Junior forward Claire Zimmeck was honored as a semifinalist for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, awarded to the top female college soccer player in the nation. Zimmeck, along with the other 14 semifinalists, was selected by the NCAA Division I coaches. The 2007 CAA player of the year had an outstanding season with .842 goals per game (ranked 6th nationally) and led the CAA in total points and goals. The 15 candidates will be paired down to three in early December, before the winner is announced Jan. 11.
Swimming: College men, women sweep Mary Washington
The Tribe men and women each overtook Mary Washington Saturday 116-81 and 106-91, respectively. The men won all 11 events, choosing to race three as an exhibition. Junior Nader Amer led the team with three victories in two relays and the 100-yard butterfly, giving the Tribe a 3-3 (2-1 CAA) record on the season. The women also fared well, taking eight of the 11 events. Sophomore Lindsay Guers placed first in three events, including both the 200-yd IM and 100-yd backstroke. The Tribe has won its last three meets, propelling them to a 3-3 (2-1 CAA) record thus far.
Track and Field: Fitzgerald earns NCAA provisional qualifier
The College opened its season over the weekend at the Liberty Kickoff, where senior Ian Fitzgerald provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with a time of 14:07.81 in the 5000-meter run. Five Tribe runners qualified for IC4A Championships, including sophomore Patterson Wilhelm, senior Dave Mock, sophomore Charlie Swartz and Fitzgerald in the 5000-m run and junior Ryan Jones in the 800-m run. For the women, sophomore Emily Anderson’s mile time of 4:53.17 earned her first place and seventh all-time in the College’s history. Anderson, along with sophomores Meghan Burns, Kayley Byrne, and senior Allie Lewis also qualified for the ECAC Championships.
From the Sidelines: Wild season proves BCS changes needed
If this season doesn’t convince the NCAA that changes are needed in the bowl system of FBS college football, nothing will.
p. The 2007 campaign has been one for the books, as it has witnessed countless upsets and shifts in the polls, particularly at the very top. During Sunday’s BCS selection show (which was drawn out so long with unnecessary suspense-building tactics that it was almost unbearable to watch, especially considering that the brainless Barry Switzer was in attendance to provide “analysis”), the field was finally revealed. The matchups are as follows:
Rose Bowl
No. 13 Illinois vs. No. 7 USC
Fiesta Bowl
No. 9 West Virginia vs. No. 4 Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl
No. 10 Hawaii vs. No. 5 Georgia
Orange Bowl
No. 8 Kansas vs. No. 3 Virginia Tech
BCS Championship Game
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 1 Ohio State
p. You’re reading that right. LSU, with its two losses, is in the national title game — the same LSU that laid a complete egg against unranked Arkansas not two weeks ago in a game they knew they had to win for their national championship chances. At least, they thought they had to win it.
p. Their opponents, the one-loss Ohio State Buckeyes, blew their sure shot at a national title last month when they fell at home to conference-foe Illinois. However, through the miracle of the BCS system, they find themselves back in the top spot.
p. How two-loss teams like USC, Georgia and Virginia Tech that have come on strong at the ends of their seasons and have played as well as anyone in the country the past few weeks could be so easily passed over by LSU is beyond me. But then again, a valid argument could be made for any one of the two-loss teams being more worthy than another. And what about undefeated Hawaii? If they win their bowl game, they will end their season unbeaten. Yet they will not be national champions. And the team that will be champs will have lost at least one game, which is exactly what happened last year to undefeated Boise State as they watched the one-loss Florida Gators crowned champions.
p. Boise State’s win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl last year was the single-most thrilling sporting event I have ever seen. When the team ran the hook-and-ladder play on 4th and 18 and turned it into a touchdown, I was breathless. And as great a single game as that was, I turned off the TV that night unfulfilled. Shouldn’t a team that has won every game it has played be afforded the chance to play for the championship?
p. The more I read about it, the more I accept the fact that the FBS will not go to a playoff system. There is too much money and tradition tied up in the bowl system. Fine. But the current system needs fixing. There is much talk about a “plus one” system, most notably from ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit (who, by the way, is approaching a George Hamilton level of tan-ness), being implemented, which would mean that one final championship game would be played following the conclusion of all other bowls, with the two teams chosen based on many factors, including the results of the BCS bowl games.
p. Granted, this system is better than what we’ve got now, but will ultimately cause just as much controversy as the current one. What would matter more, a team’s performance throughout the season or its performance in the BCS bowl game? Ultimately, it would once again come down to a poll or a ranking.
p. Here’s my latest proposition (some of you may remember my playoff plan from last year’s column): a plus-two model. Eight teams are selected (in my perfect world, this would be done without the use of the computer system and conference tie-ins) to compete in the four BCS bowls (Fiesta, Sugar, Orange and Rose). The four winners would then advance to the semifinal round, to be played a week later. The two winners of those games would then play in the national championship game one week after that.
p. This system would give more significance to the four BCS bowls, and would even create two more big-money games for the NCAA. Will it ever happen? Doubtful. After all, this is the NCAA we’re talking about. But after seeing this year’s mess, it’s hard to imagine anyone else not wanting a change.
p. __E-mail Jeff Dooley at jadool@wm.edu.__
Home Field Advantage: Optimism emerges despite 4-7 finish
It’s easy for Tribe fans to look at the football team’s 4-7 finish and be discouraged, and with good reason.
p. This is a storied football program that has been tremendously successful in the past, most recently in 2004 with its run to the national semifinals. However, it is also important to take a look at some of the circumstances surrounding this year’s disappointing finish.
p. For starters, the College was completely ravaged by injuries this season. Senior wideout Joe Nicholas, who is in the top 10 of almost every Tribe career receiving category, missed most of the season with a knee injury. Also injured were junior receiver D.J. McAulay, a speedster who dominated defensive backs in the season-opener against Delaware, junior tailback DeBrian Holmes and linebacker Michael Pigram.
p. Another factor in this season’s end result is the College’s schedule. Of the team’s seven losses, one was against a team that will be playing in a BCS bowl game (Virginia Tech), four were against FCS playoff teams (Delaware, UMass, JMU and Richmond — Delaware and Richmond have both advanced to this weekend’s semifinal round) and the final two were against teams who spent a good portion of the season in the FCS top 25 (Villanova and Hofstra).
p. The defense undoubtedly needs significant improvement, as the Tribe finished last in the CAA in scoring defense, allowing nearly 40 points per game. They will have the opportunity to do so next year, as they return 10 of 11 defensive starters. Head Coach Jimmye Laycock is quick to point out, however, that an extra year of experience doesn’t necessarily equate to improvement on the field.
p. “That’s what I try to get across to the players. Just because you go to the weight room doesn’t make you stronger,” Laycock said. “Just because you get older doesn’t make you better.”
p. The offense has a lot to look forward to next year as well, as they will be returning junior quarterback Jake Phillips, who has emerged as one of the CAA’s elite signal-callers this season. Holmes, who was running with tremendous burst and power before being injured this season, will be back as the primary running threat (if he is able to get past his legal trouble from this weekend, see page 1), and the receiving corps will be in good shape with McAulay and junior Elliot Mack, who emerged as a big-play threat this season.
p. There’s been a lot of talk this season about the dominance of the CAA as the premier conference in the FCS. There is a trend, some say, toward CAA schools lowering their academic standards and loading up on transfer student-athletes from FBS schools.
p. I thought of these claims at the postgame press conference of a recent home game against a CAA opponent, as I was struck by the inarticulacy and thoughtlessness of the responses by two of the opposing team’s players. The two young men were friendly enough, but were less than respectful of their opponents and were far less well-spoken than one would expect from students of an academic institution of its reputation.
p. When Mack and sophomore safety David Caldwell came into the press conference, however, it was like night and day. Despite having just suffered a huge defeat, the two players were respectful, well-spoken and thoughtful in their responses.
p. “All we know is what Coach Laycock instills in us, and that’s to be respectful, win or lose,” Mack said.
p. Having a team that represents its school well is something not to be taken for granted, and ultimately is something that is far more important than wins and losses.
p. That being said, nobody wants another 4-7 season. And if the CAA continues to go the way it’s headed with its football teams, then there might come a time when the College should consider moving to another football conference.
p. However, if the team lives up to its potential next season, the only move the Tribe should be making is back into the upper echelon of the CAA.
p. __E-mail Jeff Dooley at jadool@wm.edu.__
CAA Football: Delaware, Richmond advance to semifinals
Two of the Tribe’s toughest CAA football foes advanced to the semifinal round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs this past weekend. The no. 6 University of Richmond Spiders defeated no. 11 Wofford College 21-10, while the no. 13 University of Delaware Blue Hens knocked off the no. 1 University of Northern Iowa Panthers in a 39-27 shootout.
p. Richmond’s victory advanced the Spiders to their first-ever semifinal appearance in the FCS, where they will meet the back-to-back defending champion Appalachian State University Mountaineers Dec. 7. The Spiders’ success this year has hinged on senior running back Tim Hightower, who rushed for 88 yards and two scores in the quarterfinal win over Wofford. Richmond’s run-centered offense ranks second in the CAA with 238.8 yards per game and leads the conference with 5.6 yards per carry average.
p. Against the College, Hightower was held in check, gaining only 60 yards on 15 attempts in the Spiders’ season finale 31-20 victory.
p. “He’s an outstanding back,” Tribe Head Coach Jimmye Laycock said prior to the Richmond game. Hightower has averaged 140.7 yards a game this season to lead the CAA.
p. The Blue Hens outlasted the top-seeded and previously undefeated Panthers in a game during which Delaware fell behind 13-0 early before reeling off 19 straight points to take the lead for good.
p. The Hens have been led by tailback Omar Cuff, who shredded the Tribe defense to the tune of an FCS record-tying seven touchdowns in Delaware’s 49-31 season-opening victory over the Tribe. Cuff leads the CAA with 34 touchdowns this year, while Hightower is second with 20.
p. Delaware travels to take on no. 3 Southern Illinois University, who defeated CAA champion University of Massachusetts 34-27 in the quarterfinals this weekend. The Blue Hens last won the FCS in 2003.
Staff Editorial: $15K earmark a win for voters
The Student Assembly’s new initiative providing a $15,000 earmark to register student voters may be just what the student body needs secure a say in the city of Williamsburg.
p. Progress has been made at an incredible pace over the last year. Following the replacement of city voter registrar Dave Andrews — who was indifferent to both student concerns and the law in general — with student-friendly registrar Winifred Sowder, students at the College began to enjoy a simple, non-partisan registration process. As a result, 700 students have registered to vote in the city over the past semester.
p. These strides have been enough to make the city finally begin to listen to student concerns, but it is not quite enough to change (yet) the unjust policies regularly implemented by the city, most notably the three-person housing rule, a discriminatory policy that deliberately targets students.
p. The SA’s new earmark, which would pay students $10 for each student they register to vote, is an encouraging plan. Our biggest concerns about the program were answered in a meeting with SA President Zach Pilchen ’09, Vice President Valerie Hopkins ’09 and Senate Chair Matt Beato ’09. The money will come from an SA off-campus account, not from student activity fees, meaning students will not receive payments directly from other students. The off-campus fund consists of money that has been raised largely through SA programs, such as refrigerator and microwave sales and exam care packages, and this program should be a positive use of money that would otherwise go unused. Second, anyone affiliated with the SA is ineligible to receive benefits, a necessary step to limit conflicts of interest.
p. There are, however, some problems with the new initiative. The program provides no maximum level of payment for a single student. Suppose that a single student registered 1,000 voters; that student would be paid $10,000, an enormous sum of money for their effort. The SA can fix this issue in several ways while ensuring that registration efforts are dispersed evenly across a range of passionate, motivated students.
p. First, it can provide a cap on the number of students that one person can register. The records of the voter registrar are public information, so the SA will be held accountable if a small number of people are being paid large sums of money.
p. Second, the SA must adequately publicize this new plan. Simple initiatives like campus-wide e-mails will help spread the word and ensure that the funds are not allocated to a handful of people with close ties to the SA.
p. The earmark has the potential to be a recurring program, and we hope that if the SA succeeds in registering a substantial number of student voters, it will continue its fundraising efforts. This will allow them to ensure that with each class that enters the College, a sufficient number of students register to vote in the city to prevent the city’s abuse of students over the past several years from ever happening again. Continuing fundraising will also ensure that money from students’ mandatory fees is never used to pay other students, as this would violate the spirit of a law that the SA itself passed in 2006.
p. We are optimistic about the program’s potential, but like many recent local voting efforts, it must come down to student participation. Students need to care about their say in this city, for the benefit of the entire student body if not their own. There are important local elections coming up, and with the help of this earmark, this election will matter for the students of the College.
Smoke-free eateries
Secondhand smoke is a perfect example of a negative externality.
Anyone who has taken economics knows what I’m talking about. It basically means that an individual imposes an uncompensated cost on the rest of society.
p. Walking through a smothering cloud of cigarette smoke and coming out coughing and teary-eyed is not my idea of a great dining experience. Nor is having a terrible fit of ceaseless sneezes because of a couple guys in the back smoking cigars.
p. Although smoking sections designate an area for smokers, the smoke still spreads throughout the restaurant, irritating waiters and customers alike, including young children.
p. To prevent this problem, various cities in Virginia, including Williamsburg, are currently contemplating a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. Norfolk has already imposed smoking restrictions while Newport News and Suffolk are in the process of implementing such policies.
p. Everyone knows the damaging effects of secondhand smoke and, in a contained public environment, these effects are especially intensified. Waiters have to maneuver through the restaurant for prolonged shifts, increasing their susceptibility to such detrimental effects. Since family restaurants often attract customers with young children, secondhand smoke can lead to coughing and sneezing, further jeopardizing their health.
p. As in all issues, however, this one has a potential downside. The city is lukewarm on such a policy because restaurant owners are reluctant to forgo their share of smoking customers. In addition, according to a Nov. 23 article in the Daily Press, the Williamsburg city council “only has jurisdiction over the city’s restaurants even if plenty of eateries in the counties use Williamsburg addresses.” This means that there will be a disparity between the number of dining facilities that are allowed to have smoking sections and those that are not.
p. Still, as Sam Sutton’s article “City to consider smoking ban in restaurants” in the Nov. 30 issue of The Flat Hat reported, it seems that many local restaurants, such as the Green Leafe Cafe, do not foresee any negative side-effects from the proposed ban, and view it as a change for a healthier restaurant experience.
p. For a while, there may be resistance to banning smoking sections, but as with all changes, time will help the adjustment. Change may not be as drastic in some places as in others, but it is a step to a safer and cleaner lifestyle for everyone.
p. I talked to another student about the proposed ban and he came up with a crude, but surprisingly useful analogy. “Having a reserved smoking section in a restaurant,” he said. “is like having a reserved peeing section in the pool.” His comparison shows why the proposed ban on smoking is such a good idea: It stops a few people’s smoke from irritating everyone else.
p. In theory, at least, the ban would eliminate this negative externality.
p. __Kalyani Phansalkar is a freshman at the College.__
The cost of contraception
The loss of subsidized birth control at colleges across the nation will ultimately become another obstacle for female students to face.
p. According to an Oct. 22 article in the Yale Daily News, it has become “financially imprudent for pharmaceuticals to continue offering birth control at low prices to college health services.” While this mainly affects the students who are covered by the healthcare plans provided by their respective colleges, female students will now have to pay almost four times as much for oral contraception than they did in the past.
p. College students are generally stereotyped as being eternally broke and always strapped for cash. There is little doubt that more than tripling the cost of a widely used form of contraception, such as the pill, will not sit well with female students.
p. Most likely, many will no longer be able to afford the birth control with which they have grown comfortable. They will have to either switch to a less reliable form of birth control or stop using it altogether.
p. In a day and age when surgeons can perform life-changing operations and researchers have created hundreds of vaccines for diseases that used to plague society, the fact that safe birth control is not available to everyone is deplorable.
p. Many forms of contraception are harmful to women, causing health issues and medical problems for them later in life. The pill is one of the few viable resources for women who want to practice safe sex, but still want to take care of their bodies. It is their first resource and their first line of defense. What happens when you take it away?
p. Sure, there are contraceptives like condoms, but most of the methods of birth control in the market now are specifically designed to be used by women, not men. And when those do not work out for the best, many women turn to abortion to take care of any unwanted and unexpected pregnancies. Abortion should not just be a method of last resort, it should be unnecessary altogether.
p. In a perfect world, birth control would be so safe and so widely available that abortion would cease to exist. This is impossible because birth control in any form is either not used regularly or is not accessible. For those who are already using it regularly and responsibly, there now comes the added and unnecessary obstacle of being able to purchase it without the fear of added financial stress.
p. It is a no-win situation for many women (as if there isn’t already enough to worry about). It becomes obvious that we, as a society, are taking a step in the wrong direction in meeting their needs. Already lacking options for adequate and safe ways to take care of their bodies, some women, with this added expense, will not be able to afford those contraceptives that are safe.
p. Women who take the initiative to use birth control should be commended. Now, those who are no longer able to afford to take care of their bodies are going to pay the consequences.
p. A bit backwards, isn’t it?
p. __Jessica Gallinaro is a freshman at the College.__
Senioritis at its worst: Preparing for final exams
As we approach exam time, I can sense students on campus starting to get anxious. That slow, painful descent into intellectual delusion, sustained by late-night Wawa runs and 20-minute naps in Mews, has begun to set in, shown by the increasing number of desperate and crazy away messages explaining either how much work lies ahead or how little will exists to accomplish it.
p. I love the way people count down to freedom — five exams until winter break, three papers to write before Mug Night and 800 pages of reading to catch up on from an entire semester of slacking off before I go insane and fail out of school.
p. It’s really a great time of year.
p. Over the past three years, I’ve watched older friends hit their first semester senior year and immediately become zombies. In my young mind, I always thought, “If you’re so close to graduation, wouldn’t you just want to work hard for this final push, so you can leave with flying colors?”
p. The answer, obviously, is no. As a current zombie-senior, the desire to do school work is only slightly more appealing than a fun trip to the dentist. Of course, typically distracting activities like Facebook are particular problems for me now. (In fact, I literally just spent 10 minutes looking though my own Facebook groups in the middle of writing this sentence — ridiculous.) But even things like cleaning my room and grocery shopping have gained massive appeal when compared to, say, glancing at a syllabus to see what reading I should feel guilty about not doing.
p. I think it’s safe to say I’ve reached new levels of apathy and cerebral clutter.
p. It’s not that I don’t want to do well in school, it’s just that for some reason I would rather spend an afternoon perusing passiveaggressivenotes.com than reading a book, studying for a test or dragging myself to class.
p. Given my current state, then, I have been trying to lay some ground rules for myself as I head into the pit of despair that is exam time. With any luck, I can prevent myself from deteriorating any further and manage to pass all my classes. Reach for the stars, you know?
p. First, I’ve decided to stop pretending to do work at the Daily Grind. I mean, I’m probably going to break this one in the next 12 hours or so, but I think it’s still good to put it out there. I pride myself on being a self-aware individual, so I’ll admit that whenever I say “I’m going to go do work at the Grind,” that really means I want to waste a good four hours drinking coffee, compulsively checking my e-mail and talking to people about how busy I am. So if you see me “working” (“Gmail chatting”) at our lovely campus coffee shop anytime soon, please, come hit me with a copy of The Flat Hat.
p. My second rule, which I have yet to break, is avoiding Jetman. Jetman, if you are unaware, is a highly addictive Facebook application and game that has spread like an infectious disease throughout my group of friends. Honestly, I don’t even know what it is, because I’m too afraid to play. I’m pretty sure it’s not that interesting or exciting, but I’ve witnessed responsible young men and women waste hours of their lives in Jetman stupors, and I want no part of it.
p. So, I guess it’s basically just those two rules: don’t pretend to work at the Grind and don’t play Jetman. I mean, considering everything, I’d say a lot of effort went into that plan (or at least more than what’s gone into my “academic future”).
p. Besides, I need to look through pictures of LOLcats for a few hours before I sleep through my next class.
p. __Devan Barber is a senior at the College.__