Inspired Initiatives

Two new projects highlight the kinds of goals Student Council should pursue

Student Council may have found its best role in the University community. Tuesday night, Student Life Committee Co-Chairs Aagya Mathur and Kristin Flow presented the committee’s plans and goals for the upcoming year. Two projects stand out in particular.

First, the committee reached an agreement with Clark Library that will extend the library’s hours until 4 a.m. during the final exam period. Second, the committee is currently working to provide University Transit Service buses for students who need to commute to airports during the holiday season. The aim is to eventually expand bus service to D.C. area airports, a move intended to help international students in particular.

These ideas offer excellent models for the kinds of initiatives Council should pursue. Most important, they are concrete, tangible objectives that will generate real benefits for students. Extending Clark’s hours should help reduce the overcrowding that is often encountered at Clemons during midterms and finals. Clark also happens to be in close proximity to first-year dorms, making the extended hours especially useful for younger students. The airport transportation idea will reduce the need for students to spend large sums of money on taxi service or overnight parking fees when traveling long distances.

It is also refreshing to see international students, an often underrepresented group, on Council’s radar. Such efforts will build credibility for Council and should make future outreach efforts more productive. Students, after all, are much more likely to provide Council with feedback if they believe their communication will result in genuine progress.

Although Council may consider these two undertakings to be minor side projects, in reality it will be these kinds of changes that students remember and appreciate the most. Other Council committees would do well to replicate these types of ideas in their own areas of responsibility.

Working for students

UCS should make a few minor adjustments to improve its services

Searching for jobs can often be a frustrating experience for students. This year, given the current condition of the economy, that task can prove an absolute nightmare. For the most part, University Career Services does an admirable job guiding students through the employment search and interview process. As with any system, however, there is always room to improve.

One area to consider working on is the ease of student access to information. In terms of e-mail communications and advertising its services, UCS does remarkably well. Some features, like its online calendar, however, could be made more user-friendly. An RSS feed or e-mail subscription option, for example, could relieve students of the need to check the site meticulously for job opportunities and employer presentations.

It would also be helpful for UCS to further oversee the updates provided by outside employers via CAVLink. For example, in at least one instance, an employer posted a job listing with an application deadline set for a past date. This error was clearly made by the employer and not UCS; however, it would be beneficial for UCS to review these postings and check for problems or obvious mistakes.
These issues are not glaring deficiencies, but rather small suggestions to improve a robust system. Sometimes small changes can go a long way toward making everyone’s life a little easier.

A  FEW weeks ago, Representative Alan Grayson, a congressman from the Orlando area of Florida, was virtually unknown on the political scene in Washington. Now, however, this freshman congressman is receiving accolades from Democratic factions nation-wide. In case you haven’t heard the news, Grayson is now famous for his critical remark on the Republican Party’s health-care plan, claiming it conveys a theme of “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.” Grayson’s critique has served to galvanize the American public’s interest in the health-care bill.

Lately it seems as if one of the most important issues in our country — the new healthcare plan — has been taken a back seat to many other issues, such as Obama’s Nobel Prize and Kanye West’s mental breakdown on TV. In the meantime, the current healthcare bill remains mired in the political sludge of Capitol Hill, only just passing through the Senate Financial Committee. The bill, proposed by Sen. Max Baucus, is estimated to cost about $774 billion, but would reduce the national debt by about $49 billion in 10 years. Grayson was criticizing the plan in terms of its lack of required health care coverage and what he viewed as lack of consistent, affordable coverage for those who do get sick and cannot afford medical aid.

His polarizing comment sparked endless partisan debates and led to a proposed reprimand by the Republican Party that was later dropped. Much outrage has emerged from his remarks with one senator calling it the “most mean-spirited partisan comment” ever heard on the floor. In fact, many think that his remark has taken away from the credibility of the Democrat’s healthcare plan, thus discrediting both Grayson and his party. However, many Democrats are applauding him for his display of backbone. Many of his constituents are becoming involved with their own views on healthcare and using Grayson as a sort of political soundboard to express their views. And isn’t that what politics is about? People in power shouldn’t be afraid to be unpopular on the political scene. A perfect example comes from Bill Clinton’s presidency. His Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 was so unpopular with the Republican Party that it actually passed in Congress without a single Republican vote. But it ultimately benefited the people who voted him into office, cutting taxes for 15 million low-income families and making tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses. Do you think he cared about what the Republicans thought then? Politics is about pleasing constituents and ensuring that their specific needs are met, or at least considered.

Grayson’s actions serve as a foil to another comment by a Republican congressman that also created uproar in the political scene. Representative Joe Wilson recently came under fire for his outburst towards Obama, screaming, “You lie!” as Obama explained the bill’s stance towards illegal aliens. In this case, Wilson’s comment represented a breach of congressional decorum that was equal to or greater than Grayson’s comment. And the political outrage from this case was just as prevalent, leading to major reprimands from both parties and also the general public. But this case also served to highlight partisan problems with the bill and provided a level of comparison for Americans concerning their own views on health care. Overall, his outburst, although unnecessary and unprofessional, helped to stimulate interest in the bill, much like Grayson’s comments have done.

Overall, Grayson’s actions were a culmination of a heated debate over a bill that represents a crucial overhaul of the American healthcare system. They were merely another link in the string of recent incidents that have garnered much interest as well as controversy surrounding the bill. But, his impassioned comments truly galvanized his constituents to support him and also to express their views about healthcare, thus strengthening his and his party’s actions. We need more congressman like Grayson, who aren’t afraid to voice their opinions and care more about the constituents than the volatile political scene.

Danny Di Giulio is a Viewpoint Writer for The Cavalier Daily. His column appears Thursdays.

That tapping noise is the sound of me knocking on the woodwork, wondering why all the Groh-haters have faded away and crawled back inside.  Where have you all gone?  Did you not see what happened in the Indiana game this past Saturday?

Obviously the team played better. The offensive line drove defenders backwards, handling Indiana’s two great pass rushers. The defensive line pressured Indiana’s Ben Chappell, something that was greatly lacking in losses to William & Mary, TCU, and USM. The secondary came through with huge plays. But still something happened in Hooville that should have brought the “Groh-Must-Go” chanters back out of the woodwork.

Late in the third quarter, the score was 37-0. The champagne was popped, and glasses were being passed around. Indiana was completely lifeless. I watched on TV (two midterms and two labs forced me to miss my first game since my first year) and listened to the announcers as the offense prepared to take the field. Citing the lopsided score that would have required five touchdowns to overcome, they were sure that Virginia’s three best players, the key reasons why the Wahoos have posted their best offensive numbers in five years, would be on the bench. The offensive second unit would close out the game. But to their amazement, Jameel Sewell, Mikell Simpson, and Vic Hall were all on the field to start the drive. It took exactly one play before a Simpson 2-yard rush turned into 10 minutes of agony for those watching, as the leader of the Cavalier rushing attack was immobilized and carted off the field.

Why were Simpson, Sewell, and Hall on the field with the game safely out of reach, especially with an extremely capable second unit featuring Marc Verica and Rashawn Jackson? I find it hard to believe that Groh was trying to improve the team’s “Margin of Victory” in order to rise in the BCS rankings. Why, with an inter-conference rivalry game next week against Maryland, were Virginia’s three brightest rays of hope playing meaningless minutes during garbage time? Every week, Oklahoma, Florida, and other teams that consistently take part in blowouts sit their star players when the games are out of reach. This past Sunday, the New York Giants sat Eli Manning after just one half of play against the Oakland Raiders. This is a common sense move in every sport, especially football, when a career-ending tackle is always just one play away. Get your key guys out of the game. Get them rest. Get them thinking about next week’s game. And above all else, make sure they do not get hurt playing meaningless minutes.

I do not know Simpson’s prognosis. I pray he was carted off as a precaution, and he will be ready to, once again, run all over Maryland. But if he suffered a concussion, we can all look to how the highly publicized Tim Tebow situation played out the last two weeks. Simpson would most likely be out for at least two weeks, with vital ACC games against Maryland and currently #19 Georgia Tech looming.

In The Cavalier Daily the last two days, I have read every story about our football program’s resurgence. Not once have I come across a questioning of Groh leaving in his stars during garbage time; only small blurbs of Simpson’s unfortunate, unpredictable injury. I have not even seen the question raised, either by The Cavalier Daily staff, or during the recently released transcript of Groh’s weekly press conference.

I am not part of the Groh-Must-Go crowd. I have always trusted that he knows more about what is going on with the team than I possibly could. Adam Gottschalk of Charlottesville’s sports radio station 1400 WKAV has quoted players who insist they still believe in Groh. One player, before the season even started, said that it would not be Groh’s fault if the team struggled this season. I use these as strong indicators that Groh, although out of favor with the fans, is still popular within his locker room. I thought that after losing to in-state FBS opponent William & Mary, after attendance reached the lowest it has ever been since the expansion of Scott Stadium during the TCU game, and after alumni began speaking out against him, that Groh was on his way out, because it no longer looked like strictly a football issue, but an economic one. But not only do the players stick by him — so does the administration. I must trust in them that they know more than I do about such matters.

I expected, however, the registered Groh-haters to be out this week to shout about the Simpson incident. I guess they would sooner complain about our offense being stifled by TCU’s #7 ranked defense, or not throwing downfield with Vic Hall behind center, than complain about our best player potentially being seriously injured when he should not have been in the game.

Daniel Mehler is a third-year in the College.