News

Nabors elected StudCo president

Newly elected Student Council and class council officers were announced last night as candidates gathered in Newcomb Hall to await results. Third-year College student Darius Nabors was elected Student Council President with 2,779 students ranking him as their first choice in the second round of instant runoff voting, defeating second-place finisher Greg Jackson. Nabors gave a short speech after his victory was announced, congratulating election winners and encouraging all candidates to stay involved with the University. Second-year College student Nicholas Jordan was elected executive vice president, while third-year College student Anna Popova was elected vice president for organizations. Second-year College student Jeffrey McLaughlin was elected vice president for administration as he claimed 2,493 first-choice votes, over former VPA Okey Udumaga, who earned 1,896.

StudCo passes syllabus resolution

Student Council unanimously passed a resolution at their meeting last night to encourage professors to post course syllabi on Toolkit 10 days before the start of classes. The resolution was introduced at Council's meeting last week by members of the Academic Affairs Committee and by Executive Vice President Darius Nabors, sponsor of the legislation.

Students, panel discuss "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Last night, military servicemen spoke at the University as part of the Call to Duty Tour, a national program aimed at raising awareness about the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Specifically, the speakers discussed how the policy has directly affected their experiences in the military, and how they hope to bring about changes in the legislation. According to Sharon Alexander, an attorney with Service Members Legal Defense Network, the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy marks improvement in the treatment of gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the military, but leaves much to be desired. "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is an advance over its predecessor regulations," Alexander said.

Setting the Bar

Originally an intersection where the University entryway met Charlottesville's main road, the Corner is now five blocks of student-friendly restaurants and watering holes.

Being all they can be

Departments assess SAS course credit

A week and half after faculty concerns about the Semester at Sea program became public, administrators and faculty continue to discuss the issue in the hopes of reconciling differences. Two departments are currently formulating policies with regard to granting credit for classes taken through the Semester at Sea program.

Ballot errors prompt special vote

A special election will be held for the position of second-year vice president since one candidate in a contested race was left off of the ballot, according to University Board of Elections officials. Additionally, a candidate in an uncontested race for University Judiciary Committee Education representative, third-year Catherine Robinson, was accidentally omitted from the ballot. The special elections will be held from Wednesday, March 1 at 6 p.m.

Lawn residents for 2006-2007 academic year selected

All of the 47 University students selected to live on the Lawn for the 2006-2007 school year accepted the offer, head Lawn resident Jenni Allen said.

Projections call for rise in faculty retirements

The University will face a changing faculty population over the next decade, as nearly one fifth of the faculty is expected to retire. Approximately 277 of 1,500 currently tenured or tenure-tracked professors will retire over the next 10 years, according to a model developed in December, said Gertrude Fraser, vice provost for faculty advancement. The predictions for future faculty retirement are based on University retirement data from 2000-2005, said Bob Lake, director of the Office of Learning and Development for the University's Human Resources. The large number of retirees will create both challenges and opportunities for the University in selecting new faculty members, Fraser said. "The problem is that one has to begin planning for a market where, nationally, other institutions are going to be hiring a lot of faculty too," Fraser said.

"On My Honor..."

There were no Honor trials this past weekend. Two appeals were denied this past week. The Honor Committee is currently investigating 20 cases and has 12 trials and 2 appeals pending.

Senate, House pass affordable housing bill

The Virginia Senate passed a bill to address the issue of affordable housing in Charlottesville by a vote of 37-3 Friday. The bill, sponsored by Del.

Bill to track sex offender enrollment

A bill requiring universities to submit the background information of newly admitted students to the Virginia State Police to determine whether or not they are convicted sex offenders was sent from the Virginia House of Delegates to the Senate last Thursday. According to Del.

U.S. students behind in math, science literacy

The National Science Board released its "Science and Engineering Indicators" 2006 report last Thursday, illustrating below average scores in science and mathematics literacy levels in 15-year-old American students in comparison with those of other countries' students of similar age. The "Science and Engineering Indicators" report is created every even-numbered year for use by both the President of the United States and the U.S.

Correction

In the Friday, Feb. 24 News article "Eleven candidates disqualified," Kendall Fox, an Honor Committee candidate from the College, was erroneously quoted saying "I was given no instruction.

Honor discusses triviality campaign

The Honor Committee voted Sunday night to allow for the community to request a reversal of the order in which counsels are allowed to speak in closing arguments, a change that could occur at the discretion of the trial chair.

College to offer new Computer Science major

Beginning this spring, the College of Arts & Sciences will offer a program in computer science. The Bachelor of Arts program in the Collegeapproved at the faculty meeting on Thursday will be separate from the Bachelor of Science currently offered in the Engineering school. A Bachelor of Arts in computer science, the first major to the combine academic programming of the two schools, was approved in the College of Arts & Sciences faculty meeting last Thursday. According to David Evans, chair of the computer science BA committee, College students will be able to declare a major in the interdisciplinary computer science program in the upcoming spring semester. "For many years students in the College have wanted to take computer science but not with the engineering focus -- they wanted to do additional majors like economics or psychology or something in the life sciences and the engineering degree didn't allow them to do both," said Thomas Horton, member of the computer science B.A.

University professors recognized for achievements in teaching, research

University professors John Arras and Jose' Fuentes were two of 15 recipients of the 2006 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Awards recognizing excellence in teaching, research and public service, presented on Feb.

Student leaders, deans gather to discuss diversity

Forty student leaders participated in the University's second annual Day of Dialogue on Race in the Newcomb Hall South Meeting Room yesterday. The event was intended to encourage student groups to recruit minority students, to address racial stereotypes and to give an equal voice to overlooked minority groups, Assistant Dean of Students Daisy Rodriguez said.

Program fights domestic violence

A small group of Law School students have recently organized a program to raise awareness in the Charlottesville community about domestic violence and assist the increasing number of victims in the area. The students, led by third-year Law student Cristi Head, have established the Domestic Violence Project, which works with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society to support the victims of domestic violence. "Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior to maintain power or control over a partner in the context of intimate or family relationship," said Anne Trainor, a case manager for the Charlottesville Shelter for Help in Emergency. Trainor added that this abuse can be sexual, mental or physical, and that it occurs among families of all races, religions and classes. Four students work with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society this year, as opposed to the six students last semester.

Eleven candidates disqualified

Eleven candidates were disqualified by the University Board of Elections Wednesday night from appearing on the spring election ballot.