The College of William and Mary Student Assembly passed the Consolidated Reserve Interest Act and discussed the Get With the Times Act.

The Consolidated Reserve Interest Act endorses the writing of a letter to College President Taylor Reveley and the Board of Visitors advocating that interest accrued on the Consolidated Reserve Fund be placed in the “Save a Professor” account.

The Get With the Times Act would use consolidated reserve funds to distribute 200 copies of national newspapers daily throughout campus.

“This is one of the best proposals I’ve heard about how to spend this money,” Sen. Curt Mills ’13 said.
Sen. Betty Jeanne Manning ’12 cited the success of last year’s Collegiate Readership Act during her proposal and explained that this year’s plan is considerably cheaper.

There was debate over which newspaper should be delivered, whether to subscribe for the remainder of the semester or the entire year and which buildings should be used as drop-off locations.

Previously, a poll conducted by the SA showed that 64 percent of students would like The New York Times to be available on campus. The Washington Post was also among student favorites, while USA Today was the least popular option.

Purchasing newspapers for the remainder of the semester would cost approximately $17,000 for The Washington Post, $20,000 for The New York Times and $18,500 for a hybrid plan, which would bring 100 copies of each publication to campus each day.

Sen. Imad Matini ’11 advocated for the hybrid plan.

“For only $1,500 more, we can please more people,” Matini said.

Manning said that while it would be simpler to subscribe for the 2010-2011 year, it would cost the same as subscribing for the remainder of the 2009-2010 school year.

Sen. Noah Kim ’13 expressed concerned that bringing two national newspapers to campus might diminish student publication readership.

“It would push out student publications,” Kim said.

A senator noted that by January 2011, The New York Times will begin charging for full access to its website.

Sen. Steven Nelson ’10 said the SA should not spend money on a newspaper that campus can read for free for the rest of 2010.

He added that the Post is more relevant to students since more people at the College are connected to the Washington, D.C. area and its classifieds section might be better-suited to student needs.

In response to the suggestion that this initiative was not environmentally friendly, Manning plans to place signs at newspaper distribution points asking students to return newspapers when they are finished reading.
The bill will be discussed in committee before a final decision is reached.

In other business, bike locks can now be purchased at the William and Mary Police Station and the Sadler Center thanks to the newly implemented Bicycle Theft Prevention Act.

Chairman Ben Brown ’11 also told the senate that the Ping Pong Provision of the Purposeful Playing Act II, which passed last week, is proceeding as planned. He intends to purchase the ping pong balls and containers for the Sadler Center and the Campus Center this week and have them installed by next week.

The Williamsburg Planning Commission decided at a meeting Wednesday to send the College of William and Mary’s Triangle Retail Project back to the William and Mary Real Estate Foundation for a month to work out the handful of problems holding back the project. The Triangle Project is a mixed-use housing and commercial complex intended to be built on Richmond Road.

Through the meeting, the William and Mary Real Estate Foundation hoped to create a text for the planned developmental college district, rezone an acre of land between Wawa and Williamsburg Baptist Church and approve a master parking plan.

The wording was a cause of concern for several members of the commission. One issue of concern was the use of the term ‘unrelated.’

“I wondered why the statement was that the dwelling unit occupancy would be no more than four unrelated persons,” planning commission member Sarah Stafford said. “Why isn’t it just limited to four persons? We wouldn’t want to have five students here, and two of them happen to be related. We would want these units to only have four students. ‘Unrelated’ could cause problems, could it not?”

City Planner Reed Nester, speaking on behalf of the Triangle Project, clarified that the wording would have to be cleared up and that the College only intends to house four students per apartment.

The complex is envisioned to stand three stories tall, with the first floor housing four restaurants or retail outlets and the top two floors housing students. Fourteen apartments within the complex would house 56 students. Resident Assistants would monitor each hall.

The first floor of the building would contain over 10,000 commercial square feet. The Thiemes House, the former Master Craftsman building, and the Taylor building would be torn down to make way for the building. The latter two are vacant, and all three of the properties are owned by either the College or the William and Mary Real Estate Foundation.

The William and Mary Real Estate Foundation is a private entity formed in 2006 with the goal of developing real estate for the College.

Twenty-nine parking spaces would be available behind the completed building. As of now, students would not be permitted to use those spots.

“To live there you have to be able to park on campus,” Nester said. “I think that was non-negotiable.”

When the floor opened to public comment, one local resident questioned where the residents of the mixed-use building would park when they move in and out of their dorm.
Greene Leafe Café owner Glenn Gormley ‘84 M.B.A.’89 spoke in favor of the proposal.

“I’m really supporting what the College is doing here,” he said. “I think it is a vital thing, not so much for the College — I think [the College can say,] ‘We’ve been here for over 300 years, and we’ll be here tomorrow, too’ — but for the businesses on Scotland Street.”

The Green Leafe has two locations: one in New Town and one downtown on Scotland Street. The downtown location draws in less money than its New Town counterpart, according to Gormley.

“If you walk from where my business is now down [to the] Prince George Street area, you see a lot of businesses going out of business,” he said. “I don’t know that we’re going to be here next year, and I really hope the city [does] something here to help.”

Gormley said the College is essential to business revitalization in the area.

“Nothing can help the city more than the College,” he said. “The city was founded because the College is here. That’s why the city survived — let’s make no bones about that.”

The planning commission’s primary concern was the height of the proposed building. Gormley said he is confident the College will construct a sound structure.

“The College is only going to build a quality building,” Gormley said. “I’m not going to get into the height thing — that’s all your guys’s baby. You know the College only builds good stuff.”

Student Assembly representative Emily Gottschalk-Marconi ‘11 was the only student to speak at the meeting.

“I just wanted to echo my support for the William and Mary Real Estate Foundation’s proposal,” she said. “I know that as a student, and speaking on behalf of the students, we really appreciate all the efforts to
increase economic development for the city and find ways that we can also support the city.”

Gottschalk-Marconi expressed desire for more areas for students to eat, work and shop.

“I think it would be essential to have not only housing so close but other venues where we could contribute to the economy,” she said.

Despite Gormley and Gottschalk-Marconi’s support, several Williamsburg residents opposed the Triangle Project. One cited the difficulty of driving a car down Richmond and Jamestown Roads, and expressed a desire for sororities and the Campus Center to move on campus.

Other concerns included the building’s large size, the types of stores within the building, retail hours of operation, the building’s storm water draining and the lighting nearby buildings will have from the property’s parking area.

“If we’re too tough about this, we may lose the whole game,” planning commission member William Kafes said regarding the concerns.

Kafes said the Triangle Project would give the city more control over the area. Currently, there is nothing to stop the state government from taking the property through eminent domain or otherwise.

“I believe this building makes sense,” planning commission member Sean Driscoll said. “It addresses a lot of the needs we’ve been talking about for the last three, four, five, six years in terms of … working to create more student housing. From an economic standpoint, I’d love to see a couple great businesses in there. I’m not as concerned about parking.”

Driscoll downplayed the parking issue, doubting whether all 56 students would have cars and suggesting that the majority of the College student population probably did not own cars or did not bring their cars from home.

“We need to look for more opportunities to address student housing down the road,” he said.

The planning commission raised a handful of questions of its own.

Planning commission member Jim Joseph expressed concerns about tax revenue, the look of the skyline from Richmond Road and Scotland Street after the building’s completion and the opinions of Wawa and the Williamsburg Baptist Church, which would be the building’s neighbors.

“We have more homework left to do,” Joseph said. “We don’t want anything that is going to be detrimental to the street.”

Joseph said he was certain the student population would not be enough to sustain the potential businesses and expressed a need to appeal to city residents. He emphasized, however, that he was in favor of the plan.

“I’m not against this project,” he said. “I think it is a great one.”

Planning Commission Chairman Douglas Pons agreed.

“I think we would all agree that it is a good one,” he said.

One concern was whether the William and Mary Real Estate Foundation would have the right to sell the property in the future if it faced financial difficulty. Some residents felt that the College should have permanent control of the property.

The planning commission acknowledges that the concerns of the local residents much be addressed. An underlying concern was that the College had something it was hiding in its rezoning proposal.

“We need to make sure that everyone feels that there is clear disclosure,” Pons said.

The planning commission will work out the intricacies of the project at its March meeting.

Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell announced a series of further state budget cuts Wednesday that will decrease funding to higher education-related programs by $29.4 million over the next two years.

“We face an historic budget shortfall in the commonwealth,” he said at a press conference. “These budget decisions are among the toughest I have had to make in public service.”

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, a state-sponsored advisory body for issues dealing with higher education, will have its administrative budget cut 50 percent, or $1.5 million. The organization recommends policy to the governor and General Assembly about Virginia public colleges and universities.

Four higher education centers, which work in partnership with state schools to award degrees to non-traditionally aged students, will have their general operations budgets cut, with a proposed 15 percent reduction at each institution. This cut will save the state $1.3 million.

Other major cuts to Virginia higher education include a $19.8 million cut over two years to the Tuition Assistance Grant Program — reducing coverage to students eligible for financial aid — and the elimination of a $6.8 million program to attract well-known scholars to Virginia colleges and universities.

In his address, McDonnell called for a moratorium on cuts to higher education following this round of budget cuts, due to major cuts sustained by the institutions over the past several years

“I am calling for a restoration of some of the proposed cuts to public safety and no further cuts to higher education,” he said. “Public safety and higher education have been cut significantly in recent years and cannot sustain further reductions.”

The College of William and Mary’s plan to renovate Tucker Hall may be delayed due to budgetary issues in Richmond.

The plan was fully funded by Richmond for its first two phases, which included feasibility studies and the development of initial blueprints. Those cost $563,000. The College is currently waiting on an additional $12.1 million for the final phase, which will result in construction-worthy blueprints as well as the actual
renovation.

The delay in funds results from a cap on Virginia’s debt capacity, the amount it is legally allowed to borrow.
Because state spending has already reached the ceiling of 5 percent of total state revenue — a Virginia state policy — the completion of the project relies on the state’s future abilities to take further debt. The drop in overall state revenues has further lowered the amount the state can legally borrow.

“The state has been extremely generous to us in terms of funds,” Vice President for Administration Anna
Martin said. “This [delay] is the result of the national economy and the state’s debt capacity.”

The renovation project seeks to overhall Tucker Hall, home to the English department, Charles Center and
Writing Resources Center, which has not been renovated since 1967 when the building housed the law school.

Efforts in renovating the building include realigning to proper building codes, including the construction of an elevator for students with disabilities. Tucker Hall currently does not conform to regulations laid out in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The renovation will also restore the building’s split staircase, part of the original structure but since converted to bend only clockwise.

“We’re hoping that the historic parts of the building will come back in the renovation,” English department Administrative Assistant and Renovation Committee member Kathy O’Brien said. “We want to realign Tucker with the Wren Building’s design.”

Other renovations include opening the cupola to a large student lounge on the third floor and revamping the Tucker Hall theater. Approximately 45 seats will be removed to allow for more personal space within the facility.

Va. Gov. Robert McDonnell has set the third and final phase of the project for the July 2011 budget. The College originally planned to receive the funds this year.

According to Martin, once the College receives the funds, it will spend six months finalizing construction plans and one year to complete the renovation, making January 2013 the earliest the building will reopen.

Until the project is completed, the English department will continue to operate out of Tyler Hall.

English faculty members have said they are ready to return to Tucker, however.

“Tucker had an ugly design but it was also kind of homey,” English professor Jack Martin said. “On the other hand, there are no smells of sewage in Tyler.”