COLLEGIATETIMES
tuesday september 16, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news TECH FORMS PARTNERSHIP WITH DOW Dow Water Solutions, the University of Texas, and Virginia Tech have collaborated to form a multiyear development partnership. The project will work toward forming chlorine-resistant reverse osmosis membranes, something that could greatly simplify water treatment and possibly lead to converting highly contaminated water into useable water.
RESEARCHER DEVELOPS WORLD’S SMALLEST UWB ANTENNA Virginia Tech Ph.D. student Taeyoung Yang has developed an ultra-wideband antenna that is as close as possible to the limit on antenna size. UWB antennas are used for short-range wireless transmissions of data, such as from a cell phone to computer, and require little energy.
sports CLUB RUGBY SCORES MAJOR UPSET OVER NAVY
Rock the Vote tour bus rolls into Blacksburg ASHLEY OLIVER
ct university editor Rock the Vote’s tour bus stopped at Virginia Tech yesterday as it marked the beginning of its month-long awareness tour, drawing in many student passers-by while stationed just outside of Newman Library. Rock the Vote used Tech’s campus as one of its first stopping points as a means of speaking out against recent voter registration issues. “The controversy over student voting rights started at Tech,” said Amanda Eckerson, Virginia’s coordinator for Rock the Vote. “And it’s really important to Rock the Vote this election that students understand their rights, and their rights actually state that they can choose to vote at their home residence or on campus.” Confusion involving voting rights at Tech arose just over two weeks ago when Montgomery County Registrar Randall Wertz issued a memo questioning whether student’s voter registration location would affect other legal information, such as their car registrations and driver’s license addresses. “If students don’t understand that they can vote right where they live on campus, then there are extra hurdles they’ll have to go through in order to actually voice their feelings in this election,” Eckerson said. Rock the Vote members were pleased with yesterday’s turnout, with some saying they felt the set-up was perfect for attracting students. “Our point is to raise awareness for the general public; that’s why we’re in a central space, that’s why we’re on a microphone, that’s why we’ve got music,” Eckerson said. “It’s just to let students start thinking about the fact that they have the right to vote and should be voting in this election.” Sophomore political science major Heather Young said she was pleasantly surprised to see the Rock the Vote present on campus and had come by the event for this same reason. “We need to get students more involved in
The Virginia Tech Division I club rugby team upset No. 6 Navy, 28-27, on Saturday in Annapolis, Md. In last year’s meeting between the two teams, the Midshipmen won by a score of 61-12.
today’s events ENGINEERING EXPO The Student Engineers’ Council at Virginia Tech is holding its annual job fair today between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Hosting 275 companies, interviews secured during today’s session will commence Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 8:30 a.m and run until 5 p.m.
weather RAIN SHOWERS high 69, low 53
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coming up TOMORROW’S CT See the Collegetiate Times’ video game review of the new strategy game ‘Spore’. The print review will be paired with an online multimedia presentation.
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Classifieds..............7 Sports....................4 Sudoku..................7
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year issue 81
MICHELLE RIVERA
ct news staff writer
PETER VELZ/COLLEGIATE TIMES
Amanda Eckerson of Rock the Vote talks to a voter by Newman Library yesterday. politics,” Young said. “This is a big election coming up so they need to get more students because it’s our age group who’s not voting the most in our elections.” Both the College Republicans and the students supporting Sen. Barack Obama (D – Ill.) affiliated with Young Democrats at Tech co-sponsored yesterday’s event. “You have two guys who are very different in their politics, very different in their vision for the future of this country, and it couldn’t be more important for college students to turn out, get informed, get educated, and do their homework,” said senior and chairman of the College Republicans Carlin Crowder. “There’s all this stuff about voter registration; I’m saying do your homework, talk to mom and dad, then get registered, and cast your vote.” Rock the Vote itself is non-partisan; however, students associated with both candidates were present to inform on their sides.
“Even though there’s a lot of partisan emphasis here, most of this is just about trying to encourage people here to take responsibility,” said Dan Geroe, senior political science major and president of young democrats. He described student-voting rates in the past as “abysmal” and, along with Crowder, expressed predictions of a huge improvement in the youth vote for this coming election. “I think it’s going to be very good,” Crowder said. “And I’m pleased to see that the women on campus are turning out in droves to our meetings.” Crowder attributed this to the presence of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on the Republican presidential ticket. The Rock the Vote Tour will last until Oct. 6 — the deadline for voter registration in Virginia. “Virginia’s one of our main focuses because the last three elections in Virginia were decided by under 2 percent, so if you register you will definitely be heard,” Eckerson said.
Award recognizes WRC director LAURA DUKE
ct news staff writer Patricia Brown, executive director of the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, has been nationally recognized for her outstanding leadership skills. As a recipient of The Sunshine Lady Foundation’s 2008 Sunshine Peace Award, Brown is one of 20 women nationwide to be acknowledged this year for exceptional dedication to domestic violence awareness and prevention. Brown is the third Virginian to receive this award since its inception in 1998. Founded by Doris Buffett, sister of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, The Sunshine Lady Foundation has worked on behalf of women and children affected by domestic violence, providing them with more than $55 million in scholarships and grants. The Peace Award was created specifically to honor those who have worked through grassroots organizations, such as the Women’s Resource Center, to eliminate
Campus, Tech police step up game-day presence
domestic violence in their communities. “Pat has developed and fostered a top-notch program — she has been extremely proactive in ending violence in her community,” said Nancy Soward, executive director of the Women’s Independent Scholarship Program and distributor of the award. Brown, who has led the Women’s Resource Center in its growth and community assistance efforts for 22 years, has played an integral role in shaping the organization. It has become one of Virginia’s largest domestic and sexual violence centers, serving more than 3,340 adults and children in the last year. “When I started here in 1986, we had a staff of seven,” Brown said. “We have continued to expand and develop programs to the point where we now have 26 staff members.” The Women’s Resource Center serves the city of Radford, where it is centered, as well as the surrounding counties of Montgomery, Pulaski, Floyd and Giles. Though it began in 1977 as a crisis hotline and emergency shelter, the WRC now offers a wide variety of other services in the
areas of domestic violence, sexual violence and legal advocacy. Services such as the 24/7 Emergency Advocate program, where advocates work with those experiencing sexual assault or domestic violence crises, and the Victim Witness program, which assists with victim court proceedings, developed in response to community needs. “The programs that have been built and continued started with the people we were serving and their needs,” Brown said. “We listen to people who come to us for help, then try to get them that help.” This same approach to development has also led to innovations such as Cornerstone, a transitional housing shelter, and Peaceline, a primary prevention program that exposes almost 9,000 middle and high school students annually to the dangers and effects of partner violence through a series of presentations. A task force regarding domestic violence among older adults is also currently in the works. “Even though our facilities are centralized,
Home games at Virginia Tech are almost an invitation for the biggest pre-game party in town, where most, if not all, residents and students come together decorated head to toe in orange and maroon. Others, however, don uniforms of blue and hopping in cars with an infamous siren that is its own kind of noisy celebration. Ten to 15 Blacksburg officers are normally deployed to and are paid by the Tech Police Department. The Blacksburg Police Department’s ABC Team, an ABC grant-funded team of 6-to-7 officers, also patrols around town on game days. “They want to make sure everyone has a great time and are safe about it,” said Steve Ross, Blacksburg deputy town manager. “There are more people in town here for the games, and it brings a whole new energy.” The ABC Team alone made 31 criminal charges and gave out one parking ticket this Saturday before, during and after the home game versus Georgia Tech, said Nathan O’Dell, sergeant with the Blacksburg Police Department. “They target people who have had too much to drink, someone who’s intoxicated,” O’Dell said. “And open consumption of alcohol is against the law, and obviously you can’t stop it, but they’re making an effort to keep that at a minimum. They’re also looking for underage possession and consumption.” Eight of the 31 charges were public intoxication arrests, 6 were summonses for underage possession of alcohol, 13 for drinking in public, 3 for littering, and the last was for obstruction of justice, O’Dell said. This Saturday, the ABC Team members worked from 8 to 10 hours each. The team and the normal patrol units patrol the town, looking at areas that are congested with parking and tailgating, but they don’t venture onto campus, instead leaving that area to the VTPD. “Crime analysis is very funny, and crimes in the stadium are going to be significantly different by game and season, whether it’s nationally televised, pending an ACC championship, if it’s a GameDay game, who the opponent is and so on,” said Geoff Allen, officer of the Tech Police Department in the community outreach unit. “When you talk about statistics, the main thing is to understand that there are so many things involved … weather, time of day, etc. Those all play a factor.” Just this Saturday’s game day incurred 16 arrests and 17 charges, Allen said. Last year’s corresponding weekend was an away game weekend against LSU, falling on Sept. 8. That day had a record of one arrest and one charge. “That gives an idea of what the differences are,” Allen said, adding that Tech police arrest more nonstudents than students.
Students injured in car crash are recovering
see AWARD, page two
GORDON BLOCK
Program to train town managers RILEY PRENDERGAST
ct news reporter When it comes to government, many citizens may focus all of their attention on the national and international establishments, gazing above and beyond the vacancies in their own localities. Most have forgotten that these positions exist, simply because they have become notoriously possessed by the baby-boomer generation. But as that generation seeks retirement, there are very few people trained to fill these positions. “In five to seven years we are going to be confronted with a local government drain as we see the baby-boomers retire from their roles; there is no one trained to take their place,” said Bonnie Svrcek, deputy city manager of
Lynchburg, Va. In order to avoid this drain, a group of local individuals have created a program that will teach graduates how to handle a local government position. This group includes Svrcek, Steve Critchfield, president of a local Blacksburg company, Tele-Works, and Bob Stripling, a retired city manager of Staunton, Va. This program brought before Virginia Tech is currently only being offered to graduate students who are full-time government employees looking to further their careers and knowledge. The program is not yet open to all Tech graduate students because the program’s funding only allows participation by students sponsored by the local government. The Alliance for Innovation Newsletter stated that the courses offered would be local governments and the professional
manager, advanced topics in professional organizations, advanced topics in public management and local economic development planning. These courses will be offered through the College of Architecture and Urban Studies under the public administration and policy department. “The aim of this program is to develop the next generation of local government managers,” Svrcek said. “We wanted to develop an educational tool for future government leaders in the Commonwealth.” Critchfield brought in both Svrcek and Stripling to participate in the program. “When I heard about what the aim of the program was, I called Steve and told him that I wanted to be involved,” Svrcek said. “I love working with young folks, especially those who are looking to learn about their local government.” “I have three classes so far, and
they have all had positive feedback,” Stripling, the program’s primary educator, said. “I have 26 students from five different locations throughout the state; 15 come to Roanoke, and I broadcast to the other locations.” The broadcast goes to Falls Church, Virginia Beach and Richmond, pulling from 16 different local governments across the state. “We are looking to implement the course into the school’s yearly curriculum,” Svrcek said. Stripling noted that the program has significant long-term goals on the Tech campus. “We have been talking with faculty, and we are looking to bring the program into the school permanently,” Stripling said. “So far they have raised $80,000 to help kickstart the program, but it is more interest rather than money that will help this program survive.”
ct news reporter Virginia Tech students Amanda Tyus and Kellsye Pitsenbarger are each facing extensive recovery processes after they were hit by a motor vehicle Sept. 6. Tyus, a human nutrition, food, and exercise major and Pitsenbarger, a human development major, were hit while walking west on Progress Street by a 2001 Honda Civic driven by Ryan Williams Wresch, a senior HNFE major. Kellsye said that she and Tyus had first gone to Sharkey’s, a North Main Street bar, where they each had a drink, before going on to PK’s, a restaurant a short distance down the same road. At PK’s the two had a pizza while sharing a pitcher of beer. Following that, the pair attempted to obtain a ride home from a friend, but were unable to reach them. After waiting nearly an hour to try to get in touch with their ride home, the two began to walk down North Main Street, turning on to Progress Street, where the collision occurred. Jan Pitsenbarger, Kellsye’s mother, recalled receiving the call from the hospital in the morning. “It was a very traumatic moment for me. It’s a parent’s worst nightmare to get a call like that,” Pitsenbarger said. In the crash Kellsye sustained leg and head injuries, from which she’s still recovering at home after being released from Montgomery Regional Hospital Sept. 8. Kellsye will wear a leg cast for the
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