Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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COLLEGIATETIMES 106th year, issue 76
News, page 2
Features, page 4
Opinions, page 5
Classifieds, page 6
Sports, page 7
Sudoku, page 6
Tech pair honored, laid to rest
Smart house
ZACH CRIZER ct nrv news editor
MARK UMANSKY/SPPS
Architecture students Christian Truitt and Osamu Osawa prepare a metal plate.
VT solar house off to D.C. BY ZACH CRIZER | nrv news editor smart phone can now control a smart house. Lumenhaus, Virginia Tech’s third solar decathlon entry, departs for Washington, D.C., tonight chock full of new technology and applications. Project coordinator Joseph Wheeler said a new feature of this entry allows the user of the house to monitor energy usage. “We have a way, using technology, to allow the user of a house to view where the energy is going,” Wheeler said. The house’s energy can be viewed and controlled on an Apple iPhone. “With the iPhone and Siemens control system, you have access to everything going on in the house,” Wheeler said. Lumenhaus is Tech’s entry into the Solar Decathlon sponsored by the Department of Energy. Faculty adviser Robert Dunay, director of Tech’s Center for Design Research, said the project has already helped educate the general population about energy consumption. see LUMENHAUS / page two
BT fleet builds up to meet demands RILEY PRENDERGAST ct news reporter Adjustment is the word of the day at Virginia Tech. Adjusting to new driving patterns all over campus, adjusting to parking spaces being moved because of new construction, and adjusting to more crowded buses. The Blacksburg Transit is will offer a temporary plan to help students get to campus on time, adding 13 more buses to the normally schedules routes. This is simply a trial period for the BT and will last from today, Sept. 1 to Friday, Sept. 11, according to an official press release. “It’s pretty exciting to see a shift from students driving to campus to taking advantage of the BT,” said Debbie Freed, alternative transportation manager. “Students have already paid to ride the bus with their transportation fee, so using it really makes a lot of sense.” There has been a drastic increase in the amount of students riding the bus to and from campus. “There has been about a 17 percent increase in the amount of students taking the bus from this week last year,” Freed said, “I think it’s partially due to a shift in thinking, from wanting to take your car to hoping on the bus.” For students who are still looking to drive themselves and park on cam-
pus, all of the spots lost in the Prices Forks Road lot have been moved to the Duck Pond lot formerly reserved for campus residents. Although they have been moved, no commuter spots have been lost. Residents who would have lost spots can now park on the Chicken Hill lot located behind the stadium. How this shift in student transportation will affect parking permit sales has yet to be seen as parking services will not have all of the final numbers until later next week. “Students usually take these first couple of weeks to iron out their travel routes, and the buses usually adjust accordingly,” Freed said. “But the numbers are much higher this year and they are going to add these buses for a short time until the rush calms down.” Most of the buses will be trippers that will drop off on PerryStreetnear campusinsteadof the normal stops on the Drillfield, in an attempt to increase efficiency, according to the BT official press release. The routes that will be affected with an increase of buses are Hethwood, Toms Creek A/B, Main Street and Patrick Henry. The BT also recommends trying to leave a window of 45 minutes to get to class on time, or take advantage of the trippers that are now dropping off at Perry Street.
The girl who talked a thousand miles per hour and the young man that met all her father’s standards were laid to rest in their hometown Monday. Lynchburg’s Heritage Baptist Church hosted funeral services for David Metzler and Heidi Childs, two Virginia Tech students found dead in a local forest, allowing friends and family to share reflections on their lost loved ones. The services revealed how they lived their lives, as well as what they were doing when they were killed. Don Childs, Heidi’s father, said during her funeral that she and Metzler had gone on a special date as Heidi considered switching to a pre-med minor. “They were going to have a camp fire — Heidi probably lighting it,” Childs said. “It never happened. The angels came and escorted them to heaven.” He also spoke highly of Metzler, saying he met every standard a father could set. Kent Gregory, student ministries pastor at Heritage, said in a phone interview that Metzler and Childs were very involved with the church. “They really lived their lives based on having a relationship with Jesus,” Gregory said. The religious activities they participated in at home carried over to their time at Tech, Gregory said. “They loved the CRU, the Campus Crusade for Christ, at Tech,” Gregory said. “They were highly involved with that.” Jeff Highfield, director of CRU at Tech, said at her funeral that Childs was a valuable member of the community. “She wanted to get the most out of her time with friends and her time with CRU,” Highfield said. He said Childs was expanding her role in CRU this year and had recently helped reach out to the student body by volunteering to pass out popsicles with other CRU members. Gregory said Metzler and Childs lived their lives actively and together. They often played guitar together at
MARK UMANSKY/SPPS
A wreath sits in front of War Memorial Chapel to memorialize Tech students David Metzler and Heidi Childs, who were found dead in the Caldwell Fields area of Jefferson National Forest Thursday morning.
the church. “They were outdoor people and active people,” Gregory said. “They not only enjoyed life, but they lived it in an incredible godly way.” Gregory said Metzler enjoyed playing golf and soccer. Both Metzler and Childs lived off campus, and Gregory said they maintained strong relationships. “They had such a close group of friends,” Gregory said. Many of those friends spoke at the memorial services. Sophomore biochemistry major Valentine Erisman said Childs missed one day of class while at Tech. She also said Childs held a deep respect and admiration for her parents. Erisman had planned on attending physician’s assistant school with Childs following their time at Tech. Biochemistry major Kelcey Thurman, who also sang at the funerals, read a letter she wrote to Childs last year. In the letter, she said Childs’ positive attitude was “so radiant and glowing it is kind of like a disease.” Gregory also spoke at Childs’
“
They were going to have a camp fire — Heidi probably lighting it. It never happened. The angels came and escorted them to heaven. DON CHILDS HEIDI’S FATHER
funeral, saying he thought he would one day preside over a different ceremony honoring Metzler and Childs. “It rarely happens as you picture it,” Gregory said. He went on to recount Childs’ excitable nature. “She talked a thousand miles per hour,” Gregory said. “Sometimes you had to remind her to breathe between sentences.” Musical selections from both funerals were favorites of Metzler and Childs. Guitar, a passion of both Metzler and Childs, was the instrument of choice. Religious belief permeated the services as the mourners were
challenged during Metzler’s funeral to find the same “peace and joy that David had by truly knowing Jesus Christ.” The funerals celebrated the lives of Metzler and Childs, and Thurman said she looked forward to seeing them again, quoting a Biblical verse. “Those who live in the Lord never see each other for the last time,” she said.
BOV plans to add campus buildings Campus construction weighed heavily in discussions for Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors when they met Sunday and Monday. The board reviewed several plans for new buildings Monday. A new human and agricultural bioscience building, known as HBBI 1, is set to be built in the parking lot currently known as “The Cage.” A 160,000 gross-square-foot “signature engineering building” is planned for the northeast corner of the commuter parking lot between Prices Fork Road and Stanger Street.
The board also discussed plans for a new building located between ICTAS I and Randolph Hall, which would contain classrooms and office space, along with a dining facility. Also included in the discussions were renovations to Davidson Hall to provide new meeting areas, classrooms and laboratories. Sunday’s discussions revolved around campus diversity, primarily a drop in the number of African-American applicants from 1,849 in 2001 to 1,374 in 2009. Additionally, the number of accepted Hispanic applicants nearly doubled from 592
in 2001 to 1,089 in 2009. Tech also doubled the number of enrolled Native American students from 26 in the incoming class of 2008 to 52 in the incoming class of 2009. One suggestion offered to increase diversity was the increase of financial aid to prospective students. “The finances are an area where a lot of students will draw a line in the sand,” said Kevin McDonald, vice president for the office of equity and inclusion. The board will meet again Nov. 8 and 9. by gordon block
SOJA plays Squires at Gobblerfest
JOSH MILLER/SPPS
Reggae band SOJA entertained Virginia Tech students in Squires Student Center as they performed as part of Gobblerfest on Friday.
september 1, 2009
page 2
Lumenhaus: Technology will be shown internationally from page one
“I think it has already proven to be successful because the DOE is trying to get the public more aware of daily use of energy,” Dunay said. The competition, which Tech will participate in from Oct. 8-18, occurs every two years. It is held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. “They do that every other year now, and it’s one of the main instruments the DOE is using to alert the public to different areas of energy,” Dunay said. “The focus of this competition is photovoltaic energy,” which is the use of solar cells However, Lumenhaus will first participate in a month-long exhibition on the lawn of the National Building Museum. The house will arrive early Wednesday morning, and Wheeler hopes to have it fully assembled by noon. He credits the minimal assembly time to the method of transportation. “We came up with an innovative transportation system in 2005 that would allow us to get the house to the Mall in one piece,” Wheeler said. He said the month-long exhibition is a key time to improve Lumenhaus’ chances of winning the October competition. “One month is critical for testing that is going to give Virginia Tech an edge that no other team is going to have,” Wheeler said. Dunay said the experience of two previous entries in the competition has also added to the project. “Each time, the degree of sophistication goes up exponentially,” Dunay said. “This house is quite more advanced than our two previous competition entries.”
The competition requires students to operate as if they were living in the house. “The students have to run the house the way a family would run it,” Dunay said. “Everything that is done in a normal house is simulated or done in the competition while they’re on the Mall.” Students will not sleep in the house overnight, as the Mall does not allow it. Dunay said 14 core students will accompany the house to Washington, D.C. He said the number of total contributing students is “probably in the hundreds.” One new part of the competition measures how much energy the houses can contribute to the local power system. “This is the first time the houses are grid-tied,” Dunay said. “Now, any extra energy we dump into the grid we get points. It’s part of the energy balance competition, which is one of the 10 competitions in the solar decathlon.” The house accomplishes the energy surplus by monitoring and adjusting to weather and weather forecasts. Lumenhaus will also compete in an international competition known as Solar Decathalon Europe. It will be held in Madrid, Spain, in June 2010. The house will be transported by boat. The project has received corporate support from ConocoPhillips and Siemens. It is also partially funded by cash donations. ConocoPhillips offered support after viewing Tech’s 2005 solar decathlon entry. Wheeler said the evolution of the house was aided by the success of previous entries into the competition. MARK UMANSKY/SPPS “When we start a new project, we don’t start over,” Wheeler said. “We Fourteen core students will accompany the Lumenhaus to Washington D.C., living in the house as a normal family would operate. One goal start where we left off.” is for the house to contribute energy to the local grid instead consuming power during the October competition.
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september 1, 2009
page 3
Roomie matches Credit cards to be curbed at colleges made in cyberspace SUSAN TOMPOR
MEGAN TWOHEY chicago tribune CHICAGO– For Satit Koonopakarn, the gold dagger and book of chants were the first signs of trouble. His freshman roommate at the University of Illinois at Chicago pulled out the items on move-in day, explaining that he was a Wiccan and liked to practice witchcraft. Months later, Koonopakarn said, he awoke during the night to find the roommate standing over his bed casting a spell. “I was lying there thinking, ‘Please God, don’t let anything bad happen to me,’” Koonopakarn said with a chuckle. Like most colleges with residence halls, U of I-Chicago makes an effort to pair first-year roommates who are compatible, often taking into consideration personality assessments and lifestyle questionnaires, among other factors. But some matches still result in disaster. To minimize the horror stories, a small but growing number of schools are inserting online technology into the equation. They are setting up their own social networking sites, instructing students to create a profile and select a roommate for themselves like Match.com for dorms. Assigned roommates have already seized on Facebook and Myspace as a way to learn more about each other. Colleges field complaints from students, and their parents, seeking roommate changes even before the school year begins. Loyola University recently heard from the mother of a student who pulled up a photo of her roommate’s house on Google Maps and deemed it too shabby. While some schools are now trying to use the technology to their advantage, other schools are pushing forward with traditional matchmaking, insisting students need to branch out of their comfort zones and experience diversity. For the nearly 2.8 million freshmen heading off to college one of the highest numbers in history the roommate relationship may have the single greatest impact on their college experience, studies show. Students dissatisfied with their roommates are more likely to feel negative about college and suffer lower grade-point averages and retention rates. “It can make or break a student,” said Mike Schultz, director of university housing at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, who serves as president of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International. “Some students will leave a university if they have a poor experience. I’ve also seen marginal students with great student relationships succeed
with the extra support.” DePaul University had used a lifestyle questionnaire when matching freshmen roommates, striving to pair early birds with other early birds, self-confessed slobs with equally messy classmates, and smokers with those who shared the habit. But eight years ago, the university scaled back the criteria, asking only which residence hall and type of room the student preferred, said Rick Moreci, director of housing services. “When we asked more questions, the students were even more upset when we made a bad match,” Moreci explained. “With less factors at play, students don’t have as much of a basis to complain.” Starting next year, the college will take its hands-off approach further, allowing freshmen to select their roommate through an online networking site created by a company called Lifetopia. Lifetopia-designed sites allow students to post photos and details about their background and interests, then shop around for compatible classmates. Within the past several years, the company has signed contracts with more than a dozen colleges, including San Francisco State University. The California school offers the Lifetopia network to students selecting roommates for off-campus housing and a similar in-house online networking program for those living in residence halls on campus. “We’ve found that there’s less conflict when the roommates select each other,” said Philippe Cumia, the school’s associate director for administrative services. “Giving them a choice gives them a greater stake in the relationship and making it work.” Even at schools without Lifetopia, some students are selecting their roommates through Facebook and MySpace. This summer, Danielle Sterczek, 18, of Palatine, Ill., and Krysten Karns, 18, of Aledo, Ill., received random roommate assignments from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. But once they discovered each other’s profiles days later on a group of incoming freshmen formed on Facebook, they successfully sought a swap. Based on their profiles and online chats, it appeared they had a lot in common including playing high school sports. But many colleges insist that by selecting roommates online, freshmen miss out on the valuable learning experience that comes from living with people of different backgrounds. “The more diverse the mix, the more interesting the conversation, thoughts and experiences that will emerge,” said Katie Callow-Wright, director of undergraduate housing at the University of Chicago.
detroit free press As students head to college campuses this fall, they’re about to witness the final days of the credit card freebie. Next year, card issuers won’t be allowed to offer free T-shirts, tickets or anything else of value when they market credit cards on campus. Is that going to stop college students from taking out credit cards? No. But the end of the freebie is a bag of small fries, though, compared with other changes that hit in February, which include: Credit card issuers won’t be able to hand out credit cards to anyone younger than 21 years old unless that person has resources that could support the debt or the person has a co-signer. Credit card issuers won’t be able to raise the credit limit on one of these accounts if the cardholder is younger than 21 unless a cosigner approves an increased credit limit. Parents, of course, will have to decide if they want to cosign for credit cards for college students who are younger than 21. Personally, I’d never cosign for a credit card for my son. If the student pays late, experts warn, the late payment would show up on the student’s credit report and the credit report for
versity licensing programs at MSU, said Michigan State does not have a new contract with Bank of America or another bank. The old contract with Bank of America was temporarily extended as a service to current cardholders, he said. He said Bank of America would not have a table at MSU games this fall. Christine Lindstrom, higher education program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said aggressive marketing is likely to end once credit card companies must review a student’s ability to pay off that card, just like an adult would be treated. Bank of America said it has not marketed credit cards at most types of student events at either the University of Michigan or Michigan State for some time and has no plans to do so. Betty Riess, a spokeswoman for Bank of America, said the bank has marketed credit cards at the University of Michigan and MSU athletic events where she said the target audience would be alumni and other nonstudents. Central Michigan University has an affinity agreement with Bank of America, too, where the university receives extra money based on the card transactions. The card is marketed to alumni.
But Steven Smith, director of public relations for CMU, said credit card companies aren’t as interested in marketing at Central anymore, in part, because the university has banned the use of giveaways. Does a free sweatshirt or sandwich really tempt a student to open up a credit card? Ben Saukas, 24, remembers all sorts of credit card giveaways to get students to open a card at the University of Michigan five or six years ago. He never signed up for a card to get a gift and he didn’t take on any credit card debt as an undergraduate. Then, he went to law school at Arizona State University. Saukas has about $2,000 in credit card debt and expects to graduate from law school in 2010 with about $120,000 in student loans and other debt. While Saukas said the new rules seem well-intentioned, he said people are adults at 18 years old and should be able to get a modest line of credit. The real issue, as he sees it, is the excessive credit that can be given to students who don’t have full-time professional jobs. He has about $25,000 in available credit on his cards and he’s still in law school. “Why are you giving an 18- to 21year-old more than $500 to $1,000 in credit?” Saukas said.
The break’s over for alt-rock band Incubus ADRIAN RUHI mcclatchy newspapers MIAMI– Mike Einziger, guitarist for the spacey, experimental alternativerock band Incubus, is a fan of stormy weather. “One thing I really love about Florida is the lightning. I usually get a storm of some kind while we’re there,” he said on the phone. “I actually just enjoy being anywhere where there isn’t snow.” The current tour (the band’s last one in the United States was in 2007) is in support of the release of “Monuments and Melodies,” a two-disc retrospective of greatest hits, B-sides, rarities and new songs. It also comes on the heels of what Einziger refused to call a “hiatus.” “We took a break every time we finish touring behind an album, we take a break,” Einziger said. Even a highly successful band like Incubus, which also includes singer/ heartthrob Brandon Boyd, bassist Ben Kenney, drummer Jose Pasillas and
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the cosigner on the card. The bad mark hurts both credit scores. “You shouldn’t assume that an 18year-old or a 20-year-old kid is the best manager of credit,” said John Ulzheimer, president of Credit.com. Jen Lyons, 20, a criminology student at Eastern Michigan University, said the heavier regulations might not be a bad idea. She admits she “went crazy” with her Target Visa for a while. She once had $500 in debt on that Visa, including clothes and other non-necessities, and another $500 in credit card debt on a gas card. She’s since paid it all off and now tries to limit her spending. This fall, we’re already seeing some signs of more restrained credit card marketing. Some parents of college freshmen told me that their mailboxes weren’t overloaded this summer with credit card offers for their college-bound offspring. After public criticism, Michigan State University this year said it would no longer give Bank of America information about its students. Michigan State had a seven-year, $8.4-million contract with Bank of America during which MSU gave the bank information on students, alumni, sports ticket holders and employees. That contract expired in June. Terry Livermore, manager of uni-
turntablist/keyboardist Chris Kilmore, needs time off to recharge. The Calabasas, Calif.-based band had a much different sound on its 1995 debut, “Fungus Amongus”: Heavymetal chords, bass-slapping funk and some hip-hop influence (namely rapping and record scratching). But it wasn’t until the release of more melodic singles like “Pardon Me” and “Drive” from 1999’s “Make Yourself,” that Incubus would establish itself as a staple on rock radio and MTV. Since 1999, the band has landed 13 singles in the top 10 of Billboard’s Alternative Songs charts, four of those reaching No. 1. They’ve toured the world several times, but decided they needed a few years off to explore personal endeavors. “Jose is the first one of us to become a parent,” Einziger said of how drummer Pasillas spent his break. And while singer Boyd worked on developing his visually artistic side he designed the album cover for “Monuments,” as well as projected visuals for the
current tour Einziger went back to school. “I never went to college before this,” the 33-year-old said. “I’m having my big college experience now.” The school of choice: Harvard University, where he is studying physics, evolutionary biology and music theory. But with “aMonuments” out in stores it debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart the band was ready to get back to business. “We’re playing better than we’ve ever played,” he said. Only two years ago, he had surgery on his wrist after finding it increasingly difficult to play live because of carpal tunnel syndrome. “I’m able to play a lot more and better now than last tour,” said Einziger, who not only plays lead guitar but often tackles other instruments such as electric piano and pipa, a Chinese string instrument. “I feel good about it.” The band’s current setlist includes hit singles and album cuts from every era, such as “Anna Molly,”
“Megalomaniac,” “Drive” and “A Certain Shade of Green,” as well as a few of the rarities and B-sides from “Monuments.” One such song is a surprisingly faithful rendition of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.” When asked how the band was able to get permission from the usually possessive and protective singer, Einziger said he was unsure. “He might cringe at the idea of us covering the song,” he said. “But I’ve met him a bunch of times, and he told me the first time he really liked our band.” A largely retrospective CD like “Monuments” is the type that often tarnishes an active band, implying that its best music is in the past. But Einziger said he wasn’t worried. “Years from now when we continue to put records out and do what we do, I think we’ll have shed that stigma,” he said. As for fans, they shouldn’t worry either. There won’t be another “break” when the tour ends. “We’re going to start a new album in January.”
4 features
editors: topher forhecz, teresa tobat featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
No lasting laughs in ‘Hell’ I
t was a trap. Before premiering the movie adaptation of his book, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell,” Tucker Max asked audience members at the Lyric to share their embarrassing stories this past Thursday. For those who grabbed the mic hoping to impress Max with their own stories of debauchery and raunchiness, all they received in return was a shower of verbal acid rain. Max deflected their comedic attempts and launched a barrage of crushing insults. No one escaped his relentless pride-bashing, not even his own crew members. Max asked one if he had gotten a haircut. “You look like Calvin,” he said. “Like, where’s Hobbes?” Also present in the crowd were Howdy Doody, Shrek, Grover, Doogie Howser, Gwen Stefani, Billy Mays and John McCain. Some managed to take the abuse in stride while others returned to their corners visibly shaken. The defeated might claim sucker punches, but how could you not enter the venue without your dukes up? If anything, Max simply affirmed what is suggested in every word of his writing: He is an asshole, albeit a self-aware one. That’s why a large group of people, including myself, was drawn to his book. We could abandon our finelytuned moral compasses for a brief diversion of Tucker Max shock value. His wild memoirs contain no remorse. There is no lesson learned. And that’s what I suppose viewers thought they’d see transposed onto the big screen. Yet, what they saw was — yuck — romance and — gasp — morals. Granted, these were tangents off the expected grotesque humor and imagery. The movie version of Tucker Max, played by Matt Czuchry, has two close friends: Drew and Dan, portrayed by Jesse Bradford and Geoff Stults respectively. Dan is a well-groomed, socially
humane guy who is happily engaged. With the wedding rapidly approaching, Max wants to bid his friend farewell with a bachelor party. The celebration serves another purpose as Drew is struggling with a recent breakup. He walked in on his girlfriend pleasuring a talentless rapper played by Paul Wall. Since the event, Drew has been a recluse. He is a contradiction of self-deprecation while shouldering a complete hatred for all other beings, mostly females. The viewer meets him in a dungeondark room where he’s playing Halo with specially modified controllers and headgear that allows him to trash talk his opponents. Max is forced to wrangle him out of his hole. The trio drives hours away to a notable strip club, Dan having lied to his fiancee about their destination. It is upon their arrival to the club when eyebrows begin to rise. All the dialogue up to that point had been base and hilarious, including Max’s boasting of sleeping with a deaf girl and Drew’s two-minute monologue about the glories of a particular pancake breakfast sandwich. Suddenly, however, Drew’s silver tongue is tamed by an intelligent stripper who dishes him several quips about his weak Halo skills and his mother’s alcoholism while he was in the womb. Before you know it, Drew is teaching the stripper’s young son how to perform an L-ambush with his G.I. Joes — quite the wicked curveball. That leaves just Max and Dan, but Max soon abandons him for an ulterior motive: seducing an elusive, uh, “vertically challenged” stripper. Dan, in a severely drunken state, is left to his own devices and ends up behind bars. As a result, the wedding is in jeopardy, and Max is to blame. And we find him actually caring; he must, and does, find a fix. Tucker Max, empathetic? Does not compute. In hindsight, I felt like I was watching a twisted episode of “Saved by the Bell” with Max as a promiscuous
hits theaters “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” opens nationwide on Sept. 25.
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Zack Morris. The narcissist sacrifices his friends’ well-being to propel his own desires, yet he’s always eaten up by the guilt. This leaves the viewer semi-enlightened by the resolution. With that in mind, the movie has to be taken for what it is: a movie. There is a (recycled) plot and a message planted within, however feeble. If it was cut and pasted directly from Max’s book, it would be pornography. I mean, Dustin Diamond (Screech Powers) and Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie Spano) have both flirted with the genre since leaving Bayside High, so in that regard, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” comes out on top. The movie has only crumbs of substance to digest, but it’s very funny. The character banter is gut-wrenching, sometimes literally, like when Drew crafts bizarre physical threats to those who irk him. I’d suggest approaching it like “Dumb and Dumber,” except “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” nailed a scene that blows Jeff Daniel’s bathroom mishap out of the water. Pun fiercely intended. That analogy fails, though, when it comes to longevity. While “Dumb and Dumber” is something of a cult classic, I can’t imagine “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” will ever reach such heights. In a few years we’ll struggle to recall Tucker Max’s name evoking Lloyd Christmas stammering, “Swim? Swammi? Slippy?...”
RYAN ARNOLD -features reporter -communications major -rides a schwinn
Arctic Monkeys bring the heat with their latest release, ‘Humbug’ W
hen the Arctic Monkeys originally burst onto the radar with their first release, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not,” many skeptics immediately marked the band as another overrated UK import. Their opinions were further reinforced with the disappointing 2007 follow-up, “Favourite Worst Nightmare.” But after two years of flying low, the band has reappeared with something worthy of the buzz in the form of their latest release, “Humbug.” The album features tracks rife with wit, menace and enough overdubbed guitar to warrant pause from their former detractors. Though the band’s approach generally remains the same, the difference with this album comes across in the non-vocal aspects of the music. The voice of frontman Alex Turner is thankfully downplayed in exchange for the collective antics of band members Jamie Cook, Nick O’Malley and Matt Helders. By tuning down the lead vocals and cranking up the rest of the band, the LP has some fresh life breathed into it that the previous records were severely lacking. The six-minute opus “The Jeweller’s Hands” has nary a Turner yelp and instead delivers well-implemented backing vocals with a slide guitar that follows the song throughout the slow, rolling rock maelstrom. As far as album closers go, it’s a doozy as well as a guaranteed staple track for any Arctic Monkeys fan. Unfortunately, though the rest of the album is quite good by any standard, it does not replicate the magic featured so exclusively in a single track. Lead single “Crying Lightning” fails to ignite the spark that set the charts on fire like 2006’s “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor.” Instead, it falls prey
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“Years of Refusal” by Morrissey A fine introduction to Morrissey. Also a fine album for people who like the sound of their own voice, like Monkeys frontman Alex Turner.
“Bang Bang Rock & Roll” by Art Brut Frontman Eddie Argos has a tongue that cuts like a hot knife through butter in this 2006 release. Think of the Monkeys, but without all the distraction of musical adornment.
Album: Humbug Bottom Line: The Arctic Monkeys finally live up to the hype with this solid release.
“13” by Blur Sharing the same thread of heartbreak found in “Humbug” this group sends the message through a much denser filter.
to a shout-along chorus that I can’t imagine anyone actually wanting to shout along to. It’s the less aggrandizing moments where the band shines, like in the interplay of the airy chorus on “Secret Door, ” where the song’s aggressive verses highlight the band’s strength in musical harmony instead of vocal dissonance. The double whammy in the album’s middle section of “The Fire and the Thud” and “Cornerstone” demonstrates a similar winning approach from rock ‘n’ roll brimstone to understated melancholy (well, as much rock ‘n’ roll brimstone as you’re going to get from the Arctic Monkeys). For all the negatives of Alex Turner’s Brit-apathy vocal delivery, the same problem does not carry over to the man’s songwriting abilities. All of the songs on the record feature a biting, sardonic, occasionally heartfelt and wholly delightful
everyone
wit. There is something of a pleasant wickedness underneath all of the lyrics in “Humbug,” and the song “Cornerstone” presents this best: After a tryst with an unknown lover, the speaker “Asked awfully politely, please / Can I call you her name?” Ouch — you know someone out there is still smarting from that one. Any music fan who hasn’t given the Monkeys a listen should do so. The album is definitely a step forward for them. After “Favourite Worst Nightmare,” who would’ve thought that possible?
TOM MINOGUE -features staff writer -sophomore -member of the International Guard
opinions 5
editor: debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
september 1, 2009
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Your Views [letters to the editor]
Reform has had enough debate This is a response to “Government must take smaller steps reforming,” CTAug. 27). First, the fear mongering. The bill is this many pages long, and you need to be afraid of it as it will make things very complicated. Let’s put this into context: The bill is shorter than a small novel. Most of it is footnotes, wide margins and double-spacing. Let’s put something else into context: the debt. Debt on a country is not the same thing as debt on a person. Moreover, the debt was far higher after WWII than what it is now in terms of GDP — 120 percent of GDP then and 60.8 percent as of 2007. Lastly, the bill is deficit-neutral, so the debt shouldn’t even be mentioned. We’ve been discussing this for over 60 years, and much of this plan is based off of Nixon’s model in the 1970s. I’d hardly call reforming the employerbased model an overhaul. That aside, the discussion on this specific bill has gone on for more than one month, and discussing it more isn’t going to win more votes or make it better. Discussing it more is going to make it worse or kill it completely. According to Politifact.com, a nonpartisan fact-checking Web site, 76 percent of claims made by Republicans have been false or a complete fabrication (“pants on fire,” as the site calls it). In contrast, 28 percent of the Democrats’ claims have been false, with zero complete fabrications. This is further distorted by statements from Democrats such as, “we pay two times as much as any other nation.” This is more or less true, but Politifact says it’s false because there are nations (Switzerland) who pay 55 percent rather than 50 percent. The problems of health care have been pinpointed; there’s really nothing further to debate. The only debate going on right now is among Democrats. It’s kind of hard when the GOP is fanning the flames of extremism by embracing its crazies rather than calling them out as liars. “Death panels” is a term being used by the leading GOP negotiator, Chuck Grassley. The GOP wants 80 “bipartisan votes” in the Senate, something that wasn’t even reached for
the Iraq War, which “laid debt on our children’s backs.” The Bush tax cuts that cost $1.8 trillion were pushed through reconciliation. Senator Inhofe claimed, “I don’t have to read it, or know what’s in it. I’m going to oppose it anyways.” Mike Enzi bragged about killing universal health care by delaying it in the Finance Committee. Furthermore, let’s talk about how much Medicare Part D added to the debt, wasn’t paid for, and was supported by an overwhelming majority of Republicans. Where was their fiscal responsibility then? That’s not to say it’s just Republicans. Blue Dog Democrat “centrists” (corporate shills) have taken pride in delaying it as well. Mike Ross is leading the charge, a man who owns 100 percent stock in his old pharmaceutical company. Lastly, you are wrong to call reconciliation the nuclear option. The nuclear option was used by Trent Lott to end a filibuster by a majority vote; it’s not in the rules of the Senate. Reconciliation goes around the filibuster and can only deal with certain types of legislation. It is a rule in the Senate, and it doesn’t enact lasting budgetary measures. I know it was said that “both sides of the aisle” are power tripping, that Obama would change these things, but get real. The Republicans and corporate Democrats aren’t interested in reform. Once they have declared the public option defeated, they will move on to Conrad’s insurance-giveaway co-ops, and then they’ll move on to regulating the insurance companies themselves. They’ve opposed every single measure to reform the system, whether it is Medicare, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or Senator Kyl now saying he opposes insurance companies taking people with pre-existing conditions. I’ve seen this dance before, and I don’t plan on being the partner in a tango this time around. There’s a reason the “centrist” Democrats and the Republican Party want to delay the bill and “slow it down,” and it’s the exact advice Bill Kristol gave in 1994 and is currently giving now: to “drive a stake through its heart, and kill it.”
Justin Seabe Senior aerospace engineer
For many, college means drinking 101 L
ast year about this time, a group of more than 100 college presidents caused a stir by launching a push to lower the drinking age to 18. Their goal: to cut down on the pernicious, sometimes lethal problem of binge drinking on campus. The presidents called it the Amethyst Initiative, named after the ancient Greek words that mean “not intoxicated.” The college leaders hoped that a lower drinking age would encourage more responsible drinking on campus. That it would douse the forbidden thrill of binging before a frat party or other public appearance. What are the Greek words for, “You’ve got to be kidding?” We said then that those college presidents were right to be alarmed about underage drinking on campus. But we also said cutting the legal drinking age is the wrong answer. It would encourage more alcohol abuse, not less, and could spill over into more drinking among even younger kids. Now there’s a sobering new study that should spur those presidents to rethink Amethyst. Researchers writing in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry state that raising the drinking age to 21 has been largely effective in reducing binge drinking everywhere, except — you guessed it — on college campuses. The study says that among men between 18 and 20 who were not in college, binge drinking plummeted by more than 30 percent from 1979 to 2006. At the same time, such drinking among college men was “as prevalent as ever,” it says. There was no similar difference between underage women in college
or not. But there was a sharp surge in binge drinking — defined in this study as five or more drinks in a row in the past 30 days — among college women age 21 to 23. The study doesn’t delve into explanations for these disturbing trends. But we’d guess there are several reasons that the anti-binge drinking message isn’t penetrating college campuses. For one thing, young adults who aren’t in college are more likely to still be living at home, and therefore under at least some parental monitoring. They’re also more likely to have jobs. It’s a lot easier to skip a class in the morning to nurse a hangover than it is to call in sick to work. Bosses aren’t likely to be as forgiving as the Psych 101 prof. Whatever the reasons, the lesson couldn’t be clearer for the college presidents who think lowering the drinking age would solve their campus drinking problems. It won’t. The best way to curb binge drinking on campus isn’t to make it easier for kids to knock back a few legally. It’s to enforce local laws against serving or selling to minors. And making sure that residence hall advisers are riding herd, not looking the other way. And finding innovative ways to convince college kids that they risk their health, and their lives, with heavy drinking. That it’s not cool. Kids in high school are getting the message: Binge drinking rates among them are at historic lows, off more than one-third from the peak years of 1979-83, the report said. But then they go to college, and ... sign up for Drinking 101.
Chicago Tribune
MCT CAMPUS
Banning laptops in classroom not a solution A
s the first week of the semester has already passed, most classes have reviewed their syllabi and class rules. For some students, those rules have included a ban on laptops that probably comes as a surprise. At first glance, it seems to be a confusing message: In 2002, Virginia Tech added a requirement that all students own a laptop, and in 2006 the engineering department began to require tablet PC’s. One would assume the requirement to have a portable computer would be for bringing them to class. However, it is also important to note that in 2004, Facebook was founded. Of course, there are thousands of distractions both on and off the Internet besides Facebook. For faculty, though, banning laptops in their classrooms typically is an attempt to remove those distractions from interfering with objectives for class. Here is where the issue becomes a debate. Faculty members believe that removing these distractions means students will pay attention to their lectures and learn more. For students, laptops may be used for taking notes and researching topics discussed in class, or for checking their Facebook and Twitter news feeds. But are the issues that simple? Will simply banning distractions get more students to engage and learn? I’m going to approach that question like a research question. First, some theory: Motivation theories essentially say that we don’t do anything without a reason, whether it be an intrinsic reason, an extrinsic reason, an incentive or to avoid a punishment. Further, engaging in an action for intrinsic reasons or for incentives is much healthier, on a psychological level, than doing so for extrinsic reasons (e.g., money or grades) or to avoid punishment. Now, some data: I interviewed a few of my past engineering students to see how they were using
their tablets in their classes. Some said they leave their laptop at home because it is too distracting. Some said they bring their laptops but have no problem paying attention, and it is an indispensable tool to have. Many students in between said that it depends on the class and whether or not it was engaging. A few others said that they can easily be distracted by AIM, Facebook, etc., yet they still bring their laptops or are required to do so. As well, a few students said they can lose attention in class with or without their laptops. Also, some students noted that others’ computers can distract them when sitting behind someone playing a game or similar. Next, some discussion: While this isn’t scientifically collected data, there are still some observations worth noting. Clearly, the impact of having a laptop in class varies highly from one student to the next: Some students have no problem with having their laptop; others do. Some students use their laptops for taking notes, researching class material and related educational functions. So, the variables in the equation seem to include the student, the class and the instructor, and the outcome is either attention or distraction. Finally, some conclusions: To illustrate, I’ll use an example from one student’s class. The professor began class with a rather lengthy talk about how important personal responsibility is and how each person must work to find what he or she needs to do to be successful. Ironically, after this speech, he announced that too many past students were using their laptops for non-class purposes and that they were banned from his class. This illustrates the worst-case scenario: preaching one thing but not being able to uphold it given the circumstances. This brings me to the explicit conclusions. First, each student needs to take personal responsibility to
do what hee needs to maximize his opportunity to learn and pay attention, which takes time and reflection to find. Second, faculty should do as much as possible to make their classes engaging and interesting, using active-learning techniques and real-life examples as much as possible. Third, banning laptops won’t make all students pay attention and will take an important tool away from some, so it should only be done as a last resort. Returning to motivation theory, these conclusions have some important implications. If laptops are banned from a class when those students have done nothing wrong, it means they are only going to obey the rule only to avoid punishment. On the other hand, if the class is interesting and engaging, yet students are allowing themselves to be distracted by their computer, those students are going to miss important and exciting material as a consequence; therefore, they have an incentive to avoid the distractions. If this is coupled with an emphasis on learning (an intrinsic motivation) as opposed to grades (an extrinsic motivation) it is highly likely that both students and faculty will benefit from the learning environment created. Again, this is not a scientific study, yet I’m sure that some students and faculty have done research on this topic. If so, I hope that this column serves to start the conversation about these issues so that we, as a campus, can create the best possible learning environment while maximizing the use of the technological tools available to us.
KEN STANTON -regular columnist -Ph.D. student, graduate TA in engineering education
Officials should be more open as anxiety increases on campus T
he recent deaths of Virginia Tech sophomores David Metzler and Heidi Childs should come as a complete and utter shock during this first week of school. The reported deaths occurred about 12 miles from campus in northern Montgomery County. Both students were found together, shot to death. That same day, all Tech students were notified via the VT Alerts system to be on the lookout for a man between 25 and 35 years of age who had been seen masturbating in the lounge of a dorm here on campus by a female Tech student. The man confronted the student when he called out in an attempt to get her attention. To us all as individuals, as members of the Tech student body, as residents of Blacksburg, surrounding towns, the distinguished state of Virginia and as citizens of the United States, we should all be in complete and utter shock — but I’m afraid we’re not. Following the acts of April 16, students, facility and parents were told that security would be increased to ensure a much safer campus. The police staff was increased, all dorms were equipped with limited access — allowing only residents entry to dorms. A system known as VT
Alerts was instituted to send critical warning e-mails, texts and voicemails to students and family members, and 201 electronic message boards were installed that would instantly warn those in class in the event of a dangerous situation in classrooms. Tech has declared a safer environment for us all, so why do so many of us still feel apprehensive? As students, we continue to receive e-mails from President Charles Steger encouraging all students to “be vigilant” and “be aware of your surroundings.” While this is always good advice, at the same time it can’t help but increase already high levels of anxiety and general uneasiness. While I understand that Tech has made a sincere and gallant effort to improve security on campus, still I find myself looking over my shoulder as I walk between classes or toward my car. When in my apartment, I not only bolt-lock my door but now chain-lock it as well. I carry pepper spray on my key ring and no longer enjoy the walk from bus stop to apartment in the evening. I am not alone. My roommates, classmates and neighbors share similar feelings and worries. It is critically important that the Tech administration, the Virginia Tech
Police Department and Blacksburg and State Police Departments open a dialogue with us all so we can begin to understand what is happening, what has happened to cause this fear and to answer our questions. Are the events that happen on campus here a normalcy, following the normal trend of violence on college campuses around the globe? Or have the recent security enhancements failed? What now appears to be a steady stream of criminal acts involving aggression and violence in and around campus has worked together to discourage and desensitize our community. This is unhealthy and a step in the wrong direction. We need the help of the administration and law enforcement authorities to communicate with us all and set a healthy course and to answer the question: How safe is Tech?
KAITLYN JANKOWSKI -Regular columnist -Sophomore, Communication
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editors: joe crandley, alex jackson sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ telephone number: 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
september 1, 2009
Wake up! It’s fantasy time I
t’s week one in the National Football League. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady routinely lines up behind center in the first quarter of his team’s 2008 home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s Brady’s first game back since a year in which he threw for 4,806 yards, scored 50 times through the air and completed a remarkable 68.9 percent of his passes en route to a perfect 16-0 regular season. Brady is a great quarterback. Not the type of ‘great’ you use to exaggerate ‘good,’ but the type of great that your father uses when explaining former Redskin Art Monk’s dominance prior to your time in the womb. Brady takes the snap, drops back in the pocket the same way he had for 128 consecutive games and releases another tight spiral down the right side of his home field. CBS’s cameras pan downfield to the ball’s destination, then immediately pan back to a wincing Brady and a crew of New England trainers headed his way. Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts and New England as a whole are stunned. A day later, it is announced that the 2007 NFL MVP will sit out the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Now, it’s not just Patriots fans who are stunned. It’s the world that’s stunned. Now, in a day and age when sports are judged by more than just a win or a loss, Brady’s injury is huge news and a seemingly insurmountable loss to more than just Patriots fans. Over 3,000 miles away from New England, Fantasy Fred sits at his laptop in Piedmont, Ca., donning his new Darren McFadden Oakland Raiders jersey. While eating Doritos and keeping his music at an acceptable level for his mother, who lives upstairs, Fred hears the news of Brady’s injury and throws a legitimate hissy fit. His mother, concerned yet annoyed, runs downstairs and asks what the 27year-old’s problem is. Fred’s problem, like many others that day, was that Brady wasn’t supposed to get injured. That’s part of the reason why Fred and America looked to the great Brady with their first pick (if they had it) in their 2008 fantasy football draft. Then, Brady went down. According to CNBC, Jeff Thomas, the CEO of SportsBuff.com, reported that an estimated $150 million in fantasy football winnings shifted hands that day when Brady was injured. When the record-breaking quarterback went down, one fantasy football owner in every league lost his greatness, and his money too. So, with less than two weeks until
1. Chris Henry, WR, Cincinatti
6. Nate Burleson, WR, Seattle
Projected Stats: 50 receptions, 820 yds, 6 TD's
Projected Stats: 1200 yds, 9 TD's
FAN TASY F OOT B ALL
ions, 900 yds, 6 TD's
2. Derrick Ward, RB, Tampa Bay
Projected Stats: 55 recept-
7. Davone Bess, WR, Miami
sleepers
Projected Stats:
Fantasy Football's most overlooked playmakers These guys could make the difference
50 receptions, 650 yds, 4 TD's
3. Josh Morgan, WR, San Francisco
8. Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, New York Giants
Projected Stats: 52 receptions, 845 yds, 6 TD's
Projected Stats: 950 yds rushing, 6 TD's
4. Chris Wells, RB, Arizona
9. Greg Olsen, TE, Chicago
Projected Stats: 800 yds rushing,
Projected Stats: 70 receptions, 860 yds,
KUMAR VEETRAG/SPPS 400 yds receiving, 8 TD's
9 TD's
5. Mark Sanchez, QB, New York Jets
10. Miles Austin, WR, Dallas
Projected Stats: 2900 yds passing, 22 TD's,
Projected Stats: 45 receptions,
14 interceptions
650 yds receiving, 5 TD's JOSH SON, LINDSEY BACHAND/COLLEGIATE TIMES
the start of the 2009 NFL season, if you play fantasy football, you may ask yourself — what can I do so that doesn’t happen to me? Well, you can’t do much, but now you can buy insurance! Inspired by Brady’s season-ending injury, Fantasy Sports Insurance now offers the opportunity to get your entry-fee money back should your star player go down for two-thirds or more of the season. Now, Fred’s mom can rest easy knowing that her son won’t be facing a potential nervous breakdown each Sunday. Every football player is at risk of being hurt in every play they’re on the field for. Football players are even at risk of being hurt off of the field. For instance, your star wide receiver might be innocently walking up a set of stairs at a local nightclub with a .40-caliber Glock loosely tucked in his sweatpants. Imagine that. Things happen. Even if you can’t break the beer fund to support your fantasy team with an insurance policy, you can be prepared when putting your hard-earned money on the line and relying on people you don’t know. This season, there’s an array of fantasy players who are considered as locks to be scooped up in the first and second rounds of every draft. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is about as sure of a thing as ever. That is as long as his teammate, Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, doesn’t trip over his Wranglers, or find himself unsure of whether he wants to retire the ball to his teammate, or keep it himself. Other running backs, including Maurice Jones-Drew of Jacksonville, Michael Turner of Atlanta and Matt Forte of Chicago, are hot commodities as well.
At quarterback, Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning, New Orleans’ Drew Brees and New England’s Brady, yes, Brady, are the top choices. Wide receivers who seem good to go include Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald, Houston’s Andre Johnson and New England’s Randy Moss. After these obvious picks are through, you’ll want to fill your team with starters who aren’t household names quite yet, like wide receiver Roddy White of Atlanta, quarterback Matt Schaub of Houston or running back Marshawn Lynch of Buffalo. Then, in the later rounds when quality starters are exhausted and all hope seems lost to fill your team, you’ll be best served by checking out my top 10 sleepers above to this rant. Before you draft your team and embark on what promises to be one of your most exciting fantasy football seasons yet (until your star player gets hurt), consider everything. Consider the offensive line of the running back or quarterback you’re picking. Consider the type of quarterback that the receiver you want has throwing the ball to him. Consider the wind, the turf, the grass or the girlfriends (especially if you’re picking Tony Romo) that your player will encounter throughout the season. Then, if all else fails, consider slowly backing away from your computer, dropping your pen and pad, remembering who your favorite team is, and just enjoying the football games. It’s not that hard, especially if you have the insurance.
ALEX JACKSON -ct sports editor -senior comm major -psci minor
Hokies’ Cara Baarendse and Felicia Willoughby jump to block Montana’s attack on Friday night.
Volleyball wins three straight, takes tournament RAY NIMMO ct sports reporter The women’s volleyball team dominated three separate matches en route to its fourth straight Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational title to begin its season 3-0. Tech beat Montana 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19), then defeated UNC-Greensboro 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-8) and Liberty University 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-18). Three Hokies made the AllTournament Team: Taylor Parrish, Cara Baarendse and Felicia Willoughby. Parrish, a senior outside hitter, won Most Valuable Player honors with 47 kills, a .398 attack percentage and nine blocks. “Honestly, I’ve hit better in these past three games than I’ve hit in the past two weeks of preseason,” Parrish said. “That’s a testament to my team — putting up great blocks and great defense.” “Taylor really didn’t turn it on until last week,” head coach Chris Riley said, “and maybe that’s a senior waiting until she needed to. She played pretty remarkably, and I’m pretty impressed with what she’s doing right now.” Baarendse, a freshman middle blocker, played outstanding with 24 kills, a .316 clip, 17 digs and eight blocks. “Cara is a big part of our offense — and just cause she’s a freshman she didn’t play like it,” Riley said. “We expect a lot out of her. We get her a lot of balls, and she took a lot of swings. We’re going to control and fix the blocking a little bit on her to
make sure she’s in the right spots, but all in all she’s doing great.” Willoughby, a junior middle blocker who was an honorable mention for the All-America team, continued her excellent play hitting .377, blocking 13 and producing 29 kills. Despite the overpowering performance for much of the tournament, the Hokies found themselves down early in all three games. In the first two games against Montana and UNC-G, they actually lost the first set. The slow starts concern Riley, who will try to fix that in the coming week. “We gave two teams an ability to play with us that we shouldn’t have,” he said. “So, we’re going to work on that and our mental approach to everything that we’re doing as well.” “I guess it might take us a few points to get into things, but once we settle down and get into a rhythm, we’re unbeatable,” said senior middle blocker Betsy Horowitz. Horowitz saw her first game action in almost a year after suffering a herniated disc last season. “It felt fantastic (being back),” Horowitz said. “The girls have been really helpful with that. They welcomed me back with open arms, and that made it that much easier for me to just come out, relax and play my game.” She only had seven kills and a .105 attack percentage, but the stats didn’t accurately portray how she played. “The first game, I thought, was really good,” Horowitz said. “I felt like my blocking was clicking really well, and this past game — even though I wasn’t getting all the stats — I feel like I was getting the right setups.”
The Hokies faced a strong Montana team to start the tournament. There were 25 ties and nine lead changes throughout. Both teams hit over .200 for the match: Montana hit .214 while the Hokies hit .275. “We do have that fighter mentality,” Riley said. “We’re never done. We play better in crunch time. We’re going to come out and play aggressive at the later points when it matters.” Against UNC-G, defense was the name of the game. The Hokies had 19 blocks and held the Spartans to a measly .050 attack percentage. Revenge was on the team’s mind in its third game against Liberty. The Flames beat the Hokies in a spring game this year in which Tech used a limited lineup. Liberty posted the result on its Web site, and the Hokies didn’t take it very well. “We didn’t post anything about our spring matches and who we beat on our Web site,” Riley said. “Kids noticed it and wanted to know about it, and they took it personally. It’s a small town, bragging rights get involved, and it shouldn’t be in the spring. We make sure everybody knows about it now.” A lot of people did seem to know about the games, as the crowds were large throughout the tournament. “We love having big crowds,” Horowitz said. “When they come, we get so much more energized. We come out and play so much better.” “I love it,” Parrish said. “It gets a little better every year, so we got to keep winning and bringing them out here.” The next home game for the Hokies is Friday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m., against East Carolina University.
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september 1, 2009