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Dec. 18, 2024
By Haley Tenore

Melanie Cruz may be a self-described introvert, but she is demonstrably outgoing when it comes to promoting health access.
Cruz graduates this month with her second degree from Virginia Commonwealth University – a master’s in public health. Along the way, she has built an impressive résumé, highlighted by her inclusion in the selective Virginia Management Fellows Program and her bilingual initiatives.
Cruz became interested in public health during her undergraduate studies at VCU when she visited the Dominican Republic with the School of Medicine. She has a Spanish-speaking background – her family is from Honduras – and she worked as a medical interpreter. During what she called her “eye-opening” visit, she saw the limited health care available for rural communities.
“These experiences inspired me to pursue a career in public health – to instill change and advocate for those affected in these communities,” Cruz said.
Her advocacy mindset is being framed in part by serving as a Virginia Management Fellow, which allows her to complete three eight-month rotations at state agencies. The program lets students and newly graduated professionals explore careers in government, and Cruz has completed two of her three rotations – at the Department of Health Professionals and soon, the Department of Emergency Management.
“I’m really doing a little bit of everything, really, but most of my work has been around developing job aids and training materials,” Cruz said.
Though she is now well into the fellowship, she remembered how nervous she felt during the application process.
“It was pretty nerve-racking because it was around 300 people that applied,” Cruz said. “It was a very competitive internship, and 30 of us got selected.”
Cruz earned her VCU bachelor’s degree in biology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, with minors in chemistry and sociology, and she decided to pursue her master’s at VCU in the School of Public Health because she enjoys the “community engagement opportunities that the city provides.” That includes her volunteer work for Shalom Farms, a nonprofit that provides fresh produce to communities in Richmond. Her efforts have included translating documents from English to Spanish and helping at markets, mostly in Spanish-speaking communities.
“I told my advisor that I wanted to do volunteer work. I felt like I needed to be more engaged with the community. So, my advisor does nutrition research, and she had connections with Shalom Farms,” Cruz said. “It was honestly so much fun. I really enjoyed it.”
Cruz said she has been impressed by VCU’s diversity and had special praise for two of her professors with Latina backgrounds.
She met Gabriela León-Pérez, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, as an undergraduate and worked as a research assistant on one of her projects.
“I’ve been very impressed by Melanie’s dedication and intrinsic motivations, and how she has proactively sought out a variety of opportunities to strengthen her research skills and her public health training,” León-Pérez said.
And in the School of Public Health, Cruz met Elizabeth Prom-Wormley, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology who described Cruz as “super quiet” but with a commitment and curiosity that shined through.
“She wants her work to impact her community, the Latino community. She has a real passion for that,” Prom-Wormley said. “As a professor, It makes me motivated to help somebody so passionate about their commitment to making their community a better place.”
In January, shortly after graduation, Cruz will begin her third and final rotation as a Virginia Management Fellow. After she finishes the program in August, she hopes to get a job in public health – she is interested in health intervention development, program evaluation or policy analysis – and eventually attend medical school.
Her professors are excited about her future – and confident that Cruz’s passion will lead to great achievement.
Cruz is “willing to go the extra mile,” Prom-Wormley said, and “willing to put the work in.”
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Kelli Feldman named dean of the VCU School of Education
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Class of 2024: Nadia Tasnim Ahmed is the nation’s first to earn this degree
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Class of 2024: Hazel Hoffman put their stamp on the inaugural Student Podcast Day
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On the fast tracks: Media entrepreneurship class produces an album with Ram rhythm
Dec. 18, 2024
Class of 2024: With a master’s in public health, Melanie Cruz looks to serve diverse communities
Dec. 17, 2024
Class of 2024: For Sydney Griffin, a passion for psychology is personal
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From A (arts) to Z (zoology), VCU alum Carl Patow is a true renaissance man
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Happy Holidays from VCU
Keep up with the latest at VCU

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Charleston City Paper
MORNING HEADLINES  |  Gun violence on the nation’s school grounds has seen a notable uptick over the last four years, according to a review of data collected by the K-12 School Shooting Database. 
According to the report, there were 116 school gun incidents involving brandishing or shooting weapons in 2020, but the numbers jumped dramatically in the years following – from 257 incidents nationally in 2021 to 349 in 2023.  So far this year, there have been 326 incidents, the report said.
In a different metric across the nation since the beginning of this year, there have been 488 total mass shootings, which included those at schools, according to gunviolencearchive.org.
In South Carolina since Nov. 27, 20 people have been shot and killed across the state, including one in Charleston County.  Another 15 were hurt in shootings, according to data collected through the City Paper’s weekly Gun Violence Tracker.
In The New York Times today, David Riedman, the founder of the K-12 database, said researchers define shootings at schools in many different ways, “but in any one of those measures, the trend line is up.”
The uptick in school gun violence re-entered the national conversation this week after the authorities said a 15-year-old student opened fire at a Christian school in Madison, Wis., on Monday, killing another student and a teacher, while injuring six others.   And Dec. 14 was the twelfth anniversary of the Newtown, Conn., shooting that killed 20 students and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
In other headlines:
CP NEWS: Combination bar, dog park now open in North Charleston. The Broken Leash opened over the weekend at 8811 Old University Blvd. in North Charleston. The space features two fenced-in areas for dogs to play off-leash, one for dogs under 25 pounds and one for larger dogs. Both areas are supervised by “rufferees” who will make sure everyone’s pooch gets along. The bar, dedicated to customers 21 and older, will serve a range of local craft beers and wines.
Fraternities, sororities at S.C. universities cited for hazing students. Five fraternities and sororities at the University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston were punished for hazing this fall, according to the universities’ state-mandated reports.
Charleston takes next step to build Johns Island fire station. Construction of a multi-million-dollar fire station on Johns Island is finally moving forward after years of talk as the City of Charleston approved a construction manager at risk contract during Tuesday night’s council meeting.
Charleston Waterkeeper uses seeds to repair Lowcountry oyster reef coastlines. Charleston Waterkeeper is participating in the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ “South Carolina Oyster Recycling and Enhancement” by harvesting marsh grass seeds to ensure healthy oyster reefs continue to exist along the Lowcountry shoreline.
Lowes Foods eyes 2025 opening for Maybank Highway location. The KJ’s Market at 3575 Maybank Highway is getting a facelift and upgrade as plans to turn the market into a Lowes Food is expected next year. KJ’s is one of the main food-shopping options on the island with the next-closest supermarket being a Food Lion 3 miles away.
Tanger Outlets expands hours for holiday shopping. Tanger Outlets Charleston has extended its hours and is offering daily deals to assist with holiday shopping in the Lowcountry.
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Meet Simone Carter, McClatchy’s new Washington state government reporter  The Olympian
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BlackRock says diversify your portfolio with gold and bitcoin  Investing.com
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A student walks on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City in April. (Erika Bolstad/Stateline)
Utah is growing to be one of the most innovative states in the U.S. If you ask the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, their experts would say it ranks No. 1 among the other states for innovation capacity and outcomes. 
That ranking spot was determined because of the state’s Innovation Intelligence Index score, an Indiana Business Research Center metric that measures core attributes of innovations, including human capital, business dynamics, employment, productivity and economic well-being. However, the study also considered additional data from other “additional data from other credible sources and insights from in-depth interviews of Utah’s innovation ecosystem leaders and pioneers,” according to the report.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
The Beehive State has a broad umbrella of industries that attract human capital and knowledge creation, according to a news release. Some of those are in “various levels of maturity,” the report found, making a deep emphasis on aeronautics; space exploration and defense; energy production; finance, fintech and headquarters; health care and life sciences; and technology and  information systems. 
Higher education institutions, highlighted as part of Utah’s innovation ecosystem in the report, offer degrees that align with those industries. And, the state allocates more funds to the schools compared to the national average. 
“For instance, Utah State University (USU) specializes in aerospace engineering and technology,” researchers wrote. “While the University of Utah excels in life sciences, health care, general engineering, and business degrees for financial services and fintech.”
Private institutions such as Brigham Young University, which is a leader in business programs, also contribute to this landscape, the report reads. 
The report comes after a legislative audit recommended cutting some low-performing programs and prioritizing degrees that attract students and improve their employment outcomes. Though the Utah System of Higher Education already collaborates with academic institutions and private companies to expand career opportunities, the study advises keeping collaborative partnerships between government, schools and industries.
In addition to changes in demands for certain degrees, students have also shifted other preferences in their learning experience — they would like more in-person collaboration and fewer lecture-based classes, a higher education leader told the researchers.
“This shift indicates a demand for a more experiential and interactive learning environment. Developing and expanding workforce training programs will help bridge the gap between academic and industry requirements,” the report reads. “Such programs should focus on equipping students with practical skills and an understanding of the cultural and environmental aspects of the future workplaces.”
The study, also co-led by the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah), explains that Utah’s success, apart from its higher education system, is attributed to “a well-trained workforce, social infrastructure, collaboration among innovation ecosystem actors, and a culture of innovation,” according to the release. 
“And with specific industry-aligned innovation ecosystems in Utah now identified, this initial evaluation highlights opportunities for their continued maturity and success,” Nate Lloyd, director of economic research at the Gardner Institute and lead author of the report, said in a statement.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
by Alixel Cabrera, Utah News Dispatch
December 18, 2024
by Alixel Cabrera, Utah News Dispatch
December 18, 2024
Utah is growing to be one of the most innovative states in the U.S. If you ask the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, their experts would say it ranks No. 1 among the other states for innovation capacity and outcomes. 
That ranking spot was determined because of the state’s Innovation Intelligence Index score, an Indiana Business Research Center metric that measures core attributes of innovations, including human capital, business dynamics, employment, productivity and economic well-being. However, the study also considered additional data from other “additional data from other credible sources and insights from in-depth interviews of Utah’s innovation ecosystem leaders and pioneers,” according to the report.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
The Beehive State has a broad umbrella of industries that attract human capital and knowledge creation, according to a news release. Some of those are in “various levels of maturity,” the report found, making a deep emphasis on aeronautics; space exploration and defense; energy production; finance, fintech and headquarters; health care and life sciences; and technology and  information systems. 
Higher education institutions, highlighted as part of Utah’s innovation ecosystem in the report, offer degrees that align with those industries. And, the state allocates more funds to the schools compared to the national average. 
“For instance, Utah State University (USU) specializes in aerospace engineering and technology,” researchers wrote. “While the University of Utah excels in life sciences, health care, general engineering, and business degrees for financial services and fintech.”
Private institutions such as Brigham Young University, which is a leader in business programs, also contribute to this landscape, the report reads. 
The report comes after a legislative audit recommended cutting some low-performing programs and prioritizing degrees that attract students and improve their employment outcomes. Though the Utah System of Higher Education already collaborates with academic institutions and private companies to expand career opportunities, the study advises keeping collaborative partnerships between government, schools and industries.
In addition to changes in demands for certain degrees, students have also shifted other preferences in their learning experience — they would like more in-person collaboration and fewer lecture-based classes, a higher education leader told the researchers.
“This shift indicates a demand for a more experiential and interactive learning environment. Developing and expanding workforce training programs will help bridge the gap between academic and industry requirements,” the report reads. “Such programs should focus on equipping students with practical skills and an understanding of the cultural and environmental aspects of the future workplaces.”
The study, also co-led by the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah), explains that Utah’s success, apart from its higher education system, is attributed to “a well-trained workforce, social infrastructure, collaboration among innovation ecosystem actors, and a culture of innovation,” according to the release. 
“And with specific industry-aligned innovation ecosystems in Utah now identified, this initial evaluation highlights opportunities for their continued maturity and success,” Nate Lloyd, director of economic research at the Gardner Institute and lead author of the report, said in a statement.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
Alixel Cabrera covers the status of diverse Utah communities, growth, infrastructure and education for Utah News Dispatch.
Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. (See full republishing guidelines.)
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Bitcoin Rally Pauses After Scaling $108,000 for the First Time  Yahoo Finance
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LiveGood, a direct selling company launched just 13 months ago, has already reached the milestone of one million members. Focused on helping people through advanced nutritional supplementation made with results-driven ingredients, LiveGood operates as a membership-based program and differentiates itself through a lower-cost pricing strategy that prioritizes direct membership sales and affiliate marketing. Memberships provide access to wholesale product pricing and are available for $9.95 per month or $99.95 annually with the ability to cancel at any time. The company also offers an affiliate marketing opportunity that customers can leverage to earn money on products they share with others. 
The company’s growing product portfolio includes a variety of multivitamins and supplementations that target specific needs, like sleep aids, inflammation management, muscle recovery and weight management. All of them are manufactured in the US, have been produced in a cGMP/NSF certified manufacturing facility and were developed under the guide of LiveGood’s Director of Product Development Ryan Goodkin, who holds a doctorate in pharmacy and has a background as a natural health practitioner and pharmacist. 
“I don’t create products to sell,” Goodkin said. “I create products to use, and for my family to use. There is no way I am going to let my family put something in their body that I don’t trust 100%. That’s why I started LiveGood. I formulated every product. I know exactly what is in them. And I would not go a day without them!” 
LiveGood’s unique pricing strategy eliminates the “middle man” and instead delivers products directly to the consumer at a lower price point. This approach, which has already attracted one million members and counting, led the company to grow its revenue 3000% in its first full year, from $300,000 in 2022 to $92 million in 2023.
Members who are interested in developing a side hustle can utilize the company’s affiliate program to earn additional income by sharing the LiveGood memberships and products without the pressures of having to build or lead a team. 
“People need nutritional supplements to be healthy,” said Ben Glinsky, LiveGood Founder, who has more than two decades of experience leading successful nutritional supplement companies. “Unfortunately, most people just can’t afford them. On top of that, it’s very difficult for many people to sell expensive products to friends just so a few people at the top of a compensation program can make money. Now, people can get the products they need at prices they can afford, and can be proud to share them with friends.”
Breaking global news, emerging trends and powerful stories conveniently curated to help direct selling executives stay informed, engaged and a step ahead.

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As bitcoin soars, luxury brands consider accepting crypto payments  Yahoo Finance
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Payal Kapadia’s remarkable feature debut charts the daily lives of three women in Mumbai in a beautifully shot ode to the city and to the power of human connections
More on the best culture of 2024
“Evening is my favourite time of the day,” says a character in All We Imagine As Light, as twilight descends on Mumbai – it’s when the city comes alive. In the film-maker Payal Kapadia’s feature debut, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes, night-time in the city is shown in loving detail, as we see markets, fluorescently lit shops and trains full of women returning from work. Vermeer is famously said to have “painted with light”. The same principle seems to animate every frame of Kapadia’s film, as light delicately bounces around the screen, indicating the film’s interest in illuminating moments of hope as untold secrets lie in the shadows. On two occasions, a phone torch cuts through the dark to reveal words – in a notebook, on a cave wall – professing great love that feels otherwise impossible to say.
The film follows Prabha, Anu and Parvaty, who work as nurses and cooks at a hospital. The sensible Prabha (Kani Kusruti) is being courted by a doctor. She likes him, but she’s married. Though she is estranged from her husband, Prabha feels pressured to remain a loyal wife. Her roommate, the free-spirited Anu (Divya Prabha), is secretly seeing a Muslim man, and their love affair is as tender as it is aware of the politics undermining their match. Would her father approve, he asks, “if I used a Hindi name”? The two women are also helping Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), who is being evicted from her home by developers. A banner across her building shows a city on the march to gentrification: “Class,” it announces, “is a privilege reserved for the privileged!”
All three stories are concerned with the ways in which politics shapes individual lives, which is a longstanding interest of Kapadia’s – her first film, A Night of Knowing Nothing, is a documentary exploring the 2015 student protests against Narendra Modi’s appointment of political sympathiser as a university chair (Kapadia was also a leading figure in the protests). In All We Imagine As Light, each woman’s personal circumstances are depicted with humanity and subtlety, and the film also gives a sense that they’re not alone. One night, Prabha talks to Anu about her failed marriage. As she talks wistfully of the past, the camera surveys the tower blocks of Mumbai, with some apartments still dotted with light. Listening to Prabha’s monologue against this wide open vista, one begins to wonder: how many other women are out there with the same thwarted desires, the same pain? At a time when political forces all across the world are performing acts of closure – narrowing our understanding of who we can call neighbours, fellow citizens, lovers – All We Imagine As Light looks out into the world with roving empathy and curiosity, finding in it moments of intimacy and connection, and plenty to love.

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