OCR::/Vol_114/WLURG39_RTP_20110509/WLURG39_RTP_20110509_001.2.txt - on -f America's first recorded strea ker wasa W&L alum? Women's Lax claims ODAC title , Continuing theirdomination, the W&L women claim two more victories to move on to nationals. OVPINIONS/page3 SPORTS/page6 THE - IT IH£ STUDENTS AID FOR THE SILIDEIIIS SIIICE ‘lB9TvoLuMEcxiv,NuMBERi8 MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011 WASHINGTON AND LEE Ui~;wERsin' ING-TUM P1-11. ‘ Mock Con Spring Kickoff O I it _Bush_ advisor Karl Rove delivers keynote address F , By Leigh Dannhauser STAFF WRITER I Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff for President George W. Bush and now a Fox News contributor, addressed the VWashingt_on and Lee community last Sat- urday evening as the keynote speaker for the 2012 Mock Convention kickoff week- "end." ‘ 1’ Students, faculty, alumni, parents and other community members filled nearly all the seats on Lee Chapel lawn for Rove’s speech. F Rove opened with advice on how to Jimderstand the upcoming election. '_ "To look at the coming election, you need to look at the recent past” Rove said. ‘ Rove was alluding to the gains-that the ‘Republican Party made during the 2010 ‘fmidterrn elections. He said that these gains fijwere‘ made because the independent voters ijcaine out for Republicans over dynamic ‘-issues such'as the stimulusibill. Rove spent. much of his speech on —.President Qbama’s stimulus bill. Rove pointed out what he considers discrepan- 7'cies:jbetween the realities of the bill and how it’s‘ beendescribed. » V“Every single promise made about this -bill is -turning‘-,‘out notto be true,” Rove said. ' ” A ",Rbve also cited. health care reform as ."‘,ax1‘a:rea where Obama has not delivered bwhat hepromised. According to Rove, although Obama promised no taxes:-on health care for in- : dividuals, taxihg health care companies led them to jack up their prices. In the end, Rove said, consumers were still hurt. Audience members had differing view- points on what Rove had to say, especially about the stimulus plan. At least one student said the speech felt like “a rant against the stimulus bill.” First-year Liz Olson disagreed. “He made a good point in addressing the unnecessary parts of the plan and how the title is deceiving” Olson said, referring V to Rove’s claim that the bill is actually a ‘ spending bill. , Although most of his speech focused on Obama’s policies, Rove did address the upcoming election. ' “Who will be the Republican nominee? l have no idea” he said. J Rove continued to say that this Repub- lican nomination is going to be different because, for the first time in decades, there is no “front runner” among the Republi- cans. Whoever the Republican nominee will be, Rove said, he (or she) has three main challenges to face. The nominee must prove why Obama should no longer be president and why he should be instead. He must both unify the party and reach outside its ranks. Most im-{ portantly, Rove said, there must be some moment where the future nominee proves he can handle thepresidency. No matter who the Republican nomi- nee is, Rove said the 2012 election will be “one of the most consequential in Ameri- can history.” Karl Rove, former degut-y c-h1_i_efo__f staffifor President George Bush, spokethe C-olonnggglawn last Saturday as part Mock C-omiiemtiomls spnimg kic-koff. STEELE BURROW / head p ographei How sweet it is.‘ famous cakemaker designs realistic Colonnade cake for students to enjoy at convention kickofl BBQ - By Valaree Tang s TA F F w R I T E R A cake created by the bakery fea- tured in the Food Network show “Ace of Cakes,” was one ofthe highlights oflast weekend’s spring kickoff festivities. The red velvet-flavored cake was molded in the shape of the Colonnade, with five political figures on the Colon- nade lawn, including Sarah Palin and Donald Trump. The main cake was also supplemented by one lemon-berry sheet cake and one mudslide sheet cake. Wanting to get publicity outside the traditional newspaper, Mock Con Media and Communications Chair Kali McFar- land contacted Charm City Cakes. “One of the approaches that my co- chair, Katie Stewart, and l were looking for this year is to take publicity outside of the traditional political newspapers and blogs so that they can focus on the natural lifestyle aspect of the conven- tion,” said McFarland. McFarland’s interest in Southern Liv- ing and the Cooking Channel were inspi- rations for contacting Charm City Cakes and working with the bakery to create a special cake for Mock Con. Though McFarland did not work fl’ vim created by Gharm flc-akes of "Ace of C-akes” fame. " ‘directly with Duff Goldman, the man responsible for the success of “Ace of Cakes,” she corresponded with general manager Mary Alice over the phone and email. McFarland and Stewart decided on a cake resembling the Colonnade because they wanted something that was repre- sentative of Washington and Lee. “We wanted something that was iconic ‘W&L, and we wanted something that would be special to the convention,” McFarland said. “The Mock Con logo this year is the Colonnade with elephants flanking either side of it, so we thought ‘What’s more iconic than the Colon- nade and the fact that it tied in with the logo?” The cake was served during the bar- beque, which featured pulled pork sand- wiches, veggie burgers, baked beans, salad, coleslaw, watermelon and cook- ies. . _ General Chair Tricia King, Political Chair Zach Wilkes and Personnel Chair Tucker Pribor participated in the cere- monial cake cutting during the barbeque. Student response to the cake was mixed. Some barbeque attendees seemed to be less than impressed with the cake. “The cake features detailed work,'but I thought that it was going to be bigger,” said Lauren Laskowski. Other students thought that the “Ace of Cakes” cake was a “good use of funds” and “money well spent.” The barbeque in which the cake was featured was part of a new revamped spring kickoff event which included a band party in Red Square that featured two bands. OCR::/Vol_114/WLURG39_RTP_20110509/WLURG39_RTP_20110509_002.2.txt ‘ I ; -iv ‘ WASHINGTOIIILEEIINIVERSITY LEXINGTON,“ 24450 mi? mm“ r""' -L 2 - THE RING-TUM PHI - MONDAY, MAY 9,2011 opinions Stereotyping the W&L cultu re Our opinions editor examines the nuances tied to campus, singling out some of the unspoken, yet accepted, behaviors By Stockton Bullitt OPINIONS EDITOR It’s notmuch of anopinion to say that Washington and Lee is a pretty unique school. I mean, just look at Spring Term. What other school has anApril Spring Break (in case you haven’t noticed, we have the same - Spring Break as high schools, which makes hooking up even more dangerous) followed by a four week term that features classes ranging from rigorously demanding to ‘-‘material to ‘glance at while floating down the Maury?”-Our school: isfilled with little nuances that are unique to only our special blend of NESCAC and SEC. Some of these little nuances are good things, like the factlthat we are the only school that celebrates a dead guy buried in our backyard, our courageous support of dodgeball in the face of tragedy and our unquestioned support for an annual Marchprorn that comes in thelform of Fancy Dres's.However, some of our little nuances can comein-bad forms. For example, we are definitely the only liberal artsschool that can have empty seats at a Karl Rove speechfor apathy rather than protest. Hey,-at least we loved the cake from a Food Network show that no longer exists!-_A.nyway, I documented some of these nuances that are unique to W&L culture. These are b_y’no_ means emblematic of the entire population of W&L students, but there g ‘ are distinct trends that Ighaverseen over my three years herein Lexington. If you don’t think that what I’m writing is entirely accurate, feel free towrite in and callme out on it. Since there isonly one more . Ringqium Phiissue after this one,‘I can’t respondwith an article trashing your major, And, for those who believe that this is horribly libelous, I wrote this during an active afternoon at the Pole Houses, so ‘most of this is empirical research. _ I . . So without further ado, here are some nuances and types of people unique to W&L with elite phrases attached to them. Think of this as your own personal stereotyping of W&L, And yes, I know that I’m contribut- ingto the degradation of our school’s culture, but let’s be honest, there’s‘a reason I save the nasty articles for the Spring Term issues: nobody bothers to read them because tubing is just too damn fun. : Skull Givers The name for the chasers of Phi Kap men. Every fraternity has their respec- tive fan club, but no fan club follows their fraternity with the same dedication and fervor as the Skull Givers. I don’t know whether it’s the culture of the school or simply these girls’ upbringing, but there is something about the com- bination of long hair, brightly colored lacrosse shorts, no shirt, and the Pole 4 porch that makes these girls extremely attracted to the Phi Kap men. These girls come in two distinct breeds. Both breeds blend together during the few times when attention is given to them by the Skulls. When they are given the attention they deserve, the Skull Givers get a rush of joy equal to that of a kid on a Christmas morning. To launch a water balloon off the Pole 4 porch is definitely a highlight of their college careers. However, these two distinct breeds show their true nature when they are ig- nored. The first of these breeds chooses to give all their love and attention to a “lesser being.” This love is genuine and wonderful when the breed is alone with the lesser being. However, once they’re at a party with the desired Skulls, the lesser beings suddenly turn into fumi- ture more ignored more than Dupont’s study carrels. \ The other breed of Skull Givers are the ones who, regardless of how ignored they are, stick religiously by Phi Kap through thick and thin. These girls are willing to spend entire parties listen- ing to the bros converse among them- selves, happy to stand on the periphery . of the conversation. These girls tap on the shoulders of their prey and have the same efficiency of getting their at- tention as these boys do of hitting any- thing substantial when they launch wa- ter balloons. That is, the girls are often ignored. But they always succeed in the end because anyone who can stand to watch fist pumping while naked boys flaunt their business in the backyard de- serves proper attention. Mid-level Fantasy , This is the name for the group of guys from mid-level fraternities (Beta, Phi Psi, Pi Phi, Fiji, Sigma Chi, etc.) who have a much higher opinion of themselves than they probably should. If you confront them about this fact, they will smile and say, “Naw, we just like to keep to ourselves and drink in our own house.” They will say this like it’s a good thing, when in fact, that is just a nice way to say they’re into binge drinking. These guys are the types of frat stars who agree to socialize with a certain sorority with whom they don’t usually hang out. And instead of sim- ply settling for a nice, little social, these Fantasy Frat Stars take the reins and turn the social into an all-day affair, located at a sorority girl’s house but run by the fraternity. This party is advertised as a campus-wide affair, but in reality it’s a chance for these Fantasy Frat Stars to have a five keg party for themselves at someone else’s house. The actual party may not have that many people, but at least these Fantasy Frat Stars can live in their own little worlds of social success. Sigma Chi Phase This is more or less an extinct part of W&L, so I feel free commentating on it. For the last few years, every guy would go through a Sigma Chi Phase for at least two weeks during their first semester in Lexington. Now, obviously most guys will never admit to being MANAGING EDITOR NEWS EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR ARTS&L|FE EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR COPY EDITORS STAFF WRITERS DESIGN EDITOR HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER BUSINESS MANAGER DISTRIBUTION STAFF MISSION STATEMENT: RING-TUM PHI to ace thoroughly report news and Lee community accountable. Through PHI is a member of T welcomes all letters. edit submissions for co newspaper observes cu libel and 4 THE RIN WASHINGTON AN TELEPHONE: ( 'Il'iammu.uo1.uiJvrIusrn THE RING-TUM PHI. parents and alumni. Our goal is to look deeper into news affecting campus life and hold leaders 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 can be reached at mediaboard@wlu.edu, but is otherwise independent.THE RING-TUM PHI and advertising do not necessarily reflect the opinion of THE RING-TUM PHI staff. This UNIVERSITY COMMONS ROOM. 341 LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA 24450 FAX: (540)458-4059 EMAIL: PHl@WLU.EDU SUBSCRIPTION RATE $45 DIANDRA SPICAK ELEANOR KENNEDY STOCKTON BULLITT PAIGE GANCE JAYNA JOHNS KATHERINE ROBERTS. LEIGH DANNHAUSER ALI GREENBERG PATRICK SMITH VALAREE TANG SAGE UM JULIANNA SATTERLY STEELE BURROW MATT GOSSETT KELLY LANE JOE MORAVEC ZABRIAWN SMITH EVAN SHARBER DAVE WILSON it is the mission of THE urately, truthfully, and affecting the Washington for students, faculty, our reporting, we aspire he Media Board, which We reserve the right to ntent and length. Letters rrent court definitions of obscenity. G-TUM PHI D LEE UNIVERSITY 540) 458-4060 completely infatuated with Sigma Chi for at least a little part of their Freshman Fall, but deep down, every guy reading this remembers the time they told their friends, “Hey, say what you want about Sigma Chi, there is no better party than Pole 3.” This was before they discov- ered the wonder of Windfall and before they realized that Sigma Chi was not the center of the fraternal universe at W&L. This is no longer the case with W&L. Sigma Chi has joined the rest of the fra- temity landscape and has appealed to their specific niche of W&L student. Now, contented with their lot, the Sigma Chi Phase has vanished only to be re- placed by the KA phase. This phase ap- peals to the freshman girl more so than a freshman boy, as an opinion writer so beautifully illustrated with graphs and data in an earlier article. KA has nioved ' away from epitomizing the Southern fraternity, a title they left to SAE, in favor of appealing to the broader base of freshman girls and boys whose last names sound like items on the Salemo’s menu. Now, every freshman girl enters their KA phase during Orientation Week and leaves it...wait, have they gotten over that phase yet? Note: I know that KA will be extremely mad that I’m de- scribing them in this sense. They will probably try to pick a fight with me the next time I try and change the song at a party they are not hosting. But, am I really insulting you that much by say- ing that freshman girls love you? Think about it. ”Late Night” Thanks to noise ordinances instituted in Rockbridge County, the term “Late Night” has a unique definition to W&L students. For other schools and even ,in most cities, the term “Late Night” means 2 in the morning or later. A few years ago, “Chi Psi Late Night” was understood to be a party attended once the clock struck one. However, thanks to LexPo, W&L’s version of “Late Night” refers to 11:30. Personally, I don’t think that the term “Late Night” should be used while Wendy’s is still open, but here we are. I know grandmothers that are awake during our version of “Late Night,” but with LexPo’s help, we’ll soon be calling it “Late Night” once the sun goes down. W&L Relationship Seen by many adults here as the de- mise of modern society, the W&L rela- tionship is evident all around campus. The W&L relationship can easily be de- fined as a relationship in which both par- ticipants do not see each other or inter- act with each other during most hours of the day. The interaction can start during pre—games for parties, but usually ends up with first meetings during the actual party and true affection only manifest- ing itself drunkenly on the dance floor. Once the party hits midnight, the rela- tionship is in full swing, and the two participants are truly intertwined in love. If this is an experienced relation- ship, a party will not be complete until the first loud fight breaks out between the two causing friends of both parties to roll their eyes and attempt to diffuse the situation. The night is ultimately spent together and sometimes, maybe, morn- ing brunch is shared, but by noon, these two participants in the W&L relation-, ship are alien to one another. The only’ reference to their nighttime lovers oc- curs during gossip sessions with friends, otherwise these couples do not interact in any way while the sun is up and work is to be done. The W&L relationship usually works fine for both parties involved until it comes time to break up. The boy usually initiates the breakup by treating the girl at night like he usually treats her during the day. In other words, he completely ignores her entire existence at parties the same way he ignores her entire ex- istence on the hill. The boy tends to act clueless whenever this girl’s name is mentioned, and the girl tends to take out 7, her frustrations on some unsuspecting dance floor victim. These speculative relationships and subsequent breakups are widespread enough to be described thusly by one senior: “every single one of my friends has gotten broken up with without being in a relationship.” Speculative Hatred Admittedly, this is more of a general college trend, rather than something specific to W&L. Still, there is plenty of speculative hatred that goes around. Ev-_ eryone has had this circumstance occur in their own respective gossip circles. One of your friends comes in to lunch one day exasperated telling you how much they hate a certain person for a legitimate reason. Your friends, being supportive of their ally, support that person’s claim. Then, over the course of the next few weeks, friends start trash- ing the now hated person for acts that he or she did or did not commit. Soon, the gossip circle has a hatred bubble for this person, and there is seething hatred for a person who probably has only com- mitted one or two social indiscretions. The trend is completed when someone in your circle begins the conversation by saying, “You know, Hated Person re- ally isn’t so bad.” And thus, the bubble is burst when the entire group starts now sharing anecdotes about how saintly the formerly evil person is. The comical part of this whole process is how oblivi- ous ‘Hated Person is to the entire event. On another note, it’s very interesting to see how quickly the Terrorism Bubble burst in 2011. With the death of Osama bin Laden and the Arab Spring, it’s now not a great time to be a terrorist. Back in the mid-2000s, terrorism was so big that even people from rural Alabama were signing up (no, seriously, that happened), and now the 2011 terrorist sector looks a lot like the 2008 hous- ing market. I’m so glad I shorted ter- rorism in 2010, and I find it incredibly interesting that Pokemon would outlast terrorism. Enough terrorism jokes? Yes? Moving on... Rabbhs You know that guy in your frater- nity who only eats salad and gasps at the mere mention of fried food? Well, he is your fratemity’s rabbit precisely because he eats like one. This guy’s idea of exercise is the Stairrnaster, and his idea of pigging out is eating a hard- boiled egg. Everyone has a friend who abhors Taco Bell and is even resistant to Subway. You can make fun of him all you want, but he is usually more ripped than the guy in the Real World who was on Frat Pad, so just know that while you call him a rabbit, he’ll be laughing all the way to his next hookup. Diamond in the Rough Freshmen don’t know this yet, but during the rush process, there is quite a bit of judging that goes on in the frater- nities and sororities. The Diamonds in the Rough are those freshmen who are at first most debated and fought over. Half of the Greek organization firmly believes that if this person is admitted, the world will most surely collapse and the social standing of the respective Greek organization will crumble in the process. However, from Tear Night on, these Diamonds in the Rough are the coolest members of the Greek organiza- tion. All their qualities that didn’t shine during rush now come out in full bloom, and they are respected and adored by their peers. Every Greek organization has one of these, and most likely they each have their respective Enrons (the members who were liked only for rush and at no other points in their career), but the Diamonds in the Rough are the ones who are remembered and celebrat- ed. They are the ones who represent the best defense for Greek life at W&L: the chance to befriend someone who you normally would never befriend. Wheel Friend When relationships venture outside the W&L relationship, friends inevita- bly get dragged into the process. If you are ‘single in the later years of your W&L career, hanging out casually usually en- tails being the odd numbered member of a group. If you had three good friends before, then you will inevitably find yourself serving as the seventh wheel to your friends, who are now respectively wife’d up. Every time you want to go out to dinner or watch a movie, you need to check with your friends first to make sure that their boyfriends or girlfriends are available to join your group. This provides pressure on you to get wife’d up and can delay your plans mightily. Drunk Alter Egos After more than a couple of drinks on a party night, many people at this school lose their own personalities and replace them with their drunken alter egos. Many people have given specific names to these alter egos (for example if your name is Bill, calling your alter ego Dan), some use a play of words on their name (for example, if your name is Autumn, calling your alter ego Winter) and others simply just spell their names backwards to describe their alter egos (e.g., Haram). However, the most com- mon way to describe the drunken alter ego is simply to describe him or her as “Drunk [insert name here].” The alter ego tends to be a littlelworse at walk- ing in a straight line and much worse at making decisions regarding those of the opposite sex. Spring Term Fat Chicks/ Spring Term Alcoholic This was not an idea proposed by me, so before you break out the Student- Faculty Hearing Board, this is a term a group of senior girls used to describe themselves‘ at a certain birthday party. Not looking to be libelous, I’m using their description of this term as my defi- nition. See, these girls are free from the bondage of academia and are celebrat- ing by consuming either a lot of food or a lot of booze and sometimes both. The Spring Term Fat Chicks are not Powderpuff linemen, but rather are healthy girls who are venturing to places like Frank’s for the first time, and there- fore think of themselves as incredibly fat for trying a cheese—steak for the first time. Considering W&L’s ostensible lack of an obesity problem, I guess eat- ing your first mozzarella stick in Spring Term of your Senior Spring in this cul- ture makes you a Spring Term Fat Chick, but when I eat the other five mozzarella sticks, I somehow am exempt from be- ing called the Spring Term Fatass. The Spring Term Alcoholic describes the senior girl who has all but graduated and now celebrates by going on a four week hiatus from sobriety. This celebra- tion does not make her resemble Nicho- las Cage in “Leaving Las Vegas,” but rather produces a socialite who lives by a few select mantras. 1) “Every day is either a bad day or an Occasion.” If the day is a bad day, then you will need to drink to cheer yourself up, and if the day is an Occasion (i.e., someone’s birthday, Osama’s death day, Star Wars Day, etc.), then you have to drink to celebrate. 2) “Everything revolves around the next drink.” Although thinking like this for longer than Spring Term will get you into rehab, the Spring Term Alcoholic does not worry about books or drama or tests, but instead worries about what kind of fruitjuice to mix with what kind of alcohol. 3) “The sun and loss of ap- petite [from too much drinking] are a draining duo.” Tanning and drinking are contact sports that can wipe you out. Make sure that you eat even when you are full and wear plenty of sunscreen. 4) “Stairs are HARD.” When you can think like this, you know you are having a pretty good Spring Term. ‘ b an 5 OCR::/Vol_114/WLURG39_RTP_20110509/WLURG39_RTP_20110509_003.2.txt MONDAY, MAY 9,2011 3 - THE RING-TUM PHI - opinions It’s Spring Term; it’s time forjerseys Columnist Patrick Smith explains the warmer weather fashion choice, choosing the “dankest ” sports jerseys I By Patrick Smith c o L U M N I S T I sit in my disgusting house recuper- ating the moming after a Red Square party while watching Armageddon on TV. What sounds better than that? A list of dank jerseys I have compiled, per- haps? I made this list with many things in mind, such as on-field performance and overall swag. If you read one of my past articles titled, “Brocabulary,” you would under- stand what the word dank means. The reason I decided to make this list is because when I’m not spending my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classi- fying the hell out of some plants in Field Botany, -I’m wearing sweet jerseys and trying to get sunbumed so I’m not white as shit. I can’t help it; I’m a struggling day-walker. If you want an idea of what I’m go- ing for before you read this list, I am currently wearing a Penny Hardaway- Warriors jersey. Get at my level. I lifted this one from a friend who left it at my house. However, I know for a fact that he doesn’t read my “crappy” articles, so I’m not worried at all. I’m just an ac- counting major who can’t write, right? Classic case of sucks-bro. Without further crappy “journal- ism,” here’s a short list of six, dank-ass jerseys, two each from the major three sports. Enjoy: Wade Boggs, New York Yankees #12: I’ve been a Yankees fan my entire life and I know this may seem like a bi- zarre choice for my favorite team. First of all, Wade Boggs got most ofhis 3,010 hits with the Red Sox, (ew) but he did play five seasons with the Bronx Bomb- ers and win a championship in ’96 with them. I The reason I love the Hall-of-Famer Wade Boggs so much is because of one story I read about him. Back in the day, the Yankees played a game in LA, (which they won) and Wade Boggs decided to get a little ag- gressive. He had a 6-pack of Budwieser chillin’ in his locker, waiting for him at the end of the game. Another teammate saw Wade Boggs pound all six of those brews before leaving the locker room and proceed to pick up a case of beer before the cross- country flight back to New York. In the seven hours of downtime between the end of the game, and Boggs returning home, he drank 50 beers. - What Wade did that day was a com- mendable feat, and proper reason for him making my list of dank-ass jerseys. John Rocker, Atlanta Braves #49 I remember watching John Rocker close out games back in the day when the Yankees always used play the Braves in the World Series (and lose). He would literally sprint from center field to the pitcher’s mound before he went into the game. I always used to wish that he would slide into the mound when he got there, but he never did. John Rocker was a player highly linked to steroid use, which may explain his visible insanity on the diamond. Not only was he a lefty, but he did some le- git things in the major leagues before his testicles shrank too much due to the unicorn blood he used to enhance his performance. His antics were unparalleled and he meant a lot to the best game on earth, therefore, I have no shame in putting him on my list. Larry Bird, Indiana State #33 Larry Bird had one of the sweetest jump shots in all of basketball. I’m not, and will never, claim to be, a huge bas- ketball aficionado, but it would take an idiot to say Larry Bird wasn’t a special player. He knew how to win ball games. The reason I use Indiana State in- Tradition!Tradition! ColumnistAli Greenberg explores the history that makes our campus unique By All Greenberg COLU M N I ST During my week at home over Spring Break, I had very few obligations or re- sponsibilities. My days tended to follow the schedule of wake up eventually, get up eventually, find food somewhere, walk the dog, lie back down, find more food, watch TV, sleep. So besides catching up on “3O Rock” and “Family Guy” and potentially find- ing a new team knowledge, and then I read about an alum that was an absolute gem. George William Crump, class of 1804, was the United States’ first re- corded streaker. Yes, streaker. He was caught one night his senior year by Ye Olde Lex Po running naked through the streets of Lexington. And while he was suspended for a While I never got the opportunity to experience the 6-week, two-course term, I do know that the 4-week Spring Term of today is where it’s at. Yet, is four weeks really enough? By the time we actually gq adjusted to the course content and the professors’ ex- pectations and grading, we are already halfway through the course. Sometimes it seems as pointless as to root for in the NBA, I really only had time in my busy schedule for one thing: spend- ing hours upon hours on my com- puter. I actually had to recharge my laptop three times in one day. That’s obscene. I read blogs, watched Netflix and generally wasted a lot of time. During a moment of intellectual intrigue, I even looked up our fine institution on Wiki- pedia. _ While scrolling through the article, I learned a lot about our school. For in- stance, did you know that Meriwether Lewis, as in the Lewis in Lewis & Clark, was class of 1793? Or that our fight song, “The Wash- ington and Lee Swing,” was actually an incredibly popular tune and has been ad- opted by dozens of schools as well as re- corded by just about every famous jazz musician at the time, including Louis Armstrong. And in the spirit of Mock Conven- tion, another alum, Mr. John W. Davis (1892, l895L) was the 1924 Candidate for the Presidency (we predicted cor-V rectly that yearl). While he inevitably lost to the incumbent, Coolidge, he still went on to become a'very successful lawyer, up until he picked the wrong side on the whole Brown v. Board de- bate. Awkward. Up ‘till this point I was pleasantly surprised and enlightened by my new T he fact that Washington & Lee produced the new worldsfirst recorded streaker is just an incredible testament to the social structures and attitudes of our illustrious university. semester, he went on to graduate from Princeton, UPenn Medical School, be- come a U.S. Representative, and land an ambassadorship in Chile. Essentially making him the entire student body’s new hero. The fact that Washington & Lee pro- duced the New World’s first recorded streaker is just an incredible testament to the social structures and attitudes of our illustrious university. And now that Spring Term is finally here, we shouldn’t expect any short- age of undergrads streaking the Colon- nade and then hoping to get hooked up with a sweet job after graduation. Over two hundred years later, so little has changed. We have many traditions at our school, with one of the greatest being the Spring Term. Started in 1970 and born from the hippie and alternative ed- ucational movements of the generation, Spring Term was created in order to pro- vide a unique and enriching academic environment that gave students the op- portunity to truly engage themselves in a specific course and form better relation- ships with their professors. the Pacquiao/Mosley fight. But it’s in the social sense where the time limit is both a gift and a curse. We come back from Spring Break re- freshed and, well, ready to party. And yet we are greeted with only three weekends. Three! And two of them are already gone, slipped away already from right under us. However, just as distance makes the heart grow fonder, our limited time pro- vides an extremely dense concentration of events over the shortened term. So while there are only four weeks, there is so much room for activities! I am not calling for a return to the six-week term. I like things how they are now and the administration has been very clear that the switch back would simply be infeasible. I am really just writing this as a re- minder that we are halfway through if this paper actually comes out on Mon- day like it is supposed to. So stop wast- ing time reading the Ring-tum Phi, get out your lax penny and go enjoy Spring Term. Because there is nothing more W&L than day drinking and band parties, and we are nothing without our traditions. fresh rating on rotten tomatoes. stead of the obvious choice is because of a friend of mine. He is the biggest Celtics fan and owns this jersey. It’s old-school as hell,‘ and the powder blue looks sweet. I envy his jersey flare. Shaquille O’Neal, Orlando Magic #32 , The Big Diesel had the rare ability not only to be good at, basketball, but also to be hilarious. He’s got 4 champi- onship rings and a movie that got a 4% Who else can say that? Back when I was a dumb little gin- ger hiding from the sun, I owned the Reebok “Shaqnosis” shoes (Google that ish). I would wear these and pretend to be good at basketball. Besides his im- pressive career statistics, he’s the man and deserves to be on this list without question. Deion Sanders, Florida State #2 ”If you look good, you play good, if you play good, they pay you good!” Too bad I play Division 3 baseball... Deion was not only an amazing football player, but he was also a spec- tacularly average baseball player. He was an eccentric personality known as “prime-time,” and if asked to rank the five best comerbacks of all time, he would respond with l. Deion 2. Deion 3. Deion 4. Deion 5. Deion. Get his college jersey from Florida State. The only thing that could make this jersey cooler is if he went to the U instead. ‘Nuff said. Joe Namath, New York Jets #] 2 I’m not sure what’s cooler, the super ~ bowl ring Namath guaranteed, or the fur coats he used to wear: definitely the ring. Namath played nine strong seasons in the NFL and has one notable ring to show for it. He was a loud mouth and Brut man; both very cool things. Joe was a notorious New York party animal and has one huge superbowl victory to show for a remarkably sub-par career. Whatever, this is a sweet jersey and he was a major bad-ass. Well worth the purchase. This is the end of my list, and the end of my story. Peace. Me — ‘‘I don’t think this article is go- ing to be funny” Joe Gannet ~ “Surprise, surprise.” Have you made your SUMMER PLANS? Visit Career Services for last minute help with Résumés Cover letters Practice Interviews Call 540-458-8595 to make an appointment or come in during Quick Questions 1:00-4:00 Monday-Friday Career Services n.e.ma~ Lunclh~Dixinér , 4 (Breakfast served all j * . , _;Tu-esday-Thursday: 7AM —::9Pl I V, j Friday and Saturday: 7AM - . Sunday: 7AM — 3PM Closed Mondays ‘ 167 South Main Street. Lexington, VA I . Phone: 540.464.9499, Fax: 540.464.1226 “ OCR::/Vol_114/WLURG39_RTP_20110509/WLURG39_RTP_20110509_004.2.txt MONDAY, MAY 9,2011 4 « THE RING-TUM PHI- arts&life Capitol Steps kicks off Mock Con right The Hill-based comedy troupe entertains students, faculty, community and provides satirical outlook on politics By Sage Um 5 TA F F w R l T E R Last Wednesday night, the satiri- cal political comedy group The Capitol Steps performed at Keller Theater as part of Mock Conventi0n’s Spring Kick- off. The Steps did various skits about Sarah Palin, the events in Egypt, Obama’s health care efforts, and former Presidents Bush and Clinton. One mem- orable speech was at the very end of the performances where the performer flip- fiopped the first and last syllables of all his words. Many students, faculty, and commu- nity members showed up to the perfor- mance and enjoyed their savvy parodies. The Steps first started as a group of Senate staffers mocking their employ- ers at a Christmas patty in 1981. Their first intentions were to stage a Con- gressional nativity play, but when they failed to find three wise men or a virgin in Congress, they chose headlines of the day to parody and make songs for a new type of satirical humor. And since then, they have been famous for their unique political comedy. Most ofthe cast mem- bers have worked in Congress, for both Democrats and Republicans. The Capitol Steps have recorded dozens of albums and appeared on various TV shows like “Good Morning America”. They have also done specials for public radio (“Politics Takes a Holi- day") and even performed for five US Presidents. Larry King said, “They’re the best. There’s no one like them, no one in their league.” Thecurrent parody/ song on The Cap- itol Steps website addresses Osama Bin Laden’s death and President Obama’s birth certificate, comparing the two. The Capitol Steps was definitely a great way to start Mock Convention’s The Capitol Steps performed last Wednesday in the Keler hater of Lenfest, helping kick off .,n,.- prised of bipartisan cast members who have worked on the Hill, under both Democrats and Republicans. Students fish on the fly W&L ’s Outing Club journeyed to the Piney River for afly-fishing expedition ByDane Davis STAFF WRITER Members of the Outing Club have been busy rafting, hiking, and most recently, fly fishing, as they take advantage of the warm spring weather. Early last week, James Dick, Outing Club director, and four Wash- ington and" Lee students trekked out to the Piney River to fly fish on the stocked pond and two miles of creek that runs through a 100-acre property. “It was a lot of fun,” said Steele Burrow. This was his first time fly-fishing in the East ' vi and he said it helped him “get a little more out ofthe countryside.” ' ’ According to the guys on the trip, the biggest fish caught was about l2 inches, and everyone hooked at least two fish. Dick, however, managed to angle nine fish, tri- pling everyone else’s catch. All of the fish caught during the three-hour excursion were Brook Trout, and all fish were released. It may have helped that the group en- * countered no one else on the trip except for The Outing Club venured to the iney River to take part in fl —fishing. Jae Dik, director ofthe club, and four stu- the two experienced locals who guided them to the best fishing spots. Burrow described the landscape as spectacular and said itiwas a great opportunity to get to know other W&L students. The next upcoming OC trip is SCUBA diving on the New River in West Virginia, but keep an eye out for paddling, caving, hiking, and other outdoor trips at the Cain- pus Recreation blog http://w/z/recreation. wordpress. com/. dents were pointed to the best fishing spots by experienced ocals — the only other people they met on the trip. the 2012 6E"k Convention.The comedy troupe com- ‘ 2 7 an film‘ STEELE BURROW/ head photographer For Sale 15 Acres. Country location i within city limits of Lexington, VA. Special M planning area. Residential with consideration for innovative development proposals, contiguous to other available tracts. $1 M wvvw.ZeusRainmaker.com I ' , gezée e zeezhwzcmz‘ ,2 PEDAL CAR DINER & TIN TOY CAFE ’ Located at LEE Illa TRAVEL PLAZA Home Cooked Meals & Southern Hospitality.’ Orderfrom our complete menu Or Join usfor one ofour ALL YOU CAN EA T Buffets! 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B3QH46577 04.11 .s-»'<- . ® OCR::/Vol_114/WLURG39_RTP_20110509/WLURG39_RTP_20110509_006.2.txt 6 - THE RING-TUM PHI- MONDAY, MAY 9; 2oii sport , Women 3 [ax earns conference title ondeck MON Tues WED THURS FRi SAT SUN Baseball Men's Lacrosse vs NCAA NCAA Women's Christopher Tourney Tourney L Newport 2nd Quarter- acrosse TBA round finals I NCAA NCAA NCAA Mens Tourney Tourney T0Um*"-‘Y Tennis First Second Third round round round ’ NCAA NCAA NCAA Womens Tourney Tourney Tourney Tennis First Second Third round round round Deacon Deacon Swarm’ Track Combined Combined Tgsrte Events Events Ch a n Ce j Golf in the numbers 22 The age of Derrick Rose, whojust became the youngest player ever to be chosen as the Most Valuable Player for the NBA. Rose plays for the Chicago Bulls and the 2010-201 1 season. marked only his second season playing professional ball, and he is the second Bulls player to win the award, joining the leg- endary Michael Jordan in the honor. Rose led his team to an NBA-best 62-20 season record. The odds that the Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom started with. W_hile farfrom a record breaking long shot, only six horses started with longer odds out of the 19-horse field. Animal Kingdom's odds were enough to pay out $43.80 on a $2 bet. 25 Number of innings it took the Chicago White Sox to finally de- feat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, on today's date in 1984. The game clocked in at eight hours, six minutes and spanned two days — the longest game (in elapsed time) in major—|eague his- tory. soapbox “I told Robby [earlier in the day Saturday], ‘Don’t worry, if we win this race I ’m going totake care of you. ” --John Veiazquemhejociteywho rodeAnlmai Kingdom toviaiioryin Seinrdqrs Kentuckyberby, acknowledging hisfriend and feiiowjookey RobbyAibarado. Aibarado wassetin iideAnimei Kingdom lnthe race urriiihefeii off his mountthewedneedqybefore, brieaidng his noeeend prompling Animal Kingdom's owner and uaineriio replace him-deepiiiehie havingbeenciearedtioridebydoctors. f‘One thing that I can credit since Igot here is the fans have been great. I’m just happy to be a part of this organization and happy that we can move on. I don't want to be a ‘ party—pooper or nothin’, we ’II enjoy tonight, but tomorrow we’Il move on.” -0i