A glass after class
"Grapes don't grow in ugly places."
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"Grapes don't grow in ugly places."
I did not get much of a tan during my Alternative Spring Break trip to Arizona - probably because, contrary to popular belief, the spring weather conditions were best characterized as snowy with a high of 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Big Bang! Arts Week opened last Thursday evening with a resounding boom. In conjunction with the drama department and the Office of the Dean of Students, the University of Virginia Arts Board now is wrapping up its annual week of collaborative instruction and performance between University students and new, invigorating artists.
Internship. The word alone can strike fear into the hearts of many college students. Should you get one, and if so, what kind? How do you find it?
Think back to your first impressions of the University as a prospective college student. Maybe you had siblings or friends already here, who gave you your first glimpse of a real college student's life, or maybe you first came on an admissions tour. Then who did you meet? More likely than not, it was an ambassador.
Try, if possible, to imagine going to the Foxfield Races without Solo cups and actually watching the horse races.
The University is known for its rich history, distinct architecture and many traditions, all of which play a role in setting it apart from several other colleges and universities. Similarly, University students take pride in using colloquialisms such as "Grounds," "first-year students" and "the Lawn."
Most students use the Internet to access virtually every aspect of their daily lives: friends and family on Facebook, schoolwork on Collab, work schedules by e-mail. They order dinner from online takeout menus and complete their back to school shopping with a click of a mouse.\nIn addition to social networking and keeping up with school, students also are using the World Wide Web to manage their money.\nAlthough online banking is by no means a new phenomenon, it is increasingly preferred to traditional in-person banking. Talk to almost any student on Grounds, and chances are they bank online.\n"It's more convenient for a college student," second-year Engineering student Vicki Greenberg said. "We don't have time to go to the bank all the time. Even though there are lots of ATMs around Grounds, it's still faster to spend two minutes using online banking."\nThe banks themselves are well-aware of the convenience factor and many choose to market their online banking programs accordingly.\nWachovia enables customers to access statements online, to monitor all online activity and to view actual photocopies of deposited checks, ensuring their authenticity.\nBank of America has recently introduced "My Portfolio" which enables its customers to view multiple account statements in one place, even if those accounts are from other institutions. It also analyzes customers' financial patterns online and provides them with personal budgets and savings plans, all without having to step foot in an accountant's office.\nNot only does online banking provides customers with several ways to monitor their financial worlds 24 hours a day, any day of the week, online transactions reduce the chances of in-person identity theft through robbery or physical attack.\nOnline banking also means an increase in paperless transactions, an environmentally-friendly procedure that appeals to University students.\n"Online banking is not only bettering the environment by replacing paper statements, but is also more practical in the sense that college students can track their banking activity at any time," second-year College student Lindsey Shall.\nPaperless statements can safeguard customers who may throw away financial information improperly. To maintain account security, Wachovia and Bank of America require passwords that are usually supported by a personal questions scheme. Several schemes have limited activity periods, requiring the user to change the questions periodically.\nAccording to Wachovia Online Services, each time a customer uses his or her the password to enter an account, the password is encrypted into a code that may only be decrypted by Wachovia. This encryption code changes every time a user logs in.\nWachovia is among many banks that offer personal fund guarantees in case unauthorized people gain access to a customer's account and withdraw money.\nDespite the many benefits online banking offers, students should also be cautious of all the online scams that come with online banking, incuding phishing and spoofing scams.\n"Internet fraudsters send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal information from unsuspecting victims," said Mary Bader, personal banker at Newcomb Hall's Bank of America.\nBader added that phishing scams are probably the most important security threat of which to be aware. They are an aspect of Internet banking over which banks have little control. In 2007, $3.2 billion was lost to phishing scams, according to a study by technology research firm, Gartner, Inc..\nAnother dangerous scam is the spoofing scam, which sends what appears to be legitimate Web sites to a browser and from there steals the information a user inputs. According to an article by Carolyn Salazar of MSN Money Central, "How Dangerous Is Online Banking?," the most common virus used to access bank accounts are "Trojan horses," which, once embedded in your computer, record users keystrokes and gain password information. Losses of money through these viruses are difficult to track, especially because banks cannot always determine if the funds were taken from an ATM or online.\nTo protect their customers, banks track online actions, login frequency and enable users to do the same. This makes it is easier for one to personally ensure the security of their account. Most online banking systems itemize customers' spending so that unauthorized spending can be recognized early.\nDespite these concerns, several students said they remain confident in managing their money online.\n"The more I do it, the less I worry," second-year College student Ryana Burrel said.\nOthers noted that they use online banking more out of necessity.\n"I actually don't know how else to do it," second-year College student Flora Tsui said. "Our generation don't bank 'the other way."
After his expulsion from the University for gambling debts 181 years ago, Edgar Allan Poe finally makes his return.One might argue, however, that he never left, for Poe remains a central figure in the University’s academic and cultural life. The Raven Society, a prestigious honor society, is named for him, and his character makes numerous appearances throughout the year at literary readings and occasionally graduations. His room on the West Range — room 13 — also is immortalized and permanently preserved.“No other famous alum has that presence here,” University Exhibits Coordinator Mercedes Procaccini said.In celebration of Poe’s 200th birthday this year, the Harrison Institute and Special Collections Library collaborated with the Harry Ransom Center from the University of Texas at Austin to sponsor the exhibition “From Out That Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Edgar Allan Poe.” The opportunity arose after discussions between the University and the Harry Ransom Center, as both have significant collections of Poe-related artifacts, Procaccini said.“We wanted to bring everything together and showcase it in a way that had never been done before,” she said, adding that the bicentennial was too perfect a date to pass up.For 10 months in 1827, Poe was a French and Latin student at the University and lived on the West Range. Contrary to what his literary executor Rufus Griswold stated in Poe’s obituary, Poe was not “expelled for his dissolute ways,” but rather for debts.Professors at the time described Poe as a quiet and somber student. Somewhat surprisingly, given other accounts of early University students, he was never seen “under the influence of intoxicating liquors,” then-librarian William Wertenbaker said.Procaccini said one of the exhibitions’ aims was to portray Poe more personally, rather than simply as a famous literary figure. “We wanted a bigger picture to represent the whole person,” she said, “not just the iconic figure that comes to mind.”This impression is often “based on a handful of lurid details” Procaccini said, adding the exhibitors hoped to give the public a richer understanding of Poe’s complex personality.The exhibition contains a multitude of artifacts, including early manuscripts, photographs, letters, Poe’s writing desk and a brooch that contains a lock of his hair. Items came from the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, the Valentine Richmond History Center and private collections.“Because of these artifacts, the exhibition captures [Poe’s] presence in a way you can’t just write out in a label,” Procaccini said. “We wanted artifacts that are engaging in other ways, not simply in a literary sense.”Throughout his life, Poe dabbled in a range of areas, including the military. Soon after he was expelled from the University, Poe enlisted at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He lasted longer than 10 months, but “purposeful misconduct” in 1830 earned Poe a dishonorable discharge. An official copy of his trial, which took place, Jan. 1, 1831, is featured in the exhibit as well.One cannot forget Poe’s literary impact, however. The exhibition contains some of his poems and non-fiction works from his days as an amateur scientist, as well as articles he wrote as a journalist and his literary criticisms. Poe also is credited as the inventor of the detective story, and several of his short stories and poems are on display. Newspaper articles about him and his influence even at that time can be seen as part of the exhibit.There is a large area devoted to arguably his best-known poem, “The Raven.” In addition to the only complete autographed manuscript in existence today, the exhibition boasts a copy of its original printing in the “American Review.” Visitors also can see modern pop culture representations of the poem, like in the first “Simpsons” Halloween episode, “Tree-House of Horror.”Poe’s legacy is clear in many aspects of the arts today, and Procaccini said she feels it is important to think about where many things have their roots.“Poe is so iconic,” she said, “but this means many people do not think about him critically, nor do they understand how influential he has been.”The exhibition has received positive responses from the University community and the public. The guest book is filled with comments like, “I really enjoyed the science theories and literary influences sections,” and, “He was a deep, dark human being, and I learned a lot I didn’t know before.”The Special Collections Library has noticed an increase in traffic, much of which likely is a direct result of the exhibition. What several visitors may not know, though, is that the library has a lesser-known display below the ground level that contains more of Poe’s possessions from his time at the University, more original manuscripts and a letter the University recently acquired.The letter is of particular interest. Dated 1842, it is an apology from Poe to his publishers. While apologizing for drunkenness, Poe describes himself as “pushed for money” — a condition he found himself in frequently throughout his life.Whether you think of Poe as a debauched and destitute writer or a misunderstood and deeply troubled genius, there is no denying his influence on the literary and broader arts worlds. His legacy lives on in literature, artwork, music, even modern crime-investigation television shows — and at the Special Collections Library.
It is easy for University students to grab a hamburger for lunch in between classes. But how many cows would it take to feed the entire University community?Perhaps not as many as one may think. Living Gifts: Heifer International at U.Va. seeks to combat world hunger in a more unorthodox manner than usual: by supplying actual livestock to needy communities around the world. Heifer International’s “mission is to end world hunger, poverty and to care for the earth,” according to its Web site. The organization began in 1944. More than half a century later, it now exists in 125 countries and has helped 8.5 million families.“Our club is intent on being able to donate [to HI] but we also really want to raise awareness and promote the idea that world hunger can be managed,” said third-year College student Caitryn McCallum, co-president of Living Gifts.HI teaches communities environmentally-sound agricultural techniques so they can protect their own resources, according to the group’s Web site.“They are a really eco-friendly group with eco-friendly ideas,” Furber said. Living Gifts hopes to bring awareness of these ideas to the University, and they are therefore “trying to grow our presence on Grounds,” she added. McCallum noted that the University’s chapter, as one of two college groups designed to support HI, is currently working on getting established on Grounds, before looking to help the wider Charlottesville community.McCallum and College student Kerilyn Daniel started the organization in spring 2008 but it did not become active until this year. This semester has seen the organization’s greatest increase in membership.The club is also looking to involve other student organizations — specifically Greek organizations — as a way to raise awareness through social events, said third-year College student Kappie Farrington, Living Gifts’ community relations chair.She added the group already had one fundraising event this semester. To raise money for HI Living Gifts, group member and third-year College student Katie Schroeder designed Valentine’s Day cards that said, “To my Hunny.” The cards were free, but volunteered donations were used to buy two beehives for HI.Living Gifts hopes to hold another fundraiser this spring: “Cow-pie Bingo.” The event would involve a large-scale game of bingo and a live cow, with students betting where on a grid the cow would first defecate.Although a creative idea, Cow-pie Bingo has encountered some difficulties getting started, including issues negotiating risk management because of the presence of a live animal and the potential for toxic waste.“We also have to make sure no one gets offended,” said second-year College student Stephanie Chubb, the club’s fundraising chair. “We aren’t mistreating the cow, we’re just watching it poop.”There is also the issue of finding a cow.“We are having trouble getting [Cow-pie Bingo] funded,” said treasurer McKenzie Furber, a second-year College student.Although an endorsement letter from Heifer International helped the University’s chapter gain more support from Student Council, Living Gifts currently relies entirely on donations for prizes at fundraising events. Moreover, members have paid for all publicity “out of their own pockets,” Furber said.The group has not received funding from the University yet, one of the reasons the members are keen to work with other organizations that could help co-sponsor events.“We’re still hopeful that if we show more activity around Grounds, [the University] will be more generous,” McCallum said.The group has several ideas for raising awareness of its presence on Grounds. One idea is a “Sacrifice Meal,” during which students would swipe into a dining hall as usual, but only fruit, bread, soup and water would be served. The money the dining hall would save would then be donated to HI. Another idea the group is considering is an “Oxfam Meal,” which would simulate the world’s actual food distribution and provide meals accordingly.“It’s turned out to be really complicated,” Chubb said, “but we are still trying to do it.”Living Gifts aims to come up with events that allow students to participate in more hands-on ways, rather than through simple donations.“[Students] really want to get actively involved,” Farrington said. ”They don’t just want to give their money away.”She cited programs like Alternative Spring Break and the newly-created Global Development major as examples of University students’ activism.Although she acknowledged the merit of such activities, Farrington emphasized that “the impact of a sustainable gift, such as a livestock, is going to be more long-lasting and beneficial to a community than a few weeks of aid work.”Heifer International needs money more than anything else. Donors can choose what animal or object they purchase for a community, but cannot choose exactly where their money goes. HI sends the funds where they are needed most.“But remember that included in that ‘price’ is not only the cost of a cow,” McCallum said, “but the cost of shipping it and then teaching people how to care for it and use it sustainably.”Chubb said the group is busy brainstorming. “We really need people to support us,” she said, “because carrying out our task is not going to be feasible otherwise.”
It is commonly thought that individual people can only do so much to impact the larger world around them. But just how much does an individual cost the Earth?This semester, Student Council’s University Environmental and Sustainability Committee and Assoc. Environmental Science Prof. Deborah Lawrence created Environmental Footprints, an environmental science course designed to critically examine one’s impact on the Earth and to find ways to minimize the effects. Participating students collected all of the trash they produced last week, gathering in Clark Hall Friday afternoon to weigh and sort the waste into recyclables, compost and landfill-destined trash.“We hoped it would make us more conscious of where on-Grounds trash was coming from,” third-year College student Michelle Henry said. Students often produce excess trash without even realizing it.Third-year college student Wynnie Long added that the project was designed to show students how much unnecessary trash is produced even on a small scale. Regardless of the project’s aim, however, first-year College student Lily Bowles said she thought the class was not a true representation of an average student.“Those who participated are more environmentally conscious of what they are consuming, so there is not as much trash here as people would normally generate,” Bowles said, noting that many of the students are members of the Sustainability Committee.The students agreed they were more careful than usual to avoid excessive waste and to collect less trash.“After I’d collected four coffee cups, I bought one of the reusable ones,” fourth-year College student Melissa Warnke said. “And I stopped getting to-go bags — I just carried my bagels in napkins.” Henry said she began the week thinking that she could easily reduce her waste. But then she cleaned her room and ended up with two bags of trash.Henry collected 8,500 grams of trash, compared to the average of 400 to 600 grams each of her classmates gathered. Third-year College student Rachel Baker only collected 225 grams.All manner of interesting items emerged, especially from Henry’s room cleanup, including a Valentine’s Day chocolate dog that quickly found a new home after one student quipped, “One man’s trash, another’s treasure!”Not all that was collected was actual trash, however. For instance, of Henry’s 8,500 grams, only 300 grams were destined for a landfill. In fact, most of the waste collected was recyclable.“There are recycling facilities at the University and in Charlottesville, and as a community, we’ve committed to recycling,” Lawrence said. Student activities fees and taxes fund most of the facilities, which simply need to be used, she added.If plastic and other recyclable materials are disposed of properly, they are less of environmental villains than is often thought. A plastic bag actually has a smaller carbon footprint than the average paper bag, Lawrence said. Plastic bags are also lighter and cheaper to produce. But if they are simply thrown on the ground, they can cause damage to animals and plants, Lawrence added.“There is so much trash in convenient foods, such as muesli bar wrappers and bottled drinks,” second-year College student Caroline McCraw said.Curtailing plastic waste, though, is more easily done than one might think.“I was surprised that by going to a dining hall, I reduced much of my plastic waste,” third-year College student Ben Abraham said.As Lawrence noted, however, the leftovers collected in a dining hall meal are not an accurate picture of all that is being used in the production of a meal. Packaging, food scraps, water and cooking oils could not be counted in the project but are still forms of waste.Overall the students appeared pleased with the project — although they were conscious of its faults because of the short time period during which it was conducted — and seemed committed to continue trying and reduce their trash production.In addition to examining ways of reducing one’s ecological impact, the course also aims to identify environmental fallacies, Lawrence said.“It’s about understanding the trade-offs we should make,” she said, “knowing what is better for the Earth.”
Gone are the days of University life for Law Prof. David Martin. The calm days of lectures and meetings with students and faculty members are, for now, part of the past.A specialist in international and immigration law, Martin now is on two years of leave from the University, to work for Barack Obama’s administration at the Department of Homeland Security.Martin will serve as Principal Deputy General Counsel, currently acting as the General Counsel, which means he is the second most senior lawyer in the department, he said.The department has a wide range of responsibilities, Martin said, noting that he will deal with the more delicate ones.Currently, Martin is serving former Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Arizona,, a 1983 Virginia Law School alumna who helped Martin get his current position — a lucky coincidence, he said.In addition to that connection, Martin said he was a supporter of Obama during the campaign and was asked to be a part of the transition team that examined the Department of Homeland Security in November.The transition teams were designed before the Inauguration to “ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately,” according to change.gov, Obama’s Web site prior to becoming president.Martin brings significant experience to his role in the Obama administration. He served as special assistant to the assistant secretary for human rights and humanitarian affairs at the State Department in the late 1970s and also as General Counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the mid-1990s. As a result of both his government and academic work, Martin said he knows “a lot about the benefits and enforcement of immigration policies.”One of Martin’s ongoing goals is to refine the system of processing both applications for citizenship and residency to be more efficient. This will include improving the enforcement and verification procedures for ensuring foreign employees’ legal statuses. Martin said he also would like to tackle the legalization of undocumented residents, adding that there is no current delineation between detainment versus refugee status.“We need a system that works, is enforceable and responsive to human needs and to economic restrictions,” he said.A 1975 Yale Law School alumnus, Martin said he was drawn to immigration through his work at the State Department. “I worked with human rights issues when they were brand new to the department, specifically the refugee offices,” he said.After the Vietnam War, there was a mass exodus and the office was overwhelmed, at which point Martin had to learn immigration law, he said. He added that he gained further knowledge about refugee and immigration law after becoming a professor.At the University, Martin teaches international law, including immigration and refugee law, as well as constitutional law. He also initiated the University’s immigration law program in collaboration with Assoc. Law Prof. Kerry Abrams, and is currently the program director. Abrams said she and Martin teach the same courses and have worked together with students conducting independent research.“He is one of the most effective and dedicated teachers, and it is a real treat to be on faculty with someone who has such real world experience,” she said. “People are willing to come here from far away because of [Martin’s] reputation.”Martin also is deeply involved with immigrant detention issues, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a major part of his work at the DHS. At the upcoming Virginia Festival of the Book, Martin will moderate a discussion about asylum seekers in the United States. The Law School will host the event with the sponsorship of Amnesty International as part of the five-day festival beginning March 18.David Ngaruri Kenney, a political refugee from Kenya, and his lawyer Phillip Schrag are the authors of “Asylum Denied: A Refugee’s Struggle for Safety in America.” The book will be featured in the festival and the discussion will be about Ngauri’s journey to the United States, the Web site said. Martin, who organized the event, said he is concerned with the issues surrounding detention practices and is working to improve the system. He added that it is important to get students and the wider community involved with the International Rescue Committee. One branch of IRC is located in Charlottesville and aids in resettling about 150 refugees per year in the area, according to the IRC Web site.As his participation in the Festival of the Book suggests, Martin is still very much involved in the University and wider Charlottesville community, despite his relocation. When his tenure with DHS and the administration is complete, he said he intends to return to the Law School. He is still in e-mail contact with many of his students and is supervising students’ papers.“This is quite an exciting time for me,” Martin said. “I’m enjoying it immensely.”
It is no secret that the International Residence College provides students with a unique housing experience, but what many people do not know is that it also provides students with unique Spring Break experiences. In preparation for excursions to St. Croix, Greece and France this break, the IRC currently is offering three one-credit spring seminars available exclusively to IRC residents. These seminars focus on the philosophy of mindfulness and on finding a balance in life between the fast and the slow. IRC Director of Studies Marga Odahowksi described the trips as “experimental learning opportunities.” She said they are designed to be different from the typical academic learning style one finds in a lecture. Odahowksi is a great believer in the “power of being present, experiencing the moment and understanding mindfulness practices.” She said the trips are the chance to go to a new country, experience a different lifestyle and try to employ those philosophies in the students’ travels.Odahowski will lead the trip to St. Croix, where she and four students will stay at an organic farm and partake in a “bush training program ... spearing fish and hunting for herbs.” To enhance team building and see how well the students can work together, Odahowski said her group will be cooking a Caribbean-influenced dish. The students are all biology majors, Odahowski said, so “they don’t mind dealing with bugs” during “a trip of playing in the dirt”.The trips to Greece and France, meanwhile, are less rural and will cater to five students each.“I applied on a whim, I don’t know anything about Paris outside of the movies,” third-year College student Courtney Fay said.The French trip will be led by IRC Principal Brad Brown. Students will stay in apartments in central Paris, cooking together every night.“[Food] gives people an opportunity to connect, to slow down and savor life,” Odahowski said, explaining why students will cook together during their trips. The students going to Paris also will explore the city at a manageable pace. Fay said her class will focus on Parisian public transport.“It gives me a lot of freedom in where I can go — I’ll have to take some kind of transport to get there!” she said.Fay said her philosophy is about slowing down to experience local food and culture. Americans rush their meals, Fay said, and as such, each of the proposed IRC trips will pay special attention to food and its role in our lives.The trip to northern Greece is themed “Life and Chicken” and also will incorporate group cooking.“We like to get students together to cook meals ... It is a great bonding experience,” said IRC Scholar in Residence Noah Egge, who has led the trip since it began in 2004.The trip is a home-stay at a potter’s house in Thessaloniki, Egge said, noting that his connections are in northern Greece and he prefers to take students there, rather than the typical Athens-then-island-hopping trip most tourists choose to take in the southern part of the country.He added that northern Greece has just as much to offer as the country’s more southern areas. “It’s the land of the Byzantines, of Alexander the Great,” he said.First-year College student Karin Elwood, who plans to attend the trip to Greece, said she chose it because although she has been to Europe before, she has never been east of Italy.“I wanted to break out of the typical European box,” Elwood said, adding that she also was intrigued by the slow pace at which Greek culture approaches time.Egge said students will have plenty of choices in terms of how to spend their time and will have many opportunities to explore during the day. A home-stay also affords the chance to try other kinds of cultural projects, Egge said. In the past, students have been given woodcarving lessons from a priest, Egge said, but because this trip involves staying at a potter’s home, ceramics most likely will be the craft of choice.Variety in learning is something the students said they appreciate. Students going on the various trips offered through the IRC are given a lot of say in what and how they learn, Elwood said. In seminars, students not only research the areas they will visit, they are taught how to most effectively keep a travel journal. Odahowski said this means focusing on what to incorporate in the journal and making it “a complement to students’ photographs.” None of the trips presently have specific itineraries, though, in part because the seminars are designed to let “students take ownership of their learning process,” Egge said.The trips are funded by the IRC, which has the largest activities fund of any of the University’s housing options. Students need only to pay for their airfares and some incidentals. Everything else — food, accommodation and in-country transport — is paid for. For only a few hundred dollars, students will be given a chance to breathe during a hectic semester, and will have the opportunity to slow down, think about time in a new way, find balance in their lives and, of course, enjoy some good local food.
You’ve worked hard for four years and are just months away from receiving that long-awaited diploma. So, now what?In the current economic crisis, employment opportunities seem to be slipping further away. In the following interviews, University faculty members, deans and counselors share advice with students about how to be competitive in the job market.Kendra Nelsen, director for student services at University Career Services: “First and foremost, you need to recognize that it is a very difficult economic climate and that there are repercussions in employment opportunities. There has always been a lot of interviewing on Grounds, but hiring is being reduced and because so much recruiting is done, we see [its reduction] more ... Students need to recognize this and not panic but start the job search earlier as it is becoming a lengthier process. Look online, use network connections through alumni and family, and talk to the Career Services office. You might need to start thinking beyond your specific target. Look at where else and in what other jobs your skills could be involved in similar ways. Ultimately, it is about developing those core competencies that will make students more attractive to companies when the market picks up again. Identify your other options to become more hopeful: anxiety into action!”Charles Fitch, Commerce Career Services assistant dean: “All students should be networking with alumni, family and friends, past employers — any contacts you have. It is worthwhile to look into other industries and try to get a foot in the door somewhere. You should not be holding out for your ultimate job; it might not come along, or you might not get the position. Be as positive as possible and use a variety of resources, especially online search tools. Get creative with Google and really look, as you never know what ideas are out there.” Dean of Students Allen Groves:“First, consider looking at a service-related position if your finances will allow it. Teach for America and the Peace Corps are two great examples. They are highly selective, but the work will be well-respected by employers in two years time. Other non-profit jobs offer similarly great experience. Second, consider starting graduate school now, but be aware that application numbers are up, and schools are being even more selective. Also, look closely at what the placement rates are for each graduate program and make sure you will get a good return on your tuition investment. Lastly, broaden your targeted industries. Some areas of the economy, like investment banking, are shrinking, but others, like green technologies or public infrastructure, are expanding. University Career Services professionals can help with this.”Environmental Sciences Prof. Manuel Lerdau: “For third-year [students], start now: Find job opportunities for credit or pay with faculty. Research experience will be one of the most important things when it comes to finding a job. It does not have to be in your specific area, although it would be ideal if it was closely related. Take advantage of summer employment when you are not geographically bound to Grounds as well ... Think about where you want to be in 10 years time, as you need to remain geographically flexible over the next two or three years to get there. However, if where you live is very important to you, you may get a sub-optimal job. Remember that the job that may position you best for the future may give you lower pay than the one that will afford less opportunities later.”Architecture Prof. Michael Bednar, director of undergraduate Architecture advising: “Get experience that relates to architecture, even if it’s not specifically in the field of architecture. Try to get a job in construction, urban planning and graphic design to find a foothold to get experience rather than biding one’s time. It may take some creative endeavors on your part to find a productive way to spend time, but it is better to be occupied.”Environmental Sciences Prof. Robert Davis: “In the environmental sciences there are not many issues. In fact, all of last year’s graduates that I know of found jobs ... I do know that more students are applying to graduate school because I’ve been writing lots of applicants’ recommendations. It is something of the fail-safe option, but I would recommend it if students are genuinely interested and motivated to continue their studies.”Chemical Engineering Prof. Roseanne Ford:“I would suggest trying to be flexible. That might mean taking a job outside your ideal job or specialty, type or location. The demand is still there, but companies are reticent about increasing their workforce and only hire people for short-term projects. There are more opportunities for part-time work. One might consider graduate school, but don’t do it just as an alternative — only if you truly have interest in more study.”Economics Prof. William Johnson: “This is a good time to go to [graduate] school. The opportunity cost, what you lose in taking an opportunity, has fallen as earning opportunities are less available than they once were. That is what you could have been earning full time but gave up by going to graduate school. Graduate school is definitely becoming more attractive as employment options are less attractive and the cost of going [to graduate school] is lowered.”
Going green is becoming more and more popular at the University. Environmentally conscious student groups are sprouting up, dining halls are trying to reduce their waste and consumption of water, and this semester has seen the creation of a course about how to reduce one’s carbon footprint.But before this, there was Brown Earth.Initiated in 2002 and run by the students of Brown College, Brown Earth is an environmental student committee on Brown’s Governance Board.It was started as a way to encourage an appreciation of the environment and promote its conservation, as well as to foster residents’ interest in the landscaping on Monroe Hill. These remain its primary goals today, said Brown College Grand Poobah Chen Song, a fourth-year College student.Brown “is where we live, and this is one more way to reach out to the people,” said Brown Earth co-chair Liza Stoner, a second-year College student. To further this goal, members created a mailing list to include all residents in Brown Earth and create a more close-knit community, she said.Strictly speaking, Brown Earth is not a CIO; rather it a committee on the Brown College Governance Board and is open to all Brown residents.“There is a smaller, core group of residents who are consistently involved, as well as a satellite group that makes it some[times],” said committee co-chair Denson Staples, a first-year College student.Currently, Brown Earth has two major projects. The first is looking at the feasibility of planting a vegetable patch, citing Hereford’s garden as inspiration, Stoner said. The location suggested for the vegetable patch is in a corner of the quad in the middle of Brown, but Stoner said she was not sure that the area is sunny enough.The second project is a renovation of the Childress Memorial Garden on Monroe Hill. Staples said he felt the garden has “been forgotten about” and is hoping to revitalize it. “We are trying to arrange for someone to come in and design a new garden [and] get it back on its feet,” Staples said. Brown Earth has also spearheaded landscaping projects around Brown, he added.In addition to landscaping projects, other organized activities include apple picking on Carter Mountain, tours of the Pavilions’ gardens with Brown fellows John Sauer — who is also the historic garden supervisor — and Cathy Clary, hiking and camping in the area, visiting farmers’ markets and college picnics and participating in Compact Fluorescent Light bulb giveaways and dorm-plant giveaways, Song said.Stoner noted that there was large interest in dorm-plant giveaways. Brown Earth purchased more than 100 plants from local nursery Elzroth & Thompson, all of which were taken to new homes.“The idea behind the giveaways is to give [students] something green for their dorms, to bring the outdoors in,” Stoner said.Song, who was also a co-chair of Brown Earth last year, said the giveaway plants are bought with dorms in mind — that is, committee members buy hardy plants. For any students looking to buy plants for their dorms, he suggested devil’s ivy, dracaena or philodendrons as potential “die-hard plants.”As a follow-up to the giveaway, Clary, who has tended the gardens at Monticello, taught a workshop to learn about nursing sick houseplants. The workshop also helped students find a fellow Brown resident remaining in Brown during Winter Break to take care of their plants while they were away.Buying more than 100 plants was not cheap. The committee’s funding comes from Brown residents’ student activity fees and Brown College’s endowment. Most of the money is spent on buying plants and on food for picnics, Song said, while some also goes toward organizing film screenings of documentaries or environmentally themed movies.While Brown Earth has encountered some landscaping disagreements with the University, usually because of a lack of funds in the face of recent budget cuts, Song said in general the University has wonderful landscaping.Brown Earth is not involved with any other groups, though some students are members of other environmental organizations, Song said, adding that anyone or any committee is welcome to contribute.We “want to fight this reputation of Brown being exclusive [and] dispel that snobby, elitist myth,” Song said.
Art might not change the present world outright, but if it makes people think and forces them to start asking questions, that is a step in the right direction. This is the philosophy that drives Mauritanian-Malian film director Abderrahmane Sissako to produce films that discuss Africa’s relationship with the rest of the world.In 2007, the University’s French department invited Sissako to a one-day colloquium on visual culture titled “On Display: Visual Culture in the French-speaking World.” His film “Bamako” was screened here at Vinegar Hill. Sissako impressed not only the University but also the wider Charlottesville community, and the University began planning for a return visit. Now those plans have to come to fruition, and for the month of November the University French Department hosts Sissako as a filmmaker-in-residence. He was also a special guest at the Virginia Film Festival.During this time, four of his films will be publicly screened, and Sissako will spend time with French and political science classes.Asst. French Prof. Alison Levine has been working closely with Sissako and said she believes his “presence here has created excitement and energy [because] he brings about conversations between people that wouldn’t otherwise meet.”She said she sees Sissako as someone who crosses boundaries — political, categorical and geographical. This is evident in his films and also is a reflection of his own life.Sissako was born in Mauritania and grew up in Mali. At 19 years old, he left Mali to study world cinema on a scholarship at the National Film School in Moscow in the former Soviet Union. This was an era of political oppression, yet because he was a foreigner, Sissako said he did not feel as oppressed as the Russian students. “Depending on one’s age, you live oppression differently,” he said. “I was 19, at the age of curiosity.”During the 1980s, he said, the USSR offered many scholarships to African elites, trying to extend Soviet influence on the continent. Because he was already becoming politically aware in high school, he said, this “brainwashing did not work so well.”His films are both personal and political, focusing on the relationship between Africa and the rest of the world, especially the financial relationship between Europe, the United States and Africa.Although all of his films have been about Africa, Sissako has never returned to live in Mali or Mauritania. He lives in and works from Paris because not enough African countries can financially support cinema production, he said.Sissako said he sees cinema as a universal language, believing that “as soon as a film meets and audience and people begin to ask questions and look at things differently, the film has reached its goal.”Although he said he rarely has one intended audience, his most recent film, “Bamako,” was more directly addressed to the Western world. The film examines the dynamic between developing African nations and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.Sissako recently discussed “Bamako” in a French cinema class, and his commentary enabled many of the students to better understand and appreciate the work behind the film.“It was enriching to hear from a director’s perspective,” fourth-year College student Abyan Lokman said. “It made [the film] seem more valuable.”Sissako said he is careful not to influence viewers’ opinions or expectations before they see a film, which is why he is often hesitant to give a prescreening introduction.Second-year College student Stephanie Newton said Sissako wanted students to form their own interpretations. She said she enjoyed “Bamako” because of its “juxtaposition between actors and citizens,” both of whom are featured in the film. This juxtaposition made the film “not fiction, nor a documentary.”The film does not fit into a specific genre, Lokman said. It is about “bringing attention to a different view of Africa [and] working on different perspectives.”This idea of portraying a realistic portrait of Africa is a driving force behind much of Sissako’s work. He said he tries “to explain things that people don’t understand, despite their goodwill.”The Western world has a conception of Africa as a continent of “poor countries that need help,” yet they do not address the causes of this poverty, he added.The French department has encouraged these discussions.“It is not only a department that studies France,” Levine said. “We also welcome perspectives from the broader French-speaking world.”Sissako said he is very pleased with the opportunities the French department has given him. He said he came not only to teach but also to learn and feels almost as though he has come back to school.“When you make movies you want to meet people.” Sissako said. “I have the opportunity to talk to people in this [younger] generation who come from all sorts of backgrounds, and [there is] a dialogue that is happening that is very exciting.”There is also a dialogue of sorts between the films themselves, as what Sissako learns in the production of one film influences how he will direct the next.Sissako said “Rostov-Luanda” was one of his most important films personally because it was the first film in which he truly found his own cinematic language. “If I had not made ‘Rostov-Luanda’ I would not have made ‘Life on Earth’ the way I did,” he said. Lokman said Sissako discussed this concept of taking risks in cinema with her class.“Life on Earth” and “Rostov-Luanda” are the next two films that will screen Nov. 20 and 24 in Wilson 402 and are free to the public. A discussion follows every public screening of the films.In addition to the French department, the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, the Vice Provost for International Programs, the Virginia Film Festival, the Office of African-American Affairs, the Carter G. Woodson Institute and the University departments of history, English and anthropology are sponsoring Sissako’s residency.
What defines a true American? The United States is often described as a country of immigrants, and in every naturalization ceremony, new citizens are told by the president they “are just as American today as the descendants of the Founding Fathers.”To reach that naturalization ceremony, applicants need to meet a number of requirements set by US Citizens and Immigration Services, such as being at least 18 years old and having lived at the same address in the United States for a minimum of five years.Some University students entered the United States on a G4 visa — a non-immigrant visa that allows members of international organizations to participate in business activities in the United States — before obtaining their status as legal permanent residents because their parents worked in US offices of these international organizations, Fourth-year College student Christopher Kyle, for example, has been naturalized but is still a New Zealand national. While he “had an easy trek,” he said he has heard plenty of horror stories of “bureaucratic nitpicking.” “The hardest part was the waiting,” said fourth-year College student Carolina Ferrerosa, a Colombian national, of her experience becoming a U.S. citizen in September. “It’s tough not to become a conspiracy theorist, to start thinking, ‘They’re working against me. They don’t want me to vote.’”Most applicants apply for a green card while they are still overseas, although it is possible to do in the United States if one has a short-term visa or diplomatic passport, Law Prof. David Martin said.Many immigrants who apply for a green card do so because they have close family members living in the United States who are American citizens, they have employment opportunities or on a variety of humanitarian grounds, but they often prefer to remain in the United States as legal permanent residents, never applying for citizenship. Kyle said many of his international friends who live in the United States have chosen not to naturalize, as they want to keep their national identity. So long as all conditions for naturalization have been met, an application should be processed within 120 days, Martin said. After this time an applicant can take his case to court to have the matter settled. Ferrerosa said that during summer 2007 there was a significant increase in the number of applications for naturalization, which resulted in delays in application processing times, from six or seven months to upwards of 14.Martin said processing delays first began in the mid-1990s when the Immigration and Naturalization Service experienced a large backlog of applications and a rise in litigation ensued. As a result, authorities sought to develop a more efficient system.Closer scrutiny of the naturalization process, though, exposed vulnerabilities with fingerprint and other security checks, prompting an effort to improve the security of the system as well, Martin said. Now a full FBI background check is required before a person can be naturalized, he said, something that was further intensified after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.Fourth-year College student Teemar Fisseha, who will be applying for citizenship in March 2009, said he felt the INS “give[s] preference to some countries over others ... My Muslim friends from Ethiopia have names that are clearly Islamic and their [applications take longer to] process; there is definitely an element of discrimination.”Martin said in the last decade there has been more emphasis on complete background checks and noted that the INS would be more likely to conduct a more rigorous inquiry of an applicant of Middle Eastern decent. Martin noted name and birthdate matches with potential security threats are more common within certain ethnicities and need to be more thoroughly investigated. This has caused some problems within the INS because of insufficient staffing and resources, he added.Once the initial background checks and fingerprinting have been completed, the final step in the naturalization process is an interview. In the interview, applicants must prove basic speaking and writing competency in English and verbally answer five or six questions pertaining to American government and history, Kyle said.A list of a possible 96 questions is given to applicants as a study aid before the interview.“It is designed to be accessible to someone with a limited education,” Martin said. “It is very easy for university students.”Those applying for naturalization have a variety of reasons for doing so, but the right to vote was an important issue for some students at the University, especially because of the upcoming presidential election. Ferrerosa said she found it was hard to be politically active around Grounds when she was personally unable to vote. Kyle, meanwhile, said he feels more secure as a voting citizen. Green card holders can serve in the military and even be drafted, but they cannot vote for the government that is going to draft them. He said that element in particular disturbed him.There are also many University programs and scholarships that are only offered to American citizens, as well as a number of internships and public service programs across the nation.“You don’t notice how many things require American citizenship,” Ferrerosa said. “It’s tough — it feels like doors keep closing on you.”While Ferrerosa was applying to the University, for example, she encountered problems with her status as an in-state student. Although she had lived in Virginia for 17 years, her father was an employee of the International Monetary Fund and therefore did not pay commonwealth taxes. Though she was able to prove she was an in-state student because of her personal employment record and taxes she had paid, she was not able to qualify for several scholarships because she was not a citizen.Fisseha had similar issues when applying to the University; she said it took a long time for her financial aid to be processed because the University had to contact the USCIS directly to ensure she was a legal resident. Now that she is looking to apply to graduate schools, she said she is still unable to apply for many scholarships because of her status as a non-citizen.While citizenship can help to resolve these issues, students also cited the value of U.S. citizenship for travel abroad, as the U.S. government has a well-established overseas support network for its citizens. Ferrerosa said during an Alternative Spring Break program in which she participated, the students had a day stop-over in Spain. All the other students were able to explore the country, but because of her citizenship, she was prevented from joining them and had to remain in customs.“Americans can travel wherever they want,” Fisseha said. “An American passport is like a license to navigate.”Kyle noted, though, that he fears distaste abroad for Americans at times, “but the United States has a much more developed safety net for travelers around the world.”While newly naturalized students can begin to take advantage of various benefits of being American, they must also grapple with the question of how to identify themselves.Ferrerosa said she feels she is “between two worlds,” and when she is asked her nationality, she cannot answer Colombian or American. Kyle describes himself as an American born in New Zealand. He said although he is patriotic to the United States, “there will always be something in where I was born ... when I see residential New Zealand areas something in me says ‘That’s what houses and streets are supposed to look like.’”
Dreams Corps International is a non-profit organization that gives Chinese students a chance to experience life in rural China — and the only collegiate chapter in the United States happens to be right here on Grounds. Last summer, three University students volunteered in communities in the provinces of Henan and Hunan.University chapter founder James Liao, current chair Maylon Zhao and Ivy Li spent a month in these communities building libraries and teaching young students.“We were not only physically building [the library], we had to educate them what a library is,” said Li, a third-year Commerce student.Dream Corps builds libraries that function as public spaces within the community, a place for children and adults alike. Zhao, a third-year College student, said a major part of their work was convincing parents that reading a wide range of books would not only improve their children’s grades, but their futures, too.“Many parents do not understand why a school would need a library when they have teachers and textbooks,” Zhao said.The University chapter focuses on education in rural areas of China where many childrens’ parents are migrant workers in cities. Children are often left with their grandparents to begin working on family farms at a young age. Zhao grew up in a Chinese city, and before Dream Corps, she said she never realized the challenges of life in rural China.“We feel responsible for the kids back in China because of our heritage,” Zhao said. “Studying here makes you realize how important education is for everyone. We see that the University provides equal opportunity for everyone here, and we feel like it’s not enough back in China.”Liao, a second-year Engineering student, founded the chapter in summer 2006. Having lived in the United States for the past 13 years, Liao wanted to return to China but did not know with whom to stay or where to go. He researched volunteer programs and found Dream Corps.Liao and five other volunteers spent a month in Henan. Their purpose was to motivate students and teachers to learn and to correct the assumption that textbooks were the only way to teach. They introduced a broader range of subjects that were previously ignored, such as art and music. Zhao said she was amazed that the school where she worked in Hunan did not even have crayons.The volunteers plan one big event each weekend, ranging from sports carnivals to musicals. Zhao said every student she worked with had great potential and said that by the end of the program, the Chinese students had come to believe it themselves.“I thought we were going there for the libraries, but we did so much more,” Li said. “How do you build sustainable relationships with the local governments? We had to meet the people, we had to go into [students’] homes and meet their grandparents.”The local governments seemed to be very interested, Li said, attending the students’ final performance and even inviting other local governments to watch. She added, however, that working with the governments and local authorities was the most complicated part of the program. This is because Dream Corps must work with several levels of administrators — national government and education ministers all the way down to local administrators.“I feel like as long as the governments understand what we are doing, they are proud of us and want to help,” Li said, adding that the government is aware of the problem and wants to help develop education — it just does not know how. Government officials are usually happy to work with Dream Corps because the organization provides human resources and books, she said.The work does not stop at the end of the summer. Sustaining and building upon the established relationship is very important, which is why Dream Corps returns to the same sites every year. Even after all their work the first summer, “the locals don’t believe in you, and this is very reasonable, we are the outsiders,” Li said. “All they saw was a group of very energetic college students that did cool stuff with kids.”The first year the library did not even stay open after the volunteers left.“The village chief kept it closed to keep the books safe,” Liao said. “I was stunned.”As site director, Liao has returned to Henan for the past three summers and watched the project evolve. The second year showed marked improvement, and Liao said this was because of the established relationship he had with the locals and because the volunteers now knew that they needed to work more closely with the school. “Teachers had been intimidated by us — that was a huge mistake,” Liao said. While volunteers continued to organize fun activities for the children, they also worked with the principal.They also learned they needed to properly explain why they had come, because the locals did not understand the ideas of volunteering or social service. Every other foreigner who came to the area brought money, yet Dream Corps brought people.After the second trip, the library once again did not remain open after the summer. But because of a phone call Liao made two months before the third summer, the school principal reopened the library. Liao said establishing a personal relationship put pressure on local residents to keep their promise.“The phone call taught me you have to keep in contact, you can’t just leave for 11 months,” Liao said. He now calls every other month, and as of now the library remains open.This is also thanks to the new permanent librarian, three-fourths of whose salary Dream Corps pays; the local government adds the other quarter. She is younger and more innovative than the other teachers, Liao said, and knows best what the locals will like.Liao said this third summer at Henan was the most significant in terms of progress. The volunteers worked to motivate individual teachers and to improve the quality of resources available. The library was remodeled with fans and lights, and the idea of borrowing books was introduced. Liao said this was also the summer when villagers finally realized how strongly Dream Corps believes in their ideas and could make them happen. At the University, the chapter is currently focusing on raising awareness and planning a fundraising event. Third-year Engineering student Betty Chen, a Dream Corps member, said the chapter needs to spend its time on Grounds building community awareness and support for the organization. The organization’s best supporter on Grounds, Liao said, is Economics Prof. Bruce Reynolds, who has offered personal support and has helped the chapter apply for research and project grants.Volunteers must pay their own way to China, usually about $2,000 per person in airfare, and they are reimbursed for that expenditure once they arrive in China. The volunteers live together in a room provided by the local government and eat meals prepared by locals. Liao, Li and Zhao said they all hope to return in summer 2009.“It’s making my dream come true,” Liao said. “In Henan there are stars everywhere, but here we don’t look up enough to say ‘Wow, that’s a beautiful thing.’”