Technique 2010-12-03

Technique Friday, December 3, 2010 • Volume 96, Issue 18 • nique.net

Nostalgic Nutcracker

The holiday classic returns to the Fox for the 51st year413

The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper

DegreeWorks tool launches

By Maddie Cook Contributing Writer

Tech is making an effort to simplify students’ registration efforts with a new online program, DegreeWorks. The Registrar’s office has recently decided to upgrade to a new program.

Under the same operating system as Banner and Buzzport, DegreeWorks is a program that aims to assist students and advisors in academic organization, academic performance and to plan future academic coursework. “[The Registrar is] really committed to improving the technology of our business

processes, practices and updating for the 21st century while staying in line with the strategic vision of Georgia Tech,” said Robert Simon, assistant registrar.

DegreeWorks is a webbased program that allows students and advisors to view all past, present and future coursework. Like degree checklists distributed by academic advisors, DegreeWorks plugs in a student’s specific coursework and allows the student see what is completed and what is not.

Based on a student’s program, he or she can also view how an additional major or minor will affect his or her

current schedule. Future installments to the program include a graduation planner and online petition degrees.

“I’ll definitely need it to keep track of classes. I’ve actually been needing something like this because I’m a co-op student. This program will help me decide what to take and when to take certain classes,” said Russell Ralston, third-year ME major.

By being able to plan out future coursework, DegreeWorks enables students to view the necessary classes and prerequisites for programs.

In Spring 2011, the Registrar plans to release other parts of the program like ad-

visor training and a curriculum planning assistant. Once all 36 programs agree to use the program, DegreeWorks will increase advertising and add links to its site on other Tech sites like BuzzPort.

Alabama and UGA are among several other universities who have this program for students.

“I think [DegreeWorks] is going to help the student-advisor relationship a lot. What the advisor sees is what the student sees,” Simon said.

One feature that the advisor and the student share is the notes feature. The feaSee DegreeWorks, page 5

bonjour France-Atlanta Tech unveils multifaceted international exchange

From Nov. 29 through Dec. 12, the Institute is cosponsoring “France-Atlanta 2010: Together Toward Innovation” in partnership with the Consulate General of France in Atlanta. This program features a series of 20 different events focused on the arts, business, science and humanitarian efforts. These events are taking place all around Atlanta, though Tech is hosting nine on campus.

Organized under the High Auspices of the Ambassador of France to the United States, Governor Sonny Purdue and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, this initiative was intended to unite American and French experts in various fields in order to facilitate

I would like to salute them.”

Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson also spoke at the occasion and made his enthusiasm for collaboration with the French delegation clear to all in attendance.

“The events of these next two weeks are about increasing awareness, building bridges, increasing collaboration and celebrating our cultures,” Peterson said.

The partnership between Tech and France began 20 years ago with the establishment of Georgia Tech Lorraine, Tech’s first international campus, located in Metz, France. Since its inception, more than 2500 graduate students have studied at the campus, and American and French scientists conduct ongoing joint research.

On June 15 of this year,

By Siddharth Gurnani Contributing Writer

Peterson traveled to the campus in Metz, France to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the GT Lorraine program, and it was established that a celebration in Atlanta would be appropriate as well.

“The Georgia Tech-Lorraine campus offers students from around the world the opportunity to take undergraduate and graduate courses taught in English by Georgia Tech faculty,” Peterson said.

Plans are also underway to expand Tech’s presence in the northeast region of France.

On Tuesday, Nov. 30, Tech officials and representatives from Lorraine signed a letter of intent to establish the Lafayette Institute, a new resource center for industry and academic research laboratoSee France, page 5

See Leach, page 3

Photos by Basheer Tome / Student Publications

an academic and cultural exchange of ideas.

According to Pascal LeDeunff, consul general of France in Atlanta, nearly one hundred prominent French figures have temporarily relocated to Atlanta in order to participate in this occasion.

“Many have crossed the Atlantic to join us in Atlanta for ‘France-Atlanta 2010’, including the vice-president of the Lorraine region, the vice-president of the Conseil général de la Moselle, the president of Metz Métropole, the mayor of Metz and a delegation from the City of Toulouse,” LeDeunff said at the opening ceremony, held on Monday, Nov. 29 at The World of Coke. “They came to Atlanta with top scientists, business leaders, artists and NGO leaders. Tonight,

Photo courtesy of Communication and Marketing

W. Marshall Leach, Jr., ECE professor, passed away on Saturday, Nov. 20 at the age of 70. He received his PhD in EE from Tech in 1972 and became a professor in the ECE department that year. He was a four time recipient of the Richard and Bass Eta Kappa Nu award for outstanding teacher in ECE, the most by any ECE professor.

Leach primarily taught electromagnetics, microsystems and electronic design. He was also the advisor for Tech’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) student branch between 1972-82 and 2003-06.

During his tenure he taught hundreds of students and sponsored numerous team projects.

He was continuously consulted and contacted about construction plans for amplifiers and speakers he designed and constructed.

His death came as a shock to the ECE department.

“He had been treated for congestive heart problems for five years but was absolutely fine the Wednesday before his death. He called me Thursday night complaining of pain, and I took him to the emergency room Friday morning.

That was the last time I had a conversation with him,” said Thomas Brewer, ECE lab director.

Brewer was a close associate and friend of Leach’s. Both arrived to Tech at the same time 40 years ago.

“I saw him for five-six days a week over 40 years, so it’s going to be a big vacancy in my life,” Brewer said.

He was respected by professors, students, faculty and administration alike. His students characterized Leach as an approachable professor with a passion for teaching.

“His overall goal was to teach. It didn’t matter if his final was coming up. You knew he was going to be fair. People loved his classes. He even made the difficult classes nice,” said James Steinberg, ECE electronics engineer.

Steinberg couldn’t recall any bad reviews of Leach during his nine years at Tech.

“Marshall was the consummate educator [and] one of the best teachers that we had,” said Gary May, Chair of the School of ECE. There has been an outpouring of grievances from former students on Leach’s website. Former students remember Leach as a professor who was always willing to sit down and talk with students, sometimes for hours.

“As long as a student needed help, [Leach] would sit with him,” May said.

Above: Jean-Yves Le Deaut, 1st Vice-President of the Regional Council of Lorraine speaks about the Lafayette Institute.

Left: President Peterson discusses newly founded Lafayette Institute. Right: Conference leaders take notes.

By Emily Cardin Contributing Writer

Longtime professor passes away

NEWS

2 • December 3, 2010 • Technique

Technique

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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...

Alpha Betas

Campus Crime

By Matt Schrichte Assitant News Editor Cold Streak

At 6:00 a.m. on Nov. 20, a pack of naked males was spotted running near the Fourth Street sidewalk. The pack quickly fled into the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity House after spotting the reporting officer.

The “Initiation Officer” of the fraternity house later stated that the streakers had completed their initiation and volunteered to streak around the area. The issue was given to the Dean of Students’ Office for further consideration.

Down Hemphill

A student was found intoxicated while driving with alcoholic beverages and marijuana at 1:50 a.m. on Nov. 21.

He was pulled over while performing an improper turn at the intersection of Hemphill Avenue and Ethel Street.

At first, he stated he had one drink prior to driving, but later changed his story to consuming two to three drinks along with possessing an improvised marijuana pipe. He was also not wearing required contacts while driving.

The student then failed several sobriety tests, including an eye test and multiple walking tests.

He refused to take a Breathalyzer test, saying “I told you already that I had two or three beers so there’s no point.” He was transported to Fulton County jail.

At 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 20, an intoxicated male was found passed out behind the Beta Theta Pi faternity house.

The underage male became conscious and had blood on his face. He claimed that three males had assaulted him without reason or provocation.

Members of Beta Theta Pi stated that the male had attempted to break-in to their party through a side window. After being asked to leave, he proceeded to punch one of the members through the window.

The brothers then asked him to leave several times after which he hit another member in the face. The male was then placed in a headlock and escorted off the premises.

At this point, unknown members of the house proceeded to hit him several times. The man was issued an arrest warning and escorted to Grady for medical treatment.

POLL OF THE WEEK

What is your opinion of the Student-Faculty expectations agreement?

22% 29% It could work, but it needs some work

I’m happy that an agreement is in place.

18%

It lacks the necessary depth to make it useful

31%

Next issue’s question:

What do you want to see on JacketPages?

Tell us at nique.net

What happened to the Bill of Rights Based on 45 responses

sliver

www.nique.net

If u(sic)ga is the cesspool of the south then what is the cesspool of the north???

While you all were at the premiere of HP, I was at the Pink Pony.

You decide which was more fun. running girl, i picture you as an arrogent jerk who isn’t as hot as you think you are.

Person who was playing “Melodies of Life” on piano in the Couch building - you made my day!

I know where everything light goes I threw up all over myself while driving because my girlfriend didn’t understand what, “I think I’m going to throw up” means Water fountain kegs? Genious.

GT Parking & Transporation is stealing our money every game day!

I think I’m going to have to live in the library until the end of finals week :( i hate people Why? Some rich mathematician threatened him. to the bio major coping with zombies: they teach engineers to to propagate them via matlab/java sims.

Why is the wireless on my plane faster than the wireless in Woodruff? here’s my summary of gt dining: brittain sucks! wodruff sucks!

I should write a Python code that writes this essay for me... we need more diversity here. bring in more caucasians!

Two beavers are better than one. They’re twice the fun, ask anyone. A second beaver is second to none - himym My cousin just got into Tech. Should I still encourage her to come here?

Tech should buy happiness for their students... We all know they have the money to do so Does anyone else think Professor Jacobs is a badass... He’s the Chuck Norris of Engineering!!! Props i know you’re avoiding me omg how can these freshmen be so cute damn Girl at the flag building: see you again next Monday at noon?.

To the guy reading Super Effective in Calc. III, you’re awesome lots of kumars here, but no harolds. lame.

If the only jokes I do are puns, does it make me a pun-dit?

Home is the place I yearn to belong.

I thought I was in love once, then I realized it was gas.

Everytime you go away you take a piece of me with you.

Domo arigato Mr. Roboto

Save a tree! Read us online!

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tech n iq e u all we’re missing is

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pizza meetings on tuesdays 7 p.m., flag building, room137

NEWS

Leach

Council Clippings

from page 1

Outside of Tech, Leach was regarded as an international authority in the fields of electromagnetics and audio engineering.

“He got inquiries from around the world on some of the stuff he built years ago,” Brewer said. He conducted most of his research in speaker and audio amplifier design.

“His legacy was left through his classes. For the students who are coming in, it wouldn’t hurt to have a permanent remembrance so that every now and then some one will ask who that was,” said Allen Robinson, Leach’s last PhD student. “I took everything he ever taught. He had an infinite amount of patience and absolute willingness to help.”

Leach’s passing creates a gap in the ECE curriculum. He was the only professor who taught low noise electronics.

“We’ll have to find other faculty members who can pick up the courses that he taught like audio engineering and operational amplifier design,” May said.

The ECE department is still determining what will happen with all of his current semester’s classes. The lab professor for this semester’s low-noise electronics lab is going to take over the entire class.

Born in Abbeville South Carolina in 1940, he got his B.S. (1962) and M.S. (1964) in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Carolina.

A memorial service for Leach will be held on campus on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, Room 1116.

Technique • December 3, 2010 • 3

This week in Student Government

Bill Summary

By Mike Donohue, SGA Editor

E

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.

Hospital Connection

UHR and GSS failed to pass a bill funding Georgia Tech Student Hospital Connections during their Nov. 23 meetings. UHR passed the bill 34-10-0, but GSS failed it 8-21-2 preventing the bill from meeting the required enactment ration.

This bill asked for $516.82 to pay for Zip-Cars to transport students to two service projects per week for eight weeks. Previously, JFC policy prohibited funding for any travel to locations closer than 150 miles. This changed when GSS and UHR amended the policy to allow for service organizations to apply for funding if the travel is recurring and happens over a period of 10 weeks. However, because the funding was only for eight weeks, the bill did not meet policy.

Also Senators debated whether the service projects counted as professional development activities, something they believed violated JFC policy. However, in a clarification released on Nov. 30, Graduate Executive Vice President Kathy Schnure said that professional development activities are only prohibited for non-Tech students.

Also, several Senators expressed concern over the way Hospital Connections had spent their

Attn: Student Organizations

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budget, in particular over the fact that half of the organization’s dues had been spent on T-shirts.

In UHR, several representatives raised concerns over the ambiguity of the line items which only asked for transportation.

They also raised the option of using MARTA or another lowerpriced alternative.

Many other representatives spoke in support of the bill, however, pointing out that it is an ideal use of the amended JFC policy, despite being in technical violation of the policy. In contrast to GSS, the undergraduates welcomed the organization’s potential to encourage the professional development of its members.

Because of the wide margin by which GSS failed the bill, UHR needed 36 votes to pass the bill, two more votes of support than the bill eventually received.

JacketPages

Graduate Student Body President Anthony Baldridge announced a new initative to reevalute the use of JacketPages for bill submissions to SGA on Nov. 30.

First brought up in a meeting between members of the graduate executive branch and new Senators, this ad-hoc committee will seek to decide whether to continue to use JacketPages and explore al-

Bill

Amount

GSS

UHR

TERMIS Registration Wrestling Club Men’s LAX GT Day at the Capitol

$200 $1,647 $1,733 $486

24-1-1 22-4-0 25-2-1 25-2-1

39-2-1 40-0-1 40-0-2 37-3-1

Prior Year: $150,180.96 Capital Outlay: $507,637

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.

ternatives such as a student design competition for a replacement.

JacketPages was first implemented in the spring of 2009 as a platform for organization funding requests and as a method to facilitate communication between SGA, Student Involvement and various organization presidents members.

Tech paid $20,000 to develop the platform and pays $10,000 each year to maintain the site.

SGA sends BME to conference

Both UHR and GSS approved a bill on Nov. 30 providing $200 to Olivia Burnsed, third year BME, to attend TERMIS, a conference focusing on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

While GSS has a dedicated fund to provide conference monies, the undergraduates do not have a similar fund. CHEM & BCHEM Sen. Aaron Washington, also the Director of the Grad-

uate Conference fund, expressed regret that there was no dedicated mechansim for undergraduates like Burnsed to recieve funds and spoke in strong support of the bill.

GSS and UHR passed the bill by large margins, 24-1-1 and 392-1, respectively.

GT Day at the Capitol

Undergraduate Director of Academic Affairs Elle Creel and Student Lobby Board Chair Kristen Grieg submitted a bill on Nov. 30 to provide funding for the GT Day at the Captiol to be held in January. The bill requested $486 to pay for transportation and a Technique ad.

The transportation portion of the bill did not meet JFC policy, but for the third time this year, both UHR and GSS voted to waive policy and fund the bill regardless. Like the GT Night at the High and Six Flags Night, students will be transported across town via Stinger.

NEWS

France

from page 1

ries. The agreement was signed at the “Investing in France-Focus on the Lorraine” event, held at Tech in the Wardlaw Center.

This new $30-million facility will facilitate the commercialization of innovations in optoelectronics, a branch of physics that deals with the interactions between light and electric fields.

This includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, Xrays, ultraviolet and infrared as well as visible light.

“By providing our industrial partners and academic research laboratories access to state-of-theart facilities, we will be creating an environment where solutions to global challenges, ranging from energy to medical technology, can be developed,” Peterson said.

“This Institute also underscores Georgia Tech’s commitment to expand our global partnerships.”

The institute will provide ac-

cess to state-of-the-art nanofabrication facilities and will focus on technologies at the intersection of materials, optics, photonics, electronics and nanotechnology.

French authorities will finance the costs of this groundbreaking facility, which will amount to around 23 million Euros, or $31 million.

“This European innovation hub will strengthen Georgia’s global footprint in technological innovation and serve as a link between research laboratories and industry, where technological solutions and prototypes can be developed rapidly to stimulate economic development,” said Yves Berthelot, president of Georgia Tech-Lorraine.

Tech is hosting numerous other events for the “FranceAtlanta 2010: Together Toward Innovation” occasion, including the humanitarian presentation “Bringing Awareness to Haiti Aid Relief,” which will be held in the Student Center on Dec. 6.

News Briefs Nobel objection

Photo by Dean Liao / Student Publications

Philippe Yvergniaux, president of Invest in France Agency, speaks at the France-Atlanta Investing in France session at Tech.

Screenshot by Jarrett Skov / Student Publications

The DegreeWorks program will guide students on what classes they can take in the upcoming semesters. One of its features will be to allow for notes to be saved between advisors and students.

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Technique • December 3, 2010 • 5

On November 17, Tech Physics Professor Walter De Heer wrote a letter to the Nobel Prize office in Stockholm. DeHeer wrote to the office noting that there were mistakes in the scientific background document of the research of 2010 Nobel Prize Winners in physics.

Winners Andre Geim and Konstatin Novoselov of Manchester University, U.K. were awarded for their research on graphene, a carbon structure that has potential in the electronics field.

De Heer is a well-known physicist who has also completed extensive research on graphene. The Nobel Prize physics committee has responded to De Heer’s letter by making a change to the online information regarding this prize.

DegreeWorks from page 1

Tech to offer new supply chain degree

ture allows the advisor to record thoughts on a student’s course decisions or other academic decisions. It is also a feature that the student has access to and can add his or her own notes.

The program is in its beginning stages and will gradually add on new features throughout the next several semesters.

Currently, 27 of the 36 campus departments at Tech have agreed to implement the program into their department. The students and advisors within these 27 departments can now use the new online program.

Several different organizations, including the Board of Regents and SGA, are footing the initial costs for the program. Tech’s Athletic Association has contributed as well. Usage of the program will be free to all students and advisors.

Tech has unveiled a new Master of Science Program in Supply Chain Engineering, commencing on Aug. 2011. Tech has already developed multiple degrees relating to logistics but this new degree will allow for a specific focus on designing logistical processes.

Unlike other programs that prepare students to be managers, this program is designed to provide a more engineer-oriented focus on designing supply chain networks.

It will also address the increasing complexity found in information systems and data supplychains.

The courses will feature lectures from supply chain experts in industry and give students the chance to work with different companies to gain practical skills.

It is set to have 40 to 50 students in its first year.

Opinions

Opinions Editor: Matt Hoffman Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

—Thomas A. Edison

“ ”

OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

JacketPages: exit stage right

System needs replacement with a more apt option

The JacketPages site in its current form fails to fulfill intended tasks, delivers little in comparison to the cost associated and should be replaced by a system developed from within the Tech community. When adopted a few years ago, JacketPages was supposed to be a social networking tool for student organizations to link them with potential new members and an easy bill-submission system. Unfortunately, neither has come to fruition as the system lacks wide-spread campus use and many aspects, especially the important SGA bill submission feature, are over-complicated.

The few organizations that have truly used the system in any meaningful way have likely done so out of necessity to submit a budget or to get funding, not for convenience or usability reasons.

JacketPages also drains five-figure funds from the budget every year and delivers little for the cost. Many of the social aspects the program attempts to accommodate can be fulfilled for free

on other social networking sites such as Facebook. A simple website that lists campus organizations and links people to their sites would be just as effective as JacketPages and would come with far less cost. Since many organization are already on such social networking websites or maintain their own sites, most people on campus would not notice if the system was discontinued.

A new system with more limited use, mainly for SGA bill submission, could be easily developed on campus through an open completion with a financial reward for the winner. Tech has tons of talent in waiting, and failing to put them to use is a simple waste of resources. Such a site developed in house could also be maintained more efficiently and more economically using student employees to simply watch over the code and address issues as needed. Outsourcing such a task to a third party only undermines Tech’s purpose of developing future innovators.

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 Rose Peng

Technique

6

Friday, December 3, 2010

Come out, stand up, break the silence “To stand in silence makes cowards out of men.”

—Abraham Lincoln Corey T. Boone Undergraduate Student Body President

President Lincoln said it best when he etched these words.

While the context is vastly different now, they ring particularly true today. In Oct., a bright young man at Rutgers University took his life because of two hate-filled, negligent, ill-mannered peers who invaded his privacy and broadcasted to the world that he was G-A-Y. The thought of the world knowing his secret was too much for him to handle. Now an entire nation mourns his loss, and a student body sits wondering what could have been done to prevent a vibrant, talented young man from ending his own life.

Unfortunately, this young man’s story is not unique. According to the Human Rights Campaign, “gay men are six times more likely to commit suicide than their straight counterparts.” This Oct. alone, there were five cases in which young men took their lives because they were ridiculed for being different. One person is too many; two is astonishing, but five is an abomination. With that said, the part that is most concerning is that this incident could easily have happened anywhere, especially Tech. In the weeks after these unfortunate incidents, I was asked, “Corey, what is Tech going to do about this?” My response was simple, “Turning a blind eye and not speaking out is unacceptable.”

After all, silence makes cowards out of men.

In response to the unfortunate events plaguing the LGBT community, SGA is hosting the first-ever Tech United event. Tech United is an initiative developed

by SGA’s Vice President of Campus Affairs, Kaitlyn Whiteside.

The first of what we hope to be a series of events, Tech United aims to engage the campus in an open dialogue surrounding issues that have not typically been at the forefront of campus discussion and shed light on many issues in the LGBT community that some may be unaware of.

On Dec. 9, the conversation will revolve around LGBT issues on our campus, and we will host one of Tech’s most illustrious alums, Alex Wan. While this event is a phenomenal step in the right direction, the discussion cannot end here. In fact, it is only the beginning. The movement starts with events like this. It ends when every facet of this campus from the student organizations to the Alumni Association recognize that our LGBT community deserves to have an equal seat at the table.

To ensure that nothing like a “Rutger’s Incident” happens on

Write to us:

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Tech’s campus, we the Tech Community, must stand up and break the long silence. We must come out as allies for our fellow LGBT Jackets. According to the Berkley Center for Gender Equity, “… an ally is someone who supports members of a community other than his or her own.”

Becoming an ally does not mean renouncing one’s faith or turning one’s back on legitimately held beliefs. It simply means breaking the silence and showing support for a community that you do not belong to.

If you are reading this column, you have indeed come in contact with someone who is a part of the LGBT community—whether you are aware of it or not. Now, ask yourself, “Would this person feel comfortable sharing this portion of his or her life with me?” If not, it is time for you to “come out” as an ally.

Imagine if someone at Rutgers, in Cal., in Ind., or in Texas had “come out”. If someone had broken the silence, five families would enter the holiday season with lighter hearts. Five campuses would end the semester with a reason to celebrate. The men and women who remained silent and allowed tragedy to befall the five young men mentioned above are cowards as defined by President Lincoln. In my opinion, they showcase the epitome of cowardice.

Nearly three months after these unfortunate tragedies, break its silence. At 7 p.m. in the LeCraw auditorium on Dec. 9, we have an opportunity to show our LGBT community that it indeed gets better and that we are here to support them.

Administration, Alumni Association, faculty, staff and students this is my official “coming out”.

I challenge each of you to follow suit.

OPINIONS

Technique • December 3, 2010 • 7

Lack of women at Tech more than joke The Ratio. TBS. “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.”

These three phrases encompass a huge portion of the culture at Tech. The male to female ratio at Tech has been the butt end of a number of jokes for as long as women were even allowed in universities. It also goes without saying that in this day and age, Tech is still one of the few top tier public universities where the students can count the number of classes they’ve had with an equal distribution of males and females with only one hand.

This year’s freshman class, however, has shown female enrollment at its highest in history, with a 36 percent to 64 percent female to male ratio. Yet the numbers neglect to paint a full picture of the academic demographics in the freshman class.

While growth may be occurring, it is only happening within one sector of the institute. The number of female engineering and computing students has been growing at a snail’s pace. Comparatively, the Colleges of Architecture, Liberal Arts and Sciences all have seen much larger increases in their percentages of female enrollment. In particular, the percentage of undergraduate females in the College of Engineering has only fluctuated by an approximately positive 0.7 percent by each class year (going from seniors to freshmen). The College of

“Just because something is a ‘girl problem’ does not mean the weight of fixing should be doled on the...minority”

Vivian Fan Managing Editor Computing has even demonstrated a decrease of enrolled undergraduate females by 0.6 percent. As well, both sets of numbers demonstrate incredibly low standard deviations (fractional at best). This only goes to underline that female presence in these disciplines are at a stand still with no inclination of going up or down by any large means.

This begs the question, if female enrollment at Tech has been on a positive trend, then why can’t the same be said of the Colleges of Engineering and Computing?

Lack of female engineers and scientists is not just a problem that plagues Tech, but instead one reflected across the nation as a whole. In 2003, the National Science Foundation reported that only 11 percent of the engineering work force was female. Not to mention that there is a general idea of a gender gap between disciplines. As past studies have shown, engineering and the sciences are for boys, and liberal arts are for girls.

Even the film The Social Network, which details the

development of Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg, exemplifies the lack of female presence of the industries of engineering, computing and the sciences. In one scene that hits almost too close to home, Zuckerberg and his partner Eduardo Saverin plot to expand their creation. When their female “groupies” ask if they can contribute, they are met with a simple, “No.” Thus, the point was made. Innovation is a boy’s club.

This is not to say that the Tech administration, faculty or student body purposely acts this way concerning women in the sciences. With organizations such as the Women’s Recruitment Board and the Society of Women Engineers, I was even skeptical on whether or not discrimination in engineering existed. However, it was not until I entered the workplace when a coworker stated outright that my being “young and a woman” would “work against [me]” that I realized the gender gap was indeed a problem.

The solution may lie in parties outside of women’s recruit-

ment organizations. There needs to be a general attitude change from the administration, faculty and male student professional/academic organizations. After all, how often does one hear a male student complaining about the Ratio, and how often does one hear about a male professional student organization actually working with female professional organizations in a truly collaborative setting? More so, according to the Georgia Tech 2007 Fact Book, only approximately 14 percent of Tech engineering faculty is female.

The institute’s faculty and administration should push themselves to find, reward and maintain relations with female faculty. Encouraging more apt and qualified female professors and researchers can be the first step in creating a positive environment for upand-coming female engineers.

As well, male students can make an effort in cultivating that positive environment in more than just a social setting but a professional setting as well.

Rather than observing and commenting that Tech has a “girl problem”, perhaps a little more effort and consideration from male students, the administration and faculty is necessary. Just because something is a “girl problem” does not mean the weight of fixing it should be doled on the targeted minority.

Open grading process would relieve stress You hear it every semester, the tone of voice depending entirely on who you’re hearing it from. Whether it’s in the panicked confusion of a doe-eyed freshman, the stressed tone of sophomores worrying what number they’ll be putting on their resumes when applying for internships, or the gruff resignation of upperclassmen wondering if they’ll have to retake a class again, everyone’s said it: “I don’t have a clue how I’m doing in that class.”

Tech professors grade on curves. It’s just a fact as inescapable as gravity, magnetism, and the lateness of blue route buses. We’ve all had a test or two where we’ve celebrated the fact that we scored in the double digits. We’ve all had that test where the professor walks in and says, “I don’t understand why the grades are so low; I thought it was easy.”

And we’ve all experienced the joy of explaining to parents how we’re not failing out despite the stack of sub-sixty scores on our desks.

Honestly: I don’t mind this. It lets professors correct for tests they misgauged the difficulty, and leaves room for the top one percent to learn as much as they want without trashing everyone else’s grades.

It’s easier on the grading staff, makes for more consistent grading over the years, etc, etc.

Basically, there’s a lot of reasons why curving is useful.

So why are people always com-

he was assigning grades?

Take one of my classes this semester. The professor breaks down test scores point-bypoint into what letter grade it will translate to. I know I’ve got a low A on one test, and a B on the other. ThroughChris Russell mid out the semester, I know how Online Editor I’ve been doing, how much I needed to study for the next test, and how much time to need it. So, what do we do? spend on the homework. I We cut back on sleep, start know what I need to get on the guzzling caffeine and lock final for an A, what I need to ourselves away in our study get for a B, and what happens area of choice, not really sure if I bomb it spectacularly. No what needs work and what is muss, no fuss and no stress.

The administration is alperfectly fine as-is. Stress rises, sleep goes out the window, ways trying to come up with and all that fun people say we new ways to make us happier, should be having in college but at the end of the day, that’s going to depend on how much dries up and floats away.

In a nutshell, so long as the time we have to do things we grading process is transparent enjoy and how much time enough that we can say “I have we’re spending stressed about a mid B” or “I have a low A,” classes. If we actually know there’s not a problem. Profes- how we’re doing in classes, we sors get to curve, we get to can spend less time on the latsleep, and everyone gets to go ter and better plan our time to maximize the former. home happy.

Obviously this wouldn’t But it’s typically not that easy. Typically, you’ll get a stop students from griping enmean and standard deviation, tirely, but it would certainly and are lucky to get that. In a cut down on it if the adminperfect world, where everyone istration encouraged profesgraded on a bell curve, this sors to share this information. would be fine. You’d look up Compared to all the effort that the professor’s past classes, do goes into programs aimed at a bit of math, press the button making Tech students hapon your calculator, and you’ve pier, making sure students got your grade. But what if the understand how they’re doing syllabus changed? Or you have requires very little effort for a new professor? Or if your how much it would affect our professor had a bad day when quality of life.

“In a nutshell, so long as the grading process is transparent... there is not a problem.”

plaining about the curve?

My guess is that students don’t mind the curve, they mind when they don’t know the curve. You never hear someone complaining about having a B in a class where they got a 56. You do hear people complaining about working day and night all semester long to bring up their 56, only to find out it’s a B at the end of the semester. Then the complaining starts.

In other words, it’s the uncertainty that drives us up the wall. We don’t mind getting a good grade for a bad average, so long as we know what to expect. If we’re expecting a B and we actually have a B, great. If we’re expecting an F and actually have a B, we’re going to spend hours frantically cramming, trying to improve a grade that is just fine.

So what’s the problem? We spend a bit more time than we need to on a class. Big deal.

Problem is, every hour we spend on that class is an hour we don’t spend studying for another class that really does

BUZZ

Around Campus

What are you doing over the break?

Bin Bin Chen Second-year BME

“Going home to China and spending time with my family”

Joe Rienzi Second-year ME

“Having a nice break and preparing myself for spring break.”

Jameil Bailey Second-year ECE

“Enjoying the weather of Florida and catching up on MMO’s.”

Megan Hays Third-year STAC

“Snowboarding.”

Photos by Benny Lee

OPINIONS

8 • December 3, 2010 • Technique

OUR VIEWS Hot or Not

HOT– or –NOT Free harmony

The Tech mixed a cappella group Infinite Harmony is giving away free tickets to its performance by distributing them in parking ticket envelopes and placing them on cars. While this method may infuriate some people, it is sure to get the group some attention. Their last performance is tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Center Theater. Tickets at the door are seven dollars.

Stand united

Tech United signifies a major leap for the campus community as it addresses issues that often are disregarded or overlooked. This is a chance for members of the Tech campus to show solidarity with the LGBT community. The recent tragic events across the country underscore the need to support all members of our campus and to stand united against harassment.

Construct, obstruct

For those on campus who enjoy walking up and down Skiles Walkway and receiving leaflets for events that few to nobody will ever attend: you should get your fix over the next two weeks because Skiles will be closed upon the return from break. The other random construction sites popping up around campus like pimples in a middle school are also quite tedious and annoying.

Downed by dogs

The unfortunate outcome of the football game in Athens on Saturday leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of Tech fans at the end of this tough football season. While the team played valiantly and coaching staff out witted their UGA counterparts, ultimately injuries and season-long infirmities in certain units proved to be the undoing for the Jackets in their regular season finale.

SGA continues to balance needs of students against available funds

In today’s times, one would be hard pressed to find a situation where fiscal responsibility isn’t one of the main points discussed.

Entities ranging from business to government to academia are feeling the pinch of a lagging economy and are faced with difficult decisions on what to cut and what to maintain to ensure their respective operations are able to survive. This effect has made its way to SGA where we are faced with these same issues and elected and charged to make some of these same decisions.

Recently, to address fiscal responsibility across all aspects of our governance, I established an ad-hoc committee chaired by the Graduate Vice President of Internal Affairs Michael Ellis to examine various aspects of our fiscal nature and to look into ways that both graduate and undergraduate SGA can exhibit the highest levels of fiscal responsibility. This committee will consist of various members of GSS and UHR along with any member of the student body who would like to participate.

Simply put, SGA is a massive operation with a budget of $4.8 million, coming from the collection of the Student Activity Fee, which is allocated to over 300 different student organizations, campus facilities and campus initiatives throughout any given year.

Recently in some research for a separate topic, I looked through the operations of how other SGAs within the University System of Georgia work and much to my surprise other SGAs have much less control concerning how their fees are allocated and work with significantly smaller budgets, of-

“The marks left from these economic times and the atmosphere of cutting...will dictate how we as a society.”

Anthony Baldridge

Graduate Student Body President ten times not being able to deliver the same student experience that we have at Tech. From this, having the student body entrust SGA with the allocation of the Student Activity Fee is a major responsibility and one that every member within SGA takes seriously and with honor.

Within all of this, questions often arise from SGA and student body members including: “Where does my money go?”, “Should we fund this allocation?” or “Will we run out of money before the end of the year?”. These questions lie at the heart of the reason as to why the ad-hoc committee was created and for that matter lie at the heart of any debate concerning the spending of public money.

The motivation establishing this new push within SGA has always existed yet in the past has not been the center issue in almost every debate. These sentiments and this motivation are not surprising since they are the same core issues that face the nation on an everyday occurrence.

What cannot happen is a situation where the idea of saving money dominates the debate while valuable programs, ideas and initiatives that may need generous support might fall to the wayside thus jeopardizing the optimal student experience that we strive to create.

As the SGA legislative session continues, one of the most challenging tasks, as has been a challenge for SGAs of the past, will be to determine when we put resources behind something regardless of the size of the request. The delicate balance of being fiscally conservative while at the same time exercising some liberalism in funding campus activities is difficult to achieve and will prove to be a mighty task for all of SGA. From all of the issues presented, the purpose of this committee will not be a catch-all to fix every problem or to answer the limited questions posed earlier but rather will act as a step in the right direction and will bring the importance of fiscal responsibility to center stage.

One of the greatest things SGA owes to student body is determining the answers and practical solutions to the fiscal questions posed and applying them to our everyday operations. The marks left from these economic times and the atmosphere of cutting and conserving will dictate how we as a society function. SGA must find a balance between conserving enough while at the same time funding important initiatives for the benefit of the community thus continuing to make Tech a great place to be.

technique

making friday lectures more interesting

Focus

focus@nique.net Focus Editor: Kamna Bohra

Technique @georgepburdell: Q: Did you hear about the University of Georgia fan who locked his keys in his car? A: He couldn’t get his family out. #thwg

9

Friday, December 3, 2010

Peterson schedules visit to Antarctica for USAP

By Kamna Bohra Focus Editor

In a barren icy land at 50 degrees below zero with black speckles of penguins and white dots of polar bears, scientists can step away from the rush of labs and conduct their research in peace.

One can hardly imagine that this land is on the same planet as the lush vegetation of the jungles in South America or the vehiclefilled roads of the urban cities in Europe.

However, Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson will see this flipside to the lifestyles of other continents, as he travels to Antarctica on Dec. 4 to review several research projects being conducted under the United States Antarctica Program.

As a member of the National Science Board (NSB), Peterson received a recommendation for the trip from NSB chairman Ray Bowen. Along with a limited number of government officials, Peterson will visit the McMurdo Station and the Admunsen-Scott South Pole Station to review the ongoing research endeavors in such environmental topics as earth sciences, astrophysics, ecosystems and glaciology.

“There will be discussions about the research currently going on [in Antarctica] and how the research that’s being done there is of value to the scientific community,” Peterson said.

The projects Peterson will eval-

uate fall under the United States Antarctica Program (USAP), which is, in turn, under the umbrella of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Including over 3000 Americans, USAP has scientists from global universities and research institutions engaging in yearround, collaborative work in Antarctica.

These scientists focus on understanding the characteristics of Antarctica’s ecosystems and how they will affect the rest of the planet in the case of climate change.

Researchers also use the South Pole as a foundation for their studies of the upper atmosphere.

Research projects include analyses of the hole in the ozone layer, upper atmospheric conditions and stratospheric chemistry. Scientists also specifically conduct studies on the ionosphere and the magnetosphere.

In addition to tours of the science and technology facilities, Peterson will take a helicopter tour of the Dry Valleys and will also visit local field projects and historical huts.

While Peterson recognizes the importance of the projects already being conducted in earth and atmospheric sciences, he also believes studies should be carried out in other non-geographic research areas, such as supply chain and logistics.

Peterson cited medical attention and transportation as a few

of the necessary research areas to allow other research to continue in Antarctica.

In discussing and evaluating the projects, Peterson must distinguish between the research goals of the U.S. and the Institute, as he is a representative of the NSF. “I’m going down as a representative-at-large, not just a representative of Georgia Tech…[but]…a lot of the things that people do [at Tech] utilize some of the information that’s developed [in Antarctica],” Peterson said.

Beyond the man made research projects, the natural world of Antarctica includes over 9000 feet of mountainous elevation, hundreds of glaciers, thousands of creatures and subzero temperatures, even in the current summer season.

The living conditions are not ideal either.

“The McMurdo Station is not really like a hotel; it’s more like a dormitory. The living conditions are a little tough. The temperature ranges from 20 to 50 below at the South Pole, [so] when we fly into McMurdo Station, they’ll provide complete outfits,” Peterson said.

Peterson had to take a com-

plete physical and stress test before receiving clearance to travel to the South Pole.

However, while he is analyzing the research projects in Antarctica, Peterson will continue to remember the research programs in Atlanta at Tech.

“I’m going to take a Georgia Tech flag and fly it in the South Pole,” Peterson said.

Vaden plans to patent, commercialize invention

By Chris Russell Online Editor

At last year’s InVenture Prize competition, Sarah Vaden, a third-year AE major, took the second prize for her invention: the Pneumatically Elevated Pitch (PEP) Pedal. Though the competition’s over, the invention process is still rolling as Vaden starts to wrap up the paperwork and look toward releasing a working prototype to the market.

The PEP Pedal is a foot-powered pump that used pneumatics to change the pitch of a drum by changing its internal pressure.

“It’s a way for drummers to change the pitch of their drums while they’re playing. It lets them take a five-piece drum kit and make it sound like a 12 or 13 piece kit,” Vaden said.

Vaden, an avid drummer herself, said money is not as important to her as shifting the role of drums in music.

“My main goal isn’t to sell hundreds of thousands of units so much as to change the way music is played,” Vaden said.

Since the competition last semester, Vaden’s product has changed dramatically. Originally designed as a pedal in which the user manually pumps air into the drum, Vaden hopes the final product will have more of a digital

Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech Communications and Marketing

After taking second place in the InVenture Prize Competition last year, Sarah Vaden plans to use the patent she won to commercialize her invention, the Pneumatically Elevated Pitch (PEP) Pedal. component.

“My earlier prototype—the one I won at InVenture with— was all mechanical. It was a pushpedal/pump system. I’m trying to make that more digital and make the playing experience easier. I want to let people dial in how they want to play,” Vaden said.

According to Vaden, even with a new largely-digital interface, a foot-pedal element will still almost certainly be involved, since it will be the kind of control drummers are used to.

Despite this, Vaden said her final product will likely be much different from what viewers saw at

the InVenture finals.

“The design has changed, but the prototype isn’t there yet.

I’m trying to make it look like something someone would actually buy. My prototype was really rough. Really, it was just a proof of concept,” Vaden said.

As for a deadline, Vaden hopes

to have a prototype ready to display for a convention in Jan. “I’m hoping to be ready in time to take it to the NAMM show. It’s a big trade convention where all the big companies, like Yamaha and Pearl, and a lot of big musicians come. It’s a good place to get out there, explore and hopefully get picked up by one of the companies,” Vaden said.

Since InVenture, in addition to working on the digital redesign, Vaden has been wading through the patent application process in order to protect her rights to her intellectual property.

According to Vaden, the real work came after InVenture. “[The patent process] has definitely been the most difficult part of the process. InVenture wasn’t so hard in comparison. I got my patent application done about three or four weeks into the semester, and since then it’s been a lot of trying to get the computer work done. Right now, we’re in the drafting stage and are trying to find a reasonably priced prototyper in the US,” Vaden said.

Vaden said that being “an engineer by day, musician by night,” in addition to planning her upcoming wedding has been a tricky balancing act.

Vaden interned at Boeing in See Vaden, page 11

FOCUS

Technique • December 3, 2010 • 11

Essen shares adventures in nature

By Divya Varahabhatla Contributing Writer

Many people gathered in the Student Center Ballroom to listen in on Marty Essen’s “Around the World in 90 Minutes” lecture, hosted by the Student Center Programs Council (SCPC).

Essen’s Lecture was full of stories about his adventures trekking through the globe.

Essen, a self-taught photographer, decided to go backpacking with his wife and ended up loving the occupation so much that he kept returning.

Eventually, he decided to collect all his experiences in a book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents.

The lecture was accompanied

by Essen’s colorful photography slide which showcased a myriad of beautifully shot photos of animals and wildlife from all over the world.

“Get down and appreciate the little things,” Essen said as advice for travelers.

He showed the audience pictures of creatures from his travels, including a little poison dart frog.

He recounted his firsthand tales of facing caimans, lace monitors, which are a kind of lizard he encountered in Australia, wolves in Canada and glaciers in North America. “[It was] an interesting discussion on the misconceptions of ‘dangerous’ animals. He talked about how many animals stereotyped to be extremely dangerous are actually not as harmful as rumored and beneficial for our environment,” said Christianna Madson, a second-year BME major who attended the event.

One of the more extreme experiences that Essen mentioned was when he and his wife were canoe-

Vaden

from page 9

Seattle this summer, meaning that much of the work on the patent had to be done long-distance.

Law firm Sutherland and Co. has been handling a lot of the legal footwork involved in patenting an invention. In addition to the actual paperwork associated with applying for a patent, Sutherland and Co. also handled the research into prior art that is more or less required for a successful patent application.

Vaden’s actual patent application is for a “pneumatic drum tuning device.”

Assuming all goes well, the patent will be approved in two to three years. In the meantime, Vaden can begin labeling her device as “patent pending” and listing the patent number, which will go a long way towards protecting the rights to her intellectual property.

The next InVenture Prize Competition, to be hosted by Miles O’ Brien, will be held on March 9, 2011.

Image courtesy of Tasha Myers

In preparation for Marty Essen’s lecture on his adventures in nature, students created animal masks in the Student Center. ing down the Zambezi river, and their boat was attacked by a hippopotamus. he animal lifted the boat high in the air, dumping the vessel and the Essens on the riverbank.

Though it was a near-death experience, both the Essens were relieved to be alive and laughed it off.

In the spirit of exploring the little novelties in such new areas, the Essens traveled through Spain visiting castles as well.

They also discovered that many of the generally accepted facts were actually incorrect. In fact, red belly piranhas which are “known as the most ferocious” are actually fin eaters.

The Essens tested this by jumping into a lake full of red belly piranhas without any injuries.

Marty Essen was also the first person to ever photograph a spe-

Image courtesy of Georgia Tech Communications and Marketing

While “selling” her invention to the judges, Vaden practiced her entrepreneurship skills during the InVenture Prize Competition.

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CLASSIFIEDS

cies of spider in the Amazon which he called an Orchid mimic spider.

Essen is now promoting his new travel book by traveling around colleges and venues across the country.

Originally, Essen wrote stories of his adventures in newspapers in Montana where he lived.

In his book, Essen said that not only did he get to see the planet and its wildlife, he also was able to see and meet people of different nationalities.

He developed a sense for both the environment and the political nature of protecting wildlife. The novel was published in 2007.

Apart from photographing natural life across the seven continents, Essen travels to colleges and universities to deliver lectures about his travels and the photography from his book.

Entertainment ASO Disney astonishes

entertainment@nique.net Entertainment Editor: Zheng Zheng Assistant Entertainment Editor: Patricia Uceda

THE

NUTCRACKER mesmerizes,

CONCERT

Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies

excites crowds

PERFORMER: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra LOCATION: Woodruff Arts Center DATE: Nov. 26, 2010

OUR TAKE: ««««« SHOWS

By Kristina Sharifi Contributing Writer

The Nutcracker

For its 51st year, the Atlanta Ballet is putting on the holiday LOCATION: Fox Theatre classic, The NutcrackDATE: Nov. 27 - Dec. 26 er. A perfect holiday show combining the OUR TAKE: ««««« holidays themselves and fantasy, the Atlanta Ballet again augments the wonder of the spectacle with awe-inspiring sets, costumes and, of course, dancing at the always fabulous Fox Theater. The spectacle is a holiday tradition (with good reasons), and the Atlanta Ballet’s own version dazzles the senses.

The Atlanta Ballet actually dances their very own version of the show. This version is set in St. Petersburg, Russia. Choreographed by John McFall, the artistic director, this version premiered in 1996. Before this, the company performed the famous Balanchine version, which was performed for the first time outside of the New York City Ballet by the Atlanta Ballet. Trying to remember the story of The Nutcracker proves difficult mainly because there is surprisingly little story. Compared to opera, ballet generally has much simpler stories, and The Nutcracker is no exception. There is not a plot or story and really, no resolution at the end. The classic moment when the Rat King is taken down by a shoe is not here.

The story can be summed up as follows: At a party, a brother and sister receive gifts which, along with a little imagination, entertain the children. It is very simple, and there is nothing to follow.

While the story is not that interesting, the costumes and sets are very attention-worthy. Both are lavish and very detailed. It was a pleasure to look at the decoration on the stage and the large crowds of people are almost entertainment in itself. This makes this production of The Nutcracker really a spectacle and not a story-based show. It is about the feast for the eyes and enjoying just watching the stage without having to think too much.

The combination of live music, scenic eye candy and feats of dancing make an easily-enjoyed show, especially for PERFORMER: Atlanta Ballet

On Friday, Nov. 26, Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies was performed at the Woodruff Arts Center. The concert consisted of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra joined by a quartet of singers and the Atlanta Symphony Gospel Choir. The show used images and music from the famed studio’s film releases and cartoons to salute the accomplishments of Walt Disney.

The night of the performance, the audience sat with anticipation as the first violinist and Concertmaster, David Coucheron, tuned and prepared the orchestra for the conductor. Guest Conductor and Principal Pops Conductor to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Micheal Krajewski was greeted with an excited applause as he bowed and raised his baton, ready to begin the show.

The Disney Classics Overture began the show with a bang and excited the audience.

Next, vocalist Candice Nicole sang songs from The Little Mermaid such as “Under the Sea.” The orchestra went on to play “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas and an Orchestral Suite from Beauty and the Beast. Singer Aaron Phillips entertained the audience with a song from The Jungle Book, “I Wanna Be Like You.” Before the piece began, conductor Micheal Krajewski revealed a fun fact about it: The Jungle Book was the last movie that Walt Disney himself actually supervised.

Before the ntermission, the last pieces from Mary Poppins were played and they happened to be my favorite. The orchestra played “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and asked the audience to sing along with projections of the lyrics as an aid.

This was one of the highlights of the show as the audience was more than happy to be engaged.

Before beginning the next two selections, conductor Micheal Krajewski admitted that he thought they were the best pieces from Disney movies. The orchestra stunned the crowd with a beautifully played piece from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Still, what was to come was better. The next selection was by far the best of the whole concert; the orchestra was joined not only by the quartet of singers but also the Atlanta Symphony Gospel Choir for a Lion King song suite.

The audience was mesmerized. “The Circle of Life”, especially, was executed perfectly by all three contributing parties. This part of the perSee Disney, page 14

Images courtesy of Atlanta Ballet

Image courtesy of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

By Christ Ernst Staff Writer

Technique

13

Friday, December 3, 2010

those without much of an attention span.

The Atlanta Ballet performs The Nutcracker at the fabulous Fox Theater in Midtown, just a stone’s throw from The Varsity. The theater is almost as interesting as any show that passes through. Originally opened in 1929, the Islamic/Egyptian-styled edifice is unique. Even from the street, it screams lavish luxury from yesteryear. During intermission, it is easy to miss the beginning of the second act while exploring the many nooks, crannies (and bathrooms) and details of the historical landmark.

For the past two years, the Atlanta ballet used live music only on the show’s opening weekend. However this year will feature live music at all 23 performances for the first time since 2006. There is an indescribable something that live music brings to a multifaceted production like The Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky’s romantic (and then quite experimental) score sounds much more nuanced and engrossing live than any recording can produce. The Atlanta Ballet Orchestra is one of the highlights of the show.

The only aspect of the show that seemed lacking was, ironically, the dancing. While at times virtuosic, there were at least commensurate occasions of strikingly bad footwork or timing. The arms and upper half of the dancers was almost always approaching perfection. Arms and their positioning definitely got much more attention than footwork or synchronization. However, with a show that has as many children it is much harder to maintain a high level of execution.

The Nutcracker is a tradition, especially with parents and children, and it is very easy to see why. The show is a spectacle with scant story which is easily digested by anyone of any age. The live music, costumes, scenery and feats of dancing make a visual and auditory feast. The Fox is a fantastic venue that only adds to the wonder and uniqueness of the experience. While the dancing is at times shaky, the show is a solid success. The show’s sparkle is hard to resist and gets anyone in the holiday spirit.

The Atlanta Ballet will host The Nutty Nutcracker, which will be “unchoreographed by the Atlanta Ballet Dancers.”

It is rated PG-13 and is one night only, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

14 • December 3, 2010 • Technique

ENTERTAINMENT

Turismo 5 offers realistic driving experience GAMES

Gran Turismo 5 CONSOLE: PlayStation 3 GENRE: Racing DEVELOPER: Polyphony Digital RATING: E RELEASED: Nov. 24

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Andrew Akker Contributing Writer

The driving simulator genre of video games has seen no better series than Gran Turismo since the first one landed on shelves in 1997 on the first PlayStation console.

Since then, numerous sequels and spin-offs have continued its great name and gameplay that we’ve all come to know and love. Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) is no different.

GT5 builds upon what developers Polyphony Digital have been creating and improving on for the past 13 years, which is to be a great driving simulator.

The handling with the cars is just as you would expect from real-life physics. The elements, such as rain, will have an effect on your driving. All the factors added into to how the gameplay works with the driving really do make this a great driving simulator.

The graphics really do look as good as the developers claimed they did in demonstrations of the game. However, the best looking cars are labeled “premium” cars, and you have to purchase these with in-game money.

The cars you win from races and such are non-premium and do not look quite as good as premium ones. However, once you take a spin in one of the premium cars,

Image courtesy of Polyphony Digital

you will be blown away.

The menu layout has changed since Gran Turismo 5: Prologue a smaller game released earlier that was supposed to be an introduction to what GT5 was to be when finished. In the main menu, you have Arcade Mode, which is for playing a normal single-player race, Two-Player Mode, Drifting Challenges or Time Trial Challenges. There is also access to a course creator where users can create their own custom courses with the tools available. There is also access to the GT News and “My Home.”

“My Home” mode is what has most of the gameplay modes such as A-Spec (racing), dealerships to purchase cars or license tests to learn the basics of the Gran Turismo world. Also accessible from this menu is information about your community image.

You can set a personal avatar, information about yourself and with what kind of people you would like to play online with.

The game does a very good job of setting all of this up for you the first time you access the My

Home menu.

There is tons of stuff to do in this game. You can do straight racing in the A-Spec mode or you can also do a manager mode called B-Spec in which you create a player and act as their crew chief to direct them on what kind of racing style they should use during the race. Completing sets of races in these modes will win you cars, credits for purchase and experience to level up.

License tests are a good way to train for the big races if you are not very familiar with the world of Gran Turismo. They will teach you how to take turns like a pro and how to drive to win. It is an easy way to get started with credits and experience.

Probably the most intricate mode of the game is the photo mode. The player can take his or her car to anyone of the four designated cities. Anything from shutter speed to exposure to filters can be changed to fit the exact kind of picture you want.

There’s a “special challenge” mode where you can take on challenges from popular icons in the

racing field such as doing a NASCAR challenge with Jeff Gordon, or racing around in the Top Gear track. Each one requires you to reach a certain level to take part in the challenge.

The online community is very prevalent in this game as well.

Players are allowed to create their own rooms with their own customizations in types of race cars allowed or even to use their own custom tracks.

It is a good idea not to go online until you’ve gotten yourself a decent car. Most of the online races deal with high-level cars.

Polyphony Digital has done a fantastic job with the newest installment of the Gran Turismo franchise. The gameplay is realistic and the graphics are crisp. The amount of cars to choose from is very vast, and the brands are extremely varied.

But above all else, the game is very fun and there is a lot to do.

I’d recommend this game to anyone who enjoys realistic driving simulators and to everyone who was ever a fan of the Gran Turismo franchise.

Disney

formance was by far the most impressive and elaborate.

Finally, the last piece and finale from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was a small selection from Hercules. It ended the show with a perfect blend of excitement and satisfaction.

Before attending the show, however, I talked to one of the performing singers, Whitney Kaufman. Kaufman, a native from Los Angeles and a natural on stage, has been performing since the age of eight. She was most recently on tour with the Broadway hit, Mamma Mia!.

“The show is not very challenging because it is so fun but we are performing with visuals on the screen and we have had to work hard with the conductor to listen for musical cues and visual cues,” Kaufman said about the challenges of the show.

Kaufman did not have to do any special preparations to take part in the show.

“No, we didn’t do anything like that but everyone was very familiar with the Disney music.

We did several rehearsals to stay true to the original music. That was very important to everyone— staying true to the original pieces and performing them exactly as they originally were,” Kaufman said.

Along with Kaufman were three other vocalists, Candice Nicole, Aaron Phillips, and Terron Brooks.

Since Kaufman worked with several famous conductors, she talked about how she had actually worked with Micheal Krajewski before. She had nothing but good things to say.

“I worked with him last time we performed in Atlanta. He is fantastic: nice to singers and always listening. He is always on his toes and a great conductor,” Kaufman said.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Disney’s Tangled succeeds Atlanta FILM

Cuisines around Atlanta RESTARUANTS

Pure Taqueria LOCATION: 300 North Highland Avenue CUISINE: Mexican Food COST: $8 - $10 HOURS: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

PHONE: (404) 522-7873

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Michael Valente & Andrew Nelson Contributing Writers

This week we visited one of three Pure Taqueria locations in Inman Park—one of Atlanta’s most fiercely dedicated communities and home to a myriad of small shops, restaurants and, of course, the glorious hipsters.

The first note we made as we walked up to Pure Taqueria in the cold, drizzly rain was that this place was made for warm summer evenings.

Walking in, it was apparent that the building may have been a converted auto shop. All the tables were packed with boisterous guests, and the bar was stocked

Technique • December 3, 2010 • 15

with warmer-still patrons.

After a thirty-minute wait (even on a weekday night, reservations are recommended) we were led through the throng and past a brilliantly tiled food service counter that shone even in the low light of the dining room. Chips, salsa and water were all almost instantaneously delivered to our table while it took our actual server a little bit to introduce herself and ask if we needed anything else.

Michael went for the corn masa stuffed with pulled pork, Andrew ordered a traditional dish, chicken mole enchiladas and our companion and photographer Cassie opted for the chicken taquitos.

The two large stuffed masa cakes laid imposingly over a majority of the plate and were piled high with toppings. The cakes were at first a bit hard to cut into, but the pork’s moisture and saltiness offset the dryness and touch of sweetness, respectively, from the corn.

Mole is a Mexican sauce that varies enough to be the signature of a particular cook, and at Pure it was particularly chocolatey and nutty. In fact, if Nutella were to See Food, page 16

Photos by Cassandra Xie / Student Publications

Tangled

GENRE: Family Comedy STARRING: Mandy Moore & Zachary Levi DIRECTOR: Nathan Greno & Bryon Howard RATING: PG RELEASE DATE: Nov. 24

OUR TAKE: «««««

By Daniel Fuller Contributing Writer

Tangled takes long hair to the extreme, transforming the tale of Rapunzel into an exciting adventure. The original Rapunzel story is evident, but Tangled adds its own flair. The presentation of script, scenery and sound creates a compelling film out of something as simple as a girl with long hair trapped in a tower. Even though Tangled is Disney’s first 3D departure from their roots in classic 2D animation, it stands strong as proof that that Disney still knows how to make good animations.

The combination of talent involved in Tangled comes together nicely. The voice acting is excellent, especially by leads Mandy Moore as princess Rapunzel and Zachary Levi as the handsome thief Flynn Rider. Donna Murphy and Ron Perlman provide a striking villainous presence, voicing the manipulative Mother Gothel and the rogue Stabbington brothers, respectively. Most impressively, all of the voice actors perform their own singing roles.

The soundtrack is well-done thanks to Alan Menken, a longtime Disney movie composer responsible for classics such as Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Following the tradition of Disney animated features, characters in Tangled will spontaneously burst into song. The number and pacing of these songs feels just right, delivering emotion and character development through smooth transitions into music. Rather than being overwhelming and distracting, all of the music contributes to the narrative. Rapunzel’s first song is especially charming, describing the daily rituals she employs to counteract the boredom of being trapped in a tower for her entire life.

The animators involved in Tangled also deserve special praise. The animation is flowing, the visuals are beautiful, and the character design is unique and interesting. The resulting art style is vibrant, colorful and scenic. Not surprisingly considering the subject matter, the hair is especially well-rendered.

With the great vocal talent, music and visuals, the story of Tangled is the final component that brings everything together.

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It is full of action, comedy, romance, and villainy. Extreme liberties are taken with the source material, but such has always been the case with Disney’s fairy tale adaptations. In this case, the replacement of the classic-yetboring “prince charming” with a witty rogue opens up interesting narrative possibilities and creates a more complex relationship dynamic between his character and the princess. The Disney formula is clearly evident throughout the film, even down to the quirky animal companions (in this case, a horse and a chameleon). However, while the formula is old and predictable, it is unashamedly so, delivering a happy, fun adventure for audiences to enjoy.

Tangled is delightful in its light-hearted charm. It is not particularly deep, yet it is not shallow either. The characters and story are interesting, and the execution is superb from music to art style.

More than most, Tangled is simply a fun movie, and that makes it worthwhile.

16 • December 3, 2010 • Technique

ENTERTAINMENT

Weepies returns strong, wows Variety CONCERT

The Weepies PERFORMER: The Weepies LOCATION: Variety Playhouse DATE: Nov. 17

OUR TAKE: ««««

«

By Jessica Swafford Contributing Writer

Two weeks ago on Wednesday, Nov. 17, Variety Playhouse hosted The Weepies, an indie pop-folk group of six based out of Los Angeles. Led by husband and wife musicians Steve Tannen and Deb Talan, The Weepies, while still being lesser known by the masses, has steadily gained notoriety in the last few years. This can be attributed to several songs that have been featured on shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother.

The duo, who had solo projects before joining together, write their own lyrics and until the past few years, toured the country in a compact Toyota. Their first album was released in 2003, and they now have a total of four (Happiness, Say I Am You, Hideaway, Be My Thrill) with the most current being released earlier this year.

The crowd on Wednesday, unexpectedly ranging from high school students to middle aged adults, made small talk amongst strangers like old friends while waiting on the show to start.

Small bright stage lights, fitting to the band’s persona, were turned on around nine, and were immediately followed by fan excitement. Soon after, The Weepies took the stage.

During the concert it was common for a single fan to yell a one-

Photos by Austin Foote / Student Publications

liner to the band, but between songs everyone was unusually quiet. This was noted by trendy dressing lead singer Deb Talan who commented that down time was so quiet she could almost hear a pin drop.

It can’t be for sure, but perhaps this silence was due to the fact that no one had heard The Weepies live in so long. They haven’t had a show, much less a tour, in four years. In this time Talan and Tannen wrote their album Be My Thrill, expanded their family and switched from a compact to a tour bus.

In the quaint setting of Variety Playhouse, fans were told stories about the inspiration for many songs which range from drinks to arguments to children’s sayings. The tour bus inspired a song called “Antarctica” which is what the duo’s oldest child calls it.

As a matter of fact, fans ate

up all stories told between songs.

Most popular was the story of how Talan and Tannen met while both on separate tours. “Riga Girls” was inspired by it, but those interested will have to look the song’s colorful background themselves.

“Please Speak Well of Me,” a slower song about an ex, enhanced the folky aspect of the band by including several band members clapping and snapping in rhythmic sync to make much of the music for the song. Fans soon joined in to make things louder thus adding quality to the song.

In order to speed things up and keep excitement The Weepies followed with “Can’t Go Back Now” which was well received proving that fans appreciate different song styles made by the band.

Throughout the night The Weepies kept true to their untraditional genre and used not only typical drums and guitars but also

incorporated the afore mentioned clapping as well as a ukulele, cello and tambourine. Solidifying themselves as musicians, almost every member played at least two instruments before the night came to a close. Other crowd pleasing songs were “Gotta Have You,” “Nobody Knows Me At All” and two singles that seemed to be known by everyone in the crowd, “Be My Thrill” and “World Spins Madly On.” Variety Playhouse turned out to be the perfect venue for the concert. Fans missed The Weepies and surely appreciated the small, personal setting of the venue where they could make new friends and seemingly “catch up” with the band who themselves treated the audience like old friends. With any luck, they’ll come back soon for those who missed out. If not, it can only be hoped it won’t be four years until the next time.

Food

from page 15

find its way to a sauce pan with an entourage of chilies, you would have this mole. Toss in some softened peppers and onions and spread over three stuffed enchiladas, and it makes a hearty, earthy dish.

All dishes were accompanied by sides of rice and a choice of black, refried or charro beans. The rice was a strange side dish: while the taste was done well, the texture seemed almost waxy but curiously we ate every last grain.

Pure’s version of charro beans tasted excellent and came in a small side cup, much preferred over the usual splatter on the side of your plate as in many other restaurants. It also pays tribute to the original, using an unmistakable presence of pork among other spices and chilies commonly found in traditional charro bean recipes.

Other food options are the usual suspects for Mexican cuisine, although it certainly surpasses the typical Mexican dive in both atmosphere and style. Pure’s founders based their recipes on family recipes from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, and the feature cheese here is, surprise, Oaxaca cheese. They also offer a gluten-free menu that isn’t too bad.

Perhaps the highlight of the restaurant was the shiny ethanol centerpiece. Stacked on all sides by liquor, especially their proud tequila selection, the bar seemed almost too retro despite the rest of the modern-retro mix of interior decoration. On the wall opposite the windows was a large tv projection screen showing a football game at the time.

Overall the experience of Pure was nice. Perhaps a little dimmer than necessary, but loud and fun.

The food was good and plentiful and the price more than reasonable.

ENTERTAINMENT

Technique • December 3, 2010 • 17

Theme Crossword: Fashion Statement

By Robert Zimmerman United Features Syndicate ACROSS 1. Pinch-hit 4. Boorish 9. Inundate 14. Tennessee’s flower 18. Place for fishermen 19. Cotton thread 20. Float 21. Cut 22. Old covered walkway 23. The bounding main 24. Developed 25. Aswan’s river 26. Start of a quip

by Julia Roberts: 6 wds.

30. Foil relative 31. Yucky 32. Spoil 33. Set apart 36. Ceremonial wear 38. Pelted 43. Clues 44. Physique 45. Puts an end to

46. Baseball stat.

47. Division word 48. Black, in heraldry 49. Speaks angrily 50. Caution 51. Turn sharply 52. Mind 53. Foundation 54. Glacial ridge 55. Two-wheeler 57. -- -percha 58. Governmental body 59. An article 61. Part 2 of quip: 3 wds.

65. Pop 66. Unit of angular measurement 68. Sharp 69. Poem of a kind 71. Unconcealed 72. Overact 73. Strikes sharply 75. Hibernia 78. Christie’s Miss Marple 79. Pirouettes

80. Tom Sawyer’s aunt 81. Song 82. Farm denizen 83. Pipes 84. Like a bubble bath 85. First VP 86. A coming to be 88. Eschews 89. Brunch order 90. Youth 91. Before long 92. Scent 93. End of the quip: 6 wds.

102. An astringent 103. Avid 104. Eastern servants 105. Time 106. Certain first flight 107. Jewel 108. Heredity units 109. Roadhouses 110. Get word 111. Simple shelters 112. Newsboy’s cry 113. Dollop

DOWN 1. Something to eat 2. Quite a while 3. Path 4. Sickened, in a way 5. Nouveau -6. Lost 7. Mini blinds part 8. Levelheaded 9. Cuts of meat 10. Verbose 11. Affirm 12. Interlock 13. Takes precedence over

14. Snub 15. Kind of dance 16. -- of Man 17. Haggard title 18. Penultimate Greek letter 27. Uncloses, poetically 28. Did well on 29. Rests 33. Inmate’s blade 34. Long 35. Forebears 36. Rustic 37. Like a garage floor 38. Outcast

39. BPOE members 40. Navy man: 2 wds.

41. Typos 42. Moved rhythmically 44. Innocents 45. Rash 48. The gannet 49. Clean oneself up 50. Cyst 53. Steep hill 54. Antitoxins 56. Online activity 57. Oversupplies 58. Actress -- Spacek

59. Destructive kind of horse 60. An island capital 62. Third biblical horseman 63. Pictures 64. Put on 67. Wrath 70. Command 72. Monumental 73. Horse’s color 74. Savoy or Lepontine

76. Frost 77. Bridge position 79. Like some beaches 80. Weight 83. Edible part 84. Get out!

85. OT book 87. Make loud demands 88. Breathes in an annoying way 89. Black Sea port 91. -- provocateur

92. Iron-ore pigment 93. Succulent plant 94. Dance form 95. Fill 96. Old Greek contest 97. Wall Street acronym 98. Jargon 99. Chaplin’s wife 100. Litter’s littlest 101. Periods: abbr.

102. Fraxinus

sliver

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PEOPLE! QUICK THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING uga fan: “i can’t wait for y’all to eat your words this weekend.” and i can’t wait to start making 30k more than you after graduation my gpa sux!

Solve for i: 9x-7i > 3(3x-7u) Prufrock was right. How will I know if it would have been worth it, after all We watched Harry Potter sing the Elements song in chemistry.

Thank you Tech for making me feel less nerdy!

Has anybody every asked someone out on sliver? I kinda want to try?

Dear Tech, for Christmas I’d like a beautiful red head please who doesnt have TBS. thanks. my roommate is so loud. I wonder if he can hear himself WASHINGTON! WASHINGTON! Taking out dook, ‘cause he’s the one! you’re a jerk hate week thwg Mine eyes have seen the glory Of the N.C. Double-A They’re investigating GA players To see how much they’re paid After counting all the cars And the loans Alumni made, They out pay F.S.U. “It’s a Jeep thing... you wouldn’t understand” you make my day.

Go Wranglers!

YAY INTERGRATION! i love my munchette blue buses are ninjas I see you eating in Woody’s with the girl I love, and I`m like F*** Youuu, F*** Yoouuu Is Caldwell Co-ed on every floor??? Feels like it.

Closing the center of campus? How will I find the G-Spot?

Clermont Lounge is not terrible for the prices GT sucks out your soul everyday you study here The Walking Dead should film campus on finals week THWg i am scared of my impending doom of my 1803 test I wish Infinite Harmony would come sing me to sleep every night. facilities: please use the money spent on fueling your leafblowers to pay for bonuses to get your guys to use nice quiet rakes whats up with guys modeling transformers/gun s/guitars in 1770? im too drunk to taste this chicken jackie moon,”budlight. .im horny.”

I know where everything light goes You’re 4’ 10” of cute! Love hanging with ya!

18 • December 3, 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 • December 3, 2010 • 19

ANAK Established in 1908

The ANAK Society would like to congratulate and thank the following members who are graduating in Fall 2010

Sean Boudreau Bedford Ryann Margaret Kopacka Michael Anthony Toney Kathryn Carolyn (K.C.) Young and in loving memory of our alumni

John Stewart Hunsinger James Frank Stovall Jr. Founded in 1908, The ANAK Society recognizes Junior and Senior students for their outstanding leadership ability, personal achievement, strong character, and true love for Georgia Tech. Membership is considered by many to be the highest honor a Tech student can receive.

Technique • December 3, 2010 • 21

SPORTS

Allen gets stronger in season’s second half

By Alex Sohani Contributing Writer

The B-back, generally considered as the main “fullback” in Head Coach Paul Johnson’s spread option offense, is supposed to get a significant chunk of the carries and keep the chains moving throughout the whole game.

Senior B-back Allen, however, started the year slow, only averaging 66 yards per game in his first five outings, and things did not seem to go as planned for a typical B-back’s season.

The B-back is an important staple of the spread option as his primary job is to take the ball from a short distance in the backfield and essentially “dive” into the holes that the offensive line can provide, usually resulting in short yardage. At times, the play can seem ineffective as most defenses prioritize stopping this run, but it is necessary to opening up big plays throughout the game.

If the B-back is gaining good yardage (around four to six yards per carry), the defense will have to accommodate for this, and pull in more defenders to the box to contain the running threat. By doing this, more one-on-one opportunities are created between the defenders and the offensive weapons, and the quarterback can distribute the ball to wherever he sees the best mismatch on the field.

However, if the dive play is getting stopped on a regular ba-

Photo by Joey Cerone / Student Publications

Anthony Allen stiff-arms a UGA defender in Saturday’s game.

Allen rushed for 166 yards, his fifth 100-yard game of the season. sis, the opposing defense can put more priority on stopping the other phases of the offense, creating a much greater challenge for the offense.

In Tech’s season opener against South Carolina State, Allen only had six carries for 28 yards, which was very atypical for a B-back in the spread option. SCSU’s primary defense was to defend the dive play at all costs, and this resulted in big yardage being gained by the rest of the offense. However, after two good outings at Kansas and at UNC, Allen struggled to make big plays against N.C. State and Wake Forest. Allen had yet to score a touchdown after his first five games, something that was causing Tech coaches and fans to

speculate if there was a problem.

This, however, is not much different from the results from the previous two years with former Bback Jonathan Dwyer at the helm.

Dwyer started both the 2008 and 2009 seasons fairly slowly, ending both years with exactly 1395 yards. Through his first five games in 2009, Dwyer only had 409 yards, not a huge step up from where Allen started the 2010 season. Dwyer, however, improved and finished strong with six 100+ yard outings in his final nine games at Tech.

Johnson has repeatedly said that the B-back almost always surpasses the 1000 yard threshold in any given season, yet at the beginning of the year Allen was on pace

to be well under that. However, after a win at Wake Forest this season, Johnson challenged Allen to finish his runs and punish defenders. Allen took the advice to heart, and in his last homecoming game at Tech against Virginia, he carried the ball 25 times for 195 yards and three touchdowns.

“When you get the ball that many times, you feel like you’re getting stronger, and that’s what I felt like happened,” Allen said.

The trend continued throughout the rest of the regular season.

Allen averaged 127.9 yards per game and a much higher 5.8 yards per carry. Allen has managed to continue the trend of B-backs in Johnson’s system rushing for over 1000 yards.

Allen now has 1225 yards this season, averaging 5.6 yards a carry. If he keeps on his current pace in his final game, he could finish with over 1300 yards to add to the list of typical offensive season totals for a B-back.

Allen has taken his fair share of hard hits, getting tackled essentially on every play, but he always manages to get up and take a few more hits.

“You definitely feel [the hits] while you’re in a game, but Coach Johnson does a great job of preparing us for stuff like that. During camp and during practice he makes sure we stay in shape, and when it gets down to it, we have our legs fresh and are ready to go,” Allen said.

Seniors

from page 24

run to extend their lead, but Tech came back within reaching distance of the lead, 21-17. Clemson scored one more point than Tech over the rest of the set, and won the set, 25-20.

In the game’s final set, Tech raced out to a 5-1 lead before Clemson took a timeout. Not wanting to get too far behind early, Clemson used its timeout wisely and soon found themselves with the lead at 6-5.

The Jackets used a timeout of their own to get the lead back.

Tech had two chances to finish Clemson off, but the Tigers won both of those points to extend the match. Finally Tech won two points in a row to win the set 1715, and the match, 3-2.

“I knew it was going to be a battle. If we went in thinking that it wasn’t, then we are crazy.

We told our kids to go out there and play every point, and I just thought that we did a good job of coming up with the big play when we needed it,” Johnson said.

Along with their seniors, the Jackets used a great game from Mead to help in the win.

Mead continued her stellar play throughout the season by adding 19 kills and had a career-high 21 digs. “[Mead] did a great job. I challenged her defensively to start picking up some tips, and make some big plays, and she certainly did that… I think she is going to do some great things for this program just like our seniors,” Johnson said.

22 • December 3, 2010 • Technique

Football

from page 24

drive when he ran for a score on a fourth down play from Tech’s one-yard line. “[Green] has changed most of the games that he has been in this year. He is obviously a high quality player… He is hard to guard, but Murray made some [good] throws under pressure… That is usually the difference in the game when a quarterback steps up and makes plays,” said defensive coordinator Al Groh.

Tech got the ball back, but on the second play of the drive, Washington tried to pitch the ball to Jones on the option. Unfortunately, Jones was not able to catch it and fumbled.

“The defender got there at the same time as the pitch. I got my hands on it, and I should have probably caught it, but the guy just made a good play,” Jones said.

UGA’s defensive end Justin Houston recovered the fumble and ran 18 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 14-point lead.

The Jackets needed to score on their next drive, and after 12 plays, Washington scored another

SPORTS

one-yard touchdown to cut the lead to seven. Washington ended the game with 73 yards on 23 carries.

Georgia had to punt on its next drive and Tech got the ball with eight minutes left in the game.

Allen ran five times on the next drive including what would have been a game tying touchdown.

Blair lined up for the extra point that would have tied the game at 35, but Blair missed the kick wide left.

“That’s the way football goes.

You are always one play away from winning the game, and if a [missed PAT] happens, it happens. You just have hope that it doesn’t happen… We depend on Scott a lot this year, and we want him to keep his head up,” Allen said.

Tech let Georgia score another touchdown later in the game to keep the game within one-score, but Tech could not get the score needed to tie the game. Georgia went on to win the game 42-34, their fifth win in six years in the rivalry.

Tech will next play in a postseason bowl game that has yet to be determined.

Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

Orwin Smith fumbles the ball on the five-yard line in Saturday’s game versus UGA. Smith’s fumble was one of four by the Jackets.

Orange

from page 24

shooting]… It’s just a matter of us being mature,” said Head Coach Paul Hewitt.

Rice led the team with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but the main reason the Jackets won is that they shut down UTEP’s star player, Randy Culpepper, who only had 13 points.

Oliver also helped lead the team with 15 points and 12 boards. “[Oliver and Rice] played like mature players today, and that is something that we have been talking to them about in this young season,” Hewitt said.

Tech’s next game was against the Syracuse Orange, and it was Tech’s first game against a nationally ranked opponent.

The Jackets started strong as Oliver hit a three on the game’s opening possession. He added a layup later in the half to give Tech a 5-2 advantage. Oliver hit another three, then hit a long-range jump shot to extend Tech’s lead to five.

Holsey and Udofia dominated the next few minutes of the game by snagging rebounds and scoring easy jumpers. Oliver hit another three at the 12:21 mark to give Tech the lead at 19-12.

Oliver, Miller and Rice all made threes to round out the half, but Syracuse’s C.J. Fair hit a three with nine seconds left in the half to give Syracuse a three-point lead going into halftime.

Just like the first half, Oliver hit another three to start the second half and another one two minutes later to give Tech a commanding seven point lead, 47-40.

Oliver finished the game with a career-high 32 points.

“I saw they played out higher, so I knew that I could hit deeper threes than what I usually take, but I just saw the opportunity at times. I got hot,” Oliver said.

Later in the half, Syracuse went

Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

Jason Morris dribbles down the court in a recent home game.

Morris had a career-high 10 points against No. 8 ranked Syracuse. on a 15-2 scoring run that lasted almost seven minutes. Udofia finally ended the run, but Syracuse extended their lead to 13 shortly after.

Tech fought to get back in the game and went on a 10-3 thanks to Shumpert’s first five points in the game. In the end, Tech just ran out of time. Syracuse hit five of six free throws down the stretch to end Tech’s hopes of a comeback.

The Jackets continued their road trip on Nov. 30 by taking on Northwestern.

The Jackets jumped out early with Rice leading the charge. He made the first basket for Tech when he dunked the ball with one hand, and finished off an 18-5 run with back-to-back threes.

Northwestern would come back with a 10-2 run that was highlighted by open three-pointers from Drew Crawford and John Shurna. That would be a recurrent theme throughout the contest.

Tech and Northwestern traded baskets for much of the first half, and Tech held a small lead until

the 7:45 mark when Crawford hit another three to tie the game at 30. Shurna followed with a three and then Morris cut the Wildcat’s lead to one.

Tech would not score for the next three minutes, and Northwestern added nine points to their lead.

The second half started slowly for both teams but within six minutes, Crawford had extended Northwestern’s lead to 14 at 6046.

Later in the half, freshman center Nate Hicks slammed down a dunk to cut the Wildcat’s lead down to six, but Tech could never get closer than that.

“I thought the young player [Nate] Hicks came in and established [the post]. We started going in there, we actually gave ourselves a chance with the pressure, but we just didn’t make enough shots,” Hewitt said.

Tech started fouling Northwestern’s shooters at the five-minute mark. The shooters kept making their free throws to ensure a win for the Wildcats.

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Technique • December 3, 2010 • 23

SPORTS

Staff Picks

Week of december 3, 2010 Lee Hoffman Cappetta Mitchell Prasadh (69-54) (66-57) (66-57) (70-53) (71-52)

Staff (69-54)

#1 Auburn (-7) v. #19 South Carolina

AU

SC

AU

AU

AU

AU

#2 Oregon (-16) @ Oregon State

Ore.

OSU

OSU

OSU

Ore.

Ore.

Neb.

Neb.

OK

OK

Neb.

Neb.

#11 Boise St. (-43) v. Utah St.

Ut. St.

Ut. St.

Ut. St.

Boise

Boise

Ut. St.

#15 Va. Tech (-4) v. #21 Florida St.

FSU

FSU

FSU

VT

VT

FSU

#17 Nevada (-14) @ Lousiana Tech

Nev.

LT

Nev.

Nev.

Nev.

Nev.

Push

Rutgers

Rutgers

Rutgers

WVU

Rutgers

#25 Northern Ill. (-14.5) v. Miami (OH) NIU

Miami

NIU

NIU

NIU

NIU

#9 Oklahoma (Pk) v. #13 Nebraska

#24 West Virginia (-21) v. Rutgers

South Florida (Pk) @ UConn

UConn

USF

USF

UConn

UConn

USF

USC (-7) @ UCLA

USC

UCLA

USC

USC

USC

USC

push

south carolina

south florida

West Virginia has choked away its chances to win the Big East in the past, and it may happen yet again. Still, Rutgers is middle of the pack once again, and they will not be able to take advantage of the opportunity to play spoiler. When you have a choice between West Virginia and Rutgers, do you really have to choose one of them? Luckily, in picking these games, it is possible to not choose either.

Gene Chizik continues to use the most amazing smoke and mirrors trick I have ever seen, even mystifying the great Nick Saban. Steve Spurrier is a good enough coach to know what to do a second time against an opponent.

He will likely be able to know how to stop Cam Newton this time and be able to ruin the SEC’s chance of another national championship. Take the Gamecocks for the win.

The Big East is a very weak conference this year, and anybody is eligible to go to a pretty big bowl, even with a bad record. South Florida will be looking for this win to boost its bowl status and will come out playing hard to support its case. USF is a team full of bigger, stronger and faster Florida athletes. The Bulls will win a close one due to their roster’s tough nature and superior athleticism.

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Ramblin’ With Alex Montgomery

Photo courtesy of Tech Athletic Department

Senior Guard Alex Montgomery

By Wayne Bishop Contributing Writer

Technique: When did you first start playing basketball?

Alex Montgomery: I started in the 4th grade with my older sister Jasmine.

Technique: Who’s your favorite pro basketball team?

Alex Montgomery: The Phoenix Suns. I love Steve Nash.

Technique: Are you a fan of music? Do you have a favorite genre?

Alex Montgomery: I only listen to rap. A little R&B here and there. Some country music too.

Technique: Do you have a favorite song to listen to before games?

Alex Montgomery: “Bill Gates” by Lil Wayne.

Technique: Do you have a food you like to cook?

Alex Montgomery: I love to cook pork chops, fried chicken,

macaroni and cheese. More of soul food type dishes.

Technique: Do you have any hobbies?

Alex Montgomery: Not really, just shopping.

Technique: Are you a reader?

Do you have a favorite book?

Alex Montgomery: No. I skim through magazines. I don’t really like to read.

Technique: Do you have a favorite board game?

Alex Montgomery: I love playing Monopoly with my little brother and sister. We’re real competitive.

Technique: Are you a bicyclist or a walker?

Alex Montgomery: Walker, I can’t do the bike.

Technique: If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would it be?

Alex Montgomery: I’d like to go to Jamaica and enjoy the water and the weather.

Technique: So you’re a fan of warm weather over cold weather?

Alex Montgomery: Oh yes, warm weather over anything.

Technique: If you could describe yourself with one word, what would it be?

Alex Montgomery: Competitive.

Technique: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Alex Montgomery: I see myself having a successful job and still playing basketball somewhere. But a successful job is one of my dreams.

Sports

sports@nique.net Sports Editor: Alex Mitchell

Carrying the load See who has been the key player on offense for Tech's football team this season421

Tech football falls to UGA, 42-34

By Alex Mitchell Sports Editor

On Nov. 27, the Tech football team traveled to Athens, Ga. for its annual game against rival Georgia. In a sloppy game where each team fumbled four times, UGA came away with the victory, 42-34.

The game could not have started better for the Jackets, as senior kicker Scott Blair’s kickoff hit the ground without being returned. The Jackets dove on the loose ball, setting up great field position for the offense’s first drive.

Tech ran three different running backs with little success on its opening drive and ran into a fourth down. The Jackets called a timeout to talk over whether they should go for the first down or kick a field goal. Head Coach Paul Johnson elected to go for a first down, and sophomore A-back Orwin Smith got stuffed at the line, giving UGA the ball and early momentum.

UGA could not take advantage of the turnover on downs and punted three plays later.

Junior safety Jerrard Tarrant returned the punt 19 yards, giving the Jackets great field position again. After a long drive, Smith fumbled inside UGA’s 10-yard line, and UGA recovered.

This time, UGA took advantage of Tech’s lack of focus.

After two catches by receiver A.J. Green, quarterback Aaron Murray hit receiver Kris Durham on a crossing pattern on third down. After scampering 66 yards down the sideline, Durham was in the endzone, and UGA held an early 7-0 lead.

A block in the back penalty halted Tech’s ensuing drive, and the Bulldogs got the ball back. Murray delivered two more accurate passes before throwing to his tight end Orson Charles who was in one-on-one coverage. Charles

Technique

24

Friday, December 3, 2010

Men’s basketball loses two of three non-ACC games

By Alex Mitchell Sports Editor

caught the pass behind senior cornerback Mario Butler and found himself with an open path to the endzone.

“We were trying to put pressure on Aaron Murray, but we had to drop guys into coverage. Hats off to Murray for stepping up and making the plays with our defenders in his face,” Butler said.

Six strong runs from senior B-back Anthony Allen set up a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Tevin Washington, cutting the lead to seven with 13 minutes left in the half.

Murray found Charles with another long pass on UGA’s next drive. The gain put the Bulldogs in the redzone for the first time, but they could not capitalize as Murray was

stopped on a fourth down play on Tech’s five-yard line.

Feeding off of the defense’s big stop, Washington orchestrated a 14-play drive that included a 22-yard run from junior A-back Roddy Jones and a 12-yard pass to Smith. Jones finished off the drive with a rushing touchdown to tie the game.

The game was not tied for long as UGA found a running attack for the first time in the half. Running back Washaun Ealey ran for 47 yards on only two carries, and Murray passed for his third and final touchdown of the first half.

Tech got the ball to start the second half and junior Aback Embry Peeples scored a 19-yard touchdown that was set up by a 44-yard pass to

sophomore receiver Stephen Hill.

“We had been running the toss and running the ball inside all night, and that was the first play-action pass that we threw. They bit on it really hard, so it was wide open,” Washington said.

Georgia got the ball back but fumbled the ball away two plays later. Tech only managed one first down on its next drive before punting the ball away.

Georgia fumbled the punt, but then Jones fumbled again for Tech four plays later.

UGA took the ball at its own 36-yard line, and Murray connected with Green on three straight passes for 48 total yards. Ealey capped off the

On Nov. 26, the Tech men’s basketball team traveled to Atlantic City, N.J. for two games in the Legends Classic at Boardwalk Hall. Tech beat UTEP, 71-61, but fell to No. 9 ranked Syracuse, 80-76. On the following Tuesday, the Jackets traveled to Northwestern to take on the Wildcats in the ACCBig Ten Challenge. Northwestern used its 63 percent shooting from behind the arc to dominate the Jackets, 91-71.

Tech’s first opponent of the week was against the Miners of UTEP. Tech started the game off slow and trailed the Miners, 6-2. Sophomore guard Mfon Udofia then hit a three to cut UTEP’s lead down to one before UTEP hit a three of its own to spark a 7-0 run for the Miners.

Sophomore Kammeon Holsey got an offensive rebound following a missed three from sophomore guard Glen Rice Jr. Holsey then passed the ball to junior guard Iman Shumpert, who layed the ball in. The hustle play led to an 8-0 run for the Jackets that Rice capped off with a dunk.

The two teams traded baskets and the lead for the next few minutes, but then UTEP broke open the game with a 10-0 run.

More traded buckets throughout the half saw the Jackets down by eight with two minutes left to go in the half. The Miners got into foul trouble for the remainder of the half, and Tech made the free throws allowing the Jackets to get within four before the half ended.

Tech came out strong to open the second half and actually took the lead at the 17:57 mark. Rice led the charge with another dunk, and a free throw that gave the Jackets the lead at 38-37. Freshman forward Jason Morris added a dunk of his own and Shumpert had a layup before UTEP finally scored for the first time in the half.

UTEP re-took the lead at 48-47 when Christian Polk hit a three. Tech then went on a 12-point run consisting of three pointers from sophomore forward Brian Oliver and lay-ups from Shumpert.

Tech played good defense down the stretch and made its free throws to ice the game.

“We can do [defense and free throw

See Football, page 22

See Orange, page 22

place on Tech’s all-time assists list.

“It was very important for us as a coaching staff to let [McCullers and Tippins] believe that they were great players. They have done that and ,most importantly, they have passed that down onto the younger [players]. The [players] just thrive on that,” said Head Coach Tanya Johnson.

In the match’s first set, Tech jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but the Tigers came roaring back with a 5-1 run of their own. An impressive 7-2 run for the Jackets extended their lead to 13-8. The two teams traded points for the remainder of the set, but Tech’s seven-point cushion allowed them to win the first set 25-19. The Jack-

ets used their superior hitting (.303) to dispatch the Tigers who only hit .226 for the set.

Clemson dominated the match’s second set en route to a match tying 25-18 set victory.

Clemson jumped out early in the set, scoring the game’s first six points. The Jackets went on a small four-point run of their own, but Clemson used its four blocks in the set to extend its lead out to nine at one point in the set.

From this point, it was clear that the match would become a back-and-forth like match similar to the two teams’ 3-2 match earlier this season.

“I knew it was going to be a typical Georgia Tech versus Clemson match with the game

coming down to five sets. I’m just proud that our players could [continue to] bounce back after a tough weekend last weekend,” Johnson said.

Tech started the third set in similar fashion to the way the Tigers started the second set. With the match tied, Tech started the crucial third set with a quick 5-0 run that included kills from sophomore rightside hitter Monique Mead. Clemson tried to come back, but a 15-5 run from the Jackets closed out the match at 25-12, in favor of Tech.

The fourth set was a backand-forth type set until Clemson took the lead at 10-6.

Clemson went an eight-point

Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

Tevin Washington gets stuffed at the line by a group of UGA defenders. Washington performed well in his third game as a starter with 101 yards passing and 73 yards rushing.

Volleyball beats Clemson 3-2 on Senior Night

By Alex Mitchell Sports Editor

On Friday, Nov. 26, the Tech volleyball team hosted Clemson on Senior Night in the team’s final home game of the season. It took five sets, but the Jackets sent off their seniors with a win, 3-2.

Senior libero Jordan McCullers had six assists in the game and finished her Tech home career by recording 13 digs, moving her into fourth place in Tech’s record books.

Senior setter Mary Ashley Tippins, who was named to the All-ACC team the day before, was also instrumental in the victory as she had 52 assists and 15 digs. The 52 assists moved Tippins into third

See Seniors, page 21

Photo by John Nakano / Student Publications

Jordan McCullers celebrates a point in her last game at Tech. McCullers had six assists.