COLLEGIATETIMES
tuesday march 11, 2008 blacksburg, va.
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news NEW YORK GOV. SPITZER LINKED TO PROSTITUTION RING
Women’s track repeats as ACC champs TECH WINS ITS SECOND STRAIGHT-ACC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP AND PREPARES FOR NCAA’S THIS WEEKEND
NEW YORK — Amid news reports that he patronized an international prostitution ring, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who made his name as a straight-arrow, corruption-busting prosecutor, apologized to his family and the people of New York state Monday. Silda Wall Spitzer, eyes downcast and looking drawn, stood beside her husband of 20 years and the father of their three teenaged daughters as he spoke at a brief news conference in Manhattan’s City Hall. The conference was hastily arranged in response to inquiries by The New York Times, which said it had learned from an anonymous source that Spitzer had told senior aides he was involved with a prostitution ring. — McClatchy Newspapers
T. REES SHAPIRO
ct sports reporter
sports MEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYERS EARN ACC HONORS Three Virginia Tech men’s basketball players were recognized Vassallo for their achievements on Monday. A.D. Vassallo was named second team All-ACC, Washington while Deron Washington was named honorable mention AllACC and Jeff Allen made the Allen All-Freshman team. Allen and Washington were also named to the honorable mention All-Defense squad. North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough was unanimously voted to the first team, and is only the third player in ACC history to be a unanimous selection three times. Boston College’s Tyrese Rice, Miami’s Jack McClinton, Virginia’s Sean Singletary, and Duke’s DeMarcus Nelson rounded out the All-ACC first team.
weather MOSTLY SUNNY high 53, low 31
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coming up TOMORROW’S CT Check out how third baseman Ty Hohman and the baseball team fare against JMU today in tomorrow’s CT.
index News.....................2 Features................4 0pinions................5
Sports....................6 Classifieds..............9 Sudoku..................9
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 29
MIKE SHROYERI/SPPS
The Virginia Tech women’s track and field team rode a series of strong individual performances on its way to claiming its second consecutive ACC indoor championship in Chapel Hill, N.C., on March 1. The Hokies distanced themselves from the competition, finishing with 138 points, while North Carolina and Florida State tied for runner-up at 88.5 points. “We had an outstanding season so far,” Tech head coach Dave Cianelli said. “Our team’s focal point was the ACC Championships and the women really came through as a team and exceed(ed) even my expectations, and my expectations are pretty high. They were ready to compete and came ready to perform and did an awesome job.” Brittany Pryor led the way for the Hokies, winning the shot put and weight throw, while Ciera Ayangbile finished second. Tech’s Patrice Potts won the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.36 seconds for the third conference championship of her career, and teammate Britni Spruill registered a second place finish for the Hokies. Tasmin Fanning won the 3,000-meter race with a time of 9:23.50, and teammate Natalie Sherbak finished as the runner-up. Tech also won the 4x400 meter relay, edging out the University of Miami team for the title. Queen Harrison recorded a second place finish in the 400-meter dash, a fourth place finish in the 60 meter hurdles, and took part in the winning 4x400 meter relay team to boost the Hokies’ effort. While she finished as the runner-up in the 60meter hurdles at the ACC championships with a time of 8.15 seconds, Kristi Castlin made waves with her performance at the VT Last Chance event the following weekend. The sophomore recorded the fastest time in the country this season at 8.01 seconds. Her latest effort is the third time this season she has broken Tech’s 60-meter
Kristi Castlin, a sophomore, finished third in the 60-meter hurdles at the ACC Championships, helping Tech to the overall women’s title.
see TRACK, page eight
Committee assists Tech with April 16 research CALEB FLEMING
ct news reporter Months after the Virginia Tech shooting last April, the university’s office of the provost established a group that would supplement the traditional process of institutional review and add an extra stratum to the studies regarding the shootings that may be conducted. The Committee for Assessment and Research After the Tragedy was organized by Mark McNamee, University Provost, as an aid to members of the university and national communities interested in doing research on the shootings. University policy denotes that any research that involves human subjects must go through a process called the Institutional Review Board. The IRB reviews all research plans and ensures that they are technically sound and not potentially detrimental to the university community. Though the board must give a serious, rigorous review and give approval on all topics, they
do not explore what the main content of the research is. The new committee has strived to examine each individual proposal, gaining an understanding for its context amongst the other surveys also being distributed. “We set up this committee after April 16 because the thing that was different was the feeling that a lot of people here and elsewhere would be looking to do research on Virginia Tech,” McNamee said. “Our concern was the unusual situation of people getting 10 different surveys in a few week period, asking the same questions. Though each one has passed an IRB review, taken together they could be a problem.” As stated by McNamee, the main service provided by this committee is the assurance that they are screening all of the proposed research projects for duplicates. While they can prevent multiple surveys that are identical from happening, they also work to ensure that specific groups and individuals on campus are not being sampled repetitively. In its prior state, the Institutional Review Board
see RESEARCH, page two
Military money going to fund anti-war candidates CANDACE SIPOS
ct news reporter According to assessments made in 2007 by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C., members of the military who have historically been right-leaning are beginning to monetarily support anti-war political candidates. The CRP reported that over the past year, among presidential candidates, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) received the most donations from those in the military at about $212,000. Following with $94,000 from military-affiliated donors was Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Both candidates are staunchly opposed to the war in Iraq and have promised to implement immediate plans to begin pulling troops from the war-torn nation if elected president. “I don’t know how much we can conclude about the whole military’s opinion about the war, but at least among these donors, they seem to be saying that they want a president who will end the war in Iraq as quickly as possible,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the CRP. When a donator gives more than $200 to a political campaign, he or she is required by the Federal Election Commission to provide personal information such as name, address, employer and occupation. The CRP study focused on these last two details when profiling donors. “When we see that someone works in the military, we categorize them accordingly and then add up everyone else who works in the military,” Ritsch said, adding that military donors may be uniformed personnel or civilians. Although Ritsch said the military does not donate a lot of money compared to other groups,
ROY HIGASHI/SPPS
Cadet Matthew Stacy, a sophomore in history, studies Monday in Newman Library. the $800,000 given in 2007 by the military is more than the group usually gives to candidates. He also noted that the group, which traditionally strongly favors republican candidates, has become more leftist in its contributions since the war in Iraq began in 2003. Col. “Rock” Roszak, associate director of alumni relations for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, said that he does not believe the statistic. “A statistic is bending a number the way you want it to bend, and I think that’s what you’re dealing with here,” Roszak said. He said that he has not found the shift of military members toward democratic candidates to be true, although he
see MILITARY, page two
COREY LOWENSTEIN/RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER
Friends of slain University of North Carolina student body president Eve Carson gather on the Chapel Hill, N.C. campus to mourn her death on Thursday.
Police search for suspect in UNC student’s murder STANLEY B. CHAMBERS JR. & JESSE DECONTO
mcclatchy newspapers CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Police are looking for a young man who used an ATM card belonging to slain UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson, but they have stopped short of calling him a suspect in her homicide. Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said investigators have not identified the man whose photo was captured by a surveillance camera as he used the ATM. They can only say that he appears to be black and in his late teens or early 20s. In photos released Saturday, the man appears to be wearing gloves, what looks like a hooded sweatshirt or parka and a ball cap with a star on it. Chapel Hill police also released a photo of a Houston Astros baseball cap that looks similar. Experts say the vintage Astros cap with an H superimposed on the star is popular with some gangs. Curran said the ATM photos were taken in the Chapel Hill area but would not say specifically where or when. “This is our biggest break so far in this case,” he said at a news conference Saturday morning. “I know we’re still in the first couple of days of this. But this is our strongest lead right now, and we’re hopeful that we’re able to get this guy identified.” Curran said the ATM camera captured images of the man in a sport utility vehicle with a roof rack that may be Carson’s 2005 Toyota Highlander. He referred to the man in the photos as “a person of interest.” Curran said police are putting together a timeline using Carson’s cell phone records but said they have not found her keys or her wallet. He repeated that investigators have no evidence to suggest Carson was specifically targeted. “We believe, at this point, it feels like a random crime,” Curran said. Curran backed off calling Eve Carson’s death
random Friday, instead saying investigators simply don’t have evidence to the contrary. “To make an assessment on that at this time would be speculative,” Curran said. “At this point we have no evidence to believe that it was a targeted crime.” Curran did not rule out a random crime but also did not advise residents or students to take any unusual precautions. “There are criminals that roam among society on a fairly regular basis,” he said. “It’s not just Chapel Hill. . . . Our officers are out there just doing the normal job that they do every day.” Carson’s next-door neighbor, UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore Anna Pullian, said she doubted the crime was random. “Everyone knew who she was,” Pullian said. “Practically everyone on campus would know her face. It seems to be too much of a coincidence for it to be random.” Statistics suggest that Carson’s death probably was not random. About two-thirds of female homicide victims are killed by people they know, about a quarter are killed by people of unknown relationship, and less than 10 percent are killed by confirmed strangers, according to U.S. Department of Justice statistics. About one-third are killed by intimate partners. Curran said he didn’t know of any boyfriends or stalkers who may have been angry with Carson. “She was a very attractive person, a very popular person, so we’re certainly not ruling that out,” Curran said. “As far as I know, she wasn’t having a problem with anybody.” Last September, the online campus satire magazine Bounce published a piece titled “Eve Carson should break up with her (boyfriend)” by a male editor. The magazine also has published a pie chart showing “What Eve is doing instead of dating (the editor).” The five activities all had to do with hair care. The magazine has received attention on cable television shows and on blogs. Curran said nei-
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see MURDER, page two