April 10, 2015

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collegiatetimes.com

111th YEAR, ISSUE 100

Friday, April 10, 2015

COLLEGIATETIMES An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

zack wajsgras / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Members of the second battalion stand at attention just before the beginning of their march to Matthew La Porte’s medal ceremony, April 9, 2015.

Cadet honored for heroic actions

Southgate Drive to get new entrance

The U.S. Air Force posthumously honored Matthew Joseph La Porte with the Airman’s Medal Thursday, April 9. La Porte was one of 32 students, faculty and staff members killed on April 16, 2007. libby howe

news staff writer

Matthew Joseph La Porte was posthumously awarded the Airman’s Medal for heroic actions Thursday, April 9, at Westview Cemetery in Blacksburg. La Porte’s parents, Barbara and Joseph, as well as his sister, Priscilla, attended the ceremony to receive the award on behalf of La Porte. La Porte, one of the 32 students, faculty and staff members who lost their lives during the events on April 16, 2007, was a member of the Corps of Cadets Class of 2009 and Air Force ROTC, as well as the highly competitive Armed Forces Special Operations Preparation Team. He also played tenor drum in the HightyTighties regimental band and Southern Colonels cadet jazz ensemble. The Airman’s Medal was founded by the United States Air Force in 1960 and is awarded for heroism involving voluntary risk of life under conditions other than those of conflict with an armed enemy of the United States. Major General Randall Fullhart, the commandant of cadets at Virginia Tech, presented the award. In the eight years since April 16, 2007, Lieutenant Colonel Retired Keith Gay, La Porte’s assistant professor of aerospace studies in 2007, worked tirelessly to prepare a package of verified information to exhibit La Porte’s

lewis millholland news reporter

to eye witnesses and rescue folks, they found that eye witnesses saw Matthew get up and barricade the door while the instructor was telling everyone else to get to the back of the room.” Torrens credited Gay for “plowing through gathering that evidence” so the package could be sent up the chain of command, at which point it

Next to the iconic Torgersen Bridge entrance to campus and the high-traffic Prices Fork intersection, the humble Southgate Drive is often overlooked. However, not for long – Virginia Tech’s southernmost entrance is slated for major work. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is spending $46.7 million to construct a new interchange between U.S. Route 460 and Southgate Drive. The project also includes aesthetic and functional upgrades to Southgate and will extend the runway of the Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport as well. Tommy DiGiulian, preliminary engineering manager for the project, discussed the impetus for a new traffic flow design in a video on the VDOT website. “The primary goals of this project are really to improve safety and also to improve traffic flow,” he said. A bridge stemming from Southgate Drive will span over 460, handling traffic with a diverging diamond interchange – also known as a double crossover. “(The interchange) has a smaller footprint than any other interchange type, so we’re reducing the impacts

see honor / page 3

see southgate / page 2

Christian sterling / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Major General Randall Fullhart presents the Airman’s Medal to Barbara La Porte.

undeniably heroic actions and warrant his receiving the award. Colonel Cameron Torrens, commander of Air Force ROTC Detachment 875, explained the process leading up to today’s ceremony. “It was really hard to figure out exactly what happened in the very beginning. Folks weren’t allowed to be interviewed. There were a lot of traumatic experiences going on,” Torrens said. “When they finally were able to talk

Baseball seeks upset at Miami The Hokies will travel to face off against 11th-ranked Miami in a three-game weekend series. Kyle Cooke

sports reporter

The Virginia Tech baseball team will travel south this weekend to take on the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes in a threegame series. Miami won the Coastal Division of the ACC last year and has shown no signs of letting up this season. Finishing with a conference record of 24-6 last year, the Hurricanes are continuing to dominate within the league, posting an 11-4 conference record thus far. They are 10-2 in their last 12 conference games, including sweeps of Duke and NC State. Conversely, Virginia Tech has had an up-anddown season within the

ACC. The Hokies hold a 17-17 record overall, and their conference record is just under .500 with seven wins and eight losses. Georgia Tech and North Carolina also have a 7-8 record in conference play, which means there’s a three-way tie for second in the Coastal division. However, Georgia Tech and UNC both have better overall records than the Hokies. Virginia Tech will look to redeem itself after the Radford game on Tuesday. After tying the game at five runs thanks to a grand slam from Mac Caples and an RBI double from Brendon Hayden, the Hokies lost all momentum at the plate and at the

MEET YOUR BOUNCER: PK’S

Ben Weidlich / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Sean Keselica (25) pitches against Georgia Tech. Keselica will lead the Hokies on the mound at Miami. mound. Radford exploded for 10 runs in the top of the eighth, and the final score of the game was 15-7 in favor of the Highlanders. The Hokies hope to continue the offensive

wave that they have been on recently. In the past 10 games, Virginia Tech has averaged an astounding 7.5 runs per game. Miami see Baseball / page 6

Men’s Tennis Preview

Shakeif Robinson shares his experiences.

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The Hokies play in their last regular season home match this weekend.

page 6

courtesy of kevin hargrove

The 16-member, student-run a cappella group, Juxtaposition, was recently nominated for a CARA.

Tech’s own ‘Pitch Perfect’: Juxtaposition The group’s upcoming concert promises to debut the award-nominated male singers. EMILY MCCAUL

lifestyles staff writer

Spring has officially spr ung at Vi rgin ia Tech, and with it has come some exciting news for the Blacksburg community. Juxtaposition, one of two all-male a cappella groups on campus, has received a nomination for album of the year from the Contemporary A Cappella Society. The group, which is completely studentrun, currently consists of 16 male members and their nomination is for a Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award, also known as a CARA, and is the most prestigious award a college a cappella group can receive. “Being nominated is itself such a huge deal,” said Kevin Hargrove, Juxtaposition president and senior accounting major. “(But) we put out an EP, so we didn’t think it would even be considered for an album. Groups like Pentatonix are nominated for stuff like this so to even be in the same category as a group like them is crazy.” Juxtaposition’s CA R A n o m i n a t io n is for “The Juxta EP.” Originally released in the spring of 2014, EP stands for “extended play,” meaning these musica l r e c ord i ngs typically contain more music than a single but not enough to qualify as a full studio album. “ T he Ju xt a E P ” feat u res si x songs including “The City,” a song presently featured as the No. 1 track on the Best of College A C a p p el l a 2 015 album. This is the third consecutive year that Juxtaposition has been featured on the BOCA a lbum. Last yea r’s feature was “Pompeii,”

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a song that can also be found on their CARA nominated album. “A CA R A awa rd would be awesome, but for this specific (category), I think it would be one of the highlights for Juxtaposition over its years,” Hargrove said. “It would be such a great way to represent Virginia Tech because I

It would be one of the highlights for Juxtaposition over its years. It would be such a great way to represent Virginia Tech.”

Kevin Hargrove Juxtaposition president

feel like a cappella has come such a long way here.” The featured soloist for “The City” is Blake Martin, a senior music technology major and Juxtaposition’s music director. “I was at work (when I found out) and I mean – just chills,” Martin said. “It’s just a surreal experience to know that they have thousands and thousands of groups across the country who send into this place, and these three people go over just countless and countless songs to, decide the best. The fact that we were one of the chosen, and to be the top track, is just crazy.” In addition to being the featured vocalist of “The City,” Martin, as music director, is responsible for arranging practices, planning out practices for the day and preparing the group for their gigs and concerts. “At gigs I’m the one who plays the pitch pipe see SING / page 5

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April 10, 2015 by The Collegiate Times - Issuu