News

New sports medicine facility approved, set for completion in 2005

The Board of Visitors approved this weekend a new $1.7 million sports medicine facility, set to be built on the University's North Grounds to accommodate over-crowding in the current athletic department facility. "As the demands have increased, I think the University and the Athletic Department are trying to accommodate the athletes," Head Athletic Trainer Ethan Saliba said. Saliba said the McCue Sports Medicine Center was originally designed to serve the football program but today works with all the of the University's athletic departments. "Because the athletic center was so long under one roof, it became diversified," Saliba said of the McCue Center, which was constructed on the North Grounds in 1991. Officials hope the new facility will allow the McCue Center to focus on football again. "Hopefully expanding the facilities would decompress the volume," Saliba said. The North Grounds at Massie Road and Emmett Street house the core of the University's athletic programs.

HONOR TRIAL RECAP

Month of September During the month of September five students were found not guilty in honor trials by random student juries of their peers. Saturday, October 2 Two undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences were tried for unauthorized collaboration on a test in an introductory-level class.

Democrats rally for Kerry, Weed

Democratic prospects have been historically bleak in Virginia, but several events this weekend were geared toward energizing local Democrats in an effort to reverse a 40-year Republican voting trend in the Commonwealth. University students and local Democrats of all ages turned out at The Park Saturday morning to race and attend a rally featuring Gov.

Students allege attacks early Sat. on Rugby Road

Two students allegedly were assaulted early Saturday morning around 1 a.m. on the corner of Grady Avenue and Rugby Road in what could be one of a series of related assaults. First-year College students Will Searcy and Warren Waterman were waiting for a friend to leave a party when a car carrying three men pulled up and a young black male jumped out and confronted them, according to Searcy and Waterman. Charlottesville police reports confirmed the basic accounts of Searcy and Waterman. Searcy said the man kept trying to pick a fight with him.

$10.5 million gift given to E-school, U.Va. library

Ann Lee Brown, widow of Engineering School alumni Charles L. Brown, gave $10.5 million to the University Saturday. Five million dollars will go to the Engineering School, $500,000 will endow an engineering scholarship and $5 million will be used to create an endowment for the Engineering library in Clark Hall.

Conference explores nuclear alternatives

Students and community activists assembled in Clark Hall Saturday to learn about the health, safety and environmental risks of nuclear power and to gather support for a safe, clean energy future in Virginia. Titled "Virginia at the Crossroads -- Which Energy Future?" the conference was organized around Dominion Power's proposal to build two new nuclear reactors at North Anna, a nuclear facility near Charlottesville. This would be one of the first reactors built in the United States since the meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979. Elena Day, a conference organizer from People's Alliance for Clean Energy, said she wanted young people to start thinking about alternatives to our future energy needs.

Commission on Diversity unveils report to BOV

President John T. Casteen, III and his Commission on Diversity and Equity made a final presentation to the Board of Visitors at their meeting early Saturday, offering a final report to the Board on its research into issues of diversity at the University. A little over a year ago, Casteen charged Angela M.

Staff, students protest U.Va. charter proposal

Waving signs that read "The University of Enron" and "Kiss Your Benefits Goodbye," members of the University Staff Union rallied outside the steps of the Rotunda in response to the proposed charter legislation Friday. The Staff Union, in conjunction with the Communication Workers of America, the Graduate Labor Union and the Students for a Living Wage Campaign, voiced concerns about how the proposed charter status will affect University employees and students.

Charlottesville loses higher-paying jobs

Job growth in the area is not up to par, according to a study conducted by a local agency. The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce recently completed a 10-year study of the region including the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson and Louisa Counties.

Tech's response to reported hate crime criticized

Members of the Virginia Tech chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are voicing concerns about the administration's response to a reported racially motivated vandalism that occurred at the school last weekend. A hate crime investigation is now underway in Blacksburg.

Tickets for Virginia film festival on sale now

Tickets went on sale yesterday for the 17th Annual Virginia Film Festival, which begins Oct. 28 and runs through Oct.

Classic 'Fridays After Five' draws to a close

The final "Fridays After Five" of the season will take place today on the Downtown Mall, marking the last event to be performed under the direction of the Charlottesville Downtown Foundation and on the current stage at the east end of the Mall. Coran Capshaw, manager of the Dave Matthews Band and a local real estate mogul, will replace the existing stage with a 3,500 seat amphitheatre.

TA's fate still up in air after class trip results in 24 arrests

What was supposed to be a Sherlock Holmes-style field trip to an abandoned hospital ended in the unexpected trespassing arrests of 23 University students and Justin Gifford, their graduate instructor. Charges against the class members were dropped Tuesday, but University officials yesterday met to discuss Gifford's role in the incident, and Gifford said his fate at the University still is undecided. "It's still up in the air as to what's going to happen to me," Gifford said. While he is unsure what sanction might be levied against him, Gifford said he was told by his dean that it is unlikely he will be fired. Gifford and his students, members of an American Detective Mystery Fiction class, were detained for trespassing at the abandoned Blue Ridge Hospital last week. The building is a former tuberculosis hospital, owned by the University Foundation, at the base of Monticello Mountain near the intersection of Interstate 64 and Route 20, University Foundation Executive Director Tim Rose said. Gifford said he took his Detective Fiction class to the hospital because the class was studying the meaning of the word "haunting," and discussions eventually led to abandoned buildings. "We heard about it through Web sites where various urban explorer types had gone through and taken pictures," Gifford said.

U.Va. wrestles with lack of economic diversity

More than half of all students at the University come from families who earn more than $100,000 a year, according to USA Today.

Economy drives domestic policies

Debate over the economy is once again at the forefront of the presidential campaign, and college students used to tuning out politicians' promises on jobs and taxes could be affected by the economic policies of whoever occupies the White House in January. President George W.

Panel discusses jobs, internships in politics

The Center for Politics held a symposium last night in Minor Hall on finding political jobs and internships as part of its National Symposium on Youth Civic Engagement. Grant Reeher, author of "The Insider's Guide to Political Internships: What to Do Once You're in the Door," an associate professor of political science at Syracuse University, moderated the discussion. The six panelists included campaign staffers, legislative assistants and a political media consultant. Reeher discussed ten points on how to succeed in and learn from internships, one of which included considering the possibility of choosing an internship at a local politician's office. "The experience will be more significant," Reeher said. Reeher also said that interns should expect to do mundane work and be able to do it well.

January Term 2005 course information posted online

The Web site for the University's pilot January term is now available with a complete listing of courses, registration instructions and financial details. The term will run from Jan.

SUNSET ON THE DELL

Students present research projects

The College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences hosted an inaugural undergraduate research presentation and dinner last night in the Rotunda Dome Room. Undergraduate students who spent the entire summer on Grounds doing research on topics ranging from plant aging to the effects of fetal alcohol exposure were gathered to present their research results with other students, faculty and administrators. The joint research presentations between the two schools will be held annually. The dinner was "a celebratory evening for the event," Center for Undergraduate Excellence Director Nicole Hurd said. The presentations included exhibits of different research projects.

Students register to vote as deadline nears

About 2,000 University students either registered to vote or requested an absentee ballot for the first time as of yesterday, according to Albemarle County General Registrar Jackie Harris. The voter registration deadline for the Nov.