Dec. 5, 2017

2017 collegiatetimes.com

December 5, 2017

COLLEGIATETIMES

year in review

editor@collegiatetimes.com

COLLEGIATE

TIMES

NEWSROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231-9865 Editor-in-Chief: Matt Jones (editor@collegiatetimes.com) Managing editors: Jessica Brady and Meg Connors Design editors: Sajanee Chithranjan and Ashley Long Copy editors: Hannah Goode and Becky Sutton News editor: Izzy Rossi Lifestyles editor: Katelyn Meade Assistant lifestyles editor: John Battiston Sports editor: Jordan Hutchinson Assistant sports editors: Nathan Loprete and Chase Parker Opinions editor: Neha Ogale Photo editor: Kaila Nathaniel Social media editors: Anna Davis and Max Watkins Have a news tip? newstips@collegiatetimes.com

PAGE 2 December 5, 2017

collegiatetimes.com

BUSINESS STAFF. . . . . . . . . . . . 231-9860 Business Manager: Breanna Anderson (business@collegemedia.com) COLLEGE MEDIA SOLUTIONS . . 2319860 solutions.collegemedia.com advertising@collegemedia.com The Collegiate Times, a division of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, was established in 1903 by and for the students of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The Collegiate Times is published every Tuesday of the academic year except during exams and vacations.

To order a reprint of a photograph printed in the Collegiate Times, visit reprints. collegemedia.com. The Collegiate Times is a division of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to provide educational experience in business and production of mass media for Virginia Tech students. © Collegiate Times, 2017.

All rights reserved. Material published in the Collegiate Times is the property thereof, and may not be reprinted without the express written consent of the Collegiate Times.

Town Gown discusses transportation The Town-Gown meeting of students and Blacksburg community members discussed strengths and weaknesses of Blacksburg Transit and alternative transportation.

EMILY CARTER news staff writer

On Thursday, Nov. 30, Virginia Tech students and members of the Blacksburg community met with employees of Blacksburg Transit (BT) in the Great Room of Ambler Johnston Hall. The discussion, which is part of the annual series of monthly meetings put on by the Town-Gown Committee, covered current transportation on Virginia Tech’s campus along with transportation changes that may happen in the future.

Steve Ross, deputy town manager of Blacksburg and co-chair of the Town-Gown Committee, led the meeting.

Tom Fox, the director of Blacksburg Transit, and Jeri Baker, the director of Parking and Transportation at Virginia Tech, attended the meeting and answered questions from the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community.

The meeting started off with Baker explaining the relationship between Virginia Tech and alternative transportation.

“Virginia Tech collects money for transportation through student fees. So we provide funding to Blacksburg Transit,

“

To keep the price of parking passes down, I’m looking at other revenues to bring in.”

Jeri Baker director of Parking and Transportation at Virginia Tech

and in return, they provide the transportation for faculty, staff and students,” Baker said.

Fox said it is hard to hire full-time bus drivers because of Virginia Tech’s academic schedule.

“A continuing challenge for us is having enough bus operators to put out the level of service that is needed, and part of the reason is that we have a lot of part-time bus operators. Our service varies drastically when Tech is in session, and when it is not, we can’t support a full-time workforce

MATT JONES / COLLEGIATE TIMES A Town-Gown meeting in the Great Room of Ambler-Johnston Hall, Sept. 21, 2017.

that has benefits,” Fox said.

Baker said she tries to avoid building more parking places because she doesn’t want the prices to go up for people who purchase parking passes.

“Parking is 100 percent self-supported.

Anything I can do to delay (building) more parking on campus is better. The only people that help me pay my bills are the faculty, staff and students who (buy parking passes) on this campus. ... If someone says ‘build another garage’ that means all of our parking permits and the cost to park for an hour goes up because my only funding model is people who use my service,” Baker said.

Fairen Horner, a communications and customer support assistant for Blacksburg Transit, says BT tries to make students feel more comfortable taking the buses around campus.

“We do get a lot of people who say (they haven’t ridden the bus) because they’re scared: They don’t know what to do and they don’t know how to pull the cord and things that we may find simple they don’t understand yet. We try to make them feel like they’re not stupid for not knowing, and we can teach them,” Horner said.

A few Virginia Tech students in the audience mentioned other bus services with which they were familiar and gave suggestions such as a color or number system to make the bus routes less confusing for students.

“I’ve heard the conversation a lot about whether we should change our naming, and when we created our new system map, we ran out of colors to differentiate the different routes,” Fox said.

Baker said she would like to be able to make everyone who uses parking spaces pay some amount of money to the cost of parking passes down for people who use it on a daily basis.

“To keep the price of parking passes down, I’m looking at other revenues to bring in. My (philosophy) is ‘if you use the service, you should help pay for it.’

Whether you’re a faculty, staff, student, contractor, visitor, vendor, business person, if you’re using a service I make other people pay for, you should pay for it also ... and that’s fair,” Baker said.

@CollegiateTimes

As we wrap up 2017, we review the Collegiate Times’ best news coverage, in chronological order.

COMMUNITY MEMBERS CONDEMN STEVE BANNON: In an open letter published by the Collegiate Times in January, community members denounced Steve Bannon, then-chief strategist of the Trump administration and a Virginia Tech alumnus. The Virginia Tech administration declined to issue a statement or condemnation.

DEATH-DEFYING FALL OFF CASCADES:

Prosecutors believe Virginia Tech freshman David Eisenhauer murdered 13-year-old Nicole Lovell with the help of freshman Natalie Keepers. Keepers told the police that Eisenhauer worried Lovell was pregnant just weeks before he allegedly murdered her.

TURNER PLACE TO OFFER ONLINE ORDERING:

JUN YU / COLLEGIATE TIMES

PAIGE NEUBAUER DIES IN CRASH:

Virginia Tech student Paige Neubauer of Virginia Beach, 21, died March 31 in a car accident. A three-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 killed Delta Gamma sister Neubauer and a Radford University student and sent five individuals to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

UNIVERSITY DISAGREES WITH LA PORTE PETITION: In response to a petition created by three Virginia Tech students to encourage Tech’s administration to name the new cadet residence hall after Matthew La Porte, a cadet killed during the April 16, 2007, shooting at Tech, the administration decided against naming the new building La Porte Hall.

This past spring, Virginia Tech announced plans to offer a new online ordering system in its dining halls to ease overcrowding. The system, called Tapingo, was piloted this fall in Turner Hall before expanding to ANNA FRIESEN / COLLEGIATE TIMES multiple locations.

PETITION TO NAME BUILDING AFTER LA PORTE:

Three Virginia Tech students launched a petition asking the university administration to name the new cadet residence hall after Matthew La Porte, one of the 32 slain 10 years ago in the country’s most CATIE CARRERAS / COLLEGIATE TIMES deadly school mass shooting.

collegiatetimes.com

Following a 60-foot fall off the top of the Cascades hike, ROTC cadet Chris Elmer felt the full force of the Hokie community when a Tilt page was made to raise money to cover his medical expenses — and quickly exceeded the page creator’s expectations.

WILLIAM MORVA EXECUTED:

Virginia executed its 113th death-row inmate since 1982: William Morva, a 35-year-old man convicted of killing two in Montgomery County in a 2006 escape. Morva’s sanity was brought up as he petitioned for clemency.

PRESIDENT SANDS ASKS FOR REVIEW:

VIRGINIA TECH REVEALS NEW LOGO, BRANDING: Getting rid of the university tagline “Invent the Future,” Virginia Tech released its new logo. With the goal of re-energizing Virginia Tech’s image, the new logo and brand aim to better communicate the true message from Virginia Tech to the world. The symbolic structure received mixed reviews from the Hokie community.

TUAN TRAN / COLLEGIATE TIMES

December 5, 2017 PAGE 3

After the events of August in Charlottesville, President Sands directed Menah PrattClarke, vice president for strategic affairs and vice provost for inclusion and diversity, to look into the historical context surrounding buildings and spaces on campus named for controversial historical figures.

NEW DETAILS IN THE LOVELL CASE:

editor@collegiatetimes.com

TOP 10 STORIES OF THE YEAR

editor@collegiatetimes.com

news collegiatetimes.com/news

Smart Road helps researchers improve safety The Smart Road helps researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) to improve safety of roads and vehicles based on information gathered from the 17 years since the Smart Road opened.

MIKE LIU

PAGE 4 December 5, 2017

collegiatetimes.com

SGA beat reporter

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) announced that the Virginia Smart Road has logged more than 26,000 hours of research on the road. The Smart Road has been open for 17 years and serves as a resource to help make roads, vehicles and drivers safer.

The VTTI was founded in 1988 as the Center for Transportation Research. The main focus for VTTI is intelligent vehicle and infrastructure research.

Starting with only 15 employees, the research institute expanded over the years, and has grown into a facility with close to 500 employees. According to the VTTI website, VTTI is the second largest university-level transportation institute in the U.S. “To become what we are today, VTTI has had to grow in size and complexity,” said Tom Dingus, director of VTTI, in a written statement in a VTTI information brochure. “However, we are still a family at our core; we are a community committed to conducting cutting-edge research to save lives, save time, save money, and protect the environment.”

The Virginia Smart Road was built in 2000 and is a closed testing facility.

According to Anne Deekens, technical communicator for VTTI, the Virginia Smart Road is one of the world’s most advanced testing facilities for transportation and safety research.

The Virginia Depar tment of Transportation (VDOT) built and owns the Smart Road, while Virginia Tech and VTTI facilitate testing on it.

The Smart Road is designed for advanced-vehicle testing research, allowing researchers at VTTI to test automated vehicles with different types of advanced technology in a unique

recreated urban environment.

When the Smart Road was first built, it was 2.2 miles in length, but is now 2.5 miles in length after two expansions.

The road has two paved lanes as well as lighting and weather control systems.

According to Deekens, the lighting system is able to recreate 95 percent of the lighting conditions on the U.S. roadways. The weather system is also able to simulate driving conditions under the influence of rain, fog and snow.

The road is equipped with various sensors. Studied vehicles are often installed with data acquisition systems.

Small cameras are also installed in the studied vehicles for researchers to study the participants’ reactions to certain road conditions.

The Smart Road has had two major expansions since it was built: a surface street expansion and a live roadway connector expansion.

The surface street expansion allows researchers to recreate environments such as suburban neighborhoods and city intersections. The expansion added buildings, a roundabout, stop-controlled intersections, reconfigurable automation-compatible pavement markings and roadside features to the Smart Road.

All the added features are completely configurable in a short period of time.

“Essentially, we can go from creating a multitude of different types of urban environments within a matter of hours,” Deekens said, “so we can offer a lot of different options to the auto manual factors and government agencies that we work with.”

The live roadway connector expansion increases the length of the Smart Road to 2.5 miles. According to Deekens, the live roadway connector allows users the ability to seamlessly transition between a live traffic environment and closed test

MIKE LIU / COLLEGIATE TIMES The Smart Road at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), Dec. 1, 2017.

tracks, linking the Smart Road and new expansion projects directly to a public road.

The live roadway connector enables researchers to study participants and vehicles during long periods of time on the road.

The Smart Road will see two more expansion projects in 2018: automation hub and rural roadway expansion.

Deekens described the automation hub as an extended internship program for graduate and undergraduate students at Virginia Tech, allowing them to collaborate with faculty members and automotive industry partners on research projects.

The rural roadway expansion will increase the length of the Smart Road once again. According to Deekens, the rural roadway expansion allows VTTI to become the first facility to be able to offer automated vehicle testing in our own recreated world environment.

The rural roadway expansion will add unpaved, hilly and winding roads to the Smart Road and allow researchers to

create more challenging conditions for testing.

“We feel that it’s really important to start looking into this and offering this for suppliers, auto manual factors, other government agencies that we work with, because according to the Department of Transportation, about two-thirds of the roadways in the U.S. are actually rural.

This research has the potential to affect a large swath of the country,” Deekens said.

VTTI is currently working with about 100 sponsors conducting research on the Smart Road. The sponsors include major auto companies such as Ford and Toyota and government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“We are fortunate to get to work with so many industry leaders on ways to make sure that our roads and drivers are safer,” Deekens said.

@CollegiateTimes

editor@collegiatetimes.com

opinions collegiatetimes.com/opinion

ZACK WAJSGRAS / COLLEGIATE TIMES Community members protest Donald Trump’s immigration ban as well as his goal to construct a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, Jan 30, 2017.

Words play role in stigma around Latin immigrants Employing loaded and incendiary language to describe an entire group of people is an attack on their character.

CELESTE ROGERS • opinions contributor • freshman/meteorology

D

espite over whelm ing evidence and public com ment s t hat t he Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines would repeatedly violate Virginia water quality standards, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is recommending that the Water Control Board approve Water Quality Certifications. This is a rushed, rash and reckless decision that not only jeopardizes our rivers and streams, but our drinking water as well.

Nowhere is our drinking water more threatened than in the extensive areas of karst that the pipelines would pass through. Most folks in these areas use springs and wells as their only water source, with no public water available. Even public drinking water sources are vulnerable in karst areas. I proceeded over inspection, investigation and enforcement of pollution from a source 3 miles away from Walkersville, Maryland, where 5,000 people were deprived of town drinking water for three weeks. Virginia officials are exposing

themselves to responsibility for the next Flint, Michigan, water crisis by this extremely unwise decision.

I believe that pipeline construction, should it go forward, will receive unprecedented public scrutiny. Water quality violations will be routinely found, quickly circulated through the media and reported to the DEQ. Instead of the DEQ fining the pipeline companies for those violations and pocketing the proceeds, it should match it and give it to the communities who suffer the consequences of water pollution.

Furthermore, the DEQ should guarantee clean drinking water for everyone within 2 miles of these pipelines in karst areas, so if their water is destroyed by pipeline construction or operation, the DEQ supplies them with clean water and pays for the loss of property value from an artificial and suspect water system.

In other words, the DEQ should put its money where its mouth is.

WILLIAM LIMPERT Warm Springs, Virginia

December 5, 2017 PAGE 5

in the connotations surrounding the words “illegal alien” and “invader,” consequently dehumanizing immigrants and their intentions. No human should be considered illegal just for pursuing better lives for themselves and their families. Perhaps some criminals illegally enter the United States, carrying drugs or operating as hitmen, but I do not believe that the actions of a select few should define and invalidate an entire group of people.

The truth of the matter is that the careless use of the English language has consequently demonized immigrants, hurting them both socially and economically. President Donald Trump’s prejudiced statements have increasingly normalized and emboldened xenophobic behavior in certain American demographics.

A study conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies shows a detailed report offering the shortcomings of crime rates among immigrants in comparison to those among native-born citizens. Prevalent distrust of and subsequent discrimination against immigrants — specifically, those from Latin American countries — limits their opportunities to lead better lives for themselves and their families, ultimately contradicting the very statute on which our country prides itself.

The Virginia DEQ must guarantee clean water

collegiatetimes.com

T

he United States has long prided itself on its diversity and inclusivity, coining itself a melting pot in which many racially and ethnically different peoples have come together, assimilated into society and become American — sharing one overarching culture while retaining their heritage and its traditions.

The Immigration Act of 1917 was a landmark piece of legislation that established quotas for immigration into the United States from certain regions of the world, favoring Europeans over, say, Latin Americans.

Immigration quotas based on ethnicity and race were not abolished until the passage of the Hart-Celler Immigration Act of 1965, which prioritized uniting families by granting naturalized immigrants the ability to sponsor relatives in their homelands.

In 1985, former President Ronald Reagan asserted that the United States had lost control of its borders to an invasion of illegal immigrants. Reagan’s statement reinforced the notion that unauthorized immigration directly correlated to the issue of national security and further created the common culture of demonizing illegal immigrants by labeling them as criminals, rapists, invaders, drug smugglers and job stealers.

The widespread demonization of Latin American immigrants — both legally and illegally — to the United States is rooted

your views [letter to the editor]

editor@collegiatetimes.com

opinions collegiatetimes.com/opinion

column

Corporate greed underscores safety of coal miners, perpetuating brutish culture of coal mining industry

PAGE 6 December 5, 2017

collegiatetimes.com

D

uring the past year, the plight of coal miners has been brought to the forefront by the constant statements by President Trump about how he aims to assist the coal industry. Trump has promised to bring coal jobs back and has appointed the former owner of International Coal Group, Wilbur Ross, to his cabinet. He seems to conflate coal miners with coal companies without recognizing that each group has very different goals.

Coal miners have found their fates intertwined with the companies for which they work. Many mining towns have only the coal industry to rely on, with the company as their financial backbone. Plenty of people in these places express their gratitude and their faith in the companies that, in many cases, generations of their families have worked for. Unfortunately, that sense of loyalty does not always extend to the people running the mines.

Coal mining is an incredibly dangerous job. Over the years, workplace regulations and the work of labor unions have helped to make it safer than it was originally, but mine work is still risky.

Some of the large coal companies have grown notorious for workplace accidents associated with improper working conditions or denying the adverse effects of mine work.

One such company is Murray Energy, which made headlines in 2007 after a mine collapsed, leading to the deaths of nine people. Despite the U.S. government releasing a report stating that the cause was a lapse in workplace safety, Murray Energy and its CEO have continued to insist that it was caused by an earthquake.

The danger even extends beyond the mine. With environmental protections being stripped away, the communities

first to feel the effects will be people living near the mines. For instance, mining debris has found its way into the drinking water of these communities, creating serious health issues, like birth defects and cancer, for the population.

In addition to their misleading statements about health and safety, coal companies are projecting a false sense of confidence in the future of the coal industry. Even without many of the regulations that were in place under previous presidents, the fact of the matter is that coal is a dying industry. More and more businesses are turning to either natural gas or renewable energy, which are cheaper and more efficient sources.

Even if this were not the case, mining is becoming more and more automatized, thereby requiring less manpower.

“

Miners derserve to be protected from the companies that could potentially turn on them.”

What adds to the tragedy is that miners can be silenced and prevented from openly discussing potential dangers.

The official report on the collapse of the Upper Big Branch states that the systematic suppression of questions, raised by both politicians and private citizens, has adversely affected mine safety and allowed coal companies to work with little oversight. Kentucky coal miners Reuben Shemwell and Anthony Young filed safety discrimination complaints against the company that they worked for, Armstrong Coal Co. Their complaints went unheeded, and Shemwell was sued by Armstrong Coal

CHICAGO TRIBUNE / TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE Daniel Couch, assistant director of maintenance for Murray Energy, shines his headlamp on the front end of a continuous miner machine at the American Coal Company’s New Future coal mine during a tour, Aug. 30, 2017.

Co. after making his initial complaint.

Workers at a mine owned by Murray Energy went a day without pay and were allegedly forced to attend a Mitt Romney campaign rally under threat of being fired if they refused. All of this paints a picture of an industry that does not appear to care much for its workers.

The person in the Trump administration who has the greatest knowledge of the coal industry is likely the aforementioned Wilbur Ross, former owner of a coal company and current secretary of commerce. However, the Sago coal mine — which was owned by Ross — exploded, killing a dozen miners.

After that tragedy, Ross insisted that the mine was safe, despite the fact that it had received over 270 safety citations

over the span of the two years before the accident.

The plight of coal miners has grown worse in the past few years with the decline of coal usage. While it is admirable of politicians to support these workers and offer assistance, the workers should not be put into the same group as the companies that they work for. If anything, miners deserve to be protected from the companies that could potentially turn on them or even lead them to their deaths.

SALLY DUKES • opinions columnist • junior/political science

collegiatetimes.com/lifestyles

Tech’s OLVT kicks off a collegiate space race

editor@collegiatetimes.com

lifestyles

With the construction of a payload rocket to be sent into orbit, Tech’s Orbital Launch Vehicle Team aims to make one giant leap for Hokie kind. The vehicle is set to be launched by the 2018–19 academic year.

MICHAELA KREITER lifestyles staff writer

couple of organizations granting it pieces to build the rocket, and is currently working on reaching out to other major companies to gain support.

The club has a wide range of students on the team, all of whom bring their own skills to the production of these rockets.

There is a wide array of engineers on the team as well as business and communications students.

“When you have a team like ours where everyone is passionate about the same goal, you can accomplish anything,” Gabrilowitz said.

OLVT continues to plan for its ultimate

goal and is working on several rockets to gain an idea of how this will all play out.

“I like being a part of something that’s bigger than myself, and it’s awesome to see how big projects can form close friendships,” said junior civil engineering major Kylie Gish. “In the next year I see OLVT being a recognized design team and a club that people are wanting to be a part of at Virginia Tech.”

930 Sq. Ft.

VIRGINIA

December 5, 2017 PAGE 7

VIRGINIA

COURTESY OF KYLIE GISH

@CollegiateTimes

collegiatetimes.com

Even if it is no longer the university’s official motto, “Invent the Future” is still something that Virginia Tech students stand by.

Two students, Jake Gabrilowitz and Sanzio Angeli, decided to pursue these words to their full extent.

Together, they came up with the Orbital Launch Vehicle Team (OLVT).

This club’s goal is to ultimately create a payload rocket that will be sent into orbit.

If successful, Virginia Tech will be the first university to ever achieve this — creating the university version of a space race.

“Sanzio came up with the idea to be the first amateur organization to orbit the Earth, and at first I told him he was crazy; a few months later I came around to the idea, and we settled that we would have a rocket in orbit by the time we graduated,” said junior Jake Gabrilowitz, OLVT co-president.

The team is separated into multiple groups of students who apply a different skill set, including mechanical systems, propulsion, avionics, business and public relations. Each group tends to different parts of the rocket, eventually coming together and creating the final outcome.

OLVT has built three rockets and conducted seven successful launches throughout the United States. In the spring of 2017, the team traveled to Maryland and practiced its first launch, and in September 2017, the team traveled to Nevada where it conducted launches achieving heights of 0.75 mile and 1 mile.

The team recently traveled to Kansas where the rocket reached heights of 2 and 3.2 miles.

“A year from now I see OLVT in their own space, beginning to build the biggest most powerful rocket that any college has ever seen,” Gabrilowitz said.

The team has been working on numerous rockets in preparation for the major launch. By the 2018–19 academic year, it plans to build and launch the rocket that will reach space, and then by the following year, it plans to send the rocket off that will go into orbit.

“We look at our dreams and think of them as a plan,” Gabrilowitz said. “On top of that, we have been lucky to form a team that shares the same excitement and thirst for innovation that we do.”

OLVT has been reaching out to numerous organizations to gain support for this major task it is working toward achieving. As the desire for a big rocket grows, so does the amount of money needed to fund the rocket. OLVT has a

editor@collegiatetimes.com

lifestyles collegiatetimes.com/lifestyles

Virginia Tech student illustrates children’s book

“The Berry Patch,” a new book by Blacksburg local Elise Monsour Puckett, was released on Dec. 1. relate to that. It’s nice to see people get happiness from something I created.” lifestyles editor The process of illustrating the book was long, taking about a year. The “You don’t have boundaries when process began with the book that Puckett writing like this,” said Tessa Riley.

Riley may only seem like a fifth-year had already written, eventually deciding Virginia Tech student majoring in visual on Riley to illustrate the book, then from communication, but what doesn’t meet there Riley began sketching (with waterthe eye is that come Dec. 1, she is also a color pencils) and corresponding with published illustrator of a new children’s Puckett about what each page should look like. book, “The Berry Patch.”

“We spent a lot of time figuring out The author of “The Berry Patch,” Elise Monsour Puckett, a Blacksburg local, what we wanted the two main characters reached out to students in Riley’s major to look like. … Then it was just a lot of through their listserv, and after the long depicting the scene, and then I would process of back and forth emails and sketch it out, basically get her approval, sketches, Riley landed her dream job of and then start adding color to the pages … then bringing them onto (the) computer illustrating Puckett’s book. to manipulate the color more,” Riley said.

Riley said that she and Puckett spent a lot of time just describing the scene, when You kind of start to see it Puckett would use words such as “whimcoming together and it’s sical” and “imaginative” to describe what really worthwhile.” she wanted the pages to look like. While Tessa Riley Riley says that Puckett has been writing illustrator for a while, this is the first book that she has self-published, and Riley is more than happy to be a part of it.

Besides the moment when the final “The Berry Patch” is about two kids named Scout and Kit (based on Puckett’s product landed in her hands, Riley said children) who go on an adventure and that her favorite part of the process was meet a mouse named Henry, who teaches adding color to the pages.

“You kind of start to see it coming the kids about berries, specifically the differences between berries that are safe together and it’s really worthwhile,” Riley said. to eat and ones that are poisonous.

As a student and an officially published Riley has been drawing since she was a kid, but said that she has always known illustrator, Riley said that her biggest that she wanted to illustrate children’s hopes for the book is for everyone to see it, and eventually for it to sell in stores (it books.

“There are different sides of design is currently only sold on Amazon).

There will be a launch party for the and this is just always the side that I’ve gone to. It a smaller niche, but I don’t book at the Imaginations Toy Store in know, it’s kind of a challenge to design Blacksburg on Dec. 10, starting at 2 p.m. for children,” Riley said. “It’s fun to kind of go back and remember what made me @Meade_Katelyn happy as a kid, and I think everyone can

PAGE 8 December 5, 2017

collegiatetimes.com

KATELYN MEADE

“

COURTESY OF TESSA RILEY

As temperatures drop and the Drillfield becomes a giant wind tunnel, try to keep yourself from becoming a human popsicle.

GRETCHEN KERNBACH lifestyles staff writer

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY WILL CAMPBELL

win-win situation.

Consuming hot beverages is another way to stay warm in the winter. Drinks such as coffee, tea and hot chocolate are good choices. And if the temperature is too cold for a drink to do anything, pour it down the inside of your shirt. The burning sensation

will definitely distract your mind from the freezing temperatures.

Grow your hair out this winter and use it as an extra scarf. Boys, let that beard grow into your own personal, soft blanket of warmth. Let’s use what Mother Nature gave us to our advantage.

Of course, the easiest way to stay warm altogether is to just stay inside underneath your covers and watch endless hours of Netflix. But we are here to “learn” and “educate ourselves,” so not going to class isn’t exactly ideal.

So the ideal option is signing up for as many online classes as you can.

Try your best for the few months to keep those body temperatures high (not at 104 though, you’d be dead) and stress low. We only have a short amount of time before we can all hibernate at home.

@GretchTheCatch

are you

collegiatetimes.com

As we get deeper into the colder months, walking outside gets more and more unpleasant. The dropping temperatures and Blacksburg wind gusts make walking to class worse than getting stabbed in the eye with a pencil.

Staying warm while braving the outdoors can be tough, but it is doable if you go about it the right way. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to stay toasty and avoid frostbite?

First things first, layer up. I’m talking two pairs of leggings, two pairs of socks (under those classic duck boots I know you all own), two shirts, a scarf and a hat. And of course, a parka that swallows your entire body.

The only problem is, if you wear all of those clothes, you’ll most likely have to perform a strip tease for your class. I would highly recommend not walking into Randolph or McBryde dressed like

that unless you want to feel like you’re in a sauna.

Another way to avoid being miserably cold in the winter is to sever off all toes, fingers and ears. They can’t get frozen if they don’t exist anymore.

Don’t want to conduct any self-amputation? Buy yourself a portable heater and roll it around with you all day. Or, drive yourself to campus and park your car right up next to the building. That way you only have 10 feet to bear outside. Sure, you might mow down some bikers in the process, but it’s all worth being warm.

Invest in a Snuggie or two. That way you can wear one the normal way and the other like a jacket so you have all sides of your body covered. No one will judge you; if anything they’ll applaud your great idea.

Try breaking out in a sprint to your class.

It is common science knowledge that your body heats up while working out, so why not get some extra exercise in? You will make yourself warm and cut down the time it takes to get to class — basically, a

editor@collegiatetimes.com

How to stay warm through the Blacksburg winter

to be a physician?

VCOM, a medical school in Blacksburg, Virginia was inspired by a vision to bring physicians to medically underserved areas.

inspired...

www.vcom.edu

For a copy of our Outcomes Reports, please see www.vcom.edu/outcomes. ©2017 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. All rights reserved. VCOM is certified by the State Council of Higher Education to operate in Virginia.

December 5, 2017 PAGE 9

Our students are inspired by the College mission and focus on caring for those most in need. Visit us online to find out how you will be

editor@collegiatetimes.com

TOP 10 SPORTS STORIES OF THE YEAR It was an action-packed year in Virginia Tech sports. Take a look back at some of the biggest sports stories.

HOKIES UPSET NO.12 HOOS IN DOUBLE OVERTIME:

Call it a miracle, or call it divine intervention. But one thing is for sure — no Virginia Tech basketball fan will ever forget the time that the ball got stuck on the rim.

MEHHER HASNANY / COLLEGIATE TIMES

VIRGINIA TECH MEN’S TENNIS TO DEBUT: In 2017, the Virginia Tech men’s tennis team introduced a live line-call review and challenge system when it faced off against the College of Charleston. The Hokies were the first ever college team to LOREN SKINKER / COLLEGIATE TIMES implement the technology.

JOEY SLYE IS KICKING CANCER TO HONOR HIS BROTHER:

HOKIES GO DANCING FOR FIRST TIME IN A DECADE:

collegiatetimes.com

The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament after going 22–10 during the regular season. The Hokies faced Wisconsin in the first round as a No. 9 seed.

BUZZ WILLIAMS’ OBSESSION WITH PHOTOS SHAPES VISION ON AND OFF THE COURT:

Buzz Williams has helped transform the direction of the men’s basketball team, but his love for photography is something that comes from his childhood. His personal photographer Christina Wolfe captures important moments from the season.

JOHN SZEFC NAMED BASEBALL HEAD COACH:

Virginia Tech announced the hiring of head coach John Szefc over the summer of 2017. With a renovated stadium about to open, the Hokies needed to make a change after missing out on the ACC Tournament for the second straight year.

AHMED MUSTAFA / COLLEGIATE TIMES

MICHAEL VICK LOOKS BACK ON HIS VIRGINIA TECH CAREER: Former Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick sits down with the Collegiate Times and reviews his brief, but storied career at Virginia Tech.

THE ‘HOKIE POKIE’ IS NO LONGER WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT:

The third quarter stretch at Virginia Tech football games saw a major change in 2017, as the “Hokie Pokie” was replaced by a new tradition.

Instead of the classic song and dance, the period between the third and fourth quarter is now host to a blast from Skipper, followed by “Let’s Go, Hokies!” chants that are led by an honorary guest.

COLLEGE GAMEDAY RETURNS TO BLACKSBURG: PAGE 10 December 5, 2017

Virginia Tech kicker Joey Slye lost his brother, A.J., to leukemia, a type of blood cancer. Since the tragic incident, the senior kicker has been campaigning to raise money to help fight the illness.

COMMONWEALTH CUP STAYS IN BLACKSBURG:

With Virginia Tech off to a 4–0 start, ESPN selected Blacksburg as the location for College GameDay. The show had not been to Blacksburg since 2007.

ZOE SCOPA / COLLEGIATE TIMES

For the 14th consecutive year, Virginia Tech defeated in-state rival Virginia. With a 10–0 win, the Hokies improved to 9–3 in 2017.

AHMED MUSTAFA / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Tech downed Radford for the eighth straight time on Sunday. Regan Magarity scored a career-high 28 points.

JORDAN HUTCHINSON sports editor

The 540 belongs to Virginia Tech.

For now at least, as the Virginia Tech Lady Hokies won their seventh game of the season, beating Radford in a New River Valley showdown. With the win, the Hokies advance to 7–2 on the season.

“I was disappointed in the way we played, because I know we can play better,” said Hokies’ head coach Kenny Brooks. “Other than the fact that Regan (Magarity) played out of her mind, I thought that we didn’t really have anyone step up and play to their capabilities.”

Redshirt-junior forward Regan Magarity led the way with a career-high

28 points and 12 rebounds in the Hokies’ win over the Highlanders.

“I think it’s just staying aggressive,” she said. “My teammates rely on me getting rebounds, so I know have to step up and do that, and the coaches are on me, ‘Keep attacking, keep shooting.’ So I think just applying what we work on.”

Point guard Chanette Hicks had 12 and dished out four assists for Tech.

For the third straight game, forward Alexis Jean has been sidelined with an injury. Brooks said that it’s a lower-extremity injury and that Jean will be out for at least the near future, but is unsure of what specifically the issue is.

“I wish I could tell you. I’m not dodging the question, I just don’t know a

After trailing for the majority of the game, Virginia Tech had to use overtime to defeat Ole Miss on Saturday.

JORDAN HUTCHINSON sports editor

@JHutchinsonVT

December 5, 2017 PAGE 11

Virginia Tech, after playing its best game of the season on Wednesday, won its grittiest game of the season today.

The Hokies downed Ole Miss, 83–80, in overtime, after trailing by 16 points in the first half. The win gave Tech its second win over a “Power 5” team in the last six days. Virginia Tech is now 7–1 this season, with a sole loss to Saint Louis. If the Hokies keep winning, that loss will be drowned out, come March.

“There were a couple times where we could’ve gone away and everyone would have understood,” said Tech head coach Buzz Williams. “But we didn’t. We kept battling.”

Ole Miss controlled the game for nearly the entire time. The Rebels led the Hokies for 37 of the 45 minutes played.

Tech fought back to force overtime, and kept it close enough to pull away late.

This was one of, if not the, best game for Virginia Tech’s forwards this season.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. led the way for Tech,

scoring 17 and grabbing five rebounds.

Chris Clarke had a double-double, scoring 16 and securing 13 rebounds.

The guards were excellent for Tech, too. Both Justin Robinson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 13, and Justin Bibbs scored 11. Robinson also had eight assists for the Hokies in Oxford.

The Rebels were led by Terence Davis and Breein Tyree, who scored 17 points a piece. Ole Miss fell to 4–3 after the home loss to the Hokies.

“We led the game for over 80 percent of it,” said Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy. “We have to close out the game.”

Virginia Tech will return home and welcome cross-town foe, Radford to Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

@JHutchinsonVT

ANTHONY WU / COLLEGIATE TIMES Regan Magarity (11) drives the ball closer to the net, Dec. 3, 2017

collegiatetimes.com

Men’s basketball rallies for overtime win on road

whole lot. She’s going to have it looked at on Tuesday. I don’t anticipate having her back for a while.”

Radford was led by forward Janayla White, who scored 13 and secured 14 rebounds. Guard Khiana Johnson scored 12, but went 0–9 from beyond the arc.

The Highlanders fell to 3–2 this season, but have played without two of their best players as of late.

Virginia Tech will welcome Maryland Eastern Shore to Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in pursuit of an 8–2 record.

editor@collegiatetimes.com

Women’s hoops wins cross-town rivalry vs. Radford

editor@collegiatetimes.com

sports collegiatetimes.com/sports

Virginia Tech earns a trip to Camping World Bowl The Hokies will face a talented Oklahoma State team in Orlando on Dec. 28 for a chance at 10 wins.

NATHAN LOPRETE

PAGE 12 December 5, 2017

collegiatetimes.com

assistant sports editor

In year two of the Justin Fuente era, the Virginia Tech football program has a chance for back-to-back 10-win seasons.

They’ll get that chance on Dec. 28 when the Hokies travel to Orlando to play in the Camping World Bowl. They will face an explosive Oklahoma State team that went 9–3 this season.

When the college football ranking came out on Sunday, the Hokies found themselves No. 22 in the rankings, while Oklahoma State was No. 19. This will be the Hokies’ second trip to this bowl game. Back in 2012 when it was called the Russell Athletic Bowl, Virginia Tech defeated Rutgers 13–10 in overtime.

The spot in Orlando opened up for

the Hokies after Wisconsin fell to Ohio State on Saturday night. The Badgers dropped to No. 6 which was the highest ranking for a non-champion out of the Big Ten and SEC. Wisconsin will head to the Orange Bowl to play Miami. That left Notre Dame for the Citrus Bowl and the Hokies got the Camping World Bowl.

Oklahoma State will bring an offense to Orlando that is led by quarterback Mason Rudolph. The senior has thrown for 4,553 yards this year which is the most in the nation. He has also thrown 35 touchdowns to just nine interceptions.

Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster will have his hands full as the Cowboys have talented receivers, including James Washington who has caught 69 passes for over 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns. Both him and Rudolph

AHMED MUSTAFA / COLLEGIATE TIMES Virginia Tech’s Chris Cunningham (85) looks to catch a touchdown pass as Virginia’s Quin Blanding (3) defends him, Nov. 24, 2017.

are All-American candidates.

Oklahoma State is No. 1 in the nation in passing offense. The Cowboys average 392.3 yards through the air and 46.3 points per game which is second nationally. On the flip side, the Virginia Tech defense is giving up just 187.2 yards

info on the go The 2017 Camping World Bowl between Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech on Dec. 28 will be broadcast on ESPN. Kickoff is 5:15 p.m.

per game through the air.

This will be the third matchup between the Cowboys and Hokies with the last meeting coming in 1972 when Virginia Tech beat Oklahoma State 34–32. That win avenged a 24–16 loss in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1971.

Virginia Tech (9–3, 5–3) and Oklahoma State (9–3, 6–3) will kick off at 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 28. This will be their 25th consecutive bowl game which is the second longest streak in the nation (Florida State–35).

@NathanLoprete

AHMED MUSTAFA / COLLEGIATE TIMES Virginia Tech Hokies’ defensive lineman Ricky Walker (8), linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka (54) and Tremaine Edmunds (49) celebrate following a sack, Nov. 24, 2017.