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(01/22/10 8:57am)
While many students were ringing in the New Year or catching up on sleep during Winter Break, a group of dedicated University students traveled to Honduras to aid rural villages in Los Pajarillos. From Jan. 4 to Jan. 10, these students - members of the University's Global Brigades - worked to further the organization's primary initiative of providing health and economic solutions in developing communities.
(11/03/09 7:17am)
Usually, church bells last less than a minute, but the morning of Oct. 25, the bells lasted much longer than usual when St. Paul's Memorial Episcopal Church rang its bell 350 times to sound an alarm for the climate change crisis.
(10/28/09 4:21am)
Looking up at the night sky, one can see a plethora of stars scattered above Charlottesville. While adding to the sky's visible splendor, this vast sky also raises curious questions, such as how certain stars and planets were born or when galaxies were formed in the early universe. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the headquarters for which are located on Grounds, provides radio telescope facilities to the scientific community in hopes of exploring these very questions.
(10/20/09 4:57am)
Middle school students are notorious for their short attention spans, especially in the classroom. The University's Curry Center for Technology and Teacher Education collaborated with the Smithsonian Museum to develop a new educational tool, launched Sept. 1, to combat this age-old problem.
(10/19/09 5:59am)
Nearly 200 students try out for the University Guide Service each September, but only 25 receive invitations to join the organization. Each vying for a place in one of the most selective groups on Grounds, prospective U-Guides must complete a highly competitive tryout process.
(10/16/09 4:56am)
When University ROTC students wear their military uniforms around Grounds, they stand out from the crowd of other students in jeans and T-shirts. In their pressed pants and freshly shined shoes, one might be inclined to think their lives are vastly different from the average University student. In reality, though, these ROTC students experience a fairly normal college life.
(09/11/09 6:23am)
About a month ago, Daman Irby witnessed the most spectacular sight he has ever seen: the Kandy Esala Perahera, an annual Sri Lankan festival with a parade two and a half hours long.\n"There were 65 dressed elephants marching through the town," Irby recalled. "The parade was lit by torchlight and there were very exotic costumes. It was something out of 'Indiana Jones.'"
(08/28/09 6:34am)
Since its creation in 1787, the U.S. Constitution has been the subject of much praise for the way it lays the foundations of the U.S. government. Despite its many virtues, however, there has always been concern about how to properly interpret this document. A 2008 documentary "Questioning the Constitution," which was produced by the Center for Politics and the Community Idea Stations, explores the debate about interpreting the Constitution, looking in particular at issues of constitutional reform. Shortly after the end of the spring semester, the documentary won the prestigious Award of Excellence, the highest distinction given annually by the International Academy of Visual Arts.\nThe film seeks to educate citizens about the controversies surrounding constitutional reform and to generate interest in the Constitution.\n"The documentary ponders the power of the executive branch, the power of the states and the judicial branch's role," said Bruce A. Vlk, Center for Politics deputy director of programs.\nVlk said Politics Prof. Larry Sabato's book, "A More Perfect Constitution," was the initial inspiration for the documentary. Published in 2007, the book is a collection of 23 proposals to improve the Constitution. Sabato argues that political stagnation will continue unless the Constitution is amended to rid it of outmoded provisions and to reconnect citizens to the political process.\nThe one-hour documentary was directed by Mason Mills of the Community Idea Stations. In the film, Mills conducts interviews with historians and political leaders including Sabato, former Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole, D-Kan., NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and ACLU President Nadine Strossen. Mills combines these interviews with archival material to create a comprehensive picture of the Constitution as it exists and functions today.\nMills noted that one of the film's strongest messages is how the Constitution applies to our lives and in our society.\n"We have this story in the film in which Martin Luther King talks about using the Constitution," he said. "The Constitution was used by Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement to really make a difference."\nSeveral scholars have noted that there is much about the Constitution that merits admiration and praise. Law and Public Affairs Prof. A.E. Dick Howard observed how the Constitution puts into place enduring principles, such as limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances and federalism, which have all stood the test of time. He also said he regards the framers' wisdoms in creating the Constitution as commendable.\n"The Constitution was drafted by men who understood human nature, who drew deeply on the teachings of history, who believed in government's having a popular basis, but who wanted to guard against uses of power in ways that would infringe personal liberties," Howard said. "Especially was this true of James Madison, who tempered his optimism for the future of American government with a realization that men are not, as he put it, 'angels.'"\nNevertheless, there remains a great deal of debate about its interpretation. The language of the Constitution could have a different interpretation today than it did Sept. 17, 1787, the day of its creation, Vlk said. For example, Vlk said, the preamble's, "We the People," originally referred to male property owners, but this phrase has evolved to include all people.\nHoward noted that one of the great battles about constitutional interpretation is between those who look to "originalism," such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and those who believe in a "living Constitution," such as the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Originalism holds that the Constitution should be interpreted literally, as opposed to the viewpoint that the Constitution is a "living document" that should be flexible and adaptable to present times.\nWhether the Constitution should be reformed is a complicated matter, as evidenced by the controversial arguments for and against constitutional reform. One of the arguments against constitutional change is that the creation of the Constitution was a comprehensive process, Vlk said. There is a danger that the issues of the particular moment would overly influence the Constitutional Convention.\nHoward added that it is important for citizens to consider whether there are ways in which the Constitution does not respond to the needs of American society.\n"For all their insights, the founders realized that the Constitution they wrote was an experiment," he said.\nBecause of this, constitutional reform remains relevant to issues that are dominating the news today. Vlk noted such examples as the presidential war powers, the native-birth requirement for presidential candidates, the federal deficit and the Electoral College.\n"These topics are relevant because either the Constitution does not fully address them or many see room for improvement," Vlk said.\n"Questioning the Constitution" explores these concerns in visually stimulating and intellectually accessible manner.\n"The Center for Politics always aims to educate the masses, not just the academia," Vlk said.
(01/23/09 6:32am)
In New Cabell Hall Thursday evenings, the sharp clatter of shoes on tile and the gentle brush of cloth on cloth carry through the empty halls. The source of these rhythms: Celtic dancers.The Celtic Dance Society is a newly contracted independent organization at the University devoted to the traditional dance of Ireland and Scotland. “Most people are beginners, just looking for something new,” said Celtic Dance Society President Katie Thompson, a second-year College student. “They decide to branch out and take a chance.”Because the club is new and small, there is not yet a fixed location for members to meet this semester, Thompson said. Members generally assemble in a classroom in New Cabell Hall, where they move desks to create space. The meetings begin with a video, often from YouTube, illustrating the steps the club will learn that day.Thompson then teaches the dance steps to the members in greater detail. The Irish tradition of Celtic dance consists of keeping arms tight by one’s side and moving one’s legs, while dancers of the Scottish tradition allow their arms to be more flexible. Thompson said she teaches at a pace that she feels everyone can pick up easily. After the club members learn and practice the dance, they move on to a different dance.Irish dancing is often associated with bouncing, curly wigs and bright, sequined costumes with short skirts. The club has not adopted this costume, however, opting to don white blouses, kilts and green sashes in performances. Thompson said this costume copies the style of traditional Irish peasant dress from the early 1800s, while the sequins and curly wigs are a relatively recent — not to mention expensive — fixture.Thompson originally learned about Celtic dancing in her Texas hometown. The professors at a nearby college had formed a group for Celtic dancing and invited anyone to join. Although the group consisted mainly of professors and college students, Thompson decided to join and immediately fell in love with the dance.“Some people paint, some people write, and I dance,” Thompson said. “It’s a way to express myself. So I decided to create this club in order to help me to express my feelings and to just have fun dancing. I felt that in forming this club, I could help others to express themselves.” Third-year College student Katie Henderson is an Irish exchange student who comes from a family of Irish dancers. The Celtic Dance Society gives her a pleasant reminder of home, she said.“It feels like I’m a little bit more tied to home, which is great,” Henderson said.Henderson’s mother traveled from Ireland to the University in October, and Henderson decided to bring her mother along for a club meeting. Her mother used to Irish dance when she was a young girl, but she had not danced for 40 years. At the club meeting, they all danced together.“She was giving me a hard time because dancing can be pretty vigorous, so she was teasing me,” Thompson said.Learning the steps to Celtic dances can prove challenging and can provide students with a good workout, Henderson said, adding that it takes a little more out of them than one would expect.Second-year College student Nishina Nambiar is a member of the Celtic Dance Society who does not have a previous background with Irish and Scottish dancing. Nambiar said she loved dancing but knew nearly nothing about Irish and Scottish dancing. Though excited to learn the dance moves, she found it challenging at first.“My first perception of Celtic dancing was that it was quite difficult,” Nambiar said. “I knew it was going to be a little hard because it’s something that’s new to me. It was a lot of fun, but hard ... That was kind of how it was like the first time I tried to dance.”Despite the difficulty of learning a new dance, members agree it is well worth the effort.“It’s something that a lot of people seem interested in learning,” Henderson said. “Katie [Thompson] went to Ireland for [January Term]. Her professors and her whole group asked her to teach them some Irish dancing. She did and they loved it. We got the same flight from Dublin to America, and they told me how much they enjoyed Katie teaching them steps.”Another benefit of the club is simply meeting new people and bonding. Nearly everyone in the club ran the Fourth-Year 5k together, Thompson said. She appreciates that club members are interacting outside of dancing, she said, because she feels this strengthens the relationships among club members.Thompson’s expectations for the club include increasing membership and further publicizing the club. She added that she would like to participate with other clubs and occasionally participate in cultural events.“I would eventually like to get the club to a size where we can start having mini festivals once a semester,” Thompson said. “We could encourage the rest of the campus to join in and celebrate their roots, if they have Irish or Scottish roots. If they don’t have Irish-Scottish roots, they can learn more about the culture if they’re interested.”It seems that the informal atmosphere of the club contributes to its success.“It’s not like a class where there is that boundary that you can’t cross between teacher and student,” Thompson said. “It’s not a structured dance class. It’s a social atmosphere. Sometimes, we sit around, talk, goof off and dance. It’s a lot of fun.”
(10/23/08 4:53am)
The International Residential College is not only a dormitory and community, but a ticket into certain classes. IRC-specific classes allow students living in this residential college the opportunity to explore communities, both local and abroad.IRC Director of Studies Marga Odahowski said one of the missions of all the residential colleges is to have academic class offerings. IRC Principal Brad Brown said the residential colleges, including the IRC, were designed by the Provost Office to be their own small communities.“The IRC is for international and American students who want to live in a community where they can have a global perspective,” Odahowski said. “It is for students who want to broaden their perspective, not only intellectually, but also in an experiential way.”One way the IRC tries to help residents to broaden their horizons is through providing classes like the current fall semester course, INST 276, “Find Your Place in the World.” Brown said the class encourages students to interact more with the Charlottesville area and the local community. The class has a strong emphasis on helping the local food movement and on ways to support sustainable methods of production; the course includes field trips to local farms and nature walks through various areas to see the local community.Odahowski said the class provides students with a new outlook on how to see themselves and their place in the world.“The class is about our interconnectedness and how the choices we make affect each other as well as the world,” she said. “One of the goals of the IRC is to have programs that promote a global living-learning experience.”She noted that this goal ties into the local food movement. “Local food is healthy for us, but it also affects us in a bigger societal way,” she said. Odahowski noted that buying local food is part of supporting local farmers and getting to know one’s neighbors.Zhenhua Lai, second-year College student currently taking “Find Your Place in the World,” said students in the class learn about being global citizens by studying issues that are important for people to know as citizens of the world. She noted that taking the class balances one’s schedule because while students may take classes for the grade or credit, the IRC classes are to help supplement your life.“The class really puts things into perspective,” she said. “Because this class is on Friday, it’s right at the end of the week after being stressed out by grades and papers, so it’s a great way to kick back, relax and have a larger perspective on what’s going on in the world,” Lai said.Besides the ongoing course, the IRC also offers classes in the spring. These involve an application process, however, and include fewer students, usually ranging from five to six. Students in the IRC’s spring classes travel to another country during Spring Break in addition to attending two-hour classes.Brown said the classes involve the IRC’s theme of internationalism and additionally work to establish a sense of a local community in a foreign country.“What’s unique about travel-learn classes are that we try to get to know some local people,” Odahowski said. “For example, if they’re staying in Paris, they’ll visit the same coffee shop every week to get to know the people. In Greece, we will stay with a family.”Odahowski said the students tend to go to one city. “We call that slow travel, where you stay in that one city and get to experience not only the culture, but to also get to know some local people,” Odahowski said.This “go slow” movement is the IRC spring semester classes’ travel philosophy. “The ‘go slow’ movement is about building community, recognizing what we have and slowing down to appreciate what is all around us,” Brown said. He noted that it does not cost a lot but significantly adds to a traveler’s happiness.“We’re interpreting the ‘go slow’ movement as a reaction to leading a more thoughtful life and slowing down and having good times with friends,” Brown said. “You don’t have to be in a frenetic pace all the time.”Getting to know a local community abroad through slow travel is an example of the non-traditional learning experiences present in both fall and spring IRC classes.“The students are a diverse group ... who are really open to experiential learning and into trying something different,” Odahowski said. “It’s quite different from a class where we’re lecturing. It’s more hands-on and experiential.”These classes also offer IRC residents an opportunity to get acquainted with other students in the IRC and become more of a part of its community. “We really encourage first-year students to sign up for these classes as a way to get them more involved and to meet other students from the IRC,” Odahowski said.Despite encouragement, not many IRC residents participate in these classes. “We have fewer students than the classes should have,” Brown said. “The class is sort of unattractive because it’s on Friday afternoon and people think they should keep it open. But it’s a good way to wind down and it’s a really enjoyable way to end the week.”
(09/12/08 9:44am)
For those who love sand and waves, the lack of a beach near Charlottesville is a bummer – so the Surf Club does all it can to keep students’ love of the sport alive.--“That’s one of our goals – to promote surfing by education and teaching,” said President Chris Winstead-Derlega, a fourth-year College student.According to Vice President Peter Soroka, a second-year College student, one past club member had no surfing experience but enjoyed the beach and watching surfing. He was able to surf for the first time on a trip with the club.“We will encourage people who don’t know how to surf to watch surfing videos or to just come to the beach with the club and watch,” Soroka said.The club provides surfing equipment, including a long board that is easy to use and ideal for teaching.“We try to match the surfboard with the person’s ability, and the wave conditions,” Winstead-Derlega said.The club has remained relatively small because many University students are unfamiliar with surfing, according to Soroka.“A lot of people wear the Quicksilver surf brands, but not too many people actually surf, so the club is really underground,” Soroka said. The club is mostly comprised of people who live close to the beach, said second-year College student Clark Belote. Lack of experience should not deter hopeful members from joining the club, however; although new members are often nervous, club members are enthusiastic to welcome them.“We like to encourage the beach culture — laid-back lifestyle, no worries, people hanging out and having a good time,” Winstead-Derlega said. Surfing is a state of mind, according to Soroka.“You pick up life lessons from surfing,” he said. “I feel that surfing teaches lessons such as independence and brotherhood with other surfers. For example, you can go to California and talk to a surfer — both of you will instantly have a connection.”The club offers trips to Ocean City, Md., Virginia Beach, UNC Wilmington and Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. The beaches are three to five hours away, which makes frequent surf trips difficult. The club tries to go surfing about four or five times a semester, Winstead-Derlega said.Club members who live near the beach also make an effort to frequently visit the beach during breaks from school. Clarke said he goes to the beach once or twice a week when he is at home in Newport News, Va.“Not having a beach nearby makes you appreciate the beach a lot more, because every time I go home, I have to go to the beach, even in the dead winter,” Winstead-Derlega said.In addition to taking recreational trips, some club members also participate in competitions.“We do maybe one or two contests every year,” Soroka said. “For the most part, the majority of the trips is free surfing — surfing just to have fun. There’s this big split in the surfing world. Not to sound corny, but there’s the soul surfers and the competitors ... There are different types of people, [and] I’m not really that competitive.”Whether traveling for fun or to compete, the worst part of the trips is the long distance from the University to the beach; however, finally being able to surf again makes the trip worth it, Soroka said.“Every trip we have been on, someone learns and catches the waves,” Winstead-Derlega added. “You see the twinkle in their eye and you know that when they come back to the beach, they’ll be surfing again.”Considering that expanding their community is the Surf Club’s objective, it helps that the sport sticks with you: Once you make a connection with the ocean, it is impossible to lose, according to Soroka.“I realized this isn’t something I’m only going to do when I’m young,” Soroka said. “I know plenty of fat, old guys who go out in longboards and surf.”
(10/05/07 4:00am)
Transitioning into college life can be tough. For those who need a friend, tutor or advice about classes, the Office of African-American Affairs offers the Peer Advisor Mentoring Program for incoming black first-year and transfer students.