'SJEBZ 'FCSVBSZ t7PMVNF *TTVFtnique.net Oscar Buzz This year’s Oscars are no joke, so don’t miss our picks for who should win.!19 TechniqueThe South’s Liveliest College Newspaper Wikipedia founder Wales chats with students By Corbin Pon puting, the chance to get into ally liked our paper, and they early days of Wikipedia where News Editor Wales’ lecture was so popular got to be friends. I #gured, someone decided to put in the that some people were turned ‘Andrea’s graduating, we bet- full text of Hamlet. Discus- Over 400 students and away at the doors. ter invite Jimmy to visit before sions about these and other faculty stu!ed into the Tech One of the students in the Andrea graduates, because if types of situations helped the Square Research Building audience, Andrea Forte, a she invites him, it might work Wikimedia Foundation solid- Ballroom and the additional graduate student in CS, was out. $ey’ve been friends a ify its notions that Wikipedia over"ow room to see and instrumental in inviting Wales long time, and they’re mainly is an encyclopedia, with essen- hear Jimmy Wales, founder of to come to Tech. friends because Jimmy ad- tialized summaries of human Wikipedia. Wales gave a talk “Andrea and I, together mires our research about knowledge. on the Wikimedia Founda- with Susan Bryant, wrote a Wikipedia.” As for the future, Wales ap- tion, Wikia Inc. and the pres- paper called Becoming Wiki- Wales’ talk was scheduled peared eager to observe the ef- ent status and future progress pedian about how Wikipedia for an hour, starting o! with fects of worldwide information of Wikipedia. According to really works,” Bruckman said. a quick rundown of some of accessibility. Amy Bruckman, associate pro- “Andrea happened to meet Wikipedia’s #rst challenges. 1IPUPCZ8JMMJBN#SBXMFZ Student Publications fessor in the College of Com- Jimmy at a conference, he re- He described a time in the See Wikipedia, page 6 ACADEMIC UPDATE | GRADE OPTIONS New !exibility UNDER THE SEA to pass or fail RHA, SGA, SC Council host !rst GT Night at the Aquarium It’s a big win for students, providing them with more academic !exibility ... “—NICK WELLKAMP, UNDERGRADUATE PRESIDENT By William Brawley Assistant News Editor After two years of pushing to change” class 1IPUPCZ#MBLF*TSBFM Student Publications registration, the Student Government Associa- tion (SGA) has #nally gotten approval from the Faculty Academic Senate to allow students to change their class grading options all the way up until drop day. In the past, the option to change class grad- ing from pass/fail to a letter grade, and vice versa, was restricted to the class registration phases. $e last registration phase ends one week into the semester, locking students into their decisions for the following 16 weeks. Students can now take more time to decide what type of grading option to use for their classes. $e change in the academic policy will go into e!ect starting with the 2009 summer semester. SGA consulted with other institutions, as well as with a number of other students, to #nd the best option for the change before formulat- ing the idea to change the current grade option policy. “It is a big win for students, providing them with more academic "exibility for their elective classes,” said Nick Wellkamp, undergraduate student body president. “$is change was a ma- jor victory for SGA, and it is part of our e!ort to improve academic "exibility at Georgia Tech.” 1IPUPCZ#FO,FZTFSMJOH Student Publications Wellkamp also added that despite pushes GT Night at the Aquarium saw a turnout of by SGA to change policy in the past, there was over 3200 guests, doubling the expectations. resistance from some of the academic advisors, 1IPUPCZ#MBLF*TSBFM Student Publications who worried that students would accidentally switch certain courses, such as those required By Sijia Cai and SGA, GT Night at the had been in place since last orchestra played works by for degrees, which the students are not allowed Senior Sta! Writer Aquarium provided $7 tick- year, so we simply had to put Felix Mendelssohn, Camille to take on a pass/fail basis. ets for the #rst 2,000 guests the gears in motion,” said Saint-Saens and Richard “Students were very adamant about having “What do #sh and Coke and $13 tickets for all others. Dhruti Patel, chair of the Wagner, all of which carried the chance to evaluate the level of di%culty of have in common? Bubbles.” More than 3,200 students Student Center Arts Com- water themes. “We appreci- the course before making a decision that could A huge sign with these words attended the event, along mittee and the main orga- ated the opportunity to play greatly impact one’s GPA,” said Corey Boone, greeted the crowd of Tech with scores of faculty and nizer for the aquarium event. at the aquarium. It was a dif- chair of the SGA committee on Academic Af- students and guests who #led family members. In addition to the aquatic ferent venue from our tradi- fairs. “It seemed unfair to the students to make into the Georgia Aquarium “Initially, we were only wildlife on exhibit, visitors tional concerts and I think a blind guess as to whether they should allow a last $ursday for GT Night expecting about 1,500 peo- also enjoyed performances many people enjoyed the course to impact their GPA.” at the Aquarium. ple, so we were really excited by the Georgia Tech Sym- music,” said Ron Mendola, However, not all students see the pass of this $rough collaboration that so many students, fac- phony Orchestra (GTSO), conductor of the GTSO. measure as providing the student body any sig- from the Student Center ulty and guests wanted to which had set up in the Programs Council, RHA come. $e idea for this event aquarium’s main lobby. $e See Aquarium, page 6 See Grades, page 6 t'FCSVBSZ tTechnique NEWS From the #les of the GTPD... man for about #ve hours. During the conversation, the students said Technique that the man asked them for their 5IF4PVUIT-JWFMJFTU$PMMFHF/FXTQBQFS Campus Crime wallets, which they gave him. $e man also asked them for their By William Brawley Founded in 1911, the Technique is the editorially independent debit card, which they also gave Assistant News Editor student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is an him. Next, the man asked them for their pin numbers, which the o%cial publication of the Georgia Tech Board of Student Publications. String of Vehicle Break-ins $e Technique publishes on Fridays weekly during the fall and spring at a black male riding away on a students again gave to him. $e blue and silver mountain bike. man then gave them back their and biweekly during the summer. Between Feb. 13 and Feb. 18, $e police pursued the suspect, wallets, with the two students un- ADVERTISING: Information and rate cards can be found online at 10 incidents of vehicle break-ins and noticed that the male tossed derstanding the whole time that nique.net/ads. $e deadline for reserving ad space is Friday at 5 p.m. were reported to the police. $e a red object into the bushes before the man was in possession of their one week before publication. To place a reservation, for billing infor- primary locations of these inci- he was quickly apprehended. debit cards. After leaving Wing- mation, or for any other questions please e-mail us at [email protected]. dents have been around parking $e man was questioned nuts early on Friday morning, the You may reach us by telephone at (404) 894-2830, Monday through lots and decks, and they have and no warrants were returned. students checked their bank ac- Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. occurred at varying times in the However, the male had been is- counts later in the day and found COVERAGE REQUESTS: Requests for coverage and tips should be day. $is string of criminal activ- sued three prior criminal trespass that about $400 had been with- submitted to the Editor-in-Chief and/or the relevant section editor. ity has led the police to issue an warnings, and was placed under drawn from each account. alert across campus by posting arrest. $e surrounding area was $e police asked the students OFFICE: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: notices on residence halls. $ese searched, and a red pair of bolt if they ever felt threatened or in- 353 Ferst Dr., Room 137 Craig Tabita postings notify students and fac- cutters was found. Near the bike timidated by the man. $e stu- Atlanta, GA 30332-0290 [email protected] ulty to be sure to remove not just rack, a cut bolt was also found. dents said that they felt intimidat- Telephone: (404) 894-2830 Telephone: (404) 894-2831 valuable items such as laptops and ed mentally by the man since he Fax: (404) 894-1650 GPS devices, but all items from Theft-Evangelism played on the fact that they were their vehicles. $e police warned religious people. $e students students that even leaving GPS On Feb. 13 at around 8 a.m., gave physical descriptions of the NEWS EDITOR: [email protected] Corbin Pon / mounts in vehicles could cause a a Tech police o%cer was called male suspect, but no identity was OPINIONS EDITOR: Naihobe Gonzalez / [email protected] thief to break in and search for a to the Wingnuts restaurant on determined. FOCUS EDITOR: Reem Mansoura / [email protected] device. $e notices also instructed North Avenue regarding a theft.