OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_001.2.txt Cast of “ Play it Again, -Sam” ‘ captivates audience in the comedy by Woody Allen ' ARTS & LIFE / page 4 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY THE RING-TUM PHI. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17,2008 BY THE STUDENTS AND FOR THE STUDENTS SINCE 1897 VOLUME GXII, NUMBER 9 China after the Beijing Olympics Panel discusses effects of 2008 Olympics on Chinese infrastructure and liberties By Llzz Dye STAFF wrmzn A panel of students and teachers discussed how China has changed since the Beijing Sum- mer Olympics last Thursday. “What’s Up With Asia?” was led by Chinese history Prof. David Bello and East Asian art Prof. Joan O’Mara. O’Mara was staying in Duanhang last summer with a group of art historians when the torch was scheduled to pass by. When O’Mara tried to leave the building to watch the event, she encountered a lock on the front door and an attendant who told her the group was not allowed to leave. Instead, O’Mara andtlie -rest of the group--~~ were shipped out of town to a hotel three hours away where they viewed the event on television. Despite the positive aspects of her trip, includ- ing lavish Olympic decorations and beautiful art, O’mara’s lasting impression was being locked in- side, for fear that she and other westerners might cause a scene. Bello focused on the stereotypical western views of China and discussed his personal ex- periences in China. Bello has spent about two months each year since 1988 in China learning about their culture and observing the changes in culture, politics, the economy and other aspects of Chinese life. Bello said the 2008 Olympics were positive in that they led to improved infrastructural trans- portation in Beijing, including the construction of many new subway lines, which should decrease the city’s notorious air pollution. With an authoritarian government, China is able to act quickly and efficiently and make rapid decisions, such as transforming Beijing for the Olympics, Bello said. The construction of the Beijing Olympic Stadium, the world’s largest steel structure, was begun in 2005 and finished just three years later. Although the government is authoritarian, it tolerates a much wider range of dissidence than it once did, Bello said. He showed two pictures taken by artist Ai Weiwei. In one, a hand flicks off ‘the White House and in the other is the same gestured directed at Tiananmen Square. The panel demonstrated that China is neither “an absolute dictatorship nor a democracy. China appears to have more lenience towards certain forms of dissidence and more freedom for its peoples, but the government still has a great deal of control and is not hesitant to use it to further its agenda. ADPi arrives Some women concerned, Panhellenic tries to ease woes By Allison Chopin MANAGING EDITOR Sorority recruitment will be a little different this year with the in- stallment of Alpha Delta Pi, Wash- ington and Lee’s newest sorority, but Panhellenic and the Office of Greek Life say there’s no reason to worry. The Panhellenic Council voted unanimously to welcome a sixth ‘ sorority to campus last year, accord- ing to Teri Cugliari, Assistant Direc- tor of Student Activities and Greek Life and the advisor to Panhellenic. She thinks this should be evidence enough that ADPi is a good thing for W&L. There have been murmurs that sorority women are afraid that ADPi will disrupt the current social sys- tem. But Cugliari said this opinion is not the majority. “People in the sorority system view it as a good thing,” she said. “Overall, the attitude is very posi- tive.” She said that upperclassmen women recognize that the new so- rority will allow the sororities to have smaller pledge classes and therefore develop a stronger bond of sisterhood. Many feel that the cur- rent sorority size is too big. She also shared that there does not seem to be an abundance of neg- ative talk about ADPi between cur- rent sorority women and first-years. “We. have a really positive Pan- hellenic community,” she said. ‘‘It is against recruitment regulations to talk badly about any sorority.” And this year, there has been extra sup- port for ADPi and the Greek com- munity. But Cugliari didn’t deny that many are nervous about recruitment this year, particularly first-year stu- dents. “It’s hard to understand some- thing you’ve never been a part of,” she said. And since ADPi is new, no one on campus quite understands it yet. Some first-year women may be concerned that ADPi will create a different experience from the exist- ing sororities. But Cugliari said that ADPi’s new members will enjoy a “sur- prisingly similar experience.” For example, plans are being made to ensure that the members will have a common place to live and meet for chapter meetings, just like the other five sororities. Many first-year women recognize the advantages of becoming part of ADPi’s first’ pledge class at W&L, according to one first-year. “l have heard a lot of girls talking about ADPi and mostly in a posi- tive light,” said this first-year. “They are excited to be able to ‘start’ the new sorority and sort of define it in a way.” Another first-year said, “Most halls recently had a meeting. . .about all the exciting opportunities of be- ing a charter member, and it seems like some girls are starting to con- sider ADPi a very exciting option.” But some are still concerned, par- ticularly if they would rather pledge another group. I “Some girls heard that ADPi will “I have heard a lot of girls talking about ADPi and mostly in a positive light. ” ' First-year female student be able to take a lot more girls than the other srats, so they are afraid of being ‘forced’ into joining,” said one student. “[They are afraid] they won’t get a bid from their first choice because ADPi needs a full pledge class.” It’s true thatADPi will be allowed to have a larger pledge class. Cugli- ari said that the new sorority will be allowed to give bids to up to half of the potential new member class—— this means half of the women going through formal recruitment. But she said that ADPi will not necessarily extend this many bids. She also emphasized that while the existing sororities will have smaller pledge classes, there is not yet a number for how many new members each one will take. This number cannot be determined until the night before Bid Day. “I really want to stress that,” she said. “There are no numbers yet.” Cugliari also explained that ju- niors and seniors wishing to join ADPi will not have to go through formal recruitment in January, but ADPi has chosen not to give these bids until Bid Dayéthe same day first-years and sophomores going through recruitment will receive their bids. Recruiting for a new sorority is obviously difficult since there are no — existing members at W&L. But Cug- liari is pleased with the way ADPi has made a presence on campus dur- ing informal recruitment this term, such as with a recent philanthropy event. Arepresentative of ADPi, Vic- toria Moger, has frequently been on campus. Moger could not be reached for comment this weekend. “They have taken advantage of all the opportunities to inform peo- ple about ADPi,” said Cugliari. The Wild, Wild Web Law school hosts symposium on challenges of free speech in digital age By Queenie Wong STAFF WRITER The unfiltered nature and speed of the Internet has changed how journalists gather news, how law- yers and judges interpret free speech and how politicians conduct their campaigns, a group of law and jour- nalism experts said last week at an annual symposium. The two-day event entitled “The Wild, Wild Web” highlighted the challenges facing free speech in a technology driven era. It was a joint effort by Washington and Lee’s De- partment of Journalism and Mass Communications and the School of Law. “The Internet is inherently differ- ent than all other media that preced- ed it. There is a need to have radical changes in the law in the developing community,” said Erwin Chemerin- sky, dean of the University of Cali- fornia at Irvine Law School. Other speakers included Jeanne Cummings and John Harris of P0- litico.com, Jim Brady of Washing- tonpost.com and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. University faculty also participated in the discussions. Students and faculty began the symposium Friday at the Millhiser Moot Court Room with a mock Su- preme Court exercise led by Dean of the Law School, Rodney Smolla. In the “user generated lecture,” au- “The Internet is inher- ently different... There is a need to have radical I changes in the law. ’ Erwln Chemerinsky, Dean of Law Schol, Univ. of Calif. at Irvine dience members debated and dis- cussed the fate of a make-believe college gossip site called sleazycam- pus.com. Harris, Politico’s editor-in-chief, and Brady, executive editor of Wash- ingtonpost.com, highlighted the challenges journalists face as they try to balance speed and accuracy in a 24-hour news cycle. Chemerinsky noted in his speech that the definition of a journalist has become unclear in recent years with the emergence of blogs. Today any- one can be a journalist, he said. Judge Kozinski also pointed out that the traditional mainstream me- ' dia is being replaced by anonymous bloggers, whose identities are dif- ficult to unveil. Once information reaches the Internet, there is very lit- tle courts can do to contain speech in a viral environment, he said. The so- lution to these problems won’t come from the court or the First Amend- ment, he argued. “May it rest in peace,” said Koz- inski of the First Amendment. Smolla disagreed, arguing that mainstream media outlets are still vulnerable to being sued. “To some degree in terms of ac- countability it’s only the big players that matter anyway,” he said. On Saturday, the focus of the event shifted to political speech on the web in a morning panel discus- sion. Cummings, Politico’s Chief Lob- bying and Money Correspondent, Politics Prof. Bob Strong and Dean Smolla were the panelists. Each raised questions about the future of journalism, politics and law, discuss- ing the media coverage of the 2008 presidential election. “There’s absolutely no question in my mind that this election was in- fluenced by. . .the bias of the media,” said Betsy Gibson, a part-time resi- dent of Lexington. Cummings disagreed with the argument that the media favored Barack Obama. “At a certain level you just got to cover the car wreck in front of you and if it’s not good. . .there’s just not a whole lot you can do about it,” she said, referring to John McCain’s campaign. Brian Richardson, head of the journalism department, moderated the panel discussion. The Donald W. Reynolds Foun- dation, a national philanthropic or- ganization, funded the event with a $50,000 grant. The total cost of the symposium hasn’t been fully calcu- lated yet, said Richardson. OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_002.2.txt metre‘? Y ‘WASMNGTON & LEE utwfiittift uzxmeronve 24450 HQV Z 9 2038. 2 0 THE RING-TUM PHI MONDAY, Conditions in Eastern Europe Speakers highlight political and social issues in the Balkans and Chechnya By Vlctoria Taylor 8 TA F F W RITE R Lectures on Muslim refugees in Poland and political progress in the Balkans offered Washing- ton and Lee students two very different views on current Euro- pean social and political issues this week. Both events were open to the public and were well attended, with both nearly filling their lec- ture classroom venues. Ola Chrzanowska, who ‘. works for the Polish Associa- l tion for Legal Education in the Warsaw and provides legal and psychological aid to ‘Chechen refugees seeking government protection, spoke on Wednes- day about the cultural clash and problems of assimilation for Muslims in Poland. Poland is the home to the largest group of Chechen refu- gees,‘who make up over 90 per- cent of the nation’s total asylum seekers. However, gaining status as a political refugee is difficult as Polish authorities are very strict. Each person must provide evi- dence that they are or were at risk of being persecuted. Those not granted asylum can only stay in Poland for twelve months, so many try starting new lives in other Euro- pean countries. Chechens have a distinct culture that values tradition, re- spect and pride and the Chechen ‘refugees try to maintain their identity. Chrzanowska said that the pride the Chechens have for their homeland cannot be ex- pressed verbally and that they feel that to be Chechen is a type of vocation and a way of life. According to Chrzanowska, many Chechens flee to Europe because they believe that it is impossible to live and raise their families in the divided political . environment in Chechnya. Almost all of the refugees Chrzanowska interviewed plan to return to their homeland once they feel it is safe. Chrzanowska said that Chechen family friends brought her into their lives and intro- duced her to their culture. From there, she saw that there were a lot of problems that “no one had really tried to go into.” “I didn’t plan it,” Chr- zanowska said. “When it. came time to write my thesis, I saw INEENTIVE As a recent college glad, you may be eligible for a. $400 Incentive on any new Toyota of your choice » in addition to other incentives.“ See your Toyota dealer for details +- ta.com for additional offers the opportunity.” Chechnya is located north of Georgia on the southern border of Russia. It declared its inde- pendence from Russia in 1991, causing then Russian president Boris Yeltsin to send in troops. Russia refiised to recognize ership in Chechnya. The current president, Rarnzan Kadyrov, has the support of former Russian President Vladimir Putin. Anna Brodsky, the direc- tor of the Russian Area Studies Program, said that many people are not as aware of the problems “The truth of the matter is that we are very close to it. The American government was not just an impartial observer [in the Second Chechen War]. It took sides. ” Anna Brodsky, professor of Russian Area Studles Chechnya as an independent nation and tried to stop the se- cession in the First Chechen War, which lasted from 1994 to 1996. The Second Chechen War started in 1999 when Russian federal forces tried to reestab- lish control over the area. They were met with a great deal of resistance but the Russians were able to create pro-Russian lead- in Chechnya as they should be. She said that the Clinton admin- istration supported the billions of dollars in loans to Russia that Yeltsin used to wage war on Chechnya and that the United States endorsed the genocidal Second Chechen War, which re- duced the population by nearly half. “It seems that it’s out there but the truth of the matter is that we are very close to it. The American government was not just an impartial observer. It took sides,” she said. Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad, a Norwegian diplomat who is the head of the Organiza- tion for Security and Coopera- tion in Europe, spoke on Thurs- day about what he feels have been positive developments in Serbia and the Balkans after the communist Milosevic presiden- cy ended in October of 2000. The area was devastated in the years leading up to and af- ter the end of Milosevic’s reign, which was characterized by ter- ror campaigns and genocide, re- ferred to as “ethnic cleansing,” to clear non-Serbs from Bosnia. The people worried about rebuilding a positive image. Hospitals had barely enough equipment to function. The un- employment rate was between 40 and 45 percent and“the infla- tion rate was sky high. Urstad seemed optimistic about the current state of Serbia, which he feels is “in the process of normalization,” as it tries to join the European Union. He said that Serbia is recov- ering from the economic dev- astation that it faced during the 90s. The unemployment rate has gone down to 17 percent and the inflation rate is under control plus or minus 10 percent. According to Urstad, Serbia has also captured all but two of the major war criminals from the Milosevic era and is moving more towards capitalism. The country’s main goal is to have a stable government. He also said that the OSCE has been working to reestablish the public trust in the once corrupt law enforce- ment agents by training those who train the police oflicers and by creating a new police acad- emy. Urstad is happy with the progress that has been made, de- spite the complications caused by Serbia’s refusal to acknowl- edge Kosovo as an independent nation, even though it declared its independence from Serbia in February. “All in all I would say that we are seeing huge develop- ments,” Urstad said. ®rovorA moving forward lluyatoyotacom NOVEMBER 17, 2008 OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_003.2.txt ‘y. THE RING-TUM PHI ' 3 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2008 opinions letter to the editor ‘Bookstore’ a fiction Professor Adams thinks the bookstore should have more, you know, books I understand that financial requirements have been imposed upon the W&L “bookstore” by the administration and trustees. Even so for years W&L had a tiny little bookshop squeezed into the old Co-op that managed to have a fine selection of important older books in many fields along with a tempting array of new publica- tions. It then moved to an impressive new space—and promptly entered upon a steady decline of replacing books (go look at what were planned as bookshelves) with clothes, candy, make-up and the like. I long ago gave up on the intellectual embarrassment of this ever sorrier space. Still today I was saddened yet again when, re- alizing I needed a new edition of Dickens’s Great Expectations, I foolishly thought it reasonable to expect a standard Oxford or Penguin paperback of this old standby to be there. Where a few months ago there had been a shelf with Dickens on it—that same shelf was now crammed with shot-glasses and combo corkscrew cigarette lighters. The now even smaller “literature” section with less Dickens and no Pip had been shunted off to the side as a kind of freak show from a quaint past. Here is an important face and symbol of W&L——one we deliberately present to ourselves, to visitors, and to prospective students and their families. Now I understand that I shouldn’t be “shocked, shocked” to see the profit-motive at work. Clearly, from one perspective it’s a good thing for W&L to put money in its pocket by actually selling drug paraphernalia (some- times to underage students) with its logo on it than not to sell books. But I would submit that it’s still something of a disappointment that we no longer even try to promote reading through our university “bookstore.” I also realize that there are many rationalizations and arguments by which one can resist finding any larger symbolism in this sorry parable of how shot glasses ousted Great Expectations at W&L. Indeed we may all choose optimistically to see the glass half full with cash, and avert our eyes from how completely full it is with Southern Comfort. But I do think it fair to discern in this bottom line acumen a symbol of something disturbing and true about the institutional priorities of W&L. We hear a lot these days about leading a national conversation on the liberal arts. One can only hope that as things stand now that never comes true—not that I have any great expectation that it will. Sincerely, Edward Adams Associate Professor of English Not Hillary Please don ’t make her the Secretary of State By Cody Beauchamp OPINIONS EDITOR The best election sketch of the year - hands down - was Tina Fey and Amy Phoeler’s SNL opener where Fey’s Palin meets Phoeler’s Hillary Clinton. The sketch perfectly hit on the frustrations that have to be going through Hillary’s mind every time she sees, thinks about, or hears about President-elect Obama. If only I had wanted it a little more...she mutters. It seems cruel, given how close she came to being this year’s historically important candidate de jour, to attack or deny Senator Clinton anything else. She’s already been denied a pretty enviable spot in history as the first ‘minority President’ of any stripe, and she probably won’t go down in history as the first female President either. She’ll be a footnote somewhere next to Geraldine Ferraro and Jessie Jackson, with an asterisk also putting her somewhere near Laura Bush and Chuck Schumer. Big whoop. So why not - the current Washington rumor mill seems to be thinking - reward the good Senator with an important role in the Obama cabinet? It seems like a graceful way to recognize her importance as a liberal voice of leadership. But it’s a terrible decision. Let’s hope President-elect Obama doesn’t make it. One need look no further than the vetting ‘application’ Obama’s transition team is having nominees for executive branch posi- tions fill out to see why Clinton is a risky pick for the Secretary of State. Google the questionaire online and take a look for yourself. Question No. 8’s a doozy - “Briefly describe the most contro- versial matters you have been involved with during the course of your career.” No. 12 will be living hell for some poor Clinton staffer: “Please identify all speeches you have given...identify any recordings of speeches of which you are aware.” No. 62 is a great one: “Do you know anyone or any organiza- tion, either in the private sector or government service, that might take steps, overtly or covertly, fairly or unfairly, to criticize your nomination, including any news organization?” How many pages in do you think her staff will get before they start summarizing and skimming? That’s the point, really. Simply put - while Clinton has be- come, deservedly so, a very important Senator, she’d be a terrible pick for Obama’s Secretary of State. Picking her would be picking a radioactive candidate. Even with a Democratically controlled Senate, she’s the kind of nomi- nee that would give even the most liberal approvals committee pause. Besides which, if Obama picked Clinton he would be passing over a number of more qualified possible picks in the interests of making a tactless and unnecessary political gesture. That doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. It also doesn’t seem like the kind of political move Obama would make. Let’s all hope he stays true to form and keeps Clinton a senator. Election from abroad Dane Davis tells how London watched Obama ’s win By Dane Davls COLUMNIST Growing up, one of my favorite holidays I came every year during November. I am talking, of course, about the great Ameri- can holiday of Election Day. Going back as» far as I can remember, my mom would take me after school to our local precinct. After getting her ballot, she and I would vote to- gether. She made all of the actual decisions; I merely punched in the chads. Needless to say, it was a bit bittersweet that the first presidential election in which I had a say occurred while I was studying abroad in London. Voting by absentee bal- lot doesn’t even come close to the experi- ence of voting in a voting booth. I wasn’t discouraged though, since being abroad » during a major political election was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I took it upon my- self to do some investigative journalism to see what the world thought of America and its election. Geraldo Rivera, watch out. Whenever I talked with someone who wasn’t an American, the subject would always come up. “What do you think of Baiack Obama?”, “Do you think he can ac- tually win?”, and “Are you excited for the election?” were questions always asked. Sometimes, I didn’t even have «to say any- thing for discussion of the American elec- tion to become the conversation topic. In at least three classes out of four, the profes- sor would reference Barack Obama and the election. In one student’s outline that she passed out to the class, the top of the paper has a small smiley face with the comment “Congrats to Obama!” next to it. The Unit- ed Kingdom, I quickly discovered, had a case of Obamania. Not surprisingly, I never once heard a reference to John McCain. He was “that one,” to borrow his own words, that was running against Obama. On the night of the actual election, the school hosted a viewing party in the com- mons. My friends and I were shocked to discover thousands of students standing to watch CNN. As the early returns trickled in, shouts of praise or jeers of booing accom- panied CNN’s projections of the winner of each state. It was as if the crowd were watching a football game instead of an election. I was further surprised to see that a majority, or at the very least a plurality, of the students there were not Americans. Students from every comer of the world packed together in the cramped common emment, economic system, culture, etc. But what explains this strong passion, posi- tive and negative, the rest of the world has with America? It could be our immense economic, po- litical, cultural, and military power. Every- one watches the lone superpower, since its decisions affect billions. The dollar remains the world currency and English is the‘ de facto language of global politics. American entertainment reaches the radios and tele- visions of people from across the world. I think, however, that it is something more than that. America’s ongoing experiment On the night of the actual election, the school hosted a viewing party in the commons. My friends and I were shocked to discover thousands of students standing to watch CNN. .. room, eyes glued till 4 a.m., eagerly watch- ing the results. With the recent economic crisis, there have been talks of a loss of America’s glob- al leadership. Sitting in the midst of people from all over the globe intently watching in on our elections, I found these claims of a post-American world hard to believe. I couldn’t imagine hundreds of college stu- dents, even at the very political London School of Economics, staying up till mom- ing to see the election results of Germany, Japan, or India. I was amazed to witness first hand how the rest of the world watches the United States. To be certain, not all of the attention on America is positive. Most Europeans are quick to list a series of com- plaints they have with the recent U.S. gov- with democracy is a bold statement to the rest of the world. The United States stands for the simple but profound proposition that men and women can govern themselves without tyrants or monarchs to achieve prosperity, peace, and liberty. The world watches America, to see not only if this declaration is possible but also if America and her citizens can live up to it. Can 300 million persons of diverse interests, beliefs, races, and creeds stay together and remain free? For if so, then there is real hope for the rest of the world. Looking across the pond from London, viewing a invigorating election that drew out millions, I have to say that America continues to be the “last, best hope of earth.” Write for thelPhi s Opinions section! Do you want to be a voice of W&L’s students? is something really getting under your skin? Do you want to get great writing experience? Write what you're passionate about. Write for the Phi! Contact Opinions Editor Cody Beau- champ at beauchampc@wlu.edu or phi@wlu.edu WASHINGTON AND LEE UIWERSITY THE RING-TUM PHI. “Io the Re! [ / DISTRIBUTION MNGR. 111?. Washington Street Local lood Progressive cuisine. Serving dinner Monday through Saturday and Lexingtonls he-st Sunday Brunch. Lunch from IIOO to 2 weekdays Great wines, heers, and cocktails served with lighter lare until ll Thurs.-Sat. Reservations are recommended MANAGING EDITOR NEWS EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR ARTS & LIFE EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR COPY EDITORS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DESIGN EDITOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER BUSINESS MANAGERS MISSION STATEMENT: It is the mission of THE RING-TUM PHI to accurately, truthfully, and thoroughly report news affecting the Washington and Lee community for students, faculty, parents and alumni. Our goal is to look deeper into news affecting campus life and hold leaders accountable. Through our reporting, we aspire to spark discussions that lead to discovering information that prompts change. THE RING-TUM PHI IS PUBLISHED MONDAYS DURING THE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL YEAR. THE RING-TUM PHI IS A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA BOARD, BUT IS OTHERWISE INDEPENDENT. QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT THE PHI SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDITORS AT PHI@WLU.EDU OR TO THE MEDIA BOARD AT MEDIABOARD@WLU.EDU. THE MEDIA BOARD IS AN INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN EDITORIAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE WORKING WITH ALL MEDIA OUTLETS ON THE WASHINGTON & ALL INQUIRIES WILL REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL. THE RING-TUM PHI WELCOMES ALL LETTERS. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT SUBMISSIONS FOR CONTENT AND LENGTH. LETTERS AND ADVERTISING DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINION OF THE RING-TUM PHI STAFF. THIS NEWSPAPER OBSERVES CURRENT COURT DEFINITIONS OF LIBEL AND OBSCENITY. THE RING-TUM PHI UNIVERSITY COMMONS ROOM. 341 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA 24450 TELEPHONE: (540) 458-4060 FAX: (540) 458-4059 EMAIL: PHI@WLU.EDU SUBSCRIPTION RATE $45 LEE CAMPUS. ALLISON CHOPIN JOHN HENDERSON CODY BEAUCHAMP CELEST CRUZ- CARANDANG WILL DORRANCE BRETT HOLTON MICHAEL MORELLA CRIGHTON ALLEN DANE DAVIS RACHEL DENNISTON LIZZ DYE STEPHANIE HARDIMAN WILL MAYS BROOKE SUTHERLAND VALAREE TANG VICTORIA TAYLOR KIMBER WIGGS QUEENIE WONG LARA JORDAN RYAN ELSEY STROCK MOORE CHARLES PERSONS ROB GEORGE OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_004.2.txt 4 0 THE RING-TUM PHI M 0 N DAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2008 arts&|ife Cast makes Woody Allen Proud Allen is “Play it Again, Sam ” tells story of neurotic romance By Kimber Wiggs STAFF WRITER Washington and Lee welcomed “Play It Again, Sam,” a com- edy by Woody Allen, to the Keller stage in the Lenfest Center for the Arts this weekend. Woody Allen’s play follows the misadventures of Allan Felix, a neurotic film critic and Humphrey Bogart enthusiast, who is thrust back into the dating world after his wife leaves him. Uncomfortable wooing woman, Allan asks himself “What would Bogart do?” What follows is a series of comical journeys into Allan’s imagination, in which “Bogey” continually appears to give him dating advice and in which the women he desires fall at his feet. Unfortunately, when Allan emerges from his imagination, the results of Bogey’s advice and his ability to follow it fall far short of the mark. Living in the early 1970s, Allan finds himself unable to use Bogart’s hilariously womanizing techniques to woo the independent women he meets. Allan’s inability to con- nect with blind dates and women from bars leads him to acci- dentally fall in love with the only woman with whom he shares a real friendship: his best friend’s wife, Linda Christie. Though Linda shares Allan’s feelings and they consummate the romance while her husband Dick is away on a business trip, the relationship is ultimately doomed, and the play ends with a parody of the final scene of “Casablanca,” as Allan explains to Linda why she has to get on a plane with her husband instead of staying behind with him. “Play It Again, Sam” came to W&L as part of the senior the- ses of Theater majors Helen Coupe, Matt Harkins and Tabitha King. Directed by Coupe, the show starred Harkins and King in the roles of Allan Felix and Linda Christie, both insecure and unstable neurotics. Also in lead roles were junior Kevin Mannering, who por- trayed Dick, and sophomore Abigail Urquhart, who played Allan’s ex-wife, Nancy. Mannering’s Dick was memorable for being comically businesslike and unlikable for the majority of the show and then intensely sympathetic at the end when he is faced with the possibility of losing his wife. The show also featured an ensemble of supporting char- acters, many of whom were portrayed by actors making their debut on the W&L theater scene. Most notable of these debut performers was senior Ashton Sullivan, who portrayed Allen Felix’s imaginary dating doctor, Humphrey Bogart. Sullivan’s parody of Bogart as a constantly smoking and drinking woman- izer was in perfect contrast to Harkins’s nervous, pill-popping neurotic. Bogart’s movies, particularly “Casablanca,” being the im- petus for the play’s forays into Allan’s imagination, some of the technical aspects of the show took on feel of watching a movie. The play itself began with a giant projector screen play- ing the final scene from “Casablanca” that Allan recreates at the end of the play. As the scene neared its end, the video switched from the huge screen above the stage to the screen of the set’s functional TV, in front of which Harkins’ reclined, watching the film. At the end of the play, the projector returned to scroll the credits. The costuming totally captured the feel of the early 70s, complete with hippies, go-go boots and leisure suits. The set de- sign included a working refrigerator, in addition to the TV, and gave the exact impression of the apartment of a 1970s bachelor: a bachelor who decorated the place himself. Overall, “Play It Again, Sam” offered an enjoyable night at the theater. Several standout roles were particularly well-re- ceived by the audience, including Gozi Egbuonu’s surprisingly conservative sex fiend and Ellie Duvall’s adorable Allan Felix fan whose praises--and lips--ease the sting of losing Linda. The play had the look and feel of the 70s as Harkins and King perfectly captured the essence of neurotic city dwellers, totally dependent on medication and their analysts. In short, the play was exactly the kind of thing Woody Allen would write, and‘ the actors did an effective job of conveying Allen’s vision. I JUNIORS/SENIORS SAVE THE DATE DINING ETIQUE Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 M Co—sponsored by The Ofiice of Multicultural Aflairs and ’WASI*lING'l‘€)N AND ’¥..I*Z.f*:1 UNIV'ERSI'.l‘Y CAjREEReSERVICES Mark Gordon, real—life pirate, speaks in Stackhouse By Valaree Tang STAFF WRITER Mark Gordon, president of Odyssey Ma- rine Exploration, who was invited by the Contact Committee, spoke in the Stackhouse Theater on Thursday regarding the rare in- dustry of treasure hunting through underwa- ter salvages. ' The Contactc Committee Chair Robin Wright selected Gordon to give a presenta- tion because she considered him to be “an example of someone who found a way to make a living while pursuing his passion.” “He’s a living example of what makes America so great.” A pioneer in his industry, Gordon invent- ed his corporation by fusing business and ar- chaeology. His vision began as a childhood dream. “As a small child I became enthralled with the ocean explorations of Jacques Cous- teau and began snorkeling and metal detect- ing at the beach,” said Gordon. The premise of his business model was comprised of the knowledge that billions of dollars lay at the bottom of the ocean, the technology exists to find the treasure and the belief that archaeology and business can co- exist. Gordon considers his passion to be a “quest of discovery” and believes that trea- sure is only one of the many things that his explorations yield in addition to “stories of cultures and people long lost to history.” Students admired Gordon in his innova- tive business endeavors. “He followed his passion. Even though it didn’t seem possible to make a living with it, Mr. Gordon created a career for himself,” said Sarah Warsco, who attended the presentation because she was fascinated with treasure hunting. “I hope that someday, my passion can be my living too.” Gordon also related begin- ning his business to that of the oil industry. His company also follows the same principle of the oil companies: “find, keep, monetize”. Odyssey Marine Exploration also recent- ly discovered a sunken ship codenamed the Black Swan. The finding of the Black Swan yielded 17 tons of treasure that amounted to nearly half a billion dollars. The treasure was “As a small child I became enthralled with. . Jacques Cousteau and began snorkel- ing and metal detecting. ” Mark Gordon, President of Odyssey Marine Exploration found off the coast of Portugal in the Cape of St. Mary. Odyssey Marine Exploration is currently involved in a court battle with Spain in re- gards to the Black Swan. While legal battles do not fit into Gordon’s dream of treasure hunting, Gordon considers them to be part of reality. “Unfortunately in our litigious society anytime there is a lot of money at stake, there always seems to be someone who views this as an easy opportunity to enrich themselves,” said Gordon. Spain’s claim is based upon the concept _ of sovereign immunity. The Black Swan is currently being investigated. It may be a ship called Mercedes that was bringing back goods from South America, which sovereign immunity protects. The ship is predicted to have sunk in the early 1800s. Gordon is confident that Odyssey Marine Exploration will win the case. If won, sover- eign immunity will not apply, and all Spanish ships will be free to others to salvage. Starting Odyssey Marine Exploration also came with unintended business conse- quences. The company acquired a TV deal with Discovery as well as three shipwreck deals. In addition, Odyssey Marine Explora- tion engaged in coin marketing deals. Contact Committee members also found Gordon’s presentation interesting. “I thought Mark Gordon’s presentation was fascinating and reached a variety of academic fields, including history, science and technology, business, economics, and accounting, politics and law.” said Katie Bean. However, Bean wished the more stu- dents had attended in order to experience the unique and far-reaching presentation. Wright considered the event to be a suc- cess. “Anyone interested in business had some- thing to learn from his business model, any- one interested in law was fascinated by his up-and-coming field in deep-water shipwreck recovery and its legal implications, and any- one who simply had a fascination with ship- wrecks and the deep sea got to enjoy hearing from a pioneer in the field,” she said. Bond comes up short “Quantum of Solace ” not as good as “Casino Royale ” By Will Mays smrr wrmsn There are few characters in cinema that have had such longstanding success as one Mr. James Bond, and 2008’s “Quantum of Solace” is sure to be no exception. After 2006’s “Casino Royale,” most Bond fans across the world were relieved and excited to see that the franchise still had fresh life in it and could still compete with all the other action flicks Hollywood was willing to churn out. With “Quantum,” though, viewers won’t necessarily be disappointed, but they might wonder what happened. “Quantum of Solace” is by no means a bad film. It is a potentially flawed film, but there is still much to be enjoyed. As a film, not much is actually wrong with “Quantum,” but as the successor to “Casino Royale,” there leaves much to be desired. The biggest flaw with 007’s newest venture is that it’s almost as if it is a general action film that just so happens to feature a rug- gedly smashing British superspy who goes by James Bond. There are plenty of “Bond moments” throughout the film, but, on the whole, there’s something altogether run of the mill about the film. Daniel Craig is still electrifying, but it’s almost as if the world around him has suddenly gotten a hearty dose of bland, an ironic fact considering di- rector Marc Forester, who’s never directed an action film, has decided to replace Casino Royale’s cool suave with an imminent desire to blow stuff up. “Quantum” focuses on Bond’s desire for revenge after the events of “Casino Royale,” yet this tale of revenge lacks the sophistica- tion and taut energy of direction that made the earlier film so outstanding. It’s almost unfair to compare the two, yet the viewer must. Bond simply doesn’t do much spying in “Quantum,” but he almost gets away with it. If anything, the blame lies with the film- makers. The screenplay lacks much of the polish and pizzazz previously seen in Bond’s last outing, and the direction is plagued by bad pacing and too busy visuals. The new villains lack the menace that has come to be expected, and much of the fight scenes are so hard to follow that they could potentially induce dizziness. Still, “Quantum of Solace” is an enjoy- ‘able film in its own way, but it does lack many of the subtleties and intricacies that helped make Bond’s redefinition and reboot ‘ in “Casino Royale” so exciting. Whereas I “Casino Royale” was almost a cerebral Bond experience, “Quantum” has more explosions than most every film this side of the Michael Bay collection. It will excite and delight, but it will also leave the viewer wanting some- thing more. “Quantum of Solace” is still a better Bond entry than most everything produced since Roger Moore left the role, and it is a solid Bond entry on the whole, but it does having the misfortune of following one of the strongest entries into the canon since the glory days of Sean Connery. Regardless, go see the film, and know that the series still has plenty of life in it. Exhibit inspired by home Dave Anderson is photography reminds him of his hometown By Rachel Denniston STAFF WRITER Photographer Dave Anderson spoke to the Washington and Lee community Wednesday in the Wilson Concert Hall about his exhibi- tion, “Rough Beauty,” now on display in the Staniar Gallery at the Lenfest Center. Rough Beauty is a collection of pho- ' tographs documenting life in the town of Vidor, Texas and will remain on display through Dec. 12. In addition, Anderson has been working with students in the Art De- partment this week as a Visiting Artist. Anderson’s fascination with Vldor origi- nated from its reputation as a “Klan Town.” Anderson tries to help Vidor shake this out- dated reputation in which he refers to as its, “scarlet letter” and finally create a new iden- tity for itself. In Rough Beauty, Anderson captures the subtle beauty of Vidor through what has been described as “haunting yet powerful images.” , Most of the photographs in “Rough Beauty” are portraits of the people who live in Vidor. As Anderson clicks through his slides of photographs, he recalls stories about many if not all of the subjects including “Little Miss BBQ” and the “Red Neck Brady Bunch.” Anderson says he has developed many valu- able relationships with the people in Vidor. There is a “sense of rock solid dependability in people I got to know there,” he said. De- pendability, Anderson said, “is something I aspire to with the people in my life.” Ever since Anderson left home for board- ing school in ninth grade, he has deeply iden- tified with the place he calls home, a place in which he hasn’t lived in 25 years. From this experience, Anderson became interested in places with a strong identity and “Rough Beauty,” he said, “is about such a place.” Before becoming a photographer, Ander- son worked for the Clinton administration in the communications and media depart- ment, MTV’s “Choose or Lose”'bus and an independent movie studio called Madstone. Anderson says he has always had interest in photography but it was not until he was in- spired by the work of another photographer, Keith Carter, that Anderson began to pursue it as a career. Anderson’s work is largely influenced by the Andrew Smith Gallery in Santa Fe, photographer Fazal Sheikh and his teacher, Michael Kenna. Anderson and “Rough Beauty” have received widespread acclaim. “Rough Beauty” is winner of the Santa Fe Center for Photography 2005 project competition and has been profiled on National Public Radio. He has been recognized as “one of the shoot- ing stars of the American photo scene” by Germany’s fotoMAGAZIN and named on the “PDN 30,” a list of 30 emerging pho- tographers as the “ones to watch,” by Photo District News. Anderson’s work has been featured in Esquire, Stern, ESPN, Photo District News, British Journal of Photography, B&W and the New York Sun. In addition, his work is in the collections of various museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Art Museum of Southeast Texas,Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, George Eastman House and Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. Treasure hunter at W&L * O: OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_005.2.txt 0 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY STORE “fit ANNUAL THANK YOU ’@* HOLIDAY SALE In time for that special holiday gift! 9 DAYS Friday Saturday Sunday Monday-Friday Saturday Dec. 5”‘ Dec. 6”‘ Dec. 7”‘ Dec. 8”‘ — 12”‘ Dec. 13th 8 a.m. — 7 p.m. 10 a.m. - 5 pm. 10 a.m. — 5 p.m. 8 a.m. — 7 p.m. . 10 a.m. — 5 p.m. All Dolo 0 “"9” Wm. 104 OFF “:§::i;:.‘::” ENTIRE 5 TORE 0" V (except textbooks, sundries, some technology, and selected items) 50% - 75% OFF SPECIALLY SELECTED ITEMS Free gift Wrapping.’ Sale applies only to purchases in the Store WAHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY S TORE Q) UNDERGRADUATE & LAW STUDENTS DO YOU WANT CASH FOR THE HOLIDAYS? A Fz'm'5/yea’ exam? Before /yeczdzhg /907776, Bring your book: io #96 UN] VFRSI TY S TORE/ CASH for your books! (up to 50% of Value of book) help your schoolprovide more used, lower priced books for the next term! Buyback will be going on for 15 days in the Common’s atrium! Starting Thursday,_ December 4"“, ending Friday, December 19”‘ (buying will occur also on Saturdays and on Sunday, December 7) 9:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m. during Week 10:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7 OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_006.2.txt » I .32: Q x;‘1.b.'x . » mmrjnu 2pm TIIIIRSIIAY me 18? re Igms lmlging, “mice Bays at i kets, v at Arrival Eiclets ~ $I35uer person m *Basedon six guests in a three-bedroom condo. Ratedoes not include reservationprocessing fee artax OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_007.2.txt THE R|N'G-TUM PHI 7 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2008 sports W&L Volleyball ends season Lady Generals swept by Mount Saint Joseph in first round of regionals By Stephanle Hardlman STAFF WRITER The Washington and Lee volleyball team ended its season on Thursday afternoon after being swept by Mount Saint Joseph in NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regionals. The tournament was hosted by Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio. W&L lost in three straight sets (25-22, 25-18, 25-23). The Generals came into the match 31-6, fresh off of their ODAC Championship win last weekend, their eighth consecutive title, that left them 10-0 in the conference. W&L beat Mount 3-1 (26-24, 20-25, 25-16, 25-16) in their Nov. 1 match-up at Centre College in Danville, Ky. The Lions Head Coach Michele Benoit posted her 400th career win with the victory over W&L Thursday. Mount went on to lose against defending national champions Washington University-St. Louis who was ranked third. Washington then ended its run for a second consecutive title with a loss to Ohio Northern, ranked eighth, on Saturday. Junior outside hitter Rachael Phillips managed 11 kills and nine digs but added six attacking errors. Phillips was named the ODAC Volleyball Player of the Year last Monday. Phillips is just one of three Generals added to the All-Conference Team. She and senior right-side hitter Jessica Ulrich made the team for the second consecutive year. Junior setter Megan Steinhardt was named as an honorable mention selection. Ulrich won the title of tournament MVP at the ODAC Champion- ship Nov. 8. She added seven kills, eight digs and two service aces to the team’s match Thursday. Steinhardt put up 28 assists and 18 digs, a game high. For the first time in four years, senior outside hitter Laura Maurer did not make the All—ODAC Team. Maurer was out of commission most of the season for illness and injury. Against Mount, Maurer chipped in 10 kills and nine digs but also four attacking errors. The Generals team prides itself on playing a difficult non-confer- ence schedule. Throughout the season, they traveled to play Juniata, Christopher Newport, and Emory, all nationally ranked powerhous- es. In 2006, the team advanced to the “Sweet Sixteen” of the NCAA‘ Tournament after beating New York University. The Generals end their season 31-7 overall. The team posted a 13- 0 home record and for the season more than tripled their opponents’ kills and service aces. Head coach Bryan Snyder (’95) completed his ninth season with the Generals. His W&L career record stands at 266-61 (.813) overall and 89-3 (.967) in the ODAC. With only four seniors (Ulrich, Maurer, Alex Scaggs and Kassie Bagley) leaving this year, the team will be left with many experi- enced players. Looking to next year, the Generals will surely be led again by Phillips and Steinhardt. Junior Kristi Stevens and sophomore Jenna Finger can be expect- ed to help out in the setter ’s position. Sophomore middle hitter Lou- ise Brooks will develop as the key player on the net with first-year . Lindsey Dee being worked in as well. Sophomore Marah Schmitz saw a lot of playing time early this year in the outside hitter and libero positions. A talented player with good court awareness, Schmitz will be an asset next season as well to play opposite Phillips. In the back row, junior Kelly Harrison may continue wearing the libero jersey or possibly fill Ulrich’s empty position on the right side. Sophomores Summer Goldberg and Meredith Townsend will add leadership experience along with first-years Megan Daily and Megan Tomlinson. am, it Peatacmat PEDAL (Luz DINER & TIN Toy Cm‘. Order from our complete menu Or Jsizz asfor om: afmrr ALL YOU CAN EA T Buffets.’ Friday Night Seafood Buffet with Crab Legs 5pm~10pm Saturday Night Prime Rib Dinner 5pm~10pm Sunday Baked Chicken, Pork Loin, & ?ot Roast Mam-9pm Friday & Saturday Late Night Breakfast Bar 10pm-2am Breakfast Bar '2' Days a. Week 6am~t tam Daily Hot Country Bar Mam-10pm Daily Soup, Salad, & Fruit Bar Ham-10pm Order Breakfast 24 Hours 3 day, 7 days a Week! Home: Cooked Meals & Soutltern Hospitality.’ Located at 151 llflllfll NM 14%! at I-64, Exit R35, 2:3l6North Lee l-lwyt, lmington, VA 540~463~3478 Exreut food 8: a great reflection of Antique Pedal Cars 6: Tin Toys! RYAN ELSEY / Staff Photographer Junior forward Ben Goetsch dribbles past a Musklngum defender ln W&L’s flrst game of the season. For more on the men's basketball W&L Classic thls weekend, see page 8. Predicting the unpredictable Allen picks Florida and Texas Tech for national championship By Crlghton Allen C 0 L U M N I ST As the college football season enters. its concluding and most important weeks, I’d like to offer my thoughts on what has already‘ transpired and what we can look forward to in the weeks to come. First off, no truly dominant team that stands above all others has emerged this season. Looking at the standings, there are no less than seven teams — Alabama, Tex- as Tech, Florida, USC, Oklahoma, Texas and Penn State — that could lay claim to a right to play in the national championship game. Judging by momentum right now, it appears to me that the two teams that,will battle for the national championship in Mi- ami will be Florida and Texas Tech. The way these two teams score points, coupled with huge bursts of momentum coming from several important victories for both programs lately, leads me to believe that neither of these teams will lose by January. The Florida Gators remain an offensive powerhouse, captivating the college foot- ball nation with how well they have played in the past several weeks. In their six-game winning streak, the Gators have scored 49.5 points per game and beat teams by an aver- age margin of 39 points. The Gators’ offensive triggerman, ju- nior quarterback Tim Tebow, looks com- pletely in control of his coach Urban Mey- er’s spread-option offense and possesses enough weapons around him to make any choice he makes with the football a poten- tial touchdown. He can pass, hand off or run it himself and teams have a devil of a time stopping any of the three. The Red Raiders of Texas Tech are no slouches either. They remain undefeated while playing in what can arguably be called the toughest division in football, the Big 12 South. The offense’s lowest scoring output this season is still a huge 35 points. How absurd! Texas Tech scores points like the guys in “Animal House” partied —— re- lentlessly and with no regard for those on the other side. Graham Harrell, the Red Raiders senior quarterback, puts up stats every game you couldn’t even dream up on Xbox, let alone real life. In his last game against Oklahoma State, a very good team in their own right, Harrell completed 40 of 50 passes for 456 yards and six touchdowns. A These gaudy numbers, though, are just another day at the office for quarterbacks playing under Mike Leach, Texas Tech coach and architect of the offense that puts up points and compiles yards against any- one. However, Red Raiders quarterbacks never get any love; they are labeled as system quarterbacks, unworthy of any seri- ous consideration. That is ridiculous and I want it to change. On that note, gentle readers, the Ring- tum Phi (or at least me) now endorses Gra- ham Harrell for the Heisman Trophy, the award given out annually to the nation’s best football player. Tebow won the honor last year and arguably has a chance to re- peat, but no one i11 America plays as well right now as Harrell. ,No one. If you re- main dissuaded, next weekend, watch Har- rell against the Oklahoma‘Sooners. You will join the ranks of those who believe, included in those are the defensive coordi- nators of every team Texas Tech has played this season, that there is no throw Graham Harrell cannot make. As good as Florida and Texas Tech are, they don’t play much defense. Texas Tech especially, coming out of the Big 12 where defense seems to be optional. Therefore, in the national championship game, look for the Florida Gators to defeat the Texas Tech Red Raiders 38-28. The Gators play in the SEC, the home of the world’s best athletes that don’t practice their craft on Sundays. Speed kills and Texas Tech will find that out the hard way. Other items of note, how bad has Au- burn been this year? Picked by many to win the SEC West, the Tigers have looked anemic for most of the season, struggling to fit into the new spread offense of the much-ballyhooed coordinator Tony Frank- lin. Auburn now stands 5-6 and Franklin stands jobless, fired midway through the season. If the Tigers don’t have a winning record at the end of the season, head coach Tommy Tuberville may be shown the door as well. On a surprising note, the resurgence of the Penn State Nittany Lions has taken many aback. Running their new offense, the Spread HD, the Lions look like they may send their beloved coach Joe Patemo out on a high note as he enters into the twi- light years of his storied coaching career. As every college season always does, this season has produced heartbreaking losses and triumphant victories in equal portion. Every game is played amongst the unique pageantry of college football that no other sport can create. The athletes play for their schools, not dollar signs like they do in the pros. As the season comes to its final stretch, stay tuned for further excitement from this, the best sport in the world. OCR::/Vol_112/WLURG39_RTP_20081117/WLURG39_RTP_20081117_008.2.txt MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2008 8 - THE RING-TUM PHI sports Mon Tues WED Tiiuns FRI SAT SUN Men's xc NCAA women»; Nationals X6 — (Ind. Only) ' 11 a.m. iiloileyball t at W3 h Men's 35 - Basketball cathonc (Md_) 7 p.m. 2 p.m. Mat a‘ Women’: 3'5’ Basketball wash Dlcklnson Tournament 7 p.m. at MQn’§ Franklln & s""“‘“"“g Marshall 11 a.m. at women.‘ Franklin & Swlmmlns Marshall 11 a.m. Wrestling numbers I 28 Troy's blown third-quarter lead against LSU Saturday in the Tigers’ largest ever comeback win. LSU, then ranked 19th, scored 30 points in the fourth quarter to win 40-31. 111 The number of points scored by VMl’s basketball team in the Keydets’ 111-103 upset victory Friday over perennial powerhouse Kentucky. It was the most number of points the Wildcats have surrendered since 1989. 13-13 The final score of the Cincinnati Bengals-Philadelphia Eagles game Sunday. it was the first tie in an NFL game since the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers tied 34-34 on Nov. 10, 2002. The Bengals are now 1-8-1 on the year while the Eagles are 5-4-1. box “It sounds like they’re overbidding. If the specula- tion is true that we’ve offered CC $100 million, why would you offer $140 million. Why wouldn’t you offer $110 million?” Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin after the New York Yankees reportedly offered pitcher cc Sabathia approximately $140 million over six years in response to the Brewers’ offer of $100 million over flve years. The Yankees boast the MLB’s highest payroll of over $207 million compared to the Brewers’ payroll of just under $75 million. Courtesy of espn.com. “Yes, absolutely. I certainly do feel we're going to be a team that plays well enough to be thinking about the playoffs.” ’ Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones Thursday when asked If he thinks that his team would make the playoffs. The Cowboys, considered by many to be a Super Bowl favorite at the start of the year, were 5-4 and tied for last place In the NFC East before Sunday. Courtesy of espn.com. ~ g "This was a tough decision to make. Barry is a 2 good man and we have a great deal of respect for him. We wish him nothing but success; how- I ever, the results were unacceptable and the play- ers have to understand that we need to be bet- ter. Hopefully this change helps push them.” Tampa Bay Lightning executive vice president and general manager Brian Lawton after ring head coach Barry Meirose Just 16 games (5-7-4) into his flrst season coaching since 1995. Melrose, who was an ESPN analyst for 13 years before being hired by the Lightning in June, was replaced by Interim head coach Rick Tocchet. courtesy of the Tampa Bay Busines Journal. W&L splits weekend series Men is‘ basketball beats Muskingum, falls to F erram Junior forward Zac White drives to the hoop for two of his 14 points in the Washington and Lee men’s basket- ball team’s first game of the sea- son. The Generals beat Muskingum 66-57 Saturday in its first game of the W&L Classic. Senior. forward Ryan Owens led the home team with a career-high 15 points and eight rebounds. In its second game of the W&L Clas- sic, the Generals iost to Ferrum 44-59 Sunday. Senior guard Chris McHugh scored 10 while senior forward Ben Heller and White chipped in nine. Looking ahead to the rest of the season, senior guard and captain Isaiah Goodman said, “Our team’s goals for this year for this year are simple: defend, rebound, take care of the ball. We know that if we do that every game, we will have a chance to win every game. When you win a lot of games, then you start talking cham- pionships.” RYAN ELSEY / Staff Photographer XC tea ms race at NCAAs “ Men 3* and women is teams finish in top I 0, Shaw and Webb advance By Brooke Sutherland 8 TA F F W R lT E R It was a cold and windy day, but the Washington and Lee men’s and women’s cross country teams still finished strong in the South/Southeast Regional Champion- ships at Texas Lutheran University in San Antonio this weekend. Coming off a victory in the ODAC championship the week before, the wom- en’s team finished third, just one spot short of a guaranteed trip to nationals. The team found out Sunday that it had not been se- lected as an at-large bid for nationals. “It’s definitely a little bittersweet to finish third knowing that we might get news...that we might not make it,” said head coach Kris Hoey Saturday before the national selection committee’s decision. “The waiting is very difficult because the top two teams get instant gratification. I definitely think we deserve to go to [na- tionals], but of course I’m a little bit bi- ased.” Nonetheless, W&L will have two run- ners at nationals in Hanover, Indiana, next weekend with seniors Jessica Shaw and Elizabeth Webb qualifying as individu- als. Shaw finished 11th overall out of 169 runners with a time of 22:57, and Webb was close behind with a 14th place finish at 23:14. “These girls work so hard. Jess and Webb have come so far. I’m so proud of these girls,” Hoey said. “This was Jess’ first year running [cross country]. What a neat thing for her to go to nationals. Eliz- abeth just missed going to nationals last year, so this has been a long time coming and she definitely deserves this honor.” Walking the streets of San Antonio with her parents after the race, Shaw was nothing short of exuberant on the phone. “This is so exciting,” she said. “Run- ning has always been something I wanted to pursue, but I’d always been too busy with swimming. “ Added Webb: “Being the last one not to go last year was pretty tough. It ended up that I got the same place I got last year, but the way things worked out with the team qualifying, I got to qualify this year. It’s nice to finally be in the mix. “ Texas Lutheran’s tough, hilly course posed some challenges for both runners, but they managed to battle through. “I went out way too fast,” said Webb. “My body started hurting halfway through. I realized we might not make it as a team, and my boach started yelling at me that to guarantee a trip to nationals, I would have to qualify myself. That really helped me to finish the race strong.” ‘ “A lot of things were going through my mind,” Shaw said. “The last half I struggled a lot mentally, but I prayed for the strength to finish. In the home stretch, I got passed by this girl we were trying to beat. It was frustrating, but each race is a new experience, and I think as a team, we learned a lot today.” The Generals’ other runners also pulled out strong finishes with senior Becca Tay- lor and junior Kat Telfeyan coming in at 16th and 27th place respectively. Sopho- more Christine Balistreri came in 38th with a time of 24:27 and junior Dorothy Todd finished 54th with a time of 24:56. “I’m so proud of our girls,” Hoey said. “I’m so proud of the people they are and their accomplishments. This season is re- ally a reflection of all the hard work they put in. “ The team’s regional success comes on the heels of a season filled with ODAC ac- colades and awards. Shaw received Run- ner of the Year and Senior Becca Taylor was named Scholar Athlete of the Year. Hoey was named Coach of the Year as well. “It was great to be named Coach of the Year,” Hoey said. “But it’s really only because of how well the girls did. This is the best team in Washington and Lee cross country history. We’ve done some amaz- ing things with really talented individu- als.” On the men’s side, the team finished ' eighth with no individuals qualifying for nationals, but three runners qualified for the all-regional team. Senior Michael Welsh finished 17th out of 151 runners with at time of 26:25, followed by senior Vance Berry in 20th with a time of 26:31 and sophomore Jack Ivy in 35th place with a time of27:02. “It was a lower finish than we were shooting for,” said head coach John Tuck- er. “We wanted to be top five, but we had some super performances. Almost every- one had their best race.” Washington and Lee’s top finishers were rounded out by senior Alex Jackson who came in 48th at 27:24 and first-year Matt Gossett who finished 80th with a time of 28:09. “We were pretty strong all around,” said Berry. “You can always point fingers at something. There were 30 mph winds, which played a role in everyone’s strategy, and traveling is always tough. Air travel really takes a toll on you, but I’m pretty pleased with our overall performance.” Tucker put the season into perspective. “The last three races we’ve performed bet- ter than last year when we won the ODAC. The difference this year is that ODAC is just way more competitive,” he said. “I was disappointed we finished eight points back from Lynchburg, “ Berry said. “That’s the same margin we lost to them at ODAC, and I was really looking to im- prove on that.” Despite his disappointment, Berry walked away from the race with a positive experience. “I’ve seen improvements every year, and this is the culmination,” he said. “This is it for me, and it was my best time for my four years. This is what you dream of do- ing, making it happen when it counts.” Both teams are now preparing for the upcoming track season with high hopes and determination to improve on their success. “I think we’re set up really well,” said Hoey. “We’re just going to get everyone ready to go and show up strong.”