Vol. 107, Iss. 18 | Tuesday, October 3, 2017
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
STUDENT LIFE
e h t f o t u O B LU E
Over two-year period, police responded to 49 “blue light” activations where no one was at phone or in area MEILAN SOLLY // FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
T
90
Number of blue lights on the College of William and Mary’s campus
49
Number of times WMPD responded to blue light activations and no one was at phone or in area, 2015-2017
4
Number of legitimate blue light phone calls received by Indiana UniversityBloomington Police over 20-year period
he 90 “blue lights” scattered across the College of William and Mary’s campus are ubiquitous reminders of university safety measures, but the ever-growing prevalence of cell phones has rendered their role more symbolic than utilitarian. “They’re like lamp posts,” Head of Media and Communications for Sexual Violence Prevention group 16(IX)3 Brendan McDonald ’18 said. “People just look at them and don’t give them a second thought, which means that they aren’t really used. … If you have a tool and no one’s using it, then you’re like, ‘Well, what’s the point of this tool?’” Freestanding Emergency Call Boxes, known colloquially as ‘blue lights’ because of their illuminated blue-colored tops, were first installed at the College in the early 1990s. If an emergency arises, individuals can seek assistance by pressing the blue light’s call button. Callers are immediately connected to the William and Mary Police Department, which sends officers to the specified blue light regardless of whether the caller verbally responds to inquiries. If the emergency situation is not immediately evident, dispatched officers conduct a thorough survey of the surrounding area. WMPD documents calls based on the nature of the incident rather than method of communication, so there are no comprehensive statistics regarding the number of calls placed from blue lights. The department does, however, track the number of activations where officers responded and no one was at the phone or in the area: Between Sept. 28, 2015 and Sept. 28, 2017, WMPD received 49 such calls. “Based on our experience we can say that we do have a few emergency phone activations a year where we do render assistance to someone at that location,” Police Chief Deborah Cheesebro said in an email. “911 calls received are typically initiated via cell phones. But, the overwhelming majority of our callers use the regular WMPD phone number to reach us.” This February, McDonald spearheaded 16(IX)3’s creation of a blue light map after he was assigned to create “something impactful” for a gender, sexuality and women’s studies class project. WMPD gave McDonald a list of the blue lights’ locations, and he walked around campus with a GPS tracker to accurately capture their coordinates. McDonald found that areas frequented by tour groups, including the Mason School of Business and Sunken Garden, had multiple blue lights, while spots such as the Lake Matoaka trails had limited numbers. “[The response to the map] been pretty positive,” McDonald said. “I think it’s been helpful for everybody to have a map like that, but again, it doesn’t help to have something if nobody is using it.” McDonald cited two reasons for the blue lights’ low utilization: a general lack of awareness regarding the blue lights’ intended purpose, and the widespread presence of cell phones and mobile apps such as the Rave Guardian safety app, which acts similarly to the blue lights by providing a direct line to local authorities. Still, McDonald, Cheesebro and Student Assembly Secretary of Health and Safety John Hollander ’18 all agreed that the blue lights contribute to a sense of campus safety. “The blue light system was installed with the goal of having help within line-of-sight at all times for students,” Hollander said in an email. “It’s difficult to find a place on campus that doesn’t have a blue light nearby at this point. That carries both practical benefit (it’s easy to reach them in case of emergency) and symbolic reassurance (you can spot one if you look around in case you feel unsafe).” Cheesebro said the lights’ physical presence actively discourages crime. When an individual presses a blue light’s call button, the titular strobe light turns on, warning assailants that help is on the way, as well as attracting the attention of any passersby. The lights also provide a heightened sense of security, as their presence on campus reminds potential victims and assailants alike that assistance is just a button away — and, unlike cell phones, the lights won’t run out of battery when they’re needed most. “There can be poor cell phone service in remote parts of a campus,” Cheesebro said, “and cell phones may be low on a charge. … Many people can become distraught if involved in an incident, making it difficult to dial phone numbers.” Despite these benefits, some schools have opted to revamp or discontinue their blue light systems. In early 2016, the University of Colorado-Boulder removed its blue lights, and the school’s police chief See BLUE LIGHTS page 3
AMY OLEJNICZAK / THE FLAT HAT
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WILLIAMSBURG
City Council to vote on luxury student housing Plan for Midtown Row includes 200 all-inclusive residential apartment units AMELIA LUCAS FLAT HAT DIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR
The Williamsburg City Council will vote on redevelopment plans for the Williamsburg Shopping Center, also known as Midtown Road, including a special use permit for more than 200 studentcentered residential units located above ground-floor retail space, Oct. 12. According to College of William and Mary spokesperson Suzanne Seurattan, nearly 75 percent of undergraduate students live in on-campus housing, with about 1,500 students choosing off-campus arrangements every year. During a Planning Commission meeting Sept. 20, Broad Street Realty co-founder and CEO Michael Jacoby said more than 50 percent of the proposed apartments would have a four-bedroom, four-bathroom floor plan. The special use permit would allow up to four unrelated individuals to live in the same apartment, a modification to the city’s three-person rule. “A four-bedroom, four-bath is just a very successful living arrangement that our partners have used elsewhere, and we thought that would be a very appropriate type of unit that students would enjoy,” Jacoby said. “We needed to modify the rules a little bit, and that’s it.” In addition to the four-
bedroom floor plan, other apartments could have one bedroom and one bathroom, two bedrooms and two bathrooms or three bedrooms and three bathrooms. “This is going to be a great project … closest to school, better amenities than any other housing project that caters to students,” Jacoby said. Jacoby said that current rent estimates range from $785 per month for a room in a fourbedroom apartment to $1,275 to $1,290 for a single person apartment. Rent would be allinclusive, encompassing utilities, Wi-Fi, use of a pool and barbecue areas, parking and other amenities. In comparison, the Griffin Arms Apartments, located about a quarter mile from campus, were built in 2014. The complex holds eight apartments, each with three bedrooms, and according to WMBG Rentals’ website, rent runs between $925 and $1,000 per person. The King & Queen Apartments are less than a quarter mile from campus. Originally constructed in the 1960s, the two complexes house 26 apartments. According to the King & Queen website, rent ranges from $1,050 to $1,150 per person. “William & Mary has great interest in a thriving See HOUSING page 3
WILLIAMSBURG
Broad Street proposes hotel, new retail spaces Williamsburg Shopping Center renovation hinges on Oct. 12 vote SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
The future of the Williamsburg Shopping Center is in the hands of the City of Williamsburg’s City Council, whose members will vote on a proposed design for a complete renovation Oct. 12. The shopping center, which is home to ACE Hardware, Virginia ABC, Food Lion and Sal’s by Victor restaurant, is the planned site of a new retail and housing options, pending the upcoming vote. Broad Street Realty purchased the shopping center, located at the intersection of Monticello Avenue and Richmond Road, Jan. 6 for $13.3 million. Since then, local officials have debated the potential design, which would create luxury student apartments, new retail spaces and a hotel. When Broad Street Realty shared a conceptual design with the City’s Architectural Review Board in July 2017, it
did so as a courtesy, not as part of the formal review process. At this meeting, concerns about the proposed four-story buildings, which would be over 20 feet higher than the City’s current building height limit, were raised. However, some, like ARB Chairman Robert Lane, said that they do not believe these taller buildings pose a problem. “My initial thought on that was, ‘Gee, we don’t want to see a lot of high-rise buildings in Williamsburg,’ that’s clearly not what I think would be appropriate,” Lane said. “When you look at the specifics and at the details, the height of the buildings won’t become the new standard for Williamsburg. It would be an exception for this area. After seeing the drawings and renderings, I don’t think it will be an eyesore or that it will stand out all that much. … This is going to be a whole complex. It is going to See RENOVATION page 4
Inside Variety
Inside Opinions
Cultural appropriation at the Caf
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Sarah Malks ’19 explains why the naming of Buddha Bowls is insensitive to those who practice Buddhism, one of the world’s largest religions. page 5
Tribe rugby on the rise
How the men and women of club Rugby are building community and scoring wins on and off the field. page 7