June 24, 2011 - The Technique

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Friday, June 24, 2011 • Volume 97, Issue 2 • nique.net Go Green

GT Savannah to end degree programs CoA Paris study abroad program

suspended

Atlanta hosts DAMOP international physics conference

Photo courtesy of Rob Felt / Georgia Tech Communications & Marketing

From Nov. 2010 through May 2011, a task force led by Provost Rafael Bras conducted a review of GT Savannah and outlined a new plan for its future. As part of this plan, GT Savannah’s degree programs will be gradually phased out.

By Stephen BrownContributing Writer

Last week, the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (DAMOP) of the Ameri-can Physical Society (APS) held its 42nd annual meeting in Atlanta. Roughly 1,000 scientists in the field of AMO physics, including professors, researchers and even a handful of Nobel Prize winners, convened at the Marriott Mar-quis hotel to present their research and discuss topics for future ex-ploration at the event, known as DAMOP 2011.

Several individuals from Tech were in attendance, with many of them giving their own presenta-tions.

The meeting opened Monday with a graduate student sympo-sium on precision measurements in AMO physics, organized by Tech PHYS Professor Alex Kuzmich. The remainder of the week was scheduled with morning and early afternoon presentations, followed by afternoon poster sessions. Pre-sentations were given both by in-

vited speakers and by contributing authors, who were divided into various blocks based on subject material.

The poster sessions were held in a large ballroom where upward of 150 research posters were on display at a time, with the authors stationed nearby to discuss their research and answer questions. Talks concluded late Friday morn-ing with special presentations on hot topics in the field.

To commence with the talks on Tuesday, an event was held in the morning honoring four AMO individuals who received prizes for their work, including Tech PHYS Assistant Professor Shina Tan. Tan was awarded the George E. Valley, Jr. Prize for his derivation of exact relations for Fermi gases with large scattering length. According to the APS website, the prize is awarded “to recognize one individual in the early stages of his or her career for an outstanding scientific contribu-tion to physics that is deemed to have significant potential for a dra-matic impact on the field.”

Other invited speakers from

Tech included Kuzmich and Car-los Sa de Melo. Kuzmich spoke Wednesday afternoon about ad-vancements in quantum memories for telecom networks, while Sa de Melo presented Thursday morn-ing about his findings on pos-sible quantum phases of dipolar molecules. Thursday afternoon, an event was held for high school teachers in the Atlanta area which was organized by Kenneth Brown of the Institute’s chemistry depart-ment. Throughout the week, sev-eral graduate students here gave short presentations on contributed papers and displayed their posters during the afternoon session.

Paul Goldbart, who was recent-ly chosen as the new Chair of the School of Physics at Tech, spoke about emergent co-crystallization of atoms and light in multimode cavities Friday morning.

“You go [to conferences like DAMOP] for two reasons. You come to these meetings because a lot of the discussions take place in the hallways... there’s this ex-Photo by Doug Kim / Student Publications

DAMOP 2011 attendees gather in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis hotel. The annual conference was held on June 13-17.

By Nishant PrasadhNews Editor

Institute President G.P. “Bud” Pe-terson accepted a series of recommen-dations presented by a task force he appointed to conduct a review of Geor-gia Tech-Savannah (GTS). As a result, starting next year, GTS will initiate a plan to gradually phase out its under-graduate and graduate degree programs and to install new programs as part of a new operational model.

Peterson received the task force’s re-port, titled “Defining a Path Forward for Georgia Tech-Savannah,” on June 1, and spent two weeks reviewing the find-ings. On June 15, he presented his deci-sion in a memorandum sent to Provost Rafael Bras, the head of the task force.

“After considerable review and delib-eration, I am pleased to accept the re-port in its entirety. While I am excited about the bold vision that you have pro-

posed, I know that we have much work ahead of us,” Peterson said in the memo.

The 16-member task force was for-mally established in Dec. 2010 and con-ducted a study through the end of May 2011. Along with Bras, the task force in-cluded Tech administrators and faculty, including two faculty members who currently work at the Savannah campus.

During the six-month review period, members of the task force consulted with numerous people associated with GTS, including current students and faculty, GTS advisory board members and alumni and members of the Savan-nah community and government.

One focus of the task force included low enrollment and retention rates.

Through the Georgia Tech Regional Engineering Program (GTREP) and the Engineering Alliance (EA), under-graduate students transferred to GTS after two years at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Georgia Southern Uni-

versity or Savannah State University. Of the 338 students in the GTREP

in 2010, 213 were at one of the three partner colleges and had not yet en-rolled at GTS; only 97 students were on campus in Savannah. A significant percentage of GTREP students would either drop out of the school or transfer to the Atlanta campus.

Bras said that time spent at anoth-er college before transferring to GTS caused a number of students to rethink the decision to leave the original school.

“Very commonly, [students] spend the two years in a full-fledged campus [such as] Armstrong Atlantic or Geor-gia Southern, and they find that they…[feel] comfortable and [feel] at home there,” Bras said.

The report indicated that some fac-ulty members were frustrated with the low student-faculty ratio, which was

By Aakash ArunContributing Writer

The College of Architecture (CoA) has decided to suspend the operation of its Paris Program for the 2011-12 academic year. The program, which was initiated in 1975, offered ARCH students the opportunity to spend their senior year abroad en-abling cross enrollment in partner school Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris La Villette (ENSAPLV).

The cancellation of the program was announced in a letter of reference dated April 21 from George Johnston, CoA school chair. According to the let-ter, the program was cancelled due to financial un-sustainability as well as under-enrollment for the academic year.

“We did everything we could to avoid it,” John-ston said.

The Paris Program was a “resident instruction” program. Tech’s School of Architecture main-tained an office at ENSAPLV, the host architecture school, and participants had full-time Tech faculty members as resident directors. During the spring term, students from Tech and ENSAPLV collabo-rated on common architectural design projects with the help of faculty from both institutes.

“[It is a] great program in terms of cultural ex-change because Paris has a rich history, architec-turally and urbanistically,” Johnston said.

On average, about 20-30 students were tradi-tionally enrolled in the Paris Program each year. In recent years, however, there has been a progres-sive drop in enrollment in the program. There were only 13 students enrolled in the 2010-11 academic year and only five interested in enrollment for the 2011-12 academic year.

The program was also deemed financially un-sustainable due to the current economic downturn, coupled with budgetary restrictions imposed by the state of Georgia. The Tech tuition fee covered the cost of instruction, but with added “non-personal” services, the costs rose.

See Savannah, page 3

See DAMOP, page 3

See Paris, page 2

2 • June 24, 2011 • Technique NEWS

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

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By Kamna BohraEditor-in-Chief

From the files of the GTPD...

Campus Crime

Phone jackOn the evening of June 14,

a student had her iPhone taken by a juvenile on Cherry St. The complainant observed two young individuals on a bench, and one crossed the street to ask to borrow her phone. The individual said he had attempted to use a computer at the library to call his mother, but had been denied entry.

The complainant watched the individual attempt two phone calls in an unfamiliar manner. The individual then took off with the phone toward North Ave. The complainant attempted pursuit,

but to no avail. The complain-ant said neither weapons nor in-timidation were involved, and the subject did not snatch her phone.

Fighting wordsAt 2:49 a.m. on June 12, an

officer was dispatched to the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) house in response to a physical altercation between members of TKE and Delta Upsilon (DU). The offender stated that individuals at the TKE house had made negative com-ments about him, causing him to go to their front yard. The of-fender was put in a headlock, dur-

ing which he agreed to end the in-cident. When he was released, he punched the victim and returned to DU. The officer spoke to TKE’s president who wanted the incident to be handled through the Inter-fraternity Council process. The offender was issued a student code of conduct violation for simple as-sault.

Off the chainIn the late morning of June

13, an officer was dispatched to the Woodruff Dining Hall for a case of lost keys. A dining services employee had used a golf cart to provide a tour for a new employee. The employee then left the keys in the ignition of the golf cart at Woodruff, and upon returning later, the cart was there but the keys were gone. The employee said the chain included keys for both work and personal use.

“We couldn’t subsidize the program to tide it over for a year of low enrollment...You have to face up to whether it’s possible to maintain the infrastructure,” Johnston said.

The collective decision to sus-pend the program was made after consultation of the Dean of Ar-chitecture, the School Chair, the resident director in Paris and fac-ulty members. Johnston himself taught at the program three times.

“It is bittersweet to be in the position to have to implement this change,” Johnston said.

Other study abroad programs are available for ARCH students,

such as the Greece/Italy program and a graduate program that takes students to Northern Europe to study modern architecture. The CoA is trying to establish rela-tions with the Technical Univer-sity in Munich and institutions in Switzerland and is working to establish a standard exchange pro-gram with ENSAPLV. Such ex-change programs require students to express language proficiency before enrollment since classes are instructed by local professors, not Tech professors.

Although the Paris Program was cancelled earlier, students were primarily aware of this de-cision only if they were either di-

rectly enrolled or interested in the program.

Students are now collectively signing an online petition to show the administration their support for the Paris Program. Most stu-dents feel that the cancellation is not permanent.

“I initially thought the cancel-lation of the program was just a rumor. Most students were told no official reason for why the pro-gram was cancelled. When we heard the rumors were true we actually organized protests and got people to sign the petition to bring the program back,” said Vermouth Yunxin Hu, a third-year ARCH major.

Paris from page 1

Technique • June 24, 2011 • 3 NEWS

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techniquem

aking friday lectures more interesting

A lot of things went on outside the bubble of Tech

in the past week. Here are a few important events taking place throughout the nation and the world.

Breaking theubble

US to begin Afghan troop withdrawal

After nearly ten years of combat operations in Afghani-stan against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, President Barack Obama announced that the US would begin to draw down its involvement in the region start-ing next month.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Obama high-lighted the accomplishments of the armed forces since 9/11 before making the case to with-draw troops from Afghanistan.

Obama said that the US had successfully reversed the Tal-iban’s momentum in the coun-try and trained Afghan national security forces to defend their own country.

The plan calls for the with-drawal of 10,000 troops by the end of the year. A total of 33,000 will be withdrawn by the end of next summer. By 2014, the mili-tary will play a purely support role in the country.

Obama also stated that the Afghan national government must find a political settlement with the Taliban in order to ensure lasting peace. Obama said that the US would host a NATO summit in Chicago next May in order to effectively transition responsibility to the

Afghan government.Obama said that ‘a decade

of war’ had questioned the na-ture of American engagement around the world, and that a pragmatic strategy that favored the use of surgical strikes should be employed when possible. Fi-nally, the President said that the US must focus on ‘nation build-ing’ at home by investing in its people to create new jobs.

China releases noted artist from prison

Following two months of imprisonment, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei returned to his home on Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion. Weiwei is best known in the West for helping design the Bei-jing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In addition to his work as an artist, Weiwei was a hu-man rights activist. His arrest sparked widespread condemna-tion from the West as an affront to the freedom of expression of Chinese artists. The Chinese government insisted that Wei-wei was arrested purely due to his financial affairs.

Recently, Weiwei unveiled an exhibit in London called Sun-flower Seeds, which consisted of over a 100 million handmade porcelain seeds. According to Weiwei, the work was a response to China’s growing industrial-ization and mass consumption.

B

approximately 14.7:1 for GTS overall and 3:1 for graduate stu-dents. The ratios are 32:1 for the College of Engineering as a whole and 10:1 for graduate engineering students in Atlanta.

The primary result of the changes to GTS will be the end of all of its current degree programs. To date, GTS has offered under-graduate and graduate degrees in civil, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering. The fact that all degrees at GTS are also available for Tech students at the Atlanta campus, combined with the lack of a full-fledged campus in Savannah, contributed to the low enrollment numbers at GTS.

“We offer the same programs that we offer here [in Atlanta], except here we have a full-service campus…We don’t want duplica-

change, this kind of weaving to-gether of the community outside of the talks. And then, inside the talks, you get this example where someone says, ‘Wow, you have a theory. I’m doing experiments on something closely related’…It’s re-ally a vital aspect of how science gets done—a kind of web. You burrow in deep at home and you work hard, but you’ve got to come out and communicate,” Goldbart said.

In addition to the professors who presented during the week, Tech also had another guest speaker invited to the meeting. After the banquet Thursday night, Richart Slusher of GTRI told sto-ries from his days at Bell Labora-tories. Bell Labs was responsible for the development of dozens of technologies commonly used to-day, such as the transistor, the so-lar cell, C and C++, Unix and the functional MRI.

Slusher detailed the rise and fall of Bell Labs, delivered some

tion. We find that if there is dupli-cation, then it is a very hard sell, because [the Atlanta campus is] not that far away,” Bras said.

The task force emphasized that current GTS students will be able to complete their degrees. GTS will continue to operate as usual for the upcoming academic year before changes take effect.

“Anybody that…has satisfied the academic requirements is and will graduate as a Georgia Tech student with a Georgia Tech de-gree,” Bras said. “We will take care of [the students] and make sure they can finish.”

In considering programs for GTS to adopt, the task force sought to turn the program into a financially sustainable operation. At the time of the report’s publica-tion, GTS faced a revenue short-fall of $4.5 million. Bras noted

personal anecdotes and discussed the future of the relationship be-tween physics and technology. Also at the banquet, Brian Ken-

nedy, another Tech PHYS profes-sor, was recognized as a new APS Fellow based on his work in AMO physics.

that the gap was larger in the past, but had improved in recent years.

“I really optimally want to make sure that it’s a break-even or even a money-making opera-tion…The programs we’re sug-gesting are programs that have that potential,” Bras said.

The task force outlined plans for a new model that features edu-cation catered to military person-nel, professional master’s degree programs and undergraduate op-portunities that would take ad-vantage of Savannah’s resources.

“We are firmly convinced—I am, at least—that there are things we can do over the next few years to create unique programs in Sa-vannah,” Bras said. “We still need to do some market studies and look at some adjustments to im-plement, but I think there is good potential.”

Savannah from page 1

Photo by Doug Kim / Student Publications

Paul Johnson of JPL gives a talk on electron-nitrogen collisions in planetary atmospheres during a Friday session at DAMOP 2011.

DAMOP from page 1

Attn: Student Organizations

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OpinionsTechnique

4Friday,

June 24, 2011

It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that. —G. H. Hardy

Opinions Editor: Zheng Zheng

“”OUR VIEWS Consensus opinion

Savannah ReformationNew program offers reasonable structural changesThe recently proposed Georgia Tech-

Savannah (GTS) reformation program is a rightfully justified course of action. The primary challenge that prevented the Savannah program from reaching its intended success was its lack of unique attributes. The Savannah program currently does not offer any experiences distinct from Atlanta’s main campus. The lack of facilities and the cookie-cutter class structures provide few incentives for students to enroll. Moreover, the economic unsustainability of the program in its current form siphons away money that could be used at the Atlanta campus.

Tech’s strategy of transforming GTS from a traditional satellite campus provides some sound solutions to the current obstacles. The new work opportunities offer incentives to non-traditional students around the city by utilizing Savannah’s unique characteristics, such as its coastal position, as well as its established trade management and businesses. The original

intent of convincing students to attend GTS was misguided considering the Atlanta campus offers the same materials. The new program, which will cater specifically to the population living in Savannah, will provide Tech with a more compelling alternative. The proposed professional program’s potential for future profits will also be a great approach to reverse the fiscal woes of the current program.

Despite its operating costs, a satellite campus like the original GTS setup could do little to spread Tech’s influence even though GTS supposedly drew from the Institute’s strong academic reputation. The new program should at least function as a great way to salvage the unsatisfactory results of the original Savannah program setup, creating new profit opportunities that could help Tech to expand its overall academic repertoire while phasing out the satellite campus’s present emphasis on traditional degree programs.

EDITORIAL CARTOON By CASEy TISDEL

By Zaki SafarKansas State Collegian

(UWire) — Recently, Saudi Arabia opened registration for the second municipal elections, initially scheduled for Oct. 31, 2009, but delayed on the grounds that the authorities “needed time to expand the electorate and study the possibility of allowing women to vote.” The first such elections were held in 2005 when women were excluded.

It took a year and a half before the epiphany finally struck and the delay was ended; women, it was decided to the chagrin of hu-man rights advocates, would not be permitted to vote this time ei-ther.

“You fear God and you love your country. Why won’t you let us participate?” one of the women asked the male officials in charge of a center in the capital city, Ri-yadh.

“There is no article in the sys-tem denying us the right to cast our vote,” proclaimed another.

Laws and acts discriminat-ing against women must end, say the women, particularly since the Kingdom has signed international agreements prohibiting such prej-udice.

Two misconceptions facing Saudi women are ordinarily men-tioned in the Western media. The first is that such sexist prac-tices are relics of the Islamic faith. However, this notion belies well-known historical facts.

During the early centuries of Islam, women were granted the right to participate in the politi-cal process and all other aspects of life. However, the current brand of Islam applied in the oil-rich Saudi Kingdom is fueled by an austere, convoluted interpretation of Shar-ia, or Islamic Law, at times at odds with Islam in its pure form.

The other Western misreading of the Saudi social environment is that the government is single-handedly accountable for the os-tracization of Saudi women, an ill-informed opinion to anyone familiar with Saudi society.

Men, and on occasion women, have been intransigent in their opposition to gender parity, con-cerned that any hints of compro-mise, such as allowing women to pilot a car, would open the flood-gates of promiscuity in the pro-foundly conservative Kingdom. As an example, when two young women made attempts this week to register to vote, they were sub-jected by some of the public to a broad spectrum of insults, rang-ing from “unoriginal and impure Saudis” to “attention seekers” to “whores.” They were told “to stay home and raise kids,” and in some cases, their actions were thought to warrant legal prosecution.

What at heart engenders such narrow-minded viewpoints?

As a Saudi Arabian national, I attest to the extremely narrow in-terpretation of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s actions, called Sunnah, that are inculcated into us from

an early age in schools and Fri-day sermons, and through fatwas (religious rulings) and lectures disseminated through books and AV media. The promulgated doc-trines devoted no small part to the subject of women, their rudimen-tary role in society and the protec-tion of their honor.

Less than a week ago, a woman called a prominent sheikh dur-ing his TV show, reporting that her brother had sexually harassed his own daughter. The outcome? Rather than advising the caller to immediately report the sexually abusive father to the police, the cleric spared the father 90 percent of the blame and instead, based on pure conjecture, lambasted the molested girl for the manner in which “she dresses around her father,” for “spending time alone with him” and for all the sexual provocation that her erogenous actions could evoke in the father who, after all, is “a man” with de-sire.

The response epitomizes the prism through which Saudi wom-en are seen: the presumption of guilt in a wrong committed by man is usually attributed to some woman’s sinful conduct.

Yet, amid the bleak clouds of deep-seated misogynic societal convictions, strict policing by the religious establishment and fat-was further curtailing women’s liberties, a ray of sunshine may be working its way to the top.

Having witnessed the far-reaching impact of social media in neighboring Arab countries, Saudi women have begun taking to Facebook and Twitter to make their voices heard.

Saudi Women Revolution (SWR) is a fast-growing women’s rights movement in a culture where women’s rights largely re-main an alien concept, asserting time and again their demands work in tandem with Shari’ah Law, while calling for equality with their male counterparts.

The future of gender equality in Saudi society therefore rests first and foremost in the hands of its women. To be sure, it will take considerable time and effort to undo decades of rigid interpre-tation and application of religion, but if you don’t fight for your rights, no one else will.

This round of municipal elec-tions is a good place to start.

Saudi Arabia preserves female voting restriction

Write to us: [email protected]

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 re-serve the right to edit for style and length. Only one submission per person will be printed per term.

The Consensus Opinion reflects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of the Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.

Technique Editorial BoardKamna Bohra, Editor-in-ChiefVivian Fan, Managing Editor

Will Folsom, Photo EditorGaines Halstead, Focus EditorNishant Prasadh, News EditorMatt Schrichte, Advertising Manager

Alex Sohani, Sports EditorPatricia Uceda, Entertainment EditorZheng Zheng, Opinions Editor

Technique • June 24, 2011 • 5 OPINIONS

Normally, I used to hate the year-and-a-half-long head start of political campaigning that comes with the presidential election because I was younger and not able to vote, but this year it’s different.

I’ve been waiting 19 years to let my voice be heard. Due to my birthday, I missed the right to vote in the previous election by mere months. Yet it was during the last election cycle that something within me changed. A new desire to become a citizen of not only my country, but also of the world, was born. I participat-ed in my high school’s mock election as if it were the real thing. I had political debates wherever I could. In my politi-cal frenzy, I bookmarked my favorite news sites, subscribed to weekly political magazines and picked up copies of my lo-cal newspaper as often as pos-sible. I remember celebrating with my friends the night that President Obama was officially elected to the Oval Office.

Like many others, I be-lieved there was hope yet for our country, that perhaps we were headed down a new path as a nation. I was wrong—not about Barack Obama, but a much bigger problem. No part of me believes that President Obama is or has been a bad president. Any man who in-herits presidential responsibili-ties, especially those of the last four years, and does a relatively

decent job is okay by me. Perhaps a lot of the country

and I set our expectations a bit too high. As a nation, I think we forget just how demanding of a job it really is to be presi-dent. After all, he’s only a man. Since the start of his term though, I’ve kept up with cur-rent political issues, just as I did at the start of the previous election and have had three years to formulate new, and what I feel to be wiser opin-ions. In the last few months I’ve pored over editorials and civil columns by the dozens. Slowly, my attitude has shifted from excitement to trepidation as I have come to realize what I was wrong about.

I forgot we are nation not of one, but of many. I placed my faith in one man instead of the nation as a whole. Sub-consciously, I believed one man could craft and concoct miraculous ways to steer the country down a positive road. I completely ignored the fact that this one man stood on the shoulders of an entire nation

that, without a strong base of support, could crumble. And that is exactly what happened. Behind the fervor of hope, battle lines were being drawn. Republicans and everyone against the nation’s election of President Obama decided that if they couldn’t hold office then they would not support the president, fighting him in every way possible. Now, I know this is standard politics and the process which helps to keep the nation in check, but I don’t think the rivalry between political factions was ever supposed to been blown this far out of proportions.

While this doesn’t hold true for everyone, it seems like large majorities don’t even know what it is we are bicker-ing about. I’m surrounded by individuals who vote Repub-lican or Democrat because, as they say, “They are Repub-licans or Democrats.” When asked, these same individu-als couldn’t tell me one issue that their side stands for. In my mind, it is as if the two

political parties are nothing but mere sports team. These days, you’re either one or the other. You’re either with us or against us. Maybe this same problem wasn’t as bad in the past, or maybe the history books did not put enough em-phasis on it. Either way, I’ve decided that bipartisanship is long gone, now residing in the company of the dinosaurs and the dodo bird.

I fear that the country may never get over itself and work together, as it should, to solve the arduous problems we face. I’m not talking about gay rights or abortion. These are personal problems. I’m talk-ing about war, world relations and economic failure. These issues aren’t going to solve themselves or be solved by any single party.

Every party has their prob-lems; Democrats play the victim, Republicans are too stubborn, Independents and Greens are ignored and Tea Parties are for children who play with imaginary friends. While every party needs to get over themselves before anything can truly get done, this is still not the problem. The issue is even more specif-ic: it’s me. What have I done to fix the problem? I read and write on political issues, but more specifically, when’s the last time I acted in the interest of my country? Never. I guess it’s time to get started.

Parties must unite, focus on larger issues “I fear that the country may

never get over itself and work together... to solve the arduous problems we face.”

Gaines HalsteadFocus Editor

Lily PonitzSecond-year EnvE

“I’m most excited for Just Go With It.”

Mariel BensonFifth-year ECE

“It’ll be safer than Screen on the Green.”

Frankie GibaseSecond-year ARCH

“I’ve never been, so I don’t know what to expect”

Manish ParyanaThird-year BC

“I’m most excited for The Adjustment Bureau.”

What are you most excited about Flicks on Fifth?

BUZZAround Campus

Long has it been since ro-mance on the silver screen cap-tured the heart of its audience. Modern “romance” movies, if you can even call them that, in no way reflect the great films that provided the foundation of the genre. The magic of Cas-ablanca, Annie Hall and Ti-tanic are nowhere to be found in modern cinema. Instead, we are force fed generic, un-inspired Hollywood junk such as How Do You Know, When in Rome and the billion other imitations formulated the ex-act same way.

What made the classics so unique are the intricate char-acter developments and the carefully crafted plots, and the lack of these elements ac-counts for one of the major problems with modern day romance movies. The generic protagonists in modern ro-mance movies are often passive and universal, as if the slight-est deviation from “normal” characteristics will disconnect the character from the audi-ence. Not many people exist in this world who can related to Rick Blain or Jack Dawson on a personal level, yet their time-less tales still earn their right-ful places as the greatest love stories of all time.

In the classics, the dynamic protagonists often undergo struggles, whether due to in-ternal or external circumstanc-es, and battle their problems in order to obtain love. Whether there is a happy ending mat-

ters not, as indicated by all the aforementioned films, as long as the emotions are suc-cessfully communicated to the audience.

Sure, those heart-breaking moments are sometimes hard to take, but they will evoke significantly more reactions in the viewers than the preten-tious happy get-togethers at the end of a poorly construct-ed and frivolously portrayed story.

Within the last five years, 500 Days of Summer was prob-ably one of the best romance films to be released. At the same time, it was also one of the most heart-breaking stories in recent memory. Audience members could clearly feel the affection in the relationship, the affliction of the falling out and the maturing in the after-math. The less-than-desirable ending left an impact on the audience, reminding them that while hurt exists in life, they must learn and mature from it.

Another challenge that faces modern romance films,

though the distributors and producers will see it as more of a selling point, is the im-mense amount of focus on the sexual nature of relationships. I’m not saying that romantic film shouldn’t include this as-pect. On the contrary, films such as When Harry Met Sally take full advantage of the topic and utilize it, with a touch of finesse, to create prominence. “I’ll have what she’s having” is an undisputable classic quote among the romance genre.

Again, the issue is not with the topic itself, but rather how it is portrayed. Nowadays, Hollywood is comfortable flooding the audience with sexually charged ideas, using them as a gimmick to differen-tiate their products by adding a “progressive” or “edgy” feel. As a result, Hollywood seems to misunderstand that sex is not equivalent to romance, no matter how much they try to push the idea across. Bluntly throwing irrelevant explicit material at the audience adds no romantic value to the work. There are entire industries,

more profitable ones, which are better suited for that.

When a romantic film fails, often times it is not the fault of the actors. When the same ac-tress that was in The Notebook appears in The Time Traveler’s Wife, you can’t help but blame it on the writing. However, casting on the other hand is a different matter altogether. Sometimes, such as in the case of Water for Elephants, the casting is simply awkward and out of place. No chemistry can come from 10 years of age dif-ference, especially when one of the characters used to sparkle while jumping on trees.

Generally, it appears that Hollywood is running out of ideas. There’s a reason that films based on books or re-makes are receiving the best reviews in modern filmogra-phy: they have better stories. The romantic genre is one where formulaic approaches will not work. Look at the many poor imitations of Love Actually such as Valentine’s Day or He’s Just Not That into You and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

It’s not that there are no good ideas left. Eternal Sun-shine of the Spotless Mind is a great example as it is one of the most hauntingly beautiful yet un-traditional romance films to date. Writers and produc-ers just need to dig deeper and focus less on pushing out a generic copy in time to make marginal profit.

Romance genre films decline in integrity“What made the classics

so unique are the intricate character developments and the carefully crafted plots...”

Zheng ZhengOpinions Editor

Photos by Jen Newell / Student Publications

6 • June 24, 2011 • Technique OPINIONS

Religious interpretations should be freely determined by one’s self

The end of my spring semes-ter welcomed a slew of Facebook statuses, Tweets and chain e-mails filled with “warnings” and “reminders” of the impending “Judgment Day,” which was set to occur on May 21, according to Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster. Camping has gone on to further claim that Oct. 21 will bring the end of the world.

Many of the messages I re-ceived via the Internet advised me of the activities I should spend my last few days of normal life doing. These same messages also remind-ed me of the lifestyle I could now be free from. Hoping I could get out of some inane tasks, such as cleaning my room and washing the car, I was mildly disappointed when the Saturday passed like any other and was, in fact, a beautiful sunny day.

Still, the social media implo-sion, while mostly filled with jest, reminded me of an unfortunate conversation I had in middle school. An acquaintance told me that when Judgment Day comes, I should not accept anything from the devil. She would also miss me terribly while she was in heaven and I was still on Earth. At the age of 12, I was mildly concerned that my family’s monthly trek to the temple was simply not enough to save us from this “Judgment Day.” I also wondered why my straight A’s and perfect conduct in school were not enough to get me to heaven too.

At the experienced age of 19, I now know not to take middle schoolers seriously, and that in-cludes some parts of the 12-year-old version of myself. Addition-ally, my view of religion and its role in interpersonal interactions

has evolved, bringing up a few im-portant points that are applicable far beyond the age of 12.

First, pushing one’s personal spiritual or religious views on oth-ers is offensive and unnecessary. Extremists in every spiritual sec-tor take to the streets not only to praise their own religion, but also to question the validity of others. Feeling strongly about one’s own beliefs is important and justified, but undermining the beliefs of others and demanding that they accept different beliefs are offen-sive acts. In a country, such as the United States where each citizen is entitled to free thought, people can decide for themselves what form of spirituality they choose to take.

Additionally, many people base their spiritual beliefs on their individual experiences. While many judgments about others’ beliefs are made without a deeper personal understanding, the few that are made with respect to the individual are unjustified as well. It is not anyone’s job but your own to judge how your history shapes your spirituality.

Second, one should not let the extremists of any one school of spiritual thought taint their view of other followers. I do not respect those who take to the streets with picket signs about why their reli-

gion is the best. I do not respect those who block other religions from their homes, their schools or even their entire nations. I do not respect those who kill others for not supporting the “right” reli-gion. If I automatically lost respect for an entire demographic of be-lievers on the basis of my opinion of one of their followers’ actions, however, I would have no respect for anyone, including the follow-ers of my own religion, Hinduism. Ultimately, each religion hosts a wide range of potential interpreta-tions, all of which should be left to each individual.

Most important, however, is that the actual “truth” of spiritu-ality is unclear. Does Judgment Day, or any sort of equivalent, truly exist? Does a higher spiritual entity exist? Does it matter if we are in active pursuit of wisdom, charity or goodwill? The answers to these questions are all unclear, so time spent supporting or refut-ing religious arguments is wasted.

In general, claiming what one’s religion considers to be the “truth,” while denouncing all other spiritual views without a thoughtful discussion and expect-ing everyone else to automatically accept this conclusion of events is childish, harkening back to the age of 12, an age at which few people should be taken seriously.

“Feeling strongly about one’s own beliefs is important and justified,

but undermining the beliefs of others...[is] offensive.”

Kamna BohraEditor-in-Chief

www.nique.netsliver

North Ave’s water is out again. Better drink my own piss.Nothing says “Theoretical vs. Applied” like “Skiles vs. Klaus/NRC”You get lost a lot...lets get lost together ;)to freshman in coc lounge talking loudly and patronizingly to some chick behind you: stfu, you sound like and have the same expression as Annoying OrangeBOW TO THE MIGHT OF YORNICYORNIC DEMANDS TO BE HEARDYOU CANNOT SILENCE THE YORNICYORNIC WILL BE KNOWNBASE CANNON BASE CANNON BASE CANNON BASE CANNON BASE CANNON BASE CANNON BASE CAN-NON BASE CANNON BASE CANNONIs it just me or are there more attractive people on campus over the summer?SAC fields need a live webcam. See the action on the field before driving out.Man, you guys sure complain a lot.These TFA people act just like freshmen, but they won’t ever get their souls crushed like real tech freshmenthe amount of teach for america people on campus sickens meclosing the burger bowl too? way to go tech constructionReally Tech??? MORE FENCES?! ugh...PSYC 2230? More like Parenting 101That new huge-ass building - the Cluck building123college expenses > savings account amount. T.TSup sup ma ladiesyou’ve got to be kitten me right meow...and BTW, I am still bitter about know-nothing Colestock teaching CS 1371 in summer 2004It’s been a while, Sliver box...since 2006, to be exactI am so upset at the amount of food places that are NOT OPEN this summer. :(OMG. it’s hot.

OUR VIEWS Hot or not

North Ave. cuisineThe North Avenue Dining

Hall had its soft opening this Monday through Wednesday. The stunning interior decora-tions, along with its contem-porary architectural design, makes dining inside the newly finished building a pleasure. The freshly prepared foods and the smooth short lines should prove to be a promising alter-native to the terror of Britain and Woodruff.

HOT– or –NOT

FASET frenzyThe peaceful serenity that

is the Summer semester was finally interrupted as hordes of students and parents overtook the Tech on Thursday, mark-ing the beginning of FASET. The overcrowded cafeteria ar-eas, the misdirected freshmen seeking assistance and the un-comfortably packed walkways are just some of the things to look forward to five more times during the summer.

Full cycleTech Parking and Trans-

portation, in a new partner ship with viaCycle, will roll out a bike sharing program this summer. The program will offer a quick, efficient mode of transportation as registered students and faculty will be able to unlock electronically bound bicycles stored around campus. This will be a great al-ternative transportation meth-od from waiting on buses.

Double bogeyThe Tech golf team lost in

the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year to the Augus-ta State Jaguars. It was an ex-act repeat of the 2010 tourna-ment with the Jackets falling 3-2 to the Jaguars again. Tech struggled to close out their op-ponents through all 18 holes and earned their second point only after Augusta State had already secured the win.

By Allyn WoodwardContributing Writer

While Tech may be known primarily as a technical university, many other non-scientific majors at the Institute are beginning to emerge toward a more prominent position within the Atlanta com-munity and the state of Georgia as well.

With six schools and ten differ-ent majors, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts (IAC) has estab-lished itself as another option for students who would like to go to Tech, but do not necessarily feel that they would like to focus pri-marily on the sciences.

Named for famed Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr., the school was established in 1990 in order to provide Tech with a new method of exploring its primarily scientific model through new a social, cul-tural and political program.

As the Ivan Allen College Stu-dent Advisory Board (IAC SAB) President, fifth-year ECON/INTA major Elena Petrakieva and the members are working on plans to increase national aware-ness, starting locally within the Tech community, hoping that, over time, the liberal arts program can grow into a prominent and nationally acknowledge curricu-lum like that of the already well-established engineering programs.

Locally, the IAC SAB already hosts Networking Nights, which were established to help IAC stu-dents learn about internship and job opportunities in Atlanta. As students learn about these oppor-tunities, employers are also being educated on the Ivan Allen degree options.

Past participants have included Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and the Atlanta Journal-Constitu-tion. The future plan for Network-ing Night is to expand, reaching

more employers and reaching this desired national recognition.

Erin Robinson, a third-year INTA major, believes the liberal arts schools of Tech are great.

“We may not be known around campus. However, if people do their research, they’ll see that the Sam Nunn School of Internation-al Affairs is a member of the As-sociation of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) along with the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and the Whitney and Betty Mac-Millan Center at Yale University. Our college has schools of that caliber. I know we’re on the same level as these great institutions,” Robinson said.

For Austen Edwards, a fourth-year PUBP and INTA double ma-jor, it is the flexibility and freedom to create his own vision. Edwards has taken the curriculum into his own hands by integrating his in-terests in liberal arts and technol-ogy into one degree.

Now, as Student Body Vice President and member of the IAC SAB, he’s working on designing more interdisciplinary opportuni-ties for students.

Edwards strives to tell students to make their own curriculums through the use of the liberal arts program’s flexibility.

“Students are designing their own degrees in a different way than the curriculum has laid out

for us. There is the potential of pairing Public Policy or History, Technology and Society with the engineering fields,” Edwards said.

For students not sure why to meld the disciplines, Edwards shapes the idea.

“If you are a nuclear engineer, you would not only know how to design these devices, but you would also know the policy im-plementation and international research and development behind these devices,” Edwards said.

These interdisciplinary avenues are focused primarily on creating well-rounded Tech students. Lib-eral arts students can learn the technical aspects behind the de-vices, while engineering students

can learn the social, cultural and political aspects behind the scien-tific purposes.

For the future, Edwards doesn’t think IAC recognition should necessarily come from be-coming the “other” option.

“[The] greatest potential for the Ivan Allen College is not com-peting for more students from the other colleges, but enhancing our education with a new way of thinking,” Edwards said.

“Get to know the people who can actually make the change. Get to know the school’s Direc-tor of Undergraduate Programs. Get to know the advisors. Look up who’s on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC). Be persistent. Nothing is going to change with just one meeting. Offer a viable change. Sometimes the changes we want are not al-ways feasible, but we can work together to come up with a solu-tion,” Petrakieva said.

In addition to the opportunity for undergraduates here at Tech to pursue liberal arts degrees, the college also offers graduate educa-tional programs ranging from a master’s degree in economics to a doctorate in public policy.

Along with research specific curriculums, the IAC also offers Tech students with the chance to engage in international learning on a global scale with language intensive courses. According to the official IAC website states, over 71 percent of the IAC stu-dent body achieves some level of international experience with edu-cational programs at various col-leges abroad.

With a new degree debuting, the B.S. in Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies, the col-lege is adding yet another major to the rapidly growing list of pro-grams available, hoping to expand its reach further.

[email protected] Editor:Gaines Halstead

Technique

7Friday,

June 24, 2011

@Georgia_Tech: Forget about archery and canoeing. Our campers learn electrical and computer engineering.

Photo by Basheer Tome / Student Publications

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts is located on Marietta St. This is were the various offices and majors , from the school of Public Policy to the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, are housed.

Liberal arts adds variety to Tech curriculum

Stimulant drug use rising among Tech students

Photo by Will Folsom / Student Publications

A student looks over his notes and textbooks the night before a major test. Sights like this are not uncommon throughout campus during finals week.

By Gaines HalsteadFocus Editor

With short-summer finals concluding this week, stu-dents at Tech will be spending the next few days recovering from dreaded all-nighters and gratuitous amounts of energy drinks as a result of their ef-forts to cram those last few CS 1371 notes before the big test.

For some students, that recovery may include getting over a much stronger substance than a small energy shot. With more students looking to in-crease their overall productiv-ity, the level of use of amphet-amines, including drugs such as Adderall and Vyvanse, has risen sharply.

Normally prescribed to in-dividuals with narcolepsy or attention-deficit hyperactiv-ity disorder (ADHD), these amphetamines help to reduce the severity of symptoms that include hyper-activity, inat-tentiveness and impulsivity,

thus allowing patients to bet-ter focus on the completion of daily tasks requiring extended or prolonged hours of concen-tration.

“I’ve had ADHD my whole live and have been taking drugs like Vyvanse since my diagnosis in the third grade. Although I don’t take it on a regular basis, I do take it when I know I have a major test, or need to get a lot work done,” said Jonathan Vallecillo, a third-year PUBP major.

With the pace of life pro-gressively speeding up, more and more students are taking on heavier work loads with shorter deadlines and quicker turnarounds than before.

In an effort to take ad-vantage of the medicine’s side-effects, students unlike Vallecillo, who have not been diagnosed with either disor-der, have begun taking similar medications to help them stay focused and awake while pull-ing off all-nighters.

Following a growing trend among colleges across the na-tion, many Tech students ig-nore both doctors’ and admin-istrators’ repeated warnings that only those who have been prescribed particular medica-tions should take them, warn-ing that dosages vary from per-son to person and that severe reactions can occur.

Many students simply ig-nore the health risks, such as addiction, severe migraines and cardiac arrest, that can come with taking non-pre-scribed attention deficit medi-cation and focus on the more rewarding aspects that enable them to complete last minute assignments.

Not only does this create a growing health concern, it also creates an even greater legal is-sue. Because of the ease with which the drug can be passed around, many students can obtain the medicine through

See Pills, page 8

8 • June 24, 2011 • Technique FOCUS

friends or fellow students who ac-tually have the prescription and who then have the ability to turn around and have the prescription refilled as soon as necessary.

Small underground markets have emerged within various col-lege campuses across the country,

with students selling individual pills for upwards of fifty dollars a capsule.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked for my medication, because I’ve been asked so many times. It’s not as bad during the year, but it becomes annoying during finals

week when I get a hundred texts asking me for a pill or two,” Val-lecillo said.

While Adderall, Vyvanse and other similar medications may not be as deadly as other prescrip-tions, the re-sale of prescription drugs is a criminal act, punishable by federal law.

Another prevailing issue is emerging is whether or not this issue can be considered cheating. While there are students who choose to take the medications without a prescription, there are also a large number of students not diagnosed with ADHD or an associative disease choosing not to

partake in the growing trend, feel-ing that it creates an unfair advan-tage among their peers.

“I don’t think it’s fair that kids not prescribed the medications are taking them. It’s on the same level as steroids, which counts as cheating if you ask me,” said Chris Carver, a fourth-year EE major.

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www.nique.netsliver

i can has cheezburgur*GRANDMA’S BOY MOVIE ROBOT VOICE* IIII AMMM NOTTT FAILLLLsorry, didnt mean to rip your dress :xtest test testI NEED to go back to victoria secret soon, i’m kinda addicted :xtechnique needs a successor to Two Bits Man!thank god for bassnectar after finals.One more year until I get out.nilkaAm I not allowed to eat dinner over the summer? I miss Taco Bellno, thank you for sliveringYou’ve failed me for the last time, silver...Please bring Taco Bell back. I’m so hungry.Chick-fil-A is terrible. Bring back Taco BellDirty Sanchez: one part tequila, two parts chocolate milkAnd he pulled down his pants, and it looked like a baby.What if someone dies during the Relay for life?Theres a lot of Creepoids at TechI’m hungry, need taco bellEzra is the best old man nameNeeds more Taco Bellgo gt baseball!

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By Lauren TownsendContributing Writer

There are not too many of Tech’s various clubs and organiza-tions that can say they have their meetings at two-thousand feet, but that is not the case for the Georgia Tech Flying Club.

Every month, the Flying Club participates in an aeronautical event hosted by the Experimen-tal Aircraft Association (EAA), where students attend a pancake breakfast and listen to the speech of a well-renowned pilot or air-plane connoisseur.

This month’s speaker at the event was Colonel Eric Boe, ‘97 MS EE alum and a well-known astronaut.

Having participated in many space missions including this years 39th and final flight of the Discovery shuttle on Feb. 24, 2011, Colonel Boe helped to in-stall trusses aboard the Interna-tional Space Station.

“We were extremely pleased to meet Eric Boe. It’s such an honor to meet someone this well-renowned in aeronautics history. This is a great time to participate in the Yellow Jacket Flying club because we really want to get in-volved with the EAA and find more opportunities to fly planes,” said Manuel Diaz, the Vice Presi-dent of the Yellow Jacket Flying Club and a fifth-year AE major.

The Yellow Jacket Flying Club

was founded in 1946 and has continued to grow and expand in membership ever since.

“I think now we are up to near-ly two hundred members, most of them certified to fly airplanes,” Diaz said.

Members of the club come from a diverse body of students, from MGT to AE majors.

“We all just get together be-cause we love airplanes,” Diaz said. “The club is a great way for people to get their pilot’s license in a more cost efficient way, and meet people with the same inter-ests.”

Diaz received his pilot’s license last year and has been flying ever since.

“I love being Vice President of this club because of all the unique opportunities,” Diaz said. “It was great to go to the breakfast and listen to Boe. I am also very ex-cited to see the new talent at this upcoming air show.”

The air show was held minutes after the pancake breakfast.

Boe also visited the air show, delivering a second speech. Af-terwards Boe shared some of his experiences with Tech and space.

“I went to the Air Force acad-emy for my undergraduate degree and graduated from Georgia Tech in 1997 with a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Georgia Tech is an awesome school, both the instructors and the education. It was interesting to go through

the electrical engineering courses and the Master’s program. I love all of the Tech fans, and I always enjoy saying ‘Go Jackets’ when up in space,” Boe said.

“I would say that the two cool-est things about space are looking out the windows and floating. I mean you see the pictures and ev-erything, but the real view out the window is even better. You see the vibrant blue from the windows of the shuttle and really understand how alive the planet is because everything looks like it’s thriving and growing. And secondly, float-ing is really cool. And I also enjoy getting the opportunity to work with all the team and all the work and effort that goes into getting into space. A large portion of my job as an astronaut is training and preparing. Training takes a year and a half and you’re only in space for two weeks. It’s all about enjoy-ing the journey,” Boe said of his favorite aspects of space travel.

The members of the Yellow Jacket Flying Club were very ex-cited to participate in these two special events and hope to con-tinue to share soaring experiences with their fellow members.

“I want to encourage all of the students out there who are inter-ested in flying to come to one of our meetings. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to fly an air-plane, and I know that we all very much enjoy being in the air.” Diaz said.

Photo by Jonathan Mehlberg / Student Publications

A Yellow Jacket Flying Club aircraft sits before takeoff. Over the years, many Tech students have flown over Atlanta in this plane.

Flying Club offers Jackets chance to take to skies

Pills from page 7

[email protected] Editor:Patricia Uceda

Technique

9Friday,

June 24, 2011Entertainment

Phish still has what it takes

By Brian EdmondsContributing Writer

Spawning from humble beginnings in Burlington, Vt. in the early 1980s, Phish spent two decades play-ing sold-out shows across America before taking a couple of short hiatuses. Back to touring and psy-chedelic as ever, the band played the first night of a two-day showing at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on Tuesday, June 14.

Known predominantly for its extended improvisa-tional “jams,” Phish did not disappoint, playing two sets and an encore that spanned for the better half of three hours. Throw in an amaz-ing light show and turn up the speakers to what feels like the unattainable 11th dial, and you have a good recipe for one rocking show.

Their dedicated fan base, often playfully referred to as “Phriends,” came along for the ride, setting up camp in the parking lot. Psychedelic T-shirts and steak and cheese fajitas were

among the goods that were being sold.

Front man and lead gui-tarist Trey Anastasio, often called the creative power behind Phish, kept the crowd bobbing and weav-ing from the show’s opener “Dinner and a Movie” un-til its closing song “Quinn the Eskimo.” The band has retained its main lineup throughout nearly its whole career: Anastasio on guitar, Mike Gordon on bass, John Fishman on drums and Page McConnell on key-boards. Anastasio and com-pany grooved together in front of a packed and rau-cous crowd, composed of very diverse demographics.

Often, a band in its third decade of existence seems to lose its edge after too many shows to count and hun-dreds of thousands of miles on the road. Phish, however, remained tight throughout the entire show, rarely drift-ing into long, spacy jams. It was live music at its finest. As is customary at a Phish concert, the music touched all different genres, from jazz to folk to good old rock and roll.

After an impressive first set including Phish stalwarts such as ‘Ocelot’, ‘Fluffhead’ and even an extended cover of Traf-fic’s ‘Light Up or Leave Me

By Daniel FullerContributing Writer

The Fox Theatre’s cur-rent production of Joseph and the Amazing Tech-nicolor Dreamcoat ex-plodes with energy and excitement. It is a show capable of brightening the audience’s day through its colorful costumes and its triumphant overtones.With musical numbers that range from upbeat to beautiful to incongruously silly, Joseph delivers a mu-sical spectrum as varied as the famous technicolor dreamcoat.

Anthony Fedorov, a former American Idol con-testant, carries the show as Joseph with his powerful, resonating voice. Oppo-site him is Janet Metz as the Narrator, who pales in comparison. While her vocal technique is strong, she lacks the powerful voice demanded of her role. Metz has moments of intensity, but they come inconsistently, which is disappointing because the

Narrator typically drives the emotion of a musical.

Besides the two leads, the entire supporting cast of Joseph is excellent, espe-cially the children’s choir, who show up everyone else with their enthusiasm. All of the children are from lo-cal families, and their con-stant presence throughout the performance adds to the energy and the gran-deur.

Joseph’s brothers and their wives all excel in their parts as well, and those with solos are espe-cially talented. Tony Law-son as Pharaoh stands out as the best supporting ac-tor in the cast. While he does not appear until the second act, his presence dominates the stage.

Even though the prem-ise of Joseph focuses mainly on the bleak circumstances of Joseph’s life, the musical is ultimately triumphant, presenting positive themes of family, perseverance and self-worth.

Unfortunately, these themes are slightly under-mined by a directorial de-cision that has Joseph sleep with his master’s wife, causing his enraged mas-ter to throw Joseph into prison.

In alternate interpreta-tions of the scene by some

other productions of the musical, Joseph simply flees the woman’s advances and is accused unfairly. The problem with this production’s interpretation is that it puts the blame for Joseph’s misfortune on himself, completely derail-ing the message that he is an honest man who perse-veres over injustice.

With the exception of the minor issues, Joseph is enjoyable on every level. It has a broad variety of up-beat music, numerous fun-ny lines, silly gags, colorful costumes and backdrops and an overwhelmingly optimistic attitude.

Joseph is playing at the Fox Theatre through Sun-day, June 26. Shows are at 8:00 PM on Thursday and Friday, 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM on Saturday and 1:30 and 7:00 PM on Sunday.

Dreamcoat amazes at Fox

By Chris ErnstSenior Staff Writer

The Green Lantern is the most recent big budget import from Hollywood starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard. The $200 mil-lion project introduces yet another superhero to America. This time, the offering is helmed by ac-tion movie veteran Martin Campbell, who is best known for Casino Royale and The Mask of Zorro.

While there are not many physical stunts, the fantasy imagery takes the audience away. By many

standards, The Green Lantern is not good, but its beautiful cast and exciting sequences will please dormant summer minds.

This film, like many other superhero movies, compromised between pleasing long-time advocates and indoctrinating neophytes. To do this, the filmmakers have to include the origin for background and a villain to fight. In this case, the two are combined well to make the story feel cohesive enough. However, the script is definitely one of the weakest points of the movie. It tries to both introduce the superhero world and fight a villain at the same time, resulting in a stop-and-go feel that never quite seems to hit a stride. The story works, but the execution is jagged and feels both slow and fast at the same time, not spending time where it should and dragging through others.

While Reynolds is charming enough as the carefree test pilot, he never seems to move beyond this one-dimensional characterization. As the Green Lantern, the gravity of his undertaking never seems to settle in to make him a more serious person. As a mostly flippant character, he seems ridiculous, saying the names of alien planets and pleading to other beings for guidance; he is always just too cool.

The rest of the cast is mostly surprisingly good with Angela Bassett, Geoffrey Rush, Sarsgaard and Tim Robbins. However, Lively as the leading lady is unbe-lievable from the get-go. With glassy, far away eyes and glacial facial expressions, she possesses the emotional sting of a mosquito, always buzzing around and both-ersome to the skin.

The most pleasing factor about The Green Lantern is the effects. They are by and large the best of any movie recently. Nearly every frame is packed with stunts, computer-driven fantasy and unreal feats. People may say that, as usual, Holly-wood has come up with more wizardry and is just showing off a new effect. While this is probably not true, the movie would have been totally different if produced only a few years ago. When the main character can create anything he can imag-ine, it is hard to say there are too many effects. The effects come loud and fast, but they are rarely overbearing or over-numerous, especially given the subject matter.

What makes The Green Lantern enjoyable is the escapist pleasures it offers. It is not a particularly great movie, but it is exciting and fun. If the audience does not think too much or try to make too much sense of the fantastic images on screen, the movie will pass the hours pleasantly enough.

Alone,’ the band returned for a second set.

Anastasio really got working on the guitar with scorching, high-energy jams during renditions of ‘Sand,’ ’Down With Dis-ease’ and ’Maze.’ Always with smiles on their faces, the band seemed to be hav-ing as much fun as the au-dience. The grooves and guitar licks were clean and tight, avoiding any long “feedback” periods that are often customary with jam bands’ performances. They were at their best during the improvisational work, fol-lowing a guitar solo with a keyboard solo and fantastic bass work.

Highlights of the sec-ond set also include a rarely played ‘Meatstick’ and a cover of The Beatles classic ‘A Day in the Life.’

FILM

The Green LanternGENRE: Sci-Fi

STARRING: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively

DIRECTOR: Martin Campbell

RATING: PG-13

OUR TAKE: «««««

SHOWS

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

LOCATION: Fox Theatre

DATE: June 21, 2011

OUR TAKE: «««««

CONCERT

PhishLOCATION: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

DATE: June 14, 2011

OUR TAKE: «««««

Image Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Image Courtesy of Theater of the Stars

Image Courtesy of Elektra

10 • June 24, 2011 • Technique COMICS

NoN Sequitur by WileyPiled HigHer & deePer by Jorge Cham

Technique • June 24, 2011 • 11 COMICS

dilBert ® by SCott adamSNoN Sequitur by Wiley

[email protected] Editor:Alex Sohani

Flying HighLearn more about how members of the Yellow Jacket Flying Club earn

their pilot's licenses.48

Technique

12Friday,

June 24, 2011

Jackets continue postseason woesBaseball falls while hosting regional for third straight year

Photo by Austin Foote / Student Publications

Kyle Wren swings during the opening game against Austin Peay. Wren struggled from the plate in the regional tournament, only recording two hits through all four games. Wren finished his freshman season with 90 hits and 37 RBI.

Jackets’ golf loses to ASU for second

straight yearBy Kyle Gifford

Contributing Writer

Fresh off a win in the ACC tournament, the No. 2 ranked Tech golf team travelled to Stillwater, Okla. to compete in the NCAA championships. The week kicked off with Tech leading after the first and second rounds. But after a few tricky holes on the fi-nal day, the Jackets finished second in stroke play, giving the UCLA Bruins the top seed in match play.

Tech went into match play on June 3 with the No. 2 seed in the tournament, facing the No. 7 seeded Augusta State Jaguars. Eventu-ally, Tech fell 3-2 in match play for the sec-ond straight year to Augusta State. The Jag-uars eventually went on to win the national title. Despite the loss, Tech played a strong weekend of golf in its 24th NCAA tourna-ment appearance in 26 years.

The Jackets started the day off with a win by senior John-Tyler Griffin, who took a 3 and 2 win over Augusta State’s Henrik Nor-lander. However, shortly afterward, senior James White stumbled against Patrick Reed in a 3 and 2 loss. The day was tied at 1-1 early, with the other matches determining who would progress into the next round.

Senior Paul Haley took an early three-hole lead over his opponent Carter New-man through the first four holes. Newman managed to regain his composure and rally through the 17th hole, where he tied the game.

Haley hit a bogey on the 18th hole, and Newman responded with a birdie to secure the Jaguar’s second point of the day.

Immediately afterward, senior Kyle Scott bogeyed the 17th hole to fall a hole behind his opponent Mitchell Krywulycz. Scott could not recover on the 18th hole with both players hitting birdies, giving Augusta State their third and final point of the day.

Sophomore Richard Werenski gave the Jackets their second point in a down to the wire match that finished on the 19th hole. Werenski struggled early, but closed out the day strong, despite the Jaguars securing the victory before his match was over.

Even with the loss, Tech played well throughout the season, finishing not only No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings, but also ranked in the top five in the nation in the GCAA Coaches poll. The Jackets look to continue their strong play into next year, despite losing several seniors.

By Alex MitchellSenior Staff Writer

Despite being quickly elim-inated from the ACC Tourna-ment, the Tech baseball team still hosted a portion of the NCAA Tournament on June 3-5. The Jackets made it to the Championship Round of the Atlanta Regional, but could not advance to the Super Re-gional round despite having home field advantage.

The Jackets, the top seed in the regional, hosted No. 4 seed Austin Peay on the first day but put themselves in an early hole by losing 2-1.

The game started with a scoreless tie through two in-nings, as neither team was able to capitalize on some early chances. However, the mo-mentum turned against Tech when junior starting pitcher Mark Pope injured his back and was forced to come out of the game.

The good news for the Jack-ets was that freshman pitcher Matthew Grimes was a more than serviceable replacement, going 6.2 innings and only giving up two runs. The bad news was that Pope’s season was done and that Grimes, Tech’s fourth starter, would be unable to start another game.

Austin Peay scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning by playing small ball and taking easy hit opportu-nities. After a couple of hits, Matt Wollenzin hit a sac fly to score John Hogan.

Tech answered in the bot-tom of the fourth when three singles scored freshman catch-er Zane Evans from third.

Tech left four runners on base from the fourth inning

onward, and Austin Peay struggled to find their stroke offensively until Hogan hom-ered in the seventh inning to score the go-ahead run. Tech was unable to score again, and Austin Peay finished the upset.

With Tech’s number one pitcher done for the season, the Jackets relied on their sec-ond ace, junior Jed Bradley, to continue the season.

Bradley responded well and picked up the victory over Southern Mississippi 6-2. Bradley pitched for 7.2 innings and only allowed two runs. Bradley showed good com-mand of his game en route to four strikeouts.

Tech only needed two in-nings to secure the win over the Golden Eagles, as a five run second inning gave the Jackets the lead for good.

Freshman designated hitter Daniel Palka homered to lead off the inning. Three more players reached base safely and sophomore left fielder Brandon Thomas ended the inning with a three-run homer.

Southern Miss used three pitchers in the first three in-nings before finally settling on Collin Cargill, who pitched the remaining 5.1 innings.

Cargill did not give up a single run, but the Southern Miss batters could not over-come a six-run deficit. The loss eliminated the Golden Eagles from the regional.

In Tech’s third game, soph-omore pitcher Buck Farmer followed Bradley’s pitching ef-fort with a great day of his own on Sunday.

Farmer went the full nine innings in a rematch with Aus-tin Peay, and Tech’s offense gave him plenty of support.

The Jackets hit the ground running, scoring early and winning 12-2.

Palka hit a homer in the first inning, and Tech gave Farmer a three-run lead before he even threw his first pitch.

Tech added three more runs over the next five innings before breaking the game open in the seventh. Several Jackets scattered hits in the five-run seventh, but the big blow was sophomore first baseman Jake Davies’ two-run homer, his fifth homer of the season.

Tech had won two straight games to stay alive, but the Jackets would be forced to defeat Mississippi State twice in the next 24 hours without a starting pitcher who was healthy enough to pitch and keep their season alive.

Head Coach Danny Hall selected freshman pitcher De-Andre Smelter to start the Sun-day night game, and Smelter

was over matched from the be-ginning of the game. The Bull-dogs ended the Jackets’ season by with a 7-3 victory.

Smelter only pitched 2.1 innings, but got the loss and allowed six hits. Smelter was only charged with one earned run, but allowed five unearned runs to score as Tech commit-ted five errors in the game.

Fatigue from the second game of a double-header, coupled with a six-run hole to start the game, seemed to take a toll on the Jackets’ of-fense. The team was only able to muster six hits in the game, and four batters were hitless in the game.

Tech ended the regular season with a 39-17 overall record, but struggled to a 3-4 mark in the postseason. Tech returns one of the youngest rosters in the country next sea-son, with 17 freshmen playing on the 2011 team.

Photo by Austin Foote / Student Publications

Matthew Grimes fires a pitch against Austin Peay. Grimes pitched for 6.2 innings in relief of injured starter Mark Pope.

Photo by Joey Cerone / Student Publications

Paul Haley hits a putt. Haley lost late in match play after a bogey on the last hole.