**1930**
The College established a policy allowing students a maximum of four unexcused absences for each class per semester.

p. After five skipped classes, students would be automatically dropped from the class roll. If losing a class left students with fewer then the required number of hours, they would have to withdraw from the College. Only deans and medical officers were allowed to excuse absences.

p. **1952**
The William and Mary Theatre group finished preparations for their production of “Thor, With Angels.” “Thor, With Angels,” a religious play, was the first completely student-run production in College history. The proceeds were to go toward religious emphasis week in the fall of 1952.

p. **1988**
The Office of Residence Life bumped 495 of the 3,009 students who had paid a $100 deposit to be entered into the housing lottery. This was an increase from the previous year when only 380 students were bumped, College officials reported.

p. The large size of the class of 1990 contributed to the high number of students bumped from the lottery.

p. **1985**
Two students assisted Campus and Williamsburg police in following and capturing two armed robbers. Two men participated in an armed robbery at the corner of Cary Street and Jamestown Road. They escaped onto new campus where they were soon arrested.

**Dining hall changes go into effect**

p. Previously open until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, the UC will now close at 8 p.m. Dining Services Director Phil DiBenedetto said that, on average, 40 students used the UC Center Court between 8 and 9 p.m. each day, and only 10 used it between the hours of 9 and 10 p.m.

p. To accommodate students who want to eat late, Dining Services will keep the Student Exchange open until 9 p.m. and offer a meal plan option.

p. __By Maxim Lott__

p. **College alum pleads on list to replace Gonzales**

James Comey, ’82, is one of three people deemed “confirmable” by Democratic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer to possibly replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who may be fired for the mishandling of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Comey, who left the Justice Department in 2005, was former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson’s replacement.

p. __By Carl Siegmund__

**186 percent**
The increase in textbook prices since 1986, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. Since 1986 the price of the average consumer good has risen just 72 percent, while the cost of college tuition and fees has gone up 240 percent.

p. **1150**
The average SAT score of Tribe athletes. The score has been increasing over the last few years, according to a Feb. 2006 College athletic report.

p. **23.5 minutes**
The average amount of face-to-face socializing time that a person gives up for one hour of internet use, according to a 2001 Stanford study on the effects of technology on social contact.

p. **91**
The number of times that Sacha Baron Cohen, as Borat, was stopped by police during the filming of his movie, according to online movie database imdb.com.

p. **$300,000**
The cost of renting the country of Liechtenstein for a night, according to the Times of London. The tiny, wealthy country participates in the “Rent a Village” project, which allows corporations to rent it for conventions.

College President Gene Nichol was uninvited to speak at the commencement ceremony at Walsingham Academy, a local high school. According to the Daily Press, the invitation withdrawal was the result of the Wren cross controversy.

p. According to the Virginia Gazette, parents at Walsingham Academy protested Nichol’s invitation and pressured the school to rescind. The situation was further complicated because Nichol’s daughter is a member of the graduating senior class.

p. The Virginia Gazette reported that the school had preferred that Nichol withdraw himself, but that he did not and as a result, the school revoked the request.

p. Nichol addressed the issue in a letter to the editor of the Virginia Gazette March 7.

p. “Months ago, when the Wren cross issue became so controversial, I contacted Walsingham officials and offered to withdraw as commencement speaker. I was informed that, as a matter of principle, my offer would not be accepted. … Last week I was told that the invitation was now being withdrawn. I asked only that it be clearly explained that the school made the decision, not me. Such an explicit commitment was made. It was apparently breached as well,” Nichol wrote.

p. While some were opposed to the president speaking at Walsingham’s graduation ceremony, others thought it wrong to revoke his invitation.

p. “I don’t have a problem with him being the speaker. I think we’ve had a close association with William and Mary and a lot of help from them. … I think the cross issue is overblown. It’s about the students, and I think outside of this issue he is very respected in his role at the university,” Bill Athayde, a parent of three children who have gone through the Walsingham Academy, told the Virginia Gazette.

p. A replacement speaker has not been announced.

Physics professor Henry Krakauer was recently awarded a $500,000 grant to continue his research on piezoelectrics, according to a press release from Joe McClain.

p. “[Piezoelectrics are] materials that convert energy from one form to another,” McClain said. According to the press release, piezoelectrics are considered crucial in both military and civilian applications and their uses range from serving as transducers in naval sonar systems to medical uses and automobile parts.

p. The grant was given by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of Naval Research as part of the government’s multi-million dollar campaign to increase research of equipment. McClain said that the money will be used to buy and install a new computer cluster at the Center for Piezolelectrics by Design. The computer cluster will be used at the CPD to continue studying piezoelectrics and their applications.

p. According to the CPD’s website, www.cpd.wm.edu, it is a multi-institutional center funded by a grant from the Office of Naval Research that conducts “research into the theoretical prediction and experimental realization of new members of a unique class of materials.”

p. Because piezoelectrics have the ability to convert sound energy into electric energy, they are very useful in naval operations.

p. “Some of the immediate technological challenges being tackled at the CPD will result in increasing the performance, effectiveness and longevity of naval electronics,” McClain said.

p. “[Krakauer’s work] has generated more than $7 million in funding over the last five years for the College,” Dennis Manos, the College’s provost for research said.

p. This important research will continue to be influential as the CPD continues to search for better applications for piezoelectrics. “It will increase the CPD’s computing power tenfold,” McClain said.

**President and Vice President**
Zach Pilchen and Valerie Hopkins
Brad Potter and Brett Phillips

p. **Class of 2010**

p. **President**
Ali Snell

p. **Vice President for Advocacy**
Roxanne Lepore

p. **Vice President for Social Affairs**
Alyssa Wallace
Matt Sullivan

p. **Secretary**
Laura Nelson
Robinson “Woody” Woodward

p. **Treasurer**
Andrew Noll
Sonam Shah

p. **Senator**
Ray Ciabattoni
David Cooper
Ryan Eickel
Divya Gongireddy
Sara Guruswamy
Khaleelah Jones
Wes Mabee
Steven Nelson
Sarah Rojas
Orlando Watson

p. **Class of 2009**

p. **President**
Kevin Dua

p. **Vice President for Advocacy**
Kristin Slawter

p. **Vice President for Social Affairs**
Kristen Seay

p. **Secretary**
No Candidates

p. **Treasurer**
Ashley Wheelock

p. **Senator**
Matt Beato
John Constance
Cliff Dunn
Walter McClean
Caroline Mullis
Sean Sheppard
Brian Story
Ellie Thomas

p. **Class of 2008**
President
Nick Faulkner
Daniel Izdiak

p. **Vice President for Advocacy**
Matt Brown
Ashley Slaff
Shariff Tanious

p. **Vice President for Social Affairs**
Patrick Donaldson
Bryan Jones

p. **Secretary**
Ashley Pinney

p. **Treasurer**
No Candidates

p. **Senator**
Will Angley
Gordon Auduong
Devan Barber
Larisa Gervasi
Joe Luppino-Esposito
Thom Silverstein
Matt Skibiak
Tiseme Zegeye

Alyssa and Kris Waldhauser have been married over four years, but they have only lived together for six consecutive months. The couple, who met as students at the College, have both been deployed to Iraq. They say the experience has brought them closer together.

p. The couple graduated from the College in 2002. In an e-mail, Alyssa described herself as “any normal college student.” She performed in a comedy troupe and studied at Arizona’s Biosphere project during her sophomore year. Kris was a focused member of the college’s ROTC program where they met as members.

p. At the end of 2002, only months after graduating, it became apparent that Kris would be sent to Iraq. The couple married in Dec. 2002 in a ceremony officiated by a Justice of the Peace.

p. “Since I was getting close to completing my training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, we wanted to make sure we were legally married before I could get sent off to war,” Kris said.

p. Due to complications with troop deployment, Kris was not deployed to Iraq until March 2004. He then served as a platoon leader in the neighborhood of Alamel in Southwest Baghdad. The couple remained in contact through e-mail and infrequent phone calls.

p. While Kris served in Southern Baghdad, Alyssa spent her time in Iraq’s Al Anbar province. As a pilot and leader for Medical Evacuation, she assisted in carrying wounded Marines. During her experiences as a MEDEVAC pilot, Alyssa described seeing, “the worst of the worst.” She did not comment on any particular experiences.

p. Time spent anxiously worrying about each other did not tear their relationship apart. According to Alyssa, time spent in the military shaped their marriage. In the two years they were deployed in Iraq, Alyssa estimates that they “probably fought a total of four times.”

p. “When you are serving in a hostile nation at the same time as the person you love more than anything else in the world, and you know that every phone call or e-mail may be your last, you don’t have time to fight about the insignificant things,” Alyssa said.

p. In the past two years, both Kris and Alyssa have served two tours of duty in Iraq. Some of their service time overlapped, but one partner was often left at home. These periods created an understandable distance between them.

p. “Simply put, it is very easy to misunderstand and miscommunicate in that situation,” Kris said.

p. The couple has recently relocated outside of Fort Rucker, Alabama where Alyssa will be stationed. Kris currently works with the Alabama Army National Guard. Looking back on time spent in Iraq, the couple expressed mixed feelings about the war.

p. “I think the war on terror is real and should be pursued. How should it be pursued? Honestly, I don’t really know anymore,” Kris said.

p. Both expressed disagreement with a characterization of the war as “the spearhead of the war on terror.” While the motive behind the Iraq war might not have always seemed clear to the couple, they remain proud of their service.

p. “The Army and the Army experience has made us a force to be reckoned with. We are now more tenacious, belligerent and indestructible than we ever were before.” Alyssa said.

The William and Mary Committee on Religion at a Public University convened Wednesday, March 21, at 1 p.m. in Blow Memorial Hall. The Subcommittee on Speakers opened the meeting and announced Erwin Chemerinsky, Duke University Law Professor, as the first in a series of committee-sponsored speakers. At 6 p.m. April 5, he will speak on “Why Church and State Should be Separate” in Millington Hall.

p. Co-chairs Alan Meese, Ball Professor of Law, and James Livingston, Professor Emeritus of Religion, discussed recent meetings between alumni and the committee. They reported on meetings with alumni in Chicago and the Board of the Alumni Association of the College. In February, the committee announced plans to meet with alumni from northern Virginia, Richmond and Chicago. The meeting in Richmond is scheduled for March 26, and the meeting in northern Virginia is scheduled for March 28 at Falls Church High School.

p. “The purpose is to inform alumni about the process the Committee employed before reaching its decision, the exact content of the recommendation and resulting policy promulgated by the President and the Board and the activities of the Committee going forward. We will, of course, be soliciting any feedback they might provide and fielding any questions they might have,” Meese said.

p. “At the meeting with the Board of the William and Mary Alumni Association, we were asked what alternatives we had considered, including whether we had considered as an alternative the policy that existed before the President had issued his new policy in October 2006. As I said at the March 21 meeting, we did not divulge the contents of the Committee’s deliberations,” he said.

p. Meese and Livingston summarized a previous discussion with Louise Kale, director of the historic campus, to determine the exact nature of the cross display. The meeting’s focus then shifted to conferring on such issues as providing alternative spaces for student worship and prayer. Meese spoke on the short and long-term mission of the group. He mentioned goals including coordinating talks for the community, examining the role of religion in a liberal arts college, discussing multi-culturalism and religious diversity and suggesting an essay contest on the role of religion in a public university. Livingston concurred and stated that the committee has an educational role to play.

p. Julie Galambush, associate professor of religious studies, brought up three facets of the group. She discussed the committee’s need to examine broad philosophical issues, such as the separation of church and state, to clean up the controversy generated by Nichol’s original decision about the Wren cross and to provide practical places of worship for students.

p. The next meetings for the William and Mary Committee on Religion at a Public University are scheduled for April 9 and 11.

p. __Sean Dalby contributed to this report.__

The internet can be used for functions beyond illegally downloading music, cyberstalking your classmates via Facebook and playing World of Warcraft in your underwear at 3 a.m.
At least that’s the opinion held by the administration at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have decided to make all courses in their course catalog, amounting to over 18,000 classes, available online for free.

p. According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the project, dubbed the MIT OpenCourseWare initiative, expects to have class material such as lecture notes, syllabi and even video presentations from every class that the school offers online by November of this year. Access is not limited by any sort of cost, and anyone with an internet connection has the ability to tap into the vast curriculum of one of the best universities in the world.

p. “The important distinction to remember is that these courses are not being offered for credit or degrees,” Professor Eugene Roche, head of the Academic Computing Services said in The Daily Pennsylvanian.

p. “What MIT has seen is a large proportion of students enrolled overseas, from places with a less rich academic atmosphere, accessing the site in order to aid their own studies,” he added.

p. The MIT OCW website, ocw.mit.edu, regales viewers with colorful pictures and testimonials of students and “self-learners” from around the world who have utilized the program as a supplement to their own education.

p. The College has no such formal program in place, although professors who wish to post materials online would certainly be able to receive help navigating technological obstacles from the College’s IT department.

p. “A lot of the way that we utilize the internet comes through hybrid classes,” University Registrar Sallie Marchello said. “And, as [most students] have experienced, the Blackboard system is heavily emphasized.”

p. Roche similarly cast this as but one part of a much larger movement regarding education and academics.

p. “This is definitely a step towards furthering the long-term mission of higher education, which is the free sharing of knowledge,” he said.