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The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper
Hit the dance floor
So You Think Tech Can Dance showcased manytalented dancers15
8% state budget cuts will hit the USG
Board ofRegents mandates higher budget cuts to Georgia Universities THE FACTS
By Emily Chambers Editor-in-Chief
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Governor Sonny Perdue announced Wednesday morning that state revenue collection for the month of Oct. was down. Last month saw revenue of $1,140,090,000, a decrease of $240,770,000 or 17.8% from last year’s Oct. revenue of $1,386,160,000. Revenue between fiscal year 09 and fiscal year 10 is down a total of 15.1%. This continued decrease in state revenue will cause a move to 8% budget cuts for the University System of Georgia. Contingency plans were made for 4%, 6% and 8% budget cuts earlier in the Fall semester. Budget cuts of 8% will not result in more furlough days for staff and faculty members
for this spring, but might increase the mandatory “academic excellence fee�. “The proposed 8% reduction in the state-funded portion of Georgia Tech’s budget would translate to a total of $18.8 million in cuts to our budget. Based on the results of the Board of Regents meeting next week, we will continue to evaluate budget reduction decisions.� said Institute President G.P. “Bud� Peterson. The State Board of Regents will be meeting Nov. 17 and 18 to vote on budgetary measures, including a potential $100-$150 increase to the mandatory fee. The mandatory academic excellence fee will not be covered by Hope or any needs-based scholarships, and any increases will be effective for the Spring 2010 semester.
Crime hits area business, bank
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Two armed robberies occurred near campus last week at the Wachovia on State St. and Arby’s on Spring St. off-campus. By Vivian Fan News Editor
Two separate armed robberies occurred over the last week off-campus. Both of the crimes occurred within the expanded patrol zone of 500 feet past campus covered by the GTPD. The two instances mark the eighth and ninth armed robberies since May in and around Tech’s campus, and serve as another reminder of the increasing crime in the Atlanta area over the past few months. The first of the crimes was an armed bank robbery on Friday, Nov. 6. Unlike the majority of the armed robberies which happened in the Home Park neighborhood which happened between 11 p.m.
and 3 a.m., the robbery at the Wachovia happened at 11:15 a.m. The suspect, described as a five-foot-five to five-foot-nine black male in a plaid shirt, entered the Wachovia Bank near Techwood Parkway and State Street and proceeded to rob the bank. The GTPD believe that the suspect may have been carrying a handgun during the robbery. The suspect then reportedly drove off in a 2004 silver Nissan Maxima, heading northbound on Techwood Parkway. The car is also believed to have been one stolen earlier from South Atlanta. Less than a week later, a second armed robbery occurred at the Arby’s on Spring Street and Fourth Street. Three black males who ranged from
five-foot-ten to six-foot-two in height were wearing dark clothing and dew rags over their faces when they entered the restaurant at 10:40 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The men each displayed handguns to the employees and proceeded to take all the contents of the cash registers. Afterwards, they fled from the scene towards Williams Street. Although no one was injured in the incident, the suspects were still at large as of Wednesday night. With the increase in crime activity, the GTPD and Atlanta Police Department (APD) recommend that students be extra alert and take extra precautions when See Crime, page 6
State furlough days announced By Coby Lu Contributing Writer
Tech administrators have announced that four of the six furlough days required to be taken by the University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents (BoR) are to be taken from Dec. 21 till Dec. 24. The remaining two furlough days will be taken before May 10, 2010 and will be scheduled by agreement between individual employees and their school chair or supervisor. These days will not be designated by the Institute as specific dates in order to provide flexibility. Earlier this year, the BoR mandated that all USG employees take a minimum of six days of furlough during fiscal year 2010 due to the $900 million downturn in state revenue. The furloughs are a last resort to help bridge the gap in smaller budgets. The BoR recommended and mandated these measures following the economic downturn and the necessity for budget cuts within the USG. The primary objective in scheduling the furlough days was to minimize disruption of normal activities of the Institute. In particular, the furlough days should not result in the cancellation of scheduled classes or other instruction-related activities. A set committee analyzed the calendar to determine potential dates for the furloughs, and then made recommendations for President Peterson and his administration. President Peterson confirmed them noted above as the official furlough days to be taken by faculty and staff. “Dec. 21-24 is when we work, but it doesn’t affect students. Students will be away having a holiday so it was done to minimize the effects on the education of students. If you think about it if a faculty is teaching five days a week, when is he or she going to take a furlough day without cancelling a class? So we just didn’t want that to happen so we took the four days right before Christmas,� said Dr. Anderson D. Smith, senior Vice Provost of Academic Affairs. This time period was chosen because it is during the winter break, and consequently, there will be no classes taking place. Students therefore would not be directly affected. “Things are kind of slow here and there aren’t a lot of events on campus,� said Institute President G.P. “Bud� Peterson. While it is expected that faculty and staff will be furloughed during this time frame, there will be some exceptions. Employees can, with a business-related exception, request to take the four furlough days at another time. “There may be reasons why those days don’t work for some people. For our development staff, that’s right before the end of the year and people do tax and give gifts related to tax benefits right before the end of the year so it is a very busy time for the development staff. So for special situations a supervisor can have their employees take different days. However, the vast majority of people at Georgia Tech will take those days,� Peterson said. In the spring, the Tech administration will allow much more flexibility for employees as far as selecting the affected days. There are no preferred dates. The decision will be left up to the employees and their supervisors See Furlough, page 4
NEWS
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Technique
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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. A DVERTISING: Information and rate cards can be found online at OJRVF OFU BET. The deadline for reserving ad space is Friday at 5 p.m. one week before publication. To place a reservation, for billing information, or for any other questions please e-mail us at BET!OJRVF OFU. You may reach us by telephone at (404) 894-2830, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. COVERAGE R EQUESTS: Requests for coverage and tips should be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief and/or the relevant section editor. OFFICE: 353 Ferst Dr., Room 137 Atlanta, GA 30332-0290 Telephone: (404) 894-2830 Fax: (404) 894-1650
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Emily Chambers FEJUPS!OJRVF OFU Telephone: (404) 894-2831
NEWS EDITOR: Vivian Fan / OFXT!OJRVF OFU OPINIONS EDITOR: Kaitlin Goodrich / PQJOJPOT!OJRVF OFU FOCUS EDITOR: Kate Comstock / GPDVT!OJRVF OFU ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Jennifer Aldoretta / FOUFSUBJONFOU! OJRVF OFU SPORTS EDITOR: Nishant Prasadh / TQPSUT!OJRVF OFU
FOLLOW US ONLINE: http://nique.net Twitter: @the_nique
Copyright Š 2009, Emily Chambers, Editor-in-Chief, and by the Georgia Tech Board of Student Publications. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the Editor-in-Chief or from the Board of Student Publications. The ideas expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Board of Student Publications, the students, staff, or faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology or the University System of Georgia. First copy free—for additional copies call (404) 894-2830
From the files of the GTPD...
Sweet Steal
Campus Crime By Vivian Fan News Editor Phone home?
The party is over
GTPD were called to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum after receiving a call from the Tech Athletic Association about stolen cell phones. The cell phones belonged to players from the visiting Western Kentucky University basketball team. Four team members reported each of their cell phones and a pack of white undershirts stolen after they returned to the visiting team locker room. Of the stolen goods included two IPhone 3GS, a Samsung Instinct and an HTC Hero cell phones. GTPD and Facilities are to review surveillance videos from the coliseum.
Nov. 11, GTPD were called to assist a security guard at Delta Upsilon after the guard was concerned about extreme occupancy levels in the house. Upon arrival, the GTPD questioned students leaving the party, who stated that there was barely enough room to dance or even walk. GTPD officers attempted to shut down the party without incident. They were called again, however, less than an hour later to clear the crowd again after brothers requested for help. GTPD officers then advised the brothers to close the front so the party would be over.
GTPD officers reported to the Barnes and Nobles bookstore after receiving a call from the manager concerning attempted shoplifting. The suspect, a black male in his 40’s, entered the store carrying a black garbage bag and proceeded to stuff Milky Way candy bars into the bag. Barnes and Nobles employees surrounded and questioned him before officers arrived to the scene. Although the suspect refused to answer or comment, he did drop the contents of the bag and additional candy bars from his pocket. The suspect then exited the store and fled southbound onto Armstead Place NW on foot. Although employees admitted to having seen the suspect in the store beforehand, they stated it was the first time he had caused any criminal activity.
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NEWS
Council Clippings
E
Breaking
This week in Student Government
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
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.
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Gamers Guild
The Gamers Guild holds weekly meetings to play board games. The club submitted a bill requesting funding from UHR to purchase new games for the following semester. GSS considered tabling the bill for this week because representatives from the organization were not present at their meeting. However, they chose to continue debating the bill despite the absence. The bill
requested $262 and passed UHR with a vote of 40-6-2 and passed GSS with 13-12-0. Archery Club
Last week UHR amended a bill put forward to fund competition expenses for the Archery Club. GSS representatives amended the bill by reducing advertising funding and modifying travel expenses. Representatives from UHR moved to strike funding of registration fees for two competitions and travel expenses to one of the competitions. As a result, the bill was moved to conference committee. In conference com-
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Sophomore representative Elle Creel leads a discussion with other SGA representatives at the UHR. This edition of Council Clippings covers the UHR and GSS meetings from Nov. 10, 2009.
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mittee, GSS agreed to all of the changes made by UHR. The bill totaled $8,792 and passed UHR 47-1-0 and GSS 17-3-2. Water Polo
The water polo team requested funding for transportation and tournament fees to the National Water Polo Tournament. The GT water polo team won the Southeast Division after defeating rivals Vanderbilt. This marks the third consecutive year that the water polo team made it to the national tournament. Overall, the bill cost $840 and passed UHR with a vote of 49-1-0.
vealed shortly after the incident that he had come to the attention of federal authorities six months ago for discussing suicide bombings on the internet. The army Shooting rampage at and FBI are investigating the Fort Hood, TX incident. On Tuesday, President Obama and the First Lady travOn Nov. 5, Major Nidal elled to Fort Hood to express Hasan, an army psychiatrist their condolences. opened fire in the Soldier Rating and Processing Center at House passes sweeping Fort Hood, Texas. The gunman killed 13 people and healthcare legislation wounded 30 others, sending shockwaves through the small The House of Representatives Texas community and raising approved legislation to overhaul alarm throughout the nation. America’s healthcare system last The shooting was described as Saturday. Lawmakers voted 220 the deadliest ever on a military to 215 to approve the plan, which base. The incident also raised is expected to cost over $1.1 trilquestions about the psychologi- lion over the next decade. cal health of soldiers in the miliProponents of the bill claimed tary. Hasan was shot by a civil- that the costs of the bill will be ian police officer, but managed covered through new fees and to survive and is hospitalized taxes, along with cuts to Mediunder army guard. care. One Republican voted for It is suspected that Hasan- the bill, and 39 Democrats voted was distraught at the prospect against it. According to the New of being deployed in Iraq or York Times, Democrats who votAfghanistan, conflicts which he ed against the measure represent vehemently opposed. He is an mainly swing districts. The bill American-born Muslim of Pal- will now move forward to the estinian descent, and it was re- floor of the Senate.
NEWS
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NEWS BRIEFS $BVTF PG QBSLJOH HB SBHF DSBTI EJTDPWFSFE Gateway Development, the company that leases the Centergy One parking garage in Tech Square has determined and released the cause of last June’s parking garage collapse. The garage collapsed last summer and damaged 35 cars housed inside, yet no one was injured during the incident. The cause was determined to be a misplaced bolt on the fifth floor of the garage. Repairs are currently being made and Gateway officials ensure that checks will be done to ensure its safety before reopening the garage for use.
)FBMUI $FOUFS SFDFJWFT ) / WBDDJOFT The Stamps Health Center has received a limited supply of H1N1 vaccines. The health center has set up a distribution schedule which started Nov. 10. The vaccine will be distributed first to Tech students, faculty and staff who are considered medically fragile, such as pregnant women or people who suffer from chronic illness or immune disorders. Nonmedically fragile Tech community members gained access to the vaccine starting Wednesday, Nov. 11. People who are medically fragile can receive vaccinations at the Stamps Health Services Center, while non-medically fragile students, faculty and staff can all receive vaccinations in the Student Center. All vaccinations for students are free if the student has paid their mandatory health fee, and will cost $25 for faculty and staff. In order to be vaccinated you must present your Buzzcard.
SGA hosts student strategic planning forum By Zimu Yang Staff Writer
On Thursday, Nov. 5, Tech students representing a multitude of clubs and organizations attended SGA’s Strategic Planning Forum at the Flag Building. The forum was part of a larger strategic initiative organized by faculty and staff to discuss ideas on how to improve student life at Tech. “We want to include the students in the strategic planning process,� said Alina Staskevicius, president of SGA. “The first draft should be coming out relatively soon for the strategic plan.� A panel of Tech administrators including Dean of Students John Stein and Director of Research and Analysis at the Department of Communication and Marketing Kathi Wallace presided over the meeting to hear and discuss the presented ideas. The strategic initiative at Tech is intended to be a long-term project for campus and the greater community. Organizers stressed that any ideas presented at the meeting could have effects that could reach as far as the year 2035. “[Our] strategy is to reach as
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to choose which days furloughs will be taken. “We were going to do a couple days during spring break or a couple of days after commencement but we’ve got a lot of activities going on on-campus like short courses and other things. So that was a little more complicated. There are no short courses the days before Christmas,� Peterson said. “For the two days in the spring semester, we will also emphasize that we don’t want faculty members picking days that will interfere with their classes,� Smith
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Students in attendance at the he SGA’s Strategic Planning Forum discuss topics given by Tech faculty and SGA representatives to generate ideas and commentary about new ideas for the Institute. many students as possible through small and large focused discussion and the way we are getting figured out in 25 years [on how] to define what the student life experience should be at Tech,� Stein said. This event was one of many held by the administration following the announcement of the
25 Year Strategic Plan following Institute President G.P. “Bud� Peterson’s Investiture on Sept. 3. Students in attendance broke off into four groups for ten minutes to brainstorm ideas. Afterwards, they reconvened to present a summary of their discussion. They repeated this process several times
during the evening with different topics selected by the organizers. Discussion topics included revising the curriculum to allow for interdisciplinary tracks, restructuring classes to allow for more online lectures, involving stu-
said. These furloughs will allow a recovery of around $6.3 million. USG’s funding cuts can be attributed to the budget reduction earlier this year as well as the upcoming increase in budgetary reductions. The fiscal year 2009 saw a $44 million reduction in the operating budget. This year the governor asked the Institute to submit scenarios of budgets representing a further four to eight percent decrease. Those scenarios represent a further $5 million to $15 million budget cut. “This was not a decision made
on the Georgia Tech campus. It was made for the whole system by the Board of Regents,� Smith said. USG and BoR officials and members are currently looking into and implementing various options to help result budget deficits, delayed hiring and refilling of vacated positions, budget cuts throughout the institute and the academic excellence fee that was added onto the tuition. The addition of an academic excellence fee starting next semester (which would affect nearly all Tech students) will also be voted on within USG later next week. Academic units last year expe-
rienced a 4.6% decrease in operating budgets and non-academic units experienced a 7.8% cut. It was left up to individual units to decide how those cuts were to be made. However, it was asked of academic units to minimize the effect on students’ education. “For example, it looked like an easy way to make cuts this past summer was to not teach many summer semester classes. However, we realized that would be very bad for students as the summer semester is cramped enough as it is now without as many classes as we would like to have,� Smith said.
See Forum, page 6
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NEWS
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Heavy CULC construction begins this week
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The heavy construction for the CULC includes excavating soil and building walls and will go on until Jan. 2010. The construction will only pause for final exams, graduations and home football games.
Students walk down Skiles Walkway alongside the construction zone. Heavy construction began earlier last week for the CULC.
By Kamna Bohra Contributing Writer
With the continuation of breaking ground, heavy construction for the Clough Undergraduate Learning Center (CULC) is underway. As of earlier last week, the team responsible for the CULC has shifted to the next phase of its construction, including large digging of soil and other earth in the area that was formerly Yellow Jacket Park. Until Jan. 2010, the construction team will be excavating over 31,000 cubic yards of soil and installing walls next to the library. The contractors will then install underground utilities and the foundation with plans for the building structure’s completion in Sept. 2010.
“We anticipate construction to move into full swing in the coming months and remain optimistic for a Fall 2011 opening,” said Barrett Carson, Vice President for Development. “Construction of a facility this size in the center of campus is certainly a challenge, particularly for those in the surrounding buildings. The contractor is taking all reasonable measures to minimize disruptions as much as possible,” said John Duconge, Senior Project Manager. Although the construction will proceed for the duration of the semester, the site will be quiet for the weeks of final exams, graduation and home football games. This will also be the case for all future semesters until the CULC’s completion.
sliver
www.nique.net
some are good: eyesex guy, calculus book girl.... some are bad: grad-student stalker, orange girl, and the acronyms are the worst OK, why only me? it is borderline flatering and borderline creeper Save Wingnuts! hahaha every time you talk to me, I want to yell “FAIL!” when you inevitably get interrupted I am gonna do that next time you have stolen my... heart sleep well, sleep well, sleep well, sleep well, sleep well, sleep well... you have stolen my... HEAAAAAAAAAAAAAART! Yo, acid is a substance that turns methyl orange pink, so it’s something buddy, that you’d better not drink... give it up for geeksta rap! OMG someone SAVE ME from my roommate! Fans seated in rear of Section J at Vandy game were so obnoxious they made me embarrassed to call myself a Tech alum & fan. Ms GT is not all that she’s cracked up to be. Seriously? The Nique articles are like a high school newsletter. All you editors need to learn to write better like real college students. There is nothing more beautiful than a woman’s body. vote paul johnson for coach of the year! have you voted for paul johnson today? Nicole A. M. You have the sexiest legs I’ve ever seen. Why are all of tech’s web sites so hard to use? (Don’t lie to yourself, OSCAR sucks) To the person with the L4D costume complete with tank and mask: Awesome. black jerseys black helmets black eye!!! the UGA blackjack taco Thelma the ostrich saw a frat make a pledge dress up as a speed bump and lay on the floor u stay classy fratboys Bring Weezer to Tech! http://www.facebook.com/TMobile
The pathway between the library and Crosland Tower is also expected to reopen by Nov. 13, reopening a commonly used walkway. The Tech Green, which was originally closed for sewer repair, will reopen in early December. Tech administrators also plan for a Town Hall discussion in January to identify the upcoming construction activities and possible detours. Students will also have the opportunity to ask questions about the construction. Upcoming construction includes the direct connection between the CULC and the library. The new building will connect to the library at the main entrance and lower levels. “The concept for the [CULC] has always sought to integrate the
west face of the Price Gilbert Library to take advantage of natural synergies between the two. The two will connect, in fact, on several levels to provide seamless movement between the two,” Carson said. The project, whose plans began in the 1990s following the arrival of former President G. Wayne Clough, was originally put on hold due to “state budgeting issues and institutional priorities,” Carson said. However, an initial private donation of $8 million created momentum for the CULC in the later years of Clough’s presidency, culminating in an additional $60 million from the state and $25 million in private philanthropy. The private component includes a $5 million donation from an
Atlanta-area foundation and an anonymous promise “to match 1:1 gifts and commitments designated for the project up to a maximum of $8.75 million,” Carson said. “In anticipation of pledge fulfillments and final state appropriations, the Institute is utilizing internal borrowing to keep the project on track and to avoid any further delays,” Carson said, in response to the amount of time the project is otherwise taking. “Simultaneous to [the CULC’s] construction will be an enhancement to the adjacent Tech Green and Skiles Walkway…At more than 200,000 gross square feet, the facility will be a stunning testimony to Tech’s commitment to undergraduate education and will stand as a beacon of sustainability,” Carson said.
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NEWS
Buzzcard funds misappropriations fixed
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Affected students discovered unexpected increases in their Buzzcard accounts through the Buzzcard website and at various other on campus vendors Wednesday. The misplaced increase was the result of a erratic file within the Banner system and has been fixed. By Matt Schricte Contributing Writer
The BuzzCard Center mistakenly redeposited funds into the accounts of a number of unsuspecting students in the morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 4. Affected students found upwards of hundreds of dollars previously not there when using or checking their Buzzcards that day. The error took place when the BuzzCard Center received a faulty file from Banner system, which controls various programs such as OSCAR and other Tech data management software. The Banner system had been experiencing problems at the time. The problem file attributed mistakenly caused the Buzzcard
Center’s system to redeposit previously deposited funds into student accounts. “All of the funds that were deposited were funds that had originally come through the Bursar’s office to the BuzzCard Center in the last few semesters,� said BuzzCard Center Director Donald Smith. “Most of these funds were part of previous meal plan contracts.� The BuzzCard office discovered the error at 7:30 a.m., approximately two hours after it was determined to have occurred. By 12:30 p.m. the problem was rectified and all of the mistaken deposits were reversed. “While most students who noticed the sudden increase in their funds contacted us to find out what happened, there were a
few people who thought that their parents had made deposits to their accounts and decided to spend the funds,� Smith said. “After the accounts were restored to their proper balance the BuzzCard Center began to contact students who now had negative balances and informed them of the erroneous deposits,� Smith said. Despite the circumstances, the Buzzcard Center did not lose any money. Students who spent the funds will be liable for them. The BuzzCard Center does expect that any of the misallocated funds spent by students during the fivehour window before the error was corrected be paid back. As of Wednesday afternoon, half of the affected students have
corrected their balance. Any affected accounts that remain unbalanced will be added to their student accounts on OSCAR and charged to the Bursar’s office. Students will have to pay through that system and/or the bursar in order to register for classes or graduate. After repairing the error on Wednesday, the Buzzcard Center has made additional changes to their system to prevent such an incident from happening again. These changes include fine tuning some of the current error trapping. “We regret that this error occurred, but we were very pleased to see that the vast majority of Tech students realized that this was an error and did not race out to spend funds that they knew did not belong to them,� Smith said.
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dents in building projects, intermingling Greek and non-Greek students more and strategies for decreasing class sizes, such as limiting future freshman classes. “The ideas would have to be considered important in terms of benefiting Tech. They would have to have a reasonable level of feasibility and they would have to be forward thinking,â€? Stein said. “This [meeting] will inform our long-term plans but much of our front end work will stand.â€? Although the actions and effects of the initiative will be long lasting, the event on Thursday was the last public forum for students to voice their ideas scheduled as of yet. There are plans to hold more talks with students in the future. “We’re still in the intake mode right now and then when we meet with Dr. Peterson next week we’ll be reviewing some of the top ideas and getting feedback and that will give us direction on developing ideas further over the next couple of months,â€? Wallace said. “It will be a year long process so it’ll go through next summer.â€? “It is a dynamic process, there is a website that any student at any time can submit an idea ‌ and it comes back to the committee,â€? Wallace said. “So even though we do have a deadline, there’s no cutoff date after which ideas can’t be submitted.â€? To communicate and help with the strategic planning initiative, students can access XXX HBUFDI FEV WJTJPO
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traveling through and around campus. While the investigations of both crimes are being spearheaded by the APD, if anyone has more information on either of the robberies they are advised to contact the GTPD at 404-894-2500.
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NEWS
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Student basketball tickets move to first-come first-serve By Vijai Narayanan Assistant News Writer
The Athletic Association (AA) announced a new set of ticketing policies and procedures for the men’s basketball season this year. Changes were implemented this past week for the game against the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. As part of the changes, students will no longer be required to sign up online to obtain a ticket prior to the game. Instead, students will be required only to show their Buzzcard at the entrance to the game. In addition, students will be allowed to take floor seats, with limited priority given to SWARM members. Prior to this season, the AA implemented an online ticketing system that required students to sign up in advance for tickets and present them at the entrance gate. This year, students will automatically be assigned tickets for the game on their Buzzcard and will be allowed to enter the game based on arrival times. “When I first came here we were using the ticket return system through which students had to login multiple times and sign up several days in advance to get tickets...it was very cumbersome,” said Doug Allvine, the Assistant Athletic Director of Special Projects. In addition to moving student tickets offline and directly onto student Buzzcards, the AA has decided to allow non-SWARM members the opportunity to take floor seats. SWARM members present at the entrance gate one hour before tip-off will still be allowed to take up floor seats prior to regular student-ticket holders. If the SWARM does not have enough members to fill up the floor seats, students with regular tickets will be allowed to go on
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Instead of using an online system ascertain a ticket, students will now only need to show their Buzzcards to enter a basketball game, so long as they are the first 500 students. Students will receive an automatic ticket to the following game for each game attended. the floor. Any SWARM members who arrive after the floor seats are opened to general student ticket holders but before the 300 person limit for floor seating is reached will also be allowed to stand on the floor during the game. NonSWARM members who wish to sit on the floor must be registered as students, not wear opposing colors, and will be asked to stay for the duration of the game. “The SWARM have traditionally been our most ardent fans, but even they will admit that with the attendance last year
that they didn’t fill up the seats or they didn’t fill them up quick enough at the start of the game,” said Allvine. “This came not from us or the students but from the basketball team, because they really want us to make sure that the floor is filled and the crowd is excited before tip-off.” However, some students are unhappy with the proposed changes to the floor seating policy. “I was really disappointed to hear that the AA was opening up floor seats in the basketball games to all students… it takes away the tangible advantages to being in
SWARM,” said Chandler Epp, a third-year IAML. “I think this is a terrible system and it doesn’t award fan loyalty... it doesn’t create a good atmosphere and it really just encourages bandwagon fans to show up for big games,” said Hari Gopal, third-year MGT. Depending on attendance during the season, the AA is considering implementing an online ticketing system for popular games, similar to the ticketing system used for football. “Although we haven’t had to turn students away from basket-
ball games yet, if the demand for tickets exceeds the supply, then we will setup an online ticketing system,” said Graham Neff, the Assistant Director of Ticketing. If such an online system is put in place, some students will be given priority tickets to games based on attendance and arrival time. “If for some reason we go for an online sign-up system we’ll setup a group called ‘Super-Jacket Fans,’ and 400 students will automatically be given tickets for that game. The remaining students will have to sign up for tickets online,” Allvine said.
Opinions
Opinions Editor: Kaitlin Goodrich I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. —Thomas Jefferson
“”
OUR VIEWS CONSENSUS OPINION
Excellence fee poorly justified
Fee financially prohibitive and not transparent The Board of Regents has yet again made the announcement that an “academic excellence” fee may be added to the tuition and fees required of students this spring to cover the 8% additional budget cuts from universities. While this fee was long described as the “temporary measure” to cover losses, adding what could be up to $150 for a total $250 fee is an unfair financial burden to the students. Since this dubiously named academic excellence fee is specifically structured such that it is not covered by most financial aid, increasing the fee to the point where it is more costly than most other fees makes this measure actually financially prohibitive for students to go to school for the semester statewide. Students are having a hard enough time finding even part-time jobs in this economy, so handing down the shortfall to students without their input feels like a punishment. If nothing else, students should be given the chance to pay the fee
in installments over the semester, since no warning was given at the beginning of the year when most families do financial planning. Furthermore, students are consumers of the good of education who have been forced into new terms of agreement, and thus should be entitled to at least know what the new fee is accomplishing. Most fees are reasonable costs towards attaining an education, since they are transparent as to what they cover. We realize that the budget shortfall must be covered somehow, but we sincerely believe that the manner should be decided at a university level. If there is no other way to cover the shortfall than forcing students into a separate fee structure, students at least deserve to know where their money is being spent. We hope that this new fee will be a wake-up call that finances may get worse before they improve and thus measures must be taken in order to assure that this sort of last minute budgeting does not become a future pattern.
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 MAGGIE SMITH
Technique
8
Friday, November 13, 2009
YOUR VIEWS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Critique of UHR practices inaccurate In last week’s Technique, the editorial staff’s Consensus Opinion entitled “UHR ineffective” brought up some issues regarding how the UHR allocates the Student Activity Fee (SAF) fund. Unfortunately, it seems that their criticism finds no basis in fact, and shows an unfortunate lack of understanding of SGA policy and practice. First, the Technique claims that it is not SGA’s job to decide if a club is good enough to exist, referring to the UHR’s decision to strike $1,262 in registration fees and travel. What the Technique fails to report is that the argument in the UHR was not that the Archery Club was “unproven,” but in fact, we strongly encouraged them to return in the spring to request the funding we struck. We normally don’t fund events over six weeks in the future in bills, and the Archery Club should be no exception. There is an assumption within the editorial that the UHR should rubber stamp any allocation request that conforms to the Joint Finance Committee Policy. The fact of the matter is that the requests for funds are always far larger than our current account balance will allow. We, the UHR must be judicious in how we allocate money. Fiscal responsibility dictates that we must apply a higher standard JFC Policy, which merely qualifies it for funding. Just because a bill conforms to JFC Policy does not guarantee passage, nor should it. Second, the Technique claims that the allocation from the Undergraduate Legislative Reserve (ULR) for the Freshman Leadership Summit represented a hypocritical circumvention of JFC Policy which prohibits allocations for food and was “fast-tracked” through the ULR to avoid application of the JFC Policy, which constitutes a misapplication of ULR funds. The truth of the matter is that the ULR is a small portion of money for special Legislative projects, not for “undergraduate issues.” Typically, this money is used to fund the activities of freShGA, pay for SGA promotional activities, etc. As the Freshman Leadership Summit is a special project specifically of the Freshman Class Reps, regardless of timing, it should have been a ULR allocation. Additionally, because it constitutes our legislative operating budget, it is not subject to any JFC Policy restrictions, despite the Technique’s insistence that the ULR is “not outside the rule of that law.” Numerous other factual errors litter the editorial, including the erroneous claims that the GSS and JFC funded the Archery Club bill in full and that we do not follow our bylaws. I would recommend that any organization, most of all the Technique, that wishes to criti-
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.
cize another organization spend the time it takes to check the facts surrounding their criticism. What the Technique also ignores in their editorial is the great success the UHR has had in improving our campus. Numerous financial and policy decisions that have directly impacted the lives of Tech students, and fostered a better sense of campus community. The Technique’s claim that the UHR has been “bending the rules for themselves but ignoring student organizations,” simply shows a lack of understanding of the purpose of the UHR, and is both misinformed and unfitting of a publication such as theirs. I fully expect a long series of corrections in connection to the article “UHR ineffective” and expect an apology from the Technique editorial staff. Parker Hancock SGA Executive Vice President
Language of SGA consensus inflammatory
I am writing you as a student who was once an avid fan of your newspaper, but who has become saddened with the vitriolic turn things have taken in the past few months. Your consensus opinion of Nov. 6th on the state of affairs of the Undergraduate House of Representatives was particularly disheartening. Over the past few months, I have come to understand the workings of the undergraduate Student Government Association through my posting as the Academic Affairs Committee Chair. I regard my position as a way to help the student body through a niche role that has little to do with UHR as a whole, so while I have learned much about the activities of UHR, my stance on those activities is neutral and objective. In fact, I have actually disagreed with many decisions and tactics taken by both the SGA Executive Board and the UHR. Yet for all of that, I earnestly believe in the overall strategy and attitude that prevails in SGA, and I cannot begin to fathom how the Technique justified their rhetoric as anything other than pure demagoguery. See UHR, page 10
OPINIONS
Technique t /PWFNCFS t 9
Etiquette guide to the morning after It’s early Sunday morning. The sun is shining brightly into your eyes. As you squint and turn away you are greeted by the sight of that hopefully still delicious stranger you met while you were out last night. Thoughts of the night before flood your mind and you will either be ashamed of your actions or mentally high-five yourself. No matter your reaction, at any second the person beside you may wake up and the inevitable awkwardness will begin. Several thoughts will race through your head, and you only have a few precious moments to direct the ensuing conversation down the road you want it to go. I realize there are several different definitions for the term “hooking up”, but for all intents and purposes let’s define it as an attempted orgasm. Yes, you hooked up with this random stranger. While this may not be the classiest thing you have done, manners should not be forgotten. There are several ways to approach the situation with grace, dignity and a little class. Let’s consider the extremes here. You will either do anything to see this person again or you are about to schedule an appointment with your therapist to rid yourself of the memory of this person and of that night.
“While [hooking up] may not be the classiest thing you have done, manners should not be forgotten.” Reem Mansoura Development Editor
Whichever is the case, you must face the consequences, whatever they may be. Consider a situation where you wake up next to a girl who you swore looked like Halle Berry (not so much anymore) last night right after you had taken X amount of shots of alcohol. Jumping out of bed after doing a double take at the girl lying next to you while rapidly pulling on your clothes from the night before and running out the door screaming bloody murder is not the way to handle such a delicate situation. Tip-toeing out of bed in the middle of the night is no way to handle the situation either. How awkward will it be if you ever see that person again? If you spent the night in your own place, try to make the other person welcome. Imagine how uncomfortable you would feel in a stranger’s home the morning after some bad (or good if that’s the way you see it) decisions. Offer your bed buddy a spare toothbrush and let him
or her freshen up. Try not to rush them out of the door. Casually mention that you have plans for that day, and they will follow suit and leave. If you don’t want to see them again, let them know. But put them down gently! Tell him or her that you had a great time, even if you didn’t, but that you aren’t looking for anything serious at the moment. They will appreciate the non-awkwardness of the situation. Whatever you do, never tell your one-night stand you will call them later if you have no intention of doing so. You may think this little white lie is polite and an easy way to end things, but it will only lead to obsessive stalking. Now let’s consider a situation where you’ve just landed the girl of your dreams. This girl has got the personality to go along with her killer looks. Congratulations, she’s in your bed! Now what? Don’t freak out. Now is not the time to ask if she’s already in a relationship
or what her name is. Chances are she will already be worrying about the fact that you think she is easy, so make her as comfortable as possible. Tell her that she looks beautiful, even if her mascara is smeared across her face and her hair looks like a hot mess. Whether or not you want to make her breakfast is up to you. Once again, don’t hurry her out the door. She will most likely be giving you very obvious signals as to whether she wants to get out of there or not. Pay close attention. She is trying to help you. If you want to seal the deal, ask her out again before she leaves. Nothing is sexier than a guy who is prepared. Asking her out before she leaves will make her appreciate the fact that you didn’t use the three day rule. This will exclude the confusing advice you will get from your male friends. Securing a second date might also mean securing another night between the sheets. Whether you made a mistake in hooking up with this person or not, don’t be rude. Don’t forget your manners… or his or her name. Also, if you haven’t even gotten close to hooking up with anyone, you might want to read the How To: Get a Date article printed in the Freshman Survival Guide.
Lessons from Johnson at fourth-and-one College football is usually something you use to distract yourself from the learning process and its associated stresses, but last Saturday’s game against Wake Forest was a pretty good lesson on dealing with adversity by Professor, I mean Coach, Paul Johnson. I think most of us probably have a new appreciation of the words “fourth and one”. I’m referring of course to the second-to-last play of the game, with Tech having the ball on Wake Forest’s five yard line. After going to overtime with the Demon Deacons, Tech’s top-ten ranking would have been history if they failed on that play to either get a first down or score at least three points of their own. Certainly going to overtime against a team with a losing record was not the plan for the Jackets. But you don’t always get to see things pan out the way you expected, and by overtime it was too late to do anything but finally put the game away. Putting the game away meant getting the win. Tech had two choices. The first was to kick the easy field goal from the five-yard line to tie the game, granting each team one more drive with the ball to try to score as many points as they can. The second was to get the first round and then try for a touchdown that would win the game. As we all know by now,
chased by pursuing either a lower probability, high reward option or a high probability, lower reward option. The choice to pursue “high reward” isn’t always the correct one if its probability of success Craig Tabita is too low. That’s why pouring all of your savings into lottery Online Editor tickets is not a smart investment plan. But the “lower reward” option isn’t always great the supposed “low probability” either. United States Treasury wasn’t actually very low. This is bonds offer a guaranteed rea team that made its way to the turn, but that return is quite forefront of college football by small compared to what can having an unbeatable running be found in other investment game. That isn’t changed by instruments by accepting even the high pressure of this par- a minimal amount of risk. ticular situation and the fact To be a winner like Paul that Tech hadn’t converted any Johnson, you have to be able of its four other fourth-down to assess probability using opportunities that day. facts and reason. He knows Knowing what he was his team and knew what the working with, Johnson also probability of his team getting had the confidence to move that one yard was. Maybe he forward knowing the facts didn’t calculate it to three sigwere in his favor. Therefore, nificant figures, but he knew the safe choice was actually it was pretty close to one. The what he did, rather than the other thing you have to do is field goal. Giving each team an assess reward. For Johnson, entire additional drive is no- the reward of going for the where near an automatic win first down was a near-certain for the Jackets; that’s plenty of touchdown on the next play. time for some fluke play like a The payoff isn’t always as fumble to occur to give Wake widely celebrated as a win that Forest the game. pushes the team up to No. 7 So how is this a learning in the rankings but success in experience? Each of us faces your daily life can be just as “fourth and one” all the time, sweet nonetheless. Let Guru, I even if we don’t play football. mean, Coach Paul Johnson be Life gives us situations all the your guide, and let’s hope that time where we have to make wins over Duke and Georgia a decision and as with the don’t have to be so compliprevious scenario, success is cated.
“Coach Johnson won this game for the Jackets because the supposed ‘low probability’ wasn’t actually very low.”
Johnson never gave that first, safe option a moment’s consideration. Faced with fourth down, he sent quarterback Josh Nesbitt and the rest of the offense back onto the field, where they picked up the first down and on the ensuing play scored the game-winning touchdown. In hindsight, Johnson certainly looks wise. Ignoring the fact that the game was in overtime in the first place, he was able to make a tough decision that ended up being correct. Or maybe it wasn’t that straightforward. Was it simply a lucky gamble that happened to pay off this time? Was he just sick of standing on the sidelines and wanted to get this game over? No, this was definitely a calculated decision by a shrewd strategist. “Fourth and one” is a situation where success is chased by pursuing either a lower probability, high reward option or a high probability, lower reward option. Johnson won this game for the Jackets because he knew
!"##
!"#$%&'()*+$,
What do you think of how SGA runs?
Grant McFerrin Second-year CS
“It needs to focus less on its representatives’ personal agendas.”
Kimberly Herst Second-year Bio
“Their budget meetings need to be shorter and less complicated.”
Zack Dunda Third-year Econ
“They balance student interests with Institute resources and regulations.”
Wes House Fifth-year ME
“The Freshman President is amazing.” Photos by Christopher Ernst
OPINIONS
t /PWFNCFS t Technique
OUR VIEWS HOT OR NOT
HOT– or –NOT Only at Tech
After only a few days of the existence of a student-run and created website, it has exploded with activity. It also has become a fixture on the mini feeds of students campus-wide. The most commonly trended topic has already been established as classes, with food as a close second, fulfilling the stereotype of Tech nerds who live for class quite nicely. Only at Tech.
Management millions
An anonymous donor gave the College of Management a $25 million dollar commitment over the next five years that will double its current endowment. A large portion of this will be used to fund undergraduate scholarships and graduate scholarships, meaning that a lot of the money will go directly to students. If you were considering the M-train, this is an added push.
Furloughs begin
Faculty furloughs begin this semester over winter break this 21st through 24th and will be done again in the spring by discretion of the professor. While hopefully this can be looked at by professors as a few extra days of vacation, it is a shame that they will have to give up paid days due to mandate by the Board of Regents. We hope this policy will end soon.
Wachovia robbed
The crimes around campus only seem to grow, but a mid-day armed stick-up at bank within sight of the student center at Tech is beyond what even we were prepared for. Hopefully this was a onetime fluke, and will not be the first of escalated crimes close to home. Luckily, no one was hurt during the robbery, although how much money was taken is unknown.
sliver
www.nique.net
ISyE Senior Design owes me a semester of my life back.... Check it out - I finally got published in the sliver. I’m a third-year and this is my first sliver ever. Hi. GSSNDWP: Grad Students Supporting a New Dead Week Policy ok boys....tall curvy blonde - taken, looking for a honey on the side. Any takers? To someone at Tech: someone spammed the slivers last week. I think they said it might be you. NaNoWriMo VS Tech: which one will you dedicate your time to? I have to talk to you at least ONCE before the semester ends. Guy next door: stop screaming playing Madden. All. The. Time. Is it just me or does it seem like every single Stinger has one NON-FUNCTIONING door..mji Caldwell, Stop being so worthless Rattle Rattle, Here come the cattle red and black uga Whoever egged that guys door in the ULC, thanks, thats really going to help with the ant problem sliver. And in the end, we lie awake and dream of making our escape. OSCAR, please go faster! NYC marathon was ... awesomE, even just watching the ladies What’s the deal with the Nanotech building!? It’s not official unless it’s on facebook. asian kid in wilhoyte’s health class-no one cares about u submitting part of ur cancer paper & not being able to resubmit the final. U should’ve finished it before you submitted it asian kid who can’t submit a final cancer paper- no one cares about what you read from the CDC and ur curiosities Lenser Spewis! i love you Hefner first floor-quiet down a bit yankees still suck
UHR
from page 8
You had the opportunity to make a beautiful, legitimate argument centered around the low attendance of UHR two weeks ago and about the exact nature of UHR bylaws, which could and should have been raised with aplomb and dignity. Instead, you chose to formulate your arguments in a demonizing format which precludes any inkling of rationality or common sense. To say for example that “These abuses seem to happen only for the sense of power rejecting a bill gives [the UHR].” is a generalization that is excessively noxious even in a consensus opinion of “The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper.” This sort of argument might appeal to the pathos of the reader and the egos of the Technique editorial board, but it has absolutely no bearing on the ethos of all involved. Moreover, as one who intends to work on the root of the problem by sending an objective citizen’s complaint to UHR regarding attendance, your irascible article has bred an attitude of “us against them” that lessens the chance that external petitions will rectify the situation. Granted, I have been discussing only a single article, but I feel that it is a characteristic one among many that are designed with inflammatory style that is detrimental to what I imagine your true intent must be. It is to the point that my colleagues and I are beginning to wonder if maybe there is another entity that could be accused of “no longer even pretending to be our voice, but rather enjoying the position of power without responsibility.” This could so easily be rectified. The Technique has a long and proud history of making a point with panache and verve, but also fairly and objectively. You have a sterling opportunity to further this legacy by forming your opin-
ions with reason and concern, and I urge you to make the most of it. I look forward with hope to the day when the Technique is once again the highlight of my Friday. Rob Parrish Third-year ME
Trolly stop expansion needed during day
We’re glad to see that the Tech Trolley is expanding to cover the Midtown Publix. Currently, this will really help undergraduate students by providing them access to groceries any day of the week. As graduate students, we wouldlove the option to pick up lunch, snacks, or groceries while still on Tech campus. However, the current hours really aren’t conducive to graduate students, staff, or faculty. We understand the need to evaluate the safety of the stop this semester. After this initial trial period, we hope to see service expanded to all day next semester. There are many benefits to having access to a grocery store any time of day. Some benefits include easy access to a wide range of over-the-counter medicines, toiletries, fresh fruits and vegetables, many meal options and reasonably priced snacks. If Parking & Transportation could devise a practical and safe stop during all Publix operation hours, this would greatly benefit all members of the Tech community not just a select group of students living on campus. Irene Anestis-Richard and Venmathy Rajarathinam ChBE Grads
Campus H1N1 vaccine misused
I was greatly disappointed by Georgia Tech’s handling of the distribution of the H1N1 vaccines. The first mention of the availability of the vaccines was less than 24 hours before they were to be administered to “CDC-identified target priority groups,” and less
than two days before they were to be available to “all students, faculty, and staff 18 and over.” The confusion caused by the lack of notice was compounded with the generally misleading nature of the email. Although the message did mention vaccines would be administered “priority groups” a day early, what it failed to mention was who fell into the group. By mentioning that the vaccines would be available to “students... 18 and over,” on the non-priority date, most people could reasonable assume that students 18 and over do not fall into the CDC target priority groups. However, according to the CDC website, everyone from age 6 months to 24 years old are considered priority vaccine targets. Could it be that perhaps email’s otherwise informative content was intentionally obfuscated as part of a larger conspiracy of silent consent on behalf of the largely middle-aged, non-priority staff and faculty in order to guarantee a greater supply of vaccines for themselves? The answer is obviously, “Yes, these corrupt vampires will stop at nothing to satiate their sadistic, macabre hunger for the suffering of swine flu stricken students. Every languishing student keeled over on a bathroom floor the night before a test elicits not sympathy from these once-human wraiths, but reaction of the physical variety: an excited, eager production of flesh-dissolving acid in their hellish maws in anticipation of a meal. These beasts drink the watery stool of the infected, bathe in their expelled bile. And when every student has been exhausted, these daemons retreat to a place deep underground, untouched by light, praying to the gods of Pestilence for another good show next year.” I think I’m going to be sick. Davis Farmer Fourth-year CS
Focus
focus@nique.net Focus Editor: Kate Comstock
Competition Tech student competes in World Cyber Games in China By Andrew Ho Contributing Writer
Athletes from around the globe are gathered in China once more to celebrate competition and sportsmanship, with contenders from a variety of countries and vast crowds in attendance to bear witness. This is not a repeat of the 2008 Summer Olympics however, but an event that is quickly drawing more and more countries, participants and spectators for a perhaps unlikely new sport. The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international event for cyber athletes (video game players who compete at a professional level) to pit their skills against one another f o r
glory and prizes. It just so happens that one supremely swift-fingered Tech student is going along for the ride to represent the U.S. Robert Michaels, second- year NRE, has earned the right to take a place among 20 other video game players from the U.S. to attend this year’s WCG in Chengdu, China. Michaels and one other American player will be competing in the Guitar Hero: World Tour Tournament against 23 other players from other countries. “I started off on the PlayStation One
Organization Spotlight: GTSF A philanthropic foundation that raises money from students, invests it, and allocates it to ideas that meet SF specifications. Contact: jacketpages.collegiatelink.net
with classics like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and from there it’s something I’ve always done to blow off steam,” said Michaels about his first gaming experiences. Michaels doesn’t see himself as a hard core gamer and only started playing the Guitar Hero series right before the second installment Guitar Hero 2 was released in Nov. 2006. “I actually started off with some skill in the game. When I started the first game [Guitar Hero 2], I beat it on Expert mode in the first three days of playing. I was classically trained in piano for seven years before doing any of this and I think that’s the single factor that made it so that I was any good at this,” Michaels said. Michaels tried out for the qualifying rounds last year, but did not move on to the regional tournament. When asked about why he attempted again this year, Michaels said, “One of my friends online sent me an e-mail saying they were qualifying for the World Tour competition and might as well sign up.
I hadn’t played World Tour at all until that point, so I had to learn all the songs, but apparently it didn’t turn out too poorly.” More than 10,000 players in the U.S. attempted to quality for the USA National Final held in New York City where only 150 reaching that point. From there only 20 players remained to represent the U.S. at the WCG. “It was kind of surreal. I was still coming to grips with the fact that I was getting flown up to NYC to stay in a three star hotel for a Photoillustration by S. Liu/ Student Publications
Technique
11
Friday, November 13, 2009
weekend just to play fake guitars, essentially. I wasn’t really planning on winning or anything, I was just going up there for fun. If all else fails, I’d meet some cool people and have a fun time, though it turned out better than that,” Michaels said. When Michaels won a spot on Team USA however, his reaction was anything but casual. He has never been anywhere outside of the U.S. other than Canada, and has found some amusement with the reactions of his friends, family and professors. “I’m still not over the novelty of being able to tell professors that, ‘Oh, I’m sorry that I’m missing class for a week because I have to go to China to play video games.’ As for my friends and family, there are two reactions. The first party thinks it’s the coolest thing ever, while the second party thinks I’m the biggest nerd ever. See Hero, page 12
Office of Diversity holds annual Diversity Week By Chris Russell Staff Writer
The Office of Diversity Programs kicked-off its annual diversity week by hosting the Power over Prejudice Summit. On Thursday and Friday the Office of Diversity Programs teamed up with the Anti-Prejudice Consortium (APC) and, over the course of three days, welcomed students from 68 different middle schools across Atlanta to the 14th annual Power Over Prejudice Summit. “One of the goals of my office is to develop cultural competence among Georgia Tech students,” said Stephanie Ray, Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Office of Diversity Programs. Diversity Week, sponsored by the Office of Diversity Programs, aims to break down the walls of diversity. The week boasted several different events some of which include “Say my name, Say my Name,” a workshop focused on helping people correctly pronounce Chinese surnames. “The Chinese are one of the largest ethnic groups at Georgia Tech and the largest in the world, and, in order to effectively communicate with someone, you need to be able to pronounce their
name,” said Ray. They also presented Uncovering the Scarf: Seeing the World from Her View, a hands-on experience of uncovering the significance of a woman’s headscarf in Hijab. Participating women wore a Hijab for two days and took notes on others’ reactions to the headscarf. On Wednesday they sponsored a film screening of Mozart and the Whale, a film about people living with Asperger’s Syndrome. Thursday the events included a second round of Uncovering the Scarf and a conversational sign language for beginners class. Wrapping up the week was a Safe Space Training event that was aimed to teach allies how to support Tech’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Questioning community. According to the APC’s website, the Power over Prejudice Summit, “brings teams of middle school students together to participate in a one-day workshop on prejudice and discrimination. Students spend the day in small breakout groups learning about the impact that cultural, racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and physical indifferences have on their peer group.” The summit was a chance for
Photo by Anthony Schwartz/ Student Publications
Aaron Bozorg spoke to students attending the Wednesday Diversity Week event where the film Mozart and the Whale was shown to illustrate the personal trials of a person with Asberger’s Syndrome. middle-school students to interact with peers from different racial, social and religious backgrounds—a chance that many would not otherwise get until later in life—and learn about a number of issues related to diversity. Though each session began and ended with students grouped
together with counselors and students from their own school, for the bulk of the day, students were randomly assigned to groups, making it impossible for them not to reach out to other children. Ray said that these cross-cultural interactions are a lot of fun to watch develop.
Ray said, “What’s cool about it is that you have private school children in groups with public school children, students from Jewish Schools together with students from Muslim schools... I hope that [the students] will leave See Diverse, page 12
FOCUS
t /PWFNCFS t Technique
Hero
from page 11
But I’ve come to terms with that because I’m in Tech,” said Michaels. While balancing his grades and gaming during the semester, Michaels practices about one hour a day. Michaels left for Chengdu on Wednesday morning. By the time this article prints Michaels will being competing among 30 matches for the title of champion in Guitar Hero: World Tour and part of a $500,000 total prize to be awarded among the finalists. Updates and match tracking can be found at www. wcg.com.
Photo courtesy of Robert Michaels
Michaels is competing in China with other cyber athletes in a Guitar Hero Tournament.
Diverse
Holocaust upon entering the death camp at Buchenwald. here learning to value other people “He feels likes it’s his job, even and their differences. For many of though he’s not Jewish, to tell these students, they’ve that story. He knows never met anyone difthat he’s one of the few ferent or outside of people left who actually their own group until experienced the story they’ve come here and first-hand,” Ray said. gone to that morning Bullying, which group. It’s always so Ray said is something exciting to see them she really wants to see talking to all the other schools address, played students.” a large role in the curOne incident in riculum for the Sumparticular that caught mit. Ray’s attention was “People are usually watching students bullied because they’re from a predominately different in some way, Muslim school workso it’s very much tied ing on a project with to diversity. It could be students from a prebecause of your clothdominately Jewish ing, it could be because school. of your size, it could be Each session kicked that you’re too fat or off with a speech by too short, it could be Leon Bass, a retired that you have funny school principal and eyes, or whatever. Kids renowned humanitarwill always find a way ian. to target each other Bass discussed his based on some minor background growconsideration that realing up in a segregated ly doesn’t matter in the community and how larger scheme of life,” segregation even folRay said. lowed him into the To help make stuPhoto by Anthony Schwartz/ Student Publications Army in World War dents more aware of II, where he and his Dean Ray hands out popcorn to students at the triviality of typical white friends were Wednesday’s showing of Mozart and the Whale. targets for bullying, from page 11
forced to register in separate lines for separate divisions. Bass spoke about his experience in seeing the results of the
one of the day’s events was the Dot Exercise. Students had a colored dot placed on their forehead and were told to, without speaking, group together with students with the same color. What the students didn’t realize, however, was that one student was given a unique color and, as a result, was excluded from each group he attempted to join. Accompanying the students and counselors were approximately 100 facilitators, many of whom were Tech students, who directed discussions and helped lead activities for the day. Before, though, they went through the same curriculum as the student’s, and a rigorous training session on how the idea of diversity is understood by the middle-school age group. Ray said that the fact that the program has been located on Tech’s campus for 13 of the past 14 years means that many current Tech students have memories of attending the Summit themselves when they were younger. Ray said, “I was in line at Dunkin’ Donuts yesterday getting my morning coffee, when a Georgia Tech student behind me said, ‘Oh, it’s Power Over Prejudice time again.’ I turned around and [asked her] how she knew about that, and she said, ‘I came here when I was in the 7th grade,’” Ray said.
sliver
www.nique.net
I had to take my roomie to the emergency room. I can’t take the exam i missed. This is why we hate Tech. at cornell, there are no classes the week before finals. registration is like going to a flea market. you never know what you’re gonna get GTCrew jackets remind me of highschool tebow time tebow time tebow time tebow time tebow time tebow time tebow time ...oh did i forget to mention tebow time???? welcome to teh derty, filfthy, NASouth NAS 521D is pushing his luck! The GT precinct had 6.47% turnout in today’s election. That’s just sad. season ticket holders only allowed in GATE 7 for Wake and UGA If you have a single game ticket, you better go to gate 10 Season ticket guests through gate 7 for wake and UGA Better have that voucher out and ready if you plan on getting in gate 7 at the game! I can’t cake cuz i got diaBURRtes hockey I swear, if someone asks why there aren’t clones of Mr. Darcy running around one more time... the guy came off as a pompous ass, he’d be invisible here. Thought they were handing out candy on Skiles- It was condoms I seem to be in trouble. I dont think that i could like any girl who finds me interesting. Any suggestions? humor steve cross Why can’t sororities have mixers with independets instead of a fraternity? Can we do that please? I have made so many regrets. And now I have no one to tell them to. Why do we care about the plans for the CULC, they have been pushing dirt for more than 6 months now. Man, Halloween in college is kind of disappoiting. Instead of candy, I just get cheap beer.
FOCUS
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Provost office offers link between students and administration By Andrew Nelson Contributing Writer
Dr. Gary Schuster announced on Oct. 21 that he will be stepping down from his position as executive vice president for Academic Affairs as soon as his replacement is found. The Institute hopes to find a replacement for the position by July 1, 2010. Schuster has served as the provost since August of 2006 and will be returning to the faculty in the College of Science. “I spent 12 years as Dean of Sciences, and when President Clough asked me to step in as Provost, I saw it as an exciting opportunity to continue to advance Tech’s academic reputation,” said Schuster, “I have a lot of satisfaction as Provost by working with students – in particular, putting in place opportunities for them to expand their intellectual horizons.” The provost office, nestled in the middle of campus in the Carnegie Building, is the direct link between students and upper administration, making it their duty to report and resolve all student concerns. The provost itself is considered the chief academic officer of the campus, overseeing professors, deans, curriculum, research, and other academic affairs. The provost can only handle so much alone, however, so he is assisted by two senior vice provosts and other assistant provosts and
directors for more specific areas. Schuster is assisted by Dr. Anderson Smith, senior vice provost for academic affairs, and Dr. Mark Allen, senior vice provost for research and innovation. “We [the provost office] deal with everything at Tech on the education side from budgeting, to deciding who gets to hire who, and, especially in this economy,” said Vice Provost Dr. Anderson Smith, “We also meet with the deans and associate deans to accomplish more specific tasks with individual schools.” Vice Provost Mark Allen added that the provost is someone who can earn the respect of faculty and present Tech well. In fact, when former President Clough resigned last year, Schuster served as interim president until President Peterson assumed the office. Allen said Schuster did a tremendous job guiding Tech through the last year of the nationwide financial crisis that has seriously affected Tech’s operating budget. Smith covers affairs more closely related to students ranging from freshman experience participants to PhD students. Issues include undergraduate studies, international programs like study abroad, faculty/curriculum review, and meeting with his Student Advisory Council. “During Student Advisory Council meetings, Dr. Smith is trying to get a feel for how stu-
Photo by Eric Mansfield/ Student Publications
Executive vice president for Academic Affairs, Gary Schuster, has served in his position since 2006. Schuster will be returning to the faculty in the College of Science when a replacement is found. dents are feeling about various issues, questions, and initiatives on campus, and we members of the committee give valuable input throughout the discussions,” said Steph Robbins, fifth-year IsyE. “Dr. Smith is always very eager to help students with any issues they are having with their professors and is constantly telling us to encourage our peers to notify him of any such issues. I personally reached out to him one day and
he responded and acted upon my request with 24 hours,” Robbins said. This council is composed of SGA-affiliated students and members of other prominent student organizations who share their thoughts and concerns their organizations deal with. “When the students wrote this year’s White Paper to President Peterson, I dealt with those concerns,” said Smith, “One of the
big concerns there was that we’d finally get a student portal, and there are now plans in place to get that running.” This term, Smith has dealt with developing a plan for summer term, potential plus/minus letter grading, and graduate health insurance; all these he strongly based his work and decisions on opinions and requests of students. See Provost, page 14
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Provost
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In the area of undergraduate and graduate research, Allen is the key player in the provost office. A major initiative of the undergraduate research program, is the Inventure Prize, which incentivizes undergraduate students as groups and individuals to develop entrepreneurial skills and innovative inventions in a fun, high-profile event. The winning team earns $10,000, and the winning in-
dividual earns $5,000 for their inventions, and both are able to patent their products for free and present their invention and findings at an international innovation competition. Last year’s winner of the prize was Roger Pincombe, third-year CS, for his DialPrice phone service that compares prices locally and online via a free phone service. The office of the provost is even negotiating a contract for broadcasting the event and awards cer-
FOCUS
emony throughout Georgia and possibly nationwide via public television. Both Smith and Allen devote their time—after their duties as psychology and microelectronics/ microsystems professors, respectively—to bridging the studentto-administration gap by inviting all students’ opinions and concerns about their experiences in academia and research. “My primary goal is to be responsive to whatever the concerns of students are,” said Smith, “I
don’t ever want to hear that the upper administration doesn’t care what the students want.” The Office of the Provost also has other provost positions to assist Schuster. The office of the Vice Provost for Distance Learning and Professional Education is filled by Nelson C. Baker. According to the office of the provost’s website, “the Vice Provost for Distance Learning and Professional Education... is responsible for Georgia Tech’s Dis-
tance Learning, Professional Education, and English as a Second Language, or ESL, programs.” The vice provost for academic diversity office is filled by Gilda A. Barabino. Barabino advises campus leaders in regards to diversity issues, both academic and demographic, that are pertinent to Tech. There are also several other provost positions. For more information visit the Office of the Provot website at www.provost. gatech.edu.
technique the south’s liveliest college newspaper.
Entertainment
entertainment@nique.net Entertainment Editor: Jennifer Aldoretta Assistant Entertainment Editor: Richard Otis
Technique
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Friday, November 13, 2009
So You Think CITY SCENE
Photo by Chris Gooley/ Student Publications
By Zheng Zheng Staff Writer
Orchestra to play Woodruff Arts Center this weekend
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will be performing in the Atlanta Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center this weekend. Conducted by the rising Finnish star Mr. Hannu Lintu, this performance is dedicated to history’s various acclaimed Russian composers and their music of passion. The show’s highlights include Tchaikovsky’s version of the worldly renowned ballet classic Swan Lake, Glazunov’s popular Violin Concerto featuring the talented violinist Tai Murray and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1. If a bit of finesse and culture is what you are after this weekend, then the orchestra performance would be the perfect choice to immerse yourself in an enchanted evening of classical music. Tickets range from $20 to $70 depending on seating. More information can be found at www.atlantasymphony.org.
Comedian Jim David to perform at Laughing Skull Lounge
The multitalented stand-up comedian Jim David will be appearing at the Laughing Skull Lounge this weekend. With a history of appearances at venues worldwide and various major televisions networks such as Comedy Central, Showtime and NBC, David is an experienced performer who has stood the test of time with his free-form conversational comedy. His jokes are often centered on social or political commenPhoto by Michael James/ Student Publications taries wrapped within the art of storytelling. With tickets Students participate in Tech’s competition, which featured a distinct variety of cultural dance styles. ranging from $15 to $23, this performance could make for a great night of inexpensive entertainment. More information By Yameen Huq that was still rhythmic and engag- danced and dressed in a much can be found at www.vortexcomedy.com. ing through its instrumental use more traditional style. Contributing Writer
Tech can Dance?
New romantic comedy play Fair Use premieres this weekend
Never thought that love, romance and humor can all coexist within the cruel and harsh world of the law? Fair Use, the new romantic comedy play that is making its world premiere on the stages of Actor’s Express, tells the hilarious story of a love triangle in a law firm amidst a series of profound legal cases. Audience reviews from the show’s previewing were highly positive, and the mixture of sexual politics and professionalism combined with the show’s humorous disposition makes this play a highly recommended experience for all lovers of highbrow humor. Tickets cost between $20 and $25 with student ID. More information can be found at www.actors-express.com.
Less Than Jake and friends play set at Masquerade tonight The Masquerade is featuring Gainesville ska punk band Less Than Jake tonight. Originally formed back in 1992 and with eight full length albums out to date, Less Than Jake is a very experienced and accomplished group defined by their upbeat rhythm and walking bass line. The band’s musical style is a combination of jazz, punk and pop reminiscent of the sounds of Sublime (with less emphasis on the reggae elements), Bowling for Soup and Yellowcard. Tickets are $20 in advance and more information can be found on www. masq.com.
In the mood for high-energy entertainment that celebrates art and athleticism at the same time? This past Thursday the Ferst Center presented So You Think Tech Can Dance?, a kinetic extravaganza of all of the best dance teams Tech had to offer. The entire show clocked in at a little over an hour and was entirely free, making this an event accessible to both the thrifty and the busy. Judging this event was a panel of four, which featured both dance aficionados amongst the Tech faculty as well as well-involved figures in the dance industry. This included people from one of Tech’s clinical psychologists to a choreographer and dancer for Cher. The event opened with a performance by GT Salsa. The group featured a rhythmic, heated salsa dance lit with suggestive, flowing movements. They served as an excellent draw to the rest of the event. Ramblin Raas, one of the first of many Indian performance groups, followed GT Salsa. An Indian dance involving the use of dandiyas (wooden sticks), this was a much more traditional dance
of the sticks. The end of that performance was followed by a huge shift in style with Dance Tech. A much more modern and “out there” group, Dance Tech featured a bizarre yet innovative horror-themed show. The dancers on stage were all dressed up as what appeared to be zombies and danced to a medley of experimental art music, including songs by Bjork. The next dances in the lineup were Tufaan and the Filipino Student Association. Tufaan continued to feature aspects of Indian dancing that would recur throughout the show. The Filipino Student Association, featuring a team of just four people, put on an extremely pop-oriented display. Definitely one of the highest energy performances of the night, the FSA’s dance was much more soloist with regards to its members as opposed to the collective coordination found in most of the other teams. Qurbani, the winning group of the night, featured an eclectic mashup between modern and traditional dances. The dance divided its members into two groups, those who danced in a modern hip-hop style and those who
The last team to dance was Gold Rush, Tech’s official athletic dance team. This team was much more mainstream in most respects than other groups and certainly much more familiar than the culturally distinct groups mentioned above. However, while the dance was successful on a technical level, it was lacking in the originality or cultural uniqueness found in all of the other dances. Rounding out the performance for the night was a solo performance by Amy LaViers. This particular dance while featuring traditional ballet elements, was also much more modern. The dance was heavy on the participants’ interpretation and gave them freedom to improvise in a way not found in the older ballets or styles of music. While the piece was at times slow, its elegance made it a fitting, if low key, end to the event. Overall, the show was definitely an engaging way to spend an hour. The performances were all solid in technical aspects and original too. However, the high energy and engagement of the audience made this a great, enjoyable event for people of all levels of familiarity with dance.
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ENTERTAINMENT
Goats makes weak debut despite all-star casting FILM
The Men Who Stare at Goats GENRE: Comedy STARRING: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges DIRECTOR: Grant Heslov RATING: R RELEASED: Nov. 6, 2009
OUR TAKE: !!" !!!" By Kenny Philips Senior Staff Writer
Grant Heslov’s The Men Who Stare at Goats begins with a disclaimer that says, “More of this is true than you would believe,” and the incredibly unbelievable nature of the story might be the worst part of the movie. Bob Wilton, a journalist who is played by Ewan McGregor, is an average character in just about every conceivable way. Wilton’s search for a big story leads him to Lyn Cassady, a psychic spy who used to work for a top secret military operation. This top secret military operation called the New Earth Army deals with psychic abilities and their applications. Members of the New Earth Army were able to find the location of an enemy and even see into the future with their abilities. The director must be a Star Wars fanatic because the psychic spies often refer to themselves as “Jedi warriors,” and this detracts from the movie every single time. Most of the people in this military organization seem to have no abilities at all, and the movie would have been so much better if the characters really didn’t have any abilities. Unfortunately, certain characters in the movie do
seem to have actual psychic abilities, and this takes away much of the believability of the story. After Lyn and Bob first meet in Kuwait, they travel to Iraq on a mission to save Lyn’s old mentor. However, the villain of the movie, Larry Hooper, proves that these psychic abilities can be used in war when Lyn kills a goat by just staring at it. The entire story of The Men Who Stare at Goats revolves around stopping Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) from using the psychic abilities that were discovered in the New Earth Army for evil. This is a pretty simple story of good versus evil and it’s about as interesting as any other story like it. In other words, the movie doesn’t seem to bring anything incredibly original or interesting to the table. If the quality of this movie was based solely on the story itself, then this movie would be downright horrible. Luckily, the movie is not just a serious story of good versus evil. The movie is also a comedy, and the funnier parts of the movie sort of make up for the lack of a decent storyline. Unfortunately, the laughs are few and far between. Parts of the movie should actually be described as boring, and some moviegoers may find themselves checking the time to see when the movie will be over. The relatively small amount of funny moments in this movie only adds to the disappointment. The main problem with Goats is that it looks extremely good on paper, and this causes expectations to be really high. The acting should by all means be superb with a great cast like Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and George Clooney, and the characters were definitely well acted. Jeff Bridges’ character, Bill Django, is an army officer and a
hippie who starts the psychic spy program and convinces the government that psychic abilities are real. However, Bridges’ character is basically the same exact character as his character in The Big Lebowski. Unfortunately, a few of the characters weren’t that interesting. For example, Kevin Spacey plays a villain who doesn’t seem like much of a villain at all because he never really does much. The problem is not the acting. Kevin Spac-
ey does a great job with his character, and he manages to make the character more interesting than it would have been. One of the glaring problems with the movie is that it claims to be a true story but throws in completely unbelievable things (like when Clooney kills a goat just by staring at it). The problem is that moviegoers want to believe everything in a movie that claims to be a true story. Goats just causes the viewer
to alternate between belief and disbelief, which becomes pretty disorienting. At the end of the movie, some viewers may find themselves scratching their heads, and others may be slightly annoyed with as a whole. The Men Who Stare at Goats is ultimately grounded in typical movie clichés and occasional funny moments, but the overall quality of the movie is seriously hampered by repeated artistic failures.
Image courtesy of Overture Films
George Clooney, who plays Lyn Cassady, is one of many in the new film The Men Who Stare at Goats.
sliver
www.nique.net
meowmeowmeowmeow meowmeowmeowmeow meowmeomeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow PENGUIN says hi and he said he just farted puppy has a birthday present and he says hi penguin gave poofy dog some roofies and teddy gave penguin’s girlfriend some flowers You don’t have to register for classes if you’re dead. David, she isn’t the only person that hates you. Can’t you go inactive already? Boo registration!! Hooray BEER!!!! John don’t even try to be a good president now. You will always be the worst president we’ve ever had. Tech makes top 10 in BCS, espn overviews the top 9 teams. Andrew, we all know you cheated in 3040. Why don’t you graduate already? If my EAS prof weren’t Australian he would sound like Christopher Walken. Maybe the people who designed Oscar should take CS4803 Scalable Information Systems & Technologies Music Room + Renovation = New Bed Room TEC REC!!! Fix the Guitar Hero drum bass pedal !!!!!!!!!! Dead Week is about to be WPFEpic. Parrish > Faculty OSCAR IS UGLY. bobby dodd stadium Dear girls: If you are interested in a guy, tell him. Chances are he is 150% interested in you. love all readers Is livelihood measured by typos? technique staff is hot hot hot Red Scout had fun dancing with all you ladies on friday and sat. What’s with all the CRC complaints about security? Try being handcuffed by the SGA, buzzcard office, and every other Tech department that won’t allow access to buzzcard info or has the money for better technology (biometrics a la UGA). I don’t WANT to loo
ENTERTAINMENT
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Borderlands finds right mix of roleplay elements GAMES
Borderlands GENRE: Role-playing shooter CONSOLE: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows DEVELOPER: Gearbox RATING: Mature RELEASED: Oct. 20, 2009
OUR TAKE: !!!!! By Danny Spiller Senior Staff Writer
Gearbox’s new release of the game Borderland for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows has proven to be a great in the shooter genre. In order for a first-person shooter to convince players to keep coming back, there needs to be some element in which the game excels and sets itself apart. Bioshock and the Half-Life series have involving stories, great character design and engrossing environments. The Call of Duty series triumphs in gameplay mechanics, team-oriented missions and sheer intensity. So what does Borderlands excel in to ensure it doesn’t get lost in the videogame crowd? Looting. There is nothing that Borderlands encourages the player to do more than explore the expansive badlands and find awesome stuff. Sure, there are plenty of other things about Borderlands that make it a good title, but a lot of the enjoyment comes from going through and finding rare items and weapons. But first we need to know why we are looting and whose stuff we
are taking. Playing as one of the four possible character types, you have just landed on the planet called Pandora and are in search of something mysterious known as The Vault. Legend has it that whoever finds The Vault will be rewarded with great riches and power. Upon your arrival on Pandora, you will meet many people who have favors to ask of you, from finding missing pieces of a weapon to taking care of some of their dirty work. In return, they will provide you with money, weapons, items and more information that will eventually lead you closer to The Vault. While on these quests, you’ll run into both creatures and raiders who are looking to stop you, and it is from these creatures, raiders and the environment itself you will find all of the aforementioned fun stuff. So even though there ends up being some basic over arching Vault storyline, most of your gaming time will be spent on quests to receive more money, more experience and more items. In terms of gameplay, Borderlands prides itself on being a shooter with certain role-playing elements. First and foremost, it is a shooter, and it makes sure that you as the player get plenty of action time. On top of that, there are many aspects of role-playing games that have been added, but these are all simplistic; the more quests you complete and the more battles that you win, the more experience you get. The more experience you get, the better your character becomes. If you use certain types of weapons more than others, you will be more proficient with these weapons. It’s pretty basic stuff, and it works extremely well. Adding some complex system on top
of a shooter could have bogged down the game, but here it has been kept simple enough to keep the focus on the action and the collecting. The reason I’m putting so much emphasis on the looting/ collecting aspect is because Gearbox has developed an artificial intelligence that randomly creates millions of different guns for the game. Though sometimes there are only slight variations between each one, it is still extremely impressive at how different most of the weapons look and play. As the player, you’ll get a feel for which
weapon styles you like the most and end up selling the ones you don’t want or the ones that are very rare and worth a lot of mon-
ey.
The visual style of the game is great, taking what is expected from today’s graphical standards and infusing it with hand-drawn elements to give the game a comic book look. The result is somewhat cartoonish, but in a way that emphasizes the fun. The music is appropriate depending on the situation. During the more intense action sequences, the music is loud and driv-
Image courtesy of Gearbox Software
Borderlands provides fun, looting experiences to gamers and fans of the first-person shooter genre.
ing, while during the more lowkey exploration bits, the music takes a backseat and becomes more atmospheric. For those familiar with shooters, the controls will be very intuitive. Using almost the exact same button configuration as the Call of Duty series, it should not take long to have a good grasp on the controls. There are only a couple of minor issues with Borderlands. Though still an absolute blast playing it solo, the quests can feel repetitive at times and would benefit from playing it cooperatively with friends. Fortunately, there is an option to do just that. Whether it is over the internet or sideby-side playing it split screen, Borderlands is a game that is very enjoyable with company. However, the vertical split screen takes a bit of getting used to when trying to navigate menus, as the menus themselves are bigger than the screens, requiring a little extra scrolling work to see what you are looking at. Finally (and this is minor), the style of the main menu seems a little off the mark. For a game that is completely steeped in action and style, the use of such a low-key and generic menu is a little disappointing. Fortunately, this doesn’t matter at all once the game gets going, but it’s just not the homerun of an opening gamers probably want. For all of the treasure hunters out there, Borderlands is a great bet. Make sure to call up some friends to find a few close gaming buddies to play and loot with and it’s a no-brainer.
ENTERTAINMENT
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West’s Devil reminiscent of ‘80s horror genre FILM
The House of the Devil GENRE: Horror, Thriller STARRING: Jocelin Donahue, Greta Gerwig and Tom Noonan DIRECTOR: Ti West RATING: R RELEASED: Nov. 6, 2009
! !" OUR TAKE: !!!" By Danny Spiller Senior Staff Writer
No spooky plans for Friday the 13? Apparently director Ti West figured as much, so he’s put together a good little throwback horror flick to creep you out – The House of the Devil. Samantha is a college student, and she needs money. She’s moving out of the dorm away from her slob roommate and into a cute little house with reasonable rent. The landlady seems nice enough; she’s waving all of the deposits as long as Samantha pays the first month’s rent the next week. Samantha is still a couple hundred dollars short so when she sees a flyer for a babysitting job, she decides to call.
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Upon arrival at the house, the man who put out the flyers explains he has not been entirely honest. There is no kid to babysit, but the job is just as easy: 400 dollars for four hours. It’s just too good to pass up. The thing about Ti West’s film that sets it apart from other horror films is how well it nails the time period. The House of the Devil takes place in the ‘80s, and he lets you know it. It has the big hair, the high-fitting jeans and cassette players, but it’s not just what he’s filming that makes it so ‘80s, it’s how he films it. The opening credits will likely make most viewers doubt that this was filmed within the past year. The somewhat grainy footage and the choices West makes on the camera work will have you convincing yourself that this movie has been sitting on a shelf somewhere for a couple of decades. The great thing about all of this is how well it suits the movie. The simplicity of the plot and direction give The House of the Devil that innocence that so many ‘80s movies seem to possess. And it’s important to note that it is not a parody; not once does West poke fun at the ‘80s style, but instead genuinely uses it to enhance the story. Unfortunately, though, the
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Image courtesy of Dark Sky Films
Director Ti West releases new horror flick The House of the Devil. awkward Mr. Ullman. His dialogue is delivered so perfectly that just his desperate way of talking sets up the uneasiness for the rest of the film. The House of the Devil was recently released in theaters, but sadly is not showing in Atlanta.
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film does make some missteps. For one, this is not your thrill-aminute movie. The House of the Devil is a slow builder, which works in some ways and fails in others. It works in creating tension and strengthening the connection between the viewer and the protagonist. At the same time, it causes the film to drag, especially once Samantha is without anyone to interact with. The film performs a miraculous feat of being a little interesting, a little scary and a little boring all at once. But I definitely give it more praise than criticism because I think it is an interesting choice by the director to do something so deliberate and plodding. Furthermore, as though to apologize and say, “Thanks for sticking with me. Here’s a token of my appreciation,” West ratchets up the intensity and violence really quickly for the film’s finale. The dichotomy of the creepy but slow middle section of the film with the urgent and shocking ending makes for a satisfying experience. The acting is solid throughout. Jocelin Donahue is great as Samantha, and Greta Gerwig is terrific as Samantha’s best friend Megan. Tom Noonan, however, steals the show as the creepy and
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You can still check it out on Video on Demand, amazon.com, and Xbox Live. If you’re not a fan of ‘80s suspense or horror this likely isn’t going to convert you, but it’s definitely recommended for those who miss those retro scares.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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THEME CROSSWORD: BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND By Robert Zimmerman United Features Syndicate ACROSS 1. Declining 7. Leader, of sorts, in a race 12. Steiger and Serling 16. Potsdam pastry 17. Inner self, to Jung 18. Soul’s Franklin 21. Celebrity’s schedule, perhaps 23. Appraise 25. Hemispheric org. 26. Chemical compounds 27. In one’s dotage 29. Officeholders 30. Informed about 32. Low card 33. Burger King supplies 34. Feed the pigs 35. Pre-election project 36. Danson and Turner 37. Seawater 39. Eggs accompaniment, at times 40. CPA’s armload 42. Throws in the towel
43. Honeydew, e.g. 44. Citi Field players 45. Requirement 46. Group of experts 47. When Hamlet sees a ghost 50. House-garage connector 53. Actress Thurman 56. Davis of “Beetlejuice” 57. Picture puzzle 58. Major or Minor 59. Something in the air 60. Celebrity 61. Raucous fight 62. Pesky insects 63. Spanish river 64. Get a glimpse of 65. Suffix for salmon 66. Cut 67. Actor Dennehy 68. Tiny 69. Ticket, of sorts 71. Heathens 72. Bedtime distraction 75. Focus 76. Legends
77. Homeless pup 78. Eco friendly 80. Deep bows 83. Actor Romero 84. Boarding-house sign 85. Kissing disease? 86. Salamander 88. Pretentiously aesthetic 89. Red and Black 90. “Blest be the ties that -” 91. Ill-fated autocrat 92. Thermal lead-in 93. “Symphony of a Thousand” composer 95. Not vegetable or mineral? 98. - Lanka 99. Traveling 101. Light source with tall glass chimney 104. Aviatrix Earhart 105. Dialect 106. Short-subject trio 107. Fender scar 108. Lowly workers 109. Scorched
DOWN 1. Corn Belt product 2. Brush 3. Sticker 4. Inactive 5. The latest 6. Sparkles 7. San Diego players 8. Nervous 9. Labor org. founded 1938 10. Ostrich cousins 11. Welsh, but not a rabbit
12. Narrow valley 13. Important exams 14. Editor’s command 15. R followers 16. Fly downward 19. “- - happy land!” 20. When clocks strike 12 22. Dweebs 24. Couch potato’s choice 28. Cloistered ones 31. Family wealth, perhaps 34. Merchant’s strategy
36. Head of France 37. Resets restaurant tables 38. Carlton partner 39. It’s big in London 41. Miss Rowlands 42. Line in Liverpool 43. Central American Indians 45. Rowan Atkinson TV role 46. Cut and 47. 39th veep 48. Quit it!
49. Legendary burlesque queen 50. “King of Torts” lawyer 51. A Kennedy 52. Ruin’s partner 54. “Bugs” in Chicago lore 55. Greek conflicts 57. Kind of race 59. Gary Cooper role: “- York” 61. Jovial 62. Actress Close 66. Footwear 67. Theda of the silents
70. High-school subj. 71. Venetian traveler 73. Foster’s Old Dog 74. Skiff propeller 76. Eurasia, for one 77. A Williams of tennis 78. Objective 79. Herbal-tea ingredient 80. Kind of boom 81. Essence of a speech 82. Gathered like bees 83. Canary’s abode
84. Fix leftovers 85. Half-notes, in music 87. Stumbles 89. Glossy fabric 90. Richtofen’s title 93. Slipper 94. Ill mannered 96. Pro’s opponent 97. Author Uris 100. Big dictionary: abbr. 102. Carnival mecca 103. Ship’s record
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Basketball
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would cruise. Shumpert hit three straight three-pointers to put Tech ahead 13-6, appeasing some concerns that the team lacked a reliable outside shooter. “When you’ve got D’Andre Bell penetrating and Mfon penetrating, and then you’ve got Gani and Favors down there... as long as you’re slotting around there looking for a shot, you can get one off,” Shumpert said. The Jackets expanded the lead to 19-11, but IUP fought back thanks to senior forward Akida McLain, who played two-plus seasons at Boston College before joining IUP. McLain scored seven straight points on a dunk, a jumper and a three-pointer to bring IUP to within one point. The teams traded runs to close the half. Four Tech players scored as part of an 11-2 run, but IUP took 10 of the final 14 points in the half. Tech led 36-30 at the break. Helped by three Jackets turnovers, the Crimson Hawks jumped out of the gate in the sec-
ond half and scored eight unanswered points to take the lead. Tech stayed close, never allowing IUP to lead by more than three, and took a 54-52 lead on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Lance Storrs. The Jackets increased their lead but were unable to put away the Crimson Hawks, and with less than a minute left, the game was tied at 72. A Storrs three-pointer with three seconds left was off the mark. IUP had a chance to win, but McLain’s desperate three from midcourt fell just short, and the game went to overtime. Despite being outscored in the second half 42-36, Tech was able to recover and take control in the extra period. “[IUP] went back to the man, and that gave us opportunities,” Hewitt said. Tech pulled ahead 80-76, and IUP began to foul after missed shots. Junior guard Moe Miller hit four free throws to secure the lead, and Tech went on to win by a final score of 84-76. The Jackets officially open the season at home on Saturday against Florida A&M.
Football
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power,” Morgan said. It was a career day for several other players. Redshirt sophomore B-back Preston Lyons scored the first touchdown of his career when he ran 31 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give Tech a 10-0 lead. “It was just a regular play call, a pitch out to me. I got a bunch of great blocks...I caught the ball, I looked up field and there was no one out there,” Lyons said. Junior kicker Scott Blair kicked
a career-long 45-yard field goal to end Tech’s first offensive possession. It was Blair’s first successful field goal from 40-plus yards. Penalties hurt Tech throughout the game. On Wake’s second drive of the game, Skinner attempted a deep pass on third-andeight from the Demon Deacon’s own 20. Junior linebacker Brad Jefferson attempted to break up the pass but pushed down receiver Chris Givens in the process, keeping the drive alive. Later in the drive, Wake was given a new set of downs at Tech’s 2-yard line after junior rover
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D’Andre Bell drives past an IUP defender during Sunday’s exhibition game. Bell posted 10 points and nine assists in his first game since 2007.
Morgan Burnett was flagged for roughing the kicker on a field goal attempt. In the second quarter, Tech had a rushing touchdown by junior receiver Stephen Hill called back because of a holding call. The drive ended after one of the failed fourth down conversions. The Jackets were also flagged for three chop block penalties. They ended the game with a total of seven penalties for 78 yards. Tech next visits Duke in Durham, N.C. in its last ACC game of 2009. The Jackets can clinch the Coastal Division with a victory.
Washington vs. #23 Oregon State (-10)
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W-Basketball, Softball ink early signees
The women’s basketball team picked up three signees in the 2010-11 early signing period. The class is led by Dawnn Maye, a point guard who was the top-rated player in Fla. The Jackets also picked up ESPN Top 100 wing prospect Tyaunna Marshall and shooting guard Kendra Long. Pitcher Lindsey Anderson, the defending Hish School Region 5-AAA Player of the Year, headlines the softball team’s recruiting class. The Jackets also signed catcher Alysha Rudnik, shortstop Ashley Thomas, and utility player Hayley Downs.
Tech alums chosen in NBA D-League draft Former Tech basketball players Alade Aminu and Lewis Clinch, both seniors last season, were taken in the NBA’s Developmental League draft on Thursday, Nov. 5. Aminu was the Fort Wayne Mad Ants’ first-round pick at No. 10 overall. Clinch was chosen No. 38 overall by the Austin Toros.
Questions
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The lone returning lineman, junior defensive end Derrick Morgan, has been the leader of the defensive line this season and is second in the nation with 11.5 sacks. Often, Morgan has been the only Tech lineman able to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Junior defensive end Robert Hall got injured early this season, and that has put more strain on Tech’s inexperienced front four. The Jackets have tried a number of players at the three other spots on the line with mixed results. The players at those positions have combined for just 1.5 sacks and have struggled at times to defend the run as well. Tech has used a handful of freshmen and sophomores to occupy the three spots alongside Morgan, and as a result the Jackets’ rush defense has been inconsistent this season. At times, Tech’s run defense has looked good, holding four opponents to under 100 yards on the ground, but there are other times where running backs have gashed the defense. Mississippi State ran for 209 yards against the Jackets, and Vanderbilt ran for 218 yards. Still, the defensive line played their best game against Wake Forest last week, holding them to just 28 yards rushing. The defensive tackle rotation of redshirt junior Ben Anderson, redshirt sophomores Jason Peters and Logan Walls and freshman T.J. Barnes should continue to get better with more experience.
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Gomez, Falconi reach NICC finals
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Guillermo Gomez makes a return at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. Gomez fell in the final match of the National Indoor Collegiate Championship. By Steven Cappetta Assistant Sports Editor
Both junior Guillermo Gomez and sophomore Irina Falconi came up short of earning national titles in singles play last weekend. Each of them fell in the finals of the ITA National Indoor Tennis Championship. Gomez dropped his match in a well-contested three-set battle on
Nov. 8 to the fifth-seeded Steve Johnson of Southern California. Johnson, who is ranked No. 16 in the nation, defeated Gomez in a third-set tiebreaker to take the match 7-5, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3). With the loss, Gomez finished the fall season with a 13-2 singles record. Falconi put up a strong effort but lost in two sets to California’s Jana Juricova, 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the finals of the women’s bracket. Fal-
coni was the tournament’s No. 2 seed and with the loss closed out the fall season with an 11-1 record. Falconi just came short of winning her second national title this year, as she won the Riviera/ ITA All-American Championship on Oct. 11. Gomez came back from an early deficit to knock off Virginia’s Michael Shabaz 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals on Saturday. Before the match with Shabaz, Gomez had to overtake three other opponents to go farther in the 32-person tournament. In his first match of the tournament, Auburn’s Tim Puetz forced Gomez to a third set, but Gomez eventually prevailed 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. He advanced to the round of 16, where he faced and defeated Southern California’s Robert Farah 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, he overtook Wisconsin’s Moritz Baumann 6-4, 6-1. Falconi was able to defeat Baylor’s Lenka Broosova on Saturday in the semifinals to gain a spot in the finals. Before her match with Broosova, Falconi had to win three other matches. In the opening round, she knocked off Auburn’s Fani Chifchieva 6-0, 7-6. In the round of 16 she was able to beat Clemson’s Josipa Bek 6-2, 6-0. In the quarterfinals she was able to overtake Washington’s Venise Chan 6-0, 6-2. Both tennis teams have concluded play for the fall season. They will resume action in Jan.
SPORTS
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Volleyball sweeps two more in second straight road set By Nishant Prasadh Sports Editor
Tech volleyball closed out a strong four-game road trip with a pair of sweeps over the weekend. The Jackets took down Boston College 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-19) on Friday night and topped Maryland 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-18) on Saturday, improving to 18-7 overall and 12-3 in the ACC. In the process, Tech took the season series against each of the two teams, two matches to none. The Jackets were locked in a back-and-forth battle against the Eagles in the first set of Friday’s match at Chestnut Hill, Mass. Neither team led by more than three as they fought to a 15-15 tie. B.C. pulled ahead on a blocking error by sophomore outside hitter Bailey Hunter, but Tech rebounded to take seven of the next eight points. Senior middle blocker had a kill and a service ace over that stretch as Tech took a 22-17 lead. The Jackets went on to take the set 25-19 and take the early lead in the match. Tech had an easier time in set number two, building an early lead and cruising to a set victory. Three of Tech’s first six points came via Hunter kills, and the sophomore notched eight kills in the set as Tech took the set 25-18 and went ahead two sets to none.
In the final set, Tech took advantage of three consecutive B.C. attack errors and back-to-back Mead kills as part of a 6-0 run that put the Jackets ahead 8-4. Tech led by no fewer than three points for the rest of the match, and senior outside hitter DeMichelis picked up five kills in the set as the Jackets clinched the match with a 25-19 victory. Hunter, who had a streak of 18 consecutive games with 10-plus kills earlier this season, led the Jackets with 13 kills. She also had two solo blocks and hit .440 on the day. DeMichelis had 10 kills and freshman rightside hitter Monique Mead had 12 kills and six digs. Sophomore outside hitter Alison Campbell had a teamhigh 12 digs and junior libero Jordan McCullers had nine, and junior setter Mary Ashley Tippins notched 40 assists. The team as a whole hit .366 for the match while holding the Eagles to a .180 mark. Saturday’s match saw Maryland jump out to an early 9-5 lead. Tech fought back to close the gap, and a 6-2 run keyed by three blocks on Maryland attacks and two kills by Mead pushed the Jackets to a 17-14 lead. Tech did not relinquish the advantage, and Hunter’s third kill of the set gave the Jackets the first set
of the match, 25-20. The second set opened with the Terrapins taking four straight points, followed by the Jackets taking the next four. Maryland gradually expanded its slim lead throughout the set, and the Terrapins led late 20-16. Tech began to close the gap and Head Coach Tonya Johnson called a timeout with Maryland ahead 23-21. The Jackets came out strong after the brief break, and sophomore middle blocker Asia Stawicka had two kills as Tech took the final four points, winning the set 25-23. The Jackets once again had to fight back from a deficit in the third set after Maryland opened an 8-4 lead. Johnson called a timeout at that point, and Tech went on a 7-3 run to tie the match. The score remained close as the teams battled to a 16-16 tie, but the Jackets pulled away after that point. Mead had three kills to spark an 8-1 run that gave Tech a big lead, and a DeMichelis kill shortly afterward ended the match as Tech took the final set 25-18. Stawicka had four block assists, Tippins contributed 36 assists and McCullers had 15 digs. Mead and Hunter had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, to lead the attack. Hunter hit .500 for the match, and Tech as a team hit .337 compared to Maryland’s .149.
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Monique Mead spikes the ball during a game at O’Keefe Gym. Mead had 23 kills on the weekend as Tech improved to 18-7 on the season to date.
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Technique t /PWFNCFS t 25
2009-10 Women’s Basketball Preview Jackets aim for third straight NCAA tournament
Frontcourt
By Steven Cappetta | Assistant Sports Editor
1IPUP CZ 8JMMJBN #SBXMFZ Student Publications
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The frontcourt for Tech this year should remain formidable with the return of two solid starters in sophomore center Sasha Goodlett and senior forward Brigitte Ardossi. Goodlett, who started 29 games last season, is the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-5. She improved throughout last season and averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in her first season with the Jackets. Goodlett came on strong at the end of the year, especially during the NCAA Tournament, and should improve even further in her second season at Tech as the Jackets’ primary center. Ardossi returns to play her fourth season at power forward for Tech. In her three years with the team, she has proven to be one of Tech’s top post players. Ardossi scored 7.7 points per game and put up a career-high of 143 rebounds and 35 steals last season, and she improved her free throw percentage greatly from her first two seasons, hitting 81.9 percent of her shots from the free throw line. In her three seasons at Tech she has posted a .481 field goal percentage. Tech has a handful of reliable reserves behind Goodlett and Ardossi. Sophomore center LaQuanaisha Adams stands 6-foot-4 and was Goodlett’s main backup last season, posting a .479 field goal percentage. Senior center Tiffany Blackmon offers experience off the bench, and sophomore forward Chelsea Regins provides a versatile option capable of playing in the post or on the wing. Freshmen Danielle Hamilton-Carter and Shayla Bivins should contribute this season as rookies. Hamilton-Carter is a tall and athletic forward from Stockhom, Sweden whose international experience will help with the transition to the ACC. She should be a major asset to Tech and make an impact right away. Bivins has been ranked highly among Florida recruits and averaged 11 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior at Stanton College Prep.
Backcourt The women’s basketball team will see some new starters in the backcourt this season. Jacqua Williams and Iasia Hemingway, who played in the majority of the games last year, are gone. Williams, who was a fixture in the starting lineup as the team’s point guard, graduated at the end of a stellar four-year career, and Hemingway—a New Jersey native—chose to transfer to Syracuse University. Junior guard/forward Alex Montgomery will miss several games to open the season while continuing to rehabilitate her knee. Montgomery had surgery on the knee after tearing her ACL in the ACC Tournament last spring. The 6-foot-1 junior led the team last season with 13.7 points and 6.7 points per game; she has emerged as a star for the Jackets, and the team will receive a major boost when she returns. Junior Deja Foster will be relied on heavily this year thanks to the losses. Foster started in 14 games last season, emerging as a reliable option late in the season. Following her freshman season, she improved her numbers drastically in 2008-09 as her scoring average jumped from 1.3 to 9.3 points per game. Foster was named a co-captain last season along with Williams and should continue to improve as a junior. There will also be two freshmen that will have an impact in their first seasons with the Jackets. Freshman Sharena Taylor, from Pontiac, Mich., will fill void as a point guard on the roster. Taylor has been ranked the No. 7 point guard in the 2009 freshman class by ESPN. She is a dynamic playmaker and should make an immediate impact for Tech. Freshman shooting guard Jasmine Blain, who stands 6-foot-2, will add depth to the roster. With her height and versatility, she should receive plenty of playing time in Montgomery’s absence.
Season Outlook The Jackets will immediately see new faces in games at the start of the season, and the incoming freshmen should have an impact from the start. This is not necessarily a bad thing for the Jackets though, as experience and depth can be built right from the start of the season. Montgomery should be back before the ACC schedule begins at the beginning of next year, and until then she will likely be brought back into the lineup slowly, being rotated with other players that can get experience with gameplay. The loss of Montgomery, who was arguably the team’s best all-around player last season, could hurt the team early on. Still, the team has plenty of other players capable of picking up the slack; also, Montgomery was not active when the Jackets won its first NCAA Tournament game against Iowa last season, so the Jackets have shown the ability hold their own as a team without their top offensive player. The Preseason AP poll announced Tech’s women’s basketball team to be ranked No. 19 in the nation. This marked the first time that the Jackets had placed in the preseason top 25 poll and came despite the loss of a key leader in Williams. Tech will benefit from strong leadership on the sidelines. Head Coach MaChelle Joseph has brought the Jackets to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and guided the team to a comeback victory over No. 2 North Carolina last year. The Jackets were ranked nationally for five weeks last year and made it as high as No. 22. Tech will face stiff competition in the strong ACC, particularly from perennial powers UNC and Duke. The Jackets are a much-improved squad, though, and are looking to make a name for themselves in the conference. Joseph has guided the program to sustained success, and that success should continue this season as Tech attempts to improve further.
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www.onlyattech.net CPJ has the fanbase Chan Gailey never had. Maybe it’s because he’s CPJ or maybe it’s because his coaching start followed Chan Gailey’s, but CPJ is amazing. emily in berrys class, everyone thinks you are annoying GO GT BASKETBALL! #20 PRESEASON! dear coach hewitt. don’t f it up. don’t worry babyyy everything will turn out right i feel half dead. thanks tech. emily you are SO annoying! love, everyone in constitutional issues i love how ppl thought the ivan allen ad was a bunch of slivers... no it was an ad GO TECH BASKETBALL! carolina sucks. justice emily put your hand down spay or neuter your pet -bob barker i wear my flip flops all year long in berrys class: emily is unbearable... i have one more free elective...someone tell me which class hot girls register for!!!! whats the average engineering gpa at tech?? ARE WE GONNA LET WAKE TELL US WHAT WE CANT WEAR IN OUR OWN STADIUM? you’ve heard of fml and mlia. meet oat (only at tech)... I have never slivered before If you ladies would like to talk to me please do. It always brightens my day. Doctor said my blood pressure been increasing since I came to this school. Forget Weezer. Bring 3OH!3 to Tech. Holy smokes! l beat the ratio! So it IS possible lt’s that time of the semester again...the time when I can’t be arsed to go to class, ever My CS TA looks sick. I hope you feel better man The most efficient way to destroy your eardrums is to linger around a Chapter meeting. AUGHHHH!!!!
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10 games into 2009, a look back on early-season questions By Alex Mitchell Contributing Writer
With their win against Wake Forest last Saturday, Tech’s football team can clinch a berth in the ACC Championship game with a win this Saturday against Duke. The Jackets have already won nine games this season, and are ranked No. 7 in the BCS standings. Tech’s success this season has followed an offseason filled with questions and skepticism. After the Jackets completed a surprising 9-4 campaign in their first season under Head Coach Paul Johnson, skeptics wondered if the team would be able to continue that success in year two. The first and most prominent question mark heading into the season was whether or not Johnson’s triple option-based offense would be successful in his second year on the Flats. Skeptics were concerned that with a year’s worth of film on the Jackets’ offense, opposing coaches would be able to prepare their teams for the reverses, pitches and other ways that Tech attacked defenses. Early on, Tech’s performances did little to quell the concern. The offense had trouble producing substantial yardage in wins over Jacksonville State and Clemson, aside from a pair of long touchdown runs early in those games. Against Miami, Tech failed to crack the 100-yard mark on the ground against a Hurricanes
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Jonathan Dwyer breaks into the open field during Saturday’s game against Wake Forest. Dwyer, the 2009 ACC Preseason Player of the Year, ranks tenth in the nation and second in the conference with 1,093 rushing yards.
defense that allowed 472 rushing yards in last season’s meeting. The loss at Miami ignited concerns dating back to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl loss to LSU that teams with extra time to prepare could effectively shut down Tech’s offense. Since then, though, the Jackets have emerged as one of the nation’s most potent offensive teams. The Jackets are second in the nation with 315 rushing yards per
game. All those yards have equated to points, and Tech is first in the ACC in scoring with an average of 34.7 points per game. Johnson has made adjustments to his system when needed, both between and during games. The result is that the Jackets have the best record in the ACC, and Johnson’s option attack continues to produce successful results. Another major question re-
garding the 2009 season involved the potential of junior B-back Jonathan Dwyer. In 2008, Dwyer was the first sophomore to win the ACC Player Of The Year Award. He led the conference in rushing with 1,395 yards and added 12 touchdowns. Coming into this season, Dwyer was regarded as one of the nation’s top running backs and was mentioned as a potential Heis-
man Trophy candidate if he could build on his success. He received the ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year Award in recognition of the high expectations. Dwyer’s first carry of the season seemed to be a good sign. Against Jacksonville State, he caught a pitch on Tech’s first offensive play and raced 74 yards for a touchdown. After that big run, though, Dwyer’s production tapered off somewhat. The junior managed just 66 yards against Clemson, and the following week he picked up just seven yards on five carries against Miami and had to leave the game with a shoulder injury. The injury proved to be minor, and since then Dwyer has rushed for over 100 yards in five of Tech’s last seven games. Notably, he broke his single game record with a 186-yard performance on the ground against Vanderbilt two weeks ago, then broke that record again with 189 yards against Wake Forest last week. Perhaps the biggest questions for Tech, though, were on the other side of the ball. Last season, three seniors—end Michael Johnson and tackles Darryl Richard and Vance Walker—anchored Tech’s defensive line, but all three of those players graduated and have gone on to play in the NFL. As a result, Tech has had to find replacements this season. See Questions, page 23
SPORTS
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GEORGIA TECH at DUKE - NOV. 14 (12 PM) By Zack Smith, Contributing Writer
1IPUP CZ #SJBO $BTFZ Student Publications
BLUE DEVILS
VS.
JACKETS
The No. 7 Jackets hit the road again this weekend to take on the Duke Blue Devils in their final ACC game of the regular season. The Jackets will look to lock up their spot in the conference championship game in Tampa Bay, Fla. by defeating the unranked Blue Devils and remaining the only one loss team in the ACC. Last Saturday Tech narrowly defeated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 30-27 in overtime. Junior B-back Jonathan Dwyer once again reached a new personal best by rushing for 189 yards on 23 carries. The Jackets were offensively competitive for the whole of the game, but the defense struggled once again to contain Wake’s effective passing game, reminiscent of the Clemson and Miami games in the first half of the season. However, when the pressure was on near the end of the game, the defense got a sack to prevent a game-winning field goal attempt in regulation and held Wake to a field goal in overtime. On Tech’s ensuing drive in overtime, Head Coach Paul Johnson placed the ACC championship game on the line by going for the first down on fourth and inches, and the decision paid off. This Saturday the Jackets will face another strong passing offense against the Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. Last year, the Jackets shut out the Devils in Bobby Dodd Stadium and controlled the clock with a time of possession of 38:46 and 454 total yards compared to Duke’s meager 132. If Tech can put together another strong offensive showing and shut down Duke’s top-15 passing attack, the odds will be in their favor. Home field advantage may not be an issue for the Jackets, as Tech is 4-1 on the road while Duke is only 2-2 at home. If the Jackets can secure their final conference win, they will clinch the Coastal Division and secure a spot in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 5.
The 5-4 Blue Devils host the Jackets this Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., coming off a disappointing loss to their rival North Carolina. The loss was No. 19 of Duke’s last 20 games against the Tar Heels, who managed to end the Blue Devils’ first three-game win streak since 1989. Duke’s victories in their recent streak against North Carolina State, Maryland and Virginia were delivered through the air by the team’s main weapon, senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, and the team’s young receivers. The team has been more successful this season under second-year Head Coach David Cutcliffe, who coached both Eli and Peyton Manning during their college careers and has helped Lewis become one of the ACC’s top passers. Duke struggled offensively this past weekend, though, failing to score a touchdown in a game for the first time this season. UNC held the Blue Devils to a season-low 125 yards, 212 below their season average, and for the first time in five games, Lewis threw for fewer than 300 yards. UNC halted Duke’s passing game, leaving the one-dimensional Blue Devils—who are No. 118 in rushing out of 120 teams in FBS, with 614 rushing yards all season and an average of 2.2 yards per carry—without a leg to stand on. UNC running back Ryan Houston’s strong performance on the ground could be a bad omen for Duke against the No. 2 team in the nation in rushing yards per game. If the defense cannot stop Tech’s spread option offense, it could spell trouble for the Blue Devils and lead to their third conference loss. Duke will attempt to avoid a repeat of last season’s loss to the Jackets by giving Lewis time to throw and exploiting the gaps in Tech’s pass defense. A victory on Saturday would guarantee Duke at least a .500 finish, making them bowl eligible for the first time since 1995, and it would keep their hopes of a trip to the ACC Championship Game alive. 1IPUP CZ .BUUIJFV .BTRVFMFU Student Publications
PREDICTION: Tech 30, Duke 17
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Jackets win OT thriller vs. Wake
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Men’s Basketball tops Indiana of Pa. in OT By Nishant Prasadh Sports Editor
1IPUP CZ +PIO /BLBOP Student Publications
Josh Nesbitt runs past a Wake Forest defender in Saturday’s game against Wake Forest. Nesbitt had 54 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries in the game, and his two-yard QB sneak on fourth-and-one in overtime set up his game-winning touchdown run. By Hahnming Lee Business Manager
Tech beat Wake Forest in the Jackets’ first overtime game since the 2003 season, 30-27. The win gave Tech sole possession of first place in the ACC’s Coastal Division. Head Coach Paul Johnson elected to attempt a fourthdown conversion in overtime while the team was down a field goal. None of the team’s previous four fourth-down attempts in the game had been successful, but junior quarter-
back Josh Nesbitt fell forward on the sneak for more than the needed one yard and gained a new set of downs. He ran the ball in for the game-winning touchdown on the next play. “Big-time players make big-time plays when they are called upon,� Nesbitt said. If the fourth-down play had not been successful, Tech would have lost the game. They could have attempted a short field goal with Scott Blair to tie the game and play a second overtime. “You have to play to win.
1IPUP CZ +PIO /BLBOP Student Publications
Anthony Allen sprints downfield during Saturday’s game against Wake Forest. Allen had three carries for 43 yards in Tech’s victory.
Kids work hard. They put in a lot of time and effort and if we can’t get a half of a yard, we probably don’t deserve to win,� Johnson said. Tech had called a time-out after lining up in an attempt to draw Wake offsides. Afterward, the kicking team did not go on, and instead the offense returned to the field. “Who wouldn’t want to play for a coach like that who is going to believe in you? With the game on the line, he is going to put it in our hands so that we can do what we are supposed to do,� said junior Bback Jonathan Dwyer. Dwyer gained 189 yards on 23 carries, surpassing his previous career high of 186 set just a game ago at Vanderbilt. He also surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season for the second straight year. The successful rush and the resulting touchdown were exceptions to the struggles Tech experienced on fourth downs. In the second quarter, Tech was not able to convert a similar play inside of Wake territory. After failing to move the ball forward on third-and-one, the offense stayed on the field for the fourth down attempt. Nesbitt bobbled the snap and recovered it while coming down at a similar spot. After an official time-out for measurement, the ball was measured short at the Wake 38. The ensuing drive resulted in a Wake field goal to put the Demon Deacons up 17-10. The next three fourthdown attempts also resulted
in no gain or negative yardage. Nesbitt fell short on the next attempt, junior A-back Anthony Allen dropped a pass on the next one and Josh Nesbitt lost his footing and fell on the last one. Three of the attempts came from the Wake 38. “We kept getting down there in ‘No Man’s Land’ and we bogged down. We did not convert on fourth down...we did some things a little bit uncharacteristic of the way we’ve been playing,� Johnson said. Despite the close score, Tech performed well on offense for much of the game. The offense gained over 400 yards rushing for the third time this season, and three players had 50 rushing yards or more. In the second half, the defense effectively shut down the Deacons’ offense, holding them to just 113 total yards and getting three sacks. The total included a crucial sack by junior defensive end Derrick Morgan near the end of the fourth quarter. On third-and-seven from Tech’s 35, Morgan rushed Wake quarterback Riley Skinner and tackled him for a five-yard loss. The sack not only forced a fourth down, but it also moved the Deacons far enough back that they decided to punt instead of attempting a field goal. “I swiped at him...I had to muster up my strength and go out there and give it one more play, reach down deep within and get some strength and See Football, page 22
Tech’s men’s basketball team faced a surprising challenge from Division II school Indiana of Pa. in Sunday’s exhibition game, but the Jackets held off the visiting Crimson Hawks and secured an 84-76 overtime victory at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. “It was a strange game... I was expecting us to play better than we did last week, and we didn’t,� said Head Coach Paul Hewitt. Hewitt tried to get as many players involved as possible due to the nature of the contest. Still, IUP stayed close throughout and Hewitt ended up leaning on his starters for much of the game. The lone exception was sophomore guard Iman Shumpert, who was nursing a minor hamstring injury and was set to play no more than ten minutes. “It was just a safety precaution. I felt good. My [injury] wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,� Shumpert said. The exhibition match marked the first collegiate game action for four Tech freshmen. Forward Derrick Favors and guard Mfon Udofia both started and played more than 30 minutes a piece. Favors had 15 points and led the team with nine rebounds and three blocks. Udofia struggled on the offensive end, hitting just three of 11 field goal attempts, but he had a solid performance as the team’s main ball handler and finished with six assists. Forward Brian Oliver and guard Glen Rice Jr. also took the court in Tech uniforms for the first time. Each scored five points. Tech’s returning stars performed well. Junior forward Gani Lawal had 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and added eight rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Redshirt senior wing D’Andre Bell, playing his first game since the end of the 2007-08 season, had 10 points and nine assists. Early on, it appeared that the Jackets See Basketball, page 22
1IPUP CZ &SJD .BOTĂśFME Student Publications
Iman Shumpert drives to the basket in Sunday’s exhibition game against Indiana of Pa.