November 28, 2012

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The Cavalier Daily Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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Volume 122, No. 49 Distribution 10,000

City considers bypass plans State’s Department of Transportation holds meeting to hear public concerns; construction to begin in 2015

By Emily Hutt

Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Jenna Truong | Cavalier Daily

Construction is set to begin in 2015 on a bypass that would alleviate heavy traffic on U.S. Route 29.

The Virginia Department of Transportation held a public forum Tuesday evening to hear community comments about proposed improvements to the U.S. 29/U.S. 250 Bypass Interchange . The $11.15 million project will encompass nearly a mile of roadway from the Barracks Road Interchange

Wise player suspended The University’s College at Wise suspended junior football player Melquan Huntley Tuesday after he was charged with shooting a woman in the head last week.

Huntley was charged Monday with two felonies: discharging a firearm within an occupied building and unlawfully shooting a person.

Huntley was also dismissed from the Wise team where he played fullback .

He will not be allowed on campus while the suspension remains in effect. Huntley is suspended on an interim basis pending the outcome of the charges, College at Wise

spokesperson Kathy Still said.

Three others were present at the time of the shooting but “the investigation revealed

NEWS IN BRIEF

Huntley as being the shooter,” said Capt. Roger C. Cooke of the Norton Police, who is leading the investigation.

Jahnae Foster , an 18-year-

old woman , was found with a bullet wound to the head in the back bedroom of the mobile home when police arrived.

S h e w a s t ra n s p o r t e d to Johnson City Medical Center where she is still being treated. “ We c o n t i n u e t o a s k e v e r y o n e t o ke e p M s .

Foster and her family in their thoughts and prayers during these difficult days,” Still said.

The details of the shooting have not been released, as the investigation is still ongoing, Cooke said.

—compiled by Abby Meredith

to the area south of Hydraulic Road.

Though the time frame may be subject to change, public awareness efforts on the details of the project will begin in fall 2014 , and construction will begin in spring 2015.

The project is expected to “improve traffic operations, Please see VDOT, Page A3

Wood’s final service

Greg Lewis | Cavalier Daily

A memorial service honoring Bill Wood, the founding director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, was held Tuesday afternoon in the Chapel.

SPORTS

Cavs enjoy landmark campaign Despite disappointing playoff exit, Olympians Selenski, Vittese spark record-setting 2012 for field hockey BEN BASKIN

The future is bright I write about sports for our school paper — and have done so for the last three years — because I am a fan.

So as I look at the future of the Virginia men’s soccer team, a team I have had the great pleasure of covering this past season, I can’t help but feel just a little bit lugubrious.

As a fourth year set to graduate and leave Charlottesville in the spring — please everyone knock on wood for me — I feel as if I just watched the first half of a really promising movie and now won’t be able to see it through to the end.

You know how in sports movies the team always has to go through some sort of trial and tribulation before it is able to attain ultimate success? Some clichéd combination of a bonding and learning experience that seems almost too good to be true?

Well, that’s what the 2012 campaign was for this young Cavalier team. If it was supposed to be a “transition year,” it couldn’t have been scripted any better.

Coach George Gelnovatch — in his 17th year leading the program — intentionally set up his “youngest team ever” with one of the nation’s toughest schedules.

He said that he “thought about planning it that way, thought about making it tough for them,” but even he admits he never could have foreseen how well his plan was going to work out.

Week in and week out, the jejune Cavaliers were tested on the pitch, playing a seemingly interminable string of ranked opponents. And if that wasn’t enough, 17 of the team’s 23 Please see Baskin, Page A4

Please recycle this newspaper

Toby Loewenstein| Cavalier Daily

Redshirt senior Paige Selenski etched her name into the record books this season, scoring a program-record 238 goals.

By Matt Comey

Cavalier Daily Associate Editor Though every player on the Virginia field hockey team would tell you ending the

season short of a national championship was a grand disappointment, this year will go down among the most remarkable in Cavalier history.

Just one year after the pro-

gram’s first losing season in six years, the team regrouped to post a 16-6 record and earn a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals before losing to eventual national champion Princeton.

“Only one team ends up wining it all, and no matter what, it’s disappointing for the other 15 teams in the tournament,” coach Michele Madison said. “We gave it a good run and matched up well with Princeton, who eventually won, and that’s how it goes.”

This year the Cavaliers were also forced to incorporate a pair of redshirt seniors a full year removed from the program into leading roles on the offense. Forward Paige Selenski and midfielder Michelle Vittese missed last season to compete for the U.S. National Team before returning for their final year at Virginia.

“I think the team’s adjustment with Paige and Michelle went very well,” Madison said. “That’s really not an easy thing to do. They became such a close team because everyone wanted to make it work. They fought for it every day and I’m very proud of that.”

The Cavaliers were eventuPlease see Field Hockey, Page A3

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Bennett visits old mentor Ryan Virginia faces similarly defensive Wisconsin for ACC-Big Ten Challenge; Evans set to return

By Fritz Metzinger

Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor When Tony Bennett left Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan’s staff in 2003 and followed his father, Dick, to Washington State, he took more than his belongings with him.

He also brought with him Ryan’s penchant for stingy manto-man-defense and perimeter shooting-fueled half court

offense. Nine years later, he is emulating that slow, grind-itout style at Virginia, setting the table for a fascinating showdown between apprentice and master when Bennett’s squad visits Wisconsin Wednesday evening as part of the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

“Coach Bennett’s told us that Please see M Basketball, Page A4

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Forward Akil Mitchell takes a shot during a recent home contest. Mitchell is enjoying a career year with 11.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

STUDY SEASON

SUGGESTIONS

WAYS TO HELP INCREASE MEMORY RETENTION

By Kamala Ganesh

Cavalier Daily Senior Writer With finals fast approaching, students are willing to resort to some pretty strange study techniques to cram for their upcoming exams. Here are four easy but not-so-common tips to help increase retention and decrease stress.

Exercise: A recent study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign provides compelling evidence for exercising to help prepare for exams. Mice that were allowed to exercise for 30 days were injected with a chemical that m a r k s n e w l y - c r e a t e d b ra i n c e l l s .

These mice showed signs of being primed for cocaine addiction. Mice that were active before and while they were first introduced to cocaine were addicted for longer than mice that were sedentary when they were first introduced to cocaine and only began running after they had become addicted. Although the connection between exercise and addiction seems alarming, study author Justin Rhodes commented, “What the study shows is how profoundly exercise affects learning.”

When the brains of the mice were examined, mice that had been active throughout the study showed twice as many new hippocampus brain cells than the initially-sedentary mice. The hippocampus is a place in the brain critical for the formation of new memories, especially with the type of learning that requires you to associate a new thought with its context. So while you’re hitting the books, don’t forget to take breaks to hit the gym too!

Change up your study location, or study somewhere with a strong smell: Your brain forms subliminal associations between information and the background sensations that occur while studying. A 1978 study found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words twice in two very different environments performed better than students who studied the list two times in the same

location.

Smell also proves to be a powerful tool for encoding memory. Studying in a location with a distinct smell, such as freshly brewed coffee, can also help form associative memories.

The olfactory bulb, which helps sense odors, has strong connections to the hippocampus and amygdala: parts of the brain that aid in memory formation and emotional encoding. If you prep for the test in a coffee house then bring a cup o’ joe along to the exam, you may remember more of what you studied.

Ask yourself questions, study by taking tests: Find yourself reading the same line in your textbook again and again? It’s time to take a break for a quick and painfully-hard exam. Several studies have found that taking tests after learning material improves the brain’s capacity to retrieve the information, especially if the test is difficult. The more effort it takes to retrieve and work with a certain memory while taking an exam, the more securely this memory will become stored in the mind. The memory also becomes more accessible for the future.

Change your notes to a font that is hard to read: In a recent study published in the journal Cognition, Indiana University and Princeton University psychologists presented two groups of participants with the same reading material, but in different fonts. They found that the participants who had been presented with the material in harder to read fonts performed better on an exam — another example of difficult learning facilitating easy memory retrieval.

Many of us are able to look in the back of the book at answers to problems and convince ourselves that we knew them all along, just because they seem familiar. In doing so, we are confusing ease of storage with ease of recall. Many a study so far tells us that the more we struggle with learning, the longer our memories will last.

Changing those notes to a crazy font may be just the right amount of struggle needed to conquer finals week.

I wanna hold your hand University lab studies connection between brain function, hand holding

By MONIKA FALLON

Do you ever get the urge to hold hands with someone while wearing a ridiculous-looking hat? Well if you do, you’re in luck because the The Virginia Affective Neuroscience laboratory is currently conducting a group of hand-holding studies and is looking for students to participate.

The process is very simple: The volunteer brings a (non-romantic) friend of the opposite sex to the lab and is h o o ke d u p t o a n o n invasive electroencephalogram (EEG) to record brain activity.

The subject hooked up to the EEG is then put through a “threat paradigm,” which flashes a set of pictures or symbols, some of which are accompanied with an uncomfortable, but nonpainful shock.

“If you’ve ever walked across a carpet and received a shock when

Cavalier Daily HEALTH AND SCIENCE EDITOR

touching an electronics device,” the VAN lab’s email said “it feels a bit like that.”

The subjects go through the test either alone or holding the hand of the friend they brought along.

The subject is then put through a Stroop Test, where he or she must read the names of colors that are written in colors not matching the word — “blue” written in red ink, for instance — and are tested for speed.

Casey Brown, project coordinator for the VAN lab, said the Stroop Test is a classic test of cognitive functioning. “ We a r e e x p e c t i n g someone who was hold-

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ing hands during the first test will be faster than those who haven’t been holding hands because they will be less cognitively depleted,” Brown said.

“It seems to be less cognitively-depleting to regulate emotions when we’re with other people.”

This is not the first hand-holding study the lab has done, Brown said.

A few years ago, Assoc.

Psychology Prof. James Coan, director of the VAN lab, ran a similar study with married couples.

One spouse was placed in

a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to take pictures of brain function and received shocks while holding his or her spouse’s hand, holding the hand of a stranger, or holding no one’s hand. Brown said the “threat activity” in the brain was decreased during hand-holding, meaning the subject experienced less cognitive depletion.

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NEWS

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | The Cavalier Daily

Three-Day Weather Forecast

Provided by the Cavalier Weather Service

TODAY High of 50˚

TONIGHT Low of 28˚

TOMORROW High of 51˚

Clearing skies, with west/ northwesterly winds around 5-8 mph.

Mostly clear skies with calm winds from the west/ southwest.

Mostly sunny skies, with winds shifting from southwest to south, around 3-7 mph.

TOMORROW NIGHT Low of 29˚ Clear skies, with southerly winds around 2 mph.

High pressure quickly pushed out the dreary weather we experienced yesterday. Sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid 50s will return to Charlottesville today and remain for the rest of the week.

Professors talk ethics Darden, Harvard faculty members discuss leadership styles, accountability

Dillon Harding| Cavalier Daily

Darden Prof. Ed Freeman spoke Tuesday afternoon at the Batten School about how to encourage ethical leadership.

By Celia Jeffords

Cavalier Daily Staff Writer Unethical leadership can s t e m f r o m m a ny c a u s e s , according to a talk given at the Batten School Tuesday, but fixing this problem can be as easy as holding leaders more accountable for their actions.

Darden Prof. Ed Freeman emphasized the necessity of “connecting values with leadership.” He advocated responsible leadership — a combination of both socially accepted ethics and individual principles.

But both Freeman and Harvard University Business

Administration Prof. Max Bazerman recognized that being an ethically responsible leader is easier said than done. Freeman outlined several possible causes of unethical behavior — ranging from the individual’s narrow conception of leadership to a fundamental character trait. “The most important reason is that leaders don’t see the need for them to inspire other people,” Freeman said.

Bazerman’s lecture highlighted the “blind spots” of leaders, blaming their unethical behavior on their own ignorance. “We aren’t as ethical as we think,” he said. “There’s a

gap between our intended and actual behavior.”

It’s not just leaders who have a responsibility to foster an ethical community. Bazerman also suggested followers had an unhealthy tendency toward the status quo and were insufficiently critical of leaders.

“We don’t notice things until the bad outcome occurs,” he said. “We tend to not notice when people’s behavior erodes over time.”

The talk was co-sponsored by the Darden School’s Initiative for Business in Society, which promotes interaction between business programs and the public.

NEWS

FRIDAY High of 56˚ Sunny skies persist, wind winds around 4 mph.

To receive Cavalier Weather Service forecasts via email, contact weather@virginia.edu

IN BRIEF

Most support college reforms A recent survey commissioned

by Northeastern University showed most Americans believe U.S. colleges need to undergo reforms to remain competitive in an international education system, even though they value the current system.

The survey, released Tuesday, found 83 percent of Americans believe “the U.S. higher education system needs to change to remain competitive with other countries around the world,” even while 75 percent ranked the United States’ college system ahead of other countries’.

The survey, conducted last October by the global business advisory firm FTI Consulting, interviewed 1,001 American adults by phone and 250 Americans under the age of 30 via the Internet. It has an error rate of 3.1 percent.

Respondents reported higher education played a large role in determining personal success after graduation. About 63 of phone respondents said college graduates who enter the workforce today are “more well-rounded and better prepared to meet challenges” than non-college graduates. About the same percentage of the online respondents agreed.

A large majority of those polled found college education either very important or extremely important for “finding a good job,” “being able to keep a good job,” “getting promoted or advancing your career” or “having job mobility and success throughout life.”

In addition, 86 percent agreed that college is important for “personal development” and 88 percent believed that it provides “important intellectual benefits, like critical thinking and new ways to analyze information.”

About three-quarters of those polled said the observed decline in college enrollment and graduation rates disturbed them. Roughly 75 percent said they believed that America would not be able to “remain globally competitive if these trends continue into the future.”

Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun released a statement in reaction to the study that emphasized the importance of reform to maintain a reputable American higher education system.

“In over whelming num bers, they’re telling us that the system of today will not meet the challenges of tomorrow,” he said in the statement. “These findings are a wake-up call for those of us in higher education to renew the social compact we have always had with Americans by innovating across multiple dimensions.”

In the national phone sample of American adults 18 years or older, 48 percent of respondents had not completed college, and 52 percent had at least an associate’s degree or more. Among online respondents — aged 18-30 — 43 percent had completed a college degree and 58 percent had not.

—compiled by Jordan Bower

VDOT | Agency estimates project will cost $8.9 million Continued from page A1 reduce delays and enhance safety” along the selected route, according to department officials. Among proposed improvements are the addition of a southbound lane along U.S. 29, a sidewalk in the widened median , and the construction of a second lane along the westbound entrance ramp onto the U.S. 250 Bypass , according to official documents.

About $1.75 million, taken both from state and federal funds, went to engineering of roadway plans for the project.

Department representatives were present to answer questions, and community members were able to submit either

written or oral comments for later review by project officials.

The Baltimore-based consulting firm RK&K had already presented plans for the project at a community meeting in June.

Kristie Dubay, an RK&K consultant , said Tuesday’s forum was designed to allow people to express any concerns surrounding the proposed construction, which would be taken into account as the project moves forward.

Several aspects of the project need to be signed off on and specific time windows need to be met before it can progress, department official Rick Rohm said. “People don’t realize even though this is a small project

we have to get all of the funding and adhere to all the federal regulations,” he said.

Officials first need to request the right to use portions of three parcels of privately-owned land to construct a right-of-way lane and to provide construction teams with more room while working.

A median in the construction area will be widened to provide a pathway for residents to cross the bypass. In previous years, residents in nearby neighborhoods expressed concern about not being able to cross the street. After a recent resident survey showed 63 percent of 24 pedestrian respondents required a safe pathway, the City of Charlottesville decided

to propose the new sidewalk.

About $8.9 million is expected to go toward construction, including the addition of noise barriers to lessen the decibel impact of increased traffic.

Residents in areas adjacent to proposed construction sites had previously expressed concern about noise that would accompany increases in traffic.

Jim Johnston , a representative from a church adjacent to the areas slated to be affected, said the noise levels remain a major concern of residents.

“The question is how much of an annoyance will it be to residents and what will the cost be [to fix it],” he said.

The department conducted a preliminary noise study

on areas near construction sites and determined where it would be most effective to build the barriers, said Lovejoy Muchenje, a department engineer who specializes in noise abatement. Federal regulations state decibel levels must not exceed 66 decibels — requirements Muchenje said would be met once barriers were put in place.

A final plan for the barriers, including materials used and cost, will be established after a final study is conducted, Muchenje said. “At this stage it’s a preliminary stage, so we don’t know what the walls will be made of,” he said. “We take into account different elevations [and] types of traffic.”

Field Hockey | Virginia loses decorated senior class Continued from page A1 ally able to put together some very impressive wins. Early in the season the team knocked off then-No. 3 Old Dominion and defeated two-time defending national champion Maryland later that September . In total the Cavaliers defeated seven ranked opponents , and four of Virginia’s six losses came against teams that reached NCAA Tournament semifinals.

The season featured Virginia records and milestones aplenty.

Most notably, Selenski became the all-time Cavalier scoring leader with 238 career points, and the program notched its 500th victory in a Sept. 23 win against Boston University.

In addition, Madison earned her 300th career victory, placing her 26th in Division I history ; a 14-0 victory against Towson in August marked the most goals ever scored by an

ACC team ; and by scoring a goal in every game, the Cavaliers also avoided being shut out for the entire season.

The Cavaliers were honored with a slew of individual recognitions this season. Vittese, Selenski, junior back Elly Buckley, and sophomore goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone were all named to the 17 member All-ACC squad , making Virginia the second most represented team in the conference. Those four Cavalier players also earned places on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association South Region Team, while sophomore forward Rachel Sumfest and junior midfielder Carissa Vittese garnered second team recognition. Selenski and Michelle Vittese also merited first team All-American honors , while Buckley received second-team honors.

“Every year we seem to get

more and more on All-Americans,” Madison said. “More individuals get recognized.

Only successful programs have awards. I know they would all give that up for a national championship.”

The season also saw Selenski become arguably the greatest player in Virginia field hockey history. The four-time AllAmerican was both ACC Offensive Player of the Year and NFHCA South Region Player of the Year. Her 238 points, in addition to setting the Virginia career record, rank best in ACC and eighth in NCAA history.

She became the 10th player in NCAA history to score 100 career goals, trailing only Virginia great Meredith Thorpe in the ACC. The Cavaliers bid farewell to a golden senior class, consisting of Selenski, Michelle Vittese, forward Britt Knouse, back Phoebe Willis and goal-

keeper Amanda Crider. The five seniors reached backto-back NCAA tournament semifinal matches, a feat only accomplished one other time in Virginia history.

The cumulative post-season experience from the seniors should prove to be a valuable asset to the younger members of the team going forward.

“We have players on our team with final four experience, and Paige and Michelle even have Olympic experience,” Sumfest said before the NCAA tournament. “These are games where you have to put everything on the line and you have your entire season at stake. I think it’s really important that we have leadership with that kind of experience.”

Although each of the seniors’ immediate goal will be to finish their degrees, Madison said that it was nice for them to have field hockey in their back

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pockets. She also noted that Michelle Vittese and Selenski were eying future international play.

“Paige and Michelle are still on the national squad, and both of their goals is Rio De Janeiro in 2016,” Madison said.

“But in national play you really have to focus on two years at a time, in this case for the World Championships in Holland in 2014.”

With the recruiting process for next season nearly wrapped up, Madison said that nine athletes will be entering the program in 2013. That number will match only the current junior class , meaning the freshman and senior classes next season will make up two thirds of the squad.

“There will be a huge influx of young enthusiastic talent,” Madison said. “We’ll look to become a team as quickly as we can.”

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SPORTS

Remembering Sean Taylor ZACK BARTEE It’s been five years now, but it seems like a lifetime since Sean Taylor took the field for the Redskins. Five years have gone by, but my memories of him remain as vivid as when he was still with us.

There are so many great plays and bone-crushing hits by Sean that are worth remembering, but one stands above the rest for me. After defeating the Redskins 27-10 in Dallas earlier in the 2006 season, “America’s Team” lined up for a game-winning field goal with six seconds left at FedEx Field Nov. 5, 2006.

After a miraculous block by the Redskins’ Troy Vincent, it appeared that the game would head to overtime.

Sean had other ideas.

Taylor scooped up the ball and returned it 30 yards, weaving his way through various Cowboy tackle attempts and drawing a facemask by Kyle Kosier that added an extra 15 yards to the end of the return and gave the Redskins one untimed down. After having missed the potential game-winning field goal with 31 seconds left, Nick Novak’s kick with no time left was money. Redskins 22, Cowboys 19.

It wasn’t a classic Sean hit that made you cringe, but it was the epitome of the type of player he was ­— tough, unyielding, and a born playmaker.

I remember turning on ESPN before school one Monday morning in late November 2007. When I saw the breaking news that Sean Taylor had been shot and airlifted to the hospital, I refused to believe that I was awake — it had to be a horrible dream.

At that point nobody cared about Sean coming back to play football. It was about a father, a son, a teammate and a friend — who meant so much to the city of Washington — fighting for his life. From watching Taylor play on the field, I couldn’t imagine there was anything that he couldn’t do. So we prayed for a miracle.

On the morning of Nov. 27, five years ago Tuesday, Sean passed. He was a man who rarely spoke to the media and who kept a close inner circle, but you could see the impact he had on the city from the immediate outpouring of support from D.C.-area residents.

He was the one player you could always count on to play until the final whistle, regardless of the score. He made more big plays in his three and a half years in the league than most guys make in their entire careers. Off the field he may have been reserved. But on the field Sean was larger than life — and Redskins fans admired him for it.

Five days after his death, my dad and I were at FedEx Field on a gray December Sunday to watch the Redskins take on the Bills. I was wearing my burgundy Sean Taylor jersey — No. 36, from his rookie season — that I had gotten for Christmas in 2004. It was my first football jersey ever, and every time I put that jersey on I was proud to be a Redskins fan. It didn’t matter how bad the team was.

Sean’s tenacious play always gave me a reason to be proud.

It didn’t seem right for the Redskins to play football without Sean. The short tribute video brought many in the stadium to tears and ended with Sean soaring into the endzone after returning a fumble for a touchdown against the Eagles in Week 17 of 2005, a move that helped send the Redskins to the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The words at the bottom of the screen were simple, but telling: “We will miss you Sean.”

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter that the Bills ended up winning on a boneheaded Joe Gibbs unsportsmanlike conduct penalty because of his calling two consecutive timeouts to ice the kicker. What I remember most is the first Bills offensive play, when the Redskins defense took the field with only 10 men.

I still have a picture of that missing man formation framed on my wall, the play that drove home the fact that Sean was gone.

I’m aware that Sean was not

the perfect citizen and had gotten in trouble early in his career. I didn’t know him personally, but by most accounts he had matured and turned his personal life around with the birth of his daughter. What I do know is that Sean Taylor risked his life to protect his fiancée and daughter during a home invasion and unfortunately paid the ultimate price. For that I admire him far more than I ever could for something he did on the football field.

Sean never left a doubt in anyone’s mind that he was giving his all every play. From the minute he came into the league, Sean let everyone know that they were playing on his field.

What I miss the most is watching a Redskins game and suddenly seeing Sean come out of nowhere and level an opposing player. I don’t think I could count the number of times I heard Larry, Sonny, or Sam from Redskins Radio exclaim, “Sean Taylor nearly decapitated him!” My favorite call of all time came when Sean crushed the Steelers’ Willie Parker to break up a pass, and Sam couldn’t help but yell, “Taylor! Taylor! My God, Taylor!” That was the kind of excitement Sean brought to the game.

I’ve seen a fraction of NFL history, but I believe Sean Taylor would have gone down as one of the greatest players of all time. From the way he was playing at only 24 in 2007 it seemed as if he had limitless potential, and it made the imaginations of Redskins fans run wild. To this day I, among many others, wonder how good he could have been.

My dad and Pops have always told me about NFL legends like Jim Brown and how players today don’t compare to them.

When I have kids of my own and insist that football players from my generation were the greatest of all time, I’ll tell them about Sean and how in just three and a half years he became the hardest hitting and most feared player in the league.

Thank you, Sean, for making me proud to be a Redskins fan.

We still miss you.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | The Cavalier Daily

SPORTS

IN BRIEF

Starsia names 2013 recruits

Virginia coach Dom Starsia revealed his official 2013-14 recruiting class earlier this week. Several marquee names highlight the list of 10 recruits, including Matt Barrett, Inside Lacrosse’s top-rated rising senior goaltender, and Matt Emery, the younger brother of junior AllAmerican Rob Emery.

Starsia’s impressive haul of high school stars arrives on the heels of a highly-touted 2012 class, which Inside Lacrosse ranked second nationwide behind North Carolina.

Barrett, a 6-foot, 220-pound Glenmoore, Pa. native, helped secure a No. 25 national ranking in 2011 for Malvern Prep, where he also plays football. Emery is a tall, powerful midfielder akin to

his older brother and pegged as the No. 19 senior. He hails from San Francisco.

The class also features Zed Williams, New York state’s all-time leading scorer and a member of the Seneca Native-American tribe. He lives in Irving, N.Y. and also excels in football and basketball.

Other recruits include Jacob Dean of Medford Lakes, N.J.; AJ Fish of Grayslake, Ill.; Jeff Kratky of Darien, Conn.; Ryan Lukacovic of Syosset, N.Y.; Andrew Mullen of Toronto, Ontario; Michael Rhoads of McLean, Va.; and Alec Webster of Greenwich, Conn.

The men’s lacrosse team begins play this February.

—compiled by Fritz Metzinger

Matt Bloom | Cavalier Daily

Coach Dom Starsia hauled in another highly-touted recruiting class for 2013, ensuring the lacrosse team will remain loaded with talent.

Baskin | Young squad shows spirit during exciting year Continued from page A1 contests were decided by one goal or ended in a tie. Remarkably, nine went into overtime. It felt like every game this season was a last second nail-bitter that continually tried the young team’s resolve and resilience and forced me to muffle myself with my sleeve in the press box to prevent from cheering, screaming, cursing and the like.

That kind of experience is precious and exceptionally rare. For a team that is set to return 10 of 11 starters next season, that kind of experience portends prolonged success.

“We really did a lot for ourselves this season in preparation for what we want to accomplish not just next year, but the next couple of years,” Gelnovatch said. “I really feel like it’s going to pay huge dividends. This young team went through it all this year.”

What the team accomplished

this year was wholly impressive and commendable on its own merit too. They should be proud of their achievements, which include making it to the semifinals of the ACC and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009, when they won the entire thing.

After the team rallied from behind to defeat then-No. 22 California all the way back in August, Gelnovatch presciently told me that he was impressed with his team’s spirit.

That spirit was on full display when the team finished off its season with a seven-game unbeaten streak — its longest since 2009 — leading up to its season-ending loss to New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA tournament. It was also palpable in the first round of the ACC Tournament when the Cavaliers battled back from two separate one-goal deficits in a game for the first time since

2005 en route to their upset victory against Wake Forest.

Their indomitable spirit is the reason that in every game this year, no matter the score or the amount of time remaining, it always felt like the Cavaliers had a chance to win — to come back, to do something exciting.

For a team that was forced to balance a precarious mix of marked inexperience with prodigious yet raw talent, Gelnovatch believes that his squad “got the most out of each other, got the most we could out of what we had, and potentially put ourselves in a position for great future success.”

In essence, it was the paragon of how to construct a transition year.

Yes, the team will lose senior captain Will Bates next season — who, if I call him the central hub and heart of the team this year, still wouldn’t get his due credit. Bates graduates as the seventh leading goal-scorer in

the program’s storied history, and Gelnovatch admits that his absence will need to be filled “by committee.”

But with freshmen studs Darius Madison, Marcus Salandy-Defour, Brian James, Todd Wharton, and Jordan Poarch — in addition to sophomores Eric Bird, Chris Somerville, and Ryan Zinkhan — all returning, there will simply be too much talent on offense for the ball not to consistently find the back of the net.

In addition, sophomore goalkeeper Spencer LaCivita, who was purportedly playing at 80 percent health all season long as he courageously battled a painful hip injury that required surgery Tuesday, is expected to make a full recovery by

season .

next

Combine that with a backline that already proved to be stout and is set to return all four starters, and the defense should again be tough to pen-

etrate.

Honestly, I can say it was a real joy to watch this young team grow and develop throughout this season. It felt like I was experiencing the beginning — the creation — of something that could be special.

When you combine their spirit with what will now be an immense repertoire of experiences ... well, let’s just say that I’ve never been one for bold predictions, but I feel very confident in saying that the future is very bright for our Cavaliers.

And I’m not alone in that belief.

“It’s exciting to think about the next couple of years for the program,” Gelnovatch said. “I think we’re going to be very, very good going forward.”

Selfishly, I just hope that wherever I end up after graduation, I’ll be able to make it back to Charlottesville — preferably in December — to see how the movie ends.

M Basketball | Cavaliers seek third straight Challenge win Continued from page A1 this team’s going to look like a mirror of ourselves,” junior forward Akil Mitchell said. “They play defense, they take care of the ball, they do a lot of the things that we do.”

The ties between the Cavaliers (4-2, 0-0 ACC) and Badgers (4-2, 0-0 Big Ten) run beyond Bennett’s four-year stint as an assistant in Madison or the teams’ identical records. They both impose a crawling pace of play and terrorize opposing offenses, with Virginia’s 54.2 points per game allowed last year ranking second in the nation — behind Wisconsin’s 53.2 points per game.

Bennett has his young roster maintaining the lofty defensive standard he set last season through six games this year. Virginia is yielding just 53.0 points per game so far and held Seattle and Lamar to a measly 87 combined points in successive wins Nov. 17 and 19, respectively.

The Cavaliers followed those defensive masterpieces with another dominating 80-64 thumping of North Texas last Tuesday to rebound with a threegame win streak from a shocking

59-53 loss to Delaware two weeks ago. With many of the squad’s heralded freshmen beginning to excel — including forwards Justin Anderson and Evan Nolte, who scored career-highs with 14 and 13 points against North Texas, respectively — Bennett and the players believe they are starting to discover the form necessary to navigate the perpetually grueling waters of ACC competition.

“I think we are making the most of our opportunities,” Bennett said. “...You’ve got to just keep plugging.”

Mitchell, in particular, has been a revelation in the early goings, anchoring a largely inexperienced offensive line. With junior guard Joe Harris predictably providing Virginia’s primary scoring option with 15.0 points per game, Mitchell is averaging a near double-double with 11.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and is easing the Cavaliers’ transition to life without 2012 All-ACC star Mike Scott.

“Without Mike there, I’m just trying to be the leader of the post guys,” Mitchell said.

Senior point guard Jontel Evans should finally return at full

throttle for Virginia Wednesday evening after an X-ray last weekend showed that his broken right foot has healed to an acceptable level. In addition to relieving Harris of ball-handling duties, Evans’ quick hands should bolster an already stout Cavalier defense. He earned ACC All-Defensive team honors in 2011-12 and has led Virginia in assists and steals each of the last two years.

“He just gives us that extra spark defensively — he knows his defense like the back of his hand,” Mitchell said after the latter’s brief cameo in the Delaware defeat. “He’s our leader on the floor. He’s our go-to offensively.”

Like Virginia, the Badgers are trying this season to replace their undisputed best player from 2012, graduated guard Jordan Taylor. Taylor averaged 14.8 points per game last season a year after Yahoo! Sports named him to its Second Team All-America squad, steadying an otherwise uneven offensive attack for Ryan’s characteristically gritty roster.

S o m e w h a t s u r p r i s i n g l y, though, Wisconsin is scoring a

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blistering 75.8 points per game with four Badgers, led by senior forward Jared Berggren, averaging in double figures. No. 10 Florida and No. 14 Creighton have handed Wisconsin its two losses.

One concern for Bennett involves his still maturing team’s response to the notoriously raucous Kohl Center crowd in Madison. Wednesday’s showdown will be Virginia’s first away from John Paul Jones Arena since a season-opening 63-59 loss to George Mason Nov. 9, and it comes against a Badger team with a startling 49-5 home record in the last three-plus seasons.

“We’ve got a young team, we’ve got a lot of young players,” Mitchell said. “I’m ready of that aspect of the challenge, it’ll be something to see if the young guys ... can adapt.”

The Cavaliers are striving for their third straight victory in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge after vanquishing Minnesota and Michigan in each of the past two seasons.

Virginia has thrived in the perennial two-day event, but the rest of the ACC has struggled.

After winning the Commission-

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er’s Cup for the challenge’s first 10 years of existence, the ACC has yielded the last three to the Big Ten. Overall, Bennett believes his players are beginning to fit the mold of his ideal style of team — the same mold that Ryan has employed to direct the Badgers to three regular season Big Ten championships and an NCAA Tournament appearance in each of his 11 seasons at the helm.

“We can’t afford a lot of mistakes the way we play, so we kind of have to play a little closer to the vest and it doesn’t always look the best,” Bennett said. “I can sense when guys are starting to understand what it means to get the ball reversed, to look inside, to make the other team work — all things that for us equate to good basketball.”

Mitchell even implied that the protege, in many respects, is beginning to eclipse his Wisconsin mentor.

“I’m actually a little more confident in our system ... and a little more confident in our players, so I feel like it will bode well for us,” Mitchell said.

Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ESPN2 will televise the contest.

Comics

A5

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

H

DJANGEO BY STEPHEN ROWE

OROSCOPES

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You receive profound spiritual guidance and inspiration in simple, small ways. So there’s no need to go into a trance, have a wild dream or pray on your knees for hours at a time. All you have to do is pay attention.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You’ll be invigorated by the new people you meet and maybe even inspired to open your social scene to people you don’t normally mix with.

There is strength in diversity.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You’re in the market and ready to buy. Will this item still be relevant next year? Five years from now? Decide how much use you’re likely to get from an item before you pull out your pocketbook.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Getting your work done might take priority over codling someone’s sensitive emotions. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re tough. You recognize that everyone will benefit from your efficiency.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You don’t miss anything today and that’s why you’ll score a rare find or appreciate a beautiful detail. Your sharp eye and careful listening skills are an asset to those around you.

GREEK LIFE BY MATT HENSEL

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Others peg you for their leader. It’s probably because your sense of justice is strong. You’re also an advocate for free speech. You may not agree with what loved ones say, but you defend their right to an opinion.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’ll be gathering with your friends and neighbors.

Whether it’s for fun or to accomplish something together, the important part to appreciate is the community spirit you are nurturing.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You have every intention of following the agenda and then something unexpected will fascinate you and lead you away from the plan. You won’t feel stressed about this though, and that’s what makes you so fun.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re thinking about the future but are not ready to make your plans yet. Let loved ones weigh in with advice.

The more information you get, the better.

Knowing the range of options makes you feel more certain about your choice.

THE ADVENTURES OF THE AMAZING <THE> A-MAN BY EMILIO ESTEBAN

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The intensity of a crowd will energize you just as long as it’s the right crowd. Go where the shiny, happy people are. The joy is buzzing all around and all you have to do is absorb it.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Public service is a worthy endeavor. The world needs your talents and intelligence. There’s something inside you that needs to give back and make things better. Volunteer your help.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (NOVEMBER 28). Your self-control and autonomy are remarkable. You don’t let your ego control you, and you are slow to react to your feelings until you’re sure it’s the right move for all. People see you as stable and able to help them and they will pay well for your consultation. You are wrapped in the arms of love in January. Capricorn and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 11, 4, 50, 28 and 15.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’re in a precarious position of power. Action would be effortless for you, but it would also have consequences. Should you push the button and hope for the best? Wait until you’re sure.

CHICKEN STRIP BY SAM NOVACK & SORCHA HARTMAN

NO SUBJECT BY JANE MATTIMOE

RENAISSANCING BY TIM PRICE

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 9.

The New York Times Syndication Salesthrough Corporation

LAST SOLUTION:

620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018

BEAR NECESSITIES BY MAX MEESE & ALEX SCOTT

Solution, tips and Call: computer program at www.sudoku.com For Information 1-800-972-3550

MOSTLY HARMLESS BY PETER SIMONSEN

For Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Edited by Will Shortz ACROSS 1 Cavalry weapon 6 “And there it is!”

10 Argue (with) 14 Spasm 15 Hollywood has some big ones 16 Summon 17 Actor Norris, after gaining weight?

19 Attendee of the fictional Lowood Institution for girls 20 “… ___ quit!”

21 Symbols of speed 22 Flower part 23 1993 Peace Nobelist 25 Hankering 26 What a tosspot fantasizes the clouds would do?

30 Designed to pique interest, say 33 Toot 34 Collar

A BUNCH OF BANANAS BY JACK WINTHROP & GARRETT MAJDIC

36 “Hurry!”

37 Some makeup … or a hint to 17-, 26-, 43- and 58-Across 39 Badlands feature 40 Unite 41 Whoosh!

42 A bit questionable 43 Thieves at an all-night dance bash?

47 Show some respect to a judge 48 All riled up 52 Emo emotion 54 Conceived 56 Sugar ending 57 Strike 58 Someone responding to a party R.S.V.P.?

60 ___ Krabappel, Bart Simpson’s teacher 61 Boxer’s fare?

62 Kind of glasses 63 Dieter’s amount

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE A B F A B

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R E A A P R S H E B A

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U S P S S O D A T C L A S A S H S T A A E A N T S T E R E N E A R I T Y S I S S E P L E L P A P A E S S C H R O T O S M A I

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O C A L R U B A A B I N A D E G N E D N U R S E B E G T I N G E S S E E T A L L K O U T I N D O T E E N

64 Paint swatch choice 65 Common door sign

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DOWN 1 Longtime senator Thurmond 2 Now, in Nogales 3 Bobby Orr, notably 4 Impatient person’s wait, seemingly 5 Conan O’Brien, e.g.

6 Mideast capital 7 Bad fit 8 Entries in two Oscar categories, slangily 9 “That’s all I ___” 10 Address 11 There used to be a lot more of these on corners 12 Indian tourist locale 13 Country dance 18 District of Colombia?

22 Knock off 24 Stalactite producer 25 Knocks off 27 Manhattan Project result, informally 28 Guitarist Paul 29 Shipboard punishment 30 Bar topic 31 PC operator 32 Items for baseball scouts and highway patrol officers

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No. 1024

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Puzzle by Ian Livengood

35 Triple Crown winner Citation or Gallant Fox 37 Reason for an R rating 38 Back of a public house, maybe 39 Get wrong 41 Spice

42 Where many Greeks are found 44 Outlooks 45 Part that may be pinched 46 Sufficiently, in poetry 49 Tribal figure 50 Rhône tributary 51 Put on again

52 Jump on the ice 53 Intersection point 54 Western accessory 55 N.F.L. broadcaster 58 ___ in hand 59 Subj. of a Wall Street Journal story

For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554.

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Opinion

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Cavalier Daily “For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”

—Thomas Jefferson

Matthew Cameron Editor-in-Chief Aaron Eisen Kaz Komolafe Executive Editor Managing Editor Gregory Lewis Anna Xie Operations Manager Chief Financial Officer

A legal text

“Correctable errors were a problem all season. 12 men on the field, illegal substitutions, throws into double coverage, false starts in the red zone, missed tackles... the list goes on. I don’t expect perfection, but the errors have to be minimized next year.”

“Charlie Lorber,” responding to Fritz Metzinger’s Nov. 25 column, “An avoidable collapse”

Whereas laws against texting while driving are tough to enforce, a ban on drivers using any handheld electronics would make Virginia’s roads safer Text messaging from the driver’s seat of a car could become a more serious crime in the commonwealth.

Currently, texting while driving is against the law in Virginia — but as a “secondary” offense, meaning that it can only be cited if the driver is caught breaking a primary law such as speeding. Now, the Virginia State Crime Commission — which presents legislative recommendations to the General Assembly — is considering whether to classify texting and driving as “reckless driving,” making it a primary offense with a maximum punishment of one year in prison. Upgrading the offense of motor vehicle texting would be difficult to enforce; instead of merely cracking down on texting, lawmakers would be better advised to retool the law to address handheld devices in general.

The arguments against texting in the car have their origin in the state of Virginia. A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study in 2009 — what The New York Times called “The first study of drivers texting inside their vehicles” — revealed just how much more dangerous a driver could be when staring at a cellular phone. This study documented truck drivers for 18 months by placing cameras on-board in their vehicles. It found that the risk of an accident was 23 times greater if a truck driver was texting, and further studies have displayed how the dangers are common to vehicles of all models and types.

In the wake of this and similar studies, state legislation on texting and driving has gained momentum in the last several years. There are currently 39 states

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that outlaw such practice, including Virginia. Among those states, texting and driving is a primary offense in 35 of the 39. But Virginia is one of only four to make texting a secondary offense.

As states have ratcheted up the laws against texting, police officers have found it nearly impossible to make a citation. Talking on cell phones is still legal in numerous states, so the distinction of whether someone is texting or dialing can be hard to assess — especially by a police officer, who has to peer into windows to make such a judgment. Thus, making texting a primary offense puts an increased burden on officers — they have to be on the lookout for cell phones, in addition to typical violations such as speeding, all the while keeping two hands on the wheel and two eyes on the road.

The status quo sends a message that Virginia disapproves of texting while driving but will leave it up to individual drivers to manage their phones and their cars. Critics might say that this is not good enough — that texting should be illegal before accidents happen or cars begin swerving. Nevertheless, any law on texting, regardless of whether the offense is classified as primary or secondary, puts an undue pressure on officers. Instead, if the law prohibited not just texting but handheld electronic devices, police would be able to identify those breaking the law more speedily. Drivers would also be prevented from engaging in related activities — such as calling or scanning the Internet — that have proven just as dangerous to them and those on the road.

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OPINION

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | The Cavalier Daily

The difficult course

I

Weed-out classes, though they may be viewed as difficult, should not be considered unfair

N H E R N OV E M B E R 2 5 specifically for the goal of deter column “Weeding out the ring students from a career path y o u n g , ” A s h l e y S p i n k s seems to be an exaggeration. writes against the concept of To some, weed-out courses may the “weed-out” class, claiming seem unfair, but the negative connotations assothat such classes ciated with them unduly deter some ALEX YAHANDA are as much a students from purSENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR product of studentsuing their origigenerated hype as nal career paths.

She cites the fact that the Uni- actual academic rigor.

In any particular major or versity implements weed-out courses from an early point in pre-professional track, some a student’s education, which courses will inevitably be the may result, for example, in pre- hardest for a large number of medical students changing their students. That, however, does aspirations after only a semes- not indicate that the intent of ter. Not all information taught the course is to prevent those in college is applicable to the students from pursing their medical profession, she argues, goals. Indeed, the term weedso it should not be treated as out course is itself ambiguous. The two classes mentioned such.

As a pre-med student myself, in Spinks’ article as weed-out I recognize that Spinks brings courses were General Chemistry up a few valid points. It is defi- and Principles of Economics. To nitely true — and often frus- start, I disagree with the fact trating — that much of what is that those classes are weed-out learned in the compulsory pre- courses. Furthermore, though med courses is not necessarily some may find them difficult, applicable to the medical field. those classes will be necessarily I know that much of what I may difficult courses because they learn in chemistry or physics, lay the foundation for future for instance, will never be of courses within the disciplines. If much use again. Moreover, it pre-med students have trouble is also true that those students with introductory chemistry, it who excel in pre-med courses is doubtful that they will do any may not make the best doctors. better in organic chemistry. SimThere is more to a successful ilarly, economics majors need to physician than being purely understand the basic economic book-smart. Nevertheless, the ideas and principles outlined in idea that weed-out courses are intro economics courses so they implemented by the University have a proper foundation for

mance in a class should not be other, higher level classes.

The fact that weed-out classes enough to deter one from strivdissuade particular students ing to be a doctor. Again, tough from what they originally classes show which students are wanted to study is not itself passionate about pursuing their goals. One a bad thing. poor perGranted, some “The fact that weed-out mance students will classes dissuade particular fino rone intro certainly be students from what they chemistry disappointed by their per- originally wanted to study is class should not be the formances not itself a bad thing.” deal breaker in certain when it courses. Nevertheless, weed out courses can comes to serious medical school have the effect of keeping only aspirants. There are many more the most focused and passion- classes to take during many ate students pursuing a certain more semesters — the first degree. If students are suf- semester of college need not ficiently intent on their initial be the end-all, be-all of one’s goals, they will put in enough pre-med career. Yet if a student work to get through tough does not feel that being a doctor courses. If they find themselves is worth slugging through more too strongly challenged or com- courses like intro chemistry, pletely disinterested by the sub- then perhaps the medical field ject material to the point they actually is not the best choice. do not wish to continue study- The pre-med track involves ing it, then perhaps their initial many more similar classes.

It may be a problem that some plans were not totally accurate.

After all, in many disciplines, weed-out courses clash with few classes will become easier the idea of students getting a as one progresses to higher truly liberal arts education.

That does not mean, though, levels.

The University is an academi- that those classes are unreacally challenging institution. sonably difficult. In fact, for And unfortunately that means pre-professional tracks like that students may perhaps pre-med or pre-comm, difficult need to take especially rigorous classes in undergrad are often courses even during the first indicative of the future. The semester of their first year. But, worlds of medicine and busito use the example of pre-med ness constantly involve weedstudents, one semester’s perfor- out opportunities. Whether that

is from medical school to residency or from business school into the job market, the number of people for a potential position is perpetually being whittled down. Even if the University made its weed-out courses friendlier to a greater percentage of the student population, that still may not improve students’ prospects for the future; graduate schools and jobs can only accept so many people.

Certain classes should not be hyped up so much. Any weedout course can be treated as just another difficult class, and any rumors about a class should be only partially acknowledged.

Ultimately, what is hard for one student may not be difficult for another. And though it is unfortunate that a broad liberal arts education may be difficult to attain when pursuing some preprofessional tracks — believe me, I have seen scores of premed students throw away any chance of a liberal arts education — it is not impossible.

Students often blame weed-out classes for making them change their academic choices, but that does not mean the University is necessarily wrong when providing them.

Alex Yahanda is a senior associate editor for The Cavalier Daily.

He can be reached at a.yahanda@cavalierdaily.com.

A new assignment

A

Educators should focus on the type of homework they assign rather than the quantity

NEW STUDY discussed sion of subject matter. The focus in a UVa Today article, is on giving more homework, t i t l e d “ W h e n i s rather than quality homework.

Homework Worth the Time?,” To a certain extent, there is some concluded that whether or not logical validity in assuming the benefits of students complete FARIHA KABIR more hometheir homework OPINION COLUMNIST work. The does not necessarassumption is ily correlate with their grade with regards to math that completing extensive homeand science. There does appear work assignments and different to be a correlation, however, kinds of drills would enhance between completing homework students’ comprehension by and higher scores on standard- forcing them not only to learn ized tests. The authors, Assoc. the problems well, but also to Prof. Adam Maltese at Indiana be able to complete them with University, Assoc. Prof. Robert efficiency.

Yet research by Pennsylvania Tai at the University’s Curry School of Education and Dean State University professors David of Education Xitao Fan at the B. Baker and Gerald LeTendre University of Macao, analyzed notes that countries that generthe transcripts of 10th graders ally assign minimal homework from a span of 12 years to reach such as Denmark and the Czech such conclusions. The results Republic have higher student imply a need to focus on the achievement while countries type and quality of homework that assign extensive homework given. Homework should not be such as Thailand and Greece given just for the sake of giving have lower student achievehomework, but rather should ment. Granted, there are nations be geared toward obtaining a such as South Korea and China that achieve high performance certain objective.

In essence, the study ques- with high quantities of hometions traditional thinking, work, yet at the same time, both which equates extensive home- of these countries have been work with greater comprehen- criticized for their focus on

memorization rather than appli- either of those purposes can cation of knowledge or thinking be ineffective. If students are creatively. Moreover, teachers struggling with a certain topic or in the United States during the do not have a sufficient under1980s increased the amount standing of the basics, giving them more of homework rills or given, espe“Rather than focusing on dassignments cially for younger stu- providing more homework, t o d o b y dents, in order it is important to focus on themselves not necesto improve our the quality of the homework is sarily going international assignments given.” to increase standing in educomprehencation, but our sion — it standing did not change despite this adjust- cannot be assumed that parents ment. Lastly, it is unlikely that are either available or proficient students will have the same level enough in that subject to help. of focus and determination to It will be more effective to have understand a subject after work- an individual such as a tutor ing through a long assignment. complete the assignments with By the end of the assignment, them. Homework assignments their focus and enthusiasm may are likely to only help those stuhave waned, thus undermining dents who already understand the material. Second, new topics comprehension.

Rather than focusing on provid- should be covered in class and ing more homework, it is impor- not via homework assignments. tant to focus on the quality of the Homework should instead homework assignments given. increase the depth of underHomework assignments are standing of a topic. In fact, there often meant to help struggling have been indications that the students increase understand- types of rudimentary homework ing or teach topics not discussed assignments described above in class, according to LeTendre. decrease test scores, according But homework assigned for to the Huffington Post.

Professor of Education Harris Cooper at Duke University actually recommends giving second graders approximately 10 to 15 minutes of homework, and then increase by 10 to 15 minutes for each succeeding grade level. In addition, there should be focus on giving homework that allows students to apply what they learn in class, perhaps in different contexts that allows for higher levels of understanding. Furthermore, it is important that teachers provide sufficient feedback so students understand their mistakes and can learn from them rather than having simply X’s and check marks, according to the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory. We need to change our thinking from the idea that more homework begets greater achievement to a less-is-more mindset that allows students to spend a shorter time on homework while fostering greater understanding.

Fariha Kabir’s column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily.

She can be reached at f.kabir@cavalierdaily.com.

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Life

A8

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Relay between rivals Phi Gamma Delta chapters unite, raise money for cancer research

By Caitlin Conley

Cavalier Daily Staff Writer Two cities; two chapters of Phi Gamma Delta; one rival football game; one long relay run. One cause. The brothers from the University and Virginia Tech last week ran the game ball from Charlottesville to Blacksburg before the annual rivalry Commonwealth Cup to raise money for the fight against cancer.

The chapter’s 10th annual FIJI Run Across Virginia began in 2003 and benefits the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. The foundation was only created in 1993 , but it has already given $90 million to help launch the careers of emerging scientists and physicians, awarding research grants to facilities such as the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center and helping facilitate the entrance of innovative medical research into the market.

“It’s a great cause that we can unite the brotherhood around,” said Matt Boegner, third-year Engineering student and fraternity Corresponding Secretary.

Corporate partners, small busine sse s and priv a t e

donors contribute to the foundation, and in exchange the brothers from the University and Virginia Tech run the game ball from the awayteam stadium to home-team stadium before the annual rivalry Commonwealth Cup. The 150 mile trek took about 20 straight hours for the brothers to complete.

Almost half of the University’s brothers set off on their portion of this marathon journey, about 65 miles, f r o m Scott S t a d i u m Friday after-

noon. At least two brothers ran at a time, with the rest following along behind in a bus available to trade shifts as needed . They also had a police escort for safety.

“It was energizing to see the excitement the brothers brought back to the event, despite the fact that it cut short their Thanksgiving breaks,” Boegner said.

The University runners met up with their fraternity brothers from Virginia Tech in Lynchburg, the midway point, after a minor hiccup: They briefly got lost in Lynchburg because both of the town’s bridges are under construction. “[But] we managed

to get there safe and sound,” said Nick Allen , third-year College student and the fraternity’s Philanthropy CoChair.

Once both fraternities had arrived, they enjoyed hanging out and throwing the football around before the U.Va. boys handed the ball off to their cohorts. They then boarded the bus back to Charlottesville, while the Virginia Tech side of the run was just beginning.

Once the Virginia Tech brothers reached Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, they presented a check for the amount they had raised so far to one of the foundation’s representatives in a brief ceremony before the game.

Each year the event builds on its traditions and previous successes and receives more in donations. This year, between the two universities, the brothers have received Please see Philanthropy, Page A9

Photos courtesy of Joe Gibson

New places, new faces

Scar stories

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very couple of months, express my excitement for the U.Va. allows us to leave week ahead. I turned to look at our monotonous lives as him as I was driving, and he had college students and go back his I-have-something-very-important-to-tellhome to the luxuries of you face and I our own rooms, the holThe Good Life got real nervous. iday cups at Starbucks, He told me that our moms’ — dad’s in he and my mom my case — home cookhad decided not ing, and our high school to do Thanksfriends without whom giving dinner we thought we could at our house. I never live. Who doesn’t nearly crashed love the holidays? the car. We have But when I came been celebrathome, I was met with ing Thanksgivoh so many changes.

AL-HASSAN KOROMA ing at our house When my dad picked for the past 21 me up, I gave him the obligatory I-haven’t-seen- years, and what made it worse you-in-a-couple-of-months-soI-have-to hug and began to Please see Koroma, Page A9

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e’ve all done a lot of thinking and talking about what we’re grateful for in the past week, maybe even to the point where it seems trite. Your list probably looks a lot like mine: family, friends, U.Va., health, security, America , etc. This year, Thanksgiving and the holiday season mean a little more to me than they have before.

A little more than two months ago, one of my friends from home passed away tragically and unexpectedly. To be honest, at first, it didn’t change my day-to-day life all that much.

I didn’t pick up the phone to call him then stop mid-dial or pause before posting a funny link on his wall, because we weren’t in contact that regularly. He was someone I spent a significant portion of my childhood with, but since we’d grown up we’d only seen each

“Y

Things I Don’t Know For Sure

our arm looks gross,” my sister said, acknowledging the hot oil burns on my left forearm. “You could write about cooking in your column. Since you had a cooking column first year, it’d be cyclical,” she continued, pleased with her creative assistance. I started rolling ideas around in my head. I have hot oil scars on my inner right forearm, and I’d talked about those in a fried green tomato column first year. Cyclical! Brilliant!

Cooking is a great topic. You can talk about how cooking with another person brings you closer together. You can talk about failed recipes and lots of laughs. You can crack

CONNELLY HARDAWAY jokes about cooking with wine and even sometimes putting it in the food. I looked at my fresh oil wounds to spark memories of more stories. And then I thought of something even

more brilliant than cooking sagas: scars.

I have little scars all over my body. They have nothing to do with a torturous childhood.

Quite simply, I pick scabs.

Insignificant cuts and scrapes turn into bloody messes under my unforgiving fingernails. A childish, unhygienic habit has led to many, many scars. It’s not that I like blood or raw flesh; in fact, I’m pretty squeamish. I’m also easily embarrassed, and I’ve suffered one too many inclass blood flows from various leg-scab pickings. So why do I keep it up? Why do I scratch and tear until my mother, my Please see Hardaway, Page A9

Fragility and fairness other occasionally.

In dealing with the shock, grief and all the accompanying emotions, friends and family offered comfort and advice. But still, I spent the week between his passing and funeral in a haze, forsaking homework to take calls from friends from home, confused by grander moral questions.

As a natural reaction I looked for reason, which of course I am still unable to find. I want to believe everything happens for a reason, even if I can’t understand it. I think of his death as a reminder that life is fragile and unfair, but this clichéd life lesson is so meaningless — so trivial compared to someone’s life and the void where he used to be.

I’ve come to realize that even though “it’s not supposed to happen,” it does. We just don’t admit it until it happens to someone we know. We know

life is fragile, but we push that thought to the back of our minds. We don’t like to think about it. It’s uncomfortable.

But then we’re forced to con-

Dear Abbi

ABBI SIGLER front it — to face the uncomfortable reality.

I searched for ways to honor him. A contribution to the

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scholarship in his memory was a material way to keep his memory alive. But I want to honor him beyond that. I want to always keep in mind how precious life is.

In this way, his death has changed my life greatly. Now on a daily basis, I think of him.

I think of even the things I don’t like to do and how lucky I am that I still get to do them.

I think of his family and his close friends who are suffering a far greater loss, asking themselves tougher questions than the ones I’ve been wrestling.

Needless to say, I’d gladly forget all of these lessons and everything I was reminded of to have him back — for his family to have him back, for even one more Christmas, one more day, or any time at all.

In thinking of him, I try not to think only of the sadness in his death. I try to think of the happiness of his life: his smile,

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his quiet leadership ability and his dedication to what he loved. That’s the way he should be remembered because that’s how he should have continued to live. I think of how lucky I was to know him and the good times we had as kids. I hope that soon, this nostalgic happiness will be all that comes to mind when I think of him.

For now, I hope this will remind you of all the things you try to forget and don’t like to think about. Remember that life is fragile; it is unfair.

Remember that you are lucky, even on a bad day. Remember what really matters, be grateful for all that you have, and know you mean far more to people than you even realize.

Abbi’s column runs biweekly Wednesdays.

She can be reached at a.sigler@cavalierdaily.com.

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | The Cavalier Daily

Philanthropy | Charity run inspires similar events Continued from page A8 more than $52,000, a record annual contribution that brings their total donations to the Foundation through the years up to $380,000, Allen said.

Their event has also inspired other universities to plan their own runs to benefit the foundation. Phi Gamma Delta chapters at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech have started doing a similar run before their

own rivalry football game, said Clark O’Bannon, fourth-year College student and fraternity President.

The fraternities’ dedication to the event mirrors the foundation’s creator Jim Valvano, who was, among other accomplishments, a basketball coach, a sports commentator and an entrepreneur before he was diagnosed with cancer at age 46. Valvano’s motto: “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”

Courtesy of Joe Gibson

University and Virginia Tech chapters of Phi Gamma Delta pose on the road during the 10th annual FIJI Run Across Virginia.

Koroma | New holiday celebrations usher in traditions Continued from page A8 was that I could no longer play the role of sous-chef and help make everything.

On the drive to our family friends’ house Thursday, I was gearing up for a non-traditional Thanksgiving, since they were from Mexico, but when I walked in I was pleasantly surprised. I no longer had to sit at the kids’

table, which was pretty much my permanent spot at my own house, and was instead welcome among the adults.

Maybe it was the fact that I’m 22, but I knew then that as Taylor Swift says, “everything will be all right.”

There was turkey, mashed potatoes and all the fixings, and the proverbial cherry on top was the fact they had tequila. I

took a shot with everyone there, even my dad, and it made me think that this new experience I was having wasn’t something to be upset about, but something to embrace.

Life isn’t about structure and having everything be planned out. It is about meeting new people and doing things with those people that you never expected to do in a million

years.

My parents decided they would be traveling to Chile this winter break, and I was perfectly fine with that. My mom even mentioned that she wanted to move back to Chile soon, and it didn’t phase me.

She has done all she can for me, and now it is my time to go out on my own and spread my own wings — as cliché as that

sounds.

Now, I went home expecting the same old things and got a surprise. Traditions are comforting and fun, but changing them — and meeting new people along the way — can be even better.

Al’s column runs biweekly Wednesdays. He can be reached at a.koroma@cavalierdaily.com.

Hardaway | Raw pink scars offer lasting reminders, memories Continued from page A8 sister, my friends yell: “Stop!

That will leave a scar!”

I think I pick at scabs because I know that they will leave scars.

There are little stories all over my body.

My knees probably have the most chapters; from falling off bikes to tripping down slippery, beer-soaked steps, that skin has always hit the hardest. My feet have plenty of stories, the result of many offenders: field hockey cleats, debate club heels worn too tight and too long, running shoes long past their expiration date. My hands have played with countless cat and dog claws. My neck and shoulders and arms have run through pine trees, have reached far, far for the perfect black berry in a thicket of thorns.

And every time my knees, feet, hands, arms bleed and scab. And I slowly peel away the dried blood, and re-live the

stories for days. The skin fades into pink, gray, deep red. Story spots for years.

When I was 11, Gus left a scar on my thigh. Barely a year old, Gus was potentially the calmest golden retriever in the Hardaways’ dog history. But for some reason, in the water, he really liked to climb on people. I think he just wanted someone to hold him, so he could float around, like we did, on our backs, looking up at the June sun, splashing down into the cold creek mud.

I remember screeching as Gus paddled quickly toward me and jerking away, reaching for the large inflatable tube, as his long claw scraped down my thigh.

My scream echoed in the trees.

My parents rolled their eyes, dragged me in. Back on land, Gus apologized with a few licks.

I bemoaned my deeply bruised leg. I left for my first summer camp the next week, picking at the lightly scabbed skin the whole time. Each flake of dried

flesh whispered: home soon, home soon. I never loved a dog like Gus, who died a year and a half ago. I have pictures, I have vivid memories. I have a deep and special scar.

When I was 16, I was playing field hockey on a turf field. I was terrible at actually hitting the ball, wielding the stick. But I was pretty fast. I guess I was running with the ball, too fast, and I skidded across the turf, skinning my knee until bright red blood flowed down my leg.

I was thrilled. Partially because when you started bleeding, you got to stop playing. Partially because my new boyfriend was on the sidelines, and the war wound I’d just acquired would give him more reason to lean in close, inspect, ask me if I was all right. I was 16 — a cute blond boy’s attention was potentially the most important thing in the world. I acutely remember that entire afternoon, and almost every day that followed it. The

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whole summer I picked at the scab, hoping that my budding relationship would last as long as the raw pink flesh. I got tan, tan, tan just to see the contrast of the whitish circle on my knee. That’s when I first learned the most important things about scars: More often than not, they fade. In the same breath, blond boys move away.

I think I have so many scars because I have so many stories I want to remember. There’s no time to linger on just one memory, when another — maybe a thin, pink line near your big toe, or a tiny, brown spot on your left shoulder — warrant just as much reflection.

I have oil burns from a few days ago. I was in my kitchen, at home, making dinner. I was doing that thing where you cook with wine and I wasn’t paying attention when I flung chicken into a hot pan. The wound is so fresh, it hasn’t even had a

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chance to form a scab. Just a few nights ago my cats were lying on the dining table; my sister was yelling at them for doing so. My dogs were barking at the door, asking to be let in, then out, then in again. My mother was hovering, telling me to be more careful, to put my glass down.

My father was watching TV. My brother was ordering pizza because what I was making was “too weird.”

I’ve never been so grateful for a wound that will get me through winter, through the next semester, through the next year. Three people, four cats, two dogs will always be there, deeply entrenched on my arm.

Three dark red splotches, easy enough to see if I roll my sleeve up. A short story, but a good one, hopefully with lasting potential.

Connelly’s column runs biweekly Wednesdays.

She can be reached at c.hardaway@cavalierdaily.com.

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