COLLEGIATETIMES
thursday january 24, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news FORMER STUDENT INDICTED ON THREE FELONIES Yesterday, former Virginia Tech sophomore Mary Elizabeth Bowen was indicted by a grand jury on three felony charges relating to her DUI arrest this summer. In December, the Winchester native was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to drunk driving, only 10 days of which she was actually required to serve in jail. The rest of her time will be served at home under electronic monitoring. Bowen admitted driving her car into a crowd of people outside Big Al’s Sports Bar last June while attempting to send a text message. Three of the people were seriously injured, and required hospitalization. Her trial for three counts of maiming while driving under the influence has been scheduled for March. — CT news staff
GUN SHOW BILL DEFEATED The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 9 to 6 yesterday to reject a bill that would require criminal background checks for all firearms purchases at gun shows. Gov. Tim Kaine and families of Tech shooting victims had backed the bill in hopes to close Virginia’s “gun show loophole,” which exempts private, unlicensed sellers from a state law requiring criminal background checks for firearms purchases. After the committee rejected the bill, they re-referred it to the Virginia Crime Commission for consideration. The commission doesn’t meet until May, which means the legislation won’t return until next year at earliest. — CT news staff
sports SOFTBALL RANKED NO. 16 Virginia Tech’s softball team is ranked 16th in the USA Today/ NFCA preseason poll. It is the first time in program history that the Hokies will begin the season ranked in the Top 25. Tech will be lead by senior pitcher Angela Tincher, who was named a 2007 First Team All-American by Louisville Slugger/NFCA after going 38-7 last season.
weather CHANCE OF SNOW high 34, low 12
corrections “Avoid winter doldrums,” (CT, Jan. 22) should have listed Winterplace in WVa. The Skate Center and the Star City Family Fun Zone are both roller skating rinks, and the Ice Station is closed down. The Roanoke Civic Center is occasionally open for public ice-skating. The Collegiate Times regrets these errors.
index News.....................2 0pinions................3 Features................4
Classifieds..............5 Sudoku..................5 Sports....................6
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 7
BESTANDWORST of 2007
(musicandmovies) by james carty The past year wouldn’t be complete without a deluge of music and movie releases. Some are headed to the Grammys and Oscars, respectively, while others are now burned into “Who thought of that?” history. Here’s a list of the best and worst music and movie releases that surprised and horrified in 2007.
MUSIC Best Hip-Hop/Rap Single: R. Kelly and Usher, “Same Girl” Say what you want about R. Kelly’s habits in the b e d ro om ; the man knows how to tell a story. T h i s teamup with Usher is v i nt a ge Ke l l y, from the Waffle House references to including the word “Yep” in the lyrics.
Worst Hip-Hop/Rap Single: Kia Shine, “W.O.W.”
Lead singer Alec Ounsworth sings as though he were a cat dying of an amphetamine overdose. How these clowns are still making money is a mystery that may never be solved.
IN 2007, WE WITNESSED R. KELLY SINGING ABOUT WAFFLE HOUSE, BRITNEY GETTING FRIENDLY WITH A STRIPPER POLE AND TWO GIRLS ABUSING ONE CUP
Best Pop/Rock Album: Feist, “The Reminder” She broke through with 2004’s “Let It Die,” but “The Reminder” made her a star. There isn’t a weak track on the disc, and “1, 2, 3, 4” is a bona fide classic. Feist also penned one of the most heartbreaking break-up ballads of the year with “Limit to Your Love.” This album is absolutely a must-have for music fans everywhere.
boots, it is this monstrosity of a movie. The whole straight guys acting gay thing was played out when it was done in “Miami Vice.”
Best Horror Movie: “Grindhouse” It’s double the fun with these two pulp features by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez rolled into one gargantuan scream fest. The best part is perhaps the trailers, with gems such as “Machete” leading us to wonder: What if?
It’s smart, original, and just downright cool. What more could you ask for in a hip-hop record?
Worst Hip-Hop/Rap Album: Soulja Boy, “souljaboytellem.com”
Broken Social Scene frontman Drew rose to the cream of the indie crop with this fantastic 2007 release, becoming one of the premier musicians to come out of Canada this year. Couple that with the fact that he happens to be dating Feist, and you’ve got one very enviable person. Runner-Up: Animal Collective’s “Strawberry Jam”
Worst Indie Record: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!,“Some Loud Thunder”
If ever there were a reason for Adam Sandler to hang up his movie-making
These guys get worse with every passing year. Bad lyrics, bad riffs, and bad producing make this heap almost unlistenable. Avoid at all costs.
Best Hip-Hop/Rap Album: Lupe Fiasco,“The Cool”
Best Indie Record You’ve Never Heard Of: Kevin Drew,“Spirit If…”
Worst Comedy:“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”
Worst Pop/Rock Album: Fall Out Boy, “Infinity on High”
This song about the life of a big time rap star is so ridiculously inane even Ja Rule won’t touch it. All we can say is “wow.”
Not only is the music bad, but this might also have the most unimaginative album title since George Clinton’s “Hey Man Smell My Finger.” Not worth the CD it’s printed on.
Between this film and “Knocked Up,” Seth Rogen had quite the busy 2007. He gave us McLovin, and for that, we salute him.
Worst Horror Movie:“Alien vs. Predator: Requiem” Best Music Video: Feist,“1, 2, 3, 4” The most impressive thing about this video is that it was filmed all in one take without the aid of any CGI. Lots of pretty people wearing pretty colors make this one a joy to watch, plus the song isn’t half bad either.
This movie was awful when it came out in 2004. Next, please.
Best Actor: Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in“No Country for Old Men”
Worst Music Video: Britney Spears, “Gimme More”
Bardem gets the nod due to the fact that “There Will Be Blood” didn’t see wide release until 2008. He is however, chillingly effective in his portrayal of Chigurh, a hitman who is nothing short of absolute evil personified.
In a nutshell, it’s Britney getting friendly with a stripper pole. We’ll pass.
Worst Actor: Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze in“Ghost Rider”
MOVIES
Seeing Cage in this movie made you really wish that his head would burst into flames. No doubt Cage yearns for
Best Comedy:“Superbad”
see BEST, page four
Father feels suicide could have been prevented THE FATHER OF DANIEL KIM, A JUNIOR WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE IN DECEMBER, BELIEVES THE UNIVERSITY SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE ASHLEY OLIVER
ct associate news editor In the months following the shootings on campus last April, Tech has made various public pledges to improve communication between student resources, and increased dedication to closely monitoring student welfare. However, over a month after an e-mail warning of a Tech student’s threat of suicide was sent to the school’s health center, the student was found dead in his vehicle of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Junior math major Daniel Sun Kim, 21, was found dead in the parking lot of the Christiansburg Target on Sunday, Dec. 9, with single gunshot wound to the head, the cause of which Christiansburg Police determined to be suicide. Soon after Kim’s body was discovered, questions arose as to whether the incident was handled properly, and even if it could have been prevented. Over a month before Kim was found dead, both Virginia Tech’s Care Team and the Blacksburg Police Department had looked into a warning email Tech received concerning Kim. Shaun Pribush, who wrote the e-mail, graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in December. He had met Kim through the online computer game World of Warcraft, and the two became friends through online conversations despite never meeting in person. Pribush’s e-mail to Virginia Tech’s health center began: “Dear health center, this is serious e-mail, this is not a joke. I am Shaun Pribush, a student at RPI, but I am emailing because me and some other individuals are very worried about our friend at Virginia Tech, Daniel Kim.” The e-mail went on to say Kim had told Pribush about purchasing a “$200 pistol” and that Kim had made suicide attempts already, but could never follow through with them. The warning was directed by the health center to the university’s Care Team, a group of officials who meet weekly and discuss individual troubled students, and appropriate courses of action. Over eight university offices, including Cook Counseling Center and Schiffert Health Center are represented on the Care Team. According to the Care Team manual posted on Tech’s Web site, the team is responsible for “student crisis and emergency response protocol.” Over the course of the day on November 5, Pribush e-mailed back and forth with officials at the counseling center and Virginia Tech Police, trying to figure out which Daniel Kim at Virginia Tech was Pribush’s friend. The last e-mail Pribush received was from Lieutenant Curtis L. Cook, Operations Lieutenant at the Virginia Tech Police Department, and stated, “Thank you for the information and all of the help, we are very concerned about Mr. Kim and would like to provide him with some assistance.” Once the Care Team determined that Kim lived off campus, it handed the e-mail over to Blacksburg police, who then assigned an officer to go to Kim’s apartment to ask him about the e-mail. “A friend was concerned about (Kim). We went to the residence and spoke to him, and he was okay at that point,” said Lt. Joe Davis of the Blacksburg Police Dept. “The thing is, unless you’re a danger to yourself or others; you can’t take anymore action on it.” The police would not give any further information on Kim’s case. Once Blacksburg Police reported their meeting with Kim back to Tech, the Care Team decided Kim was not a danger to himself. “The allegations that were made in the e-mail (in regards) to Kim were not true; he denied knowing the person that sent the e-mail,” said Larry Hincker, spokesman for university relations. Hincker said there was nothing more Tech could have done with the information they were given. However, Kim’s father, William Kim, believes the check conducted by the Blacksburg Police was inefficient, and may have even been on the wrong Daniel Kim. “Robinson, he’s the (officer) who went to my son’s apartment, he said he needed to check two of the Daniel Kim’s living off campus,” William Kim said. “He said the only thing he could do was ask if (Daniel) ‘knew Shaun from RPI.’ They didn’t do a damn thing after they knew which (Daniel Kim) my son was.” A VT People Search turns up six Daniel Kims. William Kim believes that once the Daniel Kims questioned by the police answered “no” to knowing “Shaun from RPI,” the police asked no further follow-up questions. Blacksburg Police had no comment on William Kim’s allegations. Despite Pribush’s statement that Daniel Kim had recently purchased a gun, police never made attempts to follow up on Pribush’s information to verify that a Daniel Kim in the area had recently purchased a firearm. Pribush was disappointed with the response that Tech and the police gave him in response to his e-mail. “They never told me they checked on him. The last e-mail I got said ‘thank you for the information, we’ll check up on it. Let us know if you have more information,’” Pribush said. Neither William Kim, nor Daniel’s sister Jeannette, Kim could tell anything was wrong with Daniel. William Kim said that if he had known anything was wrong with his son, or had been notified by Tech or the police during the five weeks between the e-mail and Daniel’s death, he would
see SUICIDE, page two
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