I was a side-chick, too. Yes, believe it or not, I, Akilea McKay, the baddest chick at UDM, was a side-chick. If you read my article elsewhere in this issue, this will make sense. But if you haven’t yet, then go back, read that bad boy and then read my […]
Author: AKILEA McKAY/ VN
Blues aside, small classes are ‘great’
Around this time of year, it’s easy to get sucked into the I-hate-school frame of mind. With midterms around the corner, winter still in full blast and what seems like a forever amount of time until April 30, a lot of students, including myself, are dealing with some mid-semester blues. […]
‘Yoga with Jim’ soothes, relaxes students
Jim Stout has been involved with the University of Detroit Mercy for over twenty years. He has assisted with communication studies, tele-production, and now works in the IT department. But over the last couple years, Stout has been making a name for himself twice a week at the Student Fitness […]
Family ties to Kalamazoo shatter routine of death
Like many Americans, I awoke to some disturbing news on Sunday. Another rash of fatal shootings had broken out. However, these killings were in Kalamazoo, an area I’m somewhat familiar with. Six people were killed and two others wounded. Given the frequency of mass shootings in just the past year, […]
Skip those jokes about Zorro and Robin Hood
Three years ago, freshman Brock Bendes was bored on a Tuesday night in Shiple. Sparked by a flier hanging in the freshman dormitory, Bendes stumbled into one of UDM’s greatest and most unheralded traditions: the fencing team. Categorized by three different weapons (sabre, épée and foil), fencing glory is usually […]
Play raises awareness of homeless vets
The Theatre Company’s spring production “Low Hanging Fruit” by Robin Bradford, opens next Thursday, March 3, at the Marlene Boll Theatre at the YMCA in Detroit. The show is a joint project between UDM and Matrix theatre companies. “Low Hanging Fruit” tells the story of four ex-military women, broken and […]
The oh-so obvious parallels between ‘Spotlight,’ ‘Revenant,’ and ‘The Big Short’ and B-Ball’s Spurs, Bulls, Warriors
BY JOE OSTER VN FILM CRITIC The 88th Academy Awards competition appears to be going down to the wire for Best Picture. Just as in the three previous years, there is no clear-cut favorite with less than a week before the Oscars. Unlike previous ceremonies, three films are still […]
Who’s going to win Oscars
BY JOE OSTER VN FILM CRITIC I opened last year’s Academy Awards preview with overconfident gems such as: “Oscar night is one of the more underrated gambling nights of the year.” Or my personal favorite: “Find the quirk, bet the other favorites and that’s easy cash in your pocket.” […]
Flint native understands sense of betrayal
I am from Flint, Michigan. Flint families, not just mine, are suffering from the water tragedy there because it affects their day-to-day lives. The household that I grew up in and where my family still resides has been impacted by this water crisis. My mother has to boil water to […]
Friends can surface when you least expect
Many people come into situations not knowing what to expect. For myself, I thought classes at the University of Detroit Mercy would be easy and the basketball plays would be easy to learn. I thought that since UDM is such a small school and a mid-major basketball program in comparison […]
