OUR BODIES, OUR CHOICE HOSTS “URGENT CONVERSATION” ON ABORTION ACCESS AT LYRIC THEATRE
Jonathan Mususa | news staff writer
Contraceptive access has become more difficult for working-class individuals and people of color since Roe v. Wade was repealed.
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m., Our Bodies Our Choice (OBOC), a pro-choice activist organization based in the New River Valley, hosted a forum at Blacksburg’s Lyric Theatre, titled “Reproductive Justice: An Urgent Conversation.”
The special event was about where the pro-choice movement finds itself after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization trial that overturned Roe v. Wade. Doors to the forum opened at 6:30 p.m.
OBOC describes itself as a “grassroots, non-partisan organization” aiming to “mobilize women and allies in the NRV to fight for reproductive justice now and for future generations.”
The forum was hosted in collaboration
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with the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Virginia Tech, the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech, VT Engage, the United Feminist Movement at VT, Period at Virginia Tech, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and the New River Abortion Access Fund.
“It’s an abortion and health care event, and we’re all about reproductive rights,” said Dinari Higgs, an advertising and finance junior with Period at Virginia Tech. “I think reproductive rights and just the right to your body or bodily autonomy is extremely important, so I’m really glad that they’re having this event to highlight that.”
Event speakers included Susanna Rinehart, an associate professor of performance in the School of Performing Arts; Laurie Buchwald, a longtime nurse
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practitioner; and Pat Hyer, a founding member of OBOC, among others.
“I keep being haunted by the words of our friend, (Republican U. S. Senate nominee) Bernie Moreno in Ohio, those ‘crazy’ women over 50 who should, somehow, in his mind, not see this as an issue,” Rinehart said in her opening remarks. “This is a group of crazy women over 50.”
Buchwald’s presentation included statistical information and research related to abortions. It also included stories of postDobbs difficulties providing contraceptive medications to patients and the disproportionate effects of abortion restrictions on working-class women and women of color.
Buchwald referred to a quote in a New England Journal of Medicine’s op-ed.
“The most privileged members of U.S. society will always be able to work around restrictive laws and find abortion care in jurisdictions that permit it,” the op-ed stated.
“It is the marginalized women who will suffer,” Buchwald said regarding the quote.
Hyer concluded the presentations by offering an overview of developments concerning abortion access in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. This included information on the uptick in out-of-state patients seen at Virginia abortion clinics, and a campaign to amend Virginia’s constitution to protect access to abortion and contraception.
Despite the challenge posed by what Hyer described as a “campaign to take away women’s rights,” she sought to encourage those in the audience to act.
“You should also come away from this presentation knowing, though, and heartened by the fact that these dramatic changes have brought many of us to a new level of activism we haven’t practiced in quite a few years,” Hyer said. “Our skills are rusty, but we are ready to go.”
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OPINIONS FROM CONFLICT TO COOPERATION: WHY THE US SHOULD RETHINK ITS STANCE ON THE TALIBAN
Mohib Amjad | opinions contributor
After the troubling history between the US and Taliban, it’s time for the two to reconcile.
On Aug. 15, 2024, the Taliban government of Afghanistan celebrated their third anniversary of returning into power. The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan after years of constant struggle against the erstwhile democratically elected government of Ashraf Ghani. This was only possible because on May 1, 2021, the U.S. began withdrawing its troops from that region on the order of President Joe Biden. On Liberation Day, Afghanistan entered a new phase of its history with a new name: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and its head of state Hibatullah Akhundzada, who ushered mass reformation of Afghanistan. To understand the present-day situation of Afghanistan, we must understand the history of that region. With a history dating back to around 2000 B.C.E. and its dominant religion shifting from polytheism to Buddhism to now Islam, it has seen leaders from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan and now the Taliban. Its history is just as diverse as its people. You have ethnicities like the Pashtuns, Nuristanis, Tajiks, Qizilbash and Aimaqs, to name a few. Afghanistan, commonly known as the Graveyard of Empires by historians, has defended itself or driven out powers much greater than NATO. The Achaemenid Empire tried, Alexander the Great tried, the Maurya Empire tried, the Islamic caliphates tried, the Ghaznavid Empire tried, the Mongols tried, the Safavid Empire tried and none could control Afghanistan. The British Empire tried thrice and lost all three times. The first AngloAfghan war is one of the most famous British military defeats, with the entire British army wiped out except for one soldier to tell the tale of their defeat. The Soviet Union engaged Afghanistan in a decade-long war, and it exacerbated the collapse of the USSR. Finally, in response to 9/11, in which 17 Arabs, one Egyptian and one Lebanese performed an act of terrorism, the U.S. decided to invade Afghanistan. After two decades of military
engagement, they withdrew in 2021.
We must also understand how the Taliban regime came to power. The predecessors to the Taliban movement were the Mujahideen. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. propped up people in Afghanistan, radicalized them with religious beliefs, gave them weaponry and taught them how to engage in guerrilla warfare to fight against the Soviet army. Initially frowned upon, the Mujahideen gained mass public support after the war due to their service to Afghanistan, and the Jihadi ideology became widespread. Still, their extreme thoughts were rejected by the public until the Taliban movement came into existence.
The word Taliban translates to “student.”
This was because the early followers of Mullah Omar were actual students fighting against pedophilia. The name Taliban was coined by Omar for his group of Mujahideen supporters who saw that the Afghan government had strayed from the path of Islam in lieu of liberalization of the country and Afghanistan needed to be a truly Islamic country.
Pre-Taliban Afghanistan was much different than today’s Afghanistan. Women made up a significant portion of the student population and about 40% of the workforce. Afghanistan used to host the infamous hippie trail and its GDP growth was around 3–4% annually. But when the radicalized Mujahideen philosophy was refined by the well-learned Omar, with the help of the Jihadi literature printed in the U.S., to be a much more moderate philosophy, collusion was made and allowed the people to see their heroes as their leaders. People accepted Omar’s philosophy much more openly and soon the Taliban evolved from a gang to a group capable of forming the Kandahar government. Once the Taliban were able to take over Kandahar with an armed struggle, they gained international recognition. Their ambitions to take over
Kabul were in full swing, and they were given funding and training by the ISI, CIA and MI6.
After the attack on the World Trade Center, the U.S. decided to invade Afghanistan due to it harboring Osama bin Laden, the perpetrator behind the 9/11 attacks, even though the Taliban had announced that they were willing to hand over bin Laden to a thirdparty country for his trial. During the 20 years of the military engagement between NATO and the Taliban, a relative era of peace was ushered in which Afghanistan wasn’t part of any external warfare but had internal issues such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS and opium.
Yannis A. Stivachtis, professor of political science at Virginia Tech and Jean Monnet Chair, gave his opinion on how the past 20 years has looked in Afghanistan and why.
“The U.S. policy in these 20 years was to bribe the war lords and give money to the government in order to justify them doing whatever they wanted to do,” Stivachtis said.
Chad Levinson, assistant professor of Government and International Affairs (GIA) at Virginia Tech, stated what was wrong with how the U.S. reacted.
“The military is good at killing people and breaking things,” Levinson said. “And that’s not a path to stability unless there is a mobilized army that you’re trying to demobilize and destroy, which there wasn’t in Afghanistan. So, this was never going to work. It didn’t work. It created new problems, made existing problems worse.”
During these 20 years, opium production became a huge industry in Afghanistan. The elected governments of Hamid Karzai and Ghani tried to undo some of the changes brought forth by the Taliban regime. Afghanistan became more open to diplomacy with non-Muslim majority states, like India. However, both of these governments had high levels of corruption, the courts were ineffective and factionalism caused some groups
of the population to urge the Taliban to retake the government. Levinson gave his opinion on how to rebuild Afghanistan.
“The United States was never going to do a Marshall Plan for Afghanistan, which is to say it was not going to dedicate the truly substantial resources necessary to complete something of that scale,” Levinson said. “The country had been suffering for so long under civil wars and occupations and invasions. Also, as largely a realist, I don’t really know how much state building capacity we have as the United States in a foreign country.”
In 2021, after Biden ordered the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban resurfaced and took over Afghanistan within a month of the U.S. troops’ departure. Stivachtis talks about how the Taliban funded their return.
“After they (the U.S. military) left the briefcases (money and weaponry which belonged to the U.S. government) were scattered,” Stivachtis said. These leftover weaponry and money were utilized by the Taliban to fuel their resurgence. The new Afghan government posed itself as the good Taliban. No country except China has yet to officially recognize the Taliban government. Though some countries like Qatar, Pakistan and Iran have hosted Taliban officials or conducted diplomatic engagements, China has been the only country to accept their ambassador. When the whole world denied the new Taliban regime recognition, China seized its opportunity and came to aid Afghanistan, not out of the goodness of their hearts, but rather to aid their dream of becoming a hegemony. The Belt and Road initiative of China aims to gain global economic dominance by expanding its connectivity to the world through rail lines and ports. Now they have a government who have proved in the past to
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have a government who have proved in the past to be unafraid of breaking international diplomatic notions and China now has an ally in the heart of Asia. China is investing heavily in Afghanistan and due to this inflow of money, the Afghan economy has prospered, benefiting even those who were anti-Taliban. China plans to capitalize on the 1–3 trillion dollars’ worth of untapped mineral resources present in Afghanistan.
Stivachtis gave his opinion on how to re-integrate Afghanistan into the global order.
“The road to Afghanistan (for the Chinese) will be through Russia, this why they have good connections, they will certainly join the BRICS due to its important geopolitical strategic position and they may become a pawn in this region,” Stivachtis said.
Another major threat to Afghanistan is the rise of crises in that region. More than 50% of the population is malnourished, sanctions have forced industries to shut down, citizens are experiencing halted aid and frozen assets have shrunk the economy by 20 to 30%, Afghanis don’t have access to adequate healthcare, women and girls are
barred from gaining any formal education other than the local madrasa curriculum, 3.5 million Afghans are internally displaced and over 40% of the workforce is unemployed. The Taliban are predominantly Pashtun, which is a point of contention for other ethnicities in Afghanistan who feel they don’t have representation and if something wrong happens to them, they won’t have much to say in that matter.
Lawrence Wright once said, “Radicalism usually prospers in the gap between rising expectations and declining opportunities. This is especially true where the population is young, idle, and bored; where the art is impoverished; where entertainment — movies, theater, music — is policed or absent altogether; and where young men are set apart from the consoling and socializing presence of women.”
Diplomacy is rarely based on basic human rights and mostly around the interests of the parties. As U.S. citizens, we must consider for a moment what the Afghanis are going through. Experts suggest that a potential middle ground may involve gradual engagement without formal recognition. This may involve greater aid or lessening restrictions on trade and investment in return for some guarantees from the
Taliban such as women’s rights or counterterrorism. Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva, a representative of the secretary-general for Afghanistan and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, emphasizes that there must be more direct engagement with the de facto authorities, including in Kabul.
“Dialogue does not legitimize, but it can encourage change,” Otunbayeva said.
Stivachtis also gave his opinion why the Taliban resurfaced.
“I think the Taliban understood well that this democratization of Afghanistan could not work so they decided to be there as long as it takes knowing that the United States will not be successful and one day the Americans will leave,” Stivachtis said.
Our governments need to adapt to the rapid change in global politics. If the U.S. wishes to maintain its global hegemony, then it must act towards normalizing its relations with the Taliban government. We must think about the innocent people who were forced to submit to this regime — they are now suffering due to sanctions. Millions of Afghanis cannot treat their patients without medicine. Don’t let this election season be in vain by believing in the enticing words of the candidates. The
U.S. must do something to make the lives of every Afghan better, not just listen to the false hopes. Be careful in what the politicians claim to be their foreign policy approaches — a peaceful and prosperous nation of Afghanistan will make for a peaceful and prosperous America. There is a saying that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. In this case, we are reminded that the shortcomings of poorly formulated policies hurt no one other than the innocent people, in this case, Afghanis.
According to Martin Luther King Jr., “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
This saying communicates that nobody can suffer from such apathy as pretending that aggression can be ignored in any country. King posits that we cannot live in our ivory towers, ignorant of other peoples’ conditions and then not expect certain fallout to reach our shores. Give your vote to those whose policies will uplift not only the U.S., but also the entire globe. Be a part of a grander narrative than the petty politics of today. A peaceful nation contributes to a peaceful world.
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LIFESTYLES COMMUNITY BUILDS CHARACTER: A LOOK INTO LIVING LEARNING PROGRAMS
Olivia Ramey | lifestyles writer
The many dorms at Virginia Tech offer a variety of LLPs for every student to try.
Living Learning Programs (LLPs) are a way that Virginia Tech can ensure community building in the residential section of campus. With many LLPs offered to all varieties of students, these programs create a home away from home.
LLPs center on certain shared values, hobbies or student statuses. They are made up of students looking to find common ground with others. All undergraduate students can apply for an LLP prior to the start of the next academic year. The list of all LLPs can be found on the Virginia Tech website.
Jackie Mitchell, a senior studying multimedia journalism, has been a part of four LLPs offered on campus: Ujima, Leadership and Social Change Residential College, Residential College at West Ambler Johnston, and Rhizome. Mitchell gave insight on how a student can be a part of different communities each year, but still find a place to fit in.
A look into Ujima
Ujima collaborates with Africana Studies and the Black Cultural Center. The main goal of Ujima is to provide support and a foundation for culture and Black community to thrive on the Virginia Tech campus.
“I liked being a part of the Black community my freshman year,” Mitchell said.
A look into the Leadership and Social Change Residential College
Leadership and Social Change is a type of LLP called a Residential College. Residential colleges are centered around community building, but also tradition and intellectual values. This program holds discussions and fundraising events, social activities, and a full fundamental knowledge of how to be a leader.
“Leadership and Social Change was where I got to meet others inspired by leadership,” Mitchell said.
Leadership is an important part of the Virginia Tech foundation. The Leadership and Social Change Residential College
instills in each of its members the disciplines and characteristics that build a leader in any setting. A special connection that Mitchell shared from her time at Leadership and Social Change was meeting the faculty residents.
Dr. Rick Rudd serves as faculty principal for the Leadership and Social Change Residential College. He lives on property with his wife, Dr. Donna Westfall-Rudd. In addition to the Rudds, many professors in the leadership department, such as Dr. Austin Council, often attend socials for the living learning program.
A look into the Residential College at West Ambler Johnston
The Residential College in West Ambler Johnston Hall is founded on the principles of collaboration. Whether it is between students and students or students and professors, relationships are a core value that drives all life, especially here at Virginia Tech.
“Residential College was so cool because we can meet and interact with other floors to do competitions,” Mitchell said.
Regardless of the formality of the collaboration, it is necessary to be with others and create relationships that establish bonds inside and outside of the classroom.
“Residential College hosts different events each week,” Mitchell said.
These events include playing games and sports, socializing with Dr. Ashley Reed, the live-in faculty principal, and enjoying snacks together in the common areas.
A look into Rhizome
“Rhizome is great because I get to learn more about the world around us,” Mitchell said. Rhizome’s website shares that the program is all about “thinking globally and acting locally.” Rhizome aids students in helping solve global challenges. No matter the major chosen by the applying student this LLP gathers the talents curated by all majors to develop community and characteristics that will lead to a better future.
Ujima, a living-learning community centered around learning about the AfricanAmerican experience, is housed in Peddrew-Yates Hall.
The benefits of LLPs
There are many benefits to being a part of LLPs. They create lasting friendships and collaborative opportunities for all kinds of students and administrators.
“I have learned more about different things at Virginia Tech when it comes to the communities that they have to offer and different experiences I have had is a great way to get involved with Virginia Tech while also meeting friends,” Mitchell said.
“Anytime I could hang out with someone and meet new people in my dorms, it was always a great time.”
Despite the differences in the LLPs, each one has the commonality of bringing students together. These environments foster communication between students who otherwise may not have interacted,
while also enforcing the principles that helped found Virginia Tech and the individual LLPs.
Each LLP has a different atmosphere. A student will not find the same sense of community in each of the different programs. However, that is what creates belonging. One can be a part of different communities, all with different atmospheres. A student can bring their own talents, opinions, values and personality to benefit those of other students. This individuality creates communities that last here at Virginia Tech. It is no doubt that any LLP on campus will lead a student to success in many paths of life.
ANTHONY WU / COLLEGIATE TIMES
HOME SWEET HOME: GALIPATIA, AN ENGINEERING COMMUNITY
Cat Pizzarello | lifestyles staff writer
The living learning programs Galileo and Hypatia offer like-minded living spaces for engineering students.
Although they seem to never sleep, engineers still need a place to call home. Luckily for engineering newcomers, there is an opportunity for them to live with people within their area of study: Galipatia.
The name comes from a clever combination of names of the male and female engineering Living Learning Communities (LLCs) available on campus, Galileo and Hypatia, respectively. Hypatia was the original LLC with its establishment in 2001 to support female engineers entering a male-dominated field of study.
The name Hypatia spawns from the famous mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, a scholar who lived around 360 A.D. and was educated in math, astronomy and philosophy. Hypatia’s name now has created a community for intelligent women just like herself to find their place in the engineering field.
Eventually, in 2005, a similar community was established for the male engineering students called Galileo. Similarly to their counterpart, Hypatia, Galileo received its name from the famous engineer Galileo Galilei.
Both communities are directed by the Center of Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED). Their community originally resided in Hoge Hall before transferring this past year to Pritchard Hall.
“It’s supposed to provide support to them (first-year engineering students) when they don’t really know what they’re doing,” said Ilsevan Duijl, a senior in data centric computing and a Galipatia mentor.
This is van Duijl’s second year mentoring through Galipatia and her third year in the community.
“This year I have 13 freshmen I am mentoring,” van Duijl said. “I also oversee a group of four other mentors, just to make sure they have the support to be good mentors for the freshmen.”
Through the community, engineering students are required to take a mandatory class. In the class, students go through professional development, learn how to do elevator pitches and write resumes, among other things. This is all in preparation for future networking opportunities and expos.
“They also learn how to reach out to people in the industry to figure out what it’s like working in whatever they’re interested in working in,” van Duijl said.
“It’s a little extra work on top of schoolwork, but they introduce connections to professional engineers and other professional experiences that will help me in the future,” said Emerson Jones, a freshman in Galileo planning to major in mechanical engineering.
Students take the class during the fall semester, and it is received as an incomplete credit until the spring. Once they have attended their required events during the spring, they will receive the credit at the end of the school year.
“As a freshman, you have to attend social events, professional development, academic
events, those kinds of things,” van Duijl said.
“We had Major Scoop last night, which was for all the freshmen to look at all the engineering majors that are out there, and they got some ice cream.”
“It’s been a positive experience as far as professional development events and kind of getting the first experience with interviewing people and talking to potential employers,” said Allie Cook, a freshman in Hypatia planning to major in mechanical engineering. “It seemed like a good experience for my first year coming in to be able to live in a community with people who are doing the same thing as me.”
Ultimately, Galipatia is a place for engineering students to be able to rely on one another. It’s a place for them to find others that relate to them and navigate this transition
from high school to college living.
“I wanted to be surrounded by likeminded people,” Jones said. “I wanted to be able to rely on people when it came to homework and classwork because I knew we would be sharing similar classes.”
Mentors and student leaders are always around to offer advice and lend a hand when it comes to questions, looking over a resume, talking about potential classes, or even helping a student set up their LinkedIn account.
“You’re in a building full of engineering students,” van Duijl said. “If you know you need something, you know you can find someone.”
CHEN JIANG / COLLEGIATE TIMES
Pritchard Hall, home of the Hypatia and Galileo living learning communities.
THE BEST AND WORST OF DORM LIFE
Riley Thompson | lifestyles contributor
Residential students share the good, the bad and the silly of Virginia Tech dorm life
Living in a dorm at college can be a unique experience, to say the least. For a lot of students, dorm life is a huge adjustment, especially since students must share their tiny living space with another person. The good, the bad and the ugly are all bound to happen when living in a shared space, a fact of life when it comes to collegiate living.
All of these moments become memories that students one day share as stories with friends, family, and in this case, The Collegiate Times.
Starting off on the right foot, sophomore Paige Netting, who lives in Payne Hall, recalled a positive experience she had in her dorm this year.
“I was leaving my door open in case any freshmen needed anything, and a bunch of freshmen girls came and knocked on my door and they were handing out candy,” Netting said. “They realized they knew me from my YouTube channel!”
Giving out treats is a great way for students to meet everyone in their dorm hall. Plus, doing so can form friendships between neighbors. Having a friendly face to wave to as students come and go from their dorms is
an awesome plus to living in a dorm, especially since students live with those same people year-round. Getting to know all the other students who live nearby is one of the more positive aspects of dorm life.
“It was a little embarrassing, but it was also really cool because they knew me,” Netting said. “So, I invited them in, and I was eating lunch, so I gave them all a little piece of my lunch and we all just sat and hung out.”
Chance encounters and random luck are other bonuses that come with dorm life. Students could be living next to people they already know, whether they are random people from their hometown or someone from a YouTube channel. Living in a dorm provides students the opportunity to connect with all sorts of unexpected people, which can be a fulfilling aspect of collegiate living.
However, not all dorm life experiences are positive. Bad experiences can range from slightly uncomfortable to wildly distressing.
“At 4:00 a.m. these guys would come through and bang on everyone’s door,” Netting said, recalling an experience she had in Slusher Hall her freshman year. “So, me and my roommate had to get used to being woken
up every weekend night by guys screaming pounding on our door.”
Waking up at such a late hour every weekend is the kind of horror no one wants to have to deal with. Sleep is critical for the success of college students and having that precious time interrupted is both infuriating and debilitating.
But, if noisy neighbors waking students up at 4:00 a.m. wasn’t bad enough, it can get worse. Getting locked out of a dorm is a nightmare for most students, but what about getting locked out during a break? Mattison Cate, a current junior living in Payne Hall, shared her scary experience with dorm living her freshman year.
“I came back from winter break in my first semester way earlier than anybody else did,” Cate said. “I went to go get water, and our water fountain was across the archway. So, I walk out my door, I shut my door behind me, and then I have the moment of knowing I just left my phone in there, and on the back of my phone exists my card. Nobody was there. Nobody was in the entire building.”
The situation worsened, however, as Cate was forced to venture outside for help, into
the freezing January air with no shoes on.
“I have a habit of not wearing shoes very often,” she said. “So, I went outside, barefoot, into the cold, and just started looking for another person, and I flagged down the first person that I came across, which just so happened to be faculty for the RWB SLs (Residential Wellbeing Student Leaders). They had to wait for an actual SL to let me into the room. An SL finally showed up and let me into the room.”
Who better to wander across in a time of need than a residential well being student leader? With quick thinking and a little bit of luck, Cate found a solution to a potentially horrible situation, and her story ends positively.
Overall, collegiate living can encompass all sorts of experiences: the enjoyable, the horrible and everything in between. Hopefully, most students don’t have to deal with noisy neighbors or forgetting their Hokie passport in their dorm room, and instead simply get to enjoy all the great things about collegiate living.
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TEN FUNCTIONAL DORM DECOR MUST-HAVES
Cat Pizzarello | lifestyles writer
Lifestyles staff writer Cat Pizzarello shares key items that bring a dorm to the next level
Dorm rooms may not be as aesthetic as they appear on Pinterest, but customizing a space is still possible without spending a fortune on excessive decor. With such a small space, it’s important to make functional purchases that are also eye-pleasing. Here are 10 functional dorm decor must-haves.
Rugs
Rugs add a level of coziness to a space and help cushion those cold tiled dorm floors during the winter. Different patterns and styles can be tailored to suit any person’s individual style and add character to a room.
While adding to the aesthetics, rugs also help with easy clean-up. Rugs collect dust and debris from a room and make it easier to shake outside instead of sweeping. Getting a washable rug also allows you to easily throw your rug in the washing machine for those inevitable spills and messes.
Lighting
Dorm rooms can only get so much natural light, and fluorescent overhead lights are sometimes a bit much in the evening, especially if a roommate is staying up to do homework. LED lights and lamps can provide softer, warmer lighting for an ideal living environment.
For candle lovers, flameless candles can add the same low glow as a normal candle without the fire hazard.
Scent diffusers
Dorm rooms often come with a musty odor left behind by the students who move in and out of rooms year after year. Plug-in air fresheners unfortunately go against fire code, so opting for a reed scent diffuser can be a nice alternative to add a comforting smell to your dorm.
Reed scent diffusers also act as a filler decor item on shelves while working as an air freshener to help mask the stale smell of a dorm. They are
just as easy to refill and can be just as affordable as plug-in air fresheners.
Additionally, essential oil diffusers can make your dorm smell more like home. Oils like lavender and peppermint can be very calming.
The most basic, affordable option available to improve one’s living space is a room spray.
These can be found at almost any store in a variety of scents, price points, and strengths.
Command Spring Clips
Command strips are always a given when decorating a space, but Command offers many designs based around their original strip. Command spring clips function as clothespins, but they stick to your wall.
These clips can make it easy to hang up photos from home or even photos with new Hokie friends. Plus, at the end of the year, they’re easily removable thanks to the engineering of the original Command strips.
Headboard pillows
Skip the decorative pillows and opt for a headboard pillow instead. As cute as those decorative pillows are, they will end up on the floor the majority of the time, take up excessive space in a dorm room and likely be expensive.
A headboard pillow adds a cozy and comfortable backdrop to a bed while also featuring a cushion that makes it easier to work in bed. These pillows can also be much more affordable than purchasing multiple decorative throw pillows.
Multipurpose throw blankets
Along with bedding, purchasing a throw blanket or bringing one from home can add a different pop of color or texture to a room. When the winters get cold, it can be nice to have an extra blanket for sleeping or late-night continued on page 9
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studying at a desk. Throw blankets can also double as a picnic blanket for all the events that are constantly happening on the Drillfield.
Mirrors
Shared bathrooms make it difficult to fix hair or do makeup in the mornings before class. Adding a decorative mirror to a dorm room can help make mornings smoother while also providing another piece to fill those empty walls. Smaller desk mirrors can be nice, especially if they double as a light source with LED lights.
Whiteboards
Whether out in the hall or in the room, a whiteboard can be both functional and aesthetic. Acting as another wall filler, a whiteboard can be used to leave messages to roommates, write down reminders or just for silly doodles.
Putting a whiteboard out in the hall also serves as a way to socialize. Many students use them to take polls with peers about various topics, such as cats vs. dogs or favorite holidays.
Plants
Although not all have a green thumb, plants add a level of brightness and calming ambience to a room. Snake plants, spider plants, peace
lilies and various succulents are all very low-maintenance plants that provide an aesthetically pleasing look. Plants also present the opportunity for brightly colored or painted pots to fit an individual’s style.
Never forget the ease of fake plants, as well. They come in many sizes and varieties to add life to a room, even though that life is made of plastic.
Corkboards
Through each semester, students are bound to collect little keepsakes along the way. A corkboard is a decorative way to hold on to and display these memories in a unique and
eye-pleasing way, instead of shoving them away in a desk drawer.
Corkboards offer opportunities for students to display their personalities and timelines as Hokies. After your time at Virginia Tech, a corkboard can act as a testimonial to all the memories that were made along the way.
Decorating a dorm room is important to making an unfamiliar place feel like home. Dorm rooms can often be empty and depressing during move-in, but it’s important to remember that their absence of character is an opportunity for each student to display their own personality.
SPORTS HOKIES EARN THIRD STRAIGHT WIN IN OUTSLOPPING OF GEORGIA TECH
Dylan Tefft | sports editor
It wasn’t pretty, but Virginia Tech continued to roll against the Yellow Jackets.
There wasn’t much to get the Lane Stadium crowd going Saturday afternoon, but the Hokies (5–3, 3–1 ACC) made do with occasional key plays to outlast Georgia Tech (5–4, 3–2 ACC), 21–6.
The win was a stark contrast to last week’s nighttime showcase against Boston College. No record-breaking rushes by Bhayshul Tuten, no Antwaun Powell-Ryland sack-a-thon and certainly no ease in getting down the field.
Kyron Drones threw for 128 yards, his lowest mark of the season. Tuten ran for 84 yards, his third-to-last. Powell-Ryland blended into the defensive box score.
You want a high-stat performance? Hokies punter Peter Moore kicked away 10 times, his highest season total by a mile. Perhaps that’s natural when your team reached the red zone just three times.
Luckily for VT, the most important aspect of the Eagles game carried over: The home team went 1–0.
The Hokies defense made sure of this, allowing no touchdowns for the first time since 2019. The offense, despite its failure to string gaudy numbers and downfield drives, did more than enough to secure victory.
As a football team with little room for error, the Hokies won’t harp on the mess. As the old sports adage goes: a win is a win.
“You have to have some of these (sloppy wins) in your journey to having a good football team,” said Virginia Tech stars/nickels coach Shawn Quinn. “I’ve never been part of a
championship team or a quality football team that didn’t have a tough win.”
“I thought we needed this game to show our improvement from two years ago, when you had some games where (we gave up a) lead. We talk about all the time on defense, fourth quarter, let’s not let any crack, develop in our defense and play to the end of the game.”
One of those lost leads came against the 2022 Yellow Jackets and Zach Pyron, the same quarterback who started the 2024 rematch.
That game saw Virginia Tech take a 27–16 lead into the fourth quarter. A 56-yard Pyron completion paved the way for a touchdown, then a Grant Wells interception gave way to Pyron’s game-winning touchdown run.
A true freshman at the time, Pyron finished with 253 yards and a touchdown. This time around? 76 air yards and an interception. Pyron was replaced by true freshman Aaron Philo at halftime.
Admittedly, neither Pyron nor Philo are Georgia Tech’s starting quarterback. That would be Haynes King, who missed the game with an upper-body injury.
The Hokies won’t use that truth as an asterisk on their win. They’re 5–3 no matter who threw the ball. “You don’t have ugly or beautiful wins — when you win, you win period,” said Virginia Tech defensive tackle Wilfried Pene, who wreaked havoc in his second career start.
Pene’s sack, tackle for loss and ceaseless disruption led a defense that didn’t once allow the Yellow Jackets past the 18-yard line. That doesn’t mean GT never moved downfield, but as the Hokies’ bend-don’t-break defense has continued to prove, and as Quinn reiterated to his defense: “If they don’t score, they can’t win.”
The Hokies didn’t exactly have an offensive masterpiece either — they trekked inside GT’s 20-yard line just three times. Each time they did, however, they left with seven points.
“That’s been a trend right now,”said Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry of his team’s successful redzone offense. “We’ve got to keep it that way. We’ll get down there. We’ve got to smell blood in the water and go get the touchdown rather than the field goal.”
The Hokies’ first touchdown came in the second quarter as they blitzed 51 yards in two plays. The Yellow Jackets twice abandoned Benji Gosnell’s route, which Drones found each time. The first for 31 yards, the second a 20-yard touchdown.
Drones said he fully expected the routine score.
“I already knew it was gonna be wide open as soon as I snapped the ball,” Drones said. As soon as I saw that safety depart, I was like, ‘touchdown.’”
The Hokies’ second redzone appearance was mostly courtesy of a 41-yard Tuten rush that — while being his lone highlight of the day — put the offense at Georgia Tech’s
34-yard line. From there, chunk yardage pushed VT to a 2nd-and-6 at the 6-yard line, where the Hokies pulled some Philadelphia Eagles-inspired trickery.
Tuten — mysteriously lined up on the far-right side — motioned toward Drones pre-snap and took a handoff, just to flip it to Jaylin Lane who got into a quarterback stance. Lane was well-protected as he waited for Drones to wheel into the endzone, then delivered a floater right into his QB’s hands, and the Hokies were an extra point removed from a 14–6 lead.
“I just saw everybody crashing down on Bhayshul,” Drones said. “I just knew I had a wide-open pull if I got it. And that’s what we’re looking for when we run it in practice.”
“The only advice I got for Jaylin is not throwing a duck,” Drones added. “That was not a spiral at all.”
A third quarter rushing touchdown gave VT some insurance, but the first score was the only one necessary one. Philo’s endgame offense consisted of downfield gambles that, while occasionally completed, weren’t enough to threaten points.
The Hokies will look forward to next week’s 12 p.m. match against Syracuse (5–2, 2–2 ACC) at the JMA Wireless Dome in New York.
GRADING THE HOKIES: VIRGINIA TECH VS GEORGIA TECH
Anthony Hall | sports staff writer
The Hokies’ defense surrendered just two field goals.
As homecoming royalty was crowned on Saturday afternoon, Virginia Tech (5–3, 3–1) did their part at home against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5–4, 3–3) in a 21–6 victory. It was the Hokies’ third consecutive win.
Offense
Quarterbacks: A
While his completion percentage stood at 59%, one could say Kyron Drones had a solid performance against the Yellow Jackets. Drones combined for 3 total touchdowns including 1 passing touchdown to tight end Benji Gosnell, a 1-yard rushing touchdown and 1 receiving touchdown from wide receiver Jaylin Lane. Additionally, Drones threw for a total of 128 yards, rushed for another 6 yards, and threw no interceptions, making it a solid outing for the starting quarterback.
Running Backs: B+
After the record-setting performance out of star running back Bhayshul Tuten last week, the running game continued to show its strength.
Tuten was the leading rusher with 17 carries for 79 yards with back up running back Malachi Thomas contributing for a combined four carries for 16 yards.
In total, Tech rushed for a total of 99 yards averaging 3.3 yards per carry. Hokie fans were concerned to see Tuten limp off the field late in the fourth quarter after a carry that got stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
As of now, it is unknown whether the injury will knock Tuten out for next week’s matchup against Syracuse.
Receivers: AHokie receivers shared the load this week. The leading receiver was tight end Gosnell who had 59 yards including a receiving touchdown.
His brother Stephen Gosnell contributed 28 yards and Da’Quan Felton added another 25.
While star receiver Lane had a quiet day in terms of receiving (6 yards), he threw his first touchdown of the season to Drones during a red-zone trick play in the second quarter.
Offensive Line: B
While the offensive line didn’t make any massive mistakes, one might argue that it left a lot to be desired this week. Drones got sacked twice and was forced to throw several balls away due to the rapid collapse of the pocket at times.
Lack of blocks stifled the running game which was held to under 100 yards. Nonetheless, a few decent blocks were made to help out the offense, including blocks that aided in a 41-yard run from Tuten.
One point of concern was the exit of redshirt sophomore Xavier Chaplin in the second half. Despite showing apparent frustration from the injury, Chaplin was able to make his way to the sideline without support from the medical staff.
Defense
Defensive Line: A
While super-star defensive lineman Antwaun Powell-Ryland went without a sack this week, his presence was still felt, and the d-line did their part to hold back Georgia Tech’s offense.
The only sack against Georgia Tech quarterbacks came from lineman Wilfried Pene who had five solo tackles.
Their biggest contribution came in the fourth quarter as Georgia Tech attempted to edge their way back into the game.Tech’s defense line held strong and forced the Yellow Jackets to turnover the ball four times on downs, including a 4th-and-1 rush that was stifled by the
Hokie front.
Linebackers: A-
While Keonta Jenkins led the team with 10 tackles and 8 solos, the Hokies got an even contribution of tackles from their linebackers, including 8 tackles from Jaden Keller and 7 tackles from Caleb Woodson and Sam Brumfield.
Although Jenkins was the leading tackler, it wouldn’t be outrageous for one to say junior Keli Lawson was the star linebacker in this one as he came up with an interception to halt a Georgia Tech drive in the second half.
Defensive Backs: B+
It wouldn’t be unreasonable for one to say the Hokies’ backfield had its highs and lows this weekend. The Yellow Jackets had four receptions of 20+ yards, including a 57-yard heave to receiver Eric Singleton Jr.
The Hokies made up for it by picking off Georgia Tech quarterbacks twice. One of these interceptions was from senior safety Jaylen Jones who returned it for 25 yards.
Despite giving up 260 passing yards to the Yellow Jackets, solid coverage from Tech corners and safeties held the opponent’s quarterbacks to a 41% completion percentage. Mansoor Delane was the leading corner with eight solo tackles.
Overall Grade: A-
Most would agree that this was a good win for the Hokies on their Homecoming weekend, however it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that Tech lacked some luster at times throughout their victory.
Tech put up 21 points and gave up over 250 passing yards against a Yellow Jackets team missing their starting quarterback, Haynes King.
Nonetheless, the Hokies held their ACC rivals to two field goals on their
way to a 15-point drubbing. It would be reasonable to assume many Hokie fans hope for the continued momentum of their team as Clemson (6–1, 5–0) looms on the horizon.
VIRGINIA TECH’S STILL GOT A CHANCE AT THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF: HOW IT CAN HAPPEN
Thomas Hughes | sports staff writer
It’s not likely that the Hokies get a CFP nod, but there’s a chance.
Even with three losses, the Virginia Tech Hokies (4–3, 2–1 ACC) have a possibility of contending for the ACC championship and, by extension, a shot at the College Football Playoff (CFP). Here’s what needs to happen for the Hokies’ postseason hopes to become reality.
An at-large bid is nearly impossible.
With the Hokies’ three in-conference losses, it’s almost impossible to make the new 12-team football playoff without winning the ACC championship. In the new 12-team format, three-loss teams with CFP nods usually come from the Big 12, Big Ten and the SEC. Last season, four teams in the top 15 had three losses and all of them were from the Big 12 (Arizona), the Big Ten (Penn State) or the SEC (LSU, Oklahoma).
With the ACC statistically having a weaker strength-of-schedule than those conferences, ACC teams don’t get that opportunity. The likelihood is even smaller considering that two ACC squads are currently inside the top 12 — No. 6 Miami and No. 9 Clemson.
The path to the CFP must come through being the ACC champion — as automatic CFP bids are given out to the winners of the five major conferences.
The Hokies need to go undefeated in conference to make the ACC title game.
As of now, there are still four teams in the ACC who are undefeated in conference play (Miami, Clemson, Pittsburgh, SMU).
To make the ACC championship, Virginia Tech can, at most, give up one more loss. In the past four ACC championship games, the most losses a team came into the ACC title game with was NC State’s two in 2021.
The Hokies will need to win all their remaining games, including No. 9 Clemson. A team with two in-conference losses is very unlikely to make the ACC title game, so Tech will hope to remain undefeated.
With one loss in conference play, the other undefeated teams likely need to lose.
Of the four undefeated ACC teams left,
Virginia Tech will only play Clemson. Miami will not play any of the undefeated teams. However, SMU and Pittsburgh will face off on Nov. 2, and Clemson and Pittsburgh will play on Nov. 16. This is a prime opportunity for one of these teams to collect a loss, leveling them with the Hokies. Of the Hurricanes’ remaining schedule, Georgia Tech is their biggest threat.
But what if it’s a good thing that Miami keeps winning? Miami doesn’t play another ranked team for the remainder of the season, meaning they are favorites to receive the first slot in the ACC championship game.
It also means that the teams they beat will be knocked behind the Hokies, giving them a slightly easier path to the ACC title game. Rather than it being a four-way race for two spots, why can’t it be a three-way race for one spot?
Tech has played close with Miami before, so a rematch in the ACC title game could go the Hokies’ way.
Conclusion
To keep their CFP hopes alive, Tech needs three things to happen: They cannot lose, they must beat Clemson on Nov. 9. and they need SMU and Pittsburgh to
drop. It’s a tall task, but there’s still a small glimmer of hope that the Hokies can go beyond a bowl appearance this season. The team has shown potential, fighting with a still-undefeated Miami team and going toe-to-toe with now-ranked Vanderbilt. Tech will need to fully realize its potential and have the right things break their way, but it’s possible. A lot must go right over the next month.
THOMAS BRAY / COLLEGIATE TIMES