Who will be the second black president of the United States?

This was the controversial question posed by Assoc. Politics Prof. Lynn Sanders in a speech she made last night at a University Democrats meeting. Her talk, titled “Who Will Be the Second Black President?,” examined the way 2008 Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama portray their race and gender.

According to Sanders, the title of her speech came from the idea that Bill Clinton has qualities that make him “black,” an idea originated by the Congressional Black Caucus and Nobel-prizewinning author Toni Morrison.

The basis for Morrison’s claim is Bill Clinton’s working-class background and the fact that Americans intruded on his privacy and undermined his achievements, Sanders said, noting that this claim is very controversial.

Sanders also discussed the extent to which Hillary Clinton shares these characteristics. While she noted ways in which Clinton’s privacy has been breached and her achievements undermined, she qualified her statements.

“I’m stretching to make her black,” she said. “I don’t think any of these [characteristics] really resonate.”

According to Sanders, support from black voters for both Clintons comes mainly from policies they have supported.

“Economic policy in particular matters to a lot of African-American voters,” she said. “In general, the policies the Clinton administration advanced were beneficial to African-American families.”

Sanders also highlighted Clinton’s limitations, particularly the fact that she is often seen as scripted and controlled.

“She doesn’t seem to have an interior that you can get access to,” Sanders said.

Another struggle for Clinton, as well as for Obama, is trying to strike a balance between advocating change while also not appearing too risky, Sanders said.

“This is what I really think it’s about,” she said. “I don’t really think people are responding to the personality characteristics that much.”

She added that when voters discuss public opinion of presidential candidates they often exaggerate the extent to which people support a candidate solely based on race or gender. In reality, policy is a much more important factor, she said.

University Democrats Vice President Sarah Buckley said she feels the 2008 presidential contest will reveal implicit prejudices people have about women and minorities.

Sanders’ speech “is controversial insofar as we don’t want to explore the prejudices we all hold even though we want to think of ourselves as egalitarian,” Buckley noted before the event. “I hope that the discussion will help us realize that not everyone in the country is necessarily as open[-minded] as students at U.Va.”

College Republicans Chair Rob Martin said he does not believe Clinton’s gender will have an impact on her candidacy.

“I think the main thing to stress is regardless whether it’s a male, female, white, black — the candidate who wins the 2008 election is going to be the best candidate,” he said.

Though Sanders said before her speech that her research assumes implicit attitudes about race and gender matter in elections, she noted that it is difficult to discuss because she can not tell people that she knows — while they do not know — the true reasons for their voting preferences.

“Even if we can show in public opinion data that these factors matter, it’s not fair to use it as part of our discussion,” Sanders said.

This past weekend the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and university officials met to determine how to process recommendations the university has received since the April 16 shootings that paralyzed the Blacksburg campus.

Since Seung-Hui Cho’s shooting spree that left 32 students and faculty members dead, Virginia Tech received a total of 380 recommendations about topics ranging from security issues to mental health services, 93 of which came from Governor’s Review Panel and 287 of which were filed by the college’s three internal review committees, said Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech. Though the recommendations entailed a number of areas for improvement, many of the suggestions overlapped.

“Independent groups have come to the same conclusion,” explained Mark McNamee, Virginia Tech provost and vice president for academic affairs.

McNamee said the Board of Visitors — the governing authority at Virginia Tech — meets four times a year, adding that Sunday’s discussion was a “special meeting.”

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger and other members of the campus administration also attended the meeting.

Attendees “reviewed the process that the university would go about analyzing the recommendations,” Hincker said. In addition to organizing the recommendations, a key part of the meeting was reporting to the Board of Visitorsand “letting them know how the system would work,” McNamee said.

In a statement issued by board Rector Jacob Lutz, III, the board also commended Steger at the meeting for his hard work and “leadership in these most difficult times.”

To approach the issues referenced in the recommendations, Virginia Tech has formed several committees within the university community.

“We wanted the faculty, staff and students to be involved in this process,” McNamee explained.

One committee focuses on what is known as the “human dimension”, which includes counseling, mental health services and communication. The other main committee deals with security and infrastructure, examining “what additional measures universities should take,” McNamee said.

One of the greatest challenges Virginia Tech faces is securing funding for future projects.

The board is still “assessing the cost” for both short- and long-term efforts, McNamee said, adding that the highest-priority measures, however, have “already been implemented.”

Factors such as emergency communications, care team, and threat assessment have been put into place, Hincker said.

McNamee said the implementation of recommendations through the overall Virginia Tech Action Plan is going to be an “ongoing process,”explaining that determining priorities, finding a way to pay for them and getting them in place are some of the school’s main goals at this time.

“Things are going to be different from now on,” he said.

In his statement, Lutz also noted, “By adopting the Virginia Tech Action Plan … [the university is] honoring the lives and sacrifices of all who have suffered and advancing the notion of service that is fundamental to Virginia Tech’s mission.”

McNamee noted that the university continues to move forward even while determining how to improve its security, infrastructure and student services; this year alone, the university has seen a nearly 1,000-person increase in enrollment.

“Despite what happened on April 16th … people recognize it’s an excellent university,” McNamee said. “They know it’s a strong environment, saw the quality of its students and wanted to be a part of it.”

After years of receiving heat for his controversial theories about global warming, University Environmental Science Prof. Patrick Michaels has officially resigned as the Virginia state climatologist, a position to which he was appointed in 1980.

Controversy arose in 2006 about the validity of Michaels’ position, when Gov. Tim Kaine’s office claimed Michaels did not hold a governor-appointed position and said his views did not represent those of the Commonwealth. At that time, state officials said no evidence could be found that a governor had appointed a climatologist since 1980 and that the ability to appoint the climatologist shifted to the University in 2000. Michaels continually asserted that humans do not play a large role in global warming, claiming that nature is more to blame for the trend. The controversy was augmented by reports that Michaels’ had received funds from a coal-burning utility.

“The governor’s office stated earlier this year in an open letter interview that Michaels did not speak for climate policy for the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Environmental Science Department Chair Joseph C. Zieman said. “As long as the pieces he has written have nothing legally wrong with them, however controversial, they are protected by academic freedom. University faculty are free to write about whatever they wish and can express diverse opinions.”

Zieman added that Michaels — who he described as “a member … of a small group of people that are called skeptics” — has not resigned as a research professor at the University.

Michaels was unable for comment regarding his resignation, and the Governor’s Office declined to discuss the matter.

“We’re not commenting on it,” Kaine spokesperson Delancey Skinner said.

Jan Curtis, ex-officio member of the American Association of State Climatologists, said Michaels’ decision “is a personal matter,” adding that “there is obviously an issue that caused him to resign.” Regarding the upkeep of Michaels’ office, a replacement has not yet been found.

“We have not gone that far down the line in discussion yet,” Zieman said. “That will come up shortly.”

According to Zieman, a temporary replacement is keeping up all the functions of the office in terms of emergency preparedness and issuing drought and crop reports.

As the result of 2005 legislation, the University is gaining autonomy from the Commonwealth in employee management; however, University employees expressed concerns at yesterday’s Town Hall meeting about whether the University’s new system will be more effective than the Commonwealth’s strategy.

At the meeting held in Newcomb Ballroom, Susan Carkeek, vice president and chief human resources officer, discussed positive and negative responses from an recent employee survey, which revealed both employee loyalty to the University as well as dissatisfaction with current policies under the state-controlled system.

The survey was distributed in the spring “to ask questions about portions of the human resources department that could be affected by restructuring,” said Alexandra Rebhorn, human resources communications coordinator.

Restructuring has been in the works since higher education restructuring legislation passed in 2005, giving several Virginia public universities more autonomy from the Commonwealth. The restructuring process will take about another year to be fully implemented, said Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the University, who opened the meeting for Carkeek. Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget, also spoke, reporting the benefits of restructuring. Under the Commonwealth’s system, the University was required to go through a lengthier approval process for projects or the payment of fees. Sheehy added that restructuring will also save money, citing, for example, that the Commonwealth used to keep the interest from tuition payments, an amount of about $2 million annually.

Restructuring has the potential to also directly benefit employees, according to Carkeek. Results from the spring survey will be considered while designing a new system to better address the needs of employees.

The survey revealed that while 88.1 percent of employees rated the University as a good, very good or excellent place to work, only 46.1 percent were satisfied with the compensation system and 66.6 percent had a positive opinion of the current human resources system.

Carkeek discussed these results and thanked employees who filled out the surveys for being candid.

“Meaningful impact is what I’m looking for,” she said. “You’ve given us lots of things to work on.”

Later in the meeting, Carkeek asked employees to voice their opinions at an open microphone.

University computer systems engineer Brad Sayler expressed his lack of faith in the human resources department.

“What are you doing to make us deserve your trust?” he asked.

Sayler emphasized that he enjoys his job, but said the way staff members are treated needs improvement. He also expressed a desire for staff and faculty to have a forum in which they can express their views.

After the meeting, Carkeek said she wants to provide that forum in the form of more Town Hall meetings and e-mail feedback.

Despite being given an opportunity to influence the design of the University-operated employee-management system, another employee voiced frustration at the task of choosing between the current system that has proven problematic and a new, untested system.

Despite employees’ doubts and concerns, Sandridge expressed optimism about the benefits of restructuring.

“Restructuring has already proven to save time and money,” he told employees, “We’re trying to do what we promised — an HR system that meets your needs.”

Two more Town Hall meetings are scheduled to be held today for those unable to attend yesterday’s meeting.

Two generous – but anonymous – alumni have both pledged substantial future gifts to the Serpentine Society, the University’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer alumni network.

The gifts, according to Michael Clarke, Alumni Association vice president of development, are bequests, and thus will be realized only after donors’ deaths through the exertion of their wills.

Clarke said the value of both bequests has yet to be definitely determined, and also noted that because they are future gifts, they are open to possible change.

“There is still some fuzziness as to the exact amounts,” Clarke said. “But they are certainly in the seven-figures.”

Clarke noted, however, that the current pledged values of the gifts are $3 million and $1 million.

These gifts, when received, would support scholarship programs and the Serpentine Society’s mission.

Serpentine Society President Rodney Davis, a 1983 College graduate, said the promised monies will be both restricted and unrestricted.

Davis said the restricted portion of one of the future gifts, as specified by the donor, will support a scholarship fund, while the other part will be used at the Serpentine Society board’s discretion.

Davis added that although the Society has “a lot of different ideas” about how the bequests might be used, no definite proposals have yet been made or planned, because the Society has not yet received the donations.

One of the anonymous donors, who identified himself as a male graduate of both the College and Medical School, said the bequest was his idea and initiative.

“I just retired and took the time after I retired to look at my will, and I changed my will because I have no relatives,” the donor said. “I am going to leave it to a U.Va. fund to gain interest.”

The donor added that he has specified how at least some of the money will be used: A portion of it will be used to create a scholarship fund for gay male students with financial need.

This anonymous donor’s bequest, it was also noted, could rise in value if his financial status changes through increase in property value or an inheritance.

The donor said he chose the Serpentine Society as the recipient of his funds because of both his ties to the University and his desire to aid LGBT students. He said he previously considered willing his gift to the Point Foundation, a national LGBT scholarship fund and support organization, but instead chose the society after learning about it at an Alumni Association-directed reunion.

“I got a good education here, and I had a scholarship,” the donor said. “It’s one way that I can pay back.”

The donor added that he hopes his future gift will aid in the society’s mission of connecting and advocating for LGBT students at the University.

“When I went to school here, being gay was not considered,” the donor said. “It didn’t exist; it wasn’t even thought of.”

Clarke, too, expressed his desire to see the future gifts benefit students and the University community.

“Maybe this will help show that, clearly, things have gone in a much more positive direction for gay or lesbian students at U.Va.,” Clarke said, explaining that more donors might be willing to pledge gifts if they see that the University “is a little different than it was in the 60s and 70s.”

Davis reminded, however, that the gifts are, indeed, future gifts, and that neither bequest may be received for some time.

“The key thing is, we still need money for our immediate needs,” Davis said.

Hidden in the second multipurpose room in Slaughter Gym is one of the University’s most unique organizations: the tae kwon do club.

Tae kwon do is the national sport of Korea, where it was developed as a military tactic so soldiers could continue to fight hand-to-hand when their weapons were knocked out of their hands. It was streamlined into a sport, becoming popular across the globe. Tae kwon do came onto the Olympic stage in 1988 as a demonstration event, becoming a full-fledged medal sport in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The sport of tae kwon do is divided into two main categories, the first of which is forms, which link different sequences of moves within a scripted framework. There is an open division competition in tournaments, in which fighters can make up their own forms.

“This can be quite difficult to judge,” club member Bobby Marriott said, noting that “it can get so subjective.” The more popular category, at least in the University’s club, is sparring, which is a free fight between two competitors.

“It’s a free fight, with a lot of strategy involved,” said club vice president Carl Sparacino. “It involves a lot of controlled aggression. There’s a lot of rules on where you can hit to make sure no one gets hurt badly.”

Sparring is divided into two subcategories, point sparring and Olympic sparring. In point sparring, forms are used when fighting, and the objective is simply to tap the other person lightly in a certain place on the body to score points. In Olympic sparring, the two fighters have 3 minutes to score as many points as they can, with 30 second breaks between every minute. A kick to the head is worth two points, while a kick to the torso is worth one point. To score points, a fighter must give a “staggering blow.”

“Olympic sparring has more strategy to it,” Sparacino said, “It’s more about tricking your opponent, trying to figure out what he’s going to do and when.”

Though some may think tae kwon do is the same as any other Asian martial art, the sport has its unique aspects as well. It focuses more on kicks and moving around than karate — a Japanese art that focuses on punches — or judo, another Japanese art that concentrates on throwing an opponent to the ground.

Virginia’s team has grown rapidly, doubling in size during the past two years. Practices are much more fast-paced and intense than when the club first formed in 1992. It also has more experienced fighters this year than perhaps any other year. Nearly half of club members are black belts, and many come from many different parts of the world. A few of the club members, such as demo team captain Justin McCarthy, have trained in Korea. This is a great asset for first-timers.

“It’s my first year in the club,” member Linda Le said, noting that “it’s been a really welcoming environment. The black-belts are really good teachers.”

The club has performed demonstrations at events such as the Student Activities Fair, and plans to do more to increase the visibility of the club.

“Everyone ends up really close in the end,” Sparacino said, “We make a lot of great friends, it’s like a big family.”

Following a series of tough non-conference games, the Virginia women’s soccer team begins ACC play this evening, taking on Duke in Durham N.C.

Prominent opponents such as Santa Clara, Stanford, West Virginia, William & Mary and Colorado have provided Virginia’s preparation for play in what is arguably the most competitive conference in women’s college soccer. To say the least, Virginia’s ACC schedule will not provide any respite.

“We won’t be able to stop and catch our breath,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said.

Despite being unranked, Duke (5-1-2) remains a quality opponent that will challenge the Cavaliers. Most recently, Duke defeated San Francisco and Ohio State by margins of 4-0 and 2-1 respectively. Duke’s only loss of the season has come against then-No. 2 Texas A&M at the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. Furthermore, Duke enjoys a significant home-field advantage at Koskinen Stadium.

“Duke is always a tough team,” Swanson said. “Hopefully we’ll be rested. It’s important for us to keep our momentum.”

To beat the Blue Devils, Virginia will need to minimize the impact of Duke’s dangerous offensive weapons. Sophomore forward Elisabeth Redmond, junior midfielder Kelly Hathorn and sophomore midfielder CJ Ludemann have all recorded more than seven points this season. Hathorn and Redmond, in particular, have been Duke’s offensive stars. Additionally, Ludemann’s strong play in last weekend’s Duke adidas Classic earned her ACC co-player of the week honors.

Virginia’s loss of junior forward Jess Rostedt to a knee injury already has been damaging for the Cavaliers. Now that Virginia is beginning its ACC schedule, Rostedt’s absence will be even more noticeable. Virginia will have to rely on the offensive creativity of senior forward Shannon Foley, sophomore forward Caitlin Miskel and freshman midfielder Sinead Farrellyeven more than it has to date.

The focus will also be on the Cavalier defense, which has played extremely well this season. The Cavaliers, led by senior defender Becky Sauerbrunn, junior defender Nikki Krzysik and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chantel Jones,have recorded five straight shut-outs and seven overall. The Cavalier defense faces a tough challenge from Duke’s offense, but believes it is up to the task.

“Duke is a huge rivalry,” senior forward Julia Falk said. “We are away, which makes things difficult. But I think it’s a game that we can succeed in.”

As if Virginia’s road wasn’t difficult enough, it will get even rockier after the Cavs face the Blue Devils. Virginia will continue its North Carolina road trip, facing Wake Forest Sunday.

“This road trip is always difficult,” Swanson said.

Virginia will face the Blue Devils at 7 p.m.

Each sport has its share of odd rules. Like in the NFL, why isn’t spiking the ball considered intentional grounding? In the NBA, why are teams magically granted the ball at half-court after calling a late time-out in the backcourt? How come a player is down immediately when he hits the ground in college football, but must be touched down by an opponent in the NFL?

With MLB playoffs right around the corner, we will once again ultimately pit the top teams from the two leagues and decide a new champion. When the American and National Leagues battle for the World Series each fall, it reminds us how the two leagues are more independent from each other than are conferences within the other major pro sports leagues.

In the NBA, the conferences have nothing to do with the fusion of the old American Basketball Association and the NBA. The NHL is not the product of a merger, but rather many expansions to compete with rival leagues. In both cases, the eastern and western conferences in these leagues were configured based on geography as a means to cut down on travel by minimizing the distances between organizations. Therefore, teams are grouped based on region, rather than historic affiliation with past leagues.

The NFL’s two conferences were derived directly from the merger of two rival professional leagues. The movement of some teams to even out the conferences, the relocation of teams and expansion of the NFL over the years — plus the fact that interleague play has always existed in the NFL — however, has saturated much of the rivalry between the conferences.

The independence of the two leagues within the MLB came out of the combination of the two competing leagues in 1903. One might assume that after such a long time, there would be fewer recognizable remnants of the rivalry that existed between the AL and NL. However, thanks to odd rules like stats not carrying over and the DH, the leagues remain rather separate.

When someone is traded mid-season from one league to the other, his previous statistics from the other league do not carry over. So if you hit 15 home runs in the AL, then get traded to the NL, you start over with zero. Your career stats are not affected, but for the current season your production in both leagues cannot be combined. Additionally, and much more commonly known, the American League allows a designated hitter, while the National League does not.

Major League Baseball, conversely, continues to promote the diversity of its constituent leagues and to operate much like state and federal governments: While states have a set of laws that must be abided by within their borders, an additional set of edicts must be followed anywhere in the United States. This is further reinforced by referring to the AL and NL not as conferences, but rather as leagues, though united under one larger governing body — MLB. There is no better application of the federal and state government analogy than the existence of the designated hitter only in the American League.

The designated hitter bats in the lineup in place of any player on the field, but most always the pitcher. In the National League, where there is no DH, pitchers must bat. Since most pitchers are weaker hitters, they are almost automatic outs at the plate. This leads to more strategy in the NL: double-switches, bunts, stolen bases and hit-and-runs. In the AL, teams can worry less about manufacturing runs by falling back on the DH, not unlike Virginia football falling back on the TE Flat play every few downs. (Let’s give it up for the return to Tight End U. this past weekend.)

Most baseball fans fall into one of three categories regarding the DH. One group is strongly for it; one group is strongly against it; and one group is still not sure how one league can have it while the other doesn’t.

The designated hitter was an experiment for a few years in spring training, eventually adopted by the AL in 1973. That much we know. Further attempts to determine why only one of the leagues implemented the new rule and how the MLB continued to operate with such a drastic difference in the rules from one league to the other are like trying to find a book in the stacks: hopeless.

Maybe the best way to reconcile the difference is to accept that the two major leagues remain almost as independent as they were at their inceptions as competing leagues. For more evidence, think back to 1997 when interleague play was first introduced. At the time, the idea that teams from the AL and NL would play each other before the World Series was very controversial, a fact that is probably lost on many of today’s fans who have since gotten used to it.

Additionally, in the other major sports leagues, winning your conference is not as big a deal as winning the entire league’s title. But in Major League Baseball, winning the pennant has always been the benchmark for a great season. Since there were no playoffs other than the World Series until 1969, you really played the entire year to win your league, with a trip to the Series as icing on the cake.

As of 1969, there were still only two teams that made the playoffs from each league, increased to four each in 1994. With so few teams making it to the postseason, winning that triangle piece of felt was an achievement, showing you were able to take care of an entire league of teams. I think it’s still impressive now because winning the pennant proves you are the best team in a league with different rules than the other. Just avoid trying to explain exactly why that is.

The Virginia men’s soccer team played its conference opener this past weekend, fighting to a draw with N.C. State, which finished last in the ACC standings a year ago. Virginia didn’t take the game lightly, and for good reason.

Six of the nine teams in the ACC are currently ranked in the top 25 nationwide, including three in the top 10. Virginia (6-1-1, 0-0-1 ACC) is fourth, which still puts the Cavaliers behind an undefeated Wake Forest squad that currently ranks as the No. 1 team in the land.

“This is my 12th year [at Virginia] and it has never been anything but competitive in the ACC,” coach George Gelnovatch said. “It’s something we are used to and something that’s expected — we actually enjoy it.”

The level of competition couldn’t be any higher, and Virginia sees this as a good thing.

“It is exciting to play the best teams, to go up against the best competition,” sophomore midfielder Neil Barlow said. “You know you’ll be prepared when the tournament comes around because you will have already played against some of the best teams in the nation.”

The high level of play in the ACC is nothing new; in fact, it’s a tradition. Since 1984 ACC teams have won 10 national championships in men’s soccer, including five by the Cavaliers, who have been to the NCAA Tournament 26 years in a row. Last year both Virginia and Wake Forest represented the ACC in soccer’s version of the Final Four.

This year the conference looks tougher than ever. Virginia Tech and Boston College, which were picked to tie for next-to-last in the ACC Preseason Poll, are currently ranked 12th and 21st respectively in the national poll.

“The ACC is always a very competitive league, but this year for certain it’s going to be hard,” Barlow said. “It’s just every team, from top to bottom — it’s always going to be a quality game that could go either way.”

In each ACC season, every game is a test and every opponent is a quality one. A perpetual cycle of sorts has been created.

“Playing in a league as competitive as this just helps you get better,” junior forward Yannick Reyering said. “The ACC is probably the hardest conference [in the country] — same as it was last year and the year before too.”

Conference play, ACC or otherwise, is just the lead up to what really counts: postseason play.

Gelnovatch said ACC games are the best possible preparation for strong play in the postseason because they require teams to be both deep and versatile.

Reyering agreed, noting that “having hard fought games at the beginning of the season will help you down the road to get better as a team and to win the postseason games.”

Based on its long history of postseason success, it’s no wonder Virginia enjoys its place in the fiercely competitive ACC.

The Cavaliers will look to Reyering, the team’s leading goal-scorer, to continue the charge towards the postseason when they take on Virginia Tech in their next ACC matchup Friday at Klöckner Stadium, where they are undefeated on the year.