OCR::/Vol_110/WLURG39_RTP_20070514/WLURG39_RTP_20070514_001.2.txt Digging through W&L’s past Students in one spring term class are spending their afternoonssifting through a site next to Newcomb Hall , that used to be a student dormitory. - Page 2 an Vxtsaais WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY THE RING-TUM PHI. MONDAY,MAY14,2007 BY THE STUDENTS AND FOR THE STUDENTS SINCE 1897 V0!-UMECLNUMBER21 Grisham 3 advice 4- Author urges graduates to aid the weak and poor .1 I 3’ i it '2 By Joel Poelhuis STAFF WRITER Bestselling author John Grisham reminded graduating law students of the social and moral duties the legal profes- sion entails at their commence- ment Saturday morning. “Legal aid is the last line of defense for poor people and those who are weak,” Grisham said. “When that last line of defense is breached we are all diminished.” The graduates entered the ceremony to the strains of bag- pipes as friends and relatives scrambled to take pictures. The air was heavy with humidity from the previous night’s storm, and attendees fanned themselves with the programs left on the seats. Law dean Brian Murchi- son introduced Grisham, who practiced law in a small Mis- sissippi town before writing best-selling legal thrillers such as The Pelican Brief, The Firm, and The Brethren. Rather than drawing on ma- terial from his books, Grisham emphasized the real-life prob- gas after commencement, said Grisham spoke about real problems. “What I liked best was how he didn’t just say to be a good person,” said Castleman. “He gave examples of things to do.” Adam Hull, President of the Student Bar Association, described the speech as a kind of “call to arms” for those pur- suing the legal profession. Hull said that Class of 2007 President Allison Langston and Vice President Becca Staf- ford started working early to get a good speaker this year. Langston said the process began with an email sent out to the student body asking for suggestions about the speak- er. Grisham’s name just kept coming up. “He was definitely our number one choice,” Langston . said. - A group consisting of Langston, Stafford, Murchi- son, and Dean Sidney Evans wrote a letter asking Grisham to speak at commencement. “Legal aid is the last line of defense for poor people and those who are weak, ” Grisham said. “When that last line of de- fense is breached we are all diminished ” JOHN GRISHAM, bestselling author C lems facing many in the legal system today. He spoke of the poor, the homeless, and the wrongfully convicted. He spoke of public service legal projects that are “underfunded, understaffed, and incredibly in need of young people to volunteer.” To illustrate his point, Grisham told the story of a homeless man named Cleve- land who was stuck in a kind of legal limbo. His lawyer, who took his case pro bono, tried to wade through the bu- reaucracy to settle Cleveland’s claim. The advocate requested some documents and was get- ting nowhere withthe claim until he mentioned that he was a lawyer. Suddenly, the bu- reaucracy fimctioned without problem. “When used properly, your license to practice law is a powerful tool,” Grisham said. Grisham went on to speak about his own pro bono work. He recalled that many of it wasn’t intended as community service at first, but impover- ished clients could not pay. “Looking back, those are the cases I remember,” Grisham claimed. “Those are the moments in my career that I truly felt needed.” Charles Castleman, who plans to practice in Las Ve- Langston emphasized the role the deans and Stafford played in helping with the pro- cess. Grisham almost wasn’t the commencement speaker, ac- cording to Langston. After a long period with no response, , they were about to move on to the second choice speaker when they received a letter from Grisham. Langston was overjoyed. “The threads of integ- rity and justice [in Grisham’s work] match'up with what Washington and Lee is all about,” Langston said. She also saw common themes between Grisham’s commencement speech and recent projects at the law school. The law school recently started doing _casework for the Innocence Project, which Grisham mentioned several times in his speech. The In- nocence Project is a non-profit organization devoted to free- ing the wrongfully convicted. Langston says her own ex- periences and Grisham’s nov- els have helped her realize the power and responsibility that can be a part of the legal pro- fession. , “You can turn it around for someone who otherwise wouldn’t get help.” LENORA NUNNLEY / Staff Photographer Author John Grisham, who practiced law in a small Mississippi town before becom- ing a famous author of legal thrillers, spoke Saturday to the Law school's Class of 2007 in front of Lee Chapel (above). Before he retired from law to focus on his writing, Grisham 3 specialized in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. He has published 18 novels since his first book was published in 1988, and nine of those books have been adapted and made into movies. Members of the law class of 2007 gather on the lawn in front of family and friends to receive their diplomas (left). OCR::/Vol_110/WLURG39_RTP_20070514/WLURG39_RTP_20070514_002.2.txt -xaa~:=H'«s::a‘? ’ W33‘ :- ' THE RING-TUM PHI MONDAY, MAY 14,2007 spring dig loo By Dane Davls and Grace Wang STAFF WRITERS Relics of Washington and Lee’s long-standing history are currently being unearthed by students of An- thropology 377, Field Techniques in Archaeology, right outside of New- comb Hall. Led by Professors Ber- nard Means and Laura Galke, students have discovered exciting artifacts that illuminate early W&L’s students’ day- to-day lives. “Our first and primary objective of the dig is to teach students the entire process of archaeological excavation, from working in the field, through processing of artifacts, to producing a report on their wor ,” said Means, a Visiting Assistant Professor of An- thropology. The class is investigating one of the first structures built on the Hill af- ter Liberty Hall Academy, a precursor of W&L located near the current soc- cer fields, burned in 1803. Two academic buildings, Graham and Union Halls, were built on either side of what is now Robinson and Payne Halls on the Colonnade, and were eventually replaced by two brick dormitories. Today, Tucker and New- comb Halls stand in these locations. In excavating this site outside of Newcomb Hall, both faculty and stu- dents hope to shed light on past stu- dent life. 4 “As part of our research, we are trying to locate exactly where Union Hall was and we are looking espe- cially for artifacts associated with student life -- since student life is not mentioned in detail in official campus records,” explained Means. The anthropology class has been digging Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during spring term, and has just finished its third week. Artifacts found during the week are processed on Thursdays and Fri- days in the Anthropology Laboratory, which is located on the back campus. In addition, the class has engaged in lectures led by experts in the field, such as Eliot Balazs, a general con- struction contractor, Lisa Young, a specialist in archaeological conser- vation, and Dr. Michael Gregory, a W&L alumnus. This collaborative effort between faculty and students began in 2005 and has continued this year. Means said, “We first dug here in 2005 and returned in 2007, since much of the area was actually un- touched, even though our dig has a big footprint!” Students play a major role in the excavation, incorporating both in- formation they have learned in their classroom lectures and hands-on ex- perience. Students were surprised to dis- cover animal bones, ceramic rem- nants, glass, as well as an abundance of bricks. The animal bones and ceramics were particularly interesting to the students because it was thought that cooking within student dorms was prohibited. Galke, W&L’s Staff Archaeologist and co-instructor of the class, said, “This was a little unexpected, since Lexington had dining establislnnents and the college provided a ‘Steward’s House’ or dining hall.” Also fascinating to the researchers was the presence of a pile of bricks arranged in a diagonal line. This ar- rangement of bricks challenged pre- vious thought about the location of Union Hall. Means believes this was the most challenging aspect of the excavation thus far. . He said, “The foundations we are looking for are not quite where we expected them based on historical re- cords, but we do seem to be finding them now. We also may have found the base of a chimney used to heat the dormitory.” Galke also believes the diversity of majors and undergraduate levels in the class has been a challenge, but she that she has learned to streamline how she teaches archaeology to students. Despite this, Means and Galke have immensely enjoyed the opportu- nity to work with their students. Means said, “Student response has been great. I think at least one more student has decided to declare an An- thropology/Archaeology degree than we started with, and several want to take more Anthropology classes in the future.” In addition, one of the dig students, Elisa Turner, has obtained a Robert E. Lee Grant with the help of Means, en- abling her to build a website based on this year’s spring dig. Galke said, “I most enjoy the pro- cess of discovering new aspects of the University’s history alongside the students. Together, we are excavating an actual archaeological site that has proven to contain information about the daily lives of the students who went here during the 1800s that was previously unknown. None of us re- ally know what the next bucket full of soil will reveal.” ' Excited by the prospect of unearth- ing the lives of W&L students from another era, current students have ex- hibited similar enthusiasm. Edward Rider, a junior, said, “I took the class because I heard great things about it. Plus, it’s outside!” When asked about what she will take home from this class, both Brea Phillips and Turner, Archaeology/An- thropology majors, believe this class holds practical applications for their future careers. Phillips said, “I’ve learned how to excavate and work in labs, which will be helpful after school.” Turner believes the field work has been a good reality check. She said, “I am pretty sure I want to practice ar- chaeology in some capacity in my fu- ture career, so it’s very interesting to be excavating for the first time. There is a lot more technical work involved than I think most people realize goes into it. . .it’s also a very fun spring term class.” MICHAEL KEENAN / SPORTS EDIT Students in Anthropology 377 uncover artifacts that may illuminate the past lives of W&L students. The dig is taking place next to Newcomb Hall, which now stands on the slte of Union Hall and an old student dormitory that was torn down to make way for the current building. The dig'has un- covered ceramlcs, glass, bricks and even animal bones. OCR::/Vol_110/WLURG39_RTP_20070514/WLURG39_RTP_20070514_003.2.txt IIIIIIIIIIIIS MONDAY, MAY 14, 2007 THE RING-TUM PHI -3 Reevaluate political labels Even pro—life makes no sense. No sane person is against life. By Abel Delgado COLU M N I ST Nicolas Sarkozy won the French - election by promising sweeping, al- most radical changes to the French economy and way of life. They call him a “conservative.” What exactly is he trying to conserve? Political labels “liberal” and “con- servative" are far from useful in the new world of politics and downright misleading. We use them because they’re easy. Labels portray certain im- ages, and we seem not to care whether or not those images are wrong. When the term liberal first arose, it was used to describe people who want- ed more freedom and for government to have as little power as possible. But now that sounds like what a traditional conservative would want. What those on the “right” would label a “tax-and-spend liberal” is actu- ally closer to a socialist than an actual “liberal.” Europe actually has us beat on this; socialists there aren’t afraid to describe themselves as such instead of using vague terms like “the left” or in- accurate ones like “liberal.” Another word for what we’d call a “liberal” today is what should be called a “progressive,” which would be the opposite of a “conservative,” who would want things to stay as they are. But “progressive” is rarely used because you can find many people in both major political parties who would fall under that label, so it gets too com- plicated for pundits to understand and explain. Going back to “the right” and label- ing, why are those who favor outlaw- ing abortion automatically put into the category of “the right?” The left-right spectrum of labeling is supposed to be based on economic principals, not when you think life ends and begin. Religious beliefs should have little ef- fect on economic ones. If people are religious wouldn’t you expect them to favor economic programs that help the poor? Not in this country. If there are any labels we need to retire, they are the “pro-life“ and “pro- choiee” labels. No sane person is actu- ally against life, they just have a dif- ferent idea of what life means. Nor is any reasonable person against women “choosing"; they just don‘t think that certain things are up to choice. Using either of these labels to describe your- selfirnplies that those who believe dif- ferently than you are against what you are “pro.” That. as has been proven time again, leads to absolutely no pos- sible resolution. The “neo-con” is my favorite mis- nomer. l have no idea how radically new thinking individuals can be con- sidered “conservative" just because their economic views are almost to the right of Adam Smith. These people want to completely change the world, for better or worse, and yet they’re “conservative.” This would only make sense to the pundits who get paid to talk about politics on TV and radio. Mislabeling is an international trend apparently. People call the Ven- ezuelan government “populist” while it’s pushing the countriy’s workers and students to spend an hour a day study- ing Trotsky. President Chavez for his part calls his socialist ideas a “Bolivar- ian Revolution,” naming it after a rich noble who had nothing to do with so- cialism or the lower class. How about we call a spade a spade and a commu- nist a communist? Politicians should start labeling themselves correctly and demanding they be labeled more accurately. Who knows, maybe that way we could actu- ally know who we are voting for. Professor corrects himself Credits cut from the humanites were incorrectly listed but are still disproportionate I wish to commend staff writer Grace Wang for her comprehensive and bal- anced article on FDR requirements in the revised curriculum, which was pub- lished in the May 7 issue of the Phi. I need, however, to correct informa- tion that I furnished to Ms. Wang for the article. editor In backing up the assertion that the reduction in the number of credits in FDRs was disproportionately large, I stated erroneously that they were to be cut by twelve from the current general- education requirements. The correct number is nine. Required credits in the combined areas of literature, fine arts, history, philosophy, and religion (plus a few courses from other disciplines) will be reduced by six; required credits in Global communication a simulation A.k. a. the global village idiot who doesn ’t know if anything is truly happening Q By Daniel Mesonero Kromand C O L U M N I S T and simulation of human interaction, with titles such as Symbolic Exchange and Death, In the Shadow of the Silent is reproduced in the media and then communicated to individuals as a simulation. us captivated, as Earth is presented in HD and reveals details of places we’ll never be. When you have two articles left in your illustrious career as a spring term Phi writer, you are faced with a choice: what theorist is suitable to deliver the final bang, and - far worse — which ones do you cut out. Should you describe your first love affair with radical theory and German anarchism in the form of Max Stimer, or perhaps choose the power-couple of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, whose main work is titled something as un-American as Hegemony and So- cialist Strategy? lnstead I have chosen something that has a slight chance of resonating with you, my dear reader: the recently deceased Jean Baudrillard. Coming out of the tradition of Emile Durkheim and Georges Bataille, Bau- drillard has written a number of books on the subject of mass communication Majority, and The Gulf War didn't take place. According to Baudrillard the mod- ern society has lost the reciprocal human relation, mainly through the spread of mass communication. Where humans used to relate phys- ically to all aspects of their lives, we have now become individualized and detached. We receive our news completely alone. The mundane world has complete- ly conquered the spectacle and the “sa- cred” and instead replaced them with the non-event. The “sacred” is the events where a group of humans transcend the pro- fane world and perform a ritual, as in religious gatherings. According to Baudrillard these don’t exist anymore as everything MANAGING EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR ARTS&L|FE EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR COPY EDITOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DESIGN EDITOR DESIGNER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS BUSINESS MANAGER DISTRIBUTION MANAGER and Lee community for accountable. Through our the undergraduate school welcomes all letters. We UNIVERSITY COMMO SUBSCRIPTION We don’t truly know if anything is really happening, but are left to the non-events of the news. Baudrillard calls it “the explosion of information, and the implosion of knowledge” because everyday we are bombarded with developing stories on CNN that are empty of meaning. The world becomes hyper-real in the sense that we can see and experi- ence things that are impossible and is described as “obsccne". Everything becomes pornography as we get close-ups and resolutions that are beyond reality. We are per- mitted into societies and situations in which we have nothing invested. I, for example, have experienced a hundred divorces already through movies and all of us first lost our vir- ginity on the screen. Technological fascination keeps Baudrillard got especially in the spot light when he claimed the 9/ 11 attacks were the return of the event, of the “sacred”. This was a singular- ity that suddenly meant something and a complete reversal of the Western Power. Needless to say, Baudrillard wasn’t the most popular man around, for a va- riety of reasons: First of all, his style is excessive and poetic, which doesn’t fit in well with the academics. Second, all of his statement are unbacked and exagger- ated, a strategy on his part. Baudrillard believed that theory is meant to challenge reality, not de- scribe it, for once a theory is generally accepted is disappears and is now a part of contemporary society. Pushing reality to the extreme is the job of the theorist. the social sciences lowered by three. This mistake on my part does not al- ter the fact that the cuts were dispropor- tionate (especially in the humanities) be- cause the total number of credits needed to graduate was cut by only six, and FDR credits account for less than half of the total. In light of the fact that the required “core curriculum” will shrink for members of the incoming class of 2011, I do hope that they and those who follow them will use their electives to broaden their horizons and acquire a di- verse, well rounded education. Sincerely. Richard Bidlack History Department and Russian Area Studies Program —— - Wsssmcros AND LEE Uwwsssm RING -TUM JACOB GEIGER STACEY GRIJALVA SACHA RAAB MICHAEL KEENAN CATHERINE CARLOCK KEVIN CORN DANE DAVIS ABEL DELGADO DANIEL MESONERO‘ KROMAND WES LITTLE JOEL POELHUIS JESS RAMOS GRACE WANG LARA JORDAN DREW SCARANTINO LENORA NUNNLEY DAVID SHUBICK CHARLES PERSONS MISSION STATEMENT: It is the mission of THE RlNG—TUM PHI to accurately, truthfully, and thoroughly report news affecting the Washington students, faculty, parents and alumni. Our goal is to look deeper into news affecting campus life and hold leaders reporting. we aspire to spark discussions that lead to discovering information that prompts change. THE RING-TUM PHI is published Mondays during year. THE RlNG—TUM PHI is a member of The Media Board, which can be reached at mediaboard@wlu.edu. but is otherwise independent.THE RING-TUM PHI reserve the right to edit submissions for content and length. Letters and advertising do not necessarily reflect the opinion of THE RING- newspaper observes current court definitions of libel and obscenity. TUM PHI Staff. This THE RING-TUM PHI NS ROOM. 341 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY LEXINGTON. VIRGINIA 24450 TELEPHONE: (540) 458-4060 FAX: (540) 458-4059 EMAIL: PI-Il@WLU.EDU RATE $45 PHI- Sorting out the Democratic candidates The Democratic Presidential race heats up with eight candidates in the ring, but the big three is popularity is apparent in polls and fundraising contributions ByWes Llttle COLUMNIST *Editor’s note.‘ Wes Little is the political chairman for the 2008 Mock Convention. * With Spring Kickoff coming soon, I would like to give you a clearer picture of what is happen- ing in the Democratic Presidential race our Convention will focus on correctly forecasting. I will be back soon with an analysis of the Republican race, and I appreciate any questions/ comments you might have on my views. These past few weeks have been busy ones in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The diverse group of seven Democratic contenders has been traveling across the nation to raise funds and build support for their candidacies. These efforts are being reflect- ed by the many changes we have seen in each candidates stand- ings in the polls and the amount of money they were able to raise in the first quarter of this year. These two pieces of informa- tion have given us new insight into the current status of the Dem- ocratic race. Using these statistics and gaug- ing each candidate's independent momentum in the important states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the “stand- ings” of the Democratic race be- come clearer. l. Sen. Hillary Clinton The former First Lady and cur- rent senator from New York pos- Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards lead in the big three while others try to thrust themselves into the Democratic presidential spotlight. sesses several huge advantages in this race: an experienced team of loyal advisors, a huge and dedi- cated fund-raising base, and the support of one of the most popu- lar Democrats alive, her husband. Clinton is currently leading most national polls with about 34 percent and led all Democratic candidates by raising $26 million in the first quarter of this year. 2. Sen. Barack Obama What this young Illinois sena- tor lacks in experience and cam- paign infrastructure is far exceed- ed by his phenomenal speaking gifts, personal dynamism and ability to connect with voters across the political and economic spectrum. He proved his draw from di- verse people with his surprisingly large $25 million fund-raising haul in the first quarter of this year from an incredible 83,000 contributors. Obama is presently polling slightly behind Clinton nation- ally, with about a 28 percent share of the Democratic electorate. 3. Sen. John Edwards Rounding out the “big three” candidates, Edwards has succeed- ed in gaining the support of many Democrats through his populist message, which will likely play well in Iowa, a state where many polls find him ahead of the com- petition. Edwards’ popularity is evi- denced by his healthy poll num- bers in the low teens and his successful efforts in raising $14 million this quarter. 4. Gov. Bill Richardson The former ambassador to the UN. and current governor of New Mexico has the best resume in the race and needs to perform well in the upcoming debates in order to move into the “first tier” and increase his chances of be- coming the nation’s first Hispanic president. Despite Gov. Richardson’s struggles to find any traction in national polls (usually receiving only 2-4 percent), he led the “sec- ond tier” in fund-raising with $6 million and is seen as the stron- gest challenger to Clinton, Obama and Edwards. 5. Sen. Joe Biden If this veteran senator from Delaware can avoid his seem- ingly constant gaffes and political missteps, his extensive national security credentials might gain him attention in this race. However, Biden raised a rath- er unimpressive $3 million and usually manages only 1 percent in polls. 6. Sen. Chris Dodd This Connecticut senator des- perately needs a string of good press or strong fund-raising to keep his campaign from becom- ing irrelevant. While Dodd raised a respect- able $4 million, he is virtually unknown to the American people and will most likely stay that way. 7 & 8. Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Sen. Mike Grave Both this liberal Ohio repre- sentative and former Alaska sena- tor have already become irrel- evant and both failed to raise any significant amount of campaign cash. W9.d"°9§a!; Republicans/Young e crate Debate, 6, am: 7:30 PM f ’ Thursday, May re fiatlssaes Panet, eel‘: ’ mom, i "hy’a"¢a -in — h,f1reef9odjan£f__m cj Redjsquares. ' I Saturday, Pavlllcm, 8:00-EMF. OCR::/Vol_110/WLURG39_RTP_20070514/WLURG39_RTP_20070514_004.2.txt MONDAY, MAY 14, 2007 THE RING-TUM PHI ° 4 arts&|ife LENORA NUNNLEY/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Chlldren gather around a clown making balloons on Canaan Green during Saturday's Puppet Festlval Fundraiser for Woods Creek Montessori School (above). A boy carries a paper plate anlmal mask from the arts and crafts table of the festival past puppet booths on the Canaan Green (right). Student volunteers excite the montessori school children with afternoon puppet festival By Jess Ramos STAFF WRITER Colorful puppets and chil- dren’s smiles shone bright at the Children’s Puppet Festival held at Washington and Lee University last Saturday. Woods Creek Montessori sponsored the puppet festival as a fundraiser and part of its ongoing 15“‘ anniversary celebration. Following Dr. Maria Montes- sori’s philosophy, Woods Creek Montessori seeks to recognize and respect the human personal- ity in each child. Since 1992, the Montessori school has provided an alterna- tive source of early education for Rockbridge-area children. The festival featured a range of activities for children between the ages of two and eight, from making their own puppets to face painting. Brightly colored tents and bal- loons amidst ch.i1dren’s laughter on Cannan Green created a fun and whimsical atmosphere for the participants. Stackhouse Theater became an African jungle for the aflemoon when Barefoot Puppets, a Rich- mond-based puppet company, performed adaptations of West- African folktales. Children and parents enjoyed puppet performances of two Ashanti folktales, “Tug-of-War” and “A Story, A Story.” Using humorous puns and rod puppets, Barefoot Puppets entertained the audience members. The first performance, “Tug- of-War,” is about a hippopota- mus and an elephant engaged in a battle of wits. “A Story, A Story” follows the spider Anansi as he obtained a box of stories from the Sky-God. motional video for the school, intended for potential applicants. “It’s a good connection too——a lot of the students do work with us,” said Sullivan. Recently, on Nabors’ Spring Service Day, members of the Na- bors Service League made pup- pets that were used in the festi- val. In addition to hosting the festi- val, W&L students helped coordi- “Its been exciting. All the kids have been interesting. Its for a good cause. ” GOZI EGBUONU, Class of 2010 Though the festival was origi- nally for young children, plenty of W&L students who are young at heart came out as well. Jessica Sullivan, Woods Creek Montessori Administrative Assis- tant, was greatful for W&L’s in—. volvement in the Children’s Pup- pet Festival. “It’s so great to have [W&L] students helping out.” Sullivan highlighted W&L’s continuing partnership with Woods Creek Montessori. Ac- cording to Sullivan, many W&L faculty enroll their young chil- dren at the school. Also, W&L journalism stu- dents previously created a pro- nate outdoor craft and facepaint- ing stations and then helped clean up afterwards. Freshman Gozi Egbuonu oper- ated the face painting station. “lt’s been exciting,” she said. “All the kids have been interesting.” Woods Creek Montessori con- tacted her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, about volunteering, and Egbuonu decided to volunteer. “It’s for a good cause,” she said. The Children’s Puppet Fes- tival was a success, according to Sullivan and Egbuonu. “lt’s a good way to raise money—it lets the kids have fun while helping the school,” said Egbuonu. THE LEXINGTON ART GALLERY is now showing fine art and fine crafts including one of a kind hand made jewelry, ceramics, and glass z as well as our outstanding collection of national and local photographers. 13 West Nelson (across from the movie theater) Lexington Va 24450 Hours: Tues. - Sat 11AM to 5PM. Special Friday and Saturday hours 11AM to 0 ,7PM. 540-464-9559 web site: lexingtonartgalleiy. com OCR::/Vol_110/WLURG39_RTP_20070514/WLURG39_RTP_20070514_005.2.txt l 5 0 THE RING-TUM PHI MONDAY, MAY 14, 2007 snorts Women’s Tennis three wins from title Continued from page 6 If the Generals defeat Middlebury on Tuesday, they will take on the winner of the Pomona-Pitzer/Williams quarterfinal. W&L faced both schools at the Fab Five Tournament in San Antonio earlier in the season, but with drastically different results. After defeating Pomona- Pitzer 8-0 on the first day of the tournament, the Generals suffered their only defeat of the season to the Ephs of Williams, 5-4. Last season, the Generals defeated Williams 5-0 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. Of the teams on the other side of the bracket that the Generals could face in the finals, W&L has played half. The Generals defeated Denison 8-1 at home early in the season and won on the road against Sewanee 6-3 in the middle of April. The Generals did not play Amherst or Gus- tavus Adolphus this season. Perennial rival, Emory University, lost in the third round to Sewanee, and No. l DePauw lost to Denison, also in the third round. If the Generals are able to win three more matches, they would join the 1988 men’s tennis team as just the second W&L team to bring home a national title. Want to bufld The Phi will not 7 publish next week so your resume ' that several editors may travel for family commitments. We will return on Mon- day, May 28 for our final issue of the year. Look for full coverage of the Mock Conven- tion Klckoff and how W&L athletes faired at nationals. The Phi is looking for a new Distri- bution Manager. Contact Charles Persons at person- sc@wlu.edu or call 540.458.4060 ATTENTION SENIORS! Caps and Gowns Distribution May 21 — June l (M-F) 9 am — l2pm, 1:30 pm — 4 pm Commons 320 Senior Exit Survey! You must complete this online survey (takes less than 3 minutes) before you come to pick up your cap and gown. Stay tuned for more information in your e-mail! WASXHIINGTON AN!) LEE UNIVERSITY CAREER@SERVICES careers(a)wlu.edu 458-8595 http://careers.wlu.edu By Michael Keenan SPORTS EDITOR Sophomore Stacy Doombos won the May Day Multi Hep- tathlon held at VMI and im- proved her national qualifying score this weekend. In just her third heptathlon ever, Doombos scored 4448 points, which, pending other re- sults from the weekend, would be the eighth-highest Division ,III score this year; “Coach Hoey and I talked about me doing the Hep[tathlon] last year, but since there were a lot of events I had to learn, we just didn’t really have time‘ to practice all of them,” Doombos By Michael Keenan sPoRTs EDITOR After just missing winning the ODAC Championship, the men’s golf team still held out hope that they would receive an at-large bid to the national tournament. When the selec- tions were released on May 7, the team was left on the outside looking in. However, junior Na- thaniel James was one of five players selected as an individual to compete at the tournament. In order to determine the field, the selection committee first determines which teams will compete. Twenty-four teams of the 35 team field are automatically chosen based on winning a conference champi- onship. The next eight spots are _ reserved for teams that are either true independents or playing in a said. “This year we started earlier with new events like the 100 hur- dles, javelin, and the shot. Since I have always done so many dif- ferent events, I always thought it would be fun to try.” In addition to improving in every event from her decathlon at Liberty, Doornbos set heptath- lon personal records in all four of the first day events. She ran the 100m hurdles in 16.24 seconds, cleared 5’1” in the high jump, threw the shot put just over 31 feet, and finished the 200m dash in 26.17 seconds. On day two, Doombos long jumped over 17 feet and threw the javelin over 84 feet, which conference that does not receive automatic bid. That leaves only three spots for teams who did not win their conference title. This year those spots were taken by Oglethorpe, McMurray, and Il- linois Wesleyan. Only after completing the selection of the teams does the committee look at individual players. “The selection process for Nationals is pretty complicated as far as I can tell,” said James. “They chose the best five in- dividuals whose teams had not been chosen. I think they look primarily at scoring average and head to head records against oth- er players.” Joining James as an indi- vidual will be ODAC rival Bob Boykin of Hampden-Sydney. ' The national tournament is different because there is a gave her a chance to jump up the national performance list if she could run a fast 800. Several teammates came out to cheer her on as she ran the 800m in 2:22.22. “I really am enjoying all of the events and don’t really have a least favorite,” said Doombos. “I am really enjoying the 800, 100 hurdles, shot put, and jave- lin, since they are all new events for me, so each time I am getting more experienced and better at them. Then the long jump, high jump, and 200 are events I have always done, so I really enjoy those as well.” Though the oflicial selections will not be announced until Sun- much larger field than any of the regular season events. With 180 players, the event is about twice the size of the average regular season tournament. Even though the tournament is similar in for- mat to the regular season because it uses four rounds of stroke play, there is a out after round two which reduces the field to the top 17 teams and five individuals. “There is a little more pres- sure associated with a touma- ment of this size,” said James. “However, for me anyway, most of the pressure comes during the regular season as we are trying to make it to the NCAAS. Now that I’m in, I am freed up to just go play.” James also made the national tournament as an individual last season where he was +24 over the four rounds, good enough for 34th. Athletes prepare for trips to NCAA nationals Despite heptathalon inexperience, Doornbos is leaving her mark day, May 20, at 1 p.m, Doom- bos’ score all but guarantees her a spot in the heptathlon field at the National Championships. “My goal at the national meet is to do the best I can do and make sure to be ready to com- pete the day of the meet,” said Doombos. “I would love to be in the top eight and make all-American, but mainly my goal is to bring it the day of the meet, because all the past meets don’t matter when you get there. It is all about how you do that day.” The meet will be held May 24-26 in Titan Stadium at the University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh. James represents W&L at NCAA golf nationals for the second year in a row “I feel much better prepared this year than I did last year,” said James. “I was a little too caught up in the excitement of being at Nationals last year. I'm very excited this year as well, but since I know what it is like to compete in that environment I should be better able to handle the mental side of playing on that stage. I’ve also done well in other large tournaments since last year’s NCAA’s, so that adds some confidence as well. “The first goal is to make the cut,” said James when asked about his goals for the touma- ment. “If I can’t do that, all the other goals aren’t worth much. The main plan, however, is to win. Not quite sure how that goal is going to pan out just yet.” For anyone wishing to follow the tournament,‘there_gwjll be liyej scoring at Golfstatcom. 3mg 2.». Eeaamaz ¥’En.«x!,. 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