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Partly cloudyHigh 63, Low 41
IndexNews Insight News News Opinions Variety Variety Sports
Today’s Weather Inside opInIonsThe best years of our livesHow much truth is there in the widespread assumption that our four years at the College will be the high point of our lives? page 5
Inside VARIETYIncreasing the optionsSadler Center Dining Hall focuses on improvements, adds meal options for students. page 6
New regulations could doom Surry plantFederal EPA regulations for new plants caps amount of carbon dioxide
nATIonAl
AdmInIsTRATIon
bY sARAh klEInknEchTFlat hat staFF writer
When a Dendron city council hearing unanimously approved the construction of a new coal-fired power station, the hopes of residents and of College of William and Mary students — who have been fighting against the plant since its planning stages — seemed doomed. New federal Environmental Protection Act regulations, however, will send the power plant back to square one.
Just when the power plant thought that all roadblocks had been removed and had scheduled to break ground on the plant’s construction this year, the EPA announced its Clean Air Act standard for carbon pollution for new power plants March 27. The regulations are expected to become law by the end of the year.
“[Student Environmental Action Coalition members] are very happy for the citizens of Surry that this won’t be built in their backyard and we hope that the state of Virginia respects the EPA regulations to protect the public health, and that these new regulations stand, as part of
a new era for greenhouse gas standards,” SEAC member Grace Hansen ’12 said.
These new performance standards demand that new fossil-fuel-fired power plants meet
an output-based standard of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt. However, these
The F lat HatThe F lat HatVol. 101, Iss. 44 | Friday, april 6, 2012 The Twice-Weekly student newspaper of The college of William and mary Flathatnews.com | Follow us:
SPORTS // College rolls in pair of midweek contests, p. 8
See pollution, page 3
See CoAl, page 4
bY sophIE mAsonFlat hat assOC. variety editOr
Despite elevated temperatures and with summer break just a little over month away, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality revealed March 26 that a dip in the James or York Rivers might compare to diving into waters from either an old electrical insulation plant or toilet water.
According to the DEQ’s 2012 Water Quality Assessment and Impaired Waters Integrated Report, water in the James River was deemed impaired due to the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in its water column. Exposure to PCBs has been linked to acne-like eruptions and cancer. The York River received the
same ruling due to an overabundance of fecal coliform.
“Of the [17,000 to 18,000] watersheds they tested, something like 70 percent are considered impaired, which means that it’s the worst possible categorization in terms of water quality, and that some action needs to be taken to clean them up,” associate professor of geology Gregory Hancock said.
The Environmental Protection Agency Assessment categories extend from a level one, indicating that the water fully supports all designated uses, to a level five, which means the water is impaired and a total maximum daily limit plan may be required. According to Randolph Chambers, director of the Keck Environmental Lab, the local
findings are fairly typical.“Impairment is not the exception,
it’s the rule,” Chambers said.Chambers explained that PCBs are
persistent, organic pollutants that tend to remain in aquatic environments because they do not break down rapidly. They are contaminants found in the electrical insulation industry and levels are amplified in the food chain as small animals on the bottom of the river eat the contaminants and larger animals eat those animals.
“The timing of the cleaning of the PCBs is going to be long-term, and it’s probably only going to come about due to natural processes that lead to the burial of the PCBs in the bottom of the river,” Chambers said.
While PCBs remain in the sediment
for an indefinite period of time, the presence of fecal coliform is only a temporary problem in the watershed indicative of a chronic discharge somewhere in a septic system or of runoff coming from agricultural fields, according to Chambers.
“If the source area from where the problem is coming from is identified and is fixed, then the river ought to clean itself out fairly quickly,” Chambers said.
Lyndsey Funkhouser ’12 noted that an overabundance of nutrients has also become a major pollutant in local rivers, causing plant overgrowth that reduces oxygen levels, and kills everything else.
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James and York Rivers classified as polluted due to PCBs and fecal coliform
Funding innovation
The College of William and Mary announced its acceptance of seven new faculty-led proposals that will hopefully save the College a bit of time — and money. The plans, to be implemented as early as next semester, are part of the Creative Adaptation Fund, which will set aside $200,000 annually over the next three years to fund projects that improve efficiency at the College.
“This fund was designed to leverage and unleash our most valuable resource — the creative energies and ideas of our faculty,” Provost Michael R. Halleran said in a press release. “The seven approved projects are all very different but they have one key component in common — they improve the quality of our educational programs while making the university more efficient at the same time.”
One proposal comes from a team of economics faculty, spearheaded by professor Robert Archibald, and advocates a complete overhaul of the fundamentals of economics courses to encourage greater individual participation in large classrooms of students.
“We teach large sections and lots of people,” Archibald said. “The thing we’d like to do is make learning more interactive.”
The solution: Online learning modules to better acquaint students with economics concepts on their own time. The modules will be largely activity-based, in which students work out important theories through trial-and-error before having them explained in detail.
“We hope that these will improve the quality of learning in these large classes,” Archibald said. “What we’d like is something different.”
One economics student was wary of the benefits of the change.
“I think it really depends on how the school implements that type of educational
bY gRAcE ThomAsthe Flat hat
Social security number, phone number and home address have long been expected information on a job application. Yet traditional expectations have received a shock from the rise of social media as Facebook passwords have become another blank applicants are asked to fill, challenging the distinction between private and public life.
With graduation weeks away and job prospects pinched in the current economy, many seniors feel caught between a rock and a hard place.
For some politicians on Capitol Hill, however, asking for social media passwords is a blatant breach of privacy, bringing the debate between social media privacy and public information to the fore.
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., proposed an amendment last week to the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012 that would prohibit employers from demanding social networking passwords. The Act would also allow the Federal Communication Commission to intervene. The amendment was voted down a day after its proposal, however.
Password requests also disregards Facebook’s terms of use, which state “you will not share your password, let
Congressmen call for investigationSharing passwords
See pAsswords, page 4
cAREER
bY chRIs mckEnnAFlat hat ChieF staFF writer
EnVIRonmEnT
Seven proposals accepted
See projeCts, page 3
cARolInE WREn mARTIn / the Flat hatannual water Quality assessment and impaired waters integrated report considered the James river to be impaired due to a high level of polychlorinated biphenyls in its water column.
Local rivers deemed impaired
couRTEsY phoTo / JaClyN CarrOllMembers of the community and students protest the surry coal plant at a dendron city council meeting in March.
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ANITA JIANG / the FLAt hAt
A THOUSAND WORDS
newsinsightThe F lat Hat
News Editor Katherine Chiglinsky Associate New Editor: Chase L. hopkins
ONLINE TODAYfLAT HAT INSIDER
This week’s Flat Hat Insider includes an interview with Eric Garrison, advisor to Health Outreach Peer Educators to discuss mental health at the College.
| Friday, April 6, 2012 | Page 2
THE BUZZ
“I thought maybe it would be wise to allow them to go beyond the semester. ... However, we now have this resolved. So, good luck. I’m glad I’m not on it.
—Student Assembly senate Chairman Noah Kim ’13
BEYOND THE ‘BURG
The F lat Hat‘STABILITAS ET fIDES’ | eStABLISheD OCt. 3, 1911
25 Campus Center, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va. 23185
Newsroom (757) 221-3283 — Advertising Dept. (757) 221-3283 / [email protected]
Editor [email protected] [email protected]
Sports [email protected]
Opinions [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Dartmouth College is rebranding its medical school in memory of a famous rhyming alumnus, according to the Huffington Post. University President Jim Yong Kim, who was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next president of the
World Bank, made the announcement Wednesday. The medical school is now called the Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine, in honor of the famous writer, popularly known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife. Audrey Geisel has said that Theodor, who passed away
in 1991, would have been humbled by the honor of being permanently represented at his alma mater. Theodor Geisel graduated from Dartmouth in 1925, where he had written for the college’s humor magazine under his famous pseudonym.
COURTESY PHOTO / BILLStVReVIeWS.BLOGSPOt.COMVirginia’s attorney general has asked state courts to lower damages awarded to families of the victims from Va. tech’s 2007 shootings that killed 34.
Boston University paper enveloped in scandalIn the wake of an April Fool’s edition rife with fictitious
allegations of rape, the editor-in-chief of Boston University’s newspaper has resigned. According to the Huffington Post, the Monday edition of the paper, themed “The Disney Free Press,” ran a story that alleged “seven frat dwarves” had gang raped a female subdued with narcotics. Former Editor-in-Chief Chelsea Diana proceeded to resign from The Daily Free Press after the story garnered a substantial negative response and spread to national news sources. The newspaper has since retracted the story and issued multiple statements of apology. Boston University has no official ties to the paper, as it is independently funded, although the university does advertise in The Daily Free Press.
Ariel Cohen Assoc. News EditorChase Hopkins Assoc. News Editor
Ken Lin Assoc. News Editor Maggie Kern Assoc. News Editor
Meredith Ramey Assoc. News EditorRob Marty Assoc. News Editor
Chris McKenna Senior News WriterChris Weber Assoc. Sports EditorAbby Boyle Assoc. Variety Editor
Bailey Kirkpatrick Assoc. Variety EditorSarah Caspari Assoc. Variety EditorSophie Mason Assoc. Variety Editor
Ellen Wexler Assoc. Opinions EditorElliott Hay Assoc. Opinions Editor
Alex Bramsen Copy Editor
Betsy Goldemen Copy EditorClaire Hoffman Copy EditorColleen Leonard Copy EditorLauren Becker Copy EditorMegan Elmore Copy EditorMeredith Luze Copy EditorRachel Steinberg Copy Editor Allison Hicks CartoonistMolly Adair CartoonistRachel Brooks CartoonistRachel Pulley CartoonistAlex Cooper Editorial WriterNara Yoon Business ManagerKarin Krause Social Media ManagerAnita Jiang Assoc. Photo Editor
Katherine Chiglinsky News EditorVanessa Remmers News Editor
Hailey Arnold Variety EditorKatie Demeria Variety EditorJared Foretek Sports Editor
Elizabeth DeBusk Opinions EditorStephanie Hubbard Copy ChiefKatherine Hoptay Copy ChiefMichelle Gabro Photo EditorWalter Hickey Online Editor
Mike Barnes Editor-in-Chief Becky Koenig Managing Editor — Jill Found Executive Editor
Ellie Kaufman Chief Staff Writer
Jill Found Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Remmers Managing Editor — Katie Demeria Executive Editor
Ariel Cohen Assoc. News EditorChase L. Hopkins Assoc. News EditorMeredith Ramey Assoc. News Editor
Chris Weber Assoc. Sports EditorNatalie Ferenbach Assoc. Variety EditorBailey Kirkpatrick Assoc. Variety Editor
Sophie Mason Assoc. Variety EditorHarika Peddibhotla Assoc. Online Editor
Alex Bramsen Copy EditorColleen Leonard Copy Editor
Garrett Hendrickson Copy Editor
Liz McGlynn Copy EditorMegan Elmore Copy EditorMeredith Luze Copy EditorAllison Hicks CartoonistMolly Adair CartoonistRachel Brooks CartoonistRachel Pulley CartoonistNara Yoon Business ManagerKarin Krause Social Media ManagerPatricia Radich Graphic DesignerNoah Willard Graphic Designer
The F lat Hat‘STABILITAS ET fIDES’ | eStABLISheD OCt. 3, 1911
25 Campus Center, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va. 23185
Newsroom (757) 221-3283 — Advertising Dept. (757) 221-3283 / [email protected]
Editor [email protected] [email protected]
Sports [email protected]
Opinions [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Katherine Chiglinsky News EditorKen Lin News Editor
Abby Boyle Variety EditorSarah Caspari Variety Editor
Mike Barnes Sports EditorJared Foretek Sports Editor
Ellen Wexler Opinions Editor
Stephanie Hubbard Copy ChiefKatherine Hoptay Copy ChiefAnita Jiang Photo EditorJohn Lee Photo EditorZach Hardy Online Editor Ellie Kaufman Chief Staff WriterChris McKenna Chief Staff Writer
College faculty nationally lauded
The Princeton Review recently released its first annual list of the 300 best college professors in the country. Ten of them were from the College of William and Mary, including professors from the departments of history, english, psychology, classical studies, geology and biology. The Princeton Review worked with RateMyProfessors.com to compile the list, drawing from over 60 different academic disciplines at more than 120 U.S. universities and colleges.
This recognition follows the ranking of the College by U.S. News and World Report last fall as the eighth best university in the country from which to receive an undergraduate education. Other universities in Virginia were also recognized on The Princeton Review’s list.
Former governor honored by the College
Former Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, director and CEO of the Miller Center at U.Va., has been honored as the 2012 Hunter B. Andrews Distinguished Fellow in American Politics.
He will be speaking with students, faculty and staff at the College of William and Mary April 10 to 11.
As governor, Baliles was active in developing relationships with other state governors, as well as dramatically expanding funding for infrastructure projects in the state.
Baliles served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1976 to 1982, attorney general until 1985, and as governor until 1990, after which he retired from civil service and joined premier law firm Hunton & Williams.
College alumnus retires from ACLU
Kent Willis ’71 has announced that he is stepping down as executive director of the Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Willis has served in the position since March 1989, and has been lauded by many as critical in expanding the ACLU’s assets in Virginia from two full-time staff members to nine, and from 100 volunteers to 2,000 during the course of his tenure.
Willis majored in philosophy while at the College, and credits his time in Williamsburg as having instilled in him the skills he found most useful in the ACLU, the nation’s foremost organization for litigation involving alleged violations of civil rights.
NEWS IN BRIEf
fROm “CHANELLING Tv,” A BLOG BY kATIE SNYDER ‘13
NEW ONLINE vIDEOS
Philip Basnight ‘13 hosts a new episode of “The Assembly Line,” which includes coverage of the campus’s racoon problem, and an interview with David Alpert ‘13.
Television is all about sensationalism. It’s about excitement, entertainment, suspense and spectacles. It’s not a show’s job to put on a realistic portrayal of a murder trial or the surgery department of a hospital, it’s their job to suck you in enough that you keep coming
back, week after week. It’s what their bosses at the network want, it’s what their viewers want, and it’s what you want. But if you can suspend your intellect for just an hour and allow yourself to be drawn in to the abstract worlds TV producers create, your world will open.
Outgoing Student Assembly president Kaveh Sadeghain ‘12 joins us for our weekly “That Guy” video column to reminisce about his favorite moments at the College of William and Mary.
CORRECTIONSThe Flat Hat wishes to correct any facts printed incorrectly. Corrections may be submitted by e-mail to the editor of the section in which the incorrect information was printed.
Elizabeth DeBusk Editorial Writer
Santorum lies about California universitiesRepublican presidential candidate Rick Santorum stated
Monday that “seven or eight” universities in the California public higher education system do not teach any courses in American History, according to the Huffington Post. University of California administrators were quick to point out that Santorum’s claim was baseless. The only school that does not offer an American history course within the University of California system is the University of California, San Francisco, which is a medical school. Earlier this year, Santorum also made statements alleging that President Obama was a “snob” for implying that all students should try to attend a university. The presidential candidate has also claimed that he recieved lower grades while at Pennsylvania State University due to his firmly-held religious beliefs.
CAmPUS POLICE BEAT
March 26 to April 21
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Tuesday, March 27 — A laptop was reported stolen from 540 Landrum Drive. The value of the laptop was estimated to be $700.
Tuesday, March 27 — An employee was arrested for a fight at the Sadler Center.
Wednesday, March 28 — A student was assaulted by an unknown male in the Harrison Avenue Parking lot. The student suffered only minor injuries.
Saturday, March 31 — A student was arrested for being publically intoxicated while in front of the police station.
Sunday, March 1 — Busts at James Blair Courtyard were vandalized. The damage was estimated at $100.
Dartmouth College names medical school after Dr. Seuss
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Damages capped in suit against Va. TechVirginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, R, has asked a
Richmond judge to limit damages awarded to the families of victims from the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, according to the Huffington Post. Attorneys representing the families have requested $2 million per victim. However, Virginia’s Tort Claims Act limits the amount of damages that can be extracted from the state based on applicable insurance policies. A jury previously awarded the families of two victims $4 million each following an eight-day trial. The litigation stems from the April 2007 incident in which Va. Tech student Seung-Hui Cho killed 33 people and himself. Victims’ families have alleged that the slow response of university officials was seriously negligent.
by meredith rameyflat hat assoc. news editor
Following critiques of this spring’s Student Assembly elections, the senate passed the Elections Review Commission Act, but not without various amendments and debate.
The Elections Review Commission will serve as a temporary commission composed of students deemed qualified to investigate and report on all matters pertaining to SA elections.
“I felt it prudent to have a bill to create this organization to invest with it certain powers at senate committees and at the senate,” Senate Chairman Noah Kim ’13 said. “This acts as a senate committee to the extent that you could refer bills to be considered by the committee … [and] it empowers [the committee] to at least review those [bills] and offer recommendations on them.”
Sen. Zach Marcus ’12 introduced the first amendment to the bill, which would remove former SA presidential candidates Kim and Dallen McNerney ’14, as well as SA Vice President elect Melanie Levine ’13, from the commission for reasons of bias.
“I’m a little concerned about the fact that there are three people on that list that were investigated by the review board,” Marcus said.
Some disagreed with Marcus’s view, stating that those who were most intimately involved in the recent election process will offer insight into the changes that need to be made.
“I think that it’s really important to have people with the knowledge and who have been through this to be on that commission,” Sen. and former SA presidential candidate Grace Colby ’13 said.
Sen. Jimmy Zhang ’15 agreed with Colby, stating that other members of the committee do not share the experiences of these three.
“They themselves were subjected to the code and they themselves could add valuable input,” Zhang said. “We have a diluted perspective and that may impede the full capacity of this commission.”
Marcus later repealed his amendment.Next McNerney introduced an amendment to
add two members, Lee Tankle J.D. ’13 and Gabriel Walker J.D. ’13 to the Elections Review Commission per the suggestion of incoming SA president Curt Mills ’13. Tankle served as student senate president at Dickinson College, and Walker served as undergraduate student body president of Virginia Commonwealth University. Mills emphasized the benefits of their student assembly experience on other college campuses.
“They have experience that nobody on campus has,” Mills said. “They have really good, solid ideas and would bring more views outside this organization. … They have very strong working knowledge in addition to being law students, and I think they would make great additions to the commission.”
Kim expressed misgivings about how efficient the elections review commission would be with the addition of two members.
“I think that expanding this commission for those reasons that have been stated is unnecessary,” Kim said. “It’s a fairly large group as it is, and I think that poses its own problems. It’s going to be difficult enough to come to a census with this particular group.”
Various senators suggested removing other members from the commission in order to include the two law students. However, Kim was unwilling to affect anyone on the list but himself.
“I am willing to remove myself,” Kim said. “I am not willing to remove anyone else.”
After discussion, McNerney revised his amendment to remove himself and Kim from the Elections Review Commission to be replaced by Walker and Tang. After voting, the senators passed the amendment.
Sen. Ben Huber ’12 then proposed an amendment to make the deadline for the commission’s review and proposals April 24, the last senate meeting of the semester. The senators also passed this amendment.
“I was hoping that this commission [would be] able to present something by the end of the semester,” Kim said. “Given the necessary element of obtaining feedback and the size of the commission … I thought maybe it would be wise to allow them to go beyond this semester. … However, we now have this resolve
clause. So, good luck. I’m glad I’m not on it.”Following this amendment, Marshall-Wythe
School of Law Representative Andrew Chan ’09 J.D. ’12 submitted an amendment to remove himself from the commission as well, and it was accepted.
The Elections Review Commission Act, including the three additional amendments, passed with a vote of 13 to 3.
The senate also passed two other pieces of legislation during the meeting Tuesday.
Kim introduced the Student Assembly Accountability Amendment, a constitutional amendment to hold unelected appointed members of the SA subject to possible impeachments. Currently, only elected officers and members of the SA can be impeached.
The Graduate Council and Undergraduate Council will review the bill and either sign or veto it by majority vote within 30 days. As a constitutional amendment, the bill does not require the signature of the SA president and cannot be vetoed by the president.
Lastly, the senate passed The GOTV Act and the General Assembly Knowledge Act.
The GOTV Act allocated $118.70 to pay for door hangers, pamphlets and other miscellaneous items promoting voter registration for the upcoming Williamsburg City Council elections.
The General Assembly Knowledge Act allocated funds necessary to bring state senator John Miller, D-1, to campus to discuss current issues in the country with students.
“It’s a good thing we have him here to actually talk about issues and not just a campaign,” Secretary of Public Affairs Keenan Kelly ’14 said.
Sen. Mike Wagner ’12 also introduced his first bill of the session, the Curt Mills Fiscal Responsibility Act, which called for the digging of a hole in an undisclosed location in the Wren Courtyard where the cashed funds of the Student Activities Reserve would be buried for safe keeping. After extensive debate on the intricacies of the bill, the senate voted 9 to 5 against it with two abstentions.
Proposals made to bring state senator John Miller to campus and to promote voter registration Members selected for elections review commissionStudent aSSembly
The F lat Hatfriday, april 6, 2012Page 3
PROJECTS from page 1
file Photo / the flat hatthe student assembly agreed to allow two law students and sa Vice President elect Melanie levine ’13 on the commission.
by chaSe hoPkinSflat hat assoc. news editor
While all eyes seem to turn toward this fall’s national elections, students at the College of William and Mary are playing a role in determining who will be the next Virginia senator in the U.S. Congress.
Current Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., announced last year that he would not seek re-election this coming fall. Former commonwealth governors George Allen, R, and Tim Kaine, D, are now locked in a heated campaign to obtain the open seat.
Both candidates are courting the votes of university students across the state, as demonstrated by the recent launch of Students for Kaine, a
student mobilization arm of the Kaine Campaign at the College.
“[Students for Kaine] is a statewide project,” President of the College’s Young Democrats Katie Deabler ’12 said. “[The Kaine Campaign] asked people on various college campuses around the state to sign up on a list of people who support Gov. Kaine, and they are going to use that list to demonstrate student support and also for organizing purposes. … During elections, we try to see what the campaigns need and meet those needs as best we can because we are a really valuable source of manpower for them.”
Both parties seek to expand their control of Congress in response to repeated instances of political deadlock
since the Democrats lost some control of Congress in the Nov. 2010 elections, which returned the House of Representatives to Republican control. Democrats still continue to control the Senate.
As the Republican Party edges closer to determining who will represent the party in the race against President Barack Obama, many also look toward contested seats in the Senate that will define the new government.
“Not only is this election important to College Republicans, the voters of the Commonwealth of Virginia have the opportunity to elect a conservative senator for the first time in four years who will bring back fiscal responsibility in Congress,” First Vice Chairman of the
College Republicans Chandler Crenshaw ’14 said. “George Allen seeks to end budget deficits so that our generation will not have to succumb to the negative impact of a high national debt.”
Despite ongoing concern within Washington, D.C. about rising debts in the world, Kaine and Allen remain firm on their proposed relationship to higher education, if elected.
“Education is a cornerstone of Tim Kaine’s Senate campaign, and he is focused on policies that will develop a talent-based workforce that can compete for 21st century jobs,” Kaine for Virginia Deputy Press Secretary Hannah Schwartz said in an email. “As Virginia’s next Senator, he will continue this steadfast
commitment to education, and he will work to tackle the rising cost of college tuition to ensure high quality education is affordable for all Virginia students.”
Allen believes that public education policy should empower state legislators and school officials to determine what is best for their individual institution. Allen further articulates that the federal Department of Education is poorly positioned, comparatively, to manage publicly supported schools.
“Where public education works well, we should leave it alone,” the website for George Allen for U.S. Senate said. “But, where it is failing our students we should look for alternative methods, choices and solutions.”
Former Virginia governors George Allen and Tim Kaine turn to the College for student voter support
Students back Senate campaigns of Kaine and AllenPoliticS
tool. In my [microeconomics] class we used something similar to supplement the lecture work online, but we didn’t necessarily get too much out of it,” Justin Poston ’13 said. “I just thought of it as a quick homework [assignment] that I needed to do and get over with. It wasn’t really designed for areas that I was struggling with in econ.”
Another proposal for the fund involves a post-baccalaureate program designed to make it easier for students interested in pursuing graduate work in classical studies or archaeology to have a deeper understanding of languages that would benefit their studies.
“Graduate programs in classical studies generally require several years training in the ancient languages,” project leader and associate professor William Hutton said. “These days fewer and fewer students come in with exposure to these languages, and some of them find themselves in a difficult position when they decide in their second or third year that they’re interested in pursuing classical studies as a profession.”
Last-minute graduate hopefuls don’t need to worry: Under the new program, classical studies students will be able to get their language skills up to par before donning the cap and gown.
Another proposal, led by Deans Kelly Joyce and Teresa Longo, looks into the prospects of launching an optional January program to complement the College’s existing summer courses.
“In general, the idea would be to run a January term like [the College]’s summer school program,” Joyce said. “It would not overlap with the undergraduate semesters, but instead would offer students the opportunity to take classes over the
winter break.”The funding set aside for the proposal would not
kick off the January classes themselves but looks to examine similar programs at the College and other universities to see how feasible such an initiative would be.
“Some William and Mary professors offer research opportunities abroad for students over January, and some William and Mary undergraduates take January course opportunities through other institutions,” Joyce said. “Given that it is already happening at the grassroots level, it seemed like it was time to explore the pros and cons of making it an institutional practice.”
Karen Connor and Judi Harris, from the Schools of Business and Education, respectively, have proposed a six-week “eLearning” summer course to teach interested faculty how to incorporate face-to-face and online components into their courses in order to reach students more effectively.
Currently, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science offers a free education outreach program for marine contractors and consultants. Another proposal for the fund would swap this out for a fee-based approach, which would offer a more intensive program while generating revenue for the College.
Another proposal would allow non-science majors to complete their general education lab requirement through virtual lab exercises, completed online, in order to free up valuable lab space, which is currently at almost 100 percent capacity.
A final proposal would make four prerequisite Masters of Accounting classes available online for non-business students who need the courses for acceptance into government non-profit organizations after college.
As part of the stipulation for proposals to be accepted, new programs could not exceed more than $50,000 in funding and would have to produce immediate results.
Faculty-led proposals aim to reallocate funds at the CollegeWatershedscontaminated
anita jiang / the flat hatone of the accepted projects would affect the fundamentals of economics courses, reworking the current curriculum.
“I think that’s a major misconception, but if people could understand that extra nutrients aren’t good, then maybe they’d understand that there’s a problem,” Funkhouser said.
Hancock also emphasized how these findings require immediate attention due to their direct consequences for Williamsburg residents.
“The James River has restrictions on fishing and shell fishing because of the PCB concentrations, and sufficiently high fecal coliform levels mean that they have to close beaches. … You can’t let people swim in water that’s contaminated from fecal coliform because there may be other bugs in there that we don’t want to be exposed to,” Hancock said.
Funkhouser mentioned that certain laws mandate buffers to filter the water, but right now the mandates are too general to make any impact.
“Instead of saying every farmer, every cattleman needs to put these trees in place to filter water before it gets to the river, we need to look more specifically at the actual field itself and see what’s really happening. … It would be more costly, of course, to implement this, but it would actually change things because right now it’s really bad,” Funkhouser said.
Even though these proposed changes would be ideal, Funkhouser stresses the importance of implementing laws and guidelines currently in effect.
“We just need to make sure that the things that are actually supposed to be happening actually do happen,” Funkhouser said.
POLLUTION from page 1
The F lat HatFriday, April 6, 2012Page 4
anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.”
“It seems like a huge overstep on the employer’s part,” Jordan Scott ’14 said. “I feel like if you are a good candidate for a job, it should be all your interview.”
Many students expect employers to look up their profiles, but believe giving up their Facebook passwords enters a unprecedented level of personal privacy violation.
“Part of Facebook is private for a reason,” Carly Guinn ’12 said. “You can send personal messages and e-mail. If someone can get into your account and see that, it doesn’t keep up the boundaries that Facebook has set up.”
This interviewing tactic creates a conflict for students between their sense of privacy and their desire to get a job.
“Employers are flaunting their power over us,” Guinn said. “If I really wanted a job and this was the determining factor, I would give them my password.”
Other students expressed concerns similar to those of their peers.
“I’d probably cave and give it to them,” Rachel Cohen ’12 said. “I wouldn’t sacrifice the opportunity.”
While Director of the Sherman and Gloria H. Cohen Career Center Mary Schilling believes this practice is “inappropriate,” she thinks it is very likely that prospective employers will check out your Facebook page.
“[You should not] put anything on your Facebook that you don’t want an employer to see,” Schilling said. “Even if you are not a senior now, you will someday be looking for a job, and you’re just
making yourself vulnerable.”Kayla Meyers ’14 feels that the Facebook
filter has become a fact of life.“My Facebook page has nothing that
I wouldn’t want employers to see, and I have no problem with employers looking at it,” Meyers said.
Not everyone shares Kayla’s confidence.“[I have] things on my Facebook that aren’t
really representative of who I am now,” Ryan Krysiak ’12 said. “Especially with timeline, you can go back and see everything.”
However, not all employers ask for social media passwords.
“If I were put in the position where I had to ask students for their passwords, I would have to rethink this position,” Assistant Director of Technical Services Robin Desantis said.
Desantis believes that employers have no right to demand social media passwords from potential employees, regardless of how important or competitive the job offer is.
“I hope students don’t accept it,” Desantis said. “I hope they rise up and say ‘I’ve got my rights; I’ve got my protection.’”
Whether students decide to give their password or not, many students believe this request to be an excessive invasion of their personal life.
“I would delete my Facebook page rather than giving my password,” Krysiak said.
It remains to be seen to what extent the employment-seeking experiences of College students will be effected by this new trend.
Facebook password requests usher questions of privacy
harini manikandan / THE FLAT HATStudents of the College seeking jobs may now be asked to surrender their Facebook password in their job applications.
Students at the College of William and Mary are greener than they may think.
Every student at the College contributes $15 to make the College’s campus more sustainable as part of a “green fee” clause included in the fees for every student.
With the student contribution to the Green Fees and Summer Research Grants fund, the Committee on Sustainability receives approximately $200,000 to $215,000 each year for projects to improve sustainability at the College.
Forty thousand dollars of these funds automatically go toward a green endowment to be used later for larger projects while the remainder is divvied up between the fall and spring semesters, summer research grants and the reusable bags and bottles given to incoming freshman during orientation.
“Most projects are approved if they benefit the community members — students, faculty and staff alike,” Mary-Carson Saunders J.D. ’13, co-chair of the COS Operations subcommittee, said. “Projects must promote values of sustainability and work to promote research, action or collaboration. Often, projects that may not actually lead to immediate innovations on the campus are approved and encouraged because their existence raises awareness and educates the community about existing technology or sustainable practices.”
During the fall semester, the Steering Committee for COS reviewed the applications for projects and approved funding for 11 new projects.
Some of the projects included several water-conserving fixtures in different buildings on campus, many applications for garden implementation
or maintenance, funding for Earth Week, which included movies and talks about being environmentally friendly, composting on campus, and the new Paperless Document Delivery system in Earl Gregg Swem Library, which distributes copies of books via PDF files instead of on paper.
“Over 120,000 paper photocopies were made in Swem last year,” Acting Director of Research, Instruction and Outreach Services at Swem Don Welsh said. “With this new scanner and document delivery system, we can take that number down to almost nothing, and besides saving paper, we will be saving thousands of dollars in paper and toner.”
Fewer projects were funded for the spring semester, but committee members remained enthusiastic about implementing them.
Members have funded a proposal to bolster energy saving through a new recreation center lighting system with more energy-efficient bulbs and motion sensors, as well as new lighting retrofits to be installed in the Sir Christopher Wren Building.
There will be an expansion of exterior recycling bins around campus and permanently installed bike racks around the Sunken Garden to encourage less driving around campus.
“I think [change] does have an impact. Although not perceived easily. A lot of what we fund and support results in significant savings for the College through reduced energy costs and more efficient waste-management, which is important in this economic situation,” Dennis Taylor, co-chair of the Steering Committee and professor of marine science, said.
The College has seen a significant reduction in non-compostable waste
through the use of more locally-grown, organic foods in dining facilities and the installation of more recycling bins.
The committee also wanted to create more opportunities for student research and involvement in the process.
“Since fall of 2008, the committee has really come a long way [and] provided a
lot of varied research opportunities that [have] had a real impact on a number of programs in science and social science areas with original research,” Taylor said.
Five thousand dollars have also been put into the planning and revamping of Earth Week at the College, which begins April 16.
“We have really expanded that event into a big, week-long event,” Patrick Foley ’12, co-chair of programs and education subcommittee, said. “[President Taylor] Reveley is going to be an active participant in jeopardy, a raft debate, and a reading of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. We just really want to get students more involved.”
$15 fee helps College fund environment-friendly projects and green endowment
Green fees contribute to College’s sustainabilitysustainability
by bailey kirkPatrickFLAT HAT ASSoC. vAriETy EdiTor
Struggling economy makes decision to share social media passwords with employers difficult
christina Glass / THE FLAT HATThe $200,000 that the Committee on Sustainability received from student Green Fees funded sustainability projects such as renovation of the rec Center.
EPA rules likely to make proposed coal plant prohibitively expensive
regulations will apply only to those plants still in the making. If not for the opposition in past years, this requirement would not have applied to the Surry coal plant.
“With normal coal plants and with the intended Surry County one, the output of emissions would be upwards of 17,000 pounds, which is way over the proposed limit,” Hansen said.
SEAC members have actively protested the Surry coal plant project, but met opposition from the Dendron Town Council when they voted unanimously at their March 5 meeting to allow Old Dominion Electric Cooperative to build the plant.
Fossil-fuel-fired power plants are the nation’s largest stationary sources of greenhouse gases, since coal serves as a main source of energy for the country and accounts for around 50 percent of domestic power generation. Currently, these new regulations will be the first uniform national limit on the amount of carbon pollution new power plants can emit.
Many scientists, who consider greenhouse gases a danger to the public health and welfare by contributing to climate change, believe it is time for substantial change to be made.
The EPA hopes that a standard will help keep the previously uncontrolled amount of carbon pollution that is released into the atmosphere in check.
New coal plants will have an incentive to use technologies that burn coal without emitting enormous amounts of carbon pollution.
“Surry would have been among the plants that are exempt from the EPA’s new rules, but because of the opposition it has encountered, it would now be subject to the regulations,” Hansen said. “As a result, it will most likely no longer be built, because it would be very expensive to employ the technology necessary.”
Controversy surrounds the proposal to create regulations only for new plants, while still allowing old plants to continue with no regulations on carbon emissions.
“If new companies have to adhere
to regulations, old companies should as well,” Kate Murray ’15 said. “The new ones have the more eco-friendly technology anyways.”
While these new regulations attempt to limit pollution from power plants, the regulations have fallen short of some environmentalists’ goals.
“Not many coal plants are being built right now, as it is irresponsible to do so at this time,” said Hansen. “The problem isn’t what’s slated to be built, it’s what’s here already; but it is a lot more politically difficult to deal with what is present, as there is already intense political opposition.”
In contrast, opposition to the new proposal cried foul to the enforcement, saying that the EPA’s overreaching
regulations attacked the coal industry and that they should focus instead on other areas.
“Coal is one of our cheapest and most abundant resources, so I think if we are going to put limits on the emissions, we should also be putting limits on oils and other such resources,” Alex Mills ’15 said. “I think it is unfair to just blame the coal industry for global warming, especially since there is also a huge job market in the industry.”
Natural-gas-fired power plants would meet the new standard without having to install additional controls.
“Regulations are a positive thing: They improve the environment and promote new technology, which, in turn, opens up new jobs,” Murray said.
PASSWORDS from page 1
POLLUTION from page 1
You’ve all heard it. Whether it came from your parents when they dropped you off at Orientation, from the welcome speech to your entire new class, or from an advertisement for dorm room supplies, we’ve all been told at some point that our time spent in college would be the best years of our lives. However, as I sit inside on a beautiful day with a stack of textbooks beside me, listening to one roommate going crazy trying to pick a career path and the other stressing about paying off her student loans, I can’t help but wonder why this image of a four-year utopia is so widely accepted.
For many students, the concept is far from true. In a 2009 nationwide survey, the National Institute of Mental Health reported that almost 30 percent of students claimed to be “so depressed that it was difficult to function” within the last year. This depression can develop from any number of factors, including homesickness, trouble fitting in socially, or financial burdens.
Many students cite schoolwork as the main cause for anxiety and stress. At the College of William and Mary, every student knows that the rigorous academics mean inevitable stress at some point or another. This atmosphere can bring us down, at times contributing to depression. That is not at all to say that going to a school with high academic standards will lead directly to misery; the point is that right now, many of us are more weighed down by cramming and disappointing grades than we have been or will be for the rest of our lives.
OK, so the phrase “best years of our lives” is too broad. Any one of us, regardless of our general enjoyment of college, would
be lying if we said that our time here has been free of stress, conflict or occasional sadness. Since some students don’t enjoy college and best is too general a word, we need to think about and remember the reasons this concept persists in our culture — and there are many.
Freedom is the first thing that comes to mind. It doesn’t matter if your parents were controlling at home — there’s no feeling quite like realizing that you can stay out all night, eat ice cream for breakfast, or take a weekend road trip without your parents even knowing, let alone judging and scolding you. There’s also the independence and responsibility, which are as equally exciting as they are scary. There is no report card being sent home to mom and dad, no teacher checking up on you every day. You work hard for yourself alone.
For me, however, the most valuable part about these four years is that we haven’t yet gotten swept up into the working world. From here, we can go anywhere. What’s better is that we have this whole time to figure out exactly where it is that we want to go. Many of us, myself included, moan about
the general education requirements: “Why should a Neuroscience major have to take a Philosophy course? He’ll never use it.” Maybe he won’t, but the point is that we are, whether we like it at the time or not, exposed to a variety of subjects so that we can eliminate
things that don’t interest us while pursuing those that do. Undergraduate courses shouldn’t be treated as vocational training; we have graduate school and beyond for that. What makes these four years great is that we don’t have to immediately choose a lane and sprint forward. We can veer all over the place, occasionally bumping into things, gradually straightening out along the way. This time in our lives may not be the best in every aspect, but if you think about it, you can understand why your parents give you a hug and tell you so before they let you go.
Email Emily Kelley at [email protected].
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A study by Duke University indicates that movies tend to confuse students when it comes to historical accuracy. In short, blockbusters like “Titanic” and “Glory” are bad news when it comes to learning about the past. Stay away, the researchers warn.
Sorry, but these are exactly the kind of people who deserve to be clonked on the head with a history textbook. Calm down.
By its very nature, history is skewed. For those who forget, the past is essentially a story, and, like all stories, its presentation depends on the storyteller. If James Cameron wants to detail the ill-fated voyage of the Unsinkable Ship
through the eyes of star-crossed lovers, then so be it. Whether Jack and Rose actually existed isn’t what’s important. The big idea, in this case class conflict in the early twentieth century, matters much more.
Nowadays, most history classes have moved away from the tiny details. After all, how often do your professors ask you to memorize dates? The current discussion tends to emphasize analysis, the how and the why: What caused what, and what were the consequences? Likewise, it seems that today’s preferred historical method exalts the institution above the individual, the combined actions of a group over those of one person. No professor cares whether Officer Murdoch sent a bullet through his brain, as the film depicts, or died in the water — the truth according to survivor accounts. If he does, he needs to get his priorities straight.
So when does it matter? Hardly ever. Maybe if you’re writing a book on the
subject. Or giving a tour of a museum exhibit. Or claiming expertise. Even history majors probably don’t need to concern themselves with Mozart’s personality (a controversy raised by his characterization in “Amadeus,” one of the films used in the study). These people hopefully have the sense to recognize that Hollywood’s portrayal is just that: One portrayal, which doesn’t necessarily provide the whole story. Students aren’t stupid. Most recognize the questionable nature of period pieces. If accuracy truly matters to them, then they will check other sources. If it doesn’t, life goes on.
Riddled with error or not, films have their merit. They pique interest, often about subjects you would have otherwise overlooked. Take “Glory,” one of the films used in the study, for instance: I’ve never come across a textbook that mentions the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, but the film reminds us that the Union’s first black regiment was a big deal. And what about “Newsies”? Most history classes
tend to skip over the Newsboys Strike of 1899, but the Disney musical has turned this lesser-known event into household knowledge. We don’t get all the facts, but at least we’re aware, and, if we so choose, we can pursue the subject to gain a better understanding of it. That’s when bookstores come in: They have mountains of books that deal with the
historical events popularized by hit films.To those who see red when the screen
doesn’t match the printed page, keep in mind that Hollywood isn’t out to replace your cherished textbook. Movies are meant to entertain; leave the instruction to others.
Email Samantha Farkas at [email protected].
Staff Editorial
Crossing the line
I can’t help but wonder why this image of a four-year
utopia is so widely accepted.
As the impending date of graduation looms closer, the first thought on the minds of many seniors at the College of William and Mary is getting a job. In an economy that is
still struggling, employment right out of college is often hard to find — we’re looking at you, humanities majors. Students are often willing to agree to almost any terms in order to ensure that they have at least some form of a paycheck. New policies that enable employers to require Facebook login information from applicants seem to push the limit on how much new graduates should give up in exchange for a job.
Every student at the College probably heard the lecture: Don’t put anything on Facebook that you wouldn’t want an employer to see. There is merit to this argument, and students should acknowledge the fact that anything they put online is fair game. Even so, asking applicants to surrender their passwords clearly oversteps privacy bounds.
Giving employers access to Facebook passwords could allow them to rifle through private messages and even to make changes to accounts. Private messages on Facebook are no different than personal email accounts, and this practice creates a precedent on which employers could begin to ask for those passwords as well. Furthermore, by viewing information that the applicant may have made private, such as sexual orientation and religious or political views, employers create the opportunity for discrimination charges that will only hurt their companies.
Social media revolves around creating an online persona. The decisions a user makes concerning what information to make public and what to keep hidden says a lot about the user’s judgment. By viewing applicants’s public profiles, rather than private information, employers can see how applicants wish to represent themselves, in the same way they would in an interview. This should create a clear image of what type of employee that person will be.
As social media continues to grow and expand, from Pinterest to Twitter to Tumblr, this issue will become an even more pressing matter and one that needs to be addressed. Because Facebook is an international website, there is a blurred line about who should have the jurisdiction to decide whether or not forcing employees to hand over passwords is permissible. Facebook’s policy forbids users to give their account information to others, but employers clearly are not paying any attention. In order to prevent this invasion of privacy, the Federal Communication Commission needs to ban this practice, even if it only has jurisdiction in the United States. This regulation would be the first step to ensuring that employers don’t bully job applicants into handing over their passwords.
Students should know that employers will probably look at their Facebook profiles when reviewing their applications, and they should use discretion when deciding whether or not it is a good idea to upload those pictures from the past weekend. At the end of the day, however, employers should only be able to make their decisions based on the information that applicants allow them to see so that applicants’s privacy can be protected.
Graphic by rachEl brookS / the Flat hat
History vs. Hollywood: The value and nature of films that fictionalize history
opinionsThe F lat Hat
opinions Editor ellen [email protected]
| Friday, april 6, 2012 | page 5
Editorial cartoon
Samantha Farkasthe Flat hat
by Molly adair, flat hat cartooniSt
the Flat hatEmily Kelley
College: The best years of our lives?
The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Flat Hat. The editorial board, which is elected by The Flat Hat’s section editors and executive staff, consists of Katherine Chiglinsky, Elizabeth DeBusk, Katie Demeria, Jill Found and Vanessa Remmers. The Flat Hat welcomes submissions to the Opinions section. Limit letters to 250 words and columns to 650 words. Letters, columns, graphics and cartoons reflect the view of the author only. Email submissions to [email protected].
“If someone asked me to do that, that would be a red flag for the company. It’s also a breach of contract with Facebook.”
Zachary Mott ’12
StrEEt bEat
“I wouldn’t give my password. That’s a little too much. If the job was on the line, I might do it.”
Michelle pillepich ’14
“I think it’s crossing a boundary. I suppose I just think it’s unnecessary.”
Sarah Gault ’14
“I think I have a right to my privacy. I don’t know how that would advance or contribute to their knowledge of me as a job applicant.”
M.G. hensley ’14 — photoS and intErviEwS by EllEn wExlEr
coMMEntS @thEflathat
“Many adjunct professors throughout the country don’t even make enough to support themselves. Do William & Mary students want to be taught by adjunct professors who work three other low-paid jobs to support their children?
—Andy DeSoto on “Adjunct professors help College’s financial situation”
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What makes a liberal arts education great is exposure to new and diverse ideas, not the reiteration and rote memorization of the same ones.
—Michelle on “False perceptions”“Should employers ask job applicants for their Facebook passwords?
Over the course of the last year, the Sadler Center Dining Hall has made a lot of changes to its operations. The dining hall started making diverse meals and rejecting tired staples: it has thrown out the old cookbook.
This is all deliberate, and the result of a hiring spree of young, ambitious and experienced culinary talent working to make on-campus meal choices more inventive and exciting. The change can be traced back to Andrew Rice, the new head chef at the Sadler Center.
Rice, in his early twenties, returned to the Hampton Roads area last summer after working in Florida under several master chefs in fine dining at various resorts. He applied for the head chef position and started last July.
“Our executive chef for the College came to me when I got hired and he said he wanted a change,” Rice said. “So I took on a leadership role and started changing everything, trying to make it better. I think we’re doing a pretty good job at it.”
One thing in particular that Rice has worked on is using available ingredients in creative ways.
“We follow a certain menu we have to stick with,” Rice said. “But we’re allowed to twist and redo the menu using the same items to whatever we feel is the best way to do it.”
Lead Cook Cameron Reagan is another example of the emphasis that dining services has placed on hiring experienced talent. Reagan started working in the restaurant industry when he was 15 and worked his way up the ranks in restaurants and hotels for eight years before going to culinary school.
“I just love it. It’s something you can’t really describe; it’s something that you love to do. I love coming to work because I get to work with fresh stuff every day,” Reagan said.
He mentioned the emphasis that the Sadler Center places on ingredients.
“Here in Virginia we have the opportunity to get fresh product, because there are so many [farms] around here. You don’t necessarily have to go through companies who probably get it
from Mexico, Ireland or something of that nature,” he said.
The Sadler Center team has also tried to cook more at exhibition stations.
“We try to do something different and develop more action up front so the students can see us cook the food instead of all of it being in the back,” Rice said.
Reagan agreed.“The change in our menus, the
presentation of our food [is] definitely different, it’s more abstract, we’re pulling it out to see it isn’t just about looks, we want you to feel the quality and taste the quality along with the looks.”
Reagan also noted that putting the preparation up front has made students more interested in the art of cooking.
“Students just come up and talk to you, like ‘Hey, I really enjoyed that today,’ or ‘I never tasted anything like that. How did you make it?’ We’re always willing to teach them how to make stuff. Just ask us,” Reagan said.
He’s also one of the cooks who prepares fresh gluten-free meals on request.
“If you want a gluten-free meal we will make it, and if I haven’t got what you want, I will make something similar to it out of fresh ingredients in the back, something that wasn’t already prepackaged for you,” he said.
The positive response is more than anecdotal. The staff members emphasize how seriously they take comment cards, and how much they prize student feedback — positive or negative. Since the improvements, comment cards have been effusively positive. “We loved your mushroom and spinach paninis, especially the bread,” read one. “Shrimply Divine is amazing!” read another, and a third insisted that “Spinach dip is what’s been missing in my life. Thank you for filling that void.”
“I like to hear good comments or bad comments,” Rice said. “I like to know what you think, so don’t be shy. I’m always here.”
Dining services added meal options this year, including to-go options during peak hours in Lodge One and the revamping of the bar downstairs, now called the “Crim Deli.” The Deli serves late-night sandwiches, soups, drinks and alcohol, all of which can be purchased with Flex points.
“I think that’s a great concept that we’ve started,” Rice said about the to-go options. “We’re still tweaking it a little bit, but [from] the reviews so far, the students love it down there.”
For the Crim Deli, the struggle has been to alert students that, after years of disuse, the bar is again open for business.
“We’re trying to get the word out for students to know it’s down there,” Rice said. “We do great sandwiches down there, all Boar’s Head meat; it’s awesome. If they know I’m sure they’ll come.”
Kitchen staff member Winston Tapp is likewise hopeful that the Deli catches on.
“I try to let the kids know it’s not about me, it’s about them,” he said. “When they come in, I wish they would fill out a comment card and try and get suggestions of the different kinds of meats or anything they would like to see put on a sandwich.”
According to Rice, the best part about all of these changes to the way the Sadler Center prepares food is that this is only the beginning.
“We’re excited about the next semester,” he said. “This semester I’m making some changes, and next year it’s just going to be completely different. Food quality is going to be up a lot, the service, everything.”
varietyThe F lat Hat
Variety Editor Abby BoyleVariety Editor Sarah Caspari
| Friday, April 6 , 2012 | Page 6
BY WALTER HICKEYFLAT HAT SENIOR STAFF WRITER
GRAPHIC BY NOAH WILLARD / THE FLAT HAT
CONFUSION CORNER
The Griffin vs. the Hokie
Jason RogersCONFuSION CORNER COLumNIST
ExperienceLearnPlay CompeteLooking for a creative way to spend
your Friday night? Feel like revisiting your childhood? Then head to the Sunken Garden tonight at 9 p.m. for “Glow in the Dark Games.” Activities will include laser tag, blowing glow in the dark bubbles, painting glow in the dark t-shirts, and playing glow in the dark Frisbee. The event, which is being hosted by AMP, is free to the public. The “Glow in the Dark Games” will take place until 1 a.m.
7 William and Mary professors will be discussing the lesser-known aspects of Arab Spring this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Commonwealth Auditorium. Professors from music, law, anthropology, psychology, modern languages, history and Arabic studies will all each do eight-minute
p r e s e n t a t i o n s . After all of the professors have presented, there will be a panel discussion on the topic. The event is being organized by the Graduate Student Association and is open to all undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff.
Tonight at 10 p.m., the William and Mary Global Film Festival and WCWM Fest will be premiering the film “Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest” at the Kimball Theater. Following the film, there will be a post-screening show with live p e r f o r m a n c e s by local hip hop artists S h a k e s p e a r e ’ s Ghozt and Streetz. Admission to the p r e - s c r e e n i n g party — which begins at 9:30 p.m. — the film, and the show is $5. The venue for the p o s t - s c r e e n i n g show has not been announced yet.
AMP’s last Late Nite Trivia of the spring semester will be held this Saturday night from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. Sunday morning in Tidewater B at the Sadler Center. The categories of the game will include: Lord of the Rings riddles,
name the famous building, the Titanic, Blockbusters, and a surprise category. The event is free, and there will be food, mugs and prizes. So if you’re looking for one more opportunity to win before the semester comes to a close, then head to Tidewater B to compete this Saturday night.COURTESY PHOTO / NAHRIGHT.COM
Just as disparate nations have for years sent ambassadorial envoys to promote trade, diplomatic relations and covert business transactions, so do I find myself in the land of the Hokie.
As I write this, I am well behind the corn-fed, buzz-cut, Appalachian enemy line of Virginia Tech. As a member of the Tribe, I take this as a valuable opportunity to report back to my fellow Griffins about how the other half of the intellectual bell curve lives.
As with any discussion of Virginia Tech, we begin with sports. Although unlike most discussions of Virginia Tech sports, this one will involve little to no dog drowning. Football here is a religion. We’ve all been to at least one half of one football game at the College of William and Mary, and we can all attest to its status as a glorified high school game. I’m not saying the players aren’t talented; with the exception of VMI — who every year seems like they just asked, “Who here has ever played a sport and feels like traveling to William and Mary?” before they got on the bus — CAA football is the cream of the I-AA crop. But just because you beat up the neighborhood kid down the street doesn’t mean that you won’t have your ass handed to you in a gravy boat if Chuck Norris comes to town. VT football games are orgies of at-least-we’ve-got-sports enthusiasm. Tens of thousands of drunk mountain folk screaming at men in tight pants. It’s like watching “Deliverance.”
Another thing they seemed to have gotten a better handle on than we have is campus dining. I’ve gone on record in this column as saying that the Caf and I have had our … spats. It’s not that I don’t love the Caf. All I’m saying is, how come you keep shitting in my mouth? But regardless, Virginia Tech boasts the top-ranked campus food in America. Yes, that’s a little like being the world’s tallest midget, but our own dining could take some pointers. First: Use real meat. No, spider meat does not count — I’m looking at you, “turkey” wraps. Secondly, offer more options than either cereal or disappointment. Thirdly, don’t preface dish names with sad adjectives like “Tasty Pepperoni Pizza” and “Acceptable Chicken Soup.” Not that those aren’t both gross exaggerations.
School spirit may be the biggest difference I notice. Yes, it seems like there’s always some sort of half-assed protest at the College for which people are idly milling about, but people at Virginia Tech love Virginia Tech. Yes, we definitely love our Tribe at home, but that love is always tempered with a pithy after-remark: “Yeah, it’s great here … when we aren’t studying ourselves to the bone.” Or, “Yeah, the campus is beautiful … when it isn’t a stank ass swamp.” Now, upon hearing this, I’ll always defend our beloved College, saying, “President Reveley, please, such language!” and he’ll mention my succulent bits. At Tech, they aren’t ashamed to love their school, flaws and all, unabashedly, and I admire that.
Most of all, however, visiting other Virginia schools just reinforces how glad I am to go to the College. Because here, when you’re standing in line at the keg and you ask a guy his major, he probably won’t respond, “You’re looking at it.”
Then again, that’s pretty awesome.Jason Rogers is a Confusion Corner columnist
and he is proud to have been to one half of a Tribe football game.
COURTESY PHOTO / HOW-I-MET-YOUR-MOTHER.WIKIA.COM
Sadler Center updates services, adds new options
Friday, April 6, 2012 Page 7The F lat Hat
The idea was born in a classroom at the University of Maryland School of Law. While reading court cases in class, Sig Libowitz, now a lawyer from Venable LLP, came across a case concerning suspected “unlawful enemy combatants” who were being detained in Guantanamo Bay. Inspired by what he had read, Libowitz decided to create a film based on the subject.
“I thought, ‘There’s an incredible movie in this,’ and I wanted to make that movie,” Libowitz said Tuesday in a panel discussion at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law. “I didn’t want to wait.”
The product of Libowitz’s efforts was the 30-minute drama “The Response,” which was shown prior to the panel discussion. Libowitz co-produced, wrote and acted in the film, which was shortlisted for the 2010 Academy Award in Short Film and is currently being screened around the country.
“It’s really been a word-of-mouth type experience,” Libowitz said. “As people started seeing it, they asked us to do more screenings. We have screened this thing for the military, for groups like Amnesty [International] and ACLU … for different organizations north, south, east, west and I think that really says something.”
“The Response” follows three U.S. military judges deciding whether or not to classify a specific Guantanamo detainee — a man accused of working with al-Qaeda — as an enemy combatant. The term “enemy combatant” was used by the former President George W. Bush’s administration after the Sept. 11 attacks to describe a suspected
member of al-Qaeda or the Taliban. These alleged enemy combatants were held at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely and were not guaranteed the right to a civil trial but were tried by a military tribunal instead. The film depicts a non-public hearing in which the detainee is frustrated that he is not allowed to see the classified evidence the military officers have against him.
Following the film’s screening, the panel — made up of Libowitz, former Deputy Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Air Force Charles Dunlap, Jr., and Director of Training for the Military Commissions’ prosecutors Francis Gilligan — discussed some of the issues addressed in “The Response.” Marshall-Wythe Foundation Professor
of Law Linda Malone acted as the panel’s moderator. The panel also took questions from the audience.
“I just think it’s a valuable film because it sets up the discussion that we’re having,” Dunlap said.
All three panelists emphasized the fact that the tribunal shown in “The Response” is not representative of the current process that decides a detainee’s fate, since the tribunals like the one shown in the film were eventually ruled inadequate by the U.S. Supreme Court and have been modified in recent years.
“With the benefit of hindsight, we realized that we were wrong then, and we needed to reform the process,” Dunlap said.
Malone summed up the group’s
thoughts: Overall, the system has improved over time.
“We have seen a progression in that process that has been a progression of improvements,” she said.
She also stressed the importance of looking at the flaws with the previous tribunal system to prepare for the future.
“Going forward, what we’re now going to see is that ‘The Response’ shows what was done wrong at stage one, and we need to remember that and keep that in mind,” Malone said.
Nadja Wolfe, J.D. ’14, who attended the film screening and the panel discussion, said she found both aspects of the event enlightening.
“I thought [the film] posed some really interesting questions,” she said. “I
was naturally sympathetic to the causes of Guantanamo Bay, so it was good to have the perspectives of the gentlemen on the panel. I’m glad they think things have changed a lot.”
In the discussion, Libowitz emphasized the importance of Guantanamo Bay today, more than ten years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“It’s been more than ten years, but Guantanamo continues to resonate,” he said. “Everywhere we go, people are interested in what’s going on and what’s happening. There has been a tremendous amount of progress on a lot of fronts, and it’s changed in a lot of ways. … I think it’s important to note that people have this idea of Guantanamo, but at its height, Guantanamo only housed 800 detainees. If not for these Supreme Court cases, these stories wouldn’t necessarily come out.”
The panel also talked about the significance of the film’s title in terms of how the United States responded to the Sept. 11 attacks.
“There’s a reason this film is called ‘The Response,’” Libowitz said. “In many ways, our response to [Sept. 11] is more important than what happened to us because it defines who we are, and I think these types of debates are really important.”
Dunlap agreed, stressing the importance of having the correct response at the right time.
“When something happens, and it will, don’t wait ten years — and that’s what we’ve done now — to get the response right,” he said. “We may have it right now, but we don’t need to go through ten years of hell to get the response right. And that’s the point of the film.”
Changing the way students plan their weekendsFocus on events and privacy distinguish new start-up from other social media
For college students, social media has become a defining feature of social, academic and extracurricular events. When we log onto Facebook, our news feed bombards us with updates on events that we’ve been invited to, or that our friends are attending; we see photos from last week’s events and messages for details on next week’s.
For Cyrus Farudi and Omri Cohen, co-founders of the new event planning start-up app known as Capsule, the event management life cycle seemed highly disjointed.
“The inspiration for the idea was born out of real-life frustration with existing products,” Farudi said. “We had a lot of weddings and bachelor parties last year, and we were always doing study abroad and road trips in college. So then last year when we were trying to coordinate these [events], we realized we had been complaining for years and the process was sort of broken.”
Farudi and Cohen mapped out the life cycle of an event on a piece of paper and divided it into 4 distinct stages: before, during, after and archive. Capsule is an app that allows students to plan their nights, without automatically sharing these plans on Facebook.
“We thought it didn’t make any sense that there are like ten different services for this four stage process, and all the information is scattered because [these services] are all user-centric,” Farudi said.
The before stage involves large numbers of emails, the second stage revolves around texts and pictures, the after stage includes photo exchange and follow-ups, and the archive stage happens a couple of years later.
“Texts, posts, emails, photos, videos and people are all there,” Farudi said.
While Capsule does integrate with Facebook, users can also add people to a Capsule via text or email. Capsule is currently available online and on smartphones through apps for Android and iPhone. Each Capsule receives a
phone number so that all users can participate, regardless of whether they have an iPhone or Android.
One feature that distinguishes Capsule from other social media products is how it also functions as a sort of virtual scrapbook, only centered on the event rather than the individual.
“It’s a collection that’s not just yours but everyone’s,” Farudi said. “It’s really cool when you come back later — which is something people don’t immediately get. It’s like a chronicle of all the cool things in your life.”
At the College of William and Mary, Capsule may be helpful for students planning trips and events.
“This seems like it would be really great for my Ghana service trip this summer,” Meredith Seitz ’14 said. “My group is doing all this pre-trip planning and coordination, and I’d also love to be able to document and share my experiences with friends and stuff afterwards.”
Students wishing to share photos may also benefit from Capsule.
“We think the really cool part is
our mobile app called CapsuleCam because as you shoot photos, they’re automatically synced into the Capsule,” Farudi said. “There’s no more ‘Hey, send me your photos’ or ‘Hey, where are your photos?’ They’re all there in real-time.”
Sarah Klotz ’14 believed that this feature would be particularly useful.
“I just got back from a ceramics conference, and I’m trying to compile some of the photos from the event because my camera broke,” Klotz said. “So this would be a great way of pulling together all the exhibit photos from the other attending students.”
Despite its group appeal, Capsule has also been attracting users with its privacy aspect. It has become increasingly commonplace for college students to change their Facebook names or increase their privacy settings when applying for jobs and internships.
“Lots of people delete Facebook entirely because they don’t want to run the risk,” Farudi said. “When you’re applying for jobs, that’s now the first
place people look.” By contrast, Capsule provides more
privacy. The photos are visible to only members of a specific Capsule, and photos can still be shared onto Facebook only if the user chooses.
“College students are a big market for us,” Farudi said. “We’re interfacing with the Greek community, specifically regarding [the Greek community’s] parties and fundraisers.”
According to Farudi, Capsule combines the features of e-vites, Facebook and scrapbooks.
“There’s overlap from lots of different apps, with, say, the group text messaging functionality,” Cyrus said. “But it’s also very unique in [and] of itself — it’s the fundamental idea of organizing content around the experience as opposed to around the individual. Everything is confined to Capsule itself, and people themselves are just one more piece of the content of that Capsule.”
Students can learn more about Capsule at trycapsule.com.
BY ABBY BOYLEFLAT HAT VARIETY EDITOR
ALL PHOTOS BY SARAH CASPARI / THE FLAT HAT
A panel of experts spoke at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law Tuesday about the significance of Guantanamo Bay. After a screening of the short film “The Response,” the panelists discussed the issues presented and answered questions from audience members.
BY NATALIE FERENBACHFLAT HAT ASSOC. VARIETY EDITOR
One lawyer’s “Response” to the experiences of prisoners
sports The F lat Hat | Friday, April 6, 2012 | Page 8
Sports Editor Mike BarnesSports Editor Jared Foretek
Tribe readies for Colonial Relays at Zable
SPORTS IN BRIEF
TRACK & FIELD
Zable transforms as more than 40 current and former All-Americans come to townBY CHRIS WEBERFLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR
While Pulmeri Park and Martin-Albert Daly Field can attract a decent crowd for an important CAA tilt, nothing compares to the buzz that will surround Zable Stadium this weekend.
Thirty two men’s and women’s college track and field teams will descend on the cozy brick confines of William and Mary’s venerable stadium for the 47th annual Colonial Relays. The College’s single largest athletic event of the spring features collegiate athletes competing alongside select high school athletes and professional runners.
With Olympic Trials and the 2012 London Olympic Summer Games on the horizon, top performers will look to not only win individual events, but also garner times worthy of qualification. Over 40 current and former All-Americans will compete with national champions and past Olympic Trial participants. Competitive spirit will not be scarce.
The Tribe scored five top-five finishes at the Fred Hardy Invitational in a tune-up meet, and will look to continue such successes. In the field, the Tribe will need dual-threat junior Ben Katz to perform well in both the long jump and high jump events.
On the track, the College aims to continue a strong tradition in distance running. The CAA Runner of the Week, junior Josh Hardin, has already run the nation’s fastest 10,000 meter race and qualified for IC4A championships and NCAA East Semifinals. Junior John Muller, who placed second in the 1,500 meter run at the Fred Hardy Invitational, and sophomore Joshua Mercado, who finished fourth in the 1,500 meter, will hope to make up an impressive
distance squad. On the women’s side, the Tribe will turn to its field
events for strong results. Freshman Elizabeth Crafford looks to continue her recent success in the pole vault, in which she cleared 3.80 meters at the Fred Hardy Invitational, breaking a freshman record and ranking fourth in William and Mary school history. Junior Natalie Baird will aim to help the Tribe in the discus throw. Baird is coming off a 46.24-meter throw, which won the event at the Fred Hardy Invitational.
Distance-wise, the Tribe hopes to place well in the women’s 800 meter race. Junior Michelle Britto, who ran a personal-best of 2:14.07 at the Fred Hardy Invitational, will hope to pace the College’s effort on the track.
Aside from current student-athletes, the College will be represented by a host of alumni. Highlighting the alumni contingent is Ed Moran ’03, who placed fourth in the 10,000 meter run in the 2008 Olympic Trials and finished tenth overall in his first marathon last November.
Moran will be joined by Kathy Newberry ’00, a five-time member of Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships, Christo Landry ’08, the second place finisher of the 2012 US 15K Road Championships, and Sean Graham ’03, a participant in the 2004 Olympic Trials, 2007 U.S. Indoor Championships and 2008 Olympic Trials.
As the 32 college squads compete for the College Cup and individuals race for Olympic qualifying times, Zable appears set for a record-breaking weekend. Sixty one athletes are written into events at or below the existing stadium record.
In particular, watch for the men’s 400-meter hurtle record of 50.2 seconds to fall. Mike Shine, the holder
of the 1975 record, went on to win a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Summer Games in Montreal. On the women’s side, look for the 5:00.7 mile time, set in 1974, to fall as well.
Following the Colonial Relays, the College hits the road to attend the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. and the Penn Relay Carnival in Philadelphia, Pa. prior to the CAA Championships in Fairfax, Va. May 4 and 5.
Junior Ben Katz will look to pace the Tribe at the Colonial Relays.
Junior center fielder Ryan Brown went 1 for 5 with a walk and two runs Tuesday against University of Maryland-Eastern Shore before going 0 for 3 with two walks and a run Wednesday against Longwood.JARED FORETEK / THE FLAT HAT
BASEBALL
Win streak up to four as Tribe scores pair of dominant non-conference winsBY JARED FORETEKFLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR
William and Mary smashed its way to two dominant non-conference wins this week, obliterating visiting University of Maryland-Eastern Shore 18-3 on Tuesday before shutting out Longwood 6-0 on the road.
The two victories pushed the Tribe’s win streak to four as the team heads into another important conference series this weekend at home against Delaware.
The College (21-11, 7-5 CAA) welcomed a poor UMES (5-23) squad Tuesday and quickly imposed its will on the Hawks, plating a run in both of the first two innings, first on a sacrifice fly from senior right fielder Stephen Arcure and later on a solo home run from sophomore third baseman Ryan Lindemuth.
Lindemuth would go on to have a career day, finishing 5 for 5 with four runs, five RBIs and the homer. He was a double away from hitting for the cycle.
After the Hawks scored one in the third, the College broke it open with three more runs in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. Arcure started it off with a double to left-center before stealing third. After freshman first baseman Michael
Katz drew a walk, Lindemuth cleared the bases with a triple and then scored on an error by the third baseman.
The Tribe came back in the fifth to essentially put things out of reach, adding on four runs, making it a 9-1 advantage.
From there, the College threw it into cruise control. Freshman starting pitcher Jason Ingraham left after seven impressive innings, striking out 11 and allowing three earned runs on five hits and no walks for the win. The Tribe scored two in the sixth, two in the seventh and five in the eighth as junior reliever Brett Goodloe and senior reliever Garrison Sarrett each turned in scoreless innings of relief work.
Senior catcher Sean Aiken also had an impressive day at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a walk, two runs and two RBIs.
The College then hit the road and went west to take on Longwood (15-15) of the Big South.
Head coach Frank Leoni tapped senior starter Cole Shain to take the hill, and the lefty was nearly flawless, throwing seven shutout innings, striking out six while walking just one and allowing only three base hits.
With Shain keeping the Longwood lineup at bay, the
Tribe’s bats picked up where they left off a day earlier, taking a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI single from sophomore catcher Devin White.
The College then scored another in the fourth. After senior left fielder Tadd Bower singled to left, Lindemuth singled to center and took second on an error by the center fielder. With runners on the corners, freshman designated hitter Josh Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right, putting the Tribe on top, 2-0.
The long ball then helped to give the Tribe a 5-0 stranglehold in the fifth. After junior second baseman Kevin Nutter and junior center fielder Ryan Brown both walked, Katz blasted a 1-1 pitch deep to left for a three-run homer. With the way Shain was pitching, that was more than enough run support.
Senior relief pitcher Jay McCarthy came on to pitch a scoreless eighth before junior closer John Farrell struck out two to shut the door in the ninth.
The College will look to carry its momentum from four straight wins into a big three-game series with CAA-foe Delaware. The Tribe is currently in a tie for third in the conference with the Blue Hens, who are also 7-5 in the CAA but 14-15 overall.
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William and Mary landed an experienced and familiar defensive backs coach when head coach Jimmye Laycock introduced Tom Clark Wednesday. Clark comes over from in-state foe Liberty, where he served as defensive coordinator for the past six seasons.
Clark coached the Tribe from 2001 to 2003, when he served as the team’s defensive coordinator. During his first tenure, Clark helped the College secure a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference championship in 2001.
“I am excited be back in Williamsburg. While I was only here three years in my previous time on campus, my family and I created lasting roots in the area. Coach Laycock has built a great program with an incredible tradition, it is a great opportunity for me,” Clark said.
After leaving the Tribe in 2003, Clark assumed the head coach position at Catholic University in D.C. prior to accepting a defensive coordinator job at Liberty University. While coaching the Flames, Clark helped lead a defense that ranked as high as No. 12 nationally in scoring defense.
Now in his second stint at the College, Laycock hopes Clark will bring stability to a defense that, at times last season, was inconsistent.
“We obviously are getting a quality coach with a great deal of experience and a familiarity with our campus. Tom brings us a proven coach with a great history of developing players. I am sure he will bring immediate and valuable contributions, both to our defensive staff room and on the road recruiting,” Laycock said.
Liberty defensive coordinator named defensive backs coach
Tom Clarkdefensive backs coach
MARIKA EMANUEL / THE FLAT HAT
sTaT box
36Zable stadium will host 36 men’s and women’s college and university track teams and field this weekend for the 47th annual Colonial Relays at Zable Stadium. Races start Friday.
upcoming gamesBaseBall
Tribe vs. Delaware7 p.m. Fri., Williamsburg
The Tribe (21-11, 7-5 CAA) en-ters its three-game set with CAA-rival Delaware on a four-game winning streak, but that doesn’t mean it can take it easy against the Blue Hens (14-15, 7-5 CAA). The series has big conference standing implica-tions, as the two teams are in a tie for third place.
laCrosse
Tribe vs. Towson7:30 p.m. Fri., Williamsburg
The time to hit the panic button for the College (2-9, 0-1 CAA) is nearing. Mired in a six-game skid, the Tribe desperately needs to turn things around as the CAA season hits full swing. The Tigers (7-3, 1-0 CAA) just picked up its first conference win against Delaware.
LONGWOOD LANCERSUMES HAWKS
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