COLLEGIATETIMES Class ... seriously?
friday january 18, 2008 blacksburg, va.
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ORE WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR
Virginia Tech running back Branden Ore will be playing on Saturdays, not Sundays, during the upcoming football season. The redshirt junior withdrew his name from consideration for the NFL draft and is in classes. Ore led the Hokies in rushing in 2007 with 992 yards and 10 touchdowns.
WRESTLING TAKES ON MARYLAND
DANIEL STEENECK/SPPS
The Tech wrestling team travels to College Park this weekend to take on the Terrapins in a nationally-ranked match. page six
news NO CLASSES ON MONDAY Classes will not meet on Monday, Jan. 21 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Classes will resume on Tuesday.
GOP VOTERS SPLIT OVER CHOICES FOR PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON — A splintered Republican Party enters a key primary season contest in South Carolina Saturday coming to grips with the end of a force that guided it for a generation, the Reagan revolution. The collapse of the social-conservative, limited-government, national-security coalition that was born under Reagan and lasted mostly through Bush years is why three candidates have won nominating contests thus far and why the GOP race is likely to be wide-open by the time 22 states pick favorites for president on Feb. 5, analysts said. — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
weather CHANCE OF SNOW high 42, low 26
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coming up TUESDAY’S CT Maya Angelou will visit Blacksburg on Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr Day. Read the recap of the day’s events Tuesday. Didn’t make it to campus? You can get the CT in your inbox. Visit our Web site to find out how.
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 105th year • issue 4
ROY T. HIGASHI/SPPS
SHAOZHUO CUI/SPPS
B
LACKSBURG RECEIVED ITS FIRST REAL SNOWFALL OF THE YEAR YESTERDAY. ALTHOUGH THE UNIVERSITY DID NOT CANCEL CLASSES, STUDENTS STILL FOUND WAYS TO ENJOY SOME FUN IN THE SNOW.
Students played football in front of Ambler-Johnston Hall, sledded down hills, and some even participated in the annual snowball fight between the Corps of Cadets and civilians. Fortunately, there were no major traffic delays; however, the Blacksburg Transit experienced slow com-
mutes to and from campus. Sgt. Scott Poff from the Virginia Tech police said that there were only very minor issues related to the weather yesterday. “There were no real problems today,” Poff said. “You expect for the worst, and I plan for the worst and hope for the best.”
SGA plans for April 16 anniversary
Women lose to Clemson WOMEN DROP FIFTH GAME IN THE CONFERENCE; HOKIES NEXT FACE DARTMOUTH ON SUNDAY
ASHLEY OLIVER
ct associate news editor The SGA is currently organizing events to take place during the one-year anniversary of April 16. The plans are still in the very early stages, and there are many activities and ideas in the works from both SGA and other student groups that haven’t been finalized or confirmed yet. However, SGA has a few proposals so far that it feels will benefit the school and community in a positive way. One event is a candlelight vigil, which will begin on the Drillfield at midnight on April 16 and last the entire day. Another that has been proposed by the SGA is a memorial picnic tentatively scheduled for the following Saturday as a means of “hope and celebration,” according to the SGA’s proposal. “We wanted to make it clear that that the activities are really about remembering the victims,” said Jen Vaziralli, co-director of community initiatives. “And about experiencing that sense of oneness.” During the vigil, a candle located at the site of the memorial in front of Burruss Hall will be lit at midnight. Later in the day, candles will be passed around to all those who participate, with every flame originating from the main candle. The events be open to students, faculty and staff, alumni, New River Valley residents, and anyone else with a connection to the Tech community. “They can grieve and remember as long as they feel necessary and bring tokens of remembrance if they see fit,” said Vaziralli. “The last thing we want to do is make a cookie-cutter planned event.” While the picnic is currently being scheduled for Saturday, the date is still unconfirmed because it may conflict with another SGA activity, Relay for Life. During the picnic, food, games, giveaways, entertainment, and even face-painting for younger children will all be present as a means of bringing together the community and celebrating Hokie spirit. The SGA has also looked into providing a musical appearance, said Vaziralli, as celebrity musicians have even expressed interest in coming to Tech for the picnic. The SGA is also collaborating with Cook Counseling Center to ensure that the events of the week will take place in way that best suits the needs of the community. They are hoping for participation from many organizations and sponsors and expect the picnic to become an annual occurrence. “Although SGA is really kind of taking charge of these events, it is truly an honor, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Vaziralli. “I’ve never been so proud to work on events on behalf of this university.”
DANIEL STEENECK/SPPS
Students visit Roanoke to learn about business in the real world. Smaller cities like Roanoke are often overlooked when it comes to the post-graduation job search.
Roanoke businesses reach out to Tech students GORDON BLOCK
ct news reporter Graduate students in the MBA program at Virginia Tech received the opportunity to see and experience the business community through a visit to Roanoke. Students met with executives and other high-level business leaders in
several companies stationed in the neighboring city. “It’s a real enrichment program for the students,” said Steve Skripak, associate dean for graduate programs. “It gives students more experience in the business world and (allows them to) get insight from experts in the field.” Stuart Mease, special proj-
ects coordinator for the city of Roanoke, said meetings were set up with Carilion Clinic, Shenandoah Life, and HSMM. Alumni facilitated the program by setting up the visits with executives. “We had presidents, vice presidents, and executives speak to students,” Mease said.
see ROANOKE, page two
Engineers study surfboard materials ANDREA WOODS
Brittany Cook goes up for a shot against Clemson. She finished with 17 points in the loss.
BRIAN WRIGHT
ct sports reporter So far, the year 2008 has been far from great. The Virginia Tech women’s basketball is experiencing a January swoon. Not even the warm support of the partisan Cassell Coliseum crowd could thaw the Hokies severe cold spell, as Tech’s losing streak extended to five on Thursday night with an 84-73 defeat at the hands of the Clemson Lady Tigers. It was the most points the Hokies (12-7, 0-5) had surrendered in a game all season, and head coach Beth Dunkenberger knew their defense struggled mightily.
ON THE WEB
ct news reporter Combining the enjoyment of surfing with the technical aspects of engineering is the subject of a senior project recently designed by engineering science and mechanics students at Virginia Tech. “It’s neat to see that a lot of this hasn’t been done before,” said Matthew Dunham, an engineering science and mechanics Tech graduate and project member. Engineering science and mechanics major graduates Michael Porter, Stephanie Salmons and Matthew Dunham and junior mechanical engineering major Nandan Shah felt the time was right to connect engineering and surfing after the Environmental Protection Agency closed down Clark Foam, the world’s
MIKE SHROYER/SPPS
visit www.collegiatetimes.com to view a photo gallery from the game
According to Surfer Magazine, “Clark Foam allegedly supplied more than 90 percent of the world’s foam.” The students were given a list of various projects and asked
“Certainly, that was one of our worst defensive efforts of the year,” she said. “You’ve got to give credit to Clemson; they came out and they played hard.” The majority of the Tigers’ output came from senior forward D’Lesha Lloyd, who leads the team in scoring. Lloyd recorded a game-high 31 points and made 13 of her 17 field goal attempts. “It was frustrating,” Dunkenberger said. “She was getting the look that she likes and getting it wide open. She got it from the beginning of the game through the end of the game.” Points were not hard to come by in the early going. The pace eventually stabilized, and Clemson (9-10, 2-2) took a 41-32 lead at the intermission. Through the first 20 minutes, Tech failed to make a three-pointer in five tries. In the second half, the Hokies found their range from long-distance. Two treys from Laura Haskins cut the Clemson lead to as few as three points. However, Clemson managed to answer each challenge that the Hokies threw at them and Tech couldn’t keep up.
see SURF, page two
see WOMEN, page eight
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL PORER
Michael Porter tested different surfboards for ecofriendliness after a company was producing toxic foam boards. leading blank board supplier. The company, based out of California, provides foam to various suppliers and had been using toxic chemicals called Toluene Di Isocynate to carve its original surfboards.
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