Wednesday, December 8, 2010 Print Edition

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

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

www.collegiatetimes.com

COLLEGIATETIMES 107th year, issue 128

News, page 2

Food & Drink, page 7

Opinions, page 5

Sports, page 9

A burning passion

Classifieds, page 6

Privatized liquor sales a possibility CLAIRE SANDERSON news reporter

JONATHAN ROBERTS/ SPPS

Students in the Virginia Tech Wildland Fire Crew were called out in November to assist during a forest fire on Price Mountain.

VIRGINIA TECH WILDLAND FIRE CREW PROVIDES STUDENTS CHANCE TO TAKE ON FOREST FIRES JAY SPEIDELL news staff writer When a forest fire breaks out, students at Virginia Tech are ready to answer the call.

“If there’s a wildfire and they need extra people,” said Lindsey Curtin, a senior and fire information officer with the Wildland Fire Crew, “they can call us up and we’re there to help.”

Anyone at Tech can join the club and become a firefighter if he earns a Red Card, which is the standard certification for wildland firefighters.

To get a Red Card, students can take a class called Wildland Fire Ecology and Management, in the forestry department. It provides the necessary certification classes and has labs for students to go out and practice.

“It’s not complicated, it’s just a dangerous job,” Curtin said. “You have to have the right skills and be doing

something a long time so you know what you’re doing and so you can be safe about it.”

There is also a fitness test to make sure firefighters are up to the job, called a work capacity test. The test prepares applicants for the gear they would carry in the field.

“Basically you have to walk three miles in 45 minutes wearing a 45pound vest,” Curtin said. “You’re not allowed to run, so you have to walk it really fast.”

While the fires the crew faces may be large, the crew is relatively small.

“We might have 20 people on the crew, but at any one fire we could have maybe five to 10 people.”

Curtin joked fighting fires is a great excuse to get out of class.

“The last one I was getting ready to go to class and then I got a call from Shep, our supervisor, and he was like ‘Get out here, we got a fire!’” Curtin said. “So I ditched class that day and ran out there, we got an engine and

JONATHAN ROBERTS/ SPPS

Student firefighters team up with firefighters from the United States Forestry Service and Virginia Department of Forestry. ran out to the site.”

At a fire site, they join the other firefighters from the United States Forestry Service and the Virginia Department of Forestry.

“We go out for briefing and

they have to size up what the fire is,” Curtin said. “We could be digging a line, we could be putting out fire with water, we could put in a see FIRE / page three

Bus lines compete for student travelers SARAH WATSON news reporter

Prices If one person wants to go home to Northern Virginia on Dec. 15: MegaBus:

Home Ride:

-Departs Christiansburg 1:35 p.m -Arrives Washington D.C. 6:10 p.m.

-Cost: $5 -Departs Christiansburg 5:35 p.m.

-Arrives Washington D.C. 10:10 p.m.

-Cost: $1

-Departs Virginia Tech campus 2:30 p.m.

-Arrives Vienna 7 p.m.

-Cost: $66

Connections MegaBus

MCT CAMPUS

Students traveling home to Washington, D.C., for winter break now have a new transportation option.

MegaBus, a daily bus service running from Knoxville, Tenn. to D.C. will stop in Christiansburg starting Dec. 15.

There will be three daily trips passing through the New River Valley and picking up passengers at Falling Branch Park and Ride in Christiansburg, located off of I-81 at exit 118A. Already used across the country, MegaBus decided to add a stop in Christiansburg after seeing a high demand in the New River Valley. After monitoring social networks, blogs and websites, MegaBus decided to make the leap, according to Dale Moser. Moser is the president of Coach USA, the parent company of MegaBus. “We thought we’d give it a shot and see if there is some interest,” Moser said.

A round trip from Christiansburg to Washington D.C. costs between $2 and $10.

MegaBus can connect to D.C. then to Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Hampton, Harrisburg, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, or Toronto, or to Knoxville from Christiansburg.

Home Ride A round trip from Tech to various locations in Virginia costs between $66 and $113.

Home Ride can connect from Tech to Radford University, James Madison University, the University of Virginia and Vienna (Northern Virginia).

SOURCE: MEGABUS.COM AND HOMERIDE.COM

see BUS / page two

Sudoku, page 6

In what’s been called a “drinking town with a football problem,” the only place in Blacksburg to get anything stronger than a beer is the local ABC store.

But ABC stores may soon become a memory, with Gov. Bob McDonnell planning to get Virginia out of the business by privatizing the sale of liquor.

Virginia’s 76-year-old monopoly on the wholesale and retail of liquor dates back to the days of prohibition. It is one of only 19 states in the nation in which the state government directly controls sale and distribution of liquor.

Essentially, McDonnell’s plan for privatizing would create 1,000 retail liquor licenses the state would auction off to the highest bidding businesses. Liquor would be regulated similarly to how beer and wine are currently regulated.

McDonnell was unable to garner the necessary support to justify calling a special session of the General Assembly this November, and must now wait until January’s regular session to try to get the privatization plan passed.

The main argument against the plan has been ABC revenue — almost $50 million — that the state would lose each year if it privatized, a number that’s especially hard for legislators to swallow in the current economy.

“When he first came forward with the idea during his campaign, it was with the promise that there would be no lost revenue. And right now, it stands at a little bit more than $50 million of lost revenue per year,” said Jim Shuler, state delegate for the 12th District. “The ABC is one of the few agencies that makes a profit, which is huge. If it’s not broke, why sell it?”

Blacksburg’s ABC store on South Main Street grossed more than $1.6 million in profits last year, according to the 2009 ABC annual report — money which went into the state’s general fund.

For consumers, privatization could increase the availability of liquor by increasing the number of outlets where it can be sold.

There are currently 332 ABC stores in the state, so McDonnell’s plan would increase the number of locations that sell liquor about threefold.

Privatization could cause noticeable changes in Blacksburg, where the town’s sole ABC location does booming business despite Blacksburg’s relatively small size.

The store sold the sixth-highest number of gallons in the state last year, according to the ABC’s 2009 annual report, and was topped only by stores in major cities such as Fairfax, Arlington, Richmond and Virginia Beach.

“If it were privatized and opened up to the private business, you’d have a huge amount of interest locally of people that wanted to get into the business,” Shuler said. “You could potentially go from one liquor store in Blacksburg to — how many more?

A lot more probably.”

Blacksburg mayor Ron Rordam said the town has already considered ways to control the expansion of liquor outlets.

“There’s always concern with a lot of alcohol consumption, and I think the way to cut down on some problems that could come about is through zoning,” Rordam said. “From a local perspective, that’s the thing we’d be most concerned about. That’s the main thing we really have control over.”

Steve Clarke, director of Virginia Tech’s Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center, said increased

accessibility could mean more alcohol-related problems among students.

“Right now we have one store; if this law passes we’ll probably have three,” Clarke said. “We’d definitely see a shift in drinking behavior — we’d see more consumption of liquor among students.”

He estimated about 77 percent of Tech students drink, regardless of age, and that the CAAPC currently sees about 1,000 people per year.

Clarke said he feared some of those new private stores would not be as strict to check IDs, noting that compliance rates in privatized states are lower than in control states.

If ABCs were privatized, Clarke said he would try to work with local liquor stores to make sure what they were selling was appropriate, noting that private liquor stores in other states can sell Jello-shots and even aerolyzed alcohol — items prohibited by the ABC. Despite the concerns, recent research has suggested a minimal impact in a move to private owner-

Top sellers in 2009 in terms of gallons sold in that year: 1) 1612 Laskin Road, Va Beach

129,024 gallons 2) 2910 Hermattige Road, Richmond

87,714 gallons 3)1103 Military Highway, Chesapeake

87416 gallons 4) 3333 Virginia Beach Blvd, Va Beach

86,395 gallons 5) 228 Leesburg Pike, Arlington 81,305 gallons 6) 1332 S. Main Street Blacksburg

75,401 gallons 7)201 N. Pershing Dr. Arlington

74,118 gallons 8)7525 Tidewater Dr., Norfolk

73,811 gallons 9) 2035 E. Market Street, Rockingham Co.

73,540 gallons 10)1100 Armory Dr., Va Beach

72,815 gallons ship.

The Virginia Institute for Public Policy conducted a study comparing the nation’s 19 control states to the 31 license states, and found that among 18-to-25-year-olds, binge-drinking rates were 42.77 percent on average in control states and 44.02 percent in non-control states — an insignificant difference statistically.

Furthermore, it found no significant difference in the average number of alcohol–related deaths per every 100,000 deaths between the two state systems.

The study added the majority of alcohol-related problems in a society are caused by those who abuse alcohol, and that abusive drinkers will drink similarly whether the state has a monopoly over liquor or not.

The study concluded that privitization of retail and wholesale were “highly unlikely to increase alcohol-related health problems in the Commonwealth.”

Apart from health concerns, an important consideration when choosing to buy and drink alcohol is price.

“Students are very price-sensitive when it comes to alcohol, so if prices fall, that will definitely increase consumption,” Clarke said. “Usually competition drives down the prices, but the state is going to be charging a huge excise tax on wholesale liquor.”

In Virginia, a 1.75 liter bottle of Jack Daniels Number 7 Black Tennessee see LIQUOR / page three

Obama administration announces compromise on tax cuts MARGARET TALEV & STEVEN THOMMA mcclatchy newspapers WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama worked to sell a sweeping tax cut agreement to skeptical Democrats Tuesday, arguing that he took the best deal he could get from congressional Republicans and vowing to fight them again in two years when it expires.

In so doing, he cast himself squarely in the middle of American politics, lashing out at the GOP for insisting on a tax cut extension for the wealthy, while also ripping liberals and Democrats for pushing him to not compromise with Republicans even if it meant that tax cuts for the middle class would expire.

“My No. 1 priority is to do what’s right for the American people, for jobs and for economic growth,” he said at a

hastily called White House news conference.

Obama used the news conference to try to sell the deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years on all incomes. He had wanted to make the tax cuts permanent for all incomes of less than $200,000 a year — $250,000 for families — and to let them expire for all income above that amount.

But he said Republicans opposed any extension unless it included higher incomes.

“It’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers,” he said. “Unless the hostages get harmed. ... The hostage was the American people. I was not willing to see them get harmed.”

While some liberals urged him to fight on, he said that would hurt working Americans and the economy.

“This isn’t an abstract debate. This

is real money for real people,” Obama said.

By forcing the Republicans to accept an extension of jobless benefits for the unemployed, and adding a one-year reduction in the payroll tax, he said the overall package would help the economy.

“It’s a good deal for the American people,” he said.

“I know there are some who preferred a fight,” he added, but said a long fight that risked higher taxes in the short term “might have been good politics. But it would have been bad for the economy.”

Instead, he said, he’ll fight another day.

“I’m as opposed to the high-end tax cuts as I have been ... I will fight to end them,” he said. “We’re going to keep on having this debate.”

He said he simply couldn’t win his quest to end tax cuts for the wealthy against unified opposition. “On the Republican side, this is their holy grail ... this seems to be their central economic doctrine,” he said. “We can’t get my preferred option through the Senate right now.”

He said he had to settle now because the tax fight only will get more difficult after Republicans add more seats in January.

“It was going to be a protracted battle, and they would have a stronger position next year than they do currently,” he said.

He used that argument to explain why he agreed to the Republican demands now — but in so doing also raised the question of how he could do any better in two years when he’ll face the same Senate.

Tax-cut deal’s price tag President Barack Obama’s compromise with Congressional Republicans on extending Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits to help the economy could add about $900 billion to the federal deficit.

Key parts of deal

Estimated cost in billions

Tax cuts, AMT* patch extend two years

$577 Payroll tax cut 2 percent for one year

$120 Unemployment benefits extend 13 months

$56 Tax credits** for families, students extend two years

$40 Interest on the debt for tax cuts

$13 Source: McClatchy Washington Bureau, White House Graphic: Judy Treible

*Alternative minimum tax **Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, American Opportunity Tax Credit © 2010 MCT

2 news

news editors: philipp kotlaba, liana bayne, gordon block newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865

december 8, 2010

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virginia headlines

COLLEGIATETIMES

Candle in the wind

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nation & world headlines

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Newport News garage destroyed

WikiLeaks founder Assange arrested

NEWPORT NEWS — A detached garage was destoyed by fire in Newport News late Monday night, but firefighters saved the adjacent home.

The fire was reported around 11:30 p.m. in the 100 block of Pear Avenue, and crews were on scene until 1 a.m. containing hot spots. No injuries were reported. The garage was condemned, with damages estimated at $16,000.

Battalion chief Stephen Pincus said the fire was started by sparks from a wood burning boiler, which did not have a spark arrester.

The Newport News Fire Department issued the following statement: “The Newport News Fire department would like to take this opportunity to remind people who use wood burning fireplaces or woodstoves that chimneys need to be cleaned and inspected by a licensed contractor prior to burning in order to make certain that the chimney is in good working order and safe to use. Chimneys should be cleaned several times during the burning season if the fireplace/woodstove is frequently used. Chimneys should also have spark arresters installed to prevent sparks from escaping. In addition, only hardwood such as oak that has been cured (not freshly cut) should be burned.

Julian Assange, founder of the controversial WikiLeaks website, was arrested here Tuesday morning at the request of Swedish authorities who want to question him about allegations of sexual assault, Scotland Yard said.

Assange, 39, voluntarily surrendered to police and was put under arrest, police said. He is expected to appear in a London court later Tuesday.

Sweden has asked that Assange be extradited so that it can investigate allegations by two women who had sexual encounters with him in that country earlier this year. Swedish prosecutors say the encounters may have involved “unlawful coercion” and even rape, but Assange has insisted that the liaisons were consensual.

The accusations have stalked Assange since the summer, before his website began publishing portions of the huge cache of U.S. State Department diplomatic cables that have dismayed American officials and other governments around the world in recent days.

But Assange, who is Australian, and his lawyers and supporters believe that the U.S. has pushed the sexual assault case behind the scenes as a way of embarrassing, harassing and silencing him.

Assange is believed to have been in southern England for much of the past few weeks as the State Department cables have been released. Swedish prosecutors last month issued an international warrant for his arrest, but British authorities did not move to arrest him until this week, apparently because of a technical mistake on the warrant.

At his court hearing, Assange’s lawyers are expected to ask for him to be released on bail while he fights the attempt to extradite him.

-mike holtzclaw, mcclatchy newspapers

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

Virginia Tech head men’s basketball coach Seth Greenberg lights a Minorah as a part of a ceremony for Hannukah. photo by daniel lin, spps

Bus: Fares vary widely among services from page one

MegaBus is an alternative to driving home, carpooling and the current Home Ride of Virginia bus system.

Home Ride, a popular mode of transportation for Virginia students, picks up on the Virginia Tech, Radford, James Madison and University of Virginia campuses. Home Ride also travels to Northern Virginia, Hampton, Richmond, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg, while MegaBus travels exclusively to D.C.

However, the fare varies greatly between the two bus services. Tickets on MegaBus begin at $1 for a oneway trip home. Fare for Home Ride is a constant $60 for a one-way trip to Northern Virginia, or $106 roundtrip.

Other fares range from $39 to $66 for a one-way trip to the destinations on Home Ride.

MegaBus is able to offer affordable rates because it has very little overhead. Moser said the company has been around for several years under Coach USA.

“Adding a Christiansburg route cost the company very little, only adding a few more buses and hiring new drivers,” Moser said. “We are able to pass those savings on to customers.”

Additionally, MegaBus sells tickets online exclusively, reducing the cost of additional paper and employees and making it convenient for students to purchase tickets from their dorms, Moser said.

“At the end of the day, you have extra money in your pocket,” Moser said.

Both bus services take an estimated

four-and-a-half hours to reach the Northern Virginia and D.C. area.

However, MegaBus provides free WiFi, restrooms and power outlets for students who want to work on the ride home. They also run environmentally friendly buses on all of their routes.

All of the buses on route are equipped with technology that emits 10 times fewer carbon than the average automobile, according to Moser.

“Motor coach travel is one of the greenest forms of travel,” Moser said.

-henry chu, mcclatchy newspapers

december 8, 2010

page 3

Liquor: Questions remain on price impact at local level from page one

— costs $47.95. This price includes the 20 percent state tax.

That same bottle costs $41.99 at the Frugal MacDoogal liquor warehouse in Nashville, Tenn., and $41.95 in ABC stores in North Carolina.

However, Nicolaus Tideman, an economics professor at Tech, doubted whether Blacksburg would see significantly lower prices with privatization.

“I think that there would probably be some tendency for prices to increase, at least in places like Blacksburg,” Tideman said. “You’re going to have relatively little competition and there would be a tendency for stores to collude and keep prices high.”

Local bars and restaurants were supportive of a potential price reduction through privatization.

Currently, the ABC does not offer these businesses significant discounts for bulk liquor purchases; it costs the same per bottle as individual sales.

But in states where wholesale is private, distributors can offer competitive prices to bulk buyers and can offer delivery to the restaurant’s location, eliminating the time-consuming trips to the ABC store that Blacksburg restaurants must now make.

Top of the Stairs kitchen manager Mike Hopkins said the restaurant must currently call in an order a day before, and drive to the ABC store to pick it up. “(Privatization) might make it cheaper and easier to get what we need,” Hopkins said.

He said TOTS goes through 300 to 600 bottles in an average week.

And as those weeks count down toward the January session, McDonnell is now looking into ways to alter the privatization plan in order to gain the support he needs.

“The argument is that Virginia as a government should not be in the liquor business, and that has some validity to it. It’s not really a core function of government,” said Del. Dave Shuler. “But I just don’t know. ABC stores, although not an exact core function of government, have worked quite well for the last 75 years.”

McDonnell has hired a consulting group called PFM to analyze various plans for privatization, including privatizing retail but keeping wholesale under the government’s c ontrol.

PFM’s report is due in December, in time for McDonnell to work out a strategy to gain support before the General Assembly meets in January to vote.

The 19 control states

Control states

Fire: Students trained in classroom from page one

hose lay and deal with it that way.

There are a lot of ways of attacking a fire.

“When you first get to a fire you go into initial attack. You have to size it up, figure out what’s going on, start putting in your hand lines (fire break line) or have a dozer come and build fire lines. You have a perimeter that you’re trying to contain the fire in.”

The object of a fire break is to clear the perimeter of all fuel.

“Sometimes we’ll burn from our fire break to the fire so it consumes the fuel so the fire doesn’t get out of control,” Curtin said.

For the task, they use a device called a drip torch.

“Basically it’s a can about this big,” Curtin said, holding her hands a little more than a foot apart. “It’s a mixture of diesel and gasoline. It has a little thing at the end that drips out the fuel and you light it on fire and you like drip fire.”

“So I get to walk around in the woods and create wild fires,” Curtin said. “It’s sweet.”

Curtin said that the next step is to go in and put out hot spots, which is the mop-up phase.

“It’s definitely exciting, every fire’s different and that’s why I enjoy doing it,” Curtin said.

......radio

for everyone

LUKE MASON / SPPS

Student members of the Virginia Tech Wildland Fire Crew,seen above, pose for a photo in Cheatham Hall.

“You never know what you’re going to get, one day you could be hiking up a huge mountain and another day you could be trekking two hours in to a fire just to get to it.”

In addition to its firefighting

duties, the crew is involved with wildlife management and timber harvesting.

“You want to clear out the species to help the ones that are fire dependent grow stronger, A lot of the

pines around here are fire-tolerant,” Curtin said. “So if there’s a fire they can withstand it easily and trees with thin bark, like maples, will die off.

And that’s really nice for deer and stuff.”

page 4

december 8, 2010

opınıons 5

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

december 8, 2010

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

Our Views [staff editorial]

Regulations might accompany reform Gov. Bob McDonnell works to garner support for his plan to privatize liquor sales in Virginia, students are As anticipating the increased availability of liquor, along with the lower prices that theoretically accompany stronger competition in the market. However, as some experts have noted here in Blacksburg, the small number of stores that will begin selling liquor increases likelihood of collusion and price-fixing.

This problem makes sense, and economic rationale largely supports the claim: In a market with only three firms in an area, managers can collude more easily and quickly detect “cheating,” where one of the three lowers its prices to gain market share.

Moreover, in these markets, firms have fewer incentives to reduce prices than more populated ones, since each is already capturing a significant level of market share. Since most businesses operate in a world of repeated interactions, they will be hesitant to risk hefty profits and trust among firms for a short-term increase in profits.

Because of these problems, should McDonnell succeed in his efforts, Blacksburg residents may see no benefits of privatization in terms of alcohol prices. McDonnell may be trying to slim down the scope of government, but privatization could create a need for regulatory oversight to protect consumers from price gouging. Whether this would eat away at the presumed savings of privatization, however, depends on several factors, and will require more advanced studies.

The preliminary responsibility of our leaders in Richmond is to account for threats to consumers posed by oligopolies engaging in predatory pricing. If this were the case, any possible savings to citizens from lowering the need for taxes to balance the budget would be offset by the higher prices in a massive market. the editorial board is composed of scott masselli, gabi seltzer and peter velz

Your Views [letters to the editor]

Crowds should stay through end To all the fans who left early during Sunday’s basketball game against the Virginia Cavaliers, shame on you.

Shame on the folks who left at halftime. Sure, Virginia Tech was playing poorly, but there are two halves to every game, and the Hokies made great runs in the second half. Intense defensive play and improved shooting kept the game competitive to the end.

Shame on the folks who left with less than a minute remaining in the game, while the Hokies were still within striking distance. Yes, Jeff Allen’s intentional foul gave UVa an opportunity to go up by five or six, but that’s only two possessions, and definitely not out of reach. In fact, Dorenzo Hudson’s 3-point shot at the buzzer could have tied the game and sent it into overtime.

It’s embarrassing to see half the crowd in Cassell Coliseum clearing out before the final buzzer, not to mention disrespectful to our team. Where were you all going in such a hurry at 7:45 on a Sunday night? Abandoning the team in the waning moments of a game is shameful, especially a rivalry game, since we’re supposed to hate UVa with a passion. This kind of behavior is one of the reasons Tech is regarded, in a derogatory manner, as a

Attack on site misguided The attacks on Julian Assange by both the American media outlets and the United States government prove there is a fundamental flaw in our system.

What happened to the Bob Woodwards and Carl Bernsteins; the Upton Sinclairs and Rachel Carsons of our generation?

Investigative reporting has long been a duty of the American media, but these days it seems our press serves only to entertain us. I can find an abundance of stories on Four Loko and Bristol Palin from any of the major networks, but what I can’t seem to find is honest reporting concerned with real stories.

“football school.”

Coach Seth Greenberg writes letters to the Collegiate Times before each home game, asking for fan support, saying the men’s basketball team needs “your energy, your passion, your ownership, your commitment and your support.” He’s right; our players can feed off the energy of an enthusiastic crowd, and our opponents can be intimidated by it. Tech posted a 17-2 record at home last year, which is something to be proud of, and a part of that success is because of the atmosphere Hokie fans create in Cassell Coliseum.

I’m not a Pollyanna. I know the team is ultimately responsible for earning a victory on the court. It has definitely struggled at times this season, as evidenced in the first half. But that’s no excuse for walking out on it during a game, let alone an ACC game versus UVa. The next game is this Sunday at 1 p.m., against Penn State. This is the last game before break.

Finals are upon us, and academics should be a top priority, so I expect student attendance may be low. However, if you do go, please stay for the whole game.

Blow off some steam. Be loud, and be proud. Go Hokies.

Brian Urrutia Senior Interdisciplinary studies major In case anyone hasn’t noticed, shots are being fired across the 38th parallel and Julian Assange is exposing secret U.S. documents. It saddens me that the careful monitoring of our government, once a duty fulfilled by the watchdogs in the American press, has now fallen into the hands of Assange, an Australian.

Our media has retaliated along with our government with attempts to brand him a “terrorist” and declare him mentally unfit, but I ask: Who is more unfit? The man who seems to be the world’s last muckraker, or the media that reports on entertainment ahead of news?

Jordan Richard Senior Fisheries science major

MCT CAMPUS

Spirit of college radio must be preserved, kept relevant ecently, the New York Times announced Rice University R sold its college radio station KTRU to the University of Houston for $9.5 million. Alluding to a recent wave of college radio station closures, including Texas Tech University’s KTXT and Augustana College’s KAUR, the trend demonstrates a lack of funding and concern for college communications. It’s a scary prospect.

Both KTRU and Vanderbilt University’s WRVU will continue to stream online, though they will soon lose their analog signals. Students argue with the loss of broadcast signal, stations will also lose legitimacy. Since anyone can broadcast online via sites such as USTREAM and Pirate Radio, they couldn’t be more correct. But if students at other universities want to keep this traditional media, they need to find creative ways to drive traffic to the FM stations.

Students must devise new ways to make old media more profitable and perhaps more accessible. For instance, what if college dinning halls were to play college radio stations?

This could drive students to listen to the station more often and save the university money on XM radio subscriptions.

Perhaps campus radio stations

should broadcast from important on-campus events, when possible.

They might seek revenue by allowing student organizations to pay for discounted advertising on the airways.

While obscure music fills the airways, stations should consider expanding their programming. What if college radio stations were to cover some of their school’s sporting events or hold important campus discussions once a week?

Adjusting the programming can be useful in relaying information about weather, campus construction or even bus schedules, and does not have to eliminate the college voice.

Rather, it can amplify the college perspective, providing an important avenue where students can voice concerns or advise others on social issues. Programming does not have to be limited to unconventional music styles.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is learning to adapt as an interactive medium. Most stations already have their own websites and Facebook pages with feedback from listeners.

But imagine if you had the option to access the radio station while you visit the college newspaper’s website.

The station could offer the college newspaper free or reduced-price advertising in return.

Colleges in big cities are faced with larger challenges than rural colleges, where station competition is not as great. Yet, by working with the community to identify needs in the programming, broadcast stations could survive.

Community discussion about the value of student broadcast programming has already begun at Vanderbilt. Feedback from students and the local community will ultimately determine whether the college’s broadcast signal is worth preserving. Of course, it is, but students will have the ultimate authority on the future direction of this media on college campuses.

Hopefully, students will find ways to keep existing college radio stations afloat and convince local communities and their respective universities that traditional radio stations remain a vital communication source for college voices. The ultimate responsibility rests on the students and their incentive to fight to preserve and improve this media.

KATHRYN GALLAND -guest columnist -senior -communication major

Government should not interfere with food, personal responsibility like to take the opportunity to respond to Sean Simons’ column Iin would the Nov. 30 issue of the Collegiate Times. Some of what was said really bothered me, and in the end, coerced a necessary response to the ignorance expressed in the column as a whole.

The whole idea of banning foods, drinks and other perfectly legal consumables from places such as schools, groceries, dining facilities and convenience stores is, first and foremost, an attempt by our federal and state governments to limit our rights and liberties as American citizens. The issue comes down to our basic right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Sean asked, “Who doesn’t want to be healthier?” I’d venture to say there are plenty of people out there who are perfectly content with themselves and the level of health they have achieved.

Why should he or she be made to change? And why, of all things, should the government be the entity to change him or her? I’ll give you a hint of what that sounds like to me: It starts with a “T” and ends with “-otalitarian state.”

The power of our great nation lies in several words, one of the most important being freedom. We hear it quite often: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly. We have a fantastic opportunity in the United States to make choices for ourselves

freely and openly. If one chooses to purchase a soft drink, that is his or her own choice. If one chooses to have a cookie, for all I care, let him have it. It is not my place, nor the place of our federal government to slap someone’s hand and say, “No, Billy, that cake will go right to your belly. You don’t want that.”

The solution to our country’s health issues will not come by regulation. It will not come by bans. It will not come by limitations. It will come by the recognition and adherence to a two-word phrase that seems to be on the verge of extinction across our nation: personal responsibility.

Parenting is a position of great responsibility. To raise a child is an incredible feat in and of itself, and to instill values and responsibility in that child is just an added level of tremendous difficulty.

Therefore, I would maintain that the health, fitness and well-being of a child is in the hands of the parents, not the government. Parents who care about the aforementioned subjects will take any step necessary to ensure the child is well-taught and instructed on appropriate food choices, the importance of exercise and the consequences of making poor decisions. Banning items from schools, or anywhere for that matter, takes away learning opportunities for our children and further limits life

experience.

Take a military obstacle course for example: A well-trained soldier will be taught how to negotiate the obstacles. The obstacle will not be moved, changed, or taken away. If it is removed, how can the soldier learn? Life works in the same way. If all of your obstacles are taken away, you have nothing to learn, nothing to experience, and nothing for which to live. Challenges are presented in order to give people the opportunity to better themselves, give them the freedom to live their lives as they see fit, and the liberty of pursuing what makes them happy.

Certainly, the federal government could inform individuals, conduct health studies, and promote healthier living, and I have no problem with that. All that does is give people the tools to make informed choices. But to take away my freedom to choose what I want to eat or drink? I won’t have it — and we shouldn’t allow it to happen to our children either. When the government begins taking away our choices, it begins taking away our freedoms.

JIMMY ORR -guest columnist -senior -industrial and systems engineering major

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60 University URL ending 61 Put on

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

food & drink

COLLEGIATETIMES

Engineering alumna turns baker

W

arm up on a cold snowy afternoon with this delicious apple pie.

It is guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit.

CHELSEA GUNTER features staff writer For Pamela Ahn, life threw her cakes — literally. As a full-time engineer, without much baking experience, Ahn never expected be a competitor on TLC’s new reality series, “Cake Boss: Next Great Baker.” But, she’s going along for the ride.

Ahn’s father influenced her career choice at a young age. As she grew up, Ahn looked up to her father and thought he was the greatest engineer in the world. He motivated her to always follow her dreams no matter what they were. And with her goal to become the next great baker, Ahn is doing just that.

The baking battle premiered on TLC Monday, Dec. 6. The reality series is a spin-off of Buddy Valastro’s show, “Cake Boss.” According to the TLC website, 10 pastry chefs will have their decorating skills pushed to the limit each week as they compete to win a prize of $50,000 and a chance to work side-by-side with Valastro at Carlos’ Bakery.

From 1999 to 2003, Ahn attended Virginia Tech as an engineering major. At the time, she didn’t know professional baking was in her future.

“Everybody has a hobby or a dream on the side that you do because you want to — because it’s a passion, or it’s a love,” Ahn said.

She has her family to thank for the hobby that has grown for her in the past few years. Ahn began baking “out of love” for those she was close to.

The hobby flourished after her sister married in 2006 and had three children. With several baby showers and birthday celebrations, Ahn began baking out of necessity.

“I wanted to do something special instead of going to a grocery store,” she said.

Her creative cake flavors, such as Asian-inspired passion fruit and green tea, can vouch for her antistore-bought attitude.

Besides flavor, her designs have been geared toward children. Friends and family members would bring Ahn ideas their kids loved. In turn, she would try and replicate them in the form of a cake.

“To see their facial expressions and uncontrolled, very innocent joy and laughter is rewarding in itself,” Ahn said.

After watching TV shows such as “Cake Boss,” Ahn began to be brave with her designs. Her favorite cake was constructed in August 2009 for her husband’s birthday. It was a replica of his favorite food, Popeyes fried chicken. The cake was in the shape of the Popeyes box, and she surrounded it with sugar pieces in the form of fried chicken.

“My friends actually thought that I put real pieces of chicken on top,” she said, laughing, assuming the comments were compliments.

Ahn’s husband has also played a key role in supporting her decision to pursue careers in both engineering and baking.

“Eventually, my husband was the one who really motivated me,” Ahn said. “He believed in me.”

When Ahn decided to apply to the competition, it was originally named “Cake Boss: College.”

However, the application did not require college experience.

“I thought, ‘What the heck,’ and applied,” she said.

“I never thought I would get a call back.”

Ahn was nervous to meet the real Cake Boss, Valastro, when the competition began.

“I think a lot of times when you fall in love with personalities of people on TV, you might get disappointed when you meet them in person,” she said.

But, Valastro was everything she expected him

7

by Mika Maloney, features reporter (adapted from allrecipes.com)

CT Recipes Apple Pie Recipe Prep Time: 45 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour Ingredients: Pie Crust: 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup vegetable shortening 5 to 7 tablespoons cold water Filling: 8 cups sliced and peeled green Granny Smith apples 2 tablespoons lemon juice 3/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 tablespoons butter 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon milk Directions:

COURTESY OF TLC

Pamela Ahn, Virginia Tech alumna, is competing on TLC’s reality show “Cake Boss: Next Great Baker.” Ahn brings her engineering background into play to suceed in the challenge. to be and more. She looked up to a man who liked to make people happy, which was something she could relate to. Ahn admires that his career is not just about the cakes for him.

Ahn was nervous to face reality TV, something she never thought she would experience. She felt shellshocked in a world she had never fathomed and was overwhelmed by the amount of love and inspiration Valastro’s family had to offer in such a short time frame.

“I just feel like this is all such a dream,” Ahn said.

The competition was a humbling and emotional challenge for Ahn. As the underdog in a competition filled with professionals who had been taking classes and baking for years, she was used to baking in the calm and friendly environment of her own kitchen.

But, Ahn thinks her engineering background gave her an edge in the competition.

“You have to understand what’s going to work and what’s going to flop, and go at it with a problem solving method,” she said.

Thomas Walker, associate professor for the department of engineering education, agreed.

“She might have an advantage because of her understanding of three-dimensional space and the balancing of force,” he said.

Walker also noted Ahn has a lead over the competitors because of her knowledge in physics, balance and multiple layers, which are all a part of the general engineering education.

Walker predicted Ahn has the ability to create a more unique cake than those without her schooling.

With nine other competitors fighting for the

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same prize and willing to go to great lengths to win, Ahn’s experience was an emotional rollercoaster she had to ride without her loved ones.

Regardless of the challenging aspects, Ahn would not have changed a thing about her experience on the show.

“This is something that I was blessed with,” Ahn said. “I’m taking it one step at a time, and I’m very thankful and humble.”

Besides her engineering career, Ahn has her own blog, PamCakes at PamCakeDiva.com, which includes recipes and images of her own cake designs. Ahn uses it to tell women they can have their cake and eat it too. And her simplified, but interesting, recipes are a way to help women bake in their own kitchens.

Although Ahn views handling her engineering career along with her baking hobby as a challenge, she said it is all about time management. She wants to inspire people with full-time jobs to fulfill all of their desires with hard work.

“One of the things we struggle with in engineering is how to encourage people to be creative,” Walker said.

However, baking gives Ahn the opportunity to add a creative twist to her passion and knowledge of engineering.

Being on TLC’s reality show has already increased the popularity and demand for recipes on Ahn’s blog. She recognizes she has room to improve and a lot to learn, but is ready for the challenge.

Follow Ahn’s baking journey on the TLC spin-off Mondays at 9 p.m.

Pie Crust: 1. Either in a food processor or by hand, mix together the flour and salt.

Cut in the vegetable shortening until a course meal forms. Slowly add just enough water so the dough sticks together into a ball. Refrigerate while you make the filling.

2. Sprinkle the countertop with flour and separate the dough into two equal pieces. Roll each ball of dough so it will cover a nine inch pie plate (it should be about 1/4 inch thick).

3. Place one crust in the pie plate and press it evenly into the bottom and sides.

Filling: 1. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.

2. Mix together the sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add apples and toss well until they are coated.

3. Fill the pie pan with the mixture, and dot with butter before draping the second pie crust on top. Seal the edges with the bottom crust either with a form or by hand.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk and milk and brush over the top crust.

5. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

6. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake 40 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

december 8, 2010

page 8

Bloggers won’t put a lid on home canning techniques RENE LYNCH mcclatchy newspapers Canning is having a moment.

So is pickling, preserving, jam making and all around “putting up,” as they used to say — and now do once more — of the season’s harvest. And if that puts you in mind of a remote farmhouse kitchen, gingham aprons and a cellar lined with rows of apple butter, then you haven’t been paying attention.

At Food in Jars, blogger Marisa McClellan makes peach-plum jam from a most unusual perch — the 20th floor of a Philadelphia high-rise — and draws more than 100,000 hits per month. In New York, Tigress in a Jam issues monthly jam challenges that are accepted by fellow bloggers around the globe. In Brooklyn, there’s Anarchy in a Jar, a blog-based business dedicated to getting you out of a jam-mergency (i.e., you are in dire need of jam). They deliver their homemade wares on bicycle.

On the West Coast, there’s Saving the Season, a blog started on a whim just over a year ago by Kevin West to document his efforts to learn to can, jam, pickle and preserve his farmers market finds in his postage-stampsized kitchen tucked high above Laurel Canyon. His efforts just earned him a book deal.

That New Media has embraced this Old Favorite with such relish is the natural next step in our increasingly sophisticated food culture, West says.

The notion of eating seasonally and locally is no longer niche — it’s mainstream. And how else can you enjoy a just-picked, perfectly ripe, juicy-sweet nectarine in the dead of winter?

By canning it, of course.

“People just want to know how to do stuff,” West says. “And I think that jams and pickles are one of those things. In the ‘70s, there was the whole bread-baking thing. Last year, there was a whole bacon moment.

Well, jams and jellies and pickles are the new bacon.”

McClellan, a food writer, launched her blog in early 2009 precisely because she saw an opening: “Nobody was just talking about canning and preserving,” she says. “But it has really exploded in the last few months.”

She teaches canning classes and says demand is now greater than ever.

“There’s been a perfect storm: There’s an appreciation for eating locally and wanting to have highquality things,” she said. “People are truly concerned about what is going into their food and want to make sure it is as healthy and chemical-free as possible. You can do that when you make it yourself.”

This canning-pickling-jamming craze isn’t just a trend, it’s a movement, says Amy McCann.

She and her husband, Matt Scheibe, are the bloggers behind Our Home Works, based in Eugene, Ore., which documents the couple’s effort to eat as locally as possible.

Preserves have the ability to strike a chord, to allow us to delight in the simple joy of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared by hand at home, McCann says. “People are always like, ‘Oh, wow, this is what strawberry jam is supposed to taste like.’ They really light up.”

Strawberry jam is just the beginning, however.

Valerie Gordon has begun teaching jam-making and preserving classes along with West at her Los Angeles boutique, Valerie Confections, and hosting private preserving parties. She tells her students that the real fun is all about experimenting — with herbs, liquors, unexpected flavor combos — and creating a signature taste and style.

“For the beginning canners, once they learn the basics, the world really starts to open up. They say, ‘I can pair anything I want?’ It’s a wonderfully liberating thing.”

And sweets are only half the fun.

——— Gordon, who also sells her wares at the Hollywood farmers market, says that some of her customers’ favorites are on the savory side of the aisle, including a tomato marmalade brightened with citrus and a rich Santa Rosa plum ketchup layered with deep, smoky flavors.

Due to overwhelming class demand — and everyone’s fear of having too many tomatoes and not enough recipes — Gordon is adding a tomato class to the lineup Sept. 11, with students learning the finer points of canned tomatoes, ketchup and marmalade. Everyone goes home with a jar of each.

West, who is West Coast editor for fashion bible W magazine and is juggling the blog, classes and deadlines for his upcoming book (his publisher is Knopf, and it’s slated to be out in early 2012), says his goal is to inspire people who fear that canning is too much work or too dangerous or requires a farm. He wants people to preserve in much the same way that we’ve all learned, slowly but surely, to cook: year-round, along with the seasons, using fruits and vegetables from the market.

“A preserve is meant to extend the season a little bit,” he says. “We’re not trying to put something up for the bomb shelter 10 years from now. But if it’s apricot season, maybe you just put up 5 pounds of that and you’ll

enjoy it until September.

“And in September, when you’re out of apricot jam, then you can put up some pears and maybe apple jellies. And then you can enjoy that into January when the citrus is really hitting its peak ... and you’ll get five jars out of that. And that will carry you through strawberry season, and then you’ve got five jars of that, and then you’re back at apricot season.

“You’re making and eating jam all year-round, and then you never have to make this huge effort to make ‘a year’s worth’ of something.”

As he speaks, he’s in his airy, sundappled kitchen. The counter is cluttered with canning jars of all sizes and colors, and there are spoons, spoons, spoons everywhere for tasting. A new recipe for apricot paste is reducing in the oven. Slender stalks of rhubarb — a surprise find at the market so late in the season — are nearby, waiting for his attention, as is a box of all the makings of some crisp, sweet-tart bread-and-butter pickles.

The afternoon sun reflects off jars of blackberry and apricot preserves and an orange marmalade like they are jewels, which they are.

Is it really such a surprise, West asks, motioning to it all, that we’re embracing our culinary heritage?

He becomes quiet for a moment and begins ticking off a list of woes facing the world today — the BP oil spill, Wall Street scoundrels, unemployment, voter skepticism ...

“If you’re afraid, uncertain, ambivalent, what do you do?” he asks. “I think you look to the past, you look to find stability and reassurance where you can find it.” He holds up a jar of asparagus spears he pickled earlier this year, tucking in a few tufts of tarragon and green garlic for good measure.

“This is stuff our grandparents were doing. And that is stuff that we can do in our own home. We can grow a zucchini in the backyard and put it up in a jar. And that is a certainty. That is a tangible, concrete certainty in this world of uncertainty.”

——— PLUM KETCHUP Total time: About 1 1/2 hours Servings: Makes about 10 (8-ounce) jars Note: Adapted from Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections. Sweet smoked paprika and Marash pepper are available at specialty spice stores.

1 pound Roma tomatoes 4 pounds Santa Rosa plums or other black-skinned plums 3 cups brown sugar 1/4 cup olive oil 1 red onion, diced 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika

MCT CAMPUS

Food items from a recent farmers market are readied for Kevin West to prepare in the kitchen of his Hollyood Hills home. West is a blogger, magazine editor and soon to be pubished author. His blog, Saving for Season, led to a contract as food bloggers of the new media have embraced a new age.

1 teaspoon Marash pepper 1 teaspoon chopped garlic 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 tablespoon molasses 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1. Peel the tomatoes: With a sharp paring knife, cut a small X at the base of each tomato. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then drop the tomatoes in the water. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon when the skin has just begin peeling from the X, about 20 to 30 seconds.

Immediately place the tomatoes in an ice bath to stop the cooking, then peel the skin from the tomatoes when they are cooled.

2. Quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds, then roughly chop the tomato flesh and place in a large bowl.

3. Slice and seed the plums. Toss the plums and brown sugar with the tomatoes, then set aside.

4. In a wide-bottom pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot.

Stir in the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

5. Stir in the garlic, paprika and Marash pepper and cook until aromatic, about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

6. Stir the plum, tomato and brown sugar mixture into the pot and increase the heat to high, stirring frequently. Continue cooking at high heat; the ketchup will bubble fast and furiously. When the major bubbles subside and the ketchup starts to thicken, reduce the heat to medium.

7. Stir in the salt, pepper, molasses and cinnamon and continue stirring.

Taste the ketchup and adjust the seasonings and flavorings if desired, then remove from heat and cool slightly.

8. Using a food mill or immersion blender, puree the ketchup until all the chunks are gone and you have a smooth paste.

9. Refrigerate the ketchup or can according to the jar manufacturer’s instructions.

Each tablespoon: 25 calories; 0 protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 0 fat; 0 cholesterol; 5 grams sugar; 45 mg. sodium.

——— TOMATO MARMALADE Total time: About 1 hour, 40 minutes Servings: Makes about 8 cups marmalade Note: Adapted from Valerie Gordon

of Valerie Confections.

4 oranges (navel, Valencia or blood are all fine) 6 cups sugar, divided 1/2 cup water 10 pounds Roma tomatoes 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 1. Using a standard vegetable peeler, peel the skin from the oranges in strips. Juice the oranges, saving 1 cup; the remainder can be saved for another use.

2. Place the juice, 1 cup sugar and the water into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then add the peel.

Continue to heat until the mixture comes to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the peel appears slightly translucent and very soft, approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

4. While the orange peel is cooling, skin the tomatoes: Cut a small X at the base of each tomato. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then drop the tomatoes in the water, several at a time. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon when the skin has just begun peeling from the X, about 20 to 30 seconds. Immediately place the tomatoes in an ice bath to stop the cooking, then peel the skin from the tomatoes when they are cooled.

Repeat until the skins are removed from all the tomatoes.

5. Seed and roughly chop the tomatoes and place them in a large pot. Stir in the remaining 5 cups sugar.

6. When the orange is cooled, chop the orange peel. Place the chopped orange peel in a small bowl, reserving the poaching liquid.

7. Heat the tomato and sugar mixture over high heat, stirring frequently with a large wooden spoon or heatresistant spatula. Cook the marmalade until it begins to thicken, about 45 minutes to an hour. (It will boil and bubble furiously while it cooks; stir frequently but not constantly.)

8. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the poached orange peel, salt and pepper, stirring constantly. Taste the marmalade. If you prefer stronger citrus notes, add some of the reserved poaching liquid now. Continue cooking until the marmalade is very shiny with a thick consistency.

9. Refrigerate the marmalade or can according to the jar manufacturer’s

instructions.

Each tablespoon: 41 calories; 0 protein; 10 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 0 fat; 0 cholesterol; 10 grams sugar; 38 mg. sodium.

——— ZUCCHINI RELISH Total time: About 1 hour Servings: Makes a generous 9 cups Note: Adapted from Kevin West.

3 pounds small zucchini 1 pound white onions 1 pound red and yellow bell peppers 3 tablespoons kosher salt 3 cups cider vinegar 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon pickling salt or coarse sea salt, such as Baleine brand 1 tablespoon honey (or more to taste) 1 teaspoon whole yellow mustard seed 1/2 teaspoon celery seed 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon curry powder 1/2 teaspoon mixed whole black peppercorns and whole coriander, finely ground 1 dried chile pepper, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, peeled and split 1. Trim and cut the zucchini, onions and peppers into a one-fourth-inch dice and toss in a colander with the 3 tablespoons kosher salt. Set the vegetables aside for 2 hours to allow the salt to draw water from them and drain. After 2 hours, rinse the vegetables by pouring a kettle of boiling water over them; drain well.

2. Heat the cider vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, honey, mustard seed, celery seed, turmeric, curry powder, ground peppercorns and coriander, dried chile pepper and garlic in a large saucepan or small pot over medium-high heat until the sugar and coarse salt are dissolved, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the vegetables and simmer over medium heat until the vegetables are translucent and yielding, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from the heat and discard the garlic.

3. Pack the hot relish into jars and can according to the jar manufacturer’s instructions, or cool and refrigerate. Set the relish aside for a week to give the flavors time to blend and mellow.

Each tablespoon: 11 calories; 0 protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 0 fat; 0 cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 62 mg. sodium.

sports 9

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

december 8, 2010

Luck a finalist — and a long shot — for Heisman JOE WILNER mcclatchy newspapers Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy on Monday, marking the second consecutive year the Cardinal will be represented at the award ceremony in New York.

But unlike former Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, Luck has very little chance to win.

Gerhart finished second in the closest voting in history.

Luck also could finish second — a distant second to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, who was considered the overwhelming f avorite before he accounted for six touchdowns Saturday in the SEC championship game.

The other finalists are Oregon running back LaMichael James and Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore.

“I’d think Luck, as well as Moore and James, have zero percent chance of winning,” said Chris Huston, who operates the well-respected heismanpundit.com website.

That is partly because Luck, Moore and James are expected to split the Western vote and partly

because Newton has been sensational in leading No. 1 Auburn to the national championship game.

He joined Florida’s Tim Tebow and Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick as the only players in major college history to run for 20 touchdowns and pass for 20 in the same season.

Newton’s candidacy apparently won’t be affected by an NCAA investigation that found his father was involved in a play-for-pay scheme during Newton’s recruitment.

The NCAA determined that neither Cam Newton nor Auburn was aware of the situation and deemed Newton eligible to play — which means he is eligible for the most prestigious award in sports.

The winner will be announced Saturday at approximately 8:45 p.m.

EST. “It’s pretty clear now that Newton will get the overwhelming majority of the vote,” Huston said. “As good as Luck is, he was trumped by Newton’s record-setting season and the fact that Auburn is in the national title game.”

Luck, a sophomore, was not available for comment Monday because of final exams.

But when asked about the

Heisman following Stanford’s final regular-season game, he said: “My whole philosophy is, if I’m good enough to win it, I’ll win it.”

Whether Luck finishes second or fourth won’t diminish the fact that he is the top NFL draft prospect in the country (if he leaves school) or that he produced one of the finest seasons in Stanford history.

Luck set a school record with 28 touchdown passes — one more than John Elway and Steve Stenstrom — and has thrown for 3,051 yards.

Luck also had three runs of at least 50 yards and produced two highlights that became popular on YouTube: his crushing hit on USC cornerback Shareece Wright, and his collision with Cal safety Sean Cattouse — which left Cattouse on his back.

“He’s the best player I have ever been around,” said Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, who played in the NFL for 15 years.

“He’s the best player, the most valuable player on one of the best teams in the country. “... He’s done everything a guy can do in one season.”

But as far as the Heisman Trophy is concerned, it appears Luck picked the wrong season.

MCT CAMPUS

Although it is not likely that Luck will win the Heisman Trophy, Virginia Tech’s defense will have its hands full when facing the powerful Stanford Cardinal offense in the Discover Orange Bowl on Jan. 3, 2011.

ESPN responds to HBO challenge in sports documentaries NEIL BEST mcclatchy newspapers ESPN is the Yankees of sports television — rich, powerful and not given to losing quietly.

Which helps explain how one of its most prominent personalities, ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons, came to spur a documentary series eventually known as “30 for 30.”

One of the motivations: “HBO was killing us (on documentaries),” he said Friday. “We’re allegedly the ‘Worldwide Leader.’ Why were we letting them win?”

Fifteen months later, it concludes Saturday with “Pony Excess” — about the SMU football program — as one of the most critically lauded projects

in ESPN history.

And the rivalry has been all good for viewers, because HBO continues to roll out its own quality films.

Saturday, it offers “Lombardi,” about you know who, at 8 p.m., followed by the SMU film at 9 on ESPN. “Maybe it invigorated them a little bit, too,” Simmons said. “Competition is good.”

At least the two outlets are playing nicely these days.

In October 2009, Simmons told me HBO’s work was “consistently good” but “really predictable” and out of touch with younger viewers. HBO was unamused.

Since then, Simmons has spent time with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg and said, “I have a great

deal of respect for him. He’s the biggest reason we created this series in the first place.”

Still, HBO is predictable in some ways, including its use of designated narrator Liev Schreiber.

The best thing about “30 for 30” was its box-of-chocolates approach, in which every piece reflected the personal vision of a filmmaker.

“We were OK with having a couple that maybe weren’t as good as others, because we wanted to take chances,” Simmons said.

Among the best were long, serious entries such as “The Two Escobars,” about a Colombian soccer star and an (unrelated) drug lord; “Once Brothers,” about Vlade

Adair named new soccer coach NICK CAFFERKY sports reporter Following a vigorous three-week search, Jim Weaver, Virginia Tech director of athletics, announced current associate head coach Charles Adair will be the new head coach for the Hokie women’s soccer team.

“I believe that coach Adair will continue the positive momentum of our women’s soccer program,” Weaver said.

Adair has been with the Hokie program since 2005 and was former coach Kelly Cagle’s right-hand man until she stepped down from the position on Nov. 15.

In addition to the six seasons with the Hokie program, Adair’s resume includes two years as associate head coach at UC-Santa Barbara and two years as the an assistant coach for San Diego’s men’s team.

Throghout his time coaching, he has been involved in all aspects of running a team, such as recruiting, coaching, scouting and player management.

Before coaching, Adair had an extensive playing career, playing 10 seasons (1993-2003) for 10 different teams — most of which were in the MLS.

COURTESY OF HOKIESPORTS.COM

Charles Adair has big shoes to fill thanks to departed head coach Kelly Cagle. She led the Hokies to three consecutive NCAA appearances.

A first round draft pick of the San Diego Shocker and Wichita Wings, Adair spent three years at the University of San Diego after spending his freshman year at San Diego State.

Adair will take over a program that has made the NCAA tournament three years in a row and is considered by most as on the rise.

Divac and the late Drazen Petrovic; and “The Best That Never Was,” about former running back Marcus Dupree.

But “30 for 30” also showed a deft light touch, especially in “Winning Time,” about the 1990s rivalry between Reggie Miller and the Knicks.

The series even veered into a controversy over “The House of Steinbrenner,” which was panned not only by critics but by Yankees president Randy Levine — aggressively so.

That inspired a tweet from Simmons in which he referred to Levine with a (relatively mild) expletive. “I regret that,” he said. “I should have just handled that behind the scenes.”

The first 15 films are being sold as a boxed set beginning Tuesday, with the rest due early next year.

And there will be more beyond “30 for 30.” One entry for 2011 is “Steve Bartman: Catching Hell,” which originally was part of the official series.

The story of the scandal-plagued SMU program is a worthy capper, and the timing is delicious: right after controversial Auburn quarterback Cam Newton probably will win the Heisman Trophy.

Eric Dickerson and Craig James, the school’s famed “Pony Express” backfield, both said they thought the film taught them things they hadn’t known. As in the film, Dickerson was coy Monday about what, if anything, he received to play at SMU.

“It’s a dead subject,” he said. “The past is the past. I’ve never been a guy in any situation to kiss and tell. That’s just not me.”

Dickerson did say, though, that whatever he got at SMU “didn’t come close to some things that I was offered from other schools.”

As with many “30 for 30” entries, “Pony Excess” recalls events largely familiar to baby boomers but news to people born after ESPN was born in September 1979. That was part of the point.

“I don’t think all of them were great,” Simmons said. “But I think going into it, if we had said, ‘Would you take half of these being good ones?’

I’d have taken it. I think we exceeded that.”

december 8, 2010

page 10

Hokies guard Boggs to transfer for more playing time GARRETT RIPA sports editor Virginia Tech sophomore guard Ben Boggs has decided to transfer at the end of the semester.

“I have enjoyed my time at Virginia Tech and would like to thank coach (Seth) Greenberg and the coaching staff for all they have done for me,” Boggs said. “A desire for more playing time is the reason I’m leaving Virginia Tech. I will miss my teammates and wish them the best of luck in the future.”

Boggs appeared in the first four games this season but has not appeared since then for a struggling Hokie team.

He has only five total points on the season and his minutes per game (1.3) have decreased from his freshman campaign, in which he appeared in 25 contests and averaged 2.2 minutes per game.

In addition, with a talented top15 recruiting class coming in next year, he likely realized that his playing time would never drastically increase during his time at Tech.

“Ben has been a valuable member of our team the last two years,” Greenberg said. “He has been a model student-athlete.

“I wish him nothing but the best and will be available to him as he pursues his next opportunity.”

MCT CAMPUS

Boggs handles the ball during last season’s contest at North Carolina State. The incoming recruiting class did not make increased playing time seem too promising for him.

2011 recruiting class provides promising future for Tech MATT JONES sports reporter Virginia Tech received letters of intent from four high school seniors as Dorian Finney-Smith, C.J. Barksdale, Robert Brown and Marquis Rankin all pledged to play for the Hokies next season.

The recruiting class, ranked No. 12 in the nation by ESPN.com and No. 17 by Rivals.com will bolster a Tech team that loses starters Jeff Allen, Malcolm Delaney, Terrell Bell and Dorenzo Hudson to graduation this spring.

“This group has a chance to be one of the elite freshman classes, not only in the ACC, but in the country,” said Seth Greenberg, Tech head coach.

In 2007, the Hokies had the nation’s No. 28 class by Rivals.com, many of

its members staying for all four years at Tech. Greenberg believes the 2011 class is building chemistry already.

“Having three players playing together for a year is an asset,” Greenberg said of Barksdale, Brown and Rankin, who are attending Hargrave Military Academy as high school seniors. “As well, those players will be able to enroll in school for the first summer session and get acclimated to Virginia Tech.”

Barksdale, a 6-foot-8-inch, 220pound forward from Danville, Va., is a player Greenberg is very excited about. A four-star recruit, Barksdale played in the prominent Richmond Squires Amateur Athletic Union program, which has seen the likes of Ray Allen (Boston Celtics), Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics) and Amare Stoudemire (New York Knicks).

“C.J. Barksdale is another tough match-up,” Greenberg said. “He’s long, active and athletic. He’ll be a tough match-up problem due to his quickness and his skill level.”

With Barksdale commanding the post, it will be point guard Rankin’s job to get it to him. The 6-foot-1inch, 170-pound Rankin has battled through some injuries during the last season, none of which took away his will to win. “(Rankin) wants to win, he wants to be part of the solution,” Greenberg said of the Charlotte, N.C. native.

“There’s no ego in his game, it’s not about him. It’s about what he can do to help us win.”

While Tech has enjoyed Delaney’s talents over the past three-plus seasons, Rankin is a different breed of point guard. His main

focus is getting the ball to his teammates.

“He loves the game and enjoys making other players better,” Greenberg said. “He’s the perfect compliment for the wing players that we have in our program.”

Speaking of those wing players, Tech brings in another great talent in 2011 in Brown, a shooting guard out of Clermont, Fla. The first player in this class to give a commitment to the Hokies, he was a huge get for Greenberg and his staff. “(Brown) came here and he just fell in love with Virginia Tech,” Greenberg said. “He was excited about the future of the basketball practice facility. He fell in love with the campus. He’s a terrific student and a great person.

He’s the type of guy we want in our program.”

Tech, whose class stood at three players for months, recently got its fourth commitment in September when small forward Dorian FinneySmith gave a pledge to sign with the Hokies. After Finney-Smith finally inked with the Hokies last Wednesday, Greenberg had high praise for the Portsmouth, Va., native. “(Dorian) is a complete basketball player,” Greenberg said. “He can handle it like a point guard. He shoots like a two guard. He can rebound in traffic. He’s a terrific offensive rebounder. He can rebound the ball and start your break. He’s almost too unselfish, which is a rarity in today’s basketball.”

New assistant coach John Richardson, who previously was an assistant at Old Dominion, played a significant part in landing the

commitment from Finney-Smith.

Greenberg thinks Richardson validated who the Hokies were for Finney-Smith.

“We were in pretty good shape with Dorian before that process and I think that only kind of assisted,” Greenberg said. “It was a huge asset. They have a very close relationship that’s bigger than basketball.”

With the future of Tech basketball looking bright, Greenberg is expecting big things to come. “(All four) just want to win,” Greenberg said. “They want to help continue to build the profile of Virginia Tech basketball. They’ve bought into us. They’re excited about the (new practice) facility. They’re excited about the energy that’s surrounding our program.”