News

Palestine Week begins today

Today marks the beginning of the University's first Palestine Week sponsored by the Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine, an event that will feature a speech by a controversial DePaul University professor Norman Finkelstein. "We are sponsoring a number of events aimed at promoting a better understanding of an underrepresented culture, including speakers, political demonstrations and charitable events," SPJP President Tarek Ismail said. A history professor and Author of "Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the abuse of History," Finkelstein is slated to speak Tuesday evening. The event's organizers said that they are bringing a number of speakers representing many positions and that they hope these speakers will foster discussion. "We are bringing Finkelstein to Grounds not because we all espouse his beliefs, but because we hope it will spark discussion because we need everyone's input," Ismail said. Leaders of University Jewish groups said they are critical of Finkelstein's visit because they perceive him to be anti-Semitic. "Finkelstein has a career predicated on the demonization of Jewish culture," said former Hoos for Israel President Michael Wain.

Beer Pong

Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser and Natural beer products among others, pulled a promotion for "Bud Pong" last Tuesday after learning that some who took part in the promotion were using beer rather then water to play the game. The brewer responded to a flurry of criticism prompted by a New York Times article Oct.

home on the bayou

Honor discusses Engineering incident

The Honor Committee discussed the recently reported incident of homework copying in the Engineering School at its meeting last night. In that incident, a student in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 321, "Fluid Mechanics," discovered that his homework was being removed and copied without his knowledge.

Census increases C'ville population estimate

The U.S. Census Bureau has officially accepted the City of Charlottesville's challenge to its 2004 Census population estimate and increased the City's estimated population, according to city officials. Officials stated that the City's Department of Neighborhood Development Services had filed the challenge in September after the Bureau's population estimate showed a 3,494-person drop in Charlottesville's population between 2000 and 2004. As a result of the challenge, the Bureau has increased the estimate of the City's population from 36,605 to 40,745, which results in a population increase of 1.6 percent since the formal 2000 U.S.

South Korea, U.S., and Britian team up in stem cell research

Scientists in South Korea will help their American colleagues, frustrated by U.S. government barriers, create new lines of embryonic stem cells in an unusual partnership in the contentious field, researchers in both countries announced Wednesday. For the Americans, the new international consortium, which includes Britain, presents another avenue for working around the Bush administration's refusal to fund most of the research.

Faculty face confusion, limited options

In light of recent cases of cheating, it appears that some professors choose to opt out of the honor system in dealing with possible honor offenses.

Rocketmen and women

Beijing - China hopes to conduct a spacewalk in 2007 and might recruit women into its next group of astronaut candidates, a senior space program official said Monday following the safe completion of the nation's second manned mission. The Shenzhou 6 flight ended the first stage of China's plan, which focused on development of space vehicles, said Tang Xianming, director of the China Space Engineering Office.

On-Grounds housing due date extended

Housing administration extended the on-Grounds housing application due date for the 2006-2007 academic year a month to Nov.

Correction

A subhead in Oct. 20 News article, "Man charged with peeping near U.Va.," incorrectly identified the suspect as Randall S.

Playing for a cause

Council moves to aid transfers

Student Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday to help eliminate difficulties many transfer students face in applying to interdisciplinary majors and other special academic programs at the University. According to the Resolution to Support Fair Treatment of Transfer Students in the Application Process of Academic Programs, some transfer students are concerned about the degree of fairness they are subjected to in the application processes to these programs. College Rep.

Suicides surpass homicides in Virginia

A study on violent deaths released in September showed that more Virginians died from suicides than from homicides in 2003 -- the most recent year for which statistics on such deaths have been compiled. According to the study, conducted by the Medical Examiner's Office for the Commonwealth conducted in conjunction with the National Violent Death Registration System, there were 1,332 violent deaths in Virginia in 2003.

Study indicates tuitions continue to rise

Overall tuition and costs for public and private colleges have continued to rise at a mild rate this year while low-income families with children in college are facing a greater financial burden as financial aid programs at the collegiate and federal level increasingly benefit middle-income families.

News briefs

University engineering group wins computer chip competition A group of six University electrical engineering graduate students won first place in Phase One of the 2004-2006 SRC/SIA Design Challenge, a contest sponsored by the semiconductor industry to improve the design of integrated computer chips. The purpose of the contest is to create low-power designs for highly integrated circuits.

Project probes campus IT issues

Although a recent survey conducted by the Campus Computing Project at various universities suggested security is a top concern for campus technology leaders, ITC officials said they don't prioritize between information technology concerns. The Campus Computing Project, an organization devoted to studying the role of information technology in higher education, reported that the top information technology issue among universities was network and data security, far ahead of the runner-up, instructional integration.

Students face new GRE

Beginning next October, the Graduate Record Exam, the entrance exam for graduate school, will undergo changes in its length and question format.

Playing On the Lawn

Correction

The subheadline of the Oct. 19 News article,

Man charged with peeping near U.Va.

Thirty-five-year-old Charlottesville resident Frederick Jermaine Ayers was served charges for peeping and spying into private residences in the University area while he was in court Tuesday for the sentencing of a similar previous incident. Ayers allegedly spied into a residence of four University students Oct.