Flat Hat 3-23-12

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.”

Index News Insight News News Opinions Variety Variety Sports

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Today’s Weather

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

ONLINE TODAY

Interview with SA President curt mills and vice-president elect Melanie Levine

“

newsinsight “

News Editor Katherine Chiglinsky News Editor Ken Lin fhnews@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Friday, March 23, 2012 | Page 2

THE BUZZ

We feel throughout the campaign, even though there were six tickets, we were the ones that were most distinct ... we had a consistent message.

—Student Assembly President Elect Curt Mills ’13

BEYOND THE ‘BURG

From “remember when,” a blog by cassie holmes ‘13

Many people, myself included, mistakenly believed Furbys had an eerie ability to mimic words spoken to them. The nature of a Furby’s programming does not enable Furby to actually imitate or intelligently respond to people. Yet we all have heard creepy stories about Furbys with suspect behavior. For instance, after a vivid Furby nightmare, my best friend awoke to her own

Furby crooning, “Dreams do come true.” Terribly disturbed, she threw her Furby out her window, hoping the two-story fall would destroy it. However, the maniacal beast miraculously survived with no noticeable defects. Afterward, like most disturbed and disillusioned Furby owners, she banished her Furby to collect dust in the closet indefinitely.

Videos Online

Streaming coverage of Tribe Athletics press conferences, including postgame interviews, press conferences and game recaps from @FlatHatSports.

The Flat Hat Insider keeps you updated on all the news that didn’t make it to the print edition.

Catch up at http://flathatnews. com/category/news-videos/

A THOUSAND WORDS COURTESY PHOTO / TOPICS.DIGTRIAD.COM

Five members of the University of Souther Mississippi pep band were disciplined after allegedly shouting racist comments at a basketball player.

Racist pep band chant leads to punishment According to The Huffington Post, the University of Southern Mississippi has disciplined five members of the pep band who heckled a Kansas State University basketball player from

Puerto Rico with racist remarks during a recent game. The band members shouted, “Where’s your green card?” at point guard Angel Rodriguez and were punished with the revocation of their

Illinois runs out of scholarship money Following record numbers of applicants for the Monetary Award Program in Illinois, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission has announced that applications for aid will no longer be accepted. According to the Chicago Tribunec the scholarship money is need-based, and the ISAC , which began accepting applications Jan. 1, saw 40,000 more applications this year than last year, leading to the depletion of scholarship money by March 13.

scholarships, removal from the band, and mandated sensitivity training.

Rodriguez has accepted the apology from Southern Mississippi officials for this incident.

LSAT test takers decrease According to The New York Times, the Law School Admission Council has announced that the number of people taking the Law School Admission Test has dropped this year by 16 percent. This announcement comes on the heels of many reports that the job market for lawyers is heavily saturated by a glut of law school graduates, with many unemployed graduates filing lawsuits against their alma maters on the grounds that the schools misled them into believing in the high worth of a law degree.

CITY POLICE BEAT

March 12 to March 19 John lee / the FLAT HAT

CORRECTIONS In the March 20 issue, The Flat Hat spelled Alyssa Zhu’s name incorrectly. Additionally, the Flat Hat incorrectly stated Andrew Canakis and Andrew Salamone as Class of 2014. They are actually Class of 2013.

1

Wednesday, March 14 — Cash was reported stolen from a dorm room in Barrett. The amount stolen was estimated to be $60.00.

2

Saturday, March 17 — An individual was arrested in front of Miller Hall for public drunkeness and underage possession of alcohol.

3

The Flat Hat

Sunday, March 18 — A bicycle was reported stolen at 312 Jamestown Road. The estimated value was $120.00

‘STABILITAS ET FIDES’ | ESTABLISHED OCT. 3, 1911 ‘STABILITAS ET FIDES’ | ESTABLISHED OCT. 3, 1911

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News in brief Professor cited in global ocean study

College graduate sets rowing record

Birds of prey under watch

Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor Robert Diaz has been credited with co-authoring a report entitled “Valuing the Ocean” along with an international team of scientists and economists. The report focuses on the financial costs arising from human impact on the oceans, estimating that within one century declining ocean quality will cost the international economy nearly $2 trillion annually.

Diaz will be among those presenting the findings at a science conference in London March 26. He wrote sections of the report that linked fertilizer levels with an increase in ocean dead zones where fish and other marine life cannot survive due to low oxygen levels.

T.J. Wallin ’09 has been recognized as a new record-holder for his achievement in rowing. Wallin returned to the College of William and Mary March 3 and rowed over 165 miles in 24 hours to surpass the previous holder in the 20-29 age group by almost two miles. He was joined in this accomplishment by family and rowing club members who monitored his progress throughout the day and fetched him water and food at intervals.

Wallin, who is currently working towards a Ph.D in materials science at Cornell University, overcame mood swings and the onset of muscle cramps in the final stretch to successfully finish.

He has credited a high-sugar diet for sustaining him throughout the day.

Real-time video of an osprey family, which has been dubbed “OspreyCam,” will allow viewers to observe the family throughout its nesting and breeding season at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

The camera is mounted atop a 65foot tall water tower, and the nest under observation has long been used by ospreys for its proximity to the York River and an abundant supply of fish.

Because ospreys rely almost entirely on fish for their diet, they are key subjects for researchers hoping to study the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The osprey pair that currently occupies the nest returned from South America nearly two weeks later than usual this year.

Page 3

Friday, March 23, 2012

The Flat Hat

administration

College heeds State Department travel warnings Vice provost announces new policy restricting College-related travel to nations under advisory by ken lin flat hat news editor

In an attempt to open doors for students while still keeping them safe, the College of William and Mary administration enacted new restrictions on travel.

The College’s new Travel Warning Policy was crafted in response to the U.S. Department of State’s revised list of at-risk countries.

However, the policy’s effect may be minimal since the administration intends for it to serve as a review process rather than an outright ban, and no College study-abroad programs presently exist in the at-risk countries.

“I am a strong supporter of this decision and am dedicated to bringing it to a conclusion,” Vice Provost for International Affairs Stephen Hanson said. “I should also add that we did consult several faculty committees. … This is becoming standard practice of universities in conversation about risk with study abroad.”

The policy, according to the College website, applies to “all undergraduate student travel sponsored, organized, supported or recognized by the College of William & Mary, including the Virginia

Institute of Marine Science,” and would require travel to designated countries to receive prior approval by the University Travel Warning Review Committee, or TWRC. Without approval, students will not be able to transfer academic credit earned at institutions in designated countries since personal travel outside College jurisdiction would not be subject to review.

“The actual policy before was more restrictive.

It prohibited any funding for student travel to designated countries,” Hanson said. “This [current] policy allows us to, in some cases, review and support travel, whereas the previous policy restricted all travel … In some ways we have created a more flexible structure.”

For a nation to make the list, it must fit the State Department’s definition of “when long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable lead the State Department to recommend that Americans avoid or consider the risk of travel to that country,” according to the department’s website. Many nations undergoing social unrest and revolution, such as Libya and Syria, are among those on the list, but so are countries frequented by many Americans, including Israel and Mexico.

“The State Department didn’t contact us at all …

GRAPHIC BY noah willard / THE FLAT HAT

The designated countries are located in hotspots around the world, in particular the Middle East, and in developing countries.

so the issue really is that we want to respect the State Department when they provide us with a list like this,” Hanson said.

The TWRC’s process will consider applications from multiple angles, taking into account the expertise and recommendations of area experts, the nature of the travel itinerary and available resources

within the country for emergency response.

“We are going to take very seriously the kinds of factors that are listed in the policy for making our assessment in individual cases,” Hanson said. “We think that in time people will appreciate this extra care. Our goal is to open doors and make it safe, so we think this policy allow us to reach that balance.”

Law school

Panel on legal aspects of the Occupy movement held at law school Occupy movement organizer and First Amendment professor discuss challenges facing public protests today

The ongoing national debate regarding the relationship between the law and the Occupy movement has spread across the country, but it occupied a classroom in the Marshall-Wythe School of Law Tuesday.

Cabell Research Professor of Law Timothy Zick and Amin Husain, an activist affiliated with the Occupy movement, discussed the nature of the protests, their legality and their constitutional ramifications before an audience of students and community members.

“The sum total of demands does not get at what the Occupy movement is trying to accomplish, which is creating a new type of politics where people’s

C

participation in the process can evolve,” Husain said.

Husain related his story of how he became involved with the Occupy movement, beginning in his childhood in the West Bank of Israel and later to his time as a student activist, as well as to the five years he spent as a lawyer in New York at the law firm of King and Spaulding.

“I think, in general, authority has been very challenged by this movement, especially in public spaces, and it’s something that we stumbled upon, frankly, trying to find spaces of dissent,” Husain said.

“The police have been very brutal about it. Occupy has an anti-capitalist current to its structure. There is social and political inequality that cannot be handled by a third party. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

The academic perspective of Zick complemented

ongratulations

to the Fraternity and Sorority members who made Dean’s List for Fall 2011!

Scholarship is an important pillar of all Greek organizations. In the Panhellenic Creed, it states that “We, as Undergraduate members of women’s fraternities, stand for good scholarship.” In the IFC Constitution: “We recognize our primary commitment must be academics. We expect each fraternity to provide proper support and motivation for academic success at both an individual and chapter level.

Through academic achievement, we strive to be examples of superior students who enjoy excellent faculty relations.

Both Panhellenic and IFC are proud of the academic strength of W&M’s Greek community.

Husain’s claims about the nature of the movement.

Drawing from his specialized knowledge of the First Amendment, and, in particular his specialization in public space protest rights, Zick discussed the relationship between public protest space and the Occupy movement itself.

“I think physical presence remains an important issue in public intent to dissent,” Zick said. “You have to have sites of public dissent — of public protest — available. Availability, though, raises questions. How long can someone stay in a particular place? How does that affect the surrounding community?”

Zick discussed the particular complexity of the sites chosen by Occupy protestors in both Washington, D.C. and New York City, adding that modern American protest movements have evolved from the demonstrations that many remember from

the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s and 1960s.

“Although public protest is necessary, I think that we need to turn this social moment into a social movement, and it is not clear that is going to happen,” Zick said. “It is very important for political protests in the modern age to have the element of surprise.

Public protesting today has been bureaucratized.”

Zick further drew from the 1984 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Clarke v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, in which the Court set a tone for protests in public space.

“We have difficulty, therefore, in understanding why the prohibition against camping, with its ban on sleeping overnight, is not a reasonable time, place, or manner regulation that withstands constitutional scrutiny,” Associate Justice Byron White wrote in the opinion for the Court.

City budget proposal released for review Decreases in state revenue threaten programs and employees BUDGET from page 1

at a rate of $0.6575 and James City County at a rate of $0.77.

“We also have terrific services,” Mayor Clyde Haulman said. “People in the city don’t pay a separate tax for garbage collection or streetlights. Plus, you pay a significantly lower tax rate.”

The proposal of tax increases comes in a year when three members of the council are up for reelection. Tuttle, however, noted that members need to consider fully the additional costs in schools, the additional costs of the Virginia Retirement system, the rising costs of healthcare for employees and the estimated 2.3 percent decrease in state revenue for Fiscal Year 2013.

“No member of city council said we should take these options off the table,” Tuttle said.

Tuttle also proposed decreasing the amount of full-time-equivalent city employees from 183 to 182.5, which would create a permanent part-time position and remove one full-time position.

The number of full-time employees in the city has decreased significantly over the past five years, but Haulman noted that the city can no longer afford to make staffing cuts.

“From 2008, we’ve decreased from 202 employees to 183,” Haulman said. “I don’t think we can cut any further and maintain the quality of services. I think with the number of people and the operational budget cuts in departments, we have people doing more with less. I think we’re really pretty close to that line. There’s no fat in this budget.”

Due to the delay in the state budget, the proposed budget may need to be revised before the council adopts the final version at the May 10 meeting. The General Assembly’s Senate Finance Committee passed an $85 billion budget after a long budget standoff Thursday. The proposal will be presented to the full senate Monday before moving to a vote in the House of Delegates.

According to Haulman, the decrease in state funding is a continuation of a greater trend in government budgets.

“It’s been a long-term trend, and it’s a result of the fact that the state won’t change its taxes or change its revenues,” Haulman said. “At some point, somebody’s got to pay and it’s falling at the local level.”

The council met for two budget work sessions this past week. A formal budget hearing will be held April 12, while the budget is scheduled to be adopted May 10.

Real Estate Tax Values 1.2

1.0

Real Estate Tax per $100 of Assessed Value

by chase hopkins flat hat assoc. news editor

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0 James City County York County Newport News Hampton Poquoson Williamsburg

Communities Graphic by katherine chiglinsky / THE FLAT HAT

The city manager proposed a 3 cent increase in the real estate tax from $0.54 to $0.57 for FY 2013.

Page 4

Friday, March 23, 2012

The Flat Hat

administration

Stepping from the Ivy League to the College Former Dartmouth College administrator to become next dean of the arts and sciences by ellie kaufman Flat hat chief staff writer

Katharine Conley will serve as the new Dean of Arts and Sciences at the College of William and Mary beginning in July.

Conley was selected from a pool of five candidates. She was formerly the Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Arts and Humanities at Dartmouth College where she is the current Edward Tuck Professor of French and Comparative Literature.

“It is a wonderful opportunity,” Conley said. “William and Mary is a fantastic institution with a great reputation that is well deserved.”

As dean, Conley will run the largest academic unit on campus that includes 6,400 undergraduate and graduate students, 80 staff members, 35 undergraduate departments and 12 graduate programs.

The dean reports directly to the provost and is responsible for overall administration and strategy of the numerous departments and people that compose the arts and sciences program. These responsibilities include hiring faculty, developing and allocating resources and planning curricula.

“During the search, she impressed us with her interest in William and Mary, her collegial manner, her understanding of what being a dean entails, and her readiness to do the job at William and Mary,” College President Taylor Reveley said.

Conley has been a member of the Dartmouth staff since 1992. During that time, she spent a portion of her career in surrealist studies, a cross-disciplinary area of research combining literature and art history. Conley has also served as associate dean at Dartmouth since 2006, where she

was responsible for 14 departments and 300 faculty members.

“She has powerful credentials as a teacher, scholar and administrator. She cares deeply about the liberal arts and is committed to undergraduate, as well as graduate, education,” Reveley said. “This is just the sort of mix that’s important for a Dean of Arts and Sciences at William and Mary.”

When Conley visited campus in early February for an on-campus interview before the faculty, her interest in the position was crystallized to dedication.

“I was just so impressed with everyone when I came down to visit,” Conley said. “It has a terrific student body, a really engaged and wonderful faculty, a focus on liberal arts, and, of course, the beauty and history of the campus itself.”

Looking ahead, Conley plans to maintain the strong liberal arts foundation

Caroline wren martin / THE FLAT HAT

Katharine Conley will oversee 6,400 students in 47 departments in the arts and sciences programs.

already established in the College’s history.

“I will work to maintain the strength of the liberal arts as the foundation of a college education and to sustain the very successful model that William

and Mary has with the faculty that is at once seriously engaged in research and scholarship and seriously dedicated to teaching,” Conley said. “It’s a winning combination, in my opinion.”

student assembly

SA votes to distribute funds, streamline acquisitions

Thousands earmarked to cover costs for event speaker, T-shirt sales and recycling initatives by meredith ramey Flat hat assoc. news editor

The Student Assembly unanimously approved four bills concerning a variety of campus interests and initiatives Tuesday.

The first piece of legislation passed was the Voice of South Asia Act, sponsored by senate Chairman Noah Kim ’13. The bill allocates $2,000 to cover various expenses needed to retain Dileep Rao, an actor in “Inception” and “Avatar,” as keynote speaker for a South Asian Student Association conference and intercollegiate dance competition.

“I think this keynote speaker is a big part of this conference and a big element in making this

conference a success,” Kim said. “I think this is the perfect way to support multicultural groups on campus.”

The I Am W&M Week Act garnered $3,700 to purchase T-shirts for the annual event. The shirt will feature a “word cloud” of terms that students identify with as College students.

“The plan is to sell these at five dollars a pop and allocate two dollars from each sale to a financial support fund,” Kim said. “The other three dollars will go to continuing an I AM W&M Week fund, allowing us to purchase I AM W&M Week T-shirts next year.”

Students can purchase the shirts April 1-5 and April 9-14 outside the Sadler Center.

The Competition Fund Reorganization Act also

passed unanimously during the meeting. This bill works to reorganize and streamline the process by which interested parties apply for and receive money from the Competition Fund.

“It will operate the same [way] as the student activity and events requests,” Sen. Andrew Chan J.D. ’12 said. “[The finance committee] will make the ultimate decision on how much to allocate to a specific group, and if the request is over $3,000, the request will come before the entire senate.”

The Recycling Awareness Stickers Act came last on the list of bills the SA unanimously approved.

The bill allocates $5,000 to fund stickers that explain what can and cannot be placed in recycling bins across campus.

“There’s been issues in the past with people who don’t know what to recycle in the bins,” Sen. Kendall Lorenzen ’15, the bill’s sponsor, said. “I have volunteers from residence life who said they would [apply the stickers].”

Kim ended the meeting with a positive statement about the upcoming transition for the SA, currently projected to take place Tuesday, April 17. This date will mark the first meeting in which the representatives elected in Thursday’s election will assume their new roles.

“Regardless of who is elected, we’re going to have a very new body,” Kim said. “Please try to make an effort to reach out to the new, incoming senators if you can.”

Mills and Levine prevail over crowded field of candidates ELECTION from page 1

noted their differences from a field of candidates not lacking in political experience. Following their fourth-place finish, although they were disappointed, they plan to continue to enjoy their remaining time at the College.

“I think we did our best; we are not the most politically strategic people in the world so we ran what we thought was a fair campaign ... so I am proud of what we did,” Colby said.

Finishing behind Colby and Zhu, Dallen McNerney ’14 and Stacey LaRiviere ’14 complemented the front-

runners on their success, yet pointed to their relative youth as a disadvantage to their campaign.

“We were the younger ticket so we were at a bit of a disadvantage,” McNerney said. “Stacey and I made promises in our campaign about things we want to work on and even though we aren’t president and vice-president, we still plan to work on them.”

Following the other five pairs of candidates, Andrew Canakis ’13 and Andrew Salamone ’13 succeeded in spinning their results in a comic light.

They further believe their participation should serve as a model for future

students lacking SA experience but who are interested in serving their peers.

“I think it’s honestly great that we participated,” Canakis said. “It’s the first time in a long time that SA elections were this active and that students were this aware. … All this friendly competition really made everyone work harder.”

In class elections, Morgan Dyson ’13 was elected president of the class of 2013 with Ryan McManus ’13 as vice president of advocacy and Lemondre Waston ’13 as vice president of social affairs. Ishan Bardhan ’13, Areyah Sapon ’13, Matthew Gardner ’13 and Steve Lovern ’13 were elected as senators. The races for treasurer

and secretary of the class of 2013 were not decided by press time.

For the class of 2014, John Bracaglia ’14 was chosen to be president and will be supported by Philip Lavely ’14 as vice president of advocacy. Khaki LaRiviere ’14 was selected as class treasurer and Chandler Crenshaw ’14, Danielle Waltrip ’14, William McConnell ’14 and Peter Lifsen ’14 were elected as senators. At press time, the results of the race for secretary and vice president of social affairs were not yet determined.

For the class of 2015, Amanda Whitehurst ’15 propelled to the office of class president, supported by Carlton

Smith ’15 as vice president of advocacy and Aaron Murphy ’15 as vice president of social affairs. Joseph Soultanis ’15 was selected to be the class treasurer.

The senators for the next session will be Kendall Lorenzen ’15, Drew Wilke ’15, Jimmy Zhang ’15 and Colin Danly ’15.

Danly beat out Hillary Dickinson ’15 by one vote for the fourth class senate seat.

The election for the office of secretary had not concluded by press time.

Chief Staff Writers Ellie Kaufman and Chris McKenna, Associate News Editors Meredith Ramey and Ariel Cohen, and Associate Variety Editor Bailey Kirkpatrick contributed to this article.

SA election marred by scandals Rape accuser sued by the accused COMPLAINTS from page 1

The SA Review Board upheld the SA Election Commission’s sanction, resulting in a 12-hour suspension of Alpert’s campaign until 5:30 a.m. on election day.

Noah Kim ’13 and Sky Sprayberry ’15 were also suspended for 12 hours after the SA Elections Commission found the pair in violation of SA Code for door-to-door campaigning.

Unlike Alpert, Kim and Sprayberry decided not to appeal.

“I would rather sleep than spend all night trying to appeal to the [SA] Review Board,” Kim said. “It was too much effort and not worth the fight.”

Kim’s suspension was be lifted after 12 hours at 6:30 a.m. on election day.

Grace Colby ’13 filed a complaint against Curt Mills ’13 for charges of slander concerning a statement on his campaign website in regard to funding of student organizations.

“I tried to resolve it personally with him beforehand, and it wasn’t being resolved,” Colby said. “He was still continuing to run an unfair campaign, and that’s why I sent it in.”

Mills and running mate Melanie Levine ’13 denied the allegations. According to Bulman, former SA Elections Commission Chair Tanuja Potdar ’13 filed an inappropriate sanction four days after the complaint was made. According to Mills, he was not notified until five days after the complaint was made. The SA Review Board ended up unanimously repealing the sanction against Mills.

The sanction was deemed inappropriate when Potdar filed the complaint as slander instead of libel. According to Mills, the initial accusation was incorrectly labeled as slander until he informed the SA Review Board of the mistake.

“I had to inform them of the distinction between slander and libel,” Mills said. “I’ve never seen these kinds of accusations and violations.

We’ve done what we can. We just don’t want to be sanctioned.”

Potdar officially stepped down as SA Elections Commission Chair for medical reasons. Bulman was quickly selected to replace Potdar as the SA Elections Commission Chair at the SA senate meeting Tuesday.

Colby and running mate Alyssa Zhu ’14 were suspended for 12 hours at the beginning of the campaign because Zhu failed to attend either mandatory candidate interest meeting. Zhu attended a makeup session outside of the time stipulated by the SA Code, and the two were found guilty for committing a Class Two infraction.

“There were several other candidates who also went to that make-up session, but we didn’t start campaigning for 12 hours,” Colby said.

Andrew Canakis ’13 and Andrew Salamone ’13 were unaware of any complaints leveled against them, and Canakis said he ran a fair campaign.

“I don’t want to get involved in other people’s sanctions,” Canakis said. “We had a very honest and open campaign and we didn’t violate any of the rules. … I made a conscious effort to stay out of it.”

Dallen McNerney ’14 and Stacey LaRiviere ’14 were not formally sanctioned. However, according to sources, a complaint was filed for alleged bribery of voters in regard to a barbeque the pair held Wednesday, a Class Three infraction. The SA Elections Commission found the complaint invalid and brought no sanctions against McNerney and LaRiviere. McNerney declined to comment.

Flat Hat Editor-in-Chief Jill Found, Chief Staff Writer Ellie Kaufman and Associate News Editor Meredith Ramey contributed to this report.

WEAVER from page 1

harmed such that his hair has literally fallen out in places.”

The complaint lists 17 different stories on websites and in news publications — including The Flat Hat — that detailed the rape charge and its aftermath. Many used his name.

The female student declined to comment.

Weaver and the female student met at the College Delly on the night of Oct. 14, according to testimony provided by both parties. The female student invited Weaver to her on-campus apartment, where they engaged in consensual kissing.

Weaver’s complaint asserts that he and the female student engaged in consensual intercourse. It alleges that he complied when the female student asked him to stop after 10 minutes, agreed to leave when she asked him to, and gave his phone number to her, which she entered into her phone.

According to the female student’s testimony, when she asked Weaver to leave after 10 minutes, he refused and allegedly raped her.

The female student reported the alleged rape Oct. 15 to a nurse and a William and Mary Police officer at Riverside Hospital. Weaver was arrested Oct. 17 and jailed until his bond was posted a few weeks later on Dec. 22.

The assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Williamsburg dismissed nolle prosequi the charges against Weaver.

The legal term “nolle prosequi” means that the attorney decided not to proceed with the prosecution.

It can indicate that the evidence demonstrated a flaw in the prosecution’s claim, that the charges cannot be proven, or that the prosecutor doubts that the accused is guilty.

Weaver’s complaint accuses the female student of providing false testimony in order to have him prosecuted in court and expelled from the College.

The document cites several instances when the female student sought to change details in her testimony, including information about who provided the condom used during the sexual intercourse.

According to Weaver’s complaint, the female student asked that Weaver use a condom, then reached into a drawer to retrieve one and gave it to him.

When the female student reported the incident to the nurse on Oct. 15, she said that Weaver retrieved the condom from his wallet. A few days later, she contacted the William and Mary Police to say that she had provided the condom.

The complaint also alleges that she gave her friends differing accounts.

“She reported to several friends that she told Plaintiff ‘no’ before they engaged in sexual intercourse. Yet, according to witness statements, she told a friend … that, ‘at first, I kinda [sic] of said yes’ and then they were having sex and she changed her mind and said ‘no’,” reads the complaint.

It also states that Weaver submitted to and passed a polygraph “administrated by one of the most respected licensed polygraphers in the state” shortly after being formally charged.

Following the decision to not prosecute, the school placed Weaver on suspension. It’s not clear whether or not he will be allowed back. Weaver must reapply to the College to enroll as a student. The administration declined to comment.

“We go with the facts we have and we go to the CA [Commonwealth Attorney] office and they determine if there’s a case or not,” William and Mary Police Chief Don Challis said. “In these situations, it’s unfortunate, no one’s ever happy with the outcome.”

Challis had no public comment about the details of the case.

Kenneth Yoffy, one of Weaver’s attorneys, said that Weaver’s legal team intends to serve the female student within the next 30 days to commence the lawsuit, after which she will have 21 days to respond.

opinions

Opinions Editor Ellen Wexler Assoc. Opinions Editor Elliott Hay fhopinions@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Friday, March 23, 2012 | Page 5

Editorial cartoon

Staff Editorial

Taxes and tourism F

important to develop in college, the CLA does a disservice to many students by not reflecting the diverse array of other skills and knowledge that they acquire.

Comparing scores of freshman and seniors in this domain is also not an accurate measure of student progression.

College freshmen emerge from a rigid high school curriculum, The Flat Hat where critical writing is emphasized in subjects required for graduation, such as English and history. Throughout college, students take specialized classes in their areas of interest.

What are we supposed to be learning in college?

Seniors majoring in art, engineering, physics or chemistry Considering the wide array of classes students take and the varied interests they pursue, it seems that students could generate may not score as well on the CLA as freshmen do simply because they may be more “out of practice” in completing an infinitely diverse pool of knowledge. Such variety contributes to highly individualized college experiences which are meaningful such persuasive writing tasks that were not as integral to their major as other skills. On the other hand, seniors majoring in and fulfilling to every member of the student body. philosophy, English, government or history, who may have If each student’s learning experience in college can vary so more recent experience writing persuasively, could earn better greatly from person to person, is it possible to develop a test that measures an increase in knowledge from freshman to senior year? scores, not because they have learned more in college than The Collegiate Learning Assessment attempts to do just that. The their aforementioned peers, but because their areas of study CLA is a written test administered to college freshman and seniors are more conductive to the CLA’s tasks.

This also presents a problem in administering the CLA to and was developed for academic institutions to gain a sense of their a variety of colleges. Seniors from the own strengths and weaknesses. It strives College of William and Mary, many of to measure the “knowledge progression” The test creates a rather whom have taken predominantly liberalof students by comparing a sample of freshman and senior scores. narrow operational definition arts courses that promote analytical writing skills, may fare better than seniors There are three components to the of what ‘learning’ is. from schools which focus on engineering CLA. In the 90-minute “Performance or the performing arts, thanks to the Task” section, students write a response weighing conflicting arguments, hypotheses or courses of nature of their specialty. Also, with regard to the “Writing action, while referencing related documents. The 45-minute Mechanics” component of all three measures, international “Make-an-Argument” section requires students to defend a students who are not as familiar with nuances of English position using well-reasoned support. Finally, the 30-minute grammar and syntax also may earn lower scores, even if they “Critique-an-Argument” section asks students to assess the have learned just as much as their native-speaking peers.

While in theory the CLA would be a useful tool for selfmerit of a given argument. assessment, we cannot claim that it measures how much a Developing an internal measure for schools to assess areas student learns from freshman to senior year because of the for self-improvement in curricula is a noble goal, but to view the diversity of both the students’ education and their schools. Yet, CLA as a measure of learning progression is, to paraphrase Jiminy this frustrating incongruence is the very quality that makes Cricket, “a lovely thought, but not at all practical.” the college experience so rewarding — the variety of available The main problem is that the test creates a rather narrow knowledge one can gain is in many ways immeasurable. operational definition of what “learning” is: It essentially equates a progression in learning with improvement in analytical thinking Email Andrea Aron-Schiavone at acaronschiavon@email. as reflected through persuasive writing. While these skills are wm.edu

Andrea Aron-Schiavone

“

“

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 fhopinions@gmail.com.

Comments @theflathat

Street Beat

Should the College allow study abroad programs in dangerous countries?

“I don’t think so because I was in London during the riots.

So imagine going to a country that’s not safe, and Americans are always a target.”

Dalila Erby ’12

“I’m wondering if they should stick to third party providers because those companies have relationships with those countries.”

Sofia Shabolla ’14

“It’s in William and Mary’s best interest not to offer them. But the College should still offer funding.”

Sarah Mellman ’12

“Yes. My reason is kind of selfish. I’m a Middle Eastern studies major and I’d like to travel to those countries while I’m here.”

Kellan Schmelz ’14

“ “

More legislation and restrictions will only serve to limit the freedoms of law-abiding, productive members of our society.

—Virginia Gun Owners Forum on “VT shooting survivors lose gun battle”

How will students find time to go abroad, double major, take a minor? How will students take that one random class they took just to fill up space that ended up changing their life?

­— photos and interviews bY Elliott Hay

“

Measuring college knowledge

“

By Molly Adair, Flat Hat Cartoonist

or the first time in 21 years, the City of Williamsburg is raising the real estate tax. This year, the tax will increase from $0.54 to $0.57 per $100 of assessed value.

While no one appreciates a tax increase, the real estate tax in Williamsburg remains significantly lower than those in the surrounding areas. City residents have revenue from tourism taxes to thank for this disparity. It’s no secret that the College of William and Mary brings in a huge amount of tourism revenue for the city. Hopefully, this increase will remind residents of the benefits of having college students in the city and encourage both the city and the College to make more of this relationship.

From football games to graduation, the College constantly brings money into the city. Revenue from tourism tax pours into the city when alumni make hotel reservations, when students make late-night Wawa runs and when parents take their children to a restaurant. From an economic standpoint, the College is an asset to the city. As the state continues to pressure the school to expand, the amount of tourism revenue will only increase. In order for the expansion of the College to be successful, however, city residents must be willing to work with students to provide better off-campus housing to cover the needs of the growing school.

In turn, students at the College must be willing to increase efforts to bring money into the city. We are pleased that this year’s Charter Day was such a success, but we want to see more. If the College takes part in hosting larger-scale events, like arts shows that appeal to a wide population, the school can help attract more tourism in addition to serving as an entertainment opportunity for residents. By upgrading events like homecoming, the College will encourage more alumni to visit their alma mater and to spend more money in Williamsburg. Not only will the College be improving towngown relations, but the student body will be able to take advantage of more big-name events.

If the College and city collaborate to pool resources, both groups will profit. A large portion of the money raised in taxes will go toward capital projects, such as apartments and sidewalk construction. These projects will make living off campus more comfortable for students who will not have to search as far for apartments, as well as help group students living off campus together. While students may not be able to do anything about some of the more oppressive restrictions imposed by the city, an increase in apartment complexes means that the three-person rule will be less of an inconvenience and residents will be less likely to notice and report noise violations.

City residents do not want to have to pay more money in real estate taxes. However, the fact remains that state revenue is decreasing; at the College, we are well aware of what state budget cuts mean. Funding has to be recovered somewhere, so rather than bemoaning the tax increase, we can hopefully look forward to a better Williamsburg for both residents and students.

Editor’s Note: Katherine Chiglinsky recused herself from the meeting to remain objective in her reporting.

—Jillsfein on “Rearranging the books”

Right back where we started: Understanding the boomerang generation Emily Kelley The Flat Hat

There was a time when the mention of moving back home after graduation immediately conjured up images of a grungy couch-potato who would rather watch television in his pajamas all day than get up and apply for a job.

However, as a result of the economic downturn in recent years, moving back home after the age of 22 has become an increasingly common and accepted occurrence. In a recent report, the Pew Research Center named our generation the “boomerang generation,” due to the fact that almost a third of people aged

25-34 have left home, only to move back again out of economic necessity.

In light of these findings and the high unemployment rate, we need to shake off the stigma that has long been attached to the idea of moving back home.

There have been times, during greater economic prosperity, when staying at home was a mark of laziness and a desire to live off of mom and dad as long as possible. However, in today’s economy, even the most qualified college graduates often struggle to secure a job that will pay the rent along with other expenses.

We should also dispel the image of the lazy, television-watching mooch. Many young adults who live at home spend their time applying for jobs or working at a lower-paying job until they save up enough money to move out. According to the Pew Report, almost half of young adults living at home even pay rent to

their parents.

Another factor to consider is the sociological shift that began a few decades ago and has been increasing ever since: Relations between young adults and their parents are more intimate and equal than they once were.

The generation gap began to dissolve in the 1960s and ’70s when college students began having a more active voice in national affairs. This progression has been fueled by the shrinking family size and greater leisure time that have characterized the last few decades.

As a result, parents now behave as companions toward their kids rather than as authority figures. So today, when we come home after college, living with our parents resembles a roommate relationship. We are no longer simply financial burdens in need of a caretaker.

The term “boomerang” is not exactly

accurate because it implies that we are returning home in the exact state in which we left it. This is not quite true: Whatever experiences we have had in between leaving and returning — be it graduating college, applying for jobs,

or briefly entering the real world — we come home a little bit older, a little bit more experienced and a little bit closer to being equals with our parents.

Email Emily Kelley at emkelley@email. wm.edu.

Graphic by Rachel Brooks / the Flat hat

variety

Variety Editor Abby Boyle Variety Editor Sarah Caspari flathat.variety@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Friday, March 23 , 2012 | Page 6

Band featuring alum returns to ‘Burg

BY BARRETT MOHRMANN AND ABBY BOYLE FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER AND VARIETY EDITOR

Many young musicians dream of touring the country, playing in front of thousands of people and developing a large fan base. For the band Aduro, however, featuring Jason Durso ’12, these dreams have become reality.

Aduro consists of Travis Heath (vocals), Mujtaba Habib (guitar), Shannon Farrell (keys), Bill Manley (drums) and Durso (bass). Friday morning, Aduro took the stage on the Hampton Roads Morning Show.

“It’s our first televised appearance, and it’s obviously great exposure,” Durso said. “Most importantly, though, it shows us just how much the Hampton Roads community believes in our music and performances.”

Aduro features wide diversity in its band, with Durso as the only Virginia local. The diversity is apparent in the group’s musical influences.

“When you really break it down and look at each of our pasts, there’s not a single genre without representation in our collective repertoire,” Durso said.

Habib claims that he brought his own personal influences into his work with Aduro.

“I was born in Bangladesh; I come from listening to all types of world music,” Habib said. “When I joined Aduro, I had a strong love for Indie rock and a strong love for world music, so when I write music, I try to add in all those influences.”

Manley explained that the group’s diversity and various musical experiences are a large part of their success.

“We’re just from all different areas of music, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to do so much — because there’s so many ideas,” Manley said.

Several groups have been particularly influential to Aduro, especially U2 and Radiohead. With this wide diversity and past musical projects under their belts, the members of Aduro took to the studio in September 2011. Being an unsigned band, it fell on Aduro to cover studio fees and other expenses in making their new EP. “The biggest obstacle is, quite simply, being unsigned,” Durso said. “Touring, producing albums, equipment, promoting ... It all costs significant amounts of time and money.”

Manley added that although the lack of money can be an issue for the band, Aduro remains a tight-knit group.

“We have arguments in the band sometimes — money gets short, all sorts of things,” he said. “But the bottom line is that we all love what we do, and we all love each other, and we’ve been doing this together now, so there’s not a whole lot of arguments that won’t get solved or fixed or anything like that.”

Manley said that he views the band as a family.

“This is one of the first bands I’ve played with that actually has the idea of being a family,” Manley explained. “We’ll get together once a month and just have dinner as a band. All of us will bring our girlfriends and wives and kids together and we’ll just have a big dinner. We don’t talk about music or anything; we just try to have that family aspect to it. That was really refreshing, seeing that.”

Habib believes the family aspect of the band will allow them to find even more success.

“I think we need to be good bandmates to take it to the next level,” he said. “At the end of the day, I know that we’re a family.”

Aduro has developed a fan base in the thousands. NPR named them one of the best indie rock groups in the region. The group managed to raise $3,000 from fans in order to subsidize the studio costs.

“They’ve been incredible in their support of our musical careers,” Durso said. “Whatever obstacles we’ve faced up to now, whatever frustrations and difficulties, they all seem minor when we’re receiving such amazing support from our fans.”

Aduro has entitled their new EP “Hearts on Fire.” This project began as a musical passion, taking voice after many months of work. The title indicates the band’s deep love of music.

“We all had a desire to be a part of something new, something that came from the heart,” Durso explained. “We tend to start with a feeling, something we want to express, and just see where the music takes us. ‘Hearts on Fire’ is a song about following a passion.”

Aduro’s appearance on the Hampton Roads Morning Show marked its television debut, and it hopes it is a sign of things to come. The band will perform for the first time in Williamsburg April 6 for the Unite for Humanity benefit concert. This concert will be taking place on the Sadler Center Terrace.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JASON DURSO

The band Aduro, featuring Jason Durso ‘12 on bass, has played at venues across the country and will perform in Williamsburg April 6. The group also has plans to release their second EP, entitled “Hearts of Fire,” within the next few months.

Friday, March 23, 2012

The Flat Hat

Page 7

CONFUSION CORNER

Trading classes for sunshine Jason Rogers

CONFUSION CORNER columnist

AH

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TH LA

F HE

Making a list

Checking it twice

Majors event helps students plan their futures

BY NATALIE FERENBACH FLAT HAT ASSOC. VARIETY EDITOR

Choosing a major is always a difficult, oftentimes daunting task for most students. Majors decide the path your life takes at the College of William and Mary, and many decide your future career. The Office of Academic Advising is meant to help students through that process.

With the recent addition of new programs, they are making it easier than ever before.

Majors Information Week, which ran March 18-23, is one new initiative of the academic advising program.

The week of events gave many interested students the opportunity to chat with faculty and current majors from specific departments and programs about what it means to major in their discipline.

Previously, the Academic Advising office hosted the Majors Fair.

“We felt that there might be a better way to do this event,” Jobila Williams, director of Academic Advising, said. “We have the Faculty Advisory Board that provides advice to this office on how to run the program. We thought, ‘Let’s capitalize on what departments are already doing.’ It’s easier for us, [for the departments] and the students.”

Over the course of the program, academic departments hosted events that varied in formality, from pizza socials to extended office hours.

“This week is an entirely new thing

— in the past, attendance wasn’t always great at the Majors Fair,” government professor Katherine Rahman said.

“This makes academic advising more comprehensive, but also more userfriendly. And if you bring food, college students will come!”

Information sessions focused on the direction of majors, logistics and the advising process. Students were able to ask specific questions of students currently in the major, from career options via departmental contacts to the flexibility of the degree. Faculty encouraged students to sit in on classes and also discussed major requirements and common logistical issues.

“It’s really important for students to have an opportunity to explore without pressure and to really experience the environments and communities within a given program,” director of literary and cultural studies and film studies professor Ann Marie Stock said.

“Going through this process oneon-one is good, but something else happens in groups and that then enriches the conversation, so it’s been great to have current majors speaking to prospective majors.”

In the literary and cultural studies and film studies event, both a current major and a graduate from the College were in attendance to answer questions.

“Majors Information Week would’ve been great to have when I

was a freshman,” Matthew Sonnenfeld ’12 said. “I found out about literary and cultural studies and film studies from [a Resident Assistant] on my freshman hall, who then put me in contact with professors.”

For students, the accessibility of faculty in information sessions helped clarify concerns and spark interest in new areas. Sessions gave students additional sources to learn about the program, such as the International Relations Club for potential IR majors.

“This really clarified major requirements for me,” Tim Duff ’14 said. “It helped me realize that I can minor in sociology and still keep up with my [international relations] major. I also talked to another student at the event and was able to get an idea of who I want to be my advisor.”

By streamlining this process and having it spread over a single week, the Academic Advising office hopes to better market it to students.

“The event is moving in a direction we want to see advising go,” Williams said. “You have your required meeting as a freshman, but you can be floating in sophomore and junior years, and we want students to have the opportunity to engage with faculty as much as possible.

So we’re continuing to think of new and innovative ways to support our students — perhaps better than we have in the past. We’re very excited about this.”

As the time of warm weather begins, the temptation to skip class and enjoy the outdoors grows ever stronger. This is one of the trappings of the freedom that college offers; yet every freedom seems to be a double-edged sword. You can eat pizza for breakfast, but you will gain the freshman fifteen. You can stay out until 4 a.m., but you will fail that anthropology quiz at 8 a.m. You can skip class, but ... well, who knows? It would be irresponsible of me to sit here and advocate abandoning the academic environments we all pay so much for, but, come on — ultimate frisbee and sundresses. So, if I were ever to do something so wildly inappropriate as suggest that you skip class and enjoy the weather instead, here’s what I would suggest you do.

The Sunken Garden on a sunny spring day represents an excellent microcosm of the College of William and Mary. Monroe scholars, emerging from their cave-like dorm, will stand stunned in the sunlight, blinking and gathering their bearings.

Hipsters will gather around one of the sets of stairs like the Breakfast Club and enjoy the American Spirittinted air, in clothes far too warm for the season, but come on, knit hats are so underground and not getting heat stroke is so mainstream. The Living Wage Coalition will have arranged a circle of organic freetrade tapestries to sit upon and have a dreadlockgrowing race. The occasional tour guide will come by, inviting wide-eyed high-schoolers and their worried parents to take a look at an “average day” here at the College. Inevitably, someone will flick them off, and someone else will yell, “Go to U.Va.!”

Another excellent diversion from the whole reason that you’re here in the first place is Duke of Gloucester Street. Whether you crave 16 bulk pounds of Pop Rocks from the Wythe Candy Store, bread ends dipped in the sweet ambrosia that is house dressing from the Cheese Shop, or something overpriced and mass-produced from the College Bookstore, this little strip of tourist heaven is a good way to kill some time on a nice day. You’re sure to see plenty of sweating tourists wondering why they can’t find the capitol “when it’s right here on the map,” douchey guys running shirtless with their dogs, or a stormtrooper army of fourth graders on an elementary school field trip — we’re still trying to figure out how to keep them out of our dining halls.

The Sadler Center Terrace can also offer an escape from the dark dungeons of academia when the weather is nice. You’re sure to see someone you know and hear someone you know talking shit about someone else you know. You can also catch all of the latest updates on whose Sperrys are more frat-like and who did the walk-of-shame from where, or you can watch whoever is tabling outside feebly beg passersby for attention. The occasional ballistic longboard only serves to season the exciting stew, and broken ankles heal fine, so chill out, brah. Political protests sometimes break out like angry pockets of acne, but it usually ends up being difficult to “Occupy” a town that seems to have a pancake house- and Christmas novelty store-based economy.

In conclusion, it would be irresponsible of me to ever go on public record and state that skipping class makes you cool. I’m not saying skipping class makes you cool. I’m just saying that some pretty cool people have skipped class. Mr. T? You better believe that guy skipped class regularly. Betty White? Women weren’t even allowed in class back then. And Tom Hanks?

Well, he once said to me, “Anyone who doesn’t skip class is dead to me.”

Not that I’m with them.

Jason Rogers is a Confusion Corner columnist and can often be found sunbathing on an organic freetrade tapestry on the Sunken Garden.

Enjoy

Compete

Experience

Celebrate

If you plan on being out and about today to enjoy the warm weather, think about stopping by the Sadler Terrace for a tasty snack. The Filipino-American Student Association will be serving turons — a traditional Filipino snack that consists of plantains and jackfruit fried and dusted with caramelized brown sugar. This is only one of the events that FASA holds every year, along with a culture night, which includes dancing and a Filipino dinner.

The turons will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

All true ‘90s kids will appreciate the upcoming Alma Mater Productions event. Tonight at 9 p.m. in the Chesapeake Room in the Sadler Center, six pairs of two can compete against each other in six rounds of Legends of the Hidden Temple based trials. Each challenge will consist of either obstacles or trivia, with the winner of every round going on to a final round. The winners will receive a prize. All contestants will be given a Legends of the Hidden Temple bandana for participating.

Spectators are welcome as well, since there will be music, food and even the ability to bet COURTESY PHOTO / WIKIPEDIA.COM on competitors.

The historical features of the College of William and Mary have always helped to put it on the map, and tomorrow students will have the chance to experience what the College was like when it first received its charter. The College Company is hosting an event in the Wren Building in which students can understand what it was like to attend the College during the colonial era.

Students will be able to listen to 18th century lectures as well as to participate in militia exercises, fencing lessons and dancing, all for free.

Tomorrow, the Persian and Turkish Students Associations will be hosting an event that will allow students to celebrate the Iranian New Year, or Norwuz, in style. The holiday also marks the first day of spring. The event will include catered Persian and Turkish food and performances by the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble.

Additionally, the celebration will include ancient rituals, such as zoroastrian, which consists of jumping over small bonfires. Festivities start at 4 p.m. in Yates field. Tickets will be on sale in the Sadler COURTESY PHOTO / NPS.GOV Center this week.

sports

Sports Editor Jared Foretek Sports Editor Mike Barnes flathatsports@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Friday, March 23, 2012 | Page 8

BASEBALL

LACROSSE

3

nORFOLK ST. SPARTANS

1

Tribe downed

by Spiders

W&M TRIBE

Explosive Richmond too much for College to handle

BY MIKE BARNES FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

Too little, too late JARED FORETEK / THE FLAT HAT

Junior pitcher Brett Koehler turned in two and a third innings of relief, keeping the Spartans offense at bay by with four strikeouts while allowing just one baserunner in the Tribe’s 3-1 loss to the Spartans

Offense can’t deliver in big spots as College’s late rally falls short at Norfolk State

BY JARED FORETEK FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

Whatever momentum William and Mary had coming off a three-game sweep of conferencerival James Madison last weekend quickly halted when the Tribe fell to Norfolk State Wednesday, 3-1.

The timely hitting that played such an important part in the College’s three wins in Harrisonburg escaped the team against the Spartans, as the Tribe (15-8) stranded runners on third base in four different innings, mustering just one run on nine hits.

Junior starting pitcher Brett Goodloe didn’t allow a run, but he was removed after just one-anda-third innings, having walked two.

After setting the Spartans (6-12) down in order in the first, the righty walked the first hitter of the bottom second, who then took second base on a passed ball and moved over to third on a bunt. With a man on third, Goodloe plunked the next hitter and walked another to load the bases.

Sophomore reliever Matt Houston then came on to replace Goodloe but the Tribe would get out of the third unscathed. Senior catcher Chris Forsten

caught the Norfolk State runner napping on third, picking him off before Houston got Mikey Bruno looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.

The Spartans finally got on the board in the third. A lead off single followed by a double put two men in scoring position with nobody out.

Houston got the next hitter to fly out to shallow right, but Norfolk State’s Cameron Day then grounded out to third, scoring the runner and giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

After a lightning-induced delay, head coach Frank Leoni gave the ball to junior pitcher Brett Koehler. Still working back from a hand injury he suffered about a month ago, the righty stifled the Norfolk State bats for two-and-a third innings, striking out four and allowing just one base runner.

Senior reliever Jay McCarthy took over for Koehler to start the sixth and continued to keep the game close, pitching scoreless sixth and seventh innings while the Tribe’s bats remained dormant.

The Spartans tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth, which would ultimately make the difference.

Junior reliever John Sheehan took the ball and

quickly worked his way into trouble with a leadoff single and a wild pitch that moved the runner to second. Sensing the need to hold it to a onerun game, Leoni replaced Sheehan with junior reliever John Farrell, but the righty couldn’t do much better. A walk, a bunt and two singles later, the Spartans held a decisive 3-0 lead heading into the top of the ninth.

The Tribe’s bats finally came to life in the ninth. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Lindemuth led off with a double and senior designated hitter Tadd Bower followed with a single, moving Lindemuth to third. Freshman first baseman Michael Katz then grounded to the second baseman, who flipped to the shortstop to get Bower out at second as Lindemuth scored, bringing the College within two. After senior left fielder Stephen Arcure singled to right, moving Katz to third and putting the tying run on base, Norfolk State turned to lefty Richie Salter, who put an abrupt end to any comeback hopes, striking out junior shortstop Ryan Williams and senior pinch hitter Sean Aiken to secure the win for the Spartans.

The College will look to rebound in an important conference-series with George Mason this weekend. The three-game set will kick off Friday.

MEN’S TENNIS

College falls at home to Clemson, 4-0

Consistent play helps Tigers ease past Tribe as College fails to win a match

BY CHRIS WEBER FLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR Emerging from a 45-minute rain delay, junior Adrian Vodislav aimed to open his No. 1 singles match against Clemson’s No. 49 Yannick Maden with a commanding performance.

Maden crouched low, awaiting Vodislav’s first serve, but that serve never came. Vodislav, who went on to lose 6-1, 6-0, dropped the game without causing Maden to return the ball once.

The Tribe’s performance echoed that of their No. 1 singles player, as the match resulted in a 4-0 loss Wednesday in Williamsburg. With the Tigers already having clinched the win, the No. 3

doubles and No. 2, 4, and 6 singles games stopped short.

“I thought Clemson was a good team,” head coach Peter Daub said.

“They came out and they played better doubles than we did. I thought we played and fought incredibly hard in singles — no let down. I thought the effort was there — they were too good.

They’re a good team, they’re an ACC team. I give them the credit, they were too good today.”

The College (9-12) sent freshman Will Juggins and junior Anton Andersson to face Clemson’s (6-8) Maden and Ayrton Wibowo in the No. 1 doubles match. Both Juggins and Andersson struggled to return the Tiger

COURTESY PHOTO / W&M SPORTS INFO

Graduate student Robert Pietrucha fell in both of his matches in the Tribe’s 4-0 loss to Clemson.

serves as the duo fell 8-3.

On the third court, the Tribe continued to misstep with Clemson’s consistent style of play. Sophomore John Banks and graduate student Robert Pietrucha dropped their match 8-4. Sophomore Ben Guthrie and sophomore Ben Hoogland, the Tribe’s third doubles team, were down 6-4 when their match ended early.

“They were so consistent — there were a lot of International Play Corps players who just kept the ball going and going and going and going. We have to do a better job of being consistent,” Daub said.

As play transitioned into singles matches, Vodislav continuously sent serve after serve into the net or just out of play. After dropping the first three games, Vodislav found some rhythm to win the fourth game without conceding a point.

That would be as well as Vodislav played, however, as Maden sent a forehand winner down the line to win the fifth game and the first set 6-1.

Midway through the first game of the second set Vodislav tumbled down the court after attempting to keep the ball in play and rose with a limp. After treatment from the trainer, Vodislav continued to play with impressive long rallies in the third and fifth sets before dropping the second set 6-0.

The Tribe’s Ben Hoogland fared slightly better in the No. 3 spot. After

MEN’S TENNIS

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losing the first set 6-4, Hoogland fought back to push the second set to a tiebreaker. As Hoogland and Clemson’s Wibowo returned forehand after forehand, Hoogland finally pushed a shot just past the end line to give Wibowo the advantage. On the ensuing serve, Hoogland sprinted to his right to return a drop shot into the net, sealing the defeat at 7-6 (5).

The Tiger’s Hunter Harrington downed Robert Pietrucha to wrap up Clemson’s victory, leaving three other matches unfinished. In the No. 2 spot, Ben Guthrie was fighting back from a 6-2, 5-4 deficit, while John Banks had turned the tables in his second set, 1-6, 6-4. Freshman Will Juggins was in the midst of a third set, 6-2, 3-6, 1-1, when the game was called.

As the College looks ahead to its remaining schedule, Daub is optimistic for the future.

“We need to go in confident and I think we have the desire, but I think we have to have a belief. It’s not something you can just turn the switch on. That’s the area we need to man up with before the CAAs, and I think we will,” Daub said.

After facing five top 10 teams, William and Mary appeared to be catching a bit of a breather in the form of in-state foe Richmond. The unranked Spiders would certainly pose a challenge, but the College hoped to salvage its non-conference schedule by toppling them. Instead, the Spiders proved to be anything but pushovers, handing the Tribe an 18-8 defeat Wednesday in Richmond.

The loss, which drops the College to 2-7 overall on the year, is the squad’s fourth straight loss and fifth by 10 points or more. Richmond, meanwhile, advances to LACROSSE 4-5 on the season.

The Spiders benefitted w&m tribe RICHMOND SPIDERS from explosive offensive performances from several players Wednesday.

Led by at least two goals for the majority of the contest, Richmond managed to pull away in the second half.

“I feel we really didn’t stick to our game plan until we put some of our younger players in,” head coach Brooke Ireland said. “We just made some really poor decisions, sloppy play.”

The College was outshot by a wide margin, with Richmond notching 38 shots to just 18 for the Tribe. Freshman goalkeeper Lucy Ferguson allowed 18 goals, but also registered 13 saves during her full 60 minutes in goal.

“Lucy did a phenomenal job,” Ireland said.

“Yesterday, we got pummeled by cutters and I don’t think our defense did as good of a job as they have been doing on cutters, which didn’t help our goalie out. She’s our last line of defense and we could have done a better job in front of the cage so she could have done her job better.”

Richmond’s Jennifer Zoltoski started the Spiders’ scoring frenzy with a goal just three minutes into the opening period. From there, Caitlin Fifield added another goal at the 26 minute, 41 second mark, while Kara Moschetti added two more goals to give Richmond a 4-0 cushion.

With 22:04 showing on the clock, senior midfielder Maggie Anderson scored the first Tribe point of the day on an unassisted goal.

Less than a minute later, sophomore attacker Jenna Dougherty slipped the ball past Richmond goalkeeper Victoria Roebuck to cut the Spiders’s lead to 4-2 with 21:23 left. The two squads swapped goals during the 19-minute mark to make the score 5-3. Richmond then rattled off three straight goals over the next five minutes before sophomore attacker Taelor Salmon scored one for the College.

While the College faced a four-point disadvantage at halftime, the Spiders came out aggressively. Richmond scored seven straight goals within the first eight minutes of the second period, sinking any Tribe hopes of a comeback.

Sophomore defender Maggie Bermingham and freshman attacker Amanda Johnson both scored goals for the College with 16:55 and 15:43 showing in the second period, but Richmond’s Bailey Zerr followed the brief Tribe offensive spurt with two consecutive goals of her own.

The College never found rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. The Tribe turned the ball over 21 times during the game, compared to just nine Richmond turnovers. “[That was] unacceptable,” Ireland said. “What is most disappointing is that we have played some of the best teams in the country and played better than that. This was supposed to be a turning point for us and we did not capitalize on anything. We made more mistakes than we should have.”

Individually, the College had a very balanced scoring night as eight players registered a goal.

“We had a couple fluke goals, but that is our goal — our goal is to not have two or three players with all the goals, we want all seven attackers or whoever is down there to contribute,” Ireland said. “I think that is the hardest thing we have been working on that may have been different from prior seasons.”

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NOAH WILLARD / THE FLAT HAT

Sophomore attacker Taelor Salmon scored once in the loss.