COLLEGIATETIMES
thursday march 27, 2008 blacksburg, va.
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Curtain falls on Broadway dream TECH FALLS SHORT OF REACHING NEW YORK CITY WITH 81-72 LOSS TO OLE MISS IN THE NIT QUARTERFINALS CHARLES R. BARRINEAU
ct associate sports editor
sports SPRING PRACTICE STARTS FOR FOOTBALL TEAM The football team is back in the swing of things — see how the battle for the starting running back spot is going. page eight
SOFTBALL DEALS U.S. TEAM ITS FIRST LOSS The Virginia Tech softball team upset the U.S. national team 1-0 on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. Senior All-American Angela Tincher threw a no-hitter and had 10 strikeouts for the Hokies in the exhibition match. The U.S. team is on the “Bound 4 Beijing” tour and was 14-0 coming into the game, and had outscored their opponents 142-3.
news DEALER ALIGNS WITH CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS MILWAUKEE, Wis. — If gun dealer Eric Thompson had his way, college students would carry more than just books. In his vision, the next college shooter is thwarted by a student armed with one of Thompson’s guns — averting a massacre, saving lives. Thompson’s Internet-based business TGSCOM Inc. sold weapons to the shooters at both Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech universities. First, he said, he felt grief for the victims. Then, a sense of resolve. Not to stop selling guns, but to advocate for guns on campus. “The perfect situation is that nothing ever happens like that again,” Thompson said. “ . . . But in a last-ditch scenario, you are able to protect yourself.”
weather MOSTLY SUNNY high 70, low 49
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coming up TOMORROW’S CT See how college applications fluctuate with athletic performance — as performance rises, so do applications. Check out a photo gallery from last night’s men’s basketball loss to Ole Miss.
index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5
Sports....................6 Classifieds..............7 Sudoku..................7
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 39
Virginia Tech’s National Invitation Tournament run ended Wednesday evening with a 81-72 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels in front of a packed Cassell Coliseum. “I’m really proud of what we were able to accomplish this season,” said Tech head coach Seth Greenberg. “We accomplished some really special things — 21 wins, getting a bye (in the) ACC Tournament, getting to the semifinals, winning two games in the postseason. Those are all, obviously, tremendous accomplishments for such a young team.” Just as in their two previous NIT games, the Hokies got off to a hot start. An A.D. Vassallo three-pointer put the Hokies ahead 12-3 little more than three minutes into the game. The Hokie quick start prompted Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy to use his first timeout. “I think our confidence skyrocketed once we got there,” said senior forward Deron Washington. “It seemed like, after one of the timeouts, a wall just hit us and we couldn’t knock any shots down. It made it pretty tough for us.” The Rebels became the first team to come back on the Hokies by going on a 13-3 run to take a 16-15 lead. The comeback may have been due to Ole Miss’ familiarity with their environment. “We watched that UAB game,” Kennedy said. “One thing that we did do (Tuesday) night is … we showed them, in real time, the first eight minutes of the game against UAB and how the emotion of the crowd and how they came out and attacked.” A Malcolm Delaney three-pointer put the Hokies ahead 31-27 last in the first half, but Ole Miss scored the period’s final six points en route to a 33-31 lead at intermission. The Rebels dominated two aspects of the first half statistically; they shot 7-10 from the free-throw line as opposed to Tech’s 0-3 performance. More significantly, the Rebels won the rebounding battle by 15, 28-13. Ole Miss finished the game out-rebounding the Hokies 46-23. “They knocked the crap out of us,” Greenberg said. David Huertas and Chris Warren led the Rebels offensively in the first half, scoring eight points each. Vassallo led the way for Tech and scored a game-high 10 points and Deron Washington added seven. A Dwayne Curtis old-fashioned threepoint play at the 15:21 mark in the second half gave him 11 points and gave Ole Miss its largest lead of the game to that point — 5.
see LOSS, page eight
MIKE SHROYER/SPPS
Lewis Witcher pulls down a rebound between Ole Miss’ Kenny Williams (50) and Dwayne Curtis (44) during Tech’s 81-72 loss.
Take Back the Night is no longer just for women LAUREN MORRISON
ct news reporter Violence against women will headline the 19th annual Take Back the Night Rally and March that will be held tonight on the Drillfield in front of War Memorial Chapel. The rally, beginning at 7 p.m., will be immediately followed by a candlelight march through campus and downtown Blacksburg that will end on the Drillfield for a closing celebration. The event is part of March’s Women’s Month and is held to protest violence against women and promote awareness of rape, violence and misogyny in the community. “Take Back the Night is a great way to bring awareness about violence against women,” said
Jen Underwood, member of the Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Services and Women’s Center adviser, who helped sponsor the event. “We want people to take advantage of the opportunity to help our community be a safe place to women. It is a good event because it brings survivors, allies and people who might not know much about violence against women together for a common cause.” The rally will include various speakers from organizations on campus and will also feature survivors of sexual assault who will share their experiences. Sexual assault resource magnets and purple ribbons will be provided as a tool to raise awareness. Each participant is asked to wear a purple ribbon with a knot tied for each friend or family member who has been a victim of sexual assault. In addition, there will be representatives there to talk about
Frank Beamer to assist with management lecture CALEB FLEMING
ct news reporter In his 14 years at Virginia Tech, management professor Christopher Neck has earned a reputation for his unconventional teaching. Neck has now managed to make his course for the fall of 2008 even more appealing to students, soliciting the help of Tech head football coach Frank Beamer. An eight-time Students’ Choice Teacher of The Year Award winner, Neck first approached Beamer several months ago, after asking himself what he could do to make his course better. The course, Management 3304: Management Theory and Leadership Practice, is currently one of the largest courses offered on the Tech campus. Though Beamer will not be co-lecturing with Neck, he noted that Beamer has committed to helping with one full week of leadership class. Beamer’s expertise will also play a significant role in the development of a new textbook, something that Neck greatly appreciates and feels will add to students’ overall experience. “Given his schedule, one week of class is amaz-
ing,” Neck said. “Coach Beamer is legendary, so for him to come into the classroom and help me out shows that he cares not only for the student athletes, but also for the students.” Neck noted that Beamer’s Beamer life experience will provide the students with an excellent example of what is being taught to them. “He will help leadership come alive,” Neck said. “We are going to try and make leadership fun and exciting.” During last week’s course request period, over 900 students expressed interest in the management class. The present enrollment cap is set at 500 students, which is something that Neck hopes will change in the near future. “It makes sense to me that they would open it up and move it to Burruss,” Neck said. “It needs to be in a much bigger venue so that more students can have the opportunity to take it.”
what students can do and whom they can talk to if he or she or someone that person knows has been a victim of sexual assault. While the rally and march are geared toward mostly women’s issues, men are strongly encouraged to come out and show support. “Violence against women issues are not issues that only affect women. Guys have sexual violence issues too,” said Jeff Yacup, president of Men Of Respect at Virginia Tech. “Statistics show that guys are the perpetrators, but that doesn’t mean all guys are that way.” Underwood agreed, saying that men, too, are victims of sexual assault and violence. “We don’t want to look at this as just a women’s issue because there is a whole half of a population who cares about women’s safety and preventing
sexual violence against women,” she said. Having a strong male showing at the event makes it capable of reaching more than just women in the community. “I think trying to have a large male presence at something like Take Back the Night is a big step in the direction of hopefully curtailing some of these statistics,” Yacup said. “Being there shows that we’re dedicated to the same efforts as women.” Susan Anderson, vice mayor of Blacksburg and faculty adviser for Womanspace, which is hosting the event, stressed that Take Back the Night isn’t an effort that can be fulfilled by just one or two groups. “Women alone are not going to stop violence
see NIGHT, page two
Gun debate goes on
PAUL PLATZ/SPPS
Ken Stanton and other representatives of Stundents for Concealed Carry on Campus at Virginia Tech speak with a CNN reporter about campus carry. The SCCC has been lobbying for the right of students to carry weapons on university campuses nationwide.
see BEAMER, page two
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