COLLEGIATETIMES
wednesday october 1, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news HOMECOMING VOTING OPENED Students can visit www. vthomecoming.org to vote for the 2008 homecoming king and queen. Voting will be open until 7 p.m. on Oct. 2. Results will be disclosed on Saturday during the homecoming football game against Western Kentucky .
VOTING FORUM TO BE HELD TODAY The Collegiate Times will host a forum on voter registration today from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Squires Brush Mountain Room A. The event will feature Montgomery County registrar Randy Wertz and Republican State Delegate Dave Nutter.
sports BASKETBALL SEASON TICKETS GO ON SALE Student season tickets for men’s basketball are now on sale. Students can order their tickets at hokietickets.com. The lottery will run from Oct. 1 to Oct. 6. The Tech squad will face Virginia, Duke and North Carolina at home this coming season.
ACC HONORS SHUMAN Tech center Ryan Shuman was named the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week after Saturday’s performance SHUMAN against Nebraska. The Hokies rushed for 206 yards versus the Cornhuskers.
weather PARTLY SUNNY high 62, low 43
corrections The headline for the editorial, “Crying foul at the athletics department,” (CT Sept. 30) should have read, “Debates require input from politicians, citizens.” 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.
Recent grads see season tickets snipped GRADUATES HAD BEEN ABLE TO REGISTER FOR A YEAR OF SEASON FOOTBALL TICKETS AFTER GRADUATION. THAT ERA IS NOW OVER. ZACH CRIZER
ct news reporter Virginia Tech athletics has revoked 400 student season tickets from 2008 graduates and part-time students. C.A. “Sandy” Smith, associate athletic director for ticketing services, said some student tickets had been bought by Tech graduates. “They’re student tickets. If you’re no longer a student, you don’t qualify for a ticket,” Smith said. “You’re not supposed to order unless you’re going to be a student in the fall.” One such alumnus whose ticket was revoked is 2008 Tech graduate Mike Bloom. “I was under the impression that every year rising alumni was allowed to buy tickets,” Bloom said. “I know two or three generations of alumni that just came out of school did. My brother and his friends were allowed to do it without any problems.” Previously, the ticketing department had no way of enforcing this as paper tickets were mailed in August, prior to the university determining who actually qualified as a full-time student. This year, student season ticket holders were instead mailed electronic scan cards. When the bursar’s office released the names of fee-paying, full-time students in the second week of September, the ticketing office took action. “We knew there were students that abused the program,
TOMORROW’S CT See a CT investigation of the history, politics and future of Virginia voter registration .
index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5
Classifieds..............7 Sports....................4 Sudoku..................7
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year issue 88
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see TICKETS, page two
Ohio moves to curb voter caging Protesters keep on for ‘world peace’ RAPH PANLILIO
ct news staff writer
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner recently issued a directive that would help protect the vote of Ohio citizens against vote caging, a process by which a political operative challenges voters on Election Day, forcing them to provide different forms of documentation — such as a driver’s license or utility bill — or cast a provisional ballot. Voter caging is an issue because minorities and low-income groups are often without such documentation and thus more easily prevented from voting under this tactic. Brunner’s directive established the fact that a returned pre-election notice, sent by mail to all registered Ohio voters 60 days before the election, could not be the sole reason for purging a voter from the rolls. Brunner criticized former Republican Gov. Bob Taft for passing an election law two years ago that “institutionalized” vote caging. The law implemented in 2006 required registered voters be sent non-forwardable, pre-election notices at least 60 days before the election. Voters who did not return the letters or whose letters could not be delivered would be put on a list. Voters on this list, some voting rights groups fear, would be purged from election rolls by local officials.
Further, if the list fell into the hands of one political party or the other, the results could be disastrous. “In theory, someone could obtain that list and use it to challenge voters,” said Kevin Kidder, the media relations coordinator for Brunner’s office. “We are looking out for the voters of Ohio,” Kidder said. “(Brunner) issued a directive saying one, we need due process. And two, you can’t be knocked off the rolls because of a return notice.” Brunner has also shown concern over the quality of state voting machines. She had commissioned a review of the Ohio electronic voting system called the Evaluation and Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards and Testing report. EVEREST tested the electronic voting system on factors such as security, performance, configuration and control. Brunner said the results of the test revealed a “need for a fundamental change in the structure of Ohio’s election system.” Her concern is that citizens should be assured that their votes would be kept safe, she said. Testers found several indications of risks to the integrity of the election. Noted was a lack of the necessary precautions that would ensure the validity and security of the ballots. Premier Elections Solutions is an election provider for the U.S. and Canada. PES manufactured the touch screen voting machines used in 43 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Kidder said there had been some bugs with the server software. “Votes were being dropped,” Kidder said. “But poll workers always caught it. Every vote was still counted.” Premier Elections Solutions has sued Brunner’s office, and it countersued in turn. “Litigation is ongoing between the Ohio Secretary of State’s office and Premier,” said Chris Riggall, communication manager for Premier Election Solutions, in a press release. He issued no further comment because of pending litigation. Brunner had several recommendations that would help alleviate the security matter. These recommendations ranged from moving to central counting of ballots so as to eliminate points of entry in the voting system to requiring that all ballots be optical-scan ballots. Tom Jensen, communication director for Public Policy Polling, said that Ohio could end up in either presidential candidate’s electoral column. The 2004 election ended with a close win for Republicans in Ohio. Republican candidate George W. Bush beat out Democratic candidate John Kerry by 2.11 percent of the vote. “If (Barack Obama) can get his party lined up behind him he will probably win the state,” Jensen said. “John McCain has zero margin of error there. He will not be president without winning Ohio. So I think it will be close right until election.”
World quilters find ‘common thread’ for April 16 victims GORDON BLOCK
ct news reporter
coming up
but we had no way of stopping that because we sent the tickets to the people in August,” Smith said. The former students and parttime students received an e-mail from the ticketing office informing them that their tickets would no longer be valid. The rule follows that if they do not pay the $116 athletic fee, they are not eligible to purchase student tickets. Bloom said that he feels the most recent graduates should receive tickets because freshmen are not given the option of purchasing season tickets. “When I was a freshman I was never guaranteed tickets, probably because the rising alumni got tickets the same way I did.” Bloom said. “They said I’m no longer a fee-paying student, but when I was a freshman, I was a fee-paying student and I wasn’t allowed to buy season tickets.” Part-time students have the option of paying the athletic fee included in a full-time student’s tuition. If they do so by Oct. 8, they will retain their tickets. Former students were referred to the Hokie Club for information on how to purchase tickets in the future. A new Hokie Club member must donate approximately $2,000 a year to secure the right to purchase season tickets. Refunds will not be issued, as student tickets have a face
Quilters, both locally and internationally, have found a common thread in a project remembering the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. Project Hokie Hope has brought together quilt squares from hundreds of people to be made into 65 quilts for the families of both victims and survivors of the shootings. Angelina Kendra, a 2003 Tech doctoral graduate of forestry, started Project Hokie Hope. Kendra was first inspired by e-mails sent out the day of the shootings from one of her professors, Bruce Hull, describing the power of social capital. “Social capital is the knowledge, wisdom and traditions that can bring us as people together,” Hull said. Kendra described the project as an extension of what she had read and her discussions with Hull. “I figured more people could
do more than one (could),” Kendra said. To organize the collection of squares, Kendra advertised the project on a variety of quilting Web sites and forums, while also creating a MySpace page to focus efforts on the project. These solicitations successfully brought in 800 12-inch blocks. The blocks were then organized in groups of 12 to create the final quilts. Thirty-two of the quilts have been specially marked for families, while the remaining 32 will be randomly distributed to individual survivors. While other monuments and memorials refrained from mentioning shooter Seung-Hui Cho, a remaining quilt from the project was created for Cho’s family. “It was a tragedy that their family has probably grieved more over than any other family, and it could’ve happened to any family,” said Carolyn Moore, Blacksburg coordinator for Project Hokie Hope. “Many people have
reached out to the Cho family saying, ‘Let’s not forget about their family.’” Perhaps even more surprising than the large number of squares sent in for the project was the wide range of locations that contributed. On the domestic end, quilt squares came from states as far away as California, Texas and Washington, while international quilt squares came in from Japan, Australia and Germany. “It’s absolutely wonderful that they did this, and everybody around the world cared,” said Debbie Phillips, a Radford resident and 1985 Tech graduate who came to see the quilt for Jarrett Lane, a victim of the shootings. “It’s not like it’s so sad, it’s just they’re so beautiful and you realized that so many people cared that it’s great to see it, ” Phillips said. The completed project was on display at Blacksburg Church of Christ from Sept. 26 to Sept. 29, where community members had a chance to take a look at the
finished products. Those assisting with the display were happy with visitor responses to the quilts. “It’s so much more than they expected,” said Rhonda Brewer, assistant coordinator with the Blacksburg display. “The detail and the difference and the creativity in each block is great.” With the Blacksburg exhibition finished, the job now falls on Tech’s Office of Recovery and Support to deliver the quilts. The office is using a variety of methods to get the quilts to their intended recipients. “Our plan is to personally deliver as many of them as possible,” said Debbie Day, director of the Office of Recovery and Support. Last week officials delivered a quilt to the family of Ross Alameddine, as well as to the family of an unnamed survivor. Officials within the office are looking to have all the quilts distributed in the next several months.
GABRIEL MCVEY
ct news reporter Mark Barbour wants people to know that his protest group in front of the Main Street post office is not some flower-child drum circle or a coffee klatch for ivory tower academics. Though the group is small, it meets with regularity on the first Friday of every month to protest America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Barbour is a member of the Coalition for Justice, a local organization that works for social justice issues including fair trade and labor issues as well as their opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I’m not some hippie; I’m a blue-collar guy,” said Barbour, the group’s spokesman. “We have some academics attend, like my wife, but Dale Wimberley is our steering committee’s only academic. It’s a mixed group.” “We reject war as a policy instrument,” Barbour said. “We’re not only committed to our anti-war vigils, but to social justice.” The CFJ started in 1981 and has had some presence in Blacksburg ever since. Last Saturday, a small group of CFJ protesters met in front of the post office in the drizzle as part of a national day of action against the war in Iran. Members wore and held signs announcing, “Gandhi’s Got My Back,” “War: Terrorism with a Big Budget” and “Hands off Iran.” Most also wore shirts declaiming the evils of George Bush and Wal-Mart. Barbour said he had a passion for organizing and social justice that dated back to his days working with the railroad. “I worked for this little union, now it’s part of the Teamsters, but we organized all over the country,” Barbour said. “We bring in people like Adam Kokesh to talk about his experiences in Iraq,” Barbour said. “He’s a powerful speaker with an important story to tell.” Adam Kokesh is a spokesman for Iraq Veterans Against the War, and a former Marine corporal. “We also bring in labor organizers like this fellow from Mexico to talk about their experiences trying to organize workers there. It’s all part of our social justice work,” Barbour said. As cars passed the group, several honked horns, waved, shouted and gave thumbs up in support. “We get at least a ten-to-one ratio of people supporting us to not,” Barbour said, as the driver of a passing car shouted a series of disparaging curses. “We get the finger every once in a while,” Barbour said. “There was one time when this fellow stood across the street and he held up a sign that said ‘pro-Bush’ or something like that, and just stood there.” Among the protesters was Blacksburg Councilwoman Susan Anderson. She chatted
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see PROTESTS, page two