Thursday, October 3, 2013 Print Edition

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Football notebook: Exum comes back ALEX KOMA sports editor

After enduring a stressful short week to prepare for Georgia Tech, the Virginia Tech football team has had a restful week of practice to get ready for the visiting North Carolina Tar Heels. Saturday’s Homecoming matchup with UNC will be a meaningful ACC contest, and the team has prepared for it amidst the return of a star, an intriguing position shift and some good injury news.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Exum Returns When cornerback Antone Exum tore his ACL in the offseason, his first goal was to come back in time for the season opener against Alabama. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But after another month of rehab, doctors cleared Exum to resume full contact activities this weekend, and he plans to jump right in. “I need to play in a game,” Exum said. “That’s probably my biggest rehab at this point — playing in a game and getting see UNC / page six

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READERS’ CHOICE

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Meet Molly CAMERON AUSTIN & MELISSA DRAUDT news staff

Though the drug isn’t new to college campuses, students might not understand the risks involved.

T

he bass drops. It feels like his heart is pounding out of his chest. The crowd goes wild at the music festival in Northern Virginia. And he is rolling on Molly. Molly, MDMA, ecstasy — this type of drug goes by many names, but the danger is all the same. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, side effects of taking MDMA include muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision, increased heart rate and blood pressure, depression, anxiety, feeling faint and dizziness. see MOLLY / page three

BEN WEIDLICH / SPPS

High rain levels impede tubing

Fans welcome Aziz Ansari MADELEINE GORDON

COURTESY OF BERNADETTE MONDY

MATT MINOR news staff writer

Local aquatic-activity hotspot New River Junction (NRJ) locked up its shuttles and tubes for the year last weekend following a summer of unpredictable weather. Above-average amounts of rain led to unusually high river levels, causing NRJ to close on multiple occasions for the safety of visitors. “Since our stretch of river includes the largest set of rapids on the New (River) in the state of Virginia, we need to closely monitor levels for safety purposes,”

NEWS

said Bernadette Mondy, an associate director in the Environmental Health and Safety department at Virginia Tech. Mondy’s family has owned NRJ for the past 31 years. “If we feel the river is dangerous, we won’t open.” Th is summer, river heights were unexpectedly high due in part to the aboveaverage precipitation levels. According to climate data from the National Weather Service, June and July saw levels that were 3.94 and 3.52 inches higher than usual, respectively. Aside from tubing, Mondy

notes that camping, another service offered by NRJ, was also affected by the unusual weather. “We are a destination campground and many of our campers come for the tubing and fishing,” Mondy said. “Lots of folks made alternative vacation arrangements since there was so much uncertainty around the river levels.” Safety is the number one priority for New River Junction, and it’s warranted.

lifestyles editor

Comedian Aziz Ansari was named the funniest man under 30 by Rolling Stone magazine in 2011.

more info There are a few tickets left to tonight’s show, which are available in Squires and cost $25 for students and $45 for the public.

see RIVER / page two

LIFESTYLES

see VTU / page two

SPORTS Check out what past Homecoming winners have to say about their titles after graduation.

Want to see who got arrested Tuesday? see page 2

Big-name artists are known to grace the Virginia Tech campus during Homecoming week, and tonight’s performer is no exception. Comedian Aziz Ansari will take the stage at the Burruss Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. to perform at the annual Homecoming Laugh Riot. Virginia Tech Union sponsors this year’s Laugh Riot, a show that has been in the works since last May, said VTU’s Director of Lively Arts Michaela McNamara, a junior political science major. “Last year with Kevin Hart, it was such a big success. So this year, we wanted to do something just as big so people weren’t disappointed,” McNamara said. “Aziz seemed like a really good fit for that, so we were lucky that he was available.” Ansari, who was named the funniest man under 30 by Rolling Stone in 2011, is well known for his stand-up comedy specials “Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening” and “Dangerously Delicious” as well as his role as Tom Haverford, opposite Amy Poehler on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.”

ONLINE Read about how the basketball team is preparing for the start of the 2013 season as it tries to replaced departed stars like Erick Green.

Check online for constant updates throughout the day. www.collegiatetimes.com

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