Changes

Military training has always been a feature of Virginia Tech, which is one of six designated ''senior military colleges'' in the United States.<ref>The others are [[Norwich University]] in [[Vermont]], [[North Georgia College and State University]], [[Texas A&M University]], [[The Citadel]] in [[Charleston]], SC, and [[Virginia Military Institute]].</ref> All students were cadets when it opened in 1872.<ref>[http://www.vtcc.vt.edu/About/History/ Tech Corps of Cadets: History]</ref>

Military training has always been a feature of Virginia Tech, which is one of six designated ''senior military colleges'' in the United States.<ref>The others are [[Norwich University]] in [[Vermont]], [[North Georgia College and State University]], [[Texas A&M University]], [[The Citadel]] in [[Charleston]], SC, and [[Virginia Military Institute]].</ref> All students were cadets when it opened in 1872.<ref>[http://www.vtcc.vt.edu/About/History/ Tech Corps of Cadets: History]</ref>

Virginia Tech became, not only the first all-white public school in Virginia to desegregate, but also the first historically white land grant school anywhere in the south to do so<ref>http://www.vtmagazine.vt.edu/fall97/feature1.html</ref> in 1953, with the admission of Irving Linwood Peddrew as an electrical engineering student. The Board of Visitors ruled that no state-supported school for Negroes offered comparable training, and the Virginia attorney-general had advised that Supreme Court rulings took precedence over Virginia's racial segregation laws.<ref>"Negro to Study at V. P. I.; 1st of Race to Enger State-Aided White School as Freshman." ''The New York Times,'' September 12, 1953, p. 19</ref>   

In 1953, with the admission of Irving Linwood Peddrew as an electrical engineering student, Virginia Tech became not only the first all-white public school in Virginia to desegregate, but also the first historically white land grant school anywhere in the south to do so.<ref>http://www.vtmagazine.vt.edu/fall97/feature1.html</ref> The Board of Visitors ruled that no state-supported school for Negroes offered comparable training, and the Virginia attorney-general had advised that Supreme Court rulings took precedence over Virginia's racial segregation laws.<ref>"Negro to Study at V. P. I.; 1st of Race to Enger State-Aided White School as Freshman." ''The New York Times,'' September 12, 1953, p. 19</ref>   

In 2003, Virginia Tech's Terascale Computing Facility made national news for building the third-fastest supercomputer in the world. What made the news was not that that it was fast, but the way in which it was built. It was assembled from 1,100 ordinary off-the-shelf desktop computers (Apple Power Mac G5), networked via Infiniband technology. The result was an extraordinarily cost-effective system: Virginia Tech's 10-teraflop "Big Mac" cost $5.2 million; by comparison, the then-record-holding 35-teraflop Earth Simulator cost an estimated $350 million.<ref>[http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/11/61252 Mac Supercomputer Joins Elite], Wired, November 15, 2003</ref>

In 2003, Virginia Tech's Terascale Computing Facility made national news for building the third-fastest supercomputer in the world. What made the news was not that that it was fast, but the way in which it was built. It was assembled from 1,100 ordinary off-the-shelf desktop computers (Apple Power Mac G5), networked via Infiniband technology. The result was an extraordinarily cost-effective system: Virginia Tech's 10-teraflop "Big Mac" cost $5.2 million; by comparison, the then-record-holding 35-teraflop Earth Simulator cost an estimated $350 million.<ref>[http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/11/61252 Mac Supercomputer Joins Elite], Wired, November 15, 2003</ref>