COLLEGIATETIMES
friday march 14, 2008 blacksburg, va.
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news UNIVERSITY WILL HOLD BRIEFING ON APRIL 16
MORVA SENTENCED TO DEATH
Virginia Tech President Charles Steger announced in an e-mail last night that the university administration will brief the community on the current status of the recommendations made from internal and external reports from the aftermath of the April 16 shootings. This will be held on March 19 from 5:30 p.m to 7 p.m. in Squires’ Student Center Haymarket Theatre.
FORMER WILLIAM & MARY PRESIDENT TAKES JOB AT UNC Gene Nichol, who resigned as president of the College of William and Mary last month, is going to teach law at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nichol resigned in February after learning the Board of Visitors did not plan to rehire him after a series of controversies, including the removal of a cross from a college chapel.
sports HOKIES PLAY IN ACC QUARTERFINALS Should the Hokies win against Miami this afternoon and get themselves back into serious NCAA Tournament conversation, some of yesterday’s events may work to their favor: • Baylor had a bad loss to Colorado • Arizona State lost to USC • Washington State was up by 15 at the half on Oregon at press time • Arizona had tough matchup with Stanford • Dayton lost to Xavier • Villanova fell to Georgetown Despite the breaks Tech got, it must take care of Miami and earn a quality RPI win.
PHOTOS BY MATT GENTRY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
William Morva responds as his death sentence is announced yesterday in Abingdon. Morva was found guilty for the 2006 murders of Derrick McFarland and Cpl. Eric Sutphin.
TWO DAYS AFTER BEING CONVICTED ON THREE COUNTS OF CAPITAL MURDER, MORVA IS GIVEN THE DEATH PENALTY MEG MILLER
ct campus news editor A jury recommended the death penalty yesterday for William Morva, who was found guilty of killing two in Montgomery County in August 2006. The Washington County jury deliberated for three hours before agreeing that 26-yearold Morva should be executed rather than be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Yesterday’s decision took slightly less than the three-and-a-half hour deliberation at the same courthouse on Tuesday that found him guilty of capital murder.
63 50
Georgia Tech Virginia
94 76
Boston College 71 Maryland 68 Tech takes on Miami at 2 p.m.; the game can be seen on Raycom. Check out a live blog from the tournament on our Web site.
weather P.M. SHOWERS high 65, low 45
Cindy McFarland, left, widow of Derrick McFarland, and Tamara Sutphin, right, see MORVA, page two widow of Cpl. Eric Sutphin, react to the jury’s decision to sentence Morva to death.
Parking Services raises own funds
YESTERDAY’S ACC SCORES Florida State 70 Wake Forest 60 Miami N.C. State
Morva was found responsible for killing an unarmed hospital security guard, Derrick McFarland, as well as sheriff's Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County Sheriff's office, following his escape from Montgomery Regional Hospital. Morva was also convicted of an additional count of capital murder for killing two people within three years. In addition to the three counts of capital murder, Morva faced two counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony, one count of assault and battery of a police officer, and one count of escape with force, according to the Commonwealth Attorney's Web site.
PARKING SERVICES RAISES ITS OWN FUNDS IN ORDER TO OFFSET NEARLY $3 MILLION IN EXPENSES EACH YEAR GORDON BLOCK
ct news reporter
TRAVIS CHURCH/SPPS
News anchor Bob Schieffer speaks about his experiences as a journalist last night.
As thousands of students, faculty and staff come onto the campus each day, many need and look for parking spaces that allow them to easily access their classrooms and work areas. Responsibility for providing parking spaces on campus to the many who need them as a part of their daily activities falls to Parking Services. Parking Services has carried a long history at Virginia Tech since its formation in the late 1980s. Steve Mouras, director of the Office of Transportation, said Parking Services was formed
when the state legislature passed legislation stating that state funds were not to be used to fund parking at state institutions for higher education. As a result, Parking Services has to raise its own funds to offset the nearly three million dollars in expenses the office incurs in maintenance, paying for the lots and running the office. This is done through a combination of selling parking passes and issuing tickets to those violating parking rules. Selling parking passes is a major fundraiser as it raises approximately $2.1 million for Parking Services. Although there are a large number of people who are in need of parking spaces, for Parking Services, managing permit sales with the student population hasn’t been much of a problem. “It’s really not that difficult. The student population has relatively stayed the same over the past 10 years,” Mouras said.
Parking on campus is assigned four different categories, including faculty and staff, graduate students, commuters and resident students. Faculty and staff have priority over certain types of parking, including the ability to park in the spots reserved for other categories, which has raised some controversy. However, officials continue to defend their methods. “What I tell folks is that they have a different relationship to Tech. Faculty and staff are contractually obligated to be on time, whereas students do not,” Mouras said. The other major revenue generator for Parking Services comes through issuing tickets for violating parking rules. Tickets are issued regularly. “We issue anywhere between 800 and 1000 tickets a week,” said Bo Frazier, assistant manager for facilities.
see PARKING, page three
Bob Schieffer SGA struggles with campus outreach speaks in Burruss Hall CT NEWS STAFF
coming up TUESDAY’S CT Check out the CT’s special edition on Tuesday for all the information you need for the Yankees game. Check out a video of Tech golfer, Drew Weaver, tee off against a CT sports reporter in putt-putt.
index News.....................2 Features................4 0pinions................5
Sports....................7 Classifieds............10 Sudoku................10
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 32
In a near-filled Burruss Hall, news anchor Bob Schieffer discussed the history of politics and the possible outcomes of the current election. After a brief introduction from President Charles Steger and Richard Sorensen, the Dean of the Pamplin College of Business, Schieffer began the evening with a positive commendation of the way Virginia Tech handled the shootings last April. “I am very proud of you,” he said. “We are now at a better place and let’s hope that such a thing never happens again.” Shieffer then segued into an insightful discussion about his favorite politicians and elections in addition to his analysis of the current primary elections.
The Student Government Association of Virginia Tech is an organization responsible for representing the student body of Tech and seeking change on campus; however, many students aren’t fully aware of the organization’s efforts. While SGA has experienced much success through its many programs and events, it still wishes more input came from various groups on campus. “Reaching out to the students has been a challenge,” said Meredyth Kenney, Director of Public Relations for SGA. “Our entire legislative branch is made to represent the 620 organizations we have here.” She described the turnout from these organizations as disappointing and thinks the lack of participation in SGA’s events and meetings hinders its purpose of representing the student body. To combat the struggles in communication, SGA focuses on ideas that will allow all students to contribute to their purpose in representing the
see SCHIEFFER, page three
see SGA, page three
KEVIN ANDERSON
ct new river valley editor
MIKE SHROYER/SPPS
Chris Chamberlain rakes leaves as a part of last year’s Big Event, sponsored by SGA.
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