“Together We Empower” promoted resources to support victims of intimate partner and sexual violence.
On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad (VT Rescue) partnered up with various organizations in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to VT Rescue, the event was the first of its kind at Virginia Tech, and featured representatives from the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech, the Women’s Center of the New River Valley and Hokie Wellness.
The event was held on the second floor of the Squires Student Center and allowed anyone who was interested to inquire about resources available to victims of domestic violence or sexual assault.
Participants could also participate in various activities like painting, ribbon making and button crafting. Purple ribbons were made at the event to represent domestic violence awareness.
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Ana Montoya, the public outreach lieu tenant for VT Rescue, said the driving force in organizing the event was not only to provide resources to students but to also let others know that EMTs are a support system for anyone experiencing abuse.
Montoya also said EMTs can serve as the first line of contact for survivors and can help transport victims of assault to their preferred facility or as a resource for mental health.
Survivors can also receive help from a variety of other local organizations.
“There is help and support that is confi dential to help understand what is happening to them and what is going on,” said Patty Hall, the sexual violence program coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley. “If they’ve been assaulted, it’s not their fault and they don’t have to deal with this alone.”
Members of the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad performing a routine training exercise, Oct. 12, 2022.
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A few of the resources available to victims at the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley include a 24 hour hotline, resi dential shelter and an emergency response program to get victims in contact with a forensic nurse and free counseling for victims of intimate partner and sexual violence.
As for the future, VT Rescue hopes that the event is the start of a new tradition. This year’s
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“Seeing it (the event) all come together, like, I get tears if that makes sense just because it’s like we can make someone’s day feel better, or even weeks or months, just because they feel like they are supported and understood,” Montoya said.
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On Oct. 13, the Iranian Society gathered at the War Memorial Pylons for a vigil and to raise awareness of Iran’s protests against its government.
The vigil was for 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. As reported by TIME, Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police in the country’s capital, Tehran, on Sept. 13. The police — who enforce that Iranians adhere to Islamic behavior and dress codes regardless of religious beliefs — deemed that she did not wear her hijab appropriately. She died at a hospital on Sept. 16, three days after her arrest.
“There is a morality police in Iran that just looks at women, and if there’s something wrong with their hijab, then they arrest them, and then they (go) to the (detention center), and they have to just sign that it was the last time that they wear such a hijab (inappropri ately),” said Behnaz Rezvani, a Ph.D. student in electrical computer engineering and member of the Iranian Society present at the vigil.
As stated by the TIME article, Iranian offi cials claimed that Amini suffered a heart attack while at a detention center where she was being trained on hijab rules. However, her family has denied this, stating that witnesses saw police beat Amini in their vehicle while en route to the center. Her father also recounted to an Iranian news outlet how he was not allowed to see Amini’s body but saw her bruised foot.
According to the Associated Press, there are reports indicating Amini died from a skull fracture. Images also surfaced of Amini in the hospital, bleeding from her right ear.
TIME reported that the day after Amini’s death, protests erupted across Iran and the world.
“At first people protest(ed), and the first request was just removing this morality police, but they didn’t listen to us, so it (got) violent, and other people (were) killed, and people are now just really angry,” Rezvani said. “They are just trying to get their freedom; it’s every human’s right to wear whatever she or he wants, and it’s not fair that it (the hijab law) only applies to women.”
According to Arash Sarshar, a postdoctoral associate in the computer science department
who attended the vigil, Iranian students at Virginia Tech and the society identify with what War Memorial symbolizes. Their goal was to ensure that those who’ve lost their lives in Iran are remembered.
“We feel like that’s the least we can do as Iranians in (the) United States,” Sarshar said. “We just want their names to be remembered; nobody else does that. The internet is heavily restricted in Iran, (and) the media in Iran does not cover the protests for more freedom for women.”
On Oct. 10, the Iranian Society shared a collective statement on social media addressing Amini’s death, protests in Iran and the university’s lack of response. The statement was signed ambiguously to prevent Iranian students from being blacklisted and thus unable to see their families in Iran.
“Unfortunately, most of our nation’s greatest institutions including Virginia Tech remain silent despite being home to many Iranian students… In silence, Virginia Tech remains complacent to government suppression and the systematic killing of bright college students,” the statement said.
“We, the Iranian students at Virginia Tech are devastated by the lack of support by the university and our community during such tragic yet inspiring times.”
Ramin Safavinejad, a Ph.D. student in elec trical engineering and the web and tech nology director of the Iranian Society, recalled seeing an email sent by a Virginia Tech employee about what was occurring in Iran. However, he hoped for more coverage from the university.
“I think we expected some news coverage in the VT Ready website, for example, or some form of action that would be suggested by VT that anyone could take, (such as) tweeting about it,” Safavinejad said. “That’s the least anyone can do, and the university didn’t reach out to at least ask us what to do, so we had to notify them of this.”
Sarshar felt that the university was afraid to become involved in a seemingly political issue but was ready to be proven otherwise. However, he believes that Amini’s death and the hijab laws are a humanitarian issue, rather than a political one. Sarshar also said he would
have liked to see various university organiza tions react.
“I don’t think it’s a political issue, and we were hopeful that the university sees it that way, too. So for example, a statement from the Faculty Union would’ve been nice,” Sarshar said. “After the protests, a couple of universities in Iran were attacked by the militia; people got killed in the streets of Sharif University. If we don’t raise our voice for them, what good is a university if you’re not reacting to this?”
Nastaran Khalili, a Virginia Tech graduate and member of the Iranian Society, suggested that in order to be allies, the Virginia Tech community should speak up and spread the word about Iran. She also suggested that people contact Congress representatives to request help.
Despite Amini’s death triggering major protests, Sarshar does not view the pushback as just a women’s movement, but a universal one.
“It’s not some incident that has happened in some far corner of the Earth; it’s actually very relevant to everybody, to people here,” Sarshar said. “This started as a movement women initiated. Even here in the West, everybody is praising these women, their courage, and the message is very resonant that people should have a choice in determining
not only what they want to wear but deter mining their future. Their life, their lifestyle, their personal choices should not be a matter of (the) government.”
On Thursday, Oct. 20, the US Department of State released a joint statement with the Freedom Online Coalition condemning the Iranian government’s restrictions on the country’s internet access. They further stated that they stand in solidarity with the Iranian people.
The rise in Blacksburg luxury housing limits budget-friendly options for students.
Blacksburg luxury apartments are popping up all over the place. Just recently opened this past fall, the Union Apartment Complex offers “luxury living moments away from Virginia Tech,” according to the Union Apartments YouTube channel. There are several other examples of complexes around Blacksburg such as the Park37 apartment complex and the Vue apartment complex. However, with the steady rise of rental costs and the increase of luxury complexes appearing in Blacksburg, these properties may not be the best solution for students.
It is undeniable that the luxury student housing industry is an extremely lucrative and an increasingly popular option for student residents who can afford it. These prop erties offer many amenities such as smart home features, fast internet speeds, in-unit appliances, surround sound speakers and more. According to a Bloomberg article, this industry is doing extremely well at attracting upper class parents who aim to provide a more secure community for their children.
In a 2021 Buffalo News article, “over the past 20 to 30 years, student housing has increasingly become one of the most attractive areas of real estate development and investment, with tens of billions of dollars poured into development and acquisition of such properties nationwide.”
Virginia Tech is no exception to this trend in privatized luxury student housing. However, the rise of luxury student complexes are hindering options for students seeking affordable living apartments.
Josh Long, a junior studying environmental conservation and society, shares that rising rental costs were the main reason for him staying with his parents and commuting to school.
“(Real estate companies) should be focusing on building more affordable housing,” Long said.
This phenomenon is also arguably causing an ever-growing rift between socioeconomic classes. In a Hechinger Report article, Andrew Ryder, an assistant professor of higher
education at the University of North Carolina, argues that the rise in luxury student living is actually detrimental to the society of students colleges aim to be.
“We’re re-creating socially stratified communities on campus instead of giving students opportunities to live among people from different walks of life,” Ryder said.
Even though Virginia Tech does not predominantly struggle with stratified communities because Blacksburg is a small college town where everyone is bound to interact, there are still negative effects of luxury complexes taking over land in Blacksburg. One effect students looking for budget friendly options are facing is the increasingly distanced and/or old complexes they are relegated to.
Giridhar Ganta, a junior studying computer science, expresses his view on students looking for budget-friendly housing options.
“I think unintentionally, there is a zoning effect in the rental market causing budget students to be stuck to a select few more
budget-friendly apartments,” Ganta said.
These cheaper options usually lie further and further from Blacksburg as more luxury student housing is built close to campus, causing Christiansburg rental costs to rise as well. This leads to issues of transportation as budget-friendly options are being pushed toward Christiansburg.
The rise of pricier student apartments are a welcome addition to students and parents that can afford them, as they offer a more comfortable lifestyle. It is undeniable that luxury student housing is a rising industry, as more middle to upper class families look to these options as well. However, due to possible stratification of communities and budget-friendly options being pushed out of town, these luxury complexes may do more harm than good.
@COLLEGIATETIMESLifestyles writers David Vu and Leeanna Duong share their apartment-hunting journey.
Finding your first off-campus apartment is a daunting task for college students. Some would say it’s the first adult experience a college student will have. Since the two of us are living together next year, we decided it would be fun to recap our experience of looking for an apartment. We envisioned it to be sort of like a “Friends” sitcom type
of scenario, where our group of four room mates would have our own place for our other friends to come and hang out.
David’s perspective:
Personally, I wanted to live off campus during my senior year of college, because I wanted to have a little bit more indepen dence and gain some experience living in an
apartment for the future. Since I spent three years on campus in a dorm, I wanted a change from the dorm room environment.
Leeanna’s perspective:
I moved off-campus my sophomore year. I lived on campus freshman year, and at the end of the school year, I decided to move into a three bedroom, one and a half bathroom
apartment with two of my friends. I found my first apartment hunt quite stressful, but not as rough this time around. Finding a four bedroom, two bathroom apartment changed the game in terms of pricing, distance and amenities. David and I had to scour the internet for a suitable place to live.
continued from page 5
We had to find a four bedroom, two bathroom apartment that is relatively close to campus and comparatively cheap. This seemed like it would be a fun treasure hunt with our two other friends, but there were a few trials and tribulations along the way. We dealt with issues ranging from finding a pet-friendly apartment to ensuring that there would be enough bathrooms for everyone. Eventually, our housing hunt ended when we decided to apply to the Hunter’s Ridge apartment complex.
Overall, it was an uncertain experience not knowing where we were going to live in less than a year. We had to make many phone calls, ran into scheduling issues and had many reality checks on our expectations. We under stand how intimidating and stressful finding an apartment can be, so hopefully, we can provide some helpful tips and tricks on finding your new home away from home.
Before we started to look for apartments, the four of us talked and compiled a priority
list of the amenities we wanted altogether. The amenities we initially listed included indi vidual bedrooms and bathrooms, a furnished place, a location relatively close to campus, a pet-friendly place, monthly rent in our price range of around $600-$700 and a good amount of space for each of us. We then made a shared Google Sheet. This document was extremely helpful when looking into possible future homes. We could easily find infor mation on the listings as well as compare them to one another to choose our favorites.
After making the shared Google Sheet, we then started the next step in looking for multiple apartment listings as well as sched uling appointments for tours. We looked at various websites like the Virginia Tech Off-Campus Housing website, Apartments. com, cmgleasing.com and zillow.com. We found this part of the apartment-hunting process to be the most difficult due to us having to find time to schedule tours around our busy school days. We also found it difficult to find a place to cater to our amenity wishlist, leading to us having to compromise on some
of our priorities. We encountered some apart ments that didn’t even offer tours to students for browsing, so we decided to leave them out of our apartments list. Finally, we were able to narrow it down to a couple of potential apart ments that we found might fit our style and marked our dates for the tours.
Things to remember when touring:
When it comes to touring and seeing the apartments in person, there are a few things to remember when viewing a unit. First, come prepared with questions. There’s no such thing as a dumb question, so asking ques tions like, “How much is rent?” or “Which util ities are included?” can never hurt. We asked questions about parking, discounts for early signings, the security deposit, hidden fees and pets. Second, take pictures and videos if allowed. These pictures and videos will be super helpful to look back on when you are choosing your new home and it never hurts to have footage you took yourself.
After we went on three tours of three different complexes, the four of us sat down and discussed which place was our top pick.
This part of the apartment discussion is up to you and your roommates. Everyone has different preferences and price ranges, so this should be an honest and respectful conversation between everyone. Setting your own boundaries is just as important as respecting those of other people. Being able to compromise for apartment hunting, especially when living with other people, is incredibly important. You might realize that it’s not realistic to get everything on your dream apartment wishlist, so you have to learn what priorities you value the most.
We hope our experiences will be helpful to anyone looking for a new home sometime soon. Although it’s very intimidating, choosing a place to live is such a crucial step in feeling independent and responsible. So remember: be prepared, be flexible and don’t procrastinate on applying for housing.
@COLLEGIATETIMESExplore apartments across Blacksburg and their pros and cons.
If you are anything like me, apartment hunting is a daunting task, especially with the overwhelming housing possibilities in Blacksburg. Thus, I decided to do a bit of digging and found seven great apartment complexes scattered throughout town, each with its own perks and drawbacks.
Cedar Pointe is a pet-friendly mix of studio and two-bedroom apartments. They are fully furnished with open floor plans, and provide a beautiful space to spend time with friends and family. There are washers and dryers included in each unit and electric vehicle charging stations around the complex. Although it would be a long walk to get to class every day, it’s about a 10-minute drive with a Virginia Tech parking pass.
The Vue apartment complex has a pet-friendly mix of one, two and threebedroom apartments. They are open floor plans and include extra touches like sliding barn doors that make the apartment feel more upscale. The washer and dryers are included in the unit and EV charging stations are available. While it may be hard to commute on foot on a daily basis, the Vue is only a short 10-minute drive from campus.
Pack Place is a mixture of two and threebedroom apartments. With a prime location right across the street from campus and just in front of The Edge apartments, you don’t have to worry about taking the bus or getting a parking pass. Each unit has a dishwasher, HVAC, private balcony and LVP flooring with laundry onsite. Pack Place is not pet-friendly but it provides a great option close to campus for a good price.
Shawnee Apartments has pet-friendly options of spacious one, two and threebedroom apartments. The complex has a central high-tech laundry facility along with outdoor and recreation amenities. This includes a swimming pool, community room and picnic and grilling areas. Shawnee is approximately a 35-minute walk to campus and an 8-10 minute drive. Finally, there is 24-hour emergency maintenance and lockout service along with parking for both resi dents and their guests. You can also use the Toms Creek bus line, which runs throughout University Boulevard.
Cascades Pointe is a one, two and threebedroom apartment complex. It is roughly
a 10-minute drive to campus and has easy access to the BT bus lines, specifically the Main Street South line. Cascades Pointe is very close to many activities in the First and Main shopping mall and many restaurants, shopping options and grocery stores due to its location at the base of South Main Street. It is also conveniently located close to the Montgomery Regional Hospital. The complex also has amenities such as picnic tables and dog walk areas. Cascades Pointe is located on the VCOM side of Virginia Tech’s campus and offers a range of exciting possibilities.
The Row at Blacksburg is a smaller living community that offers two and four-bedroom units that include updated interiors and stylish exteriors. The generous floor plans with all four-bedroom units being all over 2,000 square feet come fully furnished. The utilities include Wi-Fi, trash and recycling with residents being responsible for water, sewer, and electricity. The Row at Blacksburg is within walking distance of campus, aver aging about 15 minutes, and only about a fiveminute drive. With limited parking, off-street parking is offered at an extra annual fee to resi dents. The complex also has easy access to a multitude of BT lines including Main Street
North, North Main Givens, Patrick Henry Dr and Progress Street and is very convenient to many restaurants and other downtown activities.
The Landing at Stonegate is made up of pet-friendly two, three and four-bedroom apartments and townhomes. Each has private carpeted bedrooms, bathrooms, walk-in closets, wood-style vinyl flooring, natural wood accents, stainless steel appliance and a 40” TV for each living room. There is also a washer and dryer in every unit. The complex provides a resident clubhouse, lounge spaces with study areas, fitness centers, 24-hour maintenance, an outdoor patio area and grilling stations. The Landing at Stonegate is a quick 20 minute walk to campus, and a drive of only five minutes. It is also convenient to many BT lines, not to mention how close it is to downtown and its countless restaurants.
Now it’s up to you to decide if any of these are your next home away from home. Good luck Hokies, and happy apartment hunting!
Virginia Tech and Miami’s volleyball programs had entirely opposite weekends in terms of success.
The Hokies (9–12, 2–8 ACC), coming off of a 3–0 loss to Florida State on Friday night and six straight losses, met the Hurricanes (13–8, 6–4 ACC), who swept Wake Forest earlier this weekend, building a winning streak. Continuing the trends, Miami conquered Virginia Tech, 3–0, giving the Hurricanes their third-straight win and the Hokies their seventh-straight loss.
The Hurricanes dominated from the start, taking the first set, 25–14, overmatching the Hokies in most statistics. Virginia Tech had no
response to Miami’s 0.571 hitting percentage and eight blocks, surrendering the first set for their fourth-straight match.
The Hokies cut the second set a little bit closer, although they still fell to the Hurricanes 25–16. The Hurricanes led for the entirety of the first two sets as the Hokies failed to get into a rhythm.
Tech began to show signs of life in the third set, briefly leading during the middle. However, the Hurricanes took a 16–15 lead and never looked back, scoring eight straight points to take the set, 25–20, and the match, 3–0.
The Hokies’ offense struggled with the
Hurricanes’ defense all match, with a 0.118 hitting percentage that was far less than that after two sets. The Hurricanes had 16 total blocks, preventing the Hokies from estab lishing any sort of rhythm.
While the Hurricanes generated chal lenges for VT, the Hokies dug the hole deeper for themselves. They committed 37 errors in comparison to Miami’s 20.
Miami’s outside hitter Angela Grieve chal lenged the Hokies all afternoon, leading her team with 10 kills. Middle blocker Abby Casiano followed Grieve with eight kills, as well as a 0.583 hitting percentage.
On the Hokies’ side of the ball, outside
hitter Ava Francis had nine kills and a 0.350 hitting percentage, leading in an otherwise rough offensive afternoon for Tech. Defensively, libero Maddie Slagle led with seven digs.
After four consecutive away matches, the Hokies will return to Cassell Coliseum to face Virginia on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in this season’s first matchup of the two rivals. The Cavaliers (10–11, 2–8 ACC) are tied with the Hokies for last place in the ACC.
@CTSPORTSTALKThe women’s soccer team has a successful end to the season after a tough few months of competition.
The Virginia Tech women’s soccer team (10–5–2, 4–4–1 ACC) defeated the Syracuse
Orange (8–7–2, 1–5–2 ACC) on Sunday by a score of 2–0 in the Hokie’s final regular season
home game.
Despite not having won a game in their previous five matches, Syracuse kicked off the sunny Blacksburg afternoon with several chances to take the lead. Their best attempt came in the 22nd minute when Syracuse forward Chelsea Domond found herself through on goal. However, defender Victoria Haugen came to the Hokies’ rescue, creating enough pressure to force a tough shot that was saved by keeper Lauren Hargrove.
Near the end of the first half, the Hokies began to up the tempo, and they gained momentum in their favor after an attempt on goal. Midfielder Lauren Gogal dribbled down the left side of the field, cutting onto her right foot and firing a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar in the 29th minute. The Hokies were able to break through shortly after in the 42nd minute when Gabby Johnson scored her third goal of the season off of a corner kick.
Despite increasing their shooting output in the second half, the Orange couldn’t find a way to score. Hargrove ended the game with six saves to keep a vital clean sheet in the matchup. With time running out, the Hokies sealed the win in the 88th minute as Gogal found the upper left corner of the net for a score of 2–0. Both goals in the encounter between the two teams came at the end of corner kicks.
The Hokies could squeak into the ACC tour nament on the final match day with a win if Virginia and Clemson drop points. However, winning would be far from easy, as Virginia Tech would have to travel to play defending National and ACC Champions, No. 4 Florida State (11–2–2, 4–1–1 ACC) this Thursday.
Virginia Tech’s Lauren Hargrove (00) making a goal kick, Oct. 20 2022.
