Virginia’s Fifth District congressional election still remains too close to call. At 9:30 yesterday evening Democratic challenger Tom Perriello led Republican incumbent Virgil Goode by just 31 votes. The last ballots being counted are provisional, cast by voters who were unable to prove at the polls Tuesday that they had registered in time. Local voter registration officers will canvass during the next week to verify the status of all provisional and electronic ballots.

Although he only has a slim lead, Perriello remains confident of victory. According to a statement released by Perriello’s spokesperson Jessica Barba, Perriello is certain that “when everyone’s vote is counted he will win this election and move ahead with his agenda for economic revival in the Fifth District.”

University Democrats President Sarah Buckley agreed, saying “every vote should be counted, and when they are, [Perriello] will pull it out.”

Buckley explained that in past years nearly all provisional ballots have gone to Democrats because they are cast mostly by student and black voters.

She also noted that this type of situation is “proof that every vote counts.”

College Republicans President Savanna Rutherford disagreed, however, pointing out that Perriello’s lead is insignificant. She said after an inevitable recount, Goode will continue into his seventh term as a member of the United States House of Representatives.

The Associated Press declared victory for Goode Tuesday night but retracted its statement just minutes later. Despite this letdown, Goode said in a short speech Tuesday that his campaign remains optimistic. He was not available for comment yesterday.

Because of Virginia election law standards, a recount seems likely. Under Virginia election laws, a candidate may request a recount if the winner was decided by a margin of one percent or less. If decided by a margin of half a percent or less, the recount is funded with tax dollars. Yesterday evening Perriello led Goode by .01 percent.     

Although this is a very close election, Cordel Faulk, director of communications at the University Center for Politics, said it is not entirely unusual. He said Virginia has had close elections for the offices of governor and congressman many times before Tuesday.

“It’s part of the Virginia tradition of political split,” he said.

The results of the election most likely will not be available for some time because until the original ballots are verified, neither candidate can file for a recount, said Valerie Jones, deputy secretary at the Virginia Board of Elections. This ballot certification process will be completed by Nov. 24; after this date the losing candidate will have 10 days to file for a recount.

Two other House races remain undecided. According to major news sources, races between Frank Kratovil (D) and Andy Harris (R) of Maryland’s First District, and Tom McClintock (R) and Charlie Brown (D) of California’s Fourth District, also are currently too close to call.

Students living in Hereford College recently received an e-mail informing them that Hereford will officially become first-year-only housing starting in fall 2010.

According to the e-mail, the reasons for the change are the continued growth of incoming first-year classes and the ongoing dormitory replacement project on Observatory Hill.

“We recognize the potential inconvenience this decision may cause residents of Hereford who had intended to re-sign for space in the College,” the e-mail stated, “and are committed to minimizing disruption for those wishing to remain part of the College experience, or, those seeking other on-Grounds accommodation for the coming year.”

Patricia Lampkin, vice president and chief student affairs officer, said the decision was an unexpected — but necessary — one. She said the University was informed “just a few weeks ago” about additional construction needs stemming from cost and pragmatic issues and had to balance its commitment to the first-year experience and the interests of current residents.

Many current Hereford residents expressed dissatisfaction after learning early last week that the University administration was considering converting Hereford to strictly first-year housing as early as fall 2009. A number of students painted Beta Bridge Sunday evening in an effort to encourage the administration to reconsider the decision.

Though the final decision pushes the final conversion date back to 2010, first-year College student Jordan Williams said she is not happy with the planned changes to Hereford.

“It’s so calm and peaceful up here,” Williams said. “You don’t have some of the busyness you get on central Grounds or even Lambeth.”
Williams noted that she has also enjoyed the residential college experience.

“There are just fun things you get to do in Hereford … like banquets just for Hereford [residents], and it makes us feel special,” she said. “I’m sure other residential colleges do that, but they’re not Hereford.”

Though not all current first-year students were initially excited to be placed in Hereford after being admitted to the University, many have grown to appreciate what the residence has to offer.

“I wanted to have that first-year classic experience,” first-year College student Ariel Sayre said, noting, though, that she has since appreciated having upperclassmen around, especially when she was choosing classes.

Still, Sayre said, “if I could choose again I would choose to [live with] all first-years.”

Though Sayre said she had always planned to leave Hereford after this year, she understands many upperclassmen are unhappy with the decision.

“It is a little community,” she said, “and it’s going to be completely messed up now.”

Not everything about Hereford will be completely changed, however, first-year College student Anna Pfeiffer said.

“Hereford is not dead,” Pfeiffer said. “Hereford College will continue to exist.”

Pfeiffer, who was part of a student committee that met with administrators last week about the changes to Hereford, said upperclassmen will still be able to take part in the traditional Hereford College activities, at least for 2009.

“Anyone who wants to be a part of Hereford College can live in the two nearest Gooch-Dillard [buildings],” Pfeiffer said. “They will be included in everything and will have access to all activities and amenities.”

Lampkin also said current upper-class residents will be able to resign and live in the Hereford community for the 2009-10 academic year. The Gooch-Dillard option is primarily meant for students wishing to move into the Hereford Residential College, she said, noting that although current Hereford residents will be able to resign and live in the same building they currently do, new students will not be allowed into the three Hereford buildings.

In this regard, Lampkin noted that it is important to differentiate between a residential college based on buildings and a residential college based on a community. She said she is also in favor of continuing to explore future options for the Hereford community, including the possibility that the residential college would continue to exist in a different location.

“My hope is that we can retain the community,” Lampkin said. “I don’t want to set an expectation, though, and I don’t want to reduce an expectation … I have faith that we can figure this out.”

Though Pfeiffer noted that the re-signing and Gooch-Dillard options were not originally part of the administration’s plans, she said those plans were changed after students formed a committee and met with University administrators.

“It was a big problem, and it is a bit upsetting and … stressful, but we are making the best out of this unfortunate situation,” she said. “We have not lost Hereford as a college.”

Pfeiffer also added that the committee will meet with Lampkin again next Monday to discuss the changes.

Starting next Tuesday, leftover and disposed food will not be wasted at Observatory Hill Dining Hall.

Panorama Pay-Dirt compost company, University Dining Services, University Facilities Management recycling office and Green Dining have teamed up to implement a compost program for the high volumes of food waste generated at the busiest dining hall on Grounds.

O-Hill serves about half of all dining hall meals on Grounds and was chosen to pioneer this project because the loading equipment needed to transport waste to be composted is in place there, University Dining Director Brent Beringer said.

“It was an idea that we’ve been working on for a couple years,” Beringer said. “We hit roadblocks early on, but it all came together last spring.”

The main roadblock involved government restrictions on composting.

“What’s hindering food composting today are government regulations [because] food waste can cause pathogens,” said Steve Murray, founder of Panorama Pay-Dirt. “If it’s not composted properly, it could get into ground water.”

Murray noted, however, this risk can be avoided with proper composting methods that involve killing harmful pathogens in food compost by exposing the waste to an environment heated to more than 130 degrees for a period of three weeks.

Beringer said the University was granted permission for the project by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality mostly because the University will “involve students in the process” of measuring temperatures and pathogen levels.

Daniel Michaelson, a third-year Engineering student and environmental science major, said he has been working to get the project off the ground for the last two years.

Setbacks aside, “we managed to work it out with relative ease because the Department of Environmental Safety was so supportive,” Michaelson said, also noting that the project will play a part in Student Council’s planned Community Garden Project. "There’s been talk of a large-scale community garden in which the compost would be needed,” Michaelson noted.

Murray said he hopes composting expands across Grounds.

“It’s taking food full circle, all the way back to the ground,” he said. “It’s also the right thing to do. In today’s green world, it’s very beneficial.”

The program may expand to other dining halls, Beringer said, depending on how successful it is at Observatory Hill Dining Hall.

Charlottesville City Council voted Monday to allocate $100,000 to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority in an effort to improve public housing within the city and $50,000 to create a housing planning position at City Hall. The entire $150,000 will come from the $1.4 million affordable housing fund Council authorized earlier this year as part of the 2008-09 city budget.

Of the money allocated to CRHS, $75,000 will be used to help fund a “very ambitious master planning process” that will begin with CRHS hiring a planning firm to create and design a redevelopment plan for Charlottesville’s public housing, Mayor Dave Norris said. The purpose of hiring the planning firm is to work with key stakeholders during the next year to ensure the needs and concerns of all parties involved in the process are taken into consideration, he added.

“Our public housing residents have the most to gain and the most to lose from the redevelopment process,” Norris said. “If it’s done well, they’ll have a better quality of life and housing.”

The city has the opportunity to change public housing neighborhoods for the better, Norris said, through the promotion of mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhoods, rather than neighborhoods segregated by class. Such redevelopment efforts could “really transform the dynamics of poverty in Charlottesville,” Norris added.

Council member Dave Brown said affordable housing is one of the biggest issues facing Charlottesville today and noted that redevelopment is a good way to maximize current available resources in a fiscally sound way.

The remaining $25,000 of funds allocated to CRHS will be funneled into the Public Housing Association of Residents, Norris said. PHAR, a city-wide organization, will use the money to ensure people living in public housing units “have a full and meaningful role in the redevelopment process,” Norris noted.

The housing planning position, meanwhile, has been approved in theory but will not be created until after the next budget is presented to Council, Brown said.

“We voted to keep money in the budget for it, but with the economy we can’t recommend it before January,” Brown said. “It will come back to us in the budget as something we can recommend or not.”

Brown noted that because of the current state of the national economy, the city has imposed a hiring freeze, but the planning position would be excepted. This decision caused some concern at Monday’s meeting. Council member Satyendra Huja, who was the sole Council member to vote against the resolution, noted that he was unsure about the city’s ability to afford an additional position, Brown said. Huja was unavailable for comment as of press time.

Norris said Council may either hire an outside planner or fill the position with an existing staff member whose job may be cut.
The role of the housing planner will be to work with local housing developers, manage the city’s affordable housing fund, gather data about housing needs and initiatives and work with other area housing planners to figure out a regional solution, Norris said. He noted that most areas in Albemarle County have housing planners.

The remainder of the city’s affordable housing fund will be allocated in the early part of next year, Norris said. Council will review various proposals and evaluate them before making any decisions, he said, adding that Council usually receives many more proposals than it can afford to fund.

Some voters in the 2008 presidential election cast their ballots with the economy heavy on their minds. Others worried more about the War in Iraq. Or health insurance. Or taxes.

Surprisingly, for as much as President-elect Barack Obama and former president-hopeful John McCain talked about those issues, they also gave the American audience a fair dose of sports talk. Throughout the campaigns, both McCain and Obama predicted World Series winners, talked about favorite athletes, discussed what are the most serious problems that face sports and weighed in on whether college football should move away from the BCS system.

And though Obama earned his way to the White House by gaining the trust of Americans on more serious issues, let’s see how he would have done if the sole issue was sports.

Forget electoral votes — too arbitrary. Let’s do it more like the popular vote: one vote per question, whoever has more in the end takes the victory.

Question one: If you could go to any athletic event, which would it be? (Asked by Chris Berman Monday night.)

McCain: The Super Bowl.
Obama: The Final Four.
Advantage: Obama.

The Super Bowl? Is that the best, most original answer you could come up with, Senator McCain? At least Obama picked an event with youth, drama, buzzer-beaters and Cinderellas. The Super Bowl seems as choreographed as Broadway; more attention is given to the halftime show than the game. Though the Super Bowl last year was exciting, the Final Four was better. Obama not only picked a better event, but he clearly didn’t go for the obvious answer… The Super Bowl. Give the vote to Obama.

Obama: 1 McCain: 0

Question two: If you could change one thing about sports, what would it be? (Again asked by Berman Monday night.)

McCain: Performance-enhancing drugs.
Obama: The BCS system.
Advantage: McCain.

Talk about blind idealism. President-elect Obama is a little too hopeful on this one. The BCS system is in worse shape than our economy. And it doesn’t look like it’s about to get fixed anytime soon. Though a move away from the BCS system seems good, an eight-team playoff might pose more logistical problems than solutions. Senator McCain brought up an issue that is a problem in multiple sports and has the potential to stain the integrity of competition and affect youngsters who idolize Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and other alleged steroid users. Credit McCain for providing an answer that takes into consideration the health of the sports world and the health of its athletes. The vote goes to McCain.

Obama: 1 McCain: 1

Question three: Who is your favorite athlete to watch? (Asked by Si.com reporter Arash Markazi.)

McCain: Ted Williams and Curt Schilling.
Obama: His daughter, Malia.
Advantage: Obama.

President-elect Obama is the clear winner on this one. First, he plays the loving father card. Good political move. Everyone loves a family man. Second, if McCain was trying to not make himself seem so old, he failed. Ted Williams? Great player, but if you’re trying to appeal to the youth you should avoid mentioning sluggers who played in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. He redeems himself somewhat by going on to explain how he likes Williams because of his military career. But still, it’s a questionable answer for a man who is trying to not appear so old. Not to mention that I can think of dozens upon dozens of baseball players who might be more exciting to watch than Curt Schilling.
Obama wins this question and earns the vote.

Obama: 2 McCain: 1

Question four: Best piece of advice you’ve received from a coach or athletic figure? (Asked by Berman Monday night.)

McCain: “Do the honorable thing and even when nobody’s looking”
Obama: “This is not about you. It’s about the team.”
Advantage: McCain

This is a tough one. But I’ll give McCain the benefit of the doubt on this one because he’s behind in points. And because he’s such a maverick. We’ll give him the vote.

Obama: 2 McCain: 2

Question five: What sport traditions will you bring to the White House? (Asked by Markazi.)

McCain: Young boxers and T-ball on the South Lawn.
Obama: A basketball court.
Advantage: Obama.

This one’s a no-brainer. Though I don’t know how I feel about building a basketball court with taxpayer dollars, I think it’s still an idea worth considering … it’s probably fair to say that federal funds have been wasted in worse ways. Regardless, I’m willing to have some of my tax money go to helping Obama play some ball between intelligence briefings and meeting with foreign diplomats. Give him the vote for a novel idea.

Final Count — Obama: 3, McCain: 2.

No matter what party you affiliate with, if you are a sports fan, you should rest assured: It seems like the candidate with the most sports sense is in the White House.

If only sports was the biggest concern for our country right now.

In collegiate field hockey, conference opponents might face each other twice in regular and postseason play, but those teams rarely match up in back-to-back games, let alone twice in one week in the same city. When the No. 12 Cavaliers head to Durham, N.C. to take on No. 5 Duke today in the first round of the ACC Tournament, however, the two teams will recreate the matchup that took place Saturday in Durham.

Virginia (12-7, 2-3 ACC) had a hard time closing out its season, losing five of the last seven games, but the Cavaliers recently have shown some signs of improvement. They were able to win 4-3 against Duke (14-4, 2-3 ACC) on the road Saturday, improving their road record to 2-5.

“It’s [going to] be tough because they have seen our game and how we play,” senior midfielder Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn said. “It’s always tough to beat a team twice.”

Freshman back Floor Vogels was named ACC Player of the Week Tuesday for her performance against Duke Saturday. Vogels scored the game-winning goal, her sixth of the season, while contributing an assist in the game, which secured the Cavaliers’ No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament. The goal by Vogels was her third game-winning goal of the season.

Sijpesteijn and freshman forward Paige Selenski have received individual accolades for their performances this season, as both were named to the All-ACC team along with 15 other players in the conference. Selenski leads the team with 39 points on 16 goals and seven assists, while Sijpesteijn has contributed eight goals and four assists. This is the third straight year that Sijpesteijn has received the All-ACC honor, and this is the first season since Virginia field hockey’s 1999 campaign that the Cavaliers have placed more than one player on the All-ACC squad.

The winner of the Duke-Virginia game will take on top seed Maryland Friday. If they are to advance further in the tournament, the Cavaliers need to return to the form that helped them start the season 10-2.

“You need 11 people on the field,” senior goalkeeper Amy Desjadon said, “Everyone needs to stick to the game plan and have faith in it, even if there are moments when it’s not working. You just have to keep plugging along because that is what sets us apart from the other teams and it’s what makes us better.”

The Cavaliers may be regaining their stride at the right time and finding some of the swagger that made them one of the most feared teams in the country.

“We have to get back into that rhythm,” Desjadon said. “We just need to stick to our game plan and not rest for a single minute.”

The Cavaliers also will benefit from the return of several injured players unable to play for the last couple weeks of the regular season. Most notably, junior forward Lauren Elstein will return after missing the last six games with a broken clavicle. Elstein is currently tied with Selenski for second on the team in assists. Her presence on the field will help a Cavalier offense that lately has been inconsistent, as the team was shut out in two of its last five games.

“The team that comes out with the mentality to win [has the advantage],” Virginia coach Michele Madison said. “It’s a whole new season; last week has nothing to do with this week, and that’s the mind-set we have to have.”

The Virginia men’s and women’s tennis teams are preparing to host the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, which will begin today. More than 45 schools will be represented by the 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams, for both men’s and women’s tennis, that will meet at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

Only the “elite of the elite for the college tennis world” will compete in the tournament, Virginia women’s tennis coach Mark Guilbeau said. “I wish our whole team could play.”

Among other tournaments held earlier this fall, the U.Va. Invitational and the ITA All-American Championships have prepared Virginia men’s and women’s players for the Indoor Championships. Both Cavalier teams use these fall tournaments as early tests and training grounds for their spring seasons.

“Everything our team does in the fall, we evaluate and review and learn from,” Guilbeau said. “This is a great rework for a few of our veteran players … Hopefully we can progress to a level to where most of our team can compete.”

The Virginia men’s team will be without last year’s National Indoor singles champion, All-American alumnus Somdev Devvarman; however, when quality players leave a team, other talented team members often step in to fill the void. The Indoor Championships will be a good indicator of who might shine in the coming season to meet the team’s high standards of competition.

“Obviously Somdev had a great career here, but it was time for him to move on,” Virginia men’s coach Brian Boland said. “This provided a number of opportunities for players to step up and develop. They knew coming in that they would need to bring their game to another level this year to maintain our level and our expectations.”

One singles player who has consistently met Virginia’s expectations is senior Dominic Inglot, who enters the championships ready to defend his spot at No. 18 in the country.

“It is my last National Indoor tournament, and I am going to make this my best year,” Inglot said. “I am playing very well right now, and this could be a good chance to do well.”

On the women’s side, 13 of the top 20 players in collegiate tennis will participate in the Indoor Championships. Guilbeau said he knows the Virginia teams will try to take advantage of this opportunity to see such high-ranked players in action and will use it to their benefit later in the season.

“Hopefully we prepare at the highest level all the time,” Guilbeau said. “I am excited for the entire team to watch, not just the girls playing. They will get some experience even though they are not on the court. They can see the highest level and know that is what they are striving to reach themselves.”

Junior Jennifer Stevens is also sure to gain valuable experience on the court, as she will face some of the most difficult opponents in the collegiate singles ranks.

“She has had some good solid results this fall,” Guilbeau said. “And this is the best fall seed she has had.”

Seniors Maggie Yahner and Amanda Rales will team up in doubles competition, and will challenge themselves to meet, if not exceed, the level of their opponents.

A tournament like the National Indoors “really heightens your awareness, and you want to play well at a big event,” Yahner said. “I have been focusing and thinking about it more because of the higher level of competition.”

Holding such an event in Charlottesville means a lot to both the men’s and the women’s teams, and they are hoping for an impressive turnout.

“I think a lot of the fans will be coming out because it is one of our biggest tournaments behind the NCAAs and maybe the [ITA] All-American [Championships],” Inglot said. “To host it here will be incredible.”

The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will travel outside the commonwealth this weekend to face SEC competitors. The men will face off against Tennessee Thursday in an afternoon meet, then both teams will compete against Kentucky Friday.

The No. 12 men (3-0, 2-0 ACC) are looking to sustain momentum from last Wednesday’s 189-108 victory against Virginia Tech.
Tennessee “is a great team and [is] really talented,” Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. “They have a lot of international stars and a long history of swimming excellence.”

The Tennessee men’s team also knows it will be facing stiff competition, as Volunteers coach John Trembley referred to Tennessee as the “underdogs” in this matchup, according to utsports.com.

Even though Tennessee’s coach may consider his squad to be underdogs, history suggests a different story. Tennessee (3-0)leads the all-time series 8-3 and has won the last two matchups between the two teams.

“We’re going to go down there confident and ready,” Bernardino said. “We want to compete with teams at that [national] level. I can’t predict what happens, but we’ll swim well because we’re a good, deep team.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams from Kentucky, meanwhile, have come up short in each of their first two meets, including losses to Tennessee Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Bernardino does not see either squad as a pushover, however.

“Kentucky is also a really fine team, and they graduated some great swimmers, but so did we,” Bernardino said. “Bottom line is that they’re good and have been a nationally good team the past decade.”

A key race will be in the 50 free, in which Virginia sophomore Scot Robison — who was named ACC Swimmer of the Week for the first time in his career after the Clemson and South Carolina meets — shows his strengths. He will face a strong competitor in Kentucky junior Elvis Burrows, who represented the Bahamas in the 2008 Olympics in the 50 free. Even though Burrows has international experience, Robison’s best time from last season beats Burrows’ time by almost a full half second  — 20.63 to 21.06.

On the women’s side, the meat of the action will be in the butterfly events. Last week against Virginia Tech, sophomore Liz Shaw set an AFC pool record in the 200 fly with a time of 1:57.53, an NCAA “B” mark. She will face off against Kentucky’s fly specialist, junior Megan Pulskamp, who won butterfly events in the 200- and 100-yard distances against Tennessee. While Shaw’s record time in the 200-fly is five seconds faster than Pulskamp’s in the 200-fly, the 100-fly race may prove much closer, as the two swimmers’ records for that distance only are separated by three-tenths of a second.

Virginia’s depth, though, may be the deciding factor; the Cavaliers have seen their swimmers go 1-2 and 1-2-3 in many events this season.

“The depth we have in most events will be really critical in a championship season,” Shaw said. “We all push each other every day and if I’m working on butterfly one day, I want someone else to work it with me, so we’ll both get better.”

The third-seeded Virginia women’s soccer team squeezed past sixth-seeded Wake Forest last night in a 3-2 double-overtime thriller in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C., after sophomore forward Sinead Farrelly clanged a shot off the post and in the net for the game-winning goal in the 104th minute.

The Cavaliers dominated the game statistically, out-shooting the Demon Deacons 23-7 and out-cornering them 12-5. On the strength of 11 saves from Wake Forest junior goalkeeper Laura Morse, however, the Demon Deacons were able to hang around. Down 2-1 following a goal from Virginia senior midfielder Alli Fries in the 75th minute, the Demon Deacons’ persistence paid off, as Wake Forest redshirt senior midfielder Kristina Hanley scored her first goal of the season off a corner kick in the 88th minute to knot the game at two.

Morse had three saves in the two overtime periods on seven Virginia shots, keeping the Demon Deacons in the game. Wake Forest could not muster a single shot before Farrelly put in the deciding goal.

Virginia has the night off before the second round of the ACC Tournament Friday against seventh-seed Virginia Tech.

—compiled by Paul Montana

Famed dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones will speak at the University’s first ever Convocation for the Arts Sunday, signaling the start of Jones’ week as the dance department’s artist in residence Nov. 9 to Nov. 15.

Jones’ visit to Charlottesville is part of his year-long “100 Migrations” project, which will take place at the University and in the greater Charlottesville area as well as in three other locations across the country.

Elizabeth Hutton Turner, vice provost for the arts, explained the importance of having an artist like Jones visit our community. “Bill T. Jones is a national treasure,” she said. “He has taken dance to an entirely new level of communication and performance. If we want to see a vivid demonstration of how history connects to the present, if we want to see how the arts can be further integrated throughout our academic enterprise, then it is important that we invite an artist of the caliber of Bill T. Jones.”

While at the University, Jones, a 2006 Tony Award winner for his choreography of Spring Awakening, will explore background material to help shape his new major work, “Fondly Do We Hope  — Fervently Do We Pray”. The piece will be a dance/theater piece based on the words and teachings of Abraham Lincoln and will explore how those words resonate today. Jones hopes to premiere the work at the Ravinia Festival, to be held in Chicago in 2009 to commemorate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

“I want art that teaches me something. I want art that asks the big questions about living, justice, beauty and strength,” Jones said in a preview documentary about the project by Kartemquin Films, which will chronicle Jones’ visit to the University. “Any good work of art must talk to us. What does it have to say to us today?”

While here, Jones will give lectures and teach advanced dance classes. In addition, Jones, along with 10 dancers from his Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, will gather 90 members of the University and Charlottesville communities to perform in the free performance of “100 Migrations” Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. at the south end of the Lawn.

Jones’ events will not just incorporate dance and drama majors, but anyone who has an interest in the arts. This sense of diversity is one of the central reasons for his visit and Turner’s vision for arts at the University.

“We’re looking to go across boundaries,” Turner explained. “We’re trying to see the student as a whole person.”

Turner also explained why further exploration of the arts is crucial to the development of the University and its students.

“Artists demonstrate new relationships and in these shifting perspectives we gain unexpected vantage points, which will lead to new questions,” she said. “We also derive the empathy necessary to assume leadership roles in society today.”

Turner said the University is exploring how to incorporate the arts into the educational process.

“At the end of this, we will be in a different place, she said. “If we can see and acknowledge the creative enterprise inherent in our work, we will have exponentially augmented our mission as a university."