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Snowstorm closes campus

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The third snowstorm in just over two weeks has closed the College of William and Mary starting at 11:00 a.m. today.

Essential personnel are asked to report as scheduled.

This was the first snowfall to occur during the academic week.

A press release on the William and Mary website lists the following events as still on schedule for Wednesday:

The William and Mary men’s basketball game against Delaware is still scheduled to occur at 7 p.m. in Kaplan Arena at William and Mary Hall.

The Student Recreation Center will close at 7 p.m.

Swem Library will remain open until 6 p.m. Wednesday. Please check the library’s website for updated information.

The Career Fair in the Sadler Center will continue as scheduled on Wednesday.

_Check back with flathatnews.com for more on this developing story._

McDonnell: College, state relationship strong

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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell spoke of partnership and learning from past struggles in his keynote speech at the College of William and Mary’s annual Charter Day ceremony Saturday at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall.

Charter Day is the annual celebration of the granting of the College’s royal charter in 1693 from King William III and Queen Mary II of Great Britain.

McDonnell began his speech by saying that the College’s past struggles have helped shape its present character.

“The Civil War period at William and Mary is one that has largely been forgotten, except in notations by historians,” he said. “The College of William and Mary was closed from May 1861 to the fall of 1865. An attempt to reopen the College using the personal funds of the school’s president, Benjamin Ewell, failed. In 1906, the College property was transferred to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and thus was born William and Mary as a public institution, which it has now been for 104 years.”

McDonnell stated his belief that building on these historical adversities would help the College and the Commonwealth overcome current hardships.

“Four hundred years of Virginia history tells us that these current challenges that we face in Virginia, I believe, pale to the previous obstacle that Virginia leaders have taken on and have overcome together,” McDonnell said.

McDonnell also said that the College’s role in education would be a significant factor in the future success of the Commonwealth.

“We must recognize the importance of investing today in educating the leaders of tomorrow,” McDonnell said. “It’s hard to imagine what could have happened several times in this college’s history, and that is a nation and state without William and Mary.”

McDonnell also addressed concerns with declining state-supported funding for higher education, and the College’s financial status in particular.

“The partnerships between the state and the universities are critical to create a world-class educational system that our young people of Virginia deserve and demand,” McDonnell said. “Over this last decade in
Virginia, while we’ve experienced an increase in state spending of over 70 percent, the investment in the operation of our higher education system has decreased 40 percent. Thus, rising tuitions are levied on children and their parents, and that is a formula that we must address quickly.”

McDonnell concluded his speech by saying that the commonwealth would continue to support its relationship with the College, which has lasted for more than a century.

“This great partnership between the ‘alma mater of a nation,’ as [Former Virginia Gov. Mills] Godwin called it, and the ‘mother of presidents,’ as Virginia is so often called, merely codified this relationship,” McDonnell said. “I pledge to, in my brief four-year time that I am able to serve as the 71st governor of Virginia, to keep alive its 104-year outstanding partnership between William and Mary and the Commonwealth, and to continue to find ways to leave this state and this nation in a better place than we found it.”

College President Taylor Reveley also spoke at the ceremony, describing Charter Day as the College’s birthday.

“When Charter Day is stripped to its essentials, laid bare, that’s what it is — a birthday, a celebration of another year in the long life of the College of William and Mary,” Reveley said. “The wild animal excitement of birthdays subsides as the years accumulate, and the birthdays begin to pile up, rolling in more and more quickly, relentlessly, like the surf rushing to shore. Some birthdays remain special, though — when we get to be 21 — or 300.”

Reveley also praised the College’s exclusive status as one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the world.

“William and Mary has been alive and kicking for more than three centuries,” he said. “It’s hard to think of any other institution in North America that’s older. Well, Harvard, of course, but it came first only because the first attempt to start a college in Virginia fell short in 1619. This was well before Harvard was even a gleam in pilgrim eyes.”

While its three-century history puts the College in elite company, Reveley said that the events and accomplishments in that history are what make the College special.

“There is only one College of William and Mary,” Reveley said. “So we do say to this marvelous university on its 317th birthday, in the words of Dr. Seuss, truly ‘there is no one alive who is Youer than You.’”

This year saw an immense effort to increase Charter’s Day’s significance within the College community.
Banners proudly boasted the College’s 317th birthday, and Feb. 5 was named Tribe Pride Day, with students and faculty encouraged to wear green and gold clothing.

“The idea is to get students pumped up for the celebration, not just the alumni,” Lauren Morrisroe ’10 said.
“By making Charter Day a campus-wide thing, it encourages everyone to take pride in the College. I definitely noticed a difference in how much it was publicized this year.”

The ceremony also included an awards presentation for prominent members of the College community.
Along with McDonnell, University of Chicago philosophy professor Martha Nussbaum and former sociology professor R. Wayne Kernodle received honorary degrees.

Dr. Waverly Cole ’50, Sam Sadler ’64 M.Ed. ’71, Nicholas St. George ’60 J.D. ’65 and Earl Young ’59 each received the Alumni Medallion, the highest award for graduates of the College. Economics professor Robert Archibald was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Award, and biology professor Mark Forsyth received the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award. Nik Belanger ’09 received the Monroe Prize in Civic Leadership, and Lauren Miller ’10 was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy.

_Flat Hat Assoc. News Editor Ian Brickey contributed to this report._

Behind Closed Doors: Training for the ex-games

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Sex is beautiful in its simplicity. Fetishes and perversions aside, the act itself remains pure: in, out, done. But sex isn’t just an act, it’s all the feelings and emotions that surround the horizontal tango, and all of that can be very complicated.

Even in the best of situations sex is a minefield. Yet some daredevils take it one step further. They throw caution to the wind and jump headfirst into one of the most complicated sexual relationships one can have: getting X-rated with your ex.

Running into the arms of your ex — or drunkenly stumbling into them, as may be the case may be — is a pretty predictable situation. You know this person intimately; you already trust and like them. They already trust and like you. You’ve been between the sheets with them before, so you two already know what each other likes. It seems only natural that you would call them when you find yourself bored and horny.

Unfortunately, sex is an elaborate interaction that is strewn with emotion and delicate at best. Sex makes people feel and act irrationally. Compound the situation with the fact that feelings about an ex tend to be complicated and you find yourself in a sexual muddle.

A lot depends on how serious the relationship was and how recently the break-up occurred. As a general rule, the more serious the relationship was, the more likely the sex is going to be complicated. How recent the break-up was is a good indicator of how likely a hook-up is. If you can go a month without falling back into bed with your ex, your will power is probably strong enough that you won’t do it in the future.

Should you be a slave to your libido and falter one night. There are ways to deal with it.

Many people see ex sex as a lose-lose situation. If the sex is bad, you’ve wasted your time. If the sex is good, you may miss the person and wish you were still together. Either way, you’re screwed. It’s true, revisiting an old lover is likely to reignite lingering feelings you had for him or her.

I personally don’t think that’s a convincing argument. Sometimes you just want to get laid by someone who you know can do the job well. Why risk going home with a random person, who may be terrible in bed, when you can get naughty and nostalgic with an ex? In that sense, I say go for it.

There is a caveat, however. Unless you are sleeping with your ex in the hopes of a full reunion, you must understand that sex with an ex is a temporary solution. When your tire pops, you replace it with a donut tire, but you can’t drive on it forever. Eventually you, or your ex, are going to have to move on.

Going where you’ve gone before can be comfortable, but it stagnates your love life. You’re living in the past. Sleeping with your ex is easy, but moving on in search of the right person is scary.

So, what’s the verdict? Know what you’re getting yourself into before you go down that road again. Assess the situation and ask yourself why you want to hook up. Are you just horny and your ex is nearby? Do you miss something about that person and you’re hoping to get closer to them? Or are you hiding from having to go back on the dating scene?

When in doubt, follow your loins. You’re only young and virile once. Why not have your heart broken a few times? Good loving is worth a little complication.

__Maya Horowitz is the Flat Hat sex columnist. Her little black book could make the New York Time’s Bestseller list as being one of the most read books of all time.__

Men’s basketball: College rallies to defeat Georgia State in Atlanta

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Following last week’s loss to lowly James Madison, William and Mary Head Coach Tony Shaver posited that in order to succeed in its upcoming games, the team would need to rediscover its balance. Throughout the course of the Tribe’s recent losing streak, the coach stressed to his team that the reason the behind one of the best starts in program history was their efficiency and the fact that multiple players contributed on both sides of the ball.

Saturday night against Georgia State, the Tribe (16-7, 8-5 CAA) rediscovered that winning formula by displaying clutch shooting and lock-down defense to erase an eight point halftime deficit and defeat a stubborn Panther team 59-56 in Atlanta.

“It was a great road win, no question about it,” Shaver said. “This is a resilient basketball team, I think that is the best way to describe them. They keep battling, keep fighting. [Georgia State] is a team that was 7-2 at home, and they just beat George Mason a couple of nights ago, so it’s a great, great win for us.”

For the 11th time this season, the College found itself engaged in a game that came down to the final possession. Junior forward Marcus Kitts and sophomore guard Quinn McDowell, among others, nailed several crucial shots over the course of the game’s final minute, allowing the Tribe to leave Atlanta with a valuable CAA victory. Kitts banked in a layup with 27 seconds remaining to give the College a one point lead, while McDowell nailed two free throws with nine seconds left to seal the win.

“We do it every day in practice, and I tried to just not put that much pressure on myself,” McDowell said. “I wanted to just go up there, and knock them down, and that made it easier on the defensive end because we could just go out there and play on the perimeter and not have to worry about them driving in.”

The College’s displayed dominating defense in the second half, especially on the game’s final possession. Sophomore guard Kendrix Brown and senior guard Sean McCurdy thwarted the Panthers’ baseline screen, causing Georgia State guard Marques Johnson’s game tying three-point attempt to fall short at the buzzer.

Although traditionally an offensive minded team, the Tribe relied heavily on its defense to overcome a seemingly consistent second half deficit of five to eight points. The Tribe held Georgia State to just 22 points in the second half, and managed to outrebound the Panthers 32-31.

“We went more man-to-man in the second half, we continued to mix up our defenses, but played more man than we have in some games, and we went with the small lineup,” Shaver said. “Some of our best players are guards, so there were quite a few minutes tonight in which we had we had a combination of either McCurdy, Schneider and Rum on the floor or McCurdy, Schneider and Brown on the floor.”

For the third consecutive outing, McDowell was the Tribe’s leading scorer, notching 17 points. Senior guard David Schneider rebounded from his recent shooting struggles to pour in 15 points while Kitts and McCurdy both added 10 points.

Although the Tribe managed to convert just 38 percent of its shots from the floor, the College made enough clutch shots at the end of the contest for the team to leave Atlanta with a renewed sense of confidence.

“We hit a tough stretch there, we weren’t playing our best basketball against some really good teams, and the ball just really wasn’t falling our way,” McCurdy said. “The coaches know that the ball is going to fall as long as we get good shots and continue to trust our offense.”

The College will open a two-game homestand this week, beginning with Delaware (6-17, 2-10 CAA) Wednesday night, followed by Northeastern (16-8, 11-2 CAA) Saturday. With six games remaining before the conference tournament, the Tribe will need to continue to regain its confidence and reassert its standing in the ultra-competitive CAA.

“It’s amazing. If back in October, you asked anybody if William and Mary basketball could have 16 wins with six [games] still left to play, not many people would have believed that,” Shaver said. “So it’s a great feeling for these guys, and we just want to keep playing well and see if we can’t finish strong.”

For a box score, click here.

Women’s tennis: Tribe falls to no. 33 Ohio State

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The Tribe (3-3, 2-0 CAA) fell 5-2 in a gritty match against no. 33 Ohio State Friday evening in Williamsburg.

“We competed very hard, which is expected for us. I just feel like we didn’t have an edge,” Head Coach Meredith Geiger-Walton said.

To start the match, the College was only able to grab one doubles victory, provided by senior Carmen Pop and freshman Anik Cepeda in the Tribe’s no. 2 slot. The duo trailed 6-2 in the early stages of the match, but snagged six straight games en route to a 8-6 comeback victory.

The Tribe’s no. 1 pair, filled by senior Ragini Acharya and junior Lauren Sabacinski, saw a different fate, falling 8-2. Late in the match, play was briefly paused when Acharya experienced a hip-flexor pull and back spasm injury. The senior overcame the injury and finished the match.

The College’s no. 3 team, headed by sophomore Katie Kargl and freshman Marlen Mesgarzadeh held an early lead behind solid play, but were unable to finish, falling 8-5.

The Tribe’s singles effort was highlighted by victories from Pop and Mesgarzadeh. Pop improved to 10-7 on the year with the 6-2, 7-6 (5) win from the College’s no. 4 spot.

“I was staying patient, and when I had the opportunity to close in, I would try to finish the point,” Pop said.

Playing in the no. 3 slot, Mesgarzadeh dropped her first set 6-1, but battled back to take a marathon second set 7-6 (11). The freshman faced a 2-1 deficit when her Buckeye counterpart attempted to lob a shot over the charging Mesgarzadeh. Tracking the ball while retreating, Mesgarzadeh beautifully backhanded a finisher to sway the momentum back into her favor. She would go on to take the next five games to clinch the third set and the match.

Acharya, competing in the College’s no. 1 position, faced a tough opponent in Ohio State’s no. 35 Kirsten Flowers. The Tribe senior was unable to find success, drawing consecutive set losses, 6-2, 6-2.

Cepeda saw a similar story play out at the no. 6 slot for the College, unable to continue her earlier doubles success, losing 6-3, 6-0.

The Tribe’s no. 2 player, freshman Nina Vulovich, in singles action, struggled through an error-ridden first set, falling 6-1. But, finding her stroke, Vulovich stole the second set 6-2, pushing the match to a decisive third set. After falling behind 5-3 in final set, a match-point rally found Vulovich firing a crosscourt shot that Ohio State’s Paloma Escobedo had to lay out to barely return, leaving Vulovich with a clear court to save match-point. But, Vulovich only found the top of the net, watching the ball fall back to the freshman’s side, losing the point and the match.

Sabacinski, who relies on using the entire court to out-finesse her opponents, was unable to do so in losing an exhausting 3-6, 7-5, 10-3 match, which drops her season ledger to 6-8.

The College will take on Florida International on Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. in the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, a rescheduled match from Monday.

Not quite finished

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Most at the College thought they had seen the last of R.J. Archer on a frigid December night in West Philadelphia. There, the senior quarterback crafted a dramatic ending to his football career, dueling eventual national champion Villanova to the wire before falling 14-13 in a nationally televised FCS semifinal game.

The end result notwithstanding, Hollywood couldn’t script a better way to go out — Archer capped his final season by throwing for 239 yards and a touchdown, with the score coming on a 98-yard bomb that would become the longest play in FCS postseason history.

Except Archer had other ideas. After exhausting his NCAA eligibility on the gridiron, the senior will suit up once again for the Tribe, this time as a relief pitcher for the baseball team.

“It was something I was thinking about for a while,” Archer said. “I just wanted to see if it was a possibility.”

After getting a nod of approval from Head Coach Frank Leoni in a brief tryout last month, the senior will get that chance, ascending the mound for the Tribe as the squad’s new number 27 this spring.

“We’re definitely happy to have him,” Leoni said. “I think he has potential, he’s obviously a great athlete. We’re hopeful that he can get himself into shape and contribute.”

A standout pitcher in high school, Archer chose to pursue a collegiate football scholarship despite a senior year in which he posted a 7-3 record with a 2.05 ERA and 63 strikeouts. Receiving more attention as a quarterback, Archer signed with the College in 2005 to play football for Head Coach Jimmye Laycock.

The Albemarle High School product switched to wideout where he played his redshirt freshman and sophomore years, before assuming the starting quarterback job for his senior season. He led the Tribe to an 11-3 record – tied for the most wins in school history – and the program’s second appearance in the national semifinals.

But along the way, he never got baseball out of his mind.

“I knew while I was playing football it wasn’t an option,” Archer said. “But I always thought maybe my fifth year, if I was still healthy, I might give it a try.”

When that time came, the senior approached Leoni about a tryout just days after the College’s season ended against Villanova. The coach expressed interest, and Archer spent time on the mound over winter break, working slowly back into baseball shape, while gauging the reaction of his arm to repeated throwing. When he felt healthy, Archer returned to Williamsburg and received the coach’s final seal of approval in a short January bullpen session in.

“This has been my first glimpse at him, and he’s had some good moments, he’s had some bad moments,” Leoni said. “He’s rusty, he hasn’t played baseball in a long time. We’re keeping the expectations reasonable and realistic, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Currently, Archer is throwing a mid-80’s fastball with an off-speed breaking ball. That velocity is expected to jump as the semester wears on and he rounds into baseball shape.

“He’s trying to get the feel for pitching again,” Leoni said. “He’s almost like a freshman, he’s starting from square one. We just try to get him progressing at a faster rate, because he’s on a short clock.”

The senior is encouraged by his progress, while cognizant of the substantial learning curve he must ascend.

“Every day it gets a little bit better, location and stuff like that,” Archer said. “If you can locate your fastball, you’ll be alright, so I’m working a lot on hitting spots right now.”

Meanwhile, Archer must balance his pitching development with preparations for the upcoming NFL season. The senior has received interest from pro scouts as a quarterback, and will showcase his ability at the College’s Pro Day in late March.

“I’m working out on my own, just speed and quickness stuff for the Pro Day,” he said. “I’ll see what happens with that and then see how baseball comes. See if there’s a possibility [to go pro] in either of them at the end of the year.”

In the long term, he’s keeping his options open. But for now, Archer is squarely focused on one goal.

“He didn’t come to play so he could sit on the bench and be a cheerleader. He came to pitch,” Leoni said.

Lavin returns to College with wisdom

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Anyone who has ever been on a tour of the College of William and Mary knows that one thing we really like to talk about is our alumni, and for good reason. But if there’s something we like even more, it’s when our alumni come back to visit.

Broadway and television actor Linda Lavin ’59, returned last night to host a series of acting workshops through today.

“On the first day I’ll be working with the acting students [and] on the second day with the singing actors,” Lavin said. “It’s always exciting — challenging for everyone and a lot of fun, I hope.”

Lavin’s career has been broad and successful, ranging from the lead role in the ’70s sitcom “Alice” to countless Broadway shows such as “Broadway Bound.” She even holds two Golden Globes, a Tony Award and several nominations. Her success has come not only from her raw talent, but also from her dedication to the roles she plays.

“Although Linda is a good technical singer, the main thing that she wins awards for is the stories that she makes songs tell,” professor Christopher Owens, who is coordinating the workshops, said. “I think anyone who is a musical performer would learn a lot from it.”

Lavin’s series of classes, including one tonight at 7:30 p.m. is open to the public. The class tonight is titled “Acting the Song” and will take place in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall free of charge. During the class, Lavin will work with a few students on stage and walk through different Broadway songs with them. It will be a more interactive class, Lavin will work with a few students on stage and walk through different Broadway songs with them. It will be a more interactive version of a presentation, where the audience will get to hear her advice as she coaches the students.

“I come to a master class with an open mind and look at people, most of whom I’ve never seen before, as they present their work, [whether it be] a monologue or a scene or a song,” Lavin said. “With each performer I work to uncover the meaning of the material and the intentions of the character.”

With extensive career experience in the world of theatre, Lavin’s workshops are full of insights for aspiring actors and actresses hoping to find success after college.

“[The classes focus on] talking about how the real theatre world is different than the academic world and what [students] can expect,” Owens said. “So knowing what skills they need to particularly concentrate on so that they can translate their training to getting a job.”

During her time at the College, Lavin — who did not originally intend to pursue acting — was consistently involved in the theatre department. As a freshman, she even landed the role of Juliet in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

Owens said her familiarity with collegiate theatre makes her the perfect candidate for one of the first major workshops the theatre, speech and dance department has organized.

“We have a few what we call ‘distinguished alumni’ of this place here and we are starting to reach out to them and ask if they’d like to come back and share,” Owens said. “I think she’s the first of what I hope will be a few of these.”

GA robs state schools

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It is no secret that the fiscal crisis in Richmond is dire, demanding drastic correction in order to keep the commonwealth afloat. However, the General Assembly has already gone too far in what has become an all-out assault on the budget of Virginia’s higher education system. If we are to have any hope of maintaining Virginia’s tradition of academic excellence and affordability, Richmond must make a change and begin to think long term when it makes decisions like these in the near future.

What the GA attempted last summer gives a good indication of just where we stand on its list of priorities. As part of the federal stimulus bill, several million dollars were allocated specifically for higher education, but the state shifted those funds into its own general coffers. Immediately resulting in a tuition hike, this was robbing Peter to pay Paul, and — luckily for us — it was illegal. The money has since been returned, although the new tuition rates are likely here to stay.

The most recent misstep comes from deep within former Gov. Tim Kaine’s final budget and aims to shave off about 5 percent from the auxiliary funds of Virginia universities. This unprecedented effort is a matter of public trust; students pay into auxiliary services in the form of student fees, knowing their money will support educational units, not be used to patch the state’s budgetary holes.

Beyond that, fees will have to be raised to make up for the lost funds. Effectively, in passing this legislation, the GA is creating a tax targeting students only, which is neither equitable nor right. Gov. Bob McDonnell must pass an amendment to leave Virginia’s auxiliary funds intact.

All of this brings us to look upon fiscal year 2011-2012 with great concern. Once federal stimulus funds run out, we will again be fully at Richmond’s whim, and at this point no one knows how the College of William and Mary will fare.

Over the last few decades the GA has proven itself willing to under-fund Virginia’s schools. We cannot stand being hobbled by the very body that we should be looking to for support. Richmond must look elsewhere for spending cuts over the next few years, or Virginia’s tradition of academic excellence may become another casualty of the Great Recession.

Adams Garden caretaker retires

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Madelynn Watkinson, the caretaker of the College of William and Mary’s Adams Garden, retired yesterday after volunteering for more than 20 years. During this time, she helped with numerous horticulture and geology projects with the Christopher Wren Foundation, the greenhouse in Millington Hall and the Muscarelle Museum of Art. She has also participated in archaeological digs with geology professor Gerald Johnson.

Watkinson began caring for the garden — located at the corner of Richmond Road and N. Boundary Street — after moving to Williamsburg in 1986. She received the National Arbor Day Award in 1993 and the College’s Prentis Award in 1998.

“It has been great watching how the College has grown and changed over time,” Watkinson said. “I will miss Williamsburg. This is a truly special place.”

Lobbying firestorm should not be last word on student loan reform

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When the people of Massachusetts elected a Republican senator this January, it sent a shockwave through the nation. It wasn’t just about a painfully uncharismatic democratic opponent; it was symptomatic of a wider feeling that the current administration just isn’t getting things done. Democrats have lost their supermajority in the U.S. Senate, making it even harder to pass new legislation, and President Barack Obama’s attempt to reform student loans is no exception.

The proposed overhaul of the current loan system would remove the private middlemen and transfer the administration of student loans to the federal government. As Washington currently guarantees many private loans and pays part of the interest on their repayment, this would be a much less radical change than it may appear. Currently, banks make obscene profits, while the government bears the risk of defaulting students — sounds like a pretty sweet deal if you’re in the student loan business.
In his recent State of the Union address, Obama highlighted this obvious problem to rapturous applause from Democrats. Despite Obama calling the new bill “a no-brainer” four months ago, it still faces significant opposition from fiscally conservative senators. Moreover, Sallie Mae, the company administering the majority of these loans, has collected thousands of signatures at town hall meetings from voters who are not yet swayed.

As a citizen of England, I already benefit from loans administered by a non-departmental governmental body. My government lends me £4,500 ($7,000) a year and pays my tuition directly to my university, which I will pay back at an incredibly affordable rate depending on my income. To be honest, I didn’t even consider the financial obligations of a college degree when I applied. From what I have heard of the current system in the United States, this is far from the case for prospective undergrads here.

Obama declared in the State of the Union that “no one should go broke because they choose to go to college.” However, with college tuition reaching $50,000 a year at some schools, funding higher education is a problem that applies — directly or indirectly — to all Americans. With undergraduate degrees meaning less and less, the choice to go to college is shrinking, and graduate programs look more necessary. Yet, I can understand the reluctance of some voters.

Obviously I have no sympathy for Sallie Mae, which has spent $8 million dollars lobbying to protect its profit margins. As Secretary of Education Arne Duncan points out, private lenders have “had a phenomenal deal that taxpayers have subsidized, and that’s a hard thing to give up.” However self-centered the motives may be, there are obvious drawbacks to the proposed change. At a time when unemployment is circling 10 percent, this bill would see that around 35,000 people lose their jobs, while lenders argue that government-managed loans will rob students of the personalized service that protects them from entering into contracts uninformed and ultimately defaulting on repayments. Even with 10 times fewer loans to administer, the English system is riddled with complications, delays and miscommunications — more importantly, we recently saw millions of pounds and hundreds of jobs cut to reduce the government deficit. I can’t help but fear the same red-tape inefficiencies will permeate the American system, not to mention the partisan politics that would paralyze proceedings.

Yet, the inescapable reality is that something drastic needs to be done, and Obama’s plan is the best on the table. With a vested interest in a highly educated and economically stable population, a government-run program would be accountable to the people it serves.

Moreover, Obama claims the bill will save $80 billion in tax dollars over the next decade — money that currently goes into the pockets of private middlemen. This money could be used for things like increasing Pell Grants and providing tax credits and loan forgiveness for public servants. It would also mean tens of billions of dollars for funding early learning programs, improving community colleges, and modernizing public schools.

The problem is that it’s perceived as a federal takeover — government intervention at the most intimate level. If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard this kind of argument in the last semester, I wouldn’t need a student loan next year. I realize this is a kind of abuse many Americans feel very strongly about, but in this situation I think there are more important things to consider. Obama is trying to even the playing field; he’s trying to drastically reduce an obscene source of stress and uncertainty in the lives of young Americans, and he’s trying to do it in the best way he can think of. Fear the inherent inefficiencies of larger government if you like. Disagree with his liberal spending if you must. Just don’t throw out a viable option on conservative principle.

E-mail Lucy James at lmjames@wm.edu.

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