News

Women's health class enjoys successful start

What began as the brainchild of three women now is the first class at the University devoted specifically to women's health. The course, "Women's Health: A Global Perspective," GNUR/SWAG 510, was offered for the first time this semester. The class's three instructors come from different backgrounds: College graduate student Julia Ahmed previously had founded women's health clinics in Bangladesh, Education graduate student Breyette Lorntz has worked in global health and Nursing Prof.

News in Brief

Virginia Tech rescinds offer to lesbian partner of new dean After originally offering a teaching position to Shelli Fowler, an English professor at Washington State University, as part of a package plan to recruit her lesbian partner, Karen DePauw as graduate dean, the board of visitors at Virginia Tech rescinded the offer at its most recent meeting. The board reversed its offer after Fowler had signed an employment contract with Virginia Tech. The decision, which board members chalked up to budget difficulties, has sparked protest and debate at Virginia Tech, which recently has made a concerted push to hire more female and minority faculty members. Missing woman safe at home, unharmed Zawadi Katina, a 23-year-old Charlottesville resident who had been reported missing since last Monday night, returned safely to her family in Charlottesville on Thursday afternoon.

Soros offers insight into his financial success

He survived both the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Hungary to become one of the world's wealthiest people.

Students lobby for new diversity requirement

In response to concerns about multicultural awareness on Grounds, several minority student leaders have discussed the introduction of a multicultural education requirement to increase sensitivity toward diversity in the University community. Fourth-year College student Michelle Morse, one of the students attempting to implement the diversity education requirement, explained that by making diversity a core value, such as honor or student self-governance, the University community will grow more aware of the perspectives of students different from themselves. "Honor and the University Judiciary Committee get lots of funding, but diversity is something that the University" does not officially recognize as of yet and therefore "does not get the funding it needs," she said. Concerned students haveworked with The Coalition, a group of student representatives from minority groups on Grounds, to implement a multicultural education requirement for all students. The requirement would be different from the non-Western perspectives requirement, focusing primarily on diversity issues faced within the United States. Although the development of the requirement remains in its early stages, two routes now are being discussed.One is a class based upon a current Education School course -- EDLF 555, Multicultural Education, taught by Education Prof.

Police link recent sexual assault to past crimes

Using DNA analysis, a Nov. 11 sexual assault on a Charlottesville woman has been positively linked to four other unsolved cases spanning the last five years, the Charlottesville Police Department announced at a press conference Friday. The Virginia Division of Forensic Science determined the common genetic thread in the cases by comparing the DNA profile of the Nov.

CELEBRATION

IFC completes investigation of Kappa Alpha

The Inter-Fraternity Council's week long investigation of Kappa Alpha and Zeta Psi fraternities, pertaining to the racially offensive costumes portrayed at a fraternity-sponsored Halloween party, may end today. The two fraternities were suspended from the council last week after the IFC learned of photographs from the party that showed guests dressed in blackface. Zach Terwilliger, IFC vice president for judiciary, said the investigation is almost completed. "The investigation of Kappa Alpha has been completed and the report is finished," Terwilliger said, adding that "the report is 90 percent finished for Zeta Psi, we're just waiting for a statement from one individual." He said once the reports are completed he will submit them to IFC President Phil Trout, most likely sometime this afternoon.

University restarts spring registration

Despite reassurances that students would be able to register for classes after a three-day postponement, officials opted to shut down the ISIS system and wipe out all of its processed registration yesterday. The Office of the Provost and University deans made the decision around noon. Their announcement was not a result of technical malfunctions, but a response to student complaints of registration inequity, said Don Reynard, ITC director of applications and data systems. According to Reynard, ISIS was blocked yesterday so that the Registrar's Office could undo student registration that already had been entered into the system, and then reprioritize registration dates. Earlier in the week, ISIS faced a memory management problem, but ITC administrators don't "anticipate any future problems," Reynard said. University Registrar Carol Stanley said registration could be activated as early as Monday, but Student Council President Micah Schwartz said registration likely will be delayed until after the Thanksgiving holiday. If this occurred, registration could overlap this semester's final exams, Schwartz said. Although such a scenario would be "less than perfect, it's worth cleaning the slate," he said. Stanley said she estimates over 100 students have submitted complaints to the Registrar's Office, the Office of the Provost and ITC, urging administrators to start over the registration process. "The student voice is always a concern and a factor," Stanley said. In addition, officials received input from the Registrar's Office, the Office of the Provost and student representatives, she said. Although the decision largely was made to appease students, not everyone will be satisfied by the decision, Stanley added. "We're hopeful it'll take us back to a situation where a majority of people are satisfied," Stanley said. According to Schwartz, complications with ITC earlier this week enabled students of lower registration priority to "slip through the cracks." "This was unfair not only to Rodman and Echols scholars, but to fourth years who have been waiting for priority," Schwartz said.

News in Brief

U.S. youth flunk world geography quiz Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 placed ahead of only Mexicans on a quiz given to youth in nine countries. Only one in seven Americans could find Iraq on a blank world map, and just 17 percent could find Afghanistan.

City announces new traffic policies

Albemarle County police officials met Tuesday to announce a series of traffic enforcement measures in response to the 20 traffic fatalities that have occurred so far this year in the area. Albemarle Police Capt.

Md. fraternity sued for hazing death

Family members of Daniel Reardon, the University of Maryland freshman who died of alcohol poisoning last February, have filed a lawsuit against the Phi Sigma Kappa National Fraternity and several of the former Phi Sigma Kappa brothers at Maryland.

Warner to investigate illegal alien admissions

At the Governor's Latino Summit 2002 on Tuesday in Alexandria, Va., Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner announced the creation of a task force charged with studying immigrant access to higher education. The governor created the task force partially in response to a memo from Attorney General James Kilgore to institutions of higher education in September, Warner spokesman Paul Reagan said. The event attracted more than 400 representatives of Latino communities in Virginia. Kilgore's memo to universities suggested that "illegal or undocumented aliens should not be enrolled in Virginia public institutions of higher education." A 1996 federal law denying in-state tuition to undocumented aliens was the origin of the attorney general's memo, Kilgore spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. Event coordinator Walter Tejada said the Latino community is "very upset at the extremist position" taken by Kilgore. The conference dealt with "health care, bridging the digital divide, Latino economic development, and educational access," Tejada said. There is a common misconception that "Latinos only care about immigration issues," he added.

Police investigate suspicious phone calls

University Police are investigating a suspicious phone call made to a University student Tuesday, in which the caller asked for the student's Social Security number and other personal information, University Police Capt.

Council urges Range selection procedure

If living on the Lawn is the ultimate honor at Mr. Jefferson's University, then living on the Range should be its logical counterpart, some graduate students say.

JMU council moves to eliminate funding for black alliance, NAACP

Sparking debate and division at James Madison University, the finance committee of the school's Student Government Association recommended that the Black Student Alliance and the campus chapter of the NAACP lose a significant amount of their funding. The committee's recommendation at a meeting last Thursday was the first step toward ending the groups' status as "front-end budgeted" organizations. SGA President Levar Stoney said those committee members voting against the designation argued that the organizations' activities did not fulfill SGA requirements for FEB funding. According to SGA bylaws, in order to receive FEB status, an organization "must impact a large percentage of the campus, their impact must be important, their impact must be wide and necessary, and the group must need to be budgeted front end due to the importance of the skills and knowledge it provides." The vote to recommend ending BSA funding was 4-3, and 3-1 to recommend ending NAACP funding.

Kappa Alpha headquarters lifts chapter'ssuspension

Two days after news broke that a Halloween party co-sponsored by Kappa Alpha and Zeta Psi fraternities included three individuals dressed in blackface, the national administrative office of the Kappa Alpha Order lifted its suspension on its University chapter yesterday. The decision came after the national office's investigation determined that none of the individuals who painted their faces were members of Kappa Alpha, according to Larry Wiese, executive director of the Kappa Alpha Order. Wiese said the national office chose to lift the suspension because they believed Kappa Alpha Order was not responsible for the racially offensive costumes. "The decision was made because we concluded our investigation and determined that, while the conduct was offensive, Kappa Alpha Order was not involved," Wiese said. This action, however, will not effect Kappa Alpha Order's status at the University, Inter-Fraternity Council President Phil Trout said. "The decision from the Kappa Alpha nationals does not have an effect on our investigation," Trout said. Zach Terwilliger, IFC vice president for judiciary, confirmed the national decision has no bearing on the local investigation. Kappa Alpha Order "is still suspended from the IFC," Terwilliger said.

University beams math class to high school

Imagine being able to turn down the volume on your math teachers, or tune them out all together. Albemarle High School student Igor Rapinchuk has that power.

Industry condemns campus file sharing

Entertainment industry representatives have been asking colleges, including the University of Virginia, to do something about the use of programs that allow file sharing like Kazaa, Morpheus and Audiogalaxy. The entertainment industry sent letters to universities, including the University, asking them to take on the responsibility of preventing file sharing. But students downloading free music is not a major concern for University officials, President John T.

Students gather at Rotunda to oppose possible war on Iraq

Hundreds of University students and Charlottesville residents congregated on the north end of the Lawn yesterday, protesting the possible war on Iraq. The event, entitled "Dissent is Patriotic," was sponsored by student groups and local and national organizations, including Amnesty International and the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice.

Law, Darden eliminate all state funding from budgets

While most of the University struggles to deal with the state's withdrawal of funds this year, two of the University's schools have decided to go cold turkey. In a matter of months, both the Law School and Darden School will cease taking state funding, perhaps for good. "I think it's permanent," Law School Dean John Jeffries Jr.