The University has canceled all Friday classes in preparation for this weekend’s predicted snowstorm. The weather forecast also caused Gov. Bob McDonnell to declare Virginia to be in a state of emergency Wednesday.

Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, issued an e-mail statement about the revised snow schedule to the University community. Though classes are canceled, essential staff in Parking and Transportation, Facilities Management, Housing, Information Technology and Communications, Dining Services and the University Police will arrive early in the morning so that the University’s critical utilities can remain as stable as possible, according to the press release.

“This storm will bring severe weather to many parts of Virginia,” McDonnell stated in a press release. “Please stay alert to the forecast for your area and make sure your family and neighbors are ready for hazardous weather conditions. As the storm affects your area, please stay off the roads and contact local authorities if help is needed.”

Winter precipitation and strong winds are expected to arrive early to northern and western Virginia this weekend and may bring as many as 20 inches of snow to those regions. Meanwhile, heavy rains coupled with strong winds are expected to hit southeastern Virginia, and as much as three-quarters of an inch of freezing rain will hit western and southwestern Virginia, the press release stated.

Students should be wary of the hazardous conditions, said Jay Klingel, director of operations and maintenance at the University. For example, they should avoid using roadways for transportation, as conditions likely will be hazardous, he said.

The governor’s office also warned of a strong possibility of power outages, which potentially could last for a few days. Additionally, roads may be dangerous or closed because of icy conditions that may accompany the storm. Residents should obtain important items, including water, food, blankets and battery-powered radios and flashlights in anticipation, according to the press release.

Charlottesville Director of Communications Ric Barrick has also issued a notice of restricted parking to ensure that crews are able to clean streets. Parking in downtown Charlottesville will be severely limited until the snow has been cleared. In the meantime, free parking will be provided in the Market Street and Water Street parking garages.

The city also has asked residents to refrain from parking on the streets outside residences so that crews can clear the side streets.

The large number of recent storm systems in the Gulf Coast is a factor that has led to this unusual frequency of winter storms in Charlottesville, said Philip J. Stenger, director of the state climatology office. No one, however, is sure of the exact cause of these systems, he added.

In fact, the recent weather patterns are among the most difficult forecasting problem Stenger has faced, he said. Temperatures hovering near the freezing point have made it difficult to predict the type and amount of precipitation that may occur, he said. But one can be confident that the upcoming storm will bring wet and heavy snow, which will be more difficult to drive on and will require more effort for cleaning crews to clear, he noted.

“The amount of snowfall around the state is approaching historic proportions,” he said.

Aiming to avenge a one-sided Jan. 23 defeat in Winston-Salem, the Virginia men’s basketball team plays host to Wake Forest tomorrow at the John Paul Jones Arena.

The Demon Deacons (15-5, 5-3 ACC) handed the Cavaliers (14-6, 5-2 ACC) their first ACC loss of the season with the 69-57 result, and ended an eight-game Virginia win streak.

Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg outscored the rest of Virginia’s starting five in the contest, contributing 18 of the starters’ 32 points. The team never led in the game and at one point in the second half, trailed by as much as 24 points.

“They took it to us down there,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “They’re a load inside with quickness on the outside. They’re a heck of a team. We’ll just have to do a lot better job in almost every area. We were awfully cold against them, [and] they defended us well. We’ll go to work and hopefully come with a better performance.”

One Cavalier who will get his first chance against the Deacons this time around is senior guard Calvin Baker. Baker, who did not make the trip to Winsten-Salem in January, has seen increased playing time during Virginia’s last two wins. Against North Carolina, Baker played 18 minutes and scored three points. Then, Wednesday against N.C, State, he was on the court for 23 minutes and posted five points.

“I feel like everything is clicking,” Baker said. “I mean, there are ups and downs in the season all the time anyway. I was just going through a tough stretch — but that’s what time away will do for you. I talked to the coaches, and now everything is going really well.”

A win Saturday would give the Cavaliers their sixth conference victory, two more than they earned throughout the entire 2008-2009 season under former head coach Dave Leitao when the squad went 4-12 in the ACC.

“It’s a good place to be in, but by no means does that mean we’ve arrived,” Bennett said. “I just want them to keep improving.”

In a game that was never really in doubt beyond the first 10 minutes, the No. 24 Virginia Cavaliers throttled the Clemson Tigers Thursday night 82-60. As heavy snow tracked toward Charlottesville, a crowd of 2,920 gathered at John Paul Jones Arena to watch the team earn its fifth win, during which senior guard Monica Wright passed Ivory Latta for fifth on the ACC all-time scoring list.

“We were capable the whole time,” Wright said. “In practice, we’ve been shooting very well and we’ve been going at game speed, so when it comes time for the game, it’s just like clockwork.”

Wright scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, despite only playing for 29 minutes. The Cavaliers shot 53 percent from the field on the night. Sophomore guard Whitny Edwards, sophomore forward Chelsea Shine and freshman guard Lexie Gerson added 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, the Cavaliers took twice as many free throws as the Tigers, making 19-of-22. Their 82-point output was their highest since November.

“I was pleased with our execution offensively,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “Four people in double figures is really what we’re striving for in every game, and it was good to see people step up.”
The game started off fairly close, but the Cavaliers broke it open midway through the first half, going on a 10-0 run and building a halftime lead of 44-32. During the second half, Virginia traded blows with Clemson for about 10 minutes before going on another 11-point scoring run, which essentially sealed the deal for the Cavaliers. The Tigers forced 18 turnovers during the game but were never able to answer Virginia’s aggressive, pressing defense.

“We didn’t want there to be a Clemson answer,” Ryan said. “We really focused on the defensive end.”

After last Sunday’s disappointing loss to Wake Forest, Virginia entered the contest with renewed focus and effort, aiming to achieve sole possession of third place in ACC standings.

“It was just important to me that we come out and play a whole lot better than we did at Wake,” Ryan said. “[In that contest] I didn’t feel like we had any energy or that we matched them competitively and I was very disappointed in that.”

Virginia, however, will need every ounce of energy it can harness against Maryland Feb. 8. The Terrapins (16-6, 3-4 ACC) edged the Cavaliers Jan. 11 in a 61-60 heartbreaker at John Paul Jones Arena.

“This is more of a rivalry than Virginia Tech,” Wright said. “We’re definitely anticipating this game. We’re excited about it and we’re eager to get up there to College Park and come back with a win.”

In 2009, animal rights activist Bob Barker donated one million dollars to the University Law School to create Virginia’s first Animal Rights Law program. Host of the popular game show “The Price is Right,” Barker has spent his life advocating for animals. His commitment to animal rights and philanthropy in retirement should be commended. Barker’s donation recognizes that animal rights is a hot topic in American law and society. Furthermore, humane treatment of animals should become a staple for all levels of education in our nation.

Bob Barker’s donation is part of a wider Animal Rights Movement that has made significant strides over the past decade to implement ethical legislation and humane education. Already, almost half of American law schools have animal rights curricula. This donation follows a string of previous donations to other prestigious law schools, including Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Stanford, Duke, UCLA and Northwestern. The Animal Law Program saw its first class, “Animal Law 9040,” appear in the Fall 2009 academic semester. Law students tackled the extensive scope of animal law and other ethical issues. According to Prof. Margaret Riley, head of the University Animal Rights Program, the new course focuses on “legal issues pertaining to animals, the laws that govern their treatment, as well as a number of topics that fall within the general headings ‘animal law’ and ‘animal rights.”

Those who advocate for animal rights believe that animals, as sentient beings, have a unique set of interests that must be protected from human exploitation and abuse. Issues of animal rights law include factory farming, animal experimentation, the fur trade, dog fighting, vivisection, puppy mills, hunting, animal entertainment, and other forms of animal cruelty. Under United States law, animals are valued as property and thus have historically failed to gain necessary rights protecting their interests, specifically to live free of pain.  For example, in Mississippi, when a man set his dog on fire for entertainment in 2009, he was charged with a misdemeanor, sentenced to six months in jail and fined $1,000. Mississippi is not the only state that still fails to treat animal cruelty cases as felonies, which would carry both a longer sentence and heftier fine. Opponents of animal rights like to skirt around the issue, ignoring basic fact and obvious statistics. Often this opposition stems from a fundamental misunderstanding and often ignorance.

Barker’s donation touches upon a critical need for increased education. Humane treatment must be taught from an early age. The way Americans currently treat animals tells of the many contradictions that exist within our society. European nations have far surpassed the United States when it comes to the ethical treatment of animals. Already several European Union countries have banned cosmetic testing, and age old traditions such as bull fighting and hound hunting are on the decline.

Whether or not one believes in the values of the Animal Rights Movement, cruelty to animals has further implications. Crimes against animals are most often the precursors to crimes against other humans. According to FBI detective Robert K. Ressler, “Murderers … very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids.” Furthermore, the exploitation of animals in the United States is affecting both our health and our environment. According to PETA, over 400 animals are killed per hour in a typical American slaughterhouse. These animals will never see the light of day before they are slaughtered. The question is why? Whether or not you believe animals should have certain basic rights, the reality is that America cannot afford to continue to exploit and mistreat animals.
Furthermore, factory farming destroys the environment and is a primary contributor to global warming. The green house gases produced by factory farming exceed those of all transportation vehicles in the world combined, according to a 2006 United Nations study. Ethical legislation that mandates more suitable conditions for animals raised for meat is necessary. Such legislation deals with the most elemental needs of any creature. For example, California’s Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty act, passed in November 2008, regulates the confinement of farm animals. Many farm animals in the United States are kept in gestation crates and battery cages without the ability to stand or move for the entirety of their lives. Beyond the clear ethical problems associated with these practices, studies have shown that animals in stressful environments have severely compromised immune systems and thus are at increased risk for illness.

Progress in the ethical treatment of animals has been made, but only through the tenacious efforts of animal rights activists. The persistent mistreatment of animals in the United States lies in the fundamental pitfalls of the American education system. Barker’s Animal Law program should be the stepping stone for similar programs at an undergraduate level. There is no justification for animal cruelty and continued unethical practices. The University should embrace its chance to become a leader in animal rights and should further establish instruction on humane treatment at an undergraduate level.

Last week, Student Council’s Building and Grounds Committee announced that Wilsdorf Café will remain open two hours later from 3 to 5 p.m. This was followed by an extension of the popular West Range Café’s hours from 3 to 9 p.m. Both Aramark and Dining Services have signed off on the initiative, agreeing to a trial run. West Range Café now will operate during these additional six hours Monday through Thursday to gauge demand for it services during the late afternoon and early evening.

Offering “tangible energy, invigorating coffee and delicious, enjoyable comfort food,” Dining Services Marketing Manager Nicole Jackson said, the West Range Café is the paradigm for a nighttime study location. The early closing time dissatisfied many students, and they expressed their distaste to Council. And after the resounding success of Wilsdorf Café’s trial run, all parties involved are optimistic that such changes could become permanent.

As this editorial has suggested in the past, these types of smaller-scale undertakings are commendable because they genuinely resonate with students. It is both an example of Council responding to feedback from Speak Up UVA — an online forum for students to propose and discuss improvements across Grounds — and delivering a benefit from something that took relatively little time.

Also, it is encouraging to see Council making productive use of the period between Winter Break and the University-wide student elections later this month. Historically, Council members have used this time of the year to campaign or formulate long-term plans. As an antithesis to this theory, the Building and Ground’s Committee has broken the mold and is still taking its role seriously and pursuing projects until the end of its term.

This title may seem a tad bizarre, even silly, but it is how I describe myself. Ridiculous as this extended metaphor is, it nevertheless assisted me with my acceptance to the University.

I am a 5-foot-1-and-a-half, Italian girl, who is incredibly proud of her heritage and is a family-oriented fanatic. Coincidentally, one of the most tantalizing Italian dishes is shrimp and spaghetti. In case you’re still completely unaware of where I’m headed: I’m the shrimp, and my friends and family combine to create the sauce, while the noodles are the environment where I now live.

Just follow me here. Each shrimp is cooked in its shell for the tender juices to be soaked up. I have marinated in the sauce of my loving friends and family, and it has shaped me into a tasty young shrimp. For that, I am most lucky and grateful. Without them, there’s no question that I’d be a different, unsavory crustacean.

As I was packing up to return to the wonderful town that is Charlottesville at the end of Winter Break, I came across a scrapbook I made for my English class last year. Beginning to skim through this piece of nostalgia, I re-read surveys my friends had taken, as well as a letter to myself, a letter to my future grandchildren and a timeline of my very young life, among many other artifacts. Thankfully, a spark was ignited. Although it’s a new year, a new semester and a new beginning, I realized that it’s all right to wade through fond memories.

Reminiscing about the good, old days, I pondered the various paths I’ve chosen that have led me to where I am and who I am today. My BFFs have increased in number from a sturdy one to a solid three! My family has encouraged me to just be me and has assured me that everything happens for a reason, despite how awful it may seem at the time. A few of my past teachers have assisted in the molding of my decisions and quite possibly my future career choice. Without my sauce, I don’t know where I’d be. I sure wouldn’t be wearing orange and blue so proudly today. As I hung out with everyone during break, it occurred to me that I had never accorded them much significance in my at-times rickety and bumpy life.

We are all individual shrimp — some are meatballs — that have been thrown into a giant pot filled with a diverse, unique sauce. This may be a new year, a new semester, a chance to reinvent yourself in college, but that doesn’t require abandoning your original family recipe. Adding a few spices or a few shrimp and removing some unpleasant meatballs can be necessary at times — a healthy change. But keeping the original recipe stowed away in that old-school recipe book with its various stains is just as necessary.

I’m not, by any means, encouraging anyone to dwell on the past. Wallowing in unfortunate times can cause depression, or worse — being stuck in the moment of which U2 infamously warns us. Instead of always looking to the future and worrying about what’s next, which classes will stand out on your applications for grad school or which New Year’s resolution you will blow off in February, I’m encouraging you to pause so that you can appreciate what’s happened already and how you got there. After all, it’s vital to happiness.

There may not be any time like the present, and the future may be calling, but the past has already left a voicemail. Fantasizing about where your path will lead you is grand, but glancing back occasionally isn’t bad either. Flipping through that recipe book on a rainy day is worthwhile and delightful. So to all of you shrimp — and meatballs — out there, remember: You’d be nowhere without your old sauce.

Mary’s column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at m.bruno@cavalierdaily.com

The General Assembly soon will consider a budget amendment proposed by former Gov. Tim Kaine that would shift almost $19 million from public universities to the state general fund. This change — which the House and Senate will release to the Assembly for discussion Feb. 21 — would cut the amount of money the University receives from the state by $3.8 million, said Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget.

“For many years, we have benefited from getting the interest on balances that are deposited in the state treasury,” Sheehy said. “The plan now is to keep that interest. If they take that money away, we’re going to pass [the cost] on to students.”

Three areas of the University’s funding would be hit hardest by this amendment, Sheehy said. The first is basic working capital, or “the cash needed to carry operations over the summer months,” she said. Cuts would affect ongoing construction projects, as well, because the University usually finances 100 percent of the costs, she said. Lastly, the amendment would cut funds for general maintenance and repairs on Grounds, she said.

The University’s finance committees have met with legislators to discuss the proposal.

“They understand and don’t like what the governor did,” Sheehy said. “We hope they’ll take action to fix it.”

The proposed cuts were not surprising, said Melody Bianchetto, assistant vice president for budget and financial planning.

“The revenues available to the state are decreasing and there’s no other way to go about finding revenues,” Bianchetto said. “Their alternative is to increase taxes and that’s not very popular.”
The University also will receive stimulus money that will alleviate these cuts until fiscal year 2012, but officials have yet to learn the amount of such funds. “That’s the big question mark,” Bianchetto said.

Overall, cuts are nothing new to the Budget Office, which has been coping with more frequent cuts since 2007, Bianchetto said.

“We’ve been freezing positions, watching our spending, evaluating faculty positions and figuring out where we can tighten the belt without impacting students,” she said.

—Sofia Economopolous contributed to this article.

All the Christmas trees have been taken down and the last of the New Year’s confetti has been swept away. Winter Break has reached its end and been replaced by early-morning walks to class and late-night papers to write. For many first-year students, the start of spring semester is a landmark. Like Chimney Rock on the Oregon Trail, it lets us know we’re almost — OK, more than — halfway finished with our first year of college.

That being said, for first-year students who were hit by trucks, the start of second semester also signals a fresh start — the beginning of a new set of classes that won’t be sullied by nerve pain and endless trips to Student Health. Even before I returned to Grounds, I told myself that this semester would be better. Easier. Definitely less painful.

Nevertheless, once I had moved in again, picked up my textbooks and waited for the first day of classes to come around, I was worried. I felt it was like a one-year anniversary of an accident, even though it was only a one-semester anniversary and the day of the week wasn’t even the same. My fretfulness felt more like superstition than anything — it was unfounded, unnecessary, absurd.

Lightning never strikes twice, and I was hoping the adage would hold true for white GMC pickups.

The morning of the first day, I put on my pearl necklace — the same one that broke during the accident and has been soldered back together. I packed my bag, took a deep breath and walked to chemistry class, checking both ways many, many, many times before I crossed the street. Jaywalkers looked quizzically at me as I waited for the little white walking figure to light up, even though the intersection was clear and there wasn’t a car in sight.

I felt like I held my breath the whole day, or at least while I was in transit: walking to the dining hall, walking to the gym, walking back to my dorm. In the middle of the afternoon, I picked up the severed pedal I kept on my desk and looked at it, spun it once and put it back. I looked at my watch and waited for it to hit 4:23, the time that the police believe I was hit.

My parents had preemptively asked that I call at the end of the day to verify that I was indeed alive and ambulatory. In any other situation, I would have laughed, but in this case, it seemed logical, reasonable. I found myself counting the hours until I’d be safely back in my dorm room — if I could get through the first day unscathed, I knew the rest of the semester would be fine.

Once I was safely ensconced in my dorm room — and had called my parents, who congratulated me on making it through the day without significant injury — I took off the pearl necklace and studied it for a minute. The three black pearls had hit the pavement hard in the accident and they each were scarred with little marks reminiscent of my healing road rash scars. I traced the thin chain, and the barely noticeable bump from the soldering iron made me think of the callus forming over the three healing fractures.

As I tucked the pearls back into their box, I watched how they took the fading sunlight from the window and reflected it back softly, scratches and all. There was hope. The sun would rise tomorrow. My second semester was just beginning, and now that I was healed, there was so much more to do: club meetings to attend, places to go, people to meet. Things are looking up.

Courteny Hartnett’s column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at c.hartnett@cavalierdaily.com.

Fraternity members may suffer from a stigma that they serve run-of-the-mill beer, but Armand Cognetta, a fourth-year College student and Sigma Nu fraternity brother, may challenge that stereotype.

As a matter of fact, this chemistry and biostatistics major brews his own beer on his front porch.

“I’ve been brewing since I was 18,” Cognetta said. ”My dad bought me a brewing kit for Christmas.”

His mother was less pleased with the gift. It was not the underage drinking that concerned her, he said, but rather the fact that the kit “made a mess in the kitchen.”

Even away from home, though, Cognetta could not make a mess — at least, not immediately — given that dormitories and their policies are not exactly conducive to the activity. Once he moved off Grounds during his second year, however, he began to pursue his passion once again.

Cognetta then teamed up with Tucker Moore, a 2009 Engineering School alum and fellow fraternity brother, to create the Jefferson Brewing Society.

The Brewing Society became an official contracted independent organization just more than a year ago but had low membership until this fall. Membership swelled to 65 after tabling at the Fall Activity Fair, Cognetta said. The increase was no doubt aided by the big neon sign sitting on the group’s table that read, “BEER,” he added.

Currently, the club mainly focuses on teaching student members how to brew beer, though it hopes to expand into the larger Charlottesville community in the future.

Cognetta said he eventually wants to give brewery lessons, which he believes would be a popular Christmas present from wives to their husbands.

Though many Brewing Society members are Cognetta’s fellow Sigma Nu brothers, Brewing Society Vice President Eric Bankert said he considers the group fairly diverse and does not think there is a stereotypical person who would join it.

The only common factor Bankert said he would settle on was the obvious common interest in brewing beer and “not just drinking it.”

The Brewing Society has even attracted international students. Third-year College student Sam Beaver became interested in the club because he grew up in Britain, where he was surrounded by a number of small micro-breweries.

“The Brits take a little more pride in their beer,” Beaver said, but he nevertheless came to America without having tried brewing himself.

Bankert said he sees the Jefferson Brewing Society as proof of the motivation of University students.

“I have some friends at other colleges who brew their own beer, but not in a club,” he said. “It says a lot about our school [that if] you’re interested in something, you can do it.”

When the weather is nice outside, Cognetta holds club meetings on his front porch and shows them how to brew a batch of beer, explaining the science along the way.

The club usually picks a store-brand beer upon which to model their brew. At times, they have made beers that tasted better than the models themselves, Cognetta said.

Bankert agreed with Cognetta on the beer quality.

“We’ve made some [beer] better than what we can buy in the store,” he said.

Overall, the club focuses on the science of beer and does not revolve around drinking it, Cognetta added.

“Beer is not just for getting drunk,” he said. “It’s educational.”

In fact, members younger than 21 are not allowed to drink any of the beer they make, meaning that the Brewing Society is not a club created just to get free beer.

For his part, Cognetta takes beer-making so seriously that he explains the process in a way that makes it difficult even for a sober person to follow his deep understanding of the science behind brewing.
Cognetta said he wants to pursue beer-making as a career and that he plans to open a brewery eventually. He looks up to University graduate Charlie Papazian, who he said is a very famous home brewer who also founded the Association of Brewers. Although Cognetta has yet to get in personal contact with Papazian, he has friended him on Facebook and said he hopes to invite him to visit the club in the future.

Larceny — theft from building at 14th Street NW Jan. 28.

Suspicious circumstances at 15th Street NW Jan. 29.

Suspicious circumstances at West Main Street Jan. 31.

Traffic — hit and run at East Market Street Feb. 1.

Traffic — hit and run at Emmet Street Feb. 1.

Larceny — theft from motor vehicle at West Main Street Feb. 1.

Larceny — shoplifting at North Emmet Street Feb. 1.

Drug/narcotic violation at Preston Avenue Feb. 2.

Traffic — hit and run at Emmet Street Feb. 2.

Traffic — hit and run at Preston Avenue Feb. 2.

Courtesy Charlottesville Police Department.