"All building codes are guidelines," said Vaughan. "They have to be applied to the appropriate buildings." The "dome" is an air-supported structure and requires a special inspection. Vaughan described it as a tent without tent poles. At one end of the building is a blower that blows air into the dome area as the sole means to keep the structure standing. There are only a few of these types of structures in the United States.

"This will be a permanent structure," said Vaughan. "Once completed we won’t take it down. We will be able to use the building year-round because it will be heated and air-conditioned." Vaughan met with the Virginia Beach Zoning Board on Nov. 3 regarding a zoning variance for the higher than 40-foot dome. At that time no zoning permit was issued. According to Vaughan those are the quirks of the way the building codes are written.

The present gymnasium building will retain the tower and the wood floor area, but the outside walls will be demolished. The new recreation center will extend from the Boyd Dining Hall to the other side of the existing gymnasium. "From the time that demolition actually starts it will be 18 months to complete the new student recreation center," said Vaughan. "The whole realm is to create a community atmosphere for the students."

Considerable effort and time has been given to the planning phase of the new structure. The college has added two new gravel parking areas and gravel walkways for the students. The problem that many students face with the temporary sidewalks is trudging through mud and dirt when it rains. Vaughan said it was too expensive to lay concrete walks before the project is complete because construction trucks would need to drive over the sidewalks and could damage them.

Hampton Roads cities held General Assembly elections Nov. 2. Overall, voter turnout was around 30 percent. Many students who could vote did not take advantage of the opportunity. The majority of those who didn’t vote cited lack of information on the issues as their main reasons why.

"With school, I didn’t know about the campaigns and I didn’t feel like I had enough knowledge on the subjects that I could vote and feel like I had made the right choices," said sophomore Amber Dail. Dail said that the main source of information on the campaigns was the newspaper, which she didn’t have a chance to read. "I didn’t even know who to vote for," said senior Cynthia Skeete. "I saw the article in the paper on Sunday. I didn’t even have time to read it."

Students that voted said that those who didn’t cast a ballot have no right to complain about the election’s results. Asked why she voted Tuesday, junior Lacy Hall said, "There’s this guy who stands on the corner of Dam Neck and General Booth with a homemade sandwich board waving and dancing and trying to get people to vote for Terry Suit," said Hall. "I had to go out there and vote because I didn’t want that guy to stand there and dance for no reason."

In addition to the Senate and House elections, Beach residents voted on the light-rail referendum, which was defeated by a margin of 55 percent against 45 percent. This means the city will suspend studies and planning of the proposed rail link with Norfolk. In the General Assembly races, the Republicans gained the majority in the House and held their Senate majority.

In an interview, Moore said the problem with this kind of vandalism being committed by such a small group is "that kind of thing can spread," pointing out that people tend to be less respectful of their surroundings once they are already vandalized. On Oct. 22, a fight occurred among residents of Rose and Kellam halls. Residence Life staff was notified and responded immediately to the situation. According to Resident Assistant-in-Training Tom Braca, the fight was "just freshmen being stupid. This is the first one I’ve been involved in. I wouldn’t even classify it as a fight. A scuffle, maybe."

The altercation apparently began when a group of girls was insulted. "The kid was sticking up for his girlfriend," said Rose Hall resident Chase Ofori-Atta. Asked about what should happen to those involved in fights, many students agreed. "They should be kicked outexcept in cases of self-defense," said Ofori-Atta. Dean of Students David Buckingham was vocally upset that such isolated instances of poor behavior should gain public attention in a community where the majority of students act constructively. "The vast majority of students that reside here are good, very good campus citizens," Buckingham said. "These few that are disrupting, when we know who they are, and when we have information, we are going to adjudicate them through the arbitration process. As irritating as these things are, they are isolated and very atypical of the kind of behavior that does occur."

Buckingham stressed that sanctions will be imposed. The Village I residence halls and surrounding outdoor areas have been harmed recently. To date there have been seven reported cases of damaged college property. The vandalism has ranged from stolen VCRs, to the window in the Kellam Hall computer lab being smashed. The acts have prompted the Residence Life staff to enforce stricter rules in some dorms. An incident of vandalism in the downstairs Eggleston dorm resulted in broken furniture. In response to this and noise complaints, the students living in that hall are on 24-hour quiet hours and no visitation.

"It sucks, because everyone on our hall is being punished because of what a few people did," said Eggleston resident Josh Hill. Another destroyed item on the campus grounds was a bridge leading from the Village I dorms to Parking Lot B. The bridge, built last year by five students for a MBE class project, was torn apart. Both sides of the railings were ripped off and thrown on the ground. Junior Christine Capps helped build the bridge and was upset by the damage done to it. "I really don’t appreciate students breaking and ruining things that other students have put time and money into," she said. "I don’t understand what people gain by vandalizing."

The Office of Residence Life is still assessing the total costs of the damages. However, in past years, the school’s policy has been the residence hall with the damaged property would divide the cost of the damage among the residents living on that hall. "As of right now, we don’t know who’s been doing it," Moore said. "Only one person’s been caught, but we’re hoping to stop the acts before they start again."

The school has handed down sanctions to the guilty student. In an anonymous letter written to the students of VWC, the student warns other vandals that although they might think that their acts are funny now, when the school finds out who they are, it won’t be. "The college’s toleration for this type of misbehavior has gone out the window, if you think that you will merely get probation you are wrong." The student adds various types of punishments the college may hand down include: loss of personal income because of having to pay for damages, loss of personal time because of community service hours received, probation for two semesters, parental notification, and the disapproval of fellow classmates. "All of these possible penalties for vandalism are likely for students, I know because I received all of the punishments above," the letter concluded.