COLLEGIATETIMES
july 24, 2008
what’s inside News.............2 Features ........6 0pinions........5 Sports .........10 Classifieds ...11 Sudoku........11 105th year issue 67 blacksburg, va.
Tech defends archive allegations THE RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORT MAKES THE CASE THAT TECH IS WITHOLDING INFORMATION FROM FAMILIES AND VICTIMS REGARDING APRIL 16 BERNADETTE WHITE
ct news editor A recent report by the Richmond TimesDispatch alleges that Virginia Tech is keeping files from the April 16 shootings secret. The Richmond-Times Dispatch wrote an investigative piece claiming that Virginia Tech was hiding information and not fully disclosing materials that the families of the victims had wanted disclosed. The files were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. According to the report, many of these records relate to notes taken by senior officials at an emergency meeting the day of the shootings, and records about the shooter, Seung-
Hui Cho, such as notes and e-mails from concerned professors. The article also said the university documents, at present, do not contain information about faculty, police or counselor interactions with Cho. The files were accompanied by a brief note that copies of Cho’s counseling records were inadvertently destroyed, a complaint that Cho’s past psychological history, dating back to middle school, had not been shared with Tech. The only police reports were related to two stalking incidents in 2005 in addition to a suicide attempt that led to hospitalization that same year. On June 17, the Richmond Circuit Court reviewed financial settlements for 24 wrongful death suits related to the April 16 shootings at
Tech. The court reached a decision to approve awarding $100,000 and medical expenses to the families of the victims. The settlement with the families, reached last month, also requires that a public archive be created with key facts about the shootings.
“The reporters were looking at raw material, just pieces of information, and making unusual assertions.” - LARRY HINCKER UNIVERSITY SPOKESMAN According to university spokesman Larry Hincker, reporters from the Richmond-Times Dispatch asked to see what information had been shared with lawyers.
The university has six months to create the archive, which will include e-mails sent by university officials. At the time of the Dispatch’s article the archive was still being created, Hincker said. Hincker believes that the reporters for the Richmond-Times Dispatch were upset that they were not looking at the archives. “Decisions about what to be put in the archives have not been made yet,” Hincker said. “The reporters were looking at raw material, just pieces of information, and making unusual assertions,” Hincker said. One example Hincker gave was related to the article’s claim that there was a door unlocked to get into Norris Hall, claiming that it would have saved police time to go through this entrance. The door the article refers to is an underground passage between Norris and Holden Hall.
see APRIL, page three
Slow economy Town awarded grant to affects graduates construct nature trail BRAD SHAPIRO
ct news reporter With politicians talking about things such as job creation, job destruction, outsourcing and stagflation, some might be curious about the way the economic downturn is affecting Virginia Tech students and graduates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate has risen to 5.5 percent, up from 4.9 percent since the beginning of the year. While the potential labor force has increased by about 500,000, the number employed has decreased by around 350,000. This is still well below the unemployment of nearly 6.5 percent seen back in the middle of 2003. The Virginia Employment Connection reports that the Commonwealth has fared better than the country as a whole, with a rise in the number of people employed powered by strong increase from the private service industry. The goodsproducing industry has been hurt the most, losing more than 10,000 jobs. Many Tech students, however, have been very successful at finding gainful employment after graduating this spring. Recent graduate Paul Marks has recently begun full-time work at Apple Computer after doing a co-op there during his college career. “I think my edge came from know-
ing what I want to do for a career, and deciding that I’d make no sacrifices in trying to get there,” said Marks. “I think they saw that I wanted the job rather than needed it.” Marks noted that nothing was given to him. He had to work hard to get the job. “Apple doesn’t appear on campus for the fairs, so the university did not help me get in touch with Apple; I had to do that on my own.” Not everyone has been so lucky. 2005 graduate Nicholas Reinholtz got a job in Portland, Ore., immediately after graduation. He no longer has that job and with economic conditions the way that they are, he has struggled to find a new job in the region.
“Getting an interview is even something of a crapshoot.” - NICHOLAS REINHOLTZ GRADUATE “It’s tough,” Reinholtz said. “Unless you have a good connection — something like an internship or a co-op, it is very difficult to get your foot in the door anywhere. A couple months ago, my former company put up a job post for an engineer and got 20 resumes in the first 24 hours — all solid candidates. You can’t go interviewing 20 people for a job. So
GABRIEL MCVEY
ct news reporter The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has issued the Blacksburg Town Council a $100,000 grant to build the Ellett Valley Nature Trail. The commonwealth grant must have matching funds of at least 20 percent, which will amount to $12,500 each contributed by both Montgomery County and the Town of Blacksburg, said Dean Crane, director of Blacksburg Parks and Recreation. The conceptual plan and subsequent execution is a joint venture between the town and county. Both will share the trail’s planning and development costs. Ellett Valley Park currently contains a self-guided nature trail that local farmers used in the early 20th century. Over the decades the land has vigorously thrived, with the park’s simple trails cutting through a 109acre hardwood forest. Most of the rest of the proposed trail cuts across private property, and officials said they expect gaining permissions and rights of way for future sections will be more complicated. “The land goes through 99 differ-
ent properties,” Crane said. In order to ease the process of building the trail, the project was broken up into sections. The initial construction phase will result in a 2,260-foot section of the trail passing through the Blacksburg Industrial Park from Commerce Street to Jennelle Road. This part of the trail, called Section 4, is a small start on a proposed six-mile greenway that would
loop around from the Blacksburg Industrial Park through the Ellett Valley Park and back. The current construction will begin on section four of the proposed trail. “Section four involves one landowner and they are very supportive of the project,” Crane said. The new trail will be a key com-
see TRAIL, page three
MATT BOONE/SPPS
Construction of the 2,260 foot Ellet Valley nature trail will connect the end of Commerce Street to Jennelle Road.
see ECONOMY, page two
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