The Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. held a racial reconciliation forum, entitled "Partying While White," before a packed audience in Maury Hall yesterday in response to a party held by some architecture students and the ensuing backlash it caused. Panelists included Dean M.
The month is March, and that means only one thing -- it's time yet again for the NCAA basketball tournament. Individuals often select their teams without much thought, but professional gambling houses have it down to a science, bringing in millions in the process. So is there a method behind the madness? Although no one can predict the outcome of a sporting event with complete accuracy, a careful analysis of statistical data can reveal tendencies that boost the bottom line. For instance, 16th seeds are 0-52 since 1979, while 15th seeds have only a slightly better record of 3-52 in the same time period. Thus, the smart money is on the first and second seeds in the first round. Likewise, the 13th and 14th seeds pull upsets 25 percent of the time.
If television were a chemical, it probably would be America's favorite drug. According to some experts, Americans glued to the television face a greater risk of experiencing stress in their family relationships as well as psychological discomfort. Health experts carefully avoid using the word "addiction" to describe long hours in front of the tube. "Drug addicts might readily steal or commit crimes to get money to buy drugs whereas people might not rob a convenience store to watch television," said Gary Miller, a pharmacology and toxicology professor at the University of Texas-Austin. TV-Free America conducted a survey in 1999 revealing the average American spends the equivalent of 11 years in front of a television set over an average lifespan of 72 years. According to the group's survey, the average American watches 3.7 hours of television a day, which amounts to an astonishing figure of 56 days a year. The average American household owns 2.5 televisions, collectively switched on for six hours and 47 minutes every day.
Starting next year, students will be able to major in American Studies, which until now only has been offered as a concentration within a department. The American Studies major received final approval from the College's faculty yesterday afternoon. American Studies is a 30-hour major that includes three core courses, AMST 301, 302 and 401, as well as seven classes from a list of 180 possible courses from a variety of departments. "I think of this as a horizontal sampling across all kinds of disciplines," said English Prof.
Nearly a month after University of Maryland student Daniel F. Reardon died following a bid-night party for Phi Sigma Kappa, investigations continue into the events surrounding his death and its implications.
College students routinely express great apathy toward religion, thinking the answers to the "how" and "why" of the world can be found in science alone. Others, however, ignore science and stick to the teachings of their religion instead. Both such groups would be surprised to learn science and religion parallel each other in many interesting ways. These parallels grow especially obvious in the doctrines of Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Astronomy Prof.
Washington & Lee University names Burish new president Thomas G. Burish, a faculty member at Vanderbilt University, was named Washington & Lee University's next president yesterday. Burish, an expert on the psychology of cancer patients, will begin his new position July 1. He will replace John Elrod, who died of cancer last July. Laurent Boetsch, W&L's vice president for academic affairs, had been the acting president since Elrod's death. After 10 years of serving Vanderbilt University, Burish resigned from his position as provost this month.
Senator and University alumnus John Warner, R-Virginia, addressed a crowd of about 500 in Wilson Hall yesterday, focusing on the war on terrorism. Warner spoke for Politics Prof.
The University finance committee will propose an undergraduate in-state tuition increase of 8.8 percent at the Board of Visitors meeting April 5, which will raise it to $4,569. "The Board usually doesn't make changes to our recommendations," said Colette Sheehy, vice president of management and budget.
Second-year College student Abdalmuhssin El-Yacoubi, who wrote a letter that helped trigger an FBI investigation against two alleged terrorists, is confirmed to have left the University. Patricia Lampkin, associate vice president for student affairs, said El-Yacoubi will be gone indefinitely. El-Yacoubi wrote the letter to his older brother, Mohammed El-Yacoubi, who was traveling with a friend, Mohamed Osman Idris, to Israel. The letter's references to jihad, or Islamic holy war, placed Mohammed El-Yacoubi and Idris under suspicion of planning a suicide attack. Lampkin said University faculty are struggling with how to respond to the issue. "We're on new territory here," Lampkin said. Faculty members still are considering whether to offer any support to Abdalmuhssin El-Yacoubi. "We want to be even-handed and fair to all," Lampkin said. Lampkin could not comment on whether the student left willingly or was forced out by the University. University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said faculty members will continue to look at how the case should be handled.
Following criticism of the SAT's accuracy as a gauge of college success, the College Board is considering making extensive changes to the content of the test. The proposed changes might include the addition of a writing section and more difficult math problems using advanced algebra and trigonometry.
First-year Law student Marta Sanchez is filing a complaint against Law Prof. Kenneth Abraham claiming she experienced "extreme discomfort" in an introductory Law School program last summer and is considering action against the Commonwealth. On February 26, Sanchez filed a claim of assault and battery in Albemarle Circuit Court, seeking $25,000 in compensatory damages and $10,000 in punitive damages. Sanchez attended an "Introduction to Law School and Legal Methodology" program, a presentation Abraham volunteered to teach to 20 selected incoming students.
It sounds like the ideal life: dedicating the working hours to your passion, knowing the one whom you love and live with shares your interests and dedicates his or her life to similar endeavors. The dreamy vision translates into reality for many married professors at the University. Karen Chase, English professor and wife of English professor Michael Levenson, said the hard work of writing books with and team-teaching with her husband would hardly dim the romantic notions of academia many students have. "We really love working together," Chase said. She concentrates on the nineteenth century, and he focuses on modern literature and culture.
Last night, Student Council unanimously voted to divide the ethnic and religious affairs committee, thereby creating two separate committees. Bill SB02-2 amends the Council by-laws which now will provide for both the racial and ethnic affairs committee and the religious affairs committee.
The Virginia General Assembly passed a bill now awaiting Gov. Mark R. Warner's signature that could loosen laws related to the underage purchase or possession of alcohol. Sponsored by Del.
Planning for the 7,400 acres of land that philanthropist John Kluge donated to the University continued Monday afternoon in a presentation to interested University and community members. Morven Farms Director Heather Craddock spoke with a small group in Newcomb Hall, presenting an in depth description of the property and discussing plans to organize proposals for how best to use the land. The donated properties, which spread over southeastern Albemarle county, total to an acreage greater than the city of Charlottesville and more than double the University's land holdings. "Morven Farms is a very precious gift and is a very exciting opportunity for the University," said Clo Phillips, special projects director in the Office of the Provost. Kluge divided the estates into core and non-core land.
A letter written by a University student became the crux of an FBI investigation of two men who were denied entry into Israel in December based on suspicions that they were planning a suicide attack, according to court papers unsealed yesterday. In the sworn document, a copy of which The Cavalier Daily has obtained, one of the two suspects, Mohammed Osman Idris of Annandale, Va., is accused of lying to a grand jury.
University President John T. Casteen III named Dr. Arthur "Tim" Garson Jr. the University's new vice president and dean of the School of Medicine yesterday afternoon. Garson, who now serves as senior vice president and academic dean for operations at Baylor College of Medicine, will begin his new position June 25, replacing outgoing Medical School Dean Robert Carey. "He's an excellent physician," Carey said of Garson.
A bomb threat on New and Old Cabell Halls yesterday tested the effectiveness of the University's bomb threat protocol and created a hectic and unique situation for students and visitors alike. During the incident, the new University protocol, which designates alternative class meeting sites, came into effect for the first time.
The Black Fraternal Council elected third-year College student Michael A. Dunkley, a member of the Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., and second-year College student Rowland Webb Jr., a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the new co-chairmen of the Council yesterday evening in Newcomb Hall. Dunkley and Webb both were highly optimistic about their new positions. "We as co-chairs in our newly appointed positions want to keep the BFC as one of the more powerful organizations on campus through positive programming, community service, social events, forums and the principles that unite us all," Dunkley said after the elections. Webb expressed similar goals for an atmosphere of activism. Our goal is "an energetic environment in which there are always programs available," Webb said.
