November 5, 2019

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November 5, 2019

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Editor’s note: In the last issue, a pull quote on page four was accidentally attributed to Alex Picadas when it should have been attributed to Jianuo Huang.

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With lives at risk in Northern Syria, the US must decide its role as a foreign power amid conflict After the Kurds helped the U.S. overtake ISIS, President Donald Trump withdrew troops from Syria, leaving the Kurds vulnerable to attacks from the Syrian National Army and civilians questioning how the U.S. implements foreign policy.

A

fter his Oct. 16 phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria, resulting in outraged bipartisan disapproval from the House, anger and disbelief from the Kurds and an immediate, aggressive military offensive by Turkey.

Without U.S. presence, the Kurds, though having proven themselves to be impressive fighters in defeating ISIS, have already suffered casualties at the hands of the Syrian National Army. The U.S.requested removal of protective fortifications built in anticipation of Turkish offenses further complicated the fight and embittered the Kurds against the U.S. It’s unfortunately far harder to imagine that a peaceful solution will be agreed upon than for the Kurds to fight yet another conflict.

Regardless of any self-interest that may have motivated their efforts to defeat ISIS, working with the Syrian Democratic Forces cost them 11,000 fighters’ lives, a real sacrifice that should not be forgotten so immediately by the U.S. The Kurds have been battered and forced to move around for years while trying to find a home in the Middle East, and once again find themselves in danger. In volatile regions along the Turkish-Syria border, tensions bubbled up Saturday both in the form of a car bomb that claimed 13 lives and in angry protests against Turkey in Qamishli.

However, the situation is not as simple as just keeping our word and protecting

our very recent partner. Turkey, a NATO ally with a blemished relationship with the U.S., has a large population of Kurds living within its borders. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a U.S.-recognized Kurdish terrorist organization, has clashed with the Turkish government for years, resulting in nearly

alarm Israel, but in an interview with Leor Clark, the outreach and marketing chair of Friends of Israel at Virginia Tech, she held that the recent changes, though not necessarily favorable to Israel, are unlikely to cause any lasting damage to its relationship with the U.S. “Israel is a self-sufficient country.

“The U.S. needs to either accept its

role as a dominant power in the region with all of its responsibilities or commit to an uninvolved and less powerful position.

”

40,000 dead in that time. Its connection to the growing Syrian Kurdish population raises a national security threat of an internal uprising that has made Turkey extremely uneasy since the U.S. first armed the Syrian Kurds in 2017.

Some have even raised concerns that our departure leaves room for Russia to move in. Russia has already entered territory once held by Americans and has begun to take the U.S.’s place in mediating conflicts between Turkey and Syria.

The U.S. needs to either accept its role as a dominant power in the region with all of its responsibilities or commit to an uninvolved and less powerful position.

Israel, an increasingly crucial regional power, is also impacted by the withdrawal.

Some claim that a smaller U.S. presence in the region would embolden Iran and

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They have this notion that they can defend themselves, and I believe that is true,” Clark said. “(The U.S. withdrawal) does make the threat from Syria to Israel a little stronger, but that threat was already there to begin with ... I don’t think it affects

daily Israeli life; it hasn’t so far. People still go about their days.”

It’s difficult to accurately predict the effects of foreign policy, and as we’ve discovered through our rough history with Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s especially challenging in a tumultuous region like the Middle East. Do we want to prioritize American influence or fewer responsibilities? And will we stand by a powerful and potentially useful NATO ally or protect a loyal partner from brutal retribution?

It’s hard to find a clear way forward, but impossible until the U.S. chooses its end goal. As students at Virginia Tech, we are all members of the next generation of global citizens and have a duty to reflect on the U.S.’s evolving role in the world and how we will each contribute meaningfully towards it.

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BOC presents first black homecoming on campus One goal of the event included encouraging a more culturally inclusive homecoming experience for students.

GWYNDOLYN MILES news staff writer

“Sankofa,” meaning “to go back and get it,” is a word from the Twi language of Ghana that was used this year to represent Virginia Tech’s first black homecoming celebration.

From Oct. 14 to Oct. 19, students all across campus joined together in multiple different cultural celebrations hosted by the Black Organizations Council (BOC).

“We began planning the homecoming week at the start of Summer 2019,” said Michelle Ya Diul, secretary and historian of BOC. “There were many ambitious ideas that we had for the week; however, because of how late we started planning and our

limited funds, we could only do so much.”

The week consisted of a cultural showcase, “Pajama Gym Jam,” and a performance by popular artist Megan Thee Stallion at Burrus Hall on Oct. 17. The event was orchestrated by multiple different clubs and organizations including BOC, the Wahala Dance Team, the Moss Arts Center, the Black Student Alliance and the Black Caucus.

“The inspiration behind having a black homecoming was to find a way to bring the African American community together during homecoming, as it usually isn’t deemed a big (time) for most people,” Ya Diul said. “People just treat it as any ordinary week and we wanted to change that

TAYO OLADELE / COLLEGIATE TIMES Megan Thee Stallion performs in Burruss auditorium for the BSA Homecoming concert, Oct. 17, 2019.

atmosphere.”

The goal of black homecoming was to encourage a culturally inclusive celebration on the campus of Virginia Tech. All students were given the opportunity to participate, and being the inaugural year, the BOC has high hopes for next year’s celebration as well.

“In the future, I believe that now that we have time and have done this before, we will be more prepared in knowing how much we will need in terms of funding and we hope to have some type of pageantry event as well,” Ya Diul said. “Having a first run through has definitely allowed us to see the greater

potential this week can have.”

An overall goal of the week was to establish a more inclusive and culturally aware environment here on campus.

“At first there were some people who did not understand why having a black homecoming was significant to us, or why it was even necessary,” Ya Diul said. “Eventually Virginia Tech approved of us having Sankofa: The Black Homecoming, of which we are very grateful for.” @CollegiateTimes

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November 5, 2019 PAGE 5

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Cordia: The newest music app designed by a fellow Hokie Jack Windham created Cordia as a way for music lovers to share music openly with each other.

CAREY OAKES lifestyles staff writer

In 2017, Jack Windham asked if anyone was interested in joining a group chat to discuss music. Windham, now a sophomore majoring in computer science at Virginia Tech, discovered how in-demand this discourse truly was.

“So many joined it that we ran out of room, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ I already kind of knew how to program at that point, so I thought that would be a pretty good app,” Windham said.

Windham began to develop this idea into an app on and off in 2018. He set forward to produce an app that would allow others to discuss and exchange music freely. The app was thus christened under the name “Cordia.” Cordia is essentially a social networking platform for

music.

“Spotify or Apple Music is like the camera app, and Instagram is Cordia,” Windham said.

While you might be able to see what others are listening to at the moment on Spotify or Apple Music, these apps lack the capacities to post about your favorite song or album, explore others who listen to similar music or view your recently played tracks. Cordia has these capabilities and allows you to connect your means of music streaming to post about your current favorites for your friends to see and like.

Although Windham began to develop the app prior to his career as a Virginia Tech student, the university and his computer science courses have given him a glance into the industry standards and formatting. Windham reveals Cordia is

written in code language that he learned on his own.

“I instituted practices I have learned here at Tech in the app,” Windham said.

In addition to the university, Hokie Nation may have had a slight influence on the expansion of Cordia. Jack notes that he bugged his friends frequently about the app, and that he’s received inspiration from his Virginia Tech peers as well.

The future of Cordia might expect to see the ability to comment and repost other users’ music on your timeline. The app currently only occupies Apple’s app store but is soon to come to Android in the next six months.

“Advertising is going to be really hard to get it out there now that (the app) is done,” Windham said.

Currently, he is taking part in a Kickstarter competition that, if awarded,

might present him with the funds with which to advertise.

As for Windham, while computer science majors often yield a career in security or analytics, he seeks to do something slightly different.

“Computer security kind of bores me; I want to make something that [people] will be able to use,” Windham said.

Since Cordia’s inception, Windham has done just that.

More information regarding Cordia can be found at www.cordia.app.

@CollegiateTimes

New Netflix series ‘Living with Yourself’ has viewers seeing double Paul Rudd stars as Miles in a cloning attempt gone wrong. The Mileses must compete at work and for their wife’s affection.

JULIA FRANCIS lifestyles staff writer

Open a show with Paul Rudd clawing his way out of his own grave dressed only in a diaper, and you’re going to hold the viewer’s attention for at least an episode.

And that’s exactly what Netflix’s “Living with Yourself” does.

The show centers around Miles (Paul Rudd), a burnt-out middle-aged copywriter, seeking a drastic change to improve. So of course the answer is to undergo a vague and expensive medical procedure promising to make him a better version of himself in a strip mall. The procedure unsurprisingly goes wrong and results in two Mileses: the original and the cloned improved version. The intended result of the procedure was the original Miles to be left dead in the ground, with the clone taking his place. The concept is dark, and the casting of Rudd eclipses and masters every moment of hilarity,

suspense and existential crisis that the show has to offer.

The new version of Miles mirrors the image we all have of Paul Rudd; relatable, but not so relatable that you wouldn’t aspire to be like him. He excels at his job, is enthusiastic in his marriage, is kind to others and seems to be having a great time while doing it all. However, Miles quickly becomes his own worst enemy, threatening to take his life away from him.

Rudd has become typecast as this relatable, albeit best-version, of himself which he uses to his advantage in “Living with Yourself.” The show is surreal and high-concept, yet Rudd’s familiarity and likability peppers each episode with moments of lightheartedness and on-brand awkward comic relief.

Rudd was introduced to audiences with his career-making role as Josh in Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless” (1995), establishing his role in Hollywood as the charming, goofy and kind friend

that has enamoured viewers ever since.

Although his roles are of course all different characters, Rudd has mastered an approachable quality to make them feel as though they’re variations on himself.

When he has a role that is less than likable and dare we say even unlikable, his performance is still able to convince us that we’d like to hang out with him, and it would be a pleasant experience.

This isn’t the case in “Living with Yourself.” Rudd’s portrayal of the old Miles has a depth and more intense sense of relatability than seen from him before.

In this role, he has used this quality to extend his reach to the struggling, depleted and exhausted side of life that we all face.

Rudd is able to not only play two roles, but play two versions of the same character.

There isn’t ever a question of which Miles we are watching on screen; Rudd is able to nuance his personality as well as his physicality just so.

Though the show takes many

questionable twists and turns throughout the season, this is to be expected; it’s about a strip mall cloning procedure, after all. So take some time, get comfortable and allow Paul Rudd to win you over as two different people — it shouldn’t be difficult.

While Paul Rudd is a treasure and capable of making anyone enjoy his projects, many of the paths the show goes down become tedious in the attempt to convince the viewer of the otherworldliness of the situation. You’re kind of confused as to why the story is going in a certain direction, but willing to go along just for the fun of it.

I give “Living With Yourself” four stars out of five.

@CollegiateTimes

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BASKETBALL PREVIEW

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Women’s basketball has March Madness hopes Younger players are ready to step up their roles after the departure of key players Magarity and Emery.

CLAIRE CASTAGNO assistant sports editor

Virginia Tech’s women’s basketball team has lost a few key players heading into the 2019-20 season, but head coach Kenny Brooks has made it clear that going to the NCAA Tournament is his goal for his fourth year of coaching the Hokies. As always, Tech has a tough ACC schedule and has to play nationally ranked teams Louisville, Miami and Notre Dame. However, those matchups come late in the regular season, giving Brooks a chance to develop his team.

Before Tuesday’s game against St. Francis, Brooks will have decisions to make on how he is going to set up his roster on the court. He is 33.1 points in deficit per game with the departures of Regan Magarity and Taylor Emery. Offense was often run through Magarity in the paint and Emery

was Tech’s go-to scorer from deep. Without those two on the court this season, younger players will be given a chance to step up and expand their role.

Junior Trinity Baptiste will likely find herself filling Magarity’s role as a forward.

Baptiste averaged 10.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last season.

Hokie fans also have high hopes for graduate transfer Taja Cole this season. At Georgia last season, she contributed 11 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. She also led the SEC in assists, averaging seven. In October, she was named to the top 20 watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award. The award recognizes the top Division I point guard of the season and is named at the College Basketball Awards on April 10 after being narrowed down to just five nominees in March. Cole is the only ACC player to be included on the watch list.

As expected, sophomore guard Dara Mabrey will play a big role on the court. Her toughness was on display the entire 2018-19 season. Last season, she set the program record with 80 made 3-pointers. Without Emery aiding on the perimeter, Mabrey will be relied upon to shoot the three-ball.

Unfortunately for the Hokies, though, senior guard Kendyl Brooks re-injured her hip and will have to miss the entire season.

This puts a bit more pressure on Mabrey and Aisha Sheppard to shoot strongly and consistently from three this season.

Brooks has brought in a few freshman weapons to develop this year. Most notable are Elizabeth Kitley and Cayla King. Kitley is a 6-foot-5 center five-star recruit ranked 33rd overall in the 2019 class. Her height will give Virginia Tech an advantage in post play in terms of rebounding and defensive efforts.

In high school, Kitley excelled at blocking

in the key. King signed to the Hokies as a four-star prospect and was ranked 60th in the 2019 recruiting class. King can shoot from behind the arc, while also being able to drive to the basket and draw fouls.

The first half of Virginia Tech’s non-conference schedule is rather light, until the team heads to Daytona Beach, Florida, to take on Georgia on Nov. 30. The Hokies then have to play Purdue soon after as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Tech’s conference play kicks off Dec. 29 when it faces No. 12 Florida State.

It will certainly be interesting to see the on-court chemistry throughout the season with this relatively new roster and how it approaches tough ACC matchups.

@CTSportsTalk

Mike Young begins a new era at Virginia Tech

In the first season following the departure of Buzz Williams, Young leads an inexperienced squad into the 2019-20 season.

DAVIS CARBAUGH sports editor

Justin Robinson threw a perfect lob to Ahmed Hill with seconds left, but the ball rolled off the rim and the Hokies lost to the No. 1 overall Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet 16. That’s how it all ended for last year’s Virginia Tech team that set a school record for wins in a season and made it to its first Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded.

Fast forward to the 2019 season: Buzz Williams is gone, last year’s entire starting lineup is gone, Mike Young is the new coach, and the Hokies have a young squad of newcomers.

Virginia Tech hired Young after a 17-year tenure at Wofford in which the Terriers went 30–5 last season and made it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. A Radford native, Young begins his tenure in Blacksburg following the successful

five-year stretch under Buzz Williams.

The first offseason task for Young was to secure the few returning players on Tech’s roster. Junior Wabissa Bede and redshirtfreshman Landers Nolley both entered the transfer portal alongside Blackshear Jr. Although Blackshear Jr. chose to play at Florida, Young was able to keep Bede and Nolley on the team.

In addition, power forwards P.J. Horne and Isaiah Wilkins return as two of the few Hokies who played significant minutes under Williams. The forwards will likely carry most of the load in the paint, as they are two of the best rebounders on the team.

The return of Nolley is arguably the most significant offseason acquisition for Young and the Hokies. At 6 feet and 7 inches with quality ball handling, Nolley has the capability to play any position on the floor for Young and could be named All-ACC by the season’s end.

Fortunately for the Hokies, Young was

not the only one to make the permanent move from Wofford, South Carolina, to Blacksburg, Virginia. Junior Keve Aluma transferred to Virginia Tech after starting 34 games for the Terriers last season, averaging 7 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Aluma will have to sit out this season after transferring, but he is a solid building block moving forward. Three-star freshman guard Hunter Cattoor also flipped his commitment from Wofford to Tech; the 6-foot-2 guard is a sharpshooter from beyond the arc and can elevate to the rim.

The next big move was the recruitment of four-star point guard Jalen Cone. The North Carolina native reclassified from the Class of 2020 to the Class of 2019 and will be able to play immediately for the Hokies this season.

Despite being just 5-foot11 and 163 pounds, Cone is an explosive point guard with nextlevel hops that could make him the next star basketball player at Virginia Tech.

Clearly, there are plenty of new names that

Tech fans will have to become accustomed to hearing at Cassell Coliseum this season.

As for who stands out on this year’s roster, the cream will rise to the top when this unit is thrown up against the ACC elite.

The Hokies hit the ground running to start the season, facing off against the Clemson Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum on Nov. 5.

Despite all the changes following the end of the 2018-19 season, Young has the Hokies right where they need to be. Picked to finish 14th out of 15 ACC schools by ESPN and other national media sources, the Hokies have nothing to lose as they seek to be a sleeper team this year. For a program with a recent taste of success and something to prove, Tech basketball will be a team to look out for this season and in years to come.

@CTSportsTalk

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Ready or not, Tech’s freshmen are here to play Cone and Ojiako lead a talented group of freshmen at Virginia Tech and look to make an impact on the court.

ROBBY FLETCHER sports editor

My, how things can change in just a few months.

Coming off the most successful season in program history where head coach Buzz Williams led an experienced and highpowered Virginia Tech basketball team to a Sweet Sixteen appearance with ACC opponent Duke, the Hokies can now be seen searching for an entirely new identity.

Losing your five top scorers as well as your head coach can do that to a team.

What’s left now of last year’s squad is a smorgasbord of role players and depth guys who will now be given bigger, more prominent roles on the team while head coach Mike Young ushers in a new era of basketball at Virginia Tech in the form of four freshmen that will be getting significant time on the court, whether they’re ready or not.

“It worries the heck out of me. The old adage, ‘Get old and stay old.’ Well, we’re young. You can’t combat that. We’re not going to belabor it, we’re not going to pout about it. This is what we have,” coach Young said about his roster, which he had to build almost from the ground up after a handful of recruits followed Williams on his way out, as well as All-ACC power forward Kerry Blackshear.

Coach Young’s first commit at Tech ironically enough followed him as he left Wofford after 17 seasons. Guard Hunter Cattoor from Orlando, Florida, knew that he would find success wherever Young went.

Initially following in the footsteps of Wofford legend Fletcher Magee, who left Wofford this past year with the most three-point field goals in NCAA Division I history, Cattoor was known in high school as a knockdown shooter from beyond the arc. Though initially a little-known recruit expected to stay around Wofford as a four-year developmental prospect, the hype around Cattoor suddenly shot up once he switched his commitment over to Virginia Tech, even getting a three-star rating on 247Sports after initially being unranked on the site.

“Obviously it’s something special to be part of in this new era of coach Young. It’s humbling to be in this situation,” Cattoor said at Virginia Tech’s media day at the team’s practice facility.

Now with an opportunity to get significant playing time at a Power Five school

Virginia Tech’s freshmen huddle up before the team picture, Oct. 22, 2019.

in need of answers at the guard positions, Cattoor knew it was time to make a leap of faith with his new head coach. “[Coach Young] just told me that he believed in me, that I can play at any level since day one, whether that was at low-major, mid-major or high-major,” Cattoor said.

“He just kept telling me ‘you’re my guy and I want you to play for me. I believe in you. I don’t want you to second guess if you come here that you can’t play with these people’ so that really helped me with my confidence thinking he does believe in me.”

Soon after Cattoor’s decision to switch to Tech, the Hokies received their second commitment in point guard Jalen Cone.

Cone, a highly touted four-star recruit from Walkertown, North Carolina, is considered to be one of the team’s best chances at finding success this season, and with a simple Google search, it’s clear to see why.

Drawing comparisons to N.C. State-alum Dennis Smith for his ability to throw down highlight-reel dunks, Cone is expected to immediately start for the Hokies and hopefully ease the loss of point guard Justin Robinson, who had been a staple in Tech’s offense for the past four years.

Cone was one of three recruits to reclassify his commitment from the 2020 class to the 2019 class after graduating from high school early. His decision to come to

Virginia Tech now rather than next year may end up being crucial to the team’s success this season.

Nahiem Alleyne, the second recruit to reclassify to this year’s recruiting class, doesn’t come with the same sky-high expectations of his fellow freshman teammate, yet the impact he’s already made cannot be misplaced.

Despite proclaiming to be a rather quiet individual, much like his NBA idol CJ McCollum, Alleyne has already embraced a leadership role among the freshmen, and his role as the “glue guy” holding the group together already seems to be in full effect.

“Coach is looking for me to score on all three levels and defend, and just help other guys out like screen for them, talk to them,” he said. “Even though we’re still a young group, and I’m still learning, it’s still best for me to try and be a leader.”

The final addition to this group hails all the way from Lagos, Nigeria, the same city his favorite player and inspiration Hakeem Olajuwon grew up in. John Ojiako may not be the same dominant force the 7-foot Olajuwon was in his hayday with the Houston Rockets, but he’s certainly trying to be.

Having played just two years of organized basketball before coming to Virginia Tech, the 6-foot-10 Ojiako knows he has a lot of work to do before he can crown himself the

ROBBY FLETCHER / COLLEGIATE TIMES

second coming of the Rockets legend.

“I just take everyday as a learning process,” Ojiako said. “I just try my best to play hard and just put all my energy out on the floor.”

Despite his inexperience, Ojiako showed a natural ability to defend in the post and effectively win on the glass in high school.

Tech will need the shot-blocking big man to show steady improvement as they hope to replace the impact of Blackshear down low.

With junior P.J. Horne as the only returning player from last year’s team to have any experience at the power forward or center position, Ojiako’s development on the court will be a crucial storyline worth keeping an eye on this season.

While it’s still too early to tell just how good this group will be without seeing them play together, coach Young thinks that the team’s opener against Clemson on Nov. 5 will be a good gauge of their progress from this offseason.

“They need to see more plays. They need to see those lights come on and those othercolored jerseys roll out there. We’re going to get better,” coach Young said.

@CTSportsTalk