GORDON BLOCK AND JOSH SON/COLLEGIATE TIMES
Governor's race hits home stretch
William Swecker-Associate professor of production management medicine and clinical
2250
nutrition -$
James McGrath- Professor of Chemistry-
600
$
As the Nov. 3 Virginia governor's election looms, the
Richard Shryock- Associate Professor and Dept
400
Chair, Foreign languages and literatures- $
Daisy Stewart-Associate professor and associate
350
director of the school of education-$
David Meiselman- Professor of
candidates are making their final push for campaign
economics- $
contributions and advertisements.
250
Republican candidate Bob McDonnell leads Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds in the polls and in fundraising.
Judith Lynch- Director of Outreach,
McDonnell raised $3.8 million in the last reporting period,
College Republicans adviser- $
175
which ended Thursday, while Deeds raised $3.5 million.
Charles Taylor- professor of political science-
McDonnell also leads Deeds in cash on hand. The Republican
Joseph Schetz- Professor, Aerospace
candidate currently holds $4.5 million to Deeds' $2.7 million.
300
$
and Ocean Engineering- $150
However, more Virginia Tech faculty have donated to Deeds. McDonnell leads in Public Policy Polling's Sept. 29 survey of
Minnis E. Ridenour- Senior Fellow for Resource
300
Development-$
the race as well, by a margin of 48 percent to Deeds' 43 percent.
Ed Spencer-Vice president for student affairs-
250
$
Top Tech Contributors to Governor's race
Alan Raflo-Research Associate, Water Resources Research Center- $
Friday, October 16, 2009
250
With the Virginia gubernatorial race slowly winding down, Virginia Tech faculty and administration have been putting money behind both democratic candidate Creigh Deeds and Republican candidate Bob McDonnell. Here is a selection of faculty and their contributions to the campaigns:
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COLLEGIATETIMES 106th year, issue 101
News, page 2
Features, page 3
Opinions, page 5
blacksburg’s
burning questions T he Collegiate Times interviewed all nine of the candidates for the four Blacksburg Town Council spots. Starting today, we will feature each candidate’s answer to a major question every Wednesday and Friday leading up to the election. The first question asked candidates for their position on Blacksburg’s potential big box development. Fairmount
SUSAN ANDERSON
Properties, developer of First & Main, attempted to build a 186,000-square-foot store near Margaret Beeks Elementary School. The developers were originally granted permission to build a multi-use development on the site. The town council approved an ordinance requiring all proposed developments with more than 80,000 square feet of retail
“Right now we have an ordinance in effect that allows large format retail stores over 50,000 square feet to be approved through a conditional use permit so if something larger than 50,000 square feet were to be turned into the town as an application, it would have to go before a planning commission, and it
space must apply for a special use permit with the town. After a series of legal appeals, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled the ordinance applied to Fairmount’s development. No new proposal for a development has been made, and many sites at First & Main remain unoccupied. compiled by ct news staff
would have to go before town council so we would have to look at plans to see how big it was, what the design was, what type of use the store would have and take it from here. “I wouldn’t say that I’m blatantly opposed to anything. You really have to look at the application first.”
“I supported those citizens that filed suit, and I strongly support the (Virginia) Supreme Court decision that unanimously said that locals get to decide how they want to develop and developers can’t deceive locals about what their intentions are. “That’s the first part. JOHN “The rugby field next to Margaret Beeks
Elementary was never a good place for it. I think there are better opportunities for it better places more towards the industrial part of town — more towards 460 and places that can handle that volume of traffic. If the town decided that we didn’t need that kind of retail because we’ve got all kinds of it in Christiansburg, I support that too.”
“Depending on what comes in, we need to look at downtown and how it affects local businesses. We need to look at security, how it affects traffic patterns. “One particular location that is being proposed, the one big box at First & Main is right next to an elementary school, and
depending on what they are selling, is it appropriate? It’s right next to a community — does the community itself want it? “I think that’s something where we need to do a lot of outreach, a lot of cooperation, to see if it’s ultimately going to benefit the town.”
BUSH
BRYCE CARTER
“I want to say that I’m not sure if a big box store is the right choice for Blacksburg, but I do think it’s very important that we have some type of anchor store in that area in order to generate the foot traffic that we need in order to keep First & Main alive. KRISHA “What we need to do is to focus on economic development in that area that genCHACHRA erates the foot traffic for First & Main, because right now First & Main has 14 vacant spots.
“I mean, if you remember, if you know your Blacksburg history, you know that we used to have a K-Mart and a Roses, and those are very sorely missed in Blacksburg. “If I were on town council, I would continue to encourage town council to pursue the movie theater. So whether it is a movie theater, a store, or high-end office space, I support having something there.”
“I believe Blacksburg is in need of a box store. “We need a retail base here that can sustain growth in Blacksburg. The reason why the town was able to be on budget last year was because they didn’t fill vacancies — now why
is that? Services were cut. “If we had a full toolbox of a tax base beyond property taxes and meal taxes, we would be able to sustain ourself and also have services.”
“I am in favor of it. In fact, it never should have been stopped to begin with, the reason for that being the town had its opportunity and blew it, if they had any objections. “So then they turn around because of pressure put on them, and they then sue to FRANK have the project stopped. The issue is fought
over something else; it wasn’t fought over First & Main. It was fought in the state supreme court on the issue of the vested interest in this project. “So what happened is that the town and ’Burg won their case, but for the wrong reasons.”
GREG FANSLER
LAU “My position would be that if there is an application for a big box, I would need to study the plan as a whole new plan, compare it to the comprehensive plan, get citizen input, get staff input and CECILE make an informed decision on it NEWCOMB after being educated on all aspects of the plan.” “First and foremost, before I approved a conditional use permit, I would have to see the actual application, but I can’t say whether or not I can approve an application for a big box store in Blacksburg. “I do think the town council made a mistake when they didn’t set a buffer zone between MICHAEL the commercial and residential areas on the
SULPHIN
“You know, as long as it fits, and meets all of our requirements, then I would support it. But if it doesn’t fit and does not meet our requirements, I will not support it. “There’s always conditions of coming in. But there’s a section of land there TOM and as long as it fits the store in, meets ROGERS our requirements, then I will then support it. rugby field. “I’m not opposed to a big box, large retail development in Blacksburg, but I think you have to pay attention to a variety of factors, like whether it affects the neighborhood around it, how it affects the character of the community around it and whether it has a low impact on the environment.”
Sports, page 7
Classifieds, page 6
Sudoku, page 6
Sustainability Week seeks mass interest KATIE ROBIDOUX news staff writer The Virginia Tech community celebrated green initiatives and raised awareness about future sustainable plans this week in the annual production of Sustainability Week. Throughout the week, university and Blacksburg groups joined together promote environmental awareness. The events ranged from forum discussions, building tours and assorted workshops to movie watching and campus tree planting. The first Sustainability Week at Tech was in October 2007, about a month after the university created the new position of an energy and sustainability coordinator. Denny Cochrane ZACH CRIZER/COLLEGIATE TIMES is the current sustainability program University sustainability program manager Denny Cochrane (right) manager. At the time, the town of Blacksburg, explains Tech’s green initiatives to an interested student. Tech and the town citizenry environmental group Sustainable Blacksburg student-led discussion forum to talk and the community Sustainability Fair established a “green partnership” and about sustainable progress on campus will take place at the farmer’s market and the plan to implement the resolu- on Saturday. designed the event. At Tech’s fair, various groups pro“Our goal of having Sustainability tion. “The plan is essentially a living docu- moted and raised awareness of their Week was to really promote awareness, education and display practical ment that’s designed to help us achieve sustainable efforts. There were presentations and display applications,” Cochrane said. “We the 14 points outlined in the resoluwanted to provide real world examples tion,” Cochrane said. “It talks about booths set up with information packof what people can do to live more what we as a university can do to work ets and pamphlets. One of the groups represented was the VT Beyond Coal towards those goals.” sustainably.” Another event that took place this organization. As a result, Sustainability Week 2007 Members Lyndsay McKeever and proved successful. Four guest speakers week, put on by the SGA, was showattended, including L. Preston Bryant ing the movie “No Impact Man” at the Alex Darr presented the group’s goals Jr., the secretary of natural resources Lyric. The movie is about a man and to fight against coal use and against his family who take extreme measures Appalachian mountaintop removal. for the state of Virginia. “We have a lot of potential here “It really exceeded everybody’s to live completely sustainably. About 175 students attended, and at Virginia Tech, and there’s endexpectations, and it got a lot of recogPresident Charles Steger was there less opportunities out there to move nition,” Cochrane said. The event was awarded the to watch the film and give a short beyond our addiction to coal,” McKeever said. Governor’s Environmental Excellence speech. The group also does a lot of work “Hayley Sink, who is the SGA Bronze Award. This year, the focus for Sustainability director of community initiatives, with promoting the conversion of the Week was on the implementation and SGA president Brandon Carroll campus power plant to a more green of the Virginia Tech Climate Action worked really hard organizing this and sustainable energy alternative, Commitment Resolution, which was event and putting it all together,” said such as biomass. As the years have passed, approved by the Tech Board of Visitors Nathan Latka, SGA director of green initiatives. “It turned out to be a great Sustainability Week has become on June 1, 2009. The resolution outlines 14 main success, and we’ve been getting a lot of more of a standard tradition to the university and has attempted to make sustainable goals that Tech is working positive feedback.” One of the main components of a more noticeable effect in the general toward achieving in both the short and long terms. As stated by the resolution’s Sustainability Week each year is the population. “All students should embrace this first goal, green efforts on campus will fairs that are put on both at Tech and week and take something from it work toward establishing Tech as “a in the town of Blacksburg. Tech’s Sustainability Fair took place in to integrate into their everyday life,” leader in campus sustainability.” One of the events this week was a Squires Student Center on Thursday, Latka said.
Researcher looks into effect of guns on personal safety FAYE FLAM the philadelphia inquirer PHILADELPHIA — Meleanie Hain of Lebanon, Pa., used to tell the news media that she carried a Glock 26 pistol everywhere she went to protect herself and her children. Then last week she was shot to death by her husband in what police called a murdersuicide. For years, researchers have been trying to investigate whether carrying a gun is protective or risky. But getting the answer through science has proved elusive. Now, University of Pennsylvania researcher Charles Branas has tried a new tack — employing methods normally used by epidemiologists to study cancer and other diseases. Branas compared a group of shooting victims to a similar set of “controls” who had not been shot. His results, he
said, show that guns did not, on average, protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault — and in fact raised the risk by four times or more. “People shouldn’t feel that firearms are going to enhance their safety,” Branas said. The study was published in the current issue of the prestigious American Journal of Public Health. Several statisticians, however, called this conclusion a stretch, and questioned whether the Penn group could account for all differences between the shooting victims and the comparison group. Where the experts do agree is on the need for solid scientific information about the risks or benefits of guns. More research could help lawmakers formulate gun policies to stem the carnage. But gun research is fraught with difficulty, the experts say. Not only is it politically and emotionally charged
but privacy issues also make it hard to get large-scale data on who owns a gun and who carries one. Branas, a former paramedic trained as an epidemiologist, designed an ambitious study that he said stemmed from his experience transporting victims of urban violence. For this study, he and his colleagues relied on the cooperation of police to get information on shootings in Philadelphia between 2003 and 2006 — a total of 3,485. The researchers got information as the shootings occurred — the location, the victims’ description and whether they had guns with them at the time. Researchers randomly chose 677 of those victims for the study. They came from various occupations — taxi drivers, bartenders, nurses and drug dealers. Fifty-three percent had criminal records. Six percent had guns with
them when they were shot. Branas then compared this “case” group with a group of “control” subjects — similar residents of Philadelphia who had not been shot. To choose the controls, they matched each victim with someone of the same race, age and sex. The controls — some had guns, some didn’t — were called soon after each shooting took place and asked whether they had a gun close by during the same 15- to 30-minute interval. The goal was to see if those who got shot were likelier to have guns. The controls were actually equally likely to have a gun with them, but more than 80 percent of them were at home at the time of the incident — a big possible difference — and many more people own guns than carry them. Only 9 percent of the victims were home when they were shot. Most were outdoors. see GUN SAFETY / page two
2 news
new river valley news editor: zach crizer university editor: philipp kotlaba newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
Gun safety: Study searches for Interest groups scramble for link between guns, violence a leg on health care debate NOAM N. LEVEY
from page one
more than 80 percent of them were at home at the time of the incident — a big possible difference — and many more people own guns than carry them. Only 9 percent of the victims were home when they were shot. Most were outdoors. To arrive at their result, Branas said, he made statistical corrections for this and other factors that might influence a person’s chance of being a victim — neighborhood type, a person’s use of alcohol, and involvement in the drug trade, for example. After all the corrections were put in, he and his colleagues concluded that the people in the study who were carrying a gun at any given time interval were more than four times as likely to be shot. Branas offered several possible explanations. Having guns could induce people to behave differently, he said, perhaps emboldening them to stand up to attackers. Another possibility, he said, is that people are having their firearms turned on them. Comparing cases and controls isn’t traditionally applied to violence, Branas said. “It’s sort of new on the radar screen for the public.” The study is one of the few funded by the National Institutes of Health. The Penn study comes after a 2004 report by the National Academy of Sciences calling for more research into gun violence. The chairman of that panel, criminologist Charles Wellford from the University of Maryland, lauded the Penn study. “I think this is a very good paper,” he said. “This is the kind of work we were hoping ... would be done. This is a good first step to try to understand better what role guns play in selfdefense.” But several statisticians not involved in the gun research said you can’t reach such sweeping conclusions with this kind of study. “There are some sketchy things going on here,” said J. Michael Oakes, a sociologist at the University of Minnesota who reviewed the study at The Philadelphia Inquirer’s request. Studies that compare cases with controls were designed to look at cancer, he said. “The foundation of the case control
tribune washington bureau study is the sense that those who are the cases are exactly the same as those who are in the control group,” he said. Here, Branas is assuming the people who were shot were no more likely to have guns than a group of controls of the same gender and racial mix. “It’s a big stretch,” he said. Economist Jens Ludwig of the University of Chicago expressed similar reservations. “They can’t tease out whether guns are contributing to assault or assault risk is contributing to gun ownership,” he said. Criminologist Gary Kleck of Florida State University said the Penn results can be explained by the fact that people who are at risk of being shot are also more likely to buy or carry guns. Such people might have dangerous jobs or belong to a street gang or be involved in the illicit drug trade, for
“
They can’t tease out whether guns are contributing assault or assault risk is contributing to gun ownership. JENS LUDWIG, ECONOMIST UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
example. Adding corrections for race, neighborhood, sex and even drug trade ties, as Branas did, “doesn’t alter the underlying flaw in the reasoning,” Kleck said. In an e-mail, Kleck explained his view with an analogy. “It is precisely as if medical researchers found that insulin use is more common among persons who suffer from diabetes than among those who are not diabetic (something that is most assuredly true), and concluded that insulin use raises one’s risk of diabetes.” The Philadelphia police have no official position on whether citizens should arm themselves for protection. Spokesman Frank Vanore said they do see people who have their own guns turned on them.
They also see a number of people who accidentally shoot themselves with their own guns, usually in a finger, leg or foot. Often these people claim someone else shot them but there’s no bullet hole in their pants, indicating that the bullet came from a gun concealed inside their clothing. University of Chicago’s Ludwig said while he thought the Penn paper had merit, it wasn’t informative enough to be used to shape policies such as handgun bans. “This sort of paper captures only part of the benefits and costs of having lots of guns floating around,” he said. Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, said the question the study addressed may not be the most relevant one to gun policy. The notion that people should keep guns for self-protection has been pushed by the gun lobby, he said. The more important question is how to reduce the obvious problem of gun violence in Philadelphia and other U.S. cities. More pertinent, Miller said, are data that compare guns and shootings across countries. In Canada, for example, people own as many shotguns and rifles as Americans but far fewer handguns, and Canada has about 10 percent of the U.S. rate of gun violence. The U.S. has a far higher per capita rate of gun violence than any other developed country, he said. If guns really made us safer, he said, “we should be the safest country on Earth.” Branas acknowledged the possible pitfalls of his study. To do a perfect experiment, he said, researchers would need to get a big group of people and give them guns and compare them to another big group who were not allowed to have guns. “There are a couple of (ethical) problems with that,” he said, noting that Penn’s institutional review board would never approve it. But he is in the process of running a real experiment with simulated guns. That way, “we can look at how you perform in all sorts of threatening situations,” he said, but using a simulator “so no one gets hurt.”
WASHINGTON — The battle over health care entered a new, more frenzied stage Wednesday with lawmakers and powerful interest groups jockeying for advantage now that most believe some form of health care overhaul will ultimately be signed into law. The Senate Finance Committee’s approval Tuesday of a centrist but still sweeping health care bill with the support of all its Democratic members, plus Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine, offered powerful evidence that a moderate blueprint can command a majority in the Senate with at least token GOP support. Passage of a major bill by the House was also considered increasingly likely. But that success has spawned a furious scramble among insurers, labor unions and others to protect their interests in the few remaining weeks before voting begins. And the maneuvering has increasingly turned into a zero-sum game among groups that for much of the year appeared to work together to advance the cause of a health overhaul. Now, any financial gain by one group corresponds to a loss by others. That’s because the Senate Finance committee bill established a ten-year price tag of $829 billion — a cost figure that is considered unlikely to grow substantially in whatever bill ultimately goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. “This is now roller derby. It’s very fast, lots of elbows, and people are playing for keeps,” said Nancy LeaMond, executive vice president of the AARP, which has been deeply involved in pushing for health legislation. “After months of ‘keep your powder dry,’ every group now (is thinking about) what must be in there at the end of the day. It’s a crowded field,” LeaMond said. The Senate committee vote had been a triumph for Obama and the Democrats, but on Wednesday, a coalition of 27 labor unions signaled the beginning of the new, more bruising phase by taking out a full page-advertisement in Washington newspapers that demands the removal of a proposed tax on socalled “Cadillac” health plans. The tax, which is a cornerstone of the bill endorsed Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee, is bitterly opposed by unions. Over the years, they have negotiated the more generous health plans in lieu of higher wages. “Our union and other unions worked like hell to elect Democrats to the House, Senate and White House,” said American Federal of State County and Municipal Employees President Gerald McEntee, explaining why the labor
groups defied a request from White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel not to run the ad. “We thought that after eight long, treacherous years of the leadership of George Bush that certain things would happen.” At the same time, the insurance industry is intensifying its campaign to head off proposed taxes on its members and proposed cuts to the federal Medicare Advantage program, two of the other main sources of proposed funding for a health overhaul. America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s Washington-based lobbying arm, has started running television ads in six states targeting senior citizens, millions of whom rely on the extra benefits provided at taxpayer expense by commercial insurers that offer Medicare Advantage plans. Those ads come on top of a series of television commercials being run by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that criticize proposed new fees and taxes on the health care industry that lawmakers believe are necessary to offset the cost of an overhaul. And now, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a group of drug plan providers who purchase pharmaceuticals and sell them to plan members, has joined the fray, targeting drug companies who earlier this year pledged to provide $80 billion in savings to the federal government over the next 10 years. Critics say that pledge is far less than the industry should contribute, given how much pharmaceutical companies stand to gain. The drug industry’s lobbying arm, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, quickly struck back, charging that its critics
“put their narrow interests before the common goal of ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality health care coverage and services.” “People are very nervous,” said Chris Jennings, an influential health care consultant who worked on the Clinton administration’s health care campaign. “They understand that (an overhaul) is almost inevitable, so this is their last chance to get on the train. ... If they are not proactive now about what they want, they will lose their opportunity.” That dynamic could strengthen the hands of the White House and senior Democrats as they work to finalize legislation to bring to the floors of the House and Senate later this month, said Ralph Neas, head of National Coalition On Health Care, an amalgam of union, health and medical groups. “Congressional leaders have much more leverage today than they did before the finance committee’s vote. There is more maneuvering room,” Neas said. Many believe the insurance industry’s sudden attack on the health care legislation has actually weakened its bargaining position by antagonizing Democratic leaders. Congressional Democrats are now pushing to revoke the industry’s longtime exemption from anti-trust law. Wednesday, the president also moved to capitalize on the momentum, publicly dispatching a group of senior deputies to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers after months in which the White House played down these contacts. “There is a sense of ... historic opportunity here, that we can’t miss this opportunity,” said Illinois Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. “We have to find a way to come up with an agreement that brings in 60 votes. I think people are more positive (about ) that outcome than I’ve heard before.” But the jockeying also is creating a more unstable political environment. Many lawmakers are stepping up their demands for changes in the health care legislation and questioning agreements with drug companies, hospitals and other industries that have helped sustain the healthcare campaign all year. “Everybody makes deals all the time. Deals are not made to be broken, but deals are broken,” said Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.V., a leading advocate of a health overhaul. “Nobody gets a safe haven.”
features 3
editors: topher forhecz, teresa tobat featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
he she
SAID
He Said: No cure for facing a college of sick students W
hen I first started driving, my mom gave me a small canister of pepper spray to store in my car. Apparently, at 16 years old I looked really vulnerable to parking lot muggings (the Lynchburg suburbs are rough). Well, I never had to shower anyone’s eyes with the liquid fire, and I mostly just felt like a pansy any time I opened my glove compartment and the bottle rolled out. Today, however, I find myself in need of Mace, albeit a special variation of the defense. I’ve discovered Lysol has an on-the-go version of their popular disinfectant spray. The one-ounce tube is advertised as ideal for public areas, including baby-changing tables and payphones. But since I have no children and own a cell phone, that doesn’t yet convince me to unfold my wallet. I would be in the checkout line, though, if Lysol scientists could manage to crush 99.9 percent of bacteria at a more crucial source: the human mouth. I doubt I’m the only person who’s noticed a number of students failing to cover their pie holes when coughing up their demonpossessed lungs. And have you ever seen a slow-motion sneeze? It’s like millions of molecular U.S. Open tennis serves rocketing into your air space, except the green balls are much slimier. With the development of an edible germ killer, though, I could smother the attack with a spritz. When I see a nose begin to crinkle in class, I could take aim with my compact weapon. It’s invasive, yes, but it would teach a valuable lesson parents apparently neglected to share. Granted, the pilot version would likely taste horrible for the recipient. I imagine Lysol would then team up with Binaca to create agreeable flavors — ’tis the season for pumpkin pie. That’s almost reason to purposely fall under the weather. Honestly, it’s going to happen regardless of most any preventative measure. Hand sanitizers often make your paws sticky, as though they’re spider webs for sickness. Flu shots are dead forms of the virus, somehow rising from their grave within your arm to give you exactly what you hoped to prevent. And if mucus membranes are in fact the ultimate pathways to illness, we’re screwed
just by keeping our eyes open. (I’d like to see blindfolded hypochondriacs navigate campus with canes.) So whether swine flu lands on your pupil or you play tonsil hockey with someone who’s just not quite over bronchitis, don’t be surprised when your lymph nodes balloon. And that downward spiral is all too familiar. The introductory scratchy throat soon feels like eating knives. Innocent sniffles eventually demand tissues, and their sandpaper texture shreds entire upper lips into open wounds. You get to that point where if you saw a guillotine on the Drillfield, you’d consider throwing your neck on the cutting block. Yet despite operating like a corpse for several days (or weeks), some good can result. After being bedridden, you tend to be more appreciative of simple joys, including meals and mobility. Your taste buds were muted for so long, and suddenly oatmeal seems as dynamic as tiramisu. And while you once nearly fainted on short trips to the bathroom, your renewed stride has you keeping pace with bicycles. Recovery usually isn’t solo, either. While the thermometer is no longer tended by your parents, they are adequately replaced. Once your social network sees your immune system being owned, a true friend or two will come forward to put on the stethoscope. They’ll sacrifice their time and risk their health to sulk by your side, stirring up chicken noodle soup or rubbing Vicks VapoRub on your chest. Those are gestures you don’t easily forget, and it’s those ties you’ll tighten. Thankfully, my roommate has a girlfriend, so when his fever was raging recently, his pectorals were in her hands. Well, so was the soup. Actually, I did nothing but wish him well and douse the sofa with Lysol when he left the room. I would have sprayed his face if I could have.
RYAN ARNOLD -features reporter -senior -communication major -had tongue surgery
MINA NOORBAKHSH/COLLEGIATE TIMES
She Said: Stay home, get down with your sickness W
hile waiting in Schiffert Health Center and reading a ratty copy of Time magazine in an attempt to look intelligent, I noticed something strange. Sweaty, smelly college-kid bodies slumped over chairs, yes, that’s a norm on campus, but they were wearing what looked like surgical masks — Michael Jackson-type, Tokyo-smog-stopping surgical masks. In a panic, I tried to scope out the nearest hand sanitizing station, trying desperately to find the last line of defense before the pathogenic nukes went off. I was only in Schiffert for a routine check-up, but anybody who knows me knows that my immune system has about as much strength as a fourth-grade computer geek. I spend most of the school year trying to dodge bouts of illness — living off the “Jewish penicillin” of matzo ball soup, sitting in empty corners of classes and wearing so many layers of winter clothing that I would be immune to even Chuck Norris’ roundhouse kick. I’d once been such a regular at Schiffert that I’d picked out names for the fish in the waiting room tank. I even noticed when a few of them had disembarked to fish heaven. (Rest in peace, Quasimodo.) Fortunately, my experiences with various illnesses have led me to one conclusion: Being sick isn’t so bad. To be cliche, you just have to “get down” with your sickness. The cardinal rule of illness: Stay home. Most of the “real world” offers sick days for a reason. And in a case when you’re not hungover or taking a little vacation, actually being
ill is a great excuse. What you choose to do on your day off is truly how you have a party of one. For a casual approach, you can snuggle with some blankets on the couch, chug plenty of fluids and watch that copy of “All Dogs Go to Heaven” you’ve kept hidden from your roommates to avoid embarrassment. In your DayQuil haze, yes, maybe you’ll cry over the plight of animated canines. But who cares? You’re in your ugliest pajamas, and you feel like crap — and the day is still yours. If feeling absolutely sedentary and worthless isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other sick-friendly options. Turn on that Wii and polish your Mario Kart skills so later you can finally whoop your guy friends. Or just catch up on your class work since that biology textbook definitely isn’t going to read itself. While looking at diagrams with a fever, you might be able to figure out the secret to immortality. You never know. If you’re a real traditionalist, however, you can explore the Spanish flu route. In 1918, when an epidemic of the Spanish flu plagued America, many people survived the disease by drinking themselves into stupors. So, like your forefathers, lock yourself up and get tanked. Mix your vodka with some hydrating Gatorade. Put some Airborne in that tequila shot. The morning might be a little rough, but at least the alcohol in your bloodstream will kill all the germs — right? Although I might know the secret to a great
sick day, it doesn’t mean that I seek them out. A deathly pale girl in one of my classes slumped over her desk and informed the professor, “I was tested for mono and the flu today. I feel awful.” Come on, woman. Remember the cardinal rule: Stay home. Nobody likes that one super-sick person in your classroom whose cough sounds like a legit death rattle. (This is a paranoia exacerbated in windowless McBryde classrooms. There is nothing positive about that building.) You don’t want to be “that sick person,” inspiring disgust and scorn wherever you go. Nobody wants you near their food in the dining halls, nobody wants to sit beside you on the bus, and definitely nobody wants you to sneeze within 25 feet of them. It’s like being the campus leper. So why would you spend your sick day out and about with haters instead of having the perfect day at home? So whenever you’re sick, take my advice: “get down” with it and stay home. Trust me — because I’m completely sick of seeing the Schiffert waiting room, and I’m hoping I don’t have to go back.
LAKEN RENICK -features staff writer -senior -English major -favorite author: Chaucer
october 16, 2009
page 4
October gets rocked at Top of the Stairs MIKA MALONEY features staff writer
CHRISTOPHER KELLY mcclatchy newspapers
COURTESY THE SHACK BAND
The Shack Band will be among the groups to participate in Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s “Roktoberfest.” Others performing will be the Pat McGee band and Always Morning. Trevor Begley, one of the founding members from Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The Music Resource Center’s outreach coordinator, Damani Harrison, explained that the MRC is a non-profit youth risk prevention program centered around music. The organization works to teach the youth of Charlottesville the fundamentals of music while also equipping them with life skills for the future through various mentoring programs. When asked how the MRC funds all of its projects, Harrison laughed and replied, “panhandling.” On a more serious note, Harrison continued to explain that since membership only costs $10 a year, the organization relies heavily on grants, private donations, city-funding and fundraisers. With ticket sales for Saturday expected to be around 1,500, the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon hope to make a serious contribution to the organization. Founded in 1995, with the help of the Dave Matthews Band, the MRC has come a long way from its original one-room recording studio in downtown Charlottesville. Today with a state-of-the-art facility that includes a full recording studio, a dance and video performance space and a full
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This Saturday afternoon, the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon bring together two of everyone’s favorite Blacksburg pastimes — music and beer — to benefit the Music Resource Center. The MRC is a Charlottesville-based organization dedicated to inspiring young people through music. The three Tri Sig fraternities are hosting the first annual Roktoberfest, a daylong charity music festival featuring the Pat McGee Band as well as local bands Always Morning, Natural Ingredients and the Shack Band at TOTS. “Each band has their own sound and texture to their music,” said Mason Owen, bassist of the Shack Band. Owen describes his group’s sound as “classic rock-influenced stuff, some covers, jam-rock, blues, jazz fusion — really anything that goes. We even cover rap songs.” Despite the fact that each of the bands bring its own sound, all the bands have one thing in common: a dedication to the cause. “This is a more tangible cause than most events because we play music too,” Owens said. “This is more close to home, so to speak.” The Music Resource Center’s mission to help at-risk youth through music is an easy cause for many people to identify with. The brothers of Tri Sig hope people’s love for music as well as their desire to help a charity encourages them to come out and support the event Saturday. “The charity concert is a new idea,” said Michael Doughty, president of Sigma Chi. Doughty believes many will enjoy Roktoberfest because it gives people the chance to enjoy one long day of festivities rather than week-long philanthropic events commonly hosted by other Greek organizations. For participating sororities, the concert is part of a competition where points will be awarded based on attendance. The brothers want to be clear, however, that this event is not closed to the Greek community and that they encourage everyone to support a cause that the three fraternities plan to make an annual event. “We are hoping to have it in the October or November range every year now, and possibly extend it,” said
Finding ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ may disappoint
what: Roktoberfest Charity Concert where: Top of the Stairs Bar (TOTS) when: Saturday, Oct. 17 from 2:30-10 p.m. price: $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Tickets can be purchased outside of TOTS Friday from noon till last call and Saturday before the event. More information is on its facebook page. *ticket price includes an after party at Awful Arthurs sponsored by Red Bull
rehearsal space, teenagers have the opportunity to learn skills such as audio engineering, music production or playing various instruments. “We provide an afterschool safe haven for kids,” Harrison said. The Music Resource Center
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works to keep at-risk youth off the streets and channel their energy into creativity. The organization has a membership base of over 700 teenagers, 200 of which are a part of their many outreach programs where, Harrison said, they “go out to kids who can’t make it to us.” In the past they have worked with teenagers who have attention deficiet disorder, autism, brain injuries and severe burn injuries through musical physical therapy, a process of working with youngsters by using music as a medium for communication. “The Music Resource Center has become a launchpad for contemporary music education centered around at-risk youth,” Harrison said. Success with the MRC in Charlottesville has inspired the founding of a sister MRC in Cincinnati, a very similar organization based on the same principles. The Tri Sig brothers are enthusiastic about helping the MRC and encourage people to be a part of the MRC’s success because they believe it is a chance to bring a deserving cause into the limelight. “The Music Resource Center was so pumped when we told them about this event,” Begley said. “They don’t get many opportunities like this.”
everyone
Why is everyone in “Where the Wild Things Are” so insanely depressed? A 100-minute riff on Maurice Sendak’s 336-word children’s book, the film introduces us to the sullen, unruly Max (Max Records), who acts out after his sister’s friends destroy his snow fort, and his single mother (Catherine Keener) dares to have a man (Mark Ruffalo) over for dinner. Fleeing from his home, Max journeys to a magical land populated by large, furry, bizarrely passive-aggressive creatures searching for a king who will help them keep away the loneliness and sadness. The matter of why these creatures are so miserable — they’re alternately struggling with angermanagement issues, low selfesteem and megalomania is never addressed. Little of this backstory, ofcourse, comes from Sendak’s novel. In the book, Max tames the animals, leads them in a rowdy party and then goes home before they can eat him. But director Spike Jonze (“Adaptation”) and his co-writer Dave Eggers (“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”) have decided to transform “Where the Wild Things Are” into the ultimate ode to hipster alienation. Much like “Garden State,” this visually striking but entirely uninvolving movie is an elaborate exercise in emo melancholia. It’s the product of a generation raised on Prozac and Paxil, taught to think that the only subject that matters is your own self-absorption. What it is not, even by the most creative of estimations, is a movie for kids. Photographed by the gifted Lance Acord (“Marie Antoinette”) mostly on the coast of Australia, with an anxious, handheld camera and natural light streaming across the frame, “Where the Wild Things Are” deliberately eschews anything warm, fuzzy or comforting. When Max meets the creatures, late into the night, they leer into the camera and debate about whether they should eat this little boy; a vision that might be described as Felliniesque if there were even an iota of joy coming off the screen. They don’t eat him (we could only be so lucky that the movie would be over so soon).
Instead, “Where the Wild Things Are” follows Max as he develops friendships with Carol (voice by James Gandolfini), who expresses his anger by smashing things up, and KW (Lauren Ambrose), who feels no connection to the clan and keeps drifting away to spend time with a pair of owls. I get the idea that all of these creatures, along with the meek, goatlike figure Alexander (Paul Dano) and the conniving, unicorn-looking Judith (Catherine O’Hara) are extension of Max’s own personality. But that doesn’t mean you would want to spend any time with them, certainly not considering that most of the “plot” consists of these figures chatting and wandering aimlessly. If anyone sat through Gus Van Sant’s “Gerry,” in which Matt Damon and Casey Affleck walk and walk and walk some more through the desert and wondered, “What would that be like as a children’s movie?,” well, here’s your answer. “Where the Wild Things Are” is certainly impressive to stare at it. Using a minimum of CGI, Jonze does a marvelous job setting this small boy alongside these very large creatures and creating a universe that seems all of a piece. But there is no reason to care about what’s happening; and even in the supposedly upbeat moments the famous “wild rumpus,” for instance, rendered here all too quickly as an indierock montage, no one seems to be having any fun. And while there’s a certain integrity in making Max such a difficult, abrasive figure, it also makes it impossible to root for him. By the time Max climbs inside KW’s mouth to escape the hungry jaws of Carol, and then emerges cold, wet and goo-covered, “Where the Wild Things |Are” seems determined to claim a dubious honor: the Most Depressing Children’s Movie Ever Made. You couldn’t exactly call this a betrayal of the source material, the creatures gorgeously approximate Sendak’s original drawings, and the author reportedly loves this film version so much as a sadistic perversion. For anyone who thought the novel was about channeling frustration into creative and cathartic fantasy, think again. In Jonze and Eggers’ treatment, it’s about how difficult it is to be a genius, and how very horrible it is when no one “gets” you.
opınıons 5
october 2009 editor: 16, debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865
page B
COLLEGIATETIMES
october 16, 2009
The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
Student Orgs [sga]
Gay: It’s not a word to use so loosely T
he following is a story submitted to me by one of your fellow Hokies: I am a homosexual male growing up in a heterosexual society. I feel uncomfortable almost everywhere I am. I stereotype everyone, not to discriminate, but because I need to. I use it as a defense mechanism to target my oppressors. Darwin’s theory, survival of the fittest, is not archaic; it applies to my everyday life. I know the weakest person will die off and I refuse to be that person. I spend most of my day worrying. I fear the group of people that comes after me. The group is all around me, attacking me little by little with their words, but not physically just yet. I live a normal life for the most part. I wake up, brush my teeth, shower, eat breakfast, go to class, and come back to my residence hall. I walk around this gorgeous Virginia Tech campus and all that people notice is me. The picture perfect scene is ruined. I am the outcast. I am the outlier you learned about in math class. I am just one of the many that are discriminated against everyday on this campus. Have you ever looked down in class and seen the word “faggot” carved into a desk? I see it, but I also feel it. I feel that same knife cut me out, away from the group of those other Hokies around me. The distance, the difference, between you and me, increases exponentially each time I read the word on a desk in McBryde. I have seen it so many times at this point; the distance between us can no longer be measured in inches, but miles. I no longer feel a part of Tech or this Hokie family. I am an American, despite what many may say. I am just as much of an American as you. It was the Native Americans that were discriminated against first when their land was stolen from them. Then, the wave started. The Irish, blacks, Italians, Hispanics and homosexuals lined up as the next targets of hate. What is your ethnicity? Were you here first? Unless you are Native American, you weren’t. Why do today’s Americans feel that their very short presence on this land entitles them to decide who has the right to enter our land of opportunity? Our land: it’s our land to be shared, not to own. We have all been discriminated against, but you don’t remember. You never had to deal with it. Your parents might have, maybe your grandparents, or possibly your great-grandparents endured the sacrifices so you never would have to suffer discrimination. You just remember the privileges you have each and every day. Take a second and ponder the word homosexuality. What images or feelings are evoked? For most people, the word homosexuality conjures up images of gay sex. Now, stop and think about heterosexuality. For the word heterosexual, we think about two people in love. Did you ever realize that homosexuals are simply two people in love too? Has society affected you? If you don’t think it has then why
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the forum
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Come to Squires Oct. 20 to discuss the morst citical questions for Tech.
do you see such a huge difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality. Why do you fear me? Do you fear me because I am different? I don’t call you names or go out of my way to hurt you. I don’t yell redneck, hick, or white trash to those of you that so proudly display your Confederate heritage. I don’t judge you, the upper class, for the endless privileges your parents provide you. Your tuition paid for, your new car, and your designer clothes all in hand with no questions asked. If you don’t want to be me, then don’t discriminate against me. You didn’t stop. You didn’t think. You never gave me a chance. You throw the word “faggot” and “gay” around as if it’s okay. As if nobody cares. The word “gay,” according to MerriamWebster dictionary, is keenly alive and exuberant. Since when did the word mean annoying and stupid? Why do you use the word to degrade me? Is your vocabulary so limited that you must hurt me with the words “gay” and “faggot”? I am not asking for a series of miracles or for you to change the world. I am simply asking you to stop and think. Really stop and ponder your actions and words. Please ask yourself the question: Who does this hurt? It hurts more than you will ever know. -Anonymous This is the story of just one Hokie at Tech, but one is one too many. It is up to all of us to figure out ways to make Tech more inclusive and open to people, regardless of how you define them. Do you have a similar story? Come to The Forum Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m. in Squires. One student who attends will have an opportunity to win a pair of front row tickets to the Maroon 5 concert on Nov. 10. According to the Principles of Community, Tech firmly believes that we reject any form of hatred. Go to www.sga.vt.edu/FYV and tell us what the Principles of Community means to you in 300 words or less. One more student will be chosen to receive a pair of front row tickets to Maroon 5 for their reflection. Your Student Government is not only committed to hearing your voice, but acting on it. Submit your story and/or tell us what the Principles of Community means to you. Together, we can make Tech the most inclusive Hokie community ever, but it starts with your voice.
PAUL DEYERLE -senior -psychology major -director of equity and inclusion, sga
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War in Afghanistan needs to be further consideration T
here seems to be no end in sight to the U.S.-led Operation: Enduring Freedom. It looks more like Operation: Never Ending Chaos. I can imagine millions of pages, sound-bytes having gone into the debate in this country on whether this was a war worth fighting at all. On one hand, you have the killings of thousands of “innocent men, women and children,” as those opposed to the war say. These people are killed in air strikes, bombings, raids and attacks — mere casualties of the war on evil and terror. On the other hand, you have fundamentalist bigots “heaven-bent” on murder and destruction (excuse the pun) — but yes, clearly unfit to be allowed to live. The events on Sept. 11 were a rather loud, provocative demonstration of their intentions. Eight years into the war, for some, it’s still a question of why it happened. If recent surveys are anything to go by, without delving into the statistics, a clear but not overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens consider the war in Afghanistan to be a necessity, and they would like to see troops deployed until the job is finished. On the other hand, in countries across the globe, the war is seen as an extension of American imperialism and hegemony. Again, without citations, people in most countries view the occupation in Afghanistan as something to an invasion. The U.S. is easily among the least liked countries on the planet, with another invasion in the name of freedom, democracy and liberty a couple of blocks west of Afghanistan. And the pictures leaked from Abu
Ghraib wouldn’t have helped selling anything thereafter to a skeptic United Nations. A poll by Gallup International in 2001 found that majorities in only India and Israel supported military action in Afghanistan in the first place. Not surprisingly, these are two nations that have had to face the brunt of violent extremism for years on end. (India continues to do so; its fight lingering on because of having to hold the gun on to a regenerating suicidal enemy.) This support to the U.S. is in part due to the recognition of the fact that American intervention in self-defense is justified — shying away from reality would be cowardice. Unintentional collateral damage and abuse, though unjustified and condemnable, is part of the return packet. It is also a mature understanding and acceptance of the fact that the U.S. appears to shoulder its responsibility as the moral police of the world, in line with its economic status in the comity of nations. As calls for more soldiers in the battle grow, even the American citizenry is increasingly wary of American blood being shed in the war zone and opinions about troop deployment are now mainly between “bring-’em-back-soon” and “get-the-hell-out-of-there.” In the midst of one of the worst economic crises of our times, this superpower is spending $165 million a day to keep guns firing, while nearly a tenth of its workforce is idling at home looking for a pastime. The more interesting part, however, is usually skimmed over or
swept under the carpet. Have these progressive people and their leaders realized the consequences of using nation states and powerful entities as pawns in its foreign policy? The venomous snakes covertly raised and fed to attack the enemy across the street can easily burrow back into your neighbor’s household and give you nightmares. Snakes are what they are, after all. And how about pushing freedom and democracy down their throats — take it, you say? They’ll give you a 0.38 bore gunshot to the temple in return, or at least a headache your friends will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Emerging economies and powers continue to form all kinds of G-groupings to take on the developed world. If not their technology, enterprise and democratic traditions, they’re good at deciding who should go to war with and fighting the war at one-fourth the price, and now they have this country’s experience to boot. Now that the U.S. is ankle-deep in muck, maybe it’s time to outsource the “war.” If not, seriously, give it all the time and patience it can be given and “fix” the screw-up. A half-dead enemy would come back with twice the punch.
BALASUNDAR BALASUBRAMANIAN -regular columnist -graduate student -electrical and computer engineering major
US braces for new friend, rival relationship with united Europe T
he United States is about to confront a fierce new competitor, unlike any the nation has faced in its history. The vote in Ireland this month to approve the Lisbon Treaty, intended to streamline and strengthen the European Union, may have seemed like an interesting, parochial European development. But think about what it portends. Today, Europe is a largely ineffectual player in world affairs. European states rotate the E.U. presidency, and for most non-European nations, the tenure of each new president is largely invisible. But what happens when the E.U. elects a full-time president with a five-year term, as the treaty stipulates. (Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, is the front runner now.) The European Union would then seem almost like the United States, a collection of states forming a cohesive union with a common foreign policy — and a single, prominent president who will immediately become an important player in the world. The European Union’s 27 nations have a population of about 500 million, 40 percent more than the United States. Its gross domestic product is almost 20 percent higher than the United States’. How could it not be taken seriously? Of course, the E.U. has a fractious membership. The big states, particularly England, France and Germany, want to establish the E.U. as a major world party, while the smaller states, like Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, are less eager, afraid they will be marginalized. But don’t we have similar arguments in this country, between the South, the Northeast and other parts of the nation? The United States had a fierce competitor as recently as 1990
— the Soviet Union. But that was the enemy, and it was easy, almost expected, that Washington would reject its concerns. Two hundred years ago, when this nation was young, weak and small, Britain, an absolute monarchy then, was our fierce competitor. Of course, the British army sacked Washington in 1812. Now, for the first time, our great new competitor is a collection of like-minded democracies — our friends and allies. It certainly won’t be easy to ignore Europe’s concerns. Former President George W. Bush did just that, and the United States paid a price. Europe often opposed the Bush administration’s initiatives on a variety of fronts. But Europeans want to be friendly with America. A poll of E.U. residents last summer by the German Marshall Fund showed that 77 percent of the respondents support President Obama’s handling of international affairs compared to just 19 percent for President Bush’s last year. Never in the history of this poll had there ever been so remarkable a turnaround. And that was before Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. How easy will it be for Obama, or any other president, to stiff arm Europe? Potential areas of disagreement might be policies toward Russia and Iran. Many European nation’s have important commercial relations with both countries that color their views. Another is how to handle Afghanistan. Through NATO, several European states have troops there. The treaty and all that comes from it are still not wholly ratified. Poland and the Czech Republic still have not signed. Poland says it will sign, soon, but the Czech president,
Vaclav Klaus, is a hold out. Will he be able to remain the last man standing when every other nation has signed? After all, the Czech parliament has already ratified the agreement. The treaty authorizes the E.U. to open embassies around the world — in addition to the embassies each European state already has. The central government could sign treaties and other international agreements on behalf of its members. In other words, it would begin to look like a large and powerful nation unto itself rather than a loose collection of states, as it is now. It would have its own foreign service and, perhaps, the authority to act decisively in each country where it holds representation. “I don’t think we know yet how all of this will work out in the end,” said Karen Donfried, executive vice president of the German Marshall Fund, said. The many smaller nations that make up the union are likely to object to elements of these proposals. All the while, though, the E.U. will continue to admit more members, grow more powerful. “The attractive force of the E.U. as a political, societal and economic model remains immensely powerful,” the German Marshall Fund said last week. “Numerous countries are standing in line to join.” Much remains to be decided, but whatever happens the United States will soon have a powerful ally — or a fearsome rival.
JOEL BRINKLEY -McClatchy-Tribune
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ACROSS 1 Seawater component, to a chemist 5 Egypt’s Mubarak 10 Adriatic Sea country: Abbr. 13 “In other words ...” 15 Decide to participate 16 “You stink!” 17 Oktoberfest dance 18 Seat for eating scaloppine? 20 Speaker’s stand 22 Blue Cross competitor 23 Tool for a dueling snake? 26 Home of the witch who melted 27 Earth tones 28 Newspaper ad meas. 30 Sainted fifthcentury pope 31 Playfully 33 Org. once headed by Heston 36 What Tarzan became after years of swinging? 40 Half and half 41 Madison’s neat roomie 42 Bottom-line negative 43 Sykora of the NHL 44 “The Tempest” king 46 Facts and figures 49 Egotistical describer of laws of motion? 52 Month for fools? 54 Uranium-238, e.g. 55 Paleontologist’s ski resort discoveries? 57 “Au contraire!” 60 Nest egg item, briefly 61 Cheri of “SNL” 62 Firestone Country Club city 63 Arch site: Abbr. 64 Passover meal 65 Home of the witch buried under a fallen house
By Dan Naddor
DOWN 1 Chill in the air 2 Latin 101 verb 3 Texting device 4 View from Cleveland 5 Shack 6 “The Barber of Seville,” e.g. 7 Represents 8 Zilch 9 Peruvian ancestor 10 Taper off 11 Tender beef cuts 12 Sacha Baron Cohen title character 14 Mother-of-pearl 19 Axed 21 Atlanta-based sta. 23 Saab competitor 24 Trap during a winter storm, maybe 25 Prefix with distant 29 22-Acr. business 31 Deep-rooted 32 Miami-to-N.Y. dir. 33 Aquarium fish with an iridescent stripe
10/16/09 Thursday’s Puzzle Solved
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34 Rene of “Ransom” 35 Burning desire? 37 Stick in a parlor 38 Airing in prime time, say 39 Hardly a speed demon 43 Tot’s beach toy 44 Bad picnic omen 45 Hotelier Helmsley
10/16/09
46 Lincoln’s Confederate counterpart 47 Separately 48 Court case 50 Grenoble’s river 51 Boot camp negative 53 Debt-laden corp. takeovers 56 Suffix with Capri 58 Mariner’s “Help!” 59 Que. neighbor
sports 7
editors: joe crandley, alex jackson sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
october 16, 2009
Yellow Jackets’ option offense looks to be the bee’s knees RAY NIMMO sports reporter Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech may come down to how well Virginia Tech’s defense can stop the Yellow Jackets’ triple-option offense. For Georgia Tech, they’ve seen the option stuffed by Miami, and they’ve seen it destroy Florida State. The Hokies are taking notes and drawing up their own schemes to halt the Jackets’ potent offense. Georgia Tech’s total offense ranks 24th in the nation and first in the Atlantic Coast Conference, averaging 426.67 yards per game. Its rushing attack ranks fourth in the nation and first in the ACC. “It’s such a unique offense that you need to be on everything,” said Jason Worilds, a redshirt junior defensive end. “You can’t take anything for granted. We went over everything and all the minute details of the offense.” The
Hokies defense has been improving throughout the season, but they still aren’t where they want to be. The rush defense is 48th in the nation, allowing 123.83 yards per game, and their total defense ranks 35th, allowing 310.33 yards per game. While the Hokies may want to play aggressively, the triple option forces them to sit back and be patient. “Everybody has their assignment they need to take care of,” said Barquell Rivers, a redshirt sophomore linebacker. “Me and Jake (Johnson) focus on our key reads and take care of our assignments, and if everybody
takes care of theirs, we should be OK.” This isn’t the same Georgia Tech offense from last year, though. They’ve added several more wrinkles. “Last year they put
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in a base offense,” Rivers said. “This year they have more plays and more formations. Now they run a lot of trap plays backside, counters and reverses that we didn’t see last year.” Those new wrinkles put added importance on the Hokies’ assignment defense. Players must stick with their assignments first before moving to the ball. “Before the play, I’m looking at motion and the flow of the run,” said Cody Grimm, a redshirt senior linebacker. “I’m trying to keep an eye on the backfield when I’m picking up a run-pass read off the tackle. It’s tough to do. Once you get the gist of it and see how they’re trying to attack you, it gets a lot easier.” What makes the option so difficult is trying to be patient while getting to the ball quickly without allowing five-yard gains every time. “You got to stay patient,” Grimm said. “They’ll get first downs more than other teams. Any time you hold them to one to two yards, that’s a win for you. The key is to get them in long situations where they have to pass and you expect them to pass.” The Yellow Jackets pride themselves on running, even in pass situations. They’ve only completed 39 passes, which is 117th in the nation; however, their pass efficiency ranks fourth in the nation at 169.24. The passes they do complete end up being huge difference makers. “They’re hitting a big play or two, minimum, each game,” said Torrian Gray, defensive backs coach. “With the success they’re having running the ball, to get a 50 to 60-yard catch is the difference to why they’re having success.” The pass efficiency is so high because of one-on-one situations. With the defense stacking the box with seven or eight guys, it leaves the defensive backs in man-to-man. “That’s the beauty of their offense,” Gray said. “They get you in one-on-one situations — whether you’re one-onone on a dive play or one-onone with the quarterback.
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Tech redshirt senior linebacker Cody Grimm wraps up Duke running back Re’quan Boyette on Oct. 3. They make you have to be sound and disciplined, and then you got to finish the play. If you miss, it’s a big play.” Tackling may very well determine the outcome of the game. If the Hokies find themselves trying too many arm tackles or big hits, the Yellow Jackets will have one big play after another.
“You got to get your head across and run your feet on each tackle,” Rivers said. To better prepare for the option, the Hokies have true freshman safety Antone Exum running the option in practice. “He was an athlete in high school,” Rivers said. “He plays quarterback, and
he’s back there running the option, so that’s a good look for the defense.” Despite all the hype from Georgia Tech’s offense and the differences in practices, some players just like to keep things simple. “I’m going to hit anything I see and go blow it up,” Worilds said. “That’s my job.”
october 16, 2009
page 8
ED LUPIEN sports reporter Making their second trip down to Atlanta in six weeks, the Hokies expect a much different style of play from a No. 19 Georgia Tech team that has been receiving national attention with its triple-option offense. “We’ve got a very tough challenge this week,” Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer said. “Their quarterback has always been good, and I think they’ve got some other very skilled players on offense. With it being a different offense, it’s really a challenge for us defensively.” Based around the option rule, the triple-option uses three players who may run with the ball instead of two, which are used in the standard option run. The quarterback alluded to by Beamer is junior Josh Nesbitt, who is seen as the nucleus of the option offense. Like Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor, Nesbitt is considered to be a threat on the ground and in the air. “He can run it and throw it,” Tech sophomore linebacker Jake Johnson said. “He’s a great athlete. We’re going to treat him like a running back.”
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to Fear
AP Rankings TEAM
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
RECORD
FLORIDA (50) ALABAMA (10) TEXAS
VIRGINIA TECH BOISE STATE USC OHIO STATE CINCINNATTI MIAMI (FL) LSU IOWA TCU OREGON PENN STATE NEBRASKA OKLAHOMA STATE KANSAS BRIGHAM YOUNG GEORGIA TECH
OKLAHOMA SOUTH FLORIDA SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSTON UTAH NOTRE DAME
5-0 6-0 5-0 5-1 6-0 4-1 5-1 5-0 4-1 5-1 6-0 5-0 5-1 5-1 4-1 4-1 5-0 5-1 5-1 3-2 5-0 5-1 4-1 4-1 4-1
ACC Standings ATLANTIC
1 2 3 4 5 6
CONF. OVR.
WAKE FOREST BOSTON COLLEGE MARYLAND CLEMSON N.C. STATE FLORIDA STATE
COASTAL
1 VIRGINIA TECH 2 VIRGINIA 3 GEORGIA TECH 4 MIAMI (FL) 5 DUKE 6 NORTH CAROLINA
2-1 2-2 1-1 1-2 0-2 0-3
4-2 4-2 2-4 2-3 3-3 2-4
CONF. OVR.
3-0 1-0 3-1 2-1 1-1 0-2
5-1 2-3 5-1 4-1 3-3 4-2
Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer is Nesbitt’s main option in the scheme. Despite having carried the ball almost fifty fewer times than his quarterback, Dwyer has rushed for just 46 fewer yards this season and is averaging 6.5 yards per rush. The Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Player of the Year and a Heisman Trophy candidate before the season’s commencement, Dwyer saw limited action in the Yellow Jackets’ only loss of the season at Miami in mid-September because of a shoulder injury, carrying the ball five times for seven yards. “He’s a great back,” Johnson said. “Very strong, physical. He’s one of the best we’re going to face all year.” Johnson noted that although they have yet to see an offense like Georgia Tech’s this season, they will be prepared come Saturday. “It is a new offense for us (to face), but over the summer, we went over option principles and stuff like that,” Johnson said. “We’ll be ready for it on Saturday. ... We only have a week to prepare for it when every other team runs the standard pro offense, but we’ve gone over our individual option responsibilities throughout the year. Plus, in the past few weeks with Boston College and Miami,
QB /#9 Josh Nesbitt 873 yards passing, 503 yards rushing, 10 total TD’s, 2 INT, 160.3 Rating
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Tech hopes for win in return to Atlanta injury report Probable WR Marcus Davis (ankle) LB Mark Muncey (knee) OG Sergio Render (pec strain) CB Eddie Whitley (ankle) TB Ryan Williams (illness) Out WR Brandon Dillard (ankle) we’ve shown that we can stop the run.” Much like how the Hokie defense knows it will experience a new system of offense, the Yellow Jackets acknowledge that their opponent’s defense is of a higher caliber than any other team they’ve faced this season. Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson believes they can be beaten, however. “They’ve played pretty good defense other than the Alabama game where they got worn down toward the end,” Johnson said on Georgia Tech’s athletics Web site. “They gave up some yards and points to Duke, but if you go back and watch that game, they were never in danger of losing. Duke wasn’t exactly lighting them up when the game was in doubt. Until somebody beats
RB/#21 Jonathan Dwyer 79 carries, 511 yards, 5 TD’s
them, you have to give them the respect that they’re due. Since I’ve been here, they’ve been the best team in the league.” Georgia Tech’s unique offensive scheme has not only impacted the preparation of the Hokie defense, but the offense as well. “The main thing coach is preaching this week is ball control,” Taylor said. “Just making sure you’re controlling the plays and the clock. They take a lot of the time off of the clock with the ball in their hands.” With the recent success of Taylor and the Hokie offense, Paul Johnson is making Virginia Tech’s offense an important focal point for his team Saturday. “I think they have come together — they’ve played well,” Johnson said. “Historically, you know that they’re going to be strong defensively and in special teams, but offensively they’ve played well, scoring a lot of points and racking up a bunch of yards. They have a very athletic
WR/#8 Demaryius Thomas 26 receptions, 620 yards, 4 TD’s
quarterback, their tailback is a great player, they have a veteran offensive line and an experienced tight end, and they’re very well coached. They are just a good team and usually good teams get better as the season goes on.” Georgia Tech’s defense is led by junior defensive end Derrick Morgan, who has nine tackles for loss of yardage, including six and a half sacks this season. Voted Honorable Mention All-ACC last season, Morgan spent his first two years playing in the shadows of three NFL draftees and is the Yellow Jackets’ only returning starter on the defensive line. “On their defense, Morgan is exceptional,” Beamer said. “I know they’ve been talking about cutting back on their schemes a bit, but they’re still difficult to prepare for because you’re not sure where they’re going with that.” With the downgrading of teams like North Carolina and East Carolina in recent weeks, Georgia Tech is seen by many analysts to be Virginia Tech’s last real test of the regular season. If the Hokies win, they’ll hold a two-game lead in the coastal division standings over the Yellow Jackets. “As far as the conference championship goes, it’s not going to wreck
DE/#91 Derrick Morgan 34 total tackles, 9.0 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 2 FR
t h e season one way or another,” Paul Johnson said. “But, if we want to win our side of the conference, it’s an important game. Anyone that follows the ACC knows that if (Virginia Tech) come in here and beat us, they would have to lose two games, probably three, because they would have the tiebreaker over us. It makes it almost impossible for us to win the division. Now, if we beat them, it doesn’t mean we’re going to win the division. We still have a lot of conference games left. So do they.” Despite the hype surrounding the game, there are still a limited number of tickets for Saturday’s game available through Georgia Tech’s athletics Web site. The contest is slated for 6 p.m. and will be aired nationally on ESPN2.
S/#1 Morgan Burnett 33 total tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FR, 3 INT’s (7 INT’s in 2008)
With a win over the Jackets, Hokies have attainable path to title game The importance of Virginia Tech’s game against Georgia Tech this weekend cannot be overstated. Sitting at No. 4 as the best one-loss team in the Top 25 Coaches Poll, the poll that counts in the Bowl Championship Series rankings formula that will be released for the first time this season on Sunday, the Hokies are in excellent position to sneak into the national championship game. If Tech manages to make a satisfactory return to Atlanta and leave with a victory, then the Hokies will have gotten through every tough test on their schedule, nearly unscathed. When looking at the remaining schedule for the Hokies, fans can only breathe a sigh of relief after the gauntlet Tech will have faced for the first seven weeks. Tech’s remaining opponents consist of the University of North Carolina (4-2, 0-2 ACC) on Thursday night in Lane Stadium, East Carolina University (3-3, 2-1 Conference USA) and three of the remaining stragglers of the ACC in North Carolina State (3-3, 0-2 ACC), Maryland (2-4, 1-1 ACC) and lowly Virginia (2-3, 1-0 ACC). Those teams are not quite in the league of Alabama, Nebraska, Miami, Georgia Tech and even Duke considering NC State’s embarrassing home loss to the Blue Devils last weekend. Tech will then be forced to take on whichever Atlantic Division team that backs into the ACC Championship game, representing one of the sorriest divisions in all of college football. Unlike the 2007 season when the Hokies were blown out 7-48 by the Louisiana State University Tigers, Tech put together a more than respectable performance against Alabama, entering the fourth quar-
ter with a lead and losing only by 10. Tech finished third in the BCS rankings that year, but the Hokies had no chance of jumping into second with the miserable game against the Tigers. Since the Crimson Tide played Tech, they have put together wins of 26, 46, 28 and 18 points, so Tech’s 10-point loss looks better and better by the week. Even still, the Hokies do not control their own destiny at this point. Only one team should come out of the Southeastern Conference to make an appearance in the national championship game, so either Alabama or Florida will likely take up one spot. That leaves a small group of other teams lying in wait to snag that second spot. Currently, the University of Texas is in the best position at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll with an undefeated record, but they face a tall task this weekend as well. Injuries to multiple key players derailed Oklahoma’s season early on, but the return of Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford last week and the possible return of star wide receiver Ryan Broyles this weekend spells trouble for the Longhorns. The Sooners and the Longhorns play this weekend at noon in the Red River Shootout, and if Oklahoma stuns Texas, the Hokies should move into the all-important No. 3 spot behind the two SEC teams, one of which will be eliminated in the SEC Championship Game. That’s all provided that the BCS computer rankings do not give an unnecessarily large boost to undefeated teams Cincinnati and Iowa. In the Orange Bowl, Tech whipped Cincinnati, the Big East champs from last season, but that doesn’t get taken into account this season.
remaining schedule Oct. 29 - vs. North Carolina Nov. 5 - @ East Carolina Nov. 14 - @ Maryland Nov. 21 - vs. NC State Nov. 28 - @ Virginia The Bearcats have feasted on outof-conference powerhouses like Southeast Missouri State, Fresno State and Miami of Ohio. In conference, the Big East stinks yet again without former flagship teams Tech, Miami and Boston College, but it remains to be seen if an undefeated Bearcats squad with a lousy schedule can jump a one-loss Tech team with one of the top schedules in the nation. Then, there’s Iowa. The Hawkeyes hold a good win over Penn State, but unless they also beat Ohio State on the road on Nov. 14, then they should be out of the national championship picture considering the Big Ten’s relative weakness this season. First, they must pass a difficult road test this weekend against Wisconsin. So, the opportunity still lives for the Hokies to make it to Pasadena. As has been proven since the BCS started, it is always better to lose early than late, and Tech definitely has that in its favor. With a win this weekend, Tech may very well have a shot at winning its first national championship yet again.
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Tech defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor records a tackle on Oct. 3.
JOE CRANDLEY -sports editor -senior -communication major -Rays fan MARK UMANSKY/SPPS
Cordarrow Thompson and Rashad Carmichael celebrate against BC.
Sat 10am-1am