Class is in Columnist: Alcohol policy session at endangers students Football Preview the Rec SEE ELY PAGE 5 SEE BACK PAGE SEE REC PAGE 6 The twice-weekly student newspaper of the College of William and Mary — Est. 1911 VOL.98, NO.3 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008 FLATHATNEWS.COM COLLEGE OPENS ITS DOORS Pilchen used Successful alumna SA funds for welcomes Class of 2012 movies, Wawa, during Convocation cigarettes SA Vice President confesses to spending nearly $140 of SA money on self By MILES HILDER burg-area stores including Wawa, Flat Hat News Editor Rite-Aid and McDonald’s. The initial purchase occurred at a movie theater MARAL noori-moghaddam — THE FLAT HAT Student Assembly Vice President on April 28. Interim College President Taylor Reveley watches as Convocation speaker Rhian Horgan ’99 addresses the Class of 2012 Friday afternoon. and former president Zach Pilchen ’09 “I had been carrying [the debit admitted last night to making person- card] around,” Pilchen told The Flat Horgan ’99 encourages students to seek out opportunities al purchases amounting to $138.51 at Hat last night. “I literally went to a the end of last semester using a debit movie, pulled my wallet out, and gave By MARIA MOY provider. leagues, all dressed in black dress robes, card connected to an off-campus ac- them the card and then got it back Flat Hat Staff Writer The ceremony lasted a little over half that it was “socially acceptable to remove all count managed by and was like ‘holy shit, that’s the Stu- an hour and included a welcome address their garments … just take it off.” the SA. dent Assembly card.’” The Class of 2012 was welcomed to the given by Provost Geoffrey Feiss, the of- Horgan’s keynote address urged stu- Pilchen came Hopkins remembered Pilchen ad- College of William and Mary during the ficial opening of the academic session by dents to get involved in college life, taking forward concern- mitting the incident and believed that annual Convocation ceremony at the Wren Interim College President Taylor Reveley, full advantage of the College’s resources. ing his involve- it was an isolated occurrence. Building Friday. Horgan’s speech and the presentation of “I can assure you that this community ment with the “He seemed genuinely kind of sur- The Convocation speaker was Rhian the 2008 President’s Awards for Service to will not only shape and support you during missing funds after prised, and he was very lighthearted Horgan ’99, a former student body presi- the Community. your years at the College, but for the many SA President Val- about it … he was like, ‘I can’t believe dent and current vice president with J.P. The 80-degree weather was overwhelm- FILE PHOTo — THE FLAT HAT THE FLAT — FILE PHOTo Pilchen erie Hopkins ’09 I did this, I accidentally bought tick- Morgan, a Fortune 500 financial services ing for some, and Reveley assured his col- See CONVOCATION page 4 confronted him fol- ets to “Harold and Kumar” and I re- lowing an investigation by Hopkins, ally don’t want to run into problems Senators Matt Beato ’09 and Walter with that,’” Hopkins said. “He was McClean ’09, Secretary of Finance like, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to pay it Yael Gilboa ’11 and Senate finance RIAA suits send message, says prof chair Caroline Mullis ’09. Upon re- See PILCHEN page 4 turning from summer break, the tal settlement values the longer a specific group encountered a discrepancy in College ordered to hand over names for lawsuits lawsuit is prolonged. the account’s funds, as well as a miss- ABOUT THE FUND On two occasions last year, the RIAA sent ing statement that contained the pur- The primary off-campus account By ISSHIN TESHIMA from obtaining the names. settlement letters to the College, which the is made up of profits from Student chases in question. Nobody can offer Flat Hat Assoc. News Editor “The College did receive the subpoena school promptly forwarded to the students Assembly activities. The money an explanation as to why the state- to release to the RIAA the names of current whose IP addresses appeared on them. The can be used for special projects and ment was missing. The College of William and Mary recent- and former students who they said illegally College received 12 pre-litigation settlement events. According to SA bylaws, no The purchases, which range from ly complied with a controversial court order downloaded music,” College spokesman letters last year and 13 more this year. more than $750 can be withdrawn just over $3 to $20, took place during from the fund each month. Monthly and handed over the names of as many as Brian Whitson said. “We consulted with the However, this year marked the first oc- a 15-day span beginning April 28 and account activity reports must be 19 students to the Recording Industry As- attorney general’s office and complied with casion in which the school was ordered by ending May 12. submitted to the senate by the sociation of America. The industry group the court order.” the district court to release names. Pilchen acknowledged using secretary of finance at their first plans to sue the students for illegally shar- The RIAA’s settlement notices to Col- Whitson stated that without a court or- funds from the SA’s account to buy monthly meeting. The misappro- ing music online. lege students have been for $5,000 or less, der, the College would not have released items such as movie tickets, ciga- priation of these funds is subject to In June, U.S. District Judge F. Bradford and at least eight students have made settle- the names. He also said that the school rettes and sandwiches. The purchas- Honor Council or Judicial Council Stillman overturned a previous decision ment payments between $3,000 and $5,000. es were made at a variety of Williams- discipline. that had prevented the media trade group However, legal costs will likely drive up to- See RIAA page 4 RESEARCH AT THE COLLEGE VIMS scientist: ocean’s dead zones growing Mascot issue yet By KARA STARR Flat Hat Staff Writer to be addressed Oxygen-depleted dead zones are Reveley: ‘Tribe’ moniker a mascot in itself extending around the coastal regions of oceans — both here in Virginia and By ALEX GUILLÉN mascot,” he said. “It’s just that it around the world — at an alarmingly Flat Hat News Editor doesn’t have any physical manifes- swift rate, according to a recent study tation.” published by Virginia Institute of Ma- Ever since Colonel Ebirt, an Nevertheless, some students rine Science professor Robert Diaz. amorphous green blob wearing and administrators have been dis- VIMS is a graduate school of the Col- a tri-cornered hat, was retired as cussing the next mascot — espe- lege of William and Mary that focuses on the College of William and Mary’s cially after the College’s new logos marine science. It is located approximately unofficial mascot in 2005, the issue were unveiled last year to general 16 miles away from the main campus in of finding a replacement has been dislike. Williamsburg. eclipsed by more urgent issues. In these hypoxic dead zones, aquatic life be- Interim College President Tay- See MASCOT page 3 comes unsustainable, and the unique biodiver- lor Reveley said the reason he sity in each region is destroyed. The study, pub- hesitated to begin the search is lished in the journal Science, found that these dead because “mascots are a very zones have doubled every 10 years since 1960. dangerous subject.” Diaz reported that over 50 percent of U.S. estuaries and “I think that could either bays have reported dead zones; between Williamsburg and Wash- go very well and be a very ington, D.C., 15 separate dead zones have been identified. The sec- entertaining and unifying ond-largest dead zone on earth exists in the northern Gulf of Mexico. thing, or it could turn into a huge Dead zones are caused by nitrogen-rich agricultural runoff, which mess,” he said. “And since we travels through tributary rivers and feed in to the ocean’s coastal region. don’t need any messes right now, The nitrogen causes photosynthetic plankton to grow on the surface of we haven’t gotten started.” the water. The plankton eventually decays and sinks to the bottom of the Reveley said the Tribe it- self is a mascot. See DEAD ZONES page 3 “We actually aren’t mascot-less because we GRAPHIC BY ALEX Guillén — THE FLAT HAT have the concept of the There are 15 dead zones, denoted by black dots, between Williamsburg and Tribe. And that is what Washington, D.C. VIMS Professor Robert Diaz found that some are growing. most people would call a FILE PHOTo — THE FLAT HAT Page 2 Tuesday, September 2, 2008 News Editor Alex Guillén News Editor Miles Hilder NEWS INSIGHT [email protected] BEYOND THE ’BURG This Week in Flat Hat History ‘Stabilitas et Fides’ 1977 25 Campus Center, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 23185 Newsroom (757) 221-3281 —­ ­Advertising Dept. (757) 221-3283 —­Fax (757) 221-3242 The College’s chapter of THE Flat Hat — [email protected] the Students International NEWS — [email protected] V ArieTY — [email protected] Meditation Society sponsored Sports — [email protected] OPINIONS — [email protected] ADVERTiSiNG — [email protected] a special lecture on the Transcendental Meditation Austin Wright, Editor-in-Chief Program given by renowned Jeff Dooley, Managing Editor — Alice Hahn, Executive Editor speaker Maharishi Mahesh Patrick Bisceglia, Business Manager — Brian Mahoney, Online Editor Yogi.