College of William and Mary Provost Michael R. Halleran met with the Student Assembly Tuesday to discuss the new strategic plan for the College.

“The question that we want to define and build on is what does it mean to be a liberal arts university in the 21st century,” he said. “To be a liberal arts university is somewhat of a challenge because you are trying to have the best of both worlds and to do that in a public university environment is rare.”

SA members questioned Halleran about the impact of state budget cuts on the College. Allocations to higher education have declined by 32 percent in the last 18 months.

The possibility of a tuition hike as well as a change in the in-state to out-of-state ratio also dominated the conversation.

While Halleran does not foresee a shift in the student demographic ratio, he said that tuition is expected to rise in the coming years.

“Increased tuition seems to be necessary if you want to retain the quality of the experience,” he said. “That is where there has to be a difference, but you have to balance that with affordability.”

Halleran’s meeting with the SA is part of a year-long conversation he hopes to have with students, faculty and alumni concerning the state of the College.

Other administrators, including College President Taylor Reveley, are expected to attend SA meetings throughout the year in an ongoing effort to improve communication with the student body.

The SA passed one bill, the Swem Snack Act sponsored by Sen. Ben Brown ’11, which allocates up to $150 for the purchase of a microwave for Mews Café. The microwave will be installed and maintained by Dining Services.

“There is student interest in a microwave so hopefully we can get something that is both reasonable yet a quality item that we can put in Swem,” Sen. Stef Felitto ’12 said.

A few bills were amended as well, including the Homecoming Act proposed by Sen. Jill Olszewski ’12. The act called for the distribution of 5,000 “Welcome Home” buttons to be distributed to alumni during Homecoming weekend.

After reviewing the proposal, SA President Sarah Rojas ’10 decided to cut the proposed number of buttons in half, thereby reducing costs from $1,000 to $500.

“Now we know where each button is going and that each one will actually be used,” Rojas said. “They won’t just be sitting around, so we won’t have wasteful spending.”

Sen. Imad Matini ’11 introduced the Continued Seasonal Influenza Prevention Act due to the overwhelming positive response to the partly-SA sponsored flu shot day on Sept. 9.

During the first wave of vaccinations, the Student Health Center could only provide 300 of the 810 students who were immunized with free shots from the SA.

The additional bill looks to ensure more students are vaccinated free of charge.

“There are still plenty of students who did not get flu shots so I have been in contact with the Office of
Student Health and they are asking if we could help them out with another drive on Oct. 28,” Matini said.

“What is good about this goal is that it is going to include grad students as well.”

The new act grants $3,500 to subsidize 175 vaccinations that will be administered at the Sadler Center and Law School Complex.

In administrative matters, Michael Young ’11 was confirmed as Secretary of Student Rights

The Greek Homecoming tailgate, a longstanding tradition at the College of William and Mary, will see a lot of changes Saturday.

The new plan places sororities and fraternities in Stimons Throwing Events Area, popularly known as fraternity field, north of Harrison Avenue and northeast of the units. The Green Leafe Cafe is spearheading and sponsoring the tailgate and will give those over the age of 21 wristbands that allow them to enter a beer garden, within which they can purchase beer ranging in price from $2 to $5.

This new solution allows hosting all the Greeks together, Council for Fraternity Affairs Social Chair Ian Fenwick ’11 said.

In previous years, hundreds of student organizations have relied on a lottery to distribute the 10 tailgating spots on Harrison Avenue, behind the units.

“Whoever got a spot was lucky,” Vice President of Inter-Sorority Council Janet King ’10 said.

Last year, Greek organizations occupied three of those spaces. The remaining seven were left unfilled, as other groups did not attend. Other fraternities and sororities took up spots in front of William and Mary Hall, an area normally reserved for family and alumnae tailgates.

Concerned with issues of both space for families and underage drinking among fraternity and sorority members, the William and Mary Police Department said it would not allow a similar situation this year.

The CFA and ISC looked for many viable solutions to the problem, including a plan that would allow Greek organizations to buy tailgating spaces, but the Student Assembly and Athletics Department, which regulates the use of Harrison Avenue, were unwilling to assume the potential risks.

The CFA and ISC could not agree on a plan until a manager from the Green Leafe approached Associate Director of Student Activities Anne Arseneau ’89.

“We didn’t have to do that, but it was the only option for everyone,” CFA President David Cooper ’10 said.
ISC and CFA chairs, along with Green Leafe managers, discussed the new proposal extensively, Cooper said.

“There was a bit of frustration about the options available,” Cooper said. “But this was really the best option.”

The Greek executive boards met with fraternity and sorority chapter presidents to discuss the plan, which was then decided on — sorority presidents voted in favor of the Green Leafe’s proposal 10 to one and fraternity presidents approved it 12 to three.

“There are people who are very excited, and there are people who are very apprehensive,” ISC President Tildi Sharp ’10 said.

Despite the number of votes in favor of the new plan, some were hesitant to accept the Green Leafe’s bid.

“Nobody would have had it as their first option,” Fenwick said. “[Some saw it as] another way the school is trying to shut down a fun time … they saw it as the only option.”

To ensure participation, those who voted in favor of the plan must attend the event, or risk a $200 fine.

Originally, food was planned to be catered exclusively by the Green Leafe. After discussion with ISC and CFA members, attendees will be permitted to bring sealed, non-alcoholic drinks, food and grills.

As the event is being hosted by a third-party organization, fraternity and sorority members, even if they are over 21, cannot bring their own alcohol.

Even with the Green Leafe taking precautions to prevent underage drinking, it still is a concern for some.

“If they’re not drinking in public, they’re drinking in their dorms,” Fenwick said, calling this option “dangerous.”

The Greek tailgate starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 4 p.m., and although the event is targeted at members of fraternities or sororities, all students and alumni may attend.

“Most people are excited to see how things work out … in a safe, controlled environment,” King said.

Since going into effect Aug. 23, the City of Williamsburg’s new noise ordinance has not caused a significant increase in the number of noise ordinance violations issued to students. Despite this, students who have been issued noise ordinance summonses have faced an increased penalty than in the past, and some fear the ordinance will be used as a tool to unfairly target students.

“The [Williamsburg Police Department] is not the body that renders judgment; the court does,” Student Assembly Chiefof Staff Charles Crimmins said. “So even if the number of summonses has not increased significantly, an important inquiry is what effect those summonses have had in court.”

The first violation of a noise ordinance is a class 2 misdemeanor, which could result in up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

Any subsequent noise violation within 12 months results in a class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500.

The new ordinance has been viewed overwhelmingly unfavorably within the William and Mary student community.

“There seem to be two perceptions on campus: [The first is] that the noise ordinance can be used as an abusive tool by the residents, and [the second is] that police officers are patrolling Williamsburg with noise measuring meters in search of College [of William and Mary] students,” Crimmins said.

Crimmins recently met with the Chief of William and Mary Police Donald Challis earlier this week to discuss the perceived prejudice against students.

“[Chief Challis] assured me that [targeting students] was not happening,” Crimmins said. “He emphasized that many of the summonses that the WPD have issued have been to … repeat offenders.”
SA President Sarah Rojas ’10 also emphasized that the majority of students who have received noise
violations live in the same two houses.

“Most of the actual [summonses] have come from two houses, only two houses,” Rojas said. “I don’t know if these numbers are one-hundred percent correct — I know seven of the police’s visits have been to one house, which is a fair chunk of the overall complaints that have happened.”

She also added that the SA is taking action to make the ordinance more student-friendly, mainly by working
to have the city revise a portion of the “Specific Prohibitions” section of the ordinance. As it stands, Section 72-12, which details specific prohibitions, any “unabated” noise originating from a gathering of 10 or more people for over 30 minutes in any setting that is not completely enclosed in a building at any time of day is a noise violation. Rojas said she wants to change the ordinance to outlaw this type of gathering during the city’s quiet hours, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

“That’s one of the things that the Student Assembly is really trying to push through,” Rojas said. “And we think that that’ll be a good change for students, because ultimately it’s hard to say, you know what, three in the morning, students can be as loud as they want with as many people as they want, but you know, there are hours where we aren’t students — it’s a college town — and being completely reasonable, at earlier hours in the night, there should be less of a restriction at later hours of the night.”

Mayor Zeidler has alluded that the Williamsburg City Council may be reviewing the noise ordinance to make similar changes.

The City Council is holding a work session Monday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. in the Stryker Building, and the noise ordinance is expected to be on the agenda.

Keith Hampton, assistant professor in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, gave a presentation entitled “New Technologies and the Structure of Community in Private, Public, and Parochial Spaces” to College of William and Mary students in Blow Hall Oct. 20.

He began by explaining that the main purpose of his research was to look at how social networks in three realms of social interaction contribute to the public sphere through the private, parochial and public realms.

Hampton said that in the social realm he looked at the “social life of wireless urban space.” He observed seven different public parks, plazas and markets in major cities, most of which revolved around the usage of mobile phones.

More recently, however, there has been an increase in internet usage by means of wireless internet.

He found that the mean age of public wireless internet users was 31.4 years, that males outnumbered females three to one, that 68 percent of users were unmarried and that New York had the most users compared to other cities in the United States and Canada.

“For some reason, Canadians tend to do odd things — like talk to each other,” Hampton said.

Hampton found through surveys that 43 percent of wireless internet users were reading online news, 29 percent were using a social networking website and 8 percent were actively blogging.

Hampton said those using the internet in public areas were less approachable and less attentive than those using public space for non-internet activities.

“Public spaces are no longer a public realm,” he said.

According to Hampton, even though there is less social interaction with strangers, people are continuing their relationships with existing kin through online activities.

Hampton’s idea of the “parochial realm” consists of places like neighborhoods and workplaces, which are more diverse than homes, but more familiar than the public.

He found that people who have access to an internet connection tend to recognize three times as many neighbors as those without a connection.

However, he also noted that in his “eNeighborhood” study, it made a greater difference for people who already had strong ties with neighbors.

“Internet may expand the gap between social capital ‘have’ and ‘have nots,’” Hampton said.

For the private realm, which is comprised of strong ties, and a small subset of people’s full social network, Hampton looked at studies explaining the “rise of social isolation, decline in network size and loss of diversity in core discussion networks.”

His study, which was completed last year and will be released in a few weeks, did not actually find a negative relationship between internet, mobile phone use and core social networks.

America especially had a low number of close-network members when comparied to other countries.
“This is a uniquely American issue,” he said.

Hampton concluded by summarizing the trend of decreased in exposure to diverse ideas and opinions in the public sphere and the increase in the size and diversity of ties in parochial and private realms.

Hampton said he plans to looks more into social interaction in public spaces in the future to see if people are interacting less because of new technologies.

“Students at the University of Pennsylvania are well-known to put a phone to their ear, implying that they don’t want any type of social interaction, when they’re not actually talking to anyone,” Hampton said.
Kevin Carey ’11 said the speech helped him understand previously unknown positive impacts of technology.

“It was very provocative,” Carey said. “I’ve always felt cell phones and laptops would harm the public space in terms of social interaction, but this showed me some of the benefits technology can bring to social space.”

Nihan Kaya ’10 said the speech made her realize the different ways in which technology affects us.
“We’re all aware of it, but because it’s always around us, we sometimes get lost,” Kaya said.

The Williamsburg Planning Commission won’t be making any changes to the three-person rule, for now.

The proposal referred to the planning commission by the Williamsburg City Council, which would increase the allowed occupancy of rental units from three to four unrelated individuals, has been all but ruled out.

However, a third option seemed to be picking up steam in Wednesday’s meeting.

The alternative proposal being considered by the planning commission, known as “option three,” would allow a four-person limit in the city’s B-3 General Business District, which occupies the stretch of Richmond
Road from Brooks Street to Ironbound Road.

“We’re all on board,” Students for a Better Williamsburg member Jeff Dailey ’10 said of the proposal.
Student Assembly Undersecretary for Public Affairs David Witkowsky ’11 could not be reached for comment.

However, the four planning commission members in attendance at the work session seemed reluctant to recommend the B-3 option to the city council until it could be studied further, especially with commission members Doug Pons, Sean Driscoll and Joe Hertzler not in attendance.

“I don’t think we should rush into Option Three,” commission member Jim Joseph said. “We are willing to
look at Option Three as a separate project.”

The planning commission has until Nov. 27 to issue a recommendation to the city council on any proposed changes to the zoning ordinance.

In several meetings held over the past few weeks, it has become apparent that the commission will not recommend the changes to the three-person rule sought by the SA and SBW.

Increasing the level of occupancy allowance in B-3 would have a limited short-term effect on the city’s rental properties. The proposal limits the increase to multi-family dwellings, such as apartments. Currently, there are only 14 apartments in B-3.

“The four-person possibility in that district would be more aimed [toward] redevelopment,” Zoning Commissioner Reed Nester said. “There could be some development … of the Williamsburg Shopping Center.”

Nester also listed the vacant lot at the corner of Richmond Road and Mount Vernon Avenue, the lot beside Walgreens on Lafayette Street and the old Governor’s Inn as other areas that could be developed.

Because B-3 is a General Business District, any future development would require a Special Use Permit approved by the city council. Developments would also have to dedicate at least one-third of floor space toward commercial usage. Generally, this is reserved for the ground floor, with apartments occupying the floors above.

The College of William and Mary’s plans to develop property off of Richmond Road was touted as an example of what the planning commission would consider for B-3. The plan includes 12,000 square feet for commercial space and 14 apartments that would accommodate 56 students.

The planning commission will have to approve a text amendment to the code in to accommodate the College’s housing expansion. Currently, a density limit prohibits more than 14 people from living on one acre, and 10 from living on one lot. The College needs approval for 10 people per lot to proceed.

The planning commission will be holding a public hearing on Nov. 18 to continue its discussion of the zoning ordinance.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has made the decision to sell its 10 theme parks across the country, including Busch Gardens Williamsburg, to private equity firm The Blackstone Group for $2.3 billion.

The world’s largest brewer announced the sale of the Busch Entertainment Corporation Oct. 7.

Before the sale, Busch’s family entertainment division was considered the second largest entertainment park operator in the U.S. With 26,000 employees and an estimated 23 million people visiting Busch Entertainment properties each year, Busch was the sixth largest theme park operator in the world.

Properties of Busch Entertainment included Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Tampa, the Sea World parks Sesame Place and Discovery Cove parks as well as Adventure Island, Aquatica and Water Country USA water parks.

A potential sale of Busch Entertainment Corp. was rumored since the Belgian brewer InBev bought Anheuser-Busch in 2008. The company began discussions of a sale with Blackstone in Sept. 2009. The Busch Entertainment is one of the nonessential assets being sold in order to finance the $52 billion takeover.

The Blackstone Group plans on maintaining Busch Entertainment’s current management and no jobs will be lost.

“We’re very committed to growth, to maintaining the quality of the parks, the investments of the park,” Busch Entertainment CEO Jim Atchison told The Associated Press.

A sponsorship agreement has been reached that will allow for the parks to keep their current names and promotions. Anheuser-Busch InBev will have the right to up to $400 million of the Blackstone Group’s initial returns from the parks.

The most significant change to Busch Gardens Williamsburg will be the removal of the Clydesdale stables, an iconic symbol for the beer brand.

David Miller, an analyst with Caris & Co., told The Washington Post that Blackstone will probably try to get visitors to spend more at the parks by charging money for extras like taking pictures with characters.

The Blackstone Group declined to detail its plans for the newly acquired properties.

Michael Chae, senior managing director at Blackstone, commented on the recent addition to the firm’s portfolio in a statement to the Associated Press.

“We are delighted to be investing in a company with such iconic brands, irreplaceable assets and strong growth prospects,” he said.

The real power of a student referendum will soon be put to the test.

The referendum, voted on in last month’s Student Assembly election, asked students if they believed the
College of William and Mary Honor Council’s nominating committee should reach a unanimous decision before denying an applicant the right to run in an Honor Council election. 69.14 percent of the ballots cast said yes. 1,254 students voted.

Despite the referendum’s passage, changes to the Honor Council’s bylaws must be introduced and voted on
by the council itself. A vote by the Honor Council on whether or not to adopt the referendum will occur Sunday.

Currently, a candidate’s application to run in an Honor Council election can be denied if four of the five nominating committee members vote against the candidate. This committee is composed of Assistant Dean of Students for Judicial Affairs Dave Gilbert, a rotating professor, two non-returning Honor Council members and a rotating representative of the student body. According to Sen. Erik Houser ’10, the referendum was designed to protect the opinions of the committee’s at-large student representative.

“The at-large student does not get their voice heard because if they are the dissenting vote in a case, then it doesn’t matter because the other four voted over them,” Houser said.

The upcoming Honor Council vote pushed the SA policy committee to consider passing a resolution during its Thursday meeting that would urge the Honor Council to take into account the referendum’s strong student support. The discussion angered Will Perkins ’11, the Honor Council’s representative to the SA.

“The new [resolution] for the Honor Council is like beating a dead horse,” Perkins said to the policy committee. “The changes from the referendum will absolutely fail because of the way this was handled.”

Perkins’s words have led to the belief among some SA representatives that a vote by the Honor Council not to implement the referendum is a foregone conclusion.

“The Honor Council is holding student lives in their hands; to exclude student opinion is ridiculous,” SA Vice President Ryan Ruzic JD ’11 said. “This referendum is a vehicle by which the student will is enforced. I can’t imagine the Honor Council’s reasoning not to pass this bill into their bylaws.”

Honor Council Chair Bailey Thomson ’10 sees the matter differently. Thomson said the council takes student opinion into account, but she still felt the referendum was proposed and added to the ballot before a proper campus-wide discussion on the matter could occur.

Thomson also called into question the benefits of making the nominating committee’s vote unanimous.

“It’s not always going to be the at-large student against the other four,” she said. “Forcing unanimity means that the one person in disagreement, whoever they are, can essentially control the entire committee with their vote.”

Instead of unanimity, Thomson said the council would be in favor of considering an amendment to add a sixth member — preferably another at-large member of the student body — to the nominating committee.

Acceptance of a candidate, therefore, would require approval from five of six members. She said this compromise has yet to be discussed with the SA, although a meeting is going to be set up in the near future.

“Six people on the committee would be better than five,” Ruzic said when asked if he would support this change. “If they don’t make it unanimous, I hope they include another student.”

*Phi Beta Kappa elects College professor to senate*

Modern language and literature professor George Greenia was elected to the senate of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. The election occurred Oct. 3 at the organization’s 42nd Triennial Council.

Greenia founded the program of medieval and renaissance studies at the College of William and Mary and serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals, including La Corónica.

Greenia became a member of PBK in 1975 upon his graduation from Marquette University in Wisconsin.

*New development planned in James City County*

Developers are planning a new mixed-use housing and shopping development at Williamsburg Crossing in James City County.

The development would include 240 apartments in eight buildings of two or three stories in height. Three other buildings would house two-story townhouses built over retail and office space.

The development would also feature at least five small parks, walking or cycling trails and new street intersections.

*College to host forum on the future of healthcare*

A forum on the future of Medicare will be held Oct. 28 in the College of William and Mary’s admissions office auditorium.

The forum will feature a panel of faculty and healthcare experts discussing the impact healthcare reform will have on Medicare.

The event begins at 5 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

*College to host forum on the future of healthcare*

A screening of the film, “Inside Islam” will be held in Andrews Hall at the College of William and Mary Oct. 27 at 8:30 p.m.

The film uses post-Sept. 11 Gallup polls to analyze relations between the West the Islam. After the film, Middle East analyst John Musselman ’03 will speak. The event is free and open to the public.

Jessee Vasold ’11 made history at the College of William and Mary Wednesday when ze was announced as the school’s first transgender homecoming queen, representing the Class of 2011.

Vasold identifies as gender-queer and prefers to be referred to with gender neutral pronouns: “ze” in place of he or she and “zir” rather than him or her. Vasold has also created a Facebook account for a female identity, Kathy Middlesex.

Friends suggested that Vasold run for homecoming queen. Even though Vasold thought that there was a good chance at being elected, Vasold said the win was still surprising to hear.

“We figured it would be something different for the school to go through, something that hasn’t happened too often,” Vasold said. “I was kind of surprised that I won because I knew the other girls running. I know that they’re really friendly; they’re wonderful people, so I was unsure.”

This year marks the return of direct voting by students. Last year, there was no platform to host voting, so the homecoming kings and queens were chosen by class officers out of student-submitted nominations.

The alumni website was used this year to choose the homecoming court. The alumni office had no oversight over the nominations for the court, which was a purely student initiative.

“I thought it was much better done this year because students actually could vote for who they wanted instead of having five or six class officers select who they think should be the winner,” Junior Class President Mike Tsidulko said.

According to Tsidulko, there is no rule against men or women running for opposite roles. Students who made nominations were simply asked to describe how the candidate exemplified Tribe pride.

“In general, most descriptions were about what activities they were involved in on campus or spiritedness at sporting events or any other kind of campus activity,” Senior Class President Alyssa Wallace said.

Those students nominated with a description were put on the ballot.

“It basically came down to nominations,” Wallace said. “Jessee was nominated, Jessee’s peers voted and Jessee won. That’s really all there is to it.”

Around campus, the reaction has been positive.

“I’ve only had people congratulating me. I know that one of my friends was in a conversation with someone who didn’t think that it was fair that I was able to run, because I’m not female-bodied,” Vasold said. “But it generated a really good conversation, so they were able to talk about a lot of different things.”

For Vasold, the election of the College’s first transgender homecoming queen is a significant step forward for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community on campus.

“It’s definitely amazing that the students are in a really good position, in a really good spot on how they think about things,” Vasold said. “I think that it would be a good time to show student support on these issues.”

Vasold has played a significant role in the campus’s GLBT community.

Vasold is currently the Student Assembly Undersecretary of Diversity Initiatives for GLBT Affairs. Last year, Vasold served as co-president of the Lamba Alliance, the College’s GLBT advocacy group.

“I think students are really appreciative of just being able to have him at William and Mary,” Tsidulko said. “I think it’s a mark of how progressive our values are here … that’s certainly something that’s appreciated.”