COLLEGIATETIMES
july 26, 2012
Fighting with heart BY ALEX KOMA | sports editor
IESH LAL news staff writer
what’s inside News .............2 Features ........6 0pinions ........4 Sports ...........9 Classifieds ...10 Study Break.11 108th year issue 68 blacksburg, va.
Mall sees changing climate
ing for the locals.” Blacksburg resident Trey Hull and Shawsville native Christian Leonard are two of the school’s high-profile athletes that will fight on Saturday, and both will attempt to bolster their undefeated records in the sport. “I just want to go out there and
Since its construction in 1972, “organic business” trends continue to reshape the University mall. When it was originally built, Blacksburg was a regional shopping area which included retail and department stores, according to co-manager Bill Ellenbogen. Through organic business trends, the mall experienced the change from a regional shopping center to a local shopping center. The town of Blacksburg is based as a non-retail shopping area, and the mall, itself, has adapted to include a mixture of services. “You can’t even buy underwear [in Blacksburg]…you can’t buy basic supplies,” Ellenbogen said. “[The University Mall] is a mixture of office, service, and education and retail tenants. It’s a service-based mall with some retail mixed in.” But is it really a “mall” anymore if you have so much office space in it? That is a sentiment forwarded by John Bush, a member of the Blacksburg Town Council, as well as the Montgomery Regional Economic Development Commission. “It’s hard to call it a mall…it’s kind of a mix-and-match,” he said. Bush categorizes the mall as one of the town’s three main centers of business, besides Downtown and First and Main. He looks at nationwide and regional economic downturn as the main sources for competition between and vacancies in these three areas. Each area has their own niches and their business is a reflection of what is over there, he said. Forbes.com has rated Blacksburg as one of best small places for businesses and careers multiple times, with its 2012 ranking coming in at 32 out of 184 for areas with a population less than 255,000. Although today, the mall still houses three vacancies. “They all experience some form of unused space…there’s too much space for too few business opportunities,” Bush said.
see MMA / page nine
see MALL / page two
Christian Leonard, COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN LEONARD
Local MMA fighters to compete in “Combat in the Cage 2” at Radford’s Dedmon Center The sport of mixed martial arts is sweeping the nation, and Southwestern Virginia is no exception, as Radford University’s Dedmon Center prepares to host its first cage fight on Saturday. The Tech Mixed Martial Arts
& Fitness Academy and Combat Fighters Challenge Promotions will present the event, titled “Combat in the Cage 2.” Several local fighters will be part of the weekend’s action as they look to raise awareness of the sport in
the area. “I’ve been promoting kickboxing events for years, and martial arts for the last 22 years, but the new ticket is out there is MMA,” said Perry Gibson, lead instructor at the academy and promoter for the event. “A growing population is viewing it on TV, so for people to go out and watch it live, even at the amateur level, it’s really excit-
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collegiatetimes.com july 26, 2012
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Mall: Owners to donate mall property Amazon backs tuition from page one
“It’s what we in the industry refer to as a ‘churn,’” Ellenbogen said. “It’s normal tenant turnover from what I guess you would call ‘Darwinian Capitalism,’ or survival of the fittest,” he said. Ellenbogen expects the stronger businesses to remain as tenants. “We have CVS Pharmacy, Volume Two, the Math Emporium, the Weight Club… Hunan Garden has been here since ’72,” Ellenbogen said. And in the past five years, there has been about eight businesses that have come and gone. “[The mall] must be doing well because it’s mostly occupied,” Bush said. “But the online community has changed our retail space. The University Mall region is changing to accommodate to that online and hi-tech community.” Bush was referring to Rackspace, a hosting and cloud computing organization that inhabits a sizeable chunk of the mall’s property. Rackspace is one of the largest tenants on the mall’s grounds excluding Tech’s offices and workspace. Although, there is a rumor that Rackspace might relocate when its lease ends, which could mean trouble for the mall, Bush said. “But within the past couple years, there’s been some solidifying and a lot more people are staying there,” he said. The traffic throughout the mall can be attributed to both students and residents, with some businesses garnering attention from one group, the other or both.
“We’re doing well – we’ve had a record year for us,” said Chad Holt, the manager of the Runabout Sports located directly outside the Math Emporium. “[We’ve had] eight months of record sales ... Most of our customers aren’t students; there are more locals like high school athletes and adults.”
Ellenbogen describes the mall as having a symbiotic relationship among its stores and services, instead of parasitic, where one store or area receives the most business and the surrounding area feeds off it. However, Tech does have its hand in a certain amount of space encapsulating the mall, about 50 percent, according to Ellenbogen, as well We’re not always happy to about a two-thirds ownership of the see town property turn into University Gateway also located Tech property. That takes Center, on the mall’s propaway from our tax base be- erty. This marriage cause state properties don’t between the town and Tech has its own pay town taxes.” ups and downs, as well. John Bush “We’re not always Town Council member happy to see town property turn into Tech property. That On the other hand, Brett takes away from our tax base Bolinsky, the owner/operator of because state properties don’t pay Inkspot, a printer cartridge sup- town taxes,” Bush said. “In genply store neighboring Runabout, eral, Tech has leased space off experiences most of his revenue campus to fill their own needs.” from students. He attributes These needs range from finansome of his business to the run- cial to logistical. In doing so, Tech off of students from the services can acquire property where they Tech has to offer. Bolinsky first would not have to provide fundopened Inkspot in 2006 and it ing for the construction of addihas been in the same location tional buildings. By expediting since. this kind of space, Tech may gain “I’m in a niche market and with a discounted price, but the town the Math Empo, most students loses money. know where I’m at,” Bolinsky Ellenbogen and Sterrett have said. “With a student center this an agreement with the Virginia small, you need something to Tech Foundation to donate the serve the students well. As long as University Mall property to the the Empo is there, it does me well Foundation in 2023, which is an to stick around that.” entity designed to work in con-
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junction with the university in order to provide better services and programs. Ellenbogen briefly described the forthcoming transaction with the VTF as “complex.” “The Virginia Tech Foundation was an agent in the financing for the owners when they expanded ... It’s involved as an investor, and in the future, becomes an owner,” said Larry Hincker, university spokesman. As to why Ellenbogen and comanager Bill Sterrett have decided to donate the property to the VTF, Hincker described it simply as a gift. The Foundation was a financier in a very complicated financing scheme, he said, and they will give it up as a gift. As of now, there are negotiations with several prospective tenants, and the possibility of some business moving in to the mall’s vacancies, although nothing can be certain in this retail economy, Ellenbogen said. The mall has been a Blacksburg institution since its inception, providing the town with what the current property managers call a “lifestyle center,” integrating people’s residences with their shopping. Ellenbogen and Sterrett acquired the property at Price’s Fork Road and University City Blvd. in 2003 under the company name University Mall LLC, and have made various developments to upgrade, including a 130,000 square foot expansion. “I think [the investment] worked out well,” Ellenbogen said. “There is a high level of occupancy, and consequently, as long as we can keep it full, we can make money.”
ANDREA CHANG mcclatchy newspapers LOS ANGELES — Want to work in one of Amazon.com’s warehouses? What if the company paid for the cost of your higher education? The e-commerce giant on Monday announced its new Career Choice Program in a lengthy letter that was posted on its homepage. To reward its hourly workers and help them learn new skills, Amazon said it would offer a tuition reimbursement program, paying up to 95 percent of the tuition, textbook and associated fees for such courses as aircraft mechanics, computer-aided design, machine tool technologies and nursing. The program — which pays a maximum of $2,000 per year for four years — is available for full-time hourly Amazon employees in the U.S. who have been with the company for at least three consecutive years. It’s intended to “expand the choices available to our associates in their future career, whether that’s at Amazon or in another industry.” “The Amazon Career Choice Program provides associates with a resource for building the job skills needed for today’s most in-demand and well-paying careers,” the company said. In case you’re still not sure you want to be hoofing it around Amazon’s massive fulfillment centers, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos lauded the Seattle company’s employment opportunities in the warehouses. “Our high productivity allows us to pay our fulfillment center employees 30 percent more than traditional physical retail store employees while still offering customers the lowest prices,” Bezos said. “Our work on safety practices has been so effective that it’s statistically safer to work in an Amazon fulfillment center than in a traditional department store.” Bezos said that in the current tough economy, it “can be difficult” to have the flexibility and financial resources to gain new skills. He said the Career Choice program was unusual because unlike traditional tuition reimbursement programs, “we exclusively fund education only in areas that are wellpaying and in high demand, according to sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and we fund those areas regardless of whether those skills are relevant to a career at Amazon.” He noted that the program was an experiment, and one that Amazon hoped other companies would copy.
ANGELA WOODAL mcclatchy newspapers
JODI S. COHEN mcclatchy newspapers
permission to admit students without requiring they take the entrance exam. “The variance was not granted by the Council for this purpose and, had the Council been aware of how it would be used, the variance request would have been denied,” according to the censure. Pless resigned in November after a $1 million school investigation found he had falsified the data. A whistleblower tipped off the university’s ethics office in August. At a hearing in March, U of I argued that it should not be subjected to a monetary fine because the ABA did not fine Villanova University’s law school for similar violations. The $250,000 fine will be used by the ABA to monitor and enhance universities’ compliance with data reporting. “We really did feel that the serious nature of this situation had to be punished with a monetary figure,” said O’Brien, dean of the New England Law school in Boston. He said there was no formula used to determine the amount, but that it seemed “appropriate.” A U of I spokeswoman said the university has fixed the problems and will comply with the sanctions. “We are disappointed by the sanctions imposed by the Council but relieved to put this difficult chapter behind us,” Robin Kaler said in a statement. The law school’s ranking dropped significantly in this past spring’s U.S. News & World Report list, falling 12 spots to No. 35.
collegiatetimes.com july 26, 2012
OAKLAND, Calif. — Sean Wycliffe does not know exactly how many empty seats there are on any given day in movie theaters. But if his Oakland-based startup DealFlicks is successful, whatever seats are empty will be filled. The company, which offers movie tickets and concessions up to 60 percent off, launched in April. So far, they have signed up four cinemas. “I would love to have something … blow up and do really well,” Wycliffe said. The effort has entailed 60-hour weeks for Wycliffe and his partners, Kevin Hong and Zachary Cancio. While Cancio works on the DealFlicks website, the others are busy trying to pierce the rings of staff that surround movie owners, or hunting them down at conventions. Eventually they’re hoping to raise as much as $1 million from angel investors, Wycliffe said. So far they have raised $50,000. They haven’t charged for DealFlicks yet but will begin taking a 10 percent cut off tickets sales. “Right now we’re just bootstrapping,” said Wycliffe, sitting at an Oakland cafe. He graduated from the University of California-Berkeley in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in economics instead of his original choice, business and math. “I didn’t want to kill myself as hard,” he said, adding that he regretted not having taken more computer classes in college. More tech know-how, he said, “would have been worth killing myself for.” The idea for DealFlicks originated during a matinee in 2010 — maybe “The King’s Speech,” Wycliffe said. Empty seats surrounded him. “All of a sudden the light bulb clicked,” he said. “Why not do a Hotwire for movies?” Instead of hotel rooms, DealFlicks would discount unsold cinema seats instead of empty hotel rooms and flights. But finding someone to build the site proved to be the greatest challenge, said Wycliffe, whose role models might seem like an unlikely duo outside of Silicon Valley: Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and microcredit entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus, a fellow Bangladeshi. Wycliffe lost his first partner to the tech boom. “So that was kind
of programmer No. 1,” he said. By the time his second programmer turned out to be a disappointment — and Wycliffe learned some coding on his own — it was late 2011. He started thinking about business school instead of movie seats. He had since founded Project Pueblo, a nonprofit that tries to improve economic and living conditions, most recently in April, among the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Then a finance-minded friend, Hong, 27, joined DealFlicks. After losing a third programmer, Hong found Cancio, who revamped the system for this month’s launch. “It’s just five times better,” Wycliffe said, pulling up the site a day before it went online. The site gathers data from the movie theaters websites and displays available deals. The catch is that users only find out which showtime they will attend after they pay. The model makes planning a night at the movies problematic. “At the same time it catches another market — people like me,” the 29-year-old Wycliffe said. Those are moviegoers with flexible schedule for whom a bargain trumps planning. Wycliffe will have to show theaters that DealFlicks can make them money if he wants to bite into what he estimated to be a $40 billion worldwide movie market. Struggling theaters are eager for help recapturing business drained away by Hulu and Netflix. But it’s too early to quantify whether that has been happening, said Allen Michaan, owner of Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, which has signed on with DealFlicks. “We’re just trying to rebuild our customer base.” The owners of the Gardena Cinema in Gardena, Calif., were won over by Hong’s persistence and shared Korean roots as much as DealFlicks promises. The 800seat cinema competes with megaplexes that can afford to change their films every week, said Judy Kim, the daughter of the owners. She didn’t have numbers handy, but said, “They brought in people.” Wycliffe said he wants to avoid the temptation of turning DealFlicks into an advertisement billboard, or charging “convenience” fees. There are no plans to sell user information to third-party marketing companies, a common way startups stay afloat. “I don’t know how users would feel about that,” Wycliffe said.
CHICAGO—The University of Illinois’ law school has been censured and fined $250,000 for intentionally publishing false admissions data to make the student body look more academically accomplished than it was. It is the first time the American Bar Association has fined a university for reporting inaccurate consumer data, according to an ABA spokesman. The sanctions also require that the College of Law prominently post a copy of the censure on its website and hire a compliance monitor for the next two years to check the school’s admissions process and data reporting. The ABA regulates and accredits law schools and can impose sanctions when a school violates its rules. “It is sad, but this is a very bad thing that the university did — all in pursuit, it appears, of a higher ranking,” said John O’Brien, chair of the ABA’s Council on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. The group, he said, “was struck by the lack of any internal controls to prevent this type of thing from happening.” The ABA said it would allow U of I to retain its accreditation. However, it found that the school had violated the ABA’s policy that law schools maintain sound admissions practices and publish basic, accurate consumer information. U. of I. reported false information
about incoming students’ GPAs and LSAT scores for the entering classes of 2005, and 2007 through 2011. For the entering class of 2011, for example, 109 test scores and 58 GPAs were altered. The law school also falsified the acceptance rates of four of those classes by inflating the number of applicants and undercounting the number of admissions offers. Students’ grades and test scores, and the school’s acceptance rate, are factors considered by U.S. News & World Report in its popular school rankings. The information also is reported annually to the ABA for accreditation purposes. “No matter what the competitive pressures, law schools must not cheat. The College of Law cheated,” according to the censure released Tuesday. While U of I officials have said former admissions dean Paul Pless acted alone, the ABA found the law school created an environment that placed too much emphasis on rankings. To that end, the ABA will force U of I to abolish an early entrance program that had been touted as a way to recruit top U of I undergraduates by admitting them before they took the law school entrance exam. Behind the scenes, however, Pless revealed in e-mails that by admitting high-achieving students to the iLEAP program in their junior year, the students’ high GPAs would be included in the class profile but not any test scores that could potentially drag down the class. The ABA had given U of I special
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DealFlicks aims Illinois law school falsifies data to fill movie seats
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Assault rifles must be banned Romney’s past sends too harsh a message
The Second Amendment to our Constitution famously allows us our right to bear arms. The amendment has been the focal point of many arguments from gun advocates to lessen the impact of gun control, citing our right to defend ourselves with deadly force if necessary as an integral piece of individual liberty. Unfortunately, the issue at stake has reached a greater sense of urgency in
cal squad, oversteps the boundaries of personal protection. In 1994, a law was passed that banned civilian manufacture and purchase certain semi-automatic firearms designated as assault rifles. The provision, however, was only a ten year agreement, and in 2004 the bill expired. Gun advocacy groups, such as the National Rifle Association, were primarily involved in resisting the bills extension, and since 2004, the NRA and other prominent gun lobby groups have spent over Being able to purchase as- $1.5 million a year advogun ownership, sault weapons and equip- cating and specifically keepment online without back- ing the bill from passing again. ground checks, and to Since the ban’s expiraassemble an arsenal fit for tion in 2004, at least six efforts have been made to a smal tactical squad, over- renew the law, and each the proposals have steps the boundaries of per- time hardly had enough steam to leave committee. sonal protection.” This is despite data released by the Brady the turn of recent events. Brazen flour- Center to Prevent Gun Violence that ishes of violence have brought gun says that gun crimes committed with ownership, particularly ownership assault weapons dropped 66 percent of assault weapons, under immense during the ban. scrutiny and it is time for us to assess There are also loopholes that we need our constitutional values with a more to consider when scrutinizing weapons modern approach. sales. Popular events in the US are gun The Second Amendment is old lit- shows, which have suffered criticism erature. It was written at the dawn of due to there being no regulation on our government, a government that gun sales that are considered private. was shackled by infancy and hardly Weapons can be bought at gun an adequate representation of national shows from private sellers without any identity. It was difficult for the federal kind of background check or even government to assemble and manage presenting identification. No laws or a standing army, and smaller, regional regulations have made ground trying militias were the strongest early solu- to monitor private sales at gun shows. tions to the problem. But in the wake of the shooting in The amendment was also a secure Aurora, Colo. at a theater screening the method of allowing citizens the right to new Batman movie, we have to start protect themselves in the event that the seriously considering what we consider government succumbed to tyranny. valuable in our lives--our guns, or our The people could be adequately collective safety? equipped to defend their rights.In the The tragedy in Aurora left 12 dead 21st century, this issue is hardly a prob- and 58 wounded--the largest number lem anymore. Personal protection still of casualties in a mass shooting in US is reasonable justification for owning history. James Holmes, the prime susa firearm. But being able to purchase pect, allegedly did most of the damage assault weapons and equipment online with an AR-15 assault rifle, which was without background checks, and to one of the firearms previously banned assemble an arsenal fit for a small tacti- from civilian ownership in the assault
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weapons ban. The suspect also purchased a few thousand rounds of ammunition and equipment typically assigned to SWAT units, all of it online without any kind of background check or red flags. James Holmes had no criminal record prior to the incident and had just once brushed up against the law - cited for a traffic violation. According to authorities, all of his weapons, ammunition and equipment were purchased under accordance to the law. Students at Virginia Tech should be more than aware of the kinds of threats people can pose to one another. In just the past five years, we have witnessed two violent gun-related incidents on our campus. Both shootings were carried out with handguns, understood as acceptable measures in practicing self-defense and easily procured with clean background checks. And yet, both shootings demanded intense scrutiny of gun control laws, and little has been accomplished. The Tucson, Arizona shooting in early 2011 was also carried out with a handgun, and sparked scrutiny of gun control as well. It is time for our collective voice to stop scrutinizing gun control laws and take serious action. Too often over the past 19 months have we stood witness to tragic incidents of large-scale gun violence, and the recent use of assault weapons has turned the debate in the new direction. The suspected shooter in Aurora used weapons and equipment that have been federally banned before, but due to pressure from gun advocacy groups, owning such equipment is entirely legal today. Gun control may not significantly reduce gun violence on our streets, but it will definitely make it much more difficult for seemingly average Americans to cause inexcusable amounts of destruction on a whim. Too often we have stood idly by these splurges of violence without addressing the issue with serious consideration
ERIC JONES -regular columnist -junior -psychology major
collegiatetimes.com july 26, 2012
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“I don’t care how moral or immoral our President is.” “I’m not voting for someone because he’s a saint…I want someone who can run the country.” “It’s the economy that’s most important now.” For many voters, having a sound moral code and being “decent” is not important when considering who should be our next president. While the arguments that “a president’s personal behavior is not incredibly important” is somewhat valid in some cases, in other cases the arguments are simply not valid at all, but rather reflect character traits that should give us pause. After Bill Clinton’s affair and the Monica Lewinsky scandal that followed, many people undoubtedly lost respect for the president and rightly so. They saw him as dishonest and disloyal to his wife and family. But his dalliances with other women reflected poor personal judgment rather than a trait that suggests a fatally flawed presidential character. Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has shown time and time again that his morality is suspect, especially for a man running for a major political position. He claims that as a boy in high school he “did lots of stupid things”, and while one may call what he did stupid, they were also cruel and hateful. The bullying incident that’s been in the news recently, which he and a few of his friend held down a boy and cut of his hair because the boy was thought to be gay—is probably the best example of his intolerance of human differences. While some people think everyone should get a free pass for behaviors in high school, this incident reveals a huge personality flaw. In fact what Romney did to this teenage boy could be considered a hate crime. It also sends a message to all members of the LGBT community—that they can be targets for abuse, and that the abuser can
be unpunished and, indeed, become a candidate for political office. Gays and lesbians have higher rates of depression, suicidal thoughts and other emotional problems than their straight counterparts. More than 70 percent of lesbians and 60 percent of gays have sought or considered mental health counseling. Discriminatory messages communicated through incidents like Romney’s reinforces prejudice and hatred that can hinder men and women from coming out, being accepted and feeling comfortable and confident in their own skin.
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Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has shown time and time again that his morality is suspect, especially for a man running for a major politcal position.” Romney’s actions against a harmless high school student are not humorous in the least bit, but crude and cruel. Here, morality matters. After the event had been publicized and Romney had been questioned, he conveniently “forgot” what had happened, saying that he did a lot of stupid things in high school. Others who participated in the bullying came forward and confessed shame for their actions. Romney, on the other hand, is entirely unapologetic. According to studies on people’s personalities, by the time most people are in the first grade, their personalities are largely fixed. It follows across time and context. Romney’s intolerant mindset in high school towards people he finds unworthy or threatening is who he is today. And who he is today is someone not worthy of the office of president of the United States.
KATHERINE SEYMOUR -regular columnist - senior -psychology major
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and factories make its goods, we can know only that Chinese apparel workers earn, officially, somewhere between 93 cents to just over $1 an hour; unofficially, they are often paid less than the official minimum, which varies by province and city. Days off are rare, despite laws that entitle them to one day off a week. A late 2011 investiga-
crowded and the food poor. The first month’s wages are often withheld, so if the workers quit because of bad conditions, they must forfeit a month’s wages. There is no right to form independent unions in China; only the Communist Party’s All-China Federation of Trade Unions is permitted, and it is usually a part of management, not responsible (or even known) to the workers. Exhaustion haunts the factory Without more disclosure floors of China’s export sector, and from the company as to since last year, alleof suicides which firms and factories gations caused by desperamake its goods, we can tion have received attention. only know that Chinese ap- worldwide Ralph Lauren now parel workers earn, official- says it will produce its 2014 Winter ly, somehwere between 93 Olympics uniforms the United States cents to just over 1$ an hour. in — immediately giving the lie to those who shrugged off the tion by China Labor Watch of complaints by saying we can’t factories producing for major make this stuff here. There are American brands found employ- 160,000 U.S. apparel industry ees who said they worked 30 workers who would love to have days a month. There is a reason the chance to prove the naysayfor this: Because wages fall so far ers wrong. behind rising living costs, workIn the meantime, Ralph Lauren ers need overtime pay to survive. and the U.S. Olympic Committee Many other abuses are com- could do some simple things to mon in China’s export factories. remove the shadow over their Workers are housed in dorms respective images. The compawhere conditions are often ny could disclose the locations
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where the Olympic teams’ clothing is made. It could invite the premier workers’ rights monitoring institution, the Worker Rights Consortium, to inspect these factories. It could agree to abide by the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium’s Model Code of Conduct, which has three states (Maine, New York and Pennsylvania) and 16 cities (including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Milwaukee and Seattle) committed to fair competition through sweatshopfree purchasing. (Full disclosure: I am an unpaid member of the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium board of directors and an unpaid member of the Advisory Committee to the Worker Rights Consortium.) The U.S. Olympic Committee, as a quasi-public body, could join one or both consortiums to make sure its logo gear is sweatshop free, wherever it is made. Olympic athletes will wear their gear at the peak of world attention, clothed by a billionaire’s company hired by a committee of notables. Toiling at the bottom of the pyramid, for meager pay and under terrible conditions, are those who cut, sew, press and pack the clothing.
Robert J.S. Ross -mcclathcy newspapers
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Collegiate Times should not run hateful FLAME ads The recent publication of the advertisement titled ‘Arabian Fables’ by FLAME (July 19, 2012) has once again ignited the controversy over whether Collegiate Times and other media sources across the nation are helping reinforce wrong stereotypes. This is not the first time such an article that should be categorized as hate speech has been published in the Collegiate Times, raising concerns among many minority groups in and around the campus of Virginia Tech. Such events not only help reinforce negative labels but also hurt the credibility of this newspaper. At this point it is important to clarify that most of the claims
made by FLAME are not accurate and aim to push a political agenda that legitimizes the actions of the state of Israel. The readership of this newspaper is relatively informed compared to some national media outlets, and I hope they understand that Israel has been illegally occupying the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has violated 28 resolutions of United Nations Security Council (which are binding on all member states) as well as close to 100 resolutions of UN General Assembly. The right of ownership of land in Israel is a complex religio-political issue and such small, misinformed excerpts as was published recently only help to further complicate the misgivings that most people have about Palestine and the Arabs. Without indulging myself in a
detailed discussion on the creation of Israel, it’s paramount to realize that from its inception, the Zionist movement has been criticized by many leading Jewish thinkers on grounds of attempting to create a religious state as opposed to an inclusive secular state. It’s important to note that the criticism of the state of Israel does not equate to anti-Semitism, and most Muslims and Arabs continue to respect and appreciate the Jewish heritage. Such publications not only cause harm and hatred, but also promote feelings of isolation in a community that already perceives itself as under attack. For most Muslims and Arabs, Islamophobia is a reality, and too often has this community been subject to judgment based on the action of too few. It’s time to heal and make amends. As the
president of the Virginia Tech Interfaith Initiative and a member of the Blacksburg Muslim community, I believe it’s time to discover our common values, to leverage our collective humanity and to celebrate our diversity. It’s time to engage ourselves in a dialogue that promotes a better understanding of our communities and our beliefs and raises awareness against labeling and stereotypes. Student organizations like the MSA, Hillel and Interfaith initiative can help promote harmony and encourage constructive dialogue between different communities to diffuse any misconceptions. Similarly, the Collegiate Times should attempt to hold itself accountable for the content it prints. -Nabeel Chohan
collegiatetimes.com july 26, 2012
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 receives no funding from the university.
Ralph Lauren, the crown prince of preppy, received more than $30 million in compensation in 2011 from the corporation he founded and of which he and his family control about 73 percent. He is on the Forbes list of billionaires. The Ralph Lauren firm physically produces nothing: It is a design, marketing and licensing operation that hires factories to make its stuff. The company has had the U.S. Olympic team deal since 2008. A men’s team shirt costs $425 and a woman’s skirt $498. The beret that makes the athletes look like recruits for the U.S. Special Forces and a T-shirt each cost $55. Perhaps it is the high unemployment rate or the in-yourface patriotism induced by an election year, but the news that Lauren’s prep-chic outfits are made in China has produced a rare bipartisan storm of criticism. Lost in the wind of words is what should be central to the question of sourcing: conditions for the workers. If China’s workers were sharing in the full fruits of growth, we would have a much smaller volume of American clothing made there. As it is, more than 98 percent of the dollar value of the Ralph Lauren clothing line is made abroad, much of it in China. Without more disclosure from the company as to which firms
5 OPINIONS
Collegiate Times Editorial Staff Editor-in-Chief Michelle Sutherland Managing Editor Zach Mariner Features Editor Chelsea Giles Sports Editor Alex Koma Head Copy Editor Luther Shell Online Director Alex Rhea
Ralph Lauren sweatshops are not chic
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“Magic Mike” only offers hot moves CHELSEA GILES features editor Money, women and a good time drive the characters of Steven Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike” and seem to be luring in the audience as well. This film has held its own in the midst of summer blockbusters as the movie to see for girls’ night out or just something different. How often do moviegoers get to see a film about an all male strip club? Both Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey did not fail to deliver energetic and steamy performances in their roles. The plot, however, was not as exciting. It was predictable once it was obvious the turn the film was taking. “Magic Mike” is a mix of two genres, comedy and drama. The writers could have steered it either way, but instead the movie is a mix of both, which results in an awkward clash. The storyline attempts to reveal the darker side of the stripping lifestyle, however it moves too quickly and does not flow well enough from scene to scene to make an impact. Tatum played his typical character type as Mike, a ladies man
who struggles to find his identity in a double life. His acting did not set a new bar for his career, but the dancing and playfulness was excellent in the film. McConaughey was the strongest actor. His wild, moneyoriented character, Dallas, was straightforward, exciting and tough. The other dancers were showcased in the choreography, but their characters were not developed throughout the film. Even though Adam (Alex Pettyfer) was a main character, he did not say much either. The plot is simple. Mike is an aspiring custom-furniture maker who manages many small businesses by day then dances by night to save up for his own furniture business. He becomes a big-brother figure to Adam who just moved to town by showing him how to party, make easy money and pick up women in Tampa. Adam is thrown onto the club stage where he quickly acclimates to the loads of money thrown at him and the attention of screaming ladies. After one act, he is welcomed into the brotherhood of dancers as “The Kid”. Dallas, the club owner, coaches
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Adam on how to be the man on stage that fulfills each woman’s fantasy, and Mike takes him shopping for comical outfits and props to complete his act. Their rowdy performances do not shy away from the most ridiculous routines possible. Of course, there has to be love story in the midst of the chaotic club scenes. Adam’s cynical older sister, Brooke, played by Cody Horn, captures Mike’s attention. He promises her that he will take care of her brother as he dives into the lifestyle of a male stripper. The partying lifestyle bonds Mike and Adam, but it all spirals into trouble as Adam begins to mix with the other dancers. Tatum’s character is challenged to protect The Kid and not lose Brooke’s trust. For those still debating on whether or not to see it, do not set high expectations for the plot line or acting. “Magic Mike” is choppy, has an unnecessary monthly timeline and ends suddenly. It is ideal for an easy laugh or a group of ladies out to enjoy attractive actors strutting their stuff on the big screen.
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Comic-Con screens “Being Human� Currently filming its third season for a winter 2013 return, Syfy's "Being Human" is the American reimagining/reboot of the popular BBC show with which it shares its name. Already a favorite with dark fantasy fans, the concept of a vampire, werewolf and ghost living together to achieve a sense of normalcy was preserved for the American version starring Sam Witwer, Sam Huntington and Meaghan Rath. If a group of supernatural roommates sounds like a soapy setup, that's because it is. Then again, what beloved ongoing storyline in nerd culture isn't? Hookups, breakups, deaths, resurrections, addictions, arch nemeses, memory loss _ not to mention occasional mutations, undead infestations and body switching; this is the stuff that fans cheer for. And cheer they did, at the San Diego Comic-Con earlier this month. The show's starring trio drew an even larger crowd this year than they did last year. And since their Saturday panel was the last of the day in the Indigo Ballroom of the Hilton Bayfront Hotel, this was a fanbase that stuck around specifically for the show. Reflecting on the success of the
show at the Con, Huntington said he thinks it is a show that "views real-world scenarios and issues through a supernatural lens." Witwer agreed with his costar's sentiment. "With 'Being Human,' when we're at our best, we're endeavoring to keep our feet planted on terra firma _ so much so that were you to take the words 'vampire,' 'werewolf ' and 'ghost'
out of the scripts, the stories would still work," said Witwer. However, the supernatural element can't hurt "Being Human" since these types of shows are already a hit. And it certainly helps that the lead actors are attractive twentysomethings _ and that the show itself fits neatly into a crossover-friendly territory between younger-skewing, more romantic
"Twilight" and the naughtier, older "True Blood." But as for eye candy, that's not typically enough to keep nerds coming back. Instead, the "Being Human" world has a mythos and a set of rules. It does break traditional tropes _ vamps can step out in the day, for instance _ but it adds other interesting twists to supernatural creatures we're familiar with. Moreover, the show is great nerd bait because it possesses a graphic novel sensibility. Each episode unspools like a new chapter wherein viewers can expect comic-book-style panels filled with blood, sex, tears and laughs. The writers seem to get that fans love, and hate-to-love, seeing favorite characters tortured on a weekly basis, but they also take time to put them together at a kitchen table for a dinner conversation over untouched food. Whereas "The Vampire Diaries" exists perfectly as a series of young adult books adapted into a CW show, "Being Human" has a quirky vibe that could translate to a Dark Horse comic. There is a genuine nerd pedigree that accompanies "Being Human," which primes it for a huge showing at future Comic-Cons. The actors have a geeky chemistry with one other that carries over to fans. They dodge the actor trap of
being too cool for their fans, and never come across as just playing a nerd on TV. It's easy to see the nerdy kid in the grown-up Huntington, and erstwhile Jimmy Olsen and star of "Fanboys," and Rath is a confessed bookworm. Meanwhile Witwer, the one who has been elevated to heartthrob status, has the most geek cred of them all after his long stint voicing characters for George Lucas on "The Clone Wars" show _ he is Darth Maul, for Pete's sake _ and in "The Force Unleashed" video games (not to mention his work as Crashdown on "Battlestar Galactica," and as Doomsday and the voice of Zod in "Smallville"). Even the show's first season big bad Bishop, played by Mark Pellegrino Bishop, who re-appeared in Season Two, is a power broker in the nerd community after his major roles on "Lost" and "Supernatural." The cast even sees itself as fitting in at ComicCon, and as members of the community. "I can't think of a more appropriate place to promote the show than Comic-Con," said Huntington. "Nerd culture, and the content with which it was born, relies almost 100 percent on suspending (dis)belief, while at the same time creating characters that are inherently relatable. I think (hope) that that's exactly what we do."
7 FEATURES
AARON SAGERS mcclatchy newspapers
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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts Chuck Berry RANDY LEWIS mcclatchy newspapers There's just one question about the announcement that Chuck Berry is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's honoree for the 17th installment of its American Music Masters series weeklong tribute and career celebration this fall: How did it possibly take 17 years for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to get to Chuck Berry? If the pioneering singer, songwriter and guitarist, 85, isn't the father of rock 'n' roll, the burden of
proof clearly is on anyone making a case for someone more deserving of the title. Berry was among the inaugural class of 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when it opened in 1986, and in the words of Rock Hall President and CEO Terry Stewart in the statement announcing his selection, "Chuck Berry created the language of rock 'n' roll. We stand on his foundation and we are thrilled to honor him and welcome him to Cleveland." As rock poet, singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen put it ear-
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lier this year when he and Berry were selected as the first recipients of PEN New England awards for song lyrics of literary excellence: "If Beethoven hadn't rolled over, there wouldn't have been room for any of us. All of us are footnotes to the work of Chuck Berry." In any case, Berry's music will be saluted in "Roll Over Beethoven: The Life and Music of Chuck Berry" encompassing a tribute concert at which the man himself is slated to perform Oct. 27 after a week of interviews, panel discussions, films and academic and educational programs.
More details are available at the hall's website; information about the lineup and tickets for the tribute concert will be distributed by way of an e-newsletter. The American Music Masters series, presented by the Rock Hall in conjunction with Case Western Reserve University, began in 1996 with a program honoring folk music giant Woody Guthrie and has since explored the life and careers of such musicians as Jerry Lee Lewis, Les Paul, Lead Belly, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew.
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FEATURES
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Jackson writes a mixture of singles RANDY LEWIS mcclatchy newspapers Alan Jackson has his own version of the 1 percent vs. 99 percent problem, and he has to contend with it every night he's on tour. "The problem with me is I've had 60-something singles," said the lanky country singer and songwriter last week from his home outside Nashville. Jackson, 53, was gearing up for a West Coast swing. "It's gotten to be that there are so many songs and there's always something some of the people really want to hear and we can't always play everything. It always ends up I leave something out that somebody wanted to hear, and I feel bad." It's a problem that maybe 1 percent of working musicians face _ perhaps more like one-tenth of 1 percent _ and a problem most would give their eye teeth to have. In fact, Jackson has charted closer to 70 singles over more than two decades, about 50 of those having reached the Top 10. He could easily string together a generous concert set of two dozen songs if he only included his No. 1 hits, dating back to his first, "I'd Love You All Over Again" in 1991, through his latest, "As She's Walking Away" in 2010, on which he duetted with the Zac Brown Band. And then there's songs off his latest album, "Thirty Miles West." "I do a couple," he said. "I do (the
recent single) 'So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore' and sometimes we do 'Dixie Highway,'" a collaboration with Zac Brown that's on the album. "But if I replace one of the hits with something they haven't heard, sometimes that doesn't work as well. I hardly have time to mix it up much. I make my set list up every night right before the show, and it depends on where I'm playing, what I feel like, and I do like to change it up somewhat." "Thirty Miles West," a reference to the distance between his hometown of Newnan, Ga., and the fabled Dixie Highway that runs through the South, is his first album since leaving the Arista Nashville Records family he'd been with since starting with the label in the late '80s. And it's the first under a new deal he's struck between his own label ACR (which stands for Alan's Country Records) andEMI. Yet it doesn't sound drastically different from most of what he's put out throughout his career, heavy on traditional country themes and sounds, from the spry reincarnation-themed opening track "Going to Come Back as a Country Song" to the high-road approach to a breakup in "So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore." "I think I've always approached making albums pretty much the same way. I'm just looking for a mixture of songs and topics that aren't the same thing over and
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Jackson has nearly 70 hit singles of which about 50 reached the Top 10. over," he said. "Most are about love or heartache, so if you're not careful you can end up with 10 or 12 that sound the same. So on this one there are some personal things on there, some fun things that don't account for anything. I have songs about everything, from gospel-tinged songs, drinking songs, heartache and love songs, family songs, songs about dying, we included all that." The song about dying he refers to is "When I Saw You Leaving (For Nisey)," a deeply emotion-
al exploration of how his wife Denise's cancer diagnosis in 2010 turned their world upside down. It mines a vein similar to that of "Cissy's Song," a touching reflection on the loss of a family friend killed in a car accident several years ago. Both songs demonstrate his knack for taking on weighty, emotionally wrenching topics in a straightforward way that neither trivializes nor exploits them. "Right after we found out about Denise's cancer, it was such a shock for us _ watching her go
through all this stuff, that song just came out," he said. "I never played it for her, or told her I wrote it. I didn't know if I'd ever do anything with it. We ended up trying to record it, and it was a pretty tough one to record, but it ended up on there. I've gotten a lot of nice comments on that from people who have been through that. They said it made them feel better, or that they connected with it." Denise is in remission, but Jackson noted, "We had no idea till we went through it, but since we did, you see people everywhere who've gone through similar things." After 14 studio albums, not including his two holiday collections, Jackson says, "I don't know that there's anything too bizarre I could stretch out and do" at this point in his career. But he's still hankering to record a straight bluegrass album _ a project he started about six years ago with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss producing, but which morphed into a critically acclaimed atmospheric adult country album, "Like Red on a Rose." He also said he'd enjoy doing another gospel collection akin to his other 2006 album, "Precious Memories," which he describes as something "I made for my mama," and perhaps an entire collection of romantic ballads, "something a little more like a date-night album ... not too artsy."
Student co-ops offer an affordable alternative for living RANDY LEWIS
collegiatetimes.com jjuly 26, 2012
mcclatchy newspapers If you're looking for a way to cut college costs, consider a student cooperative. Room and board cost half what they do in dorms, said Daniel Miller, director of properties for the North American Students of Cooperation, which provides education and technical assistance to its co-op members nationwide. To keep prices low, co-op residents typically contribute four to six hours of work a week, performing such jobs as meal preparation, bookkeeping, landscaping services or cleaning. "It's a great deal," he said. "It's a really educational environment, and you're helping to run the business." Austin, Texas, has two of the largest co-ops in the country: College Houses runs seven properties and houses 532 students, said Josh Sabik, who is on the board of
directors. The Inter Cooperative Council Austin has nine properties, each with 15-31 student members. Both serve students at the University of Texas, Austin College, Austin Community College and even Texas State in San Marcos. Student co-ops can also be found in other college towns across the country, including near universities in Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, Wisconsin and Virginia. The University of California has co-operative housing near its Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz campuses. Some private colleges also have cooperative housing nearby, including Brown, Stanford and Oberlin, according to the directory on the North American Students of Cooperation website. Together, an estimated 10,000 people live in cooperative housing, most of them students, Miller said. The concept is popular with students, said Sabik, a senior in marketing at Texas State who lives at
one of the College Houses properties in Austin. "Normally we reach 100 percent capacity by the time school starts in the fall," he said. "We have a wait list right now with between 75 and 100 names on it." Sabik said he is on a steering committee to establish a co-op in San Marcos. Another group plans a co-op in San Antonio, Miller said. But there are many roadblocks in much of the country, Miller said. "Zoning is a big challenge in some parts of the country for developing more co-ops," he said. "And sometimes real estate pricing is really competitive, which can keep out a co-op market." When it's available, co-ops offer attractive pricing to students. The Inter Cooperative Council website shows that a shared room this fall costs $555 a month with meals, and College Houses' lowest-cost rooms go for $515 a month with meals. A double room at UT dorms this fall costs $968 a month, includ-
ing meals. And like dorm rooms, co-op rooms can be rented for the nine-month traditional school year. Each co-op has its own qualities, so shop around, Miller said. "Some have vegan options; others hire a chef. Some environments are quiet, while others want to be more social." The concept has been around since the 1930s, Miller said. One of the earliest and largest co-ops was in College Station near Texas A&M, which grew in just a few years to 52 properties housing more than 1,000 member students _ almost a quarter of the student body at the time. After students had to live on campus, the co-op disappeared. Another large co-op at the University of Michigan still stands today, with 19 properties housing more than 550 students. One of Michigan's earlier members, who took his meals at one of the co-op properties in 1948 during his
senior year, was my father, James McUsic. Common areas, social and educational events, and especially sharing the preparation and cleanup of daily meals all help to build community, he said. "There's something about breaking bread together that's very central to forming a community." WHERE TO FIND CO-OPS _North American Students of Cooperation has an online guide to co-ops in the country organized by state or type of co-op (housing, dining, food etc.) at www.nasco. coop. Cooperative student housing in Austin includes College Houses at www.CollegeHouses.org and Inter Cooperative Council Austin at http://iccaustin.coop. Most co-ops have properties near campus, each with its own culture. Be sure to visit to make sure it fits you. Most will offer a free dinner to prospective residents.
from page one
when she enters the cage. “I came to Tech MMA about two years ago to just to get in shape and work out,” Haynes said. “It wasn’t ever my plan to do kickboxing or MMA, but after about a year and a half of training, I had kind of met my fitness goals and was just ready for another challenge.” Despite her initial reluctance, it was Gibson that convinced her to step into the ring competitively. “Perry had told me for about a year ‘you should think about fighting’ and I was telling him he was crazy,” Haynes said. “Finally, last December, I just woke up one day and said ‘I’m ready.’” Haynes’ family is supportive of her efforts, to the point that she isn’t the only family member at the academy these days. “My kids are going to be there on Saturday, so there will be a big home crowd here for me,” she said. “All three of them train here too, so they know what it’s like.” The weekend’s fight will be Haynes’ third bout in her career, as she wades further into the increasingly popular sport. “I definitely think with all the TV, it’s just growing so much,” she said. “Between women’s boxing and the Olympics, I think there’s more and more of a growth in the area, and more people seeing it as a sport.” Many of the event’s organizers and participants hope that Saturday’s affair will show people that MMA is more than just controlled violence. “There are still a lot of people out there that consider MMA violent, but it’s not,” Gibson said. “If people actually watch it and look at the technical side of what’s going on and start understanding how these guys get to where they are, then they start appreciating it.” The public’s response will play a large part in determining the sport’s future in the region. Gibson organized the first “Combat in the Cage” at Tech’s Cassell Coliseum last April, and will use this event to gauge the feasibility of future contests. “The goal is to have at least two MMA events a year in the area, maybe up to quarterly,” he said. “We’ll just have to see how the market accepts it, and if the spectators can help us get out there and put these things together and make it continue to grow.” While Gibson has to focus on the future, the academy’s athletes are concentrated strictly on the present. “I take things one fight at a time, and fight for myself and my coach,” Leonard said. “He’s like a father to me, so just to see him happy is great, and if you push for something more than a win like that, then a win will follow.”
collegiatetimes.com july 26, 2012
work my hands, work my ground game, stay patient and stay calm,” Hull said. While fighting may be foreign to some, Hull is no stranger to hand-tohand combat after spending six years as an Army Ranger. “The Rangers actually had a combatives program, since they’re real big into survival,” Hull said. “After all, there’s no reason to put all that money into somebody and then have them die, so if you lose your primary or secondary weapon system, you’ve always got your hands.” Beyond the technical training the military provided, the Rangers also helped Hull with his mental toughness. “One of the biggest things you see people losing in both amateur and pro MMA is heart,” he said. “But one of the biggest things you find out when you’re a ranger is whether you have it or not, and you don’t make it six years without having it.” Leonard took a different route to discovering the sport, but he’s been training at the academy since he was 14. “I was originally a football player, but I was too small to really play football,” Leonard said. “I figured I’d go to a sport that had weight classes, a sport that you could compete in without being large.” He currently competes at 155 pounds, and has adjusted nicely to the sport’s size requirements, as he plans to turn professional in 2013. “We’re definitely going to have to take it up a notch with my training,” Leonard said. “I train hard now, but I’m going to have to be in here for three-fourths of my day training hard to prepare for the next level.” Hull will also be pursuing professional opportunities in the coming months, as he heads to New Mexico to train with Tapout, a recruiter for professional MMA. “Clay Guida is going to be there with a lot of other really well known UFC guys, and it’s going to be awesome to see what that level really looks like,” Hull said. “You watch it on TV, but even NASCAR looks easy on TV, so I’m hoping to go up there and get some awesome advice.” Coaches expect big things out of the two athletes, both on Saturday and in the future. “Their work ethic is the best I’ve had at our school here,” Gibson said. “We’re 18-0 as a school, so we’re hoping to continue that with Christian and Trey.” While the former ranger and former football player may both be unsurprising participants in the event, 36-year-old mother of three Allison Haynes might raise some eyebrows
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maybe a BCS title game. Reporters would want to talk to Fuller about the defenses high
humility. Exciting stuff, right? Sarcasm aside, it is pretty exciting for Tech fans. Once you weave through the clichés and coachspeak Once you weave through (Beamer’s interviews were particularly the clichés and coach- thrilling) you’ll realize that this Hokie speak...you’ll realize that squad actually has the chance to do this Hokie squad actual- something special… IF!…. ly has the chance to do You already know the “if(s).” If the something special.” offensive line can protect Thomas and block for Michael Holmes and JC Coleman. If Beamer expectations (they return nine can turn around a ghastly special starters from a year ago), his role teams unit from a year ago. If the as an emerging leader on that defense lives up to those lofty defense, how the team would expectations. prepare to stop Georgia Tech’s But I don’t want to talk about option and his little brother the “ifs.” I want to talk about Kendall’s recruitment process. what we already know. Sure enough, all of that hapWe already know that Thomas pened and both student-athletes has been working hard all offresponded exactly the way you’d season (“two, three, four times a expect them to: with the utmost day,” apparently) to improve his
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collegiatetimes.com july 26, 2012
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they have a chance to be one of the best cornerback duos in the nation. So that’s a pretty good start. More important that anything, everything we already know about this Tech football team gives Hokie fans something that every August brings with it: hope. That tiny sliver of hope that somehow, by the slimmest of margins, Tech will for once (or, a second time, rather) do what it’s capable of doing: run through its regular season unscathed and make it back to the BCS title game. This team has experience. This team has playmakers. This team has an excellent coaching staff. And, most importantly, this team has good leadership. Now, will all of that translate to wins on Saturdays and a BCS championship? Well… IF….
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already impressive game, especially on improving his footwork, one of the only things holding him back from being a full-fledged superstar quarterback. We already know that a redshirt freshman has the capability to immediately step in and anchor an offense that prides itself on the running game (see Darren Evans, Ryan Williams). We already know that Marcus Davis and DJ Coles are physical freaks that can go up and catch whatever Thomas hurls their way. And that Dyrell Roberts has the ability to make a big play or two, himself. We already know that Tech returns their front seven, and has plenty of depth behind it. That same mix-and-matched front seven finished 10th in the nation in total defense last season. And it’s only going to be better with a healthy Bruce Taylor, Antoine Hopkins and Jeron Gouveia-Winslow. We already know that Fuller and Antone Exum are two of the best defensive backs the conference has to offer, and that
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Community
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Blacksburg Farmers Market: Every Wednesday (2-7 PM) and Saturday (8 AM-2 PM) 23-27 12:00 PM Adventure Days 2012, Smithfield Plantation, Blacksburg
You can start a fire if you have alcohol, petrol, kerosene, paper, candle, coke, a full matchbox and a piece of cotton wool. What is the first thing you light?
Try to solve the riddle! All information is given to successfully answer it. Good luck!
JULY
Some might argue that ACC media days only serve one purpose, albeit one they do very well: let fans know that college football season is back. And that’s exactly what they did this year, primarily for this reporter and seemingly many Hokie fans in the Twitterverse. Don’t get me wrong — I appreciate the dead period in sports between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of fall practice. But even the most die-hard baseball fan such as myself eventually longs for the best that autumn has to offer. Nevertheless, I could’ve told you exactly how last week’s interviews with Virginia Tech’s two representatives here in Greensboro — Logan Thomas and Kyle Fuller — were going to go before I arrived at the lovely Grandover Resort. Thomas would be asked about his inexperienced offense, the difference he feels heading into this year as opposed to last year, his thoughts on potentially being a first-round draft pick next April and Tech’s chances at a conference championship and
A match.
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ACC media days provide hope for Hokies fans
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26-29 2012 FloydFest 26 4:00 PM, 27-28 8:00 AM, 29 9:00 AM Blue Cow Pavilion, Floyd 27 8:00-11:00 PM Jam Skate Night, Adventure World, Christiansburg
31 10:00-11:20 AM, Summer Movie Express, $1 Family Movies: Chimpanzee, New River Valley Stadium 14, Christiansburg 1 3:00-4:00 PM, Haredini’s Dreamtime Magic Show, Meadowbrook Public Library, Shawsville *Have an event you’d like listed on the Collegiate Times Community Calendar? Send your event with the date, time, and short description to studybreak@collegemedia.com.
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Thursday, July 26, 2012
XKCD by Randall Munroe
Regular Edition Today’s Birthday Horoscope: There’s a romance brewing this year, and you’re the star. It involves exotic locations, fascinating situations and an educational and mind-expanding plot. Embrace a healthy lifestyle with plenty of time for yourself to balance the pace. Enjoy it.
Crossword Grab a partner and another paper and duke it out over the rough Hokie seas. Setup: Each player places their ships on “My Board” by filling in the required number of cells. Ships may not be placed diagonally or on top of each other. Gameplay: Each player takes one shot at a time. If the player calls the coordinates of a space where a ship is located, his opponent tells him so by saying "hit." If he missed, his opponent says "miss." Players mark the shots they take on their "Opponent" grid, a circle for a hit and an ‘x’ for a miss. A ship is sunk when all of its squares have been hit. When this happens, the player whose ship was sunk says, for example, "You sank my battleship." The first person to sink all of their opponent’s ships wins.
Battleship:
My Board
Carrier:
Submarine:
Destroyer:
My Opponent’s
9 5 2 5 6 4 3 9 7 1 3
Complete the grid so that each column, row and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1-9. Copyright 2007 Puzzles by Pappocom. Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com
word UNSCRAMBLER
2 1 6 5 7 7 9 1 2 6 3 7 5 9 2 7 8 9 7 3
Unscramble the letters to solve the category “Card
Have a set of words you want to see in puzzles section? Email your lists to studybreak@collegemedia.com.
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3. snosop
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4. athesr 5. krpoe
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Check out next week’s paper on pg 10 for the answers!
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collegiatetimes.com july 26, 2012
SPORTS
12 Ernie Els wins British Open after Adam Scott’s collapse LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England-Ernie Els, coming off his worst season and seemingly destined to fall short again at Royal Lytham, instead claimed his second British Open title when Adam Scott stunningly bogeyed his final four holes on Sunday. “I’m a little numb at the moment,” the Hall of Famer said minutes after Scott’s 10-foot par save at the 18th hole skirted the cup. “I really feel for (Scott), but it’s the nature of the beast. That’s why we’re out here you win, you lose. It was my time for some reason.” Four birdies on the back nine gave Els a 2-under-par 68, capping it with a 20-footer at No.18 that seemingly bee-lined into the hole. That moved him within one shot of the faltering Scott, who moments earlier had blown a short par putt at No.16 to fall to 8-under par. The drama, it turned out, was only beginning. Scott, who led by four after a birdie at No.14, pushed his approach shot at the par-4 17th into lush rough right of the green, then caught a flyer with his chip. The ball sailed over the flagstick, stopping 12 feet past the pin. The Aussie stroked the putt wide, dropping him into a tie with Els. Grabbing a 3-wood on the 18th tee, Scott watched helplessly as his drive skipped into one of the 17 bunkers that flank the fairway and green. Left with no choice but to chip out sideways, Scott gave himself a chance with a splendid wedge that stopped in the middle of the green. Alas, his putt appeared ready to veer toward the hole but then thought twice. “I’m pretty disappointed,” said Scott, who was seeking his first major title. “I had it in my hands with four to go and proceeded to hit a poor shot on
MCT CAMPUS
Ernie Els won his second British Open title this weekend, defeating Adam Scott, who sat atop the leaderboard for most of the tournament. each of the last four. That’s what happens on a course like this.” Els was the only man among Sunday’s final seven pairings to break par, finishing with a total of 7-under 273. Scott, who led by four to start the day, finished with a 75 that
included seven bogeys. Sunday’s victory came 10 years and one day after Els’ other Open crown, when he won a four-man, four-hole playoff at Muirfield. He preceded that with two U.S. Open titles in 1994 and ‘97. A year
ago, though, he wondered whether he’d ever be in position to win another major. He had just one top-10 finish worldwide in 2011, earning less than $1 million on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career. “I’d been in such a negative
mode for a while,” said Els, who has made South Florida his base for the past four years. His game, though, began to turn around this year. He had a chance to win in Tampa before putting woes crept in again on the back nine, then lost a playoff in New Orleans to Jason Dufner a month later. But there’s something about Royal Lytham that brings out the best in Els. In his two previous Opens on the Lancashire links, he’d finished runner-up to Tom Lehman in 1996 and tied for third in 2001 behind David Duval. Tiger Woods was four shots back in a tie for third, carding a 73 that included an adventurous triple bogey at No. 6. A bunker shot caromed back and almost hit him, and his eventual escape came from a sitting position on the bank above. “Overall I’m pleased with the way I played,” Woods said afterward. “Unfortunately, just a couple here and there ended up costing me some momentum, especially today at (No.) 6.” Brandt Snedeker also was at 3-under after a 74, dropping from contention after back-toback double bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8.
JEFF SHAIN -mcclatchy newspapers