Fur your information

Dear Ace: Did I read something in C-VILLE about UVA’s first mascot being a dog? That seems awfully far-fetched to me.—Joan Clawford Joan: Pardon Ace, but aren’t the whys and wherefores of UVA in the first chapter of your Charlottesville 101 study guide? Ace thought this sort of Hoo-related question was a no-brainer! Or maybe […]

Profiles in courage

Here’s a dilemma for you: Let’s say you’re a mean-spirited municipality that doesn’t cotton much to outsiders, and prefers to scapegoat a powerless group of caramel-colored folks for all of its (largely self-inflicted) problems.

The Odd Couple

It took the Atlanta hip-hop chemists in OutKast five albums to record 2003’s hit single “Hey Ya!” and hijack both the rhythm of the public consciousness and the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, OutKast became the first hip-hop act to win Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album on the […]

All That Mighty Heart

To that inevitable social gathering/getting-to-know-one-another question, “What do you do?” Lisa Russ Spaar has more than one answer at her disposal. “I’m an English professor at UVA,” is a sure-fire choice. And here’s a good backup: “I’m a poet.” Not too many people find that vocation odd these days. But let’s hope that at least […]

Do the right thing

Dear Ace: Am I allowed to ride my bike on the sidewalk?—Nancy Armstrong Nancy: Ace understands that you just want to ride your bicycle and ride it where you like. And, trying not to hit you brave bikers when cruising around town in the Acemobile, Ace would definitely be amenable to the idea that you […]

Final exam

1. How many books does the UVA Library contain? [answer] a. A little over 5 millionb. 2.5 millionc. Counting would spoil the Library’s magnificence d. The only book necessary, partner, the Bible 2. Who was the last UVA basketball player drafted into the NBA? [answer] a. Roger Mason Jr.b. R.J. Reynoldsc. Ralph Sampsond. George “Peach […]

Tuition goes up while Feds eye endowments

As Virginia universities’ tuitions continue to climb, they do so amid calls from Republican U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, for universities to spend more of their endowments to make college more affordable. The total price of education for in-state students at UVA will increase next year by 7.3 percent. […]

Who lives on the Lawn, anyway?

Despite the big hoo-ha from students when President John Casteen gave fundraiser extraordinaire Bob Sweeney a spot on the Lawn, the pavilions still serve as an all-star gallery for UVA professors. But just who are these powerful few? The list includes a well-known talking head, an endowment head and a handful of deans. All pavilion […]

Women’s basketball struggles academically

Debbie Ryan had better make sure her team is on its game this exam season: All UVA sports teams made the academic cut this year, though women’s basketball didn’t have much room to spare—it beat the buzzer, so to speak, to avoid scholarship reductions or other penalties by the NCAA, college sports’ governing body. Debbie […]

What’s in your backpack?

Chris Belyea Age: 23 Hometown: Montpelier, VAYear: Senior Major: Commerce What’s in your backpack? Laptop, iPod, earphones, notebook, mints, gum, sticky notes, three pens, two pencils, TI-83 calculator, Chapstick, granola bar, fruit snacks, flash drive