Wednesday, October 9, 2013 Print Edition

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Wednesday, October 9th, 2013 An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 www.collegiatetimes.com

COLLEGIATETIMES BEST of BLACKSBURG COLLEGIATETIMES 110th year, issue 29 News, page 2 Lifestyles, page 5

READERS’ CHOICE

Opinions, page 3

Burnout:

the status of social smoking on campus BY DEAN SEAL & ZACK WAJSGRAS | news staff

W

ith the decline of student smokers since the 90’s and the recent surge in campuses committed to eradicating cigarette smoke from their airspace, the Collegiate Times wanted to investigate the policies, opinions and programs surrounding smoking on Virginia Tech’s campus. Smoking trends College students seem to be in a different category than the rest of the population when it comes to smoking tobacco products in the United States. A study by Harvard’s School of Public Health in August shows that approximately one third of college students across the country smoke. According to a study from the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 51 percent of students who smoke consider themselves “social smokers,” meaning that they smoke almost exclusively in the company of others. The study noted that this indicates college smokers (in terms of their current habits) are less likely

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to be addicted to nicotine, less likely to want to change their current ways and have a lower frequency and intensity of usage. This social smoking label also has been correlated to students who have a higher likelihood to be binge drinkers, and has a much higher association with partying. However, students on college campuses perceive there to be a higher percentage of student smokers than there actually are. A study conducted by the University of Washington showed that students thought just over 94% of their campus used tobacco, when in reality only about 35% actually did. On-campus smoking With such prevalence, there has been a recent push for more campus smoking bans throughout colleges across Virginia. The number of college campuses that have banned all on-campus smoking doubled between July 2011 and July 2013. Those campuses now encompass 1,182 schools across the country, according to the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. see SMOKE/ page two

Sports, page 6

Study Break, page 4

Police investigate series of larcenies in Slusher Tower

MIKE DEMSKO news staff writer

On Tuesday Oct. 8, the Virginia Tech Police Department notified students of a string of burglaries that had taken place in Slusher Hall dating back to Sept. 30. The report said that money had been taken from multiple dorm rooms, and that no description of the suspect had yet been provided. Lieutenant George C.

Jackson of VTPD’s Criminal Investigation Division has been leading the investigation of the case since it was reported, and had words of advice to offer dormitory residents. “I’ve been (at Tech) for 13 years, and I would estimate that 85 to 95 percent of oncampus burglary cases are preventable if tenants would just lock their door.” see SLUSHER / page two

Alumnus screens Academy Award-winning documentary JESSICA GROVES lifestyles staff writer

Virginia Tech alumni come back to visit Blacksburg for many reasons. However, one prominent alumnus is coming back to give students a free lesson in fi lm. On Oct. 14, Jeff Consiglio returns to Tech as an Academy Award-winning fi lm editor to present “Inocente,” the story of a fi fteen-year-old undocumented artist who has been homeless for the last nine years of her life. Consiglio, along with composer and sound editor Marc Aramian, will discuss “Inocente” before and after the fi lm is screened at 7 p.m. in the Lyric Theatre. The event will be presented in a purely digital form, which has given Lyric manager Flavio Carvalho a few obstacles to overcome. Th is type of presentation would not be possible if the Lyric hadn’t just fi nished its transformation into a digital projection theater. “It’s a little work to make sure that we get as close to what they would like as possible and still make sure everyone gets the best out of the seminars,” Carvalho said. Even though the multimedia presentation is new to the Lyric, Carvalho said that events like the “Inocente” screening are important to everyone in the Blacksburg community. The story of “Inocente” goes

NEWS

DANNY DUANGPHACHANH / SPPS

Ring Dance Fireworks Students gather around the drillfield Tuesday night to watch the fireworks following the Class of 2015 ring premiere. The ring, which was designed by a committee of students from the class, was formally unveiled in a ceremony that preceded the fireworks. beyond a female artist who persevered in her passions. According to Consiglio and Aramian, the many layers of storytelling in “Inocente” allow audiences to learn about the fi lmmaking process as a whole. “If you go watch a fi lm or TV or the news, you learn to be more aware of the craft going into the content being presented,” Consiglio said. “You can start to sniff out truth or manipulation in content.” Consiglio’s presentation will be focused on manipulation in storytelling, and Aramian’s will focus on sound’s role in the process. While Aramian was not involved in the making of

“Inocente,” he and Consiglio have collaborated in the past. Their history together has allowed them to prepare interactive discussions about collaboration, sound manipulation and honest storytelling. “As a content creator, you have to recognize where your strengths and weakness are, and you have to bring in people to cover your weaknesses,” Aramian said. “When you bring in the strength of a group of collaborators … suddenly you have a very symbiotic experience where you create something greater than either of you could have done alone.” TREVOR WHITE / SPPS

see FILM / page two

LIFESTYLES

SPORTS Rap artist Danny Brown recently came out with a new album. See what a columnist thought of it.

Check out what crimes occured on campus yesterday. see page 2 Want to get the best views of fall around Southwest Virginia? see page 2 see page 5

see page 6

ONLINE Bud Foster and the coaching gang have been making big changes behind the scenes. Find out why one sports editor thinks they should get more credit.

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

CollegiateTimes @collegiatetimes


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