OCR::/Vol_102/WLURG39_RTP_19991011/WLURG39_RTP_19991011_001.2.txt 4, .(t;rI?,.755 U112 fling-tum {H P\TC i‘\ I re‘-‘§i’.. .9/. IO 1» 31?)» (O c /2.» WASIIINGTON ANI) LEE UNIvERsITY’s WEEKLY NEWSPAPER VOLUME 102, No.10 LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA 24450 MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1999 , Age- old . arrives at W&L deb ate Creationism vs. evolution argument explores divisive questions on campus By Max Smith STAFF WRITER Washington and Lee junior Tyler Jorgensen doubts that his mind shares a common ancestry with other beings. “My brain has a concept of right and wrong beyond the basic impulses of procreating and surviving,” Jorgensen said. “That must have come from somewhere other than the animal kingdom.” W&L Geology professor Fred Schwab doesn’t share Jorgensen’s distrust of evolution. He believes evo- lution is the basis of biology and hu- man development. ' “I have faith in a chemical experi- ment billions of years ago in some ancient ocean,” Schwab said. Comments like these framed the de- bate Oct. 5, as scientists and creation- ists came together for a public forum on creationism and evolution and their place in education. 150 people packed W&L’s Northern Auditorium for a panel discussion featuring five W&L professors. For an hour and a half pan- elists and the student dominated au- dience exchanged ideas and beliefs. Biology professor John Knox said creationism has no place in science. “It’s beyond the bounds of science to invoke God for explanations,” Knox said. “The supernatural can’t be taught in science.” Politics professor Lucas Morel said scientists shouldn’t be so quick to dis- miss the role of religion in helping ex- plain our universe. “[Scientists think] religion should just stay in a box,” Morel said. “Reli- gion can deal with facts that are ascer- tained outside of labs.” 75 years after the Scopes “monkey trial,” evolution is still making head- lines. The Kansas Board of Educa- tion voted recently to remove evolu- tion and the Big Bang theory from the state’s science curriculum. While the decision did not ban evolution from classrooms, it removed the subject from statewide student evaluation tests. Kentucky school administrators this week removed the word evolution from guidelines for middle school and high school courses. Employing the phrase “change over time” to take its place, school officials promised that the change was only a semantics is- sue. The forum was not the first time creationism has been a topic at W&L this year. Stephen Jay Gould, a noted scientist and author, discussed the Kansas decision with students and faculty before giving the Fall Convo- cation address. “[This decision] is like teaching En- glish, but making grammar optional,” Gould said. “[You’re] taking the cen- terpiece out of science.” Schwab insisted that creationism and science cannot mix, especially in the classroom. “Creationism is fine, but keep it out of my classroom,” Schwab said. “It asks me to throw out 45 cabinets worth of research and samples.” Morel said such dismissals of cre- ationism are common among scien- tists. Because they haven’t developed the whole evolutionary picture, they refuse to admit creationism or other theories may have a place in solving the puzzle. “I’m in favor of intellectual hon- esty,” Morel said. “Evolutionary sci- entists should be honest about the problems with their own theories.” Knox said the evidence supporting evolution grows all the time. “Evolution goes on today,” Knox said. “We have evidence of special [evolutionary] events occurring natu- rally.” Knox said a primary contention in the debate is the difference between scientists’ and the general public’s in- terpretation of theory. He said evolu- tion is a well-tested and well-re- searched theory that scientists accept as the rule. Schwab said that open- ness to change is one of the primary reasons why creationism cannot be considered a science. “Creationism is a statement,” Schwab said. “You have to take it or leave it, because it’s not open to de- bate.” English professor Kary Smout said the creationism issue may see some resolution when both sides begin try- ing to understand each other’s argu- ments. “We ought not to see language as a matter of truth versus lies,” Smout said. He said the creationism debate is currently a competition between the world views of academia and of fun- damentalism. Associate Dean of the College Steve Desjardins said the difficulty in justly teaching creationism is consid- ering different religions’ interpreta- tions. “The difficulty with creationism is who’s creation story do we teach?,” Desjardins asked. He said all sorts of beliefs, from Hinduism to the ancient Greeks’, would have to be considered. “We question evolution because it contradicts one chapter of one country’s religion’s interpretation,” Desjardins said. “We teach biology because you don’t have to believe it.” Moderator and Philosophy profes- sor Lad Sessions summarized the course of the forum at the beginning. “Tonight’s discussion is volatile,” Sessions said. “Some even doubt that rational discussion, much less civil dis- cussion, can be held on this subject.” photo by Emily Bames/Photo Editor HERE SIIE COMES. . . Ms. HOMECOMING QUEEN: Senior Kappa Alpha Theta representative Deirdre Coyle and escort Scott LeTourneau receive their crowns at halftime of Saturday’s football game. Lending a helping hand Volunteerism finds new popularity at Washington and Lee By Heather McDonald STA FF WRITER Sophomore Shelley Parks knows about giving a helping hand. Last year she volunteered at Waddell Elementary’s aflerschool music program working with kindergartners and first- graders. “We basically introduced them to. music. Some were very shy about sing- ing at first,” Parks said. “The kids, espe- cially the boys, gained a greater interest in music and more confidence.” Volunteerism at W&L is on the rise, most noticeably after the Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) freshman orien- tation program, made volunteerism a hot topic. Dean ofFresliman Mark Dalhouse organized a freshman orientation project « photo by Emily Bames/Photo Editor Sigma Chi brothers enjoy Saturday’s Homecoming tailgate before the football game. in inner-city Roanoke through the TAP program. About 30 freshmen lived in public housing for a week and performed community service. Volunteerism isn’t restricted to the freshman class however. Parks found out about the need for volunteers at the annual Activities Fair held during fresh- man orientation. Students have also gotten involved in the service projects is through the Shepherd Poverty Pro- gram. Students involved in the program start with Interdisciplinary 101, a pov- erty studies class, and then follow up the class with an eight-week fiill-time volunteer project over the summer. Pro- fessor Harlan Beckley is director of the program. “This generation is definitely not apathetic,” Beckley said. “They have been very responsive towards becom- ing acquainted with lives they had not had occasion to know well before.” The increased interest in volunteer work found another outlet at last Tuesday’s first armual volunteer fair. About 27 volunteer organizations gath- ered in the Science Center’s Great Hall. Lucy Baldwin, W&L’ s Volunteer Coor- dinator, organized the fair. Community- based groups ranging fiom local schools to the Free Clinic to the Valley AIDS Network had tables with representatives to talk about their programs. “The program filled a niche and need of the student body by providing an outlet for interest,” Baldwin said. Echo- ing Beckley, she also said that W&L stu- dents today are much more altruistic in attitude. “It’s certainly a change [in attitude]. I get a very real sense of a different stu- dent body then when I was here four years ago [as a student],” said Baldwin. This increased student interest at W&L fueled the creation of a new vol- unteer club. Sophomore Stacy McLoughlin organizedthe first meeting. Over 100 students attended, and McLoughlin received many more emails from interested students. “The club’s purpose is threefold,” McLoughlin said. “We are learning about issues, that there are still prob- lems in the community, and also that stu- dents can make a difference in the world.” The club will hold weekly and monthly projects, and will also sponsor ‘monthly speakers and “service retreats.” With more and more publicity, and increasing interest in volunteer work, more students will be taking the steps necessary to get involved. Beckley and Baldwin noted how many students vol- unteer once, and are hooked. Parks is one of them. “I am going to try to read at the el- ementary school this term,” Parks said. “I enjoy working with kids and I find the experience very rewarding to me person- ally. I had a wonderfiil time last year.” Computer problems continue Students frustrated By Heather McDonald STAFF WRITER Last Friday at 6: 15 p.m., the com- puter network crashed. Only this time the outage was planned. In an attempt to stabilize the W&L computing network, the Jefferson server was shut down completely by University Computing beginning Fri- day in order to take apart the Trimble server. In a broadcast email message sent to the entire W&L community, Univer- sity Computing said the network out- age would cause problems. Student labs were not functioning, because Novell (the software which the sys- tem runs on) would not be accessible. Students were unable to log into their personal home directories or Pegasus email. By transferring the files from Jefferson to the Trimble server, Uni- versity Computing is hoping to stabi- lize the H: drive for student work in labs and email access. University Computing has still not discovered exactly what is wrong with the school network. Since the begin- ning of September, the servers have ‘crashed frequently and unexpectedly, creating havoc for the W&L commu- nity. Stuckey said that University Computing has determined that the main problem is that something con- tinually triggers Jefferson to freeze, I causing the system to crash. Despite the efforts of University Computing, frustration is reaching an all-time high. Junior Ted Adams was working on an English paper in one of the student labs when Jefferson crashed suddenly on Thursday after- noon. “I really want to kill somebody right now,” Adams said. “This is ridiculous. We’re paying enough in tuition that they could spend the money to fix the system. Can’t we just hire some guys from MIT and pay them a million each to fix it? Somebody fix it now!” Students are not the only ones anx- ious about the servers. The Univer- sity Computing staff is also frustrated. “We have not yet found any one thing. We have initiated high-level tech support with Novell and Dell [the makers of the software and hardware for the servers], and this is ongoing. We can’tjust turn off the system and fix it at any time, because it will incon- venience students,” said Student Computing Coordinator Dirk van Assendelft. Since Sept. 23, University Comput- ing has been sending out bulletins on the sewers’ status to campus officials. “One way that students can help out is if they move to Groupwise [email accounts],” van Assendelft said. Be- cause Groupwise is not on the Jefferson server like the old email pro- gram Pegasus, more students using Groupwise will free up the Jefferson server. October 1 1, 1999 OPINION: W&LrFE: SPORTS: LAST WORD: Elie Tiling-tum ifllii. Runner tirades against WLUR DJ Mindbending experiences Generals fall in homecoming showdown McManemin: He’s so unusual PAGE 2 PAGE 3 PAGE 4 PAGE 6 OCR::/Vol_102/WLURG39_RTP_19991011/WLURG39_RTP_19991011_002.2.txt PAGE 2 Picture, if you will, the stereotypical female distance runner: long and lean, with strong muscles, tiny legs, and a painfully thin body, running miles a week virtually on empty, eating only a salad after burning 1,000 calories in practice. Unhealthy. Amenorrheic. Anorexic. Unfortu- nately, statistics show that this image is one that is all too accurate: Sports Illustrated reported that 70% of women athletes suffer from eating disorders. Another study put cross-country on the top of the list for sports at the high- est risk forthe development of eating disorders. These illness can lead to osteoporosis, al- tered brain function and size, heart weakness, central nervous system disturbances, and sometimes, in 10% ofcases, result in death. They are not things to be taken lightly. So, as an experienced runner who’s been on the cross country and track teams for nine years , and seen eating disorders and the pain of their conse- quences in full force, you can imagine my outrage when I casually turned on WLUR the other night and heard sev- eral male voices, one being the captain of the men’s cross- country team, expounding on the “heaviness” of the run- ners on the women’s cross-country team. Laughing loud and long, they made wisecrack after wisecrack referring to how much the members of the women’s team eats, the size of our butts, and the “feeding frenzy” that occurs when we stop for fat-free frozen yogurt after meets (God forbid we ingest 350 calories - we’ve onlyjust burned off800 or so during the race). They joked about our ability to run fast despite being overweight (although one was quick to add that we don’t in fact run fast, wejust think that we do), going on and on and finding themselves quite amusing. This funny little chat continued for some time, but I eventually turned off the radio, disgusted and upset, remembering the girl on my high school team whose self-created running program involved training over 100 miles a week and drinking a Diet Coke for lunch. She ended up in the hospital on several occasions, and now has been injured as a result of brittle bones so many Staff Editorial We want chips and salsa. We want chips and salsa. For the past several months, the in-town Lex- ington comrrniriity has enjoyed quality Mexican food at a super prices. I cannot express in mere words how giddy the El Puerto across from the post office made me. Well rumor has it that El Puerto’s in-town branch is closed for good. Phooey, man, that sucks. Taco Bell surely has its much ap- preciated place in society, but it just doesn’t com- pare to the authentic Mexican taste of El Puerto. Lexington just isn’t complete without a restaurant that offers unlimited chips and salsa while you wait for your meal. Chimichangas make everyone happy, where else in town can you be greeted with a friendly “I-Iola.” Where are we as a community supposed to go from here? Life can surely not be the same here in Lexington. Granted, the El Puerto hasn’t been there for a year, but its departure is as if we’ve seen the land of milk and honey only to learn that the milk and honey are leaving. Come back milk! Come back honey! @112 fling-tum ilflliig Polly Doig Hollister Hovey Michael Crittenden Stephanie Bianco Ginger Phillips Elianna Marziani Frances Groberg Steele Cooper Kevin McManemin Heather McDonald Emily Barnes Executive Editor Associate Editor News Editor Opinions Editor W&Life Editors Sports Editors Last Word Editor Copy Editor Photo Editor Assistant Photo Editor Lisa Lin Online Editor Ali Soydan 1«a}’out Editor Neal Willetts Circulation Director Leo Brown The Ring-tum Phi is published Mondays during the undergraduate school year at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA. Funding for The Ring-tum Phi comes primarily from advertising and subscription revenues. The Washington and Lee Publications Board elects the Executive Editor. but The Ring-tum Phi is otherwise independent. The Ring-tum Phi welcomes all responsible submissions and letters. All submissions must be in the Phi office, room 208 ofthe University Center, by noon on Friday to appear in that week’s edition. The Ring- tum Phi reserves the right to edit submissions for content and length. Letters and columns do not reflect the opinion of The Ring-tum Phi Editorial Board. Advertising does not reflect the opinions of The Ring-rum Phi or its staff. This newspaper observes current court definitions of libel and obscenity. The Ring-tum Phi 208 University Center Washington and Lee University Lexington. VA 24450 Telephone: (540) 462-4060 Advertising Office: (540) 462-4049 Fax: (540) 462-4059 E-mail: phi@wIu.edu http://wluedu./~phi Annual subsription rate: $30 Maine Speed Wendy Case ’01 @112 itting-tum ilflhi Running their mouths off times that she can never run again. Why was this little discussion not funny and hurtful on more than a personal level? Let me count the ways...First of all, the captain’s tirade gives a poor im- pression to the school ofthe relations between the men’s and women’s teams. If he fails to give support the women’s team, finding it acceptable to in fact insult us publicly, what does that say to the rest ofthe school? Not to mention the obvious fact that is simply rude to express a degrading and personal opinion on the air - not very “gentlemanly” if you ask me. Furthermore, the insults were simply unnecessary. What did these guys gain by cruelly making fun of a very sensitive issue? Are they that inse- cure? And, are they that clueless? Our campus has serious problems with eating disorders. Many girls suffer day to day with their food issues here at W&L and on a national level. The prevalence of anorexia and bu- lirnia is common knowledge in today’s society and of great concern: look at the countless workshops and speakers that come to college campuses to try and prevent these illnesses from occurring. Were these guys just ignorant of the com- monplace of eating disorders here? Or were they insensitive to the impact they could have been making? Or did they realize what they were doing and just didn’t care? Lighten up, you say. Calm down, girls, they were just joking around. Teasing you. Being guys. Well, we’re not laughing this time. These remarks could have and may have had profound effects on the health and self-es- teem of my teammates. I suppose, though, that we should apologize. We’re sorry for not having a sense ofhumor. We’re sorry for being hungry after exerting extreme physical energy in practice. We’re sorry for giving into our sweet tooth once a week. We’re sorry that not all of us look like starved professional athletes with under 10% body fat. Now I think you all need to apologize. If you need to find us, we’ll be on our ten mile run...there, or Salerno’s. LETTERS To Theme housing will only lead to more complaints Dear Editor, ‘ I read with interest your story concerning proposed “theme housing” for the 2000-2001 academic year (9-‘ 27-79). However, I was slightly confused by the com-? ment from Gabrielle Best in which she said, “I think it’s a good idea but I don’t see how plausible it’s going to be. You need to get to the heart ofthe issue, just hav- ing them housing is not going to make us more di- verse.” I have a problem with that statement on two levels. First level, the school is merely offering the ability for students to live in an atmosphere that they might find to be exotic or familiar to home. Educationally, it could really improve the foreign language speaking skills of students who cannot afford to travel abroad. I ap- plaud the school’s effort. Second level, I find that Washington and Lee stu- dents who share the view of Ms. Best are often touting the woes of a homogenous campus while accusing the school of a failure to get to the “heart” of the problem. I have yet to hear one of these students’ opinions on what exactly is the “heart of the issue.” The real prob- lem is that these students complain when the school does not act and then turn around and complain when it does act. What policy would they like to see in action? We could adopt the policy ofquotas. In fact, this policy has proven to increase diversity on a number of college campuses across the country and perhaps we should try it to see if it works. However, this policy is often known to backlash against minority students whose peers dismiss their acceptance into the university as illegitimate or con- tribute it only to the policy of quotas, which does not encourage a positive academic environment. The bot- tom like is this: a college education is neither compul- sory nor inexpensive. Each W&L student has the free will to apply to any school that they desire and upon acceptance attend that school. No one is forcing any- one to be here. In fact, each student willingly pays the administration to administer the school in a way in which they deem fit. If you don’t like this, send your money elsewhere. Respectfully, Robert Wallace Karrington VI OCTOBER 1 l, 1999 ON AIR THE EDITOR To the miserable people Dear Editor, First off, I take offense to the Phi ’s description of my campaign posters as “homophobic.” The term “ho- mophobic” implies a type of irrational fear that I do not possess. Nothing about my denouncement of homosexu- There is nothing wrong with accepting homosexuals as people. The act of homosexuality, on the other hand, is illogical, perverse and destructive to the human race. It is counterproductive for us as a society to support this kind of behavior. Homosexuality is part of someone’s lifestyle and a political candidate has every right to make one’s lifestyle and morals an issue. Secondly, to all the people who have sent me hatemail and all the people who have left harassing phone mes- sages without having the backbone to leave their name or phone number, please save your poorly argued, self- righteous ramblings for a campus full of followers who buys it. You have in no way begun to change my stance on this issue or made me feel even an ounce of guilt. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your souls. After all, you are the miserable people. It’s people like you that make the rest of us look so damn good. Thirdly, thank you to everyone who has supported me and wants to help me help our class. I am open to all suggestions. I will be appointing my cabinet shortly. Your salty class president, John Herbert ‘0l P.S. Next stop, E.C. president. Rage against the McManemin Dear Editor, It is possible to sin not only through action, but also through inaction, and Kevin McManemin’s “The final victory ofthe spin doctors” is a glaring example ofjust how to do this. McManemin clearly takes a stinging backhand shot at Dennis Rodman in a dastardly and underhanded manner. After pattering on through a half- page of Papish prattle, he brings Rodman up with only the mention that he is wearing his Bullsjersey. This is unconscionable. Dennis Rodman is a national hero who, aside from being unarguably the best basketball player of all time, epitomizes the ideals of American liberty and free speech. By describing Rodman as anything less than what he is, by degrading him to just another Joe wearing a Bulls jersey, McManemin is making an unabashed show of immoral racist prejudices. He is clearly choos- ing to ignore all that is distinctive about Rodman, and instead focusing on the (need I mention he’s white?) Pope. _ _ _ , _ , , The slight does notend there, thoiigli. In the com- ‘ alrty IS Irrational, nor‘does it encompass any type of fear. " ‘ plaintiiletter count, spin" d'oct6r§;‘ ‘the Pope, ' and’ Spielberg are all accounted for, but nowhere does he even so much as admit to his slander of Rodman. To strikewand admit it is one thing, but to cold-bloodedly overlook that any transgression has been made is showing no remorse and, quite likely, no human con- science. When considered in light of the very first article in that issue of the Phi, it becomes unquestionable that McManemin is host not only to disgusting racial preju- dices, but anti-feminist chauvinism (where are the women in his article?) homophobia (are any alterna- tive sexual lifestyles represented?) and heterophobia (for is not the mocked Pope a symbol of Catholic and Christian Virtues?). Even if only for his insensitivity, even disregarding the plethora of other sins he has piled upon his head, it is obvious that strong measures should be taken in regard to Mr. McManemin. Although his articles have traditionally been funny, harmless pieces, he has re- vealed the monster that he is, and in the name of all that is orange, round, and gets slam-dunked as well as sunk from the three-point line, let this monster be dealt with! Bryant Adams ’01 ; R, I uote of the Week: “ We’re going to have to move on to the faculty. — Junior girl lamenting lack of available men at W&L What is your best Homecoming memory? . “Watching friends sit on our apart- ment floor after a ‘hard’ night at Pi Phi.” -Britt Shaffer ’02 “Uh. Ican’t remember.” -Shabboo Hosseini ’02 were lots of people.” -Raphael Penteado ’03 “Chi Psi was awesome because the food and drinks were good and there “Seeing everyone all dressed up and the alumni visiting. The enthusiasm was great.” -Rob Brown ’03 ,\f OCR::/Vol_102/WLURG39_RTP_19991011/WLURG39_RTP_19991011_003.2.txt OCTOBER 1 1, 19.99 W& @112 ittirtg-Glam lfllri IFE PAGE 3 Drama that will bend your mind By Eliarma Marziani F EA TURES EDITOR Five dollars and a little imagination makes Broadway come alive in Lexing- ton. So, at least, would argue Mindbend- ing Productions president Brian Prisco. Mindbending Productions, also known as Mindbenders, is a student-run theater production company. Fifty stu- dents from W&L undergrad and law, as well as VMI participate in finding or writ- ing scripts and then producing perfor- mances based on them, thus bringing an idea for a play into reality for the benefit of the Lexington community. The group was founded in 1996 by two students who wanted to put on a production and took the initiative to do it on their own. Since then, the group has grown drastically, but its primary pur- pose remains the same. “We provide an outlet for anything that anybody wants to do,” vice-presi- dent Kathie Soroka ‘O1 said. Students come with their own scripts, or a known author’s script and a unique idea of a way to perform it, and if they are interested and dedicated enough to see it through, the group will work with them to make their ideaareality. “If someone has an interest and is willing to follow through with it, we’ 11 do it,” Prisco said. Subject material itself is chosen by consensus. If someone has an idea that a number of people are willing to work with, it comes alive. If not enough inter- est exists on the part of the initiator or the other members, the idea dies. One of the things that makes Mindbenders unique is its budget, or lack thereof. The group does not receive money fiom the EC, and while it has re- ceived money from the theater depart- ment, it tries to A steer away from A " ' " spending money at all. “We can do a quality show with- out having to spend that kind of money. We can do something just as good for like five bucks, the cost of printing the scripts,” Prisco stated. The group is not in competition with any other group on campus. “We work in conjunction with Lenfest. . . We’re a little less stringent, but that doesn’t mean our produc- tions are any less quality,” Prisco said. While the group does enjoy putting on full perfonnances, it also enjoys pro- ducing improvisational comedy nights, such as the one at the Ruse on Saturday night. “We just get up on the stage and go crazy,” Prisco said. Soroka agreed, “It's really hard not to have a good time when you're up there making a fool out of yourself.” Their next event will be what Prisco calls “a little guerilla theater” on Parents’ Weekend. Members will look at the Com- plete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, then break into little troupes, wandering along the Colonnade and finding people for whom they can act out bits of Shakespeare. Anyone interested in Mindbenders should contact Prisco or Soroka. ‘* 4‘ photo courtesy of Meredith Welch “YADA, YADA, YADAI”: Sophomore Helen Downes and senior Meredith Welch onstage during a Mindbending Productions presentation at the Ruse last year. Say ‘JALO’ to new college-aged Website By Ginger Phillips F EA TURES EDITOR Do you ever find yourself hope- lessly searching the intemet for infor- mation that you know must be out there but that you just can’t seem to find? Finding that needed information is now much easier with the recent intro- duction of the web portal www.jalo.com. JALO is an acronym for “Just Another Link Organizer” and is pronounced with a Spanish “j,” which sounds like an “h.” JALO ditfers fiom ordinary web portals in that it is aimed at college students and provides a wide range of entertaining and usefirl web links to meet their needs. - “We distilled from the Internet what we thought to be sites that college stu- dents would use most,” said Kyle Halliday, Executive Vice President and junior at the University of Virginia. The prototype for JALO was devel- oped by Washington and Lee Univer- sity junior Brian Crews earlier this year. “It was hard work, but we got a product ' out that we are proud of,” Crews said. JALO is definitely something which should inspire pride in its creators. The site provides links on a mixture of perti- nent topics from news and sports to music and fashion to alcohol and sex. Students will find an extensive intemet research directory with links to reference materials, writing tools, pe- riodicals, and links according to col- lege majors. The site’s less serious side includes “cool links” such as the “Cem- .etery of Rock,” the “World’s Largest “My body is Y2K compatible... How about yours?” FOR A EIGI-I 0 AIR CONDITIONED FACILITIES o 30 AEROBICS CLASSES PER WEEK 0 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 0 BODY MASTERS EQUIPMENT o HAMMER STRENGTH EQUIP- MENT o 22 PIECES OF CARDIOVASCULAR EQUIPMENT o PRO SHOP o TANNING SPECIALS o LOCKERS o SHOWERS 1 call 464-9060 now for club tour! STUDENT SPECIAL $ 18 9 PA -OR_ $29 PER MONTH :T MONTHS! Omega $711/12 ess Gen/er IN FULL 1 Roadside Attractions” and the “Mail Order Bride Warehouse.” So whatever aspect of university life you need to explore, go no further than the closest computer. JALO’s site, www.jalo.com, will be sure to provide you with a myriad of useful and just plain fun web links. _ V12, 4 :00:p.m. SIGNATURE STUDENT: %//6 By Frances Groberg SPORTS EDITOR On a campus where physical di- versity is sometimes barely W3’ Why did you decide to come to W&L? “I’ve got a few older friends up here. Every time I came up here I met . more and more people.” existent, it’s hard not to no- tice Will Coffman. Coffman, from Lexington, Kentucky, has been wheelchair- bound since a car accident during his Sophomore year in high school. Coffman has experi- enced a few roadblocks on this 250-year-old campus. The primary obstacle, he noted, is the Co-op. “I think they’re going to put a ramp up for next year,” he said. These difficulties do not extend into his leadership capabilities. Coffinan has re- cently been elected fresh- man representative to the Executive Committee. “I think the honor sys- tem is awesome. It’s the thing that makes the school. It makes it feel like a different world since you can leave your laptop somewhere and no one will take it,” Coffman said. “I’m interested in going to law school, and it is a position of au- thority,” Coffinan said in response to why he ran He is extremely excited about the turnout for the election. “Our class is one to speak up, evident in that twice the amount of people voted in the election than usual. They want to get involved.” K‘ \ 5 ‘ I’ Freshman Will Coffman was recently elected EC representa- tive for the Class of 2003. professional hockey game.” photo by Emily Barnes/Photo Editor What do you like to do in your spare time? “I like to watch sports and relax.” What is your favorite D-hall food? “Scrambled eggs. I have an eight o’clock class and go to breakfast ev- ery morning and have scrambled eggs.” Ifthe world ended tomorrow, what would you do? “Go home because there are people I want to see. Probably see a Why do you think the class of ‘03 rocks? “We have more people than any other class. We have the best and most involved students.” ...upcomin9 events. Tuesday, October 12 ‘ by . I . ‘ Memorial service. for the 129th I sary of the Lee’S death. Lee‘ 4 , AED Health Professions Serninar:%{‘Os . “ teopathic Medical School Admissions,” » Shannon Warren, adrnissions,}West Vir jginia School of ‘Osteopathic 9 Room 3 I6, VMI New Science Bu g. Writers Harvest. Annual benefit read- ing for Share Our‘Strength,‘a,iiation 9 organization working to relie ‘ " .. Northen {’¥‘.1£1.i.?9Ei.m¥i-... A A Wednesday, October 13, A V , Soccer W&L vs. Lynchburg College. Liberty Hall F ield.» - Pei} 9’ .w&r; vsLGoucherCol-I ,&Livs. College -LibeT‘Y1f.*#]1..1,i_Fi°3d- . 3 W. Nelson St. 540-464-1501 Lexington, VA 24450 “We’re more than just hot dogs; we also serve fresh bagels, ‘International Wrapps’ and high protein smoothie." Mon. - Thurs. 8:00a.m. - 7:00p.m. Fri. - 8:00a.m. - 9:00p.m. Sat. - 11:00a.m. - 9:00p.m. OCR::/Vol_102/WLURG39_RTP_19991011/WLURG39_RTP_19991011_004.2.txt PAGE 4 RT s OCTOBER 1 1, 1999 by Frances Groberg SPORTS EDITOR The Washington and Lee Women’s Soccer is now 7-1 in the ODAC, thanks to a 2-0 victory over Bridgewater College on Saturday. Junior midfielder Lindsay Williams got the Generals (8- 4, 7-1 ODAC) on the scoreboard first off an assist from sophomore midfielder Drew Powers. The game remained 1- 0 until senior Stephanie McKnight, after playing 30 min- utes in goal, scored off an assist from junior Courtney Nolan with only 1:30 left in the game. McKnight, junior Lauren Harris, and sophomore Kate Mobley shared the shutout in goal for the Generals. W&L outshot the Eagles by a count of 25-4_on the match. The Generals did not fare as well Wednesday when they faced Roanoke. W&L suffered its first ODAC loss of the photo by Emily Bames/Photo Editor MAN ON THE RUN: Senior QB Christian Batcheller runs one in during Saturday’s loss to Davidson. Women’s soccer gets marooned season to the Maroones by a score of 3-1. Roanoke still holds the top spot in the ODAC. Junior captain Shana Levine scored the only Generals’ goal just 2:59 into the match when she knocked in a free kick from 35 yards out. Though W&L took the 1-0 lead into halftime, the Ma- roons jumped out quickly in the second, scoring three goals within the first 12 minutes of the half. For the game, the Generals outshot Roanoke by a count of 23-8. “During the first half of the Roanoke game we played probably the best we have all season,” said Levine. “In the second half we just let our game down and everything kinda fell apart for us. We’ 11 be ready for them in the ODAC tournament. We really want to beat them and win.” For its next game, W&L will host conference leading Lynchburg College on Wednesday, October 13. Garnetirne is set for 4 p.m. llllllflllll ( 143/’ (:<’ .(/Ijmm‘///(Iy ();I. FRESH EACH MORNING ESPRESSO - CAPPUCCINO - FRESH ROASTED COFFEES ° FINE TEAS 9 WEST WASHINGTON STREET 0 LEXINGTON - 464-6586 Q ‘IJJI-[l.),lI_ 3% 2/ Z(2)a.r51'z2g/012 CS/reel’ 790. 750x [490 gexirzy/012, v1'1'g1°T21'a 244.50 Ya/ares/ed 1'12 1°eCe1'01'12y a1°1][a1°e a120/ CS/Orzkzy 93’z»aa/.1 apa/a/as 5y e—ma1f? cSeaa/ a message /a £7.z~aae/ Q/a/Jazz/ad d/.' /1~aaa/@1-ocA6,~,°o/aa_ae/ (540) 463-7174 flax; (540) 463~7647 Generals blow By Mike Weil STA FF WRITER For the second straight week, the Washington and Lee football team put up gigantic offensive numbers. For the second straight week, senior quarterback Christian Batcheller put up a record-breaking performance. And for the second straight week the Generals notched yet another game in the loss column, this time falling to Davidson College, 35-28. The Generals jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter on seven and 28-yard touchdown runs by freshman tailback Chris Sullivan. Davidson responded in the second quarter with two straight touchdowns of their own, with the game-tying touchdown coming off of a blocked punt re- turned 29 yards into the endzone. W&L would then retaliate with an 18-yard quarterback sneak by Batcheller on fourth and one with 2:03 remaining in the half. The Generals defense, however, was unable to stop Davidson’s two-minute drill, as the Wildcats marched 62 yards on nine plays eating up 1 :37 off the clock. This shifted the momentum back to Davidson as the two squads ended the half tied at 2 1. The Wildcats continued the scoring just 43 seconds into the second half as quarterback Shaun Tyrance found re- ceiver Roland Williams for a 62-yard touchdown pass giv- ing Davidson a 28-21 lead. This seesaw battle continued with 8:06 left in the third when senior running back Scott Soccer on a run By Robert Turner STAFF WRITER W&L’s men’s soccer team kept their streak of ODAC victo- ries going this week, defeating Roanoke and Emory & Hemy on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, to improve their record to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the ODAC. The Generals started the week off well with a phenomenal performance against arch rival Roanoke, defeating the Ma- roons 5-2. W&L got on the board quickly when sophomore Andrew Grimes scored the first of his three goals only 36 seconds into the game. Roanoke tied the score 17 minutes later but the Generals would go on to dominate. Grimes netted his second goal 6:50 into the second half, and senior Jamie Parker quickly followed suit on a penalty kick. Grimes then would go on to complete his hat trick before freshman Kevin Bibona added another goal for the Generals. “It was probably our biggest win of the season,” senior captain Scott LeToumeau said, adding that “it was great to get a win over such a big rival, especially by such a large margin.” The Generals kept their winning streak alive Friday defeat- ing the oveimatched Wasps of Emory & Henry 2-1 behind goals from senior Jason Miller and Grimes. The Generals have two matches this week at home, Thurs- day against Eastern Mennonite and Saturday versus Goucher. lead. . . again Moses dove into the endzone from a yard out to tie the game for W&L, but these were the last points the Generals would put on the board. Davidson scored the garne-wiri- ning touchdown late in the third quarter on a 29-yard touch- down strike from Tyrance to wide receiver Mike Chase, thus ending another high-scoring afiair, 35-28. Batcheller set two more records this week, once again helping to take a little focus away from the negative as- pects of being 1-4. The senior signal-caller broke Brooke F ischer’s record for career passing yards with 5,030, and total offense with 5,282. When asked to comment on another excellent perfor- mance by the Generals, senior Mike Moore responded, “It’s hard to sit here and talk like a meat-head when you loose.” The Generals hope to be able to talk like meat-heads after they visit Hampden-Sydney on Saturday at 1:00. V-ball 7 -0 ODAC By Sarah Schmidt STAFF WRITER W&L volleyball started off the week with a sound thump- ing of ODAC opponent Sweet Briar on Tuesday, sending the Vixens home after limiting them to a total of nine points (15-4, 15-3, 15-2). The Generals were led by sophomore middle blocker Lindsay Ruckert who tallied five kills, five digs and four aces. Senior outside hitter Nancy Reinhart added four kills, four aces, and six digs, while junior outside hitter Tori Hays came up with ten digs. Junior setter Pam Salsbury led all setters with 13 set assists. On Fridaygcthe Generals faced stiffer competition with Greensboro College, who at seventh, ranks one seed above W&L. The Generals fell shy of pulling off the big win, taking the match to five games before falling ( 16-14, 3-15, 16- 14, 4- 15, 7-15). The Generals put up a strong fight, with Ruckert amassing 21 kills and 10 digs. Reinhart knocked down twelve kills and salvaged 14 digs, setting a new ODAC record for career digs with a total of 1305. “We had our chances,” sophomore outside hitter Lee Charbonet said, “they just capitalized on our mistakes.” The Generals took Greensboro to extra points twice, pull- ing out the win both times, but struggled to score in two games. ‘‘It was sort of a wake up call, we need to concentrate on every game,” Charbonet remarked. The Generals will get two more shots at Greensboro, playing them in the Emory Tournament and at home in the W&L tri-match October 23. The week wasn’t over for the Generals, who stayed in Greensboro for another match, this time against conference . opponent Guilford on Saturday. After dropping the first game, W&L fought back to beat the Quakers in four games (13-15, 15-4, 15-12, 15-7). Leading the way for the Generals attack were once again Ruckert and Reinhart. The Generals now stand at 13-3 overall and 7-0 in the ODAC, where they rank first. Their next contest will be Fri- day when they travel to Atlanta for the Emory Tournament. AT TIAA-CREF, LOW EXPENSES ARE A HIGH PRIORITY. All financial companies charge operating fees and expenses — some more than others. Of course, the lower the expenses you pay, the better. 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Read them carefully before you invest or send money. 8/99 OCR::/Vol_102/WLURG39_RTP_19991011/WLURG39_RTP_19991011_005.2.txt You’re about to graduate. You’ve i sopent years rising tointellectuaI ch pulling all-nighters,“ meeting impossib Now you can Ian you’ll beph Issued by Credit Suisse First Boston (Europe) Limited: regulated by SFA. OCR::/Vol_102/WLURG39_RTP_19991011/WLURG39_RTP_19991011_006.2.txt PAGE 6 L: .se§€j_s_ $259. 0 LN o°o zées oese 04-» LAST WORD OCTOBER 11, 1999 In defense of bigotry and homophobia By Kevin McManemin 20% WORSE THAN LAST WEEK ’sf I’m sorry for misleading you there; this article isn’t quite a defense of big- Votry. Catchy little headline, though, ‘wasn’t it? Really catches the eye, eh? But this article is about bigotry, and about the new liberal academic method of dealing with it — a method that rea- I sonable people should find disturb- ing at least and disgusting at best. Yes, it’s the P.C. belief that intolerance is such a vile threat to campus life that the only way to combat it is with — you guessed it —— more intolerance. This zero-tolerance-for-intolerance policy has reared its oxymoronic little head on our fair, be-columned campus in a couple of recent events. What do we do when a student makes fun of our gay EC president on WLUR? Why, we yank his show off the air faster than they cancelled “The Chevy Chase Show” and silence him, of course! And what if some fratboy made an ass of himself spewing racist and anti-Semitic comments to a fresh- man who summarily ran home crying to mommy? We scramble to find a fit- ting combination of suspensions and probations to punish him. Our answer to combating prejudice is to punish those who don’t agree with the ruling cagnoscenti like a bunch of naughty children. We treat a complex social problem as if it were as simple as a four-year—old caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not sug- gesting we take a big happy “let’s hug the bigots” stance. Anyone who still judges others by race, ethnicity or sexual preference is, quite simply, a drooling, troglodytic half-wit, hardly worthy of our respect. But, damn it, this is America—— the land of drooling, troglodytic half—witsl And the one thing that binds all Ameri- cans, besides an abiding love for Wal- Mart’s low, low prices, is the belief in the liberty of individual thought. At least it used to be, back before academia deemed liberty an arcane phallocentric concept (or even worse: “Eurocentric!”). In most history classes today, The Bill of Rights has probably been replaced with an eco- feminist, Afro-centric, neo-Marxist policy statement. James Madison and bell hooks are duking it out for spots on cramped curricula across the coun- try and, tragically, it’s not looking good for ol’ Jimmy. And now it looks like this trend is finally hitting W&L, which much like Lexington’s lovely State Theater, al- ways seems to get things about eight years after they hit it big in the rest of civilization. So the main question here is: do we, as Americans, have a right to back- ward thought? And the answer is, of course, “well, if we ain’t jailing the Amish, I guess we do.” But here at Washington and Lee University, we apparently only have the right to agree with the administration’s politics. Never mind that a sizable portion of this country believes that homosexu- ality is utterly morally reprehensible —— we clearly know better than them, and if you don’t toe the party line with your beliefs, you’ll be punished for Tell a psychic friend to go see “The Sixth Sense By Brian Prisco PHI MOVIE GUY This isn’t going to be so much a movie review as a commercial. I have no stake in the movie, other than the fact that it was shot in Philadelphia, but I always support worthy causes. Most of you have already seen “The Sixth Sense.” If you haven’t, why the hell are you reading this! Put down the newspaper, drop what you are do- ing and get over the movies, you silly bastard. Now! “The Sixth Sense” is one of the greatest movies ever made. Not only is the plot stunning and captivating, but it offers perhaps the most intrigu- ing twist ending in film history. M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed 01999 The Coca-Cola Company. ‘Noun’ in I registered trndsmalk licensed to Coca-Cola Nulla Rclroahmonla Compnny, USA. this fabulous film, and deserves more accolades than David E. Kelley and his lawyer crap. Plus, for once, the acting is magnificent. Bruce Willis delivers a top-notch performance as expected. However, even he can’t out- shine Haley Joel Osment. This kid had els like a Shakespearean plot. Yeah, you know what happens, but it’s like being in on a wonderful secret. It just in- creases the overall entertainment value. Look, a bunch of people went to see “Titanic” a billion times, and that Oscar, or I’m per- s o n a l l y flrebombing the better win the 3. left nut. If you paid more than three times to see that _ movie sucked my entire god damn movie Academy. The purpose of this review isn’t so much to convince you to see the movie, but to go see it again. “The Sixth Sense” deserves a second view- ing, and a third, and a fourth. It just keeps getting better. The story unrav- FREE. Offer expires 11/15/99. (WORTH THE FULL PRICE OFADMISSION) Now might be a good time to grab a COOL from Nestea at the Convenience Store, 1350 Miller Dr. N Gar Hurricane Ct. Better still, use this coupon to buy one 2002 and get one movie, I curse you with flaming syphi- litic warts on your genitals that even Valtrex can’t hope to cure. May your children and your children’s children suffer for your unspeakable act. This movie actually lives up to the hype. It makes “Blair Witch Project” 9 9 Good news: Hollywood still producing great post-“Blair Witch” horror flicks look like a bunch of drunk college kids running around the woods with a camcorder. This movie will give you chills. “Some lady died in that acci- dent up there.” “Can you see, honey? Where is she?” “Standing next to my window.” Oh my God! This movie will do for goosebumps what Psycho did for showers. You will leave the theatre feel- ing like you got your money’s worth. So go, now, to see “The Sixth Sense.” It’s not like there’s anything better in the movies. What else are you going to go see? “For Love of the Game?” “Mystery, Alaska?” lfl wanted to see old people playing pro- fessional sports, I’d watch WCW wrestling. them. Now, thanks to great advances in modern newspaper technology, I’m able to tell what most of you are think- ing at this very moment. And frankly I’m disgusted and think it would work just as well without the harness. But the other thing you’re thinking is, “Gee, Kevo, you’ve really missed the mark on this issue. We’re not punish- ing the bigots for their beliefs, we’re punishing them for their actions. Their words were hurtful to other people, and that’s wrong.” Well that’s actually a pretty good argument, except for the fact that in order to make it you have to ignore a rather glaring double standard. If it’s really about the action and not the thought, then Dean Howison would have to suspend everybody who’s ever said hurtful or nasty things. Classes would be as barren as a meet- ing of the Mississippi MENSA chap- ter. The only reason these stories showed up on the Phi and Trident ’s news radars in the first place is not because someone said something mean, but because someone said some- thing mean and politically incorrect. The fact is that if Rich Groner had made fun of Jeff Cook for anything else, we never would have heard a thing about it. He only got in trouble Complaint letter count <1> Huzzah! Now we're roll- ing! Insulted this week: — I think the headline rather speaks for itself. Pretty much any compas- sionate, good, kind-hearted person should end up upset. because he blasted Cook on an issue ' that triggers knee-jerk reactions from thin-skinned, bleeding-heart losers. The Thought Police decided that no, Mr. Groner, you are not entitled to voice your opinions on that matter. Saying that Jeff Cook is a sucky presi- dent or calling him cocky would be hurtful but perfectly OK, but mix and match a little and suddenly Chairman Mao is prodding you in the back with a bayonet. Bottom line: bigotry of any kind is entirely morally and philosophically indefensible, right? So why are we afraid to let the bigots talk? The only truth that will come out of their mouths will be the truth of their own feeble- minded imbecility. Kindly make way for W&L’s new Thought Police, racing to save us from ourselves. image counesy of www.spunk.org Carson Chambers Jessica Morton Caroline Sozzi KD congratulates. . . Homecoming nominees Kelly Sewell Julie Horowitz White Book Review Committee President of the Class of 2002 Kelly Sewell Jen Davis Stacy McLaughlin /-I