Sitting in the library a few weeks ago, I saw the first small herd of the year. Dressed in freshly pressed suits, the anxious young men and women were guided through the Medical School by their fourth-year tour guides.
For the past several weeks, members of the Sanction Reform Committee have met every Thursday night on the fourth floor of Newcomb Hall, discussing among themselves current problems with the honor system and brainstorming viable alternatives to the single sanction. As of last night's meeting, however, the committee is ready to take the issue to the public and open the single sanction debate to the entire University community. "In the past couple of weeks we've done internal debate, had core values discussions, and come to an understanding of the real situation the honor system faces," committee chair Sara Page said.
The lease-signing deadline is fast approaching -- and not only for 14th Street apartments. This year, students planning to live on Grounds must submit their applications by Nov.
A University committee, charged with deciding whether the school should pursue providing online music to students, recommended to the administration this week that they not pursue any subscriptions at this time. The decision was based in large part on what the committee perceived as a lack of student interest. Their findings were based on an online survey linked to the ITC Web site and the "current students" section of the University's Web site.
In the early 1990s, the energy industry estimated that nearly 100,000 cars powered by fuel cell engines would be on the road by 2004.
Individual student volunteers and University student organizations will provide the manpower to mobilize 12 diversity projects set forth at a Zero Tolerance for Ignorance meeting last night. The Zero Tolerance Mission's primary projects emphasize student awareness of the recent diversity commission's report and potential student influence in the selection of the University's new Chief Officer of Diversity and Equity. Student input should play a significant role in the search for the officer since the position is new and has yet to be defined, said Isaac Agbeshie-Noye, Black Student Alliance vice president of networking. "It is very important that students are involved in the process of finding who that person is going to be," Agbeshie-Noye said.
In an ongoing effort to establish a space on Grounds for black fraternities, the brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. painted a rock outside Minor Hall last week to remind students of their fraternity's existence and to promote their contributions to the Charlottesville community. Since no fraternity in the Black Fraternal Council has official housing, the rock will serve as a representation of the fraternity on Grounds and act as a permanent fixture, BFC co-chair Brandon Green said. Last spring, KAP created a chalk display outside Minor Hall to bring attention to the absence of black fraternity housing. KAP brother Jimmy Larkin painted the 200-pound rock in crimson and cream, the official colors of KAP.
Sean Patrick Thomas (College '92), who has starred in such films as "Save the Last Dance" and "Barbershop," chatted with Associate Editor Shannon Sturcken about his experience at the University. What did you think when you saw the final public service announcement?
University Librarian Karin Wittenborg received the 2004 Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award, presented annually by the Women's Center, last week at a ceremony in the Special Collections Library. "Karin has transformed the idea of what the library can mean to the life of the community," Women's Center Director Sharon Davie said.
The University debuted a public service announcement for its new financial aid initiative, "Access U.Va.," before 60,000 fans at the football game against Clemson last Thursday night.
The Inter-Sorority Council will outline new changes to its recruitment procedures for the coming year starting Sunday as part of its annual series of informational sessions held to introduce women to Greek life. The series of sessions will also outline the ISC's expectations of the women participating in the process and recruitment counselors will be available to meet individually with women who have specific questions, ISC President Courtney Cherry said. This year, a new Web-based system, called "University Solutions," will essentially run the recruitment process, Cherry said. Women now will be able to pay and register for recruitment online.
Just fewer than 3,000 University students who have yet to verify their health insurance information with Student Health will be blocked from registering for spring classes today. In a mass e-mail sent to those who had yet to verify their insurance information last night, students were warned they will be ineligible to register for classes as of today until they verify their information. Since the 1960s, the University has required all students to have health insurance, but only since this fall have students been required to verify their information with Student Health administrators to ensure compliance with the requirement. "Now that we have the capability through computers and through an online system, we can be sure that students have health care," said Virginia Carter, director of external relations for the office of student affairs.
Following the license suspension of a leading flu vaccine manufacturer last week, University Medical Center officials are saying vaccine rationing will need to take place locally.
English Department Chair Gordon Braden sent an e-mail to the entire English Department faculty yesterday to clarify details surrounding the Monday dismissal of English graduate student Justin Gifford from his teaching assistant position. Some faculty members have requested a collective discussion of Gifford's dismissal at a faculty-wide departmental meeting.
The leading national organization that provides funds to humanities projects recently announced a $577,500 grant to the University's Miller Center for Public Affairs. The National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency, will endow the funds as part of its "We the People" initiative to research important ideas and events in American history and share this information with the public, according to the NEH Web site. The funds will be allocated to the Miller Center's AmericanPresident.org program. "AmericanPresident.org is an outreach to teachers, students and the general public to strengthen teaching and knowledge about the American presidency," said Margaret Edwards, Miller Center director for external relations.
Funding for Virginia's growing higher education demands dominated the discussion as Commonwealth legislators gathered for the Student Council Legislative Affairs Committee's ABC's of Higher Education Forum last night in the Chemistry Auditorium. While several of the representatives opened with quips about in-state school rivalries and gray hair, Del.
With the Nov. 2 presidential election looming on the horizon and their candidate down as many as six points in the latest Virginia polls, Sen.
The office of Gov. Mark R. Warner issued a letter last week directing the Division of Forensic Science in Richmond to reevaluate old cases using recent DNA technologies in order to exonerate people being held in Virginia prisons for violent crimes that the technologies could prove they did not commit. "In the past, the serologists would sometimes save forensic evidence from case files if they thought they might be able to do some work with it later," Warner spokesperson Ellen Qualls said.
Famed constitutional scholar and Harvard Law Prof. Laurence Tribe recently admitted to not citing passages he took from a book by retired University Politics Prof.
