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(04/14/09 5:25am)
International Dark Sky Week, a worldwide initiative begun by fourth-year College student Jennifer Barlow, will take place from April 20 to 26. The event aims to raise awareness about light pollution by encouraging people to turn off outdoor lighting and install more efficient lighting systems. This would increase the visibility of stars and celestial bodies, Barlow said.Light pollution results from lighting systems that focus their energy upward instead of downward, Barlow said, noting that these systems effectively blanket the visibility of distant stars and planets.“When we build telescopes, we have to put them far away from light pollution,” Astronomy Prof. Edward Murphy said. “The problem we’re running into is that even the best sites in the continental United States still have some light pollution associated with them.” The International Dark-Sky Association, which acts as a clearinghouse for information regarding pollution-minimizing lighting, plans to participate in and promote the event, said Johanna Duffek, IDA’s sections coordinator and Community liaison. She noted that the organization only designates lighting as dark-sky friendly if the fixture directs light no higher than 90 degrees. This ensures that the illumination travels primarily downward and does not interfere with light from stars and other celestial bodies, she added.This, in turn, allows consumers to install lower-wattage bulbs, as light that was previously wasted illuminating the air above now focuses on its intended targets below, Duffek said. Lower-wattage bulbs also decrease energy consumption and, as a result, cut costs and greenhouse gas emissions, she said.Barlow said she started the event in 2002 after taking an interest in astronomy. With the support of the IDA, the event began as one night on which she hoped everyone would turn off their lights to look at the night sky, she said. After two years, the event expanded to an entire week and aimed to promote awareness about the effects of light pollution on nighttime visibility.The International Year of Astronomy Dark Sky Awareness Global Cornerstone Project — an initiative that has roots in 137 countries — also now helps sponsor the event, Barlow said. Pedro Russo, international astronomy coordinator for the project, said he hopes that International Dark Sky Week will help inspire greater interest in the night sky and convince more young people to study astronomy.“Some people have never seen the Milky Way,” Russo said. “Somehow we’ve lost that connection with the sky and the stories we know from the past.” Murphy also expressed concern that light pollution has prevented today’s youth from experiencing the celestial qualities of the universe.“My greatest concern is that many people have grown up today having never seen the night sky in all its glory,” he said. “Students who grew up in Northern Virginia in particular have only seen a few stars. They don’t know the night sky.”
(03/26/09 5:37am)
As a side effect of the federal stimulus bill passed Feb. 17, some international students may have a difficult time finding post-graduation jobs with select U.S. businesses. The Employ American Workers Act is nestled in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and prevents firms that have received bailout funds from replacing American workers with foreign nationals working in the United States with H-1B immigration status. H-1B visas typically are issued to foreign workers temporarily employed in speciality occupations.Since the bill’s passage, at least two students in the Darden School have had job offers from major financial firms rescinded, said Jack Oakes, director of the Darden School’s Career Development Center.Oakes said Darden does not support this kind of legislation.The act “creates the image internationally of America being closed to international students,” Oakes said, adding that it could impede Darden’s abilities to be “global in an effective way.”After hearing about the act, Oakes said the Career Development staff offered to individually meet with each student whose career plans might be affected. Two students, he said, have been in contact with his office, and both have found alternate positions. “These are highly skilled workers,” Oakes said. “This act directly contradicts what this nation was built upon.”Darden Director of Admissions Sara Neher agreed with Oakes’s assessment of the legislation.“In the current state of the global economy, we need to be attracting the best talent possible with knowledge about how the economy works all over the world,” she said, adding that sending a negative signal to international students could prevent the most qualified individuals from finding employment. The act is intended to protect American workers and limit their displacement during tough economic times.Oakes, though, said he felt this policy “has become well-known in a variety of other international countries and therefore is having an effect on applicants to business schools.” These applicants, Oakes said, might be hesitant to apply to American business schools because they might not be able to obtain a job with an American firm after they graduate.Any impact on the number of international applicants to the Darden School remains to be seen, though, as the legislation came into effect after most students already submitted their applications, Neher said. A drop-off in the number of international applicants might not become evident until the next application period, she said. Furthermore, the legislation’s 2011 expiration date ensures that the act only will impact a limited number of people, Neher said. Because of which companies received bailout funds, international students intending to pursue a career in the finance industry generally will be more affected by the act than students pursuing other careers.At an undergraduate level, meanwhile, the Commerce School has yet to see the effects of the legislation, said Jeannine Lawrie, the associate director of McIntire Career Services. She said she does not know of any Commerce students whose job offers have been rescinded because of the act.
(03/19/09 5:46am)
Former IBM executive Cynthia Neff said Tuesday that she will seek to represent the Virginia’s 58th district, officially declaring her intent to run as a Democrat in the Virginia House of Delegates’ elections later this year. The 58th district includes parts of Albemarle, Greene, Orange and Fluvanna Counties.Spurred on in part by her dissatisfaction with the policies and job performance of current 58th District Del. Rob Bell — a Republican who will be seeking reelection — Neff said she hopes to help “consciously decide what Virginia will be about” while focusing on issues like education, energy and transportation.Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates, Neff said, “have said ‘no’ to everything and haven’t come up with new ideas to substitute.” In this regard, Neff highlighted Republican General Assembly members’ efforts to block discrimination based on sexual orientation from being added to Virginia’s non-discrimination policy.“We want people to bring their whole selves to work,” Neff said, adding that this is another example of Republicans “going out of their way to say ‘no.’”Christian Schoenewald, chair of the Albemarle County Republican Committee, however, defended Bell’s record, calling him “one of the most skilled legislators Virginia has seen in a long time.”Bell was not available for comment as of press time but expressed confidence about his reelection campaign in previous interviews with The Cavalier Daily.“He has fought for typical conservative causes ... and has done a very good job,” Schoenewald said. “I don’t think Ms. Neff is going to beat him.”Neff said she decided to run after working with President Obama’s campaign last year. She said she realized she was disappointed with the Virginia House of Delegates, which “appeared to be stuck.”Albemarle County Democratic Committee chair Fred Hudson said Neff understands how to work within a large organization, adding that she is an “articulate spokesman for her positions.”Albemarle County, which forms a large portion of the 58th House District, voted Democratic in the fall presidential elections, as 58 percent of voters selected Barack Obama. Bell, though, has successfully defended his 58th district position or run unopposed in each election since first winning his seat in 2001.
(03/17/09 5:23am)
A recent study from Psychology Prof. Timothy Salthouse found that human cognitive processing speed, memory and reasoning abilities peak at age 22 and begin to see noteworthy declines after age 27. The study, which will be published in the April issue of the academic journal Neurobiology of Aging, was conducted during the past seven years at the University and involved about 2,000 participants aged 18 to 60.Participants took part in 16 assessments measuring specific cognitive abilities. Salthouse separated the results of these tests by the ages of the participants and determined which age groups attained the highest scores on each test. The assessments showed that participants’ processing speed and memory performed at optimum levels between the ages of 22 and 27, whereas general knowledge of vocabulary and information continued to increase until age 60.Salthouse stressed that these results do not necessarily mean people become “senile” after 27, however. He described the tests as a sort of “mental gymnastics,” as experimenters tried to “take away all the role of experience and just look at how quick and adaptable you are when you’re not really doing things in the context of your everyday life.”Therefore, to say that old age begins after we’ve reached our peak performance in these tests is “a very narrow perspective,” Salthouse said. He also mentioned that past studies about aging measured changes in individual participants’ performances on these cognitive tests after some time passed. Results of these studies, however, suggested that participants of these studies “don’t necessarily perform any worse [after five years] even though comparisons with other people of similar ages suggest differences should exist.”This discrepancy, Salthouse said, likely is because participants learn how to take the tests and therefore improve their performances when taking the tests a second time. Salthouse sought to limit the effects of retesting, according to his study.Graduate psychology student Elliot Tucker-Drob, who aided Salthouse in conducting the study, said University research will continue to investigate declines in cognitive function associated with aging.“One of the things that we’re interested in is whether declines in memory, reasoning and speed of processing occur independently or to different extents for different people,” Tucker-Drob said. This research will help scientists determine “the things we can do to prevent against these cognitive declines.”
(03/16/09 5:36am)
Grade inflation is highly prevalent at many top higher education institutions, including the University, according to two decades of data recently cited by a retired Duke University professor.Stuart Rojstaczer said his studies show that the average GPA among students at public colleges and universities has risen from 2.85 in 1991 to 3.01 in 2007. He also noted that the average GPA among students at private colleges and universities has risen from 3.09 in 1991 to 3.30 in 2007. Rojstaczer attributed the increase in GPA to grade inflation rather than an increase in student quality.According to Rojstaczer’s data, the University’s average GPA has increased less than GPAs from other public colleges and universities, but has still risen in recent years. The data shows that the University’s average GPA of 3.213 in 2006 — up from 3.06 in 1991 — was still higher than the national average GPA of 3.01.He said the sole reason for the rise in GPA is grade inflation, which occurs when professors grade students in a way that is not representative of their performances in class. Professors artificially boost students’ marks by grading assignments less rigorously, providing them with added padding for their grade point averages, Rojstaczer said.Though he admits he has no concrete data to prove what causes grade inflation, he said the root cause may be some teachers’ sympathy toward students. Faculty “wish that students do well and get good jobs,” he said. As a result, professors “consciously or unconsciously want to confer benefits on their students” in the form of higher grades. Rojstaczer also said he felt there was a “perception among faculty that grading easier will get them higher evaluations from students,” and therefore, they will be able to obtain tenure more easily, as student evaluations often weigh heavily on tenure decisions.Some University faculty, however, said they do not believe grade inflation is exceedingly prevalent at the University. The department of Spanish, Italian and Portugese recently modified its grading scale to address the issue, citing a wide disparity between grades received in introductory and more advanced courses.History department Chair Duane Osheim said though faculty in the history department have discussed the issue of grade inflation, they do not feel it is a significant issue at the University and have not taken any steps to try to curb its influence. Osheim said grade inflation is often a difficult trend to identify because “grades will vary depending on a whole variety of things.” Economics department Chair William Johnson agreed with Osheim’s assessment that grade inflation was not a widespread issue across University departments. “My sense is that there hasn’t been grade inflation,” Johnson said. “It’s not something that we really noticed or worried about.”On his Web site, gradeinlfation.com, Rojstaczer counters other studies that have tried linking GPA increase to an increase in student quality through improved SAT or ACT scores. He states that the College Board, the organization that administers both tests, cannot show whether high SAT or ACT scores are accurate indicators of college GPAs.Third-year College student Yvonne Tinsley said she believed grade inflation was “an issue in the first- and second-year [classes], but once students declare their major, the classes start to get a lot tougher.”Tinsley also said she felt that grade inflation was less of a problem at University compared to other higher education institutions, noting that she believes that most professors refuse to give students higher marks than they deserve.Rojstaczer sees grade inflation as a pressing issue at colleges and universities because it “affects the motivational level of a significant percentage of the student body,” he said. “The intellectual level of the class diminishes if students know they can go through the motions with minimum effort.”
(02/26/09 6:54am)
The Virginia College Savings Plan extended its deadline Monday for families to enroll in the Virginia Prepaid Education Program to March 15 because of an increase in the number of families enrolling in the program. Compared to last year, about 15 percent more families this year are participating in the commonwealth’s cost-saving payment plan, according to a VCSP press release.Launched in 1996 to help families counter the rising cost of college tuition, VPEP was among the first higher education savings programs in the country governed by section 529 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, a VCSP spokesperson said. VCSP offers four different 529 programs, including VPEP, which allow families to receive tax deductions and benefits while saving for college. VPEP allows individuals saving for college to invest money free of federal taxes in an account at a rate consistent with yearly college tuition changes, allowing families to negate inflation by paying for future college expenditures at today’s prices, the spokesperson said.According to VCSP, families usually only have a three-month window to enroll in VPEP, as actuaries at VCSP must determine the yearly college inflation rate from college tuition fees across the country. This year’s two-week extension is intended to allow more families to take advantage of the program.Yvonne Brown, director of guidance at Albemarle High School, said she agreed with VCSP’s decision to extend the deadline. She said she has seen an increase in the number of families struggling to pay for college, and noted that the extension could help families in need.“A lot of parents tell me they do not have the money to pay for college,” Brown said. “If students want to go to a top school, a lot of them must re-evaluate which schools they can get into and how much they’d have to pay to go there.”The University, however, has yet to notice significant increases in the number of students not attending for financial reasons, Financial Aid Director Yvonne Hubbard said. She also said, however, that she expects more students and families will accept loans from AccessUVa, the University’s financial aid program. The University is preparing for the possibility of decreased enrollment during this year’s summer session as well, she said.“We’re ready for all the different ways families will want to spend less and borrow more,” Hubbard said, noting that the recent economic downturn will continue affecting college students and their families.
(02/24/09 6:18am)
The spring 2009 elections saw a 38 percent voter turnout rate, nearly double the rate from last year’s elections and the highest rate since 2005, according to statistics released by the University Board of Elections last night.Only the Darden and Education Schools experienced decreased turnout, as students across the University selected representatives for the Honor Committee, the University Judiciary Committee and Student Council, while also weighing referenda to the constitutions of those organizations.UBE Chair Alisa Abbott, a fourth-year College student, attributed the leap in voter turnout to “increased publicity and highly contested referendums.” Abbott said the hotly contested honor referendum likely drew a high volume of students, as voters decided whether to amend the University’s single-sanction policy of expulsion for honor offenses.Abbott said the University Board of Elections set up tables on the Lawn everyday last week and also sent out an e-mail to University community members to help increase election participation. These publicity efforts helped the University Board Elections monitor spikes in voter turnout throughout the election, Abbott said, adding that the Board was able to gauge which publicity initiatives were most effective. Moving forward, UBE will be able to implement these best strategies for even greater exposure, she said.Second-year Nursing student Emily Flavin, who was re-elected as one of two UJC representatives from the Nursing School, also attributed the increase in voter turnout to the candidates’ heightened publicity efforts.“The candidates did an amazing job getting their names out there,” Flavin said. “Their names were very well-known for the most contested elections.” She also cited the “Vote No” campaign initiated by the Students for Honor group as a major reason for the increase in turnout. This campaign encouraged students to vote against the honor referendum sponsored by Hoos Against Single Sanction.The first year class, in particular, saw a higher volume of members voting in this spring’s elections, as 59 percent of students cast their votes. That figure represents an increase of 18 percent from last year. Similarly, the Engineering and Architecture Schools each saw increases of 15 percent, attaining rates of 38 percent and 35 percent, respectively. The rise in voter turnout in the Medical School also was significant, as students turned out in record numbers: 34 percent cast ballots, compared to only 5 percent the year before.
(02/19/09 7:39am)
A bill unanimously passed earlier this month by the Virginia House of Delegates and now awaiting Senate approval may allow college students to seek exemptions from jury duty. Commonwealth law, as it now stands, only allows for a student exemption if the student attends school more than 50 miles from his or her home district, said Kevin Herrity, assistant to the legislative aide for Del. Thomas D. Gear, R-Hampton, the sponsor of HB 2045. The bill would remove this clause, allowing any full-time college student to claim an exemption. Jury pools randomly draw from voting registration lists in each jurisdiction.“I think a main reason for this bill is due to the fact that students are busy and don’t have time to take part in these juries,” Herrity said.Some college students frequently fail to respond to jury summons, forcing county sheriff’s offices to expend resources to track down and serve these students, Herrity said. This bill would eliminate many of these costs.“I think that the positives outweigh the negatives because frivolous spending tracking these students down is a bigger issue than cutting out a few people from these juries,” first-year College student Alyssa Isidoridy said. She added, however, that students were an important demographic for juries, and said she hoped that “not all students will choose not to serve on juries.” Second-year College student Elizabeth O’Brien said she is not worried about students removing themselves from the political process. “There are enough people in our demographic to respond to jury summons,” she said.The Code of Virginia currently lists eight groups of people who may claim exemptions from jury duty. Among those listed include anyone more than 70 years old, those people whose spouse is called to serve the same jury and those who are responsible during court hours for an individual younger than 16 years old. According to the Virginia State Board of Elections Web site, there are 67,359 people registered to vote in Albemarle County and 28,671 people registered to vote in Charlottesville.HB 2045 passed the Virginia House 98-0 Feb. 3 and is currently awaiting Senate approval.
(02/12/09 6:54am)
The General Faculty Council, which represents the University’s nontenured track faculty, conferred yesterday to discuss diversity issues, data accessibility, bylaws and membership concerns. Members showed concern about a National Academy of Sciences report that found gender discrimination in the submission of articles to peer-reviewed journals and in recommendation letters among faculty. Many in the Council said they felt that female doctoral graduates entered nontenured track positions at the University at a higher rate than their male counterparts. “Models for advancement are different for men and women,” Curry School Assoc. Prof. Ellie Wilson said.In general, however, those in the Council said they were satisfied with the University’s efforts to improve diversity thus far. “I believe strongly that the University has made efforts to deal with these issues,” Environmental Science Assoc. Prof. Jennie Moody said.The Council also stated that it remains unworried about the removal of faculty salary records from the University library system, as this data is still accessible through a Freedom of Information Act request, said Terry Lockard, Council member and director of ITC support services. These records were previously available at the Information Desk but were removed last month by library officials in an effort to save paper and cut costs, University spokesperson Carol Wood said.Jean Collier, Council member and collections manager at the University Art Museum, said Council members also discussed whether the body’s current bylaws accurately reflect the actions of nontenured track faculty, noting that members compared the Council’s bylaws with those of the University’s Faculty Senate. This process, Collier said, occurs every four years to keep the bylaws current with any changes in the Council’s activities.The question of whether nontenured track faculty are up-to-date with the Council’s activities was also raised, as Ricky Patterson, Council member and senior scientist in the astronomy department, along with several other faculty members, expressed concern that a large percentage of nontenured track faculty may not realize that they are represented in the Council. This, Patterson said, has hindered efforts to compile an exact tally of the Council’s constituents and has impeded the Council’s efforts to disseminate information about its activities and policies. The Council typically meets the second Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is scheduled for March 11 in the Byrd/Morris Room of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library.
(02/10/09 6:30am)
The result of the first student-led initiative of its kind, a major in Global Development now is in its final stage of approval from the College to accept students this fall, said Richard Handler, associate dean of academic programs. The major will combine courses from the departments of economics, politics, history, environmental science, sociology and anthropology and will create new classes about the emerging concept of global development.The program will aim to give “a sense for practical application of the theories of global development,” said fourth-year College student Kendall Wallace, chair of the student-led Development Major Committee, which spearheaded the effort to create the major in October 2006.Interested students may apply in the spring of their second year for acceptance in the fall semester of their third year. Students will then take a year-long course in their third year focusing on case studies, which provide an analytical framework upon which to test and apply theories of how the world develops, Wallace said. During the spring semester of their fourth year, students in the program will write a 30-page research paper about a self-selected topic, incorporating the ideas and theories they have learned up to that point. “Development, global or otherwise, is a change process that involves technology, social institutions, social values and culture,” said Economics Prof. Bruce Reynolds, a member of the faculty advisory board that aided students in developing the major. The major’s interdisciplinary approach to the topic is essential, Reynolds said, as each department in the College “looks at global development from its own perspective.”The program has already drawn interest from a number of students across the University. First-year College student Molly Tansey said she already has expressed interest in applying to the program, and she agreed that the program’s interdisciplinary approach to global development is vital.“In order to be able to go out and look at developing nations and try to provide aid in any way you can, you have to have all of the perspectives,” Tansey said.Fourth-year College student Pat Casey, president of the Global Development Organization at the University, also helped lead the effort to create the major. “No one discipline has claimed a perfectly accurate view of the world,” Casey said. “You want to have all good ideas on the table that you have access to. You don’t want to attack a problem from the lens of just one discipline.”Casey was not alone in having this desire, Wallace said, because the major was almost entirely student-initiated. He said the Development Major Committee formulated a curriculum and a funding plan suited to the needs of the College. The Development Major Committee collaborated with a number of faculty, including former College Dean Edward Ayers to create the major. Ayers encouraged the students to seek the support of faculty across a wide array of departments, Wallace said, adding that the Development Major Committee created a faculty advisory board, comprised of eight faculty members, who also helped construct the program.Handler, who led the faculty advisory board, said the process of creating the major was quite complex. Students had to find faculty willing and interested in supporting the major and had to create curricula for classes that would become the cornerstones for the program, he said. Reynolds, though, noted that those interested in the program were supported along the way, because this type of initiative “has a big cheering section among the faculty, who always welcome student-initiated proposals.”In regards to funding for the new program, Handler confirmed that one alumnus already pledged financial support. He also said he expects the program will draw more donations from other alumni as well as foundations and corporations seeking a foothold in the University.