College President Gene Nichol’s decision to withhold e-mail correspondence between himself and former President Timothy Sullivan is very disappointing.

p. However, critics and other concerned parties should remember that while the e-mail correspondence may turn out to be the smoking gun in this controversy, Nichol’s refusal to release them does not necessarily mean that he is being dishonest.

p. Nichol had a chance to resolve an ongoing debate over whether he knew that James McGlothlin ’62 J.D. ’64 planned on retracting a $12 million pledge to the College, but instead chose to keep the e-mails private. He cited a principle of donor confidentiality that prevents him from disclosing information that pertained to McGlothlin’s financial decisions, but this argument does not hold much merit.

p. It is understandable that donors need to be guaranteed privacy and confidentiality, but in this case Nichol is misusing such a principle. He has only hurt himself by making this decision. Nichol’s critics may have their proof in due time, but the situation still needs more time to develop.

Tomorrow night is the last home football game of the season — the last time you can support the Tribe, tailgate with your friends and scream your lungs out at our favorite safety school under the lights. We hope you won’t miss it.

p. What makes this game more important than ever is not only the heartbreaking loss in the final minute to James Madison University two years ago, but also that the team has shown a great deal of promise. The tenacity with which it played against Massachusetts on homecoming — a team then ranked in the top 5 of the Football Championship Series — was an inspiring performance on which the Tribe must build against JMU, which is currently ranked 14th.

p. Junior quarterback Jake Phillips is rapidly becoming a bona fide star in the CAA, the defense has improved consistently and there are a host of young players that will shine in future years. With such promise on the field, students, faculty and alumni alike must keep the spirit alive in the stands.

p. It is certainly frustrating that members of the administration have stumbled so systematically on the College’s new logo, not to mention the prospect of a mascot, which doesn’t even appear to be on the table at the moment. Despite these blunders, the players don’t care, and they’ve been showing it on the gridiron all season.

p. Any upperclassman understands the significance of this game. It was only three years ago that ESPN brought in stadium lighting so students could watch their team compete for a chance to play for the I-AA title in front of a national television audience. The following year, the first regularly scheduled night game took place, with the Tribe falling to the Dukes of JMU by a field goal in the final seconds.

p. Tomorrow, we welcome them back. The student section is conveniently located right behind JMU’s bench, and we hope that every student at the College will come with their voices ready to make it a miserable night for the opposition.

p. Prior to the game, undergraduate class officers and student assembly members will be handing out foam fingers to promote spirit at the game. Even if you don’t manage to get your hands on one, we hope that you and all of your friends will come out to Zable ready to raise a finger or two at JMU.

We have all seen the headlines. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has taken over, infecting students across the nation.

p. MRSA hit home at the College, hospitalizing a freshman girl. We were instructed to wash our hands and clothes frequently and not to share toiletries. This “new” superbug spread like the plague across Virginia. Anti-bacterial soap sales have skyrocketed and Purell can be found everywhere on campus from the Student Health Center to the dean’s office. Despite the hype, most of the attention surrounding staph was laughable to me, but maybe that was because I was the one hooked up to an IV receiving treatment for it.

p. Don’t worry, you will not be infected by reading this column.
Staph should not be ignored by any means, but the media hype is a bit overdone with reports that tend to be misleading and instill more fear than education.

p. In reality, staph is everywhere. It is carried on the skin and inside the nostrils — not unlike many other germs. We can freak out, but at the end of the day there is little we can do. You won’t become “infected” by skin-to-skin contact unless you have an open wound.

p. I never questioned the severity of my infection, nor did I ignore it. My health has always been a top priority, but some things are beyond my control.

p. After spending a week in Sentara Medical Center, I experienced things pre-med students would have killed to observe. I was a headliner and treated as if I had the bubonic plague. While the outside world lamented my plight, mainly because they feared for their lives, I was old news to Sentara’s medical staff who told me I wasn’t that special. They had seen staph before.

p. If staph is not a new phenomenon, why have there been so many outbreaks all of a sudden? In an effort to rid the world of germs, our society has created its own worst enemy: antibiotic resistance. Our bodies are equipped to fight off germs and slowly they build immunities to them. Problems arise when modern medicine becomes ineffective against the bacteria because it has developed resistance to antibiotics.

p. While sleeping eight hours a night and eating well help fight infection and build strong bodies, we reverse these efforts each time we take antibiotics we don’t need. As children, many of us were prescribed antibiotics when we showed signs of a runny nose. Instead of allowing our bodies to build resistance, our parents, who didn’t want to deal with sick children for a few days, sacrificed our future ability to ward off more serious infections.
The constant presence of antibiotics and antibacterial soaps and solutions fuel the fire. Darwin was onto something with his whole natural selection thing. The germs are winning the battle in the survival of the fittest.

p. Fortunately, I was immediately given high doses of Vancomycin, one of the only antibiotics equipped to battle staph. What would have happened if I was unable to obtain or tolerate the medication? Although it has been reported that there is volcanic clay in France that can cure staph, one day such resources may not exist. Moreover, we cannot afford to ignore its potential future impact as it evolves into an even more harmful antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

p. Even as a victim, I do not fear staph and neither should you.

p. __Joanna Sandager is a freshman at the College.__

**Clarifying philosophy receivership**

p. __To the Editor:__

p. The administration’s decision to put the philosophy department in receivership has come under increased scrutiny. Receivership is a drastic step with serious consequences. It hurts department morale, the ability to recruit top candidates and it damages the reputation of the department and the College, but larger issues are involved.

p. The dean defended his decision by pointing to the report of the outside reviewers which contained a litany of allegations, some extremely serious, e.g. that the department was hostile to women and that problems in the department contributed to a drop in enrollments from 2002-’03 to 2005-’06.

p. This report was publicly released before anyone in the department was informed of the allegations or given a chance to respond. This was grossly unfair and calls into question the impartiality of the outside review process upon which the dean relies.

p. This report was filled with errors and misinterpretations of data. It was mistaken, for example, about the number of women teaching in the department. It was mistaken in attributing a decline in enrollments from 2002-’03 to problems in the department. In 2002-’03, we had exceptionally high enrollments because we were able to offer more sections due to a temporary configuration of faculty and, in response to a request from the administration, the department temporarily raised our limits on the size of classes. We did not raise the size of classes, however, for junior, tenure track faculty. Surprisingly, I, the chair of the department, was never asked about these figures by anyone on the outside review panel.

p. Once the former chair and I had the chance to respond to these charges, the dean dismissed the serious allegations about hostility to women, declining enrollments, as well as others. He wrote, “I do not see that conditions in the department are hostile to women” and “the apparent decline in student credit hours is attributable to there having been more sections offered in 2003-’03 than in later years.” That these serious allegations were found to be without any merit undermines the credibility of the outside reviewers’ report.

p. Nonetheless, the dean concluded that “excessive concern for standards, combined with a lack of mentoring or encouragement, has created an inhospitable and unsupportive climate for junior faculty.” He also reported that junior faculty in confidential conversations claim that “they were not well treated by some of the senior faculty.”

p. Much could be said in response to these charges. I will simply note that since 2000, the department has had five tenure cases. In four of the five, tenure was granted (not three in ten years as the dean reported). Since 2000, five junior faculty have left for attractive positions elsewhere. Of these five, one was unanimously and enthusiastically supported for tenure and another accepted a position elsewhere before beginning her career at the College. These facts do not support the charge of unsupportive climate or lack of mentoring.

p. As to the claims of mistreatment, we can only ask who was mistreated, in what way and by whom? What is the evidence of such mistreatment? Neither I, nor the former chair, nor the department has been told. It is impossible for anyone to respond to anonymous and unknown charges. When those accused are not given a chance to respond, it is impossible to assess fairly the truth of the accusations.

p. The College has grievance procedures designed to protect the rights of the accuser and the accused. If there were substantive cases of mistreatment, this procedure should have been followed.
What will be the climate for faculty in general when actions are taken on the basis of confidential allegations of mistreatment when those accused are not informed of the content of the allegations and given no chance to respond? In such a climate, where basic principles of procedural fairness are ignored, how can senior faculty reasonably be expected to make difficult and sometimes wrenching personnel decisions? How will they be able uphold standards?

p. Given its serious consequences, receivership is unjustified, especially when less drastic alternatives were available. The dean might have met with the chair or the department as a whole to discuss the climate for junior faculty. He might have simply replaced the chair with another member of the department. Most importantly, he could have insisted that grievance procedures be followed so that the rights of all faculty can be protected and the truth of allegations of mistreatment fairly assessed.

p. __— Noah Lemos, Leslie and Naomi Legum professor of philosophy__

On the first day of classes, one of them came and sat in the front row of my math class. I saw another group the next day in my psychology class. Last week, one rode by on her bike causing my friend to say that she must be a student because he always sees her with a book bag.

p. It’s not uncommon for there to be a few older students in classes, walking around campus, eating at the Caf or studying in Swem. They proudly call themselves members of the “Prime Tribe.” There’s a chance you have at least one class with someone like this, and a chance that you’ve probably not even given this person a moment’s notice.

p. There’s something admirable about a non-traditionally aged student. I can barely juggle all my time commitments ­­­­­­­— my classes, sorority, club team and friends. Imagine juggling classes, a job, family, friends and many other responsibilities. It doesn’t seem manageable to someone in their late teens or early 20s.

p. Non-traditionally aged students have a higher maturity level that gives them the ability to manage all their obligations. Their reasons for getting degrees are probably much more thought out than those of many typical students. If you were to take a random poll of the freshman class, I’m sure that more than half would not know what they want to study in the future. I’m also sure an even higher percentage would not have a better reason for getting a higher education than, “It’s just something I thought I was supposed to do.”

p. For many, college is just another stalling period before they have to grow up. But rereading the article titled “Prime Tribe adds diversity to the College” in the Nov. 6 issue of The Flat Hat, it seems that older students do have a better idea of why they are attending college, including everything from wanting to get more money at their current job to being a better role model for their children and, in some cases, their grandchildren.

p. Possessing a high maturity level and an advanced understanding of why they are attending college, should non-traditionally aged students be considered traditionally aged? If so, this leads to the additional question whether more students should consider going to college when they’re more mature and gain some experience in the world.

p. After completing high school, plenty of students take a year off before starting college. Plenty of students also travel abroad for a semester or a summer. But does that year, semester or summer allow you to grow up enough to give you a sense of clarity about your future goals?

p. College is a great opportunity for you to grow, but it is still a sheltered environment and there is still a hierarchy of people responsible for your well-being. There’s no doubt that you would learn more in the real world where the only person looking out for you is yourself.

p. Before deciding to go to college, nobody should be expected to suddenly have some strange burst of clairvoyance regarding their future. It sure didn’t happen to me. Everything is up in the air for a lot of students. Maybe waiting a bit would help, or maybe it wouldn’t. There’s no real right or wrong answer to this scenario, just a lot of what ifs and possibilities that depend on who you are.

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