Technique (October 23, 2009)

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Third Eye Blind and Hot Chelle Rae rock out at the homecoming concert.!13

Schuster steps down as the provost

By Matt Hoffman Advertising Manager

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Tech campus was informed on Wednesday morning via email from Institute President G. P. “Bud� Peterson, that Gary Schuster, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, will be stepping down from his post. He has served as provost since Aug. 2006.

“All I ever wanted to be was a scientist.... The clock ticks and I am getting older, and I have always wanted to spend the end of my career teaching research as a faculty member here,� Schuster said.

Peterson’s e-mail also said that a search committee will be appointed in order to find a new provost, and that Schuster intends to remain in the position until a successor has

been appointed. As the chief academic officer at Tech, the colleges report directly to the Office of the provost.

The provost also has oversight of the budgeting process for the Institute and supervises the hiring and retention of faculty. “The good thing about an institution like Georgia Tech See Schuster page 5

HOMECOMING GAME

AA to review football game safety Field goal destruction and injuries prompt security review

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Students carry the torn down goal post down Yellow Jacket Alley following the Virginia Tech - Tech game to President Peterson’s house.

By Vivian Fan News Editor

Tech administration and Athletic Association (AA) will be undergoing a safety review following the Jackets’ win against the Virginia Tech Hokies last Saturday. The call comes after post-game celebrations led to students rushing onto the football field and the tearing down of the north end zone goalpost.

“The safety of our students and fans is our foremost concern. The tearing down of the goalposts is unusual at Georgia Tech, and while is it a long standing college tradition, we cannot either condone or support it,� said Matt Nagel, a media relations specialists for Communications and Marketing.

Following the Jackets’ win of 28 See Post, page 5

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President Peterson and his wife celebrate with students on the President’s lawn.

T-Square experiences server failures

By Siwan Liu Layout Editor

T-Square has returned back online following recurrent server failures occurring earlier this week. The website returned back online late Wednesday night. “We’re getting at a point where [T-Square is] stable again. We don’t know what triggered it,� said Clay Fenlason, Director of Educational Technology.

Beginning the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 19, Tech students and faculty found themselves experiencing problems with TSquare. Certain applications of the website have been down periodically as a result of server failures, which have made uploaded files and attachments inaccessible.

According to Fenlason, T-Square itself and its databases were fine; however, the infrastructure team had been having problems with back file storage, particularly in services related to the Banner system and the College of Management’s data storage.

Services that were affected by this failure included Techworks, Peoplesoft financials, GTED and gtwebapps. Servers storing uploaded files and attachments on T-Square had been problematic, rendering the website unusable until Wednesday night.

Before fully recovering, T-Square administrators explained in an announcement that while access to uploaded files or the ability to upload new ones, including assignments, resources or other areas that involve attachments, has been experiencing issues, the application itself would continue to be up and running. Activities that do not require the use of files, such as chat, wiki pages and announcement postings were still accessible and are in service.

Due to the fact that T-Square has a very large volume of files and content, the process to fully restore T-Square did not finish until Thursday afternoon. “What’s basically happening is that the files are being trickled back into the system as there is a full back-up,� Fenlason said. “As of [Thursday], we’re looking for the last [file] to be in place. We’ll go through and check that we haven’t missed anything.�

Wednesday night, T-Square administrators released also the following apology on their website: “We deeply regret the severe disruption to coursework we know this has caused, and will be reviewing the hardware issues thoroughly to make sure this can’t happen again.�

Fenlason and the T-Square team will be determining the cause of the failure over the next week.

School of Biology announces new certificate program

By Matt Schrichte Contributing Writer

Tech’s School of Biology and the Biology Student Advisory Board have announced the enactment of six new certificate programs, open to all non-biology majors.

Although Tech has been undergoing budget cuts and changes throughout each department, the School of Biology has taken a different approach by expanding

their available curriculum. Starting at the beginning of this semester, the School of Biology opened up the new undergraduate certificate programs to all interested Tech students.

The biology department approved the six new certificate programs this past spring after current biology majors responded to a survey asking which certificate topics they would be most interested in pursuing.

The recently introduced certifi-

cates include biomedical science, biomedical technology, computational and quantitative biology, environmental science, marine science, and integrative biology. “Part of the reason for creating the certificates was for bio majors who wanted more focus in certain areas,� said Amanda Jara, a thirdyear BIO and member of the Biology Student Advisory Board.

According to Jara, the certificate programs will allow for these students to better familiar-

ize themselves with these focuses, without having to spend the amount of time or money it would take to acquire a minor in the biology department.

Like certificate programs in other schools at Tech, each of the newly founded biology certificates requires a basic number of 12 additional hours of coursework.

The specifics as to how those 12 credit hours are completed

See Certificate, page 5

NEW CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE #JPNFEJDBM 4DJFODF #JPNFEJDBM UFDIOPM ogy $PNQVUBUJPOBM BOE RVBOUJUBUJWF CJPMPHZ &OWJSPNFOUBM TDJFODF .BSJOF 4DJFODF *OUFHSBUJWF CJPMPHZ

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Technique

Events and happenings across campus next week

Campus Calendar

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

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By Vivian Fan News Editor Wednesday, Oct. 28

ONE MILE WITHOUT SHOES WHAT: Tech students will be teaming up with the bands Hanson (most famous for their song “MmmBop!�), Hellogoodbye, and the organization TOM’s shoes for a one mile walk through the city of Atlanta. The walk will be along side band members from both groups and will try to raise awareness of poverty and AIDS in Africa. The two bands have been hosting this walk across the nation as they go on their national tour. Hanson will also perform a few songs following the walk.

WHO: TOMS at Georgia Tech,

Hanson and Hellogoodbye WHEN: 12:15 p.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE: The Campanile Wednesday, Oct. 28

GT JAZZ ENSEMBLE AND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WHAT: Tech’s jazz ensemble and symphony orchestra will team up to perform a variety of songs including Paul Dukas’ “Sorcerer’s Apprentice,� Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Think of Me� and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.�

The concert will also feature one of the three winners of Tech’s Student Concerto Competition Ruoting Gong. The concert is free for Tech students with a Buzzcard and $10.50 for general admission.

WHO: Tech Jazz Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra WHEN: 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

WHERE: Ferst Center Wednesday, Nov. 4

THE HONEYWELL NOBEL INITIATIVE (HNI) LECTURE SERIES WHAT: Allowing for students to meet and listen to Nobel laureates, Georgia Tech will be hosting Professor Sir Larry Kroto, winner of the 1996 Nobel prize for chemistry. The lecture is part of Honeywell Science’s Nobel Initiative (HNI) series, which began in 2002 and has been presented at lecture halls in the U.S., China and India. The event will also be webcasted on http://www. honeywellscience.com.

WHO: Professor Sir Harry Kroto WHEN: Nov. 4 to Nov. 5, first lecture at 10:00 a.m. on Nov. 4, others’ time to be announced.

WHERE: Ferst Center

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NEWS

Council Clippings

This week in Student Government

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

By Vijai Narayanan, Assistant News Editor

This edition of Council Clippings covers the UHR and GSS meetings from Oct. 20, 2009.

Underwater Hockey Club

The Underwater Hockey Club requested funding to attend an intercollegiate tournament in Charleston, SC. The team wanted to purchase 20 additional headguards and 10 sticks for the competition. In addition, the team requested funding for the registration fee and travel to the event.

The bill totaled approximately $2300 and passed UHR 43-0-2 and the GSS 24-1-0.

FIMRC

The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) at Georgia Tech requested $1400 to fund a trip to Costa Rica for one week. In the past, groups have volunteered in Trujillo, Peru by assisting and shadowing doctors. The bill was amended to decrease travel funding and reduce lodging as per Joint Finance Committee policy.

The bill passed UHR 41-1-3 and the GSS with a vote of 24-3-1.

LeaderShape

LeaderShape, a six-day inten-

sive development program hosted at Tech each year requested funding to help cover the costs of the program. LeaderShape was also the genesis of the Team Buzz service day event. The organization requested funding to pay Leadershape, Inc. in part for the cost of the program, totalling $16,200.

The overall cost of the program totals $45,000.

UHR commenced a lengthy discussion about the cost of the bill and the amount of people it would affect on campus. LeaderShape currently only accepts 50 people for the program. After taking into consideration the potential of the program to largely impact campus, the bill passed UHR 29-13-2 and GSS 20-8-0.

Project Honor

Project Honor requested funding for a service trip to New Orleans over Winter Break. Each year the organization takes a trip to New Orleans to help with Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts.

Due to the economic crisis, the organization has had more trouble funding trips. The team will partner with Habitat for Humanity for the duration of the trip.

Volunteers perform tasks varying

from house construction to painting. The bill requested funding for equipment and van rental, totaling approximately $5550 and passed the UHR with a vote of 38-2-1 and the GSS with 27-1-0.

Multicultural Greek Council

The Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) requested SGA to approve an amendment to their constitution that drops the number of people required to become a chartered organization down from ten to seven. Chartering allows organizations to advertise and hold campus organizations. The MGC oversees several different organizations, and focuses on increasing cooperation and communication between them. The MGC has its own constitution and internal processes, but must have constitutional changes approved by SGA. During a lengthy discussion about the need for this amendment, concerns were raised about the amount of advertising employed to recruit new members and maintain high membership.

Chartering allows organizations to advertise on campus and hold campus wide events. The bill passed UHR with a vote of 30-12-2 and GSS with 18-10-0.

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Breaking

Bubble the

A

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

to convince him to hold a runoff election. Analysts say that such an election will be difficult to hold, as winter approaches and the Taliban becomes more emboldened.

Karzai agrees to runoff Balloon boy incident A fg ha nist a n’s Pre sident declared a hoax Hamid Karzai agreed to a runoff election in his country following intense diplomatic pressure from the United States. Last week an international audit by the UN found that nearly one-third of the votes cast in his favor during the general election were tainted by fraud, driving his vote count below the majority. Karzai initially balked at the idea and refused to entertain any idea of a runoff election.

The Obama administration sees the restoration of a credible government in Afghanistan as a key part of its war strategy, with administration officials hinting that the results of the election may play a role in the President’s decision whether or not to send additional troops to Afghanistan. As a result, Sen. John Kerry conducted a round of negotiations with Karzai in order

On Oct. 15, a six-year old boy was mistakenly believed to have floated away from his home in Colorado in a helium balloon, raising alarm throughout the country. He reportedly climbed into the balloon when it became untethered. The balloon was 20 feet in diameter and five feet in height. It is said to have reached a height of 7,000 feet and drifted for 60 miles, before landing just north of the Denver airport. Air traffic was rerouted for the duration of the ordeal and even the Colorado National Guard assisted in the recovery effort. The boy was not found in the balloon, but instead found safe within his home several hours after the incident. On Monday, Larimer County sheriff Jim Alderden announced that the incident was a hoax and that federal charges would be pressed against the family.

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NEWS BRIEFS SGA, MOVE and Red Cross hold flood relief In light of the recent flooding sustained in the metro area, SGA, MOVE, and the Red Cross partnered to provide flood relief for the thousands of metro-Atlantans affected last Thursday through Saturday. The flooding claimed ten lives and caused millions of dollars in damage to property and roads across the metro Atlanta area. Members of each organization came together to collect canned goods, clothes and money.

The total amount of donation received has not yet been calculated, but the event was considered a success. The proceeds will be going to various organizations, including the RED Cross and a United Way Affiliate.

Tech named No. 12 engineering school Tech dropped four spots to No. 12 in the U.S. News rankings of the top engineering schools in the world. MIT retained the No. 1 spot with a subject score of 100.

Tech was passed by University of Tokyo, University of Toronto, ETH Zurich and University of Oxford. Tech dropped nine points from a score 68.9 to 59.3. The top three remained unchanged with MIT taking the top spot and California and Stanford at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

Ellis, Frazier named Mr. and Ms. GT

By Vijai Narayanan Assistant News Editor

During half-time of the annual homecoming game last weekend, Robert Ellis, a fifth-year CEE and Kaitlyn Frazier, a fourth-year BMED were named Mr. and Ms. Georgia Tech, respectively. Both were nominated by their respective Greek organization (Delta Chi and Alpha Delta Pi) and underwent a rigorous selection process, including interviews, presentations and talent shows.

“Just being with so many other people that love the school as much as I do, just being associated with those people is a pretty big honor,” Ellis said. “I think it’s humbling to be part of the [selection] process.”

“It was a complete shock and definitely an honor to be considered by my fellow students. I didn’t believe that it was my name when they called me, I had to be told that it was me before I realized what was going on,” Frazier said.

The contest began about a month before homecoming week, when organizations across campus nominated individuals to be considered for the honor.

Candidates were required to present an application, recommendation letter, and an essay on leadership experience. In total, 23 men and 26 women were nominated. Candidates were put through interviews held by alum-

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President Peterson congratulates Mr. and Ms. GT winners Robert Ellis and Kaitlyn Frazier during half time of the 2009 Homecoming game against Virginia Tech at Grant Field. ni and administrative officials.

Following this process, the number of candidates was narrowed to 10 male and 10 female semifinalists, who were then asked to make a presentation about what they felt was the most formative part of Tech for them.

Semi-finalists were also asked to record talent videos, which resulted in the submission of talents such as catching gummi bears and hula-hooping. The students also

recorded a group song and dance of the fight song which was broadcast on screens across campus.

During homecoming week, semi-finalists were asked to participate in events such as Mock Rock and the talent show. The top five finalists were announced on Thursday of homecoming week.

At the homecoming football game on Saturday, finalists were brought to the field during half time and the winners were announced.

“I pride myself on valuing relationships with other people. I think Tech has taught me how to deal with other people…I enjoy talking to others and making them feel comfortable,” Ellis said.

As part of the recognition, the recipients are required to represent the Institute at campus events, including Up with the White and Gold and When the Whistle Blows, a memorial ceremony for students and alumni.

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-23 at this year’s homecoming football game, students leapt onto the field from the stands, in spite of increased security, which was the largest amount of security on staff during any game thus far this year.

A group of students then climbed onto the goalpost, eventually snapping it due to students jumping repeatedly on it. The post was then carried out through the north end entrance onto Techwood Drive.

Students then took the post to Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson’s house, where it was presented and accepted by Peterson and his wife Val on their front lawn.

Following the celebrations at Peterson’s house, students sawed off pieces of the goalpost at the lawn and later at various locations throughout campus.

During the whole affair, the GTPD reported and confirmed two injuries including a broken arm and an ankle injury. The student who sustained the broken arm received it while jumping from the student section onto the field and was taken to the hospital. The student with the ankle injury refused treatment.

More injuries are said to have occurred including students being trampled while the goalpost was being taken through the gate, but these injuries were not reported directly or the GTPD. “Preliminary reports are a possible broken arm, asthma attack and a hurt ankle all from coming over the wall,” Nagel added.

Schuster

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is that it is not so dependent on the personalities that are in particular places. It is much dependent upon the history, the traditions, the objectives of the institution,” Schuster said.

“As we look ahead to the search for our next provost, we plan to conduct a national search. In doing so, we are signaling that we intend to find the most talented person available in the country. That doesn’t rule out anyone already on campus, it simply sets the bar at the appropriate level for a university with our future potential,” Peterson said.

It is the hope of the administration that the new provost will be in place by July 1, 2010. Schuster will stay on until his successor is in place. The timetable for the Strategic Plan has the new plan being rolled out around this time.

“The [Strategic Planning] process will be nearly complete when the new provost arrives and as a result the biggest challenge for this individual will be in the implementation of the plan,” Peterson said.

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“In addition we have reports of damage to cars as the goalpost was carried on its way. Over the years, students at other schools have been paralyzed when hit by goalposts during similar celebrations,” Peterson said.

Although injuries were reported, there were no direct instances or incidents of crime or damage reported to the GTPD during the hours following the game.

Nonetheless as a result of last Saturday’s events, Peterson has asked the AA and its officials to review safety protocol and procedures and develop greater precau-

tions for future games.

“Since I’d hate for anything like that to happen to any of our students, I’ve asked the athletic department to review our safety procedures to ensure that all appropriate safety precautions are being taken,” Peterson said.

In addition, the AA is looking into the possibility of purchasing a collapsible goalpost in the future.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the North end zone was still missing a goalpost. Instead, an orange safety cone was placed where the post once was. The AA will have until the next home game on Nov. 7

against Wake Forest to replace the goalpost, but representatives have stated that they already have an extra set in house that they intend to put up in the next few weeks.

“The Yellow Jackets’ victory Saturday night was huge and I was proud to share it from the stands and at the president’s house,” Peterson said. “While I sincerely appreciate the intense school spirit that makes the Tech experience unique, the safety of our students and all of our fans has to be my foremost concern when thousands of people pour onto Grant Field and emotion takes over.”

vary depending on whether the student is a biology or a non-biology major.

At least nine hours of biology credit are required for nonbiology majors. In most cases, up to three of those hours can come from 1000 or 2000 level courses.

Also, non-biology majors are required at least nine credits of biology coursework to complete their certificates. For both cases, the required nine hours must be 3000 level or above courses, and cannot double count or be applied to other majors.

The remaining three credit hours can be used to complete a wide range of other courses that range from computer science classes such as Introduction to Databases to even a class called Navigation (NS 2323, for marine science certificates specifically), which is entirely dedicated to developing a student’s basic understanding of piloting a sea vessel and becoming a seaman.

“There are always students out there who wanted to be marine scientists when they were younger,” Jara said. “Now they can at least get a certificate in marine science.”

Any students interested in pursuing or finding more information concerning the new certificate programs can visit the School of Biology’s certificate program website (http://www.biology.gatech. edu/) under minors and certificates or speak to the one of the school’s academic professionals Dr. Mirjana Brockett or Dr. Jennifer Leavey.

“We are in the midst of a really important strategic planning exercise.... One of the major challenges for the new provost will be to understand the objectives of the strategic plan, and then to begin to put the mechanisms in place that are going to be necessary to execute the strategic plan,” Schuster said.

Schuster stepping down is one of many changes to the toplevel administration at Tech over the past few years. In addition to Schuster, former dean of Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Sue Rosser stepped down in the summer to take over the provost position at the University of California, San Francisco, and Richard DeMillo resigned from his position as dean of the College of Computing in June 2008.

“There is a delicate balance between in depth knowledge of an institution and a ‘fresh eyes’ approach. Part of the challenge of leadership is ensuring that one has the appropriate mix and balance of both…. The time in these types of academic leadership positions [Provost] is typically around 5-7

years so these types of changes are not uncommon or unexpected,” Peterson said.

“I expect that who ever is selected...will have some familiarity with Georgia Tech as an institution.... [The most important qualities for the new provost are] integrity and energy,” Schuster said.

Schuster was named the Dean of the College of Sciences in 1994, after serving 20 years on the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in the department of chemistry. He was head of the department when he left Illinois. In 2001, he was also appointed to be the Vasser Woolley chair of chemistry and biochemistry.

Schuster was named to the provost position after Jean-Lou Chameau left the post to become the new president at the California Institute of Technology. Schuster was selected over former dean of Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Sue Rosser and Chair of the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. and Bill Wepfer, who at the time was vice provost for distance

learning and adult education, who were also finalist for the provost job.

In April 2008, Schuster was named Interim Institute President, succeeding former Institute President G. Wayne Clough. During his tenure as interim president, Schuster led the institute through budgets cuts, which were caused by revenue short falls associated with the financial crisis. Schuster played a crucial role during the transition process last spring, after Peterson became the new Institute President. “[Becoming interim president] was a very enlightening experience. I got the opportunity to see aspects of the university that you don’t from the academic side,” Schuster said. “[Schuster] has served the institute very well over the course of the past few years. Especially last year when we went through challenging economic times….

Dr. Schuster was the leader of the institute, and he did a great job transitioning with Dr. Peterson,” said undergraduate student body President Alina Staskevicius.

“Dr. Schuster was called upon to lead Georgia Tech through one of the most difficult economic periods in its history. He did a very good job setting the right priorities and maintaining the moral and confidence of the entire Tech community,” Peterson said.

While the economic challenges that Schuster faced during his tenure greatly shaped his duties as provost, Schuster said he particularly enjoyed working with students and student leadership.

Schuster intends to return to the faculty. Currently, he is listed as a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

“Dr. Schuster’s desire to return to research and teaching as the culmination of his career is well known,” Peterson said.

“I maintained an active research presence for all the years I was dean and provost...I am absolutely looking forward to getting back into the classroom...I would like to teach in the organic chemistry program, and one of the things I would really like to do is teach in the honors program,” Schuster said.

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Following the game, students stormed the field and climbed the North end-zone goal post until it snapped. Some students continued to ride the goal post as others carried it out of the field.

Opinions

Opinions Editor: Kaitlin Goodrich One of the true tests of leadership is to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

—Arnold H Glasgow

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OUR VIEWS CONSENSUS OPINION

New provost to be chosen

Hopefully change is chance for positive progress

We were surprised to hear of Schuster’s decision to step down from the post of provost, but are glad he will be staying on at Tech, as he did a good job in all the roles he has served here, especially stepping up as interim president.

With Schuster’s resignation, we look forward to the future provost with hope for positive change. This change cannot happen without targeting specific traits for the new provost during the search for his successor.

This search must specifically look for diversity of candidates. This does not just mean looking for candidates from varying roles around Tech, but a full national search that will allow us to pick from top candidates everywhere. At the same time, a nationwide search does not mean we should adopt the mind set that an inhouse hire would be a failure. This may mean that the best candidate would be a person with some sort of connection with the Institute, be it an alum, a former pro-

fessor or other role.

Tech must consider a variety of candidates who are focused on progressive moves for Tech’s future while staying in touch with our culture. At the very least, by the time the new provost starts, they should be well aware of the unique Tech culture to ensure that we do not change the core of what Tech is, but rather revise the way we do business.

Diversity of candidates must finally ensure that the true diversity of the student population is represented in every aspect from considering hiring of people with non-engineering backgrounds to a true consideration of the female population in the upper echelons of power at Tech.

A new provost is only one of many newly replaced positions on campus in the past year. With so much new blood on campus, we hope that it will be a catalyst of change that will improve campus, without losing the character of Tech in the process.

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 Emily Chambers, Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Saethang, Managing Editor Hahnming Lee, Business Manager

Jennifer Aldoretta, Entertainment Editor Vivian Fan, News Editor Nishant Prasadh, Sports Editor Kate Comstock, Focus Editor Kaitlin Goodrich, Opinions Editor

Matt Hoffman, Advertising Manager Kelvin Kuo, Photography Editor Siwan Liu, Layout Editor Reem Mansoura, Development Editor Craig Tabita, Online Editor/Editor Emeritus

EDITORIAL CARTOON BY SIWAN LIU

6

Friday, October 23, 2009

YOUR VIEWS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Gun control debate should have middleground options

The debate over university gun control laws has risen again in the national media and here in the Technique, bringing with it the usual arguments.

Many people feel threatened with potentially fatal weapons in the classroom, while others feel safer with the opportunity for self-defense.

But what if there were an option to answer both sides’ concerns?

Defensive tools like stun guns and pepper spray offer a reasonable alternative for personal safety, without creating a significant risk of serious injury.

Unfortunately under Georgia state law, no student can have a taser on campus, even if locked away in the glove compartment of their car.

When every year seems to bring another school shooting by a mentally unstable student, and when every third school email explains a mugging incident on the back steps of campus, it becomes clear that we need to find a practical solution to make everyone safer.

How differently could that day at Virginia Tech have been if one of those professors or students had been prepared for the unlikely?

And how would our campus crime statistics change, if criminals knew there was a good possibility of a painful jolt?

Georgia Tech does its best to keep students safe with the Stingerette and a very visible police patrol.

But what about those 10 minutes alone on the street in the middle of the night before the Stingerette arrives, or those dark walks back into Homepark?

Granted, there is a chance for misuse or abuse, but what if there was a police directed, safety training course?

Questions like these should be included in an expanded campus discussion, because we as a community need to find a practical solution to the right to feel safe on our university campus.

Lizzie Elbel Fourth-year ME

Internet grammar The Athletic Association shows solidarity with Tsquare’s difficulties

Technique

In “Peterson responds to the undergraduate white paper,” I noticed that the Technique doesn’t capitalize the word “Internet”.

Write to us:

letters@nique.net We welcome your letters in response to Technique content as well as topics relevant to campus. We will print letters on a timely and space-available basis.

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

I am aware that this is a growing practice in some publications and was wondering if this was the Technique’s official stance on the matter, or just a slip-up.

I am genuinely interested in this, so I’ll avoid an all out rant about how much I hate the dropping of capitals and punctuation in an effort to be trendy and cute.

I certainly wouldn’t complain if it were capitalized, though.

Thank you for your time.

Nic Reveles Fourth-year MGT

Response from the Editor While yes, grammatical convention accepts internet as a proper noun, in the context of an engineering and technical school it seems a bit silly to consider it as an individual, novel format.

Therefore we generally treat the word “ internet” much like radio or television, a technological medium and commodity that does not merit capitalization.

You will however, see instances of capitalization of the word at the discretion of our editors for emphasis or clarification, as our style guide does not dictate a hard and fast rule at this time, like say our rule to call our school only “Tech” or the “Institute”.

If you have any further questions on our style, feel free to refer to our style guide, which can be found at nique. net.

- Emily Chambers Editor-in-Chief

OPINIONS

Technique t 0DUPCFS t 7

Halloween just improves over time Even in the midst of all the mid-semester homework and tests on top of working and attempting to keep a somewhat balanced social life, there are still somehow things that make me extremely happy.

The month of October reduces my stress level significantly, and it still surprises me that a simple little change in a month can have such an effect on my mood and overall outlook of life.

As a Tech student, I need all the stress relief I can possibly get my hands on.

October is the month when the weather finally begins to cool down to a bearable (and sometimes even enjoyable) temperature. The leaves change colors, the breeze picks up and the outdoors becomes so incredibly pleasant.

It is my favorite month for these reasons and one other that is by far the very essence of the month: Halloween.

Everything about October just screams ghosts and goblins and witches.

There is a pumpkin on practically every doorstep, and those who are particularly huge fanatics of the holiday even go as far as decorating with spooky ghouls and robotic monsters meant to scare anyone who comes near.

It brings back many fond memories of trick-or-treating in homemade costumes and stuffing myself with sugar un-

“To put it quite simply, the month when the undead is celebrated makes me the happiest to be alive.”

Jennifer Aldoretta Entertainment Editor

til I felt completely satisfied and slightly sick to my stomach.

Halloween is one of the few holidays that hasn’t lost its magic as I’ve gotten older.

Growing up and learning that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny aren’t real changed the holidays for me and made sure that they were never quite the same.

Halloween, however, is still just as great and magical as ever. I can now watch scary movies that I wasn’t allowed to watch as a kid (even though I’m still just as scared of them as I used to be). I can still eat candy until I feel sick and I can still dress up in a costume and I don’t feel like I am too old for it.

Adult beverages definitely enhance the experience as an adult celebrating the holiday, but the childhood spirit is still fully there.

It’s not one of those holidays that people dread because they have to drag themselves home to spend tons of not-so-antic-

ipated time with their family.

It’s not one of those holidays, like Christmas, that loses its spark until you have children of your own to rekindle it. It is certainly not one of those holidays that you cannot celebrate unless you have a sweetheart.

Halloween makes me feel like a child again.

I get to dress up as whatever my heart desires (though for most women now involves a little less fabric than it used to), and I still have to explain to everyone what I am supposed to be as I eat myself into a sugar-induced coma.

Going to the pumpkin patch and picking out a pumpkin with the smell of hay in the air still brings as much enjoyment as ever.

As if Halloween night itself wasn’t great enough, the weeks leading up to it make October that much better. For me, it is filled with late-nights spent watching scary and often horrible movies that perhaps should have never made it to the big screen in the first place.

A few of the recently watched greats are Trick-orTreat, My Bloody Valentine 3D and The Thing. No matter how terrible or scary the movie, I am much more likely to watch it during October than I am throughout the rest of the year.

The spirit of the holiday helps me overcome the “scared-y cat” in me and I am able to watch movies I usually wouldn’t. (Sometimes I watch only through my fingers, but I watch them all the same).

As adults, not only can we watch movies that we weren’t allowed to as kids, but we can do other things as well. Halloween is almost improved by getting older, which doesn’t happen with other holidays.

We are now able to satisfy our need for adrenaline thrills by going to the scariest haunted houses in the state and paying to practically pee in our pants as we scream our insides out.

We can also pay to go get completely lost in a giant field of corn that has been cut into a maze.

The weather, the movies, the traditions, the spooky objects, the costumes and the candy all make the month of October my favorite of the entire year.

To put it quite simply, the month when the undead is celebrated makes me happiest to be alive.

Internet neutrality must be maintained For those of you unaware of what it is, Net Neutrality is the current debate raging between Internet Service Providers and online businesses and organizations. Recently the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) and the Obama adminstration have weighed in on the side of online businesses and organizations. More recently, Fox News and Glen Beck have weighed in on someone’s side, I am just not sure whose.

Normally it would be against my moral code to provide one more article to Mr. Beck’s Google searches, but in this case, due to the obscure nature of the debate he is warping, I will accept the karmic reduction and forge ahead. Neutral internet is the system that we have now. Endusers, meaning us, the citizenry, pay a rate per month for a certain speed of connection.

If you pay 30 dollars, you can get videos and text faster than the people who pay 15 dollars a month. The news from the AJC will get to you at about the same download speed as the news from us, and Skype will load at the same speed as MSN messenger.

Internet service providers have figured something out though. With the many innovations in internet speed and bandwidth, they can now control the download speed from different ISP addresses.

This means that the services providers can walk up to firms

Neutrality bill will protect the free speech rights of those smaller organizations. The step from paying for preferential bandwidth access to paying to eliminate bandwidth access for a content source is minisEmily Chambers cule. Bandwidth is an end-sum game, and by moving one conEditor-in-Chief tent provider up in the line, you will always move someone else down, and ultimately, off than welcome to offer various the list. As the internet has internet speeds, they cannot been ruled a free-speech zone peg content to certain speeds. of sorts, using preferential If an end-user has paid for business interests to reduce or high-speed internet, all con- eliminate the access of not-fortent available to that user on profits or small groups is and the internet must be broadcast would be censorship. at the same speed. Seems logiThe stimulus bill money cal, right? that has gone out to support Unfortunately, not to some broadband access has nothing people. According to the ISPs to do with net neutrality. That and their current blond and is a separate issue dealing with screaming mouthpiece, by funds that were accepted by protecting the access to the in- the service providers to expand ternet that end users get, after end-user access to the internet paying for that access, the Net that they now wish to double Neutrality bill will infringe dip into. on first amendment rights.

As a closing note, please According to the coalition understand that net neutralagainst neutral access, the goal ity is a minor political issue of regulating access speed has to most people, but as Tech something to do with subsi- students, students who will dizing broadband access. This manage internet start-ups or could not be farther from the work for online publications or truth. blogs, it is one that will affect By giving citizens the abil- all of our futures as end users ity to download “fringe orga- and business people. In order nizations” like The Christian to encourage a lively online Coalition (which has come business culture with low barout for Net Neutrality) at the riers to entry as well as protect same rate they can download free speech, the neutral platinformation and content from form of the internet must be major corporations, the Net maintained.

“If an end‐user has paid for high‐speed internet, all content should be available ...at that same speed.”

or organizations with online content and demand payment in exchange for priority in the race for bandwidth.

Yes, the free market would say that if the service providers are going to charge companies and organizations in order for their content to download, then they will only be able to do so if online firms are willing to pay. However, this is not the issue of ISPs offering a new service and waiting to see how much firms are willing to pay for it. In this debate, ISPs are effectively threatening a reduction in services rendered should firms not comply, and they are not even threatening their clients, but instead their business partners, the very firms whose content drives people to pay phone and cable companies for internet each month.

Legislation proposed to regulate this new business plan would place the FCC in charge of regulating internet service, much like it does radio or television. This legislation would state that while ISPs are more

!"##

!"#$%&'()*+$,

What do you think about Wingnuts moving?

Abhi Gukal Second-year BMED

“I don’t really go there anymore.”

Jackie Hicks Fifth-year MGT

“Oh no! That was a staple in my freshman year diet.”

Tamara johnson Fourth-year BIO

“It’s shutting down a bit of nostalgia from freshman year.”

Andy Bardagjy Fifth-year ECE

“It deeply saddens me.”

Photos by Joey Cerone

OPINIONS

t 0DUPCFS t Technique

OUR VIEWS HOT OR NOT

HOT– or –NOT VT victory

Tech had what will inevitably turn out to be a legendary Homecoming victory last weekend against VT. Not only did we beat a top five team at home for the first time in five years, but we managed to do it in the presence of all the alumni in town for homecoming, and we used the opportunity to fulfill the Tech tradition of taking down the goalposts in our excitement.

Trolly at Publix

For Tech students who depend on the Trolly to get groceries, it was always a point of frustration that the closest stop was at the MARTA, even though the route passes right

by Publix. Needless to say, much celebration followed the announcement that a stop will added at Publix. Now we will only have to drag our groceries to the curb instead of all the way down the block.

T-Square fail

T-square downtime has yet again plagued the lives of students this week. While it is always frustrating when TSquare decides not to work, now that it is midterm season, it causes altogether panic across the student population.

While the occasional hour or two of outage is understood, days of T-Square failure is completely unacceptable on all fronts.

Goalpost injuries

While we are all for tradition, it is never fun when people get injured and trampled in the process. With thousands of industrial engineers in the mob, we should have at least been able to carry off lowering goalposts and creating a flow of activity out of the stadium without injuring students in the process. We hope that everyone who was a casualty statistic recovers quickly.

Alumni enrich the experiences of students who reach out to them When I was a senior in high school faced with choosing a college, Tech did not become my top choice until I attended the UGA vs. Tech game in Bobby Dodd Stadium. My mind was easily made up as I left. This was not because Tech won, but rather because of my interaction with the people at the game.

As I observed the Tech alumni in their white and gold, cheering for their team with heart and energy, treating others with respect and exuding a sense of pride in their school, I knew I had identified a group I wanted to join. They were the peers I hoped to have in the future. It is this sense of pride I wanted to have for myself as I graduated.

Ambassadors is a student organization run through the Alumni Association. Part of our responsibility is to represent the student body to alumni, faculty, staff and visitors. We want to promote Tech for what it is today, better understand where is has been and partner with current initiatives to create a better and brighter future for the institution.

Through Ambassadors, I have had a variety of interaction with alumni and have been given a multitude of lessons from the alumni and their perspective on Tech. I think that the opportunity for partnership between Alumni and students starts while we are students.

They are able to communicate Tech’s past while we as students are able to describe the present and how we can work toward shaping the future together.

That perspective of the past is often the crucial link we miss as current students. There is a mindset that alumni-relations are only

technique

making friday lectures more interesting

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“Alumni relations don’t have to be as formal as they do intentional.

Alumni... are looking to connect with students.”

Emily Jackson President of GT Ambassadors

for when you graduate.

The reality is that building partnerships today enhances our time here. Seeing Tech through their eyes opens our eyes to opportunities for impact.

The alumni discuss the development of programs, ideas, values and organizations that have made a lasting impression on the school.

Hearing these is motivating for us to seek out chances to do the same. The example alumni set for us as students to life out while we are here as well as after graduation.

Alumni relations don’t have to be as formal as they do intentional. Alumni of Tech have pride, class and prestige and are looking to connect with students today to find those same traits.

Through the various interactions with Alumni there is a chance to find the similarities across gender, generation, discipline, affiliation and interest.

When we as students come to appreciate the experiences of Alumni, we can incorporate them into our lives as students today.

Building on past experiences gives us the chance to maintain momentum in learning, tradition and growth for the school.

They are able to teach us to appreciate what we have. They are the givers of the opportunities, celebrating student successes and

searching for ways to support the institution.

Alumni are seeking opportunities to support students. Alumni express an appreciation for the school developed through the perspective of looking back. They understand that the reputation of the degree they hold lies in the hands of students today. Alumni help you see the value of your education, even before you graduate.

Whether it is watching someone’s face light up when you say “go Jackets”, hearing about the legendary drown proofing or singing the fight song with someone you don’t know, the connection between Tech graduates and students is about finding common ground.

I have begun to understand that I am not just a yellow jacket for four years but for my lifetime.

Seeing alumni interact at events, ceremonies or just around campus there is a sense of family among them. There are few schools with a bond that has the depth like the “white and gold.” There is an instant connection you will have with anyone in the Tech community.

This loyalty unifies people around the world. Interacting with alumni gives you the chance to develop that sense of ownership and belonging, as well as see Tech through their eyes.

Focus

focus@nique.net Focus Editor: Kate Comstock

Organization Spotlight: Diversity Forum Georgia Tech forum on the promotion and discussion of diversity related issues.

Contact: www.involvement.gatech.edu

Big Brother is watching, and your little sister, Aunt Sally, too. And probably somewhere around 300 of your closest friends, come to think of it.

Nowadays, the idea of having your name pop up in a Google search isn’t going to send too many people into a panic.

If anything, it will most likely just spark a contest to see who can get the most results with their name. For most students, the biggest concern they have is making sure Mom doesn’t see that picture from last Friday night.

OIT, together with the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and Office of Student Affairs, is hosting a panel-discussion on the potential risks students unknowingly face when using social media sites.

The panel will take place in the Klaus Atrium between 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Oct. 29.

According to Richard Biever, Policy and Compliance Manager for the Information Security division of OIT, sites like Facebook, Twitter and

MySpace pose no threat to students when used correctly, but do have the potential to cause harm if left unprotected.

Biever said, “We recognize that a lot of folks are into social networking—Facebook, Twitter, Flickr—[but] there are a couple of issues here. One is your privacy online, and folks understanding that once they put information out online, it might not be theirs to control anymore.”

“Another is the whole relationship with employment and the fact that employers are checking all [these sites] now. The third gets into more the criminal aspect; you have to be very careful what you do, because [the same action] in different states could have different repercussions,” Biever said.

According to Biever, these risks can carry heavy implications. He cites the recent case of a Tennessee woman convicted of violating a restraining order for sending a Poke via Facebook.

With laws always changing, it’s incredibly important that students exercise a bit of common sense online.

That’s not to say that the other two aren’t important, though.

Dale Meyers, Systems Support Specialist at OIT and one of the panelists for the event, says that the privacy implications of social networking deserve more attention than most are giving them.

Meyers said, “There really is no way of avoiding privacy issues these days, but [you can protect yourself] by taking steps to look at all the settings available, and making sure that your computer is completely up to date, has active and up-to-date antivirus software, and has secure passwords.”

According to Meyers the same

a future of isolated humans who interact through robot surrogates, and followed it with dinner and discussion.

A second community, “Humor and Innovation,” is exposing its participants to various forms of comedy and making connections between humor and technical pursuits. The program’s leader is Pete Ludovice, a CHBE professor who uses humor not only to make lectures more interesting; he is a stand-up comedian who performs regularly at comedy venues around Atlanta.

Participant Jessica Arnold, second-year PSYC, enjoys being able to spend time with people who make her laugh and being able to make them laugh, but also hopes that developing her sense of humor will have professional applications. “I think [humor] helps me because in psychology you want people to be relaxed. If you can talk to them in a relaxed way and get them to laugh, that can be really good therapy,” she said.

Their Tuesday meeting was an improv workshop taught by Troy Halverson of the Relapse Theater. Guiding the students through a warmup, the exercises were intended to develop effective and believable interaction between improv performers. But

they might as well have been a crash course in being an effective communicator in any environment: maintain eye contact while speaking to someone; react to your partner’s statements rather than repeatedly talking about yourself or changing the subject; being too guarded out of fear of saying the wrong thing inhibits engaging and fluid conversation; excessive hand gestures can distract from your message.

Another community is called “Technology and Urban Outdoor Adventure”. Led by ECE professor Robert Butera, is described its theme as “outdoor recreation activities that can take place in an urban environment (i.e. within 10 miles of campus) with a subtheme of an awareness of how nature and man, via our urban develop-

By Chris Russell Staff Writer

!nl"ne se!ur"ty

OIT Security panel offers social networking safety tips

Illustration by Jarrett Skov

Technique

9

Friday, October 23, 2009

attitude should be taken towards any and all information posted online. No homeowners would post a sign in their front yard, declaring that a family vacation will result in the home being left unwatched for a week, yet Meyers says this is exactly what many are doing on social networks.

Meyers said, “Posting status updates that reveal your location are, I think, questionable… if you have the proper settings, I don’t think someone is going to go burgle your house. But, if you’ve got a wide-open profile, then, yes, you’ve definitely got a problem.”

Something that could be equally as costly is the possibility of employers discovering unflattering photos or information about potential hires. Meyers says that this, too, can be avoided easily enough, if users just took the time to adjust a few preferences.

Meyers said, “With employers also, we’ve seen a lot of talk about potential employers looking at Facebook, but, again, with the proper settings, you can keep eyes from seeing those things…It’s just not a glorious process, and most just don’t want to go in there to modify those settings…. There’s nothing to prevent employers from viewing the information, collecting the information, and keeping the information on record…once you’ve given that person that knowledge, it affects the entire interview process. While they can’t necessarily grade you on that on paper, in their mind, they’re already assessing you before they’ve even gone through the process of checking your true candidacy.”

Biever said that Tech frequentSee Security, page 12

ThinkBig communities connect students with faculty

By Craig Tabita Online Editor

A new housing option called ThinkBig has allowed students with a common interest to live together and participate in themed faculty-led group activities. While the program aims to enhance the college experience for its participants, organizers hope as it grows it may eventually be the cure for faculty-student disconnect all over campus.

The ThinkBig program was introduced for this school year with six living-learning communities on topics ranging from “Technology and Outdoor Urban Adventures” to “Humor and Innovation”. The communities meet once a week, typically in a book club or coffee house type setting, and there are monthly outings that depending on the group can include hikes, seminars, movies or comedy shows. The program lasts for the fall and spring and students pay $150 per semester to participate. There are no grades and all participation is voluntary.

About 200 students participate in the program currently, according to program organizer Dana Hartley, director of Undergraduate Academic Advising. She says she hopes that number will double

next year and increase from there.

“It’ll depend on students deciding they want to participate, but [the eventual goal is] 1000--enough students participating on campus to impact the culture and improve faculty student interaction,” Hartley said.

The program’s benefits are apparent to Christa Caesar, fourthyear BME and a housing resident advisor participating in a group titled “Human Alteration: How Far is Too Far?”. She was also a resident advisor last year and sees a difference in her residents. “[The students in the program] are so much more engaged and they know each other. They really feel part of something bigger outside of classes,” Caesar said.

“Human Alteration” is led

by Steve DeWeerth, a BME and ECE professor, and the group discusses “the societal, intellectual and ethical aspects of integration of human and machine,” according to its description. Its weekly meeting is a Tuesday night book club based on non-fiction works centered around human augmentation; they’re currently reading one called Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future. They also went to see the film Surrogates, which is based on

Photos courtesy of Robert Butera and Jeff Davis

ThinkBig participants aim to cure the faculty- student disconnect on campus with living-learning communities and studies on specific topics ment, interact.” His group’s activities have included a hike from the Tech campus to the Tanyard Creek park following the basin of the Tanyard Creek and the underground storm drain for Midtown and Downtown Atlanta which passes under Tech.

The “LEGO Robotics and Outreach” community, led by ECE professor Jeff Davis, is working towards hosting a robotics See Housing, page 11

FOCUS

t 0DUPCFS t Technique

CoC receives $1.4 million from NSF for outreach program

By Coby Lu Contributing Writer

Tech’s College of Computing received an additional $1.4 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its Georgia Computes! (GC) program to extend the program for another 2 years. GC, which was originally funded through a three-year long grant, is a statewide program working under the Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) program to improve computing education throughout all levels of education (from primary school to the undergraduate and post grad levels).

“Our main goal is to broaden computer science education,” said Dr. Mark Guzdial Professor at the College of Computing and principal investigator of GC. GC also has a focus on recruiting students typically underrepresented in the computing community. GC works to recruit minorities, women and persons with disabilities and develop an interest in computer science (CS) in them so that they will continue an education in CS. “This is important because computing technology surrounds us all the time and the way it is designed affects our day-to-day lives. A more diverse workforce can create computing applications that better meet the needs of the public,” said Dr. Amy Bruckman, associate professor at the College of Computing and coprincipal in-

vestigator of GC. GC’s strategy is to improve the overall quality of CS education.

They run workshops and summer programs at the middle and high school levels to make experiences with CS more interesting so students want to explore CS further at higher levels of education.

GC also works in high schools to increase the number and quality of CS classes by training CS teachers and improve the quality of the curriculum taught in high schools.

“There is evidence that the people most hurt by a bad education are those in a minority group, because they are already question ‘Do I belong here? Do I belong in this field?’ and when things are bad, they are most likely to say ‘oh I really don’t belong here.’

We’re trying to make computer education better and by doing so broadening those who study it,” Guzdial said.

GC intends to use the $1.4 million to implement new programs. They intend to set up more online training for teachers as well as improve the process of getting online certification to teach Computer Science.

“We currently teach high school teachers in summer programs and through workshops during the year but if we can get it online through webinars and such it will be easier for them to get training,” said Guzdial.

There will also be a big push to track the progress of students.

“One of the things NSF wants to know is all of this working? Are we actually making things better?

A teacher goes through the program and you would hope that they will be a better teacher and more students will be interested in CS but currently we don’t have any way of seeing if this is true,” said Guzdial.

Part of the plans for the next two years is to go through the University System of Georgia’s schools and survey the students in introductory CS courses to find out where if they took one of the GC workshops from a teacher that went through GC training.

GC also intends to use the $1.4 million to continue their existing programs which include helping other universities around the state start outreach programs.

The universities can then offer summer programs to middle and high school students in CC, teach workshops to university faculty on how to run these kinds of summer camps, workshops with girl scouts and YWCA and various programs for training for high school teachers.

Among the current programs is a project called Glitch. Glitch targets African-American teenage males, who, while usually displaying an interest in video games and sports games, typically do not pursue a career in computer science. Glitch attempts to leverage the passion of video games to an interest in CS. Glitch provides the opportuni-

Photo by Ben Keyserling/ Student Publications

The College of Computing received $1.4 million from the National Science Foundation for the Georgia Computes! outreach program ty for these young men to work as video game testers and write bug reports for companies. The work with video games is integrated with introductory CS and over time participants are prepared for an education in CS as opposed to simple video game testing.

GC received its initial threeyear grant in 2006. At the end of the next two years, GC can apply for yet another extension to support the program for another 5 years. If GC gets this money, they intend to expand the program to other close by states.

FOCUS

Technique t 0DUPCFS t 11

Student awarded prestigious Astronaut Scholarship

By Andrew Nelson Contributing Writer

From high school to his third year at Tech, as an AE, Jonathan Walker has contributed to his community in the name of science, and his deeds have recently been rewarded by a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF).

Astronaut Charlie Duke visited campus on Sept. 22 to present Walker with the scholarship on behalf of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Since 1987, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has awarded scholarships to science and engineering students exhibiting leadership, creativity and excellence in their field.

Walker has accomplished just that, researching spacecraft propulsion systems and tutoring grade-school children through the Center for Pan Asian Community Services.

The center is a nonprofit organization that contributes social and health services to immigrants, refugees and racial-ethnic minorities in Georgia facing difficulties.

Housing

from page 9

competition for middle school students in January. In the competition, which will take place on a playing field the group has built, competitors will have to clear a variety of mines from the course while leaving decoys untouched.

ThinkBig also took in the existing International House and the Women, Science and Technology communities. The “I-House”, led

by INTA professor Kirk Bowman, gives its participants an opportunity to experience international film, books, culture, and food.

“Women, Science and Technology” (WST) is led by LCC profes-

He says that a mastatus.” jority of his students Though the State and after-school of Georgia and other private contributors program particifinance the general pants are Hispanic, tutoring, Walker Vietnamese,and Burmost often pays for mese immigrants. his after-school proWalker’s research grams out of his own focuses on improving pocket, which he is efficiency and speed happy to do in the of propulsion systems name of science eduby accelerating ioncation. ized gases that could Assistant Promove the projectile fessor of Aerospace at speeds tens of kiEngineering, Dr. lometers per second.

Mitchell Walker, His current project who also heads the in this area is develHigh-Power Electric oping carbon nanoPhoto by Michael James / Student Publications tube cathodes, which Astronaut Charlie Duke awarded Jonathan Walker Propulsion Laboratory where Jonathan could obviate the use Walker works on of extremely hazard- with the $10,000 Astronaut Scholarship on Sept. 22 research, nominated him for the ous and limited, in the context on activity. of spacecraft applications, chemi“In one experiment, I put scholarship.

For the future, Walker is incals currently used in propulsion enough rockets on a sled to acsystems and greatly improve effi- celerate it to about 40mph, and I terested in NASA, and with the ciency. gave the kids very simple materi- Space Shuttle Program phasing Out of school, Walker tutors als to protect an egg that is trans- out by 2010 and the Constellation and teaches a science-enrichment ported by the sled,” Walker said, program taking over, preference after-school program for children “I like doing things for the kids for military-trained astronauts in middle and high schools. Meet- that they wouldn’t be able to do or has decreased as openings for ciings are often based around a cool see otherwise because of the dis- vilian engineers and scientists has science demonstration or hands- trict they’re in or their economic increased.

In fact, only four of the eight crew members of the last manned mission were current or former members of the military.

With a larger window opening for him, Walker feels that he could be on a space program crew in the future.

“You see actors as astronauts on television, and you think they’re really cool and wish you could be like them, but at the end of the day they’re just actors. But then I met Charlie Duke (a former astronaut who walked on the moon), who’s the real deal and furthered space exploration, and there was just no way to describe that kind of experience,” Walker said.

Should NASA not be his calling, he would consider working for private spacecraft technology companies like SpaceX. Walker plans to start on his masters degree next year at Tech and eventually work on a doctorate. He hopes to continue working in the same lab, working on his propulsion system projects, but with his masters and doctorate programs, he looks forward to learning and seeing what it’s like working in a lab everyday.

sor Carol Colatrella and describes its focus as “personal and professional issues for women students entering scientific and technological fields”. “[Becoming part of ThinkBig] has not been a dramatic change for the I-House,” Bowman said.

“The ThinkBig directors indeed used the I-House as a model, and have been nothing but inclusive and supportive of the I-House.”

Living-learning communities are widespread at universities around the country. According to Hartley, Tech’s implementation has two major distinctions from others. One is that while

last year more proposals from faculty came in than were able to be accommodated, and fewer students applied than she would have liked. But she cited the I-House and WST as living-learning communities that started small and now have to turn away applicants due to lack of space.

Signing up for ThinkBig is part of the spring housing registration process. It will not be known until spring which programs will be available, but Hartley has invited students to contact her with suggestions for faculty members who might make good community leaders.

sliver

www.nique.net

3057 has a teaching quality that should be acceptable only at UGA. Invite me to a DR and I will not have fun so I will drink all of your expensive beer and eat all of your food and leave a mess and not clean up even if you tell me to. haha, new southpark was awesome. am I the only Three Days Grace fan on the planet?

WE ARE GONNA BEAT VT!!1!one !!! i hope.

Please stop robbing us at gunpoint, gangstas. Please? a** get a life, your a bossy, servile, windbag I’m going to be RUNNING LIKE HELL on halloween...yay for 5Ks! my pandora login info is saved on at least 10 computers in LWC. I only listen to pandora when I pull all nighters. FML I love everyone on the football team even the guys who spray the Gatoraid bottles for the players on the sidelines GT RUBGY #1 in the state of Gerogia! slivers are the only writing i have elarned to do here beav, i want my spandex back lane’s legs are smoother than mine No one cares about Beav and lane, so stop slivering about. The only reason they did not get deleted is because we are lacking in sliver content.

SPAM=DELETED SLIVERS love the sliver master That’s right Beaver, you just got voted off the island, remember me? wed = 18-24 hour days, boo! foot powder reminds us of you. is that sad or cute? i <3 homecoming, NOT! to hell with georgia and their backwards ways no one understands sports editors : ( we do have EPIC returns! and we missed you guys too on our break

other universities’ programs cater to freshmen, ThinkBig targets sophomores and above since Tech already has the Freshman Experience program. This may have a negative effect on signups.

“A lot of students [who are sophomores and up] already have friends they want to live with,” Hartley said. “Even though they might be interested in a community, living with their friends might come first. So how can we intertwine people living with their friends and these communities?”

She said one possible answer is dedicating a tower of North Avenue Apartments to ThinkBig.

Another difference between Tech’s implementation and that of other universities is that faculty, whose salary pays them nine months of the year, receive an additional month’s pay for participating in the program. Hartley said this is one reason Tech has a high level of faculty participation compared to other schools, where participation is often voluntary. “[The pay] is a stamp of ‘Yes, this matters to Georgia Tech’...

We engage faculty at a level that other campuses can’t,” she said.

As a new program, the program is working on building awareness among students. Hartley said that

FOCUS

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Security

from page 9

ly gets requests from former students, asking that they take down old sites of theirs with embarrassing photos or content.

Mustaque Ahamad, Director of the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, agrees that it’s important for students to keep track of who has access to what information to prevent any access to unwanted information.

Ahamad said, “Once info is out, it’s out, and there’s no way to get it back.”

Bievers points out that, despite tending to be more tech savvy, having grown up with the Internet, younger people are less bothered by having large amounts of personal information available online.

Ahamad said that students aside from being okay with information available, the current generation actually further the availability.

Ahamad said, “I think younger people are more eager to share more information about themselves and their friends than pre-

vious generations.”

Despite the risks, both Meyers and Biever agree that social networks are incredibly useful tools, and don’t want to scare people off from them.

Meyers said, “There’s a lot of good in these social networks, [and] I don’t want to discourage people from using them, because they’ve got a really good foundation, and do add a great aspect of networking with colleagues that we’ve never had before.”

Ahamad said, “I think we need to do our part to stay safe in cy-

berspace the same way we exercise caution in the real world.

We need to keep in mind that there are very serious threats out there. Use caution and be smart about it. In the online world, everything may not be what it appears.”

Biever offers the same advice.

Biever said, “There’s a saying in the security world: Trust but verify. It’s the same situation with social networks.”

Six panelists are lined up for the event, representing several different ways of approaching the is-

sue. Shelley Hildebrand, senior attorney for Tech, will represent the legal aspects of social media and the risks and liabilities thereof.

From the professional viewpoint, Paul Judge of Purewire and Chris Rouland of Endgame Systems will be giving the industry perspective.

As mentioned before, Meyers of OIT will be at the discussion, and Ralph Mobley, Director of Career Services, and Kapil Singh, a PhD student in the College of Computing, will also be representing Tech.

technique the south’s liveliest college newspaper.

Entertainment

entertainment@nique.net Entertainment Editor: Jennifer Aldoretta Assistant Entertainment Editor: Richard Otis

Technique

13

Friday, October 23, 2009

Third Eye Blind reminisces with ‘90s pop hits

Photos by Kelvin Kuo/ Student Publications

By Richard Otis Assistant Entertainment Editor

Last Friday an old Homecoming concert tradition was brought back to life with Third Eye Blind supported by the Nashville-based Hot Chelle Rae at the Burger Bowl.

Fresh from the release of their first studio album in six years, Ursa Major, the three-piece alternative rock band from San Francisco has been on tour promoting the album as a comeback from the lukewarm reception their last album received in 2003.

Several hundred turned out

Third Eye Blind paired with Hot Chelle Rae at the Burger Bowl last Friday for a concert that made memories of our favorite ‘90s hits to come flooding back. They played new songs and old favorites. for the event, which, despite the threat of rain, went off without any major weather problems. The night was chilly but manageable with the appropriate attire. The ground, while damp, avoided the outright muddiness that could have turned the concert into a mess.

On a subtle note, credit goes to the concert organizers and stage crew for keeping the sound levels from the speakers at a reasonable level. Far too many venues confuse the “volume” knob for the

“awesome” knob, with the victim being people’s hearing. Rock concerts don’t have to be loud to be great, especially with a talented group like Third Eye Blind.

Opening act Hot Chelle Rae did an admirable job of warming up the crowd. They weren’t really anything particularly special, but they weren’t bad either. They sounded like the kind of band that rock music fans would not mind having on in the background.

Their music was well performed, well played and completely forget-

with no dinner. There he allows his imagination to roam free, and imagines he travels by boat to a far off island where he meets wild things who make him their king.

He eventually misses his mother and travels back to his room, where he finds dinner waiting.

The movie is a bit different.

While it does have the boisterous young boy Max, played by Max Records and his frazzled mother played by Catherine Keener, his problems seem to run deeper than just a young boy being too rambunctious. His sporadic mood swings from happiness to sadness to fury make it appear that he needs some real therapy. These erratic mood shifts most likely spring from feelings of neglect and resentment toward his mother and sister, who don’t really pay much attention to him.

His mother is divorced and single while his sister is indifferent to him. Max’s struggles early in the movie with both of these characters make it clear that this is not a light-hearted children’s movie, like most of the previews

portrayed. Instead it is one full of childhood angst.

To escape from his problems at home, Max sails away to an island of monsters. These wild things themselves also have a lot of issues.

Unlike in the book, where they are simply wild creatures, in Spike Jonze’s adaptation they come off as whiny, with their own personal issues and conflicts amongst each other. They are constantly fighting, and it gets tiresome as the movie goes on.

Max is able to convince the monsters to make him king instead of consuming him. They look to him as someone who can bring happiness to them, and are upset when he can’t. Max grows tired of trying to control them and misses his mother, so he journeys back home.

While some parts are a bit slow because of tedious conflicts and continuous outbursts of fighting, it is interesting to note how this alternate universe seems to parallel Max’s world at home. The

table. The crowd mostly seemed interested in getting the headliners on stage anyway. After an hour plus some additional setup time, Third Eye Blind was ready to perform.

Lead singer Stephan Jenkins went so far as to announce early on, “I love it when you sing along.

We’re all in the band tonight.”

Sorry Stephan, but if we’re all “in the band,” then the average talent level of a Third Eye Blind band member just went into the toilet. The price of admission was

to hear you, not to find out which twelve of my fellow classmates can scream “I would understand!” the loudest. For the record, it was a tie between everybody.

“That guy,” also apparently in attendance, was the one that felt the need to remind Jenkins and the rest of the band between every song to “Play ‘Jumper!’ Play ‘Jumper!’” until they mercifully did. Thanks, “that guy,” for reminding them. I’m sure they were planning on skipping one of the perennial songs of the ‘90s until you heroically stepped in.

See Third, page14

Jonze’s Wild Things vision strays from innocence FILM

Where the Wild Things Are GENRE: Adventure, Fantasy, Family STARRING: Max Records, Pepita Emmerichs, James Gandolfini and Paul Dano DIRECTOR: Spike Jonze RATING: PG RELEASED: Oct. 16, 2009

!!

OUR TAKE: !!!"

By Patricia Uceda Contributing Writer

Where the Wild Things Are is a movie based on the classic children’s picture book of the same name by Maurice Sendak.

The book is short, running only 338 words, and tells the story of a young boy named Max with an overactive imagination who loves being wild and adventurous.

One night he goes too far and his mother sends him to his room

See Wild, page 15

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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from page 13

At least no one was clamoring for “Semi-Charmed Life” because no one can remember the actual name of that song and I’m sure it would have been “Doo doo doo!

Doo doo doo!” all night long until they played it. Clearly, Third Eye Blind’s penchant for catchy music is a double-edged sword.

Crowd pandering is a big part of being successful, and I recognize that in this post-Bit Torrent economy, showing people a good time during live shows so they buy your schwag is more important than ever, but if it’s gotten to the point where you’re not even singing whole verses of your most popular songs because the crowd’s already doing it, what’s the difference between a Third Eye Blind concert and a flash mob of Third Eye Blind fans? $8, apparently.

Jenkins even showed off his sense of humor with a musical interlude of Nelly’s “Ride wit Me.” Considering the crowd noticed and still sung along, students either have a highly developed sense of irony or people will do anything that a person on stage with a band and microphone tells them.

That’s not to say that it was a bad show by any stretch. Third Eye Blind is still Third Eye Blind, and anyone who remembers listening to their 1997 self-titled debut or even just tuned in to an American radio station any time in the late ‘90s will recall the band with the distinctive singer that produced catchy, classic hits like “Jumper,” “Narcolepsy” and “Semi-Charmed Life.”

That was the same caliber that the campus was treated to last Friday night. All the right notes were struck both literally and metaphorically. Jenkins sounded just as good as he did on Third Eye Blind’s studio albums ten years ago. By any tangible measure it was a great night for music and a great night for the band.

Underrated comedy found in 30 Rock TELEVISION

30 Rock NETWORK: NBC WHEN: Thursdays @ 9:30 p.m.

GENRE: Comedy STARRING: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan

OUR TAKE: !!!!!

By Zheng Zheng Staff Writer

Despite winning the Emmys in the “Outstanding Comedy Series” category three years in a row along with a plethora of major prestigious awards for the show and its cast members, NBC’s 30 Rock is one of the most underappreciated programs on television (if ratings are any indication).

The fourth season premiere of 30 Rock, which aired last week during its regularly scheduled time (Thursdays, 9:30 p.m.), continued the thankless effort of entertaining while hoping one day of receiving its deserved attention.

Traditionally, 30 Rock has always fallen under the shadows of that other, more popular Thursday night comedy series, The Office, which comes on in the time slot right beforehand on NBC. In fact, many speculations led to believe that the show’s original fans were those who left the television on for too long after watching Steve Carrell’s 30 minutes of mischief.

However, the simple truth is that the show is more than just a closing act. It is a great comedy series perfectly capable of standing on its own and earning the recognition that it rightfully deserves from viewers.

Created by and starring Tina

Fey, 30 Rock is grounded comically in the tradition of Saturday Night Live (SNL) as the show is produced by SNL executive producer and entertainment giant Lorne Michaels and stars SNL favorites like Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan.

Furthermore, the stories revolve around the cast and crew of a televised sketch comedy program, The Girlie Show, and the show’s head writer, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey). Because the show so shamelessly hearkens back to Fey’s own days as SNL’s head writer, the show often contains political remarks as well as reference to pop-culture in order to enhance the show’s humor value.

The unique humor is noticeably different from that of other comedy series, which could account for both of the show’s lack of a substantial audience and its critical acclaim.

Rather than over-the-top slapstick humor often found within many contemporary comedy programs, it takes a relatively subtle approach in achieving smart and relevant comedy.

Instead of ridiculing stupidity or absurdity in a way that is condescending to the show’s audience, the tales are instead inspired by the ironies in life, love, and friendships. As a result, the characters are laughable but not looked down upon by the audience as they are very relatable.

However, the show’s quick wit can be easily missed as most of the humor takes more work than just that cursory first glance to fully understand. This has proven unpopular with today’s audience who seems to be solely interested in instant gratification when it comes to their comedy.

What they fail to realize is whereas those great one-liners will quickly fade away from their

Image courtesy of NBC Studios

memories, clever insightful remarks will last much longer and be much more impactful.

If the other comedies series out there are popular fast food chains, it is a fresh home-cooked meal.

While it may take much longer to prepare, it is always different and much more substantial in the end.

Overall, the unique style of the show, not found much elsewhere in today’s televised comedy shows, is both its greatest strength and weakness.

It is a fantastic comedy series, one that is severely undervalued and definitely recommended to those who can indulge themselves in clever jokes rather than humor inspired from absurdity and chaos.

Even so, for those others who think that they prefer more popular forms of entertainment, 30 Rock might just change their mind and introduce them to a different style of slow-cooked, flavorful comedy.

technique

making friday lectures more interesting

ENTERTAINMENT

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Caillat stays in shell at Variety concert

By Chris Ernst Staff Writer

Singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat played at the Variety Playhouse on Oct. 19, with opening acts Trevor Hall and Howie Day. It seemed the crowd was mostly thirty-something women and the people who love them. Caillat’s music is not specific to the female experience, but it definitely speaks to women more than men.

Trevor Hall’s half-baked dreadlocks and affected speech are only appreciable in a small niche.

He never musically did anything particularly interesting. The sound of his music is rather bland and unoriginal. He plays acoustic, island-inspired music prolific in tropical areas. His voice is surprisingly good, albeit limited. What he can do he does well, but there is not much that he can do.

Howie Day was second on stage. He too plays pretty bland acoustic music, but he is very aware of his medium, which he exploits very well. He played an electric acoustic guitar, which he knows is different than an acoustic guitar. He played with the electric part of the guitar by hitting the guitar itself in different places to make a drum-like sound.

Just by making loops with the guitar, he can make music beyond what a regular acoustic guitar can.

He recorded short loops of him playing and banging on his guitar and layered them.

This was very entertaining and it was really neat to be able to see him record a brand new song, live, and hear the final product. He used the electric acoustic guitar and the speaker system to record and play a song that would otherwise not exist. It was a cool art

moment.

Caillat did not immediately come out on stage and instead let her band play around for a while first. This was a very pronounced characteristic of her show; she did almost anything to distract the audience from herself.

She included her band as much as possible into the act so she could hide. During instrumental breaks, which were very long, she would wander around the stage and almost physically hide behind her band.

She said she used to hate performing, but now she loves it and “looks forward” to each concert.

She does not seem to genuinely enjoy herself very much, though.

Whenever she was not specifically talking to the audience or reacting to something unpredictable, her entire presence seemed forced.

Even the heartfelt confessions all

Photos by Joey Cerone/ Student Publications

Colbie Caillat performed at Variety Playhouse on Oct. 19. Her opening acts Howie Day and Trevor Hall opened up, while Caillat never seemed to quite come out of her shell and open up to the crowd.

The economy sucks.

Free pizza rations on Tuesdays.

7 p.m., Flag 137, Technique

were somehow strained. She never really seemed to mean much of what she said.

She also seemed uncomfortable with what she was wearing.

She acted like she usually wears casual, comfortable clothes without makeup. She seemed dolledup and not really representing her personal style. Her uncomfortableness in her clothes, coupled with her awkwardness made her whole performance seem surprisingly long. Her movements and dancing seemed practiced and routine, and her banter with band mates seemed tired, all leaving that something special to be desired.

The audience wants a unique experience, but instead was served an iteration of a show wellplanned and heartlessly executed.

Whenever she was in the spotlight, she never really came out of her shell. She always seemed to be just a little too far away. She failed to connect with the audience. Some audience members, however, really wanted that connection and would have been satisfied with anything. So unless the audience met her more than halfway, there was too great a distance between Caillat and the audience to really bring her across the footlights.

She had a lot of trouble singing. She sang by listening and blending. She was helped several times by backup singers back onto track. She was all over the place and was most confident when she was with the band (behind them, really).

Caillat played guitar on one song and ukulele on another.

Here, she excelled, and could have easily hid her weak vocals and stage presence with her playing ability, rather than randomly accenting her performance with a brief respite of comfort. Behind the wall of an instrument, Caillat seemed to open up a bit more, and it was disappointing when the show ended after only two such performances.

The real performer of this show was Howie Day. He was solid musically and interesting personally.

He genuinely talked to the audience and gave them a unique experience. Colbie Caillat was shy and reserved and is not a showman by any means.

Wild

from page 13

monsters enjoy doing the same things he does for fun, on a much larger scale.

He enjoys building forts and having snowball fights, and on the island they all decide to build a huge fort together and also have mud-clod fights.

Some of their relationships also mirror his at home, such as the character of KW, voiced by Lauren Ambrose, who is distancing herself from the group of wild things in favor of new friends she has made, much like his own sister back at home.

Additionally, each wild thing seems to represent a part of Max’s own personality, with Carol, voiced by James Gandolfini, being Max’s own basic self without any cultural restraints.

What makes up for this movie’s slow depressing moments are its wonderful cinematography and scenery, as well as the few moments of complete elation. There are several moments where he is having so much fun that you can’t help but smile, such as when he is throwing snowballs at his sister and her friends, or when he and the wild things are running wildly through the woods.

Unfortunately, they are too quickly followed by moments of unhappiness and discord. Another wonderful aspect of this movie is the amazing sound track. All of the songs were carefully chosen

by Jonze to accurately convey the whimsical nature of childhood.

Overall, this movie does a decent job of bringing Maurice Sendak’s classic to life. The acting, cinematography and sound track are all commendable. Jonze is able to accurately portray what childhood is, from the quick emotions to tantrums to imagination.

Despite the marketing campaign aimed towards young audiences, this movie is undeniably more of an adult movie than a children’s movie. Adults will be able to use it as a means to reflect on their own childhoods, whereas children will just be bored in its depressing parts and scared in the more frightening parts.

What bogs this movie down are its tedious conflicts and long periods of staring that directors often add to deepen the effect of an emotional scene, but in the case of this movie, it just makes it more dull.

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THEME CROSSWORD: DON’T MENTION IT

By Robert Zimmerman United Features Syndicate ACROSS 1. Pack 5. Red wine 10. Conspiracy 15. French cleric 19. Church part 20. Opera by Gioacchino Rossini 21. Character created by 9 Down 22. Horse’s color 23. Start of a quip by anonymous: 6 wds.

27. Something mined 28. Sketch 29. Gypsy gentlemen 30. Fries 31. Appears gradually: 2 wds.

33. Soil deposit 34. Exhaust 35. In medias 36. Attar 37. “To form - - perfect union” 39. New Deal org.

42. Part 2 of quip: 3 wds.

47. Vetoes 48. Talk 49. Privileged one 50. Well done!

51. Swirled 53. Nimbus 54. Word in a palindrome 55. George - Welles 57. Molding edge 58. Gawked 59. Moniker for a brain 61. Bangkok native 62. Awn 63. Part 3 of quip: 2 wds.

65. Part 4 of quip: 2 wds.

68. Separate out 71. Angers 73. Of a continent 77. Cloudless 78. - macabre 80. Wand 81. - -Magnon 82. Make unstable 83. Gloomy Gus 84. Kind of historian

85. Homophone for seize 86. Plastic - Band 87. Beast 88. Part 5 of quip: 2 wds.

92. Party mem.

93. Exactness 94. Crowbar 95. Stat in baseball 96. Relative of a pearl 98. “Beau -” 101. Clever remark 105. Savage 107. Grade 108. River in England 109. - Lilly and Co. 110. End of the quip: 7 wds.

115. Lip 116. The Little Mermaid 117. Sheets of stamps 118. Pome 119. Graphic representation of lineage 120. Thugs 121. Unmatched things 122. Gaelic

DOWN 1. - - averages 2. La Scala presentation 3. Inquired 4. Hideout 5. Maudlin 6. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin 7. Doctor’s order 8. Turn - - dime 9. Charles Dodgson 10. Confines 11. City in Italy 12. Kind of player 13. Edict

14. Like the idle rich 15. Contend 16. Pull up by one’s 17. Bundle 18. Tips 24. Certain Georgian 25. Ocellus 26. Identifies 32. White-tailed eagle 33. Kind of fine paper 34. Vulpine creatures 36. A tea 38. DI + DII

40. Manservant 41. Footless creatures 42. “What fun!”

43. Mata 44. Regular 45. Fluorescent dye 46. Slangy affirmative 52. Outlines 53. Something sometimes split 55. Different 56. Check 58. Creaking sound 60. Cookout fare

61. Laconic 62. - -American 64. Plant also called teaberry 66. Neighboring 67. - -frutti 68. Young haddock 69. Unauthorized copy 70. Payment 72. Architect - Saarinen 74. Frosted 75. Bailiwick 76. Like busybodies

78. Moolah 79. Horseless carriage 80. Rail in a dance studio 83. Cost: 2 wds.

85. Carpet pile 87. Plant part 89. Lively: hyph.

90. Bottle up 91. - and true 97. Having a notched edge 99. Noblemen 100. Jeanne d’Arc, e.g.

101. Down source 102. Direct 103. New name 104. Bishop’s headdress 105. Hand over 106. River in the Tyrol 108. English queen 111. Spanish gold 112. Story of a kind, for short 113. Form of “John” 114. Unclose: archaic

t 0DUPCFS t Technique

PILED HIGHER & DEEPER BY JORGE CHAM

CROSSWORD SOLUTION FROM PAGE 21

COMICS

NON SEQUITUR BY WILEY

COMICS

NON SEQUITUR BY WILEY

DILBERT 速 BY SCOTT ADAMS

Technique t 0DUPCFS t 19

Technique t 0DUPCFS t

SPORTS

Volleyball

GSPN QBHF

Virginia Tech then closed out the match, stringing together several brief runs and winning the final five points to take the set 25-11.

The Jackets struggled offensively. Tech had 21 attack errors and hit .098 as a team. Hunter and Mead each had 10 kills, but only one other player–senior outside hitter Chrissy DeMichelis–

had more than two.

The next day in Charlottesville, the Jackets fared better in a fourset victory. Mead had a kill and two service aces in the early going, and the Jackets built an early lead and took the first set 25-17.

The second set went back and forth, but Virginia prevailed 25-20 to tie the match. Tech responded quickly, as DeMichelis and Hunter combined for nine kills in Tech’s 25-15 victory.

The Jackets prevented the

Cavaliers from taking the lead in the final set, and DeMichelis registered 10 kills in the set as Tech won 25-21 to clinch the match.

DeMichelis was the star for Tech, with 20 kills and a .500 hit percentage. She added three digs and three solo blocks. Hunter’s 10-kill performance marked the 16th consecutive game in which she had posted double-digit kills.

Junior setter Mary Ashley Tippins had a double-double as she recorded 49 assists and 12 digs.

Staff Picks

Oct. 24

Prasadh (67-61)

Cappetta (70-58)

Hoffman (67-61)

Lee (64-64)

Staff (71-57)

#1 Florida (-24.5) vs. Mississippi State

UF

UF

UF

UF

MSU

#2 Alabama (-17) vs. Tennessee

UA

UA

Tenn.

Tenn.

Tenn.

Mizzou

Mizzou

Mizzou

Mizzou

Mizzou

#4 Boise State (-24) vs. Hawaii

BSU

BSU

Hawaii

BSU

BSU

Louisville vs. #5 Cincinnati (-17)

Cinn.

Cinn.

UL

UL

Cinn.

#6 Iowa vs. Michigan State (pick ‘em)

Iowa

Iowa

Iowa

Iowa

Iowa

Oregon State vs. #7 USC (-20)

USC

Ore. St.

Ore. St.

Ore. St.

USC

#8 TCU vs. #16 BYU (pick ‘em)

TCU

BYU

BYU

TCU

BYU

Auburn vs. #9 LSU (-10.5)

LSU

LSU

LSU

AU

LSU

Miami

Clem.

Clem.

Miami

Clem.

#11 Oregon (-5.5) vs. Washington

UW

Ore.

UW

UW

UW

#13 Penn State (-4) vs. Michigan

UM

Penn St.

UM

UM

UM

#15 Oklahoma State (-10.5) vs. Baylor

OSU

OSU

OSU

OSU

OSU

SMU vs. #17 Houston (-17)

Hou.

Hou.

SMU

Hou.

Hou.

Air Force vs. #18 Utah (-8)

Utah

Utah

Utah

Utah

Utah

Minnesota vs. #19 Ohio State (-17)

Minn.

Minn.

Minn.

Minn.

Minn.

South Florida vs. #20 Pittsburgh (-7)

USF

Pitt.

USF

Pitt.

Pitt.

UCLA vs. #22 Arizona (-8)

Ariz.

Ariz.

UCLA

Ariz.

Ariz.

Connecticut vs. #23 West Virginia (-7)

WVU

UConn

WVU

UConn

UConn

Vanderbilt vs. #24 South Carolina (-13)

SC

Vandy

SC

SC

SC

Oklahoma (-7.5) vs. #25 Kansas

OU

KU

OU

KU

OU

#3 Texas (-16.5) vs. Missouri

Clemson vs. #10 Miami (-7.5)

* Starting this week, the BCS rankings will be used in place of the AP poll rankings.

sliver

www.nique.net

ethicspoint holy christ, still no archives. xoxo Gossip Girl up with the white and gold god a** get a life you are such a bosy buisybody Why are so many venues 21+!! I’m gonna try to get in anyway.

It’s worth it. y that little girl on the windows 7 commercials cant be black? y the smart girl gotta be asian?? i wish people would actually stop by the CRC during swim meets, maybe then we would have as many spectators as the away teams say anything is a joke band right? “i hate everybody” come on but then again I thought 3dg “pain” was a parody at first too, oops Dear GTPD. Do your job. Campus is safe, homepark is not How many Tech grads does it take to get police in homepark?

Answer: 1. The one that finally gets killed 12 Muggings since summer in homepark. You decide. cloudman is the best dorm ever Chels, I don’t know who you are, but THANKS for the amazing music via sharing on iTunes. tech must not hire their own graduates to engineer their drainage systems around campus because everywhere I walk in the rain is one giant puddle Sean K is so mean he laughs and doesn’t share the joy cold pizza is gross but he is an honorary memmber of the nique staff even though this pokemon quiz score is 4 Brittain needs a smoking section, so i can get my smoke one while i get my coke on.

I’m having withdrawal sympotoms!! I miss the Technique!!

Why is the Ramblin’ Reck Parade so early? The game isn’t until 6 PM!! so now we get both a weekly email and a daily email from tech?? as if they didn’t spam us enough already...

Option

GSPN QBHF

Johnson’s history would suggest otherwise: after his slow start at Navy he averaged almost nine wins a season while guiding the team to five straight bowl games.

The Jackets have built on the success last season, and with the development of junior quarterback Josh Nesbitt and junior wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, opposing defenses now must also account for the deep pass. Thomas leads the ACC in yards and yards per catch; he has already matched his 621-yard output in 2008 with 672 receiving yards this season.

Nesbitt has accumulated an efficiency rating that would rank with the top 25 quarterbacks in the nation if not for his limited number of attempts. He has also been more effective in the running game, gaining more than 90 yards rushing in all but two games this year. As defenses scheme to shut

down junior B-back Jonathan Dwyer, Nesbitt has taken advantage and proven to be very effective as a runner and a distributor.

The rushing game has also added running backs who have provided offense weapons along with Nesbitt and Dwyer. Junior A-back Anthony Allen, a transfer from Louisville, is on pace for over 600 yards and is averaging 11.5 yards per carry.

In the recent historic wins over Virginia Tech and Florida State, the Jackets have scored a combined 77 points and racked up over 700 yards of rushing offense. The offense has been as effective as ever this season, helping to overcome a defense that carried the team at times last year but has struggled in 2009. Tech is currently 6-1 with the most difficult part of its schedule already complete. If the Jackets were to win four of their last five games, they would have just their fifth doubledigit win since 1956.

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Anthony Allen dodges North Carolina defenders at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Allen is third on the team with 373 rush yards this year.

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GSPN QBHF Virginia Tech finally got on the board with a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter. On the second play of the Jackets’ ensuing drive, Nesbitt hit Thomas for Tech’s lone completion, a 51-yard strike to reach the Hokies’ 13-yard line.

“It wasn’t supposed to go to him...[but] I saw the 1-on-1, and [I] knew he would come down with it,” Nesbitt said.

Five plays later, Nesbitt scored on a quarterback sneak to give the Jackets a 7-3 lead, and the score remained that way at the half.

The Jackets only amassed 88 total yards of offense in the first half, but made adjustments at halftime and were much more effective in the second half.

“They played the second half the same way they played the first.

We got the reads right and everyone went in the right direction,” Johnson said.

“They did some things we hadn’t seen before...[but] Coach Johnson put us in position to make some blocks, and it worked,” said redshirt junior center Sean Bedford, who was named ACC Lineman of the Week.

On the Jackets’ opening drive of the second half, big runs from redshirt junior A-back Anthony Allen and Nesbitt set up Nesbitt’s second touchdown, a 1-yard keeper that put the Jackets up 14-3.

The defense stopped the Hokies on a fourth-and-short situation, but the Jackets were unable to capitalize. Virginia Tech intercepted a pass to sophomore receiver Tyler Melton, and Hokie running back Ryan Williams ran 66 yards untouched on the next play to cut the lead to 14-10.

On the kickoff, freshman Aback Orwin Smith accidentally knocked over sophomore A-back Embry Peeples as both lined up to catch the kickoff, forcing Tech to start from their own 14.

It was one of many special teams problems for the Jackets.

They struggled on kick coverage as well, allowing 30 yards per return.

“It’s a mess....It almost cost us the game,” Johnson said.

Still, the Jackets sustained their longest drive of the day, a 12-play, 86-yard march that took 6:28 off the clock and ended with sophomore A-back Marcus Wright’s 13yard touchdown run.

“We had our backs against the wall... and [Nesbitt] engineered an 86-yard drive to take the momentum back,” Johnson said.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Jackets sustained another 12-play drive, but a Nesbitt pitch went off-target and ended up in the Hokies’ possession. The Hokies capitalized, going 77 yards on six plays to score.

The failed conversion attempt left the Jackets remained ahead 21-16.

The Jackets extended the lead on the next drive. On a third-andseven from the Virginia Tech 39, Nesbitt broke free on a keeper and ran down the left sideline to score his third touchdown of the day, giving the Jackets a 28-16 lead.

Virginia Tech answered quickly, with Taylor following the short kickoff by going four-for-four passing and throwing a touchdown to Williams to cut the lead to 28-23. The Hokies attempted an onside kick, but Jackets redshirt sophomore cornerback Jerrard Tarrant made a leaping catch.

The Hokies had used all three of their time-outs on the Jackets’ previous drive, so Nesbitt kneeled three times to seal the victory.

With the win, the Jackets rose to No. 11 in the AP poll and were No. 12 in the initial BCS standings. The team also moved into a three-way tie for second place in the ACC Coastal Division with Miami and Virginia Tech.

“We know we already have a loss, and I don’t think you can win [the Coastal Division] with two...What we did tonight was stay alive and put everyone else back in it,” Johnson said.

TINY TRADITIONS: MINI 500

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Second-year PTFE Kayla Murray of the Alpha Phi sorority was one of 50 racers in the Mini 500. The winners were Theta Xi (fraternity), Phi Mu (sorority), CCF (independent), and Towers (residence hall).

sliver

www.nique.net

vodafone I need a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m in that thang like a Nuva Ring mf...you whore...get your hands off my sliver hey squirrels...mf is an evil person mf you are more miserable than russel brand AND katy perry COMBINED clough learning center bear fish If you answered yes to any of these questions you may be a woman and/or teen please stop robbing us, gangstas. love, the tech community xoxoxo The Team Buzz organizers care more about making college kids wake up early than actually helping people in Atlanta -- starting later than 8am would get a lot more participants.

RHA should get a real DJ next time they put on a party.

Why do I even bother with the 75 meal plan? There’s no way I’ll ever use all those meals at this rate.

ACM LAN Party is where it’s at. 8/24 Tiësto. redheads ftw.

“Momma gave me 15 flapjacks this morning and i said momma take five of those back i wanna stay HONGRY FOR THE CRIMSON TIDE” -Brett Farve Dear guy in the CoC Commons playing an online game while chatting to players via microphone, take your loud ass elsewhere, no one cares.

Instead of checking out a girl’s chest or butt, now I check out girl’s stomachs. If it’s coming out over your belt, sorry. lightning! ja Im sorry Rishi Kale. I cant do this anymore.

Nesbitt>>Ball I think Josh Nesbitt wanted to win more than the whole FSU team put together losing to the Vols is sad.

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GEORGIA TECH at VIRGINIA - OCT. 24 (12 PM) After handing the Hokies their first ACC loss last weekend in front of a capacity crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium, the No. 12 Jackets look to keep their ACC championship hopes alive as they travel to Charlottesville to take on the Cavaliers. Saturday’s 28-23 win was the first time Tech defeated the Hokies at home since 1990, which was also the last year that the Jackets beat Virginia on the road.

The victory over Virginia Tech was big for the Jackets, establishing them as contenders for the ACC championship and perhaps a BCS bid. The defense played fairly well, surpassing expectations after lackluster showings against Mississippi State and Florida State the previous two weeks. Utilizing a simplified scheme and an effective pass rush, the Jackets forced four punts, grabbed two interceptions and contained Hokie quarterback Tyrod Taylor enough to come away with a win.

The offense had a strong performance against Virginia Tech. Junior quarterback Josh Nesbitt went just 1-for-7 through the air with an interception, but his one completion went for 51 yards. The ground game, Tech’s bread and butter, was increasingly effective as the game went on and powered the team to victory. Nesbitt led the rushing category again for the Jackets, racking up 122 yards and three touchdowns. Junior B-back Jonathan Dwyer was next with 82 rushing yards, followed by redshirt junior Aback Anthony Allen at 59 yards. Sophomore A-back Marcus Wright added a 13-yard touchdown run.

The biggest concern after last week’s game is the special teams unit. On kickoffs, the Hokies averaged 30 yards per return, while Tech’s return team only averaged 15.7 yards. The punting game was also mediocre, as the Jackets averaged just 34.5 yards per punt, but fortunately the Hokies only averaged 35 yards per punt. Still, Head Coach Paul Johnson highlighted special teams— particularly kick coverage—as an area that needs improvement.

As they vie for the top position in the Coastal Division, Saturday’s game will be crucial for the Jackets. The Cavaliers are 2-0 in the ACC and currently sit atop the division, while the Jackets (4-1 ACC) are tied for second with Miami and Virginia Tech. In order to oust Virginia, the Jackets will need to continue to play as they did last week, relying on the ground game and getting big stops from the defense. If those things happen, and the special teams perform better, the Jackets have a good chance to end their Charlottesville losing streak and improve to 7-1 overall on the season.

VS.

Virginia hosts the No. 12 Jackets on Saturday with a chance to upset a top-15 team and gain control of the ACC’s Coastal Division.

The Cavaliers have only played two conference games, but they are the only team undefeated in ACC play to date, so they control their own destiny in the race for the Coastal Division title.

Last year, Virginia was the only team to beat Tech in Bobby Dodd Stadium. Cavalier quarterback Marc Verica threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, and the Jackets had trouble stopping running back Cedric Peerman. The then-senior Peerman finished the game with 118 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.

Virginia enters Saturday’s game with momentum; the Cavaliers have rebounded from an 0-3 start to win three straight games. The Cavaliers lost their first three games by a combined score of 93-62, including a season-opening loss to FCS school William & Mary. Since then, though, the team has rebounded to win its last three by a combined 83-19. The Cavaliers took down North Carolina 16-3 on the road, rolled past Indiana 47-7 at home and topped Maryland 20-9 in College Park last weekend to reach .500 on the season.

Virginia is led by left-handed senior quarterback Jameel Sewell, who missed all of last season due to an academic suspension.

Sewell showed signs of rust in his first two games, but he threw for 300-plus yards against Southern Miss and Indiana. Sewell is also a threat to run and has four rushing touchdowns this season. He left the game against Maryland with an ankle injury but should be ready for Saturday.

Senior running back Mikell Simpson has performed well as the new starter. When Simpson has done well, Virginia has done well; Simpson had a total of 64 yards in the three losses, but over his last two games he has rushed for 183 yards and five scores.

Even with Virginia’s offensive success this season, their greatest asset has been their defense. Virginia’s defense is third in the ACC with 18.7 points allowed per game and 293.8 total yards allowed per game, and the unit has held each of the team’s last three opponents to fewer than 10 points. The Cavaliers are led on defense by junior cornerback Ras-I Dowling. Dowling was a preseason All-ACC selection and has improved from week to week. He had nine tackles, a sack and an interception against Indiana, and he is third on the team in tackles with 31. Dowling also has a forced both a fumble and a fumble recovery this season.

PREDICTION: Tech 35, UVA 21

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Bailey Hunter bumps the ball at Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keefe Gym. Hunter leads the Jackets in total kills.

Volleyball splits ACC games versus Va. teams

By Steven Cappetta Assistant Sports Editor

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Josh Nesbitt breaks into the open field en route to a fourth-quarter touchdown. For the second straight game, Nesbitt led the team in rushing, picking up 122 yards on the ground and three touchdowns as the Jackets amassed 309 rushing yards in the 28-23 victory.

Jackets win homecoming game over No. 4 Hokies

By Nishant Prasadh Sports Editor

Tech football improved to 4-0 at home and avenged last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s early-season loss to Virginia Tech by defeating the No. 4 Hokies 28-23 in Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homecoming game at Bobby Dodd Stadium. It was the Jacketsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; first win at home over an opponent ranked in the top five of the national AP poll since they defeated thenNo. 1 Alabama in 1962.

The game was expected to

be a shootout; instead, neither team scored in the first quarterâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;marking the first time that had happened for both in 2009â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the Jackets reached halftime ahead 7-3.

Both offenses picked up after halftime, and junior quarterback Josh Nesbitt led the way for the Jackets. He gained 122 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Nesbitt completed just one pass, but it was a 51-yard strike to junior receiver Demaryius Thomas that set up a touchdown.

The defenseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strong firsthalf performance was a surprise. An improved pass rush was key for the Jackets as they made three stops in the first quarter and held the Hokies in check early on. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I thought we had a good plan and simplified it. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do a lot. The guys played hard and flew to the ball...Everybody knew what they were doing and showed up,â&#x20AC;? said Head Coach Paul Johnson.

The Hokiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; first three drives resulted in a punt, a

three-and-out and an interception, the last of which came when Jackets redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jason Peters tipped a pass at the line and made a diving catch. On the other hand, the offense was ineffective out of the gate.

The Jackets were victimized by a missed pitch and a delayof-game penalty on their first offensive possession, and they committed three consecutive penalties on their second drive.

Techâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s volleyball team traveled to VA this past weekend where it played in two ACC matches, facing Virginia Tech on Friday and Virginia on Saturday. After falling to the Hokies 3-0 (28-26, 26-24, 25-11), the Jackets topped the Cavaliers 3-1 (25-17, 2025, 25-15, 25-21).

In the match against Virginia Tech, the Jackets went down in a swept but were competitive in the first two sets, forcing both into extra points before falling.

Powered by five kills from sophomore outside hitter Bailey Hunter, the Jackets led for much of the first set before the Hokies pulled ahead. The teams traded points before Virginia Tech took advantage of consecutive Jackets errors to take the set 28-26.

The second set saw the Jackets take the first six points and build an early lead. Backto-back kills by freshman rightside hitter Monique Mead put the Jackets up 17-8, but the host Hokies caught fire and prevented the Jackets from winning back-to-back points again in the set. The Hokies won 18 of the final 25 points and took the set 26-24.

See Football, page 22

See Volleyball, page 21

20 games in, Techâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s triple option attack as effective as ever

By Hahnming Lee Business Manager

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Josh Nesbitt hands off to Jonathan Dwyer during Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s game against Virginia Tech. The pair had 202 rush yards in the victory.

The question asked when Paul Johnson first accepted the job to coach Tech was, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Will the tripleoption work at the highest level of college football?â&#x20AC;?

With a record of 15-5 after 20 games, the top offense in the ACC and No. 12 offense in the country, the answer so far has been that it will work. The speed of the development of the offense has been at a faster pace than fans and observers expected. Even the most optimistic projections did not predict Tech turning into a top-15 team just 20 games into Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tenure.

In just under a season and a half, Tech has beaten a top-five team at home for the first time since 1962,

gained more rush yards in one game against Virginia Tech than anyone else in nearly a decade, defeated Florida State two times in a row (two more victories than Tech had earned before since Bobby Bowden became coach) and broken a streak of seven straight losses to rival Georgia.

For all of its accomplishments, Tech struggled early last year and had many problems with consistency on a week-to-week basis. The biggest issue throughout the season was ball control. Tech had two lost fumbles in each of its first three games, and the team fumbled and lost the ball twice in seven games over the course of the season.

When Tech has lost two fumbles or more under Johnson, they are just 6-4. They were 4-4 in 2008. With fewer than two fumbles, Tech is 9-1.

The Jackets had ups and downs all season. They had just 162 rush yards in the early-season win over Boston College, and two weeks later they posted 438 yards on the ground against Mississippi State. Two games after that, Tech managed just 79 rushing yards against FCS opponent Gardner-Webb.

The trend continued all season.

Tech had 326 yards on the ground in a 21-point loss at North Carolina, then broke the 400-yard mark in wins over Miami and Georgia before stumbling in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl against LSU. The loss in the finale left questions lingering as to whether the offense was sustainable or simply a one-year wonder.

See Option, page 21