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GUIDE in this Friday’s paper.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 www.collegiatetimes.com
COLLEGIATETIMES 109th year, issue 71 News, page 2
Food & Drink, page 7
Opinions, page 5
Sports, page 3
Study Break, page 6
Ensemble heads to Carnegie Hall Appeal reaches Va. Supreme Court
Erin Nicole Peterson (left) and Julia Kathleen Pryde (right) MALLORY NOE-PAYNE news editor
COURTESY OF TRAVIS CROSS
The Virginia Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2011 and will now go on to play at Carnegie Hall.
After fundraising through local businesses and an online campaign, the Ensemble prepares for NYC MELISSA DRAUDT news staff writer
The Virginia Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble will travel to Carnegie Hall to perform for the New York International Music Festival this April, but not without the support of local businesses and a Kickstarter online donation campaign. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble performed at the Kennedy Center in 2011 under an organization called World Projects, who also puts on the New York International Music Festival every year as well as several other music festivals in different venues. “I believe that they saw that we are a good ensemble,” said junior Ben Lawson, president of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and saxophone player. “I would consider us miles ahead of where we were two years ago. We carry that Virginia Tech pride and show it through our music.” After receiving the invitation to play in the festival last year,
the music department agreed to fund the costs associated with the performance venue at Carnegie Hall. However, students were also responsible
“
I would consider us miles ahead of where we were two years ago....We carry that Virginia Tech pride and show it through our music.” Ben Lawson President of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble
for paying their share as well. According to Travis Cross, conductor of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and assistant professor of music, it was necessary to leave a “small component that will be up to the students to fund individually.” The Symphonic Wind Ensemble has held fundrais-
ing events at the local Buffalo Wild Wings, Frosty Parrot and Moe’s and has also raised money through events like Honor Band and Bandarama, which showcase the music department. “The local businesses have really given graciously of their venues to create opportunities for us to fundraise and we’re very appreciative for that,” said senior Laura Schneider, bass clarinet player and vice president of the ensemble. Along with fundraising nights at local restaurants and contributions from Hipeak Sportswear, the group also created a page on Kickstarter, a website aimed at helping projects raise money. “The idea behind the Kickstarter was to give those students another opportunity to raise some money to help support their participation in the trip and,” Cross said. “It’s been very successful.” In addition to fundraising efforts, the Elemental Winds, a smaller ensemble comprised of musicians in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, spread the word about their invitation to Carnegie Hall by performing
live on 101.5 fm, a radio station in the Roanoke area. “It’s refreshing, as a music major, to see people who understand how important (the arts) are to the community as a whole,” Lawson said. Without fundraising, it would have cost several hundred dollars for each student to be able to travel with the ensemble. “What we’re trying to do is to raise money so that the student cost is as low as humanly possible,” Schneider said. The ensemble members, along with the officers, have volunteered to help in the effort. “It’s really nice getting some of the ensemble members to volunteer (for the events), it brought all of us together and made it an ensemble effort rather than all the officers doing the work,” Lawson said. “We wanted everybody to be involved. It’s not about us, the officers, it’s about all of us in the ensemble.” The Symphonic Wind Ensemble has been promoting the Kickstarter through social media and word of mouth. see CARNEGIE page four
Chefs engage in a chocolate affair MADELEINE GORDON features reporter
Although nothing says Valentine’s Day quite like a box of chocolates, nothing says it more than homemade treats for a loved one. In hopes of teaching students the art of chocolate in time for Valentine’s Day, Executive Chef Mark Bratton of West End Market and Executive Chef John Scherer of Owens Food Court are holding a “Chocolate-Dipped Treats and Truffles” workshop today. Bratton, who came to Virginia Tech in 2000, has acquired a wealth of experience with chocolate throughout his career. According to Bratton, he was exposed to chocolate since in his first job in 1982 working at a bakery in Arlington, Va. “I kind of got that bug planted early on in my career,” Bratton, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, said. “I’ve pursued it throughout because when you own your own restaurant, or
you’re a partner in a restaurant, everyone has to do dessert and everyone loves chocolate.” Before coming to Tech, Bratton was a sous chef at Buckhead Diner in Atlanta, Ga. and executive chef at both Heron Park Grille in South Carolina and Bistro Savannah in Georgia. Bratton said he learned to work KEVIN DICKEL/ SPPS with chocolate by watching Before Virginia Tech, Executive Chef Mark Bratton worked with chocolate professionals. other professionals. Bratton also attended chocolate olate really well and have fun “I would purposely stay over workshops, including a class with it,” Bratton said. “It’s one and work extra to learn from hosted by the chocolate com- of those things that if you get them — kind of as an apprentice pany Albert Uster Imports at enough confidence with it, you’ll — so I could learn how to tem- the University of Richmond in learn to have fun with it and per chocolate, which is an art as 2009. According to Bratton, the then it comes a little easier.” well as a science,” Bratton said. class was taught by one of the top Scherer agreed that working In addition to learning from pastry chefs in the world. with chocolate can be fun. other professionals in his field, “I learned how to handle chocsee WORKSHOP/ page four
Almost six years later, litigation over who is responsible for the death of two victims in Virginia Tech’s April 16, 2007 campus shootings is ongoing. Yesterday, a panel of justices from the Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments in the appeal on both sides of a civil lawsuit that last year found Tech officials guilty of negligence in the death of two of the victims of the shootings. In that suit, a jury found the warning that Tech officials had sent out about the possibility of a gunman being on campus was sent too late. Ju s t ic e s B e r n a rd Goodwyn, LeRoy Millete and Senior Justice Elizabeth Lacy heard 10 minutes of oral argument from each side around 1 p.m. yesterday in Richmond. Each side was also questioned by the three justices. The results of the hearing will determine whether either or both appeals of the civil case between Tech and the families of the two victims will be heard and decided in full by the state Supreme Court. The cases were appealed by both sides on separate grounds in October. Lawyers for the parents of shooting victims Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde argue that President Charles Steger should be involved in the case as an individual defendant. Steger had previously been dropped as an individual defendant in 2006 based on a technicality. Attorneys Steve Emmert and Bob Hall made that case in front of the justices yesterday. If the court agrees with the plaintiff, then the case could be reheard with Steger reinstated as an individual defendant. The Virginia Attorney General’s office appealed on behalf of Tech, arguing that language used in instructing jurors was faulty, and therefore the jury verdict in the initial civil case should be thrown out. Attorney Wes Russell also got the chance to argue that case in front of the three justices yesterday. “The commonwealth is and remains confident in its position and awaits the judgment of the court,” said Brian Gottstein, director of communication for the Attorney General’s Office in a brief statement made to the Collegiate
Times. The court’s judgment could take up to a few weeks. The case was originally filed in 2009 and came to trial only last year. In March, Peterson and Pryde’s families won the civil suit.
“
The commonwealth is and remains confident in its position and awaits the judgement of the court.” Brian Gottstein Director of Communications for Attorney General’s Office
T he Mont gomer y County Circuit Court jury found the university responsible, saying officials did not adequately warn students of a foreseeable danger. The jury awarded each family $4 million. The $4 million award was reduced to $100,000 because the state’s Tort Claims Act limits the amount an individual can receive as compensation in a civil suit. Pryde and Peterson were among the 32 people killed on April 16, 2007. They were killed in Norris Hall, two-and-ahalf hours after Seung-Hui Cho killed two students in West Ambler Johnston Hall. Police believed that the initial two shootings resulted from a domestic incident and that the shooter had fled campus already. Peterson and Pryde’s families alleged that Tech officials should have provided a more detailed and timely notice of the West AJ shooting. The families of the 28 other victims killed in Norris settled with the university in 2008 for $100,000. The current civil suit is different from an ongoing criminal case being held against the university by the United StatesDepar tment of Education. In that case, the university was fined by the DOE for violating a federal law that requires schools to issue a timely warning in the event that the student population may be in danger. Follow the writer on Twitter: @MalloryNoePayne