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News

City helps to restore free Friday concerts

By Sarah R. Gatsos | February 23, 2004

Local residents will once again be able to rock and roll for free this summer. The Charlottesville Downtown Foundation, sponsor of the popular downtown summer concert series Fridays after Five, rescinded the $3 admission fee instituted last year and will once again sponsor free concerts from the first week of May to the third week of September. A combination of a wet summer and the unpopular fee decreased attendance last year, which meant that the revenue from the fee did not cover the costs, Charlottesville Vice Mayor Meredith Richards said. A decline in sponsorship necessitated the initial fee, Richards said. "With the revenue declining, they felt that they needed to do something to boost attendance so they brought in larger, more costly bands," she said.

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Candidates for student office kick off official campaigns

By Timothy Lee | February 20, 2004

Numerous chalkings and flyers around Grounds yesterday marked the beginning of the University Board of Election's official campaigning and endorsing period. Many contenders have begun preparations for the March elections, including the five candidates running for Student Council president, who were announced Wednesday by the UBE.

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Hoos for Dean group calls it quits

By Irina Bocarnea | February 20, 2004

Hoos for Howard Dean announced in an e-mail last night that it no longer will function as an active organization on Grounds following Dean's withdrawal from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday. With an e-mail list of over 400 members and an average of 60 members attending every meeting, Hoos for Howard Dean was the largest East Coast student organization supporting Dean. The organization's chairpersons urged members to stay involved in the political arena. "The organization had a lot of crossover with the on-Grounds U-Dems, and we are urging members to become active participants of U-Dems now that Hoos for Howard Dean has ended," Chair Laura Galante said. In a speech Wednesday night, documented on his campaign Web site, Dean also asked supporters to stay involved. "There is much work still to be done, and today is not an end -- it is just the beginning," Dean said in his withdrawal speech. Dean added he plans to use the grass-roots support he has gained to further the ideals he hopes will lead the United States into a better future. Galante said she still saw the "take-back-the-country mentality" Dean entered the race with in his Wednesday speech. "Anyone that watched his speech [Wednesday] can see that he was in the same mindset that won his supporters in the first place," Galante said. Dean's national student mobilization organization, Generation Dean, is staying optimistic about Dean's cause and plans to remain active, Campaign Spokesperson Garrett Graff said. Graff added the organization hopes membership will not decline and people will continue their involvement in the political process. "Gov.

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Honor looks to raise awareness

By Lauren Todd Pappa | February 20, 2004

Even though students are reminded about their commitment to academic integrity each time they sign the honor pledge, the Honor Committee devoted this past week to honor awareness to bring the ideal to the forefront of students' minds. Honor Committee Chair Carey Mignerey said the purpose of Honor Awareness Week is to spread the word about honor. "The basic goal is to get people thinking about the concept of honor and to make the Committee as visible as possible," Mignerey said. Vice Chair for Education Sarah Snider said an additional goal was to clear up a common misconception about the honor system. "Our goal is to promote honor awareness not necessarily on a system basis, but so people begin to see that honor isn't just about kicking people out of school," she said. While Honor Awareness Week is put on annually, Mignerey said the committee stepped up its efforts this year. "I think we're much more organized and systematic in how we're making honor visible around Grounds," he said. Snider said committee members and educators tabled the Lawn and distributed short surveys with questions pertaining to the meaning of the word honor, the value of honor in a friendship and what it means to be an honorable person. "Honor doesn't have to solely relate to academics," Snider said. About 1,000 surveys were collected and Snider said she plans to post the results on the Honor Web site in the next two weeks. Honor educators and other committee members also sent out mass e-mails to their respective schools and distributed hundreds of flyers. Roundtables were held in Newcomb Hall throughout the week to initiate discussions among students and faculty about honor-related topics.

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A new development in cloning brings back familiar ethical debate

By Omid Fatemi | February 20, 2004

I used to make fun of my father by telling him how easy he had it in medical school compared to me.

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Two new e-mail viruses hit server

By Jayni Foley | February 20, 2004

Hi. Read immediately! Thanks. These seemingly harmless e-mail subject lines on a computer screen may in fact be the work of Alua or Beagle.B, the most recent mass-mailing worms to infiltrate University computers. Alua and Beagle.B are "viruses in the wild," which means they circulate through the Internet.

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Senator to speak at commencement

By Shannon Sturcken | February 20, 2004

United States Sen. John Warner, R-Va., will join the likes of Franklin Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall and George H.W.

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Jackpot estimated at $222 million, drawing to be held in Times Square

By Jayni Foley | February 20, 2004

Friday night's Mega Millions lottery has attracted nationwide excitement because of its massive $222 million jackpot. Tickets are sold in Virginia, but not in many neighboring states. "We are seeing a lot of Mega Millions players from North Carolina and Tennessee coming into Virginia to play," said Virginia Lottery Executive Director Penelope W.

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Jacksonville University eliminates free-standing athletics department

By Jayni Foley | February 20, 2004

Jacksonville University announced Wednesday its athletics department will move under the jurisdiction of student life. The vice president for student life will oversee sports and the athletic director will relinquish his role. Vanderbilt University performed similar restructuring last year. "We haven't eliminated any teams or any coaches," Public Affairs Director John Daigle said.

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Lundy opts not to run for second term as president

By Matt Galati | February 19, 2004

The ballot for Student Council presidential candidates released yesterday by the University Board of Elections was missing a high-ranking eligible candidate -- current Council President Daisy Lundy. Lundy, a third-year Commerce student, has decidednot to seek reelection. Lundy said she plans to step down from office and seek a more educational role, easing the upcoming executive board's transition on current projects and fostering leadership among the Council's younger members. "I think Student Council is a great avenue to make changes at the University, and the experiences that I've had are definitely priceless," Lundy said.

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Rhode Island university group offers scholarship to white students only

By Cavalier Daily Staff | February 19, 2004

In an attempt to counteract affirmative action in higher education, the College Republicans at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island are sponsoring a scholarship that will be available only to people of Caucasian descent, the Associated Press reported Sunday. A member of the school's College Republicans, quoted in the Associated Press, said the organization's scholarship is aimed at highlighting the inequity white students face in scholarship contests as a result of affirmative action. The scholarship is modeled after those limited to minority student applicants, reported the Associated Press.

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UBE releases first list of candidates

By Christopher Jones | February 19, 2004

The University Board of Elections yesterday announced the preliminary list of candidates running in spring elections, as candidates geared up for today's start to the official campaigning and endorsing period. Five candidates are vying for the elections' top seat -- Student Council President. Second-year College student Elliot Haspel and third-year College student Greg Scanlon each are running as reformers, they said.

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City works on instituting online bill paying system

By AJ Frank | February 19, 2004

University students living off Grounds now will be able to pay some utility bills online, because of a new integrated computer system that the City of Charlottesville plans to implement within the next 18 to 22 months, according to Assistant City Manager Linda Peacock. The new system, City Links, was created by the company SAP.

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Rules may prevent William & Mary students from running for office

By Cavalier Daily Staff | February 19, 2004

Four students at the College of William & Mary seeking to run for city council may be kept off the ballot because of voter registration rules. None of the four students is registered to vote in Williamsburg, according to Williamsburg's Assistant Voter Registrar Dave Andrews, as reported by the Associated Press. The Code of Virginia says that in order for an individual to be considered a "resident," he or she must have domicile in Virginia and in the precinct in which he or she wishes to vote. The State Board of Elections gives localities the authority to determine residency. "We do allow U.Va.

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Winter stomach flu afflicts University

By Neelam Patel | February 19, 2004

A common stomach ailment that has been spreading across college campuses this winter has reached the University community. Norovirus, also know as the "winter vomiting disease," is the general name for any seasonal gastrointestinal virus that causes what is known as the stomach flu. There have been few reported cases at the University, but many students have experienced symptoms, said Joe Chance, director of general medicine at Student Health. Because of the virus's nickname, many think that Norovirus is only common in the winter, but it can occur at any time of the year, Chance said. Norovirus is more common during the winter because people congregate and are doing more activities inside.

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Senate: Localities can require living wages

By Lauren Todd Pappa | February 19, 2004

The Virginia Senate decided Tuesday to continue to allow Virginia localities such as Charlottesville, Alexandria and Arlington to establish a local living wage. The Senate voted 23-17 to defeat a bill that would prevent any locality, or "public body," from requiring the payment of a wage that exceeds the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage currently is $5.15 an hour.

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IRO issues inaugural publication

By Amir Khoddami | February 19, 2004

The International Relations Organization held an inaugural ceremony last night in Jefferson Hall to introduce the first edition of the Wilson Journal of International Affairs. "Other institutions of equal or even less caliber have publications of this sort so it was a shame for the University not to have its own international affairs publication," said fourth-year College student Omeed Jafari, who pioneered the journal while doing independent study research last spring. The journal is now one of two publications at the University that showcases undergraduate research. "[Jafari] thought that the International Relations Organization could do a better job at enabling the student body to express their interest about international affairs," IRO President Laura Fairneny said. The ceremony's speakers included Fairneny, journal Editor-in-Chief Kurt Mitman and keynote speaker Michael J.

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Growing the Lawn

By Jason Amirhadji | February 18, 2004

More than a century after Old Cabell Hall first closed off the south end of the Lawn, changes are coming that would reopen the landscape, albeit slowly. Originally conceived as a "Digital Academical Village" with a residential component in the late 1990s, the South Lawn Project has since been scaled back in scope, though it would still involve major changes to the University's architectural landscape. The project is expected to cost nearly $150 million and would include an additional 110,000 square feet of classroom space and the construction of a plaza above Jefferson Park Avenue. In contrast to the towering edifice of New Cabell Hall, buildings on the new South Lawn will integrate with the terraced landscape, providing transitions across an approximately 30 foot drop in elevation on the site, Project Co-Chair Richard Minturn said. "These are going to be pretty low buildings," he said. Bridging the Lawn When it was presented to the Board of Visitors in the fall of 2001, the South Lawn project was approved as a single design, only to be constructed once fully funded.

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Andrew Alston indicted by grand jury

By Kathleen Meyers | February 18, 2004

Andrew Alston, the suspended University student charged with the second-degree murder of Walker Sisk in November, was indicted yesterday in Charlottesville Circuit Court. A grand jury comprised of six Charlottesville residents heard evidence against Alston presented by Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Jon Zug before privately deliberating and returning a true bill of indictment. The proceedings were closed to the public.

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Student Council sets up cabinet committee to participate in dialogue on building projects

By Cavalier Daily Staff | February 18, 2004

In a unanimous vote last night, Student Council approved the formation of the Presidential Cabinet Committee for Buildings and Grounds. The committee is designed to give students a sustained voice in various building projects on Grounds. "I hope that students in the future have a much larger role in how the buildings look and how the buildings will accommodate them," College Rep.