Sunday, February 10, 2008 Print Edition

COLLEGIATETIMES

tuesday february 10, 2009 blacksburg, va.

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news TECH OFFICIALLY RELEASES APRIL 16 DOCUMENTS On Monday, Feb. 9, Virginia Tech opened to the public 7,600 documents related to the events of April 16, 2007. These documents can be accessed in Newman Library on campus and the Library of Virginia in Richmond. According to the Tech Web site, the archive contains documents regarding SeungHui Cho and the actions taken by the university following the shootings. A portion of the archives, organized by topic, can be found online at collegiatetimes.com.

SCHIFFERT TO OFFER FREE HIV TESTING Schiffert Health Center is offering free, confidential HIV testing today between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. in Schiffert 208 in a partnership with the Council of Community Services. An appointment is required prior to the test, which takes roughly 20 minutes and is proctored orally.

To schedule a time, call (540) 815-4664 or e-mail kristenr@cou nselofcommunityservices.org.

‘Spend the Night’ with In Oak Lane, study aims to the Corps of Cadets RYAN TRAPP

ct news staff writer Waking up at 5 a.m., Thomas Dale High School senior Audrey Radigan rolls out of her sleeping bag on the floor of Cadet Christene Barry’s dorm room.

She gets up, ready to report to physical training with the Corps of Cadets in War Memorial by 5:30 a.m.

“Waking up that early for physical training was definitely a memorable experience,” Radigan said with a chuckle.

“I was not used to doing anything like that.”

Audrey is getting just a small taste of the daily life of a Virginia Tech ROTC student. The Corps of Cadets’ “Spend the Night” program is a 20-year-old tradition that allows high school seniors to spend the night with a host cadet in order to experience firsthand the life of a cadet.

“It’s difficult to describe what the Corps is to high schoolers,” said Lt. Alexander Kibler, assistant commandant of cadets at Tech. “We are a part of the military but are also intertwined with a large college campus. The best way to explain this is to show it to them.”

Each year roughly 250 high school juniors and seniors make the trip to Tech’s campus to participate in the program. Coming up on either a Monday or Thursday afternoon, the students meet in Brodie Hall for an introduction and then are paired off with a host cadet for the night.

“I participated in the Spend the Night program as a senior in high school,” said Radigan’s host, Cadet Barry. “It gave me a lot of insight into the program so I knew something coming into the program.”

Throughout the afternoon, the host will show the student around campus, where they will sit in on a class or two, experience campus life and eat at one of the dining halls. In the evening, they’ll have relaxation time with the cadets where they can ask questions about the program or do some of the things the cadets experience daily.

“Sometimes the ROTCs have events that the high schoolers can attend,” Kibler said. “It might be a guest speaker, the obstacle course or the electronic-simulation-simulator. We want to give them a snapshot of the cadet experience.”

The next morning the high school students are hit with a rude — and

early — awakening. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday the cadets report to War Memorial gym for physical training at 5:30 a.m.

Following PT, they report to formation by 7:15 a.m., where the visitors see their hosts take formation with the entire corp outside Brodie Hall.

“Seeing formation was really neat,” Radigan said. “It was great to see their dedication, and you really get a feel for the rules and structure of the Corps.”

Although the official Spend the Night stay ends soon after formation, the high school students are encouraged to stick around the campus for a while and get a better feel for Tech on their own.

“Whether it’s a tour, speaker or info sessions, we always suggest that they do more than just the program offers while they’re here,” said Assistant Commandant for Recruiting at Tech Maj. Rewa Mariger, “I would definitely recommend the Spend the Night program to any senior looking to join an ROTC program,” Radigan said. “You really gain an experience of what it’s like, and it’s certainly helped influence my decision to come here.”

Relaying, Remembering

sports RODRIGUEZ ADMITS TO USING STEROIDS In an interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons, current New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez admitted he used performance enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001 through 2003.

This came in response to a Sports Illustrated article in which it said that Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003.

That year, his last with Texas, he won the American League Most Valuable Player award.

tomorrow’s weather FEW SHOWERS/WIND high 64, low 42

CHRIS STACK/SPPS

Students who have lost friends or family to cancer hold candles of remembrance at last night’s Relay for Life Kickoff Concert that featured AfroFlow. Relay for Life will commence April 24, 2009.

VINNIE ATHEY

corrections

ct news staff writer

If you see something in today’s paper that needs to be corrected, please e-mail our public editor at publiceditor@collegiatetimes.com, or call 540.231.9865.

The Department Heads Council is a group that attends several functions with senior administrative personnel throughout the year. One of those is the twice-a-semester Spring Provost’s Forum, a fairly relaxed event at which department heads get the opportunity to discuss and offer suggestions for improvement with Provost Mark McNamee.

The forum, scheduled for today between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Owens Banquet Hall, will include the heads of every collegiate department in a casual session with the Provost. It is fundamentally an “open forum,” said Department Council chair Paul Winistorfer.

“There’s no planned program. There’s no agenda that says, ‘We’re going to talk about this and this and this.’ This is open, wide open,” Winistorfer said.

Started in its current form in the fall of 2007, the Department Heads Council replaced older, more informal groupings in order to give department heads a more coherent voice at the administrative level and a chance to make changes in the university apparatus.

The department heads “felt there might be a benefit in having a more formal process by which they could meet and discuss topics of interest within the university,” McNamee said.

“Particularly in a way they could provide feedback to me and ... other administrators.”

“It makes a more interesting conversation. It creates a chance to do some things differently, and I think everyone has benefited,” McNamee said.

However, these meetings aren’t without their challenges.

“The challenge is to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves, and it’s not perfect. Sometimes they’ll bring up an issue before I’ve had a chance to talk about it with the deans, or vice-versa ... so we try to cut down on that, but it’s still a work in progress.”

Meetings with the Provost can focus on a variety of topics of interest. Generally, McNamee will open the session with an introduction and then take questions from the group.

Ultimately, the end goal is to go over any raised issues and attempt to resolve them together. Today’s meeting will most

TOMORROW’S CT See what President Charles Steger had to say about the BCS and other collegiate sports issues.

See a photo gallery of the men’s basketball team’s victory over the NC State Wolfpack.

index News.....................2 Features................6 0pinions................5

Classifieds..............8 Sports....................3 Sudoku..................8

An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 106th year • issue 13

KAITLYN GLEASON

ct news staff writer Graduate geography student Tammy Parece is taking action to make the Virginia Tech campus more eco-friendly by measuring the effects of natural resource conservation in local residence halls and living quarters in the Oak Lane community.

Designed to encourage students to become more conscious consumers, the study asks all students in the 10 selected residence halls to follow a list of strategies that will aid in conserving vital natural resources while equipping students with habits that will help them be better citizens of the world.

The broader scope of the study is to help decrease the amount of natural resources the United States consumes.

“We definitely overuse,” Parece said. “I think it’s very important for everyone to be aware of their individual impact.”

The study acknowledges that the United States represents only 5 percent of the world population, yet consumes over 23 percent of the world’s natural resources. Because of this alarming reality, Parece felt the need to take action.

All students in the participating residence halls were made aware through e-mail and promotional posters throughout their building indicating that they were chosen for the inclusion in a study about conserving water and electricity. They were given basic guidelines to follow such as turning off lights in unoccupied rooms, washing clothes in cold water and reporting any water leaks or running toilets immediately to maintenance.

These conservation strategies were devised in the hope that students at Tech might learn environmentally sound habits to carry with them later in life.

“Students are developing habits now (in college) that need to be unlearned. Our goal with this is to change the social norm of students not being environmentally conscious with everyday routines,” Parece said. “We’re hoping we influence students who move off campus in the future to continue this resource-conserving behavior.”

Each month of the study, students participating will be provided with feedback on the results of their conservation efforts, measured comparatively to usage data from previous years. Students will also be informed of how their hall is doing in comparison to the other halls involved.

Sustainability Planning intern and Virginia Tech’s GREEN Team coordinator Angie DeSoto supports the idea of Parece’s study and feels it will help get the Tech community on the right track to being named a “green” campus.

“Virginia Tech is definitely not a green campus yet, but I think this study is helping to accomplish the first step of taking action, and that’s educating students about sustainability,” DeSoto said.

Educating students about resource conservation is not only the focus of Parece’s study, but many students believe it is exactly what Tech needs in order to improve how many resources are being unnecessarily consumed.

As a passionate environmental activist, Parece has high, yet realistic expectations for the study and the impact it will have on the students here.

“It’s difficult to constantly be thinking of how our actions will effect the environment now and in the future with our focus completely on school,” Parece said. “There is always going to be an excuse, but our main concern is that we want the world to be here for our children and for them to have a good quality of life while they are on this earth.”

Dept. heads Professor nominated for to talk shop with Provost NSCS ‘Inspire’ award PHILIPP KOTLABA

coming up

reduce waste

ct news staff writer Kee Jeong Kim, a professor of human development, was recognized for her engaging teaching style when she was nominated by one of her students for the Inspire Integrity Award from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Kim is one of 15 finalists nationwide in what the NSCS Web site called the “only national student-nominated faculty awards program.”

“Professor Kim cares KIM actually about her students and engages them in personal conversation,” said John Bryant, the student who nominated Kim. Bryant is a sophomore human development major and member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

NSCS is an honor society for freshmen and sophomores with exceptional academic standing. The Web site states the criteria for the award as a faculty member who “through their lessons and actions, made a significant impact on the lives of their students and instilled a high degree of personal and academic integrity.”

“When I first heard about this award, I immediately thought of Professor Kim,” Bryant said. “It fits her so well

in my opinion.”

Kim has worked at Virginia Tech for four and a half years as a professor in the human development department.

During her tenure at Tech, Kim had an experience that she would consider her turning point.

On April 16, 2007, Kim and her students were told to rush to the basement of Litton Reaves during the middle of class. While going to the basement, two of her students grabbedeachofherhandsandhelpedher down the stairs telling her, “It’s going to be OK. It’s going to be OK.” “Before that moment, I didn’t have a high level of appreciation for the students at Virginia Tech. But at that moment I felt so connected, and it changed my attitude toward the students,” Kim said.

This mindset has changed the way she conducts class and interacts with her students.

“I hope that they feel respected and treated well not only with lectures but with the environment in class.

I want them to be able to walk out of class with a great learning experience,” Kim said.

Kim’s largest class is “Human Development: Child and Adolescent,” which contains more than 100 students. Although her classes are big, she still wants to maintain a personal feel.

“I want them to know it has to be collaborative to be good. Teaching and learning need reciprocity,” Kim said.

Kim’s classroom methods have

not only been noticed by students, but by fellow faculty members as well.

Julie Leventhal has worked as both a graduate assistant and teaching assistant for Kim in the human development department at Tech.

“I respect how she really gets to know her students. She tries to know all of their names and at least one thing about them. Her positive attitude provides a great learning environment,” Leventhal said.

“I respect how she really gets to know her students. She tries to know all of their names and at least one thing about them. Her positive attitude provides a great learning environment.”

- JULIE LEVENTHAL GRADUATE STUDENT, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Shannon Jarrott, the interim department head for human development, has taken notice of Kim’s excellent teaching as well.

“She really sets a high bar for herself and others, challenging them to be the best they can be,” Jarrott said.

The recipient of the Inspire Integrity Award will receive a $3,000 personal stipend and $1,000 donation to the university’s scholarship fund.

The winner will be announced Feb. 12.

see HEADS, page two

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editor: caleb fleming email: nrvnews@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: tth 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

february 10, 2009

editor: sara mitchell email: universitynews@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: mw 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

SCHEV recommends tuition Heads: Meeting in Owens hikes support financial aid from page one

likely focus on department funds.

“We’re going to talk about the budget, because that’s on everybody’s mind,” McNamee said.

Although it is relatively young, the Council has been able to resolve issues important to the various departments on several occasions. For example, in order to better understand ballooning costs of renovations and other building projects, council members met with administrative services, which explained processes such

as contracting and getting estimations worked.

Uneven costs of telephone calls and Internet service were at one time a nagging problem as well. Thanks to the actions of the Council, the Information Technology vice president explored some changes, the topic was discussed at higher levels and “with no-one having to make any significant policy changes, the departments are seeing immediate cash change in the way their expenses flow,” McNamee said.

“Because so many things are implemented at the department level, we feel like we have a unique perspective (about the campus),” Winistorfer said. “Sometimes the deans meet with the Provost, and they should, but sometimes we feel like we have a perspective that could really help the conversation.

“The idea behind this is, how do we all work together to make things better? The council is clearly not there as a gripe mechanism,” Winistorfer said. “That’s not the right spirit that we need to be in.”

JUSTIN GRAVES

ct news reporter The State Council for Higher Education for Virginia recently recommended that all public universities and colleges in the state be required to set aside between 5 percent and 30 percent of tuition increases specifically for need-based financial aid. This comes at a time when many are worried about the effects that the dwindling economy may have on the ability of several students to pursue higher education. It may even affect current students’ ability to stay in school.

A copy of the report was sent to several legislators, including Sen. John S. Edwards and Delegate James M. Shuler, both of the Virginia General Assembly. Neither could be reached for comment on this matter by press time.

The report was also sent to committee staff members and several college presidents and provosts across the nation.

SCHEV does not make laws or formulate bills, only provides recommendations that may be used to influence potential pieces of legislation that are passed concerning education in the state.

“The report merely reflects the recommendations of the Council. It is not a legislative bill, nor has related legislation been introduced this session (in the General Assembly),” said Kathleen Kincheloe, SCHEV spokeswoman.

“We are a coordinating board, not a governingboard.TheGeneralAssembly makes decisions for all the schools in the systems, but here in Virginia it is very different,” Kincheloe said.

“As a coordinating board, we help make recommendations but we don’t enforce those or have the authority to tell the public institutions what to do. We advocate for autonomy.”

Back in January of 2007, SCHEV Chairman Whittington W. Clement decided to have a series of policy briefings of various aspects, and one was on access. Tech’s Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid Barry Simmons also helped write some of the recommendation.

The document states that public institutions should consider the impact a possible tuition increase could have on any student, current or prospective, especially those in the lower income

quartile. That is why it is directed toward need-based financial aid. An increase mid-semester, or even midyear, could hurt millions of students across the nation.

“The council knows with budget cuts looming, schools will be forced to raise tuition. Our concern is that students attending will still be able to once that happens,” Kincheloe said.

A semester of in-state undergraduate tuition for the 2008-09 year at Tech is $4,099, up from $3,698 in 2007. Outof-state tuition rose to $10,412 from $9,887 between 2008 and 2007.

Tech has already responded to rising tuition. To assist students, Tech recently created an emergency $500,000 financial aid fund, available to eligible undergraduate students whose families experience dramatic financial change.

SCHEV’s staff worked on the report in conjunction with an ADHOP affordability committee. The council made a few changes during approval, and it was then finalized and sent to various institutions. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine appointed many who worked on the recommendation.

Just because this recommendation has been made doesn’t mean that schools have to follow it or that it will even become law eventually. Although many schools already have initiatives in place to help shore up costs for those who use need-based financial aid, it is still literature that many hope to see become law, if necessary.

“What I think they’re hoping to do with this report is to provide some framework for policy makers to incorporate into their policies and legislation,” Simmons said. “I don’t see anything on the horizon right now, as of today, in the General Assembly that incorporates that. “ However, it is too early in the fiscal year to be able to tell whether those kinds of measures even need to take place, or whether they will be introduced into bills at the state level.

“I don’t think that if legislation were introduced it will be during this session because the budget isn’t finalized.

Institutions won’t know how much they need to increase their tuition until they know the final numbers of the budget,” Kincheloe said. “Institutions are autonomous for a reason. These are unique, diverse situations, and the school administrations are in

the best position to make decisions about how they want to institute admissions policies and how they want to use their budget.”

Kincheloe stresses that this recommendation isn’t meant to be a burden on any school. It is, instead, a suggestion to help avert any problems that may be down the road for students who are recipients of financial aid.

“SCHEV isn’t interfering; we just want to recommend they help lowincome students who are attending be able to keep attending school. This is not legislative,” Kincheloe said. “Many institutions may be considering this on their own. The presidents are well aware of the impact tuition increases may have on their student body.”

“Some are already doing a lot to increase need-based financial aid.

That’s one of the reasons for the range.

They might not need to do as much (as) others,” Simmons said. “If they are not doing much they need to do more.”

The potential issue for need-based financial aid students is on a national scale, not just in Virginia. Nation-wide, institutions are trying to figure out how budget cuts will not only affect their current students but also incoming classes.

In the big picture, it’s difficult to tell where this recommendation will go. In the past, there have been tuition freezes implemented by the General Assembly, and schools had to readjust to bounce back from being unable to raise tuition rates. The budget is constantly up and down, Kincheloe said.

“The hardest part for higher education planners and for families is trying to guess what percentage of funds the state will be providing the public institutions in the coming years,” Kincheloe said.

Overall, this recommendation by SCHEV marks a beginning toward formulating a more sophisticated and long-range outlook for need-based financial aid.

“Some states are still hung up on the concept of merit-based aid. To me, that is a very positive sign that Virginia is looking out for economic diversity and raising some folks of lower socioeconomic status to encourage them to continue their education beyond high school so they can increase their economic status,” Simmons said.

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editor: thomas emerick, brian wright email: sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.; t 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

february 10, 2009

sports in brief The Cavaliers knotted the game with five minutes left in the first half at 25 apiece and were able to come out on top with a 35-32 advantage over the Hokies before walking into the locker room.

Tech was able to even the score shortly after the second half starting with another 3-pointer by Biggs, but they would never regain the lead again.

The Cavs put the Hokies away after a 12-4 run down the stretch.

Biggs led the Hokies with 14 points.

Junior Utahya Drye had 11 points and nine rebounds for the afternoon while senior Laura Haskins grabbed her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.

Tech shot 50 percent from the line and 33.3 percent from 3-point territory.

With the loss, the Hokies fell to 1-8 in ACC play and 11-13 overall.

The team next plays host to the Miami Hurricanes in Cassell Coliseum on Thursday at 7 p.m.

— Hattie Francis

SOFTBALL POST 2-3 MARK IN TENNESSEE

The Hokies hit two quick lay-ups in the first minute of overtime to take a four-point lead and never looked back.

Vassallo led the Hokies with 24 points while Allen, who’d sat with foul trouble early on, recorded 21 points and eight rebounds.

Delaney did not record a field goal until 18:38 remaining in the second half but contributed with 18 points and an 11-for-11 effort from the free-throw line.

The Hokies play host to Georgia Tech on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

— Ed Lupien

The No. 20 Hokies’ softball team began regular season play this past weekend at the Chattanooga Challenge in Chattanooga, Tenn., where they came away with two wins and three losses.

Friday proved to be the high point of the weekend for the Hokies as they defeated Maine 4-1 then earned a 1-0 win over Troy with sophomore pitcher Kenzie Roark tossing a one-hitter.

The course of events took a turn for the worst on Saturday as the Hokies were kept scoreless on the day, losing 150 to Tennessee Tech in five innings, then 8-0 to the host school, the Chattanooga Mocs, in six innings.

The team got another chance to defeat Chattanooga on Sunday in the Hokies’ final contest of the weekend, but then fell by a score of 5-4. Roark tossed six scoreless innings before the Mocs rallied from four runs down to score five in the bottom of the seventh.

During the three-day event, senior designated player Jenna Rhodes, who hit for a .412 average in the tournament, led the Hokies’ offense. Six different Tech players collected runs batted in on the weekend.

Tech is off until Saturday, when it travels to Panthersville, Ga., to take part in the Georgia State First Pitch Classic. On Saturday, the team will face Missouri at 2:30 and host Georgia State at 4:45.

— Ed Lupien

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS TO RIVAL VIRGINIA

TRACK AND FIELD TALLIES FOUR WINS AT HOME MEET

Virginia Tech women’s basketball fell to the No. 17-ranked Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon in Charlottesville, 69-61.

The Hokies began the game with a bang as they surged to a 23-8 lead in the opening minutes of the first half. Tech started off the game 10-for-13 from the field with junior Lindsay Biggs draining nine of the 23 from behind the arc.

The No. 7 Virginia Tech Track and Field team returned to Blacksburg on Friday and Saturday to reel off four victories in the VT Elite Meet at Rector Field House. This included Tech men and women’s sweeps in the 3,000 meter run.

Senior Natalie Sherbak improved her personal-best time by almost 20 seconds to capture the women’s 3,000-

CHRIS STACK/SPPS

Tech junior Yavgeniy Olhovsky pole vaults his way to a school-record 1802.50 mark on Feb. 7 at the VT Elite Meet in the Rector Field House.

MEN’S BASKETBALL UPENDS N.C. STATE A torrid second-half scoring run garnered enough momentum for the Hokies to roar past North Carolina State in overtime, 91-87, Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum.

The visiting Wolfpack (12-9, 2-6 ACC) led by as many as 18 points in the second half before a 14-3 run helped Tech vanquish the deficit.

The Hokies (15-7, 5-3 ACC) kept within striking distance and made it a one-possession game when sophomore guard Malcolm Delaney hit a pair of free throws that brought Tech within two of its opponent with a minute and a half remaining.

Senior forward A.D. Vassallo hit a fade away mid-range jumper with 0:18 remaining in the second half to tie the game for the first time since 16:42 in the first half.

With the game knotted at 76, Wolfpack center Ben McCauley missed a heavily contested shot under the hoop on the following possession that was secured by the Hokies, who would soon enter overtime against a team that’d beaten them in six straight contests.

meter race, running it in 9:18:02.

Devin Cornwall, a junior and standout in the fall on the Hokie Cross Country team, finished the men’s 3,000-meter in first. Cornwall overtook Georgia runner Ryley Miller with only two laps to go and ended up finishing in 8:11.95.

The Hokies continued winning on the second day, claiming dominance in the women’s pole vault and the 4x400meter relay.

Junior Lisa Burnbaum got her first win of the season, taking a tiebreaker over fellow Hokie Abby Schaffer, a freshman. Both girls cleared 12-06.75, but Burnbaum had the fewest misses in the event and was awarded the victory.

The most dominating of all the wins came for the quartet of Queen Harrison, Asia Washington, Aunye Boone and Kristi Castlin. They ran the 4x400meter in a provisional-qualifying time of 3:38.74 and bested the field by almost five seconds.

The second day on the men’s side was highlighted by junior Yavgeniy Olhovsky, who broke the school record while setting his personal best in the pole vault, clearing 18-02.50 and finishing second overall in the event.

The Hokies are idle next week as they take a break from the previous two weekend’s meets.

They return to action on Feb. 20 and 21 in Blacksburg for the VT Challenge.

The meet will once again be held on campus in the Rector Field House.

— Matt Collette

Trongone and sophomore Tommy Spellman both picked up major decisions at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively.

Sophomore David Marone sealed the deal, earning a 4-2 decision in the heavyweight round, bringing the team’s point total to 22.

Freshman Jarrod Garnett, ranked at No. 14, again got things off to a good start with a 10-5 decision at 125 pounds.

Freshman teammate Pete Yates, who is currently ranked 20th, continued to tally points to the team’s score after scoring seven take downs and earning a technical fall.

Sophomore Chris Diaz, ranked 19th lost a major decision to 11th ranked Alex Kromof Maryland at 141 pounds.

Along with 11th-ranked 141-pounder Alex Krom, Maryland boasted two other ranked wrestlers: No. 11 Steven Bell at 133 pounds and No. 10 Hudson Taylor at 197 pounds. Both recorded major decisions over Brock Livorio and D.J. Bruce, respectively.

Head coach Kevin Dresser announced after the match that six out of the 10 starters had had the flu this past week and that he was happy to get the win even though the team struggled.

With its record now standing at 18-1, and its sole loss at the hands of No. 4 Nebraska. Tech is also the only undefeated team in ACC play — boasting a 3-0 mark.

The team will return to Cassell Coliseum for a dual meet against N.C. State and Duke this Sunday beginning at 5 p.m.

— Lindsay Faulkner

WRESTLING TOPPLES SWIM AND DIVE TERRAPINS After the Tech men’s basketball team DOMINATES AT had an exciting win over N.C. State Sunday in Cassell, it was the wrestling MARYLAND team’s turn to enliven a record-setting home crowd of 1,763 fans as it upended defending ACC champion Maryland, 22-15.

In a match-up that proved challenging for the young team, Tech finally broke the tie when freshman Anthony

The men’s swimming and diving team returned from College Park with a 13383 victory over conference opponent Maryland in their final regular season meet on Friday. With the win, the H2Okies enter the postseason with a

7-1 (4-1 ACC) record.

The team had eight victories on the day, including the 200-meter medley relay in which a team of senior Ian deToll, junior Jonathan Huss and sophomores Trey Stewart and Richard Ultowski touched in with a time of 1: 30.96.

Freshman Black Trabuchi-Downey led the team with two individual wins, capturing the 500-meter freestyle as well as setting a personal best of 9:22.16 in the 1000-meter free.

Fellow freshman Greg Morgan won the 100 free for the H2Okies with a mark of 46.51.

Upperclassmen deToll and Chip Hughes both posted victories as well.

Junior Chip Hughes recorded a season’s best 1:40.00 in his victory in the 200 free, and deToll brought home a victory in the 100-meter butterfly event.

Sophomore Stephen Hawkins continued Tech’s success by tallying a victory in the 100-meter backstroke.

Junior diver Mikey McDonald posted his 10th win on the season after winning his seventh 3-meter dive title with a score of 428.99.

The H2Okies men’s squad has a few weeks before the ACC Championships begin on Feb. 25 in College Park, and the women’s team hits the pool on Feb. 18.

— Ryan Trapp

MEN’S TENNIS Standing on the brink of a tie, Brandon Corace pulled out the clinching point by taking his match 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-1 to give No. 32 Virginia Tech a 4-2 win at No. 44 Penn State.

Tech (2-1) got off to a slow start when it lost two of the three doubles matches.

However, Tech would bounce back in singles play to regain the lead. Yoann Re won his match 6-1, 7-6, taking down Adam Slagter and giving the Hokies their first point of the day. It capped off a stellar week for the junior

see BRIEF, page seven

LUKE MASON/SPPS

Tech sophomore D.J. Bruce maneuvers Maryland’s Hudson Taylor to the mat. No. 10 Taylor emerged victorious in the 197-pound contest, but Tech would prevail over the defending ACC champion Terrapins at home, 22-15

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editor: thomas emerick, brian wright email: sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.; t 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

february 10, 2009

Tech rebounds just in time to repel Wolfpack curse With 12:54 left on the clock and the Hokies down 18, sophomore guard Hank Thorns attempted to save a long rebound from going out of JOE bounds that would CRANDLEY have been Tech’s sports ball had he let it go.

Instead, he reporter mishandled it and North Carolina State got the ball back.

That one turnover symbolized the inexplicable performances put on by the Hokies when facing State the previous six times.

For the seventh game in a row, the Wolfpack played incredibly sound basketball, dominating the Hokies in the first half.

The fact that State transforms in preparation for the Hokies is not lost on senior guard A.D. Vassallo.

“I don’t know what is it about NC State, honestly, that they give us their best and for some reason they don’t seem to miss shots, and they seem to make every single play,” Vassallo said.

In the first half, State shot 58.6 percent from the field, made 13 of 17 free throws and tallied its highest singlehalf point total (49) of the season.

After the mishap by Thorns, he got a steal, attempted a breakaway lay-up and was fouled from behind by senior guard Courtney Fells. The referees would deem it intentional and grant Tech two free throws and possession.

With Fells’ foul, the Wolfpack “curse” was lifted.

Thorns left the game because of an injury but, in the next 27 seconds, Tech scored eight points on two converted free throws by Dorenzo Hudson, a three by Hudson on the extra possession and a transition three

by Malcolm Delaney after a Jeff Allen steal.

“I told them, I said, ‘We’re going to make these two free throws, we’re going to score a basket and we’re going to get a stop,’” said Tech head coach Seth Greenberg. “That’s exactly what I told them in that timeout.

We can turn this thing right now.

Sometimes, at least, you’ve just got to paint a picture.”

“Just looking at the scoreboard,” Vassallo said, “it was time for us to make a run.”

The crowd came alive, the Hokies finally made an appearance, and State soon found its reign over Tech men’s basketball brought to an end.

After turning the ball over only five

times in the first half, the Wolfpack’s shaky guard play finally caught up with them in the second half when they coughed the ball up to the Hokies 17 times.

Tech made those turnovers into 21 second-half points, charging back from an 18-point deficit to eventually win in overtime.

Even when down 18, sophomore guard Malcolm Delaney was confident in his team.

“I knew we weren’t going to lose the game. I got confidence, and I never think we’re going to lose until the clock goes out,” DeIaney said. “I knew what type of team we had and how we were playing. All we had to do was play good, and we would come back.”

With the win, Vassallo and Cheick Diakite can now claim to have defeated every Atlantic Coast Conference

team, a remarkable feat for a program so new to the league.

“If anyone doesn’t think, top to bottom, that this isn’t the toughest league in the country, they haven’t played in this league. It’s not one game, it’s the collective 1-16; the intensity and the pressure and the resiliency you must have to get through it,” Greenberg said.

“It feels great; at least I can say I’ve beat everybody since I’ve been here,” Vassallo said.

Vassallo and Diakite are not the first Tech players to make this claim, though. Former standouts Zabian Dowdell, Coleman Collins, Jamon Gordon of the ’07 class and Deron Washington (’08) can all say the same.

The fact that three straight classes of graduating seniors have accom-

plished this feat truly speaks volumes about Greenberg and the program he is building at Tech.

This win may prove to be a real turning point for the Hokies as well.

After blowing a huge lead against Clemson and losing a heartbreaker to Boston College at the buzzer, Tech responded by playing like a defeated team for most of the game but snapped out of its funk just in time.

Earlier in the week, Greenberg warned of a potential snowball effect when playing in the ACC. “When you play in the ACC, when you play in an elite conference, you’re going to have some hiccups,” Greenberg said. “And the only way you deal with it is staying in the present, not letting the hiccup snowball — and it can very easily snowball in this conference.”

If Tech can continue to play as it did the last 11 minutes of the game, the Hokies have a real chance at claiming a top-four finish in the ACC and earning a NCAA tournament bid.

Instead of dropping to 4-4 in conference play and falling to seventh place in the ACC, the Hokies improved to 5-3, which puts them in a four-way tie for third with Florida State, Clemson and Wake Forest.

“We should have one loss right now, but we got a tough team,” Delaney said. “I think we started off good in the first half, and I think for the second half of the schedule it puts us in a good position to make the NCAA.”

SALLY BULL/SPPS

Sophomore J.T. Thompson slams home an emphatic dunk in the first half of Sunday’s game as the Hokies attempted to keep up with the Wolfpack.

Brief: Tennis topples rivals from page four

MEN’S TENNIS WINS AT PENN STATE

LUKE MASON/SPPS

Senior A.D. Vassallo ignites the Cassell Coliseum crowd with a slam dunk in transition, accounting for two his team-leading 24 points.

from Quebec, who was named ACC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week.

The second point would be added

by Luka Somen when he cruised to victory 6-1, 6-1 over Jason Lee. The third would be added by Pedro Graber as he defeated Eddie Bourchier 6-2, 6-2.

The Nittany Lions would bounce and cut their defecit to 3-2 after Nicolas Delgado de Robles dropped a match, 6-2, 6-4, against Brendan Lynch.

The Hokies will next take on the College of Charleston and St. Bonaventure at the Burrows-Burleson

Tennis Center on Friday.

Their match with Charleston starts at 3 p.m.

— Garrett Busic

WOMEN’S TENNIS BEATS OHIO STATE Over the weekend, the women’s tennis team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and proceeded to topple No. 31 Ohio State by a 4-3 tally, claiming wins in two doubles matches and three singles matches.

The No. 52 Hokies (4-1) saw the teams of Jessica Brouwer and Holly Johnson along with Inga Beermann and Martha Blakely collect the doubles point for Tech, while Yasmin Hamza and Abbey Walker lost a tough match, 9-8.

The Buckeyes (3-3) took an early lead over the Hokies after Angela DiPastina won the first singles match 6-2, 6-2, over Johnson at the No. 5 position.

After later trailing 2-1, Tech came back and won three straight matches.

The contest was tied at two after Hamza, a sophomore, won her match in dominating fashion, 6-1, 6-4. It was not until after the sixth match that the Hokies claimed the lead from the Buckeyes after freshman Courtney Rauscher took down her opponent 6-2, 6-2.

The victory was clinched for Tech after the senior Brouwer won her match in comeback fashion, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The Hokies will continue play Feb. 14 as they host Davidson University at noon and Liberty University at 4 p.m.

— Matt Costello

page

opinions 5

editor: laurel colella, david mcilroy email: opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: mw 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

february 10, 2009

EDITORIAL

On-campus housing is important to the freshman experience Next school year, East Ambler-Johnston will be undergoing renovation, taking 400 beds out of comission. The opening of New Residence Hall East will make 250 beds available so the net loss is only 150 beds.

With 350 more freshmen coming to Tech than last year, though, there are going to be even more students subject to unconventional housing for the upcoming academic year.

Placing freshmen somewhere other than residence halls cheats them out of the on-campus experience, while temporary housing — the practice of putting three students in a room designed for double occupancy, putting a freshman in with an RA or converting lounges into bedrooms — makes for undesirable living conditions.

As most students can attest, the major positive aspect of most residence halls is their proximity to classes, food and other students.

Still, it’s cruel to deny the members of the incoming class the experience of having their wet clothes dumped on the laundry room floor, having someone accidentally pull their curtain open mid-shower, having to wake up to an insufferable blaring and trudge outside on snowy nights, being solicited by strangers to play volleyball, having 20-person gossip sessions on the fluorescently lit linoleum and being at all times in walking distance from the substances advertised as food at DX. Tech administrators couldn’t

have designed a better way to establish bonds between students.

There’s nothing that brings people together faster than shared misfortune. The originators of residence halls, in all likelihood, also did not suspect the intractable potential of housing mass amounts of students in close quarters. In fact, encountering continual roadblocks on your quest to take care of your basic needs sort of just adds to the excitement when you’re 18 or 19.

Temporary housing also seems to be a poor alternative. The unfortunate result of which is that a select group of poor souls are assigned to live with their RAs and are therefore condemned to an utterly infraction-free semester. Repurposing study lounges into bedrooms also shrinks the number of places available for use as a hiding place from the omnipresent roommate.

Whether because of an increase in Tech’s stock or the fact that college educations are becoming more and more indispensable, the trend for the past several years has been an increase in the number of students who accept their admissions letters.

Certainly, though, there must be a way for the admissions office to more accurately predict the number of people who will want to attend Tech each fall.

Seek out experiences that will become great memories KEVIN GILLISPIE regular columnist The beauty of nostalgia is also its curse. It is beautiful in that it means one has had experiences one can savor on the stage of memory, over and over again, whenever the desire flares up.

But it is cursed in that it means one has grown old enough to live through (quite possibly) the best moments of one’s life and is probably now spying the grave.

Barring any grotesque misfortune, I am years yet from the big sleep, but I am also well removed from my youth, that perfect youth that’s insulated from moribund thoughts. And as such I have lived at least long enough to enjoy the blessing of occasional stupidity to reminisce about.

A stupidity (called regret) from which I tried to save a freshman cadet.

The Corp of Cadets represents — on a good day — 3 percent of Virginia Tech’s student population, so who gives a rodent’s airborne posterior what becomes of a single cadet? The individual problems afflicting the ocean of students migrating back and forth across the Drillfield are too great with which to try and empathize. Who has the energy to mourn the academic loss of one of the nameless multitude?

No less for myself, if it weren’t for the fact that this cadet’s problem represented a problem haunting a substantial portion of the undergraduate population. That is, a monumental lack of forethought.

He wanted to leave the Corps. And I could understand: Not everyone is meant for the regimented life. But when I asked him why he wanted to leave, I was frustrated by his non-answer. He couldn’t give me any concrete reason.

He wanted to change everything about his life without understanding why.

Everything that he said he wanted for his professional life suggested — no, necessitated — the training and challenge provided for by the Corps of Cadets.

He wanted to study sociology with an emphasis on criminal behavior. He wanted to work for the FBI or CIA or other such security agency. He wanted to make a difference in our collection and interpretation of intelligence with respect to America’s enemies.

But in the end, he didn’t seem to know how to get there. I told him that a big part of maturation is learning what we aren’t meant to do (I stole that from either Saul Bellow or J.K. Rowling or a film I probably shouldn’t admit I’ve seen lest my social stock plummet, nevertheless, it’s a good line) and tried to relate it in the context of my besmirched past.

Then, as I talked through my argument for staying, I realized that I was actually affirming his decision to leave.

I realized that there was no shame in his decision. He tried it, and it didn’t suit him. And that he accepted that fact was commendable.

Then I was struck with the question: Will he have the fortitude of character to leave school altogether?

It took me well over a decade after leaving high school to prepare myself for college. I, for one, needed a substantial breadth of time to mature. I don’t expect everyone to need such a length to grow and experiment, but will my former cadet continue to blindly throw himself into situations only to discover once again he wasn’t suited? The other side of maturation’s coin is that we can’t engage in a process of elimination just to find ourselves. Even before material is taken away, the sculptor must see the figure in the stone.

There is a belief among many students that college is the time for self-discovery — that it is the time to try new things,

learn what one likes and dislikes. The Department of Labor estimates that people change employers/occupations an average of 10 times between the ages of 18 and 38. If there’s any merit to this number, then college teaches people next to nothing about themselves. It doesn’t teach people to see themselves in the stone.

Universities exist in a vacuum. They must. Otherwise, the search for knowledge could rarely extend into the wholly impractical. We would never venture into areas of understanding simply to say that we’ve been there. Consequently, universities shelter their wards from the tempering fires of “real life.” That is, the place where we change jobs over and over again trying to find our way in this world.

Universities should be treated as skill-builders as they train up the next generation of academicians or otherwise employable contributors. But it takes real life to beat into a person what it is they will and should want to seek to have themselves trained. Before anyone points out the one peculiarity (OK, one of the peculiarities) of this topic, I admit that discussing this in a college newspaper smacks of “too little too late.”

Most of us have already committed ourselves to the collegiate journey and can’t turn back. But while we are here it would serve us well to recognize what the college experience is truly about.

That is, the training. The extracurriculars, the parties, the romances, the heartbreaks, et al., can all be found in the real world, but the training here in the hallowed halls of honorable Tech is unique.

Having said that, it would be foolish to not seek out the experiences that will later ferment into the cursed-beauty of nostalgia. And it would be especially foolish to think college is the last stop for that sort of great living.

The editorial board is composed of David Grant, Laurel Colella, Alexandra Kaufmann and Jenna Marson.

I had originally tried writing this as a comment but it appears those of us who’re a bit more longwinded will have to resort to e-mail to prove a point. So be it.

It seems fairly obvious to me that the censorship being talked about amongst the commenters of the column, “Online commenting system has room for improvement” (CT, Feb.6) is not censorship in the sense of “big brother is watching,” but rather censorship in the sense of the protection and preservation of equal rights.

Anyone with an educated understanding of this country’s constitution is aware that here in America, you have the right to say or do anything you please when it comes to expressing yourself until that right infringes on someone else’s own rights.

In this case we’re talking about Asians, Israelis, or whomever else the anonymous masses feel like hating on at any particular time. Yes, it is the inherent right of everyone under our country’s constitution to comment as they see fit, so long as your commenting, ranting, or soapboxing does not impede on someone else’s right to freedom from persecution.

We are, after all, a country of refugees in one form or another, fleeing persecution from the old world in search of a better life. That is the reason our families came to this country to begin with.

Ergo, it seems obvious that the monitoring of the Collegiate Times’ Web site for offensive, derogatory and otherwise incendiary comments is not only responsible journalism, but bearing faith to the preservation of the original American values.

On a less objective note, it seems to me that those who are arguing for the right to slander anonymously seems less like an argument for the preservation of free speech and more like an argument for the right to cowardice.

Sure, it’s easy to bash Israel or the Asian race when no one knows who you are, and thus there is no one to hold you accountable for your opinion.

But I would bet one of my ridiculously high day’s pays that not one of you would go out and stand atop a soap box with a bullhorn and publicly announce these controversial opinions of

yours in the middle of the parade field during passing for several hours.

Now, while I have personal issues with the degradation of other races and cultures simply because of ideological, geographical, genetic or religious differences, I would be hard-pressed not to at least give credit to the man or woman who would publicly voice his or her opinions in such a fashion.

They’d have guts, if not intelligence, rationality and civility. But no, these people would rather sit in their dark little residence hall rooms, in the comfort of their roller chairs, with a TV (that was probably made in Asia) playing their digital cable (which uses fiber optic cables that were probably imported from Israel) in the background, broadcasting their own personal little Mein Kampf to the masses in perfect anonymity on the interweb.

People broadcasting messages of hate and intolerance over the Internet from caves; does that sound familiar to anyone else?

Van Summers Third Officer, U.S. Merchant Marine

Letter from Men’s Basketball Coach The high drama that is ACC basketball was on display this past weekend.

Our win versus NCSU capped a week that saw four teams rally from huge deficits to win. There is no “quit” in this league and you displayed that same attitude this past weekend.

You stayed the course and were there when we needed you most.

You brought it for the full 45 minutes. Our players responded and fed off your energy and “never give up” mindset.

As I tell our players, with eight games remaining, each game is a separate entity!

The more you win, the more options you create. At 5-3 we have set the stage for an exciting finish.

At + 1 (one more road win than home loss) we are positioned for a run at the NCAA Tournament.

I am counting on you to be there early Wednesday night for our game with Georgia Tech. Holding “Serve” is pivotal.

Your support truly makes a difference.

Seth Greenberg Men’s basketball coach

Collegiate Times Editorial Staff Editor in Chief David Grant Managing Editors David Harries, Sara Spangler Public Editor Cate Summers Special Sections Editor Meg Miller News Editors Caleb Fleming, Sara Mitchell News Reporters Gordon Block, Zach Crizer, Justin Graves, Riley Prendergast, T. Rees Shapiro, Rebecca Thomas News Staff Writers Shannon Aud, Ryan Trapp, Gabe McVey Features Editor Bethany Buchanan Features Reporters Topher Forhecz, Teresa Tobat, Jonathan Yi Opinions Editors Laurel Colella, David McIlroy Opinions Staff Sally Bull, Jackie Peters Sports Editors Thomas Emerick, Brian Wright Sports Reporters Joe Crandley, Justin Long, Ed Lupien, Melanie Wadden Sports Staff Writers Garrett Busic, Matt Collette, Lindsay Faulkner, Hattie Francis, Alex Jackson, Mike Littier Copy Editors Erin Corbey, Thandiwe Ogbonna, Kristen Walker, Michelle Rivera Layout Designers Go-Eun Choi, Kelly Harrigan, Rachel McGiboney, Mina Noorbakhsh, Josh Son Illustrator Mina Noorbakhsh Multimedia Editor Phillip Murillas Multimedia Producer Matthew Langan, Becky Wilson Multimedia Reporters Candice Chu, Bryce Stucki, Peter Velz Online Director Sam Eberspacher Collegiate Times Business Staff Business Manager Ryan McConnell College Media Solutions Staff Advertising Director Patrick Fitzgerald Asst Advertising Directors Tyler Ervin Jenna Given, Katelynn Reilly Ads Production Manager Anika Stickles Asst Production Manager Allison Bhatta Ads Production/Creation Breanna Benz, Jennifer DiMarco, Lisa Hoang, Rebecca Smeenk, Lindsay Smith, Lara Treadwell National Account Executive Account Executives Libbey Arner, Aaron Brock, Maggie Crosby, Brandon Collins, Oran Duncan, Judi Glass, Alex Iskounen, Kendall Kapetanakis, Marcello Sandoval, Amanda Sparks, Jennifer Vaughn Assistant Account Executives Carissa Nichols, Diane Revalski, Tyler Terhune Marketing Manager Sayali Shirgaonkar Office Manager Kaelynn Kurtz Student Publication Photo Staff Director of Photography Sally Bull Business Manager Paul Platz

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Message of column was to discourage intolerance from online commenters

The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

Voice your opinion. Readers are encouraged to send letters and comments to the Collegiate Times.

NATE BEELER/THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

MLB must work to repair image after latest A ‘ -Fraud’ escapade Joe Torre, longtime manager of the New York Yankees, released a memoir last week discussing the ups and downs of his stint in the Big BEN Apple.

WOODY His book, “The regular Yankee Years,” chronicles the columnist challenges of navigating baseball’s most storied franchise while dealing with the egos of superstars Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, George Steinbrenner and the sport’s most critical fans. He documented the trouble of team chemistry and the nicknames in the locker room. Rodriguez, who had been penned as A-Rod by the SportsCenter staff, earned the nickname A-Fraud from his teammates.

Sure, the sports world already knew about Giambi’s doping, but not A-Rod’s.

Evidently, Torre wasn’t aware, either.

In a story released Saturday morning on SI.com, 104 professional baseball players could see their names printed on a list of players who failed drug tests for anabolic steroids. According to the story, the anonymous tests were performed to evaluate A-Rod’s failed test in 2003. The New York Times also broke the story.

Does it ever end? Twice in one week, two icons in American sports have had their reputations destroyed by drugs.

The widely published photo of Michael Phelps taking a bong hit has resulted in a three-month suspension from the USA men’s swim team, as well as losing several endorsement deals.

At least Phelps was accountable for his actions. Since the story’s release, Rodriguez has appeared in front of Katie Couric to deny his usage of steroids.

He can’t be serious. He also must not know what sports media sharks like ESPN do to doped players who have been ousted.

Look at Roger Clemens — a surefire Hall-of-Famer until Sen. George Mitchell released his report on the probe into the prevalence of performanceenhancing substances in baseball. In the infamous Mitchell Report, Clemens’ name was the third-most ubiquitous: a whopping 82 references. According to SI.com, Jose Canseco, author of “Juiced,” and Barry Bonds were mentioned more frequently. Clemens has been on the interview circuit, trying to clear his name while just burying himself deeper in the public opinion.

A federal grand jury has reconvened to hear the allegations of perjury Clemens has against him.

Next, look at Barry Bonds — the all-time leader who holds the singleseason record for home runs. Bonds is also embroiled in a perjury trial after claiming he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing substances, and a public-relations nightmare. The day after Bonds hit his record-setting 756th home run of his career, sports writers around the country were obligated to declare the official end of baseball as America’s pastime.

Bonds, Clemens and Rodriguez should summon the appropriate accountability to admit that even having their names uttered in the same breath as “steroids” is a damnable offense.

These veterans and so-called “team leaders” ought to take a page out of a greenhorn’s playbook. Jordan Schafer, an outfielder in the Atlanta Braves farm system, has had a 50-game suspension levied on him for his association with other Braves’ prospects who have used HGH. According to ESPN.com, Schafer, who has never actually failed a drug test, respected the suspension.

According to MLB.com, Schafer said, “I know that I deserved what I got and that 100 percent, I was wrong. I was involved with people that 100 percent I shouldn’t have been involved with.”

Ah, accountability!

Even Michael Phelps acknowledged his usage and offered up a timely apology. Skeptics have discredited his apology, but at least he gave one. In this world of shifting the blame and he-saidshe-said, apologizing will still earn you a silver medal.

Phelps’ casual act of Hedonism is the quintessential behavior of the young American. He’s been in the limelight for so long, and his bong hit has cost him so much. It’s funny, you see, because the last several U.S. Presidents have admitted to indulging in drugs ranging from marijuana to cocaine. It kind of seems like a rite of passage with today’s generation.

Nevertheless, Phelps is suspended.

Major League Baseball likes to suspend its players after they test positive for performance-enhancing substances.

First offenders receive a 50-game suspension, second offenders have to sit out for 100 games and third offenders have to find a new livelihood. Unfortunately, professional players have ignored these stiff punishments and have tried to get away with that extra competitive edge.

If I were MLB commissioner Bud Selig, I would drag the Major League Baseball Player’s Association into my office by the ear and give them a new steroid policy. MLB has become a joke, with a new player seemingly every week being ousted for some kind of cream, pill or needle destroying their career.

Selig should institute a zero-tolerance policy, where the first failed drug test will be the last. If there is any credible evidence that links the player to performance-enhancing substances, the player deserves to be banned from the game.

Major League Baseball has a horrible image problem. If they expect to eventually compete with the National Football League for the title of The American Pastime, then they need to start cutting the riff-raff and introduce a clean sport.

A-Fraud should be the first to go.

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page

6 features

editor: bethany buchanan email: features@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., f 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

february 10, 2009

Dueling reviews: Taking on Lily Allen TOM MINOGUE regular columnist

They take a different approach across the Atlantic.

Rather than the moribund and lucrative industry we see dominating the stateside Boys, are like, so stupid. landscape, I have come to realize that the If there is a better summative statement to define Lily most profitable aspect comes in a glossy, Allen’s sophomore outing, “It’s Not Me, It’s You,” I am duff package placed on every doorstep unable to think of one. For all the jangling pop hooks and beyond the white cliffs of Dover. sugar coated production values, Allen is unable to part JONATHAN The playful and pompous Brit-pop from this message throughout the entirety of the album.

YI queen is everything they’re looking for But, hey, write what you know, right? features and more. Lily Allen has come a long way At least for all the broken relationships that consist of the reporter with her caustic debut and hasn’t taken a disc’s thematic message, Allen manages to turn its songs glance behind herself since. Maybe it’s into pop music confections with the bitter punch of her her interpretation of musical success or maybe it’s the third surprisingly explicit lyrics.

After listening through the record a couple of times, I’m nipple. Regardless, there is something chronically perpetual convinced that Lily Allen is the music equivalent of Sarah about her matter-of-fact tenor and something scruffy beneath Silverman — someone who seems sweet on the outside the wit.

“It’s Not Me, It’s You” hits shelves in the United States today, but then proceeds to spew shocking expletives at you. That but somehow the casing doesn’t seem as exquisite over here. still doesn’t stop you from enjoying it, however.

Straight to the point, “Fuck You” caught me totally Allen makes sure she stays true to herself in a more danceable off guard. I heard such a sweet-sounding voice singing fashion. Co-writer and producer Greg Kurstin from “The “Fuck you very, very, very much” in what is unmistak- Bird And The Bee” has applied a second layer of polish on ably an ironically British fashion. The kicker is that the a delicately produced album — but there is such a thing as song is about President Bush, and though she’s roughly a too refined.

It’s no surprise that everything goes the princess’ way. “It’s year late for such a statement politically, there’s definitely a sick amusement that remains thinking Allen’s still writing Not Me, It’s You,” an update on irreverent Allen’s state of mind, songs about boys, just on a wider target than the usual club is cluttered with double standards and clattering opinions. The album’s opener “Everyone’s At It” opens like an epic Shiny Toy hook-ups.

The album slows down most when the sweetness of the Gun’s song and then stumbles into a drug escapade.

“You go to the doctor, and you need pills for sleeping; if music isn’t offset by the sharp insight of an angry Allen.

Out of a mostly lukewarm record, “Chinese” stands out as you can convince him then I guess that’s not cheating, see the ultimate clunker. Instead of spewing the vitriol that is your daughter’s depressed so get her straight on the Prozac, this songwriter’s most redeemable feature, she resorts to but little do you know that she already takes crack,” Allen elaborating on the simple pleasures of eating fast food and recalls.

The one-dimensional character and handy generalizations watching television. This ends up being a musical sleeping pill in the latter half of the album, where irony gives way to have me gritting my teeth. Allen’s social commentary in the record’s single “The Fear” is a pompous instance of psycholbleeding-heart sincerity for the worse of the music.

The two tracks that follow “Chinese” and wrap up the ogy 101’s diffusion of responsibility. “The Fear” departs with a affair are “Him” and “He Wasn’t There,” which suffer from more ambient, electro-pop aura, but Allen’s remarks dry out the tone. the same problems as the aforementioned song.

“I want to be rich, and I want lots of money, I don’t But let’s end this review on a more positive note, shall we? I feel terrible for all of Allen’s lousy lovers if they get care about clever I don’t care about funny, I want loads of clothes and fuckloads of diamonds, I mentioned in songs such as “Not heard people die while they are Fair” where the boy is inflicted with trying to find them,” desires the sarcastic the truth that, “You’ve never made Grade: B Allen. me scream.” The song is actually one The message evaporates into a maligned of the early bitter joys of the record, track that explores Allen’s fears of a sterile infused with a rockabilly twang that You might also like... and superficial society, reflecting her sounds oddly appealing over a British celebrity standard of living. I wonder how accent and cutting lyrics.

AT THE DRIVE IN miserable it really is. Well, Amy Winehouse For the Katy Perry and Kelly “...And the Battle Begun” seems to be suffering just as much.

Clarkson fans out there looking for a Allen’s sophomore album is exactly what pop star with a more adventuresome ANTHONY GREEN fans both want and expect to hear. Except sense of musicality and an acid tongue “Avalon” this time, she’s enterprising the tortuous to match, Lily Allen is the answer to topics of drugs, terrorism, the economy your prayers. For me, however, it’s a CIRCA SURVIVE and beyond. better option to crank up the Iggy Pop “On Letting Go” But I think I’ll pass on the sippy cup. I’m and try and get this falsely cloying starting to feel a little old. sweetness out of my mouth.

Collection of 13 stories make for original literary experience Everyone has those fleeting encounters with people who seemingly fade out of our memory, and by extension PETER existence, only to resurface once VELZ we lose them for multimedia good. That’s the reporter subject of “The Disappearance of Elaine Coleman,” one of the 13 fascinating short stories in author Steven Millhauser’s “Dangerous Laughter.”

Initially a BOOK REVIEW locked-door mystery of a woman who disappears within the safety of her own apartment, the tale becomes a meditation on metaphysical being, or lack thereof.

The book, released today in paperback, is divided into four distinct parts: “Opening Cartoon,” “Vanishing Acts,” “Impossible Architectures” and “Heretical Histories.” Each section maintains its own controlling tone but when read together the stories mutually illuminate the recurring motif of vacuous isolation.

“Cat ‘N’ Mouse,” the sole story in the first section, resembles a “Tom and Jerry”-esque duo engaged in constant warfare. A hapless cat enacts elaborate plans to catch an intelligent mouse who is always three steps ahead and prepared with an exploding piece of dynamite. An eerie climax sets up Millhauser’s propensity for unorthodox storytelling.

“Vanishing Acts” includes the aforementioned “Coleman” and other haunting stories that add significant gravity to a book that often uses its own indulgence and absurdity for laughs.

The book’s title story follows the rise and fall of a mousy girl Clara who finds her niche participating in the dangerous games played at “laugh parties.” Teenagers compete in the competitions to see who can sustain the longest, deepest fits of laughter to the point of disengaging from reality. Clara shoots to the top of the social hierarchy with her uncanny

ability for near-orgasmic laughter but quickly falls out of favor once laughter is replaced by “weeping parties.”

The four stories that comprise this section share a common thread of loneliness: be it the self-imposed loneliness of a girl after her mental breakdown or one of protest as in a husband’s vow of silence after his wife leaves him speechless. Confinement reappears in later sections reinforcing Millhauser’s working thesis that humans find comfort both invading and hiding behind a manufactured facade.

DANGEROUS LAUGHTER AUTHOR: Steven Millhauser GENRE: Short fiction PUBLICATION: 2008 SYNOPSIS: 13 imaginative stories, some funny, others haunting, form a truly unique and compelling collection.

FOR LOVERS OF: O. Henry, David Sedaris, Steven King, Nikolai Gogol “Impossible Architectures” deals with construction of the invisible to the colossal.

In “The Tower,” perpetual construction of a building that touches heaven yields generations of climbers who one day hope to reach the top. On the other end of the spectrum is “The Reign of Harad IV,” a story about an obsessive craftsman working in the realm of the invisible by shrinking a 600-room castle to fit on the head of a pin. This set of stories in particular highlights the wonders — and pitfalls — of human curiosity.

“The Dome” tracks the proliferation of snow globe-like clear domes that sequester homes from their surroundings. Stylistically channeling writer Ursula K. Le Guin, Millhauser creates a fable of solitude and consumerism as domes start to envelop whole neighborhoods, towns and even countries.

Absorbing and hilarious, “The Other Town” portrays a town and its peculiar neighboring doppelganger.

This adjacent town copies everything in the first ranging from the street

layout down to the level of salt in saltshakers. Within hours, a package delivered to the first town will invariably materialize in the second. Still, no one knows exactly why this town exists or who does the replicating.

Traveling to the second town remains a socially accepted method to spy on neighbors. Rumors of the next-door housewife’s affair with the gardener solidify as his misplaced tool belt can be found next to the replicated bed. It certainly explains why residents freely pay taxes that go to fund the imitating town.

Finally, the stories of “Heretical Histories” re-imagine the somewhat distant past and future by interjecting outlandish narratives.

“Here at the Historical Societies” reads like the brochure of a progressive association attempting to redefine history. Their mission: They make the past “visible.” Their method: Catalog every conceivable detail including the trajectory of the grass clippings behind a lawn mower.

History is no longer defined by war uniforms and arrowheads but by the drift of dandelion seeds after a child’s playful puff.

Millhauser won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1996 novel/fictional biography “Martin Dressler” about a hotel entrepreneur discovering the shallowness of the American Dream.

The final three stories follow a similar structure of blending known history and fictional anecdotes. Be it the modern avant garde fashion scene or the late-19th century scene of inventors competing for dominance, Millhauser rewrites history for startlingly believable results.

Steven Millhauser proves he is not a typical storyteller and manages to do what most cannot. He springboards off a single idea to craft inventive stories of isolation, dissatisfaction and obsession.

His work strikes many paradoxes: Truthful but allegorical, comical but resonant, inventive but familiar.

With “Dangerous Laughter,” Steven Millhauser lets his imagine run wild to create unforgettable stories that ring truer as they reverberate back and forth in the recesses of the mind.

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editor: bethany buchanan email: features@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., f 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

february 10, 2009

Avoiding a ‘boiling:’ Students and local eco-solutions TOPHER FORHECZ

ct features reporter Environmental programs such as the Bike, Bus and Walk program offered as part of the Commuter Alternative Program attempt to offer students a different means of getting to class than the personal automobile.

“If you bike to campus, walk to campus or take a bus to campus,” said Hilary West, the communication coordinator for Transportation and Campus Services, “you can register as a bike, bus and walk participant, and it’s completely free to register, and you’ll get 10 free daily parking passes per semester for days … you just have a lot of stuff to carry with you that you can’t carry on your bike or on a bus.”

The other half of CAP is a carpooling service open to faculty, employees and staff, which offers the split cost of parking pass, reserved parking spaces, and five free daily parking passes.

Both programs also offer Emergency Ride Home Services from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, in the event of the unexpected.

“If you get to work or class and you get sick or you have a child that gets sick or something is terribly wrong,” West said, “you’re not stranded; you can still get home.”

Since its inception, the response that CAP has received is gradually escalating.

“It’s been very positive,” West said about the response. “And we, especially in the last year, have seen big increases in participants. Fuel costs skyrocketed, people couldn’t pay to fill their gas tank and also sustainability came out into the forefront, and everybody was looking for ways to make their lifestyle more green.”

Despite the rise in popularity, West feels that many of the Tech population have yet to take advantage of

what the program is offering.

“There’s still,” West said, “a significant number of students that are unaware of these programs, and that’s just one of the challenges that we have. We want as many students as we can to join these programs. It benefits them totally. We’re just looking for new ways to reach out to them.”

“If the facilities are there, people will use them. Expanding parking facilities have never solved parking problems.”

- RICHARD RICH DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY STUDIES For senior accounting major Michael Hass, whose two roommates are currently registered for Bike, Bus and Walk, the initiative he sees for joining the program lies in the convenience it places on a student’s wallet.

“It saves money,” said Hass, who often drives his car to campus. “At least for my two roommates, it’s a money issue. I’m sure for some people they would rather ride their bike and not have a car on campus and wasting all that gas and hurting the environment. It depends on the individual.”

As a student, environmental issues are not in the forefront of Hass’ mind. It is a feeling that he thinks is common to many college students because they a lack proper understanding of the issue and the way in which it is displayed in the media.

“They (students) don’t understand,” said Hass, “and it wasn’t really in the media 10 years ago. It’s becoming more of a hot topic, and I think the media drives a lot of things and once people start hearing about it, they hear that it is a good thing to be learning about and to be following.”

Hass also said that he does not

methods of getting to campus might only occur if there is a change in university policy.

For Richard Rich, who teaches a global environmental issues course at Tech, the solution to students actively participating in alternative forms of transportation is not a matter of showing them how convenient it can be, but having the university make it less convenient for students to drive their cars to campus. Rich believes that the attention the university has been giving to maintaining traffic has been focusing on the wrong part of the issue.

“We always look narrowly,” Rich said. “Well, there are not enough parking places. What are we going to do so people don’t have to drive around and around looking for a parking place? How are we going to accommodate that demand? As opposed to stepping back ever and asking, ‘Can we ever accommodate that demand? Should we accommodate that demand?

And what is our alternative to that demand?’”

According to Rich, circumstances such as the fact that Tech has some of the lowest parking fees in the collegiate world and the construction of several new parking garages on campus encourages students to disregard alternative methods of transportation so that programs such

do as much as he should or can for sustainability. As many others of his level of environmental participation, he is limited to things such as personal recycling and eating at the organic shop in Owens. His willingness to be fully engaged is something that conflicts with the way in which he was raised.

“I guess you could say it’s the American culture, just the way you’re raised,” Hass said.

“Everything’s competitive, and you’re always trying to be better than the next person, you want to get better grades, you want to get a better job, you want to do things better and to be able to do these things you have the mindset that it’s always about me, and you don’t ever think about the greater whole. So if recycling or doing something is inconvenient to you and it’s going to set you back from your goals of beating someone out, then you’re not going to do it. I think that’s probably part of it. It’s just like a little thing almost in your brain that you just can’t get over. You have something else to do. It’s hard to learn that there’s a bigger picture.”

With this type of mindset obstructing possible progressions in sustainability, getting students to wholly embrace alternative

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as CAP will never be able to reach their full potential. “(It’s a) if you build it, they will come, kind of thing,” Rich said. “If the facilities are there, people will use them. Expanding parking facilities have never solved parking problems.”

Instead, Rich said, changes need to be made within the system that moves the masses as a whole toward a more environmentally friendly approach. Such an example he presented was in California, where the average Californian uses less than half the amount of electricity that a Virginian uses. Why? It might have something to do with policy.

“It’s because the state of California passed laws requiring electric efficiency in appliances so you can’t buy an inefficient washing machine, oven,” Rich said. “And it’s not that individual consumers made the decision, ‘I’m going to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle;’ it’s that when they went to buy these products, only energy efficient ones were available. So, in a stroke of a pen, we can change so much in the way that people behave if we would be willing to implement the kind of policies we wanted to.”

Despite the fact that America might be currently locked in its own stubbornness as far as change in environmental issues, the impending consequences of not putting forth a sustainable effort will still come to pass.

“If you put a frog in a boiling pot of water, it’ll jump out and save itself,” Rich said. “If you put it in a pot of cold water and slowly raise the temperature, the frog will sit there until it boils to death. We’re all like that frog; the environmental consequences are building up so slowly, and they’re not right here in our backyard that the alarm bells never go off, but eventually we’re going to be boiled.”

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10features

editor: bethany buchanan email: features@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., f 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

february 10, 2009

^^Print Out Temporary Tattoos: Nothing is quite as romantic as professing your love for your significant other with matching tattoos. But lets be realistic: It’s college and in a few months, you will likely change your mind on not only your tattoo design, but your lover as well. Luckily, with Papilio Tattoo Adhesive ($14), you can create your own temporary tattoo designs on an inkjet printer and revel in the romance of matching tattoos with the security of a physical prenuptial agreement.

Valentine’s Day

>>Potted Plant: As every store, romantic comedy and Hallmark card suggests, roses epitomize the traditional Valentine’s Day gift. But honestly, who really likes roses? They are overpriced, trite and die within a week.

This year, gift your lover with a potted plant that will continue to grow even after the Valentine’s Day season has wilted.

Choose a flower that speaks to your relationship: an iris for inspiration, an orchid for delicate beauty, a pansy for loving thoughts, a sunflower for adoration or a tulip as a declaration of love. For the single crowd, gift yourself with a peony for healing, poppy for consolation or geranium for comfort. Or better yet, surprise your ex and his or her new partner with an orange blossom for fertility.

O

nly days after stores have purged the final remnants of the Christmas season, a flood of red and pink chokes the aisles, inspiring feelings of melancholy in single shoppers and panic in the rest, as well as a slew of inexplicable questions: Who really buys those teddy bears in coffee cups? Will my friends be more impressed by the holographic Ninja Turtle valentines or the ones with the stickers? Who thought that “fax me” was worthy of appearing on a Sweetheart?

Do people actually still fax? And so the list continues. This year, to avoid the onslaught of impossible questions and the predictable selection of overpriced clutter, I am creating my own Valentine’s Day gifts perfect for those with a significant other as well as the bitter singles, satisfied spinsters and freespirited bachelors..

MARY ANNE CARTER staff writer

[if you’re single or in a relationship]

Gift Ideas >>Fortune Cookies: Forgo overpriced and trite boxes of chocolate and add mystery and unpredictability to the cliché repertoire of Valentine’s Day sweets by making your own fortune cookies this year.

According to allrecipies.com, you will need: 3 egg whites, 3/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, 1 cup allpurpose flour, 2 tablespoons water, and a collection of clever, seductive or ruthless quips or death wishes depending on the nature of your relationship (or lack thereof). First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease the cookie sheets. Next, whip the egg whites and sugar on high for about two minutes until frothy and stir in melted butter, vanilla, almond extract, water and flour one at a time. Once it has reached the consistency of pancake batter, spoon the batter into 3-inch circles on the cookie sheets with room between for spreading. Bake for 5-7 minutes and remove, place a message in the center and fold in half.

Let cool, wrap in colored cellophane, place in a custom decorated Chinese takeout box or mysteriously hide them in places your darling or ex will stumble upon them.

>>Mobile: The longer you and your beloved have been together, the more sentimental litter fills your pockets, purse and sock drawer. Rather than use the ticket stubs, photographs, keepsakes and postcards you have accumulated as coasters and a place to spit out your gum, create a three-dimensional mobile. Using pliers, kitchen scissors or your bare teeth, cut off the bottom of a wire clothes hanger and curl under the edges to create loops. Repeat on as many hangers as desired with a minimum of two. Make a loop in the center of one of the pieces of wire and thread the others through so they radiate out in a circle.

Attach a string from the center loop for hanging and strings (fishing line works well) from the loops at the ends to attach photos and souvenirs. Not only is the finished product a perfect way to showcase the memories you have shared with your beau, but it’s excellent kindling for your next bonfire for those celebrating Valentine’s Day alone — and the coat hangers are perfect skewers for marshmallows!

>>Mix Tape: In an age of file sharing and flash drives, the art of the mix tape has been long forgotten. This Valentine’s Day, after scouring iTunes for your sappiest songs, skip the CD-Rs and stock up on cassette tapes at the drugstore before heading to the thrift shop to find an inexpensive cassette player or boom box. Spray paint the cassette tape red or pink and make your own album cover with old photos, magazine clippings and other mementos to create a thoughtful, kitschy mix straight from 1992.

DESIGN BY JOSH SON/COLLEGIATE TIMES

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