THE TRAVEL guide company Frommer's named Charlottesville as the nation's best place to live, and the CD reported the news rightfully as the leading news story on March 31. Quotations from city officials demonstrated the pride that such an honor instills.
Fast forward to last Thursday's front page of the Cav Daily and the lead headline was of a less joyous sort: "University student reports attempted sexual assault." In the Frommer's survey of communities, Charlottesville rated especially well in the health and health care and economy and jobs sections, but how did it rate in crime?
Sexual crimes in particular seem to be ones that occur disturbingly frequently in the city. There is a serial rapist on the loose, as most in the area know, and his sketched face still is plastered in many spots around Grounds on warning posters.
The News staff alerted readers to Tuesday night's unrelated incident in a well-written piece that answered all of the normal who-what-where-when-how questions. What wasn't mentioned in that piece, but can certainly be done in follow-up reporting, is a number of statistics that could give a fuller picture of sexual crime in the University and, by extension, Charlottesville area. How many sexual crimes are reported each year? How many suspects are apprehended and convicted? What resources do victims have? Why does it seem to be that residents of Charlottesville are more prone to sexual crimes? What are the city and University doing to counteract these problems? These questions are important ones to approach and answer, and more interestingly so on the heels of Frommer's crowning of Charlottesville as the nation's best place to live.
The News staff did an excellent job this week reporting on issues that directly affect the Cav Daily'sreadership, especially in regard to the Sadler Court apartment fire and the University's termination of a contract with Lethal Wrecker Service, one of four private towing companies with which the University dealt.
Last Monday's paper featured a huge photo from the scene of the fire at Sadler Court, which is impressive since it occurred in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Peter Jackson snapped a great picture of the smoking apartments, complete with fire hoses blasting water on the housing. Jason Amirhadji delivered solid reporting, answering all of the important questions, save the cause of the fire, which, as Amirhadji mentioned, was unknown at the time of reporting. Hopefully follow-up articles will give readers a fuller view of what happened so that they can work to ensure that the same doesn't happen to their home.
Thursday's Life section ran a follow-up piece in its Odds & Ends space that discussed the efforts of third-year Sasha Cannon, who organized a charity event to raise funds to assist residents displaced by the fire. Overall, the CD reported on the fire incident in a solid, well-rounded manner. More reporting concerning the cause as well as the problems facing the residents would also be welcome when the information is available.
Wednesday's paper featured an update of sorts from past reporting on Student Council's efforts to answer student concerns about towing rates on University property. Associate editor Corinne Shamy informed readers that the University terminated its contract with Lethal Wrecker Service because the company "failed to meet the requirements set by the University for contracted private towing companies," which meant, essentially, as the article continued, that Lethal and the University differed in their perceptions of what a minimum towing fee should be. The article showed readers how the University can respond to student concern. It may seem a negligible not-as-important below-the-fold piece, but it's a significant development in goings-on that do impact those that park on Grounds. The News staff did a good job following up on an issue that might otherwise have fallen through the cracks.
Lastly, Thursday's front page reported on an arrest of a demonstrator at the Rotunda during a speech by Yang Jiechi, the Chinese ambassador to the United States. The protester in question was a graduate student. Though the article certainly belongs in the paper, one might wonder: Is getting arrested what it takes for grad students to get covered in the CD? There have been a few pieces about graduate students during the past year, but it seems that the CD would better serve its readership by more completely covering the people that make up the University community. Current enrollment numbers on the University's Web site show that there are 19,643 students enrolled, of which 4,616 are grads. Graduate students may seem a bit hidden around Grounds, but they do much more than just serve as TAs for discussion sections and keep their noses in their books. As such, it would be good to see the CD delve into the grad student world a bit more.
Emily Kane can be reached at ombud@cavalierdaily.com.
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