News

Second graders lobby to clean up 14th St.

Many University students think of 14th Street -- where roads and sidewalks are often littered with paper plates, plastic cups, empty beer cans, broken bottles, chip bags and pizza boxes -- as a college student enclave. But after plodding through trash along 14th Street on their way to a field trip at the University Art Museum, a younger set of students is trying to clean up the area. Second graders from Venable School, located on 14th Street, took a trip to City Hall Monday to protest the debris. "My class was walking down 14th Street to get to the Downtown Mall to the free trolley," second-grade Venable teacher Lisa Shook said.

Public, private tuition continues to rise

As the importance of a college education continues to rise in the United States, so does the cost of obtaining one. The College Board issued its annual report on the state of college pricing and financial aid on Tuesday, which found that tuition prices continued to climb over the last year.

Panel focuses on college media

Last night, the Kaleidoscope Center for Cultural Fluency hosted "When Words Offend: A Conversation on Political Correctness and Free Speech in College Media," a panel discussion between students and the editors of various University publications. Panelists included Individual Rights Coalition President Anthony Dick, Declaration Literary Editor Andrew Pratt, Declaration News Editor David Dexter, Virginia Advocate Executive Editor Chris Vickers, Critical Mass editorial board member Matt Kindig, All Women Attaining Knowledge and Enrichment President Jill Raney and Cavalier Daily Editor-in-Chief Chris Wilson. University spokesperson Carol Wood served as moderator. Wood began the discussion by pointing to Thomas Jefferson's belief in the necessity of the press in protecting the opinion of the people. Wood asked the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the editors and ask: Do the articles in the publications "reflect what you see and how you live in the University community?" The panelists then discussed potential reactions to media coverage of University issues. "People have opinions whether intentional or otherwise," Kindig said.

Domestic policy platforms center on health care access

Access and affordability dominate the debate over health care in the upcoming presidential election, but both candidates sharply disagree over whose health care plan can deliver on those promises. Sen.

Committee evaluates safety around Grounds

Students and members of the University's Safety and General Security Committee went on their semiannual Night Tour Safety Walk around the University and surrounding areas Monday night.

U.Va. museum branch to close

The University's branch of the Virginia Museum of Natural History will close Dec. 31 because of a lack of funds from the state budget.

Black fraternity seeks to establish permanent house

The members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. leased a house on Fontaine Avenue in June and are in the process of getting the house officially recognized by the University as a fraternity house.

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Faculty given larger role in programming

Faculty will now also have more influence over programs to enhance the University's academic departments through a new proposal. The proposition will restructure the academic review program to include Faculty Senate representation and allocate more responsibility over the review procedure to department deans, Associate Dean for Academics J.

Ian Gallagher, Rachel Harless, Brian Rock and Sandy Su

Things have changed a lot in Yorktown, Va., since British troops last fought there more than two centuries ago.

Anti-Bush group attends energy rally

A charter bus spewing large quantities of smoke from its roof chased bicyclists dressed in Colonial garb around Grounds yesterday afternoon. The students on bicycles were engaging in the Bike Ride for Energy Independence, sponsored by two University organizations, Students for Environmental Action and Student Alliance for Virginia's Environment. The bus was painted with a large picture of President Bush and the slogans "Yes, Bush Can '04" and "I'm Telling the Truth." Dozens of spectators gathered on both sides of McCormick Road near the Chapel to watch. Yes Bush Can is a national organization that masquerades as Bush supporters while satirizing the Bush administration. The charter bus travels around the United States, often visiting college campuses.

Council hears CIO appeals for appropriations

Student Council voted to overturn the appropriations committee's decision to deny the Pre-Dental Society access to Fall CIO Appropriations during an appeals hearing last night. Fall appropriations began last year with the intention of allowing new groups that did not have access to Spring appropriations or groups with extenuating circumstances to apply for appropriations in the Fall, Vice President for Organizations Rebecca Keyworth said. The Pre-Dental Society was denied access to Council funding on the basis that they existed at the University during the Spring Semester and they did not meet the committee's definition of extenuating circumstances. The group's executive board was not nominated until after Spring appropriations last year and reapplied as a new CIO at the beginning of the school year. "This group isn't a new group," appropriations committee member Peter Skelly said.

Maya Prakash, Vidhi Shah and Jason Guy

Second-year College student Vidhi Shah and first-year Engineering student Jason Guy said they experienced the "reverse side" of racial diversity as students at a predominately black high school in Virginia Beach. Still, Shah said racial tensions at her high school could be more intense than they are at the University. Though they describe the University as racially diverse, the two find the school's lack of socioeconomic diversity far more striking.

Tiffany Chatman

Growing up in Petersburg, Va., just south of the state capital in Richmond, Tiffany Chatman did not expect to attend the University.

Catherine Ahern

Catherine Ahern thinks the University is lacking diversity, both racially and socioeconomically. While attending T.C.

Diversity

In the final Report of the President's Commission on Diversity and Equity released this month, the report's authors challenged students, faculty and the administration to be "inclusive and respectful of our differences, united in our determination to pursue excellence with integrity and determination." This week, The Cavalier Daily asked students to share their personal reflections on the concept of diversity and explore a few of the report's recommendations as they would apply to the student experience. Participants were approached to volunteer at last week's publicized meeting of Zero Tolerance for Ignorance and Monday night, at Pavilion XI in Newcomb Hall. These are their stories. Editor's note: The full text of the Report of the President's Commission on Diversity and Equity can be accessed online at http://www.virginia.edu/uvadiversity.

Groups host domestic violence awareness events

Various student organizations are for the first time hosting a series of events this week in honor of Virginia's Domestic Violence Awareness Month. "Women are physically abused every nine seconds within the U.S.," said Sloane Kuney, Sexual Assault Leadership Council coordinator.

Report indicates increase in young driver fatalities

Days after the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration published statistics that show an increase in fatalities among young drivers, Laura Lynam, a senior at T.C.

Jean Hall

The way Jean Hall sees it, diversity is not a problem at the University -- integration is. Hall said that she, like other black students at the University, has experienced situations stemming from a lack of racial understanding. "I have been the only black student in a class," she said.

Registrar says two W&M students can register, vote

Two College of William and Mary students who were previously told they could not become registered voters in Williamsburg were granted registration rights last week. The students, Serene Alami and Seth Saunders, had planned to run for open Williamsburg City Council seats last spring, but their plans were derailed after their applications for Williamsburg registration were denied. The Williamsburg registrar's office required that the students complete a questionnaire determining permanent residency and decided that the students did not meet the conditions. The students, backed by the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, pursued legal action after they were refused registration. Saunders attributed the registration commotion to "a lot of small-town politics." "I had started living at a permanent address in January and they said it was questionable for some reason," said Saunders.