Friday, August 28, 2009 Print Edition

Friday, August 28, 2009

An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

www.collegiatetimes.com

COLLEGIATETIMES 106th year, issue 75

News, page 2

Features, page 3

Opinions, page 5

Classifieds, page 8

Sports, page 7

Sudoku, page 8

Tech students found dead in local forest MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE SUSPECT DOUBLE HOMICIDE IN DEATHS OF TECH SOPHOMORES ZACH CRIZER & PHILIPP KOTLABA ct news staff

METZLER

An e-mail from university president Charles Steger announced that the bodies of two Virginia Tech students have been identified as victims of an apparent double homicide on Wednesday night.

David Metzler, 19, a sophomore in industrial and systems engineering from Lynchburg and Heidi Childs, 18, a sophomore in biochemistry from Forest, Va., were identified

CHILDS

as the victims by the Montgomery County Sheriff.

Both suffered gunshot wounds, and were found by a passerby early Thursday morning near the Caldwell Fields area of northern Montgomery County, roughly 12-15 miles from campus.

The Associated Press is reporting Montgomery Sheriff’s Lt. Brian Wright said Metzler’s body was found inside a car and Childs was found outside.

Both were taken to the Roanoke medical examiner’s office for autop-

sies.

Caldwell Fields is a popular area for Tech students. According to the Roanoke Times, Sheriff Tommy Whitt said no weapons were found at the scene, and no suspect has been identified.

The Roanoke Times reported a search affidavit said the victims appear to have been shot where they were parked. Metzler was found in a 1992 Toyota registered to him.

Numerous Montgomery County police cars patrolled the area Thursday night. Craig Creek Road is located off of U.S. 460.

There is a public shooting range located close to the intersection

of Craig Creek Road and U.S. 460. A parking area near where the bodies were found was closed from sunset to sunrise.

“Trauma like this is deeply painful to us all. Once again, this community is visited by senseless violence and tragedy upon aspiring young minds from our campus,” Steger said in a statement.

No memorial services are planned at this time, but will be posted on the university Web site once approved by the families.

As the sheriff’s investigation into suspects continues, anyone with knowledge of the incident should contact the sheriff at (540)382-2951.

Approximately where the bodies were found.

THANDIWE OGBONNA/COLLEGIATE TIMES

Crossing cultural bridges

[news in brief] Board of Visitors to meet Sunday Virginia Tech Board of Visitors is to hold an open session on Sunday, Aug. 30, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Meeting in the Solitude Conference Room at the Inn at Virginia Tech, the board will discuss capital building projects like the Davidson Hall renovations, a new human and agricultural bioscience building, the signature engineering building, and a new academic and student affairs building.

It will also present updates to the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, the Fralin Life Science Institute, and the Virginia Tech.

Wake Forest School of

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences.

Subsequently, the Research Committee will assemble for a second open session in the Smithfield Conference Room at the Inn, from 4:15 to 6 p.m.

Additionally, the board will hold its closed quarterly meeting at 1:15 p.m., Monday, Aug. 31 in 2100 Torgersen Hall.

The Board of Visitors is the university’s governing authority. More information about its schedule can be found at http://www.bov.vt.edu/BOV_ Open_Session_Materials_08-3109.html. by philipp kotlaba

Police seeking West A.J. suspect

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANE VANCE

Nepal native Amchi Tsamp Ngawang blesses professor Vance and her documentary team with a Tibetan blessing scarf.

Teacher’s film recounts life-changing experience ane Vance slogged across an extended his other arm back across the loom18,000-foot Himalayan pass. Snow ing mountains in America’s direction. Some swarmed her body, the clouds like of his dreams suggested he had a future there an awoken hornet’s nest. The thin

on the web

[

Go to www.collegiatetimes.com under multimedia to see Vance discuss her narrative style of artwork

]

Vance, adjunct professor in the Department Will you help me know that place, Ngawang of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech, was

the bitter cold needled her bones. asked Vance.

“I really didn’t think we’d be OK,”

first reeled across the Atlantic by college friend She obliged, honored to be a conduit. Or

Vance said.

Padmini Iyengar Sudarshan, an India native. maybe more accurately, an engineer.

She thought of her children and the obituary

After Sudarshan left William & Mary, she During that perilous trip in 2000, Vance

they might never quite understand.

and Vance became pen pals, exchanging and Ngawang began building a vast cultural

But with the guidance of Nepal native

colorful, intimate letters from opposite sides bridge.

Amchi Tsampa Ngawang, the group safely

of the globe.

After a decade of its construction, the

descended.

“I still remember the feeling of the stamps metaphor manifests itself through a docu-

Vance then watched as Ngawang pointed

and that paper,” Vance said, rubbing thumbs mentary film, “A Gift for the Village,” that is

towards Tibet. All of his family, he told her,

along fingers, recalling the textures. nearly complete.

had come from there. That was his past. He

see VANCE / page three

BY RYAN ARNOLD | features reporter

short buzzed hair, some facial hair, thin silver glasses, black baggy T-shirt and light colored jeans.”

VTPD said in the statement he was seen in a bathroom in the hall earlier that day.

Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to call VTPD at (540)231-6411. by zach crizer

Women’s Center protests Tucker Max

— his rebirth. air gripped her lungs in a vice, and

Virginia Tech Police are looking for a man who was seen masturbating in the fifth floor lounge of West Ambler Johnston Hall Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the Virginia Tech Police Department, the suspect was described as “a white male with a pale complexion, 25-35 years of age, 6 foot, 200 pounds,

The film adaptation of author Tucker Max’s “I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell” received criticism from the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech before it even hit the silver screen in Blacksburg.

Christine Smith and Anna LoMascolo, co-directors of the Women’s Center, issued a statement Thursday concerning Max’s appearance at the Lyric as a part of his film premiere tour.

“The Women’s Center at Virginia Tech is concerned that disrespect, objectification, and abuse of women is still tolerated in our society,” the statement said.

“Books and films portraying degrading acts against women are disguised as humor and labeled ‘entertainment.’”

The statement said exploits described in Max’s works constitute rape in Virginia.

“However the acts he describes meet the legal definition of rape in VA and violate the university’s student code of conduct,” the statement said. “In his blog, he describes spending two weeks coercing a woman into participating in a sexual act she repeatedly said she did not want to do, buying two $110 bottles of wine at dinner, and having a friend

hide in the closet videotape the encounter without her knowledge or consent.”

It said his writings present a bad example for college campuses.

“While not all of his behaviors are illegal, they are disrespectful and harmful,” the statement said.

“The stories he tells glorify his behavior and promote a culture that ignores the reality of sexual violence.”

The statement pointed out rape as the most common violent crime on college campuses.

It said the stories portrayed in Max’s book were “not in line with the university’s core values as expressed in our Principles of Community.”

Smith and LoMascolo urged citizens to express discontent with the Lyric’s decision to allow Max to use the theatre, as well as encourage those who purchased tickets to skip the show.

The Thursday night screening, Max’s only showing in Blacksburg, sold out.

Protest permits must be obtained in advance in Blacksburg, and the Women’s Center did not have time to apply for one prior to the show. by zach crizer

ct university news editor Starting with a concert and wrapping up with a midnight pancake breakfast, anyone and everyone will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in events and opportunities at the second annual Gobblerfest.

The event itself was designed to welcome students back to Blacksburg and integrate them into the community. More than 370 organizations are slated to participate.

The event was first held last year, but it is growing rapidly.

“Everyone seemed to really get on board with the idea. We had great support the first year and it’s even better this year,” said Sandra Broughton, assistant director for marketing and communications at University Unions and Student Activities.

An acoustic concert, a silent auction, movie screenings and stand-up comedy acts form a portion of the day’s offerings,

[

on the web

Check out the complete schedule and list of Hokie Hi activities at www.gobblerfest.org.

]

which wrap up with a midnight pancake breakfast served by local celebrities such as basketball coach Seth Greenberg and the Hokie Bird.

More late-night activities and a move to the downtown area form the crux of changes in this year’s rendition.

“We’ve had so many registrants this year that we’ve really had to juggle to fit everyone in,” Broughton said. “Just a huge number of people came together to make it happen.”

Because of existing construction projects, the footprint for this year’s events has changed.

Gobblerfest will be held on College Avenue, down the downtown business district, and up Draper Road.

2 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Gobblerfest VT-Engage Volunteer Fair Virginia Tech departments Student organization showcase Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg Theatre Arts Improv Silent Auction Music Games Food Inflatable activities and carnival games

The Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg, an association of about 85 local non-profits and businesses, is acting once again as a primary sponsor of the events.

“It is an opportunity to show the students

5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Class of 2011 Kick-off Concert and Pep Rally 5 p.m. - Performance by Pete Francis of Dispatch 6 p.m. - Welcome spirit rally 6:30 p.m. - Performance by SOJA Lighting of the Graduate Life Center

Friday, August 28, 2009 Located between Squires Student Center and the Graduate Life Center leading up College Avenue into the downtown district. what’s in their town, and where they are going to be living for the next four years, and to invite them into our community,” said Laureen Blakemore, special events director for the association.

8 p.m. - 12 a.m.

Activities inside Squires Giveaway items Acoustic stage in the food court 9 p.m. - Presentation of “Up” 10 p.m. - Comedian Dan Ahdoot 10 p.m. - NPHC DJ party in Old Dominion Ballroom Open BreakZONE until 1 a.m.

Midnight Pancake Breakfast featuring celebrity servers Seth Greenberg and Hokie Bird

THANIDIWE OGBONNA/COLLEGIATE TIMES

PHILIPP KOTLABA

Gobblerfest schedule

Gobblerfest offers chance to showcase Blacksburg

UUSA, which hosts the event, is operating on a break-even budget. Funds will be recovered primarily through registrant fees and the donations of select local businesses.

2Vance:news Professor has one foot in Blue Ridge, one in Himalayas

new river valley news editor: zach crizer university editor: philipp kotlaba newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

from page one

One day the mailman delivered a catalyst. In a defining letter, Sudarshan urged Vance to visit India. She believed it could change Vance’s life.

Aside from her father’s World War II duties, Vance knew no one in her family who had traveled. She was initially reluctant, the thought of South Asia unsettling. In the summer of 1985, though, Vance made the highly anticipated journey.

During those several months, from the struggle for adequate food to a nonexistent infrastructure, the common difficulties of India’s people disheartened Vance.

Think “Slumdog Millionaire,” she said. It does exist.

“That’s a hard feeling,” she said, “to land in a place where there is a lot of need and suffering.”

But after careful introspection, she found a new perspective for those trials.

“And then it was as if a new heart grew in me,” Vance proclaimed.

She had to return to India, a 13,000mile lasso, and one she freely shimmied around her waist.

“I think what happened is: Your shock and your fear, which are really the same thing, subside,” she said.

“And then you have these eyes to be curious.”

Not an aimless, but a purposeful curiosity. Vance knew she could become a refined observer in India.

She began to comb her memory, freeing layers once knotted by her distressed emotions.

Vance was overwhelmed by the beauty and wisdom underlying their meager amenities.

“There’s a proverb that comes from the poorest part of Calcutta: ‘Everything not given is lost,’” Vance explained. “And it’s that sensibility that there’s no time to do anything in this world, but share.”

We learn sharing a young age, at least to a degree. Vance doesn’t doubt we do it, but she raised the notion of portioning.

But once the value rises — usually monetarily — our feet are firmly planted.

That kind of reserve mostly escapes the people of South Asia.

“The culture is generous,” Vance said. “It’s settled into being generous.

In a way we’re still a little bit jerky and fidgety.”

It’s a real compassion she’s come to crave. But Vance’s appetite also extends to the tangible, although not how you might expect.

make a documentary film tracking the presentation of the painting.

In 2002, after 10 disciplined months, she filled the ample 6-by-7-feet linen cloth. For the occasion, Vance renounced canvas for its rough tooth, the linen smoother like glass.

In the painting, Ngawang is shown in the center, sitting cross-legged and stoic. He is surrounded by 12 informative bubbles. The first floats above his head, portraying Ngawang’s father, his root teacher. The second rests below his feet, a lengthy narrative of Ngawang’s accomplishments and service. The remaining bubbles describe his first American excursion. Woven into the background is a painstakingly detailed landscape that includes Himalayan peaks and diverse flowers.

For several years after setting down the palette, Vance organized a six-member documentary team.

Together they raised the funds to purchase plane tickets and the proper recording equipment. Vance COURTESY JANE VANCE sold small paintings and the team presented its endeavor to audiences From left to right: Amchi Tsampa Ngawang, co-producer Jenna Swannm and Jane Vance. along the East Coast. Donations and things, Ngawang is a botanist and a sponsorships surfaced from myriad “I think that my first visit (to India) I wrote to the Dalai Lama to pulse reader. Vance said his natural groups. woke up the hunger in me for color,” say: Here I would be on that methods rely on “the faith that things “I like that the work has excited so she said. many different people,” Vance said. grow back.”

Vance is also an artist, an obsessive treacherous edge between In 2007, it was finally time to deliver In 2001, one year after their painter. tradition and innovation. treacherous hike, Vance welcomed the gift.

“The way you love perfume or a bourbon,” she related. “I love my oil Would that be a good idea? Ngawang to Blacksburg. During the The painting was carefully rolled six-month visit, he taught Himalayan into a large cylinder for transport. paints.”

JANE VANCE Culture at Tech and made contribu- Vance thought the dull white encloThe walls of her Blacksburg home tions to the greater community like sure needed life, so she drew dancing are not studs and sheetrock. They are canvas. Massive, vibrant paintings cashmere shawls, elaborate designs teaching the Tibetan language and yaks on it.

Initially the tube caused problems. lean one atop the other at every turn. on festival camels and the whimsical offering traditional gifts.

Amidst Ngawang’s busy schedule, Airport officials assured Vance the Her living room is a goliath’s filing representations of nature in sacred Vance made a point to discuss the cargo couldn’t possibly fit. But she cabinet, the front door the lid to the paintings.

“I had a strong attraction to what I making of his lineage painting. It is a had the golden ticket. most epic Crayola box.

“We would hold up the Dalai Lama “There’s no question in my mind should not have had any relation to,” traditional painting, not unlike a family tree, whose roots trace back nearly letter and suddenly the plane would that I came into the world with the Vance said. grow,” she said.

It’s fitting, then, that her brushes a millennium. skill to paint,” Vance said. “I just had In Jomsom, Nepal the painting was “It places a great teacher in a line of have helped inform the bridge. to grow the hands.” received through an elaborate festival While in Kathmandu, Nepal in other great teachers,” Vance said.

At a young age, her tiny paws Vance had studied the revered ceremony attended by people from explored mediums even in the back- the mid-1990s, Vance happened yard. Vance’s sandbox was enclosed to meet a “National Geographic” practice in depth and felt capable of as far as a 10-days’ walk. After great by large railroad ties. The ties were photographer, Thomas Kelly. He its production. Still, Ngawang show- preparation, numerous villages entertreated with a material called “creo- looked through photographs of her cased great modesty. He insisted it tained guests with their traditional dancing, singing, games and food. sote” which prevented the wood’s paintings, afterward telling Vance wasn’t necessary.

But Vance felt it was right, felt it was Day turned into night, night into deterioration. In the summer heat, the she needed to meet a certain Lama in time. To be the first western female to morning, the cameras always rolling. wood cracks oozed creosote blisters. western Nepal.

Since returning stateside, the orgaexecute such a project, she climbed a She asked why.

Once they congealed, Vance would nization and editing of the film has Something in your work reminds few ladder rungs for permission. break their surfaces. What flowed “I wrote the Dalai Lama to say: Here been tireless. me of his mind, Kelly told Vance. forth was not unlike India ink.

When she met Amchi Tsampa I would be on that treacherous edge With it, Vance produced complex “The closer you get to being done,” paisley patterns and other organic Ngawang in the small village of between tradition and innovation,” said co-producer Tom Landon, “the forms, an imagination that was seem- Jomsom, Vance sensed they would be Vance inquired. “Would it be a good more tedious the work gets.” idea?” collaborators. ingly beyond her years.

For both man and machine, it The Dalai Lama gave her the nod.

An “Amchi” is a traditional doctor, Then in India, Vance was floored seems.

Vance also received his support to by the familiarity of lively prints on a well-known healer. Among other “The processing time and the

“

amount of memory involved in this is just intense,” said co-producer Jenna Swann. “We’re working with two terabyte external hard drives.”

Swann, a fifth-grade teacher by trade, has no professional experience with film.

“I have a really bad habit of learning as I go,” she said.

Vance brushed Swann’s modesty aside, sharing that Swann and Landon won a national award for a documentary film they previously completed with Vance. Swann benefits from Landon’s seven years of experience with the Blue Ridge PBS. “Over the years, I’ve helped Jenna become a better shooter,” Landon said. “I think she’s probably as good as I am now.”

Currently, Swann and Landon have nearly all the footage organized. Still photos from Hawaiian photographer and team member Sherrie Austin fill image gaps.

The co-producers are also fine-tuning the audio alignment. Landon has given the narrative script a test run, but they’ll eventually have a more fitting voice, although whose remains a mystery.

“We all think that a woman’s voice will be better for this story,” Landon said.

And without starving the natural sounds of Nepal, they hope to blend in local music from Kathmandu and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

To appease television formatting, a trip to a California studio may be in store for color and sound correction, although the team hopes to utilize Tech contacts.

But even with a rough draft essentially finished, the team is anxious for the near future. The film now clocks in at 66 minutes. To find its way to your LCD next year, depending on networks, it’s possible the final version will be cut to 58 minutes. If you perceive that as minor, count the seconds in your head.

“The images are great and I love them,” Swann said. “It’s going to be really hard to give up eight minutes.”

Vance sounds a bit more protective.

She wears “A Gift for the Village” on her sleeve. Well, over her head.

“We have made a necklace, and don’t be messing with my beads.”

Her belief in the bridge, in art’s international span, is palpable.

“There is no more time for art to be what has its nervous back to a museum wall,” Vance said. “That is no longer good enough.”

features 3

editors: topher forhecz, teresa tobat featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

Facebook knows way too much now SCOTT DUKE HARRIS San Jose Mercury News Privacy advocates have long warned that users of Facebook and other social networks who seek amusement from quizzes like “What Simpsons Character Are You?” might be mortified by the way creators of such applications can access and potentially “scrape” personal information _ not just about the quiz-takers, but their friends as well.

Now, engaging in some online jujitsu, the ACLU of Northern California is employing a cautionary Facebook quiz of its own to illustrate how quizzes that may seem “perfectly harmless” can release an array of data to the wider world — including users’ “religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, photos, events, notes, wall posts, and groups.”

The app, titled “What Do Facebook Quizzes Know About

You?” delivers its answer by opening a window that scrolls biographical data, attributed comments and photos.

More than 8,000 participants have taken the ACLU’s quiz since it was quietly released a few days ago, the ACLU said Wednesday. The group hopes to prompt Facebook to upgrade its privacy default settings for its users, now numbering more than 250 million.

“

An individual bombarded by spam, for example, may have been targeted because of an affiliation on Facebook.

One helpful upgrade, the civil liberties group said, would be for Facebook to “change default privacy settings so that quizzes and other third-party applications run by a

user’s friends do not have access to the information on a user’s profile without the user’s opt-in consent.”

Facebook users considering such applications as quizzes typically see a page that provides a choice of “Allow” or “cancel.” The boilerplate language notes that allowing access “will let it pull your profile information, photos, your friends’ info, and other content that it requires to work.” But many Facebook users ignore the warning or don’t comprehend the potential risks, the ACLU said.

Facebook, which boasts of building its success on creating an online environment users trust, said Wednesday that it has been actively policing its service in recent days and has disabled hundreds of applications, including some quiz apps, found to be inconsistent with Facebook policies.

The company also pointed out that it recently simplified user pri-

Judges order challenges exec branch secrecy Michael Doyle McClatchy Newspapers In a highly unusual legal step, a federal judge ordered the government to grant an attorney a security clearance so he can represent a disgruntled former narcotics officer.

The judge’s order significantly boosts attorney Brian Leighton’s long legal battle on behalf of Richard Horn, a Drug Enforcement Administration veteran whose service ranged from California’s San Joaquin Valley to the Burmese jungles. More broadly, the new judicial order challenges the president’s customary monopoly in controlling access to secrets.

“The deference generally granted the executive branch in matters of classification and national security must yield when the executive attempts to exert control over the courtroom,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in an order issued late Wednesday.

Already impatient with the Justice Department’s handling of a case first filed in 1994, Lamberth gave officials 10 days to grant Leighton and other attorneys the security clearances needed to see “classified and/or privileged information.” In doing so, Lamberth underscored the key question involved.

“Does the executive branch have the

exclusive right to determine whether counsel ... have a need-to-know classified information within the context of litigation, or can that be a judicial determination?” Lamberth asked rhetorically.

Lamberth added that prior cases didn’t “directly answer” the question, which he called one of “a number of vexing legal and practical difficulties” raised in the course of the lawsuit brought by Leighton and Horn.

“It is fabulous for many reasons, not the least of which is the judge doesn’t believe anything the government is saying,” Leighton said Thursday of the new ruling.

Justice Department spokeswoman Beverley Lumpkin said Thursday that officials were still reviewing the latest decision and would otherwise have no comment.

Now based in Clovis, Calif., Leighton is a former federal prosecutor who worked with Horn when the DEA agent was based in California. Horn went on to become the top U.S. narcotics officer in Burma in the early 1990s.

Horn contends CIA and State Department officials illegally eavesdropped on him and eventually forced him out of Burma because of policy disagreements. His subsequent lawsuit was sealed at the Justice Department’s request for many years, until Lamberth

ordered many documents to be made public in July.

In his July ruling, Lamberth denounced certain CIA and Justice Department officials for having “handcuffed the court” with delay tactics and inaccurate statements. His latest ruling similarly chastises Justice Department attorneys for obstinacy and “diminished credibility.”

Leighton formerly held a security clearance, but it lapsed. The Justice Department contended he no longer had a “need to know” the classified information involved in the case.

“Immense constitutional implications would arise from the entry of an order requiring the government to grant counsel access to classified information in the absence of a government determination that counsel have the requisite ‘need-to-know,’ “ Justice Department attorney Paul B. Freeborne argued in a July 30 brief.

Freeborne added that because the executive branch “is exclusively responsible for the protection and control of national security information,” a judge cannot order that someone be granted access to such classified information.

The Justice Department has made clear in its legal filings that it might appeal any decision that runs counter to its arguments about the protection of classified information.

vacy settings. The final question of the ACLU quiz enables users to visit the Facebook page where they can alter their settings.

“We generally agree with their recommendations and have already made public announcements about relevant changes that are under way,” said Barry Schnitt, Facebook’s director of policy communications.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based service has been buffeted by criticism from a variety of privacy advocates, and in some cases has found ways to resolve complaints. “We’ve also had productive discussions with the Canadian Privacy Commissioner about improving user data controls on Platform,” Schnitt said. “We’d be glad to also have productive discussions with the ACLU and generally catch them up, too.”

Chris Conley, a technology fellow with the ACLU, said creating a Facebook quiz seemed an apt

means for spreading word about privacy risks inherent in such apps.

“We wanted to use Facebook itself to show how all these quiz creators have access to personal information,” said Conley, a former software engineer at Intel who coded the quiz.

It is difficult to know how thirdparty app developers use the data, which can be collected and sold for marketing and advertising campaigns, Conley said. Private investigators and political entities are known to create dossiers using technologies that automatically scour the Web. An individual bombarded by spam, for example, may have been targeted because of an affiliation posted on Facebook. “There is no way to know,” Conley said.

The text of ACLU’s quiz put it in ominous terms: “Once details about your personal life are collected by a quiz developer, who knows where they could end up or how they could

be used. Shared? Sold? Turned over to the government?”

The group acknowledged the irony of its approach: “We know it’s a little weird to warn you about Facebook quizzes by asking you to take a Facebook quiz — but at least you know who we are and that we have a real privacy policy that we’re committed to upholding. Can you say the same for every unknown author of every quiz you or your friends take?”

Many Facebook quizzes have been created with templates from LOLapps, a San Francisco startup that enables users to create their own quizzes. It has also written its own quizzes, including such popular ones as “Which Sex and the City Character Are You?” and “What Type of Heart Do You Have?”

Efforts to reach LOLapps CEO Kavin Stewart on Wednesday were not successful.

page 4

august 28, 2009

opinions 5

editor: debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.281.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

august 28, 2009

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

Your Views [letters to the editor]

Blacksburg’s youth must vote

I

n past elections, most candidates for Blacksburg Town Council did little to court the votes of students and young professionals. They declined to knock on doors in student neighborhoods or mail campaign literature to campus addresses. And they had good reason. Many students are registered to vote in their hometowns instead of in Blacksburg. Others skipped the May election to study for finals or pack for the summer.

But that has all changed. With the election in November for the first time, Blacksburg voters will pick their local and state leaders on the same ballot this year. Virginia Tech students, who increased the county’s voter registration list by more than 7,000 last year and flexed their political muscle in the 2008 presidential election, have the power to determine who does and does not get a seat on the town council.

The town counts Tech students, whether they live on or off campus, as a part of Blacksburg’s population to compete for state and federal resources. These students pay the meals tax when they eat off campus, fund a large portion of the Blacksburg Transit with a student fee, and use the town’s services and resources en masse. Through numerous service organizations and activities like the Big Event, they spend thousands of volunteer hours improving Blacksburg and its neighborhoods. Our local representatives must understand that the body politic includes the student body.

Likewise, a growing number of young professionals, like myself, are staying in town after graduation. Others are moving to the area to live, work and raise a family. Whatever the case, young professionals have the potential to reshape the local and regional economy with their talents and creativity.

The town and its leaders must work hard to attract and retain this emerging demographic.

If the Blacksburg Town

Council wants an effective local government that meets the needs of all citizens, it must take a proactive approach to reaching students and young professionals. It must increase their representation on council-appointed boards and committees, and it must turn past attempts to unite the campus and town into a comprehensive effort that engages everyone in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect.

The biggest issues in Blacksburg affect all of us. We would all benefit from a vibrant downtown, economic growth that protects our natural and built environments, improved public and alternative transportation, and an open and accountable government. The town council must engage all citizens, whether they live here for four years or their whole lives, because we all make Blacksburg “a special place.”

Michael Sutphin Blacksburg Town Council Candidate alumni, communication ‘06

Response to ‘Desktop Alert’

A

fter reading this article, I was please to see that someone is doing a proactive step for notification of people even off campus, like family members and friends. It made me more excited to see that Carl Harris was considering open sourcing the code. This strikes a chord with me since my mother does not use either Windows or OS X. She is one of the growing number of desktop Linux users. With the increase in sales of Netbooks, Linuxbased systems have gained a larger and larger market share.

If the author plans to exclude this user base, speaking on behalf of the free and open source users/advocates on campus and other campuses as well, we would love to see the code freed so that a Linux implementation could be freely developed by the community who needs it.

Thank you.

Stephen Tanner junior, computer science

Attributes and flaws of Edward Kennedy T

he passing of Sen. Edward Moore “Teddy” Kennedy has silenced the greatest liberal voice of the past 50 years and drawn the curtain on an epic generation of a political dynasty.

Kennedy, 77, who died Tuesday night from brain cancer, was the third-longest serving senator in the nation’s history. Although his liberalism was legendary, this Democrat’s true effectiveness was in his ability to compromise with Republicans to get his initiatives enacted into law.

He never quite matched the public’s adoration for his older brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, whose lives were cut short by assassins’ bullets. But Ted Kennedy’s legislative achievements far surpassed the impact of his brothers in the lives of ordinary citizens.

In 47 years in the Senate, Kennedy passed more than 300 laws. Among them are the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which made public places more accessible to the disabled, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program of 1997, which funded the largest expansion of health insurance coverage for children since the 1960s. The COBRA Act of 1985, signed into law by President Reagan, gave workers the ability to continue health insurance after leaving employment. And Title IX opened up college sports to young women.

He was a lifelong ally of organized labor and a relentless advocate for increasing the minimum wage.

Kennedy also was a champion of education; in 2002 he worked with President George W. Bush to enact the No Child Left Behind law. Earlier this year, he teamed with President Obama to enact a law to encourage more national service. When he died, he was still pushing for his longtime goal of universal health care.

He was born into a family that expected and demanded greatness.

Father Joe Kennedy planned for one of his sons to become the nation’s first Irish Catholic president; John Kennedy realized that dream in 1961.

When JFK was assassinated in 1963, the torch passed to brother Bobby.

When RFK, in turn, was cut down in 1968 as he was about to win the Democratic nomination for president, Ted stepped into the spotlight. A generation of Kennedy admirers will always remember his eulogy for his brother, in a trembling voice, honoring a man “who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to

heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.”

But Ted Kennedy never matched his brothers’ presidential aspirations. The explanation was found primarily in his undeniable flaws.

Throughout his life, there were times when it seemed the only thing that could stop Ted Kennedy’s achievements was Kennedy himself.

A cheating scandal got him expelled from Harvard College. A long night of drinking in Palm Beach in 1991 ended with rape allegations against a nephew, who was ultimately acquitted. The scandal hampered the senator’s effectiveness in Congress for years afterward.

But the reckless act that dogged Kennedy his entire career took place at Chappaquiddick, Martha’s Vineyard, in 1969. After a party, the married Kennedy drove off a short wooden bridge with a young woman passenger in the car. The car sank into the inlet below and the woman, Mary Jo Kopechne, a Pennsylvania native, drowned. Kennedy swam to safety but did not notify authorities until after her body was discovered the next day.

Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a two-month suspended sentence. He won re-election to the Senate from Massachusetts the following year, but Chappaquiddick ended his presidential hopes until 1980, when he lost to President Carter in the Democratic primary.

Despite such self-inflicted scandals, Kennedy always rededicated himself to work harder in the Senate, renewing his focus on improving conditions for average Americans.

Accomplishments such as the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which forced insurers to treat the mentally ill more fairly, and the Ryan White Care Act, which enabled low-income AIDS patients to receive better treatment, are part of his compassionate legacy.

Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2009, but Kennedy was too ill to attend the ceremony. In recent months, his illness kept him from his duties in the Senate where his voice had boomed on behalf of the disadvantaged for so many decades.

For millions of Americans, Ted Kennedy made this country a fairer and better place to live. His leadership will be missed.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

MCT CAMPUS

Obama’s promise on War in Iraq remains unfulfilled R

emember that war? Whatever happened to that? I heard a lot of people died. I also heard that there was no end in sight. I don’t seem to hear about that war at all anymore. I remember promises of it coming to an end, even talk of a troop withdrawal.

But I don’t think the war ended. Still, I can’t seem to find anything about it anymore.

Occasionally on the news I see stories about more deaths, more bombings, and even another hostage or two. However, there’s no talk about the war itself, and certainly no talk about when it’s going to end.

The news media has been fixated on stories of a healthcare crisis and swine flu. This sexy tale is full of controversy, fear of imminent death by an invisible invader, and even contains all the stimulus of high spending and corporatism Remind you of that War on Terror?

The war that President Barack Obama promised to end. The war that the Democratic party promised to stop — even going so far as to swear to take congressional action to end it as soon as possible. Instead, Obama and the Democrats have decided to continue occupying foreign soil.

There’s no need to call this war a necessary step for national security, nor is it appropriate to refer to human lives lost as “collateral damage.” Instead, the media needs to be bold and describe this war as exactly what it is: special interest groups committing the murder-for-hire of people very far away from us.

We’re so distant from the lives being lost that I suppose it was a matter of time before we forgot about the war entirely. After all, America is having problems at home with its own economic crisis and mounting debt.

The millions being spent to maintain this war overseas would surely anger the public. How can a government that is so greatly in debt afford to maintain the occupation of two foreign coun-

tries? How can an administration that wants to ease pressure on the middle class continue fighting a war with money taxed from that very middle class? It doesn’t make any sense to me.

If the government is serious about saving the economy, they can begin by pulling out of all foreign countries immediately. Taking this action would save the public billions of dollars — now that’s a stimulus plan I could get behind.

However, the war will not end until it’s forced to end. It will end when

“

There’s no need to call this war a necessary step for national security, nor is it appropriate to refer to human lives lost as ‘collateral damage.’

the economic situation at home deteriorates further and the war is no longer possible to financially maintain. It will end when a dollar crisis forces the war back onto American TV screens.

The argument in defense for continuing the war is that it’s impossible for American troops to just leave, despite the fact that American soldiers simply walked into Iraq and Afghanistan.

Our troops will remain there until those nations are stable enough to govern themselves.

However, if the war becomes impossible to maintain, troops will be forced to simply walk out anyway. After the Vietnam War, American soldiers were forced to simply leave. All talk of an exit strategy was ended with a complete withdrawal.

Since World War II, the United States government has been in a constant state of war with no real end in sight. Early after taking office, Obama called for a troop withdrawal from Iraq. I smiled and eagerly sought more information.

I soon learned that an occupation force of over 50,000 soldiers would be left behind. Also, more troops were to begin moving into Afghanistan immediately.

This wasn’t the withdrawal I had hoped for. This also wasn’t the end to the war that America voted for.

What happened? How did the administration move on to other topics with a war going on overseas?

How did the news media forget about the war when so many have died?

The war should be the single most important issue. It should be the central focus of the Obama administration, and it should be ended immediately.

How this administration can talk about the economic crisis without mentioning the war is absolutely beyond me.

I assume it’s because they don’t want the public reminded that the war continues to be waged with no end in sight. I’m sure they also don’t want the public reminded that — once upon a time — Obama and the Democratic members of Congress promised to end the war. Instead, it’s best if we all simply forget about it. With so much bad news about swine flue, healthcare and a possible dollar crisis, maybe the war just isn’t sexy enough anymore.

Perhaps the threat of terrorism is no longer as scary as the threat of an economic downfall.

The Obama administration cares so deeply about the American people that it forgot about the foreign people being killed in the Middle East.

Maybe Obama and Congress care so deeply about American lives that they simply stopped caring about the lives being lost. Remember that war?

Bombs are still falling.

CHAD VAN ALISTIN -regular columnist -communication

Flex plans should be usable throughout week of move-in A

s this fall semester begins, we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief that the first week of classes is behind us and move-in has ended. As we look back at move-in, recent history shows that on the first move-in day about a third of the campus population moves back, followed by another third on that Thursday. By Thursday night, about 66 percent of the on-campus population is here.

While most services are available for students during move-in, the one service that remains off-limits is the usage of their meal plans. Students can’t use their meal plans until the Friday before classes start; however, they can “conveniently” use cash in the dining centers that are open.

This not only impacts on-campus students, but also those off-campus students that have meal plans.

While this issue is not something new and has been taking place for a long time, it still does not make sense.

Why are meal plans not functional until Friday when over half of the on-campus students are already here?

Why, if the dining centers can take cash, can they not handle meal plans?

Housing has argued that the official move-in day occurs on Friday and Saturday, and those who arrive on Wednesday and Thursday come early at their own choice. However, once

the halls are open on that Wednesday, they remain open as no student is turned away if they arrive late for check-in. If it was truly “early,” then no one would be allowed to move-in after hours, but that would not be reasonable or appropriate.

By not allowing meal plans to be used until that Friday, this leads to a number of headaches that don’t have to exist. It creates a lot of challenges from dining halls that are jam-packed, such as enormous lines as new students are getting used to the array of options and the challenge for dining hall employees to handle such a demand.

I give the dining employees a lot of credit for having to handle such an influx on that first day and during the first week of school until things begin to settle down.

If the dining halls opened that Wednesday for meal plans, it would make the process easier for everyone involved. The employees would get hands-on training without having to face the overwhelming crowds on their first day. It would help the students get their bearings and understand the nuances of the different dining centers. It would also make the process more manageable than having to try to wait in long lines to order food, then pay for food, or

even to try to find a spot to sit.

Why not try having meal plans become active on that first Wednesday when the residence halls open?

Who does it hurt? Does it have a detrimental impact on the bottom line? What problems would this cause?

Often the assumption is made that most students will go out to dinner with their families on that first night, but often this is not the case.

What happens to those students who are merely dropped off by their parents? What about those students whose financial aid includes a meal plan? I suspect that they have to spend their limited cash or rely on others for meals on these days.

If other services are available to students, why is their access to their meal plans restricted? It is time for Housing and Dining to re-consider its decision and make meal plans available once the halls open on that first Wednesday of move-in.

RAYMOND PLAZA -regular columnist -faculty, academic support service

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6 features

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He said, she said: Fall back into routine T

he Blacksburg summer was delightful, and you all have ruined it.

Well, I only halfway mean that. I certainly liked parking in your reserved spots, walking the centerlines of empty roads home from bars, and the silence that replaced dying animal grunts from roided hulks at the gym.

But really, I’m jazzed for you to host outof-control parties and, maybe more importantly, prepare for me that coma-inducing turkey sandwich at Blue Ridge Barbeque or that infant-sized burrito at La Cantina. (I’ll leave the ABP tomato basil bisque soup to the daintier population).With those joys in mind I’ve biked to campus these first few days. Rides that have been, for the most part, terrible.

The past few months I’ve been able to glide freely down Kent Street like Meg Ryan in “City of Angels,” except I did it with my eyes open and didn’t hit a logging truck. Herds of students at crosswalks now turn to me wide-eyed, reacting like I’m a Scud missile seeking to dismember them. They try dodging and juking like Clinton Portis, managing only to make it awkward for

everyone within a 10-foot radius.

You are hurting the situation. I have brakes.

We can work together.

I’ve ditched the bicycle for short strolls between classes, and oh, how the lost newbies have provided some solid comedy. They walk confidently only to lurch to abrupt stops, confusedly spinning around like Jennifer Love Hewitt in “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

“What are you waiting for, huh?!”

Well if that’s your attitude, you’ll get no directions from me. I’ll just compliment your pirouettes. I actually had a girl ask me where Slusher Tower was.

Um. It’s ... a tower.

[

I

have seen more cleavage than I ever thought possible on the first day of classes.

After a summer of empty sidewalks and class buildings spoiling me, I suddenly find my way blocked by a parade of pretty girls who are too “prettied up.” Please, ladies, I implore you — leave your clubbing gear in your dorm rooms. I hate going to my 9 a.m. class feeling like I’m participating in the Guinness Book’s largest walk of shame. I don’t need a reminder of my past travels somewhere inappropriate in heels.

Yes, be proud of your pre-freshmen 15 bouncy bosoms, but be proud of them somewhere else aside from the journey to class. How does a girl feel comfortable swinging those things when an older man with a leisure suit hands her a New Testament?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like to get my boobaciousness on now and again. But for me, instead of hiking up the girls and looking party-ready for my first class, my focus centers on just getting to said class on time. For me, that’s a struggle in itself.

For the seasoned veteran of several semesters (a number that I will not impart), getting to class is just that.

Getting to class. You scrub your teeth, you scrub your face, you pull on those favorite threadbare jeans, and boom, you’re ready to get out there and get your study on. You attempt to walk as quickly as you possibly can across campus while avoiding a skull-split-

for your information

He said, she said is looking for guest columnists to write about their experiences as former RA’s. E-mail features@collegiatetimes.com.

ting collision or cursing at bicyclists.

But if you have a moment, you can also take a rewarding break from floundering in the sea of cleavage.

Armed with a pair of bulky sunglasses and that piece of Chick-fil-A you’ve been craving all summer, you can plop your posterior down and engage in my sport of choice — people-watching. (And I’m not worried about the fried chicken. My freshman 15 found me long ago. If you can’t beat it, eat it.)

Of course, notable personalities emerge from the pandemonium.

“Future Fratboy Froshie” wears a dirty white hat turned backwards and a popped collar on his polo shirt. He talks loudly enough on his cell phone for all other pedestrians to hear, oblivious to their eye-rolling and blatant eavesdropping. Instead of scoring a hot date with this call, the Triple F-Bomb reveals that he was, in fact, trying to score some extra money from his mother.

“Mary Miniskirt” dominates the walkway with her Chanel bag and Ray-Ban sunglasses, strutting her stuff in a pair of Manolos that, no doubt, her daddy bought for her. Despite her barely-there haute couture, she has accidentally left the price tag swinging from her skirt. Ms. Miniskirt is, sorrowfully, the victim of Future Fratboy Froshie’s amorous gaze.

“Eddie Engineer” is a dude who’s got comfort down to a science — almost.

His bulging backpack indicates that

]

Yes, I realize I’ve referenced two late ’90s movies. It proves I’m ancient. The 1992-borns among us were just learning addition while Ryan Phillippe was taking hooks to the sternum.

But forget about that pretty boy. How about Virginia Tech’s pretty girls?

As professors have droned through their syllabi, it’s been a prime time to explore the surrounding eye candy. And as a communication major, I’m a gender minority; my courses are overflowing with estrogen.

I should be putting out the vibe, tossing winks at will and stretching in my chair to reveal the (nonexistent) gun show. But I’m no Vinnie Chase; my game is slim. Instead I’ve been staring in awe at that psychedelic screen saver on computer lab Macs like it’s an octopus seduction dance. I wouldn’t be surprised if I shook the mouse and eHarmony’s sign-up page was waiting. But I’ve snuck in glances here and there, no doubt. The fashion scene is intense — victims of the try-hard-then-give-up phenomenon.

In the mornings, ladies hit the Drillfield like

a catwalk with their sculpted hair resting just above their nearly chest-high WWE belt that grips an intricate graphic top barely covering their buns.

The only thing preventing a mooning are leggings that stop just before sandals they’ve clearly stolen from Cleopatra’s tomb. The complex, shiny network of straps look like boa constrictors wrapping their ankles.

I’m waiting for the Hermes model that enables flight. I might actually buy some of those.

On the other hand, dudes hike up shorts that were already lying on their floor, snag a shirt from the drawer’s top layer and slide into shoes closest to the front door.

Ladies will eventually follow suit, though, arriving in their middle school recreational league basketball jerseys dotted with ice cream stains from break-ups past along with baggy PJ pants tucked into — sigh — Uggs. (It’s my Christmas wish for that trend to die.) Their messy hair will look like they were mauled by grizzly bears during every REM cycle. But it manages to be endearing, cute. Guys under-

stand. Most of us aren’t worth the weekday effort.

Well, the weekend is upon us, and it’s time to impress. Friendships have been made and reunited, and routines are falling into place.

Here’s to the first round of bad decisions and hangovers. FML is waiting for your debauchery.

I remember driving down Main Street one weekend morning, and out my window I saw a girl navigating the sidewalk, cocooned in a comforter, clearly devoid of an outfit.

That was awesome. I haven’t seen it topped.

Any contenders?

RYAN ARNOLD -features reporter -communication major -pedals a chicago schwinn -collects voodoo trolls

he’s already invested in his studies, and he exudes leisure with his scuffed sneakers, cargo shorts and white T-shirt. His only faux pas? His unfortunate choice of headgear — a beatenin fedora — plastered to his forehead with perspiration. He squints as the sweat rolls into his eyes and stands sadly at the crosswalk while cars slow down to see if he will cross or not.

“Liberal Arts Lenny.” His eyes are red and puffy, his hair swirling as if he just rolled out of bed. He sports some jeans dotted with self-worn holes and the T-shirt of some band you’re not cool enough to recognize.

Surprisingly, he seats himself at a bench opposite of you and pulls down his mirrored aviators.

Instead of watching the fresh bodies undulating past him, he stares directly at you. Or at least you think so. You can’t really tell.

For a minute, it crosses my mind that I should be concerned about the Chick-fil-A grease sliding down my chin. But hey, all is fair in the new semester people-watching war, and I’d rather be judged for an indiscretion about some artery-clogging chicken breast than my own breasts.

LAKEN RENICK -staff writer -senior English major -has pet eel named Hubert Cumberdale

MINA NOORBAKHSH/COLLEGIATE TIMES

editors: joe crandley, alex jackson sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ telephone number: 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

ALEX JACKSON ct sports editor

Women’s soccer looks to silence critics

SENIORS, FRESHMAN CLASS LEAD WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM With the return of junior striker Marika Gray and an impressive freshman class, the Hokies women’s soccer team hopes to surprise the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2009.

Last year, after being picked to finish eighth in the conference’s preseason poll, the Hokies advanced all the way to the conference championship game and made just their secondever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

While the team’s season came to an end in its first match of the tournament in a 2-0 loss to Brigham Young University, 2008 was hardly a disappointing year.

The Hokies finished 10-9-4 overall and 4-42 in the ACC, setting a program record with five victories over top-25 opponents.

After a decent regular season, Tech shocked the ACC in conference tournament play, unexpectedly advancing to the conference championship game after defeating then-No. 5 Florida State and No. 12 Virginia by penalty kicks in the first and second rounds.

In the championship game, Tech lost to No. 4 North Carolina, 3-0, but earned an unlikely trip to the NCAA Tournament in the process.

In 2009, Tech looks to shock the ACC again after being picked to finish seventh in the conference in this year’s preseason poll.

Head coach Kelly Cagle says she’s excited for this year’s team.

“I think it’s going to be a really important season for the future of our program,” she said.

“Our staff’s really excited about the returners that we have, especially from an attacking standpoint” Cagle said. “We’re returning some of our most seasoned attackers and most productive attackers, so that’s exciting.”

One of those attackers, Gray, missed the last 15 matches of last season from a knee injury.

Prior to her injury, Gray scored four goals, had two assists and looked primed to lead the Hokies throughout the year.

This season, Gray is back and ready to contribute.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Gray said. “Not 100 percent, but it’s getting back. It’s just good to be out here playing, even though fitness is kind of hard. ... It’s just good to be able to do it.”

Despite not being 100 percent, Gray was quite active in Tech’s home opener against High Point University, a game that the Hokies won 2-0. Gray had six shots and came close to scoring three times in the game.

“We’re really pleased,” Cagle said of Gray.

“We’re mostly pleased with her attitude and willingness to kind of, jump back on — you never know, psychologically, how people are going to come back.”

“She’s been fabulous.” Cagle said. “Obviously, her god-given traits are things that make us so dangerous, but equipped with her fitness and her attitude, and then just her coachability. I think she’s just going to have a really good year.”

In addition to Gray, the team’s senior class

sports 7

MICHAEL SHROYER/SPPS

Virginia Tech women’s soccer junior forward Marika Gray dribbles past a George Mason defender on Sept. 1, 2009 in a 2-0 victory at Thompson Field in Blacksburg.

“

We’re excited about our players and we’ve got great returners, great leadership and a good, neat new freshman class.

Kelly Cagle Head coach

provides a dangerous attack.

Senior forwards Emily Jukich, Robin Chidester and Julian Johnson are this year’s team captains and coach Cagle hopes their experience rubs off on the team’s talented freshman class.

“I think we’ve got great leadership in the making throughout our program,” Cagle said.

“Our captains this year and that senior class as a whole are doing a fabulous job, first with welcoming our newcomers,” Cagle said. “We put a lot of emphasis on just a lot of the team culture and the team dynamic.”

Jukich, who finished last season with 15

goals, 31 points and one assist, did nothing but praise her younger teammates when asked about the season ahead.

“The freshman class each year gets better and better,” Jukich said. “I think this is one of the best classes we’ve ever had. They’re all great players, they’re great teammates, and I’m really impressed so far with all of them.”

Cagle agreed.

“We want to create an environment where you feel like you can take risks because that’s the only time you can get better and seeing some of our youngsters contribute,” she said.

“That tells me that we’ve got an environment here where they feel comfortable to do that.”

In the team’s home opener, the freshman class definitely looked comfortable. The first goal of the game came from freshman forward Kelly Conheeney on a pass from freshman forward Kelsey Mitchell.

Both Conheeney and Mitchell, along with freshman midfielder/forward Amanda Gerhard, impressively began their Hokie careers on the Tech starting roster.

“I’m really happy to have them starting,”

Jukich said. “They’re making a huge impact already.”

Though not an incoming freshman, junior Rebekah Brook began her 2009 campaign looking to get accustomed as well. Currently the starting goalkeeper, Brook, joined the Hokies this summer from New Zealand.

Brook says she’s excited to be here.

“It’s kind of a bit of an honor to be recruited here from New Zealand. Not many people get recruited to such a high-standing school,” she said.

“It’s a bit different,” Brook said. “The basics are the same, but some of the more technical stuff is a bit different.”

Hurdles like driving on the opposite side of the street, to the different style of soccer in the United States, however, made Brook spend the past few months not only training for soccer, but just getting used to a much different place.

“All of that was a huge learning curve,” Cagle said. “But, I think even in another month or so, I think her being thrown into that experience ... and her being able to handle that,

although very difficult at some times ... I think she’s only going to be better because of it.”

“As long as she continues to be open, I think she’s going to be fabulous.”

In recent years, incoming freshmen and new players like Brook, no matter their background, have seemed to have no problem getting used to being Hokies.

“We’re in the toughest conference in the country and we’ve grown some years more than others, but grown every single year,” Cagle said. People who are here want to be a part of that process. They want to continue to make Virginia Tech one of the faster growing programs.”

“We’re excited about our players and we’ve got great returners, great leadership and a good, neat new freshman class.”

However, even though they were three goals shy of a conference championship, Cagle said, “We have not arrived.”

“I think anything can happen this season,” she said. “So, we have to stay humble and we have to continue to be the hardest working team in Virginia and in our conference.”

august 28, 2009

page 8

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For Sale Events Health & Fitness Automotive

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR STUDY Volunteers needed for a study examining how diet influences muscle and fat metabolism.

Participants must be: •Between the ages of 18-40 •Not currently taking any medications •Non-smokers •Without any major medical problems •Willing to eat a high fat diet for 5 days You will receive extensive health information. You may receive up to $250 to compensate you for your time.

If you meet the above requirements and are interested in participating in this research study, please contact Dr. Kevin Davy at the Human Integrative Physiology Laboratory at Virginia Tech. phone: (540) 231-8299 e-mail: heartlab@vt.edu 540.231.8299

For Sale LIVE THE TRADITION. Together.

The 2010 Bugle yearbook records Virginia Tech’s proud traditions and our collective community in an archivalquality book with coverage of student life, the Corps of Cadets, greek life, athletics, student organizations and more. Order your yearbook today at www.bugleonline.com.

Sept. 6th, 13th, & 20th at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, 10AM. “Letters from a Skeptic” by Boyd. Facebook group: BPC’s University Students STUDENT MEDIA OPEN HOUSE Come join staff members of Virginia Tech’s radio station, television station, literary & arts magazine, newspaper, yearbook, photography staff and advertising staff 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28, on the third floor of Squires Student Center. Find out about our paid and volunteer positions, or simply learn more about our organizations.

E-mail join@collegemedia.com if you need more information.

THE BIGGEST POSTER SALE. Biggest and Best Selection. Choose from over 2000 different images. FINE ART, MUSIC, MODELS, HUMOR, ANIMALS, PERSONALITIES, LANDSCAPES, MOTIVATIONALS, PHOTOGRAPHY. MOST IMAGES ONLY $7, $8, AND $9 SEE US AT Plaza in Front of Bookstore ON Wednesday August 19th thru Friday August 28th, 2009. THE HOURS ARE 9 A. M. - 6 P. M. THIS SALE IS SPONSORED

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LEGAL TROUBLES Free Consultation with attorney. Assault, Traffic, Alcohol and Drug Charges, VT Student Conduct Review. Joel S. Jackson, PC. 961-5297, joeljacksonpc.com.

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For Rent HORSE BOARDING, PASTURE

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ACROSS 1 NBA stats 4 Meccan, e.g.

9 Silver fish 14 The Rams of the NCAA’s Atlantic 10 Conf.

15 Popular place to go downhill 16 Something not done 17 Insect’s working hours?

19 Peace goddess 20 Tools with teeth 21 Where users meet 23 Composer Stravinsky 24 Seaman who saw it all?

28 __ Moines 29 Scout’s concern 30 Site of bedlam 31 One-named model on many romance novel covers 32 Attention-getting sounds 34 Split end?

38 Young Aussie hoppers 39 Plumbing outlet 40 911 response org.

41 Tiny African threat 43 Gal __ 46 London museum’s hidden camera locations?

49 __ Alto 50 Must 51 Malice 52 Former #1 woman pool player Corr 53 Where two-wheelers aren’t allowed?

57 __ Corning, maker of Fiberglas 58 Gave in 59 Israeli weapon 60 Do figures, in a way 61 Doglike scavenger 62 Whole lot

By Elizabeth A. Long

DOWN 1 Rotten 2 “M*A*S*H” system 3 Perverted types 4 Impudence 5 Burning issue?

6 News letters 7 Rapper Mos __ 8 Back from a trip, say 9 Clown’s accessory 10 Sausalito’s county 11 Charles’s miser 12 Like the road in a classic ballad 13 __ the line 18 Flooey lead-in 22 Little louse 24 Bills for drinks 25 First Arabic letter 26 Ask for more 27 Scrubbing brand 29 Soviet news agency 31 Five-time Emmy winner Tina 32 End in __ 33 Attila, notably 34 Western weapon 35 Interstate feature

8/28/09 Thursday’s Puzzle Solved

(c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

36 Museo display 37 Fracture treatment 38 Air Force One, e.g.

41 Asian holiday 42 It’s often served with soda 43 End successfully 44 Former NBA star Mourning 45 Chinese menu offering

8/28/09

47 Olympics contest, e.g.

48 Horse __ 49 Dispensable candy 51 Hindu sacred text 52 Decks in a ring 54 Light line 55 “__ been meaning to tell you ...”

56 “Jeopardy!” great Jennings

He’s not done yet: Riding the flaming Wrangler wagon For those tired of reading articles about being tired of reading articles about Brett Favre, this is for you.

After offering another factitious rant on the trendy, strange flourishes of the media in writing my sixth Wrangler Blog update last semester, I received as much confusion and criticism around town as I did food favors. Well, admittedly the latter not quite as often.

“Thomas, you’re in-depth cultural deconstruction of Favre coverage and Wrangler commercials is just a bit much to stomach,” they’d say.

Eventually, I promised colleagues, friends and family, My Maker, and Peter King that the Wrangler Blog would ride off into the sunset (OK, perhaps not the last two, but I’m still waiting on that text from King), following my sixth comeback.

But then I got that itch — sorry!

In a ploy for more free sandwiches, Wrangler Man is back and on the Favre hate wagon.

It’s tough to stand the complete, utter gall of Favre.

How could he ruin a nation of sports writers’ collective fantasy of him John Deering around some cozy farm some-

where? How could he do that to us?

Granted, I could also see how those who bleed green and gold deserve to feel a bit more like jilted lovers than we are — recently finding that the committophobe is dating their neighbor from across the hall.

But I digress, because with all this “I’m tired of Favre, he makes me so angry he’s on a pro football team after what he did” media mantra, he’s stolen the frowning gaze directed at Michael Vick’s return.

The former Hokie and NFL superstar saw his first preseason action Thursday night after serving his time for his infamously poor pet ownership. However, this hasn’t halted the continuing crime: Eagles fans can customize a Michael Vick jersey for their dog.

An NFL spokesman confirmed to the New York Daily News that NFLShop.com does provide this option in canine fashion, reasoning this to be fine because Vick’s helping with humane societies. ... Wow. The NFL must realize that this product will a.) probably outsell every other customizable dog jersey on the planet b) find that a relatively small percentage of

customers are Eagles fans and c) become quite popular among those who, to put it lightly, enjoy egregiously pushing the boundaries of good humor.

At the very least, it seems the Goodell administration has turned the page on the Vick saga without leaving much of a finger in the previous one. This comes as a bit of a departure from the image micromanagement the commissioner has taken with many arguably less controversial acts, like touchdown celebrations.

Whether Vick’s five-game regular season suspension signals a lightening in Roger Goodell’s general punishment policies, or more of a hope that Vick is God’s gift to the Wildcat offense, will become clearer with the inevitable drug and driving offenses of NFL athletes this fall.

(Either way, it’s certainly hard to imagine brother Marcus Vick returning to the field after receiving, according to The Virginian-Pilot, a 20-day jail sentence on Aug. 20 for violating probation from his DUI conviction.)

However, swirling amongst inner moral turmoil, the Hokie in me produces a chemical reaction that spurs

wild excitement for Michael Vick’s return. A warm spot still remains from that 2000 Sugar Bowl appearance.

It’s not that I feel absolved from guilt in my rooting interests because of Vick’s blistering, undefeated-season saving run that put Tech in scoring range late against West Virginia in ’99.

It’s not that I think dogs don’t have feelings.

It’s that he’s not done serving his time.

As long as he’s in the NFL, Vick’s forced into a position to help with the prevention of cruelty to animals. Call me a pessimist, but I’m guessing there’s more motivation to right wrongs when the reward of playing football for money and stardom is immediately at hand.

As Vick steps into the league’s most exciting offensive package, giving Favre headlines a pal to tango with, let’s hope it works this time around.

THOMAS EMERICK -ct sports reporter -senior -communication major

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For more information and to download an application visit collegiatetimes.com/join.html

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page 10

august 28, 2009

New coach, Brizendine brings new attitude coaching career

ED LUPIEN ct sports reporter A new era of Virginia Tech men’s soccer started on June 11 when the Department of Athletics promoted Michael Brizendine to the team’s head coach position.

The fourth head coach in the program’s history, Brizendine spent the past five and a half seasons as an assistant head coach for the Hokies.

Since joining the program in 2004, he has received praise from coaches and players alike, and was recognized as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2007.

Brizendine takes over for Oliver Weiss, who resigned on June 2 after spending the past six seasons as the Hokies’ head coach. Weiss guided the program to its most successful campaign in 2007 during which the team produced a 14-4-5 record and a trip to the Final Four.

The team did not see similar results last season and finished 5-13-1 and 08-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Most recently, the athletics depart-

Virginia Tech, Div I - Assistant coach from 2004-2009 Bridgewater College, Div III - Head coach from 2001-2003 - Assistant coach from 2000-2001 Ferrum College - Head coach in 1999

playing career

SALLY BULL/SPPS

The Hokies and the University of Virginia men’s soccer teams line up on the field for the national anthem prior to their game on Oct. 9, 2008. ment self-reported NCAA recruitment violations within the men’s soccer 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Since the change, Brizendine’s players have already begun to respond well to their new coach on the field.

“Everything is very structured with coach Brizendine,” senior defender

Alexander Baden said. “We know what we’re going to do before practice and everyone knows all their roles. I like coach Brizendine’s approach more with the players. With Coach Weiss, it was more like he was the top dog and everyone else was below him.”

Others go as far as to say the coach-

ing move was necessary for the team’s success.

“I think getting sort of a new atmosphere for us is a great way to change and to step it up from the year before,” senior goalkeeper Brendan Dunn said.

“After last season ended, everyone was very down and I think the team was a bit segregated. Coach Brizendine has definitely tried to bring in that type of group atmosphere.”

Brizendine keeps his coaching philosophy simple. He does not try to create a revolutionary way of playing the game. Instead, he toils with what has been proven to work.

“In terms of coaching, I take little

bits and pieces from other places and people you meet,” Brizendine said.

“But you always put your own spin on whatever you absorb. You’ve seen it before but you might not be able to place it because my spin is on it.”

Despite being only 32 years old, becoming the head coach of a collegiate soccer program is not new to Brizendine.

After becoming an assistant at Bridgewater College in 2000, Brizendine was subsequently promoted to the head coach position, filling the role for three seasons while leading the then-historically poor program to its two most successful sea-

Professional - Roanoke Wrath in 1999 - Northern Virginia Royals from 2000 - 2001 James Madison University - Ended his career sixth in all-time scoring - Lettered in all four seasons - Earned all-conference and all-region recognition sons in 2002 and 2003. Following the team’s 12-6 mark in 2003, Brizendine was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year by his peers.

Such success in the Division III ranks led Brizendine to join Weiss’ staff for the 2004 season. Years later, the new head coach affirms that his experience at Bridgewater has prepared him for his new role with the Hokies.

“I’ve been a head coach before so you grow back into that role naturally,” Brizendine said. “As an assistant, you’re doing your job but you’re always thinking, ‘alright, when I get my own program, here are some things I’ll do differently.’ You obviously want to get a head coaching position and those are the type of questions you’re going to have to answer. So now that I’m in this position, I kind of already know in which direction I want to head.”

Brizendine’s confidence is also bolstered by his two assistant coaches, Patrick McSorely and Kevin Doyle, who joined the program in the offseason. McSorely is a former teammate of Brizendine, as the two played together at James Madison University in the latter part of the ’90s.

“I’ve been very fortunate with the staff I have. Both of my assistants are older than me so they’ve helped me in certain areas and have definitely given me inside wisdom to things.”