This week’s That Guy is down to earth, creative, environmentally conscious and loves a heated debate. Zach Pilchen is different: he has eaten termites, lived in a box for a week and saved a girl’s life. There’s no doubt he’ll add a fresh perspective to his latest: Student Assembly president.

p. **Why did you decide to come to William and Mary?**

p. William and Mary was not only the largest school I applied to, it was the only public school and only school in the South. I applied to a bunch of Northern and Midwestern private, progressive liberal arts schools, but when I visited those schools I realized that for all their progressive values and liberalism, for the most part, all the students thought the same. There was no real ideological diversity. For someone like me who loves argument and debate, that was a real turn-off. If your views, ideas or opinions are never challenged, there’s a tendency to grow too comfortable, almost to the point of laziness. Some of my best friends at William and Mary are diehard conservatives. I may not agree with a single thing they say, but I still respect them and love to engage them in political discourse.

p. **What is your proudest accomplishment during your tenure at the College?**

p. I once rescued a girl from drowning in the Crim Dell in the middle of the night by paddling her to safety in my kayak. It’s a long story, but it involves this girl … weighted down by wet clothes, frantically struggling to keep her head above water, yelling for help — and me, majestically kayaking over and offering her the tip of my paddle. Anyway, [she] now owes her life to me.

p. **Why did you have a kayak?**

p. Some of the kids were finishing the triathlon and I, having completed the triathlon in full during Freshman Orientation, didn’t really feel like crawling back in the Crim Dell.

p. **Is that the craziest thing you have ever done?**

p. No. I lived in an enclosed, eight-by-eight foot wooden box with two friends from high school for an entire school week, with no access to the outside world. We called it the, “Transcendental Human Endurance Challenge and Unstimulated Brain Experiment”— THECUBE for short. We deprived ourselves of all access to the outside world, had lights on, had our food passed through a death row-style series of sliding doors and went to the bathroom in a five-gallon paint bucket full of kitty litter. Oh, and we broadcast the whole thing over the internet via webcam. Anyway, the project became something of a sensation in our high school. The principal even postponed classes the morning we were to enter THECUBE so that students could attend the ceremony. We started to go completely insane as the project drew to a close and we were starving for any sort of mental stimuli. I still don’t know why we did this.

p. **How did you manage to get out of classes for that whole week?**

p. My high school (Georgetown Day School) let seniors out of school a month early to participate in “Senior Quests” … essentially an independent project. Some students made movies, some reviewed all the cheeses in the Cheesecake Factory and we built THECUBE.

p. **What made you want to run for SA?**

p. I’m someone who is happiest when I have a wide variety of things to do. Maybe it’s because of my latent ADD, but I love being able to go from planning a voter registration drive, to reviewing college alcohol policies, to engaging in a philosophical argument on gender-blind housing. The Student Assembly is unique on campus as far as the wide variety of issues you get to address, and that’s what originally attracted me to it.

p. **How was it decided that you would run for president and junior Valerie Hopkins for vice president?**

p. As a senator last year for the Class of 2009, I started toying in my head with the idea of running for SA President when The Flat Hat published a Fall Senate Report Card showing, in pretty explicit terms, that I had been busting my butt for the past several months. I didn’t really know who I would run with at that point, or even if I’d run at all, but after having a heated argument with Valerie about college judicial policies — she was on Judicial Council at the time — I realized that our differing viewpoints and passion for debate could make us a really dynamite team. I guess because I had been in SA for a year and knew the ins and outs of the organization already, it was sort of assumed that I would run for president and Val for vice president, but we don’t place much credence in our titles. We ran as a team and we work as a team. We don’t see eye to eye on every issue, which is great because it means we debate each other and try to arrive at solutions that best work for the whole student body.

p. **If you could only successfully execute one reform, which would it be?**

p. This would be earth-shatteringly huge, but if ever the student body was given absolute authority over the contents of the Student Handbook, almostevery other on-campus reform would follow. Students would have absolute control over the policies that affect their quality of life. That being said, Val and I have found the administration to be extremely responsive to students needs.

p. **I know you have been highly involved with Student Environmental Action Coalition since your freshman year. What ignited your passion about environmental issues?**

p. Through elementary and middle school, I attended Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Alexandria, Va. The school buildings were sprinkled throughout 25 acres of forest, and you had to walk through the woods to get to classes. Burgundy’s hands-on approach to learning about the environment catalyzed my interest in it. In junior year of high school [I went] on a 10- day trip through Belize. Those days were, without a doubt, the 10 most influential days of my life — much more significant than the ten days of campaigning Val and I went through last spring.

p. We bushwhacked through rain forest with Ketchi Mayans, ate sticks full of termites, canoed with manatees, hiked through muddy downpours, sang Dispatch songs around the campfire and gained more respect for nature than I ever could have gotten from sitting in a classroom. In case you’re curious, termites taste like airline peanuts.

**1929**
The College administration and inter-fraternity council passed a plan that would not allow freshman to pledge fraternities until their second semester. College officials said that they hoped the plan would ensure that fraternities would be able to pledge members with good scholastic records.

p. **1966**
The library stationed an employee at the main entrance to ensure that all books were being checked properly. According to librarian William C. Pollard, on average, 384 books disappeared per year. He said 1.4 percent of the total collection had been lost over the last 13 years.

p. **1976**
Residence Life switched Dupont to a male dorm and Yates to a female dorm, reversing the dorms after over 10 years. The switch was deemed necessary by the Associate Dean for Residence Hall Life because of Title IX’s fair housing demands, and he admitted that Dupont “was in the best shape” of any dorm except for the Botetourt complex.

p. **1980**
This was the first year students could move into the Randolph Residences. For the first few weeks of school, they had no key cards to get in or permanent doors. Some had to stay in temporary housing while Cabell and Tazewell Halls were completed.

Williamsburg city offi cials and Student Assembly members involved in Public Affairs will meet Aug. 30 from 5 to 6 p.m. for a casual reception.

p. Twenty Student Assembly members will attend the event in Williamsburg, along with city officials such as members of City Council, the chief of police, planning and zoning commissioners and the city manager.

p. SA President Zach Pilchen, ’09, and Sen. Sarah Rojas, ’10, organized the reception.

Copper thieves took $2,000 worth of copper downspouts from the Dillard Complex and $250 worth of copper from the machine shop in Small Hall July 28 and July 30, respectively, according to the Associated Press.

p. This second set of robberies follows a $7,500 robbery of copper gutters from the Dillard Complex and wiring from a construction site earlier in July.

p. Outside the College, thieves stole downspouts from Seasons restaurant and wiring from some homes under construction in James City County.

**2.86**
The number of liberals for every conservative in the Class of 2011, based on self-identification on Facebook.

p. **70 percent**
The average acceptance rate at four-year colleges across the nation. The College’s acceptance rate this year was 34 percent.

p. **2 percent**
The number of students nationally who applied to more than 10 colleges.

p. **43**
The number of courses offered in the Wren Building this fall.

p. **78 percent**
The proportion of history, government and philosophy classes with no openings left. Thirty-two percent of all classes at the College are full.

p. **39 percent**
The proportion of fatal crashes that involved alcohol. Seventy-six percent of fatal crashes occurring from midnight to 3 a.m. involved alcohol.

This year’s opening convocation speaker will be Michelle Whitehurst-Cook, ’75, the associate dean for admissions at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and a physician in the Medical College of Virginia clinic.

p. Whitehurst-Cook received a bachelor’s degree in biology at the College. She was a founding member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and was active in the Black Students Organization. She attended the VCU School of Medicine and became a faculty member in 1993 as an associate professor of family medicine. She has served as director of the pre-doctoral programs for the Department of Family Medicine, chair of the Admissions Committee and director for the Inner City/Rural Preceptorship program, an education program for medical students who want to serve the underprivileged.

p. She is the former president of the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians and currently serves as the president of the Richmond Medical Society. In 2006, she received the VCU Distinguished Service Award.

p. Convocation will be held Aug. 31 in the Wren Courtyard.

The College signed a contract with NTI Group Inc. for an emergency alert system that will be implemented this fall. The Connect-ED system, which cost between $20,000 and $22,000, allows members of the College’s emergency action team to contact students, faculty and other College employees by cell phone calls, text messages and e-mails instantaneously.

p. “We demonstrated the system to [local] press and [their cell phones] rang immediately,” Vice President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler said. “One woman literally jumped out of her chair.”

p. Sadler, who chairs the emergency management team, and others including Vice President Anna Martin, members of the IT staff and Campus Police Chief Don Challis, began looking for a new method of communication last January while reviewing emergency protocol.

p. According to Tina Coleman of IT services, members of the College’s Emergency Team are able to access the Connect-ED system online, where they can select message recipients, record and type the actual message and choose a time for message distribution. After completing these steps, the system immediately transmits voicemail and text messages to e-mails and cell phones.

p. The system can hold up to six phone numbers and two e-mail addresses per individual.

p. “[It] adds a great deal to our ability to communicate,” Sadler said. “No more waiting for three hours for my e-mail.”

p. Sadler said he believes that the Connect-ED system is a vast improvement over the previous method of sending mass e-mails. While e-mails sometimes take several hours to reach students, Sadler said the new system allows for instant communication.

p. “Students can feel assured if there is a true emergency, [they] will get immediate notice,” he said.

p. Many campuses across the nation have begun to review their emergency protocol measures since the shootings at Virginia Tech last April.

p. According to a July press release, Tech adopted a similar program through 3n (National Notification Network) that will send text messages to mobile devices, voicemails to cell phones, e-mails and instant messages. Tech plans on using the system for emergency messages and weather-closing information.

p. Sadler and Coleman both said that the College’s Connect-ED system will be used only for emergency messages.

p. “An emergency can be defined as any situation that is a threat of injury or harm to the campus community or inclement weather that may result in a College closing,” Coleman said.

p. Sadler agreed. “It is intended to be used only when we go into emergency mode,” he said.

p. Challis said that after a request for proposals from companies was submitted, the team looked at the companies’ backgrounds and ensured that their primary concern is sending emergency information. He said that the NTI Group Inc., which has a history of working with schools, best fits the College.

p. Sadler also said that he felt the Connect-ED system was a good program for the College.

p. He was impressed by the system’s response time and its ability to simultaneously send voicemail and text messages.

p. In addition, the system has follow-up capabilities to check and see which numbers and e-mail addresses the messages could not reach.

p. Coleman added that the system has the capability of sending two million messages per hour.

p. “The likelihood that we are not able to get through to students is pretty slim,” Sadler said.

p. Sadler added that early after students return for fall semester, the College will run drills of the system for everyone. He said it is important to give students a sense of what the new system is like.

p. Students will be able to enter contact information into Banner by the beginning of the semester.

p. Sadler encouraged students to keep the College updated with contact numbers, which the College will only use in the event of an emergency.

p. “Anytime we improve communication it contributes to safe conditions,” he said.

The largest fundraising initiative in College history officially closed June 30 with $518 million, reaching its $500 million goal three weeks early, on June 8. Implemented by former President Tim Sullivan, the seven-year campaign includes donations from more than 60,400 College alumni, parents and friends. The campaign had been public since 2003.

p. “These are remarkable figures,” College President Gene Nichol said June 24 in a College press release. “But numbers alone cannot adequately express the impact this campaign has had, and will continue to have, in the life of the College.”

p. The fund benefits scholarships, professorships, research, construction projects and many other initiatives.

p. “The campaign is an investment in the present and future of this great institution — it is an investment in our people, programs and places,” Sean Pieri, vice president for University Development, said.

p. The College’s total endowment grew by more than $109 million during the course of the campaign. It stands at $492 million as of June 2006.

p. Nichol exalts the commitment of Sullivan as well as the numerous students, faculty and alumni who contributed. “Again and again they answer the College’s call to invest in our exceptional students and faculty — who continue, always, to press the boundaries of academic excellence.”

p. Of the money raised, $112 million supports academic research and student scholarships, $45 million supports faculty and $61 million supports construction and maintenance. Facilities that have already benefited from campaign funds include Alan B. Miller Hall, which will house the business school, the Integrated Science Center and the Lake Matoaka Amphitheater.

p. The Campaign raised $81 million in unrestricted funds, which enable the College to address immediate needs. For Nichol, these flexible funds “fuel the entire College, allowing us to address opportunities when and where we find them.”

A federal judge dealt a major blow to the Recording Industry Association of America’s effort to punish students at the College for illegally downloading music.

p. In July, Judge Walter Kelly, Jr. refused a motion from the RIAA that would have allowed the industry to discover the identity of seven students at the College based on their IP addresses.

p. The RIAA first sent pre-litigation letters to 12 College students in April. The Flat Hat reported April 27 that the 12 students were asked to settle out of court for $3,000.

p. In June, the RIAA issued subpoenas for the names of the seven students who reportedly refused to settle.

p. “In effect, the judge is saying ‘not only did you cite the wrong law as the basis of your request, but even if this law is applied to colleges, you wouldn’t be entitled to the information anyway,” blogger Eric Bangeman wrote in a July article on Ars Technica online.

p. According to his article, the result of Kelley’s decision is that the RIAA will not be able to discover the identities of the seven students at the College.

p. Bangeman added that if other judges follow this example, not only will the RIAA be unable to determine student identities, but it will give any student accused of filesharing a chance to fight the subpoena in court. The decision from the judge has not stopped the RIAA in what it calls a deterrence program.

p. According to an Aug. 16 press release from the RIAA, the industry issued 503 pre-litigation letters to 58 universities, including the College and other Virginia universities.