Month: November 2004

Tuesday, November 23
Poetry site gets NEA nod

Senator George Allen’s office announces today that Poetry Daily, a locally produced poetry website (www.poems.com), has been granted $7,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant marks the second dollop of NEA money this year for the site, a 7-year-old project of Don Selby and Diane Boller. The poem-a-day site, with an annual budget of about $75,000, now averages more than 1 million page views per month, says Selby. “When the NEA recognizes you, it is a nice vote of confidence,” Selby tells C-VILLE. Coincidentally, the poem posted today on the site is a Minnie Bruce Pratt work titled “Opening the Mail.”

 

Wednesday, November 24
New $24M bank proposed

The classified section of The Daily Progress today contains notice that eight investors, including four local high rollers, have amended the application they submitted earlier this month with federal banking authorities to create Southern National Bank. Local organizers of the proposed new bank, to be initially capitalized at $24.1 million, include Thomas P. Baker, Michael A. Gaffney, Charles A. Kabbash and Donna W. Richards. Baker is president of Southern Commerce Bancorp Inc. Gaffney is a homebuilder and new chairman of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. Kabbash is a Downtown real estate developer. Richards is former COO of Guaranty Financial Bank, which was acquired by Union Bankshares in May.

 

Thursday, November 25
Gobblers get out early

Nearly 1,100 runners earned that extra piece of pie this morning by hitting the steep course laid out around the Boar’s Head Inn for the 23rd annual Turkey Trot 5K race to benefit the UVA Children’s Hospital. Winner Lewis Martin IV, a 19-year-old who finished the course in 16:50, led a pack of 1,092 runners and earned a turkey for his efforts. Last year he finished sixth overall with a time of 17:53. The top woman in the race, 38-year-old Beth Cottone, finished with a time of 20:12, 12 seconds ahead of her 2003 time, and also went home one turkey richer.

 

Friday, November 26
Florida cops arrest accused wife-killer

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, working on a tip from Charlottesville Police, today picked up Anthony Dale Crawford, the Manassas man who is wanted on four charges in connection with the death of his estranged wife, Sarah Louise Crawford. Charges include murder, abduction, auto theft and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Sarah Crawford’s body was discovered Monday morning at Quality Inn on Emmet Street. She had been shot in the chest. According to The Washington Post, six days before her body was discovered, Sarah Crawford had unsuccessfully appealed to a Prince William County judge to extend the temporary protective order she had out against her husband of five years. Quoting from Sarah Crawford’s affidavit, the Post reports that last month when she tried to move out of their apartment, Anthony Crawford told her he “understands why husbands kill their wives.” These are not the first allegations of spousal abuse against Crawford. In 1992 he was acquitted of sexually assaulting his then-wife in South Carolina, despite videotaped evidence of him penetrating the hog-tied woman whose mouth was covered with duct tape.

 

Saturday, November 27
Hundreds mourn Marine

Trinity Presbyterian Church was filled to overflowing this afternoon as nearly 900 family members, friends, fraternity brothers, Covenant School classmates, fellow Marines and congregants gathered to mourn Bradley Thomas Arms, the 20-year-old Charlottesville reservist who was killed November 19 in Fallujah, Iraq. Remembered as an obedient and religious young man who nonetheless had a mischievous streak, Cpl. Arms was honored with a service lasting nearly two hours and a Marine honor guard. One fraternity brother from the University of Georgia commended Arms’ parents, Betty and Bob Arms, for “raising a man of integrity.”

 

Sunday, November 28
Hoos win and lose in football

Falling 24-10 to Virginia Tech after the Hokies’ breakaway fourth quarter yesterday in Blacksburg, the Cavaliers today wake up to no chance of playing in a major post-season bowl game and the stark realization that the ACC’s two newest teams—both imports from the Big East—will contend for the conference championship. The Cavs finish their ACC season at 5-3. Meanwhile, after a dramatic win over New Mexico that stretched through eight rounds of penalty kicks last night, UVA’s men’s soccer team, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals, prepares to face Duke on Saturday.

 

Monday, November 29
Real estate taxes down to the wire

City homeowners have exactly one week until unpaid real estate taxes go into the penalty phase. The City Treasurer’s Office sent out the 13,111 bills on October 18, but most have yet to be sent in, according to City Communications Director Maurice Jones. Many residents—and mortgage companies—wait until the final week, he says.

– Written by Cathy Harding from news sources and staff reports.

 

Dem yankees
New arrivals wrench Albemarle from the GOP

During the recent election season, Albemarle Republican chairman Keith Drake spent a lot of time hanging out with fellow GOP chairs around Virginia.

 “They say ‘Hey, Keith, you’ve got it made up there in Albemarle,’” says Drake. “But it’s not true. Albemarle’s been in a slow slide to the Left.”

 Albemarle went Democrat this year, picking John Kerry over George Bush, 22,069 votes to 21,180; county residents also voted for Democrat Al Weed over incumbent Republican Virgil Goode for the 5th District seat in the House of Representatives. The recent election refutes Albemarle’s reputation as a Republican stronghold.

 “That’s just not an accurate characterization anymore,” says Drake.

 To illustrate the county’s Left turn, Drake points to the 2000 Senate race. Albemarle voted for Democrat Chuck Robb over Republican George Allen, 52 percent to 48 percent. Back in 1993, however, Albemarle supported Allen for governor by a 60 to 40 margin. “That’s huge,” Drake says.

 Drake says Albemarle’s population has been changed over the past decade by UVA’s expansion and the county’s growing popularity as a retirement destination.

 “University growth attracts a liberal element,” says Drake. Social science and humanities professors, at least, tend to lean Democratic. As reported by the Cavailer Daily, a recent study by Daniel Klein, at Santa Clara University, and Charlotta Stern, at the Stokholm University, found that Democrats outnumber Republicans in the social sciences and humanities by a 7 to 1 margin. The study is at http://lsb.scu.edu/~dklein/.

 “And Charlottesville is a great place to live, and specifically to retire to. They run out of gas on their way to Florida, they put down stakes in Albemarle and they bring their values from the northeast,” Drake adds.

 Fred Hudson, chair of the Albemarle Democratic party, says the chance to vote against Bush drew many county Dems from the woodwork, especially from neighborhoods around the urban ring, like Georgetown, which supported Kerry 1,128 to 621. Republicans won by a similar proportion in Stone Robinson.

 “The shift has been pretty even throughout,” says Hudson. “There’s no holes. That bodes well for the future of successful Democratic candidates in the county.”

 Hudson isn’t dropping any names, but he promises the party will field candidates for next fall’s Board of Supervisors and school board elections. He also promises there will be a challenge to Republican incumbent Rob Bell for the 58th seat in the House of Delegates.

 Bell, who went unchallenged in 2003, says he’s not sweating Albemarle’s shift from red to blue.

 “I’ve always made an effort to listen to people in my district, whether they support me or not,” Bell says via e-mail.

 The numbers give him reason to chill. Bell’s district, which includes parts of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Green and Orange, went 58 percent for Bush; even voters in Bell’s chunk of Albemarle went 53 percent for Bush.

Albemarle voters overall may not support Bush, but they still support Republicans. In 2003, county voters resoundingly elected two incumbent Republicans—Jim Camblos and Ed Robb—to the offices of Commonwealth’s Attorney and County Sheriff, respectively.

 That year the county also elected two Republicans, David Wyant and Ken Boyd, to the Board of Supervisors, “for the first time in anyone’s memory,” says Drake. In his bid for supervisor, Wyant even met a challenger for the Republican nomination: Linda McRaven fought him for the party nod in White Hall. When she lost, she jumped into the school board race, narrowly losing an at-large seat to Democrat Brian Wheeler.

 Next year brings more big elections, with many state and local seats up for grabs: governor, lieutenant governor, four House of Delegate seats, two Virginia Senate seats, three board of supervisor seats and three school board seats will all be decided on November 8, 2005.

 The GOP’s dominance of local seats is probably evidence that county Republicans are still better organized than Democrats, whose base remains the city of Charlottesville. In the county, the lower voter turnout that typically characterizes local elections will still play to the Republicans’ advantage.

 “The further down the ballot you go, fewer people vote for that position,” says Drake. “Those voters are better informed, more active and more partisan.”—John Borgmeyer

 

Buddy system
Virginia colleges unite behind UVA charter idea

More Virginia colleges are jumping on the charter bandwagon.   When three of Virginia’s largest universities—UVA, The College of William and Mary, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute—started hyping their plans to loosen their ties to State government, smaller colleges around the Commonwealth started getting nervous. Now, they’re joining the bigger schools in calling for charters of their own.

 “Not all schools are equal in size and issues and resources,” says Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s community college system. “But there are provisions of charter that we all deem desirable, like getting our management control away from Richmond and into our board rooms, with our CEOs.

 “It’s accurate to say all of the colleges would welcome that,” says DuBois. He also chairs the council of Virginia college presidents, which has been discussing how charter could work for all Virginia colleges, not just the three flagship schools.

 Since UVA, Virginia Tech and William and Mary started banging the charter drum last year, some have worried how the move would affect Virginia’s other colleges. Chronic state underfunding is a problem for all university presidents, says DuBois. If the state’s big schools went further out on their own (they are already decentralized to some extent), smaller schools worried the General Assembly would cut higher education funds even further.

 Another problem all the schools share, says DuBois, is irritation over the State’s red tape. Whenever a Virginia college wants to adjust tuition or even lease a building, it needs permission from Richmond. A broad charter for all Virginia schools could loosen those rules.

 “We’re a half-billion dollar agency,” says Alan Merten, president of George Mason University. “When we want to lease a new building, it doesn’t make any sense that we have to get someone in Richmond to approve it. We have to give our chief financial officers a way to do their job without running back and forth to Richmond.”

 So far, Virginia college presidents have agreed that more freedom from state oversight would be good, says DuBois, as long as that freedom doesn’t mean further funding cuts from the General Assembly.

 “The charter discussion should not interfere with the discussion of base adequacy resources,” says Eugene Trani, president of Virginia Commonwealth University. “There seems to be general agreement for flexibility plus additional support.”

 The idea of a wide-ranging charter has not progressed beyond the basic agreement that flexibility and money are good things. But the charter issue, which a few weeks ago looked as if it could drive a wedge between Virginia’s large and small colleges, now seems to be bringing the schools together in a call for a better relationship with

the State.

 “You’re going to see higher education united as the legislative session begins,” says Trani. “If we’re united, it may be easier.”

—John Borgmeyer

 

How To: Power shop Searching for an alternative to spending yet another weekend slogging through same-thing stores to find Christmas presents? Try power shopping instead.  No, it’s not about flexing the most muscle with your credit card. That would be show-off shopping. It’s about being able to clean and press a decision: “That seems right for Susie Q. I’ll get that. Next!”  Power shopping entails a commitment to being satisfied after one look through one store. It means you have to be willing to put yourself—and the preservation of your good will—first.  For beginners, here are a few pointers: Set a time limit. Thirty minutes per gift-recipient is good. If you absolutely must linger in a store aimlessly, blend it with rigorous decision-making by buying presents for more than one person. If you spot the first present within 10 minutes, you can wander through the aisles and finger every sweater for an additional 40 minutes before hitting your cut-off for making the next gift choice.  Keep perspective. You’re buying a gift, not another chance at life. It’s a gesture, not a material substitute for all the feelings you should be expressing year-round. Spot something nice, figure out if it’s within your price range, and then just buy the thing. No looking back.  Finally, stay motivated. See those sweaty, weary people picking something up, putting it back, picking up something else, and then putting that back? See the look of quiet despair in their eyes that practically begs for January to get here already? With power shopping, that doesn’t have to be you. Just set your mind to it.   Need to know how to do something? E-mail your questions to howto@c-ville.com.

Between a Rock House and a hard place
Legal Aid to restore historic site on Preston

Sometime in 1926, perhaps after many wagonloads of rock had been transported to Preston Avenue from the Rivanna River, and nine years after he had purchased three adjacent lots from a prominent African-American landowner, Charles B. Holt, a furniture repairman, used a makeshift stylus to mark his property with his signature. Seventy-eight years later, Holt’s script can still be discerned at the cement base of the stairs leading up to what’s known as the Rock House at 1010 Preston Ave.

 Long abandoned, the bungalow sits directly across from Washington Park, the city’s first blacks-only park which, it just so happens, also opened in 1926. Holt’s ID is one of the few aspects of the stone and mortar Arts and Crafts-style house that remain intact. Largely hidden behind bamboo stands that speak as loudly of neglect these days as the substantial structure

once boasted of black achievement during Charlottesville’s Jim Crow era, the house is a study in decay and disrepair.

 But if lawyers and volunteers at the Legal Aid Justice Center have their way, C.B. Holt’s Rock House will be lifted from obscurity and restored to a shape worthy of its history. Legal Aid owns the property, which adjoins its new site at the corner of Preston, 10th Street and Grady Avenue, and next week will commence the soft kick-off of a $225,000 fundraising effort to rehab the Rock House.

 Alex Gulotta, executive director of Legal Aid, says the rehabbed structure could house some of Legal Aid’s education programs or be leased to other nonprofit groups, much as sections of the former Bruton’s beauty supply building that Legal Aid occupies next door are rented to nonprofit groups such as the Public Housing Association of Residents.

 “We felt we’re part of a neighborhood that is in danger of losing its African-American historical connections,” says Kimberly Emery, a Legal Aid board member and the assistant dean for pro bono and public interest at UVA’s law school. Gulotta and others credit Emery with getting the Rock House restoration project rolling. “There’s encroachment in that area from UVA and commercial pressures. It’s been a community for a long time and now Legal Aid is part of the community. We want to be good neighbors and preserve the pieces that are there, including our house.

 “There’s probably some financially smarter options in the short term,” Emery adds, “but in the long term, this is the way we want to go because of the wonderful history of this house. It fits in with our mission—putting us all together in a house built and lived in by people who worked their way up.”

 Impressive as C.B. Holt’s legacy is, the historical significance of the Rock House doesn’t end there. One of his descendants, Asalie Minor Preston, who lived in the house from 1950 until 1973, endowed the Minor Preston Educational Fund, a scholarship fund that has awarded college money to financially needy students from local public high schools for the past 22 years. As if the philosophical links among the Rock House, a pioneering black landowner (C.B. Holt), a pioneering black educator (Asalie Minor Preston), and a pioneering social justice organization (Legal Aid) weren’t tight enough, coincidence comes into play, too. Longtime Minor Preston board member Mary Ann Elwood also sits on Legal Aid’s advisory board. Yet Elwood only learned about the Minor Preston-Rock House connection in the past year.

 “I was delighted,” she says. “I didn’t have any idea that Asalie lived there.”

Margaret Dunn is the sleuth who assembled the parts in the Rock House story. Dunn has been volunteering with Legal Aid for about seven years, and had a big role in the $2.5 million fundraising drive that got the law organization into the Bruton building a couple of years ago. Leroy Bruton, eponymous beauty supplier, had purchased the Rock House in 1978 to use mostly as a storage space and off-street parking option. The house conveyed with the much-larger building when Legal Aid made its purchase in 2002.

 “I knew eventually we would need the space,” says Emery. “Margaret needed a new project, and I asked her to investigate. As we learned more about the house, Margaret and I just fell in love with it for its own sake.”

 Indeed, as she takes a reporter and photographer on a Sunday morning tour of the house, Dunn points out with affection the details that are apparent despite the sagging floorboards and virtual carpets of paint chips. The three-paned transoms above each of the many doorways on the house’s main level, which allow natural light to pass throughout the rooms. The claw-footed bathtub on the upper floor. The raised mortar between rocks on the building’s façade. The tiny crawl spaces in the upstairs bedrooms. The basement kitchen with its cabinet-ensconced sink and adjoining coal room.

 The archival search has clearly engaged her as much as the building itself does, too. “It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Dunn says, and it has taken her through deed books and other historical records, to the office of architectural historian Daniel Bluestone, and into little-known graveyards, as well as introducing her to the Rock House’s only living survivor, Tracie Fortune Tyler. Tyler lived there with Asalie Preston and her husband Leroy Preston in the 1950s when she was a child, and she held the deed jointly with Asalie until the house was sold. The historical quest, Dunn says “is like the house itself—you go layer by layer. Previously, I

knew very little to nothing about Charlottesville’s African-American history in the Jim Crow years.

 “I had no idea how enthused I’d get,” she adds.

 At this stage, Dunn is trying to get the Rock House listed on the City’s register of historic places. If she succeeds, the effect will be two-fold, she says. It will qualify the Rock House for the small pool of City grants available only to historically listed properties. Second, “when it’s listed, it’s very helpful to fundraising,” she says. “Otherwise people say, ‘Where’s the authentication?’”

 Dunn and her Legal Aid cohort will present the case for the house at a luncheon on December 7 when the $225,000 fundraising drive kicks off.

 For Tracie Fortune Tyler, whether the fundraiser succeeds, the process that has restored the Rock House to public attention has been overwhelming. “When Margaret called me and wanted to talk about it, I was flabbergasted,” she says. “It’s interesting to know that someone out there wants to preserve it. It touches me.”

 And for Daniel Bluestone, the UVA architectural historian who is documenting Preston Avenue’s African-American roots and who steered some of Dunn’s research, the latest turn of events for the Rock House is somehow fitting.

 “The house in some ways helps you keep your eye on the ball. There is something about being able to work against the grain of the entrenched inequity of the society that Legal Aid is trying to help,” he says. “It’s clear that C.B. Holt being able to build that house on that site at the time he did involved a fair amount of struggle and striving and all the rest.

 “That’s what I find compelling.”

—Cathy Harding

Tuesday, November 16
Giving voice to the beakless

While the drive-through window remained busy, a pair of young activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals appeared outside the Emmet Street KFC this noon, dangling rubber chickens and holding signs that read “KFC tortures chickens” and “Boycott KFC.” Activist Kat Erdel wore a flat-screen television playing a message from “Golden Girl” Bea Arthur denouncing KFC’s animal abuse. The other activist, Ben Goldsmith, who said Charlottesville is the first stop on an 18-city PETA tour to encourage boycotts of KFC, further alleged that KFC suppliers cram thousands of chickens into small sheds and de-feather living birds by dipping them in scalding water. “We want people to know that KFC has done nothing to stop these cruelties,” he said.

 

Wednesday, November 17
UVA charter linked to improved economy

Speaking to more than 100 UVA employees and faculty in UVA’s new Special Collections Library, President John T. Casteen III again laid out the University’s case for increased autonomy from the State. The charter campaign, which is joined by William & Mary and Virginia Tech, will go to the General Assembly in January. Casteen was highly critical of the State’s decade-long economic abandonment of UVA and argued that increased autonomy would permit the school to better fund the kind of research that eventually leads to high-tech jobs. Speaking to C-VILLE, Casteen said: “When you have the kind of economic disaster that the Southside is going through now, for instance, if you’re an educator, especially at this place, and you don’t tell people what’s going on, then you have another kind of problem.”

 

Thursday, November 18
Road lovers will have to wait

Convening at the Omni Hotel for two days of pre-session budget brainstorming, the State Senate’s Finance Committee heard that this year’s budget surplus, projected to be near $1 billion, could be mostly accounted for by the time the legislative session begins January 12. Although Governor Mark R. Warner cites long under-funded VDOT projects as a priority, Senate budget guru John H. Chichester does not support using general funds for transportation, according to The Washington Post. It seems unlikely that in an election year there will be enthusiasm for raising the gas tax either, another proposed means of funding road projects.

 

Friday, November 19
Another school bus accident

For the second time in one month, an Earlysville Road vehicular mishap sent worried parents rushing from work to an accident scene and some children to the hospital to have minor injuries checked out. Shortly after 4:20 this afternoon, a stopped school bus was rear-ended by Earlysville resident Arthur Pearson, who was driving an SUV. Last month, near the scene of today’s accident, a bus driver ran into a ditch, causing the school bus to overturn. There were no serious injuries reported from either accident.

 

 

Saturday, November 20
City’s third killing

Shortly after 2am, Matthew Ray Nelepa was shot by an unknown assailant near the intersection of 7 1/2 and Elm streets in Fifeville. He died later at UVA Medical Center. Police ask anyone with information into the shooting to call Crimestoppers at 977-4000.

 

City School Board head apologizes

Addressing the Democrats’ monthly breakfast meeting, City School Board Chair Dede Smith recapped the tensions that have beset the division during the past four months. She stressed that federal education sanctions, combined with an urgent sense that closing the city’s achievement gap “is the right thing to do,” had prompted the board and new superintendent Scottie Griffin to move quickly to introduce new learning assessments and a reading program to schools, as well as to hire an outside auditor to evaluate the system. “The community reaction has been tough but good,” Smith said. “I wish we would have had more time. I apologize for that, but we didn’t.”

 

Sunday, November 21
Miracles abound at UVA

With yesterday’s 30-10 defeat of Georgia Tech—the Cavs’ first win at Bobby Dodd Stadium since 1994—UVA, today ranked No. 16 in the ESPN poll, now stands within punting distance of a prestigious post-season bowl game. And in U-Hall, the men’s basketball team surprised everyone with a 78-60 victory this afternoon over No. 10 Arizona.

 

Monday, November 22
Iraq takes first city casualty

The family of Marine Cpl. Bradley Thomas Arms, a graduate of the Covenant School, mourns today after the U.S. Marine Corps confirmed he was killed on Friday in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. The 20-year-old reservist, who fell to small arms fire, will be honored at Trinity Presbyterian Church once his body is flown home, said his mother, Betty Arms. Brad, who went on three mission trips with that church, will be further remembered by an eponymous scholarship fund through the Abundant Life Ministry for students at Blue Ridge Commons, his father, Bob Arms said. The family also urges donations to Ambassadors for Christ International. “We know Brad’s heart is in that kind of outreach,” Betty said.

 

—Written by Cathy Harding from local news sources and staff reports.

 

 

 

Gay rights get a hearing
Council tells state conservatives to check themselves

Back off, Christian Right. That was the message City Councilors heard last week, as they considered a resolution protesting the Commonwealth’s ban on same-sex civil unions. It was the second time in two weeks that people descended on local government meetings, venting frustrations over the growing role of religious conservatives in every level of politics.

 On November 9, pro-choice advocates crowded the Albemarle County Board of Zoning Appeals to support a Planned Parenthood clinic on Hydraulic Road. On November 15, Council considered a resolution calling on the General Assembly to repeal H.B. 751, which is known as the “Affirmation of Marriage Act” and became law in July.

 Crafted by conservative Catholic Delegate Bob Marshall (R-Manassas), H.B. 751 voids any partnership between members of the same sex that would “bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage.” Opponents of the law say it is unfair and unconstitutional. Charlottesville City Councilor Blake Caravati says he proposed the resolution opposing H.B. 751 after constituents contacted him, asking Council to take a stand against the controversial ban. Council passed the resolution 4 to 1, with Rob Schilling dissenting.

 During the public hearing, Anne Coughlin, a UVA law professor, said the constitutionality of the act is questionable, and predicted it would mire the Commonwealth in lawsuits. Others said the law could prevent gay couples from executing wills or making medical decisions for their partners.

 “This law puts our family at risk,” said Claire Kaplan, an activist with the gay rights group UVA Pride.

 Others condemned the act as government intrusion into private life.

 “Every Virginian has the right to decide where their money goes or who can make medical decisions for them,” said Bekah Saxon, a city teacher. “Keep government small.”

 A few critics showed up, too. Harold Bare, pastor at the Covenant Church of God, criticized the language of Council’s resolution. One paragraph, for example, said H.B. 751 “does not reflect the needs and attitudes of an enlightened and educated people.”

 Bare said Council had attacked “the integrity of all those people who might oppose this resolution.” Seeing Bare’s point, Caravati struck the offending language from the resolution.

 In voting against it, Schilling said he worries “this Council overestimates its own importance, and in doing so undermines its own credibility.”

 Local Republican officials, who in the past opposed Council resolutions against the USA PATRIOT Act and the Iraq war, did not comment on this ordinance, though they were present at the meeting. Perhaps people like city party chair Bob Hodous recognize that casting their lot with religious conservatives might not play as well in Charlottesville as it does in other parts of Virginia.

 

 

Totally crossed out

Also on Monday, Jeff Rossman asked Council to reprimand Schilling for “using his office to suspend the First Amendment rights of our children.”

 Earlier this month, Schilling says, he received a phone call from a parent at Venable School, complaining that a political display in the school library included only information about Democrats, and that a picture of the President hanging in the hallway had a line drawn through it.

 So Schilling went to Venable, snapped some pictures and sent them to the school board. “Where I’m from, in L.A., gangs use red X’s to indicate they’re going to kill somebody,” says Schilling.

 Rossman claims Schilling demanded the picture of Bush be taken down; Schilling says Rossman is wrong about that: “My point was that I wanted the school board to consider the symbolism.”

 Bobby Thompson, the City’s assistant superintendent for school administration, says he heard similar complaints about Venable. Upon investigation, Thompson said Venable tried to get Republican material for their library display, but the party didn’t provide any.

 Thompson also ordered the crossed-out Bush picture be taken down, that is until he discovered that it was part of a second-grade art collage. “It was a student work, and not disruptive,” Thompson says.

 The whole controversy, he says, was “a misunderstanding that got out of control.”—John Borgmeyer

 

 

Burden of proof
Sharon Jones’ identity thief still haunts her

The average identity theft victim spends about 600 hours dealing with cascading hassles resulting from the crime. For identity theft victim Sharon Jones, 600 hours is chump change.

 Jones, a 41-year-old teacher at Walker Elementary School and resident of the10th and Page neighborhood, first learned that someone was running up bills in her name in January 1999. A customer service rep from Geico Insurance who shared the name Sharon Jones had lifted Jones’ identity from the company’s list of customers. The thief, who lived in Fredericksburg, eventually left Jones with $30,000 in unpaid bills.

 Jones spent years fighting the resulting court notices and false charges and trying to fix her damaged credit. Her struggle with the system seemed to be turning around in 2003, when she met with Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, who highlighted her case as part of his aggressive campaign to fight identity theft. C-VILLE Weekly published a cover story about Jones’ plight in February, and, subsequently, Jones appeared in an interview that ran on CNN and other news outlets around the country.

 Now that Jones’ case has been in the spotlight, would creditors start leaving her alone? Would her identity thief finally be brought to justice?

 Not a chance.

 In fact, bills from her identity thief continue to find their way to Jones. She was off work during a recent week to recuperate from knee surgery, and spent much of the time dealing with the newly surfaced credit woes.

 Jones’ identity thief blew through the new charges, which total about $3,000, during her glory days in Fredericksburg about four years ago. Jones first caught a whiff of these bills in July, when her application for a car loan got snagged on an overextended credit rating. Jones was able to convince the dealership that the bad credit rating was not her fault because the dealership’s finance manager was a former student of hers. Having to plead that she is not a debtor or a criminal is nothing new for Jones.

 “I have to prove myself over and over and over again,” Jones says. “I feel like a gerbil in a little wheel in a cage.”

 With the help of an identity-theft savvy state police officer and a lot of luck, the criminal Sharon Jones was actually arrested once, back in September 2000. She was nabbed in Mississippi after using Sharon Jones’ identity at the scene of a car accident. But by the time the case went to a grand jury, the arresting officer had been called up to active duty in the Air Force Reserves and was serving in the Middle East. Jones was never called to testify against her identity thief, and without the police officer on hand, the jury threw out the case.

 “There should be some kind of justice,” Jones says, adding that her criminal half is likely still free and “doing what she wants to do.”

 Jones has had no better luck in trying to hold Geico accountable for the crime, claiming that an attorney told her that the case wasn’t worth pursuing because her out-of-pocket legal expenses would be too great.

 “If I had money, I don’t think I’d be in this kind of predicament,” Jones says.

 Spurred by her continuing credit problems, Jones recently contacted the Fredericksburg Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office in an attempt to secure further criminal charges against her identity thief. Though she has had no luck there either, she says she intends to visit the office in-person in coming days to “make them see that I’m a real person and that I want them to do something.”—Paul Fain

 

 

HOW TO: Avoid getting the flu With flu shots hard to come by this year, your risk of contracting the virus is high. Luckily, C-VILLE has some medically sanctioned ideas for avoiding the flu.  Your mother has probably pounded the basic precautions into your head since preschool: “Wash your hands with soap!” “Drink plenty of fluids!” and “Cover your mouth when you sneeze!” Mom got it mostly right, except for that last one. Why would you want a handful of microscopic germs and mucus particles? When you feel the urge to sneeze coming on, grab a tissue or at least turn your head away from people nearby and expectorate into your shoulder.  The basic notion to keep in mind is that flu prevention needn’t be a drag. A 1989 German study found that people who steamed in a sauna twice a week got sick half as often as those who didn’t. Some alternative health professionals also suggest that practicing relaxation for 30 minutes a day increases the number of flu-fighting interleukins in the bloodstream. And while you’re relaxing, savor a cup of low-fat yogurt with beneficial bacteria that stimulate the immune system.   Need to know how to do something? E-mail your questions to howto@c-ville.com.

 

 

Women’s work
Local feminist journal mixes art and politics

In an interview in the current issue of the biannual women’s journal Iris, author and activist Jewelle Gomez says her interest in playwriting emanates from the possibility for live performance to be “confrontational in a good way.” Finding a common thread between the poetry readings of the feminist movement in the ’70s and ’80s and the collaborative facets of theater, she continues, “I think that is one of the things that feminism is trying to do, to get people to accept being part of a women’s community in which everyone is connected.”

 The Iris release party on Wednesday night, November 17, at the Gravity Lounge, celebrating the publication’s 49th edition, might be viewed as a part of that lineage. A change from its traditional venue at The Prism, the larger event is a part of an effort by new editor Gina Welch to broaden the journal’s reach and drew on a renewed sense of urgency engendered by the Republican sweep in November.

 The issue’s theme—“Shattering the Myths”—was chosen before the national media crystallized “faith-based” as a descriptor for presidential decision-making processes, and Iris’ articles don’t address campaign issues head-on. But Welch, writing in her editor’s letter, casts the issue’s mission of candid discourse squarely in the fight against the Rove-ian narrative and the “complacency…that sustains myths.”

 Introducing three readings from the magazine and performances by New York singer-songwriter Sam Shaber, former Denali frontwoman Maura Davis and on-and-off locally based Lauren Hoffman, Welch said, “This issue comes out as a lot of things are turning against us. Hopefully this will be a coming together of like-minded people.”

 The fall/winter 2004 edition—a mixture of poetry, interviews, autobiographical essays, fiction, nonfiction, and book and music reviews—confronts a diffuse set of feminist topics. Pieces interpret contemporary TV and movies for gender politics, give compact disquisitions on female genital mutilation and dieting fads, include a personal account of a sexual assault, and meditate on how gender roles are expressed in personal choices and the roots of those choices in environmental circumstances. A story by Jennifer Moses imagines a married woman doomed by the conflicts between domestic and maternal comforts and her restless passion for a younger man with whom she has had an affair.

 Iris was launched by UVA’s Women’s Center about 25 years ago as a pamphlet and converted to bound form in 1983. Two editors ago, under Kim Roberts, the journal underwent another major evolution starting with the Spring 2002 edition when it moved firmly away from a scholarly mien and an emphasis on local figures and issues to “a more universal focus on young, educated, progressive women,” Welch says.

 Iris still depends on the University for funding and Welch, a part-time editor, also teaches a gender studies course in which students double as interns for the publication.

 About 100 people attended the release party at Gravity, each paying a $7 cover that included a copy of the new issue. The journal currently distributes about 1,000 issues locally (it’s available at New Dominion and Barnes & Noble, among other places) and another 1,000 nationally. The plan is to dramatically ramp up sales and improve Iris’ financial condition while maintaining its commitment to “defending and educating people about young women’s issues,” Welch says, by raising its profile, continuing its shift away from “buttoned-up” academic pieces and deepening its pool of contributors.—Harry Terris

 

 

Living the Poverty Diet
Lessons from eating on $2.55 a day

BY MITCH VAN YAHRES

I’ve heard it said that being poor is a full-time job. Last week I got a hint what this means when I participated in a Poverty Diet program sponsored by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.

 In 2004 I introduced H.R. 260, which encouraged legislators to go on a two-week poverty diet—to live for a short period of time on what a Food Stamp recipient receives. When my colleagues on the House Rules Committee rejected my resolution, they said that I should provide them information about the program and they could do it on their own. The Interfaith Center took them at their word, created a curriculum and distributed it to congregations and legislators around the state. A few elected officials and several hundred Virginians participated in this experiment in empathy. The three-day diet culminated in six regional rice and beans dinners during which we shared our experiences.

 A Food Stamp recipient in Virginia receives approximately $2.55 per day, so I had to give up many items that I take for granted. For example, a one-cup container of yogurt costs 69 cents. Granola bars, one of my favorite snacks, cost approximately 75 cents each. The apples I buy are almost 90 cents apiece. In fact, most fresh fruits and vegetables were too expensive for my new budget. I am on a heart-healthy diet and typically eat a lot of fish, which was also now out of my price range.

 The first practical problem was the high price of breakfast. My usual dry cereal costs 50 cents a bowl. Fortunately, oatmeal, one of my favorite cold-weather meals, is cheaper. But it’s still 20 cents per serving. A half-gallon of milk is about $2, so there’s an additional 25 cents per bowl. Breakfast has already cost 45 cents and I haven’t added orange juice and coffee (at least 20 cents!)

 The first day I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch—25 cents. Including breakfast, I had only spent 90 cents! But then came dinner. I made a simple canned salmon dish ($1.70 per can) that contained no vegetables. I also baked a potato. All together my dinner cost $2.27, which put me 62 cents over budget. I made myself feel better about the extravagance by committing to leftovers the next day.

 On Day Two I had oatmeal for breakfast and, as promised, leftovers for lunch (and a 10 cent slice of bread.) Dinner was a big financial victory. I made a pot of bean soup, which cost $3.45, or 70 cents per serving. At the end of the day I had $1.25 to spare. But, I was in the hole from yesterday, and in order to keep costs down, I had four more servings of soup to eat.

 Day Three’s meals were no different from the first two days. Clearly, on a restricted food budget you sacrifice variety.

 

So what lessons did I learn? First, three days was not long enough to gain significant understanding of such a restricted diet. The nutritional challenges alone are daunting. As I mentioned, I normally eat a heart-healthy diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables and fish. This would be difficult if not impossible if I had to rely on Food Stamps. It takes a lot of time, effort and creativity to plan cheap nutritious meals. I am reminded again that poverty is a full-time job.

 I learned that leftovers and cooking in bulk are essential to surviving on Food Stamps. In fact I realized how much food I throw away without noticing.

 I learned that I’m a lucky man. I’m healthy and content. I wonder how this would be different if I had to compromise nutrition and variety in order to make ends meet.

 

After H.R. 260 was killed in committee The Washington Post ran a story titled “Survivor: General Assembly.” The next day I received several e-mails on the subject. A few were congratulating me on my efforts, but a shocking number criticized me for it. One said, “I see very healthy, lazy ladies in the grocery store all the time…buying nice cuts of roast, steak, name brand foods…. Some of us work for a living and don’t live off the government, the way you Dems would like us to.” Another wrote, “It outrages me that working people’s taxes go to feed, clothe, and house idle people who won’t go out and work for their money.” And a third said, “[Food Stamp recipients] do quite well and are not in need of my sympathy.” It saddened me to think that there is so much hostility and suspicion directed toward the less fortunate.

 Reading over those e-mails made me think about the morals debate in the 2004 presidential election. The Bible reminds us that the poor will always be with us. It gives several reasons for poverty, ranging from personal choice to corrupt social institutions. Unfortunately, the current discussion focuses on personal choice and ignores societal reasons for poverty. In other words, it assumes that the poor are undeserving because they brought it on themselves and we shouldn’t help them because they will take advantage of our good will. We ignore the reality that a majority of Food Stamp recipients are elderly, children and individuals working full-time, poorly paying jobs. This is often just an excuse to hide a lack of concern. I worry about that. When did we become such a cold-hearted nation?

 In a time of rampant materialism, individualism and selfishness, it’s easy to forget that we are social beings. We would all benefit if we focused on the moral admonitions to love another, help the poor and to be humble instead of emphasizing the more divisive social issues.

 It is no accident that this Poverty Diet experience was scheduled in the days prior to Thanksgiving. As we celebrate our blessings let’s remember those we would often prefer to forget. The fact is, they could be us.

 

Delegate Mitch Van Yahres has represented the 57th District in the Virginia General Assembly since 1981.

Tuesday, November 9
Big bucks for Virginia

Virginia is sitting on a pot of money for the first time in four years. Members of the General Assembly today met at the Boar’s Head Inn to discuss what to do with the cash. The bulk of the bounce in revenue results from Northern Virginia cashing in on huge increases in federal defense and homeland security spending. During the meeting, economists told attending lawmakers that NoVa’s boom should funnel about $900 million into Virginia’s economy, according to a Washington Post account. At the meeting, some budget gurus stressed that even with money to spend, the State must resist the “spending spree” of the late ’90s.

 

Wednesday, November 10
Talking about Jefferson School

The final product of the Jefferson School Oral History Project was today presented to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Historical Society. The project is a collection of essays and interviews with 35 people, many of whom graduated from the Jefferson School. “Various advocacy groups interested in saving the historic school building from development” pulled together for the effort, according to the publication. The Jefferson School, when it opened in 1926, was the only city high school that black students could attend. Though it was closed for any educational purposes two years ago, City Council continues to ponder its future use. “I would like to make a plea to the community not to tear the school down,” says Jefferson School graduate Helen Sanders in the document.

 

Court to AG: open up

Today the U.S. Supreme Court refused a request by Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore to keep secret documents related to Earl Washington, a retarded man who was wrongly convicted of a 1982 Culpeper murder. The ruling satisfies requests by Washington’s lawyers and several news outlets to see the documents, which are part of a civil case Washington has filed against state police and other law enforcement officials.

 

Thursday, November 11
More green in Albemarle

Albemarle County officials today announced the creation of a new park. Measuring just under one square mile in area, the park in the northwest portion of the county will be Albemarle’s biggest—comprising 23 percent of the county’s total parkland. Robert Byrom, who donated the land for the park, requested it be dubbed the Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve Park. Located on the north side of Route 810, between Brown’s Cove and Boonesville, the park will include nature trails.

 

Friday, November 12
AM 1450 on the way?

In yet another development in the city’s rapidly shifting broadcast media scene, a Kentucky-based company has applied for a new local radio station. Anderson Communications seeks to bring AM 1450 to the airwaves and plans to locate its transmitter on Z-95’s existing tower, located near McIntire Park. Anderson’s application is available for public review at the main branch of the public library. The company also owns an FM radio station in Kentucky.

 

Saturday, November 13
Weed pulls off the gloves

In a letter published in today’s Daily Progress, failed Congressional candidate Al Weed sharply challenged the paper’s post-election “told you so” endorsement of Fifth District incumbent Virgil Goode, whose resounding loss in Charlottesville and Albemarle was more than balanced by his hefty win in the Southside counties. Noticeably short on specifics, the Nov. 9 editorial lauded

Goode for not being a liberal. Cataloging his differences with Goode point by point, from deficit spending to abortion rights, Weed challenged the DP to pinpoint why Goode’s positions “are more appropriate than those of his opponent” in the future. “When next you endorse Mr. Goode because of his affinity with the District’s voters (though not with your readers and subscribers) you might also discuss with which of his well-articulated policies you agree…” Weed wrote.

 

Sunday, November 14
Great day to be a Hokie

After UVA’s heartbreaking 31-21 loss yesterday to Miami before another record-setting crowd at Scott Stadium, the state’s best hope for an ACC champ may rest with Virginia Tech, which, like Miami, is new to the conference this year and which heads into the week with the leading ACC record (4-1). Following the loss, the Cavs dropped to 18 from 10 in the AP rankings, which boosted the Hokies one notch to 15.

 

From Guv to Prez?

Though Mark Warner is mum on his political future as he enters his final year as governor, The Washington Post today floats the idea of a national candidacy for Warner heading into 2008. Among Warner’s political assets cited in Michael D. Shear’s article is the “NASCAR-loving, pro-death penalty, pro-gun rights, fiscally conservative campaign” that first lifted the blue pol to the top job in this red state.

 

Monday, November 15
Casteen’s big bucks

Among presidents of public colleges and universities, UVA’s John Casteen III ranks ninth in compensation, making $549,783, according to a survey released today by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

—Written by Paul Fain from local news sources and staff reports.

 

 

Clinic wins on appeal
Planned Parenthood will stay put—for now

“You’ve gotta give them credit,” says Tobey Bouch, a member of a local conservative Christian group, the Central Virginia Family Forum.

 The 25-year-old Bouch stood outside the Albemarle County Office Building last Tuesday, November 9, hands on his hips, as people wearing “I support Planned Parenthood” stickers teemed around him.

 “No doubt about it,” said Bouch. “They mobilized their people.”

 On Tuesday, November 9, hundreds of people descended on the corner of McIntire Road and Preston Avenue while Albemarle County’s Board of Zoning Appeals considered a challenge to a new Planned Parenthood clinic that opened on Hydraulic Road in August. The appeal was filed later that month by Renae Townsend, who lives near the clinic. In a 3-1 decision, with one member abstaining, the five-member BZA ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood.

 The BZA is appointed by the Circuit Court and typically hears arguments over building setbacks or the size of restaurant signs. On Tuesday, the board found itself the referees in a reproductive rights schoolyard brawl.

 “I think there’s a lot of people who felt stunned by the election results,” said Planned Parenthood of Virginia’s Executive Director David Nova. “Now we’re hearing about a mandate to overturn Roe v. Wade. This is an opportunity to debunk that message.”

 Expecting a large crowd, the BZA moved from its usual 50-seat meeting spot to the County Office Building’s 580-seat auditorium. County police officers roamed the lobby, and pro-choice activists were already taking seats at 10am—three hours before the meeting was scheduled to start.

 The room was already overflowing by 12:30, when Josh Rubinstein climbed the pale stone staircase outside the Office Building. “If this is the last place on earth where a woman has a choice, we’ll fight for it,” said Rubinstein, who lives in Crozet. “We’re not going to let people from out of town tell us how to run our county.”

 Like Planned Parenthood, the CVFF recruited supporters from around the state to descend on the hearing. Planned Parenthood estimated that 961 supporters turned out for its cause; CVFF put the number of its supporters at around 175.

 It began with the lawyers. Townsend’s attorney, Culpeper lawyer Michael Sharman, argued that the clinic is a hospital, not a professional office, and thus should not have been allowed in a residential area. (It’s ironic, several pro-choicers noted, because the facility was built to accommodate the hospital-like architectural requirements that Planned Parenthood expects pro-lifers will eventually force through the General Assembly.)

 County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Greg Kamptner countered that Townsend had appealed too late. He said the County was correct when it determined the clinic was a professional office, like other out-patient medical centers.

 Meanwhile, police moved through the crowded aisles, herding spectators out of the auditorium. Their explanation that jammed aisles constituted a fire hazard did not satisfy some people. “Gentlemen!” cried one woman. “How can this be a public hearing when you’re ejecting people who want to be a part of it!”

 Those who exited lined the sidewalks outside and waved pro-choice signs at passing traffic. Those who stayed grew increasingly unruly as Sharman called people to speak in the appellants’ favor.

 Bow-tied UVA medical student Steve Smith, whose property abuts the clinic, drew a round of hisses when he called it “a dumpster of a medical center,” and asked if the board were ready to “answer for their decision” should he or his property be hurt by an attack on the clinic.

 Planned Parenthood called out local heavy-hitters, such as Virginia National Bank CEO Mark Giles, to speak on its behalf. As the public hearing opened for public comment, the topic shifted from zoning to abortion. Jack Marshall, who sits on Planned Parenthood’s Board of Directors, pointed out that Joe Scheidler’s 1985 pro-life manual CLOSED: 99 Ways to Stop Abortion tells Christian activists how to fight Planned Parenthood clinics with zoning challenges.

 By 6pm, everyone had their say, and the auditorium was half-empty when the board rendered its decision.

 “I was a sheriff in 1970, and I worked an abortion case where two babies were murdered, I thought,” said board member

George Bailey. “I sent people to the penitentiary over it. That’s still on my mind. I’d like to abstain,” he said.

 Board member Richard Cogan basically agreed with the appellants, while members David Bass, Max Kennedy and Randy Rinehart said the County’s original zoning decision should stand.

 After the decision, CVFF’s Bouch, Townsend and a few of their supporters stood around Sharman as the attorney outlined their long-term strategy: appeal to the County Circuit Court, then to the Court of Appeals if necessary, and perhaps the Supreme Court. On Friday, November 5, Townsend and five of her neighbors filed a lawsuit against Albemarle County, seeking to revoke Planned Parenthood’s special use permit.

 “The higher up you go, the wider the effect of the decision will be,” Sharman said. “That’s it in a nutshell.”

 Planned Parenthood organizer Holly Hatcher says she hopes pro-choice activists will now focus their energy on the upcoming General Assembly session. Commenting on CVFF’s lawsuit, Nova says “if they want to keep trying to shut down Planned Parenthood, the County’s going to need a bigger auditorium.”—John Borgmeyer

 

 

Buying time
Andrew Alston gets three years in prison for killing Walker Sisk

Virginia throws the book at its criminals. Unless, that is, the accused is able to fork up enough cash to hire an expensive legal team that can exploit the built-in protections of the law, such as the concept of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

 That’s what happened on the evening of November 9 when, after hearing defense arguments rich in expensive expert testimony and forensic evidence, but with no compelling eyewitnesses for the defense, a jury of three women and nine men found former UVA student Andrew Alston guilty of voluntary manslaughter rather than the second-degree murder charge the prosecution had sought in Alston’s killing of Walker Sisk, 22, a volunteer firefighter and Free Union resident. The following afternoon, the jury sentenced Alston, 22, to three years in prison, one year of which he has already served in jail while awaiting his trial. Based on his behavior behind bars, Alston could be back on the street by as early as August 2006.

 Witnesses say the altercation that ended Sisk’s life began after Sisk and one of Alston’s companions exchanged insults across 14th Street after a night of barhopping on the Corner in the early morning hours of November 8, 2003. The incident escalated as Sisk crossed the street to confront Alston’s group, but the fatal step was taken by Alston when, according to his own testimony, he “pulled out a knife.”

 The defense, headed by swarthy, cowboy-booted Alexandria attorney John Zwerling, known for defending Lorena Bobbitt and other high-profile clients, said Alston pulled the knife to defend himself from Sisk, whom Alston described, between the loudly quivering breaths that characterized his testimony, as a “furious man, crazy.”

 Moments after Alston pulled the knife, Sisk lay dying near the corner of 14th and Wertland streets, stabbed and slashed 20 times, the lethal wound penetrating his left lung and heart.

 Outside Judge Edward L. Hogshire’s courtroom on the afternoon of November 10, just after sentencing Alston, jury foreman Juandiego Wade said the jury felt they had made the decision that was “best for the community.”

 During closing arguments on the previous day, Zwerling had walked the jury through its options. Zwerling held up a placard enumerating what a “not guilty” verdict encompasses. The bullet points went up the scale from a belief in the defendant’s innocence to the belief that the defendant “is guilty but the evidence falls short.” Shortly following Zwerling’s presentation, the jury went into deliberations.

 During the five-and-a-half hour wait for a verdict, friends and family of both Sisk and Alston congregated in the lobby of the courthouse and on its front steps, talking, smoking, resting and occasionally laughing. When word spread that a decision had been reached, both groups reconvened in the courtroom. The room received the manslaughter verdict in utter silence.

 In his emotional testimony, Alston, crying at times, recounted what memory he said he had of the events after he pulled his knife: “[Sisk] grabbed [the knife] out of my hand and then he lunged at me with it.” Alston, claiming that he feared for his life, said he then grabbed Sisk’s hand and “just kept pushing away from me.” According to Alston, the 20 stabs and cuts to Sisk were delivered by Sisk’s own hand.

 Key to this seemingly absurd explanation was the defense team’s assertion that when Alston attempted to protect himself from the knife-wielding Sisk he had used aikido moves learned in an eight-week martial arts class. Through a demonstration by Alston’s former aikido instructor and classmate, the defense used perfectly choreographed maneuvers to account for the pattern of wounds across Sisk’s, chest, shoulders and back. Later, forensics experts, whose testimony cost at least $20,000, confirmed the plausibility of the scene despite the fact that Alston’s blood-alcohol level just after the time of the assault was more than two times the legal limit. No eyewitnesses testified to seeing any such aikido moves.

 Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jon R. Zug didn’t buy this theory. In his closing arguments the charismatic prosecutor asked the jury how, if Alston was such an aikido master, did Sisk get the weapon out of Alston’s hands in the first place?

 “Where was your aikido then, buddy?” Zug asked, his voice rising as he turned from the jury to face Alston.

 The jury, however, took the bait, going with the lesser charge.

 During the sentencing phase of the trial, the prosecution’s case was simple. Zug presented the jury with a stack of papers that detailed Alston’s prior felony and misdemeanor assault convictions for a 1998 attack, when Alston was a juvenile. The purpose was clear: to establish a pattern of violent behavior.

 The defense, however, called a number of character witnesses—friends, family, Catholic priests from Alston’s Pennsylvania private school, and Alston’s psychotherapist. Many of these witnesses talked about the June 2002 suicide of Alston’s brother, Timothy, and how Alston served as a source of strength for his family around the time of that event. His psychotherapist, Dr. Marilyn Minrath, whom he started seeing in June, said Alston suffers from “unresolved grief.”  The jury spent five hours deliberating Alston’s sentence. Upon hearing the words “three years,” Alston hugged both his lawyers. Sisk’s family and friends sat stunned. Later, when he was led out the back of the courthouse, Alston smiled and joked with Sheriff’s deputies before heading back to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail.

 In front of the courthouse, the Alston family went their separate ways before Sisk’s friends and family began to emerge from the courtroom.

 While praising the jury’s “thoughtfulness,” Zug expressed disappointment with the sentence.

 “It’s tough for me to believe that the life of somebody is only worth three years,” he said, looking weary.

 Greg Snyder, a Sisk friend who had helped to change Walker Sisk’s diapers, stood smoking a cigarette on the steps of the courthouse.

 “There’s no explanation,” he said quietly, “but that there was a proportion to punishment that was not followed today.”—Nell Boeschenstein

 

 

HOW TO: Roast a fresh turkey Say goodbye to the deep-frozen, store-bought bird, and this Thanksgiving dip into some truly fresh meat. Kate Collier, owner of Feast! specialty food market, has these pointers for preparing a fresh-kill bird. 1. Preheat oven to 500°. Place the rack in the second-lowest oven position. 2. Remove turkey from the brine and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Allow turkey to come to room temperature. 3. Fill cavity of bird loosely with rosemary, thyme, sage, two roughly chopped onions, two chopped carrots and two chopped celery stalks. 4. Generously rub butter and seasoning into the skin of the entire bird. 5. With the breast up, place turkey on a rack in a roasting pan. 6. Tightly fit aluminum foil over the breast area. Fold it in half, remove, spray with vegetable spray and reserve for later. 7. Roast for 30 minutes, until golden brown. 8. Reduce the heat to 350°, apply the foil to the breast plate, and roast the turkey to an internal temperature of 160° (the turkey will continue to cook to 165° while resting). 9. To check temperature, stick a thermometer through the foil into the thickest part of the breast. Allow 12-14 minutes per pound (cooking time for an 18-pound turkey is approximately 2.5-3 hours). 10. Move the cooked bird to a cutting board and let stand 30 minutes before carving. Need to know how to do something? E-mail your questions to howto@c-ville.com.

 

 

America, can we talk?
UVA’s Vamik Volkan shrinks America’s head

America, I’m coming to you as a friend. I understand you’ve had a hard time recently. You’re under a lot of stress.

 You’re a great country, but let’s face it—you have some anger management issues. And lately you’ve been spending more time with those people who stand on the street corner, screaming about the end of the world.

 We love you, America. Frankly, though, we’re worried.

 Maybe you need professional help.

 Let me recommend someone you can talk to. His name is Vamik Volkan. He’s a Turkish doctor and professor emeritus at UVA, and in 1987 he founded what is perhaps the school’s funkiest offshoot—The Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction.

 Volkan’s larger claim to fame, however, has been his work in the field of psychopolitics. For the past two decades, he has studied large-group psychologies and the dynamics of mass movements.

 Two years ago, he founded a publishing company in Charlottesville, Pitchstone, which just released Volkan’s new book, Blind Trust: Large Groups and Their Leaders in Times of Crisis and Terror.

 America, wait! Don’t get mad. Look, I know you don’t care much for books. I’ll admit, Volkan’s no Tim LaHaye, but give him a chance. Volkan’s a pretty smart guy, and he just might be able to help you.

 Between 1980 and 1986, Volkan sat in on a series of unofficial dialogues between Israel and Egypt as a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. The group investigated the psychological aspects of the long-running conflicts between Arabs and Jews. Since then, he’s participated in negotiations all over the world between all kinds of people who passionately hate each other.

 America, give Volkan a chance. On a recent afternoon he and I sat in his living room, decorated with the kind of large brass trays on which Turkish people serve meals to big groups. Volkan explained exactly what he would say to you, America, if you would just go talk to him.

 “Every enemy is real,” says Volkan. “They’re shooting at you. But there’s also a fantasy. We project ideas onto our enemy.”

 Admit it, America. Both you and Al-Qaeda are guilty of this. The “great Satan” is on par with “either you’re with us or with the terrorists,” don’t you think? Huh, maybe?

 On September 11, America, we took a terrible hit. In our collective pain and helplessness, Volkan says, we naturally started dwelling on past humiliations, like Pearl Harbor, and imagined all the bad things that might happen to us next. In these times of fear, individuals tend to identify closely with their large groups—they become more “American” or more “Muslim.” People also tend to look to their leaders as “saviors” who, like a father, might protect them from unseen threats.

 America and Al-Qaeda are similar, Volkan says, in that both of their leaders claim to be inspired by God.

 “Gods do not negotiate,” says Volkan. “They only give you permission to kill the devil. Both sides start talking about a clash of civilizations, and the talk is what makes it real.”

 America, you know Al-Qaeda isn’t going to disappear, or negotiate. There’s no simple solution. Yet Volkan suggests a good start might be letting go of all the lofty rhetoric about gods and monsters, good and evil, and to stop listening to those crazies scream about Armageddon.

 Relax, America. Take a deep breath. Lie down on Volkan’s couch and forget for a while about the liberals, conservatives, terrorists, fascists, homosexuals and zealots lurking in the shadows.

 “When you actually go out and talk to people,” says Volkan, “they’re pretty much all the same.”—John Borgmeyer