Taking their talents to South Beach
AUSTEN MEREDITH / SPPS
DANIEL LIN / SPPS
see page three
DANIEL LIN / SPPS
DANIEL LIN / SPPS
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
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COLLEGIATETIMES 107th year, issue 127
News, page 2
Arts & Entertainment, page 7
Opinions, page 5
Sports, page 3
Classifieds, page 6
Who knew snakes can fly? CLAIRE SANDERSON news reporter These snakes don’t need to be on plane in order to fly. Or glide, rather. Virginia Tech biomechanics professor Jake Socha is on the forefront of new research investigating how paradise tree snakes from Southeast Asia are able to glide long distances from tree to tree. “Questions regarding insect and bird — these have been going on for years, with research from groups all over the world,” Socha said. “With the snakes, we’re still at the beginning, and to me, that’s what’s interesting.” Part of the funding for the research comes from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the research and development side of the U.S. Department of Defense. According to Eric Mazzacone, DARPA public affairs officer, the nine-month grant of $331,904 “supported modeling and simulation of gliding.” Socha said DARPA is interested purely in understanding more about the snakes’ flight, and is not looking for applications of the findings, at least not yet. “They did not say to me, ‘Next year we need a flying snake robot.’ What we’re doing here is basic research, for understanding basic mechanisms and understanding nature,” Socha said. “You really have to know these things in order to have anything applied.” Socha and Ph.D. candidate Farid Jafari recently published their research in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, and presented the findings at a conference. “A big part of my research is to understand the physics and biomechanics of snake gliding. This is a multi-year project,” Socha said. “What we know right now is still very basic.” Among animals that can glide, the snakes are unique because they lack any obvious external body parts that act as wings. “It doesn’t have flaps of skin like a flying squirrel, it doesn’t have wings that it splays out like a flying lizard, or really big pectoral fins like a flying fish,” Socha said. “The snake, you look at it and it’s just a snake.” But when the snake jumps off a branch, it flattens its body in a way that forms a very particular shape. Socha compared the cross-sectional shape of the snake’s body in flight to the cross section of a Frisbee or flying saucer. In other words, the snake’s entire
Sudoku, page 6
Drivers urged to use caution ERIN CHAPMAN news staff writer
body acts as a wing. But the secrets to its flight may lay not only in its cross-sectional winglike shape — the snake also coils up in an S shape and appears to almost slither through the air. “It’s moving back and forth, undulating, and sending waves that go down its body. It’s doing this complex 3-D movement,” Socha said. “It’s very different, there’s no other glider that’s really, really active like this.” Socha said to study this movement, he and his colleagues put five markers along the body of the snake, allowing them to trace its movement through the air. “We did this using four cameras looking at a small volume of space that the animal glided through, to get precisely where these points are with time,” Socha said. see SNAKES / page two
COURTESY OF JAKE SOCHA
Socha and his team of researchers are trying to figure out why these paradise tree snakes from Southeast Asia are able to glide long distances from tree to tree with no extra or obvious body parts that can function as wings.
Many students traveling on Interstate 81 returning to Virginia Tech on the Sunday following Thanksgiving break saw an extreme number of delays and congestion, specifically around Roanoke. Accidents caused lanes of I-81 to be closed throughout the day and hampered travel for many students returning. There were at least six accidents along the I-81 corridor. Although traffic was congested, Virginia Department of Transportation doesn’t believe the speed limit increase to 70 mph in some areas in Montgomery County was a factor in any of the accidents. “Most of the accidents occurred where the speed limit was 65 mph,” said Jason Bond, VDOT spokesman. “It doesn’t appear that the change in speed limit caused or affected any accidents. “The Sunday after Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest travel days, and we saw that with the amount of congestion.” Sgt. Robert Carpentieri with the Virginia State Police said the changes in speed limit, specifically over the highway safety corridor in Salem, can affect traffic congestion. “Leaving Tech, the speed limit changes from 70 mph to 60 mph and drivers need to be aware of their speed,” Carpentieri said. Students who will soon be leaving for winter break should not expect the same volume of delays seen over Thanksgiving. The Virginia State Police are preparing for the traffic that naturally comes when so many people are traveling at one time. “With Virginia Tech, Radford, Hollins and Roanoke College students all traveling, congestion will occur just because of the amount of people on the road,” Carpentieri said. As students leave for winter break, they should take into consideration the time they are leaving. According to Carpentieri, students should try to leave mid-morning to early afternoon to avoid Roanoke rush hours. “Above all, drivers need to pay attention, not texting and driving and being aware of road conditions are important,” Carpentieri said.
One dead in alcohol-related crash Dogs enjoy new park in snow
LIANA BAYNE associate news editor One Blacksburg man died Monday in a crash on North Main Street near Maple Ridge. Tung Sheng Chang, 63, of Blacksburg died after his Nissan sedan was struck by the pickup truck of Donald Calvin Overton, a 57-yearold from Newport. Overton has been charged with driving under the influence. Blacksburg Police said in a press release that Chang was turning from Red Maple Drive onto North Main Street when his vehicle was hit in the intersection by Overton’s truck. “Overton’s pickup continued through the intersection to strike an unoccupied Dodge minivan in a driveway and finally the garage of a private residence located in the 1700 block of North Main Street,” the release said. Police had to remove the roof of Chang’s mangled Nissan in order to extricate him from the vehicle. Both men were transported to
JAY SPEIDELL news staff writer
MAZIAR FAHANDEZH / SPPS
The wreckage remained on North Main Street late into Monday night as police investigated the accident. Montgomery Regional Hospital, where Chang was pronounced dead despite several attempts to revive him between the scene of the accident and the hospital. The Life-Guard helicopter attempt-
ed to respond to the situation but was not able to land because of bad weather conditions. Multiple Blacksburg Transit bus routes were altered as a result of the accident.
The Blacksburg Police press release at 10 p.m. Monday night said North Main Street was still closed. Overton is being held in Montgomery County jail without bond.
Saturday’s snow did little to keep two- and four-legged creatures away from Blacksburg’s new dog park. The town opened the park at the former location of the police firing range at 2100 Toms Creek Road several weeks ago. There were several dogs running around in the fenced area on Saturday while their cold owners huddled together. “Violet is a blackjack,” said Rachel Coulter, a dedicated dog owner and Virginia Tech student. “She’s a rescue, but we think she’s a blackjack, which is a black lab and Jack Russell terrier. They’re also called jackadores, but I think blackjack just sounds cooler.” Coulter and Violet didn’t like the previous options for dog parks. “She’s a big outdoor dog, she wants to run,” Coulter said. “All the dogs, either they want to be free or they
want to run.” “I would take her to Heritage Park, which isn’t really a dog park, but I could never just let her off leash without always worrying about her, or worrying about other dogs,” Coulter said. “That was the big thing, worrying that she might run off. And this is really nice, because you know they’re penned in.” But they find the new dog park more accommodating, enough that Coulter braved the cold on Saturday to let Violet get a chance to exercise and play in the falling snow. “They actually get the chance to exercise and they look like they’re having a great time. In the smaller ones she would stay right by my leg and she wouldn’t move because she’s like, ‘I see that I’m penned in and I don’t have enough space to run,’” she said. “So I like this a lot better.” One improvement Coulter thinks would make the experience better? “Now they just need lights for the nighttime,” she said.
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news editors: philipp kotlaba, liana bayne, gordon block newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865
december 7, 2010
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state headlines
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Church creates meals for families The hardest part of giving is not having enough, so this year, Lynchburg’s First Church of the Nazarene is doubling its efforts. “Our food pantry has been increasingly busy,” said Rusanna Cook, who is heading the church’s second annual Christmas Dinner Box program. Crews began working in October to get the program off the ground. Last year, the church gave away 300 boxes to hungry families in the area. “Even with 300 boxes, we were having to turn some people away,” Cook said. At the end of that event, volunteers decided to make the next one even bigger. The goal is to give away 600 Christmas dinners. Hungry families must sign up to receive a box by Dec. 16. Boxes will be distributed at the church at 3 and 6 p.m. Dec. 19. Distribution will be preceded by a brief service. “We as a church, as Christians, we decided that there are just some things that are not OK, and being hungry is one of those things,” Lynchburg First Church of the Nazarene Pastor Stephen Willis said. “It’s a challenge for us to double that, but we just felt like we didn’t want to have to turn away people this year,” Willis said. The church established partnerships with radio stations, local churches, businesses and individuals to help increase the program. The church is collecting donations of canned goods and traditional holiday meal additions such as stuffing, hams and desserts.
COLLEGIATETIMES
Snakes: DOD funding research grant from page one
They also discovered when the snakes are gliding, their bodies are angled about 25 degrees up relative to the direction of the airflow. Socha is now working with others at the Advanced Experimental Thermofluid Engineering Research lab at Tech, using models to study the aerodynamics of the snakes’ flight and test the possible effects of the orientation angle and the coiled shape.
“There seems to be a benefit to the coiled shape. The animal may be generating more aerodynamic force when it’s coiled up than when it’s straight,” Socha said. These studies are currently unpublished. Socha has been interested in the mysteries of the snakes’ flight since he heard about the topic as an undergraduate, but did not start thinking seriously about it until graduate school. Since coming to Tech in 2008, Socha has been able
to research the snakes more extensively. The evolution of the snakes’ flying ability is one question Socha said he would still like to solve in the future. “I suspect that jumping from branch to branch probably evolved first,” Socha said, noting jumping is a very effective way to get around in their tree-top environment. The snakes that fell and survived were more likely to pass on their genes, so the ability to fall and survive probably developed next.
“Then, if you’re not only able to fall but also gain some horizontal distance, that’s even better, and you might gain some slight advantage,” Socha said. The snakes’ gliding behavior also appears to be instinctual, which Socha said is common in reptile behavior. “I have worked with animals that are hatchlings, and they have all the same behaviors as the adults,” Socha said. “So this behavior appears to be innate rather than learned.”
Edwards thanks supporters in cancer battle MANDY LOCKE mcclatchy newspapers Elizabeth Edwards, who has battled cancer publicly since 2005, said in a statement Monday that doctors have no hope that further treatment will ward off her cancer. Edwards, who is separated from former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, is resting at home with her family.
She posted this message on her Facebook page to friends Monday. “You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces — my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. “These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that.
“
It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me. ELIZABETH EDWARDS
And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren’t able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like.
“It’s called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. “And for that I am grateful. It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.’’
-amy trent, mcclatchy newspapers
CORRECTIONS JUSTIN GRAVES -Contact our public editor at publiceditor@ collegiatetimes.com if you see anything that needs to be corrected.
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nation & world headlines
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Spanish air traffic returning to normal Spain’s airspace was reopened Saturday after a wildcat protest by air traffic controllers paralyzed airports, the Infrastructure Ministry announced. The unofficial work stoppage was estimated to have affected more than 600,000 passengers, thousands of whom spent the night at airports in Madrid, Barcelona and Majorca. The airport authority AENA said controllers were returning to work all over country, and that flights would resume in the late afternoon Saturday. Trans-Atlantic flights, some of which had been diverted to Portugal, had already begun landing at Madrid airport. Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba had said earlier that airspace would remain closed until Sunday. All airlines operating at Madrid airport cancelled their flights until 6 a.m. (5 a.m. GMT) on Sunday. The air controllers began returning to work after the government decreed a state of emergency to force them to resume their duties immediately. Controllers who refused to do so faced being prosecuted for disobedience under military law, Rubalcaba said. The government Friday placed airports under military control after 70 percent of air traffic controllers left their posts or did not show up for work, most of them claiming to be sick. The state of emergency was declared for the first time since Spain became a democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. Air controllers who continued refusing to work risked facing arrest, immediate prosecution and lengthy prison sentences. The controllers were to remain under military law even after the protest was over. -sinikka tarvainen, mcclatchy newspapers
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sports 3
editors: michael bealey, garrett ripa sportseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
december 7, 2010
Taylor caps award-winning Tech wrestling starts strong season with fourth ACC title or a moment during the third quarter of Saturday’s ACC F Championship game between
DAN IEL L IN
/ SP PS
Virginia Tech and Florida State, it appeared as though Tyrod Taylor might be human. The senior quarterback from Hampton, Va., had the nation’s number one pass rush in his face with seemingly no room to make a play. Even Taylor, who did his best imitation of Clark Kent transforming into Superman all season long, looked like he might not be able to escape the defense this time. However, Taylor spun to his left nearly 20 yards from the original line of scrimmage, avoided both of the Seminoles’ defensive ends, and scrambled for a 12-yard gain. That play made it pretty evident the ACC made the right choice for its player of the year. “After being named ACC Player of the Year, (Taylor’s) first response was to go back out tonight and make sure that everybody was right,” said Bryan Stinespring, offensive coordinator. “He said that earlier in the week. He wanted to come out and win this game and make sure that he put a stamp on it. I think he stamped it. I think he stamped it and he stomped on it.” Taylor continued to impress statistically against Florida State, throwing for 263 yards and three scores while adding one on the ground. Taylor’s second touchdown toss to Danny Coale was his 22nd of the year, breaking the singleseason record at Tech previously set by Maurice DeShazo in 1993. Although there was debate as to whether Ta y l o r
2011 Discover Orange Bowl Jan. 3 No. 13 Virginia Tech vs. No. 4 Stanford Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla. 8:30 p.m. ESPN deserved the award, considering Tech’s early season losses to Boise State and James Madison, he made certain those detractors were silenced. “That was on my mind the whole night,” Taylor said. “Some people may feel like I didn’t deserve it. I felt like I deserved it. My teammates felt like I deserved it, the coaches felt like it. So they coached the game where I could go out there and showcase my talent, and that’s what I did.” Taylor, who now has three ACC titles under his belt, will lead the Hokies in their third Orange Bowl appearance since joining the ACC against Stanford on Jan. 3. While Taylor’s success is undoubted, it’s hard to imagine what other national accolades he would have won had Tech not stumbled early in the season — specifically the Heisman Trophy. A u b u r n’s Cameron Newton is the clear frontrunner and Taylor is not even one of the finalists. Yet, he has led the Hokies to 11 straight wins since their 0-2 start and thrown for 2,521 yards, including 23 touchdown passes with just four interceptions. Taylor has also rushed for 637 yards, good for second on the team, with five rushing touchdowns. Those numbers from Taylor are comparable to Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who has been named a Heisman finalist. Luck has thrown for 3,051 yards, including 28 touchdowns with seven interceptions, leading the
Cardinals to an 11-1 record. He also ran for 438 yards and three touchdowns this season. Additionally, while the Hokies should not have lost to FCS opponent JMU at home, the five-day turnaround from their game against Boise State was an inexcusable demand for any team. However, it appears as though that loss ultimately kept Taylor out of the running for college football’s most prestigious award. “We’ve been fortunate to have some great quarterbacks at Virginia Tech, and Tyrod is right there,” said Frank Beamer, Tech head coach. “I’ve enjoyed a lot of great moments with Tyrod out there. He’s meant a lot to Virginia Tech.” Nonetheless, Taylor has carved out a spectacular career at Tech, Heisman or not. He came in as a highly-touted freshman in 2007, rated as a five-star recruit by Rivals recruiting service, and has lived up to that hype. Now Taylor hopes fans will remember his legacy in much the same way as other Hokie greats such as Bruce Smith and Michael Vick are remembered. “I hope (the fans) don’t forget about me,” Taylor said. “It really hasn’t set in, many of the things I’ve done here. I’m just thankful for the opportunity that coach (Beamer) gave me from day one, allowed me to come out here and start and be the leader.” With one game left on the national stage, Taylor will look to make a lasting memory that will solidify one of the great careers by a Tech quarterback.
MICHAEL BEALEY -sports editor -sophomore -business major
LUKE MASON / SPPS
Redshirt junior David Marone battles for position during the Hokie Open on Nov. 7. Marone came back from shoulder surgery this season. Tech’s next dual meet is at Appalachian State on Jan. 4.
HOKIES BEGIN SEASON 6-2, DESPITE HAVING JUST THREE SENIORS AND FIVE JUNIORS ON ROSTER NICK CAFFERKY sports reporter The Virginia Tech wrestling team is off to a great start and poised for another run at an ACC championship. Ranked No. 19 with a 6-2 record in team matches, the Hokies have six grapplers ranked in the top 20 of their respective weight classes. With that kind of talent, head coach Kevin Dresser is looking for his first ACC title, which has narrowly escaped him the past four years. “A real successful season would be to get three to four guys on the stand (nationally) — four to five guys on the stand — and win an ACC title; that’s what we’re shooting for,” Dresser said. “I think we’re capable of putting together a top-15 finish if we do all of that.” One of the most impressive Hokies this season has been freshman Devin Carter, who is currently 16-3 this season and ranked No. 7 in the 133pound weight class. A local wrestler from Christiansburg High School, Carter had the opportunity to work out with the Tech club wrestling team, giving him more time than most to adjust to wrestling in college.
“I learned about the toughness of the room and it brought me out to a new level,” Carter said. “Wrestling in a high school room isn’t nearly as competitive as a college room — everyone is going after each other and everyone just wants to win.” Carter isn’t the only young blood on the team. Sophomores Pete Yates and Brian Stephens are both getting significant time on the mat, while freshman Chris Mears has also been given several opportunities. With only three seniors and a handful of juniors on the roster, much of the team is still growing. As one of those three seniors, Chris Diaz has been trying to expedite that process. “I talk to some of the freshmen and hang out with them. Carter is around my weight, so I draw up with him and wrestle, so hopefully having someone that has been here for a while will get them better,” Diaz said. “It’s something I didn’t have when I (started) here.” In addition to the freshmen that have come in and made an immediate impact, the Hokies have gotten a significant boost from a few grapplers coming back from seasons derailed by injuries. David Marone has come back strong from shoulder surgery and filled the void in the heavyweight weight class the Hokies were forced to forfeit in
team matches much of last season. Marone is currently nursing a shoulder injury and was held out of the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 3-4, however once he is back to full health, he will be a key piece to the Hokies run at a conference title. When healthy, Marone has provided a boost and the return of Pete Yates has given Dresser arguably his best wrestler. Not only is Yates an undefeated 16-0 going into winter break, he is also ranked No. 11 in the nation in the 157pound weight class. Even though it is just December, Diaz and company have started to look ahead to nationals and the prospect of placing high at the national level. “My goal is definitely to be an NCAA champion; I don’t want anything less than that. That’s what I’m here for — I’m here to win it all,” Diaz said. “There is nobody that is a superstar in my weight class, so it’s pretty open.” On a separate note, the Hokies announced their 2011 signing class on Nov. 17 and it is made up of another group of state champions. Between the four signees, there are a combined seven state titles and three are ranked in the top 60 seniors, according to InterMat. “That is part of the reason why we’re continuing to go the right direction here — we’ve had some success on the recruiting trail,” Dresser said. “We didn’t sign a lot, we signed five guys, but I think all of them can make an impact here.”
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december 7, 2010
opınıons 5
editors: scott masselli, gabi seltzer opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
december 7, 2010
America’s scientists at risk, need more funding he Dec. 10 awards ceremony in Stockholm celebrates the 2010 T Nobel Prize winners and the ability of curiosity-driven men and women to open doors on previously undiscovered areas of knowledge. But it comes on the heels of a disturbing recent report from the National Academies of Sciences warning that the United States is continuing to slide toward relinquishing its position as the world’s top innovator. That accolade instead seems to be shifting to other nations, particularly in Asia, that are making the necessary investments in science and engineering education and research that drive so much of the world’s economy. “Rising Above The Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5” provides a troubling sequel to an influential 2005 study, which called for action and investment in 20 specific areas of science, math and engineering education, research and science and technology policy. But as the hurricane metaphor in the report’s title broadcasts, our nation is more at risk than ever: “It would appear that overall the United States’ long-term competitiveness outlook (read jobs) has further deteriorated,” according to the blue-ribbon panel that prepared the new analysis. Scientific- and engineering-based enterprise leads to the sorts of technologies, products, services and jobs that give life and momentum to a nation’s economy. Not only do the scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs benefit, the new report states, but so do the truck drivers who deliver new products, the sales teams that market them, the repair personnel who maintain them and so forth, through the entire economy. These challenging budgetary times, however, require innovation in how we support our country’s young scientists and engineers at points in their professional lives when they often are the most creative. We need new approaches not just from government but also by the private sector and philanthropic community. I was fortunate to have shared the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology in 2009, with two colleagues, for fundamental discoveries about the structure and behavior of chromosomes. As a young scientist 20 years ago, however, I couldn’t have imagined that our work would later bear so directly on cancer and age-related disease. But fortunately I received support to pursue the biological and clinical connections of this basic research.
Early in my scientific career, I was the beneficiary of a four-year award in biomedical sciences from a program run by The Pew Charitable Trusts that has supported more than 500 early-career scientists in its 25year history. The funds helped me pursue my research, of course, but more important in the long run was the confidence the award gave me to ask bold questions. Subsequent support for more than 20 years from the National Institutes of Health allowed me to continue pursuing connections of basic science to disease. Too many creative young scientists today, however, fail to receive such funding when it can serve them — and their country — the most. Over the past quarter-century, the average age at which investigators receive their first independent National Institutes of Health research grant has increased from 34 to 42 years. Meanwhile, the proportion of grant proposals that succeed has decreased so dramatically that we have arrived at a real crisis point. We are in danger of losing a generation of creative young minds due to lack of funding. It takes a forward-looking country to open educational and career pathways to train young scientists, but there is also a strong argument for doing so. “While only 4 percent of the nation’s work force is composed of scientists and engineers, this group disproportionately creates jobs for the other 96 percent,” the NAS report notes. As other countries invest heavily in science and education, they are beginning to challenge our longstanding preeminence in the scientific and technological enterprises. Five years ago, the NAS warned of emerging global competition. Today, the risk of losing our leadership position is even greater. In this increasingly competitive world, we need to renew and intensify our national commitment to science and engineering, with a focus on education and research. Maintaining and improving our scientific standing requires all stakeholders to strengthen those existing programs that nurture our scientific and engineering workforce, while inventing and funding new ones. Only this will allow the United States to preserve its well-deserved reputation as an economic engine where innovation can flourish.
CAROL W. GREIDER AND TERESA SZYMANIK -mcclatchy newspapers
Your Views [letter to the editor]
Students need better parking As a student employee, I leave my house 20 or 30 minutes early to find a parking spot. I find myself driving around parking lots often, unsuccessfuly looking for a place to park. It’s never easy. I work at McComas Hall, and I often end up parking “in the cage” or the Track/Field House parking lot. From these parking lots it takes about 10 minutes to walk to McComas, and by this time I’m late for work. The thousands of students who work on campus should have a parking option other than commuter parking. Student employee parking spots should be offered, or student employees should have the option of parking in faculty/staff spots. Commuter spots are great for commuters leisurely going to class, but not for students who are paid to be on time for work. I also work in the Media
Building. When I arrive at 8 a.m., I can never find an open spot in the Squires lot, and with class right after work, I cannot park in a meter spot. I have to cross my fingers and hope I can find a spot on Washington Street. If I have trouble finding a parking spot on campus at 8 a.m., I can only imagine the struggle of students who work on campus in the middle of the day. Students work on campus to serve other students. They work at all times of the day to provide food, recreation and administrative help. The university could not operate without student employees. Since student employees already have the extra burden of working and going to class, they should not also be burdened with driving around a parking lot multiple times hoping to find an empty parking spot.
Hannah Wilson Senior Communication major
The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
MCT CAMPUS
Debate over WikiLeaks missing important issues ’s been more than two years since my first column hit the pages of It the Collegiate Times. After two years of having the opportunity to write for such an excellent audience, my time at Virginia Tech has come to an end. I am a laggard of the class of 2010, and I will be facing graduation in about a week. This will most likely be my final column in the Collegiate Times, and I am taking a moment to say goodbye. Don’t worry. Keep reading — this isn’t going to be just a bunch of tearjerker goodbyes and shout-outs (I had written such a column, but decided to scrap it). Instead I am taking up a little bit of space to say thank you to all the friends, acquaintances, instructors, familiar faces, romantic interests and even enemies I have experienced during my time here at Tech. Some of you I will continue to grow with for the rest of my life, others I may very well never hear from again. It’s the acquaintances and familiar faces I will miss most of all, as I know this could be a last goodbye. It’s a weird feeling to know I may not again see many of the faces who have become a part of my daily life. I cannot find the proper words to express how much my time here has meant to me — there are too many experiences and emotions to process. If I was given 10,000 words, I still could never write a proper goodbye to my undergraduate life, and to everyone who helped make it so special. I love you all so very much. Facebook me immediately — I’m actually a pretty nice guy. I will now transition awkwardly into the topic of my final column. I had a multitude of requests to write a satire piece for my final work; unfortunately I had no choice but to scrap that idea as well. The world is a much different place than it was two years ago. Extreme authoritarianism and nationalism has become a media-validated way of thinking. Imagine if I had commented on an organization like WikiLeaks a year ago by saying something such as the following: “What WikiLeaks has done is the equivalent of telling the
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send an e-mail to opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com with your letter or guest column attached.
a man named Assange, who could very well be worse than Hitler and Stalin combined. As long as the WikiLeaks debate is focused on whether Julian Assange hates America, or whether the hypothetical contents of his leaked documents can hurt some unknown soldier in a fictional location, real issues can once again be shoved under the rug. I have a theory. It’s bold and slightly conspiratorial. However, I have decided to share it with you in hopes others may conclude the things I conclude. My theory is this: The government and the TSA are responsible for leaking information to Assange and his soldiers. Think about it for a second. The government was looking like the villain while the media was focusing on the TSA feeling up your girlfriend. Now that WikiLeaks is in the headlines again, Americans have a new enemy — and he’s foreign. Yeah, I can feel you being convinced already. The debate over the latest WikiLeaks release is no longer a discussion about public interest. Instead, the discussion is now skewed into a debate about your patriotic allegiance. The government and political pundits alike are creating an atmosphere where if you support Assange, you are on the opposing side of a war against America. Well, I will honestly say right now if there was some war between WikiLeaks and the United States, I will gladly side with WikiLeaks. However, I would actually prefer if the debate over WikiLeaks was simply conducted on more factual grounds involving freedom of the press, open government and contents of the released documents. Nothing destroys rational discourse more quickly than blind devotion to a nation. Our liberties will definitely survive WikiLeaks; however, liberty stands no chance against something as poisonous as nationalism.
CHAD VAN ALSTIN -regular columnist -senior -communication major
Holiday season should also be about giving to less fortunate BC declared last week that the lighting of the Christmas N tree in Rockefeller Center was the
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Germans where the D-Day attack is going to happen. Julian Assange has sided with the terrorists against America, and he should be executed in a secret prison for what he’s done. He’s slapped every Sept. 11 victim in the face, and relieved himself all over our sacred flag. The only option we have left is to send our brave men and women to strike the WikiLeaks HQ. This is a war and WikiLeaks struck first when it decided to embarrass America with its Internet postings.” Some of you would smile, understanding this to be a joke. However, I would probably receive more than a couple e-mails from people thanking me for being such a patriot. This is because the extreme viewpoint is now the one being articulated by a mainstream nationalist movement. What would have seemed to be an insane way of thinking a few short years ago has now become an established viewpoint. Throughout history, this often means we’re seeing innovative new ways of thinking. Well, in this case it just means certain people are regressing into a state of worshipping bald eagles and eating nothing but apple pie — throw in some Christian values, and you have everything a small mind needs to know the answer to every question. I should probably go join al-Qaida in its quest to help the ACLU destroy our American way of life. If there is one thing we all know about freedom, it’s that it isn’t possible unless we all identify with a team — and that team is America. This is the greatest damn country ever created by God, who probably created the country to give everyone in the world a little taste of what heaven will be like. We can only get to heaven through his son, Jesus Christ, but anyone can find America on a map, and we have God to thank for that. How long until what I wrote above becomes an actual talking point of right-wing pundits? These are scary times we live in. The WikiLeaks debate has released a nationalist fervor unlike anything I’ve ever seen. All rational discourse is officially put on hold while patriots hunt the globe for
official start to the holiday season. Malls all over America said it was officially on Black Friday. For me, the holidays started when I discovered some of my family members and I aren’t exchanging gifts this year. Some first reactions to a no-gift Christmas are, “Oh that’s cool, you want to focus on family,” or “Oh, that sucks, you have to cut back to save money,” and one person straight-out called me Scrooge. Despite all the responses, I know the real reason my family isn’t taking to the stores this year, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Now for a lot of you college goers — and I can say this because I was one for at least four holiday seasons — this time of year is Easy Street. I remember the excuse like yesterday and still wish I could use it this time of year, “Money is tight in college and I can’t really afford to buy gifts this year,” and then I would cash in on Mom and Dad’s need for gratuitous gift giving and family dinner. For those of you who don’t have this luxury, continue reading; there’s something here for you too.
Lucky for me, some people (my parents), just couldn’t imagine not waking up on Christmas without gifts. However, for an equal amount of people, waking up with no gifts will happen, and not by choice. No tree, no gifts, no lights, no turkey, no TBS marathon of “A Christmas Story.” So what vhappens for them? The people who don’t have a Christmas with all the bells and whistles? To find out, we talked to a woman named Dianna who lives at the Roanoke Rescue Mission. This time last year, Dianna was in jail. She was courtordered to come to the Mission to participate in an alcohol and drug treatment program. Now, one year later, Dianna says a lot has changed. She has various job assignments at the shelter, including working the desk at the women and children’s shelter. She has two months left in the program. After she’s finished, she’ll study to be a Certified Nurse’s Assistant. The future looks bright for her, but she says this time of year is harder than years past. “I get to see my family about two hours on Christmas Day,” she said. “Before, we would be at Mom and Dad’s house, opening presents, eating breakfast, then the nieces and nephews would come over and we’d
open more presents, then we’d have a big lunch. It’s hard not having that this year.” Dianna’s story isn’t unique. The shelter houses about 360 people per night who have hit hard times and don’t have a place to stay. Listen, no guilt trip. You can still enjoy the holidays, but realize what you have and how you can help out someone else. It’s going to take some effort. Call your local homeless shelter and see if you can volunteer some time. Go to Wal-Mart and grab a name off the Angel Tree. Look in your closet and pick out a coat to bring by the Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships offices in 1220 Litton Reaves for the coat drive. See if you can make a few greeting cards for the patients at Lewis-Gale, and if you don’t know what that is, Google it. We asked Dianna what is the best gift she’s ever received. “Having my family with me on Christmas.”
LEXI EDWARDS -guest columnist -AmeriCorps VISTA
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ACROSS 1 Houlihan portrayer in 5Across 5 Korean War sitcom 9 Reading aids 14 __ Major: Great Bear 15 Actress Hayworth 16 Native Alaskan 17 Site for flashy couples dancing 19 Confiscate 20 Popular swim briefs 21 Issue an embarrassing retraction 23 Foul caller 24 Group of street toughs 25 Competed in a race 28 Annual college football game in Arizona 34 Physics bit 36 Ending for absorb 37 Supreme Court justice Sotomayor 38 Spicy deep-fried stuffed appetizers 42 Crop up 43 Indian bread 44 Takes to court 45 Nap period, in Latin America 48 Paid athlete 49 Sign over a door 50 Sign before Virgo 53 “Ain’t happening!” 57 Emulates Jell-O 61 Bar, in law 62 2004 Adam Sandler movie, and a hint to the puzzle theme found in 17-, 28-, 38- and 45Across 64 Bridal registry category 65 Impulse 66 Poet Lazarus 67 Musical Carpenter 68 Word with pressure or review 69 Gush DOWN 1 Figure (out), in slang
By Jeff Chen
2 Conclude, with “up” 3 Castaway’s place 4 Shocking weapon 5 Appliance brand that helps you wake up? 6 Suffers 7 “The Simpsons” disco guy 8 __ corpus 9 Like a desperate effort 10 Actor Guinness 11 Israel’s Golda 12 “The Godfather” author Mario 13 Goulash, e.g. 18 Summer drink 22 Tiny army member 24 “Start that job now!” 25 Indian nobles 26 Centipede video game creator 27 “Cross my heart!” 29 Lodge 30 Hits on the noggin 31 Outdo
12/7/10 Friday’ s Puzzle Solved
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32 Electrician, at times 33 Steer catcher 35 The “m” in E = mc 2 39 Broadway flier 40 Nonstick spray 41 “I just flew in, and boy are my arms tired!” e.g. 46 Tree feller 47 Snarls, as traffic 51 Scrambled fare
52 Makes eyes at 53 Giraffe’s trademark 54 Fed. workplace watchdog 55 Cookbook verb 56 Actress Skye 57 “Living” payment 58 Hobble 59 Salinger heroine 60 “Pygmalion” playwright 63 Season opener?
arts & entertainment 7 december 7,2010
editors: lindsey brookbank, kim walter featureseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865 COLLEGIATETIMES
RAPID FIRE REVIEWS XYZ Gallery offers
BY MATT BORYSEWICZ | features reporter
play
Entropia Universe: Planet Calypso (PC) ntropia Universe is an interesting concept. It is actually a marketE ing platform disguised as a game, or rather a series of games. Companies can actually pay to have a “world” in the universe designed, and from there, it is allegedly used to make money. This is where the wording on the website got a little hazy for me — but then again that’s why I’m not in business school. The portion of Entropia Universe I explored, Planet Calypso, is one of the two worlds that are currently active and set up as a newly formed space colony. The other world that is set up, Rocktopia, is rock-and-roll based. There are plans for several more worlds to come, including a Michael Jacksonthemed planet, a concept which I wracked my brain trying to find words for. Planet Calypso drops you off on a newcomer’s island to learn the rules, and the first thing I realized was the absolute beauty of the game. It uses the CryTek2 game engine similar to the one Crysis uses. For those non-computer nerds reading, that means the game is pretty. But my enjoyment of the game really stopped there, as I learned Planet Calypso’s colonization efforts pretty much consisted of, “Here is a gun, some mining equipment and no money. Enjoy the dangerous wilderness!” Planet Calypso’s major problem is also something that might attract players. The game itself is free to play, but you must “buy” in-game money at a rate of $1 for 10 Planet Entropia
Dollars. Equipment degrades quickly, so literally everything you can do in the game takes money. Actually, that is not entirely true. There is one activity even the poorest of players can partake in: collecting sweat off of the native fauna. Yes, you read that correctly. If you don’t want to drop some cash on the game, you can spend hours collecting the sweat from animals to sell to other players. I tried this activity for about 4 hours and wound up about halfway to reaching my goal of 1,000 units of animal sweat. This would have been equivalent to three PED. So let’s see, eight hours to collect three PED, divided by 10 to get the equivalent in dollars per hour yields a little less than 30 cents an hour. Congratulations Entropia Universe, you tricked me out of $10 so I could start actually playing. Things didn’t get any better from there. As pretty as the game is, it lacks substance. It seems like a good social platform, like a souped-up version of PS3’s Home, but that’s about it. Allegedly, you can make money off of the game, since PED can be transferred back to real money. It even holds the world record for largest virtual transaction, but it looks like if this is something you wanted to try, you needed to have started years ago. 1 1
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Entropia Universe: Planet Calypso gets two dollars out of five. Great concept, poor execution.
EVE Online (PC) VE Online is a massive, multiplayer online role-playing space E combat game and seems to be one of the only science fiction MMORPGs to enjoy any semblance of stability and profit since World of Warcraft began dominating the market. EVE has been around for quite some time — since 2003 actually — however, with the new Incursion expansion, I felt it was worth revisiting. In EVE, you are a pilot. As far as character development, the rest is up to you. You may choose to be a miner, manufacturer, trader, member of the military of any of the four rival factions or, if you have a death wish and enjoy fun at others’ expense, you might try the life of a space pirate. Having explored some of the game’s safer options in the past, naturally I chose to transform my pilot, aptly named “Babyfark McGeezack,” into the most feared space pirate in the EVE galaxy. In EVE, knowledge is power, and both online resources and the game’s player-base guard those secrets well. That is one problem with EVE: The fun lies on the opposite end of an extremely steep learning curve. Not many can climb this mountain, littered with the discarded accounts of new players who couldn’t muster the fortitude to keep going. But, for those who excel, it is a rich game full of inter-corporation politics, business management and political espionage, or so I’ve been told. In the two years I have played the game off
play ‘Silent Night’ auction
and on (mostly off), I have yet to feel like I really have a grasp of the whole system. I navigated Babyfark McGeezack, flying a brand-spankin’ new Merlin frigate outfitted with the best pirating equipment he could afford to lose (rule No. 1 of EVE: Don’t fly anything you can’t afford to replace), into lowsecurity space to find a lone miner or transport to lock down and either ransom for money or destroy. Six hours, 30 star systems and two ships later, I had yet to actually find this fabled miner, which taught me a valuable lesson about EVE. It is first and foremost a social game. Don’t play it if you don’t want to make a few friends to help you out and keep you occupied during the day. EVE isn’t a game for those with a short attention span. It is worth a try though because if you find it is the kind of game you enjoy, you’ll be playing among people who are passionate about the game. As an added bonus, the steep learning curve provides something most other MMORPGs don’t include: a built-in idiot filter. EVE, even though you have some problems for new players and the attention span impaired, there’s a golden game somewhere in you.
EVE gets three skulls and crossbones out of five.
‘127 hours’ climbs to top of Oscar list hile it’s a far cry from his starcrossed lovers film “Slumdog W Millionaire,” director Danny Boyle still delivers a heart-pounding experience with “127 Hours,” a film that reeks of Oscar. The movie chronicles the harrowing journey of Aron Ralston, a thrillseeking adrenaline junkie who soon finds himself between a rock and a hard place — pun intended. After a terrifying fall while exploring canyons in Utah, he becomes trapped when a fallen boulder pins his right arm to the canyon wall. James Franco portrays the real-life adventurer with stunning ease, as if he were born to play this role. From the first second of the film, Franco brings a certain likability to the character. He is a suave yet outdoorsy smooth talker with some wayward female hikers. This quick characterization is crucial so the audience actually cares about him when he makes his untimely fall. The truly amazing thing about this film is a semi-informed moviegoer knows how it will end, yet still goes, and is enthralled in it the entire time. (Spoiler alert: He cuts off his own arm to free himself and get away). That really isn’t a spoiler though, as the film is based off a real story. That scene in particular was gory, gruesome, horrifying and beautiful. The film really lets the viewers imagine themselves in that situation and asks what they would do if push came to shove. Could you do it? Still, the movie is given such great constraints. How could Boyle possibly concoct an interesting movie from what should be no more than a segment on “60 Minutes?” For the bulk of the film, as expected, the giant boulder immobilizes Franco. However, somehow Boyle manages to pull it off, keeping the audience captivated throughout. He uses an interesting split-screen technique at times to show viewers several different vantage points simultaneously. Franco’s character also has a video camera he uses to document his horrible adventure, which serves as a running monologue to the audience. This emotional element Franco conveys is what really keeps the viewer enthralled. Boyle also cleverly uses flashbacks and hallucinations, which sometimes intertwine, to help pass the time. He does this to reflect the thoughts going through Franco’s mind. The film really does a great job of getting
MCT CAMPUS
James Franco, portraying Aron Ralston, keeps audiences interested for the full 94 minutes of ‘127 hours.’ the viewer inside the character’s head. You watch his thought process as he methodically works through all of the different scenarios in which he could escape. So is this one-man movie the new trend? Earlier this year, Ryan Reynolds climbed into a coffin for the duration of “Buried.” This style of film is incredibly simple in terms of action and plot, and instead explores the intricacies of human thought and wit. It’s much different than the typical Hollywood “shoot ‘em up” action flick, and for that I’m glad. “127 Hours” is truly a breath of fresh air. Another recent Hollywood trend the movie rails against — time. It seems like most films these days like to push into the two or even two-anda-half hour mark. Many directors fail to realize quantity does not always equate to quality. Michael Bay, anyone?
Fortunately, “127 Hours” is a fraction of its title, with a run time of just 94 minutes. The Oscar movie season is really just beginning. With likely frontrunners such as “The Fighter,” “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” not out in wide release yet, there is no way to predict how the chips will fall. Still, “127 Hours,” is definitely worthy of this cinematic horserace. If nothing else, Franco deserves Best Actor for delivering a gut-wrenching performance that is raw, gritty and real. He brings Ralston’s incredible story to life and easily propels the film forward single-handedly — pun still intended.
PATRICK MURPHY -features staff writer -communication major
MIA PERRY features staff writer It’s the holiday season once again and that means many of us are even more broke than our normal college student status. Christmas shopping for loved ones can be plenty of fun, but it often breaks the bank, and dealing with the masses of last-minute shoppers can be downright hazardous. So why not do some holiday shopping at an alternative venue this year? The XYZ Gallery, a student-run art gallery at Virginia Tech located on Main Street, is hosting its first annual “Silent Night” silent auction on Friday. The gallery will be auctioning off all sorts of artwork — from sketches and paintings to sculpture and wood carvings. Submissions are from all around the community, many from Tech students and art faculty. All bidding starts at $1, so if something really catches your eye, there’s a possibility you could take it home for a very affordable price. Gifts donated from local businesses will also be up for bid, including gift baskets from stores such as Ben and Jerry’s and Bath and Body Works, and a variety of gift cards worth about $25. Glynis Condon, a senior visual communications and design major and the XYZ president, said a lot goes into the creation of an auction such as this one. The students at XYZ take on a lot of responsibilities to ensure the gallery runs smoothly, and put great effort into hosting various art shows, including “Silent Night”. They carefully design layouts, discuss themes and then finally call for submissions of artwork from artists around the community, including students. Then they go about collecting submissions, hanging them and being hosts at the gallery during the open hours. An auction such as this involves so much planning that it almost didn’t happen this semester, but Condon was determined to have the holiday auction. She and other members of the gallery went to approximately 80 businesses around the community, giving out proposals for donations, and then returning to collect the donations that were offered. “We are as much a part of the staff of running an art gallery as we are a com-
munity of student artists,” Condon said. “We try to add certain events that aren’t just art shows, and to have fun with this community of artists and take advantage of the fact that we are all together and all artists.” XYZ also likes to host music shows as a way of showcasing another form of art. “We offer the space for free for them,” Condon said. This is the gallery’s way of promoting themselves and how versatile they are. “XYZ is such a great and valuable thing because it gives students an opportunity to show their artwork when they may not have the opportunity to show it anywhere else,” Condon said. “The same goes for the musicians. We offer them a venue to show their talents when they may not be able to book anywhere else.” “Silent Night” was partially initiated as a fundraiser for XYZ’s various expenses. The students must find funding for the building’s rent, paint to cover the holes in the wall left by artwork from each show and concessions offered at the shows, among other things. The gallery also receives some funding from student organization grants, as well as funding in exchange for providing artwork at the Corporate Research Center buildings. Not only do the students at the gallery hope to bring in funding, but to raise awareness about the organization. “Money is not the only reason we are doing this,” Condon said. “It will be really great exposure, and bring a lot of new people into the gallery who didn’t know it was here before. We are also as much offering our services to the community as we are the students.” Because of this, the gallery is charging only $10 per submission, so each artist can take home the full profit made at the auction. Of course, artists are welcomed to donate portions of their profit to the gallery as well. The submissions gathered so far make for an eclectic mix of objects that would add flare to anyone’s wall or living room, and would give the typical dorm room poster a run for its money. Doors will open at 6 p.m., on Friday, and tickets will be sold for $3 ($2 if ordered in advance). The event is an open house that will last until 10 p.m., and will be accompanied by a live jazz band and refreshments, including wine for the over-21 crowd.
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december 7, 2010