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Students vie for best case solution

By Katie Archer | March 27, 2000

Thursday and Friday 40 business-minded students came together with a mission: to deal with a travel publication company's billing mistake. The students were involved in the McIntire Consulting Group's first ever case competition, in which a professional consulting firm presented a sticky hypothetical financial situation to to aspiring young business men and women. Navigant Consulting, which sponsored the event and awarded the winners prize money, gave the students a situation in which a travel publication company had overstated circulation figures to many of its clients. The students had to work through the financial data and present their case to a panel of Navigant consultants who then judged which group had the best solution. The competition began Thursday at 5 p.m., when eight groups consisting of five students each received a case for which they had to come up with a plan of action.

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Clinton appoints Ayers to NEH advisory council

By Abby Curran | March 24, 2000

History Prof. Edward L. Ayers earned a presidential appointment to the National Council on the Humanities, which will hold its first meeting of the year next week. President Bill Clinton selected Ayers to serve on the Council, a 26-member group that advises the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S.

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Nader decries big money in politics

By Nicola White | March 24, 2000

In 1959, Ralph Nader jump-started the consumer advocacy movement with a Nation magazine article entitled "The Safe Car You Can't Buy." In 2000, armed with the ideals of the environmental and consumer rights oriented Green Party, Nader is running for president. With a large blue and orange "U.Va.

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Faculty voices

By John McArdle | March 24, 2000

Although Honor Committee members have said faculty discontentment with the honor seriousness clause was an impetus for their most recent constitutional proposal, some faculty members have expressed mixed opinions about whether the referendum will be effective. Related Links UVA Honor web site The proposal calls for removing the seriousness clause from the honor constitution for cases of academic cheating.

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Female VMI cadet becomes top leader

By Carolyn Klosko | March 24, 2000

Cavalier Daily Staff Writers Virginia Military Institute cadet Erin Claunch has proved that the college's pioneer female recruiting class has adjusted to the formerly all-male institution. Claunch, a member of the first VMI class to include females, was named yesterday as one of the school's two battalion commanders for next year. As battalion commander - second in rank only to the regimental commander - Claunch will bear a "supervisory responsibility" over four companies of cadets, said VMI's Assistant Public Relations Director Chuck Steenburgh.

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NIH gives grant

By Maria Tor | March 24, 2000

Dr. Jerry L. Nadler, Division Chief of Endocrinology and metabolism at the University Health System, and his team of researchers have been awarded a nearly $1 million grant to research why diabetes causes heart disease. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health, and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation funded the grant. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that affects the body's ability to regulate glucose levels.

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National Press Club pays tribute to O'Neil

By Maria Tor | March 23, 2000

Recognizing his advocacy of first amendment rights, the National Press Club named Robert M. O'Neil, Law School professor and former University president, the first in a series of "first amendment fellows." The NPC decided in a board meeting in Washington, D.C., Monday night to honor individuals who have worked to educate people about their rights of expression. NPC President Jack Cushman said over the next year the club plans to select 12 first amendment fellows.

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Police find weapon from U-Circle case

By Abby Curran | March 23, 2000

Charlottesville Police said yesterday they believe they found the weapon used in the alleged armed robbery on University Circle Friday night. A resident of the 300 block of 14th Street found the weapon in his yard, at which time the resident contacted police, Charlottesville Police Det.

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University seeks UJC lawsuit dismissal

By Sarah Marchetti | March 23, 2000

The University continues to fight legal battles in court over the work of the student-run Honor and Judiciary Committees. University lawyers went before U.S.

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Yancey family papers reveal influence of segregation on Southern education

By Shelley Johnson | March 23, 2000

An old boarded-up Albemarle County house was slated for demolition but saved just in time to rescue boxes of original documents that detail daily life for turn-of-the-century blacks in Albemarle county. The documents, which consist of more than 250 letters, postcards, photographs and educational materials, are an excellent source of information about American black culture during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The artifacts, found in the attic of the old house in Esmont, are the family papers of Benjamin Franklin Yancey, one of the first black educators in central Virginia and founder of the Esmont School for Colored Children, located about 20 miles from the all-white University. Included among the documents are numerous pieces of correspondence in which black students talk about their professors, courses, friends, ministers and daily life. "Dear Mr. Yancey," reads one letter released by University Relations, "Do you have many scholars this year?

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Court supports SAF distribution practice

By Emily Roper | March 23, 2000

Following yesterday's unanimous Supreme Court ruling, public universities across the country now are able to allocate tuition-based student fees to all university student groups, even if some of these groups may be controversial. In 1996's Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin v.

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Researchers study warp speed computing

By Lisa Manning | March 23, 2000

It is hard to imagine information being transferred faster than the speed of light, but new technology in the field of Quantum Information Physics may make computers exponentially faster one day and allow them to crack complicated computer codes in minutes. QI scientists have developed unique switches with unusual properties.

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Meridian to use newly found Borges poetry

By Rachel Schatz | March 23, 2000

Jorge Luis Borges, renowned for his impressive short stories and poems as well as the impact he had on his contemporaries, has emerged in the form of previously unpublished poems on the pages of Meridian, a University literary journal. Meridian has unearthed two poems by the famous Argentine poet, who died in 1986.

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DNA test casts doubt on Jefferson paternity claim

By Barbara Krabill | March 23, 2000

More evidence has been discovered in the Sally Hemings-Thomas Jefferson saga, this time casting doubt on the claims of the descendants of Monticello slave Tom Woodson, who assert Woodson was the product of the Hemings-Jefferson affair. A DNA test on the Rev.

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Students cite Proposition 209 for decline in campus diversity

By Rakesh Gopalan | March 22, 2000

BERKELEY, Calif.-Nearly three-and-a-half years after Californians voted to ban affirmative action with Proposition 209, Phong La, president of the Associated Students of the University of California-Berkeley, maintains that passing the controversial referendum was a "premature" decision. Many students and administrators at University of California schools said they feel the same way, and view the ballot initiative as a mistake. The initiative, passed in November of 1996, outlawed public institutions from using preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity or gender. Despite increased outreach programs targeted at underrepresented minority students - specifically Hispanic, Latino and black students - admissions officials at the University of California-Berkeley and the University of California-Davis admit it has been difficult to maintain previous levels of representation of these minorities. Richard Black, vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment at Berkeley, said many members of the university community recognize the benefits of affirmative action. "Many individual staff members feel affirmative action is important," Black said. Ultimately, however, the University of California Board of Regents and California state laws control the university's admissions criteria, he said. "We are professionals and we follow policies of the Regents and the laws of California, even when those don't agree with our own personal positions," he added. Yvonne Marsh, assistant vice chancellor for enrollment services at Davis, said the administration and student body were generally in favor of affirmative action despite 209's passage. Related Links See the stats! University of California @ Berkeley University of California @ Davis But much of the decision-making process went over their heads.

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Officials discuss reorganizing primary season

By Emily Roper | March 22, 2000

With the effective end of one of the shortest presidential primary seasons in recent elections, Republican Party officials have begun considering alternatives that would allow more states to participate in the delegate selection process. "It was decided Super Tuesday who would be the nominee," said Morton Blackwell, the Republican National Committee chairman of Virginia.

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University to offer Ph.D. music degree

By Sarah Marchetti | March 22, 2000

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia unanimously approved a proposal yesterday to establish a Ph.D.

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California adjusts after Prop. 209

By Michael Greenwald | March 22, 2000

DAVIS, Calif.-Richard Black, vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment at the University of California-Berkeley, has done more than just witness firsthand the far-reaching consequences the end of affirmative action has had on his school.

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Campaign passes $1.1 billion mark

By Michael Loatman | March 22, 2000

In addition to surpassing the University's $1 billion Capital Campaign goal in December, funds grew by another $8.58 million in February, bringing the Campaign total to $1.103 billion. According to totals as of Feb.

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University class teaches students in Turkey

By Jaime Levi | March 22, 2000

The University is taking steps toward breaking down international and technological barriers by conducting its first distance learning education course. Students at the Istanbul Technical University now have the opportunity to take an Engineering course taught by a University professor via television screens and other technological resources. Mark Shields, assistant professor of technology, culture and communications, teaches nine Turkish students in his course on Technology and Human Development. Shields and the Turkish students are able to interact with one another over phone lines, but recently have experienced some problems with congestion. While there has been some disruption in teaching because of technical difficulties, Shields said he overcame the troubles by rescheduling and pre-recording some classes. Although the Turkish students do not speak English as their primary language, the language barrier has caused little confusion, Shields said. "They said they have no trouble understanding me ... but they are somewhat reluctant sometimes to ask questions," he said. John Payne, University director of educational technology, said although the Istanbul school is the "preeminent engineering school in Turkey," it does not offer humanities courses. Shields teaches the same course to University students, but he said he modifies the way he teaches the Turkish students "because of the nature of the medium." The University's Information Technology Center gave the international students temporary e-mail accounts so they can interact with Shields' other students through the course Web site. Shields said the Istanbul Technical University is not much different from the University in terms of difficulty of admission and student population, but unlike the University, it offers free education to its students. Despite the high quality of education at the Turkish school, Payne said Adil Ozkaptan, who first thought of the idea for the distance course, believed the level of education at the school still could be improved. Payne said Ozkaptan - an 84-year-old man who immigrated to the United States in the 1940s - conceived the distance learning course as part of a lifelong teaching process for Turkish students.