COLLEGIATETIMES
june 19, 2008
what’s inside News.............2 Opinions........5 Features ........6 Sports ...........7 Classifieds ...11 Sudoku........11 105th year issue 63 blacksburg, va.
Student body increases, campus housing unable to keep pace JOANNE SNOW
ct staff writer As most upperclassmen at Virginia Tech can see, the number of students on campus is increasing. The dining halls seem to be a little more crowded, the football lottery system seems more and more futile and if you want to park in the commuter lot, plan on arriving at least 20 minutes early. The growing student body has also affected university housing and residential life, which could potentially lead to greater problems. “Admissions are very much a predicting challenge since the admissions staff must make a prediction as to how many freshman applicants will accept VT’s offer of admission,” said Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Edward Spencer. “Based upon previous years’ experience in what this acceptance rate (known as “yield”) has been, and with over 20,700 applications from freshmen, the admissions office offered admission to about 13,000 of these applicants,” Spencer said. The university projected that about 5,000 of those would accept admission and become the new freshman class. “What happened is that the popularity of Virginia Tech evidently increased even further than the university had projected and the number of applicants who accepted (admission) was about 400 beyond what the admis-
sions staff predicted and expected,” Spencer said. The university still makes the claim that all freshmen from the incoming class are required, and will be guaranteed, on-campus housing. There are, however, a few exceptions: if the freshman student is residing with his or her parents or close relatives who are established residents of the community; if the student is married and lives with his or her spouse; if the student is a military veteran of at least six months active duty; or if the student is at least 21 years of age. Regardless of these exceptions, from a housing perspective, something still has to change in order for the university to accommodate and house the overflowing number of freshmen. Residential life, said Spencer, is instituting a few innovative methods to allow more availability for the freshman class to be guaranteed on-campus housing. One new plan will offer returning students and transfer students a “buy out” deal. This will allow the students to cancel their on-campus housing contracts, which have been binding and non-breakable in the past. Residential life hopes this would encourage upperclassmen to move off campus to open up more housing for freshmen. Students who are interested should e-mail housing@vt.edu with name and student identification
MATT BOONE/SPPS
A new residence hall is under construction between Harper Hall and Career Services on Washington Street.
see RESIDENTIAL LIFE, page two Tech hopes these new buildings will help alleviate the growing housing crunch.
April 16 settlement US, Virginia Tech aid Haiti finally reached through collaborative effort BERNADETTE WHITE
ct news editor On Tuesday, the Richmond Circuit Court reviewed financial settlements for 24 wrongful death suits related to the April 16 shooting at Virginia Tech. The court reached a decision to approve awarding $100,000 and medical expenses to the families of the victims. A total of $3.85 million will be paid directly to the victims and their families. Another $3.65 million dollars will go to a public purpose fund to establish a charitable purposes
fund and a hardship fund. The charitable purposes fund will establish a board composed of victims of the shooting or immediate family as well as state officials appointed by the governor. The board will be responsible for choosing the purposes for which the $1.75 million fund will be utilized. The hardship fund, consisting of $1.9 million, will be available for the victims based on, “individual circumstances of severe hardship, injury, or loss sustained by a victim or by the family members of
see SETTLEMENT, page four
JOANNE SNOW
ct staff writer The United States Aid, a government organization that seeks to assist countries recovering from disaster or trying to escape poverty, and helps engage democratic reforms, has collaborated with Virginia Tech to provide Haitian students the chance of a lifetime to study at Virginia Tech to enhance their learning and
travel back to their native country with the hopes of improving their school’s computer science program. Five faculty members including professors from technical institute Ecole Superieure d’Infotronique d’Haiti in Portau-Prince, Haiti, will come to Blacksburg next week for a twoweek tenure. When they arrive, Tech and affiliates will work with them to strengthen their curricula, review their teaching
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methods and help improve their English, as well as assist them in other areas. Along with the short-term visit of the professors, the program will also fund the enrollment of five Haitian students, two women and three men, at Tech for two years. The students will transfer in as juniors, complete their final two years of undergraduate study at Tech through
see HAITI, page three