By Ben Sellers
sellersjcb@vcu.edu

Who gave to President Obama? Click on the image for an interactive chart of the most commonly recurring names based on the Federal Election Commission’s contribution receipts.

While the Obama administration’s recently released records of White House visitors for the period spanning Jan. 20 through Aug. 31 may raise a few red flags, one thing that the president’s detractors can’t accuse him of, based on the information, is political patronage.

Due to bad data, comparing the vistor list to the Federal Election Commission’s list of campaign contributors would not necessarily indicate whether a named individual on the visitor list had contributed campaign funds. On the other hand, a lack of identifying information means an array of false positive matches might appear.

The White House visitor database includes records for about 800 unique visitors from Obama’s first eight months in office. Several apparent misspellings, however, make the exact number of visitors more difficult to determine without further verification. By contrast, according to the FEC’s database of campaign contributions, Obama had roughly 760,000 unique campaign contributors with donations cross-matched for city, state and occupation.

WHO’S VISITING?
Topping the list of White House visitors, with 62 visits during the time span, was Lee Sachs, an advisor to Treasury secretary Tim Geithner. Although Sachs isn’t listed as having made any contributions, a $4,600 contribution by a Lee Sacks of Chicago might well belong to him.

The person with the second-most White House visits was Richard Davis, with 57 visits over the eight-month span. But with at least 27 possible campaign donors by that name, there is no indication whether this Richard Davis is the media consultant in Alexandria who gave $1,000 during the campaign; the chief financial officer for Universal Health Services who gave $500; the musician from Chicago who gave $710; or Rick Davis, the self-employed consultant in Springfield, Ill., who gave $215.

Because the White House and FEC lists contain similar names, matching them may also produce misleading results even when only one name appears. For example, it’s not likely that there was any pay-to-play involved in Gary Bauer’s two White House visits. Even though the FEC lists Gary Bauer of Alameda, Calif. as having given $714 to the Obama campaign in nine separate donations, more than likely the Gary Bauer who visited the White House was not the service technician for Heidelberg USA but rather the one-time presidential candidate who now heads the anti-abortion group American Values. Or perhaps it was a third Gary Bauer entirely.

Likewise, the White House cautions on its Web site that some of the names included on its list of visitors may not be who people think they are: “This unprecedented level of transparency can sometimes be confusing rather than providing clear information…. Given this large amount of data, the records we are publishing today include a few ‘false positives’–names that make you think of a well-known person, but are actually someone else.  In September, requests were submitted for the names of some famous or controversial figures (for example Michael Jordan, William Ayers, Michael Moore, Jeremiah Wright, Robert Kelly (‘R. Kelly’), and [New Black Panther Party head] Malik Shabazz).  The well-known individuals with those names never actually came to the White House.”

A BROKEN PROMISE
The lack of identifying information about the visitors is one of a number of issues that transparency advocates have taken with the release. Although the White House touts the disclosure as “transparency like you’ve never seen before,” journalists such as MSNBC.com’s Bill Dedman have been unsuccessful thus far in compelling the Obama administration to release additional information under the Freedom of Information Act. In particular, Dedman objects to the fact that the visitor logs include only a partial list of names. Others were excluded for security reasons or because they were Obama family friends, according to the White House.

“What the Obama administration is doing is forcing the public and press to play a guessing game. If you send in a name of a possible visitor from that period, the White House may confirm that such a person visited. Or it may not,” wrote Dedman in an e-mail posted on the list-serve of the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.

Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit, recently filed suit against the Secret Service, which oversees the data via its Workers Appointments and Visitors Entry System records, to force the agency to comply with a recent FOIA request. The group especially would like more information about whom White House visitors are meeting with and what the purposes of the visits are. Such details are included in the Secret Service’s WAVES records but were deliberately omitted from the public records, said Judicial Watch Director of Research Chris Farrell.

“The Obama administration, they’ve talked a good game, but they really need to comply with the law… their words and their actions are completely inconsistent,” said Farrell.

Suing the White House is not a new measure for Judicial Watch, which previously filed suit against the George W. Bush administration for the release of records surrounding the visits of scandal-ridden lobbyist Jack Abramoff. “The Bush administration was sort of Nixonian in their—some would call it paranoia, others would call it a high, high degree of being less transparent,” said Farrell.

But in spite of Obama’s promises for transparency, “when push comes to shove, when you talk about performance and compliance, they’re worse than the Bush administration,” he added. “It’s sort of ironic.”

AN OPEN BOOK
Another government watchdog organization was more optimistic that the administration’s promises of transparency ultimately will be fulfilled. Dave Levinthal, communications director for the politically neutral Center for Responsive Politics, which operates government fund-tracking site OpenSecrets.org, said the overtures toward transparency were a good start, even if they have yet to be fully realized.

“A lot of folks would like to see the list be more frequent, perhaps more detailed … it’s one thing to say you’re going to be more transparent. When you actually have to be transparent, that’s another thing.”

Levinthal said that the administration has followed through, to an extent, on a similar campaign promise of reducing the influence of lobbyists.

“I don’t know if the final word has been written … there’s a lot of time left for the administration to either prove or disprove its assertion that it’s going to be a much more transparent administration than those previous,” he said.

As to whether campaign contributors might figure prominently on the list of White House visitors, Levinthal said he wouldn’t be surprised to find a correlation, just as one might find a link in other areas like diplomatic appointments.

“Campaign contributions—they oftentimes will indicate a relationship. … You’re unlikely to give $2000 to someone you don’t support. … If person knows you’ve given money, you’re gonna be more inclined to make sure that person is welcomed,” he said.
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The recently released CIUS report lists UCLA as having the highest number of violent crimes for the year 2008, with 58, while UC Berkeley is a not-too-distant second with 46 violent crimes for the year. Violent crimes included in the data are murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

The two California schools also led in violent crimes per capita among large schools—those ranked among the top 100 nationwide for student enrollment. The schools (both of which have student populations in the mid-30,000s) had about 15 and 13 violent crimes per 10,000 students, respectively.

But those numbers don’t tell the entire story, said Jonathan Kassa, executive director for the nonprofit Security On Campus Inc.

“You really want to go beyond the statistics. Statistics are the beginning and the end, but [they’re] only the tip of the iceberg of the comprehensive policy and process,” Kassa said.

In many cases, Kassa said, higher numbers simply mean schools are getting better at reporting existing statistics. “You’ll have very low numbers that don’t necessarily reflect what the research has shown compared with schools that actually have a higher [number of reported crimes]—we like to tell students and parents that [the higher number] may indeed be a safer school.”

What’s equally important, he added, was to look at whether the school had a comprehensive policy for addressing security issues, both on and off campus. Kassa said one of the people leading the way in campus security issues was Eugene Zdziarski, vice president for student affairs at Roanoke College in Salem, Va.

Zdziarski’s longstanding interest in security issues was put to the test in 1999. As the associate director for student life at Texas A&M University, he was in charge of coordinating the emergency response when a bonfire collapsed, killing 12 students.

“For me it’s always been an area of keen interest,” he said. But “certainly that experience solidified for me my priority in making [security coordination] a strong role as a college administrator.”

Zdziarski later became dean of students at the University of Florida, where he worked closely with local law enforcement on security issues, Klasso said. “When you get dean at that level embracing … public safety, you’re really going to get somewhere.”

Though the campus at Roanoke College, where Zdziarski moved in September 2008, is considerably smaller than his previous schools, he has begun to put in place a new crisis management plan at the school that includes added training for crisis responders, a card system for accessing buildings and emergency telephones with flashing blue lights.

“These are long term goals—particularly in this economy the money’s not there to do it all at once, but if you identify a problem, it can be accomplished,” Zdziarski said.

The FBI crime statistics for 2008 did not include Roanoke College.

One thing that has had a profound impact on his efforts is the April 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech, a mere 40 miles from Roanoke College. The tragedy has helped raise people’s awareness of security issues, both in Virginia and on a nationwide level.

“It’s unfortunate, but oftentimes the resources, the time, the attention to it aren’t really available till something happens,” Zdziarski said.

Corp. James Deford, a community policing officer and crime prevention specialist at Virginia Commonwealth University, said other states looked to Virginia to lead the way following the Virginia Tech events. “Unfortunately, because of what happened in our state, we’ve become a leader in prevention.”

VCU ranked sixth among the country’s 100 largest schools for its violent crime rate. The school, with 31,700 students in 2008, reported about seven crimes per 10,000 students. However, six smaller schools in Virginia had higher violent crime rates.

In addition to implementing a text-messaging alert system, adding more campus alert boxes and beefing up rapid response since the Virginia Tech shootings, the school has emphasized its efforts to curb crime through prevention. This includes putting plain-clothes officers out to appear as victims and, in cases of larceny, using personal items as bait.

“We’re doing a lot more to be out there first,” Deford said.

But there are simple things students could also do to help ensure their safety on and around campus. “The biggest thing we push is self-awareness, to be aware of what’s going on around you and what type of environment you’re in,” Deford said.

“When you’re walking down street you don’t want to have your head down texting or have both earbuds in—make people aware that you’re paying attention to them as well so it makes you less of a target.”

It has been about a century since Rusty Fallen’s families—the Mehfouds on her mother’s side and the Gibralls on her father’s side—made their way to Richmond. These days, the small, Middle Eastern country of Lebanon—bordered by Israel, Syria and the Mediterranean Sea—seems overwrought with conflict. But for Fallen’s forebears, the world was a different place.

Aziza's owner Rusty Fallen puts away a sheet of freshly baked pastries.

“When my family migrated here, people were just coming for opportunity,” said Fallen. “There was no war over there—everything was fine.” 

Fallen said her Mehfoud grandparents came to America for a visit around 1916 and decided to stay. They settled in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, not far from the Church Hill neighborhood. There, Fallen’s parents eventually opened a restaurant, the Henrico Inn, serving homemade Lebanese fare.

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What does it mean to be Lebanese? University of Richmond Middle East scholar Sheila Carapico explains the historical and contemporary influences that have helped to define Lebanese culture in this podcast.

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Grape leaves and family roots

Fallen and her son Billy now carry on the family tradition with Aziza’s, a restaurant named for her mother that opened last September a block away from the original Henrico Inn. The restaurant’s menu still emphasizes traditional Lebanese cuisine with items such as tabbouleh, hummous and grape leaf rolls.

As in many cultures, in a Lebanese household the idea of hospitality often focuses on food, said Fallen’s brother Philip “Baltimore” Gibrall, who now owns the McGuire Park Pharmacy next door to Aziza’s. “Basically, when you come over to someone’s house, the first thing they want to do is feed you,” said Gibrall.

Yet Fallen and Gibrall both agreed that there is more to Lebanese identity than just a full stomach. “The food plays a big part—but, you know, I think it’s the family,” said Fallen. “My husband is not Lebanese, but my children, when someone asks, ‘What culture are you?’ they say ‘Lebanese.’”

A close-knit community

Part of it has to do with proximity. Growing up, many of the Lebanese families in the area lived nearby and sent their kids to school at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

“We were raised in tight-knit community. All the kids we went to school with in the area and socialized with, for the most part, were Lebanese,” said Gibrall. As for the family’s connection to its heritage, “You couldn’t avoid it when everybody around you came from the same place,” he said.  

Since then, many of the Lebanese families have made their way to Richmond’s West End, said Gibrall. But community spirit remains strong thanks to St. Anthony Maronite Church in Glen Allen. Billy Fallen said his mother was not only active in the church, but also volunteered with St. Anthony’s annual Lebanese Food Festival, a Richmond tradition that celebrated its 25th anniversary in May.

The festival is perhaps the most prominent symbol of Richmond’s Lebanese heritage for outsiders. Bridget Fitzpatrick, a recent VCU graduate and server at Aziza’s, said that Lebanese cuisine has become something of a “staple in the area.” Fitzgerald added that she enjoys the food festival because it gives people the opportunity to try new things. “It kind of gives a diverse feel on different cultures.”   

And for those within the city’s Lebanese community, the festival offers yet another chance to reconnect. Though Fallen spent many years in Newport News after marrying in 1969, she said she made a point of returning to St. Anthony for the food festival when it began. “The church keeps us close,” she said.

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The American flag flies above the entrance to the Phoenician.

Nearly a century after immigrating to the United States, Rusty Fallen’s family has become an institution in Richmond’s Lebanese community. But while Fallen’s family came simply for opportunity, others such as Naji Kadi came under far different circumstances, during a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990. Learn about Kadi’s moving journey and the story of his West Broad Street restaurant, The Phoenician, in this audio slideshow.

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A return to Lebanon

In August, Fallen will visit her cousins in Lebanon for the first time with a delegation that includes family members and St. Anthony’s Monsignor George Sebaali. “I’ve always wanted to go, but never had the opportunity,” said Fallen. She also hopes to visit New York’s Ellis Island some time and see how her father and grandparents entered the country. But for all her travels, it seems Fallen will always make her way back home, whether it’s for the food or the family.

 For Grant Mudge, the artistic director of Richmond Shakespeare, there’s something special about seeing the bard performed at Agecroft Hall.

“It’s hard to beat that building as a backdrop, playing in the courtyard of a 500-year-old building behind you that stood in England during Shakespeare’s lifetime, to which he could have traveled,” said Mudge.

Visitors to Agecroft Hall pass by Richmond Shakespeare's courtyard theater.

 
A win-win situation

The historic estate has been home to Richmond Shakespeare’s summer festival for the past 11 years, said Agecroft Hall Executive Director Richard Moxley. The 2009 summer season, which featured productions of “Henry V” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will wrap up its third and final production, “Hamlet,” on Aug. 2. 

“Doing something as taxing as ‘Hamlet, you’ve really gotta flex all your muscles,” said actor Jeff Rey, who plays the title character in the production. “… It’s been really cool to be able to reference a house that’s so old—it helps give a sense of community with the text and with the play as a whole,” he said.

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Tourism at Agecroft has faced a decline in recent years, but the estate continues to generate interest from those local to Richmond and farther away. Find out more by listening to the following podcast.

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The festival also brings something unique to Agecroft Hall, said John Bilhartz, a tour guide and weekend manager. “It attracts a different crowd—usually younger,” he said. It’s one of the only times the stage is put up in the estate’s courtyard and picnics are allowed on the lawn outside. “It makes a good date night,” Bilhartz said.

 Weathering the seasons

Richmond Shakespeare, a 25-year-old nonprofit organization, has toured in 23 states and performed for more than 100,000 people, said Mudge. In addition to the summer festival, it also holds an indoor series in the offseason. The indoor series, which has been held in a church in the past, will join eight other Richmond performance groups a new location, Richmond CenterStage, this fall. A grand opening set for Sept. 12 will feature performances by all of the groups.

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Tour guide John Bilhartz peers out from the doorway at the entrance to Agecroft Hall.

Agecroft Hall has only been open as a tourist attraction since the 1970s, but its history dates back centuries. Part of the house was relocated from England to its current location, overlooking the James River, in the 1920s. Find out more by clicking on the photo above for an audio slideshow. 
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But audiences can still look forward to the company’s return next summer to Agecroft Hall. For Mudge and many others, there’s something special about seeing the plays performed outdoors, the way Shakespeare intended them to be seen at London’s open-air Globe Theatre.  

“While we’re out there, we notice all of the weather references in all of the plays … and of course, the joke we always tell the audience is we’ll play in sprinkles and in light rain, because, of course, it never rains in England,” Mudge said.

Ashland Coffee and Tea’s new owners moved from retirement in Northern Virginia to a bustling coffeeshop that’s filled with its share of challenges–but the lively atmosphere is just what they’re looking for.

Truman and Moya Parmele, the new owners of Ashland Coffee and Tea, are looking for ideas to improve the place. A revolving door might be a good start.

This Saturday morning, the cozy café on North Railroad Avenue, Ashland’s downtown thoroughfare, was bustling with bicyclists on the morning ride to Richmond, families getting ready to visit the town’s annual Strawberry Faire at nearby Randolph Macon College and the members of the Hanover Democratic Committee—who meet there once a month—sporting Terry McAuliffe T–shirts.

“This is what a typical Saturday is like,” said Truman Parmele, a retired government contractor, in the café’s cramped business office, where items remained scattered on tables following a flood that forced staff to move all the furniture out and mop up the restaurant.

Yet, the Reston couple, who still commute to Northern Virginia a few days every week, wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Ashland is known as the center of the universe,” said Truman. “And we’re the epicenter,” added Moya.

Made for TV?

When they bought the 13-year-old business six weeks ago from its original owners—Jim and Mary Leffler, and Kay Landry—the Parmeles still had one problem: nowhere to live. The couple had yet to sell their house in Reston—so they set up a trailer at the Americamps campground off nearby Interstate 95.

Shortly after they took over, a reporter from a local paper did a profile on the new owners. “He said it was the background for a sitcom: Retired couple gives up retirement, moves to Americamps, takes over eccentric coffee shop,” said Moya.

The staff at Ashland Coffee and Tea helps keep the day-to-day operations lively, she added. During a recent concert in the café’s adjoining music hall, one of the cooks wore a poodle skirt to the bar across the street and “was treated at the bar by many bikers,” said Moya.

The staff also helped make the first big catastrophe, last week’s flood, easier to bear by joking around, even mopping up the street, she added. “People don’t seem to have the attitude that they did in Northern Virginia—they’re not as uptight, a little more relaxed.”

Their own style

The Parmeles are now looking at ways to add their own touches to the restaurant while maintaining the traditions that customers have come to love.

Donna Baxter, manager of the Ashland & Hanover Visitor’s Center, said she doesn’t get to Ashland Coffee and Tea that often, but enjoys the food.

“It’s all the sweet things they have in that little case … but mainly I go for the sandwiches,” she said.

The menu offerings—such as a breakfast bagel with ham, egg and Cheddar cheese—are typical of any Main Street café. But customer Maritia Hardy, a retired schoolteacher from Henrico County’s L. Douglas Wilder Middle School, said it was the subtle touches, like poppy-seed bagels, that added to the café’s appeal.

“Panera—they never have poppy seed, and that’s one thing I’ve noticed here they always have,” said Hardy. “When you get to know a place, I think that’s important that you rely on something.”

Erik Rison, a 19-year-old student at the University of Virginia who began working for the café during breaks while attending Patrick Henry High School, agreed that small things—like getting fresh fruit—were what stood out about the new ownership.

And even the shuffling of furniture after the flood gave the café’s employees a chance to stir things up a little bit, he added. “It’s all working out now—we’ve got it back up and running.”