News

Report shows more females than males in higher education

Females outnumber males in higher education enrollment and in their attainment of associate and bachelor's degrees, as indicated by a report released by the National Center for Education Statistics on Friday. The report, titled "Gender Differences in Participation and Completion of Undergraduate Education and How They Have Changed Over Time," is an analysis of studies and surveys conducted between 1970 and 2001. According to the study, enrollment of women in higher education has increased from 42 percent to 56 percent between 1970 and 2001 and is projected to increase to 57 percent by 2013.

Legislators reach compromise on Virginia budget

The version of the Virginia state budget that resulted from a week and a half of discussion and compromise by a joint committee of conferees was passed in both the House of Delegates and the Senate Sunday. The joint committee of conferees finished hammering out the differences between the House's and Senate's versions of the state budget a day over the scheduled session time. Vincent F.

Students victims of weekend assaults

Four assaults were reported in the University area over the weekend, three of which involved University students. An alleged robbery and sexual assault of a female undergraduate student occurred early Monday morning at 12th Street and Wertland Street. According to Francis Laushway, the dean on call that evening, the Charlottesville police are currently investigating the incident. Charlottesville Police Captain Chip Harding said a 20-year-old female was robbed and sexually assaulted by a tall black male while in her car. The weekend's first crime was an attempted strong armed robbery reported to University Police early Sunday morning. According to University Police Captain Michael Coleman, a student was assaulted near Fitzhugh Dormitory by two suspects, both black males between 18 and 20 years of age. The other three incidents took place off Grounds and were reported to the Charlottesville Police. An assault and robbery was reported early Sunday morning on the 300 block of 13th Street. According to Harding, the victim's purse was stolen after she was pushed to the ground by two black male suspects. Another purse snatching also was reported only a few hours before, late Saturday night on 8th Street Northwest. Police suspect there may be a connection between the two purse snatchings. "We don't know that they're related," Harding said.

Unauthorized midterm sent to biology students

Biology 204 students received an unauthorized e-mail from an unknown person purporting to have attached a file copy of the first midterm from the spring 2004 class last Friday. Using the pseudonym Pancho Sanchez, an unidentified person distributed a 6-page, 50-question biology midterm to the class. The subject line of the e-mail read "a little help on your first test." On Sunday, the course instructor, biology Prof.

DISHIN' IT UP AT RUNK

Honor debates referendum implications

At last night's meeting, the Honor Committee discussed the issue and implications of the consensus clause, a referendum on the spring ballot. The consensus clause is an amendment to the Honor constitution which specifies that any changes to the sanctioning power of the Committee be approved by a majority of the student body. The consensus clause was placed on the ballot through a student petition and consequently was not addressed by the Committee. "The Committee doesn't have a specific opinion either way," Honor Committee Chair Meghan Sullivan said. Most members of the Committee agreed that education about the consensus clause had been adequate. "We've tried our best to ensure that our educators know how to explain what it is and what it means to vote for or against it," Sullivan said. Sullivan opened the floor for representatives to discuss questions that have come up on this issue from their constituents. "The consensus is definitely that it's fairly transparent, that it's not about consensus -- it's about the single sanction," Committee Secretary Elisabeth Epps said.

Zelikow named State Department official

Miller Center of Public Affairs Director Philip D. Zelikow was appointed counselor of the U.S. Department of State in an announcement made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday. "I think he was as surprised as anyone when Secretary Rice invited him to take this appointment," said George H.

Multicultural Greek Council alters bylaws

The Multicultural Greek Council currently is rewriting its bylaws to better cater to the needs of their member organizations, MGC members said. One important change already made is the MGC's election period, which was changed to a calendar year as opposed to a school year to allow for a better transition for executive board members.

Faculty, Honor discuss possible faculty survey

The Honor Committee and the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee have recently begun discussing the creation of an honor survey directed at faculty members to gauge their perception of the honor system. Initially, an Academic Affairs subcommittee was charged with addressing faculty perspectives on honor, and the committee considered drafting a formal survey concerning faculty's attitudes regarding the honor system during the fall semester.

Doing Creatine

I started taking creatine supplements this past summer after I had broken my leg in the winter and had lost a lot of weight due to inactivity and muscle atrophy. Physically, I wanted to get back to where I was before I broke my leg, but I also wanted to be bigger and stronger than what I had been before the accident.

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

Council passes two course evaluation bills

Daily Associate Editor Student Council passed two bills concerning online course evaluations at Tuesday's meeting, one addressing the role of teaching assistants and the other commending the student body for completing the evaluations last semester. College Rep.

Students to be tried for drug charges

Two University students are scheduled to appear in court next week to face charges of drug possession. According to a police report released Tuesday, second-year College student Anthony Polise was charged with possession of marijuana and the intent to distribute as well as the intent to sell marijuana on the property of a public institution.

Harvard study indicates student alcohol consumption correlated to state laws

A study released Tuesday by the Harvard School of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that alcohol consumption among college students is lower in states with stricter alcohol laws. States with four or more laws inhibiting the sale of alcohol in large quantities had a 31 percent lower rate of high-risk drinking.

New studies give hope to heart disease victims

While not everyone may know that February is American Heart Month, many know that diseases affecting the heart claim more lives than any other cause in America each year.

Warner, Sallie Mae introduce new nursing, teaching loan assistance program

A new loan assistance program announced by Gov. Mark R. Warner and Sallie Mae national loan company Tuesday potentially would give nursing and education students in Virginia colleges 10 percent of their student loans back in cash. The program, whose two components are called "Teach for Virginia" and "Care for Virginia," requires education and nursing students to agree to work or teach in Virginia for three years after graduation while making regular payments on their loans.

City, Albemarle consider fusing fire, rescue

The City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County announced Saturday that they are looking into consolidating their fire and rescue services. "The City and the County are trying to put together a proposal in the next couple weeks," said John Shifflett, president of North Garden Volunteer Fire Company.

Faculty set to implement new hiring initiatives

In order to boast a strong and diverse faculty, the University is developing programs and services this semester to aid in the process of recruiting and retaining faculty members, particularly females and minorities, according to University officials. The main focus continues to be placed on broadening the pool of perspective faculty members and weighing the value of diversity, said Karen Ryan, associate dean of the arts, humanities and social sciences. Gertrude Fraser, University vice provost for faculty advancement, said her office is working to improve and enhance several different aspects of the recruitment process in conjunction with faculty search committees. One of the projects includes developing an online tutorial for search committees that outlines how to best reach the broadest range of qualified candidates, Fraser said. "That is one goal of my office -- to make us much more agile and to have much more breadth in how we get information out to candidates," Fraser said. Fraser said her office also is working on enhancing the proactive nature of the recruitment process.

Rat got your tongue?

Having brains that weigh only about two grams apparently doesn't stop rats from discriminating between languages.

ITC server crash prevents access to U.Va. sites

A main server on the University network failed yesterday, cutting off access to the University homepage, Toolkit and other related services for over two hours, Information Technology and Communication officials said. The server failed at 10:19 a.m., and a replacement server was put into place at 12:28 p.m., according to an ITC report. Attempts to access pages at the Virginia Web site during the downtime were met with white error screens. Communications and Systems Director Jim Jokl said this temporary server will remain until the original server is repaired. Jokl said yesterday's crash was one of the biggest server crashes he can remember. "The failure was visible because it impacted many systems that people tend to use," he said. The University has been using its current servers for years, and the servers have proven very reliable, Jokl said.