News

Students discuss racial divide

Addressing topics such as housing and self-segregation, students came together to discuss issues of race in the University community during the third-annual Day of Dialogue on Race yesterday. The forum served as a discussion aimed at fighting racism and prejudice on Grounds, according to Day of Dialogue coordinator Frank Michael Muñoz. "The Day of Dialogue was created out of a perceived need for a forum where student leaders could come together to discuss issues of race," Muñoz said. Participants separated into small groups to discuss their personal encounters with racism and various topics from local newspaper articles that related to race. Second-year College students Sarah Searle and David Newsome said they noticed a correlation between race and housing locations at the University. "It seems like Copeley and Faulkner are predominantly black, Hereford -- Asian, and off-Grounds housing near the Corner seems to be predominantly white," Searle said. Searle added that she believes this correlation is the result of students seeking to return to the comfort and familiarity of their own culture. One group of students agreed the University is a microcosm of the larger issue of racism in America. "The problem is not that we [students] join these groups that are race specific, it's that we allow them to limit the other things that we do," said second-year College student Brian Tucker regarding extracurricular activities at the University. After group discussion, each individual was asked to place himself within a specific racial and ethnic stereotype.

Correction

Friday's article "U.Va. declines to sign climate commitment" incorrectly stated "146 colleges and universities have agreed to sign the commitment out of the 2,700 asked." In fact, 390 schools were asked to sign the agreement in the first phase of the initiative.

Gov. signs bill to create suicidal prevention protocol

Gov. Tim Kaine signed a bill Thursday directing public colleges and universities in Virginia to establish procedures for identifying and addressing the needs of students at risk for suicide. The bill, HB 3064, "requires college trustees to direct development of a plan for how universities will attempt to help students who may have demonstrated self-destructive behavior," Kaine's press secretary Kevin Hall said. The bill was introduced in mid-January by Del.

Downtown lot to change hands

Students and community members could soon see a decrease in the amount of parking available at the Downtown Mall as the board of the Charlottesville Parking Center plans to either sell its assets or engage in a merger. Founded in 1959 to provide parking for the Downtown Mall, the CPC owns a surface parking lot on Water Street and the land under the adjacent Water Street garage. "We have accomplished our mission," CPC President and CEO Jim Berry said.

UBE special election begins today

A special election which begins this morning will allow students to vote on an Arts & Sciences Council constitutional amendment and a referendum that would allow the College to formally thank Dean Ed Ayers for his service to the University. The ASC amendment was introduced as a referendum during the regular spring elections, but technical errors prevented a valid result.

Multi-million dollar DoD grants awarded to three E-school profs.

Engineering School faculty members recently received three multi-million dollar grants from the Defense Department's Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program. According to Associate Dean for Research Barry Johnson, MURI is a program that seeks to develop "revolutionary ideas" in technology and areas that are significant to the future of the Defense Department.

Young lords' Founder Visits University

Grant to allow replication of College Guides

A University program to increase the number of college applicants from local high schools has gained national attention, and will be reproduced at colleges and universities across the country thanks to recent grants. The University College Guide Program, created in fall 2005, accepts 22 recent University graduates every academic year and places them in Virginia high schools as full-time guidance office employees, said Nicole Hurd, creator and director of the College Guide Program. Because of the success of the program at the University, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation recently announced that it will grant $10 million to duplicate the program at 10 schools and create the National College Advising Corps, which Hurd said she will direct. Of the 169 colleges and universities invited to join the program, 56 applied, 18 finalists were selected and 10 final grant recipients were chosen, according to Hurd. Jeffrey Williams, director of access and urban outreach at the University of Missouri ­-- Columbia, said the grant from the Cooke Foundation does not begin until August of this year, but members of the program at Missouri are beginning the planning process now. "This issue should be a concern to any institution." Williams said.

Writing instructor receives Southern writing award

University writing instructor and alumna Charlotte Matthews has won the Fellowship of Southern Writers' 2007 New Writing Award for poetry.

U.Va. declines to sign climate commitment

The University issued a statement yesterday indicating it will not sign the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, citing practicality concerns. The commitment intends to address global warming by asking schools across the country to "neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate," according to the commitment's mission statement. According to the University's statement, administrators believe the commitment does not significantly reflect the agreement reached among college and university presidents but instead was formed by a group of environmental activists and companies that sell environmental services. Anthony Cortese, president of non-profit environmental group Second Nature and a co-organizer of the commitment, said this notion "is not correct." "There have been no corporate businesses that have provided in any way to the Presidents Climate Commitment," Cortese said. Currently, 146 colleges and universities have agreed to sign the commitment out of the 2,700 asked.

Fall 2007 COD debuts with new features

Students examining the new COD this morning will encounter a number of changes intended to improve the registration process, including waitlist and location information as well as an expanded course offering. The newly released COD includes features to help students determine which classes have waitlists, the locations of classes and what type of instruction each class features. Students now can tell if a course has a waitlist by rolling the mouse over the enrollment column. Another new feature will allow students to access a campus map displaying building locations by clicking on the building mnemonic that accompanies the course listings, University Registrar Carol Stanley said. According to Stanley, class location is determined by a "highly efficient and sophisticated scheduling algorithm." Stanley said this program takes into consideration factors such as course size, the location of the course's department, a course's technology requirements and the times the course is scheduled.

Lawsuit alleges Education Dept. overcharged students

The U.S. Department of Education has allegedly been overcharging individuals with consolidated student loans by unlawfully capitalizing interest, according to a class-action suit filed Monday. Capitalizing interest occurs when accrued interest is added to the loan principal, thereby increasing the loan amount. Steven Sprenger, lead counsel for the suit, said lead plaintiff Brenda K.

U.Va. community looks to supplement emergency notification system

Students, parents and University Police are collaborating on a project intended to provide members of the University community with quicker access to emergency information using LCD screens around Grounds. Outgoing Student Council President Darius Nabors devised the original idea to place more LCD screens in Newcomb Hall and other buildings so student groups can broadcast their events; however, upon meeting with the U.Va.

Committees to join in search for new provost

The University's search for a new provost is progressing, as the Board of Visitors' advising committee and a faculty advising committee plan to begin conversations with potential candidates in the next week. The University has been preparing to hire a new provost since December, when Provost Gene Block accepted the position of chancellor at the University of California, Los Angeles. The process of hiring a new provost will follow the official guidelines set forth by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Human Resources, according to University President John T.

Speaker calls for end to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Retired Naval Capt. Michael Rankin called for the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy at last night's University Democrats' meeting.

Jaberwoke rescinds dress code

White T-shirts can be worn at Jaberwoke again, at least for the time being, co-owner Anderson McClure said yesterday, announcing that he will remove the portion of the restaurant's official dress and behavior code pertaining to patrons' clothing. Outrage concerning Jaberwoke's dress policy came to a pinnacle yesterday during an open forum for members of the community to air their grievances about the dress code.

ASC appoints O'Neill, Daley

Catherine Anne Daley and Brian O'Neill were appointed to the two vacant seats on the Honor Committee after a debate before the Arts & Sciences Council last night.

Professor addresses perceptions of term 'jihad'

Examining the relationship between Islamic culture and current events, including concerns about the use of violence, was the focus of a lecture yesterday given as part of Islamic Awareness Week. Islamic Studies Prof.

Jaberwoke defends policy

Students and community members came together at last night's Student Council meeting to express concerns about the dress code recently implemented by Corner restaurant Jaberwoke.

E-school responds to competition in global field

University administrators believe a focus on interdisciplinary studies and innovation could be the key to improving potential international competitiveness -- a weakness explored by a recent report by Duke researchers. According to the report, the media often inaccurately finds the United States lagging behind other countries in terms of producing engineers. As stated in the report, "various articles in the popular media ... have stated that the United States graduates roughly 70,000 undergraduate engineers annually, whereas China graduates 600,000 and India 350,000." Ryan Ong, a research associate at Duke, said he and his colleagues suspected this number was incorrect.