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Emily Walker

Passing the Torch (Fall 2019)

December 1, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

Running a college newspaper can be difficult.

We attend not only a school where technology is the focus, but we also live in a world that encourages people to pursue careers in STEM and discourages those who want to do something outside of that. Working at the student newspaper when many people at Florida Tech don’t even know we have communications majors can be frustrating. It’s disheartening being turned down again and again and again by administrators when we ask for comments for articles we’re working on.

Visiting the Newseum and attending the National College Media Convention helped remind me and my writers how important our jobs are. We don’t write for ourselves; we write to provide information for others, to share stories and to shed light on the truth. 

With that being said, uncovering the truth can be difficult. Some of the topics I’ve explored since I joined The Crimson have taken a year of investigation before anyone could write a story about them. When you look into issues other than typical campus activities and sports, people become uncomfortable. If you’re lucky, administration will dance around your questions. If you’re not, they’ll turn you down for an interview or ignore your requests entirely. Getting necessary information can be nearly impossible, especially since we are at a private university and that keeps us from having access to many of our records.

As we’ve come to the middle of the school year and the end of the fall semester, we at The Crimson have realized we no longer advertise the school, we report on it. We have started to report on issues we’ve been hesitant to touch on before. The process has been grueling, but we believe sharing the truth we find as reporters is important above all else.

Olivia McKelvey has been someone I can only describe as intensely hungry for knowledge and driven to report. She has found difficult stories and pursued them to completion; no matter how much pushback she has gotten, she has always fought to get her stories written and written well. As an editor-in chief-and reporter, I was inspired by her to keep working to find the truth and not back down when people made getting information extremely difficult.

While I am excited to be graduating, I am sad my time at The Crimson was not longer. However, I believe in her capability as both a leader and as a reporter and cannot wait to see how she improves The Crimson with every issue. 

Filed Under: All-Stories, Opinion Tagged With: 2019, crimson, editor in chief, fall, florida tech, new, pass, passing on, spring

Rainbow Alliance marches in Space Coast Pride

October 2, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

Students of Rainbow Alliance walk down the parade. Photo by Emily Walker.

Thousands of Brevard residents gathered in Downtown Eau Gallie with rainbow flags, colorful makeup and balloons to attend Space Coast Pride’s annual parade on Sept. 28.

For the first time, Florida Tech’s LGBTQ group, Rainbow Alliance, marched in the parade.

For many members of Rainbow Alliance, this was not their first Pride. Jacob Chesslo, the club’s president and a senior in physics, said he attended his first Pride during his freshman year at Florida Tech.

“I was honestly overwhelmed at everything and wasn’t sure how to act or what to do,” Chesslo said. “At the end, I felt somewhat isolated. However, this year, it was very much the opposite. I’m much more open to the experience and enjoyed myself much more during this year’s Pride.”

Chesslo also said being in the parade gave him a mix of “anxiety and pride.”

“It is always an amazing feeling to be a part of something greater, and this was the perfect time to do so,” Chesslo said. “The other members of Rainbow Alliance made the anxiety lesser, and the overall experience was worth it.”

Sarah Edwards, a sophomore in aerospace engineering and Rainbow Alliance’s vice president, was another member to march in the parade.

“No Pride can ever truly compare to the first one,” Edwards said. “This one, however, was the first time I got to march in the parade. It was fantastic getting to watch the excited faces as they cheered you on, and getting to look out onto the endless line of rainbows.”

Edwards, who grew up in the suburbs of Nashville, said her first time attending a Pride event was at a previous Space Coast Pride event.

She said it was an experience she will never forget and something that helped her to see the acceptance around her.

“After spending most of my life in an area where homosexuality was the unspoken evil, I cannot even begin to describe to you the feeling of seeing so many supportive people in one place,” Edwards said. “It was so overwhelming I was almost brought to tears. It was very hard for me to grasp the idea that for the first time in my life, every soul around me was okay with this thing I was ashamed of and felt like I had to hide.”

Patrick Futch, Rainbow Alliance’s secretary and a junior in marine biology, also attended his first parade last year at Space Coast Pride.

“It was very overwhelming,” Futch said.

He went on to say he cried at one point during the parade because he had never been surrounded by so many accepting people.

Attending Space Coast Pride in 2018 helped Futch gain the confidence to come out.

“Pride is really, really important, especially for the people who haven’t come out,” Futch said. “I know from personal experience that having that support is really helpful, for if you want to come out or if you need support if maybe your family and friends aren’t so accepting.”

Helping people find support and acceptance is why Cortney Thompson, the president of Space Coast Pride, helps organize the Pride events every year.

Thompson, who attended his first Pride in New York in 2005, said the organization works in various ways to help the local LGBTQ community.

“Our biggest goal is to always represent our community by helping it grow, defending our community against attacks and spreading the message of love and acceptance,” Thompson said.

He went on to say their most recent goal has been to establish a community center, create scholarships and grow financially.

While Thompson is moving to Kentucky with his husband, making this his last Space Coast Pride, he said he is happy with the impact they have made.

“We’re so proud of this community and all that Pride represents,” Thompson said. “We encourage everyone to get involved. It really helps and makes a difference.”

Filed Under: Local, News Tagged With: alliance, gay, LGBTQ+, open, pride, rainbow, space coast

It Chapter Two: What’s better than friendship and horror?

September 20, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

Official movie poster by Warner Bros.

While in many ways “It Chapter Two” is less scary than the first movie, the larger cast, added humor and emotional ending made up for that.

At times the plot felt a bit scattered, with the movie taking nearly three hours to reach its conclusion.

However, it was never boring, keeping things interesting through flashbacks and present-day moments.

For the final hour of the movie, the action and emotion picked up, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

“It Chapter Two” used humor much more than the previous film. Bill Hader, who played adult Richie Tozier, pulled off most of the jokes.

He broke the tension in many scenes, adding levity in the moment.

His performance especially stood out because he balanced Richie’s humor with emotion and depth.

His humor was multifaceted and was often used as a coping mechanism, and there were many moments when Hader brought more somber emotions and depth to the character.

Another stand out actor was James McAvoy, who played adult Bill Denbrough.

McAvoy executed his character’s stutter from the first movie perfectly and brought maturity to the character while maintaining the rauma from his past.

As an adult, Bill is still dealing with the horror of losing his brother, Georgie, from the first movie.

McAvoy carries those feelings from his character’s childhood while adding a more adult perspective.

From his first moment on screen, James Ransone portrayed adult Eddie Kaspbrak perfectly, capturing his neurotic personality and tendency toward bickering with Richie.

While Ransone was given fewer outright jokes than Hader, his back-and-forth dialogue with the other characters and one-liners in tense situations added lightness to the movie.

Meanwhile, Jay Ryan played a more mature and confident adult Ben Hanscom that felt genuine and accurate to his character.

In “It Chapter Two,” Ben still deals with some of his insecurities from the first movie; however, Ryan shows how Ben has grown, ultimately bringing creating a multifaceted performance.

Isaiah Mustafa brought more life to Mike Hanlon’s character as an adult than the character had in the previous film, although he still felt like he was in the background, as much of the movie focused on the other Losers’ fears and relationships.

Andy Bean portrayed Stanley Uris’ quiet, hesitant personality spot-on.

What he lacked in screen time he made up for in his understated yet honest performance. While Jessica Chastain was an adequate adult Beverly Marsh, she lacked the spunk Sophia Lillis brought to her younger counterpart. She was placed in certain situations where it felt like she should have had a stronger reaction than she did.

However, in quieter moments, she captured much of Beverly’s spirit in her relationship with the other Losers, which made up for what she lacked.

This movie was more violent than the first “It” movie, though it wasn’t as scary.

For the most part, the jump scares were predictable, and most of the monsters looked more ridiculous than terrifying.

The few times the film was truly creepy usually involved Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgård.

Skarsgård plays a truly creepy villain because he gets characters–and sometimes viewers–to sympathize with him.

He knows what many of them are insecure about and uses it to lure them to him.

As with the previous movie, the scenes with him manifesting as the various fears of the Losers grab viewers’ attention.

These scenes were typically more emotional and intense than outright scary, which felt more fitting for the grown-up Losers.

The movie focused more on the darkness of mankind rather than typical horror tropes, using hate crimes and domestic violence to show real-life evil.

These scenes were disturbingly real and brutal; while they helped drive the story forward and showed exactly how dark the world is, they felt unnecessarily graphic at times.

The visuals were never particularly realistic, although this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Many times, the monsters were so bizarre that despite the good CGI, they still looked more laughable than frightful.

They could have done a better job with the animation of people; there were a couple times where people were animated to look like monsters and again ended up looking more ridiculous than horrifying.

However, the unusual visuals didn’t destroy the experience.

In addition to the more traditional effects, they used CGI and an effect on the child actors’ voices to make them seem slightly younger so as to appear the age they had been in the previous film.

This was done seamlessly; the kids looked and sounded remarkably similar to how they did in the first film.

The score, composed by Benjamin Wallfisch, helped set up for creepy moments and built emotion in the quieter, more reflective scenes.

It tied the movie together well and helped make this somewhat messy sequel three-dimensional and enjoyable.

Overall, “It Chapter Two” lacks the finesse of the first film in terms of the plot and the use of typical horror tropes.

However, the characters drive the story. “It Chapter Two” takes a much deeper dive into what makes each Loser tick than the previous film, and ultimately the characters are what make this an enjoyable film.

With its lovable characters, humor and exploration of deeper themes, “It Chapter Two” makes for a fun night out.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Opinion Tagged With: clown, florida tech, it, it chapter 2, movie, movie review, pennywise, review, warner bros

Tropical depression becomes tropical storm

September 14, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

The tropical depression has developed into Tropical Storm Humberto, according to the National Hurricane Center.

It is expected to pass well offshore of the east coast of Florida this weekend.

Experts predict it will gradually move away from the northwestern Bahamas late Saturday.

With maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour, it is expected to become a category one hurricane by Sunday night.

Filed Under: Local

Brevard County under tropical storm watch

September 13, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

The National Hurricane Center announced at eight a.m. Friday morning that multiple counties in Florida are under a tropical storm watch, including Brevard County.

Currently, the storm is a tropical disturbance, though it is forecast to potentially become a tropical depression or tropical storm by late Friday or Saturday.

The system is expected to move across the central and northwestern Bahamas on Friday and along or over the east coast of Florida on Saturday night and Sunday.

Filed Under: Local

Hurricane Dorian past Melbourne

September 4, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

Hurricane Dorian passed over Brevard County late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning and is expected to move parallel to the Georgia coast tonight, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The National Weather Service reported less than an inch of rainfall occurred in Melbourne. Heavy rain could still occur over North Brevard, as well as wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour.

However, they report the threat of heavy rain and winds for the rest of Brevard has “greatly diminished.”

Filed Under: Local

Dorian weakens to category two

September 3, 2019 by Emily Walker 1 Comment

Hurricane Dorian has weakened to a category two hurricane, according to National Hurricane Center. However, it is growing in size, with hurricane-force winds extending outward 60 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extending 175 miles outward.

Dorian is moving northwest at two miles per hour and is expected to move close to Florida’s east coast tonight through Wednesday evening.

Filed Under: Local

Hurricane Dorian weakens to a category four

September 2, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

Hurricane Dorian has weakened to a category four hurricane, according to an update posted at noon Monday by the National Hurricane Center.

Its maximum sustained windspeed is 155 miles per hour.

It is moving at one mile per hour and is still expected to move close to the east coast of Florida Monday night.

Filed Under: Local

Florida Tech cancels classes through Thursday

September 2, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

Florida Tech made an announcement on Monday morning that all classes will be cancelled through Thursday, with staff and faculty being requested to return to work on Thursday.

There are no mandatory evacuations. However, Florida Tech will provide transportation for those who wish to go to local shelters today between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Hurricane Dorian remains a category five, although its maximum sustained windspeed has dropped to 165 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane-force winds extend up to 45 miles from the core, while tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 145 miles.

Dorian is expected to move close to Florida Monday night through Wednesday evening.

Filed Under: Local

Brevard County under hurricane watch

September 1, 2019 by Emily Walker Leave a Comment

Brevard County is under a hurricane watch as Hurricane Dorian reaches 180 mile per hour sustained wind speeds according to the National Hurricane Center.

Dorian has grown bigger, with hurricane-force winds extending 45 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extending 140 miles from the center.

It is still expected to move closer to Florida’s east coast by late Monday night or early Tuesday.

Filed Under: Local

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