Sept. 2, 2011

Technique Friday, September 2, 2011• Volume 97, Issue 7 • nique.net

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Daytime robbery raises safety concerns in Home Park

By Emily Cardin Staff Writer

Students received a Clery Safety Act Alert regarding an off-campus armed robbery in the residential Home Park neighborhood off of West Campus midday Wednesday, Aug. 31. The incident happened between Calhoun St. NW and Center St. NW at approximately 11:30 a.m.

A black male wearing a white shirt with black pants, estimated to be 25 years old and 5-foot-8, approached the

student with a handgun and demanded that the student hand over his backpack. The student did so, and the suspect fled in an unknown direction, according to the report.

Though it is not Institute property, many students live off-campus in Home Park.

“We have students who live in Home Park, and they go to [Tech],” said Alex Gutierrez, an officer of the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD).

“I work with sororities, fraternities [and] freshman classes and reach out to them as much

as possible to make them aware of how they can prevent these sorts of incidents.”

One of these residents is Lukas Szpak, a fourth-year MSE major, who has heard about crime in Home Park but has never seen it personally.

“Now I’ll probably be more on watch than I was before, but I don’t really have much of a choice. I have to walk from [Home Park] to Tech with my backpack basically every day,” Szpak said.

See Robbery, page 6

Photo by Basheer Tome / Student Publications

According to a Clery Safety Act report on Aug. 31, a student was robbed at gunpoint around midday near Home Park, but he remained unharmed.

Peterson delivers annual address

By Aakash Arun Contributing Writer

Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson presented his annual Institute address this Tuesday at the Clough Commons. Peterson discussed achievements and advancements in the past year as well as goals and challenges for the 2011-’12 academic year.

Peterson focused on the importance of Clough Commons as an academic resource for Tech students and as a means of enhancing undergraduate education. He elaborated on updating the campus master plan and the added benefits of the new facilities constructed on campus. He provided the audience an insight into the partnerships and collaborations developed by Tech, research achievements and goals of the Strategic Plan to better serve the state and nation. He concluded by explaining the value of an education at Tech, despite recent tuition increases.

“Because the Clough Commons is linked both physically and intellectually with the library, students will benefit from the boundless resources in a common enterprise designed to enhance their undergraduate experience,” Peterson

said.

He highlighted the consistency of the Clough Commons in accordance to the Strategic Plan of what Tech aspires to be in 2035, by elaborating on the opportunities offered by the Clough Commons for collaborative learning, team projects and other facilities that create innovative students.

Peterson also focused on new technologies and teaching methodologies provided by the Clough Commons that contribute towards the enhancement of education and learning. According to Peterson, Clough Commons, the Campanile, the Campus Transit Center and North Ave. improvements have transformed the campus.

This year, the campus plan will be updated to ensure that it will reflect the need and aspirations of future students.

“Our Strategic Plan is designed to position Tech for greater national and international promise…Several universities have enquired about the process by which it was developed,” Peterson said.

The Strategic Plan envisions what Tech aspires to be in 25 years with the help of five goals. It is a means of exSee Address, page 7

Reservations at Clough present difficulties

By Kamna Bohra Managing Editor

Photo by Austin Foote / Student Publications

Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson reflected on the last year at Tech with respect to the 25-Year Plan for 2035.

Since the official opening of the Clough Commons, rehearsal and breakout rooms have been available for instant reservation, and classrooms have been available for reservation 24 hours in advance for both students and faculty. A combination of the implementation of a new software for the event management system and the influx of students and faculty have created some problems in terms of accessing reserved rooms and publicizing the reservation methods, as rooms are intended to be locked until 10 minutes before a scheduled reservation.

To reserve a room, students and faculty can log on to http://www.gtevents.gatech. edu/virtualems/ and request study space or a Clough Commons room, in addition to other event and study spaces on campus. If not affiliated with an organization or a campus department, students select “Student” as their “Group” on this page.

The 41 classrooms are the main priority for Library staff regarding the Clough Commons, according to Catherine Murray-Rust, Dean of Libraries, as last year hosted at least 25 classes for which classroom space could not be found.

In addition to the Clough Commons, this crunch for space has been alleviated by Tech’s new policy to prevent colleges from reserving space in their respective buildings for only their classes, according to Murray-Rust.

“Classes take precedence no matter what See Clough, page 5

SGA launches redesign of JacketPages system

By Nalin Verma Contributing Writer

SGA has developed and upgraded the JacketPages system designed by Kurt Nelson, a third-year CS major who won last year’s SGA-hosted competition for a redesign of the website used to promote organizations and to organize bill submissions to SGA. The new url for the website is www. jacketpages.sga.gatech.edu.

“One of the most valuable things about the [new] system is that it is designed by us and hosted by OIT on [Tech’s] server,” said Graduate Student Body President James Black.

Previously, the JacketPages website was designed and run by Collegiatelink.

Another benefit of this system is the cost reduction. It cost SGA around $6,000 to develop the new system, which is less than half of the yearly cost of the contract with the Collegiatelink, according to Black.

One administrative advantage with the new system is the change in the process of bill submission. The new bill submission process operates in line with how SGA votes on them.

“Items are in tabular form, so it’s easy for SGA to see them and for the organizations to submit,” Black said.

In addition to making bill submissions easier for organizations, JacketPages has easy access to fiscal information for SGA. “[With the new system] we are going to have the ability of exporting the fiscal information for a given fiscal year. So, we will have really easy access to that data,” said Michael Ellis, vice president of Internal Affairs for SGA. Furthermore, this website has the same CAS login system and overall theme used by other campus-based websites.

“If you are used to using Buzzport, See Jacketpages, page 7

Photo by Basheer Tome / Student Publications

SGA launches a new JacketPages system, on Tech’s servers, that mimics other Tech websites in interface.

NEWS

2 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

From the files of the GTPD...

Technique

Campus Crime

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By Sam Somani Contributing Writer Library larceny

A male student fled on the morning of Aug. 25 from the library after being asked to show the contents of an allegedly stolen bookbag. He was then chased by the library guard on duty until he managed to escape at the intersection of Cherry and Ferst.

The suspect allegedly stole the bookbag from another male student who was taking a nap. Upon waking up, the victim realized his bookbag was missing.

The suspect was able to escape the victim’s glance, but unable to circumvent the guard on duty.

After stolen books in his bookbag

Mary Jane and Coke

A male Tech student was arrested on Aug. 27 for possession of marijuana and cocaine in his car.

The suspect was stopped by a Tech police officer for failing to stop at a stop sign. While speak-

POLL OF THE WEEK

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Copyright © 2011, Vijai Narayanan, Editor-in-Chief, and by the Georgia Tech Board of Student Publications. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the Editor-in-Chief or from the Board of Student Publications. The ideas expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Board of Student Publications, the students, staff, or faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology or the University System of Georgia.

First copy free—for additional copies call (404) 894-2830

triggered the alarm, the suspect was asked to empty the contents of his bag, where upon he decided to run away.

The police officer was eventually able to catch up to the fleeing suspect, and, following his capture, released him into the custody of the Fulton County Jail.

ing with the suspect at his vehicle, the officer noticed a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle. The officer asked the suspect whether he had any marijuana in his possession, and the suspect admitted to having some, handing the officer his supply upon exiting the car.

As the officer conducted a more comprehensive search of the suspect’s car, he found a small bag of cocaine. The suspect denied any knowledge of possessing this substance.

During transport to the police station, the suspect accused the police officer of charging him with cocaine possession because the officer had a desire to “ruin his life.” The officer denied this claim, saying that it was his job to enforce the state laws of Georgia.

The suspect was later handed over to the Fulton County Jail for further action.

My prof didn’t bother with it. He just read from the textbook.

I felt more comfortable hearing about my prof’s life and research.

Based on 16 responses

7%

What a waste of time! I could’ve gotten out of class sooner.

13%

Next issue’s question:

How is the new JacketPages system?

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It was boring because I’m not interested in my prof’s life.

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NEWS

Council Clippings

This week in Student Government

E

By Emily Cardin, Staff Writer

ach Tuesday, elected members of the two houses of the Student Government Association, the Undergraduate House of Representatives (UHR) and the Graduate Student Senate (GSS), convene to consider allocation bills and discuss issues facing campus. Here is a summary of those two meetings.

WRECK Racing

SGA passed a bill allocating $7,645.65 to WRECK Racing as a replacement to their annual budget, due to internal issues in submitting their annual 2011 budget.

This bill is intended to help fund the two new vehicles that the team is running, as well as a series of upgrades for the current car, which won last years’ Grassroots Motorsports Challenge.

The team hopes to equip the current car with the ability to race on tracks. Some of the proposed improvements include racing tires, fuel for competition vehicles, engine replacement parts, shop safety equipment and other racing components.

Brian Sohacki, President of WRECK Racing, explained that there were several issues with the previous budget because new club members were struggling with a lack of experience. Due to a misinterpretation of the JacketPages submission process, WRECK Racing has not yet received a 2011 budget.

“There are always inherent problems replacing old members with new members, and with that there is always a lack of communication and not everyone gets correct training,” Sohacki said during the Tuesday night UHR meeting. The bills, both authored

by ME Rep. Priya Patel, sought to correct those issues in order to improve the financial standing of the team and correct the budgetary problems.

“We’ve been surviving for the past few months on the small amount of money we had, and

have worked to raise more,” Sohacki said.

The team has found two new sponsors and has also received several new donations in order to stay afloat, including a donation from the parents of a former team member.

Sohacki said that WRECK Racing survives with much less that other motor sports teams, and that with the new budget, the team can become more competitive and can improve performance.

This bill passed the UHR by a 42-1-1 vote.

New News

Institute-wide Committees Chair Merry Hunter Hipp reported that her committee is currently researching various alternatives to replace the former Campus News Service.

The Campus News Service provided members around Tech’s campus with free copies of noted newspapers and journals, with the purpose of educating the students.

The service, found to be expensive with limited campus exposure, was voted on and ended last year

by SGA. “We are continuing to explore other options for students to get their news, an alternative to the old Campus News Service. We are currently looking into some electronic reader programs that many [students] are probably familiar with,” Hipp said.

JacketPages

During the Vice President of Communications report, the

newly unveilied JacketPages was announced and SGA members were encouraged to advertise the new system around campus.

The newly designed JacketPages is now live. Executive Vice President Austen Edwards announced that the SGA Advisory, a group of campus leaders who meet bi-weekly to advise the Executive Board Members, discussed the newly live JacketPages and the possibilities for it in and around campus.

Newly-appointed Vice President of Campus Organizations Aaron Greenwood reported that as new campus organizations are chartered, his committee would update Jacketpages regularly and that web developers were continuing to work out bugs with the new system.

New Positions

SGA voted unanimously to appoint third year ISyE major Eran Mordel as Vice President of Campus Affairs, third-year BA Amit Khanduri as Vice President of Academic Affairs and thirdyear STAC major Vett Vandiver as Vice President of Communications.

Vice President of Finance Charley Crosson was also appointed as the Joint Finance Committee Chair and is responsible for managing the Joint Finance Committee’s efforts to prepare and write the annual Student Activities Fee Budget.

Additionally, CEE grad student Aaron Greenwood was named Joint Chair of Campus Organizations.

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 3

Breaking

Bubble the

A

lot of things went on outside the bubble of Tech in the past week. Here are a few important events taking place throughout the nation and the world.

U.S. Justice Dept. blocks AT&T, T-Mobile merger The U.S. Justice Department announced its intention to block the merger between AT&T and T-Mobile on Wednesday. The $39 billion merger, linking the country’s second- and fourthlargest wireless providers, was announced in March.

“Unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation will be reduced, and consumers will suffer,” said Sharis A. Pozen, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s antitrust division in a press release.

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company, deny the Justice Department’s allegations of anticompetitive behavior, saying that the merger will save jobs, not destroy them.

The Justice Department has “failed to acknowledge the robust competition in the U.S. wireless telecommunications industry and the tremendous efficiencies associated with the proposed transaction, which would lead to significant customer, shareholder and public benefits,” Deutsche Telekom said in a press release.

Any merger between the

companies would need to be approved by both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC has yet to release its decision.

“Although our process is not complete, the record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition,” said Julius Genachowski, the FCC chairman, in a press release.

Texas A&M announces withdrawal from Big 12 Texas A&M University (TAMU) announced on Wednesday that it would withdraw from the Big 12 Conference by June 30, 2012, pending approval of its membership in another athletic conference. TAMU, which has been a member of the Big 12 since the conference was established in 1996, has reportedly been seeking an invitation to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

If the SEC were to accept TAMU as its 13th member, the conference would likely attempt to add at least one more school.

TAMU’s departure would make it the third school to leave the Big 12 since June 2010. The University of Colorado accepted an invitation to the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) Conference and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln departed for the Big Ten Conference last June.

NEWS

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 5

Grads value skills, lament faculty interaction

By Alexa Siu Contributing Writer

The 2010-’11 Tech undergraduate exit survey results show that students are most unsatisfied about the school’s student-faculty interaction.

In contrast, students indicated that one of the most valuable skills they learn from Tech is the ability to take responsibility for their own education.

Ten years ago, Tech’s Office of Assessment began conducting undergraduate exit surveys. These are voluntary paper surveys that are handed out to students once they sign their degree petition.

These surveys evaluate students’ experience at the Institute for their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The survey is comprised of institute-level questions and then college-specific questions. The Office of Assessment is directly responsible for gathering the results and then dispatching the information for each college to use individually.

More than 60 percent (2,017) of those who graduated between 2010 and 2011 participated in this survey.

“Overall, students are very satisfied with their education received in the school. But one of the most prevalent things we hear students complain about is the need for increased studentfaculty interaction [and] the lack of opportunities for engagement,” said Jonathan Gordon, director of Georgia Tech’s Office of Assessment.

The survey results show that 85 percent of respondents said they would definitely recommend Georgia Tech to a friend or relative, and 85 percent said that they would definitely recommend their program of study to a friend or relative.

“However, it’s quite interesting to see that one of the most valuable things students say Tech taught them is being able to learn effectively on their own,” Gordon said.

This point provides a contrast to the issue of student-faculty interaction.

Other valuable skills that over 90 percent of respondents ascribed to developing during their times at Tech include experience in problem-solving skills, mathematical skills and critical thinking skills.

The direct purpose of these annual exit surveys is to identify those aspects of undergraduate experience inside and outside of the classroom which can be improved, in addition to components that should be sustained or expanded upon.

Many new initiatives, such as the Inventure Prize competition and various other improvements around campus, have been established thanks to the feedback gathered from those who have elected to participate in the surveys.

A number of years ago, a handful of problems in Tech’s Information Technology infrastructure were identified through the surveys.

“We discussed this, did some

Photo by Wei Liao / Student Publications

Alums appreciated technical skills and life responsibilities from their education, but were unsatisfied with faculty interactions. further investigation and eventually made additional hires of IT staff, developed a policy of how we distributed new technologies, and used the evidence in the surveys to put a priority on IT as part of our annual Technology Fee request.

Because the surveys are done every semester, we could track progress over time and determine whether or not we were improving,” said Douglas Allen, senior Associate Dean of the College of

Architecture, in reference to some resulting improvements.

Originally, exit surveys were tied to one signing their degree petition upon reaching graduation.

This year, the Office of Assesment is switching from paperbased surveys to online surveys.

Furthermore, the surveys are not tied to degree petitions. NoneSee Exit, page 7

Correction The issue of the Technique that released on Friday, Aug. 26, incorrectly listed the location of the Glee Club concert of Monday, Aug. 22, as the Lyman Hall, but the concert was actually hosted in the Stephen C. Hall building (formally the Old Navy ROTC building). We apologize for any confusion that resulted from this error.

Clough

see page 1 you’re using the space for,” Murray-Rust said, citing the new class policy as a necessary cultural change for Tech, as the Institute has few large classrooms, but many large class sizes.

The second highest priority for the Clough Commons is the use of classroom space outside of regularly schedule class time. Of the 41 classrooms, 21 rooms can be reserved instantly, while the rest of the rooms require reservations to be placed at least 24 hours in advance.

Plans are in place to extend the amount of time in advance students need to reserve classroom space, with the expectation that review sessions and large study sessions are known about well in advance.

“We’re trying to make sure that there’s a balance between people booking rooms on the chance that they’re going to use them versus making sure that there’s a need and a fair chance,” Murray-Rust said.

When not in use for regularly scheduled class time, the two auditoria can be requested by campus departments and student groups for scholarly lectures only, according to Murray-Rust.

To this end, musical and theatrical performances and career fairs are not intended to be hosted in the Clough Commons because they disrupt other classrooms and study spaces, according to Kathy Tomajko, Associate Dean of Libraries. This is key because the building is intended for academic use only.

“Scholarly purpose is what this building is all about,” said Tomajko.

Currently, reservations for large classrooms and auditoria in the Clough Commons are reviewed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that only academic requests are approved.

NEWS

6 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

Admin, faculty comprise Strategic Plan committee

By Madison Lee Contributing Writer

Officially announced this time last year by Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson, the Strategic Plan functions as a vision of progress and public service both on and outside of campus. The launching of the recently formed Steering Committee is another example of emerging avenues for innovation and service at Tech, as the group strives to ensure that progress is being made in accomplishing existing and future strategic planning projects.

A number of faculty and administrative staff are working together to facilitate the success of objectives within the committee, co-chaired by Steve Swant, executive vice president for Administration and Finance; Steve Cross, executive vice president for Research; and Rafael L. Bras, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. The executive leadership team expects that students will soon be seeing more programs and infrastructural improvements on campus as a result of committee involvement.

“A lot of individual initiatives

JacketPages

from page 1

you will be able to use JacketPages easily,” Greenwood said.

The new interface is less cluttered. When a student logs in, he or she needs to update a user profile. Afterward, students can use menus and toolbars to search for organizations and events on campus.

“Advantages of having the system designed in-house are that we can make minor updates and fix bugs quickly,” Ellis said.

The new system can accommodate needs of the Tech communi-

were coming out of the conversations…I’m hoping [that] because there are some very good and capable people on that committee that they’ll provide the underlying insight that will help us to be successful,” Swant said.

The formation of the Steering Committee was suggested due to the ambitious nature of the Strategic Plan itself. There are many projects to be implemented in years to come, and the co-chairs are confident that the combined efforts of committee members will help in constructing a strong foundation for the Plan’s vision.

“We wanted individuals who are not responsible for managing academic units, but rather those that represent the faculty and staff that should see, hear and feel the strategic plan in their everyday lives,” Bras said in an e-mail.

The Steering Committee also anticipates that including faculty and directors from an array of departments across campus will prove advantageous to project development in the future. The membership committee was deliberately selected to engage individuals who are familiar with the culture, changes and trends

ty in a timely fashion. According to Ellis, it will not take more than a week for the in-house developers to incorporate a new feature into the system, whereas, with the former Collegiatelink system, the Tech community had to wait for almost a year for a similar feature to be incorporated by the developers of the Collegiatelink team.

A new calendar feature has been incorporated in the new system. Organizations can add events to this calendar that can be viewed by the entire Tech community.

Photo by Victor Lee / Student Publications

One year ago, Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson presented the Strategic Plan, outlining goals for the Institute for the next 25 years. A steering committee oversees the goals of this plan for 2035. on campus. One of these participants is Dr. Hugh Crawford, Associate Professor for Ivan Allen College. Crawford attended the initial meetings, and he is excited to work with the varied group.

“There are people from all departments of the school…it’s interesting to be in a room full of people who come from so many areas of study…everybody brings a different set of interests and stakes to it,” Crawford said.

An important issue that the committee hopes to address is the

Robbery

from page 1

The end of 2010 was marked by a spate of crimes in the area of Home Park, including the armed robbery of two brothers in their home. This is the ninth Clery Act Safety Alert that students have received since the end of the spring semester.

“We have a large police force for a university our size but we really cannot be everywhere at every second. Crime is universal and we really depend on the community to call in to help us identify suspicious activity which we can then

financial impact of Strategic Plan projects. They want to make sure that resources are being properly allocated by prioritizing the initiatives and aligning them with key donors and corporate partners.

This will serve to sustain longterm projects and allow the Plan to move forward.

Having formally convened twice since its launch on July 29, the committee intends to meet monthly to discuss the ongoing state of initiatives and necessary changes. The overall aim is to cre-

ate an efficient decision-making process through collaboration and to create discussion opportunities.

“Very often, strategic plans can just be documents on a shelf and you very quickly lose sight of them…that’s not the intent of this president or this leadership team.

[The intent] is to have it be the framework of what we do going forward and to actively utilize it by organizing people to accomplish things—it all becomes more effective when you’ve got that framework,” Swant said.

go in and investigate,” Gutierrez said.

The incident is under investigation by Atlanta Police Department (APD). Home Park is in Zone 5 of APD jurisdiction, where incidences of robbery are down by 2 percent, according to APD official crime statistics, with 265 isolated occurrences for the time between Aug. 1 and Aug. 20.

“Our jurisdiction is on Board of Regents property and extends 500 yards outside of that. So, Home Park is in our jurisdiction,” Gutierrez said. “APD has an of-

ficer assigned to patrol the Home Park neighborhood. We frequently drive through the Home Park area to patrol Georgia Tech Property along 14th Street.”

GTPD has cooperated with Georgia State Police and APD to reduce crime around campus.

Gutierrez warns students to take care as they travel and rely on student and community cooperation.

“We tell everyone to be aware of their surroundings and if they see someone suspicious to call GTPD if on campus and 911 if you are off campus immediately.”

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NEWS

Address

from page 1

amining and measuring success undertaking the primary goal of “Designing the Future.”

Tech has made several changes in accordance with the Strategic Plan in the form of several student facilities. Peterson elaborated on the current Strategic Plan Project Teams and their importance. He continued to list achievements in the past year in accordance to each goal of the Strategic Plan.

“Our vision is that we will define the technological research university of the 21st century. We will be leaders in influencing major technological, social and policy decisions,” Peterson said.

According to Peterson, evidence of progress in this field includes faculty testifying before

Congress, faculty appointments to scientific policy committees and business and government seeking out Tech for research related expertise. Tech is one of six universities in Advanced Manufacturing Partnership designed to create manufacturing jobs and enhance global competitiveness.

Tech has taken steps to sustain and enhance excellence in scholarship and research in accordance with the second goal of the Strategic Plan. New Sponsored Researched Awards of $600 million have been developed along with concepts of interdisciplinary minors and graduate leadership programs in BME. Tech has made progress in accordance with the third goal in ensuring that leadership, entrepreneurship and public services

ON CAMPUS

4 4 On Monday, Aug. 4

Photo by Will Folsom / Student Publications

29, a group of students hosted a flash mob dance performance in the open space on the scond floor of the Clough Commons at 11 a.m. The group of students danced to Journey’s “Any Way You Want It,” and the flash mob finished with an appearance by Dean John Stein and a return to normal student life as students switched classes.

sliver

www.nique.net

In light of UGA’s newest uniform gimmick, let’s just say UGA vs Boise = Power Rangers vs Smurfs GameStop’s PC catalog sucks. I repeat, it sucks... don’t even stock the Total War franchise.

Boof!

Fellow bicyclists: Lock your bike to the RACK. NOT MY BIKE. Loves being back to see all the shirtless guys on campus. megusta. jpg The Student Center needs to have their poster sale soon.

O rry? !emit ni kcutsnu emoc ev’I pleH whoa, did they update the whistle? definitely different sound Tall blond Target girl, you talk fast but you’re cute My life is complete - just saw unicycle guy!

Why does it take Tech so long to withdraw money from my bank account?!?! The wait is killing me! gatech has become “the man” STOP ACCOSTING PEOPLE ON SKILES, BIBLE-THUMPERS!! !!!!!!

Overheard in the elevator: “I just saw a bunch of bewildered freshmen getting off Green Route...they didn’t realize it takes you to Narnia” The Chronic—what!—cles of Narnia Woodies is the new Brittain.

Red. Blue. Green. Yellow. Night. So many options, I’m forever lost.

I’ve heard this lecture 3 times. I hate Calculus.

Ass kissers. Every class has one.

THWG Thats just my Super Bass. Boom boom de boom To the attractive girl in my English class...I wanna “Tame Your Shrew.”

ID Festival 2011 was the bomb! Kaskade show had my rolling hard. sleeping naked is amazing Good thing we pay all these fees, otherwise we might not have enough computers in the library... oh wait... hmmm Dept of Housing is one of the most incompetent agencies on campus. On-campus is convenient, but not worth this BS! Indian girl in IC Fab: I’m pretty sure that you’re the most attractive girl in ECE. Memo to all North Ave North sophomores: learn how to use a freakin’ toaster.

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 7

and fundamental characteristics of graduates. The partnership with the Emory School of Law and the Business plan competition reflect this goal.

According to Peterson, the fifth goal of pursuing institutional effectiveness is highlighted by the strong impact of Georgia Tech Savannah in South-East Georgia.

He also talked about the advancement in Athletics and various sporting events, commitment to diversity and the economic impact of the university.

“While we’re in the midst of a recession, today we stand in a $90 million facility. I fully recognize that we have not been able to give merit increases for 4 years and we’re working to try to resolve that in the months and years to come,” Peterson said. He

explained that cost per student for the University System of Georgia (USG) and Tech has gone down in the past several years.

Peterson explained how Tech remains as one of the best valued institutions in the country as observed by Smart Money magazine which ranked the university first in terms of financial return on investment. He concluded by explaining some of the developments in innovation and research.

“To try to understand and keep up with all the marvelous things that you [audience] and all the others are doing here in Georgia Tech is a tremendous challenge. Our faculty, staff, students, alumni and many supporters deserve tremendous credit for creating a marvelous institution,” Peterson said.

4 4 On the evening of 4

Photo by Will Folsom / Student Publications

Monday, Aug. 29, the Ramblin ‘Reck Club collaborated with a host of other campus organizations to present the annual T-Night, which focuses on teaching the student body about Tech history and traditions, in addition to providing performances by the Marching Band and cheerleaders and presentations with Buzz and the Ramblin‘ Reck.

Exit

see page 5

theless, equal or greater student participation is encouraged for this voluntary survey collection process.

The Office of Assessment also conducts a Career and Salary survey, which helps both prospective students and parents to make decisions about their future career.

Despite the fact that these surveys are voluntary for the most part, a plentiful amount of students participate.

“I think students understand that these surveys can help other prospective students. Without the feedback, we wouldn’t know where to improve. Ultimately we want decisions to enable the best opportunities for the students,” Gordon said.

4 4 On Wednesday, 4

Photo by Sho Kitamura / Student Publications

Aug. 31, North Ave. Dining Hall (NADH) finally hosted its official ribbon-cutting ceremony, after a soft opening during the summer and over a week and a half of full-capacity functioning.

NADH hosts a variety of food and offers latenight meals to students for most of the week.

Opinions

Opinions Editor: Chris Russell Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not.

In either case the idea is quite staggering.

—Arthur C. Clarke

“ ”

OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

State of the Institute

President’s address leaves questions unanswered

With his State of the Institute address on Tuesday, Institute President G. P. “Bud” Peterson gave his thoughts on the state of affairs at Tech; however, we feel that his speech left much to be desired.

Problems began with the general structure and delivery of his address.

Most of the address was a straight rehash of aspects of the Strategic Plan that we have heard before, providing few descriptions of new deliverables or metrics describing progress. More, the address did little to address the direction of the Institute going forward, focusing solely on summarizing past events. Student input was also severely limited, as little time was provided for questions.

Rather than a repeat of points we have heard before, we would have preferred to see him address new challenges and problems Tech faces, and how they can be overcome. First and foremost, the address did not discuss any issues faced by the current student body. All changes and

initiatives Peterson discussed won’t begin to take effect until long after current students have graduated.

We would have liked to hear his plans concerning current budget issues, and how the administration intends to improve the quality of teaching. Details of initiatives to provide students with a more wellrounded education and opportunities to join interdisciplinary projects would have also been welcomed.

Tech’s position in the Atlanta community is another topic we feel would have benefitted from more discussion.

Peterson has talked about turning Tech into a more open campus, but there have not been any details as to how this will be achieved or what effects it will have.

Finally, we feel that research and academics should have played larger roles in the address. Tech’s position among peer institutions is important, yet few details were given on how this position will be improved.

The Consensus Opinion reflects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of the Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.

Technique Editorial Board Vijai Narayanan, Editor-in-Chief Kamna Bohra, Managing Editor Mike Donohue, Business Manager

Vivian Fan, Outreach Editor Siddharth Gurnani, Focus Editor Nishant Prasadh, Development Editor Chris Russell, Opinions Editor

Matt Schrichte, Advertising Manager Alex Sohani, Sports Editor Zheng Zheng, Entertainment Editor

EDITORIAL CARTOON By Casey Tisdel

Technique

8

Friday, September 2, 2011

Conservatives, liberals differ on sarcasm

by Aidan Bonner Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell U.

In 2009, an animated sitcom entitled “The Goode Family” aired on ABC. “The Goode Family” was created by Mike Judge of “Beavis and Butt-head” fame, and followed the exploits of an ultraliberal family as they attempted to fit into their community while still upholding their values.

Have you heard of “The Goode Family”? If you haven’t, it’s hardly surprising. It was canceled after thirteen episodes due to low ratings, and an attempt to revive it on Comedy Central lasted only four weeks. What’s interesting about this is that it came directly on the heels of “King of the Hill,” Mike Judge’s previous animated sitcom. “King of the Hill” was extremely successful, running for twelve years.

Why would “The Goode Family” fail where “King of the Hill” succeeded? After all, they both have roughly the same creative team behind them and follow the same formula: low-key animated family comedies with elements of sociopolitical satire. They even have similar character dynamics, with fastidious, by-the-book father characters attempting to deal with their rebellious children. The answer lies in the main, glaring difference between the two shows: “King of the Hill” directs its satire at conservatives, while “The Goode Family” directs it at liberals.

This is indicative of a phenomenon that can be seen wherever pop culture and politics intersect in America: Things that make fun of conservatives tend to do much better than things that make fun of liberals. Look at An American Carol, a 2008 film directed, written and produced by David Zucker, a Hollywood old hand responsible at least in part for such classic absurdist parodies as Airplane! and the Naked Gun series.

An American Carol is a take-off on A Christmas Carol in which a thinly-veiled Michael Moore pastiche (complete with fat jokes a-plenty) is taught “the true meaning of America” by the ghosts of General George S. Patton and Presidents John F. Kennedy and George Washington.

An American Carol was also a massive flop; it grossed a total of $7 million over all, failing to recoup its $20 million production budget. More damningly, this $7 million is close to only three percent of the gross earnings of Fahrenheit 911, a liberal documentary directed by the very object of An American Carol’s satire, Michael Moore. Right-wing satire just does not perform well at the box office.

Intuitively, one wouldn’t expect this to be the case. As recent elections have shown us, the U.S. is fairly evenly split between liberals and conservatives, and the same sorts of entertainment tend to be available to everyone in the country. It should be true, then,

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letters@nique.net We welcome your letters in response to Technique content as well as topics relevant to campus.

We will print letters on a timely and space-available basis.

Letters should not exceed 400 words and should be submitted by Tuesday at 7 p.m. in order to be printed in the following Friday’s issue. Include your full name, year (1st, 2nd, etc.) and major. We reserve the right to edit for style and length. Only one submission per person will be printed per term.

that liberal-satirizing documentaries would do just as well as conservative-satirizing documentaries (albeit with a different audience).

Yet this is not the case, and I think this has something to do with differences in American liberal and conservative mindsets.

Modern liberals pride themselves on being activists, revolutionaries and agitators; they think of themselves as reformers and reorganizers. The goal of the American liberal is to take our current governmental, social and economic systems, dismantle them, and build better ones from their parts.

As such, liberals respond well to irreverence, and irreverence is a key ingredient in satire. Liberals love the idea of mocking existing power structures. Therefore it only makes sense that things that lambaste liberals’ enemies, especially if those enemies happen to be in positions of power, would resonate with liberal audiences. In other words, liberal satire is successful because it reinforces left-wing selfconceptions.

Conservatives, by contrast, are extremely reverent. Modern American conservatism is all about preserving the old ways and the old institutions of America, bringing America back to a time, real or imagined, when things were simpler and easier. This can be seen most easily in the religious wing of American conservatism; but even more libertarian conservatism, with its focus on limiting governmental power, often argues that the state is trying to intrude on beloved old local traditions and institutions. Conservatives, therefore, do not respond well to satire, even satire of their opponents. The very medium of satire, with its emphasis on deconstructive mockery, tends to fail with conservatives—who think of themselves as humble and traditionalist—since humility and respect for tradition are two values antithetical to satire.

Conservative parody hasn’t been able to invade the world of pop-culture political satire because conservatives simply do not respond well to mockery—not only of themselves but of anyone.

People connect well with things that reinforce their own beliefs about themselves, and the idea of satire goes directly against the conservative self-image.

OPINIONS

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 9

SGA should focus on external advocacy Last year brought sweeping changes to the status quo on Tech’s campus. We saw deep cuts to HOPE, increases in tuition, even larger increases to the “Tuition Fee” and epidemic levels of construction. In each of those issues we looked to student government to provide leadership and advocacy.

Sometimes they filled this critical role. Former Graduate President Anthony Baldridge and his cabinet led the way in securing a new health insurance deal for graduate students, which is expected to be better customized to Tech’s unique needs. Indeed, Baldridge developed a strong record for focused advocacy on issues that directly affected the graduate population.

Other times, SGA failed to step up. Most visibly—or invisibly, as it happened—former Undergraduate President Corey Boone and his cabinet failed to call the Board of Regents out for increasing tuition through the use of the Special Institutional Fee—i.e. the Tuition Fee—an increase which caused students formerly on the HOPE scholarship to pay 67 percent more than the year before. Instead, he focused on developing “relationships” with lawmakers, the benefit of which students have yet to see.

Now it is time for the new administrations of Undergraduate President Elle Creel and Graduate President James

“We need real, enforceable policy changes that will affect the day-to-day lives of students.”

Mike Donohue

Business Manager Black to take up the mantle of leadership and passionately serve their constituencies: the undergraduate and graduate student bodies.

First and foremost, both groups must engage with groups outside the Institute that affect us every day, including the Board of Regents, the state house and our representation in the U.S. Congress.

HOPE’s award level will be reset in the spring, tuition will go up and Tech will almost inevitably have to deal with budget cuts. SGA must thrust itself into these and similar conversations and passionately advocate for the student body.

That means developing lobbying strategies, partnering with other student governments across the state and not being afraid to show some emotion every once in a while.

Students standing meekly by as lawmakers discuss our future will not do anything to improve students’ position.

Specifically, SGA should work to put the Tuition Fee where it belongs—in tuition.

They should partner with the Institute to work to get more federal and state funding, and they should work to get student representation on the Board of Regents. This last initiative in particular would do more to advance students’ interest than any other.

Internally, SGA should continue to work with the Institute to improve the student experience on campus. As the Technique editorial board indicated last week, this means playing small ball—identifying concrete, manageable issues with courses or curricula and then working with administration to enact changes. We don’t need more white papers or agreements with the Faculty Senate. We need real, enforceable policy changes that will affect the day-to-day lives of students.

Students look to SGA for more than advocacy, however.

They expect SGA to provide certain services and funds, which only an umbrella organization like SGA can provide.

SGA should strive to deliver

these resources efficiently and professionally.

From a service standpoint, both the undergraduates and graduates do well. The new Jacketpages system is live and much improved from last year. The graduates in particular run several services, like the Graduate Conference Fund, specifically designed to help their constituencies. The undergraduates should look for similar, focused services to provide.

Both the undergraduates and the graduates allocate the Student Activity Fee rather well, too. This year they have the added challenge of an especially large pot of money from which to draw. Both the Prior Year account (for expenses like travel and registration) and the Capital Outlay Account (for large expenditures on equipment) are larger than they have been in some time. SGA should make sure that student organizations know that the money is there and are comfortable asking for it.

SGA will face many challenges over the coming year.

Both the graduate and undergraduate cabinets have a good mix of experienced hands and new faces. As long as each member of the organization does his or her work with the welfare of the student body in mind, the student body will be in good hands.

Crittenton highlights need for reform To an NBA or general sports fan, the news that Javaris Crittenton was charged with murder and eventually arrested may not have been a total surprise. After all, Crittenton did little of note as a reserve guard for three years in the league—but he was involved in that infamous gunrelated locker room confrontation with then-Washington Wizards teammate Gilbert Arenas in 2009.

To a Tech fan, it was just the latest misstep in the career of a promising player who left the school to cash in on his NBA potential before he was ready. The sad part is that because he is a former Tech athlete, every mistake Crittenton has made—both on and off the court—has on some level been an indictment of Tech as well, even though he only spent one year on campus.

There are plenty of reasons to complain about college basketball’s one-and-done system, most of which have to do with the quality and health of the college and professional games.

Crittenton’s arrest highlights another issue: when one-anddone players depart for the pro ranks, their colleges remain responsible for their actions.

Maybe schools deserve whatever ramifications result from relying on one-and-done players. After all, every recent NCAA champion won by relying primarily on seasoned players rather than freshmen.

but only with some reform and expansion.

If a higher age limit is instituted, the NBA should actively promote the D-League as an alternate option that allows players to earn salaNishant Prasadh ries and, arguably more importantly, endorsement deals Development Editor right out of high school. This will offer NBA-ready players an opportunity to earn good sion to impose the age limit money right away, and other in 2005 was a band-aid on a players will have the option of much larger problem, if that. choosing between a moderate It did little to combat the paycheck and a free education.

NBA’s complaint that incomThe NBA can also look to ing players were too raw, and use the D-League as a true it provided an incentive for training ground off-the-court corruption to increase within endeavors. The NFL’s money college basketball, a sport that management class at its annualready struggles plenty with al rookie symposium comes to that issue. mind as an example of a proThere is talk that when gram that can be instituted for the NBA and the players as- D-League players, helping to sociation agree on a new col- instruct them on critical skills lective bargaining agreement to make up for the college edu(whenever that is), it will in- cation they are not receiving clude a higher age limit of 20 (but may well have ignored or perhaps 21. While a higher anyway). age limit makes sense on sevMaybe Javaris Crittenton eral levels, that change alone received all the support he would cause even greater prob- needed and simply ignored it. lems for college basketball in a More likely, though, is that he time when the issue of paying dove into a fairly dangerous players is heating up. world before he was ready and Unlike in football, a good never had the skills or knowlnumber of basketball players edge he needed to save himare relatively prepared to jump self. Either way, it doesn’t take to the professional ranks right much effort to see that his case away. The NCAA should look is yet another sign that college to college baseball’s model for basketball is in need of signifiinspiration here, and this is cant reform—and that reform where the NBA’s Development needs to happen quickly before League can come into play— many more such cases arise.

“When one-and-done players depart for the pro ranks, their colleges remain responsible for their actions.”

The fact remains, though, that bringing in a top-notch recruit provides a major boost that the vast majority of teams find hard to resist. Tech is certainly not immune to this.

The simple fact is that the NBA’s age rule allows the game’s best players to hold college basketball hostage. It’s not the players’ fault—they’re just taking advantage of a system that allows them to gain national exposure for a year and (if they so choose) make a mockery of the term “studentathlete.”

But even the players suffer in the end. Because top players at big-name programs are often treated like royalty while they’re in college and never have to take responsibility for their actions while in school, they are hardly prepared to have to take care of themselves in the professional ranks.

Many turn out fine in the end, but an all-too-significant number of others, such as Crittenton, fall through the cracks.

Put simply, it’s not a good setup for anyone. The deci-

BUZZ

Around Campus

How many games will Tech win at football this year?

Lauren Bice Fifth-year BA

“I think we’ll win a lot of them. I just feel like this is our redemption year.”

Nick Warren First-year ChemE

“Tech will win all of their games, because I want them too.”

Keith Heacock Second-year EE

“I don’t think we’ll win very many, because the quarterback is undecided.”

Brandon Oliver First-year ME

“I would say all of them, because I play for the team.”

Photos by Lauren Payne / Student Publications

OPINIONS

10 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

OUR VIEWS Hot or Not

HOT– or –NOT Flash Dance

Who says Tech students can’t dance? Students lingering in the Clough Commons on Monday morning were greeted with the sight of a few dozen of their fellow students getting jiggy with it, to Journey’s classic “Any Way You Want It.” It’s always good to see Tech students doing something purely for the fun of it, and if it provides a free show for the rest of campus, all the better.

Jacketpages

Jacketpages, the communal site where students can browse and manage student organizations, received a much-needed overhaul this week. The new design was picked after a contest was held last semester to determine who would design it. Hopefully the new layout will allow organizations to better leverage the system’s tools and reach out to students.

Breakout Breakdown

While the Clough Commons has some undeniably cool breakout and meeting rooms available, difficulties booking the rooms have students souring on the rooms.

Currently, students have to reserve rooms in advance to have them unlocked, and have to be sponsored by an organization to reserve the rooms in the first place. Defense of a reservation from squatters also relies solely on the squatters’ attitude.

Daytime attack

While robberies, even armed ones, are nothing new near campus, one student had the misfortune of running into a particularly bold assailant this week. Students are often told to avoid walking alone at night, but this robber apparently isn’t afraid of daytime crimes, as he robbed a Tech student near Center Street at gunpoint at 11:30 a.m.

Service offers opportunities for growth, friendship on campus When some Tech students think of community service, they think of club requirements or court orders. Not too many students think of volunteering as a favored way to spend our limited free time. However, I have found through my involvement in community service that there are few activities that are more fulfilling and fun than volunteering. I have been heavily involved in community service since I was a freshman, primarily with the student organization MOVE, of which I am now the president. I want to share with you a few of the reasons that you should get involved in community service during your time at Tech.

Community service is a fantastic way to make new friends with your fellow volunteers. Maybe you are interested in addressing homelessness, so you decide to attend a construction project with an organization that builds houses. You now have the opportunity to spend a few hours working alongside other students who are interested in homelessness as well. At some point while you are working, I guarantee that you will make at least one new friend while you discuss your common interests. Alternatively, community service can be viewed as a great way to strengthen friendships with people you already know. If you are a member of a club or a team, I encourage you to serve together with the members of your organization. If you and your teammates spend time together working towards the common goal of helping others, you will form bonds on a deeper level than if you spent that time just hanging out. Whether you serve with old

“Volunteering will make you wellrounded and give you experiences you can draw on in your professional and personal lives.”

Lisa Thornsberry President, MOVE

friends or new friends, community service is a lot of fun.

Volunteering allows you to engage in your community. You will become more aware of what is around you—it’s the perfect way to break the Tech bubble and truly experience living in Atlanta.

You will learn volumes from the people with which you interact.

For me, community service puts the stress and pressures of Tech into perspective. I may have to worry about my biochemistry test next week, but at least I don’t have to worry about where my next meal is going to come from. Community service forces me to think about someone other than myself for at least a small period of time.

And that comes with all of the warm fuzzies that you expect.

Community service will help you develop personally. I have learned how to be adaptable. I have developed my leadership abilities. I have broadened my perspectives. I have learned how to interact with people from all walks of life, from children living below the poverty line to homeless men and women, to teenagers with developmental disabilities.

Volunteering will make you well rounded and give you experiences that you can draw on for your benefit in your professional and personal lives.

Beyond the reasons that I have listed above, there are a plethora of reasons to volunteer that are specific to an individual. For some, it is a way to get hands-on experience with a topic that he/she may be addressing through his/ her research or policy work. For me, the reason involves my faith: I recognize the blessings that I have been given, and I want to use them to be a blessing to other people. Whatever your reason may be for getting involved with service, actively pursue the opportunities available to you to volunteer.

The great thing about being a Tech student is that it is incredibly easy to become involved in volunteering. Not only are there more places to serve in Atlanta than you can count, but Tech makes them readily accessible to students. We have an Office of Community Service that will help you to get connected with a student organization or community agency that shares your service interests. Contact Tech’s community service coordinator, Sarah Perkins (sarah. perkins@vpss.gatech.edu) to take the next step in getting involved in service. Additionally, if you are interested in a student organization that participates in all kinds of community service, you can sign up for MOVE’s email list at move.gatech.edu.

Focus

focus@nique.net Focus Editor: Siddharth Gurnani Assistant Focus Editor: Alex Kessler

E C I O V PUS

CAM

Students respond to turmoil in Libya

Technique @Georgia_Tech: The most preferred school for hiring in the aerospace and defense industry -- Georgia Tech, of course. http://bit.ly/nFUdbj

By Ben Goldberg Contributing Writer

In the past few months the world has witnessed tensions escalate between the Libyan people and its government to the point of war. NATO countries were at the helm of a coalition effort to bombard the capital of Tripoli and other Libyan cities in order to aid rebel forces in their attempt to topple the government led by Col. Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s autocratic head of state.

Gaddafi has served as Libya’s leader for approximately 40 years, coming to power following the overthrow of that nation’s monarchy.

The six month long conflict came to a tentative conclusion following the rebels’ capture of the capital city of Tripoli.

Gaddafi himself has yet to be captured, although it is rumored that he is hiding elsewhere within

Libya. Meanwhile, several of his relatives resurfaced in neighboring Algeria during the past week. In the wake of the victory the coalition forces are meeting for a summit to discuss post conflict management of the situation. As a new nation prepares to build afresh, the future of the 6.6 million Libyans remains uncertain.

While Tech may be on the other side of the globe, students expressed their views on the upheaval sweeping across the Arab world.

“I have sympathy for the rebel cause,” said Ahmed ElRifai, a second-year BIO major and Egyptian citizen.

“Libya needed a strong leader like Gaddafi at first, but he is

11

Friday, September 2, 2011

crazy now. One man should not rule for such a long time,” said Rifai.

In February 2011, thousands of Libyans rose up against the regime to demand a representative and democratic form of government.

The uprising was part of a wider movement in the Middle East collectively known as the See Libya, page 15

ACS 5K run raises thousands for cancer research

By Kaleigh Sawyer Contributing Writer

Photo by Jonathan Cornwell/ Student Publications

$15,000 were raised as more than one hundred people took part in a 5K run organized by many organizations in partnership with the American Cancer Society for cancer research in India, Saturday

As the school year begins, students are finding ways to become involved on campus and making an impact on the community at large.

On the early Saturday morning of Aug. 27, over 100 students gathered to volunteer, participate or just watch one such specific event: the India Run for Hope sponsored by the American Cancer Society Foundation.

The purpose of the run is to raise money to help fund palliative care and treatment programs in India.

As cancer rates increase exponentially in India, lack of awareness and treatment options cause millions of deaths every year.

Due to the scarcity of resources, patients rarely get the medical attention they need in a timely manner. For such a heavily populated country, the small percentage of doctors who are able to help is very small.

The American Cancer Society Foundation is working with the India Cancer Initiative to help spread awareness and provide readily available medical help for those who need it.

For the majority of volunteers the cause was personal. In Tech’s highly diverse community there

is a large group of students who have strong familial ties to India and the surrounding countries in South Asia.

Volunteers spoke of how they hoped the money would help fund cancer research and possibly help their family and friends who are still living in India and are battling cancer.

Whether having seen strife and pain at close quarters or having heard stories from parents and family about the level of poverty that still grips their country, the volunteers were all striving towards helping any and all that they could.

The event itself was centered on a 5-kilometer fun-run through the Tech Campus. Many runners woke very early in the morning just to get to the event and get registered in time.

The SAC Fields held food stalls, musical performances, a water balloon fight, corn-hole and a moon bounce.

Volunteers and runners came together in the end after the run to have fun and celebrate what they had accomplished that day.

Many of the organizations had no affiliation to South Asia but supported the call to overseas philanthropy for impoverished cancer patients nonetheless.

See Cancer, page 13

12 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

FOCUS

Go abroad to broaden horizons

By Jane Ko Contributing Writer

Studying abroad is an increasingly popular option available to those who tire of studying at Tech’s main campus here in Atlanta.

College is the time to take advantage of opportunities that are not otherwise available in the real world.

Studying abroad provides the perfect blend of fun and learning. Through the study abroad program, students can venture out of their comfort zones, meet new and interesting people, travel to unexplored cities and try local cuisines.

“Getting an international experience gives a broader view to how society is,” said Jeremy Kim, a second-year IE, who studied at GT Lorraine in France.

“We are so accustomed to where we live and only know the ‘American dream’ but when you go abroad you see how others see success, how they achieve their goals, and you learn to adapt to new surroundings,” Kim said about her experience abroad.

“It was an eye opening experience to see different parts of the world that you could never imagine. It was something unique that can only be possible through study abroad. There were 217 people in my group and it seems to grow everyday.”

Tech now provides over a

Get healthy series Part 1: Staying active

By Amanda Clausen Contributing Writer

“If you haven’t gotten your health, you haven’t gotten anything,” or so it goes according to Count Rugen of the Princess Bride.

As extreme as is it may sound, Count Rugen is on to something.

Without good health, juggling academics, a job, family, friends, hobbies and those fourteen other

commitments becomes nearly impossible.

Unfortunately, for many people when commitments pile up, maintaining a healthy lifestyle takes the back burner.

Contrary to popular belief being in good health means more than just not running a fever. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellSee Active, page 16

Photo by Grace Stephens/ Student Pubications

Students can earn GT credit and travel in countries such as Australia, Egypt, Japan, Germany, England, China and France. hundred different study abroad programs that are available to most majors. Students can study in countries such as Australia, Egypt, Japan, Germany, England,

and France.

The study abroad program runs for either a semester or an enSee Abroad, page 15

Photo by Jon Drews/ Student Publications

Over the next few weeks, this series will cover different aspects of health and wellbeing. This week focuses on physical health.

FOCUS

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 13

Muslims celebrate Eid after month of fasting

By Alex Kessler Assistant Focus Editor

For an entire month, observant Muslims gave up food and alcohol, rejected temptation and meditated to cleanse the soul and mind in accordance with the traditions of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month.

Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting in which devout Muslims learn about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. At Tech, this spiritual reflection is often interrupted by calculus lectures and physics labs.

Working alongside sleep deprivation is a common element of Tech life, but it is an entirely different challenge to study and take tests while fasting for about 30 or so days.

Life for a large percentage of Muslim students is difficult during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

Bader Kashlan, a fourth-year ENVE said, “During Ramadan I was also studying for the MCATs, so I would study after sundown till sunup then sleep all day until about two.”

Ramadan is a holiday based around lunar cycles. During this

month Muslims do not eat, drink or smoke during the day and can only eat after sunset. The period of fasting stresses religious submission, sacrifice, and cleansing the soul.

Bob Palmer, a fourth-year ME, said, “Once you get past the fasting it’s more important to focus on being a better person and on the things that are important in your life. Once that happens you forget about eating and drinking.”

However, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, Ramadan ended and Eid ul-Fitr began, marking the end of fasting with large feasts and various festivities.

The festivities include preparing and eating scrumptious feasts, exchange of gifts and dressing up in traditional outfits. It is the biggest celebration in Islam.

“On Eid I went to the mosque on 14th Street, said my holiday prayer, had coffee with a friend at McDonalds and then went to school,” Palmer said.

Eid means “festival,” and so people don their best clothing, give alms to the poor and visit relatives, all while holding large, open parties with the most elaborate of feasts.

See Eid, page 16

Photo by Anthony Schwartz/ Student Publications

Eid marked the end of Ramadan as Muslims dawned their best clothing, gave alms to the poor, and celebrated with big feasts.

Campus Calendar Monday, Sept. 5, 2011

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011

WHAT: Career Services Open House WHO: WST, Women’s resource center, ADVANCE WHERE: Burger Bowl TIME: 2:30-4:00 p.m.

Women in Science and Technology is holding a reception to welcome new faculty and staff to celebrate WST Mentors and WST Learning Community

WHAT: Technique General Meeting WHO: Technique WHERE: Flag Building, Room 137 TIME: 7:00 p.m.

Come meet the Technique staff over free pizza. Sign up to write stories or take photographs and become a part of the publication.

Anyone is welcome to attend.

WHAT: Georgia Tech Student Concerto Competition WHO: Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra and Director Andrea Brown WHERE: Atlanta, Ga TIME: 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Georgia Tech’s top vocal and instrumental talent will compete to win a solo performance in the Symphony Orchestra’s concert.

sliver

www.nique.net

3403 is joke. Please remove this from the class catalogue. dibs on the cute girl at papa johns.

Woot! The G-spot is open!

G wayne undergrad learning commons = g-spot! to the older indian alpha gam girl...you are so effing hot Price increases will doom WOW Wings ...Why are all the hot girls taken? to the girl that keeps staring at herself in her laptop reflection: doing that makes you look really self-absorbed.

To the person who said dubstep is “unoriginal,” i’m sure your 4 chord cookie cutter pop/country songs are much better.

Whoever the genius is that’s currently posting as Caldwell Cat on Facebook: I love you.

A solution to the over-crowding at North Ave Dining Hall: Make the freshmen go to Brittain.

Ah, the first week at Tech always reminds me why I only RUSH’d once. Never again.

The look on Freshman’s faces when they realize North Ave is closed on Saturday is priceless.

CULC, motion sensor lights in the bathrooms are not a good idea. Maybe you can not turn off while I’m in a stall? Thanks!

Raise the ratio!! Join womens recruitment!! my roommate sleeps til 4pm every saturday and sunday any of you lovely ladies of TECH enjoy Mario Kart Wii? i will always remember GT football 2009 stellar astrophysics not just awesome astrophysics People watching in the north ave quad is my new obsession.

Only one sliver box last issue? Boo Zed squared.

Found a Sony Ericsson w810i phone? Email: smcgee7@gatech. edu Reward.

One of the best feelings in the world is solving a math problem that requires synthesis from every math class you’ve ever taken. cupcakes, so sweet and tasty new whistle sounds so different... dear freshman: quit packing up 3 minutes before class ends. rude.

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011

WHAT: 10 Years Later: How Safe Are We? WHO: Marc Thiessen WHERE: LeCraw Auditorium TIME: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Marc Thiessen talks on the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques that provided information to national security.

How vulnerable is our nation to another terrorist attack today?

Cancer

from page 11

Cancer research is a cause that many align to because of personal experience or connections to those with the illness.

Multiple organizations took part in organizing the event with students from Tech, Georgia State and UGA. Sororities and Fraternities such as Alpha Iota Omicron and Delta Phi Omega were major contributors in both volunteers and funds raised.

Student organizations like the Georgia State Indian Cultural Exchange (ICE) and various church organizations were also there to support the cause.

According to them, it didn’t matter which country the funds were going to as long as what they were doing was directly saving lives by curing cancer somewhere in the world.

The volunteers’ heritage made them more sensitive to the plights of people in their countries and that is why the task of raising the money and working on the event was fulfilling.

For those students and faculty the knowledge that they could be helping someone they know was their favorite part of the fundraiser. In the end the event raised a total of $15,052 to go towards research to help find a cure for cancer.

Friday, Sept. 9, 2011

WHAT: GT Volleyball WHO: Georgia Tech vs. UGA WHERE: O’Keefe Gym TIME: 7:00 p.m.

This game will be a part of the Georgia Tech Regency Suites Invitational series. The first face off against UGA this year, so come out to support the lady Jackets at home! Attendance is open to all students.

FOCUS

Libya

from page 11

Arab Spring.

Massing together an ad-hoc force of anti-government advocates, the rebels began their campaign in the eastern part of the country in Feb. 2011, capturing cities and gaining supporters.

However, the sudden surge of the rebel offensive lost momentum as Gaddafi’s better-equipped and more experienced soldiers retaliated. Within a month the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, was under severe threat from Gaddafi’s advancing forces.

At that point, the United Nations Security Council voted to grant military support for the rebel cause.

The legitimacy of the uprising has been generally accepted among the global community, but the question of whether foreign powers, should have intervened remains. “U.S. involvement prevented another massacre,” Rifai said.

Rafey Qureshi, a second-year CHBE student said, “Other revolutions, like Syria right now, are on their own because they don’t hold valuable assets for the U.S. The U.S. should not be in Libya because it gives us a bad image to the rest of the world. Other countries should step up and do their part and when the revolution is over, they should let Libya build itself up. The youth definitely have

Abroad

from page 12

tire academic year. By taking the initiative, Tech students are given the chance to develop new skills and perspectives.

Andrew Conant, a second-year NRE, also went to GT Lorraine this past summer. He travelled every weekend and visited countries such as Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands- by train.

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 15

Scores of Freshmen take to the streets for annual day of service

the potential to do great things for their country.”

“There were other personal incentives for the intervention: protecting U.S. oil supply,” Rifai said.

There are also those who believe that the U.S. is justified in committing itself in the affairs of the Libyans. Nick Beyer, a secondyear ME said, “The U.S. is like a big brother to these countries,” Beyer said. “We should support the most worthy causes, but we won’t be able to support all of them.”

Now that the Gaddafi regime has been ousted, the role of western powers has been called into question. “We should set up a democracy, good leaders, and a police force,” Beyer said.

“I am not sure what to think.

The West tends to think something must be done, but there is strong doubt as to whether it is always right. Time will tell,” said professor Tahseen Kazi, who teaches an introductory course in international relations.

“It’s a tricky business supporting revolutions because everyone has their own interests. These types of situations require a fair amount of reflection, but considering the U.N.’s quick decision, I’m not sure if it occurred this time.”

The political outcome of Libya’s civil war is unknown, but it is only a matter of time before the country will have to unite and rebuild under new leadership.

One hundred and fifty-three of Tech’s newest students gathered early Saturday for a morning of volunteering with MOVE’s Into the Streets, a one-day event of community service exclusively for freshmen.

Amongst the many stifled yawns the excitement was still palpable as the students chatted amongst themselves before being shuttled off to one of eleven different community service projects in the Atlanta area.

Gazi Rashid, a third-year BME, explained ‘Into the Streets’ goal. “It’s very easy to look through JacketPages and find organizations you’re interested in, but the goal of Into the Streets is to look for service opportunities in Atlanta and introduce [freshmen] to them,” Rashid said.

Students can sign up to do everything from preparing food for the homeless at the Salvation Army to repairing old medical equipment for Medshare.

“We packed food for people who are terminally ill or can’t get out of the house,” said Shaaz Fareed, a first-year UEC who volun-

“If I had to give any advice, I’d say immerse yourself into the culture as much as you can. If you go to study abroad with other students, it’s easy to stick to your comfort level and stick with the other students and not reach out too much. But if you reach out and try to experience the other culture and do things you’re not comfortable with I think that’s really beneficial,” Conant said.

Studying abroad is not only a

fun way to spend a semester but it is also a chance to build up a resume. Experience abroad shows prospective employers that you were willing to travel to an unfamiliar country to study, network, and expand your intellectual horizons.

Ethan Lai, a fourth-year ME, who went to Shanghai, China said, “It was my freshman year and I figured it’d be a good experience. I had never been to China

By Trisha Pintavorn Contributing Writer

Photo by Sho Kitamura/ Student Pubications

Students participated in a multitude of volunteer projects around Atlanta from preparing food to repairing medical equipment. teered with Open Hand.

“It was gratifying and fun at the same time,” Fareed said.

Not only did participation with Into the Streets provide an opportunity for students to give

back to the community, but it was also a great way for students to make new friends.

“The children we volunteered with were very sweet and I even

and thought I could improve my Chinese and get in tune with my culture since I was born in America and never really got a taste of where I came from.”

“I went to China and it was a new language, new environment.

And surprisingly that helps translate into the workplace. When you go into the workplace, it’s a new environment and you meet people you don’t know and you need to impress them,” Lai said

“I had a seven-month internship at Clorox and studying abroad in China really helped me get the job. It taught me to open up to strangers through situations like ordering food, asking for directions, and talking to taxi drivers in Chinese. During the Clorox interview I was able to talk freely and openly and that’s what they’re looking for. Students who are open and willing to learn and adapt,” Lai said.

See Service, page 16

FOCUS

16 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

Active

from page 12

being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Over the next few weeks, the Technique will feature articles pertaining to different aspects of a healthy lifestyle.

This issue focuses on the importance of physical activity and maintaining an active lifestyle.

When life gets hectic the exercise routine is one of the first things to go.

John F. Kennedy once said, “physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity,” and experts agree.

It is well known that physical activity is a key component of maintaining physical health, but studies have shown that regular

exercise can lead to increases in brain cell development and connections, improving learning and memorization.

Tech’s hub for physical fitness and activity is the CRC, which was recently voted number one college athletic facility by the Princeton Review.

With a myriad of programs and classes, exercise does not have to be boring.

Christie Stewart is the Associate Director for Healthy Lifestyle Programs, which include G.I.T.F.I.T programs, intramural sports, sport clubs and outdoor recreation.

“It doesn’t matter what you do - if you want to go to a fitness class, if you’re going to be downstairs lifting weights, if you’re going on a hiking trip, or if you’re playing an intramural sport.

Photo by Jon Drews/Student Publications

Whether it’s sports, outdoor activities or fitness and martial arts classes, there is an avenue for all sorts of physical activity at Tech.

We just want you to find something at the CRC to be involved in,” Stewart said.

Melissa Nesbitt, a fourth-year ISyE, a personal trainer and group fitness instructor at the CRC said, “I like to exercise because I like pushing my limits and seeing what my body can do. It helps me put school and everything else aside and makes me feel strong.”

For outdoor enthusiasts, the CRC’s Outdoor Recreation department (ORGT) encourages students to get active outdoors by offering instructional programs, organized trips and equipment rental for those who desire to brave the elements on their own.

“It can be a very freeing experience to get out there. You’re getting that physical activity in but you’re also having a great time and meeting a lot of new people,” Stewart said.

For students struggling to find their go-to physical activity or sport amongst those that already offered at Tech, there is a process in place through which students can start their own sports club.

“We already have a lot of diverse programs, but we are always open to new ideas. We just try to offer something for every student here,” Stewart said.

Physical activity is an essential part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. “Ultimately, the only thing you are going to stick with is something you enjoy doing or feel good about doing,” Stewart said.

Read next week’s paper for an article about the importance of nutrition.

Eid

from page 13

“In the morning I went to a mosque for prayer, then usually I have a big breakfast with friends and then another large meal for dinner, it’s like a day-long feast. If I’m with my family then we have festivities at home,” said Kasim Ali, a fourth-year ME. When asked about how he managed to juggle school, work and extra-curriculars, Adel Haque, a third-year BCHM, said, “Very carefully. Sometimes you have to just step it up, I won’t say

Service

from page 15

added one of them on Facebook,” said Anjaly Poruthoor, a first-year BME. Caity Murphy, a first-year CHBE said, “It’s a great way to meet people and also get involved in the community around you.”’

The event sparked a lot of interest in the students who participated and opened their eyes to the multitude of service opportunities in Atlanta. It even allowed these freshman to venture off campus.

Emily Dong, a Business Administration major who helped paint benches and plant flowers at Centennial Place Elementary School, said, “I want to go back and do the tutoring program at the elementary school.”

“It was nice getting to know the Trees Atlanta people, and it really seems like an interesting organization. I got their schedule and I’m going to e-mail these people,” Murphy said.

Kelsie Riemenschneider, a

we weren’t tired.”

Because fasting does not permit the drinking of water during the day, high temperatures made the fast much more challenging to observe.

However Ramadan did begin earlier in the month so observers only had one week and a day of school to endure before Eid. Balancing life and school can be difficult, especially at Tech, but the personal preservation of culture and tradition makes the Tech student population diverse and interesting. fourth-year BME who is the committee chair of the Techwood Tutorial Project of MOVE said, “We had a really high participation rate and were at maximum capacity for all of our events.”

The most touching was the gratitude expressed by those on the receiving end of this help. Allison Shelton, principal of Centennial Place Elementary School, where students helped plant flowers, paint benches, and clean up classrooms was very thankful to the students.

“Tech students had a strong work ethic; they were extremely excited. They were a great group.

They paid attention to detail, and they were problem solvers. It was really a pleasure working with them.”

The event had a great turnout overall this year.

“The fact that we had 153 freshmen volunteer and wake up on a Saturday morning means the event was a huge success,” Rashid said.

Entertainment

entertainment@nique.net Entertainment Editor: Zheng Zheng Assistant Entertainment Editor: Hank Whitson

Technique

17

Friday, September 2, 2011

Image courtesy of Eidos Montreal

Dralion Cirque du Soleil dazzles Atlanta with fusion of east, west

By Patricia Uceda Staff Writer

Once again, Cirque du Soleil has descended upon Atlanta with yet another spectacular show. This time they are performing Dralion, a magical blend of Eastern and Western culture that celebrates the harmonious balance between nature and man.

The stunts are spectacular, the music enthralling and the costume design beautiful. Fans of Cirque du Soleil will not be disappointed.

Unlike previous performances in Atlanta, this time around Cirque opted to present their magical show indoors at Philips Arena and Gwinnett Center.

The show was still amazing despite its indoor location and because the set-up time was shorter without the signature blue and yellow Grand Chapiteau, Cirque was able to perform at two locations in a shorter period of time, making their show available to a wider audience.

As suggested by its name, Dralion, which is a mystical creature composed of half a dragon and half a lion, is all about blending Eastern and Western culture.

As a result, the four elements of nature, air, earth, water and fire, are all represented by actors clothed in the style of various different cultures from all around the world.

Unlike last year’s Ovo, Dralion did not seem to have an overarching story unifying the various acts. It was a celebration of the blending of cultures, punctuated by brief comedic interludes in the form of four hilarious clowns.

This structure worked well, allowing for a faster paced show, although a little more unification would have been nice.

As can be expected from a Cirque show, the stunts were nothing short of breathtaking.

There were aerial acrobatics including an intense aerial hoop ballet sequence performed by the Air character.

The audience watched with bated breath as she seamlessly glided about her hoop in various positions, all while twirling perilously in midair.

There was also a romantic aerial Pas de Deux in which two star-crossed lovers performed impressive acrobatic feats while simultaneously intertwining themselves through long ribbons suspended in the air.

Along with the aerial acrobatics there were also equally as impressive ground acts.

One performer exhibited amazing strength and balance as she slowly executed various poses all while balancing on one hand.

There was an amazing juggling act as well as a trampoline sequence which brought back the signature trampoline backdrop straight from Ovo. While these acts were all breathtaking, they were also previously featured in Ovo. Thankfully, Cirque du Soleil included a few new ones, including a bamboo pole act in which six men carefully balanced long decorative poles while performing complicated choreography sequences.

In My Time Dick Cheney GENRE: Memoir PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Yameen Huq Contributing Writer

“Withdrawals are like salted peanuts. Once you start, you can’t stop.” These are the words of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to Vice President Richard Cheney about withdrawal of the American military from Iraq. They summarize the guiding methodology and qualities found in Cheney’s memoir, In My Time, a book that minces no words when it engages in a full-throated defense of all of his

advocated policies. This book is less about a life than about an ideology and spends the bulk of its pages defending the most controversial decisions of the Bush administration and the dangers of compromising.

Much of the content is devoted to national security and foreign policy, the dominant areas of Cheney’s vice presidency.

There’s comparatively very little here about major domestic issues, such as No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D and the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

There are also little to no apologies here. Cheney never really admits any political mistakes, even defending his admittedly incorrect sources during the Iraq weapons inspections. He also defends the record of many of his friends and colleagues, such as George Bush, George Tenet and Donald Rumsfeld. He is particularly unwavering in his faith in Rumsfeld, both for the man

Cirque du Soleil: Dralion PERFORMER: Cirque du Soleil LOCATION: Phillips Arena DATE: Aug. 25 - 28, 2011

OUR TAKE: «««««

See Cirque, page 18

Cheney defends actions in Time BOOKS

SHOWS

Carter IV marks end of Lil’ Wayne’s prime MUSIC

Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV LABEL: Universal Republic GENRE: Hip hop TRACK PICKS: “How to Love” and “6 Foot 7 Foot”

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Brian Edmonds Contributing Writer Image courtesy of Simon & Schuster

and his policies, even refusing to let him resign on two occasions. Even a figure like Crown Prince (now King) Abdullah is described as a “plainspoken, honest man of deep faith.”

See Time, page 20

Upon first listening, Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter IV delivers a gut punch of heavy beats, absurdly profane lyrics, and witty quips about Lil Wayne’s apparently abundant mistresses. Further examination will reveal, however, that Wayne has lost his edge.

The dreadlocked, tatted up, gold toothed, self-proclaimed “best

rapper alive” no longer holds the throne of King of Rap. Lil’ Wayne’s fourth installment in the hugely popular Carter series, released Aug. 29, sports a price tag, as opposed to free-fordownload mix tapes that comprise a majority of his mammoth body of work. While there are some good moments, he seems to be working with obsolete material.

His act feels tired and irrelevant.

We have all heard Tha Carter IV ’s singles before due to regular radio play. You have “How to Love,” a tragic ballad in which Wayne’s nasally delivered singing voice soothes over a pleasant guitar riff. Also, the army march “6 Foot 7 Foot,” produces bobbing heads. But to enjoy Lil’ Wayne is not to enjoy the mainstream radio singles. No, fans will flock to the See Carter, page 18

ENTERTAINMENT

18 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

Cirque

from page 17

The six pairs of performers also brought six of dralions to life by perilously balancing on large moving wooden balls.

The various costumes worn by the performers were all beautifully made and drew inspiration from China, India and Africa with strong vibrant colors and elaborate shapes.

The set was also impressive, although not nearly as remarkable as last year’s Ovo.

Carter

from page 17

nearest electronic stores to get a taste of Wayne’s growling, often times wickedly clever, and always unfit for unedited radio play delivery.

Prepare to be underwhelmed.

The best moments of the album come from the plethora of guests, including Rick Ross, John Legend, Drake and others. “It’s Good” highlights the second half of the track list and is comprised of Drake, Jadakiss and Lil’ Wayne posturing to heavy beats. In a clear case of student surpassing teacher, Drake’s verse outshines Wayne’s.

Perhaps the most obvious flaw in the album is Lil Wayne’s bigger-than-God self-image. His hyperbolic rhymes render him not only too big for his britches, but also as a clown more than a musician. Take the song “President Carter.” While still sporting a parole officer, Wayne will have us believe that he is fit to lead.

I think not. Perhaps the mari-

Overall this show was well designed and beautifully executed.

While there were one or two small mishaps during the stunts, the professional way in which the performers were able to recover and continue as if nothing had happened was commendable.

A cohesive story line would have been nice, but clearly this show was meant to be a celebration of culture and the quest for balance between nature and man, something which they definitely achieved. juana that he raps about in “Blunt Blowin” has fueled this preposterous fantasy.

Tha Carter IV will satisfy some fans, however, the truth remains that relative newcomer Kid Cudi and veterans Jay-Z and Kanye West are shaping the future of the genre.

Tha Carter IV serves as a bellwether of Wayne’s passage from the prime of his career into an afterthought. For diehard Lil’ Wayne fans, revisit Tha Carter III for more fun and better music.

Image courtesy of Universal Republic

Decatur celebrates authors EVENTS

AJC Decatur Book Festival PERFORMER: Renowned young adult writers LOCATION: Decatur Square DATE: Sept. 2-4, 2011

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Chris Ernst Contributing Writer

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival (AJC DBF) will take place at the east Atlanta town this weekend, Sept.

2 - 4, to bring the sixth year of celebrating authors and literature to the citizens of Atlanta.

The three-day gala will feature a gamut of events including meet and greets with authors, a sneak peak of a children’s opera about Brer Rabbit and a poetry slam, just to name a few.

The festival will be held in and around the downtown Decatur Square with free admission. A word of caution though as Terra Elan McVoy, who presides over Main Stage Programming for the festival, says that while the festival may be free, “bring money because books are for sale.”

McVoy says their “big goal is to appeal to every kind of reader,” so there is something for the pop fiction fan as well as the high-brow literati. Also, don’t forget about

cookbooks. Cookbook authors like Rebecca Lang and Debby Maugans will have demonstrations.

If you have never been to Decatur, the Great Decatur Treasure Hunt will get you familiar with local businesses and Festival sponsors, which includes DeKalb Medical, Agnes Scott College and Literacy Action, Inc. Participants could win books, t-shirts, posters, an iPod Touch and more.

McVoy says the event, Write Club, a play on “fight club” has been described as “literary bloodsport.” It is a show that originated in Chicago and there will be a special performance for the AJC DBF. It is basically a game with three rounds in which each round is assigned two authors. Ahead of time, the authors are given opposing topics, “light” and “dark” for example, and they then write an original piece about their opposing motifs.

At the festival, the authors will read them to the audience, who will then vote and decide which author wins the round. The winning author gets to choose to which charity the proceeds from the audience’s donations go.

If poetry is your thing, the AJC DBF has got you covered. There will be three different poetry-related events, Best American Poetry 2011, Java Monkey Invitational Poetry Slam and Java Monkey Speaks Open Mic.

Image courtesy of Decatur Book Festival

Best American Poetry will feature editors Kevin Young and David Lehman and poet Natasha Trethewey discussing their experiences and reading selections. The Java Monkey Invitational Poetry Slam will have poets from the Atlanta area. The Java Monkey Speaks Open Mic will feature spoken-word poets on Sunday night performances.

Be sure to also check out the enigmatic Experimental Writers Asylum.

The three-day fair, originally launched in 2006, starts as early as 9 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m.

The AJC DBF can be found on Facebook, Twitter and at www. decaturbookfestival.com.

ENTERTAINMENT

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 19

Peppers relive former glory MUSIC

Red Hot Chili Peppers I’m With You LABEL: Warner Bros.

GENRE: Rock, Funk

CITY SCENE

Photo by Chris Gooley / Student Publications

TRACK PICKS: “Brendan’s Death Song,” “Factory of Faith”

OUR TAKE: «««««

Dragon*Con at Hyatt Regency

By Siddarth Sreeram Contributing Writer

The world’s largest fantasy and sci-fi convention hits Atlanta on Sept. 2. The guest list includes some of the biggest sci-fi and fantasy authors, including Terry Brooks, Kevin J. Anderson and Laurell K. Hamilton, and TV and movie stars, including Patricia Helfer, Carrie Fisher and James Marsters. There will also be panels, workshops, costume competitions and a huge sprawl of comic, toy and art dealers. For more information, head to www.dragoncon.org. Even if you do not attend, be prepared to find steampunks, zombies, Klingons and videogame characters roaming downtown come Friday.

Fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers all around the world have waited too long. Wishes have been fulfilled and the Peppers released their newest album I’m With You on Aug. 29 which follows their previous smash hit release Stadium Arcadium, the album that bagged 5 Grammy Awards and has sold over seven million copies to date, back in 2006.

While Stadium Arcadium featured a wider variety of songs, both in number and melody, I’m With You contains 14 songs of short, crisp length, with Flea’s ripping bass tracks in each and every one. Newfound recruit Josh Klinghoffer serves as the band’s guitarist after the departure of revered John Frusciante in 2009.

Leading vocalist Anthony Kiedis, the longest serving member of the band, has maintained his reputation for sudden transitions from flat to high pitches which somehow entices fans all over the world.

Fans will be pleased to know that lyrics which were famous for sudden jumps from drug abuse to girls and to rain have been retained in this album.

The Peppers released a single “The Adventures of Raindance Maggie” in the middle of July this

Red Bull Soundclash: Ludacris vs. Neon Trees A unique concert experience will be available this Labor Day, as Atlanta native actor/rapper Ludacris will be facing off against Neon Trees in Redbull’s Soundclash Concert. Soundclash is a four round musical duel that will test both artists’ creativity and versatility by forcing them to compete, collaborate and improvise. Ludacris and Neon Trees will adapt their hits to different genres of music on the fly, cover songs from other artists and jam with surprise guest stars in order to win over the crowd. The gates open at 6 p.m. and the battle is on at 8 p.m. in the West Plaza of the Georgia World Congress Center. For more information, check out www.redbullusa.com/Soundclash.

www.nique.net

year which has been extremely fruitful. The album features yet another bizarre song name which leaves listeners eager to check it out. A regular trademark of the songs of the Peppers is having the introduction with merely the drums and the bass, with Flea’s silky fingers performing their magic and Smith’s infectious beats that make you head-bang and fingers tap on your steering wheel.

“The Adventures of Raindance Maggie” has also performed well on the charts and reached the number one position on the Billboard rock charts.

Flea mentioned recently in an interview that the album primarily revolved around “themes of life and death.” This statement was released following the making of the song “Brendan’s Death Song,” a track written in the memory of the recent passing of Brendan Mullen, a close friend of the Chili Peppers since the birth of the band. “Brendan’s Death Song” is one which fans would like to call “pure melody,” as it features a slow, acoustic-guitar intro. This memorial track was greatly appreciated, and Kiedis performs some beautiful stretched notes during the bridge. This one’s definitely worth listening to.

“Factory of Faith” has a catchy

beat from start to finish with Kiedis focussing less on singing and more on talking to his listeners.

The pre-chorus is probably the most enticing section of this song, with some intriguing anaphors which build up the chorus, making this track simply magical.

The Peppers have performed various gigs all around, featuring the usual extravagant bodyflinging all over the stage, Flea’s peculiarly colored pants and Kiedis’ ever-shirtless performances.

The Peppers have primarily aimed to mix their legendary oldies like “Californication” and “By the Way” with their latest album tracks at their gigs.

The band has cut back on their legendary guitar solos which were featured in nearly every song in Stadium Arcadium, most likely due to their new entrée, Klinghoffer. Fans may have a hard time adjusting to the departure of Frusciante, whose string-bending and vibrato tunes will never be forgotten.

After 28 priceless years, the Chili Peppers have preserved their talent, style and above all their identity. From the infamous live performances to the songs that spoke about sex and drugs, I’m With You will touch the hearts of millions of fans everywhere.

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

20 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

Time

from page 17

The most interesting reads though are his criticisms and characterizations. Cheney describes John McCain as an implacable, angry man. Condoleeza Rice is portrayed as an incapable woman who cracks under pressure and rushes into Cheney’s office with tears streaming down her face just to tell him he was right. Cheney spends most chapters discussing the importance of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Politics aside, these sections actually make for interesting reading due to Cheney’s first-hand experience on national security issues.

What’s most interesting, however, is his tacit criticism of President Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy.

While he never mentions the man by name, he does criticize the lack of aggression and moral willingness to intervene throughout the 1980’s. Even though he won’t do it directly, it’s surprising to see him criticize a major policy aspect of a conservative icon.

When discussing various, controversial aspects of the War on Terror, such as the Patriot Act, Cheney plays lawyer and goes into the various nuances and legal wording that warranted the said actions.

Measures, such as Guantanamo Bay, military commissions and enhanced interrogation, are all defended as legal and necessary. Guantanamo Bay is even described as one of the nicest, most humane facilities ever to house prisoners. Some of these discussions are redirected as criticisms against the current President, emphasizing that their removal has made America less safe. Despite

having no legal training, Cheney even discusses his interpretations of the United States Constitution and the Geneva Conventions.

There are little boilerplate barbs fired around various conservative talking points throughout the book. An early section about his doctoral research contains a brief, cutting remark about the pretensions of academia when Cheney’s advisors discourage him from political campaigning. On the campaign trail, Cheney also devotes time to critiquing the mainstream media. Regarding the hunting accident in which he accidentally shot his friend in the face, he wrote “The last thing on my mind was whether I was irritating the New York Times”.

From a stylistic perspective, the book follows a sharp, quick syntax. There are often many successive, direct sentences that drive exposition and rarely embellish.

Apart from very dry sarcasm, there’s little of the humor or selfdeprecation found in most memoirs, such as his President’s book.

The earlier sections deal more with Cheney’s reflections on his upbringing and roots. Unless a septuagenarian’s musings on the wonders of living in Wyoming and of his father’s work in soil conservation titillate your mind, this section is better off skipped.

Everything about this book comes off as something from the defendant’s stand. Like most political memoirs, this book preaches to the choir and fails to bring more to the flock. Its strength and intrigue lies more in what it says about the mind of the man who wrote it. This is not a memoir, but a psychological portrait of a controversial figure.

ENTERTAINMENT

Black covers Ferst in sarcasm EVENTS

Black and White Tour PERFORMER: Michael Ian Black LOCATION: Ferst Center for the Arts DATE: Sept. 8, 2011

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Matt Schrichte Advertising Manager

Picking out what is fiction and what is reality with Michael Ian Black can be difficult.

It’s a little like telling up from down—in outer space. One thing is for certain, though. Black will be appearing on Tech’s campus on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m., performing the new act from his “Black is White” nation-wide tour.

Like most comics, Black draws most of his material from things going on in his life.

He admits that he had children only as a means for more standup material.

He also said that Tech students can expect to hear about “the time I became a panda bear.”

Students can still purchase tickets for $15, which Black was willing to bet cost less than Bill Cosby tickets when he comes to the Ferst Center later this semester.

Black’s standup career is still in its infancy. Even so, less than a month ago, Comedy Central aired Black’s one-hour stand-up

special, “Very Famous,” just a few days before his fortieth birthday.

His album, with the same name, reached as high as number three on iTunes’ downloaded comedy charts.

Even with his newfound standup success, most students will distantly recognize Black from his humorous and biting commentary on VH1’s I Love the…(insert a decade here) Series.

Known for his sarcastic wit and keen societal observations on stage, Black has been a bit of comedy journeyman for the early part of his career.

He has at least dabbled in about every area of comedy that exists and has done his best to saturate any form of conventional or unconventional media market that will have him.

From children’s books to podcasts to movies to too shortlived television shows, Black has touched all of the comedic bases and then some.

The guy even has close to 1.7 million Twitter followers, where he is probably most famous for campaigning to be Taco Bell’s national spokesman.

It was an effort that ultimately failed, but left in its wake a series of tweets rife with hilarity.

He contends that he has not officially given up on his campaign, but its momentum has at least stalled.

However, if he had to issue his concession speech, this is what he says it would sound like.

“It’s been a great run. I think we really changed the conversa-

Image courtesy of Michael Ian Black

tion in this country for the better.

We brought the issue of me being the Taco Bell spokesman to the forefront of everybody’s mind.

It was a good fight. It was a long fight at times. It was a contentious fight, but the debate was always spirited and I never lost respect for my adversary. I wish Taco Bell all the success in the world moving forward…except for the chalupa, which I’ve never cared for,” Black said.

Black is also in the process of writing a book with Meghan McCain, daughter of U.S. Senator John McCain, tentatively titled America, You Sexy Bitch according to Black.

It’s being described as “Chelsea Handler meets Hunter S. Thompson on a political cannonball run across America.”

Black is claiming responsibility for that one, too.

ENTERTAINMENT

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 21

Theme Crossword: Osteology

By James Barrick United Features Syndicate ACROSS 1. Smithereens 5. Black tea variety 10. Concrete strengthener 15. A cheese 19. Seed cover 20. Mold 21. Place in the Pine Tree State 22. Explosive device 23. Rickety bike 25. Sternum 27. Predate 28. Church area 30. Ark’s destination 31. Clear square 32. Barroom orders 33. “QB VII” author 34. Paint finish 37. Soppressata 39. Careless 43. Parts of old TVs 44. Fine porcelain: 2 wds.

46. Four seasons 47. “Prince --” 48. Bottle 50. Spirit 51. Flight path: abbr.

52. Hebrew letter 53. Jalousie part 54. Opposite 56. Things for sale 58. Intrude, in a way 60. Miles or Jefferson 61. Birdbaths 62. Virgule 63. Detergent ingredient 64. Bacon or Spacey 65. Uncouple 67. Mallet 68. Water bird: 2 wds.

71. Dormer window 72. Provide refreshments 73. Join 74. No longer fresh 75. -- dolorosa 76. Like some champagne

77. Serviceable 79. Part of Mongolia 80. Lodge members 82. Do-nothing 85. Like it -- -86. Determined 88. An out 90. Nobles 91. Ship’s course 92. “Moulin Rouge” setting 93. Portent 95. Surrounded by 98. Broadcast 99. Treat hurriedly: 2 wds.

103. Stupid 105. Desiccated: 4 wds.

107. Bouquet 108. Epics anagram 109. Old weapon 110. Tops 111. Hankerings 112. Schlepped 113. Thrusting weapons 114. Formerly, formerly

DOWN 1. -- au rhum 2. Item for a duffer 3. Dye 4. Drowsier 5. Lacking healthy color 6. Specters 7. Behalf 8. An anthropoid 9. Shakespeare’s Antonio, e.g.

10. Mechanical 11. “To -- -- human...”

12. Dutch South African 13. Santa --

14. Grower of American Beauties 15. Mission’s cousin 16. Fashion name 17. “-- Karenina” 18. Assemble 24. Diagnostic aids 26. Junket 29. Kind of movie 32. Fruit of the blackthorn 33. Of a bone 34. Be sparing 35. Portend

36. Beef servings: 2 wds.

38. Touches on 39. Eliot’s Marner 40. Fabric pattern 41. Of a grain 42. Array 45. Spiral 48. Conflict 49. Infant’s problem 53. Sci-fi setting 54. Kitchen tool 55. Jelly bean shape 56. Fluttered 57. Home to billions

59. Do in 60. Went in headfirst 61. Famed Memphis street 63. Wacko 64. Ship part 65. White cliffs town 66. Foreigner of a kind 67. Bandage material 68. Helvetian 69. Organized group 70. Redacts

72. Item to be shipped 76. Most direct 77. Solve 78. River in England 79. The “Capital of the Alps” 81. Fuses 83. Like Santa Claus 84. Monster 85. Cultural event 87. Beat 89. Comfort 92. Portion

94. Nine Greek goddesses 95. “About -- --” 96. Manner 97. Get -- -- the act 98. Underground passage 99. Dec. 31st word 100. -- dire 101. Tips 102. What’s still available 104. Abbr. in an address 106. Strike

22 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham

Crossword Solution from page 21

COMICS

Non Sequitur by Wiley

COMICS

Non Sequitur by Wiley

DILBERT ® by Scott Adams

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 23

24 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

Comeback

from page 28

win the weekend title and start the season undefeated.

In the first set, Louisville led early at 2-0, but senior outside hitter Bailey Hunter got Georgia Tech’s first kill. Then, a Cardinal attack error and a kill by Mead set the score to 4-4. Louisville then began to separate itself with an 9-1 run and did not look back.

The Cardinals were offensively solid with 15 kills to Georgia Tech’s seven and the Cardinals only made one error compared to the Jackets’ eight. Feeding off of their successful kills and Georgia Tech’s errors, Louisville went on to win the set 25-12.

The Louisville energy from the first set transferred into the second set. Senior middle blocker Asia Stawicka had a strong kill through a block, yet the Cardinals had an early lead of 7-3 over Georgia Tech.

With six kills and seven errors,

the Jackets struggled to build their tempo against Louisville’s 12 kills and five errors. Battling the sharp Cardinals, the Jackets were able to muster up five 2-0 runs and one 3-0 run, but fell to Louisville 2515.

“We were not playing Georgia Tech volleyball…we needed to take some pride in the name on the back of our jerseys…they stepped up to the challenge and showed a lot of character resiliency,” said Head Coach Tonya Johnson.

The third set proved to be the turning point as the Jackets changed the game’s cadence.

Kills by Hunter, Percy, and Mead put the score at 6-3 early. Junior libero Nicki Meyer had a diving save, and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Percy had a kill off a Cardinal’s hands, giving Georgia Tech a 7-3 lead.

“We came out ready to fight [for the remaining sets]…there was a switch that flipped on,”

SPORTS

Meyer said.

Mead arguably had her best set, making 11 of her 30 kills of the match. Taking advantage of the Cardinal’s combined attack and service errors, the Jackets rolled to a 25-19 victory.

The fourth set was also dominated by the Jackets, with Georgia Tech starting off on a 4-2 run thanks to Meyer’s acrobatics, kills from Hunter and Mead, and a block from Stawicka and Mead.

After the Jackets extended the lead to 7-3, the Cardinals took an early timeout. Percy contributed with a kill, and Hunter added a spike to set the score at 10-9. Junior middle blocker Alexis Woodson finished off the fourth set with a kill.

The combination of Georgia Tech’s fifteen kills and four blocks as well as Louisville’s ten service and attack errors and no blocks led to the Jackets taking the fourth set, 25-21.

Georgia Tech’s vigor contin-

ued into the fifth set, with a late lead change to give Georgia Tech the set and match win. Early on, due to Cardinal attack errors, the Jackets had a 3-0 lead. Louisville then surged back to tie with the Jackets at 8-8 in the middle of the set and eventually go up 10-9.

However, the Cardinals could not hold on as Georgia Tech went on a 6-1 run to close out the set 15-11 and win the match 3-2.

Both teams were comparable competitors with Louisville hitting .286 and Tech hitting .201 for the match. The official score was 12-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-11.

“Everyone’s mentality changed.

We had a drive to win. The fans were great, but we needed to motivate ourselves on the court. [Our motivation] needed to come from within ourselves and that was the biggest change [in the last three sets],” Mead said.

Mead was named MVP of the tournament after posting 30

kills, two aces and three blocks for the Louisville game. Mead also earned ACC Player of the Week honors after her performance.

Also, with a career-high of 16 digs, Meyer was dubbed the Most Valuable Libero and had an ace to add. Freshman setter Ali Santi also added 14 digs, one kill and 41 assists.

Woodson and Hunter were instrumental in the Tech comeback against Louisville with two kills and three blocks, and then six kills, one ace and one block, respectively. Other standouts included Percy, who had seven kills and two blocks, and Stawicka, who had six kills, one ace and three blocks.

On the road for the first time this season, Georgia Tech heads to compete in the Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas. On Sept. 2, Tech will match up against TexasSan Antonio and then contend against Houston Baptist and Rice the following day.

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SPORTS

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 25

TIME-OUT with Alex Mitchell

Alex Mitchell is a MGT major in his fourth year here at Tech. He has watched sports his entire life, and takes a critical view towards many of the trending topics in the sporting world. Alex enters his third year writing at the Technique as a senior staff writer.

After posting the program’s first losing season since 1996, the Tech football team heads into the 2011 season with a lot of work to do, and anyone that follows the team will have doubts about the upcoming squad. Predictions from fans and media about Tech’s final record have ranged from five wins at the low end to nine wins by some people deemed nut jobs.

Just by looking at the schedule, the 2011 Tech football team has a far greater chance of winning nine games than it does of winning five. I guess I am a nut job.

Tech starts off the season with three games against teams that the Jackets should destroy, and it starts on Sept. 1 against Western Carolina.

Western Carolina comes to Tech in week one to collect a check and give their players some “experience”. To make matters worse for the Catamounts, Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson is a perfect 5-0 against them in his career and they only won two games last season against teams that hardly anyone has ever heard of before.

After defeating Western Carolina by what should at least be 30 points, the Jackets head to Middle Tennessee State to finish the ridiculous home-and-home series. In case you were like me and did not bother to go to the Middle Tennessee State game last season, here

is what you missed: Tech racked up 415 yards of total offense, went plus four in the turnover column and led 35-7 going into the fourth quarter. Expect much of the same in this year’s game.

At 2-0 Tech will return home to face Kansas for the teams’ third ever meeting. Tech should handedly win the rubber game in the series over the future ex-Big 12 member. I know that Kansas beat the Jackets last season, but the game was at Kansas and Tech will not overlook the Jayhawks again.

Tech has far superior athletes, exponentially better coaching and rowdier fans, so the Jackets will improve to 3-0.

Following a perfect start to the non-conference schedule, Tech hosts ACC foe North Carolina who Tech has owned as of late.

The Jackets are 11-2 against the Heels since 1998 and won the game last year 30-24. This season, UNC has what may be its most talented squad in the last 20 years, but the Heels are left without a coach after Butch Davis was fired days before the team’s first practice. Paul Johnson trumps no one, so Tech wins this game by default.

Off to red-hot 4-0 start, the Jackets continue their ACC schedule with three games against conference foes. The three-game stretch against N.C. State, Maryland and Virginia will determine

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Quarterback Tevin Washington will be expected to step up during the 2011 season. Washington was thrown into action late in 2010 after an injury to former standout quarterback Joshua Nesbitt. the fate of this year’s team, and Tech should win at least two of these games. Going to N.C. State will be tough, but quarterback Russell Wilson, who killed Tech last season, is gone, so a win is still possible. Maryland always plays Tech hard, but the teams have not played since 2007.

Maryland won nine games last season so even though the game this year is at Tech, expect the Turtles to hand the Jackets their first loss of the season.

Finally, Tech travels to Virginia where they have not won three games in a row since 1983. However, Virginia is still in rebuilding mode, so Tech escapes Charlottesville with a close win.

At a solid 6-1 Tech faces the toughest portion of its schedule, and it starts with a trip to Miami.

Tech will look to avenge losses the last two seasons against the Hurricanes unless Miami gets the death penalty from the NCAA. With all the recent allegations that Miami faces, this game will not even happen, and as a result Tech will be given an eventual automatic vic-

tory.

If the two teams do play, Miami will be breaking in its suspended players. Knowing Miami, those players could be a bit sluggish when they do return, having spent week after week of partying.

If Jacory Harris plays, then chalk this up as a Tech win.

After a much needed automatic victory and bye week, Tech returns home on Oct. 29 to play Clemson.

Tech is 6-2 against Clemson in the last eight meetings, but Clemson is an ACC team by name only.

Clemson’s academia is below par compared to the rest of the ACC and the Tigers use this to their advantage to recruit some of the best athletes in the nation. Clemson gets the win in this game, so congratulations Clemson, now go join the SEC already.

Finally, Tech plays its biggest game of the season on Nov. 10 against Virginia Tech. The winner of this game has gone on to represent the Coastal Division in every single ACC Championship game, and the home team has won the last two games. Who could for-

get the last time the Hokies came to Atlanta? They were ranked in the top five, Bobby Dodd Stadium was the loudest it has ever been and the students tore down the goalposts and took them to the president’s house. If President Peterson is reading this then take some advice: order two sets of goalposts this season and clear a nice spot on your lawn for students to deposit the torn goalposts once again. Tech wins 27-24.

Following a thrilling win, Tech plays Duke… meaning Tech goes into the Georgia game with only two losses.

This year Tech gets Georgia at home, but that does not matter. There will be more Georgia fans than Tech fans as usual, and Georgia will win the game to send off Mark Richt with a victory in his last game as a collegiate head coach.

So there you have it. I have Tech winning nine games on the season after winning only six a year ago. Faith in Johnson will be restored–at least until Tech plays in its bowl game.

26 • September 2, 2011 • Technique

SPORTS

Ramblin’ With Jennifer Percy

by Brian Edmonds Contributing Writer

Left: Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletic Department. Right: Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

Sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Percy has emerged as a key front-line player for Tech this season.

Through three games, Percy is second on the team with 25 kills and has a .345 hitting percentage.

Technique: At what point did you realize that you could have a very promising future in volleyball?

Percy: My sophomore year in high school, when I started getting more playing time and getting kills. I realized that if I used my natural ability, meaning my height and my vertical, that I could have a lot of potential.

Technique: I’ve seen girl’s volleyball teams celebrate aces on a serve with an “ace” dance. Do the Lady Jackets observe such a tradition?

Percy: Oh yes, we definitely have very intense ace dances.

Technique: Do you have a favorite ace dance?

Percy: This year’s is great.

Technique: How did you end up at Tech?

Percy: [Tech] was my first college visit my freshman year of high school, and I just loved everything about it. The school, the academics, and the volleyball team.

Technique: What do you think of it?

Percy: I love it. I love everything about it. It’s hard and it

challenges me, but that’s only going to make me better.

Technique: Tell me about being a student athlete at Tech.

Percy: Being a student athlete is difficult. You definitely have to learn time management. How to balance both academics and athletics. But I think it has made me grow up a lot more and a lot quicker than I thought I would.

It [the experience] has definitely benefited me and I wouldn’t change anything about it.

Technique: What are some individual goals you have for the

season?

Percy: I would like to make the All ACC team. I was able to make the all freshman team last year, and I want to go in a positive direction this year.

Technique: How about team goals?

Percy: I think that we really want to compete in the NCAA tournament. This past weekend, we did a great job of showing character and how our team is. I think that we can go far and do better things than we did last year.

Technique: Describe your role on the team.

Percy: I think this year I’ve taken on a new role, as the one who brings energy and excitement on the court. I’m a positive leader.

I’m never one to come down on anyone. I’d rather use my words to lift people up and help keep their confidence up. I used to be mental. It’s hard once you get mentally down and crushed to stay positive and keep throwing punches.

Technique: What’s your major?

Percy: Management.

Technique: We’ve all had them, what’s your most embarrassing moment?

Percy: Oh gosh, there’s so many. On the court, probably one of the hundred times that I have been blocked in the face. Pretty embarassing, especially with the kind of crowd that we have.

Technique: Where do you see yourself five years down the road?

Percy: I’ve thought about playing overseas maybe professionally if I continue to grow and my body doesn’t break down on me.

SPORTS

shorts

Mead named ACC Player of Week Junior rightside hitter Monique Mead was given ACC Player of the Week honors after leading the women’s volleyball team to a 3-0 start against Kansas State, Tennessee Tech, and Louisville.

Mead hit .331 and averaged 5.25 kills per set through the weekend. The two time All-American tied her career high with 30 kills in a win against Louisville.

Falconi reaches third round of US Open Former Tech standout Irina Falconi has created a splash in her second appearance at the U.S. Open, earning her first two Grand Slam wins in her career.

Falconi earned her first win against Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic. After dropping the first set 6-3, Falconi bounced back and won the last two sets en route to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win.

Falconi then faced off against world No. 15 Dominika Cibulkova. After dropping the first set again, Falconi made the upset winning 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 and advancing to the third round.

Technique • September 2, 2011 • 27

SPORTS

Staff Picks

Schedule WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 3, 2011 Mitchell Prasadh Cappetta Sohani (0-0) (0-0) (0-0) (0-0)

Schrichte (0-0)

Staff (0-0)

#1 Oklahoma (-31.5) vs. Tulsa

Okla.

Okla.

Okla.

Okla.

Okla.

Okla.

#2 Alabama (-36.5) vs. Kent State

Bama

Bama

Bama

Bama

Bama

Bama

Ore.

Ore.

LSU

Ore.

Ore.

LSU

#5 Boise St. (-3) vs. #19 Georgia

Boise

Boise

Boise

Boise

UGA

Boise

#6 Florida St. (-29) vs. La.-Monroe

FSU

FSU

FSU

FSU

FSU

FSU

#7 Stanford (-27) vs. San Jose St.

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

#8 Texas A&M (-15.5) vs. SMU

A&M

SMU

A&M

A&M

A&M

SMU

#9 Oklahoma St. (-37) vs. La.-Lafayette

Lafa.

Ok. St.

Lafa.

Ok. St.

Ok. St.

Ok. St.

#12 South Carolina (-20.5) vs. ECU

USC

USC

USC

USC

USC

USC

#14 TCU (-6.5) at Baylor

TCU

TCU

TCU

TCU

Baylor

TCU

#3 Oregon (-1) vs. #4 LSU

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE

SMU

LSU

Louisiana-Lafayette starts off the season in a tough place against an Oklahoma State offense that put up 44.2 points per game in 2010.

However, Oklahoma State lost their offensive coordinator from 2010, Dana Holgorsen, and the offense might not be as dynamic as it was in 2010 in their new offensive scheme.

Oklahoma State isn’t a team that has a good reputation defensively, and is likely to give up a good amount of points next season. Even with the Cowboys returning their quarterback Brandon Weeden, and the best receiver in the country, Justin Blackmon, they’re going to have to win plenty of shootouts.

There’s been a lot of noise lately regarding Texas A&M’s pending departure from the Big 12 to…somewhere. Regardless of where A&M ultimately ends up, the Aggies will indeed be formidable in 2011—but to peg them as the No. 9 team in the country is premature, to say the least.

This pick is more about SMU’s resurgence, though.

The Mustangs have improved dramatically over the past two seasons, and record-setting quarterback Kyle Padron will lead a team that brings back 18 starters. A distracted A&M squad offers a prime chance for SMU to make an emphatic early statement. Take the Mustangs for the upset victory.

After a confusing series of event surrounding a bar fight near the LSU campus, it was determined that LSU’s starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson will not be able to play in this season opener against Oregon.

Despite this, LSU has far too much talent on both sides of the ball to be taken lightly even without their top quarterback.

Jarrett Lee may be a better passer than Jordan Jefferson was, and with the talent LSU grabs every season at wide receiver, they should be able to put up some points. The LSU defense is no slouch either, and can even hold off a strong Oregon running attack.

from page 28

the Northwestern Wildcats as a part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 29. Another notable nonconference matchup comes against Tulane, when the Jackets travel to New Orleans, La. They then play the Alabama Crimson Tide, the runner up in the NIT on Jan. 3 back at Philips Arena.

The Jackets then kick off their conference schedule against the

Duke Blue Devils on Jan. 7 at home in Philips Arena. Tech will also host Virginia, Miami, Boston College, N.C. State, Clemson, Maryland, and Wake Forest in the Arena before season’s end.

Finally, the Jackets will cap off the season in the ACC Tournament. The tournament will be hosted here in Atlanta, also at the Philips Arena, a setting the Jackets should be used to by season’s end.

2011-12 Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball Schedule GAME Florida A&M* Delaware St.* St. Joseph’s Seton Hall/VCU Siena* Northwestern Tulane Georgia Savannah State Alabama A&M* Mercer* Fordham Alabama Duke N.C. State Maryland Virginia Clemson Miami North Carolina Florida State Boston College N.C. State Wake Forest Virginia Tech Clemson Maryland Boston College Wake Forest

DATE Nov. 11 Nov. 14 Nov. 17 Nov. 18 Nov. 23 Nov. 29 Dec. 3 Dec. 7 Dec. 10 Dec. 19 Dec. 22 Dec. 29 Jan. 3 Jan. 7 Jan. 11 Jan. 15 Jan. 19 Jan. 21 Jan. 24 Jan. 29 Feb. 1 Feb. 4 Feb. 9 Feb. 15 Feb. 18 Feb. 21 Feb. 25 Feb. 29 Mar. 3

Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

*indicates a home game that will be played at Gwinnett Arena. All other home games will be played at Philips Arena.

Sports

SEEINGGOLD

sports@nique.net Sports Editor: Alex Sohani

Technique

Give me a break Senior Staff Writer Alex Mitchell explains why Tech football will go 9-3 in the upcoming season.425

28

Friday, September 2, 2011

Jackets cap 3-0 start with comeback win

Photos by John Nakano / Student Publications

Left: The team celebrates winning a decisive point to swing the set their favor against Kansas State. Right: Monique Mead celebrates earning a kill in the final set against Kansas State. Mead earned ACC Player of the Week honors after posting 63 kills on .331 hitting through all three games, and tying a career-high 30 kills versus Louisville.

By Danielle Sharpe Contributing Writer

The volleyball team began their season with a perfect 3-0 start, overcoming the competition in the Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic from Aug. 26-27.

The Jackets played well all weekend and pulled through in tough situations to win all three matches against Kansas State, Tennessee Tech and Louisville.

Georgia Tech kicked off the weekend on Aug. 26 with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-15, 25-23, 27-25) victory over the Wildcats of Kansas State. Through the match there were 14 lead changes and 36 ties, but the Jackets came through late with a 10-4 run to end the third set and never looked back. The Wildcats led at 24-23 at the end of the fourth set, but Georgia Tech came back and closed out the set and match with a 27-25 victory.

2011-12 men’s hoops schedule announced

Junior rightside hitter Monique Mead posted 20 kills and 17 digs on the night on .381 hitting, and showed why she had been named All-ACC in 2009 and 2010.

The Jackets then swept Tennessee Tech 3-0 in their first of two matches on Aug. 27. Tennessee Tech began the first set with a 3-2 lead, but was immediately overwhelmed by a 14-0 run by Georgia Tech. The Jackets easily won the first set 25-11 despite a small

4-0 run by Tennessee Tech.

The second set started off similarly to the first, with a 14-1 run by the Jackets. However the Golden Eagles continued to chip away at the lead through the set despite being down as much as 15-3 before improving their play. Tennessee Tech could not overcome the deficit and lost to the Jackets 25-17. Georgia Tech then closed out strong with a dominant 25-12 third set.

In their second match of the day, the Jackets played their last game of the Courtyard Classic against the Louisville Cardinals in a hard fought match that lasted five sets.

Louisville, the reigning Big East volleyball champions, prevailed in the first two sets, but Georgia Tech swept the solid Cardinals in the last three sets for the

Pollock brings young view to staff

By Alex Sohani Sports Editor

In his first year on campus, Head Coach Brian Gregory will lead the Jackets through a 2011-12 men’s basketball schedule that features ten home conference games at Philips Arena. The schedule sports 15 home games that will be split among Philips Arena and Gwinett Arena while the McCamish Pavillion is being constructed on campus this season.

Tech’s schedule has 12 teams and, depending on matchups that have yet to be scheduled, could include as many as 14 that made it to the postseason in 2010-11, with six confirmed teams who went to the NCAA Tournament and six NIT teams.

The Jackets will begin the season with five of their first six home games at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth, Ga. before moving their home slate exclusively to Philips Arena. Tech begins their 2011-12 campaign against Florida A&M on Nov. 11 at Gwinnett Arena.

They also play games against Delaware State, Siena, Alabama A&M and Mercer there.

The Jackets then take a trip over to Charleston, S.C. to participate in the Charleston Classic from Nov. 17-20. Tech will face off against Saint Joseph’s in the first round on Nov. 17 and will then face either Seton Hall or Final Four participant VCU. Their first game at Philips will be against See Schedule, page 27

See Comeback, page 24

Photos courtesy of the Texas A&M Athletics Department

Conor Pollock comes to Tech after a successful career playing in college at Texas A&M. As a player, Pollock was a two time team captain and led A&M to four straight NCAA tournaments.

By Alex Sohani Sports Editor

After the departure of former coach Aljosa Piric, Tech announced Conor Pollock as the new assistant coach of the men’s tennis team on Aug. 23. Pollock comes into Tech after a successful playing career at Texas A&M, earning All-American honors each of his final three seasons. After a year of teaching private lessons, Pollock has come back to the college life, making his new home here at Tech.

Pollock has hit the ground running after only being on campus for a few weeks. He has spent the majority of his time getting organized and meeting the players.

“We’re still getting to know each other, but I like all the guys here so far. It’s tough, but it’s good as a coach because you have your work cut out for you, but we have a lot to work with. There’s a lot of quality guys who have a lot of talent,” Pollock said.

Pollock began his career in 2006 at A&M and imme-

diately took over as one of the leaders of the team. He earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year Honors his first year and was an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American his final three seasons. When he graduated in 2009, he had finished his college career with All-Big 12 honors each season and went on to play on the ATP tour for 14 months afterwards.

Pollock believes his recent experiences can provide a good angle for coaching, having been a collegiate player only a few years ago.

“I’m still fairly young, so I can still relate to those guys on that level. Coming off the tour, I played professionally for two years, so I know what it takes to make it out there. I know a lot of qualities and traits you need, and a lot of guys we have on the team aspire to play professional tennis. So the fact that I just came off it will definitely bring up some good advice for those guys,” Pollock said.

The tennis team features two seniors and three juniors, but also features three freshmen, which presents some challenges for the new assistant coach. However, with the aid of the upperclassmen on the team, Pollock’s guidance is sure to only complement the team’s strengths.

“We have [senior] Kevin and Juan Spir and [senior] Dusan who are guys that will be looked to for leadership on the team. Those guys can step up and take leadership or take ownership of the team. It should be a fun year, we’ll see what happens,” Pollock said.

The tennis team will kick off in late September, and looks to have another successful campaign after a 22-6 season in 2010 and a 12-1 record at home.