Recently, I had a discussion with a few friends about the serial rapist whom the Charlottesville Police have been ardently ­– at the same time untidily — searching for since 1997. In the midst of the discussion, my fellow black college mates came to one conclusion: The description of the rapist could fit nearly 90 percent of the black males on this campus.

Flyers around Grounds and throughout Charlottesville, the “best place to live in the United States,” contain a deficient sketch and a brief description of the rapist as a six-foot-tall black male between 20 and 40 years of age with an athletic build.

I am in my 20s, am over six feet tall and have an athletic build. Luckily, I was not one of the many young black men who had to cope with the Charlottesville Police last spring banging on their doors and virtually demanding — considering the “guilty until proven innocent” berating — DNA samples to verify they were the rapist (notice I did not say, “was not the rapist”).

The victims do not deserve any criticism for the vague descriptions they provided to police. Since a majority of these cases occurred at night and because being raped is a traumatic and injuring experience, one cannot expect a victim to be capable of giving a clear and exhaustive description of the perpetrator of such a heinous and deplorable crime.

With that said, like many other black students, I still remain disgusted by the search-and-destroy investigation tactics of the Charlottesville Police that demonize other young black men. We wait for the day to be seen as equal people in the majority of the student body’s eyes.

As I continued my discussion with my brothers, I mentioned the “myth of the black male rapist.” Sadly, many of these intelligent, involved and peaceful black men agreed that the myth that all black men are rapists still exists.

In the book “We Real Cool,” Bell Hooks wrote, “Sexual myths project the image of the black male ‘pussy bandit,’ the ‘player,’ as the erotic hero leading this life of endless pleasure. The myths can be traced back to slavery ideology and beliefs of slave-owners.”

In “On Black Sexuality,” Cornel West says that “white fear of black sexuality is a basic ingredient of white racism.” In investigating the relationships between slave-owners and black women, West suggests that black women commonly were raped by white slave-owners, who were consumed by another myth which depicted black women as sexual goddesses who had the ability to subdue and satisfy the overly-sexual black male.

In addition, the rape of black women by slave-owners was used as a method of reminding the male black slaves who were “in charge.” White slave-owners feared black male sexuality and the apparent threat it posed to their control over white women.

The first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, learned this firsthand when he was arrested in 1913 for violating the Mann Act’s, which prohibited the transportation of white women across state lines for prostitution. The woman he attempted to transport happened to be his wife at the time.

Almost a century later, many white people still fear the black man as a potential rapist. To their dismay, many black students attend this university searching only for what had been restricted from many of their ancestors.

We want an education, respect from our peers of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, love from our fellow human beings, equality from others and friendship. We do not want to be seen as a threat against their well-being and safety.

Kurt Davis is a Cavalier Daily Health & Sexuality columnist. He can be reached at kurt@cavalierdaily.com.

New additions to fast-food menus and a recent documentary have added to the national debate about whether the fast-food industry has a responsibility for the long-term health of its customers.

However, the debate over the responsibility of the fast-food industry is anything but resolved.

The question as to the industry’s civil liability came to the national consciousness in 2002 as two New York teenagers filed suit against fast-food giant McDonald’s on charges that the restaurant chain was responsible for their obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and other ailments. While the case was dismissed by a lower court in September 2003, a federal appeals court decided last Wednesday to revive the lawsuit, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Much of the media attention to fast food has been amplified with the 2004 release of the film “Supersize Me,” in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald’s food exclusively for a month. The film showed Spurlock’s health degrading through the month, of which included gaining 24.5 pounds, a 7 percent increase in body fat, doubled risk of heart disease, and significant increases in cholesterol and triglycerides.

Second-year College student Kevin Chang said the documentary made him reconsider and curtail his regular fast-food meals, which he previously ate two to three times a week.

“It makes you question your eating habits,” he said. “I was shocked to see the effect of what McDonald’s can do to you in even just one week, let alone one whole month. I’d just eat there if I was hungry and on the run. I thought of it as a quick alternative to cooking –- I never looked at the nutrition.”

According to the film, McDonald’s eliminated the option of “super sizing” its value meals and introduced a new line of salad products last year.

McDonald’s shares nutritional information about its products with customers on the back of paper tray coversheets.

Of any one single fast-food menu item, Hardee’s “Monster Thickburger” has gained the most press and controversy of late. According to Hardee’s Web site, the two-third pound double-patty hamburger packs a whopping 1,418 calories and 107 grams of fat.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends a calorie intake of 2,000 a day for the average person.

The 1,400 calorie-plus figure dwarfs industry rival McDonald’s “Big Mac” which has 560 calories as well as 30 grams of fat and Burger King’s “Double Whopper with Cheese” which has 1,060 calories and 69 grams of fat. The Monster Thickburger was released last November.

The nutrition advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest has publicly condemned the Monster Thickburger numerous times.

Center Director of Communications Jeff Cronin described Hardee’s as “bucking a trend” in the fast food industry by not adding healthier items to the menu.

“Nutritionally it is certainly one of the worst fast-food burgers,” Cronin said. “We called the Hardee’s Thickburger ‘food porn’ when it was first introduced 200 calories lighter [than the Monster Thickburger]. If the first Thickburger was food porn, then the Monster Thickburger is the fast-food equivalent of a snuff film.”

Cronin likened eating the Monster Thickburger to a stick of butter, which he said has less calories and only slightly more grams of saturated fat.

However, Hardee’s Public Relations Manager Bev Pfeifer-Harms said the choice as to which fast-food product to eat ultimately lies in the hands of the consumer.

“It’s all about balancing your diet, we are not expecting people to eat any one specific product everyday,” she said. “But if you are interested in a great tasting burger with a lot of meat and cheese and bacon, the Monster Thickburger is for you.”

Cronin conceded that while consumers have sovereignty over what they choose to eat, the industry could do more to educate patrons on exactly what is the nutritional content of menu items.

“Why not put calorie counts right on menu boards when people order so they can have that information?” he said. “Doing that would let people put the nutrition numbers of what they hear on a daily basis into context.”

However, Pfeifer-Harms defended her company’s practice by stating that Hardee’s offers a variety of menu items.

“If you want something lighter, there are many other menu choices that you can make,” she said. “A month after we introduced the Monster Thickburger, we introduced a Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich. It’s the yin to the yang of the Monster Thickburger because it has only four grams of fat.”

She added that Hardee’s also offers all menu items in a low-carb form, wrapped with lettuce.

But despite the heavy media attention and pundit criticism given to the Monster Thickburger’s nutritional values, there is no clear consensus on its taste.

Second-year College student Katie Jensen tasted the Hardee’s sandwich for the first time last week. Jensen, who describes her fast-food eating habits as “one or twice a month” said she was not impressed with the hamburger, describing its taste as “generic.”

“It has so many calories and it doesn’t taste exceptional,” Jensen said. “I’d rather have a steak. I feel bad after eating it because it is so caloric.”

However, second-year College student Katie DeLauder had a different take on the burger. DeLauder described her fast-food eating habits as less frequent than Jensen’s, but said she enjoyed the Monster Thickburger’s taste.

“It’s very good, but now I can’t eat anything else all day,” DeLauder said. “I would buy another, but only eat the burger once in a while because it is so bad for you.”

Pete Gillen is no Al Groh. Comparing them is like comparing bananas and blueberries — it just isn’t plausible.

But after what unfolded in Virginia’s 110-76 loss at home to North Carolina Saturday afternoon, Gillen ought to borrow a page out of Groh’s playbook — the one that says stop babying your supposed superstars and make them earn their spots in the starting lineup.

After the Virginia football team fell 36-3 at Florida State in October, Groh declared open competition for all defensive spots. No player had his starting position in lock, not even Ahmad Brooks, one of three finalists for the Butkus Award, which goes to the nation’s best linebacker. Every starter had to earn back his coveted orange jersey, worn by defensive starters in practice.

Gillen’s squad warrants the Groh-style policy.

After losing to the Tar Heels, the Cavaliers fell to 10-8 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

Sean Singletary didn’t like what he saw from his team against the No. 3 team in the nation. The Cavaliers folded like they had just been dealt a lame hand.

The freshman point guard said he tries to give his teammates positive encouragement, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. You have to play with heart, he said, but heart isn’t something that can be taught. And some of the Cavaliers lack it.

So who are the cardiac-impaired? Singletary wouldn’t say, and it’s not fair to point fingers, because basketball is a team sport and outcomes aren’t dependent on one individual’s performance.

But I will point a toe or two.

Elton Brown was honored as an All-American during the first half of the game Saturday.

No, no, don’t be confused –- this is the football teams’ offensive lineman we’re talking about here, not the basketball center.

Moments after the University Hall crowd of 7,953 bellowed for Big E, it belted boos at basketball Brown and his teammates, who were down by double digits.

Brown, a co-captain, huffed up the court and didn’t run plays, follow his shots or hustle for rebounds. He finished with nine points and six rebounds, well below what the Cavaliers consistently need from the guy who is supposed to be their leading big man.

Virginia trailed by as many as 50 and eventually lost by 34, the program’s third-worst loss at home ever — and it was embarrassing. If the score isn’t enough evidence then consider this: During a television timeout early in the second half, the Tar Heels, including Roy Williams, marveled at a blow-up fish named Mackerel Jordan rather than strategizing.

But the loss would have been worse if walk-on Billy Campbell hadn’t notched eight points over the final five minutes, helping the Cavaliers outscore the Tar Heels 28-12 over the stretch.

So what now? Bench Elton Brown? Sign up Billy Campbell for a starting slot, or Hank Nacey or another third-stringer perhaps? Maybe that’s not the answer Gillen or anyone else is looking for, but it could serve as a worthwhile eye-opener to Brown and his fellow starters.

The outlook for the rest of the season is dismal to say the least, but the Cavaliers do still have something left to lose: Nine games.

The game had been over for almost half an hour, but Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger was still in disbelief.

“I can’t believe their point guard had more rebounds than any player on our team,” Dunkenberger muttered to herself as she left the Virginia media room. “That’s just ridiculous.”

Dunkenberger’s Hokies (12-6, 2-4 ACC) were dominated on the boards by Virginia (15-5, 4-2), as the Cavaliers grabbed 49 rebounds to Virginia Tech’s 27 en route to a 70-67 victory Friday night at U-Hall.

Senior guard LaTonya Blue scored a career-high 26 points, including four in the final 41 seconds of the game, to lead the Cavaliers. She also pulled down 12 rebounds to register her first double-double of the season.

After a first half when neither team was able to establish a significant lead, Virginia Tech scored ten of the second half’s first 12 points, grabbing a 49-42 lead on a Carrie Mason three-pointer with 15:39 left in the game.

Blue answered back only 30 seconds later, nailing a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down to launch a 12-0 Virginia run that kept the Hokies scoreless for over seven minutes.

“We focused on just staying intense — getting in the passing lane, shut down their players on defense and just stay focused,” Blue said of the stretch midway through the second half.

The Cavaliers led by as many as six points after guard Brenna McGuire drained a pair of free throws with 1:38 remaining. Virginia Tech was able to pull within two, however, with a Mason layup followed by a steal by forward Kerri Gardin off the Virginia inbound and another layup, this time by forward Brittany Anderson.

With her team up 64-62, Blue decided to create her own shot, penetrating into the lane before stopping and sinking a mid-range bank shot with only 40 seconds left to put Virginia up by four points.

Although the Hokies were able to cut the Cavalier lead in half with 25 ticks on the clock, Blue managed to grab the rebound off a missed free throw from Virginia forward Jocelyn Logan-Friend and find Brenna McGuire, who hit both of her free throws after being fouled to put the game out of reach for Virginia Tech.

“I told her that she really needs to look for her shot all the time so she can stay in her rhythm,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said of Blue, who made nine of her 17 shots from the field. “I thought she did a great job in practice looking for her shot all week long, and our team just feeds off of her, and it really helps us. Even when she misses, we have really good rebounders.”

Those rebounders were in full force Friday for the Cavaliers, as Virginia had four players, including 5-foot-7 point guard Sharnee Zoll, who had at least seven rebounds. No player on Virginia Tech was able to pull down more than six boards.

Of Virginia’s 49 rebounds, 24 came on the offensive end, and the Cavaliers scored 27 second-chance points while the Hokies only managed nine.

The victory moved the Cavaliers into a tie for third place in the ACC and gave Virginia their 15th win of the season, a year after they finished the entire 2003-04 campaign with only 13 victories. Tonight, the Cavaliers will look for win number 16 when they travel to face 21st-ranked Florida State.

Everyone on Grounds owes a huge “thank you” to LaTonya Blue and the Virginia women’s basketball team. Blue’s 26 point-, 12 rebound-, four-steal performance led the Cavaliers to a 70-67 win over the much-hated Virginia Tech Hokies Friday, a victory which saved the pride of Cavalier fans everywhere.

It was a win the fans needed, because the thought of the Hokies stealing football and both basketball games from us would be unthinkable. But Virginia Tech was on the verge of doing just that Friday night because of the disappointing loss the men’s team suffered Thursday. So to say that there was a sense of urgency at University Hall would be a huge understatement.

I’ve never seen a crowd at U-Hall that remained excited throughout an entire basketball game. Sure, the crowd went crazy at the end of a few games last year because of a certain player named Todd Billet, but this was different.

These fans made U-Hall feel like an actual basketball arena. I have my reservations about U-Hall, which range from the size (way too small) to the crowd (the seats are too far from the court) to the atmosphere (out of date stadium = no fun), but Friday night was different. There was a buzz in the air. There was something about the place that said, “this night is different.”

The only other time I have ever had a feeling like that before a basketball game was when I went to see the Bullets play Michael Jordan and the Bulls at US Air Arena way back in the day. That game was during Jordan’s first comeback, and everyone was looking to see what Air Jordan could do after a prolonged absence. Before that game, everyone knew Jordan would be able to respond because, well, because he was Michael Jordan.

During the warm-ups for Friday’s game, I had a feeling that a Virginia player would step up — I just didn’t know who it would be.

It turned out to be LaTonya Blue, and nobody should have doubted it would have been her. Blue has stressed all year long that her desire this season is to win, and she certainly has done everything she can to put the Cavaliers in a position to achieve this goal. She has had games where she is content to spread the ball to her teammates, but on Friday, she seemed determined to make it her night.

Blue got off to a slow start, scoring her first point from the free throw line after missing her first shot, but it wasn’t long before she put her stamp on the game. Five minutes into the game, Blue stole the ball from Hokie point guard Carrie Mason and ran down the court. She missed a lay-up but got the offensive rebound and the put-back. You could tell Blue wasn’t going to let this game slip away — and she didn’t, or rather, she wouldn’t. Whenever the Cavaliers needed a bucket, it was Blue who answered the call. Whether it was her running jumper with a second remaining in the first half to give Virginia a one-point advantage at the break (a textbook demonstration in isolation basketball), or her I’m-going-to-make-this-shot-no-matter-what basket with 40.2 seconds left that basically sealed it for the Cavaliers, Blue scored when it mattered. Friday belonged to Blue so much that Virginia coach Debbie Ryan referred to that shot as a “good look” despite the fact that there were numerous Tech defenders around Blue.

Before the game, there was a sense of urgency. After the game, there was only elation at U-Hall. The elation was because, as far as most fans are concerned, LaTonya Blue chose the perfect time to have arguably the best game of her career as a Cavalier.

And for that, I want to be the first to say, “thank you, LaTonya.”

Feisty Minnesota had to leave snow-swept Charlottesville bitterly disappointed after coming up short in a 7-0 loss to Virginia Saturday.

It was a winning start for another Virginia debutante as freshman Jarret Chirico overcame Minnesota’s Brian Lipinski, emulating the earlier success of fellow freshman Treat Huey. Chirico took the first set 7-5 before Lipinski staged a spectacular comeback, going three breaks up early in the second set to win it 3-6. Chirico regained his composure in the third and took it easily 6-2.

“I was just nervous going into the match,” Chirico said. “I shanked a lot of balls, but I was confident I was going to win.”

Minnesota looked out of sorts early as the Cavaliers were as dominant in the doubles matches as they were in their opener against Old Dominion. No. 19 ranked pair Rylan Rizza and Nick Meythaler made it a clean sweep with an 8-6 win over the Gophers’ Avery Tycer and Adrien Debryne.

Earlier, Virginia’s Darrin Cohen and Treat Huey easily won over Minnesota’s Sion Wilkins and Mikey Kantar. The Cavalier pair of Doug Stewart and Eric Riley secured the doubles point with a win at No. 2.

Virginia featured a changed line-up from the one responsible for drubbing Old Dominion 7-0 a few days earlier. One of the changes, Stephen Rozek, was the first Cavalier on the board with a straight sets win over Minnesota’s Sion Wilkins. Rozek registered the easiest win of the night, 6-2, 6-2, in his first dual match of the season.

“It was a lot of fun to be out there,” Rozek said. “I was very happy to be able to contribute to the team.”

Virginia coach Brian Boland was impressed with the junior from Ohio.

“Rozek continues to improve and continues to be a great leader for our team,” Boland said.

No. 19 ranked Doug Stewart, playing at the No. 1 slot, kept his season record perfect and made the score 3-0 with another straight sets victory over No. 105 Ticer, 7-6, 6-3. Virginia then suffered through a tense period as signs of a Gopher comeback seemed imminent.

“We certainly didn’t play our best tennis,” Boland said. “But I have to give Minnesota a lot credit because they came out to play.”

No. 63 Marko Miklo suffered an early setback, losing the first set 4-6 to the Gophers’ Debryne. Miklo, playing at the No. 3 slot, fought back in the second before Debryne finally capitulated in the third, 6-1.

No. 104 ranked Huey, playing at the No. 4 slot, came through in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 over Minnesota’s Schwark. No. 36 Rizza, playing at No. 2, arguably had the hardest match of the night battling the quick-serving Edlefsen. Rizza squandered a number of set points before losing the first set in a tie breaker, 7-6. He regained his confidence in the second set and denied the Gophers a chance for a consolation win by taking the third 6-4. Rizza’s victory ensured that the Cavaliers recorded their second straight 7-0 victory of the season, a feat only they achieved once last season.

Virginia continues its schedule with another home match against No. 25 Tennessee at the Boars Head Inn next Saturday.

The Honor Committee voted against a resolution to place a “forgiveness clause” on the spring ballot last night. The motion failed with a vote of 7-15 with one abstention.

The ad hoc Sanction Reform Committee proposed the resolution last night and stipulated that a student expelled from the University for an honor offense could apply for re-admittance after a period of two semesters. The Honor Committee would decide if it is possible to grant forgiveness to the convicted student and allow him or her to re-enter the community of trust.

Much of the objection to the resolution came from the ambiguity of the proposed procedures for readmission.

“I am concerned about arbitrary-looking decisions on the part of the Honor Committee,” Vice-Chair for Education Sarah Outten said.

Since the exact by-laws of the issue have not been mapped out as of yet by the Honor Committee, some Committee members said the resolution is too vague.

“I feel uncomfortable sending something this broad to the student body,” Vice-Chair for Service Lorre Luther said.

Vice-Chair for Investigation David Hobbs argued the forgiveness clause would weaken the entire honor system.

“It will convey that it is possible to cheat and remain in the student body,” Hobbs said.

SRC Chair Sara Page disagreed with Hobbs.

“This is a small change that makes the honor system infinitely more humane,” Page said. “The culture of honor is maintained.”

Page proposed the forgiveness clause as a solution to many of the problems plaguing the single sanction, primarily low initiation rates and dwindling faculty support.

“Faculty are a majority of initiations [of honor trials] now, and they have signaled to us that they support this,” she said.

Hobbs noted a lot of the support from students and faculty members is derived from the strength of the system and the positive effect it has on the University community.

The Committee raised other questions such as the issues of international student visa status, credit transfer for readmitted students, the revocation of degrees and whether lying during an honor trial constitutes an additional honor offense.

Although the Committee voted against sending the resolution directly to ballot, many members said they believe it will reach the ballot through student petitions.

“I think that there are student groups already collecting signatures to get this issue on the ballot,” Page said.

If enough students sign the petitions, the forgiveness policy will be open to a student vote in the spring elections.

“I think the Honor Committee is still interested in hearing what the students think of this issue,” Page said. “If the students take the initiative, it forces the Honor Committee to prepare the by-laws package for this issue.”

The spring season of University student elections starts today — in order to inform prospective student voters, the first candidate information session of the election period will be held tonight in Newcomb Hall.

Created in the spring of 2003, the University Board of Elections oversees all student elections.

While student elections have been online since 1997, there are several new features in this year’s system.

Candidates now can register, create profiles, and track their expenditures on the UBE website, www.uvavote.com. Collected signatures still have to be submitted manually.

The UBE has worked to online paperwork and make the voting Web site more user-friendly, according to UBE Chair Steve Yang.

The UBE also is testing a new system of campaign grants. Candidates for Student Council president and College representatives to the Honor Committee will be able to apply for campaign grants up to $100.

“The campaign grant system is designed to encourage students to run for office regardless of their economic situation,” Yang said.

Voting will take place between February 25 and March 2. The deadline for students to get on the ballot is the night before voting starts, but candidates are encouraged to participate in the entire campaign process, including debates.

In fall 2004, only 10 percent of the student population voted. In spring 2004, 24 percent voted. The trend of uneven voting was due to the fact that spring elections affect more positions and get more publicity, UBE Technology Coordinator Chris Husser said.

Student apathy remains a pressing issue in student elections.

“When it comes to elections, a lot of students don’t participate because they don’t think it affects them,” Husser said.

However, Husser and Yang expressed optimism for the future of student elections and the online voting system.

The UBE currently conducts elections for Student Council, the University Judiciary and Honor Committees, as well as other governing bodies at the University.

“We’re working on getting other school councils on board,” Yang said.

UBE member Ian McGlynn said in an e-mail that the upcoming election is of particular importance for the future of the University.

“This is a critical time with many important issues,” he said. “The very shape of the University can be strongly influenced by the next generation of student leaders.”

The University’s Weldon Cooper Center unveiled its recent provisional population growth estimates for the Commonwealth on Friday.

According to the report, metropolitan areas like Charlottesville, including surrounding Albemarle County, and Richmond are growing at rates of 5 percent. By comparison, Northern Virginia is growing at a rate of 12 percent.

“Charlottesville City and Albemarle County are two separate, but closely related political jurisdictions,” said Dr. Julia Martin, director of Demographics and Workforce section of the Weldon Cooper Center. “The City of Charlottesville has actually been losing population for quite awhile, but Albemarle County has been gaining population.”

However, some believe the City’s population is more stable than the study suggests.

“I think that the population of the City is pretty stable, a little over 40,000,” Mayor David E. Brown said. “It’s anticipated to grow moderately, but not significantly.”

Council Member Blake Caravati said he also believed that the population has remained constant.

“I wouldn’t say that the population is declining,” Caravati said. “Some years it might grow less than one percent or decline less than one percent, but the line is pretty stable. I would, personally, say that growth is static.”

The lack of open land available for expansion may be contributing to the City’s population stagnation.

“The main thing is that we’re landlocked,” Mayor Brown said.

The City’s location within Albemarle County also plays a key role in its population growth.

“Charlottesville is an island in the middle of the ocean that is Albemarle County,” Dr. Martin said. “Housing availability is low, and prices are high.”

Despite the recent decline in population growth, there is some evidence of future expansion.

“In the last three or four years, the real estate industry has come alive,” Caravati said. “The amount of residential housing available for middle income families has increased significantly in the past three to four years.”

The City also will consider alternative ways to continue to accommodate growth — including taller buildings, Brown said.

The Weldon Cooper Center is a public service organization at the University involved with demographics analysis and workforce management.The center also studies economics and business data, and performs a variety of other functions.

Every year the Weldon Cooper Center completes population estimates for each of the Commonwealth’s 134 localities in the state of Virginia.

With the opening of the new semester, The Cavalier Daily has reached its annual changing of the guard. After ten hours of elections Saturday, the paper now is under fresh leadership for its 116th year.

Former Opinion editor Patrick Harvey, a third-year College student, assumed the position of editor-in-chief.

“My main goal is to improve the newspaper’s relationship with the University community, especially with minorities,” Harvey said.

Third-year College student and past news associate editor Monika Galvydis was elected managing editor. .

Third-year College student Elliot Haspel, a previous Opinion associate editor, took over as executive editor.

Second-year College student Timothy Lee, a former News associate editor, was elected chief financial officer. Former Opinion associate editor Daniel Bagley, a third-year Engineering school student, took on the role of operations manager.

Senior Board members include fourth-year College student Alice Shin as Ads Manager, second-year College student Chris Belyea as Director of Information Technology, third-year Engineering school student Jie Lu as Online Manager

Assistant managing editors are third-year College student Elizabeth Katz and second-year College student Lauren Todd Pappa.

Second-year College students Kathleen Meyers and Sarah R. Gatsos were elected News editors. The section has expanded this year to include eleven News associate editors: first years Margaret Bonner, Caroline Freeman, Becca Garrison, Maria Jeong, Ashley Simpson and Maria Tchijov, second years K.C. Hall, Calisha Meyers, Devon Rood and Alex Sellinger, and third year Armenoush Aslanian-Persico.

Second-year College students Hannah Woolf and Michelle Jamrisko were elected Life editors. The Life editors selected first year Teresa Wood and second years A.J. Aronstein, Amber Davis, Demetra Karamanos and Jessica Van Atta as Life associate editors.

Opinion editors Maggie Bowden, a third-year College student, and Mike Slaven, a second-year College student, were elected to lead Opinion associate editors Adam Keith and Herb Ladley, both first years, and second year Whitney Blake.

Second-year College students Clayton O’Toole and Elizabeth Newell took over as Sports editors. Former Sports Associate Jeremy Root, second-year College student, was elected Gameday Editor. The Sports editors appointed first years Margaret Sessa-Hawkins and James Wagner, second years Barney Breen-Portnoy, Mickey Cloud, Walker Freer, Joey Mancini, Adrian Vigil, and third year Shrayes Ramesh as Sports associate editors.

The newly-elected production editors are first-year College student Jordan Buller and third-year Engineering student Chris Gibson.

Third-year College students Danny Neckel and Laura Michael assumed the role of photo editors.

Second-year College student Matt Galati took over as Health & Sexuality editor. Third-year College student Anthony LaMesa was elected Focus editor. The new Nation/World editor is first-year College student Mike Scott, and third-year College Elizabeth Xu was elected Science editor.

The responsibility for one of the newspaper’s newest features, Tableau, was delegated to Arts & Entertainment editors Preston Gisch, a second-year College student, and Megan McEvoy, a fourth-year College student. The appointed Arts & Entertainment senior associate editor is second year Tim Ciesco. Alyse Shorland, a third year, and Laura Sisk, a second year, were appointed associate editors.

Third-year Engineering students Angelique Sklavounos and Meng Tan were elected graphics editors, and third-year College student Osmaan Minhas was selected as a graphics associate editor.