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City Council discusses possible Mall changes

The Downtown Mall, aged from 20 years of weather and traffic, soon may be getting a facelift. Charlottesville City Council has been discussing whether to renovate the surface of the Downtown Mall for several years and recently hired a consultant to determine the urgency of the situation, Director of Public Works Judith Mueller said. "We've known over the years it's been deteriorating," Mueller said. The project would take about two years to complete and cost over $1 million, City Councilman Blake Caravati said. But Council will wait for the results of the consultant's investigation before deciding to go ahead with the pricey renovation. Mueller said she expects to know more about the consultant's investigation in a few weeks. Charlottesville Mayor Virginia Daugherty said the project needs to be started soon because the Mall "is already in dire need of resurfacing." Caravati said Council already has anticipated the renovations and has been setting aside money for the past three years to pay for the project. "But it will be a couple of years before anything can happen" because of the high cost of the construction, he said. The majority of the brick on the Downtown Mall surface dates back to 1976, though some portions are as new as 1982, he added. Vice Mayor Meredith Richards said brick is a high-maintenance material and that the Mall's surface has had several decades of wear. "It's in very serious need of replacement," Richards said.


News

Elmo regains FOA after year absence

St. Elmo Hall fraternity, known nationally as Delta Phi, rejoined the Inter-Fraternity Council Friday when the Office of the Dean of Students reinstated its Fraternal Organization Agreement. The University Judiciary Committee revoked Elmo's FOA -- which establishes a fraternity's affiliation with the University and the IFC -- in the spring of 1998 after the chapter was found guilty of serving alcohol to minors.


News

Raging Bull shares stock

The Alta Vista company, a leading online media and commerce site, announced Monday Nov. 29 that it acquired Raging Bull, a financial-oriented Web site with stock quotes, news and message boards. Alta Vista acquired Raging Bull for an undisclosed sum.


News

Innovative site offers free music space

University alumni once again are making a name in the Internet world. A new online music company called Myplay.com is adding to the cutting edge of the industry by offering free digital music storage. University alumni Michael Crotty and Matt Fischer are executives at MyPlay, joining the ranks of alumni who have started Web sites like Bullseye.com, which offers online tips for investors. Crotty, the vice president of manufacturing at Myplay, graduated from the Commerce School in 1987.


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250 prospective

Two hundred fifty third-year students have applied to live in one of 48 rooms on the Lawn in the upcoming academic year -- an increase from previous years. A number of initiatives have caused the increase in applications, said M.


News

OCPP makes name change in attempt to develop new image

In an attempt to better reflect the services it provides, the Office of Career Planning and Placement is changing its name to University Career Services. Officials made the decision to alter the name after realizing that the center does not place people in jobs but rather aids them in the search process, said Karen H.


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Conference on alcohol, sports explores link

During a three-day conference this weekend at the Omni Hotel, student athletes, coaches and administrators from 21 higher education institutions discussed whether athletes are at a higher risk for substance abuse because of the prevalence of alcohol in sports culture -- and what to do about it. "The basic attitude is, 'If you lose, let's go out and have a couple of beers.


News

Florida postpones vote on using race in admissions

Responding in part to two Florida legislators' display of civil disobedience, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) along with the Adam Herbert, State University System of Florida chancellor, postponed a vote Wednesday on Bush's plan to eliminate the use of race in Florida public university admissions. The two Florida lawmakers, Sen.


News

Ex-football player receives new heart

Dottie Lindsey was just getting over the flu, but she wanted to get to Charlottesville before it snowed to visit her son Mark, a former Cavalier football player who has been awaiting a heart transplant at University Hospital since 1997. "When I arrived here at Mark's apartment, my husband was parked in front of it," Mrs. Lindsey said.


News

Ackerly declines to discuss rush date

The Inter-Fraternity Council's nearly two-year effort to have formal rush returned to fall is going nowhere fast. Despite numerous fraternity leaders' requests, Board of Visitors Rector John P.


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Robb backs local control of building

Virginia Sen. Charles Robb (D) met with the Charlottesville City Council yesterday to discuss the future of the National Ground Intelligence Center, a federally owned building located beside City Hall.


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Latino-oriented fraternity gains deans' approval

The University officially recognized the Alpha Epsilon chapter of Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. Tuesday, making it the first Latino-oriented fraternity on Grounds. The Office of the Dean of Students made the group of men a fraternity by approving its Fraternal Organization Agreement, which outlines the relationship between the University and the fraternity. Lambda Upsilon Lambda will be the third member of the Fraternity-Sorority Council, an umbrella organization created in September for Greek organizations who do not fall under the auspices of the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Inter-Sorority Council or the Black Fraternal Council. Asst.


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A sharper image

Although laser surgery is a focal point in contemporary media, keratomileusis, or corneal shaping, has been used since the 1960s to correct nearsightedness. LASIK (Laser-Assisted Stromal In-Situ Keratomileusis), is the newest method of correcting vision problems in the line of different keratomileusis variants, and it appears to be the first largely marketable version of the procedures. First, anesethetizing drops are placed in the eye, and the surgeon marks the eye, to show where the cornea will be cut.


News

CEO study decries University's use of race as admissions factor

The Center for Equal Opportunity has released a study that alleges a black student is 111 times more likely to gain admission to the University than a white student with similar test scores and class rank. The study was released last month, nearly a year after a similar study was conducted by the same Washington-based think tank.