News

Charlottesville's Court Square experiences anthrax scare

Several Downtown Charlottesville court buildings were evacuated Wednesday after an Albemarle County General District Court clerk opened a letter containing a white powdery substance. The discovery of the substance prompted the evacuation of several buildings in the Downtown area, and the treatment of six employees, who were quarantined in a decontamination chamber set up outside the courthouse. City and County police, City firefighters, rescue workers, Albemarle sheriff's deputies and employees of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management responded to the incident.

FBI shares criteria for graffiti investigation

The graffiti on Beta Bridge reported to City and University police Aug. 29 was not racially motivated because it did not meet the criteria outlined in a federal civil rights statute, according to Lawrence Barry, Federal Bureau of Investigations spokesperson. The bridge, a spot often painted by students and organizations to advertise events, had been painted by two African-American organizations -- Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and Brothers United Celebrating Knowledge and Success -- when words such as "GSociety," "GWizard" and "G-Bug" were added by other students. Three University students later apologized for the graffiti in a letter to University administrators, saying they had not intended to exacerbate racial tensions at the University. According to Barry, the civil rights statute that the FBI used requires three criteria

Higher Ed. Act moves through Senate, House

The Senate version of the Higher Education Act reauthorization was approved last week, which made broad student loan and grant changes, has been well received by the University administration and many student and institutional advocates. The bill dictates federal oversight of higher education programs over the next six years, including funding for student loans and Pell grant programs. The University was particularly pleased with adjustments to the Pell Grant program, which includes approximately 1,800 University undergrads receiving $3 million in grants, Director of Student Financial Services Yvonne Hubbard said.

Retraction

The Cavalier Daily has recently discovered that parts of the April 22 Science column, "The acoustically unsound waves of the future" were taken without attribution or permission from an Associated Press article by Jay Lindsay titled, "Oceans getting louder, but effects still unclear." The Cavalier Daily regrets this column was published.

Virginia Festival of the Book announces speakers

The Virginia Festival of the Book recently announced that bestselling authors Judith Viorst and Michael Connelly will speak at luncheons during this year's 12th-annual festival, scheduled to run from March 22 to March 26, 2006. Viorst will address attendees of the five-day literary festival March 23 at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel.

The ride of your life

Google, the Mountain View, Calif. company which formally started as a Web-based search engine, is enveloping all phases of our life -- and this time it is tourism. In the fall of last year, the rumored offer to buy Google by Bill Gates from its young brash millionaires was rejected, paving the way for a never-ending clash between Microsoft and Google.

IFC, ISC hold fall recruitment

Both the Inter-Fraternity and Inter-Sorority Councils currently are recruiting upperclassmen and new transfer students in their fall recruitment programs.

Candidates share views on higher ed

In a forum sponsored by the advocacy group Virginia21 at Virginia Commonwealth University yesterday, the three Virginia gubernatorial candidates shared their distinct views on higher education.

U.Va. Police aim for accreditation

The University Police Department currently is in the process of rewriting its procedures manual in order to sign a contract that will enable national recognition as an accredited department. University Police Capt.

Students face obstacles obtaining visas

The perceived difficulty of acquiring a visa to study in the United States remains a discouraging factor for international students and is partially responsible for a drop in applications from international students, said Laura Tischler, spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs. The problems facing international students seeking visas were discussed briefly Tuesday during a Congressional hearing on the weaknesses of the visa system. "The bottom line was that perception counts a lot," said Thomas Costa, a professional staff member of the House subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations.

Four Score...

First Amendment wall planned for Downtown

Visitors to the Downtown Mall will soon have an opportunity to publicly celebrate free speech. Construction of a monument on the Mall recognizing the First Amendment is expected to be completed by the end of November. The monument, which is located across from City Hall, will consist of two chalkboards and a podium.

UPC extends Homecomings activities, events

The traditional Homecoming weekend has been extended to nearly a week of events, according to the University Programs Council. The events are scheduled to begin Monday, Sept.

Casteen names first chief diversity officer

President John T. Casteen, III appointed William B. Harvey as the University's first vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity yesterday. Harvey, who is nationally recognized as an expert on improving diversity in higher education, will begin his work at the University Nov.

University Health Systems receives national award

The University Health System will accept an award today for creating programs to ease communication between doctors and patients with communication barriers. The award, which will be presented by the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, is the latest honor to give the Health System national recognition. Claudette Dalton, lead physician for the patient communication project, said the initiative was created to address the needs of a large portion of the University Health System clientele.

Council focuses on recent acts of intolerance

Student Council unanimously passed a bill last night to create an ad hoc committee to address acts of intolerance at the University. Council President Jequeatta Upton, Executive Vice President Darius Nabors and Engineering School Rep.

Charlottesville's Growing Residential Landscape

With new properties and construction on Jefferson Park Avenue and throughout the Corner district, the market for new student housing is booming around the University.

Students gear up for new MCAT test

Since The Association of American Medical Colleges announced its decision to change the Medical College Admissions Test from a paper exam to a computer-based one, many students have expressed concerns about the new method of assessment. The move from a paper test to a computer-exclusive exam, which was decided over the summer, is projected to take place in the spring of 2007 and will bring many changes. Students taking the MCAT will have a shorter test with one-third the number of questions in the original test.

Study finds enrollment to increase to 17 percent by 2014

Student enrollment at public colleges and universities is expected to increase 17 percent by the year 2014, according to a recent report by the National Center for Education Statistics. The report, which was made available online Sept.

Survey suggests lack of student-teacher interaction

According to recent survey information released by the Office of the Dean of Students, University students trail their peers at comparable universities in several markers of student-faculty interaction, but administrators and professors questioned the seriousness of the survey's implications. Of the 13 index markers used to survey faculty-student interaction, University students outscored students at other doctoral, research-extensive universities in four indexes and lagged behind their peers in the other nine indexes, according to the survey. "Even though there were a lot of differences between U.Va.