[caption id="attachment_38445" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Early action will allow prospective students to apply by November without committing immediately.
[caption id="attachment_37855" align="alignleft" width="226" caption="Although Congressman Tom Perriello earned nearly 80 percent of the votes in Charlottesville, he fell short of securing a win by a margin of about 9,000 votes.
Board of Visitors Building and Grounds Committee discussed the design and schematics for the thrust-theater addition to the drama building Friday. Totalling 20,500 square feet, the addition will include a 3,000-seat theater, an expanded lobby with additional restrooms, dressing rooms, support spaces and a rooftop terrace. "This plan and project represent the Jeffersonian notion of how landscape and buildings fluidly fit together, in a 21st-century way," University architect David Neuman said at the meeting. The primary focus of the plan is to link the arts buildings physically and create a shared outdoor space for students, staff, faculty and visitors to enjoy, Neuman said, noting that the addition is a pointed attempt to provide space for both informal and formal activity, including both faculty-student interaction and performances. The largest outdoor area can fit 1,000 people in folding chairs, made to accommodate graduation ceremonies.
Gov. Bob McDonnell introduced the Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011 during Tuesday's meeting of the Commission on Higher Education Reform. The legislation presents his mission for Virginia public universities to award 100,000 more degrees during the next 15 years to put "the Commonwealth on the path to a more prosperous future." McDonnell cited research from the University's Cooper Center to demonstrate the economic benefits of the increase in degrees.
[caption id="attachment_36527" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Arnold allegedly harassed one female student on Wertland Street.
[caption id="attachment_36393" align="alignleft" width="256" caption="Colton Tooley, a 19-year-old mathematics major from Austin, Texas, fired several shots with an AK-47 rifle at different points around campus before fatally shooting himself in a library.
The Board of Visitors has approved the final schematic design for additional Newcomb Hall renovations, currently set to begin in June 2011. The renovations will make the plaza in front of Newcomb Hall - which is the first building seen by those visitors who park in the garage on Emmet Street - a more attractive, inviting and efficient space, said Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget. The new design, in keeping with current renovations on the Lawn, more accurately reflects Thomas Jefferson's original style than today's version of the building, which has experienced five additions during its 55-year history, said University architect David Neuman in an address to the Board. The current Newcomb entrance was designed in 1955 by the architectural firm Eggers and Higgins, which also designed the similarly styled entrances of the McCormick Road dormitories.
[caption id="attachment_35747" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Helen Dragas now fills the position intended for Daniel Abramson, who was not reappointed by Gov.
[caption id="attachment_35735" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Changes to make the Rotunda more weather-tight and similar to the original design may begin next summer.
The Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville-based civil liberties nonprofit organization with conservative leanings, sent a letter to the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Country Board of Supervisors condemning the governing bodies for holding "closed, secret meetings on matters of public interest." The letter said the meetings violated Virginia's Freedom of Information Act as well as the constitutional principles of democracy, such as "an informed electorate and maximum transparency of government." Members of the governing bodies met to discuss ways to cut costs by combining services provided by each government. The complicated nature of these issues prompted the closed discussions, Dennis Rooker, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors said, because "the meetings have a greater chance of success if people can speak candidly." He also denied the legal validity of the group's accusations.
