College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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...IT WAS THE YEAR OF THE OX 22. 23 24. 25 26 27. 28. He changed his opinion again of Bo Derek. He laughed at the people who said that the Sports Illustrated Bathing suit issue was sexist as he wiped the drool from his lip. He talked about David Letterman when all else failed. He never really thought about the fact that Eddy Murphy really was not timeless. He went to a zoo (sometimes called Ft. Lauderdale or Daytona Beach) with many wild animals for Spring Break... He resented conservatives for trying to force their morality on the rest of the nation. He heralded in the birth of a new generation with the Prime Minister of Lithuania giving Ronald Reagan the first Presidential ' wedgie ' in pub- lic. This was of course after the U.S. refused to buy 60 million tons of Lithuanian cat food. He stopped drinking mineral water, and began to pursue other useless ways to spend his money. He killed the first ox he saw and sent it to the starving children of Ethiopia. He did, however, have time for a serious note. He never acknowledged that the Col- lege of William and Mary was the home of many of the best times and best friends of his life. School was a blast. And if there was one thing that did truly characterize the man of 1985, it was his zeal for the future. I hope he never forgets that school was short, special, and very formative. — Martin McClanan 29. 30. Crim Dell was timeless. A resident of the frat complex finds an innovative nay to store his bike. lA Well, maybe we aren ' t all yuppie Republicans, ' he front porch of 406 Jamestown Road often eemed to be the last bastion of student liberalism. 23

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1985 cont. I If

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Religion, Sex, Drugs, Politics From the Outside Looking In . . . Lisa Birnbach claims to tell it like it is on the explosive issues of religion, sex, drugs and politics, according to her obser- vations of student trends on her state-by- state trek to 186 American colleges and universities. The College Handbook (published by Ballatine, of the First Official Preppy Handbook) is a How-to guide to student living in the 1980s. The pages of the handbook are filled with editorials on down-to-earth subjects such as how to peacefully co-exist with an undesirable roommate, co-ed virginity, and the status of Greek life on campuses. The criteria of her analysises of almost two hundred colleges and universities ranges from the practical, such as location, size, and cost of tuition, to the subjunctive — college politi- cal persuasion, best worst professors, dorms, classes, and favorite drugs. Ms. Birnbach ' s entry on The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg raises serious questions about her credibil- ity. In fact, one wonders if she has ever been to William and Mary, and if so, who in the world did she interview? (They must be given credit for snowballing Ms. Birnbach.) While Birnbach is accurate in her por- trayal of the college as being considered very competitive academically (most agree that W M ' s reputation gets better the farther the distance from Williams- burg), she fails to capture the essence of the student body at the college. William and Mary is filled with home- coming queens, and country club ath- letes, who are arch-conservative in view, not unlike a prep school , she wrote. Birnbach emphasized the school ' s 70% in- state population and the popularity of Creek life to back up her findings that W M is a very homogenous crowd. Despite occasional frustration with Wil- liamsburg ' s limited nightlife scene, (It took no amazing insight for Birnbach to name Paul ' s, The Creen Leaf, Second Street, and the Blue Rose as off-campus favorites), most students are aware of the powerful sense of history and the beauty of the ► The growth of campus bands — from folksy acoustic groups to the Irreverent Skum — refutes Birnbach ' s assessment of W M as conservative. Here, members of Scum pose with their very own groupie. 24 campus. While students occasionally romp around in the ' Burg, most would not agree that DOG street is the ultimate in trendiness. Colonial Williamsburg is America ' s ultimate in antiquity , says History major Peggy Carroll, but few at the college are so appreciate of their environ- ment that they take part-time jobs in C.W. although they don ' t need the money , as Birnbach claims. Birnbach named the drinking age con- troversy as the 1984 Big Issue and probably hit it on the nose nation-wide — at least in Virginia. Budget cuts in 1984 were also a hot spot of debate. Lacrosse, swimming and golf (Birn- bach ' s college favorite sports ) were originally axed by the college administra- tion, but have been reinstated on a tem- porary basis. Birnbach claimed that basket- ball and football are not spectacular sports at William and Mary. Let ' s get serious! In terms of athletic participation, the student body is very much athletically minded , said Director of Mens Athletics, Jim Copeland. Out of twenty-seven sports at the college, the two sports which draw the most crowds are basketball and football, which have followings from the town of Williamsburg and the college. Copeland said that an average home game for Tribe football draws a crowd of about 14,000 fans, to fill its 15,000-seat capacity stadium. Tribe basketball, this year a participant in the ECAC Southern Conference, usually attracts a crowd of about 3,700 per game, although some- times the crowd is as large as 7,000. Students complain about grade defla- tion at William and Mary, citing History and Geology courses as a tough A. Birn- bach repeats this rumor in her handbook. However, Dorothy Bryant, Registrar of the college, says It is dangerous to speculate on the easiest majors to attain a high grade. No one in the administration would take such a chance because it is all rela- tive. Bryant and Birnbach agree that Biology and Government are two of the most popular majors at W M, although the registrar says that other popular majors include Economics, English, and Business.