Wednesday, September 29, 2010 Print Edition

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DANIEL LIN / SPPS

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

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Few details in student death LIANA BAYNE associate news editor

MAZIAR FAHANDEZH / SPPS

Students wait for the bus at the intersection of Patrick Henry Drive and Tom’s Creek Road. Developers of the VT Bus Tracker say they see 40,000 hits a day.

DEVELOPER OF VT BUS TRACKER ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT STUDENT USAGE, PLANS TO EXPAND DEVELOPER TOOLS CLAIRE SANDERSON news reporter After a successful launch in August, developers of the VT Bus Tracker are looking to make improvements to the application.

“Our first week was phenomenal. The first day of classes we got about 8,000 hits to the feed, the next day about 21,000,” said developer and computer science major Alex Obenaur. “Now we average about 40,000 hits every day.”

Obenaur and the rest of the development team — computer science major Michael Dillon, alumnus Travis Webb and computer science professor Eli Tilevich — are attempting to implement ideas submitted through the application’s website.

One improvement the team is working on is adding a notification feature.

Developers plan for riders to receive notifications to their phones when certain buses are coming to certain stops.

“For example, you can tell the app, ‘Alert

me two minutes before the last Hethwood bus comes that will arrive at Burruss by 8 a.m.,’” Obenaur said. “It would tell you two minutes before that bus gets to your stop.”

Obenaur said students could also set up this feature to run on certain days for their classes.

“That way you can go out there right before the bus arrives and you don’t have to wait 15 or 30 minutes at the stop,” Obenaur said. “I think it will definitely change the way people use the application.”

Sophomore business major Patrick Finger said he liked using the application.

“I think it’s a great way for students to catch the bus on time more easily,” Finger said.

Finger added that the app could also benefit from more marketing.

“I don’t think many students use it or know what it is,” Finger said.

The team is also looking to fix its program to have more information on tripper buses. The buses are scheduled when normally-scheduled buses on a route

become too full, and are common during heavily traveled times such as weekday mornings.

“The problem was that the tripper buses were hybrid buses and they didn’t gave GPS sytems on them, but we’re working on getting that as soon as we can,” Obenaur said.

The team is also rethinking the back end system of the application to make it run more quickly and cleanly. One of the intended uses for the back end system is to let younger computer science students access the data and use the program in their classes.

According to Obenaur, the team is currently rewriting the curriculum for computer science students to incorporate the bus tracker system. The class, beginning next spring, will see students incorporating data from the tracker to learn computer science concepts.

“It allows CS students to build projects that are helpful to them and to their fellow students,” Obenaur said.

The final project for these students will be an open-ended challenge to design any application for the VT Bus Tracker.

Select applications would be posted on the group’s website.

-vt bus tracker application infoFor the text messaging app: Text “running routes” to (540) 9996BUS, so see which routes are currently running. Users can text any route name and a location to get a bus schedule.

For mobile web: Follow the link “m.bustracker.org” This works for Android, iPhone, and Safari

Native Apps: For iPhone: get the iPhone app at the App Store.

For Android: go to m.bustracker. org/bustracker-release.apk to download the app.

For Blackberry: go to bb.bustracker. org/ to get the app.

One idea for an app that Obenaur hinted at was a heat map of where parties were located on a Friday or Saturday night, using information about how many people get off a bus a certain stops.

Gunman dead in Texas shooting scare KELLY SHANNON & DAVE MONTGOMERY mcclatchy newspapers AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas-Austin campus was closed Tuesday after a man dressed in black and carrying an AK-47 fired several shots and then killed himself in the Perry-Castaneda library.

UT police said the gunman was dead, and EMS personnel said no one else was being treated for injuries.

“The shooter is dead on the sixth floor of Perry-Castaneda Library,” Don Hale, a UT spokesman, told the Austin American-Statesman. “No identification. Apparently took his own life.”

UT-Austin Police Chief Robert Dahlstrom said police were searching for a possible second gunman because witnesses’ descriptions varied.

Authorities said the search was being

done as a precaution.

UT President Bill Powers said that police had secured a perimeter and that there were no other reports of injuries.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said SWAT teams, police and bomb-sniffing dogs were working to ensure that there were no explosives. He said the area would not be opened for several hours.

Acevedo described at least one weapon as an AK-47. He would not release any further details on the shooter.

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell said he believes that Austin residents can go about their day in safety.

A UT spokeswoman said at 10:30 a.m. that “we’re still trying to resolve the issue of the second gunman.” She declined to provide further details or to say whether the danger has passed.

Emergency sirens continued to go off throughout the morning.

Randall Wilhite, a UT professor, told the Statesman that he saw a man in a suit firing shots into the ground as he ran along 21st Street.

“He ran right in front of my car, fired two or three shots south sort of generally in my direction but not at me,” Wilhite told the newspaper.

“He was about 10 feet in front of me.

I was very vulnerable had he wanted to shoot at me.”

Several students also reported coming face-to-face with the gunman.

Andrew McWaters told KVUE-TV that the gunman, “smiled at us and waved and ran right past us” when he saw the gunman as he was heading for Jester Dorm about 8:10 a.m.

The area remained cordoned off about 10 a.m. after SWAT teams arrived on the scene.

In a message to UT students at 9:52 a.m., Powers said that “the university is locked down. All organized classes

for today, Sept. 28, are canceled. If you are off campus, stay away. If you are on campus, lock your doors and do not leave your building.”

UT officials also notified students on the campus website.

Steve Bradley, an electrician, said in a television interview that he was in the library when he heard other people yelling “get down, get down.”

Bradley said a fellow electrician told him that he had seen the gunman carrying a weapon with a banana clip. The library was quickly evacuated, he said.

UT-Austin is one of the largest universities in the country, with nearly 50,000 students.

A statement on the UT website, at 9:02 a.m. Tuesday, said “stay in place, lock doors.” A loudspeaker on campus was announcing there was an “emergency” on campus. Students were reporting being notified via text message to stay indoors.

The circumstances of Virginia Tech sophomore David Gayle’s death will be under investigation for several weeks, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Gayle, 19, died after falling from the third-floor balcony of an apartment at 1711 Whipple Drive on Saturday night.

Police confirmed Gayle’s death Monday morning.

Blacksburg Police Sgt. Nathan O’Dell said Tuesday the investigation into Gayle’s death is ongoing.

O’Dell said full results from the autopsy, which began Monday morning, would not be returned for the next four to six weeks.

“We’ll discuss that when the toxicology comes back,” he said.

Although a bystander who was trained in CPR and lifeguarding techniques attempted to assist Gayle while waiting for police and rescue to arrive on the scene, Gayle was pronounced dead after being transported to Montgomery Regional Hospital.

Gayle, a sophomore political science major from Norfolk, was not a resident of 1711 Whipple Drive. Multiple residents of the building confirmed a party took place Saturday night on the third floor.

Some witnesses told police and rescue officials Gayle fell from the balcony after attempting to get onto the roof of the building.

O’Dell said police are looking into claims Gayle had attempted to climb onto the roof before falling.

He said he thought it would take “realistically three weeks” for more information about what Gayle was doing immediately before he fell to become clear. O’Dell said officers investigating the incident were still in the process of interviewing eyewitnesses.

“We know there was a social gathering,” he said, but he did not know the events that happened during that gathering.

O’Dell said Blacksburg Police did not arrest anyone for underage drinking or for distribution of alcohol to minors, and did not break up the party.

When officers arrived on scene, they were directed to the back of the apartment building, directly to where Gayle had fallen, according to O’Dell.

Tech officials announced details of Gayle’s funeral Tuesday.

The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 1, at First Presbyterian Church on Colonial Avenue in Norfolk. Gayle’s family will receive friends at the Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home Tidewater Drive Chapel on Thursday, Sept. 30, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Instead of flowers, the Gayle family requested memorial donations be made to the Norfolk Collegiate School, Gayle’s high school.

There are currently no plans for a memorial service for Gayle on the Tech campus.

Tech signs top level basketball recruit MICHAEL BEALEY sports editor The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team landed a significant commitment Tuesday from highly-touted class of 2011 prospect Dorian Finney-Smith.

The 6-foot-7-inch small forward from Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Va., averaged 19.7 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks while leading Norcom to the state title this past year. Finney-Smith announced at a news conference this afternoon his intentions to play for the Hokies.

Finney-Smith is ranked as the No. 15 recruit in the country by

ESPN and the No. 37 ranked player nationally by Rivals. He is head coach Seth Greenberg’s fourth commitment for the class of 2011, joining shooting guard Robert Brown, point guard Marquis Rankin and forward C.J. Barksdale. Barksdale and Brown are also rated in the Rivals top-150 players at 95th and 105th, respectively.

Finney-Smith narrowed his choices to Tech, Florida and Old Dominion and took visits to each of the programs this month. While Finney-Smith’s visit happened to coincide with the Hokies’ loss to James Madison in football, that didn’t seem to hurt Tech’s chances in his recruitment.

COLLEGIATETIMES

Balanced on-campus diets yield healthier Hokies MAJONI HARNAL features reporter A monster cinnamon bun smothered in warm icing for breakfast, a meat-packed sandwich for lunch and London broil with mashed potatoes topped with gravy for dinner — the diet everyone wishes they could live off of without growing a lovely muffin top that pours over those jeans.

For all the wonders that face college students while away from home, the lack of parental supervision is a huge change. With no one telling students to eat breakfast before morning classes or consume all their fruits and vegetables, new dorm-dwellers’ diets are often lacking in nutritional value, causing them to pack on the inevitable “freshman 15.”

It may be easy for students to grab Pizza Hut at Hokie Grill on the go, or a croissant from Au Bon Pain in the Squires Food Court, but for the amount of calories in those quick snacks, they should be nipped in the bud before consumption becomes a regular habit.

Zachary Rahm, a junior computer science major, said between school and a job, he doesn’t have time to think twice about what he eats or the calories his meals contain, so he simply grabs what he can. Rahm’s attitude is like almost every other stu-

dent, where jam-packed schedules and convenience outweigh healthy choices.

With the best campus food in the country, Virginia Tech’s dining centers provide a vast array of food ranging from the classic burgers and sandwiches to Chinese and Mexican cuisine, and even organic, locally-grown food choices.

The collection also includes many tempting items, such as cheese-heavy pizzas and pastas, desserts and sauces that often are served over steamed vegetables, whole-wheat options and fruits.

Using tools made available by dining services and student programs, students can proactively make better decisions when it comes to what they eat.

Administrative Dietitian Jenny Lindsey said all foods can fit into a healthy diet, but it is important to know which foods are indulgences and which should be meal staples.

“Students should be looking at the calorie content of food but they also need to watch the fat and sodium content,” Lindsey said, citing an example: A side salad from West End Market has 308 calories, but contains more than a quarter of the daily fat value and 35 percent of the daily sodium value from the cheese.

“I do think that some people don’t realize that foods that have been fried or have sauces can be much higher in calories than they realize,” Lindsey said.

Senior biology major Melissa Yates said she doesn’t currently search for food facts online, but has in the past. However, she does make an effort to eat well.

“I try to eat yogurt and fruits,” Yates said. “And I get a salad every once in a while, too.”

Yates’ balance is the type of behavior Lindsey encourages — understanding that a well-rounded diet includes all the good foods but still accounts for splurging on occasional brownies and French fries.

For a balanced, healthy diet Lindsey listed a few key points students should keep in mind: Eat whole grains and nine servings of fruits and vegetables, select low-fat meat and dairy products, limit sugar consumption and pay attention to how foods are prepared and prepped for hidden calories.

For more information on healthy foods, visit the YES Web page and Tech’s nutrition blog.

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editors: lindsey brookbank, kim walter featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865

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2 food & drink september 29, 2010

Where

Cutting Edge West End

Cutting Edge West End

Au Bon Pain

Au Bon Pain

Frank’s Deli Owens

Frank’s Deli Owens

Fighting Gobbler West End

Fighting Gobbler West End

What

Italian Grinder

Whole wheat bread, smoked turkey, lettuce and tomato

Mac and Cheese

Rice and Lentil Soup

Frank’s Red Zone Sandwich

Tuna Salad Sandwich

Bacon Bleu Burger

Grilled Portabello Mushroom Burger

Calories

933

288

500

170

752

175

696

305

Grams of Fat

56.4

<6

29

2

42.6

8

38

21.1

Recipe for Vegetable Orzo ept. 21 may have marked the beginning of fall, but cooking fans know some of summer’s best vegetables are still in season.

To celebrate the last few weeks of fall’s harvest, the Collegiate Times has been inspired by local produce available at the farmers market.

S

by Mika Maloney, adapted from allrecipes.com

CT Recipes

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Servings: Four Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cups orzo pasta 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup red onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 chopped carrots 1 small zucchini, quartered and sliced 1 small squash, quartered and sliced 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, salt and pepper to taste 1/2 lemon, juiced Directions: 1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add orzo and cook until al dente (eight to 10 minutes). Immediately drain.

2. While the orzo is cooking, warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and onion, and cook for three minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in carrots, zucchini and squash and cook for two more minutes. Slowly stir in one tablespoon balsamic vinegar.

3.

Reduce the heat to low, and season with rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir in orzo, the remaining one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and the lemon juice and mix well. Serve at once.

KATIE BIONDO / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Campus Cookies bakes up fresh goods MIA PERRY features staff writer We’ve all had that moment: You come home from an evening of fun with friends, but you’re not ready to call it a night quite yet. Your stomach, or maybe all that beer sloshing around in it, is telling you, “Feed me now!”

But you’re tired of the same old threein-the-morning fare. Campus Cookies has arrived at Virginia Tech and has a much sweeter option for those looking for that late-night snack.

Scott Davidson founded Campus Cookies when he was a junior information technology major at James Madison University. After opening in Davidson’stownhouseinHarrisonburg, Va., with just a few ovens and fliers to get him started, Campus Cookies became a huge success within a year among JMU students.

But this accomplishment didn’t come without hard work.

“I got like two orders. It was really upsetting,” Davidson said of his first night open for business, “But that’s something I’ve learned from business.

There are so many times where you can just stop and quit and not go forward.”

However, with the help of his IT skills, the sacrifice of his social life and some marketing, the amount of orders grew to an average of 50 per night.

That’s between 600 to 1,500 cookies in a given evening.

Davidson now delivers a variety of warm, fresh gourmet cookies, brownies and cinnamon rolls, plus milk to wash it down with, to the Blacksburg community.

The only things giving away the trade of the small building on North Main

Street are the cookie-covered curtains hanging in the window.

Once inside it’s whole different story.

The aroma of cookies is baked into the walls, with Campus Cookies memorabilia hanging from every corner. There are two sets of customized cookie cornhole boards: One with purple and yellow and the other with maroon and orange. There are comfortable, suede couches and a plasma TV, equipped with video games and DVDs. And of course there’s a kitchen too, complete with eight ovens and five giant freezers.

Campus Cookies offers 16 different cookie flavors, including traditional chocolate chip and M&M, as well as special filled cookies overflowing with raspberry or peanut butter fillings.

There are also premium cookies like lemon coconut and apple cranberry.

“My goal was to create more of an experience, a reason for people to come back,” Davidson said.

Davidson also has some projects in the works to add to his customers’ experience. He has created a “cookie kiosk” where customers can place their orders and gain points, or “cookie crumbs,” to earn what Davidson calls “cookie cash,” which is basically used as a gift certificate for yourself.

There is even a cookie club, in which active buyers are selected to win coupons and giveaways.

Davidson sees the cookie kiosks being used at bars like Top of the Stairs, which would give him more downtown visibility. People could order cookies on their way out.

“You can do a lot of cross-marketing,” he said.

Campus Cookies’ prices are designed to fit into a college student’s budget.

STAFF / SPPS

Campus Cookies, located on North Main Street, gives students an alternative midnight-snack option, delivering cookies and milk.

The price of one traditional cookie is 94 cents. The minimum price for delivery is $7, which can buy customers eight to nine cookies.

The company delivers only at night — prime cookie time — and sends out a text message to customers each time it departs for delivery. Although delivery driver Dane Berthelson, a senior business economics major, is up until about 2 a.m. on Thursday nights and 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, he doesn’t seem to mind.

“It’s definitely not a resume booster, but it’s the perfect job for a peoplepleaser,” Berthelson said, “Because people get excited for some cookies.”

One night when Berthelson delivered a cookie cake for a customer, he got to see just how happy the tasty treats make people feel.

“I go inside and his entire family

is there,” Berthelson said. “His family invites me in, and not only do I meet his entire family, but I’m there singing happy birthday with them. He had a nine-year-old little sister, and she asked if I was delivering cookies, and I said ‘Yeah.’ Then she said, ‘You must have the best job in the entire world,’ and I said, ‘You know what, tonight I do.’”

Kevin Eaton, a senior English and theater major, is yet another happy customer who likes that the cookies are still warm when they arrive.

Eaton learned about Campus Cookies through friends and was immediately intrigued. He was disappointed, however, when he learned he had to wait until after dark to receive the cookies. He doesn’t seem to be too scarred though.

“If you are ordering, get the warm vanilla icing.” Eaton said.

opınıons 3

editors: scott masselli, gabi seltzer opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

september 29, 2010

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

Voter apathy hurts American politics oney talks. Money talks loudly on Capitol Hill M — money screams in the ears of our lawmakers.

It’s no wonder our country struggles with voter apathy, particularly in young voters.

When voters watch politicians they elected spend a majority of their time with certain professional lobbyists and interest group activists, they are likely to feel discouraged and eventually apathetic.

Voters didn’t elect lobbyists and activists to political positions with the power to affect our country’s laws, but certain ones have the money to whisper political strategies and decisions into the ears of some of our less sincere lawmakers. Because recent media coverage has exposed this controversy, young voters are susceptible to apathetic views about their ability to affect politics through voting. Having worked in the public policy office of the National Coalition of Domestic Violence, I understand the importance of advocacy work, especially for groups whose voices are quiet — if not non-existent — on the Hill. I realize lobbying is not only part of the political machinery but also necessary for the machine to work.

Congressmen don’t have the time to thoroughly read all the bills that are written and introduced (or read them at all in many cases).

They have to rely on their legislative assistants and on corresponding advocacy groups to keep them informed. Unfortunately, as important as NCADV’s lobbying is for domestic violence victims, we were often ignored because NCADV, like many other non-profit organizations, doesn’t have money to throw at Congressmen. Representative John Boehner, the House minority leader from Ohio, manipulates the system of lobbying for his political benefit.

Like a child scared to live on his own, Boehner clings to his favorite lobbyists and big business representatives who “have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns, provided him with rides on their corporate jets, socialized with him at luxury golf resorts and waterfront bashes and are now leading fund-raising efforts for his ‘Boehner for Speaker campaign,’ which is soliciting checks of up to $37,800 each,

the maximum allowed,” the New York Times reports.

In 1996, Boehner was caught passing out checks to Republicans on the House floor from tobacco lobbyists and claimed “he had broken no rules and was simply assisting his lobbyist friends, who were contributing to other Republicans’ campaigns.”

These alliances are just business moves to Boehner. To a voter, they are power-hungry interest groups puppeteering a politician who is willing to advance any person’s agenda as long as his pockets are full of the person’s money. Boehner attempts to defend his suspicious political action by saying that a variety of people, using his bellman as one example, lobby him all the time.

Boehner, does your bellman let you use his or her corporate jet?

Boehner didn’t raise $36 million for the Republicans this election cycle by spending time listening to advocates without money. This exclusivity returns us to a time when only white, upper class, welleducated males had a voice in politics, and their political decisions were made in a secretive, extremely un-democratic way.

Voters elect politicians to Congress to represent their values, not to work exclusively with rich businessmen willing to pay for political movement.

I’m not surprised then that voters are apathetic, knowing their views won’t be considered, at least not by Boehner and other Congressmen like him.

Before Nov. 2 arrives, research your politicians’ records. Many, including Boehner, are notorious for representing specialinterest groups because of the money those groups contribute.

Although having a network of donors and lobbyists is common in the political world, some politicians maintain unnervingly deep loyalties to their contributors. Don’t let apathy keep you from voting this year. We need to ensure the politicians who sincerely represent their constituents hold positions in office.

KATHLEEN DWYER -regular columnist -senior -english major

Celebrate national public lands day illions travel to our national forests, parks M and wilderness areas each year, with visitation in July 2010 to Yellowstone National Park marking an all-time high. What some may not realize is that each of us — every citizen of the United States — owns a stake in about 650 million acres of the nation’s lands. In effect, the property deed for almost onethird of our country lists the American people as owners.

We’d better take care of it.

On Sept. 25, the congressionally chartered National Environmental Education Foundation will oversee National Public Lands Day, to commemorate our mutually owned acreage and to inspire us to visit and appreciate these places. But the event is not only a celebration, it’s an opportunity to take care of what we own.

True, 650 million acres is a lot to look after. And one day simply isn’t enough, even with all of us pitching in and giving back to our sources of camping, fishing, hiking and hunting. That’s why we hire dedicated people in the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management to help us care for it. Year round, these stewards administer the vast and varied landscape in the public interest, based on guiding laws such as the Wilderness Act of 1964.

Over this past summer, while many of us vacationed in our parks and wilderness, officials from the Obama administration toured the country, visiting small towns and big cities, to hear firsthand what Americans want for the future of our public lands.

This effort, termed “America’s Great Outdoors listening tour,”

will culminate in November with a report and recommendations to President Obama, based on lessons learned about how best to be good stewards of our public land.

It’s a big job, and an important one. Not only are we, and our public stewards, taking care of places like the Grand Canyon or the Everglades today, we’re also trying hard to make sure we leave them in good shape for future Americans. President Teddy Roosevelt said, “The nation behaves well if it treats its natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.”

According to historian Douglas Brinkley, Roosevelt believed that “saving natural wonders, wildlife species, timberlands and diverse habitats was a patriotic endeavor.”

Inspired by citizen involvement from the ground up, our elected representatives and senators in Congress can continue carrying out that duty. They are working on legislation to protect an additional 2 million acres, across more than a dozen states, as wilderness, national monuments, conservation areas and recreation areas.

We can bequeath to future generations spectacular wonders with evocative names such as the Pioneer Mountains in Montana, Gold Butte in Nevada, Horse Heaven in Oregon and the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. If we succeed, we fulfill an American tradition, providing special places to enjoy on this National Public Lands Day and those that will be celebrated by our children and grandchildren.

MIKE MATZ -mcclatchy newspapers

MAHEEN KURSHID / COLLEGIATE TIMES

How much capital does capital punishment require? ast Thursday, the Commonwealth of Virginia L executed Teresa Lewis for her role in the murders of her husband and stepson.

With the normal reaction amplified in this particular case because of Lewis’s Full Scale IQ of 72, the execution revived a larger policy debate on the death penalty itself. While most arguments rest on a moral basis, the death penalty has a noteworthy economic effect as well.

When a person is sentenced to death, the execution does not occur the next day or even that week; some are delayed as long as 20 years after the sentence is levied. While the case goes through the appeals process, the state still pays for incarceration.

It costs between $18,000 and $50,000 to imprison someone for a year in the United States. The average length of the appeals process for a capital punishment case is between 10 and 20 years.

As a deterrent, capital punishment is neither as effective as advocates claim nor as ineffective as opponents argue; deterrence is hard to predict and is too inaccurate to use as fact.

In theory, the stiff sentence should reduce crime, but the homicide rate during the 1980s remained high while the rate of executions rose. During the 1960s, when the death penalty was almost never used, homicide rates increased. This suggests that there is neither enough evidence to overturn nor to support the claims about the deterrent effect of capital

punishment.

The cost of death penalty cases will usually be much higher than ordinary trials because there is more at stake than in a non-death penalty case.

Not to mention, the cost of wrongful punishment looms much larger for cases of capital punishment than for imprisonment or fines. Capital punishment cases are also generally more expensive because the trials are split into a ‘determination of guilt’ phase and a ‘punishment’ phase, which lengthens the legal process.

The appeals process is often mandatory to protect the convict’s rights, a process that is expensive and lengthy.

Lastly, housing death row inmates is more expensive than housing nondeath row inmates because there is no higher sanction that can be threatened to prevent them from being unruly or committing more crimes in prison.

So, why not just shorten the appeals process? The problem with that is it may lead to hurried trials and wrongful executions, much like what almost happened to Earl Washington.

Washington was a Virginian who was convicted of rape and murder in 1984 and sentenced to death.

However, DNA tests in the 1990s and further DNA tests in October 2000 excluded Washington as the perpetrator. Former Gov. Jim Gilmore granted him a full pardon and he was released after spending 16 years in prison. Had the appeals process been shortened, an innocent man could have been executed.

What about escape? If a person is sentenced to death and executed then there will never be a chance of them getting out of prison, but if they are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole they could attempt to escape from jail.

Most prison escapes take place in minimum-security prisons and are thwarted shortly after. Escapes from maximum-security prisons (where a murderer would be jailed) are almost non-existent. In 1998, the most recent year for which data is available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 6,530 people escaped or were AWOL from state prisons. That was a little more than one half of 1 percent of the total population of 1,100,224 prisoners.

Because of these factors, responsible governments must exercise caution in employing capital punishment. I do not think the death penalty should be outlawed; if it does in fact have a deterrent effect on crime, it should remain on the books. However, because of the inherent costs, it should play a much smaller role in the penal system and be limited to only the grossest cases.

JEFFREY HOMAN -regular columnist -junior -history major

Lewis execution underscores immorality of death penalty his past Thursday, Teresa Lewis was put to death by lethal injecT tion in the name of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Lewis was convicted of masterminding the murder of her husband and stepson in 2002, motivated by her acquisition of a $250,000 life insurance policy that her stepson had taken out.

Though Virginia had not executed a woman since 1912, it currently ranks second, behind only Texas, for the most executions in the country since the Supreme Court lifted the ban on capital punishment in 1976.

Of all the numerous injustices that allowed Lewis to be savagely murdered by the state, the most striking is her obvious mental incompetence.

Throughout the course of the trial, several psychiatric experts tested Lewis’s cognitive abilities.

It became evident that Lewis, whose IQ was 72, was incapable of planning this crime as the prosecutors said she did.

In fact, her psychological competence was far below the mental retardation line in areas of “planning” and “forward thinking.”

Though the Supreme Court declared the execution of those who fall at or below the mental retardation line (which is set at an IQ of 70) unconstitutional in Atkins v.

Virginia (2002), it seems as though the Constitution cannot protect people who have an IQ two points above that.

Of all the horrors this case brings to light regarding the criminal justice system in the United States, the most terrifying is the incompetence of our so-called legal protectors.

Lewis pleaded before the Supreme Court for a stay of execution, but the court felt as though her mur-

der was still the prerogative of the state.

In a far less surprising decision, Gov. Bob McDonnell (who has never made his bloodlust a secret) denied Lewis’ plea for clemency, disregarding the 7,300 appeals his office received.

Where are we to turn for protection when our protectors show, at best, rampant incompetence and at worst downright savagery?

The tragic murder of Lewis brings to light the need for this country to once again open a debate regarding the death penalty.

Coupled with such issues as abortion, same-sex marriage or flag burning, the debate over capital punishment seems to serve only the electoral victory of politicians.

But these are not issues that exist to serve the arrogance of our rulers.

They are issues that are at the heart of the values we are supposed to hold in the highest esteem.

The right of two people to join in a union of love and commitment, the right of a woman to decide her future course in life, and the annihilation of value for human life all are pillars upon which the essence of our freedoms either stand or fall.

It seems sad to me that our socalled representatives feel as though the health of our citizens, care for the elderly, education for our children (all of which are, of course, important issues) hold greater importance than the savage and brutal murder of our citizens.

Perhaps the one good that can come from the death of Lewis is a reopening of the much-needed debate over capital punishment.

There is no justification for the state murdering its citizens.

Capital punishment does not deter

crime, is more expensive than life imprisonment, is racially biased and has shown its internal incompetence with the 130 people that have been set free because of revealed innocence since 1973.

However, even if all of these points did support the death penalty, its justification would still crumble under the sheer morality of it.

What possible justification could there be for us to savagely murder each other out of our own bloodthirst for revenge?

Regardless of the brutality of a crime, there is never an instance in which it is right for us to then turn and murder someone.

Through this act we are institutionalizing murder as an accepted practice by the state and ensuring the value of human life is merely illusory.

The U.S. has always prided itself on being the leader in freedom and human values, yet 88 percent of all executions in the world take place in five countries: China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and the United States of America.

How shameful is it that we are receiving moral condemnation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as he did this past week over the murder of Lewis?

Is this the kind of country we can feel proud to live in? One in which we are linked with this world’s most brutal tyrannies and one in which we receive moral criticism from a man like Ahmadinejad?

Perhaps the time has come for this country to rethink what it is exactly we value, life or savage murder.

JASON CAMPBELL -regular columnist -sophomore -philosophy major

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ACROSS 1 What some sirens do 6 1990s-2000s Irish leader Bertie 11 Pres. counterparts 14 It may be blank 15 Food processor setting 16 Outback critter 17 Like a dialect coach?

19 End of an academic address 20 Periods 21 Amount-andinterval numbers 23 Not connected 26 Reel art 27 Knack 28 Whalebone 30 New York home of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 31 Three-time French Open champion 32 Its symbol is Sn 35 Musical knack 36 Web danger, and a hint to this puzzle’s theme 38 Murcia Mrs. 39 Nutritional stat 40 Like some panels 41 Genesis locale 42 Key of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 44 Where the Maine sank 46 Expects 48 Consequences of an all-nighter 49 Obsess 50 Titania’s consort 52 General on a menu 53 Answer from LL Cool J? 58 Where Nina Totenberg reports 59 Inuit for “women’s boat” 60 Gives some TLC to, with “in” 61 Doofus 62 They’re heavier than foils 63 Source of brown fur

By Anthony J. Salvia

DOWN 1 Airport safety org.

2 Last letters on some lists 3 Slicker 4 Performer with five #1 hits in his first year on the Billboard charts 5 One at the edge of the gutter 6 Record label launched in 1968 7 Pitch 8 Lover of Psyche 9 Toon dog 10 Most impoverished 11 Christmas?

12 Cable __ 13 “Semper Fidelis” composer 18 It may pop up in a clearing 22 Vending machine insert 23 Fish-eating mammal 24 Capacitance unit 25 Herbivorous reptiles?

26 Bass symbol 28 Joy of “The View” 29 A or Ray 31 City SE of Cherbourg

9/29/10 Tuesday’ s Puzzle Solved

(c)2010 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

33 Papas of “Zorba the Greek” 34 Family matriarchs 36 “For real?”

37 Oxford fellows 41 Become balanced 43 Athletes for Hope co-founder Hamm 44 Word on a towel 45 Embraces 46 Cigna competitor

9/3/10

47 Mud daubers, e.g.

48 Smells 50 Boy with a fishing pole in a ’60s sitcom title screen 51 Highlands hillside 54 Rock concert fixture 55 U.S. Army E-6, e.g.

56 Jamaican genre 57 Phila. setting

news 5

university editor: philipp kotlaba, liana bayne, gordon block newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865

september 29, 2010

COLLEGIATETIMES

Left - Loaded magazines of M855 5.56x45mm ammunition sit on the ammo table waiting to be issued to cadets. Right - M16A2 rifles, magazines and sandbags sit on the firing line as cadets were downrange inspecting their targets as part of zeroing their rifles.

Left- Senior cadet Daniel Chong confers with Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Parker, an assistant professor of military science, regarding setup of the EST. Right - Freshman cadet Chris Fano takes aim with an M4 weapon system trainer on the EST on Thursday, Sept. 23.

Tech cadets practice their unsupported prone position technique on “Ranger Plain” during their military lab class Tuesday, Sept. 21.

Aiming for the future

Cadets from Radford University ROTC fire on zeroing targets at the Den Hill law enforcement shooting range outside Christiansburg as part of the Army’s Basic Rifle Marksmanship qualification test.

story and photos BY DANIEL LIN While most students only have to worry about tests and projects, members of the Virginia Tech Army ROTC are also learning the basic duties of military service.

The first step for many cadets is learning to handle firearms. Cadets enrolled in Tech’s Army ROTC program learn this skill through a series of three lessons called the basic rifle marksmanship program.

The BRM program begins in the cadets’ weekly military lab class. Last Tuesday, about 280 cadets in the Army ROTC program took their lab to the “Ranger Plain,” the area around the corps’ obstacle course on Plantation Road, to receive hands-on training in rifle skills.

Students learned the basic operation of rifles, as well as firearm safety and shooting techniques.

Cadets trained on 50 fully functional Army M16A2 rifles, which were formerly standard issue for the Army, as well as numerous nonfunctional rifles made of durable rubber and metal, also known as “ducks.”

The rifles and “ducks” are mainly used for training, but the functional rifles were also used for qualification, which occurs annually in the fall.

Each cadet must qualify with a minimum rating of “marksman” before he

can be commissioned as a reserve or active duty officer. A “marksman” rating requires a cadet to hit 23 of 40 human silhouette targets.

Although cadets in Army ROTC have a broad spectrum of plans for future service as commissioned 2nd lieutenants after graduation, everyone, from infantry to chaplain, is required to complete this training.

“There’s basic soldier skills that everybody needs to know,” said retired Army Maj. James Conrad, an assistant professor of military science at Tech.

“They usually fall under the infantry gamut, but it doesn’t necessarily make you an infantryman.”

For some cadets, the M16A2 weapon system was one of their first experiences ever handling a firearm.

Army ROTC makes heavy use of an Engagement Skills Training system, which at first glance resembles a much larger version of popular arcade shooter consoles, to help cadets familiarize themselves with the rifles.

Unlike its entertainment brethren, however, this system is all business.

The EST consists of five firing ports in a large room that can simulate nearly every infantry-level weapon system in the Army’s arsenal.

The BRM program requires 75 hours of training for completion. The 75 hours are spread out over a cadet’s time at Tech. Annual visits to local shooting ranges are required to qualify with the M16A2 weapon system using live ammunition.

Virginia Tech senior cadet Laura Hinton hands ammo to Tech sophomore cadet Jordan Gill. Each cadet was issued 18 rounds for zeroing and 40 for qualification. About 22,000 rounds were shot all weekend.

This weekend, cadets had their first opportunity of the semester to do so on the Montgomery County law enforcement range outside Christiansburg.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Collins, the head firearms instructor for all range users, helped coordinate Army ROTC’s visit to the range.

In return for using the range for a weekend, law enforcement emergency response teams in Montgomery County were allowed to use the EST for extra practice.

“They’re providing future leaders for our country,” Collins said. “And if we can provide them a place to train, that’s what we want to be able to do.”

On Saturday, groups of about 30 cadet Army ROTC members from Tech and Radford University, also called “chalks,” were shuttled to and from the range.

One of the cadets, Tech junior Nick Tepfenhart, plans to become an infantry officer after receiving his commission when he graduates.

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was three years old,” Tepfenhart, a geography major, said.

Tepfenhart is the executive officer of Tech Army ROTC’s Army Marksmanship Unit, a competitive shooting team composed of cadets. He directed shooters on the firing line.

By the end of the weekend, cadets used 22,000 rounds of ammunition.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy and head firearms instructor Joe Collins provides a safety briefing to Tech cadets. Every cadet was required to undergo the briefing before being allowed on the firing line.

6 sports

editors: michael bealey, garrett ripa sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES

september 29, 2010

Vick starting over as starting quarterback Volleyball drops two

matches in Florida

ALEX JACKSON sports reporter In November 2004, my dad and I traveled north to see our beloved New York Giants play host to the Atlanta Falcons in East Rutherford, N.J. I don’t remember much about that day. I don’t remember the drive, what we ate at the stadium or where we sat.

I don’t remember if it was cold, or hot for a late November day.

What I do remember, however, is the six-foot Falcons quarterback who ruined my day.

That afternoon, Mike Vick singlehandedly torched the Giants’ defense and I’ll never forget it.

Completing 12 of 20 passes for 115 yards and two scores, while running for 104 yards on 15 carries, Vick let every Giants fan know what dualthreat meant in NFL-speak.

It meant watching the most frustrating live football you could ever watch, if the dual-threat wasn’t on your team. It meant hopelessness for a defense in perennial pursuit. It meant thinking you won, but actually losing.

I can still hear the angry fan next to me, shouting, “Break his legs!”

That day, I hated Mike Vick. But, boy did I wish he was on my team.

It’s 2010 now and several aspiring Mike Vick impersonators have tried and failed, fruitless in their efforts to replicate Vick’s success in the NFL. There was Daunte Culpepper.

There was Shaun King and Aaron Brooks — none of whom came close to doing what Vick did every Sunday then, seemingly with ease.

As most of those players dropped out of the league, though, Vick dropped out of football entirely, trading in his jersey for a prison jumpsuit.

In 2007, Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges and hung up his cleats for what many thought would be the last time. Spending 21 months in prison, Vick essentially fell off the football map.

Pocket quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady shined while Vick was federally limited to just a few hours of sun a day.

The Falcons bought into the whole “pocket passer” thing and drafted Boston College’s Matt Ryan, rebuilding their team in the process.

Meanwhile, Vick lifted weights

GEORGE TILLERSON sports reporter

MCT CAMPUS

Michael Vick celebrates a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is 2-0 as a starter this season. in the prison yard and just wondered how he could rebuild his life.

After serving his time, Vick knew he had a long uphill climb if he wanted to return to the league. Public opinion was harsh, which is an understatement, pointing in his general direction.

And it still is.

To many, Mike Vick is a villain, a crook, a scumbag.

To many, the fact that Vick is even allowed to walk the streets is a crime to humanity.

But, the fact is — he’s allowed to and he does.

And last year, when Vick joined the Philadelphia Eagles, he made that perfectly clear.

People say it can be a good thing to be hated. When Vick dismantled the Giants’ defense in November 2004,

my hate was the best type of hate he could ever garner.

When Vick re-entered the league last year, though, the hate pointed in his direction was the furthest thing from positive for him.

As a backup quarterback, there wasn’t play or ability to hate — there was just what he had done recently.

America is a “What have you done for me lately?” kind of place, you know.

Thankfully, America is also a place where you can go from the bottom to the top, and sometimes from the top to the bottom, and back to the top again.

Last week, Vick made that perfectly clear when he was named the Eagles’ starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.

After former Eagles’ starter Kevin Kolb went down due to a concussion in week one, Vick got his big

chance and capitalized, completing 66 percent of his passes while rushing for 103 yards on 11 carries.

Looking much different from the post-prison version of Vick fans saw last season in limited opportunities, he seemed to have found his legs again.

But what was most shocking, Vick didn’t just run well, but passed well, too.

Against the Lions in week two, Vick threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns. In week three, he did even better, passing for 291 yards and three touchdowns.

It’s hard to believe, but against all odds, it looks like the Mike Vick fans used to know, and hate, is back.

It’s good for him — because for Vick, there’s no better hate in the world.

Virginia Tech’s volleyball team suffered two defeats at the hands of the Miami Hurricanes, 3-0, and Florida State, 3-2, this past weekend. The Hurricanes ,11-2 (1-1 ACC), ended the Hokies’ win streak at eight on Friday night, and Tech almost completed a historic comeback on Sunday against Florida State, 11-2 (3-0 ACC), but fell short. “(Miami is) a good team and we didn’t come out ready to play and we can’t really go into the ACC not ready to play,” said Felicia Willoughby, senior All-American middle blocker.

“So I think we realized that and went to Florida State with a different attitude and I think we need to go into every match with that same type of attitude.”

Miami got out of the gates fast with an early 4-1 lead in the first set. The Hurricanes never let the Hokies, 10-3 (0-2 ACC), get close, as they eventually took the frame 25-18.

Tech came back strong in the second set jumping out to a quick 13-9 lead. The Hokies continued to lead 17-13 until Miami scored six points in a row to take the lead 19-17. The Hurricanes then outscored the Hokies 6-2 in the final eight plays, ultimately winning the set 25-19.

Miami kept the momentum of winning the first two sets to easily take the third set 25-14, earning a 3-0 sweep of the Hokies.

“Miami didn’t make any mistakes. They played almost a perfect match,” said head coach Chris Riley.

“We played OK in those first two sets. Offensively we hit .300 in those first two sets. We didn’t put enough pressure on them to force them into enough bad situations.”

Even though the Hokies were swept, junior setter Erin Leaser recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 35 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Cara Baarendse and Willoughby also hit over .400, but it wasn’t enough to weather the storm.

Tech looked as if it came to play on Sunday against Florida State as it took the match to its limits. After

beginning the match down 2-0, the Hokies — who have never beaten the Seminoles away from Cassell Coliseum — came awfully close to their first victory over a ranked opponent.

After tying the match at two sets a piece, Tech dropped the final set 15-13. It was only the second time in history the Hokies took a ranked opponent into the fifth set, as they lost a close one at No. 23 Notre Dame on Nov. 7, 2003, coincidentally by a score of 15-13 in the tiebreaker set.

“We went back into the locker room and kind of repeated our game plan again and decided that we all needed to step up our level just a little bit,” said Leaser. “We knew that would make our team that much better so we could stay with Florida State. I think that everyone picked up their game and executed a lot better than the first two games.’

After winning two consecutive sets, you would think the Hokies would come out in the tie-breaker set with a full head of steam, but that was not the case. It was the Seminoles who won seven points in a row to go up 7-2. Tech battled but never overcame the early deficit. The Hokies did pull within one, but the Seminoles shut the door winning the last frame 15-13 and the match, 3-2.

“We didn’t want the game to end,” Willoughby said. “That was five games in a row that we had lost. In the past we’ve been fighting every match, so I think we got that fighting mentality back and we need to keep that through the whole season.”

The Hokies return home after playing four of their first five weekends on the road, facing Clemson and Georgia Tech in their ACC home openers. Tech faces Clemson Friday at 7 p.m., and Georgia Tech Saturday at 6 p.m.

“Clemson and Georgia Tech this weekend, again are two very good teams,” Riley said. “Both NCAA teams last year. We got our work cut out for us, but we get to be home finally and we’re looking forward to being back home. For us, we got to be a little bit stronger defensively as a unit and be able to hold on to our serve a little more.”