Council launches arts programs
By Bret Vollmer | December 3, 2009[caption id="attachment_32325" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Some Lawn rooms will host artwork as part of a new Student Council initiative tomorrow.
[caption id="attachment_32325" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Some Lawn rooms will host artwork as part of a new Student Council initiative tomorrow.
Two University professors have been awarded fellowships by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, while another has been awarded the Fulbright Senior Scholarship from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission.
As the fall semester draws to a close, sustainability planners for Dining Services and the Energy and Utilities Department are reflecting on major initiatives undertaken in the past year and are looking to expand upon these efforts in 2010. Dining Services has broadened the reach of sustainability in its locations on Grounds, starting a new reusable to-go box program in September and hiring Kendall Singleton as sustainability coordinator in August.
[caption id="attachment_32163" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Council members, pictured above earlier this year, listened to the Student Life Committee's report on the recently launched UVAirBus program last night.
The University's Department of Systems and Information Engineering has developed an Accelerated Master's Program in systems engineering designed specifically for providing United States Veterans with inexpensive career and educational training. The program is modeled after the department's current accelerated master's program, in which students participate in the program for only one year and complete a total of 30 credits, the program's Executive Director Mike Smith said.
The Medical Center's Ryan White Program, along with the Charlottesville AIDS Services Group and the Charlottesville/Albemarle Health Department, hosted a free HIV testing event for University students and city and county residents yesterday.
The Inter-Sorority Council elected five of 17 required members to its 2010 Executive Board Monday night. Third-year Commerce student Sarah Feldner was elected ISC president while third-year College student Ally Svirsky will fill the board's vice president of administration position.
After spending nearly 28 hours trapped in a Utah cave, second-year Medical student John Jones died late Wednesday.
[caption id="attachment_32239" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington has been missing since the night of Oct.
Student Council passed a resolution at its Nov. 17 meeting to support responsible investing principles for the University's $4 billion endowment. The resolution supports a proposal by the Socially Responsible Investment Organization - a contracted independent organization at the University - that updates the University's endowment policy and includes guidelines to encourage considerations of the environmental and social implications of its investment options. Commerce Rep.
Student Health will hold the University's second H1N1 vaccination clinic today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
[caption id="attachment_32203" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The University's Resident Staff program has made adjustments to its selection process for resident advisors for the upcoming year.
The Honor Committee is currently looking at two changes to its constitutional bylaws and general policies that would have a significant impact on the honor system as a whole. The first of these changes occurred at Sunday's weekly meeting, during which the Committee passed its new plagiarism and paraphrasing supplement in a 19-0 vote.
[caption id="attachment_32200" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Primary and special care physicians formerly employed by the University Medical Center must now wait a year before starting another practice near the Charlottesville area.
The City of Charlottesville will launch the new Local Energy Alliance Program early next year to provide area property owners with financing and resources to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and businesses. LEAP will encourage Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents to make upgrades to their homes that will decrease their energy consumption and lower their electricity bills, Charlottesville Environmental Administrator Kristel Riddervold said. "The main goal of the program is to support community residents and businesses to pursue and implement energy efficiency, and through that, there will be good construction jobs retained and created," she said. Property owners who contact LEAP for assistance will be directed to area construction companies that will make the actual improvements.
University professors have acquired $56.9 million from more than 133 separate federal stimulus research grants since the program's inception. The federal stimulus package, which was passed earlier this year, included $21.5 billion for research and development, much of which has been given to higher education institutions across the country. Jeff Blank, assistant vice president for research, said grants at the University will fund a range of projects, from ovarian cancer research to the study of solar energy materials to inquiries into communications and the origins of meaning. Assoc.
The University's Faculty Senate voted unanimously Friday to support the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Culture's proposal to create its first master's degree program.
[caption id="attachment_32163" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Newcomb Business Services Office stated it would not allow retroactive spending by Council.
A group of University Engineering students is working to launch an undergraduate research journal titled The Spectra Engineering and Science Research Journal. "Our goal for the journal is to increase the exposure of engineering research, applied science research and engineering design," said Chris Belyea, a fourth-year Engineering student and The Spectra's founder and editor-in-chief.
[caption id="attachment_31236" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Engineering School revealed its first art exhibit last week to help demonstrate the artistic aspects of the subject matter.