SPORTS >> PAGE 8
VARIETY >> PAGE 6
Over 50 schools descend upon Zable Stadium and Dan Stimson Throwing Area for meet.
Four professors landed on a bracket for best American history book.
College hosts Colonial Relays
Vol. 103, Iss. 46 | Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Professor wins bracket
The Flat Hat The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper
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of The College of William and Mary
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Tribe Computer Store to close The Tribe Computer Store, the College of William and Mary’s Apple Authorized Service Provider, will close by the end of the semester. Located in the Davis House — next to the College Apartments — the store employs two fulltime employees and ten student employees. It has operated from the Davis House since 2011, while products have been sold since September 2008 through the ID Office’s online portal. Administrators have not yet decided what the Davis House’s new use will be. Vice President for Administration Anna B. Martin announced the upcoming closure in an email to students, noting that the store was “moving from bricks and mortar to on-line service.” According to the email, the William and Mary Bookstore will carry Information Technology-recommended laptops. Service requests will Martin now take place through Apple’s website or at another Apple Authorized Service Provider. “William and Mary has established an Apple Affiliate Link on Auxiliary Services home page that
Auxiliary Services Cindy Glavas described the decision as a matter of ensuring cost effectiveness by senior leadership. “The level of sales has been declining and is projected to continue to do so,” Glavas said in an email. “While William and Mary will maintain its partnership with Apple through the Apple Affiliate Program to provide students, faculty and staff access to products at special educational pricing, we can no longer justify the costs of a bricks and mortar operation. Dell products and other technology accessories will be available through the William and Mary Bookstore.” Glavas noted that the decision to close the store was not an easy one. “Any decision that affects employees is never an easy one, but one that had to be made based on the declining sales the store was experiencing,” Glavas said. “Students, faculty and staff with AppleCare will continue to receive customer support through Apple either through Apple.com or with an authorized service provider.”
BY ELEANOR LAMB FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR
However, Tribe Computer Store student employee Dylan Vorbach ’15 said that having a repair center on campus is still a far more direct option than continuing service online. Tribe Computer Store student employee Trevor Chang ’15 also took issue with the email. “Students can already get the education discounts at regular Apple retail stores or online, as well as Mac support through them,” Chang said in an email. “[Martin] doesn’t give any reason for the closure, nor what on campus support will be like, which I believe to be the bigger concern.” Tribe Computer Store student employee Molly Teague ’15 expressed concern that the closure will negatively impact students who bought computers through the store, as well as those who relied on the store’s close proximity to ensure quick purchases and repairs. “Now I wonder what people will do if they have computer problems, or even to buy replacement chargers or adapters or anything else,” Teague said in an email. “I can’t see how the school can just suddenly not have a place that fills this role.” The nearest Apple stores are located in Norfolk and Richmond. Glavas also listed Computer Concepts located in New Town as the closest authorized provider servicing iPads, Macs and See COMPUTERS page 3
See BLAIR page 3
Services will transfer online; employees express concern over Apple support allows students to receive educational pricing on Apple products through the Apple Affiliate Program,” Martin said in the email. “Please visit Apple to take advantage of ordering online at these prices.” Director of
Use of landline phones nixed
In the fall of 2010, most of the professors in James Blair Hall gave up their landline phones, a component that some consider to be one of the quintessential aspects of an office. The philosophy and history departments, housed in Blair Hall, made the sacrifice as a way to stretch their rapidly thinning budgets. During that period, the College of William and Mary was responding to state-wide funding reductions and could not provide the departments with additional operating funds, Vice President of Finance Samuel Jones said. Although the College as a whole was forced to be more frugal, the decision on how to limit expenses was reserved for each department to vote on. According to associate professor of history and former department chair Philip Daileader, the College’s financial woes represented the nation’s fiscal trouble. Daileader “The first decade of the 21st century was rough financially. We hadn’t really fully recovered from the first crash after 9/11 when the second crash hit in 2008. We were already in a hole when the hole got bigger,” Daileader said. “Essentially, [we were] caught in a double bind. The money at your disposal is less and everyone is asking for more from you.” Daileader had the idea to remove most of the phones when then-dean Carl Strickwerda gave departments the authority to determine and enact budget cuts. Daileader said he thought losing the phones would be a good way to save money because the costs were taking up about 30 to 40 percent of the department’s annual budget, even though professors only occupy the building for nine months each year. Daileader said he was met with a lot of opposition at first. He said many professors thought phones were crucial to the office environment, even if they were rarely used. Although many initially balked at the idea, the loss of the mass phone system has saved the departments a substantial sum, history department chair Leisa Meyer said. On average, the history department has saved $10,000 a year since removing the phones. The
GRAPHIC BY AINE CAIN / THE FLAT HAT
BY AINE CAIN FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
Budget cuts affect Blair
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Snow days impact parent professors Faculty look for childcare when local schools close in inclement weather BY TUCKER HIGGINS FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR
This January, the ten-year-old son of biology department chair Lizabeth Allison taught two sections of introductory biology. During each section, approximately 200 students watched as Andrew presented a PowerPoint he made examining the differences between a rock star and a cartoon character. This presentation was his own take on his mother’s subject for the day: molecular orientation. According to Allison, Andrew has been presenting to undergraduates since he was old enough to talk. Latin American politics professor Susan Norman also brought her child to class this winter, but Valerie, a toddler, is still waiting to make her professorial debut. Instead, in one of Norman’s lectures on early 20th-century development, Valerie drew pictures and asked why she was not allowed to take off her pants. Neither Andrew nor Valerie seemed to mind spending their snow days at the College of William and Mary. But many professors with small children faced difficult decisions this winter: local schools were often closed due to
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weather conditions, complicating childcare arrangements when the College remained open. Vice President of Administration Anna B. Martin said that local schools generally close more readily than the College because schools must consider how easy it will be for buses to travel in the snow. According to Superintendent Steven Constantino, the Williamsburg-James City County public school district closed local schools five times this winter, in addition to two unscheduled early releases. Deputy superintendent Allison Olwen E. Herron said that the decision to cancel school operations is typically made at 4:30 a.m. the morning of the closure. Because the College often remains open during school closures, snow days can create last-minute hassles for professors who have to arrange childcare. Although there is an independent day care on campus, children must be See SNOW page 3
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Defending the mainstream identity Partly cloudy High 66, Low 48
ALL PHOTOS BY GABRIELLA HAFNER / THE FLAT HAT
The Suzan, the Dodos, Sleepwalkers and Mirror Kisses, took the stage during the music festival put on by WCWM 90.9 FM Saturday. Three student bands from the College also performed at the concert.
Liking popular music, movies and TV shows will not make you less unique and interesting. page 4
Swemming in hip hop culture The Earl Gregg Swem Library celebrated its hip hop collection’s second year. page 5