Month: June 2009

There’s no question that the title of the latest Virginia Quarterly Review, “The End of Ice,” is meant to be taken literally. In travelogues that chronicle experiences as divergent as ice hunters blasting away at errant icebergs in Newfoundland’s White Bay to adolescents following the chaddar, or frozen river-highway, out of a village in the Indian Himalayas to a Western education, the latest issue attempts to draw in full dramatic relief the human face of what most scientists now agree will be the most significant, catastrophic effect of global warming: the wholesale extinction of glacial ice.

The starting point is a report by a team of geophysicists at the University of Toronto warning that the effects of even a partial collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would be truly colossal; I feel compelled to repeat what is stated well enough in Ted Genoways’ “Editor’s Desk”—that the least effects of this might be a sudden shift of weight, knocking the planet half a kilometer off its axis and redistributing the seawater to the Northern Hemisphere. Some of you might appreciate the poetic justice in America paying the heaviest price for its failure to act, with nearly half of our 40 most populous cities underwater, but I don’t. The trouble is that the truth is almost too overwhelming to be believed, much less acted on, and so the point of this issue is to fill in the gaps in our disbelief with local, human drama, in bite-sized pieces, of what’s happening to glacial environments out there. The results are more than just terrifying: They are remarkably poignant, entertaining and even uplifting.

I won’t try to recreate what stood out for me as an extraordinarily powerful issue, but I should reiterate some of the issue’s fun facts for those of you who might not yet be true believers in the face of overwhelming scientific, anecdotal and statistical evidence. So here goes: First, the part of the earth that contains the only unclaimed portion of territory is also the most threatened by global warming—West Antarctica, a massive glacier that may also contain the planet’s last “supergiant” oil field. Second, the rate of retreat for Peru’s Quelccaya, the world’s largest tropical glacier, has increased tenfold in the last 30 years, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the continent’s fresh water supply and rainfall. Third, from 1990 to 2005, world energy consumption increased by 30 percent. Fourth, the carbon dioxide that emanates from the tailpipe of the cars we drive will last for at least 300 years once it’s been emitted, and at least a quarter of it will last forever. I could go on, but then you might be too terrified and depressed to complete the issue.

Outside of the climate-concerned “VQR Portfolio” section, one can find more amazing stuff: An essay about the Oakes twins, visual artists who are rethinking perspective itself; a large chunk of Rita Dove’s new book, Sonata Mulattica; a particularly creepy profile of an Macedonian serial killer; and a genuinely great poem by Jim Harrison, entitled “The Golden Eye,” in which the poet’s mother asks a startling question: “Are we the same species as God?” Reading the essays in “The End of Ice,” I have to think that I know the answer to that question, but I will let you pick up the latest issue and find your own answer.

In his State of the University Address in February, UVA President John Casteen proclaimed the University would respond to the sagging economy and its falling endowment by innovating and re-inventing itself. One change that he hoped would rake in more money was expanding online and distance learning.

“Imagine what we can do in places where we have never been, but where our name is known. It’s time to be able to exploit that kind of fame and notoriety in order to build new ventures that will produce revenues that sustain the University.” He added that the expansion would not be easy, yet “demand for the service is huge; it’s everywhere. But our success as a national system of education in meeting that is very, very limited.” Where might UVA might go with online and distance learning? It helps to know where the University already is.

Older adults vastly outnumber college-aged ones, creating a huge market for educational institutions. UVA currently reaches about 15,000 adults annually with online and distance learning through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Online learning means exactly that: Students take courses from faculty over the Internet and earn certificates in programs such as e-marketing, human resources, information technology or procurement and contracts.

Billy Cannaday, Jr., Dean of Continuing and Professional Studies, says the school wants to expand online opportunities “for adult learners who can’t come to Grounds or regional centers but still want an education.”
 
Such expansion requires helping adults who are not “digital natives” become comfortable learning online. A 22-question survey titled “Are You Ready to Learn Online?” notifies people they will often have to learn by reading and be prepared to work alone. And if they are in-state, they’ll pay between $280 and $300 per credit hour, comparable to community college rates.

Distance learning, meanwhile, has students in evening and weekend classes at UVA’s Zehmer Hall or one of six satellite classrooms in Richmond and Roanoke, among others. UVA has belonged for 20 years to a consortium of universities that offers engineering master’s degrees at a distance and it also offers distance programs for teacher accreditation, nursing and other professional licenses. Finally, for the past 10 years, it has offered its own Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS).

The BIS program has graduated about 200 students over its entire existence and is expanding. Cannaday says the school had around 50 graduates this year, and “We are now partnering with community colleges in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to offer four-year Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degrees, which is another opportunity to make the University of Virginia accessible for students who can’t get here in traditional ways, whether because of economics or life experiences.” Cannaday adds faculty have commented that, academically, BIS students compare favorably with traditional undergraduates and can contribute more personal experiences to discussion.

Beyond the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, UVA has joined the New College Institute, founded in 2006 as a solely online and distance learning facility in Martinsville. UVA and other schools such as Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion University send faculty to the school to teach classes, while the certificates and degrees come from the participating universities themselves.

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Last October, developer Richard Spurzem of Neighborhood Properties decided that going through Albemarle County’s approval process for preliminary site plans was no longer an attractive plan. Having had his plans for 187 townhouse units (part of the North Pointe megadevelopment on 29N) rejected twice by county planners, and facing the prospect of a third review, he sued the county instead. The strategy seems to have paid off: On April 24, the county approved Spurzem’s preliminary plan, meaning the case will not go before a judge.

At issue, says Spurzem, was a conservation area that county planners said had changed since the rezoning for North Pointe was approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2006. In a January meeting with planners, Spurzem says, “We showed them graphically that the line was in precisely the same place as it was on the rezoning.” The parties also hashed out details of building placement and orientation, which resulted in the number of proposed units on the 40-acre property dropping to 186 from 187.

Spurzem, who successfully sued the county in 2005 over the preliminary site plan for another of his projects, maintains that filing suit over North Pointe was necessary. “I think that’s the only way to force them to do what they ought to be doing just as a matter of course,” he says—i.e., moving plans forward in a timely manner. County Attorney Larry Davis has a different view, though, saying that meetings like the one Spurzem and the county had in January are a normal part of the approval process and usually satisfy both developers and planners without the need for lawsuits. “A lawsuit is something that doesn’t benefit a developer or the county except in extreme circumstances, I would think,” says Davis. Still, he calls the situation “a success story.”

Next up for Spurzem: seeking approval of a final site plan. “I’m sure that we’ll get a lot of grief on that too,” he says. “That’s probably a one-year process just to get that approved. If it were someplace else, [like] in Waynesboro, it would probably be approved in a month.” His preliminary plan was approved subject to a number of conditions, including provisions for sidewalks and stormwater management, but Davis describes those as “very typical” for a project of this kind.

The North Pointe megadevelopment, championed by developer Chuck Rotgin, is physically positioned to capitalize on the hundreds of new jobs that Albemarle County expects the National Ground Intelligence Center to bring when it occupies new facilities two miles up the road. Though the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors reported in September that fewer NGIC homebuyers would arrive in Albemarle than had been expected (300-400 rather than 800-900), CAAR is looking forward to a number of NGIC renters.

Spurzem’s townhouses would seem to be primed for these folks, if they’re built in time. “This property is ideally located for NGIC and also for the [UVA] research park which is directly across the street.” A stalled housing market doesn’t trouble him either. “That’s what we’re counting on, is that by the time that it actually gets approved that the economy will be better,” he says. “But even if the economy isn’t any better, it’s still one of the best located pieces of property.”

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Up until last month, Gloria Rockhold had reason to think she would be one of those county employees whose positions were terminated due to budget cuts.

“[Gloria’s] position was what’s called a centralized position,” School Board member Diantha McKeel said in early March. “Between last year and this year, we have actually eliminated 22 centralized positions.” The School Board had to come up with $2 million to lessen the funding request for the next fiscal year, in addition to having already cut $3 million, said McKeel. And among those cut would be Rockhold, the county’s sole Coordinator of the Latino Center and Community Relations. She was slated to lose her job on June 30, but at the eleventh hour, the county changed its mind. 

“You can’t nickel and dime those kinds of dollars,” said McKeel. “Albemarle County has had a really strong commitment to reach out to our Hispanic community. We really have.”

Rockhold is currently charged with engaging the Latino population. She assists with the integration of Latino families into the community and has helped create programs for students at risk of dropping out of high school.
 
Rockhold is also a presence in the Hispanic community in many other ways. Tim Freilich, legal director for Legal Aid’s Immigrant Advocacy Program, who has worked with Rockhold, commented that at a time when the area’s immigrant population is increasing, the county should not be cutting resources. “I think it’s very important that the liaison position be maintained,” he says. “This is an area that does not dedicate a significant amount of resources to ensuring the smooth assimilation of our immigrant communities into the larger Charlottesville-Albemarle community, and we definitely need to maintain and increase the supports that we are offering to the families that have come into this area.”

According to the 2006 Census, the Latino population in Albemarle County has reached 3.7 percent, or 3,405.

As of last week, the county seemed to have seen the light. The School Board has reinstated Rockhold’s position and it is considering making it full-time.

“The School Board identified that position as requiring some special skills and knowledge of the Hispanic, Latino community,” said School Board member-at-large Brian Wheeler last week. “And it was something we had felt strongly about in the past, enough to at least invest a half-time position. There are some concerns that it was not going to be easily absorbed by another employee in their work.”

Wheeler says at a board meeting in April, the matter was set aside because “there was not consensus by the board at that time to do anything more than half a position. Just restore that,” he says. Since then, “I think some board members have thought more deeply about that work,” says Wheeler.

Rockhold has big dreams and an even bigger personality. “I love Gloria,” says a 7-year-old student at Cale Elementary who attends “Southwood Study Group,” a program that provides tutoring in core classes and test-taking skills. The program, created by Rockhold among others, is also intended to help students at risk for academic failure, specifically students from low-income families and from Hispanic and Latino families who are not familiar with the English language.

“I come every week to study with her,” says the student, whose parents are from Mexico. She is one of many children who live in Southwood Mobile Park who spend afternoons in the conference room of the Habitat for Humanity.

 “Jose, que estas haciendo?” Rockhold asks an active middle schooler. “Focus!” Rockhold is strict just as she is friendly. “Stop jumping around and do your homework!” she tells Jose. On average, between 10 and 15 students attend the program consistently.

A shy boy carrying a notebook comes silently in the room. “What’s your name?” asks Rockhold. “Do you need help with your homework?” Jose Alberto nods and sits next to her.

 “All those who come to tutor the kids are volunteers,” says Rockhold. “We are like a little family.” UVA students, teachers in the county school system and community members want to “lend a hand.” The Club, as Rockhold calls it, is so much more than just tutoring. “I went back to thinking how I grew up,” says Rockhold, who was raised in Paraguay. “My friends and I would get together and study. We would study for exams, we would study for papers. Part of our social network was studying, and what I am trying to accomplish in this neighborhood is for [the kids] to come and realize how much fun it is to study. It’s like this huge exchange of information and brain activity.”

Most of Rockhold’s efforts are geared toward lowering the Hispanic dropout rate in county schools. According to the Virginia Board of Education, the Latino dropout rate at Monticello High School is 20 percent. At Albemarle High School it’s 30 percent.

“The Hispanic rate looks much higher because there are only 34 Hispanic students in this group,” writes Maury Brown, communications coordinator for county schools, in an e-mail. “Because there are so few students, each student who drops out counts for about 3 percent of the total.” According to Brown, about 76 percent of those students graduated on time, and seven students, or 20.6 percent dropped out.

“Our Hispanic dropout rate is very similar to the state’s dropout rate for Hispanic students (state is almost 20 percent while we are at 20.6 percent),” said Brown. “But our on-time graduation rate for our Hispanic students is much better than the state average (ours is 76.5 percent vs. their 71.5 percent).”

The high Hispanic dropout rate is a statewide problem, said Brown, comparing the Hispanic dropout rate is 24.3 percent in Alexandria, Fairfax 22.1 percent, and Fredericksburg 30 percent. Albemarle County has many programs that are geared toward helping those who are at risk of dropping out.

“Unless they are motivated and they come from a culture that values education in such a huge way, I really don’t see how they are going to graduate,” says Rockhold.

The School Board will meet on June 11 to decide whether the position will be made full-time. In the meantime, Rockhold is looking for jobs elsewhere. “I love it here, but if I can’t find anything full-time, I may have to go,” she says.

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