__Statistics show students, staff take half as many rides per year as two years ago__

p. Student and staff use of the Green line bus route, which primarily serves the College, has fallen over the last two years, according to data obtained by The Flat Hat from the College Parking and Transportation Office.

p. 118,918 rides were taken on the Green line from August to March during the 2004-2005 academic year, but that fell to 97,097 during the same period in 2005-2006. This year 62,581 rides have been taken, barely half the number from two years ago.

p. “One big factor was the elimination of the Dillard Complex … another is the construction of the Jamestown dorms,” Bill Horacio III, Parking and Transportation Manager at the College, said.

p. The Dillard complex, which used to house 289 largely bus-dependent students, was closed at the end of last year. Horatio said that the construction of Jamestown also brought many upperclassmen to a central location, where riding the bus was not necessary.

p. Three bus drivers who were interviewed said that they felt the decision to run both busses in one direction was also causing the decline.

p. Until this year, the busses ran in opposite directions.

p. “I’m pretty sure that if the busses went both ways, you’d start seeing people riding them more,” Willie Hirschberg, who drives weekend nights, said. “I think it should go both ways. I think I should do one way for half hour, then turn around and do another half hour that way.”

p. Horatio said that his office had looked into the issue. While admitting the possibility that going just both ways turned away riders, he said that his office concluded that going just one way was beneficial.

p. “If we had the busses run both ways, the wait time would have to be half an hour at some stops,” Horatio said. “Running the busses one way, students only have to wait 15 minutes at any stop. We decided to reduce the time that any student would have to spend waiting at a stop.”

p. Because Dillard was eliminated the same time as the one-way policy began, it is hard to tell which is more responsible for the drop in use. There has been no similar drop in student and staff use of the other bus lines. Hirschberg said that, in the past, many of his riders had gone to or from Dillard, but probably not most of them.

p. Hirschberg also said that on his weekend night shifts he could sometimes make his rounds 5 or 6 times without one person getting on the bus.

p. He speculated about the drop in people taking the bus to the Delis. “It’s weird; it’s a like new generation … like all the partiers graduated.”

p. Horatio said that a lack of information might be the problem.
“One thing that continually amazes me is that many students I talk to, including students who have had their license or parking privileges revoked, don’t know that they can ride the busses for free.”

p. He added that he hoped more people would use the busses as word becomes more widespread.

p. The college currently pays $302,959 to run the Green line and to get free access to the other lines.

p. Last year, the cost to the college of each ride taken was $3.12. County Williamsburg Area Transport officials referred all questions to officials at the College who make the decisions about the Green line and its route.

Queen Elizabeth II who? College Shop employee Frances Moore has lived in Williamsburg since before Elizabeth II took the throne. Williamsburg has since expanded, but that’s okay with Moore. Virginia’s colonial capital remains true to its origins.

p. Moore, who turned 83 this year, has worked at the College Shop for the past 48 years. Over time, Williamsburg has literally changed before her eyes. “It was a small town,” she said. “It’s just not a small town anymore.”

p. “The surrounding area, which used to be nothing, is built up now,” she said. “Condominiums, motels, hotels. But there are so many people that really like the atmosphere of Williamsburg that they return and make their home here,” she said.

p. Still, Moore has grown to accept the change of scenery. Gregarious by nature, she loves meeting people. Those she has met over the years are “very interesting people.” Moore appreciates Williamsburg’s expansion because of the new business and attractions that it brings.

p. “I don’t think that has hurt Williamsburg,” she said. “I think that has helped it.”

p. Moore has come into contact with people from all over the world during her time at the College Shop. She owns a business card signed by John Wayne, who once visited the store. And while the rest of Williamsburg anticipates the arrival of Elizabeth, that’s an old shoe to Moore.

p. “I saw the Queen and her husband when they were here in 1957. They rode the carriage right down DoG Street. I was standing on the street very close to her, which was very exciting. I’m hoping to get to see her again. I’m not sure if I will or not with so many people, but it’s exciting,” she said. “I was impressed with the Queen Mother, too. She was so beautiful. Her skin was not even a blemish. Her skin was so beautiful.”

p. At 83, Moore has no plans to leave Williamsburg in the near future. For now, she will continue to work at the College Shop and travel, a pastime she enjoys with her spouse. She looks forward to meeting more people.

p. “I left Williamsburg for three years. When I came back, I said I’m never leaving again. I like it because it’s centrally located. I like the people in this area. But after I came back, I said I might go on a trip but I’ll never go again,” she said. “I just always liked the atmosphere of Williamsburg. I like working in the public.”

__Spanish judge charges DeCamp with homicide, war crimes__

Adjunct Math Professor and Lieutenant Colonel Philip DeCamp was charged last week in the death of Spanish journalist Jose Couso, who died in 2003 in Iraq.

p. A Spanish judge indicted DeCamp along with two other U.S. soldiers, Sgt. Shawn Gibson and Capt. Philip Wolford.

p. They were charged with homicide and “a crime against the international community,” according to the Daily Press.

p. During street fighting in Baghdad, the soldiers fired a tank shell at the Palestine Hotel, in which about 100 journalists were staying, including Couso, who was a cameraman for Spanish TV network Telecinco.

p. As commandor of their unit, the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, DeCamp gave his companions Gibson and Wolford the order to fire the tanks.

p. DeCamp and his companions have been issued several arrest warrents previously by Judge Santiago Pedraz.

p. DeCamp was hired at the College in 2005 as the Director of Military Science after he retired from the Army.

p. He did not teach this semester, but is teaching in the fall. The last class he taught was in the fall of 2006.

The end of the 2006-2007 year will mark a milestone for more than just the College’s graduating class.

p. Nine professors from several departments have reached retirement. Among them is Chancellor Professor of Physics Robert Welsh. With almost 44 years under his belt at the College, Welsh is currently the longest-serving active faculty member.

p. “My favorite part of W&M has been the highly motivated and well-prepared students I have had the privilege to teach,” Welsh said.
Upon retirement, he plans to continue “collecting and studying old cipher and code devices and traveling with [his] wife and two young daughters, ages 8 and 11.”

p. The full list of retiring professors recognized for their years of dedication to the students of the College include: Ruth Beck, Biology; Sharton Broadwater, Biology; Wagih Dafashy, Business Administration; Alan Fuchs, Philosophy; Leonard Haas, Marine Science; John Kane, Physics; Joseph Scott, Biology; Robert Welsh, Physics; Richard Williamson, Law.

Dear England,

p. Hey. I know we haven’t spoken in a while — and that is entirely my fault. Anyway, how the heck are you these days? I’m doing okay, but there is this one little nagging problem: my future. Oh, England, I know you already have enough on your plate, and the last thing you need is some blast from the past whining at you about her problems. But I think you could really help me out. Will you just listen for, like, five minutes? Thanks, England, you’re a pal.

p. Here’s the thing: I’m having what you might call a “tough time” with my post-graduation plans. You might call it that because you are my friend, but really, I am a fairly worthless human being (according to the job market and that wanker of a business magazine that came out in last week’s Flat Hat). I have no plans for after graduation.

p. However, I do manage to collect extremely worthy and accomplished friends (like you!), and one very special friend of mine will actually be visiting you for grad school in the fall. Isn’t that totally exciting? He’s really stoked to meet you — I’ve told him lots of great things. Anyway, since he’s going over there, and since I have nothing going for me over here (America and I are so over), I was hoping that maybe I could come visit you, too. Wouldn’t that be fun?

p. But England, dear, jolly, bonny England, you get so stand-offish when I ask you to let me visit. I can’t get permission to work — and contribute all of my countless and amazing skills to your economy — unless I already have a job with you. Question: Which of your wonderful countrymen will hire me if I’m not allowed to work? It’s a silly little catch-22 that I’m sure just snuck by you when you were making up rules. You don’t really mean it, do you?

p. Think of what you’re missing out on by not letting me work for you. I know it might be weird at first — us being such good friends and all — but I believe in us, England. During those long, cold winter months, I can make you smile with my nonsensicalness (which my computer spellcheck says is an actual word. Rad.) and my inability to drink more than a pint of good dark beer without getting crunky. Delightful, no? I can also teach you wonderful American slang words, like crunky. Unfortunately, most of my slang dates back to the early nineties and the Ninja Turtles cartoons. It will be a bit of a challenge for you to sound hip saying things such as, “radical” and “gnarly,” but I think you can pull it off.

p. And to be fair, England, we are letting your Queen come here on Friday. She’s invading my home turf, walking down DoG Street, standing in the Wren courtyard — standing in the exact spot where I may have wanted to be standing on Friday, but I am being courteous and allowing her these liberties. Know why? Okay, maybe because I think this visiting “Queen” person might actually be Helen Mirren stunt-doubling for the actual Queen, and I think Ms. Mirren is fantastic. But I am also allowing this because I love you, England. I respect you, and I trust you and I believe that allowing your citizens (or citizen stunt-doubles) is good for both of us — and our friendship. I’m not worried that the Queen and her entourage will be mooching off of the local Williamsburg economy. I’m not concerned that she’s going to take my job (although a Queen-authored Confusion Corner might possibly be the greatest idea ever). I’m welcoming her with open arms. As my friend, I only ask that you do the same for me.

p. Write back soon! Kisses!

p. Lauren Bell, Esq.

p. __Lauren Bell is a Confusion Corner columnist for The Flat Hat. We’ll miss her hip nineties slang and her use of Wikipedia as a verb.__

On a perfect Sunday afternoon during the last weeks of senior year, few things are more depressing than the inevitable stint in Swem. Imagine the thrill of reprieve coupled with birds singing, blue skies and easy conversation and you get an idea of the joy that is time spent with Royce McAllister. Friendly, laid-back, with a greeting from nearly every passerby, That Guy is as down to Earth as he is charming. Here, he talks about Freshman Orientation reviving a fraternity, and combining business with service.

p. **What are you doing next year?**
I’ll be working for General Electric in emerging business in the finance management program. It’s a two-year program and you basically learn everything there is to know about finance. I rotate every six months to different locations, so in the next two years I could be anywhere from Oshkosh, Wis., to Atlanta, Ga., to Schenectady, N.Y., to Southern California to Nevada — Florence, Italy is a possible location. I move every six months to a new place, so it’s a really good program. They do that so you can see different parts of the business; when you work for GE you can pretty much do anything.

p. **What is it like being a business major?**
Actually, when I interviewed, I tried to address this question, because I see myself as more of the anti-business business major. When I explained why I was a business major, it had to do with my service trips to Ghana and Southeast Asia where I got really interested in international development. A lot of areas of development have been spearheaded by people my age in finance. I guess I can see from the liberal arts standpoint (I’m an art history minor, too) why people might not like the business school. There are people in it who are there just to make money.

p. **Tell me about your international service trips.**
The first time I studied abroad was in Italy over the summer with William and Mary. I went to Ghana over spring break of my junior year on an international service trip for medical relief. Then this past winter break, I went to Southeast Asia, and that was with the business school, actually. It focused a lot on international development.

p. **How is it being president of Alpha Phi Alpha?**
When I first started, I was the only new member coming in. Then in the fall we initiated two new members, and that is kind of when we got the ball rolling. There was a semester when it was just me — when I was the chapter, and it was ridiculous. This year we just continued our success with Outstanding Fraternity, with — drop, drop, drop — Greek man of the year and Excellence in Service and Support of Others again, and we won more awards at the district and regional levels again. We had numbers in the past or whatever, but because this is a historically black fraternity, well, there aren’t many at this school, you know?

p. **Where did you learn to step?**
Stepping originated from way back in Africa, and through colonialism it came to the States. I didn’t step until I was initiated into the fraternity, in spring 2004. I pretty much just learned from the guys ahead of me, and with my superior rhythm I was able to see the steps of men in other chapters of my fraternity. I was able to adapt them and do my own thing.