The resurgence of Phi Beta Sigma on Grounds has excited supporters of black Greek life at the University.
Though some might say an engineering party consists of one student and one computer, no one can accuse the University's Engineering students of not knowing how to have a good time. During last week's annual E-Week, Engineering students competed with each other, mingled with faculty and ate to their hearts' content.
Several students recently were disciplined and expelled from Norwich University in Norwich, Vt., due to their membership in a secret society. This precedent runs contrary to traditions at the University where secret societies such as the Seven Society, the Imps and the Z's are both encouraged and esteemed. Norwich University strictly forbids secret societies as well as fraternities and sororities, fearing that the presence of these groups may undermine the authority of the university's military training programs. Norwich University's student body is half-military and half-civilian.
When Enron collapsed, thousands of people lost their jobs and many also lost their hope for a secure retirement.
Bonds are how the government and corporations support the creation of money - basically, a big I.O.U.
After a joint decision by Student Council and the Honor Committee last week prevented students in the School for Continuing and Professional Studies from voting in today's election, the Committee pondered potential solutions for the problem of a lack of voting rights for SCPS students yesterday. The current Committee likely will make a formal recommendation to next year's Committee, which will take over April 1.
City Democrats chose Charlottesville Mayor Blake Caravati and local photographer and teacher Alexandria Searls as its two candidates in the upcoming Charlottesville City Council election. During the five-hour nominating convention at the Charlottesville Performing Arts Center on Saturday, six potential candidates competed for the nominations to fill the open seats of Caravati, who was up for reelection, and retiring Councilman David Toscano. "We came here supporting six candidates and we leave supporting two candidates," said Russell Perry, co-chair of the Charlottesville Democratic Committee. Of those who attended the event, many perceived that they, in effect, might be electing the next City Council members. "With the lack of Republican candidates thus far, the chances of Caravati and Searls getting elected are extremely high," said fourth-year College student Amy Spitler, who attended the convention as an observer. Robert Hodous, chairman of the Charlottesville Republican Committee, said the group has one candidate for certain, but will not run anyone unless it can find a second person to run. He said the party would decide at its meeting this Thursday whether a Republican will run in the election. "At this point, it's still kind of up in the air," Hodous said. All five current Council members are Democrats. At the event, 442 registered voters from eight city precincts cast their ballots four times in order to give the winning candidates the required majorities of the vote. Many voters left before the event ended, without knowing who had won.
In their separate budget proposals passed last night, the Virginia House of Delegates called for more severe higher education funding cuts than did the Senate. The House bill limits a tuition increase to about 7 percent, while the Senate bill caps it at about 9 percent.
The Planning and Coordination Council held its quarterly meeting yesterday in Alumni Hall to discuss upcoming projects in the area.
This year's celebration of Black History Month kicked off to the tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy," with Bobby McFerrin's visit.
Fraternities and sororities soon will be eligible to receive loans from the University endowment to repair and improve their houses under a program created in January by the Board of Visitors. The Board also authorized the University to fund on-Grounds housing for fraternities and sororities at its January meeting. Funding for the loan program only will come from private sources, said Leonard W.
The State University of New York at Albany removed the director of its humanistic-studies program from his position Wednesday, after he was accused of plagiarizing large portions of a text in which he was both editor and translator.
A ninth-grader in Nancy Hepler's Algebra One class still has questions about his homework tonight.
A panel of journalists and media relations staff, who participated in a forum at the Commerce School yesterday, accused finance reporters of not adequately scrutinizing the finances of the technology businesses they were covering in the late 1990s and contributing to the misperception that the companies were successful. "I don't think reporters in the late '90s and even until a couple of years ago took a good look at financial statements," said Chris Roush, editor-in-chief of SNL Financial, which publishes financial magazines.
University debates were held last night in Jefferson Hall for the Student Council Executive Board, Honor Committee, Judiciary Committee and Fourth-year Class President elections that begin Monday. The events, however, were not well attended by either the candidates or University students. Six of the 12 College students running for three spots on the Honor Committee were present at last night's debates.
While adult stem cells hold some potential for use in the development of new therapies, these possible benefits pale in comparison to the enormous potential of embryonic stem cells. The federal government should give the green light to scientists who want to continue stem cell research. Adult stem cells regulate other cells in the body and replace them when they die from injury, disease or old age. On the other hand, embryonic stem cells are "blank" cells that have the ability to divide indefinitely in culture and develop into specialized cells. President Bush and Congress should take this information into account during their ongoing discussions of stem cell research. Bush has rejected the possibilities of stem cell research because he let his religious beliefs take precedence over the benefits of scientific research. "The Bush administration has been incoherent," said Paul Lombardo, member of the core faculty at the University Center of Biomedical Ethics. "The stem cell avenue is being cut off before knowing whether or not it will prove useful," Lombardo added. The National Academy of Sciences, an independent research institution that often advises policymakers, disagrees with Bush on the cloning issue. The academy strongly endorses stem cell research, which holds great promise for developing new therapies that could cure a wide range of human diseases. The academy is correct in taking a position against the Bush administration because scientific research could make new opportunities available to people suffering from incurable maladies. "It is important to continue with embryonic research because it will ultimately yield information that can be applied to adult stem cells to treat and manipulate therapies," Plastic Surgery Prof.
The Inter-Sorority Council, the governing body of all the sorority houses, gathered together in the Garden Room on the West Range last night to elect next year's executive board. Third-year Commerce student Whitney Eck was elected ISC president.
Plastic Surgery Prof. Adam Katz may bring love handles back in style. Katz has found that discarded fat tissue may be an excellent source of stem cells, which potentially can develop into any of the 220 cell types that make up the human body. "A patient could in the future use their own fat cells to heal themselves," Katz said. Stem cells often are called pluripotent because of their unique ability to transform into other kinds of cells.
A dispute between Bank of America and the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Va., may result in the University's acquisition of the museum. The Mariner's Museum, one of the largest international maritime museums, exhibits scale-models of early American ships, navigational maps of the Chesapeake Bay and many other nautical displays. The museum came into conflict with Bank of America over the sale of $8 million in West Virginia coal lands that the museum owned.
Without question, embryonic stem cells possess the potential to provide cures for some of the deadliest human diseases.
