POLITICS, they say, is the art of the possible. That art was censored last week when Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said that bills will not reach the floor if they do not have the backing of a majority of Republican representatives. Besides revealing the farce that is bipartisanship, Hastert’s move shows a basic contempt for privileging the public good over selfish interests.

This victory for negligence had a very real and immediate consequence: the failure of the 9/11 Commission-recommended Intelligence Overhaul Bill. As noted in The Washington Post, “In a closed meeting in the Capitol basement, [Hastert] urged his GOP colleagues to back the intelligence bill that had emerged from long House-Senate negotiations and had President Bush’s support. When a surprising number refused, Hastert elected to keep it from reaching a vote, even though his aides said it could have passed with a minority of GOP members and strong support from the chamber’s 206 Democrats.”

Hastert’s doctrine is not without a rationale, dangerous as it may be. In a November 2003 speech, Hastert articulated that one of his main principles as speaker was to “please the majority of the majority.” He further explained that the job of the Speaker was not to push legislation which was opposed by that majority of the majority. Finally, Hastert said he did not feel “comfortable” scheduling controversial legislation unless his own party could pass it.

In reality, the job of the Speaker is to ensure the efficacy of the House. While it is certainly true that the party in power may enjoy the fruits of their victory, there are times when the public good rises above partisanship. No one expects the Speaker to do anything but exhibit bias towards his party, but if legislation widely recognized as necessary must be passed from across the aisle, so be it. It’s called statesmanship.

Statesmanship has a precedent. In 1993, the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) bill was passed in a Democratically-controlled House where the majority of Democratic members opposed it. President Clinton supported the legislation and then-Speaker Tom Foley allowed it to come to a vote, where it passed on the backs of Republican representatives. If Foley had taken the same stance as Hastert, he would be just as guilty. This isn’t a party-specific critique, it’s just a bad policy.

Representatives are notoriously responsive to electoral concerns. Running for re-election every two years out of idiosyncratic districts can easily lead to opposition of a significant bill which has almost unanimous approval otherwise. In these situations, the Speaker needs to consider his constitutional duty — to serve the public — and allow a floor vote.

Unfortunately, Hastert’s conception of his duty appears to be of a different ilk. His spokesperson explained the decision to block the intelligence bill by saying, in part, “If you pass major bills without the majority of the majority, then you tend not to be a long-term speaker.” This is a shining example of the worst type of politics — the one based on personal interest.

Ultimately, if the House consistently fails to pass obviously needed pieces of legislation, the electorate will flex its muscle at the polls. When that happens, the voters won’t care about the “majority of the majority” — they’ll simply perceive the entire system as broken and throw the whole lot out, a la 1994. In this respect, Hastert isn’t even serving his own party’s interest. Considering the blizzard of criticism that has rained down on House Republicans following the intelligence bill debacle, there seems to be little gain in completely shunning the Democrats.

Social security, Medicare and the deficit will not be solved by the Republicans alone. The issues are too divisive and there are too many Republican representatives opposed to certain solutions. In these cases, Democratic votes will be needed for passage. Under Hastert’s new formula, it might not matter — legislation will likely never reach the floor. This is not governance — this is thuggery. Censoring the opposition party renders a respectable House impossible.

Elliot Haspel is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at ehaspel@cavalierdaily.com.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Unfortunately for the Virginia women’s basketball team (3-2), the opening sentence of “A Tale of Two Cities” can be applied to its 66-57 loss to Richmond (3-0) Saturday night. The Cavaliers dominated the first half, but struggled in the second. The win marks only the second time the Spiders have gotten the best of Virginia in school history.

“Coming here to Virginia, which is a pretty well respected team in the ACC, and winning is a pretty big deal in my senior year,” said Kate Flavin, Richmond’s senior forward and leading scorer. Flavin is the only Richmond player to be on the roster both times the Spiders defeated the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers opened the game by playing well on offense and holding Richmond at bay. Virginia shot 40.9 percent from the field in the first half en route to building 25-18 lead. Guards Brenna McGuire and LaTonya Blue led the Cavaliers with six points each in the first half. All of McGuire’s points came off shots from behind the three-point line. The Spiders, on the other hand, had only two players — forward Christina Campion and guard DeUnna Hendrix — score more than one basket.

In the second half, forward Brandi Teamer scored the first nine points for Virginia to keep the Cavaliers ahead of Richmond. The Spiders also came out of the break furious, hitting their first seven field goals of the half.

“We came out in the second half keyed in offensively, but not defensively,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “The lack of defensive flow hurt our offensive flow.”

Teamer was subbed out of the game about four minutes into the half, and the Spiders began the first of three second-half scoring runs. Richmond went on a 12-point run that yielded a four-point lead.

The Spiders took their first lead of the second half after a Campion jumper made the score 35-34.

The Spiders soon began a second run, this one for 10 points before McGuire hit two free throws to stop the bleeding. A big part of Richmond’s turnaround was Flavin, who had all 18 of her points in the second half.

The Cavaliers kept the game close and came within one basket, 54-52, thanks to some reinvigorated defensive play. With the score 48-42, Blue stole the ball and ran down the court for an easy layup. On the next play, freshman point guard Sharnee Zoll stole the ball and passed it to Blue for another easy layup. The Cavaliers later surged to within two points following a pair of free throws by Blue.

“I don’t look at it as just me,” Blue said. “Everyone was playing defense, I just happened to get the ball.”

Despite Virginia making it close, the Spiders pulled away with their third scoring run of the half to pull 10 points ahead of the Cavaliers, 62-52. Richmond took advantage of several trips to the free-throw line as the Cavaliers struggled, not scoring for nearly three minutes after Blue’s free throws brought them within a basket.

“It’s hard anytime you let one slip away,” Blue said. “It was just fundamental mistakes like fouls that let this one go.”

RICHMOND (3-0)

Flavin 6-10 6-8 18, Campion 7-8 2-3 16, Chapman 3-11 2-2 8, Gil 2-4 3-4 7, Hendrix 6-9 2-2 14, McKnight 0-4 1-2 1, Miranovic 0-2 0-0 0, Roche 0-0 0-0 0, Grabias 0-1 0-0 0, Mazic 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 24-52 18-23 66.

VIRGINIA (3-2)

Blue 4-13 6-7 15, Logan-Friend 1-3 5-6 7, Teamer 7-14 2-3 16, Zoll 0-4 0-0 0, McGuire 2-8 2-2 8, Williams 2-5 0-0 4, Kenion 0-1 0-0 0, Granberry 0-0 0-0 0, Sardin 2-3 0-0 4, Kreager 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 19-54 16-20 57.

Halftime-Virginia 25-18. 3-Point goals-Richmond 0-6 (Chapman 0-5, Miranovice 0-1), Virginia 3-15 (McGuire 2-7, Blue 1-4, Teamer 0-2 Zoll 0-2). Fouled out- Richmond – Gil. Rebounds-Richmond 32 (Flavin 9), Virginia 32 (Teamer 8). Assists-Richmond 15 (Chapman 8), Virginia 9 (Blue 3). Total fouls-Richmond 18, Virginia 18. A-2,526.

No. 4 seed Virginia edged past No. 13 seed New Mexico to book its place in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament on Saturday at Klöckner Stadium.

Winning didn’t come easy as the Cavaliers had to survive an epic penalty shootout that went to eight rounds after the game ended tied at 1-1 in regulation. Virginia’s goalkeeper Ryan Burke was the hero of the game, as he recorded a game-high four stops and made three crucial penalty saves.

“It’s a tough way [for New Mexico] to go down, and I know that stinks,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. “For us it was just great and what I would call staying the course.”

Virginia made its intent clear from the opening whistle and committed numbers into attack. The Cavaliers’ hard work paid off when New Mexico failed to clear its lines following a dangerous Virginia corner. The ball fell to freshman Jeremy Barlow, who made no mistake from a few yards out, handing Virginia a 1-0 lead only 14 minutes into the game. Virginia continued on the aggressive as the Lobos struggled against the Cavaliers’ aerial attack.

“In the whole game, the good chances came from crosses and restarts,” Gelnovatch said. “Most teams don’t usually see the quality of crosses we put in from the flanks.”

New Mexico equalized 13 minutes later when midfielder Hans Bevers sent a cross into the center of the field unto the feet of striker Patrick Grange. Grange found space outside Virginia’s 18 and turned brilliantly before rifling a shot to the bottom left corner of Burke’s goal, bringing the Lobos back on level terms.

New Mexico took over the game after scoring and spurned a couple of opportunities to go ahead before the halftime break.

“It was a hard fought game,” New Mexico coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “We had a few chances, in the positions to score goals, but we were unable to capitalize.”

The second half was a close affair with both teams enjoying periods of dominance but without any goals to show for their efforts. The best chance of the half fell to Virginia’s David Rosenbaum, who was able to get the ball past New Mexico’s defense, but with only the goalkeeper to beat pushed the ball too far, presenting Lobo goalie Andrew Weber with an easy save.

The game went into double overtime with the scores tied, but resolute defending on both sides prevented an outright winner, setting the stage for the penalty shootout. Burke took over the game following Virginia defender Matt Oliver’s missed first kick.

“It’s definitely not a good feeling,” Oliver said. “But one thing we work on is our ability to pick each other up.”

Burke was extremely cool under pressure, saving Virginia from elimination with the score at 5-5 before sealing the tie with a spectacular diving save to his left.

“I held my guess to the last minute before diving, and fortunately I went to my left,” Burke said. “It’s definitely not all guessing but there is a substantial amount of luck involved.”

Virginia was helped in the shootout by a vociferous crowd which cheered loudly even as the weather worsened.

“The crowd certainly messed them up,” Gelnovatch said. “I was really impressed by the number of kicks New Mexico made.”

Virginia now advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since losing 3-0 to Creighton four years ago. The team will play Duke at Klöckner Saturday night.

After shooting 1-5 and scoring only three points Wednesday against Appalachian State, something had to give for Virginia’s Devin Smith — and something did.

The senior unraveled 26 points on 8-13 shooting that included a deluge of three-pointers to lead the Cavaliers (4-0) over visiting Richmond, 85-58.

“He’s the healthiest he’s been since being at Virginia,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. “He has a lot of courage. … He’s tough, and he’s a leader, and he backs up what he says.”

Smith’s precision from beyond the arc was infectious. The Cavaliers shot 47 percent from three in the first half and 40 percent on the game, a far cry from their 3-15 performance against the Mountaineers.

“We made a lot of threes today,” Gillen said. “You don’t want to shoot too many, but if you’re making them, we don’t tell them to stop.”

The Spiders (2-1) kept the score close for the majority of the first half until Virginia broke the game open with a string of 13 unanswered points that included three-pointers by Smith, freshman point guard Sean Singletary and sophomore J.R. Reynolds. Despite being out-shot and out-rebounded, the Cavaliers took a 47-29 lead into the break thanks to their meticulous shooting from outside. Richmond shot almost 50 percent from the field in the half, but made only one of five three-pointers and went 0-7 from the free-throw line.

“Going 0-for-7 from the free-throw line in the first half killed us,” Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright said. “Those are turnovers. The game should have been a nine or 10-point difference at the half.”

Many of Virginia’s buckets came courtesy of the Spiders ganging up on center Elton Brown, leaving Smith and a slew of other Cavaliers uncovered on the outside.

“They were doubling Elton, and he was kicking it out, and we were making shots,” Smith said. “I was just getting my feet set and knocking down shots, and Elton and the rest of the team did a good job getting me the ball.”

The bull’s eye may have looked enormous for the Cavaliers, but the game’s deciding factor came from the other side of the ball.

“The key to tonight’s game was our defense,” Gillen said. “Richmond is a good executing team, but our defense was the difference.”

Brown recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds on the night for his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career, but he carried heavier weight on the defensive end. Brown plopped to the ground twice to draw charges and used his hulky body to contain Richmond’s Kevin Steenberge.

Steenberge was averaging 25.5 points per game coming into Sunday’s matchup, but he only managed to squeeze out 14 against the Cavaliers. He was on his way to another 20-point game in the first half, making five of his first six attempts, but went scoreless from the field in the second half.

“Today was a big win,” Brown said. “Anytime you win over a team that was in the NCAA last year and won a lot of big fame in the [Atlantic 10], it’s big.”

With the win, the Cavaliers cracked the AP Poll at No. 24, and they’ll get their first chance to uphold the ranking on the road.

Virginia now faces an away stretch that includes games at Northwestern and Iowa State and versus Auburn at the Siegel Center in Richmond. The 18-, 17- and 27-point wins for the Cavaliers in their first three home contests were decisive, but their merit will be proven away from the welcoming circle of University Hall.

“You have to hold serve at home — that’s very important,” Gillen said. “But you have to win on the road. We have to show that we’re tough enough to win on the road.”

RICHMOND (2-1)

Thomas 3-4 0-0 7, Bucknor 0-3 0-0 0, Steenberge 5-9 4-8 14, Merritt 3-5 4-4 10, Scott 1-2 0-1 2, Mayes 0-1 1-2 1, Sanders 1-5 0-0 2, Moliva 2-4 4-6 8, O’Malley 1-7 2-2 5, Nelson 3-7 0-2 7, Crank 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-49 15-25 58.

VIRGINIA (4-0)

Smith 8-13 5-6 26, Clark 3-3 1-2 7, Brown 4-9 4-8 12, Reynolds 3-10 0-0 9, Singletary 3-8 3-4 11, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Bannister 0-5 5-6 5, Soroye 0-1 0-0 0, Forbes 3-7 4-6 10, Ravenell 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph 1-3 0-0 3, Cain 0-0 0-0 0, Minter 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-55 22-32 85.

Halftime-Virginia 47-29. 3-Point goals-Richmond 3-11 (Thomas 1-1, O’Malley 1-3, Nelson 1-3, Merritt 0-1, Mayes 0-1, Bucknor 0-2), Virginia 11-27 (Smith 5-10, Reynolds 3-9, Singletary 2-4, Joseph 1-2 Forbes 0-2). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-Richmond 32 (Sanders 8), Virginia 35 (Brown 10). Assists-Richmond 12 (Merritt 5), Virginia 16 (Reynolds 6). Total fouls-Richmond 25, Virginia 25. A-7,506.

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Early in the third quarter of Saturday’s game, it looked like Virginia had hit one out of the park.

With Virginia and Virginia Tech locked in a scoreless tie, the Cavaliers made the big play — the proverbial home run — that would presumably break the game wide open: a 32-yard touchdown pass to senior tailback Alvin Pearman that gave Virginia a 7-0 lead.

The No. 10 Hokies (9-2, 6-1 ACC), however, were able to answer back, scoring 24 of the game’s next 27 points en route to a 24-10 victory in front of their home crowd, eliminating the No. 18 Cavaliers (8-3, 5-3) from ACC title contention and a BCS bowl bid.

“The significance of it –- it’s nothing but a long foul ball,” Pearman said of his catch. “We came up short today.”

After the Hokies took a 10-7 lead with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter, the Cavaliers responded with a 17-play, 78-yard drive that ended in a Connor Hughes field goal that tied the game at 10 apiece.

It was all Virginia Tech from that point on, however, as the Hokies struck again on the next drive. They marched 80 yards downfield in a seven-play drive that culminated in a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryan Randall to wideout Josh Hyman for the touchdown and a seven-point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Hokies then forced the Cavaliers to go three-and-out. Running back Cedric Hume, filling in for starter Mike Imoh who aggravated a hamstring injury in the first half, then carried the ball four times for 41 yards on the ensuing drive to put Virginia Tech in the end zone again and give the Hokies a two-possession lead with time running out.

Although Hume finished with 95 yards on 15 carries, the real story of the game was the Virginia Tech passing game. The senior signal caller Randall completed 16 of his 22 passes for 200 yards.

“What got the points was clearly the passing plays,” Virginia coach Al Groh said of the Hokie air attack. “They were obviously very harmful to us.”

Two of Virginia Tech’s touchdowns came in the air, and the Hokies consistently found success with the passing game on third down, especially in the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, struggled throwing the ball. Although quarterback Marques Hagans completed over 50 percent of his throws — converting on eight of his 14 passes — he was sacked three times and forced to scramble several times for short yardage after failing to find a receiver.

On the ground Virginia had much more success against the Hokies. Pearman ran for a game-high 145 yards, and the Cavaliers as a team tallied 188 rushing yards. But Virginia had trouble converting when it counted.

“As good as the running game was for us, it was two running plays that really let us down,” Groh said.

One of those two plays came on Virginia’s third drive of the game. After Pearman broke through the line of scrimmage at Virginia’s own six-yard line and scampered 76 yards down the right sideline, Wali Lundy came in and carried the ball two more times for six yards apiece to give the Cavaliers and first-and-goal from Virginia Tech’s four-yard line. On the next play, however, Lundy coughed up the ball on a botched handoff, and the Hokies recovered. The other play referenced by Groh occurred when the Cavaliers failed to score on a first-and-goal from the one-yard line, as Pearman was tackled for a loss on that play and Virginia settled for a field goal in what would be their last scoring drive before the Hokies’ final two touchdowns put the game out of reach.

BLACKSBURG, Va.

Is there anything more frustrating in sports than watching your team lose because of squandered opportunities? Yes. Watching your team squander opportunities because of the same weaknesses that have persisted all season without sufficient adjustment.

The Cavaliers lost to rival Virginia Tech thanks to a porous secondary, uninspiring receivers and unimaginative playcalling. For the first time, Virginia matched up closely in athletic talent with Florida State, Miami and Tech but lost to all three because it can neither create nor prevent big plays.

The first quarter, however, seemed to indicate something different. Marquis Weeks took the opening kickoff 54 yards into Hokie territory, and Alvin Pearman ran 78 yards off-tackle behind Elton Brown, who somehow managed to throw two hole-opening blocks on the play. Those two plays led to zero points after Connor Hughes’ field goal attempt was blocked on the first drive and Wali Lundy fumbled on the second.

Sure, Pearman made a heroic 32-yard touchdown catch on third-and-11, outleaping sure-fire pro prospect Jimmy Williams in the end zone. But otherwise, big plays proved to be far more detrimental to the Cavaliers, as Tech scored all three of its TDs on plays of more than 30 yards.

Two of those Hokie touchdowns came on deep passes misplayed by Virginia’s secondary. On the first, Weeks blew his responsibilities in the cover-two defense, allowing Tech’s Josh Hyman to slip behind him for an easy score. On the second touchdown, cornerback Tony Franklin had tight coverage but failed to turn around in time to defend Bryan Randall’s pass. The point might be moot, though, as I’m not sure Franklin was capable of matching up with the athletic Hyman.

The Tech counterparts of the Cavaliers’ DBs came into the game ranked fifth in the nation. Conversely, Virginia’s wideouts collectively entered with just 55 receptions and two touchdowns. For the record, there are 43 Division-IA players who individually have at least 55 catches.

Michael McGrew, Deyon Williams, Fontel Mines and Imhotep Durham are all serviceable receivers, but none of them strike fear in a defensive coordinator. Unable to stretch the defense, Virginia’s wideouts were unable to prevent Tech from packing players into the box and stuffing the run.

The lack of a vertical passing game will hurt any offensive coordinator’s ability to diversify the playbook, but Virginia’s Ron Prince hardly seemed willing to deviate from the Cavaliers’ three primary running plays. I know we applauded that consistency earlier in the season, but that was before Marques Hagans threw for 205 combined yards against Miami and Tech. It’s one thing to be able to run the ball on the road in November, as Al Groh aimed to do all season, but it’s another thing altogether to be able to run in addition to passing.

In game number 11, Prince continued to treat Virginia’s improved running game the way a child plays with a new toy he fears might disappear if he doesn’t play with it every other second. The Cavs racked up 188 rushing yards, but 78 of them came on one play. Subtract Pearman’s long run, and Virginia had just 110 yards on 45 carries — a 2.4 yards per rush average. Meanwhile, Hagans threw the ball just 14 times.

The Cavaliers ran the ball on nearly every first and second down, often leading to third-and-six or more. Even good passing teams have trouble converting in those situations.

Even more laughable was the predictability of Prince’s play calls. Excessive bootlegging was the name of the game in all obvious passing situations. Also, every time the Cavaliers lined up in a shotgun with five receivers, Prince called for Hagans to run a quarterback draw. The surprise element gets lost if the same formation always equates to the same play.

What makes this loss further inconsolable were the heavy expectations placed on this year’s Virginia team. Rising to as high as number six in the country, the Cavaliers were supposed to be darkhorse national contenders, or so said Sports Illustrated.

Instead, Virginia couldn’t beat any of the top three teams in its conference, and the decisions of several underclassmen to stay in school or jet to the pros could make or break next year. Regressing from the Tire Bowl to a possible bowl game in Idaho probably isn’t a strong enticement to stay.

Saturday it was Orlando, Fla. Sunday it was Boise, Idaho. Now, it seems to be Shreveport, La.

Virginia’s probable bowl destination changed again yesterday, as the ACC is close to finalizing a deal that would send the Cavaliers to the Dec. 28 Independence Bowl.

Gary Beck, executive director of the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, said he would agree to release the Cavaliers if either Boston College or Syracuse agrees to accept a bid in the Cavaliers’ stead.

“We had heard that the Champs Sports Bowl and Virginia had a conflict,” Beck said. “So we just started discussing potential alternatives.”

The Cavaliers would likely play Oklahoma State in the Independence Bowl, as opposed to Fresno State if they wind up in Boise.

After Virginia dropped to fourth place in the ACC with the loss to Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers seemed destined for the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando; but because the Dec. 21 game falls during Virginia’s final exam period, Virginia declined the bid. The Continental Tire Bowl already offered North Carolina (who equaled Virginia’s 5-3 conference record) a bid, leaving the MPC Computers Bowl as the most likely destination for the Cavaliers.

If an agreement is reached between the ACC, the Big East and MPC Computers, however, the Cavaliers will be able to fill the SEC slot in the Independence Bowl because the conference failed to produce enough bowl eligible teams.

Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said he is waiting to hear word from the conference as to what Virginia’s bowl options could be.

“The most important thing right now is to work with the ACC,” Littlepage said. “Right now, the ACC has a relationship with Boise, and that’s the situation until we’re told otherwise and invited otherwise.”

The details of the deal still have to be ironed out before MPC Computers officially releases the Cavaliers.

“There’s some other things we’re discussing with the ACC that I’m not privy to expand on at this point,” Beck said.

An official offer would likely not come until next week, after the other Big East bowls issue their bids.

“We have to see what happens with the Big East and those scenarios and see who’s left,” Beck said.

The payout for the Independence Bowl is $1.3 million, compared to only $850,000 for the Champs Sports Bowl and $750,000 for the MPC Computers Bowl. The location would also be more convenient for Cavalier fans. Shreveport is 1,078 miles from Charlottesville, while Boise is over twice as far away.

“From what I’ve heard, everyone has talked very positively about Boise,” Littlepage said. “From the standpoint of distance, maybe we’re looking at a situation [with Shreveport] where our fans could travel easier. We’ll focus on what it is that comes through the ACC office.”

In the 2003 fiscal year, colleges and universities across the country filed for more patents, signed more licenses with companies seeking to turn academic research into drugs, devices and other products, and identified a larger number of scientific discoveries with commercial potential than ever before, according to a report released last week.

The 165 institutions that responded to the survey of technology-transfer activity received more than $968 million collectively.

In addition, 3,450 U.S. patents were issued to responding institutions last year.

The Association of University Technology Managers conducted the survey.

According to the survey, licensing revenue includes settlements and damage awards from patent-infringement violations as well as royalties that companies pay for the right to use University inventions.

Seven institutions accounted for one-quarter of the country’s earnings. These included the University of California system, University of Florida, Cornell, Stanford, Georgia Institute of Technology, MIT and UPenn.

The majority of institutions, however, earned less than $1 million per year.

–Compiled by A.J. Frank

Registration for the University’s first January academic session began yesterday at 8 a.m. Within the hour, one class was already full.

By the end of the first day of registration, 136 of about 400 slots for students in January Term classes were full, according to program director Dudley Doane.

Administrators said they were pleased with the interest.

“It’s been quite amazing,” said Milton Adams, vice provost for academic programs.

The program is the collaborative effort of multiple departments at the University.

Students have been “very patient and positive” with the process, Doane said. “The overall dynamics were great.”

The only wait came and went in the first hour of registration, “but we had coffee and donuts and door prizes,” Doane said.

Registration for the pilot program is taking place in the Office of the Summer Session, located in the basement of Garrett Hall. The entire process takes about three or four minutes and requires students to be there in person, Doane said.

“It is an opportunity to talk to the students and go over deadlines,” Doane said. He said personal interaction between students and professors is essential to a program that squeezes three-credit classes into two weeks.

During the initial hours of registration, politics courses filled up the fastest. “Nation-building in Iraq: Past, Present, Future,” taught by Politics Prof. David Waldner, was full by 9 a.m., Doane said. No other classes were full by the end of the day yesterday.

For its inaugural year, the January Term only consists of a few manageable, unique classes because its birth puts a “significant strain on other programs like residence life, the dean of students office and the registrar’s office, that now are responsible for thinking about students two more weeks each year,” Adams said.

Registration numbers will not indicate the actual success of the program, Doane said.

“The emphasis should be placed on the actual academic experience, which doesn’t even begin until January,” he said.

As for the future of the program, the word is more.

“More classes, more study abroad, a wider array of classes, more unique and exciting classes,” Adams said.

A forum on the promotion of healthier lifestyles, titled “The Governor’s Summit on Healthy Virginians,” began yesterday at various stations around Grounds and will end today at 3 p.m. with an address by Gov. Mark R. Warner.

“We chose the University as the location for the conference because we felt that it was centrally located to allow access for people from all across the state,” said Karen Rheuben, senior associate dean of external affairs and continuing education. “We are also partners with all the other groups. And also, there are Mr. Jefferson’s ideals about health.”

The conference brings together more than 400 individuals from across Virginia interested in the promotion of healthy living in the Commonwealth. Through group discussions and project presentations, summit participants are able to exchange ideas and assess information regarding the state of Virginians’ health.

“This is an excellent opportunity for us all to interact with other people in the community,” said Milagros Huerta, medical director of the Children’s Fitness Clinic. “We can put our efforts together and complement each other as opposed to all competing or doing the same thing.”

Various members of the University medical community were on hand yesterday to speak about their areas of expertise.

Last summer, Internal Medicine Prof. Ross B. Issacs joined Remote Area Medical as a volunteer doctor, traveling to Wise and many other low-income areas in southern and western parts of the Commonwealth.

“On average, we see that Virginia is doing pretty well compared to the rest of the country,” Issacs said. “But when we look at certain parts of the state, we see that there is a great disparity. For example, in Wise we found that 69 percent of the people were overweight, and 60 percent had hypertension.”

Issacs and the rest of the RAM volunteers delivered almost $1 million in free service to people in Wise alone. Issacs said he realized that a one-time visit was not enough to solve the area’s health problems.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s a start,” he said. “I would be thrilled to have anyone and everyone participate in this program.”

Although only University medical and nursing students have worked with RAM, Issacs said the program would be interested in having any student who is truly interested in the cause volunteer their time.

“This is not a party experience,” he said. “You work pretty much from six until six, but it is an excellent opportunity for U.Va. students to see how non-U.Va. students live.”

Anne M. Wolf, instructor of health evaluation sciences at the University, spoke about preventing obesity from an economic perspective.

She said the direct cost of obesity in Virginia is $1.64 billion annually, which equals 5.7 percent of total adult medical expenditures. She added that 42 percent is financed by Medicare and Medicaid.

“Healthcare costs are increased among the obese and increase with the degree of obesity,” she said. “That’s what’s driving healthcare costs.”

She compared the health of people with normal body mass index to those who are severely obese and found that only 18.9 percent of the former group is considered of poor health, as opposed to 40.2 percent of the latter group.

She concluded by emphasizing the need for consistent, targeted messaging and coordination of efforts to prevent and cure obesity.

University professor emeritus Richard Lindsay spoke about the aging population and the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle through exercise and nutrition.

“Walking decreases cardiovascular risks, regardless of race, age and body mass,” Lindsay said. “It’s an amazing, effective thing.”

All participants will come together today to share their findings in moderated discussions for the development of recommendations.

“The overall goal of this conference is to bring together people with interest in the health of Virginia,” Rheuban said. “We want to develop a model program looking at smoking reduction, weight management and increased exercise.”