Technique 2010-11-05

Technique

Crowd pleasers

Friday, November 5, 2010 • Volume 96, Issue 14 • nique.net

Weezer, Interpol and MGMT rock the house at various locations in Atlanta.413

The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper

BOR bans undocumented students from schools

By Maddie Cook Contributing Writer

The Board of Regents (BOR) of the University System of Georgia (USG) recently passed the proposal to ban entry of undocumented students into several of Georgia’s public universities. These five universities include Tech, UGA, GCSU, GSU and the Medical College of Georgia. Georgia is the second state to implement a policy of this kind, following South Carolina, which bans undocumented students from all public state in-

stitutions.

The BOR has directed these Georgia schools to no longer allow undocumented students to enroll in their universities, starting in Fall 2011.

Under the new policy, there will be new options added to these school applications that ask the potential student to define his or her legal terms of residency and citizenship.

Tech plans to put these policies into effect starting Summer 2011, ahead of the BOR schedule.

“This summer [2010] when we

reviewed student records, there were only four we could identify that were undocumented. However, none were receiving state benefits in tuition, which initially was what the BOR wanted to nail down,” said Richard Clark, Director of Undergraduate Admissions.

Opinions among students and faculty over the new policy vary.

“It’s hard for me to understand why anyone would want to prevent undocumented students to get an education, especially if they See BOR, page 5

THE FACTS • There are 501 undocumented students attending member schools of the University System of Georgia.

• All undocumented students currently pay out-of-state tuition.

• The new policy affects five out of 35 insitutions in the university sytem — Tech, UGA, GCSU, GSU and the Medical College of Georgia.

• Currently, 29 undocumented students attend these institutions.

Deal wins gubernatorial election Sustainability receives Arating

By Andrew Nelson Staff Writer

Photo by Will Folsom / Student Publications

Left: Republican candidate Nathan Deal at the student led gubernatorial held last month. Right: Democratic candidate for governor Roy Barnes delivers his concession speech at the Tech Hotel Conference and Conference Center on-campus.

By Vijai Narayanan News Editor

At around 11:50 p.m. on Tuesday night, the Republican candidate for governor, Nathan Deal declared victory at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Buckhead. The Gainesville congressman garnered 53 percent of the vote, defeating his primary opponent Roy Barnes by 10 points.

Libertarian candidate John Monds, who was also the first African-American candidate for governor on the ballot,

earned four percent of the votes.

“We’re going to be showing the rest of the nation what Georgia can do. Georgia has placed its faith in the Republican Party, and we’re not going to let them down,” Deal said in a speech to supporters.

Barnes conceded defeat to Deal at the Tech Hotel and Conference Center, where he and his wife took the stage just moments before Deal began his speech.

“I just talked to Congressman Deal, and I wished him

the best as the new governor,” Barnes said. “I have fought the good fight. I have run the good race. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith, and so have you.”

Governor-elect Deal will succeed incumbent Republican Sonny Perdue, who has been in office since 2002. His proposals include cutting taxes to reduce unemployment, which currently stands at 10.3 percent. Deal also faces lingering questions related to ethics investigations that were brought up during his cam-

paign.

Across the state, voters chose to elect mainly Republican, fueling the nationwide resurgence of the Republican Party. Senator Johnny Isakson was re-elected with a 19 percent victory over Democrat Michael Thurmond.

A total of seven of Georgia’s 13 Congressional Districts elected Republican candidates. Nationwide, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and also gained a significant number of seats in the U.S. Senate.

Tech is among the highest-rated universities in the Sustainable Endowment Institute’s latest annual College Sustainability Report Card, one of the most-participated-in sustainability rankings in the U.S. Each year, the report card grades participating universities on sustainability-related features of administration, energy use, food, recycling, buildings, student involvement, transportation and finances.

This year’s report card grades Tech at an A-, its highest grade since it joined five years ago. Tech’s results are attributed to a combination of ongoing sustainability projects and a change in the report card’s data collection and reporting.

“The benefit of these grades is that we go back each year and check on how we’re doing. This year we spent more time doing that and digging deeper into those answers than we have in the past,” said Marcia Kinstler, sustainability director of environmental stewardship at Tech.

The cascade of sustainability initiatives and projects stem from both Institute-wide and GT Dining updates. Recently, buses and trolleys’ engines have been upgraded to greener models, printing services now use 100 percent recycled products and massive lighting and automation projects on campus will save thousands of MW-hours of energy per year.

GT Dining’s two 98 percent waste neuSee Rating, page 5

Safety walk identifies danger zones across campus

By Matt Schrichte Assistant News Editor

Students and administrators gathered outside of GTPD on Tuesday evening to take part in SGA’s Campus Safety Walk. The walk followed a path through the center of campus that students commonly make from West to East Campus. There were several stops along the walk to highlight the safety concerns in particular areas. Speakers highlighted special safety issues such as bike theft, criminal trespassing, larceny and assault.

Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson, GTPD Chief of Police Teresa Crocker and other top administrators

from across campus took part in the walk while speaking about safety and listening to students as they voiced their own safety concerns.

“One of the things that we did differently this year was to bring in a lot of different students from different areas and have them comment so that we had a broad range of people from different backgrounds,” said Nicholas Robson, the SGA Planning and Development Chair and a second-year AE major.

According to Chief Crocker, any concerns raised during the safety walks are put on a list that is shared between facilities, GTPD, parking and housing. The concerns are checked off of

the list as they are addressed throughout the year.

Crocker, who has been conducting safety walks on college campuses since the 80’s, noted that early on at Tech, the largest concern was placed on campus lighting. She referenced a part of the Pi Mile near the student center parking deck that was poorly lit until a few years ago when the issue was raised on a similar walk.

“That’s part of the Pi Mile, so there are a lot of people that run that course early in the morning and late at night, and it was just an area that wasn’t very well lit,” Crocker said.

See Walk, page 3

Photo courtesy of Student Government Association

Students and administrators walked across campus in order to identify safety concerns in different areas.

NEWS

2 • November 5, 2010 • Technique

Technique

The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper

Founded in 1911, the Technique is the student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is an official publication of the Georgia Tech Board of Student Publications. The Technique publishes on Fridays weekly during the fall and spring and biweekly during the summer.

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News Editor: Vijai Narayanan / news@nique.net Opinions Editor: Matt Hoffman / opinions@nique.net Focus Editor: Kamna Bohra / focus@nique.net Entertainment Editor: Zheng Zheng / entertainment@nique.net Sports Editor: Alex Mitchell / sports@nique.net

Follow us online: http://nique.net Twitter: @the_nique Copyright © 2010, Hahnming Lee, 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.

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From the files of the GTPD...

Campus Crime

By Matt Schrichte Assitant News Editor Alpha guy mania

GTPD was notified of a fight in progress in front of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority on Brittain Drive on the night of Oct. 28.

According to witnesses, the fight’s aggressor was intoxicated and had been behaving aggressively toward several people in the vicinity. The aggressor reportedly took a pair of sunglasses from the other student’s head and broke the sunglasses. An argument between the two ensued and the aggressor pushed someone in the crowd, causing a fight to break out among at least three people. One of the fight’s participants was transported to Grady

Hospital to treat a head injury.

Unparalled parking

At 3 a.m. on Oct. 26, a GTPD officer on motorcycle was in the process of parking at the BP gas station on North Avenue. As the officer was about to release his side-stand to park, a red Honda Passport pulled into the spot directly next to the officer at such a sharp angle that the car was no more than a foot away from striking the officer. The officer reported that upon looking at the driver, he knew immediately that the driver had been drinking. The officer approached the driver of the car to

POLL OF THE WEEK

ask for his license. The driver provided his permanent resident card from Mexico and a student identification card from Georgia Highlands College but had no driver’s license. The driver completed the field sobriety test, but refused to blow into the alcohol sensor box.

The driver was booked for driving under the influence.

What do you think about the McCamish pavilion?

11.0% 21.0%

It’s a great idea, I’m excited to see it happen.

22.0%

The AMC fits Tech’s needs Based on 96 responses

I don’t care because it doesn’t affect me.

46.0%

I hope I don’t have to pay any money towards the facility.

Balloon buffoons

Three freshmen students were issued student codes of conduct for lobbing water balloons at pedestrians on the sidewalk from Glenn Residence Hall around 1:00 a.m. on Oct. 29. An officer was dispatched to Glenn after someone reported the incident.

Upon arrival, the officer observed a white male throw a water balloon from a fourth floor window.

After being questioned, one of the students admitted to striking someone with a balloon.

Next issue’s question:

What do you think of the BOR’s decision to bar illegal immigrants from the USG? Tell us at nique.net

NEWS

Walk

Council Clippings

from page 1

While leading the walk along Atlantic Drive, Robson pointed out the potential safety hazard presented by the ongoing open construction area on the BungerHenry Building that spilled into the street. As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, that section of Atlantic Drive had been closed and roped off with caution tape.

“It’s enormously helpful for us to hear from students about what they think the problems are.

We have our perceptions of what the problems are, but sometimes they’re not completely on track,” Peterson said.

At the end of the walk, two RAs from North Ave. Apartments spoke about problems they frequently saw there. The number one issue they reported was the general unawareness of students with their surroundings within the complex. Administrators focused their North Ave. concerns on the heavy traffic across the state highway.

“There’s so much traffic and there are so many pedestrians that it’s a challenge for us,” Peterson said.

This year, two students have been struck by vehicles while crossing North Avenue within signed crosswalks. Tech is working with state officials as well as the CEO of Coca-Cola to improve the entire North Avenue streetscape to make it safer for student pedestrians. Campus crime as a whole is down approximately 20 percent from the same time last year.

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 3

This week in Student Government

E

Bill Summary

By Mike Donohue, SGA Editor

ach week, this section includes coverage of different aspects of Student Government, including the Undergraduate House of Representatives, Graduate Student Senate and the Executive Branch of both governments.

JFC chair

Joint Finance Committee Chair and Undergraduate Vice President of Finance Brad Bauerkemper admonished the Graduate Student Senate and the Undergraduate House of Representatives during their meetings on Tuesday for not taking enough responsibility when authoring bills.

Citing a three-hour JFC meeting that week, Bauerkemper said that JFC had to spend an inordinate amount of time scrutinzing bills. He asked that Representatives and Senators work with organizations to ensure that their bills met JFC policy. “There’s got to be a little more work on Senators’ and Represenatives’ part,” Bauerkemper said.

When speaking to the Undergraduate House, he said that he was surprised that organizational representatives did not know more about JFC policy in light of last week’s resolution reaffirming UHR’s commitment to the student body. The resolution stated that each representative acknowledge that authoring a bill makes him or her an “advocate” for the group, and that he or she takes on the duty of teaching the organization about JFC policy.

Undergraduate Executive Vice President Brenda Morales echoed Bauerkemper’s remarks, saying that representatives should only author bills they are “proud to support.” She advised representatives to work with organizations to find other sources of funding.

However, Morales placed responsibility on the organizations, too. “I believe that many problems arise because organizations tend to submit their bills just before the deadline without first reading the instructions carefully, familiarizing themselves with our policy or seeking advice from their authors...In my view, it is completely reasonable to expect organizations to put time and effort into the process. The authors are really there to answer organizations’ questions, ensure that bills are submitted correctly and on time and remind the organizations of meeting times,” Morales said in a written statement.

ORGT

Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech submitted a bill discussed this week asking for funds to purchase new equipment and finance first aid training for instructors.

The bill passed the House with

Bill

Amount

GSS

UHR

Representative Appointment ORGT AISEC Gala Middle East Bazaar IIE Casino Night Tau Beta Pi Research Fair ACM GT GameFest Women’s Volleyball Club India Club Diwali Dinner

--$18653 $500 $1319.50 $942 $141.90 $1110.98 $933.32 $2250

--24-3-2 25-3-2 26-1-2 24-2-2 26-2-0 23-2-0 18-4-2 12-9-3

47-1-0 47-1-3 38-11-1 48-0-2 36-13-3 45-1-1 48-0-0 43-2-3 45-3-1

Prior Year: $178,863 Capital Outlay: $511,600

You can follow Mike at the Nique’s blog, The Pulse. Check in at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday for updates from UHR sessions at nique.net/pulse.

little debate, 47-1-3.

However, the bill generated a some discussion in the Senate. JFC Chair Bauerkemper noted that the training courses may not meet policy, although JFC could not come to consensus on this issue.

The question at hand was whether the courses constituted “Professional Development,” which is banned under JFC policy.

AE Sen. Will Runge introduced an amendment to remove the training courses from the bill.

Senators discussed the purpose of the courses, eventually concluding that they should not be classified as “Professional Development” and failed the amendment.

The bill passed the Senate 24-3-2.

Dorm pets

During an Open Forum discussion in the UHR meeting, At-Large Rep. Victoria Lee suggested that SGA look into allowing dorms to keep communal pets to improve the mental health of residents. This idea elicited support from representatives, although they acknowledged several potential obstacles. CS Rep. and Vice President of the Residence Hall Association said that a resolution supporting a similar idea was working its way through Legislative Council, the legislative branch of RHA. He offered to coordinate putting UHR reps in touch with RHA to work on this issue.

NEWS

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 5

Heineman shares startup experience

first startup venture was SPI Dynamics, a company which produced an assessment tool that would scan web applications for security vulnerabilities. The tool essentially acts like a hacker and tells the user about the holes within a website and what to do to

prevent any damage. One of the interesting aspects of the talk was when Heineman went on to talk about the early challenges faced

by SPI during its startup phase.

“Customers didn’t understand the need, as they might not have faced any loss of data. A third of

the business value was unknown.

The technology was unproven as it was in an immature stage. We targeted people who would be able to take the risk on a new technology and understood the complexities of internet security,” Heineman said.

SPI Dynamics started making positive cash flows soon and was bought out by Hewlett Packard in 2007. From starting out as a small company with a small staff of employees, SPI was suddenly part of a corporate giant.

Heineman then found himself as part of another startup named Damballa, which was founded by a team of Tech researchers. As a new company in the security space, Heineman plans to bring what he learned from his experience at SPI to Damballa and take it to success as well.

Billy Kihei, a Masters student in EE said, “We are starting to see companies in the technical side at the IMPACT series which is a nice change from the retail and philanthropy startups that have come earlier. Anytime I go to something like this, I like to apply it to my own music startup I have with a few of my buddies.”

to serve the public within the University System of Georgia.

This proposal was not politically motivated, according to John Millsaps, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Media and Publications for the USG. “The USG must be responsive to the public will [and] it is the job of the regents to respond,” Millsaps said.

The topic of undocumented students resurfaced in an incident at KSU in May 2010 when an enrolled student was incorrectly categorized for in-state tuition. In

Oct., it was suggested to the BOR that they strengthen the citizenship identification process.

One of the main public perceptions that motivated the regents to pass this proposal in early Oct. was that the USG is filled with many undocumented students.

“The truth of the situation is that we are not being overrun by these students,” Millsaps said.

USG has 310,000 students, 501 of whom are undocumented.

There is a total of 29 undocumented students attending three of the five affected institutions.

Those institutions are Tech, UGA and GSU. There are currently two undocumented students at Tech.

“Step back and think about a documented individual who is declined admission to UGA. It’s not the end of the world. That person has other options for college open within the University System. The same options are available to undocumented students,” Millsaps said.

There are 30 other higher education institutions in the Georgia, none of which are affected by the new policy.

By Siddharth Gurnani Contributing Writer

Kevin Heineman, the VP of Engineering and Chief Technical Officer of Damballa, a startup company in Atlanta spoke to Tech students as part of the IMPACT Speaker series at the LeCraw Auditorium in the College of Management on Nov. 3. The IMPACT series brings highly successful entrepreneurs from a variety of fields to share their experiences with Tech students. Heineman was also instrumental in the success of another startup, SPI Dynamics, which was sold to Hewlett Packard in 2007.

“I felt honored to introduce someone who boasts such an impressive resume. I got the opportunity to do so because I volunteered for an Impact class that is offered in the Management school,” said Margaret McFarland, a fourthyear MGT major who introduced the speaker.

Heineman introduced himself and began talking about how he got involved with startups after having worked with consulting firms and corporations like Ernst and Young and Worldspan. His

BOR

from page 1

are paying lots of money for it,” said Celia Montes-Alcalá, an associate professor in the School of Modern Languages.

Montes-Alcalá is from Spain, where education is free to everyone, including immigrants.

“Many other immigrants come to the US to study and gain their citizenship. They earn their rights legally,” said Shivani Bhatnagar, a naturalized citizen and third-year MSE major said.

The BOR is a collection of state citizens appointed by the governor

Photo by Virginia Lin / Student Publications

Heineman addressed an audience at the LeCraw Auditorium about his work with various startups including Damballa and SPI.

Rating

from page 1

tral dining halls have replaced a significant number of machinery and appliances with more energyefficient ones. They are also increasing local food sources, and the dining halls have signed on to the Atlanta Local Food Initiative.

Two categories of major improvement from last year were endowment transparency and shareholder engagement. The endowment transparency category relied heavily on how universities reported their proxy voting on investments. Tech, however, avoids that by investing in mutual funds.

Another reporting issue that Kinstler found inaccuracies with is how buildings are rated in the scorecard. Whereas criteria like the popular Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) measures how the building itself is constructed, it does not measure how the building is used.

Kinstler pointed out that many buildings on campus, LEED-certified or not, incorporate sustainable practices and design.

Though the most sweeping changes to sustainability measures on campus are the product of administrative and construction decisions, student organizations like SGA’s Sustainability Committee and Students Organizing for Sustainability (SOS) incorporate student-led and operated initiatives into campus sustainability.

“We are starting work on a Green Fee campaign that would create a fund for instituting more sustainability initiatives on campus,” said Molly McLaughlin, president of SOS and a fifth-year CHBE major. “Last year we held a sustainable concert series that was zero-waste and solar-powered and raised over $1000.”

SOS also provides an oncampus community garden and StarterBikes, which teach students how to fix their bikes and offers inexpensive bikes for students.

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Opinions

Opinions Editor: Matt Hoffman The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.

—Bertrand Russell

“ ”

OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Immigration ignorance

Recent Board policy signals regressive practices

The recent Board of Regents policy that bars undocumented people from attending schools at their enrollment capacity lacks purpose, damages universities’ reputations and undermines the fundamental purpose for the Board: to be politically unbiased.

Between the five universities that will be affected by this policy, Tech included, only 29 students currently enrolled would have been affected by this policy had it been in place previously. The enactment of this policy seems futile considering the marginal impact it will have during the admissions process. The Board’s action can simply be characterized as political grandstanding and trying to quell a loud but ill-informed minority of the populous that believe undocumented students are sucking away a significant number of seats from the documented ones.

This policy also puts the universities’ names in the national media.

Unfortunately, it is not for their achievements, but for the perceived

xenophobia stemming from the ban. Tech has no choice but to enforce this policy regardless of how the faculty and students feel about it. Out of state students who are academically qualified to attend Tech might look elsewhere if they believe it to be a campus not welcoming to all, whether true of not. Tech prides itself on educating the future leaders of the world, but now it might have to turn away such leaders who are academically qualified.

The strong political nature of this policy is disturbing. The Board is supposed to be nonpolitical and should not attempt to use Regents’ policy to enforce federal law; this is the responsibility of the federal government. This could also set a bad precedent for the Regents if they start to use the power to force their political ideals upon the universities. Such decisions with these types of undertones should be avoided in the future. The Board, and the universities they lead, should not be subject to political whims.

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

Hahnming Lee, Editor-in-Chief Vivian Fan, Managing Editor Kate Comstock, Business Manager Jennifer Aldoretta, Layout Editor Alex Mitchell, Sports Editor Kamna Bohra, Focus Editor Vijai Narayanan, News Editor Steven Cappetta, Advertising Manager Nishant Prasadh, Online Sports Editor Mike Donohue, SGA Editor Chris Russell, Online Editor Matt Hoffman, Opinions Editor Jarrett Skov, Photo Editor Reem Mansoura, Outreach Editor Zheng Zheng, Entertainment Editor

EDITORIAL CARTOON By Vivian Fan

Technique

6

Friday, November 5, 2010

Fourth Amendment under digital attack

By Austi Raynor Cavalier Daily

Charlottesville, Va.—Since 9/11, the war on terror has been invoked by the federal government to justify a vast program of expanded executive authority and a comprehensive erosion of civil liberties. Important statutory and constitutional safeguards have frequently been either entirely disregarded or significantly weakened.

One of the most significant casualties in the endless war against terrorism is the Fourth Amendment, which reads: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

The National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program has thus far been the most prominent infringement on the Fourth Amendment. Two new proposed measures—one targeting the Internet, the other focused on the financial industry—threaten to dramatically expand the federal government’s surveillance capabilities in direct disregard of the amendment’s limitations.

The first measure, a bill that the Obama administration intends to submit to Congress next year, would require all communication services to include technical features permitting the service to comply with a federal wiretap order. The bill primarily targets services such as Blackberry, Facebook and Skype, which either involve peer-to-peer messaging or encrypted communications.

The legislation would require all communication channels to include a built-in “backdoor” through which the government could intercept any transmission. Government already has the means to spy on encrypted communications through end-user surveillance methods such as keyloggers installed secretly on suspects’ computers. The net effect of the “backdoor” would be to allow the government to collect and sift through communications in bulk.

The second measure, also proposed by the Obama administration, would require U.S. banks to report to the government all electronic money transfers into and out of the country. The size of the transfer would not affect reporting requirements. The transfer data (about 750 million such transfers occur each year), accompanied by the social security numbers of the sender and recipient, would be stored in a centralized federal database.

Both of these proposals are indicative of several disturbing characteristics of the federal government’s approach, since the inception of the war on terror, to collecting and analyzing private data. First, data collection that allows for high-volume surveil-

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lance necessarily abrogates Fourth Amendment protections, since it is impossible to acquire warrants on such an enormous scale.

Second, the collection of enormous quantities of data is rarely justified with anything other than a vague reference to the threat of terrorism. An important benefit of requiring law enforcement authorities to acquire a warrant is that it forces those who would eavesdrop on the affairs of others to provide a compelling justification for doing so. By justifying data collection on a macro level, the government entirely sidesteps the requirement of justifying surveillance on an individual level.

Legislative schemes such as these pose a grave threat to the value of privacy that the Fourth Amendment enshrines. The preservation of privacy is essential to a society that values liberty; individuals in a democratic republic have the right to be free from constant government intrusion into their personal lives. In America, the citizens are the masters of the government, not vice-versa. Government simply has no authority to access unlimited private data, at will, without justification.

Apart from its value as a component of liberty, privacy is also desirable to the extent, for instance, that it encourages political discourse unhampered by fear of government reprisal. Unlimited surveillance powers could easily be used by the government to target political opponents. Even in the absence of such direct abuse, however, knowledge that every communication is laid bare to the prying eyes of the government inevitably quells free expression, thus discouraging citizens from engaging in legitimate political speech for fear of political retribution.

The Fourth Amendment provides a reasonable balance between the competing interests of liberty and security, preserving the majority of citizens’ privacy but allowing government surveillance when compelling justifications are present. There is no reason that the traditional, courtapproved warrant system could not be applied to internet data.

By eschewing such constitutional limitations, broad and unchecked surveillance programs cede too much authority to government to delve into citizens’ personal lives.

OPINIONS

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 7

Media bias degrades legitimate content Barack Hussein Obama.

“I can see Russia from my house!” Photoshopped images of incidents abroad that no one in America could ever confirm. These are just a few of many examples of media’s injection of political opinion and mindless banter into its representation of a wide variety of topics. The media tends to latch onto small and otherwise useless facts, blow them out of proportion and effectively exert left or right forces on the public’s opinions.

While it is good that journalists recognize they have that power, they should not abuse it as terribly as they have in recent years, and should instead use it to inform their followers to the greatest degree.

Anything from word choice to the exaggeration of an otherwise small incident to a decision to not report a major incident can shift the public’s perspective on a single person or an entire demographic.

Additionally, well-informed viewers of different media sources can recognize and sift through the editorializing, but the apathetic masses are susceptible to flipping channels through a biased report and ultimately submitting to uninformed opinions and voting patterns. From a factual perspective, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s approval ratings were consistently above 90 percent prior to her selection as John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presi-

“Admittedly, sometimes sensationalizing stories is the only way to grab viewers’ and readers’ attention.”

Kamna Bohra Focus Editor

dential election. Additionally, as a previously little-known figure to the masses, Palin drew large amounts of attention to the McCain campaign, but the media completely tore her apart, taking advantage of her personal characteristics that were easy to mock, such as her accent and her striking resemblance to actress/comedian Tina Fey. Even worse, journalists turned Palin’s daughter into the subject of hundreds of gossip columns. Her children’s lives should never be brought into political discussion. That is a cheap way of attacking a politician, and any dip or rise in any politician’s approval ratings should be solely based on the politician’s political convictions.

The liberal media is not the only institution to blame either; the right-wing press’s continuous question of Obama’s true religion and emphasis on his middle name brings irrelevant discussions to political circles. While a large number of voters are religiously driven in stances on social issues, equating Obama’s middle

name to his “real” religion and connections with terrorists is a long stretch with no factual foundation other than just that—his middle name. While this type of middle school girl gossip did not deter Obama in his bid for the presidency, “Hussein” continues to appear in places other than Obama’s biographies.

On a smaller scale, a recent voicemail caught of CBS reporters’ attempt to find a registered sexual predator among a sea of supporters for a particular politician reflects the blatant disregard for unbiased journalism. Still, even my knowledge of that incident may itself be the result of biased media.

Based on these examples, the answer to the question “To report or not to report?” often and unfortunately indicates a news source’s political interests. In this sense, journalists should fully and factually report on every story deemed relevant to the viewers (and by the viewers).

These descriptions reflect a bias in fairness and political opinion, but other types

of bias may be introduced by a lack of “interesting” events.

Admittedly, sometimes sensationalizing stories is the only way to grab viewers’ and readers’ attentions. Today’s perpetually plugged-in world is bored to tears by facts and numbers, but is drawn to a state of hyperactivity in retweeting Britney Spears’ latest updates.

On the same train of thought about attentiongrabbing stories, journalists in other parts of the world may present in a fashion that makes their locations and stories more relevant or timeworthy than they may actually be.

What’s more is that there are fewer easily accessible places to confirm events across the world, making it harder for the viewers to question what is being reported.

Additionally, the newly found dependence on tweets and iReports takes an interesting spin on media bias. Since the generators of this type of content neither train in journalism nor invest themselves in unbiased reporting, they have no reason to present factual stories.

While journalists have every right to have political beliefs and ideological investments in the topics they discuss, these stances must be completely removed from reporting and should not advertently or inadvertently exert forces on public opinion.

Athletes over-scrutinized by media, public It seems like every time you turn on ESPN, you hear about how an athlete has made a stupid mistake or how they are being punished with tremendous fines for indecent conduct on-or-off the field.

Again and again, we side with these reporters as they describe the mishaps all these “celebrities” get themselves into. The high frequency of these reports challenges me to wonder if all these athletes are treated unfairly in the media and their individual leagues.

I do not wish to defend an athlete about their “big” mishaps, such as use of steroids or murders. Such actions like this, in addition to ones surrounding Tiger Woods and his mistresses, are hard to overlook. Reporters have a field day when these type of events happen and investigate every little aspect about it. That is some prime news that instantly obscures away all of an athlete’s previous accomplishments, and then the news portrays them a bad person.

But what happens if an athlete slips up once by getting angry in an interview or attempts to joke around?

What if a small action is overanalyzed and ignores any other side to the story? Athletes get bashed daily in order to fill up content for the day. he paparazzi looks into all celebrities’ lives to find any kind of news. The same can be said in world of sports.

disliked. He loved to complain about his quarterbacks and even openly discussing contract disputes with the public.

When an athlete complains about not receiving additional hundreds of thousand dollars, Steven Cappetta the average person will not feel Advertising Manager very sympathetic. Emotional athletes can paint themselves in a bad light when they talk fined the most ($75,000) to newscasters and not sit back for his hit that was not even and think about the conseflagged for a penalty. The an- quences.

An important thing to take gry Harrison, defensive player of the year in 2008, was being away from all this is that not bashed for his “dirty” play. No all athletes are complete screwnewspaper or television broad- ups. There have been several cast would have commented on athletes that do make bad his style of gameplay had the mistakes and are talked about league not decided on stricter continuously. The public wants rules regarding tackling that to know about all the slip-ups individual week. Big hits hap- each individual athlete has pened very frequently before had, so the media works hard this, but due to the league’s de- to make sure they find as much cision, all three of those players as it can.

The athletes that generally were looked down upon.

Some athletes love the spot- keep good composure have light and interviews while oth- messed up at least one instance ers get frustrated and make a in their lives. If you think mockery. Conservative inter- about it, you would come up views flow under the media with very few that have not radar and keep athletes safe openly made a mistake. Mifrom any dirt. Other antics, chael Phelps has smoked marisuch as Chad Ochocinco and juana, Pete Rose bet on baseTerrell Owens, seem fun to the ball, John Daly had a drinking viewers. Some love and some problem, Andre Agassi took hate these two characters for crystal meth and even Peyton their personalities. Sometimes Manning has gotten into alterthey have gone too far in the cations with players and orgaleague’s eyes and have had to nization over what he thinks play penalty fees for the fun is the best way to win. When they have had. In his younger cameras and eyes are constantyears in football, Owens had ly on you, it is hard to mainanother side that a lot of people tain a perfect image.

BUZZ

Around Campus

What should be the new name of AMC?

Megan Sumner Third-year MGT

“Jarrett Jack Stadium.”

Mark Boyd Fourth-year PHYS

“Paul Johnson Coliseum.”

“Because of the ‘big’ mishaps other athletes have, we as an audience show little mercy to all the other athletes.”

Because of the mishaps other athletes have, we as an audience show little mercy to all the other athletes when they mess up, no matter how big a deal it really is.

We do not forgive all of these high-paid, dumb athletes for their mistakes. They get torn apart for the same things we do every day. We do not care or focus on our own misgivings, though, because we do not have cameras around to judge us at all times like these athletes do.

Media is also aided by leagues actions themselves. A few weeks ago the NFL wanted to look out for the safety of its players as several big hits on gameday took place. Brandon Meriweather, Dunta Robinson and James Harrison were each fined for the violent hits they threw that day. Media outlets went to town on the issue the following week. The football league, which used to be praised for solid, powerful tackling, was now looking down on “going too far”.

The most upset of the three was James Harrison who was

Brad Estes Fourth-year MGT

“It should be named Alexander Memorial Coliseum to preserve tradition.”

Sydney Bebee Second-year MGT

“45 Mil Arena.”

Photos by Joey Cerone

OPINIONS

8 • November 5, 2010 • Technique

OUR VIEWS Hot or Not

HOT– or –NOT Registration tools

After what seems like a lifetime, SGA Course Critique is finally operational and has years of course information for students to try and figure out which professor is less likely to fail them next semester. GT Schedule Creator is also very helpful for students, allowing students to easily, far more easily than OSCAR, build a schedule and figure out which classes are still available.

Safe walking

The annual campus safety walk to take place again this Wednesday to help make the campus friendlier for pedestrians across campus. This focus on making North Ave. safer is much appreciated. For years, Tech has neglected the corridor, and it is time to incorporate it into the rest of campus.

The residents at NAA know all too well that safety conditions are subpar.

Registration woes

As the semester begins to wind down, students are once again faced the daunting task of trying to take three classes that are all offered at the same time. While students hopelessly wish for the registration process to improve and for their departments to stop offering labs on Friday afternoon, the problems still remain unresolved. One day, registration will be less painful.

Naturally Gassy

The gas leak caused by the construction of the new Skiles Alleyway within the Weber Building last Thursday was an unexpected interruption to a calm afternoon. While anyone who has had an 8 a.m. class in Weber has daydreamed about situations that would get them out of class and back into bed, this is likely not a scenario that had played out in their minds in the middle of lecture.

Renegade Tea Party could spell trouble for GOP, if not controlled

The national reaction to the Tea Party Movement can at best be described as mixed. The grassroots movement that has been developed from the more conservative parts of Republican party made its midterm election debut on Tuesday with moderate success. While many are spinning the Tea Party’s success as sign of the movements growing appeal, in reality, it shows the limited and divisive nature of the movement.

The Tea Party had success unseating incumbent and high profile Republicans in the primaries, in particular Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who was seeking his party’s nomination for the Senate, and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. While Crist ultimately lost as an independent candidate for the seat, Murkowski apparently has led one of the most successful write-in campaigns in U.S. history and appears to be positioned to keep her seat. So from a Republican’s perspective, does the Tea Party help the larger Party? No, it hurts the party tremendously.

The Tea Party candidates appeal to the more conservative, very loyal base of the party. The people who turned to vote for Tea Party would have turned out to vote Republican regardless of the movement. So the movement does little to broaden the base, it just reinforces it. The Tea Party, however, has had a huge impact on the party. In many cases, the movement put Republican candidates on the ballot with little appeal to the centrist voters, and in some cases, the candidates simply alienated the center, giving the election to the Democrats, a lose-lose situation for Tea-Republicans and

We’d like to hear from you.

Write us a letter. letters@nique.net

“The [GOP] leadership must find a way to keep the Tea Party members from hijacking the party platform.”

Matt Hoffman

Opinions Editor non-Tea-Republicans.

Christine O’Donnell’s campaign is a prime example of the destructive effects the Tea Party is wrecking on the GOP. O’Donnell lost bids in 2006 and 2008 for the Senate; she has a proven track record of failure. But with endorsements from Sarah Palin and other Tea Party die-hards, she defeated former Governor Mike Castle in the primary, and, shockingly, reinforced her losing track record in the general election on Tuesday.

Many believed the Delaware seat would have been in play and may have potentially turned red had Castle received the nomination.

Rand Paul’s election to the Senate can easily be explained because the electorate in the state of Kentucky is so right heavy, that many people in the state, apparently a very large majority, agree with him and will vote for him.

This situation is true and many other states such as Georgia, South Carolina and have similar circumstances. On a national level the movement will simply drive people away from the party.

Tea Party success in House follows similar patterns. Generally, they are winning districts that bleed red and would rarely, almost never, elect a Democrat. They are not broadening or expanding the party, they are limiting it.

The old Republican guard knows the destructive nature of the Tea Party and has known this for some time. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell adamantly opposed Rand Paul in the primary because he understood that increased momentum for the movement will hurt the Republican brand in the long term. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich ruled the Delaware seat out of play once O’Donnell received the nomination. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed concerns of the racial undertones that many Tea Party leaders invoke.

With midterm elections now in the rearview mirror, the Republicans must now shift its focus to 2012 and the race for the Presidency. The party leadership must find a way to keep the Tea Party members from hijacking the party platform and ruining viable candidates in the primary season that will kick off in the next couple months as Republicans begin to announce their candidacy. A Tea Party candidate will only lead the Republican Party to a loss in 2012. The movement will not win on a national scale. There is a large power vacuum in the Republican Party right now, and if the likes of Rand Paul fill that vacuum, then it will lights out for the GOP.

Focus Burdell’s Black Book launches

focus@nique.net Focus Editor: Kamna Bohra

Organization Spotlight: ANS The purpose of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) is to promote awareness and understanding of the application of nuclear science.

Contact: www.jacketpages.gatech.edu

n e l a i c o s m E 2 En

Photo by Virginia Lin / Student Publications

Despite the typically loud atmosphere, visitors to the Student Center recently might have noticed more subdued colors than usual. Black balloons, posters and Tshirts speckled the Student Center this past week, though not for the reason that might be expected. Though the Student Center just celebrated its 40th birthday, the decorations were instead celebrating a new outreach program—Burdell’s Black Book (BBB).

BBB is the result of a partnership with Sparkfly, a company that gives its members deals and discounts to various stores, restaurants and businesses across the country. The Book will provide Tech’s students, faculty and staff with discounts to hundreds of businesses in Atlanta and across the country.

“We’re partnering with Tech to provide discounts for students, faculty and staff. The discount program provides rental cars, tickets to sports, movies, sports, Cirque du Soleil and lots of local businesses,” said Elena Naydenova of Sparkfly’s customer care.

Despite the name, the Book is actually an online collection of deals and discounts.

The idea for the Book first came up in Jan., according to Tasha Myers, Associate Program Director of the Student Center Programs Council (SCPC). Shortly after its creation, the Atlanta Life committee started looking at ways of reaching out to businesses outside of the typical Tech community.

“The [committee] wanted to figure out how they could make businesses more accessible, to encourage students to get out of the campus bubble,” Myers said.

“Whether it is a lack of transportation, not enough money, a busy college schedule or simply no interest, students are experienc-

Photo by Sho Kitamura / Student Publications

Photo by Sharad Gopal / Student Publications

Entrepreneurs from all sectors spoke to students about their business philosophies.

See Burdell, page 10

Tech races to first place

By TJ Kaplan Contributing Writer

Tech’s Wreck Racing team took first place in the Grassroots Motorsports $2010 Challenge this year, which is hosted annually by Grassroots Motorsports Magazine (GRM) in Gainesville, FL. The competition took place from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, and was attended by more than 50 teams from across the nation, including cars from professional tuning shops and racecar builders.

The competition required participants to buy, build and drive a fully functional racecar for a cost less than or equal to the corresponding dollar amount to the calendar year, which was a $2010 budget for this year. Cars See Wreck, page 10

9

Friday, November 5, 2010

t s r fi t s o h e s t c n n e r e f Stude n o c e terpris

Students can receive discounts on their most frequented stores and restaurants.

By Chris Russell Online Editor

Technique

Photo illustration by Vivian Fan / Student Publications

By Jessica Swafford Contributing Writer

“Making profit and helping society are not and should not be mutually exclusive,” said Paul Sasone, CFO of Better World Books on Oct. 30, 2010, at the first annual Enterprise 2 Empower (En2Em) conference.

Two Tech students, Melissa McCoy, a third-year ChBE major, and Ryan Westafer, an ECE Ph.D. student conceptualized En2Em in Spring 2010. Its purpose? To empower and to connect Atlantans who are interested in social entrepreneurship.

En2Em hosted over 20 speakers, 15 of whom were CEOs or Presidents of their businesses. Located at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) Conference Center, guests spoke to medium-sized crowds at the all-day event. With two panels running during each of the four sessions, attendees had many topics to choose from.

Social enterprise was covered in a panel, “Social Ventures Serving International Markets,” composed of MedShare and GlobalSoapProject CEOs. “How to Finance Your Social Enterprise,” with representatives from Gray Ghost Ventures and Ashoka, was another largely attended panel.

“While most businesses answer only to their shareholders, [they] answer equally to all of our key stakeholders,” Sansone said. “By accounting for and supporting their long-term viability, profit takes on a much broader and richer meaning.”

Students and working professionals alike questions concerned with a vast array of topics from securing an internship to dealing with failures.

Speaking on how to secure an internship, the entrepreneurs recommended that people develop networks relating to personal interests.

“Keep a strong relationship with professors. Make sure you keep it after graduation,” said Jeff Woodward, a business partner at Sites & Ha rbison.

“Shoot

high.”

Failure was talked about in more depth.

“If you haven’t failed at anything, you’re living a life of mediocrity,” said Chris Hanks, a professor at the UGA Terry School of Business.

The speakers focused on the fact that people should try things, such as getting a dream internship or starting a business, rather than being afraid because fear stunts successfulness. Failure, according to the speakers, can create a stronger, more well-rounded person.

For those unsure of where to start with social entrepreneurship, Hanks suggested the Corridor Principle, which is the idea of simply starting something and adapt as different opportunities present themselves.

“Once you start walking down the pathway, new doors of opportunity open. If you would’ve never walked down the corridor, you would have never seen the opportunity,” Hanks said. “Many of you say you don’t know where to start to be successful. Just start.”

Nearly 250 people registered for the event.

“The speakers are phenomenal.

I was impressed that it was free or only $10,” said Chris Quintero, a fourth-year ME major.

En2Em was free to register for until Oct. 1, 2010, including the costs of food, free T-shirts, parking, informational packets and quality speakers. After that date, registration was 10 dollars.

Co-creator McCoy, who was initially inspired by Muhammad Yunus and the idea of microfinance, wanted people students to realize that social entrepreneurship offers a more efficient way to solve social problems than charities or international need.

“I wanted the conference to show attendees what the potential of social entrepreneurship and be educated on what they need to do to pursue an venture of their own.

Working with our free market system can most effectively help others,” McCoy said.

Due to this, the conference had two different tracks—one inspirational and the other a practical teaching on how to successfully See En2Em, page 11

10 • November 5, 2010 • Technique

Wreck

FOCUS

Burdell

from page 9

that were entered into the competition competed in three different sections: concourse, autocross and drag.

In order to be eligible to participate in the competition, each team was required to raise its own funds or to acquire sponsorships that would afford it the necessary $2010. Wreck Racing was able to acquire sponsorships from major companies such as Pirelli, General Motors and Caterpillar, allowing them to participate in the competition. They also hold annual fundraisers, car clinics and promotional activities involving their machinery and vehicles to raise funds.

The first part of the competition was a concourse, which consisted of judging that was based on engineering quality, budget planning, build process and improvements over the past year’s entry. Next, the cars were entered in an Auto Cross competition, which tested the speed, acceleration and handling of the car over a long and windy track. Finally, the car was entered in a drag race, which tested the aerodynamics and top acceleration of the car.

Wreck Racing was awarded first place in the Auto Cross, first place in the Concourse and ninth place in the Drag Race competitions. At the end of the contest, Tech’s team was awarded first place as an average of their scores from all three competitions.

This year’s first place win was a first for Wreck racing, whose best placement in the Grassroots

Image courtesy of Wreck Racing

Tech’s Wreck Racing team brought home a top victory for the first time in a competition against 50 other collegiate racecar teams.

Motorsports competition up until this point was 12th place.

“We are a very new club, around five years old, and this was our biggest competition, and our biggest opportunity to prove ourselves as a valuable organization on campus,” said Andrea Kuklenyik, the Vice President of Wreck Racing and a second-year ME major.

Wreck Racing took home the gold with No. 81, a Lexus-V8powered 1994 Mazda Miata.

Next year, the group plans on returning with the same car in super-charged form. Plans for 2012 include a completely re-vamped

platform, engine and chassis.

“Next year, we want to supercharge the Miata if we have time; it’s essentially going to be a competition against ourselves [next year] to see how much we can improve upon our car from this year,” Kuklenyik said.

After winning the competition, Wreck Racing will receive recognition in the April 2011 edition of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine.

Wreck Racing is a completely volunteer organization made up of over 35 students hailing from different departments across Tech’s campus.

from page 9

ing barriers between themselves and the opportunities that a major city can offer. The SCPC took on the challenge of creating BBB in the hopes that we could help to make Atlanta more accessible and affordable in order enhance that desire to explore and embrace city life,” said Paul Brideau, chair of the Atlanta Life committee and a third-year ME major.

When looking for similar programs, SCPC found Emory’s Dooley Saves program, a discount program that also uses Sparkfly.

SCPC decided it would be a good way of both reaching out to Atlanta businesses and providing students with benefits across the country, according to Brideau.

Myers said one of the benefits of working with Sparkfly is that it is a nationwide organization.

While students will obviously get local discounts, they can also get deals at national organizations.

Special offers are also available at places like Universal Studios.

While the Book will start with the default options offered by Sparkfly, additions of new businesses will be largely decided by the Tech community.

“One of the coolest aspects of BBB is that it’s meant to be interactive, meaning we don’t choose the businesses, the Georgia Tech community does...Sparkfly has provided a foundation of over 500 local and national discounts, and we want that list to become more and more unique to the interests of the Georgia Tech community over time,” Brideau said.

On Wednesday, Nov. 3, the Student Center held a launch event for the Book. A Sparkfly representative was on campus to explain to students how the deals worked, posters listing the partner businesses were scattered around the student center and tickets were sold for the upcoming Harry Potter movie. The latter was accompanied by homemade butterbeer.

Plans are in place to increase BBB’s interactivity. A reviewing system and a blog are in the works.

Photo by Virginia Lin / Student Publications

During the launch for Burdell’s Black Book, students were able to get tickets for an advance screening of the new Harry Potter.

FOCUS

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 11

Student voters respond to midterm elections

By Andrew Nelson Staff Writer

With the 2010 midterm elections drawing to a close, the political landscape has experienced a significant shift in party control, with a Republicans gaining majority of governors and representatives and a nearly even split in the Senate with Democrats still in control. Data shows that projected total voter turnout was 42 percent of the electorate, which is an increase of 1.2 percent, or 6.2 million people, from the previous midterm election.

Students have different views on major issues, including education.

“My huge deal was education...I’m supporting Deal because he was in favor of getting rid of more [at] the federal and state level and putting [money] into the hands of the local elections. The people in office right now [are] not teachers or in school, and they don’t know what’s going on. So I think, especially at the secondary level, that needs to be reformed,” said Spenser Burch, a first-year BCHM major.

Beyond education, many students consider the government’s decisions about the economy and small businesses important, especially as Tech graduates move into the workforce.

“I think that the biggest issue going on right now is the economy; it’s going to [be] major that

En2Em

from page 9

start ventures.

En2Em was made possible by the help of several campus and professional organizations who served as sponsors, including Tech’s Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship and the business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. The founders also sought out much advising contribution from experienced entrepreneurs.

The event was developed and run by a team of 10 Tech students, each chosen by McCoy and Westafer for their high skills in respective areas. The student team covered a wide range in school level from freshmen to grad students.

Overall, En2Em focused on connecting people and informing students about social entrepreneurship.

Photo by Will Folsom / Student Publications

With an increase in turnout to this year’s midterm elections, voters share passionate views about a broad range of issues, including education, healthcare, transportation and the economic downturn. we get jobs [so] we can stabilize businesses and help businesses grow,” said Abhishek Thumaty, a first-year ISyE major.

“I think the most important issue is jobs. Job creation, upholding certain current jobs [and] making sure that certain money given to us for jobs is used the right way. That’s all I’m really concerned about because I’m about

to graduate, so if there’s not a job out there available for me, I’m not going to be happy with it,” said Zach Gardner, a third-year MGT major.

“One of the two provisions that was on [the ballot is supposed to increase business, but it looked more like [it was] decreasing competition,” said Tobias Smith, a first-year BME major.

Other issues students consider to be major include healthcare, transportation, immigration, abortion, trauma care and ethics.

“Getting people back to work, immigration, forcing the government to have a balanced budget and providing more resources to foster and grow education” are important to Zac Churney, a second-year ME major.

Photo by Sharad Gopal / Student Publications

Professionals advised students in their future business careers.

entertainment@nique.net

Entertainment

Entertainment Editor: Zheng Zheng Assistant Entertainment Editor: Patricia Uceda

Technique

13

Friday, November 5, 2010

CONCERT CONNECTIONS

Photo by Bola Adedire / Student Publications

ONE WEEK, ONE CITY, THREE SHOWS

CONCERT

Interpol PERFORMER: Interpol LOCATION: The Tabernacle DATE: Nov. 1

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Bola Adedire Contributing Writer

WEEZER Last Saturday night, throngs of fans packed into the Chastain Park Amphitheater to witness Weezer playing their last show of the touring season. Roughly a month after the release of their latest album titled Hurley, Weezer has been touring the country to put their new sounds on display as well as treat their fans to some classic songs.

The gates at Chastain Park Amphitheater opened an hour later than the advertised hour, and the crowds filled the seats slowly at first. Like many concerts tend to be, there was a great deal of waiting and standing around involved before the show finally started, signaled by the appearance of the opening band taking the stage.

J. Roddy Walston and the Business, an alternative “Southern rock” band with roots in south Tenn. went

that Interpol are the paragons of the NYC 90’s indie rock revival and they proved it with the show.

The Tabernacle was full of Interpol fans that knew the lyrics to their hits, but were also equally comfortable singing along to b-sides. Interpol finished their set with “Obstale 1” with the crowd singing the chorus, “She plucks away.”

The audience chanted for an encore. The band obliged by returning to the stage and performing “The Heinrich Maneuver.”

The chorus, “Today my heart swings,” provided an appropriate ending to their Atlanta show.

INTERPOL

CONCERT

Weezer Memories Tour PERFORMER: Weezer LOCATION: Chastain Park Amphitheatre DATE: Oct. 30

OUR TAKE: ««««« on first to catch the crowd’s attention with a spirited performance of “Don’t Break the Needle,” mixing a style of forceful singing and lively piano playing reminiscent of classic rock and roll.

A half hour of this highspirited performance kept the crowd visibly excited, but then Weezer took the stage and the energy level in the amphitheater hit its peak. The band made its big appearance with the appropriately titled “Epic Intro,” which was basically a display of each band member’s role that started with a low-key guitar riff and followed into a suitably See Weezer, Page 14

MGMT CONCERT

MGMT PERFORMER: MGMT LOCATION: The Tabernacle DATE: Nov. 2

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Basheer Tome Contributing Writer

Photo by Donovan Henneberg-Verity / Student Publications

Bright colored lighting and excited fans of many ages welcomed American indie rock psychedelic band MGMT onto stage at the

Tabernacle on Tuesday.

The band started off slow with a lesser-known selection from their newly released album Congratulations.

But things instantly picked up to a high broil as MGMT jumped into “Time to Pretend” relatively early into the night. Even the plentiful awkward high schoolers managed to begin head-bobbing by the time the band swung into another of their best hits, “Electric Feel.”

A few songs went by to generous response. Then, they put down their instruments. The band

Photo by Basheer Tome / Student Publications

By Andrew Ho Contributing Writer

Interpol and the White Rabbits performed at the Tabernacle to a passionate crowd that wanted to show off Atlanta as the sixth New York City borough.

The show opened with the White Rabbits, an indie rocking Brooklyn sextet with all the traits of a hipster power

group.

The crowd’s response to their energetic performance and catchy lyrics silenced any doubters in attendance.

Interpol took the stage after a short intermission that provided time to clear the stage of the White Rabbits’ equipment.

The members coolly sauntered on and took their instruments. Paul Banks, the band’s front man, addressed the crowd with a nonchalant, “Hello, we are Interpol.”

The Tabernacle became noticeably more crowded as attendees pushed towards the stage to get closer to the 13-year indie rock veterans.

Many critics and fans argue

members looked at each other and then launched into their most well known song “Kids.” Midway through the song, as excitement neared it’s highest point that night, all hell broke loose. Everyone let the groove take them to new spaceinvading heights.

By the time the band was ready to leave, Andrew VanWyngarden, the lead vocalist, yipped “Night!” ran off stage, and the crowd cheered them back on for their final two songs, “The Handshake” and “Congratulations.” They served as a decent capstone to the concert and a good night.

14 • November 5, 2010 • Technique

ENTERTAINMENT

Hornet’s Nest offers weak franchise finale FILM

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest GENRE: Crime Drama STARRING: Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist DIRECTOR: Daniel Alfredson RATING: R RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Hank Whitson Contributing Writer

The final film based on Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, more casually known as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, goes out with a whimper instead of a bang. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest picks up immediately where The Girl Who Played with Fire left off, transforming the taut, action-packed murder mystery into a conspiratorial courtroom drama that feels far less urgent and compelling than it ought to.

The movie is not plodding by any means. On the contrary, it moves with the speed of something that has been highly compressed and streamlined, jumping from one scene to another. The places it goes, however, generally are not as intriguing as the situation in the first film, or as exciting and dangerous as those from the second. The subplots have been admirably pared down and repurposed to serve the main plot thread, creating a much more focused narrative than the book offers at the expense of some subtlety and complexity.

The film opens with Lisbeth Salander, computer hacker extraordinaire and the titular hornet-kicker, recovering from a bul-

let to the brain which she incurred while trying to murder her evil father with an axe.

The story’s centerpiece is the courtroom drama where Salander is tried for the attempted murder of her father, and the two forces trying to influence the trial’s outcome. On one side, you have Blomkvist, the staff of Millennium magazine and Salander’s hacker friend struggling to gain evidence to clear her name and restore her legal rights. Meanwhile, the Cold War spooks try to get her re-committed to a mental institution to cover their own embarrassing involvement with her criminal father, who was a soviet defector.

I cannot imagine trying to make sense of the film’s opening without seeing the first two films or having read the books. Without understanding why Salander was trying to kill her father or how Blomkvist got access to the classified information about her criminal father, the beginning of the movie is nearly incoherent.

However, as the plot progresses, it almost exclusively focuses on events that occurred in the first two movies. The trial scene summarizes the injustices Salander has suffered throughout her life, which readers and movie-goers will already be familiar with.

There is a satisfying, if predictable finale as well where Salander faces off against her Frankensteinian half-brother.

Larsson’s books have always been triumphs of brilliant characterization over plotting or prose and that has never more evident than it is in the unevenly paced final installment of the series. Fortunately, the film’s casting is nearly perfect. Noomi Rapace reprises her role as the acerbic but brilliant Salander and Michael Nyqvist returns as investigative journalist

Image courtesy of Music Box Films

Mikael Blomkvist.

In addition to looking like she was born for the part, Rapace has a wonderful fierceness that allows her to speak volumes through Salander’s hostile silences. Nyqvist comes off as a subdued Daniel Craig, which is fitting since Blomkvist’s character is something akin to a humble, amateur James Bond. Annika Hallin returns as Blomkvist’s sister, Annika Giannini, and does admirably with her larger role as Salander’s defense attorney.

Strong as the casting is however, so much of Larsson’s characters are lost without access to their thoughts. Their carefully strategized plans are rendered invisible or simplified for the sake of narrative clarity.

The other journalists at Millennium Magazine and all of the government agents, both good and bad, are under-developed.

The main villain of the film, Dr. Peter Teleborian, loses much of the condescension that made him so loathsome in the book, and he comes across as a much more generic creep as a result.

Even Salander, despite Rapace’s nuanced performance, feels

short-changed by the transition to film. Indeed, if Rapace was a weaker actress, the movie would completely fall apart.

That said the movie does manage to improve on the book in certain areas. Larsson’s greatest short-coming as an author is unquestionably his tendency to indulge in meticulous exposition about the intricacies of economics and Swedish law and politics. The movie completely skips the torturously detailed backstory about the Cold War spooks that drags out the beginning of the novel. Salander’s jaunt to Gibraltar following her trial is also thankfully absent from the film, resulting in a stronger, more focused conclusion to the narrative than in the book.

The movie has some fun moments, and a couple of gripping scenes but ultimately lacks the sort of dramatic momentum one expects from a thriller.

If you have read or watched both The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire, you owe it to yourself to see Lisebth Salander’s saga through to the end. If not, you would be better served by watching either of the earlier chapters first.

Weezer

from page 13

heavy rock section to showcase the whole team. They then moved right along into the set list, starting with the bouncy “Hash Pipe” that made good use of lead singer/ guitarist Rivers Cuomo’s nearmanic energy.

There was no denying that he and the rest of the band were utterly psyched to be performing.

Whether it was dumping a bottle of water on his head or running through the aisles to give highfives to the crowd, Rivers Cuomo made the best of his presence to keep the crowd stirred up during and between the songs, riling up even more nerd power when he took someone’s wizard hat and jumped onto the scaffolds.

Many of the band’s classic hits such as “My Name is Jonas,” “Say It Ain’t So” and “Undone – The Sweater Song” were performed, just as familiar to the long-time fans of the band as they are to younger generations.

Though they stayed with a majority of classics, “Hang On” was a highlight from Weezer’s newest album Hurley, which stayed in style but felt more matured in its development. At one point the entire crowd felt confusion followed by elation when “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus was played, though it seemed somewhat impulsive.

By the end of the concert everyone was unable to stay in their seats in an effort to follow along side to Cuomo and dance to “Pork and Beans.” A minor disappointment was that with all the frenetic activity throughout the concert, Weezer did not have the staying power for an encore performance after the climactic rock ending.

Ultimately, the mass of cheering fans had an undeniable blast and remained applauding for well over a minute before dispersing. I eagerly await the next time that Weezer returns to Atlanta.

www.nique.net

ENTERTAINMENT

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 15

Dead excels as zombie horror Saw 3D exhibits

lackluster effects

TELEVISION

The Walking Dead NETWORK: AMC

FILM

WHEN: Sunday 10 p.m.

Saw 3D

STARRING: Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies

GENRE: Horror STARRING: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Betsy Russell

OUR TAKE: «««««

DIRECTOR: Kevin Greutert

By Daniel Fuller Contributing Writer

RATING: R

Even within the first few minutes, it is clear that nothing is sacred in AMC’s latest show The Walking Dead. The tone and expectations are set. There will be zombies, there will be blood, and this show will not hold back when it comes to showing any of it. Furthermore, the show is set in Atlanta and the eerie ruined backdrop of an all-too-familiar city makes the overall effect especially creepy for any Georgia native.

There are two general approaches to zombie stories. There is serious, dramatic survival-horror and there is ridiculous and funny bordering on self-parody. Since zombies are inherently ridiculous, pulling off the former successfully is far less common. Standing out from the melodramatic failures of the past, The Walking Dead delivers genuine zombie drama.

Many zombie stories forget to actually tell stories, preferring broad strokes: there are zombies everywhere, try not to let them eat you, everybody bring shotguns, etc.

The Walking Dead, on the other hand, does not focus on zombies right away. Instead, it begins by developing the central character of the show, policeman Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln.

The slow introduction of the

RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Mehfouz Jalal Contributing Writer

Image courtesy of AMC

zombie apocalypse through his eyes is far more compelling than any opening sequence of a rampaging horde of zombies.

The weekly television format provides exciting possibilities for the zombie apocalypse genre, bringing the promise of more complex character development and plotlines. The main character has certain goals and motivations, but these might evolve and change over time.

There is the opportunity to introduce new characters as the show moves on, circumventing

sliver

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Do you walk backwards?

I hear George P. applied to be a guide!

Rowers do it deeper.

The new nique website is so much better!!

Man, that Erin is a hottie! Maybe I should apply to be a tour guide... it eveb says thank you for slivering after you sliver! baller! :) ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD Is anyone here as big a webcomic nut as I am? I wonder. btw Subnormality is the best. -ab3k i sincerely feel bad for my friends who like food from the dining halls. Especially those that sneak food out.

I would like to offer you a BUTTON Do we really have to refresh to sliver again?

At Gatech I cried for a guy for two days how pathetic! post office, please be open one hour longer on saturdays Greco ls in a full Mario costume lecturing physics made my Halloween. only at tech will you march and call cadence to Tik Tok TAs should be required to be homely, this ridiculous hotness is distracting I don’t want to get old!!

God is indeed a SOCIALIST. Tech still hasn’t figured out the way to girls’ hearts. Frozen yogurt parlor, please?

Rien n’est trop beau pour une si belle... indian girl with the vampire fangs, you are really hot spin doctaaaahs no one likes Duke. end story. sometimes i wish you would stop wearing golf apparel I hate fluids lab If the AA raises fees, then they might have a few broken windows to cover my fee....

Shhh I’m charging my laser Imma firin mai lazor!

SHOOP DA WOOP

the common pattern of killing off an initial group of survivors one by one. Without the typical twohour time limitation, there is potential to tell a type of story that has never been done before.

The Walking Dead takes its zombies very seriously, but this attitude does not feel forced or unnatural. The creepiness of the situation is very clear from the blood-smeared messages on the walls to the half-eaten corpses of the fallen. The humanity of the See Walking, page 16

Saw 3D is the seventh and final installment of the Saw franchise and is a fairly apt way to finish the series. Although it is not quite on par with other movies of the franchise, it’s still worth the watch.

Saw 3D follows off roughly from where the previous movie, Saw VI, concludes. Mark Hoffman, played by Costas Mandylor, is now the last surviving apprentice of the Jigsaw killer, played by Tobin Bell, and continues in the legacy of Jigsaw.

The Saw series is primarily known for and propelled by its intense plot, dramatic and unpredictable endings but most of all, its gory and intriguing trap setups.

Saw 3D is no different in any of these respects. It follows a pattern of tracking the progress of a single person going through a setup of rooms which are intertwined with traps set up for other people. When first introduced to this method of storytelling in previous Saw movies, it seemed like a good way to go about it. However, for close followers of the series, this technique becomes very un-

interesting and hinders the actual content of the plot at some critical points. Being the last of the series, one would expect that any discrepancies from previous movies would be dealt with. Although Saw 3D manages to tie up most of the loose ends, it seems to have inadvertently created new ones. This shouldn’t bother many viewers as these inconsistencies don’t play a key role in the overall plot.

The 3D in Saw 3D does not seems to have been implemented as well as it could have. Looking at all the hype created regarding 3D effects from the trailers, Saw 3D didn’t quite live up to the expectation it had set for itself.

Overall Saw 3D boasts a good storyline, interesting trap sequences and an amazing background score by Charlie Clouser.

If you’re a diehard Saw fan and need to complete the series, go ahead and catch Saw 3D. However, waiting for the DVD release seems like a better option.

Image courtesy of Lionsgate

16 • November 5, 2010 • Technique

ENTERTAINMENT

Speak establishes Swift as talented songwriter MUSIC

Taylor Swift Speak Now LABEL: Big Machine Records GENRE: Country Pop TRACK PICKS: “Sparks Fly,” “Enchanted” and “Better Than Revenge”

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Patricia Uceda Assistant Entertainment Editor

Taylor Swift’s third studio album Speak Now is a refreshing collection of songs that showcases her signature lyrical poise, youthful exuberance and confessional songwriting. It is the perfect follow up to 2009’s multiplatinum hit Fearless.

Speak Now is bursting with songs that touch on Swift’s standard themes of romance, heartbreak and regret, all delivered in her signature style of soft country rock infused with traces of twangy electric guitar, mandolin accents and fiddle. It is a formula that has worked wonderfully for her, why change it now?

Swift drew inspiration for all 14 songs from her own life, and she says so in the opening of her lyric booklet. “These songs are made up of words I didn’t say when the moment was right in front of me,” Swift writes.

The album touches on many of the public events in her life for the past two years, from the MTV Music Video Award controversy with Kanye West to scathing criticisms of her live singing voice to a string of failed relationships with other celebrities. It addresses all these issues tactfully and without naming any names, although she does provide some hints in the

lyrical booklet by capitalizing certain letters of lyrics.

Her first single from this CD “Mine” is already a huge hit on the radio, and tells of her tendency to shy away from love.

“Sparks Fly” is a great up-tempo song that will definitely be a big hit if she chooses to release it as a single. Speculators are convinced that “Back to December” is about her brief relationship with Taylor Lautner. In this moving song she reminisces on happier times with the Twilight actor and delivers a heartfelt apology for breaking his heart.

The title track “Speak Now” is a funny and cheerful song about breaking up someone’s wedding, fitting in nicely with the overall album. This is followed by the ballad “Dear John,” which is probably about her brief fling with John Mayer; it even contains his signature guitar twangs.

This song has her most biting remarks, with lyrics calling him out on his reputation with women. While lyrically strong, the song itself is a bit slow and gets a little boring.

“Mean” is another fun and witty song sharply aimed at all of the critics that have criticized her live singing voice and questioned her 2009 Grammy for best album of the year.

She unleashes on them in this song and the results are fantastic.

“The Story of Us” is a great upbeat song similar to “Mine” and “Sparks Fly,” full of her poignant lyrics and youthful yearning.

“Never Grow Up” is another slow-tempo ballad that is regrettably a bit forgettable. Fortunately it is followed by one of the highlights of this CD, “Enchanted.”

With this fun song Swift channels her inner princess and delivers a heartwarming result.

Image courtesy of Big Machine Records

One of my personal favorites is the track “Better than Revenge,” a missile aimed at “the other woman.” Fans insist it is about actress Camilla Belle, who Joe Jonas reportedly dumped Swift for. Swift certainly had plenty of anger to let out, and she does so without apologies. The song itself is rockpowered and addictive; it will almost certainly become an anthem for scorned women everywhere.

“Innocent” is a beautiful slow ballad dedicated to Kanye West for his famous interruption of her VMAs acceptance speech in 2009. She has certainly forgiven him and is ready to move on. This song is followed by “Haunted,” a bruised rock song that is a bit haunting itself with its powerful hook.

To be honest I repeatedly skipped the next track “Last Kiss” while I was listening to her album

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over and over again because I tried listening to it the first time and it is way too slow for my taste. Of the three slow ballads on this album, it is the slowest and most boring.

The ending song “Long Live” is a great finish to the album, full of rousing lyrics and great up-tempo music. It is almost certainly a dedication to the team behind her, and with the lyrics, she thanks them for all their support.

This album was written entirely by Swift, unlike her first two albums, and proves that she has real talent as a songwriter.

The puppy-love themes from her first album are still here, but they are mixed with more grown-up themes, reflecting Swift’s evolution from boy-crazy teenager to mature young lady. If you are a fan of Swift, go and get this CD, you will not be disappointed.

Walking

from page 15

survivors also shines through, making the people and their situations feel very real.

Survivors take photo albums instead of survival gear, hoping to remember the family they will never see again. A man struggles with destroying the zombie husk of his wife, unable to let go of the past.

Another man pauses to reflect with sympathy for a fallen zombie, saddened by what its body had become. While these moments easily could have been melodramatic, the solid acting and writing hold them together and serve to strengthen the emotion of each scene.

Another advantage of The Walking Dead is its fantastic production value. The cinematography is skillfully executed and the visual effects are impressive. Much of the story is told just through the camera, no dialogue necessary.

One particular shot pans through a door, letting the audience in on a small, self-contained narrative that the main character will never even know.

Furthermore, the effects, while not as spectacular as modern technology might possibly allow, are compelling enough that the unreality of the premise is brushed aside, drawing attention instead to the story and the characters.

Hopefully as the show continues it will maintain the standard of quality that it has already established. The Walking Dead has proven already that it cares about character development and well-constructed narratives. If it maintains that focus without degrading into a generic gorefest, it has the potential to be a new and better zombie story than anything that has come before it. Some people will watch this show simply for the zombies, but anyone who loves good storytelling should give it a chance as well.

ENTERTAINMENT

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 17

Theme Crossword: No Need For That

By Robert Zimmerman United Features Syndicate ACROSS 1. Start of a quip by George Carlin: 2 wds.

6. Lights-out signal 10. Las -15. Unconvincing 19. Caesar or Cicero, e.g.

20. Moonfish 21. Try hard 22. Inflexible 23. Favored group: hyph.

24. Part 2 of quip: 5 wds.

27. Relates 29. Energy 30. Chocolate dessert 31. Humanities 32. Rhodes and Beaton 33. Guide 34. An Osmond 36. Gay -37. Speed 40. Old Italian coin

41. Bird used in falconry 42. Flintstones’ pet 43. Tree “house” 47. Abbr. in citations 48. Minded 49. Big and beefy 50. Jewish month 51. Butterfly stage 53. Denomination 54. Bolo 55. -- probandi 56. Nazimova of silents 57. Cloaks 59. “Do -- -- say ...”

62. Part 3 of quip: 3 wds.

65. Feminine suffix 66. Sea cow 68. Variety of shark 69. -- vera 70. “Remember the --!”

71. Nip 72. Quite a few indeed 77. Writer Pearl -- Grey 78. Cream of the crop 80. Chop finely 81. “-- and Aeneas”

82. Paradise 83. Place in Asia 84. Applesauce, e.g.

85. Unwind 86. Gaels 88. Glaciers, ice caps, etc.

89. Newsstand 90. Certain builder 93. Still 95. -- cherry 96. Kind of mortgagerelated account 98. Hunt or Reddy 99. Tropical tree 103. Part 4 of quip: 3 wds.

106. Beer 107. Solitary 108. Scandinavian 109. Word in an ultimatum 110. Swords 111. Brit. money 112. Rough material 113. Grass 114. End of the quip

DOWN 1. Sandwich cousin 2. Cavity 3. Giant in Norse myth 4. Treacherous 5. A Great Lake 6. Burgs 7. Primates 8. -- de deux 9. Quaked 10. Healthy kind of burger 11. Glorify 12. Auto part

13. Storied vessel 14. Check 15. Navy or army officer 16. Excite 17. “ ... not even a --” 18. Inscribe 25. More pleasant 26. Nearly all 28. Native of: suffix 32. Patties 34. Crepuscular insect 35. Winglike 36. County in Louisiana 38. Pismire

39. Salty sauce 40. Dry, said of wine 41. Tribute 42. Temporary tattoo 44. Roman magistrate 45. Yegg’s targets 46. Lock 48. Simple vessel 49. Greeting 52. -- voce 53. Quench 54. Make obeisance 56. Moderate 57. Intent to harm

58. Soap plant 59. Strike with wonder 60. Dieter’s lunch 61. Lacking sense 63. Releases 64. Amass 67. Church area: 2 wds.

71. Region of living things 72. Beat 73. Picture symbol 74. Paints

75. One of the states: abbr.

76. Red -78. Annex 79. Old Italian language: abbr.

80. Rebel 84. Horse in a race 85. Curly lock 87. Sufficiently, of old 88. Like some ancient cities 89. Relations

90. Whimpers 91. Off like -- -92. Tableau 94. Certain contract 95. Barked 97. Traveled 99. Goods for sale: abbr.

100. Pointed arch 101. Change course 102. Gaelic 104. Quarrel 105. “Cakes and --”

18 • November 5, 2010 • Technique

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham

Crossword Solution from page 17

COMICS

Non Sequitur by Wiley

COMICS

Non Sequitur by Wiley

DILBERT ® by Scott Adams

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 19

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 21

SPORTS

Staff Picks

Week of NOVEMBER 6th, 2010 Lee Hoffman Cappetta Mitchell Prasadh (56-37) (52-41) (51-42) (54-39) (55-38)

Staff (57-36)

#1 Oregon (-28.5) v. Washington

Ore.

Ore.

Wash.

Ore.

Ore.

Ore.

#3 TCU (-4.5) @ #5 Utah

TCU

TCU

TCU

TCU

TCU

Utah

#4 Boise (-27) v. Hawaii

Hi.

Boise

Boise

Boise

Boise

Hi.

#6 Alabama (-6) @ #10 LSU

Bama

Bama

Bama

Bama

Bama

Bama

#7 Nebraska (-17) @ Iowa State

Neb.

Neb.

Neb.

Neb.

Neb.

Neb.

#8 Oklahoma (-6) @ Texas A&M

OK

OK

OK

OK

OK

OK

Wisc.

Purdue

Purdue

Wisc.

Wisc.

Wisc.

Mizzou

Mizzou

Mizzou

Mizzou

Mizzou

Mizzou

#13 Stanford (-7.5) v. #15 Arizona

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

Stan.

#14 Michigan State (-23) v. Minnesota

MSU

MSU

MSU

MSU

MSU

Minn.

#9 Wisconsin (-20) @ Purdue #12 Missouri (-7) @ Texas Tech

Hawaii

washington

minnesota

Boise wants to leave as WAC conference champions before departing to the Mountain West next year. The squad likely will with few teams with the talent to beat them. Still, Hawaii has done a lot to prove themselves as contenders in the conference: they have dealt Nevada its only defeat and have averaged nearly 40 points a game.

Even against an elite defense like Boise’s, the Warriors will still be able to put the points on the scoreboard. Hawaii’s defense is suspect, but Boise will not win by 27 points in a likely shootout. Expect for the Broncos to easily win the game, but they will win by less than four touchdowns.

Outside of last week when Auburn beat Ole Miss, No. 1 teams tend to struggle once they get to the top.

No one is giving Washington a chance. They got destroyed by Stanford last week ,and they lost their best player in quarterback Jake Locker.

Oregon, on the other hand, is rolling and playing great football. However, they might overlook the Huskies as the Ducks still have Arizona and Oregon State left on the schedule.

Oregon probably has the players to win this game by double-digits, but I do not see them beating a conference foe by more than four touchdowns.

Michigan State has proven itself as a good team this year, but the squad is not a team built to blow anyone out. If anything, they will win with defensive stops and hard-nosed running.

Minnesota has shown some signs of life in its games, and have yet to play a complete game even by its low standards. With their new interim head coach, the Gophers will be more motivated to prove a point and get pumped up against a ranked team.

Minnesota is a bad team, but the Big Ten is a pretty even conference, and Michigan State will probably still be hungover from the huge blowout loss to Iowa last week.

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Ramblin’ With Mario Butler

by Tucker Moore Contributing Writer

Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletic Department

Technique: How long did it take to grow out your dreads?

Mario Butler: Um, let me think. This is my fifth year.

Technique: Have you ever thought about cutting them off?

Mario Butler: I thought about it, but I don’t know. If that time comes, I might.

Technique: Did you play any other sports in high school?

Mario Butler: I ran track and played basketball. I played AAU basketball.

Technique: Who’s the funniest guy in the locker room?

Mario Butler: Anthony Allen.

Technique: Do you have any pregame rituals?

Mario Butler: Nothing besides reading my Bible. Before we leave the hotel, I’ll read my Bible.

Technique: What’s your favorite class this semester if you have one?

Mario Butler: My econ class, ECON 4813, it’s about terrorism.

Yeah, it’s pretty neat.

Technique: What’s your favorite meal at the dining hall?

Mario Butler: I’d have to say when they have fried chicken.

Technique: Where’s your fa-

vorite place to go off campus?

Mario Butler: Atlantic Station.

Technique: Has anyone ever stopped you on campus for an autograph?

Mario Butler: No, not really.

Technique: Would you sign one if they did?

Mario Butler: Sure, but they’re probably busy in their books.

Technique: Who’s your favorite athlete?

Mario Butler: My favorite athlete, well, it was Michael Jordan, and I still admire him.

Technique: Who are you rooting for to win the World Series?

Mario Butler: Umm, I don’t really know who’s in it right now.

Technique: Giants and Rangers.

Mario Butler: Oh, Giants, I’m going to go with Giants.

Technique: Do you have a Hollywood crush?

Mario Butler: Halle Berry.

Technique: What’s your favorite movie?

Mario Butler: I got a couple, but I’ll probably say The Best Man. Technique: Can you cook?

Mario Butler: Yeah, I do a little cooking.

Technique: What’s your go-to meal?

Mario Butler: I’m a breakfast person, so pancakes, eggs, sausages, all that stuff.

Technique: What’s your ideal first date?

Mario Butler: Hmm…candlelight, stuff like that.

Technique: If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Mario Butler: Stop all the violence.

Technique: What toppings do you get on a pizza?

Mario Butler: Pepperoni.

22 • November 5, 2010 • Technique

SPORTS

2010-11 in the

BASKET

WOMEN’S:

lady jackets seek to build a tradition

By Nishant Prasdah / Online Sports Editor

As the 2010-11 season gets underway, the Tech women’s basketball team is coming off the most successful four-year run in team history and will be looking to record a fifth straight 20-win season in the upcoming campaign. The Jackets will have to fare without their top player from last year, as forward Brigitte Ardossi graduated and was selected in the WNBA Draft, but they return most of the roster from a team that went 23-10 and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Guard play should be a strength for the Jackets. The two returning seniors, Deja Foster and Alex Montgomery, have been fixtures in the Tech backcourt for years and should be among the ACC’s top players in the 2010-11 season. Junior Metra Walthour and sophomore Sharena Taylor both return to give Tech two solid options at point guard, and the Jackets boast depth both at the point and wing positions.

Montgomery returned from a torn ACL suffered at the end of the 2008-09 campaign to play in 28 of Tech’s 33 games last season. Though her numbers were down somewhat from the previous year, when she was a healthy starter all season long, she remained a top option for the Jackets and was the team’s primary option from beyond the arc. She was second on the team with 11.9 points per game and had a team-high 59 three-pointers. Foster, meanwhile, emerged as a key weapon for the Jackets in Montgomery’s absence, shooting 48.0 percent from the field and averaging 9.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Her assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.0 was among the best in the conference.

Neither Taylor nor Walthour was extremely effective on the offensive end, but Walthour proved to be an effective distributor and a strong defender, recording a 1.34 assist-to-turnover ratio and 61 steals.

Along with a handful of experienced backups, including junior Mo Bennett and sophomore Jasmine Blain, at least one highly touted freshman will contribute to the Jackets’ backcourt this year. Point guard Dawnn Maye will battle Walthour and Taylor for playing time in her first year with the Jackets.

The loss of Ardossi will no doubt hurt the Jackets’ frontcourt play. The Jackets will have several options available as they look to replace her production up front and continue to receive strong play on the post.

One definite starter will be junior center Sasha Goodlett, who at 6-foot-5 is the tallest player on Tech’s roster. Goodlett has been Tech’s starting center for each of the past two seasons and has shown steady improvement over that span. As a sophomore, she posted 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, both up from her numbers the previous year.

Aside from Goodlett, the Jackets will have to rely on a handful of newcomers and former reserves to shore up the frontcourt. Junior forward Chelsea Regins and junior center LaQuananisha Adams saw time off the bench throughout last season, and both will continue to be factors in the upcoming season. Regins was productive off the bench in the 2009-10 campaign, recording 3.7 points per game (on 46.4 percent shooting) and 2.6 rebounds as she averaged 12.8 minutes per contest. The 6-foot-4 Adams played 8.6 minutes per game and was a reliable reserve who should continue to produce off the bench this season.

The Jackets have added plenty of depth up front, with three forward recruits from Sweden joining the squad for the 2010-11 campaign.

The most prominent of these is sophomore Danielle Hamilton-Carter, who missed last season after being ruled ineligible but will see the court for Tech this year.

Photo by William Brawley / Student Publications

23

4

Wins by the team last season

Returning starters from last season

11.9

Points per game by Alex Montgomery last season

5

Straight seasons with at least 20 wins

Technique • November 5, 2010 • 23

SPORTS

2010 - 2011 MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW

MEN’S: team hopes to continue success

By Chad Christopher / Contributing Writer After netting 23 wins and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Tech will be looking to repeat last season’s success and remain a contender in the ACC. But with the early departures of Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal, the top scorers from last year’s team, Tech has many questions to answer. Last season, the 6-foot-10 Favors and 6-foot-9 Lawal combined to give Tech one of the biggest lineups in the entire ACC. Tech used its size to its advantage by giving the ball to Favors and Lawal in the post as much as possible, allowing them to physically wear down opponents over the course of a game.

This season, Tech will not have that option as no player taller than 6-foot-6 on Tech’s roster has played in a college game.

To make up for the loss of Favors and Lawal, Head Coach Paul Hewitt has created a new offensive system for his 11th season as head coach. Similar to the offense that Jay Wright runs at Villanova, Tech will essentially play with four guards out on the floor. Hewitt made this decision in order to utilize the valuable experience in his backcourt and also compensate for the overall lack of size. In this offense, the four guards will be positioned out on the perimeter and the lone post player will be located near the paint.

In preparation for the new offensive scheme, the team has had a rigorous workout regimen during the preseason. A few days each week, the players ran a series of timed sprints at the campus track. In Tech’s fast break offense, the guards will be constantly making cuts to the basket and rotating the ball around the floor as they try to outrun opponents. In addition, many picks will be set on opposing players that should create mismatches due to Tech’s smaller players. These mismatches should make it easier to get long-range shots off since bigger defenders will not want to come out to the perimeter. Spacing near the perimeter will be key since Tech has a plethora of talented shooters that can make 3-pointers.

Tech will rely on the performance of the backcourt because the guards play a central role in the offense. Among the expected starters are senior point guard Maurice Miller, junior shooting guard Iman Shumpert, sophomore small forward Brian Oliver and sophomore shooting guard Glen Rice Jr. The 6-foot-5 Shumpert will be expected to lead the guards and thrive in this up-tempo offense with his athleticism and defensive instincts. Shumpert averaged 10 points and four assists last season but will be asked to increase his scoring with the departure of key players. The 6-foot-6 Oliver will also be a very significant player in this offense since he is considered to be the team’s biggest three-point threat as he shot 38 percent from three-point range last season. Oliver, who averaged 7.1 points last year, will most likely play the number four position and will therefore be expected to capitalize on mismatches. Rice will be expected to utilize his athletic 6-foot-5 frame and slash to the basket to create room for the offense, while the 6-foot-2 Miller will be used as a facilitator and reliable ball handler.

Rounding out the backcourt is sophomore point guard Mfon Udofia, senior shooting guard Lance Storrs, freshman small forward Jason Morris and junior shooting guard Nick Foreman.

As previously mentioned, the frontcourt is the biggest question mark heading into this season. None of the three players making up the frontcourt, which includes redshirt freshman Daniel Miller, redshirt freshman Kammeon Holsey and freshman Nate Hicks, have played in a single college game. To help ease the learning curve of these three players, Hewitt will only play one of them at a time at the post position. The 6-foot-11 Miller is the likely starter after he spent a year learning from Favors and Lawal during his redshirt year. The 6-foot-8 Holsey, who was injured all last year, and the 6-foot-10 Hicks will most likely be asked to come off the bench when players get into foul trouble.

One major concern is how long it will take the players to adjust to the new offense. Unfortunately, some frontcourt players have already missed practice time recovering from injuries that could put them at a disadvantage.

Luckily the team will have a group of talented and experienced backcourt players to lean on early in the season.

38

25.5

8

120

Percentage of three-pointers made by Brian Oliver

Combined points by Lawal and Favors last season

Teams picked ahead of Tech in the ACC

Total assists by Iman Shumpert last season

Photo by Doug Kim / Student Publications

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sports@nique.net Sports Editor: Alex Mitchell

Tipping Off Get the lowdown on both of Tech’s basketball team’s upcoming seasons.422-23

Technique

24

Friday, November 5, 2010

Forward set Volleyball splits two road games to take over Jackets take down Demon Deacons 3-0, fall to Blue Devils low post

By Alex Sohani Contributing Writer

After a trip to the NCAA tournament in 2009, the Jackets are looking for another strong season in the ACC. Redshirt freshman Kammeon Holsey is coming off an injury to his knee last season and looking to make a big impact on the court. At 6-foot-8, he’s got both size and speed, and his versatility should impact the way the team plays both offense and defense.

The team is looking to play with a new look on offense. The perimeter should be the highlight of the season as both Head Coach Paul Hewitt and the players believe that the guards are knocking down a lot of shots while handling the ball off the dribble well.

“We’re looking to pass the ball at least three or four times. We’re looking for open shots. Coach wants us to screen really hard.

We can get easier shots and easier points by screening and going straight for the basket,” Holsey said.

In further discussion with Holsey, he reiterated that the team has some big goals in mind that start with the team getting more focused than last season. The other goals are to win the ACC championship this year, and to get to the NCAA tournament and win it. It’s going to be a tough task, especially replacing the talent lost after former Tech players Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors left for the NBA. “We’ve got to come in every day and work as hard as we can. I just have to try to give as much as I can for my team. I have to be a team player and play my role. I’m versatile, I can keep my size on the inside and defend, or move out on the wing to defend the guards,” Holsey said.

Holsey was a highly touted recruit coming into Tech, who redshirted the 2009 season. In the preseason Holsey was coming off a nagging knee injury, but the team seems encouraged by the progress he has made, along with several of the other younger players on the roster.

Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletic Department

Kammeon Holsey will be one of Tech’s post players after sitting out last season.

Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

Mary Ashley Tippins dives to dig the ball in a recent home game. Tippins led the Jackets in assists against Wake Forest and Duke with 77 in both games. Tippins had six digs and three blocks in the Jackets’ game versus the Blue Devils on the road.

By Wayne Bishop Contributing Writer

On Friday, Oct. 29 the team made its way to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face Wake Forest. Tech avenged its loss to the Demon Deacons from late September by sweeping the match 3-0. On Saturday, the Jackets then headed east to Durham where they lost 3-0 to the Blue Devils. The loss ended Tech’s five game road winning streak.

The Demon Deacons opened up Friday night’s game with a 6-2 lead in the first set.

The set would then switch leads continuously, being tied only at 8-8 and 15-15. Tech soon pulled away at 23-17. The Jackets called a time out before returning to the set and winning 25-20.

“We’ve been talking about coming out and setting the tone and putting the pressure on them early,” said Head Coach Tonya Johnson, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com.

In the second set, both teams had long point streaks at 10-3 each. Wake Forest was only able to come as close as 19-18 to taking the lead. The Jackets were able to make the match 2-0 by ending the set 25-21.

The third set showed strong fight from both teams. Tech began by leading the set 10-7, but Wake Forest fought back, making the set 13-11. A quick exchange of points led to Wake Forest leading at 23-20. Tech was able to fight back and win

Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

Jennifer Percy bumps the ball to a teammate. In her freshman season, Percy has 137 total kills and is hitting .224.

the set 26-24, forcing a sweep of the Demon Deacons.

Tech as a team hit .268 on the night, a key factor in the game compared to Wake Forest’s .149.

Junior outside hitter Bailey Hunter led the team in kills with a total of 13 along with four digs and three blocks. Senior libero Jordan McCullers led the team on digs however with a total of 13.

The Blue Devils began Saturday’s game with a 4-0 lead in the first set. This forced the Jackets to attempt the comeback. Tech could only come within five points of the lead

during the set, though never falling below seven points behind. Tech lost the set 25-19 only hitting .235 compared to Duke’s .333.

The Jackets came into the second and opened up with an 11-5 lead. Duke did not take this punishment long as they came back to tie the game at 13. The teams then tied up on the next several points before Duke took the lead at 22-19.

Tech fought back, however, and took a lead at 24-23. Unable to capitalize on the set point, Tech lost the set 26-24.

The Blue Devils now led the match at 2-0.

Repeating the opening from the previous set, Tech opened the third set with a 4-0 lead. Duke answered this by taking a 16-11 lead. Tech came back up to tie the score at 17.

Duke then made a four-point streak before fighting off Tech to win 25-23.

Tech came just shy of their hitting percentage of the night before, hitting only .252.

Hunter was able to match her numbers from the night before by leading the team with 13 kills on top of three digs. Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Woodson made eight kills while hitting an impressive .615.

Junior middle blocker Asia Stawicka had five total blocks, four kills and three digs, and sophomore outside hitter Susan Carlson supplied nine digs of Tech’s total of 51 for the match Career milestones were also made on the night. McCullers had 11 digs, which moved her into eighth place on the alltime Tech charts with 1336 in her career. Sophomore libero Nicki Meyer had a career-high eight digs as well.

Senior setter Mary Ashley Tippins led the offense on both nights with 77 assists in all. Junior middle blocker Asia Stawicka had 10 kills for the weekend as well.

Both games were the last in Duke and Wake Forest’s season series against Tech.

Tech will be hosting Florida State and Miami on Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, respectively.