Friday, March 25, 2011 Print Edition

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Friday, March 25, 2011

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COLLEGIATETIMES 108th year, issue 35

News, page 2

People & Clubs, page 6

Opinions, page 3

Tech football player charged with abuse GORDON BLOCK associate news editor Blacksburg Police have arrested Virginia Tech football player Xavier Boyce and 20-year-old Olivia A. Hutchins on charges of child endangerment.

According to a release from Blacksburg Police Department, the two were arrested Thursday following an investigation into injuries sustained BOYCE by their infant child on Jan. 31, 2011.

Sports, page 5

Classifieds, page 4

Sudoku, page 4

A novel idea

The pair were taken in on charges related to cruelty and injuries to their child.

Boyce and Hutchins were released on a $5,000 unsecured bond, and a court date is pending.

Boyce, a redshirt sophomore split end, missed four games during the 2010-11 football season due to a knee injury.

Hutchins is listed on the East Carolina University athletics department website as a member of the school’s track and field team.

Both Boyce and Hutchins went to Landstown High School in Virginia Beach.

Town to increase budget for services

$$

$FFundd$InIncreases $er $ $ I cre rea ea e es s tto Se Services

$

4.6% 17% 22.4% 21.3% 145.3%

increase in intergovernmental revenue

increase in expenditures es for Parks & Recreation

increase in miscellaneous revenues

increase in the transit fund increase increase in capital improvement fund DANIELLE BUYNAK / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Blacksburg’s town council will vote on the proposed budget April 26.

SARAH WATSON news reporter An increase in the Town of Blacksburg budget is slated to help serve the community, including students.

The recommended budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year would be a two percent increase from this year’s budget, according to Mayor Ron Rordam.

“You will see an increase in salaries for employees,” Rordam said. He said the increase would be the first in three years.

The budget is compiled by the Blacksburg town council, but individual budgets are requested by department heads. They are asked to look at the amount of funding they need and report that amount to the town council.

“We’ve managed to maintain a pretty steady budget,” Rordam said.

Parks and Recreation will see the largest increase in expenditures at 17 percent. Golf maintenance and the golf shop will be included within Parks and Recreation this year and under the operating budget, as opposed to previous years, according to Rordam.

This increase would be funded through increases in taxes and revenue, according to the recommended budget.

If approved, there will be a 22.4 percent increase in miscellaneous revenues, consisting mostly of aquatic center fees.

Citizens will also notice a 4.6 percent increase in intergovernmental revenue, including street and highway mainte-

nance, police reimbursement and fire fund fees. There will also be an increase in all other forms of financing for the budget.

According to the recommended budget, there will be a 21.3 percent increase in the transit fund. This comes from funding within the budget, grants and student fees and is provided for the Blacksburg Transit. Rordam feels this alteration in the budget will have the largest impact on students.

However, the largest increase in funds is 145.3 percent in the capital improvement fund, which consists of primarily the Main Street project, Rordam said.

This will create a safer environment for all pedestrians and is being done in support of the future center for the arts building, Rordam said.

Many departments will see slight decreases in funding between the 201011 fiscal year and the 2011-12 fiscal year. “(The town) will offer the same high level services, but we’re doing it in a cost effective way,” Rordam said.

The town council has scheduled work sessions for the next few weeks to discuss the recommended budget. The final public hearing will be on April 12, followed by the consideration of approval on April 26.

“It is important that the public understand how we spend their money and have input into that process,” Rordam said, “So all our discussions are in public and detailed.”

PAUL KURLAK / SPPS Drew Knapp, a junior English creative writing major, wrote, edited and publlished a novel centered on a suicide spot in California in six and a half months.

ASPIRING WRITER PUBLISHES NOVEL INSPIRED BY WELL-KNOWN SUICIDE LOCATION IN AUSTRALIA LINDSEY BROOKBANK features editor With his elbows resting on a stone table top, stretching the thin, plaid fabric of his button down long-sleeved shirt, Drew Knapp held his hands slightly clutched together over his mouth. The deep yellow sunlight beamed through an unshaded window, illuminating the left side of Knapp’s face, making his blue eyes sparkle.

The day was reaching its end — it was 6:30 in the evening on a Monday. Stepping into a coffee shop burrowed in Blacksburg, Va., Knapp appeared to be the quintessential college student.

His shaggy light brown hair seemed to swoop across his forehead toward the left, the strands ending just above his thick brows.

His worn, light jeans paired with a loosely fitted top created a youthful, comfortable-looking ensemble.

But Knapp isn’t like other college students — the Hickory, N.C., native wrote, edited, designed and published his own 358-page fictional novel, “Out of My Body Flowers Will Grow,” in a matter of six and a half months. Nevertheless, the author is, well, a 21-year-old.

Making his way to the table, Knapp’s aged, dark green backpack dangled over his slouched left shoulder. Before pulling out a dark wooden chair and plopping himself in it, Knapp slung his backpack off his arm and onto the seat next to him.

Grasping a neon plastic Mountain Dew bottle in his hands, he opted not to enhance his caffeine high with coffee. Knapp glanced out the window and back forward. His face — a clear complexion with a bit of stubble rimming his chin and

mouth, providing a backdrop for his large, round eyes — seemed to reveal his mind’s inner-workings.

Knapp, a junior English creative writing major, put off the same impression to Matthew Vollmer, his assistant professor for advanced fiction.

“When I look at him, it is always like the wheels (in his head) are turning,” Vollmer said. “He is really present. He is really alert and awake.”

Last summer while studying abroad in Egypt, Knapp’s wheels were set in motion after a threehour late-night conversation with friends about encompassing the full spectrum of a situation — placing an idea in his head that formed

“

You have to write 2,000 pages worth of crap before you get anything.

My writing was good enough to be worth doing that.

DREW KNAPP AUTHOR

into his “Out of My Body Flowers Will Grow.”

The novel’s title is a modified phrase from a quote by Edvard Munch, a Norwegian symbolist painter: “From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.” Knapp said he liked the phrase, and it seemed to fit the redemptive nature of suicide versus survival.

The plot centers on a cliff in California where people jump to commit suicide. A male character builds a house next to the cliff and attempts to talk people out of killing themselves. The survivors form a town called Port Costa and settle

together to help others conquer their struggles.

Each character is crazy in a different way from the rest, but all the characters share a similar quality.

Knapp purposely wrote each character in a first-person perspective.

“I wanted to do that to demonstrate the spectrum of what people see as sanity,” Knapp said. Both the sane and insane suffer from similar problems.

A rocky cliff at the entrance to the Sydney Harbour in Australia, known as the Gap, inspired the cliff in Knapp’s novel. The Gap, according to an article by Kristen Gelineau titled “Man saves scores of Australians at suicide spot” (AP, June 14, 2010), is Australia’s most notorious suicide location.

A man named Don Ritchie has lived across the street from the Gap for about 50 years. Ritchie offers potential jumpers salvation, attempting to talk them out of jumping.

“I thought that was a really, really cool kind of image to work with,” Knapp said.

Knapp began writing the manuscript last fall. After four months of writing, Knapp began the editing and organization process, which took two and a half months, in which he edited for six to seven hours a day.

The novel was written in different chunks, as the plot moved in different pathways.

“I had this big stack of papers,” Knapp said.

With the help of Robin Allnutt, an advanced instructor of creative writing who read the manuscript, the novel gained direction.

But Knapp admitted not all his work has been publishable material. He began writing stories in the eighth grade, which he deemed “crappy.” And during his freshman year at Virginia Tech, Knapp said he started writing as a hobby — when it stopped being schoolwork and

started being fun.

“Everything I wrote was garbage,” Knapp said.

It wasn’t until Knapp began taking creative writing classes that he saw his work progress.

Knapp said he knew “Out of My Body Flowers Will Grow” was valuable when he first started writing it.

“When you talk to people who write, there is an understood thing,” Knapp said. “You have to write 2,000 pages worth of crap before you get anything. My writing was good enough to be worth doing that.”

This notion reigns true in Knapp’s past two semesters in creative writing fiction with Allnutt.

“You give (students) feedback on their work, and they come back a few weeks later with a couple more pages,” Allnutt said, breaking into laughter. “(Knapp) comes back with 50 more pages. It is quite extraordinary.”

It is no wonder Allnutt described Knapp as an incredibly ambitious person — Knapp has another passion: music. He plays four instruments: the guitar, violin, piano and harmonica. Anyone perusing his Facebook page would notice the scattered homemade YouTube videos posted on Knapp’s wall, featuring him singing while playing the guitar in his bedroom.

Aside from writing and music, Knapp is still a typical guy who enjoys playing soccer and football, visiting the shooting range and listening to music outside with friends.

Knapp has also road tripped — something he weaved into his novel. A character named Trent has conversations with his cat in the car.

Knapp said he wanted the feeling of driving hour after hour to come through in the bantering between the character and his cat.

“A lot of that comes from stupid see AUTHOR / page four

Tech students try to promote fair factory over sweatshops CLAIRE SANDERSON news reporter For eight Virginia Tech students, a typical semester abroad has become something much bigger than they ever expected.

They discovered Alta Gracia, a clothing factory that is revolutionary because it is not a sweatshop — and the students are now pressuring the Tech Bookstore to carry its clothing.

“We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when we came down here,” said Megan Cochran, one of the students in the group.

Cochran and the others visited Alta Gracia and other apparel factories for their “Working in the Global Economy” class, led by Dale Wimblerley. Tech sociology professor.

Alta Gracia makes T-shirts and collegiate logo items for U.S. universities.

It stands apart from other big clothing factories in the Dominican Republic

run by companies including Hanes and Gildan because its workers are treated with respect and have been allowed to form a union.

“The biggest thing is to just be aware of where your clothes come from,” said Addie Jones, another student in the group. “Students just buy a $6 Orange Effect shirt without thinking about where that comes from or how it is made.”

The Orange and Maroon Effect shirts from this past football season were made in a Gildan factory in Honduras.

“The Gildan workers are not unionized yet — one man told us stories about he had been bombarded at his home by men with machetes for his efforts to form a union at Gildan,” Jones said.

Alta Gracia’s clothing is the only apparel in the world to have been sponsored by the Worker’s Right Consortium, an independent group

that monitors labor conditions.

Workers at Alta Gracia are paid about $500 per month — enough to live on and to bring themselves and their families out of extreme poverty. It is about three times higher than what workers can make at other factories.

“One of the women was a seamstress with two kids, who said she can finally provide them with enough to eat,” Cochran said. “These jobs are the best they can have in the area.”

Unlike many working people in the U.S., students said they were struck by how much the Alta Gracia workers truly enjoyed their jobs.

“As soon as we walked in, loud music was playing and we could immediately tell that there was a good work atmosphere,” Jones said. “It was clean, and people were happy.”

SUCCESS OR FAILURE But Alta Gracia is only an experiment. It will fail if it cannot compete

with the sweatshops that pay their workers almost nothing.

The experiment was begun in 2008 when Knights Apparel, a large distributor of university clothing, decided to help create the factory.

“This company is really cooperative with the union at Alta Gracia, and that’s rare,” Wimberley said.

According to Alta Gracia’s website, Knights Apparel is the largest privatelabel manufacturer of college apparel, so it already had buyers at many universities. The fact that Knights Apparel is a large and established company has helped get Alta Gracia clothing purchased in many university bookstores.

Alta Gracia products are already sold at more than 350 universities in the U.S., with nine in Virginia, according to its website.

But Cochran said Knights Apparel is taking a risk by opening the factory. see FACTORY / page two

COURTESY MEGAN COCHRAN

A worker sews a garment in Alta Gracia in the Dominican Republic.

2 news

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

march 25, 2011

COLLEGIATETIMES

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

On Xavier Boyce’s arrest:

Bachmann closer to 2012 presidential bid

Shelly>> Great. The police no doubt helped CPS steal their kid too. Now instead of tripping and getting hurt (or whatever ridiculous “endangerment” complaint led to these charges), the kid will be molested at the hands of pedophile foster parents who work for the state.

This country sucks.

Common sense >> You don’t even know all of the facts, just jump to your own conclusions moron.

Anonymous >> is that chick serious? you can’t just say that’s what’s going to happen to the baby. my family and I are a foster family, and I can guarantee 100% that the country does not suck, we’re not “pedophile foster parents,” and the only reward we get for helping these children is knowing they’re having a better life, a life they deserve, for the time being. the goal of fostering isn’t to take the children away forever, but until the parents get back on track with their own lives to give their children what they deserve.

Shelly, “ignorance is bliss”,right? until you find out you got it all wrong

Shelly >> I don’t need to know all the facts. It is NEVER okay for the government to steal a kid from the parents. If the government stole this kid, then that makes a bad situation worse.

Factory: Students ask Tech Bookstore to stock shirts from page one

It brings in fewer profits in order to ensure the T-shirts are not too expensive to sell, and yet still pays workers a decent living wage.

Cochran said at JMU, shirts from Alta Gracia cost about $18, or similar to brand name shirts from the likes of Nike and Adidas.

“It’s the only factory in the world like this. We really want it to succeed because that will send the message that an apparel factory can be profitable and still pay its workers decent wages,” Cochran said. “If this fails, I don’t know if anyone else will ever try this again.”

Cochran said that while Alta Gracia saw profits at first, it has suffered a decline in sales in recent years.

STUDENTS HAVE THE POWER “College students can have such a huge effect because so much of Alta Gracia’s clothing is sportswear and clothes with university logos,” said Meredith Katz, a Tech graduate student. “We have the purchasing power in this issue.”

Katz is a graduate student in sociology who has been in contact with the Tech Bookstore about placing an order with Alta Gracia.

“The bookstore hasn’t placed their fall order yet, which is huge,” Katz said. “So if we can create campus-wide support we can convince them to carry it.”

Katz said that so far the bookstore has been receptive about the issue.

“We’re familiar with the company and are currently researching it,”

nation

said Tech Bookstore manager Dave Wilson. “The only answer I can give right now is that no decision has been made quite yet.”

However, because the deadline for the bookstore to place fall buying orders is approaching, the order may have to be pushed back.

“Orders are due by the end of March,” she said. “But their commitment doesn’t have to be huge, just a trial run for the line would be great.”

Cochran also encouraged students to write letters and emails to the Tech Bookstore to show support.

“We want students to express an interest in this. Tell the Bookstore that you will buy the shirts,” Cochran said.

WASHINGTON — Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is likely to form an exploratory committee in June as the first formal step toward seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, close advisers said Thursday.

Forming the panel would allow her to start raising money for a campaign and hiring people, one adviser said.

“We are talking to people, identifying potential state directors, and she’ll continue to step up her travel schedule,” the adviser said, speaking only on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to journalists.

Bachmann is likely to enlist tea party activists to help run her campaigns in key caucus and primary states.

In Iowa, the site of the first precinct caucuses, she’s expected to hire state Sen. Kent Sorenson as her state campaign director. In South Carolina, the site of the first Southern primary, tea party activist Sheri Few of Columbia is likely to play a key role, the Bachmann adviser said.

Bachmann has said several times that she thinks she can wait until summer to join the race, which is starting later than usual. The adviser said Bachmann still didn’t know whether she’d jump into the

first three debates, scheduled for May 2 at the Reagan Presidential Library in California, May 5 in South Carolina and sometime in June in New Hampshire.

She’d be the second Minnesotan to form an exploratory committee, joining former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who announced this week that he’ll form a committee.

Other likely candidates for the nomination include Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

-steven thomma. mcclatchy newspapers

Family asks for student’s remains CHICAGO — Wearing three sunflowers clipped to his jacket in memory of his murdered daughter, Roger Keller was in court Wednesday to show support for efforts to have her remains released so the family can say a proper goodbye.

“As parents, you take care of your children from start to finish,” said Mary Tarling who spoke afterward on her uncle’s behalf. “This is one more way that they have to take care of their child, a way that no parent should have to.”

With Keller solemnly sitting nearby, DeKalb County State’s Attorney Clay Campbell filed a motion in the Sycamore courthouse to allow some of the remains of 18-year-oldAntinette “Toni” Keller to be released so the family can hold a memorial.

A freshman at Northern Illinois University, the teen disappeared Oct. 14. A charred body believed to be hers was discovered two days later in a park close to campus.

But positive identification proved difficult.

After a fragment of thighbone was sent to a laboratory in Dallas, prosecutors said in January that a

DNA analysis confirmed the body was Keller’s. Her remains are still in the possession of the DeKalb County Coroner.

“I think it goes without saying, the family is suffering,” said Campbell, who wore a yellow sunflower that Keller’s father had given him.

Campbell said the family wears the bright yellow flower in memory of the teen, who had a sunflower tattoo. The NIU art student, who was from Plainfield, was last seen walking toward Prairie Park, telling friends that she planned to do some sketching.

Keller’s father did not speak to reporters following the court hearing. Defense attorney Regina Harris wants a forensic anthropologist from Pennsylvania to examine the remains before any portion of them are released.

Attorneys are expected back in court Monday to determine when the prosecutor’s request can be considered.

William Curl, 34, who is charged with Keller’s murder, sexual assault and arson, is being held on about $5 million bail.

Early in the investigation, Curl

fled to Mexico, but recrossed the border and was taken into custody by federal marshals at a motel in Covington, La., where he was looking for work as a day laborer, police said.

Meanwhile, attorneys continue to examine evidence, including DNA samples, before they proceed to a trial.

Although the Kellers understand the complexities of the legal system, waiting has proven difficult, said Tarling.

“We had planned to do something in the spring and spring is coming,” she said.

DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen said he hoped the criminal justice system would be sensitive to the family’s desire to have the remains of their loved one returned.

“We’re human beings,” he said.

“We have loved ones and we see what they’re going through. As criminal justice professionals we still have our jobs that we have to perform but we at the same time we still feel sensitive to the family and care about them.”

-serena maria daniels, mcclatchy newspapers

opınıons 3

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

march 25, 2011

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

Your Views [letter to the editor]

PRC not what people think

I

am writing to address the topic of the Pregnancy Resource Center, which has been mentioned in several articles recently. I am a volunteer at the PRC and see what occurs on a weekly basis. The PRC offers medical and counseling services.

We have a licensed nurse on staff, which is why we can call ourselves a medical clinic.

In the article “Title X needed for low-income health care” (CT, March 18), columnist Kathleen Dwyer says our pregnancy tests are no better than the at-home kits. This is untrue. Why would women waste their time coming to our clinic if they could take the test at home? A registered nurse reads the results of the test and gives the woman documentation of the results. We also offer first trimester ultra-sounds, parenting classes and post-abortion counseling.

I am not trying to be deceitful. Those of us who work on the staff at the PRC are religiously affiliated, but this does not change the services we offer.

Many churches hand out food to people who cannot afford it; do you think the food is any less valuable to the person because

it came from a religious organization?

You do not have to fill out a spiritual survey and you can refuse prayer or any situation that makes you uncomfortable.

When you come into the clinic you sign a waiver that says you understand we may not be trained counselors. The fact we offer post-abortion counseling should prove that we are truly aiming to help women, even if their choices don’t align with our religious beliefs.

We are in Blacksburg to be a support system for women who are pregnant and don’t know what to do next. We offer pamphlets on abortion, parenting and adoption. We do not refer or perform abortions but we will continue providing you services no matter what path you choose to take or what your religious beliefs are. I am tired of people seeing this clinic as a bad place, looking to convert women any chance it gets.

When I sit down with a woman in the clinic, I want to know about her and what is best for her. We cherish our clients and deeply care about their choices. Do you think Planned Parenthood can say the same?

Cassy Sims junior biology major

Earth needs to be tamed M

aybe John Muir was a fool.

Muir, the godfather of contemporary environmentalism, was among the first activists to proclaim the “oneness” of humans and the natural world and to insist that we seek to live in harmony with our surroundings. So convinced was he of nature’s essential goodness that once during a temblor, he ran out of his cabin at midnight crying: “A noble earthquake! A noble earthquake!”

But after the events of the last week in Japan, it’s hard to see his point.

For the last half-century, Americans have been atoning for the environmental sins of their forefathers, essentially buying into Muir’s worldview.

Before the 1960s, the average person generally assumed that human culture — civilization — was an all-around force for good in the world. Indeed, few educated people would have questioned Sigmund Freud’s dictum that the “principal task of civilization, its actual raison d’etre, is to defend us against nature.”

This new environmentalism, aligned with the counterculture of the 1960s and ‘70s, turned the tables. The growing awareness of human mismanagement of the Earth — air pollution, endangered species and climate change — inspired people to see human civilization as more of a detriment than a blessing. The need to protect nature from humans supplanted the need to protect humans from nature. Rather than viewing ourselves as overlords of the Earth, we increasingly came to see ourselves, in the Muir-like words of environmental activist Howard Zahniser, “as part of the system of nature, not demigods above or outside it.”

One might think that the Japanese earthquake and

tsunami would further our sense of humility in the face of nature. But the earthquake and the tsunami — as well as Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami and tragic earthquakes in Pakistan, Haiti and New Zealand — might also have the opposite effect. In the wake of these catastrophes, Americans could revert to the old-fashioned impulse to master nature.

This message resonates with the work of journalist David Owen, author of “Green Metropolis,” and urbanist and Harvard economist Edward Glaeser. Both argue that the best way to cope with dangerous environmental deterioration is not to scale back our cities — one of our primary imprints on the land — but to scale them up, building more high-rises, more extensive transit networks and generally taking a stronger hand in engineering our environment.

Ironically, the Japanese might be the ones who can lead us into this less naive and more aggressive stance. With a long tradition of respecting nature’s majesty as well its destructive force, Japan is among the most engineered yet environmentally conscious countries in the world.

Despite the death toll and the ruins, Japan’s approach no doubt saved many lives. The fact that its imperiled nuclear reactors were still standing after an earthquake thousands of times stronger than predicted is a testament to that.

Our response to this tragedy, then, shouldn’t be to hail the nobility of the earthquake a la John Muir, but to redouble our efforts, however imperfect, to tame the Earth.

GREGORY RODRIGUEZ -mcclatchy newspapers

‘Pride’ can be extended to numerous facets of life the school year winds down and the LGBTA’s Pride Week As (March 28 to April 1) approaches, I am filled with a stronger sense of self than I have ever experienced before.

I’ve seen many articles this year about gay issues, and most of them have been powerful, productive messages. I hope this will also be one of them.

I may as well come out with it: I’m gay. However, that is not all I am.

I am a young man of English and Irish heritage. I am the first in my immediate family to go to college. I want to dedicate my life to helping both animals and people in any way I can.

We’re multidimensional, complex individuals.

As a result, no single label will ever be able to fully describe a person and certainly not just with the words “gay” or “straight.”

It seems silly to get hung up on that difference any more than preferences for ice cream flavors or favorite colors.

Yet, because some people do, there is a legitimate need for “pride.”

I try to take pride in many facets of my life. To me, pride is self-respect.

It is not a pompous, “better than you,” feeling. It is about recognizing my own qualities and acknowledging how they all make up the person I am today, both the good and the bad. Pride is being able to look into a mirror and smile, instead of disparaging yourself. It is not living

without modesty. Rather, it is about my life more openly and not bottle knowing yourself well enough to be things up. confident in your own characterWhen I came to college, I became istics and abilities. It is not some- involved in clubs, made tons of new thing easy to obtain or maintain, friends and experienced my first relabut it is worth it for your peace of tionship. mind.

These two years have been a period I think “Gay pride,” “bi-pride,” of powerful personal growth for me, “trans-pride” or any pride is based just like what most people experiaround this. It is not about shoving ence in college. I feel more connectbeliefs down people’s throats or hav- ed to my friends, family and peers ing some inherent need to constantly now that I can live as openly as I proclaim, “I am gay.” It’s about uniting do. with other like-minded individuals to Every day I live life more deliberreaffirm the drive to live our lives the ately. I owe a large part of the pride way we want in spite of other people’s I feel to coming out. However, an criticism. even larger part is thanks to the I don’t want to be told my love wonderful community of encouris wrong or unnatural simply aging friends I have found here. because it doesn’t fit someone Even though coming out is a conelse’s standard. I don’t want to tinuous process, it does get easier, recruit anyone, destroy any thanks to the pride that I have made institutions or distribute an vital. agenda — I just want to able I think the most important mesto live my life to the best of sage I want to convey is that the divimy ability. For me, that sion some people imagine between will likely mean having gay people and straight people is not another man as my part- as significant as it is portrayed by ner. After going through so some. Also, all people should take much, I finally fully accept pride in themselves, whomever they that part of me and no one can take are. that away. That part of my pride is The respect people feel for themunshakable. selves should also become apparent in Among gay people, our experiences the respect they have for others. Most concerning coming out tend to be importantly, be happy. Celebrate livextremely different. There’s no way I ing with pride. can encompass them all, but for me, it wasn’t so bad. It took a little time for my mother to accept that part of me, GARRETT COMPTON but my father handled the topic just -guest columnist fine. From there, I was trying to live -lgbta pride week chair

‘Outsourced’ grows out of personal experience, not hate ast pilot season NBC made a crazy move. It green-lighted an unlikely L new sitcom set in a Mumbai call center.

“Outsourced” was the hippest thing to happen to South Asians in the United States since Madonna discovered henna. As a writer, I was thrilled to hear about the show, not only because I’m an American of Indian descent but also because I recently lived in Mumbai, helping my husband run a call center.

Let’s face it, if my agent couldn’t get me an interview on this one, I might as well move back to Mumbai.

As it was, I got a dream job.

“Outsourced” debuted to solid reviews from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. With no big-name stars to draw viewers, it still ranked as high as No. 2 among the network’s scripted programs last fall. Even after a mid-season move to 10:30 p.m., “Outsourced” remains one of the most DVR’d primetime shows.

In my time on the writing staff, I’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for the show, especially from members of the South Asian community. Positive comments on Twitter after the show airs heavily outnumber critical ones, and according to the New York Times, even an audience of call center workers in India loved the show.

What’s odd, then, is the level of vitriol directed at us by some reviewers.

They’ve called it “insulting and condescending,” filled with “offensive stereotypes” and based on “obvious cultural ignorance” on the part of the writers.

New fans of the show seem to feel the need to post and tweet apologies for liking it: “I’m sorry but I really love ‘Outsourced’” or “I think ‘Outsourced’ is hilarious. Don’t hate me.”

Based on their bylines, most of the offended parties are not from the

Indian community. Perhaps they don’t realize that we have five South Asian writers on the show telling stories that often come straight from our personal experiences. Or perhaps they don’t believe Indians should make fun of themselves.

An early episode featuring the “Indian head bobble” came from my non-Indian husband’s confusion in communicating with his call center staff. A sequence about Todd, the American boss, and his difficulties boarding an Indian train was inspired by a story another Indian writer shared about his grandmother, who spent a lifetime struggling to push her way onto crowded Indian trains, then employed the same tactics on her first visit to America, elbowing whole families to secure her spot on the monorail at Disneyland.

These stories made us laugh in the writers’ room. Yet when we highlight cultural differences on the show, we risk being called offensive. One online comment vehemently accused us of racism for the following line: Todd: “I didn’t know you guys celebrated Valentine’s Day.” But ignorance of a foreign culture isn’t racist; it’s just ignorance.

And as for stereotypes: Simple, recognizable characters are the building blocks of all comedies. The templates we build on are universal ones: the shy wallflower, the ruthless boss, the guy with no social skills. We don’t use what I consider to be Indian stereotypes: doctors, engineers, Spelling Bee champs, Kwik-E-Mart owners. (And for the record, I’m a huge fan of Apu on “The Simpsons.”)

“Outsourced” is not a documentary about call centers. It’s a comedy, which means we tweak and exaggerate to get a laugh. Yet we also have moments of truth that are deftly realized.

When Todd encourages Madhuri, the

call center’s wallflower with a beautiful voice, to pursue fame and fortune as a singer, she informs him that she already has her dream job. It’s a moment that rings true to a pragmatic Indian value system. When Todd encourages Rajiv, his Indian assistant manager, to pursue the woman of his dreams in spite of her father’s disapproval, it also rings true. Americans aren’t as hung up on parental approval, and Todd’s encouragement proves to be a positive catalyst in Rajiv’s life.

At the end of the day, the characters in “Outsourced” care about each other and learn from one another. Those who only cite offensive stereotypes are missing the spirit of the show (or perhaps they’ve never actually watched it).

What I love most about “Outsourced” is that the humor ultimately comes from a place of affection.

It’s pilot season again, which means TV execs are once more making decisions about which shows to greenlight and which to cancel. My greatest concern is that “Outsourced” is being judged superficially — on the color of its skin, so to speak, instead of the content of its characters.

“Outsourced” has the potential to celebrate our cultural quirks, to build bridges between communities and perhaps, most important, to prove that there is a viable alternative to the “one brown face in a white ensemble” model of “diversity.”

As the Hollywood Reporter put it: “It’s still hard to believe that the network took a chance on it; the public should do the same.”

Watch the show. Give it a chance.

And don’t feel guilty if you like what you see.

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march 25, 2011

page 4

Author: English major seeks guidance from instructors from page one

conversations with friends in the car,” Knapp said.

There are five main characters in the novel. And there are more than 20 other smaller characters who serve as connecting bridges between the main characters.

“They could be read independently,” Knapp said, “but together they are a lot stronger.”

Knapp based some of the characters on his friends and family members.

But more importantly, Knapp said he wanted each character to depict a place on the spectrum of sanity.

“I picked where I wanted them to be or represent and made their attitudes fit that more than anything,” Knapp said.

Two characters that set the scene in the beginning of the novel personify apathy — a feeling Knapp holds. One character is named Chunk and the other is unnamed. The two male characters ride their bikes along the edge of the cliff. The unnamed character eventually kills himself and has a feeling of indifference in the section.

“That resonated from me because I kind of wanted that to be how I was about everyone in the book,” Knapp said. “I didn’t want to judge the charac-

ters. I just wanted them to interact with their situations.”

But according to Vollmer, Knapp is far from disengaged in his advanced fiction course this semester. Vollmer said Knapp doesn’t coast through the sessions, and he often contributes good ideas.

“Everyone will talk, and he will suddenly say, ‘Oh, what about this?’”

Vollmer said.

Allnutt shared a similar feeling.

“Drew never speaks to hear his own voice,” Allnutt said. “Drew only says something when he is going to add something new to the conversation, and I like that.”

On that Monday evening in the coffee shop, Knapp would often take brief pauses. But he didn’t do so because he was unsure of himself or his responses.

He seemed to be simply allowing his mind to formulate and organize his thoughts before verbalizing them.

Thoughtfulness seems to echo into his writing as well — it is apparent that his sentences are written in a particular way. Vollmer read a very “Drew Knapp-ian” sentence aloud that Knapp wrote in a class assignment: “I stand like a paper cutout in the wind and watch her disappear into the snowstorm.”

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out of my body flowers will grow

by Drew Knapp A cliff where people commit suicide in California prompts a man to build a home along the death hot spot. The man, along with other survivors, attempt to talk others out of killing themselves.

“He is a very strong writer,” Vollmer said. “His descriptions can be very florid.”

Allnutt explained that although Knapp is experimenting with his writing, he is his own writer.

“He has a distinct style that he is developing,” Allnutt said. “It is decidedly contemporary — very hip.”

In the larger sense, Knapp put a vast amount of thought into each part of his novel. For example, the concluding scene is open-ended, leaving it “burst-

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ing at its seams.” Although Knapp said he could have closed it differently, it would’ve been too easy.

“It’s like driving in a car,” Knapp said of the ending. “You see what you see, but it keeps going.”

Overall, Knapp wants readers to understand that on the exterior the insane characters are labeled crazy. But within their own minds, the insane characters are unaware they are crazy.

“The idea that we have of people being ‘insane’ is more a representation

in the

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used only about $500 to purchase a block of ISBN numbers, which are used to register books.

Knapp plans to use the rest of the money to form an in-house publishing collective, such as Muumuu House in New York City, consisting of young and upcoming writers.

“Everyone goes to New York City to live out their dream of being a writer,” Knapp said, “but I think it would be cool if that wasn’t necessary.”

Knapp plans to use the ISBN numbers to make his idea possible. When books are edited and published, Knapp and other writers will be able to put them on the market.

Although the plan is not finalized, Vollmer said he is all for the independent project.

“I love how he seems to be a big dreamer,” Vollmer said. “He is enthusiastic. He is ambitious. He hasn’t been beaten down by the publishing world.

He is taking it into his own hands, and that seems really cool.”

In the meantime, Knapp said he is working on a second novel. But he remains a college student — one with quiet ideas racing through his intricate mind and out onto paper.

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of what we are seeing from the outside,” Knapp said.

He purposely wrote each character in first person to display their thoughts without a filter. Knapp also wants the novel to relay the message that suicide is not the answer to a person’s problems.

With all the words, sentences and punctuation marks in place, Knapp began formatting his book for publishing using the website CreateSpace.com, a print on demand company. The site provides templates for designing books.

Knapp not only configured the text, but he also designed the cover using Microsoft Word and MacPaint.

CreateSpace.com is affiliated with Amazon. When a customer orders Knapp’s novel, the site prints, binds and sends it out. The novel is also available on Kindle, Nook and SmashWords. com.

Knapp used the site KickStarter.com, which promotes the funding of creative projects. Knapp created a profile and submitted an application stating his goals for the novel. Then, people were able to make donations and earn rewards. For example, if a person donated $100, then they would receive a signed novel from Knapp. Knapp raised $2,500 on KickStarter.com. He

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sports 5

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

march 25, 2011

Soccer still rebuilding from aftermath of violations COURTNEY LOFGREN sports reporter It’s no secret that the Virginia Tech men’s soccer team has struggled mightily over the last three years.

In these three seasons, the team has amassed 16 wins while playing a total of 58 games. The Hokies have not had much success in the Atlantic Coast Conference since 2007, when they went 14-4-5 overall and made it to the semifinals in the NCAA tournament — the best season in school history.

In February, 10 new players committed to the Tech program. Many players came from Virginia, as well as one each from Georgia, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Iowa.

“I think probably the best thing is, we got a good mix of in-state and outof-state kids,” said Patrick McSorley,

an assistant coach. “One of the things we went into as a staff, when we were first getting together, was to go in and evaluate and try to get some of the better Virginia kids to come to school here. I think we did that with the number of kids from Virginia.”

Head coach Michael Brizendine was particularly happy with the number of in-state recruits who chose to come to Tech next fall.

“We always want to put our stamp on the state of Virginia, and I think we did that,” Brizendine said. “We have a couple kids that are very good, one of the kids is one of the best kids in the state. I was very pleased with that.”

While the group is talented on the soccer pitch, Brizendine said he thinks they will thrive as Hokies in general.

“We feel very confident about their soccer abilities, but also what they’re

bringing to the table as far as their academics and the fact that they are just good young men, which is what we try to recruit here,” he said.

The recruiting process for soccer is very different from a sport like football. Often with soccer, many of the best players in the nation compete at national tournaments, making it easier for out-of-state coaches to recruit players.

“When we go out recruiting we typically go to big events that have teams from all over the country and we identify players at those big events, and then narrow our process down from there,” said Kevin Doyle, also an assistant coach.

The ACC has historically had some of the most successful teams in the nation. Both McSorley and Doyle agree that the Tech name is one of

their main selling points when trying to sign a recruit.

“When we go out, we see kids from Texas, Iowa and California,” McSorley said. “It’s nice for us to go out to California and say we’re from Virginia Tech and there’s name recognition immediately because of the athletic program and the school in general so it’s easy for us to recruit that way. “ “It’s a great school, it’s very well known throughout the country,” Doyle said. “I think when we come calling, it’s instant name recognition and it’s a lot different in other parts of the country. When we go to California and bring a kid in for a visit here, it’s entirely different from anything they are used to and a lot of kids are looking for a change.”

When Brizendine took over the team almost two years ago, he was left with some players who did not fit the mold

he thought was necessary to build a winning program in Blacksburg. With the 10 new players next year, and the 15 players who were new to the program last year, Brizendine is hopeful the wins will start coming as soon as next season.

The coach has faced many challenges in trying to recruit new players to the Tech program. Former head coach Oliver Weiss resigned in June 2009, after it was discovered he had made 11 NCAA recruiting violations involving international players.

Weiss paid the international players up-front a sum of $75 to pay for various fees regarding Tech and the NCAA. The players eventually paid Weiss back, but it is against NCAA rules for a coach to pay the sum first.

Due to the violations in the Weiss era, Tech voluntarily stopped international

recruiting for three years, which ends following the 2011-12 school year.

“We knew it was going to take some time,” Brizendine said. “This group that we have, yes I expect to see some stuff — in the near future. I expect things to really turn around. When I stepped into the position I knew it was really going to take an overhaul (of the roster). We’re on time for what I was expecting when I took over.”

Brizendine said he believes the 2011 class is so talented that a few players should start next season.

“I think we should have a couple that will help us immediately and the rest I think will give us significant minutes,” Brizendine said. “You can never tell until they get here on campus, but as I’ve looked at it, my impression with this class, we’ve made (the bench) better.”

Hokies hitting their way Women’s tennis aims for toward turnaround season winning record, NCAA bid ASHLEIGH LANZA sports staff writer This time last year, the Virginia Tech softball team was 10-16. They have made a huge turnaround, though, as it enters this weekend, 21-8.

Although disappointed from going 1-2 in last weekend’s series against the University of North Carolina, the girls are back in action as they take their home field, Tech Softball Park, for a weekend battle with Boston College.

“I thought we didn’t play like ourselves,” said Scot Thomas, head coach, of the North Carolina series. “Our hands were very slow at the plate, a little tentative. Maybe it was because it was the first ACC game and we had a lot of younger kids playing. “ However, freshman Dani Anderson and sophomores Courtney Liddle and Betty Rose have been outstanding hitters so far this year.

Anderson, who leads the Hokies with a .391 batting average, has had 34 hits so far this season, including five doubles and a triple. Liddle, who had a freshman-record 11 home runs last year, is on her way to that same goal, with a .368 batting average and four home runs

already under her belt.

“I wish I hit more dingers already this year but it doesn’t really bother me as long as my team is winning and we are winning a lot more,” Liddle said.

During Sunday’s win against North Carolina, Liddle was cleated by a runner as they were running to first base.

Liddle, who caught the ball and made the out before falling on the field, was taken to a local hospital. “You could see my Achilles from where the cleat had taken skin off,” said Liddle. “I’m just glad I didn’t hurt my ACL. That could have taken me out for one year or even my entire career.”

Liddle was sporting a soft walking foot cast on her leg where the injury happened, and will not be playing in the upcoming series against Boston College.

“She’s one of our top hitters so of course it’ll hurt us,” Thomas said. “But someone is going to step up and get it done in her absence.”

Rose, who has shown a lot of improvement this year, is hitting .333 with six home runs and four doubles. The sophomore, who only had 28 batting appearances last season, has already tripled that number halfway into the season.

“I really like a curveball, I feel like I can sit on it now,” Rose said.

With an improving bat and a .979 fielding percentage, Rose is becoming a well-rounded threat in the ACC. “Our whole lineup can get the job done,” Liddle said. “There is no one weak spot and everyone is confident, even the girls not on the lineup.”

Liddle, Rose and Anderson all agreed it is impossible to “pitch around” the depth Tech has to offer.

With a .292 batting average as a team, the Hokies host talent and depth they have not had in the past few seasons.

Junior Kristen Froehlich has also improved from last season — from a .195 batting average to .303.

The Hokies already defeated Boston College 3-2 back in February, and believe they have an advantage.

During that game, the Hokies had seven hits compared to Boston’s three, with senior pitcher Kenzie Roark allowing two runs on three hits with three strikeouts.

“Boston College swept UVA,” Rose said. “So we are really going to come out and attack this weekend” Tech takes the field against the Eagles Saturday at noon and Sunday at 1 p.m.

TAYLOR HAY sports staff writer With eight Atlantic Coast Conference matches remaining in the regular season, the Virginia Tech women’s tennis team (9-7, 1-2 ACC) is hungry for wins after its losing record during the 2009-10 campaign (10-13, 2-9 ACC).

“We haven’t been to NCAAs yet and I think as a team that’s our biggest goal,” said junior Martha Blakely.

“We’d like to finish higher in the ACC. We have so much talent on this team and in the past few years I don’t think our talent has shown in our results.”

Blakely, who currently has a 219 singles match record, has shown drastic improvement from her 9-26 record last year.

“Over the summer I played a lot of tournaments, I was in Blacksburg all summer, I trained with my coach,” Blakely said. “I made tennis a first priority.”

Like Blakely, the entire Hokies team has been focusing to make this year more successful than the past. This

fall the team showed some of their strides, as senior Holly Johnson and Blakely won the UNCW Invitational doubles tournament. Additionally, Blakely made it to the USTA/ITA Atlantic Regional semifinals and Johnson, and senior Yasmin Hamza finished the fall 7-2 in doubles.

Though the Hokies are currently 9-7, they’ve suffered a few defeats in close matches, such as a 4-3 loss to Boston College (7-6, 2-1 ACC) in February.

“We’ve had a lot of good wins and a lot of really close losses,” said Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods, head coach.

“We’re looking to keep learning from those losses, really enjoy the wins, and get ready for the next match.”

In addition to support from Zawacki-Woods, seniors Hamza and Johnson are providing encouragement and leadership to their team, just as they did last season when there were no seniors.

“I definitely had to step up last year,” Johnson said. “It’s been a good experience for me because I’m not a very extroverted type of person, so it’s been good for me to have to step up

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and go into a leadership position.”

“I’m really proud of Hamza, playing No. 1 for us right now,” ZawackiWoods said. “She’s doing a great job, both in singles and doubles for us.”

Blakely noted what is most impressive about this year’s team, is the fight they show on the court.

“When you’re watching someone play a match, you know they’re not just going to give up,” Blakely said.

“They’re going to figuratively die on the court. They’ll go for every ball.

That’s a big thing. Even when you’re not playing your best, your fight is what brings you through matches.”

Saturday, the Hokies go up against Florida State (6-5) at 10:30 a.m. at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.

Following the Florida State match, the Hokies will immediately be challenged by three nationally ranked teams, including No. 6 Miami, No. 4 Duke, and No. 3 North Carolina.

“When it comes time for that big point to be played, I just want the girls to understand what they’re capable of doing and letting their games handle the points for themselves,” ZawackiWoods said.

6

people & clubs

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

march 25, 2011

SAID

JAMIE MARTYN / COLLEGIATE TIMES

he she

He said: Bro cohabitation sparks odd times hat do roommates have in common with obnoxious W Yankee fans? Both are unavoidable evils of life. College students endure the burden of constant companionship from the minute we walk onto campus as wide-eyed, optimistic freshmen, until the day we graduate as world-weary seniors. Even after leaving the insulated collegiate world, odds are, our meager incomes result in sharing a nest with peers.

There will be good times — a less than clothed Sunday Fun Day dance party comes to mind — but frustration inherently comes with the territory.

I’ve been blessed to have decent roommates throughout my college career. My dorm room sloppiness and occasional late-night eviction was tolerated with grace freshman year. Vawter Hall room 357 was renowned for the pile of clothes known as Mt. Reilly, but my roommate never gave me the tongue-lashing I deserved. Aside from some regrettable run-ins with RAs, it was a peaceful year that ended without a long-term friendship but — I think — no lingering hard feelings.

I spent sophomore year with the most absurd collection of jolly fellows this campus will ever have the pleasure of hosting. Imagine your high school marching band. Now imagine that same group with hyperactive sex drives and an insatiable urge to party, and you’ll get a vague idea of what the Marching Virginians tuba section is like. It was the most fun year of my life, even though I’m not quite sure how I survived it.

This year has been spent with multiple sets of roommates. My companion on Broanoke Street is an agreeable guy who I see every couple of days. It’s through no fault of his — my best friends in Berryfield have accepted me as a de facto third roommate and generously provided me use of their fridge, couch and toilet. They occasionally guilt me into chipping in for utilities, but they don’t have much leverage ever since I found those curious pictures from Spring Break 2010. Don’t

worry Tim, the authorities never have to know.

Stories abound from these colorful living arrangements. Being accosted by my freshman roommate’s ex-girlfriend at a party comes to mind, as do the antics from sophomore year’s Margarita Mondays. Walking in on one of my roommates doing the deed in the living room during daylight definitely qualifies as memorable, though perhaps for the wrong reasons.

Every tale of entertaining shenanigans is matched by one of frustration, head-shaking disbelief or — in the aforementioned story of afternoon delight — both. The first impression of my freshman roommate came from a Facebook picture of him with a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush, and while the political animosity was kept to a minimum that year, I did have to watch a soul-crushing amount of Fox News, which really is any amount, but I digress.

“

Roommates are a profound irritation and often astound with poor hygiene.

Life in the tuba house provided enough ridiculous stories to supply lazy sitcom writers for a year. My roommates’ Cornhusker hoedown party before the Nebraska football game — complete with hay bales and square dancing — seemed like a great idea until we were still finding hay in May. There are also some downsides to living in a house that parties like the Jersey Shore cast — namely, the Jersey Shore cast drama that comes with it. Signing the lease gave me a front row seat to a whirlwind of intoxicated band histrionics.

I’m no innocent bystander when it comes to aggravating roommates.

Despite my Adonis-like body and dizzying array of talents — some have called me the songbird of my generation — I am still only human, and thus share our species’ impressive ability to annoy the piss out

of others. In fact, my heightened evolutionary state allows me to excel at this.

There is no shortage of examples, but for brevity’s sake, I will focus on the most notorious behavior.

The word “slob” is harsh, but I will admit to not having the cleanest of habits. Mom scoffed at my feeble attempts to pass off Mt. Reilly as a freshman year aberration, and history has proven her wise. My bedroom floor clearly has some “Lost” island-like electromagnetic qualities because dirty clothes seem attracted to it.

This in and of itself is not a problem. What tends to irk my roommates is the inevitable hijacking of the living room when this sprawl of clothes cuts off a route to my bed.

Apparently, turning the common living space into a personal man-child suite is frowned upon. There’s also my unfortunate propensity to leave the oven on after use. Not such a big deal there, though. What’s the worst that could happen?

Roommates are a profound irritation and often astound with poor hygiene. They give terrible advice and have a breathtaking ability to figure out the least opportune moment in your life to cause problems.

But before you lash out at them over a trivial matter, remember that you’re a roommate too and are almost certainly on their last nerve at any given time. Humans that live together are biologically programmed to clash, whether they are roommates, spouses or nuns.

Conflict is inevitable when you throw flawed people into a confined space. And nobody, not even me, is perfect.

ANDREW REILLY -features staff writer -junior -communication major

Taal 2011 GLC Auditorium, Donaldson Brown, Virginia Tech 26th March, Saturday, 5:30PM - 8:00PM

Students and Others: FREE Association for India’s Development (AID ) and Indian Student Association (ISA) of Virginia Tech cordially invite you for a mesmerizing evening of Indian music and dance with Soumya Chakraborty (Sarod player), Debu Nayak (Tabla player) and Sonali Mishra (Odissi Dancer)

blacksburg.aidindia.org

aid@vt.edu

VT Indian Student Association

She said: Living with roommates builds tough skin iving with someone can lead to some of the best and worst times L of your life.

As a freshman last year, I decided to do a random selection for my roommate.

I didn’t trust Facebook enough to find a person to live with for an entire year, so I left it up to fate.

At first, things were great. While the elevators were a little sketchy, living in Slusher Tower meant I lived at a central location on campus.

And more importantly, I was close to West End. The first day we met was awkward.

We sat there unpacking our lives with our parents knowing that this was officially it. They were about to leave us. We were about to be on our own — no parents, no curfew and no explanations.

It was a powerful, yet scary feeling.

After they left, we spent the day getting through the introductory conversations and started feeling more comfortable with each other. Since I was coming from a private school in Delaware, she was the only person I had. As freshmen, we didn’t really have anywhere else to go but our dorms, which meant we spent an unhealthy amount of time together.

While we bonded over “Harry Potter” and various TV shows, we did not agree on her boyfriend, who became a third roommate.

We began to pick fights with each

other because there was nothing else to do. Her boyfriend came every weekend, and our room was always dirty.

There was no escape.

I felt like I was drowning. There was never a time that she wasn’t there. I had zero alone time, and I was going nuts.

But it wasn’t her fault. I am just an independent person, and I need my space. We all do.

I can’t count the number of times we screamed at the top of our lungs at each other, but living with her changed me forever. We were freshmen. We were scared. Living with someone and having to be flexible made me stronger.

This year I was excited to live off campus. It meant I got my own room.

I felt spoiled having my own personal space.

As we unpacked, my roommates and I were anxious to begin our second year.

We talked about all the adventures we would have and the nights we would never forget. Having no resident advisor to answer to meant absolute freedom.

When the year began, it was great to have a feel for campus.

I never understood how everyone could tell I was a freshman last year, but suddenly I got it.

There’s just a certain something about them. Maybe it’s a look of fear

or confusion but you just don’t quite blend in yet.

I couldn’t help but laugh at those students who abruptly changed direction mid-walk. It was like watching myself a year ago.

As work piled up, taking out the trash and putting away the dishes became a task everyone seemed to ignore in our apartment. We weren’t used to having a kitchen, so it was definitely a change.

“

While they can drive you nuts, your roommates are the people that know you best. They laugh at your bad jokes, know when you’re upset and don’t judge you for what you look like in the morning.

I always end up being the person who reaches her limit and does the dishes. But it’s frustrating to always have to clean up after other people. I make a mess — I’m not denying that.

But I was not going to tidy up after them forever. I became so anal about it that I had to put up a tally sheet of who took out the trash.

You may think I’m crazy, but our apartment contains an unbelievable amount of trash. It could be due to the fact that one of my roommates buys paper plates and plastic utensils to avoid doing the dishes, but it seems like we have a bag full of trash every other day. It’s unreal.

When small annoyances pile up, we reach a boiling point, which causes us to freak out about ridiculous matters. In fact, last week my friend and her roommate screamed at each other about kitty litter.

While they can drive you nuts, your roommates are the people that know you best. They laugh at your bad jokes, know when you’re upset and don’t judge you for what you look like in the morning.

Living with people can really push your buttons. You’re always going to have arguments here and there, but you have to learn to pick and choose your battles. You have to be flexible, or you’ll never survive.

CHELSEA GUNTER -features reporter -sophomore -communication major