The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

News


News

County real estate market leads to budget shortfall

The Albemarle County government recently announced a $3.3 million budget shortfall, caused largely by a downturn in the housing market, will result in funding cuts for education and general government spending. "Our cuts are related to a slowdown in the housing market," said Laura Vinzant, senior budget analyst for Albemarle County.


News

A Solid Foundation

When a local energy corporation wanted to make a real estate contribution to the University valued at more than $5 million, it decided not to give the property directly to the University.


News

State seeks relief through federal designation as drought disaster area

Gov. Tim Kaine asked the federal government Monday to declare the Commonwealth of Virginia an official disaster area because of drought. According to Kaine's spokesperson Kevin Hall, about 70 of Virginia's 130 jurisdictions asked the governor to request disaster status. "This has been pretty much statewide all through 2007 and it has prompted a lot of local governments to seek federal drought disaster status," Hall said. Hall said the Governor's Office is still waiting for the federal government to reply to the request. "We are hoping for a response as quickly as possible," Hall said. If statewide agricultural disaster status were granted to Virginia, farmers who have suffered crop losses from recent heat and drought may be eligible for "some very favorable" federal loans, Hall said, adding that "similar requests for statewide status have been granted to Delaware, Maryland and Tennessee." University Utilities Director Cheryl Gomez said there are three phases in declaring an area as 'at risk.' "The first phase is a drought watch, when the conditions look good for us moving into a drought situation," Gomez said, noting that Albemarle County and Charlottesville were placed under a drought watch July 23.


News

Budget forces U.Va. to cut back spending

Commonwealth colleges and universities received a bit of a reprieve on Saturday after Gov. Tim Kaine announced state spending reductions of 6.25 percent as opposed to earlier requests of 7.5 percent for state institutions of higher education.


News

StudCo constitution to be reviewed

Student Council created an ad hoc committee last night that will review the organization's constitution in an effort to reduce confusion and design more concise bylaws that effectively correspond with the constitution. Council's previous executive board drew up and gained Council approval of the current constitution last semester.


News

Visix to provide software for U.Va. alerts

The University recently selected a company that will provide communications software necessary to implement recent communications initiatives, including the text alert system and notifications on LCD screens. Visix, Inc. will aim to provide emergency alerts and relevant news updates to the University community, according to Visix President Sean Matthews.


News

Students to revive village water project

Students from both the Engineering School and the College are applying knowledge from the classroom to help a village in Cameroon obtain clean water. Samantha Rowell, a fourth-year Engineering student and project leader, said she became interested in the cause when a guest speaker visited one of her classes last year.


News

Honor explores'flex exam' option

Last night's Honor Committee meeting focused on discussion of the "flex exam" program, which, if implemented, would allow professors to administer exams online with a more flexible time frame.


News

New deans take the helmfor SAS trips

Politics Prof. Leonard Schoppa and Biology Prof. Reginald H. Garrett have been selected to serve as the academic deans for the fall 2008 and spring 2009 voyages of Semester at Sea. Dudley Doane, director of summer and special academic programs, explained that the academic dean position entails designing the semester's curriculum, recruiting faculty to teach the courses and creating a "vision for their voyage" aboard the MV Explorer that travels the world each semester. According to Doane, the theme of Schoppa's fall voyage will be 'China at the Center


Puzzles
Hoos Spelling
Latest Video

Latest Podcast

Indieheads is one of many Contracted Independent Organizations at the University dedicated to music, though it stands out to students for many reasons. Indieheads President Brian Tafazoli describes his experience and involvement in Indieheads over the years, as well as the impact that the organization has had on his personal and musical development.