Diversity is very difficult to accomplish because it has so many different meanings. For most people, what comes to mind most of the time is race. They forget that diversity can be defined by a variety of factors, including religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic background and gender. Even aspects of a person’s physical features, such as hair highlights and birth marks, can be considered diverse.

p. In early August, the College’s website detailed the fact that 23 percent of the Class of 2011 is comprised of students of color, including Asians, Pacific Islanders, blacks, Hispanics and American Indians. This class is celebrated for being the most diverse in the history of the College, but why should the meaning of diversity be confined only to race?

p. I graduated from a small Catholic high school that had very little racial diversity and even less religious diversity. Most of the students came from the same area, so socio-economic differences were lacking, too. The absence of diversity became a sad, but true, joke.

p. With this in mind, I can appreciate the 23 percent of my class who exhibit racial diversity. As a half-Korean, it’s nice to not be the most ethnic person in the room for a change. Sure, the percentage seems small, but it’s better than that at a lot of other schools. The College, after all, tries to foster an environment in which students can learn about and come to value other cultures through its many multi-cultural organizations.

p. Maintaining diversity, however, creates a problem. By trying to keep up with the media attention placed on promoting racial diversity, colleges across the country forget that it does not simply mean a bunch of different races. Some take this warped definition of diversity to the extreme. Having a large pool of racially diverse individuals looks nice on a press release, but using racial stereotypes to further a cause, such as adding diversity to a community, is just as misguided as using these same stereotypes to hurt people. In both of these situations, the group or person is equally degraded despite the best of intentions.

p. We learned from shows like “Barney” and “Sesame Street” that everyone is special and everyone is an individual. Somehow, around age seven, we decided that we were too old to watch those shows, and we began to forget those lessons. Being straight, Caucasian and Christian can be just as diverse as being bisexual, black and Jewish. To truly show the statistics on diversity here at the College, the admissions office would have to include hundreds of sets of numbers that range from people who have freckles to people of differing religions.

p. So take a minute and think about diversity. What does it mean to you? What is it a measure of? Is it good or bad? And is it really that important?

p. __Jessica Gallinaro is a freshman at the College.__

College is all about the awkward silences. There’s the awkward silence after a bad first impression. Or that terrible hush you feel after delivering a controversial joke or offensive remark. My favorite is that awkward silent stare you share with a subject of attraction, your eyes shifting toward theirs in pleading calculation, communicating something incommunicable — your thoughts raving, but your mouths awkwardly clamped shut.

p. Worst of all, though, is the dreadfully awkward silence you get in the classroom. This happens often at the College. The professor asks a no-brainer and the room trembles, becoming utterly soundless. Of course, you would know the question was a no-brainer had you done the reading. You skim through the pages blankly, pretending to comb for the answer. You might even contort your face or stick your tongue out, expressing how close you are to raising your hand, how it’s on the tip of your tongue, if only you could materialize your thoughts into words. Still nobody responds. Soon, dread ensues; you avoid eye contact with your professor as you pray to God Almighty that your name will not be announced. Finally, someone breaks the silence, and there can be heard a collective sigh of relief as you exhale in a combination of ease, shame and embarrassment.

p. Why aren’t the students doing their readings? Could it be that they have no place to read? I pondered this question, remembering my freshman year and how much I hated Swem for its uncompromising hours, closing at midnight weekdays and at six on weekends. I couldn’t help but compare it to my brother’s library at the University of Virginia, which kicked Swem’s ass for each of the 24 hours it operated.

p. When I heard about Swem’s budget cuts, I felt a familiar regression to freshman year and how hard it was to read for lack of a quiet room. I met with Dean of University Libraries Connie McCarthy to express my concerns.

p. Swem’s cuts are a mere scratch, nothing a Band-Aid can’t fix. The cuts are a trickled-down offshoot of a general budget cut by the state of Virginia. Everyone’s getting a little cut here and there. McCarthy assured me that nothing will really change. It’s not really a cut if you think about it. There will be a hiring freeze, at worst. Staff will not be asked to leave, but promotions shouldn’t be expected anytime soon.

p. “We just can’t move ahead with our plans,” McCarthy said, referring to the lifelong dream of former Student Assembly President Ryan Scofield ’07 to extend Swem’s hours on nights and weekends. “Late evenings are our first priority, and these hours won’t be cut,” she added.

p. Although Swem is now open until 2 a.m. on weeknights, there just isn’t enough security to keep the library up and running all night. “The building isn’t designed to operate all night,” McCarthy said, noting issues of security for students and taking into account the staff’s responsibilities. It’s also a matter of practicality, as energy, resources and money would be wasted in maintaining an overnight shift. There isn’t enough demand to keep the building running through the night, as the general student body seems okay with current hours. “It just isn’t practical to have the place open at four in the morning for one or two students,” she said.

p. Swem won’t extend its hours, but it also won’t cut any. One of the library’s potential plans would be to open earlier on weekends, especially on Sundays. As for finding a quiet place to read at night, well, you’re out of luck. Most campus buildings are locked by midnight. If you even think about doing homework in your dorm or your hall’s lounge or kitchen, you’re an idiot, and have no business reading to begin with. I don’t approve of the library’s 24-hour lounge, though. The bullet-proof, soundless study corner for four is pretty good, but small. For weekends, try Barnes and Noble in Colonial Williamsburg, which is open until 10 p.m. and serves better coffee than Swem’s vending machines.

p. If you really crave a concentration-friendly environment, adjust your hours to those of Swem. The early bird gets the worm, which I’m told is a good thing. There are far more fascinating things you could be doing at night than writing a paper; plus, you won’t need to squat in a locked-up building all night, reading yourself to unsteady sleep. By doing your readings earlier in the day, you’ll have a well-rested mind and all of Swem to yourself, as most students are nocturnal. In the basement and on the third floor, you will enjoy that eerie Swem silence.

p. __Sherif Abdelkarim is a junior at the College.__

Yesterday, the Landscape, Energy and Environment Committee endorsed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge directed at U.S. schools encouraging them to become carbon neutral by the year 2020. College President Gene Nichol has previously deferred on the opportunity to sign the PCC, citing uncertain administrative support. However, the time for action is already overdue.

p. The College must fully commit to this agreement, which has already been implemented at 400 schools nationwide. Simply reducing emissions is not enough. Nichol must move to save on future costs and contribute to more sustainable development for the Williamsburg area.

p. This is a marvelous opportunity for Nichol and the College to stay abreast of other top-notch, forward-thinking institutions that have made similar pledges. The means are already in place: Several academic buildings and other campus facilities will undergo renovations in the coming years, including Tucker Hall and Andrews Hall. Much like the new Jamestown dorms, which were built to be energy efficient, similar goals should be enacted for these new renovations.

p. With the recent state budget cuts, costs of implementing such a program may be a concern, but they should not prevent Nichol from acting. In the long term, making the College carbon neutral over the next 13 years will save on future energy costs, and will make the College more attractive to prospective students. In a time in which environmental concerns are so prevalent, the College would be wise to keep pace.

Tuesday’s chemical spill at the Marketplace provided the College with its first opportunity to test the new emergency notification system. The system was adopted after the Virginia Tech shootings last April to provide an expedient response network that would inform students of campus emergencies. While it seems that the majority of students were made aware of the situation, the events of the day raised certain questions about the efficiency of the system, as well as the College’s approach to handling potentially tragic events.

p. The spill reportedly occurred at 9:30 a.m., yet the majority of students did not receive their warning phone calls until well after 11 a.m. because the messaged was reportedly sent at 11:15. While the situation in question was not extremely threatening, such a wide gap of time — as was the case at Virginia Tech — can potentially cost lives. In addition, Vice President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler said 157 students did not receive the message at all.

p. Furthermore, the automated text message service, which is supposed to instantaneously contact every registered cell phone on campus, failed to notify students in a timely manner. Many students did not receive text messages until 1 p.m. or later, more than three hours after the incident occurred. Also, some students have text messages from websites blocked on their cell phones and were not notified that the outside company relays the mass text message by e-mail.

p. It is also disconcerting that an entire month of school passed without a proper test of the system. Sadler informed students that the school was planning a trial run of the system, but the College waited too long. This chemical spill, though not a life-threatening emergency, served as a practical opportunity to test the system, but the results were discouraging.