Wednesday, September 19, 2012
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COLLEGIATETIMES 109th year, issue 15 News, page 2
Food & Drink, page 6
Opinions, page 5
Sports, page 10
Study Break, page 7
Corps leader follows his Pasion BY CAMERON AUSTIN | news reporter
J
onas Pasion is far from home. Blacksburg is approximately 8,500 miles from his hometown of Angeles City, Philippines. But the distance isn’t stopping him from stepping up in a big way this year as a Cadet Captain of the new Lima Company in the Third Battalion. The senior political science major and Corps of Cadet Captain emigrated from the Philippines when he was thirteen to Valencia, Cali.. His mom had come to the United States ten years earlier while Pasion stayed in the Philippines being raised by his aunts and uncles. Once his mom had established financial stability, Pasion joined his mom in the “land of the opportunity.” Since he was underage and his mother had already established citizenship, Pasion automatically got citizenship in the United States. His personal journey to the ROTC at Virginia Tech is one of servitude, “The United States has given my mom and I opportunities I never would have gotten in the Philippines,” he said. “I just want to give back to the country that gave me these opportunities,” Pasion said. As one of the Executive Officers in the new Lima Company in the Third Batallion, Pasion oversees 81 freshmen in their training experience during the first few weeks of
Library prepares for upcoming renovations
school. Lima Company was established this semester as a solution to the overcrowding in the Corps. “It’s a different experience from what I’m used to,” Pasion says. “Each day is different because each freshman are different. I have to cater to their needs and cater to their individual class,” he said. Pasion was most recently nominated to carry the colors during the pre-game ceremony at the Pittsburgh football game. Freshmen are selected to carry the flags during home games, while upperclassmen are selected to carry the games at the away football games. The cadets are chosen based on their performance throughout the cadet regimen. Cole Freeman, the battalion commander, nominated Pasion after he witnessed how Lima Company was coming together under the leadership of Pasion. “He did a superb job. His freshman were some of the best I had seen,” Freeman said. see PASION / page three
Start-ups kick off week of career fairs
Newman faculty and student staff members form discovery teams to target student needs Newman Library will be a multitude and variety of undergoing major renova- study spaces for students. tions over the next three to The models include areas four years. Last year, Brian named after “neighborhoods” Mathews was hired as the and “villages.” The marketassociate dean for Learning place model, in a few years and Outreach to begin the time, will be home to the project and get the library Writing Center, CommLab, the information they needed IT Support, Language Center to serve students with the and GIS and special data. renovation. “This past summer we “Something that librar- already replaced some things ies have been facing glob- and introduced some more ally is an attempt to convert new, mobile furniture,” a place that used to be just Mathews said. “In summer for stacks into a place for 2013, we are hoping to make people,” Mathews said. “It’s more of a dent contingent a transformation — there’s upon budget, and bring even lighting, walksome more ways, noise new addiWe are building an tions.” and echoes that you have At yesterattempt to say that worry about. day’s disnot only did we That’s why covery team we are getmeetings, the renovate, but we ting this stulibrary showed want to package dent feedback off the teams, and hiring an this into questions which evaluarchitect to five difthat we could use to ated make sure we ferent areas: are shaping even further assess i n d i v i d u a l this up well.” work, group the way students The library collaboration, use our spaces did interviews media producwith stution, knowldents over the Brian Mathews edge/content past several Associate Dean for creation, and months, but it Learning and Outreach technology. also observed “With these students in their own study teams, we really wanted to environment. And it didn’t see what happens in our just do so in the library — spaces after hours,” Mathews the staff met students where said. “Push us outside of our they are, at the Duck Pond, domain, to see how students in the GLC, in academic attack their assignments and buildings and beyond. They gain their scholarship.” labeled this project “discovThe digital poster session’s ery teams.” objective was to spend time “A lot of this research start- around campus and in librared last fall, and these discov- ies discovering, through ery teams happened in the observations and conversaspring,” Mathews said. “In tions, how students approach the summer we panned, and their academic work. The now this fall we are gathering teams consisted of various some more search to under- individuals from across the stand what we want to do library’s staff, and each group with space.” completed linear reports. The beginnings of a three”We are building an to-four year project, renova- attempt to say that not only tions will start on the sec- did we renovate, but we want ond floor and expand from to package this into questhere. The focus is mainly on tions that we could use to group collaboration, current- even further assess the way ly known as “group study students use our spaces,” floors” in the library. Over Mathews said. the years, the entire library Rebecca Miller, the college will be renovated based on see NEWMAN / page three different concepts to provide
KEVIN DICKEL / SPPS
Student engineers come out in droves, in spite of the rain, to attend the first day of this year’s two-day Engineering Expo in Squires.
Students and companies alike work to stand out in the crowd at university sponsored job fairs ALEX GOMES news staff writer
Cassell Coliseum was abuzz Monday with the Computer Science Resources Consortium Career Fair, the first of several career fairs at Virginia Tech this week. The big names of technology were there as usual, but what set this fair apart was the influx of startup companies competing against the industry standards. The rain persisting throughout the event did little to deter hundreds of students and 78 employers from coming out and networking. Naturally, one of the most popular booths belonged to Google, which consistently had nearly a dozen students waiting to talk to one of its recruiters about internships. "They have a good internship program; I've heard from a few people who have interned there," said Yodi Solomon, a junior in computer engineering.
"You're not just an employee, you feel like part of the whole team." While companies like Google, Amazon and Microsof t dominated much of the students' attention, other booths had different methods of getting noticed. With its vibrant neon green and neon blue design, Readyforce's Hacker Tour 2012 booth made a distinct impression, even from a distance. "We're a platform that connects students to companies," said Anna Binder, vice president of client services for Readyforce. Unlike most online job platforms, Ready force connects students primarily with small, startup companies including Chegg, Etsy, and Soundcloud. "We look a little bit different, and that's by design," Binder said. "We're casual in the way that most startups are."
With such a wide variety of companies in attendance, the fair was considered a great success by those in attendance. "It's the biggest we've had," said Cal Ribbins, a computer science associate professor. After a Wall Street Journal survey ranked Tech's computer science program as the 5th best in the country in 2010, the number of employees in attendance has been regularly increasing. The increase in employers means more options for students, but it can also be a little intimidating. R ibbi ns encou rages students to relax and try to have fun, particularly when continuing on to the Engineering Expo and Business Horizons career fairs later in the week. "The students who come with a more relaxed attitude and show interest in the company will have a great experience," Ribbins said. Follow this writer on Twitter @AlexGomes_CT
Still looking for a job? You can check out these upcoming career fairs: Engineering Expo Two fair days: Sept. 18-19 Squires Student Center Business Horizons Thur. Sept. 20 Squires Student Center OUT for Work.org National LGBTQ & Ally College Student Career Conference Sep 28-30 Univ. of Illinois Chicago, IL