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Surge in Community Service and Activism Within the SBC Community
By Blair Mullally '10
STAFF WRITER

As the holiday season grows closer, it seems easy to escape into the fantastical world of gifts and grandeur. In a season so filled with material wealth, many members of the Sweet Briar community have been taking a moment to ask what effect we as individuals are having on the world, through participation in acts of community service and activism.

According to Michaela Weiss ‘09, who participated during this year’s activities to support Oxfam, the business management class was very successful in fundraising for Oxfam. The Dining Hall Fast this year not only succeeded in raising community awareness, but was also monetarily successful, raising $2,29 2.29, the highest amount of money the activity has earned to date. Weiss added that “most students were willing to listen and were enthusiastic about participating in the Oxfam events”, which was evident in the 73% participation rate, a figure Weiss noted was “beyond our goal.”

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Randolph-Macon Students Sue
By Elizabeth Caldwell '08
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Though the picket signs and banners have been retired, the battle at Randolph-Macon Women’s College continues: in the court room. After the decision on September 9th by the school’s board of trustees to admit men beginning fall 2007, two lawsuits have been filed in the Lynchburg Court System against the college. The first was filed by several students and states that the college should delay the co-ed decision until 2010, when all current freshmen have graduated. The second was filed by former trustees of the college contending that the college must have legal approval to make the co-ed change.

So what’s the feeling on the RMWC campus? One student who wished to remain anonymous commented on the suit, “The board expected this. They had to. They even have a retiring president. It’s convenient.” Kathleen G. Bowman has been president of RMWC for 11 years, since 1994, but she will be retiring her post at the end of the 2006 school year.

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Rape: Are We Protected by the Law
By Emily Clifton '08
STAFF WRITER

As women, we face the possibility of sexual assault and rape from a different perspective than men. While some men face the same threat, we are often placed in questionable situations where our gender makes us a target: being alone in public places, especially after dark, or even at that fun holiday party at another college.

What happens when we are in a questionable situation? Should the worst happen, we expect to be protected by the law. This is not, unfortunately, always the case.

Traditionally, rape is defined as performing penetrative or enveloping sexual acts against another's will through violence, force, threat of injury, other duress, or where the victim is unable to decline due to the effects of drugs, alcohol and/or underage immaturity.

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Administration Considers Party Barn
By Emily Clifton
STAFF WRITER

At Sweet Briar, the boathouse is the most likely place to find a party. But there are many rules and regulations involved in using the boathouse, and as a facility it leaves much to be desired in some ways. For example, it lacks a water fountain, a necessity for preventing people from getting sick from alcohol during parties.

Our ability to use the residence halls for parties is limited by several factors. There are rules about noise, and people paid to enforce those rules. There are even rules about the number of people allowed in each room. According to the handbook, only one guest per person who resides in the room may be present at one time. We are also limited in housing choices, so people dissatisfied by either their ability to make noise or escape it in their residence halls often have no alternative. The handbook states "Students are not permitted to live off campus unless they are enrolled as a Turning Point student or are living at home with a parent or guardian in Amherst County, Nelson County or the City of Lynchburg and are enrolled at the College as a Day Student. Students who turn 23 years of age prior to the fall enrollment are permitted to reside off campus upon written request to the Executive Assistant to the President."

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Le Bistro or Bust: Limited Healthy Options at Sweet Briar
By Eugenia Hannon '10
STAFF WRITER

Le Bistro is the only alternative to Prothro, and, on the surface, it appears to be a fairly unhealthy option. However, though students may call for more healthy choices, different factors dictate what kind of food The Bistro offers.

First of all, it is a very small space. It can only do so much in terms of preparation and storage. There is also a lack of interest in health foods from the students who eat there. Many specialty foods are extremely perishable, and if there is little demand, there is no reason to waste money on things the majority of students will not eat. Nancy stressed the importance of choices—since all of the food is freshly made, the women on campus should be able to customize their meals to their specific dietary needs.

Dr. Linda Shank of the Business Management department says in an interview, “ Le Bistro has a limited customer base, which requires that they eliminate items from their menu that are not selling well to keep the business solvent.”

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Power Outages Affect Campus
By Eugenia Hannon '10
STAFF WRITER

Electricity is a necessity in this modern world, and it is especially important to college students, whose lives revolve around technology. It is then not surprising that the recent power outages here at Sweet Briar caused a lot of trouble, not only because most students were left in the dark, but also because no one had any idea when the power would go on again.

The Sweet Briar Internet servers were down, as well as all of the electricity in every building except Protho and Meta Glass, which are connected to a separate generator. Campus security started helping confused students right away; by taking all phone calls and handing out glow sticks. They also took extra safety measures, by checking campus grounds more than usual.

So what happened? Kelly Espy, Director of Residence Life and Housing, explained, “The last power outage we had was strange because it was two-fold. On Saturday, it affected parts of Amherst too and it was due to the "power box or power house" and the bad wind storm. On Sunday, an underground line actually snapped so Appalachian power actually had to dig in the woods to fix this problem- which is why it took longer than expected.”

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