SummaryPortfolioForEdisonRuss 2007_2014 20141128 short

Summary Portfolio for Edison Russ
I am Edison Russ, a freelance copy editor and writer with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications
from Emory & Henry College. My freelance work includes writing, copy editing, proofreading, website
administration and graphic design for newspapers, association newsletters, election campaign materials,
training course catalogs, blogs, and more recently federal government proposal support. Since 2007 my
writing and photographs have appeared in multiple newspapers, blogs, literary magazines, and a
professional website. The distribution of my published work is summarized below.
The balance of this portfolio is organized into four sections:
• Newspapers – Local News
• Newspapers – Feature Articles & Editorials
• Websites & Blogs
• Magazines – Arts & Literature
Each section is preceded by a list of all articles published and highlights articles featured in this portfolio.
Note, I am a licensed user of the full Adobe Creative Cloud Suite as well as Microsoft Office 365. This
portfolio has been assembled using MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat XI Pro.
I continue to expand my experience and skills. In 2012 I completed the Shipley seminar “Writing and
Managing Federal Proposals.” In 2014, I completed multiple online courses for SharePoint 2010.
As you peruse the following pages, I hope you may discover ways I can support your creative endeavors.
Thank you for your consideration.
Very Respectfully,
Edison Russ
edison.russ@verizon.net
(703) 405-2019
Local News
29%
Feature Article
51%
Editorial
2%
Website
2% Blog
13%
Magazine
3%
Magazine Grand
Local News Feature Article Editorial Website Blog Literary Total
Arts & Entertainment 5 5
Business 6 1 7
Community Action 3 2 5
Education 6 6
Fundraising 5 5
Government 5 5
Historic Site 3 3
Personality 4 4
Songs & Poems 2 2
Student Government 2 2
Student Life 3 1 4
Video Games 7 7
Grand Total 16 28 1 1 7 2 55
Newspaper WebMedium
Topic
My writing and photographs
address a variety of topics

Newspaper Articles – Local News
Within a topic, articles are sorted in reverse chronological order. “F” indicates an article featured in this
portfolio. “P” indicates I received both writing and photograph credit.
Topic F P # Title and Newspaper Date
Government F 1 County Approves Pharmacy’s Historic Designation,
Arlington Connection
2/6/2013
Government F P 2 Residents Voice Neighborhood Concerns, Arlington
Connection
2/6/2013
Government F P 3 Dear Richmond: Here’s What’s Needed, Arlington
Connection
1/9/2013
Government 4 DMV Mobile Offices Visit Beatley Library, Alexandria
Gazette Packet
6/21/2012
Government 5 Towers Park Redesign Survey Underway, Arlington
Connection
6/20/2012
Education F 6 Economics of Student Success, Arlington Connection 5/1/2013
Education F 7 Board Discusses Overcrowding, Arlington Connection 1/22/2013
Education 8 Building at Williamsburg Middle Site, Arlington Connection 1/22/2013
Education 9 Decision Reached on Jamestown Trailers, Arlington
Connection
6/27/2012
Education 10 Community Discusses, Votes on Relocation of Trailers,
Arlington Connection
6/13/2012
Education 11 Trailer Placement Irks Residents, Arlington Connection 5/29/2012
Community
Action
12 Police to Provide Free Child ID Kits, Arlington Connection 1/30/2013
Community
Action
F 13 Marching for Gun Control, Arlington Connection 1/22/2013
Community
Action
F 14 Washington Boulevard Trail Yields Environmentalist
Debate, Arlington Connection
8/1/2012
Student
Government
F 15 Student voice discussed at Senate meeting, The
Whitetopper
12/6/2012
Student
Government
F 16 SGA president, VP, sworn in, Senators removed following
former president’s ineligibility to serve, The Whitetopper
11/8/2012

Arlington Connection ❖ January 9-15, 2013 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
Arlington Connection Editor Steven Mauren
703-778-9415 or arlington@connectionnewspapers.com
By Edison Russ
The Connection
A
rlington’s representatives in the
state legislature listened to the
public’s wishes for priorities to be
addressed at the upcoming Vir-
ginia General Assembly session during a
hearing on Friday, Jan. 4, in the Arlington
County Board Room.
Scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.,
the hearing lasted nearly three hours be-
cause of high turnout.
The public spoke about the expansion of
Medicaid, stricter gun control laws and in-
creased funding for various mental health
services.
The delegation consists of Senators Bar-
bara Favola, Janet Howell and Adam Ebbin,
as well as Delegates Alfonso Lopez, Bob
Brink, Robert Krupicka and Patrick Hope.
People advocating for mental health ser-
vices requested that additional waivers be
granted to alleviate long waiting lists and
for independent living programs for those
with intellectual disabilities.
One advocate, Betsy Greer, requested
funding for jail diversion programs for
adults with mental illness and co-occurring
substance abuse disorder.
Greer also asked that the proposed
amount of $750,000 for discharge assis-
tance planning for mental health patients
would only provide for 15 adults, which she
said was “grossly inadequate when you con-
sider there are approximately 160 at any
given time on the departments’ ready-for-
discharge list.”
She said that Arlington alone has 12 such
patients.
Members of the Arlington Community
Service Boards advocated for funding of the
Northern Virginia Training Center, sched-
uled to close in July 2015.
As part of a settlement agreement be-
tween the Commonwealth and the Justice
Department, any patients still residing in
the NVTC three months prior to its closing
would be required to leave. Members of the
CSB asked either for the funding to keep
the center open, or to delay the closing long
enough to properly discharge the residents.
According to CSB member Barbara Jones,
Virginia already has almost no surplus of
beds for most of 185 individuals with intel-
lectual or developmental disabilities that
need treatment.
Jones also said that the existing waiver
reimbursement infrastructure does not
cover the cost of care in Northern Virginia.
“The governor’s proposal to raise Medic-
aid waiver rates by 25 percent for high-need
individuals is a step in the right direction,”
Jones said. “However, even a 25 percent
increase will not cover the cost of serving
those with the highest needs.”
Favola said that she saw a renewed en-
ergy around gun control at the hearing in
wake of the Sandy Hook incident. [See re-
lated story, below].
“Nobody ever would have imagined that
young children attending school would not
have been safe,” she said.
Favola said she hoped that there would
be enough public pressure to get legislation
passed on gun control not just at the Gen-
eral Assembly, but in Congress.
Favola said she is not looking to restrict
individual rights; rather, she is concerned
with the danger inherent with current op-
tions. She cited the loophole that allows
people to purchase weapons at gun shows
without background checks.
Dear Richmond: Here’s What’s Needed
Medicaid and mental
health services
cited as key issues.
Legislators listen to members of the public identifying their priorities
for the upcoming state legislative session.
PhotobyEdisonRuss/TheConnection
By Michael Lee Pope
The Connection
L
egislators will be dueling over guns
this year at the Capitol, with gun-
rights advocates set to oppose efforts
to close Virginia’s gun-show loophole. Al-
exandria state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) and
Arlington Del. Patrick Hope (D-47) have in-
troduced legislation that would require a
background check for every gun purchase.
That includes the 40 percent of current gun
sales that take place in a private transac-
tion, which do not require any kind of back-
ground check to be conducted on the indi-
vidual purchasing the weapon.
“The current laws are like Swiss cheese,”
said Hope, who sits on the Militia, Police
and Public Safety Committee. “We can’t
have nearly half of all gun sales in Virginia
subject to background check and the other
half absent any regulation.”
Gun advocates fear that background
checks are a slippery slope. Organizations
such as the Virginia Citizens Defense League
argue that increased registration could lead
to confiscation, a threat that motivates ad-
vocates for gun rights to oppose efforts to
increase background checks. In a perfect
world, argues League president Phillip Van
Cleave, all background checks would be
eliminated — regardless of whether the sale
is private or not.
“The truth is it’s easy to get around a back-
ground check. You simply send in somebody
with a clean record to do a straw purchase,”
said Cleave. “I certainly don’t want to see
more background checks, and I’d be just as
happy with fewer.”
THE POLITICS of gun regulation have be-
come much more pitched in recent weeks,
after a gunman blasted his way into a Con-
necticut elementary school and killed 20
children and six adults. Both sides of the
gun debate responded by doubling down
on its previous position. Those who support
gun rights argue that schools
should have armed security
guards. Those who support
increased gun regulation
have been arguing for in-
creased screening and back-
ground checks. Historically,
Virginia has been hostile to
efforts to increase gun regu-
lations.
“There’s an urban-rural disconnect about
gun rights, and that split defines politics in
Virginia,” said Kyle Kondik, analyst with the
University of Virginia Center for Politics. “I
just don’t see a lot of potential traction for
gun control legislation, especially given the
makeup of the House of Delegates, which
is so overwhelmingly Republican.”
That means Northern Virginia Democrats
who support increased gun control have a
seemingly intractable goal — persuading
conservative members of the General As-
sembly to change their minds on one of the
most emotional issues of the day. Even if
they are not successful in session, though,
Northern Virginia Democrats can campaign
on the issue later this year, when every
member of the House of Delegates will be
up for reelection.
“I think the tragedy in Newtown will
change the politics of all gun
bills,” said Ebbin. “Whether or
not particular ones will pass
is hard to determine, but I
think we will see a serious
consideration of many more
gun bills this year.”
VIRGINIA HAS STRONG
LAWS protecting the right to
carry and use guns, a tradition that dates
back to English common-law instituted
when the commonwealth was a British
colony. The Brady Campaign to Prevent
Gun Violence gives Virginia a score of 11
out of 100, describing the commonwealth
as having “weak gun laws that help feed
the illegal gun market, allow the sale of
See Loophole, Page 7
Arlington delegate hopes to register
all private firearm transactions.
Taking Aim To Close the Gun Show Loophole
Ebbin Hope
“The current
laws are like
Swiss cheese.”
— Del. Patrick Hope
(D-47)

Arlington Connection ❖ May 1-7, 2013 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
By Edison Russ
The Connection
E
ight Arlington elementary schools
are undergoing improvement
plans after failing to meet all of
their federal annual measurable
objectives (AMO) last year as required by
the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act.
AMO results are based on Standards of
Learning test scores and are the federal
government’s method of ensuring continual
improvement in schools. The eight schools
that did not meet the AMO benchmarks —
Randolph, Drew Model, Hoffman-Boston,
Campbell, Carlin Springs, Barcroft, Barrett
and Patrick Henry — all also receive Title I
funding to aid in the instruction of students
from economically poorer backgrounds.
In addition to these eight, the other
schools that have lower scores [see accom-
panying maps] also tend to have a higher
percentage of students who qualify for free
or reduced lunch, and most of them are lo-
cated in southern Arlington, where the
schools tend to have a greater percentage
of students who qualify for free or reduced
lunch.
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction
Constance Skelton said she did not find this
data surprising. Skelton said that one of the
reasons that economically disadvantaged
students don’t tend to perform as well as
others is because they don’t come from
“print-rich” environments.
“They don’t have newspapers and maga-
zines and books and things at home that
give them the experience with print that
they need that makes another child who’s
been read to, watches mom and dad read
… quicker to pick up some of the reading
than children who haven’t had that experi-
ence.”
Since at least 40 percent of students at
each of these schools qualify for free or re-
duced lunch, the schools are eligible for the
school-wide improvement plan.
According to Snyder, the school-wide pro-
cess narrows in focus as it progresses, first
evaluating the whole school, then the grade
levels, then teachers within each grade
level, and finally the students. Acceleration
programs are then put in place for students
who don’t meet benchmarks.
This approach also allows Title I teachers
to help any student within the building.
“So, we find that it’s much more flexible
and much more responsive to the needs of
the schools.”
According to Donna Snyder, most of a
school’s Title I funding goes toward hiring
extra staff, particularly reading teachers,
literacy coaches and math coaches.
Along with additional funding, Title I
minutes, weaving it in with science and so-
cial study instruction.
IN ADDITION to providing extra help di-
rectly to students, the county also reaches
out to parents.
“Last year at Hoffman-Boston, we had
about 150 different kinds of parent events
to get parents to come into the school, be
more engaged, help them with strategies
they could do at home with their children,”
Snyder said. “So, I think that we try to make
sure that we’re addressing parent and
child.”
Another challenge for teaching in south-
ern Arlington is the number of English lan-
guage learners. To help these children, the
county uses the Sheltered Instruction Ob-
servation Protocol.
“One of the SIOP strategies is to help build
background knowledge with students,”
Skelton said, “so that when they encounter
new vocabulary … they’ll have something
to kind of put their knowledge on.”
Other components of the SIOP model in-
clude making sure teachers provide com-
prehensible input adjusting their speech and
providing examples of good work, and pro-
moting interaction among students within
lessons.
While test scores can be affected by the
difficulties of teaching students across dif-
ferent economic and cultural backgrounds,
Co-president of the Randolph Elementary
Parent Teacher Association Allegra Jabo said
it’s precisely the fact that Randolph is host
to such diversity that makes it a great
school, despite it scoring lowest among the
schools on this list.
She believes that because the student
population is so diverse, teachers are forced
to teach to the individual. She cited the time
when her older daughter started first grade,
and the teacher had come to her saying he
had been debating whether to place Jabo’s
daughter in the highest reading group or
the next highest reading group.
He ended up placing her in the highest
reading group in hopes of motivating her
to perform even better, but he also said he
wasn’t going to stop the progress of the
other children in the group — a statement
Jabo greatly appreciated.
“I really have felt, since I’ve been there,
too, there’s no one slipping through, since
everyone has to be looked at individually,”
Jabo said.
Although neither of Jabo’s daughters
could read when they started kindergarten,
both now read above grade level. Her first
grader reads a little beyond a second-grade
level, and her third grader reads a little
beyond a fifth-grade level.
A school’s AMO scores may be found in
report cards in the Virginia Department of
Education website’s “Statistics and Reports”
section. Free and reduced lunch data may
be found by visiting the APS site and fol-
lowing the “media resources” tab to the
“student demographics” link.
schools also have their progress monitored
on a monthly basis to create student watch
lists and provide interventions for students
who aren’t meeting grade-level expecta-
tions. These interventions may include ad-
ditional support in the classroom, instruc-
tion from another teacher trained in the
problem subject, or having a student come
in early or stay late for extra instruction.
Many of the Title I schools have also in-
creased the amount of time students spend
with language arts each day by about 30
Economics of Student Success
Schools use Title I funds
to target individual needs.
Percentage
of students, by
school, meeting
annual measurable
objectives based on
Standards of Learning
test scores.
Percentage
of students,
by school,
eligible for free
and reduced lunch.
Maps by
Laurence Foong/
The Connection
“… there’s no one
slipping through, since
everyone has to be
looked at individually.”
— Allegra Jabo, Co-president,
Randolph Elementary Parent
Teacher Association

Arlington Connection ❖ January 23-29, 2013 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
See Tribute, Page 7
T
he annual tribute to Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr. was held
Sunday evening, Jan. 20, in
the auditorium at Washing-
ton-Lee High School. Special guests in-
cluded students from the Arlington
County Public Schools who were fea-
tured on a video presentation with their
award-winning visual and literary arts
projects, the D.C.-area dance troupe Ur-
ban Artistry, Christylez Bacon, Ethan
Foote and John Kocur and director of
Africana Studies and associate professor
of English at Lehigh University Dr. James
Peterson.
Director of Arlington County Parks and
Recreation Jane Rudolph welcomed all
to the annual event. Chair of the Arling-
ton County Board Walter Tejada and
chair of the Arlington County School
Board Emma Violand-Sanchez also ad-
dressed the audience. ABC 7News re-
porter Kendis Gibson served as the
evening’s master of ceremonies.
At the conclusion of the program a
video performance by the Grace Baptist
Church Cathedral Choir, conducted by
The dance troupe from Urban Artistry performed for the first time
“The Mourning After … A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” The
performance takes inspiration from the D.C. riots that started four
hours after Dr. King was pronounced dead in Memphis, Tenn. on
April 4, 1968. In the opening scene, residents of the neighborhoods,
Johnte Cunningham, Russell Campbell, Baronhawk Williams and
Carlendra Frank, huddle together watching their neighborhood
become a battlefield. The rioting and looting lasted for five days.
Arlington County School Board
Chair Emma Violand-Sanchez
introduces the video showcasing
the winners of the 2013 Literary
and Visual Arts contest.
Master of Ceremonies ABC 7
News reporter Kendis Gibson.
Marcia Lindsey
looks over notes on
the closing of the
Hoffman-Boston
Junior and Senior
High School. On
April 3, 1963 the
Arlington County
School Board in a
closed meeting
voted to close the
segregated high
school.
Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
PhotosbyLouiseKrafft/TheConnection
See Confiscating Guns, Page 4
By Michael Pope
The Connection
I
magine the scenario: Sheriff’s deputies
arrive at a home to issue a temporary
detention order against an individual.
While on scene, law-enforcement officers
realize that
the person
has a stock-
pile of weap-
ons and am-
m u n i t i o n .
The police
are interested
in confiscat-
ing the guns
while the
person’s mental health is evaluated, but
existing law prevent that from happening.
Legislation introduced by Del. Rob Krupicka
(D-45) seeks to expand police powers for
law enforcement officials to confiscate. But
Virginia Citizens Defense League says no.
“If you don’t have access to your guns why
the hell do the police need them? You are
not locked up at home, you are locked up
away from your guns in a secure facility,”
said Van Cleave. “So to go get your guns is
asinine.”
Krupicka wrote the bill along with Alex-
andria Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney
Bryan Porter, who is running in the Demo-
cratic caucus for the job this spring. Porter
said the legislation was created in response
to several specific recent incidents in which
a magistrate issued a temporary detention
order against an individual only to learn
that the person has been stockpiling weap-
ons and ammunition. Porter says if the per-
son can be
d e t a i n e d
without a
judge, his
w e a p o n s
c a c h e
should also
be able to be
confiscated
without a
judge sign-
ing off on it first.
“I would expect to see support for this
from the law-enforcement community,” said
Porter, a former Alexandria Police Depart-
Detaining People and Guns
Local delegate wants
to expand police
powers to confiscate
guns of the detained.
“The way the bill is written, it
doesn’t take gun away
indefinitely. There’s a due process
that allows people to get their
guns back.”
See Marching, Page 4
By Edison Russ
The Connection
R
esponding to the Sandy Hook mas-
sacre, local citizens have volun-
teered their efforts in organizing a
March on Washington for Gun Control to
take place Saturday, Jan. 26.
The march is meant to show support for
legislation that would prohibit the sale of
assault weapons and extended magazines
and require universal criminal and mental-
health background checks for anyone pur-
chasing a firearm.
Other goals include getting the sale of
bullets that shatter inside of the body
banned and requiring gun-safety training
for anyone buying a weapon.
People will begin gathering at the Capi-
tol Reflecting Pool on 3rd Street Northwest,
across from the Museum of the American
Indian, at 10 a.m.
At 11 a.m., participants will silently march
down Constitution Avenue toward the
Washington Monument, where they will
hear speakers such as U.S. Rep. Eleanor
Holmes-Norton, actress Kathleen Turner,
and a survivor of the Virginia Tech massa-
cre, Colin Goddard. There will also be mu-
sical performances with talent from Broad-
way and Washington.
Helping organize the march are Arling-
ton residents Catherine Tripp and Nicholas
Yenson.
Tripp is a member of the march’s opera-
tions committee, responsible for dealing
with the logistics of the event, a task for
which she draws experience from her job
as a producer at the Rorschach Theatre in
Washington, D.C. She was previously op-
erations manager at Wooly Mammoth stage.
Tripp hasn’t actively worked to promote
gun control before, but she has written let-
ters to her representatives and attended a
rally.
Marching for Gun Control
Arlington residents
volunteer to help
organize march
on Washington.
Arlington resident Catherine Tripp
is a member of the operations
committee for the March on Wash-
ington for Gun Control.

4 ❖ Arlington Connection ❖ January 23-29, 2013 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
Visit These Houses of Worship
Join A Club, Make New Friends, or Expand Your Horizons...
To highlight your Faith Community, call Karen at 703-778-9422
DAILY EUCHARIST:
Weekdays
Monday-Friday, 6:30AM & 8:30AM
Saturday, 8:30AM
SUNDAY LITURGY SCHEDULE:
Saturday Vigil: 5:30 PM
Sunday: 8:00, 9:30, 11:00AM
1:30 PM Spanish Liturgy
5312 North 10th Street
Arlington Virginia 22205
Parish Office: (703) 528-6276
PARISH WEBSITE:
www.rc.net/arlington/stann
All Are
Welcome!
Anglican
Restoration Anglican Church...703-527-2720
Assemblies of God
Arlington Assembly of God...703-524-1667
Calvary Gospel Church...703-525-6636
Baptist
Arlington Baptist Church...703-979-7344
Bon Air Baptist Church...703-525-8079
Cherrydale Baptist Church...703-525-8210
First Baptist of Ballston...703-525-7824
McLean Baptist Church...703-356-8080
Memorial Baptist Church...703-538-7000
Mt. Zion Baptist Church...703-979-7411
Baptist-Free Will
Bloss Memorial Free Will
Baptist Church...703-527-7040
Brethren
Church of The Brethren...703-524-4100
Buddhist
The Vajrayogini Buddhist Center…202-331-2122
Catholic
St. Agnes Catholic Church...703-525-1166
Cathedral of St Thomas More...703-525-1300
Holy Transfiguration Melkite Greek
Catholic Church... 703-734-9566
Our Lady of Lourdes...703-684-9261
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic
703-979-5580
St Ann Catholic Church...703-528-6276
St. Charles Catholic Church...703-527-5500
Vatican II Catholic Community
NOVA Catholic Community...703-852-7907
Church of Christ
Arlington Church of Christ...703-528-0535
Church of God – Anderson, Indiana
Church of God...703-671-6726
Christian Science
McLean - First Church of Christ,
Scientist...703-356-1391
First Church of Christ,
Scientist, Arlington...703-534-0020
Episcopal
St. Andrew Episcopal Church...703-522-1600
St. George Episcopal Church...703- 525-8286
St Johns Episcopal Church...703-671-6834
St Mary Episcopal Church...703-527-6800
St Michael S Episcopal Church...703-241-2474
St Paul Episcopal Church...703-820-2625
St Peter’s Episcopal Church...703-536-6606
St Thomas Episcopal Church...703-442-0330
Trinity Episcopal Church...703-920-7077
Lutheran(ELCA)
Advent Lutheran Church...703-521-7010
Faith Lutheran Church...703-525-9283
German Lutheran Church...703-276-8952
Lutheran Church of The Redeemer...703-356-3346
Resurrection Lutheran Church...703-532-5991
Lutheran (Missouri Synod)
Our Savior Lutheran Church...703-892-4846
Nazarene
Arlington First Church of the Nazarene
...703-525-2516
Non-Denominational
New Life Christian Church -
McLean Campus...571-294-8306
Celebration Center
for Spiritual Living...703-560-2030
Metaphysical
Arlington Metaphysical Chapel...703-276-8738
Presbyterian
Arlington Presbyterian Church...
703-920-5660
Church of the Covenant...703-524-4115
Clarendon Presbyterian Church
…703-527-9513
Little Falls Presbyterian Church
…703-538-5230
Trinity Presbyterian Church...703-536-5600
Westminster Presbyterian...703-549-4766
Presbyterian Church in America
Christ Church of Arlington...703-527-0420
Synagogues – Conservative
Congregation Etz Hayim...
703-979-4466
Synagogues – Orthodox
Fort Myer Minyan...703-863-4520
Chabad Lubavitch
of Alexandria-Arlington...703-370-2774
Synagogues –
Reconstructionist
Kol Ami, the Northern Virginia
Reconstructionist Community ... 571-271-8387
Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian Universalist Church
of Arlington…703-892-2565
United Methodist
Arlington United Methodist Church
...703-979-7527
Trinity United Methodist Church
of McLean...703-356-3312
Charles Wesley United Methdist...
703-356-6336
Calvary United Methdist...703-892-5185
Cherrydale United Methodist...703-527-2621
Chesterbrook United Methodist
...703-356-7100
Clarendon United Methodist...703-527-8574
Community United Methodist...703-527-1085
Mt. Olivet United Methodist...703-527-3934
Confiscating Guns
From Page 3
ment officer. “This is aimed at
taking guns away from danger-
ous people.”
BUT WHAT qualifies as a
threat, and who gets to make
that determination? Those is-
sues will be hammered out in
the coming weeks during the
legislative process. Courts of
Justice House Chairman Del.
Dave Albo (R-42) said he might
be willing to support the bill if
a judge signed off on the con-
fiscation before the fact, al-
though he added that the
House committees will also be
taking a close look as to
whether or not the bill is con-
stitutional.
“When you are talking about
an imminent threat of bodily
injury or death, I would find it
hard to believe that there would
be anybody against that,” said
Albo. “If you could make the bill
work.”
Making the bill work might
not be easy. The Virginia Citi-
zens Defense League is one of
the leading gun-rights groups in
Virginia. Opposition from
league members could well
scuttle the effort in Richmond,
where the group has influence
with the Republican majority.
When asked about Krupicka’s
bill, Van Cleave said that some
people have invested $25,000
to $50,000 in their gun collec-
tion, so it would be more ap-
propriate for a family member
to determine what happens
with the stockpile.
“This is property we’re talk-
ing about,” said Van Cleave.
“The police can’t just go in and
take someone’s property.”
THE EFFORT WAS inspired
by the recent school shooting
in Connecticut, where a man
used a military-style Bushmas-
ter rifle to blast his way into a
school before killing 20 chil-
dren and six adults.
Krupicka crafted the legislation
as a way to bridge the gap be-
tween improving mental-
health services with tightening
gun laws.
“The way the bill is written,
it doesn’t take guns away in-
definitely,” said Krupicka.
“There’s a due process that al-
lows people to get their guns
back.”
News
From Page 3
Marching for Gun Control
Originally from New
Orleans, Tripp said she
has family that hunts,
and that she under-
stands those needs as
well as those of self-
defense.
“But I don’t think
that translates into as-
sault weapons and
military-style weapons,” Tripp said, “because — those
guns, those weapons — the only purpose of them is
to kill another human being.”
When she was in first grade, Tripp’s 5-year-old first
cousin, once removed, found his grandmother’s hand-
gun and accidentally shot himself while playing cow-
boys.
“It was a horrible accident, and I think, for me,
that’s one of the reasons why I don’t want guns in
my house, because there’s danger for accidents to
happen.”
The grandmother sold seeds in a small town in
Tennessee and bought the handgun for protection
after her husband had died 10 year earlier.
“As an adult, I can see why his grandmother had
the weapon,” Tripp said. “I know what happened,
now. Can I say, if she had been better trained, if she
had better knowledge about safety, maybe the bullet
wouldn’t have been there, maybe it would have been
locked up — it was just a horrible accident.”
Tripp acknowledged that tragedies will continue
to happen, but she is still believes
change is possible.
“We can stop gun violence. …
We can slow it down, we can af-
fect it by at least saying this is too
much. Our congress has a respon-
sibility to protect this country from
that kind of mayhem.”
Yenson, an actor, is one of many
people working with social media
and communications for the
march.
Yenson had also supported gun control indirectly
in the past, but he would rationalize “excuses” for
gun violence that kept him from doing anything
more.
“We can be really unkind as human beings,” Yenson
said. “We can say, oh that can never happen in my
community. That can only happen in a community
that’s in the middle of a drug war. That can only
happen in a community where people somehow de-
serve the bad things that happen to them, and that’s
simply not true.”
As of Monday, Yenson said 2,503 people had
RSVP’d for the march via Facebook or on the march’s
website but many people who have not responded
are expected to show.
The march is also hoping to raise $49,000 in do-
nations to fund the event, $35,737 of which, accord-
ing to Yenson, had been raised by Monday.
For more about the March on Washington for Gun
Control, visit www.guncontrolmarch.com or
www.facebook.com/GunCtrlMarch.
Arlington resident
and actor Nicholas
Yenson volunteered
to help with social
media and commu-
nications for the
March on Washing-
ton for Gun Control
after the Sandy
Hook massacre.

Newspaper Articles – Feature Articles & Editorials
portfolio. “P” indicates I received both writing and photograph credit, with the exception of article 4,
which is for photographic credit only.
Business P 1 20 Years in Business, Centre View, Southern Edition 2/6/2013
Business F 2 Macado’s hosts grand opening ceremony, The Whitetopper 9/20/2012
Business 3 McDonald’s Celebrates Redesign with Grand Opening,
Alexandria Gazette Packet
6/25/2012
Business P 4 Photo credit only for the article "Menu options on campus
grow," The Whitetopper
3/1/2012
Business F P 5 Take Paws, Arlington Connection 7/27/2011
Business 6 Owner Lives Childhood Dream as Dry Cleaner, Mount Vernon
Gazette
8/19/2010
Community
Action
F 7 Fighting Crime, Discretely, Oak Hill/Herndon Connection 8/16/2012
Community
Action
8 Selected for MADD Summit, Centre View, Southern Edition 5/31/2012
Fundraising 9 Honor societies kidnap mascot to raise donations for charitable
organizations, The Whitetopper
10/18/2012
Fundraising 10 Nonprofit Thrift Store Fighting to Grow, Centre View 8/2/2012
Fundraising F P 11 5k Race Raises Money for Field, Alexandria Gazette Packet 5/24/2012
Fundraising 12 Activist Folk Duo Performs Benefits Concert, Arlington
Connection
5/23/2012
Fundraising P 13 Nonprofit Preschool Seeks Donations, Alexandria Gazette Packet 8/4/2011
Historic Site F 14 Freedmen’s Cemetery Statue Proposals on Display, Alexandria
Gazette Packet
7/11/2012
Historic Site F P 15 A Blast in the Past, Centre View, Northern Edition 7/14/2011
Historic Site F 16 Walking Through History, Arlington Connection 8/25/2010
Personality 17 President Reichard announces 2013 retirement, The
Whitetopper
9/6/2012
Personality 18 Four professors to enter retirement, The Whitetopper 4/19/2012
Personality F P 19 From the Streets to Success, Alexandria Gazette Packet 7/7/2011
Personality F 20 ‘Voice of the Hoyas,’ Potomac Almanac 1/1/2010
Arts &
Entertainment
F 21 Teacher Reads from Her First Book of Poems, Arlington
Connection
1/17/2013
Arts &
Entertainment
F 22 Flamenco in Old Town, Alexandria Gazette Packet 6/27/2012
Arts &
Entertainment
23 E&H Theatre Department receives multiple national honors, The
Whitetopper
4/12/2012
Arts &
Entertainment
24 Dance team originates from student dreams, The Whitetopper 2/16/2012
Arts &
Entertainment
25 Mayhem Poets leave E&H students wanting more, The
Whitetopper
1/26/2012
Student Life 26 Tree important to sorority removed for statues, The
Whitetopper
4/5/2012
Student Life 27 E&H students present research at UVA-Wise for joint
symposium, The Whitetopper
3/29/2012
Student Life 28 Prices rise for Emory & Henry students, The Whitetopper 3/22/2012
Student Life 29 Letter From the Editor, The Whitetopper 12/6/2012

4 ❖ Arlington Connection ❖ July 27- August 2, 2011 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
Pet Connection
Take
Paws
Arlington dog boutiques specialize in
grooming, daycare, nutrition, treats.
Fur-Get Me Not
4140 South Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington; 703-933-1935
www.furgetmenot.com
Originally an out-of-home business, Fur-Get Me Not now offers dog
daycare, boarding, training, walking and sitting and washing.
Fur-Get Me Not sells toys that complement their dogs’ training
programs, like toys that require dogs to figure out how to get treats
out of them.
Orijen is one of Wylie Wagg’s more popular
brands of dog food.
Wylie Wagg
2509 N. Franklin Road, Arlington; 703-875-2007
wyliewagg.com
Founded by Laura and Larry Clark in 2003 in Middleburg, Va., the
Clarks opened the Arlington location this year. Wylie Wagg special-
izes in nutritious food for dogs and cats, and the Clarks research pet
nutrition every day. Wylie Wagg also sells toys for cats and dogs and
offers commissions for various artworks of pets, including sketches
and oil paintings. Wylie Wagg also helps homeless animals through
its Give program by accepting donations of money and supplies.
By Edison Russ
The Connection
A
rlington has a wide selection of stores and
services to satisfy pet owners who are concerned
with their pet’s diet, appearance or even with
homeless or rescued animals.
Leti Woodside (left) and Chelsea Ragen wash
Bella, a Cavishon.
The Muddy Mutt
2603A South Oxford Street, Arlington; 703-888-2303
www.themuddymutt.com
The Muddy Mutt is a self-wash service for dogs. Washes include
shampoo and conditioner, ear and eye wipes, brushes and nail clip-
pers, towels and blow dryers. Additional grooming supplies are
available upon request. The Muddy Mutt uses shampoo and condi-
tioner from Quadruped and Earthbath.
Founder of The Muddy Mutt Mitch Jones got the idea to start it
from having to wash his two large Lab mixes after taking them swim-
ming in Four Mile Run Creek, located behind the store.
Dogs in the cage-free daycare at Wag More
Dogs.
Wag More Dogs
2606 S. Oxford Street, Arlington; 703-845-3647
wagmoredogs.com
Wag More Dogs opened Sept. 15, 2010, and offers no-cage
daycare, boarding and grooming. All dogs coming in for daycare or
boarding must pass a 15-minute evaluation. “We look at any breed
on its own merit,” said owner Kim Houghton. Owners provide food
for their dogs, and facility employees will feed their dogs breakfast
and dinner, and lunch upon request. Wag More Dogs gives each dog
a collar for identification, and its website offers surveillance of the
area where the dogs are kept.
Houghton worked in advertising for The Washington Post for 21
years. She is a certified pet care technician and a former board mem-
ber of Arlington Dogs. She volunteers with Lost Dogs Rescue and Pets
on Wheels, driving a van to get dogs to adoption centers.
Dogs in the Dog Paws ’n Cat Claws facility.
Dog Paws ’n Cat Claws
940 S. George Mason Drive, Arlington; 703-931-5057
dpncc.com
Dog Paws ‘n Cat Claws offers daycare, dog walking, in-home care,
training and dog and cat grooming. It’s open all year, including holi-
days. There is a surcharge for boarding over the holidays. Obedience
training is offered for the American Kennel Club Good Citizenship
test.
“Our first day evaluation is a full day, not just a couple minutes
where we like to get our dogs to play and interact so we can slowly
introduce dogs to the new dog,” said owner Ryan Fochler.
PetMAC
822 N. Kenmore Street, Arlington; 703-908-7387
www.petmac.org
PetMAC is a joint operation between Pet Pantry Express founder
Cindy Williams Alvey and Homeward Trails Animal Rescue founder
Sue Bell that sells pet food and supplies and offers adoptions. A per-
centage of money from the gross sales PetMAC makes each quarter
goes toward animal rescue organizations.
Alvey said Pet Pantry Express was a “great opportunity to get my
feet wet” learning about pet nutrition before opening PetMAC. Pet
Pantry Express was an online service for pet food and delivery. Alvey
said even though running Pet Pantry Express was easier because all
she had to do was maintain the site, that she prefers running a physi-
cal store. “I like the personal interaction of working with customers
and helping them solve problems.”
PetMAC donates a percentage of the gross sales
of its products toward helping animal rescues.
Fur-Get Me Not
sells toys that
serve to educate
dogs in some
way, such as toys
that require the
dog to figure out
how to get the
treat out of
them.
Happy Grooming
founder Mary
Asawatangsathian.
Dogma Bak-
ery
2772 S. Arlington
Mill Drive, Arlington;
571-422-0370 or
2445 N. Harrison
Street, Arlington;
703-237-5070
www.dogmabakery.com
Dogma Bakery bakes
its own dog treats using
“human-grade” ingredients. Some treats look like pizza, doughnuts
or gingerbread men. None of the treats contain salt or preservatives.
Dogma Bakery also sells ice cream for dogs in flavors like peanut
butter and bacon.
Dogma Bakery also offers puppies the opportunity to socialize at
puppy parties at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. A trainer from K to 9 Dog
Training is also available on Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m. for puppies and
from 8-9 p.m. for adult dogs.
Happy Groom-
ing
3301 Lee Highway, Arling-
ton; 703-528-7292
www.happygroomingva.com
Happy Grooming is a full-ser-
vice pet spa that offers grooming
and washing to all breeds of cats
and dogs. Grooming takes about
two to three hours. Additional
services include teeth brushing,
facial scrubbing, nail trimming
and others. Grooming is sched-
uled by appointment. Prices
depend on the size of the animal
and the amount of hair.
Happy Grooming was founded
by Mary Asawatangsathian, who
loves animals. The spa is owned
by her sister, Ann. The sisters
have been grooming pets for
eight years, and the Arlington
location has been open for two
years.

Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ May 24-30, 2012 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
The Kelley Cares 5k starts with its largest number of participants ever.
Redskins Owner Backs Child Safety
Snyder’s commitment extends to locally-based center.
By Michael McMorrow
Gazette Packet
T
he National Center for
Missing and Exploited
Children, a mixed pri-
vate-government organization
headquartered in Alexandria, has
the enthusiastic support of
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder.
In a recent telephone interview,
Snyder explained his personal
commitment to activities involving
child safety and health. One of his
children was a “preemie.” As with
any premature birth, heightened
medical care and attention was
required. It was a period of anxi-
ety for he and wife Tanya; they
decided to focus charitable activi-
ties on issues involving all chil-
dren. “Children are our legacy.
area staffed by law enforcement
and social work professionals, but
a plaque notes his contribution.
Snyder is very comfortable with
the fact it rarely is seen by outsid-
ers.
As to the center’s outreach safety
program, called “Take 25,”
Snyder’s opinion is one word: “Ter-
rific.” Creating awareness of dan-
gers children face is of vital impor-
tance, he said. The annual pro-
gram is tied to National Missing
Children’s Day each May 25. Par-
ents and guardians are urged to
take 25 minutes and talk with their
children on ways to stay safe.
Asked to look into the future of
the center, Snyder points to one
external area needing improve-
ment.
“The media and knowledgeable
members of the public must be
drawn into paying more attention
to the Center and its work,” he
said. Child safety should be one
subject that all agree is of “critical
importance” in society.
Child Safety
Information from the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children is
found at www.missingkids.com or call
1-800-THE-LOST.
Snyder
5k Race Raises Money for Field
Field to use rubberized
turf safe for people
with special needs.
By Edison Russ
Gazette Packet
T
he Kelley Cares Foundation hosted a 5k
race May 19 to raise funds for a Miracle
Field at the Nannie J. Lee Memorial Rec-
reation Center.
A Miracle Field is a baseball field covered with a
synthetic, rubberized compound that acts as turf, so
people who use wheelchairs and walkers can play
safely.
This race was the foundation’s largest ever, with
850 people registering and 701 participating.
Kelley Cares made a $40,000 commitment to the
Miracle Field, $10,000 of which it contributed last
year. Money left over from the remaining $30,000
and after the costs of the race are deducted from the
$51,100 raised Saturday will support the Therapeu-
tic Recreation Program, one of the foundation’s part
See Field, Page 9
Council Notebook
No Representation
The Alexandria Board of Zoning Appeals is facing a legal chal-
lenge to its recent decision on the waterfront, and city officials
are denying them an opportunity to have legal counsel.
“We are being denied due process,” said Geoffrey Goodale,
a member of the BZA. “The city attorney is playing fast and loose
with the facts.”
Tuesday night, members of the City Council considered a re-
quest from the board for legal representation in an appeal city
officials are pursing in Circuit Court against the board’s recent
ruling on the waterfront. At issue is a determination from Plan-
ning Director Faroll Hamer that citizens could not bring a pro-
test petition forcing a supermajority vote for the zoning change,
which would increase density at three sites slated for redevelop-
ment from the existing 300,000 square feet to 800,000 square
feet. The stakes are high because the plan passed on a five-to-two
vote, one vote shy of a supermajority. During a late-night meet-
ing in April, the Board of Zoning Appeals voted to overturn
Hamer’s determination. City Council members now say appeal-
ing the board’s ruling is an important step in setting a precedent
to make sure citizens don’t bring a protest petition any time neigh-
bors don’t like a development. “This has nothing to do with the
waterfront,” said Mayor Bill Euille. “It has a lot more to with
the fact that this will limit future development.”
In response to a series of emails, Councilman Paul Smedberg
offered a motion for the city to spend up to $5,000 on legal rep-
resentation for the board. Then City Attorney James Banks said
he knew of no role for an attorney representing the board, which
is not a party in the appeal. Vice Mayor Kerry Donley criticized
the effort as a political gesture to placate critics. “If you are going
to put a dead skunk on the table,” he said, “we might as well call
it a dead skunk.” Smedberg eventually withdrew his motion, and
council members pledged to offer legal support if any individual
members of the board become a party in the case.
“We need legal counsel now,” replied Goodale.
Whistleblower Hotline
Do you know about waste, fraud and abuse at City Hall? Get
out your phones. Alexandria is preparing a new hotline for city
employees or citizens to become whistleblowers. It’s an idea origi-
nally proposed by Councilman Frank Fannon after a number
of embarrassing ethical problems in recent years.
The list includes a human resources employee charged with
embezzlement, a Chinquapin Recreation Center employee charged
with embezzlement, a meter maid convicted of pocketing quar-
ters, a DASH employee who was taking taxpayers for a ride and a
Fleet Services division chief who sold a city-owned trailer to a
local farmer for $3,500. Late last year, Deputy General Services
Director Timothy Wanamaker resigned after city officials learned
he pled guilty to a felony charge in a New York federal court after
admitted to using work-issued credit cards to pay for non-work
related travel and expenses.
“We are guardians of $508 million of taxpayers dollars,” said
Fannon. “We have to let our citizens know we are not going to
tolerate any waste, fraud or abuse.” City officials hope to have
the new hotline operational later this year.
Accounting, Not Ethics
School officials say ethical problems weren’t at the heart of
recent accounting problems with system’s budget office. It was
just bad accounting. “We continue to find no evidence of per-
sonal gain,” said School Board Vice Chairman Helen Morris in an
update to City Council members this week. Earlier this year, an
independent audit of the school system’s capital budget program
found what investigators called a “dysfunctional environment”
at the Beauregard Street headquarters. That led the city’s vice
mayor to call for Superintendent Morton Sherman to step
down, although School Board members disagreed and decided
to stand by their man. Now, School Board members say the prob-
lems identified in the audit have been corrected even as school
officials are looking for more ways to tighten the budgeting pro-
cess. “While we had many of the proper procedures in place, they
weren’t being followed,” said School Board Chairwoman Sheryl
Gorsuch. “Now we have confidence that they are.”
— Michael Lee Pope
PhotobyEdisonRuss/GazettePacket
They are the
gifts we make
to the future,”
he said.
Around the
same time two
decades ago, a
business associ-
ate told Snyder
about the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children
and arranged a visit. Learning of
the terrible things that can happen
to children, things that still go on,
“just tears your heart out,” he said.
He committed to support the cen-
ter, support that continues today,
including service on the National
Advisory Board.
When the concept of a modern,
24 hours, 7 days a week, nation-
wide operations center was
floated, Snyder funded it. “With
my business background in public
relations and
communications, it made sense
and was a natural thing to do.”
Visitors are not admitted to the

Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ May 24-30, 2012 ❖ 9www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
People
City council
candidate Bob
Wood, left, and
candidate for
mayor Andrew
Macdonald,
right, discuss
issues affect-
ing the park
with resident
Howard
Bergman.
Bob and Annette Hineman listen to re-
marks at the Founders Park Community
meeting.
Judy Hildebrand and Rita Molleur.
Gathering Highlights Waterfront
Annual Founders Park
Community Association
meeting attracts crowd.
R
esidents and concerned citizens gathered
May 20 for the annual Founders Park Com-
munity association meeting to discuss issues
affecting the park and the future of the Alexandria
waterfront.
FPCA president Dave Wilcox presented a plan for
the association to organize and implement signage
and storyboards at selected points throughout the
park to increase awareness of the role the site has
played throughout the history of the city.
City Councilman Frank Fannon addressed the
crowd before informally meeting with residents and
answering questions regarding future plans for the
waterfront. Candidate for City Council Bob Wood and
mayoral candidate Andrew Macdonald were also in
attendance to discuss issues affecting the park and
FCPA members.
— Jeanne Theismann
Residents and community members attend the annual Founders Park Community
meeting May 20. Issues affecting the waterfront and the park were discussed.
PhotosbyJeanneTheismann/GazettePacket
Taylor Run News
MacARTHUR STARS
The MacArthur Environmental
Club won a prize of $100 at the
Alexandria Earth Day celebration
by its presentation of a song and
clothes on the theme of recycling.
The prize will be used for improve-
ments to MacArthur School.
Winning prizes for their art work
were Jack DelNegro and Lucy
Lasida, whose work will be exhib-
ited at Alexandria Hospital; Da-
kota Hunt and Alexandra Preston,
whose work will be displayed at
the Alexandria City Public Schools
Board Room, and Sally Kim,
whose still life drawing has been
entered in the Virginia School
Board Association contest.
The Chess Club wound up their
activities this year with a tourna-
ment in which four students re-
ceived first place medallions:
Henry Anderson, Kindergarten;
Jonah Cook, First Grade; Cooper
Bosland, Second Grade; Holden
Swindell, Third Grade.
FREE CONCERT
The Washington Revels Heritage
Voices will present a concert of
Civil War songs at the Fort Ward
Amphitheatre May 24, 7 p.m.
(Rain date is May 31).
ROBBINS’ NEWS
The Robbins of King Street are
proud of son Andrew, who is now
the Assistant Commonwealth At-
torney in Winchester, and a grand-
son, Christian Gundberg, who is
now working down at the Patent
Office on Duke Street.
— Lois Kelso Hunt
Neighborhood
From Page 3
Supporting Miracle Field
ners that focuses on building
self-confidence in people with
special needs through teaching
them recreational skills.
The foundation was started
in 2006 in honor of Kelley
Swanson, who had worked
with the TR Program since she
was in fourth grade until she
died of sudden illness.
“She had friends that were
participating in the program,”
said Lindsey Swanson, Kelley’s
older sister and one of the race
directors for the foundation,
“and she really wanted to help
out, and just ended up loving
it and loving the kids, so she
ended up basically growing up
with the kids that were part of
our program and helped for
eight years, was there every
weekend and was a very dedi-
cated volunteer.”
KELLEY GRADUATED from
T.C. Williams High School and
was planning to attend Virginia
Tech with her twin sister, Katey,
when she died.
Kelley’s family helps with
the foundation. Kelley’s twin
sister, Katey, is also a race di-
rector, along with Lindsey’s
husband, Terry Burcham.
Kelley’s parents, Sandy and
Mimi, also sponsored this
year’s race.
Kelley’s friends and friends
of her family also participated
in and helped with the race.
“Kelley was a dear friend of
mine from high school,”
Jarreau Williams said. “We
graduated the same year. We
were actually going to be go-
ing to Tech together as well.”
James Sadighian and Justin
Knoernschild also went to T.C.
Williams with Kelley and ran in
the first race.
“We’ve usually been involved
one way or another with help-
ing this thing out,”
Knoernschild said.
OTHER PARTICIPANTS,
such as Garret Martucci, who
finished first overall at 16 min-
utes 18 seconds, heard about
the race through friends. The
first female to finish, Barbara
Fallon Wallace, who had a time
of 17 minutes 40 seconds,
heard about the race through
the news.
The cost to construct the field
is $420,000, $285,000 of which
is provided by the city, with the
remaining $135,000 being pro-
vided by the private sector.
According to Mac Slover, the
director of sports for the City
of Alexandria, The Miracle
Field was originally in the city’s
capital improvement plan for
2020, but it was moved up to
the 2013 fiscal year, which
takes effect in July, when the
youth support advisory board,
Kelley Cares, ACPS and various
private citizens went to City
Council and agreed to raise
funds privately.
Slover said about $140,000
has been raised privately and
that the surplus would go to-
ward anything related to the
Miracle Field, such as fences.

Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ July 12-18, 2012 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
AddressServiceRequested
To:1604KingSt.,
Alexandria,VA22314
Attention
Postmaster:
Time-sensitive
material.
PRSRTSTD
U.S.Postage
PAID
Alexandria,VA
Permit#482
Serving Alexandria for over 200 years • A Connection Newspaper
Alexandria
Gazette Packet 25 Cents
July 12, 2012
See Restoring, Page 8
See Freedmen’s, Page 3
Fireworks brighten the night sky over Oronoco Bay Park.
Recipients of the 2012 Civic Awards:
Brian Marquis, Pat Miller and Laura
Fries with commission chair Judy
Noritake. Joseph LaMountain was not
present.
A giant misting fan on the railroad
tracks offers relief from the heat.
Town Crier Ben Fiorre-Walker samples a
birthday treat.
Greta Brown joins Community Praise
Center SDA Church members at the
annual birthday party.
Alexandria Celebrates 263 Years
W
ith the temperature hovering in
the triple digits, Alexandria cel-
ebrated its 263rd birthday at
Oronoco Bay Park on Saturday,
July 7. Postponed for three and a half hours due
to the heat, the park slowly filled as the sun trav-
eled west. The program opened with a proclama-
tion from the Town Crier Ben Fiorre-Walker fol-
lowed by a welcome from Mayor Bill Euille and
City Manager Rashid Young.
Judy Noritake, chair of the city’s Park and Rec-
reation Commission, introduced the recipients of
the 27th annual CIVIC Awards: Pat Miller, Brian
Marquis, Laura Fries and Joseph LaMountain.
Cupcakes were served to all by the mayor and
members of the City Council followed by a con-
cert performed by the Alexandria Symphony Or-
chestra and a finale of fireworks.
PhotosbyLouiseKrafft/GazettePacket
By Erik Heaney
Gazette Packet
M
ore than a million
people were left pow-
erless in northern Vir-
ginia after the Friday thunder-
storm on June 29 — 34,000 cus-
tomers lost electricity in Alexan-
dria. Of those, 23,000 customers
still lacked power as of Monday,
July 2. The response has made
many people ask: How is it de-
cided what neighborhoods get
power ahead of others?
First, Dominion Virginia Power
had to restore all of the downed
transmission lines. As Dominion’s
media relations officer Le-Ha
Anderson described, repairing the
nine transmission lines that were
downed throughout Virginia were
critical to restoring power
throughout the state. Following
the transmission lines, then the
distribution lines and sub-stations
needed repair.
“If you think of the electric
power grid, the transmission lines
are like the highways,” said Ander-
son, “and the distribution lines are
like the roads that connect the
highways to the neighborhoods.”
Secondly, once the transmission
lines and the distribution lines are
repaired, crew members had to
tend to critical infrastructure —
By Edison Russ
Gazette Packet
T
hree proposals for statues
to be added to the
Contrabands’ and
Freedmen’s Cemetery will be on
display for public comment at the
Durant Arts Center at 1605
Cameron Street until Aug. 6.
The model statues were de-
signed by three sculptors selected
from a pool of 38 applicants by a
panel of stakeholders in the
project, including the Friends of
Freedmen’s Cemetery, descendant
family members, and subject mat-
ters experts in public art, history
and design.
After the exhibition, the selec-
tion panel will review comments
made by the public and submit a
decision to the Alexandria Com-
mission for the Arts and City Coun-
cil.
The winner will be announced
in September, and the statue will
be installed by the end of April
2013.
The project budget is $350,000
and is being funded by the city, the
Federal Highway Administration
and the Virginia Department of
Transportation as part of the
Woodrow Wilson Bridge settle-
ment agreement.
The three sculptors, Erik Blome,
Mario Chiodo and Edward
Dwight, spoke to the public about
the meaning and inspiration be-
hind their work at a reception at
Restoring Power
Dominion and
city’s strategy
set priorities.
Help Choose Statue for
Freedmen’s Cemetery
Public encouraged to provide input.
Home Life Style
Page 32

Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ July 12-18, 2012 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
See Trejo Honored, Page 7
Freedmen’s Cemetery Statue Proposals on Display
“The Path of Thorns and Roses”
was sculpted by Mario Chiodo of
Oakland, Ca.
“Oppression” was sculpted by Edward Dwight of
Denver, Co.
From Page 1
“Ascending Memories” was sculpted by Erik Blome of
Crystal Lake, Ill.
the Durant Center July 7.
CHIODO’S SCULPTURE, “The Path of
Thorns and Roses,” contains the figures of
male and female slaves, one above another,
positioned in a double helix fashion that
Chiodo’s artist’s statement says represents
the common DNA of mankind. From bot-
tom to top, the figures are Oppression,
Struggle, Sacrifice, Courage and Hope.
Chiodo said that the state of the bodies
of the figure lower down in the piece, such
as Oppression and Struggle, was represen-
tative of the diseases, such as typhus, that
slaves were afflicted with.
“What I felt is, we should be proud of our
bodies, and that’s why I shaped them this
way,” he said.
Sacrifice is a mother holding a child, sym-
bolic of the slave children who died. Cour-
age, also a mother with a child, symbolizes
a new chapter in life and offers a rose of
hope to Sacrifice.
Hope is a male with closed eyes, meant
to symbolize that hope is within grasp but
still unattainable due to hardships. Hope
stands on his tiptoes to avoid the hardships
represented by the portal of thorns on which
he stands. He also holds a partially blos-
somed rose that represents freedom.
BLOME’S STATUE, “Ascending Memories”
contains three towers made of cubical
pieces stacked pointing in different direc-
tion with faces of a family in the middle of
some blocks.
Blome said the faces in the family are rep-
resentative of “not just family as in African
Americans, but family as in America.”
The blocks in each tower face different
directions to emphasize the fragmented his-
tory of the slaves.
The tower design was inspired by Afri-
can sculptures and totems, with which
Blome decided to incorporate traditional
portraiture. The faces in the statue are in-
spired by photos of living descendants.
According to Blome’s artist’s statement,
the blocks are like windows into the fami-
lies’ lives.
The statue will be 14 feet high and made
entirely of cast bronze except for upper the
pieces of the statue, such as a figure of the
sun representing hope, which will be hand
carved from red granite.
DWIGHT’S STATUE, “Oppression,” shows
a group of slave men and women in period
clothing, holding symbols of the religion
and art that the slaves were forbidden to
practice.
“I got into the religion of the slaves, which
nobody talks about because everybody as-
sumes that they took on the religion of their
masters,” Dwight said. “But they have reli-
gions of their own, and so, as a result, de-
pending on what part of Africa they were
from, what kind of tribe they were from,
and their belief system, and how God oper-
ated, how the afterlife operated, ’cause a
lot of the slaves believed in reincarnation.”
Dwight, a former astronaut, told the
crowd that he used to think he had accom-
plished everything in his life all on his own,
but that he has since become grateful for
the progress made in race relations over the
years and that he wants this statue to edu-
cate black children about their history.
“Something happened here, and you got
to know about it, and you got to understand
it,” he said.
A number of Old Town Alexandria Com-
munity members at the reception said they
preferred Dwight’s statue.
Amber McLaughlin said she originally was
leaning toward one of the other statues, but
changed her mind after hearing him speak
because of “how it’s important to him to
have children walk away with a true image
of what the people looked like and the sym-
bols of the religion that they practiced.”
Barbara Bellamy also liked the idea of the
statue as educational.
“And I think, sometimes, specifically Af-
rican Americans, and just Americans in gen-
eral, have to have an idea, or be able to
know what it was like, and that one in par-
ticular depicts that most in my mind.”
Bellamy also said that she liked the sim-
plicity of the statue. David Martin, sculptor
and owner of Goldworks in Alexandria,
however, said he thought “Oppression” was
too traditional and that he was initially
more impressed by the other pieces because
he thought the research that went into them
was more evident.
After looking at the statues another time,
he said was impressed by all three of them,
but that he was leaning toward “Ascending
Memories.”
“I have my own personal inclinations,”
Martin said. “When you think of Alexandria,
Virginia, we all come up with something
different. I’m more contemporary.”
According to Alisa Carrel, who was the
deputy director for the Office of the Arts
until July 6, the decision to add a statue
came out of the original cemetery design
competition for the cemetery sculpture.
“The selection panel for that project felt
very strongly that there needed to be some-
thing in addition to what was proposed, and
they like the idea of adding a sculpture,
some type of figurative brown sculpture.”
Carrel said that there will be some kind
of sign with information on the chosen
statue when it is installed, but that the
whole story wouldn’t be included, so as to
encourage people to do more research on
the history of the cemetery themselves at a
website for the Contrabands’ and
Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial. See a link
at http://alexandriava.gov/Arts.
The website will soon contain photos and
descriptions of each statue.
To make comment on the statues, either
visit the Durant Center or send an email at
aca@alexandriava.gov.
By Senitra T. McCombs
Gazette Packet
T
he White House’s “Champions of
Change” highlights a different sec-
tor of educators, entrepreneurs,
and community leaders who are working
to serve and strengthen their communities
each week.
On June 18, Joy Vithespongse Trejo, the
senior director of Early Childhood and Fam-
ily Service Programs for the Campagna Cen-
ter was recognized for her work during a
ceremony at the White House.
Trejo said she enjoyed the Secretary of
Health and Human Services comments dur-
ing the ceremony about the long and won-
derful history of Head Start and what Head
Start has meant to the country over the past
45 years.
“Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, professor of pedi-
atrics emeritus at Harvard Medical School,
really emphasized the need for programs
like Head Start and that the work is not over
yet. There is still a lot more work to be
done,” she said.
While Trejo was humbled and honored
to receive the “Champions of Change”
award, she said that it’s not just an award
for herself but also for the Campagna
Center’s service to the Alexandria commu-
nity.
The Campagna Center, a nonprofit orga-
nization, seeks to strengthen families and
provide programs that help children become
‘Champion of Change’
Campagna Center’s Joy Trejo is
among those honored at White House.
Joy Trejo
Alexandria Gazette Editor Steven Mauren
703-778-9415 or gazette@connectionnewspapers.com

4 ❖ Potomac Almanac ❖ September 1-7, 2010 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
POTOMAC
ALMANAC
www.PotomacAlmanac.com
Newspaper of Potomac
A Connection Newspaper
An independent, locally owned
weekly newspaper
delivered to homes and businesses.
1606 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
PUBLISHER
Mary Kimm
703-778-9433
mkimm@connectionnewspapers.com
EDITORIAL
PHONE: 703-821-5050
E-MAIL:
almanac@connectionnewspapers.com
EDITOR
Steven Mauren, 703-778-9415
smauren@connectionnewspapers.com
SPORTS EDITOR
Jon Roetman,
703-224-3015
jroetman@connectionnewspapers.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Steve Hibbard, 703-778-9412
shibbard@connectionnewspapers.com
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Louise Krafft
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Cissy Finley Grant, Carole Dell,
Kenny Lourie
Art/Design:
Geovani Flores, Laurence Foong,
John Heinly, Wayne Shipp,
John Smith
Production Manager:
Jean Card
ADVERTISING
PHONE: 703-821-5050
FAX: 703-518-4632
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Display Advertising:
Kenny Lourie 703-778-9425
klourie@connectionnewspapers.com
Employment:
Barbara Parkinson
703-778-9413
bparkinson@connectionnewspapers.com
Andrea Smith 703-778-9411
Classified Advertising
asmith@connectionnewspapers.com
Potomac Almanac is published by
Connection Newspapers, L.L.C.
Peter Labovitz
President/CEO
Mary Kimm
Publisher/Chief Operating
Officer
703-778-9433
mkimm@connectionnewspapers.com
Jerry Vernon
Executive Vice President
jvernon@connectionnewspapers.com
Wesley DeBrosse
Controller
Debbie Funk
National Sales
703-778-9444
debfunk@connectionnewspapers.com
2000, 2001, 2002,
2003, 2004
First Place Award
Public Service
MDDC Press Association
1998, 2001, 2002, 2003
Newspaper
of the Year
An Award-winning Newspaper
in Writing, Photography, Editing,
Graphics and Design
Model Train Days
Four-year old Spender Blake of Potomac asks a question about being an
engineer from model train owner Tim Costello of Arlington, Va. The fun was
all part of “Model Train Days” at The Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria, Va.
Aspiring engineers had the opportunity to learn about this hobby from mem-
bers of the Potomac Division of the National Model Railroad Association who
brought their working HO gauge trains and a state-of-the-art digital command
system to The Lyceum for this special event.
Event To Raise Funds
For Children’s Inn
Potomac Place Shopping Center is hosting a back-to-school fund-raising event
on Saturday, Sept. 25, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., to benefit The Children’s Inn.
The free event includes:
❖ Interactive computer games and classes
❖ MCPD/McGruff Safety Kids program
❖ Fire truck display
❖ Moonbounce, face painting and balloon twister
❖ Music by ‘Back To Rock’, food, sidewalk sales, and more.
Potomac Place is located at the intersection of Falls and River roads, in Potomac.
New Dog Walking
Service Arrives
DogCentric ha expanded into Potomac. As a back-to-school special, the company
is waiving the $25 consultation fee and will provide the first two walks for free.
Since 2005, DogCentric has provided customized, private mid-day dog walking
services to over 200 households in lower Montgomery County and Northwest D.C.
with a staff of more than 25 dog walkers.
DogCentric also gives back to the animal rescue community through their part-
nership with the Washington Animal Rescue League, in which they provide dog
walking services for the homeless dogs at the Northwest D.C. shelter.
For more information about DogCentric, visit http://www.dogcentric.com, or call
301-275-8752.
This Week in Potomac
People
By Edison Russ
The Almanac
R
ich Chvotkin of Potomac
is the radio broadcaster
for the Georgetown
Hoyas. He initiated the radio
broadcasts and has been doing
them ever since. He went to Vir-
ginia Commonwealth University
for graduate school and has a wife
and three children.
Q: So you’ve been doing the
radio for Georgetown University
for 37 years?
A: This is the 37th year.
Q: And you don’t use a color
analyst?
A: Haven’t had a color analyst since
1985. The ’85-’86 season was the first
year without an analyst. Up until then,
there were times when we had an ana-
lyst, but it was never consistent. But
starting in the ’85-86’ season, right af-
ter Ewing graduated … I was solo all the
way through, and never had a color af-
ter that. So you figure 20-something
years without a color analyst.
Q: And color analysts provide
more in-depth detail?
A: Yes, I would do the play-by-play
and give a straight play-by-play, and
then they would give, what most color
analysts do, give the technical informa-
tion. So now I do both. But when you do
radio play-by-play, there’s not a whole
lot of time for analysis. With the play
moving so quickly, you try to describe
the plays and do a little analysis at the
same time. And give stats. So, it’s a lot
of information.
Q: Does it get exhausting doing
the whole game?
A: At times, yes. But I prepare. In
other words I understand that’s what I
have to do. So even though it’s exhaust-
ing, your mindset prepares you for that.
And then my son does the stats on most
games. So he has the computer right
there in front of me, and I can just look
at the stats, and right there instanta-
neously — he has it all color coded, so I
can just look at numbers, and I can as-
similate it quickly. As opposed to having
someone feed it. A lot of times, stat men,
what they’ll do, they’ll tell you in your
ear. This way I can just look right at it –
I can look at his computer, right at his
board, and it gives all the stuff right
there. He has an Excel spreadsheet.
Q: Any favorite games recently?
A: Obviously getting to the Final Four
in 2007 was really, really a treat.
Georgetown hadn’t been back there
since 1985 as you remember with
Ewing. So you’re talking a 22-year pe-
riod with no Final Four, and that’s
always an exciting time for anybody: for
the school, for the team. So, that was a
lot of fun: beating North Carolina and
then of course beating Vanderbilt to get
there, on Jeff Green’s shot — you know,
on the lane, back in 2007.
Q: And you’re also a full-time
psychologist? What do you spe-
cialize in?
A: I just do adolescents. It’s fun, en-
joyable. I love the sports better.
Q: You were also in the Persian
Gulf War?
A: I was in the Persian Gulf War, in
the first Gulf War. I was there ’90 — the
November of ’90 to the May of ’91. Six
months. I was with a combat psychiatry
unit — which is a reserve unit that was
based out of Baltimore. So we were ac-
tivated in that first Gulf War, and we
spent six months over there.
Q: And you were a lieutenant
colonel there?
A: Right. And I retired from the re-
serves in 1997.
Q: You’ve been to 46 states.
What are the four states you
haven’t been to?
A: I never did a game in Montana.
Never did a game in Maine. Didn’t do a
game in Vermont and New Hampshire.
Did games everywhere else, including
Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Q: How did you get interested
in radio broadcasting?
A: Well, I was in graduate school. I
did it as an undergraduate, did the ra-
dio. While I was in the military, I was
sent to Washington, D.C., so I was at
Walter Reed. And I went over to see
some Georgetown games, you know,
being a fan — went to GW games, went
to Georgetown — and I found out that
they were having a radio.
So I went to the athletic director,
talked to the director of athletics and
said, “I did this in undergraduate,” and
they said, “OK, wonderful. Make a
tape.” So I made a tape. Obviously they
liked it. And then they said, “OK. Well,
here’s the problem: we don’t have a ra-
dio station; we don’t have an advertiser.
You can be the voice of the Hoyas, but
we have nothing else.”
So we had to go out and a get a radio
station, sell all the advertising. The year
that I started doing this was Thompson’s
third year. The two years prior they
were 12-14 and 13-13, so the next year
was the year everybody felt they were
going to turn the corner, NCAAs, which
came true. So it was a little easier to sell.
… then in 1981, when Ewing came,
WWDC took over and had the rights
until 1999, when Clear Channel took
over.
So the first year or two was pretty
much touch and go, because there really
wasn’t a great market for college radio,
and again, Georgetown not being in ra-
dio and having a program, we had to
start from scratch. So, my wife to be —
we weren’t married yet — she wrote the
commercials, we went to find advertis-
ing. So it was a real chore to get the
thing going, but we got it going. That
was the big thing to really get it off the
ground. And then, of course, as the team
continued to progress, it got better and
better and better. And then when Ewing
came, it was a whole different world;
everyone wanted to be on Georgetown
radio.
Q: And other than your son as
statman, does the rest of your
family participate in your work?
A: No, my oldest son just finished law
school, he’s a big fan. And the daughter
finished at Tennessee, she’s in an MBA
program now. Yeah, they still enjoy
sports, and they come to games, but
they don’t actually help out with the
broadcast. Evan, does. That’s my middle
son. And he also does work with the
Wizards and the Mystics. He doesn’t do
stats for them, but he works on the press
table.
‘Voice of the Hoyas’
Chvotkin offers perspective of almost
four decades of radio broadcast.
Rich Chvotkin: “Voice of the Hoyas”
PhotobyEvanChvotkin
See Voice, Page 5
PhotobySandyLevitzLunner/TheAlmanac

Potomac Almanac ❖ September 1-7, 2010 ❖ 5www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
•Beautiful efficient Heat
10%*
NoPower?NoProblem.GasLogsonSaleforImmediateInstallation
9/11/10 PA
Call for Free In-Home Professional Estimate!
People
From Page 4
‘Voice of the Hoyas’
Q: All the coaches for the team
have been John Thompsons?
John Thompson. Craig Eshric was
there from 1999 to 2000. Thompson left
in ‘99. John Thompson III came in 2004.
The 2004-2005 season. So, outside five
years of Eshric, it’s been all Thompsons.
But there’s only been three coaches
since I’ve been there. John Thompson.
Then Eshric came. After Thompson was
there 25 with me, 27 total. And then
Eshric five, and then after Eshric left,
then John Thompson III came, and I
think John III started in the 2004-2005
season. So this will be his sixth year I
believe, maybe his seventh. Yeah, 2004-
2005 was John III.
Q: Where did you go for gradu-
ate school?
A: Virginia Commonwealth Univer-
sity. Richmond.
Q: Do you plan on retiring as an
announcer at any point?
A: You know, let me say this to you:
While I have my health, I enjoy it, and
they’ll still have me; I’ll do it for as long
as I can do it.
Q: What about as a psycholo-
gist?
A: I enjoy what I’m doing. I enjoy the
work. I enjoy the lifestyle.
Q: Have you heard of any
events in the area that might
make good stories?
A: You like to see all the college teams
do well. Although I root for
Georgetown, obviously, I’m a diehard
Georgetown fan because I broadcast for
them. You know, you like to see college
basketball continue to do well. And I
follow the Wizards. I like to see them do
well. I’m a sports fan. I guess you’d call
me a sports junkie. I try to keep up on
things and go to games. It’s just, you
know, as a kid growing up, that’s basi-
cally what we did. I grew up in
Pennsylvania, in Scranton. And that’s all
we did. That’s all the kids did, growing
up. It was a wholesome existence. We
lived three blocks from a major sports
complex, and that’s where you hung
out. You know, it was good, wholesome,
clean fun.
Q: Do you follow any sports
other than basketball?
A: Yes, I follow them all. I follow foot-
ball, I follow baseball. I don’t follow it
to the extent that I do basketball, but
yeah, I keep up on it. I read the sports
pages religiously every morning. And
now, as I’m getting, quote, “a little
older,” and able to use the Internet, it’s
wonderful. Because years ago, when we
were growing up, we didn’t have that
kind of medium.
Now you can get anything you need,
statistics — you can get every story
known to man. And it’s wonderful be-
cause it helps you out with whatever
information you need. Years ago, you
didn’t have the opportunity — you
would have to call somebody on the
phone to get information. Now, you get
to the Web site and you have all you
need. So you don’t have to talk to any-
body, literally. But still, I like the old
ways of interaction with people.

Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ June 28 - July 4, 2012 ❖ 7www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
INSIDER’S EDITION
Community &
Newcomers Guide
This annual edition will be chock full
of tips from community insiders, plus
a guide for newcomers and long-time
residents alike. Everyone will learn
something new in this special edition.
Ask about our summer ad specials.
Ads due: August 15 • Publishes:
August 22, 2012
E-mail sales@connectionnewspapers.com
for more information, or call 703-778-9431
Content ideas? E-mail
editors@connectionnewspapers.com
By Edison Russ
Gazette Packet
F
or fun with a different
kind of flavor, look no
further than King Street
for live flamenco dances
and music.
At 607 King Street, La Tasca is a
Spanish restaurant and tapas bar
with flamenco dance and guitar
performances throughout the res-
taurant Thursdays at 7:30 and 9
p.m.
La Tasca also has flamenco gui-
tar performances Fridays at 10
p.m. and Latin rock band perfor-
mances Saturdays at 9 p.m. Man-
aging Partner Shana McKillop said
the performances draw crowds of
Summer Fun
A Latin rock band performs at La Tasca.
Yolit Yospe, guitarist Richard Marlow and
Edwin Aparicio perform at Las Tapas.
Flamenco
In Old
Town
Restaurants
feature dances,
music.
people from their 30s to their 60s,
and that the “bar area becomes a
really big attraction.”
McKillop also said that some-
times the restaurant opens it win-
dows “to offer a more authentic
atmosphere, like they do in Spain,
for open-air dining.”
La Tasca’s various tapas are
roughly $7 to $12, and it also of-
fers paella dishes for two to three
people for $38, and tasting menus
for their tapas intended as dinners
for two or more for $50 to $65.
Las Tapas is at 710 King Street
and has a stage for flamenco per-
formances Tuesdays and Wednes-
days at 8 p.m. and Thursdays at 8
and 9 p.m.
It also has two separate bands
play Spanish guitar music in the
style of the Gipsy Kings Fridays
and Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 1
a.m. General Manager Dawn
Braga said the restaurant draws an
“eclectic crowd,” with people from
various parts of Europe and from
Russia, and that the age range is
from 25-65.
The performances at Las Tapas
are done in 45-minute sets.
Entrees at Las Tapas range from
$18.95 to $24.95 while tapas are
about $5 to $8
Both restaurants hire dancers
from dcflamenco, such as Sara
Jerez, who was a dancer for the
Washington National Opera at the
Kennedy Center from 1998 to
2008, and has been performing
weekly shows at Las Tapas since
1999 and at La Tasca since 2004.
PhotocourtesyofLaTasca

Websites & Blogs
portfolio.
Business F 1 Maribel M. Vann, DDS, PLLC
Video
Games
F 2 Phantasy, Fantasy, Space: Comparing Phantasy Star
Online, Hyrule Warriors and Destiny
10/19/2014
Video
Games
3 Press Y for "Yes," X for "No:" A Review of Hyrule Warriors 10/7/2014
Video
Games
4 Variety is the Spice of Death: A Review of Shadowgate
(2014)
9/9/2014
Video
Games
5 The Indelible Memory Dilemma: Thoughts on a World
Without Zelda
9/7/2014
Video
Games
6 Trails the National Part Service Would Defend 7/29/2014
Video
Games
7 Lackluster Mansion: Dark Moon 5/12/2014
Video
Games
8 Dive Into the Dark: A Review of Dark Souls II 3/23/2014
Magazines – Arts & Literature
portfolio.
Songs &
Poems
1 Hopeful, Ampersand (EHC Arts & Literature Magazine) 2012
Songs &
Poems
F 2 Lucky Heart, a song, Andromeda (Chantilly High School
Literary Magazine
2007

http://blograandbygone.weebly.com/blog/archives/10-2014
Comparing Phantasy Star Online, Hyrule Warriors and Destiny
10/19/2014
Duck, Duck, Goose. It’s a game that consists mostly of walking around in circle and saying one thing over and over until
someone suddenly mentions a slightly more specific type of fowl, and then everyone goes nuts. Replace “saying” with “doing,”
and you have a halfway decent analogy for the grinding inherent in loot-driven games. And while I can’t provide you with
arbitrary number associations to prove my analogy to you in the way that most conspiracy theorists do, I can tell you that
“goose” is related to “golden goose,” which is related “treasure,” which means “loot." Q.E.D.
With recent releases, we of course have one such loot-driven game in Destiny, one whose actual loot mechanics have received
enough criticism to prompt Bungie to tweak things. We also have Hyrule Warriors, a spinoff of a franchise that despite not
necessarily being driven by loot to the same degree as Destiny or Diablo, often leaves people wondering what appeal there is in
continuing to play it if not the loot. Yet, even with there being a general consensus on the problems of each game, plenty of
people continue to play and enjoy them. And, being someone who has had quite a bit of fun with both, I feel compelled to
make an attempt at explaining what I think it is about these games that keeps them engaging despite their shortcomings. But
first, I’m going to talk about Phantasy Star Online.
Comparisons between Destiny and PSO have been made many times already, and they’re surprisingly accurate. Both are online,
loot-driven action RPGs that draw some inspiration from Star Wars. Both are heavily instanced in their cooperative aspects;
and, if you’re talking about the original PSO, both have four areas you revisit over and over again in your quest to reach the
level cap and obtain rare gear. A quick glance at Wikipedia tells me that PSO was received better than Destiny was back when it
came out, so I don’t bring PSO up because it’s a game that I enjoyed despite some overwhelming public opinion of it as a flawed
game; I bring it up because it didn’t immediately click with me.
I wasn’t aware of what PSO was until Nintendo Power promoted the GameCube version with episodes I and II when it came
out. When I first started the game, I made a Force – the game’s magic class – and I did a little bit of fighting in the forest before I
stopped and played something else. What had put me off was the combo system. You could perform up to a three-stage
combo, but you had to hit the button according to a certain rhythm, and that rhythm wasn’t even tied to the attack animations.
This deliberate rhythm, combined with the stiff attack animations, the long time it took for you to go from a walk to a run, and
the slow movement of the enemies just didn’t seem particularly exciting.
When I revisited the game, however, I made a Hunter, the game’s melee class, and I began to appreciate the deliberate pace of
the combat. Using the saber the Hunter starts with, I had to learn to not always go for a full, three-hit combo when enemies
were grouped together, as I could only hit one at a time. Instead, I found that it was better to use just two hits until I had
weakened an enemy enough to finish it off with three. When I eventually got a sword, which is less accurate but capable of
hitting multiple enemies at a time, I had to learn to position myself far enough away from a mob of enemies so as to hit a few
without leaving myself open to a hit or to being surrounded in case I missed. While the tactics I learned from using the saber
and sword can be broadly applied across all the classes of weapons the game has to offer, learning the nuances of using each of
the many weapon types effectively was big factor in keeping the game from getting too samey too soon.
The same joy of learning how to best use the available weapons is something both Destiny and Hyrule Warriors do as well, but
the latter is actually much more similar to PSO in this regard. While Hyrule Warriors is easy enough on its normal difficulty to
where it doesn’t provide much of a practical incentive for experimenting with its different characters and their unique
weapons, the over-the-top attack animations are incentive enough to get a thrill out of discovering the most efficient method
of cutting down enemy hordes. Sure, you could just as easily run up to the next group of enemies and use Link’s sword spin on
them as you might have done to some hapless henchmen who were only just surrounding you, but then you’d be missing out
on having Link backflip and send a shockwave forward to dispatch the next batch of baddies. Much like PSO, the sheer amount
of unique movesets available from using different combinations of characters and weapons means that there’s plenty to play
around with.
While Destiny doesn’t boast the same variety of weapons as either Hyrule Warriors or PSO, the generally wide open battlefields
whose hills and other geographical features offer cover in addition to walls and boxes give you a lot of options to explore when
learning the best application of each weapon. It’s also worth mentioning that while Destiny isn’t the most challenging shooter,
even for someone who doesn’t dabble in the genre often, that the action is fast-paced enough to land players into near-death
situations on a fairly regular basis if they haven’t already memorized every enemy pattern and spawn location or if they’re just
not paying attention. I’ve been in plenty of these situations myself, and the amount of attention and quick thought required to
get out of them alive often brings plenty of excitement into the monotonous mission design.
So, while getting better gear for your characters in these games is certainly a driving factor in why people continually play them,
and while poorly designed systems and the lack of features that are noticeably different from the core gameplay are
understandably major detractors for many people looking at them, there’s also a lot of nuance that isn’t typically mentioned.
For people who enjoy the basics of what a game has to offer, even small changes to considerations such as where to stand
when attacking or what weapon to use can play a large role in how long they’ll play the game.

SummaryPortfolioForEdisonRuss 2007_2014 20141128 short

SummaryPortfolioForEdisonRuss 2007_2014 20141128 short

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (17)

Similar to SummaryPortfolioForEdisonRuss 2007_2014 20141128 short

Similar to SummaryPortfolioForEdisonRuss 2007_2014 20141128 short (20)

SummaryPortfolioForEdisonRuss 2007_2014 20141128 short