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NEWS
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 | The Cavalier Daily
Three-Day Weather Forecast TODAY High of 45˚
TONIGHT Low of 30˚
Cloudy skies, with an 80 percent chance of rain. Temperatures rising to the mid 40s.
Overcast skies with a chance of rain in the early morning hours. Temperatures falling into the lower 30s.
Provided by the Cavalier Weather Service
Valentine’s Day High of 52˚ Sunny skies, with temperatures warming to the lower 50s. Looks like beautiful weather for Valentine’s Day!
TOMORROW NIGHT Low of 33˚ Partly cloudy skies, with temperatures cooling to the lower to mid 30s.
Low pressure will pass by to our south today, returning clouds and a chance of rain to our area. High pressure will build back in tomorrow for a crisp and clear Valentine’s Day! Highs remain in the upper 40s to low 50s, while lows remain in the low 30s.
FRIDAY High of 52˚ Overcast skies, with the temperatures increasing to the lower 50s. To receive Cavalier Weather Service forecasts via email, contact weather@virginia.edu
Senate allows student group exclusivity Virginia bill authorizes student organizations’ discriminatory membership practices, allows clubs to continue receiving public funding By Jordan Bower and Annie Crabill Cavalier Daily Staff Writers
The Virginia Senate passed House Bill 1617 Monday, allowing student organizations at Virginia colleges to restrict membership to students perceived as “committed to [the organization’s] mission”. The legislation also bars schools from discriminating against groups which enact such policies. The bill passed 21-18 along largely partisan lines. Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, who voted against the bill,
said the measure represents a move toward accepting forms of discrimination against minority groups by allowing organizations to exclude certain individuals. “Here’s the problem: in a democratic republic, a lot of the rules exist to protect the minority,” Deeds said. “And this bill basically says ‘it’s alright to discriminate against the minority, however that may be.’” Even though he opposes the legislation, Deeds said he does not foresee any immediate increase in college discrimination.
“Just because the General Assembly says that it is okay to discriminate, it doesn’t make it okay,” he said. “You still have to trust people to use basic human judgment.” The Republican effort, led by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shanendoah, was introduced at the beginning of the legislative session and passed the House at the end of January. Center for Politics spokesperson Geoffrey Skelley said the bill may have been part of a Republican effort to fuel party supporters. “[It] strengthen[s] student groups that may be ideologically aligned
in certain ways with the GOP, economically, religiously or socially,” Skelley said. A court case in California likely prompted legislators to draft the bill when a court ruled that a public law school in the state could force a student religious organization on campus to accept all students, said Douglas Laycock, University Law and Religious Studies professor. “This bill protects First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, free exercise of religion and freedom of asso-
ciation,” Laycock said in an email. “You can’t organize or maintain a group committed to a cause unless you can limit membership to those who share that commitment. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that government cannot force political or ideological organizations to accept unwanted members.” Laycock said the bill would ensure that a case similar to the one in California would not happen in Virginia. Republican legislators could not be reached for comment.
Panel | Political awareness spurred uprisings, Brown says Continued from page A1 doms.” Nathan Brown , professor of politics and international affairs at George Washington University and founder of the Project of Middle East Democracy, said Egypt, an important force in the subsequent revolutions in the region, was an example of how the rebirth of
political awareness can instigate change. “In the 1990s and 2000s, in a way that wasn’t visible outside the country, you saw Egyptians from all crosses of life begin to talk about politics,” Brown said. “What the critique boiled down to was the following: There are lots of things wrong with our society ... and the only way we can get them fixed is
to get the politics right. What changed in January-February 2011 is people stopped talking and started acting.” Panelists also questioned the role of Western powers in the current and future political development of the region. “What these societies are going through is an incredibly inward looking movement,” Brown said. “In a sense, what-
ever our views of Islamic leadership is, the United States has adjusted very well by being modest in what it wants to accomplish.” Quandt said that the United States has “intervention fatigue”, and that military intervention in the Middle East has proven itself ineffective. Masa’deh, however, said it was important for the United
States to continue a strong presence in Arab nations. “After the invasion of Iraq, George Bush did propose an idea for the Arab World, but it was not the right time,” Masa’deh said. “Now the people are coming to the world with a clean state and asking for freedom. I think now is the time for the United States to act in these areas.”
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