The Utah women’s volleyball team capped off their fall camp by holding their annual Red vs. White Scrimmage game this past weekend. The game was 5-sets long and after every set, players were changing sides and positions to test the waters and fully prepare for the season. 

The first two sets went by fast as the White team dominated, not giving the Red team much of a chance to fight back as they led 2-0. Senior Dani Drews put on an impressive display and illustrated why she’s been named to several All-American teams as she had 12 kills in the first two sets alone. Notably, she was also converting on a .533 clip early on.

Into the next set, the Red team made some more switches and seemed to find their groove. While they were trailing by four points midway through the set, team red continued to fight back, putting together a 6-2 run to tie the score at 20-all. Shortly thereafter, Kennedi Evans had a massive ace to fuel the victory and put the Red team on the board.

As the next set began, Madelyn Robinson earned 8 kills and posted a hitting percentage of .400 in the fourth set for the White team. However, this did not stop the Red team as they continued their momentum to take the fourth set and tie it up at two sets a piece.

The fifth set was then won by the Red squad after a heated battle, going back and forth which led to extra points. As a group, the Utah women’s volleyball team demonstrated their ability to push each other on the court in a competitive environment which will help set them up for another great season. 

Overall, some of the most notable performances from the event included Dani Drews who had a total of 25 kills and 12 digs. Madelyn Robinson was also impressive as she had 17 kills and 15 digs. Continuing down the roster, Kennedi Evans had a total of 14 kills while Abby Karich had 13 and Zoe Weatherington and Kamry Bailey each had 12. In addition, Bailey had 13 digs while Vanessa Ramirez played in the back where she totaled 21 digs. 

Following their scrimmage, the Utes will now prepare for their first matchup of the season as they will face Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. MDT. The first home game will then take place on Saturday, Aug. 28 as Utah will host Utah Valley University at the Huntsman Center with the first match beginning at 7 p.m. MDT.

e.dush@dailyutahchronicle.com

@DushEmily

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The Daily Californian

The University of Utah football team is gearing up for the season opener, which is now under two weeks away. Fall camp officially concluded on Saturday, meaning every practice from now on is focused on getting ready for Weber State on Sept. 2. The Utes are feeling good heading into the season and settling into the new Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

A Quarterback Has Been Chosen but the Decision Won’t Be Announced Till Thursday

Easily the biggest headline of the day was the ongoing quarterback battle between Cam Rising and Charlie Brewer. Head coach Kyle Whittingham confirmed that he and the coaching staff have reached a decision, but it was not an easy one.

“They’ve made it tough the entire time,” said Whittingham. “It’s going to be a close call, but we feel like we’ve got enough of a body of work now to make the call. They’re both really good players, I can tell you that, and we’ve got a good situation in that regard where we’re picking from two guys who are both very high quality quarterbacks.”

“You can’t go wrong, having a great starting and backup quarterback,” said receiver Solomon Enis. “With Charlie and Cam there’s no drop off whatsoever.”

Whittingham stressed that this has been a legitimate battle throughout the entire process, and they’ve kept it completely open between the two quarterbacks. The better player will end up winning the job, and the starter will be announced by Thursday when the team releases an official depth chart one week ahead of the season opener.

No Running Back Has Emerged as a Frontrunner

There are four running backs on Utah’s roster that could end up being the starter in Tavion Thomas, TJ Pledger, Chris Curry and Micah Bernard. Whittingham mentioned that they will likely experiment with different looks through the first couple of games before that sorts itself out.

“We feel like we have four real good ones. My guess is, I’m fairly certain that those guys will separate themselves and sort themselves out in the first game or two, and we’ll know who’s the primary guy.”

2021’s Roster Has Shades of 2019

There have been a lot of comparisons between this team and the 2019 squad throughout the preseason. With the season starting soon, the players are also feeling the spark as they return to semi-normalcy after a truncated 2020 season. 

“I just think the chemistry is more there this year. With everyone being vaccinated; with COVID going on we were limited last year, but this year we’ve been having more team building activities, just being around each other more,” said Enis. “But in a sense of 2019 expectations, it feels like it, but then again we have to surpass what people are putting on us. We don’t really listen to it, we have goals for ourselves, but at the end of the day we feel like we’re close as a family, [and] we know we gotta get the job done. That’s exactly how 2019 felt, but we’re trying to surpass what we did in 2019.”

Utah kicks off the season in just 12 short days. Things are beginning to come into view as final preparations take place, culminating in a long awaited announcement of the starting quarterback.

e.pearce@dailyutahchronicle.com

@e_pearce_

@splashcitynba

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The post Thoughts From Camp Kyle: Week Three appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Patient and kind

As a kid, my mom used to sing a Mandarin song to help me fall asleep, which begins: “爱是恒久忍耐，又有恩慈.” This translates to “Love is patient, love is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4). 

My mom often reminds me how even if I was kicking and screaming in the car or insisting that I was wide awake, she could sing this song to me and I would immediately doze off. “It was like magic,” she likes to say with a laugh. “No one else could get you to sleep, but just by singing this song, I could do it.”

As I grew older and encountered different stressors and troubles — a friendship gone wrong, a bad day at school — my mom would sit next to me in the worst times, comforting me by singing this song. The familiar lyrics and soft, gentle tune erased my worries and made them feel a little less scary. 

I always loved this song. Through the years, it started to take on a meaning for me: specifically, that the love that I’m capable of showing others, and even to myself, doesn’t have any sort of boundary or standard. Even moments that seem to be completely earth-shattering or destructive don’t have to be as terrifying as they seem if I try my best to actively show patient and kind love.

Truthfully, these past couple of weeks have been very challenging for me as I’ve directly faced the uncomfortable ideas that I don’t fit into either of my backgrounds and that the experiences I’ve already been exposed to have built up my character — possibly for the worse. Especially as I’ve struggled to coax readability and relatability out of my articles, I’ve fallen into a trap where I’ve generalized some of my experiences so that more Asian people, or even people of color, can approve of what I’m saying or can feel like I represent them well.

Now, as we approach the end of my time here as a columnist at The Daily Californian, I’ve realized that as a writer, I can’t completely bridge this gap between you and me, no matter how much I may try or how similar we are. I can’t share with you every experience that has composed my character and has shaped the way I see myself. I also cannot represent all Asian Americans or people of color from my life experiences. I can only represent myself: weaknesses, strengths and all.

I am incredibly grateful for being able to add my stories to the beautiful cloth of those written by people of color who were brave enough to share their own life experiences. Still, I’m sure many of us would say that we have more stories and more moments that we regret or are proud of that we will encounter in the future. 

Nothing about my identity or my understanding of myself right now is certain, and that’s certainly OK. In fact, I hope that as I continue forward in my journey as an Asian American woman, I can grow and learn more about myself. 

Even this past weekend, as I walked onto the campus for the first time, I was immediately struck by how electric and even terrifying this new experience was. I’m now forced to face the fact that I am completely independent, untethered from my background from home and the familiar songs or voices of my family back in Washington. Here, I could even lose myself in my American side without attempting to learn more and grow in my Asian identity if I truly wanted to. 

For so long, I have relied on my family to “maintain” that side of me and to keep me connected to my Asian identity. I’ve never really had to challenge my identity in my everyday lifestyle by actively looking for ways to grow in my advocacy for Asian Americans and for women of color; often, I think, I used the excuse that I was still a child in a more sheltered community.

Still, I know now that it’s the time for me to actively make that decision. The world in Berkeley is one that I haven’t explored yet, one where I will have to find my footing and create space for myself. It’s also now my own responsibility to make that sort of space for others whom I come across; to act on the feelings that have been chasing me for a long time with the opportunities and freedom I have here.

Here, as I look out of my window onto the Berkeley buildings bathing in sunlight and hear different voices chattering outside my window in a variety of different languages, I know that it will be a start filled with change for all of us. I hope that we can encounter new challenges, find connections to the cultures that we have always loved and, most importantly, that we can find comfort in the patient and kind love that we discover in others and, hopefully, in ourselves as well.

Bella Chang writes the Friday column on being a person of color at UC Berkeley. Contact the opinion desk at opinion@dailycal.org or follow us on Twitter @dailycalopinion.

The Daily Californian

Emory University will break ground on the first phase of the Graduate and Professional Student Housing Initiative in fall 2022, a project which will erect housing dedicated to graduate and professional students. 

The project will add 1,000 beds to the current 400-bed graduate housing capacity in an effort to create affordable housing for the University’s graduate population of approximately 7,000 students, said Associate Vice President of Planning and Engagement David Payne during a virtual community meeting on June 23.

Located on the corner of North Decatur Road and Haygood Drive near Emory University Hospital and Druid Hills High School, the building will include a mix of single, double and studio units, a parking garage, a coffee shop and a student center with various amenities. Graduate students are expected to begin living in the new housing by summer 2024, with the project being completed in 2027.

The majority of respondents in a University survey gauging graduate student’s opinions on housing, cited the cost of housing as an important issue, with 52% calling it their “most pressing concern.” Outgoing Laney Graduate Student Council (LGSC) President Samantha Lanjewar (24G) said she is “excited” that the University is prioritizing affordability, as the average rental rate of off-campus studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom properties is $1,462 for those within one-and-a-half miles of campus and $1,295 for those within three miles.

“We’re extremely excited because this is something that LGSC has been promoting for a long time, especially for international students,” Lanjewar said. “The big thing we advocated for is that it’s affordable because without our stipend, it’s extremely difficult to afford housing in Atlanta. There is wariness about making sure Emory makes it affordable for people but not cramming [them] into tiny spaces.”

The plans for new graduate student housing, as presented in a virtual graduate housing community meeting on June 23.

The University’s 2018 annexation into the City of Atlanta has presented potential obstacles for the project, explained DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader. Although the majority of the campus is now within city limits, the surrounding neighborhoods, including the Druid Hills historic district, belong to DeKalb. 

The project’s proposal involves annexing an additional University-owned house into Atlanta, a situation which Rader said could be disadvantageous to the Druid Hills community.

“Formerly DeKalb would have had the authority to consider the rezoning and to work to ensure the community’s interests were addressed,” Rader said. “All of the effects of any activity at Emory continue to be felt primarily by unincorporated DeKalb stakeholders, but the entitlement authority resides several miles to the west in the City of Atlanta. That dynamic is one that compels us to be involved but does not provide us with the authority that we formerly had.”

The University will file for rezoning of this property from “residential” to the “office and institutional” zoning category, which is consistent with most of the campus.

Graduate housing is attractive to prospective graduate students since “[Emory] is at a competitive disadvantage with our peers with having a lack of graduate housing on campus,” Payne said.

Graduate student responses from fall 2020 focus groups and surveys that indicated a desire from students to live closer to campus spurred the initiative. Respondents also advocated for single-space occupancy units and a common space dedicated to graduate students to help build community.

“[We] had a 20% response rate, and one of the key points they asked for in grad housing is being able to walk to class and being on campus,” Payne said. “The key feature is that [the building] is 15 minutes from all the different academic programs on campus.”

Payne added that the multi-use trails and sidewalks currently connecting the different areas of  campus will play a crucial role not only for students navigating the campus but also for the community at large. The University funds the maintenance of the pathways in collaboration with the PATH Foundation, an organization focused on creating multi-use paths in the Atlanta area.

Rader expressed three main concerns with the University’s housing initiative: increased traffic, aesthetic compatibility and the transition between the new building and the surrounding area. Maintaining a “seamless” gateway between the campus and the community is a priority, as well as minimizing a “dead zone” of unappealing, unused land on the outer border. 

“The edge between Emory and the Druid Hills neighborhood that surrounds it is one of the great aesthetic attractions of the district,” Rader said. 

Druid Hills High School representative Marshall Orson, a nine-year member of the DeKalb County Board of Education from District 2, also cited traffic congestion as one of the school district’s main concerns. Orson said that the dangerous “blind curve” drivers exiting the high school face has been a long-standing issue, noting that the University’s project could interfere with the school district’s plans to create a safer intersection. 

“It’s of increasing concern now because we think part of the solution to fixing the blind spot in that road would be to potentially straighten Haygood Drive out,” Orson said. “The urgency comes from the fact that if Emory now puts a building where the road might need to go we’ll never be able to fix the problem.”

However, Orson is optimistic that the project will be a catalyst for increased collaboration between the University and the school district as it pertains to academic offerings and facility usage. The feature of the project most attractive to the school district is the parking deck, which Orson hopes can alleviate the insufficient parking he said plagues the “landlocked” high school.

Rader said he has consulted with the University to discuss solutions and act as a conduit between residents and the University. Notably, he said that residents have voiced displeasure over the deforestation and destruction of a park currently sitting on the University’s private property allocated for construction.

“People are naturally concerned about the reflex issues, but hopefully we can see improvements that will mitigate those,” Rader said.

The post Emory plans for expanded graduate housing, but faces community concerns appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

A recital of any instrument at the master’s level is a feat. The master’s recital of Fort Scott USD director of choirs Whitley Chesney was no different.

On Aug. 15 at 4 p.m, alumnus in music Whitley Chesney performed her master’s level recital in the Sharon Kay Dean Recital Hall of McCray Hall. The recital included a variety of repertoire organized by style and sung language. Chesney performed “Six Elizabethan Songs” by Dominick Argento in English, “Quel guardo il cavaliere, so anch’io la virtu magica” from “Don Pasquale” by Gaetano Donizetti in Italian, “Air chantes” by Francis Poulenc in French, and three arias from “Die Zauberflote” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in German. The recital was accompanied by lecturer in piano Lori Kehle.

“This recital was tough, both for the music and for doing it during a pandemic,” Chesney said. “I took a year-long break because I started learning the German first. That’s what I usually do, just because I prefer to sing in German. This recital is very different because it’s four full sets rather than my senior recital in undergrad where it was a few songs here and a few songs there…”

Chesney is also the director of choirs at USD 234 in Fort Scott and is currently studying in the Master of Arts in teaching program through the College of Education.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was tough to meet with Mrs. Kehle to rehearse,” Chesney said. “That combined with getting the job in Fort Scott, there was just not a lot of time to get together. There’d be times where I get home from school, be at home for 30 minutes, and then go to rehearsal. It was tough, but it was so rewarding.”

Chesney received her bachelor’s degree in music performance with an emphasis in voice from Pittsburg State University in spring 2019. She transferred from the University of Kansas in 2015 and, since attending PSU, she has participated in a variety of avenues in the department of music. She played flute and piccolo in the Pride of the Plains Marching Band and the PSU Wind Ensemble, and sang in both the University Choir and the Chorale. Additionally, she performed with the PSU Opera Studio in a variety of roles.

She also met her husband, Alex, spring 2021 alumnus in music with an emphasis in choral conducting, during her time at PSU.

“I was so happy to see her perform this big recital that she’s been working so hard on,” Alex said. “It’s definitely a weight off her shoulders, but I know that she is very proud of her own work. I am so immensely proud of her as well.”

Alex also said that being married to another musician is “quite rewarding.”

“It’s wonderful to be married to her,” he said. “It’s nice to have someone on your side that you can always go to when you need stress relief from this busy life or to bounce various questions off of. It’s also nice to have something of a useful critic if you need.”

After completing her master’s recital, Whitley will be performing with Divisi, a professional choir out of Joplin, Mo on Sunday, Aug. 22. The concert will take place at Grace Episcopal Church in Carthage, Mo at 4 p.m. The ensemble is mostly made up of local music educators from around the four-state area.

“Respect”, written by Tracey Scott Wilson, directed by Liesl Tommy, and starring Jennifer Hudson, follows the life and career of quintessential soul artist Aretha Franklin. To it’s benefit, but also to its detriment, this film gives you exactly what you’d expect if you are familiar with musical biopics. 

There is a lot to love in this film. Jennifer Hudson absolutely commands the screen as Aretha Franklin, and her co-stars give great support as the story progresses. Forest Whitaker as her father, C.L. Franklin, is especially great here as one would expect from such seasoned talent. Marlon Waynes as Ted White surprisingly works, as Marlon is known primarily for low-grade comedy. 

As far as objectives go, the number one objective for these kind of films is to make sure the musical sequences don’t fail. For a film which the main selling point is the music, even a Citizen Kane level story won’t work if the music falls flat. And I am happy to report that is not the case. As a matter of fact, I would go as far to say that this film might actually have the greatest music sequences of any musical biopic. Trust that I have seen all of them, and nothing I have ever seen in a musical biopic comes close to the music sequences that are crafted here. 

This film has a lot going for it. If you have read this far you might think that I absolutely love this movie, and that I am giving it the biggest thumbs up I can. And I will reiterate that there are a lot of things in this film to love. It has everything going for it: a stellar cast, phenomenal cinematography and directing, and a compelling real-life story to use and pull from. Unfortunately to its detriment, it suffers the biggest challenge that all musical biopics have faced. This film suffers mainly from not knowing how much of Aretha’s life should be presented, and it also clearly doesn’t know how to do so. 

Even though the sequence of events within the first act flow logically as far as pacing goes, the dialogue is absolutely atrocious. The conversations feel as if they have been cut extremely short so the filmmakers can give themselves the space to cram in as many events as they can. Many of them carry through to the other acts of the film, but some of them are left behind providing no substantial value to the story. It feels as though the filmmakers couldn’t decide what events in Aretha’s life could be left in the writer’s room so they could craft a more competently-paced script, so they decided not to cut a single thing out. 

Everything is told in explicit form as if the writer didn’t feel confident enough for the audience to understand ambiguity. As a result, the film has an extremely hard time finding its footing. It finds some resemblance of a competent story within the second act as Aretha’s career starts to take shape, but even then the story is still held up by weak framework. Aretha’s character arc is clear as far as where the filmmakers are taking her, however by the end it was extremely bloated to the point where I stopped caring. 

By the time the third act rolled around, the film had already overstayed its welcome. And this is where the lack of focus within this screenplay shows it’s biggest sins. By introducing character elements and motivations within Aretha that were very thinly established within the preceding acts, it exposes the fact that the screenwriter didn’t have a clear enough vision for

how the story was going to unfold. Telling every single event within the timeframe that they happened doesn’t work when you have to make a two and a half hour movie to cram it all in, and none of the plotlines have strong enough threads to craft a competent story. 

All in all, this movie showcases very strong performances from it’s robust cast, and it features the best music sequences of any musical biopic I have ever seen. But besides those things, this movie doesn’t provide much else to desire. 

Grade: C+

The post Reflector Reviews: Respect appeared first on The George-Anne Media Group.

Standout 2020 title Hades receives PlayStation, Xbox release

Supergiant Games/Courtesy

Grade: 5.0/5.0

 It’s rare for early access titles to actually pay off in their final release. Hades, the latest game from indie developer Supergiant Games, is an exception of towering proportions.

Initially made available as an early access title in December 2018, the 1.0 version of Hades released for PC last September and managed to overshadow triple-A releases as widely anticipated and heavily funded as Cyberpunk 2077. Now, having proven itself as one of the best indie games in recent years and one of the all-time greatest entries in the roguelike genre, Hades has also made its way to the PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Inspired by the world of Greek mythology, the game centers on Prince Zagreus, the rebellious son of Hades, king of the underworld. Supergiant portrays the Greek gods like a dysfunctional family — Zagreus chafes against his father’s dispassionate, stifling treatment and blind dedication to his labor. Depressed by the prospect of a Kafkaesque existence in the realm of the dead, Zagreus vows instead to break out of Hades and reach Mount Olympus. In order to achieve the impossible, Zagreus, aided by heavenly boons strewn in his path, must fight through the teeming hordes of hell and conquer the underworld’s ever-shifting, labyrinthine landscape.

As with Supergiant’s previous titles, Bastion, Transistor and Pyre, Hades features a perfect synthesis of gameplay and narrative. Given the nature of the underworld, players never reach a game-over state in Hades. Instead, dying simply brings Zagreus back to his father’s home deep in the pits of Tartarus, where fallen gods and forgotten heroes lay about in anguish, overing pearls of wisdom and cheeky commentary on players’ escape attempts. Each time Zagreus ventures out, his path through the underworld changes slightly — no two runs are ever the same, though repeated crawls through Hades build players’ familiarity with the combat system and permanently increase Zagreus’ strength, making future runs more prone to success.

As Zagreus makes it further and further away from his father’s clutches, players meet the various, charmingly voiced Greek gods such as Zeus, Ares, Athena and Aphrodite, who each have a unique relationship with Zagreus and his father. By repeatedly encountering the gods, players can expand their understanding of the rich backstory that links Zagreus to the gods and compels his journey forward to Olympus.

Though in combat Zagreus is typically drowning in a sea of projectiles and surrounded by vast scores of enemies, Hades’ excellent art style, which features wonderfully detailed hand-painted character models and environments, ensures that players are never overwhelmed by an overly busy screen. In addition to the typical brawler gameplay, in which hordes of enemies are thrust upon Zagreus, players also face challenging and memorable bosses, such as an undead hydra with regenerating heads.

Because players are constantly progressing and unlocking radically different weapons, gameplay is never stagnant, and the randomized gifts awarded to Zagreus by Olympian gods grant powers that allow each encounter to feel unique. With seemingly infinite permutations and combinations of weapons, powers and upgrades, Hades gives players plenty to experiment with and ensures that, even after hundreds of hours of gameplay, there is always more to see.

Hades rewards those who invest patience and are not afraid of dying time and time again, and its fresh, flashy combat system is easy to pick up, turning casual players into maestros within a few hours. In the past decade, Supergiant has had a perfect track record. Though each of its games is distinctive and unlike any other, Hades plays to all of Supergiant’s strengths. It successfully blends the heart-pounding action of a dungeon crawler with deep character-focused narrative, and manages to give both elements equal weight.

This review is based on the PS5 version of Hades.

Neil Haeems covers video games. Contact him at nhaeems@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

Never before assembled new exultations of victory of musical invention then innovation. First edition to find it’s area set aside in the greatest accomplishments that history has ever known. Hidden in the private files of internet storage, the baffling veil has been lifted for the first time on Jazzassistant.com, the 8th wonder of the world. […]

Every fall, the Colorado State University campus undergoes a familiar annual routine. The freshmen fill the dorms, the Clark Building becomes even more dilapidated and, most importantly, tabling returns to The Plaza.