The American College Testing Program released a report this week indicating that degree completion and first-year retention rates in four-year colleges nationwide have fallen. But University administrators said the University’s rates are so high that they do not compare them to national figures.

According to the report, only 51.6 percent of students entering four-year institutions in the fall of 1993 received their degree within five years. This was a half-percentage point decrease from the previous year’s entering class, following a steady three-year decline.

Colleges’ freshman-to-sophomore retention rate, however, increased from 73.6 to 74.1 percent for 1998′s incoming freshmen, following an increasing national trend.

The University’s rates in both areas are significantly higher. Of the students who entered the University in the fall of 1994, 90.3 percent graduated within five years. Ninety-six and a half percent of the fall 1998 first-years returned for their second year.

The Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies does not compare its rates in these areas to national statistics, said George Stovall, Director of Institutional Studies.

Rather, the University compares its performance to its peers in the Association of American Universities.

The AAU consists of 59 American and two Canadian universities, including the University of California-Berkeley, Harvard, McGill and Yale.

“Among public schools in the AAU we have the highest graduation rate in the country,” Stovall said.

Compared to private institutions, Virginia’s retention rate is average, he said.

The ACT report ascribes the increasing retention trend to schools’ more-valiant efforts to maintain students’ interest in college life.

The report also suggests that the downward graduation trend might be attributed to students’ increasing efforts spent outside school.

When students take on extracurricular activities, the amount of time they devote to schoolwork decreases. It then takes longer for students to complete their degrees, the report says.

William W. Harmon, vice president for student affairs, said he attributes the University’s increasing graduation rate to students’ educational philosophies.

“It’s a reflection on the quality of the students we admit to the institution,” Harmon said.

In the midst of a two-game winning streak that has kept hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth alive, the Virginia men’s basketball team (17-8, 7-5 ACC) faces a daunting task Sunday when they travel to North Carolina to face the Tar Heels (16-9, 7-4).

The excitement of the Cavaliers’ earlier home victory over the Tar Heels has been tempered by the fact that the Cavs have never won at the Dean Smith Center. Since the building opened in 1986, the Cavaliers have gone 0-12 in road games against Carolina.

“We’ve never won in the Dean Dome, so we have a lot of bridges to cross before we think about the NCAA Tournament,” Cav Coach Pete Gillen said.

Guard Adam Hall said the Jan. 18 victory will not necessarily make things easier for the Cavs to win Sunday.

“It’s going to make it harder,” Hall said. “They are going to feel they have to get this. It’s going to be a packed crowd. It’s going to be four o’clock. ESPN, ABC – everyone is going to be in it. It’s a must win for them and a must win for us, so we’ve got to go up there and match their intensity.

“It’s going to be a tough game because they’ve got [Senior Ed] Cota, a great guard, and they’ve got [freshman forward Joseph] Forte.”

The Cavaliers’ press defense could make it even harder for defenders to stay on Forte.

“If we run zone press, nobody is on Forte, so it’s pretty much scramble defense,” Hall said.

When Hall is on the bench, the man shadowing Forte may be another first year from the Washington, D.C. area, the Cavs’ Roger Mason. The guard ranks second among Virginia first years at 7.8 points-per-game.

“It’s going to be a battle like all ACC road games are,” Mason said. “We really have to get down there and get a win.”

After Forte, the Tar Heels’ main weapon is center Brendan Haywood, who scored 20 points in the teams’ first meeting with mostly dunks and shots near the basket. Virginia forwards Travis Watson and Stephane Dondon will face the difficult duty of keeping Haywood in check.

The Cavaliers will counter Carolina’s interior strength with perimeter scoring from Hall, Mason and third year point guard Donald Hand, who is coming off 17 and 21-point outings in victories over N.C. State and Clemson, respectively. Hand will be called upon to continue his hot scoring streak as the Cavs try to extend their winning streak.

“Everybody on the team just wants to take it day by day, and once the game comes, we just want to think about that game instead of thinking further down the road,” Hand said.

When Laura Gaworecki was deciding where she wanted to play collegiate soccer two years ago, she met plenty of coaches. She ultimately chose to come east from her hometown of Houston to play for April Heinrichs and the Cavaliers, but Stanford Coach Steve Swanson made a great impression as well.

“He’s a great guy,” Gaworecki said. Stanford “ended up not being one of my top programs, but there was a lot of mutual respect [between Swanson and I]. It’s a shame [Stanford] wasn’t higher up on my list.”

Swanson was scheduled to arrive in town yesterday and get right to work, with a team meeting planned for today. He inherits a Cavalier team that finished with a 13-9 record and a No. 16 national ranking in the fall. The Cavs, who advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, return a solid core of talent and will add one of the nation’s best recruiting classes. Swanson said he cannot wait to get started.

“They’re obviously tested in terms of playing a tough schedule,” Swanson said. “I’m excited. There’s nothing better for an athlete and a team than accomplishing something that’s never been done before. We want to build on the program already in place here and make our own history here.”

Swanson has a history of taking his teams to the proverbial next level. He led the Cardinal to three NCAA Tourney bids in his four-year tenure and compiled a 49-28-4 record, including a 15-5-1 mark and a No. 7 national ranking last season. Stanford’s postseason win over Cal Poly in November was its first since 1993. Before coaching the Cardinal, Swanson built Dartmouth into a national power during his six years as coach.

With all he accomplished at Stanford and the strong ties he forged with his players, the decision to leave Palo Alto was extremely difficult for Swanson. He said the California lifestyle was not conducive to the way he and his wife Julie, both Michigan natives, want to raise their three children and added that the high cost of living on the west coast was a factor as well.

“There was the family side of it, plus the opportunity to coach at a school of the academic and athletic caliber of Virginia doesn’t come along too often,” Swanson said.

Swanson got his introduction to Charlottesville and Klöckner Stadium when Stanford lost 3-2 to Virginia in the Coca-Cola Classic tournament Sept. 24.

“I remember seeing the moon coming up at the stadium and thinking, ‘My God, that’s beautiful,’” Swanson recalled.

Less than five months later, he and his wife received a more thorough tour of the area, courtesy of Virginia Senior Associate Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage.

“The Charlottesville community is a special place,” Swanson said. “I found that out when I was there in the fall with the team and then when my wife and I came again a few weeks ago.”

The players Swanson finds in Charlottesville will not be completely unfamiliar to him. He recruited several Cavaliers while at Stanford, including Gaworecki and third-year center mid Katie Tracy.

Those Cavs are some of the few players who could resist a Swanson recruiting pitch. Before jumping to Virginia, Swanson lined up what has been labeled the best recruiting class in the nation for Stanford next season. One of his first tasks as Cavalier coach has been assuaging the fears of the seven recruits who verbally committed to play for Heinrichs.

“April’s a strong personality and a coach is a big influence in those decisions,” Swanson said. “It makes [recruits] anxious when a coach leaves.”

The new Cav recruits are not the only ones with questions about Swanson. The current Virginia players are curious to learn their new coach’s philosophy on fitness and preferred style of play, among other things. Swanson said he would reserve judgment until he gets to know the team.

The players do not know what to expect.

“There are always questions when you get a new coach,” Gaworecki said. “It’s kind of nerve-wracking because we have to prove ourselves all over again.”

Third-year forward Svetlana Volnaya scored 22 points on 4-of-4 three-point shooting in Virginia women’s basketball’s 72-63 victory over ACC rival Clemson last night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Forward Lisa Hosac and guard Telisha Quarles both shot 3-for-5 from long range to lead the Cavalier charge. Virginia (20-16, 11-2 ACC) tied its team record for three-pointers in a game by shooting 11-for-23 from beyond the arc.

First-year forward Schuye LaRue poured in 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Clemson outrebounded the Cavs by a slim margin, 34-33.

The Tigers (16-9, 7-6) were led by Krystal Scott, who scored a career-high 18 points.

Tennis slices through Tribe

The No. 21 Virginia men’s tennis team continued rolling over its early opponents with a 4-3 decision at William & Mary Wednesday. The Cavs (3-0) pulled ahead of the Tribe (8-2) by winning the doubles point behind the No. 24 team of Brian Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery. Vahaly and third years Tommy Croker and Brian Hunter won their singles matches.

Lane sprints to record at ACCs

First-year swimmer Cara Lane recorded a meet record in the 500-yard freestyle at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships yesterday in Chapel Hill. Lane’s time of 4:44.90 in the 500 free is her personal best and breaks the former ACC Meet record of 4:45.66.

Virginia volleyball Coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton announced Wednesday that four recruits signed letters of intent. The signees – Shannon Boyle of Cincinnati, Paige Davis of Austin, Tex., Katie Synan of Fredricksburg, Va. and Abby Whittenburg of Amarillo, Tex., will begin playing for the Cavaliers next season.

Boyle, Synan and Whittenburg were included in All-Stater Magazine’s Super 75 list for the Class of 2000 and are considered among the top recruits in the nation.

In her 23rd season as coach of the Virginia women’s basketball team, Debbie Ryan has seen a lot of great teams. The legendary sideline screamer, who coached in her 701st game last night, won an amazing six straight ACC titles from 1990-1996 and has been named Conference Coach of the Year four times.

But, the last three years have been a mild disappointment for the coach and her loyal fans. The Cavs have failed to advance past the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and, after seeing their Conference championship streak broken in 1996-97, have yet to return to the top of the standings. Meanwhile, other national powers such as Connecticut, Tennessee and even the hated Blue Devils have stolen the spotlight that once shone brightly on the Cavaliers.

The slump came at just the wrong time. Women’s basketball is on the brink of exploding into big-time sports, both collegiately and professionally. The WNBA has recruited a strong group of young, loyal fans, and, especially in Tennessee where the Volunteers and Vanderbilt square off annually to record crowds, sports fans – male and female – are taking notice of the dramatically improving product.

Not at Virginia, though. Today, a letter to the editor at The Cavalier Daily was published by none other than Debbie Ryan. Coach Ryan implored Virginia fans – the same ones who will wait half a day to gain entrance to an ACC men’s basketball game – to fill the empty seats that plague University Hall during the No. 21 Cavaliers’ Conference showdowns.

“We would like to create a similar atmostphere that you have helped to create for our men’s team,” Ryan wrote.

Last night at Clemson, though, the Cavaliers put together an efficient, well-rounded dismantling of the Tigers in the 72-63 victory. Volnaya burst out of her slump with 22 points on 4-of-4 three-point shooting. First-year sensation Schuye LaRue, the Cavs’ leading scorer, added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. In a game where the Cavs (20-16, 11-2 ACC) shot an astounding 53 percent and tied a team record with 11 treys, we learned that when everybody on the floor contributes this team can be unstoppable.

Tell that to the Virginia fans. Tell that to Debbie Ryan. Maybe, just maybe, this team, as it continues to sweep through the ACC team by team, can fill the orange and blue seats in U-Hall one by one.

The University is known for many things, but who’d have guessed that horseback riding was one of them? Since 1976, the Virginia Riding Team has given students the opportunity to cultivate their riding skills. In fact, the team has won more individual and team titles than any other sport at the University.

“We compete in intercollegiate horse show competitions throughout Virginia and the country,” said Sierra Cook, fourth-year College student and Virginia Riding Team Vice President.

Cook joined the team during her third year and has been riding horses since she was 13. Cook said the skill levels of team members vary, ranging from novice to advanced.

“Beginners compete in the walk-trot courses, while the more experienced riders are able to do jumps,” Cook said.

The University’s club team practices at Barracks Stables, on Barracks Road. Barracks Stables is home to all University show horses, and each team member takes at least two lessons there every week.

“We encourage our members to take the equestrian class through the P.E. Department,” Cook said.

While rewarding, the class doesn’t come cheap. Each class member pays an $800-fee per semester, which includes the cost of weekly lessons, food for the horses and team expenses. Most of the team’s funding comes from student members, Student Appropriation Funds and the Alumni Association.

The equestrian classes are open to everyone, but students must pay $45 per semester to join the riding team before enrolling. Cook said more students have shown interest in the class over the past couple of years. But since there are only 30 or so spaces available, students must undergo a screening test in which they briefly ride a horse to determine their skill level. After the screening, students are picked according to the team’s needs. The team then enters riders in one of five competition levels based on the riders’ abilities.

“The beginning levels are walk/trot and walk/trot/canter,” said Jenny Old, second-year College student and Virginia Riding Team President. “The highest level is the open in which riders jump over fences and ride the flat. We can get more points if riders are entered in each level,” Old said.

Second-year College student Allison McGrath took the equestrian class last year. She decided to take the one-credit course because she grew up riding horses and missed it. And she wasn’t disappointed with what the University’s class provided.

“The trainers are good, and the horses are nice. I got to ride a different one every time,” McGrath said.

Claiborne Bishop is a class instructor and coach of the Virginia Riding Team. She and her husband started the intercollegiate program about 26 years ago.

“We’ve trained numerous state champions in the Hunters’ Ring,” Bishop said.

Some of her students have competed in amateur competitions after graduation.

The University competes against Virginia Tech, JMU and Randolph-Macon College and other colleges.

“At the end of April [and in] early May, we start competing in regional and national horse shows,” Old said.

Over the past few years, horseback riding has been gaining popularity at the University. Recently, there’s even been talk of making equestrian a varsity sport.

“The push is to fulfill Title IX,” Bishop said.

Title IX is a section of the 1972 federal education legislation, which ensures that women’s sports receive funding near the level of men’s sports. Last August, the NCAA recognized equestrian as an “emerging sport.” The drawback to this push, according to Bishop, is that it would be declared a women’s sport, and men on the team would not be able to compete. Traditionally, men and women have competed against each other.

“Even in the Olympics, men and women compete together. That’s the history of how it is,” Bishop said.

Regardless of history, horseback riding offers an alternative to typical student sports.

Horseback riding is “fun and a good way to unwind,” McGrath said. At the very least, “it’s a break from studying.”

Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, a psychiatrist who has written many books on issues of race, spoke last night in Wilson Hall on racism and its effects upon black society.

Her speech, titled “White Supremacy and Black Mental Health,” was sponsored by the Office of African-American Affairs as part of African-American Heritage Month.

Welsing began the address by instructing the audience members to hug themselves and repeat “I love myself,” as a way of preparing them for the difficult issues that would be addressed in the course of her speech.

“I was trained in general psychiatry … and Freudian psychological theory,” but it didn’t apply to black patients, she said.

“I ran into issues of racism. Racism is a system operative in everything that we do … to maintain white over non-white,” she added.

Welsing said she wants to know why racism exists, and she said she attributes racism to melanin, a genetic trait that causes skin color.

“Melanin is a genetically dominant tradition,” and each time a child between a white and a non-white is born, it is colored, Welsing said.

She said she asked white people whether they wanted their children or grandchildren to be colored, and they answered no. “Therefore racism is related to white genetic annihilation,” she added.

Though non-whites are referred to as minorities, they actually account for 90 percent of the world’s population, which leads to whites fearing the disappearance of their race, she said.

The effect of the white supremacy culture can lead to troubles in black male/female relationships, black self- hate and problems with psychological mental health, Welsing said.

“Facing the truth [about racism] leads to the maximization of mental health,” she said.

As part of an effort to reach out to professionals in Northern Virginia, the Engineering School’s department of systems engineering is offering a new Executive Master’s Degree Program.

In its second semester at the University, the program emphasizes problem solving and analytical skills, said William T. Scherer, associate systems engineering professor and academic director of the program. Students graduate with a degree in Masters of Engineering after two academic years.

Seventeen students now are enrolled in the program, which meets every other weekend at the Xerox Document University in Herndon. Students work in groups to sift through data which they can apply to practical situations, Scherer said.

Five full-time University faculty members from the systems engineering department and the Darden School lead the program.

“It’s really important to have faculty and students working and learning together,” said Christina Mastrangelo, assistant systems engineering professor and executive director of the program.

Scherer said increasing the University’s visibility in the region may help undergraduate students find jobs in the area once they have completed their degrees.

Systems Engineering Chairman Donald E. Brown said the program benefits students, faculty and the University as a whole. “It benefits the University by getting better acquainted with” companies, Brown said. “It’s also important for faculty to keep current on what’s happening in those companies.”

Scherer originally suggested the program after speaking as a guest lecturer at a similar program at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993.

Since then, he has been working with others in the department to establish the program at the University.

Mastrangelo said the program’s faculty members benefit from working in a different environment. She added that she hopes to increase participation to 30 students and 10 faculty members for next semester.

University President John T. Casteen III announced yesterday the creation of a Women’s Leadership Council to assist in developing a more equitable gender climate at the University.

The 1999 Task Force on the Status of Women, which has studied gender issues since last January, recommended the Council’s formation to Casteen.

The Task Force found that the University’s faculty and leadership do not reflect diversity as well as the student body does.

“I truly sense what it means to have a glass ceiling,” said Farzaneh Milani, Task Force member and associate professor of women’s studies. “We’ve come a long way, but still it seems at U.Va. we almost have a culture of segregation when it comes to leadership.”

Casteen said the Council will assist in encouraging women to take on leadership roles.

“Consultation and monitoring, which are the Council’s chief duties, are essential to success,” he said.

The Council will consult and directly advise Casteen on ways to improve gender equity.

Casteen will select faculty, staff, students and University graduates for the Council this spring.

Meanwhile, Task Force members will serve as an interim Council until Casteen makes official appointments.

Task Force members said they hope the Council will affect positive change in the University’s gender climate.

“I hope this will not be yet another committee to reinvent the wheel,” said David T. Gies, Task Force member and Faculty Senate chairman. “I hope this will be an action council, not just a report council.”

The Task Force’s proposal for the Council is included in its “Report on Gender Equity at the University of Virginia,” which Casteen released yesterday.

The Women’s Center presented its second annual Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award to Dr. Sharon Hostler yesterday at a ceremony held in Alderman Library.

Hostler is the Medical Director of the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center and McLemore Birdsong Professor of Pediatrics.

She is a physician and pediatrician with a “very special sense of caring,” said Medical School Dean Robert Carey.

The Center gives the award in memory of Elizabeth Zintl, who worked as a writer, journalist and chief of staff in the University President’s Office.

Zintl also was a personal friend of President John T. Casteen III.

Hostler helped develop the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center into a world-class medical and educational center, said Marcia Childress, co-director of humanities in medicine.

The KCRC, part of the University’s Children’s Medical Center, provides special therapy and rehabilitation to children with chronic illnesses or after injuries, accidents or surgery.

Under Hostler’s leadership, the KCRC became a much more comprehensive, family-centered treatment program, said Childress.

Hostler said she received the award for her less visible work.

The award “means recognition for corroboration and compromise, rather than [for playing] sort of the diva role,” she said.

Hostler also said her work at the KCRC often inspires her.

“I only learn of the resilience of children who continue to learn and grow despite illness and hardship,” she said.

Hostler also is the first female to hold an endowed professorship in the Medical School. The Association of American Medical Colleges recognized her as a true power in academic medicine, and she is an advocate for women and gender equity in medicine.

She acts as “somewhat of a rabble-rouser” on women’s issues, she said.

Sponsored by the Women’s Center, the Zintl award is a $1,000 grant given annually to a woman at the University “whose high degree of professionalism, creativity and commitment mirrors Elizabeth’s own contributions to the University,” stated the event’s program.

Carey called the honor “the highest award in the University for women.”

Dr. Hostler “does everything with a flair” and is “wonderful to work with,” said fourth-year medical student Dominique Noe.

Noe worked with Hostler for two weeks and attended the ceremony in her honor. She is very generous and even “brings the residents flowers,” said Noe.

Hostler said this award is more meaningful to her than others she has received because it was given to her by friends at the University.

“It’s an award at home,” she said. Faculty and staff who know every aspect of her work and personality chose to honor her, so “there’s a moment of honesty there.”

Zintl’s daughters also were present last night to honor their mother’s memory. The ceremony was “a real honor in her memory,” Hostler said.

(Cavalier Daily News Editor Katie Dalton also contributed to this story.)