News

Warner signs historic environment bills

Gov. Mark R. Warner signed eight pieces of environmental legislation into law this week, setting aside over $100 million for land and water protection, including the improvement of the Chesapeake Bay. Warner spokesperson Ellen Qualls said the amount is the most that any legislature has set aside for environmental funding in the Commonwealth's history. Qualls said the effort was bipartisan, but the process of finalizing the various bills was long and arduous. "You have to bring together not only Republicans and Democrats, but business groups and environmentalists," Qualls said. She added that the Chesapeake Bay is a serious historic issue for the state because its ecological problems affect a large population. "The health of the Chesapeake Bay is not only in all of our interests, in the surrounding Bay states, from a quality of life standpoint, from an ecological standpoint, but it is also an economic engine for our coastal community," she said. Senator John Watkins (R-Midlothian) authored several environmental compliance bills as well as a bill to create a nutrient trading program. "This has probably been one of the most significant years from the standpoint of legislative and budgetary actions for the environment," Watkins said. The programs created by these bills would give credits to companies with upgraded equipment.

Robo-pessimism: Hubble's last frontier

We are entering an age of introspection that requires all scientists to ponder, "Am I tomorrow's scrap metal?

Police lobby for salary increases

The Charlottesville City Council held its first public hearing of the 2005-2006 budget Monday. According to Vice Mayor Kevin Lynch, members of the Charlottesville Police Department made up a sizable portion of the audience because they sought to voice their financial concerns. "The police are looking for more money this year and looking for more benefits, and they have appealed to City Council," Lynch said.

Anthropogenic Warming

Although there has been much political strife over the concept of global warming and the greenhouse effect, the scientific community often is portrayed as divided when in actuality, there is a great degree of consensus.

Report states PSAT biases some students

An article forthcoming in the National Crosstalk reports that a University of California faculty committee has recently censured the National Merit Scholarship's dependence on PSAT scores. The report finds that the program discriminates against minority applicants and students from low-income families who, on average, score considerably worse on standardized tests than do their white, Asian-American and wealthier peers. "The scores on the SAT have a lot to do with the person's economic status, and that is going to have an enormous impact on poor students, black or white," African-American Affairs Dean M.

Academic Calendar Altered

The University released the 2005-2006 Academic Calendar yesterday. The calendar provides a week for Thanksgiving, and Winter Break will begin earlier in the year. Also, the calendar gives one day, Oct.

CAPS screens students in annual event

The University Counseling and Psychological Services screened 16 students for depression yesterday in an event coordinated by Students for Mental Health Awareness. "Typically we have the highest number of students hospitalized psychiatrically in April," CAPS Assistant Director Lenny Carter said.

Student record system possible nationwide

The Education Department submitted a report to Congress Monday evaluating the feasibility of creating a national student unit record system. The report, which was initiated by the National Center for Education Statistics, focused on whether such an information system could and should be constructed by the government. According to the report, the interest in creating a unit record system was sparked by the desire to monitor issues like the impacts of college price increases and to generate better data in a timely fashion. If the Education Department receives approval from Congress, the new system would contain individually identifiable records of all higher education students in the nation.

Judiciary Committee elects new executives

The University Judiciary Committee elected third-year College student Tim Ormsby as Committee Chairman for the 2005-2006 school year in a meeting last night. "I am very excited," Ormsby said.

BOV committee meeting focuses on future housing plans

Replacement of Alderman Road dormitories was discussed by the University Board of Visitors' Student Affairs and Athletic Committee at their meeting Monday. The Committee adopted a resolution stating that "most of the residence halls on Alderman Road must be replaced" and that the BOV "endorses and supports" the replacement of Alderman Road residences. In addition, the Committee outlined plans to add 400 beds for first-year student housing and 250 beds for upperclassmen housing -- including newly acquired Brandon Avenue and Valley Road apartments -- according to a University Relations press release. The Committee recommended that first-year students continue to live in dorms primarily occupied by students of the same academic level. "We support the notion that all first years should live in University housing," Committee Chair Thomas Farrell, II said.

NICE DAY FOR A PICNIC

IFC Judiciary fills positions

The Inter-Fraternity Council Judiciary Committee appointed its seven executive board members Sunday and is currently in the process of selecting a pool of support officers, including judges, counselors and investigators. A written exam for the selection process was administered to IFCJC candidates yesterday and interviews will be conducted next week. The IFC is seeking to strengthen its Judiciary Committee by a series of education initiatives aimed at reaching all the individual fraternity men in the IFC, IFC President Ross Kimbel said. The 16 members of the governing board have been divided into teams, each to present the new procedures of the Judiciary Committee to four or five fraternities. "It is a major undertaking to coordinate and make all the presentations, but we have received positive response from the fraternity presidents," Vice President for Judiciary Dom Genest said. The presentation will highlight sections eight and nine of the IFCJC's Standards of Conduct, which pertain to parties and social events and rush regulations respectively.

Commerce professor dies from meningitis

Wreaths wrapped in black ribbons are hung from the doors of Monroe Hall to mourn the death of Ellen Marie Whitener, senior associate dean and professor at the McIntire School of Commerce, who passed away Tuesday morning. Prof.

Judge clarifies police jurisdiction

Lindsay Borek and Joseph Thompson, both University students, were convicted of driving under the influence yesterday in cases that have questioned the jurisdictions of City and University Police. Borek and Thompson were arrested in January.

Madison House announces new members

Madison House has announced the newly-elected student candidates of its Board of Directors, according to Heather Flow, co-chair of the 2004-2005 Board.

Mock Trial places second in division

The U.Va. Collegiate Mock Trial A-Team placed second in its division at the Stetson National Tournament held in St.

New U.Va. group hosts town meeting

Last night a new non-partisan student organization, Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), hosted a town-hall meeting titled "U.S.

Casteen addresses state of University

President John T. Casteen, III gave his 15th annual State of the University address yesterday in Old Cabell Hall, addressing an audience of over 200 people. In his speech, Casteen reviewed the progress that the University has made in academics, finances and community relations over recent years.

Warner promises to maintain state funding for out-of-state grad students

Gov. Mark R. Warner announced Monday that he would propose an amendment to the state budget for 2006 that would maintain financial aid for out-of-state graduate students. "The governor thinks it makes no sense to compete with other institutions for the top students if we can't offer them the financial aid," Warner spokesperson Ellen Qualls said. In the state of Virginia, the budget overrides all other laws, but the Governor is able to amend specific language within the budget, as Warner plans to do with this amendment, Quall said. Ethan Sribnick, president of the Graduate Student Labor Union, said he and members of his organization were happy with the developments.

Higher education accountability plan set to begin

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, an independent, non-profit organization, is working with the National Forum to develop a method for measuring each state's "educational capital." The desire to measure college graduates' ability to solve problems, communicate effectively and think critically has existed for many years, yet progress finally is being made according to Margaret Miller, director of the National Forum and a professor in the Education School. "What happened is that employers have been saying for a long time they weren't quite sure what a college degree warranted, or what skills they would bring into the workplace," Miller said.