In a battle of lawsuits, class action files and petitions, the medical ramifications of a popular drug market commodity are now being contested.

And it’s not marijuana.

The substance at the center of the storm is called OxyContin.

Known as “Oxys” or “OCs” by users, the drug is intended for the relief of severe pain. The pills are designed to be swallowed whole, but when users crush OxyContin – often snorting or injecting them – all 12 hours worth of oxycodone hydrochloride are released into the bloodstream at once, creating an intense high.

Although the drug has not yet made a significant presence on Grounds, OxyContin abuse is increasing nationwide.

Criticism of OxyContin has been rampant. The drug’s manufacturer, Purdue Pharma L.P., is fielding complaints from litigants who believe strict limitations must be imposed on the drug, or even taken off the market altogether. Many pharmacies refuse to stock the drug following a surge of drugstore robberies. In Florida, Ohio, Maine, South Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia, limits have been placed on the number of pills that can be prescribed for people on Medicaid, the state-federal health program, so that doctors may not be able to increase dosages for patients who need stronger relief. In Virginia, a case of manslaughter has been brought against a doctor who prescribed the drug, and former Attorney General Mark L. Earley urged for increased OxyContin restriction during last fall’s election.

“Many politicians have twisted this into a campaign issue,” Purdue Spokeswoman Merle Spiegel said. “And most legal cases want money.”

Spiegel said the filers of such lawsuits often confuse physical dependency with addiction.

“You will become physically dependent on OxyContin,” she said. “You can become physically dependent on coffee. But addiction is a disease.”

Abuse is widespread among young people – high school and college age, as might be expected. Many abusers mix OxyContin with other prescription drugs and alcohol, making for a lethal combination.

“The real danger is when it’s mixed with other things, including alcohol,” Spiegel said. “This combination is responsible for most of the deaths associated with the product, not OxyContin alone.”

Proposed restrictions on OxyContin include limiting the drug’s consumers to cancer patients, and its distribution to central pharmacies.

Spiegel said such policies do not take into account the other conditions relieved by OxyContins, including severe arthritis and back pain. She also said it is a disservice to patients if the drug is limited to a few select pharmacies per state.

“We are fighting this because it makes access harder for pain patients,” she said. This is especially relevant for OxyContin consumers, who may struggle in traveling long distances because of their physical ailments, she added.

Currently, only patients with a written prescription from a doctor may obtain the drug. These prescriptions cannot be called in by the doctor, nor can the prescription exceed a month without being reissued.

“It’s hard enough to get this drug,” Spiegel said.

Rather than limit access to OxyContins, Purdue has developed alternative solutions for abuse. A tamper-resistant prescription pad program already exists in 22 states, including Virginia, that allows any doctor to order, at no cost, special prescription pads that cannot be tampered with – another way people have been diverting the medication. These pads utilize the same technology to guard against photocopying, erasing or bleaching them to change what was originally written on them. If people attempt such alterations, the word “void” appears on the pad, as with Travelers Checks or other secure documents. Ten thousand such pads already have been distributed to doctors around the country.

The company also is underwriting a study of prescription monitoring programs aimed at an effective method to prevent prescription fraud, funding public service announcements, and is developing new forms of analgesics that would be resistant to abuse, among other efforts.

While college students often take the illegal use of pharmaceutical drugs lightly, Dean of Students Penny Rue said she believes the problem cannot be overlooked.

“Abuse of prescription drugs is very dangerous,” Rue said. “They’re controlled for a reason.”

While misuse of OxyContin has not appeared prevalent at the University, Rue said its exploitation parallels that of Ritalin, which has indeed been a problem on Grounds.

“If the issue comes to our attention, we will work with individual students,” Rue added.

Third-year Engineering student Jenny Murrill, Chair of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team, said she is concerned by the perception that only certain hard drugs are considered unsafe.

“When you say ‘drugs,’ people automatically think of heroin or crack,” Murrill said. “Anytime you put something in your body with the intention to escape, you lose control of your actions. There can be terrible consequences.”

First-year medical student Adam Lackey, a former ADAPT officer, said he believes OxyContin is a drug that should be taken seriously.

“OxyContins are similar to morphine,” Lackey said. “It’s an opioid.”

He added that students should understand OxyContin falls in the same category as hard drugs.

Despite the dangers of OxyContin when misused, Lackey said he believes the drug should remain on the market.

“It’s a wonder drug. It would be a shame to say that you can’t give it to anybody,” he added.

In the Hartford Courant, Alen J. Salerian, a medical director of the Washington Psychiatric Center, said OxyContin limitations would be unfortunate.

“Ultimately, neither physicians nor drug companies are law enforcement agencies,” Salerian said in the article. “Demanding that physicians or drug makers take over the job of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal, state and local police agencies is like demanding that car makers police roads to stop speeders, or that computer makers police cyberspace to stop computer crime.”

He said when used properly, OxyContin is an extremely beneficial drug.”For many of my own patients stricken with debilitating pain, OxyContin has been a godsend,” Salerian added. “We shouldn’t punish these pain victims any further. Depriving these long-suffering people of the medication they need would be a crime.”

When push comes to shove, there is skepticism that restrictions ultimately would make a difference.

“OxyContin is basically the drug de jour when it comes to abuse,” Spiegel said. “There were many preceding it, and many will follow.”

The Cavalier Daily openly relays its policies to its readership. They are accessible online and many of them are published daily along with the staff box. Recently, the paper’s policy prohibiting its staffers to write for other news-gathering publications on Grounds has come under fire. The policy was implemented in 1992, codifying the paper’s oral conflict of interest policy, and it remains sound.

News writers and reporters must remain objective, in an effort to present fair, balanced and uneditorialized coverage. The truth is no writer’s work is a clean slate, no matter how much they may wish. When Cavalier Daily reporters write for other publications, The Cavalier Daily’s news page stands to lose its perceived objectivity, and hence, its credibility. It would be remiss of The Cavalier Daily, striving for the standards of a professional newspaper, to allow its staffers to write for other publications.

Credit should be given where due. Not permitting Cavalier Daily staff members to write for other news-gathering publications combats the possible confusion that occurs when general readership attributes a Cavalier Daily story to another publication or another publication’s work to The Cavalier Daily. The Cavalier Daily’s primary concern lies in the potential for another publication’s different fact-checking or content standards to be associated with The Cavalier Daily.

Everything that appears in this paper goes through a rigorous editing process. Columnists, reviewers, sports writers and other student journalists that write for The Cavalier Daily are subject to its editorial oversight. The Cavalier Daily is responsible for what it prints and, therefore, must maintain that relationship with its staff. This gives the newspaper control over what appears in its pages and renders it responsible for all of its content. Allowing Cavalier Daily staffers to write for other publications sacrifices this.

No doubt, errors occur. The Cavalier Daily takes ownership of its errors. If representatives from other papers write for The Cavalier Daily, other papers would lack editorial control over what appears on the page. The Cavalier Daily’s errors shouldn’t be attributed to other publications and, similarly, other publications’ errors shouldn’t be associated with The Cavalier Daily.

The Cavalier Daily does want writers to get many experiences writing in different circumstances. That’s why anyone in the community is free to experiment before they commit to The Cavalier Daily, but if writers choose this paper, they choose only this paper.

Big White eyesore

The Big White Tent in Newcomb Plaza is an eyesore and a disgrace to the aesthetics this university prides itself on. Sources say the Ugly Store called: It wants its tent back.

To immerse yourself completely into another culture is not something many Americans ever get the chance to do, so I was eager to jump at the opportunity presented to me through the University’s International Studies Office to experience both the pleasures and difficulties of life in Italy. So far this honestly has been one of the best experiences of my life.

Now that I look back upon it, the moment I first set foot in Milan served as a great indicator for things to come. I was struck by both the foul air and the smell of a nearby panini stand at the same time. In front of me stood a giant colorful sculpture that I didn’t understand in the middle of a busy piazza full of angry motorists (who all have a immense love of their car-horns). People walked by me wearing things I had never seen before – completely clear sunglasses top the list (does walking really require a windshield?). And lastly, I was loaded down with bags and had no idea how the heck to get where I needed to go. That last part would change, but the rest of it is all part of the city’s intangible atmosphere to which I had to acclimate.

The home situation was difficult at first. I live in an apartment on the outskirts of town with two 29-year-old Italians and another American in my program. The Italians’ idea of sharing an apartment is a far cry from what I was used to in Lambeth last semester. There is no dryer, so we have to share limited hanging space. There is only one bathroom. Almost as a rule we eat a home cooked dinner together every night, and it always has at least three courses. We split up the work evenly and because I can’t even cook things that say “no preparation required” I instead do the dishes every night.

The food is much different as well, but not in an adjustment-requiring, culture-shock sort of way. It’s amazingly good, yet also amazingly complex. There is so much more to pasta than I ever could have guessed – so much so that at first the Italian pickyness with it seemed snobby. It is a complete faux-pas to mix the wrong shape of noodles with the wrong type of sauce (I’d give an example but I haven’t figured it out yet). Some friends have Italian roommates that have let them get away with mixing and matching, but only reluctantly and with a look that said “Don’t tell anyone we ate this.” I get the feeling that to the Milanese, and to the Italians in general, food is an art – as is fashion, language and most other things in life.

What I like best about Milan, though, is not what you would normally think of when discussing Italy. It’s the fact that this trip isn’t just about eating good food and drinking lots of red wine, but rather getting my hands in the dirt and learning what it is really like here. I live in an unpopular section of town where most of my neighbors are Moroccan immigrants. There is a bar next door to my building where a group of them hang out, and to tell you the truth I avoided it for a while. One day though, when I missed dinner and the Pizzeria across the street was closed, I was sort of forced to enter the bar looking for a bite to eat. I was greeted so warmly that I’ve been back since. I now know the bar owner by name and when I see the clientele in the street I don’t have to walk fast, look away and feel afraid of running into Milan’s well reputed al-Qaeda ties (which actually are a very serious concern for everyone on my program).

There are other benefits of being thrown into Italian society headfirst. Most of my best friends here are Italian. My language ability is skyrocketing and I’m starting an internship with a small Milanese finance firm where English is not spoken. I have the opportunity to take classes at the well known Universit… Bocconi, and then go play in a Monday night pick-up soccer league with a group of locals. I read the newspaper every day and understand the problems going on in the city because I am living them (i.e. smog).

I’ve also been able to mix real life with a lot of sightseeing. I’ve been skiing in the Alps, traveled through Switzerland, seen the beautiful Italian lakes and experienced Venice at Carnevale. Milan has a fair amount of its own attractions. I saw an AC Milan soccer game, the Armani store, Leonardo’s “The Last Supper” and my friends have gone to mass at the third largest church in the world.

My experience in Italy has been one of seeing how the country’s current problems with economics and modernization combine with its rich heritage and the people’s love for everything beautiful. It has been more than eye-opening, and I’ve still got a few months to go.

Today at 4:00 p.m. at the New Dominion Bookshop, author Gary Kessler will tell the stories behind the story. Showcased as part of the Virginia Festival of the Book, Kessler’s new book, On the Downtown Mall, features 36 short stories that weave together the history of Charlottesville’s open-air mall with fictional stories of its patrons.

Set in mid-April, the book spans an entire day on the Downtown Mall. Beginning with what Kessler calls a “meta-story” of four 20-somethings gathered at the Hardware Store, the story follows their game of inventing backgrounds for the people who they watch pass by. After the friends take turns creating these stories, the book offers the “real” story of each passer-by.

“Sometimes they’re way off and sometimes they’re right on,” Kessler said. “Their stories just add another dimension to the book, whose theme is that nothing is exactly what it seems to be, everything it just a little askew.”

As the story moves between mall landmarks like the Hardware Store, the Paramount Theater and Timberlake’s Drug Store, the reader is introduced to fictional characters who resemble actual Charlottesville residents. One character, a University professor who has recently uncovered a massive cheating ring in his class, happens to be on the Downtown Mall meeting with a student.

“The student is not doing well in the class and comes to talk with her professor,” Kessler explained. “Though she doesn’t pick up on it, the reader knows that the professor is hitting on her. This is just an example of how I take something that really happened and make it completely different.”

Kessler, a University alumnus and long-time Charlottesville resident, also includes a historical essay on the mall with accompanying photographs. The book’s year-long journey to this year’s Festival of the Book began during last year’s festival, while Kessler was working at the University Press.

“We were talking about new things to do for next year’s festival and thought we could get area writers to write short stories about the Downtown Mall,” Kessler said. “I started writing a few and then had far too many of my own to have room for others. The stories were relating well to one another so I decided to put them together.”

The purpose of the book, as Kessler said, is to “highlight the variety of people that come to the mall and get along.”

To this effect, Kessler’s characters represent various nationalities, ethnicities, sexual orientations and ages.

“The book is trying to say that everyone comes down to the mall, that everyone enjoys being down there,” he said.

The New Dominion Bookshop is located at 404 East Main Street in Charlottesville.

They’re not just for breakfast anymore. Coming in an assortment of flavors, shapes and sizes, donuts can be just as easily devoured and enjoyed in the afternoon and evening as in the early morning hours.

Quite possibly originating from the Dutch Olie-Koechen, meaning “fried cake,” donuts now are a popular and comforting American snack food. This foreign, square fried cake was officially Americanized when the Pennsylvania Dutch decided to cut holes in the treat.

For many people, the word “donut” has become synonymous with the popular Dunkin’ Donuts chain. And, although they may boast more varieties of this calorie-laden treat, Dunkin’ Donuts lack the same unbeatable freshness that their rival, Krispy Kreme unfailingly delivers to customers each day.

Founded by Vernon Rudolph, the first Krispy Kreme store opened in 1937 in Winston-Salem, N.C. And since then, donuts have been made fresh to order.

The steps involved in creating these hand-sized confections often receive little thought from the average customer.

At the Krispy Kreme store on Emmet Street, the transformation of a few simple ingredients into a mouth-watering delight occurs daily. Bob Downes, a production specialist who has worked at Krispy Kreme for about two years repeatedly explains the creative process to inquiring customers.

The first step in the procedure involves combining 20 pounds of yeast and a mixture known as “brew” for 14 minutes. The resulting creamy, white orb then is placed in a large metal bowl for 12 minutes. If yeast donuts are being crafted, an employee places the dough into a contraption known as an extruder, which makes the dough air-tight. (Don’t you all remember the play-dough extruder from childhood oozing out a myriad of brightly colored shapes?).

With the pull of a lever, a maximum of four tasty confections ranging from one fourth to one half inches thick can be cut at one time.

The next step involves placing the dough shapes into a warm proofer for 30 minutes to rest and rise. Then, after spending a matter of seconds in the sizzling 310-degree oil, the hot, fresh donuts eager for glazing, journey down a metal conveyor belt.

This glistening and delicious outer coating, known to employees as a “75-pound glaze,” consists of 57 pounds of water, 25 pounds of granulated sugar and 50 pounds of powdered sugar. These ingredients are boiled into a smooth syrup and then draped over the warm donuts. Although Downes creates donuts daily, he has yet to grow tired of the treats, but chooses “just not to eat them.”

In contrast to the yeasty variety, cake donuts, some of which include glazed blueberry, devil’s food, crullers (fried dough that is twisted or curled) and glazed sour cream, do not have to proof. Cake donuts, composed primarily of a cake batter devoid of yeast, immediately enter the oil after being cut.

While all the donuts have a robe of shimmering glaze, each one is individualized to create an appealing, delectable treat. Some glazed donuts are injected with oozy, delicious fillings that include cream, custard, apple, strawberry, lemon and blueberry. These colorful and delicious donut fillingsare held in clear canisters that culminate in a silver needle. An employee simply pushes a donut up to the needle and with the press of a button selects the 1.30 ounces of filling that gushes into each treat.

The crispy white powdering on some donuts results from a quick rolling around in a bowl of confectioner’s sugar.

Open every day of the week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and to midnight on Friday and Saturday, any time is a good time to stop in for a quick, satisfying munch. Instead of purchasing one or two donuts, most customers opt to pay $4.79 for a box of a dozen assorted treats.

Patron Tom Wilson from Amherst, Va., laughingly attests that he “likes all the varieties, so it’s just easier to buy a box.”

While employees say they see the most University students in the store on Saturday nights, 6 p.m. generally seems to be Krispy Kreme’s most popular time – understandably since the original glazed donuts are guaranteed fresh and hot from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

In fact, this “just-baked taste” sets the Krispy Kreme franchise apart from other competitors.

First-year College student Stephanie Brown noted that the donuts “don’t taste as though they’ve been sitting around for days. You can definitely notice the difference.”

Krispy Kreme also generously donates dozens of donuts to charitable activities and organized events such as University basketball games.

In addition, this April will be the sixth straight year that the company will be participating in Easter festivities at the White House, serving over 10,000 donuts to children and adults.

Similar to the popular Girl Scout cookies, Krispy Kreme donuts are becoming more common items to sell for fundraising.

Using Krispy Kreme’s order forms, donut-lovers can request a specific number and variety of confections while helping a worthy cause at the same time. Around Grounds, many student organizations set up tables selling Krispy Kreme donuts individually or by the box in hopes of profiting from a hungry passer-by.

With its popular presence both on Grounds and in town, the store occupies a prominent place in the hearts and stomachs of area residents.

“The service here [at Krispy Kreme] makes this chain unique,” Charlottesville resident Susan Edwards said. “Making the customer happy seems to be a big priority.” Susan’s 8-year-old daughter beams with anticipation as she excitedly points to her favorite donut, an iced chocolate with rainbow sprinkles.

In fact, children’s growing penchant for donuts has been a major factor in the success of this industry. Instead of the classic cupcakes, donuts now are becoming more popular as birthday goodies.

“It’s easy to just go to the store and buy a couple dozen [donuts],” said Marian Sassi, a mother of two boys who was visiting Charlottesville from New York. “For my son’s last birthday, I brought in donuts to his class at school. All the kids loved them.”

Depending on which variety you opt for, Krispy Kreme donuts may or may not completely live up to their artery-clogging reputation. At only 210 calories and nine grams of fat per snack, the glazed yeast twist would be the best bet for the calorie-conscious, while the glistening devil’s food donut weighs in at 390 calories and 24 fat grams.

Still, those numbers don’t deter Krispy Kreme’s committed clientele, who eat up all that the donut giant whips up in its famous glaze of glory.

MARCH Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament, has many sounds associated with it: Dick Vitale’s incessant yapping; coaches’ shouting; fans’ obscene cheers. The tournament also generates the sound of money changing hands. Ticket sales, television contracts and licensing fees give schools and the NCAA vast sums of money. Despite these organizations’ success, one athletic group perennially has failed to benefit: athletes. Provided the NCAA toughens its academic standards somewhat, it should allow schools to pay athletes a stipend specifically for their work as athletes.

Two NCAA sports, football and men’s basketball, are gold mines. CBS has paid $6 billion to the NCAA for an eleven-year contract to broadcast the men’s basketball tournament. ABC and ESPN pay $100 million annually to broadcast the Bowl Championship Series, an attempt to find a football national champion. Other networks pay the conferences and schools for their broadcasting rights. Ignoring the broadcast jackpot, schools with mildly successful programs or interesting athletic nicknames make money by licensing the school’s logo and its well-known players’ numbers.

Those millions of dollars, generated by the passion and work of the athletes, go to various places. Some of them pay for improved facilities and arenas. Some pay the salaries of teams’ coaches. Some support the staff of the teams and conferences. They also pay for additional scholarships at the schools. Beyond those scholarships, however, they are not allowed to support the athletes.

Currently, the NCAA allows its colleges and universities to compensate athletes via the full-ride scholarship. It also grants a per diem travel expense for athletes to pay for food and lodging.

In the interests of ensuring some kind of competitive baseline, setting a ceiling on giving players “benefits” like per diems makes sense for NCAA schools. Otherwise, well-heeled schools would be able to officially offer potential recruits nicer “benefits” like Jaguars. Making sure that no school has an unfair advantage in recruiting does not mean that all schools cannot pay their athletes a stipend, beyond the basic scholarship.

Some people would say something like, “Athletes get a free education! Some of them wouldn’t even get into these schools, absent their abilities.” This is true. The difference, however, between these athletes and other students at most NCAA schools is this: Non-scholarship students may get other jobs to increase their income. Smart ones who study up-and-coming fields may make obscene amounts of money by interning with established companies. By increasing the value of a company – what athletes do for the NCAA – these students have the chance to make a reasonable living while working hard in school. Athletes, in contrast, may not.

Technically, scholarship athletes are allowed to secure part-time employment. In reality, however, most scholarship athletes barely have enough time to study, let alone search for a job at Dairy Queen. Most coaches hold numerous “voluntary” practices in their off-seasons that are, in reality, mandatory.

Admittedly, figuring out how to pay the athletes would not be an easy task. The NCAA could pay all athletes the same or could create some kind of two-tier system, with revenue sports receiving more money than others. The stipend also would have to be modest – say, $500 a semester. This would be in addition to any kind of “book” or “college expense” stipend. The money would simply recognize the athletes’ value to the overall NCAA community.

There is a caveat for this system to work. Academic standards must be strengthened to make the two jobs the student athletes have actually be equal in their difficulty and importance. For example, a current pending NCAA proposal would require that athletes complete 40 percent of their required coursework by the end of their second year in school. The current standard requires a paltry 25 percent be completed. If an athlete cannot meet a remote academic standard, he should pursue a professional athletic career outside of the NCAA.

In choosing to work for a particular athletic program, scholarship athletes take on two seemingly full-time jobs: working as a student and working as an athlete. The latter takes up more time than most individuals’ part or full-time positions. It gives the university or college the right to make thousands of dollars from their names and likenesses. It, indirectly, gives coaches the ability to sign lucrative endorsement contracts as well. This entire system arises out of these athletes’ efforts. Those students should receive some form of basic compensation.

(Seth Wood’s column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at swood@cavalierdaily.com.)

ABOUT 90 percent of my mail is junk, so I’m skeptical of anything I didn’t solicit. But I open it. My friend, though, threw out an invitation to Phi Beta Kappa because she didn’t know it’s a prestigious honor society and thought it was one more group taking her money. I can’t blame her, though, when there’s little information out there. Student organizations like Student Council and Residence Life need to provide access to information on college honor societies so that students can decide which ones are worthwhile.

Probably the most well-known college honor society is Phi Beta Kappa. The University chapter elects new members, brings in speakers to Grounds, and gives out book prizes to faculty. The national chapter generally works to recognize achievement and support the liberal arts. Yet despite its prestigious history, on some campuses up to 50 percent of students offered membership reject it.

There also are the honor fraternities, which have “rush” like traditional fraternities but have a minimum GPA, are highly active in volunteer work, and usually are co-ed. Because they are more visible, these are much easier for students to evaluate.

In recent years, several groups have sprung up that have raised questions because of their business-like organization. These groups, such as the Golden Key International Honour Society, have been denied membership in the Association of College Honor Societies, an umbrella group that maintains standards. Called “Honor Lite” by some of its detractors, Golden Key nevertheless has numerous chapters internationally. Some of these have innovative volunteer programs, but others are more for show. The Association denied Golden Key membership largely because of questions about Golden Key’s national organization, but it may well turn out to become a prestigious society.

Then there are the scams that prey on resume builders. Both on the high school and college level, the problem of “honor society mills” has grown over the last several years, largely aided by the Internet (“Honor Society Mills Flourish Online,” Chronicle of Higher Education, March 22). The Association of College Honor Societies currently is trying to make college presidents more aware of fraud.

The executive director of Alpha Lambda Delta, a member society of the Association of College Honor Societies, decided to test one group, the American Scholars National Honor Society, by trying to sign up her 10 year-old son. She succeeded by paying $50 and completing an “online integrity oath” that the information is accurate. The kid isn’t even in high school, but he was accepted.

The proliferation of honor societies, whether old and prestigious, interesting upstarts or complete scams, puts students in a difficult position of trying to evaluate them with little information. Many receive so many offers that they don’t take good ones seriously.

This difficulty contrasts with honor fraternities, which have highly visible projects and recruit through students, not impersonal letters. Almost everyone at the University has seen Alpha Phi Omega and Phi Sigma Pi tabling for charity events and fundraisers. Prospective members of these groups know what they’re considering.

Knowledge of the groups is particularly important with newer societies whose quality of organization and activities differ widely across different schools. Such knowledge, however, is difficult to obtain. Golden Key, for example, may be a worthwhile group, but it’s hard to tell because the Web site hasn’t been updated in three years.

There are different ways to accomplish disseminating information. Legitimate societies can distinguish themselves through visibility campaigns, as opposed to simply letting the school furnish names to the national organization, which sends out letters to students.

Perhaps a better way, however, is for impartial student groups to help students get informed. Faculty advisers exist, but their job is primarily to assist the organizations, not to do publicity. But both Student Council and Residence Life routinely take on the responsibility of giving information to students on both good opportunities and scams to avoid.

Council could put on a program, or ask the Parents Program to sponsor one. Resident Assistants and Resident Coordinators also could be a good source of information, as they are already expected to be sources of information about resources across the University.

At a prestigious university like this one, students need sources to help them evaluate the numerous honor societies soliciting their membership. Students who are strapped for time and money need help to avoid getting scammed or passing up great opportunities.

(Elizabeth Managan’s column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at emanagan@cavalierdaily.com.)

IT’S A SHAME that Tim Lovelace isn’t as good at recognizing racism as he is at spewing nonsensical outrage over its alleged presence. That also goes for several other students who, like Lovelace, expressed their vehement anger over a “medallion party” held by Architecture students March 1. The party was advertised in an e-mail to the entire Architecture School under the title “Callin’ all playaz and chickenheadz,” which, according to Lovelace in his March 7 column “Racist revelry,” was written in “racially coded terminology.” Lovelace continued to rant that the party “evoked racial stereotypes” and even that it “exemplifies modern-day racism.” It’s ridiculous claims like these that fuel racial tension, create unfounded anger and ultimately increase the self-segregation that die-hard diversity advocates are always so loudly lamenting.

The party was racially benign. It has only become controversial through the griping of some over-eager activists who have resorted to conjuring up phantoms of racial oppression to alleviate their own uneasy state of idleness. Unable to combat horrible church burnings and blatantly racist violence like their heroes of the 1960s, individuals like Lovelace now demonize innocent students and hurl lofty-sounding accusations to make themselves feel like they are continuing the fight for civil rights. So sadly here we are, wading up to our necks in a stagnant pool of silly charges about racism and stereotyping. One Architecture student told the entire Architecture School in an e-mail that the party was “just as bad as white students dressing in blackface,” and that it would be the same as having a “white trash” theme party. She went on to demand a public apology for the party and the e-mail that advertised it.

It’s doubtful that the party was meant to make any social commentary whatsoever. Probably it was just a slightly new way for students to get drunk and grope each other on a Friday night. The same old monotonous drunken debauchery gets old after a while.

But if the party was “mocking” anything, as has been alleged, it was mocking the aspects of drugs, violence and ignorant decadence that are an integral part of hip-hop culture. The party was nothing like dressing in blackface, because it did not target an entire group of dark-skinned people. And who cares if anyone throws a white trash party? My friend attended one over Spring Break. The malt liquor drinking and medallion wearing that took place at the Architecture School party are no more a part of black culture than trailer-park scenes of domestic violence, alcoholism and repeated shirtless appearances on the TV show “Cops” are a part of white culture.

Perhaps the Architecture School e-mail list was not the best way to advertise the March 1 party, but not because of any “racially coded terminology” or other such politically correct drivel. It just might be that school e-mail lists shouldn’t be used to trumpet underage drinking, but that’s an entirely different debate. The party in question wasn’t remotely racist, and to condemn it as such only incites controversy and sparks an adversarial atmosphere between racial groups that already interact with each other on a noticeably limited basis around Grounds.

Those who claim to be offended by a white trash or medallion theme party need to get their heads out of the clouds and plant their feet back on planet Earth. By publicly stating racial outrage and crying racism over such a silly non-issue, would-be civil rights advocates lose their credibility with the majority of the public. When such advocates come to be seen as thin-skinned whiners who take offense at every little quip, no one will listen to them when they start screaming about an issue that actually warrants some outrage. By banging their sword of protest against an innocent brick wall of imaginary racism, they’re dulling their blade for when they might need it at its sharpest.

And need it they very well will. For outside of malt liquor-guzzling parties of intoxicated playaz and chickenheadz, there actually are lingering bits of resilient racism worthy of Lovelace’s wrath. If only he could find them, he wouldn’t have to invent his own. But with imaginary bigots as nasty as those he paints a picture of, who needs actual ones?

(Anthony Dick is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at adick@cavalierdaily.com.)

In a move that reflects years of gradual reform, the department of government and foreign affairs changed its name to the department of politics.

The Board of Visitors approved the change at their Jan. 25-26 meeting before forwarding the proposal to the State Council of Higher Education. The Council staff automatically will approve the proposal as an item “for the purposes of internal management only.”

However, the Council approval is a formality – the change went into effect after the Board approved the proposal.

Government and foreign affairs majors will not face changes in course offerings or to major requirements.

The new name reflects the department’s belief that the field is more unified than the former name implied.

“We believe that there is an academic discipline, a body of knowledge, that can explain political phenomena,” Department of Politics Chairman Robert Fatton said. “The distinction [between government and foreign affairs] was artificial.”

The name change also reflects the department’s development over the past 15 years.

One of the more visible differences between the current department and those from years past is the faculty. Nearly 70 percent of the current faculty came to the University in the 1990s, Fatton said.

“We have fairly young faculty members,” he said. “The change was a generational issue.”

The personnel turnover resulted in professors who are more professionally oriented, more active in the academic community and regard the study of politics as a science.

“The name change indicates that we are more of a professional school,” Fatton said.

“More department members attend professional conferences and publish articles in magazines and university presses,” Politics Prof. Gerard Alexander said.

In addition, the course offerings have gradually changed, introducing scientific method to the curriculum.

“Fifteen years ago, you didn’t need to know quantitative analysis,” Alexander said. “Now you do. Exams have radically changed in the past few years. New courses have been introduced in the graduate school. The name is a signal to ourselves and the community that we’re moving forward.”

On the whole, however, the department will not undergo any major overhauls because of the new name.

“The change was more cosmetic than anything else,” Fatton said.

Course mnemonics also will change from GFAP, GFCP, GFIR and GFPT to PLAP, PLCP, PLIR and PLPT.

Responding to fiscal pressure from higher education budget cuts, Virginia Tech on Monday became the first state school in seven years to raise tuition for in-state students.

Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors approved 4.8 percent and 7 percent total cost increases for in-state and out-of-state students, respectively.

“Like [the University] we are taking the largest cuts in the state,” Virginia Tech Spokesman Larry Hincker said. “Next year, $24.2 million is going away, and the tuition increase will offset $11 million.”

In-state undergraduates, according to Hincker, will see a $272 hike in annual tuition and mandatory fees from $3,664 to $3,936. Room and board expenses will increase $98, raising the former cost of $3,972 to $4,070.

Out-of-state undergraduates living on campus, who will face a steeper, 7 percent increase, should expect to pay $17,622 next year, up from this year’s current $16,460.

Virginia Tech officials still are uncertain about how the school will compensate for the remaining $13 million in cuts.

“It has not yet been determined if programs will have to be cut,” Hincker said. “We know there will be many positions affected, but we’re uncertain as to whether or not it will result in layoffs.”

Though the University faces similar cuts, Colette Sheehy, vice president of management and budget, has assured staff that layoffs will not be necessary.

Sheehy also said all University students should expect similar tuition increases for the upcoming school year.

“I think all schools are looking at a 5 to 9 percent tuition increase,” she said.