COLLEGIATETIMES
tuesday january 15, 2008 blacksburg, va.
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sports HARRIS COMING BACK FOR SENIOR YEAR After declaring for the NFL Draft over the weekend, Virginia Tech cornerback Harris Victor “Macho” Harris has changed his mind and informed the Tech coaching Flowers staff that he will return for his senior season, according to a report from The Virginian-Pilot. Harris was projected as a third round pick in the draft. The Highland Springs native was the second member of Tech’s defensive backfield to declare his intentions to leave early for the NFL, after junior cornerback Brandon Flowers announced his decision earlier in the week. Flowers is currently projected as a second round pick by the NFL’s advisory committee. Harris finished the 2007 season with 5 interceptions and 36 tackles on his way to being named 1st Team All-ACC.
news OBAMA, CLINTON SIGNAL A TRUCE
Repercussions of April 16 still felt
ANNABELLE OMBAC/SPPS FILE PHOTO
Gov. Tim Kaine speaks at the convocation held on April 17. As a result of the shootings, Kaine and the state legislature have proposed several bills for the new session.
>> APRIL 16 TRAGEDY INSPIRES ACTION DURING NEW GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION GORDON BLOCK
ct news reporter
NEW YORK — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama signaled a truce Monday after several days of sparring over racial issues. Clinton received a mixed reception — a smattering of boos sprinkled into polite applause —during a hastily scheduled speech before a predominantly black audience at a union-sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. “How many of us ever could have dreamed that we would see the day that a woman and an African-American were running for president?” asked Clinton, whom Obama backers criticized for suggesting King needed Lyndon B. Johnson’s help to enact civil rights reforms.
weather CHANCE OF SNOW high 32, low 20
With the Virginia Tech shootings still fresh on their minds, delegates and representatives met last week to discuss both a new budget for the following two years and new legislation to put into place. Much of the new talks focused on making improvements to the state’s mental health system, and strengthening gun laws. The focus on mental health was evident from the beginning of the session, with support coming from all levels of state government, including Gov. Tim Kaine. “It (mental health) is a top priority for the governor for this new General Assembly,” said Gordon Hickey, press secretary for Kaine. “It was something that has been ignored for quite a while, and it has come to the forefront as a result of this past April.”
“(Mental health) is a top priority for the governor for this new General Assembly.” - GORDON HICKEY PRESS SECRETARY FOR GOV. KAINE Kaine announced the need for increased funding for the mental health system during his “State of the Commonwealth” address. In another statement he recommended that 14.6 million dollars be added to the biennial budget to improve the state’s mental health system. Improvements would be implemented in a variety of ways. “Some plans (for improving the mental health system) include adding clinicians and other staff, and there is some funding in place for increased monitoring of those who are considered mentally ill,” Hickey said. Gun control is also a pivotal issue surrounding the new session of the general assembly. In the address Kaine called for new gun policies, including putting into law his executive order adding those with mental illnesses to the state background
see BILLS, page two
coming up
>> STEGER ACCEPTS RECOMMENDATIONS FROM NORRIS HALL TASK FORCE VirginiaTechPresident Charles Steger accepted the Norris Hall task force’s recommendation for the second floor of Norris Hall to be shared by the Department of Engineering and Science and Mechanics and a newly created Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. Steger and university Provost Mark McNamee announced the recommendation to the public in a press conference Thursday, Dec. 22 at the Inn at Virginia Tech. The ESM’s proposal to “Re-Create a StudentCentered Community” will consolidate the department’s offices from other campus buildings and create SALLY BULL/SPPS FILE PHOTO a space for students to work on projects Because classes will never be held in Norris Hall again, Tech President Charles Steger appointed a and interact with fac- task force to determine the future of the building. Norris will now host a Center for Peace Studies. ulty. The proposed CPS Steger said that after review and considerand Peace Studies, and the other being is expected to be mostly the Center for Student Engagement and ation, the task force recommended against committed to student-led projects. the Center for Student Engagement and The task force of faculty, staff and students Community Partnerships. The second proposal was the student-cen- Community Partnerships, but asked that made its recommendation after reviewing two final proposals. The first proposal tered community submitted by the depart- “space be provided nearby” for the centers. called for two centers to use the space, one ment of engineering science and mechanics, being the Center for Violence Prevention part of the College of Engineering. see NORRIS, page two
>> MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BECOME TOP PRIORITY FOR STATE LEGISLATURE The Virginia General Assembly convened last Wednesday addressing Virginia’s mental health system as one of the primary topics. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine proposed a $42 million spending increase over the next two years to improve the system. Prompted by the shootings last April, the proposed mental health system reforms will ideally rectify a system that let Seung-Hui Cho, the gunman who killed
32 others and himself on April 16, go unmonitored even though he had documented psychiatric problems. “Reforming the mental health system to better protect the public safety and to better provide treatment to the mentally ill must be a priority of this session of the General Assembly,” said John Edwards, Virginia House Delegate. “Public consciousness has been raised by the tragedy at Virginia Tech, which revealed glaring
deficiencies in both the laws and the funding for the treatment of the mentally ill.” Though the majority of mental health consumers fall under community-based health care, Virginia has poured most of it’s funding into institutions, causing community health care to be vastly underfunded. The funding Kaine proposed would go into community-based health care, allowing lengthier treatment and monitoring processes in Virginia, a state where 6 percent of residents have a serious mental illness.
see HEALTH, page two
TOMORROW’S CT Check out the CT’s preview for Wednesday’s men’s basketball game against UVa in Charlottesville.
Major renovations scheduled for Ambler-Johnston Hall KATIE MCLAUGHLIN
View photo galleries from the Orange Bowl and basketball games over break.
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Sports....................9 Sudoku................10 Classifieds............10
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 1
ct staff writer Ambler-Johnston Hall is currently set to undergo major renovations, with one of the biggest change for new students being air conditioning for the non-air conditioned residence hall. Pre construction on the Ambler Johnston Renovation Project is already underway, with the groundbreaking scheduled for
May 2009. Rick Johnson, director of Virginia Tech Housing and Dining Services, said the building will take place in two phases so that students can live in West AJ while East AJ is being renovated, and vice versa. “One of the main reasons we chose May 2009 to start is because a new residence hall is opening up in summer 2009 that will hold an additional
250 students. That way students will not be out of housing when the renovations will be taking place on either East or West AJ,” Johnson said. In addition to air conditioning being installed in the AJ residence hall, resident rooms will be updated, elevators replaced, study rooms added, and entrances expanded.
see RENOVATIONS, page two
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ANNABELLE OMBAC/ SPPS FILE PHOTO
Flowers lay outside of West AmblerJohnston Hall, which will receive a renovation soon.