Born and raised in Charlottesville, I never hesitated to say where I was from — until the day I arrived in Blacksburg as a freshman at Virginia Tech. In my first year at Tech, I’ve gotten my fair share of mistrustful looks when introducing myself; it comes with the territory.

While we all know about the great tradition and rivalry between Tech and Virginia, nothing says more about the relationship between the two communities than the support the University and the city of Charlottesville showed Tech after the April 16 tragedy. Ranging from t-shirts to a joint halftime performance at Scott Stadium, everyone in town did what they could to support us. After seeing a picture of the University’s Beta Bridge tagged with the slogan, “Hoos for Hokies”, I was reminded of both the painting and the ensuing movement. Because of that incredible response, I was inspired to write this thank-you to the people of my hometown on behalf of my new home. As we somberly mourn the second anniversary of that fateful day, I would like to express my gratitude to the entire Charlottesville community for its kindness; to borrow the words of Prof. Nikki Giovanni, we will never forget. The love you all showed us makes me proud to say I’m a Charlottesvillean. Hoos for Hokies and Hokies for Hoos, Always and Forever.

I applaud Robert Baldwin’s critique of the Jason Smith honor trial that appeared yesterday (“In defense of Jason Smith,” 4/6/2009). Specifically his point about non-triviality lacking precedent sheds light on the recently failed referendum to make the honor system a multi-tiered system and how Smith could have benefited from such a system. Similar to the way in which the Honor Committee instituted a slanderous, dishonest campaign to ensure the failure of the referendum this spring, now the Committee has committed another unjust act against our community in the form of the precedence Smith’s case represents: the potential for a primary witness in an honor trial to also be an officer in the committee itself. We must ask ourselves as members of the community of trust just how many injustices we can tolerate from the Committee. If we are unable to change honor through the democratic process due to the Committee’s demonstrated skill at deceiving our community then we must ask if it is necessary to change the terms of its authority through other means.

After serving 18 years as the University Board of Visitors’ secretary, Alexander G. Gilliam will retire at the end of this month.

Gilliam graduated from the University in 1955, returning 20 years later to work as the special assistant to three University presidents. During the course of 50 years, he saw the University undergo several changes.

“It seems to me that the changes I’ve seen are part of a natural progression, one that’s left the core values of the University intact,” Gilliam said.

When he attended the University as an undergraduate, there were very few black students enrolled and even fewer women, who were not officially admitted to the University until the 1970s. But now, Gilliam said, the University is incredibly diverse and the student body has grown exponentially.

The University also has developed in the area of international studies. One of Gilliam’s most memorable moments, he said, was a speech by former University President Robert O’Neil about the importance of giving students the opportunity to study abroad and establishing connections with faculty members of foreign universities.

“The number and variety of study abroad programs we have now pleases me greatly,” Gilliam said.

Gilliam worked in the foreign services before he returned to the University and also served a year as dean of international studies. During his term as the dean of international studies, Gilliam organized the University to receive foreign visitors like the queen of England in 1976.

Although Gilliam joked that he has spent his time at the University “hanging up coats and hats,” most agree that his service to the University has been invaluable. The Board of Visitors honored Gilliam at a meeting last Friday.

“We will miss him,” Board Rector Heywood Fralin said. “His service has been tremendous and he’s been very wise and level-headed … His common sense has been of great value.”

Fralin also noted that as secretary, Gilliam served as the “communications arm” of the Board.

Although Gilliam is leaving his position on the Board of Visitors, he is not going into full retirement. Instead, he will move his office from the Rotunda to the Harrison Institute, where he will assume the title of University historian. The Board has yet to announce Gilliam’s successor.

“It’s been a great time,” Gilliam said. “It really has.”

A small fire broke out in Norris House in Hereford College around 10:15 p.m. yesterday, Charlottesville Fire Department Captain Larry Antonacci said.

Antonacci noted that heavy smoke was sighted coming from the second floor of the building. He added that no injuries were reported and that the fire was confined to one room. Numerous fire trucks and University police officers arrived on the scene promptly and the fire was quickly extinguished. University Police Sergeant Dan Stuart said no one at the scene was completely sure about what caused the fire but noted that “the call came in as the microwave caught on fire.”

“They’ve got it under control,” said Pat Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, who was at the scene of the incident. “I’m just getting here to take care of the residents.”

—compiled by Sarah Wooten

Macintosh ownership among University first-year students has increased 925 percent since 2003, according to a recent ITC survey.
Mac use hovered around 4 percent during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but then doubled in 2004. By 2008, about 1,200 first-years, or 37 percent of the first-year class, were using Macs.

Fourth-year College student Jake Gunst said he switched from personal computers to Macs around 2003, when he was in high school.
“I switched because they came out with Office for the Mac, and it seemed like a good deal for students,” Gunst said. He added that he has noticed many more Macs on Grounds recently and said he believes the reason is that “Macs are really easy to use and posh.”

Mike McPherson, associate vice president and deputy chief information officer of Information Technology Services, said the University does not make recommendations for what kind of operating system students should use. Nevertheless, the University’s computer labs also have reflected the growing interest in Macs among students. The computer labs and libraries, which were once all running on the Windows operating system, now have added some Macs, McPherson said.

The growing tendency for students to use Macs instead of PCs is also evident at the University Bookstore.

Jon Kates, executive director of the Bookstore, noted that although Cavalier Computers sold about equal amounts of Macs and PCs last year, “during this economic downturn, really the only computers we’re selling are Macs.” Kates said he estimates that Cavalier Computers provides computers for a little less than half of the incoming first-year students.

“Apple understands the student mentality better than PC,” he added.

Third-year College student Ashley Williams said she is looking to join the growing number of Mac users.

“I have always used a PC but want a Mac,” she said. “I like the way that it navigates and I feel like they are very reliable … We can always get my sister’s fixed easily when it has a problem.”

Fourth-year College student Jorge Rodriguez said he has used both Macs and PCs. Among his reasons for now owning a Mac are its sleek, clean design and greater reliability, he said.

McPherson and Kates noted other non-aesthetic reasons why students buy Macs. Kates mentioned the useful software packaged with Macs and both McPherson and Kates noted that Mac users have to deal with fewer viruses.

It is also possible that the popularity of the iPod contributed to the trend, McPherson said. According to the ITC survey, 64 percent of students own an iPod and 18 percent own either an iPhone or an iTouch.

“I think people are generally pleased with the aesthetics and functionality of the iPod and then think about that when they go to buy a laptop,” Gunst agreed.

According to the survey, laptops also have become steadily more popular than desktops. Forty-seven percent of students surveyed said they owned only a desktop in 2002, but that number has dwindled to virtually zero today.

As spring approaches, motorcycle enthusiasts will hit the road with a familiar rumbling thunder. If you find yourself in Highland County, Va., however, do not be surprised if you notice a soundless, silver motorbike whizzing by you. As Americans search for ways to conserve resources, lawyer and motorcycle enthusiast Brian Richardson has built an electric motorcycle in his kitchen.

A longtime lover of motorcycles, Richardson said he annually hosts a large motorcycle rally on his sheep farm, on which visitors can camp and hear live music during the event.

“The main point … is to allow people to come out to Highland County and camp on a working sheep farm,” he explained.

His idea to build an electric motorcycle came about in September 2008, after Richardson viewed the documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” which follows the 1990s creation and then discontinuation of electric cars in California.

Richardson said the movie angered him and made him want to build an electric motorcycle in his kitchen, “just to show how easy it is.”
With no formal training in engineering, Richardson is learning as he goes. “I’m an attorney,” he said. “Most of this stuff is kind of foreign to me.” The most experience that he can claim is a general interest in tinkering with machinery and skills, like welding and working with electricity, from running his sheep farm.

Richardson said with the motorcycle, he is “trying to marry the newest technology that [I] could get [my] hands on with some old technology.”

The old technology includes the motorcycle’s frame, a Norton Featherbed, which was famous for racing during the 1950s and 1960s. The motorcycle itself, which Richardson refers to as a Norton Electra, is named after a 1960s Norton model.

Richardson explained that the Britain-based Norton Motorcycle Company, which was shut down in the late 20th century, has recently reopened with new leadership, and Richardson said he has been in communication with the company’s new owner and hopes he will come take a look at the bike later this year.

Some of the newer technology Richardson used to build the bike includes lithium ion batteries from China and a motor that allows for power regeneration.

“Rather than all the breaking just being wasted in heat in the breaks, we do get regenerative breaking with this design,” he said.

Although Richardson is still making modifications to the bike, he said he completed its first test drive a few weeks ago. “It did beautifully,” he said. The bike accelerated fast, Richardson said, and was exciting to ride.

“This is a quick bike,” he said. “You couldn’t compare it to a modern sport bike, [but] it’s a starting point.”

The motorcycle is not only fast, but silent. Other than the benefits of not using gas, one of the positive features Richardson pointed out is its quiet ride. Gas-powered motorcycles allows one to ride in a natural environment, but the noise generated is a drawback.

“You are part of your environment,” he said, “but you can’t hear anything.”

One time cutting the engine off while going down a mountain, Richardson said he realized he could hear the birds and the tires on the gravel. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have a motorcycle that didn’t make any noise?’” he said.

Richardson’s bike moves with a silence he called, “eerie” — thoroughly different from the grumble of the Norton motorcycle, which has earned the nickname, “Snortin’ Norton.”

To help take the motorcycle to the next level, Richardson turned to Asst. Engineering Prof. Robert Prins at James Madison University.
“I built the bike,” Richardson said. “Now we need to test the bike.”

Prins not only has a research-related interest in the project, but he is also a motorcyclist. Getting involved “seemed like a no-brainer,” he said. He plans to aid the project by helping with testing and data collection, specifically for the speed of the bike and its range.

Richardson also said Prins will help him with his goal to create an educational program about the bike and share it with Virginia’s schools and communities.

“One of our intentions is to use the bike to develop and raise interest and understanding of electric vehicles locally,” Prins said.

Fourth-year Engineering student Nick Lumsden, who is part of the RideForward program,, in which students convert a gas-powered car to an electric-powered one, said he thinks the goal of raising awareness is important in projects like RideForward and Richardon’s.

It is hard to convince people that electric vehicles are competitive with those powered by gas, and having a physical product they can see helps, Lumsden explained.

“Any type of attention that projects like these can gather, I think is great,” Lumsden said.

James Durand, a research associate in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department and teacher of RideForward, also said projects like these are important because they illustrate alternatives.

“I think that a lot of people feel sort of helpless,” Durand said. Projects like RideForward and Norton Electra show people that there is an option other than oil, he said.

These projects are also important as interdisciplinary learning tools, Durand added.

“You have a vehicle here where you can teach the whole gamut of things, and at the end, you have something that’s really neat and could be useful,” Durand said.

While visiting Virginia schools is only a goal for the electric motorcycle project, Richardson noted that the University would be on his list of stops.

“If U.Va. will have me, I’d like to be there,” he said.

Construction is set to begin April 17 on the new Information Technology Engineering Building and the College’s physical and life sciences building, Board of Visitors member Daniel Abramson said.

Rice Hall, the ITE building, will be made available for research and instructional programs.

“It will have the most cutting edge equipment for teaching engineering students about information systems and computer science,” Abramson said.

The plans for the building include a state-of-the-art auditorium, a cyber-lounge and various research labs, Engineering School Communication Director Josie Loyd stated in an e-mail. Other facilities will include workrooms, study areas and a courtyard.

“This building is a huge step forward for the Engineering School in the area of information technology engineering,” Engineering School Dean James Aylor stated in an e-mail. “Constructed using sustainable design principles, with labs and study areas designed for collaborative research, and facilities to enhance our distance education programs, this building will benefit the School, the University and citizens of the Commonwealth for years to come.”

Abramson agreed, noting that the building, paid for with general state funds and private gifts, represents an excellent example of 21st-century design at the University.

“[Paul and Gina] Rice have given an extraordinary gift to the Engineering School for this project,” he said. “They are good friends and this is just an expression of their love for the University.”

The six-story, 100,000 square feet building is scheduled for occupancy in fall 2011, Loyd stated.

The physical and life sciences building, meanwhile, is also scheduled for occupancy in fall 2011, Media Relations Director Marian Anderfuren stated in an e-mail.

The five-story, 100,000 square feet physical and life sciences building will offer new laboratory space for faculty members and their research groups. It will also hold scientific equipment and facilities that are shared by teams in the college and other areas of the University, Anderfuren stated.

“This new laboratory building is an essential investment in the future of our research program in the sciences,” College Dean Meredith Jung-En Woo stated in an e-mail. “Its flexible lab space and advanced instruments will support the work of Arts & Sciences faculty and other scholars from across Grounds as they push the frontiers of science and seek solutions to many of the most pressing issues of our age.”

The groundbreaking ceremonies for both buildings will begin at 3 p.m.

I recently had a mini existential crisis in the self-checkout line at Kroger, a place where I imagine thousands of such dilemmas have occurred, from “But I typed in the produce code for red grapes, not green! Why can’t I get anything right?” to “No, I don’t have any coupons! What am I doing with my life?”

My crisis was a little bit different and thankfully did not involve screaming at the pleasant-voiced woman inside the U-Scan machine who just wants to ensure I didn’t leave any items under my cart.

Instead, as I swiped my box of croutons, a funny thing happened. My regular Kroger discount popped up on the screen, but so did an extra $0.12 reprieve. At first, I thought it was my lucky day. Then I saw why.

“Senior discount,” the screen read simply, guilelessly. Are there two more terrifying words in the English language? I blinked, disbelievingly. I checked my hands — wrinkle-free. My height — not diminishing yet. I hadn’t paid in change or used expired coupons. I also was pretty sure there was no hard candy in my purse.

I looked around for someone playing a trick or for an employee to take my indignant complaint. It would probably be the first time a customer had demanded a discount be revoked, but I was disturbed at being mistaken for someone aged enough to deserve reduced-price croutons. I wanted to exclaim, “I’m 21! Surely you meant ‘student,’ not ‘senior’!”

It’s incredibly depressing to be confronted with one’s mortality in the checkout line. I felt like I had stepped into a bad indie film, something with a faux-clever title like “Shelf Life.” Would some wise old employee appear to tell me that we are all always just “checking out”?  

Though I eventually realized the discount was meant for my parents — whose Kroger card I was using — the blunder managed to cause a brief depression. For just a moment, before I realized all the decades that lie between me and senior citizenry, I felt inexplicably … old. I sunk into self-pity, feeling closer than ever to the end of youth and the beginning of adulthood.  

In case I’ve lost you, the metaphor here is discounted croutons = adulthood. You may have had a similar epiphany, thanks to a boring internship or an encounter with high schoolers. But for me, it was the croutons.

In life, we spend an inordinate amount of time figuring out what we’re too old for, cataloguing what we’ve grown out of or moved past. Growing up means setting your own arbitrary age limits for certain activities; at 12, you’re too old to sleep with a stuffed animal; at 14, you’re too old to listen to Mom; at 18, you’re too old for a curfew. I expect that after college, we realize we’re too old for Solo cups, Ramen noodles and streaking.

But perhaps instead of congratulating ourselves on our maturity, we should contemplate what we’re too young to do. After all, that’s what college is really about — escaping for four years to a Neverland without parents or rules, playing the Peter Pan card against the forces of time. Claiming again and again, with our fingers in our ears, “I don’t want to grow up.”

We are, for instance, far too young to be called “Ma’am” or “Sir,” even by well-meaning, well-mannered children. We are too young for high school reunions or for a radio station “retro hour” to be the songs of our childhood. We are too young to refer to Wednesday as “hump day,” to call the remote control a “clicker,” or to gripe about “kids these days!”  

We are too young to know how to play bridge or to squint at restaurant menus. We are too young for the highlight of our day to be any of the following: finding donuts in the conference room, gathering around the watercooler to talk about last night’s episode of “CSI” or sinking into an armchair already imprinted with our butt shape.

We are too young to be tired before midnight or functional before noon. We are too young to be bewildered by new slang or new technology, which means: Twitter, I think you’re ridiculous but I will acknowledge you as part of my generation.

And even though there are perks to growing old — among them $0.12 off croutons and the license to yell at neighborhood kids — I think I’ll take social networking instead of Social Security for now. Plus, I’m so not ready to give up Ramen noodles.

Rebecca’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at r.marsh@cavalierdaily.com.

When considering the benefits of the honor system, it is often easier to grasp concrete examples than to attempt to explain the system’s philosophical underpinnings. But in reality, the honor system does not regularly afford students tangible benefits. It may be true a student can lose his wallet and have it returned, or leave his laptop unattended without fear of it being stolen. These are manifestations, however, and not the intent of the University’s honor system. The honor system is the outward expression of the belief that University students hold each other to a higher standard. The true benefits can only be realized if students commit to upholding the community of trust, and this will only happen when all students understand the value of honor.

Students should not hesitate to hold their peers accountable for acting honorably. Single sanction is not the only way to stop students from committing honor offenses. Simply telling a fellow student you witnessed him committing an honor offense can go a long way toward preserving the community of trust. Students do not have to look to the Honor Committee to uphold the values of honor — they can do so themselves.

One noticeable lapse in the honor system is evident from signs in the libraries: “Thefts have been reported. Please guard your valuables.” If the University is a community of trust, why are students’ possessions being stolen?

The nature of the University as a public institution means that students are not the only ones who walk these Grounds. People outside the community of trust are allowed into our University. Because of this, students must take a more active role in upholding the community of trust. Students should not hesitate to ask other students to keep an eye on their belongings, or to remain aware of their surroundings. If students actively work to promote the community of trust, the tangible benefit of being able to leave belongings unattended will follow.

Education is key to ensure all students understand the community of trust rests in their hands. The Committee has education and outreach programs, but those too often rely on the examples of tangible benefits to explain the honor system’s value. Committee Chair David Truetzel said, “Showing tangible benefits can help foster appreciation of the philosophical aspects of honor.” Though this is true, the concrete benefits of the honor system should be realized as the examples they are instead of the purpose of the system itself.

To reinforce the true benefits of the honor system, Truetzel said the Committee is looking into ways to reach out to prospective students and impart the importance of the honor system to University life. He noted this will require a lot of support from the administration, but any efforts in this direction are laudable. Though it may be difficult to coordinate an effective effort to educate prospective students, it is undeniably worth exploring better education of all incoming students on their responsibility to uphold the honor system.

At the “Honor benefits benefit” held last week, fliers were passed out detailing five benefits of the honor system. Four of the benefits listed were concrete and unlikely to affect every single student at the University. But one did: “University graduates earn a reputation for honesty that they carry with them as professionals.” Benefits like this one are the result of active student participation in the community of trust. Before the true benefits of the honor system can be realized, however, students must understand the responsibility the honor system entrusts to them.

Recently, I had the privilege of watching the documentary “Haze,” which tells the story of Gordie Bailey who died in 2004 as a freshman at the University of Colorado after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol at the Chi Psi fraternity house. “Haze” seeks to explain the phenomena behind this kind of dangerous binge drinking on college campuses across America. While Bailey’s story may be horrifying, it’s anything but uncommon. And the most tragic part of his story is how easily his death, and the deaths of countless others, could be prevented.

According to the Gordie Foundation, a group founded following Bailey’s death to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol consumption in college, a university student dies of alcohol-related causes every five hours. Seventeen hundred students die every year, either as a direct result of alcohol consumption, or in drunk driving crashes, falls, or other accidents caused by impaired judgment. Alcohol causes six and a half times more student deaths than every other drug combined, yet we often think of binge-drinking as a harmless pastime or even a collegiate tradition. At the University, we’re far too ambitious and talented to allow this kind of mindless, dangerous culture to continue.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines binge drinking as any practice of alcohol consumption that raises the user’s blood alcohol content to above 0.08 — typically five or more drinks in a row for men, four for women. The CDC also reports that rates of binge drinking are highest among 18 to 21 year olds: 90 percent of the alcohol consumed by those under the legal drinking age is in the form of binge drinking. According to the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, 44 percent of students attending four-year institutions in America binge drink on a regular basis, and that 44 percent consume 70 percent of all the alcohol purchased by college students.

Alcohol has been a part of the human experience for millennia. Stone age jugs confirm that fermented alcoholic beverages were being intentionally produced and consumed as early as about 10,000 BC. Today, alcohol is consumed in nearly every culture on Earth for its relaxant effects, as a social lubricant, as part of religious rites or spiritual rituals, for artistic inspiration, as medicine and as an aphrodisiac, among other uses. It is possible to drink lightly and pleasurably, so why do some students insist on drinking to the point of memory blackouts and vomiting on a near-weekly basis?

Excessive alcohol consumption and binge drinking — essentially, the collegiate drinking culture — has been acknowledged, celebrated, even glorified by movies like Old School, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Eurotrip, and Superbad, to name just a few. In many fraternities and sports teams, mass consumption of alcohol is often seen a rite of passage, an initiation task that will take you from submissive underling status to being seen as an equal among your heavy-drinking peers. Drinking has become a competitive sport: not only literally, with drinking games like flip cup and beer pong, but also figuratively, as students often fight to show dominance by one-upping each other with the amount of alcohol they can consume in a sitting. “Everybody wants to be the one with the best story the next day,” explains one student interviewed in “Haze.”

Few collegians are ignorant of the effects of alcohol on the human body. Physically, alcohol causes damage to the liver, often resulting in conditions like fatty liver and cirrhosis in chronic drinkers. In fact, an accumulation of fat in the liver can be observed after just one night of heavy drinking. Alcohol also constricts brain tissue and depresses the central nervous system, sometimes shutting it down completely by stopping the heart and lungs in cases of extreme intoxication. Mentally, alcohol consumption results in euphoria, as well as slurred speech, lapses in memory, and impaired judgment. Yet, because many collegiate binge drinkers are underage, they are often afraid to call for help if a friend begins to show signs of serious alcohol poisoning. Furthermore, the pervasiveness of the drinking culture often leads students familiar with the effects of alcohol to assume that severely intoxicated individuals can simply “sleep it off.” This fallacy, combined with the dangerous, risk-taking behavior of people under the influence of alcohol, results in the frighteningly high levels of alcohol related deaths among college students.

At the University, we are fortunate to have seen only a few of these deaths, but the reality is that we should not be seeing any. These accidents are easily preventable. It is possible to have fun and drink responsibly in college; it isn’t necessary to be inebriated to the point of vomiting and blackout to have a good time. Alcohol is and will continue to be a major component of the college lifestyle, especially among certain subsets, but it is possible to drink without becoming dangerously drunk. Even so, if you or someone you are with does become intoxicated to the level where they are severely incapacitated, a speedy 911 call could save a life and prevent a tragedy like Bailey’s.

Michelle Lamont is an Associate Editor for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at m.lamont@cavalierdaily.com.