COLLEGIATETIMES
thursday september 27, 2007 blacksburg, va.
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TAKE A BEHIND-THE-SCENES-LOOK AT VIRGINIA TECH UNION, WHO HAVE BROUGHT PERFORMING ARTISTS TO BLACKSBURG SINCE 1969
DIETRICK CLOSED DUE TO ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS
Setting the stage
Due to an electrical issue, all dining facilities and the Office of Judicial Programs in Dietrick Hall were closed Wednesday afternoon and evening. The building will be closed for the breakfast shift this morning, and reopen at 11 a.m. As a result, Owens Food Court will be open from 7 to 9:30 a.m. for breakfast. The cost for the breakfast will be the same as in Dietrick Hall.
The Doobie
1975
DREW JACKSON
ct associate features editor
PREVIOUS JURORS FOR MORVA TRIAL TO BE PAID Montgomery County Jury panel members from the capital murder trial for William Morva received $30 for each day they were physically present throughout the seating process. Allan Burke, clerk of the Montgomery County Circuit Court, stipulated that the payment would not differ based on the number of hours a jury member spent in court throughout the day.
Brothers -
Jimmy Buff
et - 1980
James Tay
lor - 1982
When The Roots took the stage in Burruss Auditorium Wednesday, they embodied many months of preparat i o n and planning. Everything from their sound level to the band’s specified lighti n g represents a meeting and a job. The Virginia Tech Union, the student organization primarily responsible for the majority of concerts held at Tech, has put o n roughly 300 concerts in its 38 year history — that is around three or four concerts a semester since its inception in 1969. Before each of these 300 contracts was signed, VTU ran an extensive logistical check within the organization. As most things do, it begins with a committee brainstorming session, where several artist names are thrown around. The bands’ availabilities and price ranges are then checked against the dates predetermined by the events-planning committee. Then the production needs of the band are determined, and the plausibility checked by production services — essentially the first people who can shoot an event down. If the concert makes it past this spot, a proposed budget is drafted and checked by the accounting department. If the idea is still afloat after this, a formal offer is made to an agency in contact with the band, who can then give the final yes or no. Nothing is considered official until a contract is signed. It takes all of that before ?uestlove can
UPCOMING EVENTS GYM CLASS HEROES WHERE: Burruss Hall Auditorium WHEN: October 4 STUDENT TICKETS: $15 in advance; $20 at the door GENERAL PUBLIC: $20 in advance; $25 at the door GOGOL BORDELLO WHERE: The Lyric Theater WHEN: October 18 STUDENT TICKETS: $7 in advance; $10 at the door GENERAL PUBLIC: $10 in advance; $15 at the door even consider bringing his soulful mastery of the skins to Burruss Auditorium. “For every offer that is accepted, there are about three offers that aren’t accepted or fall through during the production planning,” said Director of Concerts for VTU, and sophomore business major, David Silberstein. “We try to look at artists that appeal to the largest population of Tech as possible, and we think are economically reasonable to do,” Silberstein said. The 3000 person capacity Burruss Auditorium, and Commonwealth Ballroom, which can hold as many as 1500, are the only two venues VTU has at its disposal, and this restriction somewhat limits the artists that can
be realistically brought to Tech. “If an act can fill up a stadium, such as the Dave Matthews Band, then it’s not possible to bring them because of their price versus how many students we can fit in Burruss,” said Silberstein. “Everyone wants to bring Metallica, and we obviously can’t bring them.” The most recent Concert for Virginia Tech was the first time in Tech’s concert history that Lane Stadium was used as a venue, and according to Silberstein, Lane will not host a concert again anytime in the near future. As Virginia Tech has such a specific audience, and is the only venue large enough in the New River Valley to attract artists of significance, VTU feels a real responsibility to provide the university community with the acts it wants to see. “We always take into account, first and foremost, what the students would want to see,” said Laura Bedenbaugh, assistant director of student programming for VTU. “The next thing we think about, though, is that if we know there is student interest, what interest might the public have in a particular artist … knowing that we are one of the main resources in the area in terms of concerts makes us aware of our responsibility.” Bedenbaugh went on to emphasize the importance of student interest in the decisionmaking process of VTU. “We’re here for the students. It is your student activity fee we have that enables us do what we can do, so the group we want to make sure is served first is the entire student body.” Since the VTU’s desire is to serve the entire
see VTU, page three
JANSPORT TO MAKE PRESENTATION In honor of JanSport’s 40th anniversary, Skip Yowell, founder of JanSport will be promoting his memoir “The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder and Other Mountains.” This selfproclaimed hippie will be giving his unconventional business advice inspired by Bob Dylan today at 5 p.m. His presentation will take place in Squires Student Center in Brush Mountain room A. Following the presentation will be a book signing.
VOTE FOR THE HOKIE BIRD ONLINE The Hokie Bird is competing in the 2007 CapitalOne Mascot challenge, a competition to see which university has the best mascot. Each week a mascot faces a mascot from a different school to win votes. This week the Hokie Bird faces Cav Man from UVa. You can vote at www.capitolonebowl.com and can only vote once per day. The Hokie Bird last competed in 2004.
weather SCATTERED T-STORMS high 80, low 59
coming up FRIDAY’S CT Moe’s Southwest Grill, located on the corner of Main Street and College Avenue opens today. Check out coverage of their opening day .
ON THE WEB Not making it to campus? We now have the CT available online as a PDF. Check www.collegiatetimes.com
index News.....................2 Features................4 0pinions................5
Sports....................6 Classifieds..............7 Sudoku..................7
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 104th year • issue 143
The Black E
yed Peas -
2004 The Beach Boys - 1982
Dizzy Gillespie - 1985
Dave Matthews Band - 1997
Band sets down Roots in Blacksburg Professor
publishes poem about April 16
CAROLINE BLACK
ct associate features editor If you were on the academic side of campus last night and happened to feel steady vibrations and pulsing under your feet, don’t check the news for local earthquakes. Starting around 8 p.m., hiphop groups Black Violin and the Roots took over Burruss Auditorium, much to the delight of the diverse crowd of fans inside. When the lights finally dimmed, the auditorium was only about a quarter of the way full, but that didn’t quell the enthusiasm of DJ TK as he took the stage to introduce the opening act last night, Black Violin. He introduced the duo as the 2005 Apollo Champions, a reference to its first place win at the exclusive Showtime at the Apollo Legend competition. Maybe it was a busy homecoming week, or maybe it was the rain or sticky humidity, but the crowd was noticeably lackluster at the beginning of the show. The opening band encouraged the audience to stand, and raise their arms, which they did after prodding. If the audience didn’t know who Black Violin was before the show began, it is doubtful that they were disappointed. For fans who seek the combination of true artistic integrity with original and meaningful ideas, the band was a pleasant surprise. Members Wil-B and Kev Marcus are both classically trained musicians who have been playing violin together since they both attended the Dillard High School of Performing Arts in Florida. Their expertise with — and love of — their instruments was more than apparent last night as
LIZA ROESCH
ct staff writer
KYLE SWANSON/SPPS
Black Thought, M.C. for The Roots, performed in Burruss Auditorium last night. the two showed off their unique style of mixing classical violin with modern top-40 hits, barely missing a note their entire set. The duo would play their instruments along with the songs, sometimes following along with the melody, and sometimes adding their own twists and harmonies. DJ TK stood center stage during the show,
controlling and mixing the songs that the duo intertwined with its instrumentals. Black Violin appealed to the audience’s knowledge of recent hip-hop and pop hits, opening the show with Kanye West’s latest hit “Stronger,” and quickly transitioned into mixes of hits including “This is Why I’m Hot,” “Kick Push,” “Crazy” and
see ROOTS, page four
ct news reporter When President Bush mentioned switchgrass as a potential source for biofuels in his 2006 State of the Union Address, not many would have guessed that a species of grass could gain so much popularity so quickly. He may have inadvertently induced giggles and skepticism throughout the nation, but it’s a year later and the idea of switchgrass is still the hottest topic in town. To scientists researching alternate sources for biofuels, the mention of switchgrass wasn’t such a surprise, and to the Tech community, it wasn’t a new idea at all. David Parrish, professor of crop and soil environmental sciences, said the buzz of switchgrass began at Tech with retired professor Dale Wolf.
Others put it on the map, said Parrish, who has been in the biofuels research business since 1985, but it was Wolf who put the idea on the table. From his vantage point at that same proverbial table, Parrish was able to see Wolf’s suggestion turn into what was almost a national call to arms with all the Erlenmeyer flasks and Bunsen burners that scientists have at hand in their laboratories. It also seemed to call for $100 million dollars worth of investment for research, according to an ABC news article from early this year. “It’s the only kid on the block, (that’s) why it’s gotten so much buzz,” Parrish said. “It’s the one that has been studied most intensively for the last 15 to 20 years. There are some other species out there that may have the same or even more potential, but switchgrass is where the Department of Energy was putting most of its focus.”
“There were hundreds, if not thousands of articles written after (April 16). Poetry is just another way to communicate what happened.” - ED FALCO ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
At the moment, conversion of the sugars present in switchgrass has been fermented to form ethanol only in small-scale amounts in labs. “Whether or not those methodologies for turning switchgrass into ethanol can scale up to produce millions of gallons a year is the big question mark,” Parrish said. Ethanol is the form of alcohol used for biofuels, that is, the fuels that run our planes, trains, and automobiles. Currently, the most prevalent source of ethanol for the nation’s biofuels is corn grain. Corn grain as a source of fuel has been on people’s tongues just as much as, if not more than, the talk of switchgrass. Many bio-refineries have begun springing up all across the country because ethanol is in demand and it’s economically viable. According to Parrish, those investing in these
Falco is a personal friend of Hicok and said he knows him and his poetry well. While in Hicok’s English class in spring 2006, Cho wrote a play about a student who plots a school shooting. Hicok voiced his concerns about Cho to Lucinda Roy, English department head. Roy declined comment on this incident. Much of the poem, called “So I know,” includes thoughts about Cho, notably a line in which the speaker expresses his wishes that he would’ve taken Cho’s life and then his own to prevent the deaths of many more. “Maybe I should’ve shot the kid and then myself given the math. 2<33,” the poem reads. Hicok also conveys his negative feelings about the media in the poem, speaking of the extensive attention given to Virginia Tech after the shooting. Hicok has refused to talk to the media about Cho’s writings, in addition to his own. “No one really wanted to talk to them,” Falco said, referring to the media after April 16. “But Bob did everything he was supposed to do. He fully cooperated with the FBI and the police, just as we all did.” Another part of the poem speaks to how some
see SWITCHGRASS, page two
see POEM, page three
Switchgrass could prove to be viable fuel source MICHELLE RIVERA
Assistant English Professor Bob Hicok wrote five poems recently published in the September/ October issue of American Poetry Review. One in particular describes his guilt for not doing more to prevent former student Seung-Hui Cho from killing 32 people and then himself on April 16, 2007. “Bob is one of the best poets in America and that’s not an overstatement,” director of creative writing professor Ed Falco said. “He’s published eight books in just 45 years and was one of five finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry in 2001.”
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