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(01/27/09 6:33am)
A recent study by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching suggested a need for a shift in undergraduate engineering education from predominantly theory-focused programs to a more practical, realistic format with a focus on professionalism.Sheri Sheppard, professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University and a consulting scholar at the Foundation, said she and her colleagues studied 40 undergraduate engineering programs, mainly focusing on self-assessment documents from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology to see how the schools presented their own programs. Of these 40 schools, Sheppard said, the researchers chose seven schools to study more thoroughly through campus visits.“We spent two to three days on each of those campuses, trying to get a deeper feeling about what ... their priorities were,” she explained.Though Sheppard said each school had unique elements, she added that “there are some really dominant blocks that you find in each of the programs.”For the purposes of the Foundation’s study, Sheppard said a “block” is both a body of teaching material and literally a block that prevents young engineers from being taught most effectively.“The problem with forming programs around blocks is it’s harder to create connections,” Sheppard said. “In real engineering, you draw broadly from a set of tools and strategies. Blocks may be convenient for organizing a program, but [they keep] students from having authentic experiences.”In addition, Sheppard said she and her colleagues found the study of professionalism and ethics was a smaller portion of many programs than she and her colleagues would have liked.“We’re overjoyed that it’s on everyone’s radar, but it’s often there in a very small way,” she said. “One of the things we’re calling for is making professionalism the guide of programs.”Sheppard said the researchers are recommending an “integrated network model” with professionalism forming the backbone of the model and they want the study of engineering to focus more on the actions and attitudes of practical engineering.She added that students should be “confronted with the messiness of real work.”University Engineering Dean James Aylor said he agrees with the idea that an increased focus on professionalism is needed in engineering education.“You are developing products and services that are intended to improve the lifestyle of individuals,” he said. “You’ve got to be a professional and you’ve got to worry about the ethics side of engineering. There’s no question that that has to be a main component of the education process.”Aylor said the University’s Engineering School focuses on teaching students about ethics and the real world of engineers.“I don’t think we’re particularly unusual about students coming into engineering and not really knowing what it’s about,” he said. “They’re good at math and science, and someone told them along the way that an engineering degree is useful.”Aylor said all Engineering students must take a few courses that focus on helping them to understand the value of engineering and what different types of work engineers actually do.First-year students take a project-oriented ENGR 162, “Introduction to Engineering” course, he said, to move beyond the theoretical and “get excited about engineering.” Students also take STS 101, “Engineering, Technology and Society,” with the goal of learning about engineering in the context of the real world.In the STS class, Aylor said, students get a chance to interview a faculty member and to give a presentation about what he or she does and why he or she is an engineer.“We try hard to make sure [students] understand what engineering is about,” he said.Another concern in the field of engineering, Sheppard said, is keeping students interested in the field.“More people are going to college,” she said, “but the percentage of engineering [students] is declining.”Sheppard said the number of women and minority students studying engineering is also low.“There’s evidence that when you bring a diverse team together, the number of ideas and space of exploration is larger,” she said. “We need those groups because we need their broader thinking or their different thinking. The field as a whole is disadvantaged by a lack of diverse people.”Aylor said the University is fortunate in that women make up 30 percent of undergraduate Engineering students; however, he also said a lack of female engineering students is a widespread problem.“Across the country only about 18 percent of the undergraduate population [of engineering students] is female,” he said.Aylor said one reason for the higher-than-average female population of the University’s Engineering School might be the fact that the University is a major liberal arts institution.“It gives students the opportunity to take courses in other areas,” he said.As for the minority student population of the Engineering School, Aylor said there is room for improvement.“We are trying to attract some of the best and brightest in minorities, but it can be hard,” he said. “You just have to capture the people wanting to be engineers.”
(01/26/09 6:03am)
The University received a record number of applications from a diverse pool of high school students for the undergraduate Class of 2013, making this applicant pool a testament to the work of Admissions Dean John Blackburn, who passed away last week.Associate Dean of Admissions Greg Roberts said the Office of Undergraduate Admission received more than 21,000 applications, representing an increase of 16 percent compared to last year’s pool of applications.Roberts said the applicants include 56 percent more Hispanic students, 22 percent more black students, 50 percent more international students and 100 percent more American Indian students.The increase in the number of applicants, Roberts said, can be traced to a significant change made in the University’s application process last July: the acceptance of the Common Application. The Common Application, launched in 1975, “provides a common standardized first-year application form for use at any member institution,” according to its Web site. There are currently 346 college and universities that accept the Common Application.“A lot of it can be attributed to the move to the Common Application,” Roberts said. “We expected an increase because of that movement.” Roberts noted, however, that the decision to accept the Common Application may also result in an increased number of incomplete applications. “Since it’s easier to apply, some might be throwing in their applications at the end, and their interest in the University may not be as strong,” he said.Aside from the Common Application, Roberts said the economy may also have played a role because, as a public institute of higher education, the University’s tuition is less expensive than the cost of attending many private universities.The University is “a bargain in and even out of state,” he said.These factors drawing students to the University attracted a diverse group of students this year, which pleased Roberts and his co-workers.“We’re excited because ... it is ethnically very diverse,” he said.Though Blackburn passed away last week, Roberts said Blackburn was aware of the demographics of the applicant pool and was very happy about them.“The deadline was Jan. 2 and you could tell early on how things were going,” Roberts said. “I had a conversation with [Blackburn] probably about two weeks ago telling him about the class, and he was thrilled.”William Harvey, vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity, said it is too early to tell how much of a step forward this is for diversity efforts at the University.“That really depends on the final numbers and the actual number of students we enroll,” he said.Harvey did say, however, that he felt this year’s applicant pool is a tribute to Blackburn’s years at the University.“It’s quite appropriate and fitting that we’re seeing this increase at [this] unfortunate time,” Harvey said. “He was a champion of diversity at the University, and this is a testimony to his work.”
(01/15/09 8:56am)
In the current economic downturn, with jobs scarcer than usual, staying out of debt can be difficult for college students and young graduates. Meanwhile, higher education institutions across the country, including the University, are entering into more and more relationships with banks, allowing those financial institutions access to student and alumni information such as names and addresses and giving them permission to set up tables at athletic events in order to market credit cards. According to a nationwide study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group about two-thirds of the 1,500 students surveyed reported having at least one credit card.The University currently has a relationship, maintained by the Alumni Association, with Chase Bank. The University receives an annual payment from Chase, Alumni Association President Tom Faulders said, which is split between the Alumni Association, the athletic department and the University as a whole. In return, the Alumni Association provides the names and addresses of alumni to Chase, but does not provide the names or addresses of current students, Faulders noted. Chase also has permission to hold tabling events, “primarily at athletic events,” Faulders said.Though the intent is to market credit cards to alumni, anyone can sign up for a credit card at the tables, including current students.These types of tables are what concerns US PIRG, said Christine Lindstrom, US PIRG Higher Education Program director. When banks promote credit cards at tables on school campuses, a recent study shows, students are often offered free gifts — from T-shirts to food to airline miles — in exchange for signing up for a card.“The PIRGs are not against students getting credit cards,” Lindstrom said. “What the PIRGs are against is overly aggressive marketing techniques and the unfair credit products that are offered on campuses, which together can unnecessarily plunge students into debt.”Lindstrom noted credit cards offered on campuses often have high penalty fees and rates and have conditions allowing a company to raise interest rates if the student is late in paying an unrelated bill, such as a cell phone bill.“These conditions pile too much debt onto students, and their balance gets harder and harder to pay off,” Lindstrom said.Commerce Prof. Karin Bonding, however, said it is more dangerous for students to be unable to obtain a credit card.“So many things from now on depend on good credit,” she said, citing renting an apartment, getting a job and signing up for car insurance as processes requiring a good credit score.Obtaining a credit card is important for students, but using the credit cards properly is key, said Bonding, who teaches a class on personal finance.“To properly use them is to pay attention,” she explained. “It is a loan, and it’s a loan that always needs to be repaid ... The best way to demolish your credit score is by late payments.”On Grounds and at other colleges and universities, though, most credit cards are not necessarily marketed to students — rather, they are marketed to extended members of a school’s community.Betty Riess, spokesperson for Bank of America, one of the biggest credit card issuers on colleges and universities’ campuses, said the majority of the bank’s collegiate affinity card programs are with alumni associations or athletic departments.“The primary market for these cards are fans, alumni, parents and non-students who want to support the school,” Riess said. “Students only account for about 2 percent of all open accounts [under the programs].”Faulders said that under the University’s current agreement with Chase, the bank is allowed to market to students, but chooses not to.Lindstrom, though, said banks may target students even without the permission of the school.“Over 75 percent of students surveyed [nationwide] said they had been approached on campus by a bank marketing credit cards,” she said. “I doubt that the bank [representatives] refuse applications to students, even if the terms under which they were allowed to market were to target non-students.”Bank of America’s credit limit for undergraduate students is $2,500, and the bank is dedicated to providing an educational component, Riess said, including a financial literacy handbook and a Web site about topics including money management and identity theft.“Our objective is to create the foundation for a long-term banking relationship and help students establish a credit history that enables them to achieve longer-term financial goals,” she said.Faulders also said education is an important component of the Alumni Association’s credit card program.“We provide seminars and online information on how to use credit cards responsibly,” he said.The University’s relationship with Chase will end in October 2009, Faulders said, at which time the Alumni Association will either renew its agreement with Chase or sign a contract with another bank.“We hope to choose by summer,” Faulders said.Regardless of which bank the University chooses, Faulders said, the new contract probably will not allow access to the current student population.“The student population is viewed as being more vulnerable,” he said. “There are lots of horror stories about students who have gotten into a great degree of debt not understanding how credit cards work ... We don’t want to put undue pressure on students.”
(12/04/08 7:25am)
A study released Dec. 3 by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education shows that higher education in the commonwealth of Virginia, as well as in the United States as a whole, needs to improve efforts to provide affordable education to remain competitive internationally.Stacey Zis, research associate with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and co-author of the study, said the study, “Measuring Up 2008,” is intended to be a national report card for higher education.The center releases a report on higher education in the United States as a whole, Zis said, as well as a report for each individual state. The states were graded on criteria such as how well they prepare students for college, opportunity for college enrollment for 18- to 24-year-olds, college affordability, degree and certificate completion, and the economic and societal benefits a state receives as the result of having well-educated residents, she said.The study was completed using current data from “reliable national sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education,” according to the report.“We’ve made small gains in college preparation,” she said of the findings, “but these are being offset by declines in high school graduation.” She added that gains made in the enrollment of young adults in higher education are offset by declines in the enrollment of older adults.Despite increases in young adult enrollment in higher education, the United States still lags behind countries such as South Korea, Greece, Poland, Ireland, Belgium and Hungary, she said.The commonwealth of Virginia performed slightly better than the United States as a whole in terms of the percentage of 18- to 24-year-old adults enrolled in college and about the same in terms of the percentage of 25- to 49-year-old adults enrolled in college, the study states. Virginia performed slightly worse than the country as a whole in completion, or the number of certificates and degrees awarded per 100 students enrolled.The category in which Virginia performed the best was in benefits, the main measure of which is the percentage of residents with bachelor’s degrees; the commonwealth received an A in this category.“A very large proportion of residents have a bachelor’s degree,” the study states, “and this substantially strengthens the state economy. Virginia is a top performer on the economic benefits measure.”The category in which Virginia performed the worst was college affordability; the commonwealth received an F. “Families in Virginia devote a large share of family income, even after financial aid, to attend public two-year colleges,” according to the report, “and they devote a very large share of family income to attend public four-year colleges and universities.”Furthermore, the report shows that Virginia’s investment in need-based financial aid is very low when compared to the top-performing states.Though the commonwealth scored poorly in affordability, the University remains a leader in recognizing the importance of making higher education affordable, University Financial Aid Director Yvonne Hubbard said. “Financial aid has always been need-based at U.Va.,” Hubbard said. “We have very little merit-based aid because of the affordability issue.”The University administration works hard to ensure that finances do not play a role in a student’s decision of whether to attend the University, Hubbard said, by offering loan-free packages for low-income students and limiting the amount of need-based loans that other students will need to fund their educations.Hubbard said one problem she sees with studies such as the one recently released by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education is that they might scare off potential students.“What concerns me ... is that students start to believe they can’t go anywhere,” Hubbard said. “If students believe [financial aid] is not available, they don’t attempt to go anywhere. There are so many options and so many ways of making it happen.”The University is looking into expanding the AccessUVa program, University spokesperson Carol Wood said, and in the coming year the University has committed $62 million to the program, an increase from the $37 million set aside for the program five years ago.Wood added that the University hopes to continue to be considered one of the nation’s “best buy colleges” and the Board of Visitors will consider that goal when setting the University’s tuition in April. Wood noted, however, that tuition is a main source of funding for AccessUVa, faculty salaries and operating costs at the University.At this point it is important for people who work in higher education to continue considering need in hard financial times, Hubbard said.“I wouldn’t mind seeing a lot more federal aid going into grants and making sure the student loan system is strong,” she said.
(11/24/08 5:34am)
Former men’s lacrosse team captain Will Barrow, a ninth-semester College student, passed away Saturday in Charlottesville.University spokesperson Carol Wood could not confirm the cause of death and said Charlottesville City Police are currently investigating Barrow’s death.According to a press release issued by the athletic department, Barrow was a sociology major enrolled as a part-time student in order to finish the courses needed to complete his degree. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Will Barrow’s family,” athletic director Craig Littlepage stated. “Will was a valued member of the University of Virginia community and of our athletics department family. His loss is difficult for all who knew him — his teammates, coaches, teachers, friends, and department staff members.”Barrow was voted a team captain for the 2007-08 school year, his final year with the Virginia lacrosse team. Though he also excelled in football at Baldwin High School in Baldwin, N.Y., he chose to specialize in lacrosse in college. During his final season of lacrosse, he was rated the No. 48 player in the country and the second-best defensive midfielder by Inside Lacrosse magazine and was named a preseason All-American and First Team All-ACC. He scored 18 goals and seven assists while playing for the Cavaliers in addition to making countless defensive contributions. One of Barrow’s greatest games was a 7-5 victory against Johns Hopkins University in which he scored a key goal while clamping down on defense, prompting lacrosse coach Dom Starsia to name him the team’s most valuable player.Barrow was no longer a member of the lacrosse team at the time of his death, having already completed his four years of eligibility.One of Barrow’s immediate family members declined to comment about Barrow’s death, and a Charlottesville Police sergeant would not discuss whether an investigation into Barrow’s death is underway.Around-the-clock counseling is available to all members of the University community through Counseling and Psychological Services.
(11/18/08 6:28am)
Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, which left the Inter-Fraternity Council last spring, is currently re-organizing in an effort to be readmitted to the IFC.Every year, fraternities within the IFC must fill out a fraternal organization agreement to be included in the body. Richardson said Pi Lambda Phi chose not to fill out the form and was subsequently dropped from the IFC.“They just decided that where they were was not where they want to be,” he said.Ian Lowe, director of expansion for the Pi Lambda Phi international headquarters, said he is currently on Grounds trying to recruit new members to the fraternity. “I’ve been talking to anyone that’s interested,” he said.Lowe said he has been working with IFC President Taylor Richardson as well as Michael Citro, assistant dean of fraternity and sorority life. “We really want to stress that we want to work with the IFC ... to get recognition by spring or next fall,” Lowe said. “We’re big on Greek unity and we want to be part of the process.”Richardson said the situation is unusual because Pi Lambda Phi chose to leave the IFC of its own accord as opposed to being ousted for improper conduct or negligence. Generally when a fraternity is ejected from the IFC because of some sort of infraction, “they are expected to leave for three to four years, which allows active [members] to filter out so they can really start over fresh,” Richardson said, noting Pi Lambda Phi is “trying to do it a little quicker.”There are a number of active and supportive Pi Lambda Phi alumni, he added, so “there is potential to be successful.”Richardson said for now, though, the IFC only has allowed Lowe and others working with him to reach out to upperclass students.“At the end of the semester we will look at the interest level and make a decision from there about whether or not reorganization would work so soon,” he said. Citro, meanwhile, said the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has been very involved in the process thus far. “We’ve had conversations with representatives from the [Pi Lambda Phi] national organization and the alumni leadership to talk about a plan,” Citro said. “To be very honest, part of the plan is to reevaluate where this organization is to see if they can successfully return to be a strong fraternity here.”The IFC has already outlined its expectations in terms of membership, Lowe said.“If we’re able to meet some of those numbers after this semester and if we continue to meet objectives in the spring,” Lowe said, “our goal is that by fall 2009 we are a fully recognized IFC group.A major part of the reorganization process, Lowe said, is emphasizing that the fraternity will be different than it was before. The former fraternity members “weren’t living our values,” he explained. “They had some of the negative problems that are associated with the stereotypical bad fraternity.”John Rivera, the most recent president of the Pi Lambda Phi chapter at the University, said he is no longer affiliated with the fraternity. Similarly, Lowe noted that no members of the past incarnation of Pi Lambda Phi at the University will play a role in the reorganization process.“We were just kind of going downhill, and we decided to take some time off to work out some of the kinks,” Rivera said, noting that the fraternity’s rush numbers had been down in recent years and it had been unable to make payments consistently. He added that the Pi Lambda Phi house is currently not in use by the fraternity and is being rented out until the international headquarters’ reorganization efforts are complete.Lowe said he is now searching for men who fulfill the values and mission of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. The fraternity was the first social fraternity on Grounds to admit an African-American brother in 1969, Lowe said, and it wants to get back to the values displayed by those members. “We want to get back to focusing on character,” he explained. “We’re not looking at race, religion or socioeconomic status but solely at the content of your character.”Citro said the open dialogue will continue between the IFC and Pi Lambda Phi until a decision is made.“We’re committed to having a strong fraternity system here [at the University] and that involves working closely with the IFC in terms of the groups they support,” he said. “Part of that is going to involve a discussion of what role, if any, Pi Lambda Phi can play in the community.”If the IFC decides not to readmit Pi Lambda Phi to the IFC by next fall, it does not necessarily mean the end of the fraternity on Grounds.“If we determine that at this stage for whatever reason there’s not a large level of interest,” he said, “they could continue to stay distant for a couple years and come back at a time that might be more successful.”So far, though, Richardson said Lowe and the alumni leadership “do seem pretty committed” to achieving a successful reorganization.
(11/13/08 6:22am)
Last night, a small crowd of University students gathered to participate in a forum titled “Erasing Hate: A Community Discussion,” led by Thomas B. Howard, Jr., programs director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.The event started with the screening of a video about the death of Matthew Shepard, a freshman at the University of Wyoming who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in 1998.“I just want to have a conversation with you about what is happening in your community,” Howard said, stressing that he would not try to force his opinions or values upon anyone.“All I can do is speak about the world as I see it,” he said.Howard described the difference between hate crimes and hate incidents, explaining that a hate crime involves either physical action or a pattern of hate incidents. Howard then showed a short, fictional video about a high school student who threatened his classmates because of all the bullying he experienced.Howard said when he shows the video to administrators and teachers they try to argue that the severe bullying the student experienced is not reality, but he connects with it on a more personal level.“It was reality for me,” he said. “I remember waking up and not wanting to go to school.”Howard asked students how hate manifests itself here at the University.“It’s about being an ‘other,’” fourth-year College student Khalifa Lee said. “People categorize other people — you’re either ‘this’ or you’re ‘that.’” Lee said he feels that people spend more time with small groups of people just like them rather than learning about people who are different from them.Howard recalled his own experience with hate, describing how he was kicked out of his Southern Baptist college after two years on the suspicion of being a homosexual.“My sexual orientation is [a small part] of who I am,” he said. “It’s like if I was born with a pink or blue toenail and people chose to marginalize me.”Howard urged students to remember that it is important not only to reprimand people who use racial or sexual slurs but also to educate them.“We need to explain why something is offensive,” he said. “We can only play ignorant until we are educated.”Howard also asked about the problems heterosexual and female students face on Grounds.“If you are single, people wonder what is wrong with you,” second-year College student Eudora Chua said of being a heterosexual student.About being a female on Grounds, fourth-year College student Anne Christine Lie said people expect women to dress a certain way and to be adequately feminine. “It’s not spooky Halloween anymore; it’s slutty Halloween,” she said. Howard reminded students, though, that the way a girl dresses does not necessarily make her a “skank.”“We still think victims are responsible for being victimized,” he said, adding that people still tell him that Matthew Shepard “was asking for it.”First-year College student Marvin Richards asked Howard how he deals with groups who publicly condemn gay individuals.Howard responded that he believes it is best to simply ignore such groups.“Just because you scream the loudest doesn’t mean you have the most power,” he said. Howard concluded by challenging students to talk to those who are different and to be confident enough to be themselves.Change “starts with all of us,” he said. “It’s not something grand ...it’s the way we treat those around us.”Lie, who is a member of Queer and Allied Activism, which sponsored the forum, said she would have liked to see more people present, though she noted those who attended “were engaged.”She also said she wished the talk could have focused more on other issues of discrimination present at the University, such as racism or religious intolerance, in addition to sexual orientation.“Obviously it is Proud to Be Out Week, and that’s one of the issues we want to talk about,” she said. “But it would have been interesting to see if people had other perceptions of... hate crimes or incidents.This Friday the Queer and Allied Activism will host “The Laramie Project,” a play written in reaction to Matthew Shepard’s murder, at the chapel as a part of Proud to Be Out Week.
(11/10/08 5:58am)
From Brown College to the language houses, the University features a number of housing options geared toward specific student interests. Of the students who voted on last week’s referendum, a majority would like to see a “green” option added to the University’s offerings.Of the 1,697 students who voted, 1,570 approved the initiative to support the creation of a sustainability house, and 127 voted against it, according to University Board of Elections Chair Alisa Abbott.According to the referendum, “This house would provide university housing to 10-20 upperclassmen students with programming focused on sustainable living, including reduced energy and water use, a garden, composting, and other projects to try to make living in Charlottesville ‘green.’” Rather than constructing a new building, a current house in Charlottesville would be retrofitted to “provide a model for sustainable living in pre-existing buildings and a space for educational and research opportunities in an interdisciplinary community atmosphere.” Abbott said she was pleased with the voter turnout for the referendum.“UBE did as much as it could to advertise and publicise via flyering [and] e-mails,” Abbott said. “We tried to do as much environmentally-kind advertising as we could, considering the nature of the referendum, so there probably wasn’t as much flyering as usual.”Though few people voted against the referendum, Abbott said she could see both sides of the issue.“People might think it could end up being really expensive,” Abbott said. “I’m not really surprised [by the results] but I do understand why both sides would want to vote a certain way.”Regardless of the differing opinions, Mark Williams, a member of the Student Council Environmental Sustainability Committee and task force leader of this particular project, said he thought the voter turnout was “really tremendous.”About six percent of the student body voted, Williams said, which he noted is unusual, especially for a fall referendum.“This being the only referendum on the ballot really could have decreased our turnout,” he said. “The results show strong evidence that U.Va. students are totally in support of sustainability.”Now that the idea has received support through this referendum, Williams said his committee will continue to work in cooperation with the Office of the Architect to develop a complete proposal for the house.“Ultimately it boils down to finding money for the project, through the administration or through private donors,” he explained.Though at this point the plans are only conceptual, the committee has worked out a proposal for how students would be chosen to live in the house.“It would be much like Brown College,” he said, adding that students who are “actively living” in the house would choose the next group of students to enter the house. Williams stressed, however, that at this point “nothing is confirmed.”As far as a timeline for the project, Williams said his committee is currently playing it by ear.“Of course we would like to have it by next fall but it really just depends on the administration and how fast they work with this,” he said. “It hasn’t been approved by any means yet ... but the students [involved] are pushing as fast as they can.”Student Council President Matt Schrimper said the University has been very receptive to working on this project with the committee.“I think this [referendum] will be very important as we try to work with the University to make this a reality,” he said. “I believe this was the single largest turnout for any fall referendum, and I think it’s a testament to the work that the environmental sustainability committee has done getting people excited about sustainability at the University.”
(11/10/08 5:56am)
On Election Day last week, 58 percent of voters in Nebraska supported a measure to end the practice of affirmative action in public employment, public education and public contracting.Colorado voters faced a similar choice on their ballot this year, and although votes are still being counted, the votes to keep the practice currently outweigh the alternative, 51 to 49 percent.Bill Harvey, University vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity, noted that he was pleased that voters in Colorado looked at the proposition on their ballot carefully enough to understand that “there is a need and opportunity for us to provide a chance for people who are historically not represented to get a chance to be involved in higher education and employment.”Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity based in Falls Church, Va., which supports banning some kinds of affirmative action, however, holds a different perspective. He noted that his organization recently conducted and released a study showing the “heavy weight” the University of Nebraska College of Law gives to race in its admissions policies.“African-Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latinos were admitted with much lower qualifications than whites and Asian-Americans,” Clegg said. “We think that’s unfair and divisive and really serves no one’s interests, so we oppose that.”Clegg noted, however, that the term “affirmative action” means different things to different groups of people, and his organization does not oppose all forms of affirmative action. He cited President John F. Kennedy’s reference to the term affirmative action in a 1961 executive order in which he urged employers to take “affirmative action” to avoid engaging in prejudicial policies as an example of a type of affirmative action that his organization approves.On the other hand, he said, “we think that actually taking race or ethnicity into account in deciding who gets admitted into a school or who gets hired or who is awarded a government contract is discrimination, and it’s wrong no matter what racial or ethnic group is being discriminated against,” Clegg said. “In 2008, it is untenable to have a legal regime where people are sorted according to skin color and some people are treated better and others worse on that basis.”In contrast with Clegg, Shirley J. Wilcher, executive director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, said affirmative action is still necessary.“Until we have no evidence of discrimination, affirmative action will continue to be necessary,” she said. “Diversity is still a compelling interest with demographics indicating that by 2042, a majority of Americans will be minorities. It is important to ensure colleges and universities have qualified students of all backgrounds.”Wilcher also said people supporting the bans on affirmative action have been engaging in “deceptive practices” in order to convince other people to also support the bans. “People thought they were signing an initiative that was pro-civil rights,” she said, when they were actually signing a petition to ban affirmative action.Wilcher said the future of the United States depends on qualified people of all races being able to graduate from college and to ascend to positions of leadership. “Even Obama talked about being a beneficiary of affirmative action,” she said.Harvey said the University follows the affirmative action statutes outlined by the commonwealth; the race of a student can be one of a number of factors that are considered by admissions officers.Like Wilcher, Harvey also said those who seek to ban affirmative action are not being completely honest when portraying what the practice really is. “The initiatives are distorted attempts by opponents of affirmative action to misrepresent what it stands for,” Harvey said. “In many instances they are not providing an accurate representation of what affirmative action is or what it attempts to accomplish.”For the time being, the University will continue to follow the laws of the commonwealth of Virginia, Harvey said, and unless Virginia voters chose to change the laws, there would be no reason or rationale for the University to change its policies.“The circumstances of this week have caused quite a lot of us to think about where we are and where we’re going as a country,” he said. “It’s probably because of the use of affirmative action [that] we have our first African-American president, and rather than curtail, I think we should expand [affirmative action].”Nebraska is the fourth state to pass a ban on affirmative action, preceded by California, Washington and Michigan.
(11/10/08 5:52am)
The shorter day length and colder weather that comes with the onset of fall can make many people yearn for the sunny days of summer. But for a small percentage of the U.S. population, fall can bring about a deep depression that continues all the way through the winter season. Known as seasonal affective disorder, this condition is not very well understood in the science world. A recent study, however, suggests sufferers of SAD may have a genetic mutation in their retinas that could be a partial cause of their depression.“Seasonal affective disorder is commonly known as winter depression, but it should be distinguished from feeling blue in the winter,” said Assoc. Biology Prof, Ignacio Provencio, lead researcher of the study. “It is a real form of major depression, affecting between three and eight percent of the population.”A common treatment for SAD, he said, is light therapy, through which the patient sits in front of a bank of bright lights for a few minutes to a few hours.“Because of this we thought that people who suffer from SAD perhaps have some kind of light sensitivity issues,” Provencio said. Specifically, he and his colleagues thought SAD sufferers might be less sensitive to light.Provencio and his colleagues studied a gene known as melanopsin — which is present in a light-sensitive protein — to look for a possible mutation in the gene in SAD cases.Asst. Psychology Prof. Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh, lead author of the study, said cells containing melanopsin perform non-visual functions that still require light to work, citing pupil reflex as an example of a non-visual function that requires light.In the study, “we used individuals who were among the first to be studied at NIH with SAD and sequenced their DNA to see if they had any differences in the gene from people who didn’t have SAD,” Roecklein said.Provencio said the researchers studied about 220 individuals, 130 sufferers of SAD and 90 controls.“We found seven individuals that carried two mutated copies of this gene.” Provencio said. “All seven of the individuals fell into the SAD group.”Roecklein said the results show that five percent of the SAD sufferers had two mutated copies of the gene. “On the one hand, that’s a huge difference because no one who did have two copies didn’t have SAD, but on the other hand, only 5 percent with SAD had two copies, so it doesn’t explain SAD in 95 percent of our sample,” Roecklein said, noting, however, “most of these disorders, like depression, are known as complex disorders which means they are caused by many genes.” Melanopsin may just be one of many genes affecting SAD sufferers, Roecklein said.The findings of the study could turn out to be a useful diagnostic tool, Provencio said. “If you carry two mutated copies of this gene, you may indeed be more susceptible to SAD,” he explained.In the future, Roecklein said another benefit of the study may be an ability to tell which treatment for SAD would work best for each sufferer.“There are multiple treatments [for SAD] ... and knowing which is most likely to work for a person would help them get better faster.” She stressed, however, that “we’re really not there yet.”Roecklein said as a next step, she plans to try to replicate the study, as studies like this can occasionally produce false positives.“It could be that we found this difference but if we repeated with hundreds more people we wouldn’t find it again,” she said. “It’s really not until it’s replicated that we can be more confident that this is a true finding.”
(11/06/08 7:30am)
Students living in Hereford College recently received an e-mail informing them that Hereford will officially become first-year-only housing starting in fall 2010.According to the e-mail, the reasons for the change are the continued growth of incoming first-year classes and the ongoing dormitory replacement project on Observatory Hill.“We recognize the potential inconvenience this decision may cause residents of Hereford who had intended to re-sign for space in the College,” the e-mail stated, “and are committed to minimizing disruption for those wishing to remain part of the College experience, or, those seeking other on-Grounds accommodation for the coming year.”Patricia Lampkin, vice president and chief student affairs officer, said the decision was an unexpected — but necessary — one. She said the University was informed “just a few weeks ago” about additional construction needs stemming from cost and pragmatic issues and had to balance its commitment to the first-year experience and the interests of current residents.Many current Hereford residents expressed dissatisfaction after learning early last week that the University administration was considering converting Hereford to strictly first-year housing as early as fall 2009. A number of students painted Beta Bridge Sunday evening in an effort to encourage the administration to reconsider the decision.Though the final decision pushes the final conversion date back to 2010, first-year College student Jordan Williams said she is not happy with the planned changes to Hereford.“It’s so calm and peaceful up here,” Williams said. “You don’t have some of the busyness you get on central Grounds or even Lambeth.”Williams noted that she has also enjoyed the residential college experience. “There are just fun things you get to do in Hereford ... like banquets just for Hereford [residents], and it makes us feel special,” she said. “I’m sure other residential colleges do that, but they’re not Hereford.”Though not all current first-year students were initially excited to be placed in Hereford after being admitted to the University, many have grown to appreciate what the residence has to offer.“I wanted to have that first-year classic experience,” first-year College student Ariel Sayre said, noting, though, that she has since appreciated having upperclassmen around, especially when she was choosing classes.Still, Sayre said, “if I could choose again I would choose to [live with] all first-years.”Though Sayre said she had always planned to leave Hereford after this year, she understands many upperclassmen are unhappy with the decision.“It is a little community,” she said, “and it’s going to be completely messed up now.” Not everything about Hereford will be completely changed, however, first-year College student Anna Pfeiffer said.“Hereford is not dead,” Pfeiffer said. “Hereford College will continue to exist.”Pfeiffer, who was part of a student committee that met with administrators last week about the changes to Hereford, said upperclassmen will still be able to take part in the traditional Hereford College activities, at least for 2009.“Anyone who wants to be a part of Hereford College can live in the two nearest Gooch-Dillard [buildings],” Pfeiffer said. “They will be included in everything and will have access to all activities and amenities.”Lampkin also said current upper-class residents will be able to resign and live in the Hereford community for the 2009-10 academic year. The Gooch-Dillard option is primarily meant for students wishing to move into the Hereford Residential College, she said, noting that although current Hereford residents will be able to resign and live in the same building they currently do, new students will not be allowed into the three Hereford buildings.In this regard, Lampkin noted that it is important to differentiate between a residential college based on buildings and a residential college based on a community. She said she is also in favor of continuing to explore future options for the Hereford community, including the possibility that the residential college would continue to exist in a different location.“My hope is that we can retain the community,” Lampkin said. “I don’t want to set an expectation, though, and I don’t want to reduce an expectation ... I have faith that we can figure this out.”Though Pfeiffer noted that the re-signing and Gooch-Dillard options were not originally part of the administration’s plans, she said those plans were changed after students formed a committee and met with University administrators.“It was a big problem, and it is a bit upsetting and ... stressful, but we are making the best out of this unfortunate situation,” she said. “We have not lost Hereford as a college.”Pfeiffer also added that the committee will meet with Lampkin again next Monday to discuss the changes.
(10/27/08 5:58am)
At Fall Convocation Friday afternoon, University President John T. Casteen, III presented the Thomas Jefferson Award, the University’s highest honor, to both Dean of Admissions John Blackburn and Sharon Hostler, interim vice provost for faculty advancement. This year marks only the second time two people have received the award in one year.In his remarks about Blackburn, Casteen said, “with steadfast wisdom, judgment and uncommon integrity, Mr. Blackburn has selected the students for each year’s entering class for nearly a quarter-century.”Casteen also focused on Blackburn’s dedication to diversity and fair access for all students.“Each year, Mr. Blackburn visits personally with students of diverse racial, ethnic and social backgrounds, encouraging them to consider applying for admission to U.Va.,” Casteen said. “By making disadvantaged students aware of the AccessUVa financial-aid program, he has enabled hundreds of young women and men to study here despite their limited financial means.”Assoc. Dean of Admissions Greg Roberts, who wrote a letter supporting Blackburn’s nomination, said Blackburn is not only a leader at the University but also a genuinely good person. “He is a wonderful, wonderful human being,” Roberts said. “He is the kindest, most caring and compassionate man I have ever known.”Roberts also described Blackburn as a trailblazer in the field of admissions, especially regarding access and affordability.“His whole life is dedicated to values that would have been very important to Jefferson,” Roberts said.Spanish Prof. David Gies said Blackburn is one of the most important people at the University. “We on the faculty ... are always crowing about how wonderful the students are, and he and his staff are the people who produce [the students],” Gies said. “If they did a lousy job, our jobs would be completely different and much more difficult.”Blackburn, who will be retiring in 2009, stated in an e-mail that he is honored and humbled to be a Jefferson Award recipient. “I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined receiving the Thomas Jefferson Award,” he stated.Sharon Hostler, currently serving as interim vice provost for faculty advancement, has been a member of the University faculty since 1969. “Dr. Hostler was the first woman in the School of Medicine to hold an endowed professorship,” Casteen said about Hostler. “She has been an advocate for children, families of sick children, students, women, junior faculty and nascent leaders.”Susan Pollart, associate dean for faculty development, noted Hostler’s accomplishments in the field of pediatric medicine. Before Hostler, “care had focused on the doctor and what they could do for the patient,” Pollart said. Hostler worked to shift the focus to the patients and their families and coined the term “patient-centered care,” Pollart said.Marcia Day Childress, Humanities Programs director at the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities and Hostler’s primary nominator, praised Hostler’s “advocacy on behalf of women, gender equity and a more humane culture in academic medicine and in academe generally, both here in Charlottesville and nationwide.” Childress also said Hostler will work to put some of the programs she helped develop for medical faculty into place for all faculty across the University community.Asst. Anesthesiology Prof. Farnaz Gazoni said she first met Hostler — who could not be reached for comment — when she shadowed her 12 years ago as a pre-medical student at the University. “Dr. Hostler is deserving of the [Jefferson Award] because she embodies so many Jeffersonian virtues,” Gazoni said. “She’s done so much to ... enrich the medical side of his Academical Village.”
(10/27/08 5:54am)
Last week, the Republican Party of Virginia reported that duplicate absentee ballots have been sent to voters from several locations in Virginia, sparking concerns that election results in Virginia could be compromised. In a press release, the RPV stated that there have been reports of duplicate ballots in Fairfax, Virginia Beach, Henrico, Chesterfield and Petersburg, though Petersburg Registrar Dawn Williams denied that any duplicate applications were mailed to Petersburg residents.RPV Communications Director Gerry Scimeca said such a glitch could have a significant impact on the election in the commonwealth.“If you have more ballots than actual voters circulating, [there is a] possibility of tainting the outcome,” he said. Scimeca said the RPV recommends that officials from the counties that sent out duplicate ballots not count the absentee ballots they receive until the deadline to turn in absentee ballots has passed on Election Day. Then, if any voter has turned in more than one ballot, Scimeca said the State Board of Elections should set guidelines to help registrars determine the best course of action, whether it be contacting the voter or perhaps the voter’s witness.Susan Pollard, Virginia State Board of Elections director of communications, said the SBE is currently investigating the cause of this error, adding that it is most likely because of a processing issue rather than a problem with the electronic system.“This is very serious,” Pollard said, “but voters need to be reassured that the Virginia Election and Registration [Information] System does have safeguards built in to not allow more than one ballot to be counted [per person].”Pollard urged anyone who receives a duplicate ballot to contact his registrar. “If there is an issue in processing, it needs to be reviewed and it needs to be remedied,” she said.Scimeca also suggested notifying the registrar, but said he believes it is more important that the duplicate ballot is destroyed.“Rip it up, throw it away,” he said. “It’s really no good and having it out there can only hurt you.”Though the Republican Party of Virginia has expressed concern about this issue in the past week, the Democratic Party of Virginia is not worried, DPV communications director Jared Leopold said, adding that the State Board of Elections appears to be managing the situation.“I think it was a small glitch in the system,” Leopold said, “and it appears to be under control.”Richard Sincere, chair of the Charlottesville electoral board, said he has not encountered this problem before but noted “generally if a mistake like this is made, voters are honest enough to return only one ballot.”Sincere added that Charlottesville has a number of procedures in place to ensure that serious errors do not occur. If the integrity of ballots was called into question, Sincere said, the person counting the ballots could compare signatures or check with the witness to determine whether a vote was cast in the proper manner.“We expect voters to be honest about this sort of thing, but if they do try to vote twice, that’s criminal fraud and a felony,” Sincere said. “If a complaint is made, that can be turned over to the commonwealth attorney.”The Cavalier Daily attempted to contact officials from Fairfax, Virginia Beach, Henrico and Chesterfield for comment. A Henrico official declined to comment on the situation, while representatives from the other regions did not respond to requests for on-the-record comment.
(10/23/08 5:22am)
University researchers are preparing to launch a study that has the potential to influence the way alcohol dependence in young adults is treated.Bankole Johnson, chair of the department of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences, will lead a clinical test of the effectiveness of ondansetron, traditionally used as an anti-nausea medication, in treating alcohol abuse in adults ages 18 to 25.“Ondansetron ... contains a chemical that reduces [the] craving for alcohol and binge drinking,” Johnson said.The clinical study will involve eight weeks of treatment with the drug, Johnson said, including two sessions of psychosocial intervention and follow-up monitoring. Three hundred people who are currently binge drinking will take part in the study, he said, most likely including a number of University students.The study — which will take about four years to complete, according to Johnson — is being funded by a $3.2-million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Raye Litten, associate director of the division of treatment and recovery research at NIAAA, said the institute is particularly interested in Johnson’s study because of the young age of the population Johnson will be testing.Litten said the average age of people who participate in NIAAA clinical trials is about 40, despite the fact that the average age of the onset of alcohol dependence is 20 to 21. According to Litten, high risk drinking behavior — which he defines as drinking more then five drinks in one night for men and drinking more then three drinks for women — can lead to longer term effects in this younger age group including dependency.“If he finds this [drug] is effective, you could treat people as they develop [dependence] at an earlier age, rather than let it progress,” Litten said, adding that currently, most people take at least eight years to seek treatment for alcohol abuse.“This could prevent long-term effects much better than letting [abuse] go on for years and years,” he said.An earlier study conducted by Johnson concluded that ondansetron is not very effective in treating later-onset alcohol abuse, Litten said, but also found the drug is more effective for cases of early onset alcohol abuse, making it an “ideal drug to test on this population.”The study also will focus on the effect of genetics on treatment response, Johnson said.“If a person has a certain genetic profile, he or she may respond better to the drug ... and have fewer side effects,” Litten said, expanding upon the genetic aspect of the study. “It would be nice, before you give someone a drug, to know if they have a chance to respond to it.”If his hypothesis is confirmed, Johnson said doctors could be able to offer medication targeted toward binge-drinking students for the first time.
(10/06/08 4:17am)
For several weeks, volunteers on Grounds have been working to register students to vote prior to this evening’s deadline. Some students who registered on Grounds, however, may not be registered officially to vote because of confusion about the registration form.First-year College student Alan Rogers said the volunteer registering him to vote told him he only needed to put the last four digits of his Social Security number on the registration form. Suspicious about this information, Rogers said he later called the Albemarle County registrar and the Charlottesville City registrar to double-check that he was registered. Rogers said he was told by both registrars there was no record of him being registered to vote.Rogers said he was told by the registrar that “a lot of people have been calling to see if they’re registered and they’re not.” He added, “I’m not sure if it was just a mistake, but when I re-registered, the application said specifically to fill out your entire Social Security number.”Charlottesville Deputy Registrar Dianne Gilliland said this issue was reported to the registrar’s office last week. When the staff in the registrar’s office see an application that has been filled out incorrectly, Gilliland said, they try to notify the person, but they are unable to do so now because of the large influx of applications.“There’s not enough time for both data entry and notifying people with incorrect applications,” she said.Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta said all of the ballots missing full Social Security numbers came from the Wertland Street Obama office.“We went and alerted the campaign when we realized it was somebody who was giving out wrong information,” Iachetta said, adding that the confusion stems from the fact that students only need the last four digits of their Social Security number if they are filling out an absentee ballot form.“I’m concerned about it but there’s only so much we can do,” Iachetta said.Hoos for Obama President Sam Shirazi, a former Cavalier Daily Opinion columnist, said he did not personally speak with Iachetta about the incident; however, he said it is possible that the incorrect forms came from the Wertland Street Obama office.“It’s not that we mess up; it’s that [the people registering] mess up and we catch the mistakes,” Shirazi said. “They’re filling out the form and we’re just turning it in.”Hoos for Obama volunteers do try to catch mistakes in the forms; however, sometimes mistakes can slip through the cracks, Shirazi said.“It’s not really our responsibility to check if [the forms are] correct,” Shirazi said. “Obviously we want to because we want them to get their cards, [so] we try our best to make sure it’s correct, but we’re human.”If students think they filled out their forms incorrectly, Gilliland recommended they fill out the form again and take it to the registrar’s office today. Iachetta also urged students concerned about the accuracy of their forms to fill out another one. “I’d much rather have several duplicate forms,” Iachetta said, “rather than have some student given wrong information by a ... group.”The effort to register more voters has been a serious goal throughout the semester for both McCain and Obama supporters on Grounds.“When we campaign door-to-door, we try to register voters,” Hoos for McCain president John Sweeney said. “During any campaign event we have, we also try to register voters.”Shirazi said his organization’s priorities “are getting unregistered voters to register, providing absentee ballots and providing an option for people to vote in Charlottesville.”Efforts to target college campuses are taking place not just at the University, but across the commonwealth, as supporters of both the Republican and Democratic tickets seek student support in the battleground state.“At Liberty University, there is a huge push to get people registered to vote,” Sweeney said. “Liberty is a huge Republican stronghold.”Shirazi noted that September statistics show a total of 105,000 new voters in Virginia, many of whom are students.In addition, a number of Web sites have cropped up encouraging students to register. A Web site called CountMore.org has sought to increase the number of students registering to vote in the upcoming 2008 presidential election by showing students where their vote will count the most, in their school state or home state. Though the site is relatively new, Matt Lerner, chief technology officer of Front Seat, a Seattle-based software company that designed the site, says he still thinks the site will have an impact.Shirazi, however, said encouraging students to vote through a Web site does not have the same potential for success as registering students in person, noting that a Web site is too “impersonal.”“[In] my experience, most students wouldn’t register through an online Web site,” Shirazi said.Both Sweeney and Shirazi said their organizations will continue their registration efforts until tonight’s deadline.
(09/11/08 4:52am)
The General Faculty Council, which represents full- and part-time general faculty and the senior professional research staff, held its first meeting of the semester yesterday afternoon, discussing the progress of restructuring currently taking place in the University Human Resources office.Chief Human Resources Officer Susan Carkeek presented information about the differences between the current and the new human resources structure, the latter of which will go into effect Oct. 1. She identified five key policy areas that will change under the new system for employees who choose to opt into it: career advancement, performance evaluation, leave, compensation and employment-related policies.In an attempt to improve career advancement, employees will now develop career action plans, Carkeek said, defining their goals and what opportunities would help them grow in their professional interests. Human Resources identified 75 different career paths throughout the University, according to Carkeek, to serve as starting points and examples for supervisors and employees to plan specific career paths. The new system to evaluate employees’ performance will also be more uniform, Carkeek said, and will include a means of showing employees the University’s goals, their specific department’s or school’s goals, and their personal goals. This system enables employees to see how their personal career goals are linked to the goals of the University as a whole, thereby making University departments and employees more connected. Carkeek also noted that the evaluation system currently operates formally, assessing the specific tasks the employee accomplishes, rather than how those tasks are accomplished. The new system, however, will evaluate what you do “in the context of other institutional values,” such as teamwork and displaying good judgment.Human Resources has also drawn up a draft of a new leave plan and will be asking employees for feedback over the next two weeks. Carkeek noted, though, that no changes to the leave plan will be made until 2010.Some possible changes include the ability to “sell back” annual leave that employees do not use, as well as a new Web-based attendance system, Carkeek explained.Another topic Carkeek discussed is increased transparency related to employee salaries and compensation.“Every position will have a market range,” Carkeek said, that will be used “to help manage salary increases.” The market ranges for each position will be released to the public, so employees can see if their salary matches the market range for their particular positions. Several faculty members expressed concern about what to do if members of their staff are displeased with receiving below-market compensation. Carkeek said she expects the new policy to generate anxiety, but noted that by making salary information public, sorting through any problems should become easier. “I’d rather err on the side of making it public and working our way through it,” she said.Concerns were also expressed about the possibility of the new benefits not being as effective in a few years because of the current state of the economy. Carkeek assured those present that it is not in the best interest of the University to “pull the rug out” from beneath its employees by decreasing benefits. She also noted that she does not expect a significant number of employees to accept the new plan right away. “People will want to see how it plays out,” she said. “A lot of policies won’t look obvious, [and it may] take some time to see the advantages.”Following the meeting, Senior International Advisor Richard Tanson said he thinks the restructuring is very progressive.“This set of propositions ... is one of the most innovative things the University has done,” Tanson said, especially “in a climate where employees have not always felt as valued as they ought to be.”CME Program Manager Pam Macintyre said she thinks the new system will be an excellent opportunity, but said it would be more appropriate for younger employees. “If you’re already invested in one system, you might not move over,” she said. “For someone like myself, about five years from retirement, it doesn’t make much sense [to switch].”For the time being, Carkeek said, employees will not be required to switch to the new plan.“If 10 percent of you switch, I will be very surprised,” she said; however, she noted that she hopes more employees will choose the new plan in the future. Though the first enrollment period will begin Oct. 1, Carkeek said there will be another enrollment period in 2009, giving employees a chance to see the system in effect before deciding to make the switch.
(09/08/08 9:52am)
Following an athletic department announcement at the beginning of the year banning signs from sporting events, University students staged a protest against the policy at Saturday’s football game.An e-mail was sent to ‘Hoo Crew members early Friday morning containing a message from an anonymous source urging students to participate.“As many of you have heard,” the message read, “The Athletic Department recently instituted a sign prohibition for all athletic events. This announcement has recently garnered national attention portraying U.Va. in a very negative light. Many are outraged. We ask that you be a part of the solution.”Several locations around Grounds were listed where blank sheets of paper would be distributed to students. At each location was a set of directions instructing students to raise the blank sheets of paper at the 5- and 10-minute marks of each quarter.The sign-banning policy has upset many students in recent weeks and has received national media attention, including an article by ESPN sports reporter Rick Reilly that served as a source of inspiration for the protest. “Here’s what Virginia students should do for every home game from now on: Bring signs that say nothing,” Reilly wrote. “Bring signs that say, ‘This Is Not a Sign.’ Or bring 60,00 [sic] signs and let the athletic department goons try to sort them out. Because sometimes rebellion isn’t just a good thing. It’s the only thing.”Fourth-Year College student Blaire Hawkins, who helped organize the protest, said she saw Reilly’s article as the call to action for University students.“People were already upset,” Hawkins said, “and then to see such a ... public reaction is what finally pushed us to try to do something.” ‘Hoo Crew president Kevin Dowlen said he received an e-mail regarding the protest at about midnight Thursday. He chose to make the rest of the ‘Hoo Crew aware of the protest because he felt students should be informed about the controversy surrounding the new policy.“I [thought it] would be good to galvanize the whole student body and make them aware of [Reilly’s] article that doesn’t portray us in positive light,” Dowlen said. “It’s important for students to see that so they can try to take a stand against it.”University spokesperson Carol Wood said the policy is only intended to promote sportsmanship and a positive gameday environment.“As part of the University’s commitment to sportsmanship, we annually examine ways to improve our efforts in this area,” Wood said. “It is our hope that these recent changes will encourage true sportsmanship in the stands and add to gameday enjoyment of all fans and guests of the University.”Dowlen, however, said signs add to the game-day environment.“[The athletic department] talks about ‘gameday atmosphere’ until they get blue in the face,” Dowlen said, “But signs enhance the gameday atmosphere.”Fourth-year College student Alexander Neal, who attended Saturday’s game, said the policy should be revoked because he believes signs can be an effective and positive way for students to express themselves at athletic events.“Craig Littlepage and Al Groh should work to promote a festive and positive game day environment,” Neal said, including the allowance of signs. Rich Murray, associate athletics director for public relations, however, said the athletic department had no comment, other than to reiterate the policy stating all banners, signs and flags are prohibited in University athletics venues.Meanwhile, the discussion moved beyond just students and the administration this weekend as a number of alumni present at the game were equally dismayed with the new policy.“It’s disgraceful,” 1986 Engineering alumnus George Ax said. “They’re taking the fun out of the game.”Ax also recalled the more lax athletic policies in place when he was a student, referencing the fact that “even the school-sanctioned Pep Band made jokes about the other team” and was not reprimanded.1997 Engineering alumnus Joe Pedersen said the signs are all in good fun.“Some might be in bad taste, but the majority are clever,” he said. “Whatever happened to free speech?”Pedersen also suggested the sign ban contradicts some of the University’s founding principles, noting the University prides itself on the prevalence of student self-governance. Students are considered responsible enough to preside over the honor code and hold trials for fellow students, Pedersen said, “but now you’re not responsible enough to make [appropriate] signs?”As the debate continues, Student Council President Matt Schrimper said student protest against the policy will continue until the issue is resolved and noted that Student Council plans to become more involved in the issue.Student Council has been in touch with the athletic department, Schrimper said, and a meeting between the two organizations to seek a resolution will be scheduled in the near future.“If we can’t have a resolution with the athletic department,” Schrimper said, “then we’ll continue to find other ways to address the situation through alternative methods,” including repeating Saturday’s protest at future games. Schrimper said the policy has a deeper significance than simply the banning of signs. “I think we all agree that it’s part of a larger issue of First Amendment rights and free speech,” Schrimper said, “Especially at Mr. Jefferson’s University.”As for Saturday’s protest, Hawkins said she was pleased with the outcome.“I was really thrilled to see how many participated,” she said. “The visual was very powerful and not something that can be easily ignored.”Editor’s Note: One of the organizers of the protest, Zach Rowen, is a Cavalier Daily sports columnist.
(09/08/08 9:51am)
The Inter-Sorority Council is reviewing its judicial structure this semester, with the goal of making the judicial system more mediation-based rather than trial-based.Though the ISC currently has a judicial branch, ISC president Stuart Berkeley said, in recent years it has become less active — a problem she attributed to its structure.“This might be a more approachable and appropriate way to deal with issues affecting sorority women,” Berkeley said of a revised, mediation-based system. “More specifically, we’ll first [attempt] mediation, and if we can’t figure it out, we still have judicial hearings in our bylaws.”The possibility of making changes to the judicial system has been a topic of discussion within the ISC for quite some time, Berkeley said. “We have talked since last spring about the judicial system, and then preliminary work was done this summer,” Berkeley said. “We will have a vote from our representatives in the coming weeks, once we have [a] presentation on what we worked on over the course of the summer.”If the representatives vote in favor of the changes, Berkeley said, the ISC’s judicial structure will be unique. “Within the national regulations ... it’s mandated that when mediation occurs, it should be by unbiased administrators within the school,” Berkeley said. “We have fought to make sure that we maintain the spirit of self-governance, so our mediators will be students, which is unheard of within sororities nationwide.”Berkeley said she hopes to have representatives from each sorority within the ISC serve as mediators. In order to determine the best course of action for developing such a program, Berkeley said, the ISC has been working closely with University Mediation Services.“We have relied on University Mediation Services to [help us] look at documents and try to figure out what we want,” Berkeley said.UMS coordinator Lauren Catlett said UMS is working with the ISC to develop a training session for sorority members chosen as mediation representatives.“We haven’t worked out all of the details yet,” Catlett said, “but it will probably be co-run by [UMS] mediators and our community partners.”Catlett said this collaboration with the ISC falls under the educational aspect of UMS, which also offers educational workshops to other groups and individuals.“We have our [mediation] structure in place already [so] we can help them build theirs,” Catlett said.Catlett said mediation is often a good route to take for conflict resolution because it allows students to work through problems without the intimidating possibility of punishment. “A lot of conflicts deal with miscommunication, and mediation gives people a chance to put their side of the story out there on equal playing fields without the threat of some sort of punishment,” Catlett said. “You can end up with a more appropriate solution to the conflict ... and it empowers the individuals involved.”ISC mediation training is tentatively planned for November, Berkeley said, adding that she hopes to have the entire program up and running by January.
(09/04/08 4:17am)
University students and Charlottesville residents should begin to see major changes affecting pedestrian safety over the next six to nine months, according to Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris. “A committee has been looking at a variety of changes to make it safer for pedestrians to make their way through the downtown areas and the University,” Norris said, noting that the committee examined a variety of factors including traffic signs, signals and infrastructure. Charlottesville residents should expect to see an increased number of signals and signs, Norris said, including more traffic signals with countdowns informing pedestrians of how much time is left to cross the street. Other planned improvements are intended to benefit city residents with disabilities and limited mobility, Norris added. “The committee looked at infrastructure issues — sidewalks without curb cuts for people in wheelchairs,” he said. In addition to physical improvements, Norris said the committee and Charlottesville City Council plan to educate the public more about how to respect pedestrian safety while driving and also will increase enforcement of the traffic laws, in an effort to make Charlottesville a safer community.The idea for a committee to explore pedestrian safety stems in general from the Council’s interest in promoting alternative transportation, Norris said. “One of the best alternatives [for driving] is increasing foot traffic and making it easier and safer for people to get by on foot,” Norris said. “The same goes for bicycles and public transit.”But more specifically, Norris said several accidents occurred within the city last year involving pedestrians on foot and in wheelchairs that prompted Council to take a closer look at pedestrian safety. “We need to make sure pedestrians have a safer way to get around,” Norris said. Charlottesville resident Peter Kleeman suggested that one such incident that galvanized safety concerns occurred last year when a man in a wheelchair was hit by a police car while crossing the street.“That inspired some concerns about pedestrian issues,” Kleeman said.Second-year College student Damian Njoku said he approves of the addition of more signs and signals around the city to increase safety.“The more the better,” Njoku said.In contrast, fourth-year College student Blen Afework said she thinks pedestrians need to take more care to cross at actual crosswalks.“A lot of students walk into the street and expect not to get hit,” she said. Though second-year College student Patrick Slay said he does not think it is necessary to increase or improve sign availability and signals, he would be interested in lighting improvements, noting that he rides a bicycle often, and some of the roads on Grounds are not lit brightly enough.“If people can’t see you, they’re going to hit you,” Slay said.Like Slay, Colette Hall, North Downtown Residents Association president, said she approves of efforts to improve pedestrian safety, but wished some details of the process were different.“Our neighborhood had no input about these regulations,” Hall said. “We are not against the recommendations, but you should really consult the neighborhood about doing something this drastic.” According to Norris, however, Charlottesville residents were indeed a part of the committee.“The committee included a lot of citizen representatives in addition to city staff,” he said. Hall also noted that she believes more of the changes should occur within neighborhoods, as opposed to downtown. Nevertheless, Hall said she looks forward to any changes that would lead to improved safety. ”I’m for anything that ... increases pedestrian safety because we are a pedestrian-safety neighborhood,” Hall said. “I am all for recommendations that increase pedestrian safety.”
(09/02/08 1:18am)
Thirteen members of the University’s chapter of Theta Delta Chi fraternity were arrested Aug. 20 for breaking into the Union College Theta Delta Chi fraternity house and damaging more than $2,000 worth of property through actions including urinating on two couches.“Our campus safety folks were on routine patrol when they noticed an individual outside of the house and asked what he was doing,” Phil Wadja, director of media and public relations at Union College. “He said he had permission to be in there.”Wadja said campus security was suspicious because Union College was not yet in session, and the house was unoccupied for the summer. Campus security contacted the city police in Schenectady, N.Y., where Union College is located, and all 13 Theta Delta Chi members present were charged with trespassing, Wadja said.“There was some damage to the house, about $2,000 dollars, including two couches that they had apparently urinated on,” he said, adding that the students had broken into the house through a second-story window.Theta Delta Chi fraternity members visit Union College quite often, Wadja said, in part because the fraternity was founded at Union College. He noted, however, that when students do visit, “it is generally during the school year and not in the middle of the night.”Schenectady District Attorney Robert Carney said the students were originally charged with misdemeanors, but because they agreed to pay for the damage, the charges will be adjourned for six months and subsequently dropped if the students stay out of trouble. Ultimately, the students will have no criminal record.Carney also noted that Union College officials and Schenectady police were particularly upset because the students were not honest from the beginning. “Some or all of them said they were from William & Mary,” Carney said.According to Alex Koch, president of the University’s chapter of Theta Delta Chi, the brothers’ visit to Union College was part of a yearly tradition. “Every year the incoming pledge class takes a road trip to some of the other charges around the Northeast,” Koch said. “Unfortunately, Union College operates on a trimester schedule, so no brothers were at the fraternity house, and the guys made the poor decision to stay at the house anyway.”Koch said they had received permission to stay at the house from a Union brother at Theta Delta Chi’s national convention, “but communication with Union was obviously insufficient.”Since the incident, Koch said attempts to contact Union College brothers have been well-received. “They have been very understanding and supportive,” he said. “Nothing would make us happier than to visit them and put this embarrassing incident behind us.”Michael Citro, assistant dean of fraternity and sorority life, said officials at Union College notified the University’s Office of the Dean of Students of the incident.“We coordinated a follow-up with the fraternity to learn more exact details,” Citro said. The incident has since been referred to the Inter-Fraternity Council Judiciary Committee.Citro added that his office is working closely with IFCJC and the University’s chapter of Theta Delta Chi to resolve the issue, noting that the fraternity has been “extremely cooperative.”When an incident involving fraternity members occurs, any member of the University community may file a complaint with the IFC, IFC president Taylor Richardson said. In this case, Citro reported the incident. Once a complaint is filed, a group of IFCJC officers investigate the incident to determine whether it necessitates a trial, said Lansing Lee, IFC vice president for judiciary. If a trial is deemed necessary, the presiding judges will determine guilt or innocence, as well as the appropriate sanctions. Any consequences are imposed upon the whole fraternity, not just the individuals who committed the act in question, Lee said.Though fall rush is fast approaching, Richardson said he does not think the incident will affect Theta Delta Chi’s recruiting. “They made a mistake, and they’ll learn from it,” Richardson said. Koch, on the other hand, said the incident certainly could affect recruiting, but added that Theta Delta Chi hopes to be able to move forward and have a strong rush.“We apologize for the damage we have done to the reputations of Theta Delta Chi, ourselves and, most importantly, the University of Virginia,” Koch said. “We hope to work with all relevant parties and reach a positive resolution.”Citro said it is important for fraternities to remember that any actions they may take on and off Grounds can lead to both positive and negative reactions. “My sense is that the core of the fraternity members are committed to the values of the fraternity,” Citro said. “They are going to work through this incident to ensure that their fraternity continues to succeed.”Wadja said the incident was most likely a lapse in judgment on the part of the students involved.“I’m sure they regret it now,” he said. “It was just a foolish thing to do.”