Cold day, hot porch A
Chasewood Downs apartment building was evacuated for a short time Tuesday afternoon after a fire broke out on a balcony. The Blacksburg Fire Department responded to “a box burning on the patio,” at 709 Appalachian Dr. Residents were allowed to enter their apartments again around 4:10 p.m. by zach crizer, nrv news editor
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Blacksburg Fire Department quickly extinguished a small fire at 709 Appalachian Dr. on Tuesday afternoon
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SARA MITCHELL/COLLEGIATE TIMES
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
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COLLEGIATETIMES 107th year, issue 34
News, page 2
Features, page 5
Opinions, page 3
Sports, page 6
Classifieds, page 5
SGA officer Masterpiece plans candidates running unopposed LIANA BAYNE news reporter The members of SGAction are running an active campaign — not against an opposing ticket, but against the misconceptions of other students. SGAction is made up of junior communication major Bo Hart, running for president; junior communication major Greer Kelly, running for vice-president; sophomore accounting major J. Corbin DiMeglio, running for treasurer; and sophomore psychology major Emily Wilkinson, running for secretary. The ticket is currently facing no opposition. Hart said the deadline has passed for any additional groups to run for the offices, leaving the ticket to run unopposed. The only way a different person could be elected to their offices would be if one person were written-in enough times for an office. “I don’t know how it happened,” Hart said of no other groups of students running for the executive offices of the SGA. There have been two full tickets competing for the offices in each year since 2006. The 2005 elections saw secretary and treasurer candidates run unopposed. In the 2004 election, HART candidates for president and secretary ran unopposed. Erica Swanson, chief justice of the judicial branch of the SGA, said the primary function of her job is to oversee elections, and she said forcing candidates into running just for opposition would likely hurt the university more than it helped. KELLY “Honestly, if there’s no other students who feel qualified or motivated to run, it’s probably best for the student body,” Swanson said. Swanson said students could still vote against the ticket through the writein process if they wish to nominate another candidate. “Students have the option to say ‘yes’ WILKINSON or to say ‘no,’” she said. “They have the option to write someone else in.” “We don’t want people to think their vote is not important,” Swanson said. Although they are the only ticket running for their offices, Hart and his team are continuing to advertise their campaign platform, which highlights five major issues, as though they are in DiMEGLIO competition with another ticket. “We’re trying to do as much as we can, as if there were another ticket,” Wilkinson, the candidate for secretary, said. “We’re trying not to let it inhibit us.” The issues SGAction hopes to promote include sustainability, academic advising, SGA’s communication process, student life and diversity. “I want to make a difference and be the voice of the students,” Hart said. “I want to make next year fun and exciting, open communication and help others.” Wilkinson said if SGAction wins the election, they plan to continue the sustainability efforts in place, started by this year’s administration under current president Brandon Carroll. DiMeglio said academic advising would be one of the first priorities of the new administration should they be elected. “When course request comes, it comes up on you quick,” DiMeglio said. He said he had experienced problems in the past with academic advising and was not in the minority. DiMeglio said he wanted to start a program to ask advisers to keep weekly evening hours to assist students. Kelly said she wanted to work to “streamline” information. “There are so many organizations and programs,” she said. Kelly said she would like to see the SGA work as a conduit of information to keep the student body informed of various activities happening around campus. see SGA / page two
COURTESY VIRGINIA TECH
An artist’s rendering shows the main entrance plaza of the Center for the Arts, scheduled to open in 2013.
PLANS, RENDERINGS OF CENTER FOR THE ARTS REVEALED AFTER PROJECT RECEIVES APPROVAL LIANA BAYNE news reporter Virginia Tech officially unveiled design plans and architectural renderings yesterday for the new Center for the Arts to be located at the intersection of North Main Street and Alumni Mall. The university’s Board of Visitors approved the 130,000-square foot, $89 million project during Monday’s meeting. Construction will begin in the fall. The opening of the center is set for the summer 2013. Tuesday’s reception featured remarks from the center’s executive director Ruth Waalkes, Tech provost Mark McNamee and Blacksburg mayor Ron Rordam. Officials from various area cultural centers, such as the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, were present along with Tech administrators and faculty and members of the Blacksburg Town Council. McNamee said during his remarks that
the new center “is truly a remarkable opportunity,” for Tech’s current arts program. The center will feature a 1,300-seat performance hall, multiple visual arts galleries and the new Center for Creative Technologies in the Arts. The performance hall will be large enough to accommodate activities such as theater, music and dance exhibitions. The visual arts galleries will have the ability to house traditional arts as well as digital media. The center hopes to work closely with the Taubman Museum to develop exhibits and educational outreach programs. The Center for Creative Technologies in the Arts is designed to be a new hub for education at both the collegiate and K-12 levels that will bring together technological artistic mediums such as animation, digital audio and film, graphic and Web design. McNamee said during his remarks that one of the goals of the center will be to
“extend the arts to a broader community.” “Through the arts, students can learn critical thinking skills,” he said. McNamee said the center would reach out extensively to K-12 students in the New River Valley. Waalkes said during her remarks that she envisions the center as a “dynamic and vibrant gathering place” that would hopefully serve as a national model of a university arts center. In strengthening Tech’s partnership with the New River Valley and the town of Blacksburg, the Center for the Arts also hopes to be an “engine of economic growth” in downtown Blacksburg, according to McNamee. “This will be a magnet for people to move here,” he said. During his remarks, Rordam said the center’s location at the border of the Tech campus and downtown Blacksburg will help to bring the community and the university closer. “The downtown master plan called for Blacksburg to become a major arts destination,” he said. “(The Center for the Arts) will be the anchor.” see CENTER / page two
Public display of affection
LGBTA President Aimee Kanode watches as Mat Stoll and Sean Huynh participate in Tuesday’s Mock Wedding ceremony on the Drillfield. photo by luke mason
Sudoku, page 5
Research conference participation on the rise GORDON BLOCK news reporter Campus organizers have noticed an increase in interest in several upcoming research conferences. Ganesh Balasubramanian, a doctoral candidate studying engineering science and mechanics and chair for today’s Graduate Student Assembly Research Symposium, said he had seen a substantial increase in submissions. The symposium received 272 submissions, up from 171 for the 2009 conference. Balasubramanian said increased marketing, an increase in prize money and a keynote speech from Nobel laureate Andrew Weaver increased the symposium’s profile. “Any time you have a Nobel laureate, it elevates the importance of the event to a new height,” Balasubramanian said. Nancy Metz, an associate professor of English and organizer for the English Department’s annual conference on Friday, said participation has increased consistently as the conference heads into its fourth year. “The first year, the difficulty is getting the word out,” Metz said. “It’s been steadily growing over the years.” Metz said reaching out to students from other departments helped in diving into boosting interest. In addition to As Hokies invent the future, English majors, stories about research will some of the work appear in each issue this week. presented for the conference came from classical studies, mechanical engineering, biochemistry and biology majors. “It really gives quite a reach as far as the type of students whose work has been showcased,” Metz said. Metz said she felt the participation in conferences was an opportunity for students to grow. “It’s been a nice launching pad for students,” Metz said. “It’s the boost they need to know work is the kind that can be presented in various professional settings.” Balasubramanian said these conferences could serve as a stepping-stone to bigger research opportunities.
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Graduate Student Assembly Research Symposium today at the Graduate Life Center Keynote Speech by Nobel Laureate Andrew Weaver at 7 p.m. in the GLC auditorium.
“This is a practice podium if they plan on presenting this on a higher level,” Balasubramanian said. “It refines their communication and presentation skills.” Balasubramanian said for many graduate students, the research done for conferences can be a starting point for a future dissertation. “This provides them a platform where they can talk to audiences who are not aware of their research topic,” Balasubramanian said. Metz said for many students preparing to enter the job market, the skills learned from doing research can be a boost to both their resume and confidence. “From the point of view of someone who writes a lot of letters of recommendation, the conference is competitive,” Metz said. “When you write about the conference in a letter of recommendation, it means a lot. It shows a student not only had the initiative, and it’s a research skill — it’s a performance skill.” Allison Nawoj, a career adviser with CareerBuilder.com, said the job market for students after graduation is highly competitive. Skills attained at these conferences, such as researching and improved communication abilities, can allow a student to stand out.
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new river valley news editor: zach crizer university editor: philipp kotlaba newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/540.231.9865
march 24, 2010
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COLLEGIATETIMES
SGA: Elections set for March 30-31 ]
Filmmakers set to create vampire flicks in one day Student filmmakers will have the chance to embrace their inner vampire at an all-night film festival this weekend. The Association of Movie Productions hosts the 24 Hour Film Festival each semester, and the theme for this semester is vampires. Working in teams of three, participants in the festival will have exactly 24 hours to write, shoot and edit a short film. “The festival is to get people excited, and to give them a chance to get together with friends and make a film in a very short amount of time, and to have a lot of fun with it,” said John Kayrouz, a member of the Association of Movie Productions. Kayrouz is the general manager of WUVT, the Collegiate Times’ sister division within the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech. Shooting begins at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 27, when participants receive prompts for their movies. Films must be submitted by 2 p.m. Sunday. To prepare to the vampire theme, participants were allowed to begin creating vampire costumes on Monday. “The theme was chosen because it goes along with the recent vampire craze in pop culture, and it’s fun and will get people excited,” Kayrouz said. The screening will be Sunday, March 28 at 7 p.m. in Hancock 100. Winners will be announced that night. According to Kayrouz, there are no official judges for the festival. Instead, all participants vote on their favorite film the night of the screening. The InnovationSpace, located in Torgerson Hall, will be open all night so participants can use its resources to edit their movies and will also provide prizes for the winners. The cost to register for the festival is $9 per team or $3 per person. by claire sanderson, news staff writer
CORRECTIONS JUSTIN GRAVES -Contact our public editor at publiceditor@ collegiatetimes.com if you see anything that needs to be corrected.
from page one
DiMeglio said the platform of increasing the quality of student life would be the most fun. DiMeglio is proposing to start “simple” initiatives such as Maroon Fridays, in which students would be encouraged to wear maroon-colored shirts on Friday. “It’d make it so Friday is celebrated,” he said. He is also supporting an idea of a tailgate on the Drillfield before football games to create a “big community environment.” The ticket’s final platform, advocating diverse perspectives, will aim to highlight underrepresented groups’ points of view. “We want to push the ones that
don’t get heard,” Hart said. “They’re part of the student body. We want to reach out to them and listen to them.” If Hart and the rest of his ticket are elected, Ana Barrenechea, the adviser for the legislative and executive branches of the SGA, will help them through the transition process. “This ticket has been passionate about service,” she said. Barrenechea said she would help the new administration to develop their goals into tangible plans of action. “A lot happens over the summer,” Barrenechea said. Current SGA president Brandon Carroll said he felt one of the biggest challenges facing the new admin-
istration would be to effect actual change within the university. “The way the university does stuff, students don’t have power,” Carroll said. He also said he felt there were “a lot of things my administration started that need to be finished.” “They need to be looking at the school from a holistic point of view and see what we can do to make it better,” Carroll said. If elected, Hart said the first step his ticket would take would be to lay the foundation of the administration. “You don’t have that much time,” he said. “What kind of prog-
ress can you do in the amount of time you have? How can you be effective?” The candidates continue on the campaign trail. There will be a roast tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. in the Squires Haymarket Theatre, during which the SGAction ticket will take questions from the audience. Election polls will open at 10 a.m., March 30 and remain open through March 31. Swanson said a new voting system would be in effect this year. Students can vote from their home computers or in booths around campus. They will be directed to sign in using their PID and password, just as they would authenticate their Internet login.
Center: Town aims to be ‘arts destination’ from page one
Rordam said one of the motivations for the town’s current $15 million road renovation project is to create a pedestrian-friendly environment for patrons of the new center. “We hope we can do more in the future,” he said. “This is not just Virginia Tech, Blacksburg or Montgomery County. The impact will spread out into the New River Valley and help us achieve that goal of Blacksburg being an arts destination.” Waalkes, who was previously director of artistic initiatives at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, said after Tuesday’s event that she is looking forward to the center not only fostering performances but interacting with the community. After giving his remarks, McNamee said he hoped the center was “going to elevate Virginia Tech as one of the top universities.” “This will put us over the top,” he said. “It will have the ability to attract multi-talented students.” Funding for the project will come from a collaboration of private and public money. Tech is providing $33.2 million, the state of Virginia is providing $27.8 milCOURTESY VIRGINIA TECH lion and the remaining $28 million will come from private
An artist displays the future view from Main Street and Alumni Mall.
“
This is not just Virginia Tech, Blacksburg or Montgomery County. The impact will spread out into the New River Valley and help us achieve that goal of Blacksburg being an arts destination. RON RORDAM MAYOR
donations. “We’re confident we’ve got the resources,” McNamee said. Ian Colburn, a 2003 Tech graduate who is now one of the lead architects working on the project, said he hoped students would reap great benefits from having the “anchored location for the arts.” “Students can learn new ideas and then practice those ideas,” Colburn said. Colburn said he was happy to be part of the project through his architecture firm because of his affiliation with Tech. Waalkes said the center was “a compelling vision” that would “benefit students and impact the quality of life in the region.” “The arts serve as the way to improve the way we live in the world,” she said.
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Hundreds of tickets donated for students A total of 733 student tickets have been donated for the Virginia TechRhode Island game as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to an e-mail from Virginia Tech Athletics. Complimentary tickets are on a first-come, first-serve basis at the East Side entrance (Basketball Practice Facility side) to Cassell Coliseum as students enter the game. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m., and all seats are general admission. Any tickets after the first 733 will cost $5. Students picking up their ticket must have a valid Virginia Tech I.D. card. A limit of one ticket per student. To donate tickets, call the Athletics Ticket Office at 540-231-6731. by ct news staff
Oprah settles lawsuit before trial next week PHILADELPHIA — Avoiding a potentially ugly spectacle, Oprah Winfrey on Tuesday settled a defamation suit filed against her that was scheduled for trial in Philadelphia next week. The billionaire talk-show mogul was sued by Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane,whowastheheadmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa until allegations in October 2007 that a dormitory matron sexually assaulted six girls. Winfrey and Mzamane met privately in Chicago Tuesday and agreed to settle the case, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. Their lawyers issued a joint statement saying the dispute was ended “peacefully.” There was no mention of any financial settlement. According to the suit, which was filed in 2008, Winfrey suggested during a meeting with parents and a subsequent satellite news conference that Mzamane was not trustworthy and tried to cover up the allegations of abuse. by robert moran, mcclatchy newspapers
opınıons 3
editor: debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
march 24, 2010
Research should go beyond Google T
he current generation of kindergartners to 12th graders — those born between 1991 and 2004 — has no memory of a time before Google. But although these students are far more tech savvy than their parents and are perpetually connected to the Internet, they know a lot less than they think. And worse, they don’t know what they don’t know. As a librarian in the Pasadena, Calif., Unified School District, I teach students research skills. But I’ve just been pink-slipped, along with five other middle school and high school librarians, and only a parcel tax on the city’s May ballot can save the district’s libraries. Closing libraries is always a bad idea, but for the Google generation, it could be disastrous. In a time when information literacy is increasingly crucial to life and work, not teaching kids how to search for information is like sending them out into the world without knowing how to read. Instead of simply navigating books and the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature — an annual index of magazine and newspaper articles used in the olden days — today’s students sift through an infinite number of options: books, Internet sources, academic databases. Much of the time they opt for Google, which is like being tossed into the ocean without a paddle. An info-literate student can find the right bit of information amid the sea of irrelevance and misinformation. But any college librarian will tell you that freshman research skills are absolutely abysmal. Before they graduate from high school, students need to be able to understand the phenomenal number of information options at their fingertips, learn how to work with non-Google-style search queries, avoid plagiarism and judge whether the facts before them were culled by an expert in the field or tossed off by a crackpot in the basement. As even struggling school districts manage to place computers in classrooms, it’s difficult to find a child without Internet access. But look closer at what happens when students undertake an academic task as simple as researching global warming — tens of millions of hits on Google — and it becomes clear that the so-called divide is not digital but informational. It’s not about access; it’s about agility. Most children consider a computer search second nature, so trying to give them instruction or advice can be difficult. Recently, noticing that a sixthgrader didn’t know how to search the school library catalog, I tried to show him the steps. “You don’t
need to tell me,” he said, clearly insulted. “I know how to use a computer!” It is especially shocking when students attempt to tap into the library’s catalog system by entering a book search on Amazon or searching the Web site for Accelerated Reader’s BookFinder (an online database that contains every book included in the Accelerated Reader program). They sometimes don’t understand that these are discrete sites and systems. For them, the Internet is one big amorphous information universe. And to most kids, whatever they read on the Internet is “all good.” I’ve been told, quite emphatically, that the Apollo moonwalk never happened, the Holocaust was a hoax and George W. Bush orchestrated 9/11 — all based on text, photos or videos found online. Although students might be able to hack through a school’s videogame blocking devices, they have trouble formulating successful search queries and making sense of what they find. This needs to be taught — again and again and again, in different grades and in different ways. Librarians can show students how to judge a Web site and how to avoid landing on bogus ones. We can also train them to come up with the kind of precision search terms that could save them hours of sorting through a heap of useless hits. To research global warming, for example, I’d suggest an academic database such as ProQuest’s eLibrary or SIRS Researcher, which have age-appropriate content. Or I’d steer students to reliable Internet sources from library subscription sites such as Britannica Online, which are vetted by experts. I could also teach them to use Google’s advanced features. Instead of laying off librarians, we should be studying how children think about information and technology. We need professionals to advocate for teaching information literacy from an early age. We need librarians to love books — to inspire kids to turn off the screen sometimes and get caught up in a story — but we also need them to train students to manipulate search engines and databases, to think about them in a fresh way. Instead of closing library doors, we need to give librarians the time to teach what they know: basic research survival skills that are as important as reading, writing and math. If we don’t teach our kids to take charge of information, they will get swept aside by it.
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United States education system needs to compete H
ats off to all of you future teachers in America — I do not envy your plight. From stifling budget cuts to constant educational reform to children who do not value their education, teaching America’s youth can be a daunting, uncelebrated and arduous task. In recent years, the educational system of America has come under fire for poor performances on international tests, curriculums that neglect a global perspective and funding that is often mismanaged, leaving little leeway for instructors to be innovative in the classroom. Thus far, proposed solutions, such as the infamous “No Child Left Behind” program, have fallen vastly short of resolving America’s growing problems plaguing education today.Hot off the press from the White House is President Barack Obama’s newest agenda for educational reform. According to an article by Mark Koba, senior editor for CNBC, the president’s new plan details the following changes to be made to the current system: higher merit-based pay for teachers, $650 million for new technology, more funding for charter schools, tax credits for college expenses, better teacher recruitment, etc. While I concur with the idea that the proposal appears to be a positive step in the right direction, the outlined plan will not fully resolve the gamut of problems that face the education system today. After all, we not only need to improve the system that we currently employ but need to establish a vehicle of keeping both the faculty and stu-
The best submissions will receive a written response from President Steger and other administrators.
nations, but more educational options would also eliminate much of the need for government regulation. History tells us that when the government becomes overly involved in public education, children often are the ones to suffer. Teachers become limited by the goals of the government-mandated curriculum and lack the innovation, creativity and passion that are the staples of the truly gifted teachers. Not only do we need better teacher recruiting and pay, but we also need a fundamental method of maintaining accountability over an extended period of time. Often times, schools perform above average at the onset of their establishment but lose the urge to progress later on. If other avenues of education were available to children in the same district, the motivating force to improve school infrastructure — staying current with technology, offering a variety of artistic and athletic pursuits, hiring the best teachers — would come from the drive to stay in business rather than from government regulation. Let’s reign in the government power over education and instead look to the guiding principles of the free market for inspiration.
BROOK LEONARD -regular columnist -sophomore -economics major
In defense of ‘Crazy Girl on Train’: Practice compassion On
send an e-mail to opinionseditor@ collegiatetimes.com by April 1 with your idea on the biggest issue on campus.
dents accountable for performing at a level that will be competitive with those students in Europe and other parts of the world. Like many of the issues facing those at the forefront of healthcare reform, much of what stands in the way of the ideal educational system could be resolved by making the system competitive through offering multiple affordable options for education rather than the garden variety private versus public schooling. In a 2006 article by John Stossel from the ongoing series, “Stupid in America,” children from a New Jersey school for advanced students were compared with those at a school in Belgium by taking a standardized, international test; not surprisingly, the New Jersey kids were grossly outperformed by the Belgians. What separates our two modes of education? Competition. According to Belgian school Principal Kaat Vandensavel, public schooling in Belgium operates on the principle that, “Government funds education — at many different kinds of schools — but if a school can’t attract students, it goes out of business.” Why couldn’t we adopt a similar system here? What’s stopping America from jumping on the European bandwagon and creating a more laissezfaire style market of schools that either meet the standards of public demand or close down? In my mind, not only would the youth of America become more competitive with the students of other
our way home from spring break, my roommates and I passed through Atlanta. I had slept during our initial trek through the city, so when we began to see the exit signs, I gave the view from the passenger window my full attention. One of the first things I saw was the metallic glow of the parked MARTA trains — which instantly reminded me of my favorite YouTube clip of all time, “Crazy Girl on Train.” The video was taken by a MARTA patron and features a young woman, “Crazy Girl,” cussing out an older female passenger. “Crazy Girl” is at times just inches away from the elderly woman’s face screaming incomprehensible rap lyrics, waving her fists, and dancing aggressively. The older woman must have said something that offended “crazy girl,” but it’s tough to imagine whatever she had told her could possibly have warranted such an outrageous response. The original clip has been viewed more than 2.5 million times, and a YouTube search of the title will yield dozens of parodies, complete with reaction videos and remixed musical versions of her wild chanting. “Crazy Girl” was charged with assault and disorderly conduct and subsequently arrested and jailed. Local news later revealed her identity as Nafiza Ziyad, a 25-year-old mother suffering from bipolar disorder. I asked my cousin, who works at a mental health facility in Chicago, to watch the video and describe signals of her condition within the clip.
She explained that mood swings, active delusions, grandiose behavior and rapid speech are all indicators of the manic stage of bipolar disorder. Bipolar individuals also exhibit “loose association” or “slight of ideas” that allow for them to bind nonrelated items — such as when Ziyad references the rapper Young Jeezy and President George W. Bush in the same sentence. Ziyad’s outburst is worth watching, and it’s garnered an online cult following, but that same following only knows her as “Crazy Girl on Train.” In 2005, when comedian Dave Chappelle left his popular television show mid-season and took a private vacation to Africa, he was immediately labeled “crazy” and was accused of using drugs. Months later, in an interview on “Inside the Actor’s Studio” Chappelle responded, “the worst thing to call someone is crazy, it’s dismissive.” “Crazy” is a label used extremely loosely in our society and serves to distance people from ideas and others they lack a curiosity to investigate. We use the word to point out absurdities, but its utterance also reflects our own incapacities to understand. At one point in the clip, Ziyad becomes particularly enraged and screams, “ain’t got no right!” — I will never forget her impassioned intonation. While her anger in this instance is misdirected, when viewing the video it’s hard not to believe that it comes from a genuine place.
In a radio interview following Ziyad’s incarceration, her boyfriend attempted to defend her character: “That girl’s got a good heart. The city don’t help her, man. They just kick her back out on the streets. The city don’t help folks like that. Once you get in that stage you can’t help yourself. It messes with your mind, man. Once your mind’s gone it’s a wrap.” Knowing Zayid as “Crazy Girl on Train” is convenient for us. When we laugh and flatter her with mimicry we superficially absolve ourselves of the pressure to understand her. It’s not too outlandish to infer that Nafiza has witnessed injustice in her lifetime, and a “crazy” chanting of “ain’t got no right!” might just perfectly articulate her circumsta nce. The adage that when you point a finger, three point back at you has survived into the 21st century because it’s true — our capacity to deem things “crazy” reveals as much about ourselves as it does the recipient. If we have a choice to engage in understanding one another, let us make the choice with compassion — especially if those we deem “crazy” are without an advocate.
CHRISTOPHER COX -regular columnist -communication major
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features 5
editor: topher forhecz featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865
march 24, 2010
COLLEGIATETIMES
Gorillaz ride new wave on its Main Street restaurant to pair wine, tapas “ latest release, ‘Plastic Beach’ LIZ NORMENT features reporter
“P
lastic Beach,” the third studio album from animated quartet Gorillaz, first began as a project called “Carousel” in 2007. Originally meant to be a piece of work presented but not performed by Gorillaz, the album debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 within the first week of its release in early March. It also revealed a new sound for the group. “Plastic Beach” combines lively music genres such as “Krautrock,” funk, and dubstep with more somber, melodic pieces. The numerous featured artists fit in seamlessly, compiling the album into a diverse and eclectic sound. Although “Plastic Beach” has less alternative hip-hop and trippy flows in past albums — 2001’s “Gorillaz” and 2005’s “Demon Days” — it still earns its own merit because of the featured artists and skillfully produced sound. After a brief, swelling “Orchestral Intro” featuring sinfonia ViVA, Snoop Dogg introduces the album with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble in “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach.” Electronic, tense beats coincide with Snoop’s relaxed freestyles: “It’s like wonderland / Now fascinate me, picture and animate me / ’Cause I’m rollin’, deep holin’, click clacking, crack-a-lacking, full packing, mo’ stacking / Acting a fool when I teach/ Welcome to the world of the Plastic Beach.” The dissonant “White Flag” follows and features Bashy, Kano and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. Notice that the album’s 16 tracks possess four with the Gorillaz solely as the artists: the wonderfully catchy “Rhinestone Eyes,” the chilled out but slightly glum “On Melancholy Hill,” “Broken” and “Pirate Jet,” the spacey, soothing track that also serves as the finale. I can almost promise that the infectious first single “Stylo,” featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack (which is his first recording in 15 years, by the way), will have you walking around humming, “Love electricity / Shockwave central” over and over in your head for days. Even fictional band member Murdoc describes it as “crack funk.” A collaboration with artists Gruff Rhys and the usual De La Soul, “Superfast Jellyfish” glides consistently, using neat samples from a 1986
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Gorillaz
Bassnectar — Cozza Frenzy Sampling whatever, featuring whomever, remixing whatever, Bassnectar’s album will make you drive down to the nearest car audio joint and have you fork over at least one grand for new speakers. Cozza Frenzy will destroy the speakers that came in your car. Don’t even try it on iPod headphones.
KiD CuDi — Man on the Moon The newest album features everyone also. MGMT, Ratatat, Kanye West and Common all show up to help out on his newest record. Catchy tunes everywhere, introspective lyrics, and general excellence highlight this album.
Minty Fresh Beats — Jaydiohead It’s a mash-up of Jay-Z and Radiohead. Enough said. Only minor parts of the collection are altered in any way, where Radiohead’s music supports Jay-Z’s classic rhymes. It’s something fresh to enjoy, much like the new Gorillaz record.
commercial for Swanson’s TV dinners. “Empire Ants” and the nicely understated “To Binge” features Little Dragon, an electronic band from Sweden. Less funky and eccentric, both have oceanic feel, prickly synths and delicate female vocals from Yukimi Nagano. A personal favorite, “Glitter Freeze” features Mark E. Smith of the Fall and seems purposefully placed as the electro-chaotic-techno-mess in the middle of the delicious “Plastic Beach” sandwich. “Some Kind of Nature” follows, with rock god Lou Reed. Depending on whom you ask, this may be the saddest moment in the album. While Lou may have played a key role in the shaping of rock, that was back in the ’60s. Today, his voice is noticeably deadpan and seems to struggle with even holding a note over the elaborate synth textures of the song. Next, Mos Def carries the quirky “Sweepstakes” with his laid-back style, the rapper reportedly recorded the entire track in one take. The Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simonon feature on “Plastic Beach,” a track with dense synthesizers and trickedout vocals. “Cloud of Unknowing,” with Bobby Womack and sinfonia ViVA, thankfully does not close the album.
Album: Plastic Beach Bottom Line: While making entries familiar to the hiphop-electronic-funk fusions of sound that first spawned its fans, Gorillaz's “Plastic Beach” is still a divergence from their old material because of its pop feel.
Though Womack movingly croons: “Waiting to see what the morning brings / May bring sunshine on its wings,” and a swelling orchestra skims under him gracefully, the track does nothing for “Plastic Beach” and further deviates from the funky, synthy sound that Gorillaz fans worship. All in all, “Plastic Beach” shifts gears from track to track, creating an overall groovy, musically gifted and wonderfully produced sound. Although fans may be disappointed with the calmer, more soulful tracks — and though it possesses no breakout tracks similar to the groundbreaking “Clint Eastwood” or “Feel Good Inc.,” — “Plastic Beach” has its own story, flow and production. While making entries familiar to the hip-hop-electronic-funk fusions of sound that first spawned its fans, Gorillaz’s “Plastic Beach” is still a divergence from their old material because of its pop feel.
ROSALIE WIND -WOOVE contributor -junior -English major
Studying abroad in Spain in summer 2009, junior marketing major Erin Connor experienced minor culture shock — not so much from the nude beaches or the apparent resurrection of the mullet, but more from the odd meal times. “Meals are so different in Spain than what we’re used to. A normal dinner would be around 10 p.m., or later,” Connor said. This delay, however, allowed Connor to adopt a very Spanish tradition: “ir de tapas,” or “going for tapas.” This Spanish version of happy hour features individuals heading to their favorite local spot for tapas, small delicacies that vary in ingredients and are served more like appetizers to be shared among a few people. The tradition has evolved to be much less about satisfying hunger, and more about sharing wine and stories with some amigos, Connor said. “It was kind of a social thing for us,” she said. “We’d get a bottle of wine and just hang out for a couple hours.” This same concept of having an establishment that focuses on a tradition such as ir de tapas is one that was recently proposed to Lefty’s Bar and Grill just a few months ago by Virginia Tech professor John Boyer. “We got to talking, and John brought up the idea of a wine bar,
“No other place in town will have a bar like this. We’ll have 14 taps, each with different beers that you don’t find often. SAM CATRON GENERAL MANAGER
saying he’s been trying to open one in town for years,” Sam Catron said, the restaurant’s general manager. “We really liked the idea. ... Even though John decided he didn’t have the time needed to invest in it, we decided to still do it on our own with his recommendations.” The idea has evolved, with many hours of arduous planning and strenuous renovations, into what will be 622 North, a restaurant and wine bar with a tapas menu. The name of the restaurant, taken directly from its address, will be at the former location of Bogen’s Steakhouse. Aside from wine and food, the restaurant will also offer an extensive list of beers on tap. “No other place in town will have a bar like this,” Catron said. “We’ll have 14 taps, each with different beers that you don’t find often.” This, in addition to large outdoor seating areas, live music and a simple decor highlighted by the work of local artists, will come to define 622 North. However, the main focus is on
the wine bar and the food pairings that will accompany each vintage. Executive chef George Kruse explains that the tapas-heavy menu he has created will have more than just the Spanish influences usually associated with the term. “It’s more of a small-plates menu, featuring an international bistro type fare that draws inspiration from lots of different types of cuisines,” Kruse said. “My experience is in all types of cuisine, so the food will have as much European influence as Asian, African, South American as well as American.” Trent Crabtree, the sommelier and wine bar manager for 622 North, has worked intently with Kruse to create dishes that compliment the chosen wines. He has also worked to build a wine list that will highlight Kruse’s creations. “We’ll have 20 to 30 tasting wines, which will all compliment the small plates menu,” Crabtree said. “The rest of the wine list will be built off of those.” 622 North is set to open toward the end of April. While work has been progressing on the restaurant, downtown has begun to buzz in anticipation for Blacksburg’s first wine and tapas bar. “It’s amazing — we’ve already received tremendous hype,” Crabtree said. “Honestly, we can’t wait to exceed everyone’s expectations.”
6Hokiessports shift focus to Rams, round three of NIT Wednesday editor: alex jackson sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
march 24, 2010
MICHAEL MCDERMOTT/SPPS
Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg looks on with his team during the second half of the Hokies’ 65-63 win over the University of Connecticut in the second round of NIT play Monday at Cassell Coliseum.
BASKETBALL TEAM MUST BEAT RHODE ISLAND TO ......radio for everyone GET TO SEMIFINALS, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN MICHAEL BEALEY sports staff writer Following its down-to-the-wire victory over the University of Connecticut in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament Monday, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team will host Rhode Island for its quarterfinals matchup on Wednesday. At stake for the Hokies is a trip to Madison Square Garden and an opportunity to capture their first NIT title since 1995. “We’re very excited,” said junior guard Malcolm Delaney. “We’re just trying to prolong our season for as long as we can. We’re just trying to play ball. We’ve got to be in school anyway, so we might as well come out here and play ball. We’re trying to get to the Garden. Right now, we’re playing really good team basketball, and we’re just trying to get wins.” Head coach Seth Greenberg agreed, citing the team’s focus and moving forward after not receiving an NCAA Tournament bid. “Because they are who they are, that’s why they’ve embraced this opportunity
and that’s why we’re 40 minutes away from New York,” Greenberg said. “But we’ve got to play a very, very good Rhode Island team.” The Rams were unable to secure an at-large NCAA Tournament berth after losing to Temple in the semifinals of the Atlantic-10 Tournament, despite earning 23 overall wins on the season, including victories against Providence, Boston College and Oklahoma State. The depth of its conference likely kept the Rams out of the tournament, as the Atlanticv10 boasted three NCAA Tournament teams this year including No. 7 seed Richmond, No. 6 seed Xavier and No. 5 seed Temple. Rhode Island features an experienced trio of scorers to head its offensive attack. Senior guard Keith Cothran averages a team-high 14.3 points per game and scored 16 points in the Rams’ second round NIT victory over Nevada. Junior forward Delroy James provides an inside presence for the Rams and contributed a career-high 34 points against Nevada. The Brooklyn native limited Luke Babbit, WAC player of the year and the eighth leading-scorer
in the country, to 14 points on two of 14 shooting in that game. Rounding out the Rhode Island attack is senior forward Lamonte Ulmer, who averages 11.9 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 7.4 boards per contest. After their victory over the University of Connecticut, the Hokies appear ready defensively to compete with Rhode Island. Tech held two of UConn’s top three scorers under its season average and kept Huskies’ big man Stanley Robinson in check with only nine points. Delaney is encouraged by the team’s defensive effort this season and attributes it to its maturity. “We’re a better team, and we’re more mature,” Delaney said. “Last year we would’ve scored that bucket and then gave up a bucket (against UConn). It’s more a defensive thing this year. We always could score and we always could hit shots in the clutch. But it was the defensive in the clutch that really lost us the games (last year). This year we’ve been getting that stop when it came down to another team with the last possession, in the last minute or 30 seconds. We always get that stop.” However, Tech will need a more rounded effort offensively to ensure a trip to New York.
Junior guard Dorenzo Hudson and junior forward JT Thompson were the only Hokies who scored in double figures against UConn, while the team’s leading scorer, Delaney, tallied just six points despite playing 40 minutes for Tech. “I’m very comfortable trying to take over the team, trying to be a leader on the team,” Hudson said. “It’s no pressure. I’m a ball player, and I feel like I can make shots when it’s time for me to make shots.” Delaney, Tech’s leading scorer at 20.1 points per game, was held to his third lowest scoring output of the season with six points on two of 14 shooting. However, he became more of a facilitator for the Hokies’ offense by dishing out a season-high tying nine assists. Nevertheless, the Hokies will look forward to their game against Rhode Island, and coach Seth Greenberg believes the team has moved on from the sting of the NCAA Tournament snub. “You know what? I haven’t even concerned myself with the NCAA tournament,” Greenberg said. “The sting? I don’t know. We just want to play games. We’re still playing. There are a lot of cats that aren’t playing. We’re still playing. We’re going to practice tomorrow. You refocus. You have new goals.”