March 12, 2012

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The Cavalier Daily Monday, March 12, 2012

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Volume 122, No. 117 Distribution 10,000

Court delivers Cuccinelli, Mann decision

Justices bar Attorney General from accessing scientist’s documents, deem University exempt from Civil Investigative Demands By Krista Pedersen Cavalier Daily News Editor

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled this month that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli does not have the right to review former University Environmental Sciences Prof. Michael Mann’s research produced during his time at the University. The Supreme Court decided state agencies, such as the University, cannot be considered ‘persons’ under the Fraud Against

1999 - 2005 Mann serves as University Environmental Sciences Assistant Professor

Taxpayers Act, and therefore cannot be the subject of a Civil Investigative Demand such as the one Cuccinelli issued. University President Teresa Sullivan issued a statement March 2 thanking the University’s faculty and the faculty at other universities for their support. “This is an important decision that will be welcomed here and in [the] broader higher education community,” Sullivan said. Cuccinelli first requested access to Mann’s research grant

applications and emails April 2010, allegedly to determine whether Mann had committed fraud during his research. Mann, now a member of Pennsylvania State University’s faculty, had been conducting research about global warming while at the University. Mann was an assistant professor in the University’s environmental sciences department from 1999 to 2005. “[The inquiries are] a coordinated assault against the scien-

August 2010 Albemarle County Circuit Court judge denies Cuccinelli's request to access; Cuccinelli appeals

Please see Mann, Page A3

March 4 VA Supreme Court hands down decision; Cuccinelli barred from accessing Mann's documents

November 2011 Judge rules Mann can intervene in his case

September 2011 University releases 4,000 of Mann's documents to the American Tradition Institute under Freedom of Information Act; Mann pursues legal action to prevent A.T.I. from accessing further files

April 2010 Cuccinelli requests access to Mann's research

Albemarle County Circuit Judge Paul Peatross denied Cuccinelli’s request to access Mann’s documents in August 2010. Cuccinelli then appealed his case to the state’s Supreme Court. He also filed another CID while the first case was being appealed, which the University filed a motion to deny, University Spokesperson Carol Wood said in an email. The University spent a total of $570,697.97 to hire Hogan

tific community by powerful vested interests who simply want to stick their heads in the sand and deny the problem of human-caused climate change, rather than engage in the good faith debate about what to do about it,” Mann said in an email. Mann said the Inspector General of the National Science Foundation had reviewed his research in the context of Cuccinelli’s allegations and had found the allegations to be baseless.

January 2012 VA Supreme Court hears Cuccinelli, Mann case

Ultrasound bill becomes law Gov. McDonnell signs legislation requiring women to obtain pre-abortion imaging; set to take effect July 1 By Kelly Kaler

Cavalier Daily Associate Editor Gov. Bob McDonnell signed House Bill 462 Wednesday which requires women in the state of Virginia to undergo an abdominal ultrasound before receiving an abortion. The bill is set to take effect July 1. According to HB 462 “a qualified medical professional... shall perform fetal ultrasound imaging and... fetal heart tone services on the patient undergoing the abortion” at least 24 hours before a woman has an abortion. A woman who resides more than 100 miles from a clinic can have an ultrasound just two hours before undergoing the abortion.

“In Charlottesville, women come from as far as West Virginia... around 100 miles away,” Semones said. “What’s the difference between 100 miles and 99 miles? It just makes for additional costs for childcare, lodging, [and other costs].” Olivia Gans, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, said mandating the ultrasound will help pregnant women make more informed decisions. “I think it’s unfortunate that the discussion in Virginia has taken a turn that doing this procedure, which gives women more information about their Please see Ultrasound, Page A3

Courtesy Richmond Times-Dispatch

More than 1,000 women and men protested the ultrasound bill the first weekend of March in front of the Richmond Capitol. About 30 protestors were arrested as a result of the protests.

UJC overhauls bylaws Marchetti proposes 11 articles; presents executive committee’s year-long work By Valerie Clemens

Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

Will Brumas | Cavalier Daily

UJC Chair Victoria Marchetti proposed last night 11 articles which, if all passed by the UJC, will create a new version of its bylaws.

University Judiciary Committee Chair Victoria Marchetti yesterday evening proposed 11 articles which, if all passed by the UJC, will result in a new version of its bylaws. Marchetti said this is the first time the bylaws have been completely rewritten since 2003. The executive committee, which includes Marchetti, Vice Chair for Trials Emily Forrester, Vice Chair for Sanctions Cliff Cutchins and Vice Chair for First

Years Charity Harrell, has been working on the document since the summer, Marchetti said. “It’s important to bring it up to review our process and procedure, to make sure that we have the best procedures that we can,” Marchetti said. “We put the bylaws online so an accused student can easily access the bylaws, [and can] read what we do and their rights and feel more comfortable in the situation.” Marchetti said during her time in UJC she and fellow committee members have noticed inconsistencies between the bylaws and

UJC practices. “I realized that there [are] a lot of key elements [in] our procedures that are missing,” Marchetti said. “These bylaws are more comprehensive and include things we were missing that we did in practice but weren’t in bylaws. [They] make procedure more easily understood.” Many of the changes were merely re-wordings intended to better reflect Committee practice, but Marchetti said there Please see Bylaws, Page A3

IN BRIEF University teams NEWS with Lady Gaga Voter I.D. bill awaits signing Curry School prof. attends Born This Way Foundation launch; seeks to collaborate to prevent youth bullying By Liz Heifetz

Cavalier Daily Associate Editor The University’s YOUTH-NEX Center collaborated with American pop singer Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation last month to prevent youth bullying. Dewey Cornell, Education Prof. and YOUTH-NEX Program Director, attended the Foundation’s

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launch event and symposium Feb. 29 at Harvard University. He said the event was a way for the Foundation to gain “input from experts in this field to help them formulate their Foundation goals and priorities.” YOUTH-NEX is the Curry School’s Please see Bullying, Page A3

Senate Bill 1, which requires voters to present identification before being permitted to cast a ballot, awaits Gov. Bob McDonnell’s signature following the Virginia House of Delegates’ 66-31 approval of the measure Thursday. The Senate passed the bill last month. Sen. Stephen Martin, R-Chesterfield, proposed the bill, which would eliminate the provision to allow a voter to sign a sworn statement testifying to his identity. SB 1 instead offers

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voters without identification a provisional ballot which would have to be verified the following day before being officially counted. SB 1 expands the accepted forms of identification to include a valid identification card from any of Virginia’s fouryear higher education institutions. The bill aims to decrease voter fraud. Virginia Democrats, however, condemned the General Assembly’s passage of the legis-

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lation, claiming it would result in the widespread disenfranchisement of minorities, young people and the elderly, according to a statement from the Democratic Party of Virginia. Gov. McDonnell has 30 days to sign the bill, but declined to comment on his position. McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said the governor received the bill Saturday and plans to review it in the next few weeks. —compiled by Viet VoPham

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