OCR::/Vol_116/WLURG39_RTP_20130506/WLURG39_RTP_20130506_001.2.txt 372.755‘ 11557.- v. HE» “D 1'1 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSHY RING-TUM PHI. BY THE STUDENTS AND FOR THE STUDENTS SINCE 1897 VOLUMECXV||,NUMBER21 A On Friday afternoon, Washington and Lee stu- V_.,« dents were alerted to. the fact that a fire had con- "i ~* sumed the majority of the Preston Street home of four W&L seniors. ’ - First responders were called to 106 Preston Street on Friday due to a fire that initiated on the porch of the house. ‘According to, Sidney Evans, the VicevPresident for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, the fire “severely damaged [the] off- campus residence”. Public safety director, Mike Young, called the fire “a total loss”. ‘ Although none of the W&L students were in- _ jured, few of their belongings were salvaged from the remains of the fire. Young said the W&L students “are being as- sisted by Student Affairs staff members, Dean Futrell and others”. According to Dean Evans, the Dean of Students office was “working with them to secure housing and to help obtain basic supplies”. “The affected students are all seniors, and I know that everyone in the W&L community will join us in supporting them as they finish the final weeks of the academic year,” Evans said. For those that wish to contribute any form of support to these students, please contact Dean Evans at sevans@wlu.edu. -".)_’§‘ Q 'nsiciei;o Alumni rel their giory days See what Washington and Lee alumns have to sa about W&L “back in t 97 day . A must have! Who wouldn’t want to have an ap that helps you . pick u gir s and keeps you up to ate on Kanye West? Friend us on Facebook! /< @ringtumphi Holocaust j survivor tells story By Graham Colton STAFF WRITER _ _v Washington and Lee University students have their share of troubles, but after listening to Marcel Drimer’s childhood stories, one would find that these trying times are nothing that can’t be handled. _.._(-- f Have a story idea for us? Send it to us on Twitter or . at;l\lh"e9“‘ 0. 7&1‘ ’ News---# “We thought about giving up but I opinionS_'_# we didn’t,’’ said Drimer, while talking (_ & _ # about his experience surviving the Ho- Alts I-"em locaust. - - Drimer’s talk was just one event of many during W&L’s Holocaust Re- membrance Week. Just three weeks ago, Drimer, along with other survi- vors, met with President Obama for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Sporls...# Wednesday 7 Thunder showers Born in 1934, Drimer was only five . 0 0 years—old when Germany invaded P0- 52 .69 land and his hometown of Drohobycz fell to Soviet control in 1939. The town was small, with a population of about 10,000, he said. “You had some well-educated Jews who were doctors and lawyers, but then you had others who scraped by to make a living,” Drimer said. .. Thzrtrsday M Partly Cloudy 54°-76° . _ Ff'iaICl“V It wasn’t until July 1, 1941, that \ -_ paruy cloudy the Germans infiltrated the town and . ' 0 0 began putting restrictions on Jews. 59 -79 Drimer said he and his family were m——-—-—------——— —— only allowed to walk in certain places, [turd I 7 and were required to wear arm bands Sa C") identifying them as Jews. Scattered Drimer described the terror that 580_ 770 came with German aktions, or violent A operations against Jewish civilians. I, — During one specific German aktion, / L , S14/76 0}’ , ' his family hid, in a wheat field under ' Fewshowers .f — his mother’s beidge choat.. . J J 0 0 , your . I‘... at “We starte earing Germans 44 4 '74 screaming, dogs barking, people cry- ing, begging for their life, and then shots fired, and then it was quiet for 10 or 15 minutes,” he said, congratulate the women’s lacrosse players whom you know! See page 6 for more information on the team's victory this weekend. Monday Continued on page 2 ,'~ ,; r-.u| ..-s.r... -..u.i.._... '%».:,1t:g 3-was 2 - THE RING-TUM PHI - MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 PowerDown cuts ener By Andrea Owen STAFF WRITER Washington and Lee has begun its first Spring PowerDown Challenge to reduce energy consumption. Students living on-campus are en- couraged to unplug and turn off appli- ances and electronicsnot in use. The dorm, Greek house or theme house that reduces consumption by the largest per- centage between May 3 and May 10 will win a Power Sundae Party at the Lee House on» Monday, May 13. Mr. and Mrs. Ruscio will also be participating. “We are hoping that [the competition] will give people a reason to. . .take a look around their room or... their dorm and... look at those things that are on that don’t W&L’s energy specialists. In 2009, Washington and Lee attend- ed an energy conservation conference to learn that the University was dead last in a list of 30 schools for energy use per square foot, said Stewart. The schools were all part of the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund that gives money to schools for energy projects. After the conference, Washington and Lee decided to step up its game to reduce consumption. Stewart said that energy use per square foot has dropped since then and that W&L is no longer at the bottom ofthe list. In fact, Morris Trimmer, W&L’s oth- er energy specialist, says that the new energy program reduced consumption by $600,000 to $800,000 in the past year. The PowerDown Competition is the first major push to reduce consumption, said Trimmer. Stewart said the changes students are asked to make are small and easy. “We’re not really even really asking anybody to sacrifice anything,” she said. “We’re talking about...not using some- thing ifyou don’t need it.” She said that one of the energy-wast- ing practices that sticks out to her is fra- ternities leaving on lights outside their houses when they are not in Lise. Stewart said that the competition is a most improved model because it mea- sures a percentage drop. This method was chosen because buildings have dif- need to be,” said Jane Stewart, one of‘ ferences in energy use beyond student control. For instance, all heating and air conditioning pumps are located in the Pi Beta Phi house, so it has the highest en- ergy use of all sororities. Stewart said she had an idea of who would win the competition based on past responsiveness, but she would not men- From March 26-28, the Student Body voted on the Constitutional Re- view Committee’s (CRC) proposed amendments to the Washington and Lee Student Body Constitution. Here are the results as printed in Campus Notices on April 1: Of 1330 ballots cast, 749 voted in favor of the amendment for The Con- stitutional Review Committee to meet every 3 years (56%), 198 voted in stitutional Review Committee to meet every 6 years (15%). Neither amend- ment passed. ' Venture club seeks new members By Krysta Huber STA F F w R IT E R Now wrapping up its second year on campus, the Venture Club is seeking new members for next fall. Club members will be hosting an in- formation session evening at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 6 in Commons 345. Inter- ested students of all years and majors are encouraged to attend. The Venture Club is Washington and Lee’s entrepreneurship organization, which works primarily with alumni busi- nesses. Venture Club members focus on the many aspects of startuppconsulting, helping new businesses to set up suc- cessful business plans. , ~ Venture Club President Mark Sowin- ski ‘I4 said that the overall purpose of the club is to foster a genuine interest in entrepreneurship. “The mission of the Venture Club is to develop the spirit of entrepreneurship within the [W&L] community,” said So- an investing branch, the Venture Invest- I ing Group. Vice President of ‘Investing Henry Luther ‘ 14 will lead the group be- . ginning in September. Luther said that this summer, the in- vesting group will be creating a system and assigning criteria to the Venture Club’s investments in entrepreneurial companies. “I will be looking specifically for stu- dents that have the needed skills to make this group successful,” he said. Vice President of Marketing Casey I Mackintosh ’15, who is responsible for publicizing the Venture Club on campus, ' ii’ ‘I in said that the new investing group was ' one of the reasons why-she wanted to be the Vice President of Marketing. “I wanted this position because I be- lieve that this club has a lot of growth po- tential, especially with the launching of the Venture Investment Group,” she said. “‘T he strength of a Venture Club experience is the diver- sity in experience and the ability to obtain a true and deep understanding of how start-up businesses work. ” Mark Sowinski ‘14lVenture Club President winski. Sowinski said that the club works toward its mission in three major ways. One of the club’s efforts is through con- sulting. Venture Club members work with several startup companies each se- mester. The Venture Club has recently con- sulted with two alumni companies, Ice- box Coffee and HeroMe. Sowinski said that Icebox Coffee, which was started by Bebe Goodrich ’07, is a coffee con- centrate that can be mixed with water or milk to make instant iced coffee. HeroMe, which was developed by Josh Bryan ’07, is working on a line of action figures that-is customized to the preferences of each purchaser. Venture Club Director of Consulting - Alex Hensleigh ’ l 4 said she believes that Icebox Coffee bodes a promising future. “Icebox Coffee is an awesome com- pany because they have a great product and great growth potential,” Hensleigh said. Sowinski said that the club is cur- rently consulting with Icebox Coffee and will be-meeting with Goodrich in the next few weeks to discuss sales strate- gies for her company. The Venture Club also hosts events on campus throughout the year, which are open to all W&L students. Sowinski said that events like the Entrepreneurship Summit and the annual Startup Pitch Competition give students the opportu- nity to network with alumni. The Venture Club’s third effort in achieving its mission is the newest ofthe three. The club is currently developing “With this new branch, the club will now encompass marketing, venture capital, investment and consulting projects.” During weekly lunch meetings, Ven- ture Club members interact with lead- ing entrepreneurs and venture capitalists via Skype. The officers all agreed that the advice they’ve been given by those entrepreneurs has been one of the most valuable experiences of the club. “Venture Club is a great opportunity to work with real businesses and gain ap- plicable skills,” Hensleigh said. Mackintosh said that the tangible skills she has also learned as a Venture Club member, such as creating business models and writing research briefs, are extremely important and will certainly beuseful after college. Sowinski said that a key distinction of the Venture Club is how different each member’s experience can be, given their role in the club, the types of companies they work with and the variety of stu- dents they collaborate with. “The strength of a Venture Club ex- perience is the diversity in experience and the ability to obtain a true and deep understanding of how startup businesses work,” he said. . Sowinski added that the skills stu- dents acquire by participating in the Ven- ture Club are beneficial to many careers. “Graduated members of the Venture Club have gone into careers as varied as investment banking, marketing, venture capital or Teach for America, as the skills developed in the club are widely appli- cable across many fields.” it through adversity. Drimer’s first-had, eyewinessiacou nt of th Holicaust wa Continued from Holocaust survlvor By Graham Colton STAFF WRITER “And then it would start all over again.” “It was like a symphony of death,” said Drimer. ‘ Shortly after, as day turned to dusk, Drimer said he and his mother and sister encountered a German soldier, and they all made eye contact and stopped. “It was only for a minute, but it felt like an eternity,” Drimer said. The soldier, for what reason Drimer does not know, turned around and walked away. Drimer also talked about a “tale of two coats,” when he, his mother and his sister were hiding in an attic for an ex- tended period oftime. His father would bring them food when possible, but they went without food for several days when his father didn’t come back. “My father eventually bribed his way out of prison with a fur coat,” Drimer said, as Jews were not» allowed to have such things at the time. When his father returned, he brought a peasant woman whohad some provi- sions. Drimer said his mother was will- ing to barter with her, and the woman said she wanted Drimer’s sister’s winter coat in return for some bread. “And my mother said, ‘But that is my child’s winter coat,’ and the woman said ‘It doesn’t matter, you will all be dead by winter,”’ Drimer said. Once liberated in August 1944, Drimer said he had a hard time acclimat- ing to life post-war. He said his muscles were weak, so he had to relearn how to walk. I However, Drimer is thankful to have survived. Only 400 people from his town were able to get through the Holocaust. Results of the Student Body Vote t on Constitution favor of the amendment for The Con-. gy use tion the name of the dorm or house. As for the future, Trimmer said he thought the competition could change long-term behavior. “Hopefully it will have an impact be- yond the challenge period,” he said. Of the 1251 ballots cast, 883 vot- ed in favor of passing all remaining” amendments (71%). The remaining’ amendments passed. _ The updated Constitution is posted P on the EC website. CRC Chairman’ Annelise Madison would like to thank: the students who voted on the amend-S ments and encouraged others to: vote; Also, thanks to CRC members Pa-. qui Toscano, Clark Hildabrand, Rob Ridgeway, Alex Berger, John Lang-* ley, Cam Higgins, Emily,Zankma_:n* and James Gordon for allof their hard, work this yean — i I ‘ "' ‘ ‘ PATRICK HINELY '73 / photographer the ltimate testimony to perseverlng He now lives in Burke, Va. with his wife, while his son and two grandchildren live elsewhere. “Out of the 6.5 million people killed, 1.5 million were children,” Drimer said. “Think of what they could have done for this world.” Drimer said he’s written about more than 10 separate stories from his war ex- periences, "and has been told he “writes with an accent." He said it is important for him to write and speak, as there are still some individuals who insist the Ho- locaust never happened. “I was a witness to what was happen- ing, and by you listening, now you be- . come witnesses,” he said. “We must see ’to it that nothing like this ever happens again.” OCR::/Vol_116/WLURG39_RTP_20130506/WLURG39_RTP_20130506_003.2.txt MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 3 ° THE RING-TUM PHI ° "By Hannah Howard STAFF WRITER Violence in Syria continues Violence continues in Syria with massacres in several towns. At least 50 were announced dead in al-Baida on Friday after pro-Assad troops raided the village. This tally included women and children. After the attack, Syrian opposition is_— sued a plea for international action to the Arab League and the United Nations. Reports suggest that what has been called a “large scale massacre” was a re- sponse to the earlier attack on a bus carrying pro-Assad fighters. Russia unveils new landmark On Thursday, Russia_unveiled its newest cultural landmark in St. Petersburg. The Mariinsky Il Theater, a modern ballet and opera house, celebrated its open- ing with a large gala event. Director Mikhail Piotrovsky and others criticized the building for its unappealing exterior architecture. However, officials are excited for the future prospects surrounding the theater. Musharraf banned from elections On Tuesday, the Pakistani courts banned Pervez Musharraf from the upcoming elections. Musharraf, a former military leader, returned to Pakistan in March to support his political party and run in these historic elections. In response to his banning, his party is boycotting the elections. They claim that a free and fair election is no longer possible. Arab League revises plan In meetings early last week, the Arab League revised their peace plan for Israel __and Palestine. The new initiative accepted the possibility of land swapping in the future. Although many leaders praised the revision, Palestinian Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh said that land swapping was not an action that outsiders could decide on for the nation: “Palestine is not a property, it is not for sale, not for a swap and cannot be traded.” Garment factory collapses A garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh on April 24. Authorities are still re- covering bodies from the rubble; the total reached over 500 on Friday. Dozens of victims were buried by the ruins and many families are worried that their victims will never be traced. Nine people were taken into custody after the collapse for charges such as negligence. This disaster shed light on many of the companies that outsource to Bangladesh because of cheap labor. Interest rates cut in Europe The European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday by .25%. This cut, which is the first in ten months, brought rates to a record low .5%. The cut did not come as a surprise in the midst of rising unemployment in Europe and a drop in eurozone inflation below the target level. Unemployment levels hit a record high in March and, since then, ofiicials at the ECB have been closely monitoring economic situations and waiting to act. The ECB’s hope is that the economic situation will turn for the better later inthe year. Malaysia elections spark controversy Drama surrounds the elections in Malaysia on Sunday because of recent ru- mors that the ruling party has been unfairly “buying votes.” The former swing state of Sabah has been a stronghold for the current party in control for the past two years. Suspicious arose in the time leading up to this election that previous administrations gave illegal immigrants citizenship in exchange for votes. Au- thorities are investigating the allegations. Relivin glory days Alums say W&L has evolve , but it is still the mine Cainpzi/s By Athena Cao STA F F w R I T E R Washington and Lee is evolvino, but nothing has changed, alumni say. More than 600 alumni came home for their reunions last weekend. Many are amazed at the renovations on campus. but they say the W&L spirit never changes. “Obviously there have been new build- ings built everywhere you pop-up, but the more it changes, the tnore it stays the same,” says Thomas O’Brien ’88, ‘9lL. - “The essence of W&L is still the same. [and] the spirit of W&L is still the same." Living in Louisville, Ky., O‘Brien drives down to Lexington about once a year to recruit for his law firm, Frost Brown Todd LLC. He said some of his classmates were shocked at the changes on campus because they “literally" had not come back since graduation, but to him, the school is evolving gradually. Scott Fowler ’83 also said that some as- pects of W&L remain the same. Fowler”s grandfather, father and sister are all W&L alumni and last weekend, he brought his son Cameron, a future W&L General, to campus as well. Scott attended activities like the alumni party at the Liberty Hall Ruins and the Five-Star General event with his father. He said it felt like home. “It’s always great to come back to Lex- ington—it’s sort of like coming home.“ Fowler said. “The foundation and basics of what the University is about, what George Washington and [Robert] Lee gave it as character has always remained insistent." Rick 'Wootlwttt‘ti ‘73 and his wife be- lieve it was the tncntztlity of the honor system and st'te:tki*tg tradition that glltlltls the \\7t&‘;l spirit. il‘l'lCl‘C are few’ other plac- es like W&L. \‘v'oodwartl said. "\’y'hen V-.e"\e been walking Z1l'()Ulltl. l reali/.ct‘>ti\\.:tt'5‘"U'**%"‘3*‘5€Y£¢:%&%5sTfJfl§2?~fl&HiM%6W £*F§. 9 3. il’rep) played the duration in goal} . and made nine saves. Brown, Berenis and se- , nior defenseman Joe LaSala (Wilton, Conn./ Wilton) were all named to the all-toumamentfr‘ team. Lachlan pacedthe Maroons with four goals, while Hayden had two goals and three assists. Pilat added one goal and three assists, and Pease totaled 14 saves in goal. ' Washington and Lee will now wait to findf out it if will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament which begins with the first round on Wednesday. The field will be announced this evening at 10:00 pm. \ ~ Saturday Men’s Lacrosse Women’s Lacrosse 1st round NCAA TBD Men’s Tennis i 1st round NCAA TBD 2nd round NCAA TBD 3rd round NCAA TBD Women’s Tennis 1st round NCAA TBD 2nd round NCAA TBD 3rd round NCAA TBD Men’s Track atLynchburg at Lynchburg at Roanoke women’s Track atLynchburg at Lynchburg at UVA Challenge