1000 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/16/09 6:03am)
The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team traveled to Austin, Texas, Sunday where it defeated No. 10 Texas 4-3. Virginia’s scheduled match Friday against Baylor was cancelled because of rain.The two teams took a 3-3 tie into doubles to decide the match. For Virginia (18-0, 3-0 ACC), the No. 23 tandem of senior Dominic Inglot and sophomore Michael Shabaz struck first with an 8-6 win against the No. 32 pair of junior Dimitar Kutrovsky and junior Josh Zavala of Texas (11-3). The Longhorns tied the doubles round, however, with an 8-6 win in the No. 3 spot. The match was then decided in the No. 1 slot, in which Virginia’s No. 2 team in the nation, sophomore Sanam Singh and junior Houston Barrick, defeated No. 35 sophomore Ed Corrie and sophomore Kellen Domico.In singles, the Longhorns took five of the first six sets. Freshman Steven Eelkman Rooda won his first set 7-5, but lost the next two to No. 121 junior Oliver Sajous, 7-6, 6-3.Texas took the first point of the match in No. 1 singles as No. 17 Kutrovsky defeated No. 18 Inglot, 7-5, 6-4. The Longhorns prevailed in the No. 2 spot as well, as No. 68 Corrie upset No. 16 Shabaz in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.Freshman Drew Courtney took the first point for the Cavaliers, winning his 13th consecutive singles match. Courtney bounced back from a 4-6 loss in the first set to junior Josh Zavala, taking the next two, 6-0, 6-3. Singh tied up the match at 2-2 in another three-set battle. After dropping the first set to No. 125 Kellen Damico, Singh won the next two, 6-3, 6-3 to take the point.Virginia took a brief lead with its third consecutive point after Barrick triumphed against senior Miguel Reyes Varela in three sets, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. The Longhorns, however, quickly tied the match with the win against Rooda.—compiled by Andrew Seidman
(03/16/09 6:01am)
No. 9 North Carolina beat the No. 4 women’s lacrosse team 12-8 Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C. With the loss, Virginia (5-2, 1-2 ACC) has dropped two of its last three conference games.The Cavaliers had a difficult time executing because of sloppy weather conditions, as both squads were forced to brave a steady rainfall and accommodate for a puddle-filled field. North Carolina junior goalkeeper Logan Ripley proved tough to handle, as well, as she recorded eight saves for the Tar Heels (5-2, 1-0 ACC), stifling the Cavaliers’ offensive attack. Virginia senior midfielder Blair Weymouth led her team with four goals, while junior midfielder Kaitlin Duff added two goals to go along with a team-high four draw controls. The Cavaliers will have to recover quickly to take on in-state rival William & Mary at home Tuesday. —compiled by Ben Gomez
(03/16/09 5:58am)
Ben, Second-year College studentMajor?UndeclaredSexual Orientation?StraightWhat extracurriculars do you participate in?Sigma Chi Fraternity, Intramural Sports, Habitat for HumanityWhat do you like to do in your free time?Golfing, Road Tripping, SpelunkingWhat are the physical and personality attributes you are looking for in a date?Smart enough to understand my jokes (but not smart enough to trick me), outgoing, spontaneous. Not fat or busted.What are your religious affiliations?Jewish What are your favorite TV shows?Seinfeld, The Office, King of the HillWhat are your favorite movies?Caddyshack, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old MenWhat music do you like (genres and bands)?Music: Classic Rock, Country, Southern Rock. Bands: Hill and Wood, Marshall Law, SoireeWhat’s your favorite food?SteakWhat are your favorite books and authors?One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Anthem by Ayn Rand, Deep Thoughts by Jack HandyDescribe your ideal date (not person but outing)?Great dinner followed by a night of inebriated dancing.What are deal breakers?Missing chromosomes, missing teethDo you smoke?HookahAre you outgoing or shy?OutgoingWhat do you want to do when you graduate?Make bank Where do you see yourself in 10 years?Working for an advertising firm and preparing for an early retirement consisting of teaching high school economics and coaching track and field.If you were a member of the circus, who would you be and why?Cannonball guy, I like simple thrills.Carly, Second-year College student Major? Undecided but interested in pre-commerce. and SpanishWhat extracurriculars do you participate in? I have a horse here and I do Club Polo, kickboxing, Madison House, Intramural Tennis and Outdoors at UVAWhat do you like to do in your free time? II am a competitive equestrian so a lot of my time is spent riding and taking care of my horse but I also like working out, reading and partying.What are the physical and personality attributes you are looking for in a date? II like someone who is outgoing (I have a pretty strong personality so I need someone who can compete with that), is respectful, has a good sense of humor and is intelligent. Personality is more important than physical attributes but physical attraction is definitely important in a relationship. My “type” would be someone who takes care of themselves (works out), is clean-cut and has a nice smile. I would say preppy but that isn’t really necessary, it’s just who I am usually attracted to. Think Channing Tatum in a polo...O.K., I recognize you probably won’t find him, but if you do, you know who to call.What are your religious affiliations? I am Methodist but I am not super religious. I believe in God and all that jazz but I’m not a regular church-goer.What are your favorite TV shows? Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Two and a Half Men, SEINFELD!What are your favorite movies and actors? Forrest Gump, Top Gun, Superbad, Knocked Up, Cool Runnings (ya man)What music do you like? Light rock but I listen to everything from country to classic. My “loves” are O.A.R., Jack Johnson, The Format, The Fray, John Mayer, oldies, etc.What’s your favorite food? I love food. That probably came out as me sounding like a fatass but whatever. I’m a steak and potatoes kinda girl but in general I eat pretty healthy. I love fruit especially berries and as strange as it may sound, I really love cereal.Are you outgoing or shy? I am very, very outgoing. I can rein it in but once you get to know me I tend to be rather bold.What do you want to do when you graduate? I want to work internationally. Right now I’m thinking about working for a corporation in their overseas department, but who knows where I will actually end up. Grad school is also a possibility.If you were a member of the circus, who would you be and why? Ooooh I love this question! I would be an acrobat if it wasn’t for my complete lack of grace. For the purposes of this survey, how about we just disregard that part of me and go with acrobat. You can’t take your eyes off the acrobat because they are always doing something ridiculous and somewhat dangerous and their energy is somewhat contagious.Ben: I figured it could go two ways — she’d be hot and it’d be a good date, or she’d be ugly and boring and it’d be funny when I talked about it later. But she wasn’t. I pulled up to pick her up outside of Watson [and] I could tell from the street lights she’d look good because she was wearing nice clothes. She had a good coat on. She got in the car. And she looked good. Carly: He picked me up outside my dorm and I just got in the car. I was running late so I was glad he was running late too. I was getting ready and realized I was supposed to be down there in like two minutes. So it was fine.Ben: I was two minutes late, but that’s not big deal. She can live with that I think. It wasn’t that cold outside yet. We just said “hi” and talked about how funny it was that she didn’t know who to be looking for, not even what car. I didn’t know who to be looking for but we met up and it worked out fine.Carly: We drove to the restaurant, an Indian restaurant. We just started talking; I don’t even remember what we were talking about.Ben: I was a little bit nervous. I had spent the day hanging out with some girls that are really hot. I didn’t go to dinner with them to go on this date so I was a little concerned. I rushed to get there but made myself look really hot, naturally.Carly: I wasn’t really nervous because I didn’t have a lot invested in the date. I didn’t know him at all, but I was kind of excited. I’ve never been on a blind date before so it was fun. Ben: She had never been to an Indian restaurant, but she loves to eat different kinds of food. I recommended something tandoori, so she got tandoori chicken. And I got lamb rogan josh. She said it was good.Carly: I ordered chicken ... tanadoori? I don’t remember. I had never gotten Indian food before so he had to explain the entire eating process to me. But it was pretty delicious. I kept asking him specific preparation questions and made him into the go-to expert for Indian food. Apparently, it was prepared in a special pan. He got some lamb something. There were chunks of meat in some sort of saucy something. I don’t know. Ben: I normally go to Milan for the lunch buffet so I had never actually ordered Indian food before. But I knew I liked those two dishes. Carly: The conversation was good. We talked a lot about a lot of really random things, like random life stories. He’s [in a fraternity], too, so that was good. He did sports in high school and stuff. We’re both thinking about pre-comm. We both like outdoors stuff and we both like to go out. Ben: We both seemed to like lots of outdoors things. She thought it was cool that I went hiking. She rides horses and went skydiving and I think that’s pretty cool. We’re both Greek now, because she just pledged. The conversation was good. It felt like normal people talking, which is good for me because I’m not a normal person. We talked about a lot of different things; topics would just flow really easily. There was not much awkwardness and it was fun. The only semi-awkward thing was when I asked her why she signed up for it. Her response was what I expected: she thought it looked fun. I’m assuming she’s pretty happy with how it turned out. Carly: I had a really good time. I had a lot of fun actually, which I wasn’t anticipating. I thought he was really cute and he was really easy to talk to. He was really nice. Afterwards, he dropped me back off at my dorm because I had to do my stat homework, like a nerd. He was going to some birthday party and invited me too, so I went with him after that. He had a pledge drive us, which was fantastic. I really want one. The party was good. I ran into a bunch of people that I knew, too, which was good because I didn’t really want to be just intruding on his friends. We ran into two of my suitemates. They spoke Hebrew together. It was awesome.Ben: I had fun. It was more fun later, though. One of my friends called me reminding me about a party he was having at his apartment for one of his roommates, so I asked her if she wanted to go. She just had to finish up some stat homework that was due the next day. So I dropped her off at her dorm and then I got a pledge to take me over to my brother’s apartment. She called me around 11 and I arranged for a ride for me with a pledge to go pick her up. She came back and immediately it turns out that several people there know her and she knows them through her suitemates, so that made it less awkward at first. The night progressed and it became sort of a dance party. We had a good time dancing and stuff. I asked her if she wanted to come back to my apartment. I got a ride from the same pledge back to my apartment with her. On the ride back we listened to country music, which we both like, so that was cool.Carly: The party was fun. Then we went back to his apartment and it was really fun. I kind of declared it my birthday because my birthday was Monday, so that was cool. It went really well so it seems like an 8.76 [out of ten]. I had a good time. I’m also going to say that I think it’s the best one that’s been in the Cav Daily so far since the main premise of it wasn’t that all we had to talk about was macaroni. I felt like we had a lot in common so that was good. It wasn’t awkward or anything. We were sitting in bed and I said, “You should Facebook friend me.” He just dropped me off the next morning and I don’t know how to phrase it, but I’m assuming I’ll see him some time again, hopefully.Ben: I was just laughing because I had no idea what The Cavalier Daily was going to think about this. The next morning I gave her one of my shirts and a pair of shorts and drove her back to her dorm. I was going to get breakfast but the Cav Daily didn’t give me enough money. I spent it all on dinner. I wasn’t expecting breakfast. I’m going to give it a 9. I feel like the party we went to could’ve been better. But that’s not my fault. We’re Facebook friends. That happened shortly after I dropped her off. She has my shorts, so... She can have the shirt; it’s a small, it doesn’t fit me. She has my favorite pair of shorts though, so I need them back.Ben and Carly have texted a few times, but he still hasn’t gotten his shorts back.
(03/16/09 5:54am)
At a University where students oversee the honor system and many other facets of student life, it seems contradictory that University President John T. Casteen, III — rather than a panel of graduating students — chooses each year’s commencement speaker. Though the Class of 2009’s speaker has already been chosen, the University should adjust its policies to give graduating students a greater role in selecting their commencement speaker in the future.Under the current system, students select only the valedictory speaker who addresses students on Saturday of Finals Weekend. Some student leaders also get to provide input regarding commencement speakers through a student-faculty committee that compiles a list of 10 potential speakers for consideration by Casteen. This student participation, however, does not necessarily lead to the final selection of a speaker who is representative of a diverse student body’s interests.Faculty members and administrators clearly can play a valuable role in the speaker selection process; they can provide historical perspectives and connections to potential speakers that an entirely student-run committee would not have access to. However, faculty members or administrators could still serve this role while leaving the final decision to a student-run committee that is charged with trying to fully assess graduating students’ opinions regarding possible speakers. Using methods such as online polling — perhaps with the help of the University Board of Elections — a student committee could acquire information about graduating students’ interests before making a final decision.Allowing students, rather than Casteen, to choose the commencement speaker likely would lead to the selection of a speaker who would be of interest to as many graduating students as possible. This year’s commencement speaker, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, is a distinguished University alumnus, yet his judicial views — on topics such as the indefinite detention of a suspected terrorist without access to a trial or counsel — do not align with those of many graduating students. A diverse committee of students likely would have considered this concern, perhaps choosing a different speaker. Students have demonstrated their ability to pick speakers who are of interest to the student body. The students who chose this year’s valedictory speaker — University alumna Dawn Staley, an Olympian and college basketball coach — clearly demonstrated a willingness to find a noncontroversial yet inspiring speaker with ties to the University community. It never will be possible to find a commencement speaker who will please every single graduate. Unlike many universities, U.Va. does not award honorary degrees, nor does it pay speakers, reducing the probability that the University will be able to attract extremely prominent speakers. However, regardless of whether the University’s speakers are well-known, the students who are being honored at commencement should have the greatest input in the selection of those speakers. A student-run committee could focus on finding a speaker who — while perhaps not a household name like Stephen Colbert — will make commencement a memorable, enjoyable experience for the entire graduating class. After all, Casteen gets to attend the University’s commencement ceremony every year, while for most students, commencement will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
(03/16/09 5:40am)
Two University students reported being robbed at 2:15 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of Virginia Avenue and 15th Street N.W., Charlottesville Police Sgt. Randy Higgins said. Three black males between the ages of 16 and 20, one wearing a red and black hooded sweatshirt, approached the students.One of the suspects showed a handgun and demanded money, leading one of the students to give his wallet to the suspect. Following the incident, the student called the police from a nearby residence.Police officers were able to apprehend one of the suspects, a 17-year-old Charlottesville juvenile, who was found to have a BB gun. He was arrested and charged with robbery and the use of a firearm in the commission of a robbery, a felony punishable by a minimum term of imprisonment of three years for a first conviction and five years for a second or subsequent conviction.No one was injured during the robbery, Higgins said. —compiled by Laura Hoffman
(03/13/09 5:39am)
10 People who voted in the separate elections held for the Curry School just before Spring Break4 Inches of snow Charlottesville saw during Spring Break8 Lowest temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, in Charlottesville during Spring Break12 ACC championships now held by the Men’s Swimming and Diving Team7 Games and wins this season for the Men’s Lacrosse Team5 Points by which the Men’s Basketball team won its last regular season game, against Maryland23 Points scored by senior forward Mamadi Diane in his last home game2 Round in which the Women’s Basketball team lost to Duke in the ACC tournament1 Rank of the Commerce School out of all undergraduate business programs, according to BusinessWeek15 Consecutive years the University has had the highest graduation rate of black students among public universities125 Computers ITC plans to remove from public computer labs by the end of the year2 Years until ITC plans to have almost every public computing lab removed from Grounds6.5 Months until U2 comes to John Paul Jones Arena23 Days until tickets go on sale for the U2 concert3 Days until SIS, the ISIS replacement, officially launches4 Days until the Fall COD is released5 Days you’ve been wishing you were still on Spring Break
(03/12/09 5:39am)
Welcome back from Spring Break, faithful tableau readers! Despite the less than Spring-like weather around these parts, I’m sure you all enjoyed your well-deserved break from the rigors of university life, much like we did. However, not all our time was spent dilly-dallying and shooting the breeze. In the time that we would have spent putting together a tableau page, we decided to (finally) finish the next step in Cavalier Daily Arts & Entertainment coverage: the tableau blog.More than a year in the making, from concept to design to production, our new blog, Mise-en-Scène, will now be able to tickle your pop culture fancy any day of the week. Whether you decide to follow the site diligently using your RSS reader of choice, or just occasionally glance at it when you want to find your new favorite band you haven’t heard of yet, our dedicated blog staff will be more than able to give you the skinny. Before you know it, you may become the coolest person you know — that is, if you aren’t that way already because you read tableau.If you are worried about how this will impact the weekly section, rest assured knowing that the section and the blog will largely remain separate entities, each maintaining the level of quality that you are accustomed to. However, this isn’t to say that the blog will have to be completely divergent from the tableau form. Articles like album reviews and our recently introduced “Under the Radar” section likely will make appearances, but the blog allows for more creative license via hyperlinks and audio/visual capabilities, allowing us to close the distance between our writers and their subject material.The site should be live as of today, so be sure to check it out at: http://cd-tableau.blogspot.com/But, don’t forget about our little ol’ section here either. This week we’ve got plenty of exciting things including reviews of both U2 latest album and Zack Snyder’s reproduction of the most critically acclaimed graphic novel of all time, Watchmen. Do they live up to the hype? Open up and find out. — Campbell Bird
(03/12/09 5:33am)
Last week, the Commerce School staged its own version of a hostile takeover, advancing in the BusinessWeek rankings of undergraduate business programs to the number one spot. The Commerce School’s achievement demonstrates what can come of a holistic approach to educating students and funding the resources they need to succeed. The way the rankings are generated, however, highlights key differences between the Commerce School and other schools within the University and necessitates the examination of this “achievement gap.”BusinessWeek used five metrics to determine its rankings: student satisfaction, a survey of company recruiters, “academic quality” (gauged by SAT scores, student-teacher ratios and class size), the starting salaries of students entering the workforce and the MBA feeder rank — students’ rate of success obtaining MBAs from top business schools. Rankings should usually be taken with a grain of salt, but BusinessWeek assessed factors that actually impact students’ undergraduate experience and success.For the most part, undergraduates in the Commerce School will apply their academic curricula more directly than their counterparts in the College. While an accounting concentrator will likely become an accountant, a philosophy major will not necessarily become a philosopher; the department of philosophy measures its success in the academic achievements of its students rather than their long-term financial or career success. The very intent of programs within the College and the Commerce School is fundamentally different, and success is more easily measured in the tangible world of business.But just because it’s harder to calculate success in liberal arts disciplines does not mean some of the same quantitative benchmarks are not worth applying. Commerce School Dean Carl Zeithaml said in an interview that the Commerce School’s high level of student satisfaction catapulted it into the top spot. The Commerce School has achieved such a high level of student satisfaction by providing its students with excellent resources including a high-caliber faculty, up-to-date technology, more classroom space and effective programming. Many departments in the College would benefit from such intentional investment in resources.Zeithaml attributed the Commerce School’s success to continual innovation, saying, “You can’t just flip a switch and change your ranking.” But continual innovation requires continual funding, which is oftentimes more difficult for the College. The Commerce School is better poised to solicit donations from its alumni, whose business pursuits often put them in a better position to give. Additionally, the Commerce School relies upon the commonwealth for a smaller percentage of its budget. Departments within the College might find their needs better met were the College less at the whim of the commonwealth’s budget cuts. Without a stable source of outside funding the College’s ability to innovate at the departmental level remains severely handicapped.Zeithaml identified the “decades of great students, dedicated faculty and staff who work to create a great curriculum and great experience for ... students and alumni and recruiters who are loyal to the school and consistently come back to engage with the program [and] hire our students” as a self-perpetuating cycle of success. The intent of most academic departments in the College is far less career-driven because the end goal is the mental mastery of material rather than its application. Similarly, College faculty and administrators have less lucrative networks because their students and colleagues found success in academia rather than in the business world.Rankings give us something to brag about, but they also point to the need for recognizing and working to solve gaps in the way we structure spending and fundraising at the University. The Commerce School found success through innovation and consistent dedication to students; other schools at the University would do well to evaluate success with the same benchmarks.
(03/11/09 5:42am)
The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team won its 12th ACC Championship and its 10th in the last 11 years during the weekend at College Park, Md., matching the women’s victory two weeks before. The Cavaliers totalled 832 points, easily defeating runner-up Florida State, which only managed 640.Sophomore Matt McLean was named the Most Valuable Swimmer for the second straight year. McLean, who set ACC records in the 1650 and 500 freestyle events, became the first swimmer in ACC history to win the award consecutively.Virginia also set a conference record time in the 800-yard freestyle relay on the first day of the event, as the team of John Azar, David Karasek, Scot Robison and McLean posted a 6:15.02 time. Robison also swam the 100-yard freestyle in a conference record 42.94.For a complete analysis of the men’s ACC Championships, please see Thursday’s edition of The Cavalier Daily.—compiled by Paul Montana
(03/11/09 5:41am)
The Cavalier grapplers are hitting their stride at the right time of the season, as Virginia placed second at the ACC Championships this weekend. Virginia fell to Maryland 70-68 for the second straight year by an identical two-point margin. The “death row trio” of sophomore Chris Henrich, senior Rocco Caponi and junior Brent Jones won ACC titles at the 175-, the 184-, and the 197-pound weight classes, respectively. The three titles for the Cavaliers are the most Virginia has won since the 2002 season.Jones was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for his performance, which included a pin in just 38 seconds of Maryland’s No. 9 junior Hudson Taylor, the third-place finisher at the NCAA Championships last year. Caponi, meanwhile, became just the sixth wrestler in Virginia history to win three straight ACC titles.Virginia as a team earned six automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis March 19-21: sophomore Nick Nelson (141 pounds), junior Kellon Balum (149), freshman Jedd Moore (157), Henrich (174), Caponi (184) and Jones (197). Caponi will be making his school-record fourth appearance at NCAAs.—compiled by Ben Gomez
(03/11/09 5:40am)
Scandal at Florida StateThe NCAA ruled Friday that 10 Florida State sports will have scholarship reductions and may see up to two seasons’ worth of wins wiped out because of an academic cheating scandal. The report by the NCAA Rules Committee stated that 61 athletes were guilty of academic violations, which included cheating on an online test and having faculty provide answers to exams or write papers for them.The ten teams implicated in the scandal are football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s track and field, softball and men’s golf. The NCAA will review exactly how many games will be forfeited based on which academically ineligible athletes competed in which games. It could mean up to 14 wins erased for football coach Bobby Bowden, who with 382 career victories, currently sits one win behind Penn State coach Joe Paterno on the all-time list. The NCAA has put the athletic department on probation for the next four years.Men’s BasketballAs the ACC Tournament approaches, three teams sit firmly on the bubble of an at-large NCAA Tournament bid: Maryland, Virginia Tech and Miami. All three teams sit at 7-9 after dropping games late in the season to teams at the bottom of the conference; Maryland and Virginia Tech to 11th-place Virginia, and Miami to Georgia Tech. Each team likely needs two wins to get a shot at a bid.North Carolina secured the top seed in the ACC Tournament after beating Duke Sunday, while Wake Forest earned the No. 2 seed with a win against Clemson.Women’s BasketballThe ACC women’s basketball scene is more clear-cut; Maryland, Florida State, Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia are all virtual locks to receive bids. The Terrapins have a good shot at their second consecutive No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, as they sit at No. 4 in the nation after winning the ACC Tournament during the weekend.Only Boston College, No. 43 in the RPI, sits on the bubble. The Eagles are 20-11 overall and 7-7 in the ACC. They have just two wins against teams in the top-50 in the RPI — against Texas Christian University Nov. 27 and against Georgia Tech Jan. 8 — but also have no losses to teams outside the top 75.The women’s NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced Monday.BaseballAs if the cheating scandal at Florida State was not enough, one of the program’s powerhouse teams has gotten off to one of the worst starts in school history. In a stunning upset, Boston College — picked for fifth in the Atlantic Division in the preseason ACC coaches poll — took two of three games from then-No. 6 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. The two losses marked the Seminoles’ first ACC opening series loss in school history, which spans 18 seasons.The Seminoles have lost five of their last six games and have fallen out of the national polls. The team dropped three consecutive games to Auburn, Jacksonville and North Florida prior to the series with the Eagles.—compiled by Paul Montana
(03/11/09 5:39am)
The Virginia baseball team’s offense may be young, but it is currently playing at an impressive level.The Cavaliers scored double-digit runs for the eighth time this season Tuesday, easily downing Navy 17-1 at Davenport Field. With the win, Virginia (13-0, 3-0 ACC) remains one of three undefeated teams in the nation along with Georgia and San Jose State.For the fourth time in five games, Virginia tallied 20 or more hits, coming up with 23 last night. The Cavaliers also knocked two home runs — a grand slam by sophomore infielder Phil Gosselin and a solo shot by sophomore right fielder Dan Grovatt two batters later — last night in a six-run fourth inning.Junior pitcher Jeff Lorick picked up his second win of the season, allowing three hits in six scoreless innings.The Cavaliers face VMI tomorrow at Davenport Field before a home series against Florida State this weekend.—compiled by Paul Montana
(03/11/09 5:28am)
The plans of Student Council’s newest committee, the Civic Engagement Committee, will make it a valuable asset to the University community. Although The Cavalier Daily previously criticized the Committee’s goals, the plans the Committee unveiled yesterday will fulfill the role Council committees are best suited for: bringing students together in ways they otherwise would not be. Committee Chair Laura Nelson described the Committee as having two roles: the first to be an umbrella organization for all the groups that are currently involved in civic engagement projects and the second to initiate projects which the University’s administration would take over once clearly defined. The first role will be the more beneficial to the student body in the long run and efficiently utilize the resources available to Council. Within this role, there are three noteworthy ideas: consolidating existing civic engagement resources into a central database, presenting civic engagement opportunities to different communities within the student body and hosting a civic engagement fair in the fall. The Committee’s plans will go a long way toward furthering civic engagement at the University without repeating other groups’ efforts and all of Council’s committees would do well to follow its example.A database bringing together all the civic engagement groups and opportunities on Grounds will facilitate student involvement in civic engagement by making the many avenues for engagement more readily available. As Nelson acknowledged, “A lot is going on at U.Va. in terms of civic engagement.” Civic engagement is a broad concept that encompasses many different areas and the Committee is right not to attempt to create its own projects to cover all these areas. Council is in a unique position to gather and disseminate information from one part of the student body to another and this database will capitalize on that ability. With all of the opportunities for involvement in one place, civic engagement at the University will grow. Presenting the many civic engagement opportunities to different student groups will also further involve the student body. These initiatives will further civic engagement at the University without repeating what other organizations already do.Council also is ideally poised to coordinate the civic engagement fair that the Committee wants to hold in the fall. With all the resources and contacts Council has at its disposal, it is the best entity to bring many organizations together for one cause. This is a role Council should be more focused on fulfilling — bringing groups already in existence together to pool resources so that efforts are not repeated. By focusing Council’s unique resources on organizing the opportunities for civic engagement at the University, the Committee will best further its cause. At the Council meeting last night, Nelson said, “It’s not necessarily creating new things” and the Committee does not “want to re-create efforts.” The Committee’s focus on bringing together groups already working on civic engagement causes is an intelligent use of the organizational resources available to Council. When the new Council takes over in two weeks, it will hopefully continue gathering existing resources to put them to the best use.
(03/11/09 5:21am)
The University recently selected Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson, III, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, to deliver its commencement address May 17.Wilkinson, who graduated from the University’s Law School in 1972, served as the first student member of the Board of Visitors. “I feel really, deeply humbled by the honor,” Wilkinson said, noting that his devotion to the University stretches back to his childhood.After graduating from the Law School, he served as a Law School professor, then as the editorial page editor of the Norfolk-based Virginian-Pilot and later as a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, according to the Federal Judicial Center’s Web site. He was appointed to Court of Appeals in 1984.Wilkinson, like all University commencement speakers, was selected by University President John T. Casteen, III, Board of Visitors Secretary Sandy Gilliam said. Though Casteen was free to select any speaker he wished, he also was given a list of 10 possible candidates prepared by a large committee of faculty and students, Gilliam said. The committee included student leaders from the University’s contracted independent organizations, including the Honor Committee and Student Council, as well as faculty with connections to individuals who could have been chosen as the speaker, Gilliam added.Gilliam said Wilkinson was one of the 10 potential speakers on the committee’s list not just because he is a University alumnus and former BOV student member, but also because he has been a highly distinguished lawyer and judge. Gilliam also noted that Wilkinson is an articulate speaker who lives in Charlottesville.Gilliam said the University has several rules it must follow when selecting a commencement speaker.“Number one, the University does not offer honorary degrees,” he said. “We never have. Thomas Jefferson said we shouldn’t, so we don’t.”In addition to expecting an honorary degree, Gilliam noted that most speakers “on the big name speakers circuit” also expect to receive hefty fees, which Gilliam said the University does not pay.Heads of state also are not selected as speakers. He noted that when then-Vice President George H.W. Bush delivered the commencement address, the security concerns made it so that the speaker — not the graduating class — was the center of attention.Gilliam added that commencement addresses are a time for the speaker to “impart words of wisdom and advice” to the graduating students and that the selection of a University alumnus allows students to hear from a speaker who understands and is invested in the institution.“It’s really possible to love an institution in the same way it’s possible to love individuals, and that’s the way I feel about the University,” Wilkinson said. “It’s been such an important part of my life, and I was really touched to be asked.”
(03/10/09 5:37am)
With the University budget in its current fragile state, departments are right to pursue policy changes that will increase revenue. As The Cavalier Daily reported on February 20, the University Department of Parking and Transportation is altering its response to individuals who are unable or unwilling to pay their hourly parking charges when they exit a parking garage by issuing $20 citations to patrons who fail to pay. While this fairly addresses the problem of people not paying for parking, there are issues still to be resolved with this new policy.Instead of sending a bill for a small amount to patrons who did not pay when exiting a parking facility, the new method gives Parking and Transportation a more practical solution to this problem. The old system was impractical: Mailing out many bills for just a few dollars each was a waste of time, energy and money. Anecdotal evidence indicates that many violators never actually received their bills, most likely because Parking and Transportation realized the futility of sending out bills for such tiny amounts. Citing patrons with $20 fines gives them greater incentive to pay when they leave, as it should.Valid concerns, however, remain. Parking and Transportation’s use of the citation system means that the fee is waived for first-time offenders and the citation serves as a warning. Receiving a warning citation for leaving the garage without paying counts as a parking violation warning, so students must pay in full any parking tickets they receive in the same year. Parking tickets that cost from $35 to $45 are an even greater burden than a $20 fine. The two types of citations should not be equivalent, because parking tickets are usually the result of an intentional decision while it is unlikely that someone would enter the parking garage with the intent not to pay when leaving. Forgetting your wallet when you make a trip to Newcomb should not be punishable to the same degree as knowingly parking in a reserved space.Another issue is the handling of non-University versus University offenders. Parking and Transportation Director Rebecca White said the new policy is equitable because “the new approach will be applied to all garage patrons.” Locals and visitors, however, can more easily avoid paying a fine because they are outside the University system. Students will be blocked from class registration until fines are paid, making the burden of citations fall more heavily on students relative to other violators. While students should take responsibility for failing to pay for parking, the stiffness of the fine is far more likely to be felt by students because they use the University’s parking far more often than others and are more easily located.To address this issue, Parking and Transportation should look to the Honor Committee. Honor Committee Chair Jess Huang stated in an e-mail interview that the Committee has in the past “worked with Parking and Transportation to allow students to be taken at their word and on their honor to pay for the accurate amount of time [they] were in the garage,” offering students a concrete benefit of the University’s community of trust. The Honor Committee’s Community Relations Committee has been developing a revised plan in light of Parking and Transportation’s new policy. Now that Parking and Transportation has delayed the implementation of the new policy, the two groups should work together to resurrect this valuable perk of the honor system.Parking and Transportation must deal with the failure of patrons to pay for their time in parking facilities and clearly the previous billing system was ineffective. Citing individuals who are unable or unwilling to pay will serve as a deterrent and improve enforcement. Students, though, should not have to bear a disproportionate burden under the new policy.
(03/10/09 5:28am)
The Office of Emergency Preparedness recently upgraded the University’s siren system and tested it during Spring Break, Director of Emergency Preparedness Marge Sidebottom said.Sidebottom said there was nothing functionally wrong with the old system.“It’s the same system, it’s just broadcast over a different frequency,” Sidebottom said.The new frequency, UHF, is licensed and owned by the University, unlike the old VHF frequency.“We wanted to use what we already had in place,” Sidebottom said.Sidebottom noted that her office also tested the new frequency during Spring Break to keep the sirens from disrupting University life. The University often upgrades the system to get “exactly what we want out of it,” she added.The next planned use of the siren system will be the statewide tornado drill March 17. The office will send an e-mail notification to the University community Thursday with information about that drill.— compiled by Bethel Habte
(03/10/09 5:08am)
The Virginia men’s tennis team will play its first post-Spring Break opponent today against Old Dominion at the Sheridan Snyder Tennis Center. In its last match, the then-No. 1 Cavaliers (15-0, 3-0 ACC) defeated then-No. 31 Virginia Tech (7-2, 2-1 ACC) 6-1.Despite the margin of victory, the one match Virginia lost was significant. Senior Dominic Inglot, Virginia’s No. 1 singles player and then-No. 6 in the nation, lost for the second consecutive week in singles. He fell to Virginia Tech junior Yoann Re, 7-5, 6-1.Inglot was not the only player who had a tough match. No. 12 sophomore Sanam Singh and freshman Drew Courtney each played close three-set matches .No. 18 Inglot will look to bounce back against Old Dominion (7-5) to help the No. 2 Cavaliers remain undefeated. The Monarchs have struggled recently, losing their last two matches to UNC-Wilmington and Northwestern, 4-3 and 4-2, respectively. Prior to the losing streak, the team was ranked No. 69 in the nation. —compiled by Andrew Seidman
(03/10/09 5:06am)
The Virginia women’s lacrosse team kept busy during Spring Break with three games — two of which were against top-five opponents.The No. 2 Cavaliers (5-1, 1-1 ACC) began with a 14-11 victory against then-No. 3 Syracuse (4-1) on the road Feb. 27. Junior attack Whitaker Hagerman led the Cavaliers with a career-high five goals, while senior All-American midfielder Ashley McCulloch dished out a career-high five assists to go along with two nettings.Virginia’s Spring Break success was short-lived, however, as the team lost to then-No. 3 Maryland (4-0, 2-0 ACC) 17-11 at home Friday. Senior attack Jenny Hauser led the Cavaliers with five goals and one assist. The 17 Terrapin goals marked the most in a single game against Virginia this season.The Cavaliers managed to rebound from the Maryland loss with a 12-11 overtime win against Penn State(4-1) Sunday. Virginia rallied from six goals down to tie the game against the Nittany Lions and force sudden-death overtime. Freshman midfielder Julie Gardner then scored the game-winning goal with 52 seconds left. Senior All-Americans Blair Weymouth and Hauser led the Cavalier attack with three goals each.Virginia will take to the road Saturday against No. 4 North Carolina.—compiled by Ben Gomez
(03/10/09 5:06am)
The Virginia softball team continued its winning streak this weekend, sweeping doubleheaders against Rider and Lafayette.The Cavaliers (15-5) won their Saturday games against Rider 15-3 and 6-0, respectively. Senior Karla Wilburn picked up the win in game one, giving up two earned runs and striking out seven. Freshman Stephanie Coates earned the victory in the second game, striking out two in five innings.Offensively, seniors Carly Winger and Sarah Tacke led Virginia, as both went three for four in the first game, with Winger batting in five runs. In the second game, senior Casey Steffan hit her first home run this season, driving in three runs in the fourth inning.Against Lafayette Sunday, the Cavalier offense also shined, powering the team to 13-1 and 8-0 victories. In the first game, junior Nicole Koren and Winger both hit home runs, helping Wilburn — who struck out six and did not walk a single batter — earn her second victory of the weekend. In the second game, Tacke and junior Abby Snyder each hit home runs, while sophomore Lauren McCaskey went 3-for-3 from the plate. Coates also notched her second victory of the weekend, giving up only two hits and striking out two.Looking to continue its recent success, Virginia will play George Washington Tuesday in a doubleheader at home.—compiled by William Hrachovina
(02/27/09 7:00am)
An ongoing study headed by Environmental Studies Prof. Alan Howard recently determined that water flowed across the surface of Mars for at least a period of 10,000 total, non-consecutive years.The study, which has been running for more than a year, involves an investigation of the amount of water and precipitation early in Mars’ history, Howard said. It also involves an examination of Mars’ topography, to see where running water may have carved out valleys, channels and other geographic features that appear on the planet’s surface today.Researchers could determine the depth of lakes and other bodies of water by seeing, for example, how they may have overflowed and carved a channel in the process, Howard said. He noted that various images from orbiters around Mars supplemented knowledge of the planet’s topography.Howard added that, although the study concluded that water flowed on Mars for more than 10,000 years, this number simply reflects the total number of years, meaning that water may have flowed during several different time periods. Moreover, though water is commonly thought of as necessary for existence, Howard noted that most scientists would still hesitate to make any conclusions about possible life on Mars, even in light of his findings. He said it is unknown how long conditions would have to be warm and wet for life to develop, but estimated that it probably would have to be millions or even tens of millions of years. Additionally, Howard said Mars is less likely to have conditions suitable to the development of life because it is both colder and smaller than Earth, which means it has a thinner atmosphere.Also unlike Earth, Mars lacks a strong magnetic field to shield it from solar winds, which are high energy particles that contribute to the erosion of planetary atmospheres, Howard said.Nevertheless, the question of whether primitive organisms could have developed in the presence of water on Mars remains a mystery.“At the very best, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” Howard said.Moving forward, Howard said he and the rest of the study’s team will continue trying to increase the scientific community’s understanding about how much water there actually was on Mars’ surface.“The exact direction that further research would go would depend on what else we find from this study,” Howard said.—compiled by Prateek Vasireddy