Vol. 106, Iss. 6 | Tuesday, September 27, 2016
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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BOV
BOV
Physics dept. takes initiative
Data science program plans revealed Thurs.
Plans for engineering track announced to BOV
Minor to help careers
EMILY CHAUMONT FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
EMILY CHAUMONT FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
Just three hours after a tour of the new Integrated Science Center Sept. 22, the Board of Visitors sat down to hear a presentation on developments in science curricula at the College of William and Mary. These developments were presented as part of the Provost’s Report Thursday. One such effort includes a proposed major in engineering physics and applied design. Vice Provost for Research Dennis Manos said it is important to emphasize that a traditional engineering degree program is not what’s being proposed. He cited schools like Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia and said that there are already places in Virginia where students can pursue engineering degrees. Instead, he said that this proposed program would be a new way of focusing and looking at existing programs in physics and applied science. “Our intent is to leverage our strengths by blending two great complementary forces at William and Mary,” Manos said. “Namely, faculty expertise with liberal arts education and student desire to use technology to change and to improve the world.” Rather than referring to the proposed program as a major, physics professor Wouter Deconinck called it a “curricular track.” The proposed program would incorporate more breadth in terms of design courses, simulation courses, specialty labs and business courses. Additionally, the program would focus on the COLL 400 capstone requirement. Rather than having students work one-on-one with a professor doing research, students would work in teams of four to six with mentors from science and business, producing prototypes and plans for solving tasks based on real-world problems. This would incorporate the proposed engineering physics and See ENGINEERING page 3
COLLEGE LIGHTS UP FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN, EMPIRE STATE BUILDING On Sept. 29, the Empire State Building will light up in green and gold as the College of William and Mary celebrates the New York kickoff of the For the Bold campaign. With $577.5 million raised for the billion-dollar campaign as of June 30, 2016, the College is beginning a series of regional campaign launches. These launches will be starting with the green and gold blaze in the Big Apple on Thursday. The lighting of the tower will coincide with a jazz program and strolling supper at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall at the Time Warner Center in New York City. The College was able to secure the lighting of the Empire State building Thursday free of charge. They did this by submitting a tower lighting request application to the Empire State Realty Trust, the company that owns the structure. — Flat Hat Chief Staff Writer Emily Martell
A curricular change of pace
College shifts focus to interdisciplinary learning SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
Following a College of William and Mary-wide push for the creation of new academic programs, members of the Board of Visitors heard updates on the status of two science-related programs last week. Additionally, the College will unveil minors in Native Studies and museum studies in the coming months. When Vice Provost for Research Dennis Manos updated the BOV on the progress of its engineering and design initiative, he emphasized that the engineering initiative would not be like that of other universities. Instead, the program will include more hands-on “makerspaces.” These makerspaces are laboratory spaces designed for collaborative learning and creating. “Our intent is to leverage our strengths by blending two great complementary forces at William and Mary,” Manos said. “Namely, faculty expertise with liberal arts education and student desire to use technology to change and improve the world.” In terms of expanding other science programs, the College will now offer a minor in data sciences. These classes will allow students to work with data in ways that apply to various majors. One student, Emma Lather ’19, created a major that would allow her to study data in a way that impacts environmental science. “I think it’s important that the College is creating new academic programs to offer the students both subjects that they’re interested in and opportunities to learn skills that will make them attractive to future employers,” Lather said. Following other long-term pushes for new curriculum, the College will begin offering an anthropology minor
in Native Studies in the spring 2017 semester. According to anthropology professor Kathleen Bragdon, one of the founders of the program, the minor was created in part to offer something of interest to many students and native peoples in surrounding communities. “We are trying to think very creatively in advance about how to fit our classes into the COLL system,” Bragdon said. “The minor is primarily housed in anthropology, but it very much incorporates courses in native topics from every department with interest.” Bragdon said that she hopes the program can be a freestanding major one day, because she believes many people will find this program to be very interesting. She said she hopes that this minor will allow students to have an enhanced group-learning experience instead of traditional academic classes. This major follows the liberal arts model, and includes classes from the linguistics, history, English and anthropology departments. Additionally, Bragdon said she hopes that in the future the minor will allow students to form relationships with local reservations and native peoples that will fit within the COLL requirements. While it is still unclear what exactly this minor will entail, the College will also begin to offer a minor in museum studies. This minor would allow students to collaborate with the Muscarelle Museum of Art and the art department. The Native Studies major will be the first ready at the College, but the rest are being developed for the next semesters. “This is incredibly important work,” College President Taylor Reveley said. “You are all doing a marvelous job of getting into it. This really, really matters to the future of William and Mary. Deliver quickly.”
See DATA SCIENCE page 3
ACADEMICS
Native studies minor digs up local history Dept. to launch program SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
Starting in January, students will have the opportunity to declare a new minor in the anthropology department — Native Studies. The minor will include classes focusing on native peoples from North America, South America, Latin America and Polynesia. According to anthropology professor and co-founder of the program Kathleen Bragdon, the minor is an important step to further representation of native people at the College of William and Mary. This minor also aims to draw the interest See NATIVE STUDIES page 4
STUDENT ASSEMBLY
Class of 2020 to fill empty seats in Student Assembly Senate
Freshman elections on Sept. 29 will determine class president, senators SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
This Thursday, the Class of 2020 will elect five representatives to the Student Assembly senate. These representatives will join the 324th session of the senate and will serve until the SA elections in the spring. 12 students are campaigning for the position of Class of 2020 president, and 22 students are campaigning for one of four positions as Class of 2020 senators. Class presidential candidate Kelsey Vita ’20 says that she decided to campaign because she wanted to increase student involvement in SA. “I want to make sure the freshman class knows they have people to come to,” Vita said. “I want to be able to bring up issues that they have and support new class initiatives.” Vita has proposed building a class website, holding biweekly office hours in Swemromas and hosting monthly townhall-style meetings for students to vote on what projects they want SA to take on.
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The new Integrated Science Center opened for classes this semester. The building will house classes in newly proposed programs.
As part of a presentation during the Provost’s Report, AidData geospatial scientist Dan Runfola spoke to the Board of Visitors Sept. 22 about work the College of William and Mary is doing to develop a minor in data science. Runfola said that although the College does have opportunities for data science research and investigation — including AidData and specific COLL 100 classes like the one he teaches called Breaking Intuition — there is not a formalized program that allows interested
On her campaign website, Vita lists more ideas that she would like to address if elected to SA. This list includes extending the hours for on-campus dining options, providing more meal plan options for freshmen and extending Student Health Center hours to 24/7. Vita also had identified sustainability as an important issue on campus. “Our college can do a lot more to eliminate waste,” Vita said. “We should set up compost stations around campus by dorms and for certain events on the Sunken Garden. We should also look into electronic recycling and tailgate recycling.” Another class presidential candidate, Kelsey Short ’20, said that she wants to help freshman halls bond since she feels that many freshmen remain separated from their hall mates at this point in the semester. “I just really want to know the class and make sure that everyone has a say in important matters and can voice their ideas and concerns,” Short said. “I want them to be able to come to me. I want to
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stand out. As president, I would bring the grade together and facilitate our class’s ideas to get us there.” On his campaign website, Rogers lists a four-prong platform focusing on communication between himself and the student body. On his website, Rogers said that he is interesting in making foodwaste recycling as efficient as possible through building relationships with Campus Kitchens and The Food Recovery Network. He also said that he would like to hold Class of 2020-specific events, including dances and holiday parties. “Inclusivity is a huge goal,” Rogers said on his website. “I will constantly have my eye towards bringing our class together. I never want to only know people I agree with. I’m hoping these events will introduce us to new friends who will challenge us. ... If elected, I plan to create a system in which you can find other freshman [sic] who share a class with you. Through this, you can find study partners for you to get even better grades.” Campaigning began Sept. 19 at midnight.
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make everyone’s year unforgettable.” Two issues that Short has identified as important on campus are sustainability — particularly related to recycling — and finance in SA. To connect with students and share her platform, Short filmed a short video that included biographical information about herself as well as interviews with some of her friends. “I have a friend in Student Assembly who’s told me a little bit about it,” Short said. “So far I’ve liked looking at the finance that they do. But I’d want to see what the freshmen want us to look into first.” Class presidential candidate Caleb Rogers ’20 said that for him, serving as class president would help him represent the College of William in Mary. “I’ve always been involved[/ interested] in politics,” Rogers said in an email. “William and Mary has been a dream of mine for a long while now, so I have always wanted to represent the school. I would like 2020 to mean something at William and Mary. We can be another graduating class or we can
Brendan Doyle ’20 discusses the influence of the Colin Kaepernick national anthem controversy and how William and Mary students can carry the discussion further. page 5
The Flat Hat reviews the Green Leafe Take a look into a sampling of the Green Leafe’s updated fare. page 8