nelson came back to tie at 15-15. Cortes then helped NOVA take control with a 21-6 run, as she scored 19 points in the first half which ended with NOVA leading 36-22.
Thomas Nelson never seriously threatened in the second half as NOVA wound up with a 73-57 win. NOVA gained some manner of revenge, as it had lost in the semifinals of the VCCS tournament to Nelson last year by two points. NOVA increased its record to 11-4, 3-0 in the VCCS league.
For the game, Cortes led all scorers with 28 points, while Terrell added 15 and Carlstrom and Hollaway both had 11. Kristen Dukes finished with 8.
For Thomas Nelson, which returned four players from last year, Keisha Kellam had 13, followed by V. West with 12. Tyesha Cooke was held to 12 points, far off the 42 she made in last year’s semifinal. Nelson fell to 2-1 with the loss.
For the season, Cortes is the leading scorer for NOVA with 16 points per game, while Hollaway is averaging 13, Terrell 10 and Dukes 9.
NOVA has ten more games in its regular season, including seven in the VCCS. An interesting game should be its third game this season with still undefeated powerhouse Baltimore City Community College on February 10 at Annandale at 6 p.m.
Upcoming Men’s Games
January
25th at 7 p.m.Anne Arundel (MD) Community College Annandale, VA
30th at 5 p.m.Thomas Nelson Community Col-lege* Hampton, VA
31st at 3 p.m.Tidewater Community College* Chesapeake, VA
February
10th at 8 p.m.Baltimore (MD) Citty Community College Annandale, VA
13th at 4 p.m.Southsite Virginia Community College* Annandale, VA
17th at 8:30 p.m.Germanna Community College* Annandale, VA
20th at 4 p.m.Tidewater Communtiy College* Annandale, VA
27-28th at TBAVCCS Regional Tournament
Upcoming Women’s Games
January
30th at 3 p.m.Thomas Nelson Community Col-lege* Hampton
31st at 1 p.m. Tidewater Com-munity College* Chesapeake, VA 1 p.m.
February
8th at 7 p.m.Montgomery College-Rockville Rockville, MD
10th at 6 p.m.Baltimore (MD) City Community College Annandale, VA
By Arch ScurlockStaff Reporterascur lock@novafor tnight ly.om
By Arch ScurlockStaff Reporterascur lock@novafor tnight ly.com
15[games]
Sudoku is a logic-based number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contain the digits from 1 to 9 only one time.
Here are your crossword clues:
1) In which US city was Ally Mcbeal set?2) Which game was invented in the 1930s and originally called Lexiko?3) What type of animal is a natterjack?4) How many eyes does a cyclops have?5) If you were born on Christmas day which star sign would you be?6) Who was the Greek God of Victory?7) Which actor couldn`t use his real name of Michael Douglas in films as there was already an
[ games
&
comics ]
Answers from last issue
Answers for these puzzles will be available in the Feb. 8 issue.
www. Sudoku-Puzzles.netSudoku, Kakuro & Futoshiki Puzzles
Sudoku 9x9 - Easy (132757263)
9 6 4
2 1 7 9
6 5 9 2 7
4 5 3 8
9 6 8 5
1 8 4 6
3 6 5 1 2
4 3 2 6
2 4 8www.sudoku-puzzles.net
Sudoku 9x9 - Very easy (134763092)
4 7 5 1
2 9 6 8 4
8 7 3 2
8 5 6 7
7 4 8
8 3 1 2
9 6 3 8
1 3 9 2 6
5 8 4 9www.sudoku-puzzles.net
Sudoku 9x9 - Very easy (139411682)
1 6 5 9
6 9
2 4 8 3 7
7 8 5 4
6 8
8 1 6 2
9 7 6 5 4
3 4
8 1 3 2www.sudoku-puzzles.net
Sudoku 9x9 - Medium (134349731)
8 6 4
6 2 4
9 4 8 1
7 9 2 5
7
8 5 3 9
3 9 8 1
7 2 9
8 7 5www.sudoku-puzzles.net
Solution:
www.sudoku-puzzles.net
www. Sudoku-Puzzles.netSudoku, Kakuro & Futoshiki Puzzles
General Knowledge Crossword (726620330)
14 10 19
24 1321 18
2
5
9
17 3 6
81 11
157
423
2516
12
20
22
www.sudoku-puzzles.net
Solution:
www.sudoku-puzzles.net
January 25, 2010
actor with that name? (Surname)8) Which comedian has the real name of Royston Vasey? (Surname)9) In which game might you land on Pall Mall or The Strand?10) In which country did the card game baccarat originate?11) How many fish did Jesus use to feed 5,000?12) How many American cents make up a dime?13) Under Islamic law, how many wives is a man allowed to have at any one time?14) What would be your hobby if you were interested in a Stanley Gibbons album?15) What is the second longest river in the world?16) What is the second most common word in written English?17) What Latin word is often used to mean `word for word`?18) After how many years of marriage is a wooden anniversary?19) What is the birthstone for the month of June?20) What is the singular of the word Scampi?21) Which commonly eaten item of food has a name which literaly translates as `twice cooked`?22) What type of fruit is a cantaloup?23) What type of animal features on the seventh day of Christmas in the song `The Twelve Days Of Christmas`?24) Traditionally, what colour is Santa Claus` belt?25) Heliophobia is the fear of what?
www. Sudoku-Puzzles.netSudoku, Kakuro & Futoshiki Puzzles
Sudoku 9x9 - Medium (138217193)
8 6 9
6 5 3 2
7 8 6
9 4 1
7 4
3 2 6
6 4 2
9 8 1 4
3 1 7www.sudoku-puzzles.net
Solution:
www.sudoku-puzzles.net
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