The Virginia wrestling team returns to action Saturday, hosting a quad meet at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers look to keep on rolling after picking up two victories last weekend against ACC rival North Carolina and Davidson. With the wins, Virginia’s season record improved to 3-2.

The Cavaliers are led by their nationally ranked duo of No. 2 Scott Moore and No. 12 Tim Foley. On the season, Moore has been named ACC Wrestler of the Week three times and is 32-0 in the 141-pound weight class, with 23 wins coming by fall. Last weekend, Moore was particularly impressive as he recorded two falls in a combined time of 2:47. Foley, who wrestles at 165 pounds, brings a record of 20-3.

The matches against Old Dominion, Kent State and Virginia Tech, which are scheduled to begin at noon, all will take place within six hours. To most, this may seem like a demanding task, but the reasoning behind the scheduling quirk is quite sound, Virginia coach Lenny Bernstein said. Basically, it is all about preparation for the time of the year that really counts — the postseason.

“We schedule three matches together for that reason, to get ready for ACCs and Nationals,” Bernstein said.

As if preparation for the postseason is not enough motivation for the Cavaliers, the match against that certain team from Blacksburg proves that rivalries are not just meant for revenue sports.

“We love Tech,” 157-pounder Paul Bjorlo said tongue-in-cheek. “It is the same thing as in football.”

Like Moore and Foley, Bjorlo is enjoying his own successful individual season with 21 victories thus far.

Bernstein did not simply look at the Hokies as a rival to be beaten simply for the sake of pride or bragging rights. He emphasized the quality of their team, despite an up-and-down season thus far.

“Virginia Tech is always a big match for us,” Bernstein said. “They have some really solid individuals. They are going to give us a really solid match.”

The Cavaliers should also have revenge on their minds this weekend. Virginia last faced Kent State in a quad meet two years ago in Charlottesville. On that day, the Golden Flashes throttled the Cavaliers and earned an easy 33-10 victory en route to a first place finish.

But while Kent State has struggled this season, many of their losses came in squeakers against tough competition. As a result, the Golden Flashes have been unable to gain momentum.

“Kent State is a tough team,” Bernstein said. “We lost to them two years ago, so we will be looking for revenge.”

Old Dominion’s season has mirrored that of the Hokies. The Monarchs have been unable to string together a long series of wins, but they will bring a hungry squad to Mem Gym.

The importance of this weekend’s meet is compounded by the fact that Virginia’s next five matches, including two in the ACC against N.C. State and Duke, are on the road.

Based on last weeks results, the Cavaliers seem to be well on their way to running off a series of wins after a slow start to the dual season.

“If we wrestle like with did against North Carolina,” Bjorlo said, “we will get the victories.”

The 9th ranked men’s and 18th ranked women’s swimming and diving teams return home this weekend to face Pittsburgh in their last home meet before the ACC tournament.

Pittsburgh, whose men are No. 16 in the country, has markedly improved its swimming programs in the past few years. The men’s team is the defending Big East Champion and the women finished in the top 40 last year at the NCAA championships.

Despite the Cavaliers’ higher national rankings, Virginia coach Mark Bernardino isn’t counting on smooth sailing for Sunday’s match.

“We expect a tough meet this weekend,” Bernardino said. “They’re one of the upgrades we made to our schedule five or six years ago. It’s a big time swimming program and a big time swimming state. Our goal is to continue to swim well and hopefully be victorious when the weekend’s over.”

The diving events will be crucial matchups for both teams Sunday. Pittsburgh always has had a strong diving program, but if the Cavaliers dive well, it help ensure a Virginia triumph.

“Our divers are really improving this year,” Virginia assistant coach Bill Smyth said. “I think with the rapid improvement of our divers versus their divers, that’s a key match to watch. If we can win the relays and provide a lot of depth in the individual races, we’re going to be a tough team to beat this weekend.”

The Cavaliers are coming off strong performances last weekend at North Carolina and Duke. The men won both meets, while the women defeated the Blue Devils but fell to the No. 15 Tar Heels.

Junior captain Michael Raab, who swept both butterfly events in Chapel Hill, said he sees no reason why the Panthers should pose much of a threat this weekend.

“I think the way we look and the way Pittsburgh looks right now, we should have a real easy victory,” Raab said. “We’ve been swimming real well lately, and I see no reason why that shouldn’t carry into Sunday.”

A strong performance at home versus Pittsburgh could also help generate some momentum before the team returns to Charlottesville for the conference tournament.

“I think everybody is just trying to see how fast we can get going into ACC’s,” said freshman Kimi Kelly, who won three individual events in last Sunday’s match versus the Tar Heels.

Many swimmers are looking at this meet as one of their last opportunities to fine tune their technique before the playoff run.

“We want to have our little things down pat,” Raab said. “It’s our last home dress rehearsal before the championships. It’s going to be important to have your last routine down.”

One variable that could contribute to a Cavalier victory is that the team will be swimming in friendly waters.

“Every time we’re at the AFC, I think we have a huge advantage just because of the crowd support and we don’t have to worry about traveling,” Raab said.

Bernardino also said the strong community presence can have a huge impact.

“This is a small and loud building. It’s been over time a very uncomfortable building for opponents to come into,” Bernardino said. “We want it packed, we want it enthusiastic and we believe that can really help put a team and athletes forward individually to help us win again.”

This atmosphere may help explain the record of the teams during home matches. The men are 30-5 all-time in the AFC and have won 28 out of their last 29. The women are 30-3 overall in home meets.

The Cavaliers have been picked to finish seventh in the 2004 ACC Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll. Last season Virginia posted a 29-25 overall record and an 11-12, sixth-place ACC finish.

Last year’s ACC tournament champion Georgia Tech was picked as a heavy favorite to win the conference, receiving six of nine total first place votes. The Yellow Jackets will return eight of nine position starters from their 44-win team.

Florida State, the 2003 ACC regular season champion, also received a first place vote, but was picked to finish second. Clemson, North Carolina and N.C. State round out the top five with Wake Forest picked to finish sixth and only Duke and Maryland picked to finish behind the Cavaliers.

Despite an unofficial agreement, the Cavalier football team will not face the University of Texas El Paso Miners in 2004.

The two schools had agreed to play in El Paso this year and in Charlottesville in 2005, but new Miners coach Mike Price has decided the Cavaliers don’t fit into his plans for the next couple of seasons.

Virginia must now find an eleventh game to fill its 2004 schedule. The current home schedule includes games against non-conference opponents Syracuse and Akron, and conference foes Maryland, Clemson, North Carolina and Miami. ACC opponents Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Duke are set to host the Cavaliers.

With the eleventh matchup still undecided, the Cavaliers may end up with seven home games in the upcoming season. Syracuse is slated to come to Charlottesville for the season opener, but these plans may change pending the release of the official 2004 conference schedule.

With fatigue being a major barrier for teams toward the end of the regular season and into the postseason, a deep bench can mean the difference between packing your bags for the tournament, and packing your gear up until next year.

With March Madness quickly approaching, the Virginia women’s basketball team will look to their bench increasingly for contributions. Last night against No. 10 ACC powerhouse North Carolina, the bench players gave spectators a preview of their potentially significant role in the future of the team’s season.

“Our bench knows that the starters are the starters,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “But I think [the bench] has been playing consistently. We’ve been spreading the minutes pretty evenly to give everyone a chance.”

In the first half, the Cavalier offense was dominated by bench players, who produced 26 of 30 halftime points. Freshman center Siedah Williams was the only player to score in double figures for Virginia in the first half, netting 10 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. She finished the game 8-11 with 18 points and also added three offensive rebounds and two blocked shots.

“Siedah has been in a little bit of a slump,” Ryan said. “But she came in focused tonight and poised to play, and she really helped us.”

Virginia’s leading scorer, junior forward Brandi Teamer, came off the bench for nine minutes against the Tar Heels. Playing in her first game following a five-game absence, she contributed five points and four rebounds. With her fifth point, Teamer reached 1,000 points for her career, becoming only the 21st Cavalier in history to achieve the mark in women’s basketball.

“I knew my minutes would be limited,” Teamer said. “I used whatever time I got and tried to make the best of it to match the team’s intensity and give a full effort.”

In addition to the 23 points delivered by Williams and Teamer, four other Virginia players came off the bench to combine for 19 points, giving the Cavaliers 42 total bench points for the game, more than half of their final total.

Backup center Deidra Chatman gave significant contributions to the Virginia offense despite playing only ten minutes. She was a perfect 3-3 from the field, contributing 10 total points and three rebounds.

Forward Anna Crosswhite was another reserve who provided an offensive boost for the Cavaliers during their second half run. Midway through the second half, the senior converted on a three-point play to tie the game and energize her teammates.

While a popular belief in college basketball is that defense wins championships, no amount of defense can make up for the likely shortcomings resulting from fatigue brought about by a short bench.

The Cavaliers will continue to look for depth in their bench for the remainder of the season, in hopes that it can continue to spark the offense and send Virginia to its 21st straight NCAA tournament appearance.

Virginia had the No. 10 Tar Heels exactly where they wanted them — until the last 20 seconds of the game.

After keeping UNC’s star freshman Ivory Latta under wraps for almost the entire game, the Virginia defense allowed her to score 10 crucial points in the last six minutes. In addition to two consecutive three-pointers, she had the final steal and lay-up with eight seconds to go that put the exclamation mark on the Tar Heel win.

“She buried threes at the end of the game,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “And that buried us. We have no excuses, we just broke down.”

The breakdown not only allowed Latta’s run, but changed the entire tone of the game. In the last 20 seconds, the Cavaliers were a different team. They miscommunicated, left their players unmarked and allowed Latta that crucial steal.

“We were right there, ready to win the game,” senior guard Anna Prillaman said. “It’s devastating to lose to UNC at home.”

While Carolina maintained a lead for almost the entire first half, Virginia pulled through at the end of the half with a 10-0 run to gain the lead by two.

Despite only controlling the lead for 17 seconds, Virginia led statistically almost all across the board. They out-rebounded the Tar Heels 22-14 in addition to scoring more second-chance points, more points off turnovers, and more points in the paint.

The entire Virginia team seemed to be taking equal stock in this game. Twenty-six of their 30 first-half points were scored off the bench. Freshman center Siedah Williams was one of the key bench players with 10 points and two rebounds. She stayed on her game throughout the second half, finishing with 18 points.

Junior forward Brandi Teamer came back from an absence to become the 21st Virginia women’s basketball player to score 1,000 points in her career.

Coming out of halftime, it looked like the Cavaliers had advantage. With an enthusiastic home crowd behind them, Virginia maintained their hot hand early in the second half. Junior forward Kate Kreager sunk Virginia’s first three-pointer of the game in the first 20 seconds after halftime.

North Carolina, however, improved on their weaknesses after the break — especially rebounding, pulling down eight offensive rebounds after the break.

“Rebounding is a big key,” Carolina sophomore forward La’Tangela Atkinson said. “If you rebound, you’ll win the game.”

The Tar Heels also utilized the combination of explosive freshman Ivory Latta and a severe Virginia defensive breakdown in the final minutes of the game.

“We did a lot of things great,” Ryan said. “But we had breakdowns at the end. It was, in my opinion, ridiculous.”

The Cavaliers said they hope to put the demoralizing lose behind them as they travel to Wake Forest on Sunday in hopes of keeping their NCAA tournament chances alive.

“We don’t have any momentum right now,” Prillaman said. “But we can move on very easily. Every game has got to be an individual effort.”

The Virginia House of Delegates approved proposed changes to the state Constitution regarding gubernatorial succession in the event of an emergency or enemy attack in Virginia.

The changes expand the list of gubernatorial successors in the event of an emergency or attack and the resulting inability of the House of Delegates to meet and fill a vacancy in the Governor’s office. They also allow the General Assembly to waive certain requirements for the Attorney General or House Speaker to succeed to the Governor’s office in event of the same emergency or attack.

Proposed constitutional amendments must be passed by both houses in two successive sessions, with an election separating the two. Both houses approved the amendment last year, and it now needs only Senate approval in this year’s session to pass.

–Compiled by Shannon Sturcken and Christopher Jones

University of Virginia Art Museum officials announced the winners of the museum’s 17th annual Writer’s Eye competition this week.

Ranging in age from third-graders to adults, more than 940 students participated in the event, which was organized by museum docents. Submissions consisted of prose and poetry compositions inspired by selected works displayed at the museum.

The winners of the University/Adult poetry competition were Claire Whitenack in first place, Michael Rutherglen in second and Jennifer Whitenack in third, according to a press release.

In the University/Adult prose competition, Majorie Shepherd took first place, Sarah Honenberger second and Nancy Beretz third.

This year’s event was sponsored by the publisher of the Writer’s Eye Anthology, Barnes & Noble and Howell Press. The anthology will be available for purchase at the museum.

In a rare convening of the Student Council Rules and Ethics Board, Curtis Ofori appealed Council Executive Vice President Rabeen Pasha’s decision to prematurely end his term as a College representative to Council.

“Rep. Ofori has been a great addition to the Council, and I regret that we had to go down this road,” Pasha told the Board. “I would like to believe that everything the representative body did was fair.”

Pasha unilaterally removed Ofori and Ben Hicks, also a College representative, from Council on Dec. 2 because they had transferred to the McIntire School of Commerce.

Hicks did not appeal his removal.

Ofori testified that he ran and was elected as a College representative in the spring of 2003 before he knew that he would be accepted into the Commerce School.

He maintained that his ability to fairly represent the College would not be affected by his enrollment in the Commerce school because Commerce and College students share most basic concerns and because he is currently pursuing a second major in the College.

Ofori argued that he would be able to interact with College students, despite being enrolled in the Commerce School, and represent them fairly on Council.

“I ran [for office] from the school I was in and that was the spirit of the law,” said Ofori. “A membership requirement, once met, stays met.”

According to Ofori, a precedent was set when Honor Committee member Brad Robinson retained his position on the Honor Committee even though he transferred to the Commerce school after being elected by the College.

Pasha countered that Student Council and the Honor Committee are separate bodies with different purposes.

Ofori said that he believed “a hasty decision was made without a thorough review of the facts.”

“It is up to the Board to interpret the constitutionality,” he added.

Pasha claimed that not enforcing the Council’s constitution would harm the institution of student self-governance and the ideal of fair representation among the different schools at the University.

“This is a plain execution of the constitution and the by-laws,” Pasha said. “There was no decision on my part. The rules make sure that there is equal representation among the schools.”

The Rules and Ethics Board will file a written decision within 72 business hours of the completion of the hearing.

Since Virginia implemented the Standards of Learning graduation requirements in 1998, the pressure is on for Charlottesville High School to reach full accreditation before its provisional status expires at the end of next year.

Beginning this year, Virginia students who fail required SOL tests will not receive high school diplomas, regardless of their school’s accreditation status.

The situation troubles Del. Mitch Van Yahres, D-Charlottesville, who proposed an unsuccessful bill to the House of Delegates Monday that would have given leeway to students who failed the SOL exams but were otherwise eligible to graduate.

“The school could not use the Standard of Learning test as the sole criteria for withholding the diploma in a school that was not accredited,” Van Yahres said.

Van Yahres emphasized that students should not be held accountable for their school’s underperformance and that denying high school students a diploma as a result of poor SOL performance can be destructive.

“I think it’s wrong to penalize the students because they are failing in a failing school,” Van Yahres said.

The proposal was voted down with little opposition because most delegates said they were opposed to easing standards that have been gradually put into place over the past several years.

In the meantime, CHS is working toward accreditation and success for its students, school officials said.

“Charlottesville High School has not yet been accredited, but they are working very hard to make sure students who have not passed have the opportunity to be successful,” Charlottesville School Board Chair Linda Bowen said.

To earn full accreditation, CHS must reach a pass rate of 70 percent in the four core SOL tests: English, math, science and history. After this year, provisional accreditation status will no longer exist — schools either will be accredited fully or accredited with warning.

“Students are doing well in English; however, math and history continue to be a problem,” said Harley Miles, coordinator of testing and staff development at the superintendent’s office.

Although Charlottesville test scores have improved steadily since 1998, English was the only core area during the 2001-2002 school year in which students passed the 70 percent mark. Sixty-nine percent of students passed the history requirement, 65 percent passed the science requirement and only 52 percent passed the math requirement that year, according to the Charlottesville School Board Web site.

In response to the struggling test scores, CHS has created tutoring programs during lunch and additional programs after school, Bowen said.

As the SOL test scores make Virginia schools accountable for low pass rates, school officials point out that they also can have an effect on individual students.

“Accountability is not inherently bad,” Miles said. “It is the process you go through to reach accountability.”

Under the SOL requirements, students must earn 21 credits, including six verified credits, in order to graduate. To earn a verified credit, a student must pass the class and the corresponding SOL exam. A failure on an SOL exam will result in failure to earn the corresponding verified credit.

As of this year, if students fall short of their credit requirements, they will not be eligible to earn a diploma even if their high school has failed to gain accreditation. By 2006 schools without accreditation will be forced to take measures toward improvement but will not face any formal penalties.