COLLEGIATETIMES
tuesday february 17, 2009 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news UNDERGRADUATE BOV REP OFFICE HOURS TODAY Undergraduate representative to the Board of Visitors Arlane Gordon-Bray will hold office hours tomorrow from 2-3:30 p.m. in 333 Squires Student Center. Students are encouraged to speak with her in regard to campus issues. Gordon-Bray holds office hours Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the same time.
TECH RESEARCH SPENDING EXPANDS Virginia Tech research expenditures have increased for the 10th consecutive year. The university saw a growth of $6.3 million from 2007, spending a total of $373.3 million on research for the fiscal year 2008, which ended on June 30, 2008. The National Science Foundation will not release updated rankings on university research spending until late summer. Tech’s 2007 placement was the 42nd highest in the nation.
sports ALLEN SUSPENDED ONE GAME Tech men’s basketball player Jeff Allen has been suspended one game for his obscene gesture directed at fans during Saturday’s game against Maryland. The suspension will be served this Wednesday when the Hokies play Virginia. Allen issued an apology on Monday. “I know that type of behavior is unacceptable,” he said. “It was a lapse in judgment during the heat of the moment.”
FORMER HOKIE MEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYER DIES Allen Calloway, a member of the Tech men’s basketball team from 2002 through 2006, died on Sunday after a near four-year battle with cancer. He was 25. Calloway, a reserve forward, played 83 games in his career. Weakened by lung and brain cancer, he passed away after suffering a heart attack in High Point, N.C. Tech head coach Seth Greenberg said the team will wear a patch in memory of Calloway for the remainder of the season.
tomorrow’s weather RAIN/SNOW high 45, low 37
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.
index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5
Classifieds..............6 Sports....................4 Sudoku..................6
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 106th year • issue 17
‘Town hall’ meetings held to No classes to be discuss Tech’s financial future held on April16 PHILIPP KOTLABA
ct news staff writer Anyone interested in hearing how Virginia Tech is preparing to confront looming budgetary woes will have a chance to ask questions and hear from President Charles Steger on the situation twice this week. The two “town hall” style meetings, open to the general public, are scheduled for today at 4 p.m. and Wednesday at 11 a.m., both in Burruss Hall Auditorium. “President Steger is keeping the university community informed of what the current budgetary situation is, which is not good at all,” said Larry Hincker,
Tech spokesman. Tech faces cuts of $40 million of state appropriations as Virginia attempts to correct a multi-billion dollar budgetary shortfall. Provost Mark McNamee and Chief Financial Officer Dwight Shelton will accompany Steger. “The president is going to try to contextualize what the situation is with respect to the funding from the state and the amount of money that we’ve lost, and the possible implications of that for programs ... (and) for personnel,” Hincker said. “At this point, of course, we don’t yet know what the actual dollar amount is going to be. We know what
the governor has proposed in his budget, but that’s a somewhat fluid situation because state revenue collections are projected to go down even further.” Tech has held similar town hall events in the past. For example, Steger has done budgetary meetings before, when Tech had huge budget reductions under Gov. Mark Warner’s administration. Burruss Auditorium was chosen as the venue not because of expected turnout, but because it was one of the few facilities available. “I’ve seen these things where they had a couple hundred people, and I’ve seen them where they had 50 or 60, so we don’t really know,” Hincker said.
‘Hokie Camp’ prepares incoming freshmen TIM WEIDMAN
ct news staff writer Virginia Tech’s traditional freshman orientation program aims to highlight what it means to be a Hokie, but the university believes that there simply isn’t enough time to delve too deep into Tech culture with all of the material there is to cover in these twoday sessions. In an effort to alleviate this problem, the university initiated a new program through the Dean of Students Office this past summer for incoming freshmen called Hokie Camp. “Hokie Camp is not a substitute for orientation,” said Dean Stevenson, a Hokie Camp executive member. “The idea behind Hokie Camp is to introduce Virginia Tech traditions and values to these new incoming freshmen as well as provide them with an opportunity to make some new friends before arriving on campus in the fall.” Matt Leister, a freshman business major and 2008 Hokie camper, said his primary reason for attending camp was that “being from Pennsylvania, I really didn’t know anyone coming to Tech. I wanted to meet people that shared interests and learn about organizations that would suit those interests.” Campers meet outside Lane Stadium and are bused to camp at the Skelton 4H Center at Smith Mountain Lake. Activities include the Hokie Cup, a games and sports tournament; a session on traditions including the “key plays” at football games; and a piece on Ut Prosim and academics. Hokie Camp 2009 is scheduled to take place in mid-August; however, a few changes have been made
see HOKIE, page two
COURTESY OF JESSICA JOHNS
Hokie Camp 2008 counselors and campers play an icebreaker during last year’s session. This summer, the university looks to expand its introductory program.
Mental health clinics face budgetary ax RILEY PRENDERGAST
ct news reporter Mental health facilities are bracing themselves for closure with a $6.6 million budget cut from the state legislature looming in the distance. Two facilities that are facing possible closings are the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents located in Staunton, Va., and the Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute’s adolescent ward in Marion, Va. Both of the facilities provide state-funded treatment for children and adolescents in southwestern and western Virginia. The CCCA provides treatment for children between the ages of three and 17, with 48 beds in the facility and an average stay of 19 days. SWMHI houses 16 beds in its adolescent unit, serving children between the ages of 13 and 17. The average length of stay at this facility is 10 days or less. “Budget cuts have a tremendous effect on us,” said Don Roe, director of clinical services at CCCA. “There are only 64 beds total in Virginia’s public sector for metal health. It’s really shocking how low that number is considering that our facility alone served over 600 children last year.” The proposed plan from Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine calls for closing the two facilities, but would provide $2.1 million for children without insurance to be redirected into private institutions throughout the state. The directors of both of the facilities see flaws in this plan, however. “There is a major difference between the children that we treat and those accepted
by the private sector,” Roe said. “Most of the kids have problems that the private institutions will not admit them for. Most of them will end up in detention centers, not receiving care.” In terms of the SWMHI, the problem is the operating budget in general. “All of the state mental health institutes and training centers in Virginia have a pretty low operating budget,” said Cynthia McClaskey, director of SWMHI. “We don’t have a lot of extras that we can cut, because most of our budget goes to patient care, patient illnesses and staff. We just don’t have that much fat in our budget that we can cut and still stay operational.” McClaskey went on to say that Kaine could not rightly take 15 percent off the top of all of the state’s mental health facility budgets, as this would ensure that none of them would be able to remain operational. It is because of this lack of flexibility in the budgets of each institution that Kaine has proposed to close two facilities. The state legislature, however, has proposed alternate plans that call for either the closing of only SWMHI while allowing for CCCA to remain open, or slicing the operating budget of both facilities. This would call for CCCA and SWMHI to reduce their bed counts to 24 and six, respectively. “The governor had come up with a plan that would allow for private facilities to offer the same kind of services that the adolescents get here,” McClaskey said. “Of course, our biggest concern is that the private facilities have had that opportunity all along.” One of the biggest problems with the shift from public to private care is the obvious cost; about half of the children in these facili-
until 2012 SARA MITCHELL
ct university editor In response to various feedback from the Virginia Tech public and the University Steering Committee for the April 16, 2009 Day of Remembrance, Tech will not hold classes on Thursday, April 16, 2009. The Steering Committee presented the recommendation to President Charles Steger. The motion was agreed upon with the help of Senior Vice President and Provost Mark McNamee. “McNamee communicated (the need to) look at the issues that relate to what April 16 should look like,” said Mark Owczarski, university spokesman. “That committee had a whole bunch of people, faculty, staff, alumni, as well as those affected directly, and after a lot of discussion it was thought to be the right thing to do.” The university also committed to the cancellation of class on Friday, April 16, 2010. April 16, 2011 falls on a Saturday, and classes will be held on Monday, April 16, 2012. “The committee felt is was very important to set a message that ultimately … teaching and learning is at the very core of what we do,” Owczarski said. “And not being in the classroom is counter to who we are.” McNamee said that setting a date when classes will resume “makes a statement about what’s most important and that the act of violence won’t interfere with the university.” The University Steering Committee for the April 16, 2009 Day of Remembrance was formed to decide whether to cancel classes and what kind of events would take place depending on whether classes were or were not in session. The committee includes representatives of graduate students, the Student Government Association, alumni and family members of those killed or wounded during the April 16, 2007 shootings. Part of the decision-making process for the committee members was to collect feedback from the Tech community. “We didn’t go through a normal process; we had pretty good representation from the campus,” McNamee said. SGA President Emily Mashack gave McNamee feedback from the student body and the committee “talked to the counseling center and how students might respond, (and) got a lot of input from the families who were affected by the tragedy.” “There was a tremendous amount of feedback from the broader community,” Owczarski said. Some community feedback reflected the opinion that classes should resume for April 16, but ultimately student representatives weren’t sure how their friends would feel and wanted to give them the opportunity to handle the day as they saw fit. “I think the counter argument is that it’s still emotional, the situation comes back vividly in people’s minds,” McNamee said. “We decided that their feelings were probably something we should take into account.” Since April 16, 2010 falls on a Friday, a “lighter day” in terms of classes, according to McNamee, there are plans to instigate teachins and other educational opportunities to transition the campus from a full day-off to a regular day of classes for 2012. Today the committee will further discuss event and activity options for April 16, 2009, and work to create a more concrete event line-up by Friday, Feb. 20. McNamee visited Northern Illinois University on its one-year shooting anniversary and came back with ideas. “Many of the things we did last year, we really liked,” McNamee said. “We’ll probably start with that framework. It might be simpler but some of the activities will be structured in a similar way.” The Steering Committee only deals with the day’s framework, and then a different committee will assemble to carry out the plans. “I feel very good about this,” McNamee said. By 2012 “we’ll be ready to get back to class and back to business and the teaching process. We can still honor and respect those we lost.”
Tech Taps
DANIEL LIN/SPPS
A member of the Corps of Cadets plays silver taps atop War Memorial Chapel following the Corps’ Military Ball on Feb. 9.
see CLINICS, page two
have a news tip? want to see something in the CT? e-mail newstips@collegiatetimes.com
page
2 news
editor: caleb fleming email: nrvnews@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: tth 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
february 17, 2009
editor: sara mitchell email: universitynews@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: mw 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Hokie: Program aims to host Clinics: ‘It’s just not the 1,000 campers this summer
best thing for these kids’
from page one
since last summer. Instead of one session of 150 campers, this summer’s Hokie Camp will consist of three sessions and hopefully field a total of about 1,000 incoming students. In addition to increased numbers, each session of Hokie Camp will be lengthened. In 2008, a session was a two-day, onenight event. The sessions in the 2009 Hokie Camp will be three days and two nights in length. With the additional time allotted at camp, students will be broken down into small groups more often and spend more time establishing relationships. “The only thing I would have changed about the camp was to make it more interactive with the other campers — more games and time to talk rather than so many information sessions,” Leister said. “We want to establish a feeling of belonging in the Hokie community,” said Hokie Camp Director and senior finance major Yusuf Abugideiri. “We want there to be a sense of trust and meaningful intrapersonal relationships.” To help these relationships continue throughout the year, money has been set aside for counselors to set up group get-togethers throughout the semester. The camp is self-sufficient and paid for
from page one
COURTESY OF JESSICA JOHNS
Senior Chris Armstrong, bottom right, 2008 Hokie Camp counselor, chats with campers during last year’s inaugural session. entirely by the students’ $200 registration fees. The executive board had its first weekly meeting Wednesday, Feb. 11, to begin preparation for the summer. The selection process for 2009 Hokie Camp counselors also began in recent weeks. Fifty counselors will be selected for each of the three sessions — bringing the total to 150 facilitators. Applications can
be submitted to the Dean of Students Office, and the deadline has been extended until Friday, Feb. 27, at 5 p.m., Abugideiri said. Incoming freshmen for fall 2009 will be able to sign up for one of the three Hokie Camp sessions online via www.hokiecamp.orientation.vt.edu, though the Web site is not yet accepting registrations.
ties are not covered by insurance, McClaskey said. The private sector is able to choose who it wants to work with, usually excluding children with behavioral problems, histories of violence, legal charges or histories of substance abuse. “It’s just puzzling to me,” Roe said. “Looking at the larger picture, it’s just not the best thing for these kids. It’s difficult to think about what’s going to happen to these kids.” The state institutions that are already in place allow children seeking mental health treatment to remain in their communities and close to family, if they have any. “In our region, the closest private facility that takes adolescents is in Salem,” McClaskey said. “For somebody in Lee County to go to Salem — that’s a four-hour drive in some cases. It’s the Department of Mental Health’s goal to have folks treated in their communities and closer to home. But with these
new plans, it’s been hard to work on strong plans to be able to do that right.” The center in Staunton is facing the same problem. “We don’t have many state institutions nearby to send our patients to,” Roe said. “And we’re still facing problems with admittance into private facilities.” Some of the strongest advocates against the new plans to close facilities and cut funding are arguing that there is no safety net in place for the more than 800 children helped annually to ensure that treatment will be available. A major concern for these advocates are the obvious pitfalls of the mental health system in Virginia that have already allowed some cases to fall through the cracks. Chris Flynn, director of the Cook Counseling Center, also weighed in on the need for more focus on the status of the state’s mental health infrastructure. “I can’t imagine why they would be cutting back on the number of
beds when the original numbers are so low,” Flynn said. “When students come to us and need to be hospitalized, we do need to look at whether they could have been helped earlier.” Flynn went on to say that there has always been a chronic need in Virginia for more treatment options for mental health. Even though many students who come into Virginia Tech currently have health insurance, with the current economic crisis and job losses, students are slowly losing coverage. The lack of insurance may keep them out of private institutions. “I am really pleased that the focus of everyone has been on the wellbeing of the children and the adolescents of the commonwealth, and we understand that there are difficult budget decisions that have to be made,” McClaskey said. “But I think we want to be known as a commonwealth that takes care of the most vulnerable people.”
Con artist who faked her way into Harvard sentenced JENNIFER SULLIVAN
the seattle times SEATTLE — A Mountlake Terrace High School dropout who assumed the identities of at least three people to get into some of the nation’s most prestigious colleges and fraudulently collect more than $100,000 in student loans will serve about four years in a federal prison. Esther Reed, 30, conned her way into Harvard and Columbia universities and earned a spot on the U.S. Secret Service’s “eight most wanted” list by adopting the identities of several people after she left Washington state a decade ago. Among the identities
that Reed assumed was that of Brooke Henson, a woman who vanished from a house party in Travelers Rest, S.C. in 1999. In 2007, Reed was indicted on several federal charges, including aggravated identity theft. She was arrested a year ago near Chicago. Lisa Henson, Brooke Henson’s sister, who spoke at Reed’s sentencing Wednesday in Greenville, S.C., asked the judge to impose the harshest sentence possible for dragging their family through the pain of hoping that Brooke had been found. “I don’t think she was sentenced long enough,” Henson said by phone Thursday. “When I made my statement (in court) she wouldn’t make
eye contact with me.” Reed asked for mercy at her sentencing, contending she sought a made-up world to escape a difficult family life. “I was desperate to escape an environment I felt I could not survive,” Reed said, speaking in a strong voice as she stood before the judge in handcuffs, leg shackles and red prison jumpsuit, her long, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail. Reed pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and student loan fraud in August. She was also facing a Social Security violation charge, but it was dropped when she agreed to plead guilty, said W. Walter Wilkins, U.S. Attorney for the District
of South Carolina. Reed will serve three years of supervised release after getting out of prison, Wilkins said. Reed requested that she serve her time in Pennsylvania so she could be close to a friend. “I have been involved in this case for almost two years now. We took it on like we would any other identity theft,” Wilkins said. “The scheme she was engaged in expanded from the East Coast the West Coast. She was very talented in assuming a third-party’s identity.” Henson said Reed smiled and laughed in court on Wednesday, acting as if she had done nothing wrong. “She is sly like a fox. She doesn’t want to face anybody who she has
done wrong,” Henson said. During her nine years on the run, Reed had claimed to be a European chess champion and dated cadets from the U.S. Military Academy, according to police and court documents. She got a passport, passed a high-school-equivalency test, obtained an Ohio identification card, took an SAT test in California and was accepted to the School of General Studies at Columbia University — all by using Henson’s identity, according to grand-jury charging documents. Reed disappeared from the Seattle area in 1999 after pleading guilty to possession of stolen property, including a book of her sister’s checks. She disappeared before she could be
sentenced. Reed is no longer wanted in King County because her arrest warrant has expired. In February 2008, police in suburban Chicago tracked Reed to a motel after spotting a car she had been known to be driving. Though she initially provided an Iowa driver’s license with another woman’s name, Reed soon admitted her true identity. Reed also had fictitious marriage certificates, a birth certificate in her legal name and a Washington state driver’s license. She was arrested and turned over to Secret Service agents. In addition to the prison sentence, Reed was also ordered to pay $125,000 in restitution to several victims.
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 17, 2009
Collage artist explains dynamic behind work TOPHER FORHECZ
features reporter The idea of a collage may seem simple: Different images stacked upon one another that fuse together to create some type of alternative design that would otherwise go unrecognized. But crafting a truly beautiful and provoking collage is a scrupulous and demanding task of revision and re-gluing. Architecture professor Scott Gartner has been making collages since he was a teenager. Currently, a collection of his work is on display in the Armory Q&A Gallery on Draper Street through the first week of March. While walking through his collection, Gartner took the time to talk with the Collegiate Times about his work and the intricacies of manipulating design and color that go into his pieces. Collegiate Times: I noticed that there’s a change in the style of your collages from 2005 onward. Scott Gartner: What I got interested in doing was I started thinking about transparency; how to get one image reading through or over the other one. CT: Where do you find the materials for your pieces? SG: If I go someplace; I’m originally from Texas, so I go driving down there a lot, about once or twice a year or something. If I stop at some place, if I stop at a gas station, get a paper bag and just pick up what I find and then really challenge myself to make
something out of that particular set of found materials. It’s kind of intriguing because it’s almost like the place is present. Like this one is made up of stuff I picked up around my hometown. I had a guest last night at the opening who came from also the same kind of rural hometown that I’m from so he recognized everything on there from the Swisher Sweets Cigars. It’s like it has a resonance of place for certain people. CT: Do you not see these designs in your head to begin with? SG: I have thoughts about a general theme or idea that I’m going to work with. Over the years I’ve collected thousands upon thousands of images. I’ve got them boxed up and generally categorized so there’s some landscapes in that box and over here there’s some people, very, very general stuff. So what I’ll do with that is start to go through the images and anything that imaginatively connects up with any kind of theme or idea, I’ll just set it aside. And just kind of build a stack of materials or images. And usually one or two of them start to connect themselves up with one another and that’s where I’ll start and just kind of build it off of that. CT: So that’s what you look for when you look for images, how they connect? SG: When I’m originally connecting it you can go through a magazine, you pick out certain things that might have particular content. Very often I look at the backgrounds of images as opposed to what, if there’s a picture of a person I’m more interested in the place that the person’s in because what I find is that the collage is not just
HANNA TEACHEY/SPPS
Peter Nettlebeck, Ramiro Solorzano, and Rehanna Rojiani, each of them first year students in the architecture graduate program, view Scott Gartner’s work in the Armory Art Gallery. a collection of interesting stuff. There are these Web sites where people will make collages from your photographs and you’ll send them in and then they’ll artfully arrange them so like every piece is a kind of attention. You really have to, in a way, work with the leftovers … to kind of create or build something up.
CT: So every piece of the image counts? SG: In a way, because if you’re looking at this picture and you don’t want to necessarily see 10,000 pieces of stuff, you want these things to begin to merge and be part of an overall environment or scene and connect. I tend toward muted colors, maybe
things that aren’t attention grabbing right at first but can be combined in some interesting ways. CT: How long does it take you to make one of these pieces? SG: A whole lot of time. Part of it is, I really don’t know what this thing is going to look like when it’s started and as I’m going along sort of finding the
things that work together, I might go a little bit farther and find that some of the decisions I’ve made or the things that I’ve put in earlier aren’t working anymore so there’s a lot of backtracking where things get glued on top of other things. CT: What draws you to the collage medium? SG: One of the things that I like working with are (things) that are mostly black. I really search out these images that have this really deep black in them so I can work with the image and the image almost fades in and out of the background so it’s not clear. But there’s also, though, that grid that’s imposed by the cutting of the edge of the paper so you can read the structure and the ambiguous edge at the same time. Kind of reading them over the top of each other. It’s not just the background that I’m putting stuff on top off. I’m really trying to get that black background into the image so that the two have some kind of interplay. CT: What would you say is the biggest challenge to making any of these? SG: I think getting started is really tough and once you’re getting going they develop their own momentum and carry you in where you can’t stay away from it. You take it to some kind of finish and where’s it going to finish, how long can you keep going with it? At some point it reaches a point (where) there’s not a whole lot else you can do. I want to build it up and build it up until it’s really packed, until there’s enough in there that it makes you want to come and dwell on it for a while. You don’t get it all at once, but the longer you do spend with it, you get something.
Visually exciting but baffling, ‘International’ breaks even PETER VELZ multimedia reporter
Those pesky banks just can’t seem to catch a break. First they play their part in setting off an economic crisis that has since rippled across the world. Now they’re the bad guys in the chic, sleek Clive Owen actionthriller, “The
International.” Directed under the competent and creative eye of Tom Tykwer, the film has a great, dynamic style, which should come as no surprise for those who have seen his 1998 breakout hit “Run Lola Run.” The movie flaunts an irrefutable finesse and swagger as it transitions from a typical detective procedural MOVIE REVIEW into a full-on action film. So, basically there’s this nefarious bank that commands the world’s debt by controlling the flow of Chinese small-arms weapons into Third World nations, effectively unhinging the status quo by way of an assassination of some Italian politician guy by a this one-legged sniper. OK then. Unfortunately, the film never fully emerges above its murky and shallow grasp on world politics. “The International” may be easy on the eyes — as the leads are Owen and Naomi Watts — but it is ultimately held hostage by a muddled script from first-time writer Eric Singer. Owen plays Interpol agent Louis Salinger, who works alongside Watts’ Eleanor Whitman, a higher-up in the New York City District Attorney’s office. They rack up airline miles traveling all over the place in their efforts to pin the evil International Bank of
The International DIRECTED BY: Tom Tykwer STARRING: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ulrich Thomsen RATED: R PLOT: A powerful and despicable bank tries to profit off the chaos and instability in the world and it’s up to Clive Owen and Naomi Watts to stop them. GRADE: BSHOWTIMES: 1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 10:10 p.m. at Regal New River Valley Stadium 14 Business and Credit to the wall. As such, there’s certainly no shortage of jet-setting and foreign locales including Istanbul and Luxembourg. Owen is good as usual, maintaining the paradoxically subdued, yet commanding screen presence he has perfected in films such as “Children of Men” and “Closer.” Watts is unfortunately underutilized, but manages to keep her character from fading into the background. That being said, she abruptly exits the film leaving an odd void. It’s as if studio heads read the initial draft of the script and then mandated one more bankable star in the movie, resulting in her character. The film plods a bit in the beginning trying to establish the case against the bank, but the flick manages to keep things surprisingly compelling. Promising leads turn into dead ends and missed opportunities hinder the rocky investigation. It never becomes too tedious and the well-defined visual style certainly helps the story in places
where it starts to sag. And just as the film starts to lose some narrative steam, a muchneeded shot of adrenaline revamps the movie. A fantastic and fun shootout set within New York’s Guggenheim Museum sets the bar pretty high for the remainder of the movie. Unfortunately, this is where the movie starts its downward spiral. Characters start spouting incoherent, nonsensical dialogue in an effort to remind the viewer what the heck is going on. Silly games of cat-andmouse seem all too familiar, and people make laughably naive decisions. In addition, the film attempts to resonate with viewers through a daring and admirably vague, though shallow and lightweight, ending. As 2007’s Middle-East-in-conflict film “The Kingdom,” “The International” tries to end on a note of introspection but succeeds only in conveying a trite and obvious message readily apparent from the outskirts of the film. Then the film commits the cardinal sin of lazy screenwriting: A
You might also like. . . “Run Lola Run” Directed by Tom Tykwer. “Inside Man” Directed by Spike Lee. “Mission Impossible III” Directed by J.J. Abrams.
newspaper clipping montage over the final credits that attempts to wrap up the story’s loose ends. Oh, dear. Having said all that, the flick is undeniably enjoyable and entertaining, as these seemingly major faults of the film don’t take too much away from the fun factor. Still, there are far too many competing ideas regarding global affairs that have been mined
for better, more incisive commentary in films such as “Lord of War” and “Syriana.” Its ambition does earn the film points and the great action scenes keep things exciting, but its bewildering plot is a major detraction. And that’s a shame, because had it been more focused with its political discourse, “The International” could have been a
truly great film managing to bridge the gap between a smart, capable political drama and a very entertaining action flick. Instead, “The International” is like a playful Swedish exchange student who learned English a bit too late in life: baffling and incoherent at times, but fun to be around and oh-so-verypleasing to look at.
page
4 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 17, 2009
Tech snowboarding team Hokies unprepared to traverses icy southeast spots handle wounded turtles RYAN TRAPP
ct sports staff writer While you may have never heard of it, Virginia Tech has its very own competitive snowboard team, which has just qualified for the conference’s regional competition. Not to be confused with the Blacksburg Boarders’ Club, the Tech Snowboard Team competes in both men’s and women’s events on mountains all over the southeastern United States. “This is completely different from the Snowboard Club,” said Max Singer, a junior industrial and systems engineering major. “This is a competitive snowboard team. We are kind of like a counterpart of the ski team; we go to the same meets as they do.” Senior electrical engineering major Mike Reidenbach, the team’s president, organized several fund-raising events in order to raise money for this year — the team’s first season in the United States Competitive Ski and Snowboard Association. Reidenbach founded the team last spring. “We always welcome new members to the USCSA,” said Lari Garren, USCSA representative for the Southeastern Conference. “When we hear there’s interest from a particular school, we’ll do everything we can to help them establish a team.” The USCSA is composed of roughly 11 conferences, and Tech is just the latest addition to the SEC conference, which, next to the Southern California Conference, is regarded as one of the most competitive of the association. “We’ve remained pretty stagnant as far as school participation the past six or seven years,” Garren said. “When we lose a school, there’s usually one that replaces it in the conference.” But there’s only so much the USCSA can do without school recognition of the team. “We’re not officially acknowledged by the school at this point,” Reidenbach said, “Meaning that we don’t receive any kind of school funding, which makes it difficult to practice or even get our whole team to all the events.” But even though it failed to have a single group practice all season, the team was able to finish among the top five teams in the SEC conference and
COURTESY OF RACHEL CAPITO
Senior Max Singer maneuvers through rails during practice at Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia. Tech finished fourth in its conference. qualify for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, held Feb. 19 through Feb. 21 at Wintergreen Mountain Resort. “It’s really been a struggle for us this year without practices or school funding,” Singer said. “And I think it speaks volumes about the potential of this program that we could finish as well as we did despite all that.” Singer, one of the most accomplished of the Hokie boarders, posted a team-best second place finish at the Appalachian Mountain Boarder Cross competition. “The Tech snowboard team is the only one without any school support,” Garren said. “All other schools are either a joint club or have a ski and snowboard team that are both funded by the school. Tech’s ski team won’t let the snowboarders be a part of their team.” “It’s tough,” Reidenbach said, “but we usually finish in the middle of the pack. It’s been a great experience to get our feet wet.” Tech joined the Uva., East Carolina
University, Duke, Appalachian State, North Carolina State, Virginia Military Institute and James Madison University in the SEC, competing on five mountains in either a slalom or boarder-cross style events. The team has hopes to become officially recognized and funded by the school one day, similar to the Tech ski team. With that, it hopes to garner more publicity and interest in the team. “Other teams usually field around 10 boarders, out of which they took the top three times,” Singer said. “We took whoever we could get and could only field a couple people at each event.” Still, the team finished fourth in the SEC. With that, it has now qualified for the regional competition, a feat that far exceeded Reidenbach’s expectations when he started this season. “Anyone who participates in Regionals is eligible to take part in the National Competition,” Garren said. The national event will be held in Winter Park, Colo., from March 3 to March 7.
On Valentine’s Day, the Hokies failed to play their recent role as Terrapin heartbreaker. A weekend in which countless THOMAS teams scrambled to prepare their EMERICK tourney resumes sports saw the Hokies editor sputter into the Comcast Center to face a team that had all the bulletin board material in the world. The said-material actually stared across the court at embattled Maryland coach Gary Williams throughout the night’s 83-73 Maryland win. With “The Washington Post” ironically emblazoned on the opposite side, Williams’ team rallied to his guard with stifling defense and rebounding presence that the Terrapins had accomplished little of in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The publication that, via three-part series, had skewered Williams’ record and recruiting prowess week turned the topic on everyone’s minds into tangible form. “Despite what all the geniuses in the media around here think — they think that guys just come to schools — it’s not that easy,” Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg, who had recruited starters Jeff Allen (Washington, D.C.) and Malcolm Delaney (Baltimore) a short drive from College Park, said. “You can recruit your tail off and lose guys. That’s just the way it is.” At the edge of the banner advertisement sat Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, adorned in a red T-shirt found on many in attendance and most situated courtside. Despite Williams’ open feuding with the Maryland athletic department and the heavy scrutiny doled out by local media, the shirts read “This is Garyland” on the front and “We ‘Heart’ our coach” on the back. This is what the Hokies knew they were up against. Greivis Vasquez and company were fighting for the honor of the man who brought them in. The Terrapins were defending their institution. The Ninja Turtles were fighting for Splinter. Instead of rising to the occasion and rumbling into College Park prepared for their fourth-straight win against Maryland (16-8, 5-5), the Hokies (168, 6-4) stumbled off the Washington Beltway with no semblance of offensive cohesiveness, a striking case of lethargy and a general listlessness. “There was no sense of urgency,” Greenberg said. “I could see it in warm ups. I told our people in warm ups, just the way we were carrying ourselves.” “We had no energy,” Delaney said. “We, coming out, had no momentum coming from practice; we had a bad week of practice. We just got, basically, what we deserve.” Delaney, who earned Gatorade’s Mr. Maryland Basketball honors in high school, had critiqued Williams’ strategy in recruiting him, according to Thursday’s portion of the aforementioned Washington Post investigative series. “We had no flow,” Delaney said of the game. “That goes back to practice ... and it turned right into the game.” Greenberg had emphasized rebounding as a focus for practice heading into Wednesday’s Georgia Tech victory, a contest in which the Hokies out-rebounded one of the ACC’s best. Tech failed to do the
NICK JEREMIAH/SPPS
Tech coach Seth Greenberg can hardly watch as his Hokies put on a lackluster performance in front of a raucous College Park crowd. same on Saturday, despite going against the ACC’s poorest rebounding team. Tech’s frustration appeared to reach a point of hopelessness before the game fell completely out of reach, at the scorer’s table, at least. Down by 11 with just over three minutes left, Allen’s seemingly careless foul nearly clobbered Maryland guard Adrien Bowie into the courtside seats. As the crowd scowled, I half-expected Harbaugh to leap from his nearby chair and implore the referees for a flag, but the act of unnecessary roughness just succeeded in riling up the red-clad of nearly 18,000 in attendance. Unfortunately for maroon and orange, Tech’s leading scorer would catch fire a little too late this time. After dropping only four points in the first half, Delaney tallied nine of his 17 over the final 2:17 — or after the outcome had been more or less decided. On the other side, Maryland’s 83 was the second-most scored against Tech in regulation this season. “We didn’t do a good job on the ball screens shrinking the court,” said Greenberg, after his team’s third game of the week. “We didn’t do a good job when the ball went to the post on cutters, and we didn’t cut (Sean) Mosley out off the glass.” Perhaps Tech found itself caught in a perfect storm of emotional elements that was greater than Vasquez spending the game in foul trouble or the Hokies facing a team that, on paper, should have little answer on defense for Allen. Terrapin forward Landon Milbourne stepped up and shredded Tech from inside and out, tallying 23 points and six boards. Mosley gave the Hokie offense fits and recorded three steals. Williams’ array of defensive strategies included double- and triple-teaming to fluster Allen into eight points and four turnovers, though he did grab a game-high nine boards. “We’re a team that has to have a chip. We’re not talented enough to be a team that’s going to go out and just win games — that’s just the way it is. There are teams that are like
that,” Greenberg said. “We’re a team that relies on bowing our necks and being tough. Just like they are. Just like their national championship team was. ... And you can win that way; you can win that way without selling your soul. “And that’s who we need to be if we’re going to win, and that’s who we are when we do win. And if we’re not that, then we’re not going to win.” Greenberg would then pay homage to the rival team’s coach, and not so much to the “Shell of Its Former Self” piece in The Post. “It’s an absolute joke. It’s disgusting that he could go through that with what he’s built,” Greenberg said. “The reason there’s a Comcast Center is Gary Williams. That’s the way it is. “As a coach following, seeing someone with the success that he’s had, to have everyone who knows what they don’t know second guessing guys, it’s pretty disappointing,” Greenberg said. “It’s a reflection on our profession.” Despite all the hype swirling around Maryland’s performance and the Williams-love present in that arena, it’s still startling to see Tech squander a colossal conference opportunity in such a fashion. Delaney said the crowd was much more raucous in Tech’s victory in College Park last season, and a Feb. 25 bracket-busting Wednesday-nighter in Clemson figures to feature even more pandemonium. ESPN personality Tony Kornheiser sat on the press row that included the Collegiate Times’ designated space at the Comcast Center. I spoke with Kornheiser, both a friend of Williams and long-time Washington Post sports writer, about the D.C. area recruiting implications of this game. He summed up the result succinctly: “Big deal for Gary Williams.” As Maryland’s Eric Hayes — of Northern Virginia’s Potomac — stepped to the free-throw line in the final minutes, the crowd chanted, “Go-home Ho-kies.” While prized D.C.-Maryland recruits Delaney and Allen didn’t put on their greatest showings Saturday, I’m sure the Terrapin faithful were still dying to get Tech out of their backyard.
page
opinions 5
editor: laurel colella email: opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: mw 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
february 5, 2009
EDITORIAL
For mental health centers, budget cuts simply don’t add up In times of budgetary crisis, what priorities do we expect our state to safeguard? Your answer says a lot about your conception of fairness — who is deserving of state funds and who is not? Typically, things that all Virginians enjoy — transportation, health infrastructure, education — are atop the list because of their widespread consumption. Gov. Tim Kaine’s budget attempts to reconcile these needs. It fails, however, on a critical point of fairness. In slashing $6.6 million worth of funding for state mental health centers, Kaine’s budget hits some of the Commonwealth’s most needy for pitiful gain. The 16-bed adolescent ward of the Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Staunton, Va., and the entire 48-bed Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents in Marion, Va., will either face shuttering or significant reductions in operating ability under Kaine’s new budget. The closing of the CCCA is particularly devastating: “Children and adolescents who are admitted to the Center are in crisis in their current environment,” its Web site reads. More than 800 patients between the ages of 13 and 17 pass through these 64 beds per year. These are the only 64 beds in public institutions across the state for this purpose. While the sad cases of those whom Virginia Tech has lost to suicide or to the violence of the mentally ill were outside the immediate prerogative of these centers (the students in
question were too old for help in these institutions), the Tech community knows all too well the terrible upshot of mental health issues left untreated. We raise these troubled young men because the budgetary savings the governor will reap are simply insignificant. By following the pledge to cut funds from state institutions with a promise to give $2.1 million to private institutions of the same nature, the Commonwealth has shaved only — and we mean “only” — $4.5 million. Considering Virginia’s 2008-10 budget is set for over $38 billion, this represents an unbelievably small amount of funding for facilities that are running well and providing some of the Commonwealth’s neediest citizens with vital services. While not profitable — they operate on a pay-asone-can system predicated on the financial situation of the families of admitted individuals — they are all the state has in regard to its clinical support for the adolescent mentally ill. As both the cases of SeungHui Cho and Daniel Kim illustrate, once young people reach the age of the majority, privacy laws and a general sense that college students should “take care of themselves” greatly hampers their ability to seek or be forced to seek help. Perhaps private institutions will be able to quickly pick up the slack. But are we ready to say that the slim budgetary reward is worth the risk?
Remember to honor our first president this week MIKE SAGE regular columnist In the midst of our current celebration of Presidents Day, it seems that the original inspiration for the holiday has been overlooked. I am referring, of course, to George Washington. The first president of the United States seems to be given an automatic, almost unconscious, reverence by the general public, which ultimately results in a lack of discourse on the things he actually did while in office. The ever-increasing emphasis on Abraham Lincoln each time Presidents Day comes around seems to have gained particular strength since President Barack Obama won the general election in November. In addition to the fact that 2009 represents the bicentennial anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, there has been a campaign of sorts to link the two presidents from Illinois; and the Lincoln-Obama comparisons have arguably been centered around the idea of unity. With his role in tackling the issue of slavery, Lincoln is our best example of a political leader balancing a divided nation (literally) and providing an ultimately successful solution. And Obama, the first person of color to serve as president of the country, certainly has great unifying potential. While there is nothing wrong with trying to imitate Lincoln, a man widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents in our history, I offer a
different take. American citizens, however opinionated and varied we may be, are not divided in the same sense we were during Lincoln’s presidency. The issue of slavery and the economic and infrastructural variation between the North and South made for an extremely volatile political environment in Lincoln’s time, which culminated in the Civil War. That was a rare situation. When considering the challenges facing our country right now, I actually think back to the presidential lessons laid forth by Washington. When pressured by members of Congress (and even by some in his cabinet) to use military force against England in support of France, our Revolutionary War allies, Washington instead took the difficult but pragmatic approach. He proclaimed neutrality, which allowed our desperately weak nation (still in infancy and decimated from the Revolution) to grow and strengthen rather than stage a second war against what was then the greatest military apparatus in history. It seems to me that the Obama administration would do well to keep this in mind when crafting foreign policy; a country stretched so thin by six years of perpetual war and one colossal economic meltdown can ill afford to continue devoting so many resources to conflicts abroad. Another area where Obama’s role could very well resemble Washington’s
is in the relations between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. Washington preferred to let the will of Congress be the final word on legislation, evidenced by the fact that he only vetoed two minor bills throughout his entire presidency (according to “The Presidents,” by Henry F. Graff). With the current Democratic majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Obama isn’t likely to impede much on congressional prerogative, either. But it is actually Washington’s character that we must never forget. There is, for instance, the story of the general turning around his retreating comrades at the battle of Monmouth during the Revolution. According to “Alexander Hamilton” biographer Ron Chernow, “By sheer force of will, he (Washington) stopped the retreating soldiers, rallied them, then reversed them. ‘Stand fast, my boys, and receive your enemy,’ he shouted.” And there are actions later in life, such as Washington’s humble relinquishing of power after two terms as president (during which many pleaded for him to remain as a permanent commander-in-chief), which legitimized the Constitution, and established a precedent for our peaceful transition of power, which may never have blossomed otherwise. Perhaps it is actually this humility and quiet strength of character that would be most beneficial for President Obama, and every one of us, to imitate.
The editorial board is composed of David Grant, David Harries and Laurel Colella.
The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 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, 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, Kelly Harrigan, Rachel McGiboney, Mina Noorbakhsh, Josh Son Illustrator Mina Noorbakhsh Multimedia Editor Phillip Murillas Multimedia Producer Matthew Langan, Becky Wilson Multimedia Reporters Candice Chu, 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 Kaelynn Kurtz, Carissa Nichols, Diane Revalski, Tyler Terhune Marketing Manager Office Manager Student Publication Photo Staff Director of Photography Sally Bull Business Manager Paul Platz
LETTER TO THE EDITOR 4/16 should remain a day of remembrance Last week, the university announced that this year on April 16 there will not be classes — something that I think is an excellent decision. As a freshman during 4/16, I remember the day clearly, as I woke up for my 10:10 a.m. class and heard what had occurred. Many of us throughout the university think about 4/16 on a daily basis, and having 4/16 as a day of remembrance will help the university continue to heal. It is important for us to have this day to reflect and think about those whom we lost and those who were hurt by this event. To those who say that having classes on 4/16 would be the best
way to honor our classmates and professors, I disagree. I believe the best way is with reflection of who they were; they still are in our minds. Only one facet of their lives was in education. The university has stated that classes on 4/16 will resume during 2012, which is after almost every student present on 4/16 has graduated. This memory and event will not have graduated from our minds, and every April 16, no matter how far I am from Blacksburg, I will remember what occurred. In my opinion, the Hokie Nation will never completely heal from 4/16, but allowing it to be a day of remembrance will assist with easing the pain. Virginia Thomas Junior, Marketing, Geography
Your letter could be here. E-mail us at: opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com
NATE BEELER/THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Take advantage of opportunities to relate to those around you Spring is right around the corner, and with Valentine’s Day only a few hours out of our memories, it feels like once again, love is BAKAR in the air: love for O.BEY what we receive, guest love for those who love us and columnist hopefully for the little things that make our world spin. Also with spring comes opportunity — the chance to go outside and play, take road trips out of the mountains or listen to some live music on the lawn and just do the things we love. With so much activity, it seems like the perfect time for us to try something new this year, too. This spring, let’s try to relate. We talked about sex in a recent “He Said, She Said,” so by relate I don’t mean mix and match sexual partners on a bi-weekly basis or jump frivolously in and out of relationships searching for that one Mr. or Ms. Right. I don’t mean mass texting your friends some consequential chain message to prove their level of friendship or the innocuous “poke” from your Facebook account. This spring, I dare you to take a sincere interest in those around you. I read an article recently entitled “Relationships — True Love and the Transcendence of Duality.” According to this article, the idea of a “relationship” attaches expectations, conditions and further cultural and personal mental concepts on what a relationship should be. It declares that with every relationship we label comes suffering, because we try to make the reality conform to our preconceived notions of a relationship, and channel the shortcomings into those who are “supposed to” fill in the holes. I often extend the idea of a relationship beyond just a guy and girl, but to mean with every person we have the privilege to interact with: family, foe and friend. So if with every personal
exchange comes expectations, it’s easy to see how so many of us can be living ultimately unfulfilled. We all live and function in an environment segregated by clubs, groups, teams, parties, circles, cliques, etc. We channel into fraternity and disperse into sororities, searching for an opportunity to socialize, fit-in or just avoid being alone on the weekends — and it works, most of the time. You make some friends, some enemies and other valuable connections, but at the end of the day you can rest assured that you won’t be left out the next time something is going on, whatever that may be. For some people, this comfort is all they really want and need. For others, I see a deeper interest churning: one that desires to step from behind the computer, actually talk on the phone, unplug from The Matrix and create a very intimate and realistic social experience. I see a desire to sing with strangers, play ball with the bus driver, take your professors to lunch and more. I see opportunities to read a book as a group, share our personal playlists and educate and entertain through poetry. Spring represents growth and rebirth, and the chance to revitalize community in this awkward moment of silence. How many of you have felt the tension riding the BT, packed in between two doors like sardines, holding your breath and hoping not to catch a whiff of the sketchy guys next to you? Who else has been to a “house” party where your two friends who came along are the only people you know, so you stick to them like Siamese twins, hoping nobody “weird” tries to talk to you? And how many of us go to class every day, sit in relatively the same chair and never get to know the cute guy or girl on the opposite side of the room? Well guess what? I’m that guy. Hi, my name is Bakar. It’s pronounced like Bacardi, and this is usually a decent icebreaker when I’m inclined to introduce myself to someone new. I brush and bathe regularly, so you don’t have to worry about poor hygiene. My friends call me weird
sometimes, and they’re strange to me too. I’m cute, confident and accomplished, I write and perform poetry, and I’m a great listener. I like stargazing, talking to new people … blah blah blah … basketball, football, and tennis … womp womp womp, etc, etc… Now don’t mistake this for some narcissistic personal ad to make up for a Valentine’s Day spent at the Math Emporium (lol), or an excuse to “get all up in ya business” to have something to discuss in my next column. The point I want to make is that we all have our own story to tell, have our own personal interests, live through heartaches and heartbreaks and still retain some sort of desire to relate and be known. Follow this example. Every day is a new opportunity; every empty, unfamiliar face is potentially a new best friend. There is a broad range of personalities and many experiences inherent in each individual person. It is impossible to know or even know of them all. Still, my experiences have shown that we all share common interests across and outside cliques, and I have a feeling we, individually, are all more alike than our groupthink allows us to entertain. Here, we have the opportunity to step outside of our conditioned, socialized minds and fears and show a little “love” beyond the romanticized, ego-driven definition. Live for today, in the present, inside and beyond the now. Cheer for strangers taking their first steps in front of an audience. Filter out those negative preconditions and open up to languages, music, arts and love outside of what your parents always warned you about. I think Virginia Tech has always been a place where people can clear their minds and enjoy learning and growth. The “Relationships” article made a point that I feel is universally invaluable: “There is only the present moment, and in the moment there is only relating.” We’re all here, every day, right now. Let’s relate.
Voice your opinion. Readers are encouraged to send letters and comments to the Collegiate Times. 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 Tuesday 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
page 6
tuesday, february 17, 2009
february 17, 2009
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 Childcare Tickets for Sale Tickets Wanted Volunteers
Sub-Lease Travel Rides Campus
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
Sub-Lease
Help Wanted
Health & Fitness
Wanted
For Rent
SUBLEASE Female sublease wanted June and July in Newport Terrace. Call 540-577-9325 for more info or questions.
BARTENDER & COOK, full and part-time. Need references. Call 382-9294 Tues-Fri.
In the CollegiateTimes Classifieds you can...
HOTEL SALES MANAGER
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
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
www.collegiate
times .c o m
sell your toucan or anything else you are ready to let go of
Travel NAGS HEAD 4 month Student Summer Rentals, $450/mo/person, seabreezerealty.com 252.255.6328 SPRING BREAK 2009! Party like a ROCKSTAR. Learn How to get your friends together and travel free to beautiful locations like Jamaica, Acapulco, Cancun, Panama city and Bahamas party cruise. MTV official partner Awhite@Studentcity.com 1.888.777.4642 or 610.247.9224
Holiday Inn University is looking for a self motivated individual to become our new sales manager. Responsibilities include maximizing customer satisfaction and overall profitability. Outside sales experience required. Bachelor’s degree preferred. E-mail mhaw k@hotel.ciblacksburg.com with your resume and cover letter. 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
Notices !BARTENDING! Make Up to $300/ Day. No Experience Necessary Training Available. 1-800-965-6520 EXT210 ADOPTION Loving couple without children wishes to adopt an infant. Please contact us at 1-866-5753637 or www.karenandjoefamily.co m to make an adoption plan.
1001 UNIVERSITY CITY BOULEVARD, BLACKSBURG (540) 951-9252 • STURBRIDGESQUARE@HOTMAIL.COM STURBRIDGESQUARE.COM
• 3 Blocks from Virginia Tech • Walking Distance to University Mall, Kroger & Post Office • Swimming Pool • Beautiful Landscaping & All Brick Architecture • Spacious Floor Plans with Wall-to-Wall Carpeting
• Central Heat/Air • Washer/Dryer • Energy Efficient Windows • Large Closets • Fireplace in Some Units • Private, Gated Patios • 24-Hour Emergency Maintenance
Ask about the
FREE RENT SPECIAL
Musical VT STUDENT ROCK BAND SEEKING A SINGER. We do predominantly hard rock originals with blues & pop influence. Writing your own material is a plus but not required. Want to record and gig as much as possible. Contact ooogya@yahoo.com or 540.239.3528
TOWNHOUSE FOR RENT 4 bedroom end unit in Rutherfords, Patrick Henry Drive. Lease starts Aug. 1, 2009. $1400/ month no utilities. 703.304.6060
WALK TO CAMPUS! 3 BR house/$800-mo/ available Jul 1/ 540.355.6862
Personals 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
sports 7
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 17, 2009
sports in brief HOKIES HANDLED BY TERRAPINS Perhaps inspired by the recent negativity toward their head coach, the Maryland Terrapins led wire-to-wire Saturday and defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies, 83-73, at the Comcast Center in College Park. The loss snaps Tech’s three-game win streak over Maryland (15-8, 5-5 ACC). After the Terrapins went up by 11 early in the second half, the Hokies (16-8, 6-4) put together a run when Jeff Allen scored following an offensive rebound. Quickly thereafter, a Maryland turnover led to a three-point connection from Tech specialist A.D. Vassallo, which sliced the lead in half, 48-45. But Maryland had an answer in the form of guard Eric Hayes — who countered with a three of his own. Forward Landon Milbourne then recorded a conventional three-point play. Leading scorer and rebounder Greivis Vasquez picked up his fourth personal foul with 8:32 still left in the contest. However, that didn’t deter the Terps, who staved off Tech in fine fashion the rest of the way — never letting the lead slip below six. The Hokies trailed by as many as 13 with 4:04 left. Tech was paced by Vassallo, who scored 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting. However, Maryland was effective defensively. Two of Tech’s vaunted “Big Three” were held in check for the majority of the game. The trio entered Saturday averaging a combined 52 points per game, but the Terrapins held them to a 44-point effort. Tech struggled again from the line, shooting just under 62 percent, while Maryland hit 24 of 26 free throws at a 92.3 percent clip. The Hokies will complete their twogame road trip when they face the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville on Wednesday at 8 p.m. — Brian Wright
WAKE WHOMPS WOMEN’S HOOPS The Tech women’s basketball team dropped its fourth straight contest Sunday — this time to Wake Forest (18-6, 5-5), 66-44. The Hokies now fall to just 1-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 11-15 overall. Tech never recovered from a 29-15 halftime deficit, due in large part to
its early shooting woes, firing at just a 25 percent clip from the field in the first half. Despite the team’s struggles, Brittany Gordon posted a double-double, the first of her career. She posted 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to compensate for the Demon Deacons’ consistent offensive onslaught.Four Wake players scored in double figures, and the team shot 47.4 percent from threepoint range. The Deacons were led by Camille Coller’s 20 points and Alex Tchangoue’s 14 boards. The team was also without its second leading scorer, Corinne Groves, out with illness.Tech managed to shoot 31.6 percent from the field overall, while committing 21 turnovers. Utahya Drye contributed for the Hokies, recording eight points and six rebounds. The Hokies return to action Thursday night to play the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils in a 7 p.m. game in Durham, N.C. – Chad Mosesso
pairings of Graber and Jacques as well as Daciek and Re both emerged victorious in this department, though the team of Corace and Somen was defeated in an 8-5 decision. The Hokies will be back in action and looking to keep their winning streak alive Feb. 20, when they begin ACC play in a home match against Boston College at 4 p.m.
Liberty Flames, and the match was never close. The doubles pairings of Jessica Brouwer and Holly Johnson, followed by Yasmin Hamza and Abbey Walker both won their matches to take the doubles points. Following the doubles, Tech swept all six singles matches over the Flames. Freshman Martha Blakely dominated the No. 2 match against Lais Souzo
MEN’S TENNIS SWEEPS FRIDAY MATCHES The No. 32 Virginia Tech men’s tennis team easily sailed past the College of Charleston and St. Bonaventure, winning by scores of 7-0 and 6-1, respectively, to complete the sweep on Friday. This puts the team at 4-1 on the season so far. The Hokies would pick up singles victories across the board with Yoann Re, Pedro Graber, Luka Somen, Sebastien Jacques, Brandon Corace and Patrick Dacik all taking home wins. After performing well individually, the Hokies increased their record to 3-1. The teams of Jacques and Re, Corace and Graber, and Daciek and Somen won with ease, picking up the doubles point. Tech then put its title on the line, as it hosted St. Bonaventure soon after. The Hokies didn’t let up, taking seven of the eight matches on the day. It was much of the same as the Hokies again saw Re, Somen, Jacques and Daciek take home singles wins. Also picking up a win in singles was Corrado Degl’ Incerti Tocci. The teams only singles loss that day came when Corace dropped a close match 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (10). Mixing it up a little in doubles, Tech still managed to find success. The
NICK JEREMIAH/SPPS
Tech sophomore Malcolm Delaney defends Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez during the second half of the Hokies’ 83-73 defeat in College Park, Md. – Garrett Busic
WOMEN’S TENNIS TOPPLES TWO The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team hosted a double-header match this past Saturday against Liberty and Davidson at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis center. Tech was able to continue its earlyseason success by shutting out each of its opponents 7-0, 7-0. The Hokies came into the matches ranked No. 41 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls and improved to 6-1 overall on the season. Tech began the day by playing the
6-1, 6-1. Senior Inga Beermann had the toughest match of the day, as it took her extra sets to defeat opponent Jordan Jenkins 4-6, 7-6, 1-0. The Hokies followed the Liberty performance with pure perfection against Davidson by sweeping the Wildcats in all doubles and singles matches. Setting the tone early for the Hokies once again was the doubles team of Brouwer and Johnson, who cruised through with an 8-1 victory. The singles matches displayed a strong performance by the freshman players on the team. Freshmen Katie Blow, Blakely and Shannon Betts all completed difficult victories in order to complete the sweep over the Wildcats. Tech’s next matches come on Feb. 21, as it travels to play at No. 34 VCU. – Matt Costello
SOFTBALL SUFFERS WEEKEND SWEEP The Hokies’ softball team attempted to rebound from a 2-3 start to the regular season this past weekend at the Georgia State First Pitch Classic in Panthersville, Ga., but ended up losing all four games in which they played. Tech (2-7) began the weekend slide with a 10-0 loss to No. 17 Missouri on Saturday before losing a 3-2 battle with the host school, Georgia State, in the day’s second contest. Tech came back from an early 3-0 Georgia State lead, but could not provide enough run support for sophomore pitcher Kenzie Roark, who suffered her fourth loss of the season. The team could not better its fortune on Sunday, as it lost to Evansville, 8-0 and 9-0, in two games that were both shortened to five innings. Offensively, the Hokies were led by senior designated player Jenna Rhodes, who hit .583 in the tournament, and senior outfielder Jessica Everhart, who drove in both runs in Saturday’s game against Georgia State. Tech is off until Friday, Feb. 20, when it will travel to Conway, S.C., to play five games over the course of the weekend as part of the Kickin’ Chicken Classic, starting with Coastal Carolina at 2 p.m. – Ed Lupien
LACROSSE DROPPED BY DREXEL The Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team (0-1) opened the season with a last-second 10-9 loss at Drexel (1-0) on Saturday. The Hokies led 4-0 early in the firsthalf, with goals by senior Rachel Culp and sophomore standout Allie Emala. After building up its lead, a frustrated Virginia Tech team received a plethora of yellow cards from the officials for various fouls, which allowed the Dragons to crawl back into the game. Drexel tied the game at four-all toward the end of the first half, but the Hokies were able to close out well with a 2-0 run of their own. The two teams swapped goals for the majority of the second half, while Tech held a tenuous two-goal lead. The young Hokie defense was able to fend off the Dragons until the final three minutes of the game.
Drexel scored three goals in less than 90 seconds, and Tech was unable to bounce back. The Hokies next travel to face Virginia on Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. – Melanie Wadden
WRESTLING ENDS ACC SEASON ON TOP The No. 14 Virginia Tech wrestling squad capped off its regular season Atlantic Coast Conference matches this Sunday in Cassell Coliseum, drubbing NC State 50-0 and finishing off Duke with a 28-15 decision. The wins put the Hokies at 19-1 and 5-0 in ACC dual-meet competition — good for first place. Tech first took to the mat against NC State (4-14-1, 0-4), where the team notched all 10 wins over the Wolfpack. No. 14 freshman Jarrod Garnett and sophomores Matt Epperly, Tommy Spellman, D.J. Bruce and David Marone all picked up pins, while freshmen Brock LiVorio and No. 20 Pete Yates both won by forfeit. No.19 Chris Diaz of Tech edged out the Pack’s No. 18 Joe Caramanica with an 11-8 decision at 141 pounds. Freshman Jesse Dong also beat his ranked opponent in a 5-1 decision over No. 19 Kody Hamrah. With their shutout win over State, head coach Kevin Dresser decided to sit out a few starters for the next match against Duke (8-5, 1-4). Still competing was Garnett, who earned a decision over Peter Terrezza at 125 pounds, making a good start for the team. Next up was LiVorio, who fell to Jack Anderson, putting Duke on the board. Junior Matt Rosen was able to hold down the fort for the Hokies while earning a pin at 141 pounds. Diaz followed suit with a pin over Duke’s Mike Bell in just 41 seconds. Yates tallied up more points with a 12-3 major decision, and sophomore Adam Broda lost to Duke’s Addison Nuding. Redshirt-freshman Anthony Trongone and Bruce were able to hold things together for the team with Trongone earning a decision and Bruce picking up a pin, making Tech’s lead insurmountable. The team has one more match on Feb. 19 against Old Dominion before the ACC Championships, which will be held in Cassell Coliseum on March 7. – Lindsay Faulkner
page 8
tuesday, february 17, 2009