The Flat Hat
Vol. 101, Iss. 40 | Friday, March 23, 2012
ACADEMICS
The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper
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of The College of William and Mary
Student assembly
Complaints mar election Four tickets sanctioned
MILLS TAKES SA ELECTION
Curt Mills and Melanie Levine narrowly trump David Alpert and Meghan Moore
bY Katherine chiglinsky and vanessa remmers
Flat hat news editor and managing editor
The eve of the Student Assembly election saw the Student Assembly Elections Commission investigating their 15th complaint of the campaign season. In an election defined by promises of SA reform, four pairs of candidates found themselves burdened with sanctions from the SA Elections Commission. “There are many items in the Code that are left up to interpretation,” SA Elections Commission Chair Molly Bulman ’12 said in an email. “This leaves quite a bit of room for foul play, accusations and appeals.” According to Bulman, a total of 15 complaints of violations beyond a Class One offense were filed with the SA Elections Commission. Of those 15 complaints, four were found in violation of the Student Assembly Code. Eleven complaints were found to be invalid for sanction. Eight duplicate complaints were filed. The SA Code states that Class One complaints are the least severe offenses, resulting in a warning or a fine. Class Two complaints concern slander, libel, the inclusion of pornographic or obscene materials, failure to submit required information to the SA Elections Commission before the required deadline and campaigning door-to-door. Candidates face a suspension of active campaign privileges for a set period of time. Class Three complaints consist of bribery of a candidate or a voter, negative campaign attacks against a candidate based solely upon his or her character or person, tampering, overspending, and destruction of another candidate’s campaign materials. Candidates can potentially face removal from the ballot and invalidation of candidacy. David Alpert ’13 was the first of two candidates to be sanctioned for door-to-door campaigning, a Class Two infraction. Alpert appealed to the Student Assembly Review Board after receiving a sanction from the SA Elections Commission. The SA Review Board conducted an immediate hearing to decide if the sanction would be upheld. Arguing that the complaint of door-to-door campaigning derived from an unclear SA Code, Alpert questioned the validity of the sanction. “We’re being prosecuted for a rule that isn’t clear,” Alpert said. Even though Bulman admitted to the general lack of clarity within the SA Code, she defended the sanction. “If this isn’t door-to-door campaigning, I don’t know what is,” Bulman said. See complaints, page 4
ANITA JIANG / THE FLAT HAT
ZACH HARDY / THE FLAT HAT
Curt Mills ’13 and Melanie Levine ’13 won the Student Assembly Presidential election with 733 votes. David Alpert ’13 followed with 697.
by CHASE HOPKINS FLAT HAT ASSOC. news editor
In a tight race fraught with controversies and candidates galore, Curt Mills ’13 and Melanie Levine ’13 were narrowly selected to lead the next session of the Student Assembly. Mills and Levine recognized they faced stiff competition from the start with a ballot divided between six different tickets and laden with 15 election complaints handled by the Student Assembly Elections Commission during the campaign. “We feel throughout the campaign, even though there were six tickets, we were the ones that were most distinct,” Mills said. “I think William and Mary students rewarded us for that. We had a consistent message. The message wasn’t always the most popular for a lot of people, but it resonated with most of the student body.” At the close of the polls, Mills and
Levine would win with 25 percent of the vote, surpassing runner-up David Alpert ’13 by 1 percent, or 36 votes. Mills and Levine attribute their win largely to their platform, which they have continually portrayed as distinct in multiple areas, largely because neither Mills nor Levine served in the Student Assembly during the past session. They also emphasize the value of their platform’s intentional specificity. “I just think that what differentiated our campaign from the others were our concrete ideas,” Levine said. “We really look forward to implementing them.” Alpert and Moore, while disappointed with the close finish, were nonetheless pleased that their campaign appears to have pushed mental health to the forefront of election platforms. They also believe their experience gave them greater insight into the Student Assembly. “I think running has made us realize
HARINI MANIKANDAN / THE FLAT HAT
Election results
2%
25% 10% 17%
24% Mills
7% 14%
Write-in Alpert Canakis Colby Kim McNerney
Graphic by mike barnes / THE FLAT HAT
some big concerns of the student body. The Student Assembly is not this entity that is really austere; anyone can be part of it,” Moore said. Finishing in third place, candidates Noah Kim ’13 and Sky Sprayberry ’15 were pleased with their work, yet wary of the election process in general.
“We ran a campaign that we can be proud of,” Kim said. “I’ve never seen an election like this before. It was a poorly run election. I was disappointed by how it was run.” Grace Colby ’13 and Alyssa Zhu ’13 See ELECTION, page 4
WILLIAMSBURG
BReaking news
City mulls tax increases in budget propsal
Weaver sues accuser
Cigarette, real estate and personal property taxes proposed to increase bY Katherine chiglinsky Flat hat news editor
City pockets soon may feel the effects of local tax increases for the first time in two decades. Williamsburg City Manager Jack Tuttle proposed raising taxes to compensate for increased expenditures in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget released March 16. Tuttle proposed a $32.2 million budget, an increase of $200,000 from the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. In years past, the budget has included a surplus of almost $3 million, but in 2008, the surplus decreased significantly. “With the recession, our revenues dropped dramatically, and now we’re down to a $300,000 surplus,” Tuttle said. “We’ve had to cut expenditures dramatically.”
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To compensate for the decrease in revenues, Tuttle has recommended an increase of the real estate tax from $0.54 to $0.57, the cigarette tax from $0.25 to $0.30 and the personal property tax from $3.50 to $4. The city generally receives 39 percent of its revenue from property taxes. According to Tuttle, estimated revenue would fall to $31.3 million if no Haulman property and cigarette tax increases are approved, leaving a budget gap of about $1 million. Williamsburg generally receives around 44 percent of its revenue from local taxes, including room and meal taxes garnered from
by jared foretek and becky koenig Flat hat SPORTS EDITOR and senior staff writer
the strong tourism base. No cuts were made to tourism funding, and Tuttle estimated a 4.2 percent increase in meal tax collections for Fiscal Year 2013. Planning Commission member Chris Connolly ’15 supported the city manager’s decision to raise taxes. “I think the real estate tax raises are pretty slight, so I don’t think it’ll have a profound impact [on development in the city],” Connolly said. “With a $1.6 million shortfall, you’re going to have to make some increases in revenues. This increase makes sense.” Even with the raise in the real estate tax, Williamsburg maintains the lowest tax rate of the surrounding localities with York County
Since the charges against him were dismissed, Jeffrey Weaver is suing the College of William and Mary student who accused him of rape in October for more than $6 million in damages. Weaver filed suit March 13 in a complaint condemning the female student’s allegedly “deceitful and malicious actions.” He requested a jury trial and moved for judgment for $5 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for each count of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and malicious prosecution. According to the complaint, the female student’s claim has affected Weaver, a 27-year-old who enrolled at the College after serving in the Iraq War, “to the extent that he has become depressed, withdrawn, and
See BUdget, page 3
See Weaver, page 4
Inside opinions
Inside SPORTS
Back for more
Before we pass judgment, we need to reexamine the reasons why college graduates move back home. page 5 Mostly sunny High 84, Low 60
$6 million suit filed for defamation
College falls to Spartans
The Tribe mustered just one run on nine hits as Norfolk State held off the College’s ninth inning rally in Norfolk on Wednesday. page 8