Thursday, February 19, 2009 Print Edition

COLLEGIATETIMES

thursday february 19, 2009 blacksburg, va.

www.collegiatetimes.com

sports LACROSSE CRUSHED

BY CAVALIERS The Tech lacrosse team dropped its second consecutive game to open the new season in a 19-3 blowout road loss to Virginia. The Cavs opened up an early 5-0 lead before the Hokies could crack the scoreboard. Freshman Jessica Nonn scored the first two Tech goals, the first coming 18:12 into the game. Virginia built on a 10-2 halftime advantage, ultimately outshooting the Hokies by a 4012 margin.

news PRESIDENT STEGER GIVEN LEADERSHIP AWARD

University leaders discuss budget reductions PHILIPP KOTLABA

ct news staff writer The university administration has asked departments to plan scenarios to deal with 3 percent or 5 percent reductions in their budgets as Virginia Tech readies itself for a $42 million cut in state appropriations from its general fund.

ON THE WEB Presentation slides and a video of the meeting are available online at www.president.vt.edu.

Questions or suggestions may be sent to president@vt.edu.

President Charles Steger, accompanied by Provost Mark McNamee and Chief Financial Officer Dwight

Shelton, held two “town hall” meetings Tuesday and Wednesday in Burruss Auditorium to inform the university community about measures the university will take to cope with state cuts for higher education.

“The state is working on its projected shortfall with a budget deficit of nearly $2.9 billion. The economy is much worse than we thought,” Steger said.

As a result, Tech suffers.

In the 2000-01 academic year, the University Division — which covers all instruction costs — received $190.1 million in state support.

Based on Gov. Tim Kaine’s introduced budget, that number is expected to fall to $159.1 million for the next academic year.

“I was telling somebody the other day, I felt like I

BRIAN CLAY/SPPS

President Steger addresses budget issues in Burruss Hall. was running around Squires checking the sofas for spare change that might be under the cushions,” Steger said.

“Often when I’m talking to people, they say, ‘Well, you’ve got this huge university ...

On Tuesday Feb. 17 President Charles W. Steger accepted the Chief Executive Leadership Award by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Steger was recognized for his leadership during the April 16, 2007 shootings, the establishment of the Campaign for Virginia Tech and the record numbers of first-year students.

The award was first announced at the CASE annual conference in Atlanta Feb. 8-11.

THOMAS EMERICK

ct sports editor

tomorrow’s weather AM SNOW SHOWERS/ WIND high 38, low 21 DANIEL LIN/SPPS

Head coach Seth Greenberg laments his team’s 75-61 loss to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville.

coming up TOMORROW’S CT See the features staff debate the merits and disadvantages of technology in “He said, she said” Check out a photo gallery from last night’s men’s basketball game against UVa.

index News.....................2 Features................4 0pinions................3

Classifieds..............5 Sports....................6 Sudoku..................5

An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 106th year • issue 19

see BUDGET, page two

TECH CAME TO CHARLOTTESVILLE TO ERASE THE MEMORY OF ITS LOSS TO MARYLAND. BUT UVA ONLY ADDED TO THE PAIN.

Blacksburg resident and Blacksburg Museum Committee member Charles Johnson will speak at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Blacksburg Municipal Building at 300 South Main Street. The lecture — about African American communities in Blacksburg — is a part of a Black History Month lecture series by the Blacksburg Museum and Smithfield Plantation. The lecture is free and open to the public.

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.

Tech has steadily taken on more graduating high school students to accommodate increased demand. In the last four years, 2,000 additional in-state, undergraduate students were admitted without ever receiving any state support for the effort.

“So when people are talking about ‘we want to reward growth in the future,’ our point is going to be, what about growth in the past?”

Steger said. “The capacity to take additional students beyond that is simply not there, and we’re not going to do it. We can’t do it; it’s not fair to the existing students that we have who are here to get a first-rate education.”

At the same time, fund appropriations per student are set to fall 40 percent, to $5,929 in 2009-10, from

Boo ’Hoo

AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE TALK TO BE GIVEN TONIGHT

corrections

any business organization can take a 10 percent cut.’

You know, if we were fully funded, I’d agree with you,” Steger said. “But we haven’t been fully funded for a long time.”

For example, in 2002, Tech lost 26 percent of its entire state support, or $72 million.

“We have really not recovered from that. So you have to look at this from the context of cuts after cut after cut, to the point where there’s not much left to cut,” Steger said.

The University Division alone faces a cumulative general fund reduction of 20.9 percent. Around 37 percent of the instructional budget comes from the state.

In 1990, that number was 70 percent.

“When a business finds that they have a revenue decline, what’s the reason? It’s because their business is down. Well, our business is up,” Steger said. “We have tremendous demand for what we’re offering, and we are being expected to do it with fewer and fewer dollars.”

The Hokies looked much like a team missing its key post presence in falling hard to archrival Virginia, 75-61. A week after Tech rode a twogame winning streak, the team has now fallen victim in two straight.

“We’re not jumping off bridges and slitting our wrists,” Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. “We lost two road games, and now all of a sudden, we’re not going to go into panic mode. That’s the way it is, its hard winning games in this league, it’s hard winning games on the road.”

Tech, playing in John Paul Jones Arena — where Clemson had fallen on Sunday — without the services of Jeff Allen and his 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, received only 19 points and 14 boards from its frontcourt.

“Jeff Allen is a big part of the team,” said center Cheik Diakite, who led Tech with nine boards. “He is the leading rebounder on the team, so if he’s not here, somebody’s got to step up.”

Greenberg would elaborate little on his team missing Allen on the court.

“I coached the guys that are on the roster that were able to play,” Greenberg said.

In a game in it they outrebounded the Hokies (16-9, 6-5), UVa diced them from inside and out, nailing 7-of-17 from behind the arc and scoring inside at times with seeming ease.

Tech forward J.T. Thompson scored 10 points, but, after taking a seat following his second foul late in the first half, UVa (9-13, 3-9), collected momentum heading into intermission that would only proliferate through the second half.

After A.D. Vassallo, who recorded a game-high 21 points, tied the score at 29 with 3:45 in the first 20 minutes of play, the Cavaliers ignited a 23-6 run that spanned nearly 12 minutes across the game’s middle portion.

Landesburg, UVa’s leading scorer, would notch 19 points, nine boards and six assists on the evening. “(Landensburg’s) a tough guard,” Tech guard Terrell Bell said. “Once he tries to get to the whole, he puts his head down and keeps going. It’s kind

of hard to guard that ... We tried our best to pack it in a little bit” The teams matched baskets to commence the contest, before a three-pointer by Dorenzo Hudson gave Tech an early 9-8 lead. This marked the beginnings of an 8-2 run to put the Hokies up six with 11:30 left in the first.

The Cavaliers answered back with five unanswered points, keyed by a crowd-igniting Jeff Tucker trifecta.

Guard Sammy Zeglinski attempted to take the lead with a lay-up attempt but Chiek Diakite, carrying added weight of expecation on his shoulders in the wake of Allen’s one-game suspension, swatted it over the baseline photographers.

However, seven-foot center Assane Sene would not be denied, landing emphatic jams in consecutive possessions to put UVa ahead at 19-18 with 7: 56 left.

Landesburg, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer at 18 points per game, landed several blows to Tech in a first half where he tallied 12 points, five assists and five boards.

A big three-pointer by Zeglinski made it 28-22 with just less than six minutes left in the first half, but A.D. Vassallo provided an answer, as he did many times in the early going. The senior netted a trey of his own to keep Tech within a score.

Two free throws by the senior from Puerto Rico knotted the score at 29-29, but a three-pointer with and dunk upped the Cavs’ lead to five. Virginia would stretch that out to 39-29 over the final 3:45 prior to the break, capped by lay-up directly underneath the hoop as the clock wound to zero.

As in recent contests, Malcolm Delaney started the game cold. Tech’s leading scorer, at 18.6 a clip, recorded only five points through the first 28 minutes. He would finish with 11 points on 3-for-13 shooting.

After the game, Delaney said he had been battling a wrist injury suffered in practice. He only attempted two shots in the first half.

“We tried to ball screen for him a little bit,” Greenberg said. “I told him at halftime, you got to shoot the ball.”

Tech next faces Florida State on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.

Virginia may solve voter registration debate JUSTIN GRAVES

ct news reporter The Virginia Senate passed two bills last week to allow college students to register as a voter in the town they receive their education in rather than the home listed on their driver’s licenses.

On Tuesday morning, one of the bills was defeated in a House subcommittee while the other passed and is now awaiting hearing on the House floor. If it is passed there, it will be sent to Gov. Tim Kaine for signature.

Senate Bill 848 was proposed by Sen. John Edwards (D-Roanoke), and it states that a student shall be presumed to have established a domicile where he or she is living while a full-time student.

Many believe that students, along with locals, are stakeholders in cities with large college student populations. They study, work, shop, pay taxes, and live in that city or town from August to May. The bill passed in the senate with a 37-3 vote.

“I think that a lot of college students became involved in last fall’s election, and a lot said they weren’t treated fairly by the registrars to their legislators, and the fact that college students have been so active has been a major reason for its passing,” Edwards said. “The Board of

Elections realized that the application of the law was not consistent throughout the state, and they recognized that we need a consistent application of the rules as far as residents goes.”

Randy Wertz, Montgomery County’s registrar of elections said that the November controversy was positive in bringing attention to what the state code said.

“This got the students thinking, especially when people running campaigns on campus weren’t being completely truthful on campus. They told them that their absentee ballots wouldn’t count, and they told them they could be registered in two different places,” Wertz said.

Tracy Howard, the Radford City registrar and an advocate of Senate Bill 829, noted that there is currently substantial confusion in the law’s wording.

“There is a complete lack of uniformity with various interpretations across the Commonwealth,” Howard said. “I tend to follow law as the law is written.

Most law says you must have a place (of) abode and a domicile in order to be registered to vote. You have to have these prior to registering to vote.”

Senate Bill 829 was defeated by a voice vote on Tuesday after being proposed

by Sen. Ralph Smith (R-Roanoke).

The bill proposed that a college student would be able to choose his or her place

of voter registration.

Smith wanted clarification on many laws that are interpreted differently by registrars across the state, which thus make the process difficult and hectic come voter registration time. This bill was passed unanimously in the Virginia Senate, but it faced a much different fate in the House of Delegates.

“The bill … simply and quite concisely says if you are attending an accredited institution of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia, you may choose to register with your residence at school or the residence in which you are otherwise domiciled,” Howard said.

Dave Suetterlein is the legislative assistant to Smith and helped write several portions of the bill that was proposed to the Senate.

“People understand that it brings us into compliance with federal case law, and that’s why people support it,” Suetterlein said. “This was the only student voter bill that made it 40 to 0.

There were some others that weren’t as clear-cut, and they were passed but received some negative votes. It’s a solid bill and was endorsed by numerous voting organizations. People across the political spectrum were behind it.”

Now that Smith’s bill has been defeated, supporters must begin to look for ways to get it passed in the future.

“Defeat means that we must con-

struct a new bill, so that’ll be something for Senator Smith to consider next year,” Suetterlein said.

The headache for several registrars was due to uncertainty over whether domicile is established by a college student, even though they spend no less than eight months per year at their school’s address.

“I’ve been trained since 1992 to realize that a person must be a resident of the locality completely prior to being registered to vote — that’s what domicile means,” Howard said. “The various interpretations and the most recent that comes from ACLU and other organizations say that intent to have domicile is possible, and that’s where the problem comes in.”

Contrary to popular belief, this is not the first time such a debate has come up.

“Issues similar to these bills had gone before the General Assembly in 1993.

Then, House Joint Resolution 532 was passed and called for a uniform system that clearly stated where students may register to vote,” Suetterlein said.

“Nothing has happened since 1993.

There were few attempts but none of them were successful.”

Howard added that in all of his election experience, voting legislation has surfaced every time.

“I have a copy of bills that the House

said with the Senate concurring that something needs to be done with this very issue,” Howard said. “It gets worse every single year because these groups out there are further loosening their interpretations of the law.”

In retrospect, Wertz says that the headaches were worth it. After being accused by campaigns of not following Virginia law, more than 8,000 new voters were registered to vote in Montgomery County over the two to three month time period immediately before the November election. That’s about 15 percent of the total number of voters in Montgomery County.

“Obviously, that number had a huge part to play in how Montgomery County went. The next time that we will see a student issue in registering will probably be in 2012,” Gertz said.

“What we ask the General Assembly as an association to do is just clarify it so that all of us who have universities and colleges in our town can have something that makes sense.”

Howard calls for more attention on this matter, rather than just forgetting it now that the nation is three months removed from the presidential election.

“After the election was over, everybody just forgot about it. We still have exactly the same law at this point that we had in November,” Howard said.

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

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2 news

editor: caleb fleming email: nrvnews@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: tth 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

february 19, 2009

editor: sara mitchell email: universitynews@collegiatetimes.com phone: 540.231.9865 office hours: mw 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

In-state admission quotas Budget: Hiring freeze will not be implemented wouldn’t affect Tech’s rates from page one

SARA MITCHELL

university editor A portion of a Virginia House Budget Bill establishes an outof-state enrollment policy that would require a minimum of 70 percent of enrollment in a public university be reserved for Virginia residents.

The bill, introduced by Delegate Clay Athey (R-Front Royal), calls for a 30 percent limit on out-ofstate undergraduate students and 20 percent limit on out-of-state transfer students.

“My constituents expect their children to be able to attend a Virginia public university,” Athey said in a press release on Feb. 18.

Mike Belefski, Athey’s delegate representative, believes that a “lot of universities have the quota pretty well set; they just don’t want to be told what to do.”

He said that the two universities that have the most reason to oppose the legislation are University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Compared to other Virginia schools, “you could argue that schools like UVa and Tech are probably a little more national in their appeal,” said UVa Dean of Admissions, Greg Roberts.

“So I think part of that is because of them being national research institutions, we have our priorities” outside of the state.

Roberts went on to say that such a quota goes through the legislation each year but doesn’t get passed because schools economically wouldn’t manage to make up for the loss of revenue that out-of-state students give to the universities.

He estimated that for every halfpercent decrease of out-of-state student revenue, a university such as UVa could lose more than $1 million.

“The more Virginians you have, the fewer out-of-states and those are the ones who pay substantially

Fall 2008 Undergraduate Enrollment School

In-State

Out-of-State

Christopher Newport University

95%

5%

Radford University

93%

7%

Virginia Commonwealth University

89%

11%

George Mason University

87%

13%

Virginia Tech

74%

26%

James Madison University

70%

30%

William & Mary

68%

32%

University of Virginia

67%

33%

Virginia Military Institute

60%

40% SARA SPANGLER/COLLEGIATE TIMES

more,” Roberts said.

However, according to Amy Widner of undergraduate admissions, such a bill wouldn’t affect Tech too much.

“The 30 percent is about what we’ve been at for in-state/out-ofstate mix,” Widner said.

For Tech, the rate of out-of-state students admitted into the university has stayed between 25 and 29 percent every year for the past decade. For the fall 2008 semester, Tech’s out-of-state enrollment was at 26 percent — 6,223 students of a total of 23,567 undergraduates.

Widner said that the costs for a Tech education for one in-state student are paid for through three sources: in-state tuition, funding from the state, and the tuition of out-of-state students.

The admissions office does not foresee any increase in out-of-state admission rates for Tech.

“We feel like we are getting about the level of out-of-state response that we can expect unless we do begin to be able to provide cheaper deals for them,” Widner said. Outof-state tuition at Tech is $18,789 plus $2,036 in fees.

If the bill passes, Widner said that Tech is not worried about reaching across the country for students.

“We work very hard to increase our visibility as an option for

out-of-state students,” Widner said. “We’re not nearly as well known out of the state and the immediate neighbor states of Virginia as we would like to be so we’re always interested in increasing the awareness of the high level of academic programs that we have.”

Schools in Virginia are all along the spectrum of in-state and out-of-state admittance.

Christopher Newport University had a 95 percent in-state rate for the fall 2008 semester.

Similarly, Radford University’s fall 2008 semester undergraduate student body was composed of 93 percent in-state students.

At the other extreme, Virginia Military Institute is currently composed of 40 percent out-of-state students, but the bill excludes VMI from the requirements because of its special pool of applicants.

“VMI is recognized by the legislature that we have an admission that does extend the borders of Virginia,” said Stewart MacInnis VMI spokesman.

“It’s a different kind of application and to get to an appropriate number with the academic credentials, we do need to go out of state.”

The Budget Bill passed through the House and awaits passage through the Senate.

$9,915 in the 2000-01 academic year. Steger explained how tuition costs must rise to offset the loss.

Despite all this, the university has done much to streamline programs and manage costs. In fact, over the last nine years, Tech has actually lowered the average cost of instruction per student from $10,424 to $9,849, adjusted for inflation.

“There are not many companies that could show that level of efficiency,” Steger said.

At this stage, there are plenty of unknowns. Despite the passage of the federal stimulus bill, the rules for the distribution of stimulus money are still in formulation. “A lot of it we do not know. It changes every hour or two,” Steger said.

Besides that, since Kaine’s last budget projection, Virginia has revealed $800 million more in shortfalls than previously expected. The state revenue forecast will have to be revised, and any change will likely be for the worse. “Even if everything works, the economy is going to go downhill before it goes uphill,” Steger said.

University Senior Vice President and Provost Mark McNamee outlined several actions the university has taken to address the state’s budget cuts. For the 2009-10 academic year, Tech is planning for permanent general fund reductions of 5 percent of internal allocated budgets.

In terms of the university’s strategy for positioning itself in the long-term, McNamee emphasized the need to evaluate permanent changes in the size and scope of all programs; any administrative activity not essential to fulfilling core missions “could be evaluated for reductions in scale or even elimination,” McNamee said. “You have to think long-term.”

Other key points included the decision to continue to offer undergraduate degrees only on the Blacksburg campus, and evaluating how to make off-campus graduate programs cost-neutral or even revenue-generating, with the overriding theme that all colleges should immediately begin to explore ways to maximize efficiency without losing long-term flexibility.

“If they’re not essential ... or they’re not going to be competitive, we have to look at those carefully and decide if we can afford to keep doing them,” McNamee said.

However, McNamee laid out several principles by which the university will conduct itself despite the current budgetary problems.

“We will continue to honor the practice of not terminating any untenured, tenure-track faculty members for budgetary reasons.

We think this would be a horrible practice, and almost irrecoverable in terms of reputation of the university,” McNamee said. “Even though they don’ t have a legal contract to stay here indefinitely, we certainly will not take that step.”

“Unlike some universities, we have not handed down across-the-board mandates on what they can and can’t do; we’re just asking people to use common sense and try to conserve resources wherever possible,” McNamee said.

In addition, promotion adjustments for faculty will be awarded next fiscal year.

McNamee also recognized the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences for being the only college that had been considering major structural and programmatic changes. “So for that area where they need some flexibility, we are going to give them the option to consider some

retirement incentive items.”

CLAHS contains the only senior management area that will be allowed to use a retirement incentive program. No across-the-board hiring freeze will be implemented.

“A hiring freeze simply is not strategic, so we’re not doing that,” McNamee said.

However, vacant positions in most senior areas will not be able to be filled until the situation improves, and some focus programs may face elimination or reduction.

“We’re looking carefully to see what the impact of those reductions will look like,” McNamee said.

“We’re seeing evidence that a number of sections and classroom seats are at risk in the budget reduction plans ... These budget reductions of this scale, combined with previous reductions, have serious implications for what the university needs to do and wants to do,” McNamee said.

However, the university is also looking into reinvestments to help future growth. New majors and programs, such as new sustainability programs, are in consideration.

One example is the potential for a new sustainability minor in response to vocal support from students on the issue, and possibly other new undergraduate degrees. McNamee also mentioned increased pre-college outreach, support for the Arts Initiative and the Task Force on Race and the Institution, as well as the creation of a Master’s of Public Health degree.

The state has allowed the university to mark certain items as mandatory expenditures, exempting them from reductions. Looking at the part of the education and general budget that can be reduced brings a $26.2 million reduction from an 8.3 percent to a 5 percent loss. The disparity also reflects the “impact of central actions we’ve taken to try to reduce the impact on campus,” Shelton said.

Despite a certain degree of reluctance, research institutes will also take reductions, just as all other parts of instruction and academic programs.

The governor’s budget was submitted on Dec. 17. The General Assembly is in session, working on the budget. They are scheduled to conclude the session by the end of February.

“They are currently still in session, working on the budget, and things are changing as we hear even today,” Shelton said. “We’re not certain if they’re really going to make that, but that is the plan right now.”

“We’re just received the e-mails this morning (that) the state is looking to the federal stimulus money as a way to enhance our education or maybe offset some of the reductions,” Shelton said.

“As a result, we normally set tuition and fees shortly after the general assembly session is over; we’re not sure if we’re going to be able to do that in quite that time frame this year because of the uncertainty of what’s going on in Richmond and what they’ll finally say with the budget,” Shelton said.

“Our number one priority ... is to protect the core academic programs and the integrity and quality of those programs, so all of the reductions that we’re going to take and how we’re going to have to reallocate money are all going to be designed to try to protect those elements.”

Decisions on tuition are now to be delayed into the spring, along with any budget decisions.

“I would say the prospects are very good that the institution is still

going to be a very good value for its students and one that’s going to increase in value in the following years,” Shelton said.

In keeping with the “town hall” format, Steger followed up the presentation by accepting questions and comments from the audience. He received varied responses.

“I absolutely thank you for all the hard work ... it’s a huge amount of work, I could imagine, the nights you stayed up, so I thank you for doing that,” said chemistry professor David Kingston.

“Thank you for noting that the library is possibly going to be exempt from any cuts. I do want to put forward strong support for the library,” Kingston said. “Of all the institutions ... the library is one of the least funded. Further cuts for the library would really hurt the research and departments, as well as their teaching.”

Patricia Hyer, associate provost for academic administration shared the “stress that’s going on in some of the departments,” particularly with deans’ budget reduction plans that are, for the moment, unable to go forward.

Hyer also noted the lack of efficiency in terms of energy. “I have no idea what we’re doing on that score to control our energy costs,” Hyer said.

“All the new buildings are going to be leading-edge, energy designed,” Steger said. However, he noted that over last year, just the cost of coal has gone up $3.8 million. The university consumes 240,000 tons of coal each year. “We need to do a lot of things,” Steger admitted.

He noted energy-efficient, automated lighting as a good starting point, and the university is looking into this.

Nabil Hamdan, a mechanical contractor performing renovations on the campus, agreed.

“It does annoy me a lot to see the energy that we do waste here,” Hamdan said. “It’s crazy that we’re such a wonderful engineering school with such brilliant minds, and the lights are on in the bathroom, or you’re running the air conditioning in the middle of wintertime,” Hamdan said.

“In the current environment with the 5 percent cut, we’re finding most units are going to be right at the edge, but most units are going to be handling this either through not filling vacant positions, taking rate of the natural attrition that occurs ... or in some cases, very selective personnel actions where they’re changing the program,” McNamee said.

“If things were to get dramatically worse, we’d have to go back and look at a whole range of things, but as of now, we’re looking opportunistically at the openings that occur to save the amount of money we need to save.”

After the meeting, most attendees seemed pleased with the presentation. “They did a really good job. It’s a tremendous amount of information, and I thought they hit the important points,” said Sue Rowlands, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

“The university will come out fine,” said Irene Leech, associate professor in the department of apparel, housing & resource management.

“The areas that they find to be key are going to be fine. It’s those of us who are in a position that they’ve decided we aren’t as key anymore; we’re the ones who are going to not survive it quite so well.”

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opinions 3

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

february 19, 2009

EDITORIAL

University makes good decision by canceling classes on April 16 Last Friday, Virginia Tech students received an e-mail from the university indicating that classes will be canceled on the anniversary of April 16 through 2010. Given that April 16, 2011 falls on a Saturday, classes will resume the following year in 2012. The University Steering Committee recommended the cancellation of classes, and Senior Vice President and Provost Mark McNamee and President Charles Steger accepted the recommendation.

This decision comes weeks after the CT published the story, “Class will be in session on April 16, 2009” (CT, Jan 26), in which Owczarski said scheduling issues prevented the university from easily adding a student holiday. The fact that academic calendars are created five years in advance made changes to the schedule difficult.

While some students hold the belief that the best way to honor those that died in 2007 is to continue life as usual, others felt that holding class on April 16 in the coming years would be disrespectful.

The CT editorial board had recently suggested that classes should be canceled on the anniversary of April 16, at least until the youngest class of students present on Tech’s campus when the shootings occurred, have graduated.

While the events of that day touched all of us, regardless of whether we were students on campus at the time; those of us who were here have especially vivid memories of that day.

It would be very difficult for some of us who were freshmen and sophomores in 2007 to take a test on that day or attend class with memories so fresh in our minds.

For us as students, the news

that classes will not be held on the anniversary of April 16 in the coming years comes much more as a relief than an excitement. Hopefully students don’t look at the situation as just another day off from school, but rather a chance to reflect and commemorate the lives so tragically lost on our campus.

We’re especially thankful that the e-mail from the university received on Friday recognized that so many individuals on this campus are not ready to resume regular classes on that day, a departure from their previous steadfast devotion to the university calendar which was supposedly set in stone.

For many of us, the university’s assertion that changing the schedule would be just too difficult struck a nerve. Obviously changing the calendar is inconvenient and nothing we could have predicted — but then again,the events of April 16 also came as a devastating shock. When something of such epic proportion occurs on our campus, all rules regarding convenience are put aside.

It’s important to do what’s best for the students and faculty. Obviously the university thought long and hard about whether continuing on with classes would be the best way to go along with life as usual, emphasizing our commitment to education. However, ultimately we appreciate the administration’s decision to heed the advice of the steering committee.

Hopefully students will use their day off from classes this April to celebrate the lives of those lost as they see fit.

Considering creationism offers interesting insight BURKE THOMAS regular columnist The anniversary of Darwin’s birth occasions an examination of evolution’s ideological counterpart: creationism. Creationism is the view that the Bible is literally true and humans and the universe were created by God within the past 10,000 years.

Interestingly, a significant part of the history of creationism occurred on Virginia Tech’s campus. I’ll start with a description of Tech’s involvement in the issue, then move onto a scientific critique of creationist arguments.

The world’s most famous creation scientist, Dr. Henry M. Morris (1918-2006) chaired Tech’s Civil Engineering Department for 13 years and was ultimately forced out in part for his creationist views. In his thorough “A History of Modern Creationism,” available in Tech’s Special Collections, the perpetually upbeat Morris traces the evolution of creationism.

Many scientists were creationists before Darwin; after Darwin, many scientists became evolutionists. The 1926 Scopes trial dismantled creationism until 1961 when Morris, while at Virginia Tech, co-authored “The Genesis Flood,” which was probably the most influential book on creationism ever written. It helped shift the field away from theology and toward “scientific creationism.”

The skirmishes between creationism and evolution from a creationists’ perspective are fascinating to follow.

By Morris’ account, Darwin was a pagan, the Scopes and all other trials were biased and evolution is against Christ.

Morris’ involvement in the creation movement was derided on campus, and in the late 1960s he became involved in a power play with his dean and President Hahn. Morris writes that he was forced out of

Tech in 1970 partly because of his creationist views. Furthermore, the entire department of civil engineering faculty petitioned the dean to reinstate Morris.

After his dismissal, Morris remained the leading creationist figure for decades. He founded the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, an accrediting body, so that he could accredit his own Institute for Creation Research in California.

The agencies he founded are still the primary vehicles for advancement of creation science.

After his death, the ICR moved to Texas, which refused to accredit the school’s online master’s degree in science education. His son, John Morris, received his undergraduate degree in civil engineering at Tech and became President of the ICR after his father.

Having ventured through Tech in our journey through the history of creationism, we can now visit the current scientific arguments.

Basically, evolutionary biologists continually refute creationist positions, and then creationism changes its arguments and jargon; creation science (1970s), intelligent design (2000s), strengths and weaknesses (now).

Trial after trial has handily disposed of creationism as a religious affront to the separation of church and state.

The most recent, Kitzmiller v. Dover, ruled in 2005 that intelligent design “is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory.”

But there is one area where science, courts, legislators and schools cannot tread. Creationism can dismiss overwhelming evolutionary evidence as against God or “satanic,” as portrayed in the 2006 film “Jesus Camp.”

Well-meaning but ill-informed people have created a community with its own unaccredited degrees, unreviewed journals and failing printing press (Creation-Life

Publishers). You can compare this with a few of the organizations who support evolution, including the Smithsonian Institution, American Institute of Biological Sciences and the American Geological Institute.

The National Academy of Sciences states its position on creationists succinctly: “no scientific evidence supports (their) viewpoints.”

Even the Vatican supports evolution.

Creationism has succeeded in disseminating widespread confusion, as demonstrated by a recent Gallup poll. When respondents were asked whether they believed “Evolution, that is, the idea that human beings developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life,” 53 percent agreed. Yet when asked about “Creationism, that is, the idea that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years,” 66 percent agreed.

Faith is reserved for those questions that do not have provable answers.

Faith does not extend to believing an ideology despite all evidence.

Belief in creationism should not be conflated with belief in Christ.

Interestingly, Darwin himself opined in his masterpiece that ancient life was originally formed by a “Creator.”

However, such speculation is beyond the realm of science.

Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould put it well: “We misidentify the protagonists of this battle in the worst possible way when we depict evolution versus creationism as a major skirmish in a general war between science and religion. Almost all scientists and almost all religious leaders have joined forces on the same side — against the creationists.”

Morris is still remembered fondly nearly 40 years after his dismissal.

Ironically, the notable scientist let his religion cloud his objectivity.

Scientifically, creationism has always been vapid.

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 Will Thomas, Ryan Trapp, Gabe McVey Features Editor Bethany Buchanan Features Reporters Topher Forhecz, Teresa Tobat, Jonathan Yi, Mary Anne Carter Features Staff Writers Ryan Arnold, Alexander Pettingell, Drew Jackson, Tom Minogue 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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Lincoln is not quite the historical figure we all recognize him as After reading the opinions column “Remember to Honor Our First President this Week,” (CT, Feb. 17) I felt inspired to inform everyone of a problem that has faced America long before this current economic crisis and even before our struggle with terrorism (if you can still remember the bright days before Iraq and Afghanistan filled the news).

The article, and Americans in general, tend to view Lincoln as a mythical figure who liberated African Americans from slavery and, in the words of the author, provided “an ultimate successful solution” to the issue. And while Lincoln was a liberator, few know it was more for strategic purposes and that Lincoln was not ending slavery because he felt it was morally objectionable.

And while it was a solution, few care to recognize that his solution was far from successful.

A successful solution would’ve been complete integration into society and the American economic machine that had been partially built by the textile industry and its vast use of slave labor. Rather, they

were largely ignored and blocked from both institutions for another hundred years. When African Americans were finally given the same liberties as everyone else, they were never given the means to use those liberties (nobody will give impoverished people the kind of loan necessary to build a life or further your education, much less a job that doesn’t pay minimum wage or even job training to get such a better job) necessary to rise out of poverty. But since we now have equal liberties, people somehow feel it right to judge people for their situations rather than simply viewing them as the unfortunate product of a generation of poverty that the past institutions of America put them in and that our current institutions enable.

Let’s hope President Obama lives up to his image and makes the ideals of racial justice and equality we project onto Lincoln a reality. And before you make ill-informed value judgments about other people and their situations, take some advice offered in the same vein as CT columnist Bakar O. Bey: Don’t hate, relate.

Shane Stephenson Junior, Mathematics

Your letter could be here.

E-mail us at: opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com

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

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On second glance, the Amethyst Initiative makes little sense LIZA ROESCH regular columnist In July 2008, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger joined 133 other college presidents and chancellors across the country when he signed the Amethyst Initiative, an association promoting reconsideration of the legal drinking age in America with hopes of lowering it from 21 to 18. When I initially heard about this group, my reaction was that of a typical college student — excitement. Since then, however, I’ve realized that even if Congress took the idea of lowering the drinking age seriously, the logic behind this movement is terribly flawed. And downright dangerous.

According to the Amethyst Initiative’s Web site, it doesn’t necessarily support a specific policy change. Instead, it says the organization calls upon “elected officials to weigh all the consequences of current alcohol policies and to invite new ideas on how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use.”

Sounds legitimate enough. Making good decisions about alcohol use isn’t something anyone is going to argue against. But then its Web site goes on to stress that an epidemic of dangerous binge-drinking runs rampant on college campuses, and 134 college presidents believe that’s reason enough to rethink the drinking age.

The whole idea makes me think of getting a driver’s license. If we compare the two situations, it makes no sense to grant someone a license if they haven’t passed the learner’s permit test.

I certainly don’t want to be on the road with people who can’t identify what a red octagon means. So why should young people be rewarded with a lower

drinking age when we haven’t proved ourselves responsible enough to drink at age 18? We shouldn’t be granted the privilege of drinking simply because we’ve demonstrated we can’t handle it when it’s illegal. Furthermore, I’m not impressed by 134 college presidents agreeing on anything. Considering the random assortment of schools listed, with signatories ranging from the giant University of Maryland at College Park to the almost unheard of Kapiolani Community College, it’s obvious that the head of almost every higher learning institution in America was approached and asked to sign.

According to data provided by the Digest of Educational Statistics in 2005, that would include 2,533 four-year colleges and universities and 1,683 two-year schools. If anywhere near that number of people were asked to sign, 134 is not an impressive number by any means. In fact, a statistic that should speak volumes is the number of presidents who chose not to sign.

People also seem to overlook the fact that college campuses aren’t the only place in America where we find 18 to 20 year olds. Most people are still in high school when they turn 18. Not only does that diminish the significance of 134 college presidents’ opinions, it shows that legislation allowing 18-yearolds to drink would simply reassign the problem to high school principals and parents of young teenagers. As widespread as alcohol already is in high school, if 18-year-olds were allowed to drink, there’s no doubt it would increase.

That consequence is especially alarming when we consider that those who start drinking before they turn 15 are four times more likely to become dependent on alcohol than people who wait until

they turn 21.

Many people who support the Amethyst Initiative point out that if 18year-olds are capable of voting, serving on juries, entering into contracts and serving in the military, they should be able to order a drink. While that’s a valid point, none of those activities can hinder brain development as excessive alcohol use can. And rewarding immature behavior with more freedom doesn’t seem like the solution we need — especially when other people’s health and safety are put at risk.

Supporters of the initiative also point to countries around the world and their lower numbers of alcohol-related deaths as a reason to lower the drinking age here. The truth is, you can find data supporting both sides of that argument.

And in comparison to American teens, a greater percentage of teenagers in most European countries report binge drinking in the past month.

It’s also worth mentioning that with the current drinking age at 21, college students are wary to seek medical attention for alcohol-related injuries and ailments because they’re afraid of getting in trouble. If anything needs reconsidering, it’s the communication between hospitals, law enforcement and college officials and the punishments that stem from trying to save a life.

I know this opinion isn’t common among college students, but I’m not entirely against lowering the drinking age. I just don’t think the logic behind this initiative is one we should use to change any law. We don’t legalize immoral acts on the grounds that they’ll happen either way. And while lowering the drinking age means the number of illegal acts will decrease, it doesn’t mean the number of reckless ones will.

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february 19, 2009

How to turn childhood memories into sweater Getting dressed in the morning is always a struggle, particularly when I find myself having to pry open my dresser drawers and sift through the MARY ANNE colossal mound of outgrown, outdated CARTER and out-of-style Tfeatures shirts. Unable to face reporter the guilt of throwing away these relics of my childhood and even more unable to face the shame of actually wearing them, the pile sits undisturbed, malignantly dominating valuable space in my dresser.

Determined DIY to conquer my ^^Choose an old sentimental T-shirt to use. fear of being consumed by the heap and the memories tied to it, I sift through the slew of cross country shirts from high school, free T-shirts from every Virginia Tech event, and hand-painted disasters from summer camp to find a few jewels: a majestic unicorn shirt from the thrift store, a cutesy kitten shirt from elementary school, and a cosmic sea manatee shirt from a family vacation to Florida. Overly cheerful and mildly creepy, the graphics are perfect material for my next project: an ’80sinspired crew neck animal sweatshirt that, by achieving every fashion faux pas, is “so bad it is good.” Armed with a fluorescent sweatshirt, glitter glue, puff paint and an awesomely bad tee, I have the recipe for success.

Things You’ll Need MATERIALS: -One crew neck sweatshirt: there are always plenty at the thrift store, but for the less thrift savvy, Wal-Mart will do.

- One old graphic tee: any size - Puff paint: any color - Gold glittery fabric paint - Small paintbrush - Fabric glue COST: - Free if you have the items lying around the house, but up to $10 if you have to start from scratch

^^Arrange the graphics onto the new crew neck sweater.

Step One: Carefully cut out the graphic or graphics from your T-shirt. I chose one with a number of different animals, but you can just as easily use one with a single graphic or combine two shirts. ^^Glue on and outline the graphics in colored puff paint.

Arrange the graphics on your sweatshirt and glue down using a thin layer of glue (applied best with a paintbrush), thoroughly covering the back of the graphic.

StepTwo: (Optional) Apply a thin layer of glitter paint on your graphic. I chose only certain parts to glitter, but it is up to you.

Step Three: Outline your graphics with puff paint to give them the ultimate ’80s flair.

Step Four: Let dry for about 12 hours.

As evidenced by the amount of glittery paint that still covers my pants, computer, couch and roommates, this step should not be taken lightly, no matter how excited you are to model your creation.

Style Tips: Because of the kitschy, cute nature of this piece, I advise wearing it with something of contrast. For girls, pair it with ultra skinny jeans or just tights and leather boots with bold accessories: a metallic headband, black nail polish and over-the-top earrings.

For guys, throw on some slim fitting jeans, Keds or boots, and just wait for the flocks of girls to be impressed by ^^Try wearing your new creation with skinny jeans and boots. your seemingly sweet side.

‘Existence’ to reignite fallen fans After the monumental post-hardcore triumph Thursday had formed with albums “Full Collapse” and “War All the JONATHAN Time,” all the subsequent mediocre YI crop bands found features it acceptable to reporter follow. Nearly a decade under the influence, posthardcore was sanctioned and fashioned for a second coming with acts such as Glassjaw and At the Drive-In. It seemed that Thursday would never make a bad record, but as we turned into CD REVIEW a new era of music, their 2006 release, “A City by the Light Divided,” was clearly a multifarious experimental departure from anything we had ever heard before.

Perhaps it was to appeal to the levelheaded or it was what they wanted us to hear. Either way, it was clear there was very little middle ground reception. Singer Geoff Rickly’s extensive health problems had the band fatigued, and even worse, disenchanted.

Its fifth and latest release, “Common Existence,” revisits Thursday’s signature sound. In stores this week, “Common Existence” is Thursday’s first release on Epitaph Records.

“It’s a great feeling to have a label encourage you to be more socially conscious and politically active,” Rickly said.

But the recycling of producer Dave Fridmann, who created their previous record, had many fans suspicious.

When the Jersey natives revisit their home turf, their primary goal is to

keep away the being ordinary. For the most part, “Common Existence” instills a sense of urgency and holds hints of ethereal echoes of yesterday’s powerlessness. Still, they haven’t lost any touch of intricate guitar, eloquent song structure or their ability to hypnotize.

“Common Existence” opens with “Resuscitation of a Dead Man” and shows that the band isn’t going to hesitate to pull the trigger. The first track features Tim McIlwraith of Rise Against and sets the tone for the rest of the album.

“We could be the heartbeat of everything nine-tenths collapsed come back to life, we could be the breath of air just get to the lungs of the dying, can you feel a pulse — it’s been stopped for so long. Can you start it?

Can you feel a pulse? It’s been stopped for so long, let’s restart it with a gentle hand, with a thousand voices, with a single word,” Rickly assures.

They take no prisoners. The song is about a personal experience Rickly had with a soldier serving in Iraq.

It was inspired by conversations with their family members and is about a shift of perspective when it comes to wrong and right. Conveniently, the lyrics provide a reasonable context of Thursday’s current dilemma.

Can they start their pulse?

One of the strongest tracks on the record, “Time’s Arrow,” is an expressive and experimental asterisk in comparison to the rest of the record.

A simple acoustic melody shifts into a Circa Survive/Muse type of multicolored, psychotropic flow. This song sets itself apart and easily stands as a portal to a new sound. I suppose posthardcore and ambient music is terrain yet to be entirely conquered.

“Doctor comes off the street, stitch gets pulled out audibly, mothers fall

down in their seat, I can see time’s arrow turning back to me, children getting light disappear into a sign, we’ll rise like snowflakes in the sky tonight,” Rickly sings.

Old-school Thursday fans as well as newcomers can appreciate “Common Existence” . The band’s musical creativity has expanded into a surprisingly coherent facet. Its latest release is proof that the label’s advice has channeled into its tunes — in a complex and condemning fashion, of course. It seems now Thursday has looked past its faults and its comeback is bigger than ever. Buried by an aura of ambient guitar spectrums and screams, “Common Existence” visibly continues the development of post-hardcore and gives the old timers a sigh of relief. Those who wrote Thursday off may be coming back for a permanent second helping.

Grade: A You might also like...

POSION THE WELL “Versions”

THRICE “Vheissu”

CIRCA SURVIVE “On Letting Go”

THE MARS VOLTA “De-Loused in the Comatorium”

SPARTA “Threes”

A few things to keep in mind before the next trip to the gym Virginia Tech’s campus is littered with young, vibrant minds.

More often than not these minds are accompanied by well-maintained RYAN physiques. I greatly ARNOLD appreciate this staff whenever I happen writer upon current statistics outlining U.S. obesity rates. According to research conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007, Virginia’s obesity rate was 24.3 percent; Colorado was the only COMMENT state to weigh in under 20 percent. Obesity is the extreme; nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are considered overweight.

Regardless of this disconcerting data, I remain optimistic for physical fitness as an employee of War Memorial Hall.

The facilities at War Memorial Hall are heavily frequented by students and faculty alike. Every day that I’m on the clock, I observe innumerable bodies putting forth vehement efforts to increase strength and endurance; the scene is candidly inspiring. Still, a shift hardly passes tranquilly. Consistently, there will be at least one argumentative exchange with a patron who finds fault in a gym policy. Consistently, these patrons’ complaints are inane.

For example, we uphold a strict towel policy in the weight room. With rising national concern about the spread of the skin infection MRSA — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (wicked Google images) — we urge patrons to avoid direct contact with

machines by utilizing a towel. Feigning oblivion to this rule, patrons attempt to stroll past student monitors. When we insist they acquire a towel, often we’ll hear an annoyed response similar to, “How was I supposed to know? It’s ridiculous that you won’t let me work out.”

Well, this rule is in no way new; it’s archaic, in fact. Also, the rule is so well advertised. Pinned above the door, a giant towel is labeled in massive typeface: “A towel is required in this area.”

If that is miraculously overlooked by someone’s Helen-Keller-like vision, they can then physically collide with a nearly 4-foot-tall, wooden A-frame displaying a red STOP sign. This sign again reminds the deviant about towels.

“But what about...?”

There are no exceptions. You can’t use a dirty hooded sweatshirt. You can’t share a towel with a friend — that is disturbing by principle.

Another requirement is appropriate athletic apparel. This might include common items such as, say, mesh shorts and a T-shirt. Occasionally, though, someone will stride through the door in jeans. When turned away, the patron is frequently upset.

“I’d have to go all the way home to change!”

The best explanation I’ve heard for this fashion is that it helps prevent MRSA. That’s not bad logic, though we’ve covered the issue with the aforementioned towels. Further, what rational person voluntarily exercises in the restraint of denim? Levi Boot Cut 517s aren’t meant for marathons. Wranglers and sweat should really only collide on construction sites. Those dudes need the safety factor; you don’t.

The most striking fallacy of late involved tennis shoes, or the lack thereof. I strolled down the weight room’s center aisle, and as I approached the occupied squat rack, I noticed one of the partners donning only two bare, bright white socks. I nearly laughed it was so outrageous. I quickly explained that shoes are required and that he needed to slip on his Pumas. He was sincerely surprised by this request.

“But I squat better without them.”

I shared with him the liability risks of free weights falling on free feet.

“The weight could fall on my foot if I had a shoe on anyway.”

I pondered this paradox; it seemed very foolish. It’s like he was arguing the disadvantage of wearing a cup against a steroid-fueled Roger Clemens fastball to the groin. I suspect the results of such a horror would be excruciating either way, but I’d like to give my bits a fighting chance. Eventually he obliged and laced up his kicks.

So a quick recap: towels, shorts and shoes. These requests seem awfully manageable; we’re not asking for your organs. Even so, some patrons still attempt to manipulate the few simple policies we maintain. My main grief in this diatribe is that when confronted, patrons’ animosity usually isolates the student employee. I find it regrettable that we are often labeled the culpable party, and I implore all patrons to be more empathetic. We are simply the enforcers of policy, not the creators. We know our job isn’t wildly complex, but we choose to take pride in the modest responsibilities assigned us. If you find yourself so floored by the gym canons, we’ll kindly direct you to those holding the gavel. Let me know if you get their sympathy.

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february 19, 2009

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february 19, 2009

Florida’s Hosley a catch for Tech RAY NIMMO

ct sports reporter How does a second coming of Brandon Flowers sound?

With the recruitment and signing of cornerback/kick returner Jayron Hosley, that is what some are saying.

The Virginia Tech defense appears to be set at cornerback for another four years.

Hosley, who stands 5’11” and weighs 180 pounds, comes from Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach, Fla., the same high school former Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers attended.

It is no coincidence that both are Hokies.

“Brandon brought (Hosley) up by himself,” said Tech defensive backs coach Torrian Gray. “From a personnel standpoint, Brandon was always sharp.

He would tell me, ‘Coach, you have got to recruit this guy.’”

Flowers told Gray that Hosley is basically a mirror image of himself, except faster.

“That’s a heck of a compliment coming from a player like him (Flowers),” Gray said. “If Hosley can be anywhere close to that, we will be than pleased HOSLEY more with him here.”

“Brandon and I have similar playing styles,” Hosley said.

“To hear him comparing me to him at the level he is at, I think that’s great.”

Tech was late to recruit Hosley, joining the pursuit in January, but it didn’t matter. Hosley had been waiting for Tech for a while.

“I wanted a Virginia Tech offer,” Hosley said. “If I got an offer from them, that’s where I was going. After my visit, it sealed the deal. They showed me around campus and the area. It’s a nice campus with the scene. The locker room was nice and the facilities were really good. The coaches were really down to earth and the players were really cool.”

On Feb. 6, Hosley finally made his commitment to the Hokies. With spring camps just around the corner, what can the Hokie nation expect from the incoming freshman?

“He’s an explosive player,” said Santaluces Community’s Paul Meunier, who coaches Atlantic’s rival football squad. “We were always cognizant of where he was. On special teams we tried to kick away from him because of that explosiveness.”

“He has the tools to be very good,” Gray said. “He has instinct and playmaking ability that will be a real asset to us.”

With the Beamerball philosophy of

Smith swims into the Hokie record books JUSTIN COCCHIOLA

ct sports staff writer

JIM RASSOL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL

Jayron Hosley rises up for the ball, giving possesion back to Atlantic High. score on offense, defense and special teams, Hosley will fit right in.

“He had a lot of long plays and interceptions,” Gray said. “The ball seemed to be a magnet to him. The ball just seems to find this guy.”

When at cornerback, Hosley doesn’t necessarily feel he is on defense.

“I always like to have the ball,” Hosley said. “When the ball is in the air, it’s anybody’s ball.”

Hosley enjoys playing his part and being a good teammate — no unnecessary flashy moves after a play.

“I’m a laid-back player that likes to be aggressive,” Hosley said. “Not so much an angry player. I just like to make plays.”

That kind of attitude stems from Hosley’s family life. He is extremely close with his family, and he said the trip to Virginia from Florida won’t change anything.

“My family is number one for me,” Hosley said. “They keep me focused and I like to spend time with them.

We are going to stay in contact and talk every week. It won’t be too hard knowing they are behind me.”

The coaching staff also noticed this connection.

“The kid is very close with his family,” Gray said. “I was impressed with how

tight-knit they were.”

Hosley will quickly become acquainted with the intensity of college level football. The speed and complexity of the game is something both Gray and Meunier agree will be Hosley’s biggest challenge as he makes the transition to Division I football.

“For any high school player, the toughest task is adjusting to the speed of the game,” Meunier said. “Even playing in the speed of varsity football here in south Florida wasn’t enough.” “(First-year production) will depend on how well he can pick up the play book mentally and translate that onto the field,” Gray said.

Hosley knows the challenge ahead of him and is ready to start. “(I’ve got to) adapt to the college level, work hard and stay focused,” Hosley said. “I expect to be great and get better every year and be the top guy coming out of college to further my career.”

Expectations are something Hosley is ready to make a reality.

“It’s a really great defense now,” Hosley said. “I’m a good player coming in, and we have more good layers coming in, so we can be really great. We have great potential and I think we can win one, two or three (national championships).”

Recently Sara Smith added the title of Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmer of the Week to one of the best careers a Virginia Tech swimmer has ever had.

Smith, who is considered one of the ACC’s fastest, has been named an All-American, a three-time Academic All-American, as well as the 2007-08 ACC Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year in her four-year college career.

And there’s a good chance the senior will be adding more to this list — starting with this week’s ACC Championships SMITH in College Park, Md. Head swimming and diving coach Ned Skinner knew Smith possessed a rare talent coming out of high school, but didn’t see this coming.

“I had no idea, and you never do of how amazing someone’s going to become,” Skinner said. “I mean she really is a world-class swimmer.”

Smith’s main goal as an incoming freshman was to advance to the NCAA meet, which she achieved.

“I just wanted to be part of the team, and be a big factor on it,” the McGaheysville native said.

Now, four years into her collegiate career, Skinner feels that Smith is arguably one of the greatest swimmers he’s ever coached.

“She is an All-American, scoring in the top eight of a freestyle (event),” Skinner said. “She’s an ACC champion in two individual events, and she’s an incredibly talented relay swimmer, so she helps us in every relay that we do. She’s very versatile.”

Smith’s success failed to surprise senior captain Jordan McHorney.

“Sara has an unbelievable drive,” McHorney said. “She is so dedicated to everything she does and constantly works hard to achieve her goals. It’s not surprising she has done as well as she has. It is important to her, so she will do everything in her power to succeed.”

Smith participates in the sprint freestyle, the butterfly and the individual medley.

She’s also played a major role in her

Sara Smith Facts

05-06

Became the second Tech female swimmer to win an individual ACC championship after finishing first in the 200 individual medley Member of the All-ACC Academic team

06-07

Earned All-America honors in the 100-meter freestyle by placing seventh at the NCAA Championships Member of the All-ACC Academic team

07-08 08-09

Won the ACC’s Swimming and Diving ScholarAthlete of the Year award Member of the All-ACC Academic team Broke the 10-year-old conference record in the 50meter freestyle during the NCAA Championship preliminary round Set Tech records in the 200-meter medley relay, the 400-meter medley relay and in the 200 freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships Recorded the fastest time in ACC history in the 50 freestyle event Named ACC Swimmer of the Week on Jan. 27 ALEX FALLONS/COLLEGIATE TIMES

team’s relay success.

“Sara’s work ethic is impeccable., Skinner said. “She’s an incredibly driven person, and you don’t really run into people that driven.”

Smith spends about 20 hours a week swimming during the regular season and lifts three times a week as well.

“Working out is my life,” Smith said.

Smith’s dedication took her all the way to the Olympic trials last summer in Omaha, Neb., where she advanced to the semi-finals before she finished 11th — just missing the finals.

“I was pretty close to making the top eight,” Smith said. “I took that as one of the best experiences of my life. I really just tried to take in everything.”

Skinner feels Smith’s competitive spirit is her greatest attribute as a swimmer.

“Sara loves to win, loves to race and she’s not afraid of a challenge,” Skinner said. “She would swim

against a Dara Torres and not look at Torres and her entourage — as it were at the Olympic trials — and say, ‘Oh my gosh, that person’s going to destroy me.’ She’s going to say, ‘You know that’s the best, and I’m glad to have that challenge.’”

Smith has used her experience from the Olympic trials to better herself psychologically.

“I’ve learned not to get so nervous for a big meet,” Smith said. “I’m much calmer now.”

Although Smith came close to reaching the finals in the Olympic trials, she said it was a one-time deal, and expressed uncertainty about her future plans in swimming.

Smith is close to graduation and has applied to the veterinary school at Tech.

Whichever field she chooses, Smith’s resume can feature an impressive legacy in the Virginia Tech swim and dive program.

“Her determination to win is contagious throughout the team,” McHorney said.