[email protected] Organization Spotlight:Equestrian Club Technique This club and competitive intercollegiate team Focus Editor: Kate Comstock organizes lessons, trail rides, intercollegiate 9 competitions and fundraisers. Friday, Focus Contact: www.jacketpages.collegiatelink.net November 20, 2009 Student site CoC project Stepping up to the reboots IT re!ects unique plate against cancer professionals By Andrew Nelsom Contributing Writer TechBy Rebecca culture Tatters!eld Contributing Writer Local celebrities team up with Rally Operation Reboot, a proj- ect in the College of Com- Four students, three guys and a girl, created Kids for cancer research fundraiser puting, will pair laid-o# IT a website for fun and launched it during a group professionals with high school presentation in their Small Talk class. In two teachers to give them a leg up days the site had over 9,000 hits. Only at Tech. in their career options starting Onlyattech.net is a new site on campus, in the spring of 2010. $e proj- though technically not a!liated. Its popularity ect is headed by Barbara Eric- stems from the pride Tech students "nd in com- son, the Computing Outreach plaining. It captures the sentiment that since we Director at the CoC’s Institute su#er more, we are better than everyone else. for Computing Education $e format of the site may look familiar to (ICE). those who waste their time on FML or Texts $e goal of Operation Re- From Last Night, the stories however, are to- boot is to pair a high school tally unique to Tech. For example, #212, “More computer science teacher with squirrels than girls. Only at Tech.” Or how an unemployed IT worker for about #694, “$e freshman guys on my %oor two classes over a year. $e at Smith "gured out that they could keep play- teacher would then learn more ing Xbox during a power outage by wiring their about computer science from a television and Xbox directly into the emergency professional, and the IT pro- %uorescent lighting. Only at Tech.” fessional would learn how to $e students behind the website are Andrew teach the craft. Ash, third- year CS; Holden Link, third- year Su Craddock – the business CM; Kaliyana Finney, fourth- year CM; and and computer science direc- David Turk, third-year CM. $e ratio might tor for Walton Career Acad- seem too ironic to be true based on the post- emy, a school participating in ings, but she does exist, honestly. $e idea came Operation Reboot – will teach about during lunch one day after their CS 2440 Computing in the Modern class. World alongside an IT pro. “We created [the site] back in the beginning Craddock took three summer of Oct.,” Turk said, “but we didn’t tell anyone workshops at Tech to qualify or actually launch the site until Nov. 4” Since for the project. then, the site has over 5,000 fans on Facebook, “I do believe that the stu- and has a visitation the size of a quarter of dents would be more encour- Tech’s campus. aged to go into a computer “One of the things that really struck us science "eld with a former IT about how fast it spread was how fast it spread employee in the classroom,” without any kind of advertising...we launched Craddock said, “$e IT pro- the site was when we were giving a presentation fessional can answer questions in our Small Talk class, and we just added it on that I cannot and will there- a slide at the end,” said Link. fore provide a new point of Link provided the graphic design for the view from which the students website as well as the hosting. can base career decisions.” “I have a web server because I run a little With the multi-billion dol- video game company so I already had all of the lar IT industry feeling the resources we needed to be able to put the web- economic hurt, major corpora- site online,” Link said, “All we needed to do was tions like IBM and Hewlett- buy the name and put it up there.” Photo by Tim Nowack / Student Publications Packard have laid o# thou- Finney and Turk moderate the site by ap- Children that have recently battled cancer and are part of the “Rally Kids” group partici- sands of employees just in the proving the stories that Tech students submit. pated in a softball game with local celebrities like Braves Brian McCann and . last year. and Ash is a programmer that maintains the $ough national stimulus By Chris Russell other famous athletes, coach- the show more than once dur- money may not get their origi- See Only, page 11 Sta! Writer es, radio personalities and ing the night. Whether it was nal jobs back, funding pro- news anchors. $e stars joined a traditional dizzy-bat race, grams like Operation Reboot Tech played host to a num- forces with the event’s spon- running the bases in uniforms would allow experience and ber of celebrities this past sors and the “Rally Kids,” chil- "ve sizes too large or chasing knowledge of the IT industry Friday, as the Rally Founda- dren who have battled or are Chipper Jones around the in- to be an investment in educa- tion for Childhood Cancer currently battling cancer and "eld with a Super Soaker, the tion instead. Research held its "rst annual broke into teams. kids often attracted more at- “I see the greatest bene"t to Brian McCann Celebrity Soft- $e two teams were cap- tention than the game itself. be the IT professional’s varied ball Game at Russ Chandler tained by McCann and Jones When prompted about his knowledge, abilities and skills Stadium. and were coached by Leo Maz- involvement in the water gun from the corporate world to in- $e event’s host, zone, a famed Braves pitching incident, McCann admitted tegrate real-world applications Braves Brian McCann, coach and Sam Wyche, a for- to o#ering the perpetrating into the curriculum,” Crad- teamed up with the Rally mer NFL coach who once led Rally Kid $100 if he managed dock said. Foundation and teammate the Cincinnati Bengals to the to soak Jones before the night Craddock has worked with Chipper Jones to put on a soft- Super Bowl. was over. corporations and Fortune 500 ball game to raise awareness of At the end of the night, Earlier in the evening, Mc- companies before teaching and funds for childhood can- McCann and Wyche led their Cann taught Andrew Vassil, a at Walton Career Academy, cer research. team to an 11-7 victory over 14 year old Rally Kid, a valu- though her experience is lim- “When you meet some of their opponents. able lesson: don’t make a bet ited only to certain industries. these kids, it makes the deci- While the big draw of the with a She looks forward to a fresh sion to help them anyway you game was the celebrities, the player you are not willing to perspective in her classroom. can an easy one to make,” said focus of the night was undeni- keep. $e night before the “Personally, I want to pair McCann when asked about ably the Rally Kids themselves. game, Vassil attended the Ral- with an IT professional to "ll the cause. O!cially, the kids "lled the ly Foundation’s Bene"t Bash in the gaps in my own knowl- Also in attendance were a positions of bat boys and girls and bet that if someone donat- edge,” Craddock said, “Also, Photo by Blake Israel/ Student Publications handful of other Braves play- to the players, but through ed $10,000 to the Foundation, working with an IT profes- Onlyattech.net was started by four Tech ers, US Senator Johnny Isak- a collection of spontaneous he would let McCann shave sional in class will reinforce students and showcases the experiences son, Tech head baseball coach shenanigans and scripted be- See Reboot, page 11 and stories unique to only Tech students. Danny Hall and a number of tween-inning events, they stole See Rally, page 11 t/PWFNCFS tTechnique FOCUS ‘Real-life Hitch’ visits Tech to give dating advice By Sarah Malis tively listen to others and created Contributing Writer engaging conversations that many students found relatable. Have you ever wondered what Also, he explained what makes true love really is? Have you ques- college students better learners tioned what makes a relationship and engagers than others. work? Or, maybe, have you ever “I love talking to college stu- asked yourself how to approach dents, "rst and foremost, because that guy or girl you saw at a party? they have the ability to put some- If you have ever speculated about thing into their life tomorrow that any of these questions, there is a they learned today. High school man that has all of the answers. students are just happy to be in an His name is David Coleman, assembly and be out of class, they and he is also known as the Dat- really don’t want to improve their ing Doctor. Coleman is widely lives. And, sometimes older adults known a “the real-life Hitch” and are stuck in their ways, and they’ll is the author of various relation- hear me talk, but they really won’t ship books, such as 101 Great go out and try things out. I really Dates, Date Smart!, Marking Re- started this because I believe that lationships Matter! and Prescrip- college students had the capacity tions for Life and Relationships. to learn it and the ability to do it, His blunt, humorous relation- and that’s why I love the line of ship advice have resulted not just work that I do,” Coleman said. in commercial successes, but also Coleman began by de"ning ro- critical acclaim. He has been hon- mance as performing an ordinary ored 12 times as National Speaker act of love or kindness at an unex- of the year, nine times by Campus pected time. However, according Activities Magazine and three to Coleman, romance doesn’t just times by the National Association appear out of thin air. for Campus Activities. He explains that there is a According to Coleman though, single question to ask one’s signi"- there’s more to his advice than just cant other, which is to question how to behave in and interpret the di#erence between being an Photo by Josh Sandler/ Student Publications romantic or sexual relationships. “option” or a “priority.” If some- His theories can be applied to per- one or something is an option to David Coleman, often described as the “real life Hitch,” answered Tech students questions about sonal goals such as leadership de- their partner, romance will be dating and gave advice on relationships when hespoke last Thursday at the Student Center. velopment, character, con"dence forced, but if someone is a prior- and values. $e breadth of his ity, romance will happen more up lines he’s heard. For example, zone and how to tell when you are few questions that can help one advice’s relevance and his unique naturally and the relationship will “if beauty was measured in milk, or aren’t in this zone, the varying de"ne oneself on a personal, emo- and engaging presentation style be more fruitful. you’d be a cow,” and gave tips on commitment levels of men and tional and relationship level. You has made him a high commodity, Coleman focuses on the idea how to be a “fat penguin.” $at is, women and even ended on Cole- use those answers on a grid of one that Tech students had the that relationships are based o# you must waddle out and break man’s explanation of why some “rooms” along with the answers of lucky opportunity of witnessing of self-esteem, explaining that at- the ice in order to have a success- women believe that all the men our friends. this fall. traction is only a learnable skill ful relationship. they date or sleep with, neigh, $ose answers then let the user On Nov. 12, the Dating Doc- and that one must "rst become $e Date Doctor then had even all men on the face of the know what he or she thinks about tor made a visit to Tech Student the “right” person for themselves a question/answer “"ve minute planet, are terrible lovers. himself both consciously and sub- Center to talk about relation- and others before they will "nd frenzy” for the Tech audience, To add even more direct in- consciously compared to how he ships and dating while relating the “right person” to complement where any question about dating teraction to the presentation, Mr. or she is consciously and subcon- these concepts to college students. their life. and relationships could be an- Coleman introduced the Johari sciously perceived by others. From the beginning of the visit, Coleman then proceeded to get swered. window, which proved to be the He ended his presentation with he developed a highly interactive into the more comical portion of Inquiries ranged from seri- crowd favorite. his self-proclaimed most impor- and open environment for Tech his speech. Coleman shared with ous to downright funny, as Tech $e Johari window is a mini- See Dating, page 12 students to speak their minds, ac- the Tech audience ridiculous pick students asked about the “friend” experiment where one answers a

sliver www.nique.net Does it hurt when the girl, who you always loved and was there beside her in her worst days, starts going out with this other dude and dont give an F for your feelings? Taylor wore the same thing to initiation that she did to the Hal- loween Bash. $at’s friggin hilarious! Wake Forest Will Eat My Dust! John don’t you miss having friends? Glad you untagged all those photos of your cellulite. dear gary a. you and your alumni can suck it $ere’s a creeper in Howey L2. I hope he doesn’t choose me! $e big dipper will guide home Devi loves her baby sister!!! What’s with all the three hour bio classes? Boy I’m glad there’s no lab. Happy TCD day!!! Happy CDJ Day!!! Alexis Morrison is a beast at life. She’s kind of short though. BRITTAIN’S MILKSHAKE BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD. GT STUDENTS LOVE GT STUDENTS SLIVERING ABOUT GT STUDENTS LOVING SLIVERING!!!!!! BRITTAIN’S MILKSHAKE BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD. cute, single NRE... I know my way around control rods.... Dear sliver overlord, I demand that you stop [you have been cen- sored] Everyday....wtf am I doing here? why can’t I "nd a spot in my parking deck even with my 800 bucks permit, wtf tech GT CHOIR CONCERT!!!!!! Tuesday, 11/17 at 7:30pm at All Saints’ Episcopal Church (about a block away from North Ave Apts)!!!!!! $e nickname for the webmaster of Chorale’s cyberbuzz page is “Badcock.” How is that not enough reason to at least go check the website out? FOCUS Technique t/PWFNCFS t 11

Rally from page 9 wards funding research grants, Only from page 9 awards and fellowships in the area his head. A handful of sponsors of childhood cancer research. site. Keeping the site clean doesn’t put up the money and, true to his $e Rally Foundation was take too much time according to word, Vassil sat himself on a stool started when Dean Crowe, its Turk, who says that he does his mid-"eld while McCann learned founder and CEO, visited a post monitoring work mostly how to use a pair of electric shears. neighbor’s son in the hospital as when he’s bored in class or has A few innings later, a freshly- his brain cancer lapsed into remis- nothing to do. shorn Vassil stepped up to bat and sion. After asking how she could “$e point of the site is for drove a teammate in for a run and help, Crowe learned that less re- people to tell their stories…things scored one himself before making search has been done into the that happen in their dorms or his way back to the dugout. area of childhood cancer than the when they’re walking to class,” As for the charity side of the adult varieties, meaning that there said Turk. event, when all was said and done, are often fewer options for avail- In the two and a half weeks according to a press release, the able treatments. since the site was launched the Rally Foundation raised a grand $ough the original patient stories have come in to their own Photo by Matt Treager/ Student Publications total of $280,000. According to has made an excellent recovery consistent style. Ash said that Operation Reboot gives IT professionals the chance to earn a Tech o!cials involved with the and is now completing his studies when the site "rst launched people teaching certi!cate and gain real life experience in teaching. event, over 1,500 fans were pres- at Auburn University, the Rally had stories from their past four, ent to show their support for the Foundation still continues to "ve or six years at Tech to tell. Reboot from page 9 so I knew that there was this path cause. raise money for the cause, largely “Even alumni would come that people had been taking,” Er- As stated on the Rally Founda- through grassroots fundraising along and say ‘you know back in the concepts with real-world icson said. tion’s website, www.rallyforkids. movements. my day…’ But now we’re starting knowledge.” Ericson applied this idea when com, the organization’s mission is According to the Rally Foun- to get stories that happen on a day Ramona Calvey, an IT profes- she met a National Science Foun- to, “[raise] awareness and funds dation’s website, one in every 330 to day basis. We’re also starting to sional who will join the program, dation (NSF) program director speci"cally for childhood cancer Americans will develop some form see the style has changed a lot. If has over 25 years of experience who o#ered a funding opportu- research to "nd better treatments of cancer before the age of 21, and something happens at noon it will working as the senior program- nity for computer science educa- and cures for childhood cancers.” childhood cancers are responsible be on the site by 3 p.m.,” said Ash. mer at Coca-Cola Company and tors. $e NSF’s Broadening Par- Ninety- three percent of all funds for more deaths for children under $e lone female on the Only instructional technology special- ticipation in Computing program, raised by the Foundation go to- 20 than any other disease. at Tech team is feeling the fame. ist at Clark-Atlanta University, which has funded past CoC proj- “Apparently I don’t exist…people among many other top positions. ects under its mission to improve have submitted stories asking if “I think that the greatest ben- computing education, then decid- I’m single,” Finney said. e"t of co-teaching is the teaching ed to fund Operation Reboot with $e site isn’t perfect. Accord- experience that can be gained funds recently acquired after Feb- ing to the team there are more from working with and being ruary’s national stimulus package. ideas coming in than there is abil- mentored by an experienced Since funding is already set ity to make happen, creating a teacher,” Calvey said, “I would by the allotted stimulus money, bottleneck. like to provide the students with Ericson does not expect the state $e solution, more time work- current IT industry standard or Tech to fund Operation Re- ing on the site so that we can knowledge, examples, and proj- boot for an expansion or continue spend more time on the site not ects to solve. I would also like to it past its three-year period. She doing our work. assist with expanding the existing does expect, however, that other $e speed at which this site has computing classes that are being states will realize the potential for become part of the Tech culture taught and to help to increase the this program and possibly start truly shows how closely connected number of computing courses be- other similar ones. the Tech campus is, for better or ing o#ered.” Operation Reboot has gar- worse. $e IT professionals will earn nered national attention, includ- A website spreads quicker and a stipend of $3,410 per month for ing a feature article in Computer more easily than the swine %u, 11 months and ultimately earn an World. Only at Tech. initial teaching certi"cate with a So far 15 schools in northern So next time you wish you computer science endorsement. and central Georgia have applied did have the swine %u so that you “$ere are some computer sci- for the program; the classes in- would have an excuse to skip Lab, ence teachers who were IT workers clude AP Computer Science, In- check out the site at onlyattech. who either retired or decided they termediate Programming, Com- Photo by Tim Nowack / Student Publications net. Because sometimes, saying didn’t want to do IT anymore and puting in the Modern World and Chipper Jones was on campus Friday night to participate in a FML just isn’t strong enough, they were interested in teaching, Introduction to Programming. softball tournament bene!tting the Rally for kids with cancer. Only at Tech. t/PWFNCFS tTechnique FOCUS

Many other students also felt Dating from page 10 a normal pace. When people take genuine and personal questions learned a lot about yourself. My that "rst beginning of the wick from the audience. that Mr. Coleman’s presentation favorite part was the Johari win- tant advice. in their relationships and they “It was a good learning experi- was a success. dow, because it was crazy accurate “Never mistaken infatuation burn through stu# too fast, then ence. It’s something that we don’t “I thought the event was good on some things,” said Heather Aq- for love. People meet each other they either have to break up or get to see in India, which is the and that he was accurate on some uilino, fourth-year INTA. and go, ‘Oh, in love’, and three say to the other person that they country where I am from. I got things. And I liked that he called If you’re interested in learn- months later, their mind sets com- don’t feel the same way they did, to learn many new things from the girls and guys out on stu# that ing about Mr. Coleman or more pletely change. So there are facets because they didn’t let it happen him, as I am a pretty shy person they do [in a relationship],” said about his relationship/life advice, of love and stages of relationships naturally. Sometimes it’s a facet of myself and it will de"nitely help David Attias, Grad ECE. check out his website at www.dat- and people must think very care- time or how fast you burn through me to mix along with more peo- Others saw Mr. Coleman’s ingdoctor.com where you can see fully what they say and things these stages,” Coleman said. ple socially and emotionally. My lecture as inspiring and provided his long list of bad kissers (some they do,” Coleman said. Not only did the Date Doctor favorite part was when he talked many life lessons for college stu- examples include “the sloth” and “$e light that burns bright- engage Tech students on serious about what women are attracted dents who are just "nding their “the deer in the headlights”), est burns shortest. When you "rst issues of dating, self con"dence to! Overall, it was a great event, sea-legs in the adult dating world. clever comebacks and ways to light a candle, the wick goes very and the humorous side of when fantastic,” said Siddharth Gaur, “I de"nitely thought it was purchase his critically acclaimed quickly, but then it slows down to things go wrong, he also spurred Grad ECE. very interesting and you really books.

technique

the south’sthe newspaper. college liveliest