The University's Teen Health Program is expanding its community outreach efforts following recent fundraising efforts and an anonymous donation. The key component of the community outreach is to heighten advocacy for teens in public policy, according to Dyan Aretakis, program director of the Teen Health Center.
Candidates vying for several Student Council positions had an opportunity to address voters last night during a debate hosted by the University Board of Elections. Candidates for Student Council president who were in attendance included third-year students Matthew White, Ryan McElveen, Daniel Dooley, Dan Newland and Lauren Tilton.
Nearly 300 students submitted applications this winter for the most prestigious housing in Charlottesville.
Steve Yang, University Board of Elections chair, reported an oversight in voter eligibility for the proposed Arts & Sciences Council referendum yesterday. The constitutional amendment, which would ensure every department and interdisciplinary program in the College had a representative on the Council, is supposed to be considered by only voters in the College.
Gov. Tim Kaine recently announced that the Department of Environmental Quality, the Commonwealth's environmental agency, will oversee a study to investigate the high mercury-level of the water in Virginia. The DEQ has found mercury in the rivers and streams in Virginia for the past three years.
In response to increased student interest in the field of public health, the University recently created a five-year B.A./B.S.
Dan Dooley CLAS III Major: Classics Hometown: Fairfax, Va. Activities, positions, associations: Member, University Guide Service (III) Resident Assistant, Dabney House (III) Life columnist, Cavalier Daily (I-III) Correspondent, "Hoos News" (II-III) Volunteer, Housing Improvement Program, Madison House (Fall I, II) Current office/position: What are the responsibilities of the position you are seeking, and why are you qualified to fulfill those responsibilities? The president of Student Council has the primary responsibility to ensure that Student Council adequately represents the student body on all matters of interest and implements ideas that enhance student life.
Catherine Anne Daley CLAS III Major: History Hometown: Memphis, TN Activities, positions, associations: Honor (counsel, pre-trial coordinator) Class of 2008 Class Council U.Va.
Alison Aguero SEAS III Major: Systems Engineering Hometown: Oak Hill, Va. Activities, positions, associations: U.Va.
The Virginia House of Delegates recently passed a bill providing financial incentives to encourage students to transfer from community colleges to four-year colleges in order to continue their education.
In anticipation of the opening of polls today, the University Board of Elections held debates last night for various positions, including those on the College of Arts & Sciences Council, Student Council and the Engineering Student Council. "The debates are the only way interactive way for students to see the candidates," UBE Chair Steve Yang said.
The University Board of Elections sponsored a debate for candidates running for Judiciary College representatives and Honor College representatives in the Newcomb Theater last night before polls opened today. Speaking before a sparse crowd, candidates outlined their plans and made cases as to why they are best suited for the jobs. While five students are running for the three UJC College representative positions, only Grayson Lambert, second-year co-chair of the issues subcommittee, and Merriam Mikhail, second-year counselor for the executive committee, were in attendance. Third-year UJC Judge Connor Sullivan, third-year UJC Judge Dean de la Peña and second-year UJC educator John Thornton were not present for the debate. Lambert and Mikhail both stressed the importance of reinforcing "professionalism" within the UJC as well as outreach to the University community. "We're never going to improve ... if we don't hold ourselves to a higher standard," Lambert said. Mikhail said professionalism is something "we need to take seriously,"adding that the "committee can do better to reach out to U.Va." Seven candidates, all of whom were in attendance for the debate, are running for the three College representative positions on the Honor Committee. The candidates are third-year Senior Support Officer Catherine Anne Daley, third-year Counsel Brian O'Neill, third-year Senior Educator Support Officer Allie Moore, third-year Pre-trial Coordinator Daniel Lautzenheiser, third-year Investigations Coordinator Linda Liu, second-year Douglas Lewis, executive secretary of the Diversity Advisory Board, and third-year Senior Advisor Ben Cooper. Major topics of the discussion included diversity, education, transparency, relevancy and efficiency of the Committee. Many candidates expressed concern that Honor is viewed as a predominantly white organization. "This needs to be changed immediately," Cooper said. Lewis added that diversity "must be fixed inside and outside of Honor." Lautzenheiser emphasized that "spotlighting," the singling out of particular groups of people in terms of reporting Honor violations, must be stopped. All of the candidates were in consensus that transparency is a problem that Honor will have to face next year. "There is a lack of general understanding of honor by the U.Va.
Grayson Lambert CLAS II Major: Undeclared Hometown: Columbia, SC Activities, Positions, Associations: Jefferson Literary and Debating Society (Sergeant-at-Arms) Club Golf Reformed University Fellowship Current Position: UJC Counselor; Issues Subcommittee, Co-Chair What are the responsibilities of the position you are seeking, and why are you qualified to fulfill those responsibilities? A UJC representative's first responsibility is to serve as a judge in trials.
Ward Williams SEAS III Major: Systems Engineering Hometown: Greenville, SC Activities, positions, associations: Students 4 Students International Kappa Sigma Fraternity Current office/position: What are the responsibilities of the position you are seeking, and why are you qualified to fulfill those responsibilities? My responsibilities include a weekly meeting and regular representation as judge for trials.
The University's Communications Office launched a new University Web site yesterday. Web Communications Director Nancy Tramontin said she and her colleagues had two goals in mind when designing the page. "One [goal] was to be able to offer new links directly from the homepage, and the other was to offer a seed for University news and announcements" Tramontin said. Senior Web Developer Jonelle Kinback said the office faced several technical challenges when creating the new Web site.
Julian Campbell CLAS III Major: Anthropology Hometown: San Francisco, Ca. Activities, positions, associations: Jefferson Society Current office/position: Campbell.
Stud Co. Exec. Vice President Todd Eley CLAS III Major: Economics and Government Hometown: Smithfield, Va. Activities, positions, associations: Student Council Legislative Affairs Committee and Presidential Debate Initiative Arts & Sciences Council First-Year Council Parliamentarian VCU Capital Semester Program 2006 Current office/position: Co-Chair, Student Council Legislative Affairs Committee; Ombudsman and Economics Department Representative, Arts & Sciences Council What are the responsibilities of the position you are seeking, and why are you qualified to fulfill those responsibilities? The constitutional responsibilities of the executive vice president currently are to manage meetings of the Council's representative body, record votes and to assist the president in the oversight and management of Council's committees.
Representatives from Hoos Against Single Sanction and Students for the Preservation of Honor met last night to debate the merits and problems associated with the multiple sanction proposal which will appear as a referendum on the spring ballot. "The elections are coming up later this week and we believe it's very important for students to hear the arguments and make an informed decision," said Vadim Elenev, vice president of the Washington Literary and Debate Society, the organization that hosted the debate. The non-binding resolution, which was introduced to the ballot by a petition by Hoos Against Single Sanction, introduces changes to the Honor Constitution that would establish a multiple sanctioning system in dealing with honor offenses. Sam Leven, president of Hoos Against Single Sanction, and Rachel Carr, vice president of the group, argued that the proposal would increase reporting of Honor offenses and make the system less arbitrary. "I know there's a strong sentimental tie to the single sanction," Leven said.
The University will become one of the National Library for Medicine's sites for medical informatics training in June after having successfully filed a proposal for funding from the organization last March. The practice of medical informatics deals with applying "computer and communications technology to the field of health," according to a NLM press release.
