News

Group facilitates discussions on race

After the racially tinged events of the past year, many students and faculty fretted over the state of race relations at the University and said they wished there was some way to organize a lasting dialogue between people of different races. Unbeknownst to many of them, a group that predates last year's racially-charged incidents, which included a fraternity blackface incident and an alleged assault on Student Council President Daisy Lundy, was trying to ensure that their wishes were not in vain. Sustained Dialogue was formed in the fall of 2001 as a means to get students from diverse backgrounds to talk about race. The group held its annual introductory retreat yesterday in Newcomb Hall, drawing nearly 100 students.

Citizens flee homes, businesses, as hurricane looms off Eastern Seaboard

As Hurricane Isabel approaches the Eastern shore, evacuated residents from Virginia Beach and other coastal areas are packing Charlottesville hotels. Virginia Beach residents Herb and Alice Horst arrived Tuesday at the Red Roof Inn on Main Street with their St.

UNC considers raising out-of-state admissions

The University of North Carolina Board of Governors currently is discussing the merits of modifying its admissions policy, which limits the number of out-of-state students to 18 percent of the total freshman class. The Board's educational planning committee met Sept.

Zoning change allows mixed-use buildings

"After 30 years of making no comprehensive zoning changes, we thought that our zones were outdated," Charlottesville Vice Mayor Meredith Richards said.

Senate votes to repeal media rules

The Senate voted 55-40 Tuesday to undo changes to media ownership rules that were mandated by the Federal Communications Commission.

City Prepares As Isabel Approaches

University, City and County officials have been working together to prepare for possibly the worst storm to hit the Charlottesville area since Hurricane Fran in 1996. Meetings have been held for the past three to four days on potential consequences of Hurricane Isabel on University students and facilities.

Report calls for increasing alcohol tax

A National Academy of Sciences report released last week proposed an increase in the excise tax on alcohol, specifically beer, as a way to reduce underage drinking. According to the report, underage drinking costs tax payers $53 billion a year.

Cheney's aides defend lack of ties

Vice President Dick Cheney denies having any ties to the energy conglomerate Halliburton Co. Halliburton Co. won the contract to rebuild Iraq after America's attack on the country. The reconstruction contracts total over $1.7 billion. Cheney denied having any ties with the company that employed him prior to his vice presidential campaign. Democrats pointed out that Cheney still has unexercised stock options with the company, but in 2001 Cheney said he would donate profits minus taxes to three charities. Cheney's communication director Catherine Martin asserted in a statement the hundreds of thousands of dollars of deferred salary payments the vice president still receives from the company are not ties to Halliburton.

Fourth-year scholarship deadline postponed

The Center for Undergraduate Excellence has postponed the deadline for applications for its Rhodes Marshall Mitchell scholarship from Friday to 10 a.m.

University professor opposes California proposition

Julian Bond, chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and University professor of American history, spoke out against California's Proposition 54 at a rally Saturday in Berkley, CA. The proposition, known by its proponents as the Racial Privacy Initiative, stipulates "The state shall not classify any individual by race, ethnicity, color or national origin in the operation of public education, public contracting or public employment." While at Berkley's city hall, Bond also signed a civil rights pledge that began 40 years ago with the March on Washington. California voters are set to vote on Proposition 54 at an October 7 election, although a recent federal ruling against the use of punch cards may force the state to postpone the referendum.

New Wahoos on the block

Transfer students applying to the University face virtually the same application as first years, save for one essay question, which asks, "Why do you want to transfer?" The question is one that transfer students may find themselves revisiting once they are accepted and decide to face the social, logistical and academic upheaval associated with switching from one school to another. Yet, in the end, most transfers say the rewards of being a University student outweigh the stresses of the process. Admissions, Take Two Perhaps the biggest challenge for potential transfer students is getting accepted. Though 39 percent of first-year applicants are admitted, the University only admits about 22 percent of the approximately 2,200 annual transfer applicants. Director of Institutional Studies George Stovall said he works in conjunction with the admissions office to determine the number of transfer spots the University will offer each year. "Based on past experience, the University knows how many qualified applicants we are going to get and then the Provost approves the number," Stovall said. He added that the University tries to accept as many students from the Virginia community college system as they can, but that group accounts for only a third of the transfer population. Housing Hurdles Because transfers receive acceptance letters even after first years get their housing assignments, housing slots are scarce until openings arise early in the school year. "Housing is the number one concern of transfer students coming in," said Virginia Barb, co-chair of the Transfer Student Peer Advisor program. Most transfers have their housing horror tales to tell, but with the closing of Bice and the incomplete status of two new apartment complexes, even more transfers were scrambling for housing than usual this semester. Housing does not guarantee accommodations for transfers. "Usually, we do reserve some spots for transfer students in the fall, but this year because Bice was closed our first priority was returning students," Chief Housing Officer Mark Doherty said.

Council proposes elections reform

Will Sowers, Student Council vice president for administration, proposed a bill to Council at last night's meeting which will change the way student self-governance is conducted at the University if passed at next week's meeting. Sowers, who has headed the elections reform movement since it began last March, proposed a referendum to be placed on the fall elections ballot to solicit student approval for an entirely new elections system. Discrepancies in the Spring 2003 elections prompted Council to initiate elections reform.

Community prepares as Isabel creeps toward coast

As hurricane Isabel continues to churn northward toward central Virginia, members of both the University and Charlottesville community continue emergency preparations in anticipation of its landfall. Although the strength and direction of the hurricane could change significantly in the next two days, both University and local officials urge Charlottesville residents to take precautionary measures such as stocking up on food and water, "buttoning up" their residences and securing outdoor furniture and other items which could cause damage with the expected high winds and heavy rain. "Be prepared, but calm," Director of Facilities Operations Chris Willis said.

LambdaRail communication network to debut in 2004

The official launch of a new telecommunications network, National LambdaRail, has some scientists excited about its capability to connect distant researchers. The network, announced yesterday, is slated to begin operations in most parts of the nation by the end of 2004.

Michigan students decry 'silver bullet'

A group of students at the University of Michigan is pushing for a boycott of Coors beer in response to a controversial political contribution by former company president Joseph Coors Sr. Coors, who was president of the Coors Brewing Company during a nationwide boycott of its products in 1977, recently donated over $100,000 to support Ward Connerly, a member of the University of California's Board of Regents and outspoken proponent of California's Proposition 54, which would remove racially identifying information from state applications. While Coors retired from the company in 2000 and passed away in March of this year, the student group, known as the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary, alleges the Coors Brewing Company has a history of unfair labor practices. Western Michigan University's Student Assembly endorsed a similar boycott last year after union employees were locked out of a Coors manufacturing plant in the university's home city of Kalamazoo. The Coors Brewing Company, which markets many brand names including Coors Light, Keystone Premium, and Zima, is the country's third largest beer producer.

ROTC battalions honor missing, prisoners

As taps wafted across the Amphitheater, students rose from their academic pursuits as cadets saluted in remembrance of prisoners of war and those missing in action. The three ROTC battalions on Grounds assembled yesterday at the Amphitheater to honor the nearly 90,000 American servicemen unaccounted for in the last three major wars.

A small group of students find life at U.Va. to be less than bright and gay. While University Spokesperson Carol Wood said the University's retention rate for first-year students is 97 percent -- meaning most students enjoy life at the University, or at least tolerate it well enough that inertia compels them to stay -- a few do decide to transfer away each year. Choosing to Leave Except when a student withdraws partway through a semester, administrators do not conduct formal exit interviews or surveys of students who leave the University.

IFC revisions aim to reduce liabilities

The Inter-Fraternity Council revised its Judiciary Committee bylaws last Thursday as the first in a series of steps to reduce liability and strengthen the fraternity system. One of the major revisions, informally titled the "gentleman's bylaw," stemmed from last fall's blackface incident at a joint Halloween party thrown by Kappa Alpha and Zeta Psi fraternities, said David Bowman, IFC vice president of judiciary. "The fraternities couldn't be held accountable [in the past] for anything because they didn't violate any [specific] IFC standards of conduct," Bowman said. The "gentleman's bylaw" provides grounds for a judiciary sanction should any IFC fraternity member engage in conduct that sheds a negative light on the fraternity system, IFC President Ryan Ewalt said. As stated in the Judiciary Committee bylaws, the IFC could impose sanctions on any fraternity member who engages in "conduct that is incompatible with the good character and personal responsibility expected of all members of the fraternity community and that dishonors the fraternity system at the University of Virginia." "The standards of conduct, [including] rush violations and social violations, are more clearly defined," Bowman said. Other minor bylaw revisions included grammatical and organizational changes. "We made the whole document more coherent through reorganization and amendment," Bowman said.

Woodard residents allowed to break leases

When he originally signed his lease, second-year College student Louis Ford thought that by this point in the semester he would be living in Camden Plaza.