The Virginia Senate recently passed a bill for the third time that would allow any qualified voter in Virginia to vote absentee in-person without providing a reason.

Currently, eligibility for voting through absentee ballots is reserved for individuals who are disabled, in the military or in other circumstances that would prevent them from physically engaging in the voting process on the day of elections. Bill SB83 hopes to increase voter turnout by expanding the absentee voting process to anyone who is qualified to vote.

“The bill will allow anybody to vote in person by absentee ballot without an excuse,” said Michael Kelly, communications director for the Virginia Central Democratic Caucus.

There seems to be a “desire” for voting reform, he said, because more than 300,000 people cast an in-person absentee ballot during the 2008 election.

“This is a measure to make the voting process simpler and easier for folks and kind of simplify the absentee process,” he said.

The bill could also help eliminate one source of voter apathy, Kelly said.

“If something unexpected comes up and you can’t make it to the poll, this shouldn’t be a reason you are not able to vote,” he said. Kelly added that because the polls are only open for a certain number of hours, it is more difficult for some people to cast their ballot.

Before making it to Gov. Bob McDonnell, the bill must pass through the Virginia House of Delegates, which has rejected it both times it came to hearing in the past, mostly because of a strong Republican opposition to it.

The commonwealth’s Republican leaders are seeking stricter absentee ballot rules, citing concerns about voter fraud, said Isaac Wood, assistant communications director at the University Center for Politics and a former Cavalier Daily opinion columnist.

Republicans “know that if you are not willing to show up and vote in person, then perhaps you don’t have the dedication to fully research the issues that we should ask for in our voters,” he said.
Wood said the House of Delegates likely will reject the bill again.

“It … shows the tension [between conservatives and] some of the more progressive Virginians who are advocating for this change,” he noted.

The outgoing Committee is in the process of considering several constitutional changes. Photo by Bennett Sorbo.

Despite having only a few months left in their terms, the members of the Honor Committee continue to examine what they can accomplish, specifically focusing on two amendments that could alter jury composition at an accused student’s trial.

One of these possible amendment changes will affect jury panels in cases where two or more students are tried together and cannot decide on a jury composition, Committee Chair David Truetzel said. According to the current bylaws, an accused student selects one of three jury compositions: a mixed jury of Committee members and randomly selected University students, a panel of only Committee members or a jury panel of only randomly selected students.

“As it stands now, there is nothing in the constitution or bylaws that allows the Committee to consistently and smoothly resolve a situation where two or more students being tried together request different jury panels or different preferences for an open versus closed trial,” Truetzel said.

A proposed amendment discussed during one of the Committee’s previous meetings, if voted upon, would remedy the problem by establishing the “mixed panel as the default panel should students fail to come to a consensus.” Truetzel added that the amendment would also establish closed trials as the default in the case in which the two accused students cannot decide on whether they would prefer a closed or open trial.

Another amendment the Committee is considering would affect the jury makeup in regards to a student’s particular school within the University, Truetzel said.

“Right now, a student is entitled to have at least two jurors from his particular school on the jury panel” if the panel is mixed or all-student, Truetzel said. This is easier to facilitate if the accused belongs to a larger school, because the Committee can readily find jurors from a student’s school without risk of a conflict of interest, Truetzel said.

“With the opening of Batten, however, the ability of the Committee to always furnish this right has been called into question because Batten is so small” Truetzel said. “The same issue exists, to some extent, with other smaller schools like Curry or McIntire.”

To ensure a student’s trial is fair, “the Constitution must be amended to say something along the lines of ‘the student shall have at least two jurors from his school, whenever possible,’” Truetzel said.
Moving forward, the Committee will continue to discuss these amendments, and hopes to vote on them before the end of its term.

Additionally, the Committee also is examining other projects to pursue leading up to the term’s close, Truetzel said, noting plans to develop an alumni outreach program.

JJ Litchford, vice chair for community relations, said the Committee has drafted its first alumni newsletter that will be released sometime this semester and will be sent to approximately 2,000 Honor alumni. Additionally, Litchford said a one-page article will run in the University of Virginia Alumni Magazine to keep alumni informed about honor at the University.

These projects “represent sustainable contact with the alumni community,” Litchford said, adding that the efforts will give older members of the University community “a little more depth and knowledge” about what the Committee has been working on lately.

Litchford said this is the first time the Committee “has really done extended alumni outreach efforts.”

Students enjoy a quick snack in Wilsdorf Café, an on-Grounds dining location that primarily serves the Engineering School. Photo by Bennett Sorbo.

After a successful trial period coordinated by Student Council and University leaders last semester, Wilsdorf Café’s extended hours will become permanent. The café, which primarily serves Engineering students and faculty members, will remain open until 5 p.m. each afternoon instead of 3 p.m.

The trial period began Nov. 11 after Council’s Speak Up UVA Web site helped to facilitate a significant showing of student support for the extended hours.

“Now that that’s been successful, we can start asking other hours to be extended,” said Kate Hartmann, Building and Grounds Committee co-chair. She added that students are particularly interested in extending West Range’s hours.

Similar extensions at other locations on Grounds, however, are contingent upon the results of last year’s fall dining survey, University Dining Marketing Manager Nicole Jackson said.

“Currently, we are assessing the feedback we received from the fall 2009 dining styles survey to determine if hours need to be changed at other locations,” Jackson said. “In late February, students will be asked to take another dining survey, and once we get those results, we can evaluate trends that pertain to hours of operation.”

In addition to the survey, Jackson noted that she also will keep an eye on student feedback and suggestions on Speak Up UVA. Overall, Dining Services was pleased with the trial run’s results, she said, and so other initiatives could be more likely to gain support in the near future.

“I will continue to monitor Speak Up UVA, as well as our Text and Tell system, to collect data and requests,” Jackson said. “We are happy with the results of the extended hours and thankful for our customers who have made the transition a success.”

Jackson noted, moreover, that Dining Services values its relationship with Council as a way to achieve a more direct connection with students on Grounds.

“U.Va. Dining considers student requests and questions as the most important feedback we can receive, and Student Council is a great resource to help us discern what is on the mind of all students on Grounds,” she said.

Council President John Nelson added that the Building and Grounds Committee will continue to work with Dining Services to ensure student interest in Wilsdorf Café’s extended hours as well as similar programs.

When notified of the permanent change, many students said they were excited, especially because of the café’s close proximity to the Engineering School and other classrooms along Alderman Road.

“That’s awesome because it’s the only place to get food on my way to class — especially on my way to the Chemistry building,” third-year College student Kellen Hertz said, “but it’s sad that they’re not open on weekends, too.”

Similarly, fellow third-year College student Jane Kim thought the idea would favor students’ often unaccommodating class schedules, and cater in particular to Engineering students working in the stacks of Thornton Hall.

“There are lots of cafés, but not necessarily lots of hours when they are open,” Kim said. “We don’t always get to choose the hours we have classes.”

Hartmann said the success of the trial run and the hours’ permanent expansion also helps to prove that Council is listening to the concerns of students at the University.

“We want to prove that concerns that they post on Speak Up UVA are being looked into and that we’re taking action on them,” she said.

As the spring semester opens, the University Judiciary Committee will look to continue its progress increasing its outreach and transparency efforts.

“It seemed like in the past we’ve had difficulty directly communicating what our procedures look like at the University,” Vice Chair for First-Years Will Bane said, “but this semester UJC plans to show the student body “[what we are] here to do and how we do it.”

The Committee hopes to hold a UJC Awareness Day later in the spring to facilitate this communication, Chair Michael Chapman said. The event, currently scheduled for March 25, “will represent a widespread educational effort across the University” to educate the student population on the procedures and standards of the Committee.

In another effort to increase education and transparency, the Committee plans to provide University students the opportunity to view a mock Committee trial, which Chapman said will “give students an idea of how our trials work up close.”

Chapman explained that though much can be learned from reading about the organization, the Committee hopes that an actual showing of the trial process will increase transparency and serve to better inform the University community about the Committee and its goals.

Chapman also noted the Committee’s recent efforts to increase its recruitment outreach. Through its programs, the Committee was able to connect with “a large number of students that we haven’t been able to in the past,” he said.

Bane said the Committee worked with Resident Life to ensure that an educator would be in every first-year suite or hall, so that first-year students were made more aware of the recruitment and try-out processes than in previous years. The end result was a measurable increased connection with the University’s youngest students, Chapman noted.

Additionally, the Committee worked closely with the Minority Rights Coalition, which contributed to an increase in student participation in review sessions for the organization’s recruitment test. Last year, 20 students attended the session, Bane said — a number that grew to 90 students this year.

This increase in student interest paralleled the Committee’s increasingly diverse applicant pool this year, Bane noted, adding that last year’s recruitment pool was 83 percent white. In contrast, the Committee this year “looks like our student body,” he said, as it includes international students, racial minorities and transfer students.

Apart from the Committee’s external efforts, Chapman said members are extremely proud of the addition of two new community service sanction locations this year, which allow trial panels more flexibility, as well as provide more ways for the Committee to interact with the University community.

“[Adding more sanctions] was a goal that had been discussed for a while in the past,” Chapman said, “so we were glad to see it come to fruition.”

Bane said the two new areas available as sanction locations — facilities management and transportation — give sanctioned students more options and opportunities “to give back to the University community.”

Katie Carr and the women's crew team

On the way home from its Winter Break training program near Daytona Beach, Fla., the University women’s crew team made an extra stop to the Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville. There, the squad visited Katie Carr, a 13-year-old rower diagnosed with cancer.

The rowing team first heard about Katie from an e-mail that first-year College student Mary Shaffer Willetts sent to college crew coaches all across the country. After reading the e-mail and learning about Katie’s story, coach Kevin Sauer knew the team had to do something.

“I couldn’t believe what this young girl had gone through,” Sauer said.

According to Willett’s e-mail, Katie was born in China and bounced from her grandparents’ house to foster homes after her biological parents died. When she was still very young, the Carrs adopted her into their family and brought her to United States. All was well until last year, when Katie’s adopted mother died of cancer.

Rowing helped Katie to cope with her mother’s death, Willetts said, adding that Katie dedicated herself to her school’s crew team. Then, this past summer, Katie’s adopted father also was diagnosed with cancer.

Still, that was not all. During crew practice two to three months ago, Katie heard a crack in her upper arm — “a young rower’s worst nightmare,” Willetts said. After a visit to the doctor, Katie discovered that she has sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissue and cartilage , meaning that she could possibly lose her arm.

Willetts, who lives in Katie’s neighborhood, said though she does not know Katie very well, the Carrs are beloved by the community, and everyone was devastated to hear the news. As a result, Willetts and her father Gary decided to e-mail various crew teams, asking them to send messages of support.

“Crew is something she’s very passionate about,” Willetts said. “Knowing that people are praying for her, encouraging her — this is what will get her through this [disease].”

Sauer called Willetts after reading the e-mail and expressed the team’s desire to see Katie.

“It was perfect,” Willetts said.

A few days after sending the e-mail, Willetts went to the Carrs’ house to tell Katie that the University women’s crew team would visit her soon. It was the first time that Katie’s father had seen his daughter smile in weeks.

“It was like providence, like it was supposed to happen,” Sauer said, adding that the team’s bus route went right through Jacksonville, near Katie’s hospital.

When Sauer told the team about Katie, captain Lauren Hutchins said everyone was excited to visit her. All 40-plus team members arrived at the hospital and bounded up five flights of stairs to a conference room where they met Katie and presented her with a signed oar.

“It was a pretty amazing experience,” Hutchins said. When she asked Katie what she missed most, the young girl replied “rowing, crew, and rowing.”

Katie was fairly quiet during the visit, Hutchins said. Sauer offered Katie a few words of encouragement, as did several members of the team. Both Katie’s father and older sister Elizabeth, who has taken time off from school to be with her family, were there.

Sauer said the team was touched to witness Katie’s courage.

“She’s an amazing kid,” he said. “Because she was touched, we were touched.”

Hutchins agreed, describing the team’s time with Katie as an emotional experience and one that left many of the team members teary-eyed.

“I think it meant a lot to her to know that complete strangers are supporting her and know about her,” Hutchins said.

During the past few weeks, Willetts’ e-mail has continued to circulate throughout the rowing community. Willetts said she has received calls and e-mails from crew teams across the country saying that they are praying for Katie. Willetts also has heard that Boston College football player Mark Herzlich, who recovered from Ewing’s Sarcoma, is writing a letter of encouragement to Katie.

Since its visit, the Virginia crew team has stayed in contact with Katie through CaringBridge.org, a Web site through which the rowers can send Katie supportive posts to let her know that they are thinking of her.

Katie still has six weeks of chemotherapy remaining, Willetts said. If there are still cancer cells in her arm or shoulder at the end of the treatment, her arm will have to be amputated. After her most recent trip to the hospital, however, the swelling in Katie’s shoulder had subsided.

“The entire rowing team is pulling for her,” Sauer said. “Literally.”

Sammy Zeglinski’s shot at the end of regulation delighted the Wahoo faithful but couldn’t keep Virginia Tech from winning easily in overtime. Photo by Mallory Noe-Payne.

Down three points with eight seconds left in regulation, Virginia desperately needed a score. Triple-covered several feet behind the arc, sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski buried a game-tying shot to send the game to overtime. The momentum that Virginia Tech had built up coming back from a 10 point deficit with three minutes left in regulation, however, carried over into overtime and eventually helped the Hokies to a 76-71 victory against the once hot Cavaliers.

“They made some tough shots, they got [junior guard Malcolm] Delaney to the line, but I thought we had some breakdowns,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “It was certainly both. They had to make the plays and hit the shots.”

Virginia started off the first half with solid defense that allowed the Cavaliers to stretch an early lead. Thanks to 14 first-half points by junior forward Mike Scott, the Cavaliers led the Hokies 22-10 with 5:28 left in the first period. Virginia Tech, however, then went on an 11-2 run to come within 3 points of Virginia.

Continuing to build momentum, the Hokie’s pushed for a one point 28-27 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Cavaliers again tried to distance themselves from Virginia Tech. With the score 37-34 with 14:27 left in regulation, Virginia picked up its own scoring pace. After an intentional foul that was later ruled flagrant after review by the officials, Virginia Tech junior forward Jeff Allen was ejected from the game. Sophomore guard Jeff Jones then sank both free throws. Possession was awarded to Virginia following the foul shouts, which sophomore guard Sylven Landesburg converted into a two point jumper. Tech pushed down the court but came up empty on the next possession after a missed layup by junior guard Terrell Bell, which senior forward Jerome Meyinsse rebounded after a textbook box-out. Scott then hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, causing an already frenetic John Paul Jones Arena to nearly explode with excitement.

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was forced to call a timeout. In an attempt to turn momentum back in their favor, the Hokies started to run a full-court press.

The two teams went back and forth, but the Cavaliers still clung to a 10 point lead with three minutes left.

“I think in the last 10 minutes of the game we turned the ball over and took quick shots and score in transition and get some open looks and allowed them to come back in the game,” Meyinsse said.

Yet again, Virginia coughed up a sizeable lead late in the final period. The orange and blue failed to score for 3:44 seconds at the same time breaking down defensively and allowing the Hokies to score 13 unanswered points.

“We just didn’t make a lot of smart decisions,” Scott said. “I think we played hard, but not smart.”

Though Zeglinski’s miraculous three-pointer delayed the inevitable, the same mistakes that plagued Virginia late in regulation followed the squad into overtime.

“It was transitions baskets actually,” Bennett said. “That’s something that, in this league, will test you and test you. If you are not sound in that area, that can hurt you. Because when our defense was set for the majority of the game it was hard for them to score. But when our defense wasn’t set they made it look easy.”

The challenges did not end last night for a reeling Virginia team, though, as it will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face the always competitive Tar Heels on Sunday.

2009 All-American senior John Azar was instrumental in the Cavaliers’ impressive win against nationally-ranked North Carolina. Photo by Jason O. Watson.

Entering the final dual meets of the season this Friday and Saturday, the Virginia men and women’s swim and dive teams will look to finish strong with victories against Navy and Pittsburgh, and to propel themselves confidently into the ACC and NCAA championships.

Both the Navy men and women’s swim and dive teams possess undefeated records thus far. Sophomore Mac Anthony helped lead the men’s squad to its most recent 152-142 victory against Yale. The squad walked away with individual first-place finishes in the 200-meter freestyle (1:40.05), as well as the 100 freestyle (46.15). Senior Tara Chapmon led the women’s squad in its 151-149 victory against Yale with individual victories in the 1,000-meter freestyle (10:11.83), the 200 freestyle (1:47.74) and the 500 freestyle (4:57.04).

“Their men’s program is one of the most improved programs in the country over the last five years,” Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said of Navy. “We have a lot of respect for their athletes and a lot of respect for their team, and we feel that this [will be] an outstanding meet. We’re looking forward to real good competition.”

Pittsburgh also is hoping to provide the Cavaliers with a solid performance in both the individual and team events. Despite losing to both Virginia squads during the 2008-09 season, the Panthers remain optimistic that they can be successful, especially after their most recent victories again Duquesne (169-99 men; 199.5-60.5 women).

The No. 8 Virginia men’s squad and the No. 11 Virginia women’s squad are both in search of improving their dual meet records to an impressive 9-1 on the season with victories against the Midshipmen and the Panthers. In their most recent dual meets, the teams garnered wins against ACC rivals Duke and nationally-ranked North Carolina.

“That’s a huge swimming rival; it’s probably one of the biggest swimming rivalries in the country and for our athletes to go to Chapel Hill and beat two very good North Carolina teams on the road is pretty exciting,” Bernardino said. “I think that meet brought out the best in us from a physical, from a mental [and] from an emotional perspective. [It] gave us a lot of direction and really, I would say, a lot of positive emotion going into the final last eight weeks of the season.”

Senior John Azar contributed to the men’s 168-132 victory against the No. 14 Tar Heels with a national qualifying time of 1:37.86 in the 200 freestyle, as well as a strong individual performance in the 200 medley relay. Senior Mei Christensen led the Cavaliers to a 185-113 victory against the No. 15 Tar Heels with impressive showings in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay. Both seniors earned ACC Performer of the Week Honors — Christensen’s second in the last three weeks.

This Saturday’s meet against Pittsburgh will be the final home meet for Azar, Christensen and the rest of the senior swimmers.

“It’s fun being at home because you look up in the stands and you see your family and your friends and your classmates [that] have come to cheer you on,” Christensen said. “It’s just really a great experience to be able to swim in this pool and walk out there and really know that it’s our house. You know everyone says four years will fly by but you don’t really, you can’t really understand that until you experience it.”

The Virginia women’s team will next compete in the women’s ACC Championships, scheduled to begin Feb. 17 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The men’s team will begin competition Feb. 24, hoping to make history by becoming the first senior class to win three ACC titles.