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Prewitt, help College pick up a 78-62 win in front of a packed Kaplan Arena. The FlatTarpey Hat staff predicts the Oscar winners of 2016.
Shanta Hinton discusses the importance of research and increasing faculty diversity.
Will Leo finally win?
Vol. 105, Iss. 19 | Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Hinton granted tenure
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
VIRGINIA
Religion bill passes House
of The College of William and Mary
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CAMPUS
Governor says he will veto SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR
In a 56-41 vote, the Virginia House of Delegates approved HB 773, a bill that would create the Government Nondiscrimination Act. This bill would grant broad protection to private entities that hold religious views against same-sex marriage, transgender people and those that have sex outside of marriage. The bill is unlikely to go into law — Governor Terry McAuliffe has pledged to veto it should it reach his desk — but, as written, the legislation would prevent the state government from altering the tax treatment, canceling or reducing funding, or assigning contracts or other benefits on the basis of religiously-held beliefs. Proponents of HB 773 argue that the bill would protect the First Amendment rights of people of faith, while opponents counter that it will allow certain Virginians to be treated as second-class citizens. Opponents in the House have warned that this bill is the first step in state-sponsored discrimination. According to law professor Nathan Oman, the bill does not amount to statesponsored discrimination because it would not allow government employees to voice objections to same-sex marriage or to refuse to offer marriage licenses. He said, however, that the government’s inability to withdraw funding based on religious beliefs could be seen as discriminatory. “It’s a far-fetched claim that this bill could lead to discrimination by government entities,” Oman said. “But to the extent that you want to pursue a policy where you were going to withhold government grants to those that voice objection to same-sex marriage and were taking action based on that belief, this law would prohibit the state from pursuing that policy.” Oman added that, while some have suggested that the bill contradicts standing anti-discrimination laws, Virginia’s antidiscrimination legislation does not cover sexual orientation. “Virginia has its own anti-discrimination laws, but it doesn’t cover discrimination on sexual orientation,” Oman said. “This law doesn’t give anyone an exemption from banning discrimination on sexual orientation because there is no general law in Virginia that says that.” While there are municipal governments in Virginia that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, Williamsburg and James City County do not have this kind of legislation. If this new See RELIGION page 4
12 day delay in notifying police about missing keys GRAPHIC BY TUCKER HIGGINS / THE FLAT HAT
Police reports revealed College employees were searching for the missing master key for almost two weeks before notifying WMPD, which breaks College protocol.
Delay may have endangered students, expert says TUCKER HIGGINS FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR
College of William of Mary employees delayed notifying police about the loss of a set of master keys for almost two weeks this summer, according to a copy of the police investigation obtained by The Flat Hat. The delay, which flouted College policy requiring immediate notification, came despite at least 17 members of the facilities management staff being aware of the loss. The 12-day period in which security precautions were stalled may also have endangered students, raising legal implications, a campus security expert has said. “If there is a situation where there is an immediate threat — which you would have if the master key is missing — and that information is not shared with the decision-making authorities, then, yes, that has Clery Act implications,” President of the Board of SurvJustice Daniel Carter said. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act requires colleges and universities to establish policies for assessing risk and issuing emergency notifications when an incident occurs. Director of the National Center for Campus Public Safety Kim
Richmond said she could not comment on an individual case, but that in general the report of a missing and potentially stolen master key would warrant an immediate risk assessment. According to the William and Mary Police Department’s investigation into the missing master key, obtained by The Flat Hat through a Freedom of Information Act request, the master key was noticed missing Aug. 14. The employee last reported in possession of the key, whose name was withheld, enlisted 16 members of the Facilities Management staff to search for it, but the search turned up nothing. Aug. 25, a supervisor was informed of the missing key and advised the employee to make a report with the police. A day later, WMPD began their investigation. Aug. 27, 13 days after the key was reported missing, William and Mary Police Chief Deb Cheesebro issued a notification to students. “You may see some extra security on campus tonight and I wanted to let you know why,” she said in the email. The following day, Cheesebro sent an update announcing that the investigation had concluded that the keys were believed to be
CAMPUS
Virus shuts down package notification emails Malware removes all files, data from post office’s computer system LEONOR GRAVE THE FLAT HAT
A “ransom virus” shut down the package notification system of the College of William and Mary’s mailroom Monday, Feb. 15. The virus, a type of malware that restricts access to the
infected computer system and demands that the user pay a ransom to the malware operators to remove the restriction, caused all files and data to be removed from the post office’s system, most likely permanently. This means that new packages coming in are not being identified by the system, and all
information regarding packages received before that date has been lost as well. A spokesperson for Postal Services said that they are not aware of where the virus came from, but according to Director of Facilities James Jacobs, the IT department is working diligently to resolve the situation. Since the system shut down, mailroom employees have been manually writing package receipt notification slips by hand and leaving them in student’s CSU or GSH boxes. The only way for students to find out if they have received a package is to check their CSU boxes for one of these handwritten slips. This shutdown has created a significant amount of additional work for mailroom employees, who are now spending a considerable amount of time operating the mailroom manually. This shutdown has also stressed students who count on the package notification system to alert them to deliveries, and many students have not yet been made aware of the situation. “I live off-campus and the entire reason I still would have packages mailed to my school
AMELIA LUCAS / THE FLAT HAT
Malware sent to the College’s post office has caused the package notification email system to be shut down.
Today’s Weather
Index Profile News Opinions Variety Sports
Madison Ochs ’18 discusses how professors can use technology effectively in the classroom. page 5 Rainy, High 53, Low 44
COLLEGE EMPLOYEE ARRESTED FOR CHILD PORN The College of William and Mary Police Department arrested a College employee for four felony counts of possession of child pornography Feb. 19. Michael Wilson M.S. ’03, who was placed on administrative leave following the arrest, works as a research biologist at the Center for Conservation Biology. Director of News and Media Suzanne Seurattan said she cannot make specific comments regarding personnel matters, but that College protocol is to prohibit charged employees from being present on campus. Wilson received a master’s degree in biology in 2003 from the College. Since 2004, he has been an employee of the College. Wilson’s research projects focused on limiting factors for bird populations that could produce guidelines for managing species in decline. He also coordinated the Nightjar Survey Network, which gathered data on bird population trends on a national scale. According to Seurattan, the investigation is ongoing. Wilson was taken to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. A penalty for a Virginia conviction for possession of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 to 30 years. The Statute of Limitations does not apply in any cases. — Flat Hat News Editor Amelia Lucas
Inside Sports
Inside Opinions
Teaching with tech
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See KEY page 3
Senior Day slips away
For the second straight season, Drexel defeated the Tribe at Kaplan Arena on Senior Day. page 10