Note from Dan: The following open letter is from Roanoke County resident and activist-of-many-stripes Brent Riley.

By Brent Riley

Public Broadcasting People,

We know America is today facing unprecedented challenges and responsibilities. Public Broadcasting was created by Congress to enable citizens to be more responsible through diversity of information . . . to better balance the information mix. It not only enriches us and our culture, but informs us far better than Corporate Broascasting and empowers us to participate in the policy making processes of our democracy.

Keeping it strong, and making it even better, is an imperative. “170 Million Americans” provides an avenue to make a difference. Please review their information below and play a part to keep Public Broadcasting strong!

Listeners and contributors to WVTF, “our public radio station” have been engaged in a campaign to bring further respect for the founding mandate and bring in diversity of information. Since President Reagan’s time efforts have been underway to impede the information flow by claiming Public Broadcasting was too this or too that. Those efforts are still alive and must be overcome. Read more »

Amy Goodman | Chris Eaves.com | Wikimedia Commons

Note from Dan: Dave Gresham, a businessman  from Smith Mountain Lake and former Occupy activist, penned this little ditty.

By Dave Gresham

M E M O

October 12, 2012
To: My Minions at Virginia Tech
From: Satan
Subject: Maintaining the Status Quo

Are you aware that Amy Goodman was allowed to speak at Virginia Tech recently?

Have you lost your minds?

Of course, we already knew that General Electric and its stockholders earn billions of dollars making bombs, then make billions more by owning a thousand news outlets that always say we are right for dropping those bombs (and need to make more).

But why in Hell would you let someone talk about it to regular folks? Did you learn nothing after independent news wrecked our Vietnam War? Read more »

Craig Eddy | Wikimedia Commons

And, if per (fat) chance UVa beats Georgia Tech at home, who will deserve the higher ranking?

Galisteo, N.M. | Artotem | Wikimedia Commons

He pans Dan’s review of Virginia Tech’s new dining hall

I would like to start by saying I am a big fan and I do enjoy reading your articles.

However, the article in today’s paper criticizing the new dining hall at Virginia Tech was borderline condescending of the administration’s choice. I am a freshman here at Tech and was reading your article while eating at Turner Place and completely disagreed with your stance.

Colleges need to have something attractive other than their education to bring students in and I believe that the best quality food is a great tool. Also, the hall was built without taxpayer money and students (or parents) pay for the best college quality they can find.

The academic aspect of Virginia Tech is under no educational scrutiny to my knowledge so, why not add something to group students together and bring more in? Again, I say all of this with the utmost respect for you.

Sincerely,

Garrett

A shot of the dining room inside Origami, the new Japanese steak house inside Turner Place at Lavery Hall, Virginia Tech's newest dining hall. | vtnews.vt.edu

The Hokie nation awakens this week from its summer slumber. Welcome back, students!

As you streamed back onto campus, you may have noticed one huge difference compared to last year, over behind McBryde Hall.

It’s a gleaming new, $35.7 million, two-level dining hall where you can gorge to your gut’s content. Allow me to treat you to some of the marvelous amenities of Turner Place at Lavery Hall. There you will find:

– A European cafe that has a gelato bar and serves made-to-order crepes and flambe.

– 1872 Fire Grill, an upscale steakhouse with “luxury seating” that serves chops and sirloins sizzled over smoky charcoal. Tech bills it as “the first of its kind on a college campus.”

– A chain bagel bakery (Blacksburg’s first, by the way), a pizzeria with a wood-fired oven, a chain Mexican grill, a soup cafe, and a juice and smoothies bar.

– 833 indoor seats, including dining for the Corps of Cadets plus 244 outdoor seats; and

– A Japanese steakhouse, Origami, where cooks pull karate moves with flashing spatulas as they prepare dinner on tableside grills, while they serve up cheesy jokes.

You may have read about this back in July, in a big front-page spread in this newspaper. The pictures were amazing.

In those, the place looks like the bastard offspring of a mall food court and a futuristic airport terminal, with ultra-modern lighting, Earth tones, natural wood and lots and lots of glass. Read more »

Tim Ross | Wikimedia Commons

Note from Dan: Paul Scott of Roanoke sent this to me recently, regarding Virginia Tech’s plans to play Liberty University in football come 2016. It’s an interesting perspective that deserves a wider view.

By Paul Scott

As a Virginia Tech alumni, I am very much disturbed by the school putting Liberty University on the football schedule. This is another example of a concerted effort to legitimize the militantly homophobic, radically conservative private organization.

Obviously, Liberty has the right to its opinions and goals. However, it is not acceptable for Virginia Tech to give Liberty large amounts of money and a showcase on the football field.

This is a direct insult to all LGBT alumni of Virginia Tech. It should be offensive to non-LGBT citizens as well. Suppose Bob Jones University had a football team. Would the black community be insulted with them on a football schedule? Read more »

Photo by Caitlin Edenfield

A committee at Virginia Tech today recommended the university change the location of a planned Hokie football practice facility rather than build it on land occupied by an olde-growth forest called Stadium Woods.

My colleagues Tonia Moxley and Andy Bittner have more here.

This has been a hugely contentious issue at Tech; it’s donated scores of letter to the editor by writers pleading the the university to save the woods.

What do you think? Put your comments below.

Craig Eddy | Wikimedia Commons

What a game. What a hell of a bad time for an illegal motion penalty. What a heartbreaking loss for the Hokies.

You can’t take anything away from Myers, given that he scored more than half the Hokies’ points. Who would have bet he’d go 4 for 5 tonight? Nobody.

Your thoughts?

hiram alejandro rodriguez briceño | Wikimedia Commons

Well you knew it would happen; the only question was when.

How long would it take a gun nut to publicly castigate anyone who dared to observe that guns  have played an especially tragic role  in deaths on Virginia Tech’s campus?

The answer: one day after the funeral of Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek Crouse, who was unceremoniously executed by a nut with a gun last week.

The “winner” of this ignoble contest is  Jim Layman of Roanoke. In Tuesday’s Letters to the Editor, Layman heaped scorn and derision upon Virginia Tech President Charles Steger, all because Steger uttered a fact.

Here’s the full text of Layman’s depressingly dumb letter:

I just watched a replay of Virginia Tech President Charles Steger’s statement about the shooting of two men at Virginia Tech.

He   stated, “In light of the turmoil and trauma and the tragedy suffered on this campus by guns.” This shows just how ignorant he is. The murders were not caused by a gun; they were caused by an evil person.

The  fact that the president of Virginia Tech did not know that it is impossible for a gun to shoot someone to me shows his ignorance. Or just maybe he was using the opportunity to express his advocacy for gun control. Read more »

Photo by Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times

I’d hate to think there’s any deep and dark information out there regarding the identity of the shooter who gunned down, apparently without reason, Virginia Tech police officer Deriek Crouse on Thursday.

But the authorities sure are acting like that’s the case. It happened 27 hours ago (and counting). They say they know the shooter’s identity. But they’re not saying who he is.

Earlier, they said they weren’t releasing the information pending notification of the dead shooter’s kin.

Later, they said they’re holding onto that “pending an autopsy.”

An autopsy? Really? By the medical examiner? Let’s hope they work fast. Those can take weeks.

There are good reasons in this business, sometimes, for authorities not releasing the names of dead people. But this is not one of those cases. This shooter is not some poor innocent, killed in a traffic accident, unbeknown to his family.

His actions shut down a university, postponed exams there, and caused lockdowns at public schools, some that were miles away. Schools in Shawsville were locked down, for goodness sakes.

Give up the name, authorities.