News

Jennifer L. Geddes, an associate professor of religious studies and co-program director at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at UVA, is currently researching a book titled The Rhetoric of Evil, How People Think and Talk about Evil. Her work has been gaining national notoriety at a time when politicians and cable news personalities increasingly use “evil” to describe everyone from murderous despots to members of Congress. We asked Geddes why we should think twice before declaring something “evil.” Here\’s some of what she had to say.—Jay Neelley

The recent “living wage” activities attracted boatloads of local media attention, but one special report you probably haven’t seen is creating a buzz around campus.

O.K., it\’s nearly summertime, but that doesn\’t mean you should let your brain rot for three months. Keep the academic vibe alive by digging into these books from UVA faculty, ready just in time for the dog days.—Esther Brown

Friends can sometimes turn against each other at the slightest provocation. A 15-year-old Albemarle County student learned this cruel truth the hard way while walking near Friendship Court late Friday, April 21.

Earl Washington, Jr. came within nine days of state-sanctioned death—now he\’s looking for some compensation. Proceedings in a federal civil suit began in Charlottesville last week, pitting Washington against the estate of Curtis Lee Wilmore, the investigator who produced a false confession from Washington in 1983 for the rape and murder of Rebecca Lynn Williams. Washington\’s lawyers charge that Wilmore violated questioning procedures by feeding their client details that led to a false confession.

Getting lost sucks. Imagine how much worse it is when you\’re in your 80s, it\’s pouring rain and you\’re in the middle of the woods 220 miles away from home.

Local Dems are not heeding Democratic Congressional hopeful Bern Ewert\’s advice: Don\’t “gamble away this golden opportunity to beat [Republican incumbent Virgil Goode Jr.] with a fifth run for public office by Al Weed.” The delegates in the Fifth District have, it seems, done just the opposite.

The table below shows the biggest donors to the three City Council candidates. As you can see, the local Democratic party keeps their candidates flush, while Republican candidate Rob Schilling had to beat the bushes slightly farther afield. Developers, as usual, constitute the largest local donors. Voters hit the polls before press time.—John Borgmeyer