Category: News writing

By Wylie Pennell

The cost of heating will increase this year, regardless of the method, according to a CNN report released in October.

Americans will spend $977 on average to heat their homes this winter, according to reports released by the Energy Information Administration.  This cost is 10 percent higher than last winter's cost of $889.

Because the University of Richmond is in the South where it does not get so cold, there will be increases in the costs of heating dorms, academic buildings and apartments, but not to a great extent, according to George Souleret, university engineer.

The homes that will be most affected are those that rely on heat from oil, the cost of which will go up by about 22 percent from last year, according to an EIA report.  Also, only about 7 percent of American homes rely on this kind of heat, according to the report.

World oil supplies continue to lag behind world oil demands this year, according to a separate EIA report issued Nov. 6.  Even with oil costs between $80 and $90 per barrel in October, according to the report, U.S. oil consumption is expected to increase only 0.5 percent in 2007 and 1.0 percent in 2008.

"Continued economic growth and colder average temperatures this winter [compared to] last winter combine to push demand higher," according to the EIA report.

Other sources will increase to a lesser extent.

The university uses coal, natural gas, oil and electricity to heat its academic buildings, offices, dorms and apartments, said Souleret, who earned his degree from the University of Virginia and has been the university's engineer for 22 years.

"The increased costs of heating will affect the university very little," he said.

The average costs among the four sources vary.  The university spends an estimated $900,000 on coal, he said, $400,000 on natural gas, $36,000 on oil and $2.5 million on electricity each year.

"Some years are just better than others," Souleret said, noting that the university has previously had problems with unexpected high heating costs.  An article from The Collegian published in the 1920s or 1930s reported on-campus energy shortages that led to energy rationing during that winter, he said.

Energy costs for the university are set in a two-year cycle, he said.

"I'm not worried about costs this year," Souleret said, "because I'm already worrying about what costs will be two years from now."

To estimate these costs, Souleret looks at information from the Department of Energy and other futures markets, he said.

"I also call suppliers and ask for their forecasts, and they usually laugh at me," he said, chuckling.

Costs of energy are known to increase each year, he said, which is why the university was able to plan ahead for these costs.  Souleret has charts that track the costs of various sources of energy that also aid him in making budget predictions, he said.

With the help of all this information and estimates, he makes his best assumption of the costs and hopes for the best, he said.  The cost of electricity was overestimated for this year, Souleret said, but he tries to have minimal surplus each year, allowing a 1 to 2 percent leeway in each year's budget for necessary adjustments.

The University Forest Apartments are heated by electrical energy, he said, and each has its own air system.  The cost of electricity is set through 2011 through a contract the university has with Dominion Virginia Power, he said.

This electricity is used for all campus facilities, according to the university facilities website.  To supply power for necessary functions, the main campus is connected to a 13,200-volt substation and delivered at 4,160 volts by university-owned circuits, according to the website, but the on-campus power plant only supplies heat to half of the campus.

The university also sits over a mile of tunnels that run throughout the campus, according to the website, which house the steam pipes and condensate return system along with high-voltage electrical lines and telecommunications cables.

Only two campus buildings rely on fuel oil for heat, Souleret said. They are the International House and the Law dorm.  The Special Programs Building is the only building on-campus that relies on natural gas for heat, he said, the cost of which is less volatile, so the university does not have to worry as much about its price.

Coal is the major source of heat on campus, Souleret said, provided through a contract with J & J Energy, which is a coal broker that has many sources of coal.  The coal mostly comes from southwest Virginia and is of the quality that the university trusts and wants to use, he said.

The university uses coal for two main reasons.  First, its costs are less volatile than others Souleret said, so the university does not have to be as concerned about its costs changing compared with others.

Coal is also in close proximity, he said, so it is relatively easy to attain.  Transporting the coal is the only possible cause for cost concern, but transportation costs are included in the contract the university keeps with the company, Souleret said.

This high reliance on coal is a cause for concern for some students on campus.

Erin Murdoch, a senior from Newtown, Conn., said: "I think it's kind of hypocritical for the university to be encouraging environmental awareness, but at the same time use so much coal to heat our buildings.  But then again, it is the cheapest option and there are a lot of buildings to heat on campus."

John Hoogakker, vice president for facilities at the university, said: "The university is currently completing a $6.7 million project that will simultaneously decrease fuel consumption at our central steam plant by approximately 15 percent and reduce regulated pollutants by approximately 25 percent. This major effort and investment demonstrates our commitment to utilize all three of our possible fuels as conscientiously as possible."

All fuels are considered pollutants when burned, Souleret said, but coal can be and is used in environmentally friendly processes at the university.

The new Lakeview dorm, set to begin housing students, starting in spring 2008, will be heated by state-of-the-art heating equipment steam using the university's central steam plant, Hoogakker said.

The university expects the U.S. Green Building Council will award the new dormitory with an LEED certification, he said.  It will confirm and document the efficiency with which energy will be consumed in the building's heating, he said.

In order to make heating as efficient as possible and conserve energy, Souleret said, the university's heat is connected through an energy management computer system that allows facilities to remotely control building temperatures through computers.  The current generation of the system has been in place for about 20 years, he said.

This system employs sensors in the buildings that evaluate the outside temperature and adjust the building's system accordingly, so that energy is not wasted and the inside temperature remains comfortable, he said.  It can also be set to start and stop temperature maintenance so that energy is not wasted when no one is in the building at night, but has heat ready by the time people need to be in the building the next morning, Souleret said.

If the main computer crashes, the whole system can still stay running because each building runs on its own panel, he said.  Errors in the system automatically send alerts to the main computers so they can be fixed and manual overrides in the system can also be performed if the need arises, he said.

Because the apartments are all on their own air systems, Souleret said, they can only ask students to set their thermostats lower when they're not in the apartment to save energy but have no way of checking on them.

"We don't need so much heat," Murdoch said.  "End of story.  I would love it if all the dorms, academic buildings and offices were colder."  But not all students agree with Murdoch's opinion.

Tim Courtney, a junior from Richmond, said he would not like the academic buildings to be colder.  Courtney wants the buildings to be warm so that he does not have to wear a jacket or heavy sweater, as he would when he was outside, he said.

Greater overall expense to heat homes and buildings is not the only reason people might be concerned about heating costs this winter.  Increased incidence of flu during the winter is another worry for people of all ages following the publication of a recent flu study.

Peter Palese, a professor and chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, came out with research that suggested the flu virus is more stable in cold, dry air, according to an article published in December by the New York Times.  This study furthers explanations as to why the virus is most prevalent during the winter when these conditions are most common.

Viruses remain in water droplets in the air, he said, but when there his high humidity, the droplets get too heavy and fall to the ground.  He observed positive correlations between low temperature and high occurrence of sickness while studying laboratory guinea pigs, he said, leading him to believe low temperatures support virus stability.

Palese began his research after reading papers that came out following the 1918 flu pandemic, he said.  His findings were published in the Public Library of Science Pathogens, a peer-reviewed open-access journal, on Oct. 19, 2007.

Dr. Lynne Deane at the student health center agreed that the flu is most common in the winter, she said, but believed this trend is due to cold temperatures driving people inside.

She said: "When it's 40 degrees outside, do you sit in your rocking chair on the front porch? No."

Evaluating the flu pandemic of 1918, she said the American troops could not build barracks fast enough for the soldiers who were fighting.  Instead, troops set up temporary tents and huddled around stoves and fires for warmth, she said, providing ideal conditions for spreading the sickness.

This is the same trend that leads to increased cases of flu during the winter, she said, because people seek warmth in buildings when temperatures are low outside.  Deane said she also believed the increased stress of exams also lowered the ability of students' immune systems to fight the virus.

"I usually get sick at least once during the winter," said Allison Peyton, a senior from Des Moines, Iowa, who lives in North Court.  "Although I can control my own thermostat in my single, it's usually cold because the whole dorm is connected."

Peyton was not sure whether she agreed with the recent study by Palese.  "I'm just not sure I know enough about the virus to really form an opinion on why it's more common," she said.

Souleret said the frequent disagreements among students about the right temperature for buildings might have been a result of a "Goldilocks effect," with some feeling it's too cold, some too hot and some just right.

The temperature problems depend on the building, senior Dean Dickos said.  Some buildings, such as the Robins Business School and Boatwright Memorial Library have many sections that were built at different times, so they're often different temperatures, he said.

"I would love to cut way back on heat and have people wear sweaters, but most standards suggest productivity would fall off," Souleret said.  Productivity is another factor that feeds into balancing the heating desires of everyone on campus and also preventing the spread of illness.

Although the university does suffer the effects of higher heating costs, plans are made years in advance for each season, Souleret said.

"Forecasting is the toughest part," he said.

By Sarah Blythe-Wood

The construction of the Lakeview Residence Hall proved to be a nuisance
for residents who lived nearby, Patty Kaczmarek, Marsh Hall sophomore and resident assistant, said.

The project, which began in August 2006, was completed in December, and students were to move in for the spring semester, said Steve Bisese, vice president for student development.

Lakeview is going to be a great dorm, Kaczmarek said, but the construction annoyed the residents for so long that they waited in high
anticipation for its completion.

When the resident assistants arrived for RA training on Aug. 15, the construction was in full progress, she said. After an intense day of training, all the RAs wanted to do was relax in their rooms and unwind, she said, but there were so many obstacles to deal with. Two of the three entrances into Marsh hall were blocked off, which meant that anyone who wanted to get in had to walk around to the back entrance, she said.

"It was so annoying, that sometimes we would sneak in through the front
door in spite of the caution tape," she said.

The residents' main concern was the level of noise that could be heard throughout the day, she said. People complained about getting awakened at 7 o'clock every morning, she said.

It was most annoying in the mornings because of the noises that could be
heard, Charm Bullard, Westhampton area coordinator, said. Typically,
the construction started around 8 a.m., she said.

Freshman Emese Kardhordo from Budapest, who lived in the basement of Marsh Hall, was awakened at 7 a.m. for her 9 a.m. classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, she said in November.

"If I have a class at 8.30 a.m., I don't really care because I am up
anyway, but if I am up late studying and I am awakened early, it is not
good," she said. The noise was so loud that even having a conversation on
the telephone inside the room was difficult because you couldn’t hear
people on the other end of the line, she said.

Kaczmarek lived on the side of Marsh farthest away from
the Lakeview construction, but she still couldn’t open her bedroom windows
because of the noise, she said.

Residents of Wood Hall did not complain about the noise, Brittni
Parris, the Wood Hall RA, said just before Christmas break. She lived directly across from the construction and the noise didn’t really bother her, she said, unless she had pulled an all-nighter.

David O'Neal, an RA in Thomas Hall, said that he didn’t get any
comments about the construction or hear anyone discussing it. It was a
nuisance when the construction was particularly loud, he said.

The issue of noise was addressed as it came up, Bisese said. In 2006, the noise was a much bigger problem because the contractors were breaking through the rock to lay the foundations, he said.

A compromise was reached with the students during that time and the
construction was started later in the morning, he said, but it still didn't correct the problem for everyone.

Before the start of the fall semester, notices were issued to the residents of the nearby halls, he said. "Most of the noise was unavoidable," he said, "but we did work hard with the company involved to adjust the start
times."

The residents of Denis and Robins had the same issues during the early
stages of the construction of the Weinstein Center, he said, and those
issues where dealt with in the same manner.

"When you have new construction, you just have to move on as best you can because deadlines have to be met," Bisese said.

Residents were asking for details about the start and finish times of the
construction at the beginning of the semester, Bullard said. A meeting was held with the people concerned about the issue, she said.

It wasn’t just the early-morning noises that annoyed people, Kaczmarek
said. She couldn’t even take naps in the afternoon because of all the
constant activity outside, she said, and it got to the point where she
had to flee to the library.

There were men walking around outside and so the blinds had to be kept shut, freshman Kelly Tidwell said. It was uncomfortable with men
walking outside the windows all day, every day, she said.

The entrance closest to the construction site was closed off by a fence,
so in order to leave the dormitory on that side people had to go up a
flight of stairs to use another exit or go out the back and walk around,
she said.

The quickest route to the Westhampton side of campus is over the
bridge, Kaczmarek said, but there were so many trucks, bulldozers and
other heavy machinery around there. She felt as if she was getting in the
way, so she would walk the long way around, even when she was rushing to
class, she said.

The construction was not a safety concern, Bullard said. The
residents were mature and alert enough to walk around any items that may
have appeared dangerous, she said.

During the period before finals, the construction looked as if it would be an issue, Kaczmarek said. People like to study in their rooms and that was why there were study hours when everybody had to keep quiet and respect each other so that there was no need to look for quiet spots around campus, she said.

It was disturbing to have all of the construction work going on during the stressful time of finals, Kardhordo said. The issue with noise came up more during high exam stress times, Bisese said.

Residents near Lakeview did not get to have that quiet period for studying because of all the noise outside, Kaczmarek said. She thought people would have used the library, which was difficult during that period because it was so crowded, she said. Students realized that the noise was inevitable, Bisese said. They adjusted in their own ways, he said.

By Jacqueline Raithel

Caffeine can create poor sleeping habits, especially among college students, but athletes should be extra wary of caffeine consumption because it can be more harmful to their bodies.

The sleep patterns of students at the University of Richmond are definitely affected by caffeine, said Tracy Cassalia, health educator for the recreation and wellness department at UR.

On average students probably study until midnight and go to bed around 1 a.m., Cassalia said. They use coffee and energy drinks as pick-me-ups because they don't get enough sleep, she said.

"It's a constant cycle," she said. "They go to bed late and get up without enough sleep and it builds up. They think they can just sleep in on Saturday and Sunday, but it doesn't work that way. €¦ You can't bank up your sleep.

"It's like flying across country. Your body is constantly feeling jetlagged."

Caffeine is a stimulant of your central nervous system, and is able to "pass the blood-brain barrier," causing increased alertness and decreased drowsiness, according to "Exercise Physiology" written by Scott K. Powers and Edward T. Howley.

In past years, some athletes consumed caffeine before competition with the hope that it was an ergogenic – that it would improve their endurance or strength, Powers and Howley write. In fact, in 1962, the International Olympic Committee banned the use of caffeine before competition. The ban was lifted in 1972, but partially reinstated in 1984, to prohibit high levels of consumption before competition, according to Powers and Howley.

Many studies have been carried out, but scientists have not made any firm conclusions about caffeine's affect on endurance or strength, according to Gene A. Spiller's book "Caffeine." Researchers have found that athletes have varying sensitivity to caffeine, depending on their muscle type, according to Spiller.

"The reality of caffeine's affect contrasts with many athletes' perceptions," Spiller writes. "There is a complex relationship between caffeine and strength and endurance performance."

Not only are there conflicting information and experiment conclusions about the impact of caffeine on an athlete's ability to perform, but there are many proven side affects that can harm an athlete's body, Powers and Howley write. These side effects include diuresis, insomnia, diarrhea, anxiety and tremulousness.

Many coaches, sports trainers and athletes are aware of the negative affects of caffeine. Richmond athletic trainer Melissa Adams said her biggest concern about caffeine was the increased possibility of dehydration.

Especially in preseason, Adams warns athletes to stay away from caffeine, specifically sodas. Soda contains caffeine and sodium, all of which can contribute to dehydration, she said.

"It's so dang hot already, there's risk for overheating and heat stroke," she said. "Basically, the body runs off of blood. When it gets dehydrated, the blood is not thin enough to get where it needs to go. €¦ It's not circulating fast enough to your organs, muscles or your brain, so it starts shutting down."

To protect the body's organs, it's most crucial components, the body's muscle tissue slows and eventually shuts down first, Adams said.  When caffeine is consumed by athletes to compensate for bad sleeping habits, performance suffers, she said.  If athletes aren't getting enough sleep, they're going to crash on the field."

Richmond's men's and women's assistant soccer coaches agreed with Adams. The men's coach, Matthew O'Toole, said his biggest concern with caffeine was dehydration.

"We need them to be at their peak possible performance," O'Toole said. "We play twice a week so they're constantly putting nutrients back into their body. There's no reason to put something in if it's not going to help."

The women's assistant, Jennifer Woodie, said she notices a difference in her players' performance when they've not been sleeping well. It might be a lack of energy, or maybe the athletes just aren't playing with their "a- game," she said.

Gina Lucido, Richmond's head field hockey coach, said she thought players could get away with drinking caffeine every once in a while. As 18- to 22-year-olds, athletes' bodies are pretty resilient, she said. But, if athletes are abusing caffeine and practicing poor sleeping habits, she said she could tell.

"Caffeine is an easy way to cheat on what your body really needs," Lucido said. "Over time it takes away from the body being healthy. Sleep is a big part of your body being at its 100 percent."

Lucido said part of the problem with caffeine was that when an athlete chose a soda, not only were they consuming the sugar, caffeine, sodium and carbonation, but they weren't drinking the water that they needed.

Athletes on the men's soccer team are encouraged not to drink soda when they are away from the team, O'Toole said. After competitions and during team meals the players drink water or juice, he said.

Senior Brian Alas on the Richmond baseball team connected caffeine to school work. "I think you will see guys drink a Red Bull sometimes before games," he said. "I think a lot of the older guys probably turn to caffeine more often because we do more [physical] work.

"But we are athletes. We are naturally more inclined to have a Gatorade, Powerade, or water to help our bodies recover from a lift or a conditioning session."

Other athletes such as sophomore Becky White and junior Becca Weaver are more cautious of their caffeine consumption and plan around practices or competitions, or avoid it all together. "Normally I drink it in the morning because of practices," White said. "However, on game days I don’t consume any caffeine and if I would it would be after I played."

The women's soccer team provides players with Excel Gels during practices, Woodie said. Having a more beneficial option available may discourage players from consuming caffeine, especially energy drinks, she said.

Nevertheless, even these sports gels many not be caffeine free. Athletes, whether they want it or not, often consume caffeine in power bars, energy gels and sports drinks, Cassalia said.

"You have to really read the labels if you're concerned about your caffeine intake," she said. "Even weird flavors have caffeine. I had an orange flavor the other day and it still had caffeine."

Now, stores even sell caffeine gum and caffeine supplements. Smoothie King, a popular new shop that sells fruit smoothies and health supplements, has its mission posted on its website as "influencing and helping more and more people achieve a healthier lifestyle." Smoothie King sells, among other things, caffeine as a supplement for their drinks.

Referring to energy drinks, supplements and today's society, Lucido said: "I don't love it. We live in a culture that everything needs to be instant. We think we can do it all.

"It's like here you go, take this bottle, drink it, now you don't need to eat for 12 hours, and go. It's not healthy. It's not doing things the right way.

"There's really no trade off to taking care of your body as an athlete. That's one of the challenges of being a Division 1 athlete."

By Jimmy Young

The University of Richmond goes to great lengths to ensure that handicapped students enjoy college without accessibility problems.

One such student, Chris "Buddy" Cassidy, a freshman from Annandale, Va., benefits directly from the improvements made on campus. These improvements can be as significant as a ramp at the entrance to a building and as minor as gliders placed on desk drawers.

Cassidy suffers from a form of muscular dystrophy that forces him to rely on a motorized scooter for mobility, he said. He has benefited directly from the proactive approach by the university staff, he said.

"I can't see any other school working as hard to meet my various accommodations and to ensure a comfortable academic and home environment," he said. "Because the staff takes care of virtually all of my needs, I am able to focus on my studies without having to worry about inaccessibility."

Unlike most universities, which often have an office that processes the concerns of handicapped students, Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, processes all students with disabilities. This comprises students with limited mobility such as Cassidy, students with sensory problems, students with temporary physical injuries and about 90 additional students with learning disabilities.

Bisese begins working with these students as soon as the admissions office contacts him to let him know that a student is interested in the University of Richmond, he said.

When Bisese received word that Cassidy was coming to tour the university, he met him and his family when they arrived on campus and twice before the first semester began.

"We're committed to personal attention," Bisese said.

Bisese has served in his current job since last year, and he's always enjoyed working with students, he said. He served as a resident assistant as a sophomore at the College of William and Mary, and when he got out of school, he realized that he could have a job outside of college working with students, he said. He thinks that the University of Richmond has a good plan in dealing with disabled students, he said.

"What might attract someone like Buddy to come here, especially with him being mobility impaired, is that when we hear [that someone is coming here], we just develop a personal plan," he said. "We don't know what they want to major in, we don't know what we're going to come across, but we will do virtually anything we can within reason."
Bisese says the university isn't fully accessible, and that some buildings, such as Ryland Hall, because of their age, never will be made accessible. He makes sure that handicapped students understand the limitations of the university.

"You should only feel comfortable if you really know the campus," he said. "We wouldn't want to hide what we are. €¦We need to let [disabled students] know."

Bisese contacts outside organizations that offer him advice as to what amenities disabled students may require, he said. He also works closely with Joan Lachowski director of housing, Mary Churchill in CAPS and Susie Reid in facilities, in what he describes as a close-knit group.

Lachowski is kept apprised of changes in student  dorm rooms, but doesn't play a direct role in determining the students' needs, she said.

If disabled students need an attendant to aid their everyday needs, Lachowski will make the university community aware in a newsletter or SpiderByte, she said.

Reid plays a much more significant role in this process, addressing specific needs of each student, she said.

"We pride ourselves in working one-on-one with our disabled students," said Reid, director of operations and maintenance.

Reid met Cassidy on his first day here to make certain that he was comfortable, she said.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed doing whatever I can to help these folks achieve their goals," Reid said. "I have so much respect for them for going against the odds and accomplishing what they want to accomplish in life.

"Anything that we can do to remove barriers to that end, we are more than happy to do. And that’s the attitude everybody at the university has."

Bisese shares this view. He spent all last summer preparing for Cassidy's arrival, and was upset when he learned that an elevator that Cassidy needed in the Tyler Haynes Commons had broken on his first day on the campus during orientation.

"I was heart-broken that we had looked at every single thing possible. €¦It was his first day and I didn't want him to become scarred by [the experience]," he said. "I didn't want him being the only one [of 800 students] walking around with an administrator in a tie."

Cassidy's mother, Grace, is well aware of the problems that come with accessibility, she said.

"We've always raised Chris that he can do anything that he wants," she said.  "He may just have to peel back some layers of the onion to get where he needs."
The university still has some work to do, Cassidy says, especially when it comes to publicity regarding accessibility. The university website doesn't publicize specific information regarding accessibility, which makes it difficult for handicapped students to know what to expect before they arrive on campus, she said.

Such information would else help change the mindset of the campus community and make people more aware of problems that disabled students face, she said.

"Richmond could benefit from increased awareness," she said.

When her family came here to visit Buddy during parents' weekend, they went to the football game, but had to sit on the other side of the stadium, away from the home fans, because of accessibility problems, Cassidy' mother said. The seats wee good, she says, but if her son wants to go to a game in the future, he won't be able to sit with the rest of the students, which isn't right, she said.

She hopes that handicap accessibility will be taken into account and addressed when the new football stadium is built.

She has seen Richmond make significant improvements from the first time she came here, which she described as a "disaster." She came here for Accepted Students' Day and no one was able to adequately assist them in finding their way across the campus, she said. Now, her perspective has changed, she said.

"We could not be happier with the accommodations," she said.

Gene Anderson, a music teacher at the university for 25 years, has seen the university make modest improvements during his tenure, such as creating ramps for sidewalks. Major improvements haven't come until recently, he said.

The music department used to teach a piano class on the third floor of Booker Hall, but this became impossible as more handicapped students began to attend Richmond because the only elevator in the building had to be accessed through a set of stairs, he said.

"The issue has never been completely addressed because of the lack of handicapped students here, so making the campus handicap accessible has never been a burning issue," Anderson said.

Music professor Jennifer Cable oversees the Richmond Scholars program and serves as academic adviser to the Oldham Scholars program, which Cassidy is a member of, she said. She worked with a travel agent to plan a trip to Chicago last month with the Oldham Scholars, which included ensuring that Cassidy was able to participate in all the planned activities, she said.

Still, there were problems with hotel room accommodations and the bus that the group used, she said. Cable had worked extensively to make sure that Cassidy had the proper accommodations, but those on the other end didn't do what they were asked, she said.

"No matter how much preparation work you do, things can still absolutely go wrong," she said. "I'm confident that we did all that we could do."

The greatest problem is getting people to understand what specific needs that Cassidy and other handicap students need, she said.

Annie Kennedy, vice president for student advocacy for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, says that many universities don't understand what it means to be accessible until a student with a physical disability is actually enrolled.

"Accessible means different things to different people," she said.

Many times, a university will be well-intentioned and will try to make itself accessible, but it won't make the proper modifications to do so, she said. Institutions need to understand that the unique needs of a student must be met, she said.

Richmond has a willingness to learn what needs to be done to make itself more accessible and addresses more than just the basic needs of a student, Kennedy said.

Cassidy's mother feels that Richmond has gone above and beyond to help Cassidy. For example, it would be acceptable for the university to provide a handicap-accessible ramp at the back entrance to Gray Court, she said. The university had no obligation to provide Cassidy with a second, and more convenient, entrance, she said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination based upon disabilities. Under Title III of the ADA, public accommodations, including educational facilities such as the university, must meet certain standards that allow all people to use the goods and services that the facility provides.

The act requires that any new buildings or buildings that are undergoing major renovations anyway to be outfit with handicap accessible facilities. Buildings that were constructed before the act became law don't have to meet ADA standards.

This is why new buildings on campus, such as Weinstein Hall and Lakeview, are fully accessible, while older buildings, such as Ryland Hall, are not, Bisese said. If Richmond, as a private institution, doesn't comply with ADA standards, it will lose access to federal student loans, he said. This would be devastating to students attending the school, he said.

Since Cassidy committed to the school,  Richmond has spent $75,000 to $80,000 to ensure that the campus meets ADA standards, Reid said.

This includes $20,000 to completely renovate Cassidy's bedroom and bathroom, $600 to construct an asphalt ramp at the entrance to Gray Court, $19,200 to install five automatic door openers (two in Gray Court, two in Jepson Hall and one in Booker Hall) and $12,000 to renovate the elevator in Gray Court, Reid said.

Funds are readily available if improvements are needed, Bisese said, but they must be within reason. Most of the time, requests are granted, but some improvements are simply too costly, such as making all residence halls handicap accessible.

"We can only do a little at a time," he said.

Many of the alterations to the campus have come recently because Cassidy is the first four-year student with limited mobility at Richmond, Reid said. The school has had two other handicapped students in the past five years – a law student from 2002 to 2005 and a transfer student from 2005 to 2007.

The transfer student, Jason Blackwell, spent two and a half years here and lived in the University Forest Apartments, which are completely handicap accessible, Bisese said. Blackwell's biggest problem during his time at the university was accessing his academic adviser, Bisese said.

Blackwell was an English major and his adviser's office was in Ryland Hall, which he  couldn't reach because he was confined to a wheelchair.

Another one of Blackwell's problems was deciding which was more important – being able to access public areas or residence halls, Bisese said.

The registrar's office played a role in ensuring that Blackwell could take the classes he wanted. If a class he wanted to take was located in a building that wasn't accessible, the class was moved to a building that was accessible, Bisese said. The same procedure is followed now with Cassidy, Reid said.

Other than meeting Cassidy's basic needs, the university ensures that he is able to partake in activities that he enjoys, Reid said.

The pool lift had been malfunctioning for some time, which posed a problem because of Cassidy's love of swimming, Reid said. The university spent $2,800 on a new lift this October.

"If we didn’t have a student here that we knew would use it, we might have just kept repairing it for a while longer," Reid said.

Cassidy was also able to participate in the university's production of "Macbeth" when a role was modified specifically for him, he said. The director, Walter Schoen, wanted Cassidy to  be cast in his show, and he assured him that nothing would hinder him from being on stage, Cassidy said.
The play was set in the World War I era, so Cassidy's character suffered injuries, allowing him to be carried around stage on a stretcher or by the other actors, he said. A wheelchair was also designed for use at other points throughout the performance. For those in the audience that didn't know about Cassidy's disability, there was no
way to determine that he had one, he said.

Bisese and Reid call Cassidy to check up on him whenever they feel it necessary, Bisese said. Both are expected to respond to whatever problem Cassidy may have, but neither is required to take the initiative in contacting him, Bisese said. Still, some problems exist in making sure Cassidy is comfortable.

"What I find challenging is finding the balance between being a support and not being overbearing," he said.

Cassidy feels as though he is living a normal life here, without the hassles that came with being a high school student. The situation was so poor that he fought nearly three years to obtain a single electronic door opener for his use, he said.

"In high school, I had to put up with the angst and frustration of having to make sure that even my most basic needs were met," Cassidy said. "It was so bad that I had to ram my scooter into the front door of the school every time I wanted to open it."

The staff of the university is what makes the difference for handicapped students, Cassidy said.

"I remember Buddy's mom telling me that when they were looking at other campuses, there may have been some that were more accessible, but nowhere did they meet people with the attitude of the University of Richmond," Reid said. "They just felt comfortable with him here and were satisfied that he would be taken care of.

"We’re proud they feel that way."

By Leigh Donahue

There are definite patterns to excessive drinking on campus and to those who receive emergency treatment for alcohol-related injuries, University of Richmond student emergency medical technicians and staff members say.

"Most of the intoxicated calls I've gotten have been underclassmen, …, mostly freshmen," Senior Meghan MacNeal said.

MacNeal is a Virginia certified emergency medical technician and a member of the Spider Advanced Medical Emergency Service, or SAVERS, which is made up of certified student emergency medical technicians.

Calls received by SAVERS members during the day are usually emergencies involving faculty and staff, said MacNeal, a four-year veteran of SAVERS.  "During the day, we can also get sports injuries, but usually at night it'll be drunken calls or injuries caused by intoxication," she said.

Most of the cases that SAVERS workers see are in freshmen dorms, especially Gray Court, MacNeal said.  "I haven't gone to a single intoxicated call for any upperclassman, ever," she said.

In one Gray Court case, she responded to, she found a freshman sprawled out in his room with "puke down the front of his shirt, his fly unzipped," she said.

Many freshmen are testing their limits with alcohol in their new environments, said Juliette Landphair, dean of Westhampton College.  "They're not sophisticated in really their understanding of the dangers of drinking," she said.

According to a memo released by the Westhampton College dean's office, 11 women were hospitalized in the fall semester of 2006.  Of those 11, eight were freshmen and three were sophomores.

"Typically the people we see go to the hospital are first years that haven't had a lot of experience with alcohol," said Angie Harris, associate dean of Westhampton College.

"The fall's always worse than the spring," said Steve Bisese, Richmond's Vice President of Student Affairs.  "It's usually worse with newer students."

There have been no deaths caused by alcohol consumption at UR, campus Police Chief Robert C. Dillard said.  There have been some close calls though.

"We have two or three a year that the alcohol content is so high that it's kind of touch-and-go as far as if they're going to make it," Dillard said.
"Most of them €¦ will be €¦ drunk," she said, "but we've actually had some really bad ones where they were either not really breathing at all or breathing so slowly we had to assist them in breathing."

The worst case MacNeal has seen happened this semester, she said.  A freshman female was unconscious and barely breathing when the paramedics arrived at a residence hall after a group of friends had called 911.

"When the ambulance came, you could see it on the medic's face," she said.  "It was definitely not, €˜Oh yeah, she'll be fine,' you know, it was definitely, €˜We'll hope she pulls through.'"

Many of the alcohol poisoning cases on campus are attributed to binge drinking, Dean Landphair said.  Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks for male and four or more drinks for a female in the span of two hours, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAAA.

The proportion of current drinkers who binge is highest in the 18- to 20-year-old group at 52 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More and more students are coming to Richmond with experience in excessive drinking in high school, said Bisese, former dean of Richmond College.  "People are coming having some of these issues," he said.  "It's not all developed in college."

Another factor in binge drinking is the popularity of pre-gaming or pre-loading before events, Dillard said.  Pre-gaming has contributed to many of the cases of alcohol arrests and injuries, members of deans' offices said.

"They're trying to get in as much alcohol as they possibly can before they go to an event," said Joe Boehman, dean of Richmond College, "and that's where we see students getting into trouble."

Bisese said: "Sometimes people say, €˜Well, is that because you're enforcing the rules more so that people are afraid of getting in trouble so they're drinking in private before?'

"We've had really no change in the rules.  In fact, the same sanctions for underage violations are basically in effect now that were in effect when we set them up in 1986."

Many students are using hard liquor as a way to become intoxicated.  "That's a real danger zone for me," Landphair said, "knowing that often our women will gather in their rooms and do shots of vodka, you know, heavy, hard stuff."

Deans of other institutions across the country are dealing with the prevalence of pre-gaming before big events. Brandeis University's yearly event, Modfest, was canceled because three students were taken to the hospital as a result of pre-gaming, according to a Boston Globe article.
Boehman previously worked for the housing department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  "We had similar numbers, in terms of percentage of the number of students that were involved," he said.

The worst case that Chief Dillard could recall was one involving a Richmond College student who fell in the ditch near the intersections of UR Drive and Westhampton Way last year.  Students saw the student stumble into the ditch and were unable to pull him out.

When police pulled him out, his blood alcohol level was measured and found to be above 0.5 percent, the highest recorded from a student on campus.  People are considered legally drunk when his or her blood alcohol content is above 0.08 percent, according to the NIAAA.

The student was taken to the trauma unit at the Medical College of Virginia and was put on a ventilator.  He did recover, Dillard said.  "If they had not told us, or if they had not happened to be behind him when he fell, it would have been fatal," he said.

In another case, a female student submitted to peer pressure and drank, even though she was allergic to alcohol, Dillard said. "She ended up in the hospital on a ventilator," he said.  "She almost died, she was that allergic to it," he said.  "She lived, and would you believe it, within a few weeks later, she did the same thing."

Before the national drinking age changed from 18 to 21 in 1984, students were not binge drinking as much as the do now, Dillard said.  "Did we have students get intoxicated?" he asked.  "Yes.  But until recent years we never, ever, ever took a student to the hospital.  Never.  Just never had to."

Another topic of concern at many universities is alcohol and how it  is used in  hazing.  Hazing is "any ritual required by a newcomer to get into an organization," former Richmond professor Hank Nuwer said.  Many hazing cases involve binge drinking, he said.

The Greek system at Richmond does not have as many problems as other institutions, Nuwer said, because of the strong involvement of the Greek system in education and awareness.  Some of the rules put in place, such as the outlawing of kegs on campus, have led to fewer alcohol incidents with the fraternities, Richmond police Lt. John Jacobs said.

"Fraternities are more worried about liability and so they're more cognizant of rules," Bisese said.

One recent incident involved the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.  The fraternity held an off-campus party at Center Ridge Drive, near Three Chopt Road, the night of Oct. 21 of this year after the football team defeated the University of Rhode Island.  Thirty-five people, mostly UR students, were arrested for underage possession of alcohol, according to a recent article published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

No sanctions were brought against the fraternity because it was considered outside of the control of the fraternity or university, according to the article.

Another issue that arises with the consumption of alcohol is the possibility of a student consuming date-rape drugs, Dillard said.  One case he recalled involved a "nearly perfect student," he said, who went to a bar at Shockoe Slip and got into an altercation.  Police believed that she had been slipped a date-rape drug because of her behavior.

"She goes totally ballistic," Dillard said.  She went to a restaurant next door and started beating a cook, he said.  She then assaulted ABC investigators who arrived.  "She ended up getting one of her teeth knocked out," he said.

There are three types of date-rape drugs: GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  GHB (gamma hdroxybutyrate), when combined with alcohol, can cause nausea and breathing difficulties.  Ketamine is an anesthetic used by doctors and veterinarians.  It is also knows as "special K" or "vitamin K" and can cause dream-like statues and hallucinations, according to the NIDA.

Rohypnol, also known s "roofies," which can cause €˜anterograde amnesia,'which means individuals may not remember events they experienced while under the effects of the drug," according to the NIDA.  All three drugs may cause death, especially when combined with alcohol.

One of the worst cases SAVERS President Rachel Dillon has seen involved a Westhampton College student who had problems walking on her own after ingesting too much alcohol as well as other substances.

"We found out that she actually had like two or three date-rape drugs in her system," Dillon, a junior, said.

The work hard, party hard mentality held by many students is also a factor in binge drinking, Landphair said.  "The idea is that drinking heavily is somehow going to relieve your stress when of course it just does the opposite," she said.

The majority of the arrests made by the campus police are liquor-law violations.  The police department's website lists annual statistics, and it states that there were 157 alcohol arrests made and more than 1,200 alcohol referrals to the dean's office from 2004 to 2006.  Eight of the 157 arrests were in residence halls; the other 149 arrests were on campus.  More than 1,000 of the referrals were made after incidents in residence halls; the other 154 were on campus.

An arrest is made by a police officer, and a report is filed for each arrest.  A residence life staff member or a faculty member can make a referral to the dean's office.
The Richmond College dean's office saw 450 students in the 2006-2007 school year, according to a memo released by the office.  Out of those 450 cases, 289 involved alcohol.

There are more referrals each year to the Richmond College dean's office than the Westhampton College dean's office.  "The men are a lot more willing to host parties in their rooms and their apartments so they do bear the brunt of the responsibility a lot of the times," said Patrick Benner, the Associate Dean of Richmond College.

"We do tend to see more males get arrested for alcohol consumption, because their behavior tends to be a little more over the top," said campus Police Capt. Beth Simonds said.  "They tend to get in fights or become belligerent or more aggressive."  Westhampton students tend to get transported to the hospital more than Richmond College students, she said.

Each case is looked at on an individual basis, Dean Boehman said.  There are three sanctions for a first-time offender that are given by both colleges, Harris said.  They are a disciplinary warning, a fine and an alcohol education program.

The warning remains on the student's record until graduation, Harris said.  It stays on the student's judicial file but is not released to parties outside the dean's office, she said.

A student will receive between a $25 to $50 fine for their first offense.  If the charge was public intoxication, an underage student will have to pay $50, while a student of legal age will have to pay $25, according to the university's alcohol policy.  A $25 fine is given to an underage student possessing alcohol.  The collected fines fund alcohol education programs.

The student will also have to meet with the area coordinator, if the event took place in a residence hall, or with the dean if the action took place outside of a residence hall or apartment, Boehman said.

An online education course called Third Millenium has to be completed by a first-time offender.  The class takes less than two hours to take.  "The idea is that they're learning from their mistakes," Harris said.

"The sanctions are at the discretion of the dean's office," Benner said, "and we look at the severity of the incident, what the student's involvement was, what their past record was, things of that nature."

There are different levels of consequences for students who are arrested or referred to the dean for an alcohol violation.  Second-time offenders are put into the RISK, or Reduced Impairment Through Supplemental Knowledge program.

The RISK program is a six-hour course completed by a student off-campus, Boehman said.  It is taught by trained counselors and involves education on alcohol and drug abuse.
In even more serious cases, a student can be referred off-campus to Family Counseling Center for Recovery, or FCRR, the for inpatient or outpatient care, Boehman said.

"If we feel a student has a concern over the amount their drinking, the level that they're drinking, things of that nature," Boehman said, "we will have them go do a formal assessment and do extensive counseling through them."

Community service may be awarded to offenders in the Richmond College system.  These assignments have ranged from 10 to 100 hours, Benner said.  Students may work for UR facilities, campus recreation, the Boys & Girls Club and others.

"A second offense could mean termination of their housing contract and it could possibly mean suspension," Boehman said.  Suspension is usually for one semester, he said.  Occasionally students are asked to leave campus permanently for excessive alcohol use.

"Our disciplinary system is not meant to put a dagger in somebody for a first offense," Bisese said.  "It's really designed to have there be some kind of involvement so that you don't have a second offense or you learn about what you need to learn to take care of yourself."

Even if they're underclassmen, students shouldn't worry about the consequences they could face later when they see that a fellow student is in need of aid, Dillon advised.  "We're here to help; we're not here to get you in trouble," she said.

SAVERS members urge students to seek help if they need it.  "If someone's seriously ill, especially with alcohol poisoning, call 911," Dillon, a former resident assistant, said.  "Don't try to take care of them yourself because people can die very easily.  There are people to take care of you."

By Jill Cavaliere

Jack Bell was undecided about his career plans, like many University of Richmond seniors, during the months before his graduation in May 2007. He was certain he wanted to teach in the Richmond area for a year or two, but none of the private schools he looked into seemed right.

"My heart wasn't really in any of those places," Bell said.

One February day Bell was talking about the situation with Percy Strickland, the CEO of Church Hill Activities and Tutoring in Richmond.  CHAT, according to its website, is a Christian organization seeking to transform the Church Hill area by opening homes, and providing programs such as life-skills training and after school tutoring.

Bell volunteered as a CHAT tutor since freshman year, and lived in the area one summer.

"My heart was really here," he said, and so when Strickland suggested Bell start a school for CHAT, he did.

On Sept. 4, 2007, almost seven months after Bell's conversation with Strickland, the Church Hill Academy's first school year began.

The academy, a provisional private school in the process of accreditation, provides free education to nine Church Hill residents – six girls and three boys – all in the 10th grade. The students heard about the school through CHAT, and chose to enroll in the academy for this year.

Although Bell and Strickland formed the idea for the academy, many other people soon joined the cause, including Dan Fisher and Taylor Winters, both UR seniors at the time.

Fisher and Winters had volunteered with CHAT since their junior years, and individually sought different ways to work with inner-city children after graduation.

Fisher said he originally applied to Teach for America, but started looking into Richmond public schools when he was not accepted. One day he was telling Bell, his apartment-mate at the time, how his job search was going when Bell excitedly told him about the academy. The idea interested Fisher, and after praying about it, he agreed to help.

For Winters the decision to join the academy was a bit different. She had worked as a CHAT intern the past summer, and during that time met her husband, who lived in Church Hill.

The two were engaged while Winters was finishing her senior year, she said, so she knew she would be moving to the neighborhood after graduation. Winters said that through the relationships she built during her internship she developed a passion to help the neighborhood.

Winters said she wanted to help in whatever area CHAT had a need, so when Bell approached her with his idea, she agreed to help.

The three then worked during the summer to develop the details of the school. Because the academy is nonprofit, much of the time was spent fundraising from private donors.

So far they have raised about $81,000, but Winters said they were still collecting donations because they are $10,000 short for the year.

About $72,000 of the money goes toward salaries for the three founders, while the rest goes toward things such as supplies and mortgage for the building, which is rented from CHAT.

Bell said the money came from churches, friends and family, members of the Richmond and Church Hill communities, and others. He described how overall support for the academy has been overwhelming, and singled out Third Presbyterian Church, on Forest Avenue, as one of the major contributors.

"It really has become sort of a community project," Bell said. "So many people are behind the scenes helping us."

Over the summer Fisher handled most of the planning, Winters said, because Bell was in Mississippi raising support for the school and she was planning their wedding.

Fisher said the planning process was not what he had expected, since he had heard about bureaucracy in school but had never actually dealt with it. He contacted Brian Brown, a lawyer involved with CHAT, and they worked on the details of the school together.

One of the issues the two worked on was acquiring a nonprofit, 501c3 status for the school. According to Fisher, the 501c3 status helps the academy because it makes donations tax deductible and exempts it from paying taxes at certain stores.

The academy also began looking into accreditation agencies, narrowing it down to a few options. It is leaning toward the National Association of Street Schools, which would provide structure, direction, funding and approval for the school.

Since accreditation typically takes from one to five years, Winters said the academy leaders wanted to make sure the school fit well with the organization it chose. The decision will be made by the academy's board of directors before the end of the year.

Board member Corey Widmer, associate minister at Third Presbyterian Church, in an email interview, said the board's purpose was "to bring structure, strength and accountability to the vision, support and operations of the school."

Fisher assembled the board of directors this summer, taking three principles into consideration while he searched: people in positions of influence and social networking, people with educational experience, and people who have a heart for the Church Hill area.
"[We wanted] people who know what's going on and could provide guides for us as we go down this process," Fisher said.

Seven people are on the Board of Directors, including three doctors, a teacher, a judge, a pastor and a director of admissions at the Medical College of Virginia.

Widmer explained the Board seeks "to draw from the knowledge of many others who have done similar things around the county and glean from their experience solutions to some of the challenges we are facing."

During the early stages of planning for the school, Fisher said he often felt overwhelmed.

"I felt like, €˜I don't know what I'm doing.' I felt totally incompetent," Fisher said, and often had moments when he doubted if the academy was going to work.

Fisher said he handled doubts by praying and discerning from God that the school was something that was needed in the neighborhood. Bell and Winters also see the students' needs as the driving force behind the academy.

"A lot of them are just in awful, awful situations academically," Bell said. "In tutoring them we've made an implicit promise to them€¦that we would see them through."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 60 percent of people in the Church Hill area graduate from high school, and only 10 percent complete college. Bell also pointed out that 37 percent of people live below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate ranges from 38-40 percent.

Bell said as he tutored and built relationships, he saw a need for drastic intervention.

Winters views the issues in the area as small pieces of a larger systemic problem. "Poverty, malnutrition, the lack of resources around here – those are generational issues," she said. "They did not happen in one day and they aren't going to end in one day. So while we continue to fight for them, in the meantime, we want to save our kids."

She said they chose education because "if you try to think of everything that would solve poverty, you'll be so overwhelmed that you'll quit and you'll move to the West End."

Understanding the disadvantages caused by the students' backgrounds guided how the founders planned and designed the academy.

According to the school's mission statement, the academy seeks to provide the students with the skills needed "for becoming responsible, virtuous and articulate men and women." Explaining a diploma is not an "end-in-and-of-itself," but a means for students to develop character.

Bell, Fisher and Winters realized many of the students came from large classrooms where they tended to be overlooked. They set enrollment at 12 students, Bell said, to avoid this situation and enable the students to receive more attention.

The three also started brainstorming about what they could feed the students, Fisher said, since most do not eat at home, and good nutrition helps school performance.

The academy provides breakfast and lunch for the students, and a snack when possible. The goal, Winters said, is to provide the students with 75 percent of the nutrients needed per day.

"It's pretty exciting to be able to do that compared to what they are eating," she said.  The academy aims to keep the cost equal to a food stamp budget, which is close to the economic situation of the students' home life.

Winters said they have not reached that goal. Food stamps allot $1.66 per meal per person, and they often exceed that amount because of donated food or food bought at a discount.

The students also take a weekly, hour-long class on healthy living, which Winters teaches. The academy's other classes were planned out in April, Fisher said, when the three decided on English, math, science, history and foreign language as the school's major subjects. They then apportioned the subjects according to what each felt most comfortable teaching. Bell was chosen to teach English and Latin because he specialized in them while at UR, and Fisher selected math, although he majored in sociology major.

History and science were a bit more difficult to figure out, Fisher said, because none of the three felt entirely comfortable with the idea of teaching them. They sought to bring in more experienced people in those subjects, and eventually found Kathy White and Terrill Wade, who volunteer one day a week to teach U.S. history and biology.

For White, a middle-school history teacher for the past 10 years, the academy was a perfect opportunity to become involved in the neighborhood. White said she had always wanted to be a CHAT tutor, but was unavailable during the tutoring hours. She heard about the academy through church and figured out a way to work it into her schedule. White teaches once a week.

Both biology and history are afternoon classes, held every Monday and Thursday. The other afternoons are typically spent learning Latin, although sometimes special field trips occur on Fridays. All afternoon classes last an hour and 10 minutes, and are followed by an hour-long study period, which lasts until school ends at 2:30.

While the afternoons vary from day to day, the morning routine remains constant. Every school day begins with breakfast at 8 o'clock, and at 8:30 classes start.

At the beginning of the year, the students were divided between the weaker and stronger. The weaker group starts with math after breakfast, while the stronger group learns English. After an hour and a half the two groups switch, and remain in that class until lunch.
The students must participate in the after-school CHAT tutoring sessions twice a week, and although it is not a nominally Christian school, all of the students attend a weekly Bible study and attend church each Sunday.

"We don't have a Bible time," Winters said, "but all of us are Christians and we started this because we want to be examples to [the students] in our lives."

All three of the founders hope to see the academy grow, and according to Bell, they plan to add on an 11th and 12th grade as this year's class moves up. Although adding ninth grade is not something they have discussed yet, Bell said they have not ruled it out.

"I think the ultimate vision is to have a middle school at some point," Bell said.  He does not know how long he will remain with the academy, but he is committed to seeing this group of students through, he said.

Fisher had a similar goal for the academy. "I would love to see this place take off," he said. "I would love to see this be a school that would provide hope for our kids."

Fisher said he saw himself at the academy for at least the next few years, and hoped it not only takes root in the community, but acquired people who would continue it in the future.

Fisher also said he would like to establish more specialized roles, such as a principal, since currently the three founders wear so many different hats.

Although Winters does not know how long she will work with the academy, she is committed to serving the Church Hill community.

"If the school is a place that there is still a need," she said, "then I want to be here to serve that. If we end up incurring multiple teachers, finance people and someone to do all the food stuff, there will be something else here in the neighborhood."

Although none of the founders took an education class while at UR, they still found aspects of their education valuable during this process.

Bell said his English major had helped him with his ability to communicate, while Fisher and Winters, both sociology majors, said the issues they discussed in classes helped them gain a deeper understanding of the inner city.

Winters said that with the understanding came more determination. "Sometimes we see these kids with a lack of motivation, or they're disorganized, or their family life sucks€¦but there are reasons that it's that way. So that tends to make me a little more patient."

All three of the founders said the process of starting a school had been a learning experience, and Bell described it as both terrifying and exciting.

For Winters, the experience has been a lesson in culture. Because she went to a school similar to those the students attended, she said, she understands the students' culture a bit more.

"But we are coming as an outsider," Winters said. "So it's learning how to be a part of the culture€¦but also trying to bring them out of the situation that they are in."

Because of their social situation, Winters said, many of the students, who are black, have not come in contact with many other white people besides the ones who come to help them.

Often times the students' perception of the teachers can pose difficulties, Fisher said. He described many of the differences as cultural, rather than racial.

Winters said acting superior is the easiest way to widen the cultural gap. "They already see you as white, so you're automatically classified as rich as and better than them."

"You have to be very cautious and be very relational€¦be very real with people so that you do continue that relationship," she said.

Fisher said his frustrations came from seeing a lack of desire in the students, and asked: "How do you create motivation in someone who doesn't believe in themselves? Who doesn't see their full potential? Doesn't see what they're capable of?"

Winters also gets frustrated, and tries to reevaluate the situation by reminding herself, "All day I get to spend with these kids that I have an incredible relationship with."

Fisher also appreciates his situation, saying, "This is such a privilege to be able to work with these kids because they are so wonderful. €¦They all have just wonderful gifts to offer the world, and it's great to be able to be put in a position to bring that out of them."

Bell said one student could not read a word when she started at the academy. The three noticed she worked well one-on-one, and redesigned the curriculum for her.

"A couple of weeks ago," Bell said, "I was talking to her grandmother, and she was saying how wonderful it was because now she could send the student to the store with a list of things to buy, and she could do it."

Bell described how encouraged he was when the girl came up to him one morning and said,  "Jack, this is awesome! I can read anything I want now! It's great!"

"That's definitely the most encouraging experience thus far," Bell said, "just to know that what we are doing is actually having some effect."