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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
[email protected] (703) 405-2019
Local News29%
Feature Article51%
Editorial2%
Website2% Blog
13%
Magazine3%
Magazine GrandLocal News Feature Article Editorial Website Blog Literary Total
Arts & Entertainment 5 5Business 6 1 7Community Action 3 2 5Education 6 6Fundraising 5 5Government 5 5Historic Site 3 3Personality 4 4Songs & Poems 2 2Student Government 2 2Student Life 3 1 4Video Games 7 7Grand Total 16 28 1 1 7 2 55
Newspaper WebMediumTopic
My writing and photographs address a variety of topics
Summary Portfolio for Edison Russ
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
NewsArlington Connection Editor Steven Mauren
703-778-9415 or [email protected]
By Edison Russ
The Connection
Arlington’s representatives in thestate legislature listened to thepublic’s wishes for priorities to beaddressed at the upcoming Vir-
ginia General Assembly session during ahearing on Friday, Jan. 4, in the ArlingtonCounty 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 ofMedicaid, stricter gun control laws and in-creased funding for various mental healthservices.
The delegation consists of Senators Bar-bara Favola, Janet Howell and Adam Ebbin,as well as Delegates Alfonso Lopez, BobBrink, Robert Krupicka and Patrick Hope.
People advocating for mental health ser-vices requested that additional waivers begranted to alleviate long waiting lists andfor independent living programs for thosewith intellectual disabilities.
One advocate, Betsy Greer, requestedfunding for jail diversion programs foradults 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 patientswould only provide for 15 adults, which shesaid was “grossly inadequate when you con-sider there are approximately 160 at anygiven time on the departments’ ready-for-discharge list.”
She said that Arlington alone has 12 suchpatients.
Members of the Arlington CommunityService Boards advocated for funding of theNorthern Virginia Training Center, sched-uled to close in July 2015.
As part of a settlement agreement be-tween the Commonwealth and the JusticeDepartment, any patients still residing in
the NVTC three months prior to its closingwould be required to leave. Members of theCSB asked either for the funding to keepthe center open, or to delay the closing longenough to properly discharge the residents.According to CSB member Barbara Jones,Virginia already has almost no surplus ofbeds for most of 185 individuals with intel-lectual or developmental disabilities thatneed treatment.
Jones also said that the existing waiverreimbursement infrastructure does notcover the cost of care in Northern Virginia.
“The governor’s proposal to raise Medic-aid waiver rates by 25 percent for high-needindividuals is a step in the right direction,”Jones said. “However, even a 25 percentincrease will not cover the cost of servingthose with the highest needs.”
Favola said that she saw a renewed en-ergy around gun control at the hearing inwake of the Sandy Hook incident. [See re-lated story, below].
“Nobody ever would have imagined thatyoung children attending school would nothave been safe,” she said.
Favola said she hoped that there wouldbe enough public pressure to get legislationpassed on gun control not just at the Gen-eral Assembly, but in Congress.
Favola said she is not looking to restrictindividual rights; rather, she is concernedwith the danger inherent with current op-tions. She cited the loophole that allowspeople to purchase weapons at gun showswithout background checks.
Dear Richmond: Here’s What’s NeededMedicaid and mentalhealth servicescited as key issues.
Legislators listen to members of the public identifying their prioritiesfor the upcoming state legislative session.
Pho
to
by Ediso
n R
uss/T
he C
on
nectio
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By Michael Lee Pope
The Connection
Legislators will be dueling over gunsthis 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) andArlington Del. Patrick Hope (D-47) have in-troduced legislation that would require abackground check for every gun purchase.That includes the 40 percent of current gunsales 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, Policeand Public Safety Committee. “We can’thave nearly half of all gun sales in Virginiasubject to background check and the otherhalf absent any regulation.”
Gun advocates fear that backgroundchecks are a slippery slope. Organizationssuch as the Virginia Citizens Defense League
argue that increased registration could leadto confiscation, a threat that motivates ad-vocates for gun rights to oppose efforts toincrease background checks. In a perfectworld, argues League president Phillip VanCleave, all background checks would beeliminated — regardless of whether the saleis private or not.
“The truth is it’s easy to get around a back-ground check. You simply send in somebodywith 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 ashappy 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 20children and six adults. Both sides of thegun debate responded by doubling downon its previous position. Those who supportgun rights argue that schoolsshould have armed securityguards. Those who supportincreased gun regulationhave been arguing for in-creased screening and back-ground checks. Historically,Virginia has been hostile toefforts to increase gun regu-lations.
“There’s an urban-rural disconnect aboutgun rights, and that split defines politics inVirginia,” said Kyle Kondik, analyst with theUniversity of Virginia Center for Politics. “Ijust don’t see a lot of potential traction forgun control legislation, especially given themakeup of the House of Delegates, whichis so overwhelmingly Republican.”
That means Northern Virginia Democratswho support increased gun control have a
seemingly intractable goal — persuadingconservative members of the General As-sembly to change their minds on one of themost emotional issues of the day. Even ifthey are not successful in session, though,Northern Virginia Democrats can campaignon the issue later this year, when everymember of the House of Delegates will beup for reelection.
“I think the tragedy in Newtown willchange the politics of all gunbills,” said Ebbin. “Whether ornot particular ones will passis hard to determine, but Ithink we will see a seriousconsideration of many moregun bills this year.”
VIRGINIA HAS STRONGLAWS protecting the right to
carry and use guns, a tradition that datesback to English common-law institutedwhen the commonwealth was a Britishcolony. The Brady Campaign to PreventGun Violence gives Virginia a score of 11out of 100, describing the commonwealthas having “weak gun laws that help feedthe illegal gun market, allow the sale of
See Loophole, Page 7
Arlington delegate hopes to registerall private firearm transactions.
Taking Aim To Close the Gun Show Loophole
Ebbin Hope
“The currentlaws are likeSwiss cheese.”
— Del. Patrick Hope(D-47)
Arlington Connection ❖ May 1-7, 2013 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
By Edison Russ
The Connection
Eight Arlington elementary schoolsare undergoing improvementplans after failing to meet all oftheir federal annual measurable
objectives (AMO) last year as required bythe Elementary and Secondary EducationAct.
AMO results are based on Standards ofLearning test scores and are the federalgovernment’s method of ensuring continualimprovement in schools. The eight schoolsthat did not meet the AMO benchmarks —Randolph, Drew Model, Hoffman-Boston,Campbell, Carlin Springs, Barcroft, Barrettand Patrick Henry — all also receive Title Ifunding to aid in the instruction of studentsfrom economically poorer backgrounds.
In addition to these eight, the otherschools that have lower scores [see accom-panying maps] also tend to have a higherpercentage of students who qualify for freeor reduced lunch, and most of them are lo-cated in southern Arlington, where theschools tend to have a greater percentageof students who qualify for free or reducedlunch.
Assistant Superintendent of InstructionConstance Skelton said she did not find thisdata surprising. Skelton said that one of thereasons that economically disadvantagedstudents don’t tend to perform as well asothers is because they don’t come from“print-rich” environments.
“They don’t have newspapers and maga-zines and books and things at home thatgive them the experience with print thatthey need that makes another child who’sbeen read to, watches mom and dad read… quicker to pick up some of the readingthan children who haven’t had that experi-ence.”
Since at least 40 percent of students ateach of these schools qualify for free or re-duced lunch, the schools are eligible for theschool-wide improvement plan.
According to Snyder, the school-wide pro-cess narrows in focus as it progresses, firstevaluating the whole school, then the gradelevels, then teachers within each gradelevel, and finally the students. Accelerationprograms are then put in place for studentswho don’t meet benchmarks.
This approach also allows Title I teachersto help any student within the building.
“So, we find that it’s much more flexibleand much more responsive to the needs ofthe schools.”
According to Donna Snyder, most of aschool’s Title I funding goes toward hiringextra 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 reachesout to parents.
“Last year at Hoffman-Boston, we hadabout 150 different kinds of parent eventsto get parents to come into the school, bemore engaged, help them with strategiesthey could do at home with their children,”Snyder said. “So, I think that we try to makesure that we’re addressing parent andchild.”
Another challenge for teaching in south-ern Arlington is the number of English lan-guage learners. To help these children, thecounty uses the Sheltered Instruction Ob-servation Protocol.
“One of the SIOP strategies is to help buildbackground knowledge with students,”Skelton said, “so that when they encounternew vocabulary … they’ll have somethingto kind of put their knowledge on.”
Other components of the SIOP model in-clude making sure teachers provide com-prehensible input adjusting their speech andproviding examples of good work, and pro-moting interaction among students withinlessons.
While test scores can be affected by thedifficulties of teaching students across dif-ferent economic and cultural backgrounds,Co-president of the Randolph ElementaryParent Teacher Association Allegra Jabo saidit’s precisely the fact that Randolph is hostto such diversity that makes it a greatschool, despite it scoring lowest among theschools on this list.
She believes that because the studentpopulation is so diverse, teachers are forcedto teach to the individual. She cited the timewhen her older daughter started first grade,and the teacher had come to her saying hehad been debating whether to place Jabo’sdaughter in the highest reading group orthe next highest reading group.
He ended up placing her in the highestreading group in hopes of motivating herto perform even better, but he also said hewasn’t going to stop the progress of theother children in the group — a statementJabo greatly appreciated.
“I really have felt, since I’ve been there,too, there’s no one slipping through, sinceeveryone has to be looked at individually,”Jabo said.
Although neither of Jabo’s daughterscould read when they started kindergarten,both now read above grade level. Her firstgrader reads a little beyond a second-gradelevel, and her third grader reads a littlebeyond a fifth-grade level.
A school’s AMO scores may be found inreport cards in the Virginia Department ofEducation website’s “Statistics and Reports”section. Free and reduced lunch data maybe found by visiting the APS site and fol-lowing the “media resources” tab to the“student demographics” link.
schools also have their progress monitoredon a monthly basis to create student watchlists and provide interventions for studentswho aren’t meeting grade-level expecta-tions. These interventions may include ad-ditional support in the classroom, instruc-
tion from another teacher trained in theproblem subject, or having a student comein early or stay late for extra instruction.
Many of the Title I schools have also in-creased the amount of time students spendwith language arts each day by about 30
Economics of Student SuccessSchools use Title I fundsto target individual needs.
Percentageof students, byschool, meeting
annual measurableobjectives based onStandards of Learning
test scores.
Percentageof students,
by school,eligible for free
and reduced lunch.
Maps by
Laurence Foong/
The Connection
“… there’s no oneslipping through, sinceeveryone has to belooked at individually.”
— Allegra Jabo, Co-president,Randolph Elementary Parent
Teacher Association
Arlington Connection Editor Steven Mauren
703-778-9415 or [email protected]
Arlington Connection ❖ January 23-29, 2013 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
See Tribute, Page 7
The annual tribute to Dr. Mar-tin Luther King, Jr. was heldSunday evening, Jan. 20, inthe auditorium at Washing-
ton-Lee High School. Special guests in-cluded students from the ArlingtonCounty Public Schools who were fea-tured on a video presentation with theiraward-winning visual and literary artsprojects, the D.C.-area dance troupe Ur-ban Artistry, Christylez Bacon, EthanFoote and John Kocur and director ofAfricana Studies and associate professorof English at Lehigh University Dr. James
Peterson.Director of Arlington County Parks and
Recreation Jane Rudolph welcomed allto the annual event. Chair of the Arling-ton County Board Walter Tejada andchair of the Arlington County SchoolBoard Emma Violand-Sanchez also ad-dressed the audience. ABC 7News re-porter Kendis Gibson served as theevening’s master of ceremonies.
At the conclusion of the program avideo performance by the Grace BaptistChurch 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.” Theperformance takes inspiration from the D.C. riots that started fourhours after Dr. King was pronounced dead in Memphis, Tenn. onApril 4, 1968. In the opening scene, residents of the neighborhoods,Johnte Cunningham, Russell Campbell, Baronhawk Williams andCarlendra Frank, huddle together watching their neighborhoodbecome a battlefield. The rioting and looting lasted for five days.
Arlington County School BoardChair Emma Violand-Sanchezintroduces the video showcasingthe winners of the 2013 Literaryand Visual Arts contest.
Master of Ceremonies ABC 7News reporter Kendis Gibson.
Marcia Lindseylooks over notes onthe closing of theHoffman-BostonJunior and SeniorHigh School. OnApril 3, 1963 theArlington CountySchool Board in aclosed meetingvoted to close thesegregated highschool.
Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Pho
to
s by Lo
uise K
rafft/T
he C
on
nectio
n
See Confiscating Guns, Page 4
By Michael Pope
The Connection
Imagine the scenario: Sheriff’s deputiesarrive at a home to issue a temporarydetention order against an individual.
While on scene, law-enforcement officersrealize thatthe personhas a stock-pile of weap-ons and am-m u n i t i o n .The policeare interestedin confiscat-ing the gunswhile theperson’s mental health is evaluated, butexisting law prevent that from happening.Legislation introduced by Del. Rob Krupicka(D-45) seeks to expand police powers forlaw enforcement officials to confiscate. ButVirginia Citizens Defense League says no.
“If you don’t have access to your guns whythe hell do the police need them? You arenot locked up at home, you are locked upaway from your guns in a secure facility,”said Van Cleave. “So to go get your guns isasinine.”
Krupicka wrote the bill along with Alex-andria Assistant Commonwealth’s AttorneyBryan Porter, who is running in the Demo-cratic caucus for the job this spring. Portersaid the legislation was created in responseto several specific recent incidents in whicha magistrate issued a temporary detentionorder against an individual only to learnthat the person has been stockpiling weap-ons and ammunition. Porter says if the per-
son can bed e t a i n e dwithout ajudge, hisw e a p o n sc a c h eshould alsobe able to beconfiscatedwithout ajudge sign-
ing off on it first.“I would expect to see support for this
from the law-enforcement community,” saidPorter, a former Alexandria Police Depart-
Detaining People and GunsLocal delegate wantsto expand policepowers to confiscateguns of the detained.
“The way the bill is written, itdoesn’t take gun awayindefinitely. There’s a due processthat allows people to get theirguns back.”
Arlington Connection Editor Steven Mauren
703-778-9415 or [email protected]
See Marching, Page 4
By Edison Russ
The Connection
Responding to the Sandy Hook mas-sacre, local citizens have volun-teered their efforts in organizing a
March on Washington for Gun Control totake place Saturday, Jan. 26.
The march is meant to show support forlegislation that would prohibit the sale ofassault weapons and extended magazinesand require universal criminal and mental-health background checks for anyone pur-chasing a firearm.
Other goals include getting the sale ofbullets that shatter inside of the bodybanned and requiring gun-safety trainingfor anyone buying a weapon.
People will begin gathering at the Capi-tol Reflecting Pool on 3rd Street Northwest,across from the Museum of the AmericanIndian, at 10 a.m.
At 11 a.m., participants will silently marchdown Constitution Avenue toward theWashington Monument, where they willhear speakers such as U.S. Rep. EleanorHolmes-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 NicholasYenson.
Tripp is a member of the march’s opera-tions committee, responsible for dealingwith the logistics of the event, a task forwhich she draws experience from her jobas a producer at the Rorschach Theatre inWashington, D.C. She was previously op-erations manager at Wooly Mammoth stage.
Tripp hasn’t actively worked to promotegun control before, but she has written let-ters to her representatives and attended arally.
Marching for Gun ControlArlington residentsvolunteer to helporganize marchon Washington.
Arlington resident Catherine Trippis a member of the operationscommittee for the March on Wash-ington for Gun Control.
4 ❖ Arlington Connection ❖ January 23-29, 2013 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
Visit These Houses of WorshipJoin A Club, Make New Friends, or Expand Your Horizons...
To highlight your Faith Community, call Karen at 703-778-9422
DAILY EUCHARIST:WeekdaysMonday-Friday, 6:30 AM & 8:30 AMSaturday, 8:30 AM
SUNDAY LITURGY SCHEDULE:Saturday Vigil: 5:30 PMSunday: 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 AM1:30 PM Spanish Liturgy5312 North 10th StreetArlington Virginia 22205Parish Office: (703) 528-6276
PARISH WEBSITE:www.rc.net/arlington/stann
All AreWelcome!
Anglican Restoration Anglican Church...703-527-2720
Assemblies of God Arlington Assembly of God...703-524-1667
Calvary Gospel Church...703-525-6636Baptist
Arlington Baptist Church...703-979-7344Bon Air Baptist Church...703-525-8079
Cherrydale Baptist Church...703-525-8210 First Baptist of Ballston...703-525-7824McLean 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...703-527-7040Brethren
Church of The Brethren...703-524-4100Buddhist
The Vajrayogini Buddhist Center…202-331-2122Catholic
St. Agnes Catholic Church...703-525-1166Cathedral of St Thomas More...703-525-1300
Holy Transfiguration Melkite GreekCatholic Church... 703-734-9566
Our Lady of Lourdes...703-684-9261Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic
703-979-5580
St Ann Catholic Church...703-528-6276St. Charles Catholic Church...703-527-5500
Vatican II Catholic CommunityNOVA Catholic Community...703-852-7907
Church of ChristArlington Church of Christ...703-528-0535
Church of God – Anderson, IndianaChurch of God...703-671-6726
Christian ScienceMcLean - First Church of Christ,
Scientist...703-356-1391First Church of Christ,
Scientist, Arlington...703-534-0020Episcopal
St. Andrew Episcopal Church...703-522-1600St. George Episcopal Church...703- 525-8286
St Johns Episcopal Church...703-671-6834St Mary Episcopal Church...703-527-6800
St Michael S Episcopal Church...703-241-2474St Paul Episcopal Church...703-820-2625
St Peter’s Episcopal Church...703-536-6606St Thomas Episcopal Church...703-442-0330
Trinity Episcopal Church...703-920-7077 Lutheran(ELCA)
Advent Lutheran Church...703-521-7010Faith Lutheran Church...703-525-9283
German Lutheran Church...703-276-8952
Lutheran Church of The Redeemer...703-356-3346Resurrection Lutheran Church...703-532-5991
Lutheran (Missouri Synod)Our Savior Lutheran Church...703-892-4846
NazareneArlington First Church of the Nazarene
...703-525-2516Non-Denominational
New Life Christian Church -McLean Campus...571-294-8306
Celebration Centerfor Spiritual Living...703-560-2030
Metaphysical Arlington Metaphysical Chapel...703-276-8738
PresbyterianArlington Presbyterian Church...
703-920-5660Church of the Covenant...703-524-4115
Clarendon Presbyterian Church…703-527-9513
Little Falls Presbyterian Church…703-538-5230
Trinity Presbyterian Church...703-536-5600Westminster Presbyterian...703-549-4766
Presbyterian Church in AmericaChrist Church of Arlington...703-527-0420
Synagogues – Conservative Congregation Etz Hayim...
703-979-4466Synagogues – Orthodox
Fort Myer Minyan...703-863-4520Chabad Lubavitch
of Alexandria-Arlington...703-370-2774Synagogues –
ReconstructionistKol Ami, the Northern Virginia
Reconstructionist Community ... 571-271-8387Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian Universalist Churchof Arlington…703-892-2565
United MethodistArlington United Methodist Church
...703-979-7527Trinity United Methodist Church
of McLean...703-356-3312Charles Wesley United Methdist...
703-356-6336Calvary United Methdist...703-892-5185
Cherrydale United Methodist...703-527-2621Chesterbrook United Methodist
...703-356-7100Clarendon United Methodist...703-527-8574
Community United Methodist...703-527-1085Mt. Olivet United Methodist...703-527-3934
Confiscating GunsFrom Page 3
ment officer. “This is aimed attaking guns away from danger-ous people.”
BUT WHAT qualifies as athreat, and who gets to makethat determination? Those is-sues will be hammered out inthe coming weeks during thelegislative process. Courts ofJustice House Chairman Del.Dave Albo (R-42) said he mightbe willing to support the bill ifa judge signed off on the con-fiscation before the fact, al-though he added that theHouse committees will also betaking a close look as towhether or not the bill is con-stitutional.
“When you are talking aboutan imminent threat of bodilyinjury or death, I would find ithard to believe that there wouldbe anybody against that,” saidAlbo. “If you could make the billwork.”
Making the bill work mightnot be easy. The Virginia Citi-zens Defense League is one ofthe leading gun-rights groups inVirginia. Opposition fromleague members could well
scuttle the effort in Richmond,where the group has influencewith the Republican majority.When asked about Krupicka’sbill, Van Cleave said that somepeople have invested $25,000to $50,000 in their gun collec-tion, so it would be more ap-propriate for a family memberto determine what happenswith the stockpile.
“This is property we’re talk-ing about,” said Van Cleave.“The police can’t just go in andtake someone’s property.”
THE EFFORT WAS inspiredby the recent school shootingin Connecticut, where a manused a military-style Bushmas-ter rifle to blast his way into aschool before killing 20 chil-dren and six adults.Krupicka crafted the legislationas a way to bridge the gap be-tween improving mental-health services with tighteninggun 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 gunsback.”
News
From Page 3
Marching for Gun ControlOriginally from New
Orleans, Tripp said shehas family that hunts,and that she under-stands those needs aswell as those of self-defense.
“But I don’t thinkthat translates into as-sault weapons andmilitary-style weapons,” Tripp said, “because — thoseguns, those weapons — the only purpose of them isto kill another human being.”
When she was in first grade, Tripp’s 5-year-old firstcousin, 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 inmy house, because there’s danger for accidents tohappen.”
The grandmother sold seeds in a small town inTennessee and bought the handgun for protectionafter her husband had died 10 year earlier.
“As an adult, I can see why his grandmother hadthe weapon,” Tripp said. “I know what happened,now. Can I say, if she had been better trained, if shehad better knowledge about safety, maybe the bulletwouldn’t have been there, maybe it would have beenlocked up — it was just a horrible accident.”
Tripp acknowledged that tragedies will continue
to happen, but she is still believeschange is possible.
“We can stop gun violence. …We can slow it down, we can af-fect it by at least saying this is toomuch. Our congress has a respon-sibility to protect this country fromthat kind of mayhem.”
Yenson, an actor, is one of manypeople working with social mediaand communications for themarch.
Yenson had also supported gun control indirectlyin the past, but he would rationalize “excuses” forgun violence that kept him from doing anythingmore.
“We can be really unkind as human beings,” Yensonsaid. “We can say, oh that can never happen in mycommunity. That can only happen in a communitythat’s in the middle of a drug war. That can onlyhappen in a community where people somehow de-serve the bad things that happen to them, and that’ssimply not true.”
As of Monday, Yenson said 2,503 people hadRSVP’d for the march via Facebook or on the march’swebsite but many people who have not respondedare 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 GunControl, visit www.guncontrolmarch.com orwww.facebook.com/GunCtrlMarch.
Arlington residentand actor NicholasYenson volunteeredto help with socialmedia and commu-nications for theMarch on Washing-ton for Gun Controlafter the SandyHook massacre.
Summary Portfolio for Edison Russ
Newspaper Articles – Feature Articles & Editorials 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, with the exception of article 4, which is for photographic credit only.
Topic F P # Title and Newspaper Date 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
TakePaws
Arlington dog boutiques specialize ingrooming, daycare, nutrition, treats.
Fur-Get Me Not
4140 South Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington; 703-933-1935www.furgetmenot.com
Originally an out-of-home business, Fur-Get Me Not now offers dogdaycare, boarding, training, walking and sitting and washing.
Fur-Get Me Not sells toys that complement their dogs’ trainingprograms, like toys that require dogs to figure out how to get treatsout of them.
Orijen is one of Wylie Wagg’s more popularbrands of dog food.
Wylie Wagg
2509 N. Franklin Road, Arlington; 703-875-2007wyliewagg.com
Founded by Laura and Larry Clark in 2003 in Middleburg, Va., theClarks opened the Arlington location this year. Wylie Wagg special-izes in nutritious food for dogs and cats, and the Clarks research petnutrition every day. Wylie Wagg also sells toys for cats and dogs andoffers commissions for various artworks of pets, including sketchesand oil paintings. Wylie Wagg also helps homeless animals throughits Give program by accepting donations of money and supplies.
By Edison Russ
The Connection
Arlington has a wide selection of stores andservices to satisfy pet owners who are concernedwith their pet’s diet, appearance or even withhomeless or rescued animals.
Leti Woodside (left) and Chelsea Ragen washBella, a Cavishon.
The Muddy Mutt
2603A South Oxford Street, Arlington; 703-888-2303www.themuddymutt.com
The Muddy Mutt is a self-wash service for dogs. Washes includeshampoo and conditioner, ear and eye wipes, brushes and nail clip-pers, towels and blow dryers. Additional grooming supplies areavailable 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 itfrom 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 MoreDogs.
Wag More Dogs
2606 S. Oxford Street, Arlington; 703-845-3647wagmoredogs.com
Wag More Dogs opened Sept. 15, 2010, and offers no-cagedaycare, boarding and grooming. All dogs coming in for daycare orboarding must pass a 15-minute evaluation. “We look at any breedon its own merit,” said owner Kim Houghton. Owners provide foodfor their dogs, and facility employees will feed their dogs breakfastand dinner, and lunch upon request. Wag More Dogs gives each doga collar for identification, and its website offers surveillance of thearea where the dogs are kept.
Houghton worked in advertising for The Washington Post for 21years. She is a certified pet care technician and a former board mem-ber of Arlington Dogs. She volunteers with Lost Dogs Rescue and Petson 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; 703-931-5057dpncc.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. Obediencetraining is offered for the American Kennel Club Good Citizenshiptest.
“Our first day evaluation is a full day, not just a couple minuteswhere we like to get our dogs to play and interact so we can slowlyintroduce dogs to the new dog,” said owner Ryan Fochler.
PetMAC
822 N. Kenmore Street, Arlington; 703-908-7387www.petmac.org
PetMAC is a joint operation between Pet Pantry Express founderCindy Williams Alvey and Homeward Trails Animal Rescue founderSue Bell that sells pet food and supplies and offers adoptions. A per-centage of money from the gross sales PetMAC makes each quartergoes toward animal rescue organizations.
Alvey said Pet Pantry Express was a “great opportunity to get myfeet wet” learning about pet nutrition before opening PetMAC. PetPantry Express was an online service for pet food and delivery. Alveysaid even though running Pet Pantry Express was easier because allshe had to do was maintain the site, that she prefers running a physi-cal store. “I like the personal interaction of working with customersand helping them solve problems.”
PetMAC donates a percentage of the gross salesof its products toward helping animal rescues.
Fur-Get Me Notsells toys thatserve to educatedogs in someway, such as toysthat require thedog to figure outhow to get thetreat out ofthem.
Happy Groomingfounder MaryAsawatangsathian.
Dogma Bak-
ery
2772 S. ArlingtonMill Drive, Arlington;571-422-0370 or2445 N. HarrisonStreet, Arlington;703-237-5070www.dogmabakery.com
Dogma Bakery bakesits own dog treats using“human-grade” ingredients. Some treats look like pizza, doughnutsor gingerbread men. None of the treats contain salt or preservatives.Dogma Bakery also sells ice cream for dogs in flavors like peanutbutter and bacon.
Dogma Bakery also offers puppies the opportunity to socialize atpuppy parties at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. A trainer from K to 9 DogTraining is also available on Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m. for puppies andfrom 8-9 p.m. for adult dogs.
Happy Groom-
ing
3301 Lee Highway, Arling-ton; 703-528-7292www.happygroomingva.com
Happy Grooming is a full-ser-vice pet spa that offers groomingand washing to all breeds of catsand dogs. Grooming takes abouttwo to three hours. Additionalservices include teeth brushing,facial scrubbing, nail trimmingand others. Grooming is sched-uled by appointment. Pricesdepend on the size of the animaland the amount of hair.
Happy Grooming was foundedby Mary Asawatangsathian, wholoves animals. The spa is ownedby her sister, Ann. The sistershave been grooming pets foreight years, and the Arlingtonlocation 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 SafetySnyder’s commitment extends to locally-based center.
By Michael McMorrow
Gazette Packet
The National Center forMissing and ExploitedChildren, a mixed pri-
vate-government organizationheadquartered in Alexandria, hasthe enthusiastic support ofRedskins owner Daniel Snyder.
In a recent telephone interview,Snyder explained his personalcommitment to activities involvingchild safety and health. One of hischildren was a “preemie.” As withany premature birth, heightenedmedical care and attention wasrequired. It was a period of anxi-ety for he and wife Tanya; theydecided to focus charitable activi-ties on issues involving all chil-dren. “Children are our legacy.
area staffed by law enforcementand social work professionals, buta plaque notes his contribution.Snyder is very comfortable withthe fact it rarely is seen by outsid-ers.
As to the center’s outreach safetyprogram, 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 MissingChildren’s Day each May 25. Par-ents and guardians are urged totake 25 minutes and talk with theirchildren on ways to stay safe.
Asked to look into the future ofthe center, Snyder points to oneexternal area needing improve-ment.
“The media and knowledgeablemembers of the public must bedrawn into paying more attentionto the Center and its work,” hesaid. Child safety should be onesubject that all agree is of “criticalimportance” in society.
Child SafetyInformation from the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children isfound at www.missingkids.com or call1-800-THE-LOST.
Snyder
5k Race Raises Money for FieldField to use rubberizedturf safe for peoplewith special needs.
By Edison Russ
Gazette Packet
The Kelley Cares Foundation hosted a 5krace May 19 to raise funds for a MiracleField 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, sopeople who use wheelchairs and walkers can playsafely.
This race was the foundation’s largest ever, with850 people registering and 701 participating.
Kelley Cares made a $40,000 commitment to theMiracle Field, $10,000 of which it contributed lastyear. Money left over from the remaining $30,000and 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 RepresentationThe Alexandria Board of Zoning Appeals is facing a legal chal-
lenge to its recent decision on the waterfront, and city officialsare 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 loosewith the facts.”
Tuesday night, members of the City Council considered a re-quest from the board for legal representation in an appeal cityofficials are pursing in Circuit Court against the board’s recentruling 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 squarefeet. The stakes are high because the plan passed on a five-to-twovote, one vote shy of a supermajority. During a late-night meet-ing in April, the Board of Zoning Appeals voted to overturnHamer’s determination. City Council members now say appeal-ing the board’s ruling is an important step in setting a precedentto make sure citizens don’t bring a protest petition any time neigh-bors don’t like a development. “This has nothing to do with thewaterfront,” said Mayor Bill Euille. “It has a lot more to withthe fact that this will limit future development.”
In response to a series of emails, Councilman Paul Smedbergoffered a motion for the city to spend up to $5,000 on legal rep-resentation for the board. Then City Attorney James Banks saidhe knew of no role for an attorney representing the board, whichis not a party in the appeal. Vice Mayor Kerry Donley criticizedthe effort as a political gesture to placate critics. “If you are goingto put a dead skunk on the table,” he said, “we might as well callit a dead skunk.” Smedberg eventually withdrew his motion, andcouncil members pledged to offer legal support if any individualmembers of the board become a party in the case.
“We need legal counsel now,” replied Goodale.
Whistleblower HotlineDo you know about waste, fraud and abuse at City Hall? Get
out your phones. Alexandria is preparing a new hotline for cityemployees or citizens to become whistleblowers. It’s an idea origi-nally proposed by Councilman Frank Fannon after a numberof embarrassing ethical problems in recent years.
The list includes a human resources employee charged withembezzlement, a Chinquapin Recreation Center employee chargedwith embezzlement, a meter maid convicted of pocketing quar-ters, a DASH employee who was taking taxpayers for a ride and aFleet Services division chief who sold a city-owned trailer to alocal farmer for $3,500. Late last year, Deputy General ServicesDirector Timothy Wanamaker resigned after city officials learnedhe pled guilty to a felony charge in a New York federal court afteradmitted to using work-issued credit cards to pay for non-workrelated travel and expenses.
“We are guardians of $508 million of taxpayers dollars,” saidFannon. “We have to let our citizens know we are not going totolerate any waste, fraud or abuse.” City officials hope to havethe new hotline operational later this year.
Accounting, Not EthicsSchool officials say ethical problems weren’t at the heart of
recent accounting problems with system’s budget office. It wasjust bad accounting. “We continue to find no evidence of per-sonal gain,” said School Board Vice Chairman Helen Morris in anupdate to City Council members this week. Earlier this year, anindependent audit of the school system’s capital budget programfound what investigators called a “dysfunctional environment”at the Beauregard Street headquarters. That led the city’s vicemayor to call for Superintendent Morton Sherman to stepdown, although School Board members disagreed and decidedto stand by their man. Now, School Board members say the prob-lems identified in the audit have been corrected even as schoolofficials are looking for more ways to tighten the budgeting pro-cess. “While we had many of the proper procedures in place, theyweren’t being followed,” said School Board Chairwoman SherylGorsuch. “Now we have confidence that they are.”
— Michael Lee Pope
Pho
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They are thegifts we maketo the future,”he said.
Around thesame time twodecades ago, abusiness associ-ate told Snyder
about the National Center forMissing and Exploited Childrenand arranged a visit. Learning ofthe terrible things that can happento 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 NationalAdvisory Board.
When the concept of a modern,24 hours, 7 days a week, nation-wide operations center wasfloated, Snyder funded it. “Withmy business background in publicrelations and
communications, it made senseand was a natural thing to do.”Visitors are not admitted to the
Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ May 24-30, 2012 ❖ 9www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
People
City councilcandidate BobWood, left, andcandidate formayor AndrewMacdonald,right, discussissues affect-ing the parkwith residentHowardBergman.
Bob and Annette Hineman listen to re-marks at the Founders Park Communitymeeting.
Judy Hildebrand and Rita Molleur.
Gathering Highlights WaterfrontAnnual Founders ParkCommunity Associationmeeting attracts crowd.
Residents and concerned citizens gatheredMay 20 for the annual Founders Park Com-munity association meeting to discuss issues
affecting the park and the future of the Alexandriawaterfront.
FPCA president Dave Wilcox presented a plan for
the association to organize and implement signageand storyboards at selected points throughout thepark to increase awareness of the role the site hasplayed throughout the history of the city.
City Councilman Frank Fannon addressed thecrowd before informally meeting with residents andanswering questions regarding future plans for thewaterfront. Candidate for City Council Bob Wood andmayoral candidate Andrew Macdonald were also inattendance to discuss issues affecting the park andFCPA members.
— Jeanne Theismann
Residents and community members attend the annual Founders Park Communitymeeting May 20. Issues affecting the waterfront and the park were discussed.
Pho
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azette Packet
Taylor Run NewsMacARTHUR STARS
The MacArthur EnvironmentalClub won a prize of $100 at theAlexandria Earth Day celebrationby its presentation of a song andclothes on the theme of recycling.The prize will be used for improve-ments to MacArthur School.
Winning prizes for their art workwere Jack DelNegro and LucyLasida, whose work will be exhib-ited at Alexandria Hospital; Da-kota Hunt and Alexandra Preston,whose work will be displayed atthe Alexandria City Public SchoolsBoard Room, and Sally Kim,whose still life drawing has beenentered in the Virginia SchoolBoard Association contest.
The Chess Club wound up theiractivities this year with a tourna-
ment in which four students re-ceived first place medallions:Henry Anderson, Kindergarten;Jonah Cook, First Grade; CooperBosland, Second Grade; HoldenSwindell, Third Grade.
FREE CONCERTThe Washington Revels Heritage
Voices will present a concert ofCivil War songs at the Fort WardAmphitheatre May 24, 7 p.m.(Rain date is May 31).
ROBBINS’ NEWSThe Robbins of King Street are
proud of son Andrew, who is nowthe Assistant Commonwealth At-torney in Winchester, and a grand-son, Christian Gundberg, who isnow working down at the PatentOffice on Duke Street.
— Lois Kelso Hunt
Neighborhood
From Page 3
Supporting Miracle Fieldners that focuses on building
self-confidence in people withspecial needs through teachingthem recreational skills.
The foundation was startedin 2006 in honor of KelleySwanson, who had workedwith the TR Program since shewas in fourth grade until shedied of sudden illness.
“She had friends that wereparticipating in the program,”said Lindsey Swanson, Kelley’solder sister and one of the racedirectors for the foundation,“and she really wanted to helpout, and just ended up lovingit and loving the kids, so sheended up basically growing upwith the kids that were part ofour program and helped foreight years, was there everyweekend and was a very dedi-cated volunteer.”
KELLEY GRADUATED fromT.C. Williams High School andwas planning to attend VirginiaTech with her twin sister, Katey,when she died.
Kelley’s family helps withthe foundation. Kelley’s twinsister, Katey, is also a race di-rector, along with Lindsey’shusband, Terry Burcham.Kelley’s parents, Sandy andMimi, also sponsored thisyear’s race.
Kelley’s friends and friendsof her family also participatedin and helped with the race.
“Kelley was a dear friend ofmine from high school,”Jarreau Williams said. “We
graduated the same year. Wewere actually going to be go-ing to Tech together as well.”
James Sadighian and JustinKnoernschild also went to T.C.Williams with Kelley and ran inthe first race.
“We’ve usually been involvedone way or another with help-ing this thing out,”Knoernschild said.
OTHER PARTICIPANTS,such as Garret Martucci, whofinished first overall at 16 min-utes 18 seconds, heard aboutthe race through friends. Thefirst female to finish, BarbaraFallon Wallace, who had a timeof 17 minutes 40 seconds,heard about the race throughthe news.
The cost to construct the fieldis $420,000, $285,000 of whichis provided by the city, with theremaining $135,000 being pro-vided by the private sector.
According to Mac Slover, thedirector of sports for the Cityof Alexandria, The MiracleField was originally in the city’scapital improvement plan for2020, but it was moved up tothe 2013 fiscal year, whichtakes effect in July, when theyouth support advisory board,Kelley Cares, ACPS and variousprivate citizens went to CityCouncil and agreed to raisefunds privately.
Slover said about $140,000has been raised privately andthat the surplus would go to-ward anything related to theMiracle Field, such as fences.
Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ July 12-18, 2012 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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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 LauraFries with commission chair JudyNoritake. Joseph LaMountain was notpresent.
A giant misting fan on the railroadtracks offers relief from the heat.
Town Crier Ben Fiorre-Walker samples abirthday treat.
Greta Brown joins Community PraiseCenter SDA Church members at theannual birthday party.
Alexandria Celebrates 263 Years
With the temperature hovering inthe triple digits, Alexandria cel-ebrated its 263rd birthday atOronoco Bay Park on Saturday,
July 7. Postponed for three and a half hours dueto 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 ofthe 27th annual CIVIC Awards: Pat Miller, BrianMarquis, Laura Fries and Joseph LaMountain.Cupcakes were served to all by the mayor andmembers of the City Council followed by a con-cert performed by the Alexandria Symphony Or-chestra and a finale of fireworks.
Pho
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rafft/G
azette Packet
By Erik Heaney
Gazette Packet
More than a millionpeople 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 customersstill lacked power as of Monday,July 2. The response has mademany people ask: How is it de-cided what neighborhoods getpower ahead of others?
First, Dominion Virginia Power
had to restore all of the downedtransmission lines. As Dominion’smedia relations officer Le-HaAnderson described, repairing thenine transmission lines that weredowned throughout Virginia werecritical to restoring powerthroughout the state. Followingthe transmission lines, then thedistribution lines and sub-stationsneeded repair.
“If you think of the electricpower grid, the transmission linesare like the highways,” said Ander-son, “and the distribution lines arelike the roads that connect thehighways to the neighborhoods.”
Secondly, once the transmissionlines and the distribution lines arerepaired, crew members had totend to critical infrastructure —
By Edison Russ
Gazette Packet
Three proposals for statuesto be added to theContrabands’ and
Freedmen’s Cemetery will be ondisplay for public comment at theDurant Arts Center at 1605Cameron Street until Aug. 6.
The model statues were de-signed by three sculptors selectedfrom a pool of 38 applicants by apanel of stakeholders in theproject, including the Friends ofFreedmen’s Cemetery, descendantfamily members, and subject mat-ters experts in public art, historyand design.
After the exhibition, the selec-tion panel will review comments
made by the public and submit adecision to the Alexandria Com-mission for the Arts and City Coun-cil.
The winner will be announcedin September, and the statue willbe installed by the end of April2013.
The project budget is $350,000and is being funded by the city, theFederal Highway Administrationand the Virginia Department ofTransportation as part of theWoodrow Wilson Bridge settle-ment agreement.
The three sculptors, Erik Blome,Mario Chiodo and EdwardDwight, spoke to the public aboutthe meaning and inspiration be-hind their work at a reception at
Restoring PowerDominion andcity’s strategyset priorities.
Help Choose Statue forFreedmen’s CemeteryPublic encouraged to provide input.
Home Life StylePage 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 ofOakland, Ca.
“Oppression” was sculpted by Edward Dwight ofDenver, Co.
From Page 1
“Ascending Memories” was sculpted by Erik Blome ofCrystal Lake, Ill.
the Durant Center July 7.
CHIODO’S SCULPTURE, “The Path ofThorns and Roses,” contains the figures ofmale and female slaves, one above another,positioned in a double helix fashion thatChiodo’s artist’s statement says representsthe 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 bodiesof the figure lower down in the piece, suchas Oppression and Struggle, was represen-tative of the diseases, such as typhus, thatslaves were afflicted with.
“What I felt is, we should be proud of ourbodies, and that’s why I shaped them thisway,” 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, symbolizesa new chapter in life and offers a rose ofhope to Sacrifice.
Hope is a male with closed eyes, meantto symbolize that hope is within grasp butstill unattainable due to hardships. Hopestands on his tiptoes to avoid the hardshipsrepresented by the portal of thorns on whichhe 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 ofsome blocks.
Blome said the faces in the family are rep-resentative of “not just family as in AfricanAmericans, but family as in America.”
The blocks in each tower face differentdirections to emphasize the fragmented his-tory of the slaves.
The tower design was inspired by Afri-can sculptures and totems, with whichBlome decided to incorporate traditionalportraiture. 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 madeentirely of cast bronze except for upper thepieces of the statue, such as a figure of thesun representing hope, which will be handcarved from red granite.
DWIGHT’S STATUE, “Oppression,” showsa group of slave men and women in periodclothing, holding symbols of the religionand art that the slaves were forbidden topractice.
“I got into the religion of the slaves, whichnobody talks about because everybody as-sumes that they took on the religion of theirmasters,” Dwight said. “But they have reli-gions of their own, and so, as a result, de-pending on what part of Africa they werefrom, what kind of tribe they were from,
and their belief system, and how God oper-ated, how the afterlife operated, ’cause alot of the slaves believed in reincarnation.”
Dwight, a former astronaut, told thecrowd that he used to think he had accom-plished everything in his life all on his own,but that he has since become grateful forthe progress made in race relations over theyears and that he wants this statue to edu-cate black children about their history.
“Something happened here, and you gotto know about it, and you got to understandit,” he said.
A number of Old Town Alexandria Com-munity members at the reception said theypreferred Dwight’s statue.
Amber McLaughlin said she originally wasleaning toward one of the other statues, butchanged her mind after hearing him speakbecause of “how it’s important to him tohave children walk away with a true imageof what the people looked like and the sym-bols of the religion that they practiced.”
Barbara Bellamy also liked the idea of thestatue as educational.
“And I think, sometimes, specifically Af-rican Americans, and just Americans in gen-eral, have to have an idea, or be able toknow 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, sculptorand owner of Goldworks in Alexandria,however, said he thought “Oppression” wastoo traditional and that he was initially
more impressed by the other pieces becausehe thought the research that went into themwas more evident.
After looking at the statues another time,he said was impressed by all three of them,but that he was leaning toward “AscendingMemories.”
“I have my own personal inclinations,”Martin said. “When you think of Alexandria,Virginia, we all come up with somethingdifferent. I’m more contemporary.”
According to Alisa Carrel, who was thedeputy director for the Office of the Artsuntil July 6, the decision to add a statuecame out of the original cemetery designcompetition for the cemetery sculpture.
“The selection panel for that project feltvery strongly that there needed to be some-thing in addition to what was proposed, andthey like the idea of adding a sculpture,some type of figurative brown sculpture.”
Carrel said that there will be some kindof sign with information on the chosenstatue when it is installed, but that thewhole story wouldn’t be included, so as toencourage people to do more research onthe history of the cemetery themselves at awebsite for the Contrabands’ andFreedman’s Cemetery Memorial. See a linkat http://alexandriava.gov/Arts.
The website will soon contain photos anddescriptions of each statue.
To make comment on the statues, eithervisit the Durant Center or send an email [email protected].
By Senitra T. McCombs
Gazette Packet
The White House’s “Champions ofChange” highlights a different sec-tor of educators, entrepreneurs,
and community leaders who are workingto serve and strengthen their communitieseach week.
On June 18, Joy Vithespongse Trejo, thesenior director of Early Childhood and Fam-ily Service Programs for the Campagna Cen-
ter was recognized for her work during aceremony at the White House.
Trejo said she enjoyed the Secretary ofHealth and Human Services comments dur-ing the ceremony about the long and won-derful history of Head Start and what HeadStart has meant to the country over the past45 years.
“Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, professor of pedi-atrics emeritus at Harvard Medical School,really emphasized the need for programslike Head Start and that the work is not over
yet. There is still a lot more work to bedone,” she said.
While Trejo was humbled and honoredto receive the “Champions of Change”award, she said that it’s not just an awardfor herself but also for the CampagnaCenter’s service to the Alexandria commu-nity.
The Campagna Center, a nonprofit orga-nization, seeks to strengthen families andprovide programs that help children become
‘Champion of Change’ Campagna Center’s Joy Trejo isamong those honored at White House.
Joy Trejo
Alexandria Gazette Editor Steven Mauren
703-778-9415 or [email protected]
4 ❖ Potomac Almanac ❖ September 1-7, 2010 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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Model Train DaysFour-year old Spender Blake of Potomac asks a question about being an
engineer from model train owner Tim Costello of Arlington, Va. The fun wasall 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 whobrought their working HO gauge trains and a state-of-the-art digital commandsystem to The Lyceum for this special event.
Event To Raise FundsFor Children’s Inn
Potomac Place Shopping Center is hosting a back-to-school fund-raising eventon 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 WalkingService Arrives
DogCentric ha expanded into Potomac. As a back-to-school special, the companyis waiving the $25 consultation fee and will provide the first two walks for free.
Since 2005, DogCentric has provided customized, private mid-day dog walkingservices 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 dogwalking services for the homeless dogs at the Northwest D.C. shelter.
For more information about DogCentric, visit http://www.dogcentric.com, or call301-275-8752.
This Week in Potomac
People
By Edison Russ
The Almanac
Rich Chvotkin of Potomacis the radio broadcasterfor the Georgetown
Hoyas. He initiated the radiobroadcasts and has been doingthem ever since. He went to Vir-ginia Commonwealth Universityfor graduate school and has a wifeand three children.
Q: So you’ve been doing theradio for Georgetown Universityfor 37 years?
A: This is the 37th year.
Q: And you don’t use a coloranalyst?
A: Haven’t had a color analyst since1985. The ’85-’86 season was the firstyear without an analyst. Up until then,there were times when we had an ana-lyst, but it was never consistent. Butstarting in the ’85-86’ season, right af-ter Ewing graduated … I was solo all theway through, and never had a color af-ter that. So you figure 20-somethingyears without a color analyst.
Q: And color analysts providemore in-depth detail?
A: Yes, I would do the play-by-playand give a straight play-by-play, andthen they would give, what most coloranalysts do, give the technical informa-tion. So now I do both. But when you doradio play-by-play, there’s not a wholelot of time for analysis. With the playmoving so quickly, you try to describethe plays and do a little analysis at thesame time. And give stats. So, it’s a lotof information.
Q: Does it get exhausting doingthe whole game?
A: At times, yes. But I prepare. Inother words I understand that’s what Ihave to do. So even though it’s exhaust-ing, your mindset prepares you for that.And then my son does the stats on mostgames. So he has the computer rightthere in front of me, and I can just lookat the stats, and right there instanta-
neously — he has it all color coded, so Ican just look at numbers, and I can as-similate it quickly. As opposed to havingsomeone feed it. A lot of times, stat men,what they’ll do, they’ll tell you in yourear. This way I can just look right at it –I can look at his computer, right at hisboard, and it gives all the stuff rightthere. 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 theresince 1985 as you remember withEwing. So you’re talking a 22-year pe-riod with no Final Four, and that’salways an exciting time for anybody: forthe school, for the team. So, that was alot of fun: beating North Carolina andthen of course beating Vanderbilt to getthere, on Jeff Green’s shot — you know,on the lane, back in 2007.
Q: And you’re also a full-timepsychologist? 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 PersianGulf War?
A: I was in the Persian Gulf War, inthe first Gulf War. I was there ’90 — theNovember of ’90 to the May of ’91. Sixmonths. I was with a combat psychiatryunit — which is a reserve unit that wasbased out of Baltimore. So we were ac-tivated in that first Gulf War, and wespent six months over there.
Q: And you were a lieutenantcolonel there?
A: Right. And I retired from the re-serves in 1997.
Q: You’ve been to 46 states.What are the four states youhaven’t been to?
A: I never did a game in Montana.Never did a game in Maine. Didn’t do agame in Vermont and New Hampshire.Did games everywhere else, includingAlaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Q: How did you get interestedin radio broadcasting?
A: Well, I was in graduate school. Idid it as an undergraduate, did the ra-dio. While I was in the military, I wassent to Washington, D.C., so I was atWalter Reed. And I went over to seesome Georgetown games, you know,being a fan — went to GW games, went
to Georgetown — and I found out thatthey were having a radio.
So I went to the athletic director,talked to the director of athletics andsaid, “I did this in undergraduate,” andthey said, “OK, wonderful. Make atape.” So I made a tape. Obviously theyliked 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, butwe have nothing else.”
So we had to go out and a get a radiostation, sell all the advertising. The yearthat I started doing this was Thompson’sthird year. The two years prior theywere 12-14 and 13-13, so the next yearwas the year everybody felt they weregoing to turn the corner, NCAAs, whichcame true. So it was a little easier to sell.… then in 1981, when Ewing came,WWDC took over and had the rightsuntil 1999, when Clear Channel tookover.
So the first year or two was prettymuch touch and go, because there reallywasn’t a great market for college radio,and again, Georgetown not being in ra-dio and having a program, we had tostart from scratch. So, my wife to be —we weren’t married yet — she wrote thecommercials, we went to find advertis-ing. So it was a real chore to get thething going, but we got it going. Thatwas the big thing to really get it off theground. And then, of course, as the teamcontinued to progress, it got better andbetter and better. And then when Ewingcame, it was a whole different world;everyone wanted to be on Georgetownradio.
Q: And other than your son asstatman, does the rest of yourfamily participate in your work?
A: No, my oldest son just finished lawschool, he’s a big fan. And the daughterfinished at Tennessee, she’s in an MBAprogram now. Yeah, they still enjoysports, and they come to games, butthey don’t actually help out with thebroadcast. Evan, does. That’s my middleson. And he also does work with theWizards and the Mystics. He doesn’t dostats for them, but he works on the presstable.
‘Voice of the Hoyas’ Chvotkin offers perspective of almostfour decades of radio broadcast.
Rich Chvotkin: “Voice of the Hoyas”
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See Voice, Page 5
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Potomac Almanac ❖ September 1-7, 2010 ❖ 5www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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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 leftin ‘99. John Thompson III came in 2004.The 2004-2005 season. So, outside fiveyears of Eshric, it’s been all Thompsons.But there’s only been three coachessince I’ve been there. John Thompson.Then Eshric came. After Thompson wasthere 25 with me, 27 total. And thenEshric five, and then after Eshric left,then John Thompson III came, and Ithink John III started in the 2004-2005season. So this will be his sixth year Ibelieve, 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 anannouncer at any point?
A: You know, let me say this to you:While I have my health, I enjoy it, andthey’ll still have me; I’ll do it for as longas I can do it.
Q: What about as a psycholo-gist?
A: I enjoy what I’m doing. I enjoy thework. I enjoy the lifestyle.
Q: Have you heard of anyevents in the area that mightmake good stories?
A: You like to see all the college teamsdo well. Although I root for
Georgetown, obviously, I’m a diehardGeorgetown fan because I broadcast forthem. You know, you like to see collegebasketball continue to do well. And Ifollow the Wizards. I like to see them dowell. I’m a sports fan. I guess you’d callme a sports junkie. I try to keep up onthings and go to games. It’s just, youknow, as a kid growing up, that’s basi-cally what we did. I grew up inPennsylvania, in Scranton. And that’s allwe did. That’s all the kids did, growingup. It was a wholesome existence. Welived three blocks from a major sportscomplex, and that’s where you hungout. You know, it was good, wholesome,clean fun.
Q: Do you follow any sportsother than basketball?
A: Yes, I follow them all. I follow foot-ball, I follow baseball. I don’t follow itto the extent that I do basketball, butyeah, I keep up on it. I read the sportspages religiously every morning. Andnow, as I’m getting, quote, “a littleolder,” and able to use the Internet, it’swonderful. Because years ago, when wewere growing up, we didn’t have thatkind of medium.
Now you can get anything you need,statistics — you can get every storyknown to man. And it’s wonderful be-cause it helps you out with whateverinformation you need. Years ago, youdidn’t have the opportunity — youwould have to call somebody on thephone to get information. Now, you getto the Web site and you have all youneed. So you don’t have to talk to any-body, literally. But still, I like the oldways of interaction with people.
Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ June 28 - July 4, 2012 ❖ 7www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
INSIDER’S EDITIONCommunity &
Newcomers GuideThis annual edition will be chock fullof tips from community insiders, plusa guide for newcomers and long-timeresidents alike. Everyone will learnsomething new in this special edition.Ask about our summer ad specials.Ads due: August 15 • Publishes:
August 22, 2012E-mail [email protected] more information, or call 703-778-9431Content ideas? [email protected]
By Edison Russ
Gazette Packet
For fun with a differentkind of flavor, look nofurther than King Streetfor live flamenco dances
and music.At 607 King Street, La Tasca is a
Spanish restaurant and tapas barwith flamenco dance and guitarperformances throughout the res-taurant Thursdays at 7:30 and 9p.m.
La Tasca also has flamenco gui-tar performances Fridays at 10p.m. and Latin rock band perfor-mances Saturdays at 9 p.m. Man-aging Partner Shana McKillop saidthe performances draw crowds of
Summer Fun
A Latin rock band performs at La Tasca.Yolit Yospe, guitarist Richard Marlow andEdwin Aparicio perform at Las Tapas.
FlamencoIn OldTownRestaurantsfeature dances,music.
people from their 30s to their 60s,and that the “bar area becomes areally big attraction.”
McKillop also said that some-times the restaurant opens it win-dows “to offer a more authenticatmosphere, like they do in Spain,for open-air dining.”
La Tasca’s various tapas areroughly $7 to $12, and it also of-fers paella dishes for two to threepeople for $38, and tasting menusfor their tapas intended as dinnersfor two or more for $50 to $65.
Las Tapas is at 710 King Streetand has a stage for flamenco per-formances Tuesdays and Wednes-days at 8 p.m. and Thursdays at 8and 9 p.m.
It also has two separate bandsplay Spanish guitar music in thestyle of the Gipsy Kings Fridaysand Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 1a.m. General Manager DawnBraga said the restaurant draws an“eclectic crowd,” with people fromvarious parts of Europe and fromRussia, 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 areabout $5 to $8
Both restaurants hire dancersfrom dcflamenco, such as SaraJerez, who was a dancer for theWashington National Opera at theKennedy Center from 1998 to2008, and has been performingweekly shows at Las Tapas since1999 and at La Tasca since 2004.
Pho
to
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urtesy o
f La Tasca
Summary Portfolio for Edison Russ
Websites & Blogs Within a topic, articles are sorted in reverse chronological order. “F” indicates an article featured in this portfolio.
Topic F P # Title and Newspaper Date 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 Within a topic, articles are sorted in reverse chronological order. “F” indicates an article featured in this portfolio.
Topic F P # Title and Newspaper Date 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.
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