COLLEGIATETIMES
tuesday march 25, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news STATE PROPOSES SETTLEMENT TO APRIL 16 FAMILIES
Hokies dance into NIT Quarterfinals VIRGINIA TECH BLAZES PAST THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM TO CLAIM A HOME BERTH IN WEDNESDAY’S NIT QUARTERFINAL
WITH A BIG WIN OVER UAB, HOKIES AVOID AN EARLY TOURNEY EXIT
A relative of an April 16 victim told the Associated Press yesterday that the state proposed a settlement to prevent lawsuits that would give the victim’s families $100,000 each. The settlement would provide all families and surviving victims medical and counseling expenses, as well as the opportunity to question the governor and university officials about the shootings, the family member told the AP. The person asked to remain anonymous because those involved with the settlement were told not to discuss it. The proposal would also reserve another $800,000 for injured victims, with no more than $100,000 to be given to any one person. It would also set up a fund to reimburse or advance expenses not covered by insurance for medical, psychological and psychiatric care for victims and their immediate family. The proposal would require all families to agree to the settlement.
AMIE STEELE
ct editor-in-chief
sports TECH BASEBALL FALLS TO SEMINOLES Although the Virginia Tech baseball team (7-15, 0-9 ACC) scored 27 times in their threegame weekend series, their opponent – the third-ranked Florida State Seminoles (19-2, 9-0) had 39 runs, as Tech dropped all three games. It also pushed the Hokies’ losing streak to a dozen. For a full recap of last weekend’s action at English Field against Florida State, visit our Web site at www.collegiatetimes.com.
SOFTBALL SWEEPS WOLFPACK The No. 24 Hokies’ softball team swept the North Carolina State Wolfpack this past weekend, winning a doubleheader on Friday and a third game on Saturday afternoon on the road in Raleigh, N.C. Senior All-American pitcher Angela Tincher started the first and third games of the series for the Hokies, shutting out the Wolfpack on both occasions and allowing two hits total. The team is off until Wednesday night when they will take on the U.S. National Team in an exhibition game in Oklahoma City. The game is scheduled to be televised via ESPN2 on a tape-delayed basis on May 6 at 7 p.m.
weather SUNNY high 54, low 39
corrections 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.
index News.....................2 Features................4 0pinions................3
Classifieds..............5 Sudoku..................5 Sports....................6
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 37
SALLY BULL/SPPS
Coach Seth Greenberg cheers from the bench after his team scores during the second half of last night’s home game. Tech won 75-49.
CHARLES R. BARRINEAU
ct associate sports editor The Hokies are still dancing. A 75-49 victory over the University of AlabamaBirmingham Blazers, in front of 9,757 fans, guaranteed that the Virginia Tech basketball team will play another day—in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday to be exact. “I think they’re a really good team,” said Greenberg. “I think that we got them on the right night … we just played well tonight. We saw a big basket.” The Hokies came seeing a big basket from downtown, as Deron Washington and A.D. Vassallo connected on Tech’s first three-point attempts of the game. After the first, UAB head coach Mike Davis took his first timeout only 0:28
into the game. The Hokies would remain hot throughout; going 9-21 from long-range, good for 42.9 percent. “We’re real confident right now,” said Malcolm Delaney who dropped in three of those nine three-pointers and finished with 17 points. “Different people got hot at different times of the game. Deron got hot at one point. Then, I got hot and A.D. got hot.” While the Blazers would get back into the game, a 9-0 Hokie run helped Tech jump out to a 21-9 lead at the 15:40 mark. The Blazers came right back one again with an 8-1 run, but the Hokies countered their run by pushing their lead back to double-digits less than one minute after the end of the Blazer run, putting the score at 27-17. For a stretch, neither team was particularly hot
offensively, but Tech was able to capitalize on a 4:26 UAB scoring drought to grow the lead to a dozen. Tech distanced themselves only slightly more after the end of the Blazer drought and took a 36-21 lead into the half. The story of the first half was the play of UAB standout and first-team all-Conference USA selection Robert Vaden. The redshirt junior picked up two fouls in less than 3:30 of play and scored only 2 first half points on 1-9 shooting; he was 0-5 from downtown. He finished the game with only nine points, his fewest since a Nov. 21 meeting with Eastern Kentucky, on 3-17 shooting from the field and a 1-12 mark from downtown. “That’s my main focus every game—to play
With Virginia Tech’s 75-49 win over the University of Alabama-Birmingham Monday night, it has broken its streak of two and done. The Hokies have had three-straight second round post-season exits, but last night’s win gave Tech the most post-season wins, not including conference tournaments, since 1995. Coincidently, the Hokies won the National Invitation Tournament in 1995. Last year, Tech beat Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, only to follow it up with a second round loss to Southern Illinois. In 2005, Seth Greenberg’s Hokies beat Temple in the first round, and then lost to Memphis in the second round of the NIT. In 1996, following the 1995 NIT championship, Tech beat the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and went on to lose to Kentucky. Tech is 26-14 all-time in post-season play, including 4-2 under Greenberg. It has made a post-season appearance in three of the last five seasons, during all of which Greenberg has been at the helm In the past the Hokies were quick to exit a post-season tournament, but it looks as though it might be different this year. “We’re playing confident right now, we’re not afraid to shoot,” said freshman Malcolm Delaney. Not to mention that with last Wednesday’s win over Morgan State, Tech now has back-to-back 20 win seasons – the first since 1985 and 1986. “I feel like we’re making some progress, we’re not close to where we want to be — but we’re a long way from where we were,” Greenberg said. “We’re finding a way to teach our guys how to win.” This year was Tech’s ninth appearance in the NIT, its first since 2005. The Hokies won NIT championships in 1973 and 1995, and finished third in 1984. Last night added more history to the relationship, as the Hokies are now 10-0 in NIT games in the Cassell. They are in the top-15 list of all time wins in the NIT — with 20 wins and 6 losses — putting them with the likes of Memphis and Dayton. And with last Wednesday’s win, Tech has won eight straight NIT first round games – meaning its advanced to at least the second round in it’s last eight appearances. Even with the great past in the NIT, it seems as though the Hokies are looking for a brighter future in the tournament.
see WIN, page six
see DANCE, page six
Clothesline Project opens today across Drillfield CT NEWS STAFF The Clothesline Project, held over the course of this week, is an attempt to raise awareness of violence against women by displaying T-shirts, created by victims of violence, on the Drillfield. The project is sponsored by Montgomery County Now, Womanspace, the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech and the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley. “Each year people are more aware of the workshops we put on, and more volunteers are working on the project,” said Amy Clements, senior business management and interdisciplinary studies major. The Clothesline Project was first held in October of 1990 in Hyannis, Mass., to coincide with a “Take Back the Night” rally before spreading nationally. The first Clothesline Project at Virginia Tech took place in 1994, and has been held on campus annually since.
CLOTHESLINE PROJECT The Clothesline Project will be on display on the Drillfield from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 25, 26, and 27. If there is rain, the shirts will be presented in Squires Student Center. Coordinators of the project thought it was an important way to inform the campus community on the issue of violence against women. Susan Anderson, instructor of mathematics and faculty adviser for Womanspace, said that each shirt is created by a survivor of some kind of violence. Womanspace is a community dedicated to women’s issues that meets weekly at the Women’s Center, according to the group’s Web site. “It can show that it can happen anywhere, as all
see PROJECT, page two
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHAOZHUO CUI/SPPS
SGA presidential candidates, Emily Mashack, left, and Jennifer Vaziralli, right, speak in last night’s debate in Squires’ Haymarket Theatre.
Candidates face off in SGA debate ASHLEY OLIVER
ct associate news editor The Student Government Association hosted a debate last night about various issues within the student body as a part of the ongoing election process. Adeel Khan, current SGA president, opened the night by welcoming the crowd to the debate and invited the two tickets, ‘The Total Package’ and ‘yourSGA,’ to provide opening statements to the audience in Haymarket Theatre of Squires. Jen Vaziralli, The Total Package’s presidential candidate, began by introducing her ticket’s four major platforms: to support, to build, to enhance and to inform. Members of this ticket also include Rianka Urbine for Vice President, Kendall LaRue for Treasurer, and Meredyth Kenney for Secretary. Emily Mashack, candidate for president, then introduced ‘yourSGA’s’ platforms: outreach, unity, traditions and go green. This ticket also includes Steve Smith for Vice President, Sharone Christmas for Treasurer, and Ashley Gray for Secretary. Mediator for the debate, Ben Jager, broached questions regarding a variety of topics such as what it means to be a Hokie, changes candidates have in mind for the future SGA, thoughts on
environmental efforts, and the handling of past ethical dilemmas.
VIDEO ON THE WEB: Watch a video of the debate on our Web site, www.collegiatetimes.com In response to what a question about what changes candidates intend to make and how they plan to implement them, Vaziralli began by passing the question over to Kenney, as she felt Kenney had more insight into the topic. “One of the biggest problems on this campus is that the students do not have trust in the SGA,” Kenney said. “We play a huge role and we are such a profound organization, and yet still students do not understand exactly what we do.” Kenney, who is currently director of public relations for the SGA, proposed that the secretary oversee an entire branch that is dedicated to public relations in order to reach out to the students through the various media outlets. ‘YourSGA’ in turn discussed their plans to maintain a more upto-date Web site as a means of communication. “We’d like to enhance the Web site to include minutes from executive meetings, which would obviously include attendance, as well, to keep
executive members accountable,” Mashack said. She offered keeping the site updated by providing information on upcoming events and outlining future goals of the organization, which would allow for students to learn about what SGA is truly capable of accomplishing for them. Concerning sustainability, which Jager stated as a concern for more than 80 percent of the student body, tickets held slightly varied positions. Mashack and Gray both explained that ‘yourSGA’ felt it was an issue large enough that they would take efforts such as providing an Earth week, making table cards to educate students, and working on and off campus to increase recycling. Vaziralli said ‘The Total Package’ felt ‘go green’ shouldn’t be one of SGA’s main initiatives, but that she still intended to provide resources to organizations that focus on the environment with hopes that this will aid in their cause. After Jager’s questions, the floor was then turned over to YouTube questions where different members of the campus, including University Provost Mark McNamee, were able to pose their own questions. Three YouTube questions that were given to the candidates concerned initiatives the SGA would like the administration to take, what programs
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see DEBATE, page two