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Acclaimed chef brings authentic Chinese food to Williamsburg dining scene.
College clenches CAA tournament home field advantage with double overtime.
Peter Chang’s China Cafe
Vol. 102, Iss. 15 | Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Tribe claims overtime thriller
The Flat Hat The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
ORGANIZATIONS
Innovating Steer Clear New application uses algorithm to reduce student wait times, optimize routes by VERONIQUE BARBOUR THE FLAT HAT
A recent Student Assembly bill provided funding for a new Steer Clear mobile website application that will allow Steer Clear to give students a more accurate wait time. “What we do is we seek to provide a safe means of travel on the weekends at night to prevent essentially bad things from happening. Our mission is first and foremost to prevent drunk driving, but secondary to prevent people from walking home unaccompanied at night,” Steer Clear Director Mark Moran ’14 said. Many hope the new bill will solve problems Steer Clear has recently faced. “I think some of its main problems were inefficacy and long wait times,” Kendall Lorenzen ’15, chair of the Senate for Student Assembly, said. “There were problems with accessibility and availability. Also, transparency on the way Steer Clear works [was a problem], because they had two vans and they wouldn’t really coordinate how they would work and sometimes they would pass each other going to the same group and this technology will greatly improve that aspect.” The act will also provide two tablets for Steer Clear drivers to use to access the website and to utilize GPS for directions and more efficient routes to reach students. “This app is going to use the lowest possible wait time on average through
this mathematical equation to send the vans to the people who will make the wait time the lowest as possible,” Moran said. SA Senator Colin Danly ‘15 remarked on what the program will mean for Steer Clear users. “It really makes the facilitation of getting people and bringing them safely to their destination a whole lot quicker. It will make security and safety on this campus a whole lot better,” Danly said. Use of the website and student service requests are free. The Drop Tables Programming Guild, also known as the Programming Club, created the website for Steer Clear. “There are many features that we hope to add that will not be in the first version of the app. We definitely hope to continue to develop for a long time, using feedback from Steer Clear and passengers in order to improve the app,” Programming Club member and Steer Clear project manager and driver Nathan Schaaf ’15 said. This website is estimated to be released to students by the end of the semester, and after some time, Steer Clear will be able to see the results of the program and judge its effectiveness. “After they institute the program, they will be able to access data which is really important for the coming years because they will be able to [better] understand when the peak and the flux times are,” Danly said. The SA Facebook page and Twitter account will announce when the new applications are in place.
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Crime
Alcohol law cases increase Auto theft also increases in the 2011 College crime statistics by matt esporrin the flat hat
WHAT: Phone application with new algorithm technology WHY: To increase effeciency and decrease wait time WHEN: estimated release by end of the semester HOW: Student Assembly funding
The College of William and Mary has a reputation for being a relatively safe campus, which has been confirmed by the recently released 2011 crime statistics. Although there were some fluctuations, all of the crime rates remained low. However, the one area of the recent crime report that has significantly increased is the amount of liquor law disciplinary cases. These cases are based only on the grounds of school policy and do not include driving under the influence and public intoxication arrests. In 2010, there were 198 such cases, while, in 2011, there were 278 cases. William and Mary Police Chief Don Challis thinks that most of the incidences were caused by underage possession of alcohol. Although these cases did not involve police, Challis feels that the increase in reports exhibits the community values of the College. “It is a reflection of a caring community when students call for medical help for their classmates who Challis may be in a dangerous condition. The rise in the numbers of reported incidences probably has to do with worried students trying to help their classmates,” Challis said. Challis also acknowledged that the campus police department’s number of alcohol-related arrests did not fluctuate in the same way that the liquor law disciplinary cases did with the College administration. “Each year, we tend to have alcohol-related arrests in the high-teens to low-twenties in terms of quantity,” Challis See STATISTICS page 3
student loans
academics
Loan policy limits student recipients
Panel discusses history of voter suppression
Students discuss plan changes
by ashley hamilton the flat hat
Jim Crow Lives panel members converse on racially based voter ID policies
by kaTHERINE DOWNS the flat hat
President Barack Obama’s changes to the income-based repayment plan will only marginally help its touted benefiters, low-income students, while high-income students with large debts will reap most of the benefits, according to a report released last Tuesday by the New America Foundation. As the income-based plan currently stands, borrowers pay back up to 15 percent of their annual incomes per month and can expect loan forgiveness by the government in 25 years. Obama’s plan reduces the monthly cap to 10 percent and payment time to 20 years. These changes were set to start with borrowers in 2014 but now may take effect as early as this year. That may not be soon enough. “It won’t apply to anyone who started repaying just as the recession was coming on, so it’s not going to help the bulk of the people who are in trouble because of the downturn,” Professor David Feldman, College of William and Mary economics department chair, said. Although the program was advertised by the Obama administration as a way to ease the financial burden on lower and middle class students, low-income borrowers will see only a 5 to 20 dollar decrease in monthly payments, while high-income students with large amounts of debt from graduate or professional schools will see potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt forgiven after 20 years. “I don’t think I agree with the fact that people’s loans are being forgiven after a certain amount of time because I feel like it’s part of personal responsibility — that if you decide to go to law school, you’re going to have to pay for that,” Erin See loans page 3
Index
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Eleven states passed voter ID laws since 2011 requiring voters to present valid ID at the polls. With the 2012 election approaching, many have begun to argue this is not an attempt to stop voter fraud, but a return to voter suppression and the Jim Crow era. The Africana Studies Mellon Panel Series presented Voter Suppression: Jim Crow Lives Oct. 18. The panel — including Lemon Project Co-Chairperson Jung Hyun Lee / THE FLAT HAT and Managing Director Jody L. Members of the Africana Studies Mellon Panel Series discussed new voter ID requirements and resulting voter suppression. Allen, Co-Director of the Election Law Program Rebecca Green, of the new era in American exist, no action has been taken to that white people will become the minority in this country,” and Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow politics where African American correct it. “This is really inexcusable Thelwell said. of Africana Studies Chinua citizenship is going to be fully The Republican Party is reThelwell — discussed the history protected took a major blow behavior for a 21st century of voter suppression in America during the presidential election of democracy, in my opinion,” sponsible for passing almost evand the continued presence of 2000. There were, indeed, many Thelwell said. “It is important to ery piece of voter ID requirement violations of the Voting Rights Act note that there was no smoking legislation. Because most minorisuch policies. gun. Investigators were unable ties in America identify with the “Voter suppression is not new; of 1965,” Thelwell said. 14.4 percent of all African to uncover a conspiracy to Democratic Party, this pattern it’s been around for a long time. We know that there is a consistent American votes in Florida were suppress the black vote. American has raised suspicion. “Some Republicans have attempt to maintain power, and rejected, while only 1.6 percent democracy didn’t work for a large one of the ways to do that is to of non-African American votes section of African American voters decided that the best way to deal with the population that is were rejected. Inadequate voting in Florida.” suppress the vote,” Allen said. Many attribute this return to unlikely to vote Republican is to More recently, political technology in African American unauthorized voter suppression to changing put legislation in place that makes analysts have found evidence neighborhoods, of suppression of the minority police roadblocks and other demographics of the American it more difficult for that population to vote,” Thelwell said. vote in Florida during the 2000 obstacles were put in the way of population. “By the year 2050, most black voters. Although evidence presidential election. “For many people, the narrative of this voter suppression does demographers have predicted See voting page 3
Inside opinions
How to pick a major
You’ll have the rest of your life to focus on your career — so don’t feel as if you have to pick a major that leads directly to a job. page 4
Inside VARIETY
Actor interacts with audience
Rob Cleeson pokes fun at himself, the College and cougars in show Oct. 20. page 6