COLLEGIATETIMES
thursday september 18, 2008 blacksburg, va.
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today’s events >>26TH ANNUAL
BUSINESS HORIZONS CAREER FAIR Part of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, the Business Horizons Career Fair will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Squires Student Center’s Commonwealth and Old Dominion ballrooms. Students, who will have the opportunity to meet some of the more than 600 recruiters registered to attend, are advised to look over the Business Horizons Web site before attending for background information on companies and tips, such as dressing appropriately and signing up for interviews.
sports EVANS, WARREN HONORED BY ACC Tech linebacker Brett Warren was named the Defensive Lineman of the Week by the ACC after his career-high 15 tackles and a forced fumble against Georgia Tech. Running back Darren WARREN Evans received Rookie of the Week honors for his 94- yard, onetouchdown performance EVANS last Saturday.
‘Sweatshop Effect’ takes Drillfield ZACH CRIZER
ct news reporter Sleeves of maroon and orange Tshirts fluttered in crosswinds on the Drillfield yesterday during a clothesline demonstration sponsored by the Global Justice Alliance to raise awareness of sweatshop-produced athletic wear. GJA President Meredith Katz and Treasurer J.P. Mason culminated their group’s movement by delivering a letter of concern to the offices of president Charles Steger, provost Mark McNamee and university spokesman Larry Hincker. Mason said the “Sweatshop Effect” demonstration and letter were a request to Tech’s administration to explore where Hokie apparel is made. “What we’re requesting is a meeting with the president and a formal response from the university, as well as a disclosure of the licensing agreements,” Mason said. The GJA’s objective is to ask Tech to switch from the Fair Labor Association to the Worker’s Right’s Consortium. Katz said Tech’s contract with the FLA and allegedly sub-standard working conditions in their plants, is the source of the issue. “Right now, (the university) uses these places because they have contracts with specific vendors. Those brands contract out to those factories,” Katz said. “Basically the monitoring is not occurring; the workers’ complaints are not being investigated.” Mason said the group would like Tech to join the WRC’s program, as it more closely monitors factory conditions of the clothing industry. “The big thing is structural change of
the conditions, creating a circumstance that without having to look at every factory, we know that these existing factories are up to standards,” Mason said. Duke University and all public col-
ON THE WEB Check out www.collegiatetimes.com to see the text of the letter that the Global Justice Alliance sent to President Steger and other university officials regarding ‘Sweatshop Effect.’ leges in California utilize the WRC for shirt production. Virginia Tech Services Inc. is the university division that orders all of Tech’s apparel. Virginia Tech Services Inc. was created by the Board of Visitors to handle merchandise and licensing for the university. It supplies the oncampus and Volume Two bookstores. Nike, Hanes, and Fruit of the Loom are among brands that have been contracted by Virginia Tech Services Inc. Hincker met with Katz and Mason after the delivery of their letters on Wednesday. “I indicated to them that the university addressed the issue several years ago and I was very satisfied with our involvement with what was then known as Students Against Sweatshops,” Hincker said. “It was with their advice that we joined the FLA.” Hincker also said while the university has no proof or knowledge of the issues, he would explore the GJA’s concerns. “I am not aware that any of our products are being made at sweatshops,” Hincker said. “We agreed to continue a dialogue and find out what their
SUNSHINE high 79, low 51
corrections The headline, “Veteran detective to speak against drug legalization,” (CT, Sept. 17) in the rail should have read “Veteran detective to speak in support of drug legalization.” The Collegiate Times regrets this error. 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 We look into claims by the ‘Sweatshop Effect’ as to whether Tech apparel could be manufactured under adverse conditions.
See our multimedia reports featuring a review of the game ‘Spore’ and the recent Engineering Expo.
index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5
Classifieds..............7 Sports....................6 Sudoku..................7
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year issue 83
Graduate students Steve McGlamery (left) and Ellie Smith (right) set up the ‘Sweatshop’ clothesline yesterday. concerns are.” Mason said he is happy with Hincker’s response. “I thought it went extremely well, he was very receptive and open to talking,” Mason said. SGA President Emily Mashack said her organization, which sells Hokie Effect t-shirts, works through the university, but would not order through companies that use sweatshops. “No we wouldn’t, and we don’t,” Mashack said. “We work with the uni-
versity, the bookstore and the licensing service.” GJA members spoke with university officials in May about switching to the WRC. The meeting led to no changes. “Their response was, ‘Now isn’t the time,’” Katz said. “They didn’t see the problem with the current affiliation with the FLA. So while they heard our concerns, they weren’t really interested in pursuing other alternatives.” Mason thinks switching from the FLA would not prove costly for Tech.
“Currently, they pay 1 percent of royalties to FLA. WRC charges the same,” Mason said. Katz said though sweatshops allegedly reduce costs during production of shirts, she thought using the WRC approved factories might not result in a noticeable price increase. “If it raised the cost of the T-shirt it would be the cost differential the workers got paid,” Katz said. “So for example, if a worker got paid 50 cents instead of 25 cents, then would you
Web portal Life’s work: Professor reaps $400k award for cardiac tech posits ‘this is the future’ BECCA THOMAS
weather
SALLY BULL/SPPS
ct news reporter
Nakhiah Goulbourne, a professor of mechanical engineering has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award of $400,000. The award was presented by the National Science Foundation and dedicated to assistant professors who show promise in research and teaching. Goulbourne’s project GOULBOURNE is titled “Multiphysics Modeling and Experiments for Pulsatile Membrane Sensors.” Mechanical engineering department head Ken Ball said that the CAREER award is one of the most prestigious awards that an assistant professor can receive for early career development. “She has been doing a great job since she got here,” said Ball. “Making a great research program, writing proposals and writing papers to grow her reputation.” The proposal for this award was sent out in July 2007 and the National Science Foundation has a panel of experts in vari-
ous fields critiquing and judging the proposals submitted by discipline. The panel of experts makes recommendations, while the National Science Foundation directors make final decisions. Ball also said that assistant professors have three attempts to win this award during their typical six-year tenure. Ball said that the department holds workshops to boost its chances of winning more awards. “Young faculty members can meet older faculty members who have been successful in the past,” said Ball. It also holds panels where faculty can submit their proposals and have a critical review. “As a faculty member you write several proposals to support research programs,” Goulbourne said. “I have several awards and it’s a continuous process. It’s significant in the greater context as far as awards go.” Goulbourne has many research interests in her field; however, this award will be fulfilling her interest in biomedical research — specifically how the human body reacts to stents. A stent is a tube inserted into the body to hold open a conduit — such as an artery — that has become constricted due to disease or injury. “Despite the effectiveness of using vascu-
lar stents,” Goulbourne said. “Complications following coronary stent implantation such as thrombosis (clot formation) and restenosis (the re-blocking of an artery after it has been opened) impede optimal clinical outcomes sometimes leading to the recreation of the blocked flow that the medical team attempted to correct.” Goulbourne said that the award money would also go toward supporting students acquiring experimental equipment, and sustaining research laboratories. In addition to the research, the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award can also be used toward education and outreach. Goulbourne will lead an outreach program to middle school children. “The main goals of the workshop are to mentor, provide role models and expose the underrepresented majority of women to the exciting and challenging field of engineering and science,” Goulbourne said. Goulbourne said that a better understanding of the relationship between arteries, stents, and biomechanics could potentially lead to longer life spans. “The ultimate goal of this research is to bridge the gap between vascular mechanical response and current vascular health, which will be of widespread benefit to our society,” Goulbourne said.
Retired police detective rails against national drug policy NICK GALVIN
ct news staff writer Retired police detective Howard Wooldridge spoke to a group of students in Colonial Hall in Squires Student Center Wednesday night about the need to redirect the American debate on drug use. “This has never been a war on drugs, it has always been a war on people,” Wooldridge said. Wearing his trademark cowboy hat and boots, Wooldridge might look like a typical small-town sheriff. But a single glance at his 18-year record as a detective, his travel-worn passport, and his mastery of three languages, and it’s easy to see this is no typical cowboy. Wooldridge’s speech placed emphasis on hard facts, using statistics to show the ineffective results of the government’s nearly 40-year war. One such statistic was a graph showing that since 1971 the price of cocaine has vastly decreased while the purity has more than quadrupled. Chad Van Alstin, a senior communication major said Wooldridge’s speech was interesting considering Wooldridge’s back-
PAUL PLATZ/SPPS
Wooldridge, in Squires’ Colonial Hall last night, offered wide-ranging critiques on American drug policy from issues of enforcement to associated moral questions. ground in law enforcement. “It was very informative and educational, and definitely reinforced my belief that the war on drugs needs to end,” Alstin said. Students for a Sensible Drug Policy is the group responsible for bringing Wooldridge to Virginia Tech. The group is
also planning a larger forum for October. “We’ve sat down with administrators who have acknowledged the need for discussion, so we will provide a public forum for students to voice their opinions
see WOOLDRIDGE, page two
JOANNA MAGGI
ct news staff writer A new campaign showcasing the innovative research at Virginia Tech has hit the World Wide Web. Thisisthefuture.com, a Web site run by Tech, has begun its attempt at compiling all of the research projects that Tech has done that somehow impact people’s lives. “We wanted a Web site that people could go to to see some of the great research we are doing here at Virginia Tech,” said lead developer of the campaign Cecelia Hovis. “We wanted to demonstrate to opinion leaders that Tech does a lot of good things for the people in Virginia and around the U.S.” Among these improvements are those to athletic headgear and solar technology. Stefan Duma, a professor of mechanical engineering at Tech, and his team of researchers developed a brain injury monitoring system that records all head collisions of football players. Twenty players at Tech are currently using these new helmets and are the first athletes in the world to do so. “It is the same helmet that is used today, we just put our six sensors inside,” Duma said. These sensors document collisions in G-forces, sending data to a sideline computer that keeps a record of the impacts to each player’s head. “Ideally we would like this system to be shipped with all helmets,” Duma said. “There is a cost issue right now, but hopefully they will be able to be used on all high school and college teams.” However, football players are not the only ones who can benefit from these helmets. “We would like to protect all individuals, including children riding bikes and soldiers,” Duma said. Duma and his team are currently working on advancing this monitoring system by adding six additional sensors to these injury-recording helmets. In addition to improving helmets, the Web site focuses on the creative use of solar power. In fall 2005, a group of Tech students and faculty members entered their solar house in the Solar Decathlon in Washington D.C. “What we are involved in is making prototypes for how future houses can be built, rather than adding new technology to old structures,” said project coordinator Joe Wheeler. The 2005 solar house was built using renewable products, such as eucalyptus for flooring from a managed forest, and wheat board, a compressed fiberboard, for cabinets. The house’s use of insulation techniques is also noteworthy. “To have an energy-efficient house, we use good insulation so the house is well sealed,” Wheeler said. “This is done by doing blow door tests to see where the air conditioning is escaping.” “Nanogel translucent insulation is also used, allowing light to pass through and giving natural light to the home as well as heating it,” Wheeler said. Solar houses are much easier to heat by the sun since they are typically around 580 square feet, the size of the 2005 house. “Right now we are heating and cooling these enormous houses for some rooms that we don’t enter. If you invest the time in smart space planning, people can be happier with smaller houses and use less energy,” Wheeler said. The team, now composed of 80 members, is currently working on a 2009 solar house that is much more advanced than the original house built in 2002. “The research projects that are being done at Tech improve the university as a whole because we are showing the impact of the research on the lives of people throughout the state and the world,” Hovis said.
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