COLLEGIATETIMES University In GlennonWeTrust dons call for
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NEW MEDIA CENTER RENAMED INNOVATIONSPACE
TAYLOR TO REDSHIRT AS GLENNON STANDS ALONE ATOP HOKIE DEPTH CHART. FOR THE FULL STORY, SEE PAGE FOUR.
Virginia Tech’s New Media Center in Torgerson Hall has been renamed InnovationSpace. The multimedia computer lab provides studnets, faculty and staff members, as well as Virginia residents, with free access to software and hardware. The change represents a new direction for the resource, committed to using innovative technology for teaching and outreach.
drinking age debate GORDON BLOCK
ct news reporter
COLLEGIATE TIMES INTEREST MEETING Interested in writing news for the CT? Join us at our interest meeting tonight in 365 Squires Student Center at 6 p.m.
sports MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TO HAVE INSTANT REPLAY Major League Baseball approved the use of instant replay, which will allow umpires to check homerun calls. These new rules will begin with three games that start on Thursday.
MICHAEL SHROYER/SPPS
Sean Glennon’s skills forced sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor to the pine this year, extending Taylor’s eligibilty until 2011.
Boyer storms Burruss Hall BECCA THOMAS
ct news reporter Visit the CT online to vote for 2008 Best of Blacksburg and enter to win an 8GB iPod Touch
weather RAIN/THUNDER high 69, low 63
corrections “Construction continues,” (CT Aug. 25), contained an error. Shultz Dining Hall will, in fact, close and become part of the Performing Arts program as part of the plan to build a new dining facility on the academic block of campus. In “Notes from the BOV,” Tech received 20,756 applications, not 16,500, and the number of students who accepted an offer of admission was 5,601 as of May 15, not 5,100. The photo accompanying “Men’s soccer aims to replicate success” (CT Aug. 26) was taken by Michael Shroyer. 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.
coming up TOMORROW’S CT See an investigation of a case of alleged academic fraud concerning upper level members of a prominent academic department.
index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5
Classifieds..............6 Sports....................4 Sudoku..................6
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 72
Many students’ first classes ranged from 20 to 600 students in one room. World Regions, a geography class offered at Virginia Tech taught by John Boyer, also met on Monday, but had over 2,700 students pouring into Burruss Auditorium. According to Boyer’s syllabus, World Regions wants “to acquaint undergraduate students with a variety of geographic, historic, environmental, demographic, religions and economic characteristics of various areas of the world.” Boyer also wants students to know what is going on in today’s world, “Our country is bizarre,” said Boyer. “And sometimes we forget what’s going on in other parts of the world. There’s a bigger picture in the world, and many students aren’t aware because there isn’t a huge focus on foreign affairs.” When this class originated, it began small with only about 20 or 30 students, and slowly evolved into a 600-person class taught in McBryde 100. In the last 3 or 4 years, there has been a 2,000-3,000 wait-list, not including the 600 students already admitted to take the class, Boyer said. On the first day of class, Boyer told his assembled students that many professors were skeptical about the class. “That it would be impossible to learn in this
MIKE SHROYER/SPPS
John Boyer, instructor of geography, wades into the crowd during his World Regions class, the largest current class at Virginia Tech. It- is composed of 2,600 students. type of setting,” Boyer said. “Apparently size matters.” To accommodate so many students, Boyer did not have many choices. Burruss Auditorium is booked for various events during the school year, and it was decided that Monday was the most available night
for the class. Professors do not get any preference over the use of the auditorium, and must schedule the room on a regular basis like any other performer or group. While the huge difference between this class and Boyer’s previous classes is size, not
see BOYER, page two
Henderson Lawn, Hall are undergoing dramatic changes RILEY PREDERGAST
ct news reporter Riding the wave of move-in madness at Virginia Tech, returning students may have taken notice of a number of construction sites throughout campus. In the third part of this four-part series, the Collegiate Times will provide an update on the coming changes to the theatre department. Central campus is not the only part of Tech experiencing significant change. Henderson Hall, located next to Squires Student Center, is undergoing renovations to become the new home of the majority of Tech’s visual, performing arts and cinema departments. Along with the renovations to the hall itself, there is an additional experimental performance space, otherwise known as a black box theater. The current head of the Tech theatre department, Patty Raun, expressed her excitement about the new instructional and performance space. “This space has been in the works for 18 years, we just can’t believe it’s finally happening,” Raun said. The new facility and updates
to Henderson Hall will be focal points of Tech’s art departments. The space will house a CyberStudio animation lab, specialized classrooms for drawing and foundations, unusual art galleries and a creative technologies lab, according to a press release issued by Jean Elliot, communications manager for Tech. As for the new black box theater, Raun said that it is an unusual space for unusual work. The theater will play host to an audience of 130 people and 10 to 20 productions a year. In a black box theater, a stage is set up in an entirely black room. This creates a small, enclosed environment that enables the audience to feel like they are part of the action. They are positioned in close proximity to where the performance itself is being done. Regarding funding, the Henderson Hall renovations and implementation of a new black box theater will cost the university approximately $50 million, according to a July 2006 press release by Larry Hincker. To help offset this financial strain on Tech’s budget, the project has a projected goal of raising $30 million in private funding. Raun said that these additions
The Amethyst Initiative, a new petition backed by college presidents to reevaluate the legal drinking age of 21, has sparked campus controversy nationwide. The initiative currently has just under 130 signatures, including the presidents of Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, Texas A&M and Ohio State University. Organizers within the Initiative were quick to note that it could help college administrators curb alcohol abuse among students. “The situation that faces many college presidents isn’t a good one. Alcohol abuse among young people is a serious problem,” said Grace Kronenberg, assistant to the director for Choose Responsibility, the group responsible for forming the Amethyst Initiative. However, other groups were unhappy with the proposed plan. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an advocate for keeping the legal drinking at 21, challenged the initiative. “We know 21 saves lives,” said Chris Konschak, executive director for MADD Virginia and Washington D.C. Konschak added that he had been in touch with the presidents of five Virginia schools to ask them to reconsider their signing of the initiative, including Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Randolph Macon College, Sweet Briar College and Washington and Lee University. Nicole Nason, administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, echoed MADD’s concerns about the initiative in a statement to the Collegiate Times. “Minimum drinking age laws are among the most successful public health policy initiatives ever implemented, saving about 900 lives each year and an estimated 25,000 people over the past 30 years,” Nason said. “We support the current law because more lives are saved.” Virginia Tech officials were mixed in their feelings about signing on to the Initiative. Zenobia Hikes, vice president of student affairs, was undecided on her feelings of the initiative. “We’re always interested in plans to serve in alcohol abuse prevention,” Hikes said. “It’s a problem people don’t see as seriously as it should be.” Currently the university holds no official position on the initiative. Other university officials spoke out on the initiative. “It’s important that there’s a discussion about it,” said Steven Clarke, director of the Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center. However, Clarke also questioned the effect any change in the legal drinking age could have. “The main concern is how our students would react. Many students have proven they’re not able to handle alcohol,” Clarke said. In 2007 there were 280 liquor law arrests, up from 194 in 2005, while in 2007 there were 742 liquor law violation referrals, up from 563 in 2005, according to Clarke. Students nationwide have been joining in on the Amethyst Initiative debate. On Facebook over 5,000 members have joined one of more than ten groups dedicated to supporting the initiative. In comparison, there are only two groups against the initiative, totaling just over 30 members for both groups.
Tech scores well on green scale RAPH PANLILIO
ct news staff writer
KELLY HARRIGAN/SPPS
Construction continues on the theater facilities slated for Henderson Hall and Henderson lawn early this week. to the theatre department should provide the student body with more awareness of what performances are available on their own campus. “We are hoping to put on many outdoor performances on Henderson Lawn during the year,”
Raun said. “These performances are aimed at giving theater students another venue to perform in to gain experience,and hopefully allow other Virginia Tech students to experience all that Tech’s School of the Arts has to offer.”
Virginia Tech was recently rated highly on the new Green Rating provided in the Princeton Review. This rating, in which Tech received a 90 on a 60-99 scale, is based on how environmentally friendly a school is in terms of its practices, policies, and course offerings. Several initiatives and programs implemented at Tech supported this grade. Previously Tech had scored a C- on the College Sustainable Report Card in 2008. Dennis Cochrane, energy sustainability coordinator at Tech, stressed the extent of the campus’ commitment to the progress of sustainable energy. “We’ve been involved in so many things on campus that involve sustainability that it’s nice to see someone else acknowledging a lot of the very positive things that we’ve been doing. It’s absolutely remarkable the number of sustainability initiatives we’ve been participating in this year.” Sustainability Week is coming up, Oct. 21-27, along with the Power Shift 2008. Power Shift is a national youth climate summit aimed at a more environmentally friendly world. Patrick Miller is an associate dean and professor in the architecture department and is also a task force coordinator for the Dean’s Forum on the Environment. He brought mention to the green roof at the horticulture department and the sediment basins right next to the Duck Pond and explained how they were good examples of what Tech should keep working toward. “The campus is doing better and can do better but has already made substantial progress,” Miller said. He believed action should be expanded on the day
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see GREEN, page two