The Spanish department announced Tuesday that it is imposing a moratorium on declaring Spanish minors for the next two years.
Student Council announced an initiative yesterday to provide students with free water bottles at home football games when the heat index reaches 90 degrees Fahrenheit on game days, starting with Saturday's game against the College of William & Mary. [caption id="attachment_29960" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="When the heat index reaches 90 degrees, Student Council will give free water bottles to 7,000 students.
Charlottesville Animal Control officers captured a fox yesterday in a trap set in the Lambeth Field area.
Fourth-year College students Christi Thomas and Carl Thompson are starting a co-ed lesbian-, gay-, bisexual-, transgender-interest fraternity called Sigma Omicron Rho to allow the University's queer community to feel included in the Greek community, Thomas said. An excerpt from Sigma Omicron Rho's constitution states that the goals of the fraternity are "to increase the diversity of the Greek community through its promotion of queer pride, awareness and social activism." Vice President Molly Conger said that while there are organizations that advocate queer culture on Grounds, such as Queer and Allied Activism, these organizations tend to focus on political activism and less on "social activism." "We just feel like there's a niche within the University that we could fill," Conger said. Although there are national queer sororities and fraternities, Thomas said she felt that a single-gendered organization would not be able to fully encompass the character of the LGBT communities. "Intrinsically, the idea of being queer transcends gender," she said. Because of an exception in Title IX, the Inter-Fraternity Council and Inter-Sorority Council reserve the right to keep sororities and fraternities single-gendered, said Michael Citro, assistant dean of fraternity and sorority life. "Most co-ed groups are governed by the CIO [contracted independent organization] with the University, not an FOA [fraternal organization agreement]," Citro said. Thomas said she hopes that the organization will be a part of the Multicultural Greek Council. Along with providing a social community that members of the LGBT communities and its allies can enjoy, the fraternity plans to engage in philanthropic activities similar to many other Greek organizations, which Conger said Thomas is spearheading. Some of the social activities include a 5k race for marriage equality, a laser tag event in the Amphitheater with an LGBT-oriented educational component, barbecues, wine tastings and LBGT History Month. The interest group also plans to include "allied members" - heterosexual supporters of the queer community - in the fraternity, but Thomas warns that this fraternity is indeed a queer organization. "We don't plan to water anything down," she said, "so the allied members that do rush should be prepared for total immersion into queer culture." Even though Thomas' contacts in the LGBT communities are supportive of the group, they remain skeptical of mixing Greek life with queer life. "I'm expecting backlash," she said.
Thirty of the first black students to graduate from the University during the 1950s and 1960s will return to Grounds this weekend for events in their honor, said Marcus Martin, interim vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity. The Early Days Celebration will recognize these former students who desegregated the University and "opened new territory for future generations and with courage and dignity, set an example for others to follow," Martin said. Walter Ridley, who graduated from the Education School in 1953, was the first black alumnus to receive a degree from the University.
[caption id="attachment_29912" align="alignleft" width="218" caption="Members of the Special Committee on the Nomination of a President met with members of the University community yesterday to hear concerns about the search for John T.
Head Lawn Resident Ben Chrisinger yesterday announced the revised procedures for social activities on the Lawn and Range before home football games.
[caption id="attachment_29909" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Student Council President John Nelson, along with the rest of Student Council, met last night at the first meeting of the year to pass this year's budget.
The Washington Post recently unearthed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell's 1989 controversial master's thesis, possibly endangering his 8 to 10 point lead in most polls against Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds. McDonnell expressed controversial views about gay rights, working women and abortion in the thesis, written during McDonnell's time at Regent University in Virginia Beach. "Every level of government should statutorily and procedurally prefer married couples over cohabitators, homosexuals, or fornicators," McDonnell wrote in the thesis.
Despite this year's decrease of jobs in the private sector, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce's 2009 Job Report reports that the number of government jobs increased, including a rise in the number of employment opportunities at the University. Since 2008 there has been a decrease of 1,054 jobs in the private sector and a simultaneous increase of 627 government jobs, said Bryan Thomas, chairman of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. The cuts in private sector employment opportunities have hurt a number of local businesses, he said, adding that service, retail, construction and manufacturing jobs particularly have declined. "In the past 10 years leisure and hospitality jobs have increased in addition to local and state government jobs which include some, but not all, of the professors at U.Va., and some, but not all of the medical staff," Thomas said. Susan Carkeek, University vice president and chief human resources officer, said there was an uptick of several hundred job openings, which is "modest" but not "unexpected." To prevent future layoffs, Carkeek said the University is taking several precautions. "The major initiative has been to fill as many positions [as possible] by internal promotion," giving current employees the opportunity for promotions and salary increases, she said.
The caption accompanying Monday's Focus article, "AEPi national body closes chapter for reorganization," wrongfully stated that the Mu Chapter's charter had been revoked after allegations of hazing, less-than-acceptable recruitment levels and house disrepair were brought against the fraternity by the Alpha Epsilon Pi national organization.
The Learning Barge, a floating environmental education center designed and constructed by University students and faculty, will open to the public Sept.
A study co-authored by University environmental sciences professor emeritus William Ruddiman concluded that the agricultural methods of ancient human populations may have had an effect on global climate change. Ruddiman built his conclusion off of a hypothesis made more than five years ago, which stated that humans started having a measurable effect on carbon dioxide values as populations started practicing agriculture about 7,000 years ago.
Biology Prof. Michael P. Timko and his team of researchers identified a gene that provides resistance to parasitic plants, publishing their findings in last week's issue of the journal, "Science." The research may prove especially useful in bettering the lives of African farmers who depend on the cowpea plant for survival. Using the "viral induced silencing method," Timko was able to identify which gene in the cowpea plant was responsible for the plant's resistance to the parasitic plant Striga, which drains plants of water and nutrients.
Madison [caption id="attachment_29881" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="New interim executive director Elizabeth Bass has worked for Madison House for the past six years.
The Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently awarded the Nursing School three grants for graduate students, totaling about $200,000. The HRSA evaluates how the money has been used in the past for the reapplication and consideration of future monies.
[caption id="attachment_29857" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Honor Committee met last night to discuss the proposed Semester at Sea amendment concept that would create a two-trial system for University students found guilty while participating in the program.
The University begins work today on the restoration of the capitals of Pavilion II's columns, using specially designed lasers to clear away pollutants and grime.
The long running "Virginia is For Lovers" slogan is up for a spot on the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame. The slogan, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, was first suggested in 1969 by the Richmond-based advertising agency, Martin & Woltz, Inc. It's "a huge year [for the motto]," said Tamra Talmadge-Anderson, public relations director for the Virginia Tourism Corporation.
Despite a national SAT score decline, graduating Virginia high school seniors scored higher on average this past year than the previous one, according to the College Board. Virginia high school students scored higher than the national average in the reading and writing sections but lower in the math section, said Brian O'Reilly, executive director of College Board SAT program relations. According to the College Board, the average reading score for Virginia high school students was 511, 10 points higher than the national average.
