The College’s Earl Gregg Swem librarians’ salaries are well below the levels of their peers at rival institutions, despite their being among the most experienced librarians in the country.
College librarians have the 17th lowest salaries of 19 peer institutions. Yet the College has the second highest figure for average years of experience — 25.5 years, trailing the University of New Hampshire, which has 27 average years. As of July 1, 2006, the College’s average librarian’s salary was $56,012, while New Hampshire’s average was $69,476.

p. “In 2002, the Librarians’ Assembly investigated the issue with comparative studies,” Head of the Salary Subcommittee of the Librarians Assembly Pat Van Zandt said. “We found that we had more years of experience, but our salaries are incredibly low.”
Library faculty salaries remain behind despite receiving 7.7 percent increases from 2005 to 2006, putting them in the 12.6 percentile of salaries when compared to those of peer institutions. They still beat out Wake Forest University and Boston University; however, Wake Forest, with the lowest average salary, also has the second lowest figure for years of experience.

p. The Librarians Assembly formed a small group within the Librarians Assembly, the Salary Subcommittee, to study salaries and years of experience. They found that for the years 2001, 2002 and 2003, salary percent increases were zero, zero and 2.5 percent , respectively.

p. “You just can’t be in a job where you get zero, zero and 2.5 for 3 years,” Dean of University Libraries Connie Kearns McCarthy said.

p. The peer institutions are from a list set by the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV). SCHEV has issued a list of new peer institutions for 2007. These calculations are based on the previous peer list. Other peer institutions include Emory University, Tulane University and Duke University. While Swem Library is not supporting a large research university with doctoral programs in all fields, it is a research library supporting a research institution, as defined by the Carnegie classification.

p. “I would not expect our salaries to be at the level of what a Duke or Harvard would be,” McCarthy said.

p. While the Librarian’s Assembly is not working with the Faculty Assembly, which uses the same

Staff members received a bomb threat via e-mail Aug. 28. According to the police call log supplied to The Flat Hat, the IT manager for the Mason School of Business reported that both Blow Hall and Tyler Hall were checked as a precautionary measure, but nothing was found.

p. “Our police department has been working with the FBI, and campus officials were monitoring this developing trend across the country before William and Mary ever received a message,” Vice President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler said in an e-mail to the student body yesterday afternoon. He also said that there was no need for alarm, and that all of the messages were anonymous and generic in nature.

p. Sadler said that in the future, students would be informed of credible threats through the College’s new emergency notification system. He asked students who received suspicious e-mails and messages to contact campus police at 221-4596.

__Pro-Nichol and anti-Nichol camps are divided over his role
in rankings, cultural changes on campus__

p. As the fall semester begins, the issue of Gene Nichol’s renewal as the College’s president is being discussed on and off campus. Some students are donning “I heart Nichol” buttons to show their support for the president while others frequent anti-Nichol websites that are becoming increasingly popular to both students and alumni.

p. Jim Jones, ’82 and ’86, is the spokesman for one anti-Nichol website, shouldnicholberenewed.org. The website founders describe themselves as “a diverse group of alumni and students who share a common commitment to the heritage of The College of William and Mary as well as to the advocacy of excellence in higher education.”

p. Jones reinforces the goal of spreading facts, not emotional opinions, in order to help people make an informed decision on whether or not Nichol’s contract should be renewed. Jones considers Nichol’s presidency “to be a complete disaster for the College.”

p. “Nichol is a divider, not a unifier,” Jones said. “Historically, he is a polarizer.”

p. Lance Kyle, ’89 and ’94, is not a member of any of the anti-Nichol websites, but “agrees with their sentiments.” According to Kyle, Nichol has dismantled traditions, lost credibility and has cost the school a great amount of alumni support. Kyle said that he will be joining the public stand against the president if the Board of Visitors renews Nichol’s presidency.

p. Anti-Nichol protesters blame the president for the College’s recent fall in U.S. News and World Report rankings, as well as for cultural changes on campus. The most notable and widely known issue remains the removal of the cross from the Wren chapel.
Bailey Thomson, a Nichol supporter on campus, thinks that the anti-Nichol group is “a small but vocal minority.” Thomson holds that “William and Mary is thriving, rather than failing, both financially and academically.”

p. Pro-Nichol websites, such as wmfightsback.blogspot.com, and iheartnichol.com are seeking to spread a pro-Nichol message in order to unite the student body in support of the president.
Thomson cites statistics such as the record number of applicants to the College this year and the surpassed $500 million fundraising goal as evidence of the success of Nichol’s presidency.
Thomson suggests that students get informed and make public statements in the press, with letters to the editor, in order to help defend Nichol and ensure that the student perspective is taken into consideration when the BOV makes its decision on Nichol’s fate later this year.

p. Both Jones and Thompson emphasized that the Nichol issue is not related to traditional party lines; they said that the battle is not being fought over conservative or liberal views and should not split students based on political loyalties.

p. “The issue is often misconstrued as political,” Thomson said.
Both pro and anti-Nichol groups are focusing on informing students, alumni and all those interested in the College’s welfare about the issues facing the president and the College. Whether unified or divided on the issue, students should become informed about the consequences that the BOV’s decision will have on their continuing careers at the College.

__One In Four alums take education program on the road__

The College’s One In Four chapter began an RV tour this week to promote its new “Women’s Program.”

p. One in Four, which has more than 30 chapters nationwide, is a program designed to foster male awareness of sexual assault against women.

p. The group gives presentations to freshmen men each year, but a change is occurring within the program.

p. As of this week, the four One In Four RV tour members will find themselves face-to-face not with freshmen men, but with a new audience of women.

p. Four One In Four members, two College alumni and two from other schools travel to roughly 50 different universities to give their presentation.

p. “One of the things we kept getting feedback about from schools was, ‘Why don’t you have a program for women?’” John Foubert, assistant professor of higher education at the College and founder of the One In Four program said. “We thought about it for a while … and we decided to put together a program for one year on an experimental basis as an RV tour.”

p. Already the challenges of the tour are surfacing.

p. “Every day is sort of an adventure for us,” Jor-el Caraballo, a graduate of UNC — Wilmington and one of the tour’s four members, said. “It takes some getting used to living in an RV, but we’re getting used to it.”

p. College alumnus and tour member J.T. Newberry ’07 echoed this sentiment.

p. “We have four people living in a 37 foot RV … It’s just a matter of keeping a positive attitude,” he said.

p. Yet the cost of the tour seldom outweighs its rewards.
“You will continue to have people come up to you who are incredibly thankful,” Newberry said.

p. “They are just glad that there’s somebody out there who cares.”
Newberry decided to join One In Four after viewing a presentation of the program his freshman year, where he saw the opportunity to convey an important message to a group of people.

p. “It was amazing,” Newberry said. “I went there and I was completely shocked … It just changed my life.”

p. One In Four began in 1993, when Foubert wrote a script for the program while working at the University of Richmond.
In 1997, the University of Maryland became host to the first official One In Four program.

p. The College chapter of One In Four was founded at the College in 2002.

p. The name of the program refers to the statistic whereby one in four college women have survived rape or attempted rape.
As for the success of the “Women’s Program,” Foubert is realistic but hopeful.

p. “When we were writing the script we sent it out to many women and got some good feedback,” Foubert said. “At this point we’re just going to wait and see.”

p. Meanwhile, the open road is met with a sense of optimism.
“My expectation is that the sky is the limit,” Newberry said.

__Pilchen informs SA of proposed responses to budget
decrease, asks for input from senators__

At the year’s first Student Assembly meeting Tuesday night, SA President Zach Pilchen ’09 discussed, among other things, charging students a one-time fee of $400 to make up for the 7.5 percent budget cut in the state portion of the College’s budget.
He also said the College could close Swem at 5 p.m. or eliminate the Washington, D.C. study abroad program to compensate for the cuts.

p. Senators were most concerned about the possibility of a student surcharge, which was implemented in 2002.

p. “Anyone that has been approved for a scholarship will get a scholarship,” Pilchen said. “The surcharge is not tuition.”

p. “If Virginia raised a one to two cent gas tax, we could have avoided the whole thing,” he added.

p. Senators debated the idea.

p. “Students are able to apply for secondary loans [to pay for the surcharge] between semesters,” Senator Amanda Rowe ’08 said. “It would be awful, but it can be done.”

p. Pilchen will represent students Sept. 5 at the Faculty University Priorities Committee where the 7.5 percent cut will be discussed.
Secretary of Finance Andrew Blasi ’10 also presented a finance investment prospectus report, prepared by Undersecretary of Finance for Investment Matthew Sass ’09. The report addressed what should be done with the College’s excess funds. The senate agreed to discuss the report its the next meeting.

p. The appointments of secretaries, members of the Review Board and members of the elections committee went fairly quickly because eight students were appointed with a unanimous decision and two students were appointed with a vote of more than two-thirds of the senate. Will Angley ’08, nominated for chairman of the review board, was voted down.

p. Ironically, as the longest standing member of the review board, Angley will serve as interim chairman until there is a new nomination.

p. After the long debate on the budget, Sen. Caroline Mullis ’09 said, jokingly, “Can we just fire a bunch of the administrators?”

In the wake of last year’s election difficulties, the Student Information Network will probably not handle this year’s Student Assembly election, and will be replaced as the College’s primary polling network at some point in the next few months.

p. SIN was the focus of controversy in last semester’s confusing SA election, and SA President Zach Pilchen ’09 has confirmed that he and the SA are in the process of looking for an alternative program to conduct the March election.

p. SIN, which has been run by students in the past, is a website that offers a variety of services, such as ride board and job board, to the student body.

p. Confusion involving daylight savings time inadvertently erased the election results in March.

p. Later, it was revealed that an individual from SIN had been able to access the results during the day, leading to concern over the website’s security.

p. The results were eventually recovered by an alumnus who had previously worked for SIN.

p. According to Pilchen, who became president in that election, polling with SIN in the upcoming school year concerns the SA.
“No one is really equipped to run SIN this year,” Pilchen said.
However, the upcoming freshmen elections will still be conducted on the network due to a “lack of time.”

p. Concerns regarding the voting system have also resonated within the Elections Commission.

p. The new elections chairman, Adam Boltik ’08, also confirmed that a new system will be tested at some point in the near future, but he was unable to give any information about it.

p. However, according to Pilchen, the election commission, will not play a significant role in deciding which program will supplant SIN.
“My worry is that with an organization made up largely with government majors, we’ll end up trying to change how the elections are run,” Pilchen said. “I’m hoping this isn’t something that will take up too much time in the upcoming year.”

p. According to Senate Chair Matt Beato ’09, among the companies being considered to replace SIN is eBallot.

p. eBallot claims to be “#1 in online voting for colleges and universities.”

p. The company said that it takes various security measures to ensure a legitimate election.

p. Namely, the hosting facility will not be on-campus.

A word of advice: No one in China wants to be your friend. After studying abroad in China this summer, I learned that people are only nice to Westerners for two reasons: They want to sell you something, or they want your organs.

p. I went to China with a group of students from the College. While I wanted to become acquainted with my fellow Americans, their friendship was not my prize. More than anything, I desired a Chinese friend — someone to affirm in me a sense of worldliness and tolerance. I wanted to brag about my foreign friend to everyone I knew. He could teach me the Chinese equivalents for useful English words, such as vampire or clown car. In exchange, I would tell him about my life as a student. I imagined writing long letters, and then waiting eagerly in line at the post office.
“Hello again James, another letter to your friend in China?” a postal worker would ask, remembering my name after seeing me so often.

p. “What, this? Oh, yes. A flood wiped out all the crops in my friend’s village. Without television or running water, my letters are the only things that bring him joy.”

p. “How sad,” the postal worker would say.

p.Our first day in China, my study group visited the Great Wall. Almost immediately, a small Chinese woman approached me. “Hello, friend. Are you climbing the Great Wall?” she asked me.
“Climbing the Great Wall I am,” I explained in substandard Chinese. “You me walk together?” She smiled and nodded. I was swept away on a flood of elation. After only one day in China, I was being requisitioned for friendship by complete strangers.
I knew little of my friend. For most of the journey she spoke in Chinese, and I nodded eagerly. When we stopped at an overlook, she asked to take my picture. I assumed that she would love to, and would be astounded by the wonders of electronic technology.

p. If anything, I was doing her a favor. “You like?” she asked as she handed back my digital camera so that I could check her work.

p. I was astonished. She took a fantastic shot. My body was perfectly centered in the frame. And she had somehow managed to adjust for brightness, which is normally a problem when taking pictures of my pale face on a bright day. Instead of coming out one giant bright blur, I appeared crisp and viewable. I imagined the possibilities of having such a photographic prodigy for a friend. I could take her with me on my next trip to Paris. “Do you think you could get another one of me standing in front of the Eiffel Tower? This time maybe make me look a little more brooding?”

p. After following the many curves of that endless wall, she and I finally arrived at the parking lot where I would catch a bus to take me back to my hotel. As I was getting ready to ask my new friend for her mailing address, she pulled out an armful of T-shirts, postcards and books. “I know you are my friend, so let me give you a deal.” To be honest, I was hurt. We had just spent three meaningful hours together on the Great Wall of China.

p. “You like the scenery?” She had asked me only minutes before. “Yes,” I had responded in unintelligible Chinese. “They very pretty. Me think they very good to look at.”

p. How could she take our budding relationship and just pretend it had been nothing? Out of spite I refused to buy anything from her. “But I thought you were my friend,” she pleaded. I thought so, too. It was only later, when I retold this story to friends, that I realized she had never told me her name. Or perhaps I never thought to ask.

p. __James Damon is a Confusion Corner columnist. Watch out if he’s nice to you — he probably just wants your organs.__

Jed Talvacchia is arguably the number one bachelor on this campus: he’s charming, intelligent, accomplished, attractive and incredibly down to Earth. He surprised me with breakfast before our interview and throughout the questioning, joked with his roommate in a very endearing manner. I learn that his favorite place on campus is “the largest table at the Leafe, surrounded by [his] friends … and Clay Clemens, of course.” Jed would need the largest table; with such a giving and personable character, it is not surprising how many people gravitate toward him or how easily he makes friends. Jed believes that individuals create their own fate and after our interview, it is clear that he has already created a very fulfilling life and promising future.

p. **You’re involved in a lot of activities both on and off the campus. Which has brought you the most joy or satisfaction?**
I feel honored and proud to be a part of the committee that recently passed the medical amnesty policy. I think it is a huge step forward in the school alcohol policy, both in the safety of the students and to urge an increased dialogue on the subject. And personally, I feel lucky because it struck a chord with me and showed me what I want to do with my life.

p. **What was your role in this campaign?**
I wrote Sam Sadler my freshmen year, iterating many of the problems I saw with the alcohol policy. He was polite enough to hear me out and asked if I’d take my suggestions to the Alcohol Task Force. With sincere help from [Administrators Dean Gilbert], Anne Arseneau, Mark Constantine, Sandi Cleveland, Sam Sadler and Josh Lovell, it passed this past spring.

p. **Have you been satisfied with the responses of students regarding this new policy?**
I think the student response on the whole has been good. I know it has been used several times this year already which I’m very happy about, in a certain sense … I mean to say that it’s great the freshman, who are most at risk, feel comfortable using the policy. I’d like to see an even larger publicity mounted, however, possibly from this publication.

p. **How has the College lived up to the expectations you had when first matriculating?**
This school had far surpassed them by my sophomore year. I think that is why I became a tour guide. I love the College but there are a lot of myths out there and I think it’s really important to give a true representation of the school.

p. **Are there more changes you would like to see made concerning the policy?**
Yes, I would like to see that chapter rooms, dance floors, basements and even social lounges are considered private space and, therefore, if you are 21, you can legally have a drink. That is a much more daunting task because you run into people who hold very different interpretations of the Virginia state code and how it defines private spaces.

p. **How would you respond to people who think tour guides are fake and overly peppy?**
Everyone has their own experiences with this school. Other students only hear 30 seconds of our tours. It’s hard to be judgmental when that’s all they are hearing. The whole idea of the tour is to give our own individual impressions. That’s what visitors want: personal experiences.

p. **If you could repeat one day at the College, which would it be and why?**
Hmm, I would have to go with the day the Red Sox won the World Series. The broadcast stating they won was my ringtone for a long, long time. In fact, I tried to get it back again but they’ve taken it down.

p. **Did you ever study abroad or go on a service trip? What were your experiences?**
I did go abroad — I went to Spain after my freshman year and hiked there with three other students and a professor along a 500-mile medieval pilgrimage route through northern Spain. I started in Roncesvalles and ended in Santiago, hiking an average of about 20 miles a day. We studied the architecture and culture of Santiago and were there for about 35 days. The College was incredibly generous; they gave me credit as well as financial aid and the program is still running for those who are interested.
Then I went to Nicaragua alone after my second year and performed service and research. I used a summer grant and worked with a program down there called Sister Cities. We installed water filtration fountains in rural communities that have high rates of infant death and malnourishment, often with remote access to health care systems. I lived with a family and performed research on small-scale NGOs.

p. This past spring I went with API [Academic Programs International] to Sevilla from January to May for study abroad. There were about a dozen other incredible WM students and we traveled pretty much every weekend, hitting cities all over western Europe. Following that, I had an internship with NATO. I applied through the WM Career Center and the credit goes to Dr. Koloski and Barbara and Robert Glacel. In Brussels, I stayed with by far the most kind, hospitable family you could imagine. They truly made my experience. In fact, I hope that, at some point in [my] career, I can offer both a position and home to host an intern. I was continually awed by the absolute commitment, intelligence and kindness of the U.S. Mission’s staff. It solidified my desire to work in the federal government at some point during my life.

p. **What has made you so interested in service and traveling?**
I often quote my hometown senator, JFK, who once said in a senatorial speech, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” I have this philosophy that I grew up in a middle class life and go to one of the most prestigious schools in the nation. … If I don’t give 110 percent then I insult all those who don’t have those opportunities. I waste their sacrifices. In terms of travel, I have the opportunity and I have the opportunity to make a change. So if I don’t take up that calling, I view it as a shame. Finally, firsthand knowledge leaves a much more lasting impression.

p. **What is your biggest fear?**
Losing any member of my family. We are incredibly close. I have two brothers: one older and one younger. My younger brother is ten years old and is the coolest little brother you could ever want. My older brother is my mentor. He’ll always be. My father is my hero. My mother grounds me.

p. **Jed’s first lucky lady?**
[Laughs] … Leora Feldstein. We dated for two-and-a-half years and I broke up with her in the lunch room in sixth grade … a day I will always regret. We still talk now twice weekly. I’m not kidding. There’s no romantic interest. We have always been completely platonic … [laughs]. I don’t regret the fantastic relationship that has come out of the break-up but I do regret that we broke up in a lunch room.