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About 30 friends crowded around four tables last month at Gus and George’s Spaghetti and Steak House in Virginia Beach chatting about when gas tanks could be filled for less than a dollar. As they waited on their lunches of fried fish and burgers, they remembered when Lucille Ball was all the rage, their parents preached patriotism and they were living in the empire of post-World War II America. The octogenarians graduated from Willard Elementary School in Norfolk around 1956 — some the year before, others a few years later — and gather each year for a reunion. The America they knew as boys and girls is gone, said reunion founder Catherine Rutter, but they still have each other. Rutter, 80, who now lives in Kill Devil Hills, left Virginia after graduating and spent a career working for telephone companies in Washington, D.C. She never lost touch with Dorothy Aksteter, whom she met at Willard and grew up with in the neighborhoods close to Fairmont Park. When Rutter moved to Carolina in 2001, Aksteter started flying from Minnesota every other year to visit. “And it wasn’t until about 2010 that I got my ‘bright idea,’” Rutter said. “I told Dorothy, ‘Let’s see how many of our classmates I can get together.” Rutter told Aksteter to think of how fun it would be: “‘We could go to Doumars!’” She researched for weeks at a familiar girlhood haunt, the downtown branch of Norfolk Public Library, where she once read away lazy, long and sleepy hours on summer breaks. In the stacks as an adult, she copied down names from yearbooks and school histories, combed city directories and pored over newspaper obituaries. That many of the Willard girls no longer used their maiden names made the quest trickier. In 2010, she and Aksteter met several friends at Doumar’s Cones & Barbecue before heading to Temple Baptist church’s social hall. There 23 people became that first Willard Elementary School reunion. Even more people came the next year and more still in 2012. Most people still lived close to home. Snooky Murden, whose father owned the Murden’s Drug Store chain, was there. Judy Commings Welch, who ended up working for Norfolk Public Schools and built a reputation as a veteran line dancer at The Banque, started coming too. So did Marjorie Joynes, who works at Regent University Library, and Sidney Skjei, who’d joined the Navy, and former Elizabeth City mayor, Steve Atkinson. In 2017, the group had grown so large that the reunion moved to the Virginia Beach steak house where they still meet. The group has reached a tipping point and the number of attendees shrinks each passing year. Last month, retired Chesapeake city attorney Ronnie Hallman sat at the table talking about which of his friends beat him at the spelling bees. “It was a good time back then. No crime. No mufflers. Well, I mean, the mufflers they had didn’t really filter out anything — a lot of carbon dioxide,” he said with a laugh. “I guess that’s why we’re so crazy.” The rest of the table laughed too as the food was served. The meandering talk leaped from lost, youthful looks, to lost parents and friends not yet forgotten. 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To be rescued, it turns outAbdi inquest: Arresting officer feared for his safety during deadly arrest, jurors hearEXCLUSIVE I worked for the sugar daddy website used by Matt Gaetz's predator friend... what I saw disgusted me READ MORE: 'My sugar daddy scammed me!' App users warned of fake suitor By LAURA PARNABY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 14:43, 24 November 2024 | Updated: 14:56, 24 November 2024 e-mail 3 View comments Luxury dating app Seeking Arrangement was known for being the go-to place to snag a 'sugar daddy' - or a seedy online playground linked to sex trafficking and Matt Gaetz , depending on who you ask. Longtime former employee-turned-whistleblower Brook Urick, who started out as a sugar baby and eventually became a poster girl for the website, claims it's the latter. She recently released a book about her experience, called 'Wink Wink Nudge Nudge: Sexual Exploits and Secrets from Inside a Sugar Daddy Website'. It makes allegations about the site, which has more than 46 million users and was founded by Brandon Wade - a thrice-married Singaporean-American businessman who once said that 'love was a concept for poor people'. The site made headlines in 2021 for apparently being tied to alleged sex trafficking by several men including Donald Trump 's former choice for attorney general, Gaetz , and his associate, tax collector Joel Greenberg. While Gaetz and the company denied that he'd ever been a user, Greenberg pleaded guilty to underage sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a fake ID card and conspiring to defraud the US government . Prosecutors argued that Greenberg, who was later sentenced to 11 years, had met the minor victim in the sex crimes through Seeking Arrangement. 'In 2021 when there was that case about a certain Republican Congressman from Florida and his tax collector buddy who... the tax collector is currently serving an 11-year sentence for tax evasion and underage sex trafficking,' Urick told the DailyMail.com. Following a report that his 17-year-old accuser had testified that she had two sexual encounters with him, Gaetz announced that he would withdraw from consideration for attorney general. Longtime former Seeking employee Brook Urick, who started out as a sugar baby and eventually became a poster girl for the website, is now whistleblowing on the site Seeking arrangement made headlines in 2021 for apparently being tied to alleged sex trafficking by several men including Donald Trump 's choice for attorney general, Matt Gaetz (pictured) Urick added: ‘It begs the question, if it’s so out in the open that people are paying underage girls for sex on this website, then why is it still around? That is the question I seek to answer.’ 'Seeking.com has no knowledge of Mr. Gaetz ever having an account on the website,' the company said in response to the allegations. 'Seeking values the safety and security of its members above all else, prohibits any and all illegal activities, and strictly enforces those prohibitions,' they added in part. 'To enact such measures, Seeking has 24-hour moderation, provides ongoing training to staff to eliminate members who engage in inappropriate behavior, and uses keyword detection technology, image moderation and additional measures to eliminate those who attempt to misuse the site.' Gaetz has also denied all wrongdoing and having relations with underage girls or paying women for sex, and the probe into his alleged activities ended when he resigned from Congress on November 13 to become part of Trump's top team. Now, there's a renewed interest in the House Ethics committee to release the report on Gaetz's alleged tryst with a 17-year-old girl . It is unclear if the women Gaetz allegedly met through Seeking Arrangement were underage. Founder Wade met his third wife Dana Rosewall - who at 24 is 30 years his junior - on his own website three years ago, and she is now the co-chair of the company that has since been re-branded to just 'Seeking'. Many regular 'sugar babies' have also shared their own success stories about meeting a wealthy older man who opened doors to a life of luxury, like taking them on exotic vacations in five-star hotels while paying their college tuition fees. But Urick, 32, told DailyMail.com this is rarely the case and claimed she received emails from young girls' moms begging for help tracking down their profiles. Pictured: An alleged sugar daddy party Urick posted on her Instagram Pictured: A transaction Urick said was from a married man she met on Seeking Arrangement Speaking from her Las Vegas home, Urick made claims about the organization where she worked for seven years - until she 'stopped drinking the Kool-Aid' and realized she was 'contributing' to what she described as a 'sex-trafficking machine'. Urick joined Seeking at the age of 21 in the hopes of finding a sugar daddy to pay her way through college. Though she didn't find the wealthy older man she'd been hoping for, her profile was scouted by company bosses to become part of their promotional team. Urick said the men often lead double lives, with many working white collar and government jobs. ‘If men are smart, then they don’t reveal their identity, because it is encouraged on the website to be anonymous,' she told DailyMail.com. 'Even if there were people on the website like that I wouldn’t know. 'But I can tell you that during my time there, I did see policemen and people with suffixes of government email addresses personally using the website. ‘I learned a lot about the reality of what motivates people and it’s darker and more sinister than you can imagine.’ One woman who signed up for SeekingArrangement.com previously told LeedsLive : ' I didn’t realize the level that was expected. I thought, at the worst, I would have to send some photographs and do some webcam-ing. Founder Wade met his third wife Dana Rosewall - who at 24 is 30 years his junior - on his own website three years ago, and she is now the co-chair of the company that has since been re-branded to just 'Seeking'. (Pictured: Wade and Rosewall) Brandon Wade, 54, met economics student Dana Rosewall, 24, at the end of 2020, through Seeking Arrangement - the American sugar dating website he founded in California in 2006 'I didn’t know how explicit it was going to be and just how awful it is. It’s a load of men with really obscure fantasies and fetishes. 'A lot of it is about inflicting sadistic stuff on girls and students who are vulnerable. It’s all pretty extreme.' Urick said she wanted to write her book to warn could-be sugar babies that the rarely attained rewards aren't worth the risks. ‘The majority of people do not receive the spoils because of supply and demand, there are not enough rich men to go around,' she said. 'Most of the men on the site are not rich at all. They are picking up where Seeking’s marketing leaves off. 'They are allowed to do that because the site encourages anonymity. One predator can hit dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands of victims.' In 2018, the New York Times reported that Seeking Arrangement that high school and college-age girls were targeted by the site by being encouraged to register with a '.edu' email to earn a free upgrade. As a result, by 2020, the top occupation on the site was listed as 'student', according to Villanova's Commercial Sexual Exploitation Institute . Urick joined Seeking at the age of 21 in the hopes of finding a sugar daddy to pay her way through college In an interview with The Times, Wade denied that his website was a vehicle for prostitution. He said the terms of service outline how transactions for sex are prohibited - he just wanted to create a platform which allows transparency in talking about money, 'We want to drive people to talk honestly on the first date about who they are and what they expect to gain from a relationship, just like you discuss in any business relationship and any business arrangement,' he told the Times. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation further claimed that 'Seeking Arrangement targets college students who are struggling with student debt with advertisements and free premium accounts, in order to provide sexual gratification to more socio-economically advantaged men.' These in-debt students, the center claims, are more vulnerable to be coerced. 'Without a doubt, you are putting yourself in an extremely vulnerable position. There is a reason the men have chosen SeekingArrangement over eHarmony.com and that is to have sex with younger girls,' one anonymous user told Epigram . Urick recently released a book about her experience, called 'Wink Wink Nudge Nudge: Sexual Exploits and Secrets from Inside a Sugar Daddy Website' Longtime former Seeking employee Brook Urick, who started out as a sugar baby and eventually became a poster girl for the website, is now whistleblowing on the site Pictured: Urick in her 'sugar baby' days, as shared on her Instagram grid Urick said the site's horror stories are often buried because of the 'shame and secrecy' associated with the practice. Seeking describes itself as the place to 'experience hypergamy' - the practice of dating someone of a higher social status or sexual capital than yourself. The website encourages users to 'connect with sophisticated individuals who match your ambition and elevate your journey to the exciting, fulfilling life you deserve'. Urick said the website used to advertise itself more overtly as a sugar daddy-baby meeting place, as verified by DailyMail.com using the Wayback Machine. In November 2020, the website listed 'sugar baby perks' including 'indulging in shopping sprees, expensive dinners, and exotic travel vacations' while promising older men using the website 'four sugar babies per sugar daddy'. And despite appearances, a 2021 report by the Government Accountability Office cited research that 'sexual activity may be expected or implied' for Sugar Daddy websites in general. Seeking Arrangement did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. According to Urick, current legislation does little to protect the minors allegedly exploited by websites like Seeking. Urick said the site's horror stories are often buried because of the 'shame and secrecy' associated with the practice The law made it illegal to knowingly assist in sex trafficking, it did not make these websites per se illegal. 'While I was working there, while that law was passed, I was like, oh it’s the beginning of the end, like this law is going to shut down this website. 'So, imagine my surprise so many years later when the website is still around. 'I wish to inform people about how your perspective changes from when you’re a young 18-year-old to when you’re older like I was when I left the company, I was 27. 'You really do have a mindset shift during that time. 'I began to realize that it was not easy money, it was the most horrifying money I ever made, and the only way to stop these websites in my opinion is to get the girls off the website, because the commodity of sugar daddy websites is naïve young sugar babies. 'If we can let these girls know that it’s not what you think it is, then maybe we can help.’ In a 2022 press release , Seeking wrote of newer safeguards they had put in place, 'As Seeking continues to grow, so do the brand’s social responsibility efforts, and its unmatched commitment to keeping its community safe on and offline. 'Seeking has partnered with UrSafe, FreedomLight and similar groups to make dating safer and work to prevent sex trafficking, while also offering background check verifications for users, two-factor authentication to safeguard information and a dedicated 24-hour customer service department.' Matt Gaetz Share or comment on this article: I worked for the sugar daddy website used by Matt Gaetz's predator friend... what I saw disgusted me e-mail Add comment

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BIOLOGY students from various tertiary institutions in Cebu City now have ideas on how to craft stories and content for their research projects that are suitable for various platforms such as print, online news sites and social media channels. The Department of Science and Technology-Science and Technology Information Institute (DOST-STII) extended its advocacy program, "Science Journo Ako," to 40 biology students from six colleges and universities in Cebu City. Register to read this story and more for free . Signing up for an account helps us improve your browsing experience. OR See our subscription options.