After more than four hours of deliberation yesterday, at 4:00 p.m. a jury sentenced former University student Andrew Alston to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter in the Nov.
The University's Mock Trial team earned several awards last weekend at the Great American Invitational Tournament in Washington D.C. Two University teams competed in the tournament -- Team 972 and Team 973 -- with Team 972 winning first place in the tournament, and Team 973 placing seventh with an honorable mention.
After more than five hours of deliberation, at 9:20 p.m. last night a jury found former University student Andrew Alston guilty of voluntary manslaughter, punishable by 1 to 10 years in prison. The courtroom remained silent after the verdict as the individual jurors voiced confirmation of their consent to the decision.
The University Sexual Assault Board, along with the Parents Program and other student organizations held one of two presentations last night in the Newcomb Art Gallery as part of a three-week Consent Campaign. "The campaign is aimed at raising the level of awareness in the University community about how often consent is not clear in intimate relationships and to educate individuals on how to be sure that it is present," Sexual Assault Board Chair Shamim Sisson said. In order to publicize the campaign, a planning committee was formed to get out the word by distributing materials such as flyers, brochures and bookmarks, as well as getting interest from students. Last night's presentation was given by Katrina Salmons, president of the Sexual Assault Facts and Education Organization, along with Sloane Kuney, coordinator of the Sexual Assault Leadership Council. "The posters will give you the basic info about what consent is and how to ask for it, the presentations explore more fully the grey areas," Salmons said. In the presentation, Salmons and Kuney further presented consent guidelines, answered student inquiries, and facilitated discussion among the audience. They ended the presentation by encouraging those in attendance to continue to discuss and voice issues of consent and sexual assault with other members of the community. "Silence is a huge enemy to anyone suffering any kind of violence, especially sexual," Kuney said. The idea for the campaign began when Alan Berkowitz, an independent consultant and activist, met with the Sexual Assault Board.
The Albemarle County Board of Zoning Appeals last night voted 4-0 to allow Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge, located on Hydraulic Road, to remain open.
Last Monday, the Metropolitan Planning Organization's Technical Committee presented a proposal for a Central Virginia light rail system to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Commission. The MPO Tech, a group that prepares plans for review by the MPO Policy Board, submitted the Regional Rail Concept Study in hopes of alleviating traffic congestion, which has resulted from the increasing population in Virginia. "The recommendations are a blueprint for how various rail services may be employed in the community," MPO Chair Dennis Rooker said.
With America's growing dependence on foreign sources of oil and the recent increase in fuel costs, large energy consumers such as the University are looking to minimize their energy consumption and utilize other, more environmentally friendly, sources of power. The recent fall elections ballot at the University included a referendum asking students if they would be willing to pay an extra $7 a semester to have the University purchase approximately 12 percent of its total energy usage, 33 kilowatt hours, in the form of wind power, as opposed to currently used sources of fossil fuel and nuclear energy. Though only ten percent of students participated in the election, an overwhelming 87 percent of students who did vote approved the referendum, which the initiative's creators view as a clear sign that students are in support of their mission to bring clean, renewable energy to the University. A true windfall? The referendum appeared on the ballot largely due to the efforts of two environmentally focused student groups: Student Environment Action (SEA) and Student Alliance for Virginia's Environment (SAVE). "We got the idea for the referendum by learning about other schools' projects and how successful they were in making a substantial environmental impact," SEA President Khalial Wibhen said. According to SAVE President Elizabeth Dubovsky, if the administration agrees to the ballot-approved plan, the $7 per student would be used to buy wind energy credits from different wind farms dispersed around the United States. These certificates would subsidize the cost that it takes the wind farms to put wind energy on the grid, Dubovsky said, and in exchange the University would get a contract that guarantees that a certain amount of energy will be "earmarked" for the University and then added to the grid. Because there are no turbines near the University, the system of buying credits is the only way to guarantee that the 12 percent of energy it uses is replaced on the grid by wind energy, Dubovsky said. By buying such credits, the University would be increasing the demand for wind energy, in turn increasing the supply of wind energy and, more generally, increasing the general use of clean, renewable energy, she said. The biggest problem with integrating wind energy into the existing power grid, according to University Environmental Science Prof.
Yesterday's article entitled "Revived effort to end fourth-year fifth begins" incorrectly named the sponsor of the Fourth-Year 5K.
For the second time in two weeks, Student Council voted last night against requiring the publication of individual voting records on the organization's Web site. Under the bill proposed last Tuesday by Gavin Reddick, a representative from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Council would have to record and publish the votes of members on all legislation, something that is only done now when a roll call vote is taken.
Recruitment of minority students is among the topics being considered at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Defense attorneys presented key testimony from a martial arts instructor and a violent crimes consultant yesterday, suggesting that former University student Andrew Alston acted in self-defense on Nov.
The University is rich in history and tradition: secret societies, the Lawn...fourth-year students drinking a fifth of alcohol at the last home football game of the year? The Fourth-Year Trustees say imbibing excessive amounts of alcohol before football games should not be on the list of revered University traditions. In 1999, when a University student died in an alcohol-related death as a result of attempting to consume the fourth-year fifth, Project FAR (Fourth-Years Acting Responsibly) was launched by the Fourth-Year Trustees in a collaborative effort with other organizations. This week, with alcohol-related deaths again in the news and the last home football game this weekend, Project FAR is stepping up its education efforts, co-coordinator Nicki Kahner said. "Over the past couple of years, it has been put on the backburner," Kahner said.
The University maintained a strong presence in Congress after last week's election. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., and Sen.
This year's annual national Christmas tree was harvested in Highland County, Va., just west of Staunton, on Election Day, according to a WINA report. The tradition of the national Capitol holiday tree was started by University graduate and President Woodrow Wilson, a Staunton native, in 1914. This year's tree, a large 70-foot red spruce, was cut down in George Washington National Forest. Before arriving in Washington for its official lighting, the tree will make its way around Virginia, stopping in Staunton over Thanksgiving and passing through Orange County, home of President James Madison. The tree will begin its exhibition around the Commonwealth when it departs from Monterey at the Highland County Fair Grounds Nov.
As cold weather descends on Charlottesville, Grounds gets blanketed with leaves.
The caption of yesterday's front-page photo, Glorious Victory, erroneously identified the celebrating football player as D'Brickashaw Ferguson.
Members of the Sanction Reform Committee presented opposing ideas for reform at Sunday night's Honor Committee meeting. Sam Selden, chair of the policy-drafting subcommittee of the SRC, presented several possible sanction policies, while four SRC members who are not in favor of reforming the single sanction responded by presenting an alternate proposal that would focus on reforming the honor system rather than the sanction itself. "The goal is to analyze and identify the best alternative to the single sanction," Selden said. The first option is to keep the traditional single sanction as it is without any changes. The second option is "single sanction with forgiveness," in which expulsion following a guilty verdict would no longer necessarily be permanent.
Last Friday, University students who applied for on-Grounds housing for the 2005-06 school year learned whether or not they will be accommodated.
Matt Schaub, former University star quarterback and Atlanta Falcons' draft, was arrested early Saturday morning for reportedly taking part in an assault that took place in the Corner district. Near 1 a.m., a 19-year-old male stopped a Charlottesville Police officer, claiming he had been assaulted by three people near the Wing Factory restaurant on Elliewood Avenue, according to a police statement. Though none of the suspects were on the scene when the police officer arrived, Schaub, 23, was identified as one of the assailants and was later arrested.
The University of Virginia Investment Management Company made public its decision to entrust the University's financial future to Christopher J.
