OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_001.2.txt -1 ‘F-37 _R I‘ 8. 75 5 55? i/./0,; M0. 2.9. Wow, THESE KIDS IS SMART! WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY IRIN G-T U M lire student voice of Washington and Lee Unii2enizy5ince1897 /0 6 2 Z VOLUl4E€‘VH»N0s TUr.sDAY,MArcH9,2OO4 Congratulations to Phi Beta Kappa inductees Vanessa Adams, Adam Allogramento, Jennifer Backe, Anna Bagwell, Jessica Bennett, Amy Blakeway, Aniesa Bosch, Carolyn Duffy, Lauren Egbert, Jeremy, Rory Gray, Miri Lim, Erin Lutkewitte, Seth Martin, Matthew McDermott, Ian Mcflroy, Chad Meredith, Matthew Nelson, Eric Ritter, Vir- ginia Snider, Maria Syska, Marty Tompkins, Jamie T oso, and Daniel Vos, Patricia Ballantyne, Wesley Bell, Richard Busby, Steve Chambers, Rachel Chisolm, Peter Djalaliev, Benjamin Hicks, Marriott Horton, Leila Kia, Erik Kiewiet de J onge, Robyn Konkel, George Lozowski, Kelley Magill, Jeremiah McW1l1iarns, Rebecca Merritt, Marisa Meyer, Alexandra Schaerrer, Tina Shen, Susan Somers, Carlos Spaht , Vicky Stanham, Tom Trentrnan, and Matt Yohe. Mark C. Taylor of Williams College spoke. BY ERIN JULIUS NEWS EDITOR Hazing allegations have plagued the Washington and Lee fraternity system this year. Currently, four houses face Interfraternity Council hear- ings in light of such allegations, according to Dean of Stu- dents Dawn Watkins. “It’s been a tough winter for the fraternity system in terms of pledgeship,” said IFC Advisor Matt Jacobs. According to Jacobs, more minor complaints such as pro- fessors’ concerns over a student’s academic performance do not necessarily warrant an IFC investigation. Any allegations that meet the criteria of hazing as defined in the student handbook do warrant inquiries. vice to the freshman and the house be- cause, if the allegations are not true, then we have an opportu- nity to clear the house,” said Dean Watkins. The University’s first concern is to protect the safety of its students, with the second major area of concem being to protect the Greek system. When an allegation is made against a fiater- nity, that house’s new member education program is suspended for the duration of an investigation or pending an IFC hearing. “Most of these cases have resulted from a flood of com- plaints,” said IFC President Brian Castleberry, “stories come from several different areas and they corroborate each other.” “This is the kind of stuff that gets houses shut down and we don’t want to see that happen,” said Watkins, who said she attributes the increase of allegations to a snowball effect. Bourbonsales high at local ABC store BY KAEIA HARMON M A - I ,.,.W,....,. I 2003 Jim Beam sales You can’t be a Washington and i I/ee student without making at least I one trip to the local Alcohol Bev- erage Control store. New member education programs are not suspended un- less a fraternity is facing an IFC hearing, though not all allega- tions require investigations. “If information is lucid and clear, it can go straight to a hearing,” said Castleberry. If information is not clear and an investigation is required, “Dean Leonard and the security office are an investigative team,” Brian Castleberry said. This is the kind of stuff that gets houses shut down and we don’t want to see that happen Allegations of hazing halt four ‘new member education periods’ In an effort to clarify inaccurate campuswide speculation, The Ring-tum Phi contacted members of all fourteen fraterni- ties and asked whether or not their new membership education period had been suspended by the University. Suspension in no way indicates guilt. Members of the following fraternities said that their new member education programs have been suspended by the Uni- versity: Beta Theta Pi, SigrnaAlpha Epsilon and Phi Gamma Delta Members of the following fraternities said their new member educationprogramsaneongoing: KappaAlpha, SigmaChi,Lambda Chi Alpha, Pi KappaAlpha, Chi Psi, Phi Kappa Psi, Kappa Sigma and Pi Kappa Phi. According to Phi Delta Theta President Brian Becker, the leadership of his fratemity ended their new member education program due to the low midterm grades of their “If I get a call from a parent, faculty DEANDAWN W/ATKINS pledges. “It was an internal decision not member or a concerned student and we based on University action,” Becker said, don’t investigate, we are doing a disser— DEAN OFSWDENYS “we decided to end it.” One fraternity chose not to comment cit- ing concerns about the content of this article. An investigation into allegations made against Chi Psi cleared that fraternity of any wrongdoing. Not all new member education violations involve hazing allegations. Underground pledges, for example, are also pledgeship violations, said Castleberry. The IFC hopes to hear pending cases as soon as possible. In addition to the four fraternities currently facing University investigations or hearings, two other Washington and Lee chap- ters have been found to not be in compliance with Nationals’ rules. According to Jacobs, Phi Delta Theta has a national alcohol-free housing policy and the issue recently “came to a Jacobs said that University officials have been trying to work with this chapter of Phi Delta Theta to be in compliance with its national policy. Jacobs emphasized that this action was unrelated to any hazing situation. Sigma Nu is not being investigated by the University, “we haven’t been accused by the University,” said President Mike Gaico, “there is simply a matter between us and nationals that we have discussed.” Committee investigates need for university chaplain, boosts to religious life I Located on Nelson Street, the local ABC store is a common last stop before the weekend parties begin. But what are the party goers buying? Store manager Buddy Johnson said that he could not tell us what sells the most among W&L students because “Sometimes its hard to tell who’s a student and who’s not.” However, 2003 records show that the top brand sold in the store is Jim Beam Straight—Bourbon Whiskey and that Jim Beam is the sec- ond most popular brand sold in the state following Jack Daniel 7 black—Tennessee Whiskey. Records also show that the Lexington store ranks third in sales in the Stauntonl Waynesboro area. , So whether it’s W&L stu- dents or not, somebody in Lex- ington is drinking a lot of whis- key. Mar. The graphic above represents the montly sales of bottles of Jim Beam whiskey at the Lexington ABC store. June, ,rury, DATA PROVIDED BY VIRGINIA ABGSTORE 140 IMAGE COURTESY ]lMBEAM.COM BY KATHERINE SHELL STAFF WRITER In the spring of 2003, a group appointed by Provost ‘Laurent Boetsch began a study to explore the possibilities of additional religious life resources for Washington and Lee’s campus. Students were asked to participate in a survey “to see if students had religious needs and if they are being met,” said Meredith McNabb, ’04 Law. The survey is part of ongoing research by the faculty and staff to determine whether additional re- sources are necessary to aid all of Washington and Lee, including the Law School, faculty and undergradu- ate students. After investigating various other similar colleges, the group has discovered numerous ways to accom- modate any religious needs felt by the W&L community. The group ap- pointed by Provost Thomas Williams has researched schools both our size and nature. Possible additions in- clude a non—denon1inational chaplain, religious counseling and methods to better “coordinate local resources with students,” McNabb said. The group in no way wishes to see a specific religious affiliation for W&L but instead wants to better un- derstand what religious needs are not being met by the University. A spe- cific focus on minority faiths will be coordinated to make sure that all reli- gious denominations are accommo- dated. 0 Once data from the survey has been collected, focus groups will be formed to learn more information about the student opinion of reli- gious life at Washington and Lee. This spring, random groups of stu- dents will be asked to join these fo- cus groups. The group was formed after the Lilly Foundation donated money in 2002 to initiate “meaningful life work.” A committee was formed to explore various aspects of religious life at W&L. “The money will be used to facilitate the discussion of religious life resources among students, faculty and staff, mostly the funding of experienced statisticians, focus group leaders and, should the sur- vey and focus groups warrant such, a professional consultant on models for managing religious life resources in higher education,” said Professor Alexandra Brown, chair of the commit- tee. Any possible changes at W&L could be seen as early as next year. Committee members are fully aware of the possible consequences of further- ing religious resources at W&L. Andy Mendala, undergraduate rep- resentative of the committee, said, “Per— sonally, I am ambivalent to the whole thing. I really think either W&L will com- promise its secular position as a school or the chaplain will be a figurehead.” Committee members are prepared to in- vestigate all effects before any changes will take place. INFOGRAPHIC BY KATIE HOWELL / 7heRi7zg-tum Phi Newly elected student officers speak out about their plans BY CALEY ANDERSON OPINIONS EDITOR Campus wide elections for Executive Committee and Stu- dent Judicial Council officer elections are over, and after some spirited campaigns, the 2004-05 EC President, Vice President, and Secretary, as well as the SJ C Chair and Secretary, have been elected. ‘ Victory in the race for EC President came after a week of close runoffs. Current member Marie Trimble defeated Thomas Worthy in the final runoff by six votes. Three rounds of voting for the office were required. The field was narrowed from five, then three and finally two candidates. In both the first and second runoff, Trimble and Worthy were separated by only five votes. Trimble attributes her victory to hard work and prior experi- ence, though she by no means underestimated Worthy. .“I’m very appreciative of the fact that Thomas and I had a clean, fair election. I really respect Thomas, and I know that he’ll continue to contribute to the W&L community in very positive way.” Trimble said of her policy plans for next year, “I’m looking forward to improving our policy concerning the recognition of student organizations. I’d like to see the EC become more in- volved with campus activities and organizations, and I think im- proving the recognition process is a great first step. As far as the Honor System is concerned, I’d like to continue the high stan- dards that W&L demands.” The position of Executive Committee Vice President was much sought after, as well. The race was won by current junior class representative, Cristin Nunez. Nunez made a few comments following her victory. “ I think I won the election because over the past three years I’ve earned the trust and respect of my peers. I work hard at what I do, and people know that. I ran a clean and honest campaign, and my year of experience on the EC has taught me that talking with people and more importantly, listening to their concerns, is the best way to secure an election,” she said. She also released a platform that detailed plans to revise the budget system. Among her proposed reforms is a system requir- ing reports from campus organizations receiving money. The race for EC Secretary was between undergraduate Jared Harrison and current member Justin Arnold, a law student. Arnold secured victory, and has big plans for his tenure next year. ‘ Declaring “The entire Washington and Lee community owns a share of the victory,” he went on to say “I am excited about the things that we can accomplish next year. I would like to see the Committee involve the Student Body in EC business more, establish EC by—laws, be more deliberative 011 student government policy, more vocal on student life issues and more visible at campus events. I would also like to see the Committee improve upon the Honor Orientation program and the budget hearing process, as well as to coordinate a celebration of the 100th anniversary of students assuming the duty of adminis- tering the Honor System through the Executive Committee of the Student Body.” He also complimented his opponent on running a “strong and respectable” campaign and hoped that Harrison would continue to contribute to the Washington and Lee commu- nity. The rece for Student Judicial Council Chariman. It was be- tween two current members of the SJ C. Juniors Cameron Lord and Maggie Hope both fought for votes. Hope ran on a platform of reform with an understanding of the role of the SJ C. Hope, who won the election, attributes her victory to get- ting the message out that she brings a past knowledge of the SJC that would help her in the office of chair. She conceded that the election was a worrisome one for her, as she knew Lord would run a strong race. Speaking to the major issue of the election, she says, “a big issue for the SJC right now is the punishment for DUIs and the discrepancy between what the Board of Trustees wants and what the SJC has been handing out. I think that issue will be resolved this year and that the SJC will create a more consistent prece— , dence in these cases. I think it’s going to be a productive year and I look forward to leading the SJ C into it.” Running on a similar platform of balanced change and con- sistency was J eb Brooks, ‘O5, who ran unopposed for the office of SJ C Secretary. Brooks is also the current editor in chief of The Ring-tum Phi. Elections for class representatives to the Executive Commit- tee and Student Judicial Council will be held on Monday, March 15. OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_002.2.txt - v .,..-A 7‘, VA MAR I 0200‘! an RlliGvT-fit Pr-E PAGE 2 TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2004 NEWS E-mail news briefs to phi@wlu.edu Run for the Law scheduled for March 20 The third annual Run for the Law 5K walk and 10K run will be held on Saturday, March 20. The run is sponsored by PILSA, the Public Interest Law Students Association. PILSA is a non—profit group for law students interested in working in the public interest sector. The proceeds from the run help provide summer fellow- ships for students working in public service. “Many of these jobs, such as working in Legal Aid, public defense, environmental groups, and special organizations are unpaid, so we provide students with fellowships,” said Brooke Corby, the president of PILSA. The cost of the run is $20 per participant and runners or walkers receive a t-shirt. The run is usually mostly students from the University, but PILSA is encour- aging residents of Rockbridge County to participate as well. “We hope to have more than 100 people participate. Corby said that last year, the group was able were able to give several fellowships to students. While the Run is PILSA’s main fundraiser, the group also partners with Domino’s for a fundraiser, does a magazine sale, and sells Law School apparel. The Run begins at the Rockbridge Country Public Library and finishes at the Ruins, and covers the Chessie Trail and the Maury River Bridge. The first place female and first place male will receive a pair of running shoes from Graden’s. In addition, participants will be en- tered in a raffle for items donated from Lexington businesses, such as gift certificates. Interested students can register by contacting Brooke Corby at corbyb@wlu.edu or picking up a registration form. Asian art discussion set for Tuesday during lunch Tuesday, March 9 at noon, James Godfrey, past Maddux Cowden Curator of Asian Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art, will meet with students for a discussion and question/answer pe- riod about careers in the arts. Bring your lunch and join him in the Elrod Commons 216, the Women’s Resource room. Christian Historian speaks Thursday Washington and Lee University will present a lecture by Chris- tian historian Mark Burrows, “Boundary of the Imagination: Rainer Maria Rilke and the Poetic Quest for the Unknowable God,” on Thursday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 345 of the Elrod Univer- sity Commons. Burrows is a professor of the history of Christianity at Andover Newton Theological School in Boston, Mass., and regularly teaches courses on Dante’s Divine Comedy as well as seminars in medieval mysticism and Reformation theology. An historian of the medieval and early modern church, he specializes in the spiri- tual life and mystical traditions of Christianity. Burrows is the author of Jean Gerson and De Consolatione Theologiae, and is currently working on a monograph devoted to Bernard of Clairvaux’s reading of the Song of Songs, “The Tri- umph of Desire.” Professor releases book released March 1 Writer Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man has long been required reading in English literature and Americanvhistory courses, but a new book examining the country’s social, cultural, political, eco- nomic and racial contradictions and how they impacted Ellison’s work may also soon find its way on college reading lists. The book, slated for release March 1 to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Ellison’s birth, is edited by Lucas Morel, an Ellison expert and associate professor of politics at Washington and Lee University. Ralph Ellison and the Raft of Hope: A Political Companion to Invisible Man was conceived by Morel to help students today better understand the state of racial relations and social mores in the United States in the 1950s when Ellison was a struggling New York writer probing racial attitudes in a still often segregated soci- ety. The book, contributed to and edited by Morel, is a collection of new essays that examine how Ellison’s controversial and land- mark l952 novel addressed the social, cultural, political, economic and racial contradictions of America at that time. Ellison believed it was the contradiction between America’s “noble ideals and the actualities of our conduct” that inspired the most profound literature - “the American novel at its best.” Hidden Hero Patrick Hastings brings srvice Hastings started the Owings initiative, plans to teach BY CHRIS LAUDERMAN AND ERIN JULIUS ASSISTANT ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR AND NEWS EDITOR Patrick Hastings, a junior English major from Atlanta, Ga., chairs the Awareness Committee of the Nabor’s Service League. He has incorporated community service into pledgeship. Hastings worked with Kate Talbert, campus out- reach co-chair on this project. Together, they met with the Interfraternity Council and philanthropy chairs to set them up with community agencies that are their adopted philanthropy. Hastings commented on how it is sometimes tough to get projects together and he is very pleased with involve- ment. It is his hope that this project spreads to a year-long commitment to an agency, service—based rush events and mixers. For the past year, Hastings has served as Secretary for All Campus Events (ACE) board. He describes that role as diffi- cult because of the many discussions about how ACE can better serve the campus community. He addressed the need for awareness of diversity of educational events. He would like to see highly visible bi—weekly calendars produced that bring information about what is going on around campus. Hastings serves on the steering committee for the Cystic Fibrosis Charity Ball. It is his goal “to organize an attractive event.” This year's theme will be completely different from last year's black—tie ball. Burr Datz’s blue grass band will play at the cowboy—themed barn dance. In the fall, Hastings participated in the Moustache Soci- ‘ ety. He said that the society was really inspired by the sup- port of the University community. Last summer, Hastings worked in Shakespeare & Com- pany bookstore in Paris. He was working on a Global Stew- ardship Grant with Professor Connor on the literary history of the bookstore. Earnest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and James Joyce were some of the writers that spent lots of time at Shakespeare & Company. to Greek life Hero. Patrick Hastings has worked to make community service a vital part of Washington and Lee by incorporating it into pledgship. This summer, Hastings will work in Atlanta with the Reach for Excellence teaching program for identifying talent among Mississippi’s public school students. He worked there for two summers in the past. Hastings has always wanted to teach. After graduation, he would like to teach English at a boarding school in the Northeast and coach soccer. Bakery opening soon, aims for ‘Blue Sky’ BY KAELA HARMON STAFF WRITER Lexington residents will soon have a new place to go for many of their baked good needs. Located on the corner of Nelson and Lee Streets, the owners of Blue Sky Bakery will be opening their doors within the next few weeks. Blue Sky is a family busi- ness, owned and operated by Brenda and Mike Gregg and Mike's mother. The Greggs moved to Lexington in October with the goal of opening a restaurant or bak- ery. According to Brenda Gregg, they were looking for a small town and they espe- cially love college towns. When they got here and saw that Caroline’s was closing, they realized that there was a niche for a bakery and went forward with that idea. next two weeks. The soft CODY GABBARD / THE R1NG—7z/MPH1 Yum, yum. The Blue Sky Bakery will open in a few Weeks, so students should look for the sign to come down. Owners plan to have an extensive lunch and dessert menu. indication that they are open bars, key lime bars and Originally they had planned to be open by now but the construction took much longer than expected. Now they arelworking on op- erating their industrial size oven and perfecting their reci- pes. Brenda Gregg said that hopefully they will start with a soft opening within the opening will be without any sort of big celebration or an- nouncement. The idea is that people just walk by and see that they’re open and then later they’ll have the grand opening.and later they hope to have a ribbon cutting grand opening. For now “when the sign comes down” will be the best for business. When they do open, their feature item will be fresh homemade bread but they will also have a wide rage of past- ries and sandwiches. They will have home-‘ made soups daily for their lunch menu and they will also be making a variety of des- sert squares including pecan cheesecake squares. In addition to homemade baked goods, Brenda Gregg is happy to boast of the com- fortable, home—like atmo- sphere that Blue Sky pro- vides. “Our goal is to make people feel like you’re in our home and enjoy our hospital- 1ty. In an effort to bring you the highest quality and most balanced content possible, 772eRing-tum P/ai was forced to delay printing by one day. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused our readers, subscribers and advertisers. Celebrate Spring Time Mother’s Day ~ Father’s Day Brides ~ Graduation witha Relaxing Massage by Kelly Harris (54o)264oo63 Gift Certificates, Packages Speaking Engagements Certified through VA Board of Nursing 13 "Years Experience FORALL OF YOUR POST FANCY DRESS NEEDS: University 7 North Jefferson Street 463-3622 Cleaners dry cleaning, laundry, alterationfl Remember to Vote on Monday, March 15 for Class Representatives to EC & SJC students. Positions available in - News - Sports _ Lzfe - Business oflice HELP WANTED The Ring-tum Phi seeks staff writers, business officers, photographers and all other interested Anyone interested, please inquire at phi@wlu.edu (540) 460-1274 OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_003.2.txt In’ R TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2904 S "lHERH\'G-TUMPHI TAFF* )lTORIAL raised. IIl6I1tS . to 18. Return the drinking age to 18 Fancy Drunk, as it so affectionately termed by many of the faculty, provides a particularly potent yearly reminder of the wrong-headedness of the national age of 21. The chief aim of the 1984 law that - threatened states with the loss of federal highway funds if they refused to raise their minimum drinking age from 18 to 21 was to reduce drunken driving deaths and injuries. Although the number of drunken driving incidents has dropped dramatically among this age group (as it has among all age groups), many schol- ars point out that the decline began in 1980, long before the national minimum drinking age was raised. Moreover, many other factors, such as airbags, increased seat belt use, lower speed limits, and safer automobiles, are believed to have had a greater impact than a higher drinking age. As is all too often the case, though, the govemment’s well-intentioned plan has turned out to have done more harm than good. Raising the drinking age has directly led to a terrible increase in ir- responsible and harmful drinking among youth. More students report vomiting after drinking, missing class, lower grades and fighting while drinking than ever did before the drinking age was Today, rather than having the oppor- tunity to learn and practice healthy and measured alcohol consumption in safe, mentored environments, young people have their first tastes of the “forbidden fruit” in unsupervised, unsafe environ- A better policy would be to increase punishments for unsafe drinking and law- breaking while returning the drinking age Prohibition did not work for the gen- eral population during the l850’s and l920’s and has proven to be an unmiti- gated disaster since 1987. It’s time to admit our mistake and return the mini- mal drinking age to 18. no Rim-r‘z;tzr Praia CAIEYANDHGON OPINIOl\EFDll0R FMAr;ANnrmort@rmmU PINIONS te of the Week “I thinkAmold’s off to a great start.” -Ex—Ca]ifomia Governor Gray Davis Editor in chief Assistant Editor News Editor Opinions Editor Asst. Opinions Editor Arts & Life Editor Asst. Arts & Life Editor Photography Editor Asst. Sports Editors Production Assistants Copy Editors Business Manager Asst. Business Mgr. Circulation Director Asst. Cireulation Dir Distribution Din 1. = "="v’ Jeb Brooks Kyle Wass Erin Julius Caley Anderson Anne Finley Megan Morgan Chris Lauderman Cody Gabbard John Hyland Chad Kiewiet de Jonge Emily Edwards Kelly Jo Larsen Alexa Moutevalis Kate Zawyrucha Sarah Beth Campbell Vanessa Arness Aubrey Miner Paul Seifert David Seifert Stuart Presnell Rob Rain Thomas Worthy The Ring-tum Phi is published Mondays during the undergraduate school year at Washington and Lee Univer- sity, Lexington, Vrrginia. The Ring-tum Phi is a member of The Publications Board, but is otherwise independent The Ring—tum Phi welcomes all responsible sub- missions and letters. All submissions must be e-mailed to phi@wlu.edu or in the University Center mailbox by 5 p.m. Friday to appear in the following week’s edition. The Ring-tum Phi reserves the right to edit submissions for content and length. Letters and columns do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Ring-tum Phi Editorial Board. Advertising does not reflect the opin- ions of The Ring-tum Phi or its staff. This newspaper observes current court definitions of libel and obscenity. The Ring-tum Phi University Commons Room. 341 Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia 24450 Telephone: (540) 458-4060 Fax: (540) 458-4059 Email: phi@wlu.edu Subscription rate $40 PAGE 3 Kerry: evolving candidate, not wishy washy PHOTO COURTESY OF senalegav THE NEXT PRESIDENT? Seen here working in the Senate, John Kerry may be the best choice for the nation in the 2004 election, despite the efforts of Bush’s campaign. Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove have a plan for this election. John Kerry flip—flops on issues, John Kerry is unprincipled, and the like. He was historically against capital punishment, but then came out in favor of it for convicted ter- rorists. He voted for No Child Left Behind but criticizes Mr. Bush for that too. He authorized the use of force in Iraq but criticizes the way the President has handled it. Mr. Bush, on the other hand, is a steady, prin- cipled, unwavering leader, the type of man .most needed in un- certain times like these. That’s one way to look at it. Here’s another: John Kerry is an astute man who grasps the difficulties and complexity of any given issue, and is willing to incorporate new information into his ideas; therewith, his ideas can change. He is an intellectual. The capital punishment issue came up long before this presidential election; in a reelec- tion bid in 1996 he said he was not for capital punishment for terrorists. Why? Because Kerry was worried that if the United States had a standing policy of capital punishment, other nations would be discouraged from extraditing terrorism suspects to the United States. He feels that since September 11"‘, nations are more ready to extradite suspects, and there- fore the death penalty is not the deterrent it once was. His main concern in both cases was ensuring the greatest probability that other nations would cooperate in investigations. John Kerry voted for No Child Left Behind after George Bush promised billions in educa- tion funding in his State of the Union Address, and promoted such wording in the bill as it worked its way through Congress. John Kerry’s only mis- take in this matter was trusting George Bush’s word. When the chips fell and it came time to actually appropriate funds in his budget, George Bush cut 6 billion dollars from his own education bill. Shame on John Kerry for trusting George Bush! - ( ffiFEE?T » g GABE CHAI_>MAN ‘O6 Now Iraq. Essentially, Congress told the Presi- dent: we trust you to neutralize what you have char- acterized as an immediate and grave danger to the United States. The President made the same case to Congress that he made to the American people. Now we know how exactly all this came about: ev- ery shaky intelligence report was exaggerated to the greatest possible degree, the White House set up a special office in the Pentagon, whose sole purpose was to assemble infor- mation that would advance their case, without regard to the strength of the information. In- telligence officers who came to them with information contradicting their asser- tions were told that their information wasn’t strong enough and they needed to come back with more. Don’t tell me, “Well, who cares? The world is better off without Saddam Hussein.” What we should care about is the, fact that this Administra- tion made a conscious effort to manipulate infor- mation to make a sensationalist case for war. Just because we and our representatives bought it, doesn’t mean that they were wrong. It means that they put too much faith and credit in an ends- justifies-the-means administration. Men like John Kerry won’t make that mistake again. George Bush’s “with us or against us” worldview is too simplistic for the world of today. Paul O’Neill’s book, The Price of Loyalty, makes two things clear: from the first day, this Adminis- tration had two intentions: (l) to cut taxes, and (2) to invade Iraq. All of the intervening events: Sep- tember 11”‘, the recession, were just convenient excuses to push an agenda that they intended from the first. Consider this: our economy has been out of recession for several quarters, but Bush . continues to deficit—spend tremendously. These tax cuts were not a salve meant to pull us out of recession; if they were, he would have brought the deficit under control as we pulled out of recession. To say that George Bush’s policies are in- novative would be to say that they adapt to changing conditions. If that’s so, why hasn’t he changed the undertaxing and overspend- ing that is causing our deficit? The deficit is really just a “future tax”: a tax on people like you and me. We’re going to be paying back the I.O.U’s Bush has taken out, long after he’s retired comfortably. I don’t like watching George Bush talk. It makes me realize that he doesn’t understand the nuances of a situation. Like when he tells us that the economic growth (in terms of GDP) the nation is experiencing will invariably lead to-new jobs. There is a new dynamic in our economy, one that George Bush does not un- derstand. We have the outsourcing of jobs overseas, and the hiring of temporary workers who can be fired and hired to match demand exactly from month to month. Executives are concerned right now with pushing up stock prices, and to do this they are widening profit margins by squeez- ing maximum productivity out of their existing labor forces. The Bureau of Economic Analy- sis has found that the profit share of corpo- rate income as increased at the expense of labor’s share. This shouldn’t be surprising, considering who can afford millions of shares of stock. George doesn’t understand our new economy and doesn’t understand America’s place in the world. I want somebody who has doubted the rectitude of America’s political and cultural domination. I want somebody to produce an Attorney General who will nail Kenneth Lay’s ass to the wall. I want some- body to have the courage to tell Americans that we can’t sustain your level of consump- tion. You can’t drive gargantuan SUVs forever. Not even for much longer. I want someone to say that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is worth more to the world than $1.75 gasoline for your Hummer H2. John Kerry will do all these things, and we’ll be stronger for it. Martha guilty, but bigger fish remain for federal government simultaneous ~ This past week, a federal jury found Martha Stewart guilty of conspiracy, two separate counts of making false statements, and ob- struction ofjustice. This decision marks the highest—profile individual that has been convicted in the recent government crackdown on cor- rupted business practices. Martha Stewart, who’s been the target of focused media coverage over the past few months as a result of her trial, has certainly been served justice, but I find it dismaying that the Federal government has been unable to secure the convictions of the bigger criminals in the world of white collar corruption. What about the former Tyco executives, who still stand accused of Grand Larceny? What about MCI Worldcom? Or Merrill Lynch? Or what about the one that started it all— Enron? Kenneth Lay, ex—CEO of Enron, walks around even today as a free man. The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, that the majority of these 21st cen- tury robber barons remain unpunished. Martha Stewart, who is guilty, of course, was nevertheless more than likely targeted by the govern- ment because of her celebrity status (Stewart, who will likely serve prison time, still faces a civil suit from the Securities and Exchange Commission for a charge of insider trading). Yet, one instance of insider trading, as well as the lies that came with it, are hardly the greatest evil that has been wrought in corporate America in recent history. The Department of Justice needs to ramp up the efforts against these financial miscreants. All Martha Stewart’s crime did was give her an unfair advantage over other investors, whereas I think most people believe that Kenneth Lay directly stole millions of dollars from the people in the business world who trusted him most. Taking a tip 3' CALEY AND1~:Rs0r@§_ from a buddy in the company is one thing, creating a deliberate scheme to rob your investors of (a LOT of) their hard-earned cash that results in an economic disaster, unemployment without compensation for your employees, and general financial chaos is another. In politics, appearence is reality, and the fact that Kenneth Lay, especially, has not been even charged with anything makes the Bush administration look very bad, especially in an election year. I don’t actually think that Lay has earned himself propriety with his generous donations to the Bush campaigns, but it’s critical that the President not allow that to be the appearence, especially when Lay, as well as most of his senior executives, are more than likely extremely guilty. I’m sure we all remember Enron— jobs lost, faith in corporate America was tanked, women who worked for Enron felt forced to pose for Playboy since all they had as job in- surance was now—worthless Enron stock. The scary thing is that this story has been repeated (albeit with less scandal similar to the Playboy incident) several times over again, with, as mentioned be- fore, Tyco, MCI Worldcom Merrill Lynch, and so forth. To be sure, Martha’s crimes are not to be scoffed at. Besides the obvious consequences, Martha Stewart Living, while not di- rectly involved in the Imclone scandal that has now ensnared its Chief Creative Officer, will likely see its own value plunge, since Stewart’s image of domestic perfection is so closely linked to her company. . Yet we should not forget that there are still criminals out there, some who have gone unprosecuted, and some who are still out there, as yet successful at hiding their thievery from the law. OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_004.2.txt PAGE 4 ’l§~iF.RN}’llldi’rl TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2004 INIONS Forget Punxsutawney Phil, hold your leaders accountable Imminent changes should force students to realize that fate of University rests in student government elections Campus was sated with “political” cam- paigning this week. Brightly-colored posters and catchy slogans littered every doorway and bul- letin board around campus. Candidates were all smiles. Promises were made. Yet was this elec- tion any more serious than the stereotypical stu- dent council popularity contests held at most schools? After one election and two run—offs, one of the “highest voter turnouts in the history of Washington and Lee” elected Executive Commit- tee and Student Judicial Council officers last week. Individual class representatives will be chosen next . Monday. I’m sure these students too will wear their suits and bowties around campus, tack up countless posters around our fair grounds, and work every connection that they have in order to be elected. I ask the students of Washington and Lee— the candidates, voters and those already elected—to step back for a minute to think be- fore they move into this second stage of the elec_— tion. What is it that this campus really wants? What is it that this campus really needs? Who are the leaders that can provide these wants and needs? In a recent editorial by one of our neighbor school’s newspaper columnists, their student council election was compared to Groundhog Day. Preston Lloyd wrote in University of Virginia’s The Cavalier Daily, “To many stu- dents, Student Council elections are like Groundhog Day, where the entire nation focuses the media spotlight—even if ever so briefly— on a rodent in a small Pennsylvania town in Letters to the Editor Kim/an’s article is itself more offensive than “Monologues” Dear Editor, I would like to know the rationale for reprint- ing Brett Kirwan’s two-year—old editorial on a pre- vious production of “The Vagina Monologues.” It was, after all, inflamed and inaccurate the first time. It would not be particularly difficult to con- struct an intelligent critique of Eve Ensler’s play- any student in English or Women’s Studies could give Mr. Kirwan helpful advice. While I’m not a fan of the work, though, I deeply admire the students who staged it. As the editorial acknowledges, the original production raised money for Project Hori- zon; the recent version raised impressive sums for multiple charities. Furthermore, through the “Mono- logues,” undergraduates and law students collabo- rated to provoke conversation about sexuality and violence-—I’m grateful for their commitment. They deserve better than this creaky old complaint. I can suggest a fresh topic, if Mr. Kirwan has the energy. His opinion piece quaintly protests “vulgar exhibitionism” and the “rriiddle-school locker room” mentality he found in the play. What does he think of carnpusnoticetitles suchas“'I'l'I'l’1ES!!!!!!!!!l!!l!!!!!, Tl'ITIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” so conveniently quoted on the same page as his reprinted column? Sincerely, A Lesley Wheeler, Associate Professor of English Dear Editor, Two years ago Mr. Kirwan’s editorial piece, “ ‘Monologues’ are vulgar concoction with political purpose,” angered me because of its blatant and frequent disregard for the facts of the play. Many people discouraged me from responding because, they argued, everybody knows Mr. Kirwan writes from an extremely conservative viewpoint and in- tentionally incites angry responses. This made sense and fearful of being labeled a “femi-nazi,” I kept my mouth shut but did not forget the piece. Today I was shocked and appalled to see this ar- ticle appear once again in the Ring-tum Phi. Admittedly, Mr. Kirwan has a right to his opin- ion but the abundant factual errors indicate irre- sponsible journalism and beg the reader to ques- tion if the author even saw the play when it was performed here two years ago. For example, in the first monologue “Hair” the speaker is not “driven mad by [her husband’s] request” to shave her pu- bic hair as Mr. Kirwan attests. Her choice to shave her pubic hair was a compromise in her relation- ship. She realizes that she does not like it and stops the practice. The couple pursues marriage coun- seling because of a desire to work through their problems. This does not suggest a lack of sanity. Later, in an attack on another one of the mono- logues ‘”Ihe Flood”, Mr. Kirwan states, “Of course, her male companion was to blame for her years of SENIORMOMENT KATIE]. HovELL ‘O4 order to symbolically predict the length of the season. Likewise, at the University, students are reminded that not only does [student gov- ernment] exist, but that the leadership and agenda of that organization is so important that it demands the attention of students for a week or more.” W&L’s student government elections are nearly identical to the University of Virginia sce- nario described above. Voters are one of three types: those who wander past the voting booth between classes and choose the candidates with the most name recognition, those whose room— , mate or fraternity brother is running and there- fore are obligated to show up at the polling place, and those who are genuinely interested in the future of campus and believe that the student leadership will greatly affect that fu- ture, with the least amount of voters belonging to this last group. I wonder, however, why this is the case. W&L has gone through some recogniz- able changes in the past four years that I have been a student here. A strict alcohol and drug policy now stands in place of football game “tailgates.” Limited beer can be “swiped home” in the new Commons—center of Uni- versity life—where free alcohol and drinking games in the fraternity houses once flowed like water. The fate of Spring Term has come into question not once, but twice. Two frater- nities have been suspended. One has been reinstated. Countless other changes have also dramatically affected campus during the past few years. Students cannot think that the student lead- ers of this campus do not play an important role in these campus—altering decisions and events. Stu- dent leadership played a role in every single one of the events listed above. Most recently, current Executive Committee President Helen Hughes worked tirelessly along- side faculty, adrriinistra— tion and board members to determine the fate of the student-beloved Spring Term. Other stu- dent leaders have worked just as hard as she to see that the changes affecting W&L are not only good for the board and administration but also for the lifeblood of the University—the stu- dents. In saying all this, I challenge the students of Washington and Lee to think before they vote next week. Class repre- sentatives to the student government bodies on campus are the people who will represent you to the administration and faculty when more huge carn- pus—changing events plague Lexington. Just be- cause someone has name—recognition doesn’t mean that they will make the best decisions when it comes to the future of your institution. These comments are not to say that the re- cently elected EC and SJC officers are off the hook, “To many students, Student Council elections are like Groundhog Day, Where the entire nation focuses the media spotlight—even if ever so briefly—on a rodent in a small Pennsylvania town in order to symbolically predict the length of the season. Likewise, at the University, students are reminded that not only does [student government] exist, but that the leadership and agenda of that organization is so important that it demands the attention of students for a week or more.” Preston Lloyd TI-IE CAVALIER DAILY however. They all ran on detailed platforms, whether the voters took the time to learn of these or not. Hold these students accountable. If they promised you funding to political and religious organizations in the future, make sure that these organizations receive funding during the next budget allocation. If they promised you that they would make DUI convictions con- sistent with University and board policy, make sure they deliver. If they promised that the EC members will be more active in campus activi- ties during the next year, make sure that they at- tend these meetings and participate in activities. And if they don’t, com- plain. Ultimately, they are held accountable to you. Write letters to the editors of the campus newspapers. Email or call these officers individu- ally. They will listen to you. You chose them. While student gov- ernment elections are often a hot lunch—table con- versation for a week or so, who will really be talking about what Marie Trimble plans to do as EC president or Justin Arnold as EC secretary in a month? Why is this the case? Students, you should care what these people are doing. They are the future of your school. They are your rep- resentatives. pain” when in actuality the woman’s fear of her own body’s unpredictability was at fault. He even states that The Vagina Monologues condones les- bian rape, a statement that is utterly false. The play works throughout to raise awareness of all sorts of violence against women, from battery to rape. Al- though the woman’s first sexual experience is at a young age in “The Little Coochie Snoocher that Could,” there is no indication that it was undesired. In addition to these errors, Mr. Kirwan ignores the monologues that affirm men’s roles in women’s lives, such as “Because He Liked to Look at it,” and rriis— represents the play as “male-bashing.” The play does not bash men. It praises women. There is a difference. Mr. Kirwan criticizes the play for degrading Valentine’s Day, “the only holiday dedi- cated to true romance between a man and a woman,” since the production occurs near that day and raises awareness about violence against women by calling it V-day. Sexual assault, however, is not just an issue women face. Men have mothers, sisters, daughters, lovers, and female friends. It is a fact that one out of every four women is assaulted during her lifetime. One hopes that both men and women can care about this issue even when celebrating Valentine’s Day. Sincerely, Jennifer Backe, ‘O4 Hit and run incident provides opportunity for reflection Dear Editor, I’m not a sentimental person and I don’t make a point of marking painful anniversaries, but it seems like every March there is something to remind me. A couple of years ago it was a late March snow, which reminded me of the snow that fell on the day of Ashley’s funeral in March of 1989. This year, it is the leprechaun trap my oldest son is building for a first— grade class project. A day or two after Ashley was killed, we who lived on her floor in Gilliam dormitory awoke to little green leprechaun footprints running every which way in a sweet attempt by a fellow fresh- man to bring a smile amidst all the horror. This March it has been 15 years since freshman Ashley Scarborough was stiuck down and killed in a hit—and-run accident as she walked alone on Wash- ington Street in the wee hours of a Wednesday party night. The driver turned out to be a fellow W&L student, Blake Comer, who kept this incredible atroc- ity secret for many months before being caught. Ashley was a wonderful girl. You would have liked her. You would have noticed her for her red hair, quick wit, and inclusive, accepting approach to those around her. Guys, you would probably have had a crush on her; she was all Southern sweetness with a spark and inner strength that would have made you look twice. ladies, you would have admired her style and might have wanted to be her friend. . She would have responded to you wannly and sincerely, with no hint of arrogance. There are dozens of us scattered across the coun- try (and even world) who remember this and so much more about Ashley. She had four extremely close friends who she was making plans to live with the following year, and countless other friends (like me) who could tell you story after story of how she made those around her smile. She had a great boyfriend who was a pre—med student and top swirnmer/water polo player. She was a lot like you, and she died at 19 years old, leaving a life full of promises not kept. Her death affected dozens of lives greatly and the whole community to some extent. But, of course, none were affected as much as her family. Now, 15 years later and a parent myself, I feel physically ill at the thought of the phone call our Dean of Freshmen had to make to her parents that horrible morning. Ashley was the sec- ond daughter they lost in a two—year period. The sec- ond phone call with the words death, daughter, car, and alcohol, the second funeral, the second time they had to find the strength to go on living. Can you imagine dealing with that kind of pain? Why am I telling you all this? I’m not your par- ent or your friend, but I care about the choices you make. I was blessed to have walked where you walked and gone on to a wonderful full life juggling marriage, parenting, writing/editing, and volunteer work in school and at church. It is the kind of life you wouldn’t know to aspire to at the age of 18, but you feel incred- ibly grateful and blessed to have at the age of 33. My friend Ashley didn’t get to pursue that life, and that makes me incredibly sad and angry, even now. Will you think of her before you make choices that could have consequences that echo across the years and ripple through all the people around you in life—chang— ing, heart-wrenching ways? Will you think of Blake Comer, who got behind the wheel of a car after drink- ing and then made a cowardly decision that I’m sure haunts him every day of his life‘? Will you think of Ashley’s parents and her brother, John? Will you think of Ashley’s boyfriend, who got the news while at the national swimming championships? Will you think of your friends and the unbelievable effect trag- edy has on a young person who becomes an adult from that day forward? Will you think about all the possible consequences of drinking irresponsibly and decide now that you will not get behind the wheel of a car or put yourself in any other perilous situation that could end in tragedy? I can tell you, the future is pretty wonderful. You don’t want to miss it... Sincerely, Marcy (Brown) Rand ’92 Student elections need more content, time for campaigning Dear Editor, Recently, students voted in elections for stu- dent government officers. While I am sure that we have selected a group of honest, qualified people to fill our most important governmental positions, I have some serious problems with the election pro- cess in general.W&L students are forced to make decisions about who will represent them with vir- tually no information about the candidates—at least, virtually none that counts. The campus is covered with signs, cards, and stickers that make ambiguous promises about candidates’ “honor” or “integrity”, but in a community that is built around those two concepts, shouldn’t we assume that all of the candidates can offer those qualities? They’re the ONLY promises out there. If most or all of the candidates for a given office simply pledge to rep- resent us as best they can, uphold honor, or “insert vague platitude here”, then what are we, the vot- ers, to use to distinguish the differences between them? Many students vote for those candidates whom they have had classes with or with whom they have shaken hands eighteen times outside the d—hall if they don’t feel that they really know any of the candidates. I realize that we have a small school and that we are closely knit, but students can’t be expected to know everyone on the ballot. However, the complete lack of content in our elec- tions is not really the fault of the candidates. In fact, one candidate, Phil Walotsky, made great efforts to articulate things that he wanted to get accomplished. In general, though, our campaign system doesn’t provide a forum for candidates to express their views. There are no de- bates, no speeches, and no profiles or platforms (even small ones) that are consistently presented in the pa- pers. One of the reasons that candidates don’t present details about their positions is because they don’t really have open access to a medium that is suitable for such communication. Signs have to be concise enough to be absorbed with a cursory glance, e—mails are deleted (they are pretty annoying) as fiequently as they are read, and it’s awkward enough for candidates to introduce them- selves in the commons, let alone talk about school policy. 'Ihereareafewthingsthatcouldbedonetoim- provethisprocess. Firstofall,thereshouldbeanorga- nized debate and/or speeches given a week or so before the elections. I know, I know. . .1 have heard the argu- ment before that people will not attend. So? Even if only a few people would attend such events, the Phi and the Trident could do articles that at least sum up some of what was said. In addition, sor_ne sort of public event would go a long way to making sine that EC candidates can handle their obligations in meetings well. Both pa- pers should at least run an article with small statements from each candidate. Anything is better than nothing. The above reforms aren’t much to ask. These policies are even present in many high school elec- tions. But unlike high school leaders, members of the EC, SJC, etc. have substantial power. They adminis- ter our honor system, distribute substantial sums of money, make policy changes, and represent us to the administration. We must employ a process that helps voters to make more informed decisions and reflects the importance of our student govenirnent. Sincerely, Sam Wilmoth, ‘O7 gratis Gt-tiara Lavmerrtzs RANGQL Pn.ArEsiAr.sxA~oEa METHQIB 309 N. l\®_‘L1’1 St. 540«461~3447 Lexington, VA 24450 Write opinions for the Phi! The'Ring-tum Phi is currently seeking to hire new opinions writers! If you’re interested in applying for an Op/Ed position, please e-mail phi @ wlu.edu, or e-mail the Opinions Editor at andersonc @ wlu.edu. OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_005.2.txt JG-lNI‘IYlAl\D AETTANTSEORTSFDTTOR mm m TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2004 BTERBIG-TUTEPEE PORTS PAGE 5 Baseball wins first two ODAC games in doubleheader BY JOHN HYI.AND ASSITANT sPORTs EDITOR The W&L baseball team recovered from a tough loss on Friday afternoon to Mary Washing- ton by starting their ODAC season on the right track, winning two decisive games against Emory and Henry on Saturday in a doubleheader. The team’s record stands at 8-3, 2-0 ODAC. In Friday’s game, Mary Washington, the 23rd ranked team in the country, came out showing why they are nationally ranked and hold a 9-1 record. The Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 lead after five in- nings while their starting pitcher, a flame throwing lefty, seemed unhittable through the first four in- nings, not allowing a hit. The Eagles held a 7-1 advantage in the sixth when the Generals got back in the game with freshman rightfielder Richard Garland’s two run homer. W&L manufactured two more runs in the seventh to cut the lead to 7-5. In the eighth, the Generals had runners at second and third with two cuts, but the inning ended when sophonire second baseman Scott Gosselink hit a long fly ball to right field and the Generals fell 7-5. The comeback was made possible by frehman lefthander Johnson Branlow who replaced starter Mike Wert and pitched four solid innigs of relief, only allowing one run Wert suffered his first loss of the season and his record fell to 2-1. Sophomore centerfielder Dave MacKenzie and freshman des- ignated hitter David Miller each added a pair of hits for the Generals. In the first game on Saturday, the Generals sent their ace, Peter Dean, to the hill. With a win, Dean would become the Generals all—tirne leader in career wins. The record was never really in doubt. Dean pitched brilliantly, going the full seven innings, not allowing a run on five hits and striking out six, to him plenty of support, scoring a run in each of the first five in- nings en route to a 7-0 win. Gosselink went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and junior Zach Bausch, the designated hitter for the game, went 3 for 4 with two « RBIs. Garland, MacKenzie and sophomore first baseman Taylor McConnell all contributed a pair of hits. In the nightcap, the Gener- als, once again did not give the Wasps much of a chance. Senior leftfielder Bryan Mulhem and Bausch hit back to back homers in the first as part of a five run inning. It was more than enough run support that senior righthander Dan Kagey would need. Neverthless, the Generals scored another run in the sec- ond and eight more in the fourth to blow open the game. The final was 16-3, with W&L amasssing 21 hits. Many Generals contrib- uted to the offensive onslaught. After his homer, Bausch hit three doubles, including two in the fourth alone and finished the game 4 for 4 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Mulhem finished 2 for 5 with two runs scored and five RBIs. Garland went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. MacKenzie, Gosselink, McConnell and fresh- man third baseman, Clayton Edwatrds, all contrib- I LOIIRTESY SPORTS INFORMATION ALL TIME IEADER. Senior Peter Dean became V/8£L’s all time win leader with his 24th career win in a game against Emory 85 Henry. nings and striking out 11. With the pair of losses, uted multi-hit games. Kagey improved his record the Wasps fell to 0-8, 0-2 ODAC. The Generals next earn his fourth win of the season. His offense gave A-Rod will stay at third BY JOHN HYLAND ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Now that Spring Training is underway, the talk in baseball continues to be the Yankees ac- quisition of Alex Rodriruez, argu- ably the best player in baseball an'd...hi.s. unpt¢.<:<>?itjec.i.irn.0Y¢’.. ,. fromjshorstop to base. There are a number of reasons why barring unforseen circumstances, A- Rod will be the Yankees third baseman for years to come. First of all, he agreed to come to the Yankess with the ex- plicit understanding that he would play third base and Derek Jeter would play short- stop. A-Rod has gone out of his way to make the change a non-issue, having repeadetly reiterated in interviews that this is Jeter’s team, he is the team’s shortstop and should remain at shortstop and has made it clear that if their roles were reversed and Jeter was coming to Texas, he would expect to stay at his position. A-Rod is right, J eter has been the centerpiece of the Yankees for almost a decade, which has included four champi- onships and six American League Pennants. There is no reason for that to change. More importantly than that, A-Rod’s physical skills make him much more conducive to playing third base than Jeter. The main criticism of J eter’s de- fense over the years has been his poor reaction to the ball coming off the bat. This is a weakness that would be exploited even more at third base where he would have to play even closer to the batter. A-Rod’s reaction is much better than Jeter’s. That skill combined with his overall good glove and strong throwing arm (he won a gold glove last year) should makeit an easy transi- tion for him. The same transi- tion was fairly easy for Cal Ripken, Jr., A-Rod’s boyhood idol and a player with simillar physical skills and body type. A- Rod might be the best shortstop in baseball, but Jeter is very solid, having won four championships at the position. A-Rod seems de- termined to become the garne’s best third baseman, just as he was able to do at shortstop. It would be unprecedented for a player to switch positions in his prime and become the game’s best at both positions, which I think is a motivating fac- tor for A-Rod to succeed. The Yankees will be putting out their best defense with A-Rod at third and J eter at short. Given A-Rod ’s skills and professionalism, I do not foresee this to be a problem and as a lifelong Yankees fan, I am very excited about the up- coming year. to 2-0 on the year after pitching seven shutout in- face Piedmont at home on Wednesday. A-Rod will be studying abroad BY RYAN GRITTER ASSISTANT SPORTS EDTTOR Alex Rodriguez is essentially study- ing abroad. He has moved from his com- fortable home at shortstop to immerse himself in the foreign culture that is third base. However, just like a student, he will return to his home. Third base is not the new permanent position of this fu- ture Hall of Famer. There are simply way too many events that could cause him to move back, and surely at least one will take place. While no one can deny that the ad- dition of A-Rod to an already impressive lineup gives the Yankees an enormous boost come playoff time, high expecta- tions can lead to a great deal of pressure. The Yankees have been without a World Series win for three years now, and fans, not to mention the ever looming Darth Vader....sorry, I mean George Steinbrenner, have grown impatient. When the first losing skid comes along, tensions in the clubhouse and in the front office will be almost unbearable. With the enormous egos in that club- house, Gary Sheffield in particular, whole- some relations carmot be ensured. We have all heard about A-Rod’s rocky friendship with Derek J eter, and while that will receive much of the media attention, there are plenty of large ego’s that could potentially clash with the superstar. At some point, management as well as the players must choose a leader. The leadership role on the Yankees has been Jeter’s since 1996 and has spawned 4 World Series Championships, as well as numerous commercials. If Steinbrenner is forced to decide who his leader is going to be, he will find it in- credibly difficult to choose anyone but Jeter, who has become the face of the Yankees. The role certainly will not be filled by Giambi, who is aging and injury prone, or Sheffield, who is a clubhouse cancer. A-Rod has never been in a lead- ership role for a winning team (the 1996 Mariners were led by Ken Griffey Jr.), and has not shown leadership qualities. A leader must be able to call teammates out and inspire them a la Ray Lewis. A-Rod is not that type of leader, he is quiet and ea- ger to please all; he doesn’t seem to be the type to light a fire_under,a fellow player’s . Ifthe Yankees don’t win the World Series, it will be very tempting to GM Brian Cashman to deal the MVP infielder. The final reason that A-Rod will not stay at third is simply because he is a gold glove shortstop. He has accepted this move willingly only because he thinks he can win a World Series. As soon as some- thing goes wrong, whether or not he pub- licly announces it, he will be longing to be a shortstop. He may get the opportunity, as Jeter has shown a propensity for get- ting injured while A-Rod held one of the longest consecutive games played streaks in the steroid era. The many ways that A-Rod could find himself back at the shortstop position all could be thwarted by a certain combina- tion of events. All that would have to hap- pen is that J eter and A-Rod would have to stay healthy, the team would have to have almost no clashing of egos in the club- house, a fantastic season ending in a World Series win, and a successful sea- son for Derek J eter at shortstop. Unfortu- nately, the odds of all of these things fall- ing into place just aren’t realistic. They could both feasibly stay healthy, they could both have fine seasons, Sheffield could shut up, but the World Series win on top of that might cause the apocalypse. . .and they no longer have the pitching to do so. Here’s a little word of advice for GM Brian Cashman, move J eter to second, A-Rod back to short, and go strong after Eric Chavez of the A’s for third. An infield like that would give any man- ager a tingly feeling as he made out the lineup card each night. Dean becomes W&L all time win leader with 24th win BY KIM GUNST sTAFi=wR1TER ' Every time Peter Dean takes the mound, he expects to win. However, the optimistic baseball captain isn ’t just winning games——he’s also break- ing records. Dean saw his 24th career win in Saturday’s doubleheader against Emory & Henry, becoming the General’s all—time win leader. “I was fortunate to win six games my freshman year,” Dean said. “At that time, I remember looking at the record and thinking that I was on pace to break it, but never in my wildest dreams did I be- lieve that I could.” Even though Dean knew he could break the record after tying it last Sunday, he says it hasn’t affected his approach. The team’s combination of strong pitchers and good hitters are what Dean believes take the pressure off of him. “The win record is not just my record,” Dean said. “It is directly correlated with how well the tearn_ has played. The pitcher can’t win any games if the batters don’t score any runs.” Despite what Dean calls “lucky timing,” he also owes his success on the baseball field to a deci- sion he made his junior year of high school. Al- though Dean started playing Little League when he was just nine, 6‘ ' he chose to instead AtthattHne’I playh tgrilriii onlfe lhe remember reac e ig sc oo. _ After the offen- at the sive coordinator for his football team per- rCCOrd and suaded him to play - - baseball, Dean de- cided it was time for a change. He played was on pace to baseball for the next breakigbut {W0 YCaI$.- . . . , . Dean actually flevefmmy came to W&L to play football, but once again decided to give baseball a shot. He worked hard to im- prove his freshman year—a time, he says, that he first realized he might be able to win a few games for the Generals. Four years later, Dean is a three-tirne letter win- ner and team captain who has been named a Divi- sion III “Player to Watch” by Collegiate Baseball News. And just last season, he earned Academic All-American honors. But Dean’s most memorable baseball moment was defeating Virginia Wesleyan last year, making the team the conference leader. He says the entire conference tournament was an experience he'll never forget. “We played well as a team,” Dean recalled. “Every game was exciting. We were close to win- ning it all.” With no weak spots in the field or in the lineup, Dean foresees an even better season than last. He says he is confident that every member of the team can play well, rather than just having a select core group of stronger players. Dean is looking forward to his last baseball season at W&L, but says it doesn’t necessarily have to be the end. Even though he has already been accepted to medical school at the University of Virginia, he says he is going to leave his options open. “If somebody gives me the opportunity to play baseball at the next level, that is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Dean said. “I can always go to medical school. I try not to think of next year. I am just concerned with helping the team win this year.” wildest dreams did I believe that I could.” PETER DEAN Tuesday, March 9 Wednesday, March 10 Thursday, March 11 Friday, March 12 THIS WEEK’ s SCHEDULE Saturday, March 13 Sunday, March 14 0 Open 0 W Tennis vs. Bridgewater, at Roanoke- -4:00 0 Baseball vs. Piedmont-- 3:00 0W Lax vs. Sweet Briar-- 4:00 0 Open 0 W Tennis vs. Washing- ton College, at Eastern Mennonite--3:30 2:00 2:00 0 Baseball vs. Randolph- Macon (DH )--1 :00 0 M Lax at Franklin & Marshall--1:00 0 W Lax at F ranklin& Marshall--11:00 0 Track hosts W&L Invitational--9:30 0 M Tennis vs. Denison-- ° W Tennis vs. Salisbury-- ° W Tennis vs. Denison-- 1:00 OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_006.2.txt Sifiiirs TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2004 CIRCLING THE GOAL. A General circles the Greensboro goal looking for an open teammate. The team would go on to easily defeat Greensboro 18-6. Womens’ claims twofiwins BY SARAH BLOOM STAFF WRITER The Generals started out strong and never looked back as they defeated Greensboro 18-6 on Wednesday night. The women got off to an early lead with four straight goals. Greens- boro followed suite, however, with three consecutive goals. With 16:31 remaining on the clock, senior Kelly Taffe scored back—to-back goals, securing the General’s led over the Pride. Taffe lead the Generals in scor- ing along with teammate, fresh- man Kelly Evans. Each claimed four goals. “I love being able to play with people that understand the game,” said Evans of her game. “As thrilling as it is to score goals though, the wins and losses are a complete team ef- lacrosse fort. Senior Joarma Perini pro- tected the net for the Generals with eight saves. The Generals then traveled to Virginia Wesleyan to com- pete in the team’s second ODAC competition of the sea- son. The Generals returned vic- torious with a score of 12-8. Though the Generals had only a narrow lead at half-tirne, they came back strong and se- cured the win in the second half. Senior Lee Wheeler headed the effort with four goals and an assist while teammate sophomore Kate Lester fol- lowed closely behind with four goals of her own. Perini again saved the net eight times for the Generals. The team will travel next to Franklin and Marshall to com- pete on Saturday. Up and down week for mens’ lacrosse BY CAMERON GARNER STAFF WRITER The Generals entered this past week looking to rebound from a loss to #4 Washington College on Saturday. They hosted Lycoming (who is Lycoming anyway?) on Tuesday afternoon, and despite a lacklus- ter effort, they managed to pull out a win. W&L got four goals, including the game winner in triple overtime, from Senior Midfielder Dustin Martin and two goals from junior attackrnan/male model Body, en route to a 8-7 overtime victory. Vlfith this mi- nor boost of confidence, the Generals prepared for #10 Gettysburg, a team that has. had trouble beating the Generals the past few years. Despite the fact that Senior midfielder Mike “no it’s not bro- ken, I mean, it hurts, but I play through pain” McNamara scored half the Generals’ goals, they were unable to convert on nu- merous chances, hitting an ab- surd number of pipes, and lost their second of the season to a solid Gettysburg team. The Bul- lets (is that really politically cor- rect? I mean we had to change to the Wizards and they’re al- lowed to stay the Bullets?) held W&L to two goals thanks to a stingy defense whose “long poles were the only good play- ers on their team,” according to junior midfielder Adam Librett Chesbrough. The Generals goals, however, were almost worth the loss. Senior attack/midfielder Roland “self-nominated funniest man in attendance Saturday night” Williams scored on a la- ser from “about midfield,” to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 7: 14 remain- ing before halftime. The Bullets tallied a third goal with 3:37 in the first half, inspiring W&L table tennis falls to UVA, J MU BY JANE BEALL STAFF WRITER OnFebruary 7, 2004, the crib Table Tennis team traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia for its first intercollegiate match. The brave pioneering members of the Club, sporting khakis with either duck boots or boat shoes, showed up late to Slaughter Gymnasium and were met with intense play, al- ready in progress. Virginia Tech’s squad, the perennial favorite, were outfitted in dry-fit jerseys with their names (which were mostly of Asian origin) and numbers bla- zoned across the back. The Gen- erals, however, were not intimi- dated. The Generals first faced UVA’s Cavaliers, which fea- tured Martin and Cathy, two Junior Olympic table tennis competitors, and a coach that was the national champion not twice, but thrice, in the seven- ties (I kid you not, I kid you not). W&L scouts reported that the UVA team holds their prac- tices on their Friday nights. These practices are followed by team bonding sessions that go late into the night, during which they trade Pokemon cards and play with their Pogs. The Generals, who boast the likes of a freshman named Barrett Something, and a jun- ior stud named Chris Some- thing in the one and two slots, respectively, put forth a valiant group effort, but ultimately fell in both singles and doubles match play. Next, the brave Generals took on the purple and gold Dukes from James Madison University. The really, really, ri- diculously good looking pair of brothers (fraternal and biologi- cal), Walker and Matt Nickles, fought hard against JMU’s best. Though they both re- corded losses, mostly due to the shaggy hair that blocked their vision, they looked ex- tremely handsome in their matching polo shirts. Some kid named Marshall, who appar- ently doesn’t even go to W&L and is in fact, currently enrolled House for Rent In The Country 4‘ Bedroom 4 Bath Lease goes from June 15, 2004 to June 15, 2005 1.5 miles‘ on Rt. 60 East 66JaWS99 as a freshman at Clemson Uni- versity, tagged along and sparred in several matches - all of which he lost. The doubles battle showcased the skills of veterans Tyler Van Leeuwan and Jane Beall. The duet dazzled the crowd with their \ With growling stomachs signaling the nearness of rallies against the clubs Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Fork Union Military Academy, and Piedmont Community College. In celebra- tion of their hard fought matches, the team went to Charlottesville’s famous greasy spoon on the Cor- ner, The White Spot, where they smiles and good lunchtime’ and a rewarded them- sportsmanship, selves with artery- though unfortu- Outlook f01' c 1 o g g i n g nately not with the upcoming Gusburgers. their talent. Ulti- Though the mately, the pair matChes9the Club was essen- lost both of their Generals gracefully tially devastated matches, but they bowed out of the by their opponent, managed to it was agreed that wrangle an im— toumamentm the Generals were pressive total of the winners as far five points from TABLE as fashion was their worthy ad— I concerned, and versaries. TENNIS were unanimously With growling voted the tourna- stomachs signal- ing the nearness of lunchtime, and a bleak outlook for the up- coming matches, the Generals gracefully bowed out of the tour- nament, forfeiting the remaining 3-800-643--$849 I wvmadstmrckcom merits the Best Dressed. Walker Nickels , in pos- sibly the proudest moment of the Club’s short history, was chosen as the tourrIament’s Miss Con- geniality. McNamara to take the team on his shoulders and snipe a G-O. With little over two minutes to go before halftime, the Booosh caught a pass from freshman Matt “hey Stanek” Arcati and one-timed a perfect shot upper ralph on the whimpering and helpless freshman ‘burg Goalie Pat Vaughan (no, really, it’s spelled that way). This reporter didn’t actually get to talk to Vaughan, but most Generals on the field remember hearing him say, “I need a clean pair of shorts, coach.” Then some other stuff happened; the Bullets managed to score more goals than the Gen- erals did at the end of regulation, so they won, if you can call that winning. When asked about the game, Body stated “I don’t know, prac- tice is not going to be fun tomor- row.” The Generals return to ac- tion on Saturday when they travel to ninth—ranked F&M. Gametime is 1:00 pm. Mens’ tennis defeats Hampden- Sydney College 7-0 BY ALLISON PERRY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR The Washington and Lee men’s tennis team brought home a win Wednesday after defeating Hampden—Sydney, 7- 0, on the road. The men im— proved-their record to 7-4, 4-0 in the ODAC. Hampden- Sydney is now 1-1, 0-1 in the ODAC. Junior Paul McClure led the men with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Patrick Gee in the No. 1 singles match. McClure is ranked 21st nationally. Sophomore David Shay defeated Justin Paciocco 6-1, 6- 1 in the No.2 spot. In the No.3 singles match, senior Graham Nix shut down Russ Brown, 6- 0, 6-0. ‘ . Senior K.C. Schaefer also won his match against Stephen Johnson at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1. In the No. 5 spot, sophomore Jor- dan Eichenberger shut down John Cronly 6-0, 6-0. Senior Austin Kim rounded out the singles play with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Part Willings in the No. 6 match. In doubles play, McClure and Eichenberger teamed up to defeat Gee and Johnson 8-5 at No. 1. Kim and Nix won their match with an 8-1 victory over Paciocco and Brown at No. 2. Schaefer and Shay shut down their opponents, Cronly and Willings, 8-0 in the No. 3 spot. Washington and Lee is currently ranked 8th in the In- tercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Division III national rankings. The men’s team was also picked first in the 2004 ODAC Preseason Spring poll. The poll is decided by a vote taken of the league’s coaches. Captain Austin Kim says the team is trying to include matches against bigger teams earlier in the season. Some of the teams the Generals are gear- ing up for are Salisbury, Mary Washington, Swarthmore, and Washington College. Kim says the team is working on several things in preparation for these matches, particularly its doubles play. “Especially with the doubles point, it is only one point, but sometimes it can de- cide the match,” Kim said. “We have been working on our doubles play, because that’s actually a weakness for us.” The Generals host Denison on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. for a non- conference match-up. This will be the first match of the sea- son for Denison. For the 2003 season, Denison finished with an overall record of 8-9. Salisbury has also been added to the schedule for Saturday. Support Generals’ gag/Athletics Fraternities -- Sororities Clubs -- Student Groups Earn $1,000-$2,000 this semester with a proven CampusFundraiser 3 hour fundraising event. Our free programs make fundraising easy with no risks. Fundraising dates are filling quickly, so get with the program! It works. Contact CampusFundraiser at (888) 923-3238, or visit . IL OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_007.2.txt L’ PAGE 7 I "'l’_i=fi3RlE\l<.}"l’Lllv1l7I~ll RTS 8t LIFE MEGANMORGAN ARis&LnrEnnoR Washington and Lee lesbian lives ‘out’ life in Lexington « A minority of one: that’s how Peggy Altman feels at times. Peggy, a junior ge- ology major from Belle Glade, Fla., is cur- rently the only out lesbian on campus. It hasn’t been hard to be the only les- bian, Peggy says, “except for the lack of options,” she adds with a smile. Dating, obviously, can be hard when your pos- sible dates include you and only you. “There’s never re- stated, “Lesbians Wanted,” followed by her phone number. She never quite worked up the nerve to hang it. According to Peggy, it might be easier to be a lesbian on campus than a gay man because most people don’t react as harshly to lesbians. Nonetheless, she can’t explain why more women don’t come out. “I don’t know what it is, honestly,” ally been a lesbian population. With _ guys there’s six or i MORETHANMAJNSTREAM KELLY jo LARSEN ‘05 Peggy says. “To be out and comfortable I think it’s easier to be female and gay but I seven out men” but Peggy embodies the entire population herself. She’s learned to compensate by visiting Roanoke and Lynchburg. “You just kinda meet your random people,” she explains. However, she thinks like she’s not re- ally the lone lesbian at W&L. “I don’t-» think I’m the only one. I think I’m the only one that acknowledges it and is out,” she asserts. She often jokes about starting a lesbian recruiting service. Dur- ing the Gay—Straight Alliance’s National Coming Out Day celebrations she even designed a sign to hang up that simply think that the acknowledgement is harder.” Peggy believes the Greek system could have an effect on keeping lesbians in the closet. Peggy deactivated from a sorority last year. “It’s a lot of money to spend on something that I wasn’t really involved in,” she explains. There were never any incidents in the sorority that affected Peggy, and her membership did not keep her from coming out. “I wasn’t really involved in the sorority to a point where it would affect me. There really wasn’t a chance for anything,” Peggy said. However, the Greek system could be holding a lot of lesbians in the closet. “There’s a lot of pressure to be the ideal woman and a lot of pressure to be a cer- tain way. Everybody, whether it’s one big group or a minority, wants to fit in. It’s human nature to want to be accepted by a group,” she explained. Then again, “no one ‘knows how a» srat would react be- cause there aren’t any [out lesbian so- rority members].” Peggy came out to her teammates on the basketball team freshman year and she told her parents that summer. She took the fall of her sophomore year off to complete National Outdoor Leadership School training and when she came back to campus she didn’t keep her sexuality a secret. “I came back and people knew and I didn’t hide it. I never hid it but it’s not like I shouted it from the roof- tops either,” Peggy remembers. She also had a girlfriend at the time and w2sn’t afraid to walk across the campus hand—in—hand with her. When she does come out, most people simply say, “Oh, ok,” and move on. “Guys ask me for sex advice, and mostly the girls just don’t say anything,” Peggy says. Peggy might be among the few girls on campus that a guy could ask about'sex and not appear to be hitting on her or just being really inappropriate. “I think‘ the majority is ok with it. They might not agree with homosexuality but are just like, ‘to each his own.’ The out- spoken, though, are really outspoken,” Peggy explained. No one has ever said anything directly to her and she learns of most of the opposition through the newspapers. « Peggy came to W&L after applying early decision and knew very little about the school, even less how the student body reacted to gays and lesbians. “Se- nior year I was still trying to play it straight and it really wasn’t on my mind. I knew [W&L] had mountains and it was a good education,” Peggy recalled. She has enjoyed her time here and explains, “My problems with W&L are not because I’m a lesbian.” She issues advice to her fellow students to simply be themselves. “To anybody——be it gay, straight, blue, black, anything-be comfortable in that ,and you’ll be surprised how many people will be accepting. Give them the benefit of the doubt.” ONE HECK or A PARTY Dancing the night away. On the top left, pary-goers danced the night away to the sounds of the band Voltage Brothers, who performed a wide variety of music for attendees. On the top right and bottom, decorations including flowers, mushrooms and lollipop trees covered the Warner Center reflecting the theme of the dance, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory . In addition, the smaller gym, which was set up for a DJ, was decorated to resemble the bubble room from the movie and had a screen playing scenes from the movie. mg—tum Tom James Company .,,_\ at :6“?-~ W___ I ‘v ».‘\ ‘ "xx; terraced landscaping. Asking $229,000. (540) 464-3738 or Home forS al 704 N. MAIN ST., LEXINGTON, VA Built circa 1880 on Institute Hill, now completely restored with modern plumbing, wiring, heating, windows and new appliances. New carpeting in all main rooms plus stenciled wood floors. 4 Bedrooms, 1 1/2 Baths, Livingroom/Diningroom, all new kitchen plus a large utility/oflice Room. Large third floor storage room and an attached outside storage area. Two large front porches and beautiful old stone walls on Easy walk to VMI, Washington and Lee or downtown shopping. Private lane access and parking. Taxes $400 yearly. Interviews? Internship? Special occasion? your best!! and Sports Coats Student Packages & Contact Adam Williams I for an appointment or with questions 5408154557 (540) 46047 1 8 Let us help you look and feel Custom and Ready Made Suits Shirts, pants, shoes and all accessories Gi t Certi icates Available Adam.Wi1liams @tomjamesretail.com BY MEGAN MORGAN ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR this, several students have recently an- nounced their engagments. This week, two couples have released announce- ments. Mr. and Mrs Jonathan Downes of Granville,’ Ohio an- nounce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Helen Elizabeth Downes to Mr. Andrew Tex. As graduation approaches, stu- dents have begun to make summer, ca- reer and relationship plans. As part of Helen Downes & Andrew Fotinos Christopher Fotinos, son of Reverend and Mrs. Dennis Fotinos of Kingwood, Miss Downes is a 2002 graduate of Washington and Lee University, and is the Project Coordinator for the Envi- ronmental Studies Program at Wash- ington and Lee. Mr. Fotinos will gradu- ate in June from Washington and Lee with a degree in politics and environ- Two W&L couples announce engagements mental studies. The couple plan to move to Charlottesville, Va. after their wedding where Miss Downes hopes to pursue a master’s degree in elementary education. The wedding is planned for Aug. 7, 2004 at R. E. Lee Memo- rial Episcopal Church in Lexington, Va. Mr. and Mrs. George Small announce the en- gagement of their daugh- ter, Miss Justine Small to Mr. Cameron Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sid Smith of Brentwood, Tenn. Miss Small is a mem- ber of the class of 2005 and Mr. Smith is a mem- ber of the class of 2004. The couple met orientation week of her fresh- man year, and began dating shortly thereafter. Miss Small and Mr. Smith plan to wed in Brentwood on July 2, 2005. Mr. Smith plans to attend law school after graduation, and so their future plans hinge on his law school choice. OCR::/Vol_106/WLURG39_RTP_20040309/WLURG39_RTP_20040309_008.2.txt PAGE 8 THE int RING-iutifir AST ORD MEGANMORGAN Ans&lrrrEDrroR FMAl:lvlORGl\NMl@WlUlDlJ TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2004 Absolute Fratlord salutes women of Washington and Lee This past week was amazing. But why is that? I had a twelve-page midterm to take care of, in addition to another paper and a test. Furthermore, I had to supervise IM Basketball all week long, since last year I made that fateful decision to sell my soul to the intramural _ program. Ididn’t get a lot of sleep. I lost some money in poker. I ran out of clean socks and never got around to do laundry. I ripped a hole in my favorite pair of corduroys. My truck almost ran out of gas. Truthfully, given all these things that drove me crazy, the week probably seemed sorta crappy, right? But I stand by my comment — It was an amazing week! Any guesses why? As the weather gets warmer, we all get to see the most beautiful thing about W&L, and it’s not the red brick buildings or the blossoming flowers. It’s the girls. W&L girls are unbelievable. I firmly be- lieve that every male student at W&L is spoiled by our proximity to some of the most wonderfully attractive ladies in the world. As with all things, W&L tends to put its own ALL CALL FOR EQUALITY. A1>soLUr FRATTDTRDT LlImSLIvIrr_H_‘@|4_ unique twist on the typical college experi- ence, and with W&L ladies, it’s no different. Maybe it has to do with the Southern debu- tante heritage or with the Greek system or whatever, but I really do think that there’s something about W&L girls, the way they dress, the way they behave, or just who they are that places them worlds apart from the typical American college females. Seriously — which frat guy, in going down to help freshmen move in during the first day of orientation week, hasn’t sighed and marveled at the ridiculous girls who are entering the school? Freshman Face-Books are transformed into the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues, with all W&L guys debat- ing over which new ladies compete for the -“Hottest Girl to Stroll the Colonnade” Award. During the first few weeks of fall term, upperclassmen frat guys are gener- ally more concerned with “rushing” fresh- men girls than the guys, knowing full well that frosh guys will follow the girls just about anywhere. Now with the weather getting warmer, . Guerilla Girls. On March 2 a comedy troupe called The Guerilla Girls performed in the W&L Elrod Commons Theater. The troupe, who has been performing since 1985, consists of anonymous feminists that take the names of dead women artists, appear in guerilla masks in public and use humor to highlight and start discussions on sexism and racism in art, film, politics and culture as a whole. it’s like stumbling into a department store catalog. One of my pledges has an internet poll on the best thing about spring, and, sure enough, at the top of the list is the obvious answer: Girls in Mini-Skirts. I won- der if any observant students have noticed the big goofy smile on my face as I walk down Stemmons Plaza, passing girl after wonderful girl, thanking my lucky stars that I’ve had the opportunity to spend four glo- rious years in this paradise. I’m sure there are some critics. I’ve heard a few myself — all those naysayers who have convinced themselves that W&L girls are spoiled elitists Southern daugh- ters who’ve been bred to understand how immaculate they are. Typically though, these critics are bashing sororities, not the girls in them. I’ve had my own negative comments towards characteristics of the sororities at this school (towards fraterni- ties too for that matter). But I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a student who, af- ter meeting these supposedly “elitist” girls individually, would not be impressed by the charm, the kindness and the genuine nature that the majority of W&L girls have. This rebuke is part of a pattern in The Passion. The release of “The Pas- year-old man. Absolutely. DY G mg- um U I Q Which possesses more hotness? Colton Ward’s rat tail or Travis Srnith’s VMI basketball sweater vest? Q Hell Week; Since no one has pledgeship any- more, can we haze the administration? Q Since they go unrecognized too often, I want to recognize and make all aware of the Minority Student Dream Team, Kisha Barnes, Zakiyah Bradford and Kaela Harmon. Q Look at the panoramic picture on the third level of the library. Are the two men on the far left and the far right not one and the same? Weird. Q Will my paper ever finish itself? Q Do the professors ever tire of teaching? Be- cause I’m getting tired of going to class. Q Has anyone else noticed how cute the Italian- looking pizza guy in the Marketplace is? Q Quick Poll: Harry Vlfrnston vs. Tiffany engage- ment ring: No-Brainer, Harry Winston, OF COURSE! For those who don’t understand, if Tiffany equals Mercedes-Benz then Harry Winston equals Rolls Royce. It’s as simple as that. Q Damn Brittany and her masochistic ways for cutting the tail of our gerbil. Q Shout out to the SAO for sponsoring the first video game tournament. Q More on that: Has everyone heard about the Halo Team Tournament on March 12? Q Still more: Way to go SAO! Official recogni- tion by the EC as a student organization. Q Kisha would like to announce her plans to be engaged to J eb later in the month. Q I understand that Martha was found guilty on all four counts, but can we please stop the “How to Brighten Up Your Prison Cell” jokes already? Q Today in transportation: Both the CSS Virginia and the Goodyear blimp were first launched today, in 1862 and 1972, respectively. Q In Canada, yesterday was Alanis Morissette Day. Jesus of Nazareth hangs from the cross near the end of Mel’s Gibson’s “The Passion of The Christ,” when a Jewish thief, hang- ing from his own cross to Jesus’ right insults him. “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” sion,” Mel Gibson’s explicit depic- tion of the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus is laden with controversy. Jewish religious groups have pro- tested the film, saying that the movie will inflame anti—sernitism by its portrayal of Jews playing a large role in the crucifixion. Hollywood critics have accused Gibson of em- ploying urmecessary violence to incite hate and anti-sernitism. Jour- nalists have repeatedly knocked on the door of Gibson’s father, Hutton, seeking one more outlandish quote about the Holocaust from the 85- But having seen “The Pas- sion” personally, I was disturbed and relieved to find these accusa- tions of the film were fraudulent. The pattern in the film is not anti- semitic; it is a pattern of duality. Are there evil Jews in the film? Yes. Are there also Jewish heroes? After the criminal hanging from Jesus’ right slights the Christ, another Jewish thief crucified on Jesus’ left replies, “We are pun- ished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” I expect a few reactions to this article. One generally held perception, or at least it’s one that I’ve heard before, is that I write certain things in my articles so that I can “score” with the W&L ladies. My re- sponse, with all I’ve written above, is this — CAN YOU BLAME ME? Before I get ahead of myself, I am currently in a rela- tionship, but really, what’s so ridiculous about that idea? Also, this is‘ not intended to be some “gender role” article. I’m not arguing that girls at this school are so attractive because they maintain some accepted social position or some garbage like that. If you’d like to debate my views about gender roles in the American society, feel free, but I’m not try- ing to make a political statement in this case. I’m simply stating that W&L girls, in gen- eral, have no equal among the college world. In a pretty crappy week, warm weather and W&L girls brightened my days — I think most W&L fellas will agree that, with Spring Term fast approaching, they look forward to the sundresses and the tans and the girls that make this school an even more amazing place than it already is. Is Passion anti-sernitic? The problem with Gibson’s critics is that they fail to recog- nize the film’s Jewish heroes and heroines and focus on the negative portrayal of the Phari- sees, the Jewish hierarchy which-coerces Judas to deliver Jesus to them and later per- suades Pontius Pilate to crucify him. ‘ However, like the man hang- ing from Jesus’ left, the film has, plenty of Jewish heroes. Do not forget that the primary protago- nist of the plot, Jesus, is Jewish. His mother, the Virgin Mary, not only is a Jewish character, but is played by a Romanian Jew. John, the disciple who follows Jesus all the way to Golgotha and watches after Mary, is Jewish. Simon of Cyrene, the laborer who carries Jesus’ cross for him when he is too weak to carry it himself and who fends off the mob from at- tacking the beleaguered man, is Jewish. Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ followers—saved by the phrase “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”—loyally stands beneath Jesus while he slowly dies on the cross. Nicodemus, the Pharisee who ardently de- fends Jesus during the trial in front of the Sanhedrin, is Jewish. The “woman,” who brings Jesus a cup of water and a shawl after he col- lapses while carrying the cross, is a Jew. Even Judas, who often in THE l-FoRMA’noN“i‘ [AKE TROT1‘ER‘0i_ evil man, is portrayed sympatheti- cally vulnerable instead of wicked. Likethetwomencrucified next to Jesus, there are bad guys who are Jews, and good guys who are Jews in “The Passion.” A lot like real1ife,isn’tit? (I) Erin Julius did not go Fancy Dress. Ifyou see her, try to cheer her up, especially if you’re a Keydet. Q First on FD: The decorations were great and the Voltage Brothers were awesome! Q Another: Professors I’d love‘ to see at FD that didn’t come—— Futch, Coach Stickley, Pleva, DeLaney, McRae. Q More: It was really terrible that the bars ran out of soda and cups as early as 11:00. (I) Still more: I enjoyed the slow dances. There aren’t enough slow dances at W&L. You can’t ever slow dance in a frat basement, so FD is really the only opportunity. Q Yet one more: Did anyone else notice a lot more kissing and blatant, out-in—the—open chug- ging from flasks than in years past? Q Still yet one more: Where was the chocolate river? Q Finally: I’m sick and tired of hearing coeds complain about importing. They can do it as well, but that would be admitting defeat. Q Is anybody else hungry right now? Q Here’s to a happy and safe un—Hell Week with lots of un—hazing. Q Stunningly, my pre-FD plans at the Mirage didn’t have any takers. Same went for the after- party at Dornino’s. Q Thank heavens the Guerilla Girls have come and gone and those miserable posters are no longer a blight on our fair campus. Q Congratulations to the St. Edward Eagles on winning their ninth state ice hockey championship! Q What is up with that girl playing the theme from Forrest Gump in the Commons 24/7 on the piano? Q Whoever is blaring that annoying Eiffel 65 “Blue” song from Graharn—Lees needs to stop. Q Beer goggles or Wonkavision? Q “Raging Intellectuals”— little more than mali- cious, hateful, childish whining. Garbage like that shouldn’t be printed. ' Q I’m happy the Co-op is now carrying Diet Coke with lime. Q Do your part to keep our campus beautiful: Don't walk on the grass. Q E—mail your anonymous Quick Hits and laments about the lack of fun Hell Week pranks to phi@wlu.edu. Christian lore is portrayed as an, v! ‘V