Thursday, February 17, 2011 Print Edition by Collegiate Times

Thursday, February 17, 2011

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

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COLLEGIATETIMES 108th year, issue 19

News, page 2

Weekend, page 4

Opinions, page 3

Sports, page 5

Classifieds, page 4

Sudoku, page 4

Panel to discuss black experience at Tech Number of Black students at Virginia Tech

1600

*% of student body

1400

1200 1000

800

4.75% (1353)

4.6% (1378)

4.45% (1314)

4.29% (1319)

4.1% (1272)

200

5.1% (1422)

400

5.5% (1523)

600

5.7% (1599)

A panel discussion tonight will look into the experience of black students and community members in Blacksburg. The Blacksburg Alumnae chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority will present “Black in Blacksburg, Then and Now,” as a part of the celebrations of Black History Month. “It’s for reflection and appreciation,” said Takiyah Abdulmalik, event coordinator. “We want students who are here now to understand and appreciate what went on in the past that influenced the benefits we have now.” The seven panel members include students, faculty and alumni, as well as locals who have had an impact on the black community. “We’re just trying to get them to share their experiences in a different era, what challenges they saw being African American,” Abdulmalik said. “And we will have current students come who might want to discuss issues they face and compare and contrast with the experiences of the panelists.” Though the forum focuses on blacks, all are invited to attend. One of the panelists is Charles Johnson, a man who has lived in Blacksburg for his entire life and owns New Image Barber Shop.“I felt I could help them a lot more with the ‘then’ than the ‘now,’” Johnson said. “With some of my experiences, I’m the only one who can share it, because I’ve been around since day one.” Johnson said in the past Blacksburg “was just like any other Southern town.” “We didn’t have the privileges of whites,” Johnson said, recalling driving by the whites-only Blacksburg High School to attend Christiansburg Institute, the school that served all area blacks before desegregation.

He has also witnessed the changes at Tech over the years. “It was a very segregated university. There were no blacks — well, there were black employees,” he said. “The students didn’t come until ’53. It was really exciting to the black community.” Another panelist is Dr. Bevlee Watford, who was one of the first black female students in engineering, and now works as the interim department head of engineering education. “When I came here as a freshman in 1976 it was a very different place. There were 56 black freshmen and there were about three of us women in engineering,” Watford said. Watson said over the years, she has seen both gains and losses for Tech’s black community.“Overall, I believe things are better, but one of the things I sometimes see as a loss is the sense of community between blacks on campus, because there’s more of them,” Watson said. But she said that one of the most important reasons for this forum is to help current students appreciate what they now have. “Sometimes we all need to take a step back and appreciate what we have. This is by far not a discrimination-free environment, but it’s certainly better than some places I have lived.” The panelists also hoped the forum would discuss what still needs to be done in terms of diversity. “I would like to see a much more purposeful effort at all levels — students, faculty, staff and administration — to increase diversity,” Watford said. “I’m not sure that’s happening everywhere in our university.”According 0 to enrollment data for the fall 2010 semester, 1,272 black students attend Tech, which is about four percent of the entire student population. The panel will be held tonight from WEI HANN / COLLEGIATE TIMES 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Room F of the Since 2003, the black student population at Virginia Tech has seen a drop in both numbers and as a percentage of the student body . Graduate Life Center.

5.6% (1579)

news reporter

5.2% (1470)

CLAIRE SANDERSON

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Beat-boxing group meshes genres Former standout MIA PERRY

returns as coach MICHAEL BEALEY & JOSH PARCELL sports staff Two days after making the first change to its football coaching staff in five years, Virginia Tech seems to be at it again. Tech head coach Frank Beamer announced Wednesday that former Tech All-American defensive lineman Cornell Brown will become the Hokies’ outside linebackers coach while also assisting with the defensive line.

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Coach Beamer has asked me to come off the ﬁeld and the road to become director of recruiting and high school relations. Having coached for 41 years, I do believe I have experience in these areas. I will rely on John Ballein’s expertise as an administrator to help me through any new learning situations I encounter. CORNELL BROWN OUTSIDE LINEBACKER COACH

Longtime assistant Jim Cavanaugh, who was the former outside linebackers and strong safeties coach, will become director of recruiting and high school relations, a newly created administrative position. “Jim Cavanaugh is the most capable, hard-working recruiter that I know,” Beamer said in a press release from the athletic department. “Under his direction, I expect us to be even more successful and efficient as a staff. I think sharing his expertise and knowledge can help us be the very best that we can be.” Cavanaugh joined Beamer’s staff in 1996 and was also recruiting coordinator for the past nine seasons. He has been an integral part on the recruiting trail for the Hokies, and helped land top-talent including Michael Vick, Victor “Macho” Harris, Bryan Randall, Marcus Vick and Xavier Adibi. Additionally, Cavanaugh helped develop several successful NFL prospects, such as Pierson Prioleau, James Anderson, Aaron Rouse and Cody Grimm.

On Monday, Beamer added his son, Shane Beamer, to the staff as Tech’s running backs coach. Longtime assistant Billy Hite was elevated to an administrative role. “I would like to thank Coach Frank Beamer for the opportunity to coach at Virginia Tech the last 15 years,” Cavanaugh said in the release. “I will always be indebted to Billy Hite and Ralph Friedgen for recommending me to Coach Beamer. “Coach Beamer has asked me to come off the field and the road to become director of recruiting and high school relations. Having coached for 41 years, I do believe I have experience in these areas. I will rely on John Ballein’s expertise as an administrator to help me through any new learning situations I encounter.” Brown, who was an All-American with the Hokies in 1995 and 1996, was a six-year NFL veteran who played on the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl championship team in 2000-01. He spent the past two seasons coaching the defensive line with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He began his coaching career in 2005, as an intern with the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe. He then spent the next two years coaching the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFLE in the spring and working as a graduate assistant with the Hokies in the fall. “I’ve always said that Cornell was the recruit who got us going because he was an instate recruit that could go anywhere in the country,” Beamer said in the release. “He chose Virginia Tech at a time when our record wasn’t very successful, and I really felt that a lot of recruits said, ‘He chose Virginia Tech, I need to look at it.’” Brown spends his off-seasons living in Blacksburg, and was recently honored at the ACC’s Legends Banquet in December. “I’ve had a lot of great days and great experiences at Virginia Tech, but this is the biggest day and biggest accomplishment to date for me,” Brown said in the release. “It’s extremely exciting to be able to say I’m a part of this program as a coach and will be able to help carry on the legacy that coach Beamer and this staff have built. It is just a great honor and privilege to say I’m coming home to help build on a great tradition.”

features reporter Beat-boxing and classical music are usually don’t go together. But Saturday, The Kandinsky Beat Down will bring the two genres together at the Lyric. Headed by The Kandinsky Trio, The Beat Down project is a group of classical performers who are trying to do something a little different with music. Elizabeth Bacheldoer, Benedict Goodfriend and Alan Weinstein make up the classical piano trio that is the Kandinsky Trio, which includes piano, violin and cello. “We are a classical chamber music group,” said Weinstein, the group’s cellist and also a professor of music at Virginia Tech. The trio is actually in residence at Roanoke College. Together, the group has been playing for 23 seasons. “We are one of the longest running chamber groups with original members,” said Goodfriend, the trio’s violinist. He said he has been playing the violin for almost 50 years now. After meeting at college in Boston, Weinstein and Goodfriend talked of someday forming a chamber group. Then Weinstein moved to the Roanoke area and met up with Bacheldoer, the group’s current pianist. Weinstein then

called Goodfriend and said he thought they could all “make a go of it” as a group. “The rest was history,” Goodfriend said. Now, the trio has expanded its resume. “What we have done is commission five composers to write for us: a beat-boxer and four soloists, one of which is a singer and the others are jazz musicians,” Weinstein said. They have also included some hiphop dancers. The trio combined with the other musicians and dancers make up the eclectic musical group, The Kandinsky Beat Down. “It’s classical music, meets jazz, meets hip-hop culture,” Weinstein said. The composers have written different pieces of music that incorporate different elements of the group in varying combinations. The performers come from both the Tech community and elsewhere. “The trombonist is a famous New York Jazz artist, Joshua Roseman. The trumpet player, John Dearth, runs a great jazz program at UVa. The guitarist is from Roanoke and the singer, Ariana Wyatt, teaches at Tech,” Weinstein said. The two hip-hop dancers, called

the Boogaloo Crew, are from Philadelphia. “This is going to be our third performance of this project,” Weinstein said. The group, while trying to keep the same idea for each show, has worked with a couple different people in each performance, making each show a little different from the last. The two previous shows the Beat Down performed at Roanoke’s Jefferson Center sold out. The group is also planning to start a nationwide tour. The idea for the Kandinsky Beat Down, according to Weinstein, came about two years ago. “The group was formed for the kickoff event for the annual ‘Arts Fusion’ here at Tech,” Weinstein said. While going to see his nephew, a member of the Boogaloo Crew, perform in Washington, D.C., five years ago with another member of the dance crew, Weinstein also first saw Shodekeh (Sho-da-kay), who is now the group’s beat-boxer. “We just started sort of talking,” Weinstein said about the performers. “And then when Arts Fusion came around, I wrote some grants so we could make it happen — that was the catalyst for the project.” “Alan’s nephew Jake is actually my best friend,” said William Robinson, a member of the Boogaloo Crew and

a dancer in the Kandinsky Beatdown. “He was actually the one who got me into dancing, and we did the past two shows together.” Robinson is a classically trained dancer with 11 years of experience in many types of dance, including hiphop and break dancing. The dancing in the show “is very much inspired by the music,” he said. “I try to stay as much as possible, ready and open to improv, to react to the music, kind of like hip-hop dancers would in the club or on the street. It’s a reaction that is honest to the situation at hand, especially since we don’t get a lot of rehearsal.” Although Robinson says the group is more prepared at this point in time than at its last performance, he still enjoys “that rawness of being in the moment.” “No matter what you think it might be, there is so much happening that almost anybody could get something out of it. It’s something to see,” Robinson said. “I think it shows each genre, the classical, hip-hop and jazz,” Weinstein said. “The playing is really strong, the writing is really strong, and the dancing is amazing. So it’s kind of a celebration of each discipline. It’s not crossover; it makes its own new language by combining all three.”

Researchers ﬁnd breast cancer link CLAIRE SANDERSON news reporter Researchers from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute have created a new test to detect breast cancer. The discovery was made through looking at repetitive DNA — small, repeating sequences of genes that appear in over two million places in the genome. A team led by Harold Garner, executive director of VBI, has discovered variations in a certain sequence — called estrogen related receptor gamma — which correlates with breast cancer. “Three times more frequently, breast cancer patients have a longer version of this sequence, and that’s powerful information,” Garner said. “And what it means is that this is a possible marker for your susceptibility for cancer.” John McCormick is a genetics support specialist in the lab that has worked extensively on the project since it began in 2008. “I was the first to see the research,” McCormick said, sitting down for a brief moment among the colorful beakers and test tubes in the VBI lab. “I gathered a lot of the sequencing data — it was a pretty interesting project.” VBI researchers worked with a multidisciplinary team of professors from

Virginia Tech, University of Texas Southwest Medical Center and the University of Liverpool. The team will present its discovery in an upcoming edition of the Breast Cancer Research and Treatment journal. Garner said that the team is looking into ways the findings can be put to use. “The important thing about a discovery like this is that there’s potential for its use in being both a diagnostic and a therapeutic,” Garner said. Though the team has already created a simple, standardized lab procedure to test a person’s status for the gene, it must be approved and commercialized before it can be used in hospitals and clinics. Garner said that

while team is looking for a partner to commercialize the project, it could be ready within a year. McCormick said the team is also looking into whether the findings could be used to eventually develop a new drug. “It may play a direct role in really causing the cancer, o r

affecting your response to the cancer or chemotherapy,” Garner said. “This means it could be a new target for a drug that hasn’t yet been discovered.” However, Garner estimated the drug development process could take 15 years and cost about $1 billion, so that is a longer-term goal. “This is a first step, you have to go pretty far and do some pretty expensive experiments to say what’s going on,” McCormick said. Garner said he was excited in the possibility of developing further discoveries from their research. “This is only the first in a whole series of these discoveries that are coming out, because we’ve developed a new technology that helps us find these opportunities,” Garner said. “So were now looking at more genes that are involved in breast cancer, colon cancer, childhood cancers and all kinds of others — you name it.”

WEI HANN / COLLEGIATE TIMES

2 news

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

february 17, 2011

COLLEGIATETIMES

what you’re saying //comments from online readers...

virginia

On Classroom Structure:

Fire chief pleads guilty for property damage

Jeff, I do understand where you are coming from on this issue, but there is something you’ve neglected to address in your piece: You are attending a research-based institution. Most of the big money at Tech comes from research, and professors are held to standards based on how much funding they bring in the door for projects. Like it or not, undergraduate classes are at the bottom of most professors’ list when it comes to priorities. I had some of the same complaints you do while I was going to Tech. Unfortunately for you and me, the approach your profs are taking does actually work for a lot of people (i.e. read before and talk about it during class in groups). And this is the way things will work when you go to work, too. Look at it this way... the few cut-and-dry lecturers I had just read out of the book. That’s even worse than what you’re experiencing. The reality is, money talks - if you want to make the most of your education, try to get involved in some graduate research with one of your professors while you’re still an undergrad.

Anonymous>> I am not an administrator, but I work in administration and come in frequent contact with faculty members from every department across this university. It is so easy for students to say that the faculty is only interested in research, not in undergraduate education, etc. I can’t begin to tell you how wrong you are. There are faculty members who are striving daily to find ways to improve undergraduate education, and part of that includes undergraduate research because it teaches one how to think and explore. Some of you I will not convince otherwise; but you have some truly caring mentors here always willing to go beyond the classroom.

Anonymous>> At your future job, whether it be journalism or not, you will be working in groups just like you do in class. This type of education provides you the skills you need for the work world. If you just know facts and not how to express them, you’re not going to be a good employee.

crime blotter

The chief of the Green Spring Volunteer Fire Department pleaded guilty this morning to a misdemeanor property damage crime. David Lynn Hall, 42, was originally charged with felony embezzlement a week after the long-time treasurer of the department, Marshall Eugene Lewis, 38, was charged with four counts of the same crime. The commonwealth’s attorney agreed to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor if Hall would plead guilty. Lewis, whose preliminary hearing was postponed to 9 a.m. April 20, is accused of stealing more $13,000 from the volunteer department,

according to court records. Police say he used the department credit card more than 350 times for personal use and wrote a $1,000 check to himself from the department’s bingo account. When he was charged, he told on Hall. Hall’s indiscretion, however, stemmed from a single credit card transaction last summer. Soon after he was arrested last month, Hall told the Bristol Herald Courier that he accidently used the department credit card when he bought his family a $60 Cracker Barrel dinner on a Sunday afternoon. He realized what he’d done

when he signed the receipt and, he said, went to the treasurer to explain the error. Lewis told him to wait until the next month’s credit card statement arrived, Hall said. Eventually, Lewis told him to call it even when he paid for some fire truck parts out of his own pocket. Hall was sentenced to 12 months in jail, all suspended with unsupervised probation. He has already paid his $81 restitution. -claire galofaro mcclatchy newspapers

world Pipeline project panned by environmentalists Environmental groups said Wednesday that a 1,700-mile oil pipeline planned between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico posed safety risks and should be delayed. They said the Canadian crude oil intended for the $7 billion pipeline was a thick, corrosive and toxic blend that required high pressures and temperatures to move it, raising the risk of leaks and spills, according to a new report. Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, the director of the Natural Resources Defense Council international program and a report co-author, said the effect of the fast-moving oil was like “sandblasting” the interior of the pipeline.

The report said the pipeline system in Alberta, Canada, where the oil is obtained, had 16 times as many spills due to internal corrosion as pipeline systems in the U.S. did. But an independent government oversight agency in Alberta said the report used inaccurate information and that its conclusions were flawed. Reacting to the report, Canada’s Energy Resources Conservation Board said in a statement: “Analysis of pipeline failure statistics in Alberta has not identified any significant differences in failure frequency between pipelines handling conventional crude versus pipelines carrying” the thicker Canadian crude oil.

The environmental groups, however, said that concerns over the oil weren’t limited solely to the proposed Canada-to-Texas pipeline. As Canada becomes a bigger exporter of oil across the border, the report said that before approving the pipeline, the U.S. should ensure that safety regulations provided adequate oversight for existing pipelines that might carry the thicker Canadian crude in the future but weren’t designed to handle it. -david goldstein mcclatchy newspapers

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V I O L A T I O N - A F F I D A V I T

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2/15/11

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Vandalism to a window

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Vandalism to a window

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

february 17, 2011

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

Tech alma mater worth learning hile a record number of viewers watched the 45th Super W Bowl about two weeks ago, many were still talking about Christina Aguilera’s lyrical confusion as she sang the national anthem. While it was an honest mistake, it was a major embarrassment. This made me think about the Virginia Tech alma mater and whether we as a university community truly embrace it or truly understand it. Would we commit the same flub in singing our alma mater? I decided to try to find the lyrics of the alma mater on the Tech website, and to my surprise, it was not readily available. Instead I had to dig (i.e. go through multiple mouse clicks) and search until I finally found two pages that had the complete lyrics. One website for university relations mentioned the alma mater in regard to university traditions under songs, and had some background about when it was first used and how it is used. One website under athletics finally provided the complete lyrics (with an error), while a website under student affairs for incoming students also showcases the alma mater and the correct lyrics. It would seem to me that this reflects poorly on the institution that the university alma mater is so difficult to find. Why not list it under the university traditions accessible from the main Tech website and include the lyrics? Why doesn’t it have the same status as other alma maters at other institutions? The university relations website indicates that the alma mater has been featured on the University Commencement program since 1954. The historical records show that the alma mater was first developed as a result of a competition held by the Alumni Club in Richmond in 1939. The music and lyrics were written by Tech students and remained the same until the Alumni Board of Directors in 1999 changed one of the words to reflect VT instead of VPI in the last line of the chorus. Ifyou’veeverattendedtheGraduate or University Commencement Ceremony, there is an awkwardness when we are asked to rise and sing the alma mater, and everyone is furiously trying to find the lyrics on the back of the program. It is sad that the alma mater gets relegated to just a few appearances each year, without an understanding of what it means within our community. If one were to analyze the lyrics of the alma mater, while relatively brief, he would see that it is very powerful and meaningful. The lyrics invoke a sense of pride for our experiences here at Virginia Tech and the spirit of Ut Prosim.

At other institutions, the alma mater is one of the connecting bonds that alumni have to their collegiate experiences. Personally, I can still remember the lyrics of my elementary school alma mater in Miami, as well as the lyrics of the alma mater at the University of Florida. At Tech, we certainly have several traditions that provide those community bonds, such as the cheers of “Old Hokie” and the familiar tunes of “Tech Triumph,” the official fight song. It just seems that all of these are much more common and popular than the more traditional alma mater. I suspect that the alma mater has stayed in the background because of a lack of exposure and awareness within the community. If it is only featured at the commencement ceremonies, then thousands of students never encounter it until they are ready to graduate. If the students don’t know it, then the faculty and staff most likely don’t either. There is room within the spectrum of Tech traditions to give proper respect, acknowledgment and prominence to the alma mater. I understand that an effort was made in fall 2007 to have the alma mater sung at the end of the football games, as is done at other institutions, but that never materialized in more than just a handful of fans singing along with the football team. It did not gain traction because we as a community don’t know about the alma mater to understand and respect its importance. I believe that as a community we can have both a popular fight song in “Tech Triumph,” as well as the alma mater. The ironic thing is that most of us know what Tech Triumph sounds like when it comes on or is played, but most have never realized that there are actual words associated with the song — we only know the words to the last key phrases of the song. If the alma mater is important and significant to Virginia Tech, then what can we do to make it more prominent within the university community? Why not make it a true focus of the homecoming experience? Why not make it a focus of one of the Maroon or Orange Effects, White Out or Black Out efforts? We should never face a moment when we forget the words of our own alma mater.

RAY PLAZA -regular columnist -curriculum and instruction -grad student

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Local food preferable to industrial farm complex column in last Wednesday’s A Collegiate Times (“Local food not always economically sound,” by Brad Copenhaver) attempts to draw attention to problems with the local food movement. Writing such an article seems like an attempt to broaden the debate around local food, but I believe his article does exactly the opposite. By limiting its analysis of local foods to the same narrow and flawed perspective, it sustains the ecological, moral and economic disasters of industrial agriculture. The main argument seemed to be that locally-grown foods are economically flawed because, “We need to base production on where the food can be grown most efficiently.” Furthermore, the author claims that recent federal programs to support farmers markets are coercive and uniquely market distorting. It is important to remember that industrial agriculture is heavily subsidized. The government spends education funds buying industrially produced food, it directly subsidizes the production of commodity crops on a large scale, and it has subsidized large scale infrastructure such as road and irrigation projects in deserts that support industrial agriculture. The column makes local subsidies seem like particularly noxious interventions, when they are more like a few drops in the sea of money directed at agriculture. There are important questions to be raised about government involvement in agriculture, but by only addressing local foods the column distracts from those questions. If you are concerned about government intervention, then local food subsidies should not be your focus. Local food subsidies aren’t unfair to industrial producers; the current and past government support of industrial agriculture is unfair to local food. Going further, the column seems driven by a philosophy focused on productive efficiency. I do not think this should be the only metric of evaluating agriculture. A model that focuses only on production encourages the

As a restaurant employee, I don’t want to be treated like a commodity and I suspect there is a similar feeling among farmers. I think local food advocates seem to forget about the productive aspect of agriculture, and many consumer-focused writings fail to explicitly address the problems facing real farmers. However, local food provides a great opportunity for producers to become practically and democratically engaged in changing the food system. We need system-level change to create the opportunities for farmers and consumers to make better choices. Many individual farmers and consumers have taken huge risks to form a new food system. We can start choosing better food, and better modes of production, but these choices are only charity without a better economic structure. Farmers and consumers clearly want something more, but their efforts are ultimately doomed if we do not dismantle the powerful supports for industrial agriculture. We need more than a scattershot approach to reform, and we can start right here at Virginia Tech. Public land grant universities are tasked with supporting the farmer; this mission has recently been synonymous with the narrow focus on high yields and subsidization of chemical research for large companies. This needs to change. Virginia Tech should focus its agricultural research and extension work more toward directly improving the lives of both the farmer and the consumer by looking at alternatives to the flawed industrial model. Challenging the current food system is daunting, but we can begin by democratically advocating for a more equal playing field between local and industrial and by escaping the mindset that supports industrial food.

GRAHAM DOWNEY -guest columnist -political science major -senior

Avoid overwhelming electronic portfolios with social aspects T

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farmer and consumer to make choices they may not be comfortable with; solvency against soil erosion, or cost against health. Environmental concerns can cost money upfront, and better conditions for animals might mean producing less of them. The current incentive structure (which is driven by those heavy government subsidies) systematically disregards the life of the farmer, consumer safety, environmental costs, moral concerns and even food quality. Local food is a way to re-orient our concerns about food. Instead of simply worrying about getting the cheapest food, we might worry about what conditions are like for farmers. Instead of worrying about producing cheap food, we might worry about how food is distributed to the poor; because it is clear that the cheapness of food is not sufficient to guarantee that more people are fed. The local food movement may be more effective at answering these questions because farmers markets are directly imbedded in particular communities, so their economic success is directly tied to the welfare of that community. Local food also provides a practical sort of knowledge that has a real impact on the consumer. By making food local, we can begin to know the specific farmer and the farm; when another small farm goes under, it will be more than another anonymous statistic. The focus on increased production seems ridiculous in light of the current obesity and diabetes crises. America’s farms are producing more than enough calories, but in Appalachia, and other poorer parts of the country, starvation and malnutrition are rampant; they are often worst in the same places where obesity is on the rise. We must begin to think about food as something more than a commodity if we are to understand the ramifications of our consumption and the conditions of production. When we treat food like a commodity, we also treat farmers, agricultural workers and restaurant employees as commodities.

here is a fine line between business and socializing, something made more apparent with our continuous growth in the realm of technology. Nothing has made this more apparent, though, than Facebook. Where else have we learned the consequences of publicizing information we don’t want everyone to see? I mean, apart from biting our tongues in actual conversation. Realizing where our limits are for sharing information online, it’s surprising to me that we have not set the same limits — perhaps we have yet to realize them — for information we share on electronic portfolios and websites that we would supply as portfolios for future employers.Don’t worry, this isn’t a rant against technology or anything of the sort. Instead, I am curious about the fine line between business and social online accessibility — that is to say, the balance between the two aspects of the Internet that we benefit most from. I mean, if you are online, you’re probably on Facebook or checking your e-mail — social and business. Of course some people use Facebook for business and e-mail for socializing, but it’s relatively safe to say that it’s usually the other way around. The current online trend, academically, is the electronic portfolio — something every English major is familiar with, I’m sure. It is an amazing tool for students, though. Allowing the student body an outlet to create a portfolio that can stay online and be sent further and

faster than the usual on-paper portfolio. But when do online business pursuits become too much? When do businessoriented websites step too close to the social networking realm? Basically, what is the line between professional online activities and just another social networking venture? When it comes to the electronic portfolio, or ePortfolio, the line is ever slimming. Having taken the course, I know how limiting it seems to be — but in reality the ePortfolio has the potential to be just about anything you want it to be. The downside to this, though, is the risk of taking something business-oriented and making it too social and accessible. Accessibility is a wonderful thing, especially when you are trying to appeal to potential employers. But when you bring features into your ePortfolio that allow comments, or link to other websites — it could get a little confusing and overwhelming. The same could be said for videos, music and too many graphics. My point being, flair won’t get you far. Now, I’m not saying flair isn’t great in a wardrobe, writing, aesthetic or design, but when you’re trying to get a job, it’s a little much. The idea behind an ePortfolio, or any portfolio, is to sell yourself, and while a portfolio is about you, injecting too much of yourself into it could be detrimental. A portfolio is about you, but it’s not about you. It’s about your work, and more specifically it’s about selling yourself to the highest bidder. Up-selling

your work in a portfolio is a little much — you should be letting the work stand on its own, while keeping a focus and purpose in the presentation of your portfolio. It’s hard to see how putting more of yourself into a portfolio can be bad, but with an ePortfolio the potential for adding material is endless, so turning in the wrong direction is easier than you might expect. For instance, an introduction is nice, but a video introduction might be a little too much — save it for the interview. A bit about your intended direction is nice as well, but let’s not map out the next 10 years right off the bat. Of course you want to come off as knowing what you are talking about, who doesn’t? But phrasing everything in absolutes and finality could also be a wrong step — flexibility and recognizing the possibility of change is extremely important. I wouldn’t bring this up if it were completely specific to online tools. The same could be said about presentations, regular portfolios and other business-oriented concepts. Keeping it about your work rather than yourself is something that will get you further than a whole lot of flair — even when you have the best intentions.

SEAN SIMONS -regular columnist -English major -junior

Collegiate Times Editorial Staff Editor-in-Chief: Peter Velz Managing Editors: Zach Crizer, Katie Biondo, Josh Son Public Editor: Justin Graves Senior News Editor: Philipp Kotlaba Associate News Editors: Liana Bayne, Gordon Block News Reporters: Claire Sanderson, Jay Speidell, Michelle Sutherland, Sarah Watson News Staff Writers: Erin Chapman, Meighan Dober Features Editors: Lindsey Brookbank, Kim Walter Features Reporters: Chelsea Gunter, Majoni Harnal, Mia Perry Opinions Editors: Scott Masselli, Gabi Seltzer Sports Editors: Michael Bealey, Garrett Ripa Sports Reporters: Nick Cafferky,, Matt Jones, Courtney Lofgren, Josh Parcell Sports Staff Writers: Alyssa Bedrosian, Alex Koma, Ashleigh Lanza, Zach Mariner Public Information Director: Dishu Maheshwari Training Director: Kelsey Heiter Copy Editors: Taylor Chakurda, Thandiwe Ogbonna, Spenser Snarr Layout Designers: Danielle Buynak, Cathleen Campbell, Maya Shah, Victoria Zigadlo Online Director: Jamie Chung Collegiate Times Business Staff Business Manager: David Harries Distribution Assistant: Ryan Francis Student Publications Photo Staff Director of Photography: Sara Mitchell Business Manager: Luke Mason Lab Manager: Mark Umansky College Media Solutions Ad Director: Nik Bando Asst Ad Director: Brandon Collins Account Executives: Emily Africa, Matt Freedman, David George Inside Sales Manager: Wade Stephenson Assistant Inside Sales Manager: Katie Berkel, Diane Revalski Assistant Account Executives: Maddie Abram, Kaelynn Kurtz, Erin Shuba Creative Director: Chloé Skibba Asst Production Manager: Casey Stoneman Creative Services Staff: Tim Austin, Jenn DiMarco, Colleen Hill, Jenn Le, Erin Weisiger

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4 weekend february 17, 2011

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

[Saturday, February 19]

[Friday, February 18]

Wondering what’s going on around the ‘burg? Check out the events of the upcoming week.

[Thursday, February 17] What: Black in Blacksburg: Then and Now Where: Graduate Life Center, Room F When: 6:00p.m.-8:00p.m. Cost: Free What: Music: Johnson’s Crossroad Where: Gillie’s When: 7:00p.m.-10:00p.m. Cost: No cover charge

What: The King’s Speech Where: The Lyric When: 7:00p.m.-9:00p.m., 9:30p.m. Cost: Check The Lyric website

What: Arab Film Festival (3 films) Where: 2150 Torgerson When: 1:00p.m.-7:00p.m. Cost: Free

What: Kandinky Beat Down Guest Artist Talk and Meet and Greet Where: Squires 243 When: 7:00p.m.-9:00p.m. Cost: Free

What: Music: Doc Greenburg’s Patient Jazz Where: Gillie’s When: 7:00p.m.-10:00p.m. Cost: No cover charge

What: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Where: Squires Colonial Hall When: 8:00p.m.-10:00p.m. Cost: Students $2, Non students $3 Costume Contest before the movie

[Sunday, February 20] What: Music Viva Presents Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg piano due with strings Where: Squires Recital Salon When: 3:00p.m.-5:30p.m. Cost: Adults $25, Students $8, Children $5

[Monday, February 21] What: Introducing Bike the US for MS Where: Squires Colonial Hall When: 7:30p.m.-10:00p.m. Cost: Free

[Tuesday, February 22] What: Save the Flame feat. Josh Sizemore Where: Awful Arthur’s When: 9:00p.m.-11:00p.m. Cost: 18+. $2

[Wednesday, February 23] What: Guest Artist/Faculty Recital Where: Squires Recital Salon When: 8:00p.m.-9:30p.m. Cost: Students $3, Public $5

What: An Evening with Cornmeal (Bluegrass Music) Where: Awful Arthur’s When: 9:00p.m.-11:00p.m. Cost: $10

What: Music: Badunkafunk Where: Gillie’s When: 9:30p.m.-12:00a.m. Cost: No cover charge, 18+

What: Third Eye and Boogieburg present: Excision, Downlink and Antiserum Where: Awful Arthur’s When: 9:00p.m.-11:00p.m. Cost: 18+, $15

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

A costume contest will kick off the showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Volunteers Wanted

Travel

OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH Sociology graduate student seeking participants for thesis research on bi/ multiracial identity. Recruiting Virginia Tech students to participate in interviews Only criteria: 1) must be 18+ 2) have parents of different races In addition to fulfilling my own research needs, the interview will offer an avenue for individuals to discuss their own racial identities and life experiences in a confidential environment. Contact Melissa at mfburges@vt.edu to express interest in participating or to ask any questions

GETTING COLD TIME to Plan your Spring Break 2010 Get Away! Learn how to travel to beautiful locations like Jamaica, Acapulco and the Bahamas on a party cruise. Find out what other Virginia Tech Hokies are headed to your destination. -Adrian Email: Awhite@Studentcity.com for more information

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WORDFIND • Theme: Astrological Signs Locate the list of words in the word bank in the letter grid. G

WORD BANK

W W

Horoscope Capricorn Leo Vigo Aries Stars Zodiac Cancer Astrological Pisces Aquarius Libra Taurus Sagittarius Scorpio Gemini

By Victor Barocas

ACROSS 1 Nick and Nora Charles’ s dog 5 When repeated, island near Tahiti 9 Game with checks 14 Disapprovin g fans’ chorus 15 Tied, as a gam e 16 Line with many stops 17 With 25-Across, WWI U.S. Army command nicknam e 19 Greek market 20 Overnight fligh t 21 Sad interjectio n 23 PC linking system 24 Haul to the shop

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2/17/11 25 See 17-Across 27 Judge 31 Argentina aunt 32 Custard-filled pastry 38 Chop 39 Gift of the garrulous 40 Sch. WNW of Topeka 41 Flip side of “Eleanor Rigby” 48 Three, in Asti 49 Most Chaplin films 50 With 64-Across, breed whose common colors begin 17-, 32and 41-Across

Today’s Radio Schedule

55 Chill in the air 56 Stat for Koufax 57 Opposite of “yup” 58 Rectangular 62 Solzhenitsyn subject 64 See 50-Across 66 Extremely overweight 67 First AfricanAmerican selected for a U.S. Davis Cup team 68 Trillion: Pref . 69 Indian wraps 70 Attention to “pay” 71 Brings to a close

7-9 AM - Appalachian Sunrise

*** WUVT “5 Minute” News at 7 PM *** lty

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9AM-12PM - Rosalie Wind

7-9 PM - Phelonious Funk

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12-2PM - Grayson Sasser

9 PM-12 AM - The Rare Groove

2-3:30PM - Casey Menish

12-2 AM - The Waltzing Zombies

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3:30-5 PM - Alex Tallant

2-4 AM - Candice Chu

5-7 PM - Alex Simon, Professional Kitty 4-7 AM - Jessica Norman

DOW N 30 Joplin works 1 This ans. is one 33 Sigma follower 2 Foot bottom 34 Recedes to th e 3 Tadpole, grow n sea up 35 Related 4 One leading a 36 “Winning __ spartan lifestyl e everything” 5 Decorate with 37 Regrets gems 42 P.O. box item 6 Eggs, 43 Florida crops biologically 44 Shared wedding 7 Summar y vow respons e 8 A bobby sock is 45 Studied often folded secondarily , with down to it “in” 9 Like the most 46 Perp-to-cop story elegant old autos 47 Abundantly filled 10 Monopolize (with) 11 Dangerous 50 Kids’ blocks bacteria 51 Curaçao 12 Plastic wrap neighbor brand 52 Hay bundler 13 Street language, 53 Daytime TV mogul often 54 Pee W ee of the 18 Environmental Dodgers protocol city 59 Pizzeria fixture 22 Commedi a 60 Teen comedy dell’_ _ stereotype 26 “2001” computer 61 Pâté de foie __ 27 In need of a 63 “Just __ thought!” massage 65 Common article 28 Syngman of Korea Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved 29 Knock down some pins

2/16/11

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sports 5

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

february 17, 2011

Younger Beamer can energize Tech recruiting

COURTESY VIRGINIA TECH ATHLETICS

Shane Beamer played at Tech in the late ’90s before coaching for SEC powers Tennessee, Mississippi State and South Carolina.

SHANE BEAMER BRINGS SEC EXPERIENCE TO TECH IN RETURN TO ALMA MATER, HOMETOWN When Shane Beamer was merely a 10-year-old boy, he would stand behind his house with a toy headset, pretending he was a football coach for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Monday, that dream became a reality. Tech announced Monday that Beamer, son of longtime head football coach Frank Beamer, will join his father’s staff 11 years after graduating from the university. It had to happen.

The younger Beamer returns to Blacksburg with a well-schooled mind and fresh face, to a program that desperately needs one. Just two weeks ago on National Signing Day, Tech supporters were largely disappointed with the team’s lowest-rated recruiting class in nearly a decade. The frustration was never more evident, and according to one source, it prompted some prominent boosters to “put an ultimatum out,” demanding that

staff changes be made. Nevertheless, phone lines and Internet message boards exploded with chatter of the most likely and easiest hire — and that was Shane. He was born and bred to be a Hokie. He grew up in Blacksburg from age nine, and was the long snapper on the 1999 team that played for the national championship against Florida State. He spent the past 11 seasons coaching alongside household names including Sylvester Croom, Phillip Fulmer and Steve Spurrier. He was named recruiting coordinator for Spurrier at South Carolina in 2008, and his first recruiting class (in 2009) was ranked 12th nationally according to Rivals.com. Among his well-known recruits since becoming coordinator are Marcus Lattimore (First-team freshman All-American in 2010) and Alshon Jeffery (Football Writers All-American in 2010). His biggest pickup of all, however, came just hours before his departure for Tech was made official. Jadeveon Clowney, the consensus No. 1 prospect nationally in the class of 2011, announced on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that he would be a Gamecock. While Beamer was not always the lead recruiter on those big-name prospects (Spurrier reportedly does many of the home coaching visits for bluechip players), the experience he gained from working in SEC country cannot be underestimated. As the most dominant program in the ACC over the past seven years, Tech has more than proven itself capable of becoming a perennial top-10 program. The Hokies have a reputation of finding less reputable high school prospects and turning them into stars. To take the next step and fill that national championship trophy case that rests empty in Merryman Athletic Center, Tech must bring in higher quality players. However, the rest of the ACC is working hard to catch the Hokies by domi-

nating on the recruiting trail. Florida State just wrapped up the consensus top class in the country. That’s acceptable, given the fertile recruiting grounds of the Sunshine State and the Seminoles’ steep tradition. Yet, Virginia, Clemson and North Carolina took a handful of the most talented prospects the Hokies sought in the most recent class — many of which were right in Tech’s back yard. With the hiring of Beamer’s only son, it demonstrates a commitment to infusing youth and energy into a staff that has been criticized for its complacency

when it comes to recruiting lately. What the younger Beamer will not be expected to do is produce a top5 recruiting class anytime soon. That space is almost exclusively reserved for the likes of the Florida schools, Southern Cal, Texas, Oklahoma and Notre Dame. What Beamer can do is seal the deal on the type of players who have recently spurned the Hokies in favor of less stable programs, for whatever reason. Some people who aren’t thrilled with today’s news include some familiar

ACC foes — Virginia’s Mike London and UNC’s Butch Davis. The dents they made in recruiting the Commonwealth this past season are much weaker today than they were Monday morning.

JOSH PARCELL -sports reporter -communication major -junior

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