Wednesday, April 6, 2011 Print Edition by Collegiate Times

McComas repairs to cost $3 million BY MICHELLE SUTHERLAND | news reporter

1998 Initial construction completed

The Board of Visitors resolved to provide $3.1 million in future funds to repair McComas Hall. The building has had difficulties with rainwater 2008 infiltration since it was built over a decade ago. Construction on outside of “We’re dealing with an issue from the original building attempts to improve leaky construction, and the obstacle we’re overcomHokie Stone on building’s facade ing is water infiltration,” said Michael Coleman, associate vice president for facilities services. 2009 Design of additions to building “How it’s built is not designed to evacuate or finished shield itself from water penetration.” The repairs are ongoing and are expected t o continue for the next several years. 2009 Because of the tremendous cost to the Ground broken on $12 million, u nafter iversity, Tech is reviewing the possibility of 26,000-square foot expansion delays

2010

All expansion construction finished FILE / SPPS

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

legal action against the original construction company. “I don’t believe that there were problems with the renovation. The problems stem from the original construction and have been the subject of remediation,” Larry Hincker, university spokesman, wrote in an e-mail. “And to say that the university ‘is considering legal action’ may be too strong a phrase indicating something imminent. This topic arose in the context of a question from a board member asking whether legal action is a possible option. The University Council indicated that it still remains an option for possible relief.”

2011

Legal action being considered against original construction company for rain water leakage issues, projected to cost $3.1 million

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

www.collegiatetimes.com

COLLEGIATETIMES 108th year, issue 41

News, page 2

Food & Drink, page 5

Opinions, page 3

Sports, page 6

Classifieds, page 4

Sudoku, page 4

Women suing Tech for gender discrimination LINDSEY BROOKBANK features editor Three former employees say Virginia Tech values men more than their female counterparts. Women who worked in university development in the mid-2000s are suing Tech for gender discrimination. The trial begins Monday. Shana Maron, formerly known as Shana Kennedy before a divorce, filed a lawsuit against Tech on Oct. 7, 2008, alleging the university paid her and other female employees less than their male counterparts. Two more former Tech employees, Erin Hofberg and Getra Hanes, joined Maron’s suit in the following months. Larry Hincker, university spokesman, said Tech believes the allegations are without merit, and the facts, when presented in court, will underscore its position. According to the case files, the plaintiffs claim Tech violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on gender, in this case. Nicholas Woodfield, the lead attorney for Maron and the other plaintiffs, said the most dynamic point in the case is that the Equal Pay Act says plaintiffs don’t have to prove Tech acted with intent. Rather, Tech must justify the reasons for its pay disparities. “There is no question that it was paying similarly situated comparators more,” Woodfield said. “The question is why.” The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages. Woodfield said his clients are asking Tech to pay them the difference

between what they were earning while employed and what the highest male comparators were earning. Woodfield said the differences range from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars per paycheck. He said his clients were advised to avoid speaking to the press because their words could be used against them. According to the files, Maron was hired as an assistant director of university development in March 2006. She later worked in the same position for development in engineering. Her annual salary was $49,000. The files state that Maron met with Robert Bailey, the senior director of regional gifts for university development, in April 2007 regarding a regional director position. Maron told Bailey she expected an annual salary of $68,500 in the new position because Field Glover, the male who last occupied the position, started at that amount, according to the files. Bailey offered Maron $48,000 as compensation for the position. She also claims Bailey made gender-discriminatory statements about women. According to the files, Maron said he told her she was not worth the same as Glover because she was a woman and not the head of a household. Bailey allegedly told her that hiring a woman poses a liability and waste of space because pregnancy could cause missed work, according to the files. According to the files, Maron also claimed Bailey told her he might “slap her with a ‘wet noodle’” if she repeated that he made those statements. Bailey was not available for comment.

Tech argues in the files that it uses gender-neutral factors to determine salaries. Hincker wrote in an e-mail statement that the university has a strong non-discrimination policy, and it takes any discrimination allegation seriously. According to the files, Hofberg was a regional director of major gifts for university development from May 2006 until August 2006, and her annual salary was $53,500. Hanes was a regional director of major gifts from October 2006 until April 2008. Her annual salary matched Hofberg’s. The plaintiff’s male comparators, Justin Mosby, Benjamin Grove, James Grove and Christopher Lawson, were paid $55,000, $61,000, $63,000 and $67,000 annual salaries upon hire, respectively, the files said. The four men continue to work at Tech in university development. Tech claims any difference between the plaintiffs’ salaries and their comparators can be explained by objective metrics, according to the files. This includes fundraising experience, sales and marketing experience, graduate degrees and work experience in higher education. Woodfield commented on Tech’s method for determining salaries. “The most interesting thing is Virginia Tech’s apparently inconsistent means of calculating how much new hires might be paid given the possibility that the lack of cohesive policy can lead to such apparent disparities in pay,” he said. A jury will hear the case in the U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Va., on Monday.

Checks & imbalances The salaries of the women involved in the lawsuit were lower than their male counterparts.

“ Maron also claimed Bailey told her he might ‘slap her with a wet noodle’ if she repeated that he made those statements.

VICTORIA ZIGADLO / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Vet Med school hopeful about expansions Facebook tries

out targeted ads MIKE SWIFT mcclatchy newspapers

COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY PLANNING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

The infectious disease research facility will be the home for teaching, laboratory and surgery facilities, as well as an animal holding area.

THREE NEW BUILDINGS TO INCLUDE HOSPITALS, LABS, DESIGNED TO DRAW HIGHER ENROLLMENT TORIE DEIBLE news staff writer The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine is adding three new buildings that are intended to accommodate larger incoming classes in the future. “We’re really excited about the three buildings that we’re either currently constructing or looking to construct here at the college,” said Jennifer L. Hodgson, associate dean for professional programs at the

VMRCVM. Construction has already begun on the infectious disease research facility, and construction on the veterinary instruction addition will begin in the summer. This addition will be three stories high and include offices and teaching spaces. The first floor will house a cutting-edge facility called the techniques lab with a proper teaching surgical space and a holding area for animals. “The lab will focus on teaching a variety of clinical techniques to our

veterinary students,” Hodgson said. The third addition, now only in the planning phase, is the translational medicine building, which is a joint project with the college of agriculture and the college of science. The building will include an educational hospital and research laboratories. The VRMCVM hopes to boost enrollment over the next several years, and the new buildings will make room for the larger number of students. “I particularly think the new surgical suite, because it’s really going to be state-of-the-art, will really appeal to students wanting to come here,” Hodgson said. “And it

will show them that we have very up-to-date facilities for teaching techniques.” Throughout the construction, the college is focused on making current and future laboratories more accessible for students. “We want to create more lab space for students to be able to go to anytime, either night or day, to practice some of their basic technical skills, like surgery or instrument holding,” Hodgson said. “We also plan on getting a variety of different models that students can practice basic skills on, so they can get experience with them before working on live animals.”

Facebook is testing a new system that instantly targets ads based on the content of members’ wall posts and status updates, as the social network joins a growing list of Internet companies working with advertisers to market products related to a person’s interests or online activities at that moment. For some time, Facebook has used the contents of members’ status updates and wall posts to target advertising, but the test is the first time that the social network has had the ability to select ads almost immediately, related to content that users are sharing. The service is an example of new technology that increasingly allows advertisers to tailor ads based on what users are doing online at that moment. For example, a Facebook user responding to posts on a friend’s wall about the University of Connecticut Huskies men’s basketball team and the NCAA basketball tournament last week began to see ads featuring UConn athletic gear and a travel company endorsement from the University of Kentucky basketball team — the Huskies’ opponent in the Final Four in this past weekend’s tournament. A Facebook spokeswoman acknowledged that the Palo Alto, Calif., social network is testing real-time ad technology that could produce those results. “Advertising on Facebook can be more useful for people because they have explicitly shared their interests on the site. We use this information to show people ads that they may be interested in,” Facebook said in a statement released to the Mercury News. “We are currently testing a product

that helps surface relevant advertising more quickly to people based on the real-time content they are sharing, such as status updates or the Pages they like.” The Facebook spokeswoman, Annie Ta, declined to say how long the test might last or when Facebook might adopt it for all users. Facebook has always targeted advertising based on the information people share when they join the social network or update their profile, such as age, gender, where they live, their occupation and relationship status. Facebook already collects data on the content of status updates or other “Likes” people share, to target ads to users on later visits. The test product, however, actively targets ads in real-time, even as people are on Facebook and sharing content with their friends. That capability appears similar in intent to technology used by companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, which increasingly can customize advertising based on a person’s search history and profile in the milliseconds between a user typing in an Internet URL and the page appearing on their browser. Andrew Frank, an analyst who follows Internet advertising for the research firm Gartner, said while real-time targeting can be valuable for advertisers, companies like Facebook must tread a delicate line in deciding how and what subjects to use for ad targeting. “The main issue is tuning it right so it’s relevant, but not too relevant,” Frank said. “I’ve heard reactions across the board, from people who say this is really creepy, to people who say it’s really good and it makes the ads more interesting and relevant.”

2 news

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

april 6, 2011

COLLEGIATETIMES

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

world Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo may surrender

On a Hokie couple trying to win a wedding: bob >> Who cares about these two dopes? This type of $hit is why the CollegiateTimes is such a joke...

Anonymous >> It’s a great human interest story! Maybe you should just stop reading the CT...they sound happy...maybe you should try and be happy!

Fred >> This article embodies the disconnect in society today. They don’t know your name nor have ever conversed with you, but they want you to do something to benefit them. This kind of behavior manifests itself on Facebook, where one can have 2,000 “friends” but rarely returns phone calls or makes contact with them unless they are trying to sell something and need you to buy from them.This is superficial here. Weddings don’t have to be expensive. Heck, go to city hall and get married by a justice of the peace if need be.

Mike >> This couple should be embarrassed by themselves, and CT’s editors should have more integrity than to run a story like this - there are true tragedies in the world, and people I’m absolutely certain who are more deserving of this. To do it simply because they realized how expensive weddings actually cost and they want to invite a lot of people? What a joke. Newsflash kids: welcome to the real world.

Anonymous >> Its a Human interest story from a college newspaper about two recent alums. The Washington Post and New York Times run human interest stories ALL the time. No one wants to read/hear about “bad” news all the time. Its a contest. Lighten up Francis.

residents were stranded in their homes without access to food or water, unable to go outdoors because of shooting and heavy weapons fire. During any lulls in the shooting, violent militias rampaged in the city, looting shops and houses. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross, and the U.N. has reported that about 1 million people have fled their homes. The crisis was sparked after Gbagbo, defeated in elections last November that were observed and certified by the U.N., refused to give up power. The world body, the African Union and other international organizations and leaders recognized his rival, Alassane Ouattara, as president and called for Gbagbo to leave power. But despite mounting pressure and U.N. Security Council sanctions, Gbagbo continued to cling on as his militias rampaged in neighborhoods of Abidjan, killing opposition supporters and foreign migrants. Gbagbo, 65, a Sorbonne-educated history professor, was for many years the main opposition figure to Felix Houphouet-Boigny, the proFrench founding president of Ivory Coast, who reigned from independence in 1959 until his death in

JOHANNESBURG — Laurent Gbagbo, who has been fighting to retain the presidency of Ivory Coast after his defeat last fall in U.N.certified elections, was surrounded by rival forces Tuesday in a bunker beneath his home, according to senior officials in his entourage, amid reports of a possible ceasefire. After days of intense fighting in the West African nation’s main city, Abidjan, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in Paris that two generals close to Gbagbo were negotiating his surrender. A United Nations statement confirmed Gbagbo had retreated to a bunker under his residence and had called for a cease-fire, while the chief of staff of his troops, Philippe Mangou, told news agencies his forces had stopped fighting and had requested a cease-fire. The developments came after helicopter strikes Monday by U.N. and French peacekeeping forces destroyed a major military base, an arms depot and the state television station and took out heavy weaponry around the presidential palace, neutering Gbagbo’s military. The world body said the strikes were necessary to stop Gbagbo’s forces firing at civilians and attacking U.N. peacekeepers. After days of fierce fighting, many of Abidjan’s remaining 4 million

1993. Gbagbo came to power as the only opposition candidate who wasn’t barred from running in 2000 elections that followed a 1999 coup against then President Henri Bedie byRobert Guei, a military officer. Gbagbo claimed victory in 2000 and flooded the streets with his supporters, toppling Guei and vowing to bring an end to the cult of personality where “big men” clung to power and refused to tolerate dissent or accept defeat. In 2002, a civil war split the country into north and south. As the standoff dragged on, Gbagbo repeatedly put off the elections that were due in 2005. Ouattara, a U.S.-educated economist who worked for the International Monetary Fund, was appointed prime minister by Houphouet-Boigny in 1990, but was outmaneuvered in the fight for succession after HouphouetBoigny’s 1993 death. Before last’s year’s presidential election, which was supposed to unite the country, Gbagbo’s slogan, “We win or we win,” belied his stated willingness to give up power. Some analysts say the overconfident Gbagbo was stunned by a defeat he failed to predict. —robyn dixon, mcclatchy newspapers

VT Alum >> This couple has been utterly obnoxious trying to promote themselves on facebook and twitter. I was an acquaintance of the couple while in college and recently have had the misfortune of being bombarded via several social media routes (email, wall posts, incessant newsfeed updates, direct messages, chat messages, the list goes on...). I have no doubt that the couple contacted the CT, and likely strongarmed someone they still knew into writing this article.I am embarassed that they have resorted so such shameless self-promotion. As a VT alum - I would like to apologize to the current students whose campus newspaper was highjacked by two selfish, self-absorbed, ego maniacs.

Another VT alum >>

JUSTIN GRAVES -public editor -junior -sociology/UAP major

In “Hokie couple needs votes to win ultimate wedding,” (CT – Apr. 5), Barden Field is from Williamsburg, Va. The couple does not reside together in Arlington, however they do both live in the area. They were both members of Omicron Delta Kappa. The Collegiate Times regrets these errors.

crime blotter

Federal guidelines to ﬁght sexual violence which was chosen because of its highly regarded efforts in sexual violence prevention. Under the Department of Education guidelines, schools informed about sexual harassment or violence must take immediate action to stop the abuse and prevent it from happening again. Regardless of whether a victim files a complaint, the school must investigate the incident, even if a criminal investigation is already under way. Schools must also have sex discrimination policies in place and an employee responsible for managing

WASHINGTON — Schools must do more to prevent and respond to sexual violence on campus, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday as he introduced new federal guidelines to combat the problem. “Students across the country deserve the safest possible environment in which to learn,” Biden said. “That’s why we’re taking new steps to help our nation’s schools, universities and colleges end the cycle of sexual violence on campus.” Biden was joined by Education Secretary Arne Duncan at the University of New Hampshire,

the institution’s compliance with Title IX, the law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs. Sexual violence is included in the definition of that discrimination. Finally, schools must make procedures for filing complaints based on Title IX violations clearly available. Almost 20 percent of women and 6 percent of men are likely to be victims of attempted or actual sexual assault while in college, according to a Department of Education report. —julie mianecki, mcclatchy newspapers

1 3 2 1 6 5 4 0 6 5 6 4 6 5 5 1 4

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

date reported

time

offense

location

status

04/03/2011

11 p,m. to 11:35 p.m.

Simple assualt

Lee Hall

Inactive

04/04/2011

03/25/2011-03/27/2011

Larceny of bicycle

Pritchard Hall

Active

04/04/2011

10:28 a.m.

Possession of Fake ID

Sterrett Facilities

Cleared by Arrest

04/04/2011

12:49 p.m.

Harassment

East Campbell Hall

Active

04/04/2011

9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Destruction of property

CMMID Prices Fork Rd

Active

arrestees

13216540656465514

CORRECTIONS

Actually, I too am friends with one of the members of the couple, and happen to be connected with them on Facebook. I like this person, and already did vote for them, BUT I’ll agree with VT Alum here that it’s getting over the top with the SEVERAL times a day posts BEGGING for votes. It’s spammy and SUPER annoying.

nation

fire blotter date reported

time

offense

location

injuries

deaths

damages

04/04/2011

8:23 p.m.

Lab-mineral oil caught fire

Hahn Hall

With new rocket, SpaceX is poised to make a giant leap W.J. HENIGAN mcclatchy newspapers LOS ANGELES — Work is quietly under way on a massive 22-story rocket whose power is rivaled in the U.S. only by the mighty Saturn V rocket, which took man to the moon, in a risky private venture that could herald a new era in space flight. Dubbed Falcon Heavy, the 27-engine booster is being assembled by rocket maker Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, at its sprawling complex in Hawthorne, Calif., where it has about 1,100 workers. The rocket has twice the lifting capability of the next largest launcher built by a U.S. company. “We’re embarking on something that’s unprecedented in the space industry,” Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive, told the Los Angeles Times. “This is territory that has only belonged to the U.S. government — with its tens of billions of dollars.” Musk’s company is building the 227-

foot-tall Falcon Heavy even though there are no guarantees that the military or NASA will step forward to pay for the rocket to lift its payloads — or even astronauts — into space someday. SpaceX hopes to launch it in a demonstration flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, Calif., at the end of next year. The undertaking was hyped all last week on the Internet with a video laden with fiery blast-offs proclaiming “Something new is coming. 4.5.11.” The 30-second clip highlighted SpaceX’s recent launches, boasted that the work was done “at a fraction of the cost” and asked “What’s next?” The video underscored the unique role that SpaceX hopes to play in shaping the nation’s future in space. Launches on the Falcon Heavy would cost from $80 million to $125 million. The company is paying for development costs of the rocket, Musk said, in anticipation that if it builds it, customers will come. In December, SpaceX became the first private company to blast a spacecraft

into Earth’s orbit and have it return intact. The unmanned flight was intended to show NASA that SpaceX could handle the task of carrying cargo into space. With federal money in short supply, the U.S. government is expected to turn to private industry to play a bigger role in building rockets, carrying cargo, running space missions and possibly carrying astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s selling point is its low price per launch. The approach has worked. NASA has already invested $298 million in seed money to help SpaceX develop and build its smaller nine-engine Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon space capsule. The space agency has awarded the company a $1.6-billion contract to have SpaceX’s Dragon transport cargo to the space station — with trips possibly starting later this year. SpaceX has also signed lucrative deals with commercial satellite makers to lift their precious hardware into space. The company’s backlog includes the largest

commercial deal of its kind: a $492-million contract with telecommunications company Iridium Communications Inc. of McLean, Va. “SpaceX has established credibility in the commercial market and with NASA,” said Tim Farrar, president of consulting and research firm Telecom, Media & Finance Associates. “The Falcon Heavy is going to open more markets.” SpaceX does not have a contract with the Air Force, which handles communications and spy satellites launches, or the National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive federal umbrella agency that operates spy satellites. Musk said the Falcon Heavy will change that. “The Air Force has expressed interest,” he said. “I’m very confident that we will have a deal by the time of the Falcon Heavy demo flight.” The Pentagon currently has only has one launch provider, United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. The company’s Delta IV Heavy is the vehicle that

lifts its $1-billion satellites into space. It is the nation’s largest unmanned rocket, capable of lifting a maximum payload of about 50,000 pounds into low earth orbit. Each rocket costs up to $275 million, the Federal Aviation Administration estimated. The Falcon Heavy will give the Pentagon another option, Musk said, by being able to lift 117,000 pounds to low Earth orbit and sell for a fraction of the price, Musk said. “There’s no point in matching the competition,” he said. “We want to steamroll them. We’re trying to make this a complete no-brainer.” SpaceX said it can keep its costs down because it manufacturers almost all of its parts in-house, mostly in a complex in Hawthorne where fuselages for Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet were once assembled. Much like the early days of NASA, the company has a cadre of young engineers — the average age is in the early 30s — who work for a fraction of the salary they could make at larger aerospace companies. They work for SpaceX because it operates more like a Silicon

Valley start-up than an entrenched rocket builder. Visitors at SpaceX headquarters are more likely to see an engineer wearing a hoodie or a baseball cap than sporting horn-rimmed glasses and a crew cut. That’s by design. Musk, 39, came from the Silicon Valley. He started SpaceX after making a fortune when he sold online payment business PayPal Inc. in 2002. Armed with his personal fortune and venture capitalist contacts, he started SpaceX. “The best and brightest want to work for them right out of school,” said Jay Gullish, a space and telecommunications analyst at Futron Corp., a Bethesda, Md., firm. “They’re doing things that in the private sector has never been done before.” Indeed. The last U.S.-built rocket more powerful than the Falcon Heavy was the Saturn V. At the time, rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun oversaw the development of NASA’s Apollo missions. That rocket was 350 feet tall and had twice the lifting power of the Falcon Heavy.

opınıons 3

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

april 6, 2011

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

Rising sea levels to affect state coastlines ea-level rise is mentioned in the media nearly every day. S But what is really happening and what should we do? With a simple yardstick stuck into the ground you can measure sea-level rise. Well, it’s not quite that simple, but that is essentially what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its forerunners have been doing since the mid-1800s in the Chesapeake Bay. At its waterlevel stations, NOAA has measured a slow but steady rise of sea level relative to the land. Yes, the tide goes up and down and the wind blows water into and out of the bay. But the ocean has been steadily rising almost 2 inches every 10 years, relative to the land surrounding the lower bay. The main reason for this rise can be traced to the Earth’s glacial period, around 20,000 years ago, and to the warming that has happened since. At the height of the glacial period, northern New York and eastern Canada were covered by large ice sheets. At the same time, there were glaciers in northern Europe and in the valleys of the Alps and Andes, and ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica were extensive. Since then, all of those ice masses have been melting. The melt water has run into the ocean, and the ocean has risen. The bathtub is filling. A logical question: Is the melting rate of the huge Greenland and Antarctic ice caps changing? That question is behind much of today’s commentary about sea-level rise and climate change. If the melting rate is increasing (every year more water goes in the ocean than the previous year), planners and engineers need to know. Besides the added water from melting glaciers and ice caps, the ocean is warming a bit, and as the water warms it expands, creating more sea-level rise. The warming of the ocean has been well-documented by oceanographers using ships, autonomous drifters and satellites. Another reason the water level in the Chesapeake Bay is slowly rising is because the land is sinking. Those 1-mile-thick glaciers that covered New York and Canada thousands of years ago pushed the land down, and the Chesapeake Bay went up — like a teeter-totter. Now the glaciers are gone; New York and Canada are going up and we are going down. So you add it all up and the ocean is rising relative to the land in Virginia. The rate is around 4 to 5 millimeters per year. (Geological processes, mentioned above, are causing land to rise in various northern regions, including Alaska, where relative sea level is dropping.) Four centuries ago when our ancestors settled the Chesapeake Bay, they built their homes on tidal creeks and low-lying islands. They built hunting lodges. Everyone, it seems, wants to live near the water. But since that time, the sea level has been slowly rising. The rising water has direct impact on all that we have built: tunnels, low-level infrastructures, bridge supports, harbors, ports, airports and so on. It also affects parts of the natural environment, such as wetlands in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. What should we do? Perhaps the question should be: What can’t we do? And the answer to that is: We cannot stop it. Earth’s processes that are causing sealevel rise are way beyond our control. So, like the Dutch with their Delta Works and the English with their Thames Barrier, we must devise means to deal with sealevel rise. That, essentially, is already the response of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for building nearly every federally owned structure on our coasts, including breakwaters, levees, channels and docks. The corps has

the following directive: “The planning and design of USACE water resource projects in and adjacent to the coastal zone must consider the potential for future accelerated rise in ‘global mean sea level’ to affect the local (mean) sea-level trend.” Many other governmental agencies endorse a similar policy statement. We can figure out what is happening and try to predict it better. We know how fast sea level is rising now: We can measure it directly at water-level gauges. But how fast will it rise 50 or 70 years from now? Why do we need to know? If you are the U.S. Navy building docks you need to know, because docks last a half-century or more. You don’t want the docks to be underwater toward the end of their lifetime. If you are building a tunnel or a bridge abutment, you also need to know where sea level will be. If you are deciding how much money to spend on dikes and levees to protect a neighborhood or a duck feeding area in a wildlife refuge, you need to know where sea level will be several decades from now. So how do we know where sea level will be in 50 or 100 years? We can use the current rate of sealevel rise measured by NOAA. But scientists who study the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps have found that the caps appear to be melting faster, and they think they know the reasons. If we are going to be prudent, we need to assume the rate of rise will increase. And now we are back to thinking about climate change. If the climate continues to warm because of natural processes and increased greenhouse gases, the rate of melting will increase. Think about sea-level rise when you hear about those hard-to-fathom and expensive studies that the federal government orders relating to Greenland glaciers or the Antarctic ice cap or to ocean temperatures around Greenland and Antarctica. Understanding what is causing that ice to melt will help us predict sea levels 50 to 100 years from now. That is what policymakers need. That is what you need. Whether or not you live on the coast, sea-level rise is going to affect you. One obvious way is through taxes; it is going to cost a lot of money to adapt our cities to sea level. The next time you drive along the shores of the Chesapeake, notice all of the wetlands, the fishing docks, the boat ramps, the oil refineries, the bridges, the tunnels and the naval installations. They will all require modification. Sea-level rise isn’t going to happen overnight. It will slowly creep up on us. Even the Dutch, to a large extent, ignored this problem until the great North Sea floods of 1953. As with the Dutch, it will probably take a large flooding event — one exacerbated by the general rise in sea level — to really get our attention. So, what can you do? Make sure your town, county, planning district and state are putting sealevel rise criteria into place just like the Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers. Most planning districts in Virginia have done this. Visit Vapdc.org and find the link to your planning district commission. Planning districts are important: They are your interface to the federal government. Understand that sea-level rise is not a subject for political debate. Sea-level rise is happening and has been for thousands of years. Actions of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Navy and the planning districts of Virginia show that experts are very much focused on this threat. Climate change over the coming years will affect the rate of sea-level rise, and indications are that the rate of the rise is increasing.

LARRY ATKINSON -mclatchy newspapers

MCT CAMPUS

Wal-Mart suit highlights effects of former ruling or centuries, philosophers and writers have contemplated F the nature of personal identity and human qualities. Though this issue has progressed in various patterns throughout history, it has nonetheless remained a central issue in Western thought. In the current environment, Americans are willing to grant the government more authority over the decision-making of their own lives. It appears as though this use is also given to the state. Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Dukes v. Wal-Mart. Betty Dukes filed the case originally in 2001. The case’s central concern is whether a class-action lawsuit against the conglomerate is legally based. Dukes filed the case on behalf of the nearly 1.5 million female Wal-Mart workers who have been employed there since 1998. Her contention is that Wal-Mart has systematically allowed the managers of their store branches to openly conduct discriminatory hiring policies. Wal-Mart rebuts this assertion, stating that it lacks a single and cohesive policy regarding hiring, and thus a class action lawsuit with this regard is unlawful. Certainly the concern of gender discrimination this case raises is central to the social advancement of this nation. Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the legislative and executive branches of our government have proven to be an absolute failure with regard to civil rights progression through their own means. Instead, the main way progress has been made in this field is through

class action lawsuits forcing corporations to adhere to a more fair set of policies. As a result, if the Supreme Court rules that this lawsuit was not legally filed, then this central mechanism for ensuring the advancement of civil rights will be stripped from the victims. A far more interesting concept this case brings up is the very nature of personhood. The Supreme Court decided in the 2010 Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission that corporations were indeed “individuals” and had the constitutional rights inherent to all citizens of the United States. Certainly the concern of the case was overruling the ban on corporate campaign expenditures established by McCainFeingold, but is it possible that there could be far deeper connotations to this decision than the court anticipated?

“

Like serfs comfortable in their slavery, the current post-industrial world has framed people in an environment of lessening personal responsibilities.

With the Citizens United decision as a context, it appears that Wal-Mart, as a corporation, is fully responsible for all the actions of its appendages. For the court to deny Dukes the right to file this class action lawsuit would be equivalent to a shooter being acquitted on the basis that he may not be responsible for the actions of his hand.

Though certainly an absurd contention, this example proves just how serious the danger is of allowing our government to establish metaphysical truths. I am certain that the majority of Americans would not, however, feel much concern over having corporations joining our species. Most have already accepted this fact, though, not as directly and openly as the court has done. Americans are willing to, in almost all circumstances, deliver rights and abilities as individuals to both the state and the corporations that sustain it. Indeed, people’s basic survival and all levels beyond the mere sustenance are dependent on both. People are given entertainment, learning, beauty and worth from corporate and political masters. Like serfs comfortable in their slavery, the current postindustrial world has framed people in an environment of lessening personal responsibilities. People are constantly expanding themselves as individuals. In June, the Supreme Court will render its decision on the Dukes case. Whether the court affirms the right of the plaintiff to sue or deny, it will certainly confirm what is already known, yet not expressed, by all people — either the disgusting hypocrisy of government or that Wal-Mart is a loving neighbor down the street.

JASON CAMPBELL -regular columnist -sophomore -philosophy major

Good Samaritan policy would move Tech in positive direction uring the March 22 session of “The VP is In,” one of the topics D that came up was whether Virginia Tech should adopt a Good Samaritan policy. The policy would inform students that they would not face university sanction through the student conduct system if they sought help for an alcohol emergency. Generally speaking, a Good Samaritan policy means that when students or organizations seek assistance from 911, the individual assisted and others involved would not be subject to Tech’s disciplinary action, with respect to the alcohol policy. This would be a resounding step forward if it becomes an official policy. Student safety should be one of Tech’s primary concerns, and a Good Samaritan policy protects against alcohol related health risks. Alcohol poisoning, if left untreated, can lead to slow or irregular breathing, an irregular heartbeat (especially if alcohol has been mixed with caffeine), hypothermia, hypoglycemia (which can cause seizures), permanent brain damage and even death.

Fear of university sanction may prevent students from calling 911 for assistance or seeking help for a friend who drank too much. This new policy works to assuage that fear. When students are afraid of being sanctioned by the university for calling for help, they may not call at all or wait until it is too late. One of the main concerns of policy is that repeat offenders will abuse it or that a Good Samaritan policy is a get-outof-jail-free card. However, the policy would provide students with the clarity they need to make responsible, lifesaving decisions during confusing and stressful situations. Every minute spent worrying about judicial consequences is another minute it would take for help to arrive. Some people advocated making the policy a one-time privilege. Yet, if a student calls for help more than once, they are acting responsibly, and therefore, should not be punished by student conduct. I do think the behavior should be addressed. I think that binge drinking regularly could be a sign of deeper emotional, psychological or mental problems. I think that those drinkers should have to meet with student conduct to

review and discuss the behavior. Like Dartmouth College’s Good Samaritan policy, Tech’s should not preclude disciplinary action regarding other violations of college standards, such as causing or threatening physical harm, sexual abuse, damage to property, harassment or hazing. I also think that any student who has had help called for them should be required to go to the Cook Counseling Center. The key is that any follow-up class or counseling session be nonpunitive, so that they do not serve as a deterrent to calling for help. It is time for Tech to send a message to its students, and a Good Samaritan policy would send the message that campus officials care more about keeping students safe and alive more than punishing them.

JEFF HOMAN -regular columnist -sophomore -history major

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 Special Sections Editor: Bethany Buchanan Public Information Director: Dishu Maheshwari Training Director: Kelsey Heiter Copy Editors: Taylor Chakurda, Thandiwe Ogbonna, Spenser Snarr, Brittany Kelly Layout Designers: Danielle Buynak, Victoria Zigadlo, Wei Hann, Maya Shah 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, Melanie Knoth, Hunter Loving Inside Sales Manager: Wade Stephenson Assistant Inside Sales Manager: Diane Revalski Assistant Account Executives: Maddie Abram, Katie Berkel, Kaelynn Kurtz, Erin Shuba Creative Director: Chloé Skibba Asst Production Manager: Casey Stoneman Creative Services Staff: Tim Austin, Jennifer DiMarco, Colleen Hill, Jenn Le, Erin Weisiger Voice your opinion. Readers are encouraged to send letters to the Collegiate Times. 365 Squires Student Center Blacksburg, VA, 24061 Fax: (540) 231-9151 opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com All letters to the editor must include a name and daytime phone number. Students must include year and major. Faculty and staff must include position and department. All other submissions must include city of residence, and if applicable, relationship to Virginia Tech (i.e., alumni, parent, etc.). All letters should be in MS Word (.doc) format, if possible. Letters, commentaries and editorial cartoons do not reflect the views of the Collegiate Times. Editorials are written by the Collegiate Times editorial board, which is composed of the opinions editors, editor-in-chief and the managing editors. Letters to the editor are submissions from Collegiate Times readers. We reserve the right to edit for any reason. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Have a news tip? Call or text 200-TIPS or e-mail newstips@collegiatetimes.com Student Media Phone Numbers Collegiate Times Newsroom 231-9865 Editor-in-Chief 231-9867 College Media Solutions Advertising 961-9860 The Collegiate Times, a division of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, was established in 1903 by and for the students of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The Collegiate Times is published every Tuesday through Friday of the academic year except during exams and vacations. The Collegiate Times receives no direct funding from the university. The Collegiate Times can be found online at www.collegiatetimes.com.

we’re YOUR newspaper. send a letter to the editor and express your views.

send an e-mail to opinionseditor@ collegiatetimes.com with your letter or guest column attached.

Except where noted, all photographs were taken by the Student Publications Photo Staff. To order a reprint of a photograph printed in the Collegiate Times, visit reprints.collegemedia.com. Subscription rates: $65 semester; $110 fall/spring. The first copy is free, any copy of the paper after that is 50 cents per issue. © Collegiate Times, 2011. All rights reserved. Material published in the Collegiate Times is the property thereof, and may not be reprinted without the express written consent of the Collegiate Times.

april 6, 2011

page 4

Afghans complain about HNFE program celebrates NATO-led raid that killed 6

50 years at Virginia Tech

ing a registered dietitian,” Papillon said. “We try to get about 80 percent employed within the first few months, and we do fairly well with that.” Papillon is also one of the cocoordinators of this weekend’s festivities. On Saturday, April 9, there will be a 5K run and a 1K walk starting at 9 a.m. at the Tech cross country course. Participants can register for the run at Hnfe.vt.edu. The run will be followed by an open house at Wallace Hall and a mentoring lunch for current students to meet alumni working in the field. On Saturday evening there will be a banquet for selected HNFE students. “I think it will be a great way for people to understand our department,” Papillon said. “I think people within the university community really would be well suited to see our building and the program.”

of agriculture in the department of home economics in 1921 and became a separate department in 1961. Today, it is part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

ELIZABETH HAYDU news staff writer The human nutrition, foods and exercise department is raising its granola bars and water bottles to celebrate its 50th year at Virginia Tech. The department is sponsoring a variety of events this weekend to commemorate its growth. Retired dean Janet Johnson, who left the department in 2002, said she has seen the HNFE program drastically shift in the right direction. Johnson came to Tech in 1972. She said she has seen a huge change in the department since. Johnson said changes in technology and the general approach to health and wellness has caused an enormous growth in the field. “The degree prepares them (students) for a wide array of possible careers,” Johnson said. The department initially began as a program within the school

“

I think people within the university community really would be well suited to see our building and the program. CAROL PAPILLON SENIOR INSTRUCTOR AND DIETIC INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR

Carol Papillon, senior instructor and the dietetic internship coordinator, said she feels graduates of the program are successful in finding jobs. “For dietetics, when they finish here as undergrads, probably 75 percent of them get the internship, which is the next step to becom-

For Sale

Events

Sub-Lease

HOUSE FOR SALE DOWNTOWN

DOG WASH The Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine invites you to come pamper your dog at the annual VMRCVM Dog Wash fundraiser (hosted by the Class of 2014 and SCAVMA). The event will be on April 9th from 8am to 3pm at the veterinary college complex off of Duckpond Dr. Just park and follow the signs. Prices are $10 for a bath and $5 for ear cleaning and nail trim. Hope to see you there!

SUMMER SUBLEASE 1 bedroom for sublease in a 4 bedroom apartment in The Village Phase 2 available May to AugustContact Alysha 7578224803 for more details 757.822.4803

2BDRM, 3 blocks from Main St. Details and photos: 409LeeStreet. blogspot.com

Help Wanted *****BARTENDING***** MAKE UP TO $300/ DAY. No Experience Necessary. Training Available. 1-800-965-6520 EXT210

HASHIM SHUKOOR mcclatchy newspapers KABUL, Afghanistan — A night raid by NATO-led forces killed six civilians in the relatively peaceful northern Afghan province of Sar-ePul, local officials said Tuesday, but a statement from the U.S.-led coalition said the dead were Taliban insurgents armed with AK-47 assault rifles. The disagreement adds to the debate surrounding night raids, which have become a centerpiece of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan as coalition forces seek to kill or captureTaliban supporters. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked the International Security Assistance Force, the official name for the coalition, to halt the raids, one of which last month resulted in the death of a Karzai cousin in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The ISAF statement said Monday night’s raid in Sar-e-Pul had targeted the Taliban’s provincial shadow governor, whom it described as a “key power broker in the north” with ties “to foreign fighter facilitation and sui-

cide training camps operating in the province.” The statement didn’t identify the shadow governor by name and didn’t say whether the force had succeeded in killing or capturing him. It said one insurgent had been killed in the raid itself, and that “several other insurgents” had been captured. While leaving the area, the statement said, the troops saw “several Taliban members take cover in a ditch just outside of town. The security force isolated the ditch, calling for all insurgents to exit peacefully. The insurgents, armed with AK-47s, engaged the security force. The force returned fire, resulting in several insurgents killed.” Sayed Anwar Rahmati, the Karzaiappointed governor of the province, said in a telephone interview with McClatchy Newspapers that villagers from Sayad, where the raid took place, denied that the dead men were Taliban and said only one of the captured men was an armed insurgent. “Around 11 p.m. on Monday night, foreign forces raided a house,” he said. “As a result, six young men were killed and four others were detained.

According to our intelligence, only one of the four detained is an armed Taliban insurgent.” The governor didn’t address ISAF claims that the men who were killed had opened fire first. He said villagers had come to him to complain about the incident. He also said that Sayad, about nine miles west of the provincial capital, also known as Sar-e-Pul, is an “insecure” area and that both local Taliban and Talibanallied foreign fighters “are seen in this district.” Rahmati worried that village anger over the raid would feed already hostile feelings over the burning of a Quran last month by a Florida pastor. Recent demonstrations in several provinces sparked by the Quran burning have left at least 18 people dead, including eight U.N. workers who died when their compound was stormed in Mazar-i-Sharif. “Villagers from the district wanted to stage a demonstration to condemn the killings,” Rahmati said. “We managed to convince them not to do so, because the Quran-burning issue is still hot in this region, and there are some circles trying to exploit the situation for their own interests.”

For Rent PHEASANT RUN TOWNHOME For rent or sale! 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bath, great condition and location! Contact Tony at 304-281-0006 or angela.g.leo@gmail.com

SKYDIVE! One-day first jumps from 13,500’ from 22-jumper twin engine airplane. Gift Certificates! www.skydiveorange.com 540.943.6587

WORDFIND • Theme: US Presidents Locate the list of words in the word bank in the letter grid. Y

M W

M M

M W

WORD BANK Washington Adams Jefferson Madison Monroe Q. Adams Jackson Van Buren Harrison Tyler Polk Taylor Fillmore Pierce Buchanan Lincoln Johnson Grant Hayes Garfield Arthur Cleveland

Today’s Radio Schedule ed M ix s c s Di Art Day

w Ne ic s Mu

Jaz DOWN 1 Didn’t stay where it should, as a skirt 2 Not on the ball 3 Show stoppers 4 Spot for studs 5 Terminal abbr . 6 Reward for rolling over 7 Unificationist 8 __ sprawl 9 Hardly odds-on 10 Yet, to Yeats 11 Sitcom about the Conner s 12 Less likely to mix 13 Out-of-the-box model s 14 Like Twinkies filling 15 Near-decades 21 Messing with a script? 22 Hideous hybrid of myth By Brad Wilber and Doug Peterson ACROSS 21 Pool feature 1 Bumpy, in a way 22 Have no use for, 7 They reflect and then some 13 Role for which its 23 Use a tap, actor refused an perhaps Oscar 24 “W e need to talk ” 16 Actor who said 25 Rage “Some people 26 On the defensive have youth, 27 Put on guard some have 28 Gardener ’s soil beauty — I have hauler menace” 31 Impedes 17 General at Cold 32 Albéniz piano Harbor work 18 Latish alarm 33 Magazine with a settin g “Best Places to 19 Proterozoic, for Live” feature one 34 Gauge 20 Family title word

4/6/11 35 Court of ficial’s call 48 Experience 36 Brief memo sudden nicety inspiration 39 Gym set 49 Investigates, with 40 Speciously “into” highbrow 41 Send sprawlin g 50 Airfield fixtures 42 Top 10 hit fro m U2’s “Achtung Baby” album 43 Equine facial marking 44 “Take __! ” 45 Of fended parties in a long-running series of 3-Down

7-9 AM - Jessi Schmale

*** WUVT Newsbreak at 5 PM *** lty

cia

9AM-12PM - Michael Mosley

7-9 PM - The Soul Jones

Spe

12-2PM - Parrish

9 PM-12 AM - The Money Shot

2-3:30PM - Stu Ruiz

12-2 AM - Jeff Craley

rt ht A Nig ty cial Spe

3:30-5 PM - EJ & Katie

2-4 AM - Reo & Jamaal

5-7 PM - Esteban Bueno Presenta Jazz Caliente 24 It may be winding 25 “American Buffalo” playwright 26 Range units 27 Without vigor 28 “Lie to Me” star 29 Patsy’ s protest 30 Political blog feature, ofte n 31 Mrs. Norris in the “Harry Potter” books, e.g. 33 Seder bread 35 Donnybrook 36 Novice’ s text 37 Compares 38 Wiped out 40 1955 Dior innovation 41 __ park 43 Theodore, to Wally 44 Swear 46 Coi ffure holder 47 Te-__: Mexican cigar brand Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

4/5/11

4-7 AM - John Hisky

ed Mix cs Dis

april 6, 2011

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

food & drink

COLLEGIATETIMES

Sycamore Deli moves downtown Businesses attain

sustainability help

CHELSEA GUNTER features reporter Sycamore Deli plans to reopen in its new downtown location on April 12. The restaurant — which has been in Blacksburg for 16 years — is moving from Turner Street to The Lantern’s old location on Draper Road to make room for a new Virginia Tech parking garage. Mike Weber, the restaurant’s owner, expects to reach a new target market in the downtown location. “We’re going to have a lot more walk-in traffic,” he said. Weber was skeptical about the move downtown, but he became optimistic after seeing the amount of people walking around downtown. Although Weber has already settled his business in the new building, relocating was not the smoothest transition. “We got two weeks of people not knowing what’s going on,” Weber said. “And people that didn’t know we were moving are like, ‘Oh no, they closed down.’” Sycamore Deli was expected to open its new location on April 5, but fire safety issues delayed the opening. While Weber thought the fire alarms were adequate, the fire marshal concluded that they needed to be upgraded for the restaurant to open. The future parking garage on Turner Street will contain office space. Weber said he hopes to open a second Sycamore Deli in one of the offices. Opening a second restaurant would help Weber reach the downtown crowd, as well as students living on campus. “Where we were on Turner Street, we had all the dorms and were within walking distance to 25,000 people on a daily basis,” Weber said. Weber will make changes at the new location. He is adding 25 new sandwiches to the menu, including new burger and hot dog selections. The current menu includes bagels, international wraps, chicken sandwiches, pitas, soup, salads, subs and desserts, such as chocolate chip cookies and homemade brownies.

MIA PERRY features reporter

DANIEL LIN / SPPS

Sycamore Deli, which was located on Turner Street, is moving to the Lantern’s old building on April 12. The new location will also have a bar that will feature beer on tap. However, the new location will not sell kegs as the old one did. “That sucks,” said Mark Potter, a senior industrial and systems engineering major. “That was pretty much the only place to get kegs that I knew of, and they had good prices on them.” But student customers still expect the new location to thrive. “The bar and beer on tap downtown will likely draw people in,” Potter said, “especially for a happy hour dinner combo.”

Potter predicts that moving downtown will increase Sycamore Deli’s revenue. “They were off the beaten path,” Potter said, “and I think that hurt their business.” Weber said he believes Sycamore Deli is unique compared to other sandwich spots, such as Macado’s and Subway. “We’re like no other place in town,” Weber said. “We’re all about the food, so the service is all about the food part.” Weber said customers get bang for their buck.

Egg-white omelet recipe

“You get a lot of food for an inexpensive price on 80 percent of our sandwiches,” he said. “We don’t sell you a lot of sizzle or attitude when you walk in the door.” Sycamore Deli has a $4.99 daily special, which includes a drink, chips and a cookie. While a sandwich can reach $10.45, it is typically filled with one-and-ahalf to two pounds of meat. Weber said that size sandwich could be munched on for three days. “We’ll hopefully open April 12,” Weber said. “Don’t forget about us.”

MIA PERRY features reporter

The number of people concerned with the environment is rising. Go Green NRV, a group of businesses that has made a commitment to reduce environmental impact, recognizes the trend. To join Go Green NRV, a business must fill out a checklist that determines where it is in terms of environmental friendliness. Each following year, the business must fill out the checklist again to ensure it has made sustainable improvements. The checklist is also meant to serve as a how-to guide for sustainability and give tips for source reduction and recycling, sustainable purchasing, and energy and water conservation. Businesses in Go Green NRV are also encouraged to attend workshops and calculate their carbon footprint. The benefits of Go Green NRV not only help the environment, but also give businesses recognition for their sustainable practices. In turn, recognition could earn businesses more customers. Stuart Lynde, the 2011 Go Green NRV chairperson, said he wants people to look for the Go Green logos and ask themselves what they are doing to be environmentally friendly. Lynde, who is also chief scientist at Environmental Services and Consulting, LLC, said one thing most companies can do is recycle, but each company creates its own sustainable practices based on its business model. For example, some companies use hazardous materials. “How they handle those is something that they may be able to do better,” Lynde said. The difference between Go Green NRV and similar programs, Lynde said, is that it takes companies at face value, where they currently are in sustainability practice, and makes gradual improvements. Progress each year is a requirement for program membership. About 50 businesses, ranging from hospitality companies such as the Holiday Inn to construction companies such as Breakell, Inc., are involved with Go Green NRV. Domino’s is one of the newest members. Kevin Shaw, the owner

of some New River Valley Domino’s franchises, said he was all for joining Go Green NRV. Lynde said Domino’s is considering composting. “We brought in PME Compost, another Go Green business, and they went through their operation and said, ‘This can be composted, and this can be composted,’” Lynde said. “There was a lot more that they could do, that Domino’s didn’t even know they could compost.” Although Domino’s is a national brand, Shaw said one of his franchise’s goals is to buy, sell and be local. The business is also pushing for curbside recycling in towns like Christiansburg, where residents have to take their recyclables to facilities or drop offs. “(Shaw) doesn’t want to see his pizza boxes on curbs or on the side of the road,” Lynde said.

“

Sometimes the payoff is real quick, other times it takes a long time. STUART LYNDE GO GREEN NRV CHAIRPERSON

PME Compost also takes food waste from Virginia Tech and Radford dining halls and turns it into compost at its Floyd County facility. The process takes seven to nine months. The compost is used to make soil rich and fertile. Composting was also the topic of Go Green NRV’s most recent quarterly event. The event was a seminar held in Radford and discussed composting at the business level and the importance of keeping waste out of landfills. The next seminar will be held in June and will cover green landscaping and pest control. Although businesses must spend money to enact sustainable practices, Lynde said he hopes the practices will eventually save them money. “Sometimes the payoff is real quick, other times it takes a long time,” Lynde said. “But we want businesses to do this because it’s the right thing to do, not because they have to.”

Nutrition facts: Red foods help maintain good health

MIA PERRY / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Rather than fill your stomach with carbs in the morning, try whipping up an asparagus and pea goat cheese egg-white omelet for a heartier breakfast. Ingredients: 1 whole egg 3 egg whites 1 tsp butter Handful of thawed (from frozen) baby peas 4 to 5 spears of blanched asparagus — chopped into one-inch pieces (Ideally, you could use leftover asparagus, but it is in season and should

TURN OFFS:

be on sale. You can also use frozen asparagus.) Crumbled goat cheese Prep: 1. Before cooking your omelet, make sure you thawed the peas and cooked the asparagus. The easiest way to cook asparagus is to first rinse it and cut off the bottoms of the spears (the white parts). Then, put them in boiling water for about 30 seconds. After taking them out of the water, you can roughly chop them. Directions:

1. In a non-stick, eight-inch skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat until melted. While the butter is melting, mix the egg and egg whites in a bowl with a fork — you don’t want them too frothy. 2. Once the butter is melted and evenly spread in the skillet, put the peas and asparagus in the skillet. After sauteing them for a few minutes, you can pour in the egg mixture. 3. Let the egg cook for several minutes. Every so often, with a rubber spatula, tilt the saucepan up and lift

g. learned a thin and i haven’t

STUDYING ALL NIGHT LONG LINES AT WEST END SLY?? GUY NEXT TO YOU IN CLASS WHO HASN’T SHOWERED SERIOU ROOMATE YOU CAN’T STAND yep. NOT GETTING A FOOTBALL TICKET IS THIS A JOKE?!!

GET AWAY FROMTHAT.

GET TURNED ON.

CHANNEL 33 ON CAMPUS WWW.VTTV.VT.EDU

the egg so the uncooked fluid can run down and cook. When there is no fluid left, take the saucepan and flip the omelet. This is best done by tilting the saucepan downward and using just your wrist to flip it. 4. Sprinkle the goat cheese over the egg. After a few moments, slide the omelet onto a plate, folding it over to cover the cheese. 5. If flipping the egg is too daunting for you, put the egg mixture in the saucepan first, and let it cook all the way. Then put the vegetables and cheese on top and fold.

The Student Dietetic Association offers tips on how to eat healthy. In accordance with March’s National Nutrition Month theme, “Eat Right with Color,” the SDA has grouped foods into color categories with information on their nutritional benefits from the American Dietetic Association. Look for a new food color for food ideas. Red foods maintain a healthy heart and good vision and may reduce cancer risks. These include cherries, pomegranates, cranberries, red or pink grapefruits, red grapes, watermelons, beets, red onions, red peppers, rhubarbs, red potatoes and tomatoes.

6 sports

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

april 6, 2011

Hokie diver ﬁnishes eighth at NCAA Championships

COURTESY OF HOKIE SPORTS

SHINHOLSER GARNERS ALL-AMERICAN HONORS AT NCAA DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MINNEAPOLIS ALYSSA BEDROSIAN sports staff writer Raw talent seems to beat out experience for Virginia Tech diver Logan Shinholser. Shinholser became Tech’s first AllAmerican diver after his performance at the Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, which took place March 24-26 in Minneapolis, Minn. Tech finished 28th overall, with Shinholser, a sophomore biological sciences major, advancing to the finals in the platform diving event and placing eighth to conclude his season. Shinholser’s success may come as a surprise to some because of his lack of experience with the sport. Shinholser, who was heavily involved with gymnastics, until his freshman year of high school, did not begin div-

ing until February of his sophomore year. “Logan is a very gifted and talented athlete,” said Ron Peimonte, Tech’s head diving coach. “He has not been involved in the sport very long, and what he has accomplished in the short amount of time that he’s been in the sport has been amazing.” With just four years of diving experience, Shinholser has relied on natural ability and athleticism. His background in gymnastics has translated into diving. According to Shinholser, the acrobatic ability he developed through gymnastics and playing on the trampoline as a kid have been the roots of his success. Shinholser’s impressive performance in Minneapolis is a result of the stiff Atlantic Coast Conference competition he has faced all year. At the ACC Championships in February, Shinholser earned a gold medal in the

platform diving event, while Tech finished fourth overall. “The ACC is a great conference for diving,” Shinholser said. “Nick McCrory at Duke has won platform the past two years at NCAAs. He definitely sets the standard for the ACC.” McCrory tweaked his arm in warmups at the ACC Championships, forcing him to go with an easier list than usual. McCrory’s injury set the stage for Shinholser to come away with the gold. “It was one of the most thrilling moments of my coaching career,” Peimonte said. Coming off a strong performance at the ACCs, Shinholser remained confident heading into the NCAAs. Freshman Ryan Hawkins and senior Daniel Martin joined Shinholser. In the preliminaries for the platform diving event, Shinholser scored 401.55, which placed him in the finals. Yet Shinholser struggled in the finals, finishing eighth, scoring 369.40. “In the preliminaries he was flaw-

less,” Piemonte said. “He didn’t dive as well in the finals. I think it was just the new setting, being in front of 3,000 people.” “I was just too pumped up,” Shinholser said. “I was having fun. That’s all that really mattered to me.” With Shinholser and Hawkins returning next year, the Hokies are excited about what is to come. “When I was a freshman, we were a top-five dive team in the ACC,” Martin said. “My last two years, we were a top-two dive team in the ACC. I can only see our team being the No. 1 dive team in the ACC, no question, in the next five years.” Although Martin plans to stay in Blacksburg and help the divers, Piemonte is counting on Shinholser to fill Martin’s shoes and become a team leader. “The incoming freshmen are going to look up toward Logan,” Piemonte said. “Now its time for Logan to step COURTESY OF HOKIE SPORTS up and be that model and that exam- Shinholser prepares for a dive during a meet this spring. A former ple for the younger divers, and I think gymnast, he began diving during his sophomore year of high school. he’s going to fit that role very well.”

Congratulations UConn, but that was an U-G-L-Y ending to the season ssuming the sport survives a brutal assault from Monday A night’s national championship game, college basketball will be played again next season. There will be intrigue and story lines and exciting players and — no matter what you saw before going to bed — made baskets. At that point, we can all forget Monday night. Let’s hope, anyway, because Connecticut’s 53-41 win over Butler here was ugly enough that someone ought to scratch the championship trophy. A fitting end, actually, to a pretty underwhelming college basketball season. “I want to congratulate both teams,” tournament-selection committee chairman Gene Smith said on stage before dropping a white lie. “It was a great game.” You want ugly? Take a deep breath. There’s a lot here. Butler shot 19 percent (if you round it off), had more fouls than baskets, and could generally be illustrated by the image of Andrew Smith air-balling a 2-footer and then screaming his frustration — OH MY GOD!!! — into the crowd. UConn, meanwhile, shot 35 percent, had almost twice as many turnovers (11) as assists (six) — and won

MCT CAMPUS

Jim Calhoun cuts down the nets after his Huskies defeat Butler. easily. Or there’s this: The last time a team was held under 50 points in a national championship game was 1949. That was so long ago Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun was 6 years old and hadn’t yet committed his first NCAA violation. But maybe this is how it should’ve

ended. This season was the one that never got going, like an old lawn mower after a long winter. The whole year, people who follow college basketball for a living were in near unanimous agreement that this was a down year for the sport. NBA defections hurt worse than

usual, and an underwhelming freshman class didn’t make up for it. Ohio State and Kansas were the season’s best teams, and neither made it to the Final Four. Player-of-the-year awards were split between Jimmer Fredette and Kemba Walker, two gunners who shot a combined 44 percent from the field. There were rough moments, too, like the scandal involving Calhoun and a former recruit that already has the coach on a three-game suspension next year and may be growing messier. Around Kansas City, we saw brutal stretches for each local school with suspensions (Kansas) or bumbling play (Missouri) or both (K-State). One semifinal included an 11loss team that finished fourth in a weak conference. The other featured a coach whose previous NCAA tournament Final Four appearances were officially vacated for rules violations. The whole season felt a bit like something you’d hit the reset button on in a video game, right down to the very end with Jim Nantz’s predictably corny last line about UConn being this season’s “top dog,” a sport’s champion being the same team that tied for ninth in its own conference.

“

But the image of the last college basketball game of this season is of missed shots and bad offense and an awful night for Butler that will allow a nation of casual basketball fans to wrongly assume that mid-majors aren’t good enough to play among the country’s best.

Jokes aside, UConn gets a ring, and good for them. As I type this the players are on stage, wiping confetti off their brandnew championship T-shirts, ready to party. They don’t need to apologize to anyone. Calhoun just won a third national title. That’s more than Dean Smith, as many as Bob Knight, and behind only John Wooden, Adolph Rupp and Mike Krzyzewski. There’s a lot to be proud of here. “It’s maybe professionally,” Calhoun says, “the happiest moment of my life.” But the image of the last college

basketball game of this season is of missed shots and bad offense and an awful night for Butler that will allow a nation of casual basketball fans to wrongly assume that mid-majors aren’t good enough to play among the country’s best. Butler played perhaps its worst game — star forward Matt Howard missed all but one of his shots, and a layup by Andrew Smith in the second half was so overdue it drew a Bronx cheer from the fans — on the sport’s biggest stage. That’s all that happened. This isn’t who Butler is, and anyone that’s watched that team during the last two years and particularly the last two tournaments is aware of that. Convenient narratives are a hard thing to stop, though, so for a program whose accomplishments the last decade are as good as any but a few historic powers, Butler could have made a better argument. Maybe another year. The next one can’t come fast enough.

SAM MELLINGER -mcclatchy newspapers