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Herald
By and for the students of Hobart and William Smith Colleges ISSUE 12
VOLUME CXXVIII
FEBRUARY 4, 2005
Students ‘all-in’ with new poker craze Kari Bakalar Assistant Copy Editor
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World news at student fingertips, for free Melissa Sue Sorrells Copy Editor
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obart and William Smith Col leges has recently joined a long list of colleges and universities that are giving away free newspapers. The USA Today Collegiate Readership Program (CRP) began in the fall of 1997 as a partnership with Penn State University, where students read more than one and a half milion newspapers a year. The program delivers an assortment of regional and national newspapers to hundreds of college campuses across the nation, providing students with the opportunity to be more aware of world events. HWS students began enjoying this
service after the Winter Recess thanks to Robert Flowers, the interim director of Residential Education. Students may pick up the free papers, which are dropped off by 7:00AM, every weekday morning at the displays in three campus locations, including Scandling Center and South Hall. The program is a six week trial, but if communirty members are reading the papers then the program may be extended through the year. “If students show interest and positive feedback, then I will pursue it,” Flowers told Herald contributor Patricia J. Foster. CRP supplies colleges with newspaper delivery and pickup services. They also provide displays for the papers and recycling bins. The newspa-
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pers are completely free to the students, although the college does pay for the newspapers that are taken. Unused papers, however, are recycled, and the institution does not pay for those papers. As Foster’s column (see page 3) points out, the typical college student doesn’t consume the news on a regular basis, and that trend is detrimental. Flowers and the CRP hope that easier access to newspapers will make students more inclined to learn about the news on a regular basis by establishing a pattern of engagement. The program’s web site reveals that the program has profound benefits, stimulating a greater understanding of world events, helping students develop values and promoting discussion of issues.
beautiful woman in a bikini walks across the television screen. She stops at the back of a man sitting in a beach chair and puts her arms around him. The man looks up from the laptop computer he is using and says, “I never miss a game of poker with my friends!” This is a television commercial for PartyPoker.com, the “world’s largest poker room.” As poker has grown in general popularity over the past few years, HWS has not been left out in the process. Thanks to the development of the new HWS Poker Club and a reinterpretation of the campus policy on gambling, today’s Hobart and William Smith students don’t have to use an online service to play poker. The 2004-2005 HWS Handbook of Community Standards contains only one sentence regarding gambling: “gambling in any form is prohibited.” So when Hobart first-years Stephen Halsey, Brad Johnson and five or six other students began meeting in a lounge on the first floor of Hale Hall to play poker on a regular basis, Jack Fisher, the area coordinator for their building, was less than pleased with the situation. Fisher told the students that because gambling was not permitted on campus, they would have to stop playing. Even after the students decided to play without betting money, Fisher told them campus policy did not allow the game. At this point, first-year class president Brad Johnson decided, “We’re going to start a poker club.” He went to a Hobart Student Government meeting and voiced his concern. Dean Clarence
Butler was at the meeting and Johnson persuaded him to discuss the matter with the Colleges’ lawyer. The lawyer reviewed the situation and interpreted the sentence in the Handbook to mean that students could play poker on campus as long as HWS was not profiting from it. Johnson sums up the school’s new stance on the policy: “As long as the house doesn’t make money….as long as it is for charity, it is completely legal.” The club currently consists of five regular members, all male, but Johnson says that more than 100 people have shown an interest in participating and that about 80 percent of those interested are female, a fact that “really surprised” Johnson. Johnson speculates that the number of women interested in poker is rising because of the increased exposure the game has been receiving recently. While society has traditionally considered poker to be a masculine pastime, televised games on ESPN and the growing number of players have expanded the extent to which the game is part of everyday American life. The fact that ESPN now airs the World Series of Poker has probably also contributed to the changing attitude toward the game. For one thing, it is not just a game anymore; it is a sport. When asked whether he considers poker to be a sport Johnson said, ‘It takes just as much mental conditioning as any other sport.” The club’s five current members are experienced players; they all have been playing between five to seven years and Johnson has been playing for 11, but the club is open to students of all levels of experience, including those who have never played before. If you would like more information about the HWS Poker Club, or you would like to join, email Johnson at brad.johnson@hws.edu.
Smarter than the average Baer
Update Fire at Chi Phi Fraternity
John Rosenbaum Sports Editor
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fire was reported at Chi Phi Fra ternity house, 573 South Main St., on the Hobart and William Smith Colleges campus at 2:15 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29. Campus Safety and all three companies of the Geneva Fire Department, along with Border City Fire Company, responded to the blaze. All occupants of the house escaped without injury. The cause of the fire, believed to have started on the third floor, is under investigation by Geneva Fire Department. There was serious damage to the third floor of the 88-year-old structure, with smoke and water damage to the first and second floors. The 11 residents of the house are being relocated and will receive vouchers for clothing and essential items as well as books and meals.
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Eugen Baer/HWS News Release
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hen you speak 15 languages fluently, have traveled around the world as a monk, and studied at the Biblical Institute in Rome, there is certainly a story to tell. And professor extraordinaire, Eugen Baer, can tell such a story. Daniel Abroms, a psychology major senior from New Canaan, Conn. describes Baer as, “the most interesting, intruiging and engaging professor I have had.” The Hobart and William Smith philosophy professor was born in Klosters, Switzerland, in 1936, to an Italian father and Swiss mother. His early years were predominantly spent on the hills of this 6,000-foot famous ski re-
sort, which is a popular vacation spot for much of the European royalty. At the age of 16, Baer left for boarding school, and he came home a changed man. “I had a great urge to help people, and therefore decided to join the monks of the Capuchins,” said Baer. During the next 10 years, Baer traveled all around Europe and other parts of the world, helping people in duress and studying at the University of Salamanca in Spain and the Biblical Institute in Rome. The more learned and proficient he became, the more he began to question some fundamental values and ideas of the Capuchins. “At the age of 30, I decided to reinvent myself … I fell in love.” The admiration of his affection was won by a French woman with whom he had three
children – Stefan (currently a librarian at the the Warren Hunting Smith Library at HWS Colleges), Ariane, and Natalie. After leaving the monastic life, in concurrence with his liturgical advisers, Baer was recommended to apply to various American universities. “They received me with open arms and gladly paid for my higher education,” said Baer. Although initially studying at Kent State University in Ohio, he was soon recruited and given a full academic scholarship to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University in 1971 with a Ph.D. in philosophy. Baer is a 34-year veteran teacher of HWS, and while he has mainly taught Continued on Page 2
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Fire at Comstock Hall
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t 11:36 a.m. the fire alarm system in Comstock Hall was activated. Campus safety responded to the scene, as did the Geneva fire department. There was significant smoke in the basement kitchen area of the building. The fire was caused by a malfunctioning clothes dryer used by dining services personnel. Student were evacuated from the building for approximately one hour, however, there was no damage to the student living area of the building. As a result of the fire, Comstock dining hall will be closed for the week and will re-open on Monday, February 7th for regularly scheduled hours.
Geneva, NY
Fort Yukon, Alaska
Friday:
Friday:
Mostly Sunny, 33°/26°
Mostly Sunny, -32°/-48°
Saturday:
Saturday:
Partly Cloudy, 31°/18°
Partly Cloudy, -24°/-46°
Sunday:
Sunday:
Mostly Cloudy, 34°/28°
Partly Cloudy, -17°/-39° Matt Stone / Boston Herald via Polaris
Weather provided by Weather.com
Health Hints Tips for keeping warm this winter, and what to do if you get frostbite. Page 2
Lip Smackers
Dave Diehl Reviews Ani DiFranco
Three women sound off on the sexist “art” of kissing presented on campus.
So descriptive that you don’t even have to listen to the album. Although you’ll want to.
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