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College leads in 2006 political donations

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According to a recent study by the Center for Responsive Politics, the College ranks eighth in the nation among individual contributions from employees. During the 2006 election cycle, employees of the College and their families gave at least $172,800 to federal candidates and parties.

p. An overwhelming majority of the funds, $156,400 or 90.5 percent, went to Democrats. Only $400, or 0.2 percent of donations went to Republicans. The remaining donations went to independent or third-party candidates.

p. Government Professor Ron Rapaport and his family accounted for $167,400, or 96.9 percent, of the total donations given from College staff to Democrats. According to rankings from the CRP, Rapaport was ranked as the 28th largest individual campaign donor in the country for the 2006 campaign cycle.

p. Massie Ritsch, communications director for the CRP, said in an e-mail that Rapoport’s large donation was the only reason the College ranked so high.

p. “The Rapoport family — the professor, his wife and what appear to be two daughters … they’re big givers in the relatively small universe of political contributors,” Ritsch said.

p. Ritsch said that Rapoport’s wife and daughters are included because they did not list an employer.

p. Rapaport could not be reached for comment as of press time.

p. Of the 20 schools in the report, the College gave the least to Republican donors. The University of California Berkeley, which ranked first in total donations, gave 87 percent to Democrats and 12 percent to Republicans. Other schools on the list gave between three and 50 percent to Republican candidates.

p. Government Professor John McGlennon said it is not unusual for colleges to give more money to Democratic candidates because college professors are typically more liberal than the general public.

p. The College also made the list in 2002, ranking 13th over all with all the donations were given to Democratic candidates.
McGlennon pointed out that universities with more conservative leanings still give more to Democrats than Republicans. He pointed to Stanford University, which gave 61 percent to Democrats.

p. He also suggested that the donations could have been to alumni who were seeking political offices.

p. McGlennon said that the low number of contributions given to Republican candidates correlates to how Democratic and Republican candidates campaign for donors.

p. “It could just be that there were not Republicans who actively sought funds from faculty and staff,” he said. “If they didn’t aggressively campaign on campus, no one would give money to them.”

p. He added that part of the reason may be that the college is a state institution, directly affected by state policy.

p. “That also can shape decisions about donating money,” he said.

Police admit 3 crimes last year classified incorrectly

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Several on-campus burglaries last year were incorrectly classified as larcenies, a mistake Campus Police plan to correct after The Flat Hat identified inconsistencies in police reports. Federal law requires that colleges submit annual crime statistics — including burglaries but not larcenies — to the U.S. Department of Education.

p. Lieutenant John Coleman said that three reports of items missing from students’ rooms were classified as larcenies but should have been sent to the Department of Education as burglaries.

p. Due to the large number of larcenies that are reported, Campus Police Chief Don Challis was not surprised that there were three mistakes.

p. “There’s a margin of error in everything we do,” he said. “I was pretty sure we’d find some that were mischaracterized.”

p. According to the website of Security on Campus, a non-profit organization that worked with the Department of Education to develop “The Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting,” schools that fail to correctly submit crime data can be fined up to $27,000 by the Department of Education; however, SOC Senior Vice President S. Daniel Carter said schools with incorrect statistics just need to update their data.

p. Coleman said he plans to update the 2005 data and go through previous years’ crime reports to check for other mistakes. If he finds any, he will correct them and resubmit the data to the Department of Education.

p. “[There] probably are some [statistics] that need to be cleaned up in our system, but the fact of the matter is, nobody’s trying to underreport anything,” he said.

p. The mistakes stem from differences in the way the state and federal governments define burglary. The SOC handbook defines burglary under the Clery Act, a federal law requiring colleges and universities to submit annual crime data to the Department of Education, as “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft.” The first burglary example the handbook lists is “A student living in an on-campus residence hall room with other students reports an item missing from his room.”

p. Carter said that if the student’s room is unlocked and the person who stole the item is unknown, the crime should be classified as a burglary. If the missing item was stolen by someone who had a legal right to be there, like a roommate, the crime should be classified as a larceny. And if lawful entry cannot be proven, the crime should be classified as a burglary.

p. The three mistakes involve items missing from students’ rooms where lawful entry could not be proven. A student reported May 18, 2005, that golf clubs were taken from his room. Coleman said that because it could not be proven whether or not the clubs were taken by somebody who had a legal right to be there, the crime should have been classified as a burglary instead of a larceny.

p. In previous years Coleman submitted the same data to the state and to the Department of Education, but sometimes changes need to be made due to the way burglary is defined under the Clery Act.

p. “In the future, I plan to look specifically before submitting to Clery,” he said, adding that Campus Police underwent additional training recently on correctly classifying burglaries.

p. According to SOC’s website, the Clery Act seeks to standardize the way colleges disclose crime information. It requires colleges that participate in federal financial aid to submit annual crime data to the Department of Education, including reports of criminal homicide, sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson. According to the Oct. 23 online edition of the Wall Street Journal, the House of Representatives voted twice to include larcenies in the data, but both times the Senate version of the bill was adopted and did not include that provision.

p. The act also requires that the statistics be public. The College posts them on its website.

p. Last year, the College reported 14 on-campus burglaries. According to the dispatcher log statistics, which were likely altered later for correctness before submission, 199 larcenies were reported last year.

p. As of Dec. 3 this year, the dispatcher logs have recorded 167 larcenies and 7 burglaries. Five students reported items missing from their rooms; three of those reports were recorded as larcenies and two were recorded as burglaries. Coleman will review them for proper classification before submission.

p. The Oct. 23 online edition of the Wall Street Journal reported that there is a large difference between the number of larcenies at institutions of higher education compared to the number of burglaries. The College was cited as a school with what the Journal called “lopsided” statistics.

p. In the Nov. 3 edition of The Flat Hat, Vice President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler rejected the idea that the College skews its crime statistics. “We’re not hiding anything. I think anybody who knows anything about this place knows that,” he said.

p. He pointed out that the Campus Police send all reported crimes, including larcenies, to The Flat Hat to be printed in the Police Beat.

p. Overall, Campus Police Chief Challis was content with the way the College reports crime statistics and with the relatively low number of mistakes.

p. “If we have a burglary, that’s what we call it,” he said.

Street Beat: Who, living or dead, would you want to hear speak on campus?

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James Blair. I’d like to know what he thinks about the giant statue of himself on campus.
— Justin Yedor, senior

Bill Clinton. I think it would be interesting to hear him speak first hand.

— Brittany Hamilton, freshman

Alexander Hamilton, to show Thomas Jefferson what’s what.

— Kate Lee, sophomore

David Bowie. Interesting sort of guy.

— Rich Schaeffer, junior

USC administration blocks student from becoming editor

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(U-WIRE) LOS ANGELES – University of Southern California students, faculty and student journalists around the nation expressed concern and shock Wednesday after the administration said it would block the Daily Trojan’s editor-in-chief-elect from taking office.
Zach Fox resigned as editor-in-chief Tuesday after Michael L. Jackson, vice president of Student Affairs, said he would withhold the re-elected editor’s application from Media Board approval.
“It tromps all over the reason for having a student newspaper in the first place,” said John Kotler, professor of media law at USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism.
“How can you have a student voice with the students being throttled by the administration? The [faculty] I’ve spoken with are outraged.”
Kotler said he and other faculty members have asked Michael Parks, director of the School of Journalism, to put the issue on the faculty meeting agenda Monday.
Administrators cited problems with Fox’s application as the reason for preventing him from taking office.
Fox’s application did not fit the current job description for editor-in-chief, said Lori White, associate vice president of Student Affairs.
“If you apply for a job, you apply for the job as it is. If Zach had wanted to apply for the current job of editor-in-chief, we would have forwarded his application to the Media Board,” she said.
The Media Board is an advisory group composed of faculty and students whose approval is required for student media leader appointments. …
Editors at several college newspapers said complete independence from their universities’ administration is vital to their integrity.
William Marra, president of the Harvard Crimson, said editorial and financial independence from the university “is central to our ability to develop our mission.” Marra said his newspaper’s mission, “to inform Harvard University and the Cambridge community,” would be compromised if the administration could choose its editors.
“It has a chilling effect on the reporting on the administration,” he said. “You’ll be less likely to investigate as thoroughly as a college paper has to. You can’t be beholden to anyone — coverage can lose its integrity.”
“USC is backward,” said Rachel Kaminsky, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. “Clearly they want the power to remain in the hands of a few and not in the students.”
Student Affairs will hold a special election for the spring 2007 editor-in-chief Friday, after which a new nominee’s application will be presented to the Media Board for review.

— By Jeremy Beecher, Joanna Lin & Courtney Willis, The Daily Trojan (USC)

— compiled by Maxim Lott

Police Beat (Nov. 28 – Dec. 4, 2006)

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Tuesday, Nov. 28 — Commons Dining Hall staff reported finding a van in the woods behind Busch Field that had not been there before Thanksgiving break. Police determined that the van belonged to the Athletics Department, who said they had known of its loss for several days but had not yet reported it.

Wednesday, Nov. 29 — A student reported that her unlocked bicycle, worth approximately $100, had been stolen while she was eating at the Commons.
— A student reported that an unlocked bike worth $200 had been stolen from the Rec Center. Police searched the area, but did not find the bike.
Thursday, Nov. 30 — A male student was taken into custody near Zable Stadium. He was issued a summons for being drunk in public and for underage possession.
Friday, Dec. 1 — Two students were arrested on Alumni Drive and taken to the regional jail for being drunk in public and underage possession.
— A student on Armistead Ave. reported the theft of his or her unregistered bicycle and iPod. The student did not meet police after calling.
— Students reported that two musical instruments were missing from Ewell Hall that were worth $7,000 collectively.
Saturday, Dec. 2 — A caller reported that somebody was breaking glass bottles on Landrum Drive. The suspect was gone by the time police arrived.
— Officers spoke to students on Armistead Ave. about excessive noise.
— A caller on Jamestown Road told police about excessive noise from students on Rolfe Road. The suspects were gone by the time police arrived.
— Four skateboarders, who appeared to be high school students, were seen between Dinwiddie and Gooch. They were gone when police arrived. The event was recorded as a trespass violation.
— Police investigated three female students near the sundial on new campus. One was arrested for being drunk in public and underage possession, then taken to the regional jail.
Sunday, Dec. 3 — A person came to the College Police Department to report a stolen cell phone. The Sprint phone was silver and was thought to have been lost near Unit L.
— Students in Swem study room 327 reported that people in the adjacent study room were being “ridiculously noisy.” They said they had tried asking the students in the other room to quiet down, to no avail. A police officer was sent to the scene.
Monday, Dec 4 — A student reported receiving a strange phone call. It was neither threatening nor obscene.
— compiled by Maxim Lott

Tribe women lose CAA opener to Tigers: Kaylor records double-double

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The Tribe dropped its first CAA conference game to Towson University Sunday, 66-59. Although Head Coach Debbie Taylor had high expectations for the team’s opener, the College dug itself into a hole early in the game and was never able to recover fully. Junior forward Kyra Kaylor did record her first double-double of the year, however, as junior Devin James also tallied a double-double and sophomore Dani Kell reached double digits on the scoreboard.

p. Kaylor opened the game with a three-pointer for the Tribe, but the Tigers countered the attack with a 9-0 run to take a 9-3 lead with 3 minutes 31 seconds gone in the first. After the first media timeout, the Tribe scored six unanswered points, again sparked by Kaylor. At the 14:48 mark, the game was all tied up, but not for long. Towson responded with another run, this time scoring 13 points in seven minutes, while the Tribe only added one point to its total.

p. With 7:04 remaining in the half, the Tigers led the Tribe 24-13. A short time later, Towson extended its lead to 14 points, holding a game-high 29-15 advantage over the College. A set of free-throws by James, a three-pointer by Kell and a pair of buckets by Kaylor helped the Tribe cut the deficit to seven points at the 2:04 mark. Towson would score an additional five points before the end of the half, however, leading the College 36-27 going into the locker room.

p. The Tribe came out strong in the second half, rattling off 10 points within the first four minutes. Senior Sarah Stroh was a key factor, cutting the margin to four points after converting on her three-point play opportunity. The College remained on the attack, scoring back-to-back baskets to match Towson’s 41 points and force a Tigers time-out.

p. Back-and-forth scoring continued throughout the second half. The Tribe prevented Towson from achieving any sizable advantage, but was unable to take over the game. The College never allowed the Tigers more than a six-point lead, as Towson led 61-55 at the 2:20 mark.

p. “We had 23 turnovers, and that was definitely the demise of the game,” Coach Taylor said. “Virginia Tech was a big win for us, but we have to keep playing hard and improving every game.

p. “We are a young team and we are still finding ourselves,” Coach Taylor said in defense of the Tribe’s shaky performance. “We’ve been testing out different combinations, and we will continue to use our non-conference games to experiment and see what works best.”

p. The College did play tough until the final buzzer sounded, cutting Towson’s lead to three points with just 13 seconds remaining. The Tribe was then forced to foul the Tigers, who managed to sink their final four foul shots. Despite the College’s 40-34 advantage on the boards, Towson walked away with a 66-59 victory.

p. “I wasn’t happy with the loss, but I was pleased to see us come back in the second half,” Taylor said. “If we continue to develop individually and as a team, we could be a good contender for the conference title.”

p. Tribe 64, Virginia Tech 41

p. The loss to Towson came off the heels of the Tribe’s 64-41 victory over Virginia Tech Nov. 28. The win marked the program’s first victory over an ACC opponent in its Division I history.

p. Junior Devin James led the College against Virginia Tech with a career-high 26 points, while defensive efforts played a key factor as junior forward Kyra Kaylor totaled a game-high 11 rebounds and freshman Tiffany Benson recorded four blocked shots.

p. As usual, scoring was gradual in the beginning of the first half. However, The Tribe broke open the game with a 14-point run to gain a 20-7 lead over the Hokies. After freshman guard Robyn Barton’s three-pointer, the College held a 19-point advantage with less than three minutes remaining in the first half. The Tribe doubled Tech’s points by the end of the first, holding a 34-17 lead going into the second half.

p. Although the Hokies made an 8-2 run after halftime, sophomore guard Dani Kell’s three-pointer slowed them down, giving the Tribe a 38-25 advantage with 16:15 remaining. Tech proceeded to cut the margin to five points after making another eight-point run. The College countered the attack by scoring 13 unanswered points, holding a 51-33 lead with 8:32 left on the clock. With a pair of threes from James and six points off free throws down the stretch, the Tribe secured a 23-point victory over the Hokies.

p. This season, the Tribe is seeded fifth out of the 12 teams in its conference, the highest rank the College has seen in years. In the upcoming weeks, the Tribe will compete in five non-conference games before battling Drexel at the beginning of January. The first match of the series takes place tonight at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., at 7 p.m. The Mountaineers are currently 1-0 in their conference and 5-1 overall.

Early deficit too much for Tribe: Men fall behind by 17 at halftime in conference opener

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Down by 17 at halftime, the Tribe failed to achieve a comeback, falling to the Towson University Tigers 60-73 Tuesday night. Freshman David Schneider came off the bench to score 18 points on 5 of 9 shooting (4-8 from three-point range). Senior Adam Payton added 16 points and junior Kyle Carrabine notched a career-high 10 points. The trio contributed 44 of the College’s 60 points as junior scorers Laimis Kisielius and Nathan Mann went a combined 1 for 14 from the floor to total just six points.

p. The Tigers used an 8-0 run in the first half combined with consistent scoring to establish their 42-25 lead at the half.

p. “We didn’t defend very well in the first half. We gave up a lot of lay-ups,” Head Coach Tony Shaver said. “We had a hard time making shots.”

p. The Tribe came out in the second half with more intensity and quickly started a 10-2 run to trim the deficit to nine. The College managed to get within six points twice, but could not cut into the lead anymore.

p. “You can’t dig a 17-point hole in this league and expect to win every time,” Shaver said.

p. Towson established and maintained the lead by shooting 53.1 percent for the game, en route to their first win against the Tribe in Kaplan Arena.

p. Tribe 73, Cornell 68

p. Despite their Tuesday night loss, the Tribe showed promise this weekend when they won the Tribe Tip-Off Classic in a thrilling comeback victory over Cornell University in overtime 73-68. Kisielius and Mann came off the bench to score 21 and 15 points, respectively, to lead the Tribe to its second Tip-Off Championship in three years.

p. Down 46-59 with just five minutes remaining, the College appeared to be out of the game, but Payton’s defense sparked a 16-3 run that enabled the Tribe to tie the game at 62-62 and force overtime.

p. “Just keep playing hard. That was our focus,” Payton said. “We didn’t really have a set game plan. We knew we would need heart to win it.”

p. After Shaver called a timeout with 4:54 left, the College swarmed the Big Red with full-court pressure and man-to-man defense, forcing six Cornell turnovers in the final five minutes of the game. With the defense disrupting the Big Red offense, the Tribe reeled off 12 unanswered points to cut their deficit to one at 58-59 with 1:15 left.

p. Cornell extended its lead to four after Jason Battle hit two free throws and Andrew Naeve made one free throw to make it 58-62. With 28 seconds to go in regulation, Mann buried a three from the corner off an assist from senior guard Adam Trumbower, cutting the deficit to one at 61-62. After each team used a timeout, Payton bolted into the passing lane, stole the inbounds pass and earned a trip to the foul line with just 14 seconds remaining. He made only one free throw, knotting the score at 62-62. Cornell’s Battle tried to give his team the lead, but as he drove to the basket, Trumbower stepped into his path and drew a charge to send the game into overtime. With the momentum on their side, the College never trailed in overtime en route to a 73-68 victory.

p. Payton, whose free throw shooting and defense buoyed the Tribe to the championship, earned the Classic MVP award, and Kisielius, who turned in 41 points in the tournament, was named to the All-Tournament team.

p. Tribe 59, Jacksonville State 56

p. The Tribe secured its place in the championship game by defeating the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks 59-56 Friday night. Despite committing 28 turnovers and missing 16 of 33 free throws, the Tribe used strong rebounding, hustle and clutch free throw shooting from Kisielius to escape with a victory.
p. “Effort plays won the game for us,” Shaver said. “Offensively we were not really good with the ball. It’s amazing what one guy [Schneider] can do for you.”

p. The College nearly let the win slip away as the Gamecocks scored eight straight points to cut the Tribe’s lead to one, but with 19 seconds left, Kisielius stepped to the foul line and drained two free throws to give the College a three-point advantage. Jacksonville State’s Will Ginn misfired with his three-point attempt and sophomore Chris Darnell secured the rebound and the game for the Tribe.

p. The Tribe will play the University of North Florida Ospreys for the first time tonight at 7 p.m. in Kaplan Arena.

Football wrap-up: Tribe to take ‘business-like approach’

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Two years ago, coach Jimmye Laycock and the Tribe completed what was arguably the greatest season in the College’s storied football history, recording 11 wins and advancing all the way to the NCAA Division I-AA semifinals. Last year, the Tribe started strong, at one time sporting a 5-2 record and ranked as high as ninth in the nation, before beginning a downward spiral. The College would not record a victory in their final four contests and wound up 5-6. The woes continued this year, as the Tribe regressed yet again, recording just three wins and finishing with their worst record (3-8) since 1982, Laycock’s third year at the helm.

p. “It’s easy to look back and see the successes we had in 2004,” senior defensive back Alan Wheeling said. “As far as the last couple years are concerned, I think it is just a lack of consistency. I don’t really think it’s the way we prepared, I don’t really think it’s personnel, and I don’t know exactly where to point fingers.”

p. That seems to have been the problem with the Tribe this year. At certain points during the season, a different aspect of the team has looked stellar. Unfortunately, these individual spurts have seldom occurred simultaneously. For the strong defensive efforts against Virginia Military Institute, Hofstra University and Liberty University, there were massive defensive meltdowns to the likes of the University of Massachusetts, James Madison University and Villanova University. While in some games the offense piled up 38, 31 and 29 points, there were numerous contests in which the traditionally explosive offense was held in check.

p. “The offense and the defense, we were never on the same page,” sophomore cornerback Derek Cox said. “If one was playing well, the other one wasn’t. We just didn’t get it done.”

p. On the defensive side of the ball, a core of veteran players surrounded by more inexperienced players struggled to overcome injury and adversity as the season wore on. The Tribe opened the season with an impressive defensive performance against the University of Maryland, and the defense put the Tribe in a position to defeat the University of Maine, but shortly following a number of key injuries, including sophomore linebacker Josh Rutter’s season-ending ACL tear, the unit’s confidence collapsed.

p. “After a while our defense lost its swagger a little bit,” redshirt freshman defensive end Adrian Tracy said. “We always talk about playing with an attitude that people can’t stop us, and I think we lost that as we were progressing because we would get down on ourselves after a big play or a touchdown, and then we would fall apart mentally.”

p. Concerning the defense, a lack of consistency was clearly to blame. For the offense, the problem was an abundance of uncertainty. Sophomore Jake Philips entered the season as the Tribe’s clear number one starter at quarterback, but following a series of unproductive performances, Laycock handed over the offensive reigns to junior Mike Potts. At times during the season, each quarterback looked impressive, but each had his struggles. When the final horn blew against the University of Richmond to signal the end of the season, neither had established himself as the clear starter for next year.

p. “It is tough as a receiver seeing two different quarterbacks, because you kind of want to get comfortable with somebody just to kind of get in a rhythm,” junior receiver Joe Nicholas said. “I think that had some of the reason to do with the [inconsistency this] season, but we were just trying to have the best person in there at the best time to help the team.”

p. The play of senior running back Elijah Brooks, however, was never uncertain. Brooks built on his success from the previous year, averaging 84.6 yards per game on the ground en route to gaining 931 yards on the season and 2,536 for his career, enough to place him sixth on the College’s all-time rushing yards list. Due to Brooks’ key role, the new starter at running back will be under pressure to perform immediately.

p. “We are going to miss him, but I think myself and the other running backs will be able to pick up the slack. We won’t lose a step,” sophomore running back DeBrian Holmes said.

p. Now that the season is over, the seniors face the realization that not only their football careers, but their time at the College as well, are drawing to a close.

p. “You get caught up in practicing and meetings and film and you overlook the time you are having,” Wheeling said. “Now, having been off for a couple weeks, I have had a chance to look back and reflect, and without question it’s been the best time of my life. My time here has been a dream come true and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

p. As the seniors prepare for life after college and football, the rest of the team has hit the weight room to prepare for next season.

p. “We are already starting to work hard in the offseason. If we continue to work hard, then we won’t need to worry about having another season like we did this year,” Holmes said. “We have a young team, so I think next year we will just come out and do our thing.”

p. “The ball was in our court,” Cox said. “This year, we were in every game, just things didn’t go our way. Going into the offseason, we will take a business-like approach to getting better.”

p. In addition to offseason conditioning, the amount of playing time underclassmen received this year will be crucial to their development moving forward.

p. “A lot of the kids that played this year were extremely talented but did not have a lot of game experience,” Nicholas said. “Hopefully having that year to get used to it will jump-start them into next year and bring the team together.”

The curse of Bledsoe part two: Tony Romo

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Sept. 23, 2001, Foxboro Stadium. New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe is flushed out of the pocket and drilled by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. Bledsoe, suffering from internal bleeding after taking the ferocious hit, is removed from the game and replaced by an unknown sixth round draft pick out of the University of Michigan, Tom Brady. Having thrown only three passes in the NFL, the inexperienced Brady fails to lead the Patriots to a victory over the division rival Jets. Any knowledgeable sports fan knows the rest of the story. The upstart Brady goes on to lead the Patriots to a Cinderella season and an eventual Super Bowl victory over the heavily favored St. Louis Rams blah, blah, blah … but what is the real significance of this fateful day?

p. Yes, Sept. 23, 2001 marks the beginning of a Patriots dynasty. Yes, it marks the emergence of a future Hall of Fame quarterback. However, the date represents something far more significant, something far more momentous. Sept. 23, 2001, marks the dawning of “The Curse of Bledsoe.” As the curse goes, a franchise quarterback will miraculously emerge from the bottom of the depth chart of any team that starts Bledsoe at the outset of the season. Some might argue that the magical occurrence should be dubbed “The Blessing of Bledsoe,” but that is beside the point. The point is, the curse is very real and can can affect any NFL team. However, there exists many a foolish doubter of the storied curse.

p. After the curse failed to materialize in Buffalo, cynics across the nation denied its existence. “Who cares if just this one time an amazing quarterback rose from obscurity to become arguably the greatest QB in the NFL? Bledsoe went to Buffalo, and look what the Bills ended up with — J.P. Losman.” Granted, Losman is an incredibly mediocre signal caller. However, all those doubters failed to realize that the Bills are obviously impervious to the curse for two reasons. First, the Buffalo Bills, well, they’re just the Bills. They are so bad that even the mighty curse had no effect upon their franchise. The second explanation is that the curse takes a break on a set schedule. The curse did not touch the Bills because it only affects every other team that Bledsoe quarterbacks. So, as legend would have it, the curse must fall upon Bledsoe’s next team.

p. October 23, 2006, Texas Stadium. After throwing a terrible interception in the New York Giants red zone, Drew Bledsoe is pulled from the game by Coach Bill Parcells. The dejected Bledsoe can do nothing but watch from the sidelines as an undrafted nobody, who has never even thrown a pass in the NFL, enters the game. To the chagrin of Parcells and the Cowboys, Tony Romo, the undrafted quarterback out of Eastern Illinois University, trots onto the field and on his first NFL pass promptly throws a pick as the Cowboys go on to fall to the Giants 36-22. Sound familiar?

p. In his first NFL start against a formidable Carolina Panther defense, Romo suddenly transformed into Joe Montana, using his athleticism to evade defenders, leading the Cowboys to a franchise record 25 fourth quarter points, and more importantly a decisive victory. Romo hasn’t slowed down since, posting a 5-1 record as a starter and a league-leading 102.4 quarterback rating. However, Romo’s most impressive attribute goes beyond the statistics. Romo’s constant air of confidence gives him that intangible element that you don’t see in just any average NFL quarterback. Romo seems to have that ability to, even when he is down, make that game-changing clutch play. The Giants were firsthand witnesses of such playmaking ability last weekend. With one minute remaining and the score knotted at 20, Romo rolled out to his left and uncorked an off-balance, 42-yard laser to tight end Jason Witten. Romo’s perfect pass put the Cowboys into field goal range, and the recently-acquired Martin Gramatica booted a 46-yarder home to give the ’Boys a 23-20 victory.

p. After witnessing Romo’s emergence, it is essentially a proven fact that the Curse of Bledsoe exists. Although Romo’s accomplishments are partly due to his own physical ability and mental toughness, he owes most of his success to Drew Bledsoe (and possibly to his own high mojo levels after going on a date with Jessica Simpson). As for the rest of the season, the NFL has never seemed more predictable. Aided by the curse, the Cowboys will go on to easily capture a NFC east title, coast through the playoffs and win Super Bowl XLI behind a game-winning drive by field general Tony Romo. As for Bledsoe, he’ll be seen on the sidelines, wearing a smug smile, contemplating which lucky NFL team he will lead to the Promised Land next.

p. Graham Williamson is a sports columnist for The Flat Hat. His assistant editor wishes he wouldn’t make fun of the Bills.

Basketball game becomes tragic challenge

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While sitting down and pondering the topic for my final column of the year, I was struck by a strong desire to be bold. To be honest, I had a difficult time. What could I do that hadn’t been done before, that wouldn’t offend and wouldn’t result in my relocation to a cozily barred concrete room? I knew, however, that somewhere out beyond the horizon was an idea yet unthought, and that only by thinking outside of my limitations could I find that spectacularly daring scheme. And then it hit me. What could I do that hardly any students had done before? Easy — I’d venture to a basketball game.

p. I know what you (if you’re anything like the average student) are saying right now: “We, like, have a basketball team?” Yes, my tragically misinformed friend, we do. Getting there would not be easy, however, due to the administration’s conspiratorial plan to keep students from supporting our team. You read that correctly; the College doesn’t actually want students to go to the games. I found it hard to believe at first as well, but after facing a nearly impenetrable wall of security last Friday night, I quickly began to catch on to the plan.

p. My first clue was the parking situation. My friends and I rolled up — just a couple of ganstas, blasting Coolio and looking hard — to find sign after sign with the same text scrawled across it — “NO STUDENT PARKING.” Well that was all fine and good; I’ve come to embrace the fact that the powers that be can render our paid-for parking permits useless with little more than the tip of a hat. The only thing was that the rest of the sign read “FOR BASKETBALL GAME.” Apparently students, even those going to the game, had no right to park in those spots. At this point I had two beliefs — either there was, in fact, a conspiracy, or the administration had wised up to the student body’s traditionally poor attendance at basketball games and had decided to focus instead on paying customers.

p. Finally, we found a parking spot, one with a marker saving it for parents (shh, they are probably reading this at this very moment), and made our way into the building. Or at least we tried to. No sooner had we opened the doors than a portly woman with an air of authority bellowed a tirade at us which, to my alcohol-fueled thinking, sounded like the gears of social justice grinding to a shocking halt.

p. “Excuse me, but you can’t come in here.”

p. “Well listen, lady,” I replied. “We live in a little place called America, which, in case you didn’t know, means freedom. You know what? I don’t even care about the terrible, bone-curdling ways that you’re going to torture me or my friends — it is my God-given right as a student of this school, and I’M GOING TO THAT GAME!”

p. She, probably sensing the desperation and general instability of my demeanor, replied quite tactfully, “Sir, the students’ section is around the corner, you just need to walk around to go in.”

p. “That’s right, I’m going in,” I said, turning to my friends. “We sure showed her, didn’t we, guys?”

p. Finally, we were there. Eager to get in, but not before putting myself in the running for an authentic (featherless) Tribe jersey, I ran quickly to the card swiping station. To my great chagrin, the powers that be had beaten me there.

p. “Sorry, the machine’s broken right now,” said the cheerful woman behind the table, smiling the whole time. I could smell the corruption wafting off of this woman. I felt that, if only I cornered her Jack Bauer style and asked the right questions in the right tone, then eventually she’d break down wailing, “It’s true! The whole thing, it’s all true. To be honest we didn’t think that anyone would make it this far.”

p. Luckily, this time, my friends pulled me away, and we got into the game. And guess what? It was great. Although the arena had less than half of its seats filled, the crowd really got into the game, helping the Tribe to a 59-56 win over Jacksonville State University. Which leads me to the moral of my little song and dance: go to the basketball games (and field hockey, baseball, soccer, etc.). People complain about how our school isn’t like others, what with the smaller sports teams and less school spirit. Well, there’s something we can do about that — throw all of our savings into school apparel, body paint and mood enhancers, get out to the games and scream our heads off like we’re freaking nuts. A person shouldn’t complain about things that he or she can change. Especially not when there’s a bigger fish to fry. I’m talking, of course, about the cons — Hey, how’d you get in here? . . . Is that you, Mr. Sadler? … what are you doing . . . put me down . . . put me . . . YOU CAN’T SILENCE THE TRUTH, YOU CAN’T SILENCE —

p. Brad Clark was a sports columnist for The Flat Hat.

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