I have had some pretty embarrassing moments during the holidays. The most traumatizing was a result of me being too impressionable of a youth.

You know that movie “A Christmas Story,” where a kid gets his tongue stuck to a cold telephone pole and the fire department has to pull him off? Well, I thought I’d win a few bucks off my friend on a dare to see if it really worked. It did.

The result? A five minute ordeal where I thought I was going to die out in the snow with just my tongue dangling from the poll when they found my body months later. Fortunately, I was able to pull myself off, leaving behind just the first layer of skin off my tongue. It wasn’t all bad though; I did get to ride home in a fire truck, where a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies awaited my arrival…if only I had any taste buds left! — BDA

The Christmas season in Louisiana means many things: prime time TV shows are interrupted for special readings of “The Cajun Night Before Christmas,” children bundle up in their shorts and T-shirts, and New Orleans begins its annual tradition of Christmas in the Oaks. It was for this tradition that we packed ourselves into the family car every year to make the trek from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

Driving through the canopy of light-filled oaks dripping with Spanish moss was the perfect way to begin the season. After weaving our way through the lighted angels, stars and trumpets that graced the trees’ branches, we always stopped to ride the antique carousel. Though at first glance it seemed like nothing more than a storage building, inside there was magic. Complete with original adornments and actual horsehair, the old carousal, straight from a 1930s fair, was a little girl’s dream. — ECR

I will never forget the Christmas when I got my first drum set. My parents have always put my gifts and those of my brother and sister in separate piles, so I quickly tried to locate my own stack of shining packages. It wasn’t long before I realized that most of the gifts I saw weren’t mine. In fact, my pile consisted of a single shoebox-sized gift on the floor.

When it finally came time to open my gift, I tried desperately to contain my disappointment the best an 11-year-old could, and unwrapped it carefully, thinking that, after this, there would be nothing else. Inside the box was a note telling me to close my eyes, and when I opened them, there was a drum set in the room! All for me! — JWB

When I think about the upcoming holiday season, two Christmas memories always seem to come to mind. At the tender age of 3, my mother thought it was time for me to learn how to give gifts. Being 3 years old, I picked out a big pink teddy bear. When I got home that night I called my dad and proclaimed, “Daddy, I got you a bear!” My mom and sister yelled at me, “Peter! No! It’s supposed to be a secret!” Of course, this made me cry. When I was 5, on Christmas Eve I turned off the emergency power switch to our furnace, thinking it was a light switch. When we woke up the next morning, the house was a cozy 40-some degrees and my sister proclaimed that I had “ruined Christmas!” Whatever you do this next month, remember, little children can make your holiday wretched, so don’t let them out of your sight. — PSJ

For many it has been a rocky semester. While students were still flooding the University Bookstore and reuniting with old friends in the limbo before classes began, the budget cuts were already striking: Libraries closed earlier and printers quietly disappeared from the libraries while page quotas were implemented.

Comfort, however, was not to be found in a long, hot shower. Reservoir levels sunk as the city experienced severe water shortages. Trays disappeared from dining halls, water rates went up for off-Grounds housing, and restaurants stopped serving tap water.

What follows are some of the top headline makers of the semester, budget cuts and water shortages among them. If there is a common thread, it is that, in the face of shortages, potential war in Iraq and heightened racial awareness, students, faculty and administrators have taken the initiative to do everything possible to make the best of it.

Water, water everywhere

The hot, dry months of July and August left the Charlottesville area reservoirs dangerously depleted this fall, necessitating drastic cuts to water usage across the region. In addition to mandatory cutbacks for all businesses, car washes were forced to close entirely.

Charlottesville City Council decided to place a surcharge on all water consumption over 4,500 gallons per household per month.However, this surcharge would later be increased to a 50 percent surcharge on all water usage.

Meanwhile, the University launched a massive campaign to encourage students to conserve. Student recycling coordinators expanded their job to include water conservation, organizing a T-shirt design contest and offering other ideas for dorm residents to reduce their water consumption.

Though rumors circulated that students would be sent home if the situation did not improve — some even specified a date, Nov. 30 — University officials announced that the rumor was unfounded.

Although recent rainfall and conservation efforts did curb the immediate danger posed by the drought, the crisis is not over, according to Charlottesville Public Utility Manager Jim Palmborg.

“We’ve got a drought situation that’s been going on for three or four years,” Palmborg said. “We need several months of above average rainfall” to overcome the situation.

Palmborg said that, although the reservoirs are near capacity, the groundwater that supports them is still low.

However, City Council relaxed some of the water restrictions on Oct. 31.

Empty pockets

While the reservoir was drying up over the past few months, so too was the University’s budget, as the University received bad financial news from the state government in Richmond.

In August, Gov. Mark R. Warner announced the state was facing a $1.5 billion budget deficit and that every state agency, including colleges and universities, would have to submit plans for budget cuts.

Warner laid out budget cuts in an Oct. 15 speech that was televised around the Commonwealth. The cuts saved the state $857 million over the next two years, but not enough to close the budget gap.

The University’s state funding was cut 12 percent while some agencies had their budgets cut by as much as 15 percent.

The effects of these cuts did not go unnoticed, however, affecting students in a number of tangible ways.

The faculty hiring freeze remained in effect over the semester, putting additional strain on professors and graduate students.

Over the course of the semester students also endured new printing charges, reductions in cleaning services at Brown College and Gooch-Dillard, cuts in library hours, the elimination of phone ISIS, and the elimination of the paper version of the Course Offering Directory. However, some of these cuts were changed mid-semester.

Library hours were restored, some cleaning services were reinstated temporarily, and printed versions of the Course Offering Directories were made available on a limited basis.

Yet perhaps the budget crisis’ biggest impact on students came in the form of a mid-year tuition increase. The Board of Visitors voted in October to add a $385 tuition surcharge for all students for the spring 2003 semester.

The surcharge “has offset about 30 percent of the damage that would otherwise have been done by these cuts,” University President John T. Casteen III said.

More still remains to be seen, as on Dec. 20 Warner will announce another round of cuts when he submits his budget proposal to the state legislature.

A Glimmer of hope

Amid the depletion of the water and budget, many students still had hope that some help was on its way, and it did in fact arrive on Nov. 5 when Virginia voters overwhelmingly approved a General Obligation Bond for higher education.

“It indicates their strong support for the system of higher education in Virginia,” said Collette Sheehy, vice president of management and budget.

The bonds will supply $900 million in funds to public colleges and universities around the state, including $68.3 million to the University.

The University will use a large portion of the money to construct a new Engineering research building, a new Arts and Sciences building and a new research medical facility, as well as to renovate other buildings.

“These funds begin to deal with some of the deficiencies that have accumulated during the 12 years in which the General Assembly had no functional system for financing buildings or maintaining them,” Casteen said.

As early as the June Board of Visitors meeting, Casteen announced that he would personally campaign for the referendum. In addition to his efforts, several student groups, including Student Council and University Programs Council, arranged the “Rock ‘N Rally,” which featured such bands as 2 skinnee j’s and O.A.R., as well as opportunities for students to register to vote.

In plain view

In October, the University bore witness to the first open honor trial in two years.

Third-year College student Adam Boyd, accused of cheating on an astronomy test last spring, chose to open his honor trial to the public, allowing community members to sit in on the proceedings.

In a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 13, Boyd’s counsel argued that the system was working in an unfair manner and that investigators irreparably damaged his case by failing to contact key witnesses and pursue all pertinent information in the case.

However, the Committee declined Boyd’s motion to dismiss the case, and set an Oct. 19 trial date. A randomly selected student jury of 11 found Boyd guilty after a 12-hour trial and two and a half hours of deliberation. Boyd was asked to leave the University community.

Though he had the option to appeal the decision, Boyd’s current status has not been made public.

“I think it proved to be an excellent educational opportunity for the community,” Honor Committee Chairman Christopher Smith said.

Looking outward

Although the University had enough on its plate locally to keep both students and faculty busy, they still found time to focus on national issues as well.

Political groups around Grounds geared up for the Nov. 5 midterm elections, while a coalition of student groups met its goal of registering “2002 voters in 2002.”

A local election made the news in September when some faculty members complained that an invitation to a Meredith Richards campaign fundraiser sponsored by the University Democrats was circulated through the University’s messenger mail system. Richards was running for the 5th District Congressional seat against Congressman Virgil Goode.

University policy says messenger mail is only for University-related correspondence.

“We got reimbursed for the service,” said Mail Services Manager Jack Parker.

University Democrats President Ian Amelkin described the incident as an “honest mistake.”

Richards later lost the Nov. 5 election to Goode.

Along with looking at national elections, the University community stayed abreast on foreign policy issues pertaining to a possible war with Iraq.

On Nov. 18 in the Rotunda, University History Prof. Elizabeth Thompson and Miami University Political Science Prof. Adeed Dawisha debated the merits of a war with Iraq.

Students and faculty also held an anti-war rally entitled “Dissent is Patriotic” on Nov. 20, while the College Republicans also distributed literature in support of war.

“Issues of war are always important because lives are at stake,” Foreign Affairs Professor William B. Quandt said.

‘Hoos Silent’

The night of Oct. 23 brought with it the rhythmic sound of newspapers hitting the floor of The Cavalier Daily office. Over 400 students — mostly but not exclusively black — had gathered in the basement of Newcomb Hall to protest what they felt was unfair coverage of the black community in the newspaper.

That day, Anthony Dick’s opinion column criticized the content of the Griot Society’s Web site, which he claimed promoted racial tensions. The Griot Society leaders countered that their organization aims to educate students about African-American issues.

But leaders of the protest — titled “Hoos Silent” because the protesters opted not to speak — said the march was not merely a response to Dick’s column.

“People recognize the idea of opinions,” said Tim Lovelace, the student representative to the Board of Visitors and one of the protest’s organizers. But the Opinion page “in the minds of a lot of people, unfairly singled out black organizations when they talked about minority issues.”

Cavalier Daily Editor-in-Chief Brandon Almond said he felt the “Hoos Silent” protest made people “more aware of what role The Cavalier Daily can and does play in the University Community,” adding that it recognized “the need for a constant discussion about the continuation of this role.” Almond and the three other members of The Cavalier Daily managing board met with black leaders afterward, including Griot Society President Jesica Wagstaff and Lovelace, to discuss some of the issues addressed at the protest.

Party problems

Almost three weeks into November, photographs from a Halloween party jointly sponsored by the Kappa Alpha Order and Zeta Psi fraternities began to circulate over the Internet and through e-mail.

The photographs depicted one person dressed as a blackfaced Uncle Sam, while two others painted their faces brown and dressed as tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.

The pictures prompted the fraternities’ national chapters to investigate the incident, and both houses were suspended by the Inter-Fraternity Council at the University.

Kappa Alpha’s national chapter decided to clear them from any national punishments because the investigation found that the event was held at the Zeta Psi house and no Kappa Alpha brothers appeared in the pictures. Zeta Psi also was cleared by their national chapter.

Both fraternities, however, still were under investigation with the IFC and were sent to trial on Dec. 2.

The IFC found both fraternities not guilty of disorderly conduct, citing the fact that these actions fell under constitutionally protected free speech. The IFC, however, issued a recommendation that strongly encouraged both fraternities to educate themselves regarding racial sensitivity — something both Kappa Alpha and Zeta Psi have said they will do.

IFC President Phil Trout said that, although the IFC cannot force either fraternity to do anything because of the not-guilty verdict, “informally we will certainly follow up” on their recommendations.

The Inter-Sorority Council also investigated Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities because they were present at the party. However, in separate trials held Dec. 4, both sororities were found not guilty of violating the non-discrimination clause in their Fraternal Order Agreement.

Okem Nwogu, vice chair of the Black Fraternal Council, said he thought the incident at the party sparked many students’ interest in race relations at the University.

“I believe this incident heightened awareness and put the responsibility on fraternities and sororities” to be more sensitive to racial issues, Nwogu said. “It was a legitimate reason to be up in arms.”

Trout said the presidents of each fraternity will meet soon to discuss the possibility of amending the IFC’s bylaws.

While the semester was wrought with many trials and tribulations, the University has certainly been there before. Despite shortages and differences, student, faculty and staff were able to come together recognize the need to grow as part of Jefferson’s academic community.

(Associate Editor Nick Chapin contributed to this report.)

After two separate trials last night, the Inter-Sorority Council found Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities not guilty of violating the non-discrimination clause of their Fraternal Organization Agreement.

The charges that each sorority had violated a portion of the FOA — an agreement that all on-Grounds Greek organizations comply with to provide structure within all of the houses — stemmed from the Oct. 31 Halloween party at Zeta Psi fraternity house. Both sororities were present at the party where brothers had colored their faces and bodies black as part of their costume.

“The decisions of the trials were an accurate portrayal of the involvement of the ISC sororities at the Halloween party at Zeta Psi,” ISC President Whitney Eck said.

Along with the not guilty verdict on the violation of the non-discrimination clause, the ISC Judiciary Committee found that the sororities did not violate the social policy of the ISC regarding mixers and of under-age consumption of alcohol, Eck said.

Despite the verdicts, the sororities will still undergo education on discrimination and alcohol abuse of their own choosing.

“Although not found guilty of the charges the accused sororities will be held responsible to adhere to a plan of action by committees as an effort to educate their members,” said Angie Payne, ISC vice president for judiciary.

The sororities may present their own suggestions for appropriate measures, Payne said. These actions may include workshops, discussions or other creative measures.

“We have full confidence that education initiatives of the two sororities will be executed effectively,” Eck said.

Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta were unable to be reached for comment.

More multicultural education in the curriculum, diversity training during first-year orientation, a change to the dorm selection policy — all these options are being considered by an informal group of students and administrators dedicated to improving race relations at the University.

The group has seen its discussions intensified since the recent “blackface” incident, in which fraternity brothers at Zeta Psi were widely criticized for having painted their faces black as part of their costumes at a Halloween party, said Pat Lampkin, vice president for student affairs and leader of the group.

Despite the work of the group, Dean of African-American Affairs M. Rick Turner said he was skeptical that anything will come of recent discussions regarding racial issues around Grounds.

“We have a stop-and-start policy on diversity here,” Turner said.

Lampkin’s student group is made up of leaders of student organizations and other students and is open to anyone.

“I think we need several solutions” to address racial tension on Grounds, Lampkin said. Mandating diversity training for first years is one option.

Orientation programs such as Grounds for Discussion have addressed racial issues in the past, Lampkin said. But students and administrators will discuss the possibility of doing more, consulting with groups like the University’s Office for Equal Opportunity Programs.

The Getting Beyond Just Getting Along workshop on workplace diversity, which the Office will soon launch, will allow participants to examine themselves and the way they perceive people of other racial or ethnic groups, said Karen Holt, the director of the Office for Equal Opportunity Programs.

“Learning not to assume that everyone’s experience mirrors our own is a first step in getting along better,” Holt said.

The Greek community also might experiment with diversity workshops. The Inter-Fraternity Council, while finding Zeta Psi and Kappa Alpha fraternities not guilty of infractions of IFC rules in connection with the “blackface” incident, recommended that those groups sponsor diversity training for the Council’s other fraternities.

“One idea was to have those chapters pair up with minority groups and go to other chapters,” IFC President Phil Trout said.

Trout said he had contacted a University alumnus, who is a diversity-training professional, about designing the workshops.

Some minority student leaders recently have gone further than asking for diversity training, proposing that all students be required to fulfill a “multicultural education” class requirement.

President John T. Casteen III said he hopes the blackface incidents will jumpstart a conversation about race relations on Grounds.

“Maybe these events will trigger a period of reflection and learning that will draw students together in ways that would not have been possible without a cautionary experience,” he said.

Conversations about race and diversity make headlines whenever there is a racially charged incident at the University, then fade away without much progress having been made, Turner said.

“We probably will not be talking about this issue at this time next semester,” he added. “When students can see African-Americans in administrative positions and faculty positions, then we can start thinking about diversity.”

Lampkin insisted that she is committed to continuing the dialogue she’s having with concerned students. She also said that there has been progress over recent years in thinking about race relations.

“Maybe people forget that different pieces are tried,” she said. “We are further on these topics than people realize.”

There is no cure-all for race relations at the University, Lampkin said. “There isn’t one answer. But I think we’re all looking for one answer.”

Last night Student Council unanimously passed a resolution to recommend replacing the University’s early decision admissions policy with “Exclusive Early Action.”

The policy would allow prospective students a non-binding opportunity to apply early to the University.

“I think this acts in the best interests of both students and the University,” Representative Matt Straub said. “I hope we can implement this change before next year.”

Straub and fellow representatives Brandon Possin and William Biggs proposed the resolution.

The current University admissions policy allows prospective students to apply “Early Decision,” an option that theoretically improves the chances of admission, but requires students to commit to attend the University if they are accepted.

Proponents of the resolution say an exclusive early action program would draw more top students. The program would differ from the current policy in that it would not require accepted students to attend if accepted.

Some say the plan would also dissuade students from applying early solely because they assumed early decision would boost their chances of admission.

“I think is a great resolution,” Biggs said. He and others argued that the current policy does not allow students to compare financial aid packages, thus deterring students who rely on financial aid from applying early.

Early decision provides the University with information about the dynamics of the incoming class. The Council members who proposed the idea suggested the loss will be mitigated by the fact that those accepted early will still be more likely to attend than regular applicants, keeping data from their pool sound.

Council considered several issues before voting, including the fear of losing the commitment of quality students, as well as what has happened at other institutions that instated similar policies.

The resolution will be passed along to the admissions office for consideration. Council hopes the policy could take effect beginning with applicants for the University’s class of 2008.

(Associate Editor Alexis Unkovic contributed to this report.)

The Faculty Senate met yesterday in the chilly Garden Room of the Colonnade Club to discuss the similarly frigid budget situation.

University President John T. Casteen III opened the meeting by warning the Senate about Gov. Mark R. Warner’s Dec. 20 state budget submission.

The University can anticipate losing $3.5 million more than was previously projected, Casteen said.

“Budget information updates will be published, and I promise that whatever you read will be wrong the next day,” he said. “The revenue issue continues to worsen.”

Although the University receives more than $100 million less in state funds than comparable institutions — such as the University of Michigan — the University is unable to catch up because of the current economic situation, Casteen said.

To maintain academic integrity, the University needs to focus on faculty retention and on how to make operational cuts, he added.

“Hiring freezes will continue though there may be isolated exceptions,” Casteen said.

The freeze will postpone a potential reduction in salaries.

The University administration is, however, starting to explore how they might cut payrolls.

The primary and most immediate way to offset these cuts is an increase in annual tuition of approximately $3,000 per student — a move proposed by the Board of Visitors. The increase would mainly apply to new students to be fair to current students’ families who already have budgeted for their child’s education, Casteen said.

Casteen also joked about talk on the state level of a social valuation of majors.

“But if this happened, the Nursing School would charge nothing and the English department would charge $100,000 a year,” he said.

Robert O’Connell, Senate academic affairs committee chairman, also made a presentation on graduate funding.

“The University’s graduate program has been a problem for some time and is now seriously compromised,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell proposed that the Senate approve the release of the Graduate Funding Report, which strongly suggests graduates be made a high funding priority.

Graduate students aid the University with research, faculty development and provide a unique resource for undergraduate students, the report said.

Marcia Childress, Senate research and scholarship chairwoman, added that “investment in graduate education really is an investment in the future of the University.”

According to the report, graduate students are vital to the success and restoration of about $220 million in annual external research grants, and play a key role in completing a well-rounded and stimulating University community.

Several faculty members expressed concern over the graduate programs.

“People in my department who came here expecting a research institution now think that it may not be in 10 years,” History Prof. Elizabeth Thompson said. “The job market [outside of Virginia] is not as bad as we thought.”

College Dean Edward L. Ayers assured the Senate that graduate education should be a high priority.

The Senate unanimously passed the Graduate Funding Report as well as a resolution in support of a tuition hike. A specific dollar amount was not included as part of the resolution.

The Virginia Wrestling squad will look to start off the season on the right foot as they face in-state rival James Madison in a dual match tonight in Harrisonburg.

Virginia maintains the upper hand in the overall record between the two teams at 15-4-1. Last year, however, the Dukes defeated the Cavaliers in Charlottesville.

“They beat us last year,” junior Tim Foley said. “We went with half a team, but still we need to go up there inspired. We’re a legitimate team.”

Several Cavaliers are coming off strong individual performances at the 2002 Sharpie-Carolina Wrestling Open that took place this past Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Foley led Virginia by winning the 157-pound class and finished with a 5-0 individual record.

“I’m coming off surgery, so for the past two weeks I’ve worked really hard and really relied on the coaches,” Foley said.

Seniors Josh Etu and Bob Seidel also showed off their skill and power in the competition. Etu went 4-1 on the day in the heavyweight division before falling in the finals, while Seidel went 3-1 in the 147-pound class and finished as the runner-up.

“Bob Seidel is having a very strong year,” Virginia coach Lenny Bernstein said. “He’s 10-4 so far and he can compete with just about anyone in the country. Six out of his 10 wins were pins.”

Red-shirt junior Joe Alexander finished with a 3-1 record at the 133-pound class in his first appearance since winning the ACC Championship last season.

Sophomore Will Durkee also took fourth place in the 165-pound class while going 3-2 overall.

“Will Durkee placed in every tournament that we’ve been in,” Bernstein said. “He pinned a guy that was a national qualifier.”

Virginia will have to look to its seniors for leadership this season because the team is so young. The Cavaliers have 10 true freshmen on the squad this year and seven sophomores.

“Coach knew that we were going to be pretty senior-heavy last year, so they really went out and recruited,” Foley said. “This year’s second year class is carrying a lot of the weight.”

“We have two guys at 125, both are first years — Ian Durath and Brian Sticca.” Coach Bernstein said. “Their styles are almost diametrically opposed to each other.”

Sticca finished 4-1 at the 125-pound class in Carolina and hopes to continue his success tonight.

James Madison has only the Slippery Rock Open under their belt, in which the Dukes competed on Nov. 23. JMU is an experienced squad that has nine seniors on its roster this season.

Bernstein has an optimistic outlook for the upcoming season, even with a young team leading the way.

“In the ACC, I think it comes down to a three-game race: us, NC State and North Carolina,” Bernstein said. “We’ll need to be healthy to give ourselves the best opportunity.”

After two early season home victories and a recent triumph at Penn State, the Virginia men’s and women’s swim and dive teams take their unblemished win-loss records into the Auburn Invitational in Alabama this weekend, where they will face their stiffest competition this year to date.

The No. 10 men’s team will face off against South Carolina and No. 4 Auburn. The No. 11 women will battle South Carolina, No. 10 California and No. 1 Auburn. The meet will take place all day tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.

“We’ve been approaching this meet as the platform for the second half of the season, which starts up next semester,” junior Luke Wagner said. “We’re using this meet to qualify as many people as possible for the NCAA meet so that we can just focus on winning at ACCs and not worry about times. Practices have been geared toward racing rather than endurance so that we are in top form this weekend.”

Both the men and the women easily defeated South Carolina at home in the first meet of the season, but the highly ranked Tigers should prove to be a formidable foe for both squads.

“All of the teams are quite strong, but the greatest challenge will come from Auburn,” Wagner said. “We are looking at this as an opportunity to demonstrate our abilities against the highest caliber teams and establish ourselves in the top 10.”

The last time Virginia faced off against a ranked opponent away from home was on Nov. 8 when the team traveled to Penn State. Both the men and women defeated the nationally ranked Nittany Lions 132-106 and 127-114, respectively.

One of the top performers in that meet was freshman swimmer Francis Crippen, who dominated both the 1650-meter and 500-meter freestyle races, finishing first in both events. Throughout the season, Crippen has been the most successful and consistent swimmer for the Cavaliers.

“Fran contributes a great deal in scoring points at meets, working hard in practice and in helping the team reach its goals,” senior swimmer Dan DeMarco said.

Despite his youth and inexperience, Crippen has outperformed the entire ACC in the 500-meter, 1000-meter and 1650-meter freestyle events. But Crippen has done more than just outswim the entire conference — no swimmer in the ACC has come close to topping him this year.

Although the second-, third- and fourth- place swimmers’ times in the 500-meter are all within two-tenths of a second from each other, Crippen’s time is over 3.5 seconds faster than anyone else in the ACC.

He also holds a five-second advantage over the nearest competitor in the 1000m, and his time in the 1650m is over 22 seconds faster than the rest of the conference.

He has also managed to accomplish all of this while adjusting to University life for the first time.

“Swimming for Virginia has met my expectations,” Crippen said. “Hard work, dedication and team chemistry have been very key. Juggling swimming, schoolwork and a social life is sometimes tough, but I feel I am doing a good job.”

The strength of Auburn and Virginia’s other opponents at the meet this weekend might be enough to force Crippen and his Virginia teammates to drop the ball. But Crippen has confidence that the Cavaliers will be able to end the first half of the season undefeated.

“Every team wants to get some fast times in this half of the year,” he said. “We are definitely ready to race and show the NCAA that we are a force.”

It was in the middle of the televised Duke-Ohio State college basketball game on Tuesday when I found myself consciously searching for a part of the sports world for the first time this semester. Frankly, it hadn’t been that important to me as of late. That’s right, cold-weather fans, I started surfing the channels to find out if there was a hockey game on.

Even though it might not be a “primary sport,” the hockey world is intense. It often takes sub-freezing temperatures to start remembering why I like the sport, but when it hits I can picture the Washington Capitals skating into the MCI Center rink again.

When hockey first comes to mind, one often thinks of Wayne Gretzky, more commonly known as the Great One, and old Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr. The more puzzling question on the average American’s mind is, what is special about hockey now?

Currently we can find in the NHL a lot of quality players and several great or near-great ones, in a competitive league that has 30 teams in six divisions. The hometown Capitals have forward Jaromir Jagr on their roster, a winner of several scoring titles who learned his trade from the great Mario Lemieux, the Gretzky of the 90s, before breaking out on his own.

Once you’ve watched hockey frequently enough, these foreign names will start to ring a bell: the Gonchars, the Konowalchuks and the Niedermayer brothers. It normally doesn’t take a sportswriter to tell people that the one predominately American thing about hockey is the crowd.

That can be a problem up in cities like Detroit, where a few bad apples who share anti-Canada sentiments can ruin a good time with a little booze.

In my experience, however, the only fights you’ll find at hockey games are generally on the ice. Many brawls will continue because players will find grudges against each other or some itch they need to scratch, but hockey is a rough game and the best of players are very physical.

This is the ultimate goal of course, and scoring is complex. After the Bruins and the Dallas Stars, there are 10 teams within five points from each other in a race for the best record in the league, three of which are averaging slightly more than three goals a game. Hence, it’s clear that to win in this league you must be able to score or defend well, and a strong combination of the two may make you a contender.

TheBruins might seem like an old legend to many hockey fans, but after a two-year playoff drought and ducking out of the first round last year, the five-time Stanley Cup champions are off to a hot start this year. Newly re-signed center Joe Thornton, who was just named NHL Player of the Week, has been a large part of their success and recent five-game season.

The powerhouse out West appears to be Dallas, still stepping onto the ice with winning energy after winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. It might surprise many that hockey has a history in Dallas dating back to 1941. Hockey in Texas?

Now the question is whether or not hockey needs more attention, being a rough sport with probably the least diversity among its players. That’s for you to decide, and I’ll make a little more effort over vacation time to find a hockey game.

It’s a harder sport to appreciate on television than most because the game moves so fast. It’s also a sport from the ears, and from personal experience I can say that it takes being at the game to truly absorb the effects of a player being slammed into the outer walls of the rink. It’s a war down there, and there’s so much going that the cameras can’t capture.

I’m not sure what hit me and probably a number of other casual hockey fans at the turn of December, but I’m sure we’ll understand it all when the next snow storm falls and we’re found checking the hockey schedule to find out when we can actually watch a game. Going to a hockey game, whether it be on the college or professional level, could turn out to be more exciting than watching a repeat of last year’s NCAA basketball finals.

‘Tis the season for the good ole hockey game, after all.

ONE YEAR ago today, I wrote a year-end column about how thankful I
was to be here as a transfer student when compared to the hellish experience of freshman year at this school called Carnegie Mellon, a university located approximately 35 miles west of the 7th circle of hell. Slowly, the Web link to the column was passed between hundreds if not thousands of CMU students and alumni. The response to the column basically reinforced my belief that many of the people at CMU are cold and uncaring introverts. Though most people called for my head on a stick, many friends at the University have been asking me to write another column about CMU. But what I needed to respond to was the frequent comment that I had no right to an opinion.

Within hours of a single unnamed friend from CMU reading the column, I was deluged with numerous threats of bodily violence, received close to 100 nasty e-mails, had to turn off my cell phone to avoid the phone calls, and a number of people wrote to the newspaper outraged that I had the audacity to voice an opinion based upon my experience. Someone claiming to be from the CMU student newspaper called up to interview me and the Declaration even rewrote my column for their April Fool’s Day “Caviar Daily” issue. The onslaught continued for a week, but I received nasty e-mails for the next eight months.

Apparently the biggest hit from the column was a reference to this compulsive masturbator friend of mine at CMU. This guy would turn porn on in his apartment and it could be heard on the entire floor. He loved to talk porn movie theory. One of his favorite activities was walking around in public and “squaring up” on objects, including a pole at a Pirates baseball game in front of dozens of people. I’d share more but the guy is paranoid and was deathly afraid to wear his Virginia shirt around CMU for fear that he might be recognized as my friend.

The idea was to write a column that was an efficacious posturing of a more personal tone with a critical opinion to show University students how lucky they are to be here. I can’t help it if CMU provides a sterile and cold environment which breeds cruelty and introversion. CMU’s current quarterback sent an e-mail in which he repeatedly called me “a journalist fag” and threatened to come down to “VU” and hurt me. Maybe I did go over the line in referring to CMU as “evil incarnate,” but not that far.

Also, a lively discussion was started on a CMU Internet bulletin board and close to 100 messages riffed on the column. Oddly enough, some attacked CMU, one person claimed that “CMU is evil, but not for the reasons mentioned,” one writer asked where she could find a “CMU Sucks” shirt, and the conversation slowly degenerated into a conversation on masturbation in public (I wish I were kidding about this, but I’m not). CMU has this old fence in the middle of campus that is painted and guarded every night by assorted student groups, just like Beta Bridge. One night a group made sure to paint “U.Va Sucks” on it. The webmaster at www.dumbengineer.com has nicely posted a link to a picture of the fence and a rundown of the bulletin board thread.

Apparently there were questions as to the validity of my stories, but here is one that is too bizarre to be made up. In the course of a 36-hour period my roommate flooded our bathroom, had a big pot birthday party, used my bed and essays to set up his “stuff” and reported to student services that I might have died. Apparently, he thought my loathing for the school was so extreme that I was waiting for the opportune moment when he went to the shower to lock myself in the room and take my life. For a guy who frequently opened our dorm window and yelled racial epithets out the window and liked to moon me and others, this was standard operating procedure to assume suicide. When someone acts so utterly devoid of intelligence you can’t help but laugh. Even someone who’s racist is entitled to his own opinion.

After all, what can you expect from a school that sanctioned a recent art graduate student to build a shanty on campus, live there for three months, attach himself to the building by rope, take no courses, remain silent and complete a variety of performance activities such as using Nordic Track equipment attached to the roof — the whole time dressed as a lobster. He would occasionally relieve himself in private into a jar with a big label that said, “piss jug.” But give him credit, he’s had some serious adversity to deal with, as he was the victim of a house invasion by a few frat boys (his vow of silence even prevented him from speaking to authorities about his attackers) and was evicted by CMU after it was discovered that his shack wasn’t up to fire code.

My only regret was not spending more than 20 minutes on a column that would be read by so many. Everyone at CMU felt the need to write to me because I was wrong for printing a column that shined a negative light on their school. School spirit is great, but not when it’s blind spirit that resorts to intimidation and oppression of opinion. From the above paragraphs and the column last year, it can be seen that I have the experience and the right to criticize.

I have spoken to a number of people who were ecstatic to have passed on the opportunity to go to CMU, but I only know of one case in which my words convinced someone to avoid CMU. You can disagree with me but don’t tell me I don’t have the right to an opinion.

(Brad Cohen’s column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at bcohen@cavalierdaily.com.)