COLLEGIATETIMES
friday october 3, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news REGISTRAR ASKS STUDENTS TO IGNORE MESSAGE Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz asks students not to call his office in regard to the mailing of their voter registration card if they were urged to do so by a recorded phone message. Wertz said that a number of students called his office yesterday because of the recorded message, causing office workers delays in processing applications because of the surge of calls. All registrations will be handled, Wertz said, though some students will not receive their cards until after Oct. 6, the last day to register to vote. Students can visit the State Board of Elections Web site to check their status.
Troubled Tech wideout suspended T. REES SHAPIRO
ct campus editor Redshirt junior Ike Whitaker has been indefinitely suspended from team activities for missing a wide receiver meeting Wednesday morning. Whitaker said that he missed a 7 a.m. meeting with his fellow wide receivers and coach Kevin Sherman after accidentally oversleeping. Whitaker came in after the meeting began, met with Sherman, and then sat down with head coach Frank Beamer at 10 a.m. “He told me I’m suspended … for missing a meeting,” Whitaker said. Whitaker felt his punishment did not correlate with his actions. “I shouldn’t have missed the
meeting but I shouldn’t have been suspended from the team because there’s a number of people that miss meetings all the time,” Whitaker said. “Other people miss meetings and are still on the team. There’s certain people who miss meetings over and over and they are not suspended.” Whitaker also said that he is considering his options after this most recent suspension, including possibly transferring colleges. “I have some decisions I have to make about what I want to do about schools, if I want to stay or here or if I want to transfer,” Whitaker said. “I have some decisions to make about what’s best for me. I’m human; I have feelings. I want to play just like everybody else.” Whitaker said he would work hard and do what is required of him by
the coaches to be reinstated. Whitaker said he is still on scholarship and will continue to attend classes. This season, Whitaker WHITAKER played in threehas of five games. His only receiving yards for the year came during the season opener against Eastern Carolina University, in which he caught three passes for 14 yards. Whitaker moved to wide receiver from quarterback in 2007 when then-freshman Tyrod Taylor was added to the depth chart. Whitaker said he took the position change in stride, trying to work hard to gain playing time.
Whitaker said it’s unfortunate that his efforts on the practice field have not garnered him opportunities during games. “I mean practice-wise and footballwise I’m busting my tail everyday out there and I’m making plays out there,” Whitaker said. “(Not playing in games) sucks, it just sucks. I think I deserve playing time, of course.” Director of Football Operations John Ballein had no comment. As of yesterday afternoon, Whitaker was no longer listed on the hokiesports.com Web site football team roster. Whitaker has been suspended from the team before. During his 2005-06 redshirt season, Whitaker was ruled ineligible for one month, from March 2, 2006 through April 3, 2006.
For whom the bell beeps
VOTER REGISTRATION ENDING SOON Voter registration for the upcoming presidential election ends Oct. 6 in Virginia. Virginia voters can review election information and check their registration status, including their currently registered location, by selecting ‘voter information’ then ‘voter registration status’ online at voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/
— story by Topher Forhecz —photos by Paul Platz
sports
THE BOOMING ‘BELLS’ OF BURRUSS ARE ANYTHING BUT. IF YOU WERE EXPECTING HEAVY METAL, ‘YOU’RE GOING TO BE REALLY DISAPPOINTED.’
WOMEN’S SOCCER TIES WITH CLEMSON The Tech women’s soccer team tied with the Clemson Tigers, 2-2, on Thursday night after two overtimes. The visiting Hokies evened the game near the end of regulation when Laurie Beth Puglisi scored in the 89th minute.
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The room is tiny, maybe half the size of a regular dorm room.
interior of
A large electric keyboard with a nice wood finish sit on the wall
the room labeled “C13 Storage” on
on the left, and directly in front are two large rectangular cabi-
the third floor of Burruss Hall tells that it is
weather PARTLY SUNNY high 70, low 43
corrections
coming up TUESDAY’S CT Go inside the voter registration process with a look at a day in the life of local registrar Randy Wertz. See our multimedia presentation of the CT’s voter registration forum.
index News.....................2 Features................8 0pinions................4
Classifieds............B2 Sports..................B1 Sudoku................B2
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year issue 89
nets with golden lined edges. Inside are the bells.
rarely visited. Gray dusty pipes and walls welcome the
“The bells are very, very small,” said Ray Smoot, chief operat-
few maintenance visitors who come by, and the primary occu-
ing officer of the Virginia Tech Foundation who used to work in
pants of the room are lonely projection lights that shine into
Burruss and oversaw care of the bells from 1975 through 2006.
the auditorium below. But in this room, diagonally across the
“And what you’re hearing is the amplified sound of those very
entrance, is a smaller room that houses a campus secret.
small bells. It’s not like there are a whole bunch of big bells up in
In this smaller, enclosed and windowless room are the very
“Crash on US-460” (CT, Oct. 1) incorrectly reported the time of the crash. The article reported that the crash took place at around 1 p.m. The correct time was 11 a.m. The CT 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.
In December 2006, he entered alcohol rehab at the Mount Regis Center in Salem, missing the Chick Fil-A bowl game. Whitaker said that he has had trouble with alcohol before, but that it was not the reason for his most recent suspension. “I have kind of been all over the place,” Whitaker said. “I got in trouble my freshman year, and that set me back a little bit. But I got help and came back stronger.” Whitaker also said that he attended karaoke night at Top Of The Stairs on Tuesday, the night before the meeting. Multiple witnesses said they saw Whitaker at TOTS until at least 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. Last season, Whitaker did not travel to Tech’s game Clemson game after Beamer suggested he take the week off to “think about his future.”
bells of Burruss.
the tower somewhere.” The large boxes are called a carillon, a musical instrument
“You’re going to be really disappointed,” warned Kim Briele,
with at least 23 bells inside of it; the boxes come up to about
an electrical engineer from the facilities department who takes
mid-chest level. On the top front of the right cabinet is a large
care of the bells, in the elevator on the way up. “It’s a big box.”
panel with several buttons and a screen with digital green see BELLS, page nine
Where will you ‘CountMore?’ JUSTIN GRAVES
ct news staff writer CountMore is a new Web site providing college students around the nation with a means of discovering where their votes will have the most impact come election time. While comparing home states with school states, the site will tell students where their vote will “count more.” In 1979, a Supreme Court ruling stated that college students had the right to vote either at home or in the town where they went to school, but around Virginia Tech, there have been several representatives from the Democratic and Republican parties encouraging students to vote in Blacksburg rather than requesting an absentee ballot from their hometown. Front Seat, a civic software company based in Seattle, developed the CountMore Web site and Matt Lerner, Front Seat’s chief technology officer, said he believes that every college student should vote while also realizing where their vote will count with more significance. “CountMore wants to get students out there, talking about voting and doing it where it matters most,” Lerner said. After Front Seat’s brainchild launched on
Sept. 19, Lerner and his partner, Jesse Kocher, received attention from many student groups and even national news outlets such as the New York Times. CountMore hopes to encourage students to register to vote as well as engage in dialogue with other friends who may not be registered. “The national voter turnout in 2004 was at 55 percent,” Lerner said. “I think we’re going to see students turn out in greater numbers because there’s so much excitement around this election, and for many of them it is their first voting experience.” “It’s more important for people to feel like their vote matters, especially when it’s their first time,” said Kocher. “College students have just gotten to be the age that they are allowed to vote, and that’s a great time for them to step up and make a decision.” Virginia is especially important in the coming election because of its status as a battleground state. No candidate has overwhelming support, and the votes could sway to either presidential candidate. In battleground states, votes count more because of the Electoral College; the 2000 election was decided by roughly 500 votes in Florida. With that, CountMore proposes that votes there may not have counted as much as they could have in another state. Aleisha Jacobsen also works with the devel-
opers of the CountMore Web site. She said that she believes everyone, not just students, needs to get out to vote and research where their votes might have more weight. “I think that with the way the Electoral College works, unfortunately some places do have votes that count more,” Jacobsen said. “It’s important to always be responsible when you register to vote and make your own decision.” Recently in Virginia, there was a controversy over registering to vote in a different state than that which a person had used to fill out scholarships and other applications for financial aid. The state issued two incorrect releases warning students of the consequences of registering to vote at school. These releases also stated that students could potentially no longer be claimed as dependents of their parents. CountMore hopes to alleviate the stress that this may have caused for students who are registering in different states. “Our Web site is very clear,” Jacobsen said. “We tell students what the possible consequences are and how you can get more information that pertains to your own specific situation.” The deadline to register to vote in Virginia is Oct. 6 and the deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 28.
For a time, ‘Tradition never graduates’ BECCA THOMAS
ct news staff writer Homecoming for many students, alumni and staff at Virginia Tech means the gathering of friends and family to celebrate a weekend of homecoming traditions at Tech. One long-standing tradition at Tech is the spirit rally, taking place today at 6 p.m. on the steps of Cassell Coliseum. Britney Asbury, the Student Alumni Associates Spirit Chair, said this year’s pep rally has more par-
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