COLLEGIATETIMES
July 1, 2010
what’s inside News .............2 Features ........6 0pinions ........5 Sports ...........9 Classifieds ...11 Sudoku ........11 107th year issue 66 blacksburg, va.
news [in brief]
Solar house shines in competition
LIANA BAYNE news editor
Super Mash Bros to headline Gobblerfest The DJ trio Super Mash Bros. will play the Welcome Back concert during Gobblerfest on Aug. 27, according to Sophie McNeil, the group’s manager. Laura Wedin, alumni and student programs director, confirmed the group’s appearance.
Blacksburg Transit schedule to change for holiday weekend
COURTESY VIRGINIA TECH NEWS
Left, the Lumenhaus sits in Madrid during the competition. Right, the student team celebrates after winning first place.
The Blacksburg Transit is altering its weekend service to accommodate final exams and the holiday weekend. On Saturday, July 3, the BT will begin some routes at 7:30 a.m. to help students arrive to 8 a.m. summer session exams on time. The Hethwood, Harding Avenue, North Main, South Main, Tom’s Creek A and Tom’s Creek B routes will begin at 7:30 a.m. at their off-campus time checks. They will operate on a 30-minute frequency until 10 a.m., at which point they will switch to their normal frequencies. On Sunday, July 4, the BT will have no service with the exception of a shuttle service to the Blacksburg Municipal Park, where the Fourth of July celebration and fireworks will be held. On Monday, July 5, the BT will have no service with the exception of the new student orientation shuttle service. Virginia Tech and the town of Blacksburg will be officially closed on Monday, July 5. However, Squires Student Center will be open because of new student orientation. Monday is the first day of orientation for new freshmen.
The house was featured on “Good Morning America” in January and hosted visitors in Times Square in New York City.
Town hosting July Fourth celebration
LUMENHAUS WINS SPAIN’S SOLAR DECATHLON, BEATS 16 COMPETITORS
The town of Blacksburg is hosting its 24th annual Fourth of July celebration on Sunday, July 4. The Historic Smithfield Plantation will feature family activities from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. At 3 p.m., the Mt. Tabor Ruritan downtown parade will commence at Old Blacksburg Middle School. The parade route ends at Otey Street. Live music will begin at 5 p.m. in the Municipal Park. Fireworks, also in the park, will begin at 9:30 p.m.
COURTESY ALDEN HALEY
LIANA BAYNE news editor Lumenhaus, a house designed by Virginia Tech architects and engineers to run exclusively from solar power, has placed first in the Solar Decathlon Europe competition in Madrid, Spain. Lumenhaus faced 16 other competing solar-run houses
from seven other countries and was judged both in the overall category and in 10 different subcategories. In October, the house, which has been worked on for more than three years by engineering and architecture students along with main faculty advisor Robert Dunay, competed in the U.S. Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department
of Energy. It then travelled from Washington, D.C., to New York, where it resided in Times Square in January. Lumenhaus later spent four months back at Tech before being shipped by boat to Spain. Lumenhaus is entirely solarpowered. Its energy levels can be controlled and monitored through an iPhone application. All devices inside the house, such as the refrigerator and washing machine, run from solar power. The house also monitors and
controls the amount of energy it dumps back into the power grid. The outer solar panel system on the exterior of the house, known as “Eclipsis,” controls the house’s energy intake as well as the temperature inside. This is the first time in three years that a German team has not won the Solar Decathlon competition. The student-faculty team that travelled to Madrid is expected home on July 2, according to a Tech news release.
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collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
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Middle schoolers document town Ordinance could increase DUI fees SARAH WATSON news reporter
Food services, sustainability, downtown businesses and the Blacksburg High School roof collapse were transformed into short documentaries by local youth in June. On Sunday, June 27, the Lyric Theatre premiered four short films created by 13 area middle school students. The films focused on the Blacksburg community and were the end result of Blacksburg Stories, a two-week film documentary camp for middle school students. Groups of students had the opportunity to film happenings in Blacksburg and conduct interviews with local citizens. The campers then learned to edit their footage using iMovie software, said Virginia Tech student and communication major Samuel Yerkes, who was also one of the camp’s directors. “The goal is for the kids to learn about documentaries and get handson experience with cameras and editing,” he said. Blacksburg Stories also hoped to “spotlight” a portion of the community, according to Yerkes. One student, Galen Moore, participated in the program for the second consecutive summer. Moore was initially interested in the program because of his previous experience in home movie making and a documentary his sister created on mountaintop removal.
“I thought it would be fun to do a bigger movie with directors and everything,” he said. Although “flagging people down on the street” is the hardest part of making a documentary, it is also interesting to gain their perspective on the topic, Moore said. According to Ashley Maynor, cofounder and program director of Blacksburg Stories and assistant professor of theatre and cinema at Tech, for over nine days students spent their mornings learning about documentaries, conducting interviews, filming and editing. Yerkes taught these lessons with co-director Abbey Hoekzema, Tech student and marketing management major.
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on the web
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Check out the students’ short films and more at blacksburgstories.wordpress.com.
Yerkes and Hoekzema assisted with the daily operations of the camp along with eight other theatre and cinema students at Tech. These students led groups of campers downtown to film and to Tech facilities such as InnovationSpace and theatre and cinema buildings to process their films. “I can make an impact in some of these kids lives through something that I love, which is film,”
Yerkes said. The camp was established in 2007 to “address the underserved need of youth media literacy and arts education in the New River Valley as well as to provide Virginia Tech cinema studies students with an opportunity to learn by teaching,” Maynor said. Maynor co-founded the program with Paul Harrill, also an assistant professor in theatre and cinema, with the concept of teaching to learn in mind. “Blacksburg Stories was conceived as a program by which Virginia Tech cinema studies students could develop their skills as filmmakers by teaching middle school students the fundamentals of documentary video production,” she said. During the camp’s first year, the Virginia Commission for the Arts provided funding. The Lyric Theatre and Tech’s department of communication also sponsored the program. However, for the past three years, the program has been financially independent with in-kind support from Tech’s department of theatre and cinema, InnovationSpace and the Lyric Theatre, Maynor said. Middle school students began registration in late March. The camp’s tuition this summer was $150, but a sliding pay scale and scholarships are offered. “No child is turned away because of inability to pay,” Maynor said.
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Blacksburg Police reported DUIs Virginia Tech Police reported DUIs
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CLAIRE SANDERSON managing editor A new ordinance could make the costs of choosing to drink and drive even higher. Under the ordinance, which hasn’t yet passed, people arrested for drunken driving, reckless driving, driving without a license, or leaving the scene of an accident could pay up to $1,000 to reimburse police and any fire and rescue services that respond to the incident. The fine would be $250 per entity that responds, but cannot exceed $1,000 in total. According to Mary Biggs, Montgomery County Supervisor, the Virginia General Assembly recently passed legislation that gave localities the authority to decide whether to enact the ordinance. Marty McMahon, County Attorney, said the ordinance is already in place in Roanoke and Lynchburg. The issue was first on the agenda at a Montgomery County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday night, June 28, and the Board will go over it again at its next meeting on Monday, July 12. “We thought it would be a good way to generate revenue,” said Biggs. At Monday’s meeting, Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Whitt came forward to show his support for the new ordinance. “What we really need to focus on is that this is not anyone who has a wreck or anyone who needs fire and rescue. It’s simple dealing with those folks who continue to operate after they’ve been convicted of a DUI, after they’ve had a suspended operating license, or a couple of other instances that are named within the code that gives the county the authority to go back and get some reimbursement for the fire departments, for the rescue squads that are continually responding to many of
the same people who continue to be the nuisance of the highway,” Whitt said. He pointed out that though the $250 fine is not huge, the money could certainly add up and help these services, especially the fire and rescue services that rely largely on volunteers. “I would encourage the Board to move forward, and I would hope the town of Christiansburg and the town of Blacksburg will follow Montgomery County’s lead on this,” Whitt said. If the Board chooses to enact the ordinance, it would only apply within the county, not within the town limits of Blacksburg or Christiansburg. However McMahon said both towns are also considering enacting the ordinance. “I know Blacksburg is for sure going to consider it. Christiansburg, we asked them to, but we haven’t heard back from them yet,” he said. According to Captain Vince Houston of the Virginia Tech Police, though Tech Police and Blacksburg Police share some jurisdiction downtown, Tech is separate from the town and the county. “Tech doesn’t fall under either one,” Houston said. “The new ordinance would not affect Tech Police or Tech Rescue.” “If they call us for help, we go, if we call them for help, they go,” he explained. As for how the money collected from drunken drivers would be handled, that is still up to some debate. “We would ask the court to order restitution as a means of getting the reimbursement and the fire and rescue squads would be paid directly through that reimbursement, whoever responds, and the Sheriff’s Office would be paid through the county,” Whitt said. “It’s going to take a lot of coordination, but we think we can do it.”
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Final candidate for VP of diversity, inclusion to visit Tech 3 managing editor This summer, Virginia Tech narrows its search for a new vice president of diversity and inclusion to three final candidates. Before each candidate’s visit, the Collegiate Times is sitting down to ask him or her a few questions. The vice president of diversity and inclusion is the top diversity officer at the university, answering directly to President Charles Steger. “This person leads all our programs in diversity, works with admission in seeking a more diverse group of students, and with hiring faculty in seeking a more diverse group of applicants,” said Ed Spencer, vice president of student affairs. Spencer also chairs the search committee. The search began when previous vice president for diversity and inclusion Kevin McDonald stepped down in January after taking a job as the as chief diversity officer at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Since his departure, Karen Sanders has been serving as the interim vice president. The candidates are Antonio Farias, Melva “Cookie” Newsom and William Lewis. Each will make a visit to the campus once this summer to meet with faculty and students and get to know Tech better. Each will also attend an open forum where the Tech community is invited to ask the candidates questions. Farias was the first to visit Tech, attending a forum on June 10. Newsom came to campus to attend a forum on June 29, and Lewis’ will be Thursday, July 1. The forums are all held at 4:30 p.m. at the Holtzman Alumni Center. Q&As with Farias and Newsom can be found at collegiatetimes.com and this week features an interview with Lewis. This is the final installment of a three-part series.
CT: Why did you decide to apply? LEWIS: I am always looking forward to an opportunity to sharpen my skills
CT: Describe how you would have the office interact with other campus groups and organizations.
LEWIS: In order to really advance successfully an inclusive excellence and diversity agenda, the chief diversity officer has to be a collaborator, first and foremost. So, that individual has to connect and develop relationships and partnerships with other nstitutional stakeholders, within and throughout the campus community and also the community at large. And so I actually see my role as a steward of the process, and my goal is to kind of to steward the process along and to facilitate cross collaboration with other departments and units throughout the campus. CT: What do you think Tech’s biggest problem is with diversity? LEWIS: You know, one of the things I look at is I see opportunities, and I think
a great opportunity is to take the diversity strategic plan, and begin to implement that plan for long-term success. Over the years, the office of diversity and inclusion has had several changes. You had a change of leadership going back to Dr. (Benjamin) Dixon, and then Mr. (Kevin) McDonald, and so looking for some consistency throughout the effort and moving that consistency throughout the institution and moving diversity throughout the fabric of the institution. So the opportunity is really to help facilitate a change through a very huge, large, complex organization. And so the opportunity is to provide consistency with the diversity agenda, and also advancing that throughout a very large, complex organization.
strength in terms of diversity? LEWIS: One of the things that I am excited about is, first and foremost, the commitment, and not just in the short term but the long term commitment that Virginia Tech has displayed toward diversity. Well over, publicly anyway, well over a decade with the first office of the vice president for multicultural affairs. When you look at that type of commitment, and also when you look at the fact that the institution has done several self assessments of itself around the diversity and inclusion aspect, that’s very exciting because it tells me that Virginia Tech is an institution that is self aware, and recognizes that it wants to go from being a good institution to being a great institution as it relates to
CT: What do you think is Tech’s biggest
see DIVERSITY / page four
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
COLLEGIATE TIMES: What background experience do you have that is relevant to this position? WILLIAM LEWIS: My body of work spans social work, higher education, community development and entrepreneurship, all of which I’ve been working in regards to social justice and diversity related types of activities. My master’s degree is in social work, and the NASW code of ethics, really it’s a code that bounds social workers to working to help disenfranchised individuals become part of the core of any society. And so within my professional work and my educational experience I am really poised to continue to work in this work. I am currently director of diversity at Bridgewater State College. I’ve been doing this work at a high level and then also as director of diversity at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
as an institutional leader, and always looking forward to being a part of the leadership team that advances not only diversity but also just LEWIS advances the full potential of college students. Applying for the vice president of diversity and inclusion at Virginia Tech allows me that opportunity to continue to work at the highest levels of an institution to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for every constituent group on campus.
NEWS
CLAIRE SANDERSON
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Diversity: VP candidate discusses future goals from page three
diversity and inclusion. It’s making a commitment known by continuing to, especially in these tough economic times, to continue to hold the line as it relates its commitment to diversity and inclusion. CT: What do you think is the most important thing for my readers to know about diversity issues at Tech? LEWIS: First and foremost, I look at this concept of inclusive excellence, and so what we’re looking at is two concepts. We’re looking at the concept of equity and the concept of inclusion. As readers begin to think about diversity, my challenge to them is to begin to redefine the definition of diversity and that redefining that diversity means that we’re bringing more and more groups and individuals to the table. So no longer do we continue to look
just at race issues, although race is part of the agenda, the agenda is much broader than race. For example, we begin to look at, how do we support our veterans as they enter into higher education? How do we begin to fully support our students with disability? How do we support students with different learning styles? And really, if I think about diversity, I’m not thinking about it from a process that talks about race-specific policies and practices, but I’m really looking at diversity from a process where we’re talking about inclusion. How do we create space where each individual has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential? CT: What do you look forward to the most if you were to come here? LEWIS: Oh goodness. First and foremost, to be able to continue to advocate and advance the successes
of students at Virginia Tech. To be part of the academic community that prepares the next generation, that continues to prepare the next generation, which will be exciting. Also what will be exciting is to work alongside the leadership at Virginia Tech in terms of being a part of the institutional core of helping students reach their potential, so being a part of the leadership team and engaging with students. Previous to Bridgewater, I come from Indiana University. And I tell you, to be on a large campus and to engage in excitement, it’s like popcorn if you will, when the campus is bustling like popcorn during a fall or spring, and even in the summer months there’s a lot of activity. To be able to engage in the full campus activity will be exciting as well. CT: What would you miss most about your current job? LEWIS: One of the things I like the
most about my current job is we are a very collegial group here. To be able to advance change when you’re sitting in a room with the key stakeholders is exciting, because now you’re able to really talk about, how do we move change forward. My colleagues here are really committed to our students. It’s really exciting when you’re working for an institution where your colleagues are committed to student success. CT: What attracted you personally to a career in diversity? LEWIS: Excellent question, excellent question. I would say that this type of career, and really, I would say a career of social justice and a career in helping people reach their full potential is something that kind of bubbled up in my when I was young. I went to the Marine Corps right after high school, I went to the Marine Reserves, and at that point in time I was thinking that I
would become a career military officer. So I wasn’t really thinking about going to college, per se. But once I was in boot camp, I realized that, “Hey, I want to go to college, I want to do some other things with my life,” so I got my undergrad degree in criminal justice, thinking that I was going to be a lawyer in criminal justice. But I as began to work in the criminal justice field I realized this is not what I want to do, although I wanted to work with people and help people. And so I moved from criminal justice to working in the social work field, and I got my master’s degree in social work, and I was like, “This is what I want to do.” I didn’t know it was going to be diversity, per se; I just wanted to help people. I just wanted to advance humanity. I wanted to impact humanity in a very positive way, and it just so happens that I’m able to manifest that internal desire through the way of diversity.
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
Way-back: World Cup ‘94
FILE/SPPS
Current SPPS members found photos from the 1994 World Cup in their film archives. Apparently, some SPPS members that year travelled to the Washington, D.C., to watch the June 19 game between Mexico and Norway. Norway won the match 1-0, but failed to advance out of its group.
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Voice your opinion. Readers are encouraged to send letters and comments to the Collegiate Times. 365 Squires Student Center Blacksburg, Va. 24061 Fax: (540) 231-9151 opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com Letters must include name and daytime phone number. Letters must not exceed 300 words, and should be in MS Word (.doc) format if possible. Letters, commentaries and editorial cartoons do not reflect the views of the Collegiate Times. We reserve the right to edit for any reason. Anonymous letters will not be printed. To order a reprint of a photograph printed in the Collegiate Times, e-mail spps@vt.edu. Collegiate Times Phone Numbers News/Features 231-9865 Sports/Opinions 231-9870 Editor-in-Chief 231-9867 College Media Solutions Phone Number 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 receives no funding from the university.
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n her essay “Seeing,” Annie Dillard tells an anecdote of newly sighted patients, blind from birth, who have had cataract operations that restored their sight. Contrary to what you may expect — that the experience of finally seeing after many years of blindness will be a beautiful and almost ecstatic one — some of these patients find the “tremendous size of the world” oppressing. It may take weeks, months, and even years to adjust to the dramatic increase in stimuli; some even choose to “lose” or not make use of their newly acquired sense. For them, seeing is traumatic: What they see doesn’t match what they had imagined. While few of us will ever experience such a dramatic change in sense perception in our lives, many of us may encounter moments when, in William Wordsworth’s words, the “world is too much with us.” Wordsworth’s sonnet is a work of art, but it is also an admonishment and perhaps a request for us to use our senses more fully and for very different purposes. He follows the opening words with others that are equally relevant and powerful: “The world is too much with us; late and soon, / Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; / Little we see in Nature that is ours; / We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” Wordsworth suggests that when we focus too much on “getting and spending,” we lose both our ability to “see,” as well as our emotional and perhaps spiritual connection to others and to the world around us. In the past two weeks, two new staff members of the Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships both AmeriCorps VISTA
volunteers — have written columns for the Collegiate Times. In those columns, Alexia Edwards and Tara Milligan outlined some of the work they are doing in the New River Valley and presented opportunities for people to get involved, and to put aside “getting and spending” and connect with others through volunteerism. My hope is that many of you who read this paper will take a moment to pause and realize how easy it can be to become blind or to lose sight of the world around you, a world that is far larger and often more complicated and oppressive than the cocoon that you can build while living on the Virginia Tech campus or even in Blacksburg. If there is any doubt, simply take a ride to Pulaski, Martinsville or Danville to visit towns in Virginia where the economic downturn has left many people out of work and resulted in true hardship for families. Re-read last week’s essay by Tara about families facing impossible choices concerning how to use their limited funds. You do not have to travel to Haiti or to the Sudan to find poverty or hardship. You can find it right here. Even in Blacksburg there are hundreds of homeless children, a fact that many may find nearly impossible to believe. But, as New River Family Shelter Director Carol Johnson says, “Our homeless population looks different. It’s not as visible because you don’t see a lot of people living on the street.” One of our missions at CSECP is to work in partnership with organizations such as the YMCA at VT, NRV Cares, New River Community Action, Second Harvest, the Christiansburg Institute, and New River Family
Shelter to “see” the needs in our community that are not easily visible and then work to address those needs. Sometimes I’ve found that seeing isn’t easy; our eyes are not accustomed to notice the signs of rural poverty or homelessness. But focusing on obligations and acting (in word or deed) often require time or assistance. We need a guide, which is an important role that the nonprofit organizations play. But in my experience, with just a bit of guidance, the veils over our eyes lift quickly, and we start to focus on obligations to fellow human beings and to society. Dillard explains in her essay that at first, most of the “newly sighted” do not perceive shadows and spatial relationships, only patches of color. And with the sight of colors and shapes also comes the requirement to learn a new vocabulary so they can articulate what they see in terms that are understandable to the sighted. In essence, they not only need to learn to see, they also need to learn to verbalize what they see. Such a process takes time, and for those patients who are not overwhelmed, the world can be a truly beautiful place, which when seen and described by them might “teach us how dull is our own vision.” At CSECP, we encourage you to enter new environments and gaze upon everything as someone newly sighted, so that you may see, with clarity, what is possible. With possibility comes hope and growth. As Alexander Pope, a 17th century English poet, once said: “This kind, this due degree / Of blindness, weakness. Heav’n bestows on thee. / Submit—In this, or any other sphere.” If you recognize your own “blind-
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My hope is that many of you who read this paper will take a moment to pause and realize how easy it is can be to lose sight of the world around you, a world that is far larger and more complicated and oppressive than the cocoon that you can build while living on the Virginia Tech campus or even in Blacksburg. JIM DUBINSKY
ness, weakness” and submit to it through the “operation” of higher education, you may become “newly sighted.” My hope is that you will not refuse your new vision, but instead be astonished by what you see, and be both willing to learn a new vocabulary so that you can share what you see with others. In so doing, you would be acting in concert with a key principle of our university expressed through “Ut Prosim — That I may serve.” Our motto is much more than words; it is an expression of commitment, an invitation to a way of being, an opportunity to acknowledge that service is a privilege, a gift we receive, not give to others.
JIM DUBINSKY -guest columnist -CSECP Director
Where is Blacksburg’s ‘reliable dive’? B
lacksburg is lacking something. Many may argue, but I believe there is a sure shortage of restaurants in our town. In my three years of living here, I think that I have hit all the hotspots at least twice. It’s true that Chipotle is finally coming. But even so, the town still needs a few more digs to kick it up a notch in the eating department. I am not talking about fine dining, cloth napkins on your lap, and clinkyclanky wine glasses. What I am talking about a reliable dive. I mean a place that is not that exciting on the outside, but has phenomenal food on the inside. I have spent the last six months living in France. Don’t get me wrong, the French food is amazing. However, I made an unexpected discovery in the French town of Montpellier, and this ambrosia needs to be shared. Picture this common situation. It’s
late, you just got home from class and you are hungry. There are the standard options: Buffalo Wild Wings is good, ordering a pizza is somewhat expensive. You eye the dry pasta in your empty food cabinet and the half-opened sauce container in your fridge. You could get up and go to Panera, which is also not a terrible option. The list goes on and on; there is nothing that pulls you too much. Enter Le Wok. Le Wok, in Montpellier, France, sits between a fancy Italian restaurant called Arezzo and a shutdown, graffitied drug store. There is no seating, save a few tables that sit in front of the window where you order. Le Wok is French Chinese food at its best. During my time in Montpellier, I had passed Le Wok many times, but only stopped after a friend from
Iceland told me that I needed to go. To me, this suggestion alone would make up for the volcano delays of April. Ordering at Le Wok is simple, even if you’re French is not fantastic. You choose a pasta or rice, you choose some vegetables and you choose a sauce. It is super easy, super fast, and delicious. Best part about Le Wok is that they don’t skimp you. If you order beef, you are ordering beef and lots of it. Mounds of meat and vegetables are stuffed into a white Chinese takeout box. They pack the box to the rim, and then add some more. Nobody leaves Le Wok hungry. Your box is then passed down the row to the Wok Master. Here your vegetables and meat are seared on a foot high flame, protected only by the thin rounded sheet of metal known as a wok. After a few minutes, it’s back into the
box and immediately in your hands. All that’s left to decide is chopsticks or fork. Now I, just like any other American, have had my share of Chinese takeout. However but I truly believe this is the best takeout that I have ever had. It’s a solid choice, one that Blacksburg needs. So, if you are ever in Montpellier, I recommend the rice, with beef, broccoli, peas, egg, crispy onions and Hong Kong sauce. Don’t forget to ask for a carafe d’eau on the side.
BRITTANY BURKHALTER -guest columnist -senior communication major
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
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Open your eyes to reality around you
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FEATURES
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Romance shines through ‘The Overton Window’ I
t seems unlikely that an obscure political theory can garner the attention of power players and also be used to win over women in extremely tense situations. It seems even more unlikely that Thomas Paine quotations appear in the context of roman-
tic flirtations. However, these unlikely scenarios play out in “The Overton Window,” the second novel by talk radio provocateur and Fox News Channel commentator Glenn Beck. The book, which sold over 132,000 copies in its first week of release,
knocked Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” from its No. 1 best-seller perch on the New York Times best-seller list — a literary victory for the American free market. Or something to that effect. In the opening pages of the novel,
we meet Noah Gardner, the book’s protagonist (and the employer of Thomas Paine-enabled pickup lines), sporting a NYU degree, a “killer eHarmony profile,” and a cushy position at his father’s New York City public relations firm. Noah’s father and head of the PR firm, Arthur Gardner, is your standard super-evil dude in a suit with accompanying super-evil plans for world domination, complete with soundbite-level soliloquies that got lost on their way to an 800-page Ayn Rand novel. In walks Molly Ross, a mailroom temp with playing-hard-to-get designs on Noah, and Noah falls hard and fast for this woman with “a lush abundance of dark auburn hair,” barely visible eagle tattoos, and friends who like to make their own ammunition in their shared East Village third-floor walkup apartment. That’s the real story here, other than discovering how words written by one of the founders and a senior vice president of a Michigan think tank can be employed to score with sexy, free-spirited patriotic women who just happen to bear a striking resemblance to Natalie Portman — no kidding, it’s actually a plot point. My takeaway from “The Overton Window” is this: It’s a romance novel hidden inside what Beck terms “faction,” or fiction based on fact. Everything that happens to the star-crossed couple Noah and Molly unfolds in traditional romance novel fashion: The cute meeting in the office break room, the awkward first is-it-or-isn’t-it-date at a bar, the first kiss on a street corner, the stern parental disapproval. There is the occasional “wait, what” moment (a spoiler-obscured example: Molly makes a mean glass of sweet tea). Unfortunately, at times “The
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“The Overton Window” by Glenn Beck
Bottom Line: Fan fiction written about “The Overton Window” will be better than the book itself, but to get all the references, you’ll have to read the novel first. Or perhaps waiting for the movie adaptation is the best plan of action here — just don’t expect Natalie Portman to star in it.
Overton Window” reads less like a thriller and more like an extended series of TV tropes entries stitched together in lieu of a plot. Noah is splashed with water while walking to a Founders’ Keepers rally to meet Molly in the classic “Roadside Wave” trope, and he is also bailed out of jail by his father’s lawyers multiple times in textbook “Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!” fashion, and so on. The climax of the book, involving a YouTube star, a shootout, a frantic car chase, nuclear devices, and the Nevada desert, appears and disappears in a flash (pun intended). Sure, “The Overton Window” contains preposterous prose barely above fan fiction level and plot convolutions blatantly thieves from today’s headlines, including a guest appearance by former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. His scene is a less-awkward-more-horndog remix of the Patrick Bateman/Tom Cruise apartment elevator encounter in the Bret Easton Ellis’s 80s-horror-excess classic “American Psycho,” but there’s also a quasi-innocent love story unfolding throughout the novel. The inevitable film adaptation could be the romantic comedy/thriller of the year, “Twilight” for the sick twisted freak set. Who knew Glenn Beck had a date night film in him?
JOSETTE TORRES -WUVT DJ -class of 2010 -MFA in creative writing
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Students, refugee kids take part in summer camp 7 his past week, myself and a group of six other Mexican summer exchange students, a Virginia Tech student, and a couple of volunteers learned a valuable life lesson: No matter where they are from, 2-year-olds cannot be reasoned with. As members of the Community Development and Volunteerism class taught by Michele James-Deramo, we are participating in the Pilot Street Program, which helps Somali Bantu refugees living in Roanoke. The summer camp “Neighbors Near and Far” was one of our class projects, providing a summer camp experience for Somali refugee children. It took place at the Landsdowne Community Center in Roanoke last Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Although on paper the planning for the camp seemed to be quite simple, we weren’t prepared for the reality we were about to face. LAURA GARCIA/COLLEGIATE TIMES
The kids at the “Neighbors Near and Far” summer camp at Landsdowne apartments participate in an art project. They had to make up imaginary countries and paint flags for them. we weren’t doing our jobs right. That Monday we all ran around like chickens with our heads cut off. We survived three hours of running and fighting and lived to fight another day. Most of us passed out on the 50-minute drive back to Blacksburg. We were exhausted and it was only the first day. As the days went by, not only did we learn the names of the kids, but we also really connected with them. It is hard to imagine that most of the kids came from backgrounds that are almost the opposite of what we know. Most of the children under six years old had been born in America, but the older ones remembered a birth continent an ocean away and longed for it. The way they responded to activities was also very different. As a team, we had to learn how to face this group of kids that was like a living, breathing organism with a life of its own. Our plans had to be flexible and adaptable to however the kids were feeling that day. If it was too hot to play outside for more than 20 minutes we had come up with something new for them to do inside, and if they got bored inside, we had to create an outdoor game to get them out of their funk. They kept us on our toes all the time. Eventually we learned to break them up into age groups: babies and toddlers, elementary school kids, and preteens and teens. Some of us were on baby duty, carrying a 1-year-old on one hip while leading a toddler to the playground with a free hand. Those who worked with older kids had their own challenges. Many of these kids had learned less than perfect English. They use it at school, but at home most of them speak Mai Mai, a tribal language from Somalia. The English they hear in their neighborhood is either the choppy attempts of an older refugee to speak English, or the grammatically flawed word structure that characterizes African-American “Ebonics.” Understanding what they were saying
and what they wanted was really difficult. I have never had trouble controlling a group of little kids, and most of my classmates were equally experienced, but to be faced with such a different style of behavior was shocking. Most of the toddlers are left to their siblings’ care, so whenever they want something they are accustomed to screaming and throwing very loud tantrums to get it. They are used to getting what they want, for their siblings will do anything
to stop the screaming. Teens do not know how to participate in structured activity and follow rules and instructions. All of them are used to hitting each other and fighting; it’s nothing out of the ordinary in Somali Bantu and refugee children. My gut reaction was to blame the parents, who in my mind raised their children wrong. Then I blamed the kids; nasty little children who do not know how to behave. But I reconsidered after a second spent dwelling in my anger.
LAURA GARCIA -senior -journalism major -Mexican exchange student
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR When we arrived at the Landsdowne Community Center at five minutes until two, there weren’t any children inside waiting for us. We had expected a cluster of wide-eyed children to be waiting and excited at the entrance. We were wrong. Two little girls arrived, daughters of Yeilani, a Somali Bantu board member. Since eight college students and three volunteers are more than what’s needed to tend to a couple of kids, we set out into the neighborhood hoping to see some kids that might be interested in joining our pre-planned summer camp bonanza. We knocked on doors, talked to kids playing on sidewalks and stopped boys on their bikes to invite them to the camp. Soon enough, we had groups of kids walking with us ready to go and start having some fun. There was one slight hiccup to this whole recruiting situation: The camp was only planned for elementary-aged children. However, Somali Bantu families are large and many do not allow their younger children to go outside without their older brothers and sisters to look out for them. Babies, toddlers, preteens and teens were not supposed to be part of the program, but we did not have a choice but to say yes. We were willing to meet any condition in order to give as many kids as possible the chance to come to our camp. Once our ever-growing crowd had made it back to the community center, Carol, a volunteer, and Michele, our teacher, started putting nametags on the kids. Most of them have names that reflect their African heritage, names that are harder to learn than Annie and John. Mukumbira, Hamdi Farioh, Isha, Fcosi, Jeanbosco and Akiyah were all part of the joyous group of kids we were honored to work with. Then the confusion started. Teens were bored with the games we had planned, toddlers and babies couldn’t keep up, boys wanted to run outside and girls wanted to stay inside and paint. All of our careful pre-planning fell at the mercy of this group of 35 or 40 kids who were not too shy to let us know
Their behavior was nothing but a cultural reflection that I wasn’t used to, and in my shell shock I had rapidly judged instead of trying to find understanding. Real understanding, empathy and respect require work. Our survival instincts call us to protect our way of life and thinking, regarding anything different as an enemy. It is the law of the jungle. But beyond our Neanderthalic brain core, we have the ability to look past tribal rivalries to what makes us all human: The same basic experiences and feelings that help us bond with the rest of humanity. I thought this was natural, and that if it didn’t happen it was because something was off. But that is not the case. By Thursday, we had all learned to get along and the kids would listen to us. Lunchtime was quiet and serene. We managed to get them to draw and paint flags on small cloths. We were ready to keep going but it was time to home. Tired but grateful for the experience, we piled into our respective vehicles. We pulled away from Landsdowne Apartments trying to process the life of these children, and how they show us both the universal trials of growing up and the unique trials of resettling in a refugee community.
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Wondering what’s going on around the ‘burg? Check out the events of the upcoming week. [Thursday, July 1] What: Music — Ryan Tuchler Where: Gillie’s When: 7 p.m. Cost: Free What: Music — College Night w/ DJ Dat Boi Where: Attitudes Bar and Cafe When: 9 p.m. Cost: Cover, ladies free before 11 p.m. Note: College ID required
[Friday, July 2] What: Music — Alliens Where: Attitudes Bar and Cafe When: 8 p.m. Cost: $5 Note: 18+ with ID DANIEL LIN/SPPS
Musicians from around the country perform Tuesday, June 29, in the Squires Recital Salon during the chamber music and opera festival.
What: Music — The Ministers of Soul Where: Henderson Lawn (rain site: Squires Old Dominion Ballroom) When: 6 p.m. Cost: Free
[Saturday, July 3] What: Music — Brother Buck Where: Gillie’s When: 7 p.m. Cost: Free What: Music — DJ Dance Party Where: Attitudes Bar and Cafe When: 9 p.m. Cost: Cover, ladies free before 11 p.m.
[Sunday, July 4] What: Independence Day Celebration Where: Historic Smithfield Plantation When: 10 a.m to 1 p.m. Cost: Free
[Wednesday, July 7] What: Comey Club — Derek Richards & Mark Fradl Where: Attitudes Bar and Cafe When: 9 p.m. Cost: Cover
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
[All Week] What: Play — You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown Where: Squires Studio Theatre When: Thursday and Friday at 2 p.m. Cost: Free What: Play — Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Where: Theatre 101 When: Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Cost: Free This week, the Lyric is showing “The Secret in Their Eyes,” a crime thriller from Argentina. Check out TheLyric.com for showtime information.
Toronto Raptors typify expansion mediocrity
ROBERT DUYOS/MCT CAMPUS
Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh offers a questionable facial expression to official Derrick Stafford during a game against the Miami Heat on December 15. Bosh will be a free agent, beginning today. scoring champion, also began his career as a bench player for Toronto, who traded him to Orlando in 2000. In fact, the Raptors’ initial four first-round draft picks were all dubiously traded from the team — Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, McGrady, Carter. Now the Raptors look like another star will walk out the door in search of greener pastures. General manager Bryan Colangelo’s only hope is to issue a sign-and-trade with another team that will allow the Raptors to get something in return for their star forward. Either way, the Raptors are the epitome of a franchise that is clearly immune to success. At least they aren’t the only ones. Here’s a look at a few other teams in the past three decades that still don’t have the ship headed in the right direction: CLEVELAND BROWNS (1999) The Browns were a proud franchise for a long time before they up and moved to Baltimore a year before their 50th anniversary and became the Ravens in 1995. Then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue reunited Cleveland with professional football just four years later, but the Browns had to start from scratch as an expansion team. In 11 years, the Browns have made the playoffs just once and have never won a division title. They have compiled an embarrassing record of 59-117 in that span, which includes just two winning seasons. Hopefully for Cleveland fans, the Browns have finally found stability in the front office with President Mike Holmgren, who has a sterling track record in the NFL. Of course, so did Carmen Policy when he held the job in 1999, before five turbulent seasons led to his departure. VANCOUVER/MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (1995) The fact that there are two completely
different locations in the above listing of the Grizzlies’ hometown is Exhibit A of how they made this list. Memphis just wrapped up its 16th season under its 11th different head coach and fifth general manager. From 2004-06, things were looking up for the Grizzlies, as they made three consecutive playoff appearances after failing to make it so far before. Instead, Memphis has yet to return to the postseason since. In its six years in Vancouver, the Grizzlies never won more than 23
games in a season. Those three years amid the playoff streak are the only seasons that the team has posted a winning regular season record. A 40-42 record and a young nucleus of talent has fans in Memphis optimistic about the future, but until the Grizzlies prove they can get it done on the court, nobody should hold their breath. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (2000) These guys make the Browns look like the 1990s-era Cowboys. It’s been
11 long seasons in central Ohio, where the Blue Jackets have made the playoffs just once. How’d that playoff series go? Columbus was outscored 18-7 in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings in 2009. The Blue Jackets have been so bad since their inception that they were probably the only team to welcome the NHL’s lockout in 2004 because there were no games to lose. Not only does this franchise not know how to field a winning team, they can’t seem to decide on a logo either. The three logos used in 11 years for the team consisted of a hockey stick, some sort of bird with what appear to be angel’s wings and a Civil War soldier’s hat. When you’re called Blue Jackets, I guess anything is possible. There are several teams I’d like to thank for participating, but you just didn’t stink quite as bad as the aforementioned clubs. These teams include: the Charlotte Bobcats, Minnesota Wild, Houston Texans, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Nashville Predators. Just keep trying guys, I hear Seneca Wallace is poised for a breakout year in Cleveland.
JOSH PARCELL -sports staff writer -junior -communication major
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
n the past 30 years, the four major sports in the United States have added 21 franchises to its respective professional leagues. Among that group of teams, there has been a varied level of success, mostly on the level of “none at all.” The number of championships claimed by the group can be counted on a single hand. Between those 21 teams, there have only been five titles. In the NFL, only four brand-new franchises have been added to the league since 1980. They have just one Super Bowl appearance (the Carolina Panthers in 2003) among them. Baseball has the best track record. Every team that has been a part of the MLB’s expansion has appeared in at least one World Series. The Marlins have two championships, while the Diamondbacks have another. The Miami Heat is the only newer team in the NBA to have a title banner hanging from its rafters. Ditto for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL, which stunned the league in 2003-04 before it disbanded for the following season. It’s permissible to say the number of expansion team success stories is limited. The NBA free agency period begins today, and one of those expansion-era teams is on the brink of losing the centerpiece of the franchise — again. According to numerous reports, Chris Bosh is expected to leave the Toronto Raptors and sign to a team where he is more likely to contend for championships. The expected Bosh departure instigated a revelation this week that hit me harder than a flying Dwight Howard elbow. I realized that the Toronto Raptors’ NBA history parallels Jennifer Aniston’s dating career. I mean, let’s face it, that girl has had some promising relationships, but she always finds one way or another to fumble them away. For the Raptors, the team was doomed from the start when its first ever draft pick, Damon Stoudamire, was booed by Toronto fans on draft night and lasted only two and a half years in Toronto. He ended up enjoying a successful and sustained 13-year career, mostly in Portland. It happened with Vince Carter, who in 2004 — only a year removed from his fifth consecutive all-star game appearance — clashed with new head coach Sam Mitchell and ended up being traded to the Nets. This is what the Raptors got in return: Alonzo Mourning (never reported to the team), Aaron Williams (averaged 1.7 points per game in two seasons), and — here’s the best one — Eric Williams, who averaged four points per game in two seasons with the team, but in 2005 started his own clothing line honoring the Negro Basketball League. One small problem: Such a league never existed. I believe the words you’re searching for are “epic” and “fail.” Tracy McGrady, the two-time NBA
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Hokies in the Pros: Summer ball edition ALEX JACKSON sports editor For sports fans, July always seems to be one of the worst months of the year. After the NBA and NHL close out their seasons in June, there simply isn’t a lot out there to get your heart racing in the heat of the summer. The NFL news wire seems stagnant as players take their final vacations before training camp, NASCAR drivers are just warming up early in their season and college sports remain as dead as can be. This year was supposed to be the exception to the rule. However, one swift kick from Ghana last Saturday ruined the lofty dreams of American sports fans (once again), knocking the U.S. men’s national team out of competition at the World Cup in South Africa. But not all is lost. Behind the veil of dusty feature stories displayed on ESPN SportsCenter, there still is baseball. And although the Hokies fell weeks ago in the College World Series, there still are Hokies playing it. Here’s a rundown of what some of Tech’s finest are doing to make their names known in the at the professional level of America’s pastime.
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
JOE SAUNDERS, LEFT-HANDED PITCHER, LOS ANGELES ANGELS After making his Major League
debut in 2005, Joe Saunders, from Springfield, Va., spent three seasons working out his kinks in sporadic appearances on the hill for the Los Angeles Angels. When he successfully improved his earned run average in every season up until 2008, the former Hokie earned a full-time position in the Angels’ rotation. In his first year of full-duty, Saunders burst onto the big league scene, going 17-7 in 31 starts and shattering his career-high by over a point, recording a 3.41 ERA. The following year, Saunders had another solid season, finishing 16-7 in 31 starts. With above-average seasons under his belt at the highest of levels, it was safe to say he had arrived. This season, though, things have been a little rough for the Tech alumnus. In 16 starts this year, Saunders is 6-8 with an earned run average just below five at 4.88. In slighty more than half of the appearances he had in 2008, he’s almost matched his mark of 53 walks that year, with 41 charitable contributions this season. Starting his season 1-5 with a 7.04 ERA certainly didn’t help his cause and although he has picked it up, he hasn’t been nearly as reliable as he once was. Thankfully, Saunders has begun to show signs of life. On June 27, he struck out a season-high eight batters in seven innings, defeating the
ROSE PALMISANO/MCT CAMPUS
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Joe Saunders, a Virginia Tech alumnus, works against the Toronto Blue Jays at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California on May 24. Saunders is off to a 6-8 start this year. Colorado Rockies 4-2. The former All-Star was pleased with his outing. “It’s a good start to build off of,” Saunders told reporters after the game. “Everybody knows I haven’t
been pitching that well this year.” The Angels currently sit in secondplace in the American League West and Saunders’ arm will be needed down the stretch. KEVIN BARKER, FIRST BASEMAN, ROJOS DEL AGUILA DE VERACRUZ If you talk about names you haven’t heard in a long time, Kevin Barker, of Bristol, Va., is just that. After being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the third round of the 1996 amateur draft, the former Hokie has stepped in front of a Major League pitcher just 323 times in 15 years — but he’s still trucking. This season, the 34-year-old is playing in Boca del Rio, Mexico, in the Class AAA Mexican League. There, he’s leading his team in hitting, with a .310 average through 64 games and is also tied for third on the team in home runs and runs batted in, with 10 and 40, respectively. It’s been a tough road for Barker, whose most recent appearance on the big stage was last year with the Cincinnati Reds. Spending 12 seasons on a AAA squad for the Brewers, San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays and Reds, the former Hokie has been close, but has rarely been given the opportunity at the highest level. Time will tell if this former Hokie. Time, however, can be a 34-year-old’s worst enemy in professional sports. WYATT TOREGAS, CATCHER, CLEVELAND INDIANS Another former Hokie struggling to find his place with a Major League
organization is Wyatt Toregas, of Fairfax. Toregas was drafted in the 24th round of the 2004 amateur draft and after a long struggle in the minors, received his chance in the big leagues last season, appearing in 19 games for the Cleveland Indians. In those appearances, Toregas hit a poor .176 at the dish and drove in just nine runs. Shortly thereafter, he was sent back down to the minors for maintenance. Currently, the former Hokie is receiving time with the Indians’ AA affiliate, the Akron Aeros, but things aren’t going well. After hitting .375 at the single A level to begin the year, Toregas was called up to Akron for his excellent production, but he hasn’t met expectations. In Akron, he is hitting just .203 this season and although the Indians aren’t the most successful franchise in the world, that’s far from acceptable and far from what he needs to advance with the club. Toregas will need to step it up and hope whoever’s behind the plate ahead of him in the organization falters if he wants another chance at the big bucks. Saunders, Barker, and Toregas remain the some of the only Hokies in recent history to receive playing time at the highest level of the game. That may change soon, as eight Tech players were selected in May’s draft For those fresh faces, a long road stands between now and consistent time in the Majors. Just ask Kevin Barker.
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South Carolina shocks UCLA, takes NCAA title BLAIR KERKHOFF
collegiatetimes.com July 1, 2010
mcclatchy newspapers OMAHA, Neb. — Farewell tears dripped all over the College World Series finale. First, by South Carolina fans, whose unbridled joy was felt all the way to Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks completed a two-game sweep of UCLA with Tuesday’s 2-1 victory in 11 innings and captured college baseball’s championship. The title was a first for South Carolina in a high-profile team sport, and in the process the school shed the chicken curse. More on that in a moment. Sadness also filled the air as Rosenblatt Stadium completed its 61-year mission as site of college baseball’s championship. But the venerable ballpark on a 13th Street hilltop delivered a dramatic final chapter. Flash bulbs illuminated every UCLA pitch from the ninth inning on with fans hoping to freeze-frame the blow that would bring down college baseball at Rosenblatt. It happened in the 11th. Ninthplace hitter Scott Wingo drew a walk from Bruins relief ace Dan Klein and moved to second on a passed ball. Evan Marzilli put down a sacrifice bunt, moving Wingo to third. Up came outfielder Whit Merrifield, a ninth-round selection of the Kansas City Royals earlier this month. Merrifield had been hitless in four at-bats. But he lashed a 2-0 fastball into right field, ending the game. “When I saw they weren’t going to walk me, I just tried to get a pitch in the air,” Merrifield said. “This is unbelievable.” Don’t know about the curse? Ask any Gamecocks faithful. Better yet, don’t. It’s too painful. The curse explains some of the biggest heartaches in South Carolina sports history. The 1970 basketball team was set up for a Final Four run, having the regional in Columbia. But the sixthranked Gamecocks were upset by North Carolina State in the ACC tournament final at a time when only the tournament champion qualified for the NCAA field. In 1984, the South Carolina football team started 9-0 and was poised to become No. 1 but lost in a monumental upset to Navy. Tuesday, the curse was over. South Carolina seemed destined. It became the first team to win six straight games in Omaha, needing to capture
four straight after losing its opener in pool play. The Gamecocks won despite leaving 13 runners on base and going zero for seven with runners in scoring position before Merrifield’s hit. But they also got clutch pitching. Michael Roth, the relief specialist who had given South Carolina a triumph in a starting role earlier in the week, delivered five strong innings. The bullpen then tacked on six scoreless innings. The Gamecocks finally pushed one across in the eighth with the help of some shaky UCLA defense. Pinch-hitter Brady Thomas singled up the middle, and Kyle Enders got him to second with a ground-out. A hidden-ball-trick attempt — a college staple — failed when Thomas didn’t bite on a fake pickoff attempt. Pitcher Dan Klein had the ball in his glove when he mimed a throw to second, and the middle infielders faked an errant toss. Thomas didn’t budge on that play, but he scurried home when Bobby Haney grounded the ball to the right of first baseman Dean Espy. Espy knocked it away into short right for an error, and the game was tied. UCLA had a chance to go ahead in the ninth, loading the bases. But Gallego swung wildly at Matt Price’s slider for the inning-ending third strike. For a while, it looked as if UCLA would extend the series to a third game, but the Gamecocks wouldn’t be cursed. “This is an amazing feeling,” South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner said. The Gamecocks’ shocking title victory comes just weeks after South Carolina defeated Virginia Tech in the tournament’s regional round in Columbia. It was then, when USC hit its stride that would lead its school to NCAA greatness. After winning its first two games of regional play, the Gamecocks’ final hurdle of the first round was a scorching hot Tech team. The Hokies squared off with South Carolina after earning victories, despite already having one loss in the round, over Bucknell University and The Citadel. Tech was in a situation where it had to defeat USC twice in a row to advance to the tournament’s super regionals. Unfortunately for Hokies fans, Tech didn’t last, dropping its first game to South Carolina, 2-10.