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CHS students react to negative perception gained from assaults

No one likes to be picked on, not even a high school. Charlottesville High School, the city's only public high school, says it is fed up with the press passing nasty slanted notes to the public. Students and administrators are forced to combat what they call "unfounded" community misconceptions that the school is a hotbed for violence and racial tension, according to several CHS students and alumni. "The school gets a bad rap," said second-year College student Brian McCollam, who graduated from CHS in 2001.


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Harrison Awards remain University priority

Despite the continuing budget crisis, the Harrison Awards, grants to students interested in conducting undergraduate research, will still be available this year. According to Nicole Hurd, director of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, funding for the Harrison Awards was never in jeopardy because University officials saw the award as a priority. University President John T.


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NEWS IN BRIEF

Rugby Road shuts down due to a leaking attic in Kappa Kappa Gamma A leak in the auxiliary drain located in the attic of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house, located at 503 Rugby Road, caused the busy street to shut down yesterday at 1:20 p.m. "It looked a lot worse than it was," said Charlottesville Fire Dept.


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Students protest The Cavalier Daily

In one of the largest demonstrations of student self-governance in recent memory, approximately 400 students protested outside The Cavalier Daily office in the basement of Newcomb Hall on Wednesday evening. The Black Student Alliance, the Griot Society and other concerned community leaders sponsored the march and sit-in, entitled "Hoos Silent," partially in response to an opinion column written by Anthony Dick in Wednesday's Cavalier Daily. "The column was only a symptom of a larger problem," said Tim Lovelace, a fourth-year College student and student member of the Board of Visitors.


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Students, community react to shootings

Anxious University students and Charlottesville residents were reassured yesterday to learn that Maryland police had arrested two men believed to be responsible for a slew of sniper shootings in Virginia and Maryland that lasted three weeks and left 10 dead and three injured. "People in the Washington metro area are breathing a collective sigh of relief," Montgomery County, Md., Executive Douglas M.


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Greek councils work to improve relations

Following last year's successful response, "Comfort Zone," an event combining all four of the University's fraternity and sorority councils, has expanded to draw increased support from the Greek community. Comfort Zone combines philanthropic and social activities in hopes of improving race relations among Greek councils. The event was founded in the fall of 2001 by two members of the Black Fraternal Council -- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. -- as well as Sigma Pi, a member of the Inter-Fraternity Council, and Gamma Phi Beta, an Inter-Sorority Council member. This year, however, the event has grown to include the IFC's Sigma Chi fraternity, the ISC's Pi Beta Phi and Delta Gamma sororities, the BFC's Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., and two members of the Multicultural Greek Council -- alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Lambda Theta Alpha.


News

City, County schools cancel recess after sniper's threat

Local parents' concern over the recent sniper shootings in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia led Albemarle County and Charlottesville school officials to eliminate all outdoor activities yesterday. The restrictions will last through tomorrow, when school officials will re-evaluate the situation. Field trips and athletic events will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, according to Charlottesville spokesman Maurice Jones. Albemarle County spokeswoman Lee Catlin attributed the restrictions to specific worries that parents have voiced. "Parental concerns have been heightened in response to the [sniper's] specific threat to children," she said. Over the weekend, police found a letter they believe was written by the person responsible for the shootings. The letter was discovered in the woods behind a Ponderosa Steakhouse in Ashland, Va., where a 37-year-old man was shot Saturday night. The handwritten letter warned in its final sentences that children "are not safe anywhere, at any time." County and city school officials stress that the policy is a precautionary measure, and not in response to any direct threat to the community. "We feel that it is important not to overreact since we are not impacted directly," Catlin said.


News

City adopts new electronic voting system

In the upcoming Nov. 5 elections, Charlottesville voters will cast their vote on a "Palm Pilot on steroids." That is how David Beirne, director of public affairs for Houston, Texas described the eSlate voting units, a new electronic voting system that replaces the outdated punch card system. Houston has successfully used the eSlate in America's third largest county since November 2001. Charlottesville voters will be using eSlate for the second time this November.


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News in Brief

Maryland candidates for Congress up rhetoric With less than two weeks remaining before the Nov. 5 election, the two main candidates in the closely-contested race in Maryland's 8th District for the House of Representatives met for a 30-minute debate on Tuesday. Pundits have identified Republican Constance A.


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Policy charges radio for Web broadcasting

New regulations forcing radio stations to pay for Web broadcasts went into effect this week, causing many college radio broadcasters to stop playing music over the Internet. The rules from the Library of Congress' Copyright Office charge radio broadcasters $500 a year for each year they have been broadcasting over the Web since 1998. The money will go to SoundExchange, a coalition of recording artists and record labels that seeks to collect royalties for copyrighted materials broadcast on the Web. The Copyright Office regulations also charge Internet radio providers two cents for each 100 listeners to each song they broadcast and establish a minimum annual fee of $500, though compliance temporarily has been waived, pending Congressional action. As a result of these regulations, 70 college radio stations have stopped broadcasting over the Internet, the New York Times reported this week. The University's radio station, WTJU 91.1 FM, does not broadcast over the Internet. The station's general manager, Charles Taylor III, said WTJU decided not to broadcast over the Internet because he anticipated this ruling. "We had been waiting on this," Taylor said.


News

Attorney General cuts 56 positions to reduce payroll

In response to budget cuts mandated by Gov. Mark R. Warner, Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore's office announced 51 layoffs last Friday. The cutbacks amount to a 20 percent reduction in the workforce and include the elimination of 10 lawyers and 41 support staff positions.


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Richards, Goode focus on local issues

In an election year in which national issues loom large, the candidates for Virginia's 5th Congressional District say they are concentrating on local problems. Both Congressman Virgil Goode, a Republican, and his Democratic opponent Meredith Richards, cite local issues as the most important focuses of their campaigns. Goode, who still holds a commanding lead in the race, said constituents most frequently ask him about their concerns with unemployment in the district. "Many are concerned about transfer of manufacturing jobs to foreign countries," Goode said.


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UJC changes sexual assault board design, proceedings

The University Judiciary Committee amended its bylaws Sunday evening, which they hope will eventually encompass a larger initiative to restructure the Sexual Assault Board and its procedures. Prior to the bylaw change, students would not be permitted to serve on both the UJC and the Sexual Assault Board, but that no longer is the case. "Now members of UJC may also sit on the Sexual Assault Board," UJC Chairwoman Katie Graney said. Currently, when a victim files a complaint, it is brought before UJC.


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Sniper shootings force school closings

With continued sniper shootings in Maryland and Virginia, public school systems in the two states are taking extra security precautions. Montgomery County Police yesterday released information from a note found at the Saturday sniper shooting in Ashland, Va. According to a press briefing yesterday evening by Montgomery County Police Chief Charles A.


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ISC starts 'faculty fellows' program

Sorority members and faculty mingled in Garden I yesterday as part of the Inter-Sorority Council's effort to start a faculty mentoring program for sorority women. The ISC's Faculty Fellows program will pair a faculty advisor with each sorority, ISC President Whitney Eck said. The fellows will serve as an "academic mentor or resource we want all houses to have," Eck said. ISC envisions the fellows providing "basic academic mentoring and a communication route for sororities and faculty," said ISC Alumnae and Faculty Chairwoman Jessica Belue, adding that sororities sometimes are perceived as separate from the academic community at the University. "This will help establish sororities as part of the academic community," Belue said. Each sorority invited about five faculty members whom their house had named as good candidates for the program to yesterday's reception.


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