Fashion forward? Check out photos from the fashion show on page 2.
Friday, April 12, 2013
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 www.collegiatetimes.com
COLLEGIATETIMES 109th year, issue 100 News, page 4
People & Clubs, page 7
Opinions, page 5
Sports, page 8
Study Break, page 6
Baseball faces top squad She-Sha fights smoking ban
BRAD KLODOWSKI / SPPS
The local hookah lounge has been facing legal woes since 2010. KEVIN DICKEL / SPPS
The baseball team is tasked with facing off against the nation’s top team, North Carolina, in order to bolster their NCAA tournament chances. MATT JONES sports editor
When the No. 1 team in the nation comes to town, they are bound to make some noise. The Virginia Tech baseball team will square off against the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in a crucial ACC series, the first time the Hokies have played a No. 1 team since 2010 (UVa.). North Carolina (31-2, 11-1) boasts one of the premier pitching staffs in the country, and
packages that with a lineup that has pummeled opposing pitching this season. Colin Moran, a preseason AllAmerican third baseman, is the frontrunner for the Tar Heels at the plate. The junior leads the team in home runs (8) and is hitting .388. “They’ve got a special player in Moran,” said Pete Hughes, Tech head coach. “I think he’s the top one or two in the conference with Trea Turner. That kid is really good.”
The Hokies (22-12, 7-8) are coming off a weekday walkoff win over Longwood. Tyler Horan, who is tied for the team lead with five home runs, ended the game in extra innings with a shot over the right field wall to cap the Hokies comeback. “Instead of us blowing it out and kind of walking through it, you get the hype going into (the weekend),” Horan said. In their last ACC series, the Hokies took a major step back. After taking 2-of-3 games
against No. 4 Florida State the weekend before, the Hokies were swept by the NC State Wolfpack. In that series, the Hokies committed nine errors, including six in a 14-inning loss on Friday night. Hughes made some defensive changes prior to the series and hopes the results improve in the coming weeks. Andrew Rash, who started the season’s previous games in centerfield, moved to left field, a see BASEBALL / page four
Downtown wary of campus dining ANDREW KULAK news reporter
Restaurants in Blacksburg rely on the Virginia Tech community for customers during the academic year, but their relationship with the university can be a double-edged sword. With 9000 off-campus students having purchased a dining plan last year, local establishments struggle to vie for student business with Tech’s expanding on-campus dining options. “I’m not ragging on the
dining halls, but it would be nice for students, especially freshmen students, to come Downtown,” said Souvlaki owner Mike Buchannan, taking a break from cleaning his shop’s floors. “Right now, it’s to the point where they really don’t have to leave campus for anything.” Souvlaki has been in business for 31 years, with Buchanan, a Tech alumnus, having owned the downtown favorite for 12 of them. He said that when he was at Tech, the food was lackluster, but recent attention to
improving on-campus dining has increased competition from the university. He has noticed that despite his location directly across College Ave. from Squires Student Center, fewer Tech students have been frequenting his restaurant recently. “You probably see a little bit less (patronage) because there are more options on campus than there have been in the past,” Buchanan said. “When everything is offered on campus, the incentive to come downtown isn’t there.” Buchanan added that the
way Tech advertises food prices to plan holders may make his price points appear higher. He thinks his prices are comparable, especially after considering the $894 f lat cost Dining Services charges for a major meal plan. According to the price lists from the Dining Services website, the flat cost associated with any of the four major meal plans compensates Tech for the apparent 50 percent discounts offered at a la carte locations. see DINING / page four
College DJ competition to rock TOTS LESLIE MCCREA news staff writer
In a chance to show their skills and “uncover the best party rocking DJ,” four collegiate DJ’s at Virginia Tech will battle this weekend in a Red Bull Thre3style University event. Host DJ Zeke, who won the Red Bull Thre3style competition in New York City, will join DJ Diabeats, DJ Curly, DJ TMMPO and DJ Kiff y this Saturday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Top of the Stairs. Each DJ will have 15 minutes to play a personal set that includes at least three genres of music. Judging will be based on track selection, mixing skills, stage presence, audience response, originality and creativity. “I think this is going to be really professionally done,” said Chris Luceri, or DJ Kiffy, a senior finance major. “There’s going to be legitimate judges and more sophisticated equipment.” The judges include Mike Mosley, the general manager
of WUVT, Virginia Tech’s student-run radio station, as well as fellow student DJ Byron Becker, also known as DJ BYRN, and Alec Yuzhbabenko, surf club member and Young and Restless brand rep on campus. First place winner will receive $1,000 and the privilege of closing out the night, and second place will get a $200 gift card. But for the DJ’s, the night is about showing off their skills. “It’s just so much fun. The crowd is so hype at all of these parties, and it’s the best time as a DJ,” said Matt Shiller, a sophomore packaging science COURTESY OF MICHAEL DAYTON major, otherwise known as DJ The host of this year’s competition is last year’s winner, DJ Zeke. Curly. Shiller won a previous Red Bull DJ Competition at TOTS that would showcase what Tech Dayton explained that this in November 2012. has and put a Red Bull twist on event is great to come out, Michael Dayton, student it,” Dayton said. experience student DJ’s and see brand manager for Red Bull at Aside from competitions, the what they are all about. Tech, worked with both com- student DJ’s involved normally “It’s going to be an incredible petitions by organizing the DJ for Greek events, house par- time, Red Bull is putting a lot of event and contacting local stu- ties, O’s Lounge, Sycamore Deli effort and money into this and dent DJ’s. and other venues near campus. I know we are really excited,” “Red Bull tries to put on vari“The way I DJ is by read- Luceri said. ous student events, and there’s ing the crowd. It’s all about a lot of student DJs here, so we understanding what they want Follow the writer on Twitter: @lesliemccrea wanted to choose something to hear,” Shiller said.
DEAN SEAL news editor
Since their opening in 2003, She-Sha Cafe & Hookah Lounge has remained the only establishment in Downtown Blacksburg for students to smoke tobacco from hookahs. But as a restaurant and hookah bar, the implications of the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act have led to a battle in circuit courts that started in 2010; one that remains unresolved to this day. A court document was issued from the circuit court of Montgomery County last Tuesday, saying the ownership of She-Sha Café & Hookah Lounge’s appeal of the 2009 circuit court ruling on the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act (VICAA) has been affirmed. Their appeal was not successful. A complaint received by the Department of Health in Jan. 2010 claimed that the management of SheSha had allowed patrons to smoke within their lounge, an act expressly prohibited by the VICAA. Five days after the complaint was received, a Food Establishment Evaluation report cited She-Sha for two noncritical violations: for “an individual was smoking in the building, and the facility failed to post ‘no smoking’ signs.” She-Sha, which had been issued a business license by the Town of Blacksburg in Dec. 2009
as a “restaurant and retail tobacco store,” contested the violations, but in July of 2010, the Department chose to uphold its determination, saying SheSha had been “properly labeled as a restaurant and that ... none of [the exceptions to VICAA] apply to She-Sha,” in a formal letter.
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(The owners) are considering (further action) right now. We’re not necessarily done with the appeal process.” Andrew Connors She-Sha’s lawyer
The Department’s letter went on to say that, under the VICAA, a restaurant is deemed “any place where food is served,” and that definition would include any location that had a bar or lounge area, thus implicating She-Sha under that definition and subjecting them to the VICAA’s standards. Yet She-Sha refused to discontinue their current method of operations based on this decision, nor relent in their fight to overturn these citations. She-Sha requested a formal adjudicatory hearing, and in March 2011, a formal hearing was conducted for She-Sha. However, after months in which the see SMOKE / page four
Remembrance run endures 6 years later ABBEY WILLIAMS features staff writer
To honor those killed during the April 16, 2007 shootings, 32 white balloons will float across the sky Saturday, signaling the start of the 2013 Run in
info on the go What: Run in Remembrance Date: April 13 Time: 9 a.m. Place: War Memorial Chapel
Remembrance. Ali Cross, assistant director of fitness and assessment for Recreational Sports, leads a group of student organizers who have been in charge of the 3.2-mile run since its start in 2009. “Everybody processed what happened so differently,” Cross said. “It was tough to figure out what could be done. As soon as we heard the student voices saying a run was something they would like, we worked to make sure that would happen.” The run will begin at 9:00 a.m. starting at War Memorial Chapel, then see REMEMBER / page three