PERHAPS The Cavalier Daily staff has simply gotten into the midterm spirit, but if last week’s papers were graded, it appears the paper is well on its way toward a strong semester performance. The Fall Break obviously helped focus the editors and staff – every issue from last week demonstrated a strong commitment to the news and University community with a broad range of articles and features.

Tuesday and Wednesday did a nice job of covering University news, including the now infamous streaking charges. Life’s Tuesday feature on Miss Virginia was informative and the movie reviews seemed particularly well done. Doug Strassler, in particular, gave me some director-led ploys to watch for in “The Story of Us.” I also liked Brian Horne’s themed “Media Monitor” column on sports, politics and ratings. If you missed it Tuesday, I strongly suggest you check it out online. National and community news had only a small showing in the majority of last week’s papers. Friday, however, made up for the earlier deficiency with a two-page layout for news on the nation and world, as well as a number of front-page community-related articles.

Nation and World covered everything from the UN international study on women’s wages to Toronto’s alleged serial cat killer. We also learned of the city’s crackdown on front-yard parking near Scott Stadium and were treated to some political analysis of the current political races for the state Senate and House. Has a poll been done on the student body’s support of the candidates? Do incumbents reign supreme on Grounds as well?

Friday’s paper even had a human-interest story recounting Brown College’s turtle tragedy. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t wish to make light of Ms. Hall’s loss – although I do think her story would have been presented better in Life than on the front page. In fact, when you pair the problem of Brown College’s heating system (115 degrees! And no one was informed?) with the EPA’s recommendation that the University pay $29,989 for violating environmental regulations for oil-spill prevention, I believe you, like me, will become increasingly glad The Cavalier Daily is on hand to report what actually goes on at the University. How many other violations simply aren’t released for the general public? Is the problem there, as with the oil-spill regulation violations, simply a problem of the University not analyzing the situation enough?

The Cavalier Daily‘s coverage of the Virginia Film Festival was superb and I hope next year the paper will link up their Web site with the Film Festival’s Web schedule early on to aid in event planning and finding and purchasing movie tickets. Life’s feature on the football program’s equipment team was both lively and interesting and I hope the section increases its coverage of restaurants as in the Hot Cakes review. Are reviews indexed on the paper’s Web page for easy browsing? That would be helpful feature the online editors might consider.

Sports kept us informed throughout the week on the happenings of Virginia athletics. There was remarkably little on the football team, despite their win against N. C. State. Men’s and women’s soccer as well as the volleyball and field hockey teams received most of the attention. In any case, the sports staff continues to give us detailed articles on the teams and players for the University and for that, I give them, and the rest of the paper’s staff, an A for last week.

There are, however, still a few areas where work is needed. First, too many corrections were needed last week. A health article must give accurate information regarding its subject. Similarly, a story recounting the positions of local politicians shouldn’t be accompanied by a caption that falsely attributes a position to a candidate.

Part of the problem here may reside with the editors who lay out the paper rather than with the writers, who may not compose the captions for pictures. The same also may be true with the mistake in the caption for Wednesday’s front-page article on Phi Kappa Psi.

The caption reads, “Phi Psi fraternity members are trying to resign their FOA agreement with the University.” What a difference a dash makes – I reread the story twice trying to figure out why Phi Psi was acting against the Inter-Fraternity Council Judiciary Committee’s recommendation that they reestablish their FOA with the University. Finally, I realized the fraternity wanted to “re-sign” or reestablish their agreement – not resign it.

Second, there are still some layout problems that need to be addressed. Wednesday’s front page, for example, is awkwardly divided into top and lower halves that are neither symmetrical nor balanced. The Maddux/Couric debate story is well situated between two face-off pictures, but the effect is diminished by the blocked story paired with a useless, picture-led article above. In general, blocked stories do better lower on the page rather than close to the masthead, where they cause the page to seem unbalanced.

In Wednesday’s case, using the box up top along with the long midway dividing line further down means that there is nothing stylistically left to separate the Honor Committee’s recommendation to the Board from the picture of Roger Clegg or the Computerworld’s Commerce Department Ranking.

In other issues, the “Inside” box is cleverly used to divide the bottom stories of the paper; however, here it must be placed in the right bottom corner to try and balance the blocked story in the top left. Ultimately, the bottom page comes across as a jumble of stories and a picture while the top is over-heavy.

What grade would you give The Cavalier Daily? Write me at Ombud@cavalierdaily.com and let me know.

LAST WEEK Elizabeth Dole dropped out of the presidential race. She decided that she was unable

to compete with frontrunner George W. Bush because of his overwhelming lead in fundraising. There is something wrong when qualified candidates drop out of the race more than a year before the election and months before the first primary.

Many people are disinterested in the presidential campaign. They think it’s simply too early to get involved, to become concerned, to choose one candidate over another. Yet we have to. If we don’t start supporting somebody, Bush will lock up the nomination, primarily through his fundraising ability and the media frenzy that has surrounded his campaign.

Some of the most qualified individuals already have quit the race. And they quit largely because of financial considerations.

“The bottom line was money,” Dole said. “It would be futile to continue,” she stated in announcing her withdrawal from the presidential race. She said Bush and publisher Steve Forbes “would have enjoyed a 75-to-1 or 80-to-1 cash advantage. I can handle 2-to-1 or even 10-to-1, but not 80-to-1″ (“Dollars Dictate Field’s Early Exits,” Oct. 21, The Washington Post). Dole reported raising just $1 million from July to September, compared to Bush’s receipts of $20.2 million during the same period.

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters, “It underscores at least among Republicans how little the ideas mean and how much the money means.”

While Lockhart’s comment obviously is partisan, he still makes a good point that money, not issues, have dominated the campaign thus far. Candidates frequently drop out because of financial woes, but candidates’ departures are taking place months before any votes are cast. We do not have the luxury to wait until primary season begins to start thinking about who we want to support. If we wait too long, the primaries will be decided for us by the size of the candidates’ bank accounts.

Perhaps this seems cynical, but consider how the Republican field has been winnowed out already.

So far, we have seen politically experienced individuals like House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, former Senator and Vice President Dan Quayle, former Governor and Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander, Sen. Bob Smith, and now former Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole, drop out of the race. Rick Davis, Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, told The Washington Post, “When you have a former vice president, a former governor [and Dole] not being able to survive even to the first caucus, it is a bad commentary on the system.” (“Dollars Dictate Field’s Early Exits,” Oct. 21).

Some of these candidates never had a chance from the beginning, based on their lack of support. But Dole is different from these other candidates, and this is what makes her exit so disconcerting. Everyone other than Dole who has dropped out of the Republican field has had two problems: no support and no money. Dole only had one of these problems. She was running second, albeit a distant second, to Bush. A Washington Post poll completed last week found Bush to have 63 percent support of Republicans surveyed. Dole was second with 12 percent, with all other candidates in single digits.

Tim Russert, NBC Washington bureau chief, noted Dole’s successes in an interview on Oct. 20 with MSNBC. “She had been doing quite well on the stump – recruiting professional women, creating some excitement, some energy amongst that element of the Republican Party – but she decided that without the resources necessary, she would not mount a credible challenge to George W. Bush.”

She had support. She was seen as Bush’s prime challenger, and yet she had to end her campaign shortly after it began because of the electoral process’s dependence upon funding.

The race has become so long that only those with immensely deep pockets can stay in it for the duration. This has led to a rise in wealthy candidates who have nothing on their political resume. We have people like Donald Trump, Ross Perot and Warren Beatty threatening to throw their hats into the ring. It seems as if anyone with money can instantly become a political presence. Look at the utterly unqualified Steve Forbes. He has accomplished little other than managing his father’s magazine and fortune, and yet he’s a force in this election because of money.

Bush’s deep pockets could allow him to steamroll more qualified candidates like Senators McCain and Orrin Hatch.

We need to reform this process to keep money from having such a significant impact on our electoral process. Money should not be the determining factor. Issues and ideas should. And it seems like such changes are not imminent, considering the defeat of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill last week.

For now, at least, we must live with this system, and although the election is more than a year away, it is time to pay attention. If we don’t, we will inevitably be left only with the candidates who have large bankrolls. Men and women with ideas, but no money, will disappear from the field. It may be early, but because of weaknesses in our electoral system, we have to begin paying attention to the race even now.

(Peter Brownfeld’s column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily.)

Twenty members of the University Democrats spent Friday night attending the Kennedy-King Memorial Dinner, where President Clinton and other prominent Democrats converged to promote the party’s success. According to University Democrats members, Clinton addressed national concerns like health care, nuclear testing and the prosperity of the economy.

“Clinton gave a stirring and optimistic speech,” said fourth-year College student Dan Payne, who attended the dinner. “He credited a lot of why the economy is doing so well to the democratic leadership under his last two terms as President.”

While Clinton declined to discuss upcoming elections, for the 2000 Senate race he did endorse Sen. Charles Robb (D-Va) over former Virginia Gov. George Allen (R), who now works in a Richmond law firm, Payne said.

The dinner, which is held annually, serves both as a tribute to Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and as a fundraising event for local Virginia races.

“It’s mostly a dinner to honor the Civil Rights Movement and specifically the efforts of Kennedy and King,” University Democrats President Ashley McDonald said.

The dinner also was organized to help raise funds for Democratic candidates running for Virginia General Assembly seats this year, said Rhodes Ritenour, fourth-year College student and former University Democrats president.

University Democrats Vice President Ade Patton said the event raised $100,000. A seat at the dinner cost between $75 and $3,000 per plate, depending on its location and prestige.

However, students were required to pay only $50 to attend because dinner organizers wanted to make the event more affordable for students and to promote the “future of the party,” Ritenour said.

The dinner provided University Democrats members with the opportunity for a lot of “mixing and mingling around,” McDonald said.

“We also got to talk to other members from other schools like JMU and Randolph-Macon,” Payne said.

THE UNIVERSITY community should be grateful for the ethnic diversity the Board of Visitors ensured by voting to retain affirmative action. Without it we might be treated to only one fraternal faction instead of several.

This fall has seen the arrival of the Fraternity-Sorority Council, a fourth fraternal council which seeks to be a home for Greek organizations that don’t fit into the Inter-Fraternity, Inter-Sorority and Black Fraternal Councils. The two chapters admitted so far, Omega Phi Beta and alpha Kappa Delta Phi, are groups with an ethnic focus – Latina and Asian respectively.

These organizations, combined with those under the jurisdiction of the BFC, have the potential to serve as an institutionalized form of self-segregation. This should not be the goal of a community that continually emphasizes – at least in rhetoric – the importance of ethnic diversity. Not all the blame for this, however, should fall on the BFC and FSC’s shoulders. There’s plenty of blame to go around and some should go to the IFC and ISC.

The IFC and ISC probably don’t actively discriminate against minorities, but there’s still a dearth of minority members in IFC/ISC chapters. Also absent are large-scale efforts to recruit minorities. Because of low minority membership, a cycle is in place – one whose interruption is difficult but imperative. Few minorities seek membership in these groups because there aren’t many minority members. There aren’t many minority members because relatively few seek membership.

Ending the cycle depends on both sides, and calls for proactive minority recruitment efforts by IFC and ISC houses, and efforts by first-year minority students to investigate advantages of membership in these houses.

Though attempts to bring more minorities into the IFC/ISC fold might be made during the rush process, these ventures must come prior. One idea is a separate rush orientation focusing on distinct advantages that minorities can attain from membership. Another would be a pre-rush forum led by current minority members.

Advantages include the ability to bring a new perspective to the organization. By interacting with a diverse group, minorities who join Greek organizations can meet the goal – advocated by both new presidents – of making others aware of cultural differences more easily than by isolating themselves. Regardless of the form these efforts take, their creation by the IFC/ISC and their acceptance by those they target are vital to achieving the kind of diversity recently emphasized.

Such diversity may not be beneficial, however, as long as more groups like those sponsored by the FSC continue to be created. A chief purpose of an ethnically diverse student body is not to highlight ethnic groups’ ability to consolidate and perform positive tasks. Rather, it should focus on promoting ideological sparring between people of different backgrounds. While Greek societies such as alpha Kappa Delta Phi – an outgrowth of the Young Asian Women’s Alliance – may say that membership is not limited to Asian women, the name itself is exclusive, making it unlikely that others will join. The result may be social self-segregation with limited benefits.

Perhaps the most troublesome is that the presidents of both alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Omega Phi Beta admit in personal interviews there are inherent social aspects of their sororities. While groups such as the Asian Student Union or the Latin American Student Association can perform valuable tasks and promote a sense of community among minorities, they have fewer social connotations than Greek organizations. It is in the social realm that ethnic diversity truly can be beneficial. Though it can be rewarding in the classroom, it is in a social context that one tends to converse about salient issues of the day. Cultural differences in opinion on these issues are more important than those on the more historically based issues encountered in the classroom.

Some will say that membership in any of these organizations does not preclude social integration – it simply provides another avenue for minorities to express their ethnicity in a comfortable atmosphere. Certainly, this is true. Nonetheless, alpha Kappa Delta Phi president Michelle Le admitted in a personal interview that “there could be a tendency for [self-segregation] to happen.” Conversely, she states, “The reason we became a Greek organization was because we wanted to integrate.” Hopefully, her latter statement will reflect the results of her sorority more than the former. While the creation of organizations such as these may not preclude social integration, it certainly could impede it.

Diversity having been secured by the Board’s recent affirmative action vote, it is now the University community’s responsibility to make the most of it. Placing additional obstacles in the way of freely exchanged ideas is not a step in the right direction.

Chris DelGrosso’s column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily.)

University students who are interested in Judaic Studies may be in luck in the near future.

A new interdisciplinary program in Judaic Studies may become a part of the University’s offerings if the College administration approves the program in January 2000.

The program originated a few years ago when College Dean Melvyn P. Leffler consolidated faculty interested in the program into one committee. Leffler appointed Religious Studies Prof. Peter W. Ochs to chair the committee.

Ochs said he sees this program as an exciting addition to the University’s curriculum.

“There is a great amount of enthusiasm from myself and the other faculty involved in this program,” he said. “We already see great interest in the program and we think that at least 10 to 20 students may major in the program each year.”

There will be three components to the Judaic Studies program, which may begin classes as early as 2001.

The first element is an interdisciplinary aspect, which will delve into varied topics of history, anthropology, literature, medical humanities and religion. Each topic will be seen with Judaism as the main theme, Ochs said.

The second element of the program is the fundamental topics in Judaic Studies, he said.

He added that these classes would deal with traditional Jewish texts, Hebrew, Jewish history and the sociology of Judaism.

The last element will be to create a program that is unique from other Judaic Studies programs at various colleges and universities, Ochs said.

One of the groundbreaking ideas would deal with having students do field work in viewing Jewish community in the South and, more narrowly, in Virginia, he added.

Ochs said another unique aspect of the University’s program would be an emphasis on Jewish literature.

The program would focus on the relationship between suffering and language, and students would not only see how words change from suffering but also how Jews have used language throughout history, he said.

A final unique aspect would be a focus on comparing Judaism to Christianity and Islam, he added.

To deal with such a myriad of topics, an assembly of professors in many fields has been put together to teach in the program. About 12 faculty members now are associated with the program.

When sufficient funding is available, officials plan to increase faculty participation to 16 members.

Alison Booth, a member of the committee, said the challenge of teaching Judaic Studies will be possible at the University and that a bright future is ahead.

“We have a lot of excellent faculty members already involved,” Booth said.

“There is growing student interest and we already have a good amount of classes dealing with Judaic Studies at this University,” he said.

The program has broad community support, Ochs said.

The vast majority of the funding for the program has come from alumni who see the program as a great addition to the University, he said.

According to University President John T. Casteen III, only about 15 percent of University students study abroad – a number the International Activities Planning Commission is trying to increase.

“There is something fundamental about studying in another culture,” Casteen said at his State of the University address Saturday.

This is the philosophy of the International Activities Planning Commission, said Julie Novak, a Nursing school professor and member of the Commission’s Faculty and Study Abroad Task Group.

The Commission is one of the major facets of Virginia 2020, a long range University-wide agenda designed to perpetuate the success of the University into the 21st century.

But the percentage of University students studying abroad is average among national colleges and universities, Development Services Director Julian Bivins said.

Compared to percentages of the University’s peer institutions, the numbers appear more disparaging, said Melissa Bowles, Spanish professor and Commission member.

Forty-five percent of the students at Duke study abroad, Bowles said.

The possible benefits of increasing percentages, however, transcend impressing the competition, she said.

It is important “students study abroad, that [we] create a student body more aware of what’s going on – not just in Charlottesville and U.Va. but around the world,” she added.

The suburban location of the University is a factor for its low study abroad percentages, Novak said.

UCLA, which is located in the heart of Los Angeles, “has established many multiethnic communities,” and has experienced more success in getting its students to participate in programs, she said.

The time during which many international studies programs are offered is also a problem: Because of their curricula, many pre-professional students are unable to participate during the year and can only study abroad during the summer, “when most students work,” she added.

The International Activities Commission hopes to overcome these roadblocks by “internationalizing the curriculum,” Novak said.

The Commission is expanding the countries where students can study abroad.

The Commission is hoping to establish “more diverse [options than] Western Europe,” where most programs are focused, Bowles said.

Three is company, four is a crowd, and five is illegal.

Students looking for off-Grounds housing should be aware of a Charlottesville ordinance that prohibits more than four unrelated people from living in a single housing unit.

Charlottesville Planning Manager Ron Higgins said about half a dozen cases are brought up each year, but usually the landlord settles the complaint before court action is needed.

City Councilman Blake Caravati said the landlord could choose to evict tenants to bring the total of unrelated people to four or less.

Should a case go to court, fines for violating this zoning ordinance range from $100 to $1,000 and the property owner or landlord and not the tenant would be considered at fault, Higgins said.

City Councilman David Toscano said the ordinance is designed to prevent certain neighborhoods from becoming too dense.

University students violate the ordinance the most, Toscano said.

“I don’t know of a case where students weren’t involved,” he said.

Higgins said almost every community is concerned about overcrowding, which is why Charlottesville adopted the law.

But Charlottesville officials do not enforce the ordinance very often.

Caravati said the enforcement is generally complaint-driven, but sometimes officials sweep through neighborhoods to find violators.

And there are always exceptions to the rules.

Houses or apartments built before 1984, when Charlottesville adopted the ordinance, are grandfathered and therefore not subject to the restriction, Higgins said.

Most fraternities and sororities are exempt, since their buildings predate 1984, he said.

Other such houses built after 1984 usually were granted permits at the time of construction to allow more than four unrelated people to live together.

But the grandfather clause affects more than just Greek houses.

Higgins said University expansion during the 1960s and ’70s converted many houses to student rental units.

There was “a lot of pressure to accommodate students,” he said.

He added that many of the houses that advertise a large number of bedrooms likely were converted before 1984 and are exempt from the four-person restriction.

Toscano said some residents have tossed around the idea of lowering the limit of the ordinance to three.

But he said the city first must enforce the law they have.

“I think [lowering the limit] would be very problematic,” he added.

During his State of the University address Saturday morning, University President John T. Casteen III reiterated his support for the use of race in admissions and also addressed other issues now facing the University.

About 500 parents, students, faculty members and administrators crowded into Old Cabell Hall to hear Casteen speak. Although he emphasized both the strengths and weaknesses of the University during his hour-long speech, Casteen focused on the recent controversy over the University’s use of race as a factor in admissions.

“This institution, within the law, will see to it that equality of opportunity will remain the factor that it has been,” he said.

He added he feels students receive a better education at the University because of its diverse student body.

Casteen also said the current policy does use race only as one factor among many considerations when making admissions decisions.

“To me it seems almost silly to describe the use of race” as a factor in admissions under the current policy, he said.

Casteen’s remarks brought thunderous applause from the audience.

During a public question-and-answer session after the address, Patricia Broussard, African-American Parents Advisory Association president, praised Casteen for “walking the talk” and stating his support for the current admissions policies and a diverse student body.

M. Rick Turner, Office of African-American Affairs dean, said he was pleased Casteen took the opportunity to state publicly his position on admissions.

“I’m always pleased with President Casteen’s passion and forthrightness on this issue,” Turner said.

William W. Harmon, vice president for student affairs, said the importance of Casteen’s support for the admissions policy was evident from the enthusiastic reaction of the crowd and by Broussard’s statements.

Another major focus of Casteen’s speech was the ever-decreasing level of funding that the University receives from the state.

He said the University now receives about 13.5 percent of its budget from the state – a significant drop from several years ago when about 29 percent of the budget came from the state.

“The abiding consequence of losing state support is losing faculty,” he added.

But although the University is nearing completion of its $1 billion Capital Campaign fundraising effort, Casteen said he does not envision the University becoming independent from the state any time in the near future.

“The Board of Visitors is politically appointed,” he said. “It’s impossible to imagine the governor giving up political appointments.”

During his speech, Casteen also addressed issues of student life and praised the efforts of student leaders to carry out student self-governance.

“I have tremendous respect for the way students run their affairs,” he said.

“This has been a good decade for us,” he finished.