OCR::/Vol_092/WLURG39_RTP_19930318/WLURG39_RTP_19930318_001.2.txt
V THE umvensrrv LIBRARY
WASHINGTON s LEE UNIVERSITY
Li§>§j§tGTOi~l, VA 24450
i7lKii‘1‘9 199% I
YEE HAW!
Dance Club Gives
Students A Chance
To Scoot Their Boots
Blizzard Blues 2*:
Weekend snowffil
disrupts spring schedule
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VOLUME 92, NO. 22
fiumpshakers
miss chance
at stardom
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY
By MOLLY AFTER
Q Phi Staff Writer
Two free nights at a D
$300 in spending money and the chance to be on
national television. Sounds too good to be true.
For the Rumpshakers, winners of the Washing-
ton and Lee Rock-a-Like Lip Sync contest in
January, it was.
After being asked to come to Florida to perform
their act on MTV, the six students could not find a
ride and had to forgo their 15 minutes of fame.
Group member Maurice Cole, a junior, said a
representative from MTV called him March 5 and
as ed if the group could get to Daytona March 12.
~ Cole, senior Robyn Gabriel, junior Nikki
Mayfield, and freshmen Jack Thorn, Colleen
Thompson and Kyna Bryant, the members of the
group, were ecstatic.
But a lack of transportation kept the
Rumpshakers out of the spotlight. Plane tickets
were too expensive, and Cole said the group could
n& find a company that
one under 25.
Dean of Students David Howison tried to get
the group a university-owned van for the trip, Cole
said. But on Tuesday he told Cole that the van
could not make it to Florida.
Cole scrambled to find an alternative, but said
h¢!)egan to realize the trip’s effects on his classes.
“My academic work wasn ’t getting done,” Cole
said. “I talked with the group and let them know
that I didn’t want to go.”
The group had to call MTV and cancel the
appearance.
The contest will begin airing tonight on MTV.
W&L
on sexual assault issues
aytona Beach, Fla., hotel,
would rent cars to some-
Photo by Mallory Meyers, The Ring-tum Phi
Supersnow
Sophomore Hugh Robinson cavorts in the snow with a couple of canine compan-
ions. Last weekend's storm delivered 17 inches of snow ‘and 32 mph winds to __
Lexington. ' ‘ ‘ ‘ " ’ ’ ’ ’ ‘ ‘
students speak out
LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA
MARCH 18, 1993
43 students vie
for class offices
Constitutional revisions go to vote
By FRANCESCA KEFALAS
Phi Staff Writer
The student body will have to wade
through 43 candidates for class officers
and Executive Committee representatives
and a constitutional referendum Monday.
The constitutional revisions were pro-
posed by The Ring-tum Phi Executive
Editors Cathryn Lopiccolo and Richard
Peltz in an effort to bring the constitution
up to date with current student govem-
ment practices. The EC voted to send the
amendments to a referendum.
“Right now the student government is
essentially functioning without a consti-
tution,” Peltz said. “That leaves the EC
unaccountable to its constituency. ”
EC President Josh MacFarland said he
supports the amendments and hopes
enough students vote to pass them.
“[The amendments] will clean up the
process," MacFarland said. “There are a
lot of things [in the amendments] we al-
ready do, but aren’t in the constitution.”
For the amendments to pass, half of the
student body must vote in the referendum,
and two-thirds of the voters must approve.
Students will have the opportunity to
vote yes for all the amendments by mark-
ing a single box, or to vote foreach amend-
ment separately. Seniors may vote in the
constitutional referendum. K ,__
MacFarland and John Refo, Voting
Regulations Board chairman, said the num-
Photo by Amy Fren
Events celebrate FOI
_ The F! g-m Ph
ber of candidates for the class elections is
tremendous.
Forty-three rising seniors, juniors and
sophomores are running for 13 positions.
MacFarland said he is encouraged by
the large turnout of candidates, especially
women. He said increased advertising
helped get more people interested.
Rising seniors running for class presi-
dent are Bill Chappell, Tom Hespos, Carlin
Jones and Ashley Scott. Running for vice
president are Michelle Hobbs and Kevin
Roddey. Running for senior EC represen-
tative are Kenney Bullock, John Hassig,
Allison Lewis, Joe Ramseur, Kendall
Sibley and Aspen Yawars. ,
Rising juniors running for senior class
presidentare Whitney Bludworth, Lawson
Brice, Alan Schoellkopf and Sarah Tune.
Running for vice president are Carol
Amason, Sarah Aschenbach, Michael
Brooks and Drew Denbo. Running for
junior EC representative are Ryan Boone,
Alex Cross, Joe Frampton, Shelby Kerr,
Bryan King, Lloyd Peeples, Carol Pierce
and Robert Stewart.
Running for rising sophomore class
president are Melissa Byrd, Graham Frey,
Ransom James, Preston Miller, Robert
Turner and Ben Vanderver. Madeline
White is running for vice president. Run-
ning for sophomore EC representative are
Joseph Brookshire, Justin Dardani, Ma-
son New, Clay Richards, Robert Ross,
Frank Sparrow, David Stewart and Ellen
Wasilausky.
VV&L
buys
ElRodeo
By ToM HI-ISPOS
Phi Staff Writer
In a deal finalized Wednes-
day, Washington and Lee Uni-
versity became the owner of one
defunct Mexican restaurant.
University Treasurer
Lawrence W. Broomall said
W&L purchased El Rodeo on
North Main Street to provide
more office space for the univer-
sity. If all goes according to
plan, Broomall said, the new
building will be renovated and
week is impacting the community
where it should. _
“I just feel that if you’re going to
have a Sexual Assault Awareness
W!ek, you should focus on the frater-
nities, because it seems to me that most
, of the sexual assaults happen around
the fraternity parties,” she said. “I’m
not blaming the fraternities for this, but
I think people need to be more careful
sexual assault.
“I think many people aren’t aware
of what constitutes assault,” junior
Damani Bryant said.
Sophomore Kandice Durden says
she sees the root of most sexual as-
saults in the consumption of alcohol.
“The people around here drink too
much, and when they do, they get very
defenseless and senseless,” she said.
Freshman Frances Smith sees the
Dean of Students Office and
Rockbridge Area Coalition Against
Sexual Assault are sponsoring Sexual
Assault Awareness Week.
At displays around campus students
have tied ribbons for people they know
who have been sexually assaulted and
written comments on quote boards.
Ron Campbell, a human sexuality
educator at George Mason University,
will speak tonight at 8 p.m. in the
By MICHAEL HEWLETT . . men about sexual
ma satrwma “I tied a ribbon because . . . “”f3‘,‘,“',,,,,,,,, ,,,a,
I tied a ribbon for my mother who was sexually ‘here i5_10° high 3
urins - W&L’s molested by her grandfather. perception that a
S ual Assault Aware— womanisfair game
11658 WK‘-Ck» S€V€f31 5111' I tied a ribbon because I was sexually assaulted by if She's drunk: 0’
dents haV€ Teacled P0Sl‘ one of my best friends freshman year. Ib)’l the W3)’ 5h€’5
tivelyto the university’s dressed or acting,”
activities and havetaken I tied a ribbon because I thought sexual assault was Smith Said-
lhe lime 10 C0nSldeT the overexaggerated until my best friend was raped. Freshman Frahk
problem of sexual as- Sparrow Said
. Saak 1 tie three ribbons one for my friend who was 5eXUa1aS5311hi5‘°° _ _ _
“I SCXLIHI AS‘ rap¢d. one for Iny who was assaulted’ C0mpICXaHlSSU(.5 I0 Swagler, ’84, In Lee night.
Sallll Awareness Week and one for my ex-boyfriend who was molested as a P1309 blame 33511)’-
is a very productive tool chug, “No matter
that provides necessary What. people are re-
informalion 10' the (Quotes from quote board in the University Center.) 5P0nSibl¢ f0T Whal
school,” junior Maurice they do,” Sparrow
Caseostflligmore Jennifer Salgllhe Health Edu- By RICHARD WEAVER
Yanulavich questioned whether the problem is that people don’t report Caliofl C0fI1miiI€€. W0m€1'1’S Fofllm, PM Reader Relamns Coordmamr
In the United States today, “reporters
are going to jail for printing the truth,”
said Rick Swagler, ’84, in a speech in Lee
Chapel Monday.
Swagler is a staff attorney for the Re-
porters Committee for Freedom of the
Press in Washington, D.C. The Ring-tum
Phi and Society of Professional Joumal-
ists sponsored his visit in commemora-
tion of Freedom of Information Day.
the Reporters Committee of 1,010 U.S.
newspapers and television stations in
which 3,281 subpoenas were served, call-
ing on journalists to reveal confidential
sources for criminal investigations. ’
Earlier Monday, the Phi held a cer-
emony dedicating the tree outside Reid
Hall to the late Professor of Journalism
Clark R. Mollenhoff.
Phi Executive Editor Cathryn
Lopiccolo directed the dedication.
“It was a beautiful ceremony,”
Lopiccolo said. “I think it brought back
fond memories of Professor Mollenhoff
when they go out.”
oBut some students say the greater
problem as a misconception among
Photo by Mallory Meyers, The Ring-tum Phi
Kiss Me, I’m Irish
OT his smiling leprachaun greets Spanky's customers
on their way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
Lenfest Center’s Keller Theatre.
Swagler cited a survey conducted by
for everyone who knew him.”
Fad puts new products in the eleatr
From the Associated Press
It’s hip to be clear. Or is it hype?
Well-known marketers in categories from
soft drinks to dish-washing liquids, mouth-
washes and deodorants are scrambling to get
clear spin—off s from distinctively-tinted old
standbys on supermarket shelves.
There is Crystal Pepsi and Tab Clear. The
Palmolive and Ivory names now appear on
clear dish-washing liquids. Lavoris now
markets a colorless mouthwash, and Ban has
a clear solid deodorant. Even gasoline is
going clear.
The clear movement spread this month to
the beer business, where consumers have
long taken a brew’s measure on acolor scale
ranging from yellow to black.
Miller Brewing Co. plans to introduce the
industry’s first clear beer, Miller Clear, in
several markets later this month.
Marketers say they chose clear over an-
other color because transparency provides a
real benefit or helps call attention to other
changes that distin- -;~~
guish the clear prod-
uct from the original.
Makers of clear
deodorants, for ex-
ample, say theirprod—
ucts leave no white
residue on clothes like
traditional sticks do.
New Product ~
News, a monthly,
Chicago—based publi-
cation that chronicles
productintroductions,
spotted about48 clear products among 16,790
new food, personal care or household prod-
ucts in 1992.
Pepsi—Cola Co. said Crystal Pepsi was
created in response to research that indicates
some people wanted a cola with natural lla-
voring, no preservatives and less sweetness.
Pepsi thinks regular and diet Crystal Pepsi
can capture $1 billion in retail sales this year,
about 2 percent of the market.
In response to the new Pepsi drink, Coca-
Cola Co. is testing TabClear, aversion of one
Photo by Mallory Meyers, The Fiin_cj—ttim Phi
of its diet ‘colas.
Jane Fitzgibbon, who follows consumer
trends for the advertising agency Ogilvy &
Mather, said she suspects a fad element in the
rising use ofclear marketing, but that “clear”
can be a potent selling tool.
“We want clear air, clear water. It means
trouble-free and blemish—free,” she said. “It
makes people more comfortable in using
these products.”
Staff Writer Tom Ilexpos contributed to
this story.
will house the University Print
Center.
Broomall would not disclose
how much the deal cost the uni-
versity, but he said the renova-
tions to the building will cost
approximately $15,000.
According to Broomall, W&L
has been trying to acquire the El
Rodeo building for about three
years because it borders on other
university-owned properties.
In particular, the university
wanted to protect its investment
in the Red Square fraternities
from a “non-compatible use,”
Broomall said in a press release.
Broomall said the university
has an agreement wherein the
university pays a grant to the city
that is equivalent to the taxes
W&L would normally pay on
new non—academic property ac-
quisitions. The new property will
fall under this agreement.
According to a W&L press
release, the university paid the
city more than $83,000 last year
to compensate for property taxes
and city services. ,
Printing Center Supervisor
Wayne Connor said he “just heard
that it’s a possibility” that his
office will be moved to the El
Rodeo location next year. He
said that although the Print Cen-
ter will be located closer to town,
the Print Center will not attempt
to take in business from town.
In a press release, Broomall
also formally announced that the
university will sell the Sigma Phi
Epsilon fraternity house at the
comer of Preston and Lee av-
enues when the new Sig Ep house
in Davidson Park is completed.
OCR::/Vol_092/WLURG39_RTP_19930318/WLURG39_RTP_19930318_002.2.txt
PAGE 2
@112 iKiIIg-111111 {Elsi
Founded September 18, 1897
Goodbye,
farewell and amen
We have served on The Ring-tum Phi Editorial Board for two years
now, and we’ve seen a lot things happen in this column.
The first editorial with us on the board was on April 25, 1991 and began
this way: “So you think we’re sensationalistic, immature, shallow, chest-
beating, rhetorical, unreliable, prone to pouting, National Enquirer-esque,
boring and ugly.” Those were some of the words used by respondents in
a readership survey.
The Phi called for a student review of the Confidential Review
Committee in October 1991 at the start of a process which ended with the
CRC’s demise a year and a half later. That same fall, the Phi presented a
series of editorials to promote awareness of sex-related crimes, in response
to several reports of rape on campus. We also urged the Interfratemity
Council to vote against Alpha Phi Alpha’s re-colonization at W&L, a
position which earned us some heat; the IFC approved Alpha.
We kicked off 1992 with a call for honesty about the Honor System,
citing hypocrisy in the narrow confines of a lying-cheating-stealing
definition of dishonorable conduct. We evaluated the candidacy of Mickey
Mouse, among others, in a February editorial blaming the EC for poor
election planning. That month we also printed the home telephone number
of Lexington Mayor H.E. “Buddy” Derrick (463-4066) in an editorial, one
of many, against the car tax. In March, we responded to accusations of
sensationalism with a review of a newspaper’s function in the community.
Coverage of sex-crime charges impelled us to write, “Guidelines we all
can live with?” in September 1992, an outline of the Phi’s new policies on
who we name in such cases. In November, we urged the Board of Trustees
to keep its paws out of the Honor System, an editorial which prompted a
stream of debate. We then lambasted the city and demanded action by the
university in another car-tax editorial, “Follow the dollar”; the administra-
tion did not respond, but the editorial was covered by local media.
In January, we used this column to introduce an in-depth report on
University President John Wilson’s first decade in office, giving some
insight into the mind of the writer. We also this, term scolded the EC for
scheduling too-early Big Four elections, and we endorsed IFC autonomy
against SAC control of the Rush revisions process.
All in all, this column has been home to an array of opinions on
countless issues, most of direct concern to students, many of concern to
society. We wrote seriously much of the time, but sometimes we tried to
lighten things up with a humorous approach. Sometimes we ran columns
we had planned for weeks, and sometimes we struggled to fill this space
Wednesday night. But every week for the last two years, we have had the
privilege of filling this space with the opinions of The Ring—tum Phi.
Regardless of which, if any, of those opinions students have agreed
with, we hope this column, and the Phi on the whole, has provoked
thoughtful debate and, once in a while, a few smiles. As we carcen toward
graduation, we’re confident that the newspaper’s new leadership in the
spring will continue the proud tradition of The Ring-tum Phi.
There is of course one more element of this column, probably the best-
read section of the newspaper,-.the occasional feature, “Quote of the ~*
Week." ‘As"we‘bid“you farewell; we leave ytsugwim some-ofiour’faverite
Quotes of the Week from the pasttwo years‘. ‘ ' ' ' -4 CL,'RP
—Did you know that your telephone number is I -800—DON’T-CALL?
—No. it’s not sir. It's 1 -800—FO0TBALL.
-— former Phi Editor Brian Root and an 800 operator (May 16, 1991)
There are five hundred million radios in the United States. If you laid all
those radios end to end, you would be really bored.
— Professor Brian Richardson (Oct. 31, 1991)
They’ re into a lot of service and high academic standards, not what we’ re
used to. I
— IFC President Greg Hicks on Alpha Phi Alpha (Nov. 14, 1991)
Continental drift is the only hope for the South to rise again.
—— a professor (Oct. 1, 1992)
If I give out too many, please pass them— excuse the word — to the left.
— Professor of History Jefferson Davis Futch (Oct. 22, 1992)
Hello, you’ ve reached the Institution for the Sexually Frustrated Pyro-
Necro-Beastiphiliacs. As soon as I'm done with this flaming dead cat, I'll
call you back.
V — W&L students’ answering machine (Nov. 12, 1992)
There’s only one reason we’re really here on earth. That's to reproduce.
[Otherwise ,] God could have made it painful , like you have to cut off your
arm and rub the stubs together.
— Ice-T (Feb. 25, 1993)
I am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always do right and be good,
so that God will not make me one.
— Mark Twain
C . 0
Ellie fang-tum 19111
Executive Editors . . .1 . . . . . . .Cathryn Lopiecolo, Richard Peltz
Editorial Page Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francesca Kefalas
Senior Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nikki Magaziner
Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sean O’Rourke
Features Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joyce Bautista
Photography Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mallory Meyers
Editorial Cartoonist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeb Tilly
Editorial Page Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Wyatt
Computer Graphics Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Phil Carrott
Reader Relations Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Weaver
Business Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Whitney Swift
Assistant Business Managers . . . . Miriam Neel, Kevin Roddey
Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benjamin Plummer
Circulation Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hal Waller
The Ring-tum Phi is published Thursdays during the under-
graduate school year at Washington and Lee University, Lexing-
ton, Virginia. Funding for The Ring-tum Phi comes primarily
from advertising and subscription revenues. The Washington and
Lee Publications Board elects the executive editors and business
manager, but The Ring-tum Phi is otherwise independent.
Letters and other submissions must be in the Phi office, room
208 of the University Center, by noon on Tuesday to appear in that
week’s edition. Advertising does not reflect the opinion of The
Ring-tum Phi or its staff. This newspaper observes current court
definitions of libel and obscenity.
The Ring-tum Phi
Post Office Box 899
Lexington, Virginia
24450
The Hing-tum Phi, March 17, 1993
Et.it~11> Fhlfrf,
Baltimore tackles teen pregnancy issue ,
BALTIMORE — Begin here: In
1990 nearly 10 percent of Baltimore
implant will not protect her until after
her next period, which is two weeks
girls aged 15 away,andsheis
to 17, almost asked if she
all unmarried, needs a supply
gave birth. ofcondoms for
That is why in GEORGE WILL the interval,
1993 the city _ Oh, yes, she
is embarking Washington POSI says emphati-
on a program ‘ ca1ly_
to make Waters Group She is 13.
Norplant, a New , con-
long-term sider some
( f i v e - y e a r)
contraceptive implant, available to teen-
age girls at school clinics and else-
where.
The case against the program can be
put concisely: By substituting chemi-
cal protection for moral restraint, it
sends a message of resignation regard-
ing behavior once considered deviant
and reprehensible but now redefined in
the name of “realism” as normal.
The case for the program can be put
even more concisely: Rebecca (not her
real name).
She is wearing sneakers, clean jeans
and a lavender sweatshirt. She sniffles
constantly, the consequence of a cold,
or perhaps of the substance abuse (sniff-
ing'paiI1t'fliil*l'I1€f','aS‘Well' ‘as ‘using PC? ‘ ’ ‘ ‘
and -alc”(;'1'-it')l)‘21tl'i;zit'-‘g"ot li'e’r»-’~'sem£.t'(?) a
residential treatrnent center. There she ’
heard about Norplant from a public
health official. Now ata hospital clinic
she is listening impassively as a nurse
gives her all the information necessary
for informed consent for the insertion
in her upper arm, by a 10-minute pro-
cedure, of six match stick-size cap-
sules.
Rebecca, who has been sexually
active for two years, is told that the
numbers pro-
vided by Douglas Besharov and Karen
Gardiner in The American Enterprise
journal.
This year 10 million teenagers will
engage in 126 million acts of sexual
intercourse resulting in more than one
million pregnancies, 406,000 abortions,
134,000 miscarriages and 490,000
births, about 64 percent (313,000) of
them illegitimate. In 1988, 11,000
American babies were born to females
under 15. In 1990, 32 percent of ninth
grade females had sexual intercourse.
Seventeen percent of 12th grade girls
have had four or more partners.
Such numbers suggest that any
message communicated by a Norplant
program" ‘will not have’ ‘a ‘measurable
5-effect on the moresiofanage in which
more teenagers are havingsex more ‘
often and at an earlier age, and much of
the increase has been among middle
class teenagers, most of them white.
Rebecca, by the way, is white.
The question is how to limit the
social costs of all this, given the fact
that (in Besharov and Gardiner’s words)
“adolescents who cannot remember to
hang up their bath towels may be just as
unlikely to use contraceptives.”
Norplant is “teenager proof” because it
requires neitherr a daily action (as with
the pill) nor foresight (as with a dia-
phragm) nor a partner’s cooperation
(as with condoms).
Times have changed? Yes, but let’s
be clear about how. Forty years ago
teenage pregnancy ‘rates were higher
than today. However, most pregnan-
cies occurred in, or were promptly fol-
lowed by, marriage.
Today few teenagers who become
pregnant wanted to. (A study suggests
that the “wantedness” rate is higher for
whites than for blacks.) But for those
nancy.
But the prospects for such babies ’
are at best problematic. Better the
unwanted pregnancy had not occurred.
And Norplant may be the most feasible
preventative.
Norplant has been embroiled eQe—
where in controversial welfare and
criminal justice policies, raising ques-
tions of morally or legally dubious
coercion. There have been proposals
for monetary incentives or sanctions
for unmarried welfare mothers to agree
to implants. ‘
Judges have proposed implants in
Who do b<_3C0m€ lieuofprisonfor
P_T€gnaT(1iL 1T_1C1€I1- women con-
tivesan socia re— . ‘ d fd
inforcements are Tlmes have changed? Z:/licili/m/ /77¢‘ /m/rm’ In /)1‘ mm‘ /)(‘.\'/ NH‘7'([QI.V/t‘H‘1//I?/I/(’I1I[II'i{\'II/V.l/VI/I’(.llI}fl”I//(’If/Ill". I/1/i'ii/liirb (,'iwlI'/.\’ I.\' (I /VH1/(’III1[I'i’ o/ .i/‘/',l' UIII]/III/(’l' //l(' f71l\\I( ix.1Ii",ix/iim///iiihv//i/i'i'/iiimii//u l/2/rlrii w/in/i-r /in ‘
OCR::/Vol_092/WLURG39_RTP_19930318/WLURG39_RTP_19930318_005.2.txt
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The Ring-tum Phi, March 18, 1993
FEATURES
Senior’s sci—fi story sells
5 By JEANNE BRIGGS
Phi Staff Writer
Friff Carale escapes his home world
andjoins a major operation whose mis-
sion is the empirical search for God on
a molecular level.
. Sound like the beginning of a great
science fiction novel?
It’s the basis of “Overmind,” W&L
senior Bill Coffin’s novel, and he’s just
signed a contract to have it published.
Coffin said that he received the con-
tract a week ago.
§He anticipates that editing will be-
gin in a month, and the book will be in
print within a year.
“It was impressive how fast they
replied,” Coffin said of the publishing
company. “The book was only on the
market for six months. I got very
lrtky.”
Coffin said thatthe publisher, KAV,
a subsidiary of Trillium Press, plans to
market the book to schools for students
. age 10-18.
“It really doesn't surprise me that
they’re targeting younger readers.
'IEat’s the age when I started reading
science fiction. That's when people
start getting interested in reading,” he
said. “Most of what I write is more
accessible to younger readers. A lot of
it is kind of comic book—ish.”
Coffin said he has been writing for
finished it last winter term.”
Coffin, an English major and re-
cipient of last year’s Mahan Creative
Writing Award for Junior Prose, said
years. he has been told that he is one of the
“In high first students in
school I wrote the English de-
and drew comic partment to be
books. I wrote published as an
my first book undergraduate.
during my Coffin said
freshman year he talked with
here.” English Profes-
He said he sor Dabney
came up with Stuart to begin
the idea for the publication
“Overmind” process.
during fresh- Stuart gave
man year. him names of
“I was bored people to con-
in English class tact.
and I came up He also
with the idea. I looked up pub-
started writing lishing compa-
furiously — the
professor was
happy because he thought I was taking
notes.
“I spent that year working on the
conceptual side, characters and plot. I
wrote all during sophomore year win-
ter term, and rewrote what I had and
Coffin
nies in refer-
ence journals.
Coffin said he sent the manuscript
to three publishers, and one immedi-
ately sent him a contract.
“My brother opened the mail and
read the opening of the contract to me
over the phone. I was sure he was
playing a really cruel joke.”
Coffin said he thought the book
might get published eventually, but he
expected it to take four to five years.
“The euphoria hasn’t worn off yet.
The publication of this book is my
greatest dream come true.”
Coffin said he will continue to write
science fiction.
‘‘I’m kind of addicted to reading and
writing science fiction.”
Frank Herbert’s “Dune” and Wil-
liam Gibson’s “Neuromancer” are two
of his favorite science fiction novels.
He cited Herbert and Gibson as his
major influences, and Robert Heinlein
and J .R.R. Tolkien as favorite authors.
“They profoundly influenced what
I write and how I write it,” he said.
Coffin said he will make writing a
well-paying hobby, but doesn’t plan
on making it his main source of in-
come.
His advice to aspiring writers: “Al-
ways keep writing. Check your ego at
the door concerning criticism. And
never ever give up. Persistence is the
one key attribute to becoming a pub-
lished writer.”
Coffin called himself an anomaly,
saying, “It’s been an extraordinarily
easy path thus far.”
lforum celebrates ‘Women’s History Month’
By Joyce BAUTISTA
Phi Features Editor
Following the hype generated by
November’s election it seems appro-
pliate that Women's Forum celebrates
“The Year of the Woman” in a library
display honoring “Women’s History
Month.”
“We [Women’s Fonrm] sirnplywant
the,W&L student body to be aware of
issues that pertain to women,” senior
SbannonComer, presidentofWomen’s
Forum, said. ’
Comersaidthedisplayof books and
articles is to increase recognition of
women’s accomplishments in the last
year and to heighten awareness of
women’s issues.
“It was not a coincidence that
‘ exual Assault Awareness Week’ co-
incides with ‘Women’s History
I
.1
Month,” Comer said.
Women's Forum is working in con-
junction with the Health Education
Committee, the Dean of Students Of-
fice and the Rockbridge Area Coali-
tion Against Sexual Assault
(RACASA) to educate the campus on
sexual assault issues. Human sexuality
educator at George Mason University
Ron Campbell will speak tonight at 8
p.m. in the Keller Theatre.
Comer said other activities in honor
of “Women‘s History Month” included
a seminar concerning W&L’s relation-
ship with the area’s women’s colleges
and another seminar about W&L
women in student government.
This Friday the group will sponsor
a retreat at Skylark for all interested
women.
“We just want the student body to
think about women’s issues,” Comer
said. “That’s all you can ask.”
.....-. - ...,.
Photo by Mallory Meyers, The Ring-tum Phi
The display of books and articles in the library is sponsored by
women’s Forum. Items range from Gloria Steinem’s “The Revolu-
tion From Within” to Susan Faludi’s “Backlash: The Undeclared
War Against American Women.”
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