Bloods, Crips, and...the Get Money Boys?

Welcome to Farmville, home of GDs, Vice Lords, ganstas and drug dealers. Yes, it's true, even in the middle of nowhere, gangs have infiltrated into our peaceful midst. The second annual Gang Task Force presentation was held a little too late at the end of the year on campus.

With such a small turn out it's no wonder that most people don't know and don't really care about the presence of gangs in the Farmville area. The presentation was interesting however, being given by a Special Agent of the Virginia State Police. Histories of the national gangs such as the Bloods and Crips was reviewed as well as signs of recruitment and membership. It's a shame however that I was the only student in attendance and I was there mainly to cover the function for the Rotunda.

I have conflicting views of this Task Force, mainly because I am not a huge fan of the police force's mission on campus. A mission that seems to consist of writing parking tickets and traffic tickets. Longwood employs a significant number of officers in addition to Farmville's police dept. and the Prince Edward Sheriff's dept. I am no expert but this is not a very large locality and as far as I know there isn't a significant amount of violent crimes being committed, at least against students. On the other hand, better to be prepared for the unexpected.

As far as the local gangs go, Southside, K-town Boys, and the Squad are known gangs. I've personally never seen evidence of any but I try not to frequent the seedier areas of Farmville like Andrew's Drive and Virginia Street. Something I did not include in my article was the influence of known-rapper Jim Jones in Farmville. Fevers, a nightclub? located in the area has been one of his stomping grounds in the past and Jones reportedly has ties to the Bloods. Now, most entertainers with "gang affiliations" aren't very active and my personal view is that the Task Force desperately wanted a name and place to throwout and this was the best they had.

Another group brought up was the Juggalo culture, something Farmville should be familiar with in light of the First Ave. murders. The disgusting specimen Psycho Sam was part of this culture and this group has been identified as gaining numbers as more suburban kids get bored with their privileged lives. The whole thing sickens me and I will say no more in fear of an expletive filled rant.

With this being said I do encourage students to attend the Gang Task Force meeting next semester. It was entertaining and informative and to be a citizen leader one needs to have knowledge of events pertaining to their place of residence. The presentation opened my eyes to things happening in different parts of the country that I hadn't been aware of. I am from Richmond and being a whiteboy there are areas I know to stay the hell away from. People think it won't ever happen to them but when it gets bad, it gets bad quick. Gone are the days when a simple fist fight settled a matter, now it's about rolling deep and keeping the chrome under the seat.

Most students at Longwood aren't exposed to these lifestyles but they aren't just ideas conjured up for the movies. So be aware. Open your eyes and reflect that you're lucky to be where you're at.

Dedication

I'd like to take a moment and dedicate this post to Drew Johnson, a fixture of the 804 and Glen Allen area. Drew passed Monday night and it's been a rough time since. The man was 20 years young and had more life in him than most people I know. Always had a good thing to say and was funny on a unbeatable level. Its hard to put into words the significance of the loss but it sucks. However, Drew would not want us to mope and mourn, rather he'd want a celebration of his life. Keep it in your mind that nothing's forever and live it up while you can. In the true spirit of Drew Johnson, do it big! Keep his family and friends in your prayers/thoughts. And tune in next week for some more uplifting news as my 21 birthday approaches!!

Behind

I realize I have missed almost two weeks of posts and I really don't have any valid excuses for doing so. Though I made Dean's List last semester I believe this fact may have actually hurt me. I became overly confident and believed that I could just put off assignments and everything else until the last minute.

I made level 100 and didn't see the point in pushing harder or even pushing at all so I just coasted. I will now be playing catchup all semester.

I know most all students are fans of procrastination as I myself am. I personally feel I work better under the added pressure of not being able to put an assignment off longer. That is until it is 3 a.m. and all I want to do is say fuck it and go to sleep.

As my first boss told me, "no excuses", so I can only blame myself. But anway, I'll tell you who really needs to be pointed out for their procrastinating ways. Spring time and Spring Break. I don't know who is a fan of Winter but I've been sick of it since November. Spring means green plants, sundresses, and a season closer to Summer. So quit putting your arrival off, fashionably late was out in the 90s.

The SCC

Longwood is following Obama's lead by creating more bureaucracies to manage student activities. Unlike the Obama administration, however, Longwood's Health and Recreation Dept. made a smart move in creating the Sports Club Council (SCC). Matt McGregor and Robbie Bell were the two brains behind this move and I'd like to nominate them for presidency just because of the direct attack they took on a flawed system and the success that has resulted.

In case you didn't know, Longwood used to require sports clubs to have things such as their constitutions and budgets approved by the SGA while waivers and practice schedules had to be approved by Campus Rec.

As was the case for my friend Tyler Stergin last year as he got the Golf Club founded. Every time I asked how it was going he said he didn't even know what he had to do or where to go.

This led to an increasing number of club presidents running around like chickens with their heads cut off as well as missing equipment and budget shortfalls. Athletes complained that the SGA was not suited to review their budgets because SGA members don't know the difference between a practice penny and a round piece of copper. The SCC was developed to fix all that. Made up of members of various sports clubs, the Sports Club Executive Council will now handle all things related to club sports. All rosters and waivers will be turned into them, equipment bought with SGA funds will be inventoried and teams will suffer penalties if equipment is not maintained or is stolen by club members.

The SCC also provides each sports club a liaison between the club and the council. Communication is frequent and club presidents I have spoken with state that they feel like they're in good hands. As a member of Men's Lacrosse Club, I must say I am thoroughly impressed with the SCC and hope to see more of them through out our season. For less information on the SCC visit http://www.longwood.edu/recreation/14073.htm

On a separate note, why in the world was it warmer this morning than it was this afternoon? "Well that's easy, it's called the Land-Sea breeze," said Dr. Hardin.

Athletes have a rough life

In case people haven't realized it yet, Longwood's Division I athletic teams have been showing up in increasing numbers in our recently constructed Health and Fitness Center. Previously, teams were confined to Willet, the old gymnasium, which has a weight room, POOL, and gym. Recently they were also granted full control over the Iler gym which used to be ROTC and Wrestling club territory. As if the Division I athletes don't have enough space to romp including their own fields and athletic trainers, they have now taken up residence in the Health and Fitness Center. Instead of just fighting the overwhelming crowd of normal students and faculty, we will now be competing with student athletes. Who wants to run on the track with a herd of Men's Soccer players bearing down on you? Or shoot hoops against our starting Point Guard on the barely D-I basketball squad. Well that's not too intimidating. But seriously, a bench-off against the juiced baseball players? Not my idea of recreation. So Longwood, we paid for it, we don't get paid to use it, how about keeping those athletes who we pay to play in their gym.

Snowing and Showing

Ok so I know everyone is pretty upset that we've had classes these past few day despite the daunting amount of snow Farmville received this weekend. Rumors of broken bones, wrecked cars, and bruised egos are piling up like snow drifts. But look at it this way, schools in places like Canada and Antarctica have to deal with snow all the time, and Longwood cannot afford to look bad, especially compared to those cannucks. And to tackle the injury/wreck issue, you are in college, if you drive, drive a snowmobile. If you don't drive, wear some crampons and tie a big pillow around your butt. Imagine you are a penguin and just waddle on to class.


P.S. These statements in no way reflect my feelings about the University being open, in fact I feel just the opposite

Sushi as a brain stimulant

In a bizarre, unexplainable fit of raw fish and wasabe induced delirium, I decided to completely change the topic of my blog. I consider the leap from some intellectually stimulating discussion on the Farmer's Almanac to the potentially entertaining and enlightening subject of dispelling everyday students', faculty members', and animals' gripes and complaints to be comparable to Neil Armstrong's first moonbounce.

I'm sure Buzz Aldren was pretty pissed that he lost that game of Rock, Paper, Scissors but we have to remember, Neil called best 2 out of 3 and Rock beats Scissors. So, if you are upset that you lost that last slice of pizza or had to take out the trash, rest assured that it wasn't as bad as staring out of the Lunar Lander and watching your buddy experience reduced gravity and international fame.

Buzz is on the right of the above photo from wikipedia shooting daggers at Neil on the left.