The Writing

Alejandra Caballero, lifestyles contributor

 

While the window in Kelly Hall looking out towards the outdoor stairs of Turner Place may look unsuspecting, there is ground-breaking, life saving research that takes place behind it.

 

The Helmet Lab is an injury biomechanics research lab at Virginia Tech founded by Stefan Duma, Ph.D., and Steve Rosen, Ph.D., in 2007. They started with just 4,000 data points and a small team. Fast-forward to the present, a team of undergraduate and graduate student engineers led by directors Barry Miller, Ph.D., and Mark Begonia, Ph.D., continue to design interventions to prevent any sort of injury. This includes preventative injury testing in children’s toys, sport helmets, rugby mouthguards and drone impact risk.

 

Although the lab is most known for helmet testing, it does not design or produce helmets. Instead, helmet manufacturers from around the world send their helmets to have them rated using the Helmet Lab’s patented

five-star rating system. The lab sends the respective companies their results, and from there, the company decides if they want to re-adjust the design or keep the helmet how it is.

 

“Just because you buy a helmet that does pass the standard safety tests, that does not mean you are not still at great risk for a concussion,” Miller said. “Consumers want to know what helmets barely passed the standards and which ones passed with flying colors.”

 

The five-star rating system was created after four years of data collection starting in 2007. The Helmet Lab website details their early stages of the process which included inserting wireless sensors into football helmets to measure any impact on the field. Any intense level of force above a certain threshold would trigger the sensors to detect movement and rotation of the head in case of a concussion.

 

“Before the five-star rating system, consumers had no idea which helmets were more effective just because there was no way to compare, and this was an issue in several sports,” Miller said. “Standard rating systems of helmets on the market are used as the bare minimum pass/fail safety standards for sportswear.”

 

Before the Helmet Lab became involved, equestrian helmets were just being certified by pass/fail standards. Concussions cases were extremely high; parents and athletes in the sport were in search of safer helmets.

Equestrian helmet companies started to send their helmets to the Helmet Lab in search of supplemental safety tests. Since then, several companies have taken those results and started creating safer, better helmets.

 

“Manufacturers come to us. They want that Virginia Tech five-star rating certification on their helmets because people know our system works,” Miller said.

 

Miller and Begonia joined the helmet lab team four years ago and both have continued to keep up with the constant advancement of sports technology. They both discussed their ventures into new areas of injury-prone testing, from

Nerf Guns to drones. It is all for a common purpose; to serve the public as a land-grant research institution, and their visions continue to evolve.

 

“I have a young daughter,” Begonia said. “I would love to see more testing equipment representation, such as testing mannequins being specialized for youths and females so we may be as accurate as possible.”

 

If you are interested in learning more about the lab and the research being done, check out their website at https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu.

By Alejandra Caballero

BLACKSBURG--VA

At Virginia Tech, campus security goes beyond traditional policing methods. Lieutenant Kevin Cramer, a dedicated member of the campus police department, recognizes the important role that support programs play in promoting sexual assault prevention and education.

These programs include SAVES, an initiative at the forefront of reducing gender-based violence and empowering students through education and support.SAVES, which stands for Student Sexual Assault and Violence Education, is Virginia Tech's pioneering advocacy program.

Student activists like Natalie Fourcade, helps to raise awareness about sexual assault and provide students with the information and resources they need to prevent such incidents.

Lt. Cramer emphasizes the importance of advocacy programs like SAVES in promoting campus safety.

"Progressive programs greatly assist law enforcement in cases of sexual assault by bridging communication gaps, providing valuable resources and advocating for the rights of survivors," he explains.

"They increase collaboration between our department and these organizations and ultimately improve our response to sexual assaults."

Indeed, SAVES plays an important role in integrating prevention into campus life. Natalie Fourcade, a key person in the SAVES program, emphasizes the benefits of such initiatives.

“SAVES is committed to creating a culture of consent and respect on our campus,” says Fourcade.

Educational and informational campaigns aim to give students the opportunity to recognize and intervene in cases of sexual violence. Addressing sexual violence on college campuses presents unique challenges, but advocacy programs like SAVES help fill important gaps in support and prevention.

"Our division has specialized units that are trained to deal with sexual violence, with a focus on victim assistance, evidence gathering and thorough investigation," explains Lt. Cramer.

The integration of advocacy programs ensures that survivors feel supported and empowered throughout the research process."

Addressing the complexity of rape cases requires a multifaceted approach that prioritizes victim support and education. "It is extremely important to ensure that survivors feel supported and heard during the investigative process," emphasizes Lt. Cramer.

"The impact of advocacy programs like SAVES goes beyond individual cases; they promote a broader culture of prevention and support on campuses. " "Since implementing advocacy programs and support services, we have seen positive changes in reporting rates as confidence in support systems has increased," states Lt. Cramer.

"And with initiatives like SAVES leading the way, we are optimistic about the future of campus safety."

In conclusion, SAVES is a sign of hope in the fight against sexual violence on college campuses. Programs like SAVES empower students to build safer and more respectful communities through education, advocacy and support. As Lt. Cramer and other law enforcement officers continue to work with conservation organizations, the future of campus security looks brighter than ever.

Alejandra Caballero, lifestyles contributor

Coming off the wave of up and coming rappers on SoundCloud Lil Yacthy’s single ‘One Night” went viral on a comedy video and he soon garnered attention for his playful and casual rap style. His newfound success was met with backlash and people questioning his legitimacy as a rapper. Those familiar with the rap industry and the legends of 90s rap called Lil Yacthy  “just another SoundCloud rapper” or subjected him to not being a “real rapper” at all. Tired of being put in a box, the world was hit with “Let’s Start Here,” his first full-length release in three years.

Yachty’s newfound experiment is introduced with the first track, “the BLACK seminole.” Immediately the audience is hit with psychedelic rock guitar and the steady beat of a snare as we are introduced into the new trippy world Lil Yachty has curated. The reminiscent Pink Floyd guitar solo captures and entraps you in a comfortable standstill that transitions into hallucinogenic cosmic blares and the journey into Yachty’s mind-bending world then begins.

Continuing his psychedelic-trip-like theme, track 3’s “running out of time,” takes you on a much easier ride with a groovy chord-progression that repeats itself throughout the song and funky synths that creates less of mind bender but comes off as a smooth current as the audience gets comfortable and wades in the in the lazy river of this track.

With help from indie veteran Mac DeMarco, Yachty taps deeper into the indie genre, leaving the rock, but keeping the psychedelic of it all in “drive ME crazy.” This time keyboard synths take the lead and we are led by the slower paced beat of drums. It sends the audience off in an orchestral swell of violin and woodwinds as he coos his infamous mumble over the instrumental leaving one still amazed with how well it goes together.

In “:(failure(:” Yachty speaks from the heart about the criticism he’s received from critics in the past and how that has caused setbacks in his career and even from making more music. Coming from a stream of consciousness perspective, he talks through his feelings regarding the hate and how just because he “failed” does not mean he has reached defeat. He saw his failure as a stepping stone to improve and he sees the product of that in this album. 

After a hiatus of three years, he certainly has made the world pay attention to him with this genre shift. The new risks he has taken by experimenting with a genre that may have seemed unorthodox coming from “just another SoundCloud rapper” has made me and I’m others pay attention to his potential for other similar projects. Giving this album a 6.5/10 I look forward to seeing him and other rappers take these similar risks and in changing the definition of rap for the time to come.