Charlottesville was recently ranked number three in the 2006 Digital Cities Survey, conducted by the Center for Digital Government, which composed a list of the top 10 digital cities in America. The city of Charlottesville spokesman Ric Barrick said the city was judged on its ability to use technology to better inform local citizens.
Presidents of the four Greek councils gathered last night to participate in a forum sponsored by Student Council Diversity Initiatives addressing inter-council relations. The leaders of the Inter-Fraternity Council, Inter-Sorority Council, Multicultural Greek Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council discussed topics ranging from how to improve mandatory diversity-related programs for members to whether the existence of four separate councils fosters self-segregation at the University. Ryan McElveen, panel moderator and chair of the Diversity Initiatives committee, asked the leaders to consider how the four councils can work together to influence the University community in the way the councils have worked together on philanthropic projects such as Mid-Autumns Carnival. ISC President Massie Payne noted that leaders of the four councils present a "united Greek front" to incoming students and also encourage University students to participate in their social and philanthropic events. Other presidents agreed, noting that their mutual goal is to ensure students feel comfortable taking part in the activities of an organization within any of the four councils. The panel members also agreed that the randomization of first-year housing could benefit their organizations. NPHC President Joyce Adelugba said randomized housing could allow members of organizations within the different councils to interact more and could encourage greater participation in each council's activities. The panel also discussed the issue of increasing diversity on Rugby Road. Incoming MGC President Jovian Ho said organizations within his council "can't dream of" purchasing a house on Rugby Road because small alumni bases limit their financial resources. Adelugba noted that because of younger councils' inability to afford houses on Rugby Road, the organizations within these two councils suffer from a lack of social space and affordable security options for social gatherings. Following a question from an audience member, the panelists discussed the possibility of the creation of a unified Greek council at the University.
Philip Zelikow, counselor to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former executive director of the 9/11 Commission, announced his resignation Monday and said he plans to return to the University.
Last night, Quidad Talabani, son of the current Iraqi president and representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government to the United States, discussed the current political, social and economic progress being made in Iraq despite problems such as oil, internal conflicts and disputes with neighboring countries. Talabani said he hoped the United States will continue to aid Iraq and that Iraq would eventually be able to sustain a democratic government. Alex Hannagan, president of the University's Students Defending Democracy,explained the importance of Talabani's talk, stating he had an immediate understanding of Iraq's situation. Talabani "knows the stuff that is really going on," Hannagan said.
In yesterday's News article "Honor releases faculty survey," it was stated that 42.7 percent of respondents expressed "their moderate support with reservations" for the Honor system.
Philip Zelikow, counselor to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former head of the 9/11 Commission, recently announced his plans to resign from his government post and return to his previous teaching position at the University. The former director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs plans to return to his teaching post at the University at the beginning of next year. According to Zelikow's letter of resignation, his leave will take effect Jan.
The Honor Committee released the results of its faculty survey Sunday. The results demonstrated mixed opinions about the current system. The survey was commissioned by last year's Committee and was conducted in February and March 2006.
Following a successful eight-year relationship with CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, the University has signed a new 10-year multimedia agreement with CBS valued at more than $33 million. The monetary commitments will primarily provide funding for new video boards for stadiums on Grounds. "There is already a new video board in Klöckner Stadium and there will be a new one in the baseball stadium by spring," said Jon Oliver, University executive associate athletics director.
The University tied for 22nd nationally in performance on the Certified Public Accountant exam, according to recently released statistics from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. The 2006 edition of "Candidate Performance on the Uniform CPA Examination" ranked schools based on pass rate and divided the results based on the degree qualifications of candidates.
The University and other state universities nationwide are failing to provide adequate access to minority and low-income students, according to a study by the Education Trust. The study examined flagship public universities from each state, rating financial aid practices toward minority and low-income students, said Danette Gerald, senior research associate for the Trust and co-author of the report. "We wanted to use flagship universities to highlight the inequities in higher education," Gerald said.
Innovation Challenge, the largest "crowdcasting" event in the nation, comes to the Darden School this weekend with international student teams presenting solutions to major corporations' problems. "Instead of turning to their in-house marketing teams ... some major corporations are going directly to the next generation of business leaders, students, and presenting them with real business problems and challenging them to give solutions," Darden spokesperson Steve Evans said.
Several University organizations are working to tackle the emerging "fourth-year fifth" drinking trend this week by sponsoring awareness campaigns and offering alternative activities for fourth years. The practice involves consuming a fifth of alcohol -- approximately 17 shots of liquor -- before the season's last home football game.
The National Institute of Justice has recently awarded two University professors a grant of nearly $300,000 to study patterns of financial abuse of the elderly across the Commonwealth. Law Prof.
The Association of American Medical Colleges recently kicked off its campaign to combat the declining number of minority applicants to medical schools. Through this campaign, the program aims to address two main obstacles identified by minority undergraduates who considered applying to medical school -- the MCATs and financial aid. According to Elisa Siegel, senior vice president for communications at the AAMC, focus group participants said performing well on the MCATs and finding good financial aid packages are constant hurdles when they consider applying to medical school. In one portion of the program, titled "Meet the Doctor," the AAMC offers ads in which doctors discuss how they overcame similar obstacles when applying to and completing medical school.
Yesterday morning the University hosted a "Smokefree Rally" at Jordan Hall promoting knowledge about the effects of secondhand smoke. The rally was sponsored by Virginians for a Healthy Future, an organization associated with the American Cancer Society, and Ignite, a national student organization founded at the University that works to keep tobacco companies accountable. "Our main goal is to put through a 'smoke-free' bill that would eliminate smoking in work places such as restaurants, bowling allies and even corporate offices," said Katie Pepe, American Cancer Society Smokefree campaign coordinator. In order to endorse their smoke-free bill, Virginians for a Healthy Future have created the Smokefree Virginia Now Tour which has rallied in Richmond, Newport News, Fredericksburg, Arlington and Roanoke in addition to Charlottesville. Although yesterday's rally had low attendance, they have had success in other cities and are raising awareness, according to Pepe. "We've got the momentum and we'll see how far we can take it," said State Sen.
Gov. Tim Kaine departed the country Saturday, Nov. 11, to undertake a seven-day international trade mission to Europe and promote the Jamestown 2007 celebration. Kaine will visit Sweden, Denmark, England and Germany where Kaine will meet with companies based in Europe who have existing operations in Virginia and with companies looking to establish a presence in the United States. Kaine's visit happened to coincide with the announcement of Queen Elizabeth that she and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, will visit Virginia in May 2007 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the settlement at Jamestown. In a telephone conference Kaine said he was excited about his "productive" visit with regard to commercial development in Virginia.
According to a recent study by Educational Testing Service, today's college students show a deficiency in information technology literacy.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved new legislation Monday that would make it a crime to harass or threaten animal researchers and their families.
