COLLEGIATETIMES
tuesday april 8, 2008 blacksburg, va.
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bulletin board PEOPLE’S COALITION TO HOST TALK SHOW A new student organization, “The People’s Coalition,” is hosting a talk show tomorrow called “My Sister, Your Bitch” about sexism and how it mixes with racism. The event will be held in Haymarket Theatre in Squires Student Center at 7 p.m.
news
Administrators feel fund has served its purpose OVER 70 PEOPLE RECEIVED PAYMENTS FROM THE MORE THAN $8.5 MILLION THAT WAS DONATED TO THE MEMORIAL FUND CANDACE SIPOS
ct news reporter Since last April 16, millions of dollars have been given to several different relief funds in the names of Virginia Tech students and faculty or the university itself. The Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund received more than $8.5 million from over 21,000 people and groups, according to the fund’s Web site. The account is actually composed of 34 sepa-
rate funds: the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which was meant to pay for costs created by the shootings and support memorials; the Hokie Spirit Scholarship Fund that will help students financially university-wide; and 32 memorial funds in the name of each of the deceased. Although the HSMF closed on Dec. 31, 2007, anyone still wishing to donate can give to the other 33 funds. Kenneth Feinberg, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who specializes in “mediation and alternative dispute resolution,” according to his company’s Web site, served as administrator of the HSMF. He said the over $8 million was distributed to about 70 people. Families of those who were killed each received $212,000, families
of the injured received less, and the remainder was given to those who were in Norris second floor classrooms when the shootings occurred. He said that of the thousands of donations, the New York Yankees’ $1 million donation was by far the largest. Along with Tech administration and other members of the fund’s allocation group, Feinberg felt that the end of the year would be the best time to end the fund. “We felt that by Dec. 31 we would know who would contribute so that we could distribute the money,” Feinberg said. “We felt that it was important to get the money out as soon as possible.” Mary Ware, director of Virginia’s Criminal
NO WORD ON APRIL 16 SETTLEMENT
GORDON BLOCK
ct news reporter
sports SOCCER PLAYER ATTENDS NATIONAL TEAM CAMP
weather MOSTLY SUNNY high 62, low 46
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see MEMORIAL, page two
Prospective students visit engineering open house
Although the deadline for the victims’ families of April 16 to respond to a settlement offer had been extended until yesterday, there was still no response as of press time last night. An attorney associated with the negotiations suspected that the deadline would be pushed back even further than April 7 in an interview last week, but there has been no notice either way. The settlement includes giving $100,000 to each of the 32 families of those killed and up to $100,000 to everyone who had been injured. The proposal stated that the original deadline to accept the offer had been March 31. If enough families accept the state’s proposal, lawsuits for gross negligence, which at least 20 families have warned of filing by the April 16 cut-off date, will be avoided.
Virginia Tech women’s soccer player Kelly Lynch has been invited to participate in the training camp for the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Soccer Team between April 5 and April 13. A Freshman All-American and an All-ACC Freshman last season, she contributed heavily on Lynch defense in her first year. Marika Gray, another Tech freshman, participated in an earlier training camp and is in the current pool of 32 players available for the Under-20 National Team.
Injuries Compensation Fund, became involved with the fund after noticing that those already in charge “were having some directional challenges.” Her office responded to the 9/11 attacks and the Appalachian School of Law shootings and works with violent crime victims on a regular basis. “I look at (the) whole campus as a victimized entity,” Ware said. “I think that when victims don’t get their needs met, they start to focus on tangible things like money.” She explained that immediately following the April 16 shootings, people wanted to help and chose to do so by sending checks. But until the HSMF was up and running, Ware’s office part-
MARK UMANSKY/SPPS
Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student John Hennage demonstrates a new brake light he and other Tech students helped engineer.
Design team creates new brake lights THE TEAM’S DESIGN AIMS TO REDUCE COLLISIONS BY ALERTING DRIVERS HOW FAST A CAR IN FRONT OF THEM IS BRAKING JOHN KIM
ct staff writer A businessman from Manassas came across a chain of rear-end collisions driving along a highway in Northern Virginia. After a driver in one of the collisions stated that she couldn’t tell how fast the car in front of her was stopping, Meade Gwinn was inspired to create a device to convey braking speeds to drivers, in an effort to avoid further similar accidents. Spurred on by his daughter, a Virginia Tech student, Meade Gwinn contacted the school’s president, and eventually was directed to the mechanical engineering department.
Funded by Gwinn, Medhi Ahmadian, a mechanical engineering professor, oversaw and led several senior undergraduate design teams which were assigned to the project over the course of several years. John Hennage, a Ph.D. mechanical engineering student, was part of the first undergraduate senior design team that was put on this assignment in 2000. “The whole concept is to give more information to the driver behind you,” Hennage said. “The goal is to get their attention; the human eye picks up to motion very well.” The initial design was an LED bar that would flash when the vehicle slowed down with a certain force, letting the driver behind it know whether the car is merely slowing down or coming to a quick stop. When the project needed more applicable methods, Hennage came back onto the project
in 2007, helping to create different designs for the brakes. “The concept is the same; it just needed to take new forms to be successful,” said John Talerico, a licensing associate with Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties. The result was two changes to the brake light system in addition to the LED bar — one involved a microcontroller that controlled the existing brake lights and the other involved reprogramming the car’s existing software. Neither of the changes involved attaching or installing another light onto the car. “All we are doing is just using the information already in the car,” Hennage said. “What makes all of these (changes) so great is their ease of installation.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is responsible for regulating
see DESIGN, page two
Prospective students and their parents flocked into Squires Student Center Monday to be a part of the Engineering Open House at Virginia Tech. The open house, sponsored by the College of Engineering, was estimated to have more than 1,000 people in attendance, more than previous events. “We have a lot more people this time, mainly because of the increased popularity of Tech and increased media coverage,” said Sara Matrangola, a graduate student in biomedical engineering and main coordinator of the event. Students and parents coming to the event were greeted with a variety of different activities, from several departments around campus. Also on display in Squires were some of the different activities in which students can get involved, including the Hybrid Electrical Vehicle Team, the Virginia Tech Motorsports Formula SAE, and the Human Powered Submarine project. Organizers were pleased with the level of coordination between the different areas of the college. “It’s the only time where prospective students can really get a look at all of our different departments,” Matrangola said. Also included in the event were tours of the campus and speeches and presentations from faculty and staff from the engineering department. Matrangola said that the event was important in getting the word out on different opportunities. “There are many different things you can do while you’re at Tech and we’re trying to let people know about it,” Matrangola said. Students at the event were impressed by what they were seeing. “There’s a lot of information about the programs here,” said Matt Davis, a high school junior from Centreville. “It was very helpful.” Other students felt the event was helpful in getting to know the university. “It starts getting you into the campus scenario,” said Micah Owens, a high school senior from Ft. Defiance, Va. “I’m definitely seeing all the different aspects of the campus.” Though there were plenty of different activities for prospective students to learn about the university, parents also played a major factor in the day’s events. “A lot of the general information includes things that parents want to know about,” Matrangola said. Many parents left the event happy with what they were seeing. “We had a lot of questions about the terms of admission and the different requirements for the university,” said Machamoud Osman, a parent from Springfield, Va. “We get the picture.” Workers at the event were also satisfied with how the event went. “It’s good to let people know about our college,” said Ashley Grauman, freshman engineering major and volunteer for the event. “I didn’t go last year, but I really wish I did.”
Running in Remembrance
coming up TOMORROW’S CT SGA election results won’t be compiled until next week. Find out why in tomorrow’s paper. Check out a video of members of Tech’s Mixed Martial Arts Club in action.
index News.....................2 Features................3 Sports...................4
0pinions.................5 Classifieds..............6 Sudoku..................6
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 45
PHOTOS BY JIM DICKHANS/SPPS
Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Splash and Dash 5k run was held Sunday. The run, which finished at the Duck Pond, was held in honor of two members who died during 2007.
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