Shock. Numbness. Confusion. Apt words to describe the mood on Grounds, which took a somber turn yesterday. Around televisions in Newcomb Hall - the designated counseling center for the University - clusters of students watched through swollen eyes as the images splashed across the screen.
Doug Strassler spent the early parts of his Sept. 11, 2001 morning watching the breaking news from New York City that would change America forever.
While many fourth-year students are eagerly anticipating graduation and never having to write a paper again, some are applying to school all over again - gathering recommendations, writing essays that will please admissions officials, and studying for standardized tests reminiscent of the SATs from high school.
The entire nation took emergency actions yesterday to cope with the tragic events in New York City and Washington D.C., and the University was no exception.
All city and county emergency workers are on alert. Officials have closed the Charlottesville Federal Courthouse and Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, as per the national airline grounding.
Whether taking notes in a lecture hall or speaking out during a class discussion, odds are University students will rub shoulders with some of the best and brightest from, quite literally, across the globe this year. The University has enrolled 162 undergraduate international students, up from 140 last year.
Several University officials remain optimistic about the quality of a University education despite the school's recent slip to the number two spot in U.S.
For the fourth year in a row, medical schools across the nation saw a drop in new student applications this year. Total applications dropped 3.7 percent in 2000, according to a report published last weekin the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Students may never have to scrounge for a quiet place to study at 2 a.m. again. As of this school year, University students can go to Clemons Library at all hours of the night with the permanent implementation of 24-hour, five-days-a week library services.
"America's luck has run out," said one journalist covering this morning's tragic events in New York City and Washington, D.C.
The University's Greek community gained a new voice in the administration this summer with the establishment of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. The new office is "a manifestation of increased support for fraternities and sororities," according to Assistant Dean of Students Aaron Laushway, who serves as the office's director. The office aims to provide resources and support to the four Greek governing councils on Grounds - the Inter-Fraternity Council, Inter-Sorority Council, Black Fraternal Council and Multi-Cultural Greek Council. Its major goals include "to promote unity among all four governing councils and to help each chapter and the respective governing councils strengthen themselves," Laushway said. The office opened its doors July 1 and is temporarily located across from Observatory Hill Dining Hall.
A frustrated professor and two undergraduate students took on Rouss Hall yesterday to try to fix up the aging economics building. Economics Professor Edgar Olsen fourth-year John Welch and third-year Vick Iskounen, both economics majors, painted bookcases and threw out broken, unwanted furniture in the economics building. The Economics Department paid Welch and Iskounen $12 per hour each for four hours of work, after recruiting them through an e-mail sent to all economics majors. Olsen said no one in the University is regularly assigned to perform these kinds of odd jobs: "If a faculty member doesn't do it, it's really not going to get done." Though the University's Facilities Management department could have handled these tasks, Olsen said that organizing the work himself was more efficient. "You can get it done faster and less expensively if you just use students," he said.
Instead of the Rotunda, a greater number of future University students will stroll past the Eiffel Tower on their way to class.
After his first month on the job, things are going pretty smoothly for University Police Chief Paul E.
The Honor Committee debated one of the enduring tenets of the honor system last night - the single sanction of expulsion for those convicted of an offense. The proposal, introduced by Darden representative Lamont Soverall reads that, "dismissed students would have the possibility of receiving re-admittance to the University provided they can demonstrate that they no longer pose a tangible threat to the 'community of trust.'" Specifics on how to determine this were discussed, but not finalized. Soverall introduced the proposal in order to fill what he said were gaps in the system for those who truly are remorseful after the period expired when the student could have made a conscientious retraction. "I observed a situation where the system was not serving its true purpose," he said in an interview. Soverall added that the system should admit the fact that some people have shortcomings and could learn alot from their experience with the system.
The University is the largest employer in Charlottesville. But it's definitely not the only one. In the past few years, industries such as e- commerce, biotechnology and telecommunication have blossomed in the area.
Every year students attend late night meetings and those bogged down by the demands of classes, spend late hours in the libraries.
In an effort to reward graduate students for their contributions to the University, the Faculty Senate and the College have created a Fellowship Program to honor outstanding graduate students. "Graduate education as a part of University life" is one of the Faculty Senate's main goals for the year and will be discussed extensively at its retreat on Sept.
University students will have to grin and bear a runner-up spot on U.S. News and World Report's college rankings this year.
The economics department is facing a real example of the laws of supply and demand as the number of undergraduate economics majors has risen dramatically over the last 10 years and at a much faster rate than the department's full-time faculty. The number of economics majors more than doubled from 258 in 1991 to 612 in 2000.
