Volume 84, Number 9
Pricing One-Way Fare to Canada Since 1920
November 11, 2004
Longwood Professor
Support Grows lor New College'
Hardin Named
Proposed institution to be built in Martinsville Shawn Garrett Xt-ws Editor
Fulbright Scholar Kent Booty Office of Public Rihhons Dr. David S. Hardin, assistant professor of geography at l-ongwood University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct four months of research in the Republic of Croatia in 2005. Dr. Hardin will conduct research on the causes, conduct and outcomes of the 1991-95 Homeland War in Croatia's Western Slavonia, which lies between Bosnia and Hungary in northern Croatia. This is part of his ongoing study of the ethnic Serb community's disastrous attempt after the fall of Yugoslavia to forge a "Greater Serbia" by driving Croats out of Western Slavonia and other Serbdominated areas of Croatia
known as the Serb Krajina. As a result of blitz campaigns by Croatian government forces in May and August of 2004, twothirds of the Serb population fled from Professor Hardin, in front of a map of Western Croatia, will conduct four months of research Slavonia and '" the ^'public of Croatia in 2005. the Serb Krajina, and Croats from other regions were resettled in their place. Dr. Hardin's specific interests include the processes and patterns of ethnic cleansing that engulfed both the Croat and Serb populations in the region during the conflict, the barriers to the Serbs' return (such as the destruc-
tion of housing, damaged infrastructure, mine contamination and legal impediments), and the conversion of the Serb cultural landscape into a Croat one in the decade since the war ended.
See FULBRIGHT p. 4
Student Voting Rises Across the Nation and at Longwood Janet Jones Cofrf Editor Despite which ever candidate won the election, the good news is that this year the vote was up, especially for students. According to statistics from Virginia21, a Richmond-based organization that promotes voting and political awareness among young voters, turnout in this lucrative though often underrepresented demographic jumped 12% from the last presidential election. Almost 60,000 more young voters went to the polls in 2004 than during the previous election four years ago. This number crosses the half-million mark for the first time in history. Even here at Longwood, students were making an effort to
Student voting rose by 12% from the 2000 election, a jump of 60,000 votes. Photo by Stephen Ham ensure that their peers' voices marked improvements over the were heard. Since mid- last election. September, members of the Though the SGA has been Student Government Association active during election years past, (SGA) have set up tables in the the aggressive levels reached this dining hall, encouraging students year was relatively new. Jones said to register to vote. the motivation for putting such Steven Jones, Vice President of emphasis on this election was, "to SGA, heralded the efforts of make sure people know that we SGA to raise awareness as a huge are an instrument of change." success. "The youth vote can gready Although not a student during affect the results," added Jones, the 2000 elections, Jones "and if we don't speak up then remarked that this year was a
See VOTING p. 1
I-ongwood University might have a new compedtor for Central and Southside Virginia highschoolers by as early as 2006 if certain Martinsville residents and business leaders get their way. In a series of three town-hall like hearings held late last month, supporters of a new, four year residential college to be built in the Martinsville-Henry County area implored officials from the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV) to make their dream a reality. The council will issue a limited report on the feasibility and need of a New College of Virginia, as it is being called, by January 12th. The second of the two-hour hearings was held at Patrick Henry Community College. Several hundred listened as representatives from local school boards, the Henry County Board of Supervisors and the Martinsville City Council argued in favor of the proposition, noting that all the boards have passed similar resolutions in favor of the project. The notion of a new college has been around since 1999, but has regained momentum this year after Lt. Governor Tim Kaine said that he would push for legislation supporting a new college in Southside Virginia last January. Martinsville-Henry County officials are openly lobbying for the new institution as an economic boost for the region. Hurt by the steady, decades-long decline of manufacturing and textile industries in the state, much of rural Virginia faces not only extreme levels of unemployment, but a migration of young people and those with more technology-focused skills out of the area. The New College, local officials are certain, would raise not only the profile of the area but bring in much-needed jobs to the area.
A non-profit organization called The Harvest Foundation has committed to a matching program of $50 million should the state move forward on the proposal. The foundation was created in 2002, thanks in large part to the SI50 million sale of sale of Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and 1 lenry County. A proposed timeline shows the first of the faculty being hired as soon as this January and the first graduating class by 2009. Hailed as revolutionary, the collegewould offer 28 month (rather than the average 36), 120 credit degrees specifically tailored to the kind of real, applicable knowledge that would match with the specific needs of the industry. Also, it would be free. According to the outlining document of the New College posted on the SCHEV website "Tuition, room, and board for New College students will be cost-free through endowment scholarships from the Martinsville-based Harvest Foundation, corporate and government grants, and support from the Commonwealth of Virginia." The compressed time-to-completion for an undergraduatedegree and the limited course offerings are also meant to reduce costs on the state. Not everyone is pleased with the proposal, however. I^ongwood has made a counter proposal that would entail a partnership between Longwood, Old Dominion University and Patrick Henry Community College. Longwood officials say the more traditional approach would reduce costs on the state by half, and provide an already accredited, established system for granting full bachelor's degrees. But many in the region are still in favor of a brand new school. I've looked into the faces of children whose parents lost their jobs," said Susan Aaron of Martinsville, a former Pittsylvania County schoolteacher according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch. "We need the university here."