The Flat Hat, September 12 2014, Football Preview

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2014 Football Preview

The Flat Hat

Vol. 104, Iss. 6 | Friday, September 12, 2014

The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper

of The College of William and Mary

203 students respond to poll on three residential dining halls, share their commentary on changes ELEANOR LAMB Flat Hat ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR

Campus dining has been transformed and the students have spoken. The Flat Hat ran an unscientific poll from Thursday, Sept. 4 to Wednesday, Sept. 10 to gauge student opinion on dining this year in

comparison to last year. The poll was advertised on Facebook and 203 students responded to the poll, rating food quality at the three dining halls and adding comments about what they feel Sodexo has done well and what they need to improve. Students shared a number of complaints, including everything from food quality to the

Poll respondents rated the three residential halls on a 10 point scale 2013-14 2014-15

3.29

6.28 THE MARKETPLACE

5.73 THE COMMONS

5.30

THE SADLER CENTER

5.56

All ratings out of 10

4.13

Data from The Flat Hat’s unscientific poll advertized on facebook GRAPHIC BY AINE CAIN AND ROHAN DESAI / THE FLAT HAT

College ranks 33rd overall in U.S. News rankings The College of William and Mary remains the sixth-ranked public university in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual guide to colleges and universities. Among both public and private schools, the College took the 33rd spot, tying with the University of Rochester and placing directly behind New York University. The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill directly precede the College on the public schools list; they are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. The College is tied at second overall for undergraduate teaching, sharing the honor with Miami University-Oxford. This year’s rankings are comparable to last year’s. In 2013, the College tied for 32nd among public and private schools and was ranked third in the nation for undergraduate teaching. Although its ranking for financial

Index News Insight News Opinions Variety Variety Sports

resources rose to 110th — four spots above last year’s ranking — the College maintains a significant gap between its overall rank and its financial means. William and Mary News reported that the 77spot gap between its national rank and financial resources is by far the largest discrepancy among the U.S. News and World Report’s top 50 schools. This, however, represents a decrease from last year’s 82-spot gap. In terms of other schools’ performances, Princeton University took the top honor and was ranked first overall. The University of California-Berkley remains the top public university and is 20th overall. The University of Virginia is the only other institution from the commonwealth of Virginia to appear among the U.S. News and World Report’s top 50. U.Va. is ranked 23rd. — Flat Hat Managing Editor Abby Boyle

Today’s Weather 2 3 4 5 6 Insert

absence of the College of William and Marythemed waffle iron. Some of the most frequent complaints involve the way Late Night at the Sadler Center is operated, the long lines in the dining halls, and the limited amount of food available on meal swipes. “I’m not interested in a la carte dining options, and know many of my fellow students share the sentiment,” one responder said in the comment section. “We’re busy and working hard, and want to eat fresh, clean food without worrying about bugs, hair, glass, or anything else that’s not food in it.” Many students also commented saying that Marketplace is not as good an option this year as it has been in previous years. Marketplace began the year only accepting Dining Dollars, as opposed to meal swipes. Marketplace’s move to Dining Dollars may have contributed to long lines in the other dining halls. Although Marketplace reinstated the meal swipe system last week, many students responded while the poll was active saying that the dining hall does not provide enough options. “I really don’t like what they’ve done with Marketplace! [It] used to be representative of [the College] with Tribe décor,” one responder said. “The food they have there now is yummy, but is not sustainable for a dining hall. It’s a ghost town and there is barely any food there.” Students have reached out to Auxiliary Services about the changes to campus dining. Before Marketplace’s switch to accepting meal swipes, one student created a petition on social media in favor of Marketplace’s return to the regular meal plan. On Monday, Student Assembly President Colin Danly ’15, Vice President Kendall Lorenzen ’15 and Chief of Staff Drew Wilke ’15 met with Dining Services and Auxiliary Services. The three SA members discussed the concerns that students have expressed on social media, such as the College’s Overheard Facebook page. “[Dining] is such a large part of college life,” Wilke said. “We needed to get on top of it right away.” Although the SA leaders brought with them some frustrations expressed by their peers, they felt the meeting went well. The Auxiliary Services department plans to create a dialogue between students on social media sites so they can quickly communicate with students. Wilke said the departments’ leaders expressed appreciation for all the feedback they had received, and stressed that communication between their offices and the students is important. “[The departments’] tone and communication channels were very positive,” Wilke said. “The big takeaway for us is making sure communication continues.”

Cornering the Marketplace College emphasizes Dining Dollars JACK POWERS Flat Hat ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR

The College of William and Mary designated the Marketplace a “retail” dining location — rather than a “residential” location requiring a meal swipe — before the selection of Sodexo USA as the College’s new dining provider in February. The Marketplace’s recent shift back to a meal-swipe location may affect Sodexo’s projected $449,704 revenue in Dining Dollars. The Request for Proposal sent out by the College Aug. 5, 2013 lists the Commons and the Sadler Center as the only residential campus dining options in the Dining Services’ “desired coverage of services.” The Marketplace is listed as a retail dining area, meaning that the location would take Dining Dollars, rather than meal swipes. All three food service companies who bid on the contract last fall (Sodexo, Aramark and Chartwells/Thompson) treated the Marketplace as retail dining, rather than residential dining, in their proposals. “Based on student feedback, we wanted to strengthen the retail program on campus that was part of the meal plans,” Director of Auxiliary Services Cindy Glavas said in an email. “This led to the Marketplace becoming a retail location in the RFP and adding dining dollars to each meal plan to provide more flexibility and value to the retail program for students.” Sodexo’s transformation of Marketplace from a residential dining hall that primarily took meal swipes to one that exclusively accepted Dining Dollars or outside forms of payment was done in the context of a larger shift within dining services toward the increased use of Dining Dollars, formerly known as “Flex.” Two food trucks, each exclusively accepting Dining Dollars, were added to campus dining options, and the Tribe Square restaurants See MARKETPLACE page 3

CAROL PENG / THE FLAT HAT

Marketplace’s return to meal-swipes may affect Sodexo’s revenue.

Alumni

Alumnus missing abroad since early July Cody Roman Dial vanished months ago exploring Costa Rican park aine cain Flat HaT news editor

On July 9, Cody Roman Dial ’09 emailed his parents and friends about his plans to explore Costa Rica’s rugged, treacherous Corcovado National Park. The journey should have taken 4 or 5 days. No one has heard from him since. Aside from a possible abandoned campsite and several confusing, unconfirmed sightings from locals, searches have yielded no trace of the 27-year-old Alaska native. As the son of explorer and Alaska Pacific University environmental science professor Roman Dial, Cody is described as an experienced survivalist. However, Corcovado is rife with dangerous ravines, illegal gold mining tunnels and poachers, according to the Alaska Dispatch News. Cody does not appear on the park’s registry, but it is believed that he entered illegally to

access challenging routes off-limits to visitors. He had been exploring Latin America since January, taking a break from pursuing his master’s degree in

environmental science at APU. Costa Rican officials concluded See ALUMNUS page 3

COURTESY PHOTO / ERIC GOLDMAN

Cody Roman Dial ’09 went missing in Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park in July.

Inside VARIETY

Inside opinions

Reaching across the aisle

To engage in informed political debate, we need to be able to find the middle ground. page 4 Mostly cloudy High 75, Low 67

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DINING

DININg

Poll reveals student opinion of campus dining issues

SPORTS >> INSERT

The garden issue

Featuring the farmer’s market, campus gardens and sustainability. page 5


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