#VCU Libraries

[lakecountylibrary]

[ID:

Richmond Crusade for Voters flyer. Pencil drawing of a hand smashing a chain with a heavy hammer that says Vote.

Text: you've got it…USE IT!

Votes mean FREEDOM. Register and vote Votes mean EQUALITY. Register and vote Votes mean first-class citizenship. Register and vote. Votes mean better schools, better jobs, better housing. Register and vote USE YOUR VOTE TO WIN YOUR RIGHTS To Vote in November, you must REGISTER NOW!

/ID]

A powerful tool that you can wield…

“Controlling the Vote – Rights. Registration. Representation.” uses archival materials to explore the history of attempts to control who has access to the polls in America. 

[hxxrtsurgery]

s0m3 k3wl c0m1cz 1 s4w @ th4 VCU L1br4ry!! (>_<)

[asifyoudidntknow]

All Time Favs

I began reading fanfic in my teens during the original run of the show. There were lonnng breaks from it, but coming back to the fandom in 2017 reignited my interest. I now keep a spreadsheet as well as a "to read" list. I already have almost 600 logged (not including 5 years), so I wanted to share my top favorites. Divided into my 4 favorite genres (AU, casefic, angst + romance, and smut + romance) and in no particular order...

*Alternate Universe*

I used to wonder why someone would choose to read AU. Then I read one of these and was completely blown away.

Katherine of Ireland by Jenna Tooms (gossamer)

Katherine, princess of Ireland is married to Walter, king of Angora. When Walter is killed during battle, Katherine is taken by the enemy, FitzJames. William is FitzJames right hand. When FitzJames orders her to be beaten (even after discovering her pregnancy) William devises a plan to save her, heal her and get her back to Ireland. Will William always be seen as the enemy or will Katherine come to see him for who he truly is?

By the dim and flaring lamps by @sunflowerseedsandscience (ao3)

Civil war AU’s are my jam and this was one of the first ones I read.  When Mulder discovers (disguised boy) Scully bathing in a waterfall by darkness and realizes what he is dealing with will remain etched in my brain forever.

In darkness by DKSculder (ao3)

What if Scully was married to Daniel?  What if Daniel was a serial killer?  What if Mulder was a VCU agent still?   This is an unfinished work, but the idea is unlike any other I’ve come across.

Blinded by the white light by DashaK (ao3)

Need I say more?  When Mulder and Scully find each other after colonization, will they remember each other and will they act on it?

The second side of light by @scapegrace74-blog (ao3)

Oregon Trail.  Mulder is leading scully and Melissa across the trail when Melissa dies.  They end up getting very close to one another on the journey.

Paracelsus by profuckslove (ao3)

Another amazing civil war AU.  When Mulder goes looking for his lost son and comes across a pregnant scully what will happen to them?

Hiareth by profuckslove (gossamer)

Wales 1215.  Scully escapes the king by marrying Mulder, the prince of wales.  Marriage leads to love and fighting off dangerous men.

Paracosm by @softnow (ao3)

This is an unfinished work.  College AU.  Mulder has a crush on the library girl, will she return his advances?

A companion unobtrusive by @slippinmickeys (ao3)

A college AU where scully is looking for a roommate and Mulder is looking for a room.  Melissa introduces them and the rest is history.

Qui Si by Trixie (gossamer)

After accepting an offer from a gypsy to go back to a life with Samantha in it, Mulder, a child psychologist, helps Scully, a PhD, get over her past.

You he did not fail by extraordinarily_ordinary (ao3)

Scully abruptly leaves TXF after surviving cancer and moves to LA to start anew.  She is dating when Mulder is assigned as a profiler to a case she is working and they have to deal with things left undealt with.

Five years and a lifetime by @monikafilefan (ao3)

Mulder is a Peds psychiatrist. Scully is a Peds neurologist. They meet at a conference and have a one night stand.  What happens when they come to work together 5 years later and Scully is a single mom?

Amish country by lolabeegood (gossamer)

Mulder and Scully go undercover in Amish country trying to catch a serial rapist while navigating very traditional values and roles.

You and me by lolabeegood (gossamer)

Mulder leaves his wealthy parents to serve under Scully’s father in the military.  In order for her to stay safe, fed, and clothed she needs to marry.

The mountain man by aka Jake (gossamer)

Scully is sent from nyc (where she was becoming a doctor) to Montana at her father’s wishes.  He wants her to marry a lieutenant under his command and not practice medicine, but she becomes intrigued with a local mountain man.

The countess/the earl by @slippinmickeys (ao3)

When scully is to be married to an old duke in order to save her family from financial ruin, a strange, alluring earl steps in to save her.

*Case*

There is nothing quite like a casefic. It's classic x-files and I am here for it. Writers in this fandom are so talented with their abilities to create a fic that rivals/trumps actual episodes.

Perchitor by @aloysiavirgata (ao3)

A little girl goes missing in the mountains with the superstition of Jenny Greenteeth to blame.  Mulder and Scully investigate while navigating a new physical relationship.

Omens by @lepus-arcticus (ao3)

I read this one as a WIP and was anxiously checking for an update every night.  There were several lines in this fic that made me gasp.  Cancer arc angst. Give me it alllll.

XII by fragilevixen (ao3)

A killer that romanticizes every victim.  His next target?  Guess who.  *coughSCULLYcough*

Hearts desire by malibusunset (ao3)

While in a small town scully runs into an old BF and starts wondering why she doesn’t prioritize her dating.  She decides to go for it.  The author makes me like Scully’s old flame.  That says something.  When the MSR convo finally does come, I thought I’d die from the slow burn.

Resurgam by opheila_interrupted (ao3)

One of the most xfiles like cases I have ever read.  Remains unsolved at the end and has our agents investigating ghosts near Mulder’s hometown while dealing with their own (Emily & Teena).

Universal invariants/laws of motion by @syntax6

Scully is engaged to Ethan throughout the first season while her and Mulder’s relationship is deepening and then consummated right before she is abducted.  How do two guys in love handle Scully’s abduction and what happens when she is returned?  

All the way home/head over heels by @syntax6

Mulder is pulled into a past unsolved VCU case of a killer with a shoe fetish while navigating a new physical relationship with scully.  When scully is targeted, Mulder has to gamble with his personal feelings while working to find the killer.

Queens gambit by Suzanne Schramm (gossamer)

Under Kersh, Mulder and Scully are assigned to a VCU case Mulder worked in Utah in 89���.  The killer was put to death and then revenge began.  Local mines and children involved.

*angst + romance*

This is my crux. Angst in any way, shape, or form. Add in some slow burn/ust and finally the rst *chefs kiss* particularly fond of Ethan fics and cancer arc.

Contact high by penumbra (gossamer)

Still feeling the residual effects of the spores post field trip, our agents try out Mulder’s new waterbed.

Early on by @sunflowerseedsandscience (ao3)

10 vignettes set during season 1.  Our baby agents are becoming close, but Ethan is still around.  How does scully navigate her relationship with Ethan while working with Mulder?

Center Mass by @kateyes224 (ao3)

Another Ethan fic set in season 1.  Mulder and Scully make an effort to get to know one another… in more ways than one.  And when Mulder gets aroused at Scully’s marksmanship it’s all over for me. 

One blue line by sarie_fairy (ao3)

IVF arc.  Scully is defeated by a negative pregnancy test.  When Mulder tries to comfort her, she suggests having sex.  I just remember wondering if I was reading or actually doing the act myself considering how detailed it was.

Salt by anjou (gossamer)

I remember reading this and being like WTF is happening to only have it all make sense at the end leaving me speechless.

Triptych by @iconicscullyoutfits (ao3)

My favorite FTF, post bee, how the f*ck did they get out of anarctica fic.

Snowbound by malibusunset (gossamer)

After missing their flight and being snowed in their rental on the side of the road, discussions lead to their relationship.  Once they’re recused they are put up in an inn with 1 room.  Dun, dun, dunnnn.

The ache by @storybycorey (ao3)

1999 Mulder has a visit with 2015 Mulder to urge him to get help with his depression and not lose scully.

Love bites by living_underground (ao3)

A review of vampirism cases throughout the years.  Hickeys from Ed.  Love bites from Mulder.

Goshen by bonetree (ao3)

Mulder and Scully are in a car accident where their car can’t be seen.  Major injuries lead to near death experiences and visions of Emily.

All that our senses can perceive by wonderland (ao3)

Mulder’s POV looking over Scully’s transformation from girl to woman and how all of his senses perceive her.

Caught in the Act I by parrotfish (gossamer)

Although the whole series is amazing, the first part is my favorite.  I love when scully lays into the review panel about being sexist.

The things she carries by @edierone (ao3)

One of my favorite cancer arc fics.  When Mulder confronts Scully 3 years later on the porch I literally stopped breathing.

Red valerian series by dashakay (ao3)

Scully looks to skinner for comfort during a grueling case, starting a 6 month affair.  Will scully ever love him or will the buried truth prevail?

Sex and Loathing by malibusunset (ao3)

Scully takes a drunk Mulder home after Roche.  He makes a move and they have terrible sex.  After 2 years of poking at each other they face things head on after Mulder almost dies in PBV.

Snakebitten by @onpaperfirst (ao3)

Set throughout season 5.  My favorite season. Say no more.

Five years and one night by Shalimar (gossamer)

When Scully transfers to LA and Mulder finds more babies like Emily, can they work together again to get to the bottom of this conspiracy?

The letter by Shalimar (gossamer)

Post TFWID, scully goes searching for more clues to her and Mulder’s past lives when she comes across a letter in a local Apison museum she sent to Mulder.

*smut + romance*

It's hard to have just smut when it comes to MSR, am I right? these two idiots are so in love that my smut category must also be romantic.

Undercover swing by 2momsmakearight (ao3)

What if Mulder and Scully go undercover as a married couple interested in swinging?  Can they both keep their jealously in check?  

Be kind, rewind by OnlyTheInevitable (ao3)

To help catch a suspect, skinner requests our agents watch porn together.  While watching, conversation leads to critiques about the performance and comments about personal preferences.

Girl 77 by mojo

A stripper is found dead with Mulder’s card on her.  She looks exactly like Scully.  Scully notices and confronts Mulder about it.

Dropped call series by @phillippadgettwrites (ao3)

Phone sex, but make it “not them”

December 31, 1984 by @phillippadgettwrites (ao3)

When Mulder saves an unimpressed scully from some jerk on NYE, they end up at her apartment having a one night stand.

Damsels by @sisterspooky1013 (ao3)

Scully is sent undercover as a stripper to find a missing woman.  Mulder is kept in the dark regarding her case, but pieces together where she is and what she’s doing and sets out to find her.

The Shirt by Audrey Roget (gossamer)

Skinner reconciles with Sharon leading to a vow renewal celebration. Skinner asks mulder and Scully to stand with him as his best agents. After slow dancing together, mulder bolts out of the celebration before scully catches the bridal bouquet and he crosses a line. When they end up in an accident while driving in a storm, things come to a head in an Elvis inspired motel suite out in the middle of nowhere PA.

[spell-bloom]

DON’T FORGET ABOUT VCU

Richmond police assaulted peaceful students at VCU on Monday April 29th, 2024. The students were granted permission by the university to protest. The protest officially started at 5PM EST outside of the Cabell Library, but several students started as early as 8 AM. They called it the Palestine Liberation Zone. Hundreds of VCU students attended.

The protesters' list of demands from VCU. They were not going to leave until the University acquiesced.

At 8:30 PM EST, Richmond police arrived at the protest in full riot gear. The pallets you see were brought in by the students to protect the tents, and themselves, from police. The University called in the police.

At 9PM, the police were armed with riot shields and formed a wall against the students. Students used pallets, signs, and themselves to press back against officers. Some flung empty water bottles against them. One of the officers used pepper spray against the students. You can see several students in the windows in the library.

Another officer pepper spraying students and setting off a tear gas canister.

RPD are claiming that they did not use tear gas.

The police retreated and the students heckle and cheer in victory.

By 9:12 PM, the students were locked inside the library by police for their safety and to prevent any chemicals from entering the building. Here is a video from a student's POV inside of the Cabell Library.

A student being arrested.

Sanitation workers take away tents and anything that was left behind. Laptops, books and other school materials were thrown away in a dumpster or were destroyed. Several students say that officers were snacking on the food that was left behind.

Past midnight, the organizers told the students to go home. The students in the library were officially let go after 4 hours of being stuck there. 13 arrests were made.

This is the University's response:

Is VCU providing safety to students in the form of riot police, pepper spray and tear gas? Almost all of the protesters were students of VCU, with maybe a handful of non-students joining in, according to a student who attends there. If the campus did not want disruption, they should not have given the green light to students protesting peacefully against genocide.

Here are several videos of the students being 'violent'

Sources: linked on twitter and a friend who attends VCU If any students or witnesses want to give more information, please feel free to comment or contact so I can update the post.

[oliverscottage]

VCU Libraries

MAD No 59 Dec 1960 Halloween

[xxsparksxx]

Guys, I’ve just found this out:

https://news.vcu.edu/article/2023/01/cindy-jackson-who-oversaw-vcus-comic-arts-collection-dies-at-53

Our friend @rainpuddle13 has died.

Many of you know that she had had a terrible year of ill health, and had spent most of it in hospitals or nursing facilities. I won’t dwell on all she suffered but I will say that I know she kept going despite that, for as long as she could.

Cyn was one of my dearest friends, although we never met, and I am desperately sad to have finally had confirmation of what I have suspected for several weeks. We started chatting back in 2015 and, until this last year, spoke every day about all sorts of things, fandom and life-related. She leaves a big gap in my life.

In the obituary I linked above, there is a link to donations in her name to the VCU Libraries’ Special Collections and Archive Fund. Cyn worked for many, many years in the VUC library, curating their Comic Arts Collection. It was in many ways her baby and I know it would mean the world to her, for any of her friends and acquaintances here to donate as much or as little as they can to the fund.

I am planning to write a letter to her brother (I have his address) and if anybody would like to include a note, or a name even, in that, please DM me.

Please feel free to reblog this to share the news more widely; I want this to reach as many of her friends/fans as possible.

[sfsucw]

Levis Reading Prize

The Levis Reading Prize honors the memory of poet Larry Levis, who was a VCU faculty member at the time of his death in 1996. 

The prize is awarded annually for the best first or second book of poetry published in the previous calendar year. It is presented by the MFA in Creative Writing Program in the VCU Department of English and VCU Libraries with additional support from the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, and the family of Larry Levis.

Judges come from faculty of the VCU Department of English and MFA in Creative Writing Program.

Traditionally, the winner receives an honorarium and are invited, expenses paid, to Richmond to present a public reading in the following fall.

For more info and guidelines: https://english.vcu.edu/about/national-literary-awards/levis-reading-prize/

[themassespress]

Richmond Protestors March on VIAB, Commemorating a Year of Resistance 

By Comrade Jeb  RICHMOND, VA – October 7th marked a year of resistance since Al-Qassam broke through the concentration camp walls. In Richmond, the occasion was marked by VCU students walking out of class to converge on the compass, a central avenue by the James Branch Cabell Library on VCU campus. SJP-VCU led a march of around 160 students and activists on the local pro-apartheid institution,…

[researchbuzz]

Bang Arts Festival, Twitter, Snapchat, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 6, 2024

NEW RESOURCES Virginia Commonwealth University: New online exhibit offers an inside look at the influential – though short-lived – Bang Arts Festival. “VCU Libraries captures the avant-garde spirit of the 1960s event, which brought major artists such as John Cage, Roy Lichtenstein and Twyla Tharp to Richmond and helped forge VCU’s ongoing legacy of creativity.” TWEAKS AND UPDATES TechCrunch: X…

[molsons112000]

So vitamin C can be used to remove chlorine from water and wastewater before it is dumped into rivers or lakes. See this piece below on using vitamin C to reduce chlorine levels.

Approximately 2.5 parts of ascorbic acid are required for neutralizing 1 part chlorine. Since ascorbic acid is weakly acidic, the pH of the treated water may decrease slightly in low alkaline waters. Sodium ascorbate will also neutralize chlorine. It is pH neutral and will not change the pH of the treated water.

https://www.fs.usda.gov › html

Using Vitamin C to Neutralize Chlorine in Water Systems

National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc

Protective effect of probiotics and ascorbic acid on bile duct ligation ...

by C Patel · 2022 · Cited by 2 — The probiotic and ascorbic acid combination significantly decreased the elevated blood ammonia levels in BDL-induced rats.



ResearchGate

https://www.researchgate.net › 229...

Effect of dietary vitamin C and ammonia concentration on the ...

Dietary vitamin C supplementation led to higher oxygen consumption and lower ammonia excretion. Na+/K+ ATPase activity increased with increased ambient ammonia ...



Wiley Online Library

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com › doi

Effect of dietary vitamin C and ammonia concentration on the ...

by WN Wang · 2005 · Cited by 19 — This study examined the effects of dietary vitamin C and ammonia concentration on the cellular defense

Also, reducing ammonia in the blood increases brain performance. See how green tea can reduce or lower ammonia levels in the blood and increase in brain performance and athletic performance.

As you will see below ammonia Impairs the function of synapses in the brain...

Yes, reducing ammonia in the blood can help brain function. Ammonia is a waste product that the body produces naturally, and high levels of it can be toxic to the central nervous system (CNS). This can lead to a range of neuropsychiatric and neurological symptoms, including impaired memory, confusion, delirium, and even coma. 



NCBI

The Cerebral Effect of Ammonia in Brain Aging: Blood ... - NCBI

Jun 24, 2021 — High levels of ammonia, a natural by-product produced in the body, have been r...



NCBI

Blood Ammonia as a Possible Etiological Agent for Alzheimer's ...

May 4, 2018 — In this context, recent findings of some Lactobacillus strains reducing blood a...



MedlinePlus

Loss of brain function - liver disease - MedlinePlus

Aug 7, 2023 — Mild confusion. Forgetfulness. Personality or mood changes. Poor concentration ...



Cleveland Clinic

Hyperammonemia: What It Is, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Aug 24, 2022 — Having high levels of ammonia in your blood is toxic to your central nervous s...



VCU Health

New study shows liver patients see benefits after going meatless ...

May 2, 2024 — “We now need more research to learn if consuming meals without meat goes beyond...



National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov)

Identifying the direct effects of ammonia on the brain - PubMed

Elevated concentrations of ammonia in the brain as a result of hyperammonemia leads to cer...

Ammonia is normally processed by the liver and eliminated through urine, but issues with the liver or the urea cycle can cause it to build up in the blood. This condition is called hyperammonemia and can be life-threatening, requiring immediate medical treatment. 

Some research suggests that reducing blood ammonia levels may help with neurological diseases and neuronal functions. For example, certain strains of Lactobacillus bacteria have been shown to reduce blood ammonia levels, which may be relevant to the Mediterranean diet's potential to prevent Alzheimer's disease. Other drugs that target ammonia for treatment include sodium benzoate, glycerol phenylbutyrate, ornithine phenylacetate, AST-120, and polyethylene glycol. 

This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional. Generative AI is experimental.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov)

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Cerebral Effect of Ammonia in Brain Aging: Blood–Brain ...

by D Jo · 2021 · Cited by 19 — Ammonia encourages impaired synaptic function in the aged brain, leading to memory loss. High levels of ammonium contribute to energy metabolism ...

https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/html/05231301/05231301.html

Results

Changes in blood ammonia concentration during and after exercise, and the relationship between blood ammonia concentration and total running time

Blood ammonia concentration gradually increased over time as running continued, and then gradually decreased after the end of running (Fig. 1A). The rate of increase of blood ammonia concentration was significantly negatively correlated with total running time, which was measured as an index of exercise endurance capacity (Fig. 1B; r = −0.57, P < 0.05).

https://healthfully.com/naturally-ammonia-levels-down-body-5845643...

How to Naturally Bring Ammonia Levels Down in the Body

WEBJul 27, 2017 · Green tea includes catechins that help prevent cancer cells and flushes your body free …

Tags:

Ammonia Build Up

Explore further

EatingWell

https://www.eatingwell.com/is-green-tea-good-for-you-8363574

What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Green Tea Every Day

WEBOct 18, 2023 · Several studies have found that green tea helps lower blood pressure. Scientists at the …

Explore further

[sidewalksurgeon]

Sprint 5 Overview

Sprint Recap:

For our fifth and final Sprint, our main goal was to focus on the distribution of our posters and messages to as many places as possible. Last Sprint, we were in the process of printing our posters and had submitted our posters to multiple VCU distribution services such as Cabell Library, VCU Social Media, etc.

The first thing accomplished during this Sprint was printing and distributing our posters around campus. Lillie, Alo, and Dalton split the printed posters amongst themselves and put them in places such as nearby bus stops and inside school buildings. Most of the posters were taken down immediately, but some stayed up until the end of the semester.

While the posters spread the word about picking up the e-scooters, they didn’t bring much engagement to our Link-tree. We decided to post our poster design along with our Link-tree link to the r/rva and r/vcu subreddits. We wanted to receive feedback about our poster designs to ensure they came across as we intended.

Both posts received lots of engagement almost immediately after we posted them. r/vcu ended up getting 33 upvotes and 22 comments. r/rva was even more successful receiving 67 upvotes and 104 comments. As expected from websites like Reddit, lots of the comments were either jokes or mean and unhelpful comments. The Redditors leaving helpful critiques all had similar things to say about our design. They all pointed out how our team's goal of making the sidewalks more accessible didn’t come across well in the poster. Redditors only knew about our goal to help those with mobility issues when I added an extra comment clarifying why we were doing this. Most assumed we were trying to do the scooter companies' jobs for them. They recommended we add some sort of blub or design on our poster indicating that this is to help the community rather than corporations.

Thanks to this feedback, we also decided we would distribute Dalton’s old poster design that talked about mobility issues and scooters. This poster showed how fallen scooters can make it hard for wheelchair users to use the sidewalks safely.

Even if the reaction to our posters was mixed on Reddit, it still shot up our engagement on Link-Tree. We got a total of 29 views that day, 24 unique views, 25 total clicks, 13 unique clicks, and a click-through rate of 86.21%. 

Along with our poster distribution and Reddit postings, we also submitted our designs to VCU distribution sites. We initially submitted our designs to VCU’s social media page, the Student Commons digital screens, the Commonwealth Times, the Cabell Library digital screen, the Stall Street Journal, and Telegram. We also messaged Byrd/Lime about putting our posters on their story and were even told by GRTC that they would put up posters on their bus stops and post us on their story.

The first ones to get back to us were the people in charge of the Student Commons digital screens. They sent us an email letting us know that our design was in their rotation of images and should play in the Commons. However, when I went to check, I noticed our design never came up. I sat for over half an hour while the screens kept repeating the same messages. I emailed the people in charge of the digital screen but they weren't able to help us fix the problem before the end of the semester.

VCU social media got back to us almost immediately and let us know that they would post our poster and Link-tree link every week on the official VCU Instagram story until the end of the semester. I’ve checked back every week and can confirm that our message plays weekly on their story. 

When we messaged the Commonwealth Times about putting our poster in their newspaper, they had already printed their last volume of the year. While we weren’t able to be posted in the physical release, they let us know that they would post us on their digital newsletter on December 1st. When December 1st came, they indeed posted us in the newsletter. We were the very first image when opening up the newsletter. 

The Cabell Library digital screen, Telegram, and Byrd/Lime never responded to our requests. Stall Street Journal also didn’t put us in an issue but they are focused on mostly mental/physical health issues so it makes sense why scooter safety wouldn’t fit in with their usual articles. Even though I spoke with Henry from the GRTC’s marking team and he approved our ideas, he never responded to any of my follow-up emails so we couldn’t do anything officially with the GRTC.

Towards the beginning of Thanksgiving Break, I got an email from Susan Sutphin (MPC Campus Coordinator) that Corey Beyers (University Relations) and Molly Case (Communications) would love to meet with us after the break to help us distribute our poster designs. 

Once break was over, we met up with everyone over Zoom. I let both Corey and Molly know about what we were doing for our project, what our goals were, and what we had accomplished so far. They both congratulated us on how much we had done already and were unsure how much more they could help us with. Since Corey has direct connections with VCU’s police, she told us she could create a “Geofenced Alert", which is when an alert pops up on your phone when you approach a specific area. She told me to give her 6 locations on campus where students would automatically receive a message telling them to pick up scooters if they stepped near those areas. This was all to be done through the Livesafe app which is a safety alerts app that VCU suggests all students download. She also said she would post us on all of the VCU police social media on December 4th. We agreed and she set up the Geofence to run December 4th-6th.

Molly told us there wasn't much more she could do for us since we submitted to almost all of the VCU distribution sites. She was the one who suggested we submit it on Telegram but when we did, we were denied.

On December 4th, VCU police posted us on their Instagram, Instagram stories, X (Twitter), Facebook, and Threads.

On Wednesday, December 6th, she shared with us all of the stats from the three days the posts were active. VCUpd’s Facebook reach and engagement reached 311, Instagram reach and engagement reached 508, Instagram stories reached 122 views, Twitter reach and engagement reached 188, and Threads reached 0. Corey informed us that the VCU police Threads account doesn’t ever get engagement since Threads isn’t as popular as other social media. 

The Geofence alert ran for three days as well and was set up at Cabell Library, The Student Commons, Harrison Street Cafe/Village Cafe, Monroe Park, Cary Street Gym, and Bowe Street Deck. I walked in these areas to test this out and can confirm that I received the alert on the Livesafe app. 

Corey also shared the stats for the Geofence alert and told us that it reached 423 users in the 3 days it was up.

Around when all of these posts and alerts were put up, we also received a large increase in our Link-tree engagement. We got a total of 23 views, 17 unique views, 16 total clicks, 8 unique clicks, and a click through rate of 69.57%.

Towards the end of our project, we also attempted to do an in-person survey at Cabell Library. We set up a table near the library and put out a large candy bowl. We would give people free candy if they completed our survey. The survey consists of questions asking the person if they have seen our posters around campus, if they use a scooter, and if they’ve had scooter related issues in the past. Sadly, we had very limited engagement. We only had 7 people fill out our survey since it was one of the coldest days of the year when we did this. Most people wanted to be in and out as fast as possible.

The very last thing we did during this project to spread our message was distributing even more posters around campus. Since a lot of our older posters were removed, we decided to put up even more. This time, we did a mix of our original scooter posters and also our accessibility issues poster as requested by many people on Reddit. We put them up on poles all over campus, Cabell library, outside apartment complexes, and just anywhere where they had an unlikely chance of getting removed. Like last time, some got removed almost immediately while some still stand even today.

Final Results:

By the end of the semester, we got a total of 145 views, 86 clicks, and a Click-through rate of 59.31% on our Link-tree. We put up over 20 posters around the VCU campus, were posted to VCU’s official Instagram story weekly, and were featured in the Commonwealth Times. We were also posted to VCU Police’ Instagram Stories (122 views), Instagram (508 reach and engagement), Facebook (311 reach and engagement), Twitter (188 reach and engagement), and Threads (0 reach and engagement). We were able to reach 423 users in 3 days with a Geofence alert in 6 locations on campus. We got 33 upvotes and 23 comments on r/vcu and 67 upvotes and 104 comments on r/rva. We were able to get the attention of VCU’s Monroe Park Campus Coordinator, VCU Police, GRTC’s marketing head, and VCU’s head of communication while trying to spread our message. We also got 7 people to fill out our survey during in-person polling. 

Towards the end of the Sprint, I got an email from Susan who let us know that she thinks our campaign made an impact on campus. She said that ever since we started our scooter campaign, scooters are no longer as scattered and fallen over like they used to be. She said she no longer sees them in weird places like bushes. 

Reflection:

I feel that our project was a success. We were able to distribute our message through many different platforms and methods and were able to reach hundreds of people. Susan who pointed out this scooter problem to us in the first place told us how she believes that our scooter campaign was a success. I feel like this entire project taught me such important skills that I wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. I feel like I learned how to network, learned how to properly advertise, distinguish helpful critique from unhelpful critique, learned how to continue on when things don't work out like they should, and also learned how to properly manage a project that goes on for this long. Even though my major doesn’t have anything to do with product design, I feel that everything I learned in this class can be applied to any career and skills

A couple of things that I wish we did differently would be to start reaching out to people earlier. I feel like we should have tried a more manageable goal from the very beginning rather than trying something so ambitious. We wasted a lot of time trying to contact people and find solutions to a problem that obviously couldn’t be solved in a semester. If I were to redo this project, I would greatly reduce the amount of time we took to plan our project. Because of this, we were very late on reaching out to people to help us distribute our projects. If we began that stage earlier, we could have been able to get our poster printed in the physical version of the Commonwealth Times and have the GRTC distribute our posters.

Overall, I think both the failings and successes of this project will prepare me for future projects in and outside of design. 

[vculibraries]

A good and sweet year!

Apple cider donuts are calling to us…

September / October 1889 promotional calendar for the Smith & Anthony Stove Co., Boston. “Art Casting for Fireplaces.”

From the Charles E. Brownell Collection of Architectural and Decorative Arts Ephemera, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.

[Image Description: Two children gather apples from beneath a tree. He puts some in a basket while she carries more in her pinafore.]

[thesidewalksurgeons]

The Last Sprint

Sprint recap-

This final sprint was very eventful for us, it was quite an enjoyable time. It started off with us having an online meeting with Susan who is the campus coordinator and Corey from university relations. Throughout the meeting we discussed what our progress was looking like, and both Susan and Corey got a chance to tell us about more ways to spread our message. Corey mentioned that she could contact us with VCU police so they could send out a geofencing message. This sounded very appealing to us and we decided to go with it. The meeting was very successful and informative for both the team as well as Susan and Corey. We proceeded to do the in-person polling session outside of the library, like we had discussed in earlier sprints. We set up our computers and asked people to fill out the survey and they were compensated with candy. This plan wasn't the best because we picked a very cold day and everyone, including us, wanted to go home. However, we pulled through for about an hour, although we didn't receive as much responses as we wished it was definitely a learning experience. A part from that, as a team we kept on putting up our posters around campus in hopes they would stay up for as long as possible. Below are some places we hung up our poster designs.

At this point we really just wanted to make our design visible as much as possible before the end of the course. I must say we did a great job at getting our message out. We got posted on Commonwealth Times Newsletter. Below is a picture of this post.

The VCU police posted us as well!

I think that by getting all of these connections we were able to reach as many people as possible. I think that having the VCU police post about our cause was way better than attempting to make an Instagram ourselves, since this is already an established social media account. Like I mentioned earlier, The VCU police began to send out an alert on the LiveSafe app that is encouraged to be downloaded by the university. This message would appear anytime people were near these following areas:

Cabell Library

The Student Commons

Harrison Street Cafe/Village Cafe area

Monroe Park

Cary Street Gym

Bowe Street Deck

This was definitely one of the cooler ways to get the message out, and it is all thanks to Corey and the VCU police. We felt very thankful for their contributions and interest.

As we kept on distributing our posters and we kept on being posted on social media, our stats on our Linktree kept on growing! Even though it wasn't hundreds of people a day, we felt it went better than expected. As of now we have 154 views! which is more than what we had on the day of our in class presentation, I am happy people really did start to take interest in our Linktree and cause.

Something I forgot to mention earlier is that we used Reddit to ask people if they had seen our posters around campus. We got a lot of responses on the post. Most importantly we wanted to hear what the people thought. The feedback we received was very helpful because we were able to print out a different design in addition to the ones we already had. People on Reddit mentioned how the poster lacked emotion, and it felt like we were trying to do the company's jobs in advertising for safety. We took this into consideration and used an earlier design which appealed to a more sentimental aspect of why scooter safety is important. This is the design below.

We decided to go with this design as well because we wanted the audience to know that it is important to put up your scooter because of accessibility issues. I think this was a great addition to our other designs.

In the end, we really did start to notice a change in the VCU community. The scooter problem has become a lot less problematic. People seem to actually be putting up their scooters! Susan even mentioned to us that she has noticed a significant change since the start of our project. She said we are magical, I thought this was very good feedback and it made me happy to hear that from her.

What I did this sprint-

For this sprint I really focused on putting up posters as much as possible in areas that I thought were popular. I also kept track of our Linktree to see if what we were doing was paying off. I would also go around and check to see if there were any physical changes, and there were, like I mentioned earlier people have really been propping up those scooters. I think that this sprint we really got to work as a group and we did a lot of group activities. Whether it was meeting with Susan and other officials or doing the in person polling or facetiming each other to discuss what was next.

reflection-

I feel very happy to have experienced this, I think I worked very well with the people in my team and I couldn't have asked for better. I've said it before, but I enjoy team work like this because of the different ideas that go around. My team was made up of very creative people that shared their thoughts freely. I was very comfortable with them and they inspired me to do the same as them. I am a bit more shy and I take some time to adjust to strangers but they taught me how to break that barrier and express myself in a group setting. I am always a follower in groups, I just listen and I won't make suggestions. However, it was different this time and I enjoyed it even more. I got to learn a lot from everyone in the classroom as well. I feel that as a team we grew a lot. Looking back to the beginning, we were all a bit shy and wouldn't really talk to each other but we did a great job at coming together and making the project succeed. I feel that we got a lot done in this semester alone, I can imagine if we had more time we would continue to do an even better job! Something that is really valuable to me was the support I felt in this team. Even when we reached turning point in our original plan, and we had to change the entire goal, we did an amazing job at redirecting ourselves and we made that transition rather smoothly. I can say I felt really proud of us for figuring that out. I am very thankful for the connections we made this semester, including Susan, Sylvia, and Corey. We couldn't have done it without them and their interest in our project. Which leads me to the conclusion that networking and creating connections is an essential part in making a project come to life. It is important to speak up and share your ideas with people, because there might be someone who is willing to help and give you resources you never knew you could get. Overall, this was a very lovely experience for me and I enjoyed the class and the group very much.

[sidewalksurgeons]

Sprint 5

During the course of this sprint the efforts I made to aid in our poster campaign began by taking the time to reach out to various influential sources on Instagram, including Richmond's Instagram pages, as well as the major companies such as Bird and Lime. The goal was to build potential partnerships and leverage their extensive reach to enhance the visibility of our cause in turn of getting the word out and bring our issue to the forefront of public awareness. The screenshots are messages reaching out to these pages in hopes of getting a response. Unfortunately I didn't receive a response but we managed to get some things done closer to the university that helped with our cause.

In addition, recognizing the importance of engaging with our local community directly, I put together a survey to be administered during our in-person tabling sessions at the VCU library. This survey not only serves as a valuable tool to gather additional insights on the issue but also acts as a catalyst for generating momentum in understanding how individuals within our community perceive and respond to the pressing matter at hand. The link for our survey is listed here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKOTBWXaRBgRfLg2kkR2tZFbS9qRRVFIJxJeuCLDtqgc-u4w/viewform

Understanding the significance of creating a welcoming and inviting environment during our tabling sessions, a checklist was made to help with bringing a motive to come over to our table and be engaging and inviting. This checklist included things such as securing a suitable table, a tablecloth, and a bowl of candy. The use of all these things together will hopefully create an engaging atmosphere, making our survey initiative even more appealing to passersby. We got some good data but could've been more had we chose a better day. We also decided to have more posters printed to put up working alongside VCU police so I was responsible for submitting a request to have the posters printed as well picking them up from Richmond Printing to distribute to my team members to place around campus. Overall I was very pleased with how things turned out and managed to accomplish a great deal during our final sprint I feel our team did well in making sidewalks safer for all commuters in the VCU area.

[otherpplnation]

877. Justin Torres

Justin Torres is the author of the novel Blackouts, a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. Available from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Torres is also the author of the debut novel We the Animals, which won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, was translated into fifteen languages, and was adapted into a feature film. He was named one of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35, a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, and a fellow at the New York Public Library's Cullman Center. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Granta, Tin House, and The Washington Post. He lives in Los Angeles and is an associate professor of English at UCLA.

***

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[lilliesidewalkrecap]

Sprint Recap - During this sprint we at first continued our research into the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and its Bishop to try and get more information on what his feelings were on the sidewalk. We also reached out to VCU staff and the people in charge of Richmond sidewalks to gain more insight on the realism of this project. We were quickly let know by several people via email that our goal was unrealistic in the time frame we had, and there would be too many steps to go through for anything meaningful to be done by the time this class finished. So, our group pivoted to creating an awareness campaign for the condition of the sidewalk as well as getting students to become more aware of the negative effects of leaving scooters everywhere. We began looking into digital advertising through VCU signs and the large screen on the Cabell library, as well as posters and printing options.

Next Sprint Plan - For the next sprint, our plan is to begin creating designs for our advertisements and posters, as well as possibly looking into a more hands-on approach such as sitting outside the library and doing a survey with students about the posters after we put them up about whether they have noticed the posters and if they changed the way they thought about the scooters in exchange for a sticker or something. Dalton and I are also going to begin creating mockups for the posters in Adobe.

Reflections - The outcome of this sprint admittedly didn't take me by much surprise, I had a feeling after the last sprint that we were most likely going to end up hitting a wall with the legal route of getting the sidewalk repaired. I'm glad we were able to pivot to a new idea quickly, as well as efficiently get a new plan in place. I am repeatedly very pleased with my group's drive to make progress in our plans as well as our communication and I hope we continue with this great working relationship as we go on.