News

News

Lost Toys Soon to Arrive on East Coast

By Cavalier Daily Staff | September 1, 2003

A shipment of nearly 29,000 floating toys was lost at sea in 1992.The cargo included rubber duckies, beavers and turtles. While typically it takes water six years to travel completely around the North Pacific, it took the ducks only three with the aid of strong winds. They were half way between China and Seattle when a violent storm lodged 20 containers of rubber duckies into the ocean. The toys were said to have been frozen in the artic, which has caused the once yellow hue of the plastic to turned white.

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Pep Band stages protest after football game

By Riley McDonald | September 1, 2003

It was a game night like any other, with students in orange and blue ties and sundresses packing the bleachers and the Pep Band decked out in orange vests seated in its usual spot in the front of the student section. Except when the Cavaliers scored, the Good Ol' Song was belted out of speakers instead of performed by the Pep Band. And as fans poured out of the stadium, they came face-to-face with a silent demonstration -- band members lying in front of a cardboard tombstone declaring "R.I.P.

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Duke game sees lack of infractions

By Christine Wallace | September 1, 2003

Saturday night's football game scored well not only on the score board, but in the areas of attendance and security as well. A record 61,700 people showed up to witness the Cavaliers shut out Duke 27-0. "We set a record crowd," Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said.

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'Harambee' reaches out to black students

By Josh Goodman | September 1, 2003

Though many new students might find the transition to life at the University stressful, one might expect black students to be particularly apprehensive about coming to the University.

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Textbook prices continue to soar at students' expense

By Whitney Garrison | August 29, 2003

Although the University Web site estimates textbook cost per semester at $500, many students say they hope that figure is a generous estimate. Textbook prices this year are higher than ever with an average price of $72.83 per book, according to the College Board. Some students try to cut costs by buying used books, but many professors insist students purchase the latest edition. Third-year College student Jean Langley, a psychology major, said her books totaled over $550, mainly because the books were all brand new. All of her professors "said to use the new edition and not the old because there's substantial new material and we're tested on the new edition," she said. Langley's roommate had better luck buying textbooks online. "When I went to the bookstore and found out my books for this semester were almost $600, I nearly flipped," third-year College student Karen Otto said.

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The red planet: A rare view

By Jon Breece | August 29, 2003

Little green men may not be coming, but people across the Commonwealth -- and the world -- are in tizzy about the planet Mars. At 5:51 a.m.

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Deptartment of Education discourages speech codes

By Mary Pumphrey | August 29, 2003

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights issued a letter to colleges and universities nationwide late last month clarifying its position on such institutions' ability to restrict students' speech. The letter was intended to reverse a long-standing misconception that OCR regulations encouraged or even required schools to enact speech codes in order to guard against offensive speech. "OCR's regulations should not be interpreted in ways that would lead to the suppression of protected speech on public or private campuses," OCR Asst.

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Large incoming class causeshousing crunch

By Anthony LaMesa | August 29, 2003

An unexpected rise in enrollment among first years this year has spawned a housing shortage and may cause additional problems for the University's perennially understaffed academic departments. Officials had hoped to have 3,040 first years enrolled at this point in the year, but the number was 3,122 as of yesterday, according to Director of Institutional Studies George Stovall. "Ultimately it'll get down below 3,100," Stovall said.

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Congress re-enacts Higher Education Act

By Whitney Garrison | August 29, 2003

In order to maintain greater accountability in the nation's universities, Congress recently re-enacted the Higher Education Act.

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Pedal-powered taxicompany tests its wheels

By Whitney Garrison | August 29, 2003

Charlottesville brothers Jon and Pete Kirby recently joined friend Francis Ferki in order to create a business venture, Tour De Ville Pedicab Company. Tour De Ville boasts six bright-orange, pedal-powered cabs complete with automobile shocks for a smooth ride. The trio said they hope to recruit 25 peddlers to lease the $4,000 cabs for their shifts, and keep the profits. A ten minute trip, from the University to the Downtown Mall, for instance, costs $3.50 per person; the cab can hold two people.

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ITC battles with 'blaster' worm on U.Va. network

By Kara Rowland | August 29, 2003

The first week of classes can be hectic enough, but for students whose computers have been infected by the "blaster" worm or other computer viruses, functioning without bedroom access to ISIS or AOL Instant Messenger has become increasingly frustrating. As of yesterday afternoon, ITC had found 340 infected computers in dorm areas and 903 throughout rest of the University. These latest numbers represent the first noticeable decrease in compromised computers since the outbreak of the blaster worm, which affects many newer versions of Windows, including 2000 and XP, on Aug.

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File-sharing alternatives grow

By Riley McDonald | August 29, 2003

Picture this: An online music service where music plays instantly without downloading time, song information is always accurate, files are always of good quality and personal music libraries can be pulled up on any computer. Does it sound too good to be true?

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VA to merge Smart Tag, E-Z Pass toll systems

By Natasha Altamirano | August 28, 2003

Smart Tag holders driving north next fall will no longer fumble for change on northeast toll roads, after Virginia's electronic toll-paying system joins the E-Z Pass Interagency Group, the automated toll-collecting organization currently used in nine northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Gov.

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Virginia Film Festival offers students a sneak peak of festival schedule.

By Cavalier Daily Staff | August 28, 2003

University students got a first look at the Virginia Film Festival's schedule Tuesday, a month before its release to the general public. United under the theme of "$," classic films including "Citizen Kane," Buster Keaton's "Second Chances," and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," will be shown. Scheduled celebrity appearances include Paul Junger Witt who produced 1999's military treasure hunt "Three Kings" starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube and screenwriter Frank Pierson who wrote the bank heist Al Pacino vehicle "Dog Day Afternoon," for which he won an Oscar.

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Reduction in file-sharing follows industry crackdown

By Riley McDonald | August 28, 2003

As soon as third-year Commerce student Scott Howard heard that 1,000 people faced multi-million dollar lawsuits for sharing music online, he shut off his Kazaa service. "I don't have enough money to pay $250,000 per song," Howard said. His action illustrates a global trend: fewer users logging on to peer-to-peer networks in the wake of the Recording Industry Association of America's June 26 announcement that it planned to file lawsuits against individuals distributing copyrighted music. Nielson Net Ratings reported a 15 percent decline in traffic on Kazaa and Morpheus in the week immediately after RIAA announced its pursuit of individual users. Traffic on the largest service, Kazaa, continued to decline for the next seven weeks, from a peak of seven million unique users per week to below five million.

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Area police receive $190,000 grant

By Christine Wallace | August 28, 2003

Charlottesville and Albemarle County police were granted a total of $190,000 this week for emergency communication equipment. The money will be used to purchase new in-car cameras and new communications tools for the area police forces. The cameras usually are used to monitor the behavior of both police officers and suspects, especially in cases of police brutality accusations. Rep.

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Capacity upgrades do not alleviate ISIS woes

By Whitney Garrison | August 28, 2003

Despite recent efforts to improve the efficiency of ISIS, many students experienced delay and frustration while accessing the system on the first day of class. Third-year College student Brandon Kemp said he spent 45 minutes trying to get onto ISIS in the Clemons computer lab before turning to fellow female students for aid. "Go flirt with some guys who are on ISIS -- get them kicked off so I can get on," he said. According to ITC, administrators increased system user capacity from 80 to 100 users.

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Construction delays leave tenants without homes

By Angela Manese-Lee | August 28, 2003

Although he signed a lease for an apartment advertised "only two blocks" from Grounds, second year College student Hunter Flint now has to bike two miles to get to class. Flint is one of 75 people, mostly University students, forced to temporarily relocate due to construction delays at Camden Plaza apartments. Construction of the six-story complex on 14th Street began last fall and was supposed to be completed for move-in August 22. On August 6, Woodard Properties emailed residents that occupancy on that date was uncertain. "We're just trying to catch up from when we got behind because of inclimate weather," Joy Waring said, Woodard Properties Property Manager. According to Waring, as of Monday the earliest completion date was estimated at Sept.

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WORST SEAT IN THE HOUSE

By Cavalier Daily Staff | August 28, 2003

Virginia Film Festival offers students a sneak peak of festival schedule. University students got a first look at the Virginia Film Festival's schedule Tuesday, a month before its release to the general public. United under the theme of "$," classic films including "Citizen Kane," Buster Keaton's "Second Chances," and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," will be shown. Scheduled celebrity appearances include Paul Junger Witt who produced 1999's military treasure hunt "Three Kings" starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube and screenwriter Frank Pierson who wrote the bank heist Al Pacino vehicle "Dog Day Afternoon," for which he won an Oscar.

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Animal deaths lead to House probe at National Zoo.

By Cavalier Daily Staff | August 28, 2003

The United States House of Representatives Administration Committee, in its role as steward of the National Zoo's $23 million budget, has initiated an investigation into the zoo's administration after a series of mishaps left four animals dead. Two pandas died in January after ingesting rat poison and two bald eagle's died last year as well