The Flat Hat March 21 2014

Page 1

VARIETY >> PAGE 6-7

Vol. 103, Iss. 42 | Friday, March 21, 2014

With room selection just around the corner, which are the best upperclassmen dorms on campus?

The Flat Hat The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper

of The College of William and Mary

Student Assembly

Danly wins election

Flathatnews.com | Follow us:

City Council

Foster, Pons reelected

Incumbents run unopposed by CLAIRE GILLESPie flat hat assoc. News editor

said in his speech upon winning the election. Danly and Lorenzen said they are ready to go forward with the goals they outlined during their campaign. “I’m just amazed. … We really wanted it, we really deserved it, we really want to serve this community and we are going to do it. And I just can’t wait to fulfill all the promises that we said we’re going to do,” Lorenzen said. Runner-ups Parkes and Hernandez received a total of 1,361 votes, 679 votes behind the winning pair. Although the duo was not elected, they do not have any regrets about their decision to run. “I can’t say that I wish we’d changed too much,”

Scott Foster ’10 J.D. ’14 and Douglas Pons have each been re-elected to the Williamsburg City Council in an uncontested contest. Foster and Pons have served on city council for the past four years. Both council members said that housing development is top priority. “For the last six and a half years, we’ve seen a steady decline in the number of rooms rented in Williamsburg,” Pons said. “We have nine shuttered hotels in the Williamsburg area. Franchised restaurants on the traditional restaurant row on Richmond Road are closing. Those are signs that we have a problem in our tourism industry, and we need to turn that around.” Pons said that itemizing the $650,000 budget the City of Williamsburg gives to the Greater Tourism Alliance and the $1.2 million budget the city gives to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will allow the city to respond and reallocate money if the city does not see increases in the meals or rooms that make up a large portion of tourism revenue. The City of Williamsburg’s Comprehensive Plan of 2013 states that focusing on creative businesses can bring in funds as tourism fund declines. Foster said that mixed-use development projects — such as the new Griffin Arms apartment complex built behind Sorority Court — will improve the vibrancy of downtown. “Students really want new, attractive businesses coming to Williamsburg, and the city is poised to offer licenses to those businesses and create a wonderful pro-business environment,” Secretary of Public Affairs Zach Woodward ’14 said. Foster and Pons said they want to bring more restaurants downtown. Pons said that he wants to bring restaurant franchises to Richmond Road. He said he also hopes to develop the land from Richmond Road to the School of Education. Foster said he is excited to bring businesses to the Triangle Building. “We need to make sure that what comes there really fits that cross-section of students and tourists and residents,” Foster said. Undersecretary to the City of Williamsburg Scott Caravello ’15 said that the Comprehensive Plan and city council’s ideas will help make Williamsburg a better environment for students to live in after graduation. Housing is a major factor in students’

See ELECTION page 2

See CITY page 3

ALL PHOTOS BY CAROL PENG / THE FLAT HAT

Colin Danly ‘15 and Kendall Lorenzen ‘15 celebrate after hearing the news that they won the 2014-15 Student Assembly presidential race, beating out two other ticktes in the race.

Danly, Lorenzen new president, vice president of Student Assembly by Madeline Bielski flat hat ASSOC. news editor

The votes are in and Colin Danly ’15 and Kendall Lorenzen ’15 have been elected the Student Assembly president and vice president for the 2014-15 academic year, winning 2,040 votes. “Words cannot really describe how we feel right now,” Danly said. “We are so thankful and grateful for our supporters and our friends and the William and Mary community. We cannot wait to go out and just make this place better.” Danly and Lorenzen received 53 percent of the

vote to win the election. Trevor Parkes ’15 and Liz Hernandez ’15 came in second with 35 percent of the vote. Carlton Smith ’15 and Christopher Johnson ’15 received 12 percent of the vote. Voter turnout for the SA presidential election was 45.5 percent, marking a nearly 11 percent increase from last year’s election turnout. Reflecting on the campaign, Danly and Lorenzen said it was a difficult process. “There were times in this election process when we thought we were going to lose, there were times when it was hard and we had to face questions about our integrity and what we were going to do. And throughout this whole process we chose to be good people, we chose to do the right thing. I can tell you we will do the right thing for William and Mary,” Danly

Student assembly

SA presidential elections highlight political campaign techniques Word-of-mouth, social media, flyering come to forefront as election techniques utilized by Student Assembly tickets by MADELINE BIELSKI flat hat assoc. News editor

By now, most students are probably familiar with Student Assembly candidates’ campaign posters, slogans, photos and Facebook pages, used to garner support for each ticket. The candidates in this year’s Student Assembly presidential election used various campaign strategies to spread their messages and to accumulate voter support. Carlton Smith ’15 and Christopher Johnson ’15’s campaign primarily employed a word-of-mouth strategy. Smith forewent appointing an official campaign manager and assumed the role himself, explaining that he knew his schedule was flexible and that he was confident in the work he could produce.

Today’s Weather

Index News Insight News News Opinions Variety Variety Sports

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Although the Smith and Johnson campaign emphasized getting its message out through more ground-based methods — like visiting hall councils, a performance by Smith’s acapella group Double Take, and attending campus group meetings — they maintained an online presence, including posting regular updates on both Facebook and Twitter accounts. However, Smith said he believes the best approach to campaigning is to keep it personal and transparent, which can be hindered by aspects of social media. “I’m very old fashioned,” Smith said. “I still have the belief that technology doesn’t reach out to a lot of people. Some people on this campus don’t have Facebooks or Twitters or anything. Taking the time to go meet them face-to-face eliminates that wall of transparency where they don’t know who’s behind

the computer.” Smith also emphasized that his campaign was fiscally conservative. He admits to having a more limited budget in comparison with the other tickets’ campaigns. “I think we’ve made a great campaign effort here for people that have never run a campaign of this size before. Admittedly we did not have enough of the funds to buy all these fancy websites and things, but we worked with what we had,” Smith said. “I’m proud to say … we put our best foot forward.” Henry Longley ’15 served as campaign manager for SA president and vice president candidates Trevor Parkes ’15 and Liz Hernandez ’15. He cites a mix of both ground-based and social media strategies as driving their campaign efforts. The Parkes and Hernandez campaign maintained

Inside opinions

See CAMPAIGNING page 3

Inside SPORTS

SA candidates take the easy way out when campaigning Sunny High 66, Low 46

a strong social media presence. The duo released several videos, including one based on comedian Zach Galifiniakis’ YouTube series “Between two Ferns.” Longley explained that every day the campaign was working to produce new material to engage and entertain voters. “We want to have a dialogue with our voters and reach people that might not have heard of us,” Longley said. “We know that social media is a powerful tool to get both those things done. We understand that people want to be entertained when they are being advertised to.” Longley also stressed the role of their supporters and their friend groups. The campaign asked supporters to spread the campaign’s message and to

With their fluffy language and buzzwords, SA candidates have forgotten the true meaning of Student Assembly elections. page 4

Pitching woes cost Tribe

Longwood snaps the College’s sixgame winning streak, surviving a late comeback and defeating the Tribe 9-7 at Plumeri Park. page 8


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Flat Hat March 21 2014 by The Flat Hat - Issuu