State legislators are meeting today to finalize a bill that would outlaw the execution of mentally retarded defendants.
Although students still are digging out from the weekend snow that blanketed the University, candidates for University offices said their campaigns are plowing full steam ahead.
As the University plans a new capital campaign, public universities all over the country are seeking greater private funding as a result of state budget problems. States around the country are having trouble balancing their budgets, leading to cuts in higher education funding like those experienced by the University. The University of Michigan, one of the U.Va.'s peer institutions, is an example of a school facing similar challenges. The University's share of funds that comes from the state has dropped drastically since 1990, and Joel Seguine, a spokesperson for the University of Michigan, said in recent years Michigan has experienced a similar trend. State funding accounted for 19 percent of Michigan's budget in fiscal year 2001 and that figure had dropped to 17.6 percent in 2003, Sequine said. The state government further cut the appropriations to Michigan for 2003 in the middle of the year, he said. Sequine added that the state's budget problems have worsened for 2004. "It's going to mean an even greater cut," he said.
Mortimer Caplin, former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, will deliver the University's Commencement address during final exercises May 18.
Despite its 85 on-Grounds staffers, multi-million dollar projects and billion dollar expectations, many students have never heard of the University's Office of Development.
Drunk drivers may face stiffer penalties in Virginia because of the passage of a bill that will require mandatory fines and jail time for those convicted of DUI offenses, pending the signature of Gov.
Supporters of the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policy said Monday that by last night's deadline, the Supreme Court would have received more than 60 legal briefs supporting the policy. More than 300 colleges, congressmen, law schools, education organizations, businesses and labor unions have signed or submitted briefs supporting the policy now being contested before the high court. Lawyers for the plaintiffs dismissed the outpouring of support for the policy saying the Supreme Court is not running a "popularity contest" but "trying to decide what the Constitution requires."
Former University English Professor Cecil Lang passed away Feb. 15 at the age of 82. Lang taught at the University from 1965 to 1991 and was an acclaimed scholar of Victorian non-fiction in the English Department.
Local and state leaders across the area have dealt with the weekend snowstorm in very different ways. While University students returned to class, a day after the first weather-related cancellation in seven years, other college students across the state had another day off.
The Inter-Fraternity Council elections marked the beginning of a new era Thursday as nine young men became the new leaders on the 2003-2004 IFC executive board. The old and new presidents from each fraternity and then-current IFC executives elected Ryan Ewalt president.
Pending approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the University will add a Master of Public Health degree to its slate of Fall 2003 graduate degree offerings. The MPH is a professional degree program combining public health sciences, population-based research and community practice of public health.
Proponents of international peace assembled in front of the Rotunda Saturday afternoon to march against the prospect of war.
On Jan. 10, the Virginia Athletics Program received a $1.5 million contribution from an anonymous donor which will be used to implement much needed enhancements for the University's wrestling and volleyball programs. Memorial Gymnasium and Onesty Hall, the wrestling team's practice facility, will receive thorough makeovers, including fresh paint, new floors and updated equipment. "This gift is unique because it benefits two sports and the University community," said Dirk Katstra, executive director of the Virginia Athletics Foundation. Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage said that the project already has begun. "The planning for the renovations is already underway," Littlepage said.
If the General Assembly weaves a House of Delegates proposal into its final budget today, out-of-state students will be forced to help Virginia pay back the General Obligation Bond for college construction approved last November. "Fulltime out-of-state students would pay about 50 dollars a year for the fee," said Tony Maggio, legislative fiscal analyst for higher education in the House. The "capital fee" proposal is similar to one floated in the Senate last year, which would have charged both in-state and out-of-state students a fee, Maggio said. "The House proposal this year was that basically in-state students theoretically already pay for the cost of capital, because they're paying taxes," he said. Out-of-state students have yet to finance a major component of their education, said Vincent F.
The University cancelled classes yesterday for the first time since the early 1980s after over 10 inches of snow blanketed Charlottesville this weekend. Leonard W.
Despite the snow, the Hillel Jewish Student Union held their annual elections Sunday afternoon in Newcomb's Commonwealth room. Mother nature, however, had other plans.
Book festival to incorporate new features Next month's ninth annual Virginia Festival of the Book will have some new features this year, including a larger focus on crime and science fiction novels, according to event organizers. Among other changes, publishing day will be free of charge and open to the public, and aspiring authors will have a chance to enter unpublished manuscripts in the Great American Novel Contest. Crime novelist John Grisham, an Albemarle County resident, and author Earl Hamner Jr., a Nelson County native, are scheduled to appear alongside keynote speaker and author Lee Smith. Other authors scheduled to speak include poets Nikki Giovanni and Rita Dove.
In the wake of Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation before the United Nations Security Council, many local and University groups have voiced publicly their criticisms of possible U.S.
Less than two weeks after a woman was assaulted outside her home on the 100 block of Camelia Drive, the same 29-year-old was assaulted again inside her home Wednesday afternoon. The same man is suspected as the assailant for both assaults, the second of which occurred in the early afternoon. Police have not speculated as to a motive for the repeat attacks or told whether the victim knows the assailant. Police say they do not believe these two assaults are the work of the serial rapist. The victim was not seriously injured, according to Charlottesville Communications Director Maurice Jones. "I do not believe she had to go to the hospital," Jones said. Charlottesville police have not detailed specific injuries. A release from the Charlottesville Police Department stated that, "because of the details now available on both reported assaults in the 100 block of Camelia Drive, police believe it is unlikely that these events are related to the serial rapes currently under investigation." The victim was first assaulted Feb.
As part of Charlottesville's Comprehensive Plan, new zoning regulations may allow for high-rise student housing to be built near the Rotunda. The areas under consideration are along Jefferson Park Avenue and down 14th and 15th Streets in the Venable Neighborhood.
