Virginia attackman John Christmas has been added as one of three “Players to Watch” on the list for the second annual Tewaaraton Trophy, the most prestigious award in college lacrosse. Also added to the list were Matt Dunn of Middlebury and Tim McGuinness of Gettysburg College. Virginia attackman Conor Gill and defenseman Mark Koontz were on the initial list for the award.

Christmas, a freshman from Ardmore, Pa., was named All-ACC, the first freshman to be receiving this honor since Virginia’s Michael Watson in 1994. He is tied for the ACC lead in scoring with 36 points on 23 goals – second in the ACC behind fellow Virginia freshman Joe Yevoli – and 13 assists.

The Tewaaraton Trophy will be presented June 5 in Washington, D.C.

Junior college standout Smith commits to Virginia

Devin Smith, a freshman at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, has committed to the Virginia men’s basketball program over Kansas and Iowa. He visited all three schools and was in Charlottesville earlier this week.

Smith, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound swingman from New Castle, Del., averaged 20 points and 6.5 rebounds this season for Coffeyville and led the Ravens to the finals of the NJCAA tournament. He shot 46 percent from three-point range and made 108 three-pointers. He was named a first-team NJCAA All-American

Smith led William Penn High to a state title in 2000-01 and was named Delaware state player of the year. However, he played center in high school and did not attract much attention from recruiters.

Since Smith was a full academic qualifier coming out of high school, he will be immediately eligible to play for the Cavaliers despite spending only one year at Coffeyville.

- Compiled by Chip Knighton

There were only two minutes left, two minutes of good defense, two minutes to the ACC Championship, two minutes until the No. 1 Virginia men’s lacrosse team broke this year’s Virginia sports curse and performed during crunch-time. But alas, it was not meant to be, and after the excitement of the last two minutes was over, it was the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils who walked off the field as the ACC champions with their fists held high and the Cavalier players with disbelief and disappointment in their eyes.

The curse had struck for a third time this year. Virginia’s soccer team, with so much promise at No. 2 in the nation, was eliminated quickly in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Also the Cavalier men’s basketball team, ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation at one point, was eliminated in the first round of both the ACC tournament and the NIT tournament, and the talk quickly turned into what could have been.

The Cavaliers used the game as an opportunity to evaluate themselves.

One of the major weaknesses of the men’s lacrosse team that they realize needs to be corrected is their inability to win face-offs.

“Coming into the game, I expected them to lose” all of the face-offs, coach Dom Starsia said. “But I thought Calvin [Sullivan] and Jack [DeVilliers] battled all day.”

Out of 29 face-offs, the Blue Devils won 18 of them, but their most important two would come in the game’s last 40 seconds. With two minutes left in the game, Duke scored a goal to pull even at 13-13. The Cavaliers lost the ensuing face-off, and the Blue Devils scored again with 39 seconds left. This would have been enough time for the Cavaliers to get one more good shot off, but once again, they lost the face-off.

Another factor that really hurt the Cavaliers was the loss of All-American defender Mark Koontz five minutes into the game when he re-injured his knee, which left Virginia reeling and scrambling to find an answer to Alex Lieske, who led the Blue Devils with three goals and three assists.

However, the team is taking the loss in stride and realizes that the major part of the season is still left. Senior attackman Conor Gill sees the loss as a chance for the team to reflect on what they had been doing wrong and get ready to finish the season strong.

“It’s nothing to get down about,” Gill said. “We’ll come back and get ready to play Penn State. We haven’t been as sharp on the field, and kind of got away with it. But [Sunday] it came back and bit us.”

Although the ACC tournament may be over, the team still has two regular season games left to rebound and prepare itself for the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers face the Nittany Lions on Saturday as they look to come out strong and bounce back from their first defeat since their March 2 loss to Syracuse. They had won seven straight games, including one over Duke, before the loss to the Blue Devils on Sunday.

The Nittany Lions are coming off an impressive 9-7 win over Bucknell to improve their record to 7-5, including a 4-1 record in the last five games. This will be the Lions last regular season game, as they try to finish their season strong at home before heading into the NCAA tournament.

The Cavaliers will be tough to beat, with a league-high five All ACC players and a sweep of the ACC awards this year.

Koontz was selected as the 2002 ACC men’s lacrosse player of the year, the first defensive player to win the award since 1992. Freshman Joe Yevoli won the ACC Rookie of the Year award after leading the Cavaliers with a remarkable 29 goals. Lastly, Starsia was named ACC coach of the year.

Starsia believes that the loss was a good experience and will make the team stronger for the rest of the season.

“I’m glad there’s still more lacrosse to be played,” Starsia said. “We’re a really young team.”

About 20 students stood outside Madison Hall on University Avenue yesterday afternoon to protest against the University’s potential ownership of the large binocular telescope, or the LBT project, on Mount Graham, Ariz. Mount Graham Coalition Coordinator Guy Lopez led the group.

Apaches and others claim that the Apaches have a historic and religious right to Mount Graham and that the structure will pose a severe ecological and cultural threat.

“The place is regarded sacred in and of itself,” Lopez said.

Occasionally chanting, “U.Va. off Mount Graham,” and holding signs saying “Respect Apache territory,” the group caught the attention of students walking to and from the Corner.

“We were lighthearted in a respectful manner,” Lopez said. “We’re not trying to be angry or confrontational.”

Astronomy Department Chair Robert T. Rood said the University has an interest in obtaining access to the powerful telescope.

The 10,400-foot tall structure has two eight-meter mirrors, which can spot the fine detail of stars, as well as the Hubbell Space Telescope, Rood said.

About 15 to 20 private institutions are seeking partial ownership of the telescope, and the University is currently negotiating ownership of the telescope for seven nights per year, Rood said.

“The LBT can collect light five or six times faster than the Hubbell,” Rood said. “And one of its most exciting prospects is in planet detection.”

Before the federal government declared Mount Graham public domain in 1873, it was part of the traditional territory of the western Apache.

The protest yesterday followed a meeting between Lopez and University Provost Gene Block, in which Block told Lopez that the University’s “upper echelons” would try to make a decision about investment in the telescope before the end of the semester, Lopez said.

“They need to stop further steps toward being a partner in the observatory,” Lopez said. “They need to make that announcement immediately to show their respect.”

There are only two eight-meter telescopes in the world that are publicly available, Rood said, which is why the opportunity to have private access to the LBT would be a significant achievement for the astronomy department.

Whereas radio telescopes are readily accessible to the public, optical telescopes like the LBT are owned mostly by private institutions, which makes them inaccessible, Rood said.

“Currently, we have small special purpose telescopes which were designed primarily to measure precise positions of things, but they do not serve the research needs of the faculty or graduate students here,” Rood added.

Rood said that any negative environmental impact as a result of the telescope construction has been minimal.

The Virginia women’s rowing team, which is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA South Division, is coming off a perfect showing at ACC championships last weekend winning both first varsity races and both second varsity races, as well as winning the first varisty four.

Now, No. 11 Virginia will face No. 20 Boston University in a regatta at 4 p.m. tomorrow.

The regatta at Rivanna Reservoir will pit the Cavaliers against a Boston team that went to NCAA championships last year.

“It’s a home race,” coach Kevin Sauer said. “But most importantly, we get to race Boston University, who was in the NCAAs last year. How we do against them will show us where we’re at right now.”

This weekend’s race comes in between the ACC championships and the Eastern Sprints, the biggest regatta on the Eastern seaboard, where the Cavaliers hope to qualify for NCAA championships.

While Virginia is preparing for the up-coming races, the team is focusing more on competition outside the ACC.

Other ACC teams have posted better times than usual, but the Cavaliers still are looking for the stiff competition to be outside the ACC.

“ACCs were definitely a high point for us,” junior Amanda Kennedy said. “The ACC is getting faster, but it’s not our best competition.”

Although Sauer acknowledged that the race this weekend against Boston will help to show where the Cavaliers stand outside of the ACC in preparation for Eastern Sprints, he said the most important thing for this weekend was to concentrate on the race against Boston.

After this weekend’s regatta, the Cavaliers’ next hurdle will be Eastern Sprints. Virginia already has competed against most of the best teams they hope to face at NCAA championships.

“I think we’re improving,” Sauer said.

Even with the changes in personnel that Sauer continued to make throughout the season, Sauer added.

The Cavaliers’ low point of the season came at San Diego in a race that included Washington University, the No. 1 ranked team in the NCAA West division.

After San Diego, Virginia gained much needed confidence when it took a victory in a come-from-behind race at the George Washington Invitational a week before ACC championships.

Although the Cavaliers have continually improved their times since the beginning of the spring season, Virginia is not content with where it is right now.

“It’s not a matter of maintaining, it’s a matter of increasing” speed, Sauer said. “We have a very high standard, if we don’t think we’re right there we challenge ourselves.”

The Cavaliers, having raced against the best crew teams in the country, believe they can compete for a national title.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Kennedy said of the NCAA championships. “I think we’re definitely right up there. It will be really back and forth.”

According to Sauer, his team will take each race as it comes because any team they race can beat them if they are not focused.

The Cavaliers may find it hard, however, not to look at the big picture. Virginia has continued to get faster and challenge highly ranked national teams. The Cavaliers are on a hot streak that started at the George Washington Invitational and they don’t look to be slowing down.

“I see us just getting better and better and better,” Sauer said of the upcoming month leading to NCAA championships.

A prized veteran on the Virginia women’s lacrosse team, midfielder Molly Cangemi has not forgotten how to have fun and enjoy life while putting her heart into the sport. Standing at 5-foot-3, the Spanish major from Baltimore, Md., has applied excellent speed, mobility and accuracy on the field to overcome taller opponents.

“She’s obviously incredibly fast, a natural lefty,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “She has a great check, has the ability to run the midfield and to put the ball in the net. She’s meant a lot to us over the four years, but what’s most exciting is to see how much she’s come along over the course of those four years.”

Cangemi moved into the midfield just last year after playing attacker since the start of her Virginia career. Watching Cangemi grow into a leader at her new position, Myers said that Cangemi “is just really comfortable and is able to make an impact at both ends.”

In her freshman season, Cangemi played as a reserve on a team that was a national finalist. Her numbers gradually increased and, last season, she made a name for herself as one of the core players on a team that went 11-7 and took a trip to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She ranked third for Virginia in scoring with 47 points, good enough for eighth all-time in scoring as a junior. She also had five hat tricks and was the only Virginia player to have multiple games with more than three assists, defending Myers’ decision to move her to midfield.

Cangemi said that after the switch to midfield her “play just picked up. It was just a completely different game for me. I felt so much more confident. I used to back down. Now it’s just a different game and I’m more involved in every possession. I think when you’re a midfielder, you realize that every possession is very critical. I feel like I have a tendency to turn it over less because I’ll be running down the field.”

Cangemi’s consistent play this season has come as no surprise for Myers, who stressed that Cangemi has taken giant leaps in her decision-making and execution.

As a person, Cangemi is both mature and very fun to be around. There are few seconds in the day when one will see her without a smile on her face. Throughout her speech she giggles and is a fun-loving, people person.

“She’s a goofball,” Myers said. “She giggles after every other word, but it’s also something that’s nice. I think players play better when they’re loose instead of high-strung, and I would say that Molly is not ever going to be a high-strung person.”

Beyond lacrosse, Cangemi said she loves traveling and hanging out with friends. She spent last summer in Valencia, Spain and will be living in Australia this September. As she nears the end for four years, Cangemi said she knows she will miss the Virginia scene and the friends she has made on the team.

“Our team is incredibly tight, so I have an amazing group of friends, so I hang out with them all the time,” she said.

Cangemi knew several of her present teammates before coming to Virginia, having grown up with junior midfielder Lauren Aumiller and then teaming with Aumiller and senior goalkeeper Mary Beth LaVerghetta, sophomore midfielder Lauren Keller and freshman attacker Cary Chasney at Notre Dame Prep High School. Her decision to come to Virginia was heavily influenced by her years at Notre Dame.

Cangemi said her interest in lacrosse began in the third grade. Growing up in Baltimore, it was a popular sport to get involved in and she jumped on the bandwagon. Cangemi also played basketball and soccer admitted it was at first difficult to decide which sport to stick with, but she made the wise choice to devote her energies to lacrosse.

Cangemi remained active in the sport in middle school and then at Notre Dame Prep, where she had an “amazing” coach, Mary Bartel, a friend of Myers.

Cangemi said that Bartel “made me love the game. We all worshipped her. She just made it so much fun.”

As for her experience playing under the direction of Myers, Cangemi couldn’t speak more highly of her hard-working coach.

“She and I get along really well,” Cangemi said. “She believes in me. You get the feeling that she knows you have the potential. It’s just taking that step and actually putting it into action.”

In retrospect, Myers said she has definitely seen Cangemi come a long way over her four years.

“I think anybody coming in at 17 and leaving at 21, 22 does a lot of maturing, and I would say that Molly definitely has grown up a lot, emerged as somebody that you can count on, that you know is going to show up everyday, that is going to be able to help us get the job done,” Myers said.

“These have been, so far, the best four years of my life,” Cangemi said. “I can’t complain.”

The Virginia baseball team will hope to build upon its two-game winning streak when the Cavaliers open a three-game series on the road against No. 10 Georgia Tech.

After losing to UNC-Greensboro last Saturday to drop below .500 for the first time this season, the Cavaliers rebounded to crush George Mason, 14-5, on Monday and edge Liberty by a score of 5-3 on Tuesday.

“I’m encouraged by what I saw [against Liberty] and what I saw” against George Mason, Virginia coach Dennis Womack said. “I think it’s a difficult test to play [Georgia Tech] anywhere.”

Virginia (22-21, 7-8 ACC) continues to be led by senior third baseman/pitcher Dan Street. Street has a team-high .391 average, 11 homers and 46 RBIs. Freshman shortstop Mark Reynolds has come on of late, hitting two homers Monday afternoon, including a grand slam.

On the mound, sophomore pitcher Jeff Kamrath remains Virginia’s top starter with a 5-3 record and an ERA of 2.57. Sophomores Joe Koshansky and Canon Hickman are the other probable starters against the Yellow Jackets.

“We’ll have Canon and Joe Koshansky out there,” Street said. “We’ll put good pitching on them.”

Georgia Tech (32-8, 8-6) will look to regain its form in ACC play after getting swept last weekend by Florida State. The Yellow Jackets came into the series ranked fifth in the country but were unable to win despite racking up 41 hits.

Standout freshman outfielder Jeremy Slayden has led the Jackets at the plate, blasting 13 homers with 40 RBIs. Junior catcher Tyler Parker, a preseason All-American the last two years, leads the team with 41 RBIs.

Hickman said he is not intimidated, however, and will approach Georgia Tech the same way he approached Liberty.

Liberty’s players “are really good hitters,” Hickman said. “They were hitting .340 as a team, so we can beat anybody.”

Georgia Tech has not lost at Russ Chandler Stadium this year, winning all 22 games played there.

“It’ll be tough but every week in the ACC is tough and that’s what you expect,” Womack said. “But we’re prepared, it’s just a matter of going down there and playing well.”

The Jackets are led on the mound by sophomore ace Kyle Bakker and his impressive 9-1 record and 2.90 ERA. Bakker has also struck out 76 batters in 80 and two-thirds innings.

“It’ll be tough, they’re going to have a good crowd,” Street said. “We have to play as well as we can, we’re going to have to play better than we did against Liberty.”

Those who love the Pep Band will be upset with the athletic department’s plans for next football season.

Those who dislike the Pep Band will offer a collective sigh of relief.

The University’s athletic department currently plans to keep the number of Pep Band performances during next fall’s football halftime shows to a total of two, said Andrew Rader, associate athletic director for marketing, promotions and licensing. Rader said the Pep Band will be allowed to participate in other football games during pre-game activities.

The athletic department also plans to diversify half-time entertainment next fall. Rader said high school marching bands will not be used as often next year as they were last fall.

Adam Swann, Student Council executive vice president, said he had received complaints from some students against the use of high school marching bands. Swann has been working with the athletic department on the issue of the Pep Band’s involvement in football entertainment.

The athletic department is looking at a lot of options for next year, including other college marching bands and professional musicians, he said.

“It’s all about providing good entertainment to the fans,” he added.

Swann said he and others on Council feel the athletic department should bring a “collegiate” feel to the football games.

But Rader said his focus was on providing quality entertainment to all the thousands of football fans at Scott Stadium, not just college students.

Swann said he and fellow Council members had met with Rader in multiple meetings in order to ensure that student input was heard.

The Pep Band will be allowed to participate in every football game although it normally will be before the game, Rader said. The policy for the upcoming school year differs little from last fall when the Pep Band only was allowed to participate during the half-time performances for the Wake Forest and Virginia Tech games.

He added it is possible the department may change its plans for the Pep Band over the next month.

Student response to the Pep Band always has been mixed. Swann said students seem to either love or hate the group.

He said that Council never took an official stance on either side of the Pep Band issue.

The athletic department also has had problems with the group.

“They continue to play the same songs,” Rader said. “We want more diversity.”

He said the athletic department will work with the Pep Band to ensure they have a wider selection of songs and that they also try to have a larger number of musicians participating.

Rader said he has been working mainly with Pep Band President Heather Pozun. Pozun did not return phone calls from The Cavalier Daily seeking comment.

Many colleges have large marching bands entertain during halftime, but the athletic department currently has no plans to start a marching band at the University, he added.

Whoever said nice guys finish last certainly never met Student Council President-elect Micah Schwartz.

“I think I’m the most average Student Council president in awhile,” Schwartz said. “I’m not a Jefferson or Echols scholar. I was rejected from the Lawn. I spent last summer working at Littlejohns. I didn’t even get into the University on the first try.”

The transfer student turned Council president has come a long way from his high school days playing lacrosse and writing for the student newspaper at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, Va.

Since coming to the University, which he said he has admired since his youth, Schwartz has been actively involved in Council, serving as a College representative and member of various committees such as Athletic Affairs and Scholarship.

“I think all around when you include academics, sports, social life and beauty of campus, U.Va is one of the best all around schools in the country,” Schwartz said.

The president-elect has definite goals he said he hopes to accomplish next year. He cites the development of a business minor for College students, working to complete a new online course evaluation system and pushing back lease signing dates, particularly for first years, as some of his top priorities.

“This summer, I will be here helping out with orientation, setting goals, planning for my administration and tubing down the James River as much as possible,” Schwartz said.

“I have learned it’s a much bigger job than anyone on the outside will ever realize,” he said.

Schwartz will continue to work through the transition period with current Council President Abby Fifer until he officially takes office next Tuesday.

“I expect great things from Micah,” Fifer said. “It’s been a pleasure transitioning him, and the student body is fortunate to have such a dedicated leader.”

On a personal note, Schwartz is a political and social thought major, a brother in Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, enjoys golf and describes himself as a movie buff.

“During the week, I’m all business, but during breaks and over the weekend, I can be a fun guy,” he said.

Upon graduation next year, Schwartz hopes to spend a few years working for the “Teach for America” program, possibly in California, before attending law school.

Ever since winning the presidency, Schwartz concedes he has “been on a bit of a high horse.” However, a week ago at a date auction, students put Schwartz in his place.

“Literally no one bid on me,” Schwartz said. “The auctioneer had to coerce a former girlfriend into bidding on me. That brought me back to reality.”

A new addition to the Cavalier Daily Life section coming every Monday and Friday

Instructions: Fill this space with your gripes, your praises or just your own views on life at the University or life in general. You can either call 924-6914, listen to recording and leave your message, OR submit your ‘sound byte’ via our anonymous web form located here.

For Friday’s edition 4/26:

Question: why were the only funny Dec articles I’ve read in my four years here been written by non-staffers (Bryan Carter and Conor Lastowka)?

– Take that!

The Israelis say one thing, the Palestinians say the opposite, and the U.S. just fumbles around. It’s like a bad babysitter trying to separate quarreling siblings.

– Sensational simile writer

At the beginning of the year, that huge bale of plastic bottles between the A-School and Culbreth was sort of an interesting piece of artwork. Now it just looks like a pile of garbage. Any chance on removing it in the near future? It’s a huge eyesore.

-Avant garbage?

Car: $10,000 – $20,0000

Gas: $15

Parking ticket: $30

Getting your car towed: $80

Having somewhere FREE in the general vicinity near Cabell (for those days when, lets face it, you just cant find the right thing to wear, or have slept through the alarm because you were at $2 pitchers the night before): PRICELESS

- Peeved with the parking people

From Monday’s edition 4/22:

“Please, please, please do not eat or drink noisily in stacks! It makes me want to smack you with my laptop!”

-Annoyed in Alderman

“I have a 15 page paper due tomorrow that I haven’t started yet, and if anyone pisses me off today I’m going to strangle them with a smile on my face.”

-Peeved procrastinator

“It annoys me so much when people tell me a story and then tell someone else the same thing with completely different details right in front of me. I mean, do they really think that I do not notice that they’re exaggerating?”

- Cry for consistency

“Regarding last Friday’s Sound Byte by “Chewed Out,” get a life, you idiot. It disgusts me to see people chewing on their pens like they’re gum or something. Why don’t you do us all a favor and get ink poisoning.”

– Poisoned pen letter

SUBMIT YOUR OWN SOUNDBYTE HERE.

With the nation’s capital only a two-hour drive away and a University founded by a former president, many students find themselves drawn to governmental jobs after graduation.

To encourage students to consider federal jobs when they graduate, 351 university and college presidents launched a new program Monday entitled “A Call to Serve: Leaders in Education Allied for Public Service.”

The program is designed to attract more skilled, young people to government positions.

At a time when 53 percent of the federal workforce will qualify for retirement within the next two years and 71 percent of the government’s senior managers will be eligible to retire within the next four years, there seems to be a demand for this kind of program.

While the University has not officially signed on to the program, Ladd Flock, director of University Career Services, said that the University has numerous resources available to help students find government jobs.

“We’ve gotten lots of resource information” on government jobs, said Ellen Tucker, career resource manager at University Career Services.

Flock pointed out that government jobs are available even to people with no political background.

“You don’t have to be a political science, government or foreign affairs major,” Flock said. “Government jobs are not just political, you do a little of everything. They just want to hire a bright person they can train.”

According to Flock, University students have performed successfully within the federal government.

“There are a lot of U.Va. alumni in government jobs,” Flock said. “They want to make those jobs available to alumni.”

Government positions also appeal to University students because many students “are targeting Northern Virginia for living, and the government wants students who want to live in Northern Virginia,” Flock added.

Federal officials announced Monday they will try to make the application process for jobs in the U.S. government more efficient and less confusing so that the paperwork involved does not deter potential applicants.

Although the University is not involved in “A Call to Serve,” University President John T. Casteen III said, “We were a founding member of the organization called Campus Compact, and I served on its board for about a decade.”

Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 750 college and university presidents committed to the civic purposes of higher education.

Casteen said that University students have been active in the political realm.

He said students often “turn up in the General Assembly as legislative aides” to delegates and state senators.