This Super Bowl is a tough one for many NFL fans. Non-Patriots and non-Eagles fans are left to choose between some of their least favorite teams.
Virginia Tech students are no different. For fans of NFC East teams, like the nearby Washington Redskins, choosing between a division rival and the hated New England Patriots is a tough proposition.
Virginia Tech’s campus is fairly divided on the issue of the Super Bowl, as Philadelphia and New England fans obviously have their favorite but fans of neither team would rather the game not be played at all. Many more students simply don’t know about either team or don’t care about NFL football. We spoke to Virginia Tech students outside of Owens Dining Hall to gauge student sentiment toward the upcoming game.
After reading about the history of essential oils, it was interesting to find that they have been used in cultures around the world centuries. While some used them for religious reasons, others found that they had significant healing powers for the sick.
Blacksburg, Va., Jan. 31 – Essential Oil Pack: One brand of essential oils, called Plantlife, offers 100% pure essential oil packs that are ideal for essential oil diffusers. Plantlife offers packs in a variety of scents. Photo: Molly Bryant
Today, essential oils are still not only used across different cultures but frequently used within spas and homes. A new product taking the natural-living market by storm, and one that I had to try, is the essential oil diffuser. With properties similar to a humidifier, consumers of the essential oil diffuser are said to reap serious health benefits.
Depending on your health needs, each oil has different healing properties. Eucalyptus oil, for example, can be diffused to fight respiratory diseases and aid concentration, while lavender oil has stress-relieving properties and the ability to aid in healing migraines. Have a big interview coming up and need a boost of confidence? Rosemary and jasmine oils are proven to help calm nerves and have uplifting qualities. The question now is: with so many oils on the market, how do you know you’re getting a quality product to use for your diffuser?
One easy way to tell an oil is quality versus cheap is to put a drop of the oil on a white piece of computer paper. After allowing the oil to settle and dry, observe the paper to see if an oil ring was left behind. If there is a prominent ring of oil left behind, the oil is not pure.
Blacksburg, Va., Jan. 31 – PureSpa Oil Diffuser: The essential oil diffuser I purchased from Target was designed by PureSpa and changes colors as the oils diffuse.
Now that you know how to choose your oils, how do you choose the right diffuser?
The truth about diffusers is, the most important part is the quality of the oils, rather than the quality of the diffuser. Mine cost only $29.99 and has been perfect.
If I could recommend anything to overly-stressed and exhausted college students, this would be it. My diffuser has helped me wind down at the end of a long day and destress on the tough weeks. It’s not only a natural solution but also an affordable one.
Salem, Va., Dec. 13—Stagg Bowl XLV: Mary-Hardin Baylor will take on Mount Union in the 2017 NCAA Division III National Championship. This season marks Mount Union’s 20th appearance in the game, while it will be Mary Hardin-Baylor’s 3rd. Photo: Brady Hess
by Drew Davis, Brady Hess–
A tradition is finally coming to an end.
The NCAA Football Division III Championship is preparing for its final game in Salem, Virginia on December 15, 2017 after 25 years.
The “Stagg Bowl” was listed with the Division II softball championship and Division III men’s basketball final four as other marquee events leaving the area back in April 2017.
Mike Stevens says he can still remember the “slick” video that the City of Salem pitched to the NCAA in an attempt to host the game.
“I remember 25 years ago when this thing was brought up as an idea and I thought it was absolutely crazy,” said Mike Stevens, the Communications Director for the City of Salem. “They’re never going to get this thing here.”
Against all odds, in 1993, Salem became just the fourth city to host the Stagg Bowl, joining Phenix City, Ala., Kings Island, Ohio and Bradenton, Fla. on the list of hosts.
The game in Salem will be remembered for its high scoring contests, an appearance by nearby Bridgewater College in 2001 and the 2009 Snow Bowl.
Stevens noted that in 2009 the entire Commonwealth of Virginia was covered in snow but the only sight of green was the Salem Football Stadium.
While the NCAA has had a lot of success in Salem, they look to build in larger places.
The Division III football title game will call two new places home over the next four years. The game will be in Shenandoah, Texas for 2018 and 2019, before traveling to Canton, Ohio for 2020-2021.
The void left in Salem will not go unnoticed.
The football game leaving Salem will help contribute to a financial hole in the Roanoke Valley. The three events combined led to a $3 million to $5 million impact, according to The Roanoke Times.
However, with these losses, Salem can also count their gains. The city will host Division III women’s basketball tournament games in 2019 and 2021, Division II women’s lacrosse matchups in 2021, and Division III women’s lacrosse and Division III softball contests both in 2021 and 2022.
The final game will feature some familiar foes to the Roanoke Valley. Mount Union will make its 20th appearance in Salem, having won their last title in 2015. Mary Hardin-Baylor will make their 3rd appearance, while trying to defend their national title from 2016.
As the Stagg Bowl moves on, it will be interesting to see if another city builds a connection to the game like Salem.
“It has meant a great deal to the whole Roanoke Valley and especially the folks of Salem,” said Stevens, who was the sports director for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke for 23 years. “I think for a city the size of Salem to host an event of this magnitude that’s on ESPN for 25 straight years, it really is one of the greatest success stories in sports marketing in the Commonwealth ever. It’s unheard of.”
Blacksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 2017: Humans of Virginia Tech — Posts like these are featured regularly on the organization’s Facebook page. Photos courtesy of Humans of Virginia Tech.
Blacksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 2017: Humans of Virginia Tech — Posts like these are featured regularly on the organization’s Facebook page. Photos courtesy of Humans of Virginia Tech.
To many, Virginia Tech’s student population of 30,000 feels overwhelmingly big — not to mention the thousands of faculty and community members in Blacksburg. One Facebook page is using its platform to showcase the different people in the area.
“Humans of Virginia Tech,” based on the popular “Humans of New York” page, aims to remind Hokies that there’s more to each of us than meets the eye. “Humans of Virginia Tech” regularly displays Blacksburg community members with a portrait and a story, sharing different personalities and personas to perfect strangers on the Internet.
From students with unique hobbies — like unicycling — to eccentric professors — like VT’s John Boyer — to some more serious posts, the editors of Humans of Virginia Tech try to make campus feel a little smaller.
Editor and incoming Vice President of “Humans of Virginia Tech,” Maddie Ide, said her most impactful posts came last year, when the page did a full week focusing on victims of sexual assault.
“[The community] will see a story that’s kind of hard and personal to share and they just flood [the subject] with love and support, it’s really nice,” Ide said.
With over 50 photojournalists, subjects aren’t too hard to find. Using their networks and friends of friends, the photojournalist and editor team has posted over 700 portraits of Blacksburg community members.
The page has a strong following of over 17,000 “likes,” but organization president Ricky Lam hopes that will soon reach 30,000.
“I hope we can reach up to the amount of the student population,” Lam said about the page’s number of likes. “We’re about halfway there.”
Lam also detailed his most powerful post, which featured a graduate student impacted by President Trump’s travel ban earlier this year.
Some other post subjects include a street poet, a student with a popular Golden Retriever, and a musician who has played on College Avenue for decades. The only thing any of them have in common is their pure originality.
According to the “Humans of Virginia Tech” website, community members can request that they or someone they know be featured on the page.
Lam said that the University recognizes the “Humans of Virginia Tech” page, and that President Tim Sands has referenced it more than once. If the page were to be an official university institution, however, the name would have to change to “Humans at Virginia Tech” — something Lam and Ide agree could kill their brand.
Blacksburg, Va., Dec. 12 – Blacksburg Transit: Blacksburg Transit recently debuted new features to incoming buses. The transit system will add four news busses to their routes throughout the Blacksburg area. Photo: Humbert Zarco
by Emma Schimley, Humberto Zarco–
Blacksburg Transit will introduce four new 60-foot-long clean diesel buses next semester. They will have USB ports underneath the seats, standing poles where the so-called bendy seats are on the old so-called bendy buses and will be better for the environment. Their long-term vision, however, is much more ambitious than that.
“There’s always improvement from the previous generation,” said transit director Tom Fox. Fox has been in the transportation business for over 30 years. Fox has tried to keep his eye on the technological advancements that could be incorporated into his vision. At one point, it was USB ports. Today, it is hybrid-powered buses and self-driving technology.
With the environment and their ultimate goal in mind, Blacksburg Transit invested more than $2.8 million into nine new diesel-electric hybrid buses in 2010. In the near future, they hope to add electric buses to their fleet. Although they are expensive on the front end, Fox thinks they could be worth it in the long run.
“That’s something we’re looking seriously at,” Fox said. “As we were looking at the life cycle cost of an electric bus, we’re thinking it may actually be less than a diesel bus because you don’t pay for the fuel.”
In fact, earlier this month, some Blacksburg Transit operators and maintenance workers had the opportunity to test drive an electric bus manufactured by New Flyer, the company that manufactured the 52 buses in their fleet. Fox believes electric buses will be a part of their fleet in the not too distant future.
“It would probably be a minimum of two years and maybe longer depending on how the funding works out,” Fox said.
With safety as the priority, he also hopes to conduct further testing on how the electric buses would handle the hills in Blacksburg, especially when buses are filled to capacity.
Fox hopes the long-term future of Blacksburg Transit will involve self-driving technology, and the future of such may very well be in the hands of Blacksburg-based Torc Robotics.
According to an August 2017 Virginia Tech press release, in late July, Torc’s Lexus RX hybrid completed an autonomous cross-country drive of over 4,300 miles from Washington to Seattle before heading back east to Richmond, Virginia. More than half of Torc’s employees are Virginia Tech alumni, and they have partnered with the university on more than $10 million worth of research and development that could lead to driverless cars hitting the consumer market in a matter of years.
Self-driving technology would greatly benefit Blacksburg Transit, which serves over 3.7 million customers each year, making it the fifth-highest ridership bus system in Virginia, according to a November 2017 New Flyer press release. Resources previously used to recruit and pay operators could be used in other areas, such as bus maintenance.
“We’re watching the progress on autonomous vehicles,” Fox said. “That’s probably not in the near future, but we’re monitoring it, and that is sure is going to be something in the future.”
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va., Dec. 12, 2017 – NRV Mall: The New River Valley Mall, a shopping center filled with places to eat and retail stores, has been forced to close down several stores due to poor performance within the last few years. Photo: Chase Parker
by Chase Parker, Virginia Pellington, Josh Rodman–
The New River Valley Mall, located in Christiansburg, Va., has been struggling to bring in customers for years now. As a result, many of the mall’s signature stores have been forced to close up shop.
GAP, Tailgaters United, PacSun, Rue 21 and most recently JC Penny, are among the casualties of retail stores that have been forced to shut down their locations in the mall.
“JC Penny closing down was just a corporate thing,” explained Tina Corder, the Specialty Leasing Manager for the mall. “They closed several of their underperforming stores, so that was one of their choices. But it’s not really a bad thing for us. It was a store that was under-performing.”
The other stores have closed down for the same reason. For example, earlier this year Rue21 announced that they’d be closing 400 stores. Due to the New River Valley Mall’s struggles, the one located there was an easy target to shut down for the retailer.
Despite several big-name stores closing down, the mall’s management team says that it is already brainstorming ways to replace them and that there are several things currently in the works that will enhance the overall customer experience.
But for now, the slow mall traffic combined with the alarming rate of stores that have closed down has given mall management the task of finding ways to bring in more customers.
“‘Touch a Truck’ is one of our great events. We work with a lot of non-profits through the year to bring in things like that, and that’s such a great one because it’s a community event and it’s free,” Corder said. “We also have our Fall Festival in October that we work with the Christiansburg Police Department on. They’ve been doing that for 17 years now. So that’s just two of the free events that we hold to try and bring more traffic here to the mall.”
Another factor that benefits the mall is something that they have no control over the holiday season. According to Statista.com, retail sales during the holidays can account for as much as 30 percent of a retailer’s annual sales. The stores in the New River Valley mall are no exception.
“Christmas time is very important,” Corder said. “Most of the store’s sales are from the holiday season so they put a major focus on advertising for that.”
Come Dec. 26, however, Christmas time will be over and the management team’s plan to bring in more revenue to the mall will be put to the test.
Blacksburg, Va. – Dec. 11, 2017: The Camping World Bowl, previously referred to as the Russell Athletic Bowl, takes place on Dec. 28, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. The Hokies hold the trophy in their bowl memorabilia museum in Merryman Athletic Center on the Virginia Tech campus. Photo Credit: Mary Desmond
by Mary Desmond, Freddy Mesmer–
The Virginia Tech football team is preparing for a trip to Orlando, Florida to compete in the Camping World Bowl game. This is familiar territory for the Hokies.
“For us, it was really nice to be playing in the Camping World Bowl, which is where we played last year for the ACC Championship, so it was nice to kind of remember being there and doing this and that,” Danielle Bartelstein, senior director of Football Operations, said.
The Hokies also have been in Orlando for the Russell Athletic Bowl back in 2012 against Rutgers. The Hokies won this matchup 13-10 in overtime.
The Hokies have a significant history in Bowl games. They currently lead the NCAA with twenty-five consecutive bowl games. According to the Hokiesports website, the Hokies are one of only six programs in college football history to go to a bowl in at least 20 straight years (Nebraska, Michigan, Florida State, Alabama, Virginia Tech and Florida).
It started back in 1993 when the Hokies traveled to Shreveport, Louisiana where they took on the Hoosiers of Indiana. Virginia Tech downed the Hoosiers 43 to 20 at Independence Stadium. They have played at Independence stadium three times over the years. Once in 1984 and again most recently in 2015 for a matchup with Tulsa where the Hokies came out on top in a high scoring affair, 55-52.
During former head coach Frank Beamer’s time in Blacksburg, he led the Hokies to twenty-three straight bowl games. His overall bowl game record was 11-12. Beamer brought the Hokies to a total of five BCS Bowl games.
These games are the most highly rated of the bowl games and are typically played on New Year’s Day. This exposure helped shape Virginia Tech football into the program it is today. Retiring in 2015, he ended his coaching career in Shreveport with the win over Tulsa.
With the end of an era with Coach Beamer, the athletics department hired current head coach Justin Fuente. Fuente has led the Hokies to consecutive bowl games in his first two years at the helm. In his first season in 2016, Fuente found himself coaching a ten win team.
The Hokies capped off the 2016 regular season by winning the ACC Coastal division and playing Clemson for a shot at the ACC championship. The Hokies fell short of this goal but ended up pulling off a miraculous comeback in the 2016 Belk Bowl.
The Hokies go into the final game of the season hoping to finish strong. The team will play Oklahoma State on Dec. 28, 2017 on ESPN.
Blacksburg, Va., Dec. 3—Have a Ball: Football, basketball and baseball are a few of the many sports that student-athletes across the country have an opportunity to participate in during their high school glory days. Photo: Brady Hess
Southwest Virginia is just one of the many places this time of year where student-athletes are beginning to make the shift from football to basketball. The shift is not an uncommon one to make and is one that athletes embrace with pride. The shift has its challenges but overall the multisport athletes will tell you it is worth it.
“Some advantages are playing with my good friends. The quick turn is nice because I’m already in shape,” said Blacksburg High School junior Drew Babcock. “The transition can also be a little difficult.”
The transition from a physical game like football to the finesse game of basketball is a difficult one. The conditioning for both sports is different, presenting a challenge that Blacksburg junior Cole Epperley said is the most difficult in the transition.
“Basketball is muscle memory and football does a lot of wearing and tearing on the body,” said Richlands basketball assistant Patrick Wade. “Most times when we get players they have some nagging injuries and are a bit overweight because they have been lifting weights and aren’t as mobile.”
Based on the success of your football program, basketball season can become delayed. This can set you back on the hardwood in regards to team chemistry and planning for a big district game. However, while to some, it appears that there are many drawbacks to participating in a handful of sports, the good can outweigh the bad.
In recent years, the debate over which is more beneficial, being a one-sport athlete or a multisport athlete has became popular. In a March 2017 USA Today article, the NCAA collected information from 21,233 student-athletes on this topic. The results show that 71 percent of Division I football players were multisport athletes.
Athletes can be met with disapproval by coaches who frown upon athletes who seek to be apart of multiple teams.
“Not all coaches are this way but there are some out there that do not want athletes to play other sports and to only focus on theirs,” said Christiansburg Director of Parks and Recreation, Brad Epperley. “This, unfortunately, is a total disrespect to the student-athlete.”
Recently, the Virginia High School League changed the way high school sports are handled. Instead of having “seasonal” practice where there were a couple weeks off between each sport, coaches, players and administrators are now met with the option for “year-round practice.” The elder Epperley disapproves of this, saying that this can limit the number of sports that athletes can commit themselves to.
With implementations of year-round practice and play, the landscape of high school athletics has changed completely. With this change, expect there to be a lot of conversation on whether or not playing numerous sports is a good or bad in the near future.
BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 30 — A New Home: Gobbler’s Rest, the home to the official pardoned turkeys, sits adjacent to Route 460, across the street from the Alphin Stuart Livestock Arena. Photo by Harvey Creasey.
Blacksburg, Va. — Virginia Tech recently found itself back in the spotlight in our nation’s capital on Thanksgiving morning. President Trump participated in the annual turkey pardoning ceremony, and officially sent Drumstick and Wishbone to Gobbler’s Rest — a secluded spot of Virginia Tech’s campus.
This marks the second consecutive year that the White House turkeys have moved to Blacksburg. In 2016, President Barack Obama granted clemency for Tater and Tot, the inaugural residents of Gobbler’s Rest.
As Wishbone and Drumstick become the new centers of attention, Tater and Tot have taken a back seat — so much so that Tot, according to sources familiar with the matter, has passed away.
Wildlife conservation major and member of the National Wildlife Society Tristan Jilson said he saw Tater and Tot at Gobbler’s Rest just days before the new turkeys were set to arrive.
“When I last saw Tot he was slumped over against the wall barely moving,” said Jilson. “He looked miserable.”
Two weeks later, Tater alone occupies the space previously inhabited by the duo. Tot’s nameplate had been removed.
According to National Turkey Federation President Joel Brandenberger, the turkeys reside at Virginia Tech because of its respected Animal and Poultry Sciences department.
Turkeys have an average lifespan of 10 years, according to PETA. So what happened to Tot just 18 months after his birth?
At Gobbler’s Rest, a farmhand who wished to remain unnamed said he thought Tot “passed away due to natural causes.”
Jilson remains skeptical.
“Virginia Tech has portrayed Gobbler’s Rest as this safe haven for the pardoned turkeys but now it’s starting to look less like a refuge and more like a graveyard,” he said.
This news has been kept relatively quiet; as of Dec. 3 no university statement had been issued. Perhaps a poultry fatality at one of the nation’s best Animal and Poultry Sciences schools would tarnish its reputation.
At this Thanksgiving’s ceremony, in the White House Rose Garden, President Trump joked about reversing the pardons of Tater and Tot, as he has reversed many Obama-era policies.
Tater and Tot drew many visitors to Gobbler’s Rest over the course of the last year.
According to President Obama’s speech, Tater was technically the “vice turkey,” and would step in if Tot could not fulfill his duties.
Wishbone and Drumstick declined to comment on the matter.
Blacksburg, Va., Nov. 30 — Cold Turkey: A chalk drawing inquiring as to Tot’s whereabouts. Photo by Harvey Creasey.
Blacksburg, Va., Nov. 30 — Devas-Tater-ed: Missing his companion, Tater’s two bedroom is now a studio. Photo by Harvey Creasey.
Blacksburg, Va., Nov. 30 — Retracing Steps: Tristan Jilson walks through his final encounter with Tot. Photo by Harvey Creasey.
Blacksburg, Va., Nov. 30 — Party Lines: Tater is currently separated from Trump’s Wishbone and Drumstick. Photo by Harvey Creasey.
Blacksburg, Va., Nov. 30 — Gobbler’s Rest: It’s not the White House, but the turkeys’ residence is decorated in Washington paraphernalia. Photo by Harvey Creasey.
Every fall, Silicon Valley tech giant Apple, Inc., unveils new products. This fall, the iPhone X [read: iPhone 10] was released — in addition to several other products. While the other new phones and computers were more customary updates to old devices, the iPhone X is entirely new. A larger screen, a glass back, and for the first time ever, no home button.
Many customers were just getting used to Apple’s 2013 home button, which integrated a fingerprint scanner. This allowed the phone’s owner to unlock it without entering a pass code. Without a button to scan fingerprints, how will iPhone X owners unlock their phones securely and with ease? Now, they’ll use their face.
The newest iPhone uses an infrared camera sensor to detect the owner’s unique facial features. This change will take more getting used to by Apple users, but the company is confident people will adjust.
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