COLLEGIATETIMES
July 29, 2010
what’s inside News .............2 Features ........6 0pinions ........4 Sports .........10 Classifieds ...11 Sudoku ........11 107th year issue 70 blacksburg, va.
Syca-no-more
[news in brief] Blacksburg woman dies in car accident
GIANT SYCAMORE TREE ON HENDERSON LAWN FELLED TUESDAY AFTER SUFFERING DISEASE CLAIRE SANDERSON managing editor The ancient sycamore that stood for over one hundred years as a landmark on the corner of College Avenue and Main Street was felled on Tuesday. With College Avenue closed to traffic, work began around 8 a.m. and continued until 6 p.m., according to Quintin McClellan, owner of Total Tree Health Care, the company contracted to do the job. Throughout the day, people watched the destruction from across the street and from Henderson Lawn — even in the light rain that blew in that afternoon. “We used a crane because there’s really no place to drop the tree. Typically we’ll use rigging to take the tree down from the top down if there’s structures nearby,” McClellan said. “To handle the job, we needed heavy equipment and our goal was to get it done in one day.” He said that the final piece of the trunk to be taken out weighed almost 8,100 pounds. “This to me is a funeral,” said onlooker Jack Goslee. “Since the 1970s when I went to school here, it’s been a landmark. The tree is a fantabulous meeting place.” In an open letter to the Virginia Tech community, director of facilities operations Mark Helms said his office was taking suggestions for ways to both redesign the area around Henderson Lawn and to use the wood once the tree has been removed. “I’ve had people suggest everything from paperweights to pens. Any way to get it into the hands of alumni all over the world,” McClellan said. “Because everyone who went here remembers that tree. The money could be used to help the university or for scholarships, maybe.” Tech will hold on to the wood until a decision is made as to how to use it.
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could come down in a bad storm, and it was necessary to remove it before downtown festivities such as the Steppin’ Out street festival begin, when hundreds of people crowd the streets near the tree. “If it were to come down it would cause some major damage, likely hitting the buildings on the opposite side of College Avenue,” Helms said. “The worst possible scenario would be to have the streets full with people and vendors.”
However, McClellan said many individuals have already requested pieces of the memorable tree. It is not known yet whether the tree Goslee, a woodcarver and whittler in his spare time, said he would like was planted or whether it was growto obtain a piece of the wood to per- ing naturally, but Stipes said there haps make a totem pole to memori- is a good chance that the tree is native. alize the tree. According to Helms, the tree Though its exact age is uncertain, a medium-sized sapling that is visible in pictures dating back as far as 1872 — the year Tech first opened — is believed to be the tree. A sentinel at the border of Blacksburg and Tech’s campus, the sycamore had witnessed so many of the town’s changes, yet its environment perhaps hastened its inevitable death. “I hate cutting trees down, but it’s a part of life. When the city encroaches, the tree loses,” Goslee said. Helms said in June that the grounds team at Tech has been looking at the tree’s declining health for more than two years and has made many efforts to sustain it. Jay Stipes, a professor of plant pathology at Tech who calls himself “The Tree Doctor,” gave his diagnosis for the tree’s decline in health as he watched the felling Tuesday morning. “We’re not sure exactly what brought it down, but it’s probably a complex of factors, one would be its age,” Stipes said. “It’s had a fungal disease and it’s had some root disruption. They put in conduits, and when they do that they have to sever roots. Also, if you’ll look around you’ll see that it’s surrounded by sidewalks and roads, which don’t give the roots a chance for uptake of minerals.” According to Eric Wiseman, a forestry professor and chair of the Arboretum Committee at Tech, the fungal disease Stipes referred to is called sycamore anthracnose. Wiseman said the disease hurts the DANIEL LIN/SPPS tree by causing it to lose its leaves, Total Tree Health Care employed a crane to cut the tree from top to rendering it unable to produce bottom. The top-down method is preferred in populated areas. enough energy to sustain itself.
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Patricia B. Vaught, 49, of Blacksburg died in a motor vehicle accident late this afternoon at the intersection of U.S. 460 and Bishop Road. Blacksburg Police, Fire, and Rescue responded at 4:38 p.m. to the single vehicle accident. According to a police news release, early investigation revealed Vaught was driving west on U.S. 460 in a 1995 Ford Taurus when the vehicle swerved right and hit the guardrail on the right shoulder of the road. The car continued across Bishop Road until it came to a rest at the guardrail on the opposite side of the road. Vaught was transported to Montgomery Regional Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Police investigation of the accident will continue. -claire sanderson, managing editor
Judge blocks key parts of immigration law PHOENIX — A federal judge has halted the most controversial elements of Arizona’s new immigration law, which had been scheduled to take effect at midnight. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on Wednesday halted implementation of the parts of the law that require police to determine the status of people they stop and think are in the country illegally. She also forbade the state from charging anyone for a new crime of failing to possess immigration documents. Bolton’s ruling found that the Obama administration was likely to prevail at trial in proving the two provisions — and two other ones in the sweeping law — were an unconstitutional attempt by Arizona to regulate immigration. Arizona is expected to immediately appeal the decision to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. -nicholas riccardi, mcclatchy newspapers
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collegiatetimes.com July 29, 2010
NEWS
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School board grapples with taxes, BHS plans LIANA BAYNE news editor The Montgomery County School Board, after struggling with the decision of where to sent students in the fall, now faces a new dilemma: Quickly crafting a long-term plan for Blacksburg High School. Because Auburn High School and Auburn Middle School in Riner were the next two schools on the county’s list for renovations, the board must also deal with the potential consequences of not renovating those buildings, which both date to the 1920’s. Finally, the board must consider the potential financial impact its actions will have on Montgomery County. Though it plans to meet with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors on Monday, it is already worrying about the potential increase in taxes the supervisors may need to enact across the county to pay for the
high school renovations. The current real estate tax level, according to a presentation given by member Walt Shannon to the board on Tuesday, is 74 cents for every $100. The same presentation estimated an increase of 1 cent for every $700,000 added to a project. Currently, the county has about $9 million left over from its two most recent construction projects, the construction of Shawsville Elementary and Prices Fork Elementary. That amount was $10 million, but $1 million has been appropriated to help offset the costs of transitioning Blacksburg Middle School students to Old Christiansburg Middle School in the fall. Shannon said in his presentation that the county’s debt can only be 12 percent higher than its expenditures. Because of this, he said, the county can only borrow about $2 million during the 2011 fiscal year.
“The county has reached its borrowing limit,” he said. “The only way for the county to increase revenues is through taxes.” The board’s four potential plans for dealing with the county’s high schools include: — Repairing BHS for $14,464,000 and not dealing with AHS or AMS. This option would potentially not increase taxes because the board doesn’t yet know how much insurance money it will receive to offset the cost of repairing the collapsed gym. — Building a new BHS, building a new AHS, and renovating the current AHS so that AMS students could utilize that building. This option is estimated at $124,556,000 with a potential tax increase of 13 cents. — Building a new BHS and a new AHS, but not immediately beginning to renovate the current AHS for eventual AMS occupancy. This option is estimated at $102,010,400 with a potential tax increase of 10.5 cents. — Building a new BHS for $57,456,000 and not dealing with AHS or AMS. This option would bring a potential tax increase of 6 cents. School board members plan to bring these plans to the Board of Supervisors in Monday’s meeting. Various members voiced their support for different plans, but all seemed to have the financial burden of tax increases in mind. “Option one is the only thing I feel like I can go with,” member Penny Franklin said. Member Joe Ivers called the second
DANIEL LIN/SPPS
Walt Shannon listens to a fellow school board member speak during the July 6 meeting. Shannon was a key player in Tuesday’s meeting as he gave a presentation on potential financing plans for BHS. option, work on all three schools with a potential tax increase of 13 cents, “astronomical.” “Option two is out of the question,” he said. “I think we need to be fiscally responsible.” Board member Wat Hopkins, also a communication professor at Virginia Tech, supported option one but called it a “stop-gap” measure. “It can’t be our only option,” he said. Although no decision can be made until after the school board meets with
the Board of Supervisors, Hopkins urged members to not just consider construction costs but also other costs of operating the county’s schools. “I have a problem asking for bricks and mortar when we’ve forgotten programs and people,” he said. “I can’t ask for 10 cents for construction without asking for raises.” The Board of Supervisors meets with the school board on Monday, Aug. 2 at 5 p.m. in the Montgomery County Government Building.
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MICHAELA REARDON news staff writer
KERRY QUINN news staff writer The second phase of the Main Street improvement project began July 19 and is making some businesses along Main Street difficult to reach. Sections of road and sidewalks along Main Street are undergoing construction from College Avenue to Alumni Mall. One of the main goals of the Main Street construction is to improve pedestrian experience, with 115 new trees, 18 trashcans, seven black benches, 116 streetlights and 14 landscape planters. “It’s going to be a much more pedestrian-friendly environment. There will be wider sidewalks, more benches and more bricks,” town council member John Bush said. “The downtown feel will be extended to Prices Fork Road, which could lead to better shops.” However, as construction continues, students are expected to encounter the same frustrations that the residents of Blacksburg experience. “I don’t think it will affect students any more than other residents, although some of the places people go to may be hard to get to. But (the road) won’t be completely shut down,” Bush said. Cooks Clean Center, which is commonly used by students, may be particularly hard to reach, Bush remarked.
Construction adjacent to The Cellar, as well, has made the restaurant more difficult to access. As a result, the business has been experiencing drops in sales. “There’s been a drop in profits. We’re probably bringing in half of what we should be,” said Kevin Wong, manager of The Cellar. While improvements are being made all along the street, according to Wong, none of the improvements will affect The Cellar. “It’s going to look exactly the same as before in front of our business. There’s absolutely no change, except now there will be room for two tractor trailers to park in front, as opposed to one,” Wong said. The Cellar is one of many businesses frustrated with the construction. “I think it’s going to be a detriment. I think that’s the consensus, that it’s going to be a detriment,” Wong said. Other businesses along Main Street, however, have experienced little troubles. At Hokie House, lunch sales have actually gone up and manager Brian Palmer believes the new improvements will help business. “The town council told us that since we’re near the end, as long as we get a permit, we can put out a picnic area,” Palmer said. The estimated date of completion for the Main Street Improvement Project is spring of 2012.
A group of 10 senior engineering students produced an awardwinning design in a recent NASA aeronautics competition for college students. Professor William Mason of aerospace and ocean engineering advised the team. “It was a year-long process,” Mason said. “It started about halfway through first semester and ended halfway through their final semester.” The team was one of many from Mason’s senior aircraft design class. The entire class filled out forms indicating what project they wanted to be a part of. Halfway through the first semester the teams were chosen and began working. “It was the best team I’ve worked with in college,” said Ryan Paetzell, who graduated in the spring and is currently an employee of NASA. The competitors were required to design a theoretical multipurpose amphibious aircraft that could rescue up to 50 survivors, hover to help rescue missions, land on ground or water, travel 920 miles, cruise at speeds up to 345 mph and fight fires by siphoning water into an internal tank and dumping it while traveling. “We thought we were going to win. We told our professor at the beginning that we were going to win it,” said Ryan Berg, who also graduated in the spring and is now an employee at Lockheed Martin.
COURT ESY W ILLIAM MASO N
During the eight-month process, each individual student or pair of students was in charge of investigating a certain section of the aircraft. The group met Tuesdays and Thursdays for two to three hours to discuss the design plan and update one another on the group’s progress. “It was difficult because the competition was about a tilt-rotor aircraft and our school didn’t have any courses on tilt-rotor aircrafts, so we did a lot of research on our own,” team member Joseph Diner said. They did, however, consult with an industrial team from aerospace giant Boeing. The required tilt-rotor design was similar to the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, a military aircraft with the same design, and the students were able to discuss it with the industrial team. “Boeing looked at our report and gave us some tips about our design,” Paetzell said. After the design phase was over, the writing process began. The students sometimes spent up to seven hours meeting and writing their paper. “I had no life for part of my senior
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Construction blocks Students win design contest 3 Main St. businesses year, but the class was more i nvolve d and we had fun,” Berg said. The final result was a blueprint of an aircraft that resembled a catamaran with two parallel carriers, connected by a wing equipped with two propellers at the wing tips. The design beat teams and individuals from more than 100 colleges including colleges from India, the United Kingdom, China, Canada, Poland and Nigeria. A team of 10 graduate students from Georgia Tech and University at Liverpool won second place and a team of 28 undergraduate students from the University of Virginia won third place. With first place, the team was given $5,000 to be split evenly among the team. Two other students, Paetzell and Jason Smith, accepted paid internships at NASA, where they now work in the same field as their project. “I think it was a good group of students,” Mason said. “They were all very smart and I know they are going to be successful.”
construction to watch out for this week On Main Street, from College Avenue to Alumni Mall, construction is affecting both roads and sidewalks. On July 26, street paving began as part of the Main Street improvement project. It will last for two weeks and include parts of Giles Road, North Main Street, Northside Drive, Ashford Court, Hunt Club Road, Eakin Street, Hemlock Drive, Gracelyn Court and Draper Road. Also, Main Street signal coordination and replacement will begin late this summer. During this period of construction, there are three safe crossing locations. These include College Avenue, Alumni Mall and Turner Street. -sarah watson, news reporter
collegiatetimes.com July 29, 2010
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OPINIONS
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Learn to earn or serve to learn? A
query to all students: What motivates you to do well in college? According to entering-student profiles, the typical high school student coming into Virginia Tech is motivated by visions of grandeur. Survey results indicate that a significant number of students consider it essential or very important to acquire wealth and prominence in their particular career trajectory. Perhaps this is the stuff of high school dreams: A college education is the gateway to greatness for those who are granted admission. These student profiles indicate what entering students are less likely to consider as essential or very important: Influencing the political structure, helping others who are in difficulty, participating in a community action program and influencing social values. What? Does this mean Virginia Tech students are uncaring and selfaggrandizing? Or simply that they are pragmatic by nature, especially in this economy? After all, you don’t need a college degree to be nice. As my working class father advised me - get a good job first and you can help people later. I did not follow his advice. Recalling my own entry into college, I remember the sense of possibility that lay before me. Career preparation was expected, but incidental to my larger goal. After all, if I was merely pursuing employment, I could have attended a vocational school rather than a fouryear liberal arts college. Instead, college offered a new world of exploration and discovery. Perhaps I wouldn’t have
articulated it in quite this way as an 18year-old, but I certainly felt that I was on a threshold of creativity, self-understanding and experimentation. I was going to college because I wanted to make a difference; not only for myself, but even more so for the world. Initially, I was troubled by Virginia Tech’s entering student profile results. What a dreary future lies ahead for young people who are driven primarily by the desire to earn rather than learn! Of course, I appreciate the economic realities faced by too many young adults who must consider carefully their career choices so they can insure that their debts are paid after college is finished. Likewise, I recognize the seduction of a commercialized culture that holds out promises of leisure, comfort, and happiness through the acquisition of material goods — a happiness that is within our grasp with the swipe of a credit card, yet is forever elusive because material goods are forever being improved upon so that we are never satisfied with having enough. But I also know through the accumulation of life experience that the years of earning and raising a family can consume a person. I know that the drive to earn is more likely to lead to longer hours and increased isolation, and that the meager rewards for these efforts — the two-week vacation or the 60-inch television console — offer little in the way
of spiritual satisfaction. Furthermore, if our young people are veering headlong into lives of “quiet desperation,” what then of our communities? Can we afford to become a society that is an aggregate of earners where helping those in difficulty and shaping social values are considerably less important than taking care of our own families? Fortunately, entering students are not left to their own devices to navigate their curriculum check sheets on a campus of 30,000 students. At every level of the university, there is a strategic plan to engage students through a variety of experiential learning opportunities that range from extracurricular activities and volunteerism, to co-curricular leadership programs, to service-learning classes that integrate service with coursework, to community-focused research, design and studio work. Thus, while students are working to earn degrees that will give them access to satisfying, well-compensated careers, they are also enlarging their vision for their own lives. A lot happens during those years between the entering student profile and the senior survey. In 2009, 65 percent of graduating seniors who responded to the survey claimed to have participated in community service or volunteer work on their own time and 26 percent participated as a part of a course. Anecdotally, students report that their work on community projects — tutoring children in afterschool
programs, helping refugees apply for citizenship, advancing the local food movement, designing better systems for clean water — were their most significant learning experiences during their college years. In the end, helping others and influencing social values is in fact very important to Tech students. The student engagement opportunities do much to awaken in students the critical importance of their role as citizens. This includes an awareness of their own privilege in having the chance to attend a university, as well as the specific obligations and responsibilities that go with it. Specifically, service-learning and cultural exchange take students beyond what is comfortable for them so that they can conceive of new paradigms that are inclusive of multiple perspectives and worldviews. If you are an entering student, find out now how you can make your education more profitable through service and engagement. If you are a continuing student who hasn’t yet been involved, then try it out. If you are already involved — spread the word; serve to learn. It pays off well in the end.
MICHELE JAMES-DERAMO -director, servicelearning center
Partisanship anger prevents growth O
ver these past few weeks, I have sensed a growing anger of discontent within our communities, whether the concerns are about the BP oil spill, the lack of jobs in this economy, or the feelings of frustration with those in government. One hears and sees this growing discontent on online comment boards and in the news, and it is so often manifested through the use of harsh rhetoric and language. This anger is leading to a growing sense of skepticism and disillusionment about the status of things. About a week ago, Congress extended emergency unemployment benefits after they had expired. What would have been a routine approval in the past was delayed by partisan disagreements. There was a lot of anger on both sides; on one side from those whose benefits had run out, and on the other from those accusing the benefit recipients of being lazy and hurting the long-term future of the country. For me this issue hits close to home as my father, 63, lost his job in January. He was fired from his job and given the excuse that they wanted to restructure. He applied for unemployment on
January 13, 2010 and his unemployment benefits in Florida ran out on June 22. Every day he goes out and searches for work but he faces the daunting challenging of a 12 to 13 percent unemployment rate in south Florida and the added barriers of his age and lack of computer skills. Fortunately he receives his Social Security check which helps to pay the rent, but he relied on the unemployment check to help with the rest of the expenses. My mother does not work because of her multiple sclerosis and fortunately receives some aid in food stamps. My sister and I do the best that we can to help amid the circumstances but it is hard. My father and the many individuals like him feel powerless as they wait for leaders in Washington to make a decision. They hear all of these people in the news, on the radio and online talking about the ills of unemployment benefits without truly understanding the valuable lifeline that it can provide. I use this personal anecdote as an example of how our anger and partisanship is clouding our sense of judgment and openness.
Take for another example the recent skirmish between the NAACP and the Tea Party movement. At its National Convention, the NAACP passed a resolution condemning the Tea Party movement for acts of racism. The Tea Party fired back claiming that it was not racist. Within a few days, we saw the issue of Shirley Sherrod’s firing and how a video snippet could be taken out of context and used to create anger and discord. Rather than a careful review and analysis the situation, everyone rushed to judgment without listening to one another. It is not the first time anger has come in the way of justice and common sense, and it is something that has been stirring for some time. For example, we also see a growing lack of dialogue between Democrats and Republicans, and when dialogue does happen, it is only by a handful that dare participate or even risk the ire of their supporters. I fear that this growing discontent and inability to discuss controversial issues in an effective way will only continue to cloud our judgment and discourage our success as a community. There is certainly a difference between
being passionate about a cause and a being uncivil in engaging with those who hold different opinions. I look to these next few months before the November elections as a test for how we as a country can manage this anger. Will this anger manifest itself in a complete sweeping out of the status quo? Will this bring in new voices and new perspectives? Will this anger just perpetuate itself? As part of the Tech community, we are not immune from this political anger and climate of incivility. As we jump into the new school year, we need to understand the current anger and how it will impact the students, the faculty and staff. We can’t avoid these feelings of anger and frustration, but we can provide valuable tools to help channel these feelings into something more positive and constructive.
RAY PLAZA -faculty member -study abroad leader
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Blame falls on many for Sherrod affair fact that the NAACP audience also expressed approval when Sherrod brought her story full circle and said poor people of every race need help. But he didn’t. Such are the pitfalls of a media world in which everyone plays whisper-down-the-lane, but nobody fact-checks the message. The reality is that the audience’s reaction was not a tacit approval of Sherrod’s momentary reluctance to help a poor white farmer. Rather, it was the kind of response you might hear when any engaging story is told in an African American church. Any remotely honest observer who watches Sherrod’s full speech must acknowledge that the audience was rooting for her ultimate redemption, not applauding her outdated shortcomings.Too bad everyone — including Breitbart, his loyal readers, the media, the NAACP, and the Department of Agriculture — was willing to accept the video at face value. To fully understand why they did, a little context is in order. First, in the polarized media world we live in, Breitbart enjoys credibility he does not deserve. The only credential required to cast oneself as a media player today is a partisan one. If you are willing to conform to the artificial extremes of left/right, liberal/ conservative and blue/red, you get a keyboard or a microphone and, voila, you are in business! Some of those bearing such credentials have conditioned their audiences to believe that Obama is a racist. Glenn Beck has said the president has “a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” Rush Limbaugh called the commander in chief “the greatest living example of a reverse racist” after his Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, herself an alleged “reverse racist” and “hack.”
All the false charges of racism condition these talking heads’ followers to readily accept that a minority woman speaking any ill of white farmers must be racist, without even pausing to wonder if there could be more to the story. Which is not to say there isn’t plenty of blame to go around. Vilsack and the NAACP should have reserved judgment, especially if Sherrod was telling them that Breitbart’s clip was part of a longer speech with a different message (which, presumably, she was). The news outlets that ran with the clip also should have done more to determine whether it was authentic. The administration would have been better off remembering the words then-Sen. Obama spoke in the midst of another racial kerfuffle: “The profound mistake of Rev. Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society,” Obama said at the National Constitution Center. “It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made. ... But what we know, what we have seen, is that America can change. That is (the) true genius of this nation.” We should have known right away that Shirley Sherrod was making the same point. For missing it, Tom Vilsack owed her the apology he offered. For obscuring it, Andrew Breitbart owes the rest of us one as well.
MICHAEL SMERCONSIH -McClatchy newspapers
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ast week, blogger Andrew Breitbart released a mischievously edited video. It showed a black Department of Agriculture official, Shirley Sherrod, recalling her seemingly racist reluctance to assist a white farmer more than two decades earlier. Some in the audience of NAACP members are heard engaging in a sort of call-and-response approval of Sherrod’s sentiments. Reacting to the edited video, Sherrod’s boss, agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack, demanded her resignation. Now imagine if it had gone a little differently — if, before Sherrod could resign, the White House had intervened and saved her job. Imagine the reaction of those now trying to put President Obama at the center of this debacle by blaming him for Sherrod’s unnecessary resignation. They would have been outraged if he had backed her up in the face of the initial information. Should Vilsack have investigated further? Yes. Ditto for the NAACP. But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs should not have been the first to offer Sherrod an apology. It should have been Breitbart, the man who started the controversy. Breitbart’s explanation — that he didn’t realize the video had been so maliciously manipulated — only amplifies his irresponsibility. Of the “source” who gave him the video, he told the Daily Beast: “I don’t know this person. I can’t divine what that person’s motivation was. I don’t know.” A little less trust and a little more verify next time, Mr. Breitbart. Even shallower was Breitbart’s description of his own motivation: “The video shows racism, and when the NAACP is going to charge the tea party with racism. ... I’m going to show you it happens on the other side.” Even if you take that bogus explanation at face value, Breitbart at least should have highlighted the
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Fall in love with ‘Slow Love’ M
uch has been written about the recent economic downturn that has affected all aspects of American life. However, what about the privileged upper middle and upper class societies in the greater New York City area? How has the collapse of financial and publishing industries affected them? One answer is proffered by Dominique Browing’s memoir, “Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas & Found Happiness.” Browning lost her job in the fall of 2007 and after being unable to find steady employment when the magazine she worked for closed, she was forced to sell her house, leave New York City and start over again in another town — hardly an unfamiliar tale to anyone with an unemployed friend or relative. Browning’s job that she lost? It was a managing editor position at House & Garden, a former Condé Nast title. And the house that she was forced to sell? One of two that she owned, the other being a summer home in Rhode Island upon which major renovations had just been completed when she was thrown out of work. Comfortable upper middle class lifestyle dripping with privilege? Now there’s an angle that hasn’t been explored. Browning fills her post-Condé Nast days with activity: farmers market shopping, fetishistic purchases of men’s pajamas and gourmet cookies, emotional eating, wine drinking and naps. Her method of dealing with depression? Working on the garden and scouring the Internet for bran muffin recipes at two o’clock in the morning. Pep talks
are delivered to Browning via friends bearing gifts of handmade pottery and family recipes. An OBGYN affectionately termed “Dr. Pat” inquires about Browning’s underwear (in a scene that can only be described as “TMI”) and puts her on the “Dr. Pat’s Diet” after her emotional eating binges put fifteen points on her frame. Far more fascinating that Browning’s pajama shopping and marathon baking is her relationship with a man she terms Stroller in the memoir. Stroller, who vacillates between “I love you” and “I no longer believe in the power of adult love to endure,” keeps Browning enthralled for years in a sometimes on, sometimes off romantic entanglement, all the while living with a wife from which he claims to be “legally separated.” I found myself re-reading the sections of the book that detailed Browning’s interactions with Stroller, and found myself playing a sort of parlor game, guessing as to why she stayed with him for so long. Here’s my final answer: As a magazine editor, Browning was too busy to sustain any sort of relationship, so her occasional lunches and weekend assignations with Stroller fit nicely into her hectic schedule. Once she lost her job and began to re-assess her life, she concluded that continuing to carry on with someone “only available on a contingent basis,” who refused to marry her — or worse, allow her to start a garden at his country home — was no longer something she wanted from an emotional standpoint. Considering their relationship makes
these lines in the acknowledgments section of the book most curious: “Many thanks to Stroller for reading this manuscript with care and concern and for taking the time to comb through the pages, pointing out distortion and delight alike.” Most curious indeed. That sentence, to me, calls into question exactly how finished Browning’s relationship with Stroller really is. My takeaway from “Slow Love” is how the economic downturn affects everyone at all socioeconomic levels, but the level of privilege present in one’s life certainly has an effect on how one copes with employment adversity. Also the book reminds me that cooking is therapeutic — but anyone who’s watched the Food Network for more than five minutes knows this already. Also, don’t get involved with unavailable men.
JOSETTE TORRES -WUVT DJ -class of 2010 -MFA in creative writing
Loop Wondering what’s going on around the ‘burg? Check out the events of the upcoming week. [Thursday, July 29] What: Alumni Art Exhibit Where: Holtzman Alumni Center When: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Cost: Free What: Frances Faison Frederick Art Exhibit Where: Norris Hall, 2nd floor When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: Free Note: College ID required
[Friday, July 30] What: Music — Summer Musical Enterprise Where: Henderson Lawn (rain site: Squires Old Dominion Ballroom) When: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m Cost: Free
[Saturday, July 31] What: Cricket Club vs. Montebello Where: Upper SRA When: 10 a.m. Cost: Free
[Sunday, July 31] What: Music — Melissa Smith Where: Gillie’s When: 7 p.m. Cost: Free and open to the public What: Conversations - Re-designed Where: Armory Art Gallery, 201 Draper Rd. When: 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Cost: Free
[Wednesday, August 4] What: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Dinner and Speaker Where: Westmoreland Volunteer Fire Department, 53 Rectory Road, Montross, VA 22520 When: 6 p.m. Cost: $30 for ages 16+, $20 for below 16
collegiatetimes.com July 29, 2010
[All Week] What: Infosession — Summer Around the Drillfield: 20th Anniversary Where: Drillfield When: Thursday through Saturday This week, the Lyric is showing “Toy Story 3,” the last installment of the lovable series from our childhood. Check out TheLyric.com for showtime information. This week, the Starlite Drive-In is showing “Despicable Me,” featuring the voices of Steve Carell and Jason Segel. Check out StarliteDriveIn.biz for showtime information.
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‘Dinner for Schmucks’ takes its time, but just wait for dessert Dinner for Schmucks” kills an awful lot of time getting around to its titular dinner. Like the French film (“The Dinner Game”) it is based on, “Schmucks” takes a leisurely gambol up to the party in which a bunch of arrogant rich people each bring a dolt to dinner so they can mock them. But like a four-star dessert at the end of a hit-or-miss, four-course meal, the finale is worth the wait. Paul Rudd stars as Tim, a go-getter at his investment firm, a sixth-floor “analyst” ready to move up to the top floor and make the deals to pay for his Porsche and art-dealer girlfriend (Stephanie Szostak). The boss (Bruce Greenwood) may be interested, but Tim must pass a test. He needs to meet and recruit a dope — the bigger the dope the better — for the company’s monthly dinner party, the “Dinner for Schmucks.” Tim is still weighing the moral implications (the girlfriend doesn’t approve) of this when — thump — he bowls over a dazzling candidate with his car. Barry, played by Steve Carell with a vacant stare and a malignant giggle, was in the street to “save” a dead mouse. He stuffs them, dresses them up and poses
them in dioramas. And lest you think he’s simply certifiable, he’s got a job (as an IRS agent) and was once married. He just wears clip-on ties and a windbreaker, cannot pick up a social signal for the life of him, mis-remembers song lyrics and butchers the language (“I’m an eternal optometrist”). And because Tim believes “everything happens for a reason,” it’s a date. His accident victim will be his guest at dinner. But Barry shows up a day early and proceeds to wreak havoc. In a day, Tim has lost his girlfriend, had his car and apartment trashed, faces an IRS audit and has almost lost the deal that got him the promotion in the first place. All this and the dinner hasn’t even been served. Director Jay Roach (“Austin Powers,” “Meet the Parents”) keeps the tone more naughty than raunchy. He doesn’t fret over the film’s sluggish pacing. The overlong opening credits prepare us for a movie that takes a while to get up to speed. But, my stars and garters — the laughs, the friends. The laughs build and build and the character turns by everyone from “Little
Britain’s” David Walliams (as a dorky Swiss millionaire) and “Flight of the Conchords’” Jemaine Clement (as a pretentious, dim and oversexed artiste), to Octavia Spencer (as a psychic who talks to dead pets and the lobsters at dinner) are an embarrassment of comic riches. And as funny at playing the kind-of-innocent/kind-of-obnoxious game as Carell can be, wait until Zach Galifianakis shows up. The breakout star of “The Hangover” is the icing on this dessert cart — a demented believer in his powers of “mind control” whose delusion is fed by Barry, who believes this guy really does control his mind. “Demented” works for the whole movie, from its bizarre art show and performance art stunts (featuring Clement) to the crazed and kinky exgirlfriend (Lucy Punch, a scream) to the vast collection of Barry’s twisted little “mouseterpieces.” The situations are painstakingly set up and downright painful to sit through. So enjoy, or endure the appetizers, because with this Dinner, dessert is truly the topper.
ROGER MOORE -mcclatchy newspaper
FEATURES
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MCT CAMPUS
Steve Carell stars as Barry in the comedy “Dinner for Schmucks,” which will be released July 30.
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collegiatetimes.com July 29, 2010
SPORTS
10
Hokies picked first at ACC Football Kickoff JOSH PARCELL sports staff writer Since Virginia Tech last played for a BCS national championship in 1999, head coach Frank Beamer thinks he’s had “two or three” teams capable of reaching the same heights. He thinks the Hokies’ 2010 edition is one of those teams. This weekend, at the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff, the media agreed, picking Tech to win the Atlantic Coast Conference by 50 of the 98 voters. The next highest count was 26 for Florida State. In the Coastal Division, widely perceived to be a wide-open race between four teams, Virginia Tech received 62 votes to win the division, ahead of Miami (20), Georgia Tech (11) and North Carolina (5). “I’m surprised at the number of people that picked us,” Beamer said. The biggest focus surrounding the Hokies this weekend was their preparation for the season opening game against Boise State on Sept. 6 in Landover, Md. Senior defensive tackle John Graves said he began thinking about the game with the Broncos, who are expected to be ranked in the top five to start the year, “As soon as I got back to campus (in January).” The game marks the second straight year the Hokies will open against a national title contender at a neutral site. Last season, Alabama stifled the Hokies in a 34-24 win in Atlanta, Ga. The Hokies don’t want a similar
result this time around. “When I go to work out, I know in my head that Boise State is working extremely hard. My goal is to try to do my best and work as hard as they are,” Graves said. The Broncos return 21 of 22 starters from last season’s team, which finished the year unbeaten, including a 17-10 victory over Texas Christian University in the Fiesta Bowl. The Broncos’ experience could pose problems for a Hokies defense that must replace six starters when practice begins. “When I said we’d play them I didn’t realize they had everybody coming back,” Beamer said. Joking aside, stopping an offense that led the nation in 2009 in points per game is a task that has Beamer concerned. It’s especially worrisome considering Tech may be without the services of redshirt junior linebacker Barquell Rivers, who is still recovering from a torn quadriceps injury in the spring. Rivers has not yet been cleared to play, and it’s unlikely he’ll be at full health even if he does play against the Broncos. “At the end of the year, Rivers was playing really solid. He’s worked hard, though,” Beamer said. “We are hoping he’s going to make it back.” On a much more comfortable subject, the Hokies remain excited about fielding an offense that could be its most explosive ever. Senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor will be under center for the fourth con-
BRIAN CLAY/SPPS
Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor stretches for the endzone after scrambling out of the pocket during the Hokies’ Maroon-White Spring Game on April 24. Taylor and the Hokies’ have high expectations in 2010. secutive season. Taylor is 23-5 in his career as a starting quarterback and his continued development as a passer is key to Tech’s offense reaching its skyhigh potential. “I think this is the year we return to (having a strong offense),” Taylor said. It’s an easy prediction to make. Taylor will be throwing to a core of receivers that all have two full seasons of experience under their belt. “We’re just on a same page. It’s crazy. I’ll go out there in seven-onseven and watch those guys, and they pretty much know what I’m thinking and I know what they are thinking,”
Taylor said. “They anticipate me throwing the football where it should be. Our timing and our chemistry are real good right now. We’re looking forward to seeing how it carries on into the season.” If the passing game falters, Taylor can rely on two of the most productive running backs in school history. The services of redshirt sophomore Ryan Williams and redshirt junior Darren Evans should prove to make a two-headed monster in the backfield. Both backs rushed for more than 1,000 yards in their freshman seasons. While Williams returns off a year in which he won the ACC’s Rookie of the Year honors, Evans returns healthy after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament that sidelined him in 2009. With the two backs both capable of being the feature player in an offense on the same team, keeping them satisfied with their role in the offense can be tricky.
“The best thing we’ve got going is that all of those guys like each other. I don’t think they are selfish; they want what’s best for the team,” Beamer said. The coach also acknowledged they plan to use the duo on the field together at times, as well as spelling one another to keep their legs fresh. When questioned about the possibility of bringing a national championship home to Blacksburg — one of the few landmarks he’s yet to reach as a coach — Beamer spoke about the element of luck that comes along with that process. “Pieces have to fall into place, injuries have to go the right way. It’s a fine line there between being able to do it and not,” he explained. Nevertheless, with a team that has as many weapons on offense and a defensive tradition that is unparalleled in the past decade, Beamer knows what’s at stake. “We don’t back down,” he said.
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SPORTS
12
Lax coach Silva resigns, assistant to fill role in 2011 ALEX JACKSON
collegiatetimes.com July 29, 2010
sports editor After a disappointing 6-11 season, Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse head coach Katrina Silva resigned last week to pursue a business opporBURKER tunity outside of coaching. Tech announced that assistant coach Megan Burker will take over the reigns, serving as the team’s interim head coach for the 2010-11 academic year. “We thank Katrina for her dedication to Virginia Tech and wish her well in the future,” said Jim Weaver, director of athletics, in a statement made July 23. In her four seasons as the head coach of the Hokies, Silva posted an overall record of 22-37. In that time, Tech never posted a winning record and never advanced past its first game at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. In fact, during her time at Tech, Silva’s teams posted just one win against ACC opponents. Since joining the conference in 2005, the Hokies have underachieved and failed to improve much at all. However, the team’s new leader believes she can reverse its fortune in her new role. “I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Burker said. “I’ve worked at Virginia Tech for four years now as an assistant coach, I’ve been involved in a lot of the changes we’ve made so far and you know, I’m just excited to have a new leadership position and coach this team to the next level.” A native of Baltimore, Md., Burker came to Tech after a standout athletic career at Stanford University. As a four-time Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament All-Star and a four-time MPSF selection, she finished her career ranked in the top-10 in every career chart. Her resume includes being named to the U.S. National Teams program at the completion of her junior season, handling captain duties for the US Developmental Squad and receiving Stanford’s team MVP honors in 2005 and 2006. She says her experience at every level of the game will help her lead the Hokies. “I’ve really had great leaders throughout my lacrosse career,” Burker said. “Even starting at high
school… in college, I had some great mentors and coaches. Then, playing at the US level, obviously, gave me the competition where I really played against the best in the country. I understood what it took to get to be the best.” Despite being just four years removed from college, Burker believes she’s ready for the opportunity. “I think being able to have a lot of leadership experience has prepped me to be able to take over at a young age. I’m excited for it and we’re ready to go. We’re already planning for this fall and this spring, and we’re excited for the team to come back and become a part of that and see what happens this year.” Burker doesn’t think the team’s record as of late is indicative of what her team is. “I’ve seen a lot of good things happen here and I see a lot of opportunity over the next few years,” she said.
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I want to bring a winning season to Virginia Tech. I think that’s what it deserves.” MEGAN BURKER INTERIM HEAD COACH
“I think our team culture is just at such an exciting place right now… Obviously there are a few more changes happening than we planned on, but just trying to take that excitement and think of the possibility that this year brings. We have an athletic team, we have a few veterans in place now, and I think we’re really excited about the course that this year brings and the possibility we have for this season.” With many of its starters entering their junior season, Tech does look much more dangerous than it has in years. Its top 10 scorers look to return in 2011 and after a tough few seasons, the team is poised for its best season in years. With many of its leaders entering their final season, a winning season is on everyone’s minds, including Burker’s. “I want to bring a winning season to Virginia Tech,” the team’s new coach said. “I think that’s what it deserves. You know, I think being in the ACC has its obvious challenges — challenges that we’ve looked to address and faced over the past few years.” “I think the first step is making this team win, experiencing that and giving them the confidence they need to keep progressing toward bigger goals. I think that’s where it’s all going to start.”