Friday, February 6, 2009 Print Edition

COLLEGIATETIMES

thursday february 26, 2009 blacksburg, va.

www.collegiatetimes.com

Tech plans widget for emergency communications ZACH CRIZER

ct news reporter Attempting to maximize the reach of the emergency notification system, a new medium is being designed to provide instant information to the university community.

Originally a concept mentioned in a Communication Network Services meeting, a new program would deliver messages automatically to any operating computer connected to the Virginia Tech network Much as a widget, the program would lie dormant until it received a message. The text of the alert would immediately pop up.

University spokesman Larry Hincker said the computer pop-up application would provide a more direct method of reaching people.

“You could download the widget and it would pop up on any computer connected to the Internet,” Hincker said. “You would not have to have an application open.”

Currently, a computer alert must be received by checking Virginia Tech’s Web mail or via e-mail.

Hincker said those options are not enough.

“You cannot rely on a single channel of communication,” Hincker said.

CNS Chief Technology Architect Carl Harris is in charge of developing the program. He said users would download the application for free from alerts.vt.edu and install it on their computers.

Harris said the application runs in the background, continuously communicating with the emergency notification system.

If a message were sent, the application would play a sound and display the message to the computer as long as it is connected to the Internet.

The computer pop up application would deliver instant alerts much like classroom message boards. It would not be delayed by distribution factors that hinder the text messages sent by VT Alerts.

Sherwood Wilson, vice president for administrative services, said the new program would be a major step toward instant notification of events on campus.

“It’s the single biggest leap forward in VT Alerts,” Wilson said. “It has the ability to simultaneously interact with more people than anything we have right now.”

This method would not require any action on the part of the subscriber, other than having their

computer turned on and connected to the Internet. The user would not need to be on campus.

Since it is not run through Internet browsers, the pop-up application would not be blocked by pop up blockers.

Furthermore, Hincker said this application would be one of the least expensive notification systems employed.

“It is going to be university labor only,” Hincker said. “There would be no cost to us or to the university community. It would be on the VT computing Web site and available for download.”

Wilson said the benefits would be worth the price of installation.

“It is a very low implementation cost,” Wilson said. “In terms of bang for the buck, it is clearly the best thing we have.”

Grades versus evaluations: Trending toward change?

RYAN PETCHENICK

ct news staff writer The Association of American Colleges and Universities, which represents more than 1,150 accredited colleges and universities, including Virginia Tech, held its annual meeting on Jan. 21 to discuss the use of grades in higher education.

The hypothetical new system discussed, which would replace traditional grades, would require teachers to report on their students’ progress through narrative evaluations that would encompass all aspects of the students’ work and development throughout the semester.

The transition away from grades would not be a new one, as there are already schools that rely on narrative evaluations as a means of reporting on a students’ progress.

New Hampshire College in Massachusetts is a small liberal arts school that has a student body of around 1,400 students. The school has been using narrative evaluations as a method to evaluate students since the university’s inception in 1970.

Roberta Stuart, the director of central record at New Hampshire College, said evaluations “replace grades entirely; the faculty feels strongly that evaluations are more informative than grades.”

These narratives reports are designed to encompass the entire body of the students’ work and “give the outside world an idea of what the work of the student is like,” Stuart said.

The faculty of New College of Florida, a liberal arts college with a student body half the size of New Hampshire College, feels very strongly about their student

evaluation system’s ability to determine an individual’s progress.

New College assigns its students traditional assignments such as tests or quizzes, but these do not receive a letter grade. Instead, all the assignments add up to an individual merit of evaluation about the student’s progress in the course. Suzanne L. Janney, special assistant to the president, said, “The evaluations give students a lot of insight into their own performance.”

“The students know where their areas of strength and weaknesses are,” Janney said. Evaluations aren’t “something you’d get from traditional grades.”

The evaluation system at both New College and New Hampshire College may benefit from the relatively small size of their student bodies. Stuart added that any individual student, by the time they leave the school, could have a transcript that is easily over 20 pages. At New College, the majority of classes have only 10 to 19 students, whereas Virginia Tech regularly has classes composed of 100 or more students.

The lack of traditional grades may be a cause for concern for students who are on scholarships that require a student maintain a specific GPA. However, Stuart insisted, “There are a very few scholarships for which students are not eligible.” By working closely with scholarship committees, New Hampshire College is able to ensure that very few students are rejected for the absence of a GPA. According to Tara Young of the Department of Education, as long as a student meets the satisfactory standard of progress that is set by the school they attend — whether it involves assigning

grades or not — they are still eligible to receive federal financial aid.

Mike Ellerbrock, professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech, questions what grades are in fact capable of telling us about students’ progress.

“They are an approximate measure at best,” Ellerbrock said.

He also noted that for a system like the one in place at New College to work at Tech, would depend on “how much energy a professor is willing to put into exercises of grading and getting to know his or her students.”

Richard Oderwald, the associate dean for the college of natural resources, likes the idea behind being able to individually evaluate a student in that manner, but said that it is “difficult just assigning grades (to that many people).”

“Some of the classes are 600 students. It would be difficult to know students well enough to do that; consistency would be a problem from year to year, or class to class,” Oderwald said.

Craig Brians, an associate professor of political science at Tech, went a step further than his colleagues.

“I don’t see this (evaluations) realistically working out for any class (at Tech),” he said.

Brians also questioned whether the teachers at Tech with larger class sizes would be up to the task of writing an evaluation for every student.

“If you are teaching 150 to 200 students a year, can you really write a threepage description on each student?”

Brians said. “If a student wants to know in my class beyond grades, they can come and chat with me any time.”

The low cost is attributed to in house development.

CNS, a Virginia Tech department, is developing the computer pop-up program. Other components of the emergency notification system rely on outside entities.

Virginia Tech pays a compay called 3n for the text messaging aspect of VT Alerts. The classroom message boards are bought from an independent manufacturer.

CNS has tested the program and believes it will be ready in the near future, Hincker said.

“We are hopeful it will be up and running by fall semester,” Hincker said.

Harris said he is also hopeful that the program could be adapted for smart phones and mobile devices at a later date.

Other expansions of the VT Alerts

system are being considered as well, such as adding scrolling classroom signs currently found in classrooms to gyms, dining halls and other public areas.

“Members of a subcommittee are working on the prioritization of where these should be rolled out on the campus,” Wilson said.

Hincker said the scrolling classroom signs are effective, but difficult to implement because of their cost.

“It is a wonderful technology, but they are truly outrageously expensive,” Hincker said.

Costs of buying and installing the scrolling signs can reach $2,000 per unit.

Hincker said he plans on adding about 30 new signs before fall semester begins. Common areas where people may not have access to technology will be first on the list.

HOKIES CLIP CLEMSON

BRIAN SCHNEIDER/THE TIGER

See a full recap of Tech’s 80-77 win at No. 13-ranked Clemson last night on page 8.

news VIRGINIA TECH SIGNS ON TO AMETHYST GROUP Virginia Tech has joined 133 other schools in signing the Amethyst Initiative, a petition that calls for the reopening of the discussion of 21 as the legal drinking age. A form letter, signed by Tech President Charles Steger, was received at the offices of Choose Responsibility, the group behind the initiative, on Dec. 18, 2008.

Tech joins fellow Virginia schools Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Randolph Macon College, Sweet Briar College and Washington and Lee University in signing the initiative.

index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5

Classifieds..............7 Sports....................8 Sudoku..................7

An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 106th year • issue 23

Girl Talk: Artist samples the good life INTERNATIONAL MASH-UP SENSATION ‘GIRL TALK,’ OR GREGG GILLIS, WILL BE PERFORMING AT TECH TONIGHT AFTER HIS SHOW SOLD OUT IN UNDER A HALF-AN-HOUR TOPHER FORHECZ

ct features reporter Gregg Gillis, better known by his stage name of “Girl Talk,” is one man whose music has many voices. Armed with little more than a laptop and some likely to be discarded clothes, he will take to the Squires Commonwealth ballroom, where doors Q&A open at 7 p.m., for a night of energized beat-hungry mash ups that draw from more than 40 years’ worth of mainstream music. Calling from his home in Pittsburgh, Gillis spoke with the CT before his scheduled appearance on the 26th.

Collegiate Times: Thanks for doing this. Your agent told me you’ve been busy recently. What have you been up to?

Gregg Gillis: I went to Australia a couple of weeks ago, and I came GILLIS home. Been playing in some cities I’ve never been to before. I went to Little Rock, Ark., and Oxford, Miss. Then I played an all-girls’ school outside of Boston. I played two shows in Montana last weekend, and I got home on Saturday night, and yesterday I had my first complete day off in a little while so I actually got on the Internet and watched all of the current episodes of Lost and got caught up on that.

CT: I know that you recently quit your day job

as a biomedical engineer. Now that you have more time to focus on your music, do you plan to do anything differently?

GG: Yeah, I kind of have a few different ideas. The live show definitely goes on to impact the albums, and I feel like with the last album, “Feed the Animals,” that was definitely a result of making material to perform live. It was after “Night Ripper” — there was a demand to play shows so I was always kind of coming up with new material loosely in the style of “Night Ripper,” trying to expand that sound and go somewhere slightly new with it, but while still not alienating the people who like that stuff. And that ended up being “Feed the Animals,” so I feel like that’s kind of where I am now. I’m playing a lot of shows and people that are familiar with the last two albums, they want to hear material like that, and I want to present material like that while still moving forward.

But, now that I have the freedom, I am excited about the potential of experimenting a little bit more. I think after “Night Ripper” came out people responded to it really well, and I think a lot of people may have thought that it was just going to be a novelty sort of record or something. I think a lot of people didn’t realize that it was my third album, that I’ve been doing this style of music for six or seven years. But I think with “Feed the Animals,” I really wanted to prove something on that level.

That I can do something beyond “Night Ripper.”

This is the style of music I make.

This isn’t just a one-off project; this isn’t something that I’m performing live for

the hell of it. I’ve been doing this for a long time so I feel like now that “Feed the Animals” has come out, it’s been well received, and I feel less eager to prove anything.

I feel very accomplished with what’s gone down, so because of that, yeah, I’m excited to maybe jump outside the box and do something a little bit different. Maybe work on individual songs and release stuff through the Internet, which I’ve never really done prior to an album.

ON CAMPUS Stand around outside looking to buy a ticket for this sold-out show around 7 p.m. at Squires Commonwealth Ballroom.

CT: Is there any mainstream music that you wouldn’t pick; are there any untouchables?

GG: Not really. I would sample anything.

The thing is — and this is just kind of a personal rule, and it’s undefined — with a lot of classic artists like the Beatles or The Who or something like that, I won’t really touch a song or an artist unless I’m very comfortable with them. Sampling the Beatles to me is a little different than sampling a one-hit wonder from the ’90s. Not that I think it should be. It’s just kind of like, if I sampled the Beatles or a particular song, I want to have an understanding of the song in similar terms as the general public.

So it’s kind of like Nirvana — for instance, that’s another classic band. That’s a band I was obsessed with growing up with. I feel

very well schooled on Nirvana enough so that I feel like I could sample any song and kind of understand it in terms of I know whether people know it or what they think about it. This is like a corny song or a cool song or whatever, so whenever I’m sampling a more kind of huge historically important artist, I like to be very familiar with the history of it or understand the song very well before I get into it. It’s like on a Led Zeppelin song or something; I’m a little bit less inclined to just randomly sample a Led Zeppelin song.

I’d rather really digest it or know it before I get into it.

CT: Have you ever considered going outside of the medium of remixing?

GG: Not necessarily. I think that there’s just such a world of things you can do through sampling. It’s kind of like, you can ask any guitarist 30 years into what they’re doing: ‘ Are you thinking about ever picking up the drums or the bass or the keyboard?’ It might be something to fiddle with. The guitar you can explore for a lifetime, and I feel like sampling you can explore for a lifetime. And doing this style of music, you can do production like the Bomb Squad with Public Enemy, or you can make a pop record like the Avalanches, or you do production like P. Diddy. So I’m kind of functioning within a specific world right now, and I have a certain sound I’m going for, and it’s something I’m aiming to do, but it’s kind of like I can make metal out of samples if I wanted to. I could make pop. So it’s kind of like this is my instrument of choice. It’s just a matter of style; I think this is where I’m at right now.

CT: Have you thought of trying different types of themes with your music? Like you were

have a news tip? want to see something in the CT? e-mail newstips@collegiatetimes.com

see GT, page three

page 2

thursday, february 26, 2009

Virginia Tech alumnus elected president of KSU KAITLYN GLEASON

ct news staff writer Kirk Schulz, a 1986 Virginia Tech graduate, will take the position of president at Kansas State University on July 1, 2009. He took the time to talk with the Collegiate Times about his experience at Tech and his goals at KSU. Collegiate Times: You received a bachelor’s of science and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Virginia Tech.

What was that experience like?

Kirk Schulz: Going to Virginia Tech was an all-around great experience. It was, in my opinion, by far the best engineering school.

SCHULZ Back then, Tech was a relatively easy university to get into, but a very difficult one to graduate from.

CT: You later taught the subject at various universities. What made you want to go from being a professor to a president of a university?

KS: I actually wanted to be a president of a university while I was a graduate student. I saw what an impact they had on the college experience and wanted to give other students the same great experience I had.

CT: You’ve already contributed to four major universities: North Dakota University, Michigan Technological University, Mississippi State University and Virginia Tech. What did you gain from each experience that stand out to you?

KS: At each of them I learned that it’s really important for faculty and administrators to put students and faculty first in their mentality. The future donors of tomorrow are the students in the classroom, and we need to make sure that we do an outstanding job at working with them. At every university, I found out that is one of the key things.

I also saw the value of a major Division I athletics program. Schools that don’t have that make it hard to get alumni to come back and get connected with the university. There is something special about a Hokie football Saturday where there are 75,000 to 80,000 people coming by campus to go to a game, tailgate and walk through the university. That helps the university quite a bit in terms of publicity.

In my opinion, working at a university is absolutely the best job in the world. Whether president or faculty member, it’s a fun environment to be around that helps keep faculty and presidents young because you’re around 18 to 22 year olds who are excited to be there.

CT: What is your best memory from Virginia Tech?

KS: My wife and I, who is also a

Virginia Tech graduate, went to just about every home football game when we were there for seven years. We were there when coach Frank Beamer was first hired, and if anyone had said Tech would play for a national championship, we would’ve been surprised. The stadium never sold out, the excitement just wasn’t there as much as it is today, but we enjoyed Virginia Tech athletics.

I’ve really enjoyed watching it grow.

The best part of being an alumnus is watching how far it has come.

CT: How did going to school as an undergraduate and graduate student at Virginia Tech help you get perspective on how to be a successful president of a university?

KS: I learned the importance of outstanding communication skills and being student-friendly. I had several faculty members that would talk to me anytime and truly wanted me to be successful with whatever I did. If I had a bad day, I knew professors that I could go into their office for encouragement; it was really just saying, “Hey, I want the same kind of experience that I had as an undergraduate to be the same at the university that I’m working for so that hopefully there will be a similar student that will want to be a university president sometime in their career because of it.”

CT: Was there anything about Virginia Tech that has carried with you that you wish to implement with your position as president?

KS: I felt that I had a ton of people that really wanted me to be successful at Virginia Tech, and I want to carry that same philosophy with me anywhere I work and encourage students to do the same.

Who will be on top next week?

Every Friday in the Collegiate Times.

SHE SAID

HE SAID

CT: As president of Kansas State University, what are your goals both on a personal level and for the university?

KS: For K-State, we’re going to work on the development of a long-term strategic plan that we’ll call K-State 2025. It will be what Kansas State University look(s) like in 2025 — what kind of research, how many students,

what’s happening with athletics. Just a dream-like plan of what we want the university to look like in 2025. That will be the main focus of my first year to 18 months as president.

Task force calls for healthier body images on campus DEBRA HOUCHINS

ct news staff writer Pollack “Polly” Ann Williams, a Virginia Tech alumna who graduated with honors in 1998, took her life last week after struggling for years with an eating disorder.

This week, 10 of her former Kappa Delta sorority sisters have teamed up with the Virginia Tech Eating Disorders Task Force to raise awareness about eating disorders in the Tech Community.

“We’re trying to promote a healthy body image,” said Linda Davis, chairman of the Eating Issues and Body Issues Awareness Week committee and Tech dietician. She emphasized the susceptibility of college students to the image portrayed by the media.

The week-long awareness activities include “Dying To Be Barbie,” a display that allows students to see the impossible, real-life proportions of Barbie, and a Mirror Image activity that shows celebrities’ and Tech students’ positive quotes about loving their bodies.

Both are located in McComas Hall.

The Kappa Delta sisterhood will hold the Be Comfortable in Your Genes jean drive, where students, faculty or families can donate old jeans or jeans that no longer fit.

Drop-offs are located across campus, including in Squires, most residence halls and Oak

Lane. The jeans will be donated to women and families in need throughout the community.

Catch THIN and a speech by Kathleen McDonald Tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Graduate Life Center.

Events will culminate tonight in the Graduate Life Center at 6:30 p.m., when Kathleen McDonald, an education and prevention coordinator with the For Recovery Elimination of Eating Disorders Foundation, will give a keynote address and introduce the documentary THIN, featuring Polly Ann Williams and three other women in their struggles against eating disorders.

THIN, which Davis called a “shocking film,” originally aired on HBO and shows the severe medical and psychological consequences of a distorted body image.

“Eating disorders can be fatal if they are not addressed and treated,” said Noelle Bissell, medical director at Schiffert Health Center.

She noted that although anyone is susceptible to an eating disorder, they are especially prevalent on college campuses.

“With the obesity epidemic, they use the excuse that it’s healthier to be thin, but there is such a thing as too thin,” said Bissell.

Davis said signs and symptoms of eating disorders include emaciation from extensive dieting, ritualistic eating and exercise patterns, and excessive exercise, as well as instances of binging — eating up to 2,000 calories or 3,000 calories of food and then purging the food through laxatives, large amounts of exercise and self-induced vomiting.

For over a decade, the Virginia Tech Eating Disorders Task Force has organized events during the month of February to combat eating disorders and unhealthy body images. This year, Kappa Delta alumni have reinforced the usual team in memory of Williams.

“The purpose of the committee is to actually reach out and educate the student population about eating disorders,” said Colleen Farmer, a committee member. She described the committee’s goal as not only raising awareness, but also as showing students with eating disorders that Tech facilities can provide them help and guidance.

Katie Mardigian, a Kappa Delta sister of Williams, said news of Williams’ eating disorder came as a shock to many of her friends and sisters. Mardigian hopes that the week’s events will help provide students with the information they need to recognize a problem and get help for themselves or for their friends.

page

features 3

editor: bethany buchanan email: features@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., f 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

february 26, 2009

GT: ‘Hopefully everybody’s ready to rage’ from page one

talking about making strictly metal.

GG: Not necessarily. I’m happy doing what I’m doing. It’s kind of like, you know, you’re not going to expect to hear Public Enemy not make a rap record or expect Radiohead to not make a pop record or whatever you’d call what they do. It’s kind of like, I don’t feel the need to necessarily make a metal record or anything like that, but I do feel like I could make something that’s a bit more eclectic in sound, especially through sampling. It’s the sort of thing that, with all these different artists, you can do all these different sounds. I think with the last few records I had a sound in mind beforehand, and I wanted to stick to that for the entire record. The last couple records, they jump around a lot with where they go, but stylistically they’ve been able to fit into the same box. When you hear the first minute of the record, if you fast forward to anywhere else in the record, it’s kind of a similar idea, and I think a lot of artists are like that. There’s a sound for the record, and they stick to it throughout the record, and I think that’s fine. But I’m mostly interested in making an insanely eclectic mix, whether it be something that sounds like “Feed the Animals” for 10 minutes and then might segue smoothly into an ambient section for five minutes and maybe an aggressive section with live drums and vocals for two minutes … I would love to make something that’s just kind of a complete mess — on a similar idea to what I’m doing now just with the collage style, just all over the map, as unpredictable as possible would be very interesting to me.

CT: Eclectic as in world sounds?

GG: It wouldn’t even be what I sample.

I would love to stay in the world of pop music, just make it very eclectic. I really like a lot of records that kind of straggle that line between experimentalism and pop. I really like Todd Rundgren’s “A Wizard, A True Star.” I think (it) is a good example of a record of something that I would love to make. That record just jumps all around. There’s great pop tunes, and there’s crazy weird sections, and it all kind of works together as a whole. So that’s something I’d be interested in. I think right now, I don’t know if I’m ready to go there yet. I definitely wouldn’t want to do anything that people could potentially describe as pretentious. I don’t want to make difficult music for the sake of being difficult.

I would like to make something that’s challenging and interesting and still entertaining at the same time.

Dance and music team tries out for ‘America’s Got Talent’ MARY ANNE CARTER

ct features reporter

PETER VELZ/COLLEGIATE TIMES

Students wait in a line that streches all the way down Squires from the VTU ticket office to buy Girl Talk tickets. Doors open tonight at 7 p.m.

CT: I know that there are a lot of copyright issues around your music. Do you ever feel that pressure or sweat it much?

GG: I think when “Night Ripper” came out, the response it got was a lot more intense than what I, or the label, expected. There was just a lot more publicity around it. People really responded to it well, and that was a good thing. But I think when that happened, the other thing was, “Oh, OK. Well, now we have to face this copyright issue.” And I do believe that the work should be qualified under fair use, and I do think it should be legally released. But it’s a lot easier to have that sort of attitude when you’re not popular, when you’re selling only a few albums. I think when “Night Ripper” started to catch on, it was something that was definitely a concern for a minute, and of course all the press talking about how I was going to be sued by a thousand artists didn’t help. That was something that kind of faded out over time. After a year or two, after “Night Ripper,” it was kind of like, “OK, well, that’s cool; I don’t think anyone has an issue with it.” And kind of leading into the new album and doing that, we know going into it, regardless of how people felt about it, we knew it was going to generate more publicity just based on the status of the project continuously rising since the last album. It was definitely a concern again when putting out that album. It was like, “All right, well, we’re taking it a step further, and people are really anticipating this album. I know press is ready to write about it. People are excited to review it. It’s going to be more widespread than the last album.”

So it was something that was definitely on our minds. It’s something you have to address, and the reviews came out

and it got out there, and then it kind of died down. It’s not something that I really sit around and worry about, and I do feel good about what we’re doing, and I don’t feel like we’re violating any laws, but it is a gray area. It can’t be 100 percent whether this qualifies for fair use or not until it’s taken to court. It’s something that’s definitely on the mind, I think it’s a lot more intense when you’re in the process of putting out an album, and now, (it’s) a few months later, and it’s not something I really dwell on.

CT: What music do you normally listen to?

GG: I don’t have anything I really normally listen to. It kind of jumps around a lot. (I’ve) been buying a lot of CDs recently. Then again, I’m a big radio listener, so I listen to the hip hop station in Pittsburgh all the time.

Mainly the hip-hop station and the oldies station is kind of what I jam to the most. Outside of that, it kind of depends. (I’ve) been listening to a lot of Mac Dre, E-40, The Guess Who. It really just changes all the time.

CT: Where did the name come from?

GG: There’s this band called Tad from Seattle and they have an early seveninch of theirs (phone cuts out) called “Girl Talk,” and I’m a big fan of that seven inch.

CT: So you’re coming to Virginia Tech on Thursday. Anything you’d like to say to Tech?

GG: I’ll see you guys soon. Hopefully everybody’s ready to rage. … That’ll be the first show of that weekend for me.

I’ll be nice and well rested. I won’t be hungover.

Surrounded by lights, cameras and a panel of judges, 10 perfectly synchronized figures clad in colorcoordinated outfits dance passionately to the rhythm of a blaring song in hopes of earning a coveted spot on the hit television show, America’s Got Talent.

To most, this seemingly unrealistic scenario may appear to be straight out of a Disney movie — but for Bamboom, Virginia Tech’s newest hip-hop and modern dance team, it is a very real chance at fame.

Founded last spring by several students who simply “wanted to dance,” Bamboom blends hip-hop, modern, and other urban dancing to create original routines that the team performs at campus events and competitions, said Christina Franco, senior human nutrition foods and exercise major and co-founder of Bamboom.

Joining more than a thousand hopeful contestants boasting a range of talents, Bamboom embarked on a 270-mile trek to the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 14 to audition for NBC’s America’s Got Talent. The self-proclaimed “biggest talent show in the world,” America’s Got Talent is currently holding auditions in major cities for its fourth season.

Hoping to feature more hip-hop groups this season, the show’s producers, who found Bamboom’s MySpace and were impressed by its hard work and determination, invited the team to audition.

Given only a week’s notice to prepare for the audition, such hard work and determination were put to the test. The team members found it difficult to fit practices in with their already hectic schedules, but they improvised whenever possible.

“We actually had our first practice all together in a parking garage the morning of the audition,” Franco said.

Following a 5 a.m. departure, the group endured a secretive process

PETER VELZ/COLLEGIATE TIMES

Members of Bamboom, a hiphop and modern dance team, practice.

The group tried out for the show America’s Got Talent in February. that included a long wait and what seemed like an obstacle course of three rooms filled with chairs, posters and cameramen.

“They don’t tell you anything,” Franco said.

“It was frustrating,” said senior Shirley Reppert. “We waited so long that our energy was drained before we even started. Every time a door would open, you think it is your turn.”

After hours of waiting, Bamboom finally got its turn — a mere 90 seconds to show the producers that it deserved one of the coveted spots.

ON THE WEB To see a video of Bamboom rehearsing and performing their America’s Got Talent routine visit www.collegiatetimes.com “We had to shorten our routine when we found on we only had 90 seconds,” Franco said.

Yet, the group remains confident that 90 seconds was all they needed to prove themselves. “(We) nailed it,” said junior human nutrition foods

and exercise major Lillian Kuo with a laugh.

Much as the audition process, the acceptance process remains a secret. “(We) really have no idea how many contestants they will take,” Franco said.

In the event that they are invited to compete on the show, the team will be notified in March. Yet, for freshman Allie Frazier, March seems too long of a wait.

“I’ve already checked the Web site, like, four times today,” she said.

Regardless of whether Bamboom is chosen for the show, the team agrees it was well worth the process.

“It was a great experience,” said Franco. “We got to see all sorts of people and crazy things.”

“It was really good bonding time as a team,” said freshman electrical engineering major Larry Franco.

“You began to forget why you were there. It was like you were just sitting around hanging out.”

Regardless of the outcome of its audition, Tech students can experience Bamboom for themselves at upcoming campus events, including Relay for Life and the Remembrance Through Dance performance on April 16.

page

opinions 5

editor: laurel colella, david mcilroy email: opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: mw 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

february 26, 2009

EDITORIAL

Individualevaluations arenotafeasibleoption inlower-levelclasses While teacher evaluations would certainly be more informative than grades, here at Virginia Tech, that option is just not feasible. Tech has close to 30,000 students who currently attend classes on our campus. It is not uncommon for these classes to be composed of 100 or more students, specifically at the introductory level.

Last semester, for example, 2,700 students poured into Burruss Auditorium for John Boyer’s World Regions class.

While there are definitely benefits and drawbacks to having both large classes and smaller classes at the collegiate level, the number of undergraduate students admitted to Tech, combined with class size offerings, makes individual evaluations nearly impossible.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities, which currently represents Tech along with a number of other accredited schools, recently discussed the possibility of replacing traditional grades through narrative evaluations completed by teachers, focusing on students’ progress throughout the semester.

A number of colleges across the U.S. currently already use this grading system, including New Hampshire College in Massachusetts and New College of Florida. The main difference between these colleges and Tech is their dramatic decrease in number of students. New Hampshire College has a student body of approximately 1,400 students, while New College enrolls only about 700 students. Teachers at these schools distribute tests and quizzes for students, but they do not receive grades.

Rather, these assignments accumulate and then are used by teachers to compose overall evaluations at the end of the course.

While narrative reports would likely give future employers and graduate school admissions greater insight into the kind of applicant they are considering, a lot of its feasibility greatly depends on how much effort a professor is willing to put forth. The more information that professors have about students to complete these evaluations, the better.

However, at a school like Tech, often times students don’t get to know their professors at the level necessary for them to complete such evaluations. Additionally, different majors and programs of study are organized differently.

While the benefits of the narrative evaluations include student transcripts, easily over

20 pages by the end of their college careers, a GPA is also necessary. Individual critique is never a bad thing, but at the end of the day, when it comes to rankings and measuring candidates against one other, numerically is the most straightforward way. Many people argue this isn’t the most accurate way to measure individual progress and capabilities, however the grade system is never completely fair.

Students take different classes, different semesters from different professors, resulting in grades that fluctuate based on the material and the professor.

Ultimately, it’s about making the best of the situation you’re in, with the teacher that you have.

While Mike Ellerbrock, professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech, told the CT that in terms of students’ progress, grades are, “an approximate measure at best,” ultimately the grading scale in one form or another has been around judging our alleged progress for decades, and we seem to have progressed all right.

Individual critiques could prove worthwhile on the higher level, for students in smaller, more specialized classes. Generally major-specific classes taken junior and senior years consist of a smaller number of students, resulting in a more intimate relationship with the professor.

In these classes, where skills specific to real-life employment are actually learned, individual evaluations from teachers would be more helpful to future employers and more realistic.

Perhaps providing individual critiques for students in these classes would prove worthwhile and is something that departments should look into, in order to provide students with further assistance when applying for jobs or graduate school.

A narrative report written by the teacher of your freshman year geology lecture class should mean a lot less than a report written by the teacher of a senior seminar or other upper-level course.

Ultimately individual evaluations, if not implemented across the board in upper level classes, should be left up to academic advisers and other professors chosen at students’ discretion.

The editorial board is composed of David Grant, David Harries, Laurel Colella, Alexandra Kaufmann and Jenna Marson.

N.Y. Post cartoon satirically gets to root of our problems CHAD VAN ALSTIN regular columnist I was recently made aware of the whole uproar regarding a New York Post political cartoon. For those of you who have yet to see it, a quick search on Google will reveal the cartoon and all the banter about its possible racial implications.

The cartoon features two police officers gunning down a crazed chimpanzee; a reference to the famous chimpanzee who recently attacked a woman in Connecticut. One of the officers turns to the other and says: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” It was at this point that I laughed out loud.

The Race Card Police are certainly out in full force this year, undoubtedly censoring harmless free speech wherever it may reside. The implications are that the chimp in this cartoon is Obama and that the cartoon is being very racist by comparing Obama to a chimp.

When I heard this part of the story, I began to laugh even harder. Anyone who really thinks that this is important news needs to get a hobby. In no way should it affect your life to have any cartoonist make a cartoon about any topic, no matter how offended it makes you.

I’m a firm believer in freedom of speech, and I believe fully in the idea that no person ever has a right not to be offended.

As a lover of free-market economics, I read the cartoon and immediately laughed at its commentary on lawmakers. The stimulus bill in particular is a work of insanity only fitting to have been schemed by a complete idiot, or a cloaked genius with an evil laugh.

Perhaps what the artist of this very hilarious cartoon was trying to say

E-mail us at: opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com

that it will not help. Obama has no choice but to feel the way he does about the spending of government funds — I doubt even he knows where the money is going.

I searched frantically online for the stimulus bill as it was speeding through Congress. Although I certainly wasn’t willing to read all the trillion pages for myself, I thought I would at least do what our lawmakers do by scanning over it briefly before I made a decision.

I assumed that with Obama promising an open government, the bill would be easy to find and accessible to every American. Not only was the bill nowhere to be found, members of Congress didn’t even have a copy for themselves.

A few copies were made readily available to any Democrat who swore to vote yes (before reading it), but it was not made available to anyone who opposed the bill.

This is Obama’s idea of open government — tyranny. I question how any American can truly believe congressmen made the right decision on the stimulus bill when they didn’t even read the bill before they pledged to vote yes. Most members of Congress never even read the bill at all.

That’s about all the change I believed in. It appears that the Democrats are taking up the Bush banner of constant spending and the passing of laws through secret handshakes in dark alleys. The banner has now passed to the Democrats to choose to alter their views and follow their elected tyrant or stick to their guns and oppose these tyrannical actions.

The blind spending of money and the secrecy of government has only led the great nations of the world to doom. Even Congress can’t spend its way out of the mess it’s creating.

I’d take a chimp any day.

Collegiate Times Editorial Staff Editor in Chief David Grant Managing Editors David Harries, Sara Spangler Public Editor Cate Summers Special Sections Editor Meg Miller News Editors Caleb Fleming, Sara Mitchell News Reporters Gordon Block, Zach Crizer, Justin Graves, Riley Prendergast, T. Rees Shapiro, Rebecca Thomas News Staff Writers Shannon Aud, Will Thomas, Ryan Trapp, Gabe McVey Features Editor Bethany Buchanan Features Reporters Topher Forhecz, Teresa Tobat, Jonathan Yi Opinions Editors Laurel Colella, David McIlroy Opinions Staff Sally Bull, Jackie Peters Sports Editors Thomas Emerick, Brian Wright Sports Reporters Joe Crandley, Justin Long, Ed Lupien, Melanie Wadden Sports Staff Writers Garrett Busic, Matt Collette, Lindsay Faulkner, Hattie Francis, Alex Jackson, Mike Littier Copy Editors Erin Corbey, Thandiwe Ogbonna, Kristen Walker, Michelle Rivera Layout Designers Go-Eun Choi, Velechia Hardnett, Kelly Harrigan, Rachel McGiboney, Mina Noorbakhsh, Josh Son Illustrator Mina Noorbakhsh Multimedia Editor Phillip Murillas Multimedia Producer Candice Chu Multimedia Reporters Kevin Anderson, Bryce Stucki, Peter Velz Online Director Sam Eberspacher Collegiate Times Business Staff Business Manager Ryan McConnell College Media Solutions Staff Advertising Director Patrick Fitzgerald Asst Advertising Directors Tyler Ervin Jenna Given, Katelynn Reilly Ads Production Manager Anika Stickles Asst Production Manager Allison Bhatta Ads Production/Creation Breanna Benz, Jennifer DiMarco, Lisa Hoang, Rebecca Smeenk, Lindsay Smith, Lara Treadwell National Account Executive Account Executives Libbey Arner, Aaron Brock, Maggie Crosby, Brandon Collins, Oran Duncan, Judi Glass, Alex Iskounen, Kendall Kapetanakis, Marcello Sandoval, Amanda Sparks, Jennifer Vaughn Assistant Account Executives Carissa Nichols, Diane Revalski, Tyler Terhune Marketing Manager Sayali Shirgaonkar Office Manager Kaelynn Kurtz Student Publication Photo Staff Director of Photography Sally Bull Business Manager Paul Platz

Voice your opinion. Readers are encouraged to send letters and comments to the Collegiate Times.

NATE WRIGHT/TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

Thinking ahead: Tanning not worth its long-term risks ERIKA ENCINAS regular columnist

Your letter could be here.

is that Congress is without rational thought. Congress has become nothing more than a monkey at a typewriter — writing random laws without understanding exactly what is being written. Also, if Congress becomes really angry, it tends to attack, just as the crazed chimpanzee in Connecticut.

Congress and the federal government as a whole are desperate for survival. They’ll continue crazily spending money like a “shop-a-holic” in hopes that racking up more debt through constant spending will keep the bad economy from swallowing them whole.

So long as the government has a printing press — the golden ticket to an endless supply of dollars — the theory is that spending will spur economic growth. This theory only works if the state closes its eyes, covers its ears and ignores the outside world. Although this is something it has become very good at, reality will eventually catch up to it.

Let’s apply the government theory of economics to our own lives: If you knew a person who lived off a credit card, never paid his own bills, but used stolen and counterfeit money to pay his friends’ bills, what would you say about this person’s financial skills? I don’t even want to imagine his credit score.

Eventually this person would have his utilities turned off and probably lose his home. A similar fate awaits Congress, so long as it continues its illogical economic policies.

Obama has said many times that economic growth will come through spending. According to Obama, it doesn’t matter where the money is being spent, so long as the government is spending it.

Well, he’s partially correct in that it doesn’t matter where the state is spending money, you can be assured

The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

I am a girl. As such, I understand the need to look one’s best at all times with the exception of those pre-dawn walks of shame and seemingly annual colds.

While not an extremist in any regard to beauty rituals or practices, I admit to my fair share of girly activities; I use makeup daily, generally try to comb my hair, and while I am a little embarrassed to admit it, the sum of my productivity last Saturday was to paint my nails.

Hey, at least I am honest. While I can generally get onboard with the desire to look good, I have to draw the line somewhere, and for me, that line is tanning.

It’s not that I refuse to go out into the sunlight without 10 layers; I thoroughly enjoy sitting on the beach in the summer and getting that wonderful sun-kissed glow after liberally applying sunscreen . There are safe ways to look like you have seen the outside world and then there are ways that scream stupidity. Gradually accumulating a slight tan after weeks of being by the pool? Safe.

Lying on the beach all day without any sunscreen? Stupid. Willingly going to tanning salons to lie in a metal tube and be baked? More stupid. Looking as you stepped off the plane from Barbados in January? Please.

Why so many girls my age seem to think tanning salons and the corresponding tanning beds are acceptable forms of making themselves “prettier” is beyond my comprehension. Studies have conclusively shown that tanning is bad for your skin; it causes wrinkles, age spots and melanoma. I mean, who is willing to engage in an activity if general medical and scientific studies say your chances of having skin cancer will increase?

Think I’m over exaggerating here?

The American Cancer Society recently published findings that among tanning bed users age 35 and younger, chances of contracting skin cancer were eight times higher than someone who had never used a tanning bed. Even occasional use triples your chances of one day having melanoma, according to ACS. Pretty sobering statistics if you ask me.

So why then does the myth persist that tanning beds are OK for you? Our society is petrified about developing cancer and all sorts of products are advertised, pushed and accepted to be helpful in protecting oneself from cancer.

According to Clive Ponting, a noted historical scholar, one in three Americans will develop cancer in their lifetime. A lot of cancers seem to crop up on their own in healthy people, people who played by the health rules and avoided known carcinogens like tobacco. If we are so scared about getting cancer and so desperate to cure it, why do thousands of young women flock to tanning beds once a week almost year round to get that tanned look that’s so in vogue right now?

Is it just because all the models and Hollywood elite are doing it? Newsflash: back in the 1930s and 1940s, the famous models and actresses all smoked and were seen as glamorous, and that just turned out to be so phenomenal for your health, didn’t it? Cancer happens to people for no traceable reason at all; in fact one of our own Hokies is currently battling stage IV colon cancer and she did nothing to increase her chances of getting cancer. Why would anyone want to knowingly engage in activities that are proven to substantially raise the odds of having to fight for your life?

No amount of pressure to look good

is going to get me into a tanning booth.

I’m not willing to possibly have to tell my children that mommy has skin cancer and may not live because she spent her youth in and out of tanning beds so she could look cool and fit in. Can our generation simply not project into the future? I generally give this generation more credit for intelligence and common sense than to believe that because we are young, we are infallible and nothing bad will happen to us tomorrow because of today.

Or are the women of today so pummeled by images of what is deemed to be sexy that we are willing to do anything to been seen as such no matter how dangerous the side effects might be? Most people tout our generation as the first where women have no real constraints upon them and can achieve goals incomprehensible to our grandmothers.

Are the strong women in our society strong enough to fight intolerance and sexism except when it comes to how popular culture wants us to look? Why are we so willing to damage our bodies just to feel like we look good? And guess what, sometimes all that tanning doesn’t make you look good at all — you decided that looking sexy was worth more than your health and instead of being seen as a beauty, your classmates refer to you as “Pumpkin Girl” because you look like a piece of orange produce rather than a human being.

Is that worth it? Are years off your life worth it? Come on, girls. We are so much better and stronger than that. We can simply change what society views as hot if we have enough widespread common sense to say no to harmful even fatal activities that make us look good in the short term but exact a huge toll in the end.

365 Squires Student Center Blacksburg, Va. 24061 Fax: (540) 231-9151 opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com Students must include name, year, major and phone number. Faculty and staff must include name, position and department. All other submissions must include name, residence, and if applicable, relationship to Virginia Tech (i.e. alumni, parent, etc.). Letters should not exceed 300 words, and should be in MS Word (.doc) format if possible.

Letters, commentaries and editorial cartoons do not reflect the views of the Collegiate Times.

Editorials are written by the Collegiate Times editorial board.

Letters to the editor are submissions from Collegiate Times readers. We reserve the right to edit for any reason. Anonymous letters will not be printed.

To order a reprint of a photograph printed in the Collegiate Times, e-mail spps@vt.edu.

Have a news tip?

Call 231-9865 or e-mail: newstips@collegiatetimes.com Collegiate Times Phone Numbers News/Features 231-9865 Sports/Opinions 231-9870 Editor-in-Chief 231-9867 College Media Solutions Phone Number Advertising 961-9860 The Collegiate Times, a division of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, was established in 1903 by and for the students of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

The Collegiate Times is published every Thursday through Friday of the academic year except during exams and vacations. The Collegiate Times receives no funding from the university.

The Collegiate Times can be found online at www.collegiatetimes.com.

Except where noted, all photographs were taken by the Student Publications Photo Staff.The Collegiate Times is located in 365 Squires Student Center, Blacksburg, Va. 24061. (540) 231-9865.

Fax (540) 231-9151.

Subscription rates: $65 semester; $90 academic year; $105 full year. The first copy is free, any copy of the paper after that is 50 cents per issue. © Collegiate Times, 2009. All rights reserved.

Material published in the Collegiate Times is the property thereof, and may not be reprinted without the express written consent of the Collegiate Times.

page

6 features

editor: bethany buchanan email: features@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., f 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

february 26, 2009

Mos Def’s latest will leave fans ‘ecstatic’ The fourth solo album from Mos Def, “The Ecstatic,” gives listeners exactly what they expect out of such a title: Elaborate production and TOM the slick rhymes of Def laid over some MINOGUE heavy beats. staff The success of writer the album is in the effective way melody carries the voice of the rapper, and not the ALBUM REVIEW other way around.

Unlike contemporaries such as TPain or Kanye West, what Def (or at least his producer) understands is that the voice of the rapper doesn’t need to be run through auto-tune if the necessary backing is provided.

The breadth of understanding this rapper has about production can be seen in the contrast between the lead single “Life in Marvelous Times” and second single “Quiet Dog.” The former is laden with a bevy of synthesizers with the bass pounding over a sampled orchestra piece.

It’s a complex arrangement, but not one that overpowers the vocals he manages to lay down; the message of “We can’t be alive in no time/But now” is accentuated by the balance between music and lyrics in the song.

Though the production is obviously intense, the voice of Def is not.

Instead of trying to strain his voice or force the tune through a vocoder, the simple words his voice manages to carry seem revelatory.

The man remembers that he’s foremost a rap artist and not a choir-boy, after all, something that would have been useful to the above-mentioned artists.

It’s hard to believe rap that’s so much more honest musically isn’t nearly as pervasive as the songs about getting drunk.

Def is much closer to his predecessors, Biggie Smalls and A Tribe Called Quest, than the vast majority of his peers.

Maybe this has something to do with technological direction of the

times, though.

For all the apparent auditory sensation of “Life in Marvelous Times,” there’s the comparative simplicity of “Quiet Dog.” Opening with a spoken word passage, the track is an ardent combination of bass drum, claps and verse.

Almost the polar opposite of the first single, the dichotomy between the two tracks proves the versatility on the rest of the album.

The lack of club-bangers on the record is more than made up for by the heat with which Mos Def brings his flow.

“Pretty Dancer,” taken from a phrase Muhammad Ali used after knocking an opponent out, finds him juggling social critique with words that hit like punches.

Verses like “Get smart with your smartness/Too busy survivin’ to argue about Darwin” floats like a lyrical butterfly but stings like a literal bee.

For fans of true hiphop, you can take this as a sign that your favorite art form is alive and kicking it.

For everyone else, this album is an easy-to-absorb, excellent-to-listen-to venture of the orchestrated word.

Mos Def deserves congratulations for keeping the soul in hiphop.

Tom’s Grade: A Jonathan’s Grade: A You might also like...

TALIB KWELI “The Beautiful Struggle”

MADLIB “Yesterdays Universe”

BLACK STAR “Black Star”

DJ PREMIER “Time 4 Change”

540

552-3200

210-A Prices Fork Rd

View menu and order online at gumbyspizza.com

Big ASS Thursday

Gumby Solo

Pizza & Rolls

Couch Potato

•X-Large 20" Cheese 10" 1-Topping 1-Item Pizza 1-Item Pizza Pizza or 10" + Pizza or •X-Large Order of 6 Pepperoni Pokey Stix Pokey Stix •10 Pepperoni Pokey Stix & Rolls Beverage Medium $15.99 ChooseRolls $9.99 1 for $12.99 not valid with other offers or coupons

$7.99

Large $17.99 X-Large $18.99

Choose 2 for $19.99 Choose 3 for $27.99

OPEN LATE SEVEN DAYS A WEEK!

Mos Def’s new album, “The Ecstatic,” is named after the novel of the same name

by Victor LaValle, which Mr. Def calls one of his favorites.

JONATHAN LaValle —a man of acquired tastes YI — is not afraid get features down and dirty to columnist tackle tales of love, horror, sex, insanity and faith in the modern American family.

Yet he maintains his class and remains on top of the contemporary ideas writing essays and book reviews for GQ, Essence Magazine, The Fader and The Washington Post, among others.

As one of the most eloquent voices of the approaching century, LaValle’s “The Ecstatic” is a book of “humorous tales full of haunting beauty, astonishing leaps of imagination and language that crackles and hums.”

ALBUM REVIEW Sound like anyone you know?

In a way, Mos Def and Victor LaValle are extremely alike.

They exhibit their mindful interests in the most refined manners through completely different mediums.

Yet, the men have developed similar tastes, and their work has reflected their personas and their ambitions.

Much like LaValle, Mos Def demonstrates the ability to maintain a fluid grip over the harsh realities of conscious hip-hop.

Both are able to paint a picture in our minds and leave us hanging with a sensible scoff.

“The name of the album is ‘The Ecstatic,’ I titled it after one of my favorite novels by Victor LaValle, and I’m really excited about it — it’s a lot shorter than some of my previous work but it’s still really full,” Mos Def said.

Mos Def’s fourth solo release has many of us biting our nails.

After a lucrative upbringing with Black Star, Mos Def’s debut solo album, “Black on Both Sides,” was a sign of hope in today’s deluded world

of hiphop, corporate schemes and player circles.

The release was proof that intellectualism still existed.

I believe “Black on Both Sides” is easily one of the most relevant and cognizant records of the decade.

However, such a departure in his subsequent record, “True Magic,” had some of us scratching our heads.

If they teach you anything during the gold age of hiphop, they tell you that your choices are critical.

Def made excellent decisions with producers to revitalize his unique urban flow.

Recruiting abstract underground guru Madlib and “your favorite producer’s favorite producer,” J Dilla, Def intends to make his comeback its own genre.

“I titled it after one of my favorite novels by Victor LaValle and I’m really excited about it — it’s a lot shorter than some of my previous work but it’s still really full.”

- MOS DEF RECORDING ARTIST Of course, Def revisits our N.E.R.D. boys for a second helping of Hugo.

Def smothers a striptease in my head with “Life in Marvelous Times.”

His rapid-fire lyrical ability is delivered in a brutal, lucid manner.

“The laughter, the screams, the numeral, the song of Psalms the book of dreams, ends don’t meet where the arms can’t reach mean streets, even when it’s free it isn’t cheap, ongoing saga, terminal diagnosis, basic survival requires super heroics,” Def spits.

“Mathematics,” anyone?

While the YouTube song of the year, “Brooklyn We Go Hard” may feel a little different than others; “Quiet Dog” and “Casa Forte” are strong rebounds.

The production quality on “The Ecstatic” is half the fun, and Mos Def’s lyrical aptitude has set the standard for true hiphop MCs.

Scientists partially finish Neaderthal genome sequence ROBERT S. BOYD

mct newspapers WASHINGTON — It was an unfortunate accident, but a lucky break for modern science.

About 38,000 years ago, a Neanderthal man living in what’s now Croatia broke his left arm, forcing him to use his other arm for most tasks.

That increased the mass and density of the bone in the upper right arm, and preserved his DNA for researchers — using a dentist’s drill — to recover many millennia later.

With that bit of material, along with scraps of DNA collected from half a dozen other Neanderthal fossils, scientists have now completed a rough partial draft of the genome of humans’ prehistoric cousins.

The Neanderthals lived for hundreds of thousands of years in Europe and western Asia, but went extinct about 30,000 years ago. They were replaced

by Cro-Magnons, the ancestors of modern humans.

Svante Paabo, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and his team of researchers announced their achievement Thursday, on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.

“We really need to compare ourselves with our closest relatives,” Paabo said. “They’re not very different from us.”

By contrasting the two genomes, scientists hope to discover “what makes humans human, and what makes modern humans the way they are?”

The goal is a “catalog of all the differences between the human and Neanderthal genome,” Paabo said.

“For the vast majority, human DNA looks like Neanderthal DNA.” Despite the similarity, Paabo ruled out any attempt to use the genome to

bring a Neanderthal back to life.

“We won’t be able to recreate a Neanderthal from DNA even if we wanted to,” he said. “It is and will remain impossible.”

The Neanderthal DNA, however, could shed light on how early humans increased their brain power and developed the ability to use language. The two species share a variant of a common gene, FOXP2, that plays a role in the ability to speak.

“We cannot say from this they could speak,” Paabo said. “We can just say there is no reason to assume they couldn’t speak.”

Humans and Neanderthals shared a common ancestor about 830,000 years ago, according to Paabo. The two lines gradually diverged until truly modern humans, Homo sapiens, arose about and 200,000 years ago.

“Neanderthals were a separate branch of humanity, our closest relatives,” said Henry Harpending, an anthropologist at the University of Utah, who was not part of Paabo’s team. “I call them human.”

Paabo was skeptical about speculation that humans and Neanderthals may have mated with each other, even though the two species overlapped in Europe for thousands of years.

If Neanderthals contributed to the human gene pool, “it was very small, if anything. It’s tiny,” he said.

However, researchers may now be able to see if they can find human DNA in a Neanderthal. “Interbreeding is a two-way street,” he added.

Paabo said the decoding, or sequencing, of the Neanderthal genome required “revolutionary new technology” developed by a firm called 454 Life Sciences, a division of pharmaceutical giant Roche in Branford, Conn.

“This was a humongously challenging project,” said Michael Egholm, a vice president of 454 Life Sciences.

Policies:

Place An Ad Today

CLASSIFIEDS WWW.COLLEGIATETIMES.COM 540.961.9860

Visit our business office at 618 N. Main St. 9am–5pm 9am 5pm Monday–Friday Monday Friday,, or place an ad online at collegiatetimes.com.

Deadline: Three business days prior to publication by 3PM.

Rates: Rates as low as 32¢ per word, contingent on the number of days to run. Prepaid. 15 word minimum.

Cash, check, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.

FREE CLASSIFIEDS FOR VT STUDENTS! students must come to 618 N Main ST to place the ad Sub-Lease Travel Rides Campus

Childcare Tickets for Sale Tickets Wanted Volunteers

Textbooks for Sale Textbooks Wanted Lost & Found Help Wanted

For Sale Events Health & Fitness Automotive

Notices Wanted Musical Roommates

Greek Notes For Rent Personals Furniture for Sale

Travel

Help Wanted

Notices

For Rent

For Rent

NAGS HEAD 4 month Student Summer Rentals, $450/mo/person, seabreezerealty.com 252.255.6328

POSITION AVAILABLE Office/ Sales position available in wellestablished restaurant. Computer and office skills necessary (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Etc.). Seeking a reliable, dependable, outgoing customer oriented individual. Call (540) 382-4253 or forward resumes to thefarmhouseonline@verizon .net.

LEGAL TROUBLES

4 BED 2 BATH FOR RENT. Hunter’s Ridge. W&D Ethernet. Water/ Sewer/ Trash included. $1,040.00.

Newly remodeled. 540.808.8892

TOWNHOUSE FOR RENT 4 bedroom end unit in Rutherfords, Patrick Henry Drive. Lease starts Aug. 1, 2009. $1400/ month no utilities. 703.304.6060

need some

Free Consultation with Attorney. Traffic, Alcohol and Drug Charges, VT Judicial Review. Joel S. Jackson, PC. jsjackson99@hotmail.com, 540-961-5297.

SUMMER JOB Live and work on the Outer Banks (Nags Head area).

Now hiring for all positions at all offices. Visit www.mworth.com for more information and an application

LUXURY TOWNHOME FOR RENT Heights Lane townhouse, 3 large bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and all the upgrades. $1500 month/no utilities.

Lease begins August 1, 2009.

Please call 703.304.6060

find it at...

Wanted

Volunteers OPPORTUNITY FOR RESEARCH Undergrad research project on biracial identity development. Have your voice heard if you’re 18+ and a biracial VT student. Interviews are confidential and entire process should only take up to 1 hour!

Contact Melissa at 434-489-6474 if interested!

Personals

Health & Fitness FREE NUTRITION COUNSELING Let us help you meet your nutrition goals! One-on-one meetings with a senior Dietetic student for VT students, faculty and staff. To sign up, visit www.hnfe.vt.edu and click on “Counseling.”

FILL DIRT Borrow site needed for clean fill dirt approximately 5 to 8 loads 423-926-1151 Inert Dump site needed for block and concrete approximately 8 to 10 loads 423-926-1151 WANTED: FILL SITE for clean block, brick & contcrete in the Blacksburg area. 423-926-1151

RENTING NOW 4-5-6 Bedroom Houses for RENTAll have at least 2 bathroomsPLENTY OF PARKING-PRIVACYPets allowed with no pet depositSatelitte hookup- CALL 320-5236/ 552-1160

WANTED. Single girl seeking nice guy who appreciates good conversation and red wine. mp11obx@gmail.com.

Downtown Living South Main Living North Main Living Prices Fork Living

The Collegiate Times reserves the right to reject or edit any advertisement it deems objectionable, at any time.

No refunds are available.

The advertiser assumes full responsibility for his or her advertisements and agrees to hold the Collegiate Times harmless for the content of all advertisements authorized for publication and any claims that made may be against the Collegiate Times.

Any questions concerning ads, please call the Better Business Bureau at 1.800.533.5501.

We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity. To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at 1.800.669.9777.

Patrick Henry Living Christiansburg Living

page

7

february 26, 2009

page

4 features

editor: bethany buchanan email: features@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., f 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

february 26, 2009

DIY: Crafting your own pair of skinny jeans When it comes to fashion, I’m a self-proclaimed swinger. Although I have my favorites, I rarely limit myself to just one type, let alone dismiss MARY ANNE entire styles. My CARTER one exception, however, is skinny features jeans.

Starting reporter years ago as just a casual encounter, we entered a torrid love affair that has led to an exclusive relationship. Recently, I’ve been joined by guys and girls alike who have embraced the skinny trend, favoring the slimmer fit for an abundance of reasons: They do not drag sloppily or get caught in a bike chain, they lengthen and flatter silhouettes of all shapes, come in an offbeat range of colors and showcase a variety of footwear. Yet, as stubbornly anti-skinny jeans as I am pro-skinny jeans, there remains a resistant horde of bootcut, bellbottom and (dare I say) cargo jean devotees who refuse to convert.

Whether they claim skinnies are too expensive, too tight, too trendy, or too hard to find, I have heard all of the excuses and I have a simple proposition — make your own. With just handful of pins and a needle and thread, you can convert any jeans to skinny jeans and have control over the wash, rise, and tightness without having to splurge.

SKINNY JEANS MATERIALS -One pair of jeans -Needle and thread or sewing machine -Pins COST: Free TIME: 30 minutes Step One: Turn jeans inside out and try them on. (It may seem odd at first, but by your next pair, you will be a professional.)

Step Two: Pin the jeans from the knee to the desired width. If you want a modestly skinny jean, just continue the seam at the knee in a straight line.

For cigarette or skinny pin jeans,

An appl(ication) a day A university exists to instill a liberal education. As such, today’s apps should both aid you in your studies and expand your mind. Tomorrow’s theme: the socialite.

Periodic Table and Chemistry Calculator by TWSS Worldwide Description: Periodic table apps are a dime a dozen, but few are as detailed as this one. On top of expected elemental properties like mass and density, this app makes handy details like half-life and isotope abundance. Also, entering in a chemical formula calculates, among other things, mass percentage per element. Don’t get too reliant, though; a chemistry professor may go atomic if you whip out a phone during an exam.

Price: $.99 Device: iPhone MARY ANNE CARTER/COLLEGIATE TIMES

Use pins to mark where you want to trim your jeans.

MARY ANNE CARTER/COLLEGIATE TIMES

Before making the jeans too tight, be sure you can fit your feet in.

EnglLits by ZappTek Description: Here’s an app for all the English majors out there. With nearly 50 titles already available, EngLits includes readable and audio summaries of many literary classics. Shakespeare, Austen and Dickens are well represented, but each pricey app only focuses on a single book.

Probably best saved for when you failed to read a book, it’s 2 a.m. so all the bookstores are closed and you have an exam in a few hours.

Price: $5.99 Device: iPhone NPR Mobile by Bradley Fulbacher Description: A well-rounded student is an informed one. And good ‘ole fashioned NPR is still one of the best outlets for great information. It’s not perfect, but this app does offer some functionality beyond standard podcasts. Programs are broken up into segments making searching specific topics easy. Got a favorite anchor? Browse by radio personalities so you’ll never have to go a day without hearing the smooth and sagacious voice of Michele Norris.

Price: Free Device: iPhone

MARY ANNE CARTER/COLLEGIATE TIMES

After pinning your jeans, use a sewing machine or needle and thread to bring the seams in. Last, use scissors to trim excess material away. make take them tighter. Personally, if they aren’t cutting off my circulation, they aren’t tight enough, so I pin them as close to my calf and ankle as possible. Make note though that unless your jeans have stretch, you need to leave enough space to be able to fit your feet in.

Step Three: Take off the jeans, turn them right side out and try them on.

If you are satisfied with the width and cut, you are ready to sew. Otherwise, re-pin as necessary and repeat until it is right.

Step Four: Turn the jeans inside out again and sew along the pins. Make sure to use durable thread and double

stitch the leg openings where you pull them on so you don’t have to worry about being too hard on them.

Step Five: Cut away excess material, turn inside in, and leave any thoughts of nonskinnies behind.

Style Tip: Skinny jeans can be paired with practically anything. For girls, the slim cut compliments both oversized tops for contrast and formfitting tops for a polished look. They are perfect for tucking inside boots, wearing with flats or pulling on over high heels. For guys, pair your skinny jeans with your favorite tee and cardigan, boat shoes or low tennis shoes such as Keds or Toms or boots.

TED by VenueM Description: Ted.com is essentially a thinking man’s Youtube. With thousands of insightful video lectures ranging from biologist Richard Dawkins discussing militant atheism to author Malcolm Gladwell musing on the complexity of spaghetti sauce, the site is a must-bookmark for inquisitive minds. Here’s a thought: Cite a lecture or two on your next research paper.

Price: $2.99 Device: iPhone, Android

PETER VELZ

ct multimedia reporter

page

8 sports

editor: thomas emerick, brian wright email: sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: w 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.; t 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

february 26, 2009

Wilson looks to bring speed and strength to the Hokies’ line BRANDON SHIPP

ct sports staff writer It is a well-known fact that the majority of players who serve as the backbone of Virginia Tech football hail from the “757.”

So it’s no surprise that Tyrel Wilson, a tackling machine out of Hampton High School, committed to Tech long before signing day. Wilson will join other Tidewater area recruits Joe Jones and Telvion Clark in the fall and he was not shy about expressing his feelings for Hokie football.

“The recruiting process really wasn’t hard, it was just time consuming,” said Wilson, who visited the campus most recently in December. “There was something about Virginia Tech, something about the way they treated their players. (Offensive line coach Curt Newsome) made sure to contact me every opportunity he had. It was the little stuff that made me feel so important and wanted.”

Football is nothing new to the Wilson family. In the late 1980s, Tyrel’s

father, James, carried Hampton High School to three state championships.

James Wilson continued his successful career at the University of Tennessee, where he started for four years and currently sits third on the all-time sack list.

Tyrel was also sought after by the Volunteers, but despite the offer to continue his father’s legacy, he gave his heart to the Hokies. His father wholly supported the decision.

“He just felt comfortable,” James said. “That was the biggest thing, and the staff was just so genuine.”

Although Tyrel was certain about where he wanted to play collegiate ball, his future position on the squad is yet to be determined.

“It really just depends on my weight,” he said. “I could play either defensive end or middle linebacker. Honestly, I don’t care. I just want to play.”

Hampton Crabber’s head coach Mike Smith said the high school stud could play anywhere on the gridiron.

Wilson packs 220 pounds into a 6foot-2-inch frame, and his explosive speed off the ball makes him a night-

mare for offensive lineman.

“Tyrel’s tenacity is his best asset, but his speed and size are still progressing,” Smith said. “He is such a physically tough kid. His personality allows him to succeed both on and off of the field.”

Wilson echoes his coach’s opinion about his top qualities as a player. He describes himself as a downhill end who loves to lay a lick on his opponents.

“I love contact,” he said. “I consider myself a headhunter. I love to make the big hits.”

Wilson should fit right in, whether filling gaps with Telvion Clark or blowing by offensive tackles at defensive end. This year’s class will have some big shoes to fill. With Purnell Sturdivant and Brett Warren graduating in the spring, there will be a battle on the practice field to determine who will be stepping up as the next core of linebackers.

These newcomers have a lot to prove, but Wilson assures Hokie fans that he is ready for the opposition and adversity.

COURTESY OF DAILY PRESS

Tyrel Wilson runs during practice. The highly touted linebacker recruit chose Virginia Tech over Tennessee.

“I have always been a competitor. I want to contribute in any way possible.

Even if they want me to throw some touchdowns,” he said with a smile.

Wilson’s competitive nature leaks beyond the football field. Academics

have always been important to him as well as his family, and, although he is entering the university undecided, he plans to explore the animal sciences.

As for whether he is nervous about leaving home, Tyrel had a quick

response.

“Yes and no,” he said. “You have to grow up some time, and I have always been a leader. I’m ready for the responsibility; I’m a determined person, and I never quit.”

MLB Offseason: Winter’s winners and losers Hokies squeak

by Clemson

RYAN TRAPP

ct sports staff writer In this strange offseason, we found that even multi-million-dollar athletes, like Manny Ramirez, aren’t immune to the current economic pinch. Now, after three months of trades of blockbuster signings, spring training is finally here.

But who had the best offseason? Which teams are setting themselves up for a successful 2009 campaign, and which teams are simply sinking deeper into the mud?

WINNERS New York Yankees: They couldn’t have done anything better. They addressed their pitching concerns by signing two of the biggest free-agent pitchers on the market: southpaw C.C. Sabathia and righty A.J. Burnett. They also secured Andy Pettite’s return to pinstripes, a move that gives them some serious depth at starting pitching.

Offensively, they added first baseman Mark Teixeira. In signing Nick Swisher, the Yankees picked up an effective utility player. Regarding the injuries that plagued the Yankees last year, this was a smart investment. The Yankees, being the Yankees, were able to improve their ballclub dramatically by spending money and not giving up any of their young talent.

New York Mets: Over in Queens, the Mets took care of some of their own glaring needs. The offense has great potential, and picking up Carlos Delgado’s option was necessary. But the Mets suffered yet another late season collapse, mainly because of their inability to close games. Their bullpen blew 29 saves last season. Their solution?

Getting closer Francisco Rodriguez from the Angels to replace an ailing Billy Wagner, who is expected to miss all of 2009. In addition, they acquired Seattle Mariners’ fireballer J.J. Putz -- not a bad set-up man to the guy who set the single-season saves record last season.

The Mets now have a tremendous ability to shorten games and stay atop the National League East for good.

Boston Red Sox: They didn’t make any eye-catching pick-ups or dish out any blockbuster contracts. Instead, the Red Sox took care of business internally and inked several low-risk, high-reward players. Renegotiating the contracts of

BRIAN WRIGHT

ct sports editor

ALEJANDRA VILLA/MCT

New York Mets General Manager Omar Minaya (right) introduces new pitching acquisition Francisco Rodriguez.

American League MVP Dustin Pedroia and first baseman Kevin Youkillis was a priority and they did it. Despite losing out on the Teixeira bidding, they picked up several efficient role players in outfielders Rocco Baldelli and Mark Kotsay as well as former Padres’ catcher Josh Bard. Bringing back captain Jason Varitek fills the hole at catcher for now.

That is key for a strong pitching rotation that’s now nine-men deep thanks to the off-season additions of John Smoltz, Brad Penny and Japanese prospect Junichi Tazawa.

Cleveland Indians: They practically stole third baseman Mark DeRosa from the Chicago Cubs — he will bring solid defense to the corner infield. Pitchingwise, the Carl Pavano signing could pay huge dividends. Although he’s been injury-prone, he pitched pretty well for the Yankees in his seven starts of 2008, going 4-2. The Kerry Wood singing was a no-brainer, filling their biggest need at closer. Wood recorded 34 saves for the Cubs last year in 40 opportunities. If first baseman/designated hitter Travis Hafner can break out of his two-year slump, the Tribe could shake things up in its division.

LOSERS New York Yankees: As I said, in terms of addressing the team’s needs, they couldn’t have done any better. But the

team, once again, heads into spring training surrounded in controversy.

First, it was “The Yankee Years,” a book by former manager Joe Torre and sportswriter Tom Verducci. Then, as soon as that cloud seemed to dissipate, news leaked that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for his past steroid use. Even though this doesn’t affect the Yankees directly, the scrutiny and negative attention A-Rod is getting certainly will. The Yankees have arguably the best roster on paper, but the negative media coverage will put even more pressure atop the high expectations.

Minnesota Twins: The Twins missed out on the playoffs by a game last year.

That being said, this team has World Series potential. So you think it would make a few offseason moves that would put it over the edge. False. All the Twins did this winter was resign shortstop Nick Punto. That was a necessity, considering they lost Adam Everett to Detroit. They failed to acquire any kind of offensive weapons to help out Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau or find some more depth at starting pitching.

They didn’t lose any key parts, but, in doing nothing, the team may not be able to repeat last year’s success.

San Diego Padres: The Padres were banking on their ability to trade ace Jake Peavy for a young star to rebuild

around. It’s February and Peavy is still in San Diego. Not only that, but the team suffered several key losses. They bid farewell to all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, lost second-baseman Tadahito Iguchi to Japan, traded away shortstop Khalil Greene and lost catcher Josh Bard to free agency. In other words, it lost a lot and gained nothing. The team is still shopping Peavy and will probably get something for him before the July’s trade deadline. Even still, it probably won’t be enough to salvage what’s been a miserable offseason for the Padres.

Seattle Mariners: For a team two years removed from a playoff race, the Mariners have bottomed out quickly.

Not only did they lose slugger Raul Ibanez as well as their closer, J.J. Putz, they’ve been struggling through several off-field issues as well. All-Star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has made it clear that he’s unhappy with the team and its performance. Progress may be a ways away, even with the addition of Seattle’s favorite son, Ken Griffey, Jr. Players will need to get adjusted to a completely new coaching staff come spring. The team can’t ride Erik Bedard — the injury-plagued ace pitched only 15 games last season — and Ichiro is talking about switching to pitcher. That’s not the “new identity” this team is in desperate need of.

The Hokies had a large assignment at Littlejohn Coliseum — exact revenge on the Clemson Tigers, who came back to defeat Tech in January, and bring some life to their waning NCAA Tournament hopes.

Both were accomplished on Wednesday night. For a team that has struggled in close games, the Hokies (17-10, 7-6 ACC) were on the right side of it this time, winning 80-77 over the No. 13 Tigers (22-5, 8-5).

These two have seen the previous seven contests decided by a total of just 16 points. And in this latest match-up, neither club could pull away.

With the Hokies leading 78-75 with under a minute to go, Clemson guard Demontez Stitt saw his short running floater rim out.

After Tech had similar tough luck around the rim on their next possession, Clemson guard K.C. Rivers found a wide open Trevor Booker all alone in the open court who drove for a layup with 20.5 seconds showing on the clock.

After being fouled, forward A.D. Vassallo connected on both free throws. With no timeouts, the Tigers scrambled for a last-minute 3-pointer.

Three-point specialist Josh Oglesby was defended well by Dorenzo Hudson. When Oglesby passed off to Stitt, whose desperation attempt to tie was off-target — bringing an end to Tech’s threegame skid.

Much of the reason for the Hokies escaping with victory in a tough conference environment was their defense of Booker in the second half.

The forward muscled his way to 15 points in the initial 20 minutes

of play. However, the Hokies limited his looks later in the game – holding him to just six the rest of the way.

Also important was Tech’s 3-point performance. The Hokies canned 7-of-11 from long distance in the second half and 11-of-19 in the contest.

Much of those came from Vassallo and Malcolm Delaney.

The sophomore guard’s finest performance of the season came on Jan. 29 in Blacksburg against Clemson, netting a career-high 37 in an 86-82 heartbreaking loss.

The Baltimore native found more success on Wednesday. He finished with a game-high 26 points to go along with six assists. Delaney was also 4-of-7 from long range.

Vassallo also made four treys, which accounted for 12 of his 21 total points.

Terrance Oglesby led the way for the Tigers, scoring 22.

Clemson, riding a two-game win streak, opened up with a 16-9 lead, only to see Tech respond with nine unanswered points.

The Hokies effectively broke the Tiger pressure defense in the pair’s first meeting. It was much of the same in the second encounter, and their aggressive nature on offense helped them draw several fouls on the opposition.

Conversely, Clemson played sloppily. For a team that averaged14 turnovers per game, the Tigers had 12 in the first half.

Tech grabbed a hold of the lead in the early moments of the second half and had their largest advantage with less than eight minutes to play.

Clemson quickly knotted the score with a pair of threes from Oglesby, but the Tigers could not draw even again.

The Hokies’ tough final stretch continues with No. 7 Duke on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.