As job security becomes a growing concern to people, they are turning to new technology on the Internet to search for new job opportunities.  This new technology exists on the Internet in the form of social networks, websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

 While I have heard of and have a Facebook profile, I have never heard of LinkedIn before.  After a quick Wikipedia search, I found out that LinkedIn “is a business-oriented social networking site…launched in May 2003.”  This seems like a better site to do job searching on than Facebook. There are probably more people on Facebook right now, especially since I feel a lot of people got bored with Myspace and moved on to something new (a problem I see happening a lot in the future with any social networking site). 

A statistic that intrigued me was that “between 50 percent and 70 percent of jobs are discovered through networking.”  However, I was unclear as to whether that statistic dealt with online only networking, or traditional face-to-face networking.  I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me though, because I can see a lot of people using the internet to find jobs today.

I have never felt comfortable with employers using Facebook to look into prospective employee’s personal lives though.  I feel like I should only be judged on my credentials, and not how I like to relax in my spare time.  I’m 21 years old, of course I’m going to drink a lot and have the pictures to prove it.  If you’re going to look for jobs on Facebook you better make sure you have a clean profile.  I still think it’s a myth that they can see your profile, I figure the security settings must be able to control that.

I am definitely intrigued by the LinkedIn site, however, most of my friends and people I know are in the same boat I am, and trying to find a way into the “real” world.  So I can’t see how that site can help me now, but I can definitely see it being helpful in about two to five years.  Hopefully it’s still around by then.

Ultimately, it’s great to have a plethora of ways to find employment, especially as I am one semester away from graduating college as an undergraduate.

  –Jonathan VanDerveer 

http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/183432

I just caught on to this particular sport last summer while back at home in Stafford for break.  Some of my friends from the restaurant I worked at had played disc golf, and I was looking for a new hobby to pass the time.

Originally, we played paintball together on Sunday mornings at my house, where I had built a field with a two-story bunker.  But as time went on, people quit from the restaurant or moved on to college, and getting games together was becoming more difficult.  While paintball typically needed at least ten people for exciting matches, the best thing about disc golf was that it was fun with any number of people, even if I played alone, but we usually played with somewhere between two to five guys.

Another positive aspect of disc golf is the price.  I had to drop $60 for a case of paintballs when I wanted to play paintball for one day, which made paintball more of a weekly sport, if not monthly.  And that was only after I had bought a marker, facemask, barrel upgrade, and nitro tanks, items that probably cost me around $400.

Disc golf only requires discs.  I bought my first three for $7 a piece at a sporting goods store.  Some people only play a course with one, but I wanted a driver, mid-range, and putter disc.  There are many different styles of disc that offer different trajectories and types of plastic.  I have since bought a few more in order to try different styles of playing and throwing.

As my summer vacation came to a close, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep playing disc golf down at Virginia Tech.  However, after a quick Google search, I came across a website that had a list of available courses in Virginia, and I found that there was a course in Blacksburg to play at, Golden Hills Disk Golf Course.

The Blacksburg course was way different than the course I played back home.  I played at Loriella Park in Spotsylvania, and it had an even split between wooded holes and grass holes.  I much prefer grass holes because I tend to struggle in the woods and hit a lot of trees.  Enter Blacksburg, where fifteen of the eighteen holes are wooded and elevated.  Both courses are maintained very well, which is great considering that they are available to play on for free, but some courses require a fee to play.

In closing, I love playing disc golf whenever I get the chance, and am excited to be able to play while I am at college in Blacksburg.  I highly recommend this sport to anyone who is interested in spending an afternoon having fun.  For those golfing enthusiasts who just love to watch but can throw a Frisbee, this is the past-time for you!

–Jonathan VanDerveer

Are you in Southwest Virginia?  Do you look for things to do, or are you one of those who want to come to the area and are afraid of the lack of things to do?  Well, fret not. It really depends on where you are in the area and where your interests lie, but regardless of that, there are many things to do!   

For example, if you’re in Floyd County, a good Friday night can mean going to the Blue Ridge Diner (I highly recommend their black bottom pie) and then going to the Floyd Country Store for live music and dancing.  Often there is not only music going on inside the store, but outside on the porch and around the corner as well.  If you’re looking for other music venues, try The Rex Theatre in Galax, the Bristol Country Music Alliance’s Pickin’ Porch in Bristol or the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion in Bristol in the Fall which is a phenomenally huge traditional music festival! 

Music abounds in the mountains and can be found anywhere from a square dance in Grayson County to a fire department Friday night jam in Smyth County to anywhere along The Crooked Road.

In the area, we are blessed to have a plethora of natural wonders just waiting to be explored.  From Tazewell County’s Burkes Garden, which is known as “God’s Thumbprint,” to the Creeper Trail, Appalachian Trail or Mount Rogers, Virginia’s highest point, there are many things to do and see.  The Blue Ridge Parkway and many hiking and biking opportunities offer you the best views for miles around.  It has been rumored that on a clear day, one can see Detroit, Michigan from the summit at Mount Rogers, but you’ll have to look and see for yourself!

In the New River Valley (Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Radford), you can enjoy a busier scene with shopping and dining options.  Also, you can benefit from having the colleges close by for quality entertainment whether it be concerts, plays, lecture series, etc… 

Going down I-81 gives you the option of dinner and a show at the Wolfhart Haus in Wytheville, several wineries in the region such as Chateau Morissette and the Davis Valley Winery, performances at The Lincoln Theatre in Marion, The Paramount and Theatre Bristol in Bristol and The Barter Theatre in Abingdon– the state theatre of Virginia.  There are many other cultural opportunities such as The Carter Fold in Hiltons and plenty of fine dining experiences to be had between The Martha Washington Inn, The Tavern and The Hardware Company, just to name a few. 

The area is also rich in consignment, second-hand and antique shops.  The areas of Floyd, Abingdon Bristol are particularly rich in these stores.  In the summer months you can attend the Virginia Highlands Arts and Crafts Festival in Abingdon which features a huge antiques market.

I could literally go on all day and suggest things that are not only great food and a good time such as The Dip Dog Stand in Marion, In the Country in Damascus, or Cuz’s Barbeque in Tazewell County, but I would be depriving you of your chance to explore on your own!

–Shai Cullop

The vote wasn’t even a close one. Smyth County has voted down food and beverage tax. The county rejected a proposed tax that would have put a 4 percent food and beverage tax in restaurants on the November general election ballot. The County Supervisor’s reasoning behind this proposal said, “increased county revenues are needed to provide better public services and greater educational opportunities to the citizens of the county[…]and to provide for future public water and public sewer service in the county.” Obviously, the rest of the county did not agree.

Out of 9,702 total votes, 6,936 people opposed while only 2,766 agreed. This is more than 71 percent of the vote! The economy is not at its best right now, so giving people another tax to pay is certainly not what anyone needs. With such a substantial difference in numbers, there’s no confusion on the stance of those in Smyth County. My vote is with you as well!

–Chelsea Archer

Believe it or not, the United States is now proud to have their very own governor from Grundy, VA!  Actually, she’s not even from Grundy—she’s from the outlying community of Harman, a community with a population too small to register with the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Bev Perdue, D-North Carolina, can now proudly say not only that she is from Southwest Virginia, but that she is the first female elected to be governor of North Carolina and only the 30^th in United States gubernatorial history—not a task that has been easy to accomplish, but one that fits right in with the ground-breaking election results that occurred election night nation-wide.

Currently the lieutenant governor, Perdue said about her victory, “It just goes to show you, what I learned as a little girl growing up in rural Appalachia was right, […] If you get a good education, work hard and stay true to yourself, you can accomplish anything.”  

Regarding her Appalachian roots, she recently told The Bristol Herald Courier, “When I was a little girl, twice a year my mother and I would drive to Bristol to shop,” she said by phone. “We’d buy German chocolate cake and go shopping for clothes. It was a big treat. You all were the big city,” she said. Perdue is a graduate of Grundy High School, the University of Kentucky and received her doctorate at the University of Florida before finally residing in North Carolina. She began her career as a civil servant 22 years ago.She says, “My parents convinced me: Even a little girl from Grundy could be somebody if she worked hard and got an education. Those beliefs and values, they’re why I am who I am. They have defined me. […] To think my parents never even graduated high school, and yet here I am. I bet they are looking down on us tonight saying, ‘You go, girl – you go!’”

I personally think it is a tremendous accomplishment not only for Perdue, but also for Southwest Virginia to have a high-ranking government official in our long list of prestigious natives!  In a state that has proven to produce presidents and other prominent politicians throughout time, it’s refreshing to know that for the first time in a long time one came from Southwest Virginia.  I congratulate Bev Perdue and hope for the region and the state of North Carolina that she does us proud.

–Shai Cullop

  http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/the_governor_from_grundy/16052/

Oil prices are falling faster than the sky right now, but unfortunately it seems like electricity prices are on the rise.  If the settlement to raise rates 17 percent is approved, “customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month—about what the average household uses—would see their bills jump from about $77 to about $90.” 

Those angered by the rate hikes should take a moment to count their blessings, as Appalachian Power Company had put a “[24] percent hike into effect on an interim basis with the understanding that if the hike is not approved, any extra money customers [paid] [would] be refunded with interest.” 

Thirteen dollars may just seem like one less case of beer to my fellow students, but to many households with an already tight budget the hike may mean less food to eat.  While low gas prices may currently help alleviate budget pressure, gas prices are hardly known for their stable characteristics. 

I can easily see similar rate hikes occurring in the near future.  The economy doesn’t just affect families, but businesses too, and those businesses need to pay their increased debts by raising prices on consumers.  It’s a vicious cycle, and hopefully we won’t be stuck in it for too long.  

– Jonathan VanDerveer 

http://www.virginiastar.net/articles08/ar08_1105/apprates.htm

Looking for a place to begin or grow your art career?  Searching for the perfect piece of art to finish off the new room you just designed? Well look no further.  The Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd does both of these things and more. 

Tenants rent out the space and can use the space either to work on their art of use the space as a gallery to sell the art.  The center is known as a business incubator, hoping to build artists into something so they can then own their own more commercial space. 

It is a very unique place for artists to grow, learn, mature, as an artist before they go ahead into the unknown.  This center erases that unknown for them and gives them an idea of what it takes to sustain as an artist.  

The Jacksonville Center also allows art lovers to go and buy art in one of their art galleries there at the center.  It can be an excellent resource to find some art that can not be found anywhere else. 

–Clark Saunders

http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/nrventertainment/wb/182651

Through the economy’s troubles, we have seen many negative effects like the increased price of groceries and clothes, gas, heat and many of the things that dramatically affect our daily lives.  Those types of costs are all things that in the end will have an effect on something else.  The money to pay for the necessities will and is having an effect on what else we can pay for.  Radford is experiencing such troubles now with their child day care center.  Due to the steady decline in the economy, the Radford Child Care Center is in desperate need to find some money just in hopes of staying open.  The economy has made it hard for people to afford a child care service like this and that has the center about $10,000 short of what they need to successfully operate.

It is disappointing to see such a great place, which has been described as an incredible community resource, go through something like this.  Although this is a state funded facility, the center is not making enough to stay a float and the center has called on the community which they serve to come to their aid.  For a center that has been serving Radford since 1956 and cared for multiple generations of kids and families, this could be the least the community could to do them.   People that decide to help out the child care center can look at the donation as an investment into their own community.  This is the type of thing people should enjoy helping out with and should do it soon to help out the Radford Child Care Center.    

–Clark Saunders

http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/radford/wb/181686