News

U.Va. declines to sign climate commitment

The University issued a statement yesterday indicating it will not sign the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, citing practicality concerns. The commitment intends to address global warming by asking schools across the country to "neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate," according to the commitment's mission statement. According to the University's statement, administrators believe the commitment does not significantly reflect the agreement reached among college and university presidents but instead was formed by a group of environmental activists and companies that sell environmental services. Anthony Cortese, president of non-profit environmental group Second Nature and a co-organizer of the commitment, said this notion "is not correct." "There have been no corporate businesses that have provided in any way to the Presidents Climate Commitment," Cortese said. Currently, 146 colleges and universities have agreed to sign the commitment out of the 2,700 asked.

Fall 2007 COD debuts with new features

Students examining the new COD this morning will encounter a number of changes intended to improve the registration process, including waitlist and location information as well as an expanded course offering. The newly released COD includes features to help students determine which classes have waitlists, the locations of classes and what type of instruction each class features. Students now can tell if a course has a waitlist by rolling the mouse over the enrollment column. Another new feature will allow students to access a campus map displaying building locations by clicking on the building mnemonic that accompanies the course listings, University Registrar Carol Stanley said. According to Stanley, class location is determined by a "highly efficient and sophisticated scheduling algorithm." Stanley said this program takes into consideration factors such as course size, the location of the course's department, a course's technology requirements and the times the course is scheduled.

Lawsuit alleges Education Dept. overcharged students

The U.S. Department of Education has allegedly been overcharging individuals with consolidated student loans by unlawfully capitalizing interest, according to a class-action suit filed Monday. Capitalizing interest occurs when accrued interest is added to the loan principal, thereby increasing the loan amount. Steven Sprenger, lead counsel for the suit, said lead plaintiff Brenda K.

U.Va. community looks to supplement emergency notification system

Students, parents and University Police are collaborating on a project intended to provide members of the University community with quicker access to emergency information using LCD screens around Grounds. Outgoing Student Council President Darius Nabors devised the original idea to place more LCD screens in Newcomb Hall and other buildings so student groups can broadcast their events; however, upon meeting with the U.Va.

Committees to join in search for new provost

The University's search for a new provost is progressing, as the Board of Visitors' advising committee and a faculty advising committee plan to begin conversations with potential candidates in the next week. The University has been preparing to hire a new provost since December, when Provost Gene Block accepted the position of chancellor at the University of California, Los Angeles. The process of hiring a new provost will follow the official guidelines set forth by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Human Resources, according to University President John T.

Speaker calls for end to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Retired Naval Capt. Michael Rankin called for the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy at last night's University Democrats' meeting.

Jaberwoke rescinds dress code

White T-shirts can be worn at Jaberwoke again, at least for the time being, co-owner Anderson McClure said yesterday, announcing that he will remove the portion of the restaurant's official dress and behavior code pertaining to patrons' clothing. Outrage concerning Jaberwoke's dress policy came to a pinnacle yesterday during an open forum for members of the community to air their grievances about the dress code.

ASC appoints O'Neill, Daley

Catherine Anne Daley and Brian O'Neill were appointed to the two vacant seats on the Honor Committee after a debate before the Arts & Sciences Council last night.

Professor addresses perceptions of term 'jihad'

Examining the relationship between Islamic culture and current events, including concerns about the use of violence, was the focus of a lecture yesterday given as part of Islamic Awareness Week. Islamic Studies Prof.

Jaberwoke defends policy

Students and community members came together at last night's Student Council meeting to express concerns about the dress code recently implemented by Corner restaurant Jaberwoke.

E-school responds to competition in global field

University administrators believe a focus on interdisciplinary studies and innovation could be the key to improving potential international competitiveness -- a weakness explored by a recent report by Duke researchers. According to the report, the media often inaccurately finds the United States lagging behind other countries in terms of producing engineers. As stated in the report, "various articles in the popular media ... have stated that the United States graduates roughly 70,000 undergraduate engineers annually, whereas China graduates 600,000 and India 350,000." Ryan Ong, a research associate at Duke, said he and his colleagues suspected this number was incorrect.

Paying the Profs.

The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources published a survey recently that examined faculty salary changes over the past year. The survey found that faculty had enjoyed a 3.8 percent increase in salary overall, but that there were disparities among professors based on academic department and field of interest.

Slavery apology introduced in U.S. House

Three weeks after the Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution expressing "profound regret" for slavery, a Congressman from Tennessee is introducing a similar resolution in the U.S.

Correction The Focus article "Jefferson Vindicated" that ran Feb. 28 incorrectly cited the gestation period questioned by David Douglas as 275 days, when it was actually 267 days.

Texas sen. discusses views on '08 election

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who is considered by many to be a possible candidate for Texas governor or vice president, discussed potential nominees for the 2008 presidential election, among other topics, as she addressed Politics Prof.

Bowers case to go to jury trial

Following a ruling Friday that the University violated former employee Dena Bowers' right to due process, Bowers' case against the University will continue in front of a jury in the Charlottesville Federal Court next Tuesday. Judge Norman K.

U.Va. tops graduation bracket

Although the Cavaliers' run in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament came to an end this weekend, the team saw its tournament run extended in a competition for the top graduation rates. The University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport as well as Inside Higher Ed ranked the University among the top 10 NCAA Tournament teams in terms of basketball players' graduation rates at their respective colleges and universities. Forty-one of the 65 teams competing in the men's tournament graduated more than half of the basketball players who entered their institutions between 1996 and 1999.

Presidential hopefuls utilize MySpace site

As the 2008 potential presidential candidates look to gain momentum, they are increasingly reaching out to the youngest voting demographic through a new venue -- MySpace.

UNC Board of Governors approves measures to lower textbook costs

The Board of Governors at the University of North Carolina recently approved a slew of measures to make textbooks more affordable for students at all of North Carolina's 16 in-state higher education institutions. Last year, the Board of Governors completed a year-long study, which looked at the rising costs of textbooks, according to Rob Nelson, vice president of finance at the University of North Carolina.