OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081023/WLURG39_RTP_20081023_001.2.txt WSHINGTO“ LEE UNIVERSITY Cody Beauchamp and Abel Delgado debate who they think you should ‘vote for on November4. OPINIONS / page 3 I 4 I THE RING-TUM PHI. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008 BY THE STUDENTS AND FOR THE STUDENTS SINCE 1897 VOLUME CXII, NUMBER 6 Renovated Wilson Field rededieated Ceremony recognizes new Hall of Fame inductees By Jesslca Stralt STAFF WRITER The opening ceremony of the renovated Wil- son Field last Saturday served as a reminder of past successes on the old field and the potential to continue that tradition on the new one. , A large crowd of students and visiting alumni cheered on the Generals in the Hampden-Sydney game Saturday afternoon. At half-time, President Ruscio and Athletic Director Jan Hathom took the field to officially open the athletic complex, the construction of which was made possible by a do- nation from Dick Duchossis and his family. “It is a distinction and ‘an honor to accept the field on the behalf of the staff, faculty, students and alumni,” Ruscio said. During the ceremony, four athletes and the 1961 Washington and- Lee football team were inducted into the Hall of Fame. The inductees include Jack Berry ’76, Andrew White ’88,,Beth Stutzmann ’90 and Dave Warfield ’75 for athletic achievements in track and field, lacrosse, swim- ming and soccer. The 1961 football team, which had a perfect season record of 9-0, was inducted next as the 2 1 st class into the Hall of Fame. The Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C. named W&L’s 1961 team “Outstanding Small College Football Team”. “I think the field is absolutely gorgeous and the facilities are as good as any in the country. It is both aesthetically pleasing and functional, and I am thrilled to be a part of it. ” Mlckey Walker ‘63, 1961 football team Mickey Walker ’63, a member of the team, came from Virginia Beach this weekend to be part of the ceremony. “I think the field is absolutely gorgeous and the facilities are as good as any in the country,” Walker said. “It is both aesthetically pleasing and functional, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.” It was Walker’s first time to step back on the field since playing for the team from 1959-1963. For many members of the 1961 football team, it was the first time they had seen each other in over 40 years. More than half of the original team made it back to W&L for the induction ceremony. The team toured the renovated athletic com- plex Saturday morning. Walker recalled how the press box used to be set so low that the people inside narrating and recording statistics for the game would often not be able to see properly if the crowd blocked the window. Walker, who also ran track, said the new track is an improvement on the old cinder track he used to run on. Renovations to the field began in October 2007. The field features a new brick stadium that seats 3,500 on the home side and 500 on the visi- tors’ side, a two—story press box, an upper court with concessions stands, chairs and tables, a syn- thetic turf field, an expanded track, new lighting and a new wrought-iron gate which players run through at the beginning of every game. A number ll encircled on the left comer of the playing surface honors the late Rob Lindsey, one of the top two athletes in W&L’s history, Ruscio said. Lindsey’s family was present at the ceremo- ny, along with many of his former teammates and classmates. For many years, the rusting, metal bleachers where football fans used to sit drew complaints for not matching the aesthetic appeal of the rest of the campus. Now, Wilson Field is the latest gem to adorn W&L. “I feel like it has definitely strengthened school spirit,” senior Chris Tutor said. “I think people are proud of it, and I really like how it blends in with our campus. The old field was somewhat of an eyesore.” The renovations have also affected the way players feel about their football games. “Playing on Wilson field has always been fun but now there is even more pride to play well and be a General,” junior Jeffrey Boateng said. The transformation of Wilson Field should “benefit the Washington & Lee community for many years to come,” Hathom said. Move over, Gossip Girl Juicycampus.com makes gossiping even easier at W&L By Queenie Wong STAFF WRITER A controversial campus gossip Web site has Washington and Lee students dishing the dirt about their peers anonymously online. Called Juicy Campus, it’s a col- legiate version of a cyber bathroom wall where users can post anonymous comments about students in 500 col- leges nationwide. Students here be- gan posting on the website last month and popular topics include “hottest girl in each srat,” “worst hazers” and “most beautiful penis.” It’s the latest online craze to hit college campuses, but some critics say the online tattling goes too far. “I was angry at first, but now I have come to accept that our campus definitely talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk when it comes to hon- or and integrity,” said a W&L stu- dent, who discovered she had been gossiped about on the site. “I am more aware of what the stu- dent body is truly like and I am less trusting of my peers,” she said. Student body organizations quickly responded to the site by sending a mass e-mail to the campus community. They called Juicy Cam- “I have come to accept that our campus...talks the talk but doesn ’t walk the walk when it comes to honor and integrity. ” A W&L student who was referenced on Julcycampus. pus “inconsistent” with the school’s honor code and community values and reminded students to respect and honor others. “For our part, we advocate only what is expected of every W&L stu- dent: respectful, honorable conduct toward your peers and the members of this community,” said the c-mail. The e-mail was signed by the student heads of the Executive Council, the Student Judicial Coun- cil, Resident Advisers, the Student- Faculty Hearing Board, the Panhel- lenic Council and the Interfraternity Council. The Dean of Student Affairs, Dawn Watkins, said she immediately contacted the Executive Committee after she began receiving student e- mails complaining about the site. Although some colleges have looked into blocking Juicy Campus, Watkins said the best solution is in the hands of the students. “I saw our student leadership re- spond in a powerful way and I saw our student body rise to that level,” she said. “This was student self-gov- emance at its best.” Other students agree that the site is harmful. “I think the anonymity of it pro- vides students an opportunity to say things they normally wouldn’t say and that probably has a detrimental effect on social life at this school,” said junior Ben Goetsch. Sophomore Austin Bone called the site “juvenile and seventh-grade.” But for those who have been de- famed on sites like Juicy Campus there is little they can do, said jour- nalism professor, Adedayo Abah. Abah, who teaches a course on communications law, referred to the Communications Decency Act of 1996. The Act pr0teets,Web publish- ers from liability for libelous com- ments posted by third parties. Yet protection of anonymous speech is hardly new, Abah said. “Anonymous speech was pro- tected prior to the popularity of the Internet to protect speakers against the tyranny of the majority,” she said. “However, in the online world, anonymous speech has become a guise for some speakers to smear other people.” The fourth presidential debate College Democrats, Republicans hola’ mock debate in Lee Chapel By Anne Vesoulls STA F F W R I T E R As presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain duke it out in the national media, students at Washington and Lee are carrying on the debate on campus. Politically-minded students gath- ered in Lee Chapel .on Tuesday, Oct. 18, to observe and participate in a mock presidential debate be- tween representatives of the College Democrats and College Republicans. Politics Prof. Bill Connely presided over the debate. Both organizations came to the debate ready to defend their candi- date and attack the other side on six areas, including the economy and taxes, national security, energy and the environment, healthcare, domes- tic and social issues and character. “We researched Barack Obama’s position on the various issues, brain- stormed what the College Republi- cans might attack about it and tried to come up with counter punches,” said College Democrats debater Summer Lollie. “To prepare, [we] got together and brainstormed,” said College Re- publicans President Scott Centorino. “We practiced, our answers and fol- low-ups to the expected Democratic answers and attacks. We knew the Democrats would come out swinging and that the only way to beat them would be to fight back aggressively and keep them on the defensive.” The questions were negotiated by the participants prior to the debate. Each response was to last one minute ‘ and the opposing side had a one min- ute rebuttal. Participants were per- mitted to call for a second rebuttal. The College Democrats presented Barack Obama as a man who was for the middle class with relation to the economy, the environment and healthcare while accusing McCain of being too “big business.” “The United States should oper- ate under a ‘Pay-Go’ system like the rest of the middle class. If we don’t have the money, we can’t spend it,” said College Democrats debater Jor- dan Wilson. The College Republicans focused on John McCain as an American hero with war experience, senatorial experience and the best interest of America at heart. “One candidate has rhetoric; the other has substance behind his words. One candidate has slogans, the other has solutions...One pledges to fight for some Americans. The other has already fought for all Americans... The people of America know John McCain,” Centorino said; _ Reactions to the mock debate were mixed. “Overall the debate was a suc- cess,” said first-year Robert Day. “The College Democrats and College Republicans faced off, and generally supported their party lines .” “As a strong Obama supporter, this was the first debate of this elec- tion season I’ ve seen the Republicans win. Each side had strong and weak arguments and plenty of ideas, but I believe the ideas articulated by the Republicans put the Democrats on the defensive throughout,” he said. ‘‘I thought the debate was interest- ing to watch,” said first-year Joshua Posner. “The Democrats and Repub- licans both appeared strong, but the Republicans tried to act like they knew everything_ while the Demo- crats seemed overly nervous.” “I don’t think anyone ‘actually won the debate because no one re- ally took their opponents point and accurately criticized it or came up with a reason their idea was better,” he said. Participants on both sides main- tained their side had won the debate. “I think the debate was more sub- stantiate than the real Presidential and Vice Presidential debates,” Lol- lie said. “We got to the key issues and actually debated policy. As far as the outcome, in my opinion, there is no doubt that the Democrats won.” “I really enjoyed the debate,” se- nior Chris Tutor said . “I thought the discussion was fascinating and I felt like I learned a bit. It was very con- structive and I am happy that I had the opportunity to participate. Not surprisingly I think the Republicans won, and I think the audience would agree.” OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081023/WLURG39_RTP_20081023_002.2.txt UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WASHINGTON & LEE UNl'\tERS.‘TY l£)L'£NGTON_ VA 2445;; 2 4 2898 2 0 news THE RING-TUM PHI THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008 an, The Virtue of being cheap Personal finance columnist says America is a nation of debt-lovers and credit is evil By Alllson chopln MANAGING EDITOR Credit is evil and frugality is the only path to finan- cial freedom and a blissful life -- at least, that’s the view taken by Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist for the Washington Post who spoke in W&L’s Stackhouse ‘ Theater last Tuesday.. Singletary said her message not only holds true for personal finance, but also explains the causes of the cur- rent financial crisis, which she described as “credit, con- sumerism and contentment, or lack thereof.” “We are a nation of debt-lovers,” she said. lel House, a $4 million project make an ‘“"°S““‘_"“ 1“ What “"11 I_8 1 Singletary cited the total consumer debt in America as that Will result in 3 neW facility p“_)Ve to be an. Important Cam" Exlt 2 00 $2.6 trillion and the average credit card debt as $10,000. f0r Washington and Lee’s Hillel. palgn f°_r Washmgton and Lee’” L 0 C ate d in No debt is good debt, she said. Even if debts are paid With $1.5 million left to raise, the stud Chlldress 0“ W&L’s Web" ,‘ off each month, credit cards still encourage more spend- Childress challenge represents 3 slte; F alrfield ing because they eliminate the feeling of actually paying third Of the remaining fui1dii1g- There are many needs and S qll are for purchases. “Write that down: credit is evil,” she told her audi- ence. Singletary also accused the culture of consumerism that encourages unhealthy spending habits, such as un- necessary purchases, the reliance on credit and debit cards and the attitude that bargain shopping saves money. “You never save when you spend,” she said. Singletary said she learned her frugal habits from a grandmother who raised her and her siblings, and it is this finance-savvy lifestyle that protects her from worry- ing about the current crisis. ‘ “l’ve lived a frugal life,” she said. “I’m cheap. 1 breast- fed my three children because the milk was free.” In advising the audience on how to live with financial security, she said that putting everything into saving ac- counts or cash is not the way to go. But people should not rely entirely on investment portfolios either. Singletary told her audience that they should “diversify” where they put their money, making sure to keep some cash on hand while putting the rest in a variety of stocks and bonds. Her advice changes for different age groups. For ex- ample, she suggested that workers in their twenties have 90 percent of their money in stocks, but from age 60 and above, this amount should be 50 percent She emphasized that easy credit, which until recently prevailed in borrowing and lending, is the cause of the economic crisis, not its solution. “You want to know how to weather this crisis?” she asked. “Do the opposite of what everybody else is do- 97 mg. Investors should also educate themselves about how markets perform over time so they can make the best de- cisions, said Singletary. They need to be prepared, since the current bail-out plans for the economy are “only a temporary Band-Aid.” “[The crisis] is going to happen again,” she said. “Are you going to learn from what is happening now?” Singletary’s most ardent advice was to save money and spend it wisely when necessary. ~ “My husband and I probably live on 30 percent of our income,” she said. “You have to live below your means.” J. Donald Childress gives $5 million Grant will fund two professorships and jumpstart the $4 million Hillel House By Brett Holton COPY EDITOR Washington and Lee received a $5 million grant last week that will create new teaching posts and help further the University’s forthcoming capital campaign. J. Donald Childress, rector of W&L’s Board of Trustees, is al- locating $2.5 million of his gift to create the J. Donald Childress Pro- fessorship in Foreign Languages and the Sidney Gause Childress Professorship in the Arts. Another $500,000 of the gift is being used to jump start a chal- lenge fund for the new W&L Hil- Two million dollars of Chil- dress’ gift remains to be desig- nated. According to the W&L web- site, the Childress Professorship in Foreign Languages will “support a distinguished professor who is both an accomplished scholar and an exceptional teacher in one of the foreign languages, preferably Spanish.” This is the first time a professorship has been offered for a foreign language. ‘The Sydney Gause Childress Professorship in the Arts is named for Childress’ wife, and will sup- port a professor in the performing or visual arts department. Pref- erence is given to art or art his- tory. This also represents the first professorship exclusively for the arts. “l was pleased to be able to many opportunities in our educa- tional priorities, which stem from the strategic plan. There are many aspects of this plan, and they all cost money. I thought it was my obligation as an alumnus and as a trustee to step up with this gift.” Visit Southern Inn.’s Sister Restaurant! 540-3 77-9.492 Open Daily ]1am—9pn1 Wachovia freezes short-term fund W&L gets 40 percent of $1 .5 million while 60 percent remains frozen By Jacob Gelger STAFF WRITER Washington and Lee was one of hundreds of universities that got a nasty shock on Sept. 29 when Wa- chovia decided to freeze the Com- monfund Short Term Fund. W&L had $1.5 million frozen in the fund, about six percent of the $25 million in cash W&L usu- ally has available during a fiscal year. Since the freeze, W&L has been able to get about 40 percent of the cash back, said Steven McAllister, the university treasurer and vice president for finance and admin- istration. But he and Controller Deborah Caylor are closely watch- ing other cash investments worth $8.6 million. “We still think the actual as- set is good,” McAllister said. “We just may not be able to get it right away.” ' Commonfund is a Connecti- cut-based non-profit that handles money for nearly 1,000 colleges, including 72 of the 100 largest en- dowments. The Short Term Fund was a hugely popular fund de- signed to let colleges and universi- ties invest cash for several months at a time, then withdraw that cash whenever the school needed the cash for paychecks, debt payments or other expenses. Nearly 1,000 colleges were members, and just weeks before the freeze the fund was worth $9.3 billion. Colleges usually get most of their cash at the start of each se- mester, when tuition is due. But expenses trickle in on a monthly basis as the school pays employ- ees, vendors and bills. That means the pile of tuition cash sits around for months on end. To make sure that money didn’t go to waste, schools started invest- ing in supposedly ultra-safe ac- counts like the Short Term Fund. The school could put in large amounts of cash and then with- draw whatever cash it needed on the first day of each month. That was the theory, at least. The funds ran into trouble af- ter buying mortgage-backed se- curities and corporate debt. When Lehman Brothers collapsed and -AIG was nationalized on Sept. 15, commercial credit markets froze up and those securities became virtually worthless. The plunge in value occurred because inves- tors were only interested in buying extremely safe government debt, Bloomberg News said. Wachovia’s decision to freeze the fund and give members access to only 10 percent of their invest- ments left some schools scram- bling to make payroll or pay the electricity bill. _McAllister said the crisis was never that serious at W&L. He said the school has enough cash on hand to continue operations through the end of the school year, even if the $8.6 million in other troubled in- vestments remains frozen. That seven month cash cushion leaves W&L in far better shape than most schools, he said. As McAllister has kept an eye on W&L’s cash holdings, he’s also been watching the value of the university’s endowment rise and fall with the stock market. He said the last quarter didn’t treat many endowments well. W&L’s endow- ment, worth $719 million on June 30, was probably worth about $660 million on Sept. 30. “My sense, from what l’ve seen and the reports l’ve gotten, is that we’ll be down about 10 percent,” McAllister said. “That will be sim- TO CAMPUS joiN US FOR A CAREER SERVICES TO CAREER” 1:30 -2:30 PM CAREER SERVICES WELCOMES PARENTS CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW PARTNERS WITH STUDENTS “FROM MAJOR Friday, October 24, em to zeemwwmt Prim. CAR I)iNi:.R & TIN Tor Cm‘: Order from our complete menu 0;" Join usjbr one ofour ALL YOU CAN EA T.Bujfets! Friday Night Seafood Buffet with Crab Legs 5pm~1Dpm Saturday Night Prime Rib Dinner Spm-ttipm Sunday Baked Chicken, Pork Loin, 8. Pot: Roast 11am-9pm Friday & Saturday Late Night Breakfast Bar 10pm~2am Breakfast Bar 7 {Days 2 Week 6am~t ‘tam Daily Hot Country Bar ttamwtflpm Batty Soup, Salad, Si Fruit Bar 1tam—10pm Order Breakfast 24 Hours a day, 7 days a week? Home Cooked Meals & Southern Hospitality! Located at ilar to what we see at other" endow- ments and universities.” The treasurer said one of W&L’s fund managers reported that every major index and asset class lost value in the last quarter, meaning there were no good‘ places to put -money. The university. did finish the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, with a positive return on the endowment. McAllister said that was a distinction not many universities could claim. One key role of the endowment is to provide leverage and collat- eral for the school when it takes on major debt for building projects. Even though major renovations on Newcomb Hall will begin next year with renovations of the other Colonnade buildings to follow, McAllister said W&L wasn’t cur- rently looking to take on any new debt. “The goal for the Colonnade is for it to be fully fund-raised, and theearliest we’d have to look at borrowing money to start work while the pledges came in would be summer 2009,” he said. “I think we’rc in a good position on that and have flexibility because of our financial strength.” RED IS THE NEW BLACK The Red Hen serves the finest, heshest local iood lot dinner Mondag through Saturdag and Sundag Brunch. loin us ior an exceptional dining experience or Ill ll mm. PM l~8§ &l~6-1, Exit 195, 2536 North Lee l?'lW}’.. lexingtori. VA 540-463-3478 érzcit food & a great collection of Antique Pedoi Cars & Tin Toysi drop bg with hie-nds {or some great wine, beer, and light late until midnight. Room 345, Elrod Commons Please call 404.4401 or email tese1'vations@redhenlexcom for reservations. WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY CAREERSERVICES careers@w|u.edu 458-8595 ll E. Washington Street WWW.R€Cll_l(-}l’ll..€*X.COII1 http:IIcareers.w|u.edu OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081023/WLURG39_RTP_20081023_003.2.txt THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23,2008 THE RING-TUM PHI - 3 opinions jl ~~~~~~ -—----M-—~— WASHINGTONAND LEEUNIVERSITY —-----— THE RING-TUM PHI. 3 MANAGING EDITOR NEWS EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR ARTS 8: LIFE EDITOR COPY EDITORS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DESIGN EDITOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER BUSINESS MANAGER DISTRIBUTION MNGR. MISSION STATEMENT; It is ALLISON CHOPIN JOHN HENDERSON CODY BEAUCHAMP WILL DORRANCE CELESTE CRUZ-I CARANDANG BRETT HOLTON MICHAEL MORELLA CRIGHTON ALLEN ADAM CANCRYN ABEL DELGADO BRIAN DEVINE LIZZ DYE JACOB GEIGER STEPHANIE HARDIMAN WILL MAYS FINDLEY MERRITT COLLIN NEAL JOEL POELHUIS JESSICA STRAIT ANNE VESOULIS RUSS WEEMS QUEENIE WONG LARA JORDAN RYAN ELSEY MORGAN HARRIS CHARLES PERSONS STROCK MOORE ROB GEORGE the mission of THE RING- TUM PHI to accurately. truthfully, and thoroughly report news affecting the Washington and Lee community for students. faculty, parents and alumni. Our goal is to look deeper into news affecting campus life and hold leaders accountable. Through our reporting, we aspire to spark discussions that lead to discovering information that prompts change. I THE RING—TUM PHI IS PUBLISHED MONDAYS DURING THE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL YEAR. THE RING—TUM PHI IS A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA BOARD, BUT IS OTHERWISE INDEPENDENT. QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT THE PHI SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDITORS AT PHI@WLU. EDU OR TO THE MEDIA BOARD AT MEDIABOARD@WLU. EDU. THE MEDIA BOARD IS AN INDEPENDENT, STUDENT- RUN EDITORIAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE WORKING WITH ALL MEDIA OUTLETS ON THE WASHINGTON & LEE CAMPUS. ALL INQUIRIES WILL REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL. THE RING-TUM PHI WELCOMES ALL LETTERS. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT SUBMISSIONS FOR CONTENT AND LENGTH. LETTERS AND ADVERT/SING DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINION OF THE RING- TUM PHI 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 $45 Stop by our Main Street office to pick up a flyer and a map! The Sommst at o°“""”wm Wood» Creek 4 RWR(®Town & COIIIIITY 31 South Main Street Lexington, Virginia 24450 Office: (540)463-7629 Fax: (540)463-1068 www.remax-towncntry-Iex-va.com Why I’m Voting for... Senator Barack Obama (D — Illinios) and Senator Joe Biden (D, - Connecticut). By Cody Beauchamp OPINIONS EDITOR A little over a week ago, I filled out an absentee ballot and mailed it on home to Texas. You’d think that, as a Texan, I voted for John McCain. Or, depending on how you look at things, against Barack Obama. I didn’t. I voted for Barack. If you’re willing to keep read- ing, I’d like a few minutes to try to convince you to join me. Why not, anyway‘? It’s Parents Week- end, and you likely need a break from the packed schedule any- way. < I want you to know, first of all, that ifl could’ve voted in 2000, I would have voted for Bush. I’m not a lifelong partisan, “yellow- dog” Democrat. I’m persuadable and moderate, I really am. I actually had to think about who I was voting for, in other words. When I did think about who to vote for, a few things struck me. The first is how absolutely trivial a lot of the normal criteria for deciding who to vote for have become. l~or this election cycle at least, I simply do not believe that there’s much disagreement about what the issues are, and (gener- ally) what we need to do about them. Both Obama and McCain agree the economy is priority number one. Both candidates now agree that the economy needs to be fixed. Let’s take care of good 01’ Joe the Plumber. The two also agree on Iraq, more or less. Both agree we need to leave, and to do so honorably and intelligently. Yes, I can admit TWILIGHT OPEN HOUSE TOUR ‘S299 500 4 hitmore St. Hosted by: RE/I'IPX®towN & coumm Friday, October 24th, 4:30— 6:30 pm PUBLIC INVITED! 299 900 . -lomatic, sane one. Obarna’s opposition to the surge is troubling. But I can also admit McCain’s support of the 2003 in- vasion is equally ~ if not more - troubling. It’s a tie, in my book. So what did I base my vote on? , Simply — temperament. Our last President has a tragi- cally un-presidential tempera- ment. He showed time and again he was incapable of making rea- soned, calculated, thought-out decisions. He ignored facts and expert analysis in his formulation of long term goals and plans. Too often, W. acted like the cowboy he wants to be, and to tragic effect. It’s not that George W. Bush is stupid or evil — it’s just that his ‘shoot from the hip’ tendencies caused him to behave stupidly and evilly. He always opted for the bold ‘meet me at sundown’ gesture over the reasoned, dip- We cannot afford even four more years of such a temperament in the White House. Examine the_two candidates ~ which one would you trust to be the calm voice of reason in a cri- sis? To beat an old talking point to death - who do you want an- swering a phone to bad news at 3 a.m.? McCain favors the bold, often ill-advised gesture. He’s a mav- erick, yes, but that’s not always to his credit. During the recent bailout legislative battle Sen- ate leadership on both sides of the aisle told both McCain and Obama they shouldn’t come back to Washington. The reality was that the me- dia circus that now follows both candidates would throw a danger- ously bright spotlight on delicate legislative negotiations. Neither would be of much help either, so they needed to stay away and let their still-working peers work (make no mistake, neither McCain nor Obama has been much of a legislator for the past 6 months). _ McCain returned, against good advice. He claimed he had helped push the bailout -bill through. A few days later, Republicans in the House voted it down. Thanks Mac. Another contrast comes when you examine the two men’s Veep picks. Obama showed a lot of humil- ity in his pick. He proved he un- derstood his weakness was in for- eign affairs by picking Joe Biden, perhaps one of the most experi- enced Senators ever in that area. McCain ~ rather — went for the grand stunt. After spending months knocking Obama for a lack of experience, he picked the least experienced running mate seen on a national ticket in de- cades. It showed not only an inability to reconcile his actions with his statements — when precisely, Sen- ator, did you quit thinking expe- rience was stillimportant? — but also a troubling inability to fore- see the fallout of his decisions. Running on a platform of ex- perience first, for the morally conservative party, in a political climate sick of a scandal-plagued administration, McCain picked "an inexperienced mother of an unwed, pregnant teenager, who would also soon be facing an in- dependent investigation for abuse of power. I don’t want a man with those kind of reasoning capabilities anywhere near nuclear launch codes. The cruxes of my argument are these. If you want to base your vote on the policy differences between the two men, be my giest. Pun- dits of either political ideology freely admit the differences are few and minute this election. If you — like me — feel that you must base your vote on character in the absence of a defining policy clash, please vote for Obama. John McCain is surely, abso- lutely, and unquestionably a hero, a great public servant, and a good man. But this does not mean he has the temperament to lead our coun- try. I In today’s fragile economic, diplomatic, and social environ- ment, reason and calculated ac- tion need to return. Obama has been nothing but a cool, calm, and collected hand throughout his campaign. He has never once veered from his campaign’s clearly established long term plans in favor of a bold gesture. In part, he has never needed to. That tells us something about the type of government he would ‘lead. Our country will reward John McCain one day by placing him in Washington, make no mistake. But for the sake of our country, we must place him there in statu- ary, as a marble bust commemo- rating, his public service, not as our 44“‘ President. Please vote for Barack Obama. Because we need change, yes, not errant and dangerous stunts. 8 Whitmore St. 801 Stonewall St. The Summit $589,800 165 Lilly BellLn. 5 574,900 I 20 Lilly Bell Ln. 6 :$227,800 111 Taylor St. §;2,375,o0 10 Stratford Ln. I ...Senator John McCain (R - Sarah Palin (R - Alaska). By Abel Delgado COLU M NIST If you look beyond all the talk about “change” and “experience,” if you ignore pundits, if you realize that Barack Obama and John McCain are closer in political philosophy than most oppos- ing politicians in other countries, your choice this election comes down to one factor: trust. Granted, I agree with Senator McCain on the most important issues of our times much more than I agree with Senator Obama, but even if I agreed with them equally, I would adamantly support McCain because I trust him more than I can possibly trust Obama. I cannot trust a man to fix my little brother’s education system when he sends his own chil- dren to private school and refuses to give that opportunity to poorer but highly motivated stu- dents. I trust a man who calls education the “civil rights issue of our time” and promotes competi- tion and higher teacher pay as a way to give my brother a better education and my sister a better salary. I cannot trust a man to bring about peace when he has already said he would bomb one of our most crucial democratic allies. I cannot trust him to win the war in Iraq when he is more concerned with placing blame and hasn’t even acknowledged the succeeding strategy he once opposed. - I trust a man to work for peace when he knows the horrors of war and has two very per- sonal reasons not to send our troops into unnec- essary wars. I trust a man who was one of the first to point out the error of our strategy in Iraq and spent years rallying his party and his country to fix them. I cannot trust a man to solve our impending energy crisis when he supports corn ethanol that scientists have proved is ineflicient and environ- mentally problematic while opposing nuclear en- ergy that can legitimately help solve our energy crisis and not worsen gt obal climate change. I trust a man to solve our energy crisis when his Lexington Project involves all forms of alter- native energy while using our nation’s resources Arizona) and Governor wisely. I cannot trust a man to be bi-partisan when his greatest claim of crossing party lines is an anti- proliferation bill that had the unanimous support _ of his party. I trust a man to be bi-partisan when he has co—sponsored more bills with the opposing party than his own the past 4 years and has made a career out of crossing party lines to address ev- erything from climate change, to torture, to cam- paign finance reform. I cannot trust a man to lower my taxes when he has voted to raise them far more times than he’s voted to lower them. I cannot trust a man to lead America’s free market when his policies are protectionist in nature and far too similar to democratic socialism. I can trust a man to keep my taxes low and cut taxes where he responsibly can when he has voted to do both his entire career. I can trust a man to lead America’s free market when at the heart of his ideals is his faith in the market. I cannot trust a man to battle corruption when a convicted felon helped buy his house and he has raised and spent more money on his cam- paign than anyone in the history of American politics. ' _ I can trust a man who has battled corruption in his own party in Congress for decades and has fought to lessen the influence special interest money has in politics. I . I cannot trust a man to lead my country when he has never led anything. Despite his wonderful eloquence and his in- spiring story, Barack Obama has done absolutely nothing to cam my trust. Whether he wins or not, I hope I am wrong about him. I hope he is everything his supporters say he is and more, but I cannot vote on hope alone. I do not just trust John McCain more than I trust Barack Obama, I trust him more than any American alive to lead our country. John Mc- Cain was not just given the titles of hero, reform- er, centrist, maverick, and leader. He has earned them. This is why Senator McCain has earned my admiration, my trust, and my vote for president. Flowers & Things Fresh flowers, balloons, gift & fruit baskets and I birthday cakes all delivered!!! Call 261-6300 Solid wood kitchen sets and 4 chairs-$300 to see call Flowers and Things-261-6300 We deliver! OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081023/WLURG39_RTP_20081023_004.2.txt THE RING-TUM PHI ° 4 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23,2008 pinions Time for W&L to invest in students Washington and Lee cannot raise tuition and expect to Stay a liberal arts school By Jacob Geiger COLU M NIST As parents arrive on campus this weekend, some of them may be pondering a frightening ques- tion: Can I still afford to send my child to Washington and Lee? Most parents have probably watched investment portfolios ~ whether they’re retirement plans, college funds for a younger sib- ling or savings for a new car ~ plummet in value during the past year. Now there are signs across the nation that many parents and students are reevaluating the col- lege payment plans that seemed solid six months ago. President Ken Ruscio said protecting next year’s financial aid budget will be a high priority as the school decides whether or not it needs to trim back expens- es. He also said the university is prepared to handle increased de- mand for financial aid. It’sno secret that the cost of a W&L education has advanced at a numbing pace in the last de- cade. Ten years ago, the univer- sity was finally forced to pay for years of holding tuition at levels much lower than our com- petitors. That’s led to a decade of cost increases that averaged about 8 percent a year. Despite these massive increases, W&L has only caught up in cost with other liberal arts schools in the past two years. The school has made some dramatic moves to improve fi- nancial aid, and by fall 2012, the Johnson Scholarship will be paying for 10 percent of the student body. Other merit- and need-based programs help out even more students. The Johnson donation has also allowed W&L to convert many loan deals with students into outright grants. But students here and around the country are still piling up huge amounts of debt each year. The New York Times report- ed last week that many private lenders have tightened credit standards and raised interest rates in the last month. That means students will owe more money down the road when these loans come due. And with W&L’s annual cost approaching $50,000, an already heavy debt load could get even worse. As private lenders cut back, more students nationwide are turning to the federal govem- ment, which handles about three- quarters of student borrowing. Loan applications for this year are already up to 13.5 million, an almost 10 percent increase from the 12.3 million applications last year. The biggest problem with student debt is that leaves many students feeling trapped. If you know you’re going to graduate with $100,000 in debt, taking that teaching job you’ve always wanted suddenly become a bit less appealing. Ivy League schools have been dealing with this problem for years, as students feel they need to earn big salaries to jus- tify the amazing bills that their parents — and student loans — helped cover. I’d hate to see that happen at W&L, where our emphasis on liberal arts has always led students into aiwide variety of careers. So what can W&L do? I doubt we’ll see a drop in tuition, though that would certainly be nice. Even when the school year _shrinks by two weeks next year, I doubt many expenses will go down. But the university could make an important gesture by pledging to leave tuition un- changed for one year. Still, that’s unlikely to hap- pen. One problem is W&L’s endowment, which has been buffeted by the market chaos. Steven McAllister, the univer- sity’s treasurer, said the endow- ment lost about 10 percent of its value in the 3rd quarter. And with the endowment down and donations under pres- sure from the poor economy (if alumni make less money, they have less to donate), the financial aid office may be hard-pressed to fill the gap when families sud- denly discover they’re short on money. W&L works hard to make this school affordable. But be- fore the school can worry about taking care of the Class of 2013, it may need to spend some cash on the students who are already here. You weren’t raised to act like that er to the editor Time for a serious talk Are W&L is gender relations discussions flawed? The members of KEWL (Knowledge Empowering Women Leaders) would like to inform the W&L community of the June 27, 2008 report compiled by the President’s Committee on Women regarding the.condi- tions of women faculty and staff at Wash- ington and Lee. The committee, which consisted of both men and women faculty and staff, met from February 2007 through May 2008, and so- licited the expertise of an outside task force to evaluate and make recommendations for the climate at Washington and Lee as it per- tains to women faculty and staff. Initially due in March, the Committee requested an extension from President Ruscio and delivered their findings over the summer, largely unbeknownst to the W&L commu- nity. Through surveys and interviews with faculty and staff, the committee concluded in its report that “[m]any women on this campus do not feel valued, respected, fairly compensated, empowered, or even safe.” To quote the Committee’s report: Disturbing anecdotal evidence of gender inequities abound, including but not limited to the following: I) holding women workers to a higher standard than their male counterparts, 2) promoting a man when a woman has more experience, 3) regularly holding managers’ meetings without the woman manager being present, 4) paying the man who replaces a wom- an more than the woman was paid. The report goes on to state that “[t]here are still academic departments where fac- ulty and staff are not even close to the na- tional percentage of women. Women report that they have felt silenced when they have tried to point out a number of issues dealing with climate.” Lesley Wheeler, Chair of the English Department, writes “I am very pleased that various staff inequities will be remedied, especially salaries for administrative assis- tants. However, the excellent report by the President’s Committee on Women rightly uses the words ‘discrimination’ and ‘harass- ment,’ but President Ruscio’s October 8th ‘Letter to the W&L University Community’ pointedly does not. I am disappointed that the President has not fully acknowledged the extent of the problem. Even in faculty meetings woman administrators and faculty members are often cut off, belittled, or in- appropriately touched; such bad behavior is condoned here and known offenders are allowed to continue in positions of author- ity.” While KEWL commends the Universi- ty’s initiative to create a supportive environ- ment for its faculty and staff, the relatively secretive distribution of the report and its findings is disappointing. We write this let- ter not out of spite, but out of support for the repo1t’s recommendation that change A ought to occur in an “open” and “transpar- ent” manner. We do, however, take issue with both the questionable exclusion of Women’s and Gender Studies faculty from the President’s Committee on Women, and the decision to ignore the climate women students face at W&L. The Committee itself notes that “[w]hile several committee members felt that the charge should be extended to include stu- dents, the report was limited to the scope of the faculty and staff...’Recent events asso- ciated with derogatory comments towards women students in a campus newspaper are but the latest example of how the climate among the students affects the everyday life of the University. We as an entire commu- nity are all concerned about actions taken against our women students, and it is coun- terproductive to think we can work on the climate for only one group of women and make a lasting change in our community. Thus, we concluded that many of the cli- mate issues related to gender must be looked at and addressed in an holistic manner.” KEWL hopes to see that any further steps taken by the Committee on Women orany like group includes the broader campus com- munity, notably the student body. According to ITS Director and Committee member Ju- lie Knudson, “I believe that any committee charged with improving the campus climate cannot go forward without students and also logically must include the Program Head of Women’s Studies.” Following last year’s divisive bracket, it is contrary to all reason that the student body would be exempt from a comprehensive study. Since W&L’s inte- gration of women on campus in 1985, the university has achieved equal numbers of men and women students, yet as the report explicitly states, equality and harmony of the sexes is still something to be desired. The report cites many of the issues fac- ing our institution as “community” and “climate” issues, rather than exclusively women’s issues. The "Committee recom- mends that “[i]n any effort at changing the climate, the University must realize that the problems that exist are often not restricted to women staff and faculty or even just to women.” The visiting team echoed the com- mittee_’s feelings, reporting that they also felt that it would be “prudent and effective to broaden the topic of women’s issues to issues of diversity in general or community building.” “It seemed appropriate to us to include issues relating to students and gender rela- tions between male and female students in the campus discussion,” they said, accord- ing to the Committee’s report. “Our general feeling is that any steps or actions that help one marginalized group tend to help every- one who may be marginalized.” KEWL strongly believes the findings of this report to be the responsibility of every student and faculty member, not limited to the women of this community, to be aware and proactive about the issues facing our institution. “I would just like to be a good teacher, writer, and member of this community--to do my work well--and that is inordinately difficult in this climate,” Wheeler writes. The report can be found in its entirety at: http://www.wlu.edu/ x l 5 l07.xml K.E.W.L. - Knowledge Empowering Women Lead- 6fS Parents Weekend should remind us of our potential for civility ‘By Crlghton Allen C 0 LU M N I ST Hiya Hiya Hiya. Is everyone having a good semester? Mine’s been great, but I am ready to get my parents up here. A nice South- ern Inn brunch, a set of fresh sheets - on my bed, clean clothes, I’ve been yearning for all those and more since my parents dropped me off to start the year. It’ll be nice to have all those things again, even if it’s just for a weekend. (I’m just joking; of course I’ve had Southern Inn since my parents left. I’m not totally helpless up here alone.) Clean boxers and filet mignon aside, I think we would all be bet- ter off if we had our parents up here more often. And I’m not talking about just physically, either. Too often, I feel, when our par- ents drop us off for our four years here at W&L, we see it as four years apart not only physically but also as the first real chance to break away from the yoke of rules and expecta- tions we felt at home. At home, we have to be well be- haved, mannerly, responsible, and accountable, but at college, not so much. H If I stayed out until 2 a.m on a random Wednesday night back in high school, there would be three words to describe my immediate future: Georgia Military Academy. But here, I and anyone else can do it and Momma never has to know you ever left the library. College is designed to foster an intellectual and social maturation in an environment unlike the one from home. How else, then, could one be expected to learn and grow past the person you were in high school? Although you may be taken out of your home, don’t let your home be taken out of you. Because you know what occurs when you let that happen: arrests, poor grades, prob- lems with alcohol and other drugs, the list can go on ad nauseum. I will bet you that none of the things that befall students here were as much of a problem in high school. If you failed classes in high school, or got arrested, or struggled with alcohol, odds are quite good you wouldn’t be here now. And I think that is so because each of us here had an amazing support sys- tem of parents, family, friends, and teachers who loved and supported us and urged us to find and utilize the best parts of ourselves. Now that we find ourselves here, far away from those nurturing net- works, let us not forget those who encouraged us and loved us and sacrificed on our behaves to get us here to our university today. Forget not the lessons that they taught you back home that made you want to attend W&L and made W&L want you to attend equally as much. For W&L would not have accepted any of us, not a solitary one, if it did not sense that we came from a background that fostered a person capable of living the life of honor that our school requires of all its students. The social pressures here to be someone different than who we really are manifest themselves tre-. mendously every day. I know I have given into those pressures more times than I wish to count. Yet, every time I stumble on my walk to be the person my par- ents raised me to be, I pick myself back up, for I know that the sup- port they gave, and continue to give me, is stronger than anything I can find here that would seek to pull me down. Freshmen, I am talking to you here. This year will be the most trans- formative year of your life; just make sure that what you learn about yourself is more along the lines of discovering your hidden love for cognitive psychology rather than your skill with bourbon pulls. Do not forget who you are and where you came from. ’ Your parents raised you to be better than a lot of what goes on here after dark. You know it, too. As long I am being sappy here, I can be cliché too. Polonius, no great man himself, but a loving father nonetheless, told his son Laertes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “To thine own self be true,.and it must follow, as the night the.day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” His words strike a powerful cord then and now. The best version of yourself is the person you truly are. If you want to be liked, drop your front and be yourself. So parents, welcome to Wash- ington & Lee this weekend. You are sending us, your chil- dren, to a school that offers us every advantage -in the world. But if not for you and your love and support of us, we would be far, far away from where we stand today, proud, accomplished students of one of the nation’s finest schools. In all we say and do here, though it may indeed be great, we are go- ing to rely on you all to keep us grounded, to keep us humble, and to keep us mindful always of who we really are. Tex-Lex October 25,2008 OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081023/WLURG39_RTP_20081023_005.2.txt ° THE RING-TUM PHI THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008 arts&Iife “Forbidden Broadway ” and student talent blend flawlessly By Flndley Merritt STAFF WRITER Part Broadway revue, part satire, and all student talent, the Student Showcase was an excellent display of Washington and Lee’s diverse array of theatrical skills. Members of the Washington and Lee Theater department and Mindbending, a student directing group, treated audiences to the 2008 Student Showcase with “For- bidden Broadway” this past weekend. The show ran from October 17 through the 19 at the Johnson Theatre in Lenfest Hall. Written by Gerard Alessandrini and di- rected by Marquita Robinson, the perfor- mance was a Broadway parody interspersed with student talent. “Forbidden Broadway” was a revue that spoofed show tunes, char- acters and plots of contemporary and cur- rent Broadway musicals, and targeted well known American lyrists. Broadway classics such as “Annie,” “Into the Woods,” “Hello Dolly,” “Les Miserables,” “Rent,” “Mamrna Mia “and “Wicked” were among the satirized group, not to mention a few others. The play opened with a spoof on “An- nie,” in which Annie had been reduced to an unemployed, chain-smoking thirty-year-old hoping that someone would “revive” her. The performance ended with a spoof on “A Chorus Line” in which the actors urged audiences to “Kiss Cliches Goodbye.” In between, the show poked fun about the excessive length of shows, especially “Les Miserables.” With songs like “Somewhat Overindul- gent,” “Call on Carol,” and “The Phantom and Ethel: The Mucus of the Night,” the play attacked iconic Broadway figures like ’ Mandy Patinkin, Carol Channing, and Ethel Merrnan. It also spoofed major theatre top- ics such as the confusion between Chita Ri- vera and Rita Moreno, and the difficulty of Sondheim’s lyrics. Apart from “Forbidden Broadway,” the 2008 Showcase featured plenty of other W&L student talent. There were eight show- case numbers ranging from monologues, musical performances, skits, and dance per- formances. Some work was original, in that the per- formers had written their own monologues and choreographed their own dance pieces. Others covered well known work and sometimes added their own interpretation. The covered work included a musical performance of Guns N Roses’ “Don’t Cry,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie’s” “Gimme Gimme,” a dance performance titled “Reth- gio de Amor,” and “What Is This Feeling” from “Wicked” “Lexington Gay Bar” was a sketch based on The Ice Cream Socialists’ “Gar Bar,” in which students added their own interpretation to the original content. Overall, the performance was met with ultimate success. Box office officials con- firmed that tickets had been sold out before opening night. The audience turnout was mixed each night in that Lexington locals, parents, and W&L students all came to see the performance. There was laughter, silent appreciation, and an air of satisfaction. First-year student James Pickle came to see the performance Friday night. He re- marked how he felt “it was a hilarious sati- rization of Broadway.” W&L sophomore Graham Sheridan also had praise for the show. He thought that “the Johnson Theater was a small and intimate setting that was cohesive to appreciating the many students’ talent.” Another first-year student, Brooks Sim- mons, came to see the performance Saturday night. “It was definitely a great experience. When you think of Washington and Lee, you mainly think of academic talent. This show was a great way to see that W&L students have a lot of artistic talent as well.” Members of the Theater department and Mindbending rehearsed every night for three weeks before opening night. “It was definitely a lot of work,” explained junior and participant Markheavens Tshuma. And for the most part, the experience was great for the performers as well. Tshuma also explained how this show was different than any other show he had done at Washington and Lee. “This was the first time we combined the 2008 Student Showcase with a thematic performance. The two worked really well alongside one another.” In the long run, the grueling.rehearsal schedule paid off because the performance was met with huge success. MORGAN HARR|S/ staff photographer Above: Juniors Tlm Kirby and Hannah Kate Mitchell bring a Latin flavor to the showcase Bottom rig”: lsophomores Ellie Duvall and Jean Chapman show off their moves in a spoof of “Mamma a ”, . GREAT INVESTMENT PROPERTY FOR YOUR STUDENTl! Please drive by 880 Union Run‘Rd while you are visiting W and L this weekend. This 3 BR, 1 bath home would be great for your son/daughter to live in while attending school here. Central air and heat, all appliances, full basement with rec room, and gorgeous views, just minutes from W and I L! Take Jackson Ave. to right on Ross Rd, follow until road intersects with Union Run Rd, turn right and watch for ' house on right. Call Carolyn Kuper at Re/Max to see it or for more info. Cell 540-460-4147 OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081023/WLURG39_RTP_20081023_006.2.txt 6 ° THE RING-TUM PHI THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008 arts&life Chorus sings folk songs, prepares for South Africa Choral concert takes on an international theme, with music influenced by both South Africa and Renaissance Italy By Stephanie Hardiman STAFF WRITER ' The Washington and Lee Uni- versity Chorus began its season with a sampling of American, African, and African-American folk songs on Tuesday in Wilson Hall. The concert also featured selections by the University Chamber Singers, General Ad- mission, JubiLee, and Southern Comfort. The chorus, led by Professor Jerry Myers, will head to Cape- town, South Africa for spring break. They will perform four concerts there and two of them will be with local choirs. Keeping with this intema- tional theme, the chorus was joined by two African drummers who played the djembe, a skin- covered hand drum. Drummers Mirabai Mcleod and Lamine F arras live in Rock- bridge County and presented a drumming workshop in the El- rod Commons last year. The pair will join the chorus at the holiday concert later this term and will present another drumming workshop in Febru- ary. Myers hopes for a few stu- dents to learn the dj embe to trav- el with the chorus this spring. The chorus began the per- formance with singers entering from all sides of the hall to cre- ate a truly surround-sound ex- perience. The musical selection was a processional song often used in Nigeria when greeting important leaders such as tribal chiefs. Sharon Chu, a junior clarinet- ist, accompanied the chorus for a Scottish-American folk song popular in the southern Appa- lachian region. Following the American folk song was "The Battle of Jericho”, an African- American spiritual composed by the late Moses Hogan. While the chorus focused on folk songs, the Chamber Singers explored music of the Renais- sance. Most of the selections were taken from Morten Lauridsen’s “Madrigali: Six ‘Fire Songs’ on Italian Renaissance Poems.” The selections were also accom- panied by Renaissance artwork projected onto a screen behind the singers. The art was ar- ranged by two senior art history majors, Mallory Ruymann and Brittany Simpson. Myers said before the per- formance began that the images were a mixture of sacred and secular that could conflict or mesh with the selection’s lyrics. He said he thought this was ap- propriate since the realms of life are often conflicting as well. The performance was Myers’ debut as the Chamber Singers’ director. He said he chose the two very different subject mat- ters for both groups as a way to showcase their differences. “The two groups have dis- tinctively different sounds . . . I try to bring out what students in each group do well and challenge them to do better,” he said. The University Chorus, Chamber Singers, and Joyful Noise Gospel Choir will per- form on Friday at 8 p.m. for the Parent’s Weekend Choral Con- cer_t. Southern Comfort, General Admission, and JubiLee will perform for the Parent’s Week- end A Cappella Concert Satur- day at 6 p.m. Tickets for both events are free to students. Contact the Lenfest box ofiice at (540) 458- 8000 to secure seats ahead of time. Box Ofiice hours are Mon- day - Friday, 9-1] a.m., 2-4p.m. and two hours before each per- formance. A full music department cal- endar of events can be found at http://music.wlu.edu. Service carnival helps students give back to community Student body comes together to serve the community, Nabors Service League boasts increased participation By Joel Poelhuis STAFF WRITER Giant multi-colored inflata- bles filled Cannan Green Sunday as students arrived for an after- noon of volunteering and service. The tenth annual Nabors Service Day brought together about 180 W&L volunteers for projects in the Rockbridge County commu- nity. The inflatable games were there for a children’s carnival, though some W&L students tried them out beforehand. The students volunteered in groups and worked on tasks from landscaping at Central El- ementary School to picking up trash along stretches of highway. Other groups went to Boxer- wood garden, Montessori, a car .wash, and the Rockbridge Area Occupational Center. “This year we really wanted to increase student participa- tion,” said Samara Francisco, Special Events and Projects Co- Chair. Francisco said a good sign was the large number of first-year students who partici- pated. One of the organization’s goals with Nabors Service Day was to get students involved in community service earlier. “We did our sign-ups earlier this year,” said General Chair Jenna Walls. “We actually start- ed signing people up at the cam- pus activities fair the first week of school.” However, while the sign-up list was close to 300 names long, /"""" INCENTIVE As a recent college grad, you may be eligible for a 5400 Incentive on any new Toyota of your choice in adldition to other incentives.“ See your Toyota, dealer for details. under 200 students actually at- tended. “We had a lot of people sign up and then a lot of people not show up, so something to work on is student commitment,” Francisco said. Walls attributed the low turnout to the midterm crunch. Participation was up from last year, but down from « two years ago, when Walls said about 300 students took part in the event. One student who showed up was Lev Raslin, who said his Resident Advisor. emailed his hall about Nabors three weeks ago. “I felt it would be a good way for me to give back to the com- munity and explore Lexington." said Raslin, who ended up work» ing on the W&L garden. Raslin said he would have preferred to be out in the community, but en- couraged others to participate. “The work’s not that hard, and it only takes a little time, so it’s definitely worth it.” In addition to sponsoring Nabors Service Day, Nabors Service League promotes indi- vidual volunteering opportuni- ties in conjunction with campus and local agencies. “What we do is try to get the entire community involved.” Francisco said. The Nabors program began in 1999 in memory of W&L student Jonathan Nabors. His parents, Eddie and Doris Nabors founded the organization, and ride the trip from Birming- ham, Ala. Sunday to address the volunteers. The Nabors will be hosting the service learning al- ternative spring break trip this year. Biology Professor William Hamilton instructed the teams of students assisting with the W&L garden. The garden uses compost from the dining hall’s waste, mulch from leaves picked up by campus mowing crews, and work from students and fac- ulty. Produce from the garden sup- plies both the W&L dining hall and Campus Kitchens, an orga- nization which serves meals to area residents who need them. According to Hamilton, locally grown produce is much richer in healthy antioxidants and vitamin C than imported stock. Students prepared the garden for winter, working on harvesting, mulch- ing, and woodchuck deterrence. Volunteers who arrived at noon ate a free lunch consisting of sandwiches and chips. Each volunteer received a red T—shirt, cup, and pen with the name of the event on them. Upcoming on Nabors’ calendar are a Hal- loween carnival and Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week the week of November 3'“. For those interested in ex- panding their communiry in- volvement after Nabors Service Day, contact Jenna Walls at wal lsj@wl u. edu ®rovo'rA moving toward uyatoyota.com OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081023/WLURG39_RTP_20081023_007.2.txt THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008 THE RING-TUM PHI - 7 arts&life Dead fish in Staniar Gallery Artist/llberto Rey s exhibit features aquatic creatures as an environmental message By Collin Neal STAFF WRITER Scholars and artists have varying opinions regarding the purpose of art. However, there are always those who choose to challenge these assumptions. The fruits of this challenge, whether it is to the detriment or gain of the artistic world, is al- ways interesting. In his exhibit, “Life, Death and Beauty” Alber- to Rey shares with viewers his stance on how art itself can act as a medium for social justice. On October 15, The Wash- ington and Lee Arts Commu- nity welcomed back acclaimed artist Alberto Rey for a lecture ‘and reception in honor of the opening of his new exhibit here. Rey, visiting artist at W&L this past term, titled the presentation covering his work since 1985 “Looking for a Home.” His work encompasses many differ- ent media, from canvas and oils to video, successfully keeping the viewer entertained. Rey describes his earlier work as heavily influenced by his Cuban roots combined with his American experience as a child. His family fled Cuba to come to America at the age of three given the political climate. Through his early adulthood, he moved around sixteen times, giving himself what he calls a broad, unique perspective of American culture. His Cuban subjects range from regional food dishes to portraiture in both Miami and Havana. His first film, entitled “Seeing in the Dark” memorial- izes the artist’s first foray back to Cuba since seeking political refuge. Combining video, mu- sic, and text, the video gives the viewer a lonely, haunting feeling of disconnection. “In Cuba the Past is the Pres- ent. Little Improves and Little Changes.” After returning from Cuba, His latest exhibit here at Washington and Lee focuses on a term he calls “Biological Regionalism,” a response to the latest focus in the art world on globalization and nationalism. “The use of art as a medium for political or social expression is, quite frankly, an abuse of art. And while it was beautiful, I found it upsetting. ” Merritt Poling, sophomore Rey had a realization that his ob- session with Cuba was based on nostalgia. Since seeing the real- ity of Cuba, he decided to move _ on and his work took a different turn. According to Rey, in Cuba he “understood the importance of family and fragility of life.” His work is more of a retum to a locally focused scope. He strives to bridge the disconnect between humans and the natural world around them. The exhibit combines large, wall-sized com- positions of dead fish in varying states of decay along with video screens beckoning the viewer through the sounds of water and visuals of creekside activity. These images are meant to com- pel the viewer to consider the most pressing environmental is- sues of today. When questioned about the choice of dead fish as subject matter, Rey responded that there was definite sadness, but something peaceful as well about all of them. The exhibit’s opening was celebrated with a reception that included a powerpoint presen- tation and a lecture from the artist himself. Several faculty members and students from the newly formed, and still un- named, student art league were in attendance. However, some students had an objection to the subject and Rey’s purpose behind his works. Merritt Poling, a sophomore art history major, found the paint- ings’ connection to political is- sues rather appalling. “The use of art as a medium for political or social expression is, quite frankly, an abuse of art,” Poling said. “And while it was beautiful, I found it upsetting.” Although the pieces were re- ceived with some negativity, it was still very much appreciated by even its harshest critics. The beauty and complexity of Rey’s paintings make it obvious why his work is displayed in over 20 museum collections and featured in 130 exhibitions. It is refresh- ing to see this university bring in and support such an innovative artist. Rey’s exhibit runs through November 5 at the Staniar Gal- lery in Wilson Hall. The gallery is open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. DJ W illi P ' kt takes the CTOSSWOM Few concert-goers in attendance treated to one of W&L is best shows By Wm Mays Parents Weekend Agenda 5”” WW“ Neville L. Fogarty It was Shakespeare who penned the lines, “We few, we 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 A I happy few, we band of brothers...gent1emen in England now V a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here.” Yes, 1 ' Theif speak 14 15 16 these lines were written about the Saint Crispin’s Day battle English and .1 in Henry V, but the meaning still holds true for students who Deltsch _ 17 1 18 319 i missed the DJ Williams Projekt’s free concert on Cannan Green 5- Pond Organism M i A ‘ K ‘ on Wednesday, October 15. 10- Frat Part)’ attire, 20 1 With less than 30 conceit-goers, the audience was indeed a perhaps ............................... .. happy few. The turnout was predominantly male. Even the band 14. 1 942 Copland 2 23 24 25 recognized the majority of “brothers” in attendance. 1 Pallet - H 26 27 28 29 30 131 -— The attendees also found themselves witnessing a sonic bat— 1 5_ Smallvme role fgr . 1 tle on stage. 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