News

Jogging Student Avoids Gunman

Written by Anne Elder · Filed Under News, Web Updates 

Anne Elder/Bullet

On Monday, Aug. 30, a UMW student was jogging downtown when she was approached by an armed male cyclist, according to a campus crime alert sent out Tuesday afternoon.

The 20-year-old student left the scene unharmed and the Fredericksburg police are actively investigating the incident, according to Fredericksburg Police Department Public Information Officer Natatia Bledsoe.

“We have assigned this case to a detective,” Bledsoe said. “We are aggressively pursuing any information we receive.”

According to the crime alert, the jogger noticed a bicyclist following her while she was near William and Sophia streets.  When she reached the intersection of Sophia and Charlotte streets, the male approached her asking if she knew where Bragg Hill is located.

After replying “no,” she directed him to a nearby coffee shop for directions.  He proceeded to reach into the black drawstring bag he was carrying and pulled out a handgun, according to the alert.

The jogger ran up Charlotte Street yelling, “He has a gun,” which caught the attention of several males who were standing near the Fredericksburg Visitor’s Center on Caroline Street.  The males proceeded to chase the suspect, who was last seen riding toward the Chatham Bridge, according to the alert.

The alert informed students that the police searched the area, but were unable to find the suspect or the “Good Samaritans” who chased him away.

“We’re hoping they’ll come forward,” Bledsoe said of the Samaritans.  “Any details are really helpful.”

In light of the incident, Bledsoe encourages students to be aware of their surroundings, and not to use iPods or other music players to the extent that hearing is restricted.

Bledsoe also said that the police department doesn’t recommend carrying defense tools such as mace, but instead recommends wearing a whistle, which can alert bystanders and scare the potential attacker away.

Despite the crime, Bledsoe said that generally speaking, Fredericksburg is a secure area.

“I think Mary Washington and the surrounding communities are very safe,” Bledsoe said.

She said the majority of crimes that occur in Fredericksburg happen between people who know each other and crime between strangers “just doesn’t happen that often.”

Viewpoints

Staff Editorial: Rough Landing at Eagle Village

Written by UMW Bullet · Filed Under Viewpoints 

The hype and glamor of Eagle Landing is slowly dying as the first residents realize the reality.

From the highway, Eagle Landing looks like any college student’s dream: a gorgeous apartment building close to classes, parking, an ABC store and a grocery store. Residents can easily ride their bike across the bridge to get to campus or play a game of soccer on their very own turf field.

In reality, for almost $6,000 an academic year, students can expect extra parking costs, ridiculous fines for chipped paint, lukewarm shower water (assuming your shower even works), no bar stool seating, numerous fires, and an overall lack of communication and consistency.

Before move-in, students were shocked to find that an Eagle Landing parking pass would cost more than double what a normal residential parking pass costs. While students have an option to opt out of the Eagle Landing parking garage, this is not always an easy choice for students who have commitments to drive to early or late and are concerned with safety.

Upon move-in, students received mixed messages about everything from the banning of 3M hooks for hanging pictures to the allowance of automatic shut off toaster ovens and George Foreman grills.

The community assistants and other building staff had different answers when students asked about these items. Students were initially told that they could have toaster ovens, but then, only a week later during floor meetings, students were told the opposite. This decision was made because of the sensitive fire alarm system, but perhaps by fixing the system, daily appliances could be used.

While some miscommunication is understandable with a new staff and building, the list of problems continues to grow. Students were at first told to seal their own granite countertops to avoid staining and breaking, but then in an e-mail from Christine Porter, head of residence life, students were informed that the countertops are actually already sealed.

Many Eagle Landing residents have also been complaining about the showers. Many still do not have hot water, although according to Porter’s e-mail a solution has been found.  Some handicapped apartments have drainage issues, and therefore do not have workable showers.  These problems should have been addressed prior to move-in, not two weeks into classes.

On top of all the construction issues and rules, the residents have been treated like children who have misbehaved.  During the hall meetings, the student building supervisors screamed at residents while waving bags of beer cans.  Their message was meant to scare students into following the rules, but made residence life look rude and unwelcoming.

For the $2,800 a month an Eagle Landing apartment costs among four roommates, they could have rented their own house in downtown Fredericksburg, and avoided the entire headache of Eagle Village.

After building such an enormous and anticipated addition to UMW, the University and Foundation needs to make sure they are building a reputable standing for Eagle Landing and the university.

The University needs to look seriously at the way Eagle Landing is being run so that students will not regret their decision to live on campus and will not pass on these bad experiences to future residents.

Entertainment

As Tall As Lions Kick Off The Semester Right

Written by UMW Bullet · Filed Under Entertainment 

By KYLE SHEARIN

(Marie Sicola / Bullet)

To welcome back old students and help ease new ones into the occasionally exciting life at UMW, alternative-rock band As Tall As Lions performed in Ball Circle on Friday night.

If you’ve never heard their music, imagine a more atmospheric version of Snow Patrol with Jeff Buckley as the front man. This makes the band’s intimate but powerful sonic texture quite fitting for small clubs but also translated to an outside venue surprisingly well.

The band’s onstage presence was a little awkward at first, as it was a little hard to distinguish if they were trying to be funny or just saying whatever came to mind. The band’s tight playing secured the crowd’s interest throughout though and impressively brought the life out of their recordings.

Eventually the audience loosened up, and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. A running joke during the concert was that the members of As Tall As Lion’s were part of the graduating class of UMW in the early ‘90s but couldn’t remember which year exactly.

The funniest moment of the night was the impromptu hot dog eating contest between three students halfway through the band’s set. It gave the whole evening a distinctly summery vibe.

If the sleeping gentleman sprawled out next to me was any indication, As Tall As Lions can be a very relaxing band. If I can fault them for anything, the show offered very little thrills for those not already diehard fans.

Nitpicking aside, As Tall As Lions was received well and hopefully secured a place in many freshmen’s hearts as the first band they saw play at UMW.

Features

Ellis Sequel Disappoints Fans

Written by Jordan Kroll · Filed Under Features 

theaudiobookbay.com

Twenty-five years after the release of his successful debut novel, Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis is back with its sequel, Imperial Bedrooms.

Although all Ellis’s work published in the years between Less Than Zero and this latest novel follows various members of the same cast of loosely connected characters, Imperial Bedrooms picks up with the disillusioned youth we left in 1985, only now they’re disillusioned adults in 2010.

This newest addition to Ellis’s repertoire certainly doesn’t lack the overt sexuality, graphic violence or rampant drug use of its predecessors, but it does seem to be missing the apathy and callousness that make his previous works so much more enjoyable.

To put it simply, Imperial Bedrooms has too much of a conscience, considering it comes from the same man who brought us American Psycho.

Ellis wrote Less Than Zero when he was 21. The entire novel is about bored, rich college-aged kids in Los Angeles. Readers are privy to their world for only a month, but that’s more than enough time to see these kids being kids, while exploring a dark abyss devoid of any morals.

In the sequel they’re all still wandering hopelessly through LA with their immoral compasses, but they’re also still acting like over-privileged kids, which is pretty pathetic considering they’re in their 40’s.

When the characters were 18 and living so recklessly just because they could, it was exciting and dangerous. Now that they know better and spend half the novel justifying their immature actions to readers, the whole thing reads like Ellis begging to still be considered relevant.

Ironically, I thought he was before starting Imperial Bedrooms.

When Ellis was first thrust onto the literary scene during his undergraduate years at Binghamton University in the 80’s, the subjects he dealt with were new and shocking to readers. There weren’t many outlets where people could learn about how shamelessly that part of society lives.

Now, thanks largely to the fine programming on E! and Bravo, not to mention that whole internet thing, we are over-exposed to this. There hardly seems a need for someone to be writing an insider’s look at L.A.’s rich and troubled anymore.

Beyond the sheer irrelevance of this novel, the plot just comes up short. Ellis is known for his intertwining plots that are never what they seem, but I’ve read more complex stories in my creative writing classes.

Imperial Bedrooms is just the convoluted story of three middle-aged men fighting over a blonde twenty-three-year-old who wants to be an actress in LA. Arguably Ellis’s most realistic novel.

Of course, Ellis is too clever for his first novel in five years to be that simplistic.     With such a basic, contrived plot, it’s likely that, like his other works, Imperial Bedrooms acts as an updated commentary on our one-dimensional, materialistic culture. Hell, every other page references a character’s iPhone or BMW.

An important, though certainly not unique, lesson that we could all benefit from remembering, sure, but Ellis has taught readers variations of the evils of materialism in six previous works. And each one does it better than Imperial Bedrooms.

Perhaps this critique is too harsh. The book isn’t poorly written and it was a great way to spend a summer afternoon, but for one of Ellis’s biggest fans it was a massive disappointment.

So, while I don’t necessarily endorse this book as a jumping off point for your Bret Easton Ellis fandom, I urge everyone who hasn’t already to read his other novels.     Then, once you’ve seen what he’s actually capable of, pick up Imperial Bedrooms and just enjoy the fact that you get to catch up with some interesting characters, even if you don’t like where they’re headed.

Sports

Brethauer Excited for UMW Career

Written by UMW Bullet · Filed Under Sports 

By KELLY SCOTT

After six years as an assistant coach for Columbia University, Abby Brethauer takes the position of head coach for Men’s and Women’s Varsity Swimming at Mary Washington. Following a surprising leave by former coach Matt Sellman, Brethauer has already begun implementing her ideas and passion for the sport into the program.

“I feel so lucky to walk into a program with such great history,” Brethauer said. “I have big goals, but I know a lot comes from talking to the team. If they aren’t on board, it doesn’t matter.”

Having big goals is an understatement for Brethauer, who would love nothing more than to one day beat her Division III alma mater, Kenyon College. Kenyon College is considered one of the top swimming schools in all of NCAA Division III, with their varsity men’s swimming team having won 31 consecutive national championships and the women’s team having won 23 titles since 1984. Last year the Mary Washington women’s team ranked fourth and the men’s team ranked 21st, so a good base is set for Brethauer to build upon.

As a former NCAA Division III record holder and three-time team national champion at Kenyon, Brethauer believes her college swimming background will give her an edge.

“Coming from one of the top D III schools, I know how it’s done,” Brethauer said. “We were no different than any other teams despite the mystique, and once you get past that, it’s easier to think about beating them.”

The swimmers, each with a few goals of their own, are also excited about Brethauer’s hopes for the future of the UMW swimming program.

“She seems awesome,” junior Caroline Deluca said. “[She’s] so chill and low-key, exactly what we need after a loss. I’m excited for a good season with her.”

The Eagles will have quite a transition this year, but through the input and guidance of the seniors, Brethauer plans to keep many traditions and routines the same to make the change as easy as possible.

“I have a couple of sets I want to incorporate– those kind of sets that as soon as you finish, you know they made you better, whether you failed or not,” Brethauer said. “You see, I think failure is a good thing. Watch me fail, and then watch how I come back from it.”

According to the swimmers, as long as Brethauer is ready to tackle challenges, have fun, and really work with the dynamic of the team, UMW swimming will only thrive in the years to come.

Senior Ashley Green had some words of wisdom for her new coach.

“Keep an open mind about everything. Have fun with it and get to know everyone as best you can,” she said.

With everybody on board, the Eagles plan on having even more success in the CAC Conference as they strive to win their 21st and 11th consecutive conference titles for the women and men’s teams respectively.