The Administration’s recent decision to adopt a Medical Amnesty Policy, which was heralded to the student body in an e-mail from Vice President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler on Jan. 24, is a step forward in our campus dialogue on substance use and abuse. Implicit in the adoption of the policy is an acknowledgment that punitive means are not sufficient to reduce the harm associated with substance abuse. Building from this newfound perspective, we must push ahead on two fronts: funding reprioritization and judicial sanction parity between alcohol and other drugs.

p. I have called for cuts in the budget of the College Police Department in this venue before and fear that the need for such an administrative action has only become more urgent. Thankfully, violent crime is extraordinarily rare on this campus, and the Police Department’s own statistics attest to that. Our police force has very little of substance to do other than to enforce traffic laws (as a cyclist, I thank them for that) and drug laws.

p. According to the Police Department’s website, 19 full-time officers, as well as a large support staff and several part-time officers, are employed to protect and serve the College student body. On a campus with practically no crime, the presence of such a large staff is preposterous.

p. The College should reallocate a significant portion of the funds eaten up by the Police Department each year to better fund the Health Center and the Fish Bowl. Organizations such as these have the real power to combat the problems associated with substance abuse, which generally spring from either ignorance or pre-existing psychological issues rather than from some sort of inborn criminal instinct.

p. Students have a right to know the answers to the questions they have about drugs, and they have a right to receive those answers in a nonjudgmental environment. It is the role of these services not to tell us what we may or may not do, but rather to demurely raise concerns about the possible pitfalls of the use of certain substances. For instance, we need drug educators inclined to point out the enhanced danger of taking opioids and alcohol in tandem, rather than people who meet the prospect of recreational Vicodin use with condescending disdain. We need a clean needle exchange program, not a “no means no” attitude toward intravenous drugs.

p. More importantly, we need people who will acknowledge that the tendency to use such drugs is often linked to pre-existing psychological conditions. The College must recognize the good work done by the Counseling Center and further fund that service. No student should ever have to feel as though she or he needs to threaten to commit suicide in order to get an appointment. We, as students, must play a role in this process by removing the stigma attached to psychological conditions from our own minds. When one member of our community suffers from Bipolar Disorder, we all must confront the slender thread that separates any of us from that same peril and respond with love and compassion rather than a distancing silence.

p. Changes in funding priorities are important to the quest for a sensible drug policy, but the battle for such progress will be long fraught with inevitable miles of bureaucratic red tape. More immediate help can come from making simple changes in the College’s Judicial Code to establish parity in the sanctions handed down for different drug offenses.

p. Cannabis, for instance, is a non-addictive drug that has caused no known deaths and is an object of sacramental use in several religions around the globe. Currently, a freshman living in a dorm who is caught with Cannabis is subject to eviction from his or her residence. Freshmen may only be enrolled in the College if they are living with their parents or in a residence hall. This policy makes for de facto expulsion for the use of a drug far less dangerous than alcohol. Cannabis is not the only drug that has been so misevaluated by our administration. Psilocybin mushrooms have even less negative health implications, yet their use or possession is met with the same institutional recalcitrance. We need to acknowledge that even though alcohol is less illegal, this does not make it any more or less dangerous.

p. I beg President Nichol and Vice President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler to build upon the good judgment illustrated by the adoption of the Medical Amnesty Policy and initiate the reforms detailed herein.

p. __Thomas Silverstein is a junior at the College. His views do not necessarily represent those of The Flat Hat.__

On Feb. 10, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska will serve as the keynote speaker at the College’s annual Charter Day Ceremony. Based on my limited research, the College seems to follow a tradition of inviting mildly famous politicians to speak at this event — in 2006 it was Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, in 2005 Librarian of Congress James Billington and in 2004 Virginia Sen. John Chichester (R-28). While Sen. Hagel appears to fit this mold, his unique ability to infuriate fellow Republicans, totally alienate the Bush Administration and throw Democrats for a loop certainly makes him worthy of a closer look.

p. On the most basic level, Hagel is an extreme right-winger. According to www.OnTheIssues.org, he was given a zero percent rating by NARAL Pro-Choice America, a zero percent rating by the League of Conservation Voters, a 100 percent rating by the Christian Coalition and an “A” from the National Rifle Association. Hagel voted against expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation, voted for ending special funding for minority and women-owned businesses, and maintains very pro-free trade and anti-taxation stances. On paper, Hagel is basically as staunchly conservative as possible, and yet he has attained a kind of odd, bipartisan appeal. While more conservative members of Congress pretty much despise him for not totally adhering to the party line, some Democrats actually like the guy. In fact, The Washington Post even came out saying that “die-hard liberals” find Hagel “appealing.”

p. In fact, the only aspect of Hagel’s political persona that separates him from other typical far right-wingers is his extremely strong stance on the Iraq war. Not only does Hagel object to Bush’s recent “troop surge,” but he actually co-sponsored the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s nonbinding resolution condemning it and was the only Republican to vote for the measure. Media outlets seem to love Hagel in the same way they love John McCain — they are both politicians who appear to have backbones in a political scene filled with partisan robots. These Senators are perceived as bipartisan, independent-minded mavericks.

p. One could argue (as do many loyal Democrats who are unable to justify praising a member of the opposing team) that Hagel isn’t really doing anything astonishing. First, he originally supported the president’s invasion of Iraq, unlike many members of Congress who were against the war from the beginning. Furthermore, almost everyone besides the administration is unsupportive of the war at this point, so it can’t be that difficult to rebel against party leadership in favor of the American people. In fact, a Newsweek poll taken this month shows that a whopping 70 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq—it’s almost absurd for politicians to not criticize Bush. Even more revealing, however, is the fact that he might run for president. Unlike earlier predictions, he is not vying for a Republican bid, but may try to run on the “Unity08” ticket, which would hypothetically include one Democrat and one Republican. For many, not only would Hagel’s “strong” stance on Iraq be more accurately described as “incredibly easy,” but it may be motivated by selfish intentions, not any sort of moral imperative.

p. I am, however, not a party loyalist. While I vehemently disagree with Hagel on, well, just about everything besides Iraq, I take my victories wherever I can get them. Frankly, I don’t care what his motivations are — it seems like Americans have come to a consensus on Iraq, and it’s about time politicians started taking strong stands against the war. Even Democratic presidential hopefuls like Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have not taken a stance as tough as Hagel’s. While I find his McCain-like, maverick characterization in the media somewhat ridiculous (in my mind “really conservative and then sort of liberal on one specific issue” does not make a bipartisan), it is rather refreshing to see a staunch Republican unafraid to actually act against GOP leadership in the case of discordant opinions.

p. Regardless of your political affiliation, I urge everyone to hear Senator Hagel speak on Feb. 10. If nothing else, he is a unique, intriguing political figure, and certainly deserves recognition for his willingness to disrupt (albeit very slightly) the linear liberal-conservative political model so entrenched in American politics.

p. __Devan Barber, a junior at the College, is a Staff Columnist. Her views do not necessarily represent those of The Flat Hat.__

With the dawn of the 20th century, the world experienced the death of the novel as a genre; the 21st century ushered in the death of the book as a medium.

p. You can say books have become obsolete. The other day, my roommate Seth and I went to the College Bookstore and, although we were there for books, it seemed more like a local souvenir shop. You’d be lucky if you walked into a real bookstore now that is devoid of a Starbucks, doesn’t have a souvenir department, and sells more books than CDs, DVDs or audio books.

p. These days, higher learning comes at a pretty price. The bookstore charged me around $450 for the handful of books I managed to find. And the whole “used books” deal is no good. It’s all a scam — all you get is a two or maybe three-dollar discount. Hell, one of the books had a difference of about 20 cents. Another cost about four dollars more than the new copy. I don’t know. That last one didn’t make much sense to me. And their return policy is shit. Their deadlines are pretty lame. They don’t even give you a full 30 days to return the books.

p. Like my roommate, most students are buying textbooks online, through Half.com, sin.wm.edu or a myriad of other websites. I checked sin.wm.edu and found that, of the 20-odd books I needed, none of my required books were posted. On Half.com I was dismayed to realize that, when you figure the shipping time and fee into the increasingly expensive equation, you don’t really save all that much money. Seth personally recommended Craigslist.com, where you can find all the used books you will possibly need (they also sell used bikes, used movies and used clothes).

p. So college education comes with a cost. Probably because nobody reads anymore, publishers find it necessary to transform ordinary books into attention-grabbing, limited-criterion-collection-exclusive-edition-eyecandy-eyepopping-eyesores, a rather futile attempt to bring the book back. This, in turn, makes it increasingly difficult for those who do enjoy reading to find what they are looking for: a plain old book.

p. The scant texts available at the souvenir shop that calls itself a college bookstore are too ornate and arbitrarily priced. Today’s standard books need to have more than mere words on a page. Your general, off-the-counter book must be double bound and aesthetically eye-catching. It also must come with a DVD-ROM, include at least four pages of color pictures and accommodate at least 12 blank, acid-free pages for notes. And it must cost at least $30 to be considered a highbrow-friendly, intellectually-arousing text.

p. Of the books at the souvenir shop, well, they fall substantially below par. Did you know that you can purchase a copy from the Weird U.S. Collection for only $20? Did you know they had a whole series? For every state? Some having two or three volumes? Jesus. Or those “Philosophy of” books. You can find a Philosophy of the Simpsons, Seinfeld, Star Wars, Sopranos, Lord of the Rings, Family Guy, Dummies and soon a Philosophy of the Illiterate (this comes in DVD format).

p. The truth is that people don’t read books anymore. Only a proud handful of students read the books they invariably spend fortunes on. The rest rely on Sparknotes, read their instructors’ notes or cheat, returning their untouched books at a reduced price at the end of the semester. I guess that’s why the used books are so damn expensive — because they’ve yet to be cracked open.

p. __Sherif Abdelkarim, a sophomore at the College, is a Staff Columnist. His views do not necessarily represent those of The Flat Hat.__

Early last semester, Residence Life announced a surprise new policy to the hard-working men and women who clean our dorms: starting in the spring semester, housekeepers would be required to work on weekends. This was not an extension, nor would they be earning any overtime pay in the process. Instead they were now going to work half of the day Friday and then come in Saturday mornings for four hours. The staff members were not consulted before the announcement was made, nor were students.

p. Needless to say, the staff was less than pleased. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of waking up to work at 8 a.m. on Saturdays either. With a starting salary of $9 per hour, housekeepers working full time earn about $18,000 a year cleaning up our Chanellos boxes and Natty cans. Many have second jobs to support their families. But nevermind second jobs, or spending well–deserved rest time with their families on the weekends, the housekeepers were now informed of a mandatory weekend shift.

p. Luckily, our student body stepped up to address this gross mistreatment of the staff, and many believe that Res Life has now revoked the policy. Unfortunately, the truth is that they have postponed it and plan on implementing this policy once student opposition dies down a bit (read: over the summer when not many of us are here).

p. When I asked how the staff members felt about the change, Res Life told me that, in fact, the housekeepers were happy with the change. Excuse me? If the change was such a terrific idea, perhaps those who work in the office of Res Life would like to come in to work at 8 a.m. on Saturday mornings as well. After all, they went on to point out that there was no unified voice of opposition to the change. Isn’t it funny (and convenient) how content your employees can be with a little change in policy when you don’t have any discussion beforehand, don’t address a group worried about its job security, and prohibit unions from being formed?

p. Res Life continued, telling me that the housekeepers shouldn’t be upset because a lot of other places do this — the ever so classic “but everyone else is doing it” line of reasoning. This didn’t work for me beyond kindergarten (unfortunately). Asked if they were worried about people having to quit their jobs over the change, Res Life told me with a shrug, “Well, this is an industry with a high turnover rate.”

p. So according to the College, the housekeepers are happy about the change (completely false), they didn’t protest the change (in fear of losing their jobs they really could not), and everyone else is doing it (because that’s always a relevant point in terms of justifying something). Besides, why should we worry if they’re upset? They can quit anyway.

p. We care about impressing prospective students and keeping big donors happy, but this school does not care about its employees who earn the least. Sure, the College will object to me saying this, but the treatment of their employees speaks much louder than any statement or press release they could possibly make.

p. So it’s up to us. The College does not allow the housekeepers to have a voice, so we must become that voice. It was inspirational to see the student response to the initial announcement, but now we must ensure that the policy is shelved for good. We must let the school know that we care about the housekeepers more than we care about how much trash is on the floor on Saturday morning. Please, introduce yourself to the housekeepers who work so hard cleaning up your dorm, and let them know how much the students appreciate what they do for us. We have to show Res Life that we will not stand by and let them take advantage of their employees while we sit here twiddling our thumbs. Go ahead and give the office a call (x4314), or get everyone on your hall who supports the housekeepers to sign a petition and deliver it to the Campus Center, Room 212.

p. It will take effort to make Res Life cancel this policy, but we must embrace that challenge or else stand by and watch the school abuse our housekeepers. We can be the ones who begin making this school an environment where everyone is treated fairly, regardless of how many digits are in their paycheck.

p. __Shaun Loria is a junior at the College. His views do not necessarily represent those of The Flat Hat.__

We are responding to James Damon’s Dec. 8 column, “Misguided tours.” Damon described an interviewee in the tour guide selection process whom he felt epitomized everything he hated about high school. Not until we were discussing the column at a party did we realize that he had compacted us into a composite character who looked like Dawson, talked like Alex and came from the Midwest (although we are from Pennsylvania and Delaware).

p. Damon claimed that this student scammed the Admissions Department with lots of fake, flashy smiles and grotesque charm. He also was angry when this character was chosen as a tour guide over him. To begin, neither one of us was called back for a tour guide position. We were disappointed at the decision (though not to the point of having “a large metal clipboard [driven] straight into” our hearts), but we did not immediately write an acidic and slanderous column for The Flat Hat. In fact, both of us plan on trying out again next year and figure that, if we truly want the tour guide position, we should not bash the very institution we want to represent.

p. Damon began by describing the character’s physical appearance. He instantly classified the character as a “darn theatre kid,” based entirely on the fact that Dawson was wearing a Wicked T-shirt. He also seemed disgusted by Dawson’s enthusiasm about the College, misinterpreting his bubbling sincerity as a façade “to impress others.” Therefore, it seems that before he even spoke, Damon had judged him.

p. He then moved on to a description of some questions Alex answered. Since it was November, we had only been at the College for a few months, so we answered each question asked of us with the knowledge and experiences we had — even if that meant revealing we weren’t veteran students. Alex was asked to describe his favorite campus tradition. As there were relatively few traditions in the two and a half months since he was here, he answered using what information he had: that one of the most exciting traditions on campus is the Yule Log Ceremony (which, of course, had not yet taken place). Damon complained that student was “lying through his teeth” when, in reality, he was just answering the question with the inherent enthusiasm that comes from a typical student at the College. (Now, having attended the Yule Log Ceremony, he can confirm the answer given back at that interview — it is awesome.)

p. Damon also used our composite character as an example of why he hates the tour guide system, insulting the very students who represent the College to visiting families and set it apart from other institutions. Damon claimed that, as a tour guide, he “wouldn’t have sugarcoated a thing,” telling students how the food is awful, freshman year is the worst year of one’s life, and how this is the place where fun goes to die — all of which are, in our opinion, untrue. We would tell the real truth: the food is (usually) decent; freshman year is so far the best of our lives and fun comes here not to die but to thrive on the vibrant and fun-loving personalities of the students.

p. To his credit, Damon is an excellent actor: we apparently made him want “to vomit,” and he “hated [us] for being fake,” (he was sitting next to us).

p. We’d like to end with some advice for the author: loosen up. Come on, it was a tour guide interview. If you can’t handle that kind of light rejection, you need to get out of the competitive world of real life. The College may not be perfect, but for us it comes pretty darn close.

p. __Alex Guillén and Dawson Lindauere are freshmen at the College. Their views do not necessarily represent those of The Flat Hat.__

It’s 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and I would kill for a space heater. Heck, I’d settle for anything that would warm my frozen limbs. Instead, I curl up and hug my knees, praying to God that sleep — or death — will free me from this frigid hell on earth. I’m camping outside of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for free tickets to a Sufjan Stevens concert, and I’m having the time of my life.

p. The Boy Scout motto has always been “Be Prepared.” As an Eagle Scout, I know this, and should abide by these words. Instead, I’ve always preferred to pack less when given a choice in the matter. “I don’t need a printer or a lamp,” I said to my parents as I began packing for freshman year. “And really, bed sheets? Blankets? I think I can do without. You know? It would just be so much easier if I slept on my bare mattress. Really.” I reluctantly gave into their cries and ended up bringing pillows, blankets and even sheets to furnish my freshman dorm room. But I wasn’t happy about it.

p. I don’t loathe owning things. In fact, I relish every addition to my collection of solid color tee shirts. However, I prefer packing too little for two simple reasons: weight and simplicity. Who wants to worry about remembering a million and one things, or carryingall that dead weight? Not me. If I forget to bring something it’s never because I forgot, but due to my own intent. This trepidation to being prepared directly led to my freezing that Friday night. Taylor, the friend I was camping with, told me to bring a sleeping bag and pillow. Naturally, my bag included only a thin sweatshirt and neck pillow. “James, you’re going to freeze,” Taylor said upon looking at my gear. “Nonsense,” I replied. “I’ve got a toothbrush and a neck pillow. And besides, I was an Eagle Scout.”

p. To make my point, I left out the fact that I had been possibly the least qualified Boy Scout in the history of that organization, worse even than the other boys in my troop who set barrels of hay on fire and smoked pot during summer camp. At least they could light a match. I still can’t tie a knot, start a fire, or put up a tent. Admittedly, I can read a compass, but I don’t think that helps much when you find yourself camped in a tent in the middle of our nation’s capital.

p. Sometime around 4 a.m., in a state somewhere between awake and asleep, I thought I would actually freeze to death. Several hours ago, I’d lost feeling in my feet, which I’d wrapped in Taylor’s thick wool coat for warmth. She, in her heavy sleeping bag, snored lightly beside me. So this is what it feels like to be homeless, I thought to myself. I swore that, if I survived, I’d give a cool 50 bucks to the next bum I saw. “There you go buddy, why don’t you buy yourself some hand warmers or maybe a nice electric blanket.”

p. I was about to call it quits and give up my fight against the cold slowly inching its way up my body. I planned first to text message all of my closest friends, bequeathing my life sized ceramic dog sculpture to my brother who, though allergic, has always had a fondness for canines. Suddenly, a voice from outside my tent yelled, “None of you fuckers are getting any tickets.” For a moment I’d forgotten where I was. I was freezing to death in order to get tickets for what would be a really gnarly concert.

p. “Fuck you, asshole,” I hissed through chattering teeth at that jerk. Taylor shifted lightly beside me and then returned to her slumber. I couldn’t give up on living if it meant that asshole would get my tickets. No, I was going to get those tickets, I told myself as I rocked back and forth in the fetal position with newfound determination.

p. It wasn’t a love of music or a desire to give my extra ticket to a friend that got me through the rest of that night, though I wish it was. Bitterness toward everyone who hadn’t been camping for nine hours in the freezing cold kept me alive. Like the young Paul Atredies, protagonist of the “Dune” novels, I was kept alive in the face of insurmountable odds by my own determination to come out on top. For Paul, the prize was rule over the desert planet known as Dune and all the sweet euphoric spice chemical he could consume. As pleasant as that sounds, I’m glad I got those tickets.

p. __James Damon, a sophomore at the College, is a Staff Columnist. His views do not necessarily represent those of The Flat Hat.__