Confidently stepping into my truck, I inserted the key into the ignition and it readily came to life. 
Backing out of my parking space I unknowingly accepted a ninety minute trip that that I believed would only take twenty five minutes. Ten minutes to drive to Buffalo Street in Farmville, five minutes to apologize to my girlfriend, and ten minutes to return to campus. However, intoxicated and driving twenty miles over the specified speed limit (55 in a 35), on Back Hampden-Sydney, early Saturday morning (approximately one thirty a.m.) compromises one’s …

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it  
frankly and try another. But above all, try something. 
                  – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Taken out of context, this message is of great value. Answering the former president’s call requires initiative, humbleness, and perseverance. But is this good advice in any context? It seems that the tenets of FDR’s strategy are correct, but not quite sufficient for negotiating problems in any context. Generally, we get only a handful …

We wanted to publicly thank all of those who voted for us in this past election. We are honored to have the opportunity to serve as the next executive officers for the coming academic year.    Let us thank our outgoing executive team of Pierce Robbins, Will Moss, and Willis Davis for their outstanding work on behalf of the College.  Please know that our doors will always be open and that if anyone has any questions or ideas please feel free to contact us. 
All the best,
Conor, Mohsin, and Ken

Editor, the Tiger:
In the ongoing debate about whether Hampden-Sydney should go trayless, one of the championed reasons has been that ARAMARK will buy less food because students will waste less food. On this point, environmentalism aside, supporters of going trayless have championed the idea that since ARAMARK will be saving money when we go trayless, ARAMARK will then buy lower quantity, higher quality food using the same percentage of their internal budget as they are now. Since none of us have ever seen the contract ARAMARK has with the College, …

Editor, The Tiger –
In 2008, the students of Hampden-Sydney College established a scholarship in honor Gerry Pettus, fondly known to all as “Ms. P”.
In 2009, the administration of Hampden-Sydney College handed “Ms. P” a pink slip.
Someone unfamiliar with the campus asked me, who is “Ms. P”? My response was that she is the switchboard operator, the secretary to the Chief of Campus Police, the mother to many legions of Hampden-Sydney boys, and that she is an institution within the institution—a grande dame indeed.
Is the College so out of touch with …

Editor, The Tiger –
While attending to some academic business in Morton Hall in the wee hours of a recent morning, I made a dismaying discovery: two rather large pieces of College history have been, or are in the process of being, irrevocably altered. Upon opening the door to Morton 217, I was greeted not by the familiar long wooden table that makes that classroom so distinctive, but by a precarious-looking plastic substitute, and found the original table’s sections stacked atop one another in the hallway. A member of the Buildings …

Editor, The Tiger:
This just amazes me. Hampden-Sydney College wants to go green, be environmentally friendly, just like all of the other colleges and universities. First was the promotion of recycling at Hamden-Sydney. The green cause is fine as long as we are not forced to recycle. Last time I checked, the college does not force us to recycle. However, the college now wants to go “trayless” in the cafeteria. As far as I know, the college does not force us to use a tray …

Editor, The Tiger:
A few weeks ago, I was reading the Homecoming issue of the Hampden-Sydney Tiger when a letter entitled “Students Must Mobilize for Trays” grabbed my attention. The article portrayed the schools decision to consider getting rid of trays as a sneaky attempt to “disenfranchise” the student body. The writer went on to draw connections between the tray issue and the Watkins Memorial Bell Tower. Here is my response:
First of all, I fail to see any correlation between the Watkins Memorial Bell Tower and trays in the dining hall. …

Editor, The Tiger:
The Tiger’s Point/Counterpoint debate on privatizing public education did not mention the extent to which the current argument is about things other than education, such as the merits of public versus private solutions to problems. Indeed, public or private partisans often see entirely different things as problems. For example, it may surprise some that private schools generally preceded public schools in America, and that public schools were an attempt to reform the narrow vision of the private sector. As Carl F. Kaestle wrote in …

Editor, The Tiger:
I’ve got more beef for you, and this time it is about the term “Global Warming.” This term can easily raise the hairs on the back of just about everyone’s neck, and just about everyone has an opinion on the issue behind the term. Many scientists, based on the facts they have seen, argue they are trying to warn humanity about the effects of industrialization and our use of resources and where it is all going. Still others and even some members of the scientific community …