In the days after the murder of Yale medical student Annie Le, whose body was found last week in a New Haven, Conn.
[caption id="attachment_29886" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Student Health Center reported that about 40 new cases of flu-like symptoms were reported over the course of just two days earlier this week.
The University Bookstore has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia to donate University football T-shirts to Charlottesville and Albemarle County youths. The shirts can be purchased for $9.99 at the University Bookstore or online to be distributed to the young members of the Boys and Girls Club, said James Pierce, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Charlottesville/Albemarle. "It gives fans an opportunity to support kids in their community," he said.
During yesterday's Employee Council meeting, University Employee Assistance Consultant Mary Sherman introduced the new Alternative Dispute Resolution program, required under Virginia's Restructuring Act of 2005. The program is meant to allow employers and employees a way to mediate complaints during their early stages before they find it necessary to undergo the state's more formal and strict grievance process, said Alan Cohn, director of Faculty and Staff Employee Relations. "We want to communicate and facilitate a preventative process," Sherman said. The program applies only to the University's classified staff; faculty and professors go through a separate process to communicate concerns with the University's senior officials. There are currently eight different mediators on Grounds, all of whom are licensed clinical social workers and are trained through the Human Resources program, Sherman said.
Albemarle County officials are predicting that a sizeable deficit will accumulate during the 2009-10 fiscal year, forcing Albemarle County schools to shoulder $2.66 million in budget cuts. County officials have cited lower-than-anticipated personal property and sales taxes as cause for concern.
[caption id="attachment_30297" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Emergency response officials participated in an evacuation drill yesterday at Scott Stadium, which simulated a severe weather situation at a football game.
In light of a potential lawsuit, the Virginia Department of Corrections decided Tuesday to reinstate Charlottesville Quest Bookshop as part of the Books Behind Bars program, reversing a previous decision to cancel the shop's link to the program. Last week, officials, having found several undisclosed items stashed in books, forbade Quest Bookshop to participate in the program, which provides inmates with reading materials.
Republican Kenneth Boyd has informally announced his intent to run for Virginia's fifth district congressional seat in 2010. Boyd sent an e-mail to his supporters letting them know that he intends to run but will not formally announce his candidacy until after the November election season, he said. Boyd, the owner of Boyd Financial Services and current member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, said he decided to run because of his concern about the direction of national politics. "I think that there's a need for some Main Street, common sense thinking in Washington these days," he said.
[caption id="attachment_30293" align="alignleft" width="300" caption=""Untitled 1976," a mobile by Alexander Calder, is made of sheet metal, rod and wire.
[caption id="attachment_30279" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Before his unexpected death in June, Mark Fletcher frequented the very basketball courts now named after him.
Starting tomorrow, the U.S. Congress will begin analyzing the Student Aid Fiscal Responsibility Act, a bill that hopes to simplify federal financial aid processes, consolidate universities under the Department of Education's direct lender program and include measures to make college more affordable for students.
[caption id="attachment_30276" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Council Members met last night to discuss its new CIO consulting program.
From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m today, the University will conduct Operation Move! Hoos, an evacuation drill at Scott Stadium. The University is hosting the drill to evaluate how quickly people can be evacuated out of the stadium in case of threatening weather during a football game or other emergency event and to practice returning to the stadium in an orderly fashion, University spokesperson Carol Wood said. Operation Move!
The University administration has recommended that instructors make course materials available online so that students infected with the H1N1 virus may quarantine themselves without missing class material. The suggestion came after a number of government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommended that teaching resources be available on the Internet for infected students, Student Health Executive Director James Turner said.
[caption id="attachment_30217" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="University President John T. Casteen, III announced the campaign's $2 billion milestone.
[caption id="attachment_30226" align="alignleft" width="258" caption="Reusable to-go containers are now available at any dining hall, as well as other dining locations on Grounds like Crossroads.
The Charlottesville Republican Committee released its party platform at a press conference last Thursday with the theme "Empowering People ... Constraining Government." The move surprised some Democratic officials, as there is no Republican candidate running in November's City Council elections. Charlottesville Republican Committee Chairman Charles Weber explained that the committee's goal in releasing the platform was to encourage debate among Albemarle residents about important city topics and educate the public.
The Law School recently opened a clinic to help low-income families resolve disputes outside of the court system, said Kimberly Emery, clinic co-instructor and assistant dean for pro bono and public interest. The Family Alternative Dispute Resolution Clinic originally began as a pilot pro bono clinic and transitioned to an academic credit-granting clinic at the beginning of this semester, Emery said. The clinic will work to resolve disputes through mediation and collaborative practice, said Richard Balnave, clinic co-instructor and law school professor. The juvenile courts refer mediation cases to the clinic and its partner, the Mediation Center of Charlottesville, Balnave said.
The Special Committee on Diversity met Friday afternoon to present the University's 2009 admission statistics to the Board of Visitors. The total number of applications rose by 17 percent, an increase Dean of Admissions Greg Roberts said may have resulted from the University's use of the common application.
[caption id="attachment_30182" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Honor Committee held its weekly meeting last night to continue its discussion about making investigative decisions more transparent.
