An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
Thursday, August 27, 2009
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COLLEGIATETIMES 106th year, issue 74
News, page 2
Features, page 4
Opinions, page 5
H1N1 warnings continue
Classifieds, page 6
Sports, page 8
trading spaces
Swine and seasonal flu
BY GORDON B LOCK | news re porter
compared SYMPTOMS
MARK UMANSKY/SPPS
[SWINE]
Newly renovated Henderson Hall contains more education space for the theatre and performing arts department, as well as a new black box theatre.
chest pains, dizziness, confusion due to possible nerve damage includes all of the symptoms of seasonal flu
nausea, vomiting, fatigue, fever
AGE GROUPS infant-5, 18-25
[SEASONAL]
New spaces offer fresh opportunities
infants, 65-older
umerous programs are adjusting to new
DEATHS PER YEAR
homes on campus as classes resume.
[SWINE]
said to me, ‘It’s like we have a real department finally.’” In addition to the theatre and cinema department’s move
The most visible of these new homes are
into Henderson Hall, other programs are making their
522 deaths in U.S. in 2009
[SEASONAL] 36,000 per year in U.S., 1000 in Va.
COLLEGE-AGE STUDENTS NOW CONSIDERED SUSCEPTIBLE RILEY PRENDERGAST ct news reporter Seemingly every fall, college students are bombarded with information and mass e-mails on how to protect themselves in the face of the upcoming flu season. This year is no different. But it’s college students, not elderly adults, who are among the most vulnerable targets of this new strand — the H1N1 virus, informally known as “swine flu.” This particularly nasty variation targets children and young adults, ages 5-25, and can cause such symptoms as dizziness, confusion as a result of possible nerve damage and chest pains — the only factors that distinguish the H1N1 virus from a seasonal flu. Dr. X.J. Meng, professor of molecular virology, has studied the virus closely and specializes in viruses and diseases that can transfer between animals and humans. “When the outbreak first occurred in Mexico in April, there was a very high mortality rate of about 6 percent,” said Meng. “The death rate for the regular seasonal flu is about 1 in 1000 (0.1 percent).” 35,000 deaths per year in the U.S. are caused by the flu, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there are roughly 1,000 deaths per year in Virginia. “Most of these deaths are usually people who are 65 and older, which makes this virus even more unique with the age group it affects,” Meng said. “For some reason, the young people, ages 18-25 are very susceptible to the virus. A study by the CDC has shown that older people, ages 65 and older, already have an antibody against the H1N1 virus and that’s why we’re seeing more cases in younger people,” Meng said. “We are seeing that this fast-acting immune system is really doing more damage than good when it comes to this virus.” The CDC has reported this year’s strand of the H1N1 virus will not be as deadly as they had originally predicted. This is good news for students living on large college campuses that consist of many communal living spaces such as residence halls, dining halls and large lecture halls. Virginia Tech is not cutting any corners when it comes to taking all of the precautionary steps to preventing an outbreak. “We put together members of student affairs, the health center and emergency planning services to discuss options,” said Larry Hincker, university spokesman. “They have been an intricate part in deciding how the university would react in the event of an outbreak.” The group will assess the problem this flu season might cause and is addressing issues that infected students will face. “We are speaking with the academic departments in case students are too ill to attend class, and we are urging students to ask roommates to bring back food for them and avoid the dining halls,” said Mike Mulhare, director of emergency management. The vaccine for the H1N1 virus will not be available until mid-September, the start of the flu season. The vaccine will be made available to medical professionals who work with possibly infected patients, pregnant women, people with auto-immune diseases such as HIV, people with chronic asthma and very young children. “The university will probably not receive the vaccine until around October or November,” Meng said. “Students should still receive the seasonal flu shot so it will be very obvious if they have the H1N1 virus, because they are already immunized against the other.” Schiffert has already begun preparations for flu season by preparing flu packages for students who are confirmed to have the virus. These packages include a mask, tissues, hand sanitizers and pamphlets directing proper flu care. “One of the best ways to fight off the flu is with hand sanitizer and just simple soap and water,” Mulhare said. What is left for health centers now is to wait for the new vaccine’s trial results — and its ultimate cost — to be able to purchase the vaccine in bulk and distribute it to the students.
Lyric hosts Tucker Max screening GORDON BLOCK ct news reporter Author Tucker Max makes a stop at the Lyric in Blacksburg Thursday evening as part of a tour to promote his new film, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.” The movie is based on stories included in a book of the same name. A graduate of the University of Chicago MAX and Duke Law School, Max has also posted his writings on his Web site, TuckerMax.com. After the premiere of his movie at 7 p.m., Max will answer questions from the audience. Before his visit, he spoke with the Collegiate Times over the phone. Collegiate Times: What’s the best way to describe your new movie? Tucker Max: I think a good way to describe the movie is it’s a really funny, raunchy, plus heartfelt comedy.
[SEASONAL]
[SWINE]
Sudoku, page 6
the offices in the newly-renovated Henderson Hall. The
move to new locations, primarily New Hall West.
$11.6 million renovation project includes the new Black
The new residence hall now houses several branches of
Box Theatre, which is scheduled for a ribbon cutting cer-
student programs and administrative offices previously
emony for Oct. 30.
spread around campus.
Head of the Department of Theatre and Cinema Patty
“I think it’s a great opportunity for our departments to
Raun said the move from the Performing Arts Building,
work together,” said Vera Kidd, the chief of staff in the
which lacked both air conditioning and an elevator, to
Associate Vice President of Student Affairs’ office. “We’ve
Henderson Hall is going smoothly.
been geographically dispersed for our whole existence.”
“We’re not settled, but we’re moved in, and it’s just thrill-
One such program is the Office of Student Conduct, for-
ing,” Raun said. “It’s a wonderful facility. We’re excited to
merly known as the Office of Judicial Affairs. The program
use our new teaching space.”
had been situated in Dietrick Hall, next to DXpress.
Also moving into Henderson Hall are parts of the School of Visual Arts and the Department of Music.
“Our staff has grown over the past couple of years, but we haven’t been able to grow with that,” said Rohsaan Settle,
The Performing Arts Building has gone through numerous changes since its construction in 1899 for use by the YMCA. After the YMCA left the building in 1937, the
associate director of Student Conduct.
for DXpress in October. In addition to more office space, the program will now
year. The building then became known as the Student
have a new conference room. Previously, staff had to exit
Personnel Building in 1966 before it took on its current
the building and proceed through a laundry room to get
name in 1972.
to its conference space.
atre and performing arts department will still use the Performing Arts Building for certain rehearsals and performances.
“It felt a little weird,” Settle said. The extra office space will allow for the office’s staff to have better access to students. “This will give us private space to talk to students about
“We have expanded our offerings,” Raun said. “We’re pretty fully using both facilities.”
confidential issues,” Settle said. Settle hoped the new space would foster better com-
Raun added that she has received positive feedback on Henderson Hall from faculty in her department.
munication. “Instead of picking up a phone or e-mailing other offices,
“People are so excited,” Raun said. “One of our faculty
we can walk down the hall,” Settle said.
Desktop alert reaches campus SARA MITCHELL editor-in-chief Two weeks after it launched the VT Desktop Alert, the university is fielding inquiries from other universities for the new message alert system. The VT Desktop Alert, which can be downloaded on the Virginia Tech Web site, has been available since the tail end of the summer. Its developer, Carl Harris, describes it as a “little specialpurpose Web browser that goes and refreshes the content.” “That content normally doesn’t contain anything,” Harris said, “so when there’s an alert, it generates new content” in the form of an emergency message that fills up the screen. So far, the number of users is estimated between four and five thousand. Other institutions have followed Tech in the implementation of emergency alerts via e-mail and text messages, but Harris is not aware of any other universities with a desktop alert. Many
[
CT: The movie ties a lot of your favorite stories into the plotline. What was one of the stories you wanted to try to incorporate into this film but weren’t able to? TM: There’s a bunch that I wanted to make into a movie. CT: Any one in particular? TM: I mean, clearly the Vegas story would make an awesome movie, but that’s not in this at all. Clearly the butt sex story would be good in this movie, but that’s not in this at all. You just can’t put everything in one movie. You just kind of have to pick and choose. But, if this movie does as well as I think it will, then we’ll do sequels, and those stories will be put in.
The program’s old office space will change into a lounge
building was renamed as the Military Building that same
Despite the department’s change of address, the the-
CT: Do you think there are any movies that you would compare it to? TM: I’m telling you, almost everyone who has seen the movie has said, “I don’t know what to compare this to.” It’s very, very unique in so many ways. I personally would compare it to maybe “Office Space,” because that’s one of my favorite comedies of all time and definitely an influence to me in my writing style, but it’s not like that at all in almost any relevant way. It’s very, very different. It’s much edgier, much raunchier and much sharper in a lot of ways, not taking anything away from “Office Space.” It’s a brilliant movie, and (writer and director) Mike Judge is a genius. That’s the closest thing I could say, but it’s not even fair. You’re just going to have to see this movie. Just like my book, what book would you compare mine to? Really, people try to compare it to other books, but none of the comparisons really work, which is why the New York Times said I invented a new genre. I think the movie is kind of the same thing. It’s very, very different and new and fresh and raunchy.
on the web
Check out www.alerts.vt.edu for the VT Desktop Alert and other notifications.
]
have expressed interest in the program, including University of Virginia. “We have some who would like to license the software from us and use it themselves,” Harris said. “Another scenario would be to make it available through an open-source license. We haven’t really made any hard and fast decisions about that.” The university launched the alert Aug. 12 for the small audience of those on campus during the summer. The alert can be downloaded on the latest versions of Macintosh and Windows, and Harris said the number of expressed installation issues was minimal. A new version of VT Desktop Alerts that complies with Mac’s Snow Leopard software will be released this Friday in
conjunction with the software. This alert was also created with the intention of serving those outside of the Tech community, whereas text or e-mail messages were mainly intended for those on campus. Users in four countries have installed VT Desktop Alert. “In an emergency situation, there have always been a lot of people who would like to know,” said university spokesman Mark Owczarski. “Parents, alumni, people who are in the media … people would like to know.” The idea is that while a system such as the text alert could begin to slow down with increased participation, something like the desktop alert would not be affected by the number of users. Those who sign up for the desktop alert should receive any emergency message within five minutes. The VT Desktop Alert and the other notifications are available at www.alerts.vt.edu.
CT: But you are thinking sequels then? TM: Right now I’m thinking about this movie only. I think this is a great movie, and I think it’s going to do really well, because people will really like it, and it’s really funny. But it has to do well first. If it does well, then absolutely we’ll want to do more. CT: You’ve been doing this tour to promote your movie, but what kind of reaction have you been receiving? TM: People love it. It’s a really funny movie, and it’s a really good movie, and people are really reacting positively to it. CT: What did you think of seeing an on-screen version of yourself? TM: It was not quite as weird as you might think. It’s sort of like anything, if you do it enough, then you get used to it. I think that was the situation here. Plus, Matt (Czuchry) also did such an amazing job playing the Tucker Max character, that he took the character in new places. He was better at playing me than I am. He created something new, something that when I watch I don’t think that’s me, I think that’s someone that’s inspired by me. CT: You’re currently ranked 43rd on Time Magazine’s online list of the 100 most influential people. How does it feel to be ranked ahead of Brad Pitt, Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama and the Pope? TM: Well I mean, clearly that’s a little ridiculous, because I’m not more influential than the Pope, I’m not more influential than Hillary Clinton. To be totally honest, it’s just nice. I worked so long and so hard that it’s nice to even make the list. Just being nominated is enough for me. CT: You’ve been doing a lot of writing for your Web site and books. What kind of influences do you see in your writing? TM: The people that have influenced me most are John Kennedy Toole, who wrote the book, “Confederacy of Dunces,” which if you have not read, you totally should, it’s one of the best books ever written. Probably “Cyclops,” those are the two biggest books that have helped me figure out my own style. I started off imitating them, and it was really crappy. Any time you try to be someone else, it sucks. By doing that, I found my own style. CT: What is some advice you would give to somebody who’s aspiring to be a writer who wants to create their own voice? TM: The best advice I’ve ever gotten on being a writer is you should only be a writer if you feel like you have something you need to say. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Be raw, and authentic and honest, and that will come through in your writing, and people will respond. see MAX / page two
2 news
new river valley news editor: zach crizer university editor: philipp kotlaba newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
Max: ‘It should be a great time’
LooP In the
Wondering what's going on around the 'burg? Check out the events of the upcoming week.
Thursday, August 27
Sunday, August 30
What: Men's soccer club meeting When: 6 p.m. Where: Squires Colonial Cost: Free
What: Appalachian Clogging Lessons When: 3 p.m. Where: GLC Auditorium or Multipurpose room Cost: Free
What: New River Valley Bicycle Association Weekly Social Ride When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Meet at Pandapas pond upper parking lot Cost: Free
What: The Party Death When: 4 p.m. Where: Awful Arthur's Cost: Cover
Monday, August 31 Friday, August 28 What: Gobblerfest When: 2 p.m. to midnight Where: Squires Student Center Cost: Free What: Food, Inc. When: 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Where: The Lyric Cost: $5 What: DJ Williams Projekt When: 10 p.m. Where: Attitudes Cost: $7
Saturday, August 29 What: Red Cross Doggie Day When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Where: Historic Smithfield Plantation Cost: $3 per person, children under 5 and dogs are free What: The Mad Tea Party w/Lucy Heart Star and Slinky Cobblestone When: 8:30 p.m. Where: Sun Music Hall Cost: $7
What: SCUBA club meeting When: 5 p.m. Where: War Memorial room 5 Cost: Free
Tuesday, September 1 What: Jewelry Making Class (registration required) When: 5 p.m. Where: Beadsburg Cost: $10 plus cost of beads for design What: Champ's Running Club When: 5:30 p.m. Where: Champs Cost: Free
Wednesday, September 2 What: Alumni Association Student Party When: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Holtzman Alumni Center Cost: Free What: Wildlife Society Meeting When: 7 p.m. Where: 317B Cheatam Hall Cost: Free
from page one
CT: At some of your previous events, in particular your event at Ohio State, you’ve been protested by people who think your writing is offensive, sexually degrading, even promoting rape. How do you respond to claims like that? TM: It’s only happened once, and it’s happened in a place where people were trying to use me and my fame to promote their own agenda. It’s ridiculous, dude. I mean, maybe you can actually help me understand this, but I don’t know. I don’t know what book they’re reading, where they’re getting these ideas, but it’s clearly not mine. None of the stuff they’re writing about is in my books that I have wrote. CT: One sign from the protest I remember seeing was from the butt sex story, where you wrote, “I was going to videotape her without her consent.” I think that’s something people latched on to. TM: If you read the story, you know that’s taken completely out of context. The way they were trying to use that quote, they were trying to make it look like I was hooking up with her without her consent, which is preposterous. Granted, I didn’t tell her I was going to videotape her, and that was fucked up, that was wrong, and there’s no question that’s wrong. That’s a world away from assaulting someone. Not even within the discussion. CT: What would you say to someone who might be offended by writings and the works that you do? TM: Don’t read it! There’s a lot of stuff that offends me, and I don’t read it.
CT: A lot of your stories describe you meeting women in different places. Where do guys go wrong in pursuing women? TM: The thing I feel guys do wrong is that most guys think being cool is about wearing certain clothes, or saying certain things, or acting a certain way, and that’s all wrong. The definition of being cool is being comfortable with who you are. I know guys who are huge video game nerds who are really cool guys, because they just are who they are, they’re not trying to pretend to be something they’re not. That’s all I’ve ever been, is just myself, and that works out great for me. Most guys try to be someone else and that’s where they go wrong. They just need to be cool with who they are, whatever that is. CT: What’s something an average Tech student can take from your work? TM: There’s a lot to take. The big three things you should take are: One, it’s entertainment, so you should take it as humor, and laugh at it. Two, I think you should maybe take it as one guy’s set of life experiences, that I can learn from, the good and the bad. Third, a lot of college students get told they have to do the same thing everybody else does to succeed, go to the right schools and all that sort of stuff. I’m sure that it’s not true. Students can take a non-traditional path, and be very happy and do very well. CT: You’ve talked about college students going down the safe route. Why is it important for students to pursue different options? TM: It’s a good question. When you’re
young, you hardly know anything about the world. The way to learn is experience, and if you lock yourself down one path, and you never look anywhere else, you miss a lot of the diversity that goes on around the world, and you miss a lot of life. What I did, and what I think is a smart thing to do, is experience a lot of different things, and let yourself be open for a lot of different paths. If you do that, you can find the one that’s right for you, not the one that other people think you should be on. CT: How do you see yourself? Do you consider yourself to be a good person? TM: Of course! I don’t know anyone who consciously goes out and says,“I’m going to do bad things because I’m a bad person.” Of course I consider myself a good person. CT: So no regrets? TM: Hold on, those are very different questions. Of course I regret some things that I’ve done. There’s no way you can live life and take risks and not have regrets. Just because I regret certain actions doesn’t mean I think I’m a bad person. Everyone makes mistakes, just because you make a mistake doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, it just means you made a mistake. Maybe you’ll learn from it, but if you correct it, you can work from it. CT: So are you excited to come to Blacksburg? TM: Dude, of course. I’ve never been to Blacksburg, and I’ve always wanted to go, and I’m very excited. It should be a great time.
august 27, 2009
page 3
Health care industry contributes heavily to Blue Dogs, groups say HALIMAH ABDULLAH mcclatchy newspapers WASHINGTON — During the first half of the year, as the Obama administration and moderate and liberal factions within the Democratic Party wrangled over the timing, shape and cost of health care reform efforts, the party’s fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition pulled in $1.1 million in campaign contributions, according to watchdog organizations. More than half the amount came from the pharmaceutical, health care provider and insurance industries — and successfully delayed voting on overhaul proposals until the fall. The amount outstrips contributions to other congressional political action committees during the same period, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit watchdog organization. “The business community realizes
that (the Blue Dogs) are the linchpin and will become much more so as time goes on,” former Mississippi congressman turned lobbyist Mike Parker told the organization’s researchers. On average, Blue Dog Democrats net $62,650 more from the health sector than other Democrats. Hospitals and nursing homes alone gave them $5,680 and $5,550 more respectively, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks the influence of money in politics. The contributions came at a time when health care, insurance and pharmaceutical companies were mounting a campaign against a government-run public health insurance option, fearing cost controls and an impact on business. The Blue Dogs’ windfall also came at a time when the 52-member coalition flexed its muscle with both the White House and the Democratic leadership in the House
of Representatives as an increasingly influential bloc in the health care overhaul debate. At the same time, many Blue Dogs were also rubbing shoulders with health care and insurance industry executives and their lobbyists at fund-raising breakfasts and cocktail receptions that cost upward of $1,000 a plate, according to public information compiled by the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation, which advocates greater government transparency. Since 2008, more than half the Blue Dogs have either attended health care industry fundraising receptions or similar functions co-sponsored by lobbyists representing the health care and insurance industries. In June, as Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., who heads the coalition’s task force on health care, publicly expressed the Blue Dogs’ misgivings about the Democratic leadership’s efforts, the former pharmacy owner was feted
at a series of health care industry receptions. Ross has received nearly $1 million in campaign contributions from the insurance and health care industries over his five-term career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Calls to Ross’ office weren’t returned. That month, the American Medical Association, which lobbies for health care providers and is one of the top contributors to Blue Dogs, came out against a public option. House Republicans, however, tend to collect more than Democrats — including Blue Dogs — from insurers, health professionals and the broader health sector, the Center for Responsive Politics found. Many of the Blue Dogs hail from districts that are conservative-leaning and have sizable numbers of Republican voters. According to the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on government transpar-
ency, Blue Dogs often take positions that are favorable to the health care industry. During the 2008 cycle, members of the Blue Dog Coalition raised a combined $6.24 million from the health sector. The average contribution to a Blue Dog Democrat in the 2008 election cycle was slightly higher — $122,370 — than the average contribution to a non-coalition Democratic lawmaker — $116,748, according to the Sunlight Foundation. During the spring, the Blue Dog Coalition, which got its name when former Rep. Pete Geren, a Texas Democrat, said moderates had been “choked blue” by “extreme” Democrats from the left, met with the Obama administration and House leadership to discuss concerns about the tone and direction of health care efforts. The lawmakers, many of whom hail from the South and Midwest,
pushed “rural health equity” with higher reimbursement rates for physicians and hospitals in areas of the country that struggle to recruit and retain health care providers. The Blue Dogs were also very vocal in their subsequent complaints that House leadership wasn’t including the group in the legislation drafting process. Earlier this year, 45 Blue Dogs sent a terse letter to the Democratic chairmen of the Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, stating that the group felt minimized in the process, which is “especially concerning in light of the collaborative approach being taken by our Senate colleagues.” The coalition also sent the Democratic House leadership a letter stressing they would favor a public option only if industry reforms and greater competition don’t lead to lower costs.
In Kennedy’s death, some see hope on health care DAVID LIGHTMAN & MARGARET TALEV mcclatchy newspapers WASHINGTON — Securing universal health care coverage for Americans was a decades-long quest that eluded Sen. Edward Kennedy. In the wake of his death, however, several key Democrats on Wednesday saw a chance to break what’s become this year’s stalemate by invoking his legacy and last wishes. “In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform, which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American,” Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said in a statement. “The passion of his life was health care reform,” House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said. “Above all else he would want us to redouble our efforts to achieve it.”
However, it was also likely that without Kennedy, a deal would be even harder to get. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, who worked closely with Kennedy on education legislation in 2001, said last month that “the thing I got to learn about Ted Kennedy is that he’s a legislator. ... He wants to sit down and work out the details.” Boehner said there was “no question” Kennedy’s absence had affected the health care debate in Congress. “He would have been a big help, I think, to the president.” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who worked with Kennedy to expand children’s health coverage and who has broken with his own party on stemcell research issues, similarly recalled recently how he thought Kennedy would have handled the health care impasse. “The first thing he would have done would have been to call me and say, ‘Let’s work this out, and we would
work it out so that the best of both worlds would work,” Hatch said. The biggest impact of Kennedy’s death, however, could be on his fellow Democrats who are divided over whether to create a public option to compete with private insurance, expand regional health insurance cooperatives, resist both because of concerns about spending and the impact on the private sector or hold out for a single-payer system that Obama himself doesn’t support. “The message will be we’re doing it for the American people, which is why he wanted to get this done,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “In my view, he would not want this to be about him, it never was. It was about getting it done for the American people.” There was no universal agreement that a healthy Kennedy could have brought about a health-care compromise where the gulf between rival positions is enormous.
“Ted Kennedy over the years was never able to dominate that difficult issue,” said Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. Schier recounted that Kennedy had failed in his push for President Bill Clinton’s health care overhaul in 1993 and 1994. President Barack Obama, in the immediate hours after Kennedy’s death, chose not to speak publicly about the political next steps. White House aides declined to discuss any of the strategizing now going on within the president’s inner circle or the Democratic Party. Congressional Democrats said it wasn’t yet clear whether there would be a coordinated effort to invoke Kennedy or what, if any, role the Kennedy family would play in calling for unity and action on health care. However, a senior House aide, who wasn’t authorized to discuss strategy and spoke anonymously, predicted that Kennedy would be a big part of efforts to win approval of some kind of health care
......radio for
legislation. “You’ll hear his name invoked quite a bit,” the aide said. It’s no secret that health care had been a priority for Kennedy during his nearly five decades in the Senate. One of Kennedy’s last public appearances was at a March town hall meeting Obama held on the topic, and Obama had consulted with Kennedy as recently as June on legislation. Kennedy was open about his regrets that he defeated rather than found a way to work with President Richard Nixon’s efforts to expand health coverage in the early 1970s. At the time, Kennedy accused Nixon of partnering with insurance companies more than with doctors, patching a broken system rather than establishing a better one, and perpetuating a two-tiered system of the care, one for the poor and the other for the rich. This time around, however, Kennedy’s staff has engaged a working group that has included representatives from consumer groups, business,
everyone
pharmaceutical manufacturers, and insurance industry officials. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., a close Kennedy friend who took over the leadership responsibilities of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee when Kennedy was too ill to fulfill his chairman’s duties, said he wanted others to heed a key Kennedy legislative lesson: Remember that you were elected to get things done, not simply offer your point of view. Kennedy, Dodd recalled, had a history of working out compromises with Republicans — with Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., on legislation to make health insurance more portable, and with President George W. Bush on the No Child Left Behind education plan. One of those lessons, Dodd said, was don’t give up. “One lesson in health care was ‘stay,’ he would say,” Dodd recounted. “Don’t stop. Be polite; let everyone have their say, but stay with it.”
4 features
editors: topher forhecz, teresa tobat featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
‘Unforgiving’ medium rewards local artist TERESA TOBAT ct features editor A weekend can change your life. Just ask local artist Nancy Norton, who attended a stained glass-making class and immediately understood that she had found her niche. “After the first day, I realized I was hooked,” said Norton, president of the Blacksburg Regional Art Association. “I told my husband, ‘Ugh, this was a big mistake because now all I want to do is stained glass.’” She said her first teacher wanted all her students to be creative with the glass creations, which still inspires her today. Norton is resourceful in her creations by not only using glass, but also finding other creative items to incorporate into her work, from shells to parts of wine bottles. “Glass is a great craft in that you don’t need much to get into it,” Norton said. “You need a cutter, a grinder and a soldering iron, and with those things you can do a lot.” Her works will often begin with just a single element. “Sometimes it starts with a piece of glass,” Norton said. For one particular piece, the stained glass started with a piece of curved, dark blue glass that she placed in the bottom left corner of the work. From there, Norton made the other pieces fit. She has also used other objects, such as shells or votive candles as her centerpieces. “I’m attracted to organic things,” Norton said. “I’m attracted to organic forms. I like to use pieces of agate. I like to use shells.” Norton’s ability to build a piece around one specific entity is apparent to her fans, too. “In some pieces it’s color, some it’s patterns, some are wonderful and whimsical, and others are very strong and bring a real positive message,” said Jo Evans, Norton’s friend and the director of communications and community relations for the Virginia Tech Arts Initiative. “Each seems to invite me to look at the world in a different way.” Evans said Norton’s art has often made her feel reflective. She met Norton through a Blacksburg church and even commissioned a few pieces. “I feel better, good and responsive in seeing them,” Evans said. “That
BRIAN CLAY/SPPS
Artist Nancy Norton lays out the plan for one of her stained glass pieces in the basement of her Blacksburg home. She often uses recycled items, like shells, in her work. makes me glad, and I stop or pause for a moment.” Norton said she appreciates how flexible she can be with the glass, even though it won’t bend to her will. “The range of glass is just unlimited,” Norton said. “It’s a very unforgiveable medium in some ways so it’s fun to work with it and see how hard you can push it until it breaks on you. And that’s been fun, but sometimes frustrating, but that also makes it a lot of fun.” Although watching a piece of glass shatter is somewhat painful, Norton considers it to be an organic part of the process. “I look at it as this is what the glass wants to do,” Norton said. She refers to each of her pieces as children, and Norton tells the story behind each of her pieces while flipping through a clip book of her work. One Christmas, a client of Norton’s asked her to make two pieces: a man riding a bicycle and a purple elephant. She modeled one piece after a potter she met while traveling through France. She modeled one of her pieces, “Danielle,” after a potter she encountered while traveling through France. “The constant tension is between
“
The range of glass is just unlimited. It’s a very unforgiveable medium in some ways so it’s fun to work it and see how hard you can push it until it breaks on you. And that’s been fun, but sometimes frustrating. NANCY NORTON BLACKSBURG ARTIST
do you make stuff that you know will sell, or do you make stuff that’s interesting to you?” Norton said. “And I err on the side of things that are interesting. And if someone likes them, that’s fine.” Although her list of creations includes a business card holder and stained glass windows, her glasswork has recently expanded to vases. Dale Norton, Nancy’s husband, discovered his love for woodturning the same weekend that his wife took her stained glass class, and he is supportive of his wife’s craft. He helped her outfit her basement studio in their Blacksburg home. “She goes outside the box visually. I like most of the pieces she does with shells and agates, slices of
stone,” Dale said. “She’s tried bigger and more ambitious pieces, especially for commissions. It’s always changing. She continues to come up with new things to try instead of settling on a product and cranking them out.” He said he admires her originality and the fact that she has the courage to experiment with different forms. Norton also found the courage to take up a new hobby later in life. She worked as a librarian before taking her first stained glass class in her 50s. She said that even though she found one of her passions late in life, discovering it was transformative. “I thought, oh well, the creativity fairy passed me by,” Norton said. “And when I found this, it was like, oh, there’s a language out there that I didn’t even know I could speak. It was really life changing for me.” She said she has hope that everyone can find their own “inner artist.” Even if it’s not until later in life. “I really think that everybody has one or many ways to express their creativity,” Norton said. “They really BRIAN CLAY/SPPS ought to play around until they find the one they enjoy and the one that Local artist Nancy Norton draws out a plan for one of her glass fits them.” creations. She began working with the medium in her 50s.
opinions 5
editor: debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9861 COLLEGIATETIMES
august 27, 2009
The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
Our Views [staff editorial]
Stay vigilant with swine and Max G
racing today’s front page are two forces causing a giant ruckus on college campuses across America: swine flu and Tucker Max. Hopefully, neither will prove to be of much historical importance, but while they are topics of conversation, similarities can be drawn between the two. These two ostensibly unrelated entities may be more alike than they seem. Observe: Firstly, we have some evidence that each originated from our four-legged friend Sus domestica, also known as the pig. It is a frightening wonder how these lovable creatures produced H1N1 and Max. Secondly, both spread rapidly across college campuses. The fact that young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are most affected puts us all at risk. Thirdly, both have the potential to make you severely ill. Last but not least, they are both easily avoidable. For swine flu, it’s a matter of washing your hands diligently
and being aware of your body. Rest up for a healthy immune system. Plan ahead to budget homework and other commitments to keep stress low. And don’t forget: Just because swine flu is all the rage, there are many other diseases out there. If you begin to feel sick, go straight to Schiffert and consider taking a day off. Missing classes may not always be appealing, but your classmates won’t appreciate a contagious illness. As for Max, if you’re offended by his raunchy humor, avoid exposure. Complaining about him won’t make him go away any faster; he’s an entertainer and the more controversy he stirs up, the longer he’ll be around. Most importantly, respect people’s right to find him amusing. Our last piece of advice: Wash your hands after coming in contact with either. The editorial board consists of Debra Houchins, Peter Velz, Bethany Buchanan and Sara Mitchell.
Your Views [letters to the editor]
All students can check budgets
W
e believe clarifications are warranted in regards to the “Transparency needed with budget issues” editorial on Aug. 25 concerning the RSO and Student Budget Boards. Unfortunately, our boards are allocated a small portion of the $162.50 (student fee), and we strive earnestly to distribute those fees to student organizations based on each budget presented. We realize from an external point of view that having 30 people allocate the fees from 30,000 students appears unreasonable, but isn’t that how our country’s government works as well? One senator in Congress can represent millions of people. Each board member roughly represents 1,000 students, and our boards are diverse so as to best replicate the diversity of the entire university. Our boards are made up of students that volunteer their time at least once a week to review budgets presented by student organizations. The time we spend in the fall is miniscule compared to how much time we
spend on annual budgets in the spring. At least two Saturdays in February we come in for the whole day to hear budget explanations. At least two months in the spring we spend over six hours one night each week deliberating over budgets. We will never be able to satisfy every organization’s budget because more money is requested every year than what we are allocated. In the event that an organization truly feels cheated out of funding, they have the right to appeal their budget request to the budget board that did not hear or review their case. The final budgets are only official when approved by the Commission on Student Affairs. We are actively seeking new undergraduate and graduate members for the 2009-10 year. If you have ideas on how to make the process better, we challenge you to become a member and voice your opinion.
Megan Moore Accounting and information systems graduate student, RSO Budget Board member & David Ramras Junior economics major, Student Budget Board member
[guest columnist] Help improve children’s health By the end of this year, Congress will review and renew the Child Nutrition Act, a federal law that regulates both the National School Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program. These programs provide meals to 10 million and 30 million students, respectively, each day. Based on the current level of reimbursement funding for the NSLP, public schools receive about $1 per meal, per day to buy food, after expenses for labor and equipment are factored out. Quite frankly, that just isn’t enough to buy a decent meal. It’s no secret that rates of childhood obesity and diabetes are on the rise. Both conditions have been proven to be directly linked to diet, specifically the kinds of overprocessed entrees, a la carte fast food items and vending machine junk food that are often the only school lunch options available to any kid whose parents don’t pack their lunch. According to the Center for Disease Control, almost one in five children are currently overweight. One of three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes. In the past 30 years, rates of obesity prevalence for children aged 2 to 19 has more than doubled, and in the past 20 years the number of overweight or obese children aged 6 to 19 has more than tripled. Diet plays a central role in preventing both obesity and diabetes, along with exercise and other physical activity. Because the majority of children attend schools and because of the amount of time they spend there, schools provide multiple opportunities to promote healthy eating and physical activity. Slow Food USA wants to see
schools doing exactly that. In June, SFUSA launched their Time for Lunch campaign, a grassroots movement to raise awareness and support for better school lunches. In addition to convincing Congress to increase funding for the NSLP, the campaign aims to support the passing of a bill currently before Congress that would set minimum nutritional standards for all food sold on school grounds and to secure funding for a 2004 public law authorizing funds for Farm to School and school garden programs. The idea is not just to provide healthier food, but also to teach children about healthy eating habits that they will carry with them into adulthood. On Labor Day, Sept. 7, the Time for Lunch campaign will hold its National Day of Action, during which over 250 communities in all 50 states will hold community potluck gatherings, bringing people together over a home-cooked meal to discuss the importance of wholesome food for wholesome health. I’m very pleased to say that not only will Blacksburg be participating, but Floyd and Roanoke as well, making Soutwest Virginia a powerful center for the cause. The response we’ve received from the community so far has been incredibly positive, and with school nutrition so high on the national agenda , the time is right for action. Many of you are not that far out of the public school system; you know what I’m saying is true. I hope you’ll join us on Sept. 7 at 5 p.m, on the back lawn of Margaret Beeks Elementary School, and help us make your high school cafeterias a little better for the kids coming up behind you.
Heather Taylor Senior, CSES/Philosophy
MCT CAMPUS
Government must take smaller steps reforming T
his past summer the various news organizations have been overrun with the attempted overhaul of the nation’s health care system. Be it a conservative or liberal organization, it is undeniable that this is the top story of the summer. Under a microscope that most other governments have never experienced, the United States government’s every mistake and misspoken word has been exploited for political expediency. However, this intense scrutiny provides the citizenry with the extraordinary power of questioning the government’s attempted impulse buy. Yes — the very impulse to buy that everybody indulges in every now and then, but later regrets once they try to take money out of their bank account. This obvious attempt at an impulse buy has infuriated the people. Constituents are making themselves known at town hall meetings all across the country in an attempt to get answers out of their congressional leaders. So why is this happening? Why did President Barack Obama and top Democrats in the House and
Senate try to ram this through in such a small amount of time? H.R. II is 1,018 pages long, and Obama expected the bill to be signed by August. This is the man that ran on the campaign slogan of “change.” How is this change? This follows the typical Washington politics that have gutted our nation and landed us a trillion dollars in debt, which we students will be paying off for the next 30 years. Now on top of this debt, Congress wants to add an additional trillion and an entire health care overhaul in less than a month. Is this logical? What the U.S. needs is baby steps. Health care reform is without a doubt necessary, but what we do not need is another trillion in debt and a bill rammed down our throats with little deliberation. The president and Congress need to sit back, take a breath, pinpoint the problems of health care and deliberate them as such. This would be the most logical option at the moment, but it does not look like it is anywhere in sight. Washington has continued with their typical political games, even
going so far as to discuss a possible “nuclear option” to once and for all jam through this bill. With midterm elections approaching and bringing a possible political backlash, Obama may wisely attempt to take this off the table if he values the rest of his presidency. The truly sad part of this entire situation is not that this stupidity is happening, but the fact that this is such a serious issue for American citizens. This is not a political game to regular folks and should not be treated as such. Unfortunately, both sides of the aisle are maneuvering their pawns to either keep the power or take it over. Hopefully, in the midst of these political wars, we the people can stay out of the crossfire.
JACOB CRAIG -regular columnist -sophomore history major
Interested students: Get started in the newsroom this Friday H
ave you ever wondered what goes into creating a copy of the Collegiate Times? As the liaison between the student body and the staff here at the CT, I thought it would be a great idea to give you, the reader, an overview of the newspaper production that occurs in and around 365 Squires, Monday-Thursday, every week of the school year. I’ve heard firsthand that readers think the paper is done quickly. Quite the contrary as there is a dedicated group of writers, editors, designers and photographers involved in putting the paper out everyday. There’s no magic wand we wave to create the paper. Producing our CT is truly an all-day process that starts on Sunday evenings, and goes all the way until the next Sunday evening, when all the editors are meeting with one another to forecast the week. The week begins when the section meetings start. On a weekly basis, editors from the four sections get together with their writers, brainstorm story ideas, and writers determine what they want to write. This is one of the most critical steps in the process, because if anything goes wrong here, it could put us hours behind deadline. Whether it’s a special section, a deadline story, or something on an event that will happen in a week, most writers begin work quickly. One of the luxuries of writing for the CT is you get to decide what you want to write. Writers take their stories, and begin working on sources and angles for them almost immediately. It’s at this point they begin working toward their deadline – which for most stories, is 2:00 p.m. on the day before it’s supposed to appear in print. After the story is in, the writers’ editor reads over it for content, and then pushes it along to the copy editors, who come into the newsroom at 3 p.m. After the story is done in copy, the budget meeting happens at 4 p.m.. No money topics are discussed
here, though. Instead, most of the editors that aren’t in class at the time discuss the content of the day’s paper, and Bethany Buchanan, the design guru of our paper, begins to get the wheels turning about design. Then, those same thoughts begin to get onto paper. The pages are designed using Adobe InDesign 2.0 on the Macs in the CT office, and several other design editors come in to help at this time. By now, most of the CT staff is out of class, and several more faces start popping up in the office, lending a helping hand to any section that needs it. Once the pages are finished, the production manager comes in and does yet another round of proofreading, on the finished pages of the next day’s issue. Once those corrections are made electronically, the PDF of the paper is sent to Bluefield, W.Va to the Bluefield Daily Press. This is about an hour away, and its truly the sixth man when it comes to the CT’s production. Bluefield works hard to print our paper overnight, and then drives to put it on the news racks around campus and around Blacksburg in the earlier hours of the morning. And then, in a very short amount of time, you picked up this issue of the CT, and began reading. All of that being said, there is also some behind-the-scenes hands that help out along the way, as well. The Web staff is always around, troubleshooting any issues or bugs, and working on databases such as the salary and crimes databases that can be found at collegaitetimes.com. That’s also a duty of mine, to monitor the comments that are generated daily on our online stories. The written content and the design obviously isn’t all that goes into the newspaper. The Student Publications Photo Staff takes all of our beautiful photos, and College Media Solutions is principally in charge of the advertisements that go into our paper everyday.
In a nutshell, as I mentioned in the last column, we have roughly 35 people total on staff who work on our paper. But, with more writers, more reporters, more photographers, more Web developers, more designers, and more any other position that can be filled, we will make our paper even better. Now how do we get more interested in our paper? We hold an Open House. And that’s what’s being held tomorrow. The Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech Open House will be held right in the media hall on the third floor of Squires, and specifically in the newsroom in room 365 — right before Gobblerfest begins — from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. We encourage everyone, not even just those interested in being a part of the Collegiate Times, to stop by, give us a piece of their mind, feedback, and maybe even apply to work for us. We’d love to have you. Representatives from the Bugle, our yearbook, WUVT, our radio station, Silhouette, our literary magazine, and SPPS and CMS will all be present, if the newspaper isn’t exactly what interests you. So, as always, I look forward to meeting you and hearing some of your feedback about our paper. This year, we are trying to give everyone several different forums and opportunities to tell us what they would like to see covered in the CT, or what they didn’t like that was covered. We can’t get everything, and sometimes with what is published we miss the target, but we welcome you giving us your advice. Any questions? E-mail me at publiceditor@collegiatetimes.com.
JUSTIN GRAVES -public editor - sophomore
Whether you want to work for the CT, meet an editor, or see the newsroom, stop by 365 Squires Friday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Collegiate Times Editorial Staff Editor in Chief: Sara Mitchell Managing Editors: Peter Velz, Bethany Buchanan Production Manager: Thandiwe Ogbonna Public Editor: Justin Graves News Editors: Zach Crizer, Philipp Kotlaba News Reporters: Gordon Block, Kelsey Heiter, Kaitlyn Gleason, Riley Prendergast Features Editors: Teresa Tobat, Topher Forhecz Features Reporters: Ryan Arnold, Mary Anne Carter, Dan Waidelich Opinions Editor: Debra Houchins Sports Editors: Joe Crandley, Alex Jackson Sports Reporters: Ed Lupien, Ray Nimmo, Ryan Trapp, Melanie Wadden, Thomas Emerick Sports Staff Writers: Garrett Busic, Matt Collette, Lindsay Faulkner, Hattie Francis Copy Editors: Erin Corbey, Mika Rivera Layout Designers: Kelly Harrigan, Rachel McGiboney, Josh Son, Lindsey Bachand, Sara Spangler Illustrator: Mina Noorbakhsh Multimedia Editor: Kevin Anderson Multimedia Reporters: James Carty, Online Director: Zach Swasey Collegiate Times Business Staff Business Manager: David Harries College Media Solutions Advertising Director: Tyler Ervin Asst Ad Director: Kendall Kapetanakis Account Executives: Nik Bando, Brandon Collins, Lee Eliav, Wade Stephenson, Allison Walton Inside Sales Manager: Judi Glass Office Manager: Kaelynn Kurtz Assistant Account Executives: Maddie Abram, Katie Berkel, Diane Revalski, Devon Steiner Ad Production Manager: Allison Bhatta Asst Production Manager: Lara Treadwell Creative Services Staff: Breanna Benz, Jenn DiMarco, Kara Noble, Adam Sexton, Kyle Waldrop Student Publications Photo Staff Business Manager: Luke Mason
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, composed of the opinions editor, editor in chief and the managing editors. 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 or text 200-TIPS or e-mail newstips@collegiatetimes.com Student Media Phone Numbers Collegiate Times Newsroom 231-9865 Editor-in-Chief 231-9867 College Media Solutions 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; $110 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.
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ACROSS 1 Type of large TV 7 Erwin of ’50s TV 10 With 13-Down, opportunity for better luck? 14 Swinger in a box 15 “__ making a list ...”: Christmas lyric 16 Et __ 17 Looking to be helped out, maybe 18 Cardinal point suffix 19 Go-go go-between? 20 Strung along 21 Irene of “Fame” 22 Teen affliction 23 Lofty bills? 26 Shore shoe style 29 “Incidentally ...” 33 Excavated areas 34 Author Godwin 36 __ Lama 37 Messenger __ 38 Superior bills? 40 Razor-billed bird 41 Curly-tailed dog 43 Oklahoma native 44 To __ 45 “Jeepers!” 48 Ancient septet 50 Adored bills? 52 Julie Kotter’s spouse, in a ’70s sitcom 55 Erotic deity 56 Gushes 60 Sign 61 Toon Chihuahua 62 Author Allende 63 __ Accords, 1993 Israel-PLO pact 64 Word spoken with a head slap 65 Swiss cough drop 66 Occupant of a tiny house 67 Tokyo-born artist 68 One way to be aware DOWN 1 “Dr. __” 2 Ticket window sight 3 Somewhat
By Don Gagliardo
4 The Red Storm of the Big East Conference 5 Be dead serious 6 Equip, as a posse 7 Bundle 8 Hated bills (that appropriately spoil this puzzle’s symmetry)? 9 SEALs’ gp. 10 Tony winner Richardson 11 It’s usually pd. monthly 12 Ancient Chinese capital 13 See 10-Across 21 Tight 24 Disco adjective 25 Approximate leaving hrs. 26 Chicago-based daytime host 27 Liberal, to Archie Bunker 28 Amazon business, say 30 Delight 31 Eddie who founded a clothing chain 32 “Jeepers!” 35 “Was __ blame?”
8/27/09 Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved
(c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
38 Folded fare 39 High time? 42 Acetaminophen brand 44 Much of a Sunday paper 46 Exert to excess 47 “It’s our turn to perform!” 49 Monster nickname 51 “Tiny Bubbles” singer
8/27/09
52 Well-behaved 53 Kid’s assertive retort 54 Ringer 57 “Heaven’s __ vault, studded with stars ...”: Shelley 58 Gusher source 59 Elicit guffaws from 62 Vex
features 7
editors: topher forhecz, teresa tobat featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
Storybook tale: Fulbright Scholar’s African mission TOPHER FORHECZ ct features editor All the material that Associate Professor Mary Alice Barksdale needed to win a Fulbright Scholar grant for educational research was a couple boxes of crayons, sheets of paper and some staples. These meager tools were part of the reason why she received an e-mail in late March 2008 from the people at the program congratulating her on her accomplishment. It was the same reason why she departed for South Africa to a township in Port Elizabeth in January of that year to work with a number of educators at a local primary school in association with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. As the Elementary Education Program Area Leader in the Liberal Arts and Human Sciences’ Department of Teaching and Learning, Barksdale is part of a graduate program that accepts no more than 25 students each year. These students will spend their time studying how children learn to read and develop. It’s also no wonder that the focus of her winning proposal — her second Fulbright award, by the way — was about first through third graders who use their imaginations as well as the tools provided by Barksdale to preserve their mother language, Xhosa (the “x” prompts a clicking noise), while learning English. To achieve this, Barksdale had the children create storybooks with simple sentences written in both English and Xhosa. Barksdale hoped this would nurture the young minds toward a proactive approach to reading and writing. Her enthusiasm for her work has brought her to many different countries in the past. She did extensive research in the neighboring country of Malawi from 2001 to 2006 and lectured in Russia. While sitting in her office in 307 War Memorial Hall, she spoke about her time spent in South Africa.
COLLEGIATE TIMES: What were some cultural differences that you encountered from past experiences? MARY ALICE BARKSDALE: I got the whole idea for this project; it all grew out of my work in Malawi. I know a lot about Africa, I know a lot about poverty. Malawi is a country where most of the people don’t have
COURTSEY OF MARY ALICE BARKSDALE
Located in Port Elizabeth, the Missionvale township is similiar to the one where Professor Barksdale worked. For confedentiality reasons, Barksdale has witheld the name of the township. HUSSEIN AHMED/SPPS
electricity, at least not the people in the rural areas; the people in the towns do. But none of the classrooms or schools had any electricity. Part of my reason for going to South Africa — I was a little misguided. I knew that class sizes would be smaller in South Africa, but what that turns out meaning is that instead of 100 kids, there’s 45. But, there’s still more than you can handle. And in Malawi, lots of classrooms didn’t have desks. Well, these classrooms did all have desks, the kids didn’t necessarily have chairs, but if they didn’t have a chair they sat on an upturned pail or something. But the same situation, some kids didn’t have pencils, they didn’t have paper, the schools didn’t have basic materials for teaching. It was more like Malawi than I really expected it to be. Which is a good thing and a bad thing because it means that the work that I did really is representative of Sub-Saharan Africa, but it was very challenging — more challenging than I thought it would be.
CT: Why did you focus on the mother tongue languages in your research? MB: Most black African kids in South Africa, and in Sub-Saharan Africa in general, grow up in homes where mother tongue languages are spoken. In the part of South Africa where I was, the primary language is Xhosa. ... I think that the mother tongue languages are very, very important and valuable because in many ways language carries culture and having your mother tongue language and being able to speak it and read it and write it, I think, is a part of having an identity and owning your own culture — being who you are. And in most countries, children are expected to be taught in mother tongue languages in the early grades. But then they have to switch over to English, and in South Africa, kids in first grade were only supposed to be given instruction in Xhosa. There was supposed to be no English at all. But beginning in second grade, there was to be a little English and a little bit
more in third grade. But then all of a sudden in fourth grade, instruction is supposed to change over to being in English. ... One of the most basic rules that I believe (above) of all is that reading is a skill, and you have to practice to get good. Well, for all of these kids who speak all these other languages, there aren’t materials in their mother tongue languages for them to practice reading. I found a handful of children’s books written in Xhosa while I was in South Africa, but just a handful. Some of these books that I found cost like $8. People in the townships, they can eat on $8 for a week. They’re not ever going to spend $8 going to one of these fancy bookstores and buying a children’s book in Xhosa. The same situation is in Malawi. There aren’t hardly any books written in Chichewa or any of the mother tongue languages, and this business of, if you’re going to become a stronger reader, you need to practice. Well there’s nothing for them to practice, and there’s never going to be anything for them to practice on. And
Mary Alice Barksdale won a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct educational research in South Africa in March of 2008. if we really want to promote literacy in these countries, we need to come up with a way of having texts for children to be able to practice reading. And I think, “Well, there’s only one way to get them: We have to produce them ourselves, and we’ve got to get the kids involved in writing, and they’ve got to write their own stories, and we need to get them to publish their stories, and we need to have books that can be shared across the whole school — maybe that can go into libraries.”
CT: Looking back, how do you feel about your experiences there? MB: One part of me says, “My gosh, I pulled this off.” These teachers did not believe that the kids could write. They didn’t believe we could get them to write. They weren’t sure that it would be of value. I had trouble getting into a school and getting the project started because everybody
thought, “Well, this is going to take a lot of time.” I think they thought, “Well, this is a crazy woman from America, and she wants to come in and do her project, and it doesn’t fit with the kinds of things that we do, and I’m not sure we want to do it.” I really had one teacher, she was my champion. She said, “We need you at the school. We need this project at the school. We need to do this kind of work. Stick with us. Come to this school.” She was my champion. I mean, I ended up having real good relationships with the other teachers and getting things done in all the classrooms, but she was the one who really had me there. I pulled it off, and I think I’ve shown that it can be done, and I have plenty to write about. I mean, it’s research papers (I’m going to write) about how I did it. Maybe I better say “how they did it.” How we did it.
sports 8
editors: joe crandley, alex jackson sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ telephone number: 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
august 27, 2009
New era for Tech men’s soccer team ED LUPIEN ct sports reporter The men’s soccer team will look to rebound from 2008’s disappointing 5-13-1 season and rekindle the fire from two years ago that sparked a run to the Final Four. During the offseason, the program received a drastic makeover resulting in a much younger team featuring 12 freshmen as well as a new coaching staff. On June 2, the team’s head coach for the past four seasons, Oliver Weiss, unexpectedly resigned. The athletic department did not have to look long for a replacement as longtime assistant Michael Brizendine was promoted to the position nine days later. Brizendine then called upon Patrick McSorley, his friend and former teammate at James Madison University, to fill the vacated assistant coach position. McSorley, who graduated in 1996, already has 10 years of coaching experience — he spent six seasons coaching at his alma mater before coaching at Virginia Military Institute for the past four. “He’s been a Division I coach for almost a decade,” Brizendine said. “He just brings a wealth of knowledge. He was at VMI, a tough place to go through. So, he understands what it’s like to be in the grind. As far as recruiting, he knows how to turn over every rock.” Although the team has only spent roughly two weeks practicing with their new coaching staff, the players note that the change has been for the better. “Coaching-wise, coach Brizendine is more laid back, but not in the sense of being more apathetic,” senior defender James Gilson said. “That’s just his style. A lot of the kids last season did not respond well to criticism and took it to heart. Brizendine handles the delivery of the criticism better than Weiss.” The team’s freshman class also received a warm welcome. Several of the 12 are expected to have an impact right away and have surprised many of the veterans on the team with their adaptability. “Greg Cochrane (defender/ midfielder) came in extremely fit and with a really high soccer IQ,” Gilson said. “He can play almost any position on the field. He takes direction
very well and wants to learn how to get better.” “He’s a little bit ahead of the curve, but a lot of the young guys have similar characteristics. Robert Alberti (midfielder/forward) is another guy who’s stood out to me. He shares Cochrane’s mentality but brings a very different quality onto the field. Both of them are going to be really big for us this season.” Gilson believes that the new additions will make a world of difference since the team already shows signs of chemistry, which was absent on the field last season. “I think the major problem was the mentality of the team and the types of kids who were on the team,” Gilson said. “We weren’t even a team — we were a group of individuals playing on the same field and wearing the same uniforms.” “Every team I’ve been on, everybody has been close-knit friends — hang out outside of soccer, enjoy each other’s company, want to do well for each other, don’t want to let anyone else down. That was what was different last season. There was no camaraderie or bonds. No chemistry whatsoever.” Gilson, one of four returning seniors on the team, led the Hokies with 16 points on six goals and four assists last season. Aside from the new talent and coaching staff, he suggests that one of the biggest reasons why the Hokies will not repeat their record from last season is the return of one of his classmates, fifth-year senior defender Alexander Baden. Baden missed all of the 2008 season due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury after starting all but one game for the team in 2007. Brizendine says Baden is nearing the end of his healing process. “His knee is still recovering,” Brizendine said. “An ACL injury just takes a long time to heal completely. You can go back to running, but it takes a good amount of time for your head to be right and for nothing to swell.” Brizendine added that although he was not on the field last season, Baden still played an important role with his guidance. “His leadership alone is amazing,” Brizendine said of Baden. “He can win us games by just keeping us
organized. For him to actually be on the field is just a huge bonus.” Although always ready and willing to help his teammates in any way he can, Baden did not enjoy watching the 2008 campaign from the sidelines. He cannot wait to get back on the field and play one more season. “At the beginning of the season, I thought I was going to die from a heart attack,” Baden said. “It’s so difficult because you want to help everyone, but you know you can’t. Especially coming off of the 2007 season, it was a hard fall.” As the defense becomes stronger with Baden’s return, so does the team’s net-minder with Brizendine’s promotion. Last season, Weiss split the starting goalkeeper duties among three different players, rarely starting the same goalkeeper two games in a row, while sometimes playing the other two on the field instead. This season, the starter seems to be set with senior Brendan Dunn retaining full-time duties. “I think there always should have been one set goalkeeper,” Gilson said. “Brendan Dunn is the best goalie on this team. He should play every game. I guess last year we had to try things, which I don’t really understand because we should have kept things the way they were and tried to develop the defense that we were going to have for this season. We could have gotten better that way. In hindsight though, it’s all 20/20. It didn’t work out for us last season. If it had, the song
“My expectations for this team going into this season are to be over .500 overall and at least a middle-of-thetable team in the ACC,” Gilson said. “Basically, beat expectations that everyone else has for us. We’re kind of seen as the bottom-of-the-barrel but that’s largely based on everything that happened last season. Last season we were ranked 10th in the country in the preseason poll, and we saw how that turned out.” The Hokies begin their regular season Tuesday at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County. The team will host South Florida on Friday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. as part of the weekend-long Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational.
#30 [MF/F] Patrick Huang
#22 [MF/F] Patrick Ryan
#29 [D/MF] Connor Coons
#17 [MF/F] Alistair Moore
#28 [D/MF] Joseph Vidmar
#14 [D] Gregory Weimer
#25 [GK] Josh Kot
#12 [D/MF] Gregory Cochrane
#24 [MF/F] Austin Stewart
#11 [MF/F] Robert Alberti
#23 [MF/F] Colin McNew
#2 [D] David Fiorello SARA SPANGLER/COLLEGIATE TIMES
could be sung a little differently.” Dunn added that he feels much more comfortable knowing his role on the team. “I think it’s more of a confidencebuilder for me to know that I, as a goalkeeper, have full support of the coaching staff,” Dunn said. The team keeps this season’s expectations realistic, however. One of its main goals is simply to improve on its 0-8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference record from last season. It has been projected by its peers to finish in last place.
MA TT BO ON E/S PP S
TWELVE NEW FRESHMEN AND A NEW COACHING STAFF HOPE TO CRAWL OUT OF ACC CELLAR.
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