UNTIL recently, I have thought of the University as a collection of intelligent, hard-working people - students, faculty and staff - who care about one another and the world at large.
SOMETIMES coming up with a topic for this column can be difficult, but this week it was easy, thanks to an e-mail I received Wednesday.
LAST THURSDAY, it was reported that, due to funding constraints, the economics department will lose 11 instructors between this year and next.
DESPITE the tendency of the "U.Va. Bubble" to cut students off from the outside world, most of us at the University are, at the very least, vaguely aware that Virginia is in some financial trouble.
APREVENTABLE tragedy hit me hard this week: A high school friend is hours away from being put into the ground. I'm sorry to ruin everyone's Friday on a sad note, but I am glad to reach you before you go out this weekend. My friend, Dan, a University of Maryland-College Park student, was found unconscious inside a fraternity house after a rush event last Saturday.
A BILL is before the Virginia House of Delegates that would add a non-voting faculty member to the Board of Visitors of each of the public colleges in Virginia.
UNLESS you've been living in a hole or buried in the Alderman stacks for the last few weeks, it isn't news to you that ten black Charlottesville school children have been arrested for attacks around the University.
RICHMOND, VA - Again, the state's lawmakers have found a controversial yet equally insignificant issue that deflects attention from the severe budget crises facing the Commonwealth.
IT'S VALENTINE'S day, which means that there's one thing on everyone's mind: hate crimes. Yes, David Duke, the former ringleader of the Ku Klux Kircus and now president of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), was in town last week, protesting the refusal of local officials to proceed with hate crimes charges for a group of blacks accused of targeting whites. As much as it sickens me, I have to agree to some extent with Duke; hate crime laws should equally be applied to whites and blacks.
IN 1999, the University of Virginia began negotiations with the Research Corporation and the University of Arizona to give U.Va.
THIS COLUMN is directed to the University of Virginia administration, its students and the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
DIFFERENT first-year students adjust to life at the University with varying degrees of success. To make this adjustment easier for everyone, the Office of the Dean of Students/Residence Life funds a very capable Resident Staff Program.
LAST WEEK, the University signed its best football recruiting class in recent memory, and quite possibly in its history.
VALENTINE'S Day may be the only holiday in America in which federal employees do not receive paid vacation.
THE ONLY thing worse than eating sub-par food is being told when to eat. Unfortunately, the University's dining halls combine these two unpleasant aspects of dining all in one.
I USED to be puzzled as to why my boyfriend likes to buy me presents online. But now, Frank, I've figured out your secret.
EMBEDDED in President Bush's new budget plan is a proposal to indirectly funnel tax dollars into private schools.
CATHOLICS hate Protestants in Northern Ireland, Muslims hate Hindus in Kashmir, Israelis hate Palestinians in the Middle East.
IT'S FUNNY how some people with the greatest ease can take a dignified occasion and mangle its worth.
OF ALL the honors the University bestows upon its students, being selected to live on the Lawn quite possibly is the greatest.
