Charlottesville City Council will consider a proposal next Monday for the creation of a new human rights commission to address concerns about fair housing and employment and to potentially enforce a new local anti-discrimination policy.

The proposal came from discussions within the Dialogue on Race, a committee which has been meeting regularly since 2009 to discuss discrimination issues in Charlottesville, said Walt Heinecke, a member of the committee and associate professor of education at the University’s Education School.

The proposed commission will make permanent the work of the Dialogue on Race and try to enforce anti-discrimination laws “primarily on skin color,” Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris said.

Several nonprofit organizations agree there is a need for a commission but have a different vision for what the commission should look like.

“We think there is a real need … to acknowledge that problems around fair housing and [fair employment] exist,” said Joe Szakos, executive director for Virginia Organizing, an activist group which encourages grassroots participation in local issues. He is advocating for a commission which will work on enforcement but primarily focus on education, while looking for patterns in public discrimination.

Among the obstacles the committee could face is its ability to secure funding. For that reason, Heinecke wants to “make the commission the equivalent of the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] or [Department of Housing and Urban Development] in our community,” which may provide some federal funding. Both organizations monitor and enforce federal laws which mandate workplace equality.

Nicholas Inzeo, the director of the Office of Field Programs at the EEOC, said local agencies, which handle about 100 cases per year, may apply to become Fair Employment Practice Agencies and enter into a contract with the EEOC to enforce employment discrimination laws in their locality.

“If the City of Charlottesville were to enact an ordinance which prohibits employment discrimination” and create an enforcement commission, “EEOC could recognize that entity as a [Fair Employment Practice Agency],” Inzeo said. “It can become a relationship where there is a contract in a short time,” but that is not always the case, since consultations with state and county officials are necessary.

Charlottesville would not be reinventing the wheel, since there are already nearly 90 such agencies across the country, including ones for the city of Alexandria and the commonwealth of Virginia, which has jurisdiction in Charlottesville, Inzeo said.

Since most fair housing and employment discrimination laws are already enforced by the federal government, some have questioned whether the commission’s enforcement work under the current proposal would be necessary.

“There are laws on the books and there are mechanisms for enforcing those laws,” Norris said. “I’m more of the mind to say, ‘Let’s not get too far into the enforcement side’ [without knowing the effectiveness of current mechanisms].”

Heinecke said the members of the Dialogue on Race had already conducted this type of background research.

“We met with the NAACP, we met with Virginia Organizing [and other agencies doing this work],” Heinecke said. “They all told us the current structure they are working under is inadequate.”

Szakos said a local commission would be better able to handle the issue of housing and employment discrimination in Charlottesville.

“The closer you get to the problem, the better the solution,” he said.

The federal law enforced by the EEOC, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, calls for the creation of local entities to cooperate with the EEOC, Inzeo said.

Council members expressed concern about finding $300,000 in funding requested to hire staff for the proposed commission. Council member Kristin Szakos, the wife of Joe Szakos, noted tough fiscal times would make it hard to come up with the money.

“I am wholeheartedly for this thing,” she said, but “I can’t personally find what we [could] cut that is $300,000.” Despite financial constraints, “I will certainly advocate for some money [to be appropriated].”

Norris reflected similar sentiments about the difficulty of finding funds.

Heinecke responded by saying equality should be a top priority for Council, despite budget constraints.

“If it’s important enough to them, they’ll find the money,” he said.

Heinecke said one “compromise position” offered was to phase in the project gradually, while approving the anti-discrimination ordinance and the creation of the commission now.

Kristin Szakos said another alternative might be creating a fund “to hire an investigator when you need one,” although Council has made no official decision and Council members have yet to discuss the matter in depth.

Guillaume Scheurer, Switzerland’s deputy chief of mission and head of political and legal affairs, delivered a speech in the Dome Room yesterday evening focusing on his nation’s role as a representative of U.S. interests in Iran. Photo by Thomas Bynum

Guillaume Scheurer, Switzerland’s deputy chief of mission and head of political and legal affairs, addressed students and Charlottesville residents in the Rotunda Dome Room last night to discuss the intermediary role Switzerland plays in foreign relations between the United States and Iran.

“We [have been the] … ears and eyes of Iran to the U.S. for the last 31 years,” Scheurer said.

Although Switzerland is politically neutral, it has represented  U.S. interests in Tehran since 1980.

“Today, Iran has 14 neighbors, and no friends,” Scheurer said. “By looking at the neighbors, we see that they are difficult neighbors because they’re not democratic all the time. My assessment [of Iran] is that … after the Arab Spring, it is even more isolated.”

This isolation can pose a threat to scientific development. Iran has been responsible for significant advances in technology, some of which are used for good, but sometimes they can be used for the “not-so-good,” Scheurer said.

In addition, the nation’s young population — whose average age is below 30 — has been faced with recent economic instability.

“With a growing population, there are growing problems. Unemployment is really high … especially in the younger generations,” Scheurer said. “Unemployment is sky-rocketing … forcing a lot of people in younger generations to emigrate.”

The younger generations typically emigrate to the United States, Europe and Australia in search of jobs and more opportunities. The fact that most are willing to emigrate to the United States suggests that the Iranian people are pro-American, despite what their government leads the world to believe, Scheurer said.

“There is an interesting contrast between the government, which is very anti-American, and the people, who are very pro-American,” he said.

In an effort to mend relations between the Iranian and U.S. governments, the Swiss Protecting Power Mandate was enacted through an agreement between the United States and Switzerland. The mandate allows both the United States and Iranian governments to communicate with one another through Switzerland.

Essentially, all questions and answers from both Iran and the United States go through Switzerland, Scheurer said. “It’s not always easy because we also have to be Switzerland,” he said. “To be seen as neutral, we cannot always please both sides.”

The event was part of the Ambassadors’ Speaker’s Forum and was sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Programs and the Center for International Studies.

Four University Law students and Law Prof. Anne Coughlin are working on a project to help women gain the right to participate in military combat. Photo courtesy University Relations

Four University Law students and Law Prof. Anne Coughlin have started a project to fight for women’s rights to serve in combat roles in the military. The initiative was started earlier this semester to call attention to the perceived institutional inequality in the military.

Law student Ariel Linet, one of the participants in the project, said the team formed after several of the students took Coughlin’s “Law and Public Service” course.

“It really came from Prof. Coughlin,” Linet said. “She’s been teaching about the equal rights movement for women for many years, so it has come up sort of naturally for her.”

The initiative, dubbed the Molly Pitcher Project, is named after Molly Pitcher, the woman who is said to have taken over loading and firing cannons on British forces in the American Revolutionary War once her husband fell during combat.

Law student Kyle Mallinak, another participant in the project, explained that the Pentagon has the ability to change the policy barring women from combat roles. Until 1994, a congressional statute prohibited women from serving in certain military capacities. In the early 1990s, the legislation came under review, and lawmakers began to seek alternative policies to address the issue of women in combat.

The statute was ultimately removed and it was replaced by an “internal Pentagon policy that also excludes women from high risk assignments that we would generally label combat roles,” Mallinak said.

Mallinak explained that the group will only resort to litigation if necessary.

“We’d like to see the policy changed,” he said. “If we have the opportunity to talk to officials at the Pentagon and get them to remove the categorical bar on their own … there’d be no need for litigation. On the other hand, we know that we’re dealing with the Pentagon … where the pace of change is measured very, very slowly.”

To that end, the group has retained the counsel of attorney Tally Parham, a female graduate of the Virginia Law Class of 1996 and a former U.S. Air Force Major and F-16 Pilot who was engaged in combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The group knows that opening the door for women to engage in combat could face stiff opposition, but Linet dismissed those worries as ill-founded.

The concerns include “everything from women can’t handle combat emotionally, women can’t handle combat physically, … it would destroy morale,” she said. Linet said the logic behind keeping women out of combat is outdated, however, adding that the group has spoken with women who have served in the military alongside men without disrupting unit cohesion.

The project aims to preserve individual dignity and is not focused on diversity, Mallinak said.

“It’s not based on the belief that we need a more diverse population in our units,” he said. “You should not be defined by your gender. No critical standard should be lowered for women. We don’t want exceptions or special treatment,”

Linet believes women are perfectly capable of serving in combat.

“Let them try,” she said. “Open the combat test to women and take anybody who is qualified regardless of gender.”

Fourth-year Engineering student Jonathan Hukari was found dead in his Charlottesville apartment last Thursday. The cause of death is unknown and funeral arrangements are currently incomplete, Dean of Students Allen Groves said in a letter. Hukari is survived by his parents, William and Karen Hukari.

—compiled by Caroline Houck

About 1.2 million Americans were infected with HIV in 2008 — a number which grows by 50,000 each year, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. As this number increases, University students take steps every year to show their support for those living with the disease and to commemorate those who have died from it.

This year, students will observe HIV/AIDS Awareness Week with a series of events designed to spotlight the unique nature of the disease. The week begins Dec. 1 — World AIDS Day — and extends through Dec. 7, featuring a selection of informative films, a free HIV testing session on Grounds and a candlelight vigil for those affected by the illness.

The University’s commitment to HIV/AIDS education extends beyond HIV/AIDS Awareness Week, however. Every year, Asst. Nursing Prof. Reba Childress teaches “HIV/AIDS: A Personal and Social Perspective,” a course in the Nursing School, to educate students about the ramifications, injustices and experiences of the virus. Childress said the course was originally developed as an elective in the Nursing School to provide students with the opportunity to learn about HIV and AIDS. However, Childress said, “The course is not limited to health care professionals. We have individuals from all schools here to take the course. There are a variety of degrees and people who are interested in learning more about what HIV is and how they protect themselves as well as help others who have to manage HIV and AIDS”

Fourth-year College student Seana Hedayatnia said he enrolled in the course after researching the disease during the summer. His prior research only focused on the scientific aspects of the disease, and Childress’ course gave him the opportunity to look at the personal side he had yet to study. Hedayatnia said the class learned about the virus and how it causes AIDS, but as the semester progressed, the students stepped away from the biology and explored how the disease affects individuals.

The course features many guest speakers who offer their perspectives on the disease, including a Nursing School graduate working with a group which provides support for children in Africa, social workers and people living with AIDS in the Charlottesville community.

“We see the domestic side, people living with AIDS in Charlottesville, and how one person is helping people across the world and how that experience differs,” Hedayatnia said. “Over there [in Africa], there’s a lot of stigma against people affected by HIV.”

For many students, hearing these first-hand accounts is an eye opening experience.

“One of the most startling things I’ve come to realize is that a great number of people don’t know they have HIV,” Hedayatnia said. “People don’t know it and they continue to spread it, without getting tested.”

Students in the class give their time to help prepare HIV/AIDS awareness events every year and many also choose to volunteer for the Charlottesville’s AIDS Service Group, providing rides for patients to their appointments. Childress said a number of students from past classes remain involved even after completing the course and take what they have learned out into the community.

“This class allows students to become advocates, which is major,” she said.  “I think it helps them become more aware and become advocates for those who are dealing with HIV/AIDS and try to help prevent it.”

Childress has been instrumental in creating awareness events for the University community and the commonwealth. She, along with her students, encouraged University officials to declare November as HIV/AIDS Awareness Month at the University. In addition, Gov. Bob McDonnell declared Dec. 1-7 HIV/AIDS Awareness Week for the commonwealth of Virginia, following a request from President Teresa A. Sullivan on behalf of Childress and her class.

To mark these times at the University, the class has organized an HIV/AIDS awareness vigil, which will be held Dec. 1 at 3:30 p.m. on the north side of the Rotunda.

Hillary Barry, a peer health education coordinator for Student Health, said the most important part of prevention and awareness is getting tested. She noted that the CDC estimates that one out of five people with HIV do not know that they have it.

“[HIV/AIDS] hasn’t gotten a lot of attention lately, even though it continues to be a very pervasive epidemic, especially around the world,” Hedayatnia said. “Regardless of what you might hear on the news, that it’s a manageable disease and people can take drugs for it, it’s really not. People suffer from a lot of side effects, its something people should be concerned about. We’re focused on educating people.”

I walked into my sister’s bedroom the other day and found her laying down, arms wrapped around her upper body, hands tapping against her shoulders. Back and forth, left then right, they tapped out a quiet rhythm. I interrupted what could only have been a meditative state with “What the hell are you doing?” She sat up and flipped her hair back, looking at me as if I’d asked an obvious question. “Connecting my emotional and rational brain,” she answered. I nodded, because I understood. I immediately sensed that hugging yourself and giving your moments of panic and fear a back and forth, left and right direction could calm you down. And if sissy said her tapping hands connected parts of her brain, then I wasn’t going to argue with her. I sat down on the bed and tapped my fingers against opposite sides of my head, seeking the solace my sister convinced me existed.

Sometimes I do argue with my sister. Sometimes she cannot convince me that what she knows is true. For example, she’ll look at me and say, “You know I’m prettier.” Dead pan and straight-faced she plays the arrogant, self-absorbed younger sister role so well that I’m usually laughing too hard to respond with an equally biting phrase. Despite my failed comeback, I inform her that I am unconvinced of her argument. And despite our constant joking, at times we find ourselves actually fighting, engaged in vicious word battles.

These battles started when my younger sister started doing things and trying things and thinking things before I did. Even when she liked guacamole before I’d had a chance to warm up to it I told her, completely seriously, “You can’t do that.” When she asked why, I only had one answer: “Because I’m supposed to do it first.” As we’ve grown up we’ve had more and more opportunities to be different, to do things differently. I find myself saying “you can’t do that,” and justifying it with “because I never would.”

Which brings me back to that day, sitting on the end of the bed, “tapping it out.” I sat there partly because I wanted to see if the stuff your therapist says actually works — it does — and partly because I wanted to connect with my sister. I thought that maybe if we tapped in sync, all those firsts she had could become mine as well. I thought that maybe our differences and our angry words could go left, then right, then disappear forever. I worry of course about myself and about all the things which affect me: my grades, my dirty room, my diet and exercise routine. Mine, mine, mine. But I worry most of all about what can still be ours, as we grow older and more solidly individual.

There’s a kind of pressure to reflect in the waning days of a particular year. My sister would tell you that this makes her nervous. She and I cannot watch certain movies or TV shows because they make us nervous. We don’t like to grocery shop, enter malls or shop in general for this very reason. We’ve probably needed serious therapy sessions since the age of 5. We’re so similar in our peculiarities. And yet, I’ll break away for a second to reflect on that day when we sat on her bed, on that night when we yelled and yelled then curled up together to feel safe, on those moments when no one else knew what we could possibly mean. I’ll break away from my sister and do one of the many things on her publicly posted “hate list.” And she’ll break away from me to do something fun, exhilarating and irresponsible that I would never do.

My sister’s sitting next to me right now, telling me that she would like to apologize. “For what?” I ask, complying with what I know will be a joke. “How long and beautiful my hair is,” she says as straight-faced as ever, flipping her long strands in my face then twirling her chair around until she’s again facing the book in front of her. I would like to apologize, I think, for not sitting on the bed next to my sister as often as I should. I would like to apologize for having a boyfriend when she doesn’t, for yelling at her when I shouldn’t, for thinking about my future before I think about ours. Instead I kick my shoes off and place them on her notebook and we look at ourselves in the reflexive glass windows and laugh.

“The future!” everyone cries when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, when final grades are submitted, when graduation caps fill the air. It is implied that my future is my sister’s. Which is why when she asked me what my final column would be about I decided not to create something new, but to re-write something I knew so well.

A boy we’d never met looked at us this weekend and said: “Identical twins. That’s very cool.” We didn’t get each other’s names but his words rang in my ears and I found my own voice echoing them: “A sister. That’s very cool.” If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering, “What the hell is an identical twin?” I guess she’s someone who, if you complement her motions, will lean left then right, back then forth, balancing your existence. She’s worth reflecting on even if looking back and thinking forward makes her close her eyes and plug her ears. I guess she’s worthy of a final column in the waning days of a particular year.

Connelly’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at c.hardaway@cavalierdaily.com.

This week my third Thanksgiving Break at the University came to a close. Although I was not treated to my mother’s cooking or embarrassing family stories, I did fulfill at least one standard school holiday expectation: I got a miraculous nine hours of sleep a night — unheard of since I came to college. It did take changing time zones to accomplish this, however, so I don’t know how many accolades are due here.

During the break, my teammates and I traveled to the gorgeous and tropical Honolulu, Hawaii for a three-game tournament. You know what people say about the journey being the destination? Outside of spiritual matters, let me tell you, this is not true. At the start of the trip we were giddy, unaware of what was ahead of us.

After a two-and-a-half hour drive to Dulles, we stayed overnight at a hotel. Then the dreaded alarm buzzer went off six hours later and we loaded up on the bus to catch our 6 a.m. flight. This one was brief, only four hours to Denver. Then came the real kicker, the seven-hour nonstop to Honolulu. I can’t lie; this was my first time being in a small space for seven straight hours since elementary school. Being a foot taller than the average woman and sitting in a crammed seat conjured memories of those school days, when classmates affectionately called me “Green Giant” and “That Huge Girl,” or my personal favorite — “She’s Coming, Run Or She’ll Stomp On You!” Yes, those were the days. You can imagine my joy at being forced into such seating arrangements.

But, all is well that ends well, and soon the plane touched down in Honolulu. It was exactly as the Travel Channel described it. Warm, green and — dare I say — luscious. Sadly, we did not get “lei’d”; That experience was saved for tour groups, and try as we did to lean down and get a flower garland put around our necks, they seemed to know we were not with the tourists. The matching sweatsuits probably gave us away.

The hotel we stayed in was beautiful and right by the beach. After a brief practice following deplaning, we all discussed the walks we were going to take along the sandy shores and the pictures for which we would pose between the palm trees. But somehow, I walked into my room at 8 p.m. that night, blinked, and it was 5 a.m. the next morning. Hello, jet lag. For the rest of the week we made grand plans post-practice or game, but I continued to find myself falling asleep well before 10 p.m. Once I sat down to untie my shoes and bam! The next thing I knew, I was up before sunrise. The benefits were twofold. If I so chose, which I often did, I could sleep four more hours and wake up feeling like a spring chicken at 9 a.m. — probably the last time I would feel rested until Winter Break.

One morning, I did leave my bed early enough to witness a penguin feeding. But being the oldest person there without a child by my side, I felt creepy and quickly left. It’s the thought that counts.
Overall, Hawaii was everything it is chalked up to be. Business trip though it may have been, it was still Hawaii. I got to spend at least an hour of my break in a bathing suit, and who isn’t thankful for that?

Simone’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at s.egwu@cavalierdaily.com.

For an ordinary college kid, going home for Thanksgiving Break presents opportunities for family bonding, face-stuffing, Black Friday shopping and coming up with absurd justifications as to why homework does not exist at “home home.” For those like me, who even in my third year cannot figure out when to go grocery shopping and must occasionally call my mother about washing machine protocol, Thanksgiving Break is so much more: that haircut you didn’t get even though your split ends are more divided than the preteens of teams Edward and Jacob, that book you never bought for class but need now because it will definitely be on the final. Hello, Thanksgiving Break and parental money! This year, my designated “errand I easily could have done at school” was a trip to the doctor’s office.

For the last month before break, I had some sort of sinus infection. So, for all of those people who thought my coughing in the library was going to contaminate them with swine flu, I was not contagious — I will be accepting apologies for your paralyzing glares until the end of the semester. When I would call my parents while miserable with headaches, they offered little sympathy and a one-line retort: go to Student Health. The thing is, going to Student Health would have been far more dangerous and uncomfortable than simply coping. I would have contracted every strain of the flu in the moments before putting on the one and only SARS mask.

Anyway, I managed to snag an appointment for 4:45 the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Needless to say, everyone else made appointments on the same day, so, I was waiting in the waiting room for two hours. I never knew what the connection between waiting rooms and fish tanks were before this experience, but let me tell you, those little guys provided a small dose of sanity in an otherwise lifeless environment. I may or may not have named the fish and written them into the script of “Finding Nemo.” Desperate times call for desperate measures when the most enticing magazine is Bowhunt America from July 2009.

One of the reasons for the miserable waiting room experience was my recent switch from my pediatrician to a “real” doctor. The time was right, but I never realized how much I would miss watching “101 Dalmatians” without sound and browsing “Highlights,” knowing that if I needed a shot I would at least get to choose between a “Hello Kitty” and “Ninja Turtles” band-aid.

Instead of crying babies, I had to deal with snoring adults. It was raining outside, but I did not need this man’s thunderous snores to bring the weather inside. His younger companion — I went back and forth deciding if she was a mail-order bride or his daughter — only woke him up the first hundred times. In his rare moments of consciousness, he decided to play with his cell phone. I am not sure if he was trying to choose a new alarm ringtone or if he was watching a stream of NASCAR racing, but either way, I began to welcome the snores. I understand anxiety levels are potentially high while waiting to see any doctor, but since when is jolting the entire room with spontaneous bursts of “Ring Tone Number Five” a coping mechanism?

When the nurse finally called me in, I almost forgot why I was there in the first place. Student Health and its contagion-filled premises looked swell compared to my new surroundings — fish friends included. After the nurse measured my blood pressure, she remarked, “Ah, youth. I love it.” Luckily, as she noted, I am young and in good health. This, I have learned, is never made more apparent than while in a waiting room with more walkers and hearing aids than people. My parents were right as always: I should have gone to Student Health.

I always thought middle school was the awkward in-between, but recent experiences like these make me wonder if college actually takes the unflattering — but certainly fattening — proverbial cake. We cannot go to a pediatrician because we are more like the parents than the kids, but it is awkward going to an adult doctor because if we walk in with a pulse, everyone applauds. I would probably still choose this doctor instead of Student Health, but at least now I know to bring the latest issue of Cosmopolitan. Then again, the raunchy cover page might just give someone a heart attack.

Elizabeth’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at e.stonehill@cavalierdaily.com.

Against coach Tony Bennett’s alma mater, Green Bay, sophomore guard KT Harrell contributed a season-high 14 points off the bench for the Cavaliers with a 5-for-8 shooting performance from the field. Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics

The Virginia men’s basketball team looks to build on its three-game winning streak tonight at John Paul Jones Arena when the squad takes the court against No. 14 Michigan as part of the 13th annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

Last week against Green Bay, Virginia coach Tony Bennett’s alma mater, the Cavaliers (5-1) won 68-42, shooting a stellar 51.1 percent from the field and never allowing the Phoenix to come within 10 points. The contest marked Bennett’s first time coaching against his former school, where he remains the all-time leading scorer.

Senior forward Mike Scott recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore guard KT Harrell came off the bench for the first time this season to add a season-high 14 points.

“It’s just the ability to play and be ready when you’re called upon,” Bennett said. “[Harrell] did a good job coming off [the bench]. A lot of our guys have been out of sync offensively the past few games. It’s nice to have a little bit of a scoring punch like KT coming off the bench.”

Bennett did not indicate whether Harrell will continue to come off the bench or be reinserted into the starting lineup during the Cavaliers’ matchup against the Wolverines (5-1), but he still expects the sophomore to be a significant contributor in any role for the team.

“We’ve got five guys … to play those three perimeter spots, and they’re all going to have their opportunities,” Bennett said. “Sometimes it’s going to be KT, sometimes it’s going to be someone else. I’ll let them compete and put the right guys out there, but they’re all going to play.”

Although Virginia and Michigan boast identical records, the Cavaliers have not played a ranked team this season, while the Wolverines defeated No. 8 Memphis and dropped a close contest with No. 6 Duke in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational last week. After succumbing to the Blue Devils, Michigan went on to defeat UCLA and place third in the prestigious tournament.

“They’ve been one of the top 25 teams in the country,” junior guard Jontel Evans said. “They’ve been playing some great ball. We watched them in Maui. We’re just looking forward to the challenge.”

Last year, the Cavaliers kicked off the Big Ten-ACC Challenge with an upset win on the road against then-No. 13 Minnesota, although the Big Ten came back to win the challenge by a 6-5 margin — its second consecutive victory in the series. Virginia boasts a 6-5 record in the series since its inception, while Michigan is 4-6.

The Cavaliers are 1-2 all-time against the Wolverines, and the two squads have not faced each other since the 1989 NCAA Tournament, which Michigan went on to win after easily dispatching Virginia 102-65 in the Elite Eight.

For tonight’s game, Bennett will be keeping close tabs on senior guard Sammy Zeglinski, whose nagging ankle injury sidelined him for Virginia’s first two games. In limited playing time, Zeglinski is averaging only 5 points and 0.8 assists per game this season.

“I don’t know the status of Sammy and that’s really discouraging,” Bennett said. “Down in the Virgin Islands he played, but he was laboring. He was 75 percent maybe, but he struggled to move. I still don’t think he’s 100 percent though. Then the injury happened. Hopefully we’ll find out soon, but I know the X-rays were negative, so that’s good.”

Zeglinski’s presence keeps the Cavaliers steady on defense. He averages 1.8 steals per game and contributes heavily to Virginia’s stifling defense which has allowed a mere 45.3 points per game.

If Zeglinski is unable to play, the Cavaliers may have difficulty containing Michigan’s sophomore guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who leads the Wolverines with 17.2 points per game and shoots a remarkable 49.3 percent from the field. Hardaway Jr. is the son of legendary NBA point guard Tim Hardaway.

“You have to be so good defensively,” Bennett said. “Certainly we need to be healthy and we’ll need to play at a high level, but our system is geared to play good teams and we’re going to give everything we’ve got.”