News in review

All the little ants are shopping
E! Online reports that Dave Matthews Band put its entire catalog online today after making a deal to sell its music through the iTunes store. Meanwhile, the band is in town laying down tracks for their next album, a repeat venture with producer Mark Batson (who made everybody feel good again with his work on last year’s Stand Up). As Matthews told Rolling Stone, there’s no deadline for the new record: “We’re just sitting in a room, making noises, then we’ll see what fuckin’ happens.”

Wednesday, April 5
George Allen urges discredited soldier’s promotion
Writing to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on behalf of a discredited Army officer, Virginia Senator George Allen urged him to promote Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin and appoint him to be the new head of the Army’s Special Operations command. That move could be seen as Allen’s overt appeal to the conservative Christian flank of the Republican Party, according to analysis in today’s Virginian-Pilot. Boykin has been on the down-low for a couple of years after comments he made about a Somali warlord were interpreted as anti-Muslim. Reportedly, Boykin told a church congregation in 2004 that, apropos the warlord, “I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol.” Allen may be among the small group of Boykin supporters, but he’s getting no assistance from the senior Senator from Virginia, John Warner, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. Boykin “would not be among those whom I would recommend for this position,” Warner said in a statement.

Thursday, April 6
Film festival comes to Jesus
As it wanders out of the desert of its adolescence, like so many before it, the Virginia Film Festival (now entering its 19th year) has found the Lord. That, more or less, was today’s an-nouncement from VFF Director Richard Herskowitz. The official theme for the four-day October event: “Revelations: Finding God at the Movies.” The films will address “the growing tension between secular and religious cultures worldwide,” Herskowitz said in a news release. In addition, for the first time in the festival’s history, organizers will invite the public’s sug-gestions for programming. Visit vafilm.blogspot.com if you simply must testify your love for Jesus Christ Superstar.

Friday, April 7
With friends like these…
The Get-to-Know-Mark-Warner-The-Best-Alternative-to-Hillary campaign continues. First The New York Times Sunday Magazine splashed him, rather unflatteringly, across its cover. Now The Atlantic Online, in its May issue, dubs him “The Man with the Golden Phone.” The headline refers to the former governor’s 10-year ascent to the Millionaire’s Club during the infancy of the cell phone industry. Through sheer pushiness, he became a leading broker of cellular licenses, according to reporter Paul Starobin. Charlottesville venture capitalist James Murray, a onetime Warner business partner, describes him thus: “Mark has a way of being almost offensive in insisting on what people ought to do. He can intimidate, badger, cajole, whine—whatever is necessary to get the buyer to buy and the seller to sell.”

Saturday, April 8
More nurses means more space
WCAV reports on today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new education building at UVA’s School of Nursing. The $20 million project will accommodate the 25 percent increase in en-rollment that Dean Jeanette Lancaster expects by 2008.

Sunday, April 9
Mild temperatures portend bad summer fortunes
The hundreds of families enjoying local parks and fields today, with temperatures rising into the 60s, no doubt kept the ominous implications of all this nice spring weather far from their minds. Despite power-disrupting thunderstorms intermittently on Friday and Saturday, the area remains extremely dry. Normal precipitation to date should be close to 12"; so far, we’ve only seen 5.31" of rain. If this keeps up, veterans of the 2002 drought know where we’re headed: baby-wipe “showers,” dirty cars and fine dining on Chinette.

Monday, April 10
City Council “cabal” decoded
In today’s “Letters” section of The Daily Progress, former City Councilor Kay Slaughter takes a not-so-subtle shot at incumbent Republican Rob Schilling, who is seeking re-election May 2. Last month Schilling used the word “cabal” to characterize another Councilor’s budget discussions with the City manager, raising hackles and spawning plenty of derision directed at Schilling. Slaughter says today, “A City Council member must spend many hours outside of the public process looking at the details of departmental expenditures… In our form of repre-sentative government, we elect Council to undertake these detailed tasks. Yet the information is available to anyone in the public who wants a closer look.” Slaughter ends her letter with a predictable endorsement for the Democratic City Council ticket: Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro.

Aching to build?
DEVELOPER BUYS LARGE TRACT OF LAND FROM UVA
Charles Hurt has no plans for Viewmont Farm …

yet In 2001, billionaire John Kluge gave UVA just what it needed: more land. The present of 7,379 acres, valued at more than $45 million, encompassed 10 separate properties scattered along Route 20S all the way to Scottsville. The core property, Morven Farm, was intended to be kept by UVA and used for educational purposes; the rest of the land could be sold off.
In early February, UVA finally unloaded the last of the properties their generous benefactor had earmarked for sale when it sold Viewmont Farm, a 787-acre property located on Route 20S halfway between Charlottesville and Scottsville, to local heavyweight developer Charles Hurt, of the Virginia Land Company, for $7,375,000. This brings the total sum UVA has gotten from the Kluge properties to $26,670,000.
Viewmont, however, is not the sort of property one imagines Hurt would want among his holdings, because the current development possibilities are limited. According to an agreement between UVA and the owner of the adjoining property, Feather Ridge, the 180 acres of Viewmont within view of Feather Ridge cannot be developed, and an additional 600 of Viewmont’s acres can only be divided into four 150-acre lots. The difference, 66 acres, is the only acreage currently open to development without restriction.
There is, however, one intriguing aspect to the current agreement: It’s what’s known as a “restricted convenant,” so the deed restriction could be lifted by whoever owns the adjoining property at anytime; what’s on the books is in no way a permanent restriction.
Does Dr. Hurt know something the rest of us don’t? He could not be reached for comment by press time. According to Albemarle County, no plans have been submitted for the property, yet. However, Viewmont is certainly a parcel to watch.—Nell Boeschenstein

Look both ways
COUNCIL APPROVES CAR CROSSING ON MALL
One-year study will determine effect on businesses

City Council has voted to open the Downtown Mall’s Fourth Street to southbound car traffic, a move that has some vendors delighted and others concerned about more cars on the Mall.
The opening is in conjunction with a study to determine if the crossing helps traffic flow between Market and Water street parking garages. A survey will try to see if east-end vendors enjoy increased business, which they’ve complained has been suffering since the closing of East Sixth and Seventh streets due to construction on Presidents’ Plaza.
Some vendors see the crossing as a dream come true: “I think it’s wonderful,” says Joan Fenton, owner of two Mall stores and co-chair of the Downtown Business Association. “I think it definitely will be a positive effect for the whole Mall.”
But other vendors aren’t so sure. Jon Bright, owner of the Spectacle Shop, says he is not “for or against” crossing the Mall, but he’d like to see traffic changes that are “all part of a grander scheme.” Opening Fourth Street “doesn’t seem like it’s part of an overall plan,” he says. The crossing will be opened May 1, once traffic is rerouted.—Meg McEvoy

Traffic talk
HILLSDALE COULD SPUR NEW BUILDING
Rotgin contemplates redevelopment in Seminole Square

With the goal of reducing traffic along the Route 29 corridor, the Hillsdale Drive Extension has been in the works for five years as a one-mile addition that will connect Greenbrier Drive to Hydrau-lic Road. The recommended route will take the road from Pepsi Place through Seminole Square Shopping Center and along Zan Road, before slicing through the Regal Cinema 4 parking lot and connecting with Hydraulic Road. With the alignment now agreed upon, the design phase of the road and landscaping can begin.
Planners expect 8,000 cars to use the two-lane, low-speed road each day. One planner, Darin Simpson, the First Cities program manager for Charlottesville, says, “It will help the rede-velopment of Seminole Square and offer something complementary to Albemarle Place.” (First Cities is an advocacy coalition of 15 of Virginia’s oldest cities.) Albemarle Place is the up-scale retail complex planned for the intersection of Hydraulic Road and Route 29. Charles Rotgin of Great Eastern Management Company owns Seminole Square, the shopping center currently anchored by Giant, and he says that when the road is finished in 2010, it could create opportunities for redevelopment within Seminole Square.
This probably isn’t good news for the nearby Senior Center, which has long opposed the Hillsdale Extension because of concerns about traffic and safety. “With a booming senior popu-lation, safety has to be the paramount concern,” says Senior Center director Peter Thompson. According to Thompson, drivers are already speeding through the residential areas and running stop signs. “We are working with the City and State to enhance lighting, crosswalks and sidewalks, all presently inadequate in the neighborhood,” he says.—Jay Neelley

Another lost bypass
SUPES DISMISS PARKWAY
Road backer Van Yahres is bummed

In what seems to be a death knell for the proposed Ruckersville Parkway, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted unanimously on Wednesday, April 5, to remove it from the transportation options being considered for the Route 29N corridor under the Places29 Master Plan.
Originally proposed by Bern Ewert, the former Deputy City Manager who is now running for the Democratic nomination for the Fifth District Congressional seat, the two-lane, truck-free, 35-mph parkway would begin at the new North Grounds connector on the 250 Bypass and end in Green County, just north of Ruckersville. With a price tag in excess of $150 million, Super-visor Dennis Rooker, who represents Albemarle on the Metropolitan Planning Organization, says “no way” to the proposed road.
“The reality is, it just isn’t going to happen,” Rooker says. “I don’t even think the BOS has ever had a presentation on it. This project would never qualify for federal funds, and the County gets just $3.5 million a year in secondary road funds.”
Mitch Van Yahres, Charlottesville’s former State Delegate and another proponent of the parkway, says he’s disappointed that the Supes aren’t interested. Considering Albemarle’s widespread opposition to a similar road, the now-dead Western Bypass, maybe there are more reasons than just money for the board to steer clear of the road.—Esther Brown

High-tech home
LOVE ME, BUILD ME, CHAPTER 5
Another empty building fulfilled Town Center One in the UVA Research Park

Address: 1000 Research Park Blvd.
Area: About 18,000 square feet
Empty since: 2001
Owner: UVA Foundation Real Estate Foundation
Price: Full-service lease for $19.25 per square foot

The status: UVA built Town Center One in September 2000 for Qual Choice, an insurance company now called Southern Health. When Southern Health downsized two years ago, it va-cated 30,000 square feet, and new high-profile tenants, such as TIAA-Cref, Northrop Grumman IT and Angle Technology, moved in to some of the space. The space is now completely filled, with PRA International, Batelle Memorial and Athena Innovative Solutions joining the mix.

Motor skills
COUNTY COPS GET SOME DRIVER ED
Brushing up at the new Shenandoah Speedway

I’m speeding backwards in the passenger seat of a Dodge Intrepid, weaving in and out of orange cones at 25 miles per hour. My weight is thrown right! Left! Right! Left! My stomach feels a little queasy. When driving instructor Todd Lytton finally pulls out of the “Backwards Slalom” course, I get out of the car with a crick in my neck and wobbly legs. The police officers gath-ered nearby laugh, since it was just 10 minutes earlier that I’d cavalierly jumped in the vehicle saying, “Me? Seasick prone? Pshaw.”
For the first time in three years, the Albemarle Police Department recently began a driver training course to make sure officers are up to date with the latest tricks of the highway. Every Wednesday for 10 weeks officers will spend a day at the track, located at the shiny new Shenandoah Speedway near Elkton, channeling Dale Earnhardt Jr. Well, maybe not Dale—in reality, the driving is way more stop-and-go than the Daytona 500. The morning session is spent on three courses that test skills such as backing up, maneuvering in tight quarters and making three-point turns. The second half of the day is spent concentrating on swerving and lane changes at higher speeds, simulating, for example, the effect of a deer darting into the road.
“Probably the most important thing we try to stress is normal, everyday driving,” says Lt. James Bond, who is in charge of the program. “In a sense [police officers] are professional drivers. They could be driving eight to 12 hours a day and encounter many unusual situations [throughout the course of] each day.”—Nell Boeschenstein

Taking it to court
UVA PATENT FOUNDATION SUES NASCENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Tiff over unpaid patenting costs leads to $100,000 suit

Things are never pretty when the bills don’t get paid. And things are sure getting ugly between the UVA Patent Foundation and Nascent Pharmaceuticals. A suit recently filed in Albemarle County Circuit Court by the Patent Foundation claims that the Chapel Hill-based pharmaceutical company owes UVA nearly $100,000 in unpaid patent costs.
According to court documents, in June 2001 the Patent Foundation granted Nascent exclusive rights to certain patents assigned to a number of its products. The patents were Nascent’s to use and develop—provided the company covered patent costs both prior to and after the date the rights were granted. In the suit, UVA alleges that Nascent never paid them anything, and that by September 2003 Nascent had an outstanding debt to the tune of $67,400.
At this point, UVA and Nascent agreed on a two-year grace period to give Nascent more time to secure financing for the projects. However, when that two years was up, Nascent terminated the license agreement and, UVA alleges, still did not settle their debt. Thus, the Foundation has taken Nascent to court to recover those outstanding monies, plus interest, bringing the amount owed to nearly $100,000.
“I have no evidence that a suit has been filed,” says Nascent Chief Executive Officer Clive Reading, sounding surprised by the news. “It certainly has not been served…and I cer-tainly don’t have any comment. I need to see what they’ve actually sent me. Once I’ve seen that I’ll have to address it.”
The Director of the Patent Foundation was out of town at press time and could not be reached for comment.—Nell Boeschenstein

“’Cuz I’m the prez, dat’s why”
PROF DEFENDS BUSH WIRETAPS
Chief exec limited only by his sense of “prudence”

The water just keeps getting hotter for President Bush these days. While critics contend the president has overstepped his bounds with unauthorized wiretaps on U.S. citizens, UVA law professor Robert F. Turner says history tells us Dubya can do just about anything he wants when it comes to national security. Turner is co-founder of the Center for National Security Law at UVA, and he recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in a hearing on “Wartime Executive Power.” An edited transcript of his interview with C-VILLE fol-lows.—Catherine English

C-VILLE: Do you think President Bush broke the law in this surveillance issue?
Robert Turner: The answer is “no” because the supreme law is the Constitution. I’m not prepared to say [the president] has violated the language of FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). FISA cannot take away independent presidential power. Every court to consider it has said that the president has a statute to do this [wiretapping.] It is an impeachable offense for the president not to have done this.
Does Congress have the ability to limit the president’s surveillance power? We have to have a general who is empowered. [Quoting John Jay] “There are cases where the most useful intelligence may be obtained, if the persons possessing it can be relieved from apprehensions of discovery. [The president] will be able to manage the business of intelligence in such manner as prudence may suggest.”
How can we be sure that the only people being monitored are terrorist threats? Can we trust the government?
There are hundreds of people involved in the National Security Agency. If something really evil were going on here, somebody would be blowing the whistle on it.

No child’s play
13-YEAR-OLDS FOUND GUILTY IN BOMB PLOT
Ruling on motion releases limited information

Following a closed hearing on Wednesday, April 5, a clerk confirmed that two 13-year-olds charged with plotting to blow up area high schools have been convicted. The 13-year-olds were tried along with a 15-year-old—who was also found guilty in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court; the outcome for the 15-year-old became public a week earlier, when the trial had ended. A 16-year-old also charged pleaded guilty from the outset.
Because the trial for the two 13-year-olds and the 15-year-old had been closed, prosecutors and defense attorneys were initially under the impression that talking publicly about the case was off limits entirely. No one was saying whether the teens had been convicted, or even if the case had ended.
The lack of information fueled an uproar among parents, teachers and students wondering how safe they could—or should—feel in the County schools. In response, Albemarle Common-wealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos filed a motion with the court to find out precisely what information was allowed to be released. Camblos would not comment on Wednesday’s ruling, other than to refer this reporter to the court for information.
The 16-year-old’s sentencing hearing was also scheduled for April 5. However, his defense attorney, Llezelle Dugger, asked to postpone the hearing in order to have more time to look into treatment options. His sentencing was rescheduled for April 19. He faces detention until he turns 21.—Nell Boeschenstein

Chased down
COUNTY POLICE ARREST MAN CHARGED WITH SODOMIZING 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Suspect attempted to flee, first in car, then on foot

On Saturday, April 8, after a car chase that ended at a farm on Hansens Mountain Road with the suspect abandoning his vehicle and trying to flee on foot, County cops (with a little help from their K-9 companions) arrested Albemarle resident Joseph Osborne on charges of breaking and entering, forcible sodomy and assault and battery. According to the County, the po-lice had responded to a call for a sexual assault on Ridgeway Lane, east of Pantops. Osborne allegedly broke into the house and sodomized the 13-year-old victim. The girl described her attacker in detail, and police used this information to identify the suspect, who they believed they saw fleeing the scene in a red Honda. A chase ensued, ending with Osborne’s apprehen-sion. He is currently being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional jail without bond.—Nell Boeschenstein

Raising the bar
BOV SEEKS TO RAISE RANK
Board seems ambivalent about “playing the game”

Over the next few years, UVA’s Board of Visitors intends to sink more money into improving the school’s rank on lists that rate colleges, such as the annual posting by U.S. News and World Report.
Though most college experts caution prospective students to ignore these flawed lists, the Board of Visitors acknowledged at its regular meeting last week that a high rank is good ad-vertising. UVA isn’t doing well, said Ariel Gomez, UVA’s Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. “Some say the rankings are imperfect,” Gomez told the BOV. “But they are here to stay. So how can we influence the rankings?”
The short answer is money. Gomez says the key to higher rankings is hiring and retaining professors who win big awards or write research papers that get cited by other scientists. Specifically, Gomez says UVA should try to identify those departments likely to be highly ranked, then throw money into new buildings and better faculty for them. In general, Gomez says UVA should “foster a culture of high-impact research publication.” Publish or perish, indeed.
The Board is particularly keen on raising UVA’s profile on a list called the “World University Rankings,” which emphasizes the quality of a school’s faculty and research. UVA would like to climb into the Top 50, but it’s currently listed somewhere between 100 and 152.
Aerospace engineering professor Houston Wood, chair of UVA’s Faculty Senate, says some professors—particularly those in the humanities—worry that their departments will dwindle as the Board puts more money into science and research. “That’s not the Board’s intent,” says Wood. “I have confidence that this Board understands that it can’t be a zero-sum game. To do this requires more resources.”—John Borgmeyer

Talking points
MCDONOUGH’S LAUGH LINES
King of the green scene preaches to his choir

Bill McDonough, the former dean of UVA’s architecture school and the man who made “green design” palatable to the likes of Ford and Nike, pulled out his PowerPoint presenta-tion and addressed students at the A-School last week. Aside from a tacky comparison between a 1928 Mies van der Rohe design and “a gas chamber,” it was easy to see how this,
his standard speech, has launched a thousand fawning articles (garnering its presenter, and his cause, international acclaim in the process). McDonough’s refrain on Thursday, April 6, was “We need a new design.” As he made his way through descriptions of his various projects, chemical formulas and catchy catch phrases (e.g. “Waste is food” or “Being less bad is not being good”), he interspersed theory with sound bites that drew impressed murmurs, and occasional laughter, from the audience. Here are just a few of the zingers that had the audience eating out of McDonough’s hand.
– “Eighty percent of what goes through a Wal-Mart ends up in a landfill or incinerator within two months.”
– “With global warming, the oceans could rise as much as 20 feet by the year 3000. Say goodbye to Florida!”
– “It took us 5,000 years to put wheels on our luggage. We’re not that smart.”
– “Who’s rebuilding New Orleans? We aren’t raising taxes. We’re selling debt. Who’s buying the debt? China.”
– “People ask me why I’m working with Ford and Nike. Who am I supposed to be working with?”—Nell Boeschenstein

Lawn chairs
LAWN UNDERGRADS CHOSEN
Rooms so selective, they’re harder to buy than the presidency

In a tradition nearly as old as UVA itself, a new class of the best and brightest students have received their Lawn acceptance letters. This mean now they really know they’re better than their fellow students.
We can only speculate as to what great heights the 2006-07 Lawnies will reach after they’ve taken their last bathrobe-clad walk down the Colonnade walkways of the Academical Vil-lage. But we do know that they will be walking a path taken by many notable names.
The most dominating athlete in the history of UVA, Ralph Sampson, lived briefly at #6 East Lawn. Having grown nervous after receiving countless calls, guests and uninvited knocks at the door (UVA co-ed #459: “Hey Ralph, I heard you really work it in the low post.”), Ralph moved out.
“Today Show” anchorwoman Katie Couric was head resident of the Lawn in 1978-79, although her producer at “Today,” Tom Touchet (a 1988 graduate) was not a Lawn-dweller. Forced to work for an inferior classmate, it’s no wonder Couric is jumping ship for the “CBS Evening News.”
Edgar Allan Poe spent 10 months at UVA in 1826. He originally lived on the West Lawn but moved to the West Range, known as “Rowdy Row,” where his gambling debt forced him to leave school. The jury is still out on whether Poe picked up the opium habit on the Lawn or the Range.
Another media star, political pundit
Larry Sabato, lived at #16 East Lawn in 1973-74, but the announcement was anti-climactic, as Sabato had predicted the achievement 12 months prior with his first-ever “Crystal Ball.”
The Lawn’s list of notables could go on for pages, and includes high-ranking figures in politics, medicine and the arts. One notable alum who did not make the cut: Marvin Bush. It goes to show how seriously UVA takes its Lawn selections when George H.W. can buy Junior the presidency, but the other other son can’t even get a drafty room with no shower.—Steven Schiff

Other people’s money
STUDENT INVESTMENT CLUB RETURNS 34 PERCENT
Four-page memos put Wall Street pros to shame

While most college students watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High probably pick up a few zingers (“People on ‘ludes should not drive”), UVA junior Michael Vellucci apparently spent his time snagging investment ideas from the iconic teen flick instead. Vellucci is president of UVA’s McIntire Investment Institute (MII) and his push to add to the club’s 17-stock portfolio the kind of company that Jeff Spicoli would dig helped MII post incredible gains last year. With a portfolio currently valued at $521,000, MII beat the market by a mile in 2005, with returns of 34.2 percent, compared to 3 percent for the Standard & Poor’s index and even less for the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ.
Vellucci’s choice stock? Volcom, a company that makes surfer clothes. MII, with nearly 60 members and nine fund managers, took a 5 percent position in Volcom at $26. It crested at $40 per share before settling back to $35. Dude!
That performance was typical for MII. The fund managers are feeling so flush they’re even going to donate $75,000 back to UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce this year.
How do a bunch of college students pull off the kind of investment success that eludes professionals on Wall Street? “Value-added research,” says Eric Weiss, who was MII president last year. “It’s going beyond reading [investor reports] and coming up with something creative.” To research Intuitive Surgical Robotics, for instance, Weiss called a couple of UVA surgeons to take their pulse on one of the company’s devices. When they raved, he presented his four-page research to MII. The club bought in at just over $26; recently shares have traded at $117.
Not that MII has an unfailing Midas touch. The club shorted Netflix (that is, they borrowed shares, which they then sold, with the expectation that the price would drop and they’d make a pile on the company’s declining value), only to watch the company’s stock skyrocket. Though that didn’t work out, Vellucci and Weiss are still sold on MII’s basic philosophy. “When we invest we’re buying the company, not the stock,” Vellucci says.—Cathy Harding

The walls have eyes
CHS TO GET 40 SECURITY CAMERAS
Cameras catch, but may not deter, bad behavior
Charlottesville High School teachers and administrators will have a set of fresh eyes to help monitor the campus next year; specifically, 40 security cameras. This is the first comprehen-sive camera surveillance system in City schools, but it may not be the last. Nationwide, cameras in schools are the latest attempt to curb violence, although there’s no conclusive evidence they actually deter incidents in school.
About 30 percent of all schools have at least one camera, says Dennis White, a research associate and planning analyst at George Washington University’s Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence. White says that, while he regularly fields questions about cameras’ effectiveness in deterring incidents, there is little far-reaching information available, and it frustrates him. “It would be fairly straightforward for the Education Department to include this [question] as a part of their regular surveying,” White says.
Despite the lack of information, last month the Charlottesville School Board approved Acting Superintendent Bobby Thompson’s request to spend $70,000 on the devices, which will re-cord activity in hallways, courtyards and the cafeteria. The expenditure may prove unnecessary, however, as states can use grant money from the federal No Child Left Behind Act to buy surveillance cameras, as well as to buy and install other security devices, such as metal detectors and electronic locks.
Lou Bograd was the lone dissenting vote on the School Board. The former civil liberties lawyers says he comes at the issue as a “civil libertarian,” and that he’s concerned about the es-calation of security measures, especially since CHS was already subject earlier this year to searches by drug-sniffing dogs. Another important factor, he notes, is the effect on school cul-ture.
“One of the things we all say we want to accomplish in our schools is to create a culture of trust and respect, in order to create an environment in which discipline is significantly less of a problem,” Bograd says. “Security cameras in the high school is inconsistent with that goal.”
Moreover, there’s not much reason to think that security cameras will deter the kinds of aggressive behavior seen in some City schools this year. “What’s confusing to me,” Bograd says, “is that the problems that have gotten the attention this year—which have involved some increase in fighting and disrespectful behavior toward teachers and administrators—are precisely not the sort of things that will be addressed by security cameras. They’re the kind of thing that take place in plain view, right in front of teachers.”—Esther Brown, with additional reporting by Will Goldsmith

Moral dilemma
COUNCIL WRESTLES WITH BUDGET ETHICS
Should the City pay for nursing homes?

Budget debates usually include a lot of talk about running government like a business. Budget numbers are more than just business deals, though—the figures reflect the community’s values.
City Council confronted the ethical nature of budget deliberations on Monday, April 3, as they discussed how to whittle down a $121 million budget. Federal and State agencies have usually assumed most of the burden of caring for the poor and elderly, but years’ worth of cuts in those areas have left many city governments with an dilemma that crystallized last week in Council Chambers: Residents from Mountainside, a Crozet nursing home run by the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, pleaded to Council to add $25,000 in funding to the Council’s FY07 budget.
Four years ago JABA took over the facility and asked the City to kick in $150,000, in one-time funds. The City recognized the value of Mountainside’s work and wrote the check. But now the nursing home is asking for more in an effort to keep residents who have no money and nowhere to go.
Councilor Rob Shilling questioned what motivated the City to deny Mountainside’s request, yet grant $25,000 to the Charlottesville Community Design Center, a self-styled liaison between architects, developers and the public. Shilling’s view: The moral core of the budget rests in distinguishing between wants (CCDC) and needs (caring for the old and sick when they need it). In the end, the Council passed a resolution giving Mountainside the $25,000 from the Council Reserve Fund, with the stipulation that Mountainside submit quarterly re-ports to Council (an obligation which Mountainside failed to meet previously).
Councilor Kevin Lynch was alone in voting against the Mountainside proposal, cautioning Council that taking on State responsibilities sets a perilous precedent. Funding assisted-living programs is “just not a City responsibility,” said Lynch.—Amy Kniss

Money talks
PHILANTHROPY GROUP ANNOUNCES RECORD YEAR FOR 2005
Foundation filled in public gap, gave away $3 million

As the local government bitches about their budgets, it’s nice to hear that there’s someplace ‘round here where divvying up funds is a happy affair. When it comes to funding local non-profit social service and arts organizations, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation picks up the slack where the City and County might flounder—by helping local rich people de-cide exactly where and how to allocate their community giving. The Foundation recently announced that in 2005 it gave away $3 million in grants; that amounts to 20 percent of the total funds it has given away in its 29-year history.
According to Kevin O’Halloran, director of donor relations for the CACF, the 2005 generosity was unusual…but not unusually so. He attributes the spike in part to residual tsunami giv-ing, as well as to the outpouring of donations that came in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. However, O’Halloran does say that regional giving has been on the rise for the past 10 years as more and more affluent people relocate to Charlottesville. By way of illustrating this point, he mentions that in 1995, CACF had $6 million in assets and made grants totaling $150,000. A decade of growth yielded $35 million in assets and six consecutive years of giving away $2 million. In other words, the CACF’s assets have grown by 480 percent in 10 years; grant giving has grown by 1,200 percent.
Looking ahead, “Will we make it to $2.5 million in 2006?” asks O’Halloran. Only time will tell.—Nell Boeschenstein

Don’t be school bored
MEET YOUR SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES
You asked for ’em, so go vote on May 2

Hey, Charlottesville! Ready to elect some School Board candidates? You better be: City voters overwhelmingly requested an elected school board in a referendum last November. The following six candidates submitted petitions with the requisite 125 signatures, and they’re asking for your vote on Election Day, May 2.
While we won’t go so far as to publicly endorse a candidate, we have to commend incumbent Ned Michie for being the only candidate with a sense of humor about his high school year book entry.—Will Goldsmith

Vance D. High
Age: 48
Occupation: Semi-retired (small business owner)
Previously applied to School Board? No
Lived in Charlottesville: UVA grad student, 1986-1991; moved back permanently in 1998
Campaign spending to date: $20
In your high school yearbook, you were: “Most Studious”
Top 3 things that are working in our schools:
1. Great orchestra program
2. Highly capable teachers
3. Highly capable principals
Top 3 things that need improvement:
1. Socio-economic disparity in the student population
2. Larger alternative school for those students who require special assistance (i.e. unruly and violent students, students needing special curriculum)
3. District policy to inform parents when their children’s grades slip

Leah W. Puryear
Age: 52
Occupation: Upward Bound director at UVA
Previously applied to School Board? 2004
Lived in Charlottesville: Since 1983
Campaign spending to date: $300
In your high school yearbook, you were: “Most Likely to Succeed”
Top 3 things that are working in our schools:
1. Fine Arts
2. Advanced Placement courses
3. Numbers of out-of-district students
Top 3 things that need improvement:
1. Achievement gap
2. Properly evaluating programs and personnel
3. Safety of everyone in our buildings

Juandiego R. Wade
Age: 40
Occupation: Transportation planner,
Albemarle County
Previously applied to School Board? No
Lived in Charlottesville: Since 1999
Campaign spending to date:
Approximately $300
In your high school yearbook, you were: “Most Likely to Succeed”
Top 3 things that are working in our schools:
1. Commitment and dedication of teachers and principals
2. Music and art
3. Engaged students
Top 3 things that need improvement:
1. Academic achievement for all students
2. Outreach to parents and community
3. Rewarding teacher initiative

Ned Michie
Age: 46
Occupation: Attorney
Previously applied to School Board? 2000; 2004, appointed to School Board
Lived in Charlottesville: Entire life (except college and law school)
Campaign spending to date: $21
In your high school yearbook, you were: “Most Likely to Be a Circus ‘Thin Man’”
Top 3 things that are working in our schools:
1. Staff members throughout the division
2. Average SAT score of 1,100 in 2005 (70 points above the state and national average)
3. Band, orchestra and fine arts
Top 3 things that need improvement:
1. The achievement level and graduation rate of a large number of struggling students (i.e. achievement gap)
2. Parental involvement
3. Need to adopt best practices, division-wide, for consistent proactive handling of behavioral issues, as well as improve and probably expand the alternative school

Sue Lewis
Age: 69
Occupation: Retired
Previously applied to School Board? 1986, then almost every year that there has been an appropriate opening since 1994
Lived in Charlottesville: 35 years total
Campaign spending to date: $44.14
In your high school yearbook, you were: “Witty and Clever”
Top 3 things that are working in our schools:
1. Fine arts programs
2. Programs and activities for high achievers
3. Preschool program
Top 3 things that need improvement:
1. Race relations
2. Disciplinary responses
3. Community relations and communications

Charlie Kollmansperger
Age: 38
Occupation: Owner, technology solutions business
Previously applied to School Board? No
Lived in Charlottesville: In this area since 1997; moved to the city in late February
Campaign spending to date: $200
In your high school yearbook, you were: “Most Likely to Be Involved”
Top 3 things that are working in our schools:
1. Strong core of skilled, hardworking teachers, principals and support staff committed to the success of our students
2. Large group of parents, mentors and other individuals who volunteer to improve our community through their work in our schools
3. Variety of ongoing programs (Book Buddies, Mother/FatherRead, Jumpstart, Abundant Life, EDGE, and CLASS to name a few) that provide expanded educational opportunities
Top 3 things that need improvement:
1. Achievement levels and overall success rate of African-American students
2. Relationship between our School Board and the community it represents
3. Utilization of school and community resources