COLLEGIATETIMES
friday september 14, 2007 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
today’s ct THE CT’S SEMIANNUAL CAREER GUIDE INSIDE
one year later William Morva to head to court Monday PETER HURLEY
ct sports reporter september 14, 2007 collegiate times career guide
news BUSH TO WITHDRAW 5,700 TROOPS President George W. Bush pledged to withdraw 5,700 troops from Iraq by Christmas, last night in a televised address. Bush applauded the efforts of the troop surge which sent 30,000 additional soldiers to Iraq in January. Bush cited reduced sectarian violence in both Baghdad and the nation as a whole, mirroring Gen. David Petraeus’ report to Congress earlier this week. Though Bush acknowledged that the Iraqi legislature has not met its goals, Bush said that to secure stability the U.S. will have to have a presence in Iraq that extends past his term as president.
STAFF/SPPS FILE PHOTO
William Morva, charged with two counts of capital murder, leaves the courthouse last year after being arraigned. He will be back in the court room Monday for his trial.
Memories of William Morva, the fugitive whose alleged escape caused a campus lockdown on the first day of classes last year, are starting to resurface in light of the upcoming capital murder trial that will be held on Monday, Sept. 17. Morva faces two charges of capital murder and one count of attempting to use a firearm to commit murder. While held on charges of armed robbery committed in 2005, the 24-year-old Morva was transferred to Montgomery Regional Hospital after complaining about an injury to his arm and leg he suffered while in jail. X-rays came back negative and it was confirmed that his injuries were minimal: a sprained wrist and some scratches. After only being seen by the physicians for
10 minutes, Morva allegedly eluded the deputy guarding him and stolen his pistol, leading law enforcement officials on a nationally televised manhunt and allegedly killing hospital security officer Derrick McFarland and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Sutphin. The 37-hour manhunt came to an end when Morva was apprehended on the Huckleberry Trail 150 yards from where Sutphin was killed. On June 29, 2007, Morva was sentenced to 38 years in jail for the six charges he faced before the incident in August 2006, including attempted armed robbery. Before pleading guilty to all charges, Morva and his defense attorney Thomas DeBusk requested to have the trial moved to a different location, arguing that with the publicity received by Morva, it would be impossible to receive an impartial jury. That request was denied. The capital murder trial will begin on Monday.
Congress working to increase financial aid available for students THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SAYS BUSH WILL SIGN BILL THOUGH EARLY PREDICTIONS SAID OTHERWISE RYAN MOWERY
ct news reporter
now you know BEAMER PLAYING FOR 200TH CAREER WIN THIS WEEKEND This weekend Frank Beamer will go for his 200th career win. The Hokies head coach has 157 career wins at Tech and recorded 42 wins while at Murray State in the mid ‘80s. Beamer’s current career record is 199-106-4.
sports WOMEN’S SOCCER WILL PLAY AT HOME SUNDAY The women’s soccer team will take on Elon at home on Sunday. The Hokies go into this weekend 2-1-1 with victories over Radford and No. 13 Tennessee; Elon is 2-1-1.
weather THUNDERSTORMS high 70, low 60
coming up TUESDAY’S CT William Morva goes to trial for two counts of capital murder on Monday. Check out the full coverage of the trial.
ON THE WEB Vote for the CT’s Best of Blacksburg at www.collegiatetimes.com/vote for your chance to win a 30 gb video iPod. Voting closes September 21.
index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5
Sports....................6 Classifieds..............7 Sudoku..................7
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 104th year • issue 136
SALLY BULL/SPPS
Representatives from Hilton Hotels visited campus last night to speak to Hospitality and Tourism Management students.
‘Hilton Day’ engages business students during campus visit RYAN MOWERY
ct news reporter Virginia Tech’s Hospitality and Tourism Management students had a chance to learn from some of the best yesterday as they were visited by 10 executives from the Hilton Hotels Corporation. The visit, which was dubbed “Hilton Day” by students and faculty of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department, gave students a chance to learn from some of the top names in the hotel industry. “Hilton is here to provide information regarding future careers for the students,” said Beth Weaver, assistant to the head of the hospitality and tourism management department. “During the course of the day, Hilton representatives attended classes and were served lunch by our students.” Hilton senior vice president Patrick Terwilliger headlined the list of executives, which included two
area vice presidents, a senior sales manager, a recruiter, and directors of several programs. The business leaders participated in several relevant classes and gave lectures throughout the day on different issues in the hospitality industry. The executives also joined students and faculty for an evening reception, during which students were able to informally interact with Hilton leaders. “A vice president of Hilton came and spoke to our Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism Management class about his background,” said freshman Hospitality and Tourism Management major Abbie Curfman. “We had a chance to ask him questions about the hotel industry.” Curfman said that her experience with “Hilton Day” made her think positively about Hilton as a potential employer. “(The executive in our class) was very helpful and definitely kept our attention. It made me want to work for Hilton,” she said.
see HILTON, page two
Despite predictions that President Bush would veto legislation intended to finance student loans, the U.S. Education Department said last week that Bush will sign the bill into law. The bill, dubbed the “College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007,” will direct $22 billion towards federal aid for students, including increasing the maximum Pell Grant to $5,400 and slashing interest rates on student loans. “Anything to increase the Pell Grant maximum is welcome,” said Larry Zaglanizzny, director for congressional relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. “They’ve made some changes that will bring more individuals into Pell Grant eligibility, primarily more depen-
The bill, dubbed the “College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007,” will direct $22 billion towards federal aid for students, including increasing the maximum Pell Grant to $5,400 and slashing interest rates on student loans. dants of middle-income individuals.” The Federal Pell Grant Program is designed to provide grants to low-income undergraduate students to facilitate their access to postsecondary education. The
Department of Education uses a standard formula, including a student’s Expected Family Contribution, the cost of attendance of the institution, and how long and in what capacity the student will be attending, to determine financial need for each student. “Pell, when it was started in 1973, was called the basic grant,” said Barry Simmons, director of the Office of University Scholarships and Financial Aid at Virginia Tech. “It is the base of a financial aid package and it goes to our neediest students.” Simmons clarified that approximately 13 percent of Tech undergraduates receive Pell grants, while 70 percent of the entire student body receives some type of financial aid. In his 2008 budget plan, Bush proposed that funding for Pell Grants be increased. Republicans in Congress have said that the finished legislation is very close to what Bush requested. Congressional Democrats, however, insisted that the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Representative George Miller (D–Calif.) deserved the bulk of the credit for the legislation. Several Republicans have stated that they will vote against the bill, arguing that the money put into the interest rate cut would be better added to the Pell Grant increase. Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) also expressed disappointment with Democrats for leaving out a provision requiring colleges and universities to provide more information to the public about how they spend their money. “The Democratic proposal sets program participants up for failure,” said McKeon in a prepared statement. “(The proposal) imposes impossible deadlines for implementation of complex new programs and policies.” Though the bill is not without controversy, it will become the biggest increase in federal student aid since the GI bill when Bush signs it into law.
Newman Library bigger than some, smaller than others BEN J.BYARD
ct staff writer Rumors have recently sprung up that Virginia Tech’s Newman Library is undersized compared to those of other land-grant universities in the United States. However, this is not necessarily the case. Eileen Hitchingham, head librarian of Newman Library, said the biggest definer of library size is money. Tech does not have as much money as Harvard, Yale, or Purdue, perhaps, so it does not have the ability to increase its library as often or as drastically as some other schools. In addition, “Many purchases come from the Netherlands and the UK,” said Hitchingham. These are countries where the U.S. dollar has recently lost strength due to the growth of the Euro.
Eileen Hitchingham, head librarian of Newman Library, said the biggest definer of library size is money. Tech does not have as much money as Harvard, Yale, or Purdue, perhaps, so it does not have the ability to increase its library as often or as drastically as some other schools. Newman Library, run by Hitchingham, has welcomed students to its resources for many years. It currently contains roughly 2.2 million printed volumes and maintains nearly 7 million
other items of information, including microfilm, video, audio and periodicals, within its 168,000 square feet. In addition, the university subscribes to over 300 online databases. “Almost two million articles are downloaded and used annually,” said Hitchingham. The University of Missouri, also a land-grant university located in Columbia, Mo., has similar holdings in its Ellis Library. Shannon Cary, the head librarian, said that the library holds 2,970,952 volumes and 195 databases. While slightly larger in terms of printed materials, Tech utilizes more databases. In comparison, the California Polytechnic State University, located in San Luis Obispo, Calif., is a bit larger, with an area of 203,605 square feet. Despite its size, it only maintains 775,800 books. However, the library is in the process of adding a large area primarily for digital items such as smart labs, which may account for its lack of materials. Conversely, Missouri has no plans to increasing the size of its library but it has increased off-site storage. Newman Library has plans for minor expansion, including an Automated Retrieval Cube (ARC) to decrease remote storage, which is nearly full and an inconvenience for students and faculty alike. All three schools, however, are converting many older publications and outdated items, such as microfilms, to a digital format to make them more accessible to the public. Purdue, a land-grant university in Indiana, on the other hand, contains a much larger library that maintains over 10 million items, according to their Web site.
TRAVIS CHURCH/SPPS
Though smaller than other universities, Newman Library has several floors of bookshelves. Tech does however utilize databases.