COLLEGIATETIMES
friday october 24, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news ABSENTEE BALLOT DEADLINE Students registered to vote in Virginia must have applications for an absentee ballot postmarked for their local voter registration office by Oct. 28. The last day to vote in-person absentee is Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote in the state of Virginia was Oct. 6.
BIDEN TO SPEAK IN MARTINSVILLE FRIDAY Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden will speak for Barack Obama in Martinsville on Friday. The rally will take place at the Stone Hall at Patrick Henry Community College at 6:45 p.m. The event will open its doors at 4:45 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Though tickets are not required, the event is coordinated on a first-come, first-served basis and an RSVP is strongly recommended.
sports TRACK AND FIELD, CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS TO HOLD SHOE DRIVE The Hokies’ track and field and cross country teams will host a shoe drive this Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on the west side of Cassell Coliseum. All shoes will be donated to Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Program and Soles4Souls.
survey THE CT WANTS TO KNOW: WHO ARE THE GREATEST? Go to www.collegiatetimes.com to vote on the top ten players in Tech football history starting today. Rank the top ten and find out the final list on Election Day, Nov. 4.
weather RAINY high 46, low 40
corrections 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 TUESDAY’S CT Catch up on Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden’s visits to Southwest Virginia.
Schmidt, Warner dish on technology JUSTIN GRAVES
ct news reporter Former Virginia governor Mark Warner visited the Lyric yesterday with Google CEO Eric Schmidt for a conversation on technology with the Blacksburg community. The event, promoted by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, focused on how technology plays an important role in the global economy, and how America can better prepare itself for the global scene and contribute more in order to remain a great power. The event was a familiar scene for both, as Schmidt grew up in Blacksburg, and Warner is a friend of the Tech community. Although neither are alumni, southwest Virginia and the Tech community are highly valued by each of the speakers. “This was a great opportunity to feature Eric Schmidt, who has been very generous to Virginia Tech although he did not graduate from here,” said Tom Tillar, vice president for Alumni Relations. “The pairing is quite unique, and we thought it would be very rewarding to both of them and folks of the community.” Warner and Schmidt intended to shy away from any political standpoints and focus more on the role that new technologies will play in the next four years as a new president is elected and a new administration takes over on technology policy. Both local- and national-level implications came into play. “One of the things I was proudest of as governor was my statement that nobody should have to leave their home to find a world-class job,” Warner said. “That’s why I decided to take a plunge into politics in the first place.” Warner believes that this kind of innovation is necessary by everyone, not just politicians. Recently, many may have viewed technological issues into the future as liberal or conservative; left or right. However, both believe that the debate should truly be future versus past, rather than Democrat versus Republican. Warner and Schmidt touted competitiveness and energy as two of the most important factors in a global economy, no matter what the party affiliation. With the upcoming presidential election, Warner called for leadership and unification. “This is clearly an area where we have to put all of the options out there and reach across party lines,” Warner said. Schmidt offered an opinion similar to that of Warner. “This is a time for leadership,” Schmidt said. “You want politicians who actually know how to run a business, create jobs and care about their
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An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year issue 96
Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, left, and former Gov. Mark Warner, right, discussed the future role of technology at the Lyric in Blacksburg yesterday. The pair avoided political issues, instead talking about the need for America to remain a pioneer in information services. citizens. We just need more political leaders who believe in science.” In order to be competitive in a global economy, Warner said plans would ideally include bringing technology to rural areas such as Montgomery County. “When speaking toward technology and a global economy, you don’t leave smaller, rural communities behind, and I thought what better place to take this than Blacksburg and Virginia Tech,” Warner said. “(Technology) must withstand the boundaries of time, especially with the number of services available anywhere, any place.” Schmidt conveyed the same ideas that the ideal role of rural communities, collectively, would be to increase quality of life.
“You need to have the scale and leverage of a big city with high values in the global market,” Schmidt said. Warner repeatedly stressed linkage between four separate issues that would return America to the top of the global economy. These included an innovative workface, driving down health care costs, redefining infrastructure and remaining the innovational capital of the world. Blacksburg, Schmidt believes, could potentially pioneer this idea. “Blacksburg is the number one most wired small city, but think about how different that could be,” Schmidt said. “One of the great things about the Internet is that it continues to grow. The purpose of broadband and communications in rural areas of Virginia has given
us the opportunity to play on a much broader stage. It allows you to have a learning center in an incredibly beautiful location.” Warner also considers the expansion of various avenues of technology, and their expansion while America tries to be more competitive from a global standpoint. Through several advancements on many different scales, Google has become increasingly popular over the past decade. “Who would have thought that the idea of a search engine that Google has developed into these other services and tools like Google Maps … would continue to recreate itself, as technology needs to,” Warner said.
see WARNER, page two
University fundraising forges ahead Panelists,
forum to discuss technology
GORDON BLOCK
ct news reporter Virginia Tech officials are confident that they can avoid taking a hit from recent economic troubles through a combination of increased contact with current donors and by reaching out to new donors. The university is looking to complete its Campaign for Virginia Tech, a plan to raise $1 billion, by December 2010. As of the end of September, the campaign had raised $700,117,858. Now, those working with the campaign are attempting to gauge the longterm effects of the economic downturn. “It’s a little too soon to draw a whole lot of conclusions,” said Michael Kiser, director of development communications for University Development. “It’s tough to see how giving will shift in the next six months.” However, Kiser noted that higher education giving doesn’t necessarily reflect current market times. “(Higher education giving) doesn’t mirror the drop in the Dow Jones,” Kiser said. Other universities echoed this sentiment.
CANDACE SIPOS
ct politics editor
see CAMPAIGNS, page two
tainable and affordable way to get to campus. This will mostly be for employees who live in the Salem or Roanoke areas who commute to campus. … This will also help to alleviate some parking on campus.” Transportation is also starting up a new program for carpooling commuters that will allow them to fill a Fleet Services vehicle with up to seven passengers and avoid the normal wear and tear on their own cars with a longterm rental, West said. Another program showcased at the fair was Blacksburg Recycling represented by Karen Day, solid waste operations coordinator. “We are currently working on getting apartments up to code with town recycling,” Day said. “It is just hard for the drivers to get into the parking lots, so we’re looking into all of the options of getting recycling into the complexes.” As of right now, if you are living in an
Five days before Blacksburg residents hit the polls, they can discover how the constantly changing age of technology is altering the political process. A free forum sponsored by Virginia Tech’s Choices and Challenges project will begin at 8 a.m. Oct. 30 at the Lyric and the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson-Brown. “These changes — we’re right in the middle of them,” Choices and Challenges Project Director Daniel Breslau said. “We’re right in the middle, and it’s very important now to sort of take stock in what’s happening.” Breslau, who is also an associate professor in Tech’s Department of Science and Technology in Society, said no one really knows where the technological revolution will lead the world, or even political life. “Do these information technologies make our world more democratic?” Breslau asked. “It’s a question that we don’t know the answer to.” The Choices and Challenges project was created in 1985 to bring experts together with the rest of the community to discuss pressing topics relating to science and technology. Although the project presents a public forum annually, this one is unique in its placement directly before the presidential election. But Breslau emphasized that political campaigns will not be the only topic covered. “We didn’t want to make the focus only on political campaigns,” Breslau said. “We tried to find a range of panelists who know about different areas of politics.” The project was able to rope in three experts involved in different aspects of the political or technology fields. This main forum, which Breslau will moderate, will begin at 11 a.m. at the Lyric. Doug Schuler, an instructor of such courses as Community Information Systems and Global Citizenship at Evergreen State College and the director of the Public Sphere Project, is one of the three panelists. Schuler said his main message to students would be that they “have a big stake” in the technology changes that are occurring, and they should become involved in those changes. “I’d like to take a step back and not just completely look at all the details of how it’s changing, but try to get a
see SUSTAIN, page two
see TECH, page two
SARA SPANGLER/COLLEGIATE TIMES
Sustainability week showcases ways to shrink eco-footprint RILEY PRENDERGAST
ct news reporter Take an in-depth look into the trials and tribulations of Tech’s badminton squad.
MICHAEL SHROYER/SPPS
Sustainability week at Virginia Tech, an educational event of reflection for environmental consciousness, has so far been highlighted by silent auctions, fairs, movie premieres, green building tours and keynote speakers. Activities continue throughout the weekend including the painted rain barrel auction. This event showcases 12 rain barrels, donated by Coca Cola, which have been decorated by local artists and schools over the past month. These rain barrels have been on display at the Blacksburg Municipal Building and are still open for auction. Proceeds from the auction contribute to Sustainable Blacksburg, a nonprofit organization that advocates environmental responsibility in Blacksburg. The local YMCA on North Main has also stepped up its own sustainable efforts when it hosted “Recycle Old Clothes Craftily,” helping
people find ways to turn old clothes into new styles. The YMCA has been involved with sustainability through its “Y-Toss?” program that helps students recycle instead of filling up landfills, along with its thrift shops that allow students to get rid of old or broken technology without being harmful to the environment. During the Oct. 22 Sustainability Fair held in Squires Student Center, organizations from all over Blacksburg converged to educate students on campus about just what is being done in terms of making Tech more sustainable. Transportation and Campus Services, represented by communication coordinator Hilary West, was informing students of the new benefits of carpooling and using public transportation. “We coordinate with Smart Way and Blacksburg Transit,” West said. “We have bought $100 passes that are usually sold through Smart Way; we are selling them for $75 as a way to help people with a more sus-
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