Changing Times at Virginia Tech

By Justin Cates

Last week, Virginia Tech President Dr. Charles Steger announced his retirement after more than thirteen years at the helm.

Steger oversaw a period of unprecedented growth in Blacksburg.

He spearheaded a fundraising effort that brought in $1.1 billion, increased enrollment to over 31,000 students and facilitated more than 2.5 million square feet of new building space on campus.

Steger oversaw the establishment of a medical school as well as an increase in sponsored research from $192 million to $450 million. He fostered research partnerships with many top universities but most importantly, he helped guide the community through unthinkable tragedy.

Unfortunately, plenty of people will fail to see past the cloud of the April 16th shootings and what many consider to be the university's sluggish response in the immediate aftermath of that life-changing event.

I've always viewed that as the worst kind of armchair quarterbacking by the media and much of the public.

It's true that there was no effective alert system in place to warn students of a dangerous and rapidly developing situation, but the main reason those systems presently exist at colleges nationwide is because of that painful Monday morning six years ago.

It could have happened anywhere—and sadly it has several times since—that particular tragedy just happened to strike the greatest small town in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

President Steger was a source of strength and a powerful voice in the days that followed.

The convocation the day after the shootings will always remain as a vivid and cathartic release for myself and thousands of others, and Dr. Steger's words were a large part of it.

Like the man himself, his speech was simple and dignified. When he walked up to the podium 10,000-plus grieving Hokies rose in unity and cheered to buoy the spirits of a man who admitted he desperately needed it.

The ovation for him was longer than that for President George W. Bush and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. It was a sign of respect for a man under unthinkable strain and a gesture of love for a true Hokie.

Charles Steger graduated from Virginia Tech in 1969 and never left. He has served his university community in every possible way and risen above the call of duty when it was needed most.

His retirement marks the beginning of a period of considerable change for Virginia Tech.

The board of visitors will appoint a new President, and that man or woman will soon hire a new Athletic Director as current AD Jim Weaver will retire when his contract expires in 2015.  

That new director will have the monumental task in the coming years of finding a new football coach.

Yes Frank Beamer is still around, but he will turn 67 this fall and he knows what can happen to football coaches who stick around too long. He will do his best in the next few seasons to bring an elusive national championship to his alma mater, but he will not stay if he thinks someone else can be more effective.

These three men have served Virginia Tech to the best of their abilities and have put the university in a position to have enviable success for generations to come.

It's sad to see them go—though many (myself included) won't weep for Mr. Weaver's departure—but they've all earned some leisure time and then some.

Jim Weaver's legacy will be mixed, but he's done a lot to improve the athletic department.

I've had the privilege of meeting all three and it's hard to imagine a group of individuals more dedicated to their university and the community at large. They've made tough choices and acted as we all hope we would if given the opportunity to face such far-reaching decisions.

Their predecessors will have enormous shoes to fill.

Here's hoping they can approach the impressive legacy set before them and continue to invent the future.

Frank Beamer hopes his program is in a good place for  several major transitions.

Cover Tuesday: God Save the Queen and Other British Stuff

By Justin Cates

Ryan Adams is a man of many tastes musically speaking.

He's worked with country legends like Willie Nelson, founded the alt-country groups Whiskeytown and The Cardinals, played loads of rock and just recently announced the formation of a new punk rock group called Pornography.

Given that, it shouldn't come as any surprise that he covers some interesting songs.

"Wonderwall" is one of the myriad of hit singles form the classic Oasis album (What's The Story) Morning Glory?

The New Musical Express (NME), Britain's most popular music magazine named Adams' cover of "Wonderwall" the number one Oasis cover.

I was going to feature three songs from the list, but most of them are pretty bad. So instead here's a loosely related list.



Now here's Noel Gallagher of Oasis performing The Beatles' classic, "All You Need Is Love".

I can't tell how much of the rest of the band is there, but if you look closely you can see his brother Liam just chilling in the background. Probably so they would shut up and stop fighting for three minutes.



Finally, playing off that British connection we finish off with a pair of covers because i didn't want to show preference to one of John Lennon's kids.

The first is a cover of classic cut "Julia" performed by Sean Lennon, John and Yoko Ono's son.



The final track to be featured is from Julian Lennon, the only child from John's first marriage.

"I Need You" was released by the band America in 1972. It's a powerful song, especially when you consider it in the context of a father/son relationship. Julian sounds much more like his father vocally and I've always felt bad for him.

John wasn't much of a dad to him until later in life. In fact, Julian was much closer with Paul McCartney.

Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit...more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad. -Julian Lennon

Julian was the direct inspiration for three Beatles songs, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "Hey Jude" and "Good Night".

McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" (originally titled, "Hey Jules") to console Julian during the divorce of his parents.

So here we are at the end of a random jaunt through British music. Here's hoping you enjoyed it.

Cheers.

It's Derby Time! or Bourbon for Everyone!

By Justin Cates

I don't really care about horse racing. Like most Americans it's not something that I realize exists outside of a few warm weeks each spring.

That's when the sun hesitantly creeps out to stretch its legs for the first time in months—except for Brian—and pastels and sundresses once again become appropriate attire instead of garishly defiant winter garments.

With the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby due this Saturday, that means it's time for some reading and drinking—not that one needs an excuse for such pursuits.

The first assignment is a yearly spring read for me and is required for a fan or would be enthusiast of the Derby.

The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved was written under duress by Hunter S. Thompson for Scanlon's Monthly covering the 1970 Derby.

It marked the first time HST had returned to his hometown of Louisville for the race in a decade and it was the first of many successful collaborations between Hunter and artist Ralph Steadman.

"And unlike most of the others in the press box, we didn't give a hoot in hell what was  happening on the track. We had come to watch the real beasts perform."

The piece represents the birth of "Gonzo journalism" and was influential in the new journalism movement of the time.

It's hilarious, vulgar, and insightful. Absolutely a must read prior to post time.

Another terrific new article published just this week comes from 8th generation Louisvillian Michael Lindenberger.

The Biggest Week In Bourbontown discusses the heritage of Louisville and the relationship between its people, horses, bourbon, food and all the cultural nuances of Derby week.

It's a bit lengthy, but certainly worth a look while you're trying to figure out which mount to blow your money on this weekend.

So read up, stock up, and get to imbibing! Make some mint juleps and enjoy the pageantry of the pre-race festivities.

The race will be over in a flash, but bourbon lasts forever*.


* subject to personal tendencies and the crowd you're with. 

Cover Tuesday: I'm Getting Older Too

By Justin Cates

"Landslide" was released by Fleetwood Mac in 1975 and you still hear that version quite a bit in commercials and elsewhere. Whenever I hear it though, I'm reminded of how much I prefer the 1994 version released by the Smashing Pumpkins.

The stark acoustic guitar paired with Billy Corgan's mournful vocals is a huge departure from the angst-ridden aggressive style of most Pumpkins tracks.

I couldn't find the studio version on YouTube but it's worth downloading—legally even—if you're into that sort of thing. This is the audio of a live performance from 2010.



Next we have a pretty amazing cover completely different stylistically from the original.

Again it's a soft, introspective rendition but this time it's of Metallica's blood-pumping classic "Enter Sandman".

Youn Sun Nah is a South Korean jazz singer with a beautiful voice that turns an arena anthem into something completely different.

This is the first time I've been able to listen to this song without feeling compelled to run through a brick wall. The song is now completely haunting and unnerving in a way it never has been.

"Sleep with one eye open" has a far creepier connotation when it's being sung sweetly over acoustic guitar instead of James Hetfield growling over loud guitar riffs.

Things take a dark turn in the middle of this version too with some terrifying vocal runs and demonic breathing/singing that takes this cover in a very different direction.





This last cover isn't really something I'm terribly into, but I'm sure it will please at least one of our regular readers.

This is a band called A Static Lullaby covering Britney Spears' "Toxic" for a compilation called Punk Goes Pop.

I would enjoy this a lot more without the periodic scream/singing in the chorus, but this version still does a fine job of destroying Britney's original.

Besides I though we needed something loud and aggressive after two quiet, thoughtful covers.

Comparing Notre Dame and Virginia Tech's Recent Draft History

By Justin Cates

Just like recruiting in college, you can never be sure of the success of an NFL Draft class until years down the line.

However, initially the 2013 draft is a reflection of last season when Notre Dame broke out in a positive way and the Hokies fell flat on their collective faces.

The Irish had 6 players selected this year—the most since 2007—while Virginia Tech had only two players picked.

The first Hokie wasn't taken until the sixth round with pick 171—the lowest the first Tech player has gone off the board since 1993 when no Hokies were drafted.

A number of the undrafted players agreed to free agent deals with various teams just moments after the final pick was made Saturday, but today we're looking at the draftees.

Earlier in the week Brian pointed out a note from NFL.com writer Gil Brandt pertaining to the most successful college programs in terms of players drafted.

Corey Fuller hopes to add depth to the receiving corps in Detroit.

Not including this class, both Virginia Tech and Notre Dame have seen 50 players selected since 2001.

Currently, there are 34 Irish alumni and 27 Hokies on NFL rosters though of course this will likely change a good bit in the coming months.

Still, the numbers give us an interesting look at one of the similarities of two programs that few people would make a connection between apart from Brian and I.

That will change soon with the announcement that Virginia Tech will travel to play Notre Dame in South Bend in 2016.

Tight end Tyler Eifert was the first Irish player selected with Pick No. 21 (Cincinnati) 

It will mark the first meeting between the schools in football and it comes as part of Notre Dame's agreement with the ACC to play five football games per season against conference members.

It remains to be seen when the return date in Lane Stadium will be, but either way we're very excited to finally have a meeting on the field.

It may be a long way off, but consider the gauntlet thrown down for our game preparations.

Arizona, Guns and Money

By W.T. Salisbury, M.D.

Arizona is a very strange place. In many ways it hasn't changed much from the old west, except there are far more golf courses now.

Oh yes these people love their golf and their dry heat, but most of all they love their guns.

Naturally, to protect those guns their state government passed two bills last week to make sure no one messes with them.

One of the bills bans Arizona police departments from destroying guns in their possession. It instead requires—in most cases—law enforcement to sell those weapons.

People in favor of the legislation have pointed out that destroying those weapons won't prevent crimes. That's true of course.

"It's not appropriate to tell taxpayers that they must subsidize, with their dollars, the destruction of useful property for no good reason, to accomplish nothing, other than make people feel good," Peoria Republican Rick Murphy said.

Fair enough sir. And it is with that reasoning that I propose that we make it illegal to destroy confiscated drugs once they're in police possession. 

There's no sense in destroying perfectly useful property just to make people feel better right? People will still be buying it out on the streets anyway, might as well make a little money for the state.

But drugs aren't legal you say. True, but the end of prohibition is nigh if we're trying to make money, "rules" be damned. Besides, if the justification of this law is that it's silly to destroy useful property then it's clear those in charge don't understand the value of drugs—outside of alcohol of course.

There's a mountain of statistical evidence that supports the reform of drug laws, but that's not what this particular column is aimed at discussing. We can tackle that some other time while I'm in the midst of a legally induced drunken stupor. 

No, today we're trying to make cash via the flimsy premise of "usefulness". 

Money is all we can talk about these days. Cut this, cut that, reduce spending but increase revenue! This idea of legal one-stop-shops for guns and drugs could rake in the cash and mitigate much of Arizona's $50 billion debt.

They could really help their economy here. Who wouldn't want to go to a police station to pick up a handgun—slightly used—and a bag of weed?

Tourists would flock from all over the country to Flagstaff, Tucson...Hell even Phoenix to hit up these fledgling one-stop-shops. Support small business!

I can see a burgeoning cottage industry here. 

"Get a gun! Get some drugs and see the Grand Canyon all in an afternoon!"

I'd even be willing to wager you'd see a sharp spike in attendance at Suns games and that's almost impossible. 

An Arizona bargain bin. 

The second measure passed prevents governments from creating a registry of gun owners and gun transactions involving federally licensed dealers. That is actually a perfectly reasonable idea and it's worth noting that it was something that was included in the legislation that failed to pass the senate at the congressional level in Washington on the same day.


That doesn't make it a a bad idea to pass similar legislation at the state level—especially given the incompetence of the senate—but people do like to complain an awful lot about redundancy in government...most of the time. 

Back to my initial point, if we're going to sell confiscated guns, the drugs should be treated the same. While you're there snag a cheap car or some of the other stolen property collecting dust in the evidence room. It's like Wal-Mart but more exciting.

I've got plenty of other ideas for the Arizona tourism board they may want to take under advisement in conjunction with these new laws. 

Apart from the canyon, there isn't a great reason to head to that state. It's mostly desert interspersed with strip malls and the elderly. 

There are also coyotes—of the mediocre hockey variety as well as the animal.  

These are dangerous creatures and if you live there they will end up in your backyard mauling the family pet. Visitors are not immune to this trouble.

Arizonans are big fans of fences, particularly if they signify some kind of border. Therefore, I would propose a series of protected fenced off parks for children and dogs to roam about in peace. It would also allow visitors a safe-haven where they could relax and soak up some of that famous "dry-heat".

But there are also terrifying and deadly snakes that slither about in packs with the hopes of murdering you once you're asleep. To combat this, all tourists should be given snake bashing sticks as soon as they get off the plane. 

It'll be just like receiving a lei upon arrival in Hawaii, but infinitely more practical. 

Oh I could go on and on, but I refuse to give out any more free tips to Arizona. I can of course consult with your government and tourist board as you see fit, however I will be charging four times my normal fee plus expenses. 

I have strong references from the Columbian and Cuban tourist  boards which you may find useful in justifying this arrangement. I assure you, my fees are more than worth it.   

Trust me, I'm a doctor.