A news article by Michelle Unterbrink

A change in UVa policy is creating problems for Charlottesville’s Voter Registrar. The Daily Progress reports that Registrar Sheri Iachetta has been unable to secure election officials for November 6, because a new UVa policy requires employees who staff the polls to either forfeit their 16-hour paycheck for the day or use vacation leave.

A post on the Staff Union at UVA’s website claims that a request for the Attorney General’s ruling on the matter was filed October 22, and describes the situation:

“Anyone working the polls on Election Day is paid by the state and by their employer, but… UVa employees manning the polls on November 6th are being asked to reimburse the university for their missed day of work… everyone locally gets paid for helping with elections, except those employed by UVa.”

Under a 2005 law, the state cannot force employees who work at the polls to use sick or vacation time. UVa’s VP or Human Resources, Susan Carkeek, argues that the UVa policy is not in violation of the law, since employees are not required to use either vacation time or sick leave. Under the new policy, employees may either keep their UVa pay by using paid vacation or civil leave and forfeiting the pay for poll work, or use a day or paid vacation and accept the pay for poll work.

According to Iachetta, seven UVa employees worked city polls last November, but none chose to work this year.

Daily Progress Article
SUUVA Website

On October 29, the Center for Politics is hosting a forum titled “The Politics of Health Care Reform” to discuss health care reforms proposed by the top candidates from both parties. The forum will be held at 4:00 p.m. in the Dome Room of the Rotunda.

Each year, the Center for Politics showcases vital works by authors in the “American Political Challenges” book series. In addition to promoting these publications, the Center hosts related events.

The forum was inspired by a recent book, “Health Care Half Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality,” authored by U.Va. Provost and former Dean of the School of Medicine, Arthur “Tim” Garson, Jr., M.D., M.P.H. and Assistant Professor of Medical Education, Carolyn Engelhard, M.P.A. Their book is a part of the Center for Politics’ “American Political Challenges” book series.

Wyatt Andrews, CBS News national correspondent, will moderate the panel discussion. The expert panel includes: Robert Moffit, Ph.D. of The Heritage Foundation, Irwin Redlener, M.D. of The Children’s Health Fund and Columbia University, Stephen Schoenbaum, M.D., M.P.H. of The Commonwealth Fund and Grace-Marie Turner of The Galen Institute.

Provost Garson and Professor Engelhard will also join the panelists, and a large portion of the event will be reserved for Q & A.

The event is free and open to the public, although registration is required. More information can be found at: www.centerforpolitics.org/programs/healthcare.

A news article by Svantje Swider

Placing an American flag over one of the puzzling avant-garde paintings in the Newcomb Hall Art Gallery set the stage for the College Republican’s first major speaker of the year, Attorney General and likely gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell. On October 16th, the charismatic and lively McDonnell eschewed the podium, walking around the crowd and frequently peppering the audience with questions, along the lines of “So, who here is from Virginia? Raise your hand.” In style and in content, the event was very similar to other speeches by Virginia politicians when addressing other Republicans— Twenty percent substance, ten percent self-promotion, and the rest paeans to “faith and freedom”, as McDonnell put it, intended to inspire the assembled party faithful.

McDonnell outlined the main priorities and accomplishments of the Virginia Republican party, specifically with regard to the role of the Attorney General. McDonnell cited the concerted efforts of Republican lawmakers to whittle down the immense body of state regulations, and the promotion of “internet safety”—finding more effective ways to combat child pornography.

He then made the case that the prosperity of Virginia is due overwhelmingly to the efforts of former Virginia governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore and to the decade of Republican dominance in the state legislature. When asked about Senatorial candidate and former Governor Mark Warner, McDonnell glanced around the room and asked if there were any journalists in attendance, then answered “Mark Warner is an affable guy, but there’s this mythology surrounding his accomplishments as governor. He’s never had to defend his record as governor, and during his term he presided over the largest tax increase in the state’s history.”

The Attorney General then took questions from the audience, on issues ranging from the Republican presidential primary to unemployment in Southwest Virginia and concealed handguns on campus.

A News Article by Vadim Elenev

In a column published in the American Spectator early Friday morning, UVA Environmental Sciences Professor Patrick Michaels issues a strongly worded challenge to former Vice President and Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore:

“So, now that you have your Nobel, Come out and fight like a man, Al, and don’t even worry about picking on someone your own size.”

The Nobel Foundation announced Friday that it awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

Prof. Michaels disagrees, citing the “disconnect from scientific reality” of Gore’s views. A past president of the American Association of State Climatologists, author of the 2004 book, Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media, and member of the IPCC, the organization that shared the Nobel Prize with Gore, Michaels is well-known for his skeptical attitude toward the climate change theories promoted by Gore.

Al Gore has ignored renewed calls on him to enter the 2008 Presidential campaign from both activists and columnists describing him as having won the “Norwegian primary.”

But Michaels hopes Gore changes his mind, because, “to get there, or at least to the Demo nomination, Gore’s going to have to do something he has assiduously avoided: debate.”

Since his hit documentary An Inconvenient Truth came out, many conservative and libertarian organizations including the Cato Institute, where Michaels serves as a fellow, have challenged Gore to a debate, but so far the request has been turned down.

Spectator Article
UVA Michaels page, including publications

An editorial cartoon by Joshua Evans
[Click to view full-sized]