News

Honor, UJC candidates debate issues

The University Board of Elections sponsored a debate for candidates running for Judiciary College representatives and Honor College representatives in the Newcomb Theater last night before polls opened today. Speaking before a sparse crowd, candidates outlined their plans and made cases as to why they are best suited for the jobs. While five students are running for the three UJC College representative positions, only Grayson Lambert, second-year co-chair of the issues subcommittee, and Merriam Mikhail, second-year counselor for the executive committee, were in attendance. Third-year UJC Judge Connor Sullivan, third-year UJC Judge Dean de la Peña and second-year UJC educator John Thornton were not present for the debate. Lambert and Mikhail both stressed the importance of reinforcing "professionalism" within the UJC as well as outreach to the University community. "We're never going to improve ... if we don't hold ourselves to a higher standard," Lambert said. Mikhail said professionalism is something "we need to take seriously,"adding that the "committee can do better to reach out to U.Va." Seven candidates, all of whom were in attendance for the debate, are running for the three College representative positions on the Honor Committee. The candidates are third-year Senior Support Officer Catherine Anne Daley, third-year Counsel Brian O'Neill, third-year Senior Educator Support Officer Allie Moore, third-year Pre-trial Coordinator Daniel Lautzenheiser, third-year Investigations Coordinator Linda Liu, second-year Douglas Lewis, executive secretary of the Diversity Advisory Board, and third-year Senior Advisor Ben Cooper. Major topics of the discussion included diversity, education, transparency, relevancy and efficiency of the Committee. Many candidates expressed concern that Honor is viewed as a predominantly white organization. "This needs to be changed immediately," Cooper said. Lewis added that diversity "must be fixed inside and outside of Honor." Lautzenheiser emphasized that "spotlighting," the singling out of particular groups of people in terms of reporting Honor violations, must be stopped. All of the candidates were in consensus that transparency is a problem that Honor will have to face next year. "There is a lack of general understanding of honor by the U.Va.

Slush rush

UJC Arts and Sciences Rep

Grayson Lambert CLAS II Major: Undeclared Hometown: Columbia, SC Activities, Positions, Associations: Jefferson Literary and Debating Society (Sergeant-at-Arms) Club Golf Reformed University Fellowship Current Position: UJC Counselor; Issues Subcommittee, Co-Chair What are the responsibilities of the position you are seeking, and why are you qualified to fulfill those responsibilities? A UJC representative's first responsibility is to serve as a judge in trials.

UJC Engineering Rep

Ward Williams SEAS III Major: Systems Engineering Hometown: Greenville, SC Activities, positions, associations: Students 4 Students International Kappa Sigma Fraternity Current office/position: What are the responsibilities of the position you are seeking, and why are you qualified to fulfill those responsibilities? My responsibilities include a weekly meeting and regular representation as judge for trials.

U.Va. launches new Web site

The University's Communications Office launched a new University Web site yesterday. Web Communications Director Nancy Tramontin said she and her colleagues had two goals in mind when designing the page. "One [goal] was to be able to offer new links directly from the homepage, and the other was to offer a seed for University news and announcements" Tramontin said. Senior Web Developer Jonelle Kinback said the office faced several technical challenges when creating the new Web site.

Arts and Sciences Council President

Julian Campbell CLAS III Major: Anthropology Hometown: San Francisco, Ca. Activities, positions, associations: Jefferson Society Current office/position: Campbell.

Stud. Co. Executive Vice President

Stud Co. Exec. Vice President Todd Eley CLAS III Major: Economics and Government Hometown: Smithfield, Va. Activities, positions, associations: Student Council Legislative Affairs Committee and Presidential Debate Initiative Arts & Sciences Council First-Year Council Parliamentarian VCU Capital Semester Program 2006 Current office/position: Co-Chair, Student Council Legislative Affairs Committee; Ombudsman and Economics Department Representative, Arts & Sciences Council What are the responsibilities of the position you are seeking, and why are you qualified to fulfill those responsibilities? The constitutional responsibilities of the executive vice president currently are to manage meetings of the Council's representative body, record votes and to assist the president in the oversight and management of Council's committees.

Student groups debate referendum

Representatives from Hoos Against Single Sanction and Students for the Preservation of Honor met last night to debate the merits and problems associated with the multiple sanction proposal which will appear as a referendum on the spring ballot. "The elections are coming up later this week and we believe it's very important for students to hear the arguments and make an informed decision," said Vadim Elenev, vice president of the Washington Literary and Debate Society, the organization that hosted the debate. The non-binding resolution, which was introduced to the ballot by a petition by Hoos Against Single Sanction, introduces changes to the Honor Constitution that would establish a multiple sanctioning system in dealing with honor offenses. Sam Leven, president of Hoos Against Single Sanction, and Rachel Carr, vice president of the group, argued that the proposal would increase reporting of Honor offenses and make the system less arbitrary. "I know there's a strong sentimental tie to the single sanction," Leven said.

University receives informatics program funding

The University will become one of the National Library for Medicine's sites for medical informatics training in June after having successfully filed a proposal for funding from the organization last March. The practice of medical informatics deals with applying "computer and communications technology to the field of health," according to a NLM press release.

Wax On, Wax Off

ETS announces alterations to GRE testing format to take effect in fall

The Educational Testing Service is making multiple changes to the Graduate Record Examinations, a standardized test required for admission to many graduate schools.

Student, professor victims of robbery while on Grounds

A University student and a University professor were the targets of a robbery Friday night in the E-3 Scott Stadium parking lot, according to a police report. The victims, ages 26 and 39, were approached at about 9:20 p.m.

Arizona gov. to speak to Law grads

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano was recently selected to speak at the Law School graduation this spring.

Hips Don't Lie

Honor endorses plan to add College reps. to Committee

The Honor Committee voted yesterday to endorse the referendum that would increase the number of seats for College representatives on the Committee and discussed the possible creation of an Honor Committee onboard the Semester at Sea program. The proposal, which the Committee voted onto the spring election ballot last week, would add two seats for students in the College to the Committee, reallocating the makeup of the Committee to reflect more accurately current College enrollment.

College presidents pledge to limit CO2

Seventy-two college and university presidents recently indicated their commitment to lower greenhouse gas emissions by signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment; although the University is not a signatory, the administration is currently considering the initiative. Signing the commitment represents a pledge to become climate neutral, said ecoAmerica Executive Director Lee Bodner.

Colleges see more private funding

As the University's Capital Campaign increasingly relies on private donations, a recent study shows that other schools are also increasingly benefiting more from private donations. According to a survey conducted by the Chronicle of Philanthropy on the 60 most generous Americans, colleges and universities received more gifts from the top donors in 2006 than any other types of institution in America, as reported in an article by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Colleges received 34 gifts from the top donors while the next largest group, foundations, were given 28 gifts, according to the Chronicle. The University's Capital Campaign is heavily dependent on such large independent contributions, including John Tudor Jones' gift of $35 million given last year for the new arena, said Bob Sweeney, senior vice president for development and public affairs. "We anticipate in our campaign that we will need 133 gifts of over $5 million of principal gifts to become one of the truly elite universities in America," Sweeney said. The Campaign, which has a goal of raising three billion dollars by Dec.

Gov. Kaine addresses Law students

Gov. Tim Kaine addressed University law students this weekend, encouraging them to pursue careers in public service. The event, held Saturday, was part of the eighth annual Conference on Public Service & the Law, which addresses issues of social justice both in the United States and the world at large. The conference was organized entirely by graduate students, an effort that illustrates their dedication to the University and to public service, said Law School Dean John Jeffries in his introduction. Kaine also recognized undergraduate and graduate students' commitment to public service. He then offered five tips for beginning a public service career.

IFC elects officers for 2007

The Inter-Fraternity Council met last night to elect its non-executive officers for the coming year. Last night's election came a week after the IFC elected its executive board in the first of its two-part election process. The IFC Presidents' Council, which consists of all fraternity presidents, as well as the outgoing IFC governing board voted in the elections, according to outgoing President Andy Paradis. "I'm very pleased with the way elections went," Paradis said.

Med. School examines donations from pharmaceutical companies

The Prescription Project, a joint effort between Columbia University's Institute on Medicine as a Profession and the grassroots organization Community Catalyst, launched a campaign Monday calling on medical schools to end interactions with pharmaceutical companies that could result in conflicts of interest, said Susan Chimonas, co-director of research at the Prescription Project.