Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Print Edition by Collegiate Times

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

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

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COLLEGIATETIMES 108th year, issue 44

News, page 2

Arts & Entertainment, page 5

Opinions, page 3

Sports, page 6

Burning down the house

Classifieds, page 4

Finance professor killed in glider crash MICHELLE SUTHERLAND news reporter A Virginia Tech finance professor died Sunday afternoon in a glider crash. Meir Isaac Schneller’s glider crashed when it was ascending and being towed by a plane. An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration is ongoing, according to Corrine Geller, a public information officer for the Virginia State Police. The accident occurred at 2:45 p.m. at the Craig County Gliderport, near Craig Creek on Virginia Route 311, she said. He was flying a LET L33 solo glider, which was owned by the Blue Ridge Soaring Society. Schneller taught international finance at the undergraduate level, as well as executive and professional MBS levels, according to Raman Kumar, head of the finance department. He taught at Tech for nearly two decades. His department is not yet

DANIEL LIN / SPPS

In less than four minutes, this bean bag chair exploded and the bedding disintegrated entirely because of a curling iron-like device.

MOCK DORM ROOM BURN SHOWS VALUES OF SPRINKLERS AND FLAME-RETARDANT MATERIALS MICHELLE SUTHERLAND news reporter A heated event made students pause to appreciate their dorm sprinklers Friday afternoon. Known as “Oak Flame,” the event set two mock dorm rooms, which were constructed in Oak Lane, on fire to demonstrate the importance of sprinklers. The two rooms were built to model a real college dorm, complete with desks, chairs, dressers, bunk beds, Chuck Norris posters, bean bag chairs and other accessories. The rooms were built to current codes and featured windows and insulated walls. One wall of each room was removed so the audience could clearly see the effects of sprinklers. To ignite the rooms, a cone-shaped, hand-sized heater was placed on the pillows of the bottom bunks. “It mimics a curling iron” that has been left on, said Tolga Durak, an environmental design and planning doctoral candidate and event organizer. In both rooms, after approximately one minute and 15 seconds, the bedding produced flames. Twenty seconds later, the smoke detector went off. Four minutes after the initial ignition, firefighters doused the flames. The non-sprinklered room was set on fire first. In the four minutes of lag time, the comforters completely disintegrated, the beanbag chair exploded, the walls blackened and the furniture was falling apart. In the other room, sprinklers soaked the room 10 seconds after the smoke

Causes of ﬁre alarms

sure how to handle the loss. “These kinds of things one can never prepare (for). We honestly don’t know, we’re all SCHNELLER very confused at this time. We’re trying to do the best we can to figure out how to handle the course, and we’re trying to help the family in any way we can,” Kumar said. “He was always willing to do whatever it takes to change his schedule, to change his assignments. Anytime the department needed him to do anything he was always willing to do so.” His colleagues remember him for his welcoming persona and congenial attitude. One faculty member wrote, “He was always extremely helpful to me and went out of his way to make me feel welcome in Blacksburg.”

False sexual assault claim deters victims GORDON BLOCK

detector went off. Firefighters doused the remaining flames once four minutes passed. The bottom bunk and the wall by the bed were blackened but little else was burnt. Durak said the number of fires on campus has not increased, but it is still important to showcase the importance of having flame-retarding materials. After only four minutes, all of the bedding on the bottom bunk of the non-sprinklered room was completely disintegrated and seemed to speed up the fire. The 8-foot-by-12-foot rooms were built by the Virginia Western Community College introduction to building construction class, the retrofitted sprinkler system was donated by Eagle Fire Inc., and the furnishings were donated by student affairs, according to Durak. The cost of constructing the rooms was estimated to be around $3,000 per room. The Student Chapter of Fire Protection Engineers and students from the EXTREME Lab, which is composed of mechanical engineering graduates and undergraduates, connected monitors to the two rooms and recorded the events with a FLIR Infrared camera to gauge temperatures in the rooms during the burns. Despite the rain, the turnout of spectators to Friday’s event was strong. Students and townspeople swarmed the buildings to see the fires. Many were astounded by the effects of sprinklers. “I didn’t think it would be so impresCOURTESY OF TOLGA DURAK sive,” said Marie Zawispowski, a local Since 2005, there have been fewer ﬁre alarms in residence halls. architect.

Sudoku, page 4

associate news editor The Virginia Tech Police Department arrested a female student following a falsified sexual assault claim. Alexandra Edinger, a 21-yearold mechanical engineering major, was arrested Friday on a charge of providing false information or report, according to the crime log released by the department. The report was made during the Wiz Khalifa concert in Burruss Hall on April 3. The offense is a class one misdemeanor, which brings a maximum prison sentence of 12 months and a maximum fine of $2,500. According to an April 6 e-mail from the department, Edinger was confronted by police officers because of her “apparent state of intoxication.” As she was removed from the concert, she reported she had been sexually assaulted. A following investigation determined no assault had occurred, and Edinger later admitted her report was false and that she had not been assaulted. An e-mail Monday morning sent by the Collegiate Times

to an address listed as belonging to Edinger was not returned. She was not otherwise available for comment. Jennifer Underwood, an outreach coordinator at Tech’s Women’s Center, said the false report could mislead others on the validity of sexual assault c laims. “It plays into what a lot of people think about sexual assault already,” Underwood said. She also expressed concern that “future victims may be less likely to report (sexual assault).” Underwood noted the high rate of underreporting in cases of sexual assault, estimating that 95 percent of cases are not reported to any local agency. A 2005 National Institute of Justice and Department of Justice report showed approximately 35 out of every 1,000 female college students are victims of sexual assault. With 12,138 female students, Tech could see as many as 425 sexual assault cases in a single school year. Underwood said the Women’s Center has worked with 24 sexual assault victims since July 1, 2010. “We’d hope the campus dialogue will focus on how we can get people who are sexually assaulted and aren’t telling anybody to get the help that they need,” Underwood said.

victims of sexual assault can seek help through: Women’s Center at Virginia Tech: 540-231-7806 Women’s Resource Center of the NRV: 540-639-1123 Cook Counseling Center: 540-231-6557 Dean of Students Ofﬁce: 540-231-3787

Less than 10 percent of students voted for SGA officials MEIGHAN DOBER news staff writer The SGA reached its voter turnout goal this year when 2,000 students voted. Each year, the SGA strives to have at least 10 percent of the student body vote each election. “We were very happy with the turnout this year,” said Casey Whitehead, the SGA’s chief justice. “We obviously would prefer more, but in the past 10 years, we have gotten about 10 percent.” This year, there was no opposition in the executive elections. Voters always have the ability for a write-in vote, so technically anyone could be voted for. “Anyone can campaign as long as they follow the campaign election guidelines,” Whitehead said. In executive elections, no one on the ticket has ever lost to a writein vote. In a past election in the Senate, 30 seats were filled, and there were not that many people listed on the ballot. The additional seats were filled with write-in votes. For future elections, the SGA is in the process of amending the

constitution to change the voting requirements. As of right now, four candidates must run together on one ticket for the offices of president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. If the changes in requirements are approved, the president and vice president will run together on a ticket, and the president will appoint the treasurer and secretary.

“

We were very happy with the turnout this year. We obviously would prefer more, but in the past 10 years, we have gotten about 10 percent. CASEY WHITEHEAD CHIEF JUSTICE

The student body may be to blame for the absence of opposition in elections. “There is a lot of apathy within the student body, and people are not aware of opportunities in the SGA,” Whitehead said. “We held several info sessions and had a good turnout. When it comes down to putting your name on the ballot, people don’t understand how it works. By the time they realize, it is too

late.” Running in an election where candidates are unopposed may prove to have an affect on campaigning strategies. “Money for campaigning should still remain the same,” said Ana Barrenechea, the assistant director of leadership development programs in the department of student activities and SGA adviser. “We encourage all runners to campaign.” A great deal of the campaigning has happened electronically through Facebook groups and Twitter feeds, decreasing the cost of campaigns. “We tried to campaign as much as possible,” said Corbin DiMeglio, the newly elected SGA president. “It might have affected us, but we didn’t not do something just because there was no opposition. That would be a disservice to the SGA. The student body got the campaign that it deserved. It would have affected the SGA as a whole if someone took that mentality.” “I think it does change campaigning,” Whitehead said. “It is not as competitive. That affects campaigning, and that affects voter turnout. It would help if the ticket campaigned more.” JOSH SON / COLLEGIATE TIMES

2 news

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

national Court upholds 2008 Facebook deal

In “Arab Fest to honor Samaha” (CT – April 8), the family referenced in the story is actually from Lebanon.

Also, in “Officer rides for fallen deputy” (Ct – April 8), the term “Blacksburg police officer,” was not intended to refer only to officers in the Blacksburg police department, rather to officers in the area of Blacksburg, including Virginia Tech police.

JUSTIN GRAVES -public editor -junior Sociology and Urban Affairs major

In the same article, the officer identified is named Eric Sutphin, and he was a deputy for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s department.

The Collegiate Times regrets these errors.

crime blotter

date reported

time

04/03/2011

9 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

offense

LOS ANGELES _ A federal appeals court panel ruled Monday that a 2008 deal between Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and three former Harvard colleagues is valid and enforceable. The decision upheld a negotiated agreement between Zuckerberg and the founders of a rival socialnetworking site, ConnectU, in their dispute over who came up with the Facebook idea by giving Divya

Narendra and Olympic rowing twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss a share of the privately held company, deemed to be worth about $65 million at the time of the settlement three years ago. Because of Facebook’s soaring value, that share is now worth in excess of $160 million. In the opinion from Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who wrote for the three-judge panel, he said: “The

-carol j. williams, mcclatchy newspapers

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

status

04/08/2011

Follow up to reported Sexual Burruss Hall Unfounded Assault 04/07/2011-04/08/2011 Destruction of Property/Vandalism Alumni Mall Const. Inactive: Referred to site Student Conduct 04/06/2011-04/07/2011 Larceny of Bicycle Vawter Hall Active

04/08/2011

03/29/2011-04/03/2011

Larceny of Bicycle

West End Market

Inactive

04/08/2011

9 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

Burruss Hall

Cleared by Arrest

04/08/2011

11:08 p.m.

Providing False information / Report to law enforcement Appear. intoxicated in Public

04/08/2011

11:26 p.m.

Underage Possession of Alcohol

Graduate Life Center Slusher Tower

04/09/2011

12:24 a.m.

Drillfield

04/09/2011

1:21 a.m.

Appear. intoxicated in Public / Underage possession of alcohol Appear. intoxicated in Public

Inactive: Referred to Student Conduct Inactive: Referred to Student Conduct Cleared by Arrest

Stanger Street

Cleared by Arrest

04/09/2011

2:09 a.m.

Appear. intoxicated in Public

Cleared by Arrest

04/09/2011

2:18 a.m.

Appear. intoxicated in Public

Graduate Life Center Drillfield

04/09/2011

4:30 a.m.

Underage possession of alcohol

04/09/2011

9:25 p.m.

Underage possession of alcohol

04/09/2011

10:45 p.m.

Underage possession of alcohol

04/08/2011

Winklevosses are not the first parties bested by a competitor who then seek to gain through litigation what they were unable to achieve in the marketplace. And the courts might have obliged, had the Winklevosses not settled their dispute and signed a release of all claims against Facebook.”

Cleared by Arrest

The Inn at Virginia Inactive: Referred to Tech Student Conduct Eggleston hall Inactive: Referred to Student Conduct Pritchard Hall Cleared by Arrest

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CORRECTIONS

april 12, 2011

opınıons 3

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

april 12, 2011

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

Carpooling would help parking crises know the thought of riding in cars with strangers can be Inerve-racking. Serial killers and horror movies have made the thought somewhat taboo, but is all the fuss really necessary? The nine-hour journey my dad had to make to get home from college was made possible by the kindness of strangers. When I was procrastinating writing this column as part of my usual, every-other-weekend routine, I asked my friend Forrest what I should write about. Realizing my stress and inability to shake my tinge of writer’s block, he answered without hesitation. As a resident of Pheasant Run Crossing, he said he was frustrated with waiting at the bus stop watching car after car pass by with no passengers. Why not stop and pick someone up if everyone is going to the same place? That person at the bus stop with headphones and a backpack could be a threat to humanity — it is entirely possible. I’ve read and watched enough crime drama to allow these suspicions to creep into my mind. Still, my sense of rationality is able to recover from these paranoid fears. I don’t understand why this calm assessment of the danger is not pervasive on campus. People complain about parking every day. It is the daily excuse of the girl that sits next to me in biology as to why she strolls in 20 minutes late. Although the springtime weather means that biking to school may no longer require pulling out a ski mask, there are still plenty of people driving — and plenty of people

driving alone. Driving to school can put a damper in the gas fund as well. Forrest told me that if someone stopped and gave him a ride he would have no problem giving up a few bucks to help out. I know it’s unreasonable to think people are so outgoing and open, so I have come up with an idea I think could solve the problem: Apartment complexes or even a computer savvy student could make a website similar to the Virginia Tech Ride Board that would be an outlet for carpooling. Perhaps roommates have weird schedules. Maybe friends don’t go to class as often as they should. This would not be a problem because students could find someone on the site that would love to share rides. Maybe this driving companion could be more than just a neighbor, perhaps in between stoplights and changing lanes, students might even find new friends. Carpooling would solve many problems. It would save money, free up those valuable parking spaces, allow this girl in my biology class to get to class on time and let Forrest sleep in a few extra minutes. There is nothing wrong with the bus. We are lucky to have such accessible public transportation. But if everyone’s going the same place, why not make use of free passenger seats and give fellow Hokies rides?

JENNY SAMUELS -regular columnist -freshman -university studies

Proposals for an end-game in Libya he only person who has spoken with clarity about the endgame T in Libya is the mother of Eman alObeidi. Obeidi is the brave Libyan law student who burst into a Tripoli hotel to tell Western journalists she’d been gang-raped by government goons; she was promptly dragged screaming out of the hotel by secret police. A government spokesman said she was a whore and would be charged with slander. Obeidi’s mother, interviewed by CNN in the eastern town of Tobruk, said of Moammar Gadhafi: “If I were to see his face before me, I’d strangle him. I’d like to drive to Tripoli and cut his head off.” Unfortunately, no one else involved in the current Libyan conflict has been that direct. Enough hot air has been flowing over the airwaves about Libya to make a substantial contribution to global warming. Yet, Americans are rightly confused about the Libya story. Are we involved in another war, or a brief humanitarian intervention? Should we have gone in sooner, alone, with our allies, or not at all? Does the Libya move herald a new Obama military doctrine, or prove he can’t exercise power? Do we or don’t we want to get rid of Gadhafi? If so, how? President Obama’s Libya speech Monday night didn’t clear up the confusion. Republican presidential hopefuls were even more befuddled in their critiques. So let me take a shot at providing a reality check. The Libyan intervention (as Obama did clarify) was an exceptional act _ a response to a unique humanitarian crisis. It does not mean we will intervene every time foreign civilians are at great risk. Obama tried to avoid getting sucked into the Libyan conflict, which is far less crucial to U.S. concerns than rebellions in Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, and political developments in Egypt. But, unlike in those countries, a huge international news corps was present in Libya; it would have documented Gadhafi’s massacre of civilians in Benghazi as U.S. ships stood by. Obama was cornered into a move he knew would be bad policy. Had he waited for congressional authorization, Benghazi might have fallen. Some Republicans, like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, insist Obama should have gone in sooner, and solo. “We look to America to be the leader of the world,” says Romney. And Sarah Palin says our military should “strike hard, hit hard, not allow Gadhafi to be left standing, and then get out.” Hmm. That’s just the way the Bush administration imagined its invasion of Iraq. Unilateral U.S. intervention in

Libya would have been a disaster, placing the onus for the outcome on America’s shoulders. It would have revived the Arab narrative of U.S. colonial intervention. Those who tout it fail to realize how America’s status in the Mideast has plummeted over the last decade. The postwar chaos in Iraq under George W. Bush and the failure to godfather an Israeli-Palestinian peace after both Bush and Obama pledged to do so have left U.S. credibility in tatters. The Bush doctrine of top-down democracy promotion was discredited by its violent results in Iraq, and by the fact that Bush dropped it when the going got messy. After democratic elections led to a Hamas takeover of Gaza, the Bush team dropped its support for democracy activists in Egypt. Moreover, American interests in Saudi oil, fighting terrorists, and curbing Iran will make it impossible to follow identical policies throughout the region. The administration is pushing for peaceful, democratic transitions in Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria, but if rulers fail to listen, we can’t go in with guns. But back to Libya. Clarity is most lacking over what to do in the future. Obama was correct to turn over the lead to a NATO-Arab coalition and to rule out use of American ground troops. But can he align this limited military investment with his stated political aim of getting rid of Gadhafi? If the dictator stays, the NATO no-fly zone will have to continue indefinitely. Such a stalemate cannot be sustained. The administration hopes for an internal coup in Tripoli, provoked by sanctions, bomb strikes, and pressure on Gadhafi to accept exile. It might work; the Libyan foreign minister just defected to Britain. But if the dictator holds on, more will be needed. Will air strikes slack off now that NATO is taking over military command, enabling Gadhafi to defeat the rebels? Obama has authorized the CIA to aid the rebels (agents are already in the country), but he has made no decision on sending arms. Will the Brits, French, or Egyptians provide the heavy weapons and training the rebels desperately need, no matter how uncertain we are of the rebels’ makeup? Will we recognize a rebel government? These questions must be answered soon. A long-running stalemate in Libya is not an option _ and not just because Eman al-Obeidi and other Libyans deserve justice. Obama needs to return his attention to managing fallout from other, far more crucial, rebellions in the Middle East.

TRUDY RUBIN -mcclatchy newspapers

Antibiotics should not be a concern to meat consumers t’s an oft-repeated mantra of many anti-animal agriculture activists and Isomething that many people around the world have come to believe. It’s a scary thought, something we imagine a Will Smith-like hero would deal with while fighting off packs of infected dogs in a deserted Manhattan. And it’s driving even our elected officials to vigorously attempt to thrust legislation through Congress. The use of antibiotics on animals raised for food is causing super-bacteria that are resistant to any treatment, which will eventually lead to humanity’s destruction and downfall. OK, I admit I may be hyperbolizing these good folks’ concerns a bit, but the truth remains that there are people out there who are uneasy about the use of antibiotics in the production of animals for food. Some, such as Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY), claim that farmers’ and ranchers’ use of antibiotic medicine on their animals is leading to the “emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria and other germs, rendering many of our most powerful drugs ineffective.” The Union of Concerned Scientists — which is, by the way, a radical left-wing group with a history of misconstruing information to stir up fear among Americans and their elected officials — echoes that claim by saying if people don’t act soon, antibiotic resistance is going to have effects on “the most vulnerable members of our society: children, the elderly and individuals whose immune systems are already weakened.” Congresswoman Slaughter is so worried about this, that for the past few Congresses, she has introduced legislation to the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act to force the Food and Drug Administration to engage in more regulation on the people who produce food all across the country. She’s convinced others to join her as well. Even Congressmen Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Jim Moran (D-VA) have co-signed this piece of legislation. And one has to wonder what kind of information these elected officials have been receiving with regard to the issue of antibiotics in

agriculture. Just last month, Congressman Moran told me face-to-face, in a Rayburn Building hallway discussion, that antibiotic use in “industrial agriculture” is a major problem and even went as far as to claim that overuse of antibiotics is causing runoff into the nation’s waterways, leading to all sorts of problems. That was a new one on me. Nevertheless, the issue still lingers to be discussed, and America’s farmers and ranchers are being made into villains, as baseless claims fly around Washington accusing them of creating super-bacteria that are going to have long-term effects on human health. The bottom line is that the scientific evidence to support this claim does not exist or is clumsy at best. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Health have testified in front of Congress as not having found a specific scientific study connecting livestock antibiotic use with bacteria antibiotic resistance in humans. Furthermore, the idea that many have of farmers pumping their animals with antibiotics — folks like Ms. Slaughter would call this “non-judicious use” — is simply not true. First of all, antibiotics are used for a reason: to grow healthy animals. It’s a fact of life and has been forever that livestock get sick sometimes. Some of my earliest memories from my family’s farm are of getting a sick calf up in the barn, in the cold of winter, to treat for some sort of respiratory problem. We, as farmers, would be doing a poor job of caring for the welfare of our animals if we did not use antibiotics to treat them to guarantee their health. It’s our philosophy that healthy animals lead to healthy food for consumers, and we do our best to ensure that health. Also, operators of cattle feedlots use antibiotics, such as tylosin, as feed supplements to improve the feed efficiency by killing unwanted bacteria in cattle’s rumen. Tylosin, which has undergone strict regulation and been approved by the FDA, is not used on humans and allows cattle to convert

grain-based feeds more efficiently. Of course cattle could do the same conversion without tylosin, but the addition of it allows cattle to produce the same amount of meat with fewer resources and environmental impacts. In a world with an exponentially increasing population, it’s extremely important to find ways to produce more food, while still using the same amounts of inputs. Second, antibiotics are expensive to use. A single bottle (250 ml) of a medicine my family has commonly used in the past has the potential to run up to $200. Any business-oriented farmer or rancher is going to make certain that animals are not treated unless they really need to be. I can’t imagine any farmer simply throwing bottles of antibiotics around like they’re Vitamin Water after being in business for very long. Finally, there are already measures in place to make sure the antibiotics used are safe and will not have an effect on humans. All animal antibiotics undergo a rigorous FDA approval process to ensure their safety, and there are standards that set “withdrawal periods” in animals to prevent them from being slaughtered with any traces of medicines still in them. America’s farmers and ranchers work every day to ensure a safe, healthy and wholesome food supply, and they use antibiotics as a tool to help do that. Sure, there are always things in agriculture that can be done better, and I’m not claiming that the industry is perfect. But Americans can rest easy knowing that the best science and application methods available are utilized to ensure the correct use of tools. Americans also can feel comfortable knowing science improves all the time, as the industry looks for more safe and efficient ways to produce food. I don’t think Will Smith will have to save the world anytime soon.

BRAD COPENHAVER -regular columnist -junior -agricultural economics major

Three more reasons for switching to clean energy e’ve heard again and again that concerns about the environW ment, public health and national security are reasons to develop policies that encourage clean energy investment and we’ve also heard vigorous debate on these issues. But recent data show that three of the biggest and the most unifying factors Congress and the Obama administration should consider are right in their sights: jobs, export opportunities and the United States’ descent to third place in a race that’s critical to our future. It’s true that wind, solar and other non-fossil fuel based energy sources can help reduce emissions that impinge on human health and the Earth’s climate, while also lowering our dependence on oil from politically unstable regions. Today, however, the new imperative is investment, which generates the innovation, commercialization, manufacturing and installation of clean energy technologies. New research on private finance and investment in the 20 largest industrialized economies shows that 2010 was another year of significant growth and increased competition in the clean energy sector. Among G-20 nations, the United States, with $34 billion in clean energy investment, continued its steady decline in leadership falling to third behind China and Germany. Worldwide, clean energy investments grew by 30 percent to $243 billion in 2010, restoring the rapid pace of growth that characterized the sector prior to the worldwide recession. In the past seven years, clean energy funding has grown by 630 percent, with more than 90 percent invested in G-20 nations.

Countries with strong policies in place have positioned themselves to attract substantial domestic investment in the manufacturing and export of wind turbines, solar energy systems and energy efficiency technologies or a combination of these. Germany, which has long had a stable, ambitious and comprehensive clean energy policy, saw investments in the sector grow by 100 percent to $41.2 billion in 2010, a funding level that displaced the United States from second place among the G-20 nations. Last year, China replaced America as the top destination for clean energy investment. In fact, the $54.4 billion invested in China’s clean energy sector last year was an all-time record for a single country equal to all the dollars invested globally in 2004. The trends are anything but encouraging for the United States. Even though clean energy investment here increased by more than 50 percent in 2010, we are not keeping pace with key G-20 competitors six other nations saw investments grow at a faster rate last year. To be sure, the United States remains the undisputed leader in clean energy innovation, thanks to the strength of our venture capital industry and sizeable stimulus funding for research and development. But in too many cases, ideas arise here while applications and profits accrue elsewhere. Our nation’s competitive position appears to be at significant risk. On a number of key measures overall investment, installed capacity, five-year rate of investment growth and investment intensity the United States has slipped among the G-20.

And our unsteadiness is occurring in the context of dynamic expansion of the sector and global competition. The most successful countries have established policies that set ambitious nationwide targets for key clean energy technologies. Most of the fastest growing markets for solar energy are driven by long-term contracts that guarantee renewable energy producers a set price for electricity fed into the grid, but few American municipalities provide such pledges. Meanwhile, Germany, China, India and others are attracting investment with strong, predictable policy frameworks that also include renewable energy standards, tax credits and access to lowcost loans. In the absence of such policies, each year the United States falls farther behind. We are at a crossroads. We can continue to watch our manufacturing base erode, or we can put in place the right kind of policies to move capital off the sidelines. With significant growth and opportunity all over the world, the United States can be a promising place to stake a claim on the future but only if Congress adopts energy policies that create a reasonable climate of stability for investors. In today’s world, strong national clean energy policies in other G-20 countries have helped create jobs, spur manufacturing and grow exports. Now, the United States must take action or risk falling further behind in the global clean energy race.

PHYLLIS CUTTINO -mcclatchy newspapers

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, Mia Perry Features Staff Writers: Andrew Reilly, Nick Smirniotopoulos 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, Debra Houchins 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, Connor Geiran, Mario Gazzola 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, 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. 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 12, 2011

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China’s bullet trains divide classes ZHENGZHOU, China _ As the firstclass passengers settled into cushioned seats, unfolded newspapers and waited for their tea or coffee, a woman’s soothing voice came over the intercom to welcome them to the “harmony train.” The white bullet train whooshed out of the station, its blue pinstripe a blur as it sliced across the Chinese countryside at more than 200 miles an hour. Chang Baoning, a 40-year-old government bureaucrat with a paunch and purpletinted eyeglasses, watched the scenery whirl by from a whisper-quiet cabin. There could be no question, he said, that “the speed of development in China is getting faster and faster.” Chang waved off the notion that some are being left behind. “There are fewer and fewer people with big bags on trains; it’s not a problem,” he said,

using a euphemism for migrant workers who haul belongings in large sacks slung over their shoulders. As the bullet train rocketed off into the distance, Zhou Xishan, 53, was still sitting on the ground outside the station in Zhengzhou, the capital of a rough-and-tumble central Chinese province with some 100 million residents and a reputation for poverty. Zhou was waiting to board a cheap train known for its grim, green color. He had a good idea of what to expect: a slow, rickety ride with a jumble of people crammed against one another on old, uncomfortable seats. “The people are not equal,” he’d said earlier, leaning back against a worn plastic bag as he cradled a 2-year-old grandson wrapped in a canvas jacket being used as a blanket. Western analysts often point to projects like high-speed rail as proof of China’s seemingly boundless momen-

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tum. But as with so much else in China, the bullet trains represent both the excitement of an emerging superpower and, at the same time, the extent to which the nation’s unbridled economic progress has cleaved its population on two sides of a deep divide of money and privilege. Although the country’s boom lifted more than half a billion people out of extreme poverty in the decades after 1981, a point of immense pride here, there is growing worry about the distance between everyday Chinese and the very wealthy, and at times very corrupt, elite. In one version of today’s China, the government is spending billions of dollars to better connect a constellation of cities that Beijing’s rulers hope will fuel the nation’s domestic growth, in the same way that St. Louis and Chicago once did for 19th century America.

Embracing a new culture Megan Winslow and Megan Kelley, both freshmen majoring in international studies, look at the displays at Arab Fest on Monday in Squires. photo by paul kurlak

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By Samuel A. Donaldson

ACROSS 1 Utopian 6 Home censorship aid 11 Journalist’ s last question? 14 “Au contraire!” 15 “You think I’m to blame?” 16 “If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize” boaster 17 Spanish silver 18 “The Lion King” king 19 Londoner ’s last letter

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65 MI and LA 66 Alan of “Little Miss Sunshine” 67 “So Much in Love” singers, with “The”

4/8/11

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arts & entertainment 5 april 12, 2011

Playing a mobile tune

KEVIN DICKEL / SPPS

The Linux Laptop Orchestra from the Digital Interactive Sound and Intermedia Studio performed its spring concert, “Beyond,” on Saturday. The concert featured a satellite performance from the Boys and Girls Club.

Fans of retro ’80s jams will love Craft Spells’ new album After months of blogs posting and re-posting the only single off the album to steadily build hype surrounding his forthcoming release, Californianative Justin Vallesteros (working here as Craft Spells) released his debut album, “Idle Labor,” late last month on Captured Tracks. Contagiously poppy and hazily retro, Craft Spells delivers on most of the buildup that led up to the release of the record. Home to bands like Wild Nothing, Beach Fossils and now Craft Spells, Captured Tracks has emerged as one of the preeminent labels for melancholy, dreamy ’80s-inspired pop music that tends to be made by lone artists putting together infectious jams that oscillate between themes of romance and loneliness, gloom and cheer. Craft Spells fits the mold quite well, conjuring up a sound that is on one hand sad and lonely, while on the other is joyful and danceable. Luckily for listeners, Vallesteros tends to favor the sheen and thump of the synthesizer and drum machine, resulting in an album full of songs that

lend themselves more to the dance floor than anything else. Drenched in reverb, Vallesteros’ vocals are thick and washed out, really letting the beats and synthesized tones take the forefront of the mix. Even songs such as “Given the Time,” in which the mood seems to come from a darker place, maintain the pop coating found on dance jams like “After the Moment.” Although, this isn’t a purely electronic album comprised of just a synthesizer and programmed beats. Guitars shape blissful melodies atop the shiny synth notes, weaving intricate rhythms through programmed and live drumming. Songs like “Party Talk” and “Beauty Above All” best represent the careful balance between clear guitar lines and shimmery, dreamlike synthesizers. The mixture of organic and artificial sounds helps achieve the sound so commonly associated with the best of the ’80s pop songs. Aside from sometimes being overly saccharine, the only fault found with “Idle Labor” is that perhaps it does not push enough against its own genre’s

boundaries to look for places where new things might be found. Craft Spells gets the glimmery ’80s sound down to a T, but it would have been interesting to see Vallesteros take in a few more eclectic influences and see how they could be worked into the end product. Although it remains to be seen if Craft Spells will take off in quite the same way Wild Nothing or Beach Fossils has, the most exciting aspect of this album is the high level of potential found in its craftsmanship. For “Idle Labor” being the first release from Craft Spells, the album shows a degree of experience and maturity that seems to promise great things for the future.