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news
october 24, 2012 COLLEGIATETIMES
editors: mallory noe-payne, victoria zigadlo newseditor@collegiatetimes.com/ 540.231.9865
SGA hosts student political debate SEAN HAYDEN news staff writer
Not to be left out of debate season, Virginia Tech students tackled the big questions of this year’s election in their own debate last night. SGA and VTU held the Campus Candidate Forum in Haymarket Theatre yesterday as part of SGA’s Voter Awareness Campaign. Representatives from Young Democrats, College Republicans and Libertarians at VT discussed some of the same issues that presidential candidates have been engaging in. “The questions are supposed to be very timely and (are) be based off of the political debate that took place Monday night,” said Erica Wood, the SGA’s Director of Governmental Affairs. The moderators, students from the Political Science Club, provided questions and each debater had a minute to address the questions. “The debate is between students and is meant to help gain some political insight as well as raise more political awareness on campus,” Wood said. Moderators asked several series of questions, including introductory questions, questions with rebuttal and
what you’re saying Tech student on bike hit by car
questions from Twitter. The questions varied among topics such as government intervention, healthcare, foreign policy, immigration and education. In past years, t he You ng Democrats and College Republicans were unable to agree on a debate format and make the event happen; KEVIN DICKEL / SPPS however, this year the joint On the same stage where Virginia’s senate candidates debated just last week, effort of SGA student political groups held their own debate to help undecided student voters. and VTU was able to make the event a exposure of political policies with our voter outreach success. to students, and hopefully it program, voter registration “All the individuals who will help students make an drive, presidential debate debated did an excellent educated decision when they screenings, and the campus job,” Wood said. “I am very vote in November,” George candidate forum,” Wood happy with how the debate said. said. went in its entirety.” Over the summer, Wood SGA’s Voter Awareness Andrew Russell, a senior talked to several political Campaign has aimed to not mining and mineral engi- organizations and met with only register voters, but to neering major, thought the VTU to discuss the pos- make sure that they are edudebate was VERY informa- sibility of partnering with cated on political issues they tive. them to make the Campus will need to know before “I enjoyed hearing all three Candidate Forum possible. going to the polls. political groups break down “We chose to work with The event was spontheir basic views and poli- VTU because we knew they sored by VTU, Students cies,” Russell said. have great ideas are great for Education Reform, and Andrew George, a sopho- people to work with when Teach for America. more political science major, putting on events. I worked called the debate balanced. very hard with ... the VTU Follow this writer on “It was a great way to get director of special events, Twitter @shayden
Double: VT follows national trend from page one
“I want to be a speech language pathologist, but Tech didn’t have that major, and I’ve always wanted to come here,” Walton said. “Psych allows me to learn the biology behind it and all the brain structures, and human development gives me the opportunity to have experience with children and learn about their developmental processes.” According to research, there’s also a sense of hierarchy to majors for many students. “When a student is a double major and they’re talking to other people about their majors, talking to their parents, they tend to mention the high-status major,” Pitt said. According to Pitt the students tend to view science majors as “higher-status.” However, those students also tend to feel that their second, non-science, major may reflect more about who they are. The Downfalls of a Double Major Equally important to why college students choose to double major is why they choose not to. Kenna Day, a senior English major, also majored in art until she found that she was not getting the experience she wanted
from the major. Because she plans to become a professor in literature, Day felt that it was better for her to focus on that particular subject. “I’m not double-majoring because employers are more interested in the actual classes that I’ve taken than in the title on the piece of paper that I get as a degree when I graduate,” Day said. “It’s more about the actual experience that you have while you’re in college than what you’ve convinced the college to write on a piece of paper for you.” According to Pitt, one downside to double majors could be the combination of subjects chosen. While students who major in one science major and one nonscience major graduate with more breadth of experience, students who double major in subjects that are similar can end up appearing one-dimensional. “One of the things that is challenging is that it is not a benefit for students in terms of being able to actually combine the majors,” Pitt said. Majors such as American studies at other schools, which combines history and English, and neuroscience, which combines psychology and biology, are already
double majors within themselves. Trying to replicate the connections made in these types of single majors by majoring in two subjects can often come up short. “Because it’s an interdisciplinary major, the faculty ... put a lot of thought into integrating ... in a way that sort of comes out as a coherent set of skills,” Pitt said. “Students oft en say that they go in wanting that, but they don’t actually come out with that because there’s very few opportunities in school to actually put the two things together.” Students who choose to double major in hopes of getting a larger salary may be disappointed to learn that Pitt and Tepper’s research concludes that double majors report lower annual incomes than their single major peers on average. However, double-major combinations of high-earning majors, such as engineering and natural sciences, could increase earnings by about 3 percent. But, the study also showed that engineering students are least likely to double major. Follow this writer on Twitter @abbyharrisct
Philip: I ride bicycles. I would never use a crosswalk unless the intersection was really nuts. And if I use a crosswalk (never had to in Blacksburg btw), I am really careful. Drivers expect things in crosswalks to move at pedestrian speeds. If this is the crosswalk at where Webb Street enters, it is a death trap for cyclists who use it. Anonymous: It's for sure a dangerous
crosswalk for cyclists who aren't careful... I was riding my bike a few feet behind a cyclist when he was hit last fall. The difference between him and I was that I stopped and looked to make sure the drivers saw us and were slowing down, while he flew through without a pause- until the driver who didn't see him hit him, of course. I ride my bike through this crosswalk multiple times a day though, and see plenty of other cyclists who just fly through without even slowing down.
Bike Racer: I am an avid road cyclist. Logging 300+ miles per week and I Cat 1 racer. That being said, Blacksburg is one of the most unfriendly biker towns I've seen (In fact they had to take down their "bike friendly community" signs a few years ago). However, some of the undergrads think that when they are on their bike they own the road and can do what ever they want. I wish campus police would start giving out more tickets when bikers do not follow the rules (i.e. no hand signals, flying across crosswalks, etc.) These are the people that are dangerous to both drivers and themselves and give other riders a bad reputation. Also, everyone should wear an helmet. If you don't you are a moron. I know you don't like how they look or feel but they WILL save your life (I have a couple of helmets from wrecks to prove it).
Tech announces final day to switch to Gmail DONAL MURPHY news staff writer
If you haven’t yet completed the force switch from WebMail to Google Apps for Education, you have until Nov. 12 to get it done. Tech began transitioning from the previous WeBMail provider to Google’s mail system on July 15, and the deadline to switch is now set in stone, according to Kevin Davis, Tech’s help desk manager. “At that point, we’ll begin moving over people that have not moved themselves, and it will probably take a couple of days to get people moved,” Davis said. “Emails are being sent to users who have not migrated over yet, and Nov. 12 is the date we expect to have everybody moveD by.” Once the cutoff date has passed, students will no longer be able to access their WebMail accounts and it will no longer be possible for them to transition to Gmail on their own. “If they haven’t switched, we’re going to start provisioning their accounts. What they’ll notice is if they haven’t done anything, they’ll try to check their mail with their phone or with WebMail, and it’s going to fail,” Davis
said. “We’re going to move their accounts to Google, and the messages coming in will be delivered to Google.” Currently there is a large banner on WebMail, directing Tech students on how to migrate. So far, about 30,000 users have switched to Gmail, and about 9,000 haven’t yet. This number includes staff members, students no longer taking classes and alumni. The process was set in motion two years ago when a Tech selection committee decided to replace the standing email system with a suite of Google Apps. The end goal was making email management and online cooperation smoother and easier for students. On the new Gmail system, emails no longer expire after a certain period, and accounts have 25GB of storage and a 25MB message size limit. In addition, protection of student information and privacy will continue in accordance with federal law, according to Davis. The change will not affect VT Exchange, which is the current mail server used by faculty and staff at Tech. Follow this writer on Twitter @HokieRealist
crimeblotter date
time
offense
location
status
arrestees
10/20/2012
7:35pm
Brandishing a firearm
O’Shaughnessy Hall
Cleared by Arrest
Zachary Gilleland, 18
10/17/2012
5am
Appear intoxicated in public
Center for European Studies
Inactive: Reported by Student Conduct