COLLEGIATETIMES
wednesday january 30, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
sports WRESTLER HONORED AFTER UPSET WINS
Hokies stomp Seminoles Town to CHARLES R. BARRINEAU
Freshman wrestler Tommy Spillman was awarded this week’s Virginia Lottery Athlete of the week. The 184-pound Newton, N.J., native was the cornerstone in an upset victory over UVa this weekend and also defeated UNC’s Nick Tenpenny 3-1.
ct associate sports editor
SWIMMERS NET WEEKLY HONORS H2Okies Kaan Tayla and Sara Smith were among this week’s ACC swimmers of the week. Tayla won the individual 50 free with a pool record time of 0:19.87. Tayla’s record-setting times of 50 and 100 are so far the fastest in the ACC this season. This week’s ACC honor is Sarah Smith’s career fourth, as she capitalized on three individual event victories for the Hokies this weekend. The All-American junior won the 200 freestyle, the 50 free and the 100 fly, in which she set a new pool record of 55.20.
news CLINTON, MCCAIN WIN; GIULIANI EXPECTED TO DROP OUT TODAY MIAMI — As expected, Sen. Hillary Clinton swept to victory Tuesday in Florida’s delegate-less Democratic presidential primary. In the Republican contest, John McCain defeated Mitt Romney, capturing 57 GOP delegates. Rudy Giuliani, destined to finish a distant and crushing third or fourth in a state he absolutely needed, is expected to drop out of the republican race and endorse McCain at a campaign event in California today. — McClatchy Newspapers
weather PARTLY CLOUDY high35, low 22
corrections “Student killed in car crash,” (CT, Jan. 29) had several mistakes. The site of the collision was about one mile outside of Rupert, W.Va. along U.S. 219. Helderman and Hochkeppel were moved to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. Raja and Rosenbaum were released from the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and returned home. The Collegiate Times regrets these errors.
SALLY BULL/SPPS
Malcom Delaney (23) goes up for a lay-up against FSU’s Uche Echefu (41).
CALEB FLEMING
ct news reporter Students, faculty and staff members participating in VT Engage will soon have pledged 100,000 volunteer hours in an effort to memorialize the victims of April 16 through community service. The overall goal for the university is 300,000 community service hours, alongside a second 300,000 hours pledged by the alumni association. VT Engage was established to help promote healing and the memorializing of those students lost on April 16. The project officially went underway in October, with the university community and alumni pledging a total of 600,000 total service hours before the end of the spring semester. Though the deadline continues to be the end of the semester, VT Engage coordinator Karen Gilbert has a different goal in mind. “I’d like to see us reach these goals by April 16 so we can officially dedicate all of the hours of service in honor of those that we lost,” Gilbert said. “It will be a fitting tribute to be able to give to the families of those lost, since so many were performing community service all around the world.” While the calendar halfway point has since passed, Gilbert does not feel that the target date of completion is unattainable. Though she would like to be further along, she remains optimistic. “We are about 50,000 hours short of where I’d like to be now,” Gilbert said. “I’m encouraged by all the people that have contacted me and said they are doing the hours but haven’t recorded it. It’s a certainly good problem to have that people
PSU controversy timeline Late November/ Early December- Photos are taken from Facebook.com that show two Penn State students dressed in April 16 victim costumes on Halloween. The story is picked up by national media. Dec 6- Local news station WSLS produces a video of a phone interview with Nathan Jones, in which he defends his decision to wear the costume and vows to never apologize.
TOMORROW’S CT
Dec 10- Penn State Undergraduate President Hillary Lewis publishes a letter in the Collegiate Times offering the school’s continued support and compassion
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 10
Dec 14- Nathan Jones sends an e-mail to various news outlets claiming he was asked to resign from his job at Bank of America because of the controversy Dec 14- Nathan Jones puts the victim costume on Ebay for sale, claiming he needs money after being fired Dec 17- Ebay removes the costume from its Web site Dec. 28- Jessica Maroclo e-mails local news station WSLS 10 with a formal apology to anyone hurt or offended by her actions. BEN MACDONALD/COLLEGIATE TIMES
ASHLEY OLIVER
ct associate news editor The town of Blacksburg announced in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that it intends to appeal a ruling that advances plans for the construction of a big-box store in Blacksburg on Country Club Drive. The appeal will be made to the Virginia Supreme Court, but Blacksburg town attorney Larry Spencer said it could take up to four or five months to gain approval for the appeal. The ruling, made last week by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Bobby Turk declared that the recent Ordinance 1450 did not apply to Fairmount Properties, the company developing the 186,000-square-foot retail store, widely speculated to be a Wal-Mart. Ordinance 1450 states that if there is a largeformat retail building over 80,000 square feet, it requires a special use permit before being approved. Furthermore, town officials have the authority to lessen the project’s size or do away with it altogether. Because the ordinance was passed after the council approved rezoning of Fairmount’s development, Turk felt the ordinance did not apply to this project under state law. “The things that most people talk about are the increased traffic that a store like that brings, pavement, storm water run off …” Spencer said. The Town of Blacksburg feels factors such as these prove that the town would benefit from this appeal, in which they’ve invested $100,000. “Our belief is that (the ordinance) should apply,” Spencer said. “… It’s complex; I respect Judge Turk, and we just have to see if the Supreme Court takes our appeal.”
Race Task Force weighs suggestions BEN NORRIS
ct staff writer
SALLY BULL/SPPS FILE PHOTO
Relay for Life held a volunteer drive at the VT Engage kickoff event in October 2007. The initiative encourages the community to pledge service hours in memory of April 16 victims. are doing thousands of hours of service that are not recorded yet.” Mark McNamee, university provost, offered a differing opinion on the current number of hours pledged. “Every little bit helps,” McNamee said. “My view
is that it is what it is. Whatever anyone does is going to be positive. It’s interesting to set targets, but the reality is that every bit helps and it’s all successful or important in its own way. The more the better.”
see ENGAGE, page two
PSU student loses job after costume controversy
coming up
Look at a photo gallery of last night’s basketball game online at www.collegiatetimes.com
see HOKIES, page six
VT Engage’s recorded hours far from goal
Dec 6- Penn State officials publicly condemn the students’ actions
The state legislature is attempting to appeal the new drivers’ fees, but it may be harder than it seems — check it out tomorrow.
The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team registered its second set of back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference wins with an 89-80 victory over Florida State Tuesday evening. While the Seminoles would score the game’s first basket, Tech would establish its presence early. The Hokies would answer Florida State with a 7-0 run capped by a J.T. Thompson lay-up off a no-look pass from fellow freshman Malcolm Delaney. The Cassell Guard roared with excitement as FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton took the game’s first timeout at the 18:07 mark. “That was something great,” Thompson said. “A little no-look. He got the crowd into it—he got everybody into it … that helped a lot.” After a media timeout, the Hokies continued to stretch their lead aided in part by freshman Jeff Allen, who came off the bench to play his first minutes in almost two weeks after serving a two-game suspension for contact with an official during Tech’s Jan. 19 loss at Georgia Tech. “Coach just made a last minute decision to start me again,” Thompson said. “I don’t know when it’s going to be over, so, hey, got to enjoy it why it lasts.” The game would be the third-straight in which Thompson scored in double figures; he scored 11 against the Seminoles after 13- and 14-point efforts against Duke and Boston College, respectively. “I feel like I’ve been more aggressive,” Thompson said. “I’ve been trying to go to the hole a little stronger—getting fouled, getting to the line. I feel like that’s what’s been working for me.” Turnovers did not help matters for the visitors from Tallahassee in the first half with many of their 11 being of the unforced
appeal ruling
RAMIFICATIONS ARISE FOR PENN STATE STUDENTS AFTER DRESSING UP AS APRIL 16 SHOOTING VICTIMS FOR HALLOWEEN KERRY O’CONNOR
ct news reporter It began last Halloween when two Penn State University students, a male and a female, dressed up as April 16 victims. The costumes drew national attention, raising questions of compassion, citizen’s rights, privacy and media’s role in society. “The whole purpose of the costume wasn’t meant to hurt anybody. It wasn’t meant to be seen by anybody. It wasn’t meant to be published,” said Nathan Jones, the male student, in an interview with WSLS news station’s Lindsay Henley. He went on to say he and his friends routinely dress up in controversial costumes each Halloween, intending to shock and be seen by only those present. Nearly a month later, the photos surfaced on Facebook, a Web site that has had its own share of privacy issues. Ken Stanton, a Tech engineering education graduate student, is now the administrator of the group on Facebook called “People Against This Costume.” He said that the original administrator resigned due to a large number of harassing e-mails asserting that the creator was only making the situation worse by taking it public. Stanton took over as administrator for the group and has tried to take an understanding
approach to the controversy. “At first, I was upset just like everyone else, and I said, ‘How can I understand how these people could do this?’” Stanton said. “It just made me realize it was not a personal attack on us or on the victims.” Stanton immediately took down the photos and added his own personal statement urging the community to forgive and rise above the actions of the PSU students. Jessica Maroclo, the female student, issued a public apology via e-mail to WSLS, as well as provided prompt condolences to everyone who sent her emails. “I am deeply and sincerely sorry. I am sorry for hurting the families of the victims, Virginia Tech students, Penn State students, and my family and friends. Sorry,” she wrote. Jones refused to apologize and cites his right to freedom of speech and expression, saying he does not see the wrong in his actions and should not have to censor himself. Others, however, did take offense. On Dec. 13, 2007, Bank of America fired him from his job. The student then posted his costume on eBay, but eBay removed the costume from its Web site shortly thereafter. Neither Jones nor Maroclo agreed to comment, as both of them claimed to receive harassing e-mails, some from Tech students, and some even life threatening. However, many Tech students and interested citizens are beginning to move past the situation. “I got 40 or 50 messages saying, ‘Thank you for toning this down,’” Stanton said. “I also got a letter from a Penn State official personally thanking me.”
Nine months after Virginia Tech’s Task Force on Race and the Institution released its final report and recommendations, an implementation team is studying the feasibility of those suggestions and is planning its own report, due in April. The Task Force on Race and the Institution was created in 2006 to examine and improve the racial climate at Tech. But progress on its final report — released just days before the April 16 shootings — was largely delayed as the university focused on fallout from the shootings. Across the U.S., the constitutionality and ethicality of affirmative action programs and diversity initiatives at colleges and universities have been attacked and taken to court by those claiming that minorities have had ample time and opportunity to secure equal advantages as those already afforded to non-minorities. According to the Census Bureau, blacks make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, but represent only 7 percent of the undergraduate population. White students currently make up 83 percent of undergraduate students in the country. At Tech the disparity is even larger, with blacks representing only 4 percent of the undergraduate student body. “The main problem is access to quality K-12 education,” said Ellington Graves, associate director of Tech’s Race and Social Policy Research Center, about the reason for the low enrollment of blacks in higher education. “There are funding disparities, consequences of residential and school locations, and tracking practices that push blacks into vocational tracks.” Also among those reasons, according to Graves, are disparities in parental education background and lack of understanding of financial aid processes, reliance on standardized tests and disproportionate poverty. Tech’s policies toward racial advancement, which pledge to “develop and sustain an increasingly diverse and inclusive community of learners,” became, according to Graves, “nationally disreputable” after a decision in 2003 that eliminated the consideration of race and gender in admissions procedures. Then-Gov. Mark Warner, along with alumni, faculty, and students, immediately protested the action. Following weeks of angry protest, the Board of Rectors reversed its decision to abandon affirmative action policies in the admissions process. Three years later, the Tech community was once again in protest over an act concerning race relations. After political science professor Chris Clements, who is black, was denied tenure, students and faculty gathered outside of Burruss Hall to challenge the loss of an outspoken minority professor. In response to the protesters, University Provost Mark McNamee called for a Task
have a news tip? want to see something in the CT? e-mail tips@collegiatetimes.com
see PROPOSAL, page two