NATURALLY, just about every sane person in this country is sick of politics and elections. After all, we’ve endured presidential campaigning for nearly two years now, and although this was undoubtedly a historic election, most people are ready for the electioneering to be over and the real work of governing to begin.

While this is a more than understandable sentiment, things are a little bit different here in Virginia. Since we run statewide elections in off years, citizens of the commonwealth will endure a governor’s race in 2009, not to mention races for attorney general and lieutenant governor as well. With most of the 2008 election’s punditry behind us, it’ll be most interesting to see how this year’s shifting electoral map influences our state’s politics in the not-so-distant future. Both major parties will need to recognize and adapt to these changing patterns if they want to remain competitive in the commonwealth.

The dominant feature of Virginia’s Decision ’08 was, of course, Barack Obama being the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry our state since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. President-elect Obama is only the second Democrat to do so since the 1948 election of Harry Truman. When we reach back this far in history, mind you, we run into the issue of realignment of the state and national political parties. Remember, the Solid South that dominated southern politics for several generations after the Civil War was comprised of conservative Democrats, not Republicans.

The New Deal is really the straw that broke the camel’s back. It established the national Democratic Party as one of more expansive government, and secured the support of most labor unions, working-class voters, and racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. It took the state parties a little while to catch up, but eventually they shifted to fit in with their national counterparts.

What this means is that Obama winning Virginia might even be more significant than the statistics suggest. While Democrats often carried the state earlier this century, Obama is arguably one of only a handful of truly liberal-leaning candidates ever to do so. Johnson pulled it off on the heels of John F. Kennedy’s tragic assassination. He crushed Barry Goldwater 486-52 in the Electoral College, while ringing up the biggest popular vote percentage since 1820. Truman might be put in this category, but his election is also something of an anomaly: He came from behind in dramatic fashion to win, and benefited greatly from the lingering FDR coalition. And Roosevelt himself, of course, was essentially a national hero when he put Virginia in the Democratic column four times from 1932 to 1944.

There is another way to view these numbers, though. Each time Virginia has thrown its electoral votes behind a non-conservative Democrat, that candidate has won the White House handily — with over 300 electoral votes every time, and often substantially more than that. This could mean Virginia isn’t turning into the progressive, latte-drinking state conservatives fear. It might just mean we vote blue when everyone else does, i.e. when the Democratic candidate is much stronger than the Republican one.

Countering that argument are the commonwealth’s two Democratic senators and Democratic governor. That certainly suggests at least some degree of change in voting patterns. Still, circumstances broke to the GOP’s disadvantage in each race. Jim Webb won largely because of a belittling racial epithet by the incumbent George Allen. Mark Warner was simply a more recent, successful and popular governor than was Jim Gilmore, which contributed both to his easily taking that senate seat and to Tim Kaine’s election as his gubernatorial successor.

This recent political history is important for Virginia’s high office seekers in 2009. The general lesson to take away is this: This is no longer a solidly red state, and left-of-center candidates can be more than competitive here. However, if Democrats think Virginians will start rubber stamping liberal candidates, they are profoundly mistaken. Not even explosive growth rates across Northern Virginia will keep Republicans down and out for the long haul. Democrats still must seek to follow a Warner-like strategy, which involves making appeals to blue-collar rural voters in addition to city folk.

I’d say the advantage for next year’s gubernatorial race has to initially lie with GOP candidate Bob McDonnell for several reasons. Most important, he’ll be the only statewide elected official on the ballot. Second, he’s already beaten likely Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds once, albeit by a razor thin margin, in the 2005 attorney general’s race. Another possible challenger, Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria), doesn’t have name recognition outside of Northern Virginia.

Whichever way you lean, it’s refreshing to see Virginia become a truly competitive state. It might even make our two parties a bit more responsive to the people they represent. After all, a little competition never hurt anybody.

Ross Lawrence is a Cavalier Daily Associate Editor. He can be reached at r.lawrence@cavalierdaily.com.

THE AVERAGE course packet at Brillig Books costs $34.61. The cost of the same materials posted to Toolkit or Collab? $0. Required course packets generate unnecessary costs to students’ wallets, time and the environment. With this in mind, more professors should post their class materials online.

Course packets, which consist of bound copies of assigned class readings, are often required by professors who wish to assign a few chapters from different books or various articles. Students must go to Brillig Books or the Copy Shop, both located on the Corner, to pick up these readings. Once there, each student will shell out an average of over $30 per packet, with some courses requiring up to three or four packets. On the whole, there are over 100 different packets at Brillig alone, just for the Fall 2008 semester.

Course packets are so costly for two reasons. First, there is the cost of the paper and copying itself. Second, Brillig Books and the Copy Shop are commercial enterprises selling the packets for profit, and they must pay copyright fees to publishers. On the other hand, materials posted online on Toolkit or Collab are exclusively for educational purposes without any commercial profit, therefore fair use standards exempt them from copyright fees within certain guidelines. All things considered, this online option is better for students.

While professors may think that an added $34.61 is an insignificant cost compared to a college education as a whole, they should especially consider those students with the fewest financial resources. If every course required one course packet, the annual cost to each student would be nearly $350. To many of our peers who are on financial aid and who have already taken out loans to finance their education, this is not an insignificant expense. The University currently estimates that books and supplies cost students over $1,000 each year. This is a figure that professors should seek to reduce in every way possible.

In fact, professors can transition to optional course packets without any additional effort. Instead of bringing the materials to Brillig Books or the Copy Shop each semester, they would take the readings to Alderman Library and have them scanned and posted online. Students who like to highlight or prefer not to read from a computer screen could still get their own course packets. Any student who wanted could save the documents onto a CD or a USB drive and take it to Brillig or the Copy Shop for printing. Whitney French, an employee of Brillig Books, noted that her store already offers this service. This semester, at least ten students from one Politics class made their own course packets this way. There is no reason why every course packet cannot become optional using this system.

As mentioned earlier, however, there are some restrictions on Toolkit and Collab materials. According to the University of Virginia Interlibrary Services, materials scanned for online posting must meet “Fair Use Guidelines under the U.S. copyright law” or professors must obtain permission from the copyright holder. There are, sadly, no hard and fast rules for what is “fair use” and what is not. In general, nonprofit educational use of a limited portion of a work for a limited amount of time is permitted. The library, for example, permits professors to upload one chapter of a book or one article from a journal and requires that the material be for an “instructional use.”

These guidelines do somewhat limit the use of online materials, but much of what is currently published in course packets could also be posted to Toolkit or Collab for free. Even when fair use guidelines are not met, professors can still request permission from the copyright holder. The University Library has online and in-person resources available for professors who wish to publish online materials that do not fit fair use guidelines but are still educational in nature.

By making this simple change — putting materials online instead of forcing students to purchase paper copies — we can save time, save money and help the environment. Online materials would be free, or at least cheaper, and more convenient for students. Reducing the number of pages that are printed would also reduce the strain on our natural resources, a strain that is even greater when one considers how many course packets are discarded at the end of the semester.

As students we have a duty to our classmates from less advantaged backgrounds. We must seek to make every aspect of the college experience as accessible as possible. In cases like this, professors can play an integral part in accomplishing this goal. Working together, professors and students can make the dream of an affordable education a little more real by eliminating required course packets.

Isaac Wood’s column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at i.wood@cavalierdaily.com.

In an effort to improve the University’s name recognition outside the United States, two student-run initiatives are planning a variety of projects to better inform international students, parents and employers about how the University operates and the opportunities it offers.

First-year College student Karissa Nanetta, project leader for U.Va. Global Publicity, said she and other students “perceived the need to further put U.Va.’s name out there.” Though international students at the University have first-hand knowledge of the University’s educational experience, the institution does not tend to be as well-known abroad, she said. The first of U.Va. Global Publicity’s efforts will be held during Winter Break, when University international students will be encouraged to visit secondary schools in their home countries.

Director of International Admission Parke Muth has supported organizing the first school visits this December during Winter Break, Nanetta said. This initial effort will allow the parties involved to gauge how effective the program is.

“We believe that the most valuable resource that we have is the current students themselves,” Nanetta said, because international students have the ability to return to their home countries and visit schools while talking about their own experiences at the University.

The school visits, though, will not focus solely on persuading students to apply to the University in particular, said first-year College student Weiqi Tian, project leader for International Parents Outreach. University students instead will be advised to spend time talking about American lifestyles while explaining what they like about the University, Tian said. Such an approach could generate increased interest in the presentations, Nanetta and Muth said. The approach also will provide an opportunity to inform university-bound international students about the liberal arts framework of the American higher education system, Muth said.

In addition to the school visits being planned by U.Va. Global Publicity, students involved in International Parents Outreach plan to promote the University to parents and prospective employers of international students, Tian noted.

“We want our international students to be known by employers, and through parents we can [further] publicize [the University],” Tian said, noting the interdependence of parent and student opinions when choosing a university to attend. Additionally, many international students may not have access to American employers after graduation because they cannot remain in the United States; as a result, these students must rely on the University’s reputation among international employers, Nanetta and Tian added.

Among the services to be provided by International Parents Outreach will be translation of University information, including handbooks and common online resources that are mostly in English, Tian noted.

“Once parents know what is going on here, it will save a lot of energy for international students to explain what is going on to their parents,” Tian said of the efforts to facilitate communication with international families. The Parents Outreach project is expected to complement U.Va. Global Publicity’s efforts, Tian and Nanetta said.

While expressing his support for the student initiatives, Muth noted that the admission office’s travel efforts have generally been one of the main ways in which the University has reached out to international students.

“The importance is once you get outside the boundaries of the United States there are some places that … know the Ivy League but … may not know much about U.Va.,” Muth said. “So part of the [motivation] is to go and demonstrate an active interest from students all over.”

Nanetta agreed with the reasoning behind the visits abroad, using the example of her own and Tian’s decisions to attend the University because of information they had received from other students.

“We know it works,” Nanetta said. Her school in her home country of Singapore, which has received such visits, is a good example of the success of these efforts, she said.

The current focus of the newly proposed student initiatives will be on the University students themselves as they visit schools in their home countries, Muth said, noting he believes time will allow for an effort even larger in scope.

U.Va. Global Publicity’s work with the Office of Undergraduate Admission may also be supplemented by an umbrella organization that would aim to coordinate the efforts of the various international student organizations on Grounds. The group proposing the Global Students Council plans to approach Student Council later this week in an attempt to receive authorization as an official contracted independent organization.

Hundreds of students lined the walkway near the University Chapel Friday night in a candlelight protest of the Westboro Baptist Church’s planned picketing of “The Laramie Project,” a performance sponsored by Queer and Allied Activism as part of Proud to Be Out Week.

The WBC — a group based in Topeka, Kan. whose slogan is “God hates Fags” — sparked plans for a counterprotest when it announced it would be picketing “The Laramie Project,” a play based on the death of University of Wyoming freshman Matthew Shepard in a 1998 gay-hate crime.

In a statement released Nov. 8, the WBC announced its plans to picket at the University, writing, “Matt Shepard has been in Hell now for 6 years … All else about Matt is trivial and irrelevant. You may join him soon. Deal with it.”

Members of the WBC, however, did not show up Friday evening.

When asked why the WBC did not follow through on plans to picket the performance at the University, WBC spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper stated in an e-mail, “We had the opportunity to turn aside from that and go picket Obama’s grand mama’s funeral. Now if you were us, which would you pick?”

QuAA President Heather Welborn said the University administration notified her last Monday that the WBC might be coming, and QuAA planned a counterprotest.

“We wanted to have something that would be empowering and show solidarity to show we don’t support the hateful rhetoric of the Westboro Baptist Church,” Welborn said, adding that QuAA planned to build a human wall to protect those who were coming to see the Laramie Project.

Welborn said about 500 people came to the counterprotest, where participants passed out candles and sang the “Good Ol’ Song.” Welborn said she suspected WBC was not going to show up when members of the organization had not arrived by their planned start time of 6:30 p.m.

“I think it was just so empowering that many people came out, and they didn’t leave [when the WBC didn’t come],” Welborn said. “They wanted to show that they were supportive of the show … it was even more empowering without the Westboro Baptist Church there.”

Welborn said in the past there have been protests against other QuAA-sponsored programs, and most of these protests have come from groups outside of the University. Welborn added that she is grateful for all the support the University community showed by going to the show Friday night.

“It will be one of the things I walk away remembering U.Va. for,” Welborn said. “There is support within the U.Va. community … I felt like everyone that came out and stayed shows how committed the community is to erasing hate.”

Others, however, were disappointed by WBC’s absence.

“I was disappointed that the Westboro Baptist Church didn’t actually show up,” protest participant Alex Wilkerson said. “However, I was very excited to see the overwhelming community support.”

After last Wednesday night’s alleged robbery at gunpoint on Shamrock Road, about which the University community received an e-mail Thursday, some students are more aware of their safety.

Since the incident, students living in the areas around Shamrock Road have been “more conscious,” third-year College student Clay Abel said. “We’ve been walking with people after dark and making sure our friends make it home safely.”

Fourth-year Engineering student Susan Brooks said she is trying to watch out for her own safety as well as others’ safety by driving friends home if necessary.

“I definitely do not walk home in the dark anymore,” Brooks said.

Both Abel and Brooks said this incident has changed their attitudes about the safety of housing on Jefferson Park Avenue and the side of Grounds near Scott Stadium.

“I originally thought that JPA or other neighborhood areas would be more safe because there are more families living here,” Brooks said. “But that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Abel noted that he and his roommates did not even lock their doors before the incident occurred.

“We wouldn’t even close the doors,” Abel said. “I definitely thought the stadium side was [safer] and quieter, so it’s definitely been a big shift.”

Although some students are concerned about their safety in the area, University Police Lieut. Melissa Fielding stated in an e-mail that students can take certain steps to help ensure their safety.

“To be more alert to your surroundings, we suggest that you walk with your head up and scanning (looking around) your surroundings,” the e-mail states. “Make mental notes of the things happening around you [and] develop a plan of action by asking yourself ‘what if’ questions. For instance, if this happens then I will do x, y, z.”

Fielding also noted that students should trust their instincts about people and situations and report suspicious activity or people to the University and Charlottesville police.

“Please do not feel as if you are bothering the police; often these kinds of calls can prevent serious incidents from occurring,” Fielding stated. “We would much rather be called and not needed, than needed and not called.”

The Charlottesville metropolitan area lost 500 jobs during a one-year period from September 2007 to September 2008, according to data released Thursday by the Virginia Employment Commission.

Despite the rise in unemployment, “the Charlottesville area still doesn’t do that bad in terms of the national area,” said William Mezger, chief economist of the Virginia Employment Commission. Charlottesville has the 19th lowest unemployment rate of metropolitan areas across the United States and the second lowest rate in the state, behind Northern Virginia.

In September 2008, Charlottesville had a 3.4-percent unemployment rate with 3,610 people unemployed, compared to a 2.3-percent rate with 2,440 people unemployed in September 2007.

The University, including the Health System, account for about a fifth of the jobs in the Charlottesville region, Mezger said. The net loss in jobs “may be just due to the fact that the University and the things that go along with it [are] still in a state of flux in September,” as they transition from summer to fall, Mezger said, because the University does not usually reach full employment levels until November.

Though many areas nationwide showed declines in employment from September to September, Mezger noted the commonwealth as a whole has seen better-than-average job growth.

“Virginia as a whole … showed a half a percent job growth, September over September,” he said, while “the United States as a whole showed a job loss of a half a percent.”

Though figures are not finalized for October, Mezger said they appear similar to those from September.

“The general trend for most areas right now would probably be for job loss, although not a lot of job loss has shown up in Virginia,” he said. “I think the fact that some job loss showed up in the Charlottesville is probably just a fluke in this area.” He described 500 jobs as “a very minimal job loss.”

The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce releases its own job report every year that examines average annual employment, accounting for season fluctuations, said Timothy Hulbert, president of the body. The most recent data is from 2007, and it “[shows] growth over the previous year although the growth slowed from the previous two years,” Hulbert said. “2007 was the fourth consecutive year of overall job growth in greater Charlottesville.”

The numbers indicate, though, that job growth began to slow in the final months of 2007 along with the national and global economies, Hulbert said. The Virginia Employment Commission’s findings “[confirm] that job growth continued to slow in 2008 and definitely has declined,” he said. “We know that unemployment has risen in Charlottesville.”

Hulbert described Charlottesville as insulated from large economic swings, experiencing neither large booms nor busts. As a large, stable employer, the University serves as a moderating impact on the regional economy.

“That said, while we’re insulated, we’re not inoculated,” Hulbert added. “We still can feel the effects of a national economic slide.”

Total retail sales are usually about $2.3 billion a year in the area, Hulbert said, but for the first nine months of 2008, retail sales have fallen by 4 percent.

“If you [maintained] that over the course of a year, that would mean that about $100 million worth of retail activity would not occur,” he said. “One hundred million dollars’ worth of retail activity [is] pretty significant.”

Falling retail sales result in lower tax revenues, and “that’s a significant impact,” Hulbert said.

The Honor Committee presented demographics data about the Committee and its support officers at last night’s meeting.

Committee Chair Jess Huang said this is the first year the Committee compiled demographics data, noting that she hopes the Committee will continue to gather data about demographics to track the relevance of the information throughout the years.

“It’s extremely important to first assess what we have,” Huang said.

About 92.5 percent of students involved with the honor system responded to the survey, with 224 of 242 students responding to the demographics survey. Of those who responded, about 72 percent stated they are in the College, compared to less than 5 percent in the Engineering School. Nine percent are in the Commerce School, while nearly 6 percent are in the Law School, 3.2 percent are in the Nursing School and nearly 3 percent study in the Darden School. The Architecture School, the Education School, the Medical School, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences each have representation below 2 percent.

In some aspects, the data gathered about the new support officer pool reflects the data gathered about the entire group of Committee support officers. About 77 percent of new support officers recruited this fall are in the College, while about six percent are in the Engineering School and 1.4 percent are in the Architecture School. Graduate students make up 14.5 percent of the new officer pool. Of the 71 new support officers who responded to the survey, no one reported that he or she is in the Education School, the Commerce School, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies or the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

In terms of ethnic diversity, nearly 80 percent of the responding support officers said they are white. Of the University’s undergraduate population, 62.5 percent of students are white.  Slightly more than 2 percent of support officers responded that they are black. Currently, 8.7 percent of the undergraduate population at the University is black.

About 3 percent of the Committee’s support officers are Latino compared to the undergraduate population’s 4.2 percent. The Committee’s Asian representation almost exactly mirrors the University’s Asian population; 11.7 percent of support officers are Asian, whereas 11.4 percent of undergraduate students are Asian.

The Committee also studied students’ affiliations with Greek organizations and their beliefs about the honor system. About 53 percent of the Committee is involved in a Greek organization, compared to about a third of all undergraduate students. About 72 percent of new support officers responded that they are not part of a Greek organization. Vice Chair for Investigations Blaire Hawkins added, however, that a number of new support officers are first-year students and have not had the opportunity to participate in rush yet.

Overall, 82.6 percent said they supported the single sanction. Slightly less than 80 percent of new support officers, however, said they support the single sanction system.

Huang said the goal of any representative body, including the Committee, should be to be as representative as possible.

“Is that idealistic? Yes,” Huang said. “But is it something we should work toward? I think so.”

University economics professors and students are collaborating with the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County in an effort to make social services more cost-efficient and effective.

The project focuses on the Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission on Children and Families, an agency charged with managing the Comprehensive Services Act, Commission Director Gretchen Ellis said.

“The Comprehensive Services Act is a state-wide program that provides funding for kids that need foster care, are at-risk, or have special-[education] needs that can’t be met in public schools,” Ellis said. “Since 2000, the costs for operating this program have increased more than two-fold, and we have been conducting a study for the past year to find how to make the services more efficient and effective.”

The faculty involved — Prof. Steven Stern, Asst. Prof. Amalia Miller and Assoc. Prof. John Pepper — “were asked to think about the programs and try to find out why costs were increasing so much,” Pepper said.

Sri Gopalan, a fourth-year College student studying economics and computer science, said he worked on data analysis for the project.
“We had data from the city [and] county that was not in the right form for us to perform the necessary data analysis,” Gopalan said. “The data came from many different places, and I used my expertise with consolidating information via Microsoft Excel to put the data in a form that was useful for analysis.”

The professors then were able to provide a broader picture of what was affecting the rise in costs for social services.

“We were able to calculate the average costs of services per child, the kind of services children get and how quickly they leave the system,” Pepper said. “We are trying to use complex statistical models to measure the effects of different interventions on children, especially how they influence the length of duration children spend in the program.”

The commission hopes to use the research’s findings to help provide services that are more efficient and cost-effective.

“We are in the process of implementing a new program focus that is based on system of care philosophies providing services that are child-centered, family-driven, strength-based, culturally competent and cost-efficient,” Ellis said. “We found that serving children locally is cheaper and more effective in regards to connecting them to their home communities and family.”

This project reflects a broader collaboration between the University and the local community.

“The scale of collaboration is vast, and you find partnerships between almost all the schools of the University and the Charlottesville community,” said Megan Raymond, director of the Office of University Community Partnerships.

“The projects run the gamut from internships to volunteer work to field studies,” Raymond said.

The partnerships formed between the University and local community serve an invaluable purpose in serving the interests of both sides, she noted.

“Faculty can apply research directly to work with the local community,” Raymond said. “For students, it shows where a U.Va. degree can take you.”

Raymond said the University seeks to further this collaboration through community-based research grants as well as the Jefferson Public Citizen Program, which is currently being developed.

“I just fired our schedule-maker.”

Virginia coach Dave Leitao’s quip following the men’s basketball team’s 107-97 victory against VMI was naturally in jest, but his point was clear. In a season where clamping down on defense is the theme, opening a season with the run-and-gun Keydets — who averaged 91.3 points per game last season, which led the nation — is not an ideal team with which to break the ice.

“It kind of felt like it was the NHL All-Star game,” Leitao said. “It affected everything that we do.”

On the other hand, Virginia knew this Keydet team was no joke after it took down Kentucky 111-103 in its first game of the season Friday night. So, in last night’s victory at John Paul Jones Arena — with highly touted recruit Renardo Sidney in attendance — the Cavalier perimeter players were put to the test in their first game without the graduated Sean Singletary against VMI’s aggressive, trapping defense. By all accounts, they passed.

VMI “is going to force you, if you’re ready, willing, and able, to score 100 [points],” Leitao said. “That was my goal; let’s score 100, and let’s not let them score 100, and we accomplished that goal.”

The Cavaliers had several players who Leitao hopes showed their true colors last night. Freshman shooting guard Sylven Landesberg — who was told only moments before the game that he would start — was magnificent in his regular-season debut, putting up 28 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. His point total is an all-time Virginia record for a freshman debut since they became eligible in 1972-73; the previous record was held by Jeff Lamp, who put up 24 points in his debut in 1977-78. The freshman’s strength was particularly noticeable, as he finished several buckets with contact, including two 3-point plays.

“If anybody knows me — particularly Sylven — I don’t hand out bouquets too often,” Leitao said. “I’ve known for a while now that he’s got great potential, and we just want to make that potential a reality.”

Sophomore forward Mike Scott — who was the biggest Virginia player to see action as Virginia countered VMI’s speed with a small lineup — also took a piece of the spotlight. Scott was an efficient 11 for 13 from the field for 26 points and snatched 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The 10 offensive boards tied yet another Virginia record.

“I think [Scott] probably turned [the 10 offensive rebounds] into at least 20 points, if not more on some 3-point plays,” VMI coach Duggar Baucom said.

When informed about tying a school high with 10 offensive boards, Scott was a bit bewildered.

“I didn’t know I had — man, that’s crazy,” Scott said. “Just trying to go after every rebound — that’s what I live by.”

Scott also had the most impressive score of the night, and perhaps the biggest. With Virginia up 91-87 and just more than two minutes remaining, Scott received the ball in the open court with just senior guard Travis Holmes between him and the basket. After going up for the lay-in, Scott was body-checked in mid-air by Holmes but still remained upright and somehow flipped in the bucket, plus the foul.

Only two minutes earlier, sophomore guard Jeff Jones also made two enormous 3-point shots on back-to-back possessions. With Virginia leading 86-84, Jones’ two 3-pointers pushed the lead to 8; the Keydets would never get closer than 4 points in the remaining minutes.

While describing Jones’ threes as “huge,” Leitao also noted the importance of those shots to Jones’ confidence in his shot, which wavered often last year as he struggled to a 31.4 percentage from beyond the arc.

“His first two or three shots didn’t go in,” Leitao said. “I think he’s different this year, especially mentally, that maybe you’ll have a string of shots after that that may not go in, but he knows he’s being counted on to score … when he gets those open threes, to take it.”

After Virginia opened up an early 17-point lead 9:46 into the first half, it appeared that the Keydets were suffering an emotional hangover from their big win against Kentucky two nights earlier. VMI’s full-court pressure, however, took its toll on the Cavalier backcourt in the latter portion of the first half. Whether it was junior guard Calvin Baker, redshirt freshman Sammy Zeglinski or sophomore guard Mustapha Farrakhan acting as the primary ball-handler, VMI both took the ball from Virginia and flustered the Cavaliers into making careless mistakes that led to turnovers. By halftime, VMI had cut the lead to 6, as Virginia committed 16 turnovers in the first half.

Perhaps the biggest factor that swung the tide toward Virginia in the second half was the difference against VMI’s pressure; with Zeglinski handling the point guard reins for the majority of the second half, Virginia did not turn the ball over once in the final 10 minutes.

At halftime, “we talked about the amount of unforced turnovers that were part of that 16, and those were the ones that we had to eliminate,” Leitao said. “That’s really what you’ve got to be able to do — get high-percentage shots without giving the ball back.”

Baucom was particularly impressed with the play of Zeglinski, who had just three turnovers while playing 31 minutes off the bench.
“The little guy, I think Zeglinski’s going to be good,” Baucom said. “He was a question mark coming into the game — I would think y’all would think that, he was kind of unproven.”

Though the game remained tight throughout the second half, VMI never managed to take a lead. Senior guard Chavis Holmes had the opportunity to give his team the edge as he earned a trip to the foul line with the Keydets trailing 82-81 with just under seven minutes remaining but made one of two free throws to merely knot the game at 82 apiece. Two quick buckets by Scott and senior forward Mamadi Diane gave Virginia the lead that lasted to the final buzzer.

“Anytime you can get an ACC team down with six minutes to go, your mindset kind of changes a little bit,” Baucom said.

The Cavaliers return to JPJ Wednesday night to take on South Florida at 7.

For the Cavaliers, Friday night’s 78-48 victory against High Point was all about firsts.

Their first game of the season. Their first opportunity to adjust to play without recent graduate Sharneé Zoll. Their first chance to prove to fans and pollsters that they deserve their No. 15 ranking.

It was the first time the team would have to adjust to another big hole in the roster: senior forward Lyndra Littles, who will not participate in games during the fall semester, coach Debbie Ryan announced before the game.

“It is a huge loss for us,” Ryan said. “Lyndra is a very cerebral player, and she has turned into a very good leader on our team, so it will be very difficult for us. We will have to go with the next-woman-up philosophy.”

Friday’s win against High Point was also the first regular-season game for the team’s freshmen, who were the driving force in the team’s victory. Combining for more than half the team’s points, the freshmen gave Ryan a reason to be optimistic about the future. Guard Ariana Moorer led the group with 19 points, five assists and seven steals.

“I felt confident tonight, and my teammates were out there helping me and encouraging me,” Moorer said.

Moorer, whom Ryan said will start for the Cavaliers at point guard, not only put up big numbers but played efficiently. She was one of two Cavaliers to have an assist-to-turnover ratio greater than 1.0 on the game.

Other freshmen who stood out during the game were forward Whitny Edwards, who tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds, and forward Chelsea Shine, who put up 10 points, six rebounds and a block. Shine in particular fired up the crowd with a high-energy defensive presence.

The team’s veterans played well, too. Junior guard Monica Wright — despite missing five of her first six shots — put up 16 points and seven steals, while senior center Aisha Mohammed provided the game’s other double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Senior guard Britnee Millner started but rolled her ankle part of the way through the game, returning midway through the game to play a few more minutes.

The Cavaliers hope their starters’ high level of play will continue in a big game at Tennessee tonight. The Volunteers are No. 7 and are the reigning national champions.

“I think we need to play within ourselves,” Millner said. “This will be a game where we can gauge where we need to be for our ACC season.”

The game at Tennessee will see a matchup between two of the most decorated coaches in collegiate women’s basketball: Ryan and Pat Summitt, who leads all NCAA basketball coaches, men or women, in career wins.

The game, which Wright said she has had circled since the beginning of the season, will determine whether the Cavaliers can compete at the elite level their poll rankings indicate.

“One thing were going have to do is be able to handle their defensive pressure,” Ryan said of Tennessee. “They will be very aggressive. We have already started preparing a little, but we will prepare these next two days and be ready for their pressure.”

Following Monday’s game in Knoxville, the Cavaliers face another ranked team Friday in No. 20 Old Dominion. The Lady Monarchs ousted the Cavaliers from the NCAA Tournament last year.

With their first win behind them, the Cavaliers will see if they can leave a big impression against some national powers this week.

Before they can worry about returning to Norfolk, though, Virginia has a huge, potentially season-defining match in front of them. The Cavaliers have never won a game at Tennessee. Tonight they will try to prove there’s a first for everything.