IT’S PROBABLY a safe bet that in the minds of most people, sex education for middle school girls does not include supporting promiscuity. This certainly would not be the expectation for a conservative state like Texas. To the shock of many, though, Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) did exactly that on February 2nd, with an executive order requiring all girls entering sixth grade at public schools to have received the Gardasil vaccine. Gardasil immunizes recipients against some forms of HPV (Human Papillomavirus), a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer. Perry and other advocates of mandating the vaccine focus on the serious effects of cervical cancer. But they ignore the fact that HPV is transmitted exclusively through sexual contact, and end up imposing an unnecessary burden on families that does nothing to protect their daughters’ well-being.

Lest this be perceived as an attack on the vaccine itself, let this be clear: cervical cancer is a horrible disease, and we should welcome an HPV vaccine and make it widely available. The disagreement here is not whether 11-year-old girls should be allowed to receive the HPV vaccine, but whether the government should force them to do so. Disappointingly, there are quite a few supporters for mandating the vaccine. Texas is the only state where the HPV vaccination is mandatory, but according to NPR, eighteen states and the District of Columbia are considering the idea.

Because of their invasive nature, vaccinations are procedures that the government should require only in very serious cases. Mandatory immunization makes sense for dangerous diseases that can be spread easily, such as through liquid, air or direct contact. A mandatory HPV vaccine would make sense in a setting where sexual activity is expected, such as, for example, government-run brothels. But these are not prostitutes; these are eleven and twelve-year-old children. There is something very wrong when our political leaders expect middle-school girls to be sexually active.

The fact that this mandatory vaccine targets a sexually transmitted disease is what has outraged so many people. Gardasil is completely unnecessary for anyone who is not sexually active, as we would reasonably expect most 11-year-olds to be. Even worse, it will encourage sexual activity among young girls. With one common risk inherent in promiscuous behavior removed, more girls will start to be sexually active at younger ages. It is shocking that Perry, a politician who has always held conservative positions on “values issues,” would support this.

Of course, there is a simpler explanation for why Perry and other politicians are pushing mandatory HPV vaccines — corruption. Pharmaceutical companies, like all of Big Business, are very involved in politics. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent research group that studies campaign finances, the pharmaceutical industry donated almost $18 billion the 2006 election cycle. Last year’s congressional lobbying scandals of were only the most recent reminder of the potential of campaign donations to influence public policy.

After the announcement of Perry’s executive order, the Houston Chronicle published some rather interesting information on the activities of Merck & Co. Merck is the manufacturer of Gardasil, the only HPV vaccine currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Rick Perry’s former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, currently works for Merck as one of its three lobbyists in Texas. The governor’s current chief of staff also has family ties to a group called Women in Government, which receives funding from Merck. These connections do not prove any wrongdoing, but it is hard not to see them as signs of shady dealings.

The Chronicle also reported that Gardasil costs $360, making it the most expensive vaccine ever mandated. Gardasil will be unaffordable for some families, but if the vaccine becomes required by many states, Merck will make billions of dollars. At the same time that many states are debating the vaccine, the company is engaged in intensive lobbying and advertising campaigns. Merck has a clear incentive for states to mandate the vaccine, because, according to the Washington Post, competing company GlaxoSmithKline is developing its own HPV vaccine. Called Cervarix, it may be submitted for approval by the end of 2007. Merck undoubtedly is rushing to sell as many doses of Gardasil as possible before a competing product enters the market.

Whether these politicians pushing mandatory vaccines are motivated by unsavory political considerations or honest belief in the vaccines’ necessity, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. States should not be imposing unnecessary, expensive medical requirements on eleven-year old girls, especially when those requirements concern their sexual activity. Quite simply, this is an abuse of power, and Americans should not allow these politicians to get away with it.

Stephen Parsley’s column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sparsley@cavalierdaily.com.

IN STUDENT elections at the University, it seems we always face a referendum dealing with either the function or powers of the Honor Committee. Whether a movement to end the single sanction or the current proposal to allocate more seats to the College of Arts and Sciences (an excellent idea, I might add), the student body has the opportunity to change the Honor Committee every year. On occasion it makes changes to the constitution.  Because of low requirements in voter participation, change to the constitution can be done in ways not representative of the student body, and therefore the rules ought to be tightened up.

The constitution governing the Honor Committee states that any change must be proposed by either two-thirds of the Honor Committee or by a petition signed by at least 10 percent of the student body.  The process roughly imitates the procedure for amending the constitution of the United States, which gives it some legitimacy. In proposing amendments to the United States Constitution, however, three-fourths of the states must approve the amendment for it to be ratified, whereas, in theory, only 10 percent of the student body could ratify an honor amendment.

So, the process for submitting an amendment to the honor constitution allows for amendments to appear on the ballot relatively easily, as only 10 percent must desire to see it up for ratification.  This is as it should be; in an intellectual community we must value the opportunity to debate those issues that pertain to us directly, and the overarching nature of the Honor Committee and its constitution means that it relates to us all.  Therefore, the relatively low requirement for referendum submission supports a community of free expression and a spirit of reform.  The problem with the process lies not in the submission of amendments or referenda, but rather with the ratification process. 

There are good things about this process.  The Honor Committee cannot make changes to their constitution unilaterally; that power belongs solely to the student body at large.  As those who stand to gain or lose the most as a result of any changes to the honor constitution, students deserve the final say on any changes. 

Under the current procedures too few students could theoretically exercise tremendous influence over the honor constitution and by extension over the University community.  It would be possible for 10 percent of the student body to enact an amendment to the honor constitution, as under the current constitution, amendments must be supported by “three-fifths of those students voting in a referendum election, provided that at least 10 percent of the student body votes in favor of the amendment.”  The key clause is “of those students voting in a referendum election.”  While not all students will ever vote in an election, to allow that only 10 percent could enact drastic changes to the Honor Committee seems ludicrous.

In 2006 and 2005, the student body voted against “consensus clauses” meant to increase the percentage of students required to change the honor constitution.These received a majority in the voting procedures, but failed to garner the 60 percent needed to pass. According to Honor Committee Chair Allison Tramba, she “would be hesitant to make a change that dramatic at this time” to the voting procedure, especially given the short existence of the University Board of Elections and its undetermined impact on student voting.

Therefore, the procedure ought to be amended to make it more difficult to change the constitution while still allowing flexibility for change.  For an amendment to pass, a majority of the student body ought to at least consider it.  I would argue that in order for an amendment to even be considered, half the student body should have to vote on it, and a majority of these votes should have to agree with it.  This would mean that the support of 25 percent of the student body could change the constitution rather than the 10 percent in place today. While the 33 and 50 percent thresholds of previous consensus clauses might have scared off enough voters to case the consensus clause to fail, 25 percent should be moderate enough to allow the consensus clause to pass. This increase the protection for our tradition of honor without significantly abrogating the power of the student body.

Robby Colby’s column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at rcolby@cavalierdaily.com.

Through a radical transplant surgery, the first of its kind conducted in the Commonwealth, University surgeons cured 15-year-old Ashley Lilly of a serious form of pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas. By transferring the insulin-producing islet cells from Lilly’s pancreas to her liver, the surgeons successfully prevented the possible future complication of diabetes.

University Medical Center Spokesperson Ellen McKenna explained that the function of the pancreas is to maintain necessary levels of insulin. Removal of the organ would have put Lilly at risk of diabetes.

According to McKenna, two factors emphasized the significance of the operation. First, because the doctors used Lilly’s own islet cells instead of those of donors, she does not have to deal with daily and indefinite consumption of strong immunosuppressive drugs, which are typically administered in transplant surgeries.

“That’s big in terms of advancement,” she said.

The second factor McKenna outlined was the importance of the islet cells. Even though doctors removed a large portion of Lilly’s pancreas, “her body will still be producing insulin, so she won’t develop diabetes,” McKenna added.

Fritz Angle, chief of the division of interventional radiology and one of Lilly’s surgeons, said the procedure was relatively uncomplicated for the patient.

“The surgery is really what we call a minimally invasive procedure, he said. “She was in really no serious discomfort and didn’t require any prolonged hospitalization because of the procedure.”

University Surgery Prof. Kenneth Brayman, who also took part in the surgery, said the University houses only one of about 10 laboratories in the U.S. that is conducting these surgeries.

The procedure was the first in this region, and has only been performed “a couple hundred times,” according to Brayman. “We’ve built a special laboratory … to process the pancreas to derive the insulin-producing cells.”

Additionally, Brayman said he hopes the University will take a leadership role in finding a cure for diabetes.

Lilly’s operation “was a form of cell therapy and falls under the general category of regenerative medicine,” Brayman said. “We want U.Va to be a leader in regenerative medicine, and our goal is to cure diabetes.”

Charlottesville City Councilman Dave Norris spoke at the University Democrats’ meeting yesterday and discussed the council’s efforts to rectify the perceived disparity between affordable housing and wages.

“A huge proportion of people who work in Charlottesville cannot afford to live here,” Norris said. “More than half of them are paying more than 30 percent for their mortgages, and they are getting second or third jobs to pay for housing. Some of them end up in homeless shelters, and a lot of them have to move 20 to 40 miles away to commute into Charlottesville everyday.”

Norris stressed that until the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce provides more funds to rectify the housing issue, the problem will continue to worsen.

“My philosophy is that you can talk and talk about it, but until you bring dollars to the table you will not be able to produce much affordable housing,” he said. “You can put incentives in place for developers, you can help with Habitat for Humanity, there are other things that can be done, but it comes down to dollars, resources and subsidies.”

Norris cited students’ decision to move off-Grounds as a factor creating pressure on the local housing market.

According to statistics on the U.S. NewsWorld Report Web site for 2007, 45 percent of University undergraduates live in on-Grounds housing.

University Democrats Vice President Sarah Buckley said she hopes Norris’ visit will promote more awareness at the University regarding affordable housing.

“Because the University is such a big employer and big power in Charlottesville, it’s really important to have greater support for these issues than what we’ve had in the past,” Buckley said. “If enough students show their support for issues such as affordable housing and [the] cost of living conditions, then the University will have to start changing its approach to the issue.”

As administrators go through the process of conducting interviews to fill tenure-track positions for the 2007-08 academic year, the University continues to look towards increasing the diversity of its faculty.

The current tenured faculty is 88.6 percent white and 75 percent male, according to Gertrude Fraser, vice provost for faculty advancement.

Bill Harvey, vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity, said the University is ranked 12th among 61 institutions in the American Association for American Universities in terms of the number of black faculty members.

“That sounds better than it is,” Harvey said. “We have work to do, absolutely.”

The University needs to both work within the community and with applicants to improve faculty diversity, Harvey argued.

Harvey said the goal is to make prospective faculty members feel appreciated when they come to the University.

“On the hands-on level, faculty hiring is done by faculty usually at the department level, so we have to help those departments as they make their decisions,” Harvey added.

The University has made progress in its ability to recruit a more diverse faculty, Fraser said.

“We have had consistent success with what I call the yield rate–offers that we have made and how successful we are in getting them to say ‘yes,’” Fraser said.

According to Fraser, since the 2003-2004 academic year, the “yield rate” among women has increased from 54 percent to 73 percent for 2005-2006. For black candidates, the yield rate numbers have increased from 31 percent in 2003-2004, to 88 percent for 2005-2006.

“At least with women and African-American faculty, we are learning how to create offers [and] to host candidates at the University to convince them that U.Va. is the place [where] they want to work,” Fraser said. “We have been very successful in making the case for U.Va. among the highly competitive, highly-recruited candidates, and I think that’s extremely important because we’re competing with the top schools for top individuals.”

Though significant progress has been made in relation to recruiting women and black tenure-track faculty, the University is continuing to increase its appeal to Latino and Hispanic applicants, Fraser said.

Yield rate percentage increases are the largest for Latino and Hispanic faculty but “overall the number [of tenure-track faculty members] is still very small,” she said.

Increased diversity in relation to faculty is something that will improve “conversation”at the University, explained Maurice Apprey, interim dean for African-American Affairs.

“Diversity for educational purposes can intensify and enrich the very content and educational purposes [and] can enrich our community of learning,” Apprey said.

Former Associate Dean of Students Sybil Todd passed away at age 66 Tuesday in Dallas after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to a family friend. Todd served as a dean at the University from 1977 until 1995.

“Dean Todd was a wonderful dean,” former Dean of Students Bob Canevari said. “She was truly loved by the students she worked with. She had a way of helping people believe in themselves and was able to bring the best out of those individual students she worked with.”

Pat Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, said Todd worked closely with First-Year Seminar and Resident Staff programs.

“She brought a lot of energy to her students,” Lampkin said.

Politics Prof. Larry Sabato, who knew Todd when she was an associate dean, said Todd was an extremely popular person at the University and that she was especially helpful towards, and concerned about the safety of, young women on Grounds.

“Sybil was a marvelous dean and a very caring person who did a great deal for the students at the University,” Sabato said. “She had an engaging personality and was just enormous fun to be with.”

Maribeth Southworth, who graduated from the College in 1982, said she worked with Todd while serving as a member of the Resident Staff. Southworth also noted that Todd, in recent years, took her career into the realm of private industry, working with a University graduate on a home furnishings catalog.

“She was a mentor to many people,” Southworth said. “She was very warm, always laughing, but then could turn on a dime and could involve you in a compelling discussion. She was a tremendous part of the U.Va. experience for a number of students.”

According to Southworth, Todd was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last May and was treated at a cancer center in Houston. A memorial service will be held for Todd Saturday at 2 p.m. in Dallas.

As many as 20 cars were involved in a pileup on the Afton Mountain side of Interstate 64 at approximately 3 p.m. Tuesday, halting both lanes of traffic on the interstate.

The pileup started when a van collided with the rear of a contracted snowplow truck, which then ran up under the van, according to First Sgt. J.K. Pearson of the Virginia State Police.

“The person in the van was taken to the U.Va. [hospital] for treatment,” Pearson said. “Several other vehicles skidded and crashed … [but] that wasn’t serious.”

According to Pearson, the interstate was closed for approximately three hours because of the inclement weather, and was not reopened until after 6:30 p.m.

“Speed was certainly a factor [in the accidents],” Pearson added. “If people had been driving slower, none of it would have happened. The combination of the two factors [ice and fog] just resulted in a bad situation.”

Conditions have improved since then, but authorities are still urging drivers to remain cautious on the road.

– compiled by Jordan Dods

John Paul Jones Arena was recently named “Best New Major Concert Venue” by the readers of Pollstar magazine, a music industry trade publication. The announcement came Feb. 8 at the 18th annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles.

According to Pollstar Editor-in-Chief Gary Bongiovanni, subscribers to the magazine include professional agents and concert promoters from around the globe. This year, John Paul Jones Area beat out venues such as the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Behel, N.Y. and the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill. for the honor.

“This is one of the highest honors an arena can receive,” stated Larry Wilson, general manager of the arena, in a press release. “We are thrilled with the award. The JPJ Arena was designed not only as the best place in the country to play basketball, but also as an outstanding facility for concerts and other events. It has been a special treat to see so many persons from our community attend events at the arena.”

Since its opening, the arena has hosted artists such as Dave Matthews Band, Eric Clapton and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“A lot of tours are going to play Charlottesville for the first time because of this venue,” Bongiovanni said.

– compiled by David Moltz

Coming off a big win against Duke Sunday, the Cavaliers will take on Maryland in College Park Friday and end the season with a dual meet against No. 2 Iowa State Sunday.

Iowa State (11-3) presents a particularly daunting opponent. Coming into their dual meet against Virginia Tech Friday, Iowa State has won their last six dual meets, capped by a convincing 27-12 win against No. 3 Missouri. Of their 10 starters, nine are ranked nationally in the top 15 in their weight classes. The Cavaliers (7-8, 2-2 ACC) are undeniably the underdog, but they are looking forward to the challenge of taking on such a powerhouse program in front of a home crowd.

“The reason I put them on the schedule, is because competition means everything in wrestling,” Virginia coach Steve Garland said. “It’s going to be a great experience for our kids to just go out there and try to compete with them.”

Even if the Cavaliers don’t win on Sunday as a team, they are hoping to win several key individual matchups. In particular, the team hopes sophomore Eric Albright can win his match at 133 pounds. After a brilliant start to the season, in which Albright was ranked as high as 10th, Albright lost two straight matches to lesser opponents and dropped out of the rankings. A win against Iowa State’s Nick Gallick, ranked No. 14 in one poll, may put Albright back in the rankings and give him a huge boost of confidence entering the ACC tournament.

“You go out and beat a guy ranked 14th, 15th in the country, all of a sudden, you’re going, ‘Wow, that might change Albright’s season around,’” Garland said. “Albright at the beginning of the year was the greatest thing since sliced bread and he’s had some problems lately. This could be the match that really wakes him back up and says, ‘hey, this is what you’re capable of.’”

Maryland (15-5, 4-0 ACC) also presents a challenging opponent to Virginia. The Terrapins have won six out of their last seven dual meets, three of them against ACC opponents. The Cavaliers plan to use this matchup against a high-quality opponent to help prepare them for the intensity of postseason play.

“We’ve had a goal from the beginning of the year to win the individual ACC tournament,” Albright said. “Everything up until then is just a building block to get to the individual ACC tournament. It doesn’t matter if we didn’t win a match all year, everybody goes in there, and all the records are fresh.”

If the opponents the Cavaliers face this weekend aren’t enough of a challenge, the team also has to deal with a laundry list of injuries. Most notably, redshirt sophomore Rocco Caponi, ranked No. 19 at 184 pounds, has a knee injury, suffered in his match against N.C. State last Friday, making his status for this weekend is uncertain. Several team members will wrestle with bruised ribs, and one player has come down with a sports hernia. If nothing else, the Cavaliers would like to come out of the two meets at least as healthy as they came in.

“I’m trying to get into ACCs with the best lineup possible,” Garland said. “This whole year, we really haven’t had our full lineup together consistently. I’m not making excuses either, that’s not why we lost all those matches, but it definitely didn’t help things, so I’m trying to stay healthy after this weekend.”