Oct. 2, 2018

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October 2, 2018

COLLEGIATETIMES

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

Hokies bounce back from ODU upset, topple Duke Virginia Tech and Duke have faced off annually since 2004. With Saturday’s win, the Hokies are 13–2 against the Blue Devils.

DILLON CAMPBELL assistant sports editor

Coming off one of, if not the most, embarrassing losses in program history, Virginia Tech bounces back to upset No. 22 Duke 31–14, spoiling yet another primetime game at Wallace Wade Stadium for the Blue Devils.

A few weeks back, the thought of anyone referring to a Virginia Tech win over Duke as an upset would have been absolutely ludicrous, but after suffering a humiliating loss at the hands of previously winless Old Dominion and with a red-hot Duke team riding an ACC-high seven-game wi n n i ng st rea k i nto Saturday’s ACC showdown, it is now the reality.

Following a 6 -yard touchdown scamper by Steven Peoples to put the Hokies up 24–7, the Virginia Tech road faithful’s clamors of “Let’s go Hokies!” took over Wallace Wade. The chants were a far cry from the utter silence of the Virginia Tech sideline after last week’s heartbreaking loss.

“I did a poor job last week,” admitted head coach Justin Fuente. “That’s my fault. We as an organization responded.”

Filling in for injured starting quarterback Josh Jackson, who suffered a fractured left leg against the Monarchs, Kansas

ETHAN CANDELARIO / COLLEGIATE TIMES The Hokies celebrate after a 31–14 win against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium, Sept. 29, 2018.

transfer Ryan Willis came out dealing for the Hokies and put to bed questions about how he would perform in Jackson’s absence on the road versus a ranked foe. He completed 17 of 27 passes for 332 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, securing his first 300-yard passing game since 2016 against TCU as Kansas’ starting quarterback in the process.

Willis hooked up with three different receivers for all

three of his touchdowns.

Damon Hazelton continued to stand out at wide out for the Hokies, securing his fourth-straight game, and snagging a 27-yard touchdown off a textbook fade from Willis to start the second quarter.

Dalton Keene, who came into tonight’s game with a meager 23 receiving yards, nearly tripled his total yardage for the season on a monstrous 67-yard catch-and-run touchdown,

sidestepping and stiff arming defenders in Vance McDonald fashion en route to the end zone. As part of Keene’s convoy, Eric Kumah delivered a menacing block on a helpless Duke defender to ensure the play resulted in a score.

Being draped all over

by Duke defensive back Jeremy McDuffie, Phil Patterson muscled through the pass interference contact and corralled a 6-yard touchdown reception from

Willis.

“When Josh (Jackson) went down, he was ready to fill that role,” said tight end Dalton Keene, giving his new quarterback a vote of confidence. “I think he is really comfortable back there. It’s nothing he hasn’t experienced before.”

After Bud Foster’s “lunch pail defense” gave up an astounding 632 total yards of offense to Old Dominion, including 495 passing yards and four

touchdowns to backup quarterback Blake LaRussa, the legendary defensive coordinator’s unit returned to form, holding Duke to 327 yards of total offense, its fewest this season. Despite the dismissal earlier in the week of Trevon Hill, who was Virginia Tech’s best pass rusher, the Hokies rattled Duke quarterback Daniel Jones all night long, bringing him to the turf several times throughout the game. Jones returned to action for the first time since suffering a left collarbone injury in Duke’s 21–7 win against Northwestern earlier this season.

“You’re going to have some setbacks,” said Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

“With us being an inexperienced football team, I was concerned about how we’d handle that, but it showed today with how we responded and I’m really proud of our kids.”

Virginia Tech heads back to Blacksburg and sets its sights on a prime-time showdown under the lights against the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

@DillonHCampbell

Virginia Tech professor University starts offering launches first wine lab in better benefits through downtown Blacksburg new paid parental leave John Boyer opens Blacksburg Wine Lab to collect information and study how people’s interest in wine changes.

BENITA LUKE

news staff writer

A Virginia Tech alum and professor of student-favorite classes like Geography of Wine and World Regions, John Boyer has taken on a second full-time job by following through with his long-time endeavor of starting a wine lab in the heart of the town.

About 20 years ago, Boyer started to teach a class about wine at Virginia Tech and that class gave Boyer the initial idea of starting a wine lab in Blacksburg.

“I’ve had the idea for

years based primarily because of my teaching at Virginia Tech. When I started teaching 20 years ago, I taught a class on wine.

I put up flyers everywhere, I had to beg people and I ended up getting 16 students to sign up for it,” Boyer said.

“Within five years, however, this number jumped up to 500 and now it’s up to 1,500 people in an online class I teach every spring.”

According to Boyer, the Blacksburg Wine Lab will be able to provide important information to study why and how people’s interest in wine changes throughout

ANTHONY WU / COLLEGIATE TIMES The Blacksburg Wine Lab, Sept. 24, 2018.

TO ADOPT OR NOT TO ADOPT A DOG? Weigh the pros and cons before committing.

page 5

time.

“This is partly why I started the wine lab,” Boyer said. “When I was teaching the class early on, I would always ask people, what’s your background in wine, how many people have had wine, and nobody would raise their hand. Now, I ask how many people drink wine on a regular basis.

Almost everybody’s hands were raised. This is before they even took my class.

I call it an alcohol revolution because America has never been a wine-drinking society.”

Watching the everchanging society evolve in his own classroom, Boyer, with no business experience whatsoever, approached many to see if anyone was interested in starting a wine bar. To his dismay, Boyer got overwhelming support but a lack of initiative. So, he took the job into his own hands and started down a road that virtually no one else had undertaken. A Geography of Wine professor decided to expand his classroom into a community space.

“I wanted to create a WINE / page 4

The recently adopted policy gives both full- and part-time employees up to eight paid weeks for parental leave.

TAHREEM ALAM news staff writer

Virginia Tech implemented a new paid parental leave benefit for faculty and staff effective on July 25, 2018.

The university now has its own paid parental leave policy that allows all salaried, full- and part-time employees up to eight paid weeks of leave for birthing, adopting or fostering a child.

In addition, the benefit provides f lexibility for the family because if both parents are eligible for paid parental leave, they can stagger the total of 16 paid weeks shared between them.

Virginia Tech did not have a paid parental leave policy prior to the new policy, which followed the new parental-leave directive by Governor Ralph Northam (D-Va.). Earlier this summer, Northam signed an executive order that gave certain classifications of state employees up to eight weeks of paid leave after birthing, adopting or fostering a child. Virginia Tech’s policy broadens Northam’s definition of employees who are eligible for paid parental leave.

VIRGINIA TECH TO RENOVATE SLUSHER The renovation is set to begin in summer 2019. page 3

TAHREEM ALAM / COLLEGIATE TIMES The Virginia Tech Child Development Center for Learning and Research children’s playground at Wallace Hall, Sept. 17, 2018.

“This was something that Virginia Tech had intended to do before the governor’s directive,” said Mark Owczarski, assistant vice president for University Relations. “We were working on it, but we were grateful that the governor kind of sped up our process, which was really good for our employees.”

Before the state order, Virginia Tech had only followed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which is a federal law that guarantees employees 12 unpaid weeks of parental

leave.

The paid parental leave is a whole new benefit that sits alongside other employee benefits, such as vacation leave or sick leave. This way, employees who may be birthing, adopting or fostering a child do not have to use either their vacation or sick time in order to still get paid during the process.

“It’s creating a new classification of leave so that both moms and dads have an extended period of time with

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PARENTAL / page 3

opinions

PAGE 2 October 2, 2018

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column

Costly nature of Broadway shows excludes many fans People of less-affluent backgrounds should not have to relinquish experiencing the excitement of seeing their favorite musicals live.

T

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE / TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE An Uber self-driving Ford Fusion sits at a traffic light on Beechwood Boulevard and waits to turn onto Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh.

column

Uber, Toyota collaboration helps self-driving vehicles The partnership between these two corporate giants foreshadows a bright outlook for the rising trend in autonmous, driverless cars.

U

ber badly needed a pick-me-up.

After a successful start, the ride-hailing service has recently encountered numerous issues while trying to stay ahead of the curve — most notably, deadly driverless car crashes. After failing to adjust previous issues, Uber now must accept its faults and seek help or face an inevitable downturn in business.

The driverless car trend came after the development of the Tesla by Elon Musk, which supposedly has full selfdriving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver.

Of course, other companies — like Volvo, Audi, Toyota and even Uber — want to be able to compete at the same level and have developed their own autonomous models.

However, these developments do not come without consequences, especially for Uber. The cars were having trouble driving through construction zones and next to tall vehicles — like tractor trailers. In addition, Uber’s human drivers had to intervene much more frequently than the drivers of competing autonomous cars.

To compare, Google’s selfdriving car project went on average 5,600 miles before the driver had to take control, while Uber drivers were barely going 13 miles without having to take over. Obviously, Uber was encountering engineering obstacles, but not a lot seemed to be happening in the way of fixing the issues before

they became serious.

Unfortunately, Uber didn’t heed the warnings. The straw that ultimately broke Uber’s back was the fatal crash of one of its autonomous cars in March 2018. A Volvo traveling in autonomous mode struck a woman walking her bicycle across the street outside of the crosswalk. Although the car system detected the woman about six seconds before the vehicle struck her, it failed to take any corrective action.

After seemingly brushing over previous issues, this was Uber’s much needed wake-up call.

The first question that comes to anyone’s mind: How do these things keep happening? Strangely enough, before the fatal crash in March, Uber engineers had intentionally disabled the Volvo’s emergency braking system to reduce the potential for erratic behavior, but did not program the system to alert the human driver to manually brake. Such glaring negligence on the part of Uber engineers demonstrates a potentially life-threatening shortfall in their technological knowledge. To avoid possible crippling of its widely used service, Uber desperately needed the guidance and expertise of a true car manufacturer.

Toyota could provide this guidance. As of August 2018, Toyota is investing about $500 million in Uber Technologies Inc. as part of an agreement by the companies to work jointly on autonomous vehicles aimed at improving safety and

lowering transportation costs.

Per their agreement, Uber will integrate self-driving technology into Toyota Sienna minivans for use in Uber’s network, which will begin testing in the next few years.

This partnership is much needed for both parties involved, especially Uber.

For the ride sharing service, the expertise of an actual car company will likely improve the engineering of their obviously flawed driverless technology. Hopefully, Toyota will be able to assist Uber in the engineering upkeep and regulatory compliance it so horribly lacked in its autonomous vehicles.

For a company like Toyota, hesitant at first to enter into the autonomous vehicle race, the potential of having selfdriving cars in a service like Uber represents a challenge to an industry that is dominated by individual car ownership.

Additionally, this move by Toyota marks a trend in partnerships between car manufacturers and tech companies to further autonomous technology. A successful collaboration can only aid both brands in their respective markets.

With the collaboration of Toyota and Uber, it won’t be much longer before the autonomous vehicle and subsequent autonomous ride sharing are, as Tesla suggests, capable of a safety level higher than that of a human driver.

LINDSEY SLUSHER • opinions columnist • junior, political science

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heater has to be seen live — that’s what everyone says, anyway. I do agree that there’s a unique magic in actors, crew and audience coming together to share in an experience of the stage, but surely, seeing theater in person can’t be the only proper way to appreciate it. Just because there’s something special about a live performance doesn’t mean that people don’t love listening to music on their phones and on the radio. People say that some movies need to be seen in theaters, but that doesn’t stop people from watching and rewatching movies on Netflix, on Hulu or on the occasional DVD. Furthermore, there’s this attitude among American theatergoers that only shows — particularly musicals — that are performed on Broadway are truly valid productions. Even tours of Broadway shows are considered a n a l most knock-off version of the first run with the original Broadway cast — never mind the fact that the “original” Broadway productions are usually only there after years of workshopping and cast changes. Perhaps there’s something exclusively special about seeing the original Broadway cast — the same way that seeing a movie premiere is exciting. But the elitist culture surrounding Broadway is, f ran k ly, ridiculous.

Elitism in Broadway is not only in attitude — ticket prices ensure that this elitism is put into practice, as well. The cheapest tickets for Broadway musicals are usually around $75–95, according to TKTS, an organization that sells same-day discounted tickets for Broadway shows. That’s after waiting in line for hours

at a TKTS booth on location for limited show and seating choices. For people who don’t have the chance to visit New York City often or don’t have time to stand in line, obtaining tickets through reliable means regularly costs $100–200.

If you want to see a popular show, the prices are even more exorbitant. Take “Hamilton,” for example: The cheapest tickets available right now are $229 — and that’s if you can find rear mezzanine tickets for the day that you’re traveling to NYC. Better tickets can cost up to $998, and will cost even more if you need them on a certain day and try to get them through resale.

Granted, it does cost a lot to fund the set of a musical and to hire an orchestra, actors, crew, and producing staff and security. But the sheer cost of Broadway tickets makes live productions inaccessible to most Americans, and even more difficult for people who live in other countries.

The industry has long been hailed for being progressive — Broadway consistently features productions centered on minority groups, and the casting of most of its shows never have racial restrictions.

So it’s all the more ironic that only the financially privileged are able to attend performances. Most people can’t afford to travel and stay in NYC, much less purchase tickets to a musical — which is a real shame for all the theater fans who have been drawn to the messages of inclusivity in Broadway, only to be excluded because they can’t afford to see a show in the so-called right way.

There is a simple solution to the problem, and it has already been done a few times: professional recordings of Broadway shows. For instance, in 2008, the final

production of “Rent” was officially recorded live. The video and audio quality are top-notch, and it was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2009.

Why isn’t this done more often? Having live recordings as a common occurrence would dramatically increase accessibility to Broadway shows, and if producers are worried about digital downloads ruining show openings, they could just do what the film industry does — release the recording after three–six months, or even after a year or two. It would still be better than letting the shows go unseen by millions who would have loved to watch them if given the opportunity.

Professional recordings wouldn’t even drastically affect ticket sales. As the dozens of illegal bootlegs on YouTube can attest to, people will always find a way to watch Broadway musicals if they can’t afford tickets or a trip to NYC. Those bootlegs are rarely of high quality, though, and fans of theater would definitely be willing to pay for HD digital downloads or DVD copies of their favorite productions. And it’s not as if making recordings available would diminish public attraction to seeing Broadway productions live.

Seeing a musical in the theater is already widely accepted to be an extraordinary experience.

Professional recordings would simply make these shows accessible to people who never get the chance to go — and at last, Broadway’s touted value of inclusion will be fully reflected in practice.

JESSIE YU • opinions contributor • freshman, liberal arts undecided

LOS ANGELES TIMES / TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE “Hamilton,” a musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda is a smash hit, but tickets sell out months to years in advance and cost hundreds of dollars.

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PARENTAL: All employees are included in the policy from page 1

their new family member, which will help ease that transition,” Owczarski said.

Moreover, the hope is that the benefit creates a win-win situation for both the parents and the employer –– in this case, Virginia Tech –– because ideally employees will return happier, less stressed, more productive and will want to stay at Virginia Tech.

“I am very pleased to hear about the university’s adoption of paid parental leave,” said Adrienne Holz Ivory, an assistant professor

in the Department of Communication at Virginia Tech. “This much needed policy change is essential for parental well-being, child and maternal health, and parent-child attachment.”

Holz Ivory, who has worked at Virginia Tech for eight years and has three kids, also believes that the new paid parental leave will positively contribute to workers’ productivity, as well as facilitate career advancement for women in academia.

The University will follow a memorandum until the policy is fully written.

According to Owczarski,

Virginia Tech is planning to have policy completed by early 2019 that ensures no classification of employee is left out or loses a benefit.

“We’re very happy to announce this benefit and we think it’s going to be very, very beneficial in terms of recruiting superstar faculty in the future and great employees and great people in the future,” Owczarski said. “And it’ll make Virginia Tech a great place to work.”

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Blacksburg Transit hits a record of 4 million riders Director of Blacksburg Transit Tom Fox says that it will continue to expand the operating hours of current routes.

ALLY LARRICK news staff writer

ALEXYS RIVERS / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Slusher Hall, Sept. 21, 2018.

Slusher Hall to see major renovations in near future The renovation is set to begin at the end of the 2019 spring semester and will take several years to complete.

JACKSON WOODY news staff writer

The tallest building in Blacksburg is coming down.

At the end of the 2018–19 school year, construction is projected to begin on a renovation of Slusher Hall, which includes the Slusher Wing and Slusher Tower building.

In June 2018, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and senior administration, including members of the Department of Housing and Residence Life, approved funding for the project after it was proposed during the 2018 spring semester.

T here a re sever a l reasons this project is being

adding air conditioning, more “Hokie Stone” foundation as opposed to the current concrete foundation and infrastructure necessary for the building to operate as a residential college, as well as decreasing its size from 12 floors to four–five floors.

While the construction of the project is projected to begin at the end of the 2019 spring semester, it may take several years to complete.

Specifics about the schedule and order of construction are still being determined, but a project of such a large scale likely will not be completed in a short time frame as compared to other projects around campus.

“My guess is that Slusher

“ We think we can rebuild a new Slusher that takes better advantage of its location and becomes more practical.

”

David Chinn associate director of facilities at Virginia Tech

initiated. For one, Slusher Hall is one of the oldest residence halls on campus, as initial construction began in 1971 and was completed in 1972. The age of the building leaves it behind the other residence halls in terms of accommodations, practicality and aesthetics, which is one of the primary driving forces behind the proposed rebuild.

“We think we can rebuild a new Slusher that takes better advantage of its location and becomes more practical. It would also fit our campus and the architectural style of the rest of the buildings here on campus,” said David Chinn, associate director for facilities at Virginia Tech. “I think that the tower does not fit our overall campus aesthetic.”

Other proposed changes to Slusher Hall include

Tower will be in place for the next three years before they start tearing it down, so we should get four more school years out of it,” Chinn said.

Construction is projected to be enclosed within a fenced area, similar to the recent renovation of O’Shaughnessy Hall, and is not projected to disrupt any major campus activities.

However, nearby residents of Campbell Hall may be affected by noise levels of construction.

“I suspect that Campbell Hall will remain occupied, so there may be noise during construction and (it) could probably affect some daily activities in that aspect,” Chinn said.

The university has yet to select a construction firm or designer, but it is projected to choose a designer by this November. Project costs are

also yet to be determined, and currently no projections can be made in that facet.

The project is under the management of Aaron Curfiss, supervisor and project manager for the Capital Construction and Renovations (CCR) unit of Virginia Tech.

Slusher Hall residents met the news of a proposed rebuild with excitement, as depicted by Slusher Hall residents Kelly Mogensen, who is a freshman majoring in clinical neuroscience, and Heather Feconda, a freshman majoring in psychology.

“Compared to the other dorms on campus, I feel like Slusher does not have as many amenities. There’s not a common place to hang out or a study room on each floor; the kitchen is a little gross,” Mogensen said. “It’s just very outdated, so with a new building, seeing the modern Virginia Tech decor would be very cool.”

Feconda shared an opinion similar to Mogensen.

“I’m shocked they haven’t fixed Slusher yet because Virginia Tech is so aesthetically pleasing, so this feels like the one thing left,” Feconda said. “More modern Hokie Stone would make it look really nice.”

Despite the popularity of the proposed rebuild, some Slusher Hall residents do not see the need for change.

“I like the building. I feel like it stands out; it has a lot of history. It would be a very nice building if they would just put AC in it,” said freshman University Studies major and Slusher Tower resident Gavin Counts.

Construction is estimated to begin at the end of the 2018–19 academic year.

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Blacksburg Transit (BT), servicing Virginia Tech and the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, reached a record of 4 million riders in the 2018 fiscal year. Out of all the bus transit agencies in Virginia, excluding the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, BT has the fifth highest ridership.

“It is a huge accomplishment for an agency our size,” said Director of BT Tom Fox. This spike in ridership can be attributed to the growth of sustainable transportation and population of Virginia Tech. In order to accommodate for this expansion, BT is making strides to purchase larger buses, update current routes and hire more bus operators.

Accord i ng to T he Roanoke Times, “The system started in 1983 with six buses, and has since expanded to 51 fixed-route buses and 18 body-onchassis vehicles, for a total of 69.”

Fox emphasizes the importance of buying more articulated buses. These buses bend in the middle, are 60 feet long, and hold one and a half times the amount of passengers a standard bus holds now. BT will have expanded from five articulated buses in 2015 to 13 at the end of this year.

In addition to purchasing larger buses, BT is focusing on expanding its hours of service. Over the last two years, BT added around 8

percent in operating hours.

“Ridership continues to track upward along with the service, so we know there is still demand out there that we could be serving,” Fox said.

His strategy is to focus on expanding the operating hours of the current routes, as opposed to adding more routes. The main reason for this is that Virginia Tech students’ demand for BT service trumps surrounding areas. Each year, when a new group of students comes, BT has to figure out when students want to ride, compare it to when the service is up and make necessary adjustments.

One of Fox’s hopes is that all of this adjustment and expansion will decrease the number of times a bus has to pass by a stop because it is full.

“We would like to not have anybody left at a bus stop,” Fox said, “but the reality of it is there will be a few.”

Students continue to feel disappointed by this, and attribute some of the problems to the changes in parking on campus this year.

“For the most part all buses between 8:45–10 a.m. are full or packed to the front, and they made it worse this year by making the parking pass more expensive,” said Brendan McGovern, a Virginia Tech junior majoring in mechanical engineering.

Ryan Billy, a junior at Virginia Tech majoring in business information technology, expressed a similar opinion about full buses

passing by.

“I don’t think they are fixing it, and I think it is worse than last year,” Billy said.

Despite these student concerns, BT is prepared to compensate and continue expanding.

“There is a huge transit center project that is coming soon, ‘Multi-Modal Transit Facility.’ It would be a large transit center that would be located along Perry Street, near the parking garage,” Fox said.

This new transit center would include bus bays in hopes that traffic would consolidate and move away from the Drillfield.

A not her fo cus on sustainable transportation, and pushing the population toward public services, i ncludes bi ke-sha r i ng and electric buses. Roam NRV is a bike-sharing program BT is implementing in conjunction with the towns of Blacksburg and C h r i s t i a n s b u r g, Montgomery County, and Virginia Tech. Although BT does not have the funding for electric buses as of yet, purchasing them is a future goal.

“You avoid the pollution associated with fossil fuel powers, and a lot more reliability in your cost with the fuel prices going all over the place,” Fox said.

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KAILA NATHANIEL / COLLEGIATE TIMES A Blacksburg Transit bus outside Burruss Hall, Oct. 18, 2016.

PAGE 4 October 2, 2018

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WINE: Boyer wants the wine lab to be educational for all from page 1

space but I didn’t like the term ‘bar.’ ‘Bar’ has implications in our brains, the place you go to get drunk, or a place you go to watch football. I’ve always said, no, I want to create a space, a community space where people from all different levels of society and the community come together to hang out, to maybe learn some stuff, to maybe drink some stuff and maybe eat some stuff,” Boyer said.

Drawing up a business plan was the first of many steps that Boyer had to take when bringing this initiative to life.

“Katie Pritchard, my partner, and I met with a business financial adviser to

draw up a business plan. He challenged us with questions like how much we’re going to spend, how much is our daily take going to be, and is the business sustainable over the long term,” Boyer said. “We needed to raise about half a million.”

Boyer was able to get a number of potential partners and quickly moved on to the construction phase of the Blacksburg Wine Lab. “We had 15 or 16 prominent people from Blacksburg and got them interested,” Boyer said.

“We started destruction in January where my friends and I gutted the place. Then we moved on to architectural plans and building permits.

We started construction around April and continued

decorating right up until August.”

Boyer didn’t want this space to be limited to certain kinds of people in the community. In fact, he wanted it to be an educational space because a certain experience in his

“I’ve always just wanted

to create something special for people to make them think about things in different ways.

”

John Boyer Virginia Tech professor

classroom taught him that it wasn’t just wine-lovers who took the class. It was non-drinkers too.

“There was a class that

study break

drink,” Boyer said. “They were all business majors who were from different parts of the Middle East, most of them Dubai and

Saudi Arabia. They believed that as business majors, because of the cultures they come from, they already had a strike against them because they’re women.

They also knew they don’t know anything about wine.

They wanted the knowledge of wine lingo to help them through high-profile situations, a luncheon or dinner where people are drinking wine.”

Following through with his vision to expand the space to an educational environment, Boyer also intends on hosting events every month bringing in wines from a certain region of the world and a guest speaker to accompany the night.

“I don’t know what this lab gives me. I just wanted

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10/2/18

DOWN 1 Takeoff approx.

2 1002, to Caesar 3 Gun carrier’s warning 4 Careless 5 Garden hose obstruction 6 Unmatched 7 Welcomes to the treehouse 8 __ apso: little dog 9 Scattered, as seed 10 Department store section 11 Wing-shaped 12 Port near Naples 13 More streamlined 18 Like an accurate soccer shot 22 Gun, as an engine 23 Just out 24 Santana’s “__ Como Va” 25 __-Croatian: Slavic language 27 Do another stint 31 Here, in Haiti 32 Twain/Harte play 33 Vientiane’s country 35 Becomes rusted 36 Lined up

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Midterms O

By Roland Huget

to create something great.

That’s what’s always driven me. I guess that’s what I get out of it, it’s not even satisfaction; it’s just some of us are compelled. Some of us are compelled to do things,” Boyer said. “With all the classes I’ve created and lectures I’ve given, I’ve always just wanted to create something special for people to make them think about things in different ways. So in that sense, this bar is no different than the classes I teach.”

Today’s Birthday Horoscope (Oct. 2): Pull in a bountiful harvest this year. Coordinated efforts provide beautiful domestic results. Take advantage of a windfall. Domestic bliss this winter leads into a time of social transition. Professional good news next summer precludes a family turning point. Prioritize the ones you love.

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 2, 2018

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle ACROSS 1 Gulf States prince 5 Macy’s competitor 10 Eucharist celebration 14 See 62-Across 15 Boise’s state 16 Israeli airline 17 Tool for cutting stone and concrete 19 River of Cairo 20 Playing surface surrounded by boards 21 Access charge 23 Chinese menu promise 25 Garden digging, e.g.

26 Abandoned building, say 28 Jules who created the Nautilus 29 Form a union 30 Passé reception aid 34 Love personified 35 Richly upholstered seat 37 Nobel Peace Prize city 40 Toxic substance 41 Snapshot, briefly 44 “SNL” alum Cheri 46 Dancer Duncan 48 Prilosec target 52 Caught with a lasso 53 Old-fashioned printing machine 54 Champagne brand 55 Got on in years 56 Carry on the same way ... and what the ends of 17-, 25-, 35- and 48-Across do 60 __ majesty: high treason 61 Diarist Nin 62 With 50-Down and 14-Across, fairy tale opening 63 Newspaper section with many reviews 64 Horizontal graph lines 65 Enthusiastic

had a group of eight to 10 Islamic women who would always sit together. At one point they came up to ask me something after class, and I asked what they were doing in my class. I don’t know my religion that well but I knew they couldn’t

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38 “The Pawnbroker” actor Rod 39 Least fatty, as corned beef 41 Many a Top 40 song 42 Cork’s country: Abbr.

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47 Is moderately successful 49 How some documents are sent 50 See 62-Across 51 Kick back 54 Forest floor plant 57 Golf ball position 58 Cocktail cooler 59 Down-for-thecount count

Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! by Tim Rickard

Where you go, we go. collegiatetimes.com

editor@collegiatetimes.com

October 2, 2018 PAGE 5

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lifestyles collegiatetimes.com/lifestyles

CAROLINA HERNANDEZ / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Are you ready to balance school and dog ownership? Think it through They’re adorable, but they’re also huge responsibilities. Be sure to evaluate the pros and cons of adopting before you decide.

HANNAH WYNNE lifestyles contributor

If asked, I’d say it would be hard to find something that everyone at Virginia Tech could agree on. With a campus made up of students from diverse cultural, geographical and political backgrounds, there are no universal truths on campus.

With, I would argue, one exception: I think we can all agree that dogs are bundles of absolute sunshine that exist as bright, peaceful spots in a frequently all-toochaotic world. Plus, they’re just plain frickin’ adorable.

With some students making the transition soon from dorm to apartment living, getting a dog might be a new freedom that’s tempting to explore. As a mom to a two-year-old dachshund mix who is quite literally the love of my life, I definitely understand the appeal. However, getting a dog is a major decision and, like any major decision, has a laundry list of pros and cons that need to be fully considered before taking the plunge.

Pros: Mental well-being Self-care is important during any stage of life, but especially in college. School work and honestly just life in general can get stressful and overwhelming. However, no matter how frustrating my day is, I can’t help but be cheered up when I walk in to see my dog literally jumping with excitement at my return. Homework is infinitely more enjoyable with play breaks in between, and I know I’ll always have a cuddle buddy when I’m feeling down. It’s hard to be sad when you’re getting puppy kisses.

Social life If you walk your dog around campus, you will make friends. This is a fact.

If your dog does well with crowds, bringing it to a party or other social event will immediately put you both in the center of attention.

Not to mention puppy playdates and dog parks are a great way to meet new people while your pup also gets to mingle. I have also found that in my personal experience, when having the “your-place-my-place” debate with friends, the sentence “I have a dog” is enough to turn the tables in my favor 9 times out of 10. If you’re someone who needs a little extra push to meet people, or just someone who wants more opportunities to socialize, having a dog is the perfect catalyst.

Making a difference Adoption can give a dog that would otherwise be stuck in a shelter a loving, caring home. While this angle is pretty heavily advertised, it doesn’t make it any less true. There are so many unwanted dogs out there, and even making a difference in one of their lives makes a difference in the world. That being said, if helping an unwanted dog is why you’re thinking about adoption, it’s important to consider older dogs and not just puppies. Puppies may be cuter, but they’re way more likely to get adopted, and they’re also harder to take care of until they get older..

Adopting an older dog will still give you all the benefits of having a dog without the need for middle-of-thenight training walks.

Cons: Fewer possible living places Admittedly, it is way

more viable to own a dog in off-campus housing than in a dorm (with the exception of select medical purposes). However, finding off-campus housing can be challenging enough already without having to confine the search to pet-friendly places. The type of dog you are looking at can narrow the list even further; lots of places that say they are pet-friendly won’t allow a dog over 40 pounds. Or, if they do, they restrict your choices to bottom-floor apartments. For students that have any sort of budget constraints, pet-friendly places almost always charge some sort of pet deposit or monthly pet rent; some charge both. And at the end of the year, if the dog has caused any sort of damage (which with a younger dog is almost unavoidable), that comes out of the deposit, or even your pockets if the deposit isn’t enough. Which brings us to ...

CAROLINA HERNANDEZ / COLLEGIATE TIMES Chester the Yorkshire is sitting down like the good boy he is, Sept. 23, 2018.

Spaying and neutering is highly recommended, and is usually within the $100 to $400 range. For older dogs, although less frequent, yearly checkups and vaccines are still a must. And then there are the monthly costs: preventatives (for things like heartworm, fleas and ticks), food, doggy bags, treats, etc.

Even if all this sounds

about a six-month period; bigger breeds sometimes need even longer. While that’s the hardest part of the process, the time commitment doesn’t stop there. Even though my dog is well out of his puppy stage, I have to get up 30 minutes early every day before class (and I have an 8 a.m.) to walk and feed him. He’s a smaller breed, so he only needs

“If you’re out and a friend offers to let you

crash at their place, you either have to decline or find someone to check on your dog last-minute.

”

Cost Havi ng a dog is expensive. And I don’t mean expensive as in splurging on Starbucks instead of making coffee at home — I mean actual money. Even if the initial adoption cost is low or nonexistent, expenses will start rolling in pretty much immediately. Puppies need a series of vaccines during their first year, as well as exams and lab work. Vet offices vary, but an average exam cost is anywhere from 30 to 50 bucks, with vaccines averaging at around $20 per shot.

manageable, you still have to plan for an emergency. If your dog gets in an accident or gets really sick, you’ll be responsible for providing medical care that can be exorbitantly priced — just think what you’d be paying for an X-ray without any kind of insurance.

Time While this is kind of a no-brainer, it bears repeating. Caring for a living animal besides yourself takes extra time. Period.

Puppies need constant training and supervision for

three to four 20-minute walks per day, but bigger breeds or dogs with lots of energy usually need more than that. I’m lucky enough to live with roommates that also have a dog, so he gets plenty of socializing in his day-to-day life, but if I were living alone I’d have to build in time every week to bring him to the dog park or get him together for puppy playdates.

Responsibility College is recognized as the built-in time in everyone’s life when it’s OK

to not be responsible. It’s totally acceptable to subsist on a diet of iced coffee and ramen and not have any sort of sleep schedule whatsoever. Owning a dog means accepting the kind of responsibility you wouldn’t otherwise have. Maybe you’re OK living on instant noodles when money gets tight, but your pup won’t be able to. If you’re out and a friend offers to let you crash at their place, you either have to decline or find someone to check on your dog lastminute. Same goes for that spring break trip you’ve been planning — what if the pet-sitter falls through?

There’s a reason people compare dogs to children, and it’s not just because they’re both cute.

With deadlines and choices about off-campus housing coming up fast, this is a decision that can wait.

Whatever you decide about dog ownership, take your time and be able to confidently make a decision knowing you did your research and made the best choice for you and your college lifestyle.

@CollegiateTimes

PAGE 6 October 2, 2018

editor@collegiatetimes.com

collegiatetimes.com

Tired of toast? Tricky but rewarding avocado recipes to attempt Our writer’s attempt to pull off these strange snacks left her in the pits, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try them out.

EMILY CARTER

lifestyles staff writer

I have only tried avocado five times in my life: twice in a salad, and via guacamole at parties. It’s pretty good with cilantro mixed in, but on its own, I’m not really a fan.

I know avocados are chock-full of nutritional value and millennials are obsessed with them.

(Apparently the reason we can’t pay off our student loans is because we spend all our money on avocado toast.) So, Labor Day weekend, I decided to be healthy and make three avocado-centered dishes.

The first step was finding recipes I would be willing to eat and with very few ingredients since I’m a poor college student with a semipicky appetite. I decided on the following recipes: avocado ice cream, avocado fries and avocado brownie bites. Since I had never bought an avocado before, I had to Google how to see if an avocado was ripe.

I got to the store and, according to my aforementioned search, none of the avocados were ripe. This was Error Number One with my avocado adventure.

I wanted to make all of the recipes that day, so I had to settle for unripe avocados.

When looking to buy the condensed milk, I noticed that Food Lion didn’t have it. I used Google again to see if evaporated milk was the same thing as condensed milk. Google told me it was, but this would later become Error Number Two. I bought

the rest of my ingredients and made my way back to my apartment.

Avocado ice cream I started peeling my avocados and didn’t have any trouble until I tried to take out the pit. It took me FOREVER to get the pit out, and I’m pretty sure that’s because the avocados weren’t ripe. Then, I opened my evaporated milk and saw that the consistency was not like condensed milk. I used my handy-dandy Google app to tell me that evaporated milk was not the same as condensed milk and I needed to add about 2.5 cups of sugar to make my evaporated milk condensed milk. The only sugar I had comprised about 50 sugar packets. So what did I do? I used 35 or so of those for my ice cream.

I added the avocados, the evaporated milk, most of my sugar and the cream.

Then came the hard part: mixing it. I knew the recipe called for a blender to mix everything. I did not have a blender. I thought a hand

by hand. There were still some chunks after that, but I wanted to get started on the other recipes. I put the “ice cream” in the freezer and waited for it to freeze.

The next day I was scared to try it. It looked like vomit.

I scraped off the top of the ice cream with a spoon and put a little bit in my mouth.

It wasn’t bad. I took a few more bites and dumped the rest of the contents into the sink. Goodbye.

Avocado fries It took me forever to get the pit out of this avocado as well, and because of that, my “fries” had many varying shapes. Since the avocados were unripe, the flour, egg and breadcrumbs had a hard time sticking to the avocado.

I put the coated avocado slices into a heated pan and let them cook for the allotted amount of time. When they were done cooking, I let them cool. Since the “fries” were hot, I decided to start on the brownie bites.

By the time I got back to try the fries, they were cold. I decided to treat these

them for me I would eat a few.

avocado “fries” the same as potato fries and dipped them in ranch. They were actually pretty good … with the ranch; without the ranch, the taste and texture seemed hard and slimy at the same time. I don’t think I would make these “fries” again, but if someone else made

Avocado brownie bites Once again, it was hard for me to get the pit out of the avocado. Other than that, making the brownie bites was relatively easy.

The recipe called for a food processor, another machine that I didn’t have, so I cut up the avocado into miniscule pieces and used the hand mixer to blend all of the cocoa powder, maple syrup, chocolate chips and avocado together. I put the brownie bites in the oven

“I took a few more bites and dumped the rest of the contents into the sink. ” mixer would get the job done. It did not. If I wanted to use the hand mixer at a high speed to chop the avocado, then the ice cream mixture would have gone everywhere. So I decided to fish through my milk and sugar mixture for avocado chunks to chop them up

EMILY WALTERS / COLLEGIATE TIMES

and waited for them to bake.

After the bites baked and cooled, I tried one. I could not tell there was avocado in them, and they tasted pretty much like brownies. My roommate and I agreed that this was the best recipe.

I know I don’t like avocados by themselves, but I’m a fan if they’re not chunky and if they have cilantro and lime juice mixed in. I also have great respect for those who eat avocados with nothing but salt and pepper. If you want to make any of these recipes, avoca-don’t make the ice

cream, avoca-do make the brownie bites and avocamaybe make the “fries,” depending on if you have ranch present. Happy eating, Hokies.

@CollegiateTimes

Nearby bird-watching spot offers sublime views to hike-loving Hokies An hour’s drive from Blacksburg, the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory is an ideal destination for an off-campus day in nature.

JOHN MCBRIDE

lifestyles staff writer

When I first heard about Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory, I had no clue what people were talking about. I’ve never heard the term “raptor” referencing anything other than the little

dinosaurs that Chris Pratt trains.

It turns out “raptor” is just another term for a bird of prey like eagles, hawks, buzzards and falcons, and Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory is where thousands of these birds can be watched, counted and

Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory in Union, West Virginia.

identified. I took a little hike up to the observatory so that I could see what the hype over these deadly birds is about.

The observatory sits in the mountains of Union, West Virginia, about an hour north of Blacksburg. The drive involves steep grades

up and down rolling hills, tight dirt roads and small towns with nothing but a barn, church and firehouse.

I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to see anything at the lookout because I went right as the effects of Hurricane Florence were hitting

JOHN MCBRIDE / COLLEGIATE TIMES

the area. I was even more worried when I got to the trailhead because the fog was so thick through the forest.

The ground was damp with rain that arrived before I did, and the thick, humid smell of earth filled the air as if the dirt evaporated into the mist I breathed. I could see through the trees despite the fog, and it was truly a spooky experience. Stories of Bigfoot filled my mind and I thought, “If I’m ever going to see a ‘squatch, it’ll be today.”

The trek up to the observatory is only about a mile long and very accessible for novice and amateur hikers.

There is a slight uphill incline, but nothing that will leave you gasping for air.

The view at the top is what steals that very breath that the trail granted you.

Fortunately, the fog did not go far past the crest at 3,812 feet. The observatory, a humble wooden shed, waits at the summit for hikers and bird-watchers alike to enjoy the view of the entire valley below.

I entered the shed where I found a binder filled with signatures and memoirs of past visitors. Most comments are just the date of the visit, but some of my favorite were of a man complaining about his hurting knee, and another of a visitor that has been coming to this spot since 1976.

I picked up a pamphlet that gives information about the observatory and the related trails system in

the area. It turns out that my short hike was just 1 of the 330 miles that make up the Allegheny Trail. This trail runs through “four state parks, two state forests and three national forests,” according to the pamphlet.

The trail was built and maintained by the West Virginia Scenic Trails Association (WVSTA).

The WVSTA is a volunteer, nonprofit organization that raises funds and organizes group hikes and maintenance projects along the Allegheny Trail. It is also building a new trail called the Mary Draper Ingles Trail that will run from northern Kentucky through West Virginia and into Blacksburg.

Even though it is the beginning of the raptor migratory season, I wasn’t lucky enough to see any birds due to the weather, but the views alone made my time spent there worthwhile.

I’ll definitely go back when more observers are packed into that tiny hut counting the hundreds of bald eagles that can fly through each day.

W het her you’r e a casual hiker, hardcore backpacker or avid birdwatcher, Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory and the connected Allegheny Trail make a fun and relaxing weekend trip away from the stressful collegiate life.

@JohnMcBride98

sports

editor@collegiatetimes.com

October 2, 2018 PAGE 7

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collegiatetimes.com/sports

Volleyball sweeps Tar Heels off their feet at home The Hokies went above .500 in ACC play after their victory over UNC on Friday, Kaity Smith hitting a game high 16 kills.

JACOB GOLASZEWSKI sports staff writer

In a Friday night clash of ACC foes, the Virginia Tech Hokies faced off against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Despite the Tar Heels’ best efforts, the Hokies would inevitably win the third set and complete the sweep of their ACC opponent.

The Hokies came into the game at 10–4 and 1–1 in the ACC looking to pull above .500 in conference play.

The Tar Heels, on the other hand, were looking to put an

end to a short losing streak that started after the team was forced to miss multiple games due to Hurricane Florence. UNC entered the matchup at 5–7 and 1–2 in ACC play.

The first set started with very back and forth play until senior Jaila Tolbert scored the second straight point, allowing the Hokies to then go on a six-point run.

From that point on, the first set was all Tech. Its offense seemed like it could do no wrong and redshirt-senior Rhegan Mitchell was all over the court defensively, ensuring that UNC couldn’t

ANTHONY WU / COLLEGIATE TIMES Rhegan Mitchell (9) sets the ball up to be hit by one of her teammates. The Hokies win 3–0 against UNC, Sept.

28, 2018.

get any offense going. Kaity Smith and Ester Talamazzi were both playing extremely well and each finished the first set with four points.

The lone bright spot for the Tar Heels in the first set was the defense put up from freshman Destiny Cox. Tech ended up winning the first set 25–15 and had a blazing hitting percentage of .577.

Head coach Jill Wilson took notice as well, saying she was “really proud of our team and how aggressive they came out.” She said that kind of aggressiveness was something that they had been working on over the past couple of weeks.

Once the second set began, the match as a whole became significantly closer.

Multiple times in this set the Virginia Tech players seemed to get upset with some of the officiating, and Tolbert specifically could be seen voicing her frustrations. The Hokies were able to turn it around after a bit of sloppy play thanks to Smith, who was able to score a handful of points in a row for her team.

The Hokies were also assisted by some great hustle and gritty defensive play from Talamazzi in this set.

Virginia Tech would eventually win the second set 25–19 to take a lead of two sets to none.

ANTHONY WU / COLLEGIATE TIMES Jaila Tolbert (4) hits the ball and scores a point. The Hokies win 3–0 against UNC, Sept.

28, 2018.

The third set was all about the defense on both sides. Neither team wanted to give an inch or let the other side get into any sort of rhythm. The two sides were going back and forth for most of the set. Once again it was Smith who gave Tech that little bit of an edge and allowed the team to get going offensively.

Despite that, the Hokies’

lead was not as comfortable as they wanted, and late in the set the score was 24–23 in favor of the home team.

While UNC hadn’t quite been able to gain an edge, they were battling and not letting VT off easy.

Smith finished with a game high of 16 kills, Mitchell led both teams in assists with 30 and Carol Raffety led the way in

digs with 14. The Hokies will play again on Sunday against the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

@CTSportsTalk

First ACC win comes in form of overtime nailbiter at Thompson Field It took 107 minutes before Tech was able to hit the back of the net and close out its first conference victory.

CONNOR FORD sports staff writer

Going into Friday’s game, the Hokies were winless against ACC opponents, going 0–2–1. Ranked No. 21 in the country, they now had the perfect opportunity to finally get a conference victory against the unranked Syracuse Orange at home.

After no goals through 107 minutes, Nico Quashie scored the game winner for Tech late into overtime.

With few clouds in the Blacksburg sky and the temperature reading 73 degrees, it was the perfect day for a 7 p.m. ACC clash.

The first shot on goal for Tech came in the sixth minute when Jon Ingason sent a long pass from midfield to Kristo Strickler who vollied it right into the waiting hands of Syracuse’s keeper Hendrik Hilpert.

Syracuse had the better of the possession halfway through the first half, caused by some sloppy play from Tech. One of the Orange’s best chances of the half came when ‘Cuse’s Ryan Raposo was in on net until Tech’s defender, Ingason, slide tackled the ball past the net, almost putting the ball in his own goal.

The Hokies started to settle into the game by the 29th minute when Rory Slevin skillfully went past defenders straight to goal, until he was met by keeper

Hilpert. In the same minute, Tech’s Strickler crossed it to Camron Lennon, whose header forced another save from Hilpert.

The opening half ended with Tech leading the ‘Cuse in shots 7–4 and with Tech’s associate head coach Jeff Kinney tossed from the game in the 40th minute for arguing for a yellow card to be assessed for a Syracuse foul.

After a quiet first eight minutes of the second half for both teams, Jakob Bluemler got the Hokies going when he dribbled around the ‘Cuse defense and crossed it to Vincent Jackson II for an open header that was put over the net.

Tech had most of the chances and possession to start the half, despite a diving stop from Tech’s keeper Mathijs Swaneveld from a shot inside the box in the 62nd minute. Tech also had a great chance just two minutes later from a Strickler header, forcing Hilpert to swat the ball away from his net with one hand.

Syracuse started to win back possession later in the half, forcing constant corners and blocks from Hokie defenders. Though Syracuse outshot Tech 14–4 in the second half, only two of those shots were on target.

Since the score was 0–0 after regulation, the game went into a 20-minute sudden death overtime. After

very little action in front of the goal from both sides and a yellow card handed to Tech’s James Kasak for a trip on Syracuse’s John-Austin Ricks in the 95th minute, Tech was knocking on the door late into the second overtime period.

The goal that Tech was pushing for came with three minutes to go. Lennon passed it to Quashie in the box, who then struck the top left corner of the net, putting it out of Hilbert’s reach, sending the Hokies and Thompson Field into a frenzy.

With Tech’s first ACC win under their belt, head coach Mark Brizendine breathed a sigh of relief. “(I feel) great!!” he said. “You can put an exclamation on that, two of them!”

He emphasized how huge of a victory it was for his team, considering Syracuse had a high RPI, saying, “I thought it was probably going to be a tie game and then we were fortunate to get a goal.”

The Hokies have a great opportunity to get another win next game at home against the 2–5 South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

@CTSportsTalk

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column

Freshman Patterson could prove best option at QB As the season progresses, the highly talented prospect Quincy Patterson may now get his chance to show off his skill set.

DEVIN SHEPARD sports staff writer

With Josh Jackson out with a broken leg after last week’s crushing loss to ODU, many Virginia Tech fans are feeling that hope is lost for the season.

It seems unbelievable that this is the same team that looked so promising just a month ago after manhandling perennial power Florida State. The team that once looked like it had a chance to win the ACC is now going upstream without a paddle.

But maybe, hope is not lost. Maybe it has just arrived.

Maybe that hope comes in the form of true freshman quarterback Quincy Patterson.

I know what you’re thinking; isn’t Kansas transfer Ryan Willis the starter at Tech? Didn’t he just lead us past Duke on Saturday? He did, and he was really good, completing 63 percent of his passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. But the redshirt junior out of Kansas has to prove he can do it for more than one game if he wants to keep his job. Willis played the best game of his career

Saturday by far. Willis is a good pocket passer; that’s why Tech brought him into the program, and Coach Fuente created a great gameplan for him utilizing his skillset on fades and perimeter throws.

But in Big 12 play known for its infamously bad defenses, Willis won one game against Rhode Island, completed 55 percent of his passes and threw for only 11 touchdowns to 17 interceptions. Past experience shows that Willis is still probably not the answer if Virginia Tech wants to salvage this season.

Enter Quincy Patterson: The freshman out of Chicago is a 6-foot-4 genius with an arm. Patterson is an engineering major, and acquired a 4.5 GPA throughout high school. Part of his school’s robotics team, he was at the helm for many projects building different kinds of robots. Even though he was heavily recruited by schools like Michigan State, Penn State and, of course, Virginia Tech, Patterson also had offers from Ivy Leagues Princeton and Yale.

The phenom NFL scouts are calling a cross between

COURTESY OF HOKIESPORTS

“Cam Newton and Andrew Luck,” per Bleacher Report, is an exceptional quarterback.

Not many quarterbacks come out of Chicago, so Patterson wasn’t heavily sought after

until his junior year. But once he did, he made the most of it.

Patterson “threw for 1,359 yards and 15 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,146 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior,” per hokiesports.com. This led to him being invited to the Nike Opening Invitational in Oregon, where he won MVP of the event. Later that year, Patterson would be invited to the Elite 11, the top quarterback competition in the nation, and place as a finalist among the best high school quarterback prospects in the country.

At the end of the event, head coach and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer summed it up. “I told them I could build a program out of all 12 of them,” Dilfer said.

“But if they had to ask me to pick one — only one — it would be Quincy Patterson.

He’s gone through and thrived through harder stuff than the rest of us at that age,” per Bleacher Report.

Patterson is the real deal and it’s only a matter of time before head coach Justin Fuente will have to play him.

He has the mind, the attitude and the talent to possibly

be the best quarterback in Virginia Tech’s history. Those are high expectations, but not overestimations.

The sooner Patterson gets on the field and plays, the better for Hokie Nation.

With freshman quarterbacks like Trevor Lawrence and N’Kosi Perry coming in for their teams and winning games in the ACC, it’s time for Patterson to step on to the field.

Dilfer said it best when interviewed by Bleacher Report: “It stuns you when you first meet him.”

“We couldn’t believe it.

He’s always going to put a smile on your face, and he’s always going to give you hope. That’s not talked about enough with quarterbacks.

The great ones bring hope, and Quincy has that gift.”

Hokie fans need that hope right now, and Quincy Patterson is where it is.

@DrashawnShepard

Hokies look to shock No. 8 Irish in primetime slot After moving back into the Top 25, Virginia Tech seeks to continue its crawl back atop the rankings by upsetting Notre Dame.

HUNTER HODIES sports staff writer

After getting upset by Old Dominion, the Hokies will be looking for an upset of their own as they take on No. 6 Notre Dame on Saturday night in Lane Stadium. Virginia Tech had a big bounce-back win against No. 22 Duke this past Saturday. Backup quarterback Ryan Willis threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns and the defense looked much sharper. Willis will be getting the start this Saturday and for the foreseeable future as Josh Jackson continues to be out with a fracture.

Notre Dame won on Saturday night at home against Stanford 38–17, and a big part of its success has been quarterback Ian Book.

Book started the season as the Irish’s backup quarterback, but head coach Brian Kelly put him in the lineup last weekend against Wake Forest and he didn’t disappoint.

Notre Dame put up 56 points that week and Book accounted for five touchdowns. On Saturday against Stanford, he had 325 total yards and four touchdowns, establishing the Irish as a legit college football playoff contender. He’s the real deal and he’s likely going to test the Hokies secondary a lot in this matchup.

Notre Dame has the weapons that can do it as well. Miles Boykin had 11 receptions for 144 yards against the Cardinal defense on Saturday, which were both career highs for him.

Book and Boykin were

connecting on all different kinds of routes all night, whether it was a backshoulder pass or a curl and out. Chase Claypool and tight end Alize Mack also had touchdowns against Stanford. This will be the best offense that Virginia Tech has seen to date, and stopping Book and the big-play ability will be a must if the Hokies want to pull off this upset.

For Virginia Tech’s offense, Notre Dame will be the best defense that they’ve faced so far this season. The Irish defense allowed only 174 passing yards against Stanford and quarterback K.J. Costello was under heavy duress all night long.

Notre Dame’s front four never let up sacking four times and hurried twice.

That front four is led by

senior defensive tackle Jerry Tillery and he’s going to have to get a lot of focus this week for the Hokies offense as he was all over the field in that game.

The Hokies are going to have to win those one-on-one matchups in the passing game if they want to move the football in this game. They did a great job against Duke doing it as Eric Kumah, Damon Hazleton and Tre Turner all had contested catches during the game. This also means that Willis has to continue putting the ball in a favorable place for his receivers to make a play. The ball was in the right place at the right time in all those throws as he showed just how good he can zip the ball.

As far as running the ball, it will also go a long way if

they can get the ground game going again. Nothing much happened in that department against Duke as the Hokies had just 81 yards rushing as a team. Steven Peoples had 47 of those yards, while Deshawn McClease had 27 of them. The previous three games, they ran the ball extremely well as they had over 100 yards rushing. In two of those games (against Old Dominion and William and Mary), they had over 300 yards rushing. While rushing for that many yards is highly unlikely, getting over 100 yards rushing for this game would be a blessing and it would keep Notre Dame’s defense in check during the game.

Head coach Justin Fuente never likes to stick with one feature back during one game so look for both

Peoples and McClease to get close to a split in carries.

This game may be closer than some people think it’s going to be. Lane Stadium is going to be rocking on Saturday night and Enter Sandman may show up on the seismograph after it’s all said and done. Both teams come into this game riding high after they beat ranked teams this past weekend. Ultimately, I think in a medium-scoring game, Notre Dame will make a few more plays than Virginia Tech this game to come out with a win.

Prediction: Notre Dame 28, Virginia Tech 24.

@HunterHodies

Hokies show out in Durham, dominate Blue Devils

AHMED MUSTAFA / COLLEGIATE TIMES Virginia Tech Hokies’ Ryan Willis (5) rolls to his right as he looks downfield for a receiver in the Hokies’ ACC opener at Wallace Wade Stadium, Sept. 29, 2018.

ETHAN CANDELARIO / COLLEGIATE TIMES Virginia Tech’s Deshawn McClease (33) is tackled by Duke’s Ben Humphreys (34) and Joe Giles-Harris (44). The Hokies would go on to win 31–14, Sept. 29, 2018.