News

University fraternity admits to stealing Virginia Tech "Hokie Bird"

A University fraternity has admitted to stealing a $10,000 "Hokie Bird" statue from Virginia Tech this past weekend. The statue, a large-scale fiberglass construction sponsored by the Blacksburg Partnership, was stolen by a fraternity pledge class, according to University spokesperson Carol Wood. "We learned about it from folks in Blacksburg that suspected that it could have been some of our students so we obviously cooperated with the folks in Blacksburg to see if it was true and discovered it was," she said. The students have come forward and are currently working with University officials to rectify the situation, according to Wood. "Our students are working with one of our deans," she said.

U.Va. extends admission to Class of 2011

Last Friday more than 92 percent of the University's 18,068 applicants clicked a button online to see if they were offered a spot in the University's class of 2011 ­-- 5,095 were greeted by the coveted message of "Congratulations." With a 10.5 percent increase in applicants over last year, the University saw the largest applicant pool in its history this year, Dean of Admissions John Blackburn said. He said it is difficult to know the true reasons behind the increase, but it is possible that the press the University received in past months concerning the abolishment of its early decision policy could be a factor in the influx. "We were in a lot of newspapers about this [decision], which increased visibility," Blackburn said. He added that he saw interest in this decision from European and Asian newspapers, which could be a factor in the 23 percent increase of international applicants. Other notable trends were increases in the number of minority applicants.

College: No Parents!

City looks to lower real estate tax

Charlottesville City Council tentatively approved a real estate tax rate of 97 cents for every $100 at Wednesday's meeting.

Lawn residents react to pavilion selection process

More than 30 Lawn residents put "For Sale" signs on their doors yesterday in response to the possibility that Bob Sweeney, senior vice president for development and public affairs, is being considered by the Board of Visitors for Lawn pavilion residency. Lawn resident A-J Aronstein said the signs are the expression of many Lawn residents' concerns about both the pavilion selection process and Sweeney as a potential resident.

Kaine amends Assembly's smoking bill

Gov. Tim Kaine proposed an amendment yesterday which would ban smoking in commonwealth restaurants.

Prof. to use NSF grant to study toxic emissions

Environmental Sciences Prof. Todd Scanlon recently received a research grant from the National Science Foundation that will allow him to further his research on the problem of toxic emissions in Virginia. Elizabeth VanderPutten, chair of the National Science Foundation's CAREER Coordinating Committee, said the $449,000 award is meant to encourage younger faculty to pursue research and community education. "We consider this award to be the most prestigious award to young faculty by NSF [and] we expect the awardees to be the leading teacher-scholars over the next generation," VanderPutten said. Scanlon said he will use the grant money to research nitrous oxide emissions as part of the Long-Term Ecological Research project at the University's Virginia Coast Reserve research station on the Eastern Shore. Scanlon said nitrous oxide damages the ozone layer and is more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. "Where we're taking these measurements is in an agricultural watershed where there are fertilizer applications that result in elevated nitrogen levels and when the nitrogen gets broken down, this is where we get nitrous oxide emissions occurring," Scanlon said. Scanlon said he will also research methyl mercury accumulation in the ecosystem at Shenandoah National Park. "In areas where we wouldn't expect to see too much mercury, scientists have found elevated concentrations of mercury due to atmospheric deposition," Scanlon said.

Presidential hopeful debates war parallels

University Law Prof. Robert Turner and former Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska, participated in a debate about the parallels between the war inIraq and the war in Vietnam.

The face of next year's Lawn class

Statistics profiling the 47 students chosen to live in non-endowed Lawn rooms and the 287 Lawn applicants were recently released by the University Housing Division.

Students criticize W&L admin. in wake of reported attacks

Recent reports of attacks on two openly gay law students at Washington & Lee University, one of whom is a University graduate, have resulted in criticism of Washington & Lee's response to the incident. Diane Meier, a second-year Washington & Lee law student and one of the openly gay students who said she was verbally and physically abused, described attacks against a fellow law student, who has chosen to remain anonymous. Meier said last Saturday her friend was walking home from a party where he had been verbally attacked.

Dena Bowers' attorney to file appeal after judge expected to hand down final order

Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Norman K. Moon is expected to hand down a final order to close the case of Dena Bowers v.

Sullivan to serve as UJC chair

The University Judiciary Committee elected third-year College student Connor Sullivan as chair of its executive board in its elections last night. Additional members of the executive board include second-year College student Merriam Mikhail as vice chair for first years, second-year Law student Seth Ragosta as vice chair for trials and third-year College student Dean de la Peña as vice chair for sanctions. "The new Committee is made up of a very talented and dedicated group," outgoing chair Raleigh Anne Blank said.

pseudo pilgrimage to mecca

Who Could Ask For Anything More?

Faculty Senate discusses prof. titles

The Faculty Senate held a working session yesterday where members focused on faculty titles, the Commission on the Future of the University and the role of faculty in the process of creating new schools and initiatives within the University. During the fall semester, Provost Gene Block approached the Academic Affairs Committee and asked that they review the issue of non-tenured faculty members holding professional titles, according to Faculty Senate Chair Kenneth Schwartz. "What is confusing is that when you give people the same title it becomes unclear as to what defines a professor," Schwartz said. According to Medical School Prof.

StudCo passes bill addressing qualifications for serving on Council

Student Council approved a bill last night resolving recent uncertainty concerning what qualifications students must meet to serve on Council.

A-school planning class recognized by award from City Planning Commission

An Architecture School faculty member and class recently received an award from Charlottesville's Planning Commission recognizing the architecture class's work in helping to create an environmental chapter for the city's Comprehensive Plan. The 2007 Eldon Fields Wood Design Professional of the Year Award will go to Karen Firehock, a senior associate at the University's Institute for Environmental Negotiation, and the students in her graduate planning class for adding an environmental focus to the city's planning, according to Charlottesville Environmental Administrator Kristel Riddervold. Firehock said the class, "Green Cities, Green Lands," teaches students the basic principles of environmental planning. "The city needed assistance in writing an environmental chapter for the new Comprehensive Plan," Firehock said. With this in mind, Firehock said her class investigated how to best protect the city's streams by adding wooden buffers and how to change the trail network to improve animal pathways. The class looked at the tree canopy for the whole city, using aerial photos to identify all the trees in the city, and found the city has 31.4 percent tree canopy coverage, Firehock said. According to Firehock, this percentage is much lower than the 40 percent coverage recommended by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

Dean Ayers delivers last lecture to full house

Reflecting on his time at the University and reminding students to cherish their experience, College Dean Ed Ayers gave his final lecture to a packed Old Cabell Hall auditorium last night.

Native Interest, New Opportunity

With 48 Native American students attending the University as of last fall, Native Americans make up less than one percent of the school's population.

Study notes weaker performance among legacies

A recent study conducted at Princeton University reported that "legacy students admitted with lower than average SAT scores to elite institutions have higher drop-out rates and significantly lower grades than minority students and athletes," according to Steven Barnes, spokesperson for the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. The survey was based on a sample of students from 28 U.S.