SPORTS INSERT // 2012 Basketball preview
Vol. 102, Iss. 19 | Friday, November 9, 2012
The Flat Hat The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
ELECTION 2012
FOUR MORE YEARS
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AWARDS
AidData receives $25 million award Develops new AidData Center for Development
BY KATHERINE CHIGLINSKY FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
SKYE KEENE-BABCOCK / THE FLAT HAT
Members of the Young Democrats celebrate President Barack Obama’s victory at an election-viewing party in Blow Memorial Hall on Tuesday night.
Over 7,700 voters show up to the polls in Williamsburg Tuesday BY WILLIAM PLEWS-OGAN THE FLAT HAT
Late Nov. 6, members of the Young Democrats gathered in a room in Blow Memorial Hall to watch as the election results came in. Cassie Berman ’14 attended the event after voting earlier that day and noted that attendees were on the edge of their seats early in the night. “There definitely was an air of excitement,” Berman said. “Romney and Obama were still pretty tied up. People seemed pretty confident but not overconfident.” Intense political fervor swept through the College of William and Mary on Tuesday, along with tidings of tremendous energy. Students with diverse political inclinations cast local as well as absentee
ballots, lending their voices to the climactic conclusion of a heated 2012 election cycle. President Barack Obama won the city of Williamsburg with 63.28 percent of the vote, while Senator-elect Tim Kaine also won in Williamsburg with 66.32 percent of the vote. In the race for Virginia’s first congressional district, Adam Cook (D) won Williamsburg with 58.62 percent of the vote but lost the race garnering only 39.5 percent of votes in the entire district. The incumbent, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA1) won the election with 57.9 percent. More than 7,700 residents of Williamsburg came to the polls on Tuesday. More than 1,000 voters turned out for this election than in the last election cycle in 2008. When Ryan Warsing ’15 made it to the polls on Nov. 6, he wasn’t prepared for the long wait. “It was my first time voting. … I waited 45 minutes, and I got there at about 11:00,” Warsing said. “It was a long wait; some people had to wait a little longer after [me].” See ELECTION page 3
Williamsburg voters
4,901 Obama
2,678 Romney
143
other candidates
Alex Miller ’13 calculates large numbers daily. As an undergraduate research assistant for AidData at the College of William and Mary, he catalogs global development finances for data collection projects. In 10 years, AidData has created a database of over 1 million individual development finance activities that total $5.4 trillion. But this fall, Miller and other members at AidData encountered its largest number yet: an award from the United States Agency for International Development of $25 million, the largest single financial award in the College’s history. AidData received the five-year, $25 million award as part of USAID’s Higher Education Solutions Network Program to establish institutional partnerships for global development initiatives. The College is one of seven institutions chosen out of a pool of Tierney 500 applicants. Other institutions selected include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California-Berkeley, Texas A&M University, Michigan State University, Duke University and a university in Uganda. With the money, the College will take the lead in creating the AidData Center for Development Policy that will use geospatial data to create open-data collections which track the impact of foreign aid. The College will collaborate with Development Gateway, Brigham Young University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Esri, a Global Information Systems technology company. “William and Mary has already been quite a leader in learning how to use and apply open-data systems,” USAID administrator Rajiv Shah said. The open-data systems will allow people and organizations to track information about the areas with the greatest needs during natural disasters or the areas where malaria is likely to be more prevalent. Professor Mike Tierney, co-director of the College’s Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations, will serve as the director of the center. Tierney noted that AidData’s capabilities will expand
DATA FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST
See AIDDATA page 3
ELECTION 2012
Center for Student Diversity posts controversial tweet Sends out allegedly illegal tweet for the Obama campaign, retracts message after numerous complaints
BY MEREDITH RAMEY FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
Celebrities’ and pop stars’ Twitter accounts frequently come under fire for inappropriate tweets. On Tuesday, the College of William and Mary Center for Student Diversity joined their ranks with a possibly illegal tweet about the elections in support of President Barack Obama’s campaign. According to TheBlaze, the center posted a tweet from its @ WMDiversityCtr twitter account that
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read, “If anyone wants to help the Obama Campaign go to 201 Peniman St. Contact CSD [Center for Student Diversity] for more information.” According to Virginia’s Conflict of Interest Act, 2.2-3100, the use of any state resources for political purposes is illegal. The College, as a publically funded institution, falls under this category, and College staff, as state employees, cannot use state equipment or resources for political activities. Center for Student Diversity administrators explained that the meaning
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of the message had been misconstrued. “First, for the sake of clarity, this community service opportunity was not sponsored or endorsed by the Center for Student Diversity,” Assistant to the Hurte Vice President and Senior Associate Dean of Students Director Vernon Hurte said. “Instead, it was an opportunity organized by
a group of current students. It has been our practice in the Center for Student Diversity to share information about upcoming events and service opportunities through our listserv and social media outlets that are submitted to us by student groups.” Evan Maraist ’14, however, perceived the tweet as blatantly political. “We’re a pubic college; we’re funded by taxpayer money,” Maraist said. “It’s illegal to take partisan sides, and I think that’s exactly what happened here.” Associate Vice President of
Inside OPINIONS
Charging more for liberal arts
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to encourage students to major in STEM subjects by charging liberal arts majors higher tuition — however, that isn’t his decision to make. page 4
Communications and University Relations Brian Whitson explained the events surrounding the publishing of the tweet. “A student assistant in the Center for Student Diversity put out the tweet late [Tuesday] afternoon,” Whitson said in an email. “It was intended to be an informational item (the Center often puts out information for student organizations on meetings or activities) and not a call to action but we agree it See TWEET page 2
Inside VARIETY
Talking points to laugh about
Looking back on memorable and amusing quotes from the candidates in the wake of a close election. page 6