Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Print Edition

An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

www.collegiatetimes.com

COLLEGIATETIMES 107th year, issue 51

News, page 2

College of Engineering improves grad ranking

Features, page 3

Opinions, page 5

Sports, page 6

Classifieds, page 4

Sudoku, page 4

April 16 archive headed for Web

CLAIRE SANDERSON news staff writer Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering is now ranked among the top 25 graduate engineering schools in U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Graduate Schools 2011 survey.

Tech tied for 25th place with Johns Hopkins University and Ohio State University. It has moved up two spots from last year’s survey, where it placed 27th.

“We have been successful at getting larger grants, and we’ve also been moving up in biomedical grants. That has helped attribute to our rise in the rankings,” said Lynn Nystrom, spokeswoman for the College of Engineering. Nystrom serves as a faculty adviser for the Collegiate Times.

Among the recent grants that the college has received are a $7.5 million contract with the Naval Surface Warfare Center and a $7.5 million grant for research in industrial and systems engineering, according to Nystrom.

“One thing we will continue to foster is the interdisciplinary research,” Nystrom said. “These are the kinds of things that continue to help improve research and technology in general.”

Goldman shrugs off fraud charges as profits soar NATHANIEL POPPER mcclatchy newspapers NEW YORK — Bolstered by unexpectedly strong earnings, executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. took in stride the government’s fraud lawsuit against the firm as they downplayed the importance of allegations the company misled investors about some of the complex securities at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis.

In their first extended comments about the lawsuit, executives told industry analysts and investors in a conference call Tuesday that the company did nothing wrong in the case outlined Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We would never intentionally mislead anyone, certainly not our clients,” said Greg Palm, Goldman’s chief legal counsel. “When you go to the core of the SEC complaint, it clearly revolves around a he-said-she-said a little bit.”

David Viniar, the firm’s chief financial officer, said matter-of-factly: “As long as we continue to perform for our clients, they will be happy with us. And if we stop performing for them, they won’t.”

After the call, a wide range of banking analysts gave Goldman’s presentation a positive reading, recommending that clients buy the stock.

“I found it very reassuring that they took it in stride, that they seemed so calm,” said Michael Wong, an analyst with research firm Morningstar Inc. “It seems like Goldman has mounted a pretty decent defense to the allegation.”

For the first quarter, Goldman’s profit soared more than 90 percent to $3.5 billion, or $5.59 a share, compared with $1.8 billion, or $3.39 a share, for the first three months last year. Wall Street analysts on average had expected net income of $4.14 a share, according to a survey by Bloomberg.

Quarterly revenue increased 36 percent to $12.8 billion.

As with other big banks this year, most of the revenue came from the trading of fixed-income instruments such as bonds, currencies and commodities. That trading accounted for 57 percent of the firm’s entire revenue, and was boosted by the volatility in the markets and low government interest rates.

“You can see from our results last quarter that our clients still support us,” Viniar said.

The New York investment banking house emerged from the financial crisis stronger than almost any other firm. But even before the SEC lawsuit was filed, the company was buffeted by public criticism over its huge bonuses and its marketing of complex financial instruments in the years before the credit crunch.

In response to public anger, executives decided at the end of last year to reduce the pool of money it set aside for compensation, leaving it with $16.2 billion, or an average of $498,000 for each employee.

But for the first three months this year, the compensation pool jumped up again, to $5.5 billion, which amounts to 43 percent of the company’s total revenues. If that figure holds over the entire year, it would be enough to pay each of employees $665,000.

Goldman’s stock has been hit heavily since the SEC filed its lawsuit, dropping more than 10 persee GOLDMAN / page two

LUKE MASON/SPPS

One article of the archive pays tribute to Nikki Giovanni’s convocation speech. The archive is currently stored in Newman Library’s special collections section.

ELECTRONIC ARCHIVE IN THE WORKS FOR MEMENTOS, OTHER ITEMS ACCUMULATED FOLLOWING APRIL 16 LIANA BAYNE news reporter Three years after the April 16, 2007, shootings shattered the lives of many connected to the Virginia Tech community, university archivists are still trying to put the pieces back together.

Tamara Kennelly, an archivist who works for the special collections division of the Newman Library, is in charge of organizing the physical archive from April 16.

Shelves of stacked boxes containing more than 90,000 items that came to the Tech community from every state, and more than 40 countries line the walls of a designated room in the basement of the library.

Kennelly has spent the past three years working to organize and categorize artifacts that range from bracelets and teddy bears to massive pieces of plywood signed by members of the Tech community in the days after the shootings.

Some notable items include an American flag flown by a U.S. Army division in Kabul, Afghanistan, detailed portraits of the 32 victims drawn by an incarcerated person, 32 hollowed-out painted egg shells decorated to reflect the victims sent from a craftsperson in North Carolina and a giant horse head carved of solid pine that came from New River Valley Community College where the mascot is the horse.

“We’re very close to being finished,” Kennelly said of organizing all of the items.

She said she hoped by the end of April, all

of the artifacts would be properly organized and displayed.

The process of sorting through and documenting every item has not been an easy one. It began immediately after the shootings, when gifts poured in to Squires Student Center and other accessible buildings on campus.

“Squires was unbelievable,” Kennelly said. “We’ve had unbelievable things.”

Kennelly said at first many smaller items such as wristbands, bracelets, ornaments and stuffed animals, along with food and baked goods, were given away to students in Squires.

“It made more sense to give those away,” she said.

Origami cranes, 33,000 of them, also made their way to Blacksburg. Those were put in Plexiglas boxes, Kennelly said, and given away to students and community members in Squires.

Despite many tokens of remembrance being given away, special collections was sure to retain some of the mementos.

“We tried to keep a representative section,” Kennelly said. “We don’t have space in the library to keep it all.”

That “representative section” is what is now catalogued in special collections.

Other items that were immediately disposed of included multiples of items, and items left on the Drillfield or outside that got damaged by rain, including perishable items like flowers.

Archivists from the Library of Congress, who had previously worked with collections made after the Sept. 11, 2001, destruction of the World Trade Center in

New York City, also assisted Kennelly and others from special collections in summer 2007 in the process of archiving and organizing the artifacts.

Until special collections could be reconfigured to make space for the artifacts, they were stored in a warehouse in the Corporate Research Center, where they were photographed. Kennelly hopes to launch the electronic version of the archive soon, where photographs of the items can be seen online.

Kennelly said the archive would remain in special collections indefinitely.

“This is important to us to document our history as a university. Forty years from now, perhaps there will be a research interest,” she said. “We’re in it for the long run.”

Kennelly noted her commitment to keep the archives organized and updated, not just for future students of history but also for today’s students, faculty and community members who were affected by the shootings.

“The more I work with it, the more meaning I find in it,” she said.

Kennelly said she has already hosted class groups interested in viewing the archives for sociological purposes.

“One of the interests is in a material culture, how do we mourn as a world, and what are the artifacts like?” she said.

She has also worked with the office of recovery and support to coordinate public displays of the materials and accommodate families of victims.

“It’s especially important to families, so anything that mentions an individual victim we make sure to keep,” Kennelly said.

“We put in invitations out to the Office of Recovery and Support if there were fam-

ily members who wanted to come that we could try to pull out more about that person.”

Debbie Day, director of the Office of Recovery and Support, said she informs families of the location of the archive if asked.

“They are aware the items exist,” Day said. “When families call and ask we would talk with them about that.”

Day said her office prepared “boxes of mementos” for each of the families in 2007.

“They each have access to the items set aside for them in honor of their loved one,” she said. “Most of (the boxes) were given to the families, but we still hold them in storage for some families that aren’t ready.”

Day said although to her knowledge no families of victims had visited the archive in special collections, “when the electronic archive is complete, we will make that available,” she said.

All of the public displays of artifacts on April 16, notably the “Woven Together” display of quilts and textiles that was showcased in the Perspective Gallery of Squires Student Center, were selected jointly by Kennelly and representatives from the office of recovery and support.

“We try to display items that are representative,” Day said. “Things that are beautiful and touching, nice to look at and nice to remember.”

Kennelly said special collections would maintain the archive indefinitely and would always have it open to members of the public who wished to view it.

“We would love for people to come visit,” she said. “It’s part of our history and culture.”

Flights resume in Europe, but new ash cloud looms HENRY CHU mcclatchy newspapers LONDON — Air travel in Europe took a few halting steps toward recovery Tuesday, even as a new cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland began drifting east, threatening further flight delays.

Passenger jets took off to cheers in cities across Northern Europe, where stranded travelers had waited for days to get home. The continent-wide aviation agency Eurocontrol said it expected 13,000 flights through European airspace Tuesday, which would be the most since Friday. The usual daily traffic load is about 28,000 flights.

But the resumption of service was piecemeal as travel restrictions over various parts of the continent stretched into their sixth day. In Britain, some departed from Scotland and Northern England, but in the south, London’s Heathrow airport, one of the world’s busiest hubs, remained closed for most of the day.

Authorities allowed it to reopen late Tuesday.

Meteorologists said more ash and grit from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano was heading toward the European mainland, raising the possibility of extended or renewed flight bans.

In Germany, Lufthansa Airlines ran intercontinental flights out of various airports, many of them bound for the United States.

The carrier said it planned to do so again Wednesday and would fly some domestic and European routes.

Air France said it was able to resume 95 percent of its long-haul flights and 25 percent of its medium-haul routes Tuesday. Long-haul service should be fully restored Wednesday, as

well as nearly all medium-haul flights and half of its domestic ones, the airline reported.

Planes also landed and took off Tuesday from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, another busy European hub.

“There has been a progressive opening of routes and of airspaces,” said Brian Flynn, deputy head of operations at Eurocontrol.

The agency said all European airspace above 20,000 feet is open, allowing jets to fly over countries that still maintain restrictions on takeoffs and landings. About 75 percent of the continent has no airspace restrictions.

The shutdown of Heathrow for most of Tuesday, however, meant that thousands of luckless travelers remained earthbound.

Aviation officials lifted the embargo on Heathrow and all other British airports late Tuesday, saying test flights and further analysis by plane manufacturers indicated that regular flights could resume.

Clearing the backlog is likely to take days.

“We’ve now got to start the difficult task ... of getting our stranded customers back home,” said British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh, who had been increasingly critical of the continued closure of most of British airspace. “This has been a difficult period for everybody.”

The British government had said Spain, relatively untouched by the travel crisis, had offered to make Madrid a hub for Britons unable to fly home directly. From the Spanish capital, buses were to deliver passengers to ports from which they could catch ferries to Britain.

A British warship picked up troops returning from Afghanistan and about 200 civilians

from the Spanish seaside city of Santander.

Two other navy ships were also to transport stranded travelers in the next few days.

The gradual easing of the lockdown of European airspace came amid heavy pressure by airlines to get their idled fleets back in the air. Aviation authorities said safety remains of paramount concern, but growing gaps in the ash cloud allowed for a rollback of some of the flight restrictions.

Eyjafjallajokull continues to erupt, belching dust and glass particles that could cause jet engines to seize up. More grit has been creeping south and east, and air traffic regulators say restrictions on airspace could be revived.

Meteorologists say, however, the most recent plumes of ash are not reaching such high altitudes as before and winds strong enough to disperse the ash could pick up in a few days.

2 news april 21, 2010

[

blacksburg headlines

]

new river valley news editor: zach crizer university editor: philipp kotlaba newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

Finding a new market

Tech student wins scholarship for excellence in biology Sophomore honors student Brittany Gianetti has been awarded the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for her excellence in biology and biochemistry.

Gianetti is one of only 278 students nationally to receive the Goldwater scholarship this year, which offers $7,500 toward tuition.

According to a university press release, Gianetti has been involved with research under associate professor of microbiology Steven Melville, focusing on studying a form of bacterium that can cause gangrene.

She maintains a 4.0 GPA and is highly ranked in the College of Science.

In the future, she has plans to study biochemistry and infectious diseases in graduate school.

The Goldwater scholarship is the preeminent scholarship for students in the fields of math, science, and engineering.

from page one

by claire sanderson

CORRECTIONS JUSTIN GRAVES -Contact our public editor at publiceditor@ collegiatetimes.com if you see anything that needs to be corrected.

Goldman: SEC alleges firm misled customers

Two students work with Virginia Tech Sustainability coordinator Rachael Budowle at Tuesday’s farmers market at the GLC Plaza. The event was organized by the Blacksburg farmers market, which is usually held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, photo by luke mason, spps

to $159.98.

And earlier Tuesday, the British Financial Services Authority said it would begin a formal investigation of Goldman’s activities there.

British Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, saying the allegations against Goldman were “extraordinarily serious,” recommended that the company be suspended from its role as a government advisor until “these allegations are properly looked into,” according to British news reports.

The SEC accused Goldman of creating a collateralized debt obligation that was designed to fail and that ultimately led to $1 billion in losses for its customers.

The new class of securities was formed at the request of a major hedge fund client, John Paulson, who wanted to bet against the security, the complaint alleged. The SEC said that Goldman misled investors who bought the securities, known as ABACUS 2007-AC1, by not explaining Paulson’s role in its creation.

Goldman executives said the SEC had collected material from Goldman Sachs in the months before it brought the case, but Palm said the firm had no warning about the lawsuit.

“We were somewhat surprised on Friday morning that this was a filed case. No one had told us about it in advance,” Palm said.

The company has mounted an ever-broadening defense of itself since then. It has emphasized that the investors that bought ABACUS were sophisticated enough to judge the quality of it. Palm also noted that Goldman bought some of the securities itself, and lost $100 million — a figure that has been revised upward since Friday.

“We obviously thought there was nothing wrong with this portfolio, otherwise we wouldn’t have done that,” Palm said.

Douglas Sipkin, a bank analyst at Ticonderoga Securities, said potential clients are unlikely to be scared off by the charges primarily because of how many other banks were doing similar things before the credit crunch.

“I don’t think, when institutional investors look at this, that they will think Goldman was doing anything materially different than what other institutions were doing,” Sipkin said.

As for possible fines or penalties, analyst Wong said, “No matter how big the fine, Goldman Sachs can likely absorb it.”

features 3

editor: topher forhecz featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865

april 21, 2010

COLLEGIATETIMES

Poplar Manor Enterprises turns quesadillas into compost RYAN ARNOLD features reporter Calin Farley and Matt Stanley sifted through a generous buffet from Owens Food Court: burritos from La Cantina, spaghetti from Lotsa Pasta and mixed greens from the salad bar.

But the two men handled the items wearing blue latex gloves, for it was hardly a meal they’d consume.

The medley of foods — most several days old and pungent — were mashed together in 48-gallon green collection carts, each instructing in large white letters “Compostables Only.” Farley and Stanley, employees of Poplar Manor Enterprises Compost, tilted the carts with the help of mechanical levers into a 25-yard-long, rear-packing truck.

“We got plenty of carts here,” Farley said. “We’ve got 41. It usually takes us, I don’t know, 30 minutes to an hour to dump them all.”

PME Compost toted the Virginia Tech student, faculty and staff leftovers to a farm in Floyd County where the will ultimately be recycled into compost.

Compost is a black soil that results from the decomposition of organic materials. Farley’s wife, Mindy, complements Calin and Stanley as the third, and final, PME Compost employee.

She easily described what falls under the compostable umbrella.

“I like to say, ‘If it grows, it goes,’” she said. “So if it was once a living organism — a plant or an animal — it definitely goes.”

After graduating from Tech in 2005, Calin didn’t use his history degree to find employment.

“If you didn’t want to move away from this area, it was tough to find a good, paying job,” he said. “But I knew we had a farm — we had 140 acres — I knew we could do something with it.”

Calin said he and his father brainstormed how to best use the family farm, which had previously only hosted beef cattle.

“We were looking for a new business that would be a niche market for the future,” Calin said, “and we were also looking for something that would help our community.”

Juggling about five ideas, Calin said he pinpointed an activity that had little commercial presence in the state.

“Everybody was doing plastic recycling,” he said. “No one was doing organic recycling.”

Calin said he explored composting businesses for nearly a year. Most of his research was online, though he also heeded insight from Tech professors in the crop and field discipline.

A Radford graduate, Mindy said she helped Calin move beyond manurebased composting experiments, which were drawn from the farm’s cattle. In January 2009, they acquired a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality to compost food waste on seven of the farm’s 140 acres.

Tech, Mindy said, was anxious to welcome PME Compost.

“We got permitted like on a Wednesday,” she said, “Calin got his CDL license to drive a truck on a Thursday, and we had our first pickup at Southgate (Center) at like 5 a.m. on a Friday.”

Rachael Budowle previously served as Solid Waste Community Programs Coordinator for the Town of Blacksburg. She began a dialogue with PME Compost during her tenure there and has continued it at Tech.

“It was serendipitous that they got

BRIAN CLAY/SPPS

Poplar Manor Enterprises employee Matt Stanley collects leftovers from Owens Food court with PME’s personal truck. The company then takes the materials to be broken down at the company’s farm.

BRIAN CLAY/SPPS

Employees at campus dining centers sift through trash for compostables. their permits — they were really only the second facility in the state that is able to accept this kind of waste,” Budowle said. “And to have it just be 35 minutes from us is really helpful.”

Budowle said PME Compost currently services Southgate Center and Owens Dining Center, which includes Hokie Grill, Personal Touch Catering and Owens.

Southgate Center is a predominantly pre-consumer food facility, therefore it produces fragments such as cantaloupe rinds or broccoli stems. Owens combines pre- and post-consumer waste — the excess you set on the assembly-line tray returns.

“With the kind of waste that we produce in a food-service industry,” Budowle said, “composting is really the way to go. I mean — that’s where most of our waste is coming from. It’s organic waste than can be recycled through composting.”

Budowle said training Southgate Center and Owens employees was extensive. She did facility walkthroughs with managers to finalize the placement of composting carts, composting signage and other referential visual cues. Budowle and Mindy led a presentation to regular staff members as well.

“Additionally we did in vivo, live trainings,” Budowle said, “where I would be back there with them with gloves on, sorting and helping them learn on the job exactly what’s compostable and what’s not.”

Budowle said Owens redirects approximately five tons of food and organic waste away from traditional landfills each week. From Southgate Center, PME Compost shuttles another nearly 3 tons per week to its farm — Southgate Center regularly diverts 75 percent of its waste.

Items such as parchment paper and

cardboard are also compostable. “(Southgate Center) gotten the system down so well there that they’re composting paper towels and things like that after they wash their hands,” Budowle said.

Considering the favorable numbers, Budowle said she hopes to escalate the endeavor. “(Composting) coupled with recycling, we’d really like to get to the point where we don’t have much trash left,” she said. “I mean there’s always going to be something, but we’re going to be diverting a significant amount.”

Ideally, Budowle said, Tech’s composting could transcend dining centers into dormitories and other common areas, though it would be difficult to monitor.

“Other universities are examining ways to have composting stations for students to separate their own waste,” she said. “The risk for contamination increases greatly when you open it up to consumers.”

The only obstacle preventing PME Compost from reaching other dining centers, Budowle said, is the necessary equipment. Southgate Center already had a mechanical lift to lower the robust collection carts to ground level from loading docks. Tech installed one at Owens specifically to pilot PME Compost.

Calin said facility employees couldn’t otherwise safely maneuver the carts.

“They’re supposed to weigh about 168 pounds,” he said. “But if they get filled up with, let’s say straight all mashed potatoes, they can weigh up to 400.”

Moments later, while Stanley coasted by him with a cart, Calin awkwardly pivoted one to its loading mark.

“This one, for example, is 400 pounds,” he said.

However, a second PME Compost

BRIAN CLAY/SPPS

In its final form, some of PME’s compost will be used to grow food at local sites such as Kentland Farms. truck is in the works. Calin said it will be fitted to snag carts directly off loading docks.

“As a business, we took a big risk with buying a truck just for Virginia Tech,” he said, “in hopes that, you know, that they would give us the rest of their dining halls and it would pay for itself.”

PME Compost performs all the necessary modifications to its trucks, whether it’s welding for tighter seals in anticipation of leakage or installing a hose system with 120 pounds per square inch of water pressure to rinse the carts.

Once the truck — which can carry approximately 20,000 pounds of food and organic waste — returns to the farm, its innards are emptied and shaped into windrows, which is a triangular mound that extends for a great length. PME Compost’s windrows start out approximately nine feet wide by seven feet tall, and they stretch 250 feet.

“We kind of layer it like a lasagna,” Mindy said. “So you come in and you layer your food waste; we use leaves, and we use wood waste.”

Calin said the farm contains anywhere from one to nine windrows during a given season. The windrows sit for eight to 10 months, occasionally jostled by a bladed “turner,” which churns the elements to expose buried pieces to oxygen.

After just the first month, Mindy said, the windrows break down 50 percent, dropping to heights of four to five feet.

The final product is screened down to a half-inch soil that, when mixed with traditional soil, boasts benefits including improved workability and porosity as well as erosion control.

Budowle said Tech will soon witness the performance of the PME Compost product.

“Through a partnership with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Kentland Farm — Virginia Tech’s farm,” she said, “we have an acre where we’re doing sustainable vegetable production for the upcoming season.”

PME Compost recently connected with Kentland Farm.

“We actually just took some compost over there the other week,” Mindy

said. “It kind of completed the cycle. It’s kind of awesome.”

Different Tech crops including potatoes, tomatoes and peppers will be used in Dietrick Dining Center this summer.

“Just to show people what this region can support agriculturally I think is important,” Budowle said.

The new PME Compost truck, Calin said, will be ready to collect those very scraps it ultimately helped create.

Mindy said she, Calin and Stanley currently work 10 to 14 hour days, six days per week for PME Compost.

Along with Tech, their other customers include both Blacksburg Kroger locations, Christiansburg High School and Due South BBQ. “We need about five more people,” Mindy said with a laugh.

Calin had some help during a recent compost delivery to Fishburn Park Elementary School in Roanoke. He said he asked if they wanted him to diffuse the goods.

“They said, ‘No. Dump it in a big pile. We’re going to have all the little kids with their hands go and spread it,’” he said.

Comic book adaptation ‘Kick-Ass’ survives big-screen jump “Kick-Ass”

Bottom Line: “Kick-Ass” leaves a big mark but not a lasting one.

T

he allure with any assortment of comics today is that they simply let us be who we’re not. From Batman and his nighttime escapades to the arachnid-heavy misfortunes of Peter Parker, each carbon-printed hero is a piece of what the kid in us yearns to be. Yet there is an undeniable magic in reading a comic book that can’t be translated onto a television screen or movie — and that’s the loss of imagination. Where the comic allows for the reader to read between the lines, the movie fills in all the gaps.

Thankfully, with the audacious storyline that “Kick-Ass” delivers, handholding isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Taking its plot cues and a majority of the original story line from the original comic’s writer Mark Miller, the film follows the workings of average schmuck Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) as he finds his “inner-hero.” This of course is spoken loosely, since for the majority of the film he spends his time whining about his despondent life or bleeding

you might also like...

on the floor.

Luckily Lizewski, aka Kick-Ass, isn’t alone in his midnight adventures. His gallivanting attracts the attention of duo Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Mortez), as well as a drug lord (Mark Strong), who is looking to make up on some of the lost product that Big Daddy has been taking some liberties on. The why doesn’t really matter in the overall story — in reality, the plot writes itself as you sit and laugh at the quick-fire jokes, excessive violence and needless gore.

Yet it is how director Matthew Vaughn blended so much of a jagged collection of characters into a realistic Disney-like world of psychopaths that makes the film standout. Johnson does a fantastic job of embodying that everyday kid you find sitting by his lonesome in the lunchroom wailing on his PSP. His ineptitude at being KickAss, the thing that he tried to personify, is something gratifying since we know it shouldn’t justifiably work.

on the web

[

Check out The WOOVE at www.wuvt.vt.edu/woove.

]

Thus, when given glimpses of Strong as cocaine kingpin Frank D’Amico, it’s that much more powerful. Strong, who had become so accustomed playing the villain since “Sherlock Holmes,” fits well into the character — just as easily as the expensive Armani suit he wears throughout the film.

Surprisingly, neither of these two men stole the show as much as big Cage and little Mortez. This pairing was so versatile, crude and violent that nobody

could turn away, let alone stop smiling. Cage, who had been in a serious creative slump since his two-minute disaster “Next,” finally found a movie that reached out and stroked his awkward sense of humor. The loving and Mr. Rodgers-like smiles, coupled with a Bruce Wayne-esque background makes him a perfect melting pot for self-destruction ... or Prozac.

The tone of Mortez is very much unlike that of her crime-fighting counterpart. Mortez considers crime-fighting all one big game and makes it known in a big way. Throwing a knife into a thug’s throat, spinning over a chair to follow it up with a swift kick and an even faster comment, all HitGirl knows is revenge and how to fight.

That’s the beauty of Mortez and what she brings to the character: She makes it effortless. As Hit-Girl, she walks with an air of someone that has been in the game for twice as long and double her height (which has caused serious controversy in the industry on the use of

child actors), while as mild-mannered daughter Mindy, she is sickly-sweet and every bit the child she appears to be.

Vaughn put his neck on the chopping block, borrowing $40 million from here and there, to independently release this film. Hoping to make it back in one weekend alone, he has already been let down with abysmal results, hitting barely $20 million. If anything, it’s a film to watch for it’s melding of characters. Think of it as its own version of a schizophrenic Justice League: They just all have their own visible suits.

WILLIAM CASE -WOOVE contributor -senior -theatre arts/cinema major

Watchmen (2009)

Mystery Men (1999)

Directed by: Written by: Starring:

Directed by: Written by: Starring:

Zach Snyder David Hayter Jackie Earle Haley Matthew Goode

One of the most well-done and best-portrayed comic adaptations to date, this is one you can’t beat. It’s a little long, so if you’re going to sit in, be sure to build yourself in a five-minute intermission midway through.

Kinka Usher Neil Cuthbert William H. Macy Ben Stiller

Based off the comic of the same name, a group of no-name heroes team up to defend the city from a supervillian, since it inadvertently killed the hero.

There is a great cast of characters and sense of direction.

april 21, 2010

page 4

Policies: The Collegiate Times reserves the right to reject or edit any advertisement it deems objectionable, at any time.

No refunds are available.

Place An Ad Today

CLASSIFIEDS WWW.COLLEGIATETIMES.COM 540.961.9860

Visit our business office at 618 N. Main St. 9am–5pm 9am 5pm Monday–Friday Monday Friday,, or place an ad online at collegiatetimes.com.

The advertiser assumes full responsibility for his or her advertisements and agrees to hold the Collegiate Times harmless for the content of all advertisements authorized for publication and any claims that made may be against the Collegiate Times.

Deadline: Three business days prior to publication by 3PM.

Rates:

Any questions concerning ads, please call the Better Business Bureau at 1.800.533.5501.

Rates as low as 32¢ per word, contingent on the number of days to run. Prepaid. 15 word minimum.

Cash, check, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.

We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity. To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at 1.800.669.9777.

FREE CLASSIFIEDS FOR VT STUDENTS! students must come to 618 N Main ST to place the ad Sub-Lease Travel Rides Campus

Childcare Tickets for Sale Tickets Wanted Volunteers

Legal LEGAL TROUBLES Free Consultation with attorney.

Assault, Traffic, Alcohol and Drug Charges, VT Student Conduct Review. Joel S. Jackson, PC. 9615297, joeljacksonpc.com.

EXPUNGEMENT OF CRIMINAL CHARGE Have you had an alcohol charge dismissed because of compliance with VASAP? Your record may still show a criminal charge. Contact Attorney Joel Jackson for free consultation.

Joel S. Jackson PC. 540-961-5297. joeljacksonpc.com

Help Wanted HOOPTIE RIDE The Hoopite Ride is currently hiring drivers with good driving records. Must be at least 23 years old.

Earn $ while having fun! Call Ken @ 540998-5093 hooptieride@verizon.net

OCEAN CITY, MD and Virginia Beach Live and Work at the Beach this SUMMER!!! *Earn up to $10,000 *GreatShape, Great Tan *HousingAssistanceAvailable www.ocbeachphotos.com

Textbooks for Sale Textbooks Wanted Lost & Found Help Wanted

SUMMER PHOTO ASSTS & TYPISTS Photo Assistants: Work MondayThursday during orientation (July 6-23) in the mornings until about noon helping new freshmen get their yearbook photos taken in Squires.

Must be friendly and punctual for a morning shift. Must be able to be on your feet and active for 3+ hours.

Fridays off! This is a paid hourly position and eligible for work study (optional). Every assistant also gets a free t-shirt.

Typist/ Data Entry: Must pass a typing test and be able to type minimum 75 wpm accurately. Work July 6 - 24, flexible hours, entering photo data. Typists may also be Photo Assistants.

To apply for one or both positions, fill out an online application at collegemedia.com/ join

SUMMER NANNY NEEDED Childcare and home assistant in Blacksburg. Lots of swimming pool and lake time, 2 kids, some cleaning, must love dogs and cats.

Live-in option. References required.

Call Steve at 230-8581 or steve@ peacework.org.

For Sale Events Health & Fitness Automotive

Notices Wanted Musical Roommates

Greek Notes For Rent Personals Furniture for Sale

Notices

For Rent

*****BARTENDING***** MAKE UP TO $300/ DAY. No Experience Necessary.

Training Available.

1-800-965-6520 EXT210

FOR RENT UNIVERSITY TERRACE

Events

4 Bdr. 2 bath condo. 1yr. lease available Aug.1st. 20010. 280.00/mo. per student.

Call 540-230-2964. leave message.

PARALEGAL SUMMER INTENSIVE at Duke. Begins 5/24. Free info session 5/6. learnmore.duke.edu/ paralegal.

919.684.3379

Travel GETTING COLD TIME to Plan your Spring Break 2010 Get Away! Learn how to travel to beautiful locations like Jamaica, Acapulco and the Bahamas on a party cruise. Find out what other Virginia Tech Hokies are headed to your destination.

-Adrian Email: Awhite@Studentcity.com for more information

For Sale 6+ ACRES FOR Sale in Catawba Area Beautiful wooded lot with road frontage. 20 minutes from Blacksburg and 30 minutes from Roanoke/Salem. $73,000, real estate agent owned. For more information: 540562-1142 www.gravelhillroad.webs.com

NAGS HEAD 4 month Student Summer Rentals May to August, $450/ mo/ person, seabreezerealty.com 252.255.6328 252.255.6328 THE SHIRES, 10 min. from VT, beautiful 2&3 BR Townhouses, Furnished, Util INC, QUIET LOCATION, each BR w/private bath. Available for rent by week or month.

540-553-1700.

Roommates MASTER BEDROOM WITH OWN BATH $400/month. June 1 2010- May 31 2011.

Female roommate wanted. Furniture available. Has washer/dryer, fireplace, garbage disposal. Split electric and cable bill with roommates. For pics, other questions, and to take a look email Joss at vtredskins1421@yahoo.com

Downtown Living South Main Living North Main Living Prices Fork Living

Patrick Henry Living Christiansburg Living

Sub-Lease STUDENT ROOM FOR SUMMER Student Room For Summer- 1 bedroom available in 4 bedroom with 2 baths apartment in Hunter’s Ridge on Patrick Henry. Right behind Food Lion on time check for bus route. Lots of parking, and the kitchen and common room fully furnished. Only $265-without utilities, lease starting end of exams in May till July 9, 2010. Call 757848-3895.

look down.

VT STUDENTS-ROOM FOR RENT 1 bdrm available in a 3 bdrm condo off S. Main St., Blacksburg. On bus route.

Good parking.2 full baths. Common area complete w/ furnishings, kitchen fully equipped, only bedroom furniture needed. $400/ mo including cable, ethernet, electric and water. 703-915-2315

Personals ADOPTION Pediatrician and hubby in northern Virginia wish to adopt newborn.

Approved by licensed child-placing agency. Med/legal expenses. Loving home! Contact us toll free 1-866581-5494 www. EdandMargaretB. freehomepage.com

ROOMATE NEEDED 3rd Floor 2BR Condo. Close to VT on BT. 1 Roommate needed. $470/ mo includes utilities, cable, internet. Inquire at 804-337-2291 or djohn89@vt.edu

pick up.

ACROSS 1 Harpsichord relative 6 Doorframe part 10 One of Hammett’s Charleses 14 Aggressive poker bet 15 Spookysounding lake 16 Musician Clapton 17 Consequence of the subprime mortgage fiasco 20 Start of something?

21 Accident investigation agcy.

22 Lowly assistant 23 Swindle 24 Move quickly, as clouds 25 Exit spectacularly 31 Get out of bed 32 Hunan pans 33 Consume 35 Cellar stock 36 Blin, in Blois 38 Chip’s buddy 39 Frat party staple 40 Mindless repetition 41 Championship 42 Punished severely, with “on” 46 Guns 47 Word after open or seven 48 Take big steps 51 Hit or miss?

52 Special __: military force 55 Complaint from one trying to concentrate, perhaps—and this puzzle’s title 58 Aqueduct feature 59 Lob 60 Narrow canyon 61 Cook in the microwave 62 Fencer’s weapon 63 Tic, e.g.

DOWN 1 Peel 2 Martinique et Réunion

By Donna S. Levin

3 “__, poor Yorick!”: Hamlet 4 Zilch 5 Musically monotonous 6 Zippy watercraft 7 Like about 20% of Israeli citizens today 8 Univ. near Harvard 9 Stud muffin photos 10 Chilean poet Pablo 11 Algerian seaport 12 Game played on a world map 13 Sore 18 Store in a hold 19 Clover-shaped suit 23 Artful stratagem 24 Engage in retail therapy?

25 Stare in wonder 26 Bay window 27 New Wave band __ Boingo 28 Tammany Hall name 29 “Peachy keen!”

30 Carlo Rossi winemaker 34 Be rife (with)

4/21/10 Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

(c)2010 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

36 Sports car named for a small warship 37 Info in AAA TripTiks 38 “That’s mine!”

40 Saxes and oboes 41 They usually have strings attached 43 Twist in pain 44 Scary African fly

4/21/10

45 Frau’s spouse 48 Ugly duckling, actually 49 Drive-__ window 50 Pinion partner 51 Still life subject 52 Gumbo pod 53 Things for hanging things 54 Stern’s opposite 56 Emulate Kanga 57 Radar gun aimer

opınıons 5

editor: debra houchins opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

april 21, 2010

History of marijuana in US key to why it was banned W

Your Views

[letters to the editor] I do not think you need a wear suit Remember attire to class but definitely not something for your next class you would normally wear to bed.

C

ollege is a wonderful place to express who you really are, to learn, to grow as a person and prepare yourself for your future.

Essentially college is like your “job” for however long you are enrolled.

My question for you is: How do you dress when you go to your job?

Most jobs require certain uniformity among its employees. So, how do you dress for class? I am not suggesting a uniform, let’s get that out right away, I am writing to express how dressing appropriately for class is important and thoughtful to not only yourself but to your peers and professors.

Here is a scenario. It is Sunday night and you are up in your dorm room getting your homework done for the next day. After a few hours, you look at your clock and realize it is really late and you have an 8 a.m. class. A few thoughts probably run through your mind. You might just sleep through it, maybe there is no attendance, or you just do not need to show up. Or, you decide to go to sleep and get up and go the next morning. You wake up the next morning, jump out of bed, grab your things and go to class — you might even forget to brush your teeth.

The problem is you are wearing the clothes you slept in. Now most people do not sleep in jeans and a shirt, rather they sleep in something comfortable, like pajama pants and an old T-shirt. I think wearing that to class is wrong. It is gross, your peers and professors do not want to see what you sleep in. Even if you have a late night and are in a rush you should still put more appropriate clothes on.

Now, you might be asking well what is considered “appropriate.”

Well in my eyes, appropriate is just a clean pair of pants or shorts, a clean shirt, some sort of shoes, not slippers.

You should treat going to class like you are going to your job. Now, all of those people saying, “What if my job requires me to wear pajamas?” or something like that. I understand you do not want to accept other’s opinions. Treating going to class like you are going to your job you will want to dress to fit.

Changing your clothes from your pajamas, if it shows anything, shows you are not lazy. It shows the teacher and your peers you care about the way you present yourself to others and that you took the time to get dress in the morning, like you care about the class you are in. This might seem farfetched, but it is the truth. Getting dressed is an important thing we should all do daily.

I have a great personal example that happened right here on the Virginia Tech campus. I am enrolled in ECE 1574, it is a programming class. One Wednesday morning, at the beginning of class my professor had not shown up yet. A few minutes later he came through the door out of breath. The first thing he did was apologize for his attire. He was wearing old jeans and a collared shirt. He was apologizing because he had not put on clean pants.

Now some of you might think this is silly but I could not believe how thoughtful it was that he cared so much about the way he looked in front of the class. It shows how much he cares about his job and his influence on the class he teaches. Getting up in the morning and changing out of your nightclothes into something clean and presentable is important and should become a habit, like brushing your teeth. They way you present yourself to your peers is important and dressing well always shows you care.

e Americans like to romanticize and fantasize about the events leading to the founding of our country. We often ask ourselves what the Founding Fathers would think of our modern day laws and customs. Some say that if they were around now, they would call for a new revolution.

But what would happen if that great Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, were alive today and decided to declare independence in the same manner as before?

The answer is that he would be arrested. However, he would not be arrested for treason, insurrection or sedition.

Jefferson would be arrested because when he drafted up the Declaration of Independence, he wrote his immortal words on a piece of marijuana.

Our nation has a complicated history with that botanical entity called Cannabis sativa. Other respectable historical figures like George Washington and Ben Franklin cultivated the plant for industrious purposes and the early Navy was dependent on hemp rope.

But the real value of the plant comes from its use as an intoxicant.

Despite people all over the globe using marijuana for both medicinal and recreational purposes for thousands of years, the plant has only been banned in the U.S. for less than 75 years.

The initial reasons for outlawing marijuana on the national level are entirely separate from the contemporary debate. During the Great Depression, a job was a hard thing to come by. White people living in the southwest U.S. didn’t like Mexican immigrants moving in and taking jobs at lower wages. Since they couldn’t outlaw being Mexican, the whites in the area did the next best thing and outlawed an activity that was only popular among Mexican groups — that activity was smoking marijuana.

A state senator from Texas even claimed, “All Mexicans are crazy, and (marijuana) is what makes them crazy.”

As fear of the little known drug spread across the country, the federal government decided to intervene. The first nationwide criminalization of marijuana came in the form of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.

Whenever Congress prepares a bill, we expect several days of debate and experts from both sides of the issue to

be heard. This was clearly not the case when it came to marijuana prohibition as the entire hearing lasted only two hours. The crux of the testimony came from the Henry Anslinger, commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics when he said, “Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”

The only medical or scientific evidence given at the short hearing was by a pharmacologist named James Munch. Munch conducted an experiment where he injected marijuana extract directly into the brains of dogs.

After three months of doing this, he noticed that some of the dogs were acting strange. That testimony was enough for Congress, which passed the first national marijuana ban in 1937.

To recap, marijuana was made illegal because white people wanted to prosecute Mexicans and because some dogs acted funny.

At this time, New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia decided to challenge the idea that marijuana was dangerous because he was opposed to the bill. He began the La Guardia Commission to scientifically investigate the effects of marijuana on people.

This properly conducted in-depth study found that smoking marijuana does not cause addiction, loss of selfcontrol, criminal behavior, nor death.

Commissioner Anslinger responded to this report by decrying it as unscientific and then banned all future scientific studies of the effects of marijuana.

Also around this time, defense lawyers in criminal trials would try to use the marijuana insanity defense.

Because anyone under the influence of marijuana was officially considered insane, they could not be held fully responsible for their actions. A New York man successfully received a guilty by reason of insanity verdict after killing two police officers in cold blood.

Immediately after this Anslinger decided that marijuana does not cause insanity after all.

The federal ban on marijuana would continue under the tax law until 1969.

In that year, world famous psychologist and psychedelic advocate Timothy Leary successfully sued the federal government because he felt the Marijuana Tax Act to be unconstitutional. Soon

after the verdict came down, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. This act rewrote the marijuana laws in a way that the Supreme Court felt was constitutionally acceptable.

With this act, the crook, President Richard Nixon, began the war on drugs. Over the past 40 years, we have been ever increasingly spending money on the war and putting people in jail. In 2008, 1.5 million Americans were arrested for drug offenses. Of that total, approximately 800,000 were for marijuana offenses. These marijuana arrests cost us $7 billion annually. We now find ourselves on the precipice of history with how our society handles the marijuana question.

On Nov. 2, the citizens of California will vote on a ballot measure to legalize marijuana. In addition, a 2009 Field poll shows that 56 percent of Californian voters support legalization.

This means that marijuana is likely to become a legal substance under California law this year and sale will be allowed stores like alcohol. Even though we cannot vote directly on this issue, we can still support it. You can log onto TaxCannabis.org and donate as little as $5 to the cause.

Even when the initiative passes, the possession, cultivation and sale of marijuana will still technically be illegal under federal law via the Controlled Substances Act. However, the federal government does not have the resources to enforce its marijuana laws. Also, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to take a relaxed stance on some marijuana issues as long as people follow state law.

The Cannabis sativa plant has been a part of our country’s history since its inception. Marijuana will still be part of our society long after we are all dead.

We should be thankful that we can be part of the generation that ends the prohibition and finally legalizes it.

ERIC WOOD -regular columnist -graduate student -mechanical engineering major

we’re YOUR newspaper. send a letter to the editor and express send an e-mail to opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com with your letter or guest column attached.

Daniel Adamson Freshman Electrical Engineering major

Before eating meat, look into animals’ eyes H

umans through conditioning are creatures of habit. This is not unlike other animals. Among all animals there is an innate drive that predisposes towards behavior that provides a refuge of comfort and order. Regardless how a particular refuge may be perceived by an outsider, it is a strong for the beholder. That is why change is so difficult to implement.

Before I go on, my background should be briefly stated. I have lived like many an average life. I am 63 years old and 3 years ago I became paralyzed. Why am I bringing that up?

Because I know that change is possible though I will be the first to attest it can be very difficult. It comes down to doing what you have to do. If one’s perception of a reality is such a person will do what he has to do. It comes down to playing the hand that you are dealt.

Having never been married, it is truly a distant memory sitting around the dinner table to eat supper. Like a kid in most families,, after a hard day of school or playing I would ask what was for dinner. My mom would reply, (which seemed to necessitate the mentioning of a sacrifice of some animal as the focal point of the nightly ritual) and she would happily say something to the effect of, “We are having roast beef.” I would then reply, “Oh great. Make it is rare and juicy.” I really used to love roast beef when it was juicy and there was blood on the plate. It was like dinner was a ritual in which our family partook in the eating of meat and blood of an animal that was sacrificed on our behalf.

I don’t think my experience was different than other people of my generation.

My family and I gladly ate meat. I surely didn’t think that this animal was sacrificed so we could satisfy our hedonistic desire to eat animals. Meat just tasted

good and that was all that mattered.

The family structure is changing now along with society. There is no need to address this except that the mealtime ritual though weaker is still something that is revered in many families.

The nightly query of what’s for dinner can heard on the East Coast and West coast and all points in between.

But today we live in an information age. We are much more aware and life is more complicated. Is this good I don’t know, for it has been said that “ignorance is bliss”.

In and of itself bloody roast beef tastes the same as it did when I was a kid, but today I would like to think that we don’t have to be ignorant.

I have lived in the city all of my life.

For the past 10 years or so, I have been a commercial real estate broker. I really don’t like it, but as Mick Jagger said, “you can’t always get what you want.” Before I became paralyzed, I would look for land and would come across a lot of pasture land. This may sound stupid, but I was really intrigued by the way cattle would watch if I would approach for some would back away. But when I would look into their eyes their stare was haunting. I have no way of knowing what they were thinking except their stare was not vacant, but rather soulful.

In some cases it was curious and in others there was fear.

Through observation of behavior of sources of meat, experts on behavior have found many characteristics inherent in man. These include strong maternal instincts to care for their young and also a strong social hierarchy. If we are all creatures of God maybe we have more in common that is much more important in the big picture than the taste of meat.

I have a little dog and she is my life.

Every time I look into her eyes I see trust. Companion animals are great and I truly believe anybody who does not have any is missing out on a truly great experience of life. When reading about animals that are used for food, there are parallels to dogs as far as intelligence and behavior. In many respects they are very similar. Maybe the only difference is that animals used for sources of meat are for the most part bigger. Their meat tastes better perhaps.

In real estate there is a term that is important. In order for society to maintain itself certain needs have to be met.

Fundamental to meeting these needs land has to be allocated in such a way in order to achieve the greatest return.

The term I am referring to is “highest and best use.” These uses are determined through planning boards and are enforced by zoning departments. It is serious business.

The raising of cattle requires a lot of land in terms of acreage, but also a lot of food. Research has stated that it takes about 16 lbs. of grain to produce 1 lbs. of meat. That is not a great return. Also, it takes 2,500 gallons of precious water to produce I pound of meat. This is at a time where there are some areas that may run out of water in the future. Does that sound like a great return? Also, you can’t discount the effect that methane gas from cattle has on the ozone. Does that sound like a great return? How about if the grazing land was converted to land for crops, wind or solar energy?

I don’t know, but it sounds intriguing to me.

The dairy industry is just as bad.

Many times as soon as a male calf is born, it is separated from the mother and is sold to veal producers. The calves are sometimes immediately slaughtered for bob veal or will be allowed to live a

life in a small crate. They are deprived of adequate protein, light and room to move. They are then slaughtered at around 16 weeks of age. Also, after the cow can’t meet the production quota it is immediately slaughtered.

The scenario is no different for poultry. Under cover videos of workers at chicken processors depict deplorable treatment. In fact, one of the worst offenders is Tyson Chicken.

They are suppliers to Colonel Saunders and McDonalds. Does this reality make The Colonel’s secret recipe less palatable? If not, what will it take? Also, egg laying hens have an execution date effective as soon as they can’t meet their quota.

The meat industry in order to survive has to maximize output. This is the number one goal in any type of enterprise. The main variable that can be manipulated is the treatment of animals.

It has been many years since I graduated from college. It has been said that youth is wasted on the young. Nothing could be further from the truth, for when you are young you have ideals and vision.

So if there is going to be change, it has to start with you. Go on line and Google Meet Your Meat. This is serious business, for in the end as a people we are judged on how we treat the most vulnerable.

Many years ago when I was in college, I was watching an interview with the late journalist Eric Severide in which he said “you are either part of the problem or part of the solution’’. I am sure that wasn’t an original quote, but regardless no spoken words have ever spoken so true. So the next time you eat meat if you decide to do so, that juicy blood on the plate is also on your hands.

Because now you know better unlike me when I was a kid for I was ignorant.

Because to repeat Eric Severide, “you are either part of the problem or part of the solution.”

So what can you do? If you have taken the time to read this far you know the answer. Because, by reading this far you have shown that you do care, at least some. If you don’t think you can quit eating meat, at least cut back. I know eventually you will quit totally, because you have read this far and you have a good heart.

An important question has to be answered. If people were to stop eating animals, what would happen to those animals? Would they become extinct?

Not necessarily. Bovine population (though just a fraction of current) could be maintained in sanctuaries.

Would these animals serve any purpose since in large numbers they have such a negative effect on the environment?

They would serve a purpose, just many other animals serve a purpose.

That purpose would be beautiful and a far cry from the current one. Because in a humane society no animal’s purpose should be defined by a horrific death.

The next time you see an animal, look into the eyes.

Also, every reputable study has shown the importance of eliminating saturated fat. So not only are we killing the animals, they are returning the favor by killing us.

So take a look into your own eyes and the people you care about, for there is a better way.

MICHAEL ROSE -guest columnist -licensed real estate broker

The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

Collegiate Times Editorial Staff Editor in Chief: Sara Mitchell Managing Editors: Peter Velz, Bethany Buchanan Production Manager: Thandiwe Ogbonna Public Editor: Justin Graves News Editors: Zach Crizer, Philipp Kotlaba News Reporters: Liana Bayne, Gordon Block News Staff Writers: Hope Miles, Katie Robidoux, Allison Sanders, Claire Sanderson, Priya Saxena Features Editor: Topher Forhecz Features Reporters: Ryan Arnold, Liz Norment Opinions Editor: Debra Houchins Sports Editors: Joe Crandley, Alex Jackson Sports Reporters: Thomas Emerick, Ed Lupien, Ray Nimmo, Garrett Ripa, Melanie Wadden Sports Staff Writers: Garrett Busic, Hattie Francis Copy Editors: Taylor Chakurda, Erin Corbey, Kelsey Heiter, Dishu Maheshwari Layout Designers: Kelly Harrigan, Josh Son, Sara Spangler Illustrators: Mina Noorbakhsh, Jamie Martyn Multimedia Editor: James Carty Online Director: Jamie Chung Collegiate Times Business Staff Business Manager: David Harries College Media Solutions Asst Ad Director: Kendall Kapetanakis Account Executives: Nik Bando, Brandon Collins, David Goerge, Wade Stephenson, Kelly Burleson Inside Sales Manager: Judi Glass Assistant Inside Sales Manager: Diane Revalski Assistant Account Executives: Maddie Abram, Katie Berkel, Kaelynn Kurtz Rachel Lombardo, Erin Shuba Creative Director: Sarah Ford Asst Production Manager: Chloe Skibba Creative Services Staff: Kara Noble, Jennifer Le, Laiken Jacobs Student Publications Photo Staff Director of Photography: Luke Mason Lab Manager: Mark Umansky Voice your opinion. Readers are encouraged to send letters to the Collegiate Times.

365 Squires Student Center Blacksburg, VA, 24061 Fax: (540) 231-9151 opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com All letters to the editor must include a name and daytime phone number.

Students must include year and major.

Faculty and staff must include position and department. All other submissions must include city of residence, and if applicable, relationship to Virginia Tech (i.e., alumni, parent, etc.). All letters should be in MS Word (.doc) format, if possible.

By submitting a letter, you hereby agree to not engage in online discussion through comments on the Collegiate Times Web site.

Letters, commentaries and editorial cartoons do not reflect the views of the Collegiate Times.

Editorials are written by the Collegiate Times editorial board, which is comprised of the opinions editor, editor-in-chief and the managing editors.

Letters to the editor are submissions from Collegiate Times readers. We reserve the right to edit for any reason.

Anonymous letters will not be printed.

Have a news tip?

Call or text 200-TIPS or e-mail newstips@collegiatetimes.com Student Media Phone Numbers Collegiate Times Newsroom 231-9865 Editor-in-Chief 231-9867 College Media Solutions Advertising 961-9860 The Collegiate Times, a division of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, was established in 1903 by and for the students of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The Collegiate Times is published every Tuesday through Friday of the academic year except during exams and vacations.

The Collegiate Times receives no funding from the university.

The Collegiate Times can be found online at www.collegiatetimes.com.

Except where noted, all photographs were taken by the Student Publications Photo Staff. To order a reprint of a photograph printed in the Collegiate Times, e-mail spps@vt.edu.

The Collegiate Times is located in 365 Squires Student Center, Blacksburg, VA, 24061. (540) 231-9865. Fax (540) 2319151.

Subscription rates: $65 semester; $110 academic year. The first copy is free, any copy of the paper after that is 50 cents per issue. © Collegiate Times, 2010. All rights reserved. Material published in the Collegiate Times is the property thereof, and may not be reprinted without the express written consent of the Collegiate Times.

6 sports

editor: alex jackson sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

april 21, 2010

Men’s track team finishes second, women sixth at ACCs COURTNEY LOFGREN sports staff writer The Virginia Tech men’s track and field team finished second with 130 points at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships this past weekend at Clemson University.

The women’s team finished sixth.

“I was very proud how everyone competed especially on the final day, because that’s when we scored the majority of our points,” said head coach Dave Cianelli.

The men’s team also finished second during February’s indoor championship.

Cianelli said it’s the highest the men’s team has placed in the Outdoor Championship.

The men’s team finished 8.5 points behind Florida State for the title.

“There were four teams that were within 20 points of each other,” Cianelli said.

Sophomore Marcel Lomnicky won the hammer throw title for the second year in a row. He set an ACC-meet record with his throw of 235-07 meters. Lomnicky is the first Hokie to win back-to-back ACC titles since Spyridon Jullien in 2003-05.

“I’m pretty happy about winning the title again after last year,” Lomnicky said. “But I was pretty happy about throwing the ACC meet record too, but I really wanted to throw farther.

I felt really good, I’m kind of disappointed about my performance but I did pretty well.”

Lomnicky was not the only successful Hokie in the hammer throw.

Senior Matej Muza finished second while freshmen Alexander Ziegler and Denis Mahmic finished fourth and seventh, respectively.

The team of Lomnicky, Muza, Zieglar and Mahmic earned 25 points toward the overall men’s point value.

Nineteen more points were added to the total team total thanks to another great performance by the pole-vaulters.

Senior Yavgeniy Olhovsky won his second straight and third overall ACC title after clearing 18-00.50.

Juniors Hunter Hall and Jared Jodon finished third and sixth respectively.

“We have built depth in those areas (throwers and pole vaulters) with a lot of quality athletes,” Cianelli said.

On the track, sophomore Will Mulherin won the 5,000-meter race, earning his second consecutive ACC title. Mulherin was disqualified in the 3,000 meter at the indoor ACC championship for allegedly pushing an opposing runner during the event.

The win helped make up for the mishap in February.

“I think he along with the coaching staff and his teammates were really happy to see him pull off that win considering what happened in indoors in

the 3,000,” Cianelli said. “I think he felt a sense of redemption.”

Sophomore Keith Ricks contributed 24 points overall to the total team value as well. This included his performance in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, which he finished second and seventh in, respectively. Ricks also took second and third place individually in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash respectively.

“I think that’s the first time we had someone in the top three in the conference in each of those events,” Cianelli said.

Sophomore Michael Hammond won the men’s mile and finished second in the 1,500 meter.

On the women’s side, senior Queen Harrison continued her magical season by winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.44 seconds — a new ACC record, but the time did not stand because of the wind acting as an aid to the competitors.

“I’ve been doing a lot of training since freshman year so I think I kind of put an exclamation point on the end of my ACC career,” Harrison said.

“Even with the wind she had the fastest time I had ever seen before,” Cianelli said.

Senior Kristi Castlin joined Harrison on the podium, earning second in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 12.59 seconds.

Harrison continued her dominance at the meet by winning the 400-meter hurdles while setting yet another ACC record with a time of 54.66. Senior Asia Washington finished fourth with a time of 57.71.

Harrison’s performance in the two events places her as one of the top competitors in the world now, according to Cianelli.

“She had the best double (the 100 and 400 meter hurdles) by a collegiate (runner) ever in history,” Cianelli said.

“As longs as she’s able to maintain her health she’s going to be one of the best in the world. I really do believe that.

“If she’s able to continue to run those types of times through the season, she’s going to be ranked in the top 10 in the world,” Cianell said. “With the types of things that she’s doing now I would consider her in the top 10 now.

It’s very rare to see her do both events at such a high level. She’s been the cornerstone of our program.”

Cianelli said the work Harrison has done with sprints, hurdles and jumps coach Charles Foster has really benefited her. Foster has served as a mentor that she has not had in her previous seasons at Tech.

“12.44 is the fastest I’ve ever seen ever in the 100 meter hurdles,” Foster said. “In watching (Harrison) grow and mature, she’s always had a willingness to accept a challenge. She doesn’t back off very well. That’s probably one of her greatest talents in that she isn’t scared. I have to know when to back off and rest her, we work hard so we can rest hard.”

Harrison is just trying to stay focused for the remainder of the season by using the same strategy she used in the indoor season.

“Just like in indoor I just made sure this whole outdoor season that every race I run I make sure I run it like it’s a final and don’t take anything for granted,” Harrison said.

Foster said the overall women’s performance is what he expected when he took over the sprint program this past fall and is looking forward to the future.

“We expect to keep rocking and rolling like we’re doing,” he said.

The women’s 4x100 meter relay and 4x400 meter relay teams finished fourth and second, respectively.

The women’s team is in a bit of a rebuilding stage and should be in better shape next year with the strength of the recruiting class coming in the fall.

“We have a really young team but I feel like a lot of girls really stepped up to the plate,” Harrison said.

“We have one of the best in terms of numbers and also talent in that we’ve ever had coming in,” Cianelli said.

“Even losing Queen and Kristi, who are such high level athletes, we’ll be able to improve as a team.

“I’m pretty happy with what’s coming in for the future on both sides.”

The team will send several competitors to nationals in June where Cianelli believes the team can make an impact on the national level.

“I really think we can finish with a top 10 finish from both sides,” he said. “This has never happened on the men’s side but if they perform at the level they’re at now that should happen. This will really be a milestone for our program. We want to have a strong enough program nationally on a consistent basis so we can be in that top 10 year in and year out.”

[

on the web Check out the CT’s Web site at www.collegiatetimes.com for more coverage of ACC champion Marcel Lomnicky and the men’s and women’s track teams road to the NCAAs in May, coming soon.

PS /SP N O AS EM LUK

]