Can you imagine running 100-mile marathon? He did it. ultra-marathon runner goes the distance | page five
PHOTO BY TRAVIS CHURCH/SPPS | PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARA SPANGLER/COLLEGIATE TIMES
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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COLLEGIATETIMES 107th year, issue 33
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BOV votes on expansion, ammunition GORDON BLOCK news reporter Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors agreed Monday to approve an expansion of Greek housing, as well as new policies on storage of ammunition and interim suspensions. The new Greek housing would be paid through both the university and the Greek Housing corporations. Greek organizations would pay for approximately one-third of costs of the houses, which would house around 36 to 42 residents. Tech would pay the rest of the costs for building the estimated $2 million to $4 million houses. Monday’s approval authorized $23.5 million dollars for use with the expansion. Ed Spencer, vice president of student affairs, called the payment split a “winwin” situation. “It allows alumni to donate to the Virginia Tech Foundation, tax deductable contributions, which then can be used toward the construction of the house,” Spencer said. Three Greek organizations, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi and Beta Theta Pi, have signed on to the housing plan, with a fourth organization scheduled for discussions about a move for this week. At full capacity, the Oak Lane Phase IV area could hold 17 houses. Spencer also noted a potential creation of field space as a part of the Oak Lane expansion, which would counter what Sherwood Wilson, vice president of administrative services, considered a 100,000-square-foot shortfall for recreational space. The Oak Lane expansion was one of several building projects approved during the two-day meetings. Other projects considered included an $89 million Center for the Arts, an instructional building for the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Academic and Student Affairs Building — a new dining facility near Randolph Hall, which will also feature classroom space. The board also approved two resolutions from the Student Affairs and Athletics Committee changing Tech’s weapons policy and interim suspension policy. The approved resolution to the weapons policy prohibits the storage of ammunition in on-campus residence halls despite facing opposition from campus groups such as the Tech chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and the Pistol and Rifle Club at Virginia Tech. The policy also prohibits the possession of stun weapons. Exceptions to the ammunition ban were made for BBs and paint balls. The board also approved a change to Tech’s interim suspension policy, which allows for the immediate removal of students deemed a threat to themselves or others. Graduate students will see a boost in health care support from the university. Tech will now support 87.5 percent of the graduate health insurance program, an increase from 82.5 percent. The board also announced new undergraduate and graduate representatives. Shane McCarty, a junior marketing major and current SGA vice president, will take the undergraduate position. Deepu George, a doctoral candidate studying family development, will take the graduate position. Sunday’s meetings featured a presentation from Skip Garner, the new Virginia Bioinformatics Institute executive director, along with a discussion of how to improve Tech’s standing on an international level. “We are in global competition,” Steger said. “I can tell you from my first-hand experience and from what I read that the world is not sitting around waiting for us to figure it out.” The session also featured a discussion of diversity projects along with an overview of the school’s strategic plan. Plans were also made to promote awareness of Tech’s Principles of Community statement, in a similar fashion to the athletics department’s marketing of the Hokie Respect program. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for June 6-7.
No decision made for W 2010-11 tuition by gordon block, news reporter
hile Virginia Tech’s March Board of Visitors meeting is usually designated for tuition discussion, the board decided not to make any determinations for costs for the 2010-11 school year. The decision to not set tuition prices was made due to budget information coming in late from the state. The decision on tuition price will now be made by the board’s executive council.
BOARD MEMBERS John R. Lawson, II, Rector, Committee Chair Ben J. Davenport, Student Affairs & Athletics Committee Chair Michele Duke, Research Committee Chair George Nolen, Finance & Audit Committee Chair James R. Smith, Buildings & Grounds Committee Chair Lori L. Wagner, Academic Affairs Committee Chair
Hokies top Huskies
Alumnus’ film career started with competition
ED LUPIEN sports reporter
LINDSEY BROOKBANK features staff writer It’s a tough of fact of life for most toddlers to discover that Disney movies are not quite an accurate reflection existence. More likely than not, the stepmother probably isn’t evil, and Prince Charming could use a few more tips on talking to women. Still, for 2007 Virginia Tech graduate Tim Leaton, Disney was more than a vestige of childhood idealism — it’s the company that had the magic to make his dreams of diving into a career in film come true. As Hokies invent the future, As a student at Tech, stories about research will Leaton won the 2006 appear in each issue this week. “Film Your Issue” film competition and with it, the grand prize of an eight-week paid internship with Disney. Years after his big break, Leaton now works as an assistant editor for shows such as “The Marriage Ref,” “World’s Strictest Parents” and “It’s Me or the Dog.” Originally, Leaton got involved with film in middle school when he was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. POTS causes orthostatic intolerance, which occurs when an excessively reduced amount of blood returns to the heart such as when an individual stands up from a lying down position. The end result is lightheadedness, fainting and a rapid increase in heart rate.
research
see FILM / page two
MICHAEL MCDERMOTT/SPPS
Junior forward JT Thompson posts up in the lane during Tech’s 65-63 win on Monday.
With visions of playing in Madison Square Garden gaining clarity, the Hokies slipped by the Connecticut Huskies 65-63 Monday night at Cassell Coliseum in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. “In any tournament that was a high-level basketball game,” said Tech head coach Seth Greenberg. “Two teams playing about as hard as humanly possible. The resiliency the toughness, it was a typical game for us.” Trailing by one with less than a minute left, the Hokies’ defense applied enough pressure to force a Connecticut backcourt violation. Following a 30 second timeout, Tech junior guard Dorenzo Hudson hit a fall-away 2-pointer off a Malcolm Delaney assist to give the Hokies a one-point lead with 11 seconds remaining. With one last possession, UConn guard Kemba Walker drove the court and attempted a long 2-pointer that was subsequently blocked by Tech forward Jeff Allen. Walker, however, was able to attain the rebound, dishing the ball down low to forward Gavin Edwards who was unable to hit a layup that was snatched up by Hokie guard Terrell Bell with less than a second remaining. Bell was fouled and hit the second of two free throws, giving the Hokies a 6563 lead; which would be the final. The Huskies led by as much as twelve points in the first half with the Hokies able to cut the lead to five going into halftime thanks to a JT Thompson 3-pointer at the buzzer. see HOKIES / page two
LGBTA rally endorses anti-discrimination policy SHANNON CRAWFORD news staff writer
BRIAN CLAY/SPPS
Students supporting Tech’s anti-discrimination policies.
On Friday, March 19, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance sponsored a rally outside of Squires Student Center in support of Virginia Tech’s current antidiscrimination policies. The Principles of Community is a document that encompasses the university’s policies on equality. It includes protections based on sexual orientation, a safeguard that should not be offered according to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Cuccinelli’s March 4 letter to public universities requested that administrators retract policies that ban discrimination based on sexual preference. Gov. Bob McDonnell later sent an executive directive discouraging all forms of
employment discrimination. Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski confirmed that the university has no plans to change the Principles of Community. LGBTA President Aimee Kanode said the group decided to take a positive stand behind the university instead of demonstrating against Cuccinelli. “When Cuccinelli’s letter came out there was a need for a response,” Kanode said. “What kind of response we wanted to offer was up to us. We could choose to have protests or a demonstration where we just say how backwards the Attorney General’s letter was, or about how that degrades the LGBT community, or we could uplift Virginia Tech’s current Principles of Community from a positive light. We chose to go with the more positive option.” Kanode said the Principles of Community
are vital to the LGBTA. “It just means we’re all students,” Kanode said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, or who you happen to make out with at parties. We’re all going to be Hokies at the end of the day.” Jean Elliot, co-chair of the LGBT Caucus of Virginia Tech, also advocated for the document in its current form. “We, right here, all of us, are the statements behind that document,” Elliot said at the rally. “We all deserve equal protection, and we should be able to live our lives free from fear.” Elliot also addressed the future by saying that “the fight for equity with regards to human rights and sexuality shall achieve great things in this 21st century.” see LGBTA / page two
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new river valley news editor: zach crizer university editor: philipp kotlaba newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/540.231.9865
march 23, 2010
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COLLEGIATETIMES
Hokies: Hudson’ s late shot seals 65-63 win ]
VTU confirms Dashboard Confessional
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Alternative-rock band Dashboard Confessional will make its way to Blacksburg on April 20. Virginia Tech Union released information about the concert late last week. The band will play from 7:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. in Burruss Hall. Tickets will be $20 for students and $25 for the general public, and will increase by $5 at the door on the day of the show. During the same week, the Black Student Alliance and the Asian American Student Union will sponsor a concert from rapper Wale and hip-hop band N.E.R.D. on April 22. The concert will last from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. in Burruss. Tickets will be $25 for students and $30 for the general public, and it will increase by $5 at the door on the day of the show. Tickets for both shows go on sale on April 2 at the Squires box office or online at www.tickets. vt.edu. by liana bayne, news reporter
CORRECTIONS JUSTIN GRAVES -Contact our public editor at publiceditor@ collegiatetimes.com if you see anything that needs to be corrected.
from page one
With just under 17 minutes to play in the second half, the Hokies regained the lead for the first time since the 17:35 mark in the first half. The teams played scrappily from thereon, with the lead changing eight times in the half before the Hokies were able to hold on for the win. Hudson paced the Hokies with 27 points and seven rebounds while his cousin, Thompson, contributed with 10 points and six boards. Delaney garnered six points in the contest, shooting two for 14 from the field and 0-5 from beyond the arc. The
LGBTA: Rally backs university politcies from page one
Phillip Murillas, a senior communication major at Tech, was able to gain support for the cause through the social networking site Facebook. He described the movement as “a full week of just motivating people and trying to get a statewide effort going on.” Murillas also spoke out against altering the Principles of Community. “It would be impossible to actually change it at this point,” Murillas said. “It negates too much progress. It would also stop the example we have going on for other state universities, for universities at other states, for institutions across the country.” Kanode reiterated that the university has no plans to change the document. “We are keeping it in the Principles of Community — (President Charles Steger) stood fast behind it, and the provost stood fast behind it,” Kanode said. Kanode pointed out that the issue was not even on the agenda for Sunday and Monday’s Board of Visitors meetings. LGBTA Pride week is scheduled for March 29 to April 2.
heralded guard also contributed with nine assists. Forward Victor Davila notched eight points and five rebounds despite dealing with the effects of food poisoning. “What a courageous effort, the kid hadn’t practiced in two days,” Greenberg said. “We didn’t know if he could go. We took an IV before the game and I kept asking him, ‘Are you all right?’ He kept two or three balls alive.” UConn was led by its guards Walker, with 18 points and Jerome Dyson, who added 15. Forward Stanley Robinson grabbed eight rebounds for the Huskies.
As a team, the Hokies tied Connecticut with 33 rebounds, with Tech managing 13 boards offensively. The Hokies also shot 42.1 percent from the field, narrowly besting the Huskies’ 41.7 effort. “I thought they played exceptionally hard,” Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun said. “We did a great job on Delaney for the entire game. ... Seth has obviously done a great job down here so that was of all the things that happened this year the most heartbreaking because I thought we out-worked them for the entire game.” A focal point of the contest was the
head coaching matchup of Greenberg and UConn’s renowned Calhoun. Calhoun has attained more than 800 victories and two national championships during his career. Both coaches are also known their fiery and spirited personalities on the sideline, and they failed to disappoint Monday night, each receiving a technical foul for arguing with officials during the course of the game. With the victory, the Hokies (25-8, 10-6) tie the school record for most wins in a season. The feat was also accomplished in the 1994-95 season, coincidentally by a Tech team that won
the NIT, finishing with a 25-10 record. The Huskies (18-16, 7-11), who were ranked 14th in the preseason top-25 poll, finish a disappointing season that is statistically one of the school’s worst during Calhoun’s 24-year tenure. Tech will host the Rhode Island Rams on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the NIT. The contest is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2. The winner will advance to the semifinals, played on Tuesday, March 30 in Madison Square Garden.
Film: Extracurriculars become career from page one
Because of this disorder’s detrimental effects, Leaton quit all his sports and activities. He realized that he needed to find a different hobby to have fun. Inevitability, he found it in film; Leaton was given a toy video camera in the seventh grade and began making movies. “Something that seems like a big LEATON obstacle or adversity at the time can kind of turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. For me, looking back, that’s exactly what happened,” Leaton said. At Midlothian High School in Richmond, Va., Leaton made sports music videos presented at the athletic award ceremonies before he entered college. Leaton graduated from Tech in spring 2007 with dual honors degrees, receiving both a bachelor’s degree in business management and a bachelor’s in communication. Jerry Scheeler, a TV/Film supervisor and one of Leaton’s former professors, explained that the knowledge and experience Leaton gained during his time Tech got him his big break. While attending Tech, Leaton created his first film, “Fruitopia,” in the Introduction to Film Production class taught by Scheeler. The class was an introduction to professional film techniques and was designed for someone who had never made a film before. It was in this class that Leaton first started getting instruction in film.
Scheeler described Leaton as a quiet student that asked good questions while soaking up all the information provided to him. He explained that he didn’t know what to expect from Leaton’s first film. “I knew he had talent when he was in the class,” Scheeler said, “and then when I saw his work, I was absolutely convinced that he had talent.” Scheeler remembers actually asking Leaton how he executed some techniques. “At that time, editing on a computer was still relatively new. The software we were using to edit the films was Final Cut Pro. Literally, probably 99 percent of the students hadn’t worked with it before that class. ... He was an experimenter,” Scheeler said. “He found ways to manipulate color and special effects. He did some interesting animation and stop frame photography. In the editing, he sort of enhanced certain things.” “Fruitopia” won Best in Festival at the Progeny Film Festival in April 2005, beating out 46 other film submissions. “I was not expecting to win so it was a very pleasant surprise,” Leaton said. “It allowed me to put a solid film award on my resume, so that was really exciting.” In 2006, Leaton created his second film, “Uganda,” a half hour documentary about how his church Stony Point Presbyterian in Richmond, Va., was supporting children at an orphanage called Canaan Children’s Home in Uganda. “I made it just for my church to show them how big of a difference their money was making,” he said,
“how a small amount of money goes so far in Uganda. It’s amazing.” Leaton visited the orphanage with a 17-member mission team from his church, as well as his father and sister. There he filmed footage of the orphans and their lifestyle. Leaton feels that the children’s voices really come through in “Uganda.” “I didn’t coach them on what to say. I just sat them down and asked them the basic question, ‘What brought you to Canaan?’” Leaton said. “They just had these beautiful stories to tell. I was so touched while conducting interviews with them.” “Uganda”wonBestCinematography at the Progeny Film Festival in April 2006. The full-length version of “Uganda” was shortened into a one-minute trailer. The trailer is Leaton’s favorite version of this film because he feels that it sums the purpose of the film up quickly. Rachel Holloway, associate dean of undergraduate affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, was the communication department head when Leaton was a student at Tech. The “Uganda” trailer is her favorite of Leaton’s films. “He captured so beautifully in video the work that was going on there. The thing that impressed me is he had to take what was a pretty long film and take it down for his competition piece,” Holloway said. “I think he did so much in that minute that it was really inspiring.” The trailer won the biggest of Leaton’s awards. Leaton became the Grand Prize Winner of “Film Your Issue” in summer 2006. “Film Your Issue”
is a national competition inviting all U.S. students ages 14 to 24 to make a one-minute film on any issue. The judges that year included President Barak Obama, George Clooney and the Dalai Lama to name a few. Leaton then won the internship with Walt Disney Pictures in Los Angeles. It was Leaton’s first job in Hollywood. “Everything was so new to me, so I was completely in awe with everything,” Leaton said. “My mentors there were some of the top executives. They were so good to me giving me hands on experience.” Leaton said that it was a total dream come true. Some of his exciting experiences were being introduced to Johnny Depp on the set of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and dining with Roy Disney on board the Queen Mary. During this internship, Leaton gained both connections and experience that would help him land future jobs after he finished college, because he already had his foot in the door of the film industry. Scheeler spoke with Leaton after he won this award, telling him to get out to Hollywood and take advantage of the contacts he made while they were fresh. Now that Leaton is working as an assistant editor for five different reality shows, Holloway is not surprised with what he has been able to accomplish. “He is very passionate making film, and creating and sharing stories. So, he is doing something he absolutely loves,” Holloway said, “and I think he is a very self-directed, hard-working, ambitious young man.”
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editor: debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
march 23, 2010
The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
Your Views
[letters to the editor] (Mary Magdalene or someone Misplaced idea else) or what Rushdie wants of freedom to do in his spare time. What
T
his is in reference to my letter, “Salman Rushdie fatwa is justified” (CT, March 15), on the Rushdie fatwa in response to Mr. Eric Woods’ column, “Remember the anniversary of the Salman Rushdie fatwa” (CT, March 5). I do not justify or condone the Khomenei’s fatwa, as Islam does provide the freedom of belief to all. More importantly, throughout his life, Prophet Muhammad never responded to venomous personal or blasphemous attacks. Thus, I do not know how that earlier title got through. I have indeed read both “The Da Vinci Code” and “Satanic Verses.” It does not concern me if Jesus did marry someone
Beyond Coal unrealistic
W
hile I applaud the Beyond Coal organization for making an effort to better the environment, I believe that its goals are unrealistic. It wants to reduce ozone emissions from 80 parts per billion to somewhere between 60 and 70 parts per billion, while the ozone levels around Blacksburg are currently less than 50 parts per billion per year. But, 80 parts per billion is already an extremely low amount of emissions. To grasp how small it is, think of this analogy: India’s population is roughly one billion people; if 80 people of that population were to become pollutants that would have almost no effect on the population percentage. So, 0.00000008 percent of pollutants are allowed to enter the atmosphere here, and Blacksburg currently emits less than that. Beyond Coal’s main goal is to have Virginia Tech be powered by means other than coal and it says doing so will lower the cost of tuition. It wants Tech to be powered by geothermal, wind and solar energy. Geothermal energy is being used at the recently renovated Blacksburg Motor Company, a building roughly 4,500 square feet. More
concerns me is that a specific religion (i.e. Islam these days) is singled out for such zealous expressions of freedom. If someone is so enthusiastic about saying whatever they want, why not also “bless” other communities, personalities and prophets in this endeavor? Why not portray similarly fictitious representations of Pope Benedict, Jesus Christ, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa or Elie Wiesel? I would not want anyone to do just that and I also do not want anyone to falsely caricature Prophet Muhammad either.
Syed Ahmad Graduate student Electrical engineering
than 300 geothermal pipes were placed into the ground at more than 330 feet deep. Just for McBryde Hall, which is roughly 45,000 square feet, more than 3,000 holes will need to be drilled to accommodate for the use of geothermal energy, and that’s just for one building on campus. Where would Tech drill the holes for geothermal use? It’s not going to tear up the Drillfield to do so, and the cost of implementing geothermal technology would be very expensive. The only reason the Blacksburg Motor Company switched to geothermal was because of government grants, which paid for almost all of it. As for wind energy, a wind turbine more than 150 feet tall will need to be placed on campus to acquire enough energy to even be feasible. Tech is not going to allow something that tall to be built. Tech doesn’t want any building to be more prominent than Burruss Hall. Solar energy is feasible, but what about cloudy days? Lastly, if Tech were to do this, how would it pay for these changes? Simple, raise tuition rates once again.
Greg Stecher Senior Civil engineering major
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Tech should lead the pack in renewable energy ideas F
or us Hokies, it comes naturally to take pride in every aspect of the Hokie Nation — academics, athletics and community. And the recent steps our school has taken to become a leader in sustainability have only made us more proud of our alma mater. However, how can we justify burning more than 42,000 tons of coal every year at our cogeneration facility on campus? Virginia Tech is one of the top research institutions in the world, so why is it home to dangerous and polluting energy technology that is over two centuries old? Mining and burning coal to generate power causes extensive and irreversible damage to our environmental and public health. Considering that Appalachia, the heart of coal country, is home to Virginia Tech, this should be of high concern. Right here in southwest Virginia, mountains, streams and communities are destroyed by mountaintop removal mining, and dangerous toxins are released into the air and water, causing asthma, cancer and birth defects. Instead of spending millions of
dollars trying to improve dirty coal technology, we should be investing in wind, solar and energy-efficient technologies that will secure our future. In the next five to 10 years, the costs of renewable energy will only continue to decrease, and the costs of coal will only increase as we start to run out of this resource. Already, coal-powered energy costs on campus have increased by about 50 percent over the last five years. Can one really argue that continuing to use coal will protect us from increases in tuition? The Virginia Tech Beyond Coal Campaign, a student effort working to transition our campus away from coal to 100 percent renewable energy, has significant support on campus. The campaign has already been endorsed by 25 faculty members and nine student organizations, and more than 2,000 students have signed a petition. We remain in need of President Charles Steger’s commitment to becoming a leader in clean energy and moving beyond coal. In the last three months, several universities have committed to moving beyond coal, and even our ACC
rival, University of North Carolina, has created a task force working to lower its carbon footprint. If they can do it, why can’t we? It is worth noting that the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a public university larger than Virginia Tech, has already committed to switching to a mixture of biomass, natural gas and fuel oil by 2012. We Hokies can be front-runners in solving the complex challenges of coal and energy. This transition is possible and it needs to happen now. This is an unprecedented opportunity for Tech to show the nation it is serious to “invent the future.” It is now up to Steger to make the commitment to move beyond coal by 2020 and to help us become the leaders we knew we could become when we first chose Tech.
ERIN MOORE -guest columnist -senior -Beyond Coal member
Examine health care reform before passing judgement on it O
n Sunday night, as many of us know, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the health care bill by a vote of 219-212. All House Republicans voted against the bill, as did 34 Democrats, including Blacksburg’s representative, Rep. Rick Boucher. The passing of this bill into law enacted the most sweeping health care reform in the past 40 years, and every Democrat president has attempted something like it since President Harry Truman in the 1940s and 1950s. This bill is expected to extend medical coverage to 32 million Americans who are not currently covered by any plan, public or private, and its estimated cost is $940 billion. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has also predicted that the bill will lower the national debt by $100 billion in the next decade and $1 trillion in the decade after that. However, we have been hearing quite a bit about this bill and its contents ever since President Barack Obama started his health care reform platform in 2007. Yet, I know I’ve been following it and I still am confused about its contents. Here are some major points and important details. The first thing to remember is that this bill does not contain the public option. There is no government run insurance plan, as was suggested earlier in the process. Instead, there are reforms, extensions to programs and limits put on insurance companies designed to better and more fairly cover a greater number of Americans. No one is going to be forced to buy government insurance, just insurance in general, either public or private. So calling this bill socialist or communist would be a mistake, because there is nothing government-run that was not already there, and those who do so are merely demonstrating that they do not know or understand what it means to be socialist or communist. However, most Americans will now be required to have health insurance or pay a fine that won’t take effect until 2016. This fine would be either $695 or 2.5 percent of one’s income, depending on whichever number is bigger. Remember, that’s almost six
“
This bill is expected to extend medical coverage to 32 million Americans who are not currently covered by any plan, public or private, and its estimated cost is $940 billion.
years to get insured. This is combined with limits on the insurance plans of large companies, help to small businesses to insure their employees and subsidies for families in certain income brackets (families of four who make $88,000 or less). Another important detail to remember is that it is now illegal for insurance companies to deny insurance coverage to anyone based on a preexisting condition. This has been very prevalent recently as many preexisting conditions are expensive to cover. This has caused astronomical medical debt for people whose coverage was dropped. They are also not allowed to drop coverage if someone is sick and total out-of-pocket costs for those insured are supposed to decrease. Additionally, and probably most importantly for college students, coverage is now expanded for nondependent children through the age of 26. This means that even if you live on your own, or you are not in school, you can still be covered on your parent’s insurance plan until you turn 27. The previous age on most insurance plans was between 22 and 24, and that was dependent on whether you were in school. In many cases, those who were not in school and over 18 or 19 years old had their coverage dropped. Personally, I had to reapply for my parents’ insurance when I turned 19 and demonstrate that I was still in school and dependent on my parents. Medicare and Medicaid have also been reformed and expanded. The so-called “doughnut hole” loop in Medicare has been closed. The old law stated that Medicare would only cover or help with prescription drug costs until they exceeded $2,830.
Then, once the beneficiary had spent more than $4,550 on outof-pocket payments on their own, Medicare would continue to cover or assist with prescription drug costs. There is also a Medicare tax implemented on investment income that would tax individuals who make more than $200,000 and families who make more than $250,000. This, however, is still consistent with Obama’s campaign promises that taxes would not increase for those who make less than $250,000. Also, regarding the Stupak Amendment and all of the drama around it, the state is now left to decide if coverage for abortions would be allowed in government insurance plans. If a state decides to not cover abortions, then one who is part of an insurance exchange would need to seek other insurance to cover abortions. Currently, many private insurance plans do not cover abortions. Obama also promised to enact an executive order that would work harder than current laws to make sure there are no federally funded abortions — and that the status quo would be more than upheld. These plans are not the public option. However, small businesses, the unemployed and the self-employed are bringing their resources together to make health coverage cheaper by purchasing it from already existing companies — this is called heath insurance exchanges. So read up before you start calling our nation communist or letting those who are using scare tactic and classless remarks such as “baby killer” influence your vote. This is not all of what the bill contains, and I would suggest going to non-partisan news sources to get a synopsis of the bill. Most college students benefit from this bill, and I’m sure many of our family members benefit as well.
GABI SELTZER -regular columnist -sophomore -philosopy, history major
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COLLEGIATETIMES
Going the distance: Students train for ultra-marathons LIZ NORMENT features reporter A 100-mile radius around Blacksburg would include the cities of Greensboro, N.C., Charleston, W.Va., and Bristol, Tenn. For senior biology major Henry Wakely, each of those places is within reach without ever filling his gas tank. Wakely is an ultra-marathon runner, which is a person who runs marathons beyond 26.2 miles. The 100-mile race he ran last May, however, was his longest to date. That race started in Key Largo, Fla., and went all the way to mile zero in Key West. Although he has been a runner since high school, the idea to train for ultra-marathons originally came as a bet with a coworker. “I was watching Forrest Gump,” Wakely said, “and I made a bet with someone at work that I could run to Galax, which is a town about 70 miles from here.” This year he plans to do 16 ultramarathons and five of them are 100mile races. While ultra-marathons are obviously physically taxing, Wakely said the biggest challenge is preparing mentally. “I’ve been reading a lot more about the mental aspect,” Wakely said. “You ask yourself the question, ‘Can I or can’t I keep going?’ Generally, in a race you give up mentally before you need to give up physically.” Wakely insists on making physical training for races harder than the actual race. “I’ll spend hours on the treadmill, which is mentally grueling,” Wakely said. “It makes races that much easier. When you’re out there running 100 miles through a forest, it’s a lot more fun.” Beyond being physically and mentally capable to run an ultra-marathon, Wakely said monitoring your food intake is also a major challenge. “Generally if you run for an hour, your body burns 1,000 calories, so keeping a balance with your nutrition is one of the most challenging parts,” Wakely said. Although he admits to craving some rather obscure foods during races — most commonly chocolate milk and salami — Wakely said that
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one of the most important parts of racing is figuring out how to fuel your body. Recently, Wakely’s running has fueled others to get involved in ultramarathons. Last winter, he inspired Alex Weaver, a senior communication and sociology major, to train and run a 50K with him. Weaver, who has been a runner since high school, had not run more than a 5K when he agreed to train with Wakely. After signing up for his first ultramarathon, Weaver worked with Wakley to help prepare for the race. “It was so good to have someone to train with who has a lot of experience,” Weaver said. “There are so many details, from what you wear to when you drink water. It’s a lot to learn.” The two trained both indoors on treadmills, as well as around the Blacksburg area. “Henry knows a lot of good paths,” Weaver said. “We’ve seriously been all over Blacksburg.” Despite all of the training, both mentally and physically, Weaver’s first ultra-marathon came with some uncontrollable circumstances. The Seashore Nature Trail 50K took place on Dec. 19 with a sky full of heavy thunderstorms. “It was raining so hard,” Weaver said. “At one point on the trail we were going through knee-deep water.” Determined to make it through to the end, he pushed on. About five miles from the finish line, he hit a roadblock. “I got hypothermia and they wanted to pull me out of the race,” Weaver said. “I thought, ‘Hell no, I didn’t run 20 miles just to be pulled out of the race.’ I struggled to the finish line.” Although his first experience was rough, Weaver says that the immense satisfaction that runners feel at the end of a race is what becomes addictive. “After you finish, you’re sore as hell,” Weaver said, “but you’re so happy you just want to celebrate. That’s what keeps bringing people back, is how
awesome you feel afterward.” Still, Wakely occasionally gets butterflies before he races. “I get super nervous, thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to run 100-miles,’ then I start to think of how long it’s going to take,” Wakely said. “After that, I get really relaxed during the race. I zone out and try to find a place in my head where I’m not even thinking about running anymore.” After countless hours of training and preparing, plus the strain of running the race, Wakely says that the end of the race is often an emotional time for him. “If I’ve broken through a wall of how far I’ve gone, or set a personal record for myself, sometimes I can be pretty emotional about it,” Wakely said. “Those are probably my favorite runs.” In order to reflect on past racing experiences and also to connect with others in the ultra-marathon community, Wakely keeps a running blog to update followers on his training and provide personal insight into his thoughts each race. The blog has tracked Wakely’s race experiences for the past year. Both Wakely and Weaver admit that connecting with the community of ultra-marathon runners has been among the most rewarding aspects of participating in the races. According to Weaver, while most of the ultra-marathon runners he knows share a strong sense of mental determination, they all also have to be slightly mentally insane. “Most of the racers I’ve met are doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, all very self-motivated people,” Weaver said. “You also have to be a little bit of a lunatic to do this kind of stuff. Who in their right mind signs up for a race that long?” While the community of runners has helped to inspire him, Wakely hopes that his determination is an inspiration to others. “I feel like running should be something you want to do, but I feel like by doing it, writing a blog about it, people will be inspired to maybe not run an ultra-marathon, but just two or three miles every few days,” Wakely said. TRAVIS CHURCH/SPPS “I’m trying to speak more through my actions, and hoping that’s inspiration Students Henry Wakely and Alex Weaver are both ultra-marathon runners, or runners who participate in marathons that are enough.” more than 26.2 miles. Through rigorous phyiscal traning, Wakely has participated in marathons with distances up to 100 miles.
Filmmaker presents documentary about Rwandan tragedy JOYCE KIM features staff writer “Icyzizere” (pronounced e-cheez-ehreh). What looks like alphabet soup, is actually a word in Kinywaranda, which is the spoken language of Rwanda. It means hope, but it is also the title of a documentary by Patrick Mureithi. Mureithi, a Kenyan filmmaker, tells the story of 10 survivors and 10 perpetrators of the 1994 Rwanda genocide who, together, find the path to forgiveness through taking part in a three-day workshop as they learn about posttraumatic stress disorder. They go through a series of group exercises to built trust and realize how much more similar they are then different. “ICYIZERE:hope” has been shown at the 2009 Rwanda Film Festival, Rwanda National Television and numerous colleges throughout the United States. Mureithi spoke with the Collegiate Times over the phone to discuss the Rwandan genocide and his film. COLLEGIATE TIMES: How did you choose the title of this film? MUREITHI: I thought hope would be an appropriate title because of the circumstances the people of Rwanda went through and the power of the workshops. CT: How did you get your start as a filmmaker? What has influenced you in this process? MUREITHI: I studied mass media when I was a student at Missouri State University, and one summer I took an intersession called “The History and Theory of Documentaries,” and got the chance to watch one to two
documentaries and fell in love with the process of telling stories through film. So I knew that this was something I would like to do MUREITHI after I graduated. I worked as a cameraman at a local television station, and a few years after, I left to do freelance video production and make video documentaries. CT: What led you to make a film about the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda? MUREITHI: When the genocide started in 1994, I was in Kenya and I was 17 years old. I was born and raised there. I didn’t recall hearing anything about the genocide or reading about it probably because I was 17 and my concerns were elsewhere. It wasn’t until 2004 when I watched a documentary called “Ghosts of Rwanda,” which was released on PBS, where I truly understood how severe the situation was in Rwanda. I felt a sense of despair because of how it happened so close to where I used to live. I learned about the workshops a year later and felt this story must be told. This account focuses on the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation and more than being about the Rwanda story, it is about the human story. Making this film would make the people of Rwanda more aware of these workshops and hopefully accelerate the process of healing. I just wanted to tell a story that was so powerful; how 10 million people, how many lost loved ones or watched them
get killed, how many were affected and how many would benefit from the message of reconciliation through this film. I feel media is a very powerful tool and can be used to unite and heal the people of Rwanda. CT: How did you find out about this reconciliation workshop? MUREITHI: I live in Missouri, and one weekend I went to St. Louis with my wife and children to visit my wife’s relatives. We went to a Quaker service where there was an aspect of worship where we sit in silence for one hour and if someone feels compelled then they speak. After they were done speaking, then they would come down and it would be back to silence. One fellow talked about his experience in Rwanda and how he met a genocide survivor who told him she was in same room as her mother when her mother was killed. The lady told him that the man who hacked her mom had turned to her and told her to run. When he mentioned that, immediately I began to think and wonder why that fellow would tell her to run. I came back home and did research about the genocide and learned the history, propaganda and the way colonialism played a role in their society. I saw this situation as more complex than I thought and felt the need to make a film about that. CT: Did you help design any part of the workshop? MUREITHI: All I did was show up and film the process of the workshop. I focused on four individuals and filmed the first three days of the workshop and interviewed some of
the participants. I was there for two weeks. My second time to Rwanda was for two and a half months where I gathered additional film about the individual’s lives and the third trip lasted a couple of weeks. The fourth time I was there for a month. Altogether, I had 120 hours of footage that I have edited down into 55-minute film.
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The film is a free event and will be shown today at 7 p.m. in the Squires Colonial Hall.
CT: Is there anything you learned personally or took out of from seeing or listening to the people’s stories during the workshop? MUREITHI: Many things I learned from the film. The original version is 90 minutes and I edited it down to 55 minutes. I focused on the propaganda campaign that was used, how it was very effective in Rwanda. They used radio and print propaganda which was very similar to what Hitler’s Nazi Germany used ... and the power of media was to divide and destroy. The message is to be very critical about the information you receive and think through it because sometimes people are not taking the responsibility
to present objectives to it. The main thing that I learned ... being in the room with individuals who were very traumatized — some thought they were mad, but didn’t even know what they were feeling was trauma. Once they learned and once they were given a sense of comfort, they were able to collectively address it. One of the main subjects said, “In order for you to be healed you have to acknowledge that you are wounded then you can speak of healing with authority.” That it is important to honestly look at yourself and look at the state of your heart and see where you stand on the emotional level and honestly assess if there are any grudge or past trauma and then be bold to do something about it. On a personal level, it taught me a lot and how it’s OK to be broken because there’s no shame in being wounded. The real shame is when you don’t do anything about it and deny yourself the peace of mind and joy that is your birthright. That is a lesson that some of the people in this film have shared with those who’ve watched it — to Rwanda, to Kenya and to the many venues I have had the honor of sharing. CT: If you were in the shoes of one of the survivors, do you think you would be able to forgive those who hurt you? MUREITHI: I don’t know. It would be a
very difficult thing to do. I think there’s a process people need to go through before you can forgive. People need to mourn their losses. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross states that there are stages of grief, which are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Someone’s heart has to be ready to let go of things. I don’t know and it depends on where it was, how ready I was and how effectively I had processed what had happened to me. Trauma does not go away with time, and it is the greatest obstacle to forgiveness. The first thing to do is to assess the trauma and resolve the traumatic incidents. Mama Aline, one of the survivors, felt life had been interrupted by trauma and felt like it was an incurable disease. Later she said that she’s been through a lot and had reached a point where she had to forgive, and this forgiveness has to come from the heart. It’s a process that she’s still going through, both the resentment and deep sorrow. However, it doesn’t cast blame on anyone and she owns it. CT: Is there anything else you want to say to the students? MUREITHI: This project means a lot to me and it has changed my life. I am honored to present it to the students and faculty at Virginia Tech. Go Hokies!
march 23, 2010
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Seven Minus showcases work, prepares for next album PHOTOGRAPHY BY NIELS GORAN BLUME | spps
Linda Oh, bass, supported the band during its two concerts and at the Virginia Tech Digital Audio Recording and Production Studio.
While at VT, Seven Minus gave two concerts and recorded a new album of original compositions by band members.
Joe Freuen plays the trumpet and flugelhorn for Seven Minus. The group is working on its follow-up to the album, “You Shall Know Our Velocity,” which was self-released in 2004 and featured original compositions.
Seven Minus drummer Jason Palmer currently teaches at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore.
Brian Landrus plays soprano saxophone during the recording session. Landrus also plays baritone and tenor saxophones and bass clarinet.
Linda Oh, bass, also supported the band during its two concerts and recording session at the Virginia Tech Digital Audio Recording and Production Studio, on Saturday, Feb. 20.