Yesterday, the University was confronted with a racially motivated attack on one of its own members. The overall response by the community has been heartening. The “Community Reflection and Response” was organized in mere hours yesterday, and attended by hundreds of students. Student Council, the Coalition and Sustained Dialogue have organized an open meeting for student concerns today at noon.

But the extraordinary response from the community also should demonstrate the depraved nature of this crime. The assailant has brought disgrace and shame to this University. We must confront the reality that this is not the community we have thought we live in, and work to address a problem that too many of us have denied exists.

We should be ashamed that we’ve refused to fully acknowledge the presence of intolerance and prejudice against those of every race at the University. We should be ashamed that when someone shows up to a fraternity party in blackface — dressed as “Uncle Sambo” — we shake our heads and let the problem fade back into the current of underground racism.

The assault of a biracial student — simply because she wanted to serve as a leader to the University community — should shake the University from the idealized notion that true equality exists in our community. However, the biggest task we face is where to go from here. Our shame should not turn into complacency. Feelings of disgrace should not make us turn away from this incident. We should not try to weather this storm, or hope that this incident just passes us by.

There are many at this school who are not properly educated about race. The educational opportunities exist, from teach-ins to social events to discussion groups. And unfortunately, although these are sure to be better attended after this incident, the people in our community who are the most ignorant of race probably won’t be participating in these events. It takes courage for people to challenge their own ignorance, and we must expect this courage not only of others, but also of ourselves.

There are many avenues in which students can educate themselves. One such example is the Passport Program, a newly-created collaborative project between many administrative and student organizations, including the Dean of Students Office, the Coalition, the Women’s Center and the Office of African-American Affairs. Students in this program are forced to confront their discomfort and unfamiliarity with other cultures, by going to events outside of their comfort level and share their experiences with each other.

This program is one of the countless educational opportunities that students need desperately to use to the fullest potential. When addressing multicultural concerns, administrative and student groups should do everything they can to strongly encourage participation in these programs.

The University is known for its diversity; we have high minority retention and graduation rates, and enrollment for minorities is also considerably high when compared to peer institutions.

But diversity cannot be gauged solely in percentages. The real measure of diversity comes in the interactions between students. So long as a student feels uncomfortable around a group of his peers simply because they are a different race, racial barriers will exist at the University. If anything good can come of recent events, it is that hopefully now people will no longer be able to pretend that these barriers do not exist.

According to ESPN’s John Clayton, former Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis may return to the team less than one year after his retirement. Davis, a former NFL rushing leader, agreed to a contract in principle and hoped to have a finalized deal Wednesday. His return would boost an already-talented Denver backfield, which last season included three former 1000 yard rushers.

Davis earned Super Bowl MVP honors in Super Bowl XXXII, rushing for 157 yards and three touchdowns in an upset victory over the Green Bay Packers. The following year, Davis posted the best season of his career, rushing for 2008 yards and winning the NFL’s MVP Award.

Prior to the ACC Men’s basketball tournament in Greensboro, the conference will hold a celebratory bash on Wednesday, March 12 to commemorate its 50th anniversary. At the gala, ACC representatives will announce the 10 greatest athletes in conference history, and reveal some of the league’s greatest moments. Former Cavalier and National Basketball Player of the Year Ralph Sampson will be in attendance, along with a smorgasbord of past ACC stars, including NC State basketball standout David Thompson and Florida State two-sport star Charlie Ward.

The snow of 2003 claimed another victim Wednesday as the Virginia women’s lacrosse game at William & Mary was postponed due to inclement weather. The game was to be the opener for the third-ranked Cavaliers, who now will open the season at Syracuse on Saturday. A make-up date for the contest against the Tribe has yet to be determined.

The Cavaliers are scheduled to play sixteen lacrosse games this season, including home matches against nonconference foes Princeton and Penn State.

As the student body files away for spring break, the women Cavaliers will take the court one last time this regular season at U-Hall to host the No. 7 Carolina Tar Heels.

North Carolina (24-3, 12-2 ACC) defeated Virginia (14-12, 8-7) in their meeting at Chapel Hill 74-54 earlier this season, but Virginia has shown it is a different team at home than it is on the road, picking up six of its eight conference wins at home.

Virginia started ACC play by losing four straight games in early January and dropping to eighth in the conference. Since then, the Cavaliers have catapulted to the No. 3 spot in the conference–with an ACC record of above .500 and a winning overall record.

It has been a rocky road thus far for Virginia, but with a 20th consecutive NCAA appearance at stake, the Cavaliers must prepare for the ACC tournament March 7-10. Winning the tournament would give Virginia an automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA tournament, but without a strong showing in the conference tournament Virginia’s 12 (potentially 13) losses could keep the Cavaliers from getting a bid. The team won’t, however, be thinking about NCAAs on Sunday.

“No, I’m not going to talk about that,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “That’s not something we really need to focus on right now. We need to focus on just playing the next game. This is not a team that needs to focus on things like that; I don’t think that helps this team. It probably helps us not to talk about it.”

Although a win Sunday would not elevate Virginia to the Tar Heels No. 2 spot in the conference, it would do a great deal to build the Cavaliers confidence in their ability to beat a top 10 team going into the ACC tournament. Both North Carolina and Duke are in the top 10, and Virginia has not beaten either team so far this season.

“I think that if we beat them, then that will build our confidence a lot more from where it is now,” sophomore guard and leading scorer Cherrise Graham said.

Virginia played close to North Carolina early, going into the half down just one point. The Tar Heels, however, out scored Virginia 48-29 in the second half, pulling away in the final ten minutes.

“I think we played them very well for 30 minutes down there, maybe a little over 30 minutes,” Ryan said. “We’re just going to have to play our game and try to rebound with them. I think that’s the key to Carolina, being able to rebound with them to neutralize their athleticism a little bit.”

Virginia was out rebounded by Carolina in their last match 51-46, but gave up an even larger offensive rebounding margin of 12 and had a season high 27 turnovers.

Since losing to North Carolina, however, Virginia committed over 20 turnovers just once at No. 2 Duke and won six of the seven games since losing to Carolina. In the Cavaliers’ win over Florida State Sunday, the team committed just 13 turnovers.

Since defeating the Seminoles, Virginia has had an entire week to recuperate and prepare for Carolina.

“We have a week to get ready for Carolina, and I think it will be a good opportunity to give the players some time off,” Ryan said. “But we won’t take a lot of time off, we’ll take maybe two days this week off and use the rest to get ready for Carolina.”

Beating Carolina would solidify Virginia’s place at No. 3 in the ACC and give the Cavaliers a winning record in the conference.While North Carolina is assured of staying above Virginia, they also have an opportunity to overthrow Duke and lead the ACC if Duke loses the rest of their games. Yet Virginia will try to focus on the game at hand and not the implications of the outcome.

“I think what it really comes down to is whether we want to win, what we want to do with the end of our season,” Graham said. “We really think we can beat Carolina, and we’re going to play to win. We’re going to focus on beating Carolina and let that take us from there.”

The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team will attempt to win their fifth consecutive conference title beginning today in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina’s Koury Natatorium will host the 42nd annual ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, a three-day meet ending on Saturday.

Virginia enters the competition regarded as the favorite in the eight-team field. The Cavaliers (8-1, 5-0 ACC)–ranked ninth nationally –share the top spot in the ACC with Florida State (11-2, 3-0), a team they did not face in dual meets. North Carolina is the third team which poses a legitimate threat to take the title, swimming in their home pool, and clinging to the No. 25 ranking in the Coaches Poll.

The Seminoles defeated Carolina in a dual on Jan. 11, 162-138. Despite both of their losses coming at the hands of ranked teams–No. 8 Florida and No. 18 BYU–Florida St. remains on the outside of the top 25 looking in.

The Cavaliers have not failed to meet expectations in 2003. Following a season that boasted 14 of the 30 All-ACC team members, as well as ACC men’s swimmer of the year and ACC Meet MVP Luke Anderson, Virginia has dominated ACC opponents. The Cavaliers have won all five duals by an average of 50.4 points.

The single blemish on Virginia’s record came from a visit to then No. 11 Tennessee. The Volunteers broke a 113-113 tie with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of the meet. The Volunteer foursome recorded a time of 3:02.74, edging the Cavaliers’ Jon Haag, Guy Yimsomruay, Ethan McCoy and Michael Raab by 1.59 seconds.

Virginia is 4-1 this year against ranked teams. Their non-conference schedule included trips to No. 2 Auburn, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 16 Pittsburgh and No. 17 Penn State. In the weak ACC, head coach Mark Bernardino believes in the importance of preparing his swimmers and divers for the postseason.

“We have athletes who really haven’t learned any of the lessons of a defeat in a really long time,” Bernardino said. “I’ve always believed that it behooves you to swim against people who are as good or better than you because that’s the only way you can improve. Ultimately what that will do is prepare the athletes for the most important competitions of the year which are the conference championships and the NCAAs.”

One of the main reasons for the lack of experience in defeat is Anderson, the six foot-five inch junior from Charlottesville. Anderson comes from an athletic lineage. Born to Carl, a former football captain for Joe Paterno at Penn State, and brother to Brian, a former UNC All-American lacrosse player, Luke has added several honors and awards to the family mantel–12-time ACC champion, 9-time All-American, and one of only fifteen Virginia swimmers named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Men’s Swimming and Diving Team.

Anderson holds the fastest times in the ACC this season in both the 50 freestyle (19.95) and 100 freestyle (43.82). He set school records in the same events last season, posting times of 19.68 and 43.08, respectively.

A victory would place Bernardino’s 1999-2003 squad into an elite fraternity alongside the 1991-1995 men’s soccer team and the 1983-1987 women’s outdoor track team as the only programs in school history to win five conference championships in a row. The early 1990s Virginia soccer dynasty was led by current U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena, who went on to guide a young club to the best World Cup finish in U.S. history in South Korea/Japan last summer.

While Arena used his collegiate success as a launching pad to the pro ranks — he led the D.C. United to two MLS Cups in three seasons — Bernardino has seen his 25-year Virginia coaching career peak in the last five seasons.

“Every year is a new year and every journey for the championship is a new journey — a new quest,” said Bernardino. “You never really get to the top of the mountain.”

With six overall ACC titles to his name, Bernardino may not have reached the top of his profession — but with a little help from Anderson, he could join the ranks as one of the most successful coaches in Virginia sports history.

With spring break just around the corner, most Virginia students are preoccupied with thoughts of rest and relaxation. The No. 4 men’s lacrosse team, however, has another “r-word” on their minds: revenge.

The Cavaliers (1-0) head to No. 1 Syracuse on Saturday to face an Orangeman team (1-0) that beat Virginia twice last season, including once in the NCAA national semifinals to end the season for the Cavaliers. Virginia then travels to Princeton to battle the No. 2 Tigers a week later on March 8.

Although Virginia will be up against some of the toughest competition in the country, the Cavaliers are looking forward to the chance of avenging last year’s Final Four loss.

“They’re going to pay,” Virginia midfielder A.J. Shannon said. “They’re going to be a good team, but we’re going to take it to them. It’s been a long time; our class hasn’t beaten them. You don’t want to say one game is more important than the other, but this one is important, especially for the seniors. We’ve had enough of always losing close games to Syracuse.”

Both the Cavaliers and the Orangemen opened their schedules last weekend with equally decisive wins, Virginia dismissing Drexel 19-8 and the Orangemen pounding Army 15-7, but Syracuse has had the Cavaliers’ number for the last three seasons. Virginia has not beaten the Orangemen since 1999, the year the Cavaliers won the national championship.

This Virginia squad feels they may be the ones to turn the tide. The Cavaliers graduated only two starters from last season while Syracuse lost five.

“They’ve had a lot of changes on defense,” Shannon said. “But, their attack is still dynamite even though they lost [first team All-America Josh] Coffman. We don’t know much about their midfield units, but they probably have a lot of guys able to step up.”

Last year the Cavaliers fell to the Orangeman at home 15-13 in the season opener. This season, the game will be played in the warmth of the Carrier Dome, a stark contrast to the frigid winter temperature the team has become accustomed to.

“It’s going to be 75 degrees,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “We’re going to need more players throughout the game because we’re not going to have played in conditions like 75 degrees before the game. We haven’t taken our sweats off all year.”

The unseasonable heat seems only appropriate conditions to play in for a Virginia team that has a burning desire for revenge.

“It’s one we’ve been waiting for for a long time, ever since that last whistle blew in the Final Four,” senior midfielder Chris Rotelli said. “We need to play better and pick up the level of intensity, but I think we will.”

The Cavaliers defeated national runner-up Princeton at home 13-11 last season, but will have to face the Tigers, last year’s national runner-up on enemy turf. Princeton opens its season this Saturday against Johns Hopkins, a rematch of last season’s other national semifinal.

While the stakes might not be as high as a Final Four game, the Cavaliers know that both their pride and their reputation are on the line.

The University twice previously has looked into allegations of impropriety in Facilities Management by Contracts Manager L.T. “Spike” Weeks and painting contractor John Sandalis, according to sources familiar with the investigations. These investigations previously had not been revealed.

Last month, The Cavalier Daily received a receipt from a Western Union money transfer that indicated Weeks had accepted $300 from John Sandalis, the former owner of Dalis Painting Inc., a company that contracts with the University.

Another receipt also obtained showed a $374.37 purchase from Davis TV and Appliances, made out to Weeks and paid for with a Dalis Painting check.

Both documents dated from 1992. Weeks has worked with the University for more than 20 years, and Sandalis began contracting with the University in 1990.

Such transactions represent a violation of contracting rules under the Commonwealth of Virginia Purchasing Manual for Institutions of Higher Education.

In a recent development, Ed Kirby, the owner of Rainbow Painting, said he complained about the relationship between Sandalis and Weeks last year. Kirby lost a job to paint Maury Hall to Dalis Painting last April.

Kirby said he sent a letter to Eric Denby, director of Procurement Services, Nov. 15, 2002. In the letter, Kirby said he thought his contract had been terminated unfairly.

“I sent copies of the Western Union” receipt and the Davis TV and Appliance receipt, Kirby said.

Kirby supplied The Cavalier Daily with a copy of Denby’s response to his Nov. 15 letter, dated Dec. 3, 2002.

“I have thoroughly reviewed the contents of that letter and have concluded that your allegations are mistaken, without basis or false,” Denby’s letter said. “Accordingly, I have determined that no action in response to your letter would be appropriate, and none will be taken. This concludes this matter.”

Denby said in January of this year, he had not previously investigated the matter and had not heard about it until it became public.

Denby did not return phone calls yesterday.

Sandalis also was investigated by the University sometime between 1995 and 1997 for impropriety involving Facilities Management, according to a source familiar with the investigation, who asked not to be identified.

“There was an investigation by U.Va. at that time for paying bribes for building inspectors,” the source said. “I don’t remember where it ended or how it ended.”

Sandalis continued to contract with the University as owner of Dalis Painting until last year.

After Kirby made the allegations against Weeks and Sandalis public in January, the University began an investigation headed by Director of Audits Barbara Deily.

Since then, all calls seeking comment have been directed to University Spokesperson Carol Wood.

“The investigation is ongoing,” Wood said. Investigations “do take time.”

Following an assault on Student Council presidential candidate Daisy Lundy early yesterday morning, the University wasted no time in espousing support for Lundy and condemning the attack.

Students, faculty and community members congregated in the Newcomb hall ballroom yesterday afternoon to discuss the assault and the state of race relations at the University.

“We are here to chart a path to lead us out of this cold winter evening and into a bright day,” said Karen Holt, director for the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and host of the event.

Hundreds of participants packed the meeting space, overflowing out the doors, as administrators, student leaders and local religious figures spoke. Lundy was in attendance, though she declined comment and left before the end of the event.

After one hour of oration, students were encouraged to break up into small groups for discussion. Council and the Coalition also announced a discussion forum to generate ideas for reform of student governance for later that night, although the event was postponed.

Speakers strongly urged students to involve themselves in discourse on the matter and encouraged the community to take decisive action.

President John T. Casteen, III was unable to attend the meeting because he was en route from New York. Casteen did, however, issue a statement decrying the assault.

“This intolerable act insults and offends this community’s core values, including racial tolerance, civility and mutual respect,” Casteen said. “I ask all members of the University to raise their voices against acts of intolerance and violence — whether they are committed by one member of the community or by many.”

Casteen also announced the University is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Lundy’s assailant.

Several speakers at yesterday’s gathering addressed the issue of racist attitudes at the University, grouping the Lundy attack with recent events including students dressing in blackface at a fraternity Halloween event last October.

“This [attack] shows the waning of commitment at the University on issues that affect African-American students in the community,” African American Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner said. “Something has to happen to the culture.”

Turner expressed extreme frustration with the state of racial relations, noting that, despite the fact that the University boasts the highest African-American graduation rate in the country among public colleges and universities, such incidents of racial conflict destroy the school’s good name.

Council President Micah Schwartz apologized to students for what he said was a failure on the part of all student leaders, including himself, to help improve the racial environment at the University, and for the events leading up to Lundy’s assault.

“I hope the community can grow stronger from this,” Schwartz said. “We are all working for the same goals. I hope we can unite around a hope for a more fair and balanced community.”

Administrators also responded yesterday to concerns regarding student security. University Spokesperson Carol Wood noted security already was at an upgraded level due to heightened fears of terror, resulting in the quick response after Lundy’s attack.

“Even so, we need to be careful,” Wood said. “Students need to take care of each other.”

–Associate Editors Whitney Garrison and Riley McDonald contributed to this report.

Former Colorado Democratic Senator Gary Hart offered a vision for the “Restoration of the Republic” in Jefferson Hall last night, as part of the Jefferson Society’s ongoing speakers series.

“Tonight I am announcing my candidacy,” Hart began, before intentionally correcting himself, eliciting a hearty laugh from the audience. “It’s an old suit,” he added.

Hart’s speech lasted for about 25 minutes and was followed by a question and answer session. The address was one of three major policy speeches Hart will give in anticipation of a potential run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.

A member of the Jefferson Society, who knew Hart from Oxford University, made the senator aware of the society’s reputation as an upholder of the Jeffersonian tradition of public speaking at the University, and Hart decided he wanted to come, Jefferson Society Vice President Jeff Lynn said.

Throughout his speech, Hart emphasized the need for civic responsibility in the American system.

“We are not only a democracy of rights,” Hart said. “We are a democracy of duties.”

Hart said our future rests on four new realities or revolutions, in the areas of globalization, information, sovereignty and conflict.

Hart also did not refrain from criticizing the policies of President Bush’s administration.

“The American people should not say, ‘I think we ought to take out Saddam Hussein,’ whatever that idiotic phrase means,” he said. “The military will be stuck with a bitter, urban conflict where casualties mount.”

President Bush should not only share the best case scenario in the case of war, but also the worst case scenario, particularly in terms of financing the war, Hart said.

Hart was cautiously optimistic about his chances in securing the Democratic Party’s nomination.

“I think it would be a tough race,” he said. “But I believe almost all of my political campaigns have been uphill.”

Hart has no need to worry about climbing any political hill, Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato said.

“Democrats believe they have a real chance to win in 2004, and they aren’t about to pick a scandal drenched retread from the 1980s,” Sabato said. “He cannot seriously imagine being nominated for President.”

Lynn said he found Hart polished and well spoken.

“He calls himself cerebral and I think he’s right,” Lynn said. “It’s rare to hear a politician speak at a level you’re accustomed to in the classroom.”