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Devlin elected Trustees pres.

Class and school council officers were announced last night by the University Board of Elections. Current Third-Year Council president Christine Devlin was elected president of the Fourth-Year Trustees. "I am honored to take on this job, and really excited to do it again next year," Devlin said.


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Jefferson VinDicated?

Allegations of a possible relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings are rooted in a centuries-old rumor first spread in 1802 by James T.


News

UBE discusses effects of recent election reforms

As the polls close at 6 p.m. today, students have begun to weigh in on the changes implemented during the spring elections. Steve Yang, University Board of Election's chair, said, "We're working hard to enforce rules and regulations for all candidates." UBE has increased publicity this year and is encouraging students to vote using flyers, banners, e-mails sent to schools and class years and Facebook, Yang added. "We've especially increased advertising on Facebook because we understand that's where a lot of students spend time," Yang said. Despite the increase in publicity of the elections themselves, individual candidates seem to be campaigning less. "I haven't seen as many [fliers and chalk] as I have in past years, part of that might just be with the weather," Yang said. In addition to more election publicity, UBE has extended the period during which students can vote from six days to one week.


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Honor releases response to faculty survey results

Sunday the Honor Committee released its analysis of the faculty survey conducted in spring 2005 after choosing to interpret the data independent of the Center for Survey Research, which compiled the data. The response addresses concerns of faculty understanding of the system, support for Honor, the role of Honor in the classroom, cheating at the University, faculty experiences with Honor, fair treatment of students and faculty interaction with the system. Though the survey was conducted by the CSR, Committee members elected to interpret the data themselves in order to use the results to determine where improvements could be made. "We weren't looking for a response that would just interpret the data," Vice Chair for Community Relations A-J Aronstein said.


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U.Va. uses Web resources to ease admission process

As the college acceptance waiting game continues for high school seniors, both applicants and prospective students continue to utilize some of the electronic resources provided by the Office of Admissions regarding application and admission processes. "We want to get information to prospective students," Dean of Admissions Jack Blackburn said.


News

Gen. Assembly closes session

The Virginia General Assembly's short session officially closed Saturday. This session saw passage of 958 bills, including a transportation bill and a budget bill that could have an effect on higher education funding. The transportation bill will take money from the general fund, comprised of revenue collected by the state through the sales tax and income tax, according to House Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford. The general fund also subsidizes K-12 education and health and human services, among other services the Commonwealth provides its citizens, Howell said. Despite recent uncertainty about funding of the transportation bill, Howell noted that funding of the bill will only take one half of one percent of the general fund, still leaving sufficient resources for other areas. Del.


News

Study shows decrease in reading skills

The National Center for Education Statistics recently released a study that shows a nationwide decrease in high school seniors' reading proficiency since 1992. The study, titled "The Nation's Report Card," examined transcripts from a sample of 21,000 high school seniors from 900 schools across the country and compared them to students' performances on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The NAEP test is "a broad-stroke snapshot based on what experts believe students should know and do in a particular subject," said Stephanie Germeraad, National Assessment Governing Board public affairs specialist. The study shows that the percentage of high school seniors reading at or above the level designated "proficient" has fallen from 40 percent in 1992 to 35 percent in 2005. "The bottom line that we found was that while it appears that high school students seem to be doing all the right things in school, [such as] taking tougher courses, getting better grades and earning more credits during their time in high school, there is not a corollary increase in NAEP scores for 12th-graders," Germeraad said. The study also observed what Germeraad called "lackluster" mathematics scores.


News

Profs. advance in Alzheimer's research

Researchers at the University are currently playing a key role in the discovery of the causes of Alzheimer's disease and have come one step closer to better understanding the disease. "We are trying to understand the process that kills the cells in Alzheimer's," Biology Prof.


News

Facebook ads prompt campaign concerns

Questions regarding the University Board of Elections' policy on campaign spending arose last week after it was discovered that several candidates were using Facebook advertising without specifically citing who paid for the postings. Ryan Taylor, third-year College student and Student Council executive vice presidential candidate, said he was contacted Tuesday via e-mail by Steve Yang, chair of University Board of Elections, about the way in which he posted and cited advertisements on Facebook. Taylor said Yang did not think the "posted by" designation at the bottom of the flyer clearly illustrated the fact that it was "paid for by" the candidate. "I did not declare that I had paid for the Facebook flyer itself even though it specifically said I posted it," Taylor said.


News

Discussion of potential new schools arises

As the Capital Campaign gradually narrows its focus to target larger, individual donors, University faculty and administrators are discussing the use of private funds in the possible creation of several new professional schools. Current ideas include the creation of schools of public health, public policy, global sustainability and environmental science, according to Bob Sweeney, senior vice president for development and public affairs. "A number of initiatives are being discussed, which include schools along with a lot of other possibilities, but these are now just at the stage of discussion," Provost Gene Block said.


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Greek councils collaborate to build Habitat house

The University's Greek community unveiled a Habitat for Humanity house Friday built as part of a cooperative effort by the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Inter-Sorority Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the Multicultural Greek Council and Charlottesville Habitat for Humanity. Aaron Laushway, dean of fraternity and sorority life, said the house unveiled Friday is the fourth built with involvement from the Greek community and the second built with cooperation from all four councils. "It was great," Laushway said.


News

Correction:

According to the Wednesday, Feb. 21 News article "General Assembly passes grant incentive for eligible VCCS transfers," the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate approved HB 1681, which established the Virginia two-year college transfer grant program.


News

Honor looks at role insingle sanction debate

The Honor Committee held an open meeting last night, during which community members voiced concern about the Committee's failure to present a viable alternative to the single sanction. Committee Chair Alison Tramba said if the referendum currently on the ballot which was proposed by Hoos Against Single Sanction fails to pass, the next Honor Committee would likely form another ad hoc committee to examine other options. Vice Chair for Trials Jay Trickett explained why the current ad hoc committee studying the single sanction chose not to offer additional alternatives to the honor system during the current election season. "The [single sanction] ad hoc committee debated the idea of having a third alternative on the ballot," Trickett said, "But we thought it would be unfair to the student body that there would be three different options because it made it unlikely that any would pass." Vice Chair for Investigations Andrew Siegel also presented a proposal at the meeting to further streamline the investigation process by switching to an electronic database. "It's going to be a lot more easy to facilitate the exchange of information throughout the investigative process, the trial process and through appeals," Siegel said. The open meeting, held in the Dome Room of the Rotunda, was headed by Vice Chair for Education A-J Aronstein.


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Since the Contemplative Commons opening April 4, the building has hosted events for the University community. Sam Cole, Commons’ Assistant Director of Student Engagement, discusses how the Contemplative Sciences Center is molding itself to meet students’ needs and provide a wide range of opportunities for students to discover contemplative practices that can help them thrive at the University.