Wednesday, September 4, 2013 An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 www.collegiatetimes.com
COLLEGIATETIMES 110th year, issue 8
News, page 4
Lifestyles, page 7
Opinions, page 5
Sports, page 3
Driverless car hits Smart Road DEAN SEAL news editor
Automated driving is stepping closer to reality, and Virginia Tech is researching with Google to make it safer. A small crowd gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Smart Road at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) to watch as Rep. Morgan Griffith and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, of the 9th and 6th districts respectively, boarded the automated-driving car. The car performed two quick test laps on the 2.2mile track and went through a test of the vehicles automation in response to a decelerated second vehicle. The two Congressional representatives spoke alongside Susan Molinari of Google and Myra Blanco of VTTI, and discussed the benefits coming from the cooperative research between the two institutions. The cooperation between institutions is just one part of a larger project run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency that’s part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The goal of the project is to study various aspects of vehicle automation. The NHTSA is funding the project with approximately $1 million, according to Blanco. A technical staff runs the Google car project jointly
Study Break, page
Warrant leads to one arrest CAMERON AUSTIN
BEN WEIDLICH / SPPS
Google’s high tech driverless car, which uses radars and lasers to navigate roads, stopped at VTTI on Tuesday for a test drive. from Google and the Automated Vehicle Systems team of VTTI, led by Blanco. As the automated Google car undergoes a series of test runs with an array of changing conditions and human interactions, the group continues to research both technical algorithms and the user
interface of the Google car. The Google car has been tested on public and private roads across “about half of a million miles nationally,” said Molinari, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs for Google. She stated that Google was excited to have the opportunity to uti-
lize the VTTI Smart Road, praising its functionality as a controlled test area and stating that the whole partnership had been “very unique and very much appreciated.” The car has been tested over the past month with both technicians and random experiment participants to see
how a diverse amount of users affect the reactivity and functionality of the car. The local Congressional representatives were invited to participate in the latest tests to provide feedback on how the research has progressed.
news editor Police carried out a search warrant on Progress Street Tuesday that involved the New River Valley Drug Task Force. The warrant was taken care of around 9 a.m. to the residents of 615 Progress Street between Giles and Turner Street. According to neighbors, five males and two women in their mid 20’s were escorted from the home, cuffed, and seated in a line on the front lawn. LaDale Winling, a resident of the street, was bringing his son to day-care when he witnessed the commotion occurring on Tuesday morning. Winling just recently moved to the street this past summer, but noted that it had always been very calm. “There’s been very little activity or commotion in the area since I’ve moved in,” he said. Winling wasn’t familiar with the tenants of the house, but had noticed that some of the windows in the house had been painted with orange and maroon paint, which prevented anyone from being able to see into the house. No names were released due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, but Tim Stuart of the Virginia State Police confirmed one subject was arrested.
@CameronOAustin
see CAR / page foour
Baking bread for Blacksburg Student explains off-campus meal plan costs MATT MINOR news staff writer
BEN WEIDLICH / SPPS
Sweet Water Baking Company takes its business to the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market to expose the community to its fresh bread and granola
Sam Siller takes pride in hard work, putting in effort behind breadmaking to bring products to market. JESSICA GROVES lifestyles reporter
One of the benefits of a trip to the local farmer’s market comes in the form of free samples. College students, local families and even pets make sure to take advantage of this opportunity, gathering Saturdays and Wednesdays at Blacksburg Farmer’s Market to sample fresh goods and embrace the warm weather. Yet the samples from Sweet Water Baking Company, based out of Floyd, Va., didn’t last though the morning Saturday. Children at the farmer’s market gobbled up
NEWS
the available bread samples as if they were pieces of candy rather than whole-wheat sourdough. With the amount of work that goes on behind-thescenes at the company, it’s not surprising that the bread samples found such easy popularity. In fact, Sam Siller, coowner of Sweet Water Baking Company, said it takes a lot of work to bring the bread to the table. Even when the market closes and farm products are packed away, the business gets right back to work to ensure quality products. Breadmaking has always been a family enterprise for
Siller, ever since his sister began the process nearly two decades ago. Although Siller has been baking bread using family recipes for nine years, he admits that the first five were full of practice.
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I kind of thought I’d pick it up within a couple of months. I was kind of cocky.” Sam Siller co-owner of Sweet Water Baking Company
“I kind of thought I’d pick it up within a couple of months,” Siller said. “I was kind of cocky.” Siller and his sister both
LIFESTYLES
learned to bake from Alan Scott, a celebrated Australian baker who built brick ovens that were designed to evenly bake bread. Scott brought about the modern renaissance of the wood oven baking method, Siller said. He made sure to take Scott’s aid to heart, exposing a passion for breadmaking that even friends can see reflected in his work. Bill Egan has known Siller for at least 15 years. Although Egan mostly helps with customers at the Sweet Water Baking Company’s market stand, he knows the breadmaking process is arduous from start to finish. “(Siller) even goes out to chop the wood from his own see MARKET / page seven
OPINIONS Various Hokie organizations take time to help community members in need by holding food drives and collecting donations.
Meet Lola, the “Invent the Future” horse on a treadmill. see page 4 Are you overpaying for your off-campus meal plan? see page 4 see page 7
Virginia Tech boasts the best collegiate dining in the country, but when money is a scarce luxury for upperclassmen, the meal plan you choose may end up costing you more than you think. According to John Echols, a graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering, students living off campus may actually be getting less bang for their buck with the offered dining plans. He took time to calculate the value of the available meal plans and discovered the best option for students who eat on campus. “It seems most people don’t look into the actual cost and understand that the 50% discount comes at a much higher price,” Echols said. “I’ve always been bothered by the way students spend their meal plans, and seeing the data laid out really solidified things.” Echols recently sat down and created an informative graphic that describes the exact long-term costs of the meal plans for students living off campus, and submitted it to Virginia Tech’s Reddit page, which allows anonymous users to submit links or topics and converse through a message board
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I’ve always been bothered by the way students spend their meal plans, and seeing the data laid out really solidified things.” John Echols Graduate Student
The most attractive feature of meal plans are the discounts, which correlate to 67 percent off at D2 and 50 percent off a la carte facilities, such as Turner Place or Au Bon Pain. “The separate meal period structure at the all-youcare-to-eat (facilities) versus the continuous service of the a la carte locations provide a lower operating cost,” said Ted Faulkner, Director of Dining Services. see MEAL / page four
ONLINE New Netflix original series takes a careful look at how to portray women in mass media. Find out why other TV shows should be taking notes.
see page 3
system. There are multiple options for students living off campus when it comes to food. Minor flex plans are generally recommended for students who live off campus and costs $803. However, students only see $321 of that when they go to buy their favorite pastry or sandwich.
Check the website for coverage of the women’s volleyball team.
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