COLLEGIATETIMES
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
www.collegiatetimes.com
Tragic discovery
LUKE MASON/SPPS
An impromptu memorial on Copeley Bridge in Charlottesville, where Morgan Harrington was last seen alive, reflected Tuesday’s discovery. Harrington was last seen hitchhiking on the bridge on Oct. 17, 2009.
SATURDAY
oct. 17, 2009 DAY OF
disappearance
LUKE MASON/SPPS
Police restricted access to Anchorage Farms as they investigated remains found in a remote area.
LUKE MASON/SPPS
Harrington attended a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena.
Police ‘fairly confident’ remains are those of missing Tech student Morgan Harrington GORDON BLOCK news reporter
TUESDAY
jan. 26, 2010
8:30AM
David Bass, owner of Anchorage Farm, finds human remains in a remote area of his farm and alerts the police.
10:00AM
Investigators begin attempts to identify the body.
5:00PM
Police announce at a press conference they are “fairly confident” the remains are those of Morgan Harrington.
107th year, issue 6
CHARLOTTESVILLE — he search for missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington came to an unsettling conclusion Tuesday, as police say they are “fairly confident” her remains have been discovered at a farm approximately 10 miles from her last known sighting. The announcement was made at a press conference Tuesday evening at the Virginia State Police office in Charlottesville. Police were able to make a determination based on evidence recovered with her remains, but did not disclose what evidence allowed them to make their decision. While police HARRINGTON left the door open to the possibility that the body may not belong to Harrington, Virginia State Police Col. Steve Flaherty said that he is “confident that scientific testing will confirm her identification.” Harrington, a 20-year-old Tech student, disappeared Oct. 17, 2009 during the Metallica concert at John Paul Jones arena on the UVa campus. She was last seen hitchhiking at the Copeley Road Bridge, less than half a mile from the arena. Monica Caison, the liaison between the Harrington family and the CUE Center for Missing Persons in Wilmington, N.C., said that Morgan’s parents Dan and Gil Harrington were in Charlottesville Tuesday. The two were not present for the
News, page 5
press conference. The body was found at Anchorage Farm, a 742-acre property located in southern Albemarle County along Route 29. The farm had not been a part of any previous search for Harrington. Lt. Joe Rader, of the state police, noted the large distance between the farm and the Copeley Road Bridge, where Harrington was last seen. “We had no evidence at the time that it (the farm) was an area of interest,” Rader said. David Bass, the owner of the farm, said he found the remains around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, while checking fences. Bass said the body was in a very remote part of his farm, and that he only ventures to that particular part of the farm about once each year. Bass added he had not been around that area of the property since August. Rader said that at the time of Harrington’s disappearance the hayfield at the scene would have been at waist height. Snow and other inclement weather also may have affected the location where the body was found. According to Flaherty, Morgan’s body was transported to a forensic science lab in Richmond for identification and confirmation on a cause of death. Police asked Bass not to disclose any information about the appearance of the body. Bass said the remains were at a location “nowhere near a highway,” while Rader said that the area is not easily accessible to the public. A lone police car along with a closed driveway gate currently guards the entrance to the property. The likely discovery of Harrington’s body concludes months of searching, including a community-wide search of Charlottesville in November, which brought out more than
Features, page 2
1,600 volunteers. The search made national headlines, appearing on “Nancy Grace,” “America’s Most Wanted,” and “Dr. Phil.” A $150,000 reward had also been established through the Jefferson Area Crimestoppers, which included a $50,000 reward from Metallica, the band Harrington had gone to see in concert the night of her disappearance. Police now face the task of discovering how the remains got to the farm, along with determining if a crime was committed, and if so, who is responsible. Flaherty said the investigation is in its “infant stage.” Rader stressed the need for the community to not extend Harrington’s disappearance into an overall warning for college campuses. “I’m not going to give warning to parents,” Rader said. “We have a person who came up missing in the city of Charlottesville. It could have come up in any community, and it does every day.” President Charles Steger sent out a letter to the Tech community Tuesday night about the likely loss of Harrington. “For more than three months, the entire Virginia Tech community, along with thousands upon thousands around the world, has held out hope for the safe return of Morgan Harrington,” Steger’s letter said. “Sadly, today’s news from Albemarle County has put an end to that hope, and once again, we find our strength and resilience tested in the face of profound grief and loss.” Those with information about the case are asked to call Virginia State Police at 434-352-3467 or UVa Police at 434-924-7166. ct news reporter liana bayne contributed to this story
Opinions, page 3
Sports, page 6
LUKE MASON/SPPS
Virginia State Police Col. Steven Flaherty spoke to the media at Tuesday afternoon’s press conference in Charlottesville.
Classifieds, page 4
Sudoku, page 4
2Tech’sfeatures solar Lumenhaus rolls onto set of ‘Good Morning America’ editor: topher forhecz featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865
january 27, 2010
COLLEGIATETIMES
RYAN ARNOLD features reporter The metallic gleam of Virginia Tech’s solar house, Lumenhaus, will add extra shine to the flashy face of New York City tomorrow on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It’s going to be right in the center of Times Square on one of the most premiere locations in the country,” said Robert Dunay, Lumenhaus’ primary faculty adviser. Lumenhaus is an 800-square-foot solar-powered house constructed by students and faculty from a myriad of Tech disciplines including architecture, industrial design, business, building construction and engineering. The television appearance emerges after Lumenhaus competed last fall, alongside nearly 20 other colleges and universities, in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon. Hosted on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the event showcased innovations in energy efficiency and technology through 10 juried contests such as architecture and home entertainment. Dunay said NBC’s “Today Show” originally expressed interest in the house. The network executed a “Green Week” in November and at one point considered Lumenhaus a key element of the themed broadcasts. In anticipation of the exhibition, Lumenhaus left the nation’s capital in October, traveling straight to New Jersey. Kullman Buildings Corporation, a fabricator that helped construct the dwelling’s structural frame, offered its factory
COURTESY OF ALDEN HALEY
After more than three months at a New Jersey staging location, Virginia Tech’s Lumenhaus takes to the road on a tractor-trailer specifically designed for its transport. The house will first stop in New York City for an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” before eventually moving overseas for the European Solar Decathlon in Madrid. as a staging area. However, coordinating with “Today” proved too trying. “For technical reasons, issues of union labor, and setting up on Rockefeller Plaza,” Dunay said. “They decided it wasn’t feasible and couldn’t be done in enough time.” “Good Morning America” caught wind of Lumenhaus’ availability and
successfully organized a visit from the Tech team. “They see it as something that would be informative to viewers from a point of view of energy and a point of view of residential construction,” Dunay said. Lumenhaus crossed state lines Wednesday morning to begin its rapid setup. A small group of students trekked north to prepare what
Dunay said is a more modest version of the abode. “We had a lot of water features and a lot of extensive deck and a lot of landscaping on the Mall,” he said. Not all Lumenhaus systems will be operational in New York, although notable aesthetics including lighting and the “Eclipsis” wall system will run. Eclipsis is a thin exterior composed of a metal screen sunshade and translucent insulation panels. The two layers slide independently atop floor-to-ceiling windows, giving occupants control over how much light penetrates Lumenhaus. The Department of Energy’s goal is to make energy issues more accessible to the public, Dunay said the “Today” exposure also highlights Tech’s sweep. “This is a research-educational project simultaneously and now it’s becoming outreach by virtue of being in New York City,” he said. “We’re in one sense promoting what the University does.” Dunay said students’ educations aren’t secretive endeavors executed solely in the Blacksburg
“
This is a researcheducational project simultaneously and now it’s becoming outreach by virtue of being in New York City. ROBERT DUNAY FACULTY ADVISER
enclave. And New York City isn’t Lumenhaus’ last tour stop. The building will journey to Madrid for the first European Solar Decathlon to be held in June. But Lumenhaus will first revisit its Virginia origins, staking out behind Cowgill Hall to take a four-month breath and powder up. “We’re going to tie it into an earth loop — a geothermal loop — (and) we’re going to set it up the exact way it’s going to be for Spain,” said Joe Wheeler, another Lumenhaus primary faculty adviser. Once Lumenhaus arrives next week, the public is welcome to visit as the Tech team begins tweaking
and upgrading. After disappointing results at the Washington, D.C. decathlon, Wheeler said Lumenhaus should be poised for success across the Atlantic. “We feel really good about how we’re going to do in the competition,” he said, “because the way it’s written supports high design.” Senior industrial design student Casey Reeve said the U.S. decathlon judging involved closely metered numeric performances, which included hot water production and appliance usage. New categories and varying point values in the upcoming contest, however, may better highlight some of the Lumenhaus’ novelties. “The ideology behind the house is a little bit more geared towards (Solar Decathlon) Europe,” Reeve said. Regardless of the outcome, Wheeler said he sees a future for Lumenhaus far beyond this summer. “We see this as much bigger than just the competitions,” he said. “We now have a prototype that we can do continued testing on.”
opınıons 3
editor: debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
january 27, 2010
The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
Our Views [staff editorial]
Making sense of the past offers closure P
olice announced yesterday that they are “fairly certain” they found the remains of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, who went missing in October 2009. Awaiting confirmation, family and the Tech community will be able to finally feel a sense of closure — albeit a sad one. Sometimes the hope and faith we have for a near-happy ending is not rewarded. The search for Harrington has been long and emotionally draining on everyone involved, and while the search may end with this sad outcome, there is relief in knowing that she may finally be laid to rest. We are relieved we may be a step closer to closure with Harrington’s story, but it is necessary to not allow that relief overshadow the need for all answers. This will remain so until all the questions are answered. We can’t forget that there are still families trying to reach their own conclusion. Heidi Childs and David Metzler’s deaths are still being investigated and their families face the same strife as
Harrington’s do now. As a community, Tech must continue to support the friends and family of Childs, Metzler and Harrington, as well the investigators who are dedicated to bringing justice for the three. The university as a whole is also involved in two families’ mission to bring closure to their own personal connections to the April 16, 2007 shootings. Regardless of if you agree with the April 16 lawsuit against the university, the insistence on all families’ parts to continue to seek answers and explanations has resulted in revisions and developments on why and how the shootings occurred. This is a lesson to those faced with tragedy. Those who knew Morgan Harrington haven’t stopped searching for explanations since October 17, and hopefully with yesterday’s announcement, they can find at least one. The editorial board is comprised of Debra Houchins, Sara Mitchell, Peter Velz and Bethany Buchanan.
Your Views [letter to the editor]
Credit should be spread around
M
y name is Nathan Melenbrink and I was interviewed by Mika Maloney for an article in Friday’s special section. Upon reading the article, my colleagues and I felt that it placed too much emphasis on my accomplishments without crediting others. I would also like to clarify that I thought Mika did a great job with the article; it is my fault for not being clearer with my responses. I would greatly appreciate it if you could include this small edit in the opinions column. The article on scripting in
architecture should have also credited the efforts of a number of individuals. The success of the Cowgill Hall lobby exhibition was completely contingent upon collaboration with Caroline Smith and Jeff Stolz, both of whom have made outstanding contributions to the development of digital design culture at Virginia Tech, as well as the assistance of many others. There is a well-established tradition of students teaching students; our accomplishments are largely a result of the instruction that we have received from others.
Nathan Melenbrink fifth-year architecture major
we’re YOUR newspaper. send a letter to the editor and express your views.
send an e-mail to opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com with your letter or guest column attached.
MCT CAMPUS
Fearlessness, passion breed originality in any endeavor T
hanks to Fred Phelps, pastor at the Westboro Baptist Church, I learned over the break that God hates Lady Gaga. This posed significant problems for me because I wouldn’t want any God to hate my new ringtone, “Bad Romance.” I can only understand the Gagahate in light that Phelps probably has either peripheral or no understanding of Lady Gaga, other than her provocative persona. Yes, she’s controversial. Her songs are at times overtly sexual, and her performances can be jaw-unhinging — watch any online video of her act at the 2009 Video Music Awards, there’s an audible gasp from the crowd when in the final chorus her studded costume begins to bleed — but, there’s intention to Gaga’s madness. The blood and glitter certainly grab attention — they’re meant to. Much of Lady Gaga’s act, which she calls “pop-shock performance,” is meant to evoke excitement and bewilderment. We are drawn to this dichotomy, and my guess is that the Lady has enough creativity to keep us all guessing for a while. The distance between lyric screamers and Phelps spans the gamut of celebrity fandom, which itself serves as inspiration for Lady Gaga’s music. “Paparazzi,” the fourth No. 1 single off her debut album, describes the practice of obsessing over an alluring other in the stalker-ish manner suggested by the song’s title. You’ll catch on to this interpretation by listening secondhand, or
by watching the video out of the corner of your eye, but “Paparazzi” is also a biting commentary on societal expectations and our collective obsession with fame. Gaga admits that her fanaticism with portraying her own tragic end is an attempt to overcome or some how defuse what will inevitably be the social death of her celebrity. In the song’s video, Gaga sustains an almost fatal fall which is captured on camera — the sound of flashbulbs are cut with audio of clashing knives, a homage to our social penchant to destroy celebrities with our love for them. Lady Gaga is a pop-shock performance artist and should only be critiqued under such context. Create your own means to measure that kind of artist, and you’ll find yourself using Gaga’s success as the ruler. An ephemeral understanding of what and why she creates her art often highlight how ill-informed most critics of Lady Gaga are, while simultaneously emboldening her brassy and unapologetic delivery. The more people are superficially shocked by her music, the more her music makes sense. Whether you appreciate what Lady Gaga has wrought on the pop culture landscape or not, there’s a certain attention to detail she commits to her performances that warrants respect. Her production team, Haus of Gaga, works full time creating original costumes, set pieces, and instruments. The Lady herself is intensely involved in all aspects of her shows and music, and her efforts aren’t going unnoticed — she’s had five No. 1 singles this year and is nominated for another
five Grammy’s. But what makes Lady Gaga special is essentially what makes anything special. When passion and intention are applied to any creative process, they can trump the outcome. There are thresholds at which our focused and determined thoughts will always produce an effect. Sing loud enough, allow enough of your focused energies to emerge, and you will elicit a response. Lady Gaga knows this, and it is why, regardless of the reaction by her critics (or fans) she continues to create, design and produce, with her own brand of fearlessness. We must all realize this and apply it to our own passions — whether pop music, nutrition science, poetry or engineering. You don’t have to dress like Lady Gaga or set “Poker Face” as your ringtone to learn from her example. There is a threshold at which our intentions and our drive trump whether our attempts at success are rewarded. Provoke. Dance outside your comfort zone, and fill your efforts with intention regardless of how you’re received. My guess is that, regardless of what Phelps might think, God will be pleased.
CHRISTOPHER COX -regular columnist -senior -communication major
Recent Supreme Court ruling sheds light on partisan decision-making L
ast week’s Supreme Court decision granting corporations the right to spend unrestricted amounts of money supporting or opposing candidates in federal elections is so strained in its reasoning and so removed from the realities of American life that it would be grotesquely comedic, were its implications not so dire. We’re all familiar, of course, with the disenfranchisement of corporate America. It’s common knowledge that the interests of big business are routinely ignored at every level of society, and that the deprivation of rights suffered by those unfortunates who populate its executive suites is a continuing affront to the national conscience. That, at least, was the suggestion of the strident tone taken by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. “If the First Amendment has any force,” he wrote, “it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens or associations of citizens for simply engaging in political speech.” You would think that the federal prisons were overflowing with corporate martyrs to freedom of expression. This is reasoning ludicrous on its face and radical in its dismissal of judicial decisions stretching back to Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. The notion that corporate rights and individual rights — particularly those recognized by the First Amendment — are congruent is absurd. Do corporations have a right to freedom of religion, or just to those liberties that advance commercial interests? As Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in dissent: “If taken seriously, our colleagues’ assumption that the identity of a speaker has no relevance to the government’s ability to regulate political speech would lead to some remarkable conclusions. Such an assumption would have accorded the propaganda broadcasts to our troops
by ‘Tokyo Rose’ during World War II the same protection as speech by Allied commanders. More pertinently, it would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans.” That’s hardly the end of this decision’s implications. Over time, it’s bound to provide the rationale for overturning state and local electoral regulations based on federal law — as those in Los Angeles are — and will further undermine the influence of the parties at a time when U.S. politics seem increasingly chaotic. That’s true because, though corporate contributions to the parties continue to be regulated, expenditures made outside the parties on behalf of candidates now are unlimited. The predictable effect on parties is particularly odd from this court, given that one of the most distressing things about this decision — considered in a sequence stretching back to Bush vs. Gore — is that it demonstrates that this is a partisan court, willing to hand down sweeping decisions that ignore decades of jurisprudence based on five Republican votes. That was not true of the activist court over which Chief Justice Earl Warren presided. At the time he was sworn in, Warren was the only member of the court appointed by a Republican president. Still, he inherited a group of justices deeply split over the overriding question of the day — segregation — and fashioned a unanimous rejection of legalized racial separation in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. As the Los Angeles Times’ Jim Newton — Warren’s biographer — has pointed out, “Before Fred Vinson, Warren’s predecessor, died, the court was deeply split over Brown.
At least three justices (Tom Clark, Stanley Reed and Vinson) were inclined to uphold Plessy vs. Ferguson in defense of segregation, and two others (Felix Frankfurter and Robert Jackson) were stymied by the question of how to overturn such a longstanding precedent. Vinson’s death, which Frankfurter referred to as his first solid evidence of the existence of God, cleared the way for that impasse to be broken. Thus Warren achieved a unanimity that elevated the opinion above partisan or sectional politics.” Can that be said of any major decision handed down by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s court? That nonpartisan character survived throughout Warren’s tenure and that of his successor, the Republican Warren E. Burger. Two other landmark decisions of that period — Griswold v. Connecticut, which recognized a constitutional right to privacy, and Roe v. Wade — were decided by 7-2 majorities. In the former, one of the dissenters, Hugo Black, was a Democrat; the other, Potter Stewart, a Republican. In the latter, one of the minority justices, Byron R. White, was a Democrat, and the other, William H. Rehnquist, a Republican. Our current ability to predict Supreme Court decisions by weighing the issues against the two parties’ programs is worse than melancholy. It marks a new low in our nation’s descent into corrosive partisanship.
TIM RUTTEN -mcclatchy newspapers
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COLLEGIATETIMES
University gender gap defies national admission trends LIANA BAYNE news reporter Virginia Tech receives more applications from men than women, bucking a strong national trend. Although some claim discrimination against women in the world of higher education, that’s not the case at Tech, according to Amy Widner, spokesperson for undergraduate admissions. On Nov. 17, the Washington Post article, “Do college admissions officers discriminate against girls?” suggested that in a delayed reaction to larger amounts of females applying to college after Title IX, admissions offices are now discriminating against females in order to balance out the
male-female ratio. Not true, Widner said. “There is no discrimination here,” she said. The Post based its assessment on a comparison of the Common Data Set since 2006 from Harvard University, the University of Virginia and The College of William & Mary. It used this data to show an apparent discrepancy between the admissions policies at Harvard and UVa as opposed to those at William & Mary. At Harvard, a consistent proportion of females and males applied and were accepted between 2008 and 2006. About 9 percent of applicants of both genders were accepted all three years.
At UVa, about 1,000 more females than males consistently applied between the 2006-2007 school year and the 2008-2009 school year. About 35 percent of both genders were accepted all three years. Tech’s numbers provided in the CDS do not imply gender favoritism being practiced in undergraduate admissions. In fact, over the last seven school years, Tech has become more selective for both genders. While 66 percent of men who applied and 71 percent of women who applied in 2002 were admitted, only 63 percent of men and 68 percent of women who applied in 2008 were admitted. Since 2002, Tech’s numbers also show a slight increase in the propor-
“
We’re about 50-50 here, which is a pretty darn decent ratio. AMY WIDNER SPOKERPERSON UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS
tion of women in incoming classes. Only 43 percent of the 2002 incoming freshman class was female; in 2008, that number rose to 45 percent. Widner said Tech traditionally has fewer females than males in its incoming classes although she wasn’t sure what factors contribute to the discrepancy. Unlike all schools studied by the Post, Tech draws more applications from men than women.
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“We are in the minority,” she said of colleges that still have a general majority of men over women. At William & Mary, about 3,000 more females applied than males consistently since 2006. However, about 43 percent of males who had applied were accepted, whereas only about 28 percent of the females who had applied were accepted. William & Mary is currently one of several schools being investigated by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for unfairly favoring males during the admissions process, according to the article. Widner attributed Tech’s gender gap to the strong draw of science, technology and engineering to males. She said that the university is involved
everyone
in programs designed to recruit “underrepresented students,” including females, to areas of study that show notable lack of women and minorities. “We don’t have quotas,” Widner said. “In our areas with underrepresented groups, we do seek more applicants.” However, in general, women are not classified in those underrepresented groups, which usually are understood to constitute low-income or ethnic minority students. Consistently, about 40 percent of all students of both genders who are admitted end up enrolling. “We’re about 50-50 here,” Widner said, “which is a pretty darn decent ratio.”
6 sports
editors: joe crandley, alex jackson sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
january 27, 2010
Tech’s Redick continues family tradition NICK CAFFERKY sports staff writer When your last name is Redick, you are bound to turn some heads in the sport of basketball, especially in the Atlantic Coast Conference. This is the dilemma for freshman forward Abby
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Redick, who enters the ACC under the shadow of her brother J.J. If you have watched a Duke basketball game within the last five years, you know who her brother is. J.J. is one of the most productive ACC basketball players in the past decade. After four impressive years at Duke, Redick holds the NCAA record for free throw percentage and three-pointers made. He also ranks fourth in ACC history with 2,527 career points. He is now a guard on the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association. If Abby’s brother’s stats weren’t enough for him to have a place in history, the way he was treated while on the road by opposing fans certainly was. Redick earned a reputation in the ACC as one of the most hated players in the conference, mostly because of his great success. Fans of North Carolina and Maryland took pride in finding the most horrible things they could legally do or say to Redick. Needless to say, most of the venom directed at Redick over the duration of his Duke career is not fit to print. “I think the way he handled himself, where ever he went, just showed how much character he had,” Abby said. When looking at schools to play for, Abby weighed these circumstances in her decision, but chose to play in the conference that revered and tortured her brother at the same time. “Ultimately, ACC-wise, Tech was the only one who really recruited me, so it wasn’t really a contest,” she said. “I can’t say that I would have gone to Maryland — no, I wouldn’t have. If the opportunity would have presented itself and I liked the campus and the players, then maybe,”
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Read the full interview with Abby Redick on the Collegiate Sports blog at www.collegiatetimes.com.
she continued. While J.J. is the most famous of the Redick children, the entire family is full of successful athletes. Older sisters Catie and Alyssa both played basketball for Campbell University. David is a tight end for Marshall’s football team and now Abby is a Hokie. With the exception of her two older twin sisters, all of Abby’s siblings are at least three years apart. So while they all loved sports, there wasn’t a ton of competition amongst the kids. However, Abby was helped a lot by her siblings’ support and knowledge of their past experiences. “They were always supportive because they had already experienced what the younger one was experiencing,” Abby’s father, Ken, said. “They were always more inspiring to each other than competitive.” In high school, Abby was Hidden Valley High School’s star player. As a junior, she averaged 11 points, almost seven rebounds and led the team in assists. That year, Hidden Valley won the group AA state championship for the secondstraight year over Waynesboro, 59-45. Redick scored 16 points and had a team-high four assists in the game. After her junior year, Redick didn’t get to enjoy another successful season, though. Instead, in August before her senior season, Redick tore her anterior cruciate ligament while in a camp at Vanderbilt. Though she returned late in the season to help her team earn a fourth consecutive state tournament appearance, her high school career ended in a 45-57 loss to Ashby. “I think anyone who gets
injured, especially during your senior year of high school — it’s not something you want to do, but I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” Redick said of the experience. “I honestly learned a lot from the injury just like a lot of athletes do. ... I learned a lot and I guess it toughened me up.” After the injury there were a few teams that stopped calling, but Tech kept actively pursuing Abby. “Abby had just been to our camp and had done a great job,” Tech head coach Beth Dunkenberger said. “I really got to know her more as a person and a player and that is how she showed me how valuable she can be to the team. ... For me, it was a no brainer to stick with her.” Now that she is a freshman at Tech, Abby has been able to make an immediate impact on the women’s basketball team. She has appeared in all 19 games this season as one of the first players to come off the bench for Dunkenberger. She is averaging three points and almost f o u r rebounds in just 15 minutes a game with her best performance coming against Longwood in her first game. To begin her career she tallied 10 points and six rebounds in just 19 minutes of play. More than scoring though, Dunkenberger has been pleased with the skills Redick displays that don’t necessarily show up in the box score. “I think she is doing a lot of the intangibles,”
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Dunkenberger said. “Her stats aren’t overwhelming, but I think she is adjusting to the speed of the game, especially at the ACC level.” While most people would try to get out of their siblings’ shadow and make a name for themselves, Abby doesn’t see it as a problem. “I’m okay with it because of who he is and who he is going to be in the NBA,” she said. “It just goes to show you how hard of a worker he is. I’m really proud of him. “Maybe I’ll shy away from his shadow, but I’m just going to do whatever Tech needs me to bring to the table.” Getting out of J.J.’s shadow will be a difficult task to accomplish, but Dunkenberger thinks that she has a lot of room to grow and will continue to improve. “I certainly think her scoring will go up and her rebounding will go up, as well as her minutes,” Dunkenberger said. “As for watching her growth over the next three years ... right now she is playing more of a power forward spot. I think as time moves on she will be able to get away from the basket a little bit.”