[caption id="attachment_31664" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="University Democrats President Megan Durkee cast her vote yesterday.
Despite the atypically high voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election, a much lower percentage of voters came out for election day yesterday.
[caption id="attachment_31593" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Some Albemarle County voters will be able to cast their ballots at Alumni Hall, among other locations.
[caption id="attachment_31591" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="City Council, pictured here earlier this year, discussed one resident's traffic safety concerns last night.
Nationwide delays in the production of H1N1 vaccine have trickled down to the University and the Charlottesville-Albemarle region, where most students and residents are still awaiting vaccination. "The manufacturing process is a little slower than anticipated and is taking a longer period of time," Virginia Department of Health spokesperson Cheryle Rodriguez said.
Through a collaboration with the University of Virginia Press, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission has digitally published nearly 5,000 documents from the United States' founding fathers this year. The Rotunda Founders Early Access project started from a 2008 Congressional request for expedited access to the founding fathers' documents, said Kathleen Williams, executive director of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. "We thought it would be very useful to see if we could provide very basic level access to original documents through early versions of transcriptions of documents," Williams said. The project's first task, Williams said, involved transcribing the documents because the handwriting can be difficult for readers to decipher. The documents included are in the early stages of transcription, Williams said, and therefore are not perfect. "This project is trying to get these transcriptions out at an earlier stage," Williams said, noting that later versions will be updated and include contextual information.
[caption id="attachment_31528" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Honor Committee reviewed Vice Chair for Community Relations J.J.
University Judiciary Committee members last night reviewed a proposed amendment that would define term length for the First Year Judiciary Committee and add this new definition to the committee's constitution and bylaws. The amendment, presented by outgoing FYJC Chair Halley Epstein, also clarifies who will adjudicate first-year trials during the lame-duck session, which is the period from August, when FYJC members have officially entered their second-year, to October, when the new FYJC is elected. Currently, the FYJC's term limits are not defined in UJC's constitution or by-laws.
In a statement released Friday, Virginia State Police reported that Morgan Dana Harrington, who disappeared from a Metallica concert Oct.
The University administration has revised its health care plans for University employees in an attempt to stop arbitrary hikes in insurance premiums and maintain general financial stability. The new changes include additional cost sharing for both the high- and low-premium plans and increased premium levels for the high-premium plan only. An influx of new University health insurance users prompted the switch, noted both Anne Broccoli, University director of faculty and staff benefits for the Human Resources department, and Human Resources Communications Manager Alexandra Rebhorn. In an effort to increase cost sharing in both plans, brand-name prescription drugs are now part of an employee's co-insurance, not the co-pay, meaning that an employee will pay a percentage of the drug's costs with caps instead of a flat co-pay rate. Additionally, co-pays for both plans increased from $15 to $20 for primary service and from $30 to $40 for specialists. Though the University raised the premiums for the high-premium plan, the plan features less overall cost-sharing, through deductibles and co-insurance, at the point of service than the low-premium option. More than 91 percent of University employees who take part in the University's health care plans are enrolled in the high-premium plan.
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia presented a special addendum resolution at its meeting Tuesday detailing a recommendation for an increase in commonwealth funding for financial aid at colleges and universities. Lee Andes, SCHEV assistant director of financial aid, said one part of the three-part recommendation would contribute an additional $58.7 million in state-funded financial aid to undergraduate public institutions - $19.9 million by 2011 and another $38.8 million by 2012.
At its working meeting yesterday, the Faculty Senate discussed the draft resolution on scholarly publication and authors' rights, as well as changes to University employee health insurance plans. "I want everyone to be as informed as possible," Senate Chair Ann Hamric said in regards to the Senate's copyright resolution, which proposes a requirement that all faculty should retain the appropriate rights to have their articles stored in a public University repository.
The University Health System recently received a $5 million donation from PBM Products to pursue new diabetes-related research. Diane and Paul Manning, founder and CEO of PBM, which sells diabetes products, infant formula and baby food, made the donation in hopes of bringing the University to the forefront of diabetes research in the next few years. The University will receive $1 million each year for the next five years said Cindy Barber, PBM's vice president of regulatory medical and clinical affairs.
The Miller Center of Public Affairs has established an office in Washington, D.C. to be closer to the nation's policymakers.
Daniel and Gil Harrington, parents of Morgan Dana Harrington, released a statement yesterday thanking the Virginia State Police Department, the University Police Department, Metallica band members and other supporters for their efforts to help locate the couple's missing daughter, who disappeared from a concert at John Paul Jones arena Oct.
[caption id="attachment_31432" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Bystanders saw someone matching Harrington's description walking along the Copeley Road bridge in the direction of Ivy Road between 9:20 and 9:30 p.m.
Ten weeks into the fall semester, Student Council President John Nelson's administration has broken ground on a number of its initial goals to improve outreach.
Poets & Writers Magazine ranked the University's creative writing master's degree program third overall in the country in its November/December 2009 issue. "[The program is] one of our biggest strengths and [it is] obviously one of the best writing programs in the country," English Department Chair Cynthia Wall said. Director of Creative Writing Christopher Tilghman said Poets & Writers based its rankings partially on factors like funding and postgraduate placement, but placed more emphasis on polling students applying to the programs. "They were trying to avoid the bias of people who had already gone through programs," Tilghman said.
The James Madison University Judicial Affairs Office has brought charges against student journalists for allegedly committing policy violations while reporting. Journalists working for The Breeze, JMU's student newspaper, declined to comment on the issue per their attorney's advice, said JMU Media Arts and Design Prof.
[caption id="attachment_31402" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The University will significantly expand the Health System in the near future.
