OCR::/Vol_111/WLURG39_RTP_20070924/WLURG39_RTP_20070924_001.2.txt -J. Light u p vi Playing a rare night game, leads W&L to a 35-21win over Ave e 590373 7, Page MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2007 THE STUDENTS AND FOR THE STUDENTS SINCE 1897 VOLUME CXI, NUMBER 3 Prof’s lecture attracts crowd Scholar speaks on effects of the South on hearts of African-American writers By John Henderson STAFF WRITER Professor Trudier Harris, this year’s Shan- non-Clark guest lecturer, spoke last Thursday to a packed house in Northen Auditorium. As she began her presentation on her lat- est book, “The Scary Mason—Dixon Line”, it was clear that she did not need prepared jokes to captivate her audience or a microphone to make herself heard. “There is this great, vast, brooding, welcom- ‘ ing and bloodstained land, beautiful enough to massage and break the heart,” said Harris. With these words she captured the subject of her lec- ture, the American South, and the effect that it has had on the hearts of black writers. She made her case like a courtroom lawyer, systematically and persuasively presenting the knowledge attained from a lifetime of scholar- ship. Harris attended Stillman College inAlabama and earned her Ph.D. at Ohio State University in 1973. She taught at the College of William and Mary until 1979 and went on to teach at the University of North Carolina. She is now the J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of English at UNC. In the field of black literature, Harris is a leading scholar. She has written seven books on authors like Toni Morrison and James Baldin, and she has edited numerous anthologies. She has seen black literature from Northern and Southern perspectives. But more impressive than her resume was the complete ease with which she drew on the literature, dissected it and made it accessible to the audience. Students and faculty were attentive as Har- ris spoke of the fear that black writers have of the South and their simultaneous attraction to it. She called the American South a “rite of passage”—a terrifying, compelling subject to be attacked and overcome. She spoke rapidly and energetically as she ranged over these themes. After her 45-minute lecture, a reception was attended by more than 120 audience members. As professors and, students munched on their cheese and crackers, they chatted in small groups and waited for their chance to speak to Harris. Every reaction to her talk was enthusiastic. French professor Mohamed Kamara described it as “very exiting” and “amazing.” Senior English major Dane Boston said, “I thought it was very engaging and also very in- sightful.” See “PROPS LECTURE” on page 2 By Jesslca Shaw NEWS EDITOR President Ken Ruscio’s academic proposal aimed at making Washing- ton and Lee a national leader in liber- al arts education has elicited diverse responses from students and faculty. The plan, if approved, would go into effect at the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year. Under the new proposal, Spring Term would de- crease from six weeks to four weeks, and the graduation requirements would drop from 38 to 36 courses. Additionally, faculty would teach an average of 5.5 courses per year, down from six. “It’s going to have a momentary dramatic impact,” Ruscio said. Compared with 24 of its peer insti- tutions, W&L has the highest faculty course load and the second highest course graduation requirement. Rus- cio said in order for W&L to establish itself as a leader for liberal arts, these constraints, along with the current structure of Spring Term, need to be modified. ‘ “I’ve been thinking about it al- most from the moment I walked in the door,” he said. In decreasing the length of Spring Term to four weeks, Ruscio said stu- dents would take a single course that is more focused and intensive instead of two courses. When Ruscio came into ofiice a year ago, he said he did not understand the current Spring Term system. Now that he has a grasp of it, he said he has little confidence that it will succeed. “It would be irrespon- sible ofme to waitfor the chaos and pick up the dead bodies. ” KEN RUSCIO, W&L President “It probably is only a matter of time before it collapses on its own,” he said. “If I’m really seeing that, it would be irresponsible of me to wait for the chaos and pick up the dead bodies.” In the past two weeks, Ruscio pre- sented the proposal first to the depart- ment heads, then to the faculty and finally to the Executive Committee, comprised of students. ’ Though a general respect and ap- preciation for the proposal’s inten- tions seems universal, several faculty members and students have expressed doubts and concerns. Junior Representative for the EC, Rich Cleary, said he values the cur- rent length of Spring Term, because there is more time to develop rela- tionships with professors. “It’s the professor-student relation- ships that has been one of the most outstanding parts of my W&L expe- rience,” he said. “One of my worries is that [a shorter Spring Term] will reduce and dilute and cheapen the academic experience.” Professor Kenneth Van Ness, head of the Physics and Engineering department, said the new plan will affect his discipline, because there are required major courses during the spring. The proposal mandates a four-week intensive course, but in the Sciences, he said there is not a lot of flexibility. “We still need to teach courses for the major, or they’re not going to learn what they need to learn,” he said. “The six weeks is pushing it. I don’t think you could compress itany See “$PRlNG" on page 2 L NORA NUNLEY/ staff photographer Riley Barnes, the Texas State Chair, work- ‘ ing to sign students up for his delegation. Mock Con gains momentum Delegate fair sparks enthusiastic campus participation By Allison Chopln STAFF wrmsn Students swarmed into Stem- mons Plaza last Wednesday, greeted by an overwhelming array of ban- ners, chocolate chip cookies and loud music. Student"-manned booths were decorated with signs, and students could peruse dozens of tables. The Mock Convention Delegate Fair was the last chance for students to become participants in Washing- ton and Lee’s Mock Convention for 2008. Mock Con is held at W&L during every presidential election year. Its purpose is to predict the non-incum- bent party’s presidential candidate. Students participating in this year’s convention will select the nominee for the Democratic Party. Oberlin" College in Ohio was the first college in the United States to hold a presidential mock conven- tion. The first was held in 1860. Other schools with similar conventions in- clude Westminster in Pennsylania and Loyola College in Maryland. However, W&L’s Mock Con has been praised by “Time”, “Newsweek”, the U.S. Senate and others as being the biggest and most accurate convention of this type on college campuses. Out of 23 predictions, the convention has been correct 18 times. Recent years have been extremely successful--only one incorrect prediction has been made since 1948. The 2008 Mock Con will mark the 100"‘ anniversary of the first conven- tion, held in 1908. The convention is a campus—wide event. At Mock Con 2004, over 90 percent of the student body was in- volved in some way. This year, the numbers look even better. “We are definitely well over 1500 students and looking to be on par with the traditional 92 percent of students involved,” said senior Tri-Chair Sara Mueller. “This is the last chance for students to get involved with Mock Con. We just want as many students to participate as possible. ” KATE CHIASSON, Wlsconsln chalr Wednesday’s Fair gave students an opportunity to join the convention as delegates. Senior Kate Chiasson, the state chair for Wisconsin, explained the importance of the fair. “This is the last chance for stu- dents to get involved with Mock Con. We just want as many students to par- ticipate as possible,” she said. At any time between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Wednesday, crowds of stu- dents gathered around tables in the plaza to join the delegation for their favorite state. The chairpersons for each state had assembled enticing displays to advertise their delegations, complete with state flags, music and posters proclaiming state mottos, history and interesting facts. For example, Maine’s delegation sported the motto “Maine-iacs,” and the accompanying poster featured a peculiar state law: after January 14 of the new year, citi- zens can be charged with a fine if they have not taken down their Christmas decorations. What better reason could one need to join the state of Maine? Many students chose to join the See “M0cK" on page 2 OCR::/Vol_111/WLURG39_RTP_20070924/WLURG39_RTP_20070924_002.2.txt '-'r W" TON a. use umvsnsrnr LEXINGTON. VA 24450 SEP 2 5 Zlllll 2 ' THE RING-TUM PHI - M O N DAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2007 Mock Convention continued from page 1 delegations of their home states, or they signed up with friends or chose a state that interested them. The more ad- venturous would-be delegates could also sign up for U.S. territories, such as Guam, the American Samoa and the Vir- gin Islands. Students could also join the Democrats Abroad if they did not wish tojoin a state or territory. “I wanted to be part of a more southern state,” said freshman Katherine Gould. She is from Kentucky and de- cided to join Georgia. A number of international students chose to participate. Freshman Wendy Shang, who is from China, signed up as a delegate for Texas. “I will spend this Christmas in Texas, and I hear that it is an awesome state,” she said. I unior Grace Andrews, who was born in Ghana, Africa and grew up in Tennessee, chose to serve as the state chair for Hawaii. “I chose to represent Ha- wail, because I knew that I didn’t know much about their political background. I saw be- ing the state chair as a chance to learn about the islands be- sides what l‘ve always seen on TV. while having fun,” she said. New delegates can find many ways to get involved with their delegations. They can take up positions such as vice chair or treasurer, or they can assist in designing a t-shirt or lloat or performing research. Students can also choose to simply attend the convention and cheer on their respective delegations. “They can be as involved as they want to. It’s up to them as to how they want to par- ticipatc.” said junior Michael Gretchen, the state chair for Louisiana. Junior Riley Barnes, the chair for Texas, explained some of the responsibilities of being a chair. Chairs are in charge of su- pervising the delegation. One ofthese tasks is conducting re- search on the state or territory so that accurate votes will be cast. . W&L’s Mock Con will be Jan. 25-26, 2008. “I’m excited, because it is something unique to W&L,” Gould said. Prof’s lecture continued from page 1 Marc Conner, an English professor who teaches Afri- can-American literature, was greatly impressed by Harris. “The lecture was fantastic-- so much energy and then such knowledge,” he said. “I mean, she mentioned about 30 dif- ferent writers in‘/45 minutes. That‘s hard to do.” Conner was responsible for coordinating this ycar’s Shan- non-Clark lecture and gave the introductory remarks for Har- ris. When asked why she was chosen to be the speaker, Con- ner said, “Particularly since this is the third year of the African-American studies pro- gram, and literature is a big part of that, we really wanted to bring an African-American literary scholar.” Conner also said, “She is easily one ofthe top 10 [schol- ars in black literature] in the world, and I would say one of the top five.” Art professor Pamela Simp- , son said she hopes she inspires lecture attendees to read the books she references. However, she said Harris far exceeded normal expecta- tions. “It‘s also just the intellec- tual enterprise of encouraging people to think about the world and the environment they live in." said Simpson. Spring Term continued from page 1 Journalism Department Head Brian Richardson said his program runs into problems when faced with the require- ments of being a nationally accredited program. The accreditation insists that students take a certain number of credits outside the major, and with less courses now offered, it leaves little room for flexibility within the department. “It is a squeeze,” he said. ‘‘It doesn’t leave any room left to take electives in our department.” Spring Term has become known for certain courses like the Archaeology Department’s Dig. Archaeology Profes- sor Laura Galke said the Dig has been around since the 1970s. She said it might now have to be offered in the fall. “Compressing a full excavation... into a four week term would be chal- lenging,” Galke said. Though the course may no longer be offered in the Spring, Galke said the department is committed to continuing the program. She also said the shorter Spring Term would still be a prime op- portunity for studies in fieldwork. Other faculty view this abbreviated term as an opportunity to be creative with course offerings. “Teaching can be really fun in this regard,” said History department head Ted DeLaney. “It’s a real privilege to be able to totally immerse students in a single course for four weeks -- that’s not to say that creating such a course will be easy for everyone.” DeLaney said this term would lend itself beautifully to something like an oral history project. , “In a discipline like history, creating - a four-week long couse takes a lot more creativity and imagination,” he said. Although it will not affect senior EC Vice President Jordan Campbell, he said he likes the proposal and Ruscio’s motivation. The idea of a four-week in- tensive class to enhance the liberal arts education makes sense to him. “That’s kind of what the heart of Spring Term was originally supposed to be about,” he said. Ruscio plans to let the ideas sink in during Fall term, and then he wants to take a vote at the end of December. “It’s going to have to be supported by the faculty,” he said. Richardson said he thinks faculty re- sponse has been positive. “As far as individual faculty go, I sense a fair amount of broad support,” he said. “Whatever we do now, we’re going to leave it the hell alone for 10 years.” Cleary said he hopes the proposal will spark discussion within the entire W&L community. He also said at the moment, he does not think there is a full awareness of the proposal within the student body. Ruscio stressed, however, that stu- dent feedback is very valuable to him. “What I hope this spurs is a real con- versation about academic life,” he said. “I would welcome those kinds of con- versations with students.” With this proposal, Ruscio said he hopes to first shape the local conver- sation about liberal arts education and then begin to affect the national conver- sation. . “That is the bread and butter of-liberal arts teaching,” he said. “I am convinced that we have all of the ingredients.” Introducing an enlightening new idea: Your Navigator from U.S. Cel|ularEP lt’s a GPS system with a local search function built right into your phone. With voice—guided, turn-by-turn directions, clarity and direction are just a call or a visit away. US. Cellular is wireless where you matter most?”