Trial delayed in Graduate Life Center murder case
The trial for a former Virginia Tech doctoral student accused of a January murder in the Graduate Life Center has been postponed until 2010.
Defendant Haiyang Zhu is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the beheading of 22-year-old graduate student Xin Yang in the Au Bon Pain Cafe at the GLC on Jan. 21, 2009.
Defense attorney Stephanie Cox asked for a continuance Tuesday to prepare Zhu's defense, and the trial date was moved to Feb. 1, 2010.
Zhu's trial was originally scheduled for Nov. 16-19, 2009, in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
by zach crizer
Virginia Tech student hospitalized with meningitis
A 19-year-old Virginia Tech student has been diagnosed with meningitis, the only case in the entire New River Valley district.
The student has been hospitalized and is still recovering with a good prognosis, according to Mark Owczarski, director of news and information. Aside from this case, there have been no other students at Tech with symptoms of the disease so far.
The New River Health District is working with the Schiffert Health Center to proactively treat with antibiotics a total of 75 students, households and immediate family members who have been in close proximity with the affected Tech student, according to Owczarski.
"What we've done is try to be proactive and do the very best to get out and in front of it," said Owczarski. "We sent an e-mail out to 40,000 students and staff to inform them that they may be at risk."
He is not currently at liberty to say whether the afflicted student lives on or off the Tech campus.
The disease can be fatal, but the chances of death are low with early diagnosis and modern therapy. About 90 percent of those infected with the disease survive.
"Upon recovery, the student will no longer be a threat to anyone else," Owczarksi said.
by priya saxena
Newman Library purchases Johnny Cash collection
Virginia Tech's Newman Library has acquired a collection of memoirs and memorabilia related to musician Johnny Cash and the Carter family.
Currently available for research, the library hopes to put some of the highlights of the collection on display soon.
"We have June Carter Cash's autobiography which is signed by her, as well as Johnny Cash's autobiography, written in 1980," said Kira Dietz, Acquisitions and Processing Archivist at Newman Library. "There are also Maybelle Carter's hunting and fishing licenses from 1975, which just provide an interesting addition to the collection. We even have the programs from Johnny and June Cash's funerals, probably saved because they were famous."
Though the Special Collections department at Newman Library collects a wide variety of historical documents, it has a special focus on local Appalachian history.
"A lot of the Carter family was originally from the Hilton, Virginia area, so this collection has a local interest," Dietz said.
Newman Library purchased the collection from a single dealer in four separate parts, the first of which was acquired in June. It is unable to share the name of the dealer or the amount paid for the collection.
Currently, the origins and past owners of the pieces in the collection are unknown.
"We hope that interest and publicity surrounding the collection will prompt people to step forward in the future and share what they know about the history of pieces in the collection," Dietz said.
The Carter Family was a country music group in the early 20th century that originated in Southwest Virginia. Later, two of the Carters, Maybelle and her cousin Sara performed as "The Carter Sisters." Maybelle's daughter June married Cash in 1968, continuing the musical tradition.
by claire sanderson
University alters smoking policies, follows state's lead
In accordance with the statewide smoking ban that will go into effect Dec. 1, 2009, Virginia Tech recently revised Smoking Policy 1010 to prohibit smoking within 25 feet of university buildings.
"Basically, it is very simply in response to the fact that if you are very near a building, it is possible for secondhand smoke to blow back into the building entrances and ventilation systems," said Mark Owczarski, director of news and information.
The policy went into effect at the beginning of the 2009-10 academic year, but it was recently announced in a campus-wide annual notice on community standards.
The revision states directly that "those who smoke outside of buildings are expected to be considerate and courteous of other individuals in the university community. Smoking locations should not impede traffic flow in or out of buildings and should be in a location where smoke cannot drift into office, class or living space. Additionally, smokers are asked to leave the smoking locations free of cigarette butts and other trash materials."
Smoking has been banned in all university buildings since 2003, except for designated lodging rooms in the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.
The revision went through four stages of approvals of university governing boards, including the final Board of Visitors approval in March, Owczarski said.
by billy mitchell