VOLUME VIII . ISSUE 2 . SEPT 19 2012 THE INDEPENDENT PAPER OF RECORD AT THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY www.Virginia‑Informer.com Follow us: the virginia informer W&M Remembers 9/11 BACK PAGE NEWS IN BRIEF W&M remembers 9/11 Last Tuesday, Sep- tember 11, the campus remembered the victims of the 9/11 attacks of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pen- tagon, and Flight 93. The Wren Chapel was open to students throughout the day, and an American flag for every victim lost in the attacks was placed in the Sunken Gardens by the College Republicans and Young Democrats. continued on page 12 Stapler causes alarm On the night of Wednesday September 12, at 11:30, a series of “pop- ping noises” resembling those of a cap pistol were heard by a witness near the Grad Complex. The same witness, a student at the College, also saw the suspect discontinue brandishing the suspected weapon in a nearby park- ing lot near a Green Line bus stop. The person pointed the suspected weapon at the witness and then promptly left the area. After investigation, police determined that the “weapon” was a black stapler. Professor Settle researches social media’s effect on voting behavior Research by a William and Mary professor was featured in a cover article for the journal Nature, released September 13. Assistant Professor Jamie Settle of the Government department and her col- leagues conducted a study of over 61 million Facebook users and the effect that messages sent on the site had on voter turnout in the 2010 Congressional elec- tion. The results showed that messages promoting activism and awareness had a far-reaching effect not only on the friends of the original poster but on friends of friends as well. American politics, primar- ily political psychology and the biological components of political behavior. She received her B.A. in Po- litical Science from the University of Richmond and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego. features Tribe Slide continues at Towson PAGE 7 Senate elections to be suspenseful PAGE 10 opinion sports event By Justin Shawler Contributing Writer On Thursday September 13, Virginia Attorney Gen- eral Ken Cuccinelli spoke to students, faculty, and the public at William and Mary’s Law school. He covered a broad range of topics from healthcare to eminent do- main, but all in the context of Federalism. The lecture he presented was formally titled: “Balancing Power: Federalism, the State, and Individual Rights”. Cuccinelli was elected Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2010, alongside Governor Bob McDonnell and Lieu- tenant Governor Bill Bol- ling. Before that, he served in the Virginia State Senate from August 2002 to Janu- ary 2010. Cuccinelli holds a degree in Mechanical Engi- neering from the University of Virginia; additionally, he earned a Law Degree and a Master’s Degree in Interna- tional Commerce and Policy at George Mason University. As Virginia’s Attorney Gen- eral, he has gained a reputa- tion for strong opinions on of- ten controversial issues from climate-change to abortion rights. Cuccinelli built the foun- dation for his lecture by de- scribing the role of the Attor- ney General. “You’d think the Attor- ney General was the top-cop in Virginia. That is not accu- rate,” said Cuccinelli. “One way to look at this role is as to push back on the Federal government when it over- steps its boundaries.” The majority of his lec- ture focused on Federalism Campus forum focuses on financial planning The focus of the William and Mary campus forum with President Reveley and Rector of the Board of Visitors, Jef- frey Trammel (‘69), was, in a word, money. Questions from faculty members and the few students in attendance cen- tered on possible privatization of the College, increasing the endowment, and other devel- opment concerns. President Reveley opened the forum stating that the Col- lege was “off to a good year.” He brought up the buzzed- about possible partnership with Eastern Virginia Medi- cal School, and hailed this year to be “a time of reinven- tion.” Professor Lisa Landino of the Chemistry depart- ment asked the first ques- tion, wondering when a partnership with the afore- mentioned medical school would be finalized. Provost Michael Halleran took a turn to respond, stating that the partnership was “not a done deal.” A progress report will be issued by the President’s By Allie Jones Managing Editor office on October 15th. The conversation then turned towards development issues. President Reveley commented that this year “tuition increases were extra low,” due in part to “political pressure.” He continued to la- ment the College’s low oper- ating budget, stating that in the future, tuition will need to be increased for in-state students. He also stressed that the state of Virginia has to be more supportive of out- of-state students, whom he See “FORUM” page 3 Rembering Gillian Cell PAGE 5 Amnesty koozies? continued on page 2 Koozies might be printed with the amnesty policy to help educate students on the policy when possible amnesty situa‑ tions arise. By Jabria Craſt Staff Writer REVELEY, TRAMMEL DISCUSS PRIVATIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT CUCCINELLI: Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli presented “Balancing Power: Federalism, the State, and Individual Rights” to the W&M Law School about US healthcare and the grassroots system. Cuccinelli describes role as Attorney General after serving on VA State Senate. PHOTO BY ABBEY HOWARTH See “CUCCINELLI” page 3 arts & cultures Beach House: subtle indie rock PAGE 8 BALANCING POWER BALANCING POWER
Transcript
Volume VI I I . Issue 2 . sePT 19 2012
The IndePendenT PaPer of record aT The college of WIllIam and mary www.Virginia‑Informer.com follow us:
the virginia informer
W&M Remembers 9/11 BACK PAGE
NEWS IN BRIEF
W&M remembers 9/11 Last Tuesday, Sep-
tember 11, the campus remembered the victims of the 9/11 attacks of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pen-tagon, and Flight 93. The Wren Chapel was open to students throughout the day, and an American flag for every victim lost in the attacks was placed in the Sunken Gardens by the College Republicans and Young Democrats.
continued on page 12
Stapler causes alarm On the night of
Wednesday September 12, at 11:30, a series of “pop-ping noises” resembling those of a cap pistol were heard by a witness near the Grad Complex. The same witness, a student at the College, also saw the suspect discontinue brandishing the suspected weapon in a nearby park-ing lot near a Green Line bus stop. The person pointed the suspected weapon at the witness and then promptly left the area. After investigation, police determined that the “weapon” was a black stapler.
Professor Settle researches social media’s effect on voting behavior
Research by a William and Mary professor was featured in a cover article for the journal Nature, released September 13. Assistant Professor Jamie Settle of the Government department and her col-leagues conducted a study of over 61 million Facebook users and the effect that messages sent on the site had on voter turnout in the 2010 Congressional elec-tion. The results showed that messages promoting activism and awareness had a far-reaching effect not only on the friends of the original poster but on friends of friends as well. American politics, primar-ily political psychology and the biological components of political behavior. She received her B.A. in Po-litical Science from the University of Richmond and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego.
features
Tribe Slide continues at TowsonPAGE 7
Senate elections to be suspensefulPAGE 10
opinion sports event
By Justin ShawlerContributing Writer
On Thursday September 13, Virginia Attorney Gen-eral Ken Cuccinelli spoke to students, faculty, and the public at William and Mary’s Law school. He covered a broad range of topics from healthcare to eminent do-main, but all in the context of Federalism. The lecture he presented was formally
titled: “Balancing Power: Federalism, the State, and Individual Rights”.
Cuccinelli was elected Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2010, alongside Governor Bob McDonnell and Lieu-tenant Governor Bill Bol-ling. Before that, he served in the Virginia State Senate from August 2002 to Janu-ary 2010. Cuccinelli holds a degree in Mechanical Engi-
neering from the University of Virginia; additionally, he earned a Law Degree and a Master’s Degree in Interna-tional Commerce and Policy at George Mason University. As Virginia’s Attorney Gen-eral, he has gained a reputa-tion for strong opinions on of-ten controversial issues from climate-change to abortion rights.
Cuccinelli built the foun-dation for his lecture by de-
scribing the role of the Attor-ney General.
“You’d think the Attor-ney General was the top-cop in Virginia. That is not accu-rate,” said Cuccinelli. “One way to look at this role is as to push back on the Federal government when it over-steps its boundaries.”
The majority of his lec-ture focused on Federalism
Campus forum focuses on financial planning
The focus of the William and Mary campus forum with President Reveley and Rector of the Board of Visitors, Jef-frey Trammel (‘69), was, in a word, money. Questions from faculty members and the few students in attendance cen-tered on possible privatization of the College, increasing the endowment, and other devel-opment concerns.
President Reveley opened the forum stating that the Col-lege was “off to a good year.”
He brought up the buzzed-about possible partnership with Eastern Virginia Medi-cal School, and hailed this year to be “a time of reinven-tion.”
Professor Lisa Landino of the Chemistry depart-ment asked the first ques-tion, wondering when a partnership with the afore-mentioned medical school would be finalized. Provost Michael Halleran took a turn to respond, stating that the partnership was “not a done deal.” A progress report will be issued by the President’s
By Allie JonesManaging Editor
office on October 15th.The conversation then
turned towards development issues. President Reveley commented that this year “tuition increases were extra low,” due in part to “political pressure.” He continued to la-ment the College’s low oper-ating budget, stating that in the future, tuition will need to be increased for in-state students. He also stressed that the state of Virginia has to be more supportive of out-of-state students, whom he
See “FORUM” page 3
Rembering Gillian CellPAGE 5
Amnesty koozies?
continued on page 2
Koozies might be printed with the amnesty policy to help educate students on the policy when possible amnesty situa‑tions arise.
By Jabria CraftStaff Writer
REvElEy, TRammEl dIScuSS pRIvaTIzaTIoN aNd dEvElopmENT
CUCCINELLI: attorney general Ken cuccinelli presented “Balancing Power: federalism, the state, and Individual rights” to the W&m law school about us healthcare and the grassroots system. cuccinelli describes role as attorney general after serving on Va state senate.
PhoTo By aBBey hoWarTh
See “CUCCINELLI” page 3
arts & cultures
Beach House: subtle indie rockPAGE 8
BALANCING POWER
BALANCING POWER
NE WSPAGE 2
The Student Assembly held its weekly Senate meeting on Tuesday, September 11, 2012. Senate Chair Kendall Lorenzen (’15) began the meeting with a moment of silence in commemoration of the September 11th anniversary.
The Senate then voted to confirm Evan Maraist (’14) to the SA Review Board by unanimous consent. The Review Board decides disputes over the SA Code. The Sen-ate also unanimously confirmed Chris Connolly (’15), Rachel Fybel (’14), Niall Gar-rahan (’14), Becky Keitelman, (’15), Matt Paganussi, (’14), Stephanie Plunkett (’14), Alex Rodriguez (’13), and Natalia Stewart (’15) to the Conduct Appeals Board, which hears appeals of student conduct sanctions. In addition to their service on the Ap-peals Board, Connolly is a member of the Williamsburg Planning Commission, and Paganussi was a senator for the class of 2014 for the last two years.
The senate also referred several new bills to committees. The New Organizations Funding Act, sponsored by senators Lorenzen and Colin Danly (’15), would allow the SA to provide fund-ing for organizations that were formed after last year’s budget was finalized. The What Can the SA Do for You Act, sponsored by senators Lorenzen, Danly, A.J. Sapon (’13), and Ishan Bardan (’13) would raise the on-campus profile of the Student Assembly by print-ing stickers with the SA’s logo and selected accomplishments, and distributing them around campus.
The Bettering Educational Efforts Responsibly Act, sponsored by Will McConnell (’14), would allocate funds to make beer koozies with the college’s medical amnesty policy printed on them. The medical amnesty policy was amended last year as a re-sult of pressure from the Student Assembly to create a one-year limit on the disclo-sure of medical amnesty requests to Residence Life and study abroad programs, and to clarify the language to make the policy easier for students to understand. Accord-ing to Student Life Secretary Dallen McNerney (’14), who helped draft the bill, the legislation came about as a result of concerns that many students didn’t understand the amnesty policy, and might be hesitant to seek medical help in amnesty situa-tions. McNerney told the Senate that beer koozies had been selected as the most ef-ficient means to disseminate the information because they “will be around in possible amnesty situations.”
In a statement to The Informer, McNerney said that he plans to continue advo-cating for the inclusion of student organizations in the amnesty policy. Organization-al amnesty was part of the SA’s proposal last year, but was rejected by the adminis-tration. However, McNerney said that organizational amnesty is “an essential step in promoting the health and safety of even more students on campus.”
By Chuck GillespieNews Editor
Mission StatementThe Virginia Informer is an independent, non‑partisan, student run publication devoted to reporting the news
to the William and mary community. We exist to pro‑vide an alternative to school sponsored news sources.
We do not, and never will, receive any financial support from the college of William and mary. We will not shy away from controversy or be afraid to challenge the
norm. We strive to inform and engage our readers via responsible journalism and in‑depth reporting, while fostering and giving voice to opinions that are often
shut out by the campus establishment.
Volume VI I I . Issue 2 . sePT 12 2012esTaBlIshed In 2005
The Virginia Informercsu 7056, P.o. Box 8793Williamsburg, Va 23186
Staff WritersJacob Evans • Emma Sunseri • Cody Sigmon
Britaney Coleman • Victoria FairchildShannon Crawford • Luke Nicastro • Alex Cook •
Matt Muller • Jacob Evans • James Joseph • • Daniel Fischer • Pratik Sinha • Jabria Craft
The Virginia Informer is produced by students at the College of William and Mary. The opinions expressed in articles, photos, cartoons, or ads are those of the writer(s) or sponsor(s). This paper is produced for the benefit of students at the College and is available at no cost for members of the greater Williamsburg community. However, copies should be taken only if they are meant to be read and enjoyed. Letters to the editor are welcome and can be submitted via e-mail or mail.
SA SEEkS tO EduCAtE CAmPuS ON AmNESty INfORmAtION
in the context of the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare”. He went on to say that his suit against the federal government was “far more about liberty than it was healthcare.”
Cuccinelli’s lawsuit was in defense of the Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act, which was signed into law by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell in 2010 and guarantees the rights of Virginian’s from having to purchase health insurance. This, as Cuccinelli explained, means he argued in defense of Virginia law, as opposed to simply in opposition of federal law.
He also spoke about the effects of the courts ruling when it comes to Medicaid, healthcare funding for certain people with limited resources. In a seven to two decision, the Supreme Court ruled against the Affordable Care Act’s efforts to force Medicaid expansion on states with the threat of withholding funds. Cucci-nelli believes that this ruling allowed for “meaningful debate” on the issue to take place within state legislatures.
While healthcare legislation was a major part of his lecture, he also chided the Federal government for overreaching when it came to Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Commu-nications Commission regulations. Specifically, he attacked the EPA’s decision to regulate water as a pollutant in Fairfax County in order to save a habitat for worms.
Though these topics can spark heated debate, student reac-tion was mostly positive.
“I wanted to listen to him in order to know better what’s at stake in Virginia,” said Victor Ganier, an French exchange stu-dent at the College. Ganier called Cuccinelli’s lecture “relevant” and “perfectly understandable in the American context.”
“It’s great that the Law School has such great speakers lined up,” said Danny Yates (’12), a current William and Mary law stu-dent.
The same evening he also addressed a group of College Re-publicans and interested guests. Though many of the topics over-lapped, he focused more on politics, particularly grassroots orga-nization, at the club’s event.
“I knocked on a lot, a lot, of doors,” said the Attorney General about his many campaigns. “These races are not rocket science. They are hard work.”
While Cuccinelli mentioned his own campaign for Governor in 2013, he stressed party-wide, multi-level organizational op-portunities.
“It’s not my job to protect the statutes I like, but the statutes of Virginia,” said Cuccinelli when asked about his job. He elabo-rated, stating that he viewed his role as protecting citizens from all forms of government, which is why he supports initiatives to reform aspects of the criminal justice system, particularly when it comes to the mentally disabled.
In this same grain, he informed the College Republicans of a ballot amendment that he helped implement that would limit government use of eminent domain in the Commonwealth.
“Government is a bully and it picks on the poor,” said Cuc-cinelli.
CUCCINELLI: Speaks to Law SchoolFrom page 1
BETTERING EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS
The act would allocate funds to make beer koozies with the college’s medical amnesty policy printed on them.
The Williamsburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority is soon to be fully under the control of City Council. The Rede-velopment and Housing Authority was created by the Virginia state legislature on October 8, 1970, as a political subdivision of the state and a non-profit public agency. According to Clyde Haulman, the Mayor of Williamsburg, the Authority was “an attempt to upgrade the housing stock and provide housing that is affordable at a low income.The authority’s mission, according to the City of Williamsburg’s website, was to be a “provider of safe, decent, and affordable shelter as well as eco-nomic opportunity for those of greatest need and which will effectuate a positive impact on the community.”
According to Haulman, the Redevelopment and Housing Authority was integral in the installation of public housing, but lack of funds has necessitated the Authority to operate under the umbrella of the City Council.
“The federal and state government have been continually pulling back and it seems like we will have to as well,” stated Haulman. “If we will continue to provide this kind of housing, the City has to pick up an increasing share of the burden, and we can help by essentially bringing the authority more within the City.”
The City is set to continuously take on more of the essential responsibilities of the Housing Authority, ultimately ab-sorbing its duties completely. Haulman stated that Public Works will pick up more of the maintenance issues, and all major issues will be decided by City Council, who will serve as the new board.
“The members of City Council will meet as a separate entity to discuss housing authority business, then later convene as City Council,” stated Haulman.
In addition, a housing advisory committee is in the works. The committee, of which several members of the current board of commissioners would like to play a role, would cover a broad base of housing issues as well as serving as an appeals board.
In regards to the question of changes that could be felt by the community, Haulman asserts that the switch will be imperceptible.
“The housing units are in very good shape-the federal stimulus program provided a good chunk of money so that we should be all set for another 20 years.” stated Haulman.“The rent won’t be going up - the residents should see absolutely no change.”
“Ultimately, when it comes around again, it is not clear if there will be funds, so it is necessary that the city takes some responsibility to try and economize the efficiency.”
City Council absorbs Redevelopment and Housing Authority
referred to as “bags of gold on two feet.” Rector Trammel assured the room that “pub-lic ivies are all dealing with this same issue.”
Another faculty member brought up possible privati-zation of the College. Presi-dent Reveley responded, “I don’t think it’s realistic.” He explained that the state of Virginia owns all the build-ings on campus, which essen-tially prevents the College from ever attaining indepen-dence from the state.
College retains national ranking, despite lack of financesBy Erin WagnerSenior News Editor
William and Mary continues to reign over the 33rd slot on the
U.S. News and World Report list of Top 50 National Universities. Last Wednesday, September 12, U.S. News and World Report released its 2013 rankings to the public. The College was one of only two schools in Virginia to crack the top 50 universities, and one of only 16 public universities to make the list. In addition, the College also held
on to its spot on the Top Public Institutions listing, behind Univer-sity of California’s Berkeley and Los Angeles institutions, University of Virginia, and University of Michi-gan Ann Arbor. William and Mary also tied for 6th place with Uni-versity of Michigan in the category of commitment to undergraduate teaching.
According the U.S. News and World Report’s website, its methodology on determining top national universities is based on several factors, including retention (20%), faculty resources (20%), student selectivity (15%), financial resources (10%), graduation rate
performance (7.5%), and alumni giving rate (5%).
Though the college maintained its rankings in regards to academic performance and overall quality, it fell from 97th to 112th in terms of financial resources.
The financial resources com-prise 10% of the rankings and are determined by “using the average spending per student on instruc-tion, research, student services, and related educational expenditures in the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years,” ac-cording to the website. The alumni giving rate is worth 5% of the final score, and is considered an “indi-rect measure of student satisfac-
tion”, according U.S. News and World Report.
35% of the faculty resources score (7% overall) is determined by faculty salary. According to the website, “[f]aculty salary is the average faculty pay, plus benefits, during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 academic years, adjusted for regional differences in the cost of living using indexes from the con-sulting firm Bunzheimer Interna-tional.” Overall, 22% of the score that is used to determine national rankings is comprised of financial components.
FEATURESPAGE 4Campus Construction: kappa kappa Gamma house renovated through alum’s contribution
KKG: Kappa Kappa gamma expanded their bathroom, one of many renovations.PhoTo By aBBey hoWarTh
On September 4th, Kappa Kappa Gamma held a ribbon cut-ting ceremony celebrating the new and improved sorority house. Last month, construction workers finished a renovation project on the Kappa Kappa Gamma house, one of the buildings in Sorority Court.
The house was renovated after a generous donation was made to the chapter from an involved WM alum and long-life KKG sister, Sal-ly Gore, along with additional support by the Gamma Kappa house board, headed by Bobbie Todd, and the Williamsburg Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Association, led by Cynthia Cashore (‘64). Her in-tention in donating was to give the house a much-needed face lift. Gore, who served on the Board of Visitors, approached Vice President for Administration Anna Martin about three years ago with the idea for the project. President Taylor Reveley praised Gore as a “bastion of generosity” and said the project was an example of how a building can be sustained.
The leadership at KKG has been looking for renovation for sev-eral years, but has always lacked the funding. While the building was structurally fine, many of its utilities were becoming out of date. The lighting system needed repair, while the paint on the walls was peel-ing off. Much of the furniture was decades old. However, much of the renovation was done to improve the quality of life for the sisters, not necessarily because of any of the problems provided challenges to KKG.
Work began in May, just after final exams week. The renovated house, which was built in 1927, includes an expanded living room, an upgraded electrical system, fans in the bedrooms, a new laundry area, new decorations and furniture and a wheelchair ramp.The two bedrooms downstairs were also renovated with a beautiful bathroom in between them.
Upstairs, all of the rooms received new paint jobs and lighting, and a brand new grand bathroom is shared by the upstairs residents. Renovations were required to be complete by the time the sisters needed to move in August.
While the school did not finance the project, it did still contract the construction since the building is on campus. The renovation of the house was headed by Mark Ballman, who served as the College’s project engineer. Ballman and his team completed the renovation on time and under budget, coming in at approximately $421,000 for the total cost. According to Remy O’Neill, president of KKG, “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
O’Neill praised the renovation as a major step forward for her so-rority. In the longer term, O’Neill also hopes that the newly renovated house serves a symbolic purpose in terms of how important the alum-ni are to The College of William & Mary’s sorority and fraternity com-munity, but for the near term, she wished to note how beneficial the renovation will be to the KKG sisters. “The Kappa house has always been beautiful; we have an involved group of local alumni who are deeply invested in making sure we have a beautiful place to live. But the renovations really highlight what our house was missing: bright lights, open spaces, nice plantation shutters, and new furniture. We are so lucky to be the recipients of such a gift.”
Another exciting week for Greek Life here at The College of William and Mary!
Formal Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment continues through this weekend, concluding with Bid Day on Sunday, September 16. Prospective sorority women head over to Soror-ity Court on Richmond Road and get acquainted with each other through a structured series of rush events, during which potential sisters get to learn about the values of each organi-zation and meet with current members. A vital part of any interested sorority girl’s college experience.
Also, after a brief hiatus, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority – Nu Chi chapter returns to campus this year. Rush informa-tion session at 2PM on Sunday, September 16 in the Sadler Center Tidewater A room.
Fraternity rush events continue this week, and will even-tually reach a climax on Thursday, September 20, which is the first day that organizations can extend bids to prospective brothers. Organized open houses are a great way for potential fraternity members to meet current brothers and learn about each group.
By Pratik SinhaGreek Columnist
This Week in Greek
Blame it on the Alcohol: New Pub in town
This June the DoG Street Pub of-ficially became a new addition to the Old Town Williamsburg’s growing bar scene. For most of the 2012 spring semester the pub was a construction zone familiar to all William and Mary students – a building surrounded by pallets of brick and with no foresee-able opening in sight (Yes, I am an English major who longs to return to Tucker). However, after much mortar and a brief delay due to a small fire, the Merchant Square location is now open for patrons. And after visiting the pub this Thursday I hope to be a regular. Although future columns will be dedicated to individual drinks and libations, it seems of appropriate to devote this week to a full tavern ex-perience.
Immediately upon entrance, the pub’s layout and décor impresses patrons with an ambiance different from other Williamsburg taverns. Re-cessed lighting in the high ceiling and soft wall colors warmly illuminate the colonial style chairs and ox-blood leather booths. Pub-goers are seated by a hostess and quickly served by a friendly staff. The bar extends almost the length of the pub and is kept by bartenders dressed smartly with bow ties and suspenders. Yes ladies, you may now swoon.
The pub’s food and alcohol menus
By Stephen SidesBeer Columnist
are devoted to classic English style food and drink. I ordered the “Black Pudding,” a sausage and ap-ple starter topped with a fried egg, and the Cottage Pie. Both dishes were delicious, flavorful with as much attention given to presenta-tion as taste. “Small Plates” are priced around $7 and most entrees cost between $10 and $15, making a meal very affordable considering its quality.
The food is complimented by a full menu of English beers, stouts, ales, and ciders. The pub currently has seventeen beers on tap and two menu pages full of its bottled bever-ages which range from local brews like Legends Lager to IPAs to veg-etarian ciders. DoG Street offers a particularly exciting beer service in their “Growlers.” These 32 and 64 oz sealable bottles allow customers to take their favorite beer on tap home with them. The pub sells its own branded growlers but also fills oth-er approved growler-bottles as well. Come Halloween and Christmas I’ll be filling my growler with Southern Tier Pumpking, a New York spiced beer – brown with a strong taste and delightful seasonal-like finish. While its bar is, of course, full ser-vice, the pub’s cocktail menu is a collection of beer-based mixes and I highly recommend the Shandygaff.
In short the DoG Street Pub combines both the fine-dining expe-rience with excellent beverage se-lection and affordability. Guys, this is an ideal date-night venue. It’s classy, won’t break your bank and its menu can satisfy both you and your date’s respective tastes. Pri-vate dining, beer tastings are avail-able and I hope you’ll join me there.
By Dan CarlenAssociate Features Editor
PAGE 5FEATURESCLuB BEAtS
Armed with a hall mate who is a real fan, I went to check out what Harry Potter Club was all about. I hiked it to Blow and entered cautiously to find a large classroom filled with idle chatter emanating from a group of self-confessed “nerds.” The “Headmistress” or president of the group de-scribed it best, “it’s a place for people to come and geek out but also have some serious intellectual discussions.”
Complete with their own t-shirts that resem-ble ones seen in Greek organizations, the Harry Potter club is way more than a book discussion group. One of the juniors explains that the school year kicks off with the “sorting” of new members in the Great Hall of the Wren Building. For those of you who live under a rock, sorting is a process by which first year students at the magical board-ing school of Hogwarts get ‘sorted’ into one of four different houses which make up the school: Grif-fyndor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. In the Harry Potter club, new members complete a survey that explores their magical knowledge and preferences. With questions ranging from “what is your favorite character” to “what form would your patronus take” the quiz helps the clubs lead-ers place you into the appropriate house which best matches your magical personality. Cath-erine Malin ‘13 said, “The sorting ceremony is a great way to kick off the year, we love to see all
By Michaela WrightStaff Writer
HarryPotterClub
PhoTos By hannah Kohn
the eager freshmen ready to get sorted.” Once new members are placed into a “house”
they remain with the group for the entirety of their time in the club. See where the Greek refer-ences are stemming from? Houses meet weekly, outside official club meetings to eat, see movies, engage in competitive events with other houses, and etc. According to Maggie Stonewall ‘13, houses become really close- like a sorority might. Each house has a “Head of House” who acts as quasi-president and organizes meetings.
Outside the individual houses, the club is uni-fied under their Headmistress, Ann Rogers, who acts as president. In addition to a Headmistress, the club has a large board of officers including a social chair, publicity chair, historian and sec-retary. However, despite the copious amounts of leadership positions, the club has an air of lighthearted chaos, indicating that clearly these students are having too much of a good time to take themselves too seriously. It’s a refreshing atmosphere where even a Potter novice like me felt welcome.
As well as regular meetings, the club hosts a number of Harry Potter inspired events including a Yule Ball in second semester, a kind of formal, and a “Death Day” party on Halloween. This year, as a new event, the club is trying to organize a “Tri-wizard Tournament.” Each of the three mag-ical schools of the world offers up one champion to compete in several events to win the Tri-Wizard cup and eternal glory that accompanies it. The
club hopes to get the entire campus involved in Tri-Wizard Tournament related activities some-time this year to spread Potter love, and of course have a great time.
For Malin and Southwall however, it’s the simple stuff that they love the most, the house competitions among the houses. “The cook-off is so much fun,” says Southwall. The houses com-pete throughout the school year earning points to win the annual House Cup via baking competi-tions, writing fan fiction, poetry and more.
Despite the overwhelming number of female members, and high freshman population, these students have created a strong integrated com-munity of friendship around the best selling se-ries by author JK Rowling. Says one senior, “I’ve made some of my best college friends here - my house even went to New York to see Phantom of the Opera together.” The room at the second meeting was packed with almost 35-40 kids. If anything, its a strong indication that despite the last of the movies premiering this past summer and the book series end in 2007, the Harry Potter phenomenon is still very much alive. Headmis-tress Rogers explained, “It is just a group of peo-ple who found Harry Potter so inspirational and so much a part of their lives that they just have to continue doing something related to it now that the books are finished and the movies are done.”
Stop by their meetings, every Wednesday in Blow 334 or email Headmistress [email protected] with questions.
HARRY POTTER CLUB: each year in the club begins with a sorting quiz (left).
Former Provost, Gillian Cell Dies at 75
Gillian Cell, who served as William & Mary’s third provost from 1993-2003, passed away on September 7, 2012. Born and educated in Liverpool, England, Cell was a scholar specializing in British colonial history. In 1965, she began her career as a history professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was the first woman appointed to a tenure-track position there. After being appointed the first female History department chair, she became the first female Dean of Arts and Sciences at UNC. She left Chapel Hill in 1993 and served as William & Mary provost under the presidency of Tim Sullivan, once again the first woman to do so.
Cell leaves behind a legacy that includes the development of the College’s first strategic plan and her notable readings of the College’s 1693 charter. “She came to love William and Mary and was, herself, beloved and respected while among us. Provost Cell did serious good for our university in many spheres but especially, perhaps, in strategic planning, the redirection of resources in the face of declining state support, and advances in information technology on campus,” said President Reveley in a message to W&M faculty and staff.
“She had absolute integrity,” said Feiss. “She just truly enjoyed being at William & Mary, and she was very, very good at her job.” She is remembered as having what the military calls “command presence” as she was somewhat intimidating and always fair. Her obituary notes that she was both shy and witty, an elegant writer, a generous critic and a loyal friend.Cell was 75 years old when she died of ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. courTesy PhoTo
By Krissa LorettoAssociate Features Editor
SPOR TSPAGE 6
This past weekend, the William and Mary Tribe men’s soccer team travelled to Omaha, Nebraska for the first game of the Creighton Invi-tational. The tournament is a two-match weekend tournament hosted by Creighton University and the No. 2 Creighton Blue Jays. The Tribe would begin play in the tournament on Friday night, facing off against the Drake Bulldogs.
Coming into the contest, the Bulldogs had just a 1-4-1 record, winless in their last four matches since their home opener, a 3-1 win over Loyola. For a Tribe team hop-ing to right the ship after a tough loss,this game would be a must win for the Green and Gold, and they would deliver.
The Tribe would put on a strong showing in the first half of this con-test, outshooting the Bulldogs by a margin of 13-7, with the edge in cor-ner kicks at 4-2. Although the Tribe was able to bombard the Bulldogs with shots, the Drake goalkeeper did not make things easy on the Tribe shooters, saving 5 in the first 45 minutes alone. However, with as many scoring chances as the Tribe
was able to get in that first half, it was only a matter of time before the Tribe would put one in the back of the net. In the 43 rd minute of play, the Tribe was given a penalty kick that senior Ben Anderson was able to drill into the back of the net for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead for the Tribe.
As for Drake, despite the fact that they were able to take 7 shots in the first half of action, the Wil-liam and Mary defense made sure that none of those shots were on goal. This allowed the Tribe to enter the second half of play with a 1-0 advantage, and an eye towards in-creasing their lead.
The Tribe would continue their offensive dominance in the second half, but this time, they would receive more immediate rewards. In just the 50th minute, the Tribe would have a corner kick taken by junior Chris Perez. His offering into the box would find the foot of sopho-more Marcus Luster, who accounted for the Tribe’s only goal in their pre-vious game. The shot would rattle the posts and go in for Luster’s second goal of the season, giving the Tribe a 2-0 lead to work with.
The lead would not stay 2-0 for long, as the Tribe would strike again
in the 57 th minute. Freshman Ryan Flesch would do the honors this time for his first collegiate goal of his career. Flesch would receive a pass from fellow freshman Jackson Eskay and, from 15 yards out, would blast a shot on net and put it in for the 3-0 Tribe lead.
With a goal already on the board for himself, Anderson was able to fill up his assists column as well, notch-ing his third assist of the season. In the 67th minute of play, Anderson would send a pass in to Perez. Perez would launch his shot from 8 yards out, beating the keeper for his first goal of the season to put the Tribe up 4-0 and effectively seal a victory for the Green and Gold.
The Bulldogs would eventually be able to get on the board in this game, ending the Tribe’s shutout bid in the 89th minute on a goal from ju-nior Garrett Crall. Crall’s goal would be his first of the season, and would make the game 4-1 before the final whistle signaled a Tribe victory.
The Tribe’s offensive dominance in this game came not only in a 4-1 advantage in goals, but a 22-11 ad-vantage in shots and an even more impressive 12-1 advantage in shots on goal. The Tribe also held a
5-2 advantage in corner kicks
for the matchup. The victory against Drake pushes the Tribe’s record on the season to 2-2-1, while the loss drops the Bulldogs to 1-5-1 for the season.
The win against Drake was im-portant for this Tribe team. If there is any hope for this team, just two years removed from a CAA cham-pionship, returning to their former glory, they need to win games like the one against Drake. Coming in to play, needing a win to even their season record, and facing a struggling team that has only won one game on the season, the Tribe needed to win big like they did on Friday.
At press time, the Tribe has yet to play in their second match of the Creighton Invitational, which is against the No.2 ranked Creighton Blue Jays. The match will likely be the toughest challenge the Tribe will face all season, but perhaps the team will be able to ride the momen-tum of a 4-goal outing and not only shock a nationally ranked opponent, but push their record on the season over .500. No matter what the out-come, this game could offer a great chance to see just what this year’s Tribe soccer team is really made of.
By Nate KreshSports Editor
PhoTo By TrIBe aThleTIcs
SOCCER: Perez playing the field during the creighton Invitational in omaha, nebraska. The Tribe faced off against the drake Bulldogs.
“
”
The win against Drake was
important for this Tribe team. If there is any hope for this team, just two years
removed from a CAA championship,
returning to their former glory, they need to win games like the one against
William and Mary (0-3, 0-1) went on the road to Maryland to face the defending CAA champion Towson Tigers (1-1, 1-0) on Saturday, falling 20-17 in their conference opener. An apparent game-winning touchdown pass from Raphael Ortiz (’15) to Tre McBride (’15) with 24 seconds re-maining was called back as an illegal forward pass, and the Tribe could get no closer as time expired.
Ortiz, who made his first start of the season, looked sharp from the beginning, completing 10 of 17 for 101 yards, a touchdown, and no intercep-tions. Senior Meltoya Jones and soph-omore Keith McBride split the Tribe’s rushing duties, with Jones piling up 90 yards on 14 carries and McBride rushing 10 times for 50 yards.
Junior safety Jerome Couplin tal-lied a game-high 15 tackles to lead the Tribe on defense. The College’s defen-sive eleven spent most of the game on
the field, as Towson dominated time of possession by over 10 minutes. The Tigers not only controlled the clock, but they outgained the Tribe 422-258.
“I thought it was a hard-played game,” head coach Jimmye Laycock commented Saturday. “Both teams executed pretty well. I thought we gave a very, very good effort. We just couldn’t come up with stops on defense when we needed to.”
For a moment in the first quar-ter, it looked as if William and Mary would turn the game into a rout. Down 3-0, the Tribe’s first possession was practically a run-blocking clinic. After a 20-yard completion from Ortiz, Jones and McBride ripped off gains of 12, 9, 5, and 5 yards before Jones took a handoff straight up the middle for a 16-yard score.
From there, however, the Tribe offense struggled to find rhythm. William and Mary watched a 10-3 lead evaporate, with the offense going three-and-out on three consecutive possessions in the third and fourth
By Wade CupcheckSports Editor
quarters. The Tigers broke a 10-10 tie with a 30-yard field goal late in the third quarter. And after the fourth consecutive punt from Drake Kuhn (’14), Towson marched up the field again for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
The Tribe finally hit back with time winding down in the fourth, as Jones broke loose on back-to-back 11 and 17-yard carries. A pass-interfer-ence call moved the ball to Towson’s two yard line, and from there Ortiz found senior tight end Nolan Kearney for six. The drive spanned 64 yards on seven plays, and narrowed Towson’s lead to 20-17.
“I got no problems with the way we competed, no problem with how hard we played,” Laycock said. “I thought we stepped in here and played pretty darn well.”
The Tribe returns home this weekend for another CAA bout with undefeated Delaware (3-0). Kickoff is slated for 7 pm.
PhoTo By TrIBe aThleTIcs
Men’s Cross CountrySaturday, September 15
The William and Mary Cross-country squad ran well on an idyllic Saturday in Williamsburg, keeping first place on their home course at the fifty-fourth annual W&M Invi-tational meet. Taking both first and second place respectively, senior captain Alex McGrath and teammate Rad Gunzenhauser both finished at 25:17 on the eight kilometer course, finishing fourteen seconds before the third-place runner from George Ma-son University, John Holt. In addi-tion to McGrath and Gunzenhauser, William and Mary also had three others score points for the Tribe. Joe LoRusso, Joshua Mercado, and Josh Hardin finished in places eighth, eleventh and thirteenth respectively, while freshman David Waterman completed the team effort, finishing in thirty-fourth place.
Women’s Cross CountrySaturday, September 15
William and Mary’s Women Cross-country team finished in strong fashion on a beautiful Saturday, taking first place at the fifty-fourth annual W&M Invitational. The team as a whole edged out Richmond by a decisive nineteen points on the East-ern State course. Tribe runner Elaina Balouris, an All-American, finished first in the 5K at a time of 17:39, one second ahead of competitor Emily Stiles, from UNAT. Sophomore Jess Cygan finished next for the Tribe in fourth place, at 18:10. Dylan Hassett, Clarissa Schick, Carolyn Hennessey, Lanie Smith, and Katie Buenaga also had strong finishes for the Tribe, pushing the team to victory. In two weeks, William and Mary travel to Lehigh University to compete in the Paul Short Invitational.
Men’s Tennis
William and Mary’s Tennis team opened their season Friday at the Duke Fab Four Invitational. Jamie Whiteford’s singles match against Virginia Tech’s Aaron Gomez, a 6-3, 6-0 win, highlighted the Tribe’s open-ing performance, as the nationally-ranked player started the season in strong fashion, though in his next match Whiteford lost a hard- fought match 6-3, 7-5, against Duke’s Josh Levine. A high point for the Tribe came on Saturday. Ben Guthrie, a junior, swept aside nationally-ranked Panav Jha of Kentucky in a strong showing, defeating the 64th ranked singles player 6-3, 6-1. The Tribe turned in phenomenal doubles performances as well, with Guthrie and classmate John Banks turning in back-to-back wins, with the duo of Ben Hoogland and Will Juggins winning two out of their last three matches.
PAGE 7SPOR TS
PhoTo By TrIBe aThleTIcsCAA: Tribe’s sophomore rad gunzenhauser named caa runner of the Week sept. 04.
tribe Slide continues at towson
SpoRTS IN BRIEFBy Alex CookStaff Writer
AR TS & CULTUREPAGE 8
As November draws near and the rhetoric from both parties grows increasingly heated, The Campaign provides a crass reminder of the hilarity of certain aspects of the American politi-cal system.
The film features Will Ferrell as a cocky and inappropriate five-term congressman from North Carlonia. He is running uncontested for reelection when sweater-vest wearing, local weirdo, Zach Galiafinakis is thrown into the race. Congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell) focuses on three things during his campaign, which to some represent the quintessential talking points to please the masses: “America. Jesus. Free-dom.” And while the audience may laugh at the antics of Ferrell and his competitor, Marty Hug-gins (Galiafinakis), the movie does draw atten-tion to the lengths that politicians are willing to go to for the win.
Much like his role in Talladega Nights, Fer-rell has a southern twang, an attractive trophy wife, and two rude children. Galiafinakis, on the other hand, has a slightly more colorful family dynamic in the film—highlighted by one of the funniest scenes in the film in which his family members confess to him all of the things they are ashamed of that might come up during the election. His children admit to having touched
“an old lady’s titty” and his wife confesses to fantasizing about Drew Carey on the The Price is Right, among many other outrageous confes-sions.
The dirty politics and mudslinging of this North Carolina congressional race include baby punching, name-calling, DUIs and more. The po-litical gaffes of the film may be satirical—Ferrell leaves an explicit voicemail to his mistress on a constituent’s answering machine by mistake—but the sexual depravity of these politicians is not such a far cry from real scandals captured in the modern day of Twitter pics of congressional “members” and the excessive media coverage of the personal lives of our nation’s leaders.
Unfortunately, director Jay Roach failed to really take aim at the ridiculous partisanship that our nation has entrenched itself in. Instead of targeting remotely realistic issues such as campaign finance, the role of wealth in this mov-ie consists of two corrupt businessmen who want to sell the 14th congressional district of North Carolina to The People’s Republic of China.
The Campaign is easy to watch, and play-fully pokes fun at our nation’s leaders, but it is not an instant classic for Galiafiakis or Ferrell. This is a film that would be appreciated by our European counterparts, who would appreciate the jabs at the supposed ignorance of some of our electorate and politicians about the real issues on which a race should be run.
By Sophie GoeweyAssociate Arts & Cultures Editor
the Campaign: ferrell in his niche, not quite a classic courTesy PhoTo
My first excursion inside the inflated city limits of Richmond, Virginia got off to an inaus-picious start. The squat buildings weren’t tall enough to be impressive nor eccentric enough to be quaint. The wide roads seemed barren without the imposing shadows and sequestered acoustics of what some might call a “real city,” a dynamic hardly redeemed by hastily planted shrubbery that divides the arrant, four-lane chasms that obtrude the city and precludes any charm that a landmark-less place like Richmond needs in order to be considered anything more than a vulgarly over-built suburb. At least I didn’t get stabbed, though, which is apparently a thing that hap-pens pretty frequently there. And once I got used to the egregiously benign architecture, I felt OK about being where I was, as, after all, I was there to hear some music that I knew would be good, a comforting known quantity.
Baltimore “dream pop” duo Beach House conflate well with Richmond, a suburb that, for whatever reason, attracted a significant indie-kid population whose dead-beat aesthetic can only be justified by an urban setting and whose presence is now used to convince outsiders of Richmond’s modish metropolitan status. Beach House, like Richmond, may disappoint if you harbor improper expectations. Beach House might be an indie band (albeit entry-level, by hipster elitist standards), but they make accessible, proper pop music, not the unusual, resolutely idiosyncratic music of bands that they are sometimes associated with. The great pop song was becoming a lost art in the insolently counter-culture indie music scene, but albums like m83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s Belong, Wild Nothing’s Gemini, and Beach House’s latest al-bum Bloom have each gone a long way in reviving the genre in the last couple of years. Victoria Le-grand and Alex Scally, the creative forces behind Beach House, make subtle, delicate and exquisite music, using stark, precise guitar plucking, un-complicated yet essential bass drum pounding, and cosmic keyboard washes that lend to anthe-mic choruses where singer Legrand unleashes her hauntingly precious croon. Their grand sound de-fies the spare, un-muddled arrangements of the songs.
Which is what made opener Dustin Wong so appropriate. I had elbowed my way up to the sec-ond row of the crowd, close enough to hear Wong
courTesy PhoTo
See “CONCERT” page 9
Beach House: subtle and delicate indieBy Jake DayContributing Writer
MOVIE PREVIEWS
frIday sePT 21house at the end of the street (Jennifer lawrence, max Theirot)dredd (lena headey, Karl urban, olivia Thirby)Troube With the curve (clint eastwood, Justin Timberlake, amy adams)10 years (channing Tatum, anna faris, Jenna dewan)
frIday sePT 28looper (Joseph gordon‑levitt, Bruce Willis, emily Blunt)hotel Transylvania (adam sandler, Kevin James)never Back down (maggie gyllenhaal, Viola davis)Pitch Perfect (anna Kendrick)
frIday ocT 5Taken 2 (maggie grace, liam neeson)frakenweenie (Winona ryder, martin short, martin landau)
PAGE 9AR TS & CULTURE
Well Fed: eating without meaning
My bike’s wheels still spin as I dismount. My fingers probe my backpack for the black top and dark-wash denim that I had packed earlier. I transform the nearest restroom into a hair and makeup studio, though I take time only to fix my fly. Homemade trail mix slips from my grasp, espresso throbs in my epidermis, I ride to work.
“Wait, you work at the Grind and Paul’s?” Friends all seemed to ask the same question. Well, yeah! I did. I attribute the uncanny ability to balance the life of a “beer girl” and barista to my past youth and sprightliness. Now, I am one year older, though I feel like ten have passed. I miraculously managed to work the aforemen-tioned jobs, hold an internship and maintain the college lifestyle that I had previously known. Neither Mom nor Dad could understand what bug had bitten me.
I am the child in Toys-R-Us, tugging on a parent’s leg, pleading with all of their might that they need the Easy-Bake Oven and that they need it now. I need nourishment, I need it now and I will do anything to achieve it. If that means a slightly slumping bank balance, so be it.
The healthiness of my well-fed body directly correlates to the happiness of my Chicken-Soup-for-the-College-Student soul. I find that I am most
By Samantha ReichmanFood Columnist
alive pausing for teatime in British Columbia, jetting to Nice for noisettes, or simply exploring uncharted Williamsburg. I think that we all need to rip our hands out of the Family Size box of Spe-cial K and explode from the couch.
This is where money can become an issue. Isn’t that what it all boils down to?
Yes and no. I think it all simmers down to priorities. I admit to spending far too much on a single Saison Belgian ale yesterday, while Bud night raged on at a fraction of the cost. Priorities cannot always be explained, much less justified. I regard self-nourishment as far more important than a well-bolstered savings account. I also know that I am not the only one to value this.
I have pulled hundreds of shots for ameri-canos to afford a plane ticket out of America. If necessary, I will pour endless pitchers of Hefewei-zen to eventually make my way to Oktoberfest to see the real deal. I assure you, I am only slightly masochistic.
The ends justify the means, here. In future pieces, I hope to address the food-related quirks of our schoolmates and other intellectuals, and peruse the many obscure off-campus options for wining and dining. I appreciate the opportunity to forward you my findings and I always fancy feed-back. Thanks to Kevin for the plug! But, I don’t think we are partners in crime, rather crusaders. For the true crime is eating without meaning.
As part of the Hayes Writers Series, Rosalind Bracken-bury, the author of twelve novels and six books of poetry, gave a presentation on Thursday, September 13th in room 201 of Blow Memorial Hall. She read passages from her most recent novel, Becoming George Sand (2011, Hough-ton Mifflin Court), and various poems from her newest col-lection, The Joys of the Newly Old (2012, Hanging Loose Press).
Born in London, Brackenbury holds a degree in edu-cation from London University and currently lives in Key West, Florida with her husband. Her works have been translated into Italian, Dutch, and French, and in addition to teaching numerous creative writing workshops, she has also worked as a journalist.
This is Brackenbury’s second year as the Donaldson Writer in Residence, her first being in 2006. Apparently she loved William and Mary students so much that she came back. She is teaching two courses this semester: Advanced Workshop in Fiction Writing and the Advanced Workshop in Poetry Writing.
After reading five of her poems and three passages from Becoming George Sand, Brackenbury answered questions from the audience, including her habits as a writer, quirks about her books, and inspiration behind the setting of her stories. Not only were her readings entertaining and insightful into her skill as a writer, but many of the passages she chose were particular to William and Mary. She wrote a portion of her novel while on campus, and one of her poems, “Ferry Across the James River,” as titled, was written locally.
Two particularly memorable aspects of the night were one of Brackenbury’s poems, “Letters Home,” and her stories she told about her time as a college student and in her travels. Brackenbury was inspired to write the poem when she discovered old letters she had written to her parents while she was at school. Though students today do not usually communicate with their parents via snail mail, her letters were familiar: “More food, please.” “I bicycle everywhere.” “I wish that you were here to see this.”
Considering that a large portion of the audience were creative writing students, Brackenbury’s stories of her writing while in college truly stuck out. In one story, she told her professor that she was writing a novel, and her professor replied, “Well, you should stop that if you want to receive your degree.” She also described the time she took a pilgrimage with her brother in northern Spain, a travel that inspired one of her poems, and how the places she has lived and visited have played a role in her stories, particularly in the weather. “I have mostly lived in extremes,” she said, mention-ing the rains and snows of Scotland and the hurricanes in Key West.
For those who enjoyed the presentation or those who missed this but would like to attend others, poet David Wojahn is visiting October 11th and nonfiction writer John Jeremiah Sullivan is coming November 8th.
courTesy PhoTo
Fiction and poetry reading with writer in residence Rosalind Brackenbury By Amanda FoodyContributing Writer
kick off his bright red Chuck Taylors over the din of the milling crowd, who, judging by their lack of attention, might have mis-took the lone performer for a sound guy. Wong warily approached the microphone with a sheepish smile on his face before announcing this to be his first show with Beach House, a bona fide power house. Wong, who is half-Chinese and was raised in the deferential culture of Japan, politely sat down and started playing a simple surf-rock riff, the familiarity of which fully got the attention of the crowd at The Nation-al. It didn’t take long for Wong to get to his shtick. Wong layered guitar parts over riffs over pace setting noises with a loop-ing machine until he achieved an incred-ible orchestral cacophony over which he’d play a long-noted solo, soaring above the rest of his guitar noises and the now silent, stunned audience. His music sounded like something a math major would create af-ter the first time he got high: it was pre-cise and orderly, charted and specific, yet evolved into something that transcended a simple equation and transformed into a visceral rush that included Wong appropri-ately howling animal noises. If each little guitar loop Wong recorded was one simple mathematical statement, each on top of one another was a white board covered in a complex series of algorithms, where to step back and look at the entirety of the enter-prise is awe-inspiring. After the conclusion of each moment of catharsis that would see Wong’s previously stoic, boyish face con-vulse and contort along with his notes, the crowd would graciously applaud, eliciting a smile that seemed no less surprised the fifth time than the first. Wong genuinely seemed as if he had never had his music congratulated before, a curious tempera-ment considering his previous membership in the now defunct cult art-rock band Pony-tail, whose raucous live show earned them a “Best Live Band” of 2007 nod by the Bal-timore City Paper.
The expectations one has of a Beach House live show can’t be too high. The subtlety and delicacy of their music is in-evitably diluted. Their songs are dance-able, but too low-energy to elicit any sort of movement past head-bobbing from the no-toriously stationary indie crowd. At times, the eerie sleepiness of the studio record-ings manifested itself as disinterest. Each Beach House song also follows the same trajectory: quiet, anxious verses build ten-sion; a beat drops signaling a bouncy cho-rus over which Legrand raises her voice to something powerful, sometimes whipping her mop of curls over her head, revealing for fleeting moments what might just be a pretty face,
The moments when Legrand unshackles herself from the band’s preferred stoicism are the highlights, but they all come at sim-ilar sounding moments, making them seem predictable and contrived. Beach House makes beautiful music, but I fear it is best enjoyed in a quiet room through voluptuous headphones, not in a crowded pit full of restless fans complaisantly bobbing their heads to music that they wished sounded better.
From page 8
CONCERt: Beach House provides low-key concert for a stationary crowd
OPINIONPAGE 10
By Ryan DodsonOpinion Editor
The U.S. Senate is equally divided into 3 classes, with one class standing election every 2 years. As the Senate has 6 year terms, the seats up for election this year, last faced voters in 2006, a Democratic wave year. The Democrats good fortune then serves as a liability now, as they must defend 23 seats to the Republicans’ 10, in a less favor-able year. This suggests inevi-table gains for the Republicans as natural realignment contin-ues. In 2010, Republicans won 6 seats and lost none but still fell 4 seats short of a controlling ma-jority. This year, with so much Democratic territory up for grabs, Republicans are hoping to finally reclaim control over the Senate. Netting 4 seats however may not be as easy once thought.
Most seats are not likely to flip. Polling indicates that the safe Democratic seats are like-ly California (Diane Feinstein), Delaware (Tom Carper), Mary-land (Ben Cardin), Michigan (Debbie Stabenow), Minnesota (Amy Klobuchar), New Jersey (Robert Menendez), New York (Kirsten Gillibrand), Pennsyl-vania (Bob Casey), Rhode Island (Sheldon Whitehouse), Vermont (Bernie Sanders), Washing-ton (Maria Cantwell) and West Virginia (Joe Manchin). If ever there was a possibility for a real surprise from among this group, it would be Sheldon Whitehouse in Rhode Island who remains somewhat unpopular there.
However given that his oppo-nent is an unknown business-man with no electoral experi-ence, odds are that all of the above seats are safe D. The safe Republican seats are Mississippi (Roger Wicker), Tennessee (Bob Corker), Utah (Orrin Hatch), and Wyoming (Tom Barrasso).
Despite having fewer seats to defend, the Republicans still must hold onto their current seats to obtain a majority. One state where this will likely be an issue is Maine, where a sur-prise retirement by popular in-cumbent, Republican Olympia Snowe has resulted in a probable Republican loss. Former gover-nor and Independent candidate Angus King has been leading polls there by large margins, and his political leanings sug-gest that he would likely cau-cus with Democrats. To counter this, Republican groups have ac-tually spent money on behalf of the Democratic candidate, in an attempt to split the liberal vote enough to give the Republican a plurality. A similar strategy in 2010 resulted in Maine’s current Republican governor. The gap between King and the Democrat is large however, so the seat is likely to go to King.
Other seats that the Repub-licans may want to pay atten-tion to are Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Texas. Arizona’s current Re-publican senator is retiring, in a state that is slowly becoming more Democrat-friendly. De-spite this, libertarian-Republi-can Rep. Jeff Flake is expected to beat former Surgeon General Richard Carmona. In Indiana, a primary fight saw Tea Party aligned Richard Mourdock beat out Dick Lugar (First elected to the Senate in 1976) for the Re-publican nomination. The Demo-crats responded by nominating moderate Rep. Joe Donnelly to
try and seize the middle. Given that Indiana is a conservative state however, the middle is still to the right of Donnelly. With Obama at the top of the ticket, Indiana should stay Republican. Massachusetts is an interesting race, where Republican Sena-tor Scott Brown, a liberal, faces of against Democratic Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, a socialist. While Massachusetts mostly votes Democratic, Brown has incumbent advantage and a broad base of support. Given how far to the left Warren is, Brown is able to run somewhat to the left of his original cam-paign, gaining all of the votes to his right. Warren has never led in the polls here and will likely lose. Nevada, like Mas-sachusetts sees a shaky, young incumbent Republican squar-ing off against a poorly selected Democrat. In this case though, Republican Dean Heller is much better off, indicating another Republican hold. And in Texas, Tea Party Republican Ted Cruz, who pulled off a major primary upset, will win. The Republicans now need to win 5 seats to obtain an outright majority.
Two Guaranteed pickups for the Republicans come in Wiscon-sin and Nebraska. The Demo-crats picked the most liberal candidate possible in a state that has been trending Repub-lican, most recently with Scott Walker’s retention election ear-lier this summer. In Nebraska, conservative Deb Fischer will easily beat former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey who has con-sistently trailed by an average of 10 points.
Another two likely pickups are in Montana and North Da-kota. Current Democratic sena-tor, Jon Tester, won his first term against a scandal-tainted Republican in a heavily Demo-cratic wave year by less than
1%. While he hasn’t done much to upset his constituents, he also hasn’t done much to win them over. And Montana is increas-ingly becoming a red state, sug-gesting that being a Democrat is a liability. In North Dakota, a retiring Democratic senator leaves at-large Rep. Rick Berg (another de facto senator) squar-ing off against former state at-torney general, Heidi Heitkamp. North Dakota is one of the few states with a good economy, and it is due largely to successful Re-publican administration. Given that North Dakota is becoming increasingly conservative, it is unlikely that Heitkamp will re-tain this seat for the Democrats. The Republicans now need only one seat to capture the Senate.
The most likely pickup for the Republican had been the seat in Missouri, where unpopular Dem-ocrat Claire McCaskill trailed each of three Repubicans compet-ing in the statewide primary. The winning candidate, Rep. Todd Akin has since destroyed the Re-publicans chances by running his mouth. If Akin is replaced on the ticket, McCaskill will likely lose. If Akin remains, (which he has indicated) the Democrats will probably retain. That makes Vir-ginia the most likely pickup op-portunity. For more than a year, every poll conducted about the Virginia race has shown former governors George Allen (R) and Tim Kaine (D) within the margin of error. Both candidates are for all intents and purposes, tied. The winner here will depend on Presidential coattails, which at this time indicates Romney win-ning Virginia. Thus, Allen wins and the Republicans claim the Senate by one vote. Since Repub-licans at this time are only likely to win control by one seat howev-er, the Senate race should prove to be just as suspenseful as the Presidential race.
courTesy PhoTo
Senate elections should prove to be suspenseful
PAGE 11OPINION
Any conversation about Wil-liamsburg issues inevitably in-volves the throwing around of the favorite refrain “town-gown relations.” It is central in news articles, press statements from both the College and the City of Williamsburg, in the content of speeches, and even in a bizarre re-tooling of The Westside Sto-ry involving lots of snapping, the Mayor of Williamsburg and a previous SA President. The problem is that “town-gown” is an inaccurate reduction of the actual paradigm.
In actuality, there are three players involved in town-gown relations, even if viewed from a simplistic lens. The first group is the City of Williamsburg. While there are many residents who draw no issue with student activity occurring off-campus, the loudest and most significant are often residents who wish to make it clear that students are personae non gratae in neigh-borhoods in the immediate vi-cinity of the College. It is such people who were the drivers be-hind the three person rule and noise ordinances. It is often such people who call the police at 10:30pm on a Saturday night to shut down the party down the street. Even those people in city government who are tasked with representing both resident and student interests and bal-ancing their respective concerns
By T.J. O’SullivanEditor Emeritus
seem unwilling to stick their necks out for students. Perhaps we’re too transitory – it’s easy to dismiss the concerns of students in this community because they can count on them rotating out in just four years.
The second group is the Col-lege, specifically its administra-tion. Make no mistake, on most issues the administration is not an advocate for its student body. Based on its approach to-wards student policies ranging from mental health to alcohol to arrest disclosure, the admin-istration is more significantly interested in reducing its liabil-ity than it is student welfare. Here’s the reality for student life: the College actively wants to push parties and drinking off-campus. Like it or not, alcohol is part of the college social scene here and at just about every uni-versity in this country. While I am very much in favor of reduc-ing alcohol abuse, the College’s alcohol policy is not designed to do that. Rules against beer pong and drinking in communal spaces or at college events in ad-dition to heavily moralized con-duct proceedings all contribute to an atmosphere which encour-ages rapid fire shots in fresh-man and sophomore dorm rooms and drinking off-campus where the College is coincidentally no longer liable. Never mind that accepting drinking to be part of the campus culture might very well translate to more moderate consumption and a greater ease of response by the College to unsafe situations! It’s no small wonder that the College is con-tinually struggling to encour-age alumni giving – many for-mer students look back on their years here and note that they had a good time in spite of the administration’s best efforts to the contrary.
Before classes began a few weeks ago, I had the distinct privilege of representing the Informer at a press conference where the new general educa-tion proposal was highlighted. It was an insightful meeting that helped clarify the mumblings of major reform in the general edu-cation requirements that have been floating around for the past couple of months.
For those who don’t know, the curriculum proposal would completely change the GER sys-tem that has been in place since 1993. Instead of taking classes in multiple subjects like math, history, science, etc., every un-dergraduate would have to take a mandatory class every year that would cover broad subjects and help develop critical think-ing skills that are so often need-ed in the workplace.
After digesting the informa-tion I received, I was pretty op-timistic. After all, I know that personally, my GER classes for math and science brought down my overall GPA because I’m not particularly good at either sub-ject. I hoped that future genera-tions of W&M students might get to avoid that trap that af-fected me, and I’m sure many other students in the GER sys-tem’s almost 20-year existence. I was also hoping that the curric-ulum review might give a little bit more sway to another curric-ulum-related issue I’m very con-cerned with, which is equal cred-it for both Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses.
However, in talking to friends, peers, and in the gen-eral reaction to the press con-ference and to the reporting of the proposed curriculum in both campus publications and local Williamsburg newspapers and blogs, I am much more cautious about the new proposal than I was before. The reaction has been very mixed. Some people I’ve talked to seem pretty excit-ed about future students taking fewer general education classes so that they can focus on their major instead. Others seem to think it takes away from what has become a uniquely William and Mary education.
By Will MannFeatures Editor
the devil is in the details
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The final segment is the stu-dent body. This group which makes up half of the population of the Williamsburg and consti-tutes the entirety of what should be the College’s constituency in terms of Williamsburg issues is at the mercy of both an antago-nistic city and an administration which wants to make it clear that anyone who imbibes ought to find somewhere else to do it.
Over the past few weeks, there has been a wealth of an-ecdotal evidence to suggest an increase in Williamsburg police action against students or at the least an increase in police pres-ence strategically organized to intimidate students. Officers have assured underage students, as they hand them citations, that the city has a zero-tolerance pol-icy towards underage drinking. What they really ought to be telling them is that the city has a zero-tolerance policy towards students, but who’s quibbling? It would be worthwhile to gather data regarding this, but certain-ly in my opinion, it would likely back up student claims of exces-sive targeting of noise violations and underage drinking.
The real question here is where are students supposed to go? Any administrators or city officials who suggest that stu-dents ought to consider non-alcoholic fun are kidding them-selves. Alcohol is part of college life and will remain so. If the administration is committed to encouraging safer consumption of alcohol and the city is com-mitted to placating increasingly grouchy residents, they ought to get behind a more sensible alco-hol policy which will allow the campus to be the center of stu-dents’ social lives, not Williams-burg neighborhoods.
See “GER” page 12
OPINIONPAGE 12
courTesy IllusTraTIon
W&M Remembers
9/11
PhoTos By aBBey hoWarTh
GER: New curriculum proposal promising, but specific logistics are concerningFrom page 8
However, I am personally concerned about the details of the plan. The famous expression says that “the Devil is in the details,” and I think that’s the proposal as it stands now. While the idea of fewer re-quirements, courses that examine broad themes and submitting a final portfolio detailing your undergraduate work all seem like promising ideas, other concerns I have were ignored or not mentioned. The first one is class size. W&M prides itself on a small professor-to-student ratio, and small class size is one of the main reasons students pick William and Mary. I can’t imagine required general education classes being very small at all, and that is somewhat disconcerting consider-ing one of the social classes being most affected by the new changes will be freshmen. It might turn off a lot of freshmen who came to this College expecting smaller classes to be in yet another 300 person class in one of the lecture halls on campus.
I also can’t imagine that a lot of W&M students will react with
anything but disdain to the new proposed requirements, looking to them as a chore, another thing to get through that distracts them from a major or other activities and courses at the College. Students should be excited about what they’re doing and creating, but by making these general education classes mandatory through all four undergraduate
years, I expect more than a few students will just get through them without any passion because it’s just another requirement they have to fulfill.
One of my friends said she was introduced to her major because of
exposure she originally got through a class she took for GER credit. I guess that’s one of the finer “devils in the details” that I’m concerned isn’t getting attention, because although some GERs lowered my over-all GPA, others inspired me to take other classes in departments, and those early GER classes did show me my natural talents in the depart-ments that now comprise my major and minor.
All in all, perhaps it is too early in the process to judge the pro-
posal. And maybe as the process goes further down the line, it will be developed to address those kinks and concerns I, and many other students, share. It isn’t a bad proposal at all, and a lot of the promised changes seem positive, while others I would go as far to call neces-sary. But in order to have widespread support, the School of Arts and Sciences must address the devil in the details in order to make this proposal a reality.
