February 28, 2023

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NEWS VIRGINIA TECH ALUMNA RETURNS TO UKRAINE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT

jane park | news editor

Elizabeth Henry Groff presented the 200th million shoebox for Operation Christmas Child full of gifts and necessities.

Elizabeth Henry Groff, a 2017 Virginia Tech graduate, traveled to Lviv, Ukraine in mid-January to support children affected by the 2022 Russian invasion, according to VTx.

The trip was part of Operation Christmas Child, an initiative sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian humanitarian aid organization. Volunteers provide presents, school supplies and hygiene items in shoeboxes for disadvantaged children in the spirit of Christianity. The organization chose Groff to give the initiative’s 200 millionth shoebox.

Groff was selected due to her personal experience with Samaritan’s Purse. After being split up from her half-sister, Groff was brought up in a Ukrainian orphanage and was adopted in Williamsburg, Virginia at

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13 years old. While in the orphanage, Groff received a shoebox, which she described as something that gave her hope.

“When I was adopted at the age of thirteen, I worked really hard to make sure that I learned English fast, that I didn’t have an accent, that no one would know that I was from Ukraine,” Groff said in an interview with VTx. “This is the country where I grew up, where I was born, and the people, they raised me, but I’ve also had a lot of heartbreak there and things that I went through, so I just wanted to kind of forget that place and close the door on my past and start my new life here in the United States.”

Groff was initially hesitant to return to Ukraine. She hadn’t gone back since 2021 when she reunited with her half-sister,

who was brought to the United States through the Uniting for Ukraine program. Groff, seeing Ukrainians taking care of one another during the war, was inspired to ultimately participate in the initiative and travel back to the country.

The 200 millionth shoebox went to an eight-year-old named Natalya. She was elated to be gifted a flashlight, as it would provide light for when she goes to the basement during air raids or power losses.

are internally displaced, and about eight million are refugees. More than four children are killed or injured a day. To donate, visit savethechildren.org.

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“This is a child, eight-year-old child, and this is what she’s thinking about,” Groff said. “So she’s not being a child. She’s not allowed to be a child right now because of what is going on in Ukraine, so that was really sad … but for that moment in that time when she was going through her shoe box, it felt like she was able to be a kid for a little while and to just really be joyful and to enjoy that shoe box and smile and just forget for one second that she is in a country that is being torn apart by war.”

According to the Save the Children Fund, more than six million Ukrainians

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EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGIES WILL BENEFIT EDUCATION

JORDAN MEADOWS | OPINIONS COLUMNIST

In the 1970s, electronic calculators quickly gained popularity, becoming widely available and affordable for U.S. consumers. However, many teachers and parents had strong reservations about the new technology, fearing that students would become overly reliant and lose basic computation skills. After a decade of promotion from national teaching organizations and intensive research on the use of calculators in schools, students were not only allowed to use the tool, but encouraged and even required. It would be another decade

before students were permitted to use them on exams.

As the calculator’s capabilities improved over time, so did students’ understanding and ambition to understand complex mathematical concepts. Students were able to focus their attention on increasingly intricate computations because the calculator easily managed underlying equations. The debate over the effectiveness of calculators in education lasted for nearly 30 years, during which time many students would have

benefitted from this technology and learned at a much faster pace — we cannot make the same mistake in 2023.

Although technological advances have improved significantly since the electronic calculator, our view of education has unfortunately not. Education should be about providing opportunities for students to learn about ideas they find interesting. Calculators assisted students with mundane obstacles, so they could focus their attention on more complex and interesting problems: an

opportunity we missed for quite some time. New and useful innovations, like OpenAI’s artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, are opportunities that education cannot afford to delay. ChatGPT is an online tool that allows users to enter written prompts and receive new messages, images or videos generated by artificial intelligence. Its responses are based on a vast internal database of books, online writings and other media. ChatGPT has the ability to provide a plethora of information

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HAMAD ALHENDI / COLLEGIATE TIMES

Mechanical engineering students preparing to present their technology and involvement in renewable energy competitions at the drone cage to high school students in Blacksburg, Virginia, April 4, 2022.

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to the user, including solving complex math equations and writing essays. The best part about the tool: it’s free and publicly available to anyone with internet access.

According to a Forbes survey, two-thirds of educators support students having access to the new technology; however, a majority of college professors are worried about its impact on cheating. This concern is eerily similar to the arguments opponents of the electronic calculator subscribed to: learning will be curtailed because students won’t have to critically and creatively solve problems. However, like the calculator and internet more broadly, ChatGPT can not only improve the students ability to learn, but also gives them additional aspiration and confidence to solve ever-more complex problems.

Justin Horn, an assistant professor of philosophy at Virginia Tech, said that ChatGPT is a more efficient version of tools we presently use, and because emerging technologies’ ultimate usefulness is unpredictable, its permissibility should be sensible.

“40 years ago, it probably would have sounded outlandish to suggest that today most college students would own multiple small personal computers — a laptop, a smartphone, etc. — and would spend many hours on them every day. So, who knows where we will be in even another decade,” Horn said.

In just two months since its initial launch, ChatGPT had a projected 100 million monthly users, surpassing TikTok and claiming the record for fastest-growing user base. Corporate giants, like Microsoft, Google and

Meta, are all currently rushing to the forefront of artificial intelligence to create similar services and increase efficiency. Nearly a third of white-collar workers are already utilizing the technology to draft emails, troubleshoot code and summarize research. There is a reason many are quickly attempting to implement ChatGPT into their daily tasks: it is useful and effective.

“Unlike a search engine like Google, you can ask ChatGPT to clarify its answers, to further explain some part of what it has said, or to provide an example of some point it has made,” Horn said.

As of 2021, 90% of school districts provided every middle and high school student with a digital learning device so it’s clear that technology can be advantageous when it comes to education. If we know technology is a means to educate, why shouldn’t students curiously explore those means? The best way to ensure students effectively use technology is for them to understand it.

When used correctly, a student would not need to worry about tedious equations or grammatical errors, be concerned with notations or be stressed with mandated time constraints. Instead, they would only have to focus on creatively writing input-prompts and assessing the subsequently generated content.

For example, a teacher assigns a historical research paper on World War II. With the use of ChatGPT, the students convey a formal understanding in a structured fashion. However, without it, the students may receive a worse grade because they had forgotten

historical dates and battle locations. The student now has less ambition to write papers on subjects they find fascinating all because they aren’t proficient in tasks which the AI knows and can perform anyway.

The source of discomfort with the idea of using ChatGPT in the classroom stems from the idea of cheating. There’s a counter-argument that can be made that cheating doesn’t necessarily mean the student isn’t also learning — but it’s a moot point here.

Horn said there is a fundamental question we seem to be overlooking when assessing the cheating arguments validity: what constitutes cheating in the first place?

“I do think we need to have a conversation about what counts as cheating as new technologies emerge,” Horn said. “If a student asks ChatGPT to help generate an outline for a paper, but then writes the paper herself, is that cheating? How might one appropriately cite the assistance of AI in one’s own writing? What we most need, I think, are a set of clear expectations going forward.”

Another misconception when it comes to ChatGPT: it is not omniscient. It makes incredible errors, with even the simplest of prompts and fabricates citations and factual information. AI is not creative in the same sense that human beings are: leaving much of the heavy lifting of fact-checking, editing and research to the inquirer. If students critically evaluate the generated content, they would realize that the responses they receive could be incorrect, which would discourage them from using the technology to cheat.

According to Mercedes Corredor, an ethics

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philosophy professor at Virginia Tech, there are many ways ChatGPT can also be utilized to assist educational instructors.

“It is important to figure out how to incorporate ChatGPT. It could help modify tests questions and with editing papers,” Corredor said. “There are clear upsides and downsides. I want to remain hopeful, even at primary and secondary schools, that there are productive and useful ways to integrate the technology into learning and teaching — that it can be another resource to improve ideas.”

It would be a significant mistake to exclude ChatGPT from education. This would not only suppress the growth of knowledge, but also leave students unprepared to tackle complex problems beyond the classroom. AI will continue to advance; those who do not have access to AI in school will be at a disadvantage in the future when they need to use it in their careers, businesses or for leisure activities.

Learning is a process of critical inquisition, creative explanations and improvement — ChatGPT can accelerate these attributes. The world students experience today will not be the one they experience tomorrow; if the goal is for students to be prepared for tomorrow, they should be allowed to seek out the best understanding of today. A ban on ChatGPT would stifle creativity and hinder progress for the student and education as a whole.

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HOW GRADUATE SCHOOL IS HELPING DANNY ROBERTSON REACH HIS RESEARCH DREAMS

Learn about Danny’s Robertson’s remarkable experience toward his life’s passion.

Going to graduate school is a big decision and an even bigger commitment. There’s a lot of pressure to be the best in your career field right after graduation. But graduate school allows more space and time to evolve as a professional. For students such as Danny Robertson, it’s a necessary step to take in order to accomplish their career goals.

Robertson is currently a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in public relations with a

cognate in gender and queer studies. He will be attending Virginia Tech Graduate School in the fall of 2023 to earn his master’s in reputation management.

He currently works for the Office for Inclusion and Diversity as the social media manager, where he found his passion to further his research.

“I fell in love with diversity communications, and in order to really get a good job with

that you need something higher than a bachelor’s, usually,” Robertson said. “So I decided to do the master’s of reputation management program here. Mainly because I can keep working for OID.”

Robertson decided that graduate school would make it possible for him to study what he’s passionate about: how social media impacts the transgender community.

“I’m hoping to gain more clarity

surrounding my research focus,” Robertson said. “It’s pretty niche and we don’t talk about it in undergrad. I’m hoping to be able to incorporate my passion for advocacy with my work in communications more than I already am in my job.”

Graduate school isn’t necessary for all majors, but it grants students more opportunities to explore their interests, passions and

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LEEANNA DUONG | LIFESTYLES WRITER

further their research endeavors. They’ll also gain much more professional-level experience and be able to make more connections in their field.

After applying to graduate school, Robertson said it is very different compared to applying to undergraduate school.

“It’s more competitive and serious,” Robertson said. “But there was a lot more creative freedom to expand on my professional experience. It was a good mixture of freedom.”

There are a lot of similarities in applying to undergraduate and to graduate school. There’s a lot of writing, resumé preparation and asking for letters of recommendation. For Robertson, it took him roughly four months to get everything ready to submit.

However, fewer people apply to graduate school, which adds much more gravity to the application process. You’re essentially putting all the work you’ve done in college on paper to show that you’re worthy of a professional position, and that you’re truly passionate about getting your master’s.

This freedom that Robertson mentions can be both a good and bad thing. On one hand, you have a larger set of resources to begin the research journey of yours. On the other hand, those interests can be so niche and unexplored that you need tons of momentum to get it going. It can be a really hard fight to get your foot in the graduate

school door.

Applying can be a very long and challenging journey. Robertson expressed his own personal struggles during his application process.

“I didn’t think I would ever graduate high school because of my mental health,” Robertson said. “Let alone go to Tech. Let alone graduate undergrad. Let alone even decide to go to grad school and get into grad school. It’s very self-deprecating of me to think, but I made it and I’m making a name for myself.”

After he got in, things began looking up for him and he realized he could pursue his passion and reach his goals. Graduate school opens up many opportunities for research students. And in the process, these students learn more not only about their studies but themselves as well.

Robertson said he is extremely proud of the fact that despite the obstacles, he’s still able to be as successful as he’s been. He’s eager to begin this next chapter in his life and work with like-minded, motivated people.

“The fact that I’m able to be me and still graduate college is one thing,” Robertson said. “But to be able to go to grad school, be accepted and able to have people that still believe in me regardless of my identity is something I never thought would happen.”

Robertson has verbally committed to a graduate assistantship with the Office for Inclusivity and Diversity, and is set to

graduate

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AMBER WILLIAMS/COLLEGIATE TIMES

The Virginia Tech Graduate School, Nov. 4, 2022, Blacksburg, Virginia.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GRAD STUDENT

Emelia Delaporte | Lifestyles assistant editor

When an undergraduate student is asked what comes next, “graduate school” is a common response. Many undergraduates, however, haven’t looked beyond what that proposed program might be named; they don’t look at the day-to-day of a graduate student or pay attention to the progression of the next stage of our academic lives. That’s understandable — looking to the future is scary.

One way to get an idea of graduate school is to speak to a current grad student. Veronica Giron, a master’s student in communications at Virginia Tech, spoke with the Collegiate Times recently about her experience.

“What I love about graduate programs is that it’s a very intimate setting,” Giron said. “You’re able to interact with so many people and get to know others on a personal level because you’re taking a lot of the same classes with the same people.”

While Giron spent her undergraduate years at James Madison University, she’s pursuing her first round of graduate schooling at Virginia Tech. This change stemmed from a desire to diversify her education.

“I absolutely loved (James Madison University) but I did want to expand my horizons,” Giron said. “Every professor I talked to at JMU, and other professors from other universities as well, told me it’s always great to go to other universities.”

Part of that diverse educational experience as a graduate student is Giron’s role as a graduate teaching assistant in the School of Communication. She teaches two sections of COMM 2004, better known to the student body as Public Speaking. This is a total of 80 students in her care.

In addition to teaching, graduate teaching assistants must take 12 credit hours a semester. For Giron, this takes shape as three classes and three hours’ worth of research credits. Her research focuses on romantic relationships and video games.

While Giron described a heavy amount of reading for her courses, she spoke highly about the professors who make it bearable.

“You get to know them on a much more realistic level (than as an undergraduate) because they’ve been through everything that you’re going through,” Giron said.

“(Dr.) Horning in particular has been absolutely amazing. He’s always very honest with us.”

Giron’s favorite part of being a graduate student so far has been her experiences working as a graduate teaching assistant for public speaking.

“I love teaching. I love passing on the knowledge that I’ve learned to other students and seeing the lightbulb go off in their head, knowing that everything’s going to be okay,” Giron said. “I always try to make the environment for my students as comfortable as possible for them.”

Giron credits her love of teaching and her public speaking abilities to one of her undergraduate professors.

“I used to hate public speaking but it was thanks to one really amazing professor at JMU that believed in me and helped me blossom as a person,” Giron said. “I’ve always vowed since that day that I would do the same for other people, and that I would help them in any way, shape or form,

even if that meant working with them for two hours during office hours.”

Graduate school, though enjoyable, isn’t all sunshine and roses. It offers lifestyle difficulties similar to those of an undergraduate student but under greater pressure. Giron included that her least favorite part of being a grad student was the work-life balance.

“It’s hard. It’s truly really hard, trying to find that balance of, how will I fit all of my courses and all my homework and everything else I have to do?” Giron said. “I try to keep a really strict teaching schedule; I make sure I stop doing anything regarding teaching at 3 o’clock. Granted, I don’t stop answering emails.”

Giron equated graduate school to swimming — last semester, being below water. This semester, with some experience, she’s keeping her head above water.

“Follow your heart, because that’s what I’ve always done with my life,” Giron said.

When asked what advice she’d offer students considering graduate school, Giron said, “I always tell people, if you’re passionate enough about it, do it. Passion is the key to success in higher education.”

Lifestyles assistant editor Emelia Delaporte spoke to a current graduate student about her experiences.

DAVID HONG / COLLEGIATE TIMES

The entrance to the Virginia Tech Department of Communication in Shanks Hall, Nov. 4, 2017.

‘WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY’ REVIEW

Aidan Mason | Lifestyles Writer

Ah, the wonders of public domain. The fact that this exists is in and of itself a victory for the concept and something that I find personally very encouraging. No longer is Pooh under the control of a corporation; now, anyone can make their own stories with the honey guzzling bear. Including, of course, horror movies.

But is the movie any good? Well, that depends on your point of view. If you’re drunk and/or watching this with some friends, it can certainly be fun. And if you’re looking to just see images of Pooh killing people, you’ll certainly find that here too. But apart from that, sadly no.

The main overarching problem is, simply put, the plot. If you put aside the fact that the killers are Pooh and Piglet, there’s nothing much else there apart from

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a bog-standard slasher. There’s nothing that truly distinguishes it from other horror movies apart from the names and setting.

For example, take Pooh and Piglet themselves. Their kills, while somewhat creative at times, don’t really give the audience a sense that they are Pooh and Piglet. They feel more like a standard slasher villain, as opposed to something truly unique to these characters. If you were hoping to see Pooh kill someone with a honey pot, sadly you’ll be let down.

It disappointingly gives off a lack of passion for the project, as it doesn’t fully utilize the characters that it’s trying to give a new dimension to. It sure is funny to see Pooh go on a rampage, but there’s nothing in the movie that makes it feel like it had to be him. It feels like the concept was only

really done for the marketing and downplayed in the film itself.

The film itself isn’t that bad on a technical level. Sure, there are obvious shots that scream “low-budget” and the Pooh and Piglet masks are very obviously masks, but there are some occasionally decent looking shots. The sound mix is rather amateurish, but the soundtrack is not bad.

In fact, there’s a neat animated portion in the beginning of the movie that sets up the backstory and why Pooh and Piglet became serial killers in the first place. It’s one of the few scenes that truly feels like something that subverts A.A. Milne’s original books and makes good use of the concept.

But in the end, it still lacks in so many aspects. I wasn’t expecting it to necessarily

be good, but I was hoping for more than what I got. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but the fact that it doesn’t truly go beyond a low-budget horror movie with the names of well-known children’s characters as the villains makes it forgettable and ultimately not worth it in the end.

Perhaps it should best be known as a springboard for better projects involving Winnie the Pooh, where in a few years, we can look back and have a good laugh at where we started. But until then, I shall sadly languish in disappointment.

Final rating: 1/10.

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SPORTS MEN’S BASKETBALL DROPS ANOTHER ROAD GAME TO DUKE

colby talley | sports editor

The Hokies inched further away from the NCAA Tournament on Saturday

Combine the Blue Devils’ perfect record in Cameron Indoor this season with Virginia Tech’s 1–9 record on the road, and you could have predicted where this game would probably go before tipoff.

Duke (21–8, 12–6 ACC) dominated the majority of the night as Virginia Tech (16–13, 6–12 ACC) lost 81–65, sinking lower in the ACC standings and worsening their odds of making it out of the conference tournament.

While all five of the Blue Devils’ starters were in double-figures in the scoring column,

it was Jeremy Roach who led the way with 19 points and 10 assists. Right behind Roach was freshman forward Mark Mitchell, who finished the game with 17 points and eight rebounds.

As for the Hokies, forward Grant Basile, who had been on a torrid shooting stretch in recent games, was held to just 15 points as the Blue Devils did a good job walling him off.

While the game might not have been a success for head coach Mike Young’s squad, one bright spot was Rodney Rice. Dealing with injuries which have limited him to just

three appearances this season, Rice played 22 minutes in Durham on Saturday, scoring 11 points and flashing his shooting range with three three-pointers.

The Blue Devils shot over 50% from the field and roughly 38% from the three-point line. Head coach Jon Scheyer did a good job of exploiting the Hokies’ recent struggle with defensive rotations to get open shots for his team.

The Hokies were also no match for the Blue Devils on the boards, getting outrebounded

37–26 for the game, giving up plenty of second chance points in the process.

As the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament draws ever closer, Virginia Tech can’t seem to find any sort of footing. With two games remaining in the regular season to try and find some answers, many signs point to the final bell tolling for the Hokies in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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Sean Pedulla (3) crosses over to create space vs Duke, Jan. 23, 2023.