Author: ashley-kinney

With the exception of a small crowd by City Hall, the atmosphere on the Downtown Mall as of early afternoon remains relatively quiet despite President Obama’s visit to the Pavilion this evening to support of Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello. The Bluemont Country Store and Baggby’s, for instance, intend to continue business as usual during the day and stay open late this evening to accommodate the crowds until sales slow down.

The restaurants aren’t the only ones preparing for the president’s visit. Racquel White, a Downtown Mall vendor, has Obama memorabilia to sell specifically for today’s events.  White says the memorabilia was not available for purchase at her stand until today.

The free trolley will run as regularly scheduled today until 6:25pm.  At that time, the last trolley will leave from the Downtown Transit station, and the service will not resume until 8:45pm this evening. The Charlottesville Area Transit has also altered their service schedule today and road closures and restricted parking will take effect as the day progresses.

Cav Man’s wild ride? UVA Police were contacted at 6:50am last Friday about a reported act of vandalism at Scott Stadium. According to the Cavalier Daily, one of the university’s own maintenance vehicles had been driven onto the field, and used to carve turns into the turf. At present, police are still trying to discover how someone might have gained unauthorized access to the stadium and the equipment stored there.

Jason Bauman, associate athletics director for facilities and operations, told the Cavalier Daily that the "integrity of the field had not been affected," and was repaired in time for last Saturday’s home football game against Eastern Michigan—won handily by the Cavaliers.

The Charlottesville branch of the Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA) recently received a grant of $48,000 from the Department of Health for a pilot program. The program began this fall in Jackson-Via Elementary, Walker Upper Elementary, and Buford Middle School. According to SARA’s website, “The aim of this project is to implement comprehensive, school-wide sexual assault prevention strategies. We are using multiple strategies including classroom lessons, peer mentoring opportunities, social marketing, and parent and teacher training.”

The grant helped SARA reach the halfway mark of their goal of $110,000 to sustain and expand the program. NBC29 reported that one in four women and one in eight men in Virginia will experience sexual violence over the course of their lifetime.

Tomorrow will be a big day for UVA Drama enthusiasts. There will be a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Ruth Caplin Theatre, part of an addition and numerous renovations made to the current UVA Drama buildings.

The expansion is made possible in part by the $4 million donation made by Mortimer and Ruth Caplin. Ruth Caplin is an alumnus of both the UVA College of Arts and Sciences and UVA Law School. Mortimer Caplin is a former UVA Law professor and past president of the Virginia Players in the 1930s. The project received a $1 million matching grant from the UVA Arts Grounds Challenge Fund.

The renovations and addition are part of the Betsy and John Casteen Arts Grounds. Vice Provost for the Arts Elizabeth Hutton Turner told UVA Today, "It is an element of the University’s master plan to embrace a comprehensive vision for providing improved facilities for fine and performing arts programs.” 

The new theatre will be designed to accomodate drama and dance performances, as well as film viewings. It will include a thrust stage, which is surrounded on three sides by the audience, and the stage itself will be a sprung floor stage for dance performances. Construction is pending design approval by the Board of Visitors, but is currently scheduled to begin in January.

According to UVA Police, a female UVA student reported being forcibly fondled yesterday evening near Memorial Gymnasium. Police report that the student was approached from behind by a white male, who lifted her skirt and fondled her, then ran away towards University Avenue after the victim screamed. The suspect is described as approximately 5’8" tall with short hair, and wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt when the incident occurred. UVA posted details on sharing information concerning the incident here.

UVA Police responded to the report around 7pm, and UVA students received an alert about this incident via e-mail around 10pm last night. The incident follows concerns over reports of assaults near the Corner area, including the sexual assault of a female UVA student. Dean of Students Allen Groves issued an e-mail alert about the sexual assault on September 28, more than 10 days after Charlottesville police began investigating the incident.

More than a month ago, Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross set aside Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s civil investigative demands (CIDs) for information tied to $485,000 in grants awarded to former UVA climate scientist Michael Mann. Now, Cuccinelli has filed a new 30-page subpoena for details on an application Mann made for state funding to research in the African savannah. In the application, Mann included his CV, which refers to the scientist’s controversial climate research and provides the Attorney General’s basis for revisiting questions about fraud.

Recently, both the Washington Post and Chronicle of Higher Education published editorials on Cuccinelli’s latest CID. Share your own thoughts below.

The suicides of five LGBTQ youth within the past three weeks—including Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, who was secretly filmed in a sexual encouter with another man, and 13-year-old Seth Walsh, a middle school student in California who hanged himself—have struck a national chord. Published reports have raised the question of whether the suicide victims faced instances of bullying. Yesterday, the UVA community approached this concern at the local level.

A forum led by graduate student Rachel Farr met in the Newcomb Ballroom to discuss issues of bullying based on sexual orientation. The group decided to hold a vigil for the suicide victims, tentatively scheduled for October 20. Farr told NBC29, “We’re seeing these young people end their lives, which is a total tragedy. Any life lost is one too many.”

The flowers and signs placed on Copeley bridge in remembrance of Morgan Harrington are being removed by UVA and sent to the Virginia Tech student’s parents, according to NBC29.  Harrington, who disappeared last year after a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones arena, was last seen on this bridge. Her remains were found in January of this year. 

On the year anniversary of her disappearance, October 17, UVA will dedicate a permanent memorial to Harrington at the same site. The UVA Board of Visitors approved the memorial’s design during a September 14 meeting. Events at UVA will also include the screening of a film about one of Harrington’s teachers, dedicated to Harrington, and a formal reception. Gil Harrington told C-VILLE that her family plans to attend the dedication ceremony.

“We have a coal plant on grounds? WTF?”  Yes, UVA, the sign is true. By the medical buildings there is an active coal plant.

Claiming that the active coal plant near the UVA hospital pollutes the air, deteriorates the Rotunda, and causes asthma, a small group of students is looking to do something about that.

Shouting “coal, coal, no solution, we are sick of your pollution,” the members of UVA Beyond Coal met this morning on the steps of the Rotunda to speak out against coal use.

UVA Beyond Coal is an entirely student-led group that partners with the Sierra Club to raise awareness about the dangers of coal. Brennen Warner, one of the student coordinators, addressed his fellows and Cited statistics like, “coal power plants emit more than 30 percent of our nation’s annual carbon dioxide emissions,” to show the seriousness of this cause.

“Students are asking [President Teresa Sullivan] to lead the way to get the university 100 percent coal free” Warner said in his speech.

Members of UVA Beyond Coal will be on the south end of the Rotunda today collecting photo petitions—photographs of students as part of an image of Cav Man destroying a coal plant.

They also have a facebook group.