Issue 11

The Yellow
J
acket
YJ
Vol. XCVIV; Issue 11 - May 9, 2014
est. 1915
The Official Student Newspaper and Student Voice of Randolph-Macon College
Chartwells under fire in D.C. schools
by Ann E. Marimow and Emma Brown
Reprinted with permission from
The Washington Post
T
he former head of food services for
the District’s public schools, who was fired
after clashing with Chancellor Kaya Henderson last year, alleges in a lawsuit filed April
30 that the school system was overcharged,
billed for spoiled produce and shorted millions of dollars by its largest food vendor.
Jeffrey Mills said in an interview this
week that problems with the system’s food
services contract are symptoms of the school
administration’s weak oversight and mismanagement.
“This is not just a food issue; this is an
education issue,” said Mills, whose lawsuit
in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia alleges that he was fired in January
2013 for raising alarms about the contract
and seeks back pay and other damages. “If
the money is being wasted, that’s money
not being spent on other school programs.”
The District’s inspector general and attorney general are looking into the school
system’s money­-losing contract with the
food vendor, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, according to several people close to the
inquiries, including two who said they had
been interviewed by investigators.
Mills’s lawsuit and the government inquiries are focused on a contract worth more
than $30 million a year to serve the city’s
45,000-student traditional public school
system, which has many poor children who
rely on the service as their primary meal
provider.
Problems with Chartwells have surfaced
in other cities, including New York and
Chicago.
A spokeswoman for the D.C. school system referred questions to the D.C. attorney
general’s office, which declined to comment.
In the months before Mills was fired, Henderson told the D.C. Council that she did not
have “confidence” in her food service staff.
Chartwells said Mills’s accusations are
baseless.
“The allegations in this lawsuit have no
basis or merit. They were brought by a former employee of DCPS who is disgruntled,”
a spokeswoman for Chartwells said in a
statement late Wednesday. “We are proud
of the work that we do and honored to have
the opportunity to serve the children of DC
healthy, fresh and nutritious meals.”
Mills, a former New York City restaurateur, was hired by then- Chancellor Michelle
A. Rhee in 2010, with the goals of increasing
the number of meals served, controlling
costs and improving the quality of the food.
Some healthy-food advocates questioned
his qualifications, citing his lack of experience with school food.
But his efforts were appreciated by parents and some members of the D.C. Council,
including Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who
had pressed for healthier meals. Mills replaced chicken nuggets with bone-in chicken and fish sticks with Cajun tilapia. He also
got rid of sugary strawberry-flavored milk.
Mills, however, said he faced resistance
from school leaders, including Henderson
and then-Chief Operating Officer Anthony
deGuzman, after repeatedly questioning
whether the contract with Chartwells was
being properly managed and executed.
“I yelled, screamed and did whatever I
could to get them to do what they were supposed to do under the contract,” Mills said
in an interview. “The culture at DCPS was,
‘Don’t rock the boat.’ ”
Criticism of Chartwells’s agreement with
the school system, which began in 2008,
is not new. In December 2012, the month
before Mills was fired, an independent audit
commissioned by the school system backed
up many of Mills’s concerns. The audit found
that District taxpayers had subsidized a
meals program that had operated at a loss
of more than $10 million a year since Chartwells’s contract began.
SEE CHARTWELLS, PAGE 2
Joe Mattys retiring after 14 years at Randolph-Macon
by Naoko Branker ‘15
Senior News Editor
P
rofessor Joe Mattys, a drama professor
at Randolph-Macon, has decided to retire
at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Randolph-Macon College, while not the first
institution for Mattys to teach at, is a place
where he said he was able to help students
experience the dramatic arts.
“I came to Randolph-Macon in 1990
from the University of Virginia where I had
been teaching and directing,” Mattys said.
“R-MC offered me the chance to build a
department in the context of a small liberal
arts college, which is where my own roots
and interests had always been.”
Professors do not stop learning after
they complete their studies, and Mattys is
no exception; he said he has felt like he was
by the numbers:
9
days until Finals Week
22
days until Commencement
still learning during his time here.
“I taught at two other small colleges and
at UVA before coming to R-MC,” Mattys
said. “The environment here, composed
of faculty and staff and students, is by far
the most congenial of any that I have ever
encountered. I feel I have grown as a teacher
and maker of theatre, trying new things and
learning in the process, more so here than
anywhere else.”
He said learning from the students he
taught was a rewarding aspect of his job.
“Without question, [a rewarding aspect]
has been watching students grow and change
as they make discoveries and arrive at a moment in their work or thinking when they
go ‘aha’!” Mattys said.
The drama department at R-MC has
come a long way from when Mattys first
started his job here.
“When I first started teaching here,”
Mattys said, “we were producing theatre
in a cramped, un-air-conditioned, poorly
equipped space on the first floor of Old
Chapel which had not yet been renovated
into its present form. The seating in that
theatre was not flexible, there was no shop
space to construct sets, we had four steel pillars that blocked sight lines of the stage for
almost every member of the audience, and
there were no restrooms readily available to
the audience.”
Department members now build and
produce productions in the Cobb Theater,
named after 1949 alum Edwin G. Cobb, Jr.
The old theater was not a major problem
when it was used, and the theater helped
to build a foundation for the success of the
department today.
“Despite these drawbacks,” Mattys said,
“we managed to do between three and five
shows every season, our scene designs met
the unusual demands of the space and we
began to develop a loyal audience base.”
Although his time working full-time here
at R-MC is coming to an end, Mattys said he
has high hopes for the drama department
for future years.
“I hope that we have built a program that
has a tradition of quality,” Mattys said, “and
a momentum of energy by students—majors
and non-majors alike—that can be sustained
for many years to come.”
Mattys said he will miss the college,
but appreciates the collaboration between
students, faculty and staff. However, he will
not be that far away once he retires.
“Our daughter and son and his family, including two grandsons, all live in the
Richmond area, and my wife and I will
continue to live in Mechanicsville,” Mattys
said. “I expect to return to the college from
time to time, perhaps to teach a course now
and then, and perhaps to continue to direct
‘A Christmas Carol’ which I have agreed to
do at least for one more year.”
Movie Mania @ Commons
May 9 & 10:
That
Awkward
Moment
index:
Can you find Dean
McGhee in the
Yellow Jacket?
news, pp.1-2
features, pp. 3-4
politics/opinion, pp. 5-6
sports, pp.7-8
YJ News
Page Two
Congratulations to the new
brothers of Kappa Sigma!
Allen Black
Zach Carlson
Brandon Delpi
Kenny Campbell
Connor Cute
SGA report
FOOD: On the constant food issue,
SGA is actively working on it. We have
a panel of students that we as an Executive Board along with Jude, the head of
Chartwells, and Paul Davies, the Associate Vice President of Administration and
Finance meet with once a week to discuss
issues and problems occurring in the
dining services.
May 9, 2014
This allows us to have the student
body’s issues go straight to the administration so that we all as a campus are on
the same page. We are very excited with
the progress that has been made, and are
looking forward to bettering the dining
services.
INTERNET: For the internet/wifi issue,
ITS has made us aware that they will be
adding multiple more routers around
campus to increase the speed.
Campus Safety Report
A glimpse at Relay for Life 2014
Page Three
YJ Features
Senior Spotlight: Fred Parks
by Ian Pegram ‘14
F
Staff Writer
red Parks, from Buckfield, Maine, is
majoring in chemistry and is very much
involved in the sciences at Macon. He is the
hiking coordinator of Macon Outdoors, was
a student researcher in two SURF projects
and is the president of Chi Beta Phi honor
society for the sciences.
Parks said the main reason he came
to R-MC was for the chemistry program.
“I was very impressed with the equipment and hands-on experience that I could
obtain,” Parks said.
Some of the hands-on experiences
that Parks had were through two SURF
projects.
“I got involved in the SURF program,”
Parks said, “because I was interested in
research, and SURF was the perfect introduction into it.”
Parks said he enjoyed his SURF project
in 2012 so much that he did it again in
the summer of 2013. In addition to these
hands-on projects, Parks was a member of
the Chemistry of Winemaking travel course
offered during J-Term.
Parks was recognized as being eligible
for membership into Chi Beta Phi because
of his passion for the sciences.
“Chi Beta Phi allowed me to interact with
others who truly enjoy the sciences as much
as I do,” Parks said. “Chi Beta Phi has given
me the opportunity to help and lead an organization in a position that I have never held
before and from which I have learned a lot.”
Parks said the reason he became more
involved in Chi Beta Phi was because he
was nominated for the position of president.
“I had never had a role like it before,”
Parks said, “so I figured it would be a good
experience, and it has been.”
His membership in this society allowed
Parks to attend the annual Chi Beta Phi
Photo credit to Fred Parks
conference and to
present the results of his research, as well as
learn about research done by other members
of the society.
Even though he has been greatly involved
with the sciences at R-MC, Parks said his
favorite class was actually an English course.
“It was British Literary Traditions taught
by Professor Cull,” Parks said, “and I liked
the course because of the stories that we
read, like ‘Beowulf,’ ‘Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight’ and ‘The Canterbury Tales’.”
This course, according to Parks, was a
good change of pace from his chemistry
courses. Parks said another way he likes to
take a break from his studies is through his
activity in Macon Outdoors.
“Macon Outdoors has given me the opportunity to escape Ashland town/city area,”
Parks said, “and get out in more rural
areas like where I grew up.”
With this organization, Parks said
he has been able to do activities such as
horseback riding and rock climbing, in
addition to a few other things that he
may never have gotten a chance to do
without it.
“R-MC has become my home away
from home for the last four years,” Parks
said, “and now I have to move out of the
state of Virginia and will not get back that
often, I suspect.”
Throughout his four years here, Parks
said he has gotten to become a part of the
R-MC family that includes his professors,
friends and advisors.
There are many things that Parks said
he wishes to share with the student body,
but there is one piece of advice that stands
out the most to him.
“College is more than just about classwork,” Parks said. “Get outside and have
fun.” These are words that he said he has
lived by during his time here, and he is a
good example of how someone can use this
advice.
This upcoming fall, Parks will be heading to Indiana University in Bloomington to
obtain his Ph.D. in organic chemistry and
continue his passion for the sciences.
Senior Spotlight: Katie Umberger
by Anna De Loache ‘14
Senior Features Editor
Katie Umberger, from Hershey, Pa, is
Photo courtesy of Emma Bruny
CHARTWELLS, FROM PAGE 1
The company was contracted to serve
50 million meals to D.C. students at a cost
of $42 million. But the company served
15 million fewer meals and charged
$7 million more, the audit report said.
At the time, Chartwells said the audit
was “highly-flawed” and contained “fundamentally inaccurate information.”
The District operated its own school
lunch program until 2008, when Rhee
decided to hire private contractors in an
effort to save money.
After Mills arrived in 2010, he campaigned to reestablish an in-house meals
program, an idea that gained traction
with a majority of D.C. Council members.
Henderson rejected the proposal, saying
the system needed to focus on improving
academic achievement.
Henderson resisted pressure to establish a pilot program for in-house meals,
citing her lack of confidence in Mills and
his team.
“I do not have confidence that my current food service staff has the capacity to
manage a self-run food service program,
even at a small scale,” Henderson wrote to
the council in March 2012. “To date, we
have had significant challenges appropriately managing the few contracts we have
in place. Our team has not demonstrated
proficiency in human capital management
Photo courtesy of Emily Moore
or project management.”
Mills contends in the lawsuit that
during his three years as director, he
repeatedly reported — in e-mails and
conversations with his supervisors — the
many times the company failed to meet
its obligations to the school system. For
example, Mills said, Chartwells ordered
two or three times as many perishable
food items as needed, “knowing that
they would go bad rather than be used”
and charging the school system for the
“stockpiled” food.
Mills alleges that the company overcharged for food and kept vendor discounts that it was required to pass along to
the school system. The independent auditor found that it could not tell whether the
school system received those discounts.
In the 46-page lawsuit, Mills also alleges that school officials tried to give
Chartwells an unfair advantage in the
competition for the city’s business and
took the unusual step of changing the
contract after it had been signed.
School officials said they rebid the
contract because they, too, were concerned about the financial losses under
Chartwells’s original four-year contract.
Chartwells bid and won a $29 million
contract to serve 107 schools in 2012-13.
Mills alleges in his lawsuit that Hen-
derson and deGuzman “seemed eager to
excuse the company’s abysmal performance and were attempting to tip the
2012-2013 RFP in Chartwells’ favor.”
DeGuzman could not be reached
Wednesday and did not return e-mail
messages seeking comment.
A former colleague of Mills’s, Joel
Metlen, said in an interview that he
shared many of his concerns about the
contract. School system officials often
didn’t respond quickly to those concerns,
said Metlen, who was the food service
division’s business operations manager
before resigning in 2013.
“The way DCPS operated made it
difficult for us to do the job that we were
supposed to do,” Metlen said.
Metlen said he and Mills believed
that they had a serious mission to ensure
students were served healthy meals and
that Mills was “really good at providing
that vision and at pushing people to do
their best.”
“That’s essentially what got him almost
in trouble. He was always pushing, always
pushing, to make things better, and that
is going to annoy someone eventually,”
Metlen said.
Metlen said District investigators have
twice interviewed him about Chartwells
and the school system’s decision to award
Photo courtesy of Emily Moore
it a new contract in 2012.
Investigators also interviewed at least
one other person as recently as March, according to that person, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity. A representative
of the D.C. inspector general declined to
comment Wednesday.
At D.C. Council hearings, parents have
questioned whether for-profit companies
should be running the school meals programs, and they have pointed to problems
with Chartwells in other cities.
The New York state attorney general
reached an $18 million settlement with
the parent company in 2012 after investigators found that Chartwells overcharged
39 schools and school districts between
2003 and 2010. The company had charged
its clients full prices for food instead of
passing along discounts as the contracts
required.
Also in 2012, an inspector general’s
inquiry discovered that the food service
director for the Chicago school system
had accepted thousands of dollars’ worth
of gifts from Chartwells, which had a
contract to provide meals at hundreds of
city schools. The director resigned under
pressure from the superintendent and
Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D). At the time,
the company declined to comment on
the situation.
an art history major who is very active on the
Randolph-Macon campus with her involvement in various activities such as concert
choir, the Leadership Fellows Program, and
being a recent inductee into Phi Beta Kappa.
Umberger said she first decided to come
to R-MC after she visited her freshman year
where she transferred from Widener University in Philadelphia, Pa.
“I came to visit Randolph-Macon in the
spring, and I thought the campus was just
beautiful,” Umberger said. “Everyone was so
friendly and genuinely cared that I was having an enjoyable visit; I knew after visiting
that this was where I wanted to be.”
Since her time her, Umberger has been
involved in many activities including concert choir, chambers singers, the Leadership
Fellows Program, Camptown, the College
Life Committee, Omicron Delta Kappa
and Phi Beta Kappa as well as working for
Admissions as a student assistant, being a
tour guide and interning for Admissions.
Of these activities, Umberger said she
has been the most involved with the Leadership Fellows Program, working in the
Admissions Office, and the concert choir
and chamber singers.
“The Leadership Fellows Program led
by James McGhee has been a wonderful
experience for me at R-MC,” Umberger said.
“When I applied to the program, I did not
see myself as a leader and now I do. The program really takes a unique look at leadership
and has really changed the way I think about
leadership and my role in organizations.”
Umberger said working in the Admissions Office has also been an extraordinary
opportunity and has allowed her to learn a
lot about the office, which even prompted
her to figure out her career path.
“The work experiences I received in the
Admissions Office allowed me to learn about
a career I had never thought of pursuing
but would now like to begin full-time after
graduation,” Umberger said. “Annie Keith
was my contact person in transferring to
R-MC and has continued to provide guidance for me in the field of higher education
and my futurePhoto credit to Katie Umberger
plans. “
Umberger also said being a member of
the concert choir and the chamber singers
has also been a wonderful experience, and
she said she is grateful for the opportunities
that R-MC gives students.
“I appreciated being able to participate
in the concert choir and chamber singers at
R-MC even though I am not a music major,”
Umberger said. “At a larger university, this
would not have been possible, and I’m glad
R-MC provides these experiences for every
student.
Umberger said her professors at R-MC
have had an impact on her, but especially Dr.
Eve Terrono of the art history department.
“The professors here really challenged
me to be the best that I can be,” Umberger
said. “Dr. Terrono particularly did this in
the way that she taught my classes and when
she would give us research assignments.
She always challenged me to go above and
beyond, and I’m thankful for that.”
Umberger said something people may
not know about her is that she is a decent
painter and was originally going to study
studio art. She also explained that her only
regret during her college career was not
initially coming to R-MC her freshman year.
In addition, Umberger said she has many
favorite memories, but one stands out for
her in particular.
“Although there have been many,” Umberger said, “one of my favorite memories
was the J-Term trip I took this past January
to Eastern Europe.”
Becca Blader ’14, a friend and classmate
of Umberger’s, said Umberger is dedicated
and enthusiastic along with being a very
supportive friend.
“She’s always excited to share in the good
news of others,” Blader said. “She’s also so
driven that it makes the people around her,
including myself, want to be better people
and students.”
After she graduates, Umberger said she
will miss R-MC, especially the people.
“Whether it’s my friends or the faculty
and staff that have helped and taught me so
much along the way,” Umberger said, “R-MC
is a truly incredible community.”
As far as future plans, Umberger said she
plans on looking for a position in D.C. with
higher education administration because
of her working experience with the R-MC
Admissions Office.
“Take advantage of every opportunity
that you possibly can,” Umberger said. “The
internships, work experience, study abroad
trip and organizations I became a part of
each taught me new things about myself
and what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
May 9, 2014
YJ
est. 1915
The Yellow Jacket
Volume XCVIII
Issue 11
May 9, 2014
Lena Wallace ‘14
Editor-In-Chief
[email protected]
Katrina Zurasky ‘15
Managing Editor
Naoko Branker ‘15
Senior News Editor
Anna De Loache ‘14
Senior Features Editor
Chelsea Mason ‘14
Junior Features Editor
Henry Ashton ‘15
Senior Politics/Opinion Editor
Dionna Cheatham ‘15
Junior Politics/Opinion Editor
Madison Guidry ‘16
Senior Sports Editor
Anne Louise Schwabenton ‘14
Business/Advertising Manager
[email protected]
Heather Ramey ‘15
Senior Copy Editor
Amanda Hicks ‘15
Junior Copy Editor
Nadhira Hill ‘16
Yellow Jacket Web Master
Lindsey Harkins ‘15
Social Media/Photo Editor
Prof. Gayla Mills
Faculty Advisor
Staff Writer:
May McNeil ‘16
Contributing Writer:
Ashley Fisher ‘15
Printed at the Progress-Index
in Petersburg, Va.
The Yellow Jacket is published bi-weekly.
Written materials or
letters can be submitted to the staff
through the R-MC Office of Student Life,
P.O.Box 5005, Ashland, VA, 23005 or at
[email protected].
Opinions expressed herein are exclusively
those of the writer/editorial board and do
not reflect the views of the R-MC
administration, faculty, staff or the college
itself.
Page Four
YJ Features
May 9, 2014
Alumnus James Murray wins Town Council
Before coming to work at R-MC, Murray spent six months in Russia where he
Senior Features Editor
interned for the two largest advertising
agencies in the world, BBDO and
McCann-Erickson.
“I didn’t really like the traditional advertising business model,
which is very heavily focused
on the big fish in the sea, but it
completely issues the smaller
businesses that if you don’t have
the money you don’t actually get
to play the game,” Murray said.
“When I came back to the U.S.
I decided that I was going to start
working with small businesses to
try and find a new model to be
able to get small businesses to sit
at the same table with some of the
bigger businesses.”
Even though Murray decided
not to stay in Russia, he enjoyed
his time there and was able to
make many connections.
“My now fiancé flew over to
join me about three months in,
and as much as I enjoyed working
for the ad agency, it was when she
arrived and we started to reach
out and network more, as some of
the people over there were really
ames Murray, Photo courtesy of James Murray fascinating,” Murray said. “There
’09, originally from
was a bar right down town in
Manchester, MI, and now living in Ashland, Moscow, and while, it was wildly expensive
graduated from Randolph-Macon Cum ,the people that go there are from all over
Laude and with honors. A double major in the world and I started a conversation with
Drama and English, and a minor in music, the guy sitting next to me. He happened to
Murry currently is a faculty member at be the guy in charge of all of the advertising
R-MC and works in the library as an Audio- for Russia’s largest airline terminal in all of
visual Specialist. He was recently running Europe.”
for a position on the Ashland Town Council
Murray also said that two of the people
committee.
he worked with very closely ended up beby Anna De Loache ‘14
J
ing in charge of all of the advertising for the
Olympics, and that one of the bartenders
that worked at the bar was on the Russian
Olympic luge team.
During his time at R-MC, Murray was
heavily involved with theatre, including being involved with every single show during
his four years on campus. He even continues
to play Scrooge in A Christmas Carol every
year. He was also a member of Mu Phi Epsilon, president of the Drama Guild, president
of the Debate Society, president of his class,
and was also the Editor-in-Chief for the Yellow Jacket for a semester.
Murray explained that R-MC hired him
in early 2010 when he came back to be the
media specialist.
“After Randolph-Macon hired me, I
started getting involved with businesses
around the area, and so very quickly after I
started working here in 2010, I started the
Adggrandize company which is currently
going under rebranding to become the really
smart media company,” Murray said. “The
job at Randolph-Macon is traditionally the
one that focuses on media and traditionally its supposed to be more projectors and
cameras, and we’ve really transformed it
during my time here to really focus on all
types of media.”
Outside of working for R-MC, Murray
has also successfully started his own business called Adggrandize, which is currently
being rebranded to focus not only on small
business advertising and web design, but also
providing media services for higher institutions such as Randolph-Macon.
“My company does the video scoreboard
during football games and some of the lacrosse games,” Murray said.
Murray said he’s been able to tie that into
what he’s been doing outside of R-MC, in-
cluding working on documentaries in town.
“In 2011, I directed a documentary about
the motel homeless population in Ashland as
an awareness piece,” Murray said. “The year
after I directed a documentary about the
history of the strawberry fair at the request
of the strawberry fair committee.”
Murray went on to explain that by doing
these documentaries they were the two entry
points to working with the town and getting
interested in running for Town Council.
“Besides wanting to become more involved with the town, Ashland is a great
community and it’s a great place to live. As
soon as I bought a house and I realized how
much there was in the town, and how much
there was to offer, I started to get involved.
Once you get involved a little bit it’s easy to
get involved a lot and I wanted to continue
doing that,” Murray said.
“The town council has five positions and
it goes on cycle. You’re elected to a four year
term but elections are every two years, so
there’s three people getting re-elected one
set of years, and then two people the next
set of years so this is a two year.”
Murray was elected to be one of the next
Councilmen for the Town of Ashland and
will start his term on July1.
He said that there were 458 voters total,
and 430 of those showed up out of about
4000 voters. The results including absentee
ballots are: Mr. James Murray- 260 votes,
Ms. Faye Prichard- 294 votes, Ms. Terri
Winston-Abri- 222 votes, and the Write-inCandidates had four votes.
“It was an educational campaign, a fun
campaign, and a successful campaign at the
end of the day and I am really excited about
the next four years,” Murray said. “I’m really
looking forward to getting started with one
more orientation and starting work.”
Relay for Life Spotlight: Junior Kylie Wash
by Chelsea Mason ‘14
Junior Features Editor
Relay For Life kicked off its sixth phi-
lanthropy event at Randolph-Macon this
past weekend. The event
was held on Saturday,
May 3 from 6 p.m. until
Sunday, May 4 at 6 a.m.
There were 28 teams
registered, which totaled
337 participants, not to
mention all the walkon participants totaling
over 400 altogether.
Junior Kylie Wash,
fundraising co-chair for
R-MC’s Relay for Life
committee, hails from
Mechanicsville, Va. and
participated in this year’s
event.
“I am a Relay volunteer,” Wash said, “because many people in my
life have battled cancer,
and many of them have
been lost.”
In her first year as
a Relay participant at
R-MC, Wash alone raised
over $1,500 in honor of
her father who passed
away from glioblastoma
multiform when she was
only 15 years old.
“My aunts and my grandmother have
fought cancer as well,” Wash said. “It took a
lot of strength to join Relay this year, but I
kept my head held high.”
Not only was it Wash’s first year as a
committee member, but she also became
a team captain and was the top individual
fundraiser on R-MC’s campus.
“I volunteer so much because I strongly
believe in community,” Wash said. “If every-
one made the sacrifice of their time at least
once a week, the world would be a much
different place.”
This year, Wash also donated eight inches
of her hair at Relay to the “Look Good Feel
Better” campaign. This program provides
cancer patients undergoing treatment with
wigs and makeovers.
“It was my favorite experience because
I know how much it will mean to someone
undergoing treatment to wear my hair and
Photo courtesy of Kylie Wash
feel beautiful again,” Wash said.
“That alone means so much to me; that I
can change someone’s life without ever having to meet them.”
Wash said she regularly volunteers not
only for Relay, but other causes as well.
“Volunteering is everything to me,” Wash
said. “I am so fortunate to have what I have
in my life, and I feel like it is my duty to give
something back.”
Wash explained how Relay For Life has
changed her life in a positive way.
“Before I joined Relay,” Wash said, “I felt
powerless against cancer; it had threatened
or taken many people in my life whom I
loved dearly, but in Relay For Life, I am
constantly surrounded by people who are
as passionate as I am about finding a cure,
and it is truly an inspiring and transcending
experience.”
Wash advised students to get involved
as much as they can throughout their time
at R-MC and to also think about joining
the Relay committee.
“You never know how much you can
get out of joining a certain organization
or club,” Wash said. “They make up your
college experience. These activities make
me feel whole and part of something bigger than I am.”
Anyone can participate and make a difference, and R-MC proved that by raising
over $20,000 this year for Relay For Life.
“I was excited to see the students and
the community come together to fight for
a common cause,” Wash said.
“It was a truly unifying experience and
I was so grateful to be a part of it.”
Wash explained Relay For Life is such
an important cause because people have all
been affected by cancer in some way.
“If everyone joined in the fight to cure
cancer, I’m almost certain we’d find a cure
in our lifetime,” Wash said.
“Relay for your mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, grandparents, aunts,
uncles and cousins. Relay for everyone.”
Page Five
YJPolitics/Opinions
May 9, 2014
Opinion: Unions long overdue for athletes
by Henry Ashton ‘15
A
Politics/Opinions Editor
t a glance, the idea of college athletes
unionizing might seem a little silly.
In the minds of the American public,
we link unions with “Big Labor”: established
industries with thousands (or millions) of
employees that keep our economy running
on all cylinders.
Currently, however, many student-athletes are devoting time to sports that is comparable to the hours of full-time employees
at America’s colleges and universities.
These athletes deserve to be able to
bargain.
Just as employees in any other industry in
America should have an outlet for expressing where their employer is falling short,
NCAA athletes participating in large-scale
programs have the right to protect their
interests and well-being.
At Northwestern University, studentathletes put 50-60 hours a week into “football and football-related activities” during
the preseason, 40-50 during the season, and
20-30 during the off-season.
In fact, the football team at Northwestern, led by quarterback Kain Colter, is at the
forefront of a new effort to unionize at the
collegiate level.
With the support of the College Athletes
Players Association (CAPA), the team at
Northwestern has expressed interest in
unionizing, and regional National Labor
Relations Board Director Peter Sung Ohr
has supported their effort.
Critical to Ohr’s argument was the
amount of time these student-athletes devote to the football program, admittedly
Finding a voice: Northwestern University quarterback Kain Colter announced in a January press
conference that the university’s football team would seek to become the first team to form a union.
The uninionization of Northwestern’s team has been supported by the College Athletes Players
Association and regional National Labor Relations Board Director Peter Ohr. At the time of this
writing, the team is awaiting a vote on whether the NLRB as a whole will recognize the Northwestern players’ union. Photo credit to Associated Press/Paul Beaty
much more time than they devote to their
studies.
Ohr also noted that these athletes essentially sign a contract before participating:
a national letter of intent and a four-year
scholarship. The athlete’s compensation, the
scholarship, has specific stipulations regarding the terms of the agreement.
As noted in the “Common-law employees” section of the IRS Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide, “anyone who performs
services for you is generally your employee
if you have the right to control what will be
done and how it will be done.”
Big-program athletes are clearly performing a service for their schools, and
through controlling the terms of their compensation (their scholarship), schools have
a more than effective way of being able to
control how many hours an athlete puts in
and the athlete’s conduct during those hours.
Adding further credence to the desire
of Northwestern players to unionize, the
demands expressed through CAPA thus far
have been entirely reasonable and representative of reforms that already have been
delayed too long.
CAPA has articulated that they want
colleges and universities to take steps to
reduce brain-injuries to players and provide
health care coverage for former players that
experience game-related health problems.
At the heart of the issue of unionization,
however, are the billions of dollars that colleges and universities are happily pocketing from top-level football and basketball
programs.
Are the athletes really being fairly compensated considering the number of hours
they devote to their schools? The argument
could be made that the athletes should simply play “for the love of the game.”
Let’s get real though: for big-program
athletes, their sport represents a huge part
of their livelihood.
They are participating in the program to
gain the skills that they will need to make
a living, as well as for the enjoyment of an
activity.
Just because I enjoy playing the piano
and singing does not mean I want to play at
everyone’s wedding for free.
Similarly, college athletes should be fairly
compensated regardless of the perceived
enjoyment of their sport.
After considering the characteristics of a
common-law employee and the substantial
number of hours that these athletes put into
their programs, it is self-evident that they
represent employees of the college.
Although there will be plenty of kicking
and screaming from big program schools
that enjoy all of the money they are making,
eventually the just decision will be made.
No longer will the conversation be a
one-way street, with schools and coaches
dictating the terms of athletes’ contracts.
Now, the players will find their voice.
April 2014 jobs numbers House hearing on the
unionization of athletes
by Henry Ashton ‘15
Politics/Opinions Editor
Revving up the U.S. Economy: A Chrysler
employee in Trenton, Michigan loads block
casting for Chrysler’s new V-6 Pentastar engine.
During April, the U.S. added 12,000 positions
in the manufacturing industry.
Photo credit to Chrysler
I
n April, the U.S. economy added
288,000 jobs, the highest number of jobs
added in any month in the past two years,
Fox News reported.
Along with the jobs added, unemployment also ticked down to 6.3 percent from
6.7 percent, although part of this decrease
can be accounted for by factoring in those
who are no longer working or those seeking
employment.
Wages also did not expand during April,
The New York Times reported, which may
cause Americans to wonder if they are really
benefitting from the availability of more jobs
as the economy attempts to jump back to life.
However, job creation is accelerating.
In the previous three months, employers
added an average of 238,000 jobs, a figure
of 167,000 jobs higher than the average for
the November-January period.
These added jobs include higher paying
positions, such as 12,000 in the manufacturing industry, 32,000 in the construction industry and 25,100 positions in professional
and technical services. Most of the positions
added were in professional and business
services, with 75,000 positions added.
The total growth rate is up for the U.S.
economy too.
After barely growing at all from January
to March (an average annual growth rate of
0.1 percent), it appears the U.S. economy
will expand at around 3.5 percent during
the April-June period.
The annual rate of growth is now expected to reach 3 percent on the year, a 1.9
percent increase from growth in 2013.
R-MC Professor of Political Science Dr.
Elliott Fullmer told The Yellow Jacket that although he believes the number of individuals leaving the job search is certainly a cause
for concern, he also believes there are some
positive elements in the latest jobs data.
“I think it’s true that we still should be
concerned about the number of people leaving the job market, giving up the search,”
Fullmer said.” However, the recent report
was encouraging. When you look at the
measure of the percentage of people that are
either unemployed or have part time work
that would like to have full time work, or
who have dropped out of the job market,
that dropped from 12.7 percent to 12.3
percent. So there’s progress on that front
but obviously those numbers are too high
for comfort.”
Fullmer also noted that the jobs reports
can be somewhat shaky evidence to base
long-term conclusions on when they are
brought into the political arena.
SEE JOBS, PAGE 6
by Dionna Cheatham ‘15
A
House Committee plans to conduct
a hearing on May 8 regarding the possible
unionization of Northwestern University’s
football team. The hearing is titled “Big
Labor on College Campuses: Examining
the Consequences of Unionizing Student
Athletes,” and will be held by the Education
and Workforce Committee.
A regional chairperson of the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has recently
allowed the Northwestern Wildcats to form
a union. The team voted on the issue April
25, but the ballots were immediately impounded by the NLRB. They probably will
not be counted until after the NLRB issues
a decision, USA Today reported.
NLRB Regional Director Peter Sung Ohr
has ruled that Northwestern football players
on athletic scholarships are university employees. Northwestern has since requested
a review of this decision, which the NLRB
granted.
Committee Chairperson John Kline
said, “The NLRB’s decision represents a
radical departure from longstanding federal
labor policies.” Kline also said, “Classifying
student athletes as employees threatens to
fundamentally alter college sports, as well
as reduce education access and opportunity. The committee has a responsibility to
thoroughly examine how the NLRB’s decision will affect students and their ability to
receive a quality education.” Witnesses for
the hearing have not been named, USA
Today reported.
The hearing represents only the most
recent congressional interest in Division
I sports. CBS Sports reported that Rep.
Charles Dent (R-Penn.) and Rep. Joyce
Another humbug on unions: Committee
Chair Rep. Paul Kline (R-Minn.) expressed his
dissaproval of potential unionization for college
athletes prior to the House’s committee hearing
on the matter of unionization. Kline stated that
classifying athletes as employees could “fundamentally alter college sports, as well as reduce
education access and opportunity.”
Photo credit to Getty Images
Beatty (D-Ohio) brought a bill to increase
due process for NCAA programs accused
of misconduct. It would also make fouryear scholarships mandatory for athletes
participating in contact sports. Beatty and
Dent also introduced a bill restricting Title
IV funds to colleges if they are members of
athletic associations failing to meet certain
conditions. These include minimum requirements for health and safety and financial aid, as well as an infractions process.
This bill has nine co-sponsors.
Title IV of the Higher Education Act
(HEA) deals with federal student aid
programs and is currently the subject of a
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee that met
SEE HEARING, PAGE 6
Page Six
YJ Politics/Opinions
May 9, 2014
Is E. Warren considering a run for president?
by Dionna Cheatham ‘15
I
Junior Politics/Opinions Editor
s Warren’s book tour a campaign trial
run?
Elizabeth Warren has told ABC News,
the Huffington Post and countless other
news sources that she does not plan to run
for president.
This has not stopped experts from trying
to guess how her campaign could go if she
changed her tune.
The release of Warren’s memoir, A Fighting Chance, has sparked more questions
about whether she might run.
A Fighting Chance chronicles Warren’s
career in Washington, first as a financial
advisor and fierce consumer advocate, and
finally as a Massachusetts senator.
Her 11-city book tour does not stop
in any battleground states, as would be
expected of a pre-campaign or “trial run,”
according to the Washington Examiner.
However, releasing a memoir such as A
Fighting Chance is the kind of thing many
candidates do before running, Huffington
Post and The New Yorker reported.
Former Rep. Barney Frank, who worked
with Warren before she became a senator,
said he thinks she will run.
“In the first place, why would anyone
want to get into a profession and have no
interest in rising to the top of it?” Frank said
to the Washington Examiner.
There is speculation that she could run
Will she or won’t she: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has expressed numerous times that
she is not running for president in 2016, but her recently released memoir, A Fighting Chance,
may suggest otherwise. Warren’s book has many of the elements that you would expect to see in a
memoir from someone seeking the presidency, and even though she has backed Hillary Clinton,
along with many other Democratic senators, the nomination may be Warren’s for the taking
should Clinton choose not to run. Photo credit to the office of Elizabeth Warren
solely to bring attention to her cause- consumer protection. However, Warren suggested otherwise in her memoir, writing,
“Run and lose. Gee, that sounds fun. Maybe
I’d do that right after I deliberately slammed
my fingers in a car door.”
This does not paint a picture of someone who would run without a clear path to
victory.
Hillary Clinton is currently up by 50
points in the polls and could well be the
Democratic candidate for 2016. Warren
could, in theory, raise enough support
through grassroots campaigns to get ahead
in the early primaries, the Washington Examiner reported.
The Obama campaign used this strategy
in 2008. President Obama spent much of
2006 saying he would not run for president.
However, Warren has said to ABC News,
“…all of the women—Democratic women
I should say—of the Senate, urged Hillary
Clinton to run, and I hope she does.
Hillary is terrific.” She was one of several
signers of a letter urging Clinton to run.
In 2001 Warren criticized Democrats,
including Bill and Hillary Clinton, who
supported a bankruptcy bill that, she said, is
tilted in favor of corporate interests.
Warren continues to denounce the bill
and policies resembling it, but no longer
mentions Hillary Clinton by name in her
criticisms.
“Look, I’ve made it clear all the way
through this book, and really what I’ve been
working on for the last 25 years, that I’m
worried a lot about power in the financial
services industry,” Warren told The Washington Post.
Progressive Democrats have been pulling
for a candidate from the “Elizabeth Warren
wing” of the party for some time, and she
seems to be a favorite of Progressives.
Also, Republicans currently consider
Warren a possible opponent. The America
Rising Political Action Committee (ARPAC)
is one vehicle for opposition research on
Warren.
Director of the America Rising Political
Action Committee (PAC) Tim Miller said to
the Washington Examiner, “We’re monitoring Warren, including having trackers at her
book tour events.”
Rice rescinds invitation to speak at Rutgers U
by Henry Ashton ‘15
fter being scheduled to speak at
Rutgers University for commencement,
former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice rescinded her invitation to speak after
Rutgers students protested her appearance,
CNN reported.
Rutgers students expressed concerns
over having Rice speak because of her involvement with the war in Iraq.
“Rice signed off to give the CIA authority
to conduct their torture tactics for gathering
information from detainees as well,” Rutgers
students wrote in an open letter to the university’s president.
The letter continued, “These are clearly
human rights issues. By inviting her to speak
and awarding her an honorary degree, we
are encouraging and perpetuating a world
that justifies torture and debases humanity.”
Rice responded on Facebook after
rescinding her invitation to speak at the
university, noting that she was unwilling to
become a distraction during the commencement process at Rutgers.
“Commencement should be a time of
joyous celebration for the graduates and
their families,” Rice wrote in a statement on
her page. “Rutgers’ invitation to me to speak
has become a distraction for the university
community at this very special time.”
Rice continued, “I am honored to have
served my country. I have defended America’s belief in free speech and the exchange of
ideas. These values are essential to the health
of our democracy. But that is not what is
at issue here. As a professor for 30 years at
Stanford University and as its former provost
and chief academic officer, I understand and
embrace the purpose of the commencement
ceremony and I am simply unwilling to detract from it in any way.”
In their protest of Rice, students cited a
2009 Senate report that showed Rice cleared
the CIA in 2002 to use “alternative interrogation methods,” including waterboarding.
In protest of Rice’s selection as the commencement speaker, over 50 Rutgers students staged a sit-in at the president’s office.
According to The Daily Targum, Rutgers’
student newspaper, the sit-in was one of the
largest in Rutgers’ history.
At the protest, students “waved banners
and paintings of Rice wearing a necklace
of skulls next to an American flag dripping
with blood,” Daily Targum staff writer Lin
Lan wrote in an article covering the sit-in.
Randolph-Macon junior Connor Kish
told The Yellow Jacket that believes Rice
should have been allowed to speak at Rutgers.
“I think it’s unfair that she was convicted
of a crime by a jury of outspoken students,”
Kish said. “She was never convicted of the
crime that they mentioned in a court of law,
and so it’s sort of unfair that the students
disqualified her with all the experience she
has in government. It’s disappointing that
she withdrew from an opportunity to speak.”
for the last time in April of this year.
The HEA was implemented to improve institutions of higher education and provide
financial assistance to students. Title IX of
the HEA famously forbids gender-based
discrimination in college athletics. The HEA
has been reauthorized nine times and is currently in its tenth reauthorization. Before
every reauthorization, Congress changes the
HEA’s programs or adds new ones.
Rep. Beatty has also introduced the
Concussion Awareness and Education Act.
If it passes, a national system for monitoring
sports-related concussions in people aged
five-21 will be implemented.
The NCAA said, “As written, both
of these proposals will only become law
through amending the Higher Education
Act of 1965…While we expect that a number
of proposals related to the Higher Education
Act will be introduced, it is widely believed
within the higher education community
that the reauthorization process will take
substantial time to complete.”
Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.) has also
brought legislation relating to high-revenue
sports programs. Cardenas’ bill requires colleges earning $10 million or more annually
from sports programs to provide athletes
with a benefits package. This package must
include financial aid when an athletic
scholarship is lifted unless it was lifted for
misconduct or unsatisfactory grades, USA
Today reported.
“These jobs reports are very much esti
mates on a month to month basis,”
Fullmer said. “We’ve really seen in the last
couple of years these reports become political talking points, when in reality they often
go back and revise the reports majorly in
the months that follow and suddenly what
looked like a really awful report may end up
being a good month and vice-versa.”
This expansion in growth also comes
with a 0.5 percent rise in income for Americans in March, the most the country has seen
since last August.
Some data indicate the economy had
already begun expanding in March, even if
it was not reflected in the headline numbers.
Consumer spending was up at shopping
malls in March, and more cars were sold
than in previous months. Overall spending
was at its highest point in two years during
March.
The New York Times reported job
numbers for March were recorded a week
earlier than usual to accommodate Easter,
so seasonal workers and high school graduates may have been excluded from the labor
force.
“It’s a huge Rorschach test for everyone
who is reading it,” Guy Berger, a U.S. economist at RBS told the New York Times. “People expecting a spring rebound are zeroing
in on the payroll advance, while pessimists
are looking at the household survey and the
decline in the participation rate.”
A
Politics/Opinions Editor
Cancel Condi: Rutgers students protested the selection of former U.S. Secretary of State Con-
doleezza Rice by sending an open letter to the unversity’s president and organizing a sit-in at his
office. Rutgers students objected to Rice giving the authority to members of the CIA to conduct
waterboarding in order to gain intelligence from detainees. Photo credit to Associated Press
HEARING, cont’d from page five JOBS, continued from page five
YJ
Page Seven
Sports
May 9, 2014
Baseball returns from ODAC tournament,
but may recieve an at-large bid to the
NCAA tournament
by May McNeil ‘16
Staff Writer
T
he Randolph-Macon Yellow Jacket
baseball team finished their 2014 season
last week with a 24-15 overall record and a
14-6 record in the Old Dominion Athletic
Conference (ODAC).
The team continued their success this
year with the highest overall winning percentage since 1987 and their best finish
(third) in the ODAC since 1997. For the
fourth consecutive season, the Jackets were
one of the last three teams in the conference
tournament and won the tournament in
2011 and 2013.
The ODAC is known for competitive
baseball, and several teams in the conference
are ranked nationally.
“We have one of the top 15 schedules in
the country,” sophomore Austin Bain said.
This year’s ODAC tournament was hosted by Lynchburg College in the minor league
Lynchburg Hillcats Stadium with R-MC
President Bob Lindgren in attendance.
R-MC first faced Lynchburg College,
who had swept the Jackets in regular season
play. Lynchburg beat the Jackets 3-1 in 11
innings, sending R-MC to the losers’ bracket.
R-MC went into the game expecting to
win.
“We beat ourselves,” Bain said. “The loss
was a complete shocker.”
Coming off a loss, the Yellow Jackets
faced rival Hampden-Sydney in the second
game of the tournament. The Jackets won
4-3 in 10 innings and ended Sydney’s season.
“Sydney was the most emotional game
of them all,” Bain said. “If we didn’t win, we
were going home.”
The Jackets were able to advance to the
next round and face Lynchburg once again.
Photo credit to ODACs
After several losses to Lynchburg over
the course of the season, the Jackets were
ready for a win,and won with an unusually high final score of 18-10 despite many
errors. The Jackets racked up over 20 hits
throughout the game, bringing them to face
in-season rivals and ODAC powerhouse
Bridgewater College.
“We all came together after losing to
Lynchburg,” Bain said. “No team in the
ODAC intimidates us because we are the
most prepared team out there.”
The Yellow Jackets lost 5-2 to Bridgewater in their final game of the tournament.
“We shot ourselves in the foot and made
mental mistakes,” senior Matt Fischgrund
said. “They didn’t dominate us.”
“We couldn’t put it together to reach our
goal,” senior Jamie Hendrick said.
Only two senior players, Matt Fischgrund and Jamie Hendrick, are graduating
this year. The team typically has at least four
seniors, which, according to Hendrick, has
changed the way the team relies on its upperclassmen.
“The foundation Matt and I have laid is
one to grab onto and move forward with,”
Hendrick said.
Head coach Ray Hedrick agreed with
this sentiment.
“We have a recruiting class coming in
that is eager to help our program get to the
‘next level’,” Hedrick said.
“While we didn’t win the ODAC tournament, I believe we have had a better overall
season.”
The team is now waiting on an at-large
bid from the NCAA Division III tournament, a chance that Bain and Fischgrund
seem to think is likely.
“We are practicing tomorrow,” Bain said.
“We’re ready.”
Conf. Overall Old face, new position:
Women’s Tennis 9-2
Men’s Tennis
8-2
15-6
12-7
Men’s Lacrosse 5-4
9-8
Women’s Lacrosse 6-4
10-8
Softball
12-8
26-12
Baseball
15-6
24-15
Gray promoted to director
of both tennis teams
by Jordon Lee ‘16
T
Staff Writer
his spring, Randolph-Macon College’s long-time assistant tennis coach,
Charles Gray, was promoted to director of
tennis for the men’s and women’s teams.
Coach Gray has been here for over
nine years with the tennis program and has
worked in every aspect of the program,
including recruiting, scheduling, planning
and running practices.
Coach Gray’s passion for tennis developed as a young man while he was working
at a tennis club, where he “absolutely fell in
love with the game.”
His love for the game enabled his career
to span over 25 years where he has been
able to work with multiple All-ODAC
players and doubles, including D1, D2 and
D3 players.
As certified by the U.S. Professional
Tennis Association, the Professional Tennis
Registry and the U.S. Tennis Association,
Coach Gray has operated his own tennis
coaching business, Tennis the Gray Way in
Richmond, Va., for over 20 years improving
the skills of players at all levels.
Along with his own business, Coach
Gray is highly active in the tennis community, such as teaching players in the Special
Olympics.
Tennis team captain Connor Hoerr said
he believes that in his three years on the
team, Coach Gray has contributed to his “development as a person on and off the court,
and that his promotion is well deserved.”
As the director of tennis, Coach Gray
said he strives for his players to excel in
three areas: court, classroom, and community.
While the tennis team holds one of the
highest GPAs among R-MC teams, he said
he wants to continue being top four in the
ODACS.
Coach Gray was voted ODAC Coach of
the Year, showing what an integral part he
plays in the team’s success; players Ryan
Byrd and Michael Baxter were named First
Team All-ODAC at number one doubles,
while John Adam, Kelsie Grice, Melissa
Tomlin and Molly Jesseman all earned
Second Team All-ODAC honors.
Coach Gray said he looks forward to
building on this season’s accomplishments in
an effort to increase the program’s successes
next season.
Page Eight
YJSPORTS
Vol. XCVIV; Issue 11
May 9, 2014
Saying goodbye to the athletes of the
class of 2014
All photos are courtesy of the athletes.
Jamie Hendrick, Baseball
Major: Communications
Accomplishments: Tied for fourth all time
wins in R-MC history
Matt Fischgrund, Baseballl
Major: Political Science and Environmental
Studies
Accomplishments: 2013 All Tournament team
Justin Butler, Lacrosse
Major: Business/Economics
Accomplishments: 2011 ODAC Rookie
of the Year, Captain
Jason Andrews, Lacrosse
Sam Johnson, Lacrosse
Michael Baxter, Tennis
Major: Economics, Political Science minor
Accomplishments: Number one doubles, best R-MC
team record
Major: Business/Economics
Accomplishments: Bruce Cornbrooks
Award
Caty Betz Holcomb, Tennis
Andrew Farrell, Golf
Major: Economics, Political Science Minor
Accomplishments: 20 collegiate top 5 finishes
Major: Accounting/Economics
Accomplishments: MVP, Captain, 2nd team all ODAC, first
team All State
Major: Communications, Film Studies minor
Accomplishments: ITA Scholar Athlete, ODAC
Sportsmanship team
Audrey Hester, Lacrosse
Major: Sociology/Anthropology
Accomplishments:Captain, SAAC president,
ODAC all academic team